merry go round || nomin ✔

- seven -

"so? is there any job that jaemin can fit into?" he heard renjun speaking to doyoung, hope glistening in his eyes. but not really amused by it, doyoung sighed and nodded.

"i don't think you are going to like this one, jaemin. but i hope the job is enough for you as you seem to need money urgently." the butler spoke calmly as he turned to jaemin who was currently standing with mark side by side. they were at the same place they met the butler yesterday, but this time the guards were different, at least that's what he saw.

"what job is it? it's okay, i can handle it." jaemin said with a smile to assure the butler.

"you will be hired as the personal handler of the king. to put it simply, the helper of the king." silence was all around them as they heard that. so let's go back in time (again TT) to know the reason as to why doyoung doesn't seem so excited to deliver the news of the job jaemin was supposed to take.

growing up in a very secure and royal family, the heir of the lee throne was very lonely. ever since he was little, he never socialized a lot with anyone else except his own personal maid, who treated him like his own child. his mother passed away when he was born and his father was busy sailing and trading. not long after his voyage, his father passed away which left him all alone. he was then crowned king at a very young age and learning all the responsibilities all by himself burdened him a lot. he never socialized with his people and locked himself inside his bedroom all alone. he was cold and scary, many people feared him. and so, no one ever really saw the king, although they have faith in him to lead them well and that one day he'll go out and show himself to his own kingdom.

now, the reason why they were shocked was because they never even saw the king the entire time they were there. he was said to be 'ghosting' his own kingdom; at least that was what renjun had said. although almost all elders in the kingdom have seen the young prince, they never really saw the king when he grew up. and by that, getting a job as a personal handler of the king means renjun gets to see the king face to face almost everyday, similar to doyoung.

"holy shit." mark said with a small voice but they all heard it.

"excuse me?" the butler said but renjun scoffed lightly and shook his head.

"holy shit indeed." jaemin giggled.

-

"listen jaemin, this doesn't mean that you can get close to the king so easily."

"but i am going to meet the king right? at least i get to see what's inside the palace." well technically jaemin isn't wrong, but the king is kind of a misanthrope (person who dislikes the society) which makes him want to see his own personal handler less than wanted, moreover him being new. although so, jaemin kept on smiling as he felt so happy to finally see what is actually inside the palace.

"well yeah, but-" mark's words got cut off by the overly thrilled male who kept moving around mark's house.

"but what? it'll be so exciting! i can't wait to finally see what the palace actually looks like. it'll be so pretty. will there be fishes in the small pond inside? oh! i hope there will be paintings on the wa-"

"jaemin, listen to me." this time, renjun spoke up with a slightly louder voice which the man was slightly shocked at but stopped talking immediately. renjun started with a sigh.

"we're just worried about you, okay? nobody has ever met the king, heck no one even knows exactly what he looks like. we don't even know if he is a good person or a person who insults people and disrespect his own men or whatever."

"he could act like a karen."

"oh shush mark." renjun rolled his eyes and sighed for the nth time that day.

"just.. follow the rules, don't get too excited or you'll probably get kicked out, alright?"

"alright." jaemin nodded with his arms placed neatly on his sides and his eyebrows furrowed, trying to stand in a soldier-like position. renjun giggled slightly at him who looked like he was about to kill someone but adorably.

"oh and jaemin?"

"hm?" he answered as he plopped himself down to the bed, almost blowing out the candles.

"just do everything that the king tells you to, okay? we just want to rescue you out of here, nothing else. keep your mind straight and don't think about doing anything dumb there, ok? nothing is going to be permanent here so it's okay." with a curt nod, jaemin lies down in bed with a tired sigh. tomorrow's going to be the big day, the first work he'd probably ever gotten. a big one.

-

okay i don't know anything about the korean history and how the system works there if you work in the palace or castle so i apologize beforehand if i did a mistake in the understanding about ancient korea system *cries*