The Criminal Prince

the first tick of the bomb

He was a living sin.

All the bullets he shot met flesh on its receiving end. He laundered money and smuggled drugs like a phantom in the dark.

That was how they found him, one particular rainy night.

The thunders roared the moment the royal guards in disguise pointed their flashlight at him at one of the deepest corners of the slums of Korea after running after him for hours and hours and dodging every barricade he slammed at them.

Security agencies who worked for the royal family and whose names will not be disclosed, collected an ample amount of data from the people—including birthdates, facial traits, and the likes. Illegally, of course.

Their tracking technology was to be feared just as much as how drug lords operate in plain sight. In less than three months, they were able to locate the perfect doppelgänger the king needed.

And he's a criminal.

Min Tae Gu's long hair was drenched from the rain and he was heavily panting, eyes wide alert as he kept his guard high on the men surrounding him. Of all nights, he couldn't fathom that they found him on his most unarmed state—he was on his way home after buying dinner to share with his little sister.

And yet, he let his stupidity convince him that it will just be a simple trip to get food outside.

Shit, he kept cursing under his breath every time he taps his wet jacket and felt no gun to retrieve.

Fuck.

Hyun Ju was waiting for him back home.

He needs to go back to her.

The guards took one step forward.

He turned to the sound behind him...

And then everything went black.

-

This is the part where your subconscious drifts away to somewhere empty and quiet and dark. Your body just shuts down and your ears hear nothing. Not even the tightening of the ropes around your wrists can make you grunt in pain because you were knocked out.

This only happens a few hours though, and after those hours of nothing has passed, Tae Gu first felt how hard he caught his breath, unable to inhale as much as he wanted because of the bag wrapped around his head.

He stumbles, feeling arms making him walk out of balance towards somewhere.

He was thirsty and his head aches so fucking bad but Min Tae Gu's senses were heightened. The dark bag they covered around his face limited his breathing but he could sense they arrived at a wide space.

Upon his orders, his bag was taken off.

Beads of sweat escaped from the tips of his damp strands and he was panting, catching for air and seeing that the floor was that of a varnished mahogany wood.

Well swept, well polished. He could almost see his reflection and make out the dark bruises on such areas of his face.

"Your Highness, we brought him," spoke the man on the left behind him.

Min Tae Gu already had his head held down and he did not need to lift it to see that it was indeed the King of the country.

Ri Jeung Pyeong ordered all the guards to exit the room and give them privacy. When the doors shut close with a huge echo, Min Tae Gu lifted his head with a strained groan.

His vision was partially blurred, partially sensitive from the intensity of the ceiling light illuminating, but he managed to chuckle with a smirk on his face.

"Are you going to kill me?"

He looks around, feeling the tightness of the ropes binding his hands behind. "Seems like it," he confirms.

"You went to jail three times."

He chuckles hoarsely. There was no sense of fear at that moment. Min Tae Gu was so used to these situations that bordering near a close touch to death seemed so mundane to him.

"Yeah I did," he looks up, "I went to jail for trying to get a life."

"You smuggled drugs into this country."

"I was making millions for fuck's sake!" He raised his voice to utter his point, pertaining mostly to his ignorance and greed; at least that's what he's trying to show. "Why the fuck would I care about that?"

He challenged him with a twitch of his brow, boldening his statement even more. "You royalties slept in beds made of the purest cotton and drank the finest tea whilst people like me needed to risk our lives to just to fill the hunger in our stomachs."

He gritted his teeth. "You tell me, your Highness, do I look like I have the heart to care for bullshit like the law?"

There was a heavy pause.

"The law was never equal," Min Tae Gu said.

Over his long reign, Ri Jeung Pyeong encountered many of his people and knew their stories and struggles like the back of his hand.

Before Ri Jeung Pyeong became an aged ruler who eventually retired within his quarters for most hours of the day, he was a young man who was fond of blending in nearby villages under a disguise. It was a unique hobby he grew to do. Through it, he made friends and foes from all sides of the society.

It made him wise, a little bit of street smart as well.

"You... you don't do this for yourself, do you?" The king merely asked.

Min Tae Gu stared at him.

"All of these," hands kept behind his back, he went on, "You wouldn't care to go as far as this if it wasn't for... someone, am I right?"

Word by word, the king slowly chips off his guard one by one.

Tae Gu does not dare to let him get in that direction he wants to go, to utter the name of his only family and involve her in whatever shit this is.

"Leave my sister alone."

"I can help you."

"I don't need your fucking help."

"She's dying, Tae Gu."

She's dying. That hit him. It was just a matter of time until he couldn't do much anymore for her. He spent three years getting away from loan sharks, their debts piling to a ten fold every year because of her hospital bills and treatments.

Hyun Ju was his only home in this dark world he gave to himself. Through her, he can see from her little lens that brighter version of the world where happiness and love existed.

It's always the good people, they say, who gets to suffer the bigger consequences.

And he hates how even that, was a knowledge to the king.

"I can save her..." he pants, out of restrained rage, blood coursing through his veins at how much anger he's trying to hold back.

Why was he even holding back...

The king wanted to be true to him and just be real with his words.

Min Tae Gu will never save her.

Not in his own way.

But.

He's giving him the chance to realize that himself.

"Very well." The doors opened and he had gestured his guards to untie him. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

He stares up at him, fresh cut on his lip.

"Send him off well."