Make me eat my words || Taegyu

Chapter 10

In all honesty, he'd thought the ball was a joke.

He'd had his time (two weeks of sitting in bed, to be exact) to recover from being stabbed. He'd had his time to do physical therapy, enough that situps now only brought him mild discomfort. So when Kang Sohee, queen of the Kingdom of the Dragon and also apparently a killer party planner, approached him and asked if he was well enough to dance at a ball, he almost laughed in her face.

"Wait, like... a ball ball? In the middle of a war?" he asked, gently placing the weights he'd been holding down onto the floor.

Seulgi, who apparently had her own fucking gym, had been charitable enough to share it with Beomgyu "for rehab purposes only." Luckily enough, Jongin's dagger had been small and hadn't punctured deep, so after about three weeks Beomgyu was up and moving and ready to get his abs back, for Christ's sake. So here he was.

His height difference with the queen was almost amusing. Sohee was a tiny, dainty woman, her lilac-haired head reaching just below the top of Beomgyu's shoulder, but she had the exact same eyes as Taehyun, which meant her glare leveled Beomgyu out quite easily. He raised his hands in surrender, wiping his forehead with his arm as he sat down on one of the benches.

"I think it's a good idea," she said defensively, planting her hands on her hips. "It'll show the people that our spirits are high and that we expect to win."

It'll show the people that the royal family are still living it large while their soldiers die, Beomgyu thought to himself, wisely choosing not to say it aloud. "Whatever you think is best, your majesty. I'm not a party planner myself. But to answer your question, yes, I think I'm well enough."

With Beomgyu's many hours spent alone and Taehyun being in need of a confidante, Beomgyu and Taehyun had worked out a sort of routine while he was healing in which Taehyun came home from a long day, collapsed into bed with Beomgyu, and immediately started ranting. Once he'd tired himself out, they'd pass out together and always wake up in a strangely intimate position that neither of them wanted to address.

So, yeah, it was safe to say Beomgyu was up to date on everything he needed to know about the Dragon Kingdom, including their absolute dogshit excuses for sending underprepared troops into battle. He'd had to hold his tongue to stop himself from telling Taehyun that in the Earth Kingdom, such reckless endangerment of life would be considered treasonous.

"Oh, that's wonderful! I'm so happy, Beomgyu. And I told you to call me Sohee, didn't I? We're family." Sohee gave him a radiant smile, tilting her head to the side. She seemed almost too young, too pure to be a queen; Beomgyu probably would've mistaken her to be Seulgi's age if he hadn't known that Taehyun was her literal kid. "You know, I'm so very thankful for what you did for my Hyunnie. I've always wanted him to have a partner to take care of him. He's too headstrong, that one. Really, I couldn't possibly be happier with the matchup."

Beomgyu could feel his face steadily getting hotter. "Um. Thank you, your m- er, Sohee. I just did what any person would do."

"Nonsense, nonsense. Would any person take a knife for my son?" She paused, frowning. "Well, as their prince, I should hope so. But realistically, probably not."

Yeah, Beomgyu definitely wasn't "any person" in that regard, then. In all honesty, he'd been thinking about legitimately confessing to Taehyun. It was about all he could think about these days, actually. The time spent together, the stolen glances... Beomgyu knew it wasn't one-sided, it couldn't possibly be one-sided.

But Taehyun hadn't said anything, and Beomgyu was scared to breach the topic, so he hadn't done anything, either. And yet, every time he woke up tangled in Taehyun's arms, he wanted more, needed more, felt a longing so deep that it almost hurt. He wasn't sure when his willpower would break, but he was sure it would be soon.