Crowned in love and snow ӏ Yoonmin

Boy of Flour and Resentment

As the morning sun crept from behind the mountains, bringing its light across the quiet village, a warm smell of bread and freshly baked pastries flooded the air, waking up the villagers one by one. Within the heart of the town, nestled between the other shops stood Golden Grain Delights. It was here that the spirited baker, Park Jimin, created culinary delights that could enchant even the most discerning palates.

The two-floor bakery stood tall with its stone structure and wooden beams that blended into a strong roof, spilling over the edges and offering a lengthy shadow around the shop. Its big chimney would let out the most enchanting of aromas, welcoming all to come in and enjoy freshly baked bread in the morning.

As the sound of the bell chiming rang, Jimin looked up from behind the counter, a warm smile discerned on his plumped lips. It may have been that the pastries weren't to everyone's taste but one thing was for sure, if the customers didn't come for the baked goods, they certainly came for the charming blonde boy who's bright smile never failed to light up even the darkest corners of the bakery.

Jimin's pride in his craft was evident as well as his expertise as his hands kneaded the dough, gently swirled the frosting on top of the pastries, decorating them with care.

The boy stopped midway through making a chocolate ganache to attend his customer. "Hello, Ms. Lee! What can I do for you today?"

"Two loafs of bread as usual, dear" The kind lady looked as the boy carefully took out two loafs, placing them down on the counter. "So many pastries already, what time did you wake up to make all of these?"

"Before the crack of dawn, Ms. Lee"

The look of shock on her face followed by the sweet smile as she wrapped her hands around the bag and paid for the items was enough for Jimin. He knew his was a hard labor and sometimes he did come to wish he could be doing something different, something less demanding, but then he'd remember how many people relied on him and his talents for their daily meals as well as his father who had fallen ill a few weeks ago and wasn't able to help in the shop as much as he used to.

Ever since he was a boy he had shadowed his father in the kitchen, observing his every move and learning each and every recipe his father had ever made.  Then, as soon as he had reached the height of the furnace, Jimin had wasted no time in baking his own breads and pastries, burning a few of them in the beginning and loosing some of his luscious golden locks to the burning fires. Growing up, all of the praises he had gotten from customers as well as his friends and family had boosted his ego and sense of worth, culminating in him taking over when his father had needed him to.

But for all of his humility and good nature, Jimin retained no love for the royal family, a fact which had always separated him from the rest of the town, all deeply in love with the idea of family and love that the king and queen had always portrayed. The boy knew very well that no matter how many speeches about equality and solidarity the crown would make, nothing would ever change the fact that they lived in their palace on the mountain, looking down on the town's people that worked hard in order to live a merely comfortable life.

After the morning rush, Jimin placed the uncooked batch of loaves in the oven and went for a walk around the town to get supplies for bakery as well as groceries for him and his father.

Walking between the different stands at the market, a tall and thin silhouette caught his eye. The boy had silky brown hair going all the way down his neck, he wore a blue tunic, laced with an intricate golden outline, black pants and high boots that were too shiny to have been worn more than once.

"Taehyung! Curious running into you here"

Said boy turned around at the mention of his name, the look of confusion on his face quickly replaced by one of surprise. "Jimin! It's been so long!!" The two boys went to hug before walking away from all the noise of the center of town.