A Tiger Called Rapunzel ✓ || TaeGyu || HYBEPride 2021

Meanwhile, Back At The Castle

"Day twenty three of being locked up in this cell," Soobin repeated to himself as he drew another line on the wall. "Not that I'm complaining."

It honestly confused Soobin. He had been apprehended by guards while in the Prince's bedroom, handcuffed, and brought to the cellar dungeons. But he hadn't even seen Taehyun yet. Instead, he had been placed in a single cell, which still had bars on it and it was still cold. It did have some comforts, though: he had blankets, a soft mattress, and someone brought him food three times a day. And Yeonjun would come and visit every night for about fifteen minutes, which was also weird. You would think that, with Soobin being a very wanted criminal, he would have been executed already. But every night, Yeonjun would come downstairs and tell Soobin he was getting another day alive, because they were waiting for an impartial jury from across the sea. So Soobin waited, and waited, and now it had been more than three weeks and he was still waiting.

He was just glad that he had slipped the crown into Taehyun's girlfriend's bag before they had been found out. Who knew where it was now? At least neither he nor Taehyun had been found holding it. That would have been bad.

The prison was relatively empty, so when the door opened, Soobin knew it was for him, probably Yeonjun. And sure enough, Yeonjun's fox-like face appeared out of nowhere. "Hello, Soobin."

"Is tomorrow the day?"

Yeonjun sighed, then ran a hand through his hair. "No, but I don't know..."

There seemed to be something on Yeonjun's mind. Something he wasn't telling Soobin. But Soobin wasn't in any position to ask; he, after all, had been behind bars for twenty three days. "Okay. I will continue to wait here, then."

"You're just okay with accepting your fate?"

Soobin shrugged. "Do I have a choice? I'm sure Taehyun is thinking of something, but...we never thought we'd get caught."

Yeonjun paused, and then, "I didn't think you'd get caught, either. I was hoping that when they put me on patrol, I'd be in charge. I would have totally avoided the castle. I knew Taehyun was up to something, and I figured I'd let him get away with it like usual. But no, they put Vernon in charge, and he divided everybody up and we all went in different directions. So I was stuck in Jay's group and they saw the door was open, and they got to you before I could."

Soobin was very confused. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I don't know how long I can keep you in here alive." And when Soobin looked up into Yeonjun's eyes, there was something else he had never seen before.

"Keep me...in here?"

"I know about the Magic Island Network, Soobin. Of course I know. I know Sam, and Seokjin, and Hoseok, and I've known for a long time. But I also know that living in this kingdom has been hell for years. So when I learned about the network, I decided to find a way to help. Have you ever wondered how you've made it out of the castle unscathed all these years? How you and Taehyun get in and out of the gold reserves, and you're only chased when some other guard sees you? It's because I schedule the guards away from the vault on days you're most likely to raid it."

Soobin was in shock. He didn't know any of this. "Really?"

"I mean. You can know all this now. Because you're probably going to die soon. I can't keep convincing them to hold it off."

"You're the one keeping me from dying?"

"Shh, not so loud! But...yes, I'm trying to protect you and Taehyun until I can talk some sense into the King myself. Or something. It's not a great plan. If your friend has a better plan on how to escape, I'm all ears. But the guards took him away and into the lowest dungeon, where I can't go. I don't know if he's ate well at all or sleeping. I can at least provide you those comforts."

"Yeonjun, this..."

"It's all thanks to you for doing what's right for the people of the Naeil Kingdom. Someday, we'll get through this. Promise. But...really, what were you two doing in the dead son's throne room on the festival night? You had that one chick with you. Taehyun's girlfriend or something? I thought he was gay."

And Soobin had to laugh. "Yeah, I don't know what's up with that...but whomever Taehyun wants to be with, I'll respect that. He's been so in love with her, more than anybody else. I'm so surprised! I never thought he would like a girl like that!" He paused. "I really hope he lives, because I think he deserves to settle down with her."

"Then we should find a way to make that happen. In theory, I could get you out of jail pretty easily. I could just say I'm taking you to another cell, and then bust you free. But Taehyun is watched by at least five guards at all times. And anything we say to the other guards or to the King himself will just get us in trouble."

"Shouldn't I be in isolation like him? I still don't understand why I'm up here in comfort."

"Because I could only save one of you." Yeonjun looked away. "And if Taehyun dies, if this all ends...I would still want to save you. I had to pick, and I hated that I had to pick. But if it was between you and Taehyun, it would have to be you. If you died...then I'd never see you again. If you lived, then we could at least get out of here, maybe escape to the coast, an ex-convict and his friend who used to be a castle guard. And we could, I don't know, bake bread and plant some flowers or something, it sounds stupid --"

Soobin put his hand on one of the prison bars. "We should try to save Taehyun. Any way possible. Let's make a plan. And then...we can all escape, and we can live that life far, far away. And I will bake you all of the bread that you want."

Yeonjun found himself blushing. "You don't have to bake all of the bread! It's not like I'm asking you to be my wife or anything!"

"I would be. If I could get out of here and be reborn as your wife, then I think that would be something beautiful."

"...maybe not my wife, Soobin. But I will take you up on that bread. Promise?" Yeonjun took Soobin's hands, through the bars. There was an unmistakable blush on his face, like this promise meant more than just bread. A new start was a new start, after all.

Soobin nodded. "Promise."

"So that's what you're doing down here."

Yeonjun and Soobin jumped apart, but it was just Jay -- a very out of breath Jay. "You're needed immediately," Jay said. "All guards on deck. We're moving out."

"Everybody? In the whole kingdom?" Yeonjun asked.

"What could possibly require every guard in the kingdom to fight against?" Soobin had to ask.

Jay had an odd look on his face. "There's been a...weird disturbance near Shinkisoku. A magic disturbance."