PERFIDY || Taekook

Accismus

Inside the carriage, the warmth of the enclosed space starkly contrasts the biting cold of the night. The steady rocking of the wheels against the dirt path is a rhythmic lull, and the soft glow of a lone lantern hanging from a hook in the corner casts flickering shadows on the wooden walls. Chae sleeps soundly, curled beneath a thick blanket, her breathing even and peaceful, her long brown hair cast down over her back, almost covering her like a second blanket as her head keeps lulling slightly due to the carriage's movement as she rests her head against the wall.

Chae's exhaustion is painted all over her face and Taehyung can already see the dark circles forming beneath her eyes as she softly exhales in her sleep then purses her lips unconsciously. The omega can place a long scratch on her jaw that goes all the way down her neck and stops at her shoulder. It is not a wound that is bad enough to be caused by a sword. Instead, it looks like it is a result of a fight, like someone has clawed her.

Yet, still, the omega still manages to ignore the painful sting that this scratch must bring and continues to peacefully sleep — almost like nightmares are too ashamed to approach such a bright spirited woman.

Taking his eyes off Chae, he lets them wander over to the other omega, Eunwoo. Taehyung notices Eunwoo already looking at him. The omega raises an eyebrow at him, wondering what must have gotten Eunwoo very interested in him all of a sudden.

"You saw her, did you not?" Eunwoo asks directly. Taehyung notes how the omega is not one to beat around the bush. If he has something on his mind, he would not shy away from saying that. Taehyung somehow finds comfort in that, envies him for being able to say whatever he wants as carelessly as he desires.

"How can anyone not? Her sobs are not as quiet as she thinks they are," Taehyung's voice drips with venom he intended to conceal. However, his exhaustion and sleepiness seem to have caused him to slightly drop his armor.

Eunwoo's eyes glow with amusement as the sides of his lips quirk up, "Does it bother you?"

"What does?" Taehyung asks instead, an eyebrow quirking up in wonder.

"The vulnerability she's showing," Eunwoo's voice sounds knowing, like he can make sense of Taehyung's feelings more than the omega himself can. The omega feels a hint of unease as he stares back at Eunwoo, that knowing gaze in his eyes irritating him slightly.

"Why would it bother me?" Taehyung starts, and he misses the smile on Eunwoo's face that his question causes — a smile that somehow indicates that the omega has fallen into the trap he has set. "She deserves it. She deserves to get off her high horse."

"Because a person as cunning as her is at the receiving end of the king's empathy while you are not despite the torture he put you through." Eunwoo's gaze shifts to the window, watching as the trees pass by like a haze, his expression unreadable in the dim lantern light.

Taehyung's fingers curl against his thigh, his jaw tightening. He forces himself to take a steady breath, unwilling to let Eunwoo's words dig too deep—but they do. Taehyung does not know what it is about him, but Eunwoo seems like he just always knows. The omega can see it in Eunwoo's eyes whenever they interact, it always seems like he knows something, or rather, realises something that the omega does not. It is odd and unsettling.

"I do not care for the king's empathy," he states firmly, eyes glued to the side of Eunwoo's sharp features. Taehyung lets out a breath before his gaze flickers away and stares at the wooden floorboards instead, at the shifting patterns of light cast by the swaying lantern. "It's fickle. Conditional."

"Conditional?"

Taehyung hears Eunwoo's faint question, his voice laced with exhaustion and sleep that threatens to overcome him as he encourages Taehyung to voice his thoughts. The movement of the trees are a hypnotizing force that forces Eunwoo's eyelids to become more droopy and a yawn that he swallows threatens to escape his lips.