The Three Bannermen | Vminkook ✓

Fifty Two: Butterfly

Laurel Prince

"Babe, you have a leaf in your hair, let me get it for you."

Jungkook bent his head down for Taehyung, who swiped at his black hair gently. A red leaf tumbled to the path they were both walking on, the ravenette stepping over it. 

"Thanks Tae," Jungkook intertwined their fingers, his thumb softly rubbing in circles on the elder's knuckle. 

It had been three months since the end of the war, which meant daily autumn walks for the newly wed pair at the Oak Castle. Taehyung's road to recovery was trying and involved a lot of failure, but eventually he got his legs to work for him again. Jungkook had to slow down his pace a bit so Taehyung was comfortable, but other than that the blonde was perfectly ambulatory. 

Despite the hearing loss, Taehyung felt a calm joy spread through him as a breeze tousled the younger's hair. He truly did miss hearing the other's voice clearly, but Jungkook made sure the blonde  didn't feel left out. The Oak Prince made sure to communicate in other ways for Taehyung to understand him such as signing or touches to certain parts of his body. The two almost never left each other's side...unless needed. 

The times when the Oak Prince wasn't by his side, however, Taehyung felt oddly lonely. His mind would wander around to memories of Jimin when he was alive, sometimes making him collapse sobbing on the bed of his and Jungkook's shared room. 

It took awhile before the blonde could accept the fact that Jimin made the decision to die on purpose...after realizing that he was beyond help with his sickness. 

The pain of Jimin's absence still felt like something was missing...so to distract himself from that feeling when Jungkook wasn't around, the blonde turned to his favorite hobby. 

Fashion. 

If the Oak Prince was at a particularly long meeting or was out traveling somewhere, Taehyung would work with the remaining Laurel Servants that were permanent residents at the Oak Castle. Hours would pass, outfit after outfit being designed, created, and tested by the blonde. 

At first it was a bit difficult relaying his artistic vision to the others, since they didn't know how to communicate back to him without speaking dreadfully slow or writing their messages down. Eventually, though, they got the hang of signing while speaking.  

Taehyung's closet began to fill up with his eclectic designs...and everyday he sported a new look that drew the attention of onlookers. No longer was he known as the "disabled prince" or viewed with pity, but was given the high title of Oak Fashionista. 

When people saw him in the hallways of the Oak Castle they would whistle and whoop in admiration, or at least that's what Jungkook told him. He loved all of the eyes on him...especially when people did their best to communicate to him that they loved his outfit by pointing and popping a thumbs up. 

All of their compliments made Taehyung overjoyed. 

Today, the blonde was wearing a strange greenish brown sweater that went to his thighs with long black pants. His shoes were made out of animal skins and had glass orbs dotting the sides. Set upon his oiled and styled blonde hair was an elegant Laurel-styled headpiece. Some might've said he was going above and beyond with his exotic fashion sense...but Taehyung thought of it as a way to express the sides he had kept hidden during his reign. 

The Oak Prince didn't mind either; in fact, the ravenette would compliment him on each new look. The blonde never got sick of it. 

"Let's sit over there for old times sake, yeah?" Taehyung tugged on Jungkook's plain black sleeve, urging him towards the crabapple tree at the edge of the garden.