namjoon was skeptical. it started the day after the wedding. he woke up, still kind of scared from the events of the days before, but as soon as he laid eyes on jimin in his room, he relaxed almost immediately. he asked him what he was doing here, his legs swinging to the side, and landing by his flip flops. jimin then stared at him silently, the smile he once had dying on his face as his gaze trailed down namjoon's body.
realizing that the marks were still evident from that night, namjoon immediately sat back down and covered his chest with the blanket. jimin kept looking at him blankly and silently. he exhaled a breath, and began to speak, only for jimin to cut him off, finally turning away from him.
"kim namjoon," if namjoon hadn't known jimin, he would think his smooth voice provided comfort, but it was obvious that jimin was upset. namjoon had a feeling he would know why, soon. "i would have thought that, only centuries before in some fairytale, that some of the kings would marry someone undeserving, and paint them to be deserving."
namjoon's fist clenched over the blanket. "meaning?" he asked quietly.
jimin turned to face him after cleaning the tabletop of the vanity, spreading the cloth over his forearm and let it dangle on either side. "meaning that we all know you're undeserving," a moment of silence passed, and namjoon couldn't even feel his own heartbeat. "we all know everything. so imagine us serving someone of a lower status than a servant... wouldn't you be annoyed, too?" namjoon blinked in confusion, seeing jimin smiled at the end.
the smile didn't look happy, definitely not. it was more of "i accepted my fate" kind of smile. jimin wore it a lot, but namjoon was just puzzled, yet fearful. would jimin really treat him differently? now that—according to him—everyone now knows about his old job and about his status, will the things and the bonds he shared with those people change?
"is that why yesterday—"
"yes," jimin replied quickly, before taking several steps closer towards namjoon. he didn't move; jimin was no threat, he was like a foot or two shorter, very easy to pick up... however, there was something in his eyes that screamed "danger". namjoon chose to ignore it. "this is why yesterday, no one helped you. you think..." jimin took a step closer, now only about a few inches away from namjoon. "we would be happy serving a nobody?" he leaned forward, a bit closer. namjoon leaned back. "you think we would be happy to be in the same place where someone of less status gets everything handed to them on a silver plate?"
"that's far from true!" namjoon retorted, clutching the blanket for dear life. "if you claim you knew everything you'd at least know i'm not privileged! it's not my fault i got roped into marrying hoseok, it's all his fault!" namjoon, at least at that moment, didn't care what he said, but he just wanted to make a point clear: he was not privileged, he was not getting anything handed to him at the moment—especially with such a state. hoseok helping him was just a mere coincidence that he didn't even want happening.
all of this was because of hoseok.
he watched as jimin bit his lip and stood up straight, giving namjoon back his space to sit comfortably.
"but now," it seemed like he ignored his words. namjoon's nostrils flared. "now that you're royalty, we are now obligated to serve you." namjoon exhaled a shaky breath. a gust of wind passed the door, and it creaked a little. i never wanted any of this. "just know that—no hard feelings—but not a lot of people here like you."
"i figured." namjoon mumbled calmly as jimin suddenly stepped back into his space, causing namjoon to lean back again. good god, for a small man you sure know how to use your eyes instead of your height...
"just know, that if you try anything suspicious, not a single one of us will care if you're royalty or not," jimin hissed, his eyes widening, his lips stretching into a smile. "we will hurt you." jimin reached forward, and fisted the blanket as well. "no matter how much your redeem yourself, you will never get past the fact you are—"
"that's enough of you, jimin."
they both turned their heads to the door. if someone who was unknowing of the situation—namjoon doubted that—would think of this as a compromising position. but jimin was not the type to be touchy. he just invaded people's spaces and wasn't a big fan of physical contact at the same time. namjoon wasn't scared of jimin trying anything with him, just scared of how their relationship will turn out in the future (granted that namjoon suspected him at first, but how could someone like jimin, who hates touching people do what has been done to him?).
"i believe your duties are elsewhere besides his grace's room."
jimin turned away from namjoon, letting go of the blanket, and bowed. "yes, your highness." he then walked out of the room, not sparing either of the two a glance. namjoon exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding, and then looked back at his saviour.
"weisoo..." he said as he settled back into the bed, covering his lower body, and revealing his upper part, feeling more comfortable now. "you didn't have to do that. i'm—"
"thanks is not necessary, although i doubt that this is what you genuinely feel," weisoo interrupted immediately, sitting back on the chair in the furthest corner. the golden details of the wallpaper matched well with weisoo's new, small golden crown. "i felt like jimin was acting too comfortably with you, which shouldn't happen, your grace."
as much as namjoon wanted to detect malice in weisoo's tone, he couldn't bring himself to believe that weisoo had any bad intent. he just did not seem like the type.
weisoo adjusted himself on his seat, before dropping his forearms on the armrests. "how are you feeling now?" he asked, his tone a lot softer than before, like the keys of the piano smoothly played, one after the other. namjoon relaxed his shoulders, and gave weisoo a small grin.
"better, thank you." he replied quietly.
"you know," weisoo spoke after a moment, chewing on his thumb nail before pointing at namjoon. "i actually wanted to kill you the moment i suspected you." who hasn't at this point, namjoon thought, pursing his lips. "but... when hoseok spoke about you, in your defense to mum (oh so now really everyone knew) he told us everything about you and about why he helped you." weisoo frowned a little, staring into somewhere away from namjoon, apparently lost in thought. "i realized i was not... i was not kind enough to you. sure i was acting civil but i wasn't holding the best intentions to you."
"thank you...?" namjoon blinked in confusion, weisoo chuckled lazily.
"i'm sorry," he drawled, leaning his head back against the chair and stared at the ceiling. namjoon watched him in curiosity. "i just wanted to get this off my chest. i don't usually hold grudges."
namjoon nodded silently, and said nothing in response. he stared at weisoo, and wondered if this was maybe a start of a new chapter with him. would he treat him kinder, better than his father? better than the servants who have taken a dislike towards him? better than himself?
he could only hope.
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...
