"Are you always this awkward?"
You looked over at Yoongi. He gave a smug smile.
You sighed. "As much as I would like to say no..."
"I heard you didn't even know that you were a princess?" he asked. "Wouldn't it be difficult to keep that kind of secret? Your parents really went out of their way to hide that one."
They did, didn't they? How could both of them keep that kind of secret? Why keep that kind of secret in the first place?
The more your thought about it, however, the more it made sense. You always wondered why your dad had bodyguards. You were convinced it was simply because he had a thriving business. You just didn't realize that business involved running a country.
In all honesty, you were too busy trying to stay above your school work at all the private schools you were sent to growing up. You didn't pay attention to what your parents did all this time. You felt stupid for being so oblivious. You felt worse for being lied to.
Hoseok was across the room from you both, giving Taehyung a run down of all the things you needed to work on. You didn't want to hear it at the moment. You all ready felt overwhelmed as it was.
"I want to leave," you whispered to yourself.
Yoongi's eyebrows went up. "Do you?"
You looked at your shoes and nodded.
Yoongi stood and grabbed your hand, intertwining his fingers in yours. Before you could ask anything, he pulled you out the back door and into the castle yard.
"What are you doing?" you asked.
He put a finger to his lips to signal you to be quiet. Gripping your hand tighter, he broke into a run. You ran with him until you got to the castle rose garden.
"Why did you bring me here?" you asked, letting go of his hand and catching your breath.
He put his hands on his head, catching his breath also. "It sounded like you needed a break. And I'll take any chance I can get to escape Hoseok."
He turned around and moved ahead, further into the garden. He stopped to touch the rose petals and admire each breed, as if he hadn't seen them in awhile.
"I don't blame you," you said, walking behind him. "He's irritating."
"He wasn't always like that. He used to be friendly and fun."
"That's hard to imagine," you muttered.
Yoongi nodded. "For you, yes. The rest of us, however, remember the old Hoseok well. It's hard for us to see him this way."
"What happened to him then?"
Yoongi stopped to look at you. The corner of his mouth pulled up, and he shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Princess. If you stick around long enough, you may see bits of the old him yourself."
Yoongi gave you a tour of the garden. He had an incredible amount of knowledge about plants and flowers that might have bore you if you didn't find Yoongi himself so interesting. He didn't look like the sensitive type in any sense, nor did he talk like an emotional person, but just from his interests you could tell that there was a deep, artistic side to him.
"I forgot how great this garden was," he said. "It really is the best of all the kingdoms."
"Do you travel a lot?"
He nodded. "Hoseok and I travel to many different kingdoms to teach royalty, CEOs, spoiled rich girls, and anyone in between."
"Sounds like an amazing job."
He shrugged. "It pays the bills, I guess."
"You don't sound too thrilled."
He turned to look at you. "I'd prefer something a little more exciting, maybe."
"Princess! Yoongi!"
You both looked over to see who was calling you. Through the tall rose bushes, you could see Taehyung and Hoseok running through the garden.
Before you could say anything, Yoongi had an arm around your waist and a hand over your mouth. He pulled you back into the towering vineyards and brought you down to the ground to hide.
"What are you doing?" you asked, muffled because of his hand.
He brought you in, his lips brushing against your ear. "Shhh." he whispered. "It's more fun this way."
You froze in your place, the sound of his whisper chilling your spine. You thought he would pull away, but he kept his hands and lips right where they were until Hoseok and Taehyung were out of sight.
Once they left, you took Yoongi's hands and plucked them off your waist and mouth. He sat back, proud of himself.
"That was fun." he said.
You burst into laughter. It was the first time you really laughed since you had came to the castle. You weren't sure why you were laughing so hard. Neither did Yoongi, but he laughed with you anyhow.
"I needed that," you said when your laughter finally receded. "Thanks."
He smiled at you, standing up. He held out a hand to help you up as well. "It'll be all right, Princess. You'll see."
You looked back where Hoseok and Taehyung had last been. "Are we just going to dodge them for the rest of the day?"
"I might." Yoongi said. "You can do whatever."
You looked around and sighed. "I'd really just love to be by myself for awhile, honestly."
You then realized how rude that sounded.
"Not because of you, or anything!" you quickly said, trying to explain. "You've been very kind. I just wish I had a moment to collect my thoughts. That's what I meant. Sorry."
He laughed, completely unfazed. "I knew what you meant. It's a lot to take in, right?"
He gave you a long glance, then nodded into the vineyards. "Go take some time for yourself. I think after today's lesson, you've earned it. I'm going to see how long it takes Hoseok to find me."
You smiled.
He shot a finger gun at you. "Catch you later, Princess."
With a long exhale, you walked further into the vineyards. They were absolutely breathtaking. Everything here was, really. It wasn't that the castle itself was terrible, but you were still miserable. You hadn't talked to your friends in days. You just found out your parents had been lying to you for a lifetime. The people you were spending time with were complete strangers, each one of them expecting something from you that you didn't know how to deliver.
How were you going to be a princess? Was there still a chance this was a prank?
After a bit of walking, you realized Taehyung was still looking for you. Would he get in trouble if you didn't return? He hadn't done anything wrong towards you. He had always been nice. You didn't want to get him in trouble.
Before you could turn around to go back, however, you heard a faint giggle. It was the first time you had heard another girl around. Who was it?
You walked over to the sound of the giggling, hearing a male voice in the mix. Overwhelmed with curiosity, you couldn't help but find the vine-enclosed area it was coming from and peek inside.
There was a girl. Her back was turned towards you, but she was in the arms of someone, giggling.
It was Namjoon.