King of Nothing | Taekook

Chapter Twenty-Three

"You've never pet a horse before?" I asked in shock, watching Taehyung's hesitant eyes stare the horse down.

He shook his head, "No way. They're huge and scary. Much bigger when you're close to them."

"Don't be afraid of her, she's nice I promise. I've only ridden her twice, but she likes me. Her name is Petunia. Tunie for short."

"How do you even get onto her?"

"You just pull yourself up. Step on this," I demonstrated how to step up, and then threw up self on. "Come on," I held out my hand for him. "Just hop on behind me and hold on tight."

Slowly, Taehyung approached the creature and took my hand. I pulled him up and he immediately grabbed onto me, lacing his arms around my waist.

"See? It's not so bad."

"We're so high up."

"You'll get used to it." I reached behind me and patted his thigh as a comforting gesture. I egged Petunia on and she began to trot down the dirt road. I kept her slow for Taehyung's sake.

"Hey, relax Tae. It's okay, you're perfectly safe." His body was still tensed up, and I could tell that his eyes were probably closed. I reached up with one hand and grabbed one of his, "You're fine, Tae." I laughed.

"When we get into town, I know this perfect place for us to eat. But, we'll have to go eat somewhere more secluded." We both agreed that it's best if we hid our faces a bit, just for saftey measures. "There's also this lovely little book store I think you'd like. It's very old and smells nice."

Ah, I haven't gone into town in a while. I usually don't like going places alone when I don't have a reason to be going there.

Taehyung barely responded. I could tell he wasn't adjusting. So, I halted Petunia.

"Are you okay?" I've never seen him this scared before.

"Yeah, sorry— I don't know why I'm feeling so scared. It's just new, I'm not used to this. I've never really been inside a town before, either. I rarely even see new people."

"It's okay to feel nervous, but trust me, Tae. You're perfectly safe. If it wasn't safe, I wouldn't be bringing you." I kissed his cheek and had Petunia carry on.

I rubbed the back of his hand with my thumb as we rode along. He relaxed a little, resting his head on my shoulder from behind.

After a long, peaceful ride, we arrived to the main marketplace. I tied the horse up to a post at the designated spot, and tipped the keeper some money. We layered up well today. It was quite cold. He took hold of my hand and we began to venture through. It felt nice to be able to hold his hand in a public space. We can't when we're around anyone back at the castle.

I told him to keep an eye out for anything he thinks looks good, for us to gather and have for lunch. People paid no mind to us as we walked, having no idea who I am. And if they did, nobody said anything.

"This feel weird, to be walking through town holding the prince's hand. It feels illegal, like I'll be attacked by an angry mob of teenage girls."

"People don't just fawn over me like you think they do, I'm not that attractive. People just like my status."

"Okay, for one, no, shut up. You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen in my entire life, and you know that."

"Grr,"

"Have you seen yourself?"

"Hey— This isn't a competition."

"Whatever."

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Intermission\Time Skip
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