Blossoming Srping

Prince or Prisoner?

Taehyung was sleeping underneath the “The Great Tree” again. Not sleeping per se, but closing his eyes as his mind wondered. It was his favorite thing to do. Sleeping under the giant tree in the palace grounds and pretending that his princely responsibilities do not exist.

It was one of the very few things he could enjoy while he was kept hidden within the palace. Taehyung was the anonymous prince, his identity kept hidden from general public for security and protection of the royal bloodline.

It meant that Taehyung did not have luxury of roaming outside the palace or interaction with people. The servants within the palace saw him as nothing but an authority figure. And now that his brother Namjoon was doing military service, there was hardly anyone who kept him company.

Taehyung felt more like a object than a person, he hated this.

Even with a palace full of people, he felt lonely.

His mind wandered to a small boy who had cured his loneliness, who had kept him company and made him feel alive again. He missed him.

Jimin was a prince of the neighbouring kingdom and had visited their palace with his “appa” ( the king) and his hyung for diplomatic reasons.

Though Jimin was only seven years old, Taehyung and him had developed a beautiful friendship.

He missed Jimin and his antics, how he would make flower crowns for Taehyung's long hair, play with him all afternoon and try to get Taehyung married to his hyung so that ‘taetae’ could become truly his ‘real’ hyung.

His hyung. SeokJin.

Taehyung recalled Seokjin's handsome alpaca face, how he would sit quietly reading under the tree while Jimin and he played. Their many awkward encounters that made Taehyung want to die of shame.

How SeokJin had seriously asked Taehyung to marry him and wished to take him away from the palace.

It was quite an impossible proposition. Taehyung's mother, the queen would never let Taehyung go away, he could not leave all the burden of royal duty to Namjoon. And more importantly in his kingdom ( unlike SeokJin and Jimin's) man did not marry man.

And still, Taehyung did not know how it happened, but he had said yes.

A blush crept up to his cheek as he remembered the kiss they had shared. How they had revealed their feelings to each other under the starry night.

Taehyung sighed. It has been a week since they have left, SeokJin promising that he would take care of everything.

Taehyung did not know what was worse, knowing that he would never be free; or having this slight hope of freedom while dreading it was all a lie.

A thousand negative thought clouded his mind, what if SeokJin forgot all about him? What if he was didn't mean what he said? And even if he did tell the truth, there was very little chance that he would actually succeed.

Taehyung pushed those thoughts away. Even if SeokJin never came back for him, he would keep him as a beautiful memory. Even if it was for brief time, SeokJin made him feel loved and desired.

“Your highness” a called and broke his train of thought.

Taehyung opened his eyes, it was Hoseok. One of the Queen's private aids.

“Your brother have arrived to the palace”

Taehyung frowned. Namjoon’s military training was still far from being over. Something major must have occurred for Namjoon to come back.

“Did something happen?” he asked Hoseok.

“Nothing to worry about your highness” Hoseok said with a smile as if he found the whole thing amusing. Taehyung frowned ever harder, but didn't say anything and dismissed him.

Taehyung started to make his way to his room, Hoseok kept following him. He saw some servants crowding in the corridor, whispering excitedly but as soon as they saw him, they stopped immediately and bowed their heads. Taehyung had the uneasy feeling that they were talking about him.

As soon as they reached his chamber, Taehyung asked Hoseok to stay.
“Tell me what this is all about?” he demanded.
“I am afraid that I can’t tell you, your highness” Hoseok replied calmly.
“It was not a request, I am ordering you to tell me” Taehyung said, irritated that he was being left out of some secret, a secret that apparently the palace maid knew about.

Hoseok’s face tightened. He said, “ Again your highness, I am under the queen’s orders, forgive me”

“Hyung please”

Hoseok stopped. It had been a long time since Taehyung had called him that. He and Namjoon were of same age and grew up in the palace playing together. He was the only servent that the princes considered as their brother. His mind wandered off to the time they all played together in the green hills, uncaring of the world and its complexities. He sighed.

“A messenger from Busan royal palace has arrived this morning, he brought a marriage proposal” he said.

-------------------------