Bewitched.

chapter 011. can't play with fate.

Deep down, Jeon Jungkook already knows the truth.

Yet it doesn't stop him from feeling a sense of hope as he stares at her, looking into her eyes for some sort of assurance that everything that had happened, was not their fault. 

Something in her eyes felt like an entirely different person, as though he hadn't known who the real Jisoo Kim, the princess of South Korea, was. 

"Why are doing this? Do you want to start a war?" He cannot help but yell in exhaustion, after rushing to the South from Busan at the news that the military was lined up at the border, "... why are you just looking at me, call off the military!"

Jisoo Kim appears surprised, eyes widened slightly. Though she wasn't sympathetic. 

"You used to never raise your voice at me, why do you look at me like a monster? All I do is to protect you, you used to look at me with tender eyes," she tells him.

After everything that happened, Jeon Jungkook realised the truth.

It was not tender eyes.

He stared at her with admiration, admiration over a woman who was nothing but a facade.

Feeling anger at his fingertips he slams his hand at one of the cabinets as he sighs in frustration, "... don't make me angry, call off the military."

Jisoo Kim gets up from the best, slightly shaky due to her illness as she holds onto the bedframe for support, "... what did the witch do to you? Ever since you went to the cursed city, you've come back a different man. I don't even recognise you."

Jeon Jungkook walks to her, and for the first time in his life, her health was no longer his top priority. 

He stands mere inches from her face, "... call them off now, don't make me ask again, you know this isn't right."

"She deserves it!" Jisoo Kim finally snaps, "... she's put a curse on me and made me sick, can't you see? And now she's clearly used her witchcraft on you, making you blind to the truth."

"Just stop! All of this! It's madness!" He tells her, "... call off the military now, or we need to call off this engagement since you clearly don't respect me, your future husband."

Jeon Jungkook hates the way her expression softens at the word. 

Husband.

There was a time when Jeon Jungkook could say the word without it feeling like a sharp graze against his tongue.

Now, it felt like poison.

It was destiny, after all.

Maybe in a previous life, he'd done a lot wrong because, in this life, he had to suffer with a destiny he did not want

-

It pains him to see his queen in such a state, and Kim Taehyung cannot help but feel useless, guarding her from the other side of the garden as she begins working on her magic in the castle garden. The garden had been her sanctuary for the last eight years, connected by the fact that the first magic she'd ever learned was on how to make plants grow.

Of course, he'd offered to help her.

Hell, he'd sacrifice himself just the restore the kingdom if he could, but she declined.

His queen, Park Chaeyoung, needed to do this for herself. She built the garden from the ground up alone and wanted to tend to it wholeheartedly. 

Furthermore, with an attack imminent, she knew she needed him in full health and capacity. 

"Your Highness, it's getting late, you should rest," he tells her as he touches some of the bark against the tree that was regrowing, noticing the way she had tears in her eyes. 

"A little longer," she whispers, looking at him with pleading eyes that she could never say no to, "... please, Taehyung."

Kim Taehyung knows she shouldn't push herself, but when he looked at him with so much sincerity, he can't help but sigh.

He too knows her the best. The garden, her magic and the force field were a part of her, and when they were damaged, the biggest bruises were on her heart.

"Okay, but not too much longer now. Let me tell the maids to prepare the bath for you, okay?" He speaks softly to her. 

She smiles and nods, "... thank you."

And all he could think in that moment, was the fact that he truly did love her, more deeply than any human could.

Kim Taehyung heads out for maybe 15 minutes at most, but when he returns he sees her talking to a gentleman he'd never seen before. By instinct, he takes out his gun and points it to him, as he assesses the situation.

Park Chaeyoung, the queen turns to him, "... Taehyung, call the number that Jungkook left. He is the son of the fortune teller, his name is Seokjin." 

Kim Taehyung hates the sound of his name on her lips and genuinely wishes that the day could come when she'd forget Jeon Jungkook, the same way he'd forgotten her. Putting down the gun, he simply sighs.

"Your majesty, forgive me for saying this," he decides he cannot hold his tongue, "... but aren't you tired of this? All that connection to the outside world has done is added damage and stress to you, and your kingdom."

Park Chaeyoung, noticing a change in his emotions walks closer to him, her hand gentle against his shoulder, "... you're right, and I know that I've put you in an unfair position. But we need to bring him back to Busan, that's all."

But Kim Taehyung knows that it won't be the case when she sees him.

Because in every universe, Park Chaeyoung will always have a soft spot for Jeon Jungkook.

As he heads back to the palace phone, not even sure whether they could connect to a line in Busan, he cannot help but think about how much she meant to him, how loyal he'd been to her and how much he knew the real her.

If he could have one thing in his life, why couldn't fate give him an ending with him by her side forever?