Work Text:
Prince Jimin wasn’t like the princes in his neighboring kingdoms, whom travellers told tales of their elegant horses parading about the town, charming the maidens of the land with their sweet words and giving hearts. He much rather preferred to stay cooped up in his room that was at the tallest point of the castle, watching the sea with its boats floating around and reading stories of the water. They were not studious books, but rather tales that immersed the young prince with the possibilities of treasure, adventure, and epic duels awaiting him in the water.
Jimin longed to be an adventurer; exploring the sea with his trusted men, gallantly saving damsels in distress from dangerous men and defeating them with a single swipe of his sword. But as he longed, his mother worried and disapproved of her son’s wishes.
His mother was a very strict woman, prim and proper with her hair fixed into a tight bun atop her head that gave the impression she was not to be crossed if any man valued his life. She refused to let her son explore the kingdom’s land, much less the unknown areas of the world, and had Jimin’s room inspected daily to see if the prince was planning to flee his home.
As the years passed and the prince reached the prime age of 18, it was decided by his mother and her advisors that the heir to the throne would be allowed to explore his future kingdom if he was to be accompanied by an escort at all times: the prince took the offer with zeal, for he would be finally leaving the too-large cage that was his castle.
He met his escort later that fateful day, and was surprised to meet the man that was to protect him at all costs; he was tall, fit and tan, his casual shirt showing the outline of his broad shoulders, and with a mop of brunette waves atop his head that seemed to bounce with each breath he took. Comparing the man to himself, they were night and day; Jimin had lighter skin that would burn under harsh light, with blonde locks of hair that were swept across his forehead, and he was one of the shortest in his family.
“This, Jimin,” his mother declared, snapping the prince out of his haze with her deadpan voice. “Is Taehyung, your escort. He will watch your every move and report to me daily.” The woman turned her back on the boys, sauntering away to wherever she was going with her own personal escorts scurrying behind her.
Taehyung, who had been holding a serious face with harsh eyes, relaxed and let himself sigh when the queen was out of sight. He looked at Jimin and proceeded to bow to the boy, who was startled by the action.
“I am at your service, Prince Jimin,” he said, tilting his head up to smile cheekily at the boy, whose face had gone alight with a deep blush.
“It’s Jimin, and don’t bow to me, that’s just strange,” the prince chided, waving his hand dismissively at the man before him. Taehyung returned to standing upright, arms behind his back as he stared at Jimin.
“Yes, Prince Jimin,” the escort mused, grinning as the prince groaned.
“Jimin. My name is Jimin. No prince, just Jimin.”
“Do you prefer ‘Lord’?”
“No!”
Jimin learned, shortly after meeting Taehyung, that he was not like his mother’s escorts, who were timid and sought to constantly please the lady. He was a lighthearted fellow, who cracked jokes and teased the young prince, but was quick to be serious if any of the royal family or guard glanced their way. He never trailed Jimin, much rather preferring to walk alongside the boy or a little ways behind, but he did follow him everywhere he went (minus the restroom).
Jimin had never had an escort before, much less interacted with the workers around the castle, so Taehyung and his personality were entirely new to him. How in the world does a prince act around his own servants? Is he cruel, does he punish them for tiny hiccups they couldn’t help? Is he kind, greeting them daily and forgiving their larger mistakes? Jimin wasn’t sure, and in turn made him timid around his own escort.
In the first week of Taehyung becoming his escort, Jimin actively attempted to hide from him wherever he would deem fit; in the kitchen behind a large basket of fruits and vegetables, behind the throne his father used for throne room hearings, hiding in the back corner of the library with his calico cat he called Juniper. But every time he hid, Taehyung would somehow manage to find him, or worse, pretend he had no idea where the prince was in a joking manner until Jimin revealed himself.
But one day a week later, as Jimin was hiding behind a shrub in the garden that flourished beneath the kitchen’s window, he heard the quick clicks of feet hitting cobblestone road, a hefty sigh, and then idle whistling. Just as Jimin was about to announce his whereabouts to bring an end to the horrific whistling, Taehyung began speaking to himself.
“I know you’re somewhere over here, Jimin,” of course he knew that the prince was nearby. “But I have a story to tell.” The man sauntered over to where a bush with small green buds spat out small red berries and picked a bud before sitting on the ground.
“My grandfather was a bodyguard. He had serviced your mother’s mother, the Queen of Mosly, Queen Perina, and was by her side every second of the day. He wasn’t like me; he was always with her, always serious, never dared leave her alone. He was content keeping her safe,” Taehyung told his tale with a small smile, rolling the bud between his fingertips as he glanced about the garden, likely looking for the prince: Jimin sunk farther back into the bushes, but couldn’t stop his eyes from gazing at the escort.
“Queen Perina, however, loved to tease him and stretch the limits of what he would do for her, taunting him to snatch some cookies from the baker’s table, search for her when she was bored, silly things like that. He always spoke of those great times with her.” His smile fell for a second before continuing. “Though one day, she was being followed by a man. My grandfather won’t tell me who the man was, but I’m guessing it was a hired killer. Just as the man was about to strike the Queen, my grandfather had broken the man’s arm before he could blink,” Taehyung crushed the bud, pink juice squirting out of the destroyed plant.
“They grew further apart after that day, but my grandfather says he never regrets doing it and would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant she would be safe,” Taehyung finished, wiping the juice off of his fingers on the grass before standing up, a frown painting his features for a moment before vanishing into a smile as he looked directly at Jimin.
“Cool, huh?”
Shortly after that incident, Jimin was found more often than not trailing after his own escort, grinning as Taehyung told him stories his grandfather passed on to him from many years ago, before they had even been born. There were tales of fending off a boar attack with only a stick (Taehyung doubts it), of saving a baby who was being taken down the river by a strong current, and the story of how he had escaped from the mountain before it had eaten him. Jimin was practically attached to Taehyung, always encouraging more stories that the young prince would later write down in a journal he had never used before then. The pair would often be seen in the impressive library, Taehyung stroking Juniper who had perched herself upon his lap, and Jimin would either be scribbling away in his notebook or asleep with two different books piled on top of him.
One day in the library, many months after the boys had been first introduced, Taehyung didn’t share any story with the prince; he took Jimin’s journal that he was writing in as he sat perched upon a windowsill, placed it down, and whispered “Let’s run away.”
Jimin looked at the man, shook his head, and laughed. “We can’t do that, there’s no way we could possibly leave here, especially with my mother.”
Taehyung stood up from where he was seated next to the prince, a grin finding its way upon his face. “Then why don’t we leave when she or anyone else is looking: so, when are people not looking?”
Jimin shook his head again. “I don’t know.”
Taehyung’s eyes practically shone as he jumped on a nearby armchair, raising his arms to the sky. “Midnight! They’re all too tired to keep their eyes on us, so we can just, I don’t know, go !”
Jimin, feeling Taehyung’s enthusiasm radiating off him, decided to play along with his plan. “So, we’d take a boat in the middle of the night, sail to somewhere we don’t even know, and just… be free?”
“Yes! That’s exactly what we’d do, and we could be like my grandfather and just be known across the land for defeating rabid elephants and scaring scarecrows that came to life!” Taehyung was practically bouncing off the walls at this point, jumping off the armchair and grabbing Jimin by the shoulders. “We’re going tonight.”
As the pair (mostly Taehyung) began planning for their getaway, night fell across the kingdom as maids and servants spoke in hushed tones and rambunctious children stayed out beyond curfew. Jimin pretended to be asleep as guards checked on him late in the night, Taehyung beside him in his chair as he watched the boy. Waving along the guards, the boys were alone to orchestrate their plan.
They snuck down the long corridor leading to the back stairwell, warm clothing draped around their bodies and bags of supplies in hand. Several times, the boys would duck behind doorways, watching with bated breath as maids giggled over something and guards joked about lands beyond Mosly. With each step that brought them closer to the doors that lead to the pier, Jimin’s heart beat louder and louder, his pace becoming faster as he reached the one place that would set him free. As they pushed open the heavy wooden doors that lead outside, the boys grinned as the barrage of wooden vessels.
Taehyung celebrated quietly, raising a fist into the air and whispered a thank you to the gods, and Jimin wiped away tears of joy and relief that had miraculously found their way into his eyes. Placing their bags and themselves into the boat that could scarcely fit the two of them, Taehyung gestured to the thick rope that was tied around the cleat secured to the dock.
“Would you do me the favor, oh great Park Jimin of Mosly, and untie us from this dastardly place?” Taehyung mocked in a pompous voice, bowing his head to boy who gave a hearty laugh.
“Why yes, my good Kim Taehyung, loyal escort to me time and time again, I will release us upon the count of three,” Jimin retorted, fanning his face with his hand as a makeshift fan. After they shared another laugh together, Jimin took a hold of the rough rope, and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“One,” He was tugging the knot loose, looking back at the dimly lit pier that seemed to look less exciting than when he had left the castle.
“Two,” He closed his eyes, feeling Taehyung’s excited feet tap quickly against the bottom of the boat. He said his last goodbyes to his homeland in his thoughts.
“Three,” He opened his eyes, tugging harshly on the rope, which gave way and fell into the water. The boat began drifting away from the pier, oars dragging through the water and resisting the current. Although the prince should have been celebrating with Taehyung, who was whooping and hollering, he felt a sense of dread as the castle slowly grew into a speck on the horizon.
Jimin placed his hand into the water, tilted his head to the stars, and let sleep take over his physically and emotionally exhausted body.
But when he awoke, he found sea salt on his tongue, sand smeared along his face, and body screaming from lack of water. Raising himself shakily onto his forearms, he found he was on a beach, one he had not recognized, and there was no sign of anyone. The sense of dread he had felt before he had slept returned, and he forced himself to stand on shaky feet.
Taehyung was nowhere to be seen, the boat was missing, and there was nothing drifting on the horizon.
Jimin was alone.
His breathing began to pick up in pace, but not like the excitement he had felt when he was on the pier; no, this was dread, this was anxiety, eating him whole and spewing intrusive thoughts that shook the prince to his core.
You’ll be alone forever.
No one is coming to save you.
Taehyung left you.
You’ll die here.
Curling in on himself, Jimin let out a blood curdling cry, holding his head in his hands as he sobbed for what seemed like hours. He let the thoughts overtake him, fear encompassing his petite figure.
His tears stopped abruptly when he felt something warm drape over his chest like an embrace, curling and squeezing him but not in an attempt to hurt him. A wave of warmth followed suit, subduing the boy and forcing him back onto the ground.
"Jimin," a voice cooed, sending tremors down the boy's spine as he searched frantically for the source. But he was alone.
"Who's there? Let me go, you fiend!" Jimin shouted, but there was no bite to his threat, merely glaring at the air with eyes that held no anger.
"Wake up," it cooed again, and the sun that was hanging over Jimin's head seemed to shine even brighter.
Squinting, Jimin shouted once more, "Let me go!" The looming sun came ever closer, bright light shining on his face.
He shouted once more before the light encompassed him.
And just like that, Jimin was awake. He was sweating and panting, heart racing in his chest, but he was in his bedroom in the castle in Mosly. Books about islands were scattered about his room, and Taehyung was asleep sitting upright in the chair next to the bed.
Sighing, Jimin relaxed, thoughts calming down and composure returning. He rolled onto his side, and slowly, grabbed Taehyung's pinkie finger, and closed his eyes again.
He didn't want to be anywhere but here.