Make me eat my words || Taegyu

Chapter 9

Beomgyu woke to the sound of murmured conversation and the feeling of something soft and warm squished against his cheek. He shifted a little, and the murmuring ceased, so he decided to keep pretending to sleep, nuzzling into whatever he was snuggled up against.

"Do you think we should wake them? I feel like I'm intruding," an unfamiliar female voice whispered.

The next voice was Kai's. "I mean, Doctor Bae must've told them she was sending you, right? You need to check on him."

"Right, right." A soft, cold hand landed on his shoulder and shook him gently. "Prince Beomgyu?" the girl asked, her voice tinged with nervousness.

Taking pity on her, Beomgyu yawned and opened his eyes, squinting against the blinding light coming in through Taehyun's windows. At the side of the bed stood Kai and a pretty girl Beomgyu had never seen before, their height difference significant in an almost comedic manner. "Hi," he mumbled groggily, raising his head. "You the nurse?"

The girl immediately bowed. "Oh, you're awake! Yes, hi. My name's Chaeryeong, Irene's trainee."

Beomgyu gave her a warm smile, propping himself up a bit. "Cool. Nice to meet you." Kai was blatantly staring at something behind Beomgyu, eyes wide and owlish, so Beomgyu turned his head slightly, realizing he'd been using Taehyun's bare stomach as a pillow. "Oh, sorry," he mumbled, tugging Taehyun's shirt down then pulling the covers up. "Should I wake him?"

"It should be fine. I won't take long, I'm just supposed to check in on your wound and replace the bandages." Chaeryeong kept her eyes away from Beomgyu, busying herself with organizing the supplies on the little cart she'd brought in.

Kai was still staring at Taehyun, but his gaze flickered to Beomgyu when he realized the other prince was watching him. "I'm glad you're awake and doing well, your highness." Beomgyu smiled at him when he bowed, then watched as he tilted his head towards Taehyun. "Is he okay?" he asked softly. "Like, in general. I feel like I don't know how to help him feel better about all this."

Beomgyu turned to look at Taehyun, examining him. He looked so much more peaceful like this, worry lines soothed by sleep, pastel pink hair splayed out on his ivory pillows. "I think that what he needs is a constant, Kai, something that won't change, won't come, won't go. You're that for him."

Kai nodded, bowing his head. "Thank you," he whispered, chewing on his lip. "For defending him when I couldn't."

"Look where that got me," Beomgyu joked, and they shared a grin as Chaeryeong came over, armed with a pile of bandages. Taehyun shifted slightly next to him, grabbing onto his arm and hugging it to his chest, and Beomgyu laughed to himself, shrugging up at Chaeryeong as he kicked the covers back. "Sorry."

"Oh, it's fine! Yeah. Um, do you mind, your shirt..."

"Oh! Yeah." Beomgyu tugged his shirt up, and Chaeryeong, who'd been staring somewhere below Beomgyu's eyes, inhaled deeply, the blush on her cheeks getting a bit darker.

"Right! I'll be quick. Sorry if this hurts. The cleaning process is usually... well, you probably already know." She knelt at the side of the bed and started dutifully working on peeling away the bandages, her ears tinted red as Beomgyu watched her, amused. As a prince, he was used to people getting flustered around him, but that was mostly at home. It was funny to have it happen again even after he'd gotten married.

Taehyun shifted against him, and Beomgyu glanced over, wincing as Chaeryeong started cleaning around the scabs. The younger prince's eyes had started to open, and he blinked up at Beomgyu a few times, bleary with sleep. "Hey, sleepyhead," Beomgyu said with a grin, pinching at his stomach with the hand that Taehyun was clutching to his chest. "Feeling better?"