Your Highness {NamJin}

four

"Chindeokie!"

The black, billowing curtain of Chindeok's hair danced back and forth as the young girl turned to see her best friend running towards her. She smiled as he approached her, giving him a slight bow as he stopped to greet the flawless girl that stood before her.

"Good evening, Hancheol-sshi," she murmured, letting the wind carry her sweetly spoken words to Hancheol's ear and bring a smile to his face.

"Good evening, Chindeok. Let's go horse riding!"

Chindeok reached out gently to the excited Hancheol, who had already began to run off towards the stables.

"H-Hancheol?"

"I-- oh-- yes?"

"Mm..." she began, already looking away from his eyes. "Could I ask you a favor?"

"What is it, Chindeok?" Hancheol nodded, his heart palpitating tenfold. Chindeok could've asked for anything and he would've found a way to give it to her, no matter how trivial or unnecessary. He knew that his feelings for the girl were beyond his control, yet he still tried to stop blushing in front of her. He wanted to be like his father; he wanted to be strong and face danger with a determined, unfazed countenance.

Chindeok, without knowing it, had fallen for the opposite -- his gentle nature was what captured her. The way he looked at the ones he loved was a signature trait of his father, the doctor -- and Hancheol wore it well, pulling her heartstrings like the gayageum that played every time he looked at her.

"M-My horse, Sagwa, is unwell. She's come down with something. I was wondering if I could ride your horse"--

"Of course, Chindeok!" Hancheol nodded, immediately giving his seat on his horse to the embarrassed girl. She giggled, blushing and shaking her round head.

"N-No, Cheollie, what I meant was..." Chindeok began, trailing off and looking away once more.

"I meant...we could ride together."

Hancheol looked over at Chindeok, her happy yet subtle smile wrapping around Hancheol's chest like two loving arms embracing the lover that Hancheol was.

"I'd really like that, Chindeok."

The two stood there for a quiet moment, letting the soft breeze whisper what they couldn't say to each other.

Suddenly remembering the flowers he picked for the girl before he left his parents' place in a hurry, he presented a wilted, wind-blown bouquet of snow white daisies to Chindeok -- who stared at them in half amusement.

"U-Um...I'll get you fresh ones on the way."

The two laughed, enjoying each other's awkward yet consoling company. They joined hands, making their way down to the stables where Jungkook and Jimin waited for them.

Seokjin pulled his hair from its binding, placing a golden, thin and pointed rod on the smooth sandalwood vanity in his grand, ornamented room. His raven-colored hair almost immediately fell from position, trickling down his toned back and broad, tensed shoulders like a dark waterfall carrying black storms of fury in its wake. Running his fingers through the half-tangled nest of hair, he sighed in fatigue from the day's events.

The poor girl, he thought, shaking his head as he stared at the complex, nearly confusing lines and curves that made up his figure in the mirror. I hope dear Rinji is alright now...

"Hello, my de-- God."

Seokjin whipped his entire body around to see Namjoon standing behind him, wearing wide yet content eyes. Looking down at his half naked figure, he couldn't help but blush as the royal behind him continued to pull Seokjin's robe off and devour his sultry beauty with his eyes.

"Good evening," Seokjin giggled, turning back to the mirror and gently playing with a small section of his hair. He watched as Namjoon approached him slowly, getting close enough to kneel on the floor, wrap his arms around him and rest his chin on his shoulder.

"I know ladies here in this court who would die for this beautiful hair," he whispered, placing a kiss on the nape of Seokjin's neck. He collected all of Seokjin's hair in a bunch, running down until he reached a certain section of it. Pulling out a piece of twine from who cared where, he tied it off, letting a long ponytail still fall from the tied part.

"I remember when I was still a noble lord, and it was still only at my shoulders. I can't believe how long it's grown."

"And if you dare cut it, I'll punish you," Namjoon laughed, holding his beloved's hands from behind and enjoying the feeling of Seokjin in his arms.

"What did you do today, love?" Seokjin smiled, looking at Namjoon through the mirror.

"Well, after Rinji fell sick, I stayed with Hoseok-sshi and the princess' parents for a while. I then went over to the harem to see an opera  that the women decided to put on."

"Another opera? I saw one they put one last week while you were in the west."

"I believe it was the same one you saw, love. Lady Yeonhi told me she wanted me to see it as well since I wasn't able to see it the first time."

"Ah."

Namjoon felt Seokjin tense at the mention of Yeonhi's name, and looked in the mirror to see him quickly attempt to hide the jealousy written all over his face in bold letters.

"What's wrong, my honey cake?"

"Nothing's wrong, Namjoon-ah."

Letting out a small chuckle, Namjoon held Seokjin tighter in a loving clutch.

"Something is wrong, Seokjinnie."

"It's really nothing, Namjoon."

"It can't be nothing if it's enough to bother you."

Seokjin let out a heavy, gloomy sigh.

"Lady Yeonhi is a beautiful woman," he began, pulling his hands out of Namjoon's hold and folding them across his stomach. "She's graceful and elegant. She's naturally blessed with beauty inside and out."

"I would agree with that," Namjoon said calmly, nodding his head.

Groaning in a frustrated way, Seokjin stood from his position, shaking Namjoon's grip off him like a robe on his shoulders. Looking down at the confused king with a confounded expression of wrath on his once tranquil face, he backed away from the royal.

"So you admit that you think she's beautiful?"

"Seokjin"--

"You do think she's beautiful, don't you?" he said, tears beginning to well up in his dark, fiery eyes. "She's just a flower in a human body, isn't she?"

"Seokjin, Lady Yeonhi isn't you."

"...what?"

"Lady Yeonhi is a beautiful, sophisticated woman. Whoever marries her in the future will be a lucky man. However, she isn't Kim Seokjin, the only man I love and ever will love."

Seokjin shook his head, mentally slapping himself for the outburst he finally realized was unnecessary and idiotic, and fell into Namjoon's arms again.

"Sometimes I do think that if you weren't with me, I'd go crazy," Seokjin whispered, embracing the man he loved once more. "Please forgive me, Namjoon."

"Oh, darling," he smiled, chuckling to himself. "Of course I forgive you. I'll always forgive you."

Beaming from ear to ear, the lovers held each other for a long time, reaffirmed once more in their beliefs that they would never part from each other for a long, long time. Upon breathing Namjoon's safe, intoxicating scent once more, Seokjin finally calmed again, lulling himself into an ethereal sense of security and overwhelming joy.

That is, until a strong lavender smell cut through it like a butcher's knife.

"Namjoon..." Seokjin began, sniffing his robe once more.

"...why do you smell like women's perfume?"