Royal Flush | pjm; jjk

Chapter Six

Nora and Jimin had spent a couple of hours at the bar. Jimin wanted to get as much privacy as they could, and managed to snatch the table that was hidden by the room separators. As alcohol kept pouring, Nora couldn't help but notice Jimin's and her tongues come loose. They have been talking about everything and nothing at the same time, little by little getting more comfortable with each others presence. Together with the pouring alcohol came the honest remarks.

"Why are you so bossy?" Nora managed to mumble, taking a shot. She lost count of how many she had about an hour ago, but Jimin made sure to keep them coming. "Why do you always have so many questions?" Jimin shot back, barely holding his eyes straight. "Well, why do you never answer them?" Nora didn't stutter, and Jimin leaned back pretending to be hurt. "Why am I not your type?" He blurted. Nora raised her eyebrows, still trying to keep herself focused. "Why do you care?" She raised her glass towards him. Jimin quickly grabbed his and smacked with hers. "I don't. I'm simply curious." He answered. Jimin was sure he wasn't lying. He was certain of it. Nora took another shot and leaned back, wiping the alcohol from her lips. This motion left Jimin thirsty for more drinks.

"You're just not what I'd look in a man." She finally answered, licking her lips and savoring the rich taste of whiskey. Jimin mirrored her and licked his own. "And what do you look for in a man?" He felt his curiosity rising. Nora raised her arms in a defeated motion. "Oh no, please, I give up, no more interrogations!" She yelled out and they both started to laugh. "Don't get me wrong, I'm just interested because I'm everyones type! So your statement kind of left me wondering what's up." Jimin told her calmly, while pouring another round of shots. Nora giggled, "See, I don't like cocky men. I don't like bossy men. I don't like angry men. I like men who care, and are nice, and are sweet and vulnerable. Men like you are.. well they're a bit boring." She mumbled the last part and a bubble of giggles left her mouth. Jimin once again grabbed his chest pretending to be hurt and wiped his tears sarcastically. "Good." He finally stated. "I don't like you either."  Nora giggled again, raised her shot and offered him a cheers. "To not liking each other!" Jimin answered her invite with his glass and agreed. "To not liking each other."

"Where the hell have you been?!" Jin's hissing voice stung both Nora's and Jimin's ears. They finally managed to come back home, holding each others shoulders, barely standing on their feet. "Nora..Nora needed more clothes." Jimin mumbled and Jin quickly slapped his hand on his mouth. "Did you allow her to drink?!" He yelled out, grabbing Nora out of Jimin's grasp and pulling her next to himself. Jimin simply nodded, not realizing what was the issue. "Jimin, she's taking medicine, she can't drink! Jesus Christ. Go to bed!" He yelled out and stopped abruptly, suddenly realizing who he was yelling at. Quickly turning away he dragged Nora to her room. If the circumstances would have been different, Nora would have thought that Jin got scared by his own actions, the worry in his eyes was obvious. But not being able to trust her own judgement while under the influence, she allowed this thought to slip by.

"Nora, how much did you drink?" Jin finally asked, sitting her down on her bed. Nora cupped her face and tried to keep her eyes focused. "A lil bit.." She mumbled and plopped down. Jin sighed, walked towards her and placed his palm on her forehead. Then he took her wrist and checked her pulse. After examining her from her head to her toes it seemed like whatever he found pleased him. "Get some sleep. Everyone is gathering tomorrow. We will start planning. You need to be well rested." Nora mumbled in agreement and turned on her side. She was falling into deep sleep already, when she felt Jin placing a blanket over her.

Nora was already combing her hair, fully dressed, when a knock disturbed her. "Come in." She said, not even looking at the door. Jin peeked in and asked her if she was ready. Nora took another brush down her hair and placed the comb down. She turned on her heel and Jin lifted his eyebrows. He couldn't help but think that now, she looked much more comfortable than when she was in the dresses. Nora had tight black pants on, black boots reaching up her calves. She was wearing a hickory brown shirt that was tucked into the pants and secured with a belt. She left her hair lose, and it gracefully hugged her waist. Sudden worry overtook Jin again, as he kept scanning her tiny body, wondering how she lived her life before this. "Are we going?" Nora asked, trying to pretend that her head was not rupturing from the hangover. Jin simply nodded and waited for her to reach him, eyes carefully checking the scar on her throat, as if afraid it might burst open.

Nora and Jin walked inside the meeting room and sat down at the round table. Namjoon and Taehyung were smiling to her brightly, Yoongi gave her a half smirk. Jimin looked like he was about to die and Nora couldn't help but smile at the view. Her eyes also caught an unfamiliar face. She turned to him and immediately noticed the palace guards brooch on the left side of his suit. He quickly noticed her worry and smiled at her. "Hi Nora, I'm Hoseok. I think Jimin told you about me already. It's nice to meet you." His tone was warm, it felt honest. Nora nodded and smiled at him, not really sure of what to say. Jimin quickly cleared his throat.

"As I understand, Hoseok, you asked us all to meet her today. Did something happen?" Jimin inquired, resting his head in his palm. Nora couldn't help but smile while looking at him, Jimin was barely human after yesterday and somehow this brought her devious joy. "Yes. We have another chance at placing Nora next to the Prince. Although, this time it might be more difficult." Worried faces turned towards Hoseok, waiting for a further explanation. He quickly scanned their eyes and continued. "Prince Jungkook has been asking his father to let him out of the palace. To meet the real world, and the King would always disagree. But, I think his persuasion is coming to an end. The King said he'll allow it if Prince Jungkook will have some guards with him." Hoseok stopped talking and smiled, as if everything that needed to be said - was. Everyone kept staring at him and he sighed.

"Sorry, I keep forgetting you're not in the circle. Anyways, Prince Jungkook announced that he will not be taking guards from the palace. He wants to find his own people. He stated that he'll allow anyone - ANYONE " he emphasized, while allowing his eyes wander to Nora. "to apply for the position. Firstly he will have personal interviews with the candidates, then he'll choose a handful of them and later the actual trials will take place. Those people who manage to survive the trials will be named Prince's Royal Guards. And the best part is - he didn't request men only. The prince has very open views you see." Hoseok finished calmly and took a sip of his tea. Nora shuffled her eyes to Jimin, he met hers on the way. Both of them were thinking the same thing - they could do this. Their plan was starting to come into motion, and the goal started to feel achievable. Nora turned back to Hoseok and cleared her throat. "When is everything starting? When do you need to apply? When is the first meeting?" Hoseok smiled at her eagerness. "I already wrote you in. You're in the list. If you get chosen. the first meeting with the Prince will happen in two weeks. If you manage to get through him, the trials will begin in a month."

Nora looked around the room, waiting for someone to speak, but they all seemed to be quite lost in their own thoughts. "Okay then," she began, "best case scenario, I have a month to train for the trials. Hoseok, do you have any idea what they will consist of?" At the moment Nora was the center of the attention, but she had her eyes glued to Hoseok. The burning resolve in her chest made her extremely excited. "Well, I'm assuming they will test your strength. How enduring you are, how well you fight, how good you are with a sword and things like that. It's going to be difficult." He finally finished, with a somber note. Nora smiled at him and leaned back at her chair. "Well, aren't we just so lucky that I had to fight every day to survive, huh?"

The meeting didn't take long after that. Nora infected every one with her excitement, and they quickly began planning. Yoongi offered his help first, he promised to teach her to fight to the best of her capabilities in the upcoming month, and the way he said it left Nora fearing his classes. Hoseok agreed with him, and promised to work on her sparring skills with the sword. After hearing this, Jin finally spoke up. He said that he'll teach Nora first aid and bits and pieces of useful medical information. This would give her more points in the position, as not many people know how to perform first aid. Namjoon quickly added that he'll work on her academic knowledge, just in case they don't only check brute strength. Jimin kept watching this whole situation unfold, a warm fire rising in his stomach. "I'll take care of her general training and endurance." He stated coldly, and everyone fell silent. The way he spoke those words, left Nora understanding, that it didn't matter what trials the Prince had in mind. Jimin's will definitely be much worse.

That night Nora went to sleep in her comfortable bed with many various thoughts. Tossing and turning she tried to calm herself down by imagining her life after everything ends. She will have a lot of money, she will never need to do any illegal things. The life that she always dreamed of was brushing on her fingertips already. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, forcing her body to calm down. She needed a lot of rest, before the very first training start.