[completed] ✎＿Beautiful prince Jeongguk has been locked away in a tower since he was captured as a baby by an old hag. His magical necklace has the power to provide eternal youth, and the evil Rosé uses this power to keep her young. At the age of 18...
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"What stars? Can't you just look out the window?" asked Taehyung quirking a questioning brow. Jeongguk shook his head, nervously fidgeting with the satchel. "N-No. They — they release them on my birthday. From..." He hesitated briefly, before making his way over to the window and pointing towards the horizon. "From there."
Taehyung seemed quite skeptical and gave a half-assed shrug. "Whatever," he muttered, going back to cleaning his knife. Relief washed over Jeongguk; however he tried keeping it secretive from the older. "My name is Jeongguk. Will you please tell me who you are?"
Taehyung remained silent for a brief moment, but he eventually stood up and slid the knife into its sheath. "The name's Taehyung. If you really want to go, I suggest we wait until the morning. It'll get dark soon," he said, glancing out the window. Jeongguk panicked and quickly shook his head. "No, no, we have to go now," he blurted hastily, and Taehyung appeared taken aback.
"Why? I told you, it's going to get dark soon. If I'm going to take you you're going to have to listen to me." Jeongguk was unable to bite back a whimper, and he shook his head harder. "No, please, we have to go now," he practically begged. He knew his mother would be home soon, and if she found out that he was leaving, especially with an attractive man, he would surely receive a punishment.
Taehyung sighed, but he felt himself softening. "A'ight, fine. Can you climb down?" he asked, sitting down on the ledge and swinging his legs over it. Jeongguk sheepishly shook his head, holding the satchel tighter to his chest. "No..." Taehyung sighed again, and Jeongguk heard him mumble something to himself. "A'ight fine," he repeated, clearly irked. "I'll climb down, you'll jump, and I'll catch you. Don't want to risk damaging your delicate hands." Jeongguk flushed crimson at that, however, Taehyung did not seem to notice as he began descending the tall tower.
Jeongguk could not help but watch Taehyung's muscles flex as he moved down with ease. He was so distracted he did not even realize that Taehyung had reached the bottom until he heard his voice from the ground. "Okay, jump." Jeongguk hesitated, but he shakily sat on the windowsill and swung his legs to the other side. "You'll catch me, right?" he asked anxiously, clutching the satchel closer to his chest. Taehyung rolled his eyes and nodded, holding out his arms. "Yes, I will. Now, jump." Jeongguk braced himself before he ultimately leaped off the ledge.
The landing did not go as well as planned. Taehyung had underestimated how tall the tower was; the force of the fall knocked both of them to the ground. Jeongguk blushed deeply when he realized he was on top of Taehyung, he was more than rubicund, and he quickly scrambled to get off.
"Are you okay?" he asked sotto voce as Taehyung got up with a slight wince. Taehyung nodded, dusting himself confidently. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go. We'll have to set up camp somewhere nearby." Jeongguk jumped to his feet to follow him as he walked off, but it was a struggle, since Taehyung's legs were so much longer that Jeongguk's. "As far away as possible, preferably," Jeongguk said quietly, and Taehyung either did not hear him or did not make an effort to let him know what he had heard.
Jeongguk ended up timidly reaching out to hold Taehyung's shirt as they walked, partly because he could not keep up and partly because he just wanted to be close to the man. Jeongguk's big, innocent, inquisitive irises scanned his surroundings in wonder, so he did not have time to concentrate on actually following Taehyung. The grass felt good below his bare feet, ticklish between his toes.
"You hungry?" asked Taehyung after approximately an hour of walking. Jeongguk was exhausted, as he had never walked more than twenty feet his whole life, however, he was determined not to show it. "Um, I-I could eat," he murmured, holding the satchel tighter. Taehyung nodded and gestured to a sign up ahead. "There's a restaurant just over there." Jeongguk gave a slight nod and pressed closer to Taehyung.
Fear rose to bubble within Jeongguk's chest when they entered the ruined, crummy restaurant, and his tiny hand automatically went to hold his necklace. All around him, at every table, there were bulbous, brawny men covered in scars and tattoos and their mouths fitted to nasty snarls. Jeongguk pressed closer to his companion, mindlessly.
"You're Kim Taehyung," one of the men growled, stepping out from the clamorous crowd. Taehyung's gaze averted to the man and he shrugged.
"Yeah, where's the bartender? My lil fiend here is hungry." Jeongguk whimpered involuntarily as everyone simultaneously looked at him. Jeongguk swallowed thickly, and pressed himself into Taehyung's broad back, though the red-head pushed him away.
"You're Kim Taehyung," the same man repeated, shoving Taehyung back. "We should hold you here and call the palace. There's a huge price on your head." Taehyung rolled his eyes and weaved his strong arms over his firm chest. "You wouldn't call the palace on a customer."
"Not if he's a paying one." The man grabbed Taehyung, but someone else took his arm, and it was not long before the entire bar was fighting to be the one to turn him in to authorities. Jeongguk watched with moon-sprawled eyes that glistened with fear as Taehyung struggled in their grasp, and he held his necklace even tighter.
"Wait! Please let him go," he begged weakly, trying to pull the man's arm back so he would let go of his chaperone. Although, his voice was nothing compared to the rest of the shouting in the bar, it resonated through the building, and the noise came down to a sudden halt. Jeongguk shrunk into himself when many of the men looked at him again, but he forced himself to continue. "P-Please, he — he's going to take me to see the stars. I-I've always wanted to go, can't you h-have a heart? It's my ... it's my dream."
The hush crept over the entire bar. Jeongguk took a few fearful treads back and hid his hands in his sleeves to hide how violently they quivered.
"Well, if it's your dream, then I guess we have to, huh?" The first man spoke to the group, and relief washed over Jeongguk. "Thank you," he whispered, reaching a tentative hand towards the group. "Give him here, please." Taehyung stumbled forward as they shoved him, and he scowled as he brushed himself off. "I hope you all accomplish your dreams," Jeongguk said softly with a small smile, the men tuned away, embarrassed and hypnotized by the boy's kindness.
Meanwhile, Mother Rosé had discovered Jeongguk's sudden absence. Rage overtook her, but she told herself that she had to coax Jeongguk back, make him believe he needed her.
Taehyung and Jeongguk had left the bar. Jeongguk was silently following Taehyung, his gaze on the floor and his hand still holding his necklace. He wanted to hold Taehyung's hand with his other one, but he knew the red-head would not let him. He wondered why the scary, bar men wanted to call the palace on him. And what palace were they talking about? He had read about palaces in his books, but he did not know they actually existed.
Eventually, Taehyung stopped. Jeongguk bumped into him since he was looking at the ground, and Taehyung turned to glare at him. Jeongguk flushed red and caved in on himself, eluding his gaze. "We'll have to camp here the night," Taehyung said, taking a seat on a rock and absentmindedly begun to sharpen a stick. Jeongguk nodded slowly and shakily sat on the ground, and held his knees to his chest. He wanted Taehyung to hold him.
Taehyung watched him for a while before he stood and set the sharpened stick down, sliding his dagger back into its sheath, "I'm going to go get some firewood," he announced, before he disappeared.
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How was it? ☺
Poor Ggukie, he just wants a friend. Why you gotta be so cold Taehyung?
Will Tae ever soften up for Ggukie? I mean, we're getting there, at least he finally told him his name. 😁
