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Everyone in the kingdom was talking about who would be the prince’s soulmate, it wasn’t common that someone in the royal family in his 20 years didn’t have a soulmate yet.
Namjoon’s fathers, for example, met his soulmate when he was only 15 years old. Namjoon’s mother was a beautiful princess from a neighboring kingdom, everyone was so happy when they met each other and they could see the sparkles around each other.
Of course Namjoon was sad too, he always dreamed about meeting his soulmate, his mother told him so many beautiful stories about soulmates and he read books about it too. He couldn’t wait to meet his other half and who was the person he would live happily ever after.
Seokjin couldn’t get near the castle, he knew that. His mom told him about the prince being his soulmate and what people would do to him if they ever found out.
His mom used to work at the castle and Jin went with her everyday too, he doesn’t remember very well but that's the story she told him. Jin used to play with the prince, when he was 7 and the prince was only 5 his mom saw the sparkles around the two of them and the first thing his mom did was quit the job and never go near the castle again, and he had to do the same.
-
At the castle Namjoon decided to talk to his parents, he couldn’t wait any longer to meet his soulmate.
“But son, you already met every prince and princess we know. i don’t know but maybe you don’t have a soulmate.” That's what his father said.
“Of course he has one, we would know that and his blood would be black by now.” His mom couldn’t even think about the idea of his son not having a soulmate, it would be her worst nightmare.
“I have an idea. Maybe my soulmate is not from a royal family?” Namjoon said.
“I don’t know, that never happened before, it’s almost impossible.”
“But it’s a shot we have to try, right?” It was his mom who said it.
“Yeah, maybe we could try.”
And Namjoon was so happy that he couldn’t even keep it to himself. It was his idea to make the ball, he organized everything and chose every little detail. Namjoon wanted everything to be perfect for the moment he met his soulmate.
-
Yes, Jin got the invitation to the ball but his mom didn’t want to let him go. Everyone was invited, that’s what the invitation said and no particular reason. It was the first time something like that happened, every party in the castle were for the royal families around the country and only for them.
“Do you think they will do something to us if we don't go?” Jin had to ask, he didn’t want his mom to be in danger
“They won't even miss us, you will see.”
-
The ball had already started and the prince was at the door greeting everyone, his parents were with him too. The three of them were so anxious and they couldn’t wait for the moment that everything would happen.
Namjoon, of course, was so nervous. His hands were sweating and his heart was beating so fast.
He couldn’t stop thinking if its a boy or a girl, how they look like, there were so many questions in his head and he knew he wanted to know everything about his soulmate and he would do that tonight.
Namjoon spend the whole night at the castle’s door, he was still waiting and he could wait more but he knew it was pointless.
“Walk around the whole kingdom and make sure that everyone really came.” He heard his mother’s voice.
He knew that they could see the disappointment in his eyes, he was trying so hard not to cry right now. His dad had always told him that a king can’t show weakness and he was doing his best to do that.
The guards started walking away so they could do their job but the hope in Namjoon’s heart was starting to vanish.
-
Jin was sleeping when he heard knocks on his door and Namjoon was at the castle’s garden when two guards approached telling him they found someone who didn’t attend the ball.
Jin hurried to answer the door, he didn’t want his mom to wake up. Namjoon was on his way riding his horse with the guards following him and of course his parents didn’t know what he was doing, it was too dangerous for a prince to be out at night but he didn’t care, it was his last chance.
-
When Jin opened the door he couldn’t understand what was happening, maybe he still was too sleepy and was actually dreaming. That was the only explanation for the men with uniforms at his door.
“The prince will be here soon.” One of them said to the one who looked like the leader of them maybe. They didn’t even bother to say goodnight or to explain why they were there. At this point Jin wasn’t even sleepy anymore, why was the prince coming here?
And then everything started to make sense, he and his mom didn’t attend the ball, if the royal family invites you for anything you can't just not go. Its an example of bad manners and he knew that his mom knew that, but they wouldn’t kill him bc of it, right?
Now he was afraid for his life and his mom’s.
“Hm, I’m sorry but can someone explain to me what is happening.” He didn’t know if it was a good idea to say anything, from what he knew he could be in danger.
“We just need to wait for the prince and he will decide what happens next.”
And that was another issue, the prince couldn’t get near him.
“I’m really sorry but that must be something wrong, i-i don’t understand what the prince would want with me.”
“Sir”
The man’s voice was cut off by the sound of a horse getting closer and jin knew it was the prince and he also knew he was going to die.
The first thing Jin thought was “RUN” but when he was ready to do it the whole place around him was all bright suddenly. There were sparkles all over the place, and the guards couldn’t be seen anymore, it was just him and the prince.
It’s been years since the last time he saw the other man and he wasn’t ready for how beautiful he is. Namjoon was smiling so bright and it was the most beautiful smile Jin has ever seen. His dimples showing on each side of his face made Jin forget about everything and everyone.
“It’s you.” Namjoon said. “I can’t believe I finally found you.”
Namjoon was touching every part of Jin’s face because he couldn’t believe it was really happening.
His soulmate is so beautiful and handsome, Namjoon couldn’t believe how lucky he is.
“Please, don’t kill me.” There were tears on his eyes and namjoon tried to clean them off.
“W-what?”
“If you’re going to kill me at least let my mom live, please.”
“I’m not going to kill you, why would you think of something like that?” Namjoon was so confused, he just wanted to protect his soulmate but there were only fear on his eyes.
At that moment the sparkles around them had already washed off.
“You’re my soulmate i would never hurt you.” Namjoon tried to make him feel safe, it was the only thing that mattered.
“LEAVE MY SON ALONE.”
The guards were holding jin’s mom while she screamed, Jin was so confused, the prince said that he wouldn’t hurt him and he trusted him, everyone would think that he was crazy to trust someone like that but it was his soulmate and he felt in his heart that the prince was being honest.
“Can they let go of her, please? I think we need to talk.”
Namjoon gave them the order and the guards let go of her.
“Mom, let's go inside and talk, okay?”
The woman nodded her head and walked inside, Jin was holding the prince’s hand and waiting for him to say anything.
“Do you want me to go too?”
“Of course.”
They got inside and Jin’s mom was already on the sofa and they did the same, still with their hands together they sat side by side.
“Jin, I’m sorry I never told you this before, I know I should have told you so you could understand why I’m so afraid, why I don’t trust the royal family.”
“Mom, please explain.”
“Your grandma died because her soulmate was a king, probably the prince’s grandfather sitting right by your side. The royal family made her hide this whole thing, she married another man and that’s how I was born but someone exposed her, someone from another kingdom found out, they wanted to destroy this kingdom and because of that my mom died.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, why would she needed to die, why would they hide it?” Namjoon asked.
“Years ago the kingdom was really poor, the king that we have now is the one who saved us all, in the past they said that if your grandfather didn’t marry with a rich princess they would lose all the money and gold they have.”
“I still don’t understand why she had to die.”
“It was the wedding day when the news came out, most people just thought it was a gossip and they couldn’t let people believe it was real so the only thing they could think of was to kill his soulmate, and that’s what they did, so the news vanished.”
“But my grandfather must have suffered, right? His soulmate died, when these things happen you can feel it.”
“Maybe the king lived his whole life with a part of his heart missing.”
“That’s so sad and so unfair.” Jin was holding Namjoon’s hand like it was the last thing he would do, he didn’t want to let his soulmate in the world to live an unhappy life without him.
“But the kingdom is fine now, we being soulmates won’t ruin the kingdom, my parents would never hurt my soulmate.”
“You both need to understand why I am so afraid, I can't lose my son too.”
“Mom-“ Jin tried to say but the words were stuck in his throat, she lost his mom because of this situation, how he could say to her not to worry about him.
“I can guarantee to you that I will do everything I can so my soulmate will be safe, my first priority right now is his safety, J wait too long to have him and I don’t intend to let him go.”
“Jin, is that what you want?”
“Yes, mom.”
“Please, just keep him safe no matter what.”
EPILOGUE
Namjoon and Seokjin have been together for 3 years now after they found each other Jin decided to continue to live with his mom, she didn’t want her to be so worried all the time. She still had her traumas about her childhood after all.
Three times a week someone from the castle would come to take Jin to the castle so he could see his soulmate.
Everything was perfect between the two of them. Namjoon was always happy, it was like his eyes were shining all the time, he couldn’t take his smile out of his face. Everyone in the castle talked about how they were really mean to be.
Their favorite spot at the castle was the garden, it was Jin’s favorite actually, but it would become Namjoon’s favorite too if it means he can see Jin smiling like that all the time.
Jin loves tulips, he had never seen one and at the garden’s castle there were so many and with different colors. His favorite was the red one because it means perfect love and that's how he could describe his relationship with Namjoon.
Today was one of those days that Jin would go to the castle to see Namjoon, at first he felt really shy to be walking around the castle because he didn’t have fancy clothes or something like that but Namjoon told him it was okay and he was still beautiful no matter what, Namjoon was always saying how Nin is the most beautiful person in the whole kingdom and he could wear anything and he would still be the most beautiful person anywhere.
Jin doesn’t know what he did to deserve someone like Namjoon but he would do everything he can to make his soulmate the happiest man in the world.
Jin was on his way to the backyard, the servants told him Namjoon was waiting for him there.
After so many years he can see that now his mom is more relaxed and she is starting to trust Namjoon more, she already met with the queen and the king and they made sure to tell her no one would hurt him and they didn’t know about his grandmother too. They were so devastated when she told them the whole story, you could see the sadness in their eyes, mainly from the king, it was his dad’s soulmate after all.
Jin felt that everything was in the right place, everyone was happy and he didn’t know he could get happier than he already is.
When he arrived at the backyard all he could see was flowers, they were everywhere, while he got closer he saw that it was red tulips. The only place with red tulips was the garden and now they were spread at the grass of the backyard.
Everything was so beautiful, he didn’t know who did that but it was so amazing to watch. And when he looked up he saw Joonie, his Joonie, and he had a red tulip on his hand. Jin hurried to get closer to him.
“What’s going on here, love?”
“It’s a surprise for you, did you like that?”
“Of course I liked! Everything is beautiful, Joonie.” He couldn’t stop smiling. “Did you make all this by yourself?”
“My mom helped me and some of the servants, of course.”
“I can’t believe you did this, I can’t believe I love you more than I already loved before.”
“Jin, you know that I love you more than anything and I waited so long to find you but I would do everything over and over again, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to rule this kingdom by your side.” Jin was already crying, he just wanted to scream about how happy he was right now. Jin saw Namjoon kneeling in front of him and that's when he cried even more. “Jin, will you marry me?”
“Of course I will, babe!”
Namjoon gave the red tulip to Jin and Jin knew it was his way of saying how important that moment was for him, for both of them and they kissed in the sea of red tulips around them.