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One moment Jungkook was looking at Taehyung's big smile, and the next he saw in slow motion how unexpectedly the horse Taehyung was riding began to chaotically willow, and then in one brief second he fell hard to the ground.
Jungkook had never been at his side so quickly before.
He jumped down from his horse and then kneel in front of Taehyung's bent form. The prince's face was contorted in a grimace, and his left hand was being held by his right protectively.
“My prince!” Jungkook raised his hands, but didn't know if he should touch him when he didn't have any major information about his injuries. He didn't want to accidentally do him more harm than had already happened anyway, especially considering how often dragon hybrids under the influence of strong emotions failed to control their superhuman strength.
"Hurts-" Taehyung hissed, tears noticeable in the corners of his eyes.
“What hurts?!” Jungkook was frantic at this point, much liking how Taehyung's face displayed the earlier smile rather than a grimace of pain. "Talk to me, please."
"My arm." He added, nodding toward his right. As Taehyung tried to rise to an upright position, Jungkook's hand stopped him in his tracks.
"Hey, don't do that, you'll hurt yourself more." Jungkook said, looking down still with worry painted on his face, which clearly convinced Taehyung to exceptionally not try to get it all his own way. As befits a prince, Taehyung could be exceptionally stubborn at times, even when it came to his own safety and health.
“My prince, are you alright?” They heard a low voice behind them, which belonged to one of the court advisors - Kim Namjoon.
His characteristic dimpled smile, which always graced his face in the company of the prince and those close to him, was now completely gone. Instead, concern was visible.
Namjoon began to run towards them, but the closer he shortened the distance separating them, the more Jungkook felt a strange sensation in his chest. He did not want the advisor to be any closer to the prince than necessary.
Jungkook let out a throaty growl, shocking everyone around him, but also himself. Hearing his warning, Namjoon slowed his steps, eventually stopping a few meters away.
“Jungkook, calm down.” Namjoon raised his two hands in a gesture of peace, but the growling did not stop. His dragon nature was starting to come out unexpectedly, and all that echoed in his head was protect prince, protect prince.
"Hey, easy." Taehyung's healthy hand caught his palm. The pleasant touch somewhat soothed his nerves, but Jungkook still didn't take his eyes off Namjoon and the rest of the people who had also gone hunting with them. For Jungkook, they were far too close to the prince, who at that moment was in his most vulnerable and easily hurt form.
Jungkook felt Taehyung gently squeeze his hand as well as continue to speak sweet nothings to him, just to bring him down to earth.
"Kook." his low voice reached his ears, causing a shiver to run down his spine. "We're not in any danger. You don't need to be on guard."
"You're hurt." Jungkook said in a low voice, not even looking at Taehyung. He was too lost in his thoughts to shield his prince. "I need to protect you."
Dragon hybrid moved closer to Taehyung, but he didn't even know how unconsciously he was doing all these things. Everything seemed to come as if from an automaton. He felt his dragon nature even screaming inside him to do more, to try harder.
"Someone get that dragon off the prince!" Someone shouted in the distance, probably one of the knights. Now a rather sizable crowd began to gather around them.
"We're on the same side, Jungkook." Again Namjoon's voice reached him, but in his fog-shrouded mind, the words he spoke made no sense.
Everyone , without exception, was a threat at this point.
"Stay back!" Jungkook growled menacingly, turning nervously right and left. He felt overwhelmed, seeing the two of them surrounded by so many people.
Jungkook climbed even higher on Taehyung's body, just so he could get as close to him as possible and cover him with his body as much as possible. He was now sitting atop his chest with his arms around his sides.
"Attack him! He's hurting the prince!" The voices continued to echo in the air.
"No!" Taehyung spoke up this time, seeing how out of control the situation was starting to get. "Don't touch Jungkook or hurt him. This is an order!"
"But sir, how then should we help you?" The knight closest to Namjoon spoke up.
"That's bullshit. He is the one we should protect you from." One of the knights pointed at Jungkook, who was now sending him a sinister look.
Without waiting for anyone's response, the reckless knight moved forward, which was just an inflammatory step for Jungkook to take.
Literally.
Filled with tension and stress about his prince's health, Jungkook shot dragon fire from his mouth, making a huge circle around the two of them.
Those who stood closest to them, including Namjoon, suddenly had to take a quick step back to avoid being burned by the fiery circle that now separated Jungkook and Taehyung from the rest of the world.
"Kookie." Taehyung's hands stroked his thighs gently, which surprised Jungkook enough to lower his guard for a moment. "Please look at me."
Now that they were both relatively safe, Jungkook could afford to take his eyes off the wall of fire and turn to the prince, who still lay beneath him.
"We're safe. Don't panic, darling."
"I-I'm not-"
"You're." Taehyung interrupted him. "You're shaking."
Oh.
Jungkook didn't even pay attention to that. Now that Taehyung mentioned it, he could actually notice how much his hands were shaking.
"Shhh." Taehyung tried to stroke his hand reassuringly, which only made Jungkook have an even greater need to cry.
He leaned forward to finally snuggle into Taehyung's neck.
He didn't even know why his dragon senses became so activated and began to run wild. He always wanted to do his best to be a shield and sword for Taehyung in every possible situation. He never wanted to see his prince in pain. He liked his beautiful boxy smile much better.
Maybe that's why he felt an emptiness deep in his heart now. He felt as if he had let Taehyung down for the first time, even though the fall from the horse was not something he could have fully predicted and prevented.
Taehyung seemed to read his mind, or simply knew his beloved dragon much better than Jungkook supposed.
"Don't blame yourself for what happened. You're doing your best Kook."
"Not enough if you get hurt." Jungkook whispered under his breath, but Taehyung heard him just right.
"It's probably only a broken arm."
At these words Jungkook looked alarmed, but Taehyung's gentle laughter snapped him out of his growing panic. "It's fine." The prince looked at him with tenderness in his eyes. "I'm only a human, Kook. It's normal for me to be breakable. There is nothing we can do to prevent it."
"I don't like it." Jungkook furrowed his brow, and his mouth formed a small pout. "I don't want it to happen."
Taehyung laughed lightly, "You're sweet."
"Am I?" Jungkook's sweet voice sounded a tad uncertain, which made Taehyung's heart beat harder in his chest a little bit more. He knew very well that if he stared into Jungkook's eyes right now, he would find that look of vulnerability there, eyes as big as two large coins.
"Of course you are." Taehyung assured him. "You're also my best protector doing your absolute best. Don't diminish your merits, just because of one thing you had no control over."
Jungkook rose gently so that he could look directly into Taehyung's eyes. As it turned out, the prince had been right before, because the look the dragon hybrid bestowed on him was adorable. For a moment, he found it hard to believe that it was Jungkook who had formed the fiery circle around them when he looked like he couldn't even hurt a fly.
"This is not an order, but rather a simple request. Can you lower your guard? Can you get rid of the fire? No one will hurt us, especially when I have a brave dragon like you by my side." Taehyung leaned in slightly, then kissed him tenderly on the cheek.
It was only this gesture that made something click in Jungkook's head and the surrounding space changed. His hostile growl, which still felt like pulling deep from his chest for a long time, ceased and now he stared at the prince with his eyes wide open, slowly coming out of a trance of complete overprotectiveness. The feeling churning in his heart still hadn't gone away, but it had certainly calmed down enough that the urge to lash out at all those gathered and fight them to protect Taehyung was no longer necessary.
He felt that now, after the prince's assurances, his kind words and...a kiss on the cheek, which the dragon completely didn't expect, Jungkook was finally ready to tear down any walls he had built around himself. And especially the ones made of fire that still surrounded them.
Before he destroyed it completely, however, he stepped off Taehyung. He didn't quite like it, as he still wanted to spend time in his embrace, but he knew it wasn't about him now. Although Taehyung smiled in his direction and spoke affectionate words, he was still in pain, which he had only learned to mask well. They had to get the prince to a medic as soon as possible.
Without waiting for any of the rest of the knights to approach them, Jungkook leaned over and took Taehyung in his arms in bridal style.
He moved confidently with quick steps and with his head raised high.
He's going to deliver the prince to the healer as fast as possible.
+++
It came as no surprise to anyone when it came to light that Taehyung's arm was indeed broken. Fortunately, other than that, the fall from the horse didn't cause any major damage to the prince's health.
Jungkook was glad and he felt relieved at the news. Of course, the fact that the prince would have to walk around in a cast for several months before the bone knit together didn't fill him with joy, but at least in this case he promised himself to take care of Taehyung as best he could.
"You know you don't have to stand at the door all night, right?"
With his arm in a cast, Taehyung lay on his big bed. With a little help from Jungkook, he managed to change into his pajamas, and after an eventful day, all he dreamed of was falling fast asleep.
"I'm on guard to protect you when you're in your most vulnerable state," he said.
"I appreciate that Kookie. You know I do." Taehyung uncovered the quilt a bit and patted one of the seats next to him. "But I really need some good cuddles right now."
Jungkook looked at him uncertainly.
"I'm not sure if I can do that."
"You have my full permission." Taehyung continued to encourage.
"I-I... I didn't take a shower."
"I don't care." Taehyung smiled triumphantly at him, knowing full well that Jungkook would join him in a moment, as he had during many of their evenings together.
Their relationship was not exactly defined. They didn't know what they were for each other. But something was definitely between them. Some kind of gentle feeling that makes both of them soft for one another.
As long as they treated these feelings and pleasant moments with due care and sensitivity, they simply enjoyed the moment. Especially since the future for both of them was never one hundred percent certain.
With an uncertain step, Jungkook approached Taehyung at the bedside and then gently, as if he wanted to make no sound at all while doing so, slipped under the covers.
Taehyung grabbed his hand, at which Jungkook tried to move closer, so as not to hurt the boy at the same time.
"Thanks." Taehyung felt like he could finally breathe blissfully when his head settled perfectly on Jungkook's chest. His dragon side was always more or less active, which also meant that Jungkook was like a walking calorifier. Taehyung may have been freezing, but Jungkook was always able to warm him up. He loves it.
"Just what I needed." With his ear resting against the dragon's chest, Taehyung could also hear his steady heartbeat.
"How are you feeling?"
"With you by my side? Great." A boxy smile was visible on his face.
Even if he didn't want to, Jungkook couldn't stop the smile that appeared on his face on its own.
"I'm talking about your arm. Do you need anything I can help you with?"
"You helped me enough. Just relax from now on."
"I don't know if I can." Jungkook sighed. "I'm still thinking about this moment when you fell down from the horse."
"We talked about this Kook." Taehyung squeezed his hand tighter. "You're overthinking this situation. It happened, there is nothing we could do about it right now."
Jungkook pouts.
"But if I can't protect you, do you still need me at all?"
The question surprised Taehyung, because the prince hadn't even guessed all this time that this was where the whole problem lay.
"Oh Kook... Do you really think that way?" He lifted his head up slightly to be able to look at Jungkook. The position in which he turned, however, was uncomfortable, so at the end he merely decided to snuggle up to Jungkook even more, trying to show him with this gesture how wrong he was.
"But- Is that true?"
"Of course not!" Taehyung almost shouted, at which Jungkook flinched slightly. "I need you Jungkook. Always. And now-" he lifted his arm in a cast gently, but the activity quickly tired him out "Right now, I need you even more than before."
"Really?" Jungkook was now staring at him with his eyes wide open, the seeds of tears ready to fall out on his cheeks.
"Really." He assured him. "Jeon Jungkook, do you promise to always stand by my side?" Taehyung asked, his voice carrying a playful note behind it.
"Prince Kim Taehyung." Jungkook lifted his hand up, trying to sound as serious as possible and not burst out laughing in the process. He always knew when Taehyung started teasing. "I will always stand by your side. Day and night, whenever and wherever you're going to be, I promise, I will be just a few steps behind you to accompany you with everything."
When Jungkook finished his monologue, they both burst into loud laughter at their mini roleplay. Although the humor and atmosphere were lighthearted, the two of them felt subconsciously that the words spoken were not that far from the truth.
They were their traveling companions, each other's partners in crime, their favorite person.
In their own world, Jungkook and Taehyung could play many different roles. But what remained the same in each of them was that they were always each other's backbone, the indestructible support that sustained each of them.
With that, they could always find each other, even in the densest fog, in order to go hand in hand together and move forward tenaciously.
It was their most important promise.