Namjoon was in his bedroom, he was changing into new clothes that were appropriate for the cold winter weather outside.
He was gonna go after Taehyung.
When he was ready, he heads out his door and starts walking down the hall. He was suppose to go alone but then Jungkook spots him.
"Hey!" The younger says out loud.
"Where are you going??"
Namjoon doesn't pause his walk. "Nowhere." He responds as he passed by him. He didn't really feel like saying since he didn't want him to get involved.
"What's going on?!" Jungkook says stopping him by pulling onto the back of Namjoon's coat. "You've been acting so weird lately and now this?"
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm fine?" Joon responds, turning his head to look at him. He then pulls his coat away from Jungkook's grip and headed towards the stairs.
That didn't stop Jungkook though. He starts following him. "Hyung! What's the hurry?! Did something happen?!"
"ugh." Joon stops midway down the stairs. "Taehyung got kicked out damn it." he says as he turned to look up at him. "Someone reported him."
Jungkook froze from his steps. "K-Kicked out?" He was so shocked to hear that. "But how..."
"I don't have time to explain. I'm going to find him." Namjoon responds finishing down the stairs.
"I'm coming with you!" Jungkook says running down the steps to catch up with him.
—Main entrance door—
"What if they notice we're gone...?" Jungkook asked. The two were standing right in front of the door that lead outside.
"It shouldn't take us too long...I think..." Namjoon responds slowly opening the door, taking a quick peak and seeing the guards guarding the gates.
"what's our excuse?" Jungkook asked.
"Do we need one? They're ordered to listen to us." Namjoon says.
"But Dad will get angry if he knows we're after Taehyung..." Jungkook responds.
Joon sighs. "Like I care. Let's just leave now before anyone sees us." He says.
"Um- Leave?"
Jin's voice was heard from afar. He had heard their talk and now had been walking up to them. "Where the hell are you guys going?"
And since he wouldn't go without a explanation, Namkook had to explain.
"Are you guys crazy? You'll be breaking the rules if you leave without permission especially if it's to save Taehyung after he was kicked out!" Jin tells the two.
"Don't you want him back too?" Jungkook asked, he was thrown off by his older brother's reaction.
"Of course I do. It's just, you guys will get in big trouble..." Jin sighs.
"I can handle his anger, I don't care." Namjoon responds. Jungkook wasn't sure if he could though, he's seen how his father is when he's really angry.
"I'm going after Taehyung. I don't care what problems I'll have to face, at least I'll have him by my side then..." Namjoon says.
Jungkook didn't want that though, nor did Jin. They also wanted Taehyung for themselves too.
Now they're willing to face the consequences.
"Fuck it. I'm going with you guys." Jin decides.
"Ugh this is gonna be bad." Jungkook sighs.
The three of them had hoped onto their own horses and had headed to the gates to exit. The palace owned a bunch of horses for the knights when they were off for duties.
"Open the gates." Jin tells the guards. He was mounted on his horse and Jungkook and Namjoon on both of his sides too.
"I'm sorry your majesty but none of you are allowed to go outside without any guards by your side for safety." The main guard standing there says.
"I can protect myself!" Jungkook responds a little offended over that comment. "And my hyung's can too!"
Jin sighs. "Open the gates. It's an order." He tells the guard once again.
The guards look at each other, not sure if they should or not.
"We won't be out for long." Namjoon then says.
And that's when the guards decided to open the gates for them.
"Thank you." Jin tells them.
Until the gates fully opened, Jin kicks the side of his horse with his heel in order to move forward. The horse galloped and the other two followed behind him.
Taehyung was rubbing his arms for the warm friction. It was really cold outside. He was shivering while sitting down on a bench as he looked around.
He was already in a village. Not many people were outside cause of the weather.
He already tried to stay in a restaurant for a bit but was kicked out for not being a 'paying customer'
"I should move forward, maybe there is a place to stay..." Tae says to himself thinking back to his life before the palace.
Tae's past:
Taehyung's earliest memories took place in poor village where his mother raised him. Everything was normal until a kingdom tried stealing their land to turn it into a war zone against another kingdom. He was 5 years old when this was happening.
Their village was destroyed when villagers refused to give up their land. It was a huge attack to force people to abandon their area.
Tae re-lives that day in his dreams as nightmares often.
When his mother was shot dead as the chaos happened, Taehyung stood there frozen not believing what he was seeing.
A old man past his 50's saw him and pulled onto Taehyung's arm to run and save his life.
Tae ended up living with him along side his young grandson, Park Bogum who was at the age of 7 at the time. Both his parents were killed from the attack.
It was hard for all them to move past from what happened. But with Taehyung who would always be a fluff ball of happiness, it was a lot easier to heal when they were down. Even though they had no home, they had each other.
They were Tae's new family now.
Eventually they all shared a small home once Bogum started working.
When Taehyung hit his 20's, Bo-gum's grandpa grew awfully ill. They didn't have enough money for medication. They could barely get any food on their table because of the low payment they got.
So Taehyung decided to risk it and steal while Bogum was out working. His grandpa stayed in bed the whole day, and since Tae was in charge of taking care of him, he'd return with the medicine and help him take it. It was hard because Bogum's grandpa was hugely against stealing and he wouldn't take the medicine.
"Are you seriously stealing? Taehyung you can get caught!" The old man bickered.
"I won't...please you have to take it. Or else you're going to get worse..." Tae says trying to get him to take the medicine.
It was easy for him to get away with stealing when he began to do it more often. Soon it became a hobby. Not only did he steal medication but food as well.
But one day he did get caught. With luck, he managed to get away from the men that had chased after him.
He tried stealing once more, which was probably his biggest mistake since everyone was on edge after he got caught the first time. He was easily caught that time since they recognized him. Taehyung ran away from there before they could catch him.
And again, he got lucky and arrived home safely.
But the next day after Bogum returned home from work he decides to tell him:
"Taehyung you have to get out of here."
"What? W-Why?" Taehyung felt alarmed and worried. Bogum looked a lot more serious than usual. Tae was just sitting down on a chair besides his grandpa's bed who which was sleeping on it.
"There's sketches of you all over the village. They're looking for you."
"They're searching from door to door..." Bogum answered. He was fearful for Taehyung.
He knew the safest for Tae would be for him to get out here. There was no place for him to hide unless he left the village for good. If not he'd be locked up and mistreated.
"No! I'm not leaving!" Tae protests. "I-I can—"
"No Taehyung! There's no place to hide in here! You have to go before—"
There was a sudden harsh banging out their door.
Bogum and Taehyung were silent. The two looked at each other as they grew anxious.
"Open the door! We're looking for the boy who keeps robbing from my store!" A older man yelled from outside the door. He had a group with him.
The harsh knock had woken up the grandfather. "What's...going...on..?"
"Taehyung get out of here right now." Bogum says in a stern tone, ignoring his grandpa since there was no time to explain. Taehyung had to leave now.
Tae's eyes start to tear up. "No. I don't wanna leave..."
Bogum didn't want him to leave either but there was no other choice. "Taehyung you're going to be locked up if you don't."
The man starts to bang on the door hard again. "Open up!!"
"Run Tae..." Bogum finally says.
Tae looks at him and then at his grandpa who looked cautious and confused. "I will be back I promise..." He tells them as he rushed to the back of the house where he fully opened a window and began to crawl out of it as Bogum opened the entrance door.
Taehyung managed to get out of the window in time and he began to run away as fast as he could. He couldn't stay in that village, everyone knew his face from the hung up sketches.
Until the next day after a long walk through the night, he found himself somewhere new. From where he stood he could see a big kingdom ahead.
Everyone in the streets was dressed a lot more elegant and the buildings were a lot more nicer from home. It's crazy how divided different classes were.
Taehyung spent his time homeless there.
When he heard the announcement of the palace looking for a new servant, he was quick to sign up. The main reason being that he could get a place to stay.
A lot of people didn't sign up since they were looking for money. The palace only paid you with food, water, clothes, and a place to sleep. But Taehyung was okay with that. As long as he wasn't sleeping in the streets anymore, anything was okay.
Back to the present:
"I have to find Bogum." Tae says finally getting off the bench.
He starts to walk down the road but then hears the faint noises of horses galloping.
"Do you think he went far?" Jungkook says out loud since the steps of the horses were loud. The three of them looked around.
"I don't think so, he could be near." Namjoon responds.
"Taehyung!" Jin shouts.
Tae hears that familiar voice shout his name. He turns his head and is shocked to see the three princes heading at his way.
"There he is!" Jungkook yelled out.
Tae had watched them get closer. He couldn't describe the happiness he was feeling right now. He was so glad to see them again.
The princes had tied their horses onto a wooden pole.
The three of them were surrounding Tae.
"You're shaking..." Namjoon says as he takes off his warm coat and wraps it around Taehyung.
"Yeah...it's a little cold.." Tae says as he softly blushed.
"I'm so glad we found you right away..." Jungkook says suddenly pulling Tae into a hug.
Tae softly smiled as he snuggled his head against his shoulder.
Jungkook then hears Taehyung's tummy grumble. "Aw...you're hungry?"
"Kind of...b-but what are you guys doing here?" Tae asked as he pulls away to look at the three of them.
"We're here for you." Jin answered.
"We were all pretty upset when we heard you were kicked out. We're here to bring you back. If the others knew, they'd probably be here standing too." Jungkook tells him.
"That's insane. There's no way I'm allowed back. The King doesn't want me near you guys." Taehyung responds softly frowning.
"Don't worry, we'll find a way." Namjoon says as his hand reached out for Taehyung's.
Tae smiled at him as his cheeks turned pink. He was so glad that Joon wasn't in his bad side anymore.
"But I can't leave right now...there's actually family I want to see..." Tae suddenly says. Meaning Bogum and his grandfather.
"That's alright." Jin says smiling at him. Then he looked around the area. "Let's just find a place to eat for now. Then we'll start moving."
The 4 were all settled in one table. Jungkook sat down next to Taehyung and Jin and Namjoon sat down across from them.
They had just ordered their dish and drinks. They were all conversing as they waited for their food to be served.
"I'm so excited to meet your family!" Jungkook says smiling widely. "Do you have a big family? How many siblings do you have?" He was very curious.
Tae smiled and shook his head softly. "It's actually only two people."
"Your mother and father?" Jin guesses.
Tae's smile slowly fades. "Aha...no actually."
"Oh. Sorry." Jin responds as he lowered his head.
The prince was feeling suddenly uneasy in the moment. A thought just hit his head.
"It's okay. It's just my grandfather and my older brother." Taehyung says. He may have not been related to them by blood, but that's how he felt towards them.
"Tae, if you don't mind me asking...what happened to your parents?" Jin asked.
"Jin..." Namjoon nudges his older brother's shoulder with his own. He was trying to get him to move past the subject since he didn't want Taehyung to be uncomfortable by answering the question.
But Jin still wanted to know. He was getting a weird gut feeling about Taehyung.
"I never had a father. Or well, never remember having one." Tae says while looking at them. The whole table was silent, just listening to him talk. "My memory is pretty fuzzy but, I had mother. She passed away from a gun shot when I was young. that's all I remember."
"I'm so sorry." Namjoon says feeling awful. But then he hit Jin's shoulder again so he could apologize for making Tae bring that up.
"I'm sorry..." Jin tells him.
"I just thought that—"
he was wondering if Tae was actually the missing prince of the other palace. But Taehyung seemed to have a different backstory, it couldn't be him. "Nothing.." Jin sighs. It was a stupid thought.
"It's alright..." Tae says.
Jungkook hugs Taehyung from the side to make him feel better. Tae softly rests his head against the younger's as he softly smiled.
"I know what you're thinking..." Namjoon whispered to Jin as Taehyung and Jungkook began to talk. "It's impossible. It's been years."
"You can't tell me he doesn't look like her..." Jin whispered back. He meant the queen.
"But she's dead, and so is her son..." Joon says.
"That's what they say, we don't really know that..." Jin responds.
Then a waiter walks up to their table and starts serving them their drinks along with their dishes.
They all said thank you to him and began to eat together.
"I'll be back. I have to go to the restroom." Tae says getting up from his seat and excusing himself to the bathroom.
Once he left, Jungkook looked at both his older brothers with a serious look. "You two better fuck off. Don't mess this up for me."
Jin rolls his eyes.
Namjoon stands up from his seat without saying anything, heading to the restroom.
"Where are you going?!" Jungkook shouts. He new Joon was up to something and it was really annoying him.
Namjoon doesn't answer and walks into the public restroom.
After Taehyung was done. He went over to the row of sinks to wash his hands.
He was just rinsing them off. It was until he turned around when he saw Namjoon standing there, watching him.
"A-Ah, Joonie." Tae softly blushes.
"Hey." Joon says. His back was against the wall and his arms crossed. "So have you started reading the book?" He asked.
"The book? Oh! Y-Yes!" Tae says as he nodded. "I still have a long way to finish it but it's good! I actually took it with me..."
Joon smiled at him. "It gets better at the end." Then he stood up straight and walked over to Taehyung.
"I wanted to say sorry."
"Sorry? For what?" Tae asked confused.
"I was so fed up when I saw you with Yoongi that night." Namjoon says, his eyes gazing right at Tae's.
Tae blushes. He probably wouldn't be able to contain the eye contact much longer. Joon's gaze was intense.
"I'm sorry for ignoring you." Joon says.
Tae shakes his head. "No! It's not your fault!" He responds. "I'm in the wrong, please don't apologize—"
"I was just so jealous...It was childish of me to pretend like you didn't exist." Joon says softly sighing.
"J-Jealous...?" Tae questioned as his face began to burn up.
"Don't act dumb now." Joon says as his hand reached over to Tae's hair locks and tucked them behind his ears to get a better view of his face.
"I'm saying that I really like you Taehyung."