jinmin \\ The Prince and his Guardian

Illuminated Chess Pieces

'You're looking the other way, but it's not because you want to admire the lonely and miserable streets of the Crown Kingdom, is it?' Jungkook hears the prince chirping across from him.

'You're only looking the other way because you're afraid to face me,' he nonchalantly goes on and at this Jungkook sharply turns his face from looking out the window to looking at the prince, thus proving him wrong.

'Here, I'm facing you now,' he defiantly tells him, his voice as sharp as a blade and his eyes as striking as lightning. 'I'm not afraid of you at all, royals who bathe in gold and laugh at the poor.'

'Is that how you think we are?' Namjoon joins in from Jungkook's left, his dark eyes fixed on the bounty hunter's young face after critically having scanned the man from head to toe—his posture, his gaze, his attitude—.

'Ah,' Taehyung expresses himself as if he's had an epiphany, 'you mean to say you hate us.'

'It's not just you, I have something against everyone like the rest of your kind.'

'Oh,' Taehyung reveals his disappointment softly, 'you mean to say we're not special?'

The bounty hunter, the prince and the counsellor are all seated near each other in the form of a triangle in Prince Jin's spacious study room. Jungkook and Taehyung form the base angles of the triangle and Namjoon's place marks the top angle. The three of them surround a dark brown glazed table, a chess board being the only thing to cover its flat and smooth surface.

A weak ray of light shines through the glass window, illuminating the black and white chess pieces on the board as well as the sides of Jungkook and Taehyung's faces.

Ironically, the black chess pieces are the nearest to Jungkook, who's dressed in a comfortable black shirt and jeans, whereas the white pieces are in front of the prince, who's decided to leave his white and gold polyester jacket unbuttoned for the sunny morning.

Taehyung comfortably leans back in his coffee coloured leather couch, theatrically expressing his sadness with a soft sigh and droopy eyes. 'Momma always said I was special.'

'I don't care,' Jungkook interrupts him impatiently, hiding his annoyed tone behind his restrained manners. 'When will we discuss my options, please? I thought we would've gone through this yesterday.'

'You seem to have some problems between formality and informality,' Namjoon mentions with a scrutinizing look on Jungkook. 'We don't want you to be uncomfortable. Either be this or that but not in between.'

This one is equally annoying, Jungkook huffs inwardly and yet he can't supress the feeling of being slightly intimidated by the serene man and his solemn but kind voice.

'Fine, I suppose. You've probably noticed your royal statuses mean nothing to me anyway, I'm just here to do business.'

'Then let's do business,' Taehyung announces loudly to grab their attention. 'General Wy has reported there's a guardian missing besides the prince and princess. And you see,' he says as he leans forward like he's about to tell strictly confidential information, 'I don't like it when I'm missing pieces from my collection.'

The man takes a chess piece, a black pawn, and twirls it in his fingers all the while staring at it with an approving smirk. 'This one, I want it,' he orders before throwing the small piece to Jungkook.

'The guardian?' the younger male confusedly asks after catching the small object in an effortless motion, barely sparing it a glance as he gazes into the prince's soul-piercing eyes. 'What about the princess?'

'Oh, what do I care about her,' Taehyung casually mentions. 'I wasn't even aware of her arrival here, getting married to the prince even. That's right, shall I tell you a little secret?' Taehyung smiles slyly at him, clearly waiting for Jungkook to nod at him eagerly like a curious puppy and beg him to spill the wildest secrets he happens to know.