Militairy Prince

Chapter 24

Yoongi sits on a bench in front of the dormitory. He feels all kinds of emotions going through him. He's confused. He wonders what actually happened. Who is Prince Jimin, why didn't he know this and who did know this, was he the only one who didn't know. He feels himself getting angry, why didn't Jimin tell him this? And Taehuyng, is he also a prince? After all, he is his brother and did Jungkook know this? He also feels sad, he misses Jimin. He's been missing him for weeks, because all this time Jimin has been avoiding him, he was busy with Woozi and he doesn't understand why. He sighs, feeling frustrated because he isn't getting the answers to his questions.

He feels someone sit next to him. He looks to the side and sees instructor Jung. He wants to stand up to salute, but instructor Jung stops him. "How are you doing, soldier Min," he asks Yoongi.

Yoongi sighs again. "Not good," he says briefly and instructor Jung nods. "I can imagine that," he says. "You were together a lot and I have the feeling that he means a lot to you. I think you now have a lot of questions about Jimin, but I can only tell you that he is currently undergoing surgery, I don't know anything else yet."

"How long did you know Jimin was a prince," Yoongi asks. Instructor Jung looks at him and says "we knew that from the beginning. The king and queen have indicated that Jimin and Taehuyng themselves wanted as few people as possible to know about this, because they wanted to be treated just like their fellow soldiers. We respected that wish and only my boss and I knew about it. We don't know whether they told anyone themselves."

Instructor Jung stands up. "If you want, I can arrange a car with a driver for you so you can go home for a few days, how would you like that?" he asks Yoongi. "I can imagine that you would like to talk about it with someone from home."

Yoongi stands up too. "That would be nice, I can't concentrate here at the moment." Instructor Jung places his hand on Yoongi's shoulder and squeezes it encouragingly. "He is very strong Yoongi, he will get through this." Yoongi looks at him sadly and nods. "I'll make sure there's a car ready, go grab the things you want to take with you and come back in two days." They salute each other and instructor Jung walks to his own building and Yoongi walks into the dorm.

He grabs his bag and goes looking for his brother, whom he eventually finds in the gym. "Instructor Jung let me go home for a few days to sort everything out," Yoongi says and Jungkook walks over to give him a hug. "Tell me Kookie, did you know they are both princes?" Jungkook looks at him guiltily. "Yes, Taehuyng told me when we were at their Halmeoni, but specifically asked me not to tell you because Jimin would do this himself," Jungkook says.

Yoongi feels his anger coming back, he feels betrayed. As if Jimin was ashamed to be seen as a prince with him. He breaks away from the hug and turns around, without saying anything else. Jungkook watches him sadly, but understands what's going on in his brother's head, he would probably feel the same way if Taehuyng hadn't told him. He hopes that his brother can sort out his thoughts, but he also knows that he is stubborn and that he will probably choose to cut his ties with Jimin.

Meanwhile, Yoongi is in the car and they drive towards Daegu. He closes his eyes and tries to get some sleep, but all he sees in front of him is Jimin disappearing on a stretcher in the helicopter.

Suddenly he knows where he wants to go. He doesn't want to go to his parents at all, who obviously mean well for him and will do their best to comfort him, but he wants answers and he can only get them one way and that is with Halmeoni.

He asks the driver to change course. The driver nods, he has been ordered to take Yoongi where he wants to go and so he changes the route from Daegu to Busan.

Na-ri is sitting quietly in the kitchen when she sees a car drive into the yard. She recognizes it as an army car and walks to the kitchen door to see who is there. Of course she heard what happened to Jimin. Taehuyng visited her that afternoon to inform her and she agreed with him that he would call her when more was known about his condition. When Taehuyng was gone, she walked to the garden and sat in Jimin's favorite spot and cried. She has become so attached to both princes over the past year and it hurts her that one of the princes has been seriously injured.

The car door opens and she sees Yoongi get out. She is shocked and runs towards him, but he immediately passes her angrily. Na-ri is surprised and follows him, signaling the driver to follow her.

She gives the driver something to drink and indicates that he can take a seat in the living room. Then she walks to the kitchen where Yoongi is waiting impatiently for her and she mentally prepares herself for what is to come.

Yoongi immediately explodes. "You must have laughed at me, that I was the only one who didn't know they were princes," he exclaims angrily. "Why wasn't I allowed to know, why did Jungkook know, wasn't I good enough?" Tears of anger fall down Yoongi's cheeks and eventually he bursts into tears and Na-ri takes him in his arms. She takes him outside and they both sit on the bench in the garden, where Na-ri shed her own tears that afternoon.

She lets him cry until she notices it subsiding and eventually only sniffling remains. "Sorry," Yoongi says and gratefully accepts the handkerchief Na-ri holds out for him. "You don't have to say sorry Yoongi," she tells him softly. "Your emotions are very logical. What happened in the field this morning was very intense. Who expects someone to be in the field shooting real bullets...no one expects that. I think it was also very intense for Jungkook, because he was in the field with Jimin and may have seen it happen up close.

When you were here, I saw how much you care about each other, but Jimin is so insecure about himself. And that doesn't change the fact that he should have told you, but he couldn't, he wanted to wait until you were done with military service. But now it's completely different." She puts an arm around his shoulders. "We never laughed about you behind your back, honey," Na-ri continues. Taehuyng even told him to tell you, to be honest with you, that that's important in a relationship. But he was afraid. Afraid of losing you if you knew he was a prince.

"Tsk," Yoongi growls, "I'll decide for myself what I think about it. He never asked me, I didn't even get a chance to get an explanation. I had it thrown at me today and now I have to deal with the fact that the person I have feelings for is lying to me and not being honest with me."

"I know honey, give it time and think about what you want to do with your feelings," Na-ri says as her phone pings. She takes her phone out of her pocket and sees that she has received a message from the palace. Together they read that Jimin's operation went well and that he is now in the palace. He is in a coma, but the doctors are hopeful that he will come out of this fairly quickly. He is still on a ventilator because the bullet hit his lungs, making it difficult for him to breathe, but this will also improve with sufficient rest. If Na-ri wants to come visit, she is always welcome. And that's where the message ends.

Na-ri looks at Yoongi. "If you want, we can go to the castle together tomorrow. I think Taehuyng will be there too. Then you could visit Jimin," she says softly. Yoongi nods, but doesn't say anything else. Na-ri just leave it be. She takes his hand and takes him inside. "Come on honey, go to bed and try to get some rest. We'll see again tomorrow." Yoongi looks at her and gives her a hug. "Thank you Halmeoni," he says and then walks upstairs.

Na-ri looks after him doubtfully and hopes that things will work out between him and Jimin one day.