Rosy ashes [j.jk ff.]

p r o l o g u e

"I have to what?" Jungkook's voice echoed through the halls of the throne room, his politeness in front of the king momentarily forgotten. His father looked down at him disapprovingly. "You will be the future king, my son. You will have to rule this kingdom." he repeated calmly, as if talking to a child. "When I am no longer able to fulfill my duties, you will be the next heir to the throne." Jungkook shook his head in disbelief an unbelieving laugh echoed through the room. "What about Seokjin-hyung?" he gritted out, smoke rising from his skin in repressed anger and panic. "He declined his throne today and since we have a second son, we don't have to force him" his mother finally spoke up, but not saying the comforting words he expected from his favorite parent.

He looked at her with betrayal shining in his bright doe eyes. "But now you want to force me?" he quietly asked, fighting against the lump in his throat. When talking to his mother he always lost his confident and commanding tone, turning almost into a little child again. "It is a great opportunity, Jungkook. You should be grateful for the turn of events" his mother tried to reason with him. "It's not like you have a chance to decline anyway" his father stated, brutally honest. Even his mother flinched at the words.

Jungkook turned and ran from the room, searching for his brother everywhere in the spacious castle. "Where is he? He has to rethink his decision!" he muttered to himself, "He has to, I can't be king, I don't want to!" Guards looked at him questioningly as he passed them. He found Prince Seokjin in the gardens, specifically the koi pond. He was playing with one of the fish, swishing him around in the air in a bubble of water. He was laughing in amazement, an inquisitive glint in his intelligent eyes. Jungkook hated to see him so carefree when his world was crashing down in front of him. With a surge of heat, he burst the bubble with a small blast, making water vapor spray in his brother's face and the koi fall to the ground, where it flopped around panicky.

Seokjin screamed in surprise, immediately flopping to the ground and covering the fish with water again, safely returning him to his pond. "Yah, Jungkook! What are you doing?" he immediately scolded, as he knew it wouldn't have been his father who vaporized his bubble. Jungkook was fuming when he stepped in front of his older brother. "Take it back!" he screamed, making the older one flinch away from the heat radiating from his younger brother. "Calm down, you'll make your fireproof clothing catch fire again" he tried to reason but was cut off with a sharp gesture of Jungkook's hand.

"You have to tell mother and father you accept the throne!" Seokjin raised one eyebrow. "Why the hell should I do that? I want to travel and study fish and other sea creatures" he explained. "Because I don't want to be king! I can't!" his younger brother was starting to shake, pure panic in his face. "I don't want to be king, Hyung. I can't rule Ustrina, I don't want to have all this responsibility on me. I don't know about finances, I can't win a war with my brains. Fighting, I can, I will burn all our enemies to death, but I can't be the one giving the orders. I always trusted you to do that for me, I always trusted my future to be shaped by me and now they are taking that away from me" Jungkook gasped desperately.

He hated crying, he was 20 already, he shouldn't act like a little kid, but the tears sprang to his eyes nonetheless and ran down his cheeks. His whole life, his perfectly unimagined future just caught fire like the tree behind him, not being able to withstand the tumultuous feelings in the young prince.

Seokjin was quick to extinguish the flames, watching the leaves fall as ashes to the ground. "Have some self-control, Jungkook. This is not the end of the world" he almost snapped at him, annoyed with the younger's panic. Jungkook's pained and helpless facial expression quickly turned to an expression like stone. He sealed his vulnerability in front of his brother away. He stared at his hyung with no emotion, the only indication of his pain the tear tracks down his cheeks. "Well, not of yours" he added coldly, with a trembling voice, then he turned, striding back into the castles and passing the guards without one glance in their direction. "Are you okay, Prince Jungkook?" Hoseok, the head of the guard asked him with concern in his voice, which made the young prince halt immediately. "Treat your future king with more respect. Do you think I will tolerate being spoken to informally from my servants?" he stated coldly. Hoseok was baffled by the harshness his friend expressed suddenly. "I am sorry, Your Highness" he mumbled and bowed deeply. Jungkook just brushed past him, his eyes expressing the fire burning deep within him.

Here it is! The prologue of my new story! I am quite excited for it and I hope you are too💕