The King's Swan | Jikook |

Chapter 29: A Stone Dagger

"I just don't find it as my muse anymore... you're my muse, my smile and my world, I've been distracted by you. I don't even need to pick up a paintbrush, I've only painted to cope with my loneliness and since you walked into my life, I couldn't seem to have a reason to pick it up again. You're my muse, my only reason to leave my solitude behind," Jungkook whispered into a gentle tone against Jimin's ear.

Words like those left Jimin smiling against the alpha's chest. He let out a childish giggle and ran his hand along Jungkook's body once more, allowing his fingers to explore the alpha's cotton wear. However, his smile was still hollow. He carried weight into his words and couldn't help but to sigh after his giggle before running his fingers to the side of his own neck.

Sometime after their morning together, Jimin found enough strength to leave the alpha and return home after four days away. He was prepared to face his father and any cruel words that would be thrown at him. He made sure his hair was braided into a red ribbon at the end and his hanbok carried nothing but his own scent. There was no trace of the king's fragrance and now Jimin longed to be with Jungkook to have his nose filled with the scent he craved.

Once the omega stepped into his own home, he met eyes with his servants who raised their brows at the sight of the missing omega who finally returned home with a bland stare that could kill a whole army of men.

"Master Park Jimin, has returned!" Alerted one of the servants and within seconds, his mother, his brother, and his terrifying father stepped into the entry of the house to meet eyes with the omega.

"Oh, Jimin!" Shouted the mother happily as she rushed in to hug her first born, inhaling the sweet scent she missed catching every waking morning throughout those silent days. "I've missed you so much! Have you eaten? Where have you been? Have you slept well?"

"Jimin, you've had us worried!" Continued Jihyun as he stepped in and patted Jimin's shoulder carefully. "Please, tell us where you've been,"

"It doesn't matter, I'm here now, it-" abruptly, Jimin's voice was cut off once his father cleared his throat. Instantly breaking the overlapping noises as silence broke through like poison to an open wound.

"Yes, my son... where have you been? You've had us worried sick. Namjoon has been running around searching for you and your faithful fiancé, Jung Hoseok," spoke the father with his hands locked behind his back. "It's about time you've returned to us, you must have blown a fuse! Glad to see you have returned wearing your yellow coat and the ribbon attached to the end of your braid. I've always wondered why you chose to despise the look, you're finally coming back into your senses."

Jimin's blood began to boil at the sight of his father, not even a minute into his arrival, and Jimin was already thinking of running out the door. Jimin hated the look he was forced into, practically advertising himself as an unmarried omega to the town and establishing his innocence when deep down, he had so many secrets. Jimin had to wear what he was bound to just to silence his parents upon arrival, but it didn't save him from his father's cruel lectures.

"What is your problem with me?" Jimin hissed and looked at the ground. "Did you not worry where I slept at night? No, you see me and you're already bringing up my mistakes. If I've been somewhere, I'm not obligated to tell you!"

"Says who? I own you until you marry!" Shot back the father as the mother pulled away from her son and looked back at her husband.

"Says me! The owner of this body, the one who eats and sleeps in this body, the one who walks all day and night in this body, the one who dresses it and speaks with it!" Cried the omega as he finally looked at his father in the eyes. "You don't own me because you say so, you're my father, not my Master!"

"Please! Let's settle down for once and talk over tea, imagine if the town hears this? Please, Jimin apologize and-"

"Over my dead body! You all fear the people more than fearing what you've done to your own children! I don't like this, I listen to no one," Hissed Jimin as he then picked his long skirt up to walk off, but just then, the minister stood in his way and gave him a terrifying glare. "Excuse you!"

"What is wrong with you? Why can't you see that I only want the best for you? All I've ever done was plan a perfect life for you and you stepped all over it! You're ungrateful and a disgrace, why can't you be more like your brother? He accepts his role as an alpha and he doesn't argue one bit! Shouldn't you feel ashamed that your own little brother is more mature than you? Ah, an omega like you always has a way of thinking you run your life when you don't."

"I'm not like my brother because I have a brain! I have a voice and I have a choice, it's my life, will you be there when I have my first time? No, you won't! You're just holding me back from being who I am and I hate every second of it, I WOULD RATHER DIE!" Cried the omega as he stepped aside and walked forward to leave everyone in silence. Suddenly, his father turned around, grabbed the omega by his braided hair, and pulled him back, causing Jimin to scream.

"This amount of disrespect is not tolerated in this household, Jimin," spoke the father, pulling Jimin by his hair and holding it up to cause the omega pain. "You are to bow to everyone in this room including the servants and beg for their forgiveness for this little show you put on for them."

"L-Let GO!" Jimin cried and held onto his own braid inches away from his father's grasp. But the more he cried, the more the father pulled onto the omega's hair. "S-Stop, STOP IT!" Through his tears, Jimin eyed a sharp stone dagger held up on a pedestal to his right. Due to the tears he began to muster, his vision grew blurry, but his gaze persisted to remain locked onto the dagger.

"Apologize. I won't allow anyone in this household think a rebellion is allowed," Mr. Park assured and wrapped the braid along his knuckles to pull Jimin closer. "In time, you will look back at this and know how much I've sacrificed for you to live the life you deserve, everything should be in its place. I will not allow you to disrespect me now, and disrespect your alpha later."

"N-No...no..." Jimin cried, staring at the dagger and contemplating his idea. All while his mother watched in fear with her hands locked over her own lips in terror.

"Say you belong to me until you marry, Park Jimin. You bear my name and all should see you walk and know what it's like to be raised by me," Mr. Park continued. He spoke out of tough love and knew this was too over the top even for him. The minister himself felt sick to his stomach, but he feared watching Jimin steer his life into a mess even more. He had to step in to parent his son correctly in the mold he created perfectly just for him. The only regret he had within was forcing himself onto his little boy out of tough love. "I... own... you." He hissed with such a sour tone haunting him with the many guilty stares around him.

With the echo of those words filling Jimin's ears, he closed his eyes tightly and thought quickly. He was swift and threw his hand over to the stone dagger to snatch the weapon out of it's display before throwing it behind his back to cut his braided hair off completely. The jagged teeth of the dagger bit onto his silk hair and finally, he was set free once his hair was immediately cut off.

"JIMIN!" Screamed the mother in tears as Jimin's hair was now a few inches off his shoulder. With that, Jimin raced out of the entry and reached his own room in fear of his father chasing after him, but he didn't.

Jimin's long hair was a symbol of his purity, innocence, and youth. Once his father carried it in his hands, his gaze was locked onto the braid he carried and the ribbon that fell off the end. Nothing but tears from the mother ensued in the silence that broke seconds after Jimin ran off. Even the servants were left speechless at the spot where all eyes were set on the father.