jinmin \\ The Prince and his Guardian

Into A Corner

'What is it you want me to see?' Seokjin says, fuming, as he bursts through the wooden door and makes no effort to hide the pain and anger in his voice, his eyes, his being. 

The servant, having escorted Prince Jin to Prince Hobi's study room, awkwardly stands near the door post as he awaits orders.

Hoping not to witness the princes in this dreadful situation and moreover, not to become a part of it in any way, shape or form, the lazy servant inwardly thanks the Gods for seeing Hobi gesture him to close the door and leave them alone.

Before Hobi can turn and assure his friend, Seokjin's eyes are already glued to the large screen in front of him that is currently broadcasting Jimin and Jungkook's capture.

'They're alive?' Seokjin mouths breathlessly, 'Is this being livestreamed?'

'Yes and yes', Hobi says after clearing his throat, wondering how to go about this. 'It's been running for about 2 minutes now. Nothing's happened yet-'

'Wait,' Seokjin interrupts him as he holds up a hand, looking utterly puzzled and concerned as he stumbles with his words, 'wait, you just- your servant just-'

Taking a second to collect his thoughts, Seokjin gestures to the door he just came through and opens his mouth, though nothing but silence follows.

'Yes...' Hobi takes over, seeing Seokjin's lack of strength to say the worst: 'He told you that their deaths were being livestreamed this instant. I made that up. I wanted to make sure you stopped what you were doing and came to see this-'

'You nearly gave me a heart attack!' Seokjin shouts angrily as he not only interrupts Hoseok again, but also harshly grabs his shoulders like he wants to squeeze the life out of his childhood friend. 'Don't trick me with such lies anymore!'

'Hyung!' Hobi screams, not wanting to lose his temper, 'I wanted to make sure you didn't do anything reckless and made things for my people! I might as well have undergone the same treatment as your kingdom did, or not!'

Seokjin's eyes are seeing red but Hoseok's not afraid, knowing the normally calm and collected prince would never go so far as to intentionally hurt him. He's grabbed at his hyung's arms and needs not ask to let Seokjin know the eldest should let him go and calm down.

'Please, Jin! We're supposed to have each other's backs!' a female voice suddenly and distressedly yells through the room.

Seokjin spins his body towards the source almost immediately, letting his arms drop to his sides as he blinks surprisedly at Irene leaning against one of the desks.

'Princess Irene?'

He hadn't even noticed her presence as she stood behind him the entire time since he'd barged in with only one despairing thought plaguing his mind: never to see his Jimin again.

'Yes, Prince Hoseok had called me in here to witness the news as well', she explains timidly and struggles to admit the following. 'It was me who told him to tell you that... I knew it would make you come immediately...'

The fooled prince, coming to his conscience, slowly turns back and sees the two men on the screen kneeling on the ground with their arms behind their backs, both of their gazes to the floor and their shoulders slumped forward. They look miserable since both of them are in Taehyung's hands and are put on display for the whole world to see, but still, they're alive and breathing. Seeing Jimin again, even like this, brings the colour rushing back to Seokjin's cheeks and he almost sighs in relief.

Feeling in control of his actions again, he apologetically rubs his friend's shoulders as an attempt to atone for hurting him.

'I'm sorry, I was just...'

'It's OK,' Hoseok quickly intervenes as he brushes Seokjin's hands off of him. 'It was cruel to tell you that, I know.'

'No, it's fine', the eldest male says, his voice growing softer. 'You didn't want me running into them by accident. And I may have been vital to your kingdom surviving this attack.' 

'Judging from the background, I think they may be closeby already,' Hoseok remarks, recognising the field behind the two kneeling boys. 'So if they're keeping these two hostage, then V might want something from us before making his next move. So long as we keep him waiting, he won't attack yet.'