The room was filled with teams of people running back and forth between the candidates, cameras being pointed at their faces, people in the background shouting orders and guiding them to several stations.
Taehyung whistles at the chaos. Considering that this staff worked for the royal family, he imagined them to be a bit more . . . organized?
When they got the notice to be at Gyeonghoeru Pavilion in the early morning, they all woke up, showered and headed on down to the royal banquet hall. Gyeonghoeru Pavilion had been accommodated to where the pillars were now with large curtains to keep people from peaking in. When Tae and the rest entered, they already saw several candidates undressing and getting their hair and make-up done.
A man with purples hair suddenly points to the four of them, snapping his fingers to get their attention. "You four. Follow me."
Like the others, they were told to strip, right there in front of the others. It wasn't really a big deal, seeing as they were used to public bathhouses and what not. But even in the bathrobe that was handed to him, Taehyung found himself feeling self-conscious since he lost some weight beforehand. Especially after noticing the bodies of the other candidates. There was one big guy in the corner with large pecs that was extremely dismotivating to look at.
It had been three days since he blacked out at the gym. He was surviving off of the left overs of Jin's cooking, no word to be heard from the prince. His fever finally died down after he was able to take the medications. He was able to sleep because Jin climbed into bed with him. Sometimes Jimin and Hoseok managed to sneak in too, no one ever said a word to any of them.
They almost had a hard attack this morning, however, when a staff member called on them to wake up and head here.
Their bodies were cleaned, scrubbed, oiled and massaged. Tae hadn't felt himself this relaxed in years, not to mention he was sure his body was so spotless that he could eat it off of it. He wouldn't though. That'd be weird.
"Alright," Sungkyung says as she sits Tae down in front of a large mirror, his hair wet. "So, I have to admit something here. I'm obsessed with your face." She moves his head so she could get different angles of it on the mirror, admiring him. "Your side profile is amazing, your skin is flawless and your facial angles could be both soft and sharp depending on what we do to you."
The compliments were a bit embarrassing, Tae lowers his head, hiding his smile. Sungkyung continues with her observations.
"Basically, I want to go blonde with you. A very very light blonde. Almost grey even. It works both ways, you can look angelic or absolutely tempting." She didn't give him time to protest, she began massaging his head, he found himself drifting to sleep at the sensation.
He is startled by the sound of a blow dryer and his eyes flicker to the mirror as the heat hit his head. His new blonde locks flying in every direction. He was told to close his eyes as he felt the soft touch of brushes and sponges on his face. Hands touch his hair again. The stylist's hands moved quickly. He felt more heat, smelled something burnt.
Oh god, what was she doing to him?
"Done."
Opening his eyes, he catches a glimpse of Sungkyung walking away in the mirror, moving to the person next to him. His eyes turn to his reflection in the mirror, widening as he sees himself. His blonde hair is almost white now, completely contrasting his natural brown eyebrows which have been thickened with makeup. There was a touch of pink on his eyelids and some brown on his lower lids, making his eyes look bigger, a bit rounder. He looked mature, but at the same time, his cheeks seemed to make him giveaway his youthfulness.
Behind him, someone whistled. Hoseok appears in the mirror, his previously bright red/orange hair had now been dyed down to a darker brown with a few hints of red, when the light hit it at a certain point. His brows too were touched up a bit and his bangs were curled a bit to where some forehead was exposed.
In all honesty, Hoseok has always been handsome, but the hair and makeup added a nice touch to his natural beauty. "You look great, Tae," he says, his smile bright and happy.
"You do too, hyung," he answers back, grinning.
The elder looks at himself in the mirror, fixing a few strands of his hair. "Yeah. Stylist-noona makes miracles."
"I only bring out the best of your features," Sungkyung comments as she returns with Jin, who sat down in front of the mirror. "You guys were already handsome, I just enhance your looks so mortals can notice them." She winks at them before starting to say something to Seokjin.
"Where's Jimin?" Tae asks as getting up from the chair, but not before checking himself out once more in the mirror.
Hoseok frowns, looks around. Too many people. "He was styled before me, where'd he go?"
They found him eventually. He was curled up in a ball over at the corner, a hoodie over his head. The two boys looked at each other, smiling mischievously before going over to the smaller male and holding him down to yank his hoodie off much to his protest.
Both stood in shock when the hoodie actually came off.
His previous pink hair was long gone and replaced with black. Full on midnight black.
Jimin actually tried to cover his hair with his hands, "Don't look!" he whined.
It had been years since they saw Jimin's natural color. He had been known to die his hair orange, red, and neon pink. He constantly said that his natural color didn't suit him, but at the moment Taehyung could only think of how black seemed to be the color that suited him the best.
"Wow, Jiminie," Hoseok says in a singing tone. "You look manly."
The small boy looks up at them. His brows pressed together. "Manly?" he asks, lower lip quivering.
Taehyung beams at him. "Yeah, you look handsome."
And it was true. Maybe it due to the fact that he began eating more since coming to the palace and started working out a lot more than the rest of them, but his features looked exactly that, manly, sharp.
No longer the fragile Jimin that they knew before.
Jimin moves to eye himself in the mirror, looking at himself from various angles to get a good look. It was true he looked a lot different but he hadn't expected to look manly. The touch of brown added to his eyelids also gave him a sexy appeal, the color of lipstick making his lips appear plumper.
This was weird.
"Pink?!" someone shrieks from the other side of the room. "Why pink?!"
The three of them turned as they recognized Jin's voice. Then darted in the direction of the voice.
Sungkyung speaks up. "You don't have to be so nervous," she assures him, calming him down as she styles his hair, her frame preventing them from seeing their hyung as they walked up.
Then she moves.
Their mouths drop.
It was at that moment that almost everyone in the room suddenly felt inferior. Many eyes fell on Kim Seokjin with awe, jealousy and some even lust.
Taehyung smirks as he looked around the room, observing the looks his brother was getting. He knew what they were all thinking. If looks declared you the winner then Kim Seokjin had already won.
Even though said winner was whining like a baby about his pink hair.
"Kim Taehyung?" someone called out.
Tae turned at the sound of his name. The voice had caused many to snap out of their trance and continue on with what they were doing. Tae noticed a tall young-looking male with a clipboard in hand searching the room. Taehyung frowns. The guy hadn't been there before. Then again, with all the men in the room, most likely Taehyung just didn't notice him, even though he usually had a good memory.
He raises his hand. "Here!" he calls out before walking over to the boy.
"Come with me," the boy indicates, turning on his feet and walking out of the pavilion. Tae follows behind him in silence.
They walk a long way. Past the dorms, past the kitchen, until they entered a whole new building inside the palace. He is led to what seemed to be a study room. The guy leading him stops at the entrance and indicates for him go to inside. He did so, looking around till he sees someone to the right of the large room.
Prince Jungkook.
He was sitting at a desk, his legs propped up and crossed, headphones in one ear and a tablet in front of him. He looked almost like a normal person with his loose white t-shirt, jeans and....were those timberlands?
Taehyung decides to knock on the door frame to get his attention. The prince looks up from his tablet.
"Yes?" he asks, a confused look on his face.
Tae gives him a droll stare. "I think you called for me?"
He watches as the prince's eyes widened as the realization hits him. Taehyung didn't realize that his new look would cause a person to not be able to recognize him, the prince suddenly looks so flustered. "K-kim Taehyung?" he asks, a slight tint of red creeping up his lips.
Taehyung just nods.
Jungkook hadn't been able to get a good look at Taehyung before. During the meet and greet he had been bored and mostly staring off into space until Kim Seokjin actually came and greeted him, then after that he focused on not busting out laughing in the middle of the broadcast because he remembered Jin's joke.
Also the second time he saw Jin's brother he had been pale, sweaty and pretty out of it. He had heard from the staff that there was actually someone who could rival Kim Seokjin's beauty, but had paid no mind to it.
Now it was a whole other matter. The person of interest was before him and Jungkook couldn't look away. The guy in front of him was practically glowing and he could do nothing more but blush when his eyes met his own.
Jungkook isn't used to talking to pretty people.
"Um, Prince? You're staring."
He didn't think it was possible but the young prince's face grew redder. "S-sorry," he stutters, "It's just. . . you look so different—a good different. A-a lot better than before —Not that you looked bad before though—" he stops himself and takes a deep breath, bring a hand up to slap his own forehead. "I'm sorry. Please take a seat."
Tae did as he was asked, the prince brought his legs down and straightened himself on the chair, putting his tablet aside. But not before Tae noticed that he had been playing a video game.
"Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. My hyung has been busy and it was pretty hard to get him to spare me five minutes of his time."
"I'm sure he had better things to do."
"Uh, right." Jungkook nervously ran his fingers through his hair. "So the reason I called you here was to see if you wanted to press charges against the doctor who tended you. Your hyung is against it and says we should just forget about the whole matter, but since you're the patient it's important to get your opinion in as well."
"I don't wanna press charges. I would be happy if she kept her job." It wasn't a lie. He knew that what had happened to him hadn't been her fault. He had been the one to keep things under the rug. Taehyung wasn't heartless.
Jungkook writes that down on a notepad. "Okay. Noted. Also about your. . . situation."
Taehyung tilts his head, waiting.
"We've arranged for you and your brother to move in together. The rooms are big enough and since you two only need one bed then there's really no issue."
For the first time since he had arrived, Taehyung finds himself smiling. It wasn't just a regular smile, it was one where his eyes lit up and his mouth was semi-open in a state of happiness and incredibility, "Really?!" he beamed.
Jungkook felt himself stop breathing as the elder jumped up from his chair and basically threw himself over the desk to pull the prince into his arms. The blonde begins bouncing up and down happily with the brunette still in his arms. "Really? Really? Really?" he asks excitedly, letting go but keeping his arms on the boy's shoulders, shaking him.
"Yeah," the prince answers after recollecting himself, pulling away. "I also managed to get permission for him to use the kitchen every night. He can cook for you and leave it for the kitchen staff to heat it the next day."
Taehyung pulls him into another hug, this one just as equally surprising as the one before. He mutters countless of 'thank yous' under his breath. Jungkook managed to push the older boy gently away. He scratches the back of his head shyly, and then his eyes grow as he remembered something. "Ah, but about using the kitchen. There is one condition. . ."
Tae's eyes grew big as the prince explained the condition. His lips curve into a very mischevious smile. "Oh don't worry," he says, the grin never leaving his face. "I'm sure Jin-hyung won't mind."
Seokjin was startled. He was absolutely startled. He had walked into the kitchen completely content that now he didn't have to worry so much about his brother eating. But when he entered he froze immediately at seeing that he had company in the kitchen. Right now he wants to scream and run away or possibly melt into a puddle. In fact, he didn't even mind if someone were to kidnap him right now.
He glances at his guest sitting silently at the kitchen counter watching him. "So when Jungkook told Taehyung that there was a condition for me using the kitchen. . ."
"I hope you don't mind," the King responded, a small hesitant and sort of awkward smile on his face, "Jungkook spoke so well of your cooking that I also wanted to try it out."
Oh, Jin didn't mind.
But he didn't know how well his food was going to turn out if he had to cook while the King was staring at him like that.