Your Majesty {NamJin}

twelve

Not once did anger or frustration cross the tranquil royal's face. Only some sort of sad acceptance, like he had been defeated. Seokjin saw his eyes sink into sadness as he pulled away, hanging his head and sighing as he went to answer the door. Seokjin's heart sank as well, still beating hard from Namjoon's closeness to him. He held a hand out towards Namjoon, wanting badly to stop time and bring him back. His hand went down as quickly as it went up, however, knowing that his wish was all too impossible to grant.

Answering the door, Namjoon brushed down the slightly wrinkled robe that covered his pulsing skin, calming himself.

"Your Majesty," General Park began, bowing and panting hard to catch his breath. "We found Second Lord Kim unconscious in the woods. The doctor has already gone out to assess and fix the situation."

"Second Lord Kim?!" Seokjin gasped, running towards Namjoon and General Park. Namjoon's face brimmed with worry, and Seokjin's overflowed. Namjoon brought a hand around Seokjin to ease his concern, however he still ached to know that Taehyung was okay.

"Take me to him, please," Seokjin said, with one foot already out the door. General Park followed Seokjin while Namjoon trailed, on their way to the palace gates.

Seokjin's heavy footsteps brought everyone out of the room they were in, causing people to turn heads and ask what in heaven's name was going on. Having no time to answer, he zoomed past them, almost leaving dust in his tracks. The general used all his might to overtake Seokjin and lead towards the gates of the palace, somehow knowing that Seokjin would waste his breath searching for his friend if he stayed in front.

"This way, follow me," General Park panted, running towards the area where Taehyung was found. After a short while, they came upon Lady Seonbi crying over the motionless body of Taehyung, as well as the doctor checking his heartbeat.

"Lady Seonbi," Namjoon said, kneeling next to Seonbi and placing a hand on her back. Seonbi continued to weep, but turned her body towards Namjoon. Seokjin was about to start crying as well, unable to bear the sight of his unresponsive friend.

"What happened?" Namjoon asked, looking up at the doctor.

"According to Lady Seonbi," General Park began, "he was climbing this tree to pick an apple when he lost his footing and fell."

Seokjin looked down at the scrunched face of Taehyung. The distress was evident; he seemed to be in a lot of pain.

God in heaven, please don't let him die like this.

"The noble lives," the doctor said, leaning over Taehyung some more. His words caught the attention of everyone around him, causing Seonbi to cry even more -- this time, out of joy.

"He's alive?" she squeaked, wiping her tears and breathing shakily in an attempt to calm herself.

"Yes. He's merely had the wind knocked out of him."

With that, everyone sighed in relief.

"A simple solution will fix this problem," the doctor said, turning Taehyung over on his stomach. Supporting him with one hand, the doctor gave Taehyung a good, firm smack on the upper center of his back.

Gasping for air, Taehyung doubled over on the ground, panting as if he sprinted a mile from the palace to get to where he was.

Seokjin and Seonbi immediately rushed into Taehyung's space, asking if he was okay and demanding his full attention.

"Yah, yah," General Park said, stopping the two before they got any closer. "Second Lord Kim just regained consciousness. Please give him space to breathe."

Looking at each other, then down at their hands, Seokjin and Seonbi reluctantly inched away from Taehyung. "A-Apologies," they murmured, keeping still.

"Seon...bi..." Taehyung panted, speaking between gulps of air. Seonbi perked up, wiping her face and swallowing the lump in her throat.

"M-My lord, are you alright?"

"Of course I am," he said, smiling a little. "I still have a lot of things to do. I couldn't just die if I wanted to."

Prompting a tiny chuckle from those around him, Taehyung smiled even more.

"Doctor, I think I am alright. Please allow me to sit up by myself."

The doctor nodded, slowly taking his arm out from underneath Taehyung. The noble sat up without problem, so the medic rested easy.

"Thank you so much," Namjoon said, bowing his head towards both the medic and the general. They mirrored the formality, placing their hands on their laps.

"I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting any of you," Seokjin said, smiling up at the two.

"My name is Jung Hoseok," the medic said, smiling back.

"I'm General Park, I was sworn in last week. My full name is Park Jimin."

"Thank you both so much. I am sorry to have been a bother, I was caught up in the moment," Seokjin said, still holding the smile on his face.

"I understand," Jimin said, laughing a bit. "I have someone who I love dearly as well. If she were to fall, I would have done the same."

"We're all passionate men, my lord," Hoseok grinned. "All the better. Let someone test us and see what happens."

A nod of agreement went around the group of upperclassmen.

"We should get Lord Second back to the palace to rest. It's getting very late," Hoseok said, helping Taehyung stand.

"Doctor Jung is right. Let us all rest, and stay in the palace tomorrow," Namjoon agreed. With that, everyone stood, brushing themselves off and making their way back to the palace.

"Now that I think about it..." Seokjin thought out loud. "What were you and Lady Seonbi doing out here anyway?"

All heads turned to Seonbi and Taehyung, silently demanding an answer from them with their expressions.

"I stole away with Seonbi to take a peaceful moonlight walk with her," Taehyung replied, without the slightest hesitation.

"Ohhh, I see," Jimin smirked, catching the romantic hints Taehyung threw at him.

"Lady Seonbi, you have a man who knows how to treat women," Namjoon said, playing along.

"Taehyung, you better appreciate her. Make her feel like she's your top priority," Hoseok said, nodding in approval of his own message.

"She is your top priority, right?" Seokjin asked, looking at Taehyung.

"She's my one and only," Taehyung sighed. His words were those of a helpless romantic, having hopelessly fallen in love with Seonbi -- even if he didn't know it yet.

Seonbi blushed, holding Taehyung's hand as they walked.

"General Park, please lead Taehyung, Doctor Jung and Lady Seonbi back to the palace. I'd like to speak with Seokjin alone."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Jimin said, leading the way. Seokjin looked back at his friends -- blushing when Taehyung looked at him and winked at him -- then looked at Namjoon.

This time, Namjoon held Seokjin by the waist, and touched his forehead to Seokjin's without hesitation. Seokjin blushed madly, biting his bottom lip as his heart began to beat rapidly for the third time that night.

"Now, where were we..."

Seokjin wrapped his arms around Namjoon's neck, letting them hang freely. He wanted to kiss Namjoon so badly. He wanted to feel the king's lips moving against his own, he wanted to brush against the royal's tongue with his own.

"Seokjin-ah, say the word and I'm yours."

"Namjoon," Seokjin sighed, closing his eyes and waiting for Namjoon to lay his lips on his own.

With a gentle caress on the cheek from them both, their lips met, stopping time around them.