Bound (3)
Title: Bound
Summary: A well-kept secret, that’s what he was, a scandal the king was keen on keeping hidden. But Jaejoong had a secret of his own, Jung Yunho.
Pairing: YunJae
Genre: Fluff, Smut, Drama, Historical
Rating: NC17
Length: Chaptered
(1) (2)
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Jaejoong stood along the side of the palace entrance with his hands on his back and his head held high. He watched Changsuk walk closer to his direction with three guards standing by his side. The king was on his way to a trip across several states, it could take days, even weeks before he came back.
As customary tradition, all the members of his court, the military guards and his consorts sent him off. He proceeded to his carriage, only stopping by a few people to leave last second favors and reminders. He approached the head police, two counsel men…and of course, Jaejoong, the only consort he had given exceptional amount of attention to.
Changsuk leaned towards Jaejoong’s ear, his lips grazing its shell. “I wish I could bring you with me, my Youngwoung.”
“It would be my privilege,” he lied. He winced and clenched his fist as the king pulled him closer and bit hard on the side of his neck, without a care of the people around him.
Changsuk pulled away and looked at Jaejoong with eyes the consort had once feared. “You better not try anything when I’m gone.” Jaejoong only nodded. It was a warning the king had never failed to tell him whenever he left.
The king made his way to the royal carriage and the audience watched as the gates opened for his departure. They waited until they couldn’t hear the clatter of the carriage before they returned to their stations.
Jaejoong walked keenly towards his room, thinking of the king’s words. Although he loved it when Changsuk was away, the parting ceremony had always been one of the things he despised in the palace. His mind drifted to the warning. He recalled what had happened years ago. It changed him.
He was only 14 then, he had only been in the palace for two years, still not fully accepting of his fate as a consort. It was mid summer and only the second time he experienced having the king leave the palace grounds for a long time. He attempted an escape.
He planned it weeks before the trip. Flawless, he thought in his young mind, but in the end he was caught by the palace guards. When the king returned a few days later, he received one of the toughest beatings, if not the toughest beating, he had experienced under Changsuk.
He could still remember, the painful press of Changsuk’s fingers against his neck, the sting of his nails digging down his skin, the rigid pressure of the wall pressing against his back, the feeling of angry breaths ghosting over his. If his thoughts fly back far enough, he could still recollect the sound of Changsuk’s breathing, the precise rhythm of his heaving breaths.
“You will never attempt to leave these palace grounds again,” he said seriously. “You are alive because of me Youngwoung, and I can change that any time. Other people have to fight for their lives but you live because you have that face which was simply given to you, perhaps you should be thankful?”
The king pushed him harder to the wall, “Anything I do to you is completely your fault. I was not this kind of man before I met you, Youngwoung. I would never think of kissing or touching another man before you looked at me with those sinful eyes of yours. See what you have done to me? See how you have changed me? I have broken too many rules just for you, I have turned away from my beliefs, who I was, because of you.” He neared his face even more, “so listen to me and remember this, you will not insult me and all the efforts I’ve done in your name by leaving or even attempting to leave these grounds.”
Jaejoong tried to brush his memories away when he entered his room. He sat himself in front of the mirror and observed his own face, running his fingers along his cheeks, under his eyes, along the bridge of his nose. He turned his head to different angles to look closely at his skin and features.
After that night with Changsuk, he realized how dangerous he was. His appearance imprisoned him; likewise it also captured people around him. He knew because he saw how men watched him and how women envied him. His beauty was a curse, he had once thought at a point in his life, but as he grew older, he learned it was his only weapon. It was his protection as much as it was his lure to danger. He learned how to use it and had grown careful in keeping it.
Yunho, for the first time in Jaejoong’s life, had made him doubt his beauty. He had been ignored despite his best efforts to be noticed. Beyond all his efforts, it was a box of strawberries that succeeded in catching the man’s attention.
The consort laughed to himself. He had taken it lightly, but now he wondered, what did a box of strawberries have compared to him?
It puzzled him. Yunho puzzled him. And instead of being upset about it, his interest and draw towards the man further grew.
--
It took a few days before Jaejoong decided he didn’t need to bring strawberries to get a reaction from Yunho anymore. It was an improvement the consort was pleased to achieve. They were a far cry from being friends, but visiting Yunho had become a habit he looked forward to everyday. With the king gone, he had more time to spend with the prisoner.
Their afternoons usually started off silent, but they would end up in a comfortable atmosphere, maybe because even someone who was as proud as Yunho needed company. What they talked about didn’t matter; the consort loved hearing what Yunho had to say, whether it was about the blue sky, or about his mischievous ventures around Hanseong.
Sometimes Jaejoong would bring a chess set , or some short parchments with poems. One time he even brought his paint set and literally had to beg Yunho to let him paint him.
Jaejoong would never forget that day. Yunho was overly stubborn and irritable, complaining more often than the consort would like.
“My bed ridden grandmother could paint faster than you.”
“Are you sure you know what you're doing?”
“Jaejoong, my neck hurts”
“Fuck this”
“I can’t believe I agreed to this for just your damn painting”
It aggravated Jaejoong just as well, but he didn’t want to give Yunho the satisfaction of stopping. He was in a bad mood half of the time he was painting. However, that day was also the first time he’d seen Yunho smile. He had ended up painting a portrait of Yunho looking sideways, with golden rays of light touching his skin.
“I didn’t know my hair was that long now,” Yunho said. “My sister also loves painting, not as good as you maybe, since you have a huge amount of time and teachers to guide you”
“I would teach her then,” Jaejoong offered with a warm beem.
Yunho looked back; his lips curved into a small smile. “I think she would love that,” he said with a glint in his eyes which Jaejoong figured was because his mind drifted into a fond memory.
From then on, Jaejoong always looked forward to seeing Yunho smile.
One afternoon Jaejoong came in, more excited than he usually was. He patted Yunho’s sleeping figure on the head to wake him. To the prisoner’s surprise, when he looked up, Jaejoong had…new hair. His raven hair was now golden. It was nothing anyone in the streets has ever seen. It was odd, and new and daring, probably something only Jaejoong would have done. Living in the palace for so long the, now blond, man grew a fondness to new and different things. It wasn’t everyday that something would come to break the monotony of his life. He was limited by the few things he was allowed to do, but with his body, he was given the freedom to refine it. This was why most of his adventures consisted of those that had to do with his appearance. He was unafraid because nothing has yet been unflattering to him.
Yunho looked at Jaejoong with straight eyes. The consort touched his hair and smiled proudly.
“What do you think? I don’t think anyone in this country has the same hair as mine. The dye was shipped all the way from India, they say it’s a new fad in Europe. The handmaidens say my hair matches those people from the west. It’s true. The king has yet to see it but everyone else already says it looks marvelous on me, I am quite fond of it myself.”
Yunho scoffed. “Your hair reminds me of a wild cat. I’ve hunted some with my pals back then. They’re disgusting and their urine smells ghastly”
“Excuse me? You don’t like it?” Jaejoong frowned and crossed his arms.
“You were perfect with black hair.”
“I'll change it back then, for you.”
He sighed and sat down withdrawn, failing to notice the compliment that slipped the other’s tongue.
When Jaejoong came back to his quarters that night, the first thing he did was to order the royal stylists to buy him black dye.
--
The consort faintly sang a familiar tune from his childhood as he, once again, walked the prison corridors for his daily visits to Yunho.
“jinagabeorin
eorin sijeoren
pungseon eul tago”
“You seem to be in a jolly mood today, Jaejoong-sshi,” Eunhye said as she trailed behind Jaejoong, a lunchbox cradled in her hands
“naraganeun yeppeun kkumdo kkueotji” the man paused for a while and turned to his handmaiden. “Mmm, of course Eunhye. Yunho said he would teach me how to tie knots today.”
“Tying knots, that must be fascinating!”, Eunhye said with a hint of sarcasm, but more of amusement.
“It is fasciniating” Jaejoong said and he continued singing.
“noran pungseoni
haneureul nal myeon
nae maeumedo
areumda-“
The consort’s voice stilled and so did his walking. Eunhye tilted her head in question of her master’s sudden pause. “Jaejoong-sshi is something the matter?”
“Yunho,” Jaejoong whispered. “Yunho,” he said again, this time louder. Eunhye finally moved from behind Jaejoong to see what the other had. She immediately clasped her hands to her mouth. Yunho was lying, almost lifeless and body faced down on the floor. He had scratches and bruises. There was blood on the ground beneath him. Had he just been tortured?
Eunhye turned to Jaejoong, his eyes were wide, his lips were shaking and the blood from his face seemed to disappear. She was about to say something but didn’t get to as Jaejoong snapped out of his shocked state.
He strode to Yunho’s cell and grasped the bars so tightly that it was painful. “Yunho! Yunho! Can you hear me?...Yunho, why aren’t you answering? Please answer!”
He turned to Eunhye with desperate eyes, “Well what are you doing just standing there?”
Eunhye didn’t make a move.
"Eunhye! Get a doctor!" Jaejoong said in a panicked voice the handmaiden has never heard before.
"Jaejoong-sshi, you know he's a prisoner, we can't ask for the doctors"
"Then give me medical supplies, I shall tend his wounds.” He looked at her pleadingly; his eyes brimmed with tears threatening to fall.
“But Jaejoong-shi--
“Did you not hear me? Get me the keys, Eunhye!"
"Jaejoong-sshi, I can't."
“Get. Me. The. Keys” He commanded when the handmaiden didn’t make a move. Jaejoong stood up and approached her. He pointed at her threateningly "You get me the keys or I'll scream at the top of my lungs and it will be so loud and scandalous that all of the royal counsel would have to rush here and provide me a key themselves just to shut me up!"
Jaejoong turned back to Yunho. He knelt down, not minding his hanbok getting dirty. He slipped his hand through the bars and took Yunho’s weak ones. “Yunho, what have they done to you?”
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A/N: Sooo. How was it? ;_; I’m sorry for the cliffhanggerrrrr