OBTICEŌ | TK

Chapter Eleven

This chapter might either answer all your questions or bring new ones, no in between

Enjoy and sorry for mistakes

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The first memory he had was that of a young boy, barely the age of seven years old. He could remember watching the boy from the Shadows as he played with his friends in the garden near the castle. His smile was pretty and his eyes sparkled whenever he laughed because, at that time, Kim Taehyung didn't need to wear a mask. He didn't need to hide himself because his father was still alive.

Like a remembrance of that person, the said man appeared in his memory from inside the castle, calling for his son with a smile on his face before picking him up and twirling him around.

"Papa, Joon won't let my caim play with me!" Young Taehyung mumbled with a pout on his lips before he turned towards the other two boys there.

A smaller version of the intelligent and strong willed general Jeongguk knew was there but the person next to him was hiding under the shadow of a tree, like he belonged there.

"Is that so?" The King asked, putting Taehyung down before crouching in front of the children. His crown shone so bright that little Jeongguk felt his eyes sting because of that image. "Joon, why won't you let him play with Tae?"

The oldest of the three huffed, having the same attitude, them frowned. "He's supposed to keep him safe, not play."

The King let out a loud laugh at that before he ruffled Namjoon's hair. "That doesn't mean he is not a child too, Namjoon. He has to play as well so be nice to him. He's your friend, not a servant, and he's Taehyung's soul bond which means he's practically my son too."

Jeongguk watched, both the child version of him and the adult one, as Taehyung's father motioned for the other child to step out of the Shadow and come to him. He couldn't see him well because the child ran into the King's arms, the other picking him up like he was his son as well. The child giggled and, under the bright rays of the sun, little Jeongguk finally saw his face, a face he had forgotten during the years but that was now so clear and familiar.

Park Jimin's.

"Baby, we have to go." Little Jeongguk had turned around at that, seeing a woman whose face he couldn't recognize right in front of him.

Excitement filled his body, something he couldn't understand in the present, and the memory faded with him throwing a last look towards the other three children, seeing Taehyung bandage a wound on Jimin's arm while the other watched his closely.

Jeon Jeongguk frowned as the memory left his mind, then shook his head as him and Taehyung walked through the castle towards the meeting the Prince had to attend. He was on edge, watching everyone with squinted eyes, like he was excepting anyone to attack the person in front of him, which wasn't something he was used to. He was usually calm but the fact that he's remembered that little fragment of his childhood brought him so much confusion that he couldn't get over it, couldn't get rid of the strange feeling in his chest.

He's never forgotten that memory because he's always known but the fact that it's reappeared so suddenly brought him uncertainty. He's known from he start, from the moment that mark has been assigned to him by the former King of Shadows, that he wasn't who he was thought to be. He was a bastard, as the mark itself said, and he had to live with that thought in mind everyone. It broke his heart and it made his skin crawl with anger whenever Taehyung called him caim, whenever the other told him they were fated to be together, whenever he said he was his one and only protector.