♔ Royal Pain ♔ → kth | jjk

XVIII

"Taehyung, I don't want to go outside!" Jeongguk whined like a child as Taehyung dragged him out to the second level balcony. Taehyung ignored the childish complaints as he scanned the scenery, critiquing it with narrowed eyes.

"The trees are in the way..." He muttered to himself.

Jeongguk frowned. "Wait, what? In the way of what?"

"Nothing." Taehyung looked around again.

"There's one spot in particular I think would work best for this. You and Jeongguk should sit up on the roof of the palace, it sounds crazy but trust me. Jeongguk and I used to do this all the time, he knows how to get there." Jimin had told him a few days earlier.

"Hey, do you want to sit up on the roof for a bit and talk?" Taehyung asked, turning to face Jeongguk. Jeongguk rolled his eyes.

"Why? And talk about what?"

"Anything you want." Taehyung answered, maybe a bit too quickly but Jeongguk didn't seem to take notice. "Please? It's beautiful out tonight."

Jeongguk rolled his tongue against the inside of his cheek and sighed. "Fine. But only if I get to change clothes first." He grumbled as he pulled his wrist out of Taehyung's grip and went back inside.

Taehyung waited for him in the main corridor and saw him come back from his bedroom a minute later wearing black sweats and a grey sweat shirt. He looked pretty cozy. Taehyung couldn't help but smile.

"Don't you want to change clothes too?" Jeongguk asked, eyeing his clothing that was from earlier that evening.

"Oh- Yeah, I probably should. I'll be quick!" Taehyung ran to his room and changed as well, putting on striped pajamas and a sweater over the top just in case it got chilly out. When he returned, he saw Jeongguk stifle a small laugh. "What's so funny?"

"You look like such a dork." He shook his head.

"Hey!" Taehyung glared.

Jeongguk grinned and ruffled Taehyung's hair. "A cute dork. Better?"

Taehyung huffed in response and shook his hair out, fixing it. "Are we gonna go or not?" He crossed his arms, earning another chuckle from the younger boy.

Jeongguk took Taehyung's hand in his, gripping it firmly as he led Taehyung towards the rooftop where he and Jimin would sometimes spend countless nights talking. Until tonight, Jimin was the only other person who had been up there, maybe with exception of a staff or two.

Taehyung was too busy overthinking the sensation of holding hands with Jeongguk to really take note of where they were going. His eyes were fixed on their joined hands, and a small smile played on his lips. This felt kinda nice.

"Earth to Tae!" Jeongguk said and Taehyung snapped his eyes up.

"Huh?" He blinked his eyes and tilted his head.

"We're here." Jeongguk raised an eyebrow. "Well, sort of. This is the door, but before we go outside you need to promise not to bring anyone up here, got it?"

Taehyung nodded slowly. "Yeah, okay. I promise."

"Good." Jeongguk smiled a bit. "This has been mine and Jimin's spot for a while, so... consider yourself lucky you get to be up here." He said as he opened the door and immediately Taehyung understood why.

From just the door, Taehyung could see everything. The lake, the town, the woods. It was a breathtaking sight, and he couldn't wait to see how breathtaking it would be come 11 o'clock.

"Wow." He breathed, stepping out onto the roof. Jeongguk close to the edge and beckoned for Taehyung to join him, who did once he felt he had gazed at the scenery long enough.