Once Upon A December || VKook || HYBEPride 2022

The Truth

"You can't be serious."

"I am." Jungkook crossed his arms and stared off into the distance. "He remembered the purple uniforms. They were only worn once. Nobody knew about it except those who were there. At the very least, he was at that last party. At the best..."

"At the best, he really is the Prince, and we've stumbled upon a miracle."

"I don't want it to be a miracle. I want the money, and I want to go home." Jungkook knew he was lying out his teeth. If he was honest with himself, he would know that he now held hope. He wanted V to be Prince Taehyung. At the same time, he didn't want that at all.

For Jungkook had been there, that last night in the castle.

And he remembered exactly how it had gone.

He remembered how Emperor Jongsoo had danced on the floor with every lady, wearing his purple uniform with all the badges and banners on it. He remembered how the Empress had danced in her beautiful purple ball gown, and how the sisters had their gowns to match, theirs decorated with little flowers and ribbons. And then there was Taehyung, who had been a spitting image of his father, in the same purple uniform and sash but smaller.

Jungkook remembered it so well because it had been their last interaction before everything had changed.

He had found Taehyung hiding under the table where the punch bowl was located. He was supposed to be dancing with his father, making merry with everybody else, as the December holidays that the Musihans would later ban were in full swing. Jungkook had ducked under the table and sat with Taehyung, friends meeting for what they wouldn't know would be one last time.

"Why aren't you out there?"

Taehyung's face was red. "My uncle Bang is going back to Paris after tonight! I hate this. I wish he could stay forever!"

Junkgook knew how much the Prince loved his great uncle. Dowager Bang always traveled in from Paris and brought all sorts of toys and interesting artifacts from when he did his charity work there. And Bang had to return to Paris all of the time, but this time it was around the holidays and also right before Taehyung's birthday, so Taehyung was incredibly sad to see him go.

"It's not the same without him."

"I know, but maybe you can be reunited together in Paris later?"

"That's what he said. I haven't been to Paris in so long." Taehyung pulled out a metal chain; Jungkook, up until now, had remembered the chain, but he hadn't remembered the fact that it might have a charm on it. "He gave me this, and said I need to wear it when I come to Paris next."

"That's cute," Jungkook had said. "And until then, I'll keep you company here in the castle, okay?"

And Taehyung had beamed at Jungkook, and Jungkook had fixed his crown, and in retrospect Jungkook considered that this was the moment he had started having a crush on his best friend. But not five minutes later, there was screaming in the hall as the students stormed through, led by the Musihans and the military. Jungkook had taken Taehyung's hand, led him through the corridors, to their secret base and out to where the sewers were. But there had been a sharp pain in his shoulder, and he had fallen into the sewer water, and when he had gotten up, Taehyung was gone, and the sentries had grabbed him instead.

He had been nursed back to health, the nurses healing the bullet wound in his shoulder, only to be thrown out into the cold. His parents were gone. The Borahae Empire was gone. And his best friend — the love of his life? — was dead.

Or so he thought.

"So if what you're saying is true," Seokjin said, "and that man really is the lost prince, do you have any clue what we've done? We were in this for the money, but now we might actually stand a chance of saving the entire empire!"

"And he has no clue," Jungkook said, feeling even more unhappy about this entire situation. "He just thinks he's some average guy who can't remember who he is. But that's not true at all. He has to be the lost prince, Seokjin. Not because we want the money, but because he just IS."

"If he is the prince, then we should let him know, and we should help him get accustomed to this life."

"I agree. But we're not going to have time to tell him until tomorrow night. V is staying with the other potential princes." All in all, there were six men who could potentially be the lost prince Taehyung, including V. The others had passed most of the questions, and Jimin had included them in the final selection as a courtesy. He had promised the Dowager Bang that there would be multiple men so he could compare them, but he hadn't realized what a gem he had actually stumbled across in V.

"We will be at the ballet with him tonight," Seokjin explained. "We need to talk to him at intermission or something, let him know then. Otherwise we'll never have a chance."

Jungkook nodded. If V didn't know he was the real Prince before going into his meeting, then for all he knew, the Dowager could end up picking someone else. They had to tell V the truth they had realized, and fast. Even if Jungkook didn't want to -- even if it ruined everything -- V should still know.