A Royal Mess || Taejin

Chapter 22

Seokjin cursed at himself for never having paid attention to medical lessons in his adolescence as he helplessly watched Jungkook attending to Taehyung's gaping wounds. The youngest prince of Nahae had a horrible gash running from under his right shoulder blade to his waist. Scarlet blood oozed out of the cut and seeped into the ground as if the earth was feeding on Taehyung. There were countless bruises painted in painful shades of blue and purple on both arms and there was a cut on his temples. His face was twisted in such a way that made Seokjin's heart clench. He wished, no begged, that this terrible nightmare would end and swoosh him back to reality where everything was bright and blooming, where Taehyung was not on the verge of death.

Seokjin leaned his head against the smaller frame of Yoongi and clutched his hand. Hoseok had commanded them to remain silent and not to intervene with their task in hand. The man was exiting and entering the cave again and again, bringing in wild herbs to apply to Taehyung's gaping wounds.

It took atleast, according to Seokjin's deduction, two hours to dress Taehyung's injuies before Jungkook and Hoseok slumped onto the hard ground with their bodies almost limp with exhaustion. Seokjin felt Yoongi move away from him to guide Hoseok outside to wash up. Jungkook had fallen asleep already so Seokjin gently wiped his hands with a wet cloth before Jimin covered him with a blanket that they had packed. Namjoon carefully sliced off the dimeritium shackles from around Seokjin's thigh, giving the prince of Gyeongsong the relief he was seeking for weeks.

Soon, everyone had drifted to deep slumber except for Seokjin who could not bring himself to divert his attention from Taehyung. He allowed his fingertips to gently graze the soft skin of Taehyung's cheeks, recalling the nights he would do the same in the safety of Taehyung's room in Nahae. Back then, his fears were subjected to getting caught but right then he feared for Taehyung's life, his friends' life, his family's life and his own. He gulped down the fist of emotions that clogged his throat and blinked deliberately to hold in the tears that threatened to escape. Seeing Taehyung in such a feeble state shattered his heart. He wondered if not for his stupidity, Taeyung would not have to bleed.

He pondored on how Taehyung managed to get so wounded with the armour on. Yoongi., Namjoon and Jimin only had minor injuries whereas Taehyung's wound was big enough to kill him if the blood leak was not stopped and treated. Knowing Taehyung very well, Seokjin assumed that he was probably trying to rescue some poor villager from the soldiers of Nahae.

Unable to contain the jittery feeling that coursed through his body, Seokjin got up and headed outside, finding a comfortable spot with some distance between it and the entrance, infront of the tumbling water. He let his eyelids drop while his mind focused on the gushing of the waterfall, inducing a strange sort of relaxation to his throbbing head. The rich scent of the waterfall mixed with woods filled Seokjin's nostrils and transported his senses to a world where he used to visit with Kimchi.

The difference between before and right then was that before, in his little world, there was tranquility but he was alone, whereas right then, his world was sabotaged with chaos but there were people who were willing to be a part of his wreckage.

He slowly moved his fingers, trying to recall the warmth of his fingertips with flames dancing on them. The dimeritium had vacuumed so much magical essence from him that it took him a little over five minutes and a river of concentration to summon fire. A smile grew across his lips, caressing his cheeks and turning his eyes into crescent moons. He fell complete for a minuscule of a moment.

"Seokjin? Seokjin!" A frantic voice called out his name, the words echoing.

The owner of the name tilted his head towards the source of the voice and saw a dark figure approach him from the cave.