Claw's Bridge(Discontinued)

45. Nervous

"Jungkook!" Lana yelled as she jumped on my back. I let out a small laugh, being distracted with the first decent conversation I was having with Jimin in two days. "Do you want to go shopping? Or to a café?"

"I don't know if I'm allowed to leave. People will definitely notice that we're not from around here. I can ask, but I feel like Jimin is not the right person for that," I said, naturally slipping into my mother tongue.

"Is this how you feel when we speak Korean?" Jimin muttered under his breath. Lana and I looked at him with sheepish and apologetic smiles having heard his words with our sensitive hearing. "Wait, you heard that?"

"Jupitarians have sensitive hearing," Lana responded. "Can Jungkook and I go to town?"

"Only if you have security with you," he replied. "Not heavy security, of course. Just enough for both your protection."

"I'm okay with that," Lana said. "We won't saunter off too far either."

"Can Yugyeom come as well?" I asked Jimin, looking at him with innocent eyes.

"I think he's going on a date with his mates, but I'll get back to you on that," he replied, a small smile tugging his lips. I hummed, setting Lana down. She walked off, leaving Jimin and I to return to our conversation.

"Do you have any pets in Dagon?" I asked,

"We have... I can't quite remember the term for it," he said. I could sense that he was frustrated. "Do you want one? We can take you to the shelter."

"Really? We can?" I asked. There was a small jump of excitement as I asked the question.

"Yeah. Whenever you'd like," he said, a graceful smile on his face.

"Tomorrow?" I asked.

"Sure," he said, shrugging.

-

"Lana, you'll fall!" I laughed out as she carelessly jumped around the playground. When we had arrived at the playground, we were almost instantly surrounded by the curious children who took their parents' consent before approaching us. Talking to them in the beginning was a little awkward since they spoke in Korean while we only spoke English. That was until Yugyeom explained the situations. It was relieving to be able to speak at least one of the languages.

Lana was goofing around with the kids while I was styling a boy's hair. He wanted me to style a Dutch braid, so I was concentrating on doing that while Lana distracted the others. There was another young girl who was on my back piggy-back style. She seemed to be really attached to me because she refused to let go of me, even when Yugyeom brought some ice cream for the kids.

"Thank you, sir!" The boy in my lap cheered once I told him I was done. I smiled at him when he got off my lap and turned to look at me with a bright smile. "What's your name, sir?"

"I'm Jungkook," I introduced. I tucked a loose strand behind his ear. "What's yours?"

"Aaron! I'm five!" he exclaimed, putting up five fingers. He looked at Lana and then back at me. "Are you married to that lady?"

I chuckled, pulling the young girl from my back onto my lap. "No. She's my best friend. We used to go out, but then we met our mates," I explained. I looked at the girl on my lap. "Do you want me to style your hair too?"

She nodded and positioned herself on my lap to let me make a braid in her hair as well. I started making a French braid seeing as my hands were too tired from the Dutch braid. "Do you want to be my boyfriend?" she asked. I smiled at her cuteness. "My name is Xelden."

"I have my mates, little one. It's not right of me to be your boyfriend either," I explained.

"Who are your mates, sir?" Aaron asked.

"You know the royals?" I whispered. They both nodded, their excitement growing. "I'm their mate."

"Really? You're a prince?" Xelden asked.

"Yeah," I said as I finished with her braid. I tucked her baby hair behind her ear and watched with a big smile as they both ran to their parents to deliver the news. Lana walked over and slumped down on the little wall I was sitting on.

"I'm tired!" she whined, resting her head on my shoulder. I chuckled at her childish behavior, letting one of the kids play with my hands. We looked up when Xelden and Aaron's parents approached us. We stood up as a sign of showing respect.

"Your majesty, we apologize for the troubles our children have caused by bombarding you the way they did. We should have known that they were creating havoc around one of the royal princes," Aaron's father apologized. I smiled at them gracefully.

"No apologies required. I am ordinary, much like you. I enjoyed interacting with everyone. They were of no trouble at all. I would love to spend time with them again if the time comes to be," I said, taking up the role as a royal just for the public. "Although, I would appreciate it if the public didn't know of my identity. A public appearance is due soon. Until then, I would love to enjoy the treatment of being ordinary."

"As you wish, your highness. We will make sure that our children respect your wishes," Xelden's mother said, smiling. "Your highness, if you don't mind answering, where are you from? Your accent seems to be different from that of Dagians?"

"Oh um..." I trailed off, exchanging glances with Lana. I opened my mouth to spill the truth, which I knew I would get a lecture for, but Aaron spoke up instead.

"He's a superhero from a far far galaxy!" he exclaimed. "They always have different accents!"

I let out a small laugh, hiding the nervousness I felt. I crouched down to his level. "It can be our little secret," I replied, going along with the joke. Taking the opportunity to escape the conversation, I stood up. "We should get going. We promised to be home for dinner. Our mates must be getting impatient."

We bowed to the adults in respect, who bowed back. With that, we left. Yugyeom walked beside me. "You handled that well. Didn't know you could be that calm and mature," he joked. I playfully shoved him.

"He only does that when he's around kids. His paternal instincts kick in," Lana said.

"No it doesn't," I mumbled, a small blush on my cheeks. I had ordered Yugyeom to hang out with us as a friend instead of a bodyguard. It took him a bit of convincing until he caved in.

"Oh hush. You become very mushy around kids. Admit it, you have a soft spot for children," Yugyeom retorted. "I'm not blind, Nighter."

"Call me Jungkook."