The SelecTXTion

Chapter 19

"Her bright blue eyes hadn't changed a bit."

Taehyun

written by: t

"Let's dig in!" Beomgyu said, reaching for a snack on the picnic blanket in front of him. Maddie quickly followed suit. Everyone grabbed a perfectly toasted cracker and a piece of the various cheeses Taehyun had arranged on the wooden tray. Taehyun took a bite out of the cheese he chose.

"Wow, this is really good!"

"Pepperjack," Beomgyu said, reaching for another piece. Of course. Taehyun knew Beomgyu would have requested his favorite foods to be brought to the picnic once he found out he was able to attend. 

"Ooo, what's this?" Amy exclaimed as she grabbed a clear glass bottle from the cooler. It was filled with a bubbling pink liquid.

"Not what you think it is," Taehyun joked. Amy turned to her right and shot a glance at Taehyun, her cheeks dusted pink.

"Hey now, watch it," she snapped back at him. Beomgyu tried to hide his laugh, but he failed. Amy looked to her left to see Yeonjun also trying not to laugh.

"Maybe next time," Taehyun teased. Amy rolled her eyes, and the group laughed.

"So Taehyun," Maddie said once the laughter had died down. He looked over to her. Her bright blue eyes hadn't changed a bit. "What do you do here at the palace?"

"I'm training to take over my father's position. We do a lot with managing the budget for palace affairs. He sees over most of the country's budget," he replied with a shrug. Maddie popped grapes into her mouth as she was listening. On the other side of her, Beomgyu was staring him down as if to say, don't say something stupid! This is boring! "For right now, I mostly get him coffee," Taehyun said, trying to make a joke. Maddie smiled at his attempt to be funny.

"What about that huge project you were working on a month ago?" Amy inquired.

"Oh... that. Yes," Taehyun said, taking a drink of his orange soda. "I was in charge of overseeing the budget for the annual international affairs meeting, since it was Illéa's turn to host this year."

"God, that was so boring," Beomgyu exclaimed with an exaggerated sigh. Taehyun saw Yeonjun raise his eyebrows at his brother, to no surprise. The two of them had never gotten along well.

"It was a very nice event," Yeonjun intervened. "Thank you for your hard work Taehyun." Taehyun nodded his head to thank him.

"I read about that event in the newspaper," Maddie said. "It seems like a very big deal, congratulations Taehyun."

"Oh...thanks, it wasn't a problem at all," Taehyun said, tripping on his words.

"Do you guys want to know something hilarious?" Beomgyu said, breaking the silence that had fallen on the group.

"Yes!" Maddie said, always one for some humor.

"The Queen of, gosh, what country was it? Whatever, something south of here... or maybe west?" he said, deep in thought.

"Just move on," Yeonjun said quickly, trying not to sound annoyed with his brother in front of two Selected girls.

"Fine. Anyways, she was wearing a white dress and at the dinner, she spilled her wine down the front of her dress. It was everywhere! Then she stood up and ran out of the room. She was screaming so loud, I thought she would cause the guards to go into a panic," Beomgyu explained, taking a bite of the pepperjack cheese. "Then her husband stood up and followed her after apologizing, but knocked over his chair when he left! It was the most entertaining thing to come out of that boring dinner," he said, laughing through his story. Taehyun locked eyes with Amy, who was trying her best to hide her confused look. He noticed Yeonjun, who did not find his brother humorous, giving him a dirty look. Maddie was the only one who giggled, interrupting the awkward silence.