The King Likes Men

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Reaching for the papers, Taehyung feels his insides become a mess again, but the feeling wasn't as bad as before. He glances over the documents, sees the decorations that are planned, sees the layout of the video they're going to show, then he stops at the photograph they were going to use. It was a simple headshot photo, with Seokjin in a black suit with a white collared shirt and his hair black and fluffy, a soft smile on his face. 

Taehyung stares at it longer than he should.

"I know that my pain can't compare to yours," the king whispers softly, his expression pained. "But I miss him too."

"He practically raised me," Taehyung whispers back, a bit broken. "Our mom was always busy working so hyung would do everything for me. I depended on him a lot. And the day we were brought here was our mother's first day off in a long time."

"I'm so sorry," he says and Taehyung starts feeling bad for bringing it up because the king does actually look very sorry about it.

"You didn't shoot her," Tae responds, trying to ease the guilt a bit.

"No, but the guy that shot her did it in my name. I might as well be guilty." He gazes down at the photo. "And Seokjin is also gone because I was stupid and didn't just pick him from the beginning. All because I was too scared of what people would say."

Taehyung doesn't say anything about that. In a way, it wasn't wrong. And a part of him wanted the other to suffer a bit more, because it was because of him that all these things were happening. He hands him the papers back. 

"Jin-hyung made me very happy," Namjoon says, staring at the image. "We didn't know each other long but he changed me a lot. I always thought that I should live life fiercely but he seemed to learn how to live it delightfully."

In his last days in the competition, Seokjin had indeed changed. He became happier, bolder, he stopped doing things he didn't want to do just to please others, yet he still cared for those around them and still love them as before.

Perhaps that's why Taehyung never wanted to let go. Why he didn't want to eat anything that wasn't from his hyung. Because when times had been hard for him, Seokjin had cooked for him without complaint, and those dishes would comfort Taehyung just as his hyung's presence did. Eating anything else was like forgetting the taste of those feelings he had with his brother by his side.

It had been a stupid reasoning. He thought only Jin-hyung could provide such a feeling but then Jungkook had been able to replicate perfectly. It was like a slap to the face, a reality check. That those feelings he had felt were not because of the food itself, but because of the person who made the food thinking of him.

"Yeah," Taehyung smiles, "I know what you mean."

"If you need anything," Namjoon says, resorting the papers into their proper order, "please do not hesitate to ask. After all," he smiles a bit, dimples showing, "we were going to be family."

That fact was still hard for him to process. 

"I will."

Namjoon is about to leave when Taehyung stops him. "Wait!" Namjoon looks back at him, Tae blushes a bit from how he raised his voice. "Um, where can I find your brother?"

"Jungkook?" the king blinks, then looks down to check his watch. "I think, he should be out doing laundry right now."

Laundry? What kind of prince does his own laundry?

He must've been making a face because the king lets out an airy laugh. "Jungkook is very sensitive to smells so he prefers washing his own clothes. But I can take you to him if you want."