Jungkook seriously wanted to slap himself for his own stupidity. How in God's name could he have forgotten?
It was at his fifth day staying at the kingdom Elysium when he realized that he completely forgot about the fact that he had actually brought his phone with him. Things were just so messy and he was so busy trying to adjust to the unusual circumstances this place brought to him that it just slipped his mind. But now that he remembered, he really, really wanted to slap himself.
Having breakfast with the crown prince in his beautiful pavillion Rosaly was starting to become a daily thing, and he most certainly was not complaining about that. The food was the most delicious thing that he had ever tasted, the sunset was always beautiful to watch and Taehyung's company was actually extremely pleasant. The prince loved telling him stories of his and his siblings' childhood at court and in return, Jungkook told him a few things about his daily life in the common world. Of course, he couldn't help but mention his beloved motorbike in every single sentence.
This morning, Jungkook couldn't sit still let alone eat peacefully since his mobile phone kept popping up in his mind and the desire to find it, turn it on and try to contact his loved ones was pretty much driving him insane. Taehyung immediately noticed how worked up he was and appeared to be quite concerned, asking him whatever was the matter with him. The brunette was truly grateful for that.
Hesitantly, he tried to explain his situation to the older and just hoped the blueberry-haired male would take some pity in him and let him search for his phone. Where even was that thing? But considering how stubborn Taehyung was, how seriously he took his position and how sceptical he appeared about the other world, he was seriously starting to doubt it.
However, much to his surprise, the Prince nodded. "I suppose you could. After your arrival, I have collected your phone-thing and those odd wires that came with it and hidden them in one of my drawers. In case any of my servants or cleaning maids happened to see. I actually knew beforehand that you would ask me this. As long as you don't expose the existence of Elysium..." Jungkook wanted to jump up and down in relief and happiness.
As soon as they had returned to the castle, Taehyung opened the drawer of his completely golden dressing table, revealing Jungkook's shattered but still compatible phone, along with earphones and charger completely tangled up. Probably the 'odd wires' that Taehyung was referring to earlier.
The brunette's heart leapt wildly in his chest as he pushed the On-Button to turn the thing on. The crown prince, never having seen anything more unusual, was watching him and the phone intensively. When the display turned on and Jungkook could see his all too familiar lock screen, he let out a breath of relief. The fact that his battery was also almost full made him even happier. This was amazing news! Now he could contact his family and explain the situation to them!
That was until he realized that he had absolutely no phone service. Something he maybe should've seen coming in a secret kingdom that seemed to be stuck in nineteenth-century tradition.
"Do you guys have any Wifi here?," he asked, and could already guess the answer by the appalled look on the prince's face. "Do we have Wi-- what? Whatever that should be, we do not."
Jungkook cursed in mind, staring at his lockscreen, which showed him, Yoongi and Yugyeom posing in front of their bikes with a smile, in pure longing.
"I presume these are your companions? And those are motor...bikes?" Taehyung also caught a glance at the lockscreen and sighed when Jungkook nodded sadly.
"Peculiar things, these little boxes that you commoners call mobile phones." He joined the brunette who was sitting on his mattress and laid a hand on his arm, figuring this was the least he could do to comfort him after he had been such a great help to him emotionally.
"I feel guilt-ridden about what has happened to you. I know you miss those people dearly and I wish you were able to see them again. If I knew how to get back to your world, I believe I would be humble enough to let you know. It must be horrible, having to leave everything behind like this." Jungkook nodded gloomily.
"You don't need to feel bad for me. It's not your fault, it's not like you personally ordered me here. Plus, I think your company is what still makes me feel sane despite everything. And your castle is so cool."
"Oh, I don't know. There were times where I wished for a friend. I am not allowed to have friends, it can get weary very quickly. Maybe a nice fairy godmother heard my wishes and sent you to my world." Now, Jungkook had to smile despite his sadness. Taehyung really was a hopeless romantic. Dreamy with a wide imagination, too, by that. Perhaps, he had been born in the wrong world. Who knew, maybe he'd be better off in a world full of modern technology and an actual social life than a castle full of rules and pretty roses but no one to confide in?
All of a sudden, he had an idea.
He grabbed his earphones and attached them to the phone, unlocking it and opening his MP3 player with a grin, the crown prince watching with pure curiosity. He then pushed an earbud into Taehyung's ear, to which the latter yelped in surprise, and pushed the other one into his own.
"What is this preposterous feeling? Is this some form of commoner hypnotization? Are you trying to erase my memory?"
Jungkook snickered and shook his head. "Close your eyes and just listen," he ordered calmly, the older reluctantly complying. And with a devilish grin, he played the most obnoxious and cheesy (yet addicting) song on his phone, 'What is Love?' by Twice. Yugyeom and Yoongi had teased him for finding it so catchy, yet he couldn't help but call it his guilty pleasure. Plus, it somehow resembled Taehyung's personality.
As soon as the first beat hit, Taehyung gasped wildly and jerked back in shock, his eyes snapping wide open. As expected. "It is so loud! How are sounds like these produced, are these animal sounds? Never have I ever...," he stammered incoherently. The brunette averted his full attention onto the prince, studying his amusing reaction closely. "Why are they shouting 'Twice'? Who is this? What are they trying to do?"
"This," he said, "is what us commoners call music." The first verse started and the very shocked Taehyung listened to the female singer describe her curiosity towards the emotion love and how much the pure thought of it made her flutter. "Just listen to the words, it reminds me of you," Jungkook told with a smile and decided to let him listen without any further comment.
Taehyung did exactly that without making a single sound. His eyes remained wide open and every now and then, his lips mouthed an 'Ah' or an 'Oh'. Sometimes, he even seemed to smile a little and at some point, he closed his eyes again.
When the song was over, he started blinking with an unreadable expression on his face. "Oh, my... Heavens, that was so-- unusual. Incredible. Never have I ever heard such music. What a beautiful perception of love, just like mine. It makes me want to stand up and jump up and down constantly. I love it, do you have more?" Smiling, Jungkook nodded.
"This song's from a group called Twice. I didn't expect you to like it, actually, I just wanted to surprise you. But if you want more..." Taehyung nodded fervently which made him laugh in adoration, setting up another song to play.
"Twice? What a peculiar name. However, I do want more. Your music makes me feel excited as i have rarely felt before."
Taehyung listened closely as Jungkook started playing more and more songs from the group, smiling, nodding to the beat and even moving his shoulders a little. At some point, the brunette removed his own earbud and inserted it into the prince's other ear swiftly for an even better experience. He found the other's enthusiasm for cutesy pop music truly adorable.
The crown prince surely seemed to like Twice.
°○●○●○°
"Your names?"
"Kim Yugyeom and Min Yoongi, ma'am. We got lost in the woods and our best friend is missing. Please help us find him," a dirty blonde boy spoke shakily, not daring to look into the eyes of the woman sitting opposite of him.
"What is your friend's name and what does he look like?," the female police officer asked calmly, typing something into the computer in front of her. "J-Jeon Jungkook, ma'am. Brown hair, brown eyes and seventeen years old. About five foot ten. When we l-last saw him, he was wearing a leather jacket and a pair of jeans," Yoongi answered just as shakily, looking terrified out of his wits.
The two boys had finally found way to the closest police station, a shabby and eery-looking building in the outskirts of a city they had never been to. They were terrified and shaken up but this was the only option they had to find Jungkook let alone get home.
The sky outside was currently painted in an intensive shade of indigo, the sunrays fighting for their last moments before the moon would eventually take over.
For the whole day, they had walked, lost their tracked, walked some more and more and more until they eventually ended up here. No sleep, no food, no water. They were exhausted to say the very least. The thought of a warm bed, a steaming homemade soup and a nice cup of hot chocolate warmed their hearts but then, they remembered that Jungkook must still be out there in the woods, no one to turn to and probably terrified out of his wits. And that thought was killing them, choking them like a rope closing in around their necks.
"Do you have your friend's phone number? His address? Can you contact his family?," the officer asked after a while, both of them nodding while shuddering.
"You two look shaken up and cold. Officer Park, give these boys a cup of tea," she called out and a tall man emerged, presumably to make the cup of tea. "I hope you don't mind me asking you some more questions. But if your friend is in danger, there is no time to waste. One of you can try to contact his parents while the other one tells me how and where exactly you got lost."
The boys nodded slowly, Yoongi pulling out his phone (that luckily had some service at last) to call Mr and Mrs. Jeon and Yugyeom explaining all about the bike race, the storm and how the brunette had fallen behind. He tried not to tear up while doing so but the realization of this whole ordeal was really starting to get to him. Taking deep and shaky breaths, the two of them took a few gulps of tea that was graciously served for them and told themselves they were one step closer to finding their friend to reassure their raging minds.
Just where could he be?
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
(A/N: i just love twice and i have no idea how i came to this but somehow i found the idea of this chapter so endearing but idk if the execution was the best ssjjkds anyways in case you don't know what is love or its lyrics it's just about being curious, impatient and just giddy about love and how it feels and how much they want it and stuff :D
btw i may have told you that i love alice in wonderland and i'm happy to say that i finally got the book and i started reading it today, it's so full of random nonsense but that's the fun thing about it, i'm enjoying it lots so far and i hope you could somehow enjoy this random bunch of... something too skklklsk thank you for reading, i love you and byeee <333 *insert purple hearts*)