His Knight | Taegguk

23| The Right Advisor

She didn't know what to think. The queen was speechless.

An image condensed into a sliver which only one eye could peer through, heartwarming on surface level, gut-wrenching in reality. The prince's face was red, mouth open with soft, barely audible snores fading into the warm light. His head laid not on a pillow, but on the lap of a boy who gazed down with soft eyes laden with worry. A royal's hand resting on a knight's thigh, palm upturned, fingers curled, twitching. Both of Taehyung's hands were occupied, one on Jeongguk's forehead, lifting his fringe, the other on his chest, a ripple under scoop-necked fabric.

How sweet. 

How horrifying.

This was a deadly game. A game no one had ever won. The queen suspected the knight knew this. Yet he chose to play.

Frozen. She was frozen. What should she do? How should she react? Storm in, first demanding answers, then restraining orders, and risk her relationship with her son? Leave, forget what she saw, let it continue, get out of hand? 

Jeongguk shifted, groaned.

"Taehyung?"

"I'm right here."

Jeongguk was up, Jeongguk was running, in the bathroom, vomiting. Taehyung was there, too, beside him, whispering. The queen was in the bedroom, watching, head reeling.

Taehyung had a hand on Jeongguk's forehead, holding the prince's hair out of his eyes. Jeongguk hung his head over the rim of the toilet bowl, gasping for air, knuckles white in clenched fists.

A minute passed.

"Are you done?" Taehyung asked gently.

Jeongguk replied with a strained 'yeah.'

The prince flushed the toilet and moved to the sink. He turned the handle, the sound of a small rush of water filling the silence, and washed his face. Then he swished water in his mouth, spit it out, did that again. A glance in the mirror.

"I look like shit."

"I bet you feel like shit, too. Want to go back to sleep?"

"Yeah."

The queen rushed to the closet and slipped inside just as the two stepped out of the bathroom.

"Do you want me to stay or leave?" When Taehyung asked this, Jeongguk glanced at him.

"Do you have something to do?"

"Well, not really, but-"

"Stay, then."

The queen was sure Taehyung almost smiled at that but forced the expression into a blank one.

"If you're sure," The knight sat cross-legged on the bed, next to Jeongguk's resting figure, and combed a hand through the prince's hair. "Go back to sleep, Jeonggukie."

Jeongguk made grabby hands. Adorable. 

"Only if you go to sleep with me."

Taehyung laid down, shaking his head and smiling. 

"Anything for you, your Highness."

Jeongguk wrapped an arm around Taehyung's waist and pulled their bodies against each other.

"Shut up."

It took five minutes for soft snores to disturb their breathing.

The queen came out of her hiding spot, hesitantly making her way over to the bed. Taehyung's arm rested on the side of Jeongguk's neck, curling around the back of his head, hand disappearing into raven locks. The prince's face was buried in Taehyung's chest. 

That was love.

That was dangerous.

She turned and left the room, shutting the door softly behind her.

***

Queen Jeon found Kim Namjoon in the downstairs parlor, reading.

"Namjoon, may I speak to you?"

His book was down so fast it whooshed.

"How may I help you, your Highness?"

"Well, as you know, my advisor is out of town for the next few days, so I was wondering if I could ask you for a bit of advice."

"Of course. What do you need?"

The queen sat down on the couch across from him, sighing as she straightened out her dress. She didn't know how much to say, or what to say, or how to go about saying it.

"I just... There was this thing that happened. That I saw. And I should have stopped it. It was something I shouldn't have let happen. But... I don't know why but for some reason I let it happen anyway." 

Namjoon crossed his legs and folded his fingers around his knee.

"Your Highness, is there a way you could give me more detail? I'd be of more help that way." She sighed. She thought. She shook her head. "As you wish, I'll try my best," Namjoon murmured. "It sounds to me like you knew it shouldn't happen, but your heart knew otherwise. It's up to you to decide what knew better. Your heart or your head?"

The queen frowned.

"My job is to follow my head."

"You wouldn't be in the position you're in now if you hadn't followed your heart," Namjoon argued, though as respectfully as he could.

"Well, how am I supposed to know what to do?" She asked, exasperated, though not with Namjoon- with herself and her own indecisiveness.

"Your Highness, I'm not your advisor. I'm in no position to tell you what to do. But I will say this- judging by the decisions you've made with your heart, I'd say it knows pretty well what should be done."

"My heart doesn't follow the rules."

"Maybe it does what's right regardless of them."

Silence.

The queen smiled.

"Thank you, Namjoon. I'm going to speak to the king. I know now, for sure, that appointing you as my son's advisor was a good choice. You are wise beyond your years."

"Thank you, your Highness." Namjoon dipped his head to her.