After one more week of ignoring as many responsibilities as possible, having as much fun as they could and simply ignoring the inevitable, it was finally time.
Taehyung's birthday party was being celebrated.
Jungkook had lots of fun secretly nicking delicious snacks from the kitchen during his kitchen duties when the other servants weren't looking, but of course always saving some for Taehyung. Jimin, who frequently caught him doing so gave a disapproving shake of his head but didn't say anything further.
And no matter how much Taehyung dreaded and feared his own birthday party, sitting in his garden pavillion with Jungkook while munching on creamy raspberry tarts that the latter had sneaked out of the kitchen and mindlessly talking about mindless things always eased him up and made him feel a sense of freedom that he rarely felt. Sometimes, he felt a strong desire to inch closer and lean his head on the brunette's shoulder cozily but unfortunately, he never had the courage to do so.
The prince was also starting to feel interested in Jungkook's phone and commoners' technology. He was always eager to learn about more functions, listen to modern music and look at pictures that Jungkook had taken, be it nature, buildings, random pictures from school or silly little joke photos that he had taken while hanging out with his friends. Was it possible to feel connected to places he had never been to before?
However, time flowed quicker than he thought. As if he had filled his palm with beach sand and it was slowly, but surely slipping through his fingers until he was left with nothing. And then came the day he dreaded oh-so horribly.
"Your Majesty, please stop blinking your eyelids. I must apply this curious powder on them, it will make them glitter beautifully," Jimin spoke while holding vial-like thing with something that pretty much looked like eye shadow. But Taehyung evidently did not like it, jerking back a bit.
"What is this? It feels very unpleasant!"
Jungkook was sitting on the bed watching the two of them, finding this more entertaining than he should. He caught himself doing that a lot lately, watching Taehyung sit on his majestic stool and get beautified by Jimin every morning. Except when he changed his clothes, he wasn't a creep after all.
Taehyung had never applied make-up (or Elysium's equivalent for make-up) before, but since this was his 'big day', it was mandatory and Jungkook was most definetely not complaining at the sight. Of course, the prince was beautiful no matter what he did, but the make-up gave his features such a beautiful glow and accentuation that he almost wasn't capable of taking his eyes off him.
His clothes were more extravagant than usual aswell, more detail, more expensive fabric that hugged his body flawlessly, more beautiful embellishments- of course his most gorgeous tiara to top it off, diamonds of all shapes and sizes decorating his blueberry-coloured hair like little stars. Jungkook tried very hard to keep himself from drooling.
"You look wonderful, Your Majesty. I will announce that you're ready in the ballroom. He will accompany you there," Jimin spoke with a bow, pointing towards Jungkook and kind of inspecting him as if he feared that the brunette might mess up. Said brunette responded with a roll of his eyes.
As soon as Jimin had left the room, Jungkook approached a stoic-looking Taehyung carefully. "So, how you feeling?" The prince shrugged, not knowing what to feel or how to act. He simply stared at himself in his clear, golden mirror, wondering what he was supposed to think about the boy staring back at him. Despite being so prettied up, he thought he looked unnaturally pale.
Standing next to him, Jungkook wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him a bit closer, not sure how to feel either. He actually felt a bit sad, not really sure why. "You don't need to hide, you know. Your thoughts, your feelings. Not with me." Taehyung felt his heartbeat accelerate significantly, blinking but not saying anything.
"I feel...," he finally spoke. "Fatigued. Not as terrified as I had anticipated." The brunette turned his head so he was now gazing at his side profile, tucking a strand of silky soft hair behind his ear gently. "Because these people don't know how to give you a break, of course it's tiring you out. But I know you can do this, and I'll be there watching you every single second. And so will Jimin, okay?"
When Taehyung couldn't find the words to respond, feeling a tad overwhelmed, he grabbed the prince's hand, a bright gemstone sitting on every single finger except for the ring finger, and pressed a little kiss on it.
"By the way, you look dashing. My Prince."
He then pulled a very bashful crown prince out of his room, a red colour taking over his face very prominently.
"Come on. Don't be too late on your big day."
°○●○●○°
The ballroom was absolutely packed with people. Everything was so lively and just grand, Taehyung wouldn't have dreamt of it.
Ice sculptures, bright chandeliers, diamonds glittering everywhere, a live string quartet, party fountains made out of the purest glass, buffet tables with all sorts of appetizers and fine delicacies and not to mention, all the fancy noblemen and noblewomen wearing their finest gowns and either standing and chatting or twirling around graciously to the soft string quartet music being played in the background.
Taehyung could absolutely not digest the fact that all of this was for him. And yet, he felt so lost and out of place, he was close to running away on the spot.
"There he is. The birthday boy," a familiar voice rang from somewhere in the background and just then, all the chatter stopped, the music faded and through the literal ocean of guests stepped two women, everyone immediately clearing out of the way while gasping and bowing excessively. By now, everyone had noticed Taehyung.
"Mother. Sojung." He nodded respectfully, both women curtseying gently.
"You look wonderful, my child," the Queen complimented, looking perfectly majestic in her midnight-blue puff sleeved ballgown and heavy, also midnight-blue jewels hanging around her neck and of course, the huge golden crown sitting on her head. Taehyung wondered if he would have to wear that heavy crown himself.
"The feast is wonderful. I hope you are enjoying yourself," his sister added. Again, she looked just like a replica of her mother, taller by a few inches and her ballgown shining in deep violet, accentuating her silhouette perfectly and pearly white, shimmering gloves completing the look beautifully.
"Yes. Of course," the prince replied monotonously, looking around the room and smiling brightly at all the people accidentally catching his eye and bowing at him or raising their crystal glasses.
"Where is father?," he then asked, pretending to be curious.
"He will be here soon," the Queen answered, making his stomach drop painfully as he dreaded what was about to come. Because his father's arrival also meant his future fiancée's arrival.
Again, his eyes started roaming the ballroom in attempt to distract himself and give his brain something to do other than worry. However, his eyes immediately lit up as he saw Jungkook stand at the other side of the room, holding a tray of what looked like little shrimp appetizers, nodding and bowing at every nobleperson who approached him to take one.
He seems to have accomodated well, Taehyung thought. It was almost as if he was a real servant, a handsome one at that.
Suddenly, Jungkook caught his eye and smiled at him, which made him jerk back slightly, his cheeks tinted red as he remembered the interaction in his chambers before, where the brunette had complimented him and kissed his hand ever so gently. Why did that memory keep replaying in his head? And what was strange, floaty feeling inside his chest? No one had ever treated him like this...
Just in that moment, the King entered the room, the guests being silent immediately and giving a deep bow. The King didn't pay any attention to them, his eyes searching for someone in particular.
"People," he then announced, his voice loud and booming as usual. "As you all know, this is a feast held for crown prince Taehyung's eighteenth birthday. But I come to you with a big surprise that will bring you even more joy." The guests started whispering curiously, wondering what that big surprise could be. Taehyung's mood dropped immediately.
"Simultaneously, this feast will also celebrate his engagement. To Princess Eunbin from the Islands of Jeju, a gorgeous and wealthy lady that will make a very suitable match for my son. I propose a toast, raise your glasses to that!" The whispers turned into excited murmurs, people all around the room looking at the crown prince with faces bursting of joy, raising their glasses as their king had ordered. Only two people stood around looking extremely gloomy- and that was Taehyung and Jungkook.
The prince felt dizzy, disoriented. Like his mind had flown off to somewhere completely else. Was this reality or a nightmare that he would be able to wake up from? He felt his legs grow weaker as his heart kept banging furiously against his chest, and that not in a good way. For a moment, he worried he might pass out in front of the crowd, but then he concentrated all his remaining energy on pulling himself together and forced a smile on his face, nodding politely.
His father gestured him to come and step closer to his future bride, and he- despite wanting nothing more than to be further away from them both, complied with legs wobbly as jelly and his entire body jittering like a poor leaf in a stormy autumn night.
"Princess Eunbin, this is my son Taehyung. Taehyung, this is your future princess." Despite feeling naseous to a point where he might accidentally puke right on the shining marble floor, the blueberry-haired male smiled a sickly sweet smile and held out his hand for her to shake, not daring to look into her eyes.
Eunbin widened her eyes in surprise at his gesture, surprised that he was offering to shake her hand instead of kissing it, like princes were known to do, but nevertheless didn't comment on it further and shook it with a nervous smile on her face. She was wearing a pale gold ballgown just as shiny and shimmery as Taehyung's, no doubt their families had the costumes planned beforehand.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, my prince," she spoke, him nodding awkwardly.
My prince. Those words had sounded better coming out of Jungkook's mouth. Why was that exactly?
"It is great to meet you at last. I have heard so much about you," he spoke almost sarcastically, throwing a secret sideeye onto the King, who decided to give the to-be-wedded couple some privacy. Taehyung was trying hard not to run out of the room, feeling caged in and finding it difficult to breathe properly.
Eunbin decided to keep the conversation going. "Have you and your family decided on a wedding date yet? My parents would rather have it as soon as possible, although I know they will horribly miss me when I leave kingdom Omorfia to rule here in Elysium."
"W-Well... do you not think it would be unnecessary to rush the wedding so? My father is the ruler of this kingdom still and he is perfectly alive and healthy. If it were after me, I would get wed before or after my coronation," he tried to change her mind. She looked unimpressed, disappointed, even.
Of course, she had nothing to lose but everything to gain with this marriage: A whole kingdom. Power.
"I think it to be wise to discuss this with my parents, Prince Taehyung," she spoke in an almost cool tone. "Ah. They have arrived just now." She pointed to the other end of the huge ballroom, where two figures were emerging slowly.
And that's when Taehyung had enough.
Without any further words, he forced his way through the wildly chattering crowd and ran away, through the back door.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
(A/N: so now the party's here shfdjsis this one's gonna be kinda long but oh well
also i have a very very nasty headache rn i literally feel like a dying person so i might have to sleep soon and i hope it'll be gone tomorrow or i will literally throw hands😔 thank you very much for reading y'all i love you and i realized this book recently hit 2k reads and for that, i'm very grateful💜💜💜🥺)