Days of Grace | vkook

°11: The Royal Card

     The moment Seokjin felt fingers enclose his wrist, he knew he wouldn't be having breakfast anytime soon.

It was as if the General's fingertips were dipped in misfortune: foreboding thoughts immediately conquered his mind at the mere touch of the cold skin, and he felt his heart beating insanely fast inside his ribcage.

Nevertheless, he tried to hide his hunch by cracking a friendly smile and prepared himself for what would happen next. Depending on the outcome of the morning meeting, there was no way Kim Namjoon would leave him alone so easily. The General had sensed from the very start that something was off with the other, and the only reason he kept his mouth shut was that he didn't want to cause any inconveniences or pressure the Prince in front of his colleagues. In addition, he aimed for a one-on-one conversation where both could talk more comfortably.

"Maybe you can fool the others, but we both know that you're an awful liar," the General began. "C'mon. Out with it."

"That was rather rude of you," Seokjin retorted, disregarding the request. His gaze was full of reproach as he steadfastly confronted his counterpart.

However, the suffering of the Prince left the General unfazed. He didn't even spare a glance at the reddening spot but instead locked his eyes with the latter's deep chocolate brown ones.

"Now it's going to be an ugly bruise," he continued his complaint. Since Namjoon showed no signs of letting go, Seokjin attempted to free himself from the uncomfortable position by squirming under the firm grip. "Let go of me."

"The truth," Namjoon demanded, maintaining his iron grip.

"I've already said everything worth mentioning."

A loud snort escaped the General's mouth, unable to believe he was dealing with such nonsense. Something in his gut told him that the Prince wasn't entirely honest in his recounting of yesterday's incident. Whether it was the slight tremor in his voice or his deliberate avoidance of eye contact with the attendees; Kim Seokjin was many things, but not a good liar.

"You know, it's one thing to lie in front of everyone, but it's quite another to do it so brazenly in front of friends and family," the General explained, his voice throbbing with suppressed emotions.

As if the words flipped a switch in Seokjin's mind, he felt himself becoming increasingly upset by the remark. Since his pride wasn't easily offended, he replied in a flippant tone: "It's not my problem if you perceive it as a lie."

"I'm not perceiving it as a lie; I know it's one. That's a huge difference."

"Wow," Seokjin rolled his eyes in annoyance. "When did I miss your promotion to lie detector?" he asked, making another attempt to free himself, but to no avail.

"That's not funny."

"Do you see me laughing?"

"So, you really want to keep playing this game?"

"What game?"

"Fucking cut it!" the General then snapped. His patience was balancing on a very thin thread now. "You're making it unnecessarily harder!"

"I don't like your tone," Seokjin responded, feeling a mixture of anger and a hint of fear. This unfamiliar side of the General was unsettling his typically calm nature. "Please, stop."

"And I don't like your guts! I guess neither of us is getting what we want."

"I warned you to watch your words, Joon."

"Then stop acting like a blockhead and tell me what really happened in that damn study! I don't have time for your childish games, Jin!"

Ouch.