Prince

三

For the first week, Taehyung goes about his duties in the castle almost silently and under the piercing stare of the king every time they pass one another. He grows used to the empty smiles and hollow greetings from other staff because he's no different. He grows used to the way that the dark, grey stone practically freezes over during the late hours of the day and into the night and he grows used to how the cold radiates from every stone into every bone in his body. The clothes he's been provided with don't provide nearly enough comfort away from the chill but he knows he king wouldn't really care to listen.

The first week, he mainly assists Jiwoo in her many activities for the day (honestly he doesn't understand how she isn't exhausted all of the time from the amount of classes she has) and so he barely sees the young prince. When he does, the prince has the same look on his sharp features; solemn.

Underneath his eyes lie faint black marks, likely from lack of sleep, and there seems to be a slight hint of tears in the corner whenever Taehyung is close enough to see him.

Today however, his duties change. Instead of helping Jiwoo with her language class this morning, Taehyung is walked by commander Kim outside of the castle walls and towards the stables where they keep their many horses and jaw dropping carriages. Commander Kim's lips are pressed together tightly and his eyes dart around their surroundings anxiously.

"Are you okay sir?" Taehyung's voice cracks mid sentence due to the fact he's only been awake for a short amount of time and hasn't spoken yet today.

Commander Kim nods, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Taehyung shrugs and pouts, "You seem nervous and I thought I would check. I'm not always hard spoken"

At that, the commander laughs, allowing his dimples to come out for the world to see. Taehyung decides right then that seeing his commander, and almost friend at this point, happy is something that brightens his day; if only a little.

"You're a sweet kid Taehyung with a sharp little bite but a little bite never hurt anyone. Especially another person if they consent"

"I officially, have run out of words to respond with" Taehyung says hurriedly while trying to hide his beetroot red face from the commander who is still laughing heartily beside him.

"I'm kidding but I'm not judging if you're into that. I think now we have officially crossed the line and can be declared friends so you have full rights to call me by my first name when we are off duty"

Taehyung's steps suddenly halt and the commander turns to him with a quizzical expression only to find the other gaping at him with wide eyes and jaw wide open.

"What?"

"Did you actually mean that?"

"Of course I did, I wouldn't have said it is okay otherwise"

"So I can actually call you Namjoon when we are off duty?" The commander nods, "I feel honoured"

The rest of their walk is filled with small talk about the weather, their works and Taehyung continually questioning why Namjoon is constantly looking shifty but his questions are shot down in flames every single time. However, when they reach the stables, his voice cuts out with one final strained word and his gaze meets another.

There's the prince, standing beside two horses that are fully tacked up and on his face is a subtle smile.

"Thank you for bringing Taehyung over commander Kim, please remember to take a break today though. I know you're being given a very tough workload recently so ensure you eat and drink enough. If you don't have much I will happily sneak you some more"

The prince's voice is soft and silky, his words flowing out seamlessly. Namjoon bows, with Taehyung following suit, and he thanks the prince for all of his help to which he gets a very blunt response,

"You and I are exactly the same. The only thing that is different is our situation and I am no better than you"

The commander's stay with the pair is incredibly brief and he's gone all too soon in Taehyung's opinion.

"Then there were two," The prince grins, "You can horse ride right?"

Taehyung scoffs loudly, "Of course I can. I'm the best"

Lies. While he can ride a horse, he's not the best at it and is in fact quite wobbly at first but he's not going to admit that to the prince.

The prince smirks, "I know that's a lie"
"It's not"

"You have such a cute pout, you really do, but we need to ride if we are to talk and what I need to talk to you about is vital"

Taehyung cocks his head to the side, "Is it bad?"
"That depends on how you perceive things but I wouldn't say it's the best"

The brunette stays silent after that, mind running frantically trying to figure out what could be going on, and he mounts the horse beside the prince and faces the latter with a proud grin.

"Okay, maybe you aren't so bad" the prince jokes.

"I'm the best rider you will ever lay eyes on"

"Hmm, we shall see about that one day"

Taehyung flushes scarlet at the way the prince wiggles his eyebrows at him and blows him a kiss. How on earth is the prince managing to make a potentially bad situation appear so amusing? How he manages to find that humour in the bad is a mystery.

Both horses trot across the castle grounds and over towards the forest full of luscious green trees that tower above them and create a tunnel in the way that their leaves all connect and hang over. The sunlight breaks through the gaps creating a dancing pattern on the ground and casting shadows here and there. The prince, leading the way, holds his head up high, jaw horizontal to the ground and lips pulled up into a smile.

Wind brushes through his hair, pink dusts his cheeks and for the first time that Taehyung has ever seen; he looks peaceful. The only feature to give way for doubt to ruin the image is the every darkening circles under his eyes.

They come to a stop in a wide clearing where a brook runs down one of the sides. The trees stay interlocked creating their canopy and it's shady and cool, a welcome break from the heat blasting the country at the moment. Taehyung dismounts the horse and allows the black and white beauty to trot over to the brook to drink and very soon after, the prince does the same.

"I'm sorry we haven't been able to see much of each other this first week. I've been in a lot of trouble this week sadly"

"Is that's why I've only seen you at night? We kept passing each other in the corridors"

The prince smiles, "We did and yes that's why. I was locked in my room all day"

"Why?"

"For not following the orders of my father"

"May I ask why you wouldn't follow them?"

The prince grimaces, "I'm not into murder"

"Murder?"

A heavy sigh, "That's why I brought you here this morning. I needed to warn you"