#something something palace of the four swords angst
Note
A prompt: Four and a ghost
Four sighed in contentment as he leaned back against one of the logs they'd arranged around the fire. Almost everyone had settled to sleep, and he was getting ready to head that way too, when he glanced at Legend.
The veteran was going to take first watch and was gazing solemnly into the fire, a strange contemplative look crossing his features when he noticed Four watching him.
"You okay?" Four asked hesitantly. "You seem a little out of it."
Legend stared at him for an almost uncomfortable interval before he waved a dismissive hand and returned to his vigil. "It's just late. I'm fine. Good night."
The smithy watched him uncertainly, not really knowing how to push or if that was even needed. So he gave up on the venture, sighing and heading to his bedroll, already prepared and awaiting his arrival. As he slid under the cover, he gave one last look at the veteran hero, and his blood ran cold.
What was--that was--
Was that himself hovering over the veteran?! What the hell was happening?!
Four stared at his strange reflection, who watched Legend just as solemnly as Legend watched the fire. Then the image flicked its eyes at the smithy himself, making him forget to breathe.
Before Four could leap out of his bedroll, the ghostly image of himself disappeared into the night mist.
#something something palace of the four swords angst#doesn't Legend kill Four there?#bad times#linkeduniverse#linked universe#lu four#lu legend#writing#writing prompt#you ask skye answers#lovely anon
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knightmærs
love: saying "i love you" even when you're scared
written for @steddielovemonth day 20 (@quinns-shadowy-arts)
M | ~3.1k | tags: medieval-ish au, prince!steve, lovers to enemies who are still lovers but it’s intrigue
cw: torture (both implied and explicit), past & on-screen brainwashing, manipulation, angst, violence, open ending, mild gore, traditional fairytale imagery
princemær
It is not the sensation of cold steel touching his throat that makes him halt, the blade against his skin a feeling so familiar these days that he barely falters in his steps anymore. Nor is it the clearly spoken threat of, “One wrong move, Kas, and I will paint the soil with your blood so that something good may come of your existence after all.”
Original, that. Eddie is not loath to admit it.
And were this valiant knight anyone else, he surely would have worked his clever tongue to make it count, at the very least, that they should have caught him at last. Judging by the determination in the man’s hazel eyes and the absolute calm in his hand, sword unwavering against Eddie’s throat, he would have paid gravely for it.
As it is, though, Eddie can only stare into the eyes of his imminent captor, frozen to the spot and freezing yet more when he finds no trace of recognition in those eyes.
What did they do to you? he wonders desperately, so forlorn in the throes of distress he finds no wherewithal to struggle against four men of the Prince’s guard as they roughly disarm and bind him. He doesn’t take his eyes off the Prince, aching for just a hint of recognition, even a glint of betrayal and hatred – but all he can find is cold nothingness as the Prince holds his gaze, looking down at Eddie from his royal mare. It’s not one Eddie recognises, and he is reminded of the years he has gone without those eyes in his life.
“The King is expecting your return,” says the Prince, sheathing his sword when one of his men binds Eddie to the back of his horse; the first of many tortures, he is sure.
Or rather, the second, with the way the Prince is looking at him, speaking to him without that familiar melody to his voice. It is monotonous now, and Eddie wants to become the monster again that they all make him out to be, if only to rip out the throat of the person who did this to him. The person who took the Prince’s voice, his smile, his memories.
He would gladly become a monster for him all over again.
“A sword has been made for your head, after all. And a feast for your demise.”
And with that, the Prince spurs his mare into a trot, his loyal guardsmen following just behind him, pulling Eddie with them. It is a small miracle that he does not stumble and fall, the floor beneath his feet unsteady as cotton as all feeling leaves his body and the world rewrites itself around him and this very moment.
Prince Steven wants him publicly executed. That is not what leaves Eddie’s stomach with a wave of nausea he barely manages to swallow down, panting and gasping for air as he is from running after the horses.
No, what leaves him with a frozen bloodstream and a panicked paralysis of the mind is that Prince Steven recognises him no longer. Remembers not the history that lies between them. The sacrifices made.
Were the situation any different, allowing for tears and curses cried into the dark of night without threat of detection, Eddie would have wailed. Wept at the realisation that he should have never left Steve to the claws of the King and his advisor.
What did they do to you? he agonises, staring at the familiar blues that attire the Prince so tragically familiar. And how do I get you back before you spell doom for yourself with my own blood?
***
Foolishly, Eddie has spent years of his life thinking he would never be presented with this view again: The palace in all its glory, sandstone nary white and golden, shining and gleaming in ways more sublime than the sun herself. It stole many a night from him, the thought of this vision and the heart it holds inside, a keep more than a palace, and just as out of reach for the hands of a man deemed a traitor to the kingdom.
But now here he is, stumbling on bleeding feet as the horse drags him into the courtyard of what used to be his home so many winters ago he has lost count. People gave gathered in the streets and alleys and up by the windows, chancing a look at the man condemned, sweat and tears dried and crusted on his cheeks, ripped clothes showing bleeding wounds from falling when the Prince demanded they ride faster.
He can scarcely hold his own weight anymore, his feet aching and burning, his entire body on fire and dehydrated, the world around him spinning just quickly enough that he takes too long to realise it when the Prince cuts the rope from the horse’s saddle and takes a hold of it instead. Holding Eddie like a mutt on a leash – and he’s panting like one, too.
Still he catches his breath long enough to lift his chin and look at the Prince, showing defiance in one simple act that in another lifetime counted as devotion. But he wants to look at him. Wants to drink him in, changed though he might be.
“Will you lead me to death now, Your Majesty?”
The Prince says nothing as he rebinds Eddie’s wrists, securing them to his chest so he can’t easily break free and the Prince’s neck in the process. A wave of pride washes over him, even as he realises that he must succumb to being a prisoner for now with no means to escape.
“I am but your humble subject. Where you lead, I will follow,” Eddie says with a wavering voice, just barely resisting to bow before his Prince for dramatic effect and hoping that would conceal the truth to his words.
“One more word, snake,” he says, cold eyes boring into Eddie’s like a blade of ice and leaving trickles of fear in their wake, “and I will personally see to your death being so slow and painful, you will have forgotten your own name just before I am done, leaving you not enough time to remember. You will spend eternity wandering and finding no peace. Finding not even your name, as all you are has been replaced with pain.”
Eddie flinches away from him unwittingly, hating the cold smirk that infests that beautiful face. His Prince wouldn’t talk like that. His Prince would not resort to threats of torture, inflicting fear wherever he sets foot.
He had heard the stories, tales of a Prince changed, accounts of the Golden Prince dimmed and dulled, a tender heart hardened and smooth edges roughened to hurt whoever dared to touch him. The first few years he had heard the tales, and still he had chosen disbelief and doubt. Refusal to believe it.
His Prince would never. Stevie could never.
And yet.
“What happened to you?” he whispers, the words leaving his mouth before he can stop them, and he watches as something shutters behind those familiar eyes.
“You cut out my heart. All those years ago, when you killed him. I intend to do the same to you.”
Eddie swallows, the words not making sense. He has killed many a man, those who deserved it and those who did not, but whom could he have killed to elicit such a response from the Prince?
“Whom?” he dares ask, preparing for a blade in his stomach or a fist in his face, ready for the guards to pull him back and pummel him until he does indeed forget his name and the rest of the world for a while.
But the Prince stands his ground, his cold gaze nary lifeless even as Eddie’s vision swims.
“Eddie.”
And all the blood flees his body in a rush as understanding dawns on him, leaving yet more confusion as he hears his own name fall from the Prince’s lips with such barely concealed grief and sadness that it makes his knees buckle.
“I intend to repay you for what you have taken from me. Settle the blood debt. Three days from now, it shall be my hand on the sword that will have your head.”
Eddie is too stunned to speak, too exhausted from two days on his feet, dragged on his feet and on his back, and the unfamiliar sensation of fear grips his whole body and intensifies the aches and pains he feels until his legs give out and he lands on his knees in front of his Prince, close to weeping once more.
A hand comes to rest on his chin, tipping up his face so he can meet those royal eyes, and Eddie finds himself wishing for the blade instead.
“Good,” Prince Steven says, his voice quiet, only for Eddie to hear. “I want to hear you beg for your life.”
Eddie cannot keep a hold of the tear that breaks free and rolls down his face, leaving a trace for the Prince to follow as he undoubtedly marvels at having the great Betrayer on his knees and at a loss for words.
And Eddie knows he will beg. But not for his life.
***
Torture does come, but not from his Prince.
Instead it is Henry, the King’s advisor, who takes great pleasure in taunting him, leaving his body bloodied and bruised before he applies whatever concoction he cooked up that will leave Eddie feeling like his insides have turned to flames, leaving him to grunt and bite down on his screams as Henry weaves tales out of thin air laced with blood, sweat and tears.
“You were always so gullible, the both of you,” Henry continues, though Eddie must have missed the beginning of his words, as even these ones barely reach him through the pain.
“What did you do to him?” he asks around a mouthful of blood, spitting at Henry’s feet, revealing in the sick twist of his mouth that Eddie can just barely make out as his vision blurs dangerously.
“What did we do to him? Oh, even a decade later you are still the same stupid boy you were then, hmm? It is you who did this to him. It is you who betrayed him, killing Eddie Munson and becoming Kas The Betrayer. Do you not recall?”
His world tilts suddenly as Henry fills his mouth with a bitter liquid, clamping his mouth shut so Eddie has no choice but to swallow it all.
“Surely you do remember the way you shoved your blade between Munson’s ribs on your way out of this cell all these years ago, cutting out his heart and making it your first feast of your newly-won freedom. Surely you remember betraying the Prince’s trust and then killing his lover and his best friend. You must remember, stupid boy, and know that your execution will bring freedom to the Prince’s mind that is so trapped in its vengefulness.”
Nausea overcomes him and he retches, but Henry prevents him from throwing up and emptying his bowels to rid himself from whatever the alchemist uses to cloud his senses and reshape the world to his very own liking.
“Shut up,” Eddie wheezes, earning a well-placed punch for his troubles. “Don’t touch him. Don’t you… Don’t you touch him.”
A smile fills his vision as Henry comes close to hum as he turns Eddie’s face this way and that, keeping him from shaking it as images of a false history manifest in his mind.
“Oh, I won’t have to touch him. See, he will realise what he has done on the scaffold. The veil over his eyes will be lifted when your heart stops beating, all the pieces will fall into place, but still he will be blind, for the veil will be replaced with the ghost of you, slowly fading beneath him.”
Henry is circling him, stalking him like a predator his prey. Eddie has not been prey in so long. He does not know how to suppress the shivers or the horror at the tale woven around him.
“And then, sword still in hand as it drips with your blood, despair will overcome him and he will follow you. The kingdom will be freed of the King’s pest of an heir, and I will lend his grieving Majesty a helping hand in ruling his kingdom. That is, of course, until he, too, ultimately succumbs to grief for his only son, leaving only myself to rebuild and reshape first the kingdom and then the whole world just the way I want.”
He comes to a stop in front of him, another dark green flask in his hand.
“You are but a pawn in this, Kas.”
More of the bitter liquid flows down his throat and Eddie almost chokes on it, coughing it up and trying to resist, but Henry is stronger than he is. Always has been.
And with poison in his ears and his bloodstream alike, Henry’s words grow truths inside Kas’s mind; the memory of Eddie Munson dying on his blade, the blood dripping down his fingers as he takes a bite of the man’s heart, and the prince’s screams in his ear at this ultimate betrayal, for that heart belonged to him.
When he loses his grasp on consciousness, out of breath and out of his mind with pain, he wishes for the scaffold. He wishes for the Prince to take his life and settle the debt. Avenge his love. Avenge what Kas can only ever dream about.
***
Gradually, over the span of only three days spent in either sensory deprivation or torture, Henry manages to drain the dredges of Eddie’s false identity and replace them with what really happened; replace them with Kas. With guilt, with shame, with a debt so severe it could never be paid back as long as Kas remains alive.
He forgets about most of Henry’s visits, wakes up with new injuries and new memories, the reserves of water left for him tasting bitter and wrong, but he is always so desperate for it, he has not the luxury of choice.
The Prince never comes.
***
The third sun rises and finds Kas a broken man.
They lead him out in chains and shackles, like he poses any risk of escaping. Like he doesn’t welcome what is about to come. Like he doesn’t—
He…
Kas falters in his steps the very second he lays eyes on the Prince, hand resting on the hilt of a broadword that looks to be expertly crafted. A sword has been made for your head, after all. He swallows, ignoring the guard that kicks him in the shin and punches him in the neck, telling him to move forward.
His head aches the longer he watches the Prince, the world around him becoming hazy as guilt and shame wash over him, the feeling that this is right, this is what he deserves. And still, underneath it all, when Prince Steven meets his eyes, there is the nagging feeling that none of this is right at all. That the Prince should not be looking at him like that, should not be holding onto that sword, should not be his own executioner.
It splits his head, but still he is helpless against the shackles, cannot struggle when the guards pull him along instead.
The Prince says not a word until Kas the Betrayer kneels before him, and once again there is a wave of familiarity that comes from this action, but he cannot place it. Kas has never knelt for anyone, so it must be wrong. It must be instinct, the last desperate flare of a dying flame, leaving him disoriented, his head flooded with visions of how life could have been.
The headache mingles with a new wave of fevered need to live, to rip apart these shackles and kill every guardsman and the King himself before he leaves the sandstone castle behind him once more.
But there is also a strange sensation of calmness that tells him he is willing to let it happen like it must. He is willing to give this to the Prince and repent. He is willing to give it all up and give in to this.
Kas the Betrayer is ready to die. He is too tired to alter the course of fate any longer.
But then? Oh, a lone man’s willingness is not force strong enough to defy the will of Fate herself.
Because when Prince Steven opens his mouth, all the bitterness leaves Eddie’s mouth, all the visions become unveiled at the sound of that voice that for decades now has held him through pain and pleasure alike, the voice that whispered promises of a future together of even just five minutes away from prying eyes.
When Prince Steven opens his mouth, Kas becomes Eddie once more, coming to life again inside his own tired, exhausted, agonised head.
“Any last wish?”
For those to be the words that save him carries a strange sense of irony, and Eddie knows it’s too late. He knows the plan will commence. Maybe it’s for the better. Ten years he has suffered without his heart, ten years spent shunned and banished and labeled a traitor to all kingdoms simply because he dared to love his Prince more than his King. Ten years that have left him tired and worn out, without a purpose to his ways.
And Steve, subjected to Henry and his alchemy, his poisons and potions, his bitterness that will turn your insides to flames. Steve, tortured and manipulated for ten years without Eddie there to protect him.
Maybe it’s for the best that it should end now. That it should end like this. He has no strength left in his body, could not free himself or the Prince even if he were foolish enough to try.
Still he finds himself relieved that he should die inside his own head this time. That small mercies and miracles alike will grant him this. Looking at Steve as he takes his last breaths.
So, does he have any last wish?
“Yes,” he croaks, daring to look up into those once so beautiful eyes that hold no warmth anymore.
Tell me what they did to you. A kiss from my Prince. Don’t turn this blade on yourself when this life has left my body. Believe me when I say this is a trap, and I am not who you think I am.
But he says none of that. Wishes for something else. Wishes not for himself.
He swallows, straightening his back. “I wish that you would… That you would just, just listen to me.” Fear overcomes him, and he knows these will be his last words.
The Prince inclines his head, intent at least on listening. Good. That’s good.
Because now, for the first time in a decade, Eddie will utter these words to ears that will listen. Fear grips his heart, squeezing around it until it stops. And still he speaks.
“I love you. And I forgive you.”
tagging: @skiddit @inklessletter @aringofsalt @hellion-child @hotluncheddie @gutterflower77 @auroraplume @steddieonbigboy @n0-1-important @stevesjockstrap @brainvines @puppy-steve @madigoround @izzy2210 @itsall-taken @mangoinacan13
(i have a permanent tag list now, lmk if you want on or off 🤍 these are only the ones who commented on the post) (sorry the first tag should be so fucked up mwah)
note: i posted this last night but then wanted to double check with the lovely lovely mod of steddielovemonth (kith for you!) if this was okay to post, and she said yes, so fever dream round 2! sorry for the inconvenience, thank you for the patience! 🤍
#steddie fic#steddie#steddie fanfic#steve harrington#eddie munson#steddielovemonth#this is still a fever dream of a fic#this one goes out to all the blorbos from my notes who wished for this to come back 🤍#i could (and probably should) make this a 10k thing but i kinda love the lack of context of background that comes w these types of stories#we just vibin with fucked up dynamics and more questions than the text could answer yesss#(but i keep wanting to add to it help. anyone know what's going on? no? me neither come join the club the words just be happening)#dark!fic#<- not really but the themes are there yknow#konrad von würzburg would be proud of me for this#dio words#dio's steddie ramblings
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the potential flavors of this glorious angst
alrighty gamers assuming they dont fuck this up meta tucker can fucking rule so let's go down the list of how all this shit can go.
numero uno: angsty on maine-
kk so like we could have our boy just start losing his fucking mind. dope. the angst potential in this is obvious. have his cognition deteriorate as sigma pushing him harder and harder physically and mentally. he starts out as something recognizable, only to be pushed further and further to the brink. the angst in here is inherent.
number two just for you: sigma is preying on tucker's personality to drive him as the meta. what if he isn't being driven by power like maine was, but instead, he wants epsilon back (who clearly got out somehow, probably the capture unit) because sigma is feeding off tucker wanting his best friend back. tucker wants his friend, and sigma is twisting that into something violent
three cheers for the trauma train: mind control. who doesn't love some battle in the center of the mind bullshit as they magic of friendship that bitch. tucker fighting back as sigma attempts to override his consciousness
number four what are we here for: o'malley situation. tucker is conscious and aware as he is forced to watch his hand drive his sword into his friends. to choke caboose. to help the people that hurt his family so much. all while he can't do anything as sigma pushes his body further and further to a breaking point. he cant scream because sigma has his voice. he can't do anything. he's trapped in his own mind
five'in and vibin': closer to a wash situation. the armor is sabotaged in some way (charon had it after all) and this is why sigma goes out of control, and the damage he does to tucker's mind isn't even fully intentional. or maybe it is, who knows, but the point is that he imprints himself on tucker's mind like epsilon did for wash
no matter what they do and how well (or poorly) they pull it off though, all i know is that fanfiction writers, we stay winning for real because im gonna have a field day. my mind palace is getting a whole ass room dedicated to this shit because meta tucker is such a fun concept that i am super fucking into
#rvb#red vs blue#rvb restoration#red vs blue restoration#tucker rvb#lavernius tucker#sigma rvb#epsilon rvb#church rvb#my brainrot is a thing to be feared#it is an infection and a burden and one i carry with my head held high
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This was supposed to be a cute little vampire themed drabble and then my brain went “what if you set it in Penumbra though”.
Quick and dirty premise of Penumbra: Dark has summoned himself some new minions to terrorize the Linked Universe boys with. The shadows from the Palace of the Four Sword.
This is ANGST consider yourself WARNED. It tiptoes close to topics like disordered eating and suicidal ideation. Take care of yourselves folks, because Vio sure isn’t.
Characters: Vio and Blue
Prompt: Like a Vampire- Catrien
~🌊🏔️🏰🏔️🌊~
“Why,” Blue hissed on icy breath, “are you low on magic, Vio?”
It was hard not to telegraph the tension in his body when Blue had him by the shoulder, grip firm as winter and twice as implacable. It was hard to say if they had blood anymore, but something thrummed between them like the charge before the lightning and wired Vio’s jaw shut.
“If you’re going to do stupid shit, at least have a fucking lie. What, did you fall down the stairs?” A step closer. It was never a problem, for one of them to be at another’s back- in some ways, one back belonged to all four, no matter what. Blue being behind him wasn’t a problem. Blue being colder than the dark wasn’t a problem, chill seeping from him to fan across the back of Vio’s neck like dragons’ smoke.
Individual fingers tightened in a slow ripple on Vio’s shoulder, and a breath that Blue didn’t need shook out on a tense, restrained sigh.
“Look at me.”
“Don’t be cruel.” He tilted his head, spoke over the way Blue’s hand bit like a shackle, and the words tasted like graveyard soil. “Should I flutter my lashes at you too, my hero?”
Impact- thrown back first against a wall with a fist in his shirt, knuckles bruising-firm and a knee digging coldly at his thigh, the too-close crackle of frozen wounds crunching and refreezing, water on his chest. Vio could fight him, headbutt and kidney punch and test if after a thousand years they all still have internal organs, but his head hurts and his hands won’t move and he knows he’s trying to forget so hard that he’s forgotten how to fight.
Living things fight. Vio’s just a bundle of regrets tied up in a curse, most nights.
…he could put a hand on Blue’s waist. It’s not pinned at all.
He could even kiss him, and stop being a person that way for a little while.
Vio opens his mouth and just… makes a noise. It might be pain. He might be tired. Blue’s pinning him to the bare stone bricks and the fist against his sternum is shaking.
“Vio,” Blue forces past a cracked throat and frozen lips, magic slithering across his skin with the shivering intensity that casts mirages in the desert until all Vio can hear are the frost-ferns crawling across a probably furrowed brow. “If you’re going to do stupid shit, at least cover it up.”
“I’m fine.” Barely any tone to it, hardly breathed.
“You’re low.”
Something like a grin twists at his cheek, as rusty and wrong as a dislocated shoulder. “Aren’t I always?”
A growl punches the air between them, and if Vio allows himself a flight of fancy he imagines frost-glitter scattering across his shirt. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“Do I?”
“He,” Blue grits out, “will notice. Don’t tell me, I don’t fucking care, but are you trying to get yourself killed? Magic fuckery, or Dark-“
“Don’t,” and somehow Vio’s hand is on Blue’s hip, lips curling back to match the snarl on Blue’s breath, breathing in his cold and breathing out tomb dust, “say his name. Not here.” A slight squeeze, and it would be seductive if it wasn’t the most violent motion he could manage right now, weak and nerveless. “You know better.”
“I know better?” There’s a cracked noise that isn’t frozen wounds reopening, something wet and jagged, and Blue’s forehead drops onto Vio’s shoulder like everything else in this terrible place. He’s laughing, low and awful, and it shakes his whole body.
Blue’s grip on his shirt is weak and nerveless and Vio doesn’t move, thumb rubbing soft circles on a hip colder than death even through clothing.
They have all the time in the world, but they don’t have any at all. The sun will be rising. Dark will come to ask how their missions are going, with Red giggling on his arm. Green, stir-crazy and terse, will ask them if they need soldiers.
Vio’s low on magic and Blue’s body is cracked under the force of it twisting him into something more than dead. He can feel it, the same way he can feel the once-lush moss spotting his collarbone shrivel and dry. He has a brief, insane, and terribly human thought about whether or not Blue thinks he’s attractive, with his jaw covered in lichen like this. He’s repulsive for a lot of reasons- he’s never considered the textures someone might feel if they kissed him, the taste of clay on his lip.
It’s never been important. Or it was important, once, but only once. And now the four of them are shadows in a future they don’t recognize, under the gentle hospitality of a creature that feeds them poison.
“I don’t want to eat,” he says to the hallway, and Blue is lying to himself if this is a pin anymore.
The other presses against him, chest to chest like they could crawl inside eachother again, and Vio sighs out emotions he doesn’t want to recognize, thumb running over Blue’s hip because they’re both terrible at this, a crude mockery of aggression and a crude mockery of seduction meeting somewhere slightly more honest in the middle.
“I know,” murmurs one of the very few who could, “I know you don’t. But he’ll notice, and I- don’t want him to.”
Vio doesn’t know if he has an opinion on Dark noticing or not, anymore. It’s hard to feel much, sometimes, but… he can feel this. He knows, under everything, that everything he does is to prevent all of his teammates- the other three chambers of a four-chambered heart- from sounding like that.
He takes a deep breath like someone who wants to live. “I don’t want to eat, but I will. Come here.”
As if Blue could come any closer, but somehow he does- chest to chest and hands sliding down to tentatively hold Vio’s waist, awkward and unpracticed, the frost-ferns on his cheek catching at dying lichen and gilding them with winter. He tilts his head, and Vio feels the empty space there, like the air a step past a cliff.
“I can take it,” Blue breathes, because he can take anything for the other three chambers of his heart, and Vio bites down.
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i find myself suddenly intensely curious about any theories you have about the palace au
I'm so sorry I have "forget things that aren't in my immediate line of sight" disease 😭 but I remembered just now so whoops lol here you go
Ok so I'm torn with whether or not Four will meet up with the group while they have Future Four with them. Cuz on the one hand, clearly something happens that erases four's memories of this when the twilight of the future (assumedly) does remember. Does that mean these two four's are from different timelines? Does it have something to do with his sleep in the sword? Is it a means of not screwing up the wacky timeline? Idk but I could see it going both ways. On the one hand, if four met up with the group it could have a lot of angst potential, but on the other hand if he never finds out or hears about it secondhand then it kinda solidifies the legend - four and twilight - time parallels better. So either way I'll be happy! (If you can't tell I'm not one for theories I'm more of a "wouldn't it be neat if this happened" type person lol)
Another thing is does lu four already have children? I'm inclined to think yes bc of the "being able to take care of time" scene (four was literally saying 'i knew a toddler once who was super stubborn about meal times' and I'm like. Either that's a trick Four's grandpa used on him as a kid, or Four used that on his kids. But that would mean Four's kids are already old enough to eat solids at the time of lu, and they were canonically 1 when he's sealed, so that means PRACTICALLY NO TIME LEFT WITH HIS FAMILY and that's just too sad.) I'm also inclined to think yes bc of the linked universe panel you referenced where Four says it's good Time doesn't have any kids bc it would be sad if they missed him.
(now I'm imagining a scene where it's after the links escape the temple, and immediately it's like.
Legend, quickly walking up to four and gripping his shoulders: do you have children?
Four: how did you- um... Yes???
Legend: how old are they?
Four: turning... One soon???
Legend:
Anyways lol)
Another thing is I wonder if the chain will help future four and dot fight Ganon in the palace of the four sword? Idk if he got sealed away with them, or if he wreaked havoc in the past. But either which way, I wonder if it will happen. Again, probably doesn't count as a theory, I am simply spitballing
I think that's about all I got off the top of my head. I have vauge wonders of whether or not shadow will come into play at any point in time, but that all depends on how much you plan on dipping into FSA or if this is all just set up. Anyways, I hope that was maybe fun for you to read! Sorry I forgot about it lol
#what you look at you change#tele my beloved#loz#legend of zelda#linked universe#linkeduniverse#four#legend#dot#link#shadow#four swords adventures#theories#ask
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Ayo, LU obsession hitting me hard as of late, and I need some fanfic recs
Anyone know any good, completed fanfics centered around or about Four and/or The Colors? Literally anything, but I would love angst, hurt/comfort, or something with the Palace of the Four Sword
I wanna read stuff about my boy(s)
#linked universe#LU Four#lu colors#linked universe four#lu fanfiction#Lu fanfic search#Lu fanfic recs#linked universe fanfic recs#fanfic rec#give me some recs#plz
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*offers handful of sand and a rock*
In return I'm craving unhinged Four angst, more specifically something with the darkness contained in their sword consuming them. Bonus points if the colours make an appearance.
*Adds rock to my collection* thanks 🪨 the only one I can think of off the top of my head is:
Questions Go Unanswered, for Better or for Worse by Error403HRD - When Legend looks at Four, he can’t help but see the shadows he fought in the Palace of the Four Sword. Four can’t help but notice that Legend hates him. (TW for stalking and paranoia)
Anyone know any other good ones?
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I’m not even sure what quite to ask but just know that I’m VERY interested in your palace four swords au and I’d love anything you could tell me about it 👀 -Sky Floor
Excellent!
Hm, what can I say...
Well, to start off with, I'll talk a little of the process of developing the fic.
So there are so many really good fics out there about Legend angsting about killing Four, but as y'all know I'm a happy-endings type of girl, so those fics made me sad. So one day I realized "Hold on, there's three timelines. Legend's is only one. And our boys are going on a time-traveling adventure." And the next instant I realized that of course this would fit perfectly with the fact that the Historia has FSA be after Twilight Princess. Yes, everything was steadily falling into place. Four will be sealed in the Palace, I'd select Legend and some of the boys to rescue him, and he goes on to have the FSA adventure. It was brilliant, cathartic, I was so excited--
and then my brain was like "So you know that one headcanon you have that Four is [REDACTED]"
And I was like "......yesssssssssss?"
"You know you can't write something about Four and not include that headcanon."
"But... but it will make it so sad. This is supposed to be a happy fix-it fic. A FIX-IT FIC."
"Maybe." Said the brain. "But if you think about it, if you include That Headcanon... it will make a lot of things make sense. A lot of things."
"...dangit."
So uh
Yes
My fix-it fic was suddenly derailed for the sake of That Headcanon and also Plot, and while I am sad with how much I've hurt Four, I will absolutely promise the story has a happy ending. Things might not be the same. Four can't ever completely get back what he lost, but I promise I'll Job-ify him. It might not be the same, but he'll have more in abundance.
There will just be a lot of crying to get there. I mean it. I came up with a concept for a comic attached to the story and I cried for about fifteen minutes straight.
Also
hmmm
I don't want to give away too much so I'll just say this
There'll be a couple of early LU comics (and i mean like early) that I look at different with this AU in mine. Especially one. Oh ho ho do I look at that one differently.
Thanks for asking, this was fun to talk about! If you come up with any specific questions or theories, please send them to me I'd love to hear them.
#tellie talks writing stuff#sky-floor my beloved#you ask tellie answers#my fanfics#what you look at you change#palace fs au#fs palace au#palace au#lu four#linked universe#linked universe au#wbiaxp iriixyv fp fjmloqxkq
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Erm teeeechnically Legend fights four dark versions of himself in different colored clothes, or rather he fight four dark versions of his own sprite. That they are corrupted Four is entirely fan speculation and fancanon.
As far as official Nintendo canon goes there is no explanation and nothing known about the fate Hero of the Four Sword after his adventure good or bad. The four Dark Links could just as likely be manifestations created by the sword itself after having soaked up dark magic from the corrupted sacred realm or a test for baby Legend to overcome his own inner darkness.
The Palace is side of Ganon's Pyramid of Power in the Dark World. You can only get in after beating Ganon.
Having said that it is very likely that in LU comic Four has something to do with it. Jojo referenced a post comic adventure for Legend when someone asked about the Palace but I cant find it. Maybe someone has it saved?
Wait really?
I mean, i know that Nintendo couldn't have gone and said it was Four or anything, since his game came after Legend's did, and technically it could be shadow Links, but the angst of it and popular fan theory rule my heart <3
Thanks for telling me though! I've never actually played, so I have to rely on fan content and theories to get my information, and while they're awesome, it does mean I don't always get the srtraight facts.
The fact that Jojo (maybe?) confirmed another adventure post LU for Legend is cool though! I've had people ask me to try writing something along those lines, but I've had to hold off for teh time being to try and focus on other stuff. That said, if anyone knows where this post or ask or whatever can be found, please tell me! I'd love to see what Jojo had to say!
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Oops I asked in the wrong place ... Do you, by chance, have any fic recommendations for a Four enjoyer such as me? (manga and/or LU)
Aaaa a fellow Four Enjoyer, I see! I'm afraid i don't have any manga fic recs for the time being, but I've got LU Four fic in spades!! Here's a few I really enjoyed in no particular order (sorry most of it is sad adfhafhjgjkd)
Fractured by the_ScrapWitch: "Four wakes up alone in the Palace of the Four Sword and discovers a disturbing glimpse of his future." Hurt no comfort. Fantastic atmosphere, extremely haunting. One of my favorites, the ending keeps me up at night.
Handle With Care by sister_dear: "Four lets Sky in on one of his secrets, though the circumstances are not what either of them would have preferred." Hurt/comfort with Four helping asthmatic Sky, fluffy at the end! Really sweet bonding between an underrated duo!
Alone Together by Blueskullcandy: "A series of fics focused on Four and his interactions, inside and out." A staple of Four fic!! Includes plenty of interaction between the Colors and Four's relationship with the chain! The first chapter is such a brilliant introduction to Four in general.
Little Helpers by sister_dear: "Legend loses something precious. Four shares a little secret with Wind in order to help him get it back." Fluff! This one was written to go with a little comic by @raycatzdraws!! Super cute!!
Cracks in the Glaze by Lalalando: "A series of whumpy, angsty, hurt/comfort fics based on Narsh Poptarts' battle drawings." Chapter 6 is Four! Four has a bad time with a Yiga footsoldier. Mind the tags! (@narsh-poptarts art here, warning for blood and head injury)
Just A Little Joke by Blueskullcandy: "It starts, as most things tend to with them, as a joke. A really horrible little joke. Emphasis on little." Hurt/comfort. A fic about Four's height! Lowkey emotional?? @wolfy1298 made a comic to go with it!!
Fill the Cracks with Gold by sister_dear: "Four has never been truly alone, and he isn't now. His companions remind him of this fact." Fluffy!! Four gets wrapped up in the other Links' warm things. Couldn't stop smiling.
New Hands on Ancient Hilts by TimeturnerJay: "The Master Smith, and what he can do for those who will come after him." Timeline analysis, Linked Universe flavor! A very sweet and sad legacy fic with a bittersweet ending. Highkey made me cry.
Equivalent Exchange by Blueskullcandy: "A wish is granted. For better or worse." Hurt no comfort. Four and Shadow angst. Warning for body horror! (Has a few peices of fanart to go with it by @mmmwafflesart x and @senoleaf x!! Also with the body horror warning!!)
Also this one isn't Four-centric, but
Down by RokettoMusashi: "A multichapter sickfic featuring Sky being the chain's primary caretaker as they're sick and laid up one by one." 8+1 Sickfic! This one is Sky-centric, but focuses on each of the boys one by one as he takes care of them. Four's chapter two, and it's SO soft and very sweet. Seriously Sky-Four bonding is just STELLAR
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The Bath House [Part IV] (King!Yoongi x Reader)
Genre: Fluff, Angst, Smut
Characters: King!Yoongi, Servant!Jungkook, Queen!Reader
Warnings: Alcohol use/intoxication, sexual themes.
Rating: 18+
Word Count: 3k
Previous Chapter: (x)
A/N: Again, thank you all so much for the nice replies to this story! Here is part four, part five will be posted soon! Thank you again for reading, I really hope you enjoy. xx
Jungkook was woken by the sound of heavy clanks, metal hitting concrete. His eyes wide open, he dresses himself quickly, throwing his hair back and going out to the court yard. Soldiers abound, walking and chatting, swords clashing in practice. Men in uniform gathering supplies, preparing to depart when the sun comes up to show itself fully.
His eyes wander up to the balcony, where he sees you. You watched over the soldiers’ activities with a look of sorrow on your face. Your hair down and slightly tousled, a long, silk, pink robe wrapped around your body, and a fan in your hands. Jungkook goes to throw a hand up to greet you, but stops himself when he sees Yoongi enter from the side onto the balcony.
Yoongi comes up to you and takes your hand, bringing it up to his lips to plant an apologetic kiss on your skin. Jungkook averts his eyes as Yoongi places his arms around your waist, pulling you in for a kiss before resting his forehead on yours, whispering sweet words in an attempt to comfort you. He spins you around so that you’re facing the court yard, wrapping his arms around you from behind, resting his head on your shoulder before tickling your neck with soft kisses.
“All of these men, leaving with me to protect our home… to protect you.” Yoongi whispered to you.
You said nothing, afraid that if words fall from your lips, tears from your eyes would soon follow. You heard your husband sigh, giving you one last kiss, one last squeeze of you in his arms, and one last ‘I love you’ before walking away, a lingering coldness taking the place of his warm touch.
Yoongi went down onto the courtyard, his eyes meeting Jungkook’s. He nodded to the younger man before making his way to his advisors who would be joining him on his travels. Jungkook looked back up at you, your sorrowed eyes fixed on your husband. He knew you were scared for Yoongi’s life, and scared of a suddenly uncertain future.
You were then joined by Ji-Soo, who gave you a soft smile and locked her arm around yours.
“He will be safe, my queen.” She said. “Steady your heart, do not worry over such things.”
You nodded, fanning yourself as you watched your husband prepare his horse. Yoongi steadied the creature, before taking one last look at you, his expression soft.
“WAIT!” You screamed from the balcony, Yoongi staring at you, pained and shocked at your sudden outburst. Every soldier, servant and advisor in the courtyard gawked at you but you paid them no attention as you ran down the steps onto the courtyard, tears rushing down your cheeks. Jungkook hung his head, his heart breaking from your sudden expression of pain.
You ran to Yoongi, who took you into his arms and attempted to calm you to no avail. His hands smoothing your hair, shushing you softly.
“You can’t leave, you just can’t….” You pleaded. “If something happens, Yoongi, I can’t… I don’t know what I’ll do… I just…” You attempted to find words in between your sobs, your breath escaping you.
Yoongi felt his heart shatter. He tightened his grip on you.
“My everything…” He whispered, his hands cupping your face. “My perfect angel… my queen… You must be strong, this is only for a moment.”
“How long of a moment?” You sniffled, causing him to chuckle softly. Yoongi reached down onto his chest, reminding you of the pendant on his necklace that he wore every day; a golden hibiscus flower. You smiled through your tears, tracing over the petals with your finger, the memories rushing back to your mind.
Two Years Earlier…
“Yoongi?” You called out for your husband-to-be, wandering through the palace gardens to find him. You found your way over to the koi pond, where you saw Yoongi standing on the bridge above the colorful fish. He greeted you with a warm smile, motioning you to come over.
“I have something to show you, my love.” He said. He pulled down on his garment slightly, revealing a golden hibiscus necklace.
“Mugunghwa… They’re beautiful.” You complimented.
“I believe that they’re reminiscent of you.” He said gently, smiling at your confused expression. “They’re beautiful flowers, they always thrive wherever they are planted. My mother once told me that they are symbols of eternity.”
You nodded at Yoongi’s explanation, trying to understand.
“I requested that my best craftsmen create this for me, so that I have you near me always.” Yoongi said, taking your hand. “Your beauty, my eternal love for you… It is a representation of these things.”
You felt tears form in your eyes as you wrapped yourself around Yoongi, feeling his arms come up to hold you.
“To think in a few short days, I’ll take your hand in marriage here in these gardens, and we can be together, always…” Yoongi whispered to you. “… My little flower.”
Yoongi gave you a soft kiss, bringing you back to reality.
“I will be back. I swear it.” He promised. “I love you.”
You nodded, looking around to all the eyes watching you. You saw that the sun was fully up, and your heart broke, knowing that it was time for departure.
You watched as Yoongi mounted his horse, steading himself before leading those going out of the palace gates. His advisors, a handful of both men and women servants, and his soldiers following on their horses. Your hands shaking as the gate to the courtyard shuts behind the last of his men, you believed your knees were about to give out.
Ji-Soo was quick to be by your side, grabbing your arm and escorting you out of the courtyard, making your way back to your bedroom. A group of women servants followed you into the palace, ready to help you dress yourself and prepare for the day ahead.
Jungkook watched as you disappeared into the palace, standing alone in the abnormal silence of the courtyard.
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Jungkook made his way back into his quarters, noting an unfamiliar garment and a note had been placed on his bed. He walked over, taking the note in his hands.
Something for you, appropriate for your newfound authority. A gift from the king.
His brows furrowed as he held up the black robe outerwear. Silk and soft to the touch, it was a luxury that Jungkook had been unfamiliar to receiving throughout his time as a servant. He slipped it on, admiring how its tailoring and feel before walking out of his room.
His mind went straight to you, wondering what you were occupying yourself with. He began to walk through the palace, smelling the scent of Ara’s cooking float through the air from the kitchen. The rumbling of servant and guardsmen echoed throughout the palace grounds as they went about their day, and finally, he saw you.
You were in the gardens, arm in arm with Ji-Soo. A smile across your face as you stood on the bridge with her, giggling over the fish you were feeding in the pond below you.
Jungkook walked over to you, and as your eyes met, you gave him a smile.
“Hello, my queen.” He greeted with a bow. “Hello, to you as well, Ji-Soo. I hope I am not interrupting.”
“Not at all.” Ji-Soo responded. “As a matter of fact, I should offer my assistance to Ara in the kitchen. She may be low on staff, now that so many have left this morning.”
Ji-Soo gave a bow to you, before leaving you with Jungkook.
“May I?” He asked, looking to your arm.
You nodded, wrapping your arm around his, allowing him to lead you on your stroll.
“How are you feeling, your highness?” He asked, his voice low with concern. “I’m worried about you, after what a state you were in this morning in the court yard.”
“I am doing better.” You said. “Be honest with me, Jungkook… did I embarrass myself? I shouldn’t have caused such a scene.”
Jungkook stopped, looking at you. “No, not at all. You are hurting, my queen, it is perfectly acceptable to act on that pain.”
“Yoongi is right, I need to be strong.” You said.
“If I may say, your highness, denying your emotions is no show of strength.” Jungkook said, looking into your eyes. “You must acknowledge them. Allow yourself to feel whatever it is you’re feeling, and feel it fully. That is a great source of guidance and intuition.”
There was a pause. Looking into Jungkook’s eyes, you finally saw the sparkle, what Ji-Soo had described to you in the market.
“Everyone sees the stars in his eyes when he looks at you.”
“Such wise words for a servant.” You said, turning away from his gaze, feeling your cheeks turn slightly red. “Is this why my husband chose you to look after this place?”
Jungkook laughed lightly, but said nothing in response.
“I do ask that you take my words to heart, your highness.” He said. “Dismissing how you feel is never the correct path. That will only cause you greater pain later on.”
You nodded in agreement, as you followed his lead, continuing your stroll.
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Later that evening, it was time for what you had feared the most; to be alone in your bedroom.
You kept requesting that your servants bring you wine, just as an excuse to not be left alone. But now it’s late, everyone has gone to bed for the night. The moon shining over the palace grounds and your bedroom was cold. Yoongi’s absence becoming maddening obvious each time you reached for him in your drunken state.
Tears began to fill your eyes as you stumbled out of bed, pacing around the room for anything that could distract you. You reached for the carved wooden box containing some of Yoongi’s items, accidentally knocking it to the ground. You dropped down to the floor to rummage through your husband’s things.
An assortment of papers, writings that he had stored for various reasons, along with goods you had found for him in the marketplace; beads, beautifully crafted textiles and little important luxuries. Your eye was then drawn to a small but expertly done painting. The vibrant colors catching your attention, as you reached for it and looked closely at it in your blurry vision.
It was a painted portrait of you and the king, standing in the garden, your fingers intertwined. Dressed formally, your hair was in a bun, the jade comb your husband had gifted you in your locks.
This is our wedding day. You thought to yourself.
The two of you were looking at each other, love in your eyes. As your eyes wandered through the portrait, you looked at Yoongi, and your eyes widened as you saw the golden hibiscus necklace around his neck; a detail the artist made sure to note.
You clung the portrait to your chest, and began to sob. Your breath shaky, and your hands trembling around the portrait that your husband had stored away to keep safe. It felt as though your world was being torched, and no rain would be there to put out the flames until Yoongi came marching through the palace gates, safe and sound.
The door to your bedroom flung open, and you looked up to see Jungkook, a look of concern on his face.
“Your highness, are you alright?” He asked. “I heard your cries, please, let me help you up.”
He brought you to your feet, and instinctively took you in his arms. His warmth radiating from him, bringing you a healing comfort.
His eyes widened, surprised to feel your arms wrap around him in response.
“Is there anything that I can do to soothe your pain?” Jungkook asked, his voice so soft you could barely hear him. “Anything at all, I will do it for you.”
You paused for a moment, thinking to yourself.
“Will you take me to the bath house, Jungkook? I need to soak to clear my head… I can’t stand being alone in this room any longer.”
“Yes, of course. Let me call your servants, the ladies will be here quickly and-”
“No, don’t wake them, Jungkook.” You said. “Let them rest, it has been a difficult day for them, as well. Just take me there, I beg.”
Jungkook sighed and bit his lip, thinking of Yoongi’s anger if he was here, seeing his wife nude with another man in the bath house. But he knew of his orders, to make sure you were taken care of, given everything you need. If this was your request, his orders were to obey.
Jungkook took your hand, interlocking his fingers into yours, and led you out of the palace, through the gardens. Moonlight guiding your path, the soft sound of insects in the cool night air as you made your way through the flowers.
He opened the door, allowing you in. He turned his back to you and lit enough candles so that you could see, but not draw attention to the building; just enough to radiate a warm glow.
As he turned around to face you, you had already removed your bed linens, getting into the water.
Jungkook felt himself hold his breath, praying that you did not notice his stare. He took in your beauty, your curves and your soft skin, as you relaxed yourself in the waters of the bath.
“Won’t you join me, Jungkook?” You asked. Jungkook felt as though his heart stopped for a brief moment.
“My queen… I think you have had a bit too much wine tonight. I don’t think it would be appropriate…”
“Oh, come now, Jungkook. I’m not asking you to be a man in my bed.” You scoffed, your drunken state showing itself. “Besides, it’s nothing that you haven’t seen before.”
He felt heat come to his cheeks at your words. His gaze fixated on you, your pleading eyes full of inebriated sorrow at the absence of Yoongi. Jungkook sighed, fully knowing how weak he was for you, especially in this state. He’d give you anything to take away your pain.
You watched as Jungkook began to undress, giving into you. His toned body being uncovered as he removed each garment, revealing a tattoo-covered arm that took you by surprise. As his arms were always covered in his servant attire, you had never noticed the black pictures that marked his skin. He found his way in the water, sitting opposite from you, averting his eyes.
“I never knew you had inked your skin.” You said, looking at his arm. “When did you have that done?”
“Different times, your highness.” Jungkook responded, finally giving in to look at you. “Each one done separately, to create a completed story.”
“And what story is that?” You ask.
“My story, I suppose.” He said with a grin. “Each one is personal to me.”
“May I take a closer look?” You asked. He felt his heart beat quicken, but he nodded in agreement to your request.
You came closer to him, the sound of the waters’ movements echoing throughout the room. You delicately touched his arm, outlining the shapes with your finger, feeling his muscles relax under your touch. Looking up, you met his gaze, eyes filled with those stars that you saw earlier, though somehow, shining more brightly for you.
You continued to admire the artistry pierced into his body, before you paused, staring at one that caught your attention above all others.
A hibiscus flower. Identical to the pendant on Yoongi’s necklace.
“Jungkook…” You said, removing your touch from his arm, looking in his starry eyes. “May I ask you something?”
“Anything…” He whispered, his eyes soft.
“On our stroll through the garden today, you advised me not to dismiss my feelings. You said I must acknowledge them, feel them fully…” You paused, a brief moment of hesitation. “Do you ever dismiss yours?”
A frown presented itself on Jungkook’s face, a brief moment of sadness in his eyes.
“If we are speaking freely… I dismiss my emotions every day, my queen.” He said gently, his hands finding yours under the water, slowly giving you light touches. “From the moment the sun greets me in the morning, to the moment my head meets my pillow at night.”
“And how you warned about the pain that may cause… Are you familiar with that pain?” You asked.
The room was silent, only interrupted by the subtle motion of the water. Jungkook was in front of you, the soft touches on your hand evolving into his fingers interweaving with yours. A look of tender yearning in his gaze, saying what he knew his tongue would not.
But you understood.
You slowly brought yourself to him, and placed a soft kiss on his lips. You could feel him smile, parting his lips slightly to invite you in. His hands cautiously placed themselves on your waist, before caressing up your curves, daring to brush against your breasts before taking them in his hands as his tongue tasted you. You felt yourself weak to his touch, letting out a soft moan.
As if awakening from a dream, his doe-eyes opened widely, pulling away from you suddenly.
“I... I apologize, your highness.” He stuttered. He removed himself from the water, and began drying himself, his movements frantic. “You have enjoyed your wine tonight, and I should not have acted inappropriately, taking advantage of you in this state…” He said, his voice laced in remorse.
“Jungkook…”
“Please, my queen, let me escort you back to your bedroom.” Jungkook said, cutting you off.
You felt saddened as you exited the tub, dressing yourself while Jungkook’s head was hung, his lip between his teeth, biting nervously.
On your way back to the palace, not a word was said, no touches were had. Jungkook opened your bedroom door for you as you walked in, trying to meet his eyes, if only he would let you.
“My deepest apologies, truly.” Jungkook finally spoke. “Sleep well, my queen.”
With that, the door was shut. The coldness crept back into your room. Yoongi’s items still lay on the floor, but you did not have the energy to pick them up. Your mind racing, your heart somehow aching more than before. You crawled into bed, and allowed your body to collapse underneath the sheets. x
Part V: (x)
#emperor!yoongi x reader#emperor yoongi#bts#min yoongi#bts yoongi#yoongi#bangtan yoongi#suga#suga bts#jungkook#jeon jungkook#jeon jungkook bts#jungkook bts#yoongi x reader#min yoongi x reader#min yoongi bts#jungkook x reader#jeon jungkook x reader#bts fanfic#bts fanfics#bts fanfiction#bts fanfictions#bts fluff#bts smut#bts angst#the bath house#my writing
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dinasty (part 2)
pairing: prince jaehyun x concubine reader
word count: 3.4 k
genre: Historical Mafia AU, smut, light angst
summary: after the perfect escape, you have to find a way to fit in your new life, leaving the past behind may seem easy when you're working for 4 princes and one of them is interested in you, right?
notes: hello again, part 2 is up and we have a new love triangle, thank you for liking the first part so much, and prepare for even more surprises
this doesn't have any relation to real facts and history, it's just pure fiction for entertainment purposes
warnings: violence, blood, cheating, unprotected sex, oral (female receiving)
main characters: jaehyun (prince), yuta (samurai, villain), ten (thai mafia, villain), kun (China's emperor warrior)
Reality - Part 2
Part 1 here
"- Nice tattoo!" the man says.
It was dark and his face was only visible through the moonlight.
You freeze, the man stays still looking at you like you were his prey.
You try to cover your body but your only reaction is to grab your stuff and run, praying he wasn't gonna come after you.
Arriving at your room, breathing heavily you try to think about what just happened. A guy like that had to be a prince or someone really important. Ms. Lee told you to be lowkey and on the first day you let a man see you naked in the bath area. "Whatever" You were just too tired to think, you didn't do anything wrong anyway, so you were gonna pretend that it didn't happen. The Korean Palace was gonna punish you for going to the wrong bath?
Suddenly you realize Kun's necklace isn't with you. "Fuck, I must have dropped there" but now it's too risky to come back and look for it so you decide to do that tomorrow. You lay down on your mattress and try to fall asleep.
-
Next morning Ms. Lee showed you the rest of the Palace, the kitchen and assigned your tasks. It was a lot of work and details, each of their meals had to be perfectly planned. They had someone even to taste the food before them so they know it's not poisoned.
"- I'm gonna be responsible for the King's meal and you're gonna be responsible for the four prince's meals."
-Four?
"- Yes, Taeil, Doyoung, Johnny and Jaehyun. Now you should prepare their tea, they always drink green tea in the morning."
While preparing the tea you wonder which one you saw at the bathing area and if you should tell Ms. Lee what happened yesterday.
You're walking with the trays to the dining place when you try to talk to her.
-Ms. Lee!
-"Yes"
-So yesterday...
You realize you still don't know much about Ms. Lee and even if Kun trusts her, you don't. Also you can't help but think that serving tea was much better than your life at the concubine's house, so you try quickly to think of something else to say.
-Well, yesterday… Before I met you… this man helped me at the harbor, he was wearing black clothes and had a samurai sword.
-"Stay away from him!" She turns at you. "They are dangerous, they will kill everything and everyone on their way, people you don't want to mess up with."
By Yuta's facial expression when you mentioned Ms. Lee's name you weren't surprised she said those words, you wonder why but she wasn't gonna be the one to give you the answers. Otherwise, you still weren't afraid of him, he was gonna be the last of your problems here.
-"Now let's get in there, first you bow and then you serve them the way I showed you, don't look at them in the eye and don't say anything." She says.
In silence, you enter the dining room along with the other servants behind you bringing the food plates and you stop in front of the tables on the floor where all the princes are. There are two on each side, the two oldest and the youngest, all of them are sitting on cushions, they all have long hair and are wearing beautiful hanboks.
-"Your highness, may I introduce you to your new servant 'y/n', she is my niece and she is gonna work with me in the kitchen from now on." Ms. Lee said while you bowed, you were still too nervous to look up and look at them. "Now, may we start with the tea." Ms. Lee turns to you and signs that you can go and serve them.
Holding the teapot you go to the first prince, the oldest, Taeil, he is very handsome, with his light brown hair, face delicate and mature at the same time. Slowly you pour the tea into the cup by his left, he doesn't do anything, just stays still looking down and you wonder if you did something wrong. On his right it's Doyoung, after you pour the tea he gives you a small nod which makes you feel calmer. He is also very handsome, shiny black long hair, perfect posture, he sure looks like a prince. On the other side, Johnny, you can feel he is looking at you, the first to say "thank you" after you pour the tea. His face is gorgeous, even if he is sitting down you can feel how tall and strong he is. And then, Jaehyun, the man from the bath. You freeze when he looks directly at your eyes, you try to stay calm and pour the tea but can't help but shake a little bit. He is the definition of perfection, he had perfect skin, perfect face, everything about him.
Jaehyun keeps staring at you even when you stand up and comes back to Ms. Lee side.
-"Seems like someone likes our new servant!" Johnny says laughing. The other boys look at him but Jaehyun remains silent and serious, still looking at you.
They give the first sip to their tea. Taeil stops and smells the cup.
-"Did someone… put ginger on the tea?" He asks.
Ms. Lee turns at you with her eyes wide open.
-"Did you put ginger when you were making the tea?" She says in a low voice. - Yes, that's how we usually drink it in China, I'm so sorry.
-"Don't..." Taeil says taking another sip "- From now on keep in that way". You see Jaehyun smirking with the corner of your eyes.
Your whole body relaxed, you felt like you were going to faint. Ms. Lee bows and tells them to excuse both of you. As soon as you enter the kitchen's door she grabs your arm.
-"You have no idea how lucky you were this time young lady, Taeil is the most picky to all the food we make, when he started speaking I thought I was gonna have a heart attack"
-Me too! But I'm so sorry, I swear I'm not doing anything again without asking you first.
-"Good! Now get back to work"
-
Later after you finish your schedule you come back to the bath area to look for Kun's necklace. You look everywhere but it's nowhere to be found.
-"Looking for this?" Jaehyun stops behind you holding your necklace.
You turn around and he comes closer to you.
-"I asked if you're looking for this?" Now he is inches from you.
-Ye- yes!
Jaehyun walks behind you and gently moves your hair to the side, putting the necklace on you.
-"Does that belong to your boyfriend?" He is so close it's almost he's whispering in your ears. You get goosebumps.
-Excuse me?
He smirks and comes back to look you in the eyes.
-"I fought in the war 2 years ago, I remember those from the chinese soldiers." He tilts his head to the side and looks at you from head to toe. "Or you did?"
-A prince fighting at the war?
-"And a very bloody one but yes... it would be a shame being a prince and let your people alone bring victory to your country"
-It does… belong to my boyfriend.
You hold your necklace in your chest.
-"And where is your precious boyfriend when a pretty face like you is talking to the enemy in another country?"
-It's complicated!
-"I have time!"
-Why? Do you want the full story to snitch on me?
-"Sweetie if I wanted to snitch you out I would have already!"
He was right.
-You wouldn't believe if I told you anyway!
-"Try me, I've seen it all"
You both sit on a stone beside the water.
-Well, when I was 9 my family was struggling, we didn't have food, money, anything… so my father sold me and my sister to a concubine's house. She went to a different house than mine so I never saw her again actually. But anyway after years of being a slave in all forms to that house I fell in love, to someone from the thai mafia, of course things got out of control, I was so dumb. When I tried to run away he found out and did this tattoo on me, I was in so much pain because I fell off the roof trying to run away that I didn't even felt the pain of the needle, I just stayed there, still. Then I met Kun, I fell in love again, he helped me to escape, and it worked.
-"And I assume that story of being Ms. Lee's niece is all lies."
-Yes! She helped to raise Kun and met his mother so it's the only reason she's doing this until he arrives.
-"Oh so he's coming."
-He works for the Emperor and he said they would kill both of us if he ran away, so he is gonna wait a little bit and ask to retire, he wants to do it the right way, then he'll join me.
-"If you allow me to say this but… I would never have let you to come alone, sometimes you don't have to do it the right way" He gets up and walks to the exit of the bath. "But I'm glad he did and we could meet"
You give a small smile with the corner of your lips.
-"Oh and by the way..." He turns at you. "The staff's bath area is on that way." He points to his left.
-I know now. Thanks.
He smiles and leaves.
-
Weeks passed and you were getting used to your new life. You were doing your job right, even making some different dishes from your hometown to the princes. Meanwhile you unexpectedly started spending time with Jaehyun. Since your conversation at the bath, you both got closer in a natural way. On every free time you had you spent time together, you mostly liked to walk on the garden because it was more private, he told you about his childhood, how he had to give up on so many things to be who the kings expected him to be, how he felt like he was on a prison his whole life and how he found joy on learning how to fight because it was the only way he had to express himself and not follow the rules. You were surprised at how wholesome he was, he made questions about your life in a way that you know he wasn't being just pity, he was interested in how other realities exist outside the Palace.
One afternoon Ms. Lee asked you to go to the flea market to buy fruit for the dinner's banquet. You went alone since now you were familiar with that.
Because of the summer there were a lot of different kinds of fruits on sale. You bought peaches because you knew Jaehyun likes it. After buying everything you needed you see some crowd gathering between the market, you approached them and notice some weird men you've never seen before. They were thieves. They were on their horses, destroying the sellers' stands, pushing everyone in their way, they even tried to put a food stand on fire. You saw a little kid who got lost from their parents and was crying right in the middle of the path where the thieves were. You run in his direction and catch him, putting him safely to the side of the road, when one of the men slaps your face "Get out of the way slut!"
The slap was hard so you fell on the ground when suddenly you see another group of men coming that way, they all had black clothes and katanas. The samurais. They were so fast, they fought the thieves in a blink of an eye. There are people running and dust everywhere, you feel a hand on you. "Let's get you out of here" you recognize the voice, Yuta holds you and takes you to a safe place.
-"Why every time I see you, you're in trouble? Didn't I tell you to not walk around alone?"
-I was just buying stuff at the market when they came out of nowhere.
-"You're bleeding, let me see your lips" Yuta takes the fabric that was covering his mouth and carefully wipes the blood on your lips.
-"You're gonna need ice if you don't want to get bruises..."
-Don't worry, I've had worse wounds! - You laugh.
-"You didn't tell me where you came from"
-You didn't either, and why are you doing this? Helping me when you told me to stay away?
-"Well you should!"
-I'm not afraid of you.
Yuta looks at you, his mysterious gaze turns into vulnerability.
-So, I will tell you my story if you tell me yours! - You say.
-"Years ago the king had a deal with Osaka’s emperor, since he traveled there and they proposed to do an alliance and protect each nation together, but when the war happened and the emperor asked for the samurais to fight on their side here in Korea. We came and it was all a trap, a lot of us died, the emperor stole our ships and made all his people be afraid of us spreading lies, that we were dangerous. Since we couldn’t come back home we settled ourselves here, but the funny thing is every time the small villages are in danger, like what you saw today, it’s us who come first to help them. You asked me why I saved you, where I came from, we take care of everyone, no matter what."
-I'm sorry!
-"Now your turn, what’s your dark pass?"
-Apparently like you I was also a victim of the war in my country, but other than having a sword and fighting I was just a concubine trapped in a house for so many years, let’s say I just involved myself with the wrong people and ran away.
-"It’s called a katana… the sword. And maybe I can teach you how to fight." He smiles.
-Me?
He gives you the sword.
-It's much lighter than I thought.
-"Careful, it's lighter but the blade is gonna be the sharpest of all swords. Here... You must hold like this!" He took your hands and taught you how to hold the sword, carefully he showed you some self defense moves.
-"Now if someone ever tries to slap your face again, you do this..." Yuta grabs your wrists and pins you agains't a tree, you can't move obviously, he is so close to you and you feel the sexual tension building.
-"Get away from her!" You hear a familiar voice screaming. It's Jaehyun.
Jaehyun gets off his horse, he was mad, you never saw him like that. You jump in front of Yuta.
-No wait! He saved my life! - You scream.
-"What? Y/n do you know who he is? He is a murderer." Jaehyun looks at you.
-"If you arrived 10 minutes earlier you could have joined us but the little prince was busy at his Palace right?" Yuta provokes him.
-"That's enough!" Jaehyun comes closer but Yuta doesn't even flinch.
-Please Jaehyun, let's go!
You grab his arm and take him away from Yuta.
- "This doesn't end here bastard!" - Jaehyun spits at Yuta's direction.
-
You come back to the Palace with Jaehyun and he takes you to the bath area.
He is sweating, you could see his veins popping because of how mad he was.
- Jaehyun please, everything is alright, you need to calm down!
- "No it's not, look at you, you're hurt" he grabs your face and touches your lip with his thumb.
- It's ok now, I was at the market when some thieves arrived, I was protecting a little kid who was gonna get hit by their horses, they got mad because I was in the way but I swear it was nothing and Yuta helped me and everyone in there!
- "What? How do you know his name?"
- When I arrived from China he saw me at the harbor, I was so weak from the trip he helped me and even took me to Ms. Lee! I don't care about your old family issues, he helped me and that's all.
- "I'm sorry I'm just… the Palace guards heard the thieves were at the market and when I knew you were there I got my horse and went after you, I just couldn't let anything bad happen to you y/n!"
He grabs your face with both of his hands and kisses you. You try to push him but still can't open your eyes and break the kiss completely "Jaehyun we shouldn't..."
- "If you don't want it then tell me to stop" your heart is beating so fast, you swallow hard and look up at Jaehyun, "I know I'm not the only one feeling this" He says kissing you hard again.
He is right. "Touch me" you say, grabbing his hands and placing them on your breasts. When he is caressing his hands on your breast he removes your necklace, dropping it on the ground. He unties your dress and slides the fabric until your lower body, he is on his knees in front of you and he passes his hands on the back of your thighs until your butt and kisses your thighs slowly. He keeps eye contact with you and licks your clit, you moan and grabs his hair in response to his tongue going faster.
In your head it felt so wrong because you were in love with Kun, but Jaehyun made you feel so needy, mind and body.
Jaehyun gives a hard lick on your clit and makes his way up to your stomach leaving a tray of kisses until your breasts, he sucks one nipple while his other hand and flicks the other one. He gets up and kisses you, the kiss was so wet, for a moment you forget that anything else exists while he kisses you hard, licking and sucking your bottom lip. He takes off his clothes, his hard dick slaps on his toned abs, pre cum leaking over his tip. Jaehyun lifts you up "Let's go inside" taking you to one of the hot tubs.
When you felt the heat of the water on your body, the feeling of pleasure and lust took over you, Jaehyun pulled you down onto his lap and gave you another kiss, you wrapped your arms around his neck when you feel his tip on your core. "Oh my god" you scream while his hands holding your waist puts you down until his whole length was inside of you. The feeling was so different, you got a harder friction because of the water and you start moving up and down to get used to his size. Jaehyun's shoulders and biceps tense while his cock is stretching you out. You bounce on him screaming in pleasure, body trembling as he helps you to move faster.
He was pushing all the way into you, hitting your g-spot. You arch your back and moan his name, clenching every time he enters you. You're almost out of breath when he sucks your neck and presses his thumb against your clit. "Jae, I'm gonna..." you can see he is close as well as he sucks your neck even harder and moves his finger faster. You scream when you feel your orgasm, your arching pussy made his cock tighter while he couldn't hold it anymore and released into you as well.
You both stay in the water for a bit recovering from the climax, he pulls you to his chest and you close your eyes.
-Am I dreaming?
-"I think the reality right now is better than your dreams."
"Reality" you thought, back at your own senses you couldn't help but be disappointed at yourself. Because of you Kun was risking his own life to help you to run away and now you're with the prince of the place he arranged you to work for. Maybe you were just a filthy concubine, maybe you deserved everything they did to you, even your tattoo. You roll your body and rest your head at the border of the hot tub, a tear coming out of your eye.
-
Part 3 coming soon
#jeong jaehyun#jaehyun smut#jaehyun x reader#yuta x reader#nct smut#nct royal au#concubine au#historical au#nct scenarios#nct imagines#nctzen
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seven sins | chapter six.
pairing: bts x reader ; kim taehyung x reader
fandom: bts
warnings: non idol!au ; historical!au ; princes!bts ; concubine!reader ; mentions of sex
genre: fluff ; angst
word count: 2.3k+
previous: 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5
summary: even in times such as yours, you still led a privileged life with nothing to ask for. that is until first your father, then your mother died and you were left to care for your two younger sisters. the position for royal physician seemed to be open and with your father having been a general and your mother having been a maid for the queen, you thought you might be able to get it.. little did you know that your visit to the palace would put a completely different offer on the table.
a/n: WE’RE BACK TO POSTING REGULARLY BITCHACHOS! ♥ and this deserves a fucking update, still one of my fav originals to date
“Stop it, this isn't funny!”
You smiled from ear to ear when you could hear your sisters bickering with each other, walking up the familiar stairs to your home that you haven’t walked in weeks now, before carefully sliding open the doors.
Your youngest sister was annoying the older one with a stick, acting as if it was a sword, while the older one just wanted to be left alone.
Funny how so many things had changed... yet others stayed exactly the same.
“You should treat your older sister with a little more respect, you know?”
“(Y/N)!” both of them ran into your arms the moment you had finished your sentence, you hugging them as hard as you could, breathing in their scent that you missed so much, "You’re finally back!”
“I'm sorry I wasn't able to come sooner,” you kissed both of their heads, then showed them the bag that you were holding with a grin, “But I brought you a lot of treats!”
Were you allowed to take them? Probably not. But the kitchen staff always prepared too much for you concubines anyways. It’d be a shame to throw it all away when you had two wonderful sisters sitting at home who’d devour such things.
And indeed, the fact that you were gone for a while seemed to have been forgotten while they stuffed their faces.
For a moment you were afraid that maybe they haven't had enough to eat, but they looked healthy.
“Hey! Why are you eating so much, you make it seem like I haven't fed you at all!” Jun entered with crossed arms, “I've been cooking every day for you brats!”
“Sorry, Auntie Jun, but it's really good,” the youngest said.
She scoffed, but then quickly pulled you into her arms to greet you properly. After all, you also hadn’t seen her in a while.
“I got you something as well,” you whispered, pulling out a bag full of coins and sliding it into the pockets of her dress.
“No, no, no, I don't want this.”
“They give this to us every once in a while to buy new clothes, but I don't need that. You've been clearly taking care of them, Jun, I want you to have this. If not for you, then for your parents.”
She didn't like to take, she usually only gave, but.. she sighed in defeat when she knew she had to take it this time. Like you said, if not for her sake, then for that of her family.
“Thank you,” she squeezed you in her arms once more, then looked at the children to make sure they were still busy with the treats, before pulling you further away from them to have a private conversation.
What she was about to talk to you about shouldn't be heard by them.
“How are you? How are.. things?”
“I'm alright. They haven't found out why I'm there yet, but I think the queen is getting suspicious.”
“Because you're not pregnant, yet? The herbs work?”
“As well as I thought they would, yes. I've slept with four princes so far, so I should be pregnant by now. The good news, though, I heard that because Prince Seokjin is the heir to the throne, he is the one who needs to get a child as soon as possible. So the king ordered that nobody but him is allowed to get me with child and.. he hasn't been one of the four yet.”
“So as long as you stay away from him..-”
“Yes. At least it gives me an excuse. Not a good one, the queen knows men too well, but it's better than nothing.”
“Why haven't you talked to the king yet? You've been up there for a while, haven't you had the chance yet?”
“He's very reserved. Just like I had expected. My father used to tell me that he only saw him so much because he was pretty much the only person he ever trusted. I need a chance to speak with him when he’s alone.”
“Why can't you just tell anyone else? What about one of the princes? Maybe they could help you?”
“I don't know them well enough, Jun. Yes, some of them seem to like me a lot, but I can't take that risk. If I'm wrong, they might give the order to kill me. But with the king, I at least still have the card of my father to play. He will listen to me when he finds out who I really am and then all of this will finally be over.”
“So.. none of the princes could be an ally?”
“Well.. Prince Seokjin might be. He's.. troubled, these days. The weight of becoming the leader and bringing an heir into this world is crushing him. I talked to him once and I feel like he might understand me the most.. of what it's like to trying to look out for your family.”
“Then why not try that?”
“I've only seen him twice. I don't know what he's doing, but he doesn't seem to be much interested in me, to be honest.”
“Well, you managed to sleep with four princes so far. That's more than half of them. If anyone can do it, you can,” she put her hand on your shoulder, “But you need to be careful. I told you that the whole thing about you not being pregnant would cause a problem.”
“I know. But that is why I need to be careful with Prince Seokjin. If I see him and I really do end up sleeping with him but not get pregnant, then people are going to seriously ask questions. That is why the king is still my first option and Prince Seokjin only the second.”
“Whatever you do, you need to hurry,” she turned her head and looked at the two girls sitting on the floor, still eating and chatting about which treat they like the most, “They've been alright, but they ask questions that I don't know how to answer. They know you're working at the palace now, but not what you do there. Neither does anybody else. Yet. But if people do find out, I'm worried that they might treat the two differently. You know how the town folk looks at concubines.”
“I know. Which is why I'm grateful that you haven't said anything to anyone.”
“You know I'd never do that.”
As much as you would have loved to stay the whole night and talk more with both Jun and your siblings, time wasn’t something you had much of these days.
Concubines, especially those with your rank, were only allowed a short period of time in the village. Nevertheless, you spent every second that you could with your family, had your sisters tell you about what's new, cuddled a bunch with them and assured them that you'd be back soon.
However, this time saying goodbye wasn't as hard as the last time, because now they knew that you’d indeed keep your promise of returning to them.
You were not like mother, you would not abandon them.
“Can you bring more treats next time?” the youngest asked with big eyes, making you chuckle and kiss her forehead, “The red ones with the pretty flowers on top?”
“I'll bring you as many treats as you want.”
“YES!” and with that, she ran back into Jun's arms who smiled as well.
And you took that opportunity to kneel down in front of the older one, “Tell me honestly. Are things alright?”
“Yes,” she nodded, “Jun takes good care of us, don't worry.”
“You haven't had any problems? Did anyone try to come in here?”
“No, people leave us alone,” she hugged you tightly, “We're alright, (Y/N). Really.”
God, she has grown up so much.. how long hadn't you seen her? What happened to your baby sister that always tried to get guidance from you? Now it was almost like you could ask her for guidance instead.
“I'm so proud of you..”
“Just come back to us safely.”
“I will,” you kissed the top of her head and then got up from the floor, “I will see you all soon, alright?”
And with that, you walked back to the palace, your heart not as heavy as the last time, thankfully..
..only to run into Eun and..-
“Prince.. Taehyung,” you bowed, but couldn't help the smile that spread on your face when you saw how Eun had her arm hooked with his.
So.. this was her secret Prince, huh? Definitely not a bad choice... but then again... none of them were a “bad choice”.
“There you are! I thought I might see you at the market,” she smiled, “Where did you go?”
“I uh..- I was just.. taking a walk,” you lied with a nervous chuckle that you quickly covered up by switching topics, “Anyways.. did you enjoy your day?”
“Ah, it was so nice, we had a lovely time.”
As much as you liked seeing her this happy, something about this picture in front of you was making you furrow your eyebrows.
Eun had been the one to scold you for sleeping – genuinely sleeping – with Jimin. She had been the one to tell you that it 'wasn't your place', yet she had her arm hooked with Taehyung's and was looking at him like she loved him.
Whereas he seemed to be.. not nearly as interested in her.
And why did she never tell you about her prince? Why had she kept it such a secret? You had told her about all of the ones you had slept with and now that you thought about it.. she seemed to have been relieved.. and now it all made sense. She had been relieved because Taehyung hadn't been one of them.
“My brothers told me quite a lot about you, (Y/N),” you three walked back to the castle, three guards in front, three guards behind you, “Good things only, of course.”
And see, you saw the way he looked at you, but Eun didn't. She just continued to look at him with those loving eyes and.. it hurt you. Because out of everyone at the palace, she was the only one that you truly cared about.
“Thank you, your majesty,” you said plainly, “I very much enjoyed my time with them.”
You needed to talk to her.
“Can I talk to you for a moment?” you pulled Eun aside at dinner later that night.
You thought about doing this some other time and giving her a bit more space, but you hadn’t been able to think about anything other than this. If she was truly in love with Prince Taehyung, then she needed someone to wash her head and tell her that this wasn’t a fairytale.
“Of course,” she followed you into the gardens, a place where you thought it’d be best to have such a conversation. Most importantly, because of the privacy.
“If I ask you a question.. will you promise me to be honest about it?”
“Yes. We're friends, aren't we?”
Which was exactly why you needed to have that conversation with her. Because you might end up being the one breaking her heart in the end. Because if Taehyung wanted to have you, he would.
“Eun.. why did you never tell me that Taehyung was your designated prince?”
“It.. just never came up.”
“It did.. a lot of times, actually. I kept asking you about it and you kept laughing it off. It was as if you wanted to keep it a secret.”
“Don't be silly,” she fidgeted with her hands, “Why would I keep that a secret?”
You stopped walking and gently grabbed her arm to make her stop too, “When you first met me, you said you wanted to be my friend because the other girls were all very competitive over their princes and that they had this mindset that they might change them and make them fall in love with them,” when she lowered her head, you knew you were right, “Eun.. did you fall in love with Prince Taehyung?”
It didn’t take more than ten seconds for her to burst into tears, confirming your suspicions.
You immediately pulled her close, rubbing your hands up and down her back, trying to comfort her as best as you could. You pitied her, really.
“Everyone else has at least two girls.. but Taehyung only has me. I thought.. I thought I was special..”
“But you are special,” you immediately leaned back to look into her eyes, “Don't you ever let a man not make you feel special. No matter who he is. You are beautiful, you are kind, you are intelligent and every man out there would be a fool not to see that.”
“But Taehyung..-”
“Is.. a different case,” you shook your head, “You said it yourself, Eun. These princes aren't looking for love, they're looking for sex and someone to give them children.”
“Not with you.. you aren't like that.”
“Yes, Eun, I am exactly like that. I'm just like you, just like every other girl here.”
“No,” she wiped away her tears and took a step back, “I overheard Taehyung talk to one of his brothers..”
“So..?” you furrowed her eyebrows, not knowing what she was trying to tell you here.
Eun straightened her back, “I don’t know which brother it was, but one of them told Taehyung that they had fallen in love with you.”
#bts imagine#bts x reader#bts#bangtan#bangtan boys#kpop#kpop imagines#bangtan sonyeondan#reader#mine#bangtan x reader#bangtan boys x reader#requests
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The Art of Hearts | Lee Juyeon
summary — trembling hands? flushed face? nervous stuttering? this wasn’t like you, you’ve never reacted like this to anyone before. so why is it that when you were with him you acted this way?
word count — 17.2k words
pairing — juyeon x female!reader (w/ mentions of chanhee, sunwoo, younghoon, and hyunjae)
genre — princess!reader, knight!juyeon, fluff with a hint of angst if you really squint, slowburn-ish, strangers to lovers-ish
disclaimer — mentions of minor violence and sword fighting !! I spent three days writing this through a hyper fixation and I REFUSE to get this beta read, so if u see any errors pretend like you didn’t see it at all 👁 this is also really self indulgent and I’ve never even written for tbz I’m so so sorry if this is extremely inaccurate
I.
You were a little upset with yourself, you weren’t going to lie. For the past few months you had found yourself curiously leaning over your balcony railing, trying your best to catch a quick glance of all the knights in training that were just a few feet below. Eagerly you watched as they honed their skills, determination fueling their bones as they swung, slashed, and clanged their dull and worn out swords against each other in a mock battle.
They fought with all their might to become the next knights of your kingdom’s army or the next royal guards that would patrol the palace with the king and his family. Though, you knew that your mere presence made them strive for their goal even harder than before. Who wouldn’t want to demonstrate their rising abilities in front of the princess of their nation?
Your prying eyes made them itch with anticipation and wonder. Will they get a chance to greet you if they flaunted hard enough? To take your dainty hands in theirs, rough with hard work and tenacity, and place a gentle kiss atop your skin?
You weren’t interested in them, per se. In fact you had never been very interested in the upcoming knights that trained in the barracks below you. Since you were a child, the tiara and gown lifestyle wasn’t really for you, longing to hold the hilt of a long sword within your hands and slash your opponent in one clean swing. You wanted to fight, you wanted to run, you wanted to get rough and dirty with the knights that were sworn to protect your kingdom. It had been your biggest dream and fascination to even sit in on one singular match between the generals and their young and hopeful squires.
However, the amount of times you’ve been scolded for your unattainable dreams was too many to count on one finger. How unprecedented of you to even think such a thought! Young ladies are to never step foot on the battlefield, dirtier their long gowns or scraping their soft skins, that’s what you’ve been told. The swords are for the young men who fight for their country and the women who stay home and wait for them. A sword was to never be picked up by a lady, especially the princess.
But it was so boring! Why must you have to sit and smile like a porcelain doll too expensive to be rough housed with? You could never understand how your mother, how past queens and princesses, could handle such a repetitive job. Smile for the allies, smile for your king, smile for your people, and most importantly, produce an heir that will make the kingdom thrive. That was nothing you wanted to do!
Yet you were the only child of your nation’s queen and king, so that’s what was expected of you. You had no brother to hide behind and force to take the throne. You had no sister you could hide behind and force to smile and wave. You had to do it without any questions and without any backlash.
You’d think they’d at least let you learn to defend yourself since you were the only heir to the throne? Sure you will have royal guards protecting you for a majority of your life but it wasn’t bad to be a little precautious just in case a happy incident occurred.
Just thinking about the mistreatment made you frown, slumping over the balcony railing with a huff and using your hand to prop up your head in annoyance. Not even watching the knights-to-be scramble to display their tiny growing muscles or aimlessly swinging their blades around could make you feel any better.
And then you heard it, a deep and loud horn echoing across from the barracks all the way to the balcony you stood on. It caught your attention almost immediately, standing up straight and leaning over the railing to see what was going on. Unfortunately you hear what they must be saying from the height you were at, but the slow opening of the barrack gates was enough to clue you in on what was happening next.
“Oh, I’m just in time!” A voice chirped behind you, your skin jumping off its bones at their sudden appearance. You turn your head innocently to catch the sight of a fellow member of royalty slinking you to your side, his tiny physique making his footsteps light and silent as he stepped across the marble flooring of the balcony.
“Why, if it isn’t his Royal Highness, Prince Choi Chanhee of Fantasia!” You teased, watching as he rolled his eyes at his formal title. Only recently had the boy been pronounced the next king of his nation and he still wasn't used to the new form of address he had been given. You took this as an opportunity to poke fun at him, knowing all of the times he’s done the exact same to you. “What do I owe the pleasure of seeing his Royal Highness today?”
“You are so annoying,” Chanhee snided, earning a knowing smile from you as he leaned over the balcony railing just as you did before. “My father has come to discuss some important matters with your family, something involving the trading between the two kingdoms. I was forced to tag along being the next heir and I came to give you a bit of company, but it seems as though you’re already a little preoccupied.”
You couldn’t help but scoff at his last words, knowing he was trying to jab right back at you for watching the squires of your kingdom. “Very funny, Chanhee, but I’m not here to watch the scrawny pretty boy’s fight for a simple smile from me.”
“You find enjoyment in their pinning though, I know you do,” He noted, not taking his eyes off the barrack gates. They were completely open now, leading out into the field that was right front of the balcony the two of you were standing on. “You would never give a singular one of these men a chance because the little she-devil inside of you likes toying with their hearts.”
“You describe me so coldly, it hurts,” you laugh, watching a smile etch on the prince’s face at your words. You enjoyed your little banter like this, fighting back and forth like a pair of siblings rather than potential suitors. And let it be known that everyone in the palace wanted Chanhee to be the one who would finally court you, but he didn’t seem too interested in the idea either.
Once again a horn was blown to catch the attention of the people, it’s deep sound resonated across the field and the two of you turned your gazes towards the barracks once more. This is what Chanhee was looking forward to, the weekly evaluation that the knights-to-be of your kingdom endured four days every month. To be honest, you looked forward to it as well, as it usually was used as a way to not only assess the squires but show off the power of the kingdom’s next knights and royal guards.
After a few moments two horses shot out of the barrack gates, galloping across the open field at such intense speeds that if you blinked you would have missed them.
“This week is archery!” Chanhee exclaimed, clapping his hands together in glee as he pointed out the worn red targets that were placed about the field.
You narrowed your eyes as you finally settled your eyes upon one individual, Chanhee’s gaze following the other rider as they rode in the wind. The boy you were watching was riding upon a black stead, the steeds jet black coat nearly matching his slate colored hair. The only reason you could see the boy upon the black horse was because of his contrasting blue tunic and the evergreen colored grass underneath them.
As the two approached the first target, the boy began to rise off of the saddle straightening his back as lifting up a bow and arrow held in his hands. He focused in on the target in front of him, quickly snatching an arrow out of the quiver strapped around his back and nocking his bow. Both you and Chanhee watched in silence as the boys drawed back on their bowstrings, aiming carefully for the bullseye with unheard precision.
Thwish! Chanhee’s boy was the first to release his arrow, the object flying through the air and sinking deep into the plywood of the target. The boy let out a cheer as his chestnut steed began to pick up the page, charging straight for the other two targets that were left to clear. Only a few seconds after the first the boy you were watching released his arrow, stabbing into the target just as, if not harder, into the target than the first.
There was no cheering coming from him, no gesture of victory, not even a hint of an eager smile. He only grabbed onto the reins of his horse and commanded it to continue forth.
After the first moment of hesitation, he was no longer the one waiting for his fellow knight-to-be to make the first move. He surpassed the other boy in a matter of seconds, shooting his arrows deep into the plywood targets in a heartbeat.
“That’s incredible,” Chanhee couldn’t help but comment, reaching out for your arm as he stared down at the field in pure amusement. “Did you catch that Y/N? Each one of those shots, straight into the bullseye? And on the back of horse running at full speed? He’s inhuman, there’s no other way.”
“What can I say?” You bragged, a smile donning in your face as the boy’s horse began to slow into a casual trot. Only then did the remnants of a grin don his face, basking in his easily gained victory. “My kingdom’s soldiers are the best in the region? There is a reason everyone wants to be our allies and not our enemies? The boys from the village could crush yours in a fell swoop.”
The current squires weren’t everything to brag about now, but once they finished training? Ascending to the ranks of knights and royal guards? They were unstoppable, worthy of not only your praise, but the kingdom’s as well.
“That’s so unfair,” Chanhee pouted, stepping away from the balcony to throw a small fit. It was nothing too serious, just blowing off some steam from being the lesser royal member in the room. “You should really send some of your knights to Fantasia once you become queen. We could really use the unstoppable knights of your kingdom to better protect our own.”
You snort at his words, glancing down towards the open field where the targets laid. “Not a chance, your Royal Highness,” you tell him, your eyes glued to the slate colored hair of the squire below you. In a heartbeat he turned his head to the balcony, turning to the side like a dog as his gaze met yours. “Not a chance.”
II.
“Forgive me for speaking out of turn,” you say, your brain barely keeping up with the words that were spilling out of your mouth. “But what? You’re doing what?”
Your father couldn’t help but smile at your confusion, leading you down the busy hallway of the barracks. Any knight or general that would walk the same path as the two of you would gasp and bow before you, letting the king and his daughter pass them before even daring to continue on their way. Squires young and old would all gawk and stare from the windows and doorways of their rooms, their gazes never leaving their sovereign’s side until they were out of view.
You were in the barracks. For the first time in your life you were walking the corridors of the knight’s barracks, their training grounds, side by side with your father’s permission. Sure, you were still dressed in the long feet covering dress and shiny silver crown you had inherited so it meant you were not going to do any sort of fighting while you were here, but they didn’t matter to you. This was a big step for you to be taking in first place! Just walking within the barracks was a simple dream come true.
“Progress has been made,” your father’s royal adviser spoke first, explaining the situation to you as simply as he could. “The general in charge of training the newest squires from around the nation had reported that he believed that some of them were ready to ascend the ranks. So your father is here to judge and give the final verdict personally.”
“You saw the evaluation a week ago, didn’t you?” Your father suddenly asked you.
Your brain was doing marathons around the room as they spoke to you, trying your best to keep up with the conversation. Though the mentioning of the weekly evaluation snapped you back into reality, remembering the talented boy that rode across the field on the black stallion and easily demolished his competition. “Of course,” you responded, a little too fast for your liking. Quickly you added on, “who doesn’t remember the evaluation? Prince Chanhee was so impressed by the skills of our knights-to-be that he begged me to send some to his kingdom.”
“I know,” your father sneering, reminiscing over a memory you hadn’t witnessed. “These boys, the ones I’m going to evaluate, are around your age. I thought it was useful for you to see them personally, as there is a very strong potential that you’ll be growing as the next queen alongside them.”
“So…,” you mumble, stopping with your father in front of the door archway led to the courtyard where most of the knights-to-be were being held. “No training with the knights?”
Your father shot you a glance before laughing to himself, allowing his royal advisor to pass by him and walk out first into the courtyard. “No training with the knights.”
“May I present to you, his Majesty the King and Her Royal Highness, Princess Y/N!”
Both you and your father stepped out into the courtyard, everyone in the vicinity of the two of you bowing in respect. Your father spoke a few words to the general in charge, an exchange of words you didn’t quite catch. You were too distracted by your surroundings to focus on what was being spoken to you.
The ground around the archways was paved in cement, creating a small pathway to be walked on around the courtyard. Yet in the middle courtyard was completely dirt, grass only making an appearance in spotty areas from being traversed on so many times. The dirt stained the hem of your dress with a brown tint, having it been raining a few nights before and the ground hadn’t completely soaked up all of the water that had been doused upon it.
But you didn’t mind, why would you care about your dress when you were finally in the barracks! Your eyes were glued to the more important things, like the targets that were hung up against the walls with arrows puncturing the wood or the many dull swords and swords that were littered across the ground forgotten with the king and your arrival.
You must look like an idiot as you looked around the barracks like it was the most exquisite place of the century. To them squires, it was just another building that barely had anything to give. But to you? This was heaven on Earth, the garden of Eden in a cold and unforgiving world.
“General, please, no need to flatter,” your father’s voice spoke, finally snapping you out of your daydream-like state. When you looked up towards him, he was laughing and smiling with the man over all of the knights-to-be, turning towards the younger boys with an expectant glint in his eyes. “I am here to see the potential we’ve gathered within our ranks.”
“Of course, your Majesty!” He replied in an instant, turning towards the young men as urging a few of them to stand in front of him. It was only three of the boys close to your age that stood before you and king. “These are our finest boys to date, great fighters they’ve proven themselves to be, and hopefully even greater knights as well. Kim Sunwoo, Kim Younghoon, and our prized apprentice,”
It was him, the boy who has easily shot three arrows into a target’s bullseye on horseback. “Lee Juyeon.” You had never seen the boy up close before, you had never seen any of the knights-to-be up close before yet somehow, he made you falter. Your breath stopped upon finally laying eyes on him, unknowingly eying him as you tried to regain control of your brain. You weren’t used to this, being the person who was struggling to compose themselves, it was usually the other way around.
Most knights and knights-to-be were all talk and no bite, carefully trying to court you with sweet words and no skills to back up their courageous attitudes. Not even a single bat of an eyelash could make you want to give them the time of day. Yet Juyeon simply stood there, his head held high with well earned confidence and naturally captivating looks. He knew he was better off than most of the boys that had been spent off to become knights for the king, he must know!
Why else would he drop his gaze from his father to you, unspoken words passing between the two of you before he turned back towards your father. He knew you, he recognized you, and he was simply going to continue about his day. It killed you to know that you had been caught lacking, bewitched by his skills and appearance after being known as the princess who plays with knights for so long.
Was anyone watching you? Of course they were watching you, you were the princess and were standing right next to the king! Everyone must have seen you gawking at the boy before you and who could tell what was racing through their minds now?
“You're the boy from the weekly evaluation last week, aren’t you?” Your father questioned, addressing Juyeon first. You glanced between the two men for a moment, racking your brain around so you could follow along with the conversation. “Mounted archery, black horse?”
“Yes, your Majesty,” he responded politely, his voice making your hands twitch with a sudden spark. Immediately you put your hands behind your back, fumbling and fidgeting with your fingers nervously. How did he do that? The boy said three words and now your body was beginning to lose control!
You pinched the inside of your palm, cursing at yourself for allowing yourself to act in such a way. What was wrong with this? This wasn’t supposed to happen, you weren’t supposed to be reacting this way to a person you had just met!
Your father gasped in response to Juyeon’s answer, not even noticing your change in demeanor. “They don’t call you the finest for no reason then. Truly, your one of the most talented people I’ve seen come into our barracks in years. How long have you been with us, Juyeon? It must have been a year or so, hasn’t it?”
“You flatter me, your Majesty,” he smiled, his ears burning at the compliments given by the sovereign. “It’s only been two months.”
“Two months?” Both you and father exclaimed, sharing nearly identical expressions of shock. You cover your mouth with your hands, not meaning to speak out of turn. Your father cleared his throat not long after, trying to shake off the minor embarrassment from reacting in such a way.
Juyeon didn’t seem to mind though, his smile growing from ear to ear as he glanced over towards you once again. Your eyes followed his as he leaned down just slightly before speaking to you. “Are you okay, your highness?” He questioned, his own hands twitching from their place at his sides.
“Yes, I’m fine, thank you,” you quickly reply to him, cutting the conversation short between the two of you almost immediately. Was your face red? You hoped it wasn’t red, that would have been embarrassing.
The entire courtyard’s breath stopped as they started at the two of you. Juyeon, the finest upcoming knight, and you, the princess of the kingdom, spoke to each other. Out of turn and slightly more casual than expected, none of the knights and squires had ever gotten close enough to even get a decent response from you. Yet Juyeon had not only gotten a reaction out of you, but a flustered response as well!
“Juyeon,” your father called, snapping the boy’s attention from you to the king. Thank the heavens he stopped looking at you, you didn’t know how much longer it was going to be until you melted on the spot. You hated it, the sudden and newfound emotions the squire was putting you through. Your head was going to explode if you shared one more conversation with him, and that was barely a conversation to begin with. “How good are you with a sword?”
“Excellent, your Majesty,” the general cut in, giving the boy a stern pat on the back. Juyeon didn’t move from the position he was standing in, but it definitely looked as though he felt the brunt of the general’s hit. “He probably rivals those of the recruits from last year, already on their level or higher.”
“Perfect,” the king smiled, glancing around the courtyard for a moment. Before turning back towards the general and Juyeon. “Then shall we have a mock battle? If you don’t mind, I’d like to see your skills in action.”
“Of course,” Juyeon responded, “I can do anything for you, your Majesty.”
III.
“What the hell was that?!” Sunwoo yelled, punching Juyeon in the shoulder as hard as he possibly could. The boy winced as a result, numb from the mock battle he had participated in just a few minutes earlier. Though he didn’t retaliate like he should have, slumping into the bed that was provided for all the knights within the barracks. He was exhausted, having to exert a lot more energy than he was used to in order to impress the king as best as he could.
Had he known the king and the princess were visiting the barracks today, he wouldn’t have stayed up the night before.
“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Juyeon responded, his voice muffled against the worm pillow he laid his head on.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” the boy insisted, twirling the dull longsword in his hands by the hilt. He stopped as he pointed the tip at Juyeon’s back, threateningly hovering the blade over him. “You? And the princess? Flirting not only in front of our faces, but the king’s face? Are you crazy or what!”
“I wasn’t flirting with the princess,” he answered, turning to snatch the sword out of Sunwoo’s hands. He wasn’t even supposed to be bringing weapons within the sleeping quarters, all of those were supposed to stay within the barracks army for safety reasons. “I have no reason to flirt with the princess.”
“You were kinda flirting with the princess man,” Younghoon spoke from the other side of the room, glancing at the two boys with a curious glint in his eyes. Juyeon had totally forgotten he was even with them, quietly slinking around the room to eavesdrop on Sunwoo and his conversation. Usually he could tell when the boy was trying to sneak around them, but it seemed as though he was too tired and preoccupied to notice this time. “I mean, what else could that whole situation with you and princess have been?”
“I said like five words!” Juyeon insisted, holding the right amount of fingers up. “Five! How could I have flirted with her when all I asked was if she was okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, leave out the important details like the way you were smiling at her when you spoke to her,” Sunwoo pointed out. “Or the way you specifically were fighting much harder than normal to catch her attention during the mock battle? Huh? How do you explain that?”
“The king!” The boy argued, “the king was right there! Did you want me to slack off right in front of the sovereign of our kingdom and embarrass myself? You saw the way the general and king kept showering me with compliments, I had no choice.”
Younghoon shook his head in disappointment before dropping it up with his arms and speaking. “The princess couldn’t keep her eyes off you man, you suddenly became eye candy for her. And it definitely wasn’t just because your skills were really good, the princess doesn’t know enough about swordsmanship in order to be watching you for your skills.”
“You don’t…,” Juyeon stuttered, trying to find a way to defend himself. “You don’t know that…”
“Yes, I do,” Younghoon confirmed. “Everyone knows the princess barely knows a lick of swordsmanship. She was watching you, Juyeon.”
He knew that, everyone knew that the princess didn’t know anything about fighting in general. It’s the first thing that a person learns upon reaching the barracks from their hometowns, the princess does not know how to fight. She’s tried for years to run towards the barracks to even just watch the knights train their apprentices but every time she’s been denied access to the barracks.
Truth be told, he also knew that the princess was watching him during the mock battle too. How could he not, for every glance he threw the king’s way he would nearly make direct eye contact with the king’s daughter. Juyeon would quickly look away, ducking below blades that were swung above his head or dodging a jab that was aimed directly at his chest.
Everyone wanted to impress the king and the princess now, knowing that it was up to the king to decide whether or not they’d ascend the ranks and become fully fledged knights. The only thing in their way was Juyeon, the two month old apprentice from the more rural area of the kingdom. If they could take down him in a mock battle, or even get a small nick on his body, they’d get a sure fire way into the ranks of knights and royal guards.
The mere fact that the princess was accompanying her father for the first time ever wasn’t really in their favor either. Juyeon knew how much everyone adored the princess of their kingdom, scrambling and begging for just a peek of her from the balcony above the barracks. Now she had been right in front of their faces, breathing the same air as them and watching them carefully for the first time in her life. There could be no mess ups here, for who knew when they’d next see the princess within the walls of the barracks once again.
But it seemed as though Juyeon continuously kept snatching up every little opportunity there was to catch her attention. It wasn’t even on purpose, but his charms and skills stood up more than anyone else who had fought against him.
It’s impossible to catch any woman’s attention when Juyeon stood in the way.
The worst part about it was that he didn’t even mind all the attention he was receiving. Usually he’d humble himself, placing his fellow peers on a pedestal to try and uplift them and provide a source of support and strength for them. Yet the electrifying feeling he got from watching the princess’s face shift from bewilderment to flustered was addictive in the worst way possible, Juyeon almost cracked a smile just thinking about it. His power was truly unrivaled in a way he didn’t even mean for it to be.
Juyeon covered face with his hand, trying his best to conceal the ever growing flush on his face. This feeling… it shouldn’t have been this addictive.
“Either way,” Sunwoo began, cutting straight through Juyeon's thoughts like a sword to the chest. “You can’t be flirting with the princess.”
“Why not?” He asked, responding a little faster than he anticipated. Both Younghoon and Sunwoo gave him a knowing look, as if the boy had confirmed their suspicions of courting the king’s daughter. “I’m not saying I was, god! I’m just asking… why I can’t if I ever wanted to try…”
“Number one!” Sunwoo called out.
“There are dozens of knights trying to court her at this very second,” Younghoon pointed out. “Becoming one of those people will not only give you an unfair advantage but also make you gain a lot more enemies than you think. I’m almost one hundred percent sure you don’t want to mess with the already established and trusted knights within the king’s circle.”
“Number two!”
“She’s a princess, daughter of the king of the entire nation,” Younghoon stated, pointing an accusing finger towards Juyeon. “What are you compared to that?”
Juyeon rolled his eyes at their words, leaning up against the bed once again before answering. “I’m a knight’s apprentice, son of a barely known blacksmith in the rural areas of the kingdom.”
“You’ve got nothing to offer. She’s got a whole kingdom, you’ve got nothing but a sword and your face,” Sunwoo told him, shaking his head in disappointment. “If you’re going to try and court a princess of all people, I think you’d need a decent background to even try. Most of the people who try and flirt with her are people with lots of money, connections, or are just close to the king and his circle.”
“Alright then…,” He mumbled, glancing between the two of them. “What’s number three?”
The two boys looked at each other for a moment, a smile growing on her faces as they turned back towards Juyeon. “We kill you for leaving us behind!”
IV.
“I hate this stupid game,” you mumbled, keeping your head propped up with one hand as you stared down at the chess pieces in front of you. Chanhee had come to visit again, companying his father on legal matters that neither of you could care for. With nothing to do for the day he had offered to play a game with you, a game he was learning to play back in his own kingdom.
You agreed believing that both of you wouldn’t be very good and manipulate the rules in order to play, but that wasn’t the case at all. Chanhee was beating you badly, snatching a majority of your black chess pieces off of the board and assaulting your side with his white pieces. He said he wasn’t good but it seemed as though he was natural at this game. “It’s not a stupid game,” he corrected you, placing his white pawn near your black queen. “This game is all about trickery and strategy, if you can’t do that how will you win a war?”
“There is no war to be fought,” you explain to him, grinning to yourself as you moved your black knight piece and took his white pawn. “Even if there was, I have generals, allies, and a council of people to help win said war. That’s kind of their job after all, planning battle strategies and executing them flawlessly.”
Chanhee snorted at your answer, innocently looking down at the board and carefully plotting his next move. “Thinking like that will make you a weak queen, Y/N. I hope you know that. It’ll make you easy to manipulate if you can’t think for yourself… checkmate.” He stated finally, using his white bishop to move diagonally towards your black king. You curse to yourself quietly as you realized the predicament you were in.
Without knowing, Chanhee had nearly completely surrounded your king. His white chess pieces were all clustered up around your king, his bishop, both his knights, two pawns, and his queen closer to him for backup. “This game is so stupid!” You call out in frustration, moving another the last black pawn on your side to take his knight. Without hesitation the prince moved his bishop and quickly took your king within his hands, replacing your most crucial piece with his mocking white bishop. “I don’t want to play anymore.”
“You don’t want to play because you’re bad at this game,” the prince teased, placing the chess pieces back into their original order as you pushed your chair away from the table like a child. “It’s not my fault you can’t use your brain to its full capacity, my Royal Highness, Princess Y/N.”
“You’re so lucky you’re my friend,” you threatened, mentally wiping that catlike smile off of his delicate features. “Had you been any other person I would have hurt you by now.”
“Oh no!” He gasped, sarcasm dripping off his tongue as he mockingly waved his hands around in fear. “The princess with no fighting experience is going to hurt me! I’m so scared, what will I ever do?”
“Chanhee!” You yelled, jumping out of your chair in a heartbeat. The prince laughed at you as he leaped out of his seat, sprinting out of the room and closing the door behind him as fast he could knowing he was going to be faster than you. While you’ve been wearing fancy dresses and expensive, custom made heels your entire life, that didn’t make it any easier to run in. “Chanhee, you annoying little prince! Come back here and take back those words!”
You grumble to yourself as you kick off your shoes, desperate to catch the boy and give him a piece of your mind. You may have little to know fighting skills, but you didn’t need to know how to defend yourself to choke someone out. In a rush you hurry towards the door, swinging it open with an intense speed you didn’t think was possible only to open it to the face of your father’s royal advisor. “Good day, your Royal Highness.”
“Oh,” you say, trying to compose yourself as best as possible before properly responding to him. “Good day, sir. Is there anything I can help you with today? I’m kind of in a rush right now… his highness, Prince Chanhee—”
“—Can wait,” the royal advisor finished, urging you to open the door wider so that he could step in. Awkwardly push it open a little more, stepping to the side and inviting him inside. He gratefully entered, not hesitating for even a moment to begin explaining things to you. “As you know your father, the king, had decided a month ago to allow a few of the knights in training to ascend to the ranks of true nights and royal guards.”
“Of course I know,” you respond, grabbing the heels you had discarded in your attempt to chase after the Fantasia prince and throwing them off to the side where the royal advisor couldn’t find them. “He told me and my mother about it, he was thinking about adding new royal guards to the ranks since a few of them had notified my father of their retirement from the ranks.”
“Excellent, I’m glad you’ve been caught up that far,” he explained, making you raise a skeptical brow. Caught up that far? What else were you missing? You were the princess, it was rather important that you were updated on things that involved you and your family’s safety and security.
“Unbeknownst to you, the king and queen had sworn in a total of five knights earlier in the day while the king of Fantasia and his family were discussing their own matters of importance.”
“Without me?” You questioned.
“Without you.” The advisor confirmed. “Prince Chanhee of Fantasia had you occupied, and no one wanted to bother you while you were having one of your very few days off within the palace.”
You didn’t know whether you should be grateful for the privacy with Chanhee or upset with the fact that your father and mother did not think to invite you to the swearing in of the new royal guards. “Do not be distraught, your highness,” the royal advisor told you, a small smile playing on his lips as he began to speak. “It was simply a matter of keeping your best interest within sight, you will meet the newest royal guards whenever you feel the need.”
You nod your head in understanding, there was no need to be upset now. The damage was already done and it wasn’t too hard to move from. “Can I at least know who has joined us in the palace?”
The royal advisor nodded his head in response, standing up straight in response as he began to recall the names of all the knights that had joined them. “The most notable names I can recall at the moment are all from the barracks here within the palace walls. Knights Kim Younghoon, Kim Sunwoo, and Lee Juyeon, your personal guard.”
You froze upon hearing the royal advisor’s words, slowing processing everything in your brain as the gears began to turn inside of your brain. “I’m sorry but,” You laughed softly, trying your best to hear correctly. “Can you repeat that one more time? Who is the new royal guard?”
“Of course, your highness,” He agreed, “the new royal guards are Younghoon—“
“The last part! I just need the last part.”
“Lee Juyeon, your new personal guard. He was the barracks finest apprentice, being the most talented and skilled boy we have received in a few years.” Your father’s royal advisor explained, highly praising the boy as he spoke, “your father decided to place him as your personal guard, to protect you from any dangers while your father is away. It’s simply a safety precaution— Princess Y/N!”
It was too late. By the time the royal advisor called your name, you had already thrown on whatever pair of shoes you could find and scrambled out of the door to find your supposed personal guard. Out of all the people the king could have picked to be your specific guard, he chose Juyeon? The one that had made you flustered and fidget? The one that made your face and ears burn with a pinkish hue at just the mere sight of his smile? The talented mounted archer from just a month or two ago? That Lee Juyeon?
You stepped out into the corridor with a disheveled look on your face, your eyes darting around anxiously for the boy. Why him? Why was he popping up into your life again, right after you had gotten over the way you had completely embarrassed yourself at the barracks?
“Princess Y/N?” You sucked your breath as you turned around, coming face to face to the boy you hoped to never see again. He was still just as breathtaking as before, his eyes shining even brighter than when you first saw him full of confidence as his face glowing like the sun rays filtered through the windows was just a simple accessory for him.
Nothing much had changed about him since the day you first saw him, the only difference was now he had a genuine sword held within the scabbard that was hanging from his belt and that he was wearing your kingdom’s crest on the fabric of his tunic. Juyeon smiled at you as he pushed himself off of the wall, taking a few steps in front of you before speaking once again. “It’s been awhile since we’ve last seen each other, hasn’t it?”
You finally exhaled, the emotions tied into your sigh unknown as you worked up the courage to reply back to him. “I believe it has been… Sir Juyeon, I guess I should start calling you? With the whole… rank change and all.”
He shook his head at your suggestion, unable to shake the happy grin off his face as he spoke to you. “No, you don’t have to. I don’t like being too formal, plus we’re around the same age, aren’t we? You can just call me Juyeon.”
“But… you’re a knight now, a royal guard even,” you insisted. “You’ve worked hard to earn this rank, to earn this title even, I should address you the correct way at least.”
Though Juyeon was persistent whether you liked it or not. “Seriously, I don’t really care about titles and things like that. You can just call me Juyeon, it’s fine I promise.”
You nod in understanding, feeling your hands begin to twitch in anticipation once again. How were you going to handle being Juyeon being your personal guard when you could barely keep yourself from nervously fidgeting around? The boy was stuck with you until your father appointed a new guard or took away his knight status completely and you could barely compose yourself just standing in front of him.
You hated this feeling he gave you. It was like he casted a spell on you, where you could no longer think correctly or control yourself upon being in the same room as him. But you didn’t know how you could get rid of it, you don’t know if you could even get rid of it at all.
“I see you two are already acquainted with each other,” your royal advisor noted, smiling at both you and Juyeon. “Perfect this will be a smooth ride from here on out.”
V.
It had been about three months since Juyeon had been assigned to you as your personal guard and you genuinely hadn’t believed things would ever shift between the two of you. Your original dynamic had been stiff and tricky, you were withholding yourself from trying to become close to the knight and he was very determined to get to know you better.
Every time he would flash you one of those dashing smiles of his while the two of you would walk down the hallway you’d have to force yourself to not twitch, hands down at your sides and face turned forward to avoid making eye contact. Though the boy seemed to enjoy your very clear struggle to compose yourself, carefully prying into your thoughts when no one was around and teasing you about how you could never truly look him in the eyes.
For a good four weeks or so, that’s how the two of you functioned. Juyeon would smile, you’d become flustered, and he’d tease you for your reaction.
That’s as far as he’d ever go though, never reaching over boundaries or talking out of turn when he was with you. Because of the clear line of comfort the two of you had placed in between each other, you never thought that you’d become any closer. You put him at arm's length for two months because you were afraid of shaking and fidgeting under his gaze.
But then somehow, he had been able to crack your nervous shell. Juyeon had pointed out one of the swords you had hooked up against the wall, shining in the dim light of your room and covered in rare and bright gemstones. Somehow he had finally found the on switch for you, pressing the button and watching you suddenly ramble on and on about your interest in swordsmanship like no one had even tried to ask you beforehand. It was a little embarrassing to explain your long term obsession with fighting, but Juyeon never seemed to mind.
After that the two of you clicked. No longer was your relationship just ‘Juyeon your personal royal guard and Y/N the princess of the nation’, but Juyeon and Y/N. Two people of the same age that got along like birds of a feather. The palace itself seemed to notice this change the two of you went through, their eyes lingering on the two of you as you passed to try and decode your muffled giggles and his beaming smile.
Though the person who was most astonished by the change was none other than Prince Chanhee of Fantasia.
He hadn’t visited the palace at the same time you had first gotten Juyeon as your guard so he had not first hand experienced your growing friendship with the knight so it was understandable how he was a little confused. “Y/N…” Chanhee began, fumbling with his fingers as he glanced between the two of you. You looked back as well to find Juyeon walking behind the two of you, distracting himself with the walls of the palace to give you and the Fantasia prince some privacy. “Of all the people you could have picked… it had to be the archer from that day?”
“It wasn’t my decision,” you insisted, turning away from Juyeon to walk forward once more. “It was a situational circumstance and it was bound to happen now that we were going to walk the same path as each other, literally walk the same path as each other.”
“I know, you’ve told me this a million times.” He nodded, yet still unsatisfied with the answer you had provided him. Chanhee quickly picked his pace to match yours, not wanting to be any closer to Juyeon than he already had to be. “But I can’t help but… odd about this.”
You raised a brow at his words, letting it sink and marinate within your mind. “You feel… odd about me getting close to Juyeon?”
“Not in a weird jealous way,” Chanhee clarified, “I would never care about you that much. I mean I’ve been noticing your body language when you’re around him. You’re very much relaxed and it’s very clear that you enjoy his company but you have… nervous quirks. When you talk to him your hands shake like a woman with hand tremors and not to mention the way your ears will burn like a night’s lantern at the same time!”
“They still do that?” You whispered, holding your hands close to your chest. You could have sworn that once you and Juyeon had become friends all of your nervous habits stopped. You were anxious around the boy because you barely knew him and the way he made you felt in a crowd of people made you embarrassed, but that should have all ended once the two of you had gotten close! “God, do you think he’s noticed at all? I tried to get over the whole hands shaking thing after our first encounter at the barracks and I didn’t feel my hands shaking at all after I started treating him like a friend.”
The prince had to conceal a very heavy sigh that wanted to escape his mouth, glancing around the hallway for a moment to find a place where the two of you could receive some privacy. Without warning Chanhee grabbed your hand and dragged you towards the study on the right side of the hall. “Juyeon!” You called, allowing the boy to pull you along with little to no effort. “Give us like… five minutes? Stand guard, we’ll be out soon!”
You didn’t get a chance to see or hear the boy’s reaction as you were yanked inside of the study, the door closing behind you as Chanhee finally let go. “What was all that about?” You demanded from him, standing in the middle of the sunlight study with a scowl donning your face.
“I can’t believe it took you this long to realize… it took you three months to realize!” Chanhee exclaimed, shaking his head in pure disbelief as he paced back and forth. “Honestly at this point you’re either completely clueless or stupid, though I could bet it was both at the same time.”
“That was rude,” you bite, slapping his shoulder in retaliation for his harsh words. A smile broke out on the prince’s face for a moment, as if he couldn’t believe you had the utter audacity to hit him. “I don’t understand what you’re saying, Chanhee. Explain yourself.”
“Y/N! Her Royal Highness, Princess Y/N of her nation!” The boy exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air before bringing them down onto your shoulders. “The princess has finally fallen!”
“Fallen?”
“Fallen in love!” Chanhee dodged out of the way of your fist this time, skipping around the room with a spring in his step. You couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. You? The princess known to make knights and squires squirm for just a small glimpse of you? Fallen in love?
“No, Chanhee, I haven’t—“ you tried to explain, distracted by the boy’s overwhelming excitement. “—I’m not in love. That’s crazy, Chanhee. Get a grip on yourself, this is absurd!”
The boy turned to you with his catlike grin, refusing to take no for an answer as he began to take light steps toward you. “How is this absurd, your Royal Highness? I mean, does the pieces not make a clear picture for you? You’ve fallen in love with your personal guard, that’s what all these nervous habits you have are suddenly about! Plus the fact that you turn as red as rose when you address him sometimes, there’s no other way to describe it!”
You wanted to fight back the Fantasia prince’s words, debating him on what your true feelings were and that you simply saw Juyeon as a new close friend of yours. But when you looked back on all your memories of him, the ones with the two of you together and the ones where you were alone, your words didn’t match up with your actions. All the tiny stolen glances you’d give Juyeon when he wasn’t aware, the way your heart would accelerate every time you saw him in the morning, the way your hands twitched in anticipation when speaking to the personal guard.
“No…,” You mumble to yourself, standing there in disbelief, before trying to find a chair to sit in. “There’s no way…!”
“Yes way!” Chanhee insisted, almost as if he was reading straight into your thoughts as he walked towards you. “Y/N, it’s time you come to terms with the facts that've been placed in front of you. Your own body is telling you that you enjoy your personal guard’s company a little more than the average person! Face it, Y/N, you like him.”
“This has got to be some sort of mistake, I don’t like Juyeon. Yes, I think he’s attractive, one of the most stunning knights my kingdom has ever seen, but they doesn’t mean—“
The prince let out a frustrated groan, covering his face with his hands as he fell on to a chair not far from yours. “Do you even hear yourself at this point? Y/N, you’re telling me to get a grip, you need to get a grip! How are you going to deny all of the evidence that is right in front of you? What else do you need to confirm my suspicions?”
“I don’t know!” You snapped, a burst of confusion and frustration exploding out of your mouth in the form of your tone. “I don’t want to believe that I’ve fallen in love with Juyeon, do you know how awkward that’ll be for me? I’m with him at every waking moment of day, I’ll never get a moment's rest if I really do like him. And there’s no way I could like him, I’m the one who makes knights and squires swoon, it’s not supposed to be the other way around.”
Both you and the prince sat in silence for a moment, struggling with each other to come to terms with the arguments you presented. The worst part about it is that if you have in fact fallen for your personal guard, you wouldn’t be too bothered by the thought.
Chanhee suddenly spring up out of his seat, a smile growing across his face as his brain began to twist and turn at the new thought that had popped into his head. “That’s it!” He exclaimed, turning towards you with a mischievous look on his face. “I know a way you can figure out if your feelings for the boy are true or not, and you actually like the idea I’ve come up with. It keeps your best interest in mind.”
VI.
“Prince Chanhee of Fantasia…” Juyeon began, peering into the sleeping quarters cautiously to make sure no other knight was inside of the room. The only people inside were Sunwoo and Younghoon, both who had shot up out of their beds at the sound of the boy’s voice. “Who exactly… is he to the princess?”
“You see us for the first time today and all you have to talk about is the princess?” Sunwoo snorted, falling right back into his bed with a huff. That was a fair reaction, seeing as Juyeon spent nearly twenty four hours with the princess on a daily basis. He could at least have something new and different to talk about when he was with his friends. But he couldn’t help it this time, not when he was curious about the prince who had visited for the day.
Both the prince and his father were gone now, sleeping in their giant and extravagant beds of their own kingdom instead of spending the night here. But Juyeon couldn’t help but feel some sort of way about the Fantasia prince, his eyes had been locked into his head since he had first approached the princess when he arrived. Though whether he was watching him out of intrigue or jealousy was unknown to him.
“He’s the princess’s close friend,” Younghoon shrugged, answering for the stubborn boy who refused to give him any sort of help. “I heard they’ve been friends since they were children and many people including those outside of the palace walls thought they were going to be betrothed to each other at one point. It made sense, both of them were of royal descent and have known each other well enough for it to happen. The kings of their respective nations were close to each other.”
“Oh,” Juyeon responded, falling into his assigned bed a little harder than he had originally planned. “That’s good to know.”
“Prince Chanhee has not tried to court the princess though,” Sunwoo explained, staring at the ceiling with his arms crossed. Despite handing over the information he knew, he still seemed upset with Juyeon but the boy was simply stubborn like that. “They’ve been friends since forever and not once in my life have I heard he’s ever tried to make a move on her. As much as the kingdom wants the two to get together, they’re probably just friends.”
A quiet sigh of relief left Juyeon’s mouth as he nodded, covering his face with his hands as he responded in a slightly chirper tone. “Oh, that’s good to know.”
“Hey!” Sunwoo scolded, sitting up at the speed of light as he caught the boy’s tone of voice. “What did we say about the princess?”
He groaned in response to Sunwoo’s words, sitting up out of his bed as he recited, “dozens of knights are trying to court her, she’s a princess and I have nothing to offer, and you’ll kill me if I leave you behind.”
“Exactly,” Younghoon smiled. “I’ll drive a sword right through your stomach and Sunwoo will shoot your heart with an arrow if you even think about abandoning us for the princess.”
“I can’t shoot an arrow through his heart,” Sunwoo argued, shooting a mischievous smile towards Juyeon as he called out. “Not when the princess already shot one in the bullseye!”
“Leave me alone!” Juyeon hissed, ignoring the boys devilish giggles behind him. He couldn’t help himself from being so enamored by the princess’s mere presence, especially when he was around her for the majority of the day.
When he first came to the barracks, he couldn’t have cared less about the royal family’s daughter. He simply there to train as a knight for his kingdom and provide some sort of stability for his family back home. Juyeon was usually the one innocently teasing the other knights and squires for their one siding crush on a person they could not have, but the tides had completely turned on him. Now he was the one secretly pining after royalty.
His attention was caught when he heard soft knocking on glass, turning his head towards the window as confusion crossed his face. Sunwoo and Younghoon didn’t seem to notice the noise as they were too caught up in their teasing of the boys unfortunate feelings so the boy didn’t even bother to alert them at the sudden intrusion.
As swiftly and quietly as he could he slipped out of the bed and peered through the window’s glass, trying his best to see what had caused the sound. So one could only imagine his disbelief when he caught sight of your face in the window, standing in your tiptoes to look inside of the barracks. When your eyes caught each other's, you immediately smiled back at him and confirmed to him that you were truly standing outside of the sleeping quarters. “Y/N?” He exclaimed, a little louder than he originally had meant to happen.
Juyeon turned around and saw both Younghoon and Sunwoo staring at him, unable to comprehend the fact that he had called you by your name instead of addressing you by your full title. “You’re…,” Sunwoo began, struggling to get the words out of his mouth, “you’re on a first name basis with the princess?”
“I’ll be right back, okay?” He assured them, knocking the glass to signal that he was coming to meet you. Immediately both Younghoon and Sunwoo jumped up, scrambling towards the boy with a million questions on their mind. Juyeon just narrowly dodged their onslaught, dashing to the door and closing it on their faces. “Just give me ten minutes! I promise I’ll explain everything when I get back!”
“You’re in a lot of trouble when you get back!” The younger knight whispered, but there was just enough diction in his voice to know that he was threatening him. Juyeon only smiled to himself as he took a few steps away from the door, searching for the nearest archway to lead him into the courtyard. How had you even gotten this close to the barracks? If he remembered correctly, most guards within the palace would have stopped you before you could even get close. Did you really only need to walk inside the barracks once to sneak in for good?
“Want to explain how you got here without getting caught?” He asked you as he rounded the corner, leaning up against the wall with a knowing smirk on his face.
You stood up from where you were sitting on the ground, the white nightgown you were supposed to be wearing to sleep practically glowing in the moon’s light. You hesitated to respond to him as you played with the sleeve of your nightgown unconsciously, though sharing that same smile you had given him earlier in his sleeping quarters as you asked, “did you call me by my first name in there?”
“I did not.”
“You did!” You gasped, pointing an accusing finger towards him as you walked toward him. “I know you did, you said my name without any titles attached to it. You can’t play dumb with me, I knew as soon as you noticed I was there and said something from behind the glass.”
“You’re avoiding my question,” Juyeon pointed out, putting a hand out in front of him to keep a small distance in between the two of you. “How did you get here without being caught?”
“You’re avoiding my question!” You argued. “Did you call me by my first name when you were with your friends? It’s totally fine if you did, you realize this right? I don’t mind if you don’t use titles with me, but I just want you to admit what you said.”
The two stood stared at each other in silence, refusing to let up first and wanting the other to reveal the information they had. Juyeon would have thought you would go on for longer, being the fiercer out of the duo about what you wanted. Though after a few seconds you nervously cleared your throat, stepping back and away from Juyeon to stay out of his personal space. “You know what, forget it, that’s not why I’m here.”
“Yeah, you were just about to tell how you got into the barracks without anyone catching you,” he insisted, watching as you rolled your eyes in annoyance. Despite losing the ‘staring contest’ you weren't about to give away any of your little secrets to him. “That’s a big achievement for you, isn't it? Knowing that you haven’t stepped foot into the barracks since the day you arrived with your father makes it even—“
“I want you to train me, teach me the whole swordsmanship thing,” you blurted, cutting off Juyeon in the middle of his sentence.
Slowly his smile began to drop into a look of disbelief, unsure of whether or not he had heard you right. In a rush, you quickly rambled on, “it doesn’t have to be as intense as your training from when you were a squire! And I don’t need to know everything you know, I just want to be able to fight. You know, slicing and dicing my enemies up in order to protect myself if need be— I know I have you and the entire royal guard on my side but this is just something I’ve always wanted so… please?”
“Why… why me though?”
You froze upon being asked his question, struggling to form coherent sentences to continue the conversation. “Because…,” you stuttered, your ears turning a rosy red hue as you tried to make an excuse. Juyeon attempted to not notice, keeping his eyes focused solely on you and waiting patiently waiting for your answer, but he couldn’t help himself. Whatever you were going to say to him next wasn’t going to be good enough erase the undertones of your silence.
There was a very likely possibility that you harbored the same feelings for him as he did for you, if he was reading the nature of the room right. Of course, there was the offset chance that you were simply embarrassed to give him your real reason, so he couldn’t just put all his money on one option only to be disappointed in the end.
“You’re my friend,” you finally explained. “Not only are you my friend, but you’re my personal guard and the ‘supposed’ finest knight within the kingdom’s men at the moment. So wouldn’t it make sense to learn from someone who is an acquaintance and is skilled in the area I’m trying to learn in? I don’t know, it sounds like logic to me.”
“Right,” he nodded, thought speaking more for himself than for you. Juyeon couldn’t get his hopes up, not when the person he had fallen for was a member of royalty. High hopes would only get him utterly disappointed when everything came back around. “That’s logical thinking, you’re right.”
VII.
Two nights out of every week you snuck out of your room and met up with Juyeon at the barracks. He’d cautiously sneak you inside of one of the very many training rooms that the barracks had to offer with the help of his friends and there he would teach you all he knew about sword fighting. Well… kinda.
It was a very difficult process to endure as you were something less than a beginner and Juyeon was something more than a master. Your varying levels of proficiency made it hard to work together since the personal guard wanted to skip the basics immediately and you had never even touched the basics beforehand. All your experience of sword fighting had only ever come from watching others from afar, so you truly didn’t know anything.
The perfect stance, how to hide your weak points, you didn’t even realize how heavy a genuine sword was! The mere thought that you were supposed to be the one controlling the swords slicing and slashing and not the other way around was astounding to you.
It was embarrassing to know that Juyeon had watched you nearly topple over yourself when you grabbed a sword for the first time, your arms not used to the amount of weight that you were carrying. You could barely pick it up, let alone sling it over your shoulder as the boy did ever so flawlessly. He’d giggle and tease you for floundering all over the ground with the sword in hand, slightly mocking you as he twirled his blade with ease. You’d sit there mumbling under your breath small threats and empty promises as your face would burn in shame.
If anyone had caught you two in the act of training, they would think you were a lost cause at first.
“A quick jab and turn isn’t going to do anything, Y/N,” Juyeon innocently told you, his sun rivaling grin growing across his face as he pointed the tip of his blade towards you. You were on the complete other side of the room, keeping your distance away from the personal guard instead of attacking him head on. “This isn’t fencing, these weapons are made to cut, not poke.”
“I know,” you angrily reply, growing tired with his ongoing cat and mouse game you two played. “You’re just really obnoxious.” You tried to attack him, rushing in with no genuine plan in your head. The dull swords clashed together with an angry metal screech when you swiped your blade at him, your attack quickly being blocked by Juyeon as he lifted up his own sword to block against your attack. Frustrated, you began to press the majority of your weight onto the sword, forcing it to move towards the boy’s torso at a slow pace as he fought against it.
Wordlessly he stepped forward, pushing back against your attack and forcing you to move back with a heavy foot. You yelped when you suddenly lost your footing, the weight you had pressed into the blade betraying you as you hit the ground with an unfortunately loud thud. You stayed down on the ground for a little longer than you wanted, catching your breath and making sure you didn’t potentially crack your head open on the stone floors. The two of you couldn’t train in the courtyard in fear that someone would catch you in the barracks, but now you were willing to risk the chance.
“I’m not obnoxious,” the boy defended as you secretly rolled your eyes at his words. “You’re just bad at fighting and… wildy easy to predict.”
“That’s because someone didn’t teach me the basics like they were supposed to!” You complained, lifting yourself off the ground and pointing an accusing finger at him. Juyeon sheepishly smiled as you continued to call out, “you just threw a sword at me the first day and said hit me! I nearly fell when I grabbed that thing and you wanted me to fight first thing? I thought I already established to you that I knew nothing at all?”
“I know the basics are so boring after you’ve completed it all. If you want someone else to teach you just say so, I’m sure that Sunwoo and Younghoon would kill to be in your presence and teach you how to fight,” Juyeon argued, leaning up against the pommel of his sword and curiously looking down at you. When you didn’t respond to his suggestion, he shrugged his shoulders and joined you in the ground for a moment. “That’s what I thought.”
The entire ‘Juyeon teaches you sword fighting’ idea was all Chanhee’s plan, conjuring up the brilliant idea in a matter of seconds. The Fantasia prince had suggested it as a way for you not only to learn swordsmanship but figure out if you truly held feelings for the personal guard as you would be engaged in a lot more close combat and would be alone with each other for a few more hours within the day. Honestly you think that was the first time you had ever called the boy a genius, mainly for the reason that you would finally dabble in your long term interests.
However instead of falling completely and uncontrollably in love with Juyeon, you just wanted to slice his head off. He was nothing like he usually was when it came to fighting, his condescending smirks and over the top mocking getting the best of him whenever he had fought against you. Though his continuous and annoying teasing only fueled your drive to master sword fighting even stronger than before, so you guessed that was one thing that was working out for you.
Though, if you had to be honest, you did have your moments where you faltered not because of your own lack of skill but because of Juyeon in general. Let it be known that whether you had feelings for the personal guard or not, he was conventionally attractive. Running his fingers through his hair, his beaming smile of knowingness, even the arrogant looks of victory was enough to distract you from your adrenaline fueled drive to stab Juyeon in the chest. Did he even know he had that effect on you?
Maybe it’s best he didn’t know, you didn’t need another weakness to add to your ever growing skill set of cans and can’ts.
“Why didn’t you actually teach me the basics though?” You asked him, catching his attention almost immediately. “I mean… I learned the basics by myself with no help by mock battling you for several nights straight. I’m not the best fighter but I’d at least like to stand a chance against you instead of humiliating myself over and over again.”
Juyeon thought to himself for a moment, staring at the ceiling and anxiously running his hands through his hair. “Is ‘because it’s fun to mess with you’ a valid answer to your question?”
You gave the boy a strained smile and you hissed, “No. Absolutely not.”
“Then i don’t know,” he admitted, lifting himself off of the ground and fumbling around with his hands. Juyeon wasn’t looking directly at you as he spoke, staring off into the void with an unknown emotion swirling around in his eyes. “I’m not that good of a teacher for close friends if I’m gonna be honest. I get competitive, more focused on the fulfillment of my joy and worth than actually… teaching someone how to do a task or skill.”
You nodded in understanding, all of the frustration and annoyance from earlier gone within a flash of his words. What he said was fair, some people just don’t have the ability to teach others and he just happened to be one of them. “So then why’d you agree that night?” You asked him, now trying to wrap your head around that fact. “I mean if you knew you’d have a hard time teaching me how to sword fight, you didn’t have to say yes… you do know that right?”
“I know,” he responded, before turning to you with his signature smile. Your hands began to shake once again at the sight of it, the same exact smile he had the audacity to give you in front of all the knights and squires when he was among their ranks. The one that would go from ear to ear in pure amusement and endearment from your words and reactions. That one, the one that started this mess in the first place. “I know I could have declined if I wanted to but… something in me wanted to help you anyways.”
“And that something was…?” You questioned, your words trailing off just a little as you urged him to explain. You don’t know exactly what you’re expecting for him to say. That he agreed out of obligation? The kindness of his heart? That he simply wanted to spend time with you? Did you even know what you wanted his answer to be? Or how disappointed you’d be if it wasn’t anything that would give you the false hope you were unconsciously reaching for?
He sighed to himself for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. “I don’t know, really. Like… I know but at the same time I don’t? It’s complicated and I don’t really want to bug you with it.” Juyeon explained, glancing down to your nervously trembling hands with a teasing smile growing on his face. “What’s with the shaking hands? When you were holding that sword you were as tough as a rock, feeling a little vulnerable without it?”
“Shut up,” you snapped at him, immediately putting your hands behind your back, squeezing them together as you tried to keep a straight face. Of course he was going to notice that nervous tick of yours one day, it was inevitable especially after the Fantasia prince had caught onto it. Chanhee wasn’t even at the palace every day to even pick up on it, he just knew you well. So why would you ever believe that Juyeon, your personal guard for heaven's sake, wouldn’t have noticed it? “It’s just cold,” you lied, “we aren’t doing anything right now and the night’s cold just gets to me something.”
“Well why didn’t you say so?” Juyeon questioned, earning himself a skeptical look from you. In a heartbeat he reached behind you and scooped up your hand and his, holding it tightly in his grasp with a grin.
You snatched your hand in retaliation, your ears burning the unfortunate rosy red as you shout, “woah! Hold on, what are you doing?”
“Relax, Y/N,” the boy laughed, gently taking your hand back and holding it up for the both of you to see. “I’m holding your hand because you said you were cold, and exchanging body heat might warm you.” His hands were so much bigger than yours, rough and firm from the work he put in as he trained with the other knights of your kingdom. It was a very stark difference from your dainty and softer hands, the only work you had ever done was smile and wave to the people and royals of other nations. Yet somehow, despite these differences, his hands fit perfectly into the gaps of yours.
You wondered how many knights and squires would have ridiculed Juyeon if they could see you two now. The princess of their nation, who was notorious for playing knights like lyres and rejecting their advances, was willingly holding hands with the finest and most favored knight within the palace walls. “Well don’t tell anyone I let you do this,” you warned, relaxing after a moment of silence. “Not even your other knights friends can know I let you do this! I have a reputation to keep up.”
“Yeah, yeah,” the boy nodded, no longer paying attention to you specifically and simply observing the way his hands fit in yours. “I promise I won’t. Your secret is safe with me. I like the way your hand fits in mind anyways.”
VIII.
When your parents asked you if you had found a potential suitor to be your future king, you told them no almost immediately. Your quickness made your father raise a skeptical brow at your answer and your mother nearly fainted in shock, gasping hysterically.
Their daughter, the princess, the future queen of their nation, had not yet found a boy to be her king? Unacceptable, impossible! They couldn’t allow this behavior of yours to continue, knowing how you had played with the hearts of countless knights within the palace walls. So they had decided to take matters into their own hands, they needed to place down a platter of men around your age that you could pick and choose whatever your little heart desires.
A ball, they had told you, they were planning a ball and were inviting all their noble and royal allies to attend. They were going to bring their sons ,have them attempt to court you, and then you would pick one of the boys to be your king. Genuinely, when they first informed you of their plans you thought they were joking. They wouldn’t actually do all of that because you said you didn’t have anyone in mind yet right?
And they did.
Here you were, standing on the ballroom floor with Chanhee by your side with the most bewildered expression your face could muster. You were adorned in a large wine red ballgown, matching your family who wore nearly identical, with jewels scattered across your arms and ears for an extra shimmer to your already extravagant look. Not to forget the most important piece of the whole attire, the signature silver rhinestone crown that identified you as the princess of the nation.
The tiara and grown lifestyle, the lifestyle you haven't been fond of even as a child. You were unwillingly living it.
“Careful,” Chanhee whispered, placing a comforting hand on your bare shoulder. “I don’t need you exploding in front of everyone right now, who knows what kind of scene that’ll create.”
“I might as well!” You snap, catching the unwanted attention of the nobles around you. Both of you turned to them and smiled, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible about your true feelings of the event. When they bowed in greeting before finally turning away from you and Fantasia prince, you were back to being the ticking time bomb you had entered the ballroom being. “You think I wanted to have this event planned? You think I wanted to have this event at all?”
“Of course you didn’t, I know you. You like to horseplay and run around like a little village girl.” Chanhee explained, rolling his eyes at your prevalent attitude. “But you can’t really do that right now can you? One small misstep and you’ll embarrass your parents right before their eyes, you need to keep it together.”
“How?” You asked him, maneuvering through the crowd of nobles so that you and Chanhee could have a little more privacy. Who knew what random noble or king’s son would walk up to you in the middle of your conversation and beg you to have a dance with him? “I don’t feel comfortable in what I’m wearing, I don’t want to be here in the first lance, I’m getting on my last nerves, and who knows when some random boy I don’t know tries woo me into liking him? I might actually lose it here!”
Chanhee struggled to keep up with your demands, trying to think of another quick solution to your problems like he always did. He must have something in that brain of his doesn’t? Or was it all just full of strategies to absolutely destroy you at chess? “I got it! Just talk to me.”
“What?” Chanhee’s suggestion stopped you dead in your tracks, giving him the most bizzare expression you could make at that moment. “Your very Royal Highness I’m sorry to inform you, but people won’t care if I’m talking to you, you understand that right? They know you wouldn’t even attempt to try and take my hand in marriage so they’ll just barge in anyways.”
“I don’t mean like that,” he hissed, softly hitting your shoulder in retaliation. “Talk to me about the personal guard and I’ll lead you away from the party. We just need to super busy in order to pull off the act that we’re walking around and definitely not trying to leave the ball.”
You nodded in understanding, though feeling your face begin heat up and turn into that all telling rosy red color. “Why— why him specifically? Can’t I talk about something else?”
“Where is he now?” The Fantasia prince questioned, holding out his arm for you to take so he could drag you out of the ballroom. “He's your personal guard isn’t it, your Royal Highness? Why isn’t he flanking your every step and protecting you like a dog to its owner?”
The boy snickered at his words until you elbowed his side, stopping both of you in your tracks to watch him crumble to his knees for a moment. Did he really think he could get away with insulting Juyeon like that? To your face no less? “He’s on duty with the rest of the royal guards,” you explained, nonchalantly glancing at your nails as you waited for Chanhee to recover. The boy was all sticks and bones, easy to hinder thanks to his small body. “They’re patrolling around the palace and the ballroom to make sure no incidents occur.”
“Incidents?” Chanhee questioned.
“Like putting the king and queen pieces into checkmate type incidents,” you told you, referencing the game of chess they had played months ago. “Either way, Juyeon couldn’t come with me and enjoy this god forsaken ball with me, but maybe that’s for the best.”
“Is that in terms of you two had a sudden falling,” The Fantasia prince tried to clarify, “or as in you think you’ve finally gotten your feelings figured out?” You grimaced at the thought, unsure of how to exactly answer Chanhee’s question. Did you have your feelings figured out?
Juyeon (with the exception his friends) was the only knight whose heart you hadn’t ever attempted to toy with. You let him get away with countless things: saying your name without a title, holding your hand when it trembled, willingly allowing him to make you flustered and not suffer any sort of retribution for it. On top of all of that, you even enjoyed his company! Juyeon didn’t make you feel like a prize that needed to be one, just made you feel like… you. And you liked it.
At first, you loathed the thought of being in the knight’s vicinity because he made do and feel things you weren’t used to. You thought that maybe, just maybe, he was going to use you in the way that you lead the squires and knights of the palace along. But he didn’t, the only thing he had done to you was send you flying deep into this well of the unknown without even realizing it.
“Oh I hate you,” You mumble under your breath, shooting Chanhee a knowing look. “I hate you so much.”
He blinked a few times at your hurtful words before it finally clicked in his brain, covering his mouth with his hands as he squealed. “You’ve figured it out? You realized that you like him? Y/N I’m so—“
“Princess Y/N!” The two of you turn your heads in alarm at your name being called, the worst case scenario of someone actually having the audacity to stop you coming true. You tense up upon seeing your mother wave her hand towards you, bringing attention to both of the royals from all the bystanders around you. With her was an older man, perhaps around your fathers age, staring up straight and tall with a curious glint in his eyes. His attire for the ball was littered in gold and silver medallions, purposely flaunting all of the achievements you wouldn’t bother to learn.
Though beside the older man was a boy, around your age this time, nervously glancing between the queen and the man who seemed to be his father. He tugged on the man’s sleeve desperately, trying to get him to take action but was ultimately getting ignored due to the adults taking the lead in the conversation. The queen pointed to both the boy and man with an expectant look on her face as she spoke, “please, Y/N, come join us! I’d like you to meet someone.”
“Potential suitor,” you whispered to Chanhee.
“On the count of three, run in the total opposite direction and get out of the ballroom,” He replied back.
One. “This is General Lee from a neighboring kingdom near Fantasia,” your mother explained, quickly introducing the two of you and unaware of the chaos you and the Fantasia prince were about to create.
Two. “This is his son, Prince Hyunjae. The general is the brother of the kingdom’s current king and his son will be taking the throne as the king and queen of that nation cannot produce an heir on their own.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Hyunjae began, awkwardly bowing in front of you now that all eyes were on him. “Truly it is, I’ve heard so much about you Princess—“
“Three!” You and Chanhee split from each other as quickly as possible, darting through the crowd of people in a desperate get away. You could hear the general and the queen call for you, struggling to keep up with your speed fueled by adrenaline but you paid no mind to it. They needed your presence so that you could sit and have an unfulfilling conversation with Prince Hyunjae and you weren’t going to give it to them. No offense to the prince or anything, you just don’t think you could handle that situation knowing your heart had settled on someone entirely different,
It only took you a matter of two minutes to reach the ballroom doors, muttering soft yet empty apologies to everyone you ran into and slipped through the crack in the door.
IX.
“Stupid princess,” Juyeon muttered, charging down the palace halls as fast as his legs would take him. “Stupid Y/N!” One could only imagine his panicked expression when he was suddenly approached by Sunwoo with a nervous glint in his eyes. He was so used to seeing the younger knight’s bright smile that it took Juyeon completely off guard when the boy grabbed him by the shoulders and steadied his footing.
“The princess,” Sunwoo told him, glancing between him and the corridor leading to the ballroom. “Princess Y/N, she ran from the ballroom and no one knows where she went.”
Juyeon thought he was joking at first, brushing off his words with a small laugh and teasing smile. Yet when Sunwoo’s expression didn’t change and the weight of the situation had finally processed in his mind, he shot off like an arrow towards all the spots the princess could have been hiding.
He knew you didn’t enjoy the big fancy balls and extravagant dresses of the royal life, but he thought you were going to be able to stick it out. Every time you had mentioned the king and queen’s wild idea to throw a gathering to find you a suitor, a king of your own, you were relaxed. You weren’t bothered by the thought of all and even joked about it with him every so often, so Juyeon had trusted you to be fine.
He didn’t like the idea of the ball for completely different reasons from you. He liked you, and the thought of your parents sending you off to some noble child or prince he’s never heard of made his blood boil. Because why have a ball to father suitors when he was right there? But the constant reminder from Sunwoo and Younghoon that he had nothing to offer to you and he wasn’t even in the status to even try to become betrothed to you, made him unwillingly back down from voicing his opinion to you and opposing it.
Now he was regretting, because you were missing somewhere in the palace and he didn’t know why.
He wasn’t in the ballroom when it all had happened, instructed to stand guard and patrol around the perimeter of the gathering to protect all the guests and the royal family. Juyeon didn’t understand why he was tasked to do such a thing in the first place, when he ascended the ranks into becoming a knight he was specifically told he was your personal guard. He was supposed to watch over you and protect you, so why did they have him stationed away from you?
It wasn’t until he realized that a majority of the palace, specifically the knights among his rank, had recognized his growing fondness for the princess. If they couldn’t have the princess to themselves, then neither could he.
“Y/N!” Juyeon called, completely throwing out the titles and addressing you by your first name. It’s not like anyone was around shooting him dirty looks for having the sheer audacity to call the princess by your name only. Even if they did, he wouldn’t mind. There were more important things to worry about than what he can and can’t call you. “Y/N, where’d you go? Come on, we can’t play this game of cat and mouse forever.”
He stopped at a door at the end of the corridor he was running down, grabbing a hold of the handle and shoving it open with unnecessary ferocity. Could you blame him for being a little too aggressive? With every growing second you weren’t in his sights the more anxious he was becoming. What if you were hurt? What if you were crying? What if you were—
“Juyeon, right?” Prince Chanhee asked, sitting in a chair with his feet kicked up on top of the desk. Juyeon has opened the door to one of the very many studies within the palace and out of sheer coincidence he opened the doors to the one the princess’s friend was using. Well at least… he thought it was a coincidence. I hoped it was a coincidence.
“Prince Chanhee of Fantasia,” he began, looking the boy up and down for a moment. It didn’t seem like you were with him, not a trace of your existence left in the study. It was possible that you didn’t even come in this room at all. “Where is she?”
“God, you skipped right to the point a little fast for me,” Chanhee grimaced, taking his feet off of the desk and sitting up straight. “Do you have to know where she is like right now? Because I had this whole speech I was going to give you set up and I really wanted to—”
“Prince Choi Chanhee,” Juyeon demanded, putting emphasis on each word that came out of his mouth. He didn’t have time to play around with others right now, as much as he would have loved to encourage him any other day. You were somewhere in the palace, alone, and he had to know where you were and what happened. He needed to know if you were hurt so that he could find the culprit and drive his sword straight into the chest of the wretch.
The boy raised his hands up in defeat, shooting Juyeon an annoyed glare before clearing his throat. “Y/N is at the balcony above the barracks, where the field for the mounted archery evaluations was held months ago.” The memory of the weekly evaluation was immediately triggered in his head, seeing him back months prior to his falling for the princess. The day he had proved to all of the knights and squires around him that he was the best of the best, the day he had first laid eyes on you.
“I know where that is,” he breathed, turning in his heel and getting ready to rush out the door once again. Though Chanhee scrambled out of the chair to catch up to Juyeon, stopping him from moving any further towards the balcony to reach you. “What?”
“Before you go,” the prince began, letting go of Juyeon with the hope that he wouldn’t run off at the sight of freedom. “Please don’t do anything stupid, Y/N is my friend. And as much as I tease her and bully her, I won’t let anyone hurt her. Even if that’s her wildly skillful and kinda scary personal guard.”
Juyeon couldn’t help but laugh at Chanhee’s words, reminiscing on the fact that only a few months ago he couldn’t tell whether he was intrigued by the prince’s closeness with you or jealous of it. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t dare.”
X.
You leaned up against the railing of the balcony taking night time air with a deep breath. It was hard trying to avoid all the royal guards and knights within the castle, knowing that after the scene you caused they’d be searching for you. It felt like a scene from a fairy tale really, clutching the fabric of your wine red dress so you wouldn’t trip and hastily running up the stairs. Behind you you could hear the calls of all the knights and royal guards of the places looking for you, their boots heavy against the marble floors and their armor clanging against each other.
They were like walking bells, unaware of the fact that their prized armor was alerting you of their position. If the guards were coming up the corridor, you turn around and run the opposite way. If they were going down the corridor, you’d spin on your heels and make a complete u-turn. Sometimes you’d sneak into a room on whatever hallway you were on and wait for them to pass, sometimes you’d just keep running and hope your legs didn’t give out on you knowing you were wearing heels.
It was a little funny in your eyes, but that’s because you were you. You’re almost one hundred percent sure no one else thought this game of cat and mouse you were playing was fun.
“Wait, I should have gone and found Juyeon first,” you realize, shooting up off of the ground. You were so busy with attempting to successfully make your get away that you had forgotten that Juyeon was also one of the knights in duty. He was probably worried about you, searching for you around the palace like all of the other knights within the palace. With no explanation of exactly what went down in the ballroom, he’d have no clue on what was actually going on.
“I should go find him, leaving him with no context will probably drive him insane,” you nod to yourself, marching towards the balcony doors to run back into the palace. Though you stopped once you reached the door, your hands hovering over the door handles hesitantly. You should tell him what happened, it was the right thing to do after all. But were you really ready to face him again?
In the middle of that ballroom, just seconds before you had been involuntarily introduced to Prince Hyunjae, you had a revelation. You liked him. You liked your charming person guard that had caught you weak kneed from the first time you laid eyes on him. No one had ever made you feel the way you felt about Juyeon and he had done it nearly completely by accident. He was trying to court you and you simply fell for him anyways.
His skills, his face, his smiles, his personality, just him a person entirely. You adored it all, you liked him.
Well liked was an understatement now, you had truly fallen deeply in love with him and you just had to realize your genuine feelings in the middle of a party meant to find you a king. Horrible timing on your part but you just weren't sure until then.
So maybe you should wait, wait until you can gather your thoughts and feelings together without fidgeting and shaking in front of him. The nervous habit probably would have increased tenfold now that you realized why exactly you trembled when he smiled at you, and you weren’t ready to watch that whole fiasco go down. How embarrassing would that be? To get completely weak kneed in front of Juyeon without a coherent thought in the brain? Surely you’d like an idiot, wouldn’t you?
“I’ll wait,” you convinced, stepping away from the door with cautious steps. “I’m not even going to be able to look him in the eye if I see him again, I should just wait until tomorrow… but I’ll probably get scolded by my parents for running away during the ball when they had done all that planning just for me. But it’s not like I asked them to throw that ball in the first place, just because I didn’t suggest any suitors I liked!”
You yelped in alarm when the door to the balcony swung with great speed, making you jump out of skin at the sudden intrusion. “Heavens, do you know how to knock?” You asked in retaliation, your heartbeat running marathons as you tried to calm yourself down from the shock. Though when you turned to look back toward the door again, you were greeted by the rather familiar sight of your personal guard, “Juyeon?”
The boy’s eyes widened at the sight of you, as if he couldn’t believe that you were standing in front of him right now. “Y/N,” he said in between gasps, trying hard to catch his breath as he reached his hands out for you. “Y/N, you're okay.”
“Of course I’m okay,” you tell him, unsure of the thoughts that were running through his mind. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
Juyeon didn’t respond to your questions, letting go of the door handle before running towards you and scooping you up in his arms. Instinctively you wrapped your arms around him for support, not wanting to fall out of his grasp despite knowing he wouldn’t dare drop you even if he commanded to. “I thought something bad happened,” he confessed, “when Sunwoo came to me and told me you had left the ballroom, I thought someone had hurt you.”
“No, nothing like that happened,” you assured him, urging him to let you go. Just looking at his relieved face made your heart begin to race again, though this time marathons weren't the only thing that it was running. “My mother was trying to set me up with his prince from another kingdom and instead of doing as she said me and Chanhee ran for it out the room.”
“Why would you do that?” Juyeon questioned, stepping away from you in disbelief. “The queen, she’ll be furious when she sees you again. The king— your father, what will father say about you running away?”
“Juyeon I don’t care about what they think, haven’t you noticed by now?” you argued, your hands beginning to tremble at the rising tension between the two of you, “they can’t just force me to pick a boy from that gathering when I didn’t even bother to learn their names. When none of them are you.”
Juyeon thought to himself for a moment, letting your words sink and replay inside his brain. “When none of them were… me?”
“I wish I had realized before they even had a chance to plan the ball but I just have the worst timing possible,” You admitted, thinking back to all the very clear signs of your growing feelings for Juyeon that you had avoided. “I think I fell in love with you, Juyeon. Not think, actually, I know I have.”
“You’re serious?” Juyeon questioned, unsure if he had even heard you right. When you nodded your head to give him confirmation, he pulled you closer to him with warning, his eyes growing wide like the full moon that was hanging above the two of you. “You’re not joking at all, no tricks, no teasing, you’re being one hundred percent serious with me right now?”
“Of course!” You exclaim, grabbing him by the shoulders with a beaming smile etching across your face. “I’ve never been so sure about something in my entire life. Why do you think I asked you to train me in the first place a few months back, because I was just trying to use your skill set to my advantage? I know I have the reputation of being desperate for sword fighting, but Juyeon I was in love with you! I was just using the training as a way to figure my feelings or not.”
“I didn’t want to get my hopes up,” he confessed to you. “I wanted you to like me back, but Sunwoo and Younghoon didn’t want me to get my hopes over a fruitless crush. They told me that pursuing you wouldn’t work, because I didn’t have a decent enough background for me to even compare to anyone else. I mean, you’re a princess! I’m just barely a knight, I’m a blacksmith’s son, Y/N, not some high ranking noble from across the land. I have no connections, no power, no money, nothing to give you in return for your affection.”
“Juyeon,” you respond, confusion crossing your face at his words. Did he really think you wouldn’t like him just because his status was up to the standards of the king and queen? He thought you cared about things like that?
“I have nothing to offer you,” Juyeon whispered, holding your hands in his as gently as possible. It was if he thought he’d let go of you now he’d wake up from this dream like scenario you two were in, where you were no longer in his arms and in a place he could not reach. “There’s nothing I could even dream of giving to you.”
You can’t help but smile at his words, removing your hands from his and cupping his face instead. He didn’t even flinch at your touch, only turning a crimson red at your next few words. “Why do you think that matters? None of that matters to me, it never has. You could be a poor boy from a family of farmers and I’d still fall in love with you.”
“But your parents—“ he tried to argue with you.
“They mean nothing to me,” you assure him, pulling his face towards yours as you whisper, “they may be able to control this kingdom to their will, but they can’t control who exactly I fall in love with. They couldn’t even control my urge to learn sword fighting and that’s an interest I’ve had since I was a child.”
“I hate you so much,” Juyeon laughed, the words he spoke not carrying the same weight thanks to his jittery and hopeful tone. He was happy, happy to know that you felt the same way about him and that you didn’t care for anything of the things that should have been hindering your feelings for him.
“Clearly you do,” you tease in response, “you haven’t even attempted to kiss me yet.”
You didn’t need to tell Juyeon twice. He gave you one small kiss on the forehead, pulling away as fast as he registered what he had done in that moment. It felt illegal to be kissing a princess after being told countless times that trying to pursue you was a horrible idea. Though you didn’t give him any time to try and open his mouth as you threw your arms around his neck and kissed him back, grabbing onto his shirt collar and pulling him close.
His eyes fluttered closed immediately, smiling against your lips as he brushed his thumb against your cheek. “Does this mean I get to become king if I end up marrying you,” Juyeon questioned, his tone lightheartedly as he stopped for a moment.
You didn’t even open your eyes as you pulled him back towards you again, a sly grin prevalent on your face as you whispered to him. “Only if you finish the sword fighting lessons we started,” you teased, “maybe then I’ll consider making you my king.”
#kpop imagines#kpop#kpop scenarios#kpop fluff#kpop au#the boyz#tbz juyeon#the boyz fluff#the boyz imagines#tbz imagines#the boyz juyeon#juyeon imagines#lee juyeon#juyeon x reader#royalty au#knight!juyeon#princess!reader#the boyz x reader#I’m a simp#genuinely I’m such a simp#Also I cannot write kiss scenes#that was so fucking hard?
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Curse Of The Tiger King
NCT
King!Jung Jaehyun x Zoologist!Reader
Characters: Jung Jaehyun, Lee Donghyuck (Haechan), Kim Dongyoung (Doyoung), some tigers n stuff.
Summary: Jung Jaehyun was known as the Tiger King of the Joseon Era because of how many men he fearlessly killed on the battlefield that matches how many tigers he said to have killed with his bare hands. Because of this, he was cursed into a eternal life as a tiger spirit with only one way to break it.
Word Count: 6k+
Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, animal abuse, war, curses, suicidal thoughts, angst, fluff, etc.
A/N: Idek my mom said the plot is weird but i dig it also listen to tiger inside by superm prolly okie thx. I honestly could have done more research on tigers but like let me live with my inaccuracies okay. Also i may do a pt2 idek
Donghyuck was thankful that it started to storm tonight. Even to the roars of thunder he was indebted to, for it meant his king would not go out and hunt at this hour.
The sycophant adviser Moon Taeil argued with Donghyuck constantly that he was trying to constrain the King of their nation his rights to a glorious hunt of tigers. Why must he dissuade the hunts of the King when he was doing the people a favor and destroying the monsters that could come into their towns and each their children?
It took a lot for Donghyuck not to roll his eyes at the blatant excuse that old minister Taeil had to get the king’s favor. Never in his life had he even heard of a tiger willingly coming out of the wilderness close to human territory had it not been forced out.
It was not that Donghyuck felt sympathy towards tigers either. I mean, who did in this era? It was just that Donghyuck worried the king would strain himself if he immediately goes hunting after just defeating a fleet of usurpers with his army.
He knew how frenzied the king got after drawing blood.
Donghyuck, as the king's right hand man, had a responsibility to keep the nation's sole rule sane.
"Stop worrying," the king said to Donghyuck who was stood not too far behind him.
"I always worry about you, Jaehyun hyung."
Behind closed doors, Donghyuck and Jaehyun were brothers forged by time and not blood. If anyone could help Jaehyun keep his sense, it would be Donghyuck.
Jaehyun was in a dim lit room, kneeled in the middle in front of a slab of stone which he slid his sword back and forth from to sharpen it. Truth be told, it was a habit of his to do this every time he used his sword. But that wasn't what Donghyuck was anxious about. It was the fact Jaehyun didn't wipe the blood on his skin nor did he properly wear his royal robe that keeps goose bumps on his arms.
"It's almost your birthday, Hyuck-ah. Would you like one of my tiger pelts- ah-- should I hunt a tiger for you?" Jaehyun stops sharpening his sword and turns to Donghyuck.
The younger of the two shakes his head and replies, "I couldn't possibly ask for something from my king."
Jaehyun scoffs, "ya you bastard, tell that to all the times you made me buy you noodles when we snuck out the palace as kids."
Donghyuck cleared his throat, "that's on you though for agreeing."
The king chuckles and stands, "there's some rumors going around that there's a white tiger roaming the mountains. They say it is mightier than any ordinary tiger. What do you think? Would you like a white tiger cape?"
"You'd give me something so rare?"
Jaehyun scoffs again and rolls his eyes. He points his sword to Donghyuck, to which he the latter thinks nothing of, "why? Do you think your king is so selfish and keeps everything to himself."
Donghyuck is touched.
But he regrets how pleased Jaehyun's smile was that night. He regrets how he said they should bathe in the royal bath house together and should hunt the white tiger at the break of dawn. He knew in his bones something somehow was going to go wrong with the king.
And even with all his efforts to stay close to him, with all his looney athleticism and determination to catch that white tiger in the mountains, Donghyuck's foot got stuck and twisted upon a tree root.
Of course Jaehyun and he at this point had caught sight of the beast and had scared it off with their numbers. You couldn't possibly believe that the king would be left to hunt alone, would you? But Jaehyun had always been gifted with such immeasurable agility, and well Donghyuck spent most of his life trying to measure up to that. He could not match him however, but much less could the soldiers.
That was why Jaehyun stopped and turned to Donghyuck. He was worried for him like anyone would their younger brother since he deemed Donghyuck as such.
I suppose it was Donghyuck's mistake of trying to talk the king out of catching the white tiger. He knew out of everyone that Jaehyu didn't believe in supernatural or superstitious beliefs simply because they historically worked against his favor. Jaehyun had a knack of proving people wrong with his sheer will, and up to now, he had done nothing but that
Donghyuck had triggered that in him when he muttered to the king, "I have a bad feeling about this hunt. We should turn back, lest you get hurt."
Jaehyun's face ignited at the posing challenge. "Nonsense, I won't let your injury heed nothing. I should definitely catch that tiger no matter what."
So Jaehyun tread off by himself. Donghyuck tried to force himself to go after him. He watched as the king got far enough that he looked like a dot. Still, Donghyuck pushed on. He propped himself up and limped as fast as he could. He thought of simply turning back, but he didn't have much of a choice when he heard the king scream and a tiger roar.
Suddenly, it was silent.
Donghyuk felt like he choked on his heart, "the king is dead."
Jaehyun doesn't remember what he saw, but he remembers what he felt. He felt excruciating pain, like his inside were being pulled from inside out. Then he felt cold. Then there was darkness.
Then he blinked his eyes open and saw the face of a white tiger. His heart dropped and he felt the need to flee. But he was unable to do nothing but wiggle like a worm. He could no longer feel his hands.
The realized then... he had no hands.
The white tiger at this point was above him. It began to lick Jaehyun's body. There was an aroma in the air he recognized as blood. Dear lord, did this tiger devour his body?
But Jaehyun felt no more pain. He tried to scream, but he was only able to make a small sound.
He heard a similar sound next to him, and soon he was kicked in the face by paws. Instinctively, he was annoyed and felt the need to fight back, but he could barely muster the strength to stand on his four feet.
Wait... he had four feet?
The white tiger who had assaulted him with its tongue, laid before him and rolled her belly, revealing pert nipples. It seemed a litter of kittens waddled towards the invitingly plush belly and began suckling. Jaehyun disagreed as it slowly sank in what was happening. He felt his belly rumble in hunger.
Somehow, this large tiger felt Jaehyun's reluctance and clumsily but softly shoved Jaehyun close to its belly. The white tiger was a mother to four cubs, and Jaehyun was one of them.
The mother tiger laid down and yawned, blinking slowly until she shut her eyes. He saw there was an available area where he could suckle in between the two cubs on the left and the one on the right.
Jaehyun screamed, but again, there was only a pathetically small sound that left his throat. After minutes of waiting, he grew weaker and found it was futile. This baby tiger body he was in much strongly disagreed with the emptiness of its stomach.
So he nursed on warm milk and he began to dream he was a white tiger cub.
Except it wasn't a dream, and he remained trapped in this body up he slowly grew stronger and stronger.
Jaehyun began to recall the voice of his mother, his real mother, in his sleep. She warned him of spirits in the rivers, in the trees, in the mountains, and how it was the king's duty to protect the people from it.
It made him think that the white tiger he was following in the mountain may have been a spirit, and this was the punishment for wanting to hunt it. That white tiger spirit made Jaehyun the cub of a real white tiger. He knew this tiger he now trusted like a mother was not the one he had been following in the forest by the mountains, simply because this forest they roamed where not by those mountains.
He knew that place like the back of his hand since he both grew up there and hunted there frequently. Jaehyun found no familiarity in the landscape here. It smelled very similar, but even in that he could tell a difference. There was a repulsive bitterness in the air he could not distinguish. It was unlike any smoke he had breathed in. He began to doubt he was even still in his Joseon borders.
What he was certain of, after moons and suns passed, was there was no way he was getting out of this body. He thought of killing the cubs, but it seems the cub-body he was in was the weakest of the four. And of course, killing the mother came into mind, but he could barely fend himself from the cubs, how could he defeat the largest of them all?
Jaehyun vowed to learn their ways and use it against them once he was large enough. One may think it despicable, especially when Jaehyun trusted the tiger mother would not harm him, but it was his only chance as he could see it.
That was until a storm struck the forest, and it awakened a vivid memory of Jaehyun. It was like his last night with Donghyuck. He had just told him he would catch a white tiger for him. They had bathed in the royal bathing house. Jaehyun shivered under his fur at the memory of the warm water Donghyuck farted it.
Donghyuck.
He could help him.
Why hadn’t he thought of looking for his friend before?
So from the dry safety of this cave they stayed in, Jaehyun ran past the licking cubs and ran into the storm. He didn't know how he could find Donghyuck, but Jaehyun thought he would probably at least find his palace... Right?
It was funny that he heard chuffing from behind. He initially thought it was the rain beating down on him or the water that got into his furry ear, but he realized it was the mother tiger calling out to him. She ran after him and snatched him by the nape to drag him back into the cave.
Jaehyun knew there was no way out of this, since this tiger had done it to him multiple times. He had to wait until she put him down before he could run again.
And she did, gently on the other cubs. Jaehyun made sure to paw the largest of the other three in the face. He was satisfied when he shook his head at the action.
The mother tiger then shook off the water on her coat just as Jaehyun did. She then thought to lie in front of the opening of the cave to block further passage, as if she knew Jaehyun would try it again.
He had to admit, this mother was intuitive, not unlike Jaehyun's own mother. Part of him couldn't help but feel pity of the dumb creature because she genuinely believed Jaehyun was her cub. If she only knew what he did to tigers in his life. She surely would not hesitate to let Jaehyun leave.
Jaehyun suddenly got his head bashed into the mother tiger's arm.
WHO DID THAT?
He turned and saw it was one of the other cubs in the litter that then made one of those playing sounds and began to batter at Jaehyun's face with its paw.
Jaehyun scoffed, you don't know I've been practicing my pouncing.
He then put his front legs down and hind legs up and aimed for the annoying cub. He then jumped to its face and began gnawing at him. Haha, serves him right.
But suddenly the fat cub joined in and went at Jaehyun and the other cub. At this point they were really going at it. Jaehyun screeched for help, knowing it would alert the mother, to which the mother tiger did then sound back a warning to the cubs which made then pull back instantly.
Serves them right.
Jaehyun decided he was too tired to run away today, and wasn't even sure how to catch prey yet, nor was he big enough to kill something larger than sparrows, so he should probably stay and learn that first.
He turned and saw that one of the other cubs were being licked, to that Jaehyun felt vexed because as far as he remembered, he was the one that got wet and needed excess water off his coat.
So he then shoved his cub brother to the side and took all the warm licks from his mother tiger.
It dawned on him why this tiger went after him. Jaehyun had been left to nothing but thinking. Mother tiger wouldn't have been upset that she only three cubs left, she would be upset because she lost one. This tiger, after all, was still a mother, aside from being a beast.
Through time, Jaehyun grew fond of her. Jaehyun realized she was very patient and her favorite food was deer. He even grew fond of the annoying cubs enough that he gave them their own names. The big oaf he named Youngho, the daintier one, Jungwoo, and the more refined one, Taeyong.
He didn't have to name his tiger mother since she was set apart, but Jaehyun decided to call her Aerum, which meant beautiful.
There was a roar of thunder in the sky one day, only it wasn't raining and there were no dark clouds. It was the first time Jaehyun felt palpable fear in this form. It was so intense he ran to his mother.
He saw something moving in the sky. Jaehyun's tiger eyes widened as he decided it was most probably a dragon. His mother did not seem to fear it, and so he thought the five of them could probably kill that dragon if it came near enough. In the clear sky, Jaehyun could not believe what he saw. He began to doubt it was a dragon all together since it looked nothing like one. It had no scales and was silvery smooth, it neither had a head to breathe fire from, nor did it have impressive flapping wings. In fact it wings didn't beat like a bird's at all, which made Jaehyun wonder how it was flying anyway.
He soon forgot about the encounter with that wannabe dragon. Jaehyun knew he had nothing to worry about anyway since he was with his mother.
That is until there was a slipping sound from not too far and it alerted everyone of them.
Jaehyun breathed in deeply and smelled something different in the air. He heard what he could never mistake, the hushed arguments of humans.
He turned to mother tiger and saw her defences were up. They were being hunted.
It somehow made Jaehyun both relieved and concerned that mother tiger knew exactly what was happening.
There was suddenly crack in the air and it made Jaehyun's hair raise. He could not distinguish the sound. It sounded something like a canon, but it was not as loud. He knew arrows would not sound as such, so it frightened him that he did not know what it was.
It all happened so quickly, so quick in fact that it made Jaehyun realize how terrifying it is to be hunted.
They were upon then. There were three hunters with blood shot eyes. Jaehyun wondered what county these people came from that they dressed so awkwardly and held black sticks wherever they went.
But then they aimed at Youngho and head was cracked open. He fell instantly without a sound, and all they could do was run.
Jaehyun heard them laugh for joy, but I knew they would not stop until they got all of us.
The cracking sounds, Jaehyun realized, came from the weapons he thought to be sticks. It smelled hot and malicious. He loathed them.
They were bought to a mountainous area. Surely they could not keep up with them if they climbed high enough. Jaehyun was perturbed when they saw the men in some sort of machine with wheels. It had to be the most terrible thing he had seen.
They thundered towards them. Jaehyun knew they were aiming for their mother. Still, they ran and ran. Jaehyun wondered if he could try and lead them astray if he separated from them. So he did and breathed heavily as he ran with all his legs.
Crack.
Crack.
Jaehyun was scared they were shooting for him but he dared to turn back and jar his teeth out. It was then he saw Jungwoo fell flat and so did Taeyong from behind. His mother was now running towards him.
Their mistake was to stop and gather Jungwoo and Taeyong's bodies. As much as it enraged Jaehyun to see them, it made mother tiger furious. She began to charge towards them, and so did Jaehyun.
The fools somehow did not know it was coming, and the three that had been on their tail were scared for their lives that they had not time to act.
She came for their throats and ripped them off with her mighty power. I came for the leg of the other that tried to flee and when he fell on his face, when for his neck as well.
Crack.
The man shot at mother but only got her leg. She tried to come for him next, but he tried again and then shot at her head. Once she was down, he shot at her again, and again, and again, and again, until he could no longer make a cracking sound with his weapon.
This was his mistake. He realized this when he and Jaehyun caught each other's eye. Jaehyun was pleased he looked terrified beyond compare.
Donghyuck always said he got into a frenzy whenever he's just gotten his sword slick with blood after he's gotten off of the battlefield or done with a hunt. But in truth it was the chase that excited him, and not what he has slain. But Jaehyun knew for certain that he was going to enjoy killing him.
Jaehyun knew he deserved to die a miserable death when he ran like a coward and didn't think to raise up one of the weapons his friends had. He was upon him, but then out came more people. They were in the same machines the three came in, and there were much more of them. Jaehyun would be a fool if he thought he could take them. He had no sword, no army. He barely had fangs and claws.
Jaehyun decided to slow down. He came to a halt when he saw these people were seemingly not on his side. They apprehended his mother’s kill. They shoved him against a tree and bound his wrists behind him. He was half pleased, he would be fully if he could rip his throat out.
But then there was you.
You came out of the same contraptions the ones who killed the tiger brothers did but you came out slowly.
You wore the same thing they did, but you held a different expression.
There was a man next to you that raised a similar weapon the other men had, but you told them to stand down.
You brought out meat. It smelled old, but it made Jaehyun realize he was so hungry. So hungry, and scared.
He knew you were trying to win him over. But he knew better than to easily trust a stranger. Then he thought of how the people on your team apprehended his mother's killer, and how you told off the man who was going to aim at him. Jaehyun decided he could take the meat you had and run.
You slowly crouched down and tossed the meat to him. Jaehyun thought it smelled unlike the meat he had eaten before but decided to eat it.
Jaehyun decided to bolt, but there was a sound of a fired arrow in the air, and he so suddenly he couldn't feel his legs.
When Jaehyun woke up, he was in a cage. It wasn't made of wood, but metal. There was food and water in a metal bowl in front of him, but he knew better than fall for that again.
He looked around the room with white lights that had no flame. There were dried plant stalk on the ground, much like a prison cell but it was only Jaehyun.
"Hi there," you spoke when you came into view. You smiled at Jaehyun’s tiger form and stuck your finger into the cage to point at the food.
Jaehyun thought if he wanted, he could bite it off.
"I'm sorry Dongyoung had to tranquilize you. I'm sure you must feel horrible."
Oh, don't try to sympathize with terms I don't understand.
"You should eat. I promise no one will shoot at you."
Jaehyun and you stare at each other. He decides he would rather get shot and join his tiger mother and brothers that live the rest of his life in this cage with you as his captor
You expected no less than the reaction you were getting. Still, you continued with what yow wanted to say, "You must feel so angered and lonely."
Jaehyun watches as you sit on the floor you stood on. He paces around the cage as you continue, "I saw what you did to the man. You tore his calf and punctured airway, suffocating him with his blood. Impressive for your size, honestly."
I would've killed his friend too had you not taken him.
"And you should know, the poacher who killed your mother is going to spend the rest his life in prison for hunting the last snow tigers in the country."
Jaehyun freezes. Hunting? Jaehyun begins to wonder then who has made the act illegal.
Could it be Donghyuk? Does that mean he ascended to the throne. That seems unprobable, when his cousin Sungchan has been eyeing the throne since he was born and Donghyuk had no desire for power. And why would Donghyuk make it illegal anyway? Could he possibly know his king was turned into a tiger?
A thousand questions ran into Jaehyun’s head.
"Don't worry, I'm fighting to pass a law that can protect you and your kin with the U.N.," you say suddenly, which further baffles Jaehyun.
Who is the world are you to have such a power? And who was this Yooen?
"Now come and eat, tiger cub. The sooner you get big and strong, the sooner we can release you back into the wild."
Based on that, Jaehyun didn't believe you at all at this point. He knew you had to at least be blantantly aware he was not a cub. Sure he was not nearly as large as his mother yet, but he was neither a defenseless suckling baby. You said it yourself, he killed a man.
You watched as the caged tiger continued to pace inside. You knew animals could feel and mourn, but somehow you felt this tiger was scheming. You knew this white tiger was still leaning into maturity, since it took a long time for him to kill the poacher. It excited you that you’d be able to spend a few months with such a rare and majestic creature.
Jaehyun decided to pretend he was going to try and trust you. He might learn a lot about his predicament from you since you shamelessly talked to the him as if he were still human.
His days began like this for a while, there would be food given everyday in what he observed to be the exact same time, and you would randomly come and talk and talk and talk and talk.
Jaehyun supposes he got on your good side when you drew him into a cage and let him into a grander setting. It was in a vast cage outside, not like the stuffy one he was originally in. Prison was still prison, but at least he couldn't see all four walls on one side.
There was initially a drawback with that. In this enclosure, as you called, you were much more present, and became more bolder. You began to touch Jaehyun, which made him shudder. How dare you touch the king of Joseon?
"You're such a drama queen," you would quip everytime Jaehyun jumped at your touch from behind the thin rodded cage.
"Maybe I should name you that, huh, drama queen," you jested. Jaehyun rolled his eyes and finished his chicken. You were bold no matter what. You were making fun of not only a white tiger, but the Tiger King. What's more, he found it annoying you gave him old chicken all the time.
"Wang," you said suddenly, which made Jaehyun stop his feeding. King, he hadn't been called that in so long.
You made a sound, "you seem to like that, huh. I guess that can be your name then, Wang."
It felt so sudden to you that Wang grew in to that what you proudly stated a fine tiger specimen. Jaehyun felt proud of himself whenever you would bring what he grew to learn were doctors who studies animals as their profession.
You and Jaehyun at this point had grown comfortable enough that Jaehyun let you sit next to him and stroke his head while he slept. It was only you though. He hated it when that Dongyoung tried to touch him, or when he tried to touch you, especially when you'd let him.
On this breezy afternoon, he was saddened as he put his chin on your thighs. He had never been so vulnerable like so with a woman. Sure he had bedded gisaengs in his time, but he wouldn't let them touch him, much less stroke his head.
It saddened him more when he realized the reason why you and the rest of the people here wore such strange things and had such strange objects was because you no longer lived in the time of Joseon. After all the stories you've told about your day to Jaehyun, he has learned hundreds of years has passed between the time he was king and now.
You now were born into the country of Korea, a nation split in two; you were in its Southern part. You cared deeply for who you called Wang because Jaehyun lived in the body of the last white tiger in the country, the few left in the world. You were a doctor and an officer that protects the welfare of wild animals.
You were going to set him free in a few days.
That is, until this tiger was put in the enclosure next to Jaehyun's. He smelled afraid. He jumped at everything and had lash and burn marks on his body. It was clear to anyone humans inflicted these marks on him.
"Wang, this is Yuta. Be kind to him because all he's ever known is abuse from his captors."
Yuta, beyond smelling like fear, smelled like he was dying. He was clearly unwell. Jaehyun had to make sure you knew this somehow.
Jaehyun was unsure what you thought would happen, but Yuta barely came near him even though Jaehyun chuffed his way. He barely acted like a tiger, if you asked Jaehyun. Trust him, he knew.
You began to focus your time on Yuta more. For once, Jaehyun didn't mind, because he knew the battered tiger needed it. He didn't seem that much older than Jaehyun, which somehow made you think you would be instant friends. For your sake, Jaehyun tried to show him what could be done as a tiger. He flaunted his prowess in running, tree climbing, even in roaring.
Yuta didn't seem to care and stayed in his side of the enclosure.
Strangely enough, Jaehyun still tried to chuff at Yuta, and to his surprise, Yuta chuffed back.
You jumped into Dongyoung's arms upon seeing Jaehyun's victory, to which Jaehyun nearly lashed out for.
It was then, Yuta and Jaehyun slowly became to form a bond. They would meet each other in the middle of the enclosure and would pace around together. You began to suggest bringing each other into the same enclosure, to which Dongyoung strongly disagreed with. Jaehyun wanted a chance to prove that man wrong, and it was eventually given to him.
Everyone was apprehensive with the idea of putting two male tigers into the room, which was why Dongyoung held tightly onto that weapon of his, but you reason you were both not fully adults yet, so there is a chance Yuta and Jaehyun to bond.
And a bond was surely created.
Jaehyun felt his heart swell at the sense of companionship he had with Yuta. It was neither that of what he felt with Youngho, Taeyong, or Jungwoo, but he somehow felt an undefinable closeness with this tiger.
Yuta was not a white tiger like Jaehyun, but an orange tiger. You reasoned that could be a reason why you had a bond with each other, you were different to each other and there was no females present for competition.
Jaehyun began to think of you and Dongyoung, and how he could eat him without getting caught.
Again, the day of the new joint release of Jaehyun and Yuta came close.
You cried on what Jaehyun knew to be your last visit.
You led the two tigers into cages and shipped them into protected forest land.
Yuta waited for Jaehyun before coming out of the cage they were shipped in. Jaehyun felt something indescribable in his paws when he walked out. Recognition came into his senses. He gave out a roar and began running.
He found that he was being followed by Yuta as he wove through the forest. The breeze was not exactly that of his childhood, but there he saw the same mountain he tread upon when he was hunting a white tiger. Suddenly, he began to see a figure of a man running towards him. He held a sword and a determined look. It took a moment to realize that it was him.
He screams and jolts up. It seems he was lying on a leafy ground and sat up.
Donghyuck shouts, "the king is dead. Oh, lord let him not be dead."
Jaehyun snaps his head to the limping figure from afar who was struggling to stalk towards him. He quickly stands from his the ground he was sat on.
"Donghyuck-ah!" Jaehyun calls, running towards him and sealing him into a tight hug.
Donghyuck is nearly taken aback but pats the king's back, thinking the relief he felt was from his brush with death.
"Let's go home," Jaehyun mutters.
Donghyuck is flabbergasted that the king decreed the next day he would make hunting for sport illegal. Everyone is appalled by the sudden decree, but the law is quickly passed.
Donghyuck does not believe the story Jaehyun said, how he saw the white tiger he was following had four cubs and it made him realize that the tiger he was trying to hunt was a mother more than a beast. Still, he couldn't possibly dare try and argue with the king, no one did for that matter.
Since he had no white tiger pelt to offer, Jaehyun instead bought him a house just outside the palace as a birthday gift. On Donghyuck's day, the king even organized a house warming.
The birthday boy was not enjoying it however.
"Hyung, are you sure you're okay? You haven't been the same since we got home from the hunt."
Jaehyun turned to Donghyuck, who scowled at him. The older of the two placed a hand the younger’s shoulder, "It's already been four days since that incident. Drink some alcohol, relax."
Donghyuck sighs, "Why did you even buy me a house when I live in the palace?"
"Consider it your approval for freedom."
"What?"
Jaehyun pours Donghyuck a drink. "I know you find only burden in the throne. You were sent to the palace by your scheming father so he could get his hand in power. But your father is dead, and you are the head of your household." He turns to his own drink and sighs, "I know what it feels to be imprisoned. Follow your own path. You don't have to live the rest of your days worrying for me anymore."
Donghyuck watches as Jaehyun drinks.
"You are my king," Donghyuck says, "but before that, you were my brother and my best friend. I will gladly live my life close to you if you let me."
Jaehyun feels his lips curve and he scoffs out a chuckle, "ya, it's like you want me to marry you."
"Nope. I already have someone in mind to marry."
Jaehyun looks at Donghyuk with a baffled expression. The latter drinks his drink and mutters lowly "you don't possibly believe I don't get around, hyung?"
The king slaps Donghyuk's shoulder, which nearly makes him spit out his drink, "bring the lucky fool to the palace tomorrow."
Jaehyun has never regretted a decision before, but as Donghyuck knelt there with that person he said he wanted to marry beside, he began to regret something wholeheartedly.
Donghyuck wanted to marry... this? This person that had your face.
How... how could he... how could your face exist in this time.
Donghyuck and this person were knelt before him in his throne room. Jaehyun was stiff on his throne and he quite frankly didn’t know what to do. He left the room in a thick silence. His throat was caught in anxiety. Donghyuck noticed his lover was beginning to get uncomfortable, so he snuck a look at the king and found his face was pale.
“Your majesty,” Donghyuck spoke in concern.
Jaehyun snaps out of it, “how long have you been seeing each other?”
“Two years, your highness.”
He hisses, “you have been going behind hiding this from me for two years?!”
Donghyuck knits his brows and his lover squeaks in fear.
“SURE!” Jaehyun shouts and he stands, “you traitors should get married and get out of my sight!”
Jaehyun got drunk that night and wandered out into the mountains. He bought a bottle of alcohol with him and threatened to kill anyone who dared stop or accompany him.
Of course the servants alerted Donghyuck about this, which was why he ran after the king with a torch.
“WHAT KIND OF CURSE IS THIS?” Jaehyun screamed as he slung his alcohol bottle around, “you want my best friend to marry someone with that face?” Jaehyun began to laugh, “I made hunting illegal! What more do you want from me?!”
“MY KING!” Donghyuck shouted when he caught sight of Jaehyun.
When he got close enough, Donghyuck took reached out to Jaehyun with his free hand. Jaehyun splashed alcohol on him, “I don’t to live like this.”
“Like what, hyung? Do you hate Aerum that much?”
“Aerum?” Jaehyun felt sober again.
“My woman, Aerum.”
“That woman’s name is Aerum?”
Jaehyun began to laugh again. Donghyuck grew uneasy. Jaehyun fell to his knees, his friend dashed over to him in concern. Jaehyun shook his head as Donghyuck talked to him like a gong being sounded. Jaehyun whispers, “I don’t want to live like this.”
But he had no choice.
Jaehyun and Donghyuck went back home. Donghyuck threw Aerum away for Jaehyun’s sake, but he began to slip into depression. It was then Jaehyun began to notice things he was blind to, like how Donghyuck always went out of the palace at a certain time, which he no longer did, and how he always smelled like oranges and had messy hair. No longer did his brother suddenly smile for no reason, nor did he ever ask for mooncakes anymore during lunch. It was then Jaehyun realized he had not hidden anything, but that he was blind to Donghyuck’s sentiments.
So Jaehyun told Donghyuck to marry her, to which he firmly declined. Jaehyun reasoned with lies on how he loved a woman with a similiar face when they were younger, but Donghyuck knew nothing of a woman like that. If he had, he wouldn’t have dared liked Aerum in the first place.
“Do you love her?” Donghyuck asked Jaehyun.
Jaehyun saw the desperation in Donghyuck’s eyes as he asked him this. He was praying he’d say no. Jaehyun spoke firmly, “I don’t.”
Donghyuck believed him, but he wasn’t satisfied.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Jaehyun said. He chuckled bitterly to himself, “I don’t even believe myself.”
“The truth can be hard to believe, but it’s still the truth,” Donghyuck said.
Jaehyun looked at his dear friend and licked his lips, “alright.”
Donghyuck believed every word, to Jaehyun’s astonishment. Jaehyun told him that Areum was not you. Donghyuck was still reluctant when Jaehyun gave him a hairpin to offer Areum, but when the lovers met again, it was easy to fall back in love.
They got married a week later, and it wasn’t long until they welcomed a son into the world. The couple allowed the king to name the boy, and so Jaehyun called Haechan, which meant to shine bright uprightly.
Jaehyun watched as the boy grew stonger, taller, and better in archery than he was at this age. He too watched as Donghyuck began to get slower, and he slowly realized that the world was changing and yet he wasn’t.
It was when Donghyuck had a daughter that both Jaehyun and Donghyuck came to terms with the fact the former was not ageing. At this point, Heachan was eight and brave enough to ride a horse. Donghyuck and Jaehyun looked like they were the same age, or how Areum joked, Donghyuck looked older than the king.
Jaehyun at a point realized if he was not aging, he could meet you again.
So when a time of war came, Jaehyun saw it as a chance to disappear. Donghyuck decided greatly against it. Since Jaehyun took no bride, it meant his cousin Sungchan would succeed the throne. He told him not to worry, and that he would keep a close on eye everything once he was gone.
And so he did.
The line of succession shifted. The colors of the sky changed. Haechan had a son, and his son had a son, and his son had a son, but Jaehyun roamed on his own.
“That’s basically the story of the Tiger King,” Jaehyun smiled his dimpley smile that made all the lined up teenager sound out, impressed with the story.
“So, basically, the Tiger King is still alive, Mr. Jung,” one of the students asked as they moved to the next painting in the museum. Jaehyun looked at the child and thought her eyes reminded him of yours.
“Yes. I think so,” Jaehyun spoke.
“Are you the Tiger King?” another voice spoke, pointing at the ancient drawing behind glass, “you look like him?”
Jaehyun hummed and adjusted the glasses he wore for show, “I get told a lot that I look like him. Would you believe me if I said yes?”
The class cheered, “yes!”
Jaehyun chuckled, “okay then. I am the tiger king.” He said, curling his fingers and pretend growling. The teenagers laugh, fully pleased that he was in on what they believed to be a joke.
By the end of the tour, Jaehyun escorted the students to their bus, where their teacher was waiting for them. And for the first time in years, Jaehyun felt his heart pound at the sight before him.
A group of girls ran up to their teacher and muttered to her how cute the tour guide was. They got a chuckle in response.
“Thank you Mr. Jung for taking care of my kids,” you spoke as you made your way towards him from the bus. Jaehyun looked at you for a prolonged moment, which made you raise your brows slightly.
“So you’re their pretty teacher?” Jaehyun spoke.
You froze for a moment, which made Jaehyun feel smug. He placed his hands in his grey pants’ pockets and clarified, “I mean, the kids described you as ‘their pretty teacher’, that must be you.”
You looked at him for a moment and nodded slowly. Jaehyun smiled, “are you teaching science perhaps?”
You again nod slowly.
“I love science, anthropology and biology especially."
You nod and chuckle nervously, unsure of what to say.
Jaehyun decides to clarify again, "are you teaching part time?"
"Uh, I'm actually going to be a full time faculty soon."
He grows a little confused, "I see. I don't know for some reason you pegged me as a zoologist. Maybe it's because your kids kept singing 'In the jungle the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight'."
You blush, "yeah, sorry, I actually studied zoology which is why I am so passionate about teaching animals to my kids. I unironically play that song a lot in class."
Jaehyun smiles, "well, you know. I think you're interesting and I do agree with your students that you're pretty. Could I possibly get your number?"
"SAY YES, MISS!"
You and Jaehyun turn to the kids sticking their head out in the window. Jaehyun snickers lowly. You begin to burn from head to toe, you feel like. You turn to Jaehyun and turn away, "I'm sorry. I-" Jaehyun watches as you fumble for words and he has honestly never seen you in this light before. You've always been so confident around him as a tiger, and yet you were so timid in front of him as a man. "I'm on the job right now."
Jaehyun nods with a soft smile as you turn around and walk away. No hard feelings. It's not like he's been waiting his whole life for you or anything. He calls out, "visit me sometime, okay?"
The teens squeal.
He watches as the bus drives off and takes note of the school name.
#nct#nct127#jaehyun fanfic#nct fanfic#nct127 fanfic#donghyuck#jaehyun#jaehyun angst#jaehyun fluff#jaehyun au#king!jaehyun#jaehyun smut#nct smut#nct angst#nct au#nct fluff#dongyoung fanfic#dongyoung smut#doyoung fanfic#doyoung smut#jaehyun x reader#doyoung x reader
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Ok, so This is the first time I'm writing angst, but I've got some with Legend And Four all day and I need to write it down.
(for everyone to know, I didn't play Four Swords, so things may be off script)
The chain is sent to Four's era, but for some reason (Plot reason) they're separated from each others.
Four and Legend find each other in front of the Four Sword Palace, But there's something wrong in the Palace, and they both decided to investigate it. After a few minutes they arrive in the four Sword's pedestal Room and what did they find ?
The broken Mirror.
and all the pieces are back together
except for one, just in front of Four ... waiting for him to put it back
But What Four doesn't feel is the Powerful Darkness contained inside the Mirror.
Some Dark essence that Legend already sense before, but can't Remember when...
And then all the pieces are put together for Legend.
The Four Swords, the Four dark Links that he had to fight in this place.
It was Four, his friend, no ... his brother, He killed his brother without any mercy.
And he broke down at the realization
But he can do something to refrain it to happen again, so he try to stop Four
(but ofc Four doesn't listen because, there's a way to get Shadow Back And He will do anything to bring him back)
So the argument escalate quickly and they start to fight (more to Four's side than Legend's)
But Legend can't take it anymore and just BEG for Four to stop and he start crying.
Legend screaming "PLEASE STOP, I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU AGAIN"
And Four stops, confused by what Legend says.
Four : "You don't want me to ... But ... Why would it happens ??"
Legend still crying : "Please just.. trust mE PLEASE"
Four is still confuse, so Legend had to tell him about the Palace in his Time.
And after hearing the story :
[Both Crying]
Four : "So.. I get corrupted."
Leg : "..Yes"
Four : "Did I hurt peoples ?"
Leg : "No I.... Stopped you before you could do anything"
And Then Four looked right in Legend eyes and says with a watery smile "Thank you, for not letting me hurt innocent people."
#linked universe#linkeduniverse#lu legend#lu four#lu fanfic#lu angst#this is badly written i'm sorry#I'm more of an Illustrator than a writer#my writing
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