Within the blink of an eye, the whole castle was busy making preparations. Preparations for Taehyung's inevitable birthday party.
And hell, Taehyung did not look forward to it.
Half his days were spent sulking in bed, arms crossed and lips formed into an angry pout. Several days, he refused to get out of bed for hours, no matter how hard Jimin and Jungkook tried to coax him into standing up and starting his day.
"Your Majesty, please!," Jimin exclaimed in desperation, removing the duvet from the prince's body and sighing when his eyes were still forcefully shut and he didn't budge at all.
"Try pinching his nipple?," Jungkook suggested, raising his eyebrow at the very stubborn Taehyung. He couldn't help but be reminded of his twelve-year old self and all the exam mornings he spent refusing to get up and even pretending he was sick. His poor mother had had an extremely hard time dealing with him.
"His nip-- You barbarian! How dare you suggest such a grotesque thing? This is Elysium's crown prince, every single part of his body is worth gold!," Jimin scolded angrily which made the brunette shrug.
"Just a suggestion. My mom always did that when I was too stubborn to get out of bed. I mean, I can do it for you if you don't want to. I'm only his fake servant, you know?" He walked towards the bed but the blonde blocked his way and slapped his chest.
"Do not touch him!," the servant protected his prince aggressively which made Jungkook raise his hands in defense. "Okay, chill. I won't do anything." When Jimin had calmed down, he walked towards the edge of Taehyung's bed and kneeled down so his face was close to the other's.
"Taehyung. Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," he spoke quietly in amusement, observing the prince's admittedly very beautiful sleeping face.
"I will not," said prince grumbled with his eyes tightly shut, turning towards the other side stubbornly. "And I am not Sleeping Beauty."
Jungkook had not given up yet. Of course, there was always the option of emptying a bowl of cold water over his head but that would cause too much of a fiasco, wouldn't it? So he decided to act differently and bent over the bed so that his face was now directly over the prince's.
"Get up now or I'll pinch your nipple until it starts bleeding," he whispered into Taehyung's ear lowly and snickered when the latter's eyes widened in horror and he sat up in his bed, looking mortified. "What a horrible thing to say! Must you really scare me like that?"
Jungkook shrugged. "You were being stubborn." Jimin was inspecting him sceptically. "Your Majesty, did he threaten you? Did he threaten to hurt you in the most hor--" Taehyung shook his head.
"He did not. I apologize for refusing to wake up, it is just that I remembered that father wanted to speak me today and by the thought of that, my whole morning seemed ruined," he stated, yawning cutely and rubbing his eyes which made Jimin run towards him and hold his wrists.
"Don't do that, Your Majesty. It will blemish your beautiful skin. Please wait for a moment, I will get you dressed." Shooing Jungkook away and carrying the prince's clothes for today along with a glittering tiara, Jimin helped the blue-haired boy out of bed and grabbed a golden comb to flatten his quite disheveled bed hair.
And in spite of how tired Taehyung was of this uncomfortable daily morning routine, he didn't complain and smiled weakly as he appreciated Jimin's efforts and concern in regard of his well-being and Jungkook, realizing that, felt extremely proud to be the one to have triggered this major change in the crown prince's behaviour.
°○●○●○°
"After you have failed to do what we asked of you many, many times, your mother and I found it necessary to take matters into our own hands."
Taehyung felt his throat go absolutely dry, he couldn't bring himself to speak a single word as he tried to stand his ground in the middle of the grand throne room.
"Wh-What... What do you mean by that?," he asked meekly, not daring to lift his gaze from the beautifully gleaming marble floor. And Jungkook, having accompanied him all the way here and currently standing beside the door to bring him back later, wanted nothing more than to approach the vulnerable-looking boy and take him into his arms. But in order not to raise suspicion, he was forced to keep his expression as stoic and his posture as straight as possible.
"Son...," the Queen spoke, sensing the panicked state of her son and attempting to ease up the situation. "It must have come to your attention that everyone in this castle is currently preparing your birthday feast. You know it is not only about celebrating, you have come of age and many kingdoms are aware of the crown prince of Elysium being eighteen years old, and more importantly, being unwed."
"Guests from all over Asia, no, all over the world will attend the feast. Princesses of all ethnicities and backgrounds will try to win your hand. Our neighbours are starting to wonder why you have not yet been betrothed. And before we can concern ourselves with your sister and her future husband, we must witness your engagement." And suddenly, Taehyung felt enraged.
"So-- So you have already planned my betrothal behind my back? Without even consulting me?! You couldn't care enough to let me know which stupid princess I am about to marry? You know I wanted to marry for love, mother, someone I enjoy being affectionate with! Someone who makes me feel safe!," he exclaimed, everyone in the room (even his siblings gathered in the far back) visibly tensing. Except for the King.
"Enough of this foolishness. You are a prince, you must show power in order to please your people. A prince who constantly whines about not being able to marry who he loves, what will Elysium think of you? It's time you ought to know. In this life, love and such cannot take the upper hand. Your mother and I suffered the same ordeal but eventually, we got used to each other. Just like you will get used to your marriage," he spoke powerfully.
"Why do I have to be the crown prince? What did I ever do to you? Why can't Namjoon or Seokjin be in my position? They are older and not being forced to wed, unlike me!," the blueberry-haired boy cried out, feeling tears well up in his eyes.
"Namjoon will marry a Japanese princess and rule in Japan, Seokjin will marry a Chinese princess and rule in China. They agreed to marry many years ago! You and your future queen will rule here. We have not yet decided who, which is why we're hosting your birthday feast! Will you quit being stubborn and complaining? A crown prince shall never complain!" Taehyung glared into his father's eyes furiously.
"I am so tired of this! I could never be happy in a marriage with a princess, no matter how many years I have to endure her face!," he shouted.
"Son, you're overreacting. You must marry a princess. Not a peasant girl, not a milkmaid, a princess. Believe me, as soon as you conceive your first heir your views will immediately chang--" Taehyung interrupted the Queen mid-sentence, letting out all his frustration.
"You do not understand! You will never understand! A marriage with a p-- a woman, everything-- I refuse to hear of it! You are so selfish, both of you! Using me and my freedom for what you want, am I some sort of puppet to you? I'm human, I cannot lead a life this way! I am not marrying a princess and that's my final word on this!" His hands trembling, he grabbed the golden tiara on his head and smashed it onto the ground, the clashing sound of the delicate object breaking ringing loudly in everyone's ears.
And not wasting another moment, he turned around and dashed out of the throne room.
Standing outside the door that he had just slammed shut harshly, he burst out in tears. Not caring that anyone might hear him, he just let it all out and let his painful emotions overtake him.
It didn't take long for the door to open again, someone stepped out and approached him slowly. But Taehyung did not pay any attention, he didn't care if somebody wanted to see him and kept his back turned on the person.
"Taehyung," the person just said, stopping right behind him. And although the prince recognized that voice immediately, he still didn't turn around and kept weeping with all his might.
"Come here," the other spoke and put his arms around his trembling shoulders.
"Oh, J-Jungkook," he sobbed. "Why do I have to live like this? What have I done wrong to suffer this crucial fate? Wh-Why do I detest the thought of marrying a woman so?" Jungkook turned him around so that the prince's head was now leaning against his shoulder and his uniform was getting soaked with salty tears.
"We already talked about this. You can't imagine marrying a woman because you're gay. I can't imagine marrying a woman because I'm gay, too," he spoke calmly.
"Yes, but why?!"
"I dunno. I guess we're made like this. And you guys live in a fucked up world, there's nothing wrong with not wanting to marry the opposite gender. If they forced you to marry a prince, what would you say?" Taehyung stayed silent for a while, sniffling as he wrapped his arms around Jungkook's torso.
"Well, I wouldn't be exactly thrilled," he then spoke, having calmed down for the most part. "I-I read nearly a thousand books revolving around romance and I know how absolutely terrifying and dangerous men can be once you marry them. But a compassionate, kind and caring one who cares for me and me only... Not for money, or status, just me... Someone like you, for example."
Jungkook froze at that, feeling his heartrate pick up massively as his lips couldn't resist smiling. "M-Me? But... I'm just Jungkook. I'm nothing special, just your average boy who likes motorcycles and dreams of having some cool tattooes one day--" And for the first time, the prince laughed a little.
"Well, 'Just Jungkook'," he whispered. "I happen to find you a very intriguing person. You're kind, humorous, easy-going, not egocentric or power-hungry and completely selfless. You have no shame being yourself and encourage me to be myself. Who would reject someone like you asking for their hand?" A bright blush dusted both of their cheeks.
"You'd be surprised, really." The brunette ran his hand through the prince's hair and smiled fondly. "No need to cry anymore. If you really have to marry a princess, you can always pull a Jung Hoseok and escape through the woods. I'd come with you." Taehyung laughed humourlessly.
"Oh yes, because that went so perfectly well last time. I fear that's just wishful thinking. Father would have guards sent after me and-- goodness, it would be horrible. Well, there is still two weeks left before my entire life finds its tragic downfall." He scoffed, wiping away the last few tears furiously.
"Don't say that, I still think you should run away. Of course that's your choice, but still. At least have all the fun you can in those two weeks before you decide what you can do." Jungkook lifted the prince up by his waist and spun him around in order to cheer him up which said prince acknowledged with a giggle.
"I wonder. What are tattooes?," Taehyung suddenly asked. "Kinda hard to explain. Maybe I'll show you someday," the brunette answered, not being able to believe the older boy had never heard of something as simple as tattooes. "Let's go back now. Jimin's probably worrying himself sick because we've taken so long."
And they walked along the corridor, arm in arm, not being aware that someone kept their eye on them.
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(A/N: let the drama unfold i guess :D
hello everyone, it's literally 3am and i wish i were tired but i'm really not lmao (because coffee☕) i'm also doing a harry potter marathon and i have one movie left so i'm pulling an all nighter kinda thing? i'm actually very excited abt this idek why
hope you could somehow enjoy and goodbye, thank you for reading and love you all💜💜)