Hold My Hand - A Taekook Love Story.

13 - You Left Me No Choice Either..

Taehyung was coming back from the town. His mind was uneasy, as it had hundreds of overlapping thoughts swirling inside. He was worried, regretful, upset… and there was this sense of longing. Which he knew was stupid, how dare he long for something that is surely out of his reach. He's solely to blame for his heartache. After all, he was the idiot who thought about holding the moon with his hands.

Taehyung went back to their usual meeting place almost everyday for the past three weeks. He stays there for a few hours, only to return home with a disappointed heart. There was no sign of Kookie, or Jimin even.

Taehyung wanted to search for the man, but he didn't even have a clue where to start. He knew very well that ‘Kookie’ was not his real name. And although Jimin sounded like an actual name, he had no family name to go with that. And no idea where they lived, apart from the fact that Kookie was a nobleman. The only thing he could do was to be at their meeting place, and hope Kookie would one day grace him with his presence.

There are a lot of things Taehyung regrets in life. Little things and not so little things. But nothing would ever come close to blurting out to Kookie that day. He ruined a perfectly good friendship for something unrealistic. And hurt a person he cares about a lot. It was never his intention to put the other man in such a position.

Suddenly, there was a noise of horses, rapidly approaching Taehyung's directions along the road. He quickly moved to the side of the road, as he didn't want to get trampled, but to his surprise, the group of 3 horsemen slowed down near him.

“You!” The person who looked like the leader of the lot, called in an authoritative voice. “Do you know where Kim Taehyung lives?”

Taehyung's throat suddenly felt like sandpaper. He looked at the appearance of the group and realized that they were, undoubtedly, royal guardsmen. Why would the Royal guards from the palace look for him?

“I'm..” Taehyung gulped down in nervousness. “I'm Taehyung.”

The horseman had a look that was hard to describe. He then pulled out a scroll and took turns to look at it and Taehyung's face, as if he was comparing the two. After a few seconds, the man spoke up again. “Do you have a horse? The king demands your presence at the palace.”

Taehyung blinked a few times. “Uhh… right now?”

“Yes. Right now! Do you have a horse or not?!”

If he had a horse, he wouldn't be walking miles and miles in the sun, now would he? Not that Taehyung would dare to say it aloud. They didn't look like they would care whether his head was attached to his body when he was brought to the King's presence. The horseman gestured Taehyung to get on behind one of the other riders and he complied. It's not like he had a choice.

The whole way to the palace, he was trying to figure out what he did to have the King's attention on him.
  
   
   
  
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Prince Jungkook was finally playing his gayageum, even though the music it was creating could only be described as melancholy. Several of the palace maids were wiping their tears, not knowing why they were feeling sad. It was like they were involuntarily reliving past sorrows, heartbreaks and whatnot.

Jungkook was oblivious to the sad spell he was creating. To be honest, after a long while, Jungkook's mind was quiet. No worrying thoughts, no flashing faces, no sounds of his heart breaking, repeatedly. He had his eyes closed, fingers dancing over the gayageum in a peaceful manner. Only, it didn't last for long.

He was so immersed in pouring his emotions over to his music, that he didn't notice when a guard came and whispered something to Jimin. Nor had he noticed the shocked look on the latter's face. But he was pulled out from his isolated world, when Jimin whispered in his ears.

“Your highness!”

Jimin's voice rang with urgency. Jungkook's fingers stilled on the strings and he looked up at the guard. For all the years Jungkook had known the guard, never had he seen such a look of fear on his face.

Jimin was terrified.

“What-”

Jungkook was not able to even form a question in his mind, let alone voice it, when Jimin quickly grabbed his hand and started to pull him up from the seat on the floor.

“We need to hurry!”

It was unlikely for Jimin to use such a commanding voice with the prince, especially when they were in the presence of others, and that fact alone made Jungkook instantly realize that something was terribly wrong. It was confirmed by Jimin's next set of words, uttered as they were running towards the King's Court.

“Taehyung had been called to the palace.”
  
   
   
   
  
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Taehyung was kneeling on the floor. His forehead almost touched the floor, with how low he was bowing. The crown prince was there, Taehyung identified him by his attire, and a few other officials. Two guards were standing slightly behind him, with their hands over the hilt of their swords, as if they were ready to cut his head off the seconds the command left the King's mouth. For what crime, Taehyung had no idea.

“Raise your head.” The King's voice rang through the court and Taehyung immediately obeyed. “Do you know why you are here?”

Taehyung had to gulp down the bile stuck in his throat, so that he could answer the king. “Apologies, your majesty, I- I don't know.”

“So you're not aware of the heinous crime you've committed against the royal family?”

“R-royal family?”

Taehyung was stuttering at this point. He had never interacted with anyone from the palace, let alone dare to do something atrocious like that. Suddenly, a thought came over his mind. Maybe the king had mistaken him for someone else. He was just about to say that, the guard outside announced that the prince was requesting an audience with the King. And even before the request was permitted, the double door of the courtroom opened with a force.

“Father!”

Taehyung couldn't help the way his body reacted to that voice. After all, he had been praying to hear it for the past three weeks. He turned his head, to see the person almost running across the courtroom. He yearned for a simple glance from that person, but the moment passed too soon for him to have that. The next second, he was made aware of the situation, which completely escaped his mind till now.

“Prince Jungkook.”

Taehyung gasped, before bowing his head down again.

Jungkook's heart was beating like a hummingbird. He couldn't look at Taehyung, couldn't bear to see the accusation in those eyes. Betrayal. He never meant to deceive anyone. He was just trying to feel some normalcy in his life. For once in his life, he wanted to be just Jungkook, not the crown prince of the country. Was that such a wrong thing to ask?

With the way things turned out, Jungkook now believed it is.

“Why?” Jungkook's voice was barely audible, but the pain in it was clear to everyone. “Why would you do something like this, father?”

“Because you left me no choice.” The King answered in a calm voice. “Your behavior showed me that I had to intervene. I couldn't let things be the way they were for the past three weeks. It had to fixed ”

“Fixed?” Jungkook repeated the word. “You wanted to fix me?”

The King got up from his seat and walked toward Jungkook. “Not you, Jungkook. The situation. I had to fix whatever that was going on with you.”

“Well, you didn't fix anything, father.” Jungkook gave a soft smile. “All you did was ruin everything.”

“What are you saying, prince?”

The court watched as their beloved prince stood in front of the King, with a devastated look that had never been present in his face before. Gone were the happiness, the warmth.. and the shine.

“I'm saying that you left me no choice either. I'm sorry but I can't watch you hurt him, like you did to Jimin. I can't father.” Jungkook took a few breaths to calm his thudding heart. “I'm in love with him.”