Fallen Kingdom || •MYG + KSJ• ✔️

They Come Out at Night

Jin wasn't expecting visitors, especially not in the form of Park Jimin. The ambassador who hadn't spoken to him much in days. The focus was on rebuilding Shadowcrest. Prisoners were getting interrogated by Namjoon, and so far, there had been a steady stream of information coming in. It had been a full week since the attack, and Jimin was put in charge of handling the commoners. Hoseok the knights. Namjoon the interrogations. Taehyung stayed on farming, but that wasn't a surprise. Jungkook was helping Namjoon with interrogations, but he was also helping Hoseok train new knights.

Meanwhile, Jin was doing his king duties by overseeing all of those activities. Namjoon expressed concerns for future attacks, and Jin agreed. The plan was to try and recruit some of the captured knights from the north. It was the only way they were getting out of prison, and seeing as their king and commanding knight weren't going anywhere anytime soon, it seemed like a good deal. Only they were to be put through extensive training by Jungkook and Hoseok. Jungkook to determine if they were trustworthy, and Hoseok because Hoseok was a scary trainer. When he was focused, he was terrifying. Always wanted everything perfect. He was never rude about it, but compared to his bubbly, sunshine-like self, it was like staring at a completely different person.

"I need to talk to you," Jimin said, pulling on his tie until it went undone, him shoving it in his pocket. Jin was, as always, on his balcony. His hands were on the railing, his eyes scanning over the entrance to their kingdom as if that would magically stop any attacks from appearing. Jin accepted his role as king and had the knights and commoners alike refer to him as such. Only it wasn't that simple. Saying the word 'king' still felt like a chore. An anchor strapped around his ankle, sinking him deeper into the chasm known as his mind.

"Then talk. The end of the day is near, I don't have much more to do. Did something happen?"

"I hope not. I wanted to talk about us." Jin peeked back at that, the setting sun prancing across his neck. He asked the question with his eyes, Jimin letting his posture tear itself apart. The hands he had tucked behind his back fell by his sides, his shoulders falling with them. "I talked to Sebastian. He didn't say anything, but I um, said a few things..."

Jin's eyes almost whipped themselves out of his sockets. "Alone?" Jimin nodded, and the king stormed forward, grabbing him by the shoulder. "Are you insane?"

"Yeah, a little."

"I gave you a direct order not to talk to him alone. I'm sorry Jimin, but after that battle, I don't trust that you won't try to kill him."

"Maybe he should be dead," Jimin said, and Jin's heart went cold. Those words coming out of Jimin's mouth made Jin's soul turn into glass, a hammer pounding against it.

"Jimin," he whispered, and the ambassador cracked at that. He broke down, holding his injured, bandaged shoulder as he wailed. "Come here." Jimin obeyed, Jin hugging the smaller man. It brought ache to Jin's bones holding Jimin and feeling how frail he was. Like he lost more weight than he already had through the years of his depressive slump. The most alarming part of that was that it hadn't been too long since Sebastian visited Shadowcrest for the first time. How did he lose a noticeable amount of weight in a short period of time?

"I'm sorry," he said in a whimper, pulling on the back of Jin's robes. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to disobey you, I never did. All I do is hurt you and Hoseok, that's all I do. This whole time all I've thought about is myself. I didn't think about you, Hobi, the kingdom, fuck, I didn't even think about my wife. The only thing I thought about was Sebastian taking me back to when I was a kid. To when I was pathetic." He broke off, chuckling without any humor in it. "Or maybe I still am. Look at me. Reverting to my old ways because one man said a word that made me all pissy. If one word was all it took, I shouldn't be in charge of anything, Jin. Especially not your diplomacy."