4. Research

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"Yah, Jiminie! Wake up. We're almost there" Taehyung said and shook Jimin awake. "Ugghhh, already?? Damn, I really wanted to sleep for a while" Jimin groaned. 

"I know. We can catch up on some sleep in the plane tomorrow. Be alert now. I don't wanna miss anything that Bogum hyung might tell us" Taehyung said. "Right" Jimin said and rubbed his eyes. 

The two of them had done their Masters in World History and had decided to pursue their PhD in the same field in the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico. 

The two of them were born and brought up in Mexico City. Being the only Koreans in their locality, their parents became really close to each other before they were even born. Thus, the two of them were joined at their hips ever since they started wearing diapers. 

Thanks to Jimin's uncle, Park Bogum, they had started developing a keen interest in history and thus had ended up pursuing their higher studies in World History. 

Jimin and Taehyung had been stubborn about working on the same topic for their PhD and as Taehyung was the only Korean gay on the campus, Mr. Park Bogum, their guide Professor, had asked them to research on the twelfth King of the Jeon Dynasty, Jeon Jeongguk, the first ever King in the world to come out as gay and marry a male war prisoner. 

The two of them had spent more than half a year going from library to library to collect more facts about Jeon Jeongguk and his husband, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't get a single piece of information about them. 

The few facts that they had collected from all the research that they had done was that the name of the Kingdom was Oryn and that the eleventh King, Jeon Seojoon, had two wives, Park Jihyo and Kim Dahyun. 

Even though Kim Dahyun had two sons who were older than Park Jihyo's son, the King had passed the throne on to Park Jeongguk, the only son of Park Jihyo. Park Jeongguk had become Jeon Jeongguk after ascending the throne at a very young age. 

In the royal families of Oryn, only the Prince who ascended the throne got the King's surname. The Queens never got the King's surname unless they were forced to rule the Kingdom under unfortunate circumstances. The rest of the Princes retained the surnames of their mothers.

These were the only facts that they had managed to gather from the Mexican libraries. As they were nowhere close to enough, they had decided to go to the country that gave birth to the King to collect more facts about him. South Korea. 

"Jiminie, don't go back to sleep" Taehyung said and shook Jimin's shoulder again. "I'm awake, I'm awake!" Jimin exclaimed and sat back up. "Good. We're here" Taehyung said as the driver of the cab pulled up outside the campus of the University that they had done their Masters in. 

"So you guys are all set to go to our homeland tomorrow?" Bogum asked after Taehyung and Jimin flopped onto the chairs in his cabin. Even though Bogum was Jimin's uncle, they always insisted on calling him 'hyung'.

"Yeah. Mum made me pack soo much that I think the plane is gonna crash because of our luggage" Jimin said and sighed. Taehyung chuckled. "My mum too" he said.

"They are just worried, boys. Cut them some slack. You are gonna go and live in a country on the other side of the globe. They just want to make sure that you don't forget anything and suffer later" Bogum said. 

"But hyung! We are literally going to Korea. Our homeland. We are gonna live close to my grandparents' house. If we forget something, we can manage" Taehyung said. 

"I know! But let's not complain about the attention that we get from our parents, okay? Enjoy it while you still can. You will miss it when you don't have them with you" Bogum said. 

They hummed and stayed silent for a while. "Keep me updated about your research, guys. I will let you guys know about further developments too" Bogum said. "Okay, hyung" Jimin and Taehyung said. 

"Take care of yourselves. Don't forget about your PhD and run after girls and boys. Your research should be your priority. The rest should be secondary. Got it?" Bogum lectured. "Yes, mom" Jimin said. 

"Concentrate, brat" Bogum snapped at him. "I'm concentrating!" Jimin exclaimed. Bogum sighed and shook his head at him before turning to Taehyung. "Don't be too sassy to people, okay? I know you. Don't even try to deny the fact that you won't even hesitate to yell at a King" he said. 

"Hyung, I am literally an innocent little bean. How could I go and yell at a King?" Taehyung asked, acting like he was offended.

"I literally just said 'don't try to deny'. Anyways, good luck, guys. I can't come to the airport tomorrow, so call me after you settle down, okay?" Bogum said. "Okay, hyung. Thanks" Jimin said. 

"Okay, then. Get going, now. I have a lot of work left" Bogum said. Jimin sighed and walked to the other side of the table. "Bye, hyung. I'll miss you" he said as he wrapped his arms around Bogum. "I'll miss you too" Bogum said and patted his back. 

Taehyung walked forward to join their hug. "I'll miss you too, hyung" he said. "Me too, Tae. You know what? You guys call me right after landing" Bogum said. 

"Why?" Jimin asked. "Your flight is flying over the Bermuda Triangle. What if it sucks you in and takes you somewhere? Call me to let me know that you guys made it" Bogum said, fighting a small smile from forming on his lips. 

Jimin narrowed his eyes at Bogum. "Kidding, kidding. Go, now. I really have a lot of work" Bogum said. "Okay, okay, bye" Jimin and Taehyung said and left his cabin. 

"Do you wanna go back home or do you wanna walk around the campus for a while?" Taehyung asked. "Both" Jimin said. 

Taehyung chuckled at him. "Let's just go back home and enjoy with our parents. We don't have much time left with them" he said. "Right. Let's go" Jimin said and pulled his phone out to book a cab for them. 




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