VILLAINOUS | TK

xviii. gifted garden

"You know I wanted to be the queen!" was the first thing Taehyung heard when he entered the dining room. Ah yes, Minthe's annoying voice. He rolled his eyes and stayed by the door, not wanting to interrupt and perhaps, wanting to eavesdrop.

An exasperated sigh came short after the nymph's outburst. "Can you shut the fuck up? I have said it so many times that I will only allow you to be a candidate and nothing-" Though, the king's voice was cut to a stop when Minthe spoke up.

"No! Jeongguk, you chose that pathetic trash over me! I'm perfect for a queen, I-" Minthe's loud voice whined yet again. This time, it was the king who cut him off. They were the only ones inside so Minthe could yell as loud as she want and that was absolutely irking.

"Don't you dare interrupt while I'm speaking, you whore! Know your place! You are nothing but a nymph so what makes you think you're perfect for a queen? And that was no way to talk about your future queen like that! He's higher than you, remember that. So, get the fuck out of my sight before I snap your head off." Jeongguk's loud dark voice barked.

Taehyung felt his heart flutter at the mere gesture of the devil protecting him from the nymph. He couldn't help but grin in triumph once a loud huff sounded from Minthe. He heard footsteps coming closer, she must be leaving then, so he backed away from the wall and walked in, pretending as if he had just arrived.

Minthe and him exchanged death glares as they passed by each other. Stomps echoed along the hallway, the nymph clearly upset. Taehyung couldn't care less really, so he sat himself on his usual seat; right beside the king's.

And then suddenly, he was back to his shy self. With the realization that it was only him and Jeongguk inside the room, he suddenly grew timid. He could feel the ravenette's burning gaze on his body, he couldn't help but squirm on his seat.

"How are you feeling?" it was Jeongguk who broke the silence and taehyung was thankful for that. The pink haired male cleared his suddenly dry throat and replied.

"I-I'm feeling fine," he answered without looking up. Truthfully, he didn't know why he suddenly felt so shy. Back in his room, he wasn't so timid with Jeongguk. With the realization that he was blushing all this time, he blushed even harder.

"Taehyung, look at-" but before the devil could finish his sentence, Hoseok's loud cheerful voice interrupted him. The boy, smiling widely and absolutely oblivious about what was happening, greeted the two and took a seat.

Jeongguk grunted, an annoyed expression settled on his face. With a confused look, Taehyung faced him. "You wanted to tell me something?" he managed to ask. Although, the devil shook his head in a dismissive manner.

Taehyung nodded his head and greeted Hoseok. The two chatted for a bit, Jeongguk joining their conversation once in a while.

Hoseok was in the middle of babbling about how cute Cerberus was when the rest of the demons of the gates rushed inside. They all greeted the king, Jeongguk nodding in acknowledgement.

"My apologies Sire, there was a bit of a ruckus in the entrance of the realm, it has been well taken care of." Namjoon bowed his head lightly once they settled on their seats, he not so subtly nudged Hoseok with his elbow.

Taehyung couldn't help but smile at the sight. Hoseok must've ran away because he wanted to eat. "No worries," Jeongguk replied as he waved a hand, signaling a servant to serve their food.

As a variety of food was placed on the table, Taehyung couldn't help but smile in delight. He needed to thank the cook someday. Since he got taken to Hades, he started eating well.

Lack of money and food has always been a problem in Taehyung's case. So perhaps, it wasn't that bad staying in hell after all. Especially because the king had been talking to him more.

~

After dinner, Taehyung found himself walking side by side with Jeongguk in a beautiful garden.

"Come with me," was what the devil said when everyone else left the table. Taehyung had grinned widely at that. Of course, he had hummed and nodded his head excitedly.

Now, with a boxy grin on his lips, he couldn't help but grab Jeongguk's hand and drag him to a pretty flower he saw. To be fair, every flower in the garden was beautiful, breath-taking even. So, he basically dragged Jeongguk with him all the time.

"Look, look! So pretty!" Taehyung breath out, eyes focused on a purple flower. He frowned when he felt Jeongguk staring at him. He turned his head and found the ravenette staring at him with a blank expression, their hands still clasped together.

He gasped, untangled their hands and took a step back. "I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't realize I was dragging you l-like that-" the pink haired male was abruptly cut off when Jeongguk grabbed his hand and started walking.

A deep shade of red coated Taehyung's pretty cheeks. He looked down at their clasped hands, blushing even more. "This garden belongs to my sister Jiyeon, she used to always come here whenever she visits me. But she got married to my brother Kai, she rarely visits me since then. I used to always think Kai stole her from me, and I still do, that's why I hate him so much." Jeongguk paused to look at the pretty male beside him.

Taehyung stared at him, wondering why he was telling him this. "The flowers didn't wither even after being left unattended for so long, they are magical after all. But slowly, their colors seemed to fade." He continued on, eyes looking around the garden.

The pink haired male's gaze wandered around, noticing a few dull-colored flowers. "So, I'm giving this to you. Because you seemed to like flowers so much, you can have this garden." Jeongguk softly let out, staring into the human's eyes.

Taehyung couldn't help but grin with widened eyes. Oh how much he wanted to hug the devil right then and there. God, his heart was beating so fast and he could his tummy fluttering from butterflies.

"Consider it as my gift for you and as an apology as well." that was all it took for Taehyung to launch himself at Jeongguk, his eyes teary as he kept mumbling thank you's.

Jeongguk, seemingly taken aback, slowly lifted his hands and awkwardly wrapped them around the other male. He couldn't help but chuckle softly. "You're welcome."

~

a/n: aaackkkkkkk, my heart boom boom. and yes, kai did marry his sister in this story as well (like how zeus married hera). in this story, jiyeon is just a random name i thought of, not a kpop idol :)