Archive of Our Own

Yoongi loved parties, he really did. Royal balls made with the sole purpose of the kings showing off the opulence in which they lived? Perfect. Investiture ceremonies? Those were the betters! Banquets made for the simple fact that the kings just had a seventh son who would never come to rule the kingdom? Brilliant! Now, to the everyone, he might look like the exact opposite of that, that he hated all the noise and the crowd, and he did, but what he loved spending that time with his friends, goofing around, eating and doing what not, without the watchful eyes of the queen.

Except, his sister's wedding.

Yoongi hated everything that involved his older sister's wedding.

He hated the fact that his sister escaped the line of succession by marrying a crowned prince to the throne of a neighboring kingdom. He hated the fact that his easygoing life as the second to the throne had changed because his sister had fallen in love a year ago at the ball that the Jeju kingdom had organized to celebrate prince Seung-Kwan’s coming of age. He hated the fact that his mother couldn't care less about her only daughter getting married and that he was having to cover for her to keep his sister happy. He hated that his sister became insufferable when things weren't exactly how she had dreamed them.

He hated the fact that this girl who had always been more like a mother than his own mother was walking out and leaving him alone.

Although, he really didn't hate seeing his sister so happy and excited.

He loved seeing his sister as excited as a child choosing everything for that special day.

“Which cake do you think is better, Yoon?” asked a young woman with long black hair and cat-like eyes, clearly engrossed in which of the ten cakes she had just tasted was the right one.

"Noona, I've tried so many cakes that I can't remember which ones I've already tried" Yoongi complained, "just pick one, come on, you said they were delicious, the one you pick will be good."

"Yoon! You're supposed to help me! What if Jun-Seo's parents don't like the cake I choose?" the girl asked throwing her arms up, exasperated.

Yoongi was about to say something when another voice joined the discussion.

Yoongi cursed under his breath, he had almost managed to forget the presence of the third noble in the room. He had almost managed to forget about the beautiful boy who was accompanying them, the seventh prince of the Daegu kingdom, Kim Taehyung, who was helping with the wedding preparations on behalf of Jun-Seo, the crowned prince of Daegu.

He also hated having to see the beautiful prince of Daegu every day.

"If you like, Myeong-ssi, I can give you some advice" the youngest said with his soothing voice.

The girl smiled at her brother-in-law.

“Go ahead, Taehyung-ssi."

The youngest prince nodded before approaching the cake table, carrying with him ten small plates that had previously had cake on them. Yoongi raised an eyebrow at that, he had had to limit his consumption of cake, having decided to eat half or less of each slice in order to be able to try them all without feeling sick.

"Taking into account that the main course will be a meat, I recommend a cake with a subtle flavor and a cream with a strong flavor, such as white chocolate and salted caramel" the younger man began to say as he took another plate of the cake he was describing. "The sponge will be subtle enough not to overpower the palates of the guests and the cream will be strong enough to clean the palate from the meat's flavor.

Myeong and Yoongi nodded at the same time.

"Yeah, it's a good idea" Myeong said, approaching the youngest with her hand outstretched to take the slice that the prince of the Daegu kingdom had cut. Taehyung, noticing that, frowned slightly before setting the plate down and cutting another slice, which Yoongi noticed was slightly smaller than the one he had cut first. "Thank you, Taehyung-ssi. Do you want to try it, Yoon?"

Taehyung quickly shook his head.

"If I eat more cake I'll throw up, noona... but I think what Taehyung said is true, it will be a good option."

The other prince nodded taking a bite of what Yoongi had counted as his eleventh slice of his.

"But remember, what really matters is that you like the cake, Myeong-ssi. I assure you that any of these cakes will please my parents" the boy added after finishing his slice, walking towards a cake that was a little bit farther "all of them are delicious."

Yoongi's sister smiled happily before calling the palace pastry chef.

“Jinnie, I have already chosen my wedding cake" the girl declared. "It will be the white chocolate with salted caramel one."

The pastry chef smiled in agreement.

"I think it's a very good choice, Myeong-ssi" the man said as he left the kitchen, followed by ten waiters, who prepared to remove the ten cakes they had just tasted. "Do you want me to leave you some cake?"

"No, thank you" the siblings answered in unison.

"Yes, a large slice of each one, please" Taehyung asked at the same time, earning the incredulous look of the siblings.

Seokjin laughed heartily.

"You have a good appetite, Your Majesty, that pleases me" Seokjin declared before instructing the waiters to cut especially large slices for the younger prince. "If you have any special cravings, my kitchen is always open, Taehyung-ssi."

Yoongi smiled as he noted that Taehyung's usually stoic expression was betrayed by the gleam of emotion in his almond-shaped eyes.

He really loved spending his days with that prince who seemed to have a bottomless pit instead of a stomach.

♥

"Yoon? Could you invite Taehyung to your next training session?” Myeong asked as they ate at the dining table, where, for once since his arrival, the Daegu's prince was absent. "The other day I saw him training alone in the garden."

Yoongi shrugged before nodding, still eating. To everyone at the table that was probably a sign of how little interest he had in the subject, but in his mind, chaos had just broken loose. How was he supposed to train with a man who could distract him just by smiling? Was Taehyung upset by the fact that for the last month he had never invited him to train? What would the younger think when they finally trained together? Would he be impressed? Would he be disappointed? Several questions assaulted his mind as he mechanically ate.

"How are the wedding preparations going?" the queen asked with a smile, causing both siblings to frown.

Their mother was supposed to help Myeong with the wedding preparations, not Yoongi. As soon as the engagement had been announced, the queen had gotten rid of the pre-wedding chores, saying that Yoongi was closer to Myeong than herself. The siblings knew the truth, the queen couldn't care less about her children, unlike the king, for the queen having children had been a kind of obligation which had ended with the birth of a boy.

"Maybe you would know, mother, if you took the time to be part of them" Myeong muttered between bites.

There was an awkward silence at the table, in the middle of which he was silently grateful that Taehyung was not there, there was no reason why this moment had to be part of the guest prince's knowledge.

"Myeong, I think you know perfectly well that I'm too busy to take care of your wedding" the queen declared, fixing her gaze on the princess.

"Oh yes, I forgot how important your afternoon tea with the duchesses and your bridge game are" Yoongi muttered under his breath.

"Enough! I'm not going to allow my own children to disrespect me!” the woman exclaimed, leaving her cutlery on the table.

The king laughed heartily.

"Come on, everyone calm down and let's finish this dinner" he ordered with a smirk, making Yoongi roll his eyes. It was typical of his father to enjoy those dinner fights. ‘I miss war, and this is the closest thing to war’ the man used to say.

Dinner ended in silence, the only sound being the clinking of cutlery against plates.

♥

"Come on Hoba! You're better than this!” Yoongi exclaimed smiling as he delivered blow after blow against his friend.

"Shut up! Let's take a bow and you'll see who's better!” the redhead growled as the only thing he could do was keep defending himself, probably hoping that the prince's blows would tire him at some point.

After a few minutes, the blond fell to the ground.

Yoongi laughed heartily.

He loved boxing.

“And that's three wins and zero defeats!” he muttered proudly as he approached one of the servants, who immediately picked up a nearby pitcher, transferring some of its contents into a glass. "Thank you” he said smiling before giving him the glass back and turning to see his friends. "Anyone else wants to serve me as a punching bag?” he asked smiling, knowing that the day's training was over.

“You’re just been cocky because Kook was on guard duty and he couldn’t come to beat you ass” Jimin said as he raise his head from his book.

"I hope I’m not too late, am I, Yoongi-ssi?" a somewhat agitated voice suddenly asked, when he turned to see the owner of the voice, he saw the one person he didn't want to see at that moment.

"Taehyung? Noona told me you were coming to train, but since you weren't here I assumed you changed your mind” the prince said. hoping to sound as casual as he wanted. Judging by the skeptical looks from his friends, he had failed.

After all, he had delayed training for an hour waiting for the Daegu’s prince to arrive.

"I'm sorry, I had to attend to an urgent matter with Myeong-ssi" the boy explained as he took off his heavy clothing.

"Myeong? Did something happen?" Yoongi asked slightly concerned.

Taehyung smirked, shaking his head.

"Nothing too serious, Baek-hyun-hyung had an accident during a diplomatic trip, which will put him out of commission for a few months" the prince explained as he handed his jacket to one of the servants around the practice field.

"And what does noona have to do with it?"

"Baek-hyun-hyung was the one who was going to give them their wedding rings, but due to his injury he won't be able to make the trip to the wedding, so we were deciding who was the best option to replace my brother" Yoongi couldn't help but notice that as the guest prince stretched, he seemed quite used to warm-ups for hand-to-hand combat, doing the same stretching and relaxation exercises for his limbs and spine that Yoongi did.

"I hope your brother is well."

"He'll be fine, it's a simple precaution."

 "Did you find a replacement?"

“Yes, my sister, Iseul-noona."

Yoongi nodded and stayed silent for a while, watching the younger warm up.

"Ready?"

"Yes, what are the rules?"

Yoongi smirked, Taehyung would have a hard time if he thought a close combat training session had rules.

"There are no rules, the first one to give up loses, if one cannot continue he loses, and if you run away you lose."

He couldn't help but smile as the other prince raised an eyebrow when he said that last bit.

“Do you think I'll run away, Yoongi-ssi?"

The sparkle in the Taehyung's eyes made Yoongi's heart race a little. He smirked trying to hide the fact that Taehyug looked incredibly attractive free of the heavy clothing he used to wear.

"I hope not."

"Okay, let's start with this, shall we?" Namjoon intervened.

"Are you ready?"

"I’m, Yoongi-ssi."

"Ready?" Jimin asked raising a hand. "Fight!"

Yoongi smiled as he ran to close the distance between himself and Taehyung, who seemed to understand his intention, as he soon took a couple of steps to the left, making Yoongi stop for a moment to go after him again. He threw an arm out in front of him, trying to grab Taehyung's shirt, but hei managed to dodge it. The older prince frowned, so Kim Taehyung was an elusive fighter, exactly the kind of fighter he hated. When his third attempt to grab Taehyung's body failed, he snorted in annoyance.

"We're supposed to be fighting, stop running away!” the older shouted.

"I didn't know that I had to fight the way you like, Yoongi-ssi" Taehyung replied with a smirk.

Yoongi growled in frustration. Taehyung was making fun of him just because he was dodging him.

What followed happened in the blink of an eye.

Taehyung ran towards where Yoongi was and before the older man could try to raise his arms in defense, the younger landed a clean blow to his chest, although Yoongi was sure that originally that blow was aimed at Yoongi's face. The gray-haired boy frowned, Taehyung had held back, that was than obvious. On the other hand, Taehyung was visibly satisfied, since instead of landing a second blow, or getting into a defensive position, the younger has remained watching the result of his blow for a few seconds.

Which Yoongi took advantage of.

He reached out his hand, and grabbed Taehyung’s shirt before pulling him towards him. Taking advantage of the fact that the boy was close to him, he made his fist connect with his abdomen, obtaining a grunt from the prince. Yoongi pushed to the back of his mind the fact that he had packed the blow with far more force than was required for training. In a moment he found himself stomping his right foot in front, putting an arm around Taehyung's back. He immediately lifted Taehyung off the ground, before sending his full weight forward, smashing his opponent's back into the ground.

The prince smiled when he saw how the foreign prince gasped trying to recover the air that he had lost because of the blow. Without thinking twice, he placed a knee on Taehyung’s chest, being careful not to really hurt him, but to make it difficult for him to move and breathe.

"I give up" Taehyung muttered without even trying to get rid of Yoongi.

"That's what I thought" the older replied, getting up.

When he walked towards his friends with a smile on his face, he was met with a series of frowns and annoyed expressions.

"Huh?"

Hoseok was the one who crossed his arms and spoke.

"Don't you think you overdid it a bit, Yoon?" asked the blond pointing to where Taehyung was.

Yoongi raised an eyebrow before returning his gaze to the prince, slightly taken aback by the image. Taehyung was trying to catch his breath, his usually stoic face flushed red, and more importantly, he was still on the ground, in exactly the same position Yoongi had left him in.

"Hey, come on, it was a sparring match" the prince man said, looking back at his friends. "He hit me too..."

"Don't worry, Yoongi-ssi, it was a good match" a choked voice suddenly intervened.

He turned to see the prince of the Daegu kingdom, finding that he was making a great effort to get up.

"Taehyung…" he began before walking towards him "Let me help you."

Yoongi's outstretched hand was rebuffed by a glare from Taehyung, who continued with the task of getting up on his own.

"Thank you very much for allowing me to train with you, if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to" the younger said before finishing standing up and walking towards where the servants were taking care of his clothes. The foreign prince dressed quickly without any help before bowing to where Yoongi stood with his friends. "See you later, Yoongi-ssi."

Saying that, the raven left the training area faster than Yoongi had expected.

When he turned to see his friends, the looks of disappointment hadn't disappeared.

"What did you want me to do? To hold back?” he asked, trying to not dwell too much on the pain that had been reflected in the younger’s face.

"I don't think you've fought so hard even with Kook, Yoon" Hoseok replied a little worried. "That punch, I'm not sure I've taken a hit that hard from you before..."

The prince bit his lip in concern, before turning to see the path the heir to the Daegu kingdom had taken, noticing his figure in the distance.

♥

"When I told you to invite Taehyung to train, it was to train a little, not to beat the shit out of him!" his sister yelled entering the garden where Yoongi was resting.

"Hey! We were training one-on-one combat! It was obvious that he wouldn't come out unharmed!" the younger defended himself by crossing his arms, trying to ignore the feeling of guilt that had been eating him up for a few hours.

"I've never known you or anyone else to end up with a doctor checking if a blow burst an organ or not!" Myeong yelled.

Yoongi felt his blood run cold.

How hard had he hit Taehyung?

"Is he okay?"

Myeong shrugged.

"I don't know, when he was helping me choose the tablecloths, he kept holding his stomach" the woman said. "I forced him to let me see it, and do you know what I saw? Your fucking fist painted in his stomach!"

A groan of despair escaped from Yoongi's throat.

"Fuck!"

"That's what I should say! What were you thinking?"

"In that I wanted to impress him!"

"And your best idea was to get him bedridden?" Myeong yelled.

"I didn't mean to!" replied the younger, getting up to leave the garden. "I know I overdid it! And I really feel bad about it, but it's not like I can do anything about it! I don't even know how I'll be able to be with him after that!"

Her sister's brow furrowed even more.

"Well, start by going to apologize! Right now!"

The prince let a cry of frustration escape his throat as he walked out of the garden towards the room Taehyung occupied.

♥

Taehyung was reading one of the books he had gotten on one of his clandestine trips to the town outside the palace when he heard a knock on his bedroom door.

"Come in" he exclaimed without trying to get up.

Surprisingly, the prince of Haegeum was at his door.

"Taehyung."

"Yoongi-ssi."

"How are you?" the older one asked entering the room with his shoulders shrugged, avoiding his gaze at all costs, which made Taehyung hold back the urge to frown.

"Well, I'm just a little tired, I haven't trained in real combat for a long time, so my training session with you left me a bit exhausted" the prince lied. His abdomen ached enough to keep him in bed for the rest of the day.

The older’s frown made Taehyung shift uncomfortably, was he making a bad impression due to his lack of resistance? A kind of weight settled in the bottom of his stomach. All this time he had been very careful about the impression he made on the prince of Haegeum. After all, it was difficult for him to remain as stoic as usual in front of those cat-like eyes that seemed to every secret he held.

"Myeong-noona told me I left you in pretty bad shape with that hook..." Yoongi said approaching the bed.

Taehyung cursed the moment he let his sister-in-law know about the blow he had taken while training.

"Don't worry, Yoongi-ssi, we were training in combat, I knew I wasn't going to leave unharmed" Taehyung stated as he closed his book.

The older shook his head immediately, causing Taehyung to be slightly taken aback.

"You surprised me with your attack and I kinda... tried to make up for it a bit with that hook" the older murmured without looking at him, which annoyed him.

After all he loved seeing those eyes full of intelligence and cockiness.

Throughout his life he had always worked so that no emotion would come to light if it wasn't fully calculated, after all, that was how he had been raised. That was his family. That was why when his older brother had asked him to go to the Haegeum kingdom on his behalf to make the wedding arrangements, he had agreed without a second's thought. After all, he wanted to meet the family of that woman so full of life and emotions. What he never expected was to run into Yoongi, a man who seemed to think that life itself was not enough, a man whose eyes seemed to reflect that he was determined to grab anything he needed to, even if he wasn’t supposed to.

Ever since he met him, Yoongi's eyes had been a kind of beacon for him.

And at that moment those eyes seemed to avoid him at all costs.

"Really, you shouldn't worry Yoongi-ssi, I don't know what Myeong-ssi said, but I'm not mad at you at all" Taehyung said looking for the gaze of the older prince.

"I could have hurt you a lot" Yoongi muttered, "if I had hit you more times, I could have hurt you a lot..."

Taehyung wondered why his companion gave such importance to the blow, but before he could ask the older boy, he spoke again.

"When you surprised me with that blow you gave me, I thought I had to show you that it was really strong, I noticed how instead of hitting my face you hit my chest..." Yoongi explained, who seemed to have decided that the most interesting thing about the room was the window. "I was bragging that I was the best when you came by, I guess I thought I had to prove it to you."

Taehyung nodded, so he had hurt the older man's pride by avoiding the blow to the head.

Thinking that perhaps his best chance of getting Yoongi to look at him was to surprise him, he reached out his arm and punched him lightly in the face.

"Done, I already hit you in the face" Taehyung declared.

Yoongi's stunned look made all his efforts to remain seemingly stoic go to waste.

♥

Taehyung’s laugh filled the previously quiet room.

And God, he had never heard such a beautiful laugh.

Taking advantage of the fact that the prince had his eyes closed, he allowed himself to lose himself in Taehyung's face, appreciating every detail of it. The way his eyebrows seemed to be thicker near his nose, how his lips were thin and somewhat pink, the fact that his eyelashes seemed to be thicker than normal and how his face was tanner than at the start of his stay at his kingdom, probably because of the long walks he used to take in the day.

When the younger's laugh stopped echoing in the place, he noticed that instead of looking at Taehyung’s face with his eyes closed, he was lost in his warm gaze.

"You finally looked at me, Yoongi-ssi, I guess we're fine now" Taehyunf declared, returning to his usual stoic attitude.

Except that Taehyung's cheeks were flushed and those warm and inviting eyes were sparkling more than usual.

"Yes, we're fine" the older said, smirking.

He had made Taehyung laugh and blush.

♥

"Why do you always call me -ssi?” Yoongi asked with a frown, something Taehyung found more charming than he should have.

Taehyung smiled to himself, having expected that question for a long time, since the first time he had addressed the siblings like that and they both had frowned at him.

“You’re now the heir of the thrown of the Haegeum kingdom, I’m just trying to be formal without been too formal…”

“But Myeong won’t be the queen of this kingdom and you call her –ssi too.”

"Myeong-ssi is about to become the consort princess of my kingdom, I think it’s more than appropriate for me to address her formally."

Yoongi nodded, apparently agreeing with what he said.

"Shouldn’t you address me Jeoha then?"

“Sure, I can do that" he replied, frowning as he had thought that Yoongi was those princes that didn’t like to be called Jeoha all the time, as he had saw him been addressed without any honorifics by his friends. He sighed as he thought about all the times he had probably upset him because he wasn’t calling him in a proper way.

 "I mean… that you should just call me Yoongi, no honorifics, certainly not Jeoha…” the oldest declared, pulling him out of his thoughts. “Or you can call me hyung…”

Taehyung shook his head at him.

He couldn't call him by his name, even less hyung, it would make him more comfortable than he should be in his relationship with Yoongi. It would be crossing a line that could lead him to want to cross another line.

"I'm afraid I'm not in the place to call you that way, soon you'll be the crowned prince of the kingdom, and I'll continue to be just another prince of the Daegu kingdom" the younger declared.

Yoongi waved his hand dismissing what Taehyung was saying.

"Come on everyone calls me by my name! My friends call me hyung, except Jin since he is my hyung…”

"I'm not like your friends" Taehyung murmured, feeling a little envious at the older prince's statement.

He couldn't call him in such an intimate way, he couldn't...

"Don’t say that, of course you're my friend” the older exclaimed, frowning before letting his shoulders drop and turning to look at him with a stoic expression of his own, just like the one Taehyung usually wore, except, Yoongi’s eyes showed his sadness. "Or not?"

Taehyung blinked in disbelief.

"Of course we're friends... Yoongi-ssi" he stated letting a smirk spread across his face.

Yoongi laughed heartily.

"One day I'll get you to call me hyung."

"We'll see."

They continued laughing together, and Yoongi couldn’t help but notice that from that day on, Taehyung seemed to relax, he stopped looking like the archetype of an ideal royal, and started to look like a human, a free spirited, really respectful man, that seemed to flow thru the intricate life of the royalty. 

♥

"White roses are too common" Myeong murmured as she touched the petals of the beautiful flowers, “but I really like them..."

"Then choose them" Yoongi said turning to see the greenhouse.

They had spent half an hour in that place, and he had spent that half hour with his sister in front of the white roses.

"They are too common!"

"Then don't use them."

"But they are beautiful!"

Yoongi snorted in frustration.

"Noona, for God's sake, they're just flowers!"

"But we'll decorate the church with the flowers I choose! They must be perfect!” the princess exclaimed, clearly annoyed. "Where is Taehyung? He would understand me..."

Yoongi rolled his eyes before shaking his head.

"You were the one who told me that he felt unwell, remember?" the prince asked, remembering the words of his sister when they had arrived at the greenhouse.

The girl sighed nodding.

"Maybe we should wait for Taehyung to feel better..." the young woman murmured.

"Come on noona, it can't be that we can't pick some flowers without his help."

"But Taehyung always has a way of making me feel like I made the right choice..." the girl continued mumbling.

Yoongi closed his eyes before opening them determined. Until then, Taehyung had been the one who had always dealt with Myeong's doubts, the younger’s confident personality being especially useful, but Myeong was his sister, he was supposed to be able to help her solve those doubts.

He took a deep breath before grabbing his sister's shoulders, and then shook her with far more force than necessary.

“Yoon!"

"Noona is your wedding! You are the one who should be happy with the outcome! Father will be fine with everything as long as the main course is meat! And mother couldn't care less about all of this! I will be happy to see you happy that day! Jun-Seo said that he too will be happy with whatever you choose!” he yelled, startling the florists, and punctuating each sentence with a stronger shake.

"Alright! "OK!" the girl yelled, causing the younger to stop shaking her, but he didn't let her go.

"Which flowers you liked the most?"

"I haven't seen them all but..."

Yoongi shook his sister again.

"Which flowers enchanted you as soon as you saw them?"

"The white roses!" the girl exclaimed making Yoongi stop shaking her, again.

"Are you going to pick those flowers?"

"They are too common..."

The princess was shaken by her younger brother again.

"I didn't ask you if they are common, will you choose those flowers for the church decorations?"

"Yes! Now let go of me, Yoon!" Myeong yelled trying to force herself out of her brother's grip, without any success.

 "Not until you speak to the florist" Yoongi declared, frowning.

"Jimin-ah! I want the white roses as the main flower of the decorations!" the girl requested, being released immediately. "You are a brute!"

Yoongi smirked.

"I made you pick some flowers, didn't I?"

"You shook me and you yelled at me! Taehyung would never have done that!"

"Well, I'm not him" the prince declared, crossing his arms, "but it worked anyway."

The girl stuck her tongue out at him before leaving the greenhouse.

"I'm not going to be alone with you for this again! If Taehyung isn't here I'll wait until he can join us!” the girl yelled walking away.

Yoongi smirked before following her.

♥

"Hey, who are you taking to the wedding?" Yoongi asked as they lay on the grass, Taehyung with his eyes closed enjoying the warmth of the sun, while Yoongi read a book that looked too heavy.

He couldn't help but smirk at the question.

"No one" he replied, aware that his answer would bring more questions from the prince.

"No one? How come you'll be alone at your brother's wedding?"

Taehyung opened his eyes, after all he had the opportunity to have his full attention devoted to the prince in front of him.

"It isn't necessary, although I am a member of the royal family, I am the seventh son of my family" Taehyung explained before smirking, "my chances of inheriting the throne are practically zero, nobody expects anything from me, therefore If I decide go alone to Jun-hyung’s wedding, no one has a problem with it."

Yoongi’s expression was cristal clear, he seemed to have trouble understanding his situation.

"They don't expect anything from you?" Why do you say that?" the older finally asked.

Taehyung shrugged.

"Jun-Seo-hyung is the heir to the throne, who will marry Myeong-ssi, with whom, as far as I know, they plan to have a child" the younger said, raising his index finger.

"She has always said that she wants to have a boy and a girl" Yoongi intervened, smiling, thinking that unlike his own mother, her sister would be an excellent mother.

Taehyung smiled at the statement.

"That gives us three heirs to the throne from Jun-hyung’s side" he declared holding up another two fingers. "Then there is Iseul-noona, who is married with four children, giving us five more heirs." Now Taehyung had seven fingers up. "Haeun-noona is expecting a baby, which adds at least two more heirs." Two more fingers went up. "Ari-noona has two children, although from what I understand, she wants to have a couple more.” Taehyung held out both hands before closing them again and holding up two fingers again. "Baek-hyun-hyung has a baby too. Four fingers were in the air. And Jihoon-hyung is expecting twins." He finished holding up three more fingers. "That leaves me, as the eighteenth heir to the throne, although taking into account tha..."

"Eighteen?" Yoongi asked, clearly surprised.

"None of my sisters married a prince, so they are still in the line of succession" Taehyung answered, letting his back fall to the ground. "The fact that it is so unlikely that I'll get to the throne gives me a lot of freedom."

Yoongi nodded, but Taehyung knew that he was still thinking about what he had said.

"It also sounds like they don't pay attention to you" Yoongi muttered.

Taehyung shrugged, thinking that while it was true, he couldn't say it was a bad thing.

"Everything has its price" he answered, looking at the sky. "It doesn't bother me… I've never had any aspirations to the throne..."

"I've never aspired to the throne, but at least I've never felt left out just because I'm not the direct heir" the older intervened.

Taehyung smirked.

"I guess that's because it's just you and Myeong-ssi" Taehyung replied turning his face to look at the prince’s profile. "There's always been a good chance of you inheriting the throne, Yoongi-ssi..."

His interlocutor shrugged before lying on the grass as well.

"Everything was simpler when she was the heiress... Now everyone expects so much from me..." he complained.

So that was why Yoongi had been so serious the last few days.

"Like a partner for the wedding?" he asked wanting to distract Yoongi a bit.

The older smirked and nodded.

"Starting with that."

They remained silent for a few minutes, enjoying the wind, which was beginning to indicate the end of summer.

The prince of Haegeum broke the silence.

"I think my parents have never paid much attention to me, neither to me nor to Myeong, now that I think about it," the eldest muttered, lying down on the grass, moving a little closer to Taehyung, "they always made sure that we had someone to help us, take care of us and teach us... but never them."

"That's very common, in my case all my education has been by tutors..."

"No, I mean that my mother never wanted to be a mother, but it is an obligation that she had to fulfill when she married the king" Yoongi interrupted ", and my father couldn't be less interested, after all, rising children is women's duty... I don't want to be like that..."

Taehyung nodded slowly understanding what the heir of the kindgom was referring to.

"I don't think it's possible for you to be so indifferent, Yoongi-ssi" he murmured, smiling.

Yoongi nodded, letting the silence reign for a few minutes, this time being Taehyung the one who broke it.

"Is it really that important goes with you to the wedding?"

"I don't know, I think so, yesterday they asked me to look for someone..."

"I guess it is then."

Suddenly, the elder sat up, turning to look at him, giving him the most beautiful gummy smile he had ever seen.

"What's going on?"

"Do you want to be my plus one for the wedding?" the prince with cat-like eyes asked.

♥

His sister's laugh boomed thru the garden

“And he accepted?” the young woman asked, smirking when she had finished laughing.

"Yes, he said that he would be delighted"

The princess smiled sincerely before walking to a nearby bench and tapping on the spot next to her, motioning him to sit next to her.

"Do you like him?"

Yoongi nearly choked on his own saliva.

"Did you have to say it like that?" the younger asked, shouting.

"You're not denying it" she muttered, smirking.

"I didn't try to."

"Since when?" he blushed even more, making the older one laugh. "From the beginning? Wow, you have good taste Yoon!"

"Noona! Please! This is serious!" he exclaimed crossing his arms.

"I know, I know. But come on Yoon, it's just a little crush..." the girl said, fixing her eyes on her brother's, opening them wide in surprise ", isn't it?"

The prince shook his head.

"I want to ask him to stay in the kingdom after the wedding" Yoongi declared with a serious expression.

The princess looked away from him, directing her gaze to the castle, making him worry for a moment, would her sister say something to discourage him? Would she object to the idea? Moments later, the woman nodded and turned to look at him, a huge smile on her face and a gleam of determination that could only indicate that a plan was forming in her mind.

"When do you plan to ask him?"

He closed his eyes in thought for a moment.

"During your wedding, at some point when we get to be alone."

"You know? I heard that the garden with the fountains will look really beautiful at night, and it will be a pity that no one will notice it, because the party will be in the golden hall..."

♥

The day of the wedding had turned out to be much more complicated than he had expected. The preparations that they had been making during the previous months had resulted in a beautiful wedding, the church looked amazing, the hall looked luxurious, the food had been delicious, and the bride looked beautiful.

But the queen of Haegeum didn't seem to think the same.

"A shame, a year planning this event and it seems to have been done by nomads" the woman said as she looked disdainfully at the flower bouquet near her. "And Myeong looks just as horrible as she usually does" the queen added.

Taehyung clenched his fists, keeping his face as neutral as possible.

"Oh! Really? I think it's a beautiful event" intervened the queen of the Daegu kingdom. "I love how the white roses look..."

"They're so common they're vulgar" Yoongi’s mother interrupted.

Taehyung’s parents exchanged a concerned look with their son, it was clear that they were in an awkward situation and were looking for Taehyung to give them a way out.

"In the kingdom of Daegu they are a rare, it is very difficult to find them, having them in these quantities would be impossible" Taehyung quickly lied, hoping that the gray-haired woman wouldn’t see thru his lie.

The woman didn't seem to think much of it as she soon found herself grumbling for other reasons.

How was it that such an insufferable woman had such kind children?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the figure of Yoongi approaching the table where they were.

Yoongi had also been a nightmare, it had been almost impossible to fake his neutral expression from the moment he saw him enter the church that day. During his entire stay in the kingdom of Haegeum, he had never seen the grey-haired prince in anything other than a casual shirts and pants, the only variations being the color and the fact that whether clothing was suitable for cold or hot weather. That day instead, his deep blue clothes contrasted perfectly with his pale skin, the beautiful fabrics that adorned his clothes seemed to give him an air of seriousness and solemnity that was hard to ignore.

Again his gaze had been lost in the image of Yoongi more than it should have, so he quickly directed his gaze to the flowers to the right of the now heir to the kingdom of Haegeum.

Which apparently had not been the best idea he could have had, for having been forcing all his thoughts to avoid seeing his friend, he had not noticed that he had approached him, getting scared as he found him right in front ofhim.

The little jump he took in his seat seemed to be more obvious than he had thought, as Yoongi gave him a worried look.

"I'm sorry, I thought you saw me" he muttered.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was lost in thought" the younger replied, deciding to give himself the small pleasure of losing himself for a second in Yoongi's eyes.

"Oh yeah? Like which ones?” the heir prince asked, smiling.

Taehyung decided it was better to tell a little lie than admit what had caused him to stare so intently at a flower arrangement.

"About how fun it will be to have Myeong-ssi in the castle."

Yoongi smiled before sighing.

"The castle will be really lonely without her" he muttered, slightly surprising him. He thought that his friend sounded not sad, but actually nostalgic. His sister had only been married for four hours and hadn't left her family's kingdom yet, wasn't it too early for Yoongi to feel like that? "Can you come with me for a moment?" the prince asked suddenly, completely erasing all traces of nostalgia on his face.

"Of course" he answered wondering how much self-control it would take to maintain his composure in front of the older. "Excuse me" he murmured addressing both his parents and the kings of Haegeum.

Soon, he found himself walking out of the hall, following him out into the garden.

♥

The lights adorning the garden made Yoongi think that it was actually a waste for everyone to spend their time in the hall instead of enjoying the beautiful scenery in front of them. Although, seeing the prince that was walking next to him, and taking into account what he was about to do, a part of him was glad that they were the only ones who could enjoy that place for the moment. He somehow felt proud to be the only one who was in the presence of the beautiful prince at that moment.

As they walked through the garden, the older one devoted himself to admiring the boy who was walking next to him out of the corner of his eye. The foreign prince was dressed as he usually did, a formal attire, but with difference the quality and richness of the fabrics, if the rich blue velvet of his jacket was anything to go by. But his favorite change had been his hair, the younger usually left his hair untamed, leaving the black locks be free, this time, the younger had combed in a side part, revealing Taehyung’s beautiful face.

After a few moments of looking at the hair of the boy he had fallen in love with, he decided that while he appreciated seeing Taehyung's face, he loved seeing how the younger's jet-colored waves used to frame his face.

"Will you miss Haegeum?" Yoongi asked deciding that was the best way to start the conversation.

Taehyung stopped behind him, making him stop too. The older cursed internally, they were a bit far from the fountain where he had everything planned.

Taehyung’s warm gaze turned to the sky, which was beginning to turn dark.

"I'll miss the warmth of the castle" the younger replied, smiling in an almost imperceptible way. "I love my kingdom, but Haegeum is so warm, I can't help but think that I'll miss it."

Yoongi smiled from side to side before taking the prince's arm and starting to walk towards the fountain where he planned to talk, Taehyung let himself be guided by him until they reached the fountain.

"What do you think of the place?" the older asked admiring the garden again.

"It's beautiful" Taehyung answered, turning around.

As the Daegu’s prince's eyes focused on the entire garden, Yoongi allowed himself to get lost in face, he started admiring his lashes, that seemed to be too full to be real, and they he stared at his moles, first the one in his eye, then the one under it, he tried to look at the one at his cheek, but he knew it would be impossible from that side, he then looked at the one at his nose, and then he stared at the younger’s lips, since he knew there was another mole there, even if he couldn’t see it at that moment. When suddenly Taehyung’s gaze stopped focusing on the details of the garden, and was placed in Yoongi, the older one felt how the heat rose to his face as he took his eyes off Taehyung’s lips.

He cursed at his cheeks, knowing that they would be bright pink.

“Do you miss Daegu?” he asked, focusing his gaze on a particularly lush rosebush in front of them. Not getting a response from the younger, he decided to look at him out of the corner of his eye, finding that there was a slight smile plastered on Taehyung's face.

"I miss the lake where I used to skate in the afternoons" the foreign prince answered, extending his index finger ", I miss the castle library and escaping at night to walk around the town" two more fingers were extended.

"That's all? Don't you miss your parents? Your brothers? Your sisters?" he asked surprised taking into account how happy he had looked when talking to the women that were extremely similar to him.

"Don't get me wrong, Yoongi-ssi, I miss my family, but at the same time, they all have their own families, it's not like I spend much time with them" he explained with a shrug.

Yoongi closed his eyes taking courage.

Taehyung had given him the answers he needed to know that his idea had a chance of working.

“What would you say if I offered you to stay here?” Yoongi asked not daring to open his eyes, feeling his heart racing every second.

"What would be my role? Ambassador of the Daegu kingdom?" Taehyung asked making the heir of the Min family turn to see him with his eyes wide open. Had Taehyung not understood his intentions? Was Taehyung considering staying in Haegeum? "I paid enough attention to my political lessons to be able to do it..."

"I thought of something different… like my fiancé" Yoongi interrupted closing his eyes before rummaging through his cloak in search of the small box he had been taking care of during the entire event.

"Huh? F-Fiancé? Y-Yoongi-ssi? What are you saying? W-what?"

Yoongi opened his eyes meeting the completely flushed face of the Daegu prince.

"Come on, Taehyung, I'm sure you and I feel the same... am I wrong?"

"N-No, b-but... g-getting engaged?"

Yoongi kept the box in his hands, not daring to present it to the boy next to him.

“Is that a no?” He asked trying not to let his voice reflect the hollowness that was beginning to form in his chest. He was sure that Taehyung felt the same as him, so why?

Suddenly, Taehyung’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"You are the heir to the kingdom... won't you get into trouble?" Yoongi focused his gaze on the eyes of his probably future fiancé, seeking to find in them the answers that his lips didn't gave.

And that's when he saw it.

Taehyung had already made his decision for him, he was simply making sure that Yoongi was sure of what he wanted and what his acceptance of his proposal might entail.

"There is no other option for heir, I can do what I want" Yoongi declared smiling so much that his cheeks began to hurt. "My future is mine."

"You mean ours" the younger replied, smiling as much as the throne heir, "our future... ours."

"So? Would you like to marry me, Tae?” Yoongi asked as he got down from the bench, dropping to one knee on the floor, trying without much success to open the small box in his hands.

His efforts stopped when he felt Taehyung's lips on his.

His lips were thin, extremely soft and they tasted like the cream of the caramel cake that he had helped to choose a few months ago. Yoongi let the box slip from his hands, barely hearing the sound of the box hitting the ground along with the clink of the ring rolling out of the box. He let his arms wrap around the prince's waist, forcing him to kneel so they were at the same height. Taehyung’s hands tangled in Yoongi's hair, undoing the handiwork Myeong's hairdressers had accomplished. He lightly bit Taehyung's lip, causing Taehyung to gasp in surprise, an opportunity that his tongue didn't take long to seize, giving him the best sound he had ever heard.

Taehyung moaning.

That was when Taehyung pulled back.

"Yoongi... we're in public..." he muttered looking around, searching for possible spectators. "Myeong-ssi, h-hyung..."

Yoongi turned to see where his now fiancé's gaze was frozen, seeing his sister smile from side to side next to a young man quite similar to Taehyung, beaming them with a boxy smile.

"They will have to get used to seeing us, I don't plan to stop doing it" Yoongi replied before taking Taehyung's chin and kissing him again.

♥

"I can't believe you made that scene and lost the ring, idiot" Myeong said, obviously incredulous at the ridiculousness of the situation.

The crowned prince of the Daegu kingdom, Jun-Seo was on all fours on the floor at his wedding night, ruining his beautiful indigo blue suit, accompanied by his wife, who was also ruining her beautiful wedding gown, helping Yoongi and Taehyung, whose suits and hands were ruined at that point.

"Noona! It wasn't my intention! He kissed me before he could give him the ring!” Yoongi groaned palming down the garden path.

"You were taking too long to open the box, Yoongi-ssi" Taehyung replied not far from him.

"I think by now you can call him hyung" Myeong said as she moved a little, dirtying the white fabric of her dress even more. “Or you can call him yeobo… “

Yoongi smiled amused turning to see his fiancé.

"You can’t keep addressing me formally now that we’re engaged."

"You dedicate yourself to looking for that ring, idiot!" the woman ordered.

Yoongi growled in frustration as he went back to his task of finding the ring.

"I found it" Jun-Seo suddenly declared, smirking.

Without wasting a second, the Yoongi ran to where his brother-in-law was, not far from the fountain that had witnessed his marriage proposal. Once he was in front of Jun-Seo, he handed the ring back to him.

"Take care of Taehyung, please" the older whispered, placing the ring at Yoongi's palm.

"I'll do that, after all I know you'll take good care of Myeong" he whispered back before starting to run towards where Taehyung and Myeong were, who seemed to be trying to hide the emotion on their faces, without really succeeding.

Once he was close enough to him, he reached out an arm towards Taehyung, taking him by the shoulder and then hugging him tightly.

"I promise I'll make you happy."

"I promise you won't regret it" Taehyung answered before separating and stretching out his hand, "but now, I think you should give me something."

Yoongi laughed before placing the ring in the palm of a stunned Taehyung.

"You… idiot! Get on your knee! You are the one who should put the ring on him!"

Yoongi felt himself blush before taking the ring from Taehyung's hand, who had been holding it out, and kneeling again.

“Tae, I know I've already asked and I know you already answered yes, but noona won't leave me alone if I don't do it again" he declared as he looked at his sister, then turned her gaze back to his fiancé "but, again, would you like to marry me?”

Taehyung's eyes and smile seemed to sparkle.

"Yes, it would be an honor” the younger said, letting Yoongi place the ring on his ring finger.

Once Yoongi was on his feet, he had to use all of his balance to keep from falling to the ground as Taehyung kissed him as hard as the first time.

"Tae, we have an audience" he muttered jokingly.

"I thought you said they'd have to get used to it because you weren't planning on stop doing it, hyung" Taehyung replied smiling, wrapping his arms around his fiancés neck.

"I told you I'd get you to call me hyung” Yoongi declared before placing his hands at his fiancés waist tightening his hold, then he leaned in, letting his lips grace the shell of the younger’s ear. “And let me tell you than soon I’ll make you moan it…”

“H-Hyung!”