His Knight | Taegguk

22| Stubborn

Yeah, Jeongguk was sick.

It was two days after Taehying had been sick. The day prior, Jeongguk had been showing symptoms but refused to rest. He claimed he'd felt fine and went about his normal day. Taehyung, who'd almost completely recovered, had stuck by his side, doing the best he could to convince Jeongguk to slow down. The prince did not slow down. He was paying for it now.

He had managed to get fully dressed. That was the only accomplishment he could list, though, seeing as he then sat down and stared at the wall for five minutes. His stomach acid seemed to dislike the confined space of his stomach, threatening to lurch out at any moment. He slowly stood up, shuffling to his bathroom and kneeling in front of the toilet. 

Staring down into the water, he slurred, "I feel like shit."

There was a knock on his door. He didn't reply.

"Jeongguk?" His mother's voice called through the door. A moment of silence. She opened the door. "Are you in here?"

"Yeah, mum, right here," He murmured just loud enough for her to understand him.

She walked quickly into the bathroom and looked down at him.

"Oh dear! What did I tell you? You should've listened to me!"

"Why are you here, mum?" Jeongguk asked, exasperated.

"I'm here because I wanted to see how you were doing. I know you felt sick yesterday."

"I was fine yesterday and I'm fine today."

She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Then why are you down there?"

Jeongguk was not going to let his mother win. So, he hauled himself to his feet and fought back the dizziness.

"I was... looking for something."

"In the toilet?"

"No, around the toilet."

"You sure seemed to be looking into the toilet to me."

"Yeah, well, you need glasses."

The queen rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Will you just quit lying? I know you're sick, and it's all because you didn't listen to me. I'm your mother, I know best."

He looked her in the eye. With a face of stone, feeling utterly dead inside, he regarded her coldly.

"I don't really care." A monotone statement of seriousness.

She didn't seem to know how to respond.

"Well. Perhaps you should, hm?" No response. "Well then. If you're so insistent that you're fine, then maybe you are. In that case, why don't you join us for breakfast?"

She thought she'd won. She hadn't. Jeongguk forced a smile, though it looked more like a grimace or like he was trying to bare his teeth at her.

"Sure thing, mother."

She watched him like he was a crazy man as he waddled out of the bathroom, heading for the door. She hadn't thought he would do it. She hadn't wanted him to. It wasn't that she was villainous- she didn't want Jeongguk to get sicker or be in pain- she just had to be right.

But then, so did Jeongguk. They often clashed head-to-head like this. It could be assumed that Jeongguk inherited his mother's stubbornness. They still loved each other, of course, but that didn't mean either of them was going to back down.