Meraki | jikook

Chapter X

Look At My Heart, At What You Make Me Feel

Seokjin paced back and forth, a scroll held tightly in his hand, almost crushing the paper in the process. Cold sweat trailed down the sides of his neck as he threw the scroll violently across the room, watching with a heaving chest as it crashed against a vase of flowers on the table beside his bed, the soft clang reverberating almost eerily. The crown prince had always known there were tensions rising within the kingdom, he had known about Ulsan spies trying to manipulate innocent people into joining hands with them in a war against Busan. Seokjin was always prepared with a plan, always ready with even more back-up plans if the one to be carried out failed. But no amount of planning or plotting or thinking had him prepared for the messy writing on that scroll. A messenger had delivered it to him in the early hours of the morning, saying something along the lines of how it came with no name or no signature. But Seokjin knew, he knew who it was from.

The door creaked the slightest bit as Namjoon entered the room but the prince didn’t bother turning to acknowledge the knight. He plopped onto his bed instead, stormy eyes resorting to staring at the ceiling, his heart leaping in his chest in terror or anger or possibly both. The knight’s eyes took in the prince’s state before they shifted to the scroll laying on the carpeted floor.

“Take a look,” Seokjin muttered, voice lowered an octave, his eyes fixed on the small chandelier above him. “You have my permission, take a good look.”

Namjoon cautiously picked it off the floor and seated himself on the bed next to the crown prince. He opened up the crumpled paper and furrowed his brows together, eyes scanning through the words written messily on the sheet.

“Read it aloud,” Seokjin whispered, one arm travelling to his eyes to protect them from the rays of sunlight that entered the room in bright orange hues. He turned his head slightly to face the knight and when their eyes locked Namjoon could sense the fear and stress of the prince.

“Beloved crown prince of Busan,” Namjoon started reading, not knowing how bad the letter was going to be. “You know I have always found you exceptionally stunning, and if you didn’t know I’m sure I made myself clear by proposing to you. You also know how much you hurt my ego by turning me down, no one turns me down.” Namjoon tilted his head to the side, jaws slightly clenched. “Marrying me would have been an honour for you Kim Seokjin but you went ahead with your prideful little head and refused what could have been the start of an amazing life for you.” Namjoon chanced a glance at the crown prince but he had resorted to staring at the ceiling again so the knight continued. “No offense to you dear, but I have always hated your family, not that they did anything to spite me but I just hate them. And then you came along and poured more fuel into my burning rage by declining my proposal to you. You know what is coming your way and I trust you are not at all prepared for it. Consider this a little warning, my dear fair love, for what is coming shall destroy you and your kingdom to a point of no return. Sending you my heartfelt remorse instead of my love this time.”

Namjoon let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he scrunched the scroll up in his hand. He felt a gentle touch on his forearm and turned to find Seokjin smiling at him, a smile that was barely there but there just for him at the moment. “I can see your veins popping out of your arms,” the prince closed his eyes as he chuckled softly. “It’s okay Namjoon. You have me now.” The prince sat up and shifted so that he was leaning against Namjoon’s side. “The prince of Ulsan claimed the title of King by murdering his own father four years ago. He also murdered his first two wives because he wasn’t satisfied with one’s cooking and one’s way of pleasuring him.” Namjoon’s eyes widened in shock as he heard the vile stories about the prince of Ulsan. “You wouldn’t expect me to say yes to such a vile, disgusting, corrupt man. I declined him as politely as I could, I even brought him to a place where I knew no one would hear us when I refused him.” Namjoon rubbed the crown prince’s arm soothingly, trying his best to provide as much comfort as he could. “I hate him. I’m so scared of what he could be capable of doing, I hate him. He’s an absolute lunatic Namjoon.”