Militairy Prince

Chapter 18

A year has flown by. Jimin sits in the backyard and enjoys the beautiful flowers and plants that Halmeoni has in her garden. The boys are on their second leave and are happy to be back home in Busan.

They spent the first days in the castle with their parents. Ji-Hoon and Areum were happy to hold their sons in their arms again and listen to their stories. They are proud, especially of Jimin, who has changed so much in the past year. He may not see that himself, but Areum certainly sees a big difference. He has become more confident and dares to speak out without stuttering or blushing.

But she still notices that something is still going on with him. That he is still unsure about something for some reason. Na-ri notices it too. She sees Jimin sitting in the backyard and decides to walk over to him with a glass of water. It is now October and the weather is starting to get a bit cooler. The leaves on the trees slowly start to change color and fall from the tree. "Hey Jimin," Na-ri says and she hands him the glass of water which he takes from her and immediately takes a sip.

"I'm proud of you Jimin," Na-ri begins and Jimin looks at her in surprise. "You don't have to look so surprised, I just see how much you have grown over the past year and that makes me proud," says Na-ri as she smiles softly at him. She leans over and wraps her arms around him and gives him a hug. Jimin also wraps his arms around her and enjoys the moment.

She breaks away from the hug and looks at Jimin. "Still, I have the feeling that something is going on in your head," says Na-ri and she looks at him questioningly.

Jimin nods and fiddles with a loose thread on his pants with his fingers. He looks at Na-ri and says "Yoongi and Jungkook would like to come to us for a few days, but because we are princes we can't just go anywhere. We can't go downtown because everyone recognizes us. We can't go to the festival, which is this week, because there is the same problem. We can't introduce them to our parents, because then they will immediately know that we are princes and I don't want that yet."

Jimin sighs and looks at his Halmeoni with a sad look. "Taehuyng would like to tell Jungkook, he is sure that Jungkook won't let him down and he doesn't want any more secrets and to be able to talk about them freely. I'm not there yet, as much as I want to tell Yoongi, I'm so afraid he'll abandon me."

Na-ri puts an arm around Jimin's shoulder and gently presses him against him. "Don't worry so much, boy. You won't know how he feels about it until you tell him. But beware, the longer you wait, the more difficult it will become. The longer you wait, the more likely it is that when Yoongi finds out, he'll blame you for withholding important information about yourself. It's a big deal to suddenly find out that you've started a relationship with a prince. He will probably find that difficult as he may have a certain future in mind. So yes, I understand that Taehuyng is going to take that step. You can also first see how they are doing and then you can always take the step to tell Yoongi."

Jimin puts his head on the shoulder of his Halmeoni and they sit in each other's company for a while, looking at the beautiful flowers and plants. "Jimin, Jimin," Taehyung shouts enthusiastically as he runs into the garden. "Jungkook just texted me and they are coming to Busan tomorrow for three days. Then Chul will pick them up again to go to Daegu." Jimin and Na-ri watch with amusement as Taehuyng dances enthusiastically in front of them. Taehuyng looks at Jimin and Na-ri. "Is something wrong, you look so serious," Taehuyng asks

"Oh no," says Na-ri, "it's just that Jimin is worried about what you can do here, because as princes you can't just go anywhere because people will recognize you and Jimin isn't ready for that yet. " Na-ri explains.

"Oh but Jimin, we can just organize a movie night or maybe Halmeoni will let us make pottery," he shouts enthusiastically and Jimin looks at Halmeoni questioningly.

"Oh, but of course, we can arrange that," says Na-ri and looks at Jimin happily. "Come," she says, "we will do our household chores so that you can enjoy your boyfriends in the coming days. She gives the boys a wink and stands up laughing. Jimin and Taehung follow her blushing and the house is cleaned from top to bottom for the rest of the day.

The next day they have just finished their breakfast when a car drives into the yard, honking loudly. Taehuyng flies out and runs to the passenger side where Jungkook is sitting. Jimin and Na-ri walk behind him, laughing.

Chul gets out and walks to Jimin and bows. "You must be Jimin," he says, holding out his hand. Jimin takes his hand and says "that's right and you must be Chul". Then he walks to Taehuyng, bows and extends his hand to meet him. "I certainly heard enough about you on the way here," he says laughing.

Yoongi and Jungkook have now taken their bags out of the trunk and Chul gets back in. After waving him goodbye, they all walk to the warm kitchen, where coffee, tea and cookies are already ready.

While they are enjoying the warmth, the rain is pouring down outside. "Oh no," Jimin shouts in disappointment, "now I can't show you my favorite spot in the garden, hyung." Yoongi shrugs. "I just got here, it will probably be dry again sometime and then you can still show me," he says and looks at Jimin with a smile. "Let's first arrange the sleeping arrangements and then we will immediately give you a small tour of the house," says Taehuyng.

Na-ri watches it all from a distance and sees the boys' looks at each other. She thinks back to the time when she met her husband and how much in love they were. Now she unfortunately has to miss him for several years, but in the meantime she is happy with the boys who are now with her. She enjoys that immensely.

The boys have now gone upstairs and Taehuyng and Jungkook are lying together cuddling on Taehuyng's bed. "Kookie, I have something to tell you," Taehuyng says. "I know you've only just arrived, but I have to get rid of it or I'll go crazy." Jungkook looks at him questioningly. Taehuyng continues "promise me you won't get mad at me" and he turns so that he is facing Jungkook and looking into his beautiful eyes. "I'm not a normal boy. My life normally takes place in Busan Palace. I am Prince Taehuyng, the second son of King Ji-Hoon and Queen Areum."

There is a moment of silence and Jungkook tries to process what he just heard. Taehuyng is a prince, he asks himself, but that means and he looks at Taehuyng...... "But that means that Jimin... is Prince Jimin, the future king of Busan," Jungkook says in shock.

"Well, discussions about that are still ongoing, because Jimin doesn't want to become king at all. He is the prince of the people, he likes to visit the population to hear what problems there are. I am actually the one who leans more towards the work my father does and that would mean, with Jimin's approval, that I would become the king.

"Kookie, I hope you're not mad at us. We deliberately did not say anything about us being princes, because we wanted to join the army as ordinary boys and did not want any preferential treatment. Of course, instructor Jung knows it and so does his boss and if you paid attention, you may have seen some extra security during the ceremony, but otherwise we are equal to you and we have been treated that way over the past year. I think it is now time for you to know who you have in front of you. And I hope that you will not see me differently than you have seen me in the past year and that in six months you will still want to be my boyfriend and that we can build a future together."

Jungkook looks at Taehuyng confused and pulls him in for a hug. He needs time to let it all sink in. He has not yet thought about his future or what he wants to do after his military service.

He breaks away from the hug and looks Taehuyng deep into his eyes and leans forward to kiss Taehuyng, who happily kisses him back.