WISHING ONE DAY YOU'LL BE MINE(✓)

12]The Void. The Emptiness. And everything in between.

Chapter-XII

Tossing and turning throughout the night, Taehyung woke up restless, the sun peeked through the blinds that he had forgotten to shut properly. He laid there, in complete stillness letting the beam blind him, refusing to start his day. His thoughts were clouded, feelings of near dread arose and slept with him. The constant guilt lingering behind. He hated it, not the way he felt but the way he had made Jungkook feel. The darkness of his eyes stayed with him, tainted him further into the night. He could make excuses; like he couldn't have known, but he knew he trusted Jungkook to a degree, his actions after were nothing but to cause him pain.

A couple of days went past with neither of their paths crossing, after the fourth day he was sure it was on purpose. Junghoon had disappeared that night too, Taehyung was left to aid himself around the castle. It was on the fifth day when he saw Junghoon emerge from the kitchen. Holding bread in one hand and water in the other when they came face-to-face. Junghoon nodded briefly, and with no further acknowledgement moved past him. A pang of sadness flooded Taehyung. He held onto his shirt and pulled him back.

"Hoonie," he mumbled, not letting go as he stood beside him. "Where's Jungkook?"

Junghoon shrugged. He bit into his food and chewed slowly. "I don't know."

"Have you not seen him?"

"Maybe," he shrugged again. "I could tell you unless you would prefer to manipulate it out of me?"

Wincing, his hand loosened from his shirt and fell to his side. He bit his lip. "Listen, I was going to apologise-"

"I knew what you were doing the second you walked into my room. I'm the commander warrior of this so-called heartless kingdom, did you honestly think I was that stupid?"

"Then why did you tell me?"

"I wanted you there, and you gave me the perfect excuse to let you know. I'm more upset on how low you think of me, of us. I would have answered if you just asked me the question," he sighed, turned around and walked back to leave no more room for talk. Taehyung ignored the obvious sign Junghoon was throwing at him, the sign to leave him alone. Instead he walked beside him, and refused to let the glare stop him in his tracks.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. It was heard clearly as Junghoon slowly nodded. "I think you're the smartest warrior here, I only did what I did because I thought I had a chance as your friend. That it would succeed because your guard would be down around me."

"I would have been long dead if I ever let my guard down." He passed the half eaten bread over and smiled, "fine, I'll let it go this time. But you owe me. Drinks are on you next time we're out in the village."

Taehyung smiled, and agreed. They walked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, appreciating the greenery around them before Junghoon spoke again.

"My brother is away, the time of his absence is unknown. But his travels will take him a few more days, so you can relax freely knowing he is away," he informed him. Taehyung noted the bitterness in his voice, the casualness held a surge of irritation. Most likely due to how Jungkook left and most due to the way Taehyung had treated him beforehand. "Seojoon's treatment is going well, he is hidden inside one of our secretive caves and will be sent away to another allied kingdom for his own safety." Taehyung showed no reaction, his mind blanked as he retrieved the information he was too scared to ask for. "You can visit him before he leaves, if you would like."

They walked along the path towards an unknown area Taehyung had yet to discover, it had a calmer feel to it, with a waterfall magnifying its beauty into calmness. "Why does Hana have enough authority to interrupt and speak whenever she wants to?"