closing the door of his apartment behind him, namjoon recapped what just happened: he had been fucked into oblivion by the prince, and wasn't even paid for it. he cursed that man for expecting everything to be given for him on a golden fucking plate while people like namjoon have to give up their blood, sweat, and tears to have half of it.
he counted the money he had for rent: he was still ten thousand short. he sighed before heading towards the safe on a shelf in the corner of the room. he brought out his keys from his pocket, and fished out one from the medallion, before inserting it into the lock. once he opened the safe, he took out the money from there and counted it along with the money he brought home from work. okay... i have enough for rent and a decent meal. that's a first.
"hyung i-is that... is that you?" a small whisper camed from the hallway (rather like door, because of how small their flat was) to their room. namjoon smiled, and then headed towards the room, only to stop short in his tracks when he saw taehyung cradling his leg to his chest, looking up at him with lost doe eyes. namjoon dropped everything in his hands —his keys— and kneeled beside taehyung almost immediately.
the overwhelming fear of someone or something hurting taehyung pounded into namjoon's head like a hammer: he wanted to know who did what so that they could pay. however, just the thought of someone sneaking into their flat with taehyung alone made him shiver. "what happened?" he asked, holding taehyung's shoulders before looking down at the child's bent leg, to see it gushing with blood.
"i... i can't... i forgot..." that's the thing that bothered namjoon. anything could have happened here. someone may have broken in and hurt taehyung—but then again, the money was still in the safe, so taehyung may have just tripped and fell, and hurt himself. namjoon tried to not show his irritation, and just nodded instead.
"it's okay." namjoon was fine as long as nothing else happened. he then sat down on the floor after he grabbed the first aid kit from beside their bed. he took out a bandage and some alcohol, scooting closer to taehyung. "hold still, okay? it may sting a bit..."
"w-what?" taehyung was now horrified, and namjoon found it really adorable. he wiped the small wound with a couple of tissues, and then put them down on the floor beside him. he grabbed the spray bottle filled with alcohol, and positioned it above taehyung's knee. taehyung did this before, it was just a long time ago; he was a very cautious kid (besides the falling over, he was never badly hurt that it bled for a long time). "why does it have to hurt aga—"
taehyung yelled loudly once namjoon abruptly sprayed on some alcohol and flinched. the older placed a small napkin to cover the wound, and to wipe the alcohol over it. he held taehyung close, preventing him from moving away form him. namjoon watched as the tears fell from taehyung's eyes, and the child burst into small sobs. namjoon kept hushing him, softly stroking his hair as he wiped alcohol over the small wound, before grabbing a big plaster, and put it on the wound.
"see? all better." namjoon exclaimed, taking taehyung into a hug. he blamed his actions of a toddler because of his batten. he hated that taehyung gets difficulty in progressing while other children don't. it really wasn't fair. it took a fairly long time for taehyung to calm down—about ten minutes. his fingers went through taehyung's silky hair soothingly, with the intention of calming him down.
"h-hyung... can-can..." taehyung paused mid sentence, biting his lip and frowning in concentration. namjoon stopped his actions, and stared down at him as he waited for his brother's request. "can you... can you sleep with me to... tonight?"
namjoon nodded, delivering a small kiss to the top of taehyung's head. "i already do, champ. let's sleep."
€€€
namjoon was still mad that the prince never paid him. he was still sore thanks to him, so he could barely walk the next day. he and taehyung were walking down the halls to the queen's room, after taehyung insisted they visit her today. namjoon positioned taehyung in front of him, before knocking on the door, and then waited for the queen to answer it.
it hasn't even been a few days since their last visit, but he couldn't say no to taehyung. if this would be the way to make good memories to him, then of course he would do it without hesitation. it was just that he wanted those memories to be with him, not just a random stranger who taehyung happened to stumble upon. shaking these thoughts away, namjoon turned to the door again, checking taehyung's clothes and dusting them for extra measure.
"come in," namjoon slowly pushed the door open, letting taehyung in and then himself, before closing it behind him.
meanwhile, hoseok was walking along the corridors of the hospital, intent on confronting doctor park today. however, being the coward he knows he is, he had second thoughts. maybe that taehyung whose picture he saw wasn't the one doctor park was talking about, and maybe it was someone else. maybe he misheard wrong and read a wrong file at the wrong time. maybe it was another child who was falsely diagnosed with batten. maybe their fates aren't intertwined, and nothing would go wrong.
however, he was already at the hospital so he decided why not stop by his mother's room?
he was surprised to see the people he wanted to avoid inside with her. namjoon's gaze at the prince made him panic, but thankfully, all his emotions were hidden by the veil. clenching his jaw, he stepped in, followed by seokjin who closed the door behind him.
well, this should be fun.
YOU ARE READING
Royally Yours ✓
Fanfiction[namseok] Namjoon never thought his life would go beyond working and taking care of his chronically ill, younger brother. He hoped to raise enough money to cure him and that was really it. He didn't expect everything that came along his way: him get...
