The first night at the Jeons' residence hit Taehyung harder than he had expected.
Even after having drifted off to sleep so peacefully, he had woken up abruptly in the middle of the night, feeling so afraid he'd started crying. Why, he didn't know, but the answer was pretty clear.
He was afraid of the new life that he was about to confront, along with the uncertain future.
What would happen? He knew nothing of this new world, there were no servants to guide him and no private tutors or music teachers that would tell him what he must do. He had heard of commoners attending school with each other, but he had no idea how that was supposed to work.
Not once in his life had he spent time with more than two people around his own age. And now he was supposed to stay in a room with many hundreds of them? How big were the classes? What did they even learn about? Would he ever be able to catch up?
Curse him for being a loud crier. Right in the middle of his outburst, the boy next to him had woken up due to the quite strong volume of his wails, despite him having tried quite hard to suppress it.
The brunette, who was having a wonderful good night's sleep and felt perfectly comfortable rejoiced with his soft bed, was shocked to find him in such a state.
However, he recomposed himself quite quickly and gave his best efforts to comfort and reassure the prince, patting his shoulders and his hair, whispering "It's gonna be okay" into his ear, even hugging him from behind at some point. He was also glad to see that his comforting methods were effective, for Taehyung fell asleep again just quarter an hour later.
And on the next morning, both boys were confronted with hard shock. They woke up cuddling, the younger's arms wrapped around the older's waist from behind, and both were embarrassed to admit that this particular position made them both feel right at home.
Waking up was also a very unusual experience for the prince to make. The room was small and instead of sweet and thoughtful Jimin carrying breakfast to his bed on a tray, he was expected to walk downstairs to start his day. However, he was open to change and he vowed himself to not appear as spoilt or prudish. Not in front of Jungkook and also his family and friends, for that matter.
But of course, things weren't so easy. Another million thoughts swirled around his brain as soon as he sat up in Jungkook's bed, from Elysium to the arms that had just been slung around his waist from behind to how he was supposed to act in front of his friend's parents or how he could keep making up believable excuses that didn't include him being the crown prince of a secret hidden kingdom.
Sometimes, he wished he could switch off his brain and the thoughts whirring within. But how was he supposed to stop thinking? He was human, after all.
And as the morning progressed, he also came to realize just how different the common world was from the palace. When him and Jungkook walked downstairs, he saw Jungkook's parents and friends seated around the kitchen table, all enjoying breakfast. It wasn't painfully silent like at the castle, everyone seemed at ease and talked freely. Normally, he'd have to pay special attention to not chew too loudly or let the cutlery clash too loudly against the plates.
The food tasted good, but the light atmosphere enhanced the good taste. At first he felt awkward, but it seemed as if Jungkook's parents had set their minds to be as kind as possible to Taehyung for their son's sake although finding his appearance uncanny and suspicious.
After the meal, Jungkook, Taehyung, Yugyeom and Yoongi excused themselves and went up to Jungkook's room. It was clear that the two friends wished to interrogate their allegedly dead friend and what in the world had happened during those three months.
As Yoongi and Yugyeom made themselves comfortable on two beanbags, Jungkook and Taehyung sat on the bed. Deciding to tell the truth, the brunette slowly started talking truthfully. And he didn't stop, feeling one heavy weight fall off his chest with every sentence he produced.
And when he was done, he almost started sweating and panting. Not once in his life had he felt more relieved than right now. Embarrassing as that comparison was, he felt like he had just been cured from severe constipation.
Yoongi and Yugyeom resembled two fish, eyes wide and round and jaw dropped so low a hundred flies could fly inside comfortably.
For a while, no words were spoken, the two boys needed a great deal of time to process all the information that they were given.
"Wha-- I--" Yoongi was the first one to speak up. "You mean to tell me... You're not bluffing? Some kind of secret kingdom exists here? People just don't know? What the fuck? This is some weird Disney shit right there..." He massaged his temples, feeling overwhelmed.
"And you." He now looked directly at Taehyung. "You're a... crown prince of this secret kingdom thing? How the fuck does that even work? This country doesn't even have a monarchy anymore!" Again, the prince felt apprehensive when spoken to. He felt like an alien, like he was being viewed as an alien-like creature.
"Elysium doesn't exactly identify as part of the country. We are an independant kingdom with different rules and lifestyles. And we're keeping ourselves and other kingdoms a secret because there is a very complex history, full of war and exploitation and economical problems. Your government and my ancestors agreed to lead seperate lives completely isolated from each other, so we may all live in peace and not cross paths at all cost." He fiddled with his thumbs, something that he was not supposed to do as it was deemed unprofessional but he couldn't help doing in situations like these.
"But it didn't work," Yugyeom commented. "We crossed paths. Kook accidentally stumbled upon your world. And now you're in ours. So what'll happen now? And why are you even here?"
"I couldn't stay. The pressure was unbearable and I felt constantly caged in. Anywhere is better than here, I thought, and just ran without thinking. And I took Jungkook with me." The dirty blonde frowned.
"Isn't that kinda unprofessional though, just running off like that? And what do you mean, you took him with you?" The newcomer could already tell that Yugyeom was overly inspective. Well, at least he had full reason for that.
"Hey, back off. You don't even know how he was treated there. He was being married off to someone he didn't even know, and he doesn't even like gir--," Jungkook started defending him but held himself back.
Taehyung felt his face redden. Because he suddenly remembered the events that took place before they had run away. And that included the kiss. Neither of them had shared a single word about it after it happened and considering everything that had happened after, both of them had entirely forgotten about it.
He wanted to slap himself. Why had he done that?! How could he just kiss him like that? Of course, he had looked ravishing in that fancy uniform, hair perfectly styled and easily outshining every other pretentious person in the room, but why would he lose control and kiss him? The rush that he had felt at the ceremony, that rush of resistence and rebellion had entirely vanished by now, it seemed impossible that he had even felt something like that at some point. Now he just felt small and vulnerable.
"Sorry, I don't mean to snap at anyone." Yugyeom sounded more like he wanted to aplologize to Jungkook than Taehyung. The prince suspected that he had not made a good first impression.
Now Yoongi spoke. "So, what's gonna happen? Are you just gonna return to school like you weren't pronounced dead weeks ago? And you, will you join our class? You've been homeschooled all the time, but maybe you'll be able to catch up pretty quickly. You're our age, after all." Now Taehyung felt even more uncomfortable.
"Yeah, how far did you learn? You're gonna have to choose between physics, chemistry, astronomy, and biology and social studies and economy and possibly religion and ethics or something. Psychology and philosophy, possibly. Art and music. Maybe even French, Spanish, Japanese or Chinese if you wanna learn a different language." The prince almost felt cold sweat run down his back. Psychology? Biology? He had never heard of these things before!
"Ph-physics? Astronomy? What is that?" Yoongi's and Yugyeom's mouths took the shape of an 'O'.
"So I'm guessing your teacher focused more on more central subjects? What do you prefer, maths, Korean or English?" Jungkook, who knew exactly how far behind people in Elysium were (he suspected an extremely high illiteracy rate), stepped in.
"Guys, you need to consider that that place is a whole different world. Many subjects that are completely normal to us haven't been taught there like, ever. I think he should stay at ours for a while. Maybe I could give you my old school stuff so you can take a look, I bet my mom kept all of it," he now spoke to Taehyung, who felt a tiny bit better now and nodded.
"You think your parents will let him stay at your place alone while they're at work and you're at school? No offense, but that story you made up about him living in the woods without electricity and stuff is kinda sketchy. They'll never buy it, or trust him," Yoongi spoke out exactly the thoughts that had been bugging the brunette for the entire morning.
"But I want him to be here, I'm sure they'll respect that." Despite still feeling heavily anxious, the prince's heart leapt a little out of joy.
He wants me here...
"Fair point, they'd probably buy you a private island if you asked, under current circumstances. But Kook, you're really shit at planning stuff. You should really consider consequences before doing something," Yugyeom said. Jungkook rolled his eyes and shrugged.
"Yeah, yeah. But I always had you to do that for me. Anyways, that's how we're gonna do it. It'll be okay, I'm sure of it."
Yugyeom's sigh coincided with a knock on Jungkook's bedroom door. "Yugyeom? Yoongi? Your parents want you to leave for school!" It was Mrs. Jeon, the two of them standing up and leaving the room after a quick goodbye.
It was quiet for a while, only Taehyung and Jungkook left now.
"They hate me. Your friends. They absolutely dislike me, I can see that." Jungkook looked over to him, sitting closer to him and shaking his head.
"That's not true. They'll come around, just give them some time. Everyone's just still in shock, imagine having a funeral for someone close to you and then seeing them come back like it's nothing. I honestly have no idea how this'll work, but what choice do I have?"
"Will you return to your... school? When?" The brunette shrugged. "I'm gonna talk to my parents today, and they'll call the police and tell them I'm not dead. Same goes for the school. Kind of ironic since the cops should actually be the ones finding out this stuff, but cops suck anyways. Sorry, that's off-topic. Hm... I think I'll wait for like a week until returning. Got lots to catch up on." He surpressed a groan thinking about all the assignments and tests he must have missed.
"That's... splendid. However... well... how will-- it is such a stupid question, but..." Taehyung didn't seem to be able to form any coherent sentences anymore. The younger patted his back lightly.
"Hey, I haven't forgotten about you! You'll be fine, you just try to explore this new world and see how you like it. You did say anywhere was better than the castle, remember? I'll ask my mom to hand me all my old school stuff, from elementary to high school. If you're interested in going to school. I complain about school a lot, but education is kinda important when you think about it. What'd be the point if you didn't have it? So, what do you say?"
After thinking for a while, Taehyung nodded. "I.. I think I will try it. I just hope I can somehow catch up."
"Of course you can, you're smarter than you think. It'll work out just fine, promise." Smiling and appreciating the boy's efforts to motivate, the prince nodded.
But would it really work out just fine?
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(A/N: very uneventful i know but we need this every once in a while i think :D
i can feel another writer's block approaching or it'll turn out to be completely fine but honestly i have no idea, then again i'm the type of person to plan out every single event in my head before it happens like if there's one thing i hate it's being unorganized or spontaneous😭
well that was it, thank you very much for tuning in as usual🥰 you're all great and i love ya byebye💜💜)