Afterlife || (OT7 X Reader) ✓

9: Love at first sight

1362 AD

Taehyung was looking at the man in front of him, kneeling in the middle of the dark forest. "Who sent you?" Taehyung growled, placing the blade of his sword at the man's throat.

The man cried helplessly, his hands were tied in the back, and he looked at Taehyung in horror. "I cannot tell that to you, Your Majesty." He muttered and Taehyung chuckled, "Do you think this is funny? Spying over our kingdom and then informing the enemy about our next plan?"

"Please, forgive me. Your Majesty for I cannot take the name of the kingdom I work for," the man cried out and Taehyung smirked, nodding his head, pulling his sword away from his throat. The man sighed deeply as Taehyung turned around to walk away. "Since you cannot take their name. I'm afraid I'll have to take something from you," he said and the man's eyes widened.

He saw Taehyung walking away from him while chuckling loudly, "Your life." He said and turned back. But this time the man gasped and before he could stand up, Taehyung's hand jerked forward as a dagger flew from his hand and stabbed the middle of the man's forehead.

The man groaned and arched his head back with the weapon stuck to his head, his hips touching his heels as he collapsed back to the ground with the rustling of the dried leaves under him. Taehyung tilted his head, eyes staring at the corpse blankly before turning back towards his way.

He spotted a few of his soldiers waiting for him with his horse. He inserted his sword in the scabbard and quickly hopped on his black horse. "Your Majesty, shall we go back to the kingdom?" Seojun asked but Taehyung looked upwards at the lanterns floating in the dark sky.

"What are those?" He asked and Seojun pulled the lead rope of his horse, causing it to stroll forward to stay beside Taehyung. "The people of Kaesong are celebrating the birthday of the crown prince by holding a lantern festival show." Taehyung squinted his eyes as he felt a strange vibration reverberating through his chest. Something about this kingdom drove him like a lighthouse in the middle of the storm.

"We will also go to the lantern festival show." I declared. "You- Your Majesty, I'm afraid we cannot. We are in Kaesong. We will be killed. Last time, we went there, it was so pleasant." Seojun said and I looked down before turning to him.

"Only some of us will go there, without our horses and our swords," Taehyung said and took his headband off that had the initials of him being Kim. "Let's go." He said with a wicked grin.

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Taehyung was standing at the railing of the inn on the second floor alone, looking at the marketplace which was crowded with people. The dark sky was scattered with numerous lanterns.

He was looking around until his eyes fell upon the two females walking in between the crowd and stopped at a specific shop. "Your Majesty, we must leave," Seojun whispered but Taehyung was looking at the girl who was busy fondling the floral jewelry in her hand, showing it to her accompany.

"I am watching my wife," Taehyung mumbled and Seojun's eyes widened. "Your Majesty, I don't understand."

"Look over there," he said, jerking his chin to point toward a particular shop as Seojun followed his gaze that landed on a specific girl. His eyes bulged out as he recognized the female. "Your Majesty, she- she-"

"She is the same lady who invaded us when we were bathing in the bathhouse of Kaesong on our way back to Gyeongju after the war." Taehyung finished him and Seojun nodded coyly. "She will be the next queen of Gyeongju. My wife."

"But we don't even know her-"

"The wife I'm looking for is the one who I will know is the fated one at very first sight," Taehyung mumbled as he admired Haeguk, holding the red earring in her hand and jumping while staring at the lanterns in the sky. "My life and my heart will belong to her. The whole place is crowded but all I could see is her." Taehyung mumbled and looked up at the sky.

"The sky came alive with stunning fireworks to celebrate my love," Taehyung said when he heard screams from below. He quickly looked down and saw the crowd turning wild. "Fire! The tavern caught fire!" Someone screamed and Taehyung clenched his fists when he couldn't find Haeguk anymore.

He turned around and walked towards the exit to the inn. While Haeguk was trying to find Yeji amidst the crowd. She wandered on the street in panic while staying calm among the people screaming.

Haeguk tried looking around frantically when someone pushed her harshly, causing her to fall to the ground. The street was crowded with people but for now, Haeguk could only see the shop caught in fire, right in front of her eyes.

The flaming roof of the shop was collapsing on her as she stared in horror but a man came in front with a carriage, the roof falling over it while she stared at the man. Taehyung turned around and locked his gaze with hers. It took just one look in her eyes to know that he would love her for a thousand years. He already knew that she would be in his life.

He got down from the carriage and was about to walk to her when someone lifted her from the ground, carrying her in bridal style. Taehyung halted on his steps, watching her being carried away by a man that was not him. His jaws clenched as he recognized the person who just now dared to touch his wife.

His eyes were red, not because of the heat from the fire behind him but because of the angry tears that he was restraining from the world. He was about to progress to them, to rip them apart when a hand caught him back, stopping him from doing so. He turned around to dangerously glare at Seojun. "The General of Kaesong, Jeon Jungkook is here. We must not get caught. We must leave now." He whispered and dragged Taehyung away from there.

While Haeguk was still trying to remember where she saw the man who just saved her just now. "Hae," Jungkook whispered as he analyzed her face for any wounds, "are you alright?" She looked up at him and nodded slowly. She held his shoulders, lifting her head to see above Jungkook's shoulder for the man but he wasn't there anymore.

"Where did he go?"

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This story is so difficult to write. 😓 My brain is not braining. History is really my enemy.