After Dark || vmin

chapter 3: the beginning

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taehyung is roughly being pushed into the hallway, which he considers not very nice, thank you.
"if you fail at protecting the prince, you die. the king has given you a second chance so i'd rather you appreciate the life he offered to you, or else..." the guard spits the words at his face and then someone else approaches him.
he looks a lot less scary than the other guy and deep deep down the young prisoner is glad about that.
"you're kim taehyung? i'm hoseok", the new man asks with a crooked smile on his face.
"i'll show you the prince's chambers. that's where you'll be staying."

excuse me what, taehyung thinks to himself, where in gods name am i staying? the prince's chambers? he gulps down his intense emotions and then sighs defeatedly. this is his fate from now on, it seems.

hoseok seems to notice the confusion on his face and his smile widens, "you know, you can't protect the prince if you arent close to him when something happens."

the prisoner nods and then begins to ask "and this something-", but is being promptly interrupted by the other guy.
"about a week ago, someone tried to kill our highness, but luckily his attempted assassination failed, as they mistook him for somebody else. we want to avoid situations like this with you staying by his side. your blood is black, people are scared of someone like you."

the last words hurt. they hurt a lot, considering taehyung doesn't think of himself as a bad person, but it makes sense. he tries to convince himself that hoseok is right and that he's as dangerous as people think him to be.

"i'm not scared of you though. you don't seem all that scary to me and more like a lost puppy."
the guy full on giggles and it feels like he's laughing at him. okay, ouch.

taehyung, for the fraction of a second, thinks about punching the guy square in the face but then decides against it. this is his only shot at a second chance, his only chance at living, he doesn't want to fuck up immediately. so he just nods in defeat and looks at the floor.
"show me where i have to stay..", he mumbles and hoseok beams at him, reaching out for the rope that still ties his hands together.

in his 20 years of living, killing, and being on the run the thought of becoming a royal guard - the prince's personal one at that - never crossed his mind and to be fair it makes no sense at all. the way he was supposed to be killed and now he gets to live a little longer until he has to give his life for the prince, sounds absolutely wonderful, not.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺

they reach the prince's chambers in silence and when hoseok opens the door, taehyung can't help but stare.
he wasn't born into royalty, he's the son of a farmer family and is used to sleeping in the stables. he's used to blandness and minimalism, but the sight that greets him is completely different from what he knows.

deep blue curtains frame the window and velvety red fabric is draped all over the bed.
bed is an understatement though, taehyung thinks, the thing is bigger than any 'bed' he has ever seen and nothing in his mind compares to it.
some of the walls and the ceiling are painted with beautiful scenes from a fictional story, golden details scattered all across the artworks.
as the young man looks around he spots a golden chandelier and some candle holders, which he's pretty sure are worth more than the entire house he grew up in.

"impressive, isn't it?", hoseok asks, "get used to it, this is where you'll be staying."
the man points at a less impressive bed with just linen covers but at least it's an actual bed and not just hay, like he's used to.

taehyung nods again and then looks down at where his hands are still tied together, trying to pull them apart.
hoseok jumps at the gesture and hurriedly begins to undo the knot.
"i'm sorry, i completely forgot! here let me."

the young man watches as the guard undoes the knot and then shakes his hands, as his writsts are finally free again.
"thank you", he nods and then looks up at hoseok.
"this isn't just a big prank, is it? this is real? are they for real? they really want me as the prince's personal body guard?", he sounds confused, not sure what to think right now.

"this is very real, taehyung. so real that i advise you to do your absolute best, so you don't end up dead. i like you, you know? i don't want you to die because of some unnecessary mistake."

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AN: OMG guys i wrote over 800 words w this one, i'm lowkey proud :> also this is the furthest i have ever written a story, so i really hope i'll continue ^^
btw sorry for weird formatting but i'm writing this in my notes app and i don't really know how everything works yet!! but i'll get there, i promise