The Crown Prince (Taegi AU)

Chapter 9

"W-We are good. Our relationship is not bad." Taehyung stuttered out as he carefully wiped his mouth that had been stained with the peach-flavored drink.

Jimin snickered as he saw this and Jungkook nudged him, "Please don't take his word seriously. He just likes making fun of people."

Taehyung nodded awkwardly, "I dare not say anything."

"We are all friends here, nothing to be afraid of. Tell us." Jimin tittered as he saw the man lose his composure.

"What do you want me to tell you?" Taehyung tilted his head.

"About you and the crown prince." Jimin's eyes sparkled as he eagerly looked at the man.

Jungkook—also having said nothing—seemed to be somewhat interested in what Taehyung would answer to the question.

"As I said, our relationship is good. Just good! Nothing special."

"Don't lie so openly. Our country is not compassionate to liars."

"You can rest assured, I'm not lying."

Jimin seemed to be unsatisfied with the answer but he couldn't question any further—knowing that the result would be the same no matter how many times he pestered the man. This young man seemed to be like the crown prince in those manners—who knew how much he hid behind that deceiving smile of his.

When Taehyung wordlessly smiled at him—Jimin knew one thing for sure; The peace that this country had dreamt of—would one day be shattered and the cause of it would be this exact same innocent smile.

He felt conflicted and powerless; even after knowing what was to come—he still could not do anything about it.

Jimin glanced at the handsome face of his best friend, sitting beside him, and Jungkook glanced back, the two shared a look of understanding—it seemed that both of them had somewhat thought of the same thing.

"I'll trust you." Jimin suddenly exclaimed.

"Huh?" Taehyung looked at him in confusion, not understanding what the man was talking about, but he could somewhat tell how important of a hidden meaning those words carried.

Jungkook stood up as he spoke, "We'll be taking our leave then. Thank you for entertaining us."

Taehyung nodded happily as he glanced at the interlinked hands between the two—he seemed to have caught Jimin's disease of collecting other's dirty laundry.

"We wish you guys a happy future." Jimin snickered.

"Ah?"

Jungkook chuckled as he turned around and dragged the man away, "Please feel free to reach out to us if you ever come in need of our assistance."

Taehyung nodded once again as he too stood up, "If there is anything I can do for you, just ask."

Jungkook smiled, looking pleasant to the eyes, "Hmm..."

After having shared the verbal goodwills, the two bid goodbye to the young prince and went on their way.

In the corner, from behind a wall—peeped out the head of Shao Lan, who had been hiding there for this entire period.

"Why are you such a scaredy-cat?" Taehyung teased him

"I-I'm not!" Came the shaking voice of the man

"Don't lie." Taehyung looked at him straight in the eyes.

"..." Shao Lan stepped forward as he shuddered, "That general is scary."