♔ Royal Pain ♔ → kth | jjk

XXIII

hi i'm getting super sick and it's either the flu or bronchitis LMAO i'm going to the health service office on campus later today, hopefully i'm not totally dying ay

anyways here's this? sry its a mess, i only had 30 min to do anything ah

There was something to be said about the atmosphere that night when they all had dinner.

'They' being Jeongguk, Taehyung, Hoseok, Namjoon, and Jeongguk's parents.

Things weren't necessarily out of the ordinary. In fact everything was perfectly in order. Seokjin served dinner on time as usual, dinner was nothing less than excellent, and the table talk was as boring as always. 

Although Jeongguk couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. 

Taehyung's shoulders were slumped slightly, his fork held in one hand and absently pushing at a piece of vegetable that was on his plate. Jeongguk couldn't help but notice. 

Taehyung was usually beyond attentive at dinner, and he definitely didn't play with his food. In fact he used to get on Jeongguk for doing that numerous times... But he wasn't now, and he was doing it himself? That wasn't right. 

"Are you okay, Tae?" Jeongguk asked when his parents had stopped talking about their recent business trip. 
Taehyung looked up and smiled at Jeongguk. "Oh, I'm fine." He shook his head. "My head is just a bit fuzzy. I think I'm getting sick."

Jeongguk frowned. "Sick? I can go get Jiyeon, she always cares for me when I-"

"No, no. It's okay." Taehyung refused, shaking his head quickly. "I'll be alright. I think I just need some rest."

Reluctantly, Jeongguk nodded, muttering an 'okay.' Taehyung was fine earlier, but now all of a sudden he was getting sick, huh? That didn't seem right, either. 

Namjoon and Hoseok shared glances, but Jeongguk couldn't tell what either of them were saying. Did he not know something?

"Oh we can't have you getting sick, dear!" The Queen gasped. "Go upstairs and rest. Hoseok, will you escort him to his room?"

Hoseok nodded without saying a word and waited for Taehyung to stand. Taehyung sighed heavily, silently leaving the dining room with Hoseok in tow. He could feel Jeongguk's concerned gaze burning into the back of his head as he left. 

"Taehyung." Hoseok sighed, walking up alongside him. "You shouldn't lie like that."

"Hm?" Taehyung hummed questioningly as he walked into his bedroom.

"You aren't sick." Hoseok shook his head as he followed, watching as Taehyung threw himself on to the neatly made bed. "You know that just as well as I do."

Taehyung grabbed hold of one of the pillows and clutched it to his chest, resting his chin on top of it and fixing his gaze on the wall. "So? I feel sick."

"And why is that?" Hoseok sighed, sitting down on the furniture against the wall. When Taehyung didn't respond, he closed his eyes and rested his head back against the wall behind him. "Is this because-"

"I can't leave him, Hobi." 

Hoseok cracked his eyes open and stared at the blonde Prince with bewilderment. Taehyung only called him 'Hobi' when he was truly upset. 

There was a bit of background to that nickname, making it even more astounding for Hoseok to hear it. 

Hoseok was only a handful of years older than Taehyung, but had grown up in the Kim's palace with him. The reasoning for that was a bit complicated, but long story short the Kim's had taken Hoseok in at a young age after he had lost both of his parents. That was a story for another time, though. 

The Kim's treated Hoseok like a son, but because he wasn't blood, he had no claim to being King in the future. That left Taehyung to be next in line, and Hoseok was appointed to being Taehyung's 'right hand man.'

The two had grown up as best friends; brothers. 

'Hobi' was an affectionate nickname Taehyung had given him when he was a small boy. 

Hoseok hadn't heard it since Taehyung turned 15- the minimum age one must be to take the throne, or in Taehyung's case, the age where he began to take his duties seriously. 

He had almost forgotten about the nickname. 

"What do I do?" Taehyung clutched the pillow tighter, jogging Hoseok from his thoughts. The older male smiled sadly. 

"Well, what do you want to do?" He asked in return.

Taehyung looked at him with glossy eyes. "I want to stay with Jeongguk. I want to stay here."

Hoseok remained quiet, looking down at the floor. Taehyung  rolled to lay on his back. 

"I go home on Sunday morning? For sure?" Taehyung closed his eyes. 

"Yes. It's been decided." Hoseok confirmed, feeling a tad bit sad himself. 

Taehyung squeezed his eyes shut tighter. "That's in three days, Hoseok. Why wasn't I told this? Why couldn't you have told me before?"

"Before?" Hoseok frowned a little, standing. He walked over to the bed, standing at its side. 

Taehyung's eyes opened and they fixed on Hoseok, glossy and dark. "Before he kissed me. Before I kissed back- damn it, Hobi. Before everything!" His face contorted, teeth clenching together and his eyes narrowing as quiet sobs began to make themselves known in the quiet bedroom. He didn't hesitate to hide his face in the pillow, hugging it tightly. 

And Hoseok just stood there. 

He had nothing to say other than 'I'm sorry' and he knew that wouldn't help at all. 

He just watched as the Prince curled up into a ball on the bed and cried into the pillows, his body shaking and quivering violently. 

Hoseok sat down on the side of the bed and took a gentle hold of the shaking boy, pulled him up onto his lap, and held him. Taehyung melted into Hoseok's hold, sobbing into his shoulder and clutching the fabric of his shirt. 

"Does he even know?" Taehyung whispered, his voice pained and quiet as he managed to calm himself down enough to speak. 

Hoseok hesitated to respond. 

But he did, nonetheless. 

"No." Hoseok said quietly and he could feel Taehyung stop breathing for a moment. 

He closed his eyes before continuing his thought. "Jeongguk does not know. Not yet."

That seemed to push Taehyung further, the cries becoming louder and more frequent. It got to the point where they were almost silent, just gasps and heart-wrenching chokes of breath. 

All the meanwhile, Jeongguk was sitting down in the dining room as his parents bombarded him with questions about his future of being King. He kept stealing glances at Taehyung's and Hoseok's empty seats, the worry in his gut growing more intense. 

He was hoping that Taehyung was okay, that he wasn't running a fever or wasn't in any discomfort or pain. 

He had no idea.