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jeon jungkook had been scared of love and what it did to him.
it was exactly five years ago, on the first day of spring, when he realised he was different from the people around him. though it was nothing abnormal and out of the topic, sixteen-year old jungkook still wanted to question it.
"why does society believe that men should only like women?" jungkook asked his mother, who was happily caressing his forehead as he laid on her lap, already well-informed about her son's sexual orientation even before he did. "what if i beg to differ?"
jeon chaerin could only smile at his statement. "you know, being gay won't make you less of a human, son."
"well, not everyone has the same perspective."
"and none has to."
sitting up from his position, jungkook furrowed his eyebrows after hearing mr. jeon's answer, his human rights-infused thoughts scattered all over the place as he failed to understand what had turned her so confident about this.
"god didn't made you just so you could meet people's expectations, son. that's not how reality works. you're only living for yourself," she continued in a lighter tone. "so why should their opinions matter more than yours? shouldn't it be the other way around?"
this time,
jeon jungkook was lost for words.
not everyone care about jungkook's little secret — not even his twins of roommates, seokjin and namjoon, or his childhood best friend, jimin, who would still occasionally match him up with women in the hopes of giving him a good time. because at the end of the day, even if they did, it wouldn't change the fact that he would yet be considered weird and unworthy of love.
at least, it was the treatment he had been receiving ever since he confessed.
so, when jugnkook accidentally came across an odd-looking man around his age, dressing in traditional korean clothes as he wandered around the streets near his uni, jungkook didn't give a second thought to act out a play of two boyfriends breaking a girl's heart.
it was selfish, indeed — hell, he didn't even know what kind of sexual counterpart kim taehyung would be into — but did it help his psychological coping mechanism of identity crisis? fuck yes.
pushing the door to a random convenience store, jungkook made a way for taehyung to come through before closing it behind him, wishing that someday he would be able to do this whole gentleman bullshit to the man he truly loved. from the peripheral vision of his eyes, jungkook's heart felt warm as he watched the older man blinking his eyes open, becoming more and more enthusiastic over the simplest things — triangle kimbap, instant noodles, pororo tropical fruit drinks . . . you name it.
at first, he wasn't so sure if convenience store foods would be enough to satisfy taehyung's needs, but seeing his bubbly reaction of this unexpected haul, jungkook could only thank the gods above for letting them meet each other.
"oh my god, oh my god!" taehyung stomped his foot in delight as he pointed at one particular brand of ramen. "i just read the instructions, and these noodles can actually cook themselves!"
"cook themselves?"
"yeah, you pour some hot water into the cup and let it simmer on its own-" he paused as soon as a slushie machine came to view, the names of multi-flavoured soda littering the containers. "i've never seen this kind of shaved ice!"
fuck, i shouldn't have brought him here, jungkook's fingers slowly creeped their way to massage his forehead.
"you've never been to a convenience store?" jungkook raised an eyebrow.
"no, haven't seen one in my entire life until now."
"where do you even live?" grabbing all of the items taehyung had previously laid his eyes upon, jungkook let the cashier scanned those goodness as he grabbed some money from his wallet. "i don't think tha's possible for someone to be this oblivious. even the most rural parts of my hometown, busan, have so many of these."
before taehyung could reply to jungkook's question, the cashier had already handed them their belongings. the conversation was automatically resumed until they found an empty table near the window.
"the palace, duh," taehyung continued in a quirky note. then, he took a slurp of his noodles. "my lord, this is heavenly!"
jungkook almost spat the salmon mayonnaise triangle kimbap he was eating.
"wait, what?"
"the palace," he repeated. "what, don't you know where the palace is? well, the more i think about it, i actually need your help to get me back there. the queen would be very upset if i went out without her permission . . ."
if it wasn't because of taehyung's innocent exterior, jungkook would have fled the scene by the moment he finished his sentence. this was 2018. how couldn't he, when all of the things he had been blabbering about made absolutely zero sense of what was happening in real life.
was he sick? was he playing with my mind? was he trying to kidnap me?
"i don't know what you're talking about," jungkook threw the remaining kimbap's plastic into the nearest bin, before taking a sip of his cider. "why are you even wearing this robe in the first place? are you an acting or musical theatre student?"
funny, he sighed. i've never seen him in campus.
placing the empty cup on the table, taehyung took a deep breath and shook his head. "i'm the forthcoming ruler of silla kingdom, jungkook, not a scholar like you are."
"you really think that you came from silla dynasty?" jungkook almost cackled in mortification, for he believed that taehyung had been reciting one of his historical fiction scripts for a school play this whole time.
"look," he glared at the younger man, feeling somewhat violated from being taken a little too lightly than he should. "i know that this may sound crazy and i don't know what in the world was happening to me, but something else must have metastasised within the universe. i just lost my king of a father, had a ground-breaking argument with my mother this noon, until i suddenly got myself teleported to the street where you found me first. i am scared, i am alone, and i don't know where to go."
jungkook immediately choked on his drink.
"huh?"
"i am not from here, wherever 'here' is," taehyung widened his eyes in horror, realising that something eerie must have had happened to him beforehand, which explained why he was transferred to a whole another dimension where his home didn't exist — not anymore. "i am prince kim taehyung from the kingdom of silla. so please, wherever this is, can you take me back to where i belong?"
confusion arises. hehehe.
i know that most of these conflicts about taehyung's time travel may still seem confusing at the moment, but i'm already determined to reveal every one of the details at the right time, so please bear with me! i just want to develop my characters well before the climax arrived <3
