After Dark || vmin

chapter 20: freedom

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once the news that jimin has arrived safely back at the castle reach the king, he makes sure to gather everyone involved in searching him in the main hall.

when the prince arrives with the knight who has found him, he immediately spots jeongguk on his knees next to his father's throne. he immediately feels bad but the young man notices him staring and throws a little smile in his direction, which immediately makes jimin's heart feel lighter.

his father on the other hand doesn't seem as amused, a huge frown decorating his face which lets it show how old the king has become lately.

"young man," the king says sternly, "where have you been? jeongguk told me he you two were in the garden and suddenly you were gone?"

jimin once again gathers fake tears in his eyes, knowing the king can't stand to see his son cry, no matter how old he is. he's used this every now and then on a rare occasion of not wanting to do something he was told to do, but now there was a life on the line.

his father notices the tears and immediately his face softens, and his glance seems to be filled with worry rather than anger.

"jimin please tell me what happened, we were worried sick, jeongguk was worried sick, everyone in here was. what if something happened to you?"

that's when the tears in jimin's eyes start to spill and he reaches out for his father's hand, wanting to make it seem like he needs something to hold on to while talking, because what happened to him was so bad.
he's good at being dramatic and he knows it, he knows how much they adore him and want him to feel okay.

is this manipulation?, he wonders in his thoughs but at the same time he couldn't care less, all he wants is taehyung, nothing else matters.

so he begins to tell his father the story of how he got lost, of how he thought he saw a deer between the trees behind the garden and ran after it to make sure it doesn't get lost in the garden. he explains how he thought he followed it for a while, with jeongguk following him but in the end he was in the middle of the woods, completely alone with nowhere to go, because he lost every sense of direction.

while he tells his story, the young knight on his knees just stares at him, unable to believe what a good liar the prince is and jimin almost has to smile, but he can't let the mask of being scared and lost fall.

when he finishes his story, he looks up at his father with pleading eyes.

"i don't think i feel safe enough with the knight you bestowed upon me. i got lost today. i am aware that nothing bad happened in the end but i wish i had taehyung back to protect me. he never failed to be there for me."

the king looks at him suspiciously for a moment but then his glance softens.

"what happened today, was frightening, spine-chilling even and we don't ever want it to happen again. i will not punish the knight in charge of you and i don't approve of kim taehyung but i know you have been trying your hardest to stop me from killing him."

jimin looks at his father, a little confused but gives him a little smile.

"the prisoner kim taehyung sentenced to death is free to leave the prison. i'd encourage for him to become your guard again, but we cannot control what he does after we let him leave."

the prince becomes even more confused at his father's words and shakes his arm.

"what do you mean, we cannot control what he does?", he asks.

"jimin, my dear son. you haven't seen him, you haven't seen the way he behaved in that prison, he's barely human anymore-"

the young man doesn't need to hear more and runs off to the royal prison, runs to where taehyung is being held captive.
since he doesn't know his way around these parts of the castle very well he gets lost on various occasions but he always managed to find his way until he's standing right in front of taehyung's cell. what he sees scares him.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　☽༓･*˚⁺

every bar, keeping the prisoner inside his cell is dented in, the walls are covered in black splatters - blood as jimin notices way too late and the bricks of the wall are decorated with deep deep cracks.

at first he can't even see taehyung, but when he looks to the floor, he sees the man laying there all curled up, his hands completely bloodied up, but luckily none of them seem broken.

taehyung just stares at the ceiling, not even glancing over when jimin quickly walks over with loud steps. "are you finally here to kill me or are we having a staring contest again?", the prisoner asks, his voice so low and cracked, it's barely possible to even understand him.

at first jimin doesn't answer, way too shocked by the circumstances in which he finds taehyung but then after a few moments he clears his throat, his mouth suddenly feeling dry.

"taehyung...?", he carefully asks, not wanting to scare the other, "it's me, jimin."

at that the other man jumps up so quickly from his lying position, jimin can barely see it. taehyung runs towards the bars and grips them so tightly, they crack a little underneath his hands. the way he looks at jimin is frightening, his eyes completely black again and his teeth bared.

"you", he growls with his broken voice and suddenly jimin has to concentrate on not breathing too quickly, almost feeling like he's having a panic attack.

"did they send you here to kill me?", taehyung spits at him, the tone of his voice anything but friendly.

"tae please be rational, i'm here to save you. you are free to go. you can be my guard agai-" jimin tries but gets promptly interrupted by the other man.

"liar."

"no i'm not a liar, taehyung please listen to me i- i even have the key-" jimin sounds frantic at this point, as all he wants is his friend, his lover back. he quickly moves to open the door.

suddenly he is free.

kim taehyung is free,

and without a warning he runs.

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AN: i know i should be resting but im too invested into this story LOL. i miss vmin interacting but this will soon change i promise.