Jeongguk couldn't close his mouth. He tried his best, he just couldn't close it.
"You're really doing this for me?" he asked Taehyung, his eyes shining with tears and showing Taehyung just how touched he was.
"No," Taehyung smiled at him, "we are doing this together."
He had woken Jeongguk up early in the morning, half a year after Jimin and Jeongyeon's wedding, to bring him to the new land he had bought in a quiet area on the outskirts of Seoul. The plan was to get a traditional house built with all the modern technologies still being used inside.
A blend of the old and the new.
He had asked Jeongguk to come up with ideas for the traditional structure of the house. And so Jeongguk broke down. He sniffled and pulled Taehyung into a tight hug, patting his back and snuggling deeper into his shoulder.
"What can I ever do to repay your kindness? Let me at least keep you with me forever. I shall make sure nothing ever harms you and your happiness. I shall make sure you live like a king."
"Oh, god, cut my hand already," Taehyung mumbled and looked up at Jeongguk. "Marry me, then, you heart-melting harabeoji," he said with a little slap to Jeongguk's hard chest.
"Sure," Jeongguk smiled back. "But it is not you who is supposed to come up with the proposal. It is I who must do it. So plea-" he stopped talking because of the highly offended look on Taehyung's face.
"I'm a man too, you memory-loss patient!! I can come up with the proposal too!! Fuck you for ruining this! Now shut up and just say yes!!" Taehyung exclaimed and knelt on one knee, taking a box out of his coat and opening it for Jeongguk to see.
Jeongguk knew what this was. He had seen enough dramas and movies to know what was happening.
"Marry me, huh? Marry me and make me your king," Taehyung said, looking up at Jeongguk hopefully.
"Sure," Jeongguk said with a roll of his eyes and took the ring out of the box. Ignoring Taehyung, he began to examine the ring. "It is pretty," he commented after a while.
Taehyung, who had stood up by then, grinned. "I know, right?!" he exclaimed happily. "You have a good taste and I have always known it, but I shall give you the credit now," Jeongguk said with a grin before getting down on his knee.
It made Taehyung gasp. He had come prepared to propose to Jeongguk, of course, but what was happening?! Did Jeongguk come prepared to propose to him as well?! What a wonderful coincidence?! What a wonderful play of fate-
"YOU CAN'T STEAL MY RING AND PROPOSE BACK TO ME, YOU MANNERLESS DUMB HARABEOJI!!" he yelled, all of his romantic thoughts coming to an ugly crash when Jeongguk presented him the ring that Taehyung had just presented to him.
"Shut up and stop ruining the mome-"
"I'M RUINING THE MOMENT?!"
"Yes. Now shut up and say yes. Will you be my King forever?"
"Nope," Taehyung huffed and looked away defiantly, crossing his arms against his chest. "Not if you are going to be so unromantic," he said before turning to walk away.
Jeongguk stared dumbstruck at his lover's retreating back. There was thankfully no one around or Jeongguk would have beheaded them for looking at his vulnerability at the moment.
Taehyung took very tiny steps. He was waiting for Jeongguk to run behind him and stop him but it wasn't happening and he was fighting very hard not to turn back and see what was stopping him.
He knew Jeongguk wasn't romantic, but he couldn't be this bad, right? There were kings who had built monuments for their queens. Being unromantic wasn't an attribute of old people. This was exclusive to Jeongg-
Neoneun nae salme dasi tteun haetbit~
Taehyung froze, his eyes widening at the familiar angelic voice singing behind him.
Moreugesseo i gamjeongi mwonji~
Hoksi yeogido kkumsogin geonji~
Why did everything suddenly become so blurry? He wanted to turn around, but he didn't want Jeongguk to stop.
Take my hands now~
You are the cause of my euphoria~
English?! Now where did that come from?! Taehyung knew for a fact that this was a song Jeongguk was singing on his own. The lyrics were too personal to be a coincidence. There were tears running down his face already and Taehyung didn't even want to deny it anymore.
Geu nuga i segel heundeureodo~
Jabeun son jeoldae nochi mara jwo~
Jebal kkumeseo kkaeeonaji ma~
Taehyung decided to fuck it and turned around, sprinting at full speed to throw his arms around Jeongguk and smash their lips together.
Romantic who? He only knew Jeon Jeongguk, the crown prince of Jeonseol.
"Come, l-let's get married," he sniffled with a chuckle when they pulled away from each other.
"Then accept my ring," Jeongguk said with a smirk and received a smack on his chest in return.
"That's my ring. You buy a new one and give me and I'll wear it then."
Jeongguk rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said and intertwined their hands together before making their way to their car. "Where are we going now?" he asked once he settled behind the wheel.
"The builder," Taehyung said and fed the location on the GPS. "Let's make a basic design of our house. We can keep making changes as and when we need any."
Jeongguk was grinning, a little dimple popping up along with his bunny teeth. "Alright," he said.
"Oh, by the way," Taehyung started as they hit the road, "don't tell Jeongie that the half-built house next to our land is Jiminie's. He is planning to surprise her when the baby is out. Hopefully, the house gets done by then."
"Yes, I hope so to-"
"Oh! Hobi hyung and Yoongi hyung are coming to visit us in the evening. Hobi hyung texted me just now. They might stay for dinner."
"Oh, that is good. Shall we call Namjoon hyung and Seokjin hyung too? If it is okay for Hoseok hyung, it can be a little get-together," Jeongguk suggested.
Over the course of time, he had dropped the 'nim' for everyone and had started calling them hyung, seeing as he was the youngest of all of them. Calling Jimin 'Jimin hyung' had taken forever, seeing as he was once his teacher, but Jimin managed to convince him that he was no longer his teacher and that they no longer had such a huge age gap between them.
"Sure! Lemme just ask Hobi hyung if they are coming with some purpose or if it is okay if I invite Joonie hyung and Jinnie hyung as well."
"Okay," Jeongguk mumbled.
Taehyung whipped his head towards Jeongguk in shock. "What?!" he asked, his eyes wide in shock.
"What?" Jeongguk asked, throwing a couple of sceptical glances at Taehyung and the road alternatively.
Taehyung beamed at him and just shook his head. "Nevermind," he said and got back to his phone happily. He didn't want to point out Jeongguk's choice of words and make him conscious of the change. If the change was going to happen, he didn't want Jeongguk to feel bad about it again.
Over the last six months, they had gone to Jeonkungjeon more than five times, each time reserving the entire palace to themselves. Who were the managers of the palace to say no when Taehyung and Jeongguk offered to pay twice as much as what they got when the palace wasn't reserved for them?
Jeongguk slowly started moving on and accepting the fact that he had no option but to live in the future now. He had already known it, but it took him long to digest the fact.
With Taehyung's help, he slowly moved on from his parents, people and Kingdom.
If Taehyung was going to be with him forever and if he got to always bicker with him like they did every day, he didn't mind letting his kingdom go.
He didn't mind sacrificing everything he was once meant to be.