Royal (Jeon Jungkook)

Eight

The sun came and went, came and went. Antoinette remained in her room. 

It had been a week since she arrived at the palace, a week since she'd dumped juice on Prince Jeon Jungkook's head. And it satisfied her that he never tried to contact her again after that. Perhaps he finally knew she was also losing her life with this arrangement. He had no idea how much she had to leave behind because of something their parents had decided for them as children. And now, the prince who was insufferable as a mosh pit in an orchestra concert, demanded she marry him. 

She was happy to be left alone for as long as possible, but sure enough, another knock came at her door. She was about to lash out, but no knocks followed. Just the two, then silence. Antoinette's brows furrowed, and then she stood from her bed and set her wood-whittling project to the side. Cautiously, Antoinette opened the door. Surprisingly, she was met with.. no one. Well, someone had to have been there to knock, right? 

She looked left and right, down the hall for whoever it was. Nothing. Then, she looked down. Antoinette's eyes narrowed, looking at a bouquet left in front of her door in a shiny, glass vase. 

"what." Was all she said, her voice monotone. She picked up the flowers, examining them. They were expensive, rare even. She knew they must be from the prince, but they were so beautiful, she couldn't dare put them back down. Antoinette sighed, then turned and returned to her room to set the flowers on the vanity by the bed. The vanity was already gorgeous enough, its intricate gold designs lining the white marble structure.

But with the addition of the pink and white flowers and glass vase, it looked even more perfect. It could be from one of those fancy magazines Antoinette would see at the auto shops.

Antoinette reached for a flower, touching the petals while she tried to figure out what kind of flower it was. It wasn't like anything she'd seen in France, the flower petals white with a reddish pink color in the center, and with the pink color, a long, delicate stem protruded from it. She looked for a note, or anything to confirm her suspicion that the flowers came from the prince, but nothing was there but the rest of the bouquet. 

With a plop back onto her bed, Antoinette felt the hopelessness yet again. She felt stuck, plucked from her past life like an out-of-place eyebrow hair. Hunger rose once again, the growl of Antoinette's stomach a rude awakening. She had to leave her room again.

Antoinette didn't bother with dressing fancy anymore, opting for her jeans and a hoodie she had always been more comfortable in any way, and then she snuck from her room. Over the week, Antoinette had learned how to be more quiet while shutting the door, and she had managed to go unnoticed for quite some time. This time, Jimin was in the hallway. "Annie!" Jimin called, resulting in a whine from Antoinette. "I told you not to call me that," she huffed. The young prince only grinned, ignoring her statement as he continued, "Are you going to eat dinner with us tonight? We miss seeing you around, as rude as the prince was to you though" he frowned. "Ah well, I'm glad you noticed this time." Antoinette opened the kitchen doors and stepped inside, immediately finding Jin, who was working on dinner. Antoinette snuck over and snatched a chicken leg from the pan of freshly baked chicken, as well as a loaf of bread. Jimin never stopped rambling throughout her mission, 

Jin noticed Antoinette's little thievery, but he didn't mind much. She was eating, and that's all he cared about. Antoinette took a big bite from the chicken leg, Jimin's rambling moving on to the flowers she had discovered. That caught her attention immediately, but she didn't make it known right away. 

"I guess you made him feel bad with the orange juice thing, he went hunting down flowers for you- did you get them?" He asked but didn't give her the chance to respond before he kept going. "They're a rare flower to Korea, but our mother used to love them and had them planted in spots around the royal garden. I think he picked them himself." 

Antoinette stopped chewing, her eyes set on Jimin as he spoke. "So he was the one that got those for me?" She asked. But she shook her head. It would take more than that. "If he thinks I'll forgive him after a couple of sentimental flowers..." She mumbled. Jimin smiled sheepishly and carefully set his hand on her shoulder. "Jungkook and I have been through a lot together, princess. I know you don't remember much about him, but please try to get to know him a bit more... He wants to change, I think."

Antoinette sighed, "That's the problem, Jimin. I don't know anything about him, I don't remember anything about him, but for some stupid reason, our parents decided our future for us. I had to leave my boyfriend behind because of this, I had my own life, my ambitions." Antoinette sat on the counter, her eyes misty, but no tears fell. "Why is he so ... cold anyway?" 

Jimin smiled sadly, "that's not my place to say, unfortunately. Or else I would. But I assure you, he doesn't mean any of it."

Antoinette rolled her eyes, "I meant every drop of orange juice, I hope he knows it." 

*

Jimin escorted Antoinette back to her room once she had eaten, his eyes alert for any sign of his older brother. And it didn't take long before the prince had met them halfway down the hall, his eyes on Antoinette and remaining there for what felt like an eternity for the poor girl. Antoinette swallowed, Jungkook's face unreadable. 

"Have you eaten?" He asked softly. His voice was hardly audible if you hadn't been trying to find it, which Antoinette was grasping at the thinnest straws for purchase with every move the prince made. She was desperate. 

She nodded, silent as she stared up at the prince, his unreadable expression for once a little softer than usual. 

"Come with me." That was all he said after. Jimin cleared his throat rather loudly, which made Jungkook flinch. "Please."

Antoinette weighed her options, her eyes scanned for possible weapons, and her heart pounded against her chest. Was she going to allow him to blindside her again and make her feel like a prisoner? Was he actually going to apologize?

All these thoughts raced in her brain, but for some crazy reason, the princess nodded, and Jungkook did something even crazier. He smiled.