♔ Royal Pain ♔ → kth | jjk

III

Jeongguk stepped up to the front of the ballroom. He sent a look towards his parents that stood off to the side. He flashed a tight smile, then looked at the crowds of people.

"Ahem!" He dramatically cleared his throat and clapped his hands together. People began to quiet their conversations and the band stopped playing.

After a few long minutes, the ballroom became silent.

Good.

"Good evening, everybody! First of all, I'd like to thank you all for attending my birthday celebration. It is truly humbling and I appreciate it greatly." Jeongguk smiled warmly at the crowd.

"As you all know, I'm sure, I'm now 19 years old! It won't be long until I'm King, eh?" He joked, and the room laughed with him.

Jeongguk continued on with his speech, blabbing on some stuff about looking forward to future Kingship, and finding someone to rule alongside him, and being more involved in the lives of his citizens but... it was all just a rehearsed speech. All that was on his mind right now was getting out of these uncomfortable clothes and going to bed.

And after what seemed like an eternity he was finally finished. He bowed to the round of applause and tried to escape to the balcony before he was caught by someone to converse but he had no such luck.

"You did splendid, my son." His father pat his back, pulling him into a hug.
"Ah- Thanks, dad." Jeongguk laughed awkwardly.

He attempted to pull away but, much to his dismay, Taehyung waltzed over.

"Excuse me, Kin-"
"Oh, please! Call me Jinwoo." Jeongguk's father smiled. Jeongguk's eyes widened.

"Oh, well. Okay. Jinwoo, may I please borrow Jeongguk?" Taehyung smiled politely.
"Of course."

Jeongguk held his tongue and watched his father move away, leaving the two Princes alone

"So?" Jeongguk raised an eyebrow, looking Taehyung over for the nth time that night.

Taehyung shrugged. "I wanted to congratulate you." He smiled. "Your speech was very impressive."

Jeongguk crossed his arms. "Thanks. I rehearsed it twenty million times so I hope it sounded somewhat sincere." He scoffed.
Taehyung frowned at this. He knit his brows together and was about to question, but a pink haired male dragging a Prince towards the two interrupted him.

"Jeongguk!"

Jeongguk turned and grinned. "Hey! If it isn't my favorite bubblegum boy."
"Shut up, Kookie." Jimin glared. "And for your information, I'll be dying it orange next week because I lost a bet."
"And that bet was?"

Yoongi, coming up beside Jimin, grinned lazily. "I bet that I could beat him at darts."

Jeongguk grinned bigger. "Seriously? Everyone knows you suck at darts, Jimin, I cannot believe you agreed to that."

Jimin glared at the two. "I'm not that bad! I just get carried away." He grumbled, letting Yoongi ruffle his hair.

"So you're gonna be a carrot boy." Jeongguk hummed.
"If I even have any hair left after all that bleach and dye." Jimin scoffed, pushing Yoongi's hand off of his head.

"Ah, Prince Yoongi!" Taehyung smiled as he recognized the mint haired boy, extending a hand towards him.
Yoongi sighed and shook the outstretched hand. "Taehyung." He said in acknowledgement.

"Is this your..."
"His hot as fuck boyfriend that he's totally whipped for? Park Jimin, it's a pleasure to meet you." Jimin grinned lazily, shaking Taehyung's hand as well. Yoongi huffed and elbowed Jimin.

"I am not whipped."

Jeongguk grinned. "So I suppose I can tell him everything you told me after you guys first met?"

Jimin frowned, as did Yoongi. "What?"
"Jeon, I swear-"

"Well." Jeongguk began. "Whenever I tried setting him up, he'd either shit talk the hell out of them or he'd be rambling about how hot they were. But I distinctly remember the first thing he said when you left the pub... 'Damn, Kook, who did you save in your past life to know such a fucking angel?'" Jeongguk mustered up his best impression of Yoongi- which was really just a super gruff, lazily slurred voice.

Yoongi pursed his lips and slapped the raven haired Prince's chest, his face turning a dark red. "Shut it."

Jimin grinned, hooking an arm with Yoongi's. "Aw, I'm an angel, huh?"

Yoongi's face softened as he looked at his boyfriend. "I, uh- Well-"

"You two are so cute!" Taehyung cooed, putting a hand over his heart.

"Thank you." Jimin chuckled. "Yoongs doesn't like to be cheesy in public, but trust me. He's nothing but a big ole cuddly teddy bear."

Yoongi scratched the back of his head. "Okay, babe, that's enough." He laughed awkwardly. "Anyways, what were you two talking about?"

Jeongguk frowned suddenly.

"Just congratulating him on his speech." Taehyung smiled. "Although, Jeongguk. There's still a lot you need to work on. I suppose we can discuss that another time. Now if you three will excuse me, I need to speak with Jeongguk's parents about the arrangement."

He bowed at the three and then left, disappearing off into the crowded ballroom.

Yoongi and Jimin stared at Jeongguk, dumbfounded.
"Arrangement?" Jimin gawked.
"As in arranged marr-"

"God, no!" Jeongguk cut off Yoongi before he could finish, wrinkling his nose. "If they ever did that, I wouldn't have stuck around this place for more than two seconds. I'd be on another continent by now."

"That's fair." Jimin shrugged. "But what did he mean?"

Jeongguk ran a hand through his hair. "My parents basically hired him to 'straighten me out.' Apparently I'm not Prince-like enough and I'm irresponsible."

Yoongi scoffed. "You're carefree and take risks. That's your charm."
"Exactly!" Jeongguk groaned.

Jimin sighed. "If I may... There is a point, there. You're going to be King soon and, well. Last time your father had you watch over the Kingdom when your parents left for business, you kind of... didn't do so well. You turned away everyone that came to speak with you because you were dead-set on beating Namjoon at some weird video game."

Jeongguk licked his lips in thought. "Okay... Yeah, that's true but- That was a long time ago! I've changed!"

"That was four months ago." Jimin deadpanned.

"Whatever." Jeongguk mumbled. "Point is, I don't want to live with that stuck-up golden boy breathing down my neck."

He looked over and saw Taehyung speaking happily with his parents, all three of them with bright smiles on their faces.
"Look at him.. They may as well adopt him if they love him so much." Jeongguk snorted.

Yoongi put an arm around his friends neck. "Hey, don't worry about it. You know where to find me if you need some company."

"Sucking face with bubblegum boy in the alley of the pub?" Jeongguk teased lightly, earning a smack from both of them. He continued laughing, but that faded once he saw Taehyung enveloped in a hug between his mother and father.

They were hugging him like he was their own son.
And to make matters worse, Jeongguk couldn't help but think about one soul crushing thing.
They hadn't hugged him like that since he was a little kid, and he actually was their own son.