UNTILL I MET YOU || JIKOOK

13

JUNGKOOK POV

Jungkook couldn't be upsetabout Jimin leaving him alone outside.

Not when he was covered head to toe in warm clothes and given the freedom to roam the castle's gardens.

Not to mention the tantalizing possibility Jimin had raised of him talking to Jin.

The alpha had been kind and considerate, far more than he had been expecting after their previous interactions.

In truth, he was disappointed that the alpha had been called away.

It felt like they would finally have the chance to spend some time together and truly to get to know one another.

Even if their marriage ended up as nothing more than a friendship, he'd prefer that to cold indifference or animosity.

Still, the present situation could not be helped, so he decided he had better make the most of it.

He was outside, suitably dressed for the cold, with lots of new places to explore.

Grinning to himself, he set off eagerly through a stone archway that led from the courtyard into the gardens.

He paused as he stepped through taking a moment to get his bearings.

The gardens seemed to be divided into two levels a lower one which contained what he guessed were the kitchen gardens, and a walled area set apart, reached by stone steps.

He headed upward, keen to see the gardens Jimin had wanted to show him. A guard stood at a gate set into the wall.

He came to attention as Jungkook approached and looked him up and down.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"I'm just out for a walk," he explained, looking past the guard, where he spied a lovely path through the gate.

"Are they the royal gardens?"

"Yes, Prince Jungkook."

Jungkook took a step forward, expecting the guard to open the gate and let him through, but he didn't move.

"Are the gardens closed off for some reason?"

Maybe the gardeners were working on them?

Though it seemed a strange time of year for that.

"These gardens are reserved for the royal family, my Prince."

It took him a moment to realize what the guard was saying.

That the gardens were reserved for the family and he was some thing other, something apart from them.

"The gardens on the lower levels are free for anyone to wander," the guard added, growing uncomfortable under jungkook's bewildered stare.

Jungkook didn't say anything, the humiliation hot and heavy inside him.

He simply turned and walked down the steps, keeping his face carefully angled as he took the nearest path so the guard could not see his tears.

* * *

After the garden incident, all he wanted to do was hide in his rooms and read.

He'd swapped his first books for another history book and a captivating romance written by an omega.

Having never read something written by one of his own kind, he found it both refreshing and inspiring.

What else had he missed out on with his sheltered upbringing?