Lonely
Chaeyoung's pov
I smiled sleepily with my eyes still closed, feeling the silky sheets over my body. I stretched out my limbs before rolling over to my tummy, burying my face in the soft pillow. The subtle smell of fresh cotton and musk caused me to sigh in content, snuggling myself deeper into the scented softness.
Wait-musk?
As far as I know, the pillow on this side of the bed never smelled like-
Widening my eyes in the realization I turned my head sideways, taking a sharp breath as I noticed the king's face only a few inches away from mine.
I-how did I get to his side of the bed?
Carefully, I scurried away from his pillow and sat up, holding the silky sheets against my bare chest with blushing cheeks.
Thank God he's sleeping.
Sighing, I threw my feet over the edge of the bed, shivering at the sudden breeze coming in through the open balcony.
Looking ahead, I noticed it was raining heavily outside, not a single sign of a rising sun on the gloomy sky.
"What a day..." I muttered under my nose and stood up, picking up my discharged clothes from the floor.
Silently I put on my gown, tiptoeing towards the mirror in the corner of the room to fix the ribbon around my waist properly. I bit my lip at the sight of the new hickeys over my collarbone and upper chest. The fact that he didn't mark my neck as it was still a bit bruised made me smile.
It warmed me up how considerate and apologetic he was.
The soft shuffling behind me made me stop daydreaming as I turned around. The king was slowly sitting up, the mop of his messy hair covering his puffy, narrowed eyes and scrunched eyebrows.
"Did I wake you up?" I asked softly, raising my eyebrow. A small smile made its way to my lips as he messed up his hair even more, looking up at me in slight confusion. He stayed silent for a while, watching me as if still unaware of his surroundings before responding.
"No, you didn't." he shook his head with a silent murmur before sighing and throwing his feet over the edge of the bed. I raised my eyebrow in surprise, watching him while he still tried to wake up from his slumber.
"It's still quite early. You can still lay down i-"
"I have some work to do," he said, the distaste in his voice causing me to chuckle a little.
I watched him as he put on his robe before disappearing in his bathroom, a single thought never leaving my mind.
He really has a lot of work lately.
3. person
"The Yee family is currently unable to invest money into the extension of the dam. They're still struggling financially after the mishap on the curt one year ago."
"What about the Yun family?"
"They refuse to invest their money since there's no gain for them after doing so. They're unaffected by the dam since they live in the neighboring district."
Sighing heavily, Taehyung closed his eyes in frustration.
It seemed like whatever he did and whatever solution he tried to come up with, the stubborn people were never willing to cooperate.
"What do you mean refuse? The dam was built in their name." he seethed, glancing at the man from across the table. The whispers and murmurs of the aristocrats quietened down after they noticed his irritation.
"Ever since they signed the dam over to the Yee family, they refuse to acknowledge it as their own. It now officially belongs to the Yee family after all." silently, Taehyung leaned his forehead against his fist, the blood in his veins boiling. He was tired, irritated and glum. It felt like the world was always against him these days.
"In that case," he sighed, straightening up his posture in the chair before throwing the papers in front of him to Seokjin who was sitting to his right, "the extension of the dam will have to be put off for few months. Until the Yee family is able to help out with the construction. As long as the river isn't endangering the near villages, we can wait." he said, making the men in the room nod quietly as Seokjin took the papers, not sparing the younger a single glance.
"Your Majesty," Taehyung's head snapped in the direction of the voice, watching as one of the aristocrats sitting by his left, handed him a letter. "It's a letter from your father," his jaw tightened at the mention of the man before he quirked up his eyebrow and took the letter, unfolding it, "after the news about Min Yoongi's engagement, he decided to visit you soon. He also demands to hold an assembly with the rest of the influential families." Taehyung ran his eyes over the letter before crumpling the piece of paper hastily and throwing it to the side furiously.
The last thing he needed right now was to see his father. Nothing good ever came out of his visits and now with the current situation and the whole matter with Yoongi, he knew his father's visit would be anything but pleasant.
The men in the room sat silent, aware of the emperor's annoyance.
"Do we have any news about the engagement?" he asked, running his sharp eyes over the men by the table.
"Min Yoongi is keeping his soon-to-be fiancee a secret. Other than that they're from an aristocrat family, we have nothing." nodding, Taehyung closed his eyes again while rubbing his temple in annoyance.
What could be the guy trying to do if he's hiding his fiancee from the public so strictly?
"The meeting is over," he announced tonelessly, leaning against the chair with a sigh.
He needed a little break.
The screeching of the chairs against the floor was all that could be heard as all aristocrats stood up, ready to leave the stuffy room as soon as possible.
They could feel the king's aura beginning to heat up the air in fury and they didn't intend to be here for any more than needed.
Observing them all, Taehyung watched as they scurried out of the room talking among each other.
"Mr Cho." the booming voice echoed in the room sternly, making a few of the aristocrats, including the mentioned man stop in their tracks, "I believe we have something to talk about, am I right?"
Taehyung could easily see the way shivers ran up the man's spine, making him smirk to himself.
He could finally fix the matter he was looking forward to this whole morning.
"They're swines Chae, keep away from them as much as you can," grumbled Miyeon as she reached for the bowl with chocolates on the little table with disgust written all over her face.
After canceling their plans to go out due to the gloomy weather, few of the girls decided to rest in the empty throne hall on the few couches in the corner. And somewhere in between their conversation, Chaeyoung told them about the interaction she had with Mr Cho the day before. To say the girls were disgusted with the man was an understatement but they seemed like it wasn't all that surprising to them.
"Of course not all of them are like that." piped in Jisoo, smiling a little to reassure the girl, "Few of the aristocrat families living in the palace are actually nice and decent people," she admitted, knowing very well that Jin was also, in the end, an aristocrat. Not to mention Jennie was from an aristocrat family as well. "But for the most part, money and greed turned them into a bunch of selfish pigs." she seethed in the end, remembering all the unpleasant interactions she had with few of them. No one ever approached her the way Mr Cho did with Chaeyoung, however, she had her own share of uncomfortable conversations with them as well. To put simply, they didn't have a single ounce of respect towards the girls.
"Why are they living in the palace anyway?" asked Chaeyoung, crossing her arms around herself. "I mean, sure they need to work with the king but still," she muttered, frowning a little.
It was a common thing for two or three aristocrat families to live in the palace with royals. Yet, they were only the closest ones to the royal family. Chaeyoung didn't know of any other kingdom where the palace worked the way it did here.
"It wasn't like that at first. Only the former king established the rule that the ones working with the king are to live here as well. So he has their absolute loyalty." said Jennie, shrugging her shoulders.
Chaeyoung thought about it for a while, frowning. Their absolute loyalty? That sounded really manipulative and controlling to her ears. Was he afraid they would betray him?
Suddenly a question popped inside her head, her eyes widening at the realization.
"Where are they now?" she asked out of nowhere, turning to the girls with a confused expression.
"Who?"
"The former king and queen. You showed me their chamber but I've never seen them around." she pondered aloud, causing the girls around to 'aah' in understanding.
"They have chamber here but they don't live in the palace." shrugged Miyeon. "After they retreated from their thrones they moved away to some kind of villa on the south." the answer made Chaeyoung quirk her eyebrow, confused but surprised.
"Huh? That's weird." she murmured to herself, thinking, "I mean, the former king is a saint too, right? Isn't he scared of getting attacked out in the open like that?" she asked tilting her head.
There were only two saints left in the kingdom and about a few tens of assassin organizations running around. It was definitely dangerous for a saint to live outside of the palace.
"They took some guards and soldiers with them too, they're not living alone. It's like another small palace just for them," explained Jennie, making Chaeyoung nod even though she still wasn't so sure she understood.
Why would they want to live outside of the palace anyway? Are they so sick of the work as royals by now? Maybe they just wanted to enjoy their pension on their own?
"Chaeyoung," all the girls jumped at the sudden voice behind them, causing them all to look at Yeonjun, surprised, "the king is calling for you." the girls stayed silent as Chaeyoung widened her eyes, perplexed.
"Huh? N-now?" she stuttered, confused at the sudden demand.
"Yes, he's in the main conference room of the west wing." still confused, she turned to the girls as they started giggling among each other, amused at her dumbfounded expression.
"Okay." sighing, she noded his way.
After Yeonjun left she turned back towards the girls who were giving her amused glances, causing her to blush involuntarily.
"I'll go then," she said with an embarrassed smile, already standing up from the comfy couch.
"Have fun!"
"And don't you guys forget to lock the door!" flushing at the last comment she turned around to give them a glare, the embarrassed blush on her cheeks giving her away completely.
"S-shut up!"
Exiting the big throne hall she huffed, fanning herself with her hand.
"Why does he want to see me now, anyway?"
Noticing the familiar guy on her right she stopped in her tracks, observing him with narrowed eyes.
"Kai?" glancing her way for a second he acknowledged her presence before looking back at the front, his face as stoic as always.
"Do you need anything?" he asked, not looking her way. Frowning she was about to say no when suddenly she remembered something, causing her face to brighten up a little as she took a few steps towards him.
"I wanted to ask," she faltered, not tearing her gaze away from his serious expression, "are you always guarding the east back gate in the night?" she asked, actually making the guy look at her for longer than one second. Kai raised his eyebrow in question.
"Yes, why?"
"W-well, I need to ask you for a favor," she chuckled awkwardly, playing with her fingers "next Sunday, I need you to cover up for me again," she said, giving him a shy smile. Kai stayed silent for a while, looking at her weirdly before scoffing, turning away.
"What makes you think I'm a safe person to entrust this to?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, resulting in Chaeyoung looking away from him with pursed lips.
"W-well, Jimin and the girls trust you so why shouldn't I? You don't look like that much of a bad guy anyway," she muttered, glancing down at her hands then back at him.
She quirked up her eyebrow seeing as he clearly tried to bite back a small smile before he looked back ahead once again, a soft pink dusting his cheeks.
"I'll do as much as I can, however, if you get in trouble on your own record, I have nothing to do with you and your wanderings," he said monotonously after clearing his throat, going back to his usual acting. However, the fact she actually made him smile a little and even agree made Chaeyoung smile as brightly as the sun itself.
"Thank you!"
Chaeyoung's pov
I hurried my way towards the conference room as I was ordered, hoping to avoid any possible creep along the way. Yesterday's incident has engraved itself into my mind like a nightmare, I wished I wouldn't have to go through something like that again. It's not like he managed to do anything, but the sole feeling of panic and fear when he grabbed me and said those disgusting words were enough to horrify me greatly.
Shaking my head to get rid of the unsettling thoughts I knocked on the door of the room, waiting for a few seconds before walking in.
Just like I expected, there was no one except the king in the room. He sat by the head of the table, signing and sorting out some papers which were scattered all around the place.
Watching him from the door, I couldn't help but notice how lonely he looked. My eyes softened, watching as he worked by himself by the large table in silence.
It was known among the people in the palace that besides Jin, the king didn't have friends nor people who were close to him. Now that I found out that his parents were away as well, it made me sadden even more.
He might not have been a social and open person, but I'm sure he must have felt lonely as well. I believe that everyone needs people who they can lean on when things are tough.
"Your Majesty," I muttered silently to not interrupt the silence and bowed down. He glanced up at me shortly with a small, tired smile. "You...called for me?" I asked hesitatingly, seeing as he was obviously still working.
"Yeah well, I hoped I would be done with this by now but..." he sighed, glancing back down to the papers in front of him. He signed another paper before skimming through the thick file. Not knowing what to do, I slowly took hesitating steps his way while trying to figure out the war in my head.
If he's too busy, maybe I shouldn't bother him, right? But he didn't tell me to go away. Ah, why is he so quiet?
Standing already by his side I looked over the papers, frowning since I didn't understand a single thing.
"You look busy," I muttered, glancing down at him with my hands behind my back, "should I go or-"
"No," he sighed shaking his head before leaning comfortably in his chair, "I should be done in a moment," he said with a small sigh, before glancing down at the papers again, "at least I hope so," he grumbled, causing me to smile a little.
Looking at his face, I pursed my lips, noticing how tired he looked. He must be worn out, he's working a lot these days. Maybe they have some issues in politics? Finances? A mishap with other kingdoms?
He heaved another heavy sigh causing me to look at him with a small smile. He was tired and worn out, the last thing I could do was smile for him. My mom always said that a smile is the least I can do to brighten someone's day. And the king looked like he needed that a lot right now.
Looking at me silently he gave me a small, almost invisible smile as well before taking my palm in his, pulling me slowly closer.
I squeaked quietly as he pulled me into his lap, wrapping one of his arms around my waist.
"Till then, you can stay here like this."
Surprised I looked down at him as he took the pen in his hand once again before proceeding his work quietly. Biting my lip, I watched the serenity in his face, smiling to myself as few of his soft locks fell to his eyes.
Leaning his head against my shoulder gently, he continued to work in silence as I searched the papers on the table quietly.
"Ew, numbers." I hissed scrunching up my nose as I looked through the paper with different schemes and charts.
He chuckled silently, tightening his arm around my middle.
The little, almost childish chuckle made my eyes soften and my cheeks redden. It would feel like a miracle to listen to his chuckles and see his smiles more often.
"I already took care of Mr Cho," he said calmly, rubbing his palm up and down my side slowly while still not looking away from his papers. "He shouldn't be bothering you anymore."
The mention of the man made my breath a hitch little as I looked down at my hands in my lap.
"Thank you," I muttered quietly, offering him a small, grateful smile as he looked from his papers to me.
"He didn't hurt you, did he?" he asked, searching my eyes with raised eyebrows. He took my wrist gently, inspecting it while rubbing the skin in small circles with his thumb.
The little action made something inside me flutter as I couldn't help but feel giddy because of his small, affectionate actions.
"No, he didn't manage to do anything." I reassured, glancing at him, "Thanks to you." I added, grinning.
I don't know why, but I felt like I needed to let him know how much I appreciated what he had done for me back then. I wanted him to know how much it meant for me.
I couldn't decipher his expression as he watched me silently, the little unfamiliar flickers in his eyes making me curious. Sighing, abandoning the pen in his hand he wrapped his other arm around my waist as well before bringing me closer to his chest.
Flushed, I took a shaky breath as he buried his face in the crook of my neck, kissing my skin gently.
Hesitatingly I brought my hand towards his scalp, playing with his hair, feeling the way his body under me loosened up noticeably.
We sat like this for a few more minutes as I enjoyed the comforting silence while running my hand through his silky locks. After some time his small kisses on my neck began to falter before they disappeared completely. Feeling his calm and steady breaths against my neck and the way his arms around my waist went a bit limp, made me a bit confused as I frowned to myself.
Slowly, I brought my other hand to his cheek, supporting his head so I could glance down at his face, only to notice him sound asleep.
I chuckled, shaking my head. This guy should really get some quality sleep instead of calling for girls every night.
Sighing I tried to get out of his lap, however, his arms tightened around my waist, bringing me even closer to his chest. Frowning I looked back at him to see him still asleep like a baby. Trying for a few more minutes but failing each time I sighed, finally giving up.
Looks like I'll have to serve as a pillow for a bit.
Unconsciously I brought my hand back to his hair as I sighed, getting more comfortable on his lap.
I bit back a smile, feeling him snuggle closer towards me, burying his face in the crook of my neck once again with a content sigh.
The way he was acting right now was so lovable it made me melt inside as I tried to compose myself.
It made me remember the decision I made one week ago, before the whole ordeal that night happened. The decision to get closer to him. The decision to follow my path of fate and to follow my heart and body. I remembered how it all went to drain after that night, but now that everything went back to how it used to be, I wondered, should I try again?
The occurrences of that night when he attacked me disappointed me greatly back then, I felt so dumb for even considering such a thing as getting closer to him.
But in the end, it all turned out the way it did. What happened that night brought us even closer afterward, I got to see his real self, even if for a little while.
And so, sitting in his lap with him sleeping soundly on my shoulder, I decided to try once again. I decided to be the person who'll be there for him whenever he needed somebody. I decided to be that someone he can lean on, whenever he needs to. And not because I pitied him nor because I wanted to know all the secrets he held so secure. Rather because I wanted the man holding me return to his real self. Because God only knows how much he must have endured keeping all of the pain and troubles hidden from everyone else.
"Chaeyoung?" I opened my eyes slowly, waking up from the light slumber. I turned my head a little to see a confused Seokjin walking our way. I smiled tiredly, straightening up a little. "What are you two doing?" he asked before I shushed him quietly, motioning towards the still sleeping king under me.
"He fell asleep," I muttered quietly, smiling a bit as I glanced at the king, "and I couldn't get out of here without waking him up."
Seokjin stared at us in silence, his eyes switching in between me and the king. He suddenly smiled warmly and chuckled, shaking his head.
"Could you help me out of here, pretty please?" I whined, pouting a little as I was starting to get sore in the bent up position I was sitting in. Not to mention the king will surely wake up sore as well, having to sleep with me in his lap.
"Oh, but you two look comfortable." he mused with a teasing grin, causing me to throw a half-hearted glare his way.
"Oppa!"
"Alright, alright, wait here." he raised his hands in surrender before walking off towards the little sofa in the corner of the conference room. I watched him confusedly as he returned holding a pillow. Once I understood his intentions I took the pillow from him before slowly and quietly freeing myself from the king's grip and replacing myself with the big, fluffy pillow.
We both watched amusedly as the king snuggled the pillow closer to his chest, snoring quietly.
"You two sure do like spending time together," said Seokjin, making my flush as I looked up at him with a little glare. "I bet the girls would freak out if I told them about this." he sung while wiggling his eyebrows, already taking a step back with a mischevious grin.
"I dare you," I said threateningly with narrowed eyes, pointing my finger at him. He watched me with a smug face for a bit before bolting out of the room suddenly, leaving me stunned in place.
"Oppa!" I whined before I ran after him, leaving the king to rest in the conference room.
***
this chapter is meh but the right words just refused to come I'm sorry
but even so, I hope you guys enjoyed it at least a bit, leave a vote and comment if you did!
I do appreaciate every single one of your comments even if I don't reply to all of them, trust me, they make me so happy (*≧∀≦*)
love you guys so much! <3