Finalè - Part Two Of Three
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Jungkook sighed as he splashed some water on his face in the bathroom. He could hear the orchestra start to play inside of the ball room, and knew that the coronation was beginning, but it was hard to muster up the courage to stand in that suffocating room and smile while he watched Jimin step into it. Having to stand still, to watch, with no escape. It's been two weeks, each day more agonizing than the last. He avoided going home and instead chose to cruise around the Japanese islands. Because, guess what, he's rich, so he can.
The whole idea of the trip was supposed to be a time for him to breathe, to party and get away from Jeju Academy, but God nothing ever just goes away. Traveling doesn't automatically cut someone's troubles as it's not a physical thing that he can carve out and leave behind. Honestly, Jungkook mostly freaked, and without knowing any better, he reverted to the person he was before transferring to Jeju. Before he was truly happy. The partying wasn't the best idea, as going a tad bit over the top last time was what got him kicked out of his last school, but it proved to be enough of a release that Jungkook didn't seem to mind at the time.
Now, staring into the bathroom mirror, he wasn't sure who it was that was staring back at him. The guard or the party goer. The boy furrowed his brows the smallest bit, straightening his bow tie, and then moving to ruffle his hair. He felt time move like a string attached to his him, pulling him forward from his anchored position. The gentle hum of a clock boomed in his ears and he knew that once the faucet of the sink stopped spraying water into his cold palms, he would need to step back into the real world. That he'd need to face it. Face him.
Could he do it? Pretend that the nights of drinking and dancing and laughing had completely done away with the regret of losing Jimin? Of choosing fear over - over what could have been? Could he actually stand there in that ballroom, side by side to each of the former guards, and keep his head high once Park Jimin swung the grand doors open and walked inside. For a moment, Jungkook closes his eyes, and he could still faintly hear the drop of a beat in Japan, one that had been building up for hours, the crowd around him going wild. The last drop of the faucet splashed against the stone bowl of the sink, and the light pulse of orchestra replaced the foggy memories of Japan, calling him like the bells of a church.
Painstakingly, he moved to wrap his palm around the cold metal of the bathroom door handle, checking his image once more in the mirror to see if his suit and hair was all in place, before stepping out. The second he did so, it was like hitting another world. Music instantly flooded in, people chattered excitedly at every turn, blue gold decorations hung from the ceiling. Even the lighting seemed to brighten just as the sun does the world at the dawn of day.
Swiftly, he moved to stand next to the other guards as ordered to earlier by the current Courts Head, Seokjin, in a very passive aggressive here's what you're gonna do email that he sort of skimmed over. Jackson and Daniel give him a strange look before Jackson cleared his throat, making Jungkook flash a quick, confused glance. Jackson rolled his eyes, tilting his head towards the grand doors where Taehyung stood, flanking one of it's sides. Jungkook's eyes went wide as he gave the Junior a quick thank you, running to stand at opposite side of the entrance to the ballroom. Right, he muttered under his breath, Seokjin needs to shorten his emails. Taehyung nodded at him and Jungkook nodded back before clasping and unclasping his fists at his sides; nervous.
The princess would be entering soon.
He tried to keep his gaze straight on, not quite knowing how he'd react when Jimin walked in. Didn't know if he could take it. This whole event was torment. The coronation was broadcast at every screen imaginable on school grounds, with students lined up gossiping at every turn. Even if he tried to get out of attending, the damn thing was unavoidable. Jimin was unavoidable.
Jungkook swallowed down the guilt he knew would flood in his heart if Jimin even threw him a single glance. Spring Break hadn't been innocent, and while Jungkook didn't explicitly have any sexual relations with anyone, he did slip back into his drinking. Surprisingly, Taehyung ended up at one of the parties Jungkook attended in Japan and the two somehow bonded together in this really strange, broken friendship in which both had shit on their minds that neither wanted to deal with. Seemed a get away to Japan wasn't exactly the most creative idea on either part.
Jungkook turned to glance at his unexpected buddy, the alien smirking knowingly at him before flashing an apologetic glance. Taehyung had been there to hold Jungkook's shaking body once the stuff he'd taken kicked in too hard - Jungkook spilling everything on his mind from his fractured heart. Jungkook likewise had listened to Taehyung's own surprising struggles when he was sober enough. Turns out that Taehyung truly had been struggling with earning all his credits this year, which was why he got so jealous of Jimin since princesses get half their credits practically for free. Taehyung was torturing himself over it since the threat of his family abandoning their failure of a son loomed above his head every day and it had almost pushed him over the edge. Jungkook guessed that's what solidified their companionship in the end. The fact that both boys were dealing with their own forms of fear to not be enough to uphold the expectations of those they care about.
The orchestra went quiet, and he could faintly hear the echo of footsteps out side of the ballroom. Everyone inside went quiet. Jungkook swallowed before clenching his jaw, staring off coldly into the chandeliers illuminating the entire room. He blinked once, holding back the emotions starting to pile up - wishing to sink back into his habits as there was no way he'd be able to stand an entire ceremony watching Jimin be as beautiful as ever - and know that it is and always will be a mirage that Jungkook could only ever stare at, but never again reach.
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Jimin walked down the large halls filled with students, his dress flowing behind him, Seokjin and Ong steady behind his heels. Behind the trio is Taemin. An incoming freshmen boy enrolling next year, the boy to be crowned Jeju Academy's next princess as Jimin - for the first time in the history of the tradition - chose to step down from his term voluntarily.
Taemin looked stunning. Physically too, of course, but the dress he was wearing extenuated the boy's captivating androgynous features. He was tall and lengthy but with a strong collar bone and sharp shoulder. His face had a delicate mold to it, lips full and lashes as dark as his hair, though there shone an intellect in his dark gaze that could take anyone's breath away. Jimin grinned, as he had been the one to dress the youngest. It was his first time getting to dress someone else and Jimin most definitely didn't fuck it up. I mean, look at this dress.
Gorgeous.
Taemin's guard, appointed by Jackson through recommendation, was readily awaiting them in the ballroom. He was a very boyish looking freshmen with strong muscles and a defined frame. His skin tan and eyes dark, an air of fierce protectiveness surrounding him. For a moment, Jimin's gaze flickered to the upcoming guard, and there was a sort of tug in his chest. The edge of his lips upheld the smile he wore on his face, although it somehow became heavy to bare. As Jungkook had joined later in the year, he'd never gotten to experience a coronation before. He had missed Jimin's own as Taehyung had been the only guard at the time needed.
Jimin snapped out of it when he heard the crowd affectionately call his name, the smallest tinge of respect laced in their responses. Some people threw rose petals in their steps, others full on threw actual roses. He turned around and smiled at Taemin to reassure the overwhelmed boy and signal for him not to be nervous. Well, maybe he should be a little bit - but eh. It's only the entire school watching you.
Easy.
Finally, the four boys finally reached the ballroom grand entrance, and Jimin could feel the orchestra inside undoubtfully silent as it had years ago for him. Jimin wrapped his hand around the cold metal of the handle, taking a breath before turning to face their audience with a bright smile. He was about to change everything. Alone. And this time, there would be no hiding, no turning back. It was something he could do, and would, because finally, after all those painful weeks, he believed himself to be strong enough to do so.
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First, there was the smallest sound of creaking as the heavy wooden doors of the ballroom began to inch open. Second, cake the silence. The entire ballroom went quiet, even the string instruments whispering into only the memory of a sound as the music evaporated replacing with the tiny metallic click of the entrance doors: Then, as if taking a breath, the grand slabs of wood opened. At first everything was dark except for the first figure standing at the top of the staircase.
Jungkook froze.
The dress is beautiful, and illuminating brilliantly, but more so are the features of his face. His jaw sharp, his eyes playful. His lips full and displaying a wild grin. It was the sight of someone who was with every essence of the word - regal. There was not a single person in the room who could get themself to look away as Jimin walked down the stairs, the train of his dress following suit, and holding his head up high despite every single thing that happened to him. He looked not like a princess, but a queen.
It was like being trapped in a movie, everyone's gaze honed in on Jimin as he descended, too distracted by the completely confidence and power that radiated off of him to notice the shy boy tailing behind. Jungkook cocked his head, unconsciously sizing the incoming princess to the current one. Both were beautiful, Jeju princesses always were, but there was a grace to the sophomore that was unprecedented. Maybe Jungkook was being biased, maybe he didn't quite care. But he tried to focus on Taemin, the mysterious shy boy with an enticing storm in his gaze, trying to edit Jimin out as much as he could.
And it worked. Somewhat. It worked until it happened.
Until Jimin turned around abruptly, his dress swinging in his wake in a gallant storm of fabric. He stood for a moment, looking into the array of guests before locking eyes directly with Jungkook, and then moving to curtsying to his audience - eyes never leaving the younger's own. There was challenge in them. Love in them. Longing. It was a fire so strong that Jungkook worried that if he were to move his skin would get burned.
Then, Jimin glanced away, and the moment dissipated as soon as it had happened, the bubble of time popping just as it had the first day the two met on the stairs. Time stopping, and then continuing on forward as if the seconds between them hadn't occurred. Hadn't happened.
Jimin glances away, and Jungkook just about lost it.
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[A/N]
Sorry it's a day
late!! I had exams 🙈