Make me eat my words || Taegyu

Chapter 1

On what would be one of the most pivotal mornings of his life, Prince Choi Beomgyu of the Kingdom of the Earth was not woken by the peaceful breeze wafting through his windows, but by frenzied banging on the doors to his chambers.

He jolted awake, instinctively gathering his sheets in his hands and covering his chest as the handles of his doors rattled. "Your highness," came Soobin's voice, a bit whiny, and he relaxed a little. "You locked your doors again. Please. God, I'm going to get in so much trouble if you don't wake up."

Now, Beomgyu was a lot of things, but an early riser was not one of them. He put his pillow over his head, groaning so loudly that Soobin increased the volume of his knocks, calling "I know you're awake, highness, please " in a tone that Beomgyu didn't hear often. As an attendant to a (somewhat troublesome) prince, Soobin didn't have many reasons to sound as stressed as he did now, so Beomgyu decided to have mercy on him just this once.

" Fine . One sec," Beomgyu called back, rolling out of bed and jogging over to the doors. The stone tile was cold against his feet, and he shivered as he unlocked the door and opened it to reveal his frazzled attendant. Soobin's dark hair was unkempt, likely from his habit of running his hands through it when he was anxious, and he was mumbling something under his breath.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before Soobin put his hands on his shoulders and steered him around, gently pushing him towards his wardrobe. "Your highness, I've been trying to wake you for quite some time, and his and her majesties have requested that I have you in the strategy room by ten." His nose scrunched up. "In their exact words, this is an extremely urgent matter."

Beomgyu rolled his eyes, opening the doors to his wardrobe and beginning to rifle through the silky garments. "Urgent as in they've found Yeonjun another potential wife, or urgent as in there's an army of geese attacking our kingdom?" He pulled out a silver shirt and some dark slacks, then started undressing, making sure Soobin had politely averted his eyes before pulling his nightshirt over his head.

Soobin lowered his voice to a whisper. "Urgent as in... I think there's someone trying to wage war on us? You know, up north." He went over to close and lock the door, keeping his back turned as Beomgyu paused with his pants halfway on.

"No way ," Beomgyu gasped, suddenly energized. "A war? Oh my god, Soobin, is it the Kangs? Why else would Mom and Dad need to talk to me? Are they finally going to let me fight?" He quickly pulled his pants all the way up, ducking over to his vanity and snapping his fingers a few times as he sat down. Soobin peeked through his fingers to be sure he was decent, then hurried over, snatching a tube of mascara off of the table and kneeling to Beomgyu's height.

"I'm not sure who, but... I kind of eavesdropped. Blink." Beomgyu blinked as the brush slid over his eyelashes, and Soobin let out a satisfied hum, reaching for the brown eyeliner. "Her majesty sounded super worried, and when she asked me to wake you, she said you were crucial. Crucial . That's the word she used."

Beomgyu squealed. "Soobin, I'm crucial! Fucking finally !"

"Language," Soobin scolded, but the fond smile he gave Beomgyu took away all of the bite in his words. He pointed at the mirror, and Beomgyu examined himself for a few seconds before giving him a decisive nod. Soobin grinned, holding out his hand. "Okay, let's go. I think you're already late."

"I'll tell them it wasn't your fault," Beomgyu grumbled, letting Soobin tow him out of the doors of his room and into the grand hallway, their shoes clicking against the tiles. "God, I hope we're finally fighting the fucking Dragon Kingdom. Those haughty sons of bitches deserve to get their asses kicked for once. Or at least the Parks, maybe, I've heard they're easy to shoot at, those slowpokes."