Be My Pride (old)

21: The King's Nightmare

There was something about the Queen that everyone liked. She was beautiful, had long dark hair that she would tie into a high ponytail or different kind of buns. Her eyes were big and sparkled when she was happy. She had two different eyelids, which her son inherited. And her smile was the most gorgeous one anyone could ever see with human's eye.
But her beauty was not the only thing people loved about her.

It was the way she treated others. While her husband was convinced that the system worked perfectly fine and was fair to everyone, she didn't think that way. The Queen greeted everyone the same way. People from higher ranks weren't any more important than people who lived on the poor side. In her eyes, everyone was human. She just didn't see why the system existed.
The Queen secretly was a part of the rebellion against the system and she refused to teach her son how 'perfect' and 'fair' the system was. Instead told him whatever she knew about how the world functioned before.

"Eomma, I wanna live in your world." Five year old Kim Taehyung had told her with big sparkling eyes, oblivious to the harshness of the world. He was just a child, young and easy to influence.

The Queen had chuckled softly and caressed his cheek, smiling fondly. "No, Sweety. That world doesn't exist anymore. It sounds nice, doesn't it?"

Taehyung would agree every time again.

Through the years that followed, the young Prince learned a lot about a world that didn't exist. He loved his mother's stories, her gentle voice. He believed he was so lucky to have her by his side.

The Queen was a tough one for sure. She wasn't afraid to face the consequences of what she did and taking risks was her second nature. Her beauty was deceptive, and no one even realized it. Everyone loved her and that's why they never saw the small signs of rebellion in her behaviour. She knew that, and she loved it.

That's why she wasn't afraid when one day- when Taehyung had reached the age of eleven- the King wanted to have a serious talk with her. She knew it wasn't about any event this time and it couldn't be about a possible divorce, seeing that the royal family wasn't allowed to divorce. The Queen wouldn't have minded it, though.

The man was rude and he looked so angry. His wife knew by instant just what was going on, and she was not going to back down.
There was no love in their marriage, being the Queen wasn't going to save her from what was about to come her way.

"You learned him about a world that is illegal to even think about!" The King barked out. Fire nearly spewed from his mouth and steam from his ears, that's just how red his face was.

"I did. He needs to know how the world used to be in order to become a King our country can be proud of." The Queen was confident despite knowing how she was going to end up by the end of the day.

"Proud?" The King stopped talking for only three minutes, scoffing and laughing in anger. There was no amusement, no fun. He was crazy, lunatic. "He is supposed to rule, Sumi! Not to satisfy everyone!"

"The system is ruining people's life's!" The Queen couldn't keep her calm. If she was going down, she would at least leave an impression. "Our son can make everything right for at least our country! He can be a good King if you let him!"

The King didn't look at her, his eyes fixated on something behind her. Or rather, someone. "Take her to my office and make sure she doesn't escape. I will take care of it myself."

The Queen wasn't alone in what she believed. There were people who saw her as their leader in the rebellion. She had a best friend, who couldn't accept the reality of two people so important to her were taken away.

Everyone was allowed to come and see how the Queen was deprived of life, brutally killed by her own husband, the King of their country.
What about Taehyung? He was forced to watch. He saw how the life disappeared from his mother's eyes.
Being just a child, the young Prince couldn't handle what he saw. His brain just shut off and everything after that happened so fast. Later, when he was back inside his room, the young boy couldn't remember years from his life. He couldn't remember his mother clearly no matter how bad he tried. After that, his father took advantage of his condition and that's where the violence began.

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"Taehyung, God– please... wake up!"

Stirring, turning, crying and yelling. That is what awoke Jeongguk from his sleep. He had been a bit reluctant to sleep next to the King again- seeing that he now was well aware- but right now, the boy couldn't care less. He was actually happy that he was there with the older. Why? Because he knew how scary nightmares could be. He wanted to help Taehyung to wake up. Jeongguk was worried.

"Hyung!"

Again that word. Jeongguk didn't even realise he had started to use that one word since hours ago and he didn't know how happy Taehyung was to hear him use it.

Right then, the older's eyes snapped open. His mouth was wide open too, inhaling ragged breaths. Taehyung was trembling and sweating and he couldn't remember what he had dreamed of. It was frustrating.

"J–Jeong–gg–gguk," Taehyung stuttered out, voice trembling, throat hurting. "I'm s–sorry."

"Don't you dare apologising for such thing." Jeongguk threatened, voice stern and a look of determination in his eyes. He didn't say anything else as he sat straight with his back against the headboard and knees against his chest, the warm sheets gone from his (by now) cold body. His left hand was combing through Taehyung's sweaty hair, playing with the strands. The King found himself enjoying the gesture and he felt how his body and mind calmed down. His eyes were on the boy, Jeongguk being oblivious to the stare. They stayed like that for a while, nothing but silence and comfort.

"You should probably take a shower," Jeongguk suggested after a while. His eyes were now on the time. "You're all sweaty. I'll change the bedding."

Taehyung wanted to refuse that last one. But he found himself nodding without a second thought. The younger was beautiful. His doe-eyes, the mole under his lip, the scar on his cheek. Every little detail on the boy's face made him who he was and Taehyung liked that.

"I should." The King then voiced, sighing and sitting up. His body was tired from waking up like that but he knew that taking a warm shower would help his muscles to relax.
Taehyung remembered reading something about nightmares in Jeongguk's file. There hadn't been much in that file however, but that didn't stop the King from being curious. Maybe, he should talk to Yoongi about it.

Unaware of the mess that was already created long ago, stupid enough to dig into what should be hidden.