And two weeks later, it was already time for the wedding. No one could actually believe it was happening.
The kingdom hadn't seen such a grand effort invested in party preparations for literal decades. Everything was to be perfect. Absolutely flawless.
It was all for two kingdoms about to merge and unite, after all.
On the morning of his big day, Taehyung was woken up not one, not two, but three hours before his usual waking time. Surprisingly, Jimin didn't even have to try that hard to get him out of bed. The prince didn't even put up any sort of a fight, accepting his defeat and surrendering by climbing out of his silky bedsheets and waiting for Jimin to wipe his face with some fresh water and work his wonders on his appearance.
Expecting to feel anxious and fearful, Taehyung was surprised to say he just felt de-energized and tired that very morning. The only thing giving him a little strength was Jungkook insisting to be with him every step along the way, even waking up the three hours prior along with him. The horse stable-incident, as Taehyung liked to call it, lingered in his mind and accompanied him wherever he or his thoughts went.
Sometimes, the prince felt the urge to stand on his tippy toes and give the brunette a little kiss on his cheek. And when he was in a particularly good mood, his mind replaced the cheek with a pair of lips.
This wasn't normal for a mere friend, was it?
He knew it wasn't. Was he going crazy? But Jungkook said those kinds of feelings were normal. Maybe he wasn't so crazy after all.
Regardless, every single time the boy's face appeared in his mind and each of his features lingered there for long periods of time, he felt like a sinner.
The desire to randomly grab the brunette's hand out of nowhere. The urge to lay his head or just himself in his lap every time he saw Jungkook sitting. Wanting to trace his lips with his fingertips very thoroughly before kissing them to find out what they tasted like.
He simply felt like a sinful madman. Where in God's name did these urges come from?
There was a knock on his door, pulling him out of a series of strange thoughts again. In came all of his siblings, accompanied by their respective servants or guards.
His sister Sojung was the first one to reach him, smiling so brightly the sun would have a hard time competing with her.
"Brother!," she called, grabbing both of his hands and pulling him up from his chair. "Why, don't you look ravishing? I cannot believe you are getting married! And that even before Namjoon and Seokjin! Eunbin is a beautiful bride, that's for sure and certain."
Taehyung grimaced, not really being able to share his sister's happiness. "She is. But no woman is more beautiful than my sister," he spoke, her smiling even brighter at that and spinning around to present him her beautiful ballgown, a soft baby pink decorated with lace, ribbons and all sorts of embroidery. The prince almost felt jealous seeing Sojung's divine piece of clothing.
"My handmaiden selected it for me. Such fine taste she has. She is in the very best of moods today, I suppose it is because my dearest friend Princess Yerin is attending the wedding. She likes her very much, you see. It is only too saddening they can never be chums," she rambled. And while she did so, Taehyung's next sibling approached him to congratulate him for his happy day. Prince Seokjin, looking handsome as ever.
"My little brother, already taking responsibility over this entire kingdom and settling down while I cannot even decide between five princesses to wed," he spoke proudly, Taehyung raising his eyebrows in question.
"You are in love with five princesses?!" Seokjin shrugged, looking quite smug.
"I keep telling him his affairs are ridiculous and unrealistic. He ought to decide eventually. But we all know how stubborn Seokjin is, living his life to the fullest. Always lurking around the royal kitchens, he's so passionate about food and the preparing of it. And as you can see, he does not shy away when it comes to romance," Namjoon butted in, showing a dimpled smile.
"Happy wedding day to you, little brother. May your marriage be sincere and peaceful." Although Taehyung was very sure this was not going to be the case, he simply smiled and nodded.
Despite dreading everything about to come for today, he did appreciate his siblings' visit very much. Their happiness for him gave him a little bit of strength to pull through on one side, on the other side, however, it made him feel a tiny bit guilty.
Because this was not bound to be a happy marriage.
°○●○●○°
Guests were being very loud, chattering excitedly and enjoying this royal wedding to the fullest.
No one could blame them, the ballroom, where the wedding was being held, had been refashioned and looked as if Cupid personally had paid it a visit and done his best to make the room look the most romantic that was possible.
There was great attention for detail, the chandeliers were decorated with pink ribbons, as were the tablecloths and even the porcellaine plates and goblets. A massive rosy pink carpet was laid out, white and red rose petals sprinkled on it, in the middle of the hall, for the bride and the groom to step on as they would walk towards the altar.
The guests, noble and most humble people from all over the country's secret kingdoms, were enjoying sparkly, also pink drinks as well as little desserts and pastries that looked like artworks that were too precious to eat. Jungkook, who had been suddenly assigned as ring-bearer wondered how they got all the way here unnoticed. He knew these people still travelled by horse carriage. Were there secret roads and paths through the woods that no one had noticed before?
He had been forced into a tight, pearly white suit and was now holding a diamond-embroidered box with two pale golden diamonds rings that perfectly fit the wedding's theme. Actually, he had no idea how he got here as it had actually been Jimin's task but the blonde had stepped down last second and forced Jungkook to take his position as ring-bearer. He wouldn't have minded that much if only he wouldn't have to stand next to the (for now) unoccupied King's throne.
It was hard for him to not just slam the beautiful box onto the shimmering marble floor and leave the ceremony screaming in fury. How dare those people, laughing, sipping their expensive beverage, chewing their cakes and pastries and just watching while two people were forced to wed each other against their consent, committing to a lifetime full of misery and pretension just because they said so?
Up to now, he just felt anxious and sorry for Taehyung, but now he simply felt angry. These hypocrites had probably never worked a day in their lives and had everything handed to them on a silver platter from the day they were born. All they needed was a successful marriage and a low enough pay for their hard-working servants to continue living their luxurious lives rolling in riches.
Jimin had told him all about the way below average pay and high taxation that not Taehyung, but his father was responsible for. In fact, Jungkook knew how badly Taehyung felt about this strict divide in his own society. Multiple nights, he had laid in his bed with his eyes wide open and voiced out all of his concerns.
That he felt horrible for never visiting the village and checking up on his subjects. And for never giving his servants enough free time or treating them badly out of annoyance and his feeling of being caged inside the castle. Thanks to Jungkook who came from an entirely different world with entirely different, he had been able to open his eyes a little and for that, he was very grateful.
And Jungkook, holding his hand (only out of friendship, of course!), had listened to his every word and sometimes watched him fall asleep, sometimes fell asleep while simply listening to him.
All of a sudden, the chatter and laughter stopped and a powerful silence took over. The ceremony had begun.
A string quartet began playing a soft wedding march, the King and Queen striding in and taking their places on the thrones, looking prouder than ever. Jungkook jerked back a bit when he sensed the King right next to him, the latter not taking any notice of the ring-bearer.
Next, Princess Eunbin's family walked in, along with Taehyung's siblings, all of them looking their absolute best and taking their places with a soft smile. Eunbin's mother looked particularly happy, grinning brightly and barely stopping.
And then it was finally time. It was time for the bride and the groom to enter.
Many people let out gasps of awe as they saw the beautiful princess, holding a bouquet of pink roses. Her wedding dress looked like a white rose in bloom, embroidered with little diamomds, her veil dragging on few feet behind her. Her face did not show any emotion, no anxiety but no ecstasy either. People gaped at her beauty as she strode past.
But Jungkook was more focused on Taehyung, the prince seemingly shining from head to toe in pearly white fabric, also wearing a cape swarmed with diamonds and his finest tiara. Jimin had clearly given his very best today, but Jungkook knew he was just as beautiful no matter what he wore.
He didn't know why, but he wanted to memorize every single detail about his appearance and keep it inside his mind forever, from his thick eyelashes to his glossy, cherry-shaded lips to the little pearls and diamonds decorating his shoes. Almost dropping the box again, he simply stared like a fool, absolutely awestruck by the blueberry-haired prince's ethereal beauty.
Maybe Taehyung noticed that one was staring at him more intensely than the others, since he suddenly lifted his head, blinked and looked directly into Jungkook's eyes. Clearly he did not know of the brunette's duty, because there was nothing but shock written on his face.
Of course, Jungkook looked extremely handsome and neat. And Taehyung noticed that with a pain in his chest. As beautiful as his bride looked, he wished nothing more than to marry another. For a moment, he went as far as to think he wanted the ceremony to be between him and Jungkook.
The King and Queen stood up proudly, their arms raised while they greeted all the guests cordially and officially started the ceremony.
Taehyung and Eunbin were forced to stand opposite from each other, aware that everyone's eyes were on them. Soon, both of them flawlessly recited their memorized wedding vows without batting a single eyelash but not meeting each others eyes.
"Princess Eunbin, do you take His Royal Highness to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and health, to love, honor and obey, for richer and poorer, keeping yourself solely unto him for as long as you both shall live? If so, answer 'I do'," the middle-aged priest spoke to the bride, her visibly tensing and hesitating for a few moments. Eventually, she gulped but ultimately spoke: "I do". Taehyung felt his heart sink.
The priest now turned towards him with a gentle smile. "Your Majesty Prince Taehyung, do you take Princess Eunbin to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer and poorer, keeping yourself solely unto her for as long as you both shall live? If so, answer 'I do'."
He was frozen in his spot, he could absolutely not get his brain to function properly and his mouth went entirely dry. Everyone's eyes were on him and he was expected to say 'I do', he knew that.
To have and to hold? Keeping myself solely unto her? For as long as we both live?
It was as if his entire future flashed past him, a future full of pretending and walking on eggshells around everyone, caged inside this enormous yet suffocating castle and kept from what he actually wanted.
Yes, he finally knew what it was that he actually wanted.
Feeling something, some sort of power rush through him, he suddenly felt awakened. Free-spirited. What had gotten into him? Would he regret this? He did not care.
"I do not. Stop the wedding," he spoke loudly, people gasping and whispering in shock, looking at each other in utter confusion. Taehyung's siblings and the King stood up from their seats, probably wanting to reason with him and ask him what the devil had gotten into his head, but he did not stop there.
"M-My Prince. I-I'm afraid I do not comprehend. You do not want Princess Eunbin as your lawfully wedded--" the priest stuttered but got interrupted by the groom almost immediately.
"No. This is who I want." All of a sudden, he stepped away and walked towards his furious father's throne. Except it wasn't his father's throne, he was walking towards someone else.
In just a few strides, he stood in front of a very surprised Jungkook and did something he never thought he would do in his wildest dreams.
He kissed him, right there and then.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
(A/N: i swear when there's a kiss before chapter 10000 i always feel like it's very rushed but in this case, it was planned and quite some time has passed since these two met plus taehyungie's having a bit of an adrenaline rush + he's letting out all his bottled up emotions👉🏻👈🏻
anyways, happy new year to everyone✨✨💜 may all your wishes for 2022 come true and may you all be happy and healthy because you deserve it🥰🥰
hope you saw some nice fireworks (we had some cool ones) and thank you very much for reading and putting up with me and my weird updates, i love you very much and byebye have a great 2022🥺💜💜)