Dimensions || taekook

Chapter 27

The first night at the Jeons' residence hit Taehyung harder than he had expected.

Even after having drifted off to sleep so peacefully, he had woken up abruptly in the middle of the night, feeling so afraid he'd started crying. Why, he didn't know, but the answer was pretty clear.
He was afraid of the new life that he was about to confront, along with the uncertain future.

What would happen? He knew nothing of this new world, there were no servants to guide him and no private tutors or music teachers that would tell him what he must do. He had heard of commoners attending school with each other, but he had no idea how that was supposed to work.

Not once in his life had he spent time with more than two people around his own age. And now he was supposed to stay in a room with many hundreds of them? How big were the classes? What did they even learn about? Would he ever be able to catch up?

Curse him for being a loud crier. Right in the middle of his outburst, the boy next to him had woken up due to the quite strong volume of his wails, despite him having tried quite hard to suppress it.
The brunette, who was having a wonderful good night's sleep and felt perfectly comfortable rejoiced with his soft bed, was shocked to find him in such a state.

However, he recomposed himself quite quickly and gave his best efforts to comfort and reassure the prince, patting his shoulders and his hair, whispering "It's gonna be okay" into his ear, even hugging him from behind at some point. He was also glad to see that his comforting methods were effective, for Taehyung fell asleep again just quarter an hour later.

And on the next morning, both boys were confronted with hard shock. They woke up cuddling, the younger's arms wrapped around the older's waist from behind, and both were embarrassed to admit that this particular position made them both feel right at home.

Waking up was also a very unusual experience for the prince to make. The room was small and instead of sweet and thoughtful Jimin carrying breakfast to his bed on a tray, he was expected to walk downstairs to start his day. However, he was open to change and he vowed himself to not appear as spoilt or prudish. Not in front of Jungkook and also his family and friends, for that matter.

But of course, things weren't so easy. Another million thoughts swirled around his brain as soon as he sat up in Jungkook's bed, from Elysium to the arms that had just been slung around his waist from behind to how he was supposed to act in front of his friend's parents or how he could keep making up believable excuses that didn't include him being the crown prince of a secret hidden kingdom.

Sometimes, he wished he could switch off his brain and the thoughts whirring within. But how was he supposed to stop thinking? He was human, after all.

And as the morning progressed, he also came to realize just how different the common world was from the palace. When him and Jungkook walked downstairs, he saw Jungkook's parents and friends seated around the kitchen table, all enjoying breakfast. It wasn't painfully silent like at the castle, everyone seemed at ease and talked freely. Normally, he'd have to pay special attention to not chew too loudly or let the cutlery clash too loudly against the plates.

The food tasted good, but the light atmosphere enhanced the good taste. At first he felt awkward, but it seemed as if Jungkook's parents had set their minds to be as kind as possible to Taehyung for their son's sake although finding his appearance uncanny and suspicious.

After the meal, Jungkook, Taehyung, Yugyeom and Yoongi excused themselves and went up to Jungkook's room. It was clear that the two friends wished to interrogate their allegedly dead friend and what in the world had happened during those three months.

As Yoongi and Yugyeom made themselves comfortable on two beanbags, Jungkook and Taehyung sat on the bed. Deciding to tell the truth, the brunette slowly started talking truthfully. And he didn't stop, feeling one heavy weight fall off his chest with every sentence he produced.