His Knight | Taegguk

2| The Knights' Quarters

[a/n: There's some dirty humor here... I'm sorry if you're not into that stuff. Normally my writing is super clean, so I don't know what had gotten into my head when I wrote the dirty humor. Oh well, here we go!]

Jeongguk found himself dragging his feet through the east wing of the palace. He'd been lost in thought, trying to think of ways to explain to his parents why he wouldn't choose a wife. So far, he'd considered the following:

-Having a huge party with all the nobles wherein he announces the news

-Painting the pride flag on a banner and hanging it over the front  entrance of the palace

-Retrieving a megaphone and shouting from the palace rooftop, "THE PRINCE IS GAY!"

-Casually requesting nude portraits of handsome men to be delivered to his bedroom

-Covering his entire body in rainbow body paint and saying nothing; just let them piece it together themselves in awkward silence

-Blasting his gay-pride playlist on SoundCloud

He had ruled out almost all of these (he couldn't help but consider the portraits; it couldn't hurt, right?).

Sighing, he rubbed his eyes and looked around. He hardly ever went into the east wing- it was the location of most palace staff's quarters- and he had no clue where to go from here. The hallways in the palace were known for being confusing, earning it the nickname 'royal labyrinth'.

He then heard the sound of voices drifting from an open doorway. In a split second, he decided to swallow his pride and ask someone for directions; he wasn't in the mood to get any more lost than he was- he just wanted to find his room and take a nap. Approaching the noise, he began to decipher their conversation.

"-not my fault Taehyung's a lightweight!" One of them was saying.

Jeongguk peeked around the corner to see three guards, each with a glass in hand. Each glass was full of red liquid, though one seemed a much brighter shade than the others.

The shortest of the guards laughed.

"Hobi! Don't be rude, at least let him believe he's drinking wine!"

"Shut up," The third one's deep voice surprised Jeongguk, "You can't hand me a glass of fruit punch and expect me to believe you when you tell me it's alcohol."

"It was Jimin's idea, not mine!" The third one exclaimed, a blinding smile still expressing his amusement.

"Hoseok, go home, you're drunk."

"I had one glass! That's only enough to get you drunk, Taehyung. I have to have at least three."

'Taehyung' scoffed, turning towards the shortest again.

"Jimin, back me up here."

Jimin turned towards Hoseok and opened his mouth, in taking a breath. After a moment of silence, he closed his mouth and turned towards Taehyung.

"Sorry, I got nothin'."

They all burst into laughter, but that didn't stop Taehyung from punching Jimin in the arm.

When they calmed down, Taehyung turned his head and took a sip of his fruit punch, only to look directly at the prince. In that moment both boys nearly had a heart attack as their eyes met, startling the living daylights out of them both. Quickly regaining his composure, Taehyung dropped to one knee.

"Your Highness," He blubbered, cheeks turning rose-red.

The other two gasped and quickly kneeled as well.

Jeongguk laughed, blushing a bit himself.

"Ah, I apologize for the interruption."

"Please, it is our honor to be in your presence," Hoseok replied, "But what brings you to our quarters?"

"Actually, I'm lost," The prince gave them a sheepish smile, rubbing the nape of his neck. "I was wondering if one of you could escort me to the main hall."

"Of course," Taehyung assure him, rising to his feet, "Right this way."

Jeongguk followed Taehyung through the corridor as the headed in the direction Jeongguk vaguely recalled coming from. As they walked, the prince couldn't help but stare at Taehyung. He had a sharp jawline that was contrasted by soft cheeks. His eyes were an intense shade of brown and sparkled in the sunlight filtering through the windows. His hair was a mop of blonde that stretched down the back of his neck into a short mullet. Something about him made Jeongguk feel... different. With a quick glance, Taehyung caught Jeongguk staring. Both of them blushed as the prince looked away quickly.

"Here you are," Taehyung murmured, nodding towards the main hall. "Do you need anything else, your Highness?"

"No, thank you." Jeongguk murmured.

Taehyung bowed, his armor making a clacking noise as metal scraped on metal, a noise Jeongguk had been listening attentively to for the entire time they had been walking together. With that, the knight turned to head back down the hallway. Jeongguk had to make a conscious effort to peel his eyes away and make his way back to his room.

"So, that's what you're into, eh?"

Whipping his head around, Jeongguk was met with the lazy smirk of none other than Min Yoongi. Yoongi was the prince of a neighboring kingdom, and Jeongguk had met him when the Jeon family had gone to visit (the two royal families were very close).

"Yoongi!"

They pulled each other into a bro-hug.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

"Oh please," Yoongi scoffed as they started walking, "Don't act like you thought I couldn't tell. I'm not an idiot."

Jeongguk gave Yoongi a warning glance and quickly led him up the stairs and to his bedroom. When they were safely inside, Yoongi started smirking again.

"So? Who is this hottie you were walking with?"

Jeongguk facepalmed and sighed.

"He's just one of the royal guard. He was leading back to the main hall because I got lost in the east wing."

"Why were you down there?"

"Long story, but the point is, how did you know?"

"Are you kidding? I've known you for years, Jeongguk. It's so obvious."

"Then why haven't my parents figured it out?"

"They are very dense. Where did you think you got it from?"

Jeongguk punched the older prince in the arm before back flopping onto his bed.

"Ugh."

There was a moment of silence in which Yoongi sat down and checked his phone.

"So," He began again, "You're into knights in shining armor? Isn't that a little cliche?"

"It's not the fact that he's a knight, it's something else... I don't really know."

Yoongi chuckled and ruffled Jeongguk's hair.

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

The younger nodded.

"Anyway, what brings you here?"

"I'm just visiting. I'll leave after lunch tomorrow, so we have until then to figure out how to get you out of the closet."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm here to help you come out, Jeongguk. It's time your family stops wasting money importing and exporting exotic princesses, don't you think?"

Jeongguk sighed.

"Yeah... but how? I've been thinking about it all day and so far the best I've come up with is ordering nude portraits of hot men and h-"

"Oh, lord, scratch that one off the list."

Jeongguk massaged his temples.

"Yeah."

"Don't worry, we'll figure something out."