Arranged | Jinkook ✓

Chapter 15.0

He didn't want to think about it.

Yet it was the only thing that he seemed capable of thinking about. Until it was constantly swirling within his mind and he felt as though he were on the verge of going crazy.

Maybe he was. Maybe he was going to wake up and find that this had all been nothing more than a strange dream developed by his over active imagination.

He prayed for that more than he wanted to admit.

...

"Hello again, your future highness." It was late. He only knew because the fire was starting to dwindle, signifying that he should restack the logs for the third time. An imperfect system, really, but it felt like something normal. Gave him some way to orientate himself.

"Good evening, Taehyung." It was a welcome distraction, having the other suddenly appear before him. A reason to put the giant tome he was currently pursuing down. To leave it forgotten - at least for now. He would have to return eventually. He always would. Until all of them had been read and reread and the knowledge had been passed along and he had become the keeper of it all. "Or is it morning now? I can't keep track anymore."

"Would you like me to show you a trick?" There was a reason why Taehyung was here. And they were both aware of that. That there was some actual pretense behind this visit. Yet he felt himself jumping at the chance to spend more time in the other's presence.

"Yes." It was quick and eager, spoken as he shifted to the edge of the sofa he sat upon. "Please. If you would not mind."

"Not at all." He watched as the other stepped forward, carefully skirting the low, round table that separated them, currently covered with bits of parchment and stacks of books that had already been read and would need to be again - or ones that he hadn't yet gotten to. His body twisted, angled towards the other as he moved to sit beside him, reaching into one of the pockets of the vest he wore, pulling out a strange little device that he had never seen before. "Do you know what this is?"

"No." It was cylindrical, no more than a few inches long, with two inner chambers. Each one narrowed at the bottom, controlling the flow of the pure sand which was contained inside.

"You see, this is an hour glass. You place it upon a flat surface with the sand in the upper pod, and as it drains to the lower, you'll able to count how much time has gone by." It was such a simple thing, really. With more math having gone into it than he wanted to think about. "When all of the sand has gone from one side to the other, than you flip it back again, and the countdown restarts."

"But how is that supposed to tell me what time it is?" There had to be a clock somewhere, didn't there? Some large center piece that he was simply missing.

"It isn't meant to be specific, Seokjin. But if you begin it when you wake, knowing that night last ten hours at this time, then you can at least make a better guess." It still wasn't what he wanted. To know exactly how much time had passed. How many minutes. How many hours. How many days. Because he had begun to lose track, his own internal sense of time so lost that he didn't think it would ever right it's self again.

"That's true. I'm sorry, Taehyung. I'm grateful that you've shown me. I'll ask the prince for one the next time I see him." At the very least, it would be better than keeping track by the fire. It was inaccurate at best.

"No need. You can keep this one." The little device rest in the flat of the other's palm, and he glanced down as it was held out in offering.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to take something you need." Yet he was reaching out, curling his still sore fingers around it's middle, so careful of the fact that it was made out of delicate glass.