Hold My Hand - A Taekook Love Story.

23 - For I Had Loved You..

It took only about half a minute to find Jungkook, as Jimin had accurately guessed that the former would be heading towards the stables to pick up their horses. Jungkook was calmly walking, as if he didn't want to draw attention to himself, so Jimin and Taehyung were able to catch-up with him soon.

All 3 of them had their lower faces covered again, which did result in a few curious head-turns but it was better than getting recognised by anyone in the palace. Jungkook was supposed to be overseas, Jimin doesn't even know what his cover story is and it'll be unwise to let Taehyung's face be shown in the palace at all.

Once they reached the stables, Jungkook paused for a few seconds to look at Gureum, the baby horse he helped birth. Its shining gray color stood amongst the other horses, as most of them were black or brown. Gureum was being kept in the separate part of the stable, along with other horses used by the royal family. He is technically not used by anyone yet, but everyone knows him to be the apple of prince Jungkook's eyes, hence the royal treatment.

Jungkook wanted to go to Gureum, maybe stroke its mane a bit, but he knew he was not allowed. Not unless he removed the cloth covering half of his face and revealed his identity. Since it's not possible, all he could do was stare longingly at the foal for a few seconds, before mounting his own horse. He rode out of the palace, closely followed by Jimin and Taehyung.

For the entirety of the ride, none of them spoke a word. Jungkook was riding as if he's going off to war, while the other two silently followed. Jimin had too many thoughts in his mind to keep him occupied and Taehyung needed all his concentration to stay on the horse without falling. He used to work at a horse stable in one of the nobleman's houses when he was a teenager hence he had some experience in riding and handling horses. Otherwise, he would surely have been on the ground within the first few seconds.

Once they were near a stream, Jungkook stopped. The horses were showing clear signs of tiredness and the men could use a break as well. Jimin took all 3 horses to the stream, letting Taehyung and Jungkook have some alone time, as he felt a discussion was due.

Taehyung watched the prince, who was gazing into the distance, before taking a step closer to him.

“Kookie?” Taehyung called tentatively, noticing immediately how Jungkook's back stiffened.

An answer was late in coming, but Taehyung was so relieved that it came nevertheless. “Yes?”

“I'm sorry.” Taehyung gulped down the lump stuck in his throat. “For everything. I didn't mean to do any harm, you know that, right?”

“You meant to hurt me to a point of heartbreak.” Jungkook turned and scoffed at Taehyung. “How do you call that ‘no harm’?”

Taehyung quickly walked toward the younger and stood next to him. “I know I did wrong. I have no excuse for that. But if you could find it in your heart, please try to understand where I was coming from. Running away from the palace like this won't solve anything. Of course you can stay with me-”

Jungkook's laughter rang through the air. “Stay with you? Whatever the hell for?!”

Taehyung blinked a few times in confusion. “But you just left the palace-”

“And you think I'll stay with you??” Jungkook laughed again. “Gods!”

There was silence for a few seconds, before it was broken by Jungkook.

“I'm never coming back to that place again! I had nothing there, except suffering and mistreatment.”

“Kookie-”

“Did you know that your mother starved me of every meal she could get away with? Or that your sister ruined my medicine pouches that I spent days making? Or how she and that friend of hers threw my wet clothes into the mud multiple times, so that I had to wash them again and go to work with damp clothes? I don't need to speak about how you treated me there, you would know that better than anyone. You couldn't have fallen asleep that fast and that hard to not hear my cries every night, right? The only person who treated me with decency was your father, and I'll forever be grateful for that. He alone helped me keep my sanity there.”