Oceanblue | KV ✔

xxiii

Taehyung was sitting on the bench in the doctor's quarter, getting his finger bandaged by none other than the pirate captain himself, Jeongguk refusing to leave Taehyung's side as he still felt guilty and he took it upon himself to treat Taehyung's wound. His touch was gentle on Taehyung's skin, careful not to hurt the boy any further.

The other was staying silent, only watching how Jeongguk was treating his finger in a quick, clean way that it left Taehyung wondering how many times he already did that. "You're good at these things", Taehyung then silently remarked after Jeongguk finished disinfecting and cleaning the wound, making the pirate look up shortly.

"Had plenty of experience", Jeongguk replied before averting his attention back on Taehyung's cut finger. "And why is that?", Taehyung whispered, afraid to ask but he also couldn't stop his curiosity from slipping out. He flinched, making himself smaller because he already expected Jeongguk to say something harsh or hurt him in any way.

Yet the pirate only looked up, eyes not so hard and cold like before while he stared at the petit boy in thought. Taehyung stared back, somewhat breathless and his eyes shortly wandered over Jeongguk's face before they stopped on his lips. A blush spread on his cheeks when he quickly looked away.

"I've fought enough to know that no one than yourself is going to treat your wounds when you're lying on the ground", Jeongguk told Taehyung, the prince literally stopped breathing for a second upon hearing the bitterness out of Jeongguk's voice. "You're not only talking about the fights as a pirate, are you?", he asked, voice small and scared.

But Jeongguk surprised him another when he answered instead of spatting a harsh comment at him. "I'm surprised you didn't connect the pieces already. Someone must've told you right? Why I hate the royals", the pirate bitterly spat but Taehyung stood his ground instead of flinching away like usual.

"You've been a royal guard. I understand it's difficult to serve royals... And I wanna hear your story from your mouth instead of others who could bring on things that are untrue", Taehyung replied to Jeongguk who furrowed his brows, quickly looking away from Taehyung's beautiful face to concentrate back on the bandage.

"Once I'll tell you, you will see your reality with different eyes", Jeongguk said, eyes moving over Taehyung's face warily. He knew royals in and out, knew how toxic and selfish they were and he still expected Taehyung to behave even this way. Simply trusting his gut, he was surprised again and again by Taehyung's unusual kind behavior.

"Tell me and I may judge my reality on my own", the petit raven said, Jeongguk quickly hiding his small smile. "Alright, your Majesty", the pirate said, taking a deep breath. "You were told I was a royal guard. That's half of the truth. I've been sold as a slave to a palace and only because of my learning abilities I was able to survive. The old royal commander has found me stealing food from the kitchen but instead of punishing me, he took me under his wing", Jeongguk started to recall his past, remembering the elder man he has been so terrified of, believing he was going to die.

The old commander has grabbed his arm, dragging him out of the kitchen and into the backyard of the palace, a beautiful garden that sent horrified shivers down his spine. Jeongguk has been young, terrified and only wanted to survive. Right when he was grabbed, he has feared his life was over.

Instead, the commander has pulled him to the side of the castle, glanced around and reached into his jacket. Jeongguk has fearfully pressed his eyes shut, his life flashing in front of his eyes. Only to be gifted a loaf of bread by the commander.

"He trained me, made me a master with the sword and many other skills. I became so skillful that the king of the land came to know about me. He made me fight against my own mentor, against the old commander in a fight of life or death", Jeongguk said coldly and Taehyung gasped, eyes widening in horror. 

"He... willingly ran into my sword and he died in my arms. I lived and the only thing the king did after watching his loyal commander die was nodding before handing the position to me. He did not care that a precious life has just been wasted", Jeongguk said with hatred lacing over his voice. "To the king, we were replaceable, chess figures in his game", Taehyung felt sick, disgusted by how uncaring this king appeared.

"Not all royals are like this", Taehyung whispered, tears clogging his throat. "W-what this king did was horrible and no true leader should treat his subjects like this", Taehyung said but Jeongguk wasn't finished.

"That wasn't the only thing. One day, he got in a war with a neighboring country. He sent me to kill the throne heir as a revenge for hurting his reputation. I denied his order and was punished. I was sent to the front of the war zone and almost got killed, we nearly lost the war but through a miracle, the fronts turned and we returned home victoriously. But the king did not congratulate us. He took all the glory upon himself and left us with nothing. Said we as peasants didn't deserve that. I then was set up as a rebel leader after I spoke up. That was how worthy I was to the one I swore my loyalty to. The other guards turned against me and I was nearly killed. So I did something unforgivable", Jeongguk stopped, Taehyung's hand still in his.

The prince somehow found the energy to squeeze Jeongguk's hand, silently listening to his heartbreaking story with tears running down his cheeks. 

"I grabbed my sword, ran into the throne hall... and I killed the king. I'm a King slayer, Taehyung and a coward. Because I ran away from the chaos I've created and left to another kingdom", Jeongguk said, looking up to the visibly shaken prince who stared at him with teary eyes.

"The king of the next kingdom found out who I was and threw me into prison. I was to be executed but I could flee. This was the only luck I had in my life, the doors were left unguarded and I could run away. I found a small pirate ship and became a crew member. Exiled from land and forced to forever stay a pirate", the brunet bitterly finished his story.

"And now tell me again that I shouldn't hate royals", Jeongguk spat, his hatred hidden deep within him, so lost in his horrible past that he didn't see the glassy look in Taehyung's eyes after he revealed the last part of his past.

"I understand your hatred, I do", Taehyung silently whispered, engulfing Jeongguk's rough hand with his own. So many scars, so many stories behind them and so much pain craved Jeongguk. Taehyung wanted to take at least a bit hatred away from the outlawed man.

"Will you listen to me when I tell you I can take a bit of your pain away?", the prince asked nervously, not knowing if he was right but he decided that Jeongguk should know this story. Jeongguk looked confused at him but didn't pull away.

"I-I think... I was the one to have freed you, Jeongguk."

~

An emotional chapter, revealing why Jeongguk hates the royals... what do you think of it? And what could Tae mean with his last words if this chapter?

Find out in the next !

Ela_koo