Min, the Mad King

Chapter 20

Joon left his room. He had been up half the night with Chae because the poor girl kept having nightmares. He smiled to himself. The look on Jisoo's face when she had to cave to her sister's will and go get him was worth all the sleep he lost. Jisoo had yet to come around to any one of the male genders in the three months she'd been there.

It's understandable; he gets it, but they aren't bad people. As soon as he turned the corner, he had to duck the sword that was coming toward his throat. He chuckled when he heard it crash into the stone wall behind him. "Gotta be sneakier than that; I could hear you breathing before I got here."

Jisoo scoffed as she pulled the sword back and glared at him. "Why are you so chipper? You barely got any sleep?" She got up on her tippy toes to get as close to him as she could, "why didn't  you leave last night?"

He leaned down a bit to get more at her eye level, "you finally fell asleep. You barely get any sleep, and I knew that if I left, it would wake you up, and you'd go back to your pointless little guard duty."

"It's not poi," Joon cut her off. He's heard her speech about ten times a day since the day she begrudgingly followed him to her little sister.

"It is because you are safe here. You've met all the other girls here, and they've all told you the same. No one has done anything against your will since you got here. And do not bring up the medical exam; you had a broken arm that you didn't heal properly. The Doctor needed to see you."

She looked down at her arm, which was wrapped up and placed into a sling to keep it from moving. She pouted a bit, "That really hurt, though."

Joon sighed as he scrubbed his hand down his face, "I know it did, Ji, but look how great you are getting with your non-dominant hand, and just imagine how much better your dominant one will be once it's healed."

A large grin took over her face as she bounced on her toes lightly. Joon was in fucking love with this tornado, and Yoongi hasn't let him live it down since. "I'll be able to beat you, I bet."

He chuckled and pinched her cheek; it was about the only way she'd let him touch her when she was awake. Last night, after he got Chae calmed down enough to fall back asleep, Jisoo refused to leave her sister's side since he was still there. But ten minutes into his humming and petting Chae's hair, he felt a soft weight against his shoulder.

Jisoo, regardless of whether she wanted to admit it or not, felt safe enough with him around not to have to be on guard and fall asleep. Add in the fact that she was sleeping on him, and yeah, his chest puffed up a bit because of that.

"Maybe it'll take a lot of practice, and you really need to take sneaking lessons from Tae; otherwise, I'll hear you from a mile away."

Her mean glare got as mean as it could, and it made Joon want to coo because she just looked so adorable. She huffed and spun around, and started walking away. He followed her since they were both going to the same place to check on Chaesu.

"Stop following me," she grumbled while giving him the stink eye.

"We are literally going to the same place." He knew she was going to stop and get behind him. She didn't like having anyone at her back because it made her feel vulnerable. He got it; he really did, so he didn't even stop. He just kept walking down the hall.

A swift knock to let Chae know that he was coming in, and he found her sitting at her desk with a big grin on her face, "Joonie, hi. I'm ready for our lesson."

As much as Chae loved it when he read to her, she really wanted to learn how to read independently, and Joon promised to teach her. So, every day, he goes to her room for at least an hour or two and works with her on her reading skills. Jisoo will sit in the corner, acting like she wasn't listening. It's adorable, really. She'll scoot closer as if Joon won't notice that she's there trying to learn as well.

She really was the most adorable little tornado he'd ever seen in his life. She was skittish like a feral cat, as protective as a mama bear when it came to her little sister, and as loyal as any rescued and loved dog.

"Look," Chae cheered as she held her paper up for Jisoo to look at. "I read all of it correctly."

A big smile graced her face, "I can see that; I'm so proud of you. Such a smart girl you are."

It was going to take time, time. Joon was willing to wait if it meant that this could be his family. He knew that they were a packaged deal, and he was more than okay with that. Even if Jisoo never wanted to have kids, he was more than okay with them raising Chae.

So he'll keep being patient, let her try to sneak up on him, and let her fall asleep on his shoulder. He'll pretend she's not trying to learn to read when he's teaching Chae. He'll continue being himself and show her that he is a man who is trustworthy and that he cares about her. He'll prove to her over and over that he's worthy of her love, and he'll gladly be her husband and Chae's father. He'll show her how they can have a great life together.

She just needs to take a leap and know that he'll always be there to catch her.