Destined [JIKOOK]

An Understanding

Jungkook

"And you really killed it completely alone?" The Eastern King looked upon his son with awe and reverence as he stroked the coat of Jimin's kill.

"Yes father!  Jungkook had it distracted, fighting it bare handed I might add, and I came behind it and delivered but one killing blow at the base of the skull here," he regaled enthusiastically once more, pointing at the beast's bloodied spine.

"I'm so proud of you Jimin!  What a fine young man you've become!  And now a lion slayer!  Tonight we will have it's furs made into a fine rug for your chambers!"  He clapped Jimin on the back as the two beamed at each other.  My own father congratulated him as well before aiming his praise at me.

"Fighting a mountain lion alone and bare handed!  What a rogue!  Even though it was a good thing Prince Jimin was there to save you, I am proud of your grit, son," he offered me a wide smile and a tight side hug.

Jimin and I locked eyes from our fathers' sides and everything else ceased to matter for a moment.  Jimin's animated recounting of the incident and pride in his success had shown me a different side of him the rumors I'd always heard about him hadn't included.  He seemed carefree and laid back.  He even seemed a bit...like a wild, barbaric, uncouth prince.  A bit like...me. 

The stirring it had caused in my chest kept me unusually quiet and composed.  Even with needing to be saved by Jimin, I would have never have missed an opportunity to boast of my own feats during the battle.  Jimin was so excited and so pleased to finally have his own story to tell that I couldn't bring myself to interject.  I let him completely take the reigns and watched in mesmerized silence as he spoke. 

My father must have noticed the difference as well as he pulled me aside before I could return to my chambers to wash for dinner. 

"Jungkook.  Son.  You didn't say a word," he lifted a single brow in question.

"It wasn't my story to tell.  I was involved, yes, but this was Jimin's win.  He deserved to have his moment in the sun.  I got the feeling he doesn't get those moments all that often," I casually explained.

"How thoughtful of you," he muttered, almost to himself.

My father studied me a moment before pursing his lips, a glint of...something in his eye, nodding as he made his way to his own chambers without another word.

As I made my way down the plush carpeted hallways, I chuckled to myself at my choice of words.  Moment in the sun, I thought.  I had long since associated Jimin with the moon, so to have his moment in the sun was a bit of an inside joke with myself.  To me, Jimin had once appeared cold and distant and I'd associated the moon with him for that reason, but he actually shined bright as a full moon in the black of the night sky. 

He had the uncanny power to silently and secretly push and pull things to his own way, sometimes completely unintentionally.  He was a quiet force of nature that was so subtle, you'd almost not even notice as the waves he made consumed you.  After seeing him in a new light, I found myself understanding Jimin's complexities a little more.  A large part of me, the part I was no longer capable of ignoring even after so short a time knowing him, found itself drawn to him.  I was willing to drown in his tides if that meant I could reach his stars just once.

Jimin

If the rumors had been true, I'd have expected Prince Jeon "I'm-the-greatest-and-I-have-to-steal-all-the-glory-golden-prince" Jungkook to have taken my victory as his own.  He didn't though.  In fact, he hadn't said a word.  Even when he'd been asked about his own fisticuffs with the great mountain lion.  Instead, he'd relinquished even his own acclaim to be laid out by me.

He'd seemed positively demure in his demeanor and perfectly proper.  This was a side of the prince I'd never expected.  A side I found I had desperately, for whatever reason, hoped existed under the layers of rebellion and brashness.  A part of me loved that he was both the picture of propriety and reckless renegade.  He reminded me a bit of myself, but in reverse.  Where I was normally composed, but had a secret inner sassiness, he was normally bold and adventurous, but had a secret inner polished refinement.  A perfect balance to the other.  A sort of yin and yang.

Truth be told, he reminded me of the sun.  Hot, burning, wild, all ceaseless energy, but also beautiful and necessary.  Something so life giving and vital with that heat being used to fuel creation.  He'd been so passionate about not deeming yourself above your subjects and that fierce kindness coupled with his willingness to relinquish his glory in favor of my own led me to an understanding of him I hadn't had before.

I was sinking fast into his dangerous glow.  No matter how hard I'd been trying over the past few days, I couldn't seem to pull myself away from him.  It was as if the universe had tied us together and I was unable to tear myself away.  If Jungkook was the sun, I was willing to burn alive to look into his light.