The Ugly Duckling [Jinkook, Minjoon, Taegiseok]

37: Meanwhile in Seoul

Ages:

Seokjin and Yoongi: 22

Hoseok: 21

Namjoon: 20

Jimin and Taehyung: 18

Jungkook: 16 (now I get what yall mean lmao he's spent over half the story at age 16 by now)

~~~~~

"You idiot! This is so easy! How could you not understand something so simple?!"

E flinched and peeked into the doorway to the library.

The patient older man who taught Namjoon everything he knows was now teaching Seokjin everything at an eccelerated pace, per the orders of the Queen.

Seokjin was cowering and crumbling under pressure as his mother hovered over his shoulder, constantly yelling at him to do better.

"Your majesty, he is just a beginner..." the tutor hesitantly reached out.

"But he's not a child!" The Queen snapped. "He should be able to memorize this!"

"It's only been two weeks..."

"So?!"

"Maybe he would do better just one-on-one..."

"You are teaching him one-to-one," she placed her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow.

"This seems more like two-on-one, your majesty."

"Are you saying I can't stay here to support my son?"

"Mom, you are the opposite of supportive!" Jin finally interrupted. "Please leave!"

E grinned and made a mental note to high-five Jin later.

The Queen scoffed but turned and stormed out.

E quickly ran down the hall in panic to avoid being caught.

In the library, Jin sighed in relief.

"Don't worry about her. You're doing great," the tutor smiled.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. I'm not supposed to be king. I shouldn't be learning all this."

"That's not true. King or not, you are royalty. Having political and economical knowledge is crucial for you to serve your people well."

"I wish Namjoon was here," Jin frowned.

"I'm sorry..."

"It's okay. It's not your fault. None of this is. It's not your fault that Namjoon left, and it's not your fault that my parents didn't let me learn this earlier." Jin sighed.

"It's not your fault either."

"What?"

"None of that is your fault either, so you should stop being so hard on yourself," the tutor smiled. "Shall we get back to the lesson?"

"Yeah. I want to be done for the day before Jungkook arrives."

The tutor nodded in understanding. Jungkook had been coming everyday for the past week or two, upset with the decisions of all their friends.

"Alright, so if you turn to page 157..."

~~~~~

"Thank goodness you're here," E sighed, resisting the urge to drag Jungkook into the castle so he would walk faster. "They've been tormenting Jin with learning politics and economics all day."

"Oh, really?" Jungkook frowned. "I thought they didn't want Jin to have any powerful knowledge like that."

"Her majesty the queen had a change of heart and decided the best course of action would be to shove information down his throat and yell at him when he gets questions wrong."

"Oh, h*ll no."

Jungkook immediately picked up his pace and made his way toward the library to save Jin from his mother.

"She left him alone a while ago, but sent the king not long after," E explained, speeding up to stay with Jungkook.

"And did his majesty the king raise his voice at Jinnie?"

"Not quite."

Jungkook finally reached the library and barged in.

Jin looked exhausted.

"Please, father, can I take a break? It's been over eight hours!" Jin cried out in frustration. "I'm hungry and I need to pee desperately. I can't focus like this!"

"You're going to keep your a** glued to that chair until I say you're done. You hear me?"

"The tutor left two hours ago!"

"I said, you hear me?!"

"My Jinnie will do nothing if the sort," Jungkook interrupted, gaining both of their attention. "He's going to go to the bathroom, get food, and be allowed to rest until tomorrow morning."

"How dare you speak to me like that. I'm a king and you are still a prince. A child. Nothing more. And Seokjin doesn't belong to you anymore. We broke your engagement weeks ago, remember?" The king taunted.

"My first act when I become king in two years will be to use a sword to take your head clean off for breaking our treaty if you don't take my next words seriously: Seokjin is a prince, not a pawn you can use in your stupid game of live chess. He has a few months left to learn what he needs to learn, and you are going to let him use the bathroom before I make you wash his soiled clothes at knifepoint."

"Are you seriously threatening me in my own kingdom? I can call guards to have you thrown in jail or taken to a guillotine."

"And then Busan will invade and you will lose everything, including your precious kingdom."

"You can't be serious."

"Do I look like I'm jesting?" Jungkook narrowed his eyes more, giving the dirtiest glare he's ever given. "I'm not wearing a red nose. I don't have balls to juggle. But if you question me one last time, I will be throwing your balls out the library window."

Matching Jungkook's glare, the king waved a hand in Jin's direction. "Make it quick. Be back here in no more than 10 minutes."

Jin leaped up from the chair and ran out, practically undoing his belt on his way out the door.

After a minute or two of intense eye contact, daring each other to be the first to look away, Jungkook smirked. 

"We won't be back in 10 minutes. I hope you know that."

And with that, Jungkook leaves to get Jin food from the kitchen, ignoring the king of Seoul calling after him.

The king kicked over a table in fury, unable to accept defeat against a teenager.

Suddenly, a bird flew in the window, and dropped a roll of paper on the desk beside him.

The letter from Namjoon to his parents finally arrived, initiating plan A at a very inconvenient time.

The only reason the king didn't rip apart the letter was so that he could show it to the queen.