𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 | Kim Taehyung //DISCONTINUED

15

Chapter 15
▌ Glass apples; part 2

"Sun kissed skin and stolen kisses."
•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

The elegant ride had been silent for a long while before you decided to break it. Your arms were still wrapped around the red-haired prince's waist. The scenery had changed from the rolling hills of the Madder Hatter's estate to dense forests, and the air had changed from humid to chilly.

"Taehyung," you paused, "I-I mean Prince Taehyung, you didn't have to help me. I know it's dangerous."

He only chuckled slightly. "You can call me Taehyung. And it's my choice to help you, not yours. I guess you'll just have to deal with it," he said and glanced over his shoulder at you, his amber eyes glittering with amusement.

Heat flooded your cheeks suddenly. You hid your face in his back, mumbling a small thank you.

Silence engulfed the air again, only interrupted by the clop clop of the horse's hooves. Soon, even that stopped.

"We're here," murmured the prince, hopping off the saddle and holding out his hand for you.

Taking it, your feet hit the ground . . . with a crack?

You glanced down with panic, only to find thin, long shards of glass, almost like twigs, littering the ground. Eyebrow raising, your eyes found the scene in front of you.

A glass apple field.

A glass apple field?

The trees around you, arranged in a way just like a regular apple orchard, were see-through, but made in such a geometrical way, they looked like stain glass. Light from the dimming sun reflecting off them, cascading little rainbows on the ground. Apples grew from the trees, also translucent.

"Wow . . ." you murmured, very much aware that your jaw was hanging open. Wonderland continued to surprise you.

Your eyes found their way to Taehyung's, flickering over his princely attire once more before dancing back over to his face.

"This is beautiful."

The young man smiled—the boxy one—like he was proud of himself for impressing you. "Isn't it? Here—" he broke off, taking your hand in his, his large hand encasing yours, "follow me. It looks the best when the sun meets the horizon." Then he pulled you along quickly, like a kid heading to the candy shop, both your steps making light crunches now and again.

The crystal trees thinned, the wooden buckets full of glass apples fading. Taehyung finally slowed as you reached the end of the field, where the land dropped off at a cliff and only the far away trees obscured the view of the setting sun. Reds, oranges, pinks, and purples painted the sky like a watercolor. The sun was close to, but not quite, touching the horizon line.

The prince sat down, ignoring the dew-damp ground, and stretching out his long legs. He looked perfectly calm, in his element. If he weren't wearing gold and silver, you wouldn't have picked Taehyung as a prince.

More like a small-town boy, relaxing after a long day in the fields.

You sat beside him. Oh, how Namjoon would kill you to sit in the grass with this dress.