inspired by: kakegurui.
Taehyung knew he was being selfish and as Jeongguk called him; 'bratty'.
Snapping at the ravenette like that wasn't that great of an idea. He knew that Jeongguk and Minthe had a thing going on, yet he was a fool to fall for him.
Perhaps, his sadness got the best of him and made him snap at Jeongguk like that. He shouldn't hate him, really, it wasn't his fault. Well, partially, it was.
Jeongguk flirted with him, made him feel loved and special, chose him as a queen to stay by side, yet he still went up to Minthe and made out with her.
Maybe he was selfish, but for once can't he just think of himself first before others? All his life, he had been putting others before him. It was always his father first and not himself.
Part of him regretted all of what he said yesterday, but a greater part of him found ease. He was somewhat thankful that he did that. He was relived that he finally let all of his feelings out instead of bottling them up.
It was like any other day, Taehyung was watering the flowers and trimming withered parts from them. He hummed softly as he crouched and scanned for dead leaves.
Fortunately, there wasn't. He stood up with a sigh, satisfied with his work. If there weren't dead parts, it only meant he was taking good care of them.
Taehyung stretched his limbs, sighing at the satisfying pops from his bones. He walked over to a bench and grabbed his book, ready to leave.
He took one last glance at his garden, a small smile dancing on his lips. Taehyung hummed, happy with his work. He then turned around and walked to the palace.
Taking care of the flowers reduced his heartache and honestly, it had been his distraction from the pain all this time. As well as reading, he loved gardening to the bottom of his heart.
There was just something about the light dance of the flowers whenever the cold wind passes by, the nice calming smell they give off, the vibrant color of them and their uniqueness that puts Taehyung at ease.
The pink haired stepped foot onto the palace grounds, brows knitting together when a servant accidentally bumped into him. "Oh my, I'm so sorry!" She quickly bowed and then dashed away, not realizing that she bumped into the future queen.
Still in confusion, Taehyung shrugged it aside and continued on his way. It was then he noticed frantic servants, guards and practically everyone from the palace rushing to one direction. He furrowed his brows even more, wondering what was happening.
Then he saw Jimin walking with the small crowd, a small smirk playing on his lips. Taehyung tried to quickly ran to him, keyword; tried. Running in his weak state wasn't really that possible.
So instead, he jogged up to him and tapped his shoulder. Jimin turned to him, his smirk being replaced with a light smile. "Yes, Taehyung?" He asked.
Taehyung smiled at what Jimin had called him. The demon had called him 'queen' one time and the pink haired was quick to correct him.
"What's going on?" He asked as he walked with Jimin, not knowing where they were headed to. A smirk made its way back to Jimin's lips as he turned to face the pink haired.
"Ahn Yumejin, one of the smartest demons in the palace, a gamble freak, has challenged the king to a match." He announced, Taehyung's heart aching at the mention of his name. "Seriously, how daring. He even invited everyone to watch." Jimin continued, shaking his head.
The pink haired stayed quiet and looked down, painful memories resurfacing to his mind. Jimin seemed to notice his sudden quietness, then he realized what he just said.
"Oh, my apologies, you guys still haven't made up yet?" He questioned, though the answer was pretty obvious. A nod was what he got as a reply. Jimin pursed his lips, not knowing what to say. He thought they already made up yesterday. And he wasn't used to comforting people, he was clueless.
"Do you want to watch the match?" The demon asked, concerned about Taehyung's condition.
".. yes." The pink haired replied after a while, he looked up again and smiled. "Yes, I will." He repeated, there was vehemence in his voice this time around.
Jimin smiled at him as he nodded. They continued to walk for a bit until they reached an open black double-door. The demon entered first, Taehyung following him like a lost puppy.
The pink haired looked around, there were red curtains covering the windows completely and the room was dimly lit. A table with two chairs and a big flat screen TV attached to wall were the only furniture inside. There were demons circled all around the table.
Jimin finally stopped walking. They stood at the very front of the crowd, the table very visible to them with one chair facing them backwards. The pink haired stood beside him, a little bit overwhelmed by his surroundings. Demons were scary, almost every demon of the palace were present.
"Well then everyone, thank you for coming! Welcome to our Gambling Freak-show!" A sudden loud enthusiastic voice said. Taehyung turned his attention to the front door, seeing two demons. Jeongguk and the demon so called Yumejin.
His heart felt his like it stopped beating at the sight of Jeongguk. God, he needed to calm down.
"Can you stop? This is not a freak-show, we're just having match. Stop being so extra, geez." Jeongguk grumbled with a grimace. Yumejin was weird, he knew that for sure.
Yumejin rolled his eyes but stayed quiet nonetheless. Taehyung saw the demon grab Jeongguk by the wrist and drag him to the table. He gestured the devil to sit at the chair right in front of Taehyung.
Thank god he didn't sit on the other chair, he didn't want to stare at Jeongguk's face the whole match. He wasn't going to lie, the devil's broad back was such a nice sight.
Once the two were settled on their seats, Yumejin clapped his hands. "Alright! Dear, the rules please!" He said as he gestured for a demon standing by him.
The said demon nodded and stepped forward, a pile of cards in his hand. Then another demon stepped in, guns in his hand. Taehyung gasped at that, why were there guns?
He swallowed thickly, turning his head up to face Jimin. "There's guns?" He whispered quietly, only to receive a nod. Jimin seemed to be very focused on them.
"The rules are simple. The two of you get to have a set of four cards each, each card has a pattern." He paused showing the cards. There were two sets of them, though the patterns were the same. Each card had a pattern representing an element; one card for water, one for fire, one for wind and one for earth.
"The chosen dealer in another room.." The demon paused, pointing at the TV screen that projected a table surface. ".. arranges the cards in whatever order he may like, and the one whose arrangement is more similar to the dealer's, wins."
The demon with the guns stepped forward and spoke. "Before the start of each round, the two of you will get to place bullets in your respective guns. You are required to spin the gun barrel to randomize the slots of the bullets. But, it's up to you how many bullets you would like to put inside, even placing all six bullets in is possible. After that, the guns will be kept in a box that will be shaken." Taehyung gulped, wondering where this was going.
"The winner can pick a random gun in the box and he gets to shoot the loser." The demon continued, making Taehyung gasp. That was absurd! He glanced at Jeongguk, the devil's back facing him, he was suddenly worried for him.
"For the bets. What are you willing to risk for this game, sire?" The demon asked, his gaze focused on Jeongguk. There was a long pause before the devil spoke up again.
"My throne." He said coldly, earning a gasp from everyone. Taehyung frowned deeply, not liking this whatsoever.
Yumejin smirked widely, his back leaned comfortably against the back of his chair. "Oooh, I like that, sire. Well then, I'd risk my everything." He let out, his smirk widening. God, he was crazy.
The demon nodded his head and spoke. "If by any chance, Master Ahn Yumejin gets shot and dies, all of his property, business in the overworld, and army will be passed onto the king. If Sire Jeon Jeongguk gets shot and dies, his throne will be passed onto Master Yumejin." Everyone silenced, utterly shocked by the rules.
"Are the two of you alright with the rules? Any questions?" The demon asked while the two just shook their heads. "Very well then." The cards, guns and bullets were placed on the table and then they walked away.
"Since I'm the one who invited you to a thrilling match, I'll let you chose whoever you like to be the dealer." Yumejin spoke up with a wide smirk on his face, he was clearly enjoying this.
Taehyung sadly couldn't see Jeongguk's expression. But if it meant no eye contacts, then he was okay with it. But still, his heart couldn't help but feel heavy. He had a bad feeling about this.
"Namjoon," Jeongguk spoke up after a while of silence. Namjoon walked up to him, bowing respectfully. "You're alright with being the dealer, yes?" The ravenette asked, glancing up at Namjoon.
The demon nodded his head. "It would be an honor, sire." Jeongguk nodded as they held eye contact for a while, it looked like a type of telepathy.
Namjoon got escorted by two demons and was sent to another room. Not soon after, there were hands visible on the flat screen TV, it was Namjoon.
"Are you ready, sire?" Yumejin asked with a taunting smirk. Taehyung saw Jeongguk nod quietly. The pink haired gulped once more, his chest feeling heavy. He didn't like this. It was as if, something would go wrong in this match.
The two wordlessly placed bullets in their gun, spun the gun barrel and placed them into a box. The same demon who held the guns came up to them and shook the box to shuffle the guns inside.
"Well, then," Yumejin started as he brought up a phone to his ear. "Hey, tell the dealer to place the cards down!" He barked and placed the phone down.
Taehyung glanced at the screen, Namjoon's hands were visibly shaking. The room suddenly felt tense, the atmosphere so thick Taehyung could feel himself having trouble breathing. He exhaled a shaky breath as Namjoon hesitantly placed the cards down.
There it is again, this heavy feeling. Taehyung's throat went dry, his hands growing clammy. No, Jeongguk will be fine, nothing bad will happen.
"He's done, sire! Oh my, isn't it getting hot in here?" Yumejin exclaimed like a madman, a dark shade of red coating his cheeks. He was really a gamble freak.
"Let's have fun taking risks, shall we? Sire.." Taehyung gulped, clenching his fists. Jeongguk will be fine, he kept assuring himself. "Let's get our gambling freak on!"
Jeongguk will be alright, he can't die. At least, he hoped so.
~
a/n: i recently finished kakegurui, what do you expect?? well duh, of course I'll make a chapter based on it!
you guys probably expected like a violent match of fists and their powers but nope!