CINDERFELLA || TAEKOOK

[1] An Ultimatum

Namjoon battled the blazing fire as it licked up the blinding white marble adorning the palace he now called home, the baker of his towering wedding cake thrusting another bucket sloshing with water into his waiting hands, apron long forgotten and flour streaks replaced by grey ash floating through the smoky air.

Water sedated the never ceasing appetite of the flames, eager to consume not only their entire kingdom, but the attention he had hoped to dedicate to his newly wed husband, his disobedient eyes constantly gravitating to stare at the extremely handsome, glowing face of the man in question.

The sweat dripped from his brow, his glorious cheek adorned with the same grey as their baker.

Fighting literal fires was not the kind of honeymoon he had in mind, much less how he wanted to spend their first 24 hours together.

Their glorious wedding day had been rudely interrupted by this more than minor inconvenience, started by whom Namjoon assumed to be spies and enemies from their rivals, the Anti Kingdom, who had been more than upset by the events of the past six months, all of which had led to the union of Kim Namjoon and crown prince, now King, Kim Seokjin.

God, Jin looked so sexy right now.

It astounded him how strong he was, his heart swelling as he watched Seokjin direct their people away from the fight and to safety, before he turned his head to continue doing the same when real firemen arrived to calm the flames that threatened their home.

He had married into the royal family, somehow getting lucky enough to draw the attention of the Seokjin, despite more than slight disgust from many people at the thought of two men being together. He couldn't believe his luck, but Seokjin thought better.

Jin glanced at Namjoon, their eyes briefly meeting as they worked to save their people and their treasured home,

He was currently ushering children out from the area of danger when he spotted  a lone child, bawling his eyes out, completely alone.

Jin ran to the child, gathering him in his arms, placing his head on his wide shoulder. The child appeared to be about 3 years old, and completely alone.

His clothing looked like that of some sort of uniform, and as Jin searched around for some sort of identification, his eyes rested on a label that read

Kim Royal Orphanage

So, he was without parents.

That made Jin hold him closer as he glanced over, seeing the orphanage consumed by the rampaging fire.

Namjoon's figurative ovaries exploded seeing Seokjin run over to him, cradling a small boy and calling his name.

(A/N): y'all I know this is 2 years late but FIGURATIVE OVARIES MEANS METAPHORICAL. Like not actually there. Like If he had the they would explode y'all are so funny I love you.

"Namjoon, you know how we wanted to adopt? I think I found our opportunity..." Seokjin pleaded.

"I...... I can't leave him alone. He has nowhere to go"

Namjoon made his way, momentarily pausing his relief efforts to clutch Jin close to him.

"Even though I would have looked forward to time alone with you," He wiggled his left eyebrow, "I can't leave him alone either."

In the middle of the slowly dying flames, Seokjin felt complete, certain that this was the life he wanted, loving husband and new child by his side, fighting any fires that may be put against them.

.....................................................

17 years later.....

"Tae please, sit up straight and just stay still would you," Seokjin pleaded with his restless son.

Taehyung, the aforementioned fidgety son, could not sit still for anything, much less a portrait meant to attract the attention of other royal countries around the world and the nobles within their kingdom.

"You won't be young forever, and your father and I won't either, so while you still have hair and flawless skin I suggest you seize this last opportunity to couple yourself with the partner you have in mind before I do it for you," the agitated king continued, frantically writing ideas down in his notepad, perched on a stool overlooking the artist's canvas.

His legs were crossed and his hair was drooping down over his eyes, his calm demeanor returning after he scolded his favorite (and only) son.

Taehyung rolled his eyes and did as he was told, just to get the process over with so he could go back to his reading and forget the ultimatum proposed to him by his eager and often stressed father.

The last opportunity happened to be the prince's 21st birthday, in which every prominent politician and noble from around the globe were going to gather in 2 months to celebrate the coming of age for the Earth's most powerful prince.

Kim was now a powerful empire, thanks to Taehyung's other father and King Seokjin's partner, King Namjoon, along with their advisors and nobles whose efforts rapidly increased the prominence and importance of the Kingdom to other nations, grabbing the attention of the council of nations and making it even more important for Kim to put on a great spectacle for Taehyung's birthday ball.

It gave Seokjin a headache, as he was so particular about the way the palace was set up, what decorations went where, and what food was being served.

The addition of his son being a nuisance about sitting still for the portrait being sent to the other nations was adding on to the stress he felt as head of the household.

Namjoon may have been the political leader, but everyone in the palace knew who truly ran the castle.

After a few more hours of sitting still and re-studying the wall sitting in front of him, Taehyung was free to go as Mr. Jeon, the kingdom's official artist dismissed him from the chair that imprisoned him for so long.

Tae leapt from the chair and dashed from the hall, followed by the waves of Seokjin's protest.

"TAEHYUNG, I SWEAR TO GOD STOP RUNNING IN THE PALACE! DOES THIS FLOOR LOOK LIKE A TRACK TO YOU?!" Jin sighed, and patted Mr. Jeon's shoulder, studying the sketch waiting to be filled in with color.

"It looks fantastic as always Jung-soo, thank you for your hard work in making my son look more handsome than he is."

As he gathered his materials and the drawing, Mr. Jeon said with utmost sincerity, "Ah, but it is easy to make something appear handsome when they are so in reality. My son will do his best work yet," and grabbing his bag and the canvas, left with a smile.

............................

The gravel crackled beneath Jung-soo's feet as he walked to the door of his studio, clutching the canvas and his materials, hearing footsteps clunk down the wooden stairs after he creaked open the door.

A clear, breathy voice bounced off the studio walls as his genius son frantically pulled on his painter's smock and brushed back his hair, flipping his head up and making it momentarily stick up.

He met his father's eyes with a wide smile, softly clapping his hands together.

"A new one?!" he grinned, tying back the neck tie of the frock.

"It's from the palace so you had best get a move on, hmmm?" His father suggested, tapping his son's nose before he went to his office.

Jungkook flipped the canvas over to get a good look at his new subject, his breath catching in his throat as he stared at the face of the most beautiful man on earth.

(A/N): I know this seems slow right now, but all of this is a build to something much bigger ;)