Taehyung faced his mirror and stood in the middle of the stand with his arms raised. After the alterations from the fitting, the robe fit Taehyung very well. He finally got the time to appreciate all the little details made of the most expensive materials. The design has apparently been passed down for generations and over the years they've only improved.
He had to admit, he looked killer in the red and gold robe. They even gave him some accessories for his hair, which he wishes now was longer and wonders if there's a spell for that. He even got his makeup lightly done.
As Taehyung kept admiring himself, he heard two little knocks on the door. Jimin has told him earlier that he'd come before to give him a quick pep talk so he opened the door without looking.
"Hey," the elf greeted, and this was very much not Jimin's voice.
Taehyung turned around with a pleases smile. "Hey Gguk, how do I look?"
Jeongguk stopped in his tracks, his mouth slightly agape. He looked at the older from head to toe as Taehyung waited eagerly to hear Jeongguk's input.
"You look..." Jeongguk started, searching for what he wanted to say.
"Good? Amazing? Stunning? Jaw-dropping? Like a supermodel?" Taehyung began suggesting and strutting into random poses.
"Beautiful," Jeongguk finished, his word coming out a little airy.
Taehyung dropped the hand from his head and waist from his last pose and smiled shyly, getting all flustered for such a tiny compliment. He stepped off the stand and walked over to Jeongguk.
"Thanks," Taehyung said.
Jeongguk looked at him, looking kind of lost until he began blinkling rapidly and shook his head lightly. "Right, um, Jimin said he's been bombarded with the coronation set up and that he couldn't come to see you before you have to go down. He also said, 'You'll do great. Love you loads. Show them who the motherfuckin' king is.'" Jeongguk explained.
Taehyung nodded, his lip jutting out a little. He was really hoping his best friend would come and calm him down before he'd have to face everyone, especially all the new face that'd come from all over the world for the occasion.
"You'll be fine," Jeongguk said, noticing the slight panic.
Taehyung forced a smile but his nervousness only grew. Taehyung was the type to not feel all the stress hit until the last minute, and when it came, it was uncontrollable.
"Can I practice my speech with you?" Taehyung asked, floating over his paper with all his notes and handed it over to Jeongguk. Jeongguk nodded and took a seat as Taehyung began to say the speech, stuttering and stumbling over his words.
Jeongguk stood up when Taehyung gave up, knowing he won't get through all of it. He walked and stood right in front of Taehyung, who had his eyes shut tightly and his hand balled into a fist and pressed against his mouth.
"Calm down, Tae. When you step up on that podium and see everyone who came to celebrate this day, the words will find you," Jeongguk said softly.
Taehyung opened his eyes and dropped his hands, a genuine smile forming now. He nodded. "I sure hope so."
Jeongguk offered a small smile. Taehyung sighed and tilted his head, his shine returning.
"No good luck kiss?" Taehyung asked playfully.
Jeongguk's smile dropped while Taehyung's grin widened. Jeongguk stood there, staring surprised until Taehyung broke out into laughter.
"You cutie, I'm kid–" Taehyung was saying but was stopped and Jeongguk grabbed the sides of his face and pressed his lips against Taehyung's cheek. He let go and pulled away, a blush now dusted over both their cheeks.
"Good luck," Jeongguk muttered.
Taehyung's eyes widened and fluttered rapidly. "Why would you do that?" he yelled and Jeongguk flinched.
"You-You asked– 'cause you're nervous–" Jeongguk started, confused.
"Are you trying to make my heart explode?" Taehyung asked but now with a wide smile. Jeongguk let his shoulder's relax and rolled his eyes.
Taehyung giggled as he could still sense the feel of Jeongguk's lips on his cheek. Then for a split second, he literally felt them again as a sharp pain went through his head. Taehyung let out a yelp of pain and clutched onto his head. He heard the words, okay Taehyungie, echo through his mind with flashes of white and a child in between them. Then finally, the pain ended and he could hear Jeongguk worried voice calling out to him.
"Taehyung, if this is a joke it's not funny. Look at me," Jeongguk pleaded. Taehyung let his head go and then only did he realize he had squatted down to the ground, Jeongguk on his knees to be at his level.
Taehyung looked up from the ground to Jeongguk. "I'm okay."
"What happened?" Jeongguk asked, his hands reaching up to touch his forehead and neck for any signs of change in temperature, but he felt normal.
"I-I don't know. I think I might've seen a piece of my memory. Something must've triggered it," Taehyung explained.
"We should go see a doctor," Jeongguk suggested frantically.
Taehyung shook his head. "The coronation is less than an hour away. I'll be fine."
Jeongguk bit his lips but let it go. On cue, two helpers elves and guards came knocking at the door to escort Taehyung out. Jeongguk wished Taehyung good luck again before they parted for the day.
The coronation went smoothly for most parts. Taehyung got his crown, fit just right on his head, and said his speech with minimal errors and at a point, he went off script, making it all the more sincere.
Then it came to the very anticipated coronation ball. Royal families from all 8 kingdoms had gathered to welcome Taehyung that day, and a good chunk of the night was spent just getting introduced to all of them.
"Princess Iris of Evangeline," Namjoon introduced the final family member from that kingdom. Taehyung actually remembered a bit about Evangeline, it was the strongest kingdom after theirs and a neighbouring one too. They have a strong military force.
The princess curtsied and Taehyung bowed like a gentleman.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said with a hint of an English accent.
"The pleasure's all mine," Taehyung replied as he thought that was the most basic reply to her phrase.
She smiled and offered a hand. "Care to dance?" she asked. Taehyung obviously couldn't say no as it would be rude, plus, he was getting tired of talking to everyone. He returned the smile and took her hand into his and lead her to the dance floor.
Everyone gawked at the two as they got into position since it was the King's first dance of the evening. More couples now joined in the middle to go along with them.
Taehyung and Iris began to dance, both going in a nice and slow rhythm matching along to the music.
"What was life like on planet Earth?" Iris asked, breaking the silence between them.
"Mm, it's basically the same except with no magic. I'm also not the king there so there's that. And I'm also broke and could barely afford ramen so... not that great, I guess," Taehyung rambled on.
Iris nodded. "I've always wanted to visit Earth and find– well, me, but I know how dangerous that is. Have you ever met yourself?"
"No, I have not," Taehyung said and as soon as he did, he wondered if that was confidential information.
"I wonder if us in that universe is exactly like us, personality wise."
Taehyung shrugged, now a little curious about it himself. He always wondered why Jimin never supported his modelling phase in his first year at university – he didn't want him to attract attention and discover his "twin".
The two danced a bit more until the song ended. They bowed to each other and parted wanting to talk with our guests. Taehyung scanned the room, looking for Jeongguk and finally, he spotted the elf keenly watching him from a corner in the room.
When their eyes met, Jeongguk looked away quickly as if he were caught doing something he shouldn't be doing. Taehyung smiled and walked through the crowd, pausing for no more than a second when guests congratulated him, and made his way to Jeongguk.
"Hi."
Jeongguk turned around, pretending to be surprised the King had just come to greet him. "Your highness," Jeongguk replied.
Taehyung rolled his eyes and offered a hand. "Would you like to dance?"
Jeongguk looked between the hand and Taehyung. "We shouldn't..."
Taehyung frowned. "Please?"
Jeongguk didn't understand why it felt so hard to say no to the older. He looked around the room, many eyes already glued to Taehyung. Of course it was, he was the King.
"It's always been tradition-" Jeongguk started but Taehyung cut him off.
"Yes yes, I know. It's stupid but if it's tradition, I'll go by it. I had my first dance with Princess Iris, and now I can dance with whomever I please."
Jeongguk saw him and Iris dancing, he couldn't take his eyes off of them. The way they smiled and giggled among themselves, chatting away like they were best friends. Jeongguk knew Iris, she was a wonderful elf, but in that moment he wanted her far from Taehyung.
"Just one dance?" Taehyung pleased, pulling the puppy-dog eyes and pout.
Jeongguk set his cup down and hesitantly took Taehyung's hand. With a huge grin, Taehyung led him to the dance floor with ease as everyone parted to make way for him. There were a few gasps and many low whispers amongst one another, but Taehyung drowned it and out focused solely on the music and Jeongguk.
Jeongguk started his steps nervously, feeling the hundreds of pairs of eyes trained on him. He looked around, seeing Namjoon in the crowd watching them with a soft smile with Jimin beside him grinning proudly, Prince Jin too busy chatting with Princess Iris to notice, and Hoseok pulling Yoongi's arm asking him to go join Taehyung and Jeongguk as the two were the only ones.
Jeongguk snapped out of it when he felt the hand on his waist leave so that it could lift Jeongguk's chin with the side of a finger.
"Hey, look at me," Taehyung whispered and Jeongguk did. He looked into Taehyung's eyes and nothing else, as if he had gotten lost in them. He too began to drown out the outside world.
The song ended but the two didn't make any efforts to step away. Everyone gawked at them until Hoseok and Yoongi stepped in. Then everyone with partners regardless of gender joined in for the more upbeat and fun tune.
Taehyung and Jeongguk would've remained frozen if it weren't for Namjoon who tapped Jeongguk's shoulder.
"Would you mind if I stole him for this dance?" Namjoon asked Taehyung. Taehyung's eyes flickered between Jeongguk and Namjoon, his mood shifting a bit. He let go of Jeongguk and stepped back.
"No, of course not," Taehyung said with a tight smile and walked away. Jeongguk's eyes trailed after him until he felt Namjoon grabs his hands to get in sync with how everyone else was dancing.
"You were never the dancing type," Jeongguk noted.
"Neither were you," Namjoon replied.
After a solid minute of just dancing and Jeongguk looking at him suspiciously, Namjoon finally spoke. "Is there something between you and Taehyung?"
Jeongguk knew it was coming. As much as he didn't want to answer, Jeongguk knew there was no point in hiding it. "He told me he had feelings for me," Jeongguk said truthfully.
Namjoon nodded. "And what was your response?"
"I thought it was a joke. We both got upset, I called him immature, well more like he shoved the words in my mouth but at least now he's determined to become a good King to prove that he's worthy."
"Of course, I didn't expect more from this duo, but I meant do you like him back?" Namjoon asked.
Jeongguk looked down at their feet, focussing on the way they moved to the beat. He'd been avoiding the topic with himself.
"I don't know," Jeongguk muttered and saying that he was confused about his feelings for another guy out loud for the first time made Jeongguk realize that he really was over Namjoon. Heck, his heart would've been racing miles at the moment but it wasn't. It was a few minutes ago, though.
"Well, I hate to say this– I really do, but you two can never happen."
Jeongguk eyes shot back up. "What? Why not?" he asked, his voice going high and loud.
Namjoon smiled. "My Elvador, you do like him," Namjoon said his smile only getting wider.
"I never said that!" Jeongguk quickly said.
"The panic in your eyes says it all, Jeongguk."
"I was just curious, that's all..." Jeongguk explained, his voice getting small as he realized Namjoon's trap that he fell right into.
"Oh stop pouting, I just helped you. I deserve a thank you."
"You're wicked," Jeongguk said, shaking his head. "And that didn't mean anything."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Mhm?"
"Namjoon!" Jeongguk whined, but couldn't help but break a smile. He'd never seen Namjoon so playful before, maybe it was because of the coronation or the relief that Jeongguk had moved on. Whatever it was, Jeongguk was glad his past feelings for him didn't ruin their relationship.
Taehyung watched the two from across the room. He was in a conversation with some prince that he just couldn't concentrate on. He watched them talking and laughing. Taehyung bit his lip. He should be happy that Jeongguk was happy, but he couldn't help but feel jealous seeing Jeongguk smiling with someone he still might have feelings for. When the song ended, the two bowed to each other and went separate ways
"Well I can't wait to visit this wonderful country of yours, but I must leave now. It was a pleasure talking to you," Taehyung said politely before leaving the prince and following after Jeongguk.
Jeongguk walked up the stairs in the ballroom where only palace members were allowed. Taehyung followed him up where it was empty and saw Jeongguk walk outside to the balcony.
"Hey," Taehyung said getting outside, walking over to lean against the railings beside Jeongguk.
"Hey. Shouldn't you be down there?" Jeongguk inquired, turning his body a little to face Taehyung.
"Ehh, I need a break from all the mingling," Taehyung said then looked at Jeongguk. "You look to be a good mood."
"Yeah..." Jeongguk said, smiling wider. "Everything is good between Namjoon and I now."
"It's good?" Taehyung asked, not understanding exactly what he meant.
"As in my humungous crush has disappeared. Completely," Jeongguk clarified.
"Oh." Taehyung nodded and looked the other way to hide his smile. He bit his lip and died his grin down before turning back to Jeongguk. "Good for you."
"Mhm," Jeongguk hummed. He straightened his posture and Taehyung unconsciously copied. Jeongguk chuckled and nodded towards Taehyung's head. "Your crown's crooked."
"Oh shoot." Taehyung scrunched his brows and tried to readjust the crown, getting another giggle out of Jeongguk.
"You're making it worse. I just have to do everything myself," Jeongguk said and stepped up. He repositioned the crown so that it sat perfectly on Taehyung's head. As he focused on getting it at the right place, Jeongguk didn't realize how close he got until he looked down from the crown and met Taehyung's eyes centimetres apart. They were so close, Jeongguk could practically count the eyelashes on Taehyung's lid.
Both the elves held in their breath, frozen in spot. Taehyung tried to control himself, he really did, but he blames it on Jeongguk. Was it his fault Jeongguk looked so damn gorgeous in the moonlight of that his slightly parted lips had the prettiest little shine and rosy tint?
He just couldn't help but tilt his head head and press his lips against the younger's.
Jeongguk eye's widened, still stuck in place. He was too shocked to respond but his eyes began to slowly close until they were shut so tightly the skin around them crinkled. His hands slowly fell from Taehyung's crown to his sides. Just as Jeongguk began to purse out his lips, Taehyung pulled away.
"Sorry," Taehyung said quickly.
Jeongguk's eyes fluttered open to see a panicked king. Jeongguk opened his mouth to say something but felt at a loss for words.
"Fuck, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done. I didn't have your consent and you were clear on not being into me and shit– Um, is there, like, a spell to reverse time?" Taehyung rambled on.
"It's–" Jeongguk paused to swallow the lump in his throat. "It's fine."
"But I shouldn't have–"
"Taehyung, it's fine. Don't worry about it, it didn't mean anything," Jeongguk said and he instantly regretted it, wishing he could take back the words he didn't mean.
Taehyung's expression fell. "Right. Sorry, still. I'll, uh, go back down."
Jeongguk didn't say anything else as he watched Taehyung turn around and walk back inside. He shut his eyes and exhaled sharply, wanting to jump of the balcony.
"Idiot," Jeongguk groaned and mumbled to himself. It didn't mean anything? Who was Jeongguk trying to lie to? If Taehyung hadn't pulled away, Jeongguk would've kissed back. Now what did that mean?
Jeongguk raked his hair back. His hand hovered to his lips. Jeongguk shut his eyes and recalled the feeling of Taehyung's lips on his. His heart began to race faster than ever. Jeongguk quickly opened his and did his best to control his breathing.
He didn't hate the kiss. No, not at all.
—•
y'all are actually the best for still reading this with the pace i update at 😔😔
also i kinda changed something from one of the past chapters and feel so stupid cuz of my indecisive mind but im not gonna say what (im so sorry) cause it might spoil stuff, and it was only mentioned once i think so y'all might not even remember but if you do know what it is pls don't comment anything 🥺
i love you guys so much 💖💕💗
Bye<3