THE RAVEN KING, yoonkook

chapter xv: i still care

Seokjin could feel the corner of his lips tug upwards as he felt a smaller hand intertwine with his own. The older male looked down to see Jimin, the owner of the hand, smiling up at him. This coaxed Seokjin's lips to stretch into a full smile, almost instinctively, at the sight of the seagull.

"Enjoying the party?" Jimin asked as his gaze moved from his prince to the people around them. Some metres away was a large bonfire, which servants kept feeding wood into periodically. There were tents set up surrounding it across the beach, food and drink and souvenirs all being sold within them. People from the Peacock kingdom—of all statuses—were gathered across the beach, dancing and singing and being merry. It was the start of a new month, which was considered a perfect reason for a celebration (though, in this kingdom, they'd take any reason for a party).

Seokjin gave a nod, "It's a nice break." He looked back at the seagull, who pressed his body further against him as a slightly cooler breeze rustled through their clothing. Unconsciously, the prince unlinked their hands to wrap his arm around the smaller's body. His eyes scanned around the party again, "We should get something to eat, then find a place to sit."

One perk of being a prince was that all the food was free, and everyone was quite happy to move to make room for Prince Seokjin and his date—because that's all they ever reduced Jimin to. A love interest, a scandal (though this was only ever said in other kingdoms; the Peacocks didn't really care about race). Soon the pair were sitting near the bonfire, gazing into the flames as they chewed on some grilled squid on a stick. Shuffling closer, Seokjin snaked his free arm around Jimin's waist and held him close. The body heat—combined with the flames—kept them both warm against the growing coolness of the night.

As they sat, enjoying each other's company, the younger turned to the older and mumbled something Seokjin misses. The prince frowned.

"What?" Seokjin can see the small frown form of Jimin's brow.

"I said, what do you think of this one?" Seokjin blinks as the memory fades, reality returning to him as he gazes at the present Jimin—more distant, detached, but with the same longing in his eye. He suddenly remembers where he is: he and Jimin had decided to go for a walk through the markets outside the castle today. The seagull is holding up a necklace—hand-made, by the looks of it—for the older male to see. "It's your colour, I think. Matches your wings."

The necklace is a simple blue gem on a silver chain but, as Jimin slowly turns it, the gem's colour shifts from the blue to an aqua and then to a very greenish blue. Like a peacock.

"It's pretty." Seokjin smiles as he reaches out to take the necklace. After admiring it once more, the prince hands over a few gold to the merchant. He hands over more gold than necessary, but refuses to accept any change, which causes the male on the other side of the stall to thank him profusely. As he does, the clothes that hang incredibly loose against his thin body sway and shift. The peacock notices that most of the merchants around here seem to be rather thin. Even amongst the jewellers, poverty seems to have struck hard.

"Turn around." Seokjin orders Jimin once they've moved on from that store. Obediently, the younger stops and does as he's told. Without saying anything, the blue haired male unclasps the necklace and hangs it around Jimin's neck. The younger seems about to object when he turns around, but Seokjin smiled and explains before he can, "It looks nicer on you. There'd be too much blue on me if I wore it."

Seokjin's hand lingers on Jimin's shoulder. He can feel the foreign feeling of slight muscles beneath the softness. As they stand there for a few seconds longer, the prince thinks he should probably remove his hand. He doesn't want to, but he has to. With a small sigh, his hand drops back to his side.

Amongst a few other things, Seokjin misses being able to express his affection for the younger freely the most. He misses being able to touch Jimin for more than a second without feeling guilty; he misses, if he chooses, to be able to hug or even kiss the younger without fearing punishment for the pair of them; he misses Jimin, even if that male still stands beside him.

Even if the Peacock Kingdom hadn't cared who Seokjin dated—some even approved of his choice, as Jimin was respectful and kind to those he thought deserved it and it seemed impossible not to like him— almost all of the Council disapproved of the pairing. A prince marrying a seagull is frowned on, due to the slight prejudice against them. Seagulls, much like magpies, lack a point of origin and therefore rarely settle; some, like Jimin, don't have a strong desire to constantly move, but a lot never have a permanent place to roost. And that—regardless of how hard Seokjin tried to convince them that Jimin didn't want to move—was ultimately why the Council forbid the relationship between them. A potentially restless king, in their books, was not a good one; after all, look what happened with the last king he couldn't settle with what he had—he was now leading an army against them.

"You seem distracted." Jimin notes, after bringing the older male back to reality once again. He tugs on the edge of Seokjin's sleeve as he directs him to another store. This one is filled with an array of homemade pastries. Handing over a few silver coins, they purchase a few vegetable pockets. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Just... thinking about the king." Seokjin lies, guilt bubbling in his stomach as he does so. He can see it visibly affect the younger male, who loses the little twinkle in his eye as it is replaced with jealousy. Jealousy has never been a good look on Jimin. "Thinking about the odds of him picking me."

Jimin hands one of the pastries over to Seokjin and says nothing. He bites into his own, gaze glued to his food.

The blue haired male gives a soft sigh, "I don't think I'm going to beat Yoongi. Maybe I should just resign—quit while I'm ahead and still have my dignity intact." Seokjin bites into his own food. "This is really good."

"Mm," hums Jimin in response. And just like that, Seokjin has killed the mood of their not-quite-a-date. He sighs again, shoving the vegetable pocket into his mouth to stop him from saying anything more. With his hands now free, after making sure they're also clean, he runs a hand gently down Jimin's feathers. To an outsider, it might look like he's simply neatening a ruffled patch of feathers, but to them it had become a discrete way to send the other a message: I still care.

Jimin smiles sadly in response, but Seokjin can see the twinkle coming back in his eye.

NOTE: I'd wanted to get a chapter up earlier today—yesterday—but I suppose given it's 12:30AM right now I've technically failed. But like it still feels like night rather than morning & it must still be Monday somewhere so I think I haven't failed completely ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But hey, thanks for all the support on this fic. I really really appreciate it (: