Once Upon A December || VKook || HYBEPride 2022

In The Words Of A Broken Heart

Jeon Jungkook was not a man of weak will, but he wasn't used to this much emotion.

He had locked himself in his hotel room, figuring he would be up to come out in an hour or two, free of this sinking feeling in his stomach and dizziness he got every time he stood up. But nothing had improved. He still felt like he was going to die every time he rose from his bed. He had even resorted to using the old bedpan underneath the bed, and boy, was he hungry. He hoped Seokjin would be back from the Dowager's apartment soon. A sandwich and some petit fours sounded excellent at this point.

They had made it this far. They had gotten V to the Dowager for the interview. He had gone with V, so that they could tell the Dowager the truth about the uniforms and V's memory. That V was the real prince. And the Dowager had turned them away almost immediately. Right now all Jungkook really wanted to do was find V, make sure he was okay, and leave all of this behind, stay in Paris but move to the other side of the city, help V find a job and live in obscurity.

He flexed his fingers a bit. Jungkook knew he had caught feelings for V, and bad. But he had trouble figuring out if these were new feelings, or if these were just the same old unresolved feelings he had had for the Prince, so long ago. They had been so young, barely old enough to know what love was, but if anybody had asked Jungkook at nine or ten whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, he would have naively said the Prince. It just made sense for them to stay together forever.

And in thinking about it later, long after the Prince was assumed dead, Jungkook would have wondered what it would be like to kiss the Prince. But all of it was moot. And now, this presumed stranger was in front of him, and it turned out he was actually the Prince, and there were so many things Jungkook wanted to do. And he had to step back, let V — Taehyung? — do his own thing, be with his only family.

He hadn't rang the Dowager's location to ask about the money yet. At this point, he felt too sick to take it.

He heard the bells of Notre Dame announce the new hour, and then Seokjin came in, not even bothering to knock. "You haven't moved."

"I can't move. I'm sick."

"With what? Don't tell me you caught that flu that's all the rage in Spain."

Jungkook huffed and at least turned toward Seokjin, unable to sit up. "I don't quite know what it is. I just know I feel like ass. How's Jimin? Why'd you get called to the castle, anyway?"

Seokjin wrinkled his nose. He wasn't sure how to start this conversation with Jungkook. "Look, so — V actually went back and had a conversation with the Dowager. They talked things out, and they checked with V's orphanage to see if his story matched up, and they confirmed it. They're saying he's the Prince, Jungkook. No lie. We figured it out first, but they confirmed it."

Jungkook propped his head up. "V went back and talked to them by himself?"

"Yeah. We didn't even have to tell him, Jungkook — we made it! The Prince is alive, and we found him, and he's wondering where you are."

There it was. V was probably just trying to be a good sport. He had no clue that Jungkook was drowning in feelings that V didn't share. "Well, tell him I can't get out of bed, and we'll see if I feel better and less like doom by the time the ball comes around at the end of this week."

"Seriously, man, what's got you down? You were fine until before. Are you sure it's not the flu?"

"Positive. I just feel sick to my stomach every time I get up, and nauseous, and —" It reminded Jungkook. "I need food."

"Then let's get food," Seokjin said, and when he couldn't get Jungkook out of bed, he fetched for both a delivery service and a doctor, who brought soup and tea and a diagnosis of not the flu, probably indigestion or melancholia.

"Melancholia," Seokjin muttered as Jungkook drank the soup, finally sitting up in bed. "That's the first time I've heard that in a long while. You're not melancholic, though. This only started now. Is it because V's with his family now?"

"Maybe?"

"Well, you've got to pull yourself together. V — the Prince — is going to want to see you, and I can make him wait until the ball. But we also have to get your measurements, and —"

"Seokjin." Jungkook put his tea down. "I've managed to catch feelings for the Prince. Those should stay silent."

Now, Kim Seokjin had been a university student in a past life. Therefore, he was not faint of knowledge. Jungkook had just admitted he was catching feelings for his old best friend, and Jimin had confirmed that the two were perfect for one another. If this were true, then Jungkook's melancholia wasn't actually melancholia at all, but love. Now he just had to gather a bit more information.

"Come with me tomorrow," he said. "We'll go together to the center and get your measurements, so they can get you fitted for the ball. And I'll make sure you don't have to see V."

"Taehyung. The Prince."

"Yes, the Prince. We're going to have to get used to that, aren't we?"

"I suppose so."

"And then, at the ball, you can choose whether or not to talk properly to the Prince. But if you're going to let him be and enjoy his new life, and not be a part of it, you should at least tell him. You've gotten him this far, Jungkook. You've been the force pushing V forward toward his destiny this entire time. You at least owe it to him to say goodbye, if that's what you choose."