{bangtan; taehyung/jeongguk} let me live that fantasy
let me live that fantasy
taehyung/jeongguk // g // ~3.1k
jeongguk is a prince, taehyung is a stable boy, and the lines of their lives just barely cross. (for carboxyls again because #economics demands a free market with an actual exchange of goods)
The year the heir is born was supposed to be a prosperous one. By all means, it should have been with everything else going so well, the ample crop yields and the just-renewed, friendly alliances with the neighboring territories. The bustling ports. The smiling faces in the morning markets.
And the way the king and queen loved each other so much, their joy pouring into their joined reign like a cup filled to overflowing. It was a golden age, their golden age, and a royal child was only destined to make it glow brighter, taste sweeter. These days, the gossips say maybe the king's luck finally ran dry. Too much good without enough bad to balance it out. All rumors and folly aside, the fact that the queen passed away before His Highness had a chance to begin to love his new son remains.
"He has soured," the court murmurs now. "The king is no longer the man he used to be."
"As if he has been the same since she passed in childbirth," no one says aloud, but the thought circles everyone's minds, the undeniable truth.
For he is quick to temper and even quicker to cut ties with past friends and allies, his slow self-destruction sending aching vibrations throughout the country. Good fortune no longer lingers on the doorstep. It seems the warmer he was to his beloved queen, the colder he is to his subjects - the more he refuses the child who needs his guidance most. By the time prince and heir Jeon Jeongguk is old enough to understand the source of the blizzard gusting over his life, it is too late for summer.
♕
Jeongguk peruses the scroll before him for a few seconds longer before sighing and flinging himself back in his chair, arms strewn over the sides. "Ugh," he proclaims to an empty room, his tutor having departed hours ago after their lesson ended.
As the prince and someday king, he is tacitly weighed by the responsibility of knowing these treaties and how they weave into the history of his future country. He knows this. Clearly he does, or he wouldn't be here, putting in extra hours to memorize date after date. The study is by far the most tasteless of his duties; Jeongguk would much prefer sparring with the knights in training or charitably visiting the villages on the outskirts of the capital to bring them food and supplies, as he is not yet old enough to represent his father in diplomatic journeys.
His last set of duties are one he brings upon himself, and doesn't regret a second of it. He puts away his scrolls and texts, stopping by his room to change into something much more easily soiled, before escaping out of the castle to visit the stables.
"Hey there," he whispers to his favorite mare, stroking her long, soft muzzle. The sight of her gentle eyes watching him placidly are the perfect remedy to soothe stress he didn't know was building up, and he checks his pockets for treats, cracking a smile when she carefully takes the sugar cube from his palm.
The horses around him, shifting their weight from side to side occasionally and swishing their tails to flick off an errant fly, lull him into a false sense of security. When someone from the barn doorway says casually, "Wow, would've never thought to see your Highness around here," Jeongguk startles so hard his mare huffs in displeasure, a little spooked.
He steadies her with an absent touch, putting his guards up at the sight of the boy in the doorway. The stable boy - he must be, with his dirty, patchy clothes and hair strewn all over the place, mucking shovel in hand - looks to be Jeongguk's age, hardly older, an impish smile teasing at the corner of his lips. "What do you want?" Jeongguk says coldly.
"What do I want?" the stable boy echos, eyebrows raising at Jeongguk's frosty tone. It makes Jeongguk regret it for a moment, regret that he is this way and doesn't know how to reach out in friendship after a lifetime of his father's aloofness; he meets people his age so rarely as prince. "Nothing, really. Now I know to try a better conversation starter next time. I just didn't know princes had time to waste in a barn."
"It's not a waste of my time," Jeongguk says, frowning and looking away. His mare nickers quickly in demand for more treats, and Jeongguk takes a surprised step back when the boy comes up to her with his own sugar cube, feeding it to her easily as if he does it every day. Which he probably does, seeing as he works here every day and Jeongguk can barely get some time to breathe in private nowadays.
"My apologies for the misinterpretation, your Highness," the boy says, and Jeongguk half-expects him to stick his tongue out or something equally juvenile. He doesn't like the way the boy says Jeongguk's title, with the distinct sense that Jeongguk is being mocked.
He puts his hands into his pockets and wishes he had more sugar cubes to feed her, just so he could do something and not have to keep talking. "My name is Jeongguk," he says finally, even though everyone in the country and all its surrounding territories and neighbors know his name, have known since he was born, for God's sake.
The boy reacts in surprise as if he's never heard of it, though Jeongguk guesses it's probably from the sudden familiarity of it all, but he takes it in stride quickly. "And mine is Taehyung. Hello, Jeongguk."
♕
In this country, two boys live on the same castle grounds and, although they don't know it yet, they are meant to fall in love.
Whereas Prince Jeon Jeongguk grows up wreathed in wealth and finery, Taehyung's family barely can scrape together to feed his two younger siblings properly on a good day. And Taehyung as well, to be honest, but he's long stopped counting himself as a mouth to feed and more acted and thought as one of the people doing the feeding - that's the duty that comes with being the oldest child, and Taehyung carries it on his shoulders cheerfully, because the alternative is cursing it bitterly and he'd much rather have a positive outlook on things.
It's a stroke of pure ol' luck that gets him work at the horse stables, on the royal grounds, no less. One of their neighbors happened to know a man seeking a pair of strong hands to help out with a workload that had grown rapidly with the arrival of a few new horses, and she'd recalled how Taehyung greeted her with a smile and brought her fresh bread on the way back from the market every day for three years and recommended him for the opening. The work is more arduous than it should be but Taehyung hauls around saddles and shovels hay and even appreciates the seemingly endless grooming; it isn't long before he's allowed to ride the horses, even the more spirited ones. He works hard, showers every horse with love, and comes home to more open affection every night.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," he says to her mother, laughing, getting down on his knees without a second thought to hug his excited little sister and brother. They are still young and easily made happy, especially when Taehyung promises them he'll take them to the stables to meet all his favorite horses.
"You must be so tired," his mother, his lovely mother with so many lines in her beautiful face, says as she massages his shoulders with too-thin fingers, the skin at her knuckles peeling from hours washing other people's clothes. If she was born into another life, Taehyung personally thinks she would make the perfect queen. "Taehyung-ah, come sit down. Do you want anything to eat?"
"No, thanks, I ate already. The cook's assistant brought me leftovers from today's feast," he says, which is technically true, though hardly enough food for someone still growing taller the way he is. But it's fine, it really is. Taehyung knows how to make do.
"Feast?" asks his little sister, her tiny hands clinging to the hem of his shirt without even minding how dirty he still is. He untangles her little fingers and lets them curl around his own instead, laughing again when his brother pouts and tries to get in on the fun. "What feast was there today?"
And there he goes again, painting the scene, a glittering ballroom with tables filled with food from end to end, the gorgeous ladies of the court dressed in silk and tulle and chiffon or whatever all those fancy fabrics are called. It's storytelling at its finest, seeing as Taehyung has never even stepped foot inside the castle, but he's seen Jeongguk in his ballroom best, all broad shoulders in that suit jacket and legs so long they should be a crime, and doesn't think he's too far off. These stories, plus a few about the knights' training to be fair, tide the kids over when there isn't enough food to go around.
When his mother sends him off to bed afterwards, holding his face in her small hands before finally kissing his forehead, it isn't without a bit of sadness. He knows she would do so much for him if she had the chance, if they'd drawn a better lot in life. Sure, he wishes he could fill his siblings' stomachs until they groaned to stop eating and sure, he wishes his father didn't have to work so much so they could see him at home for once, but this isn't all bad.
He squeezes her mother's hands between his own rugged, calloused ones and goes to catch a few precious hours of sleep before he's off again, working, because the horses wake with sunrise and there's no time to waste.
♕
It's a special day, Taehyung can sense it the second he steps into the stables and sees almost all of the stallions being saddled up in their finest, smooth leather and even breast collars, fenders, hooded stirrups caked in silver and jewels. Each parade saddle is probably worth more than Taehyung's father will ever earn.
"What's the occasion?" he asks an older stable hand, Seulong, even as he jumps to help out with the work. He hadn't realized something big was coming up.
"Not sure," Seulong says, grunting as he heaves a saddle onto the back of the horse before him. "I believe an ambassador from a neighboring country is visiting the capital and our ties with them have been a bit...uneasy as of late. So the king probably wants to assert our country's power here."
"So it's really to show off," Taehyung says slowly, an unfamiliar rush of anger rising in his chest, making his fingers tremble and slip on the bridle he's buckling into place. All this work and all this wealth, just to assert the country's status in someone's face in a part of some unnecessarily complicated political game?
Seulong glances at him and shrugs, unfazed. "His Highness does what he thinks is best for the nation, and we do what he wants us to do. Can you pass me that cinch?"
Taehyung hands the strip of leather over and forces himself to keep going, keep working. Between horses, he puts down a box of curry combs and hard brushes too roughly, startling Jeongguk's mare - seriously, when did he start thinking of her as Jeongguk's? - and hastening to comfort her. "Sorry, I don't have anything for you today," he says regretfully; his sugar cubes are in the storage room, and it's crowded with too many people to grab her a treat right now.
She snorts, the puff of air sending Taehyung's bangs awry, and he laughs as he combs them back into place with his fingers. "Yeah, yeah," he tells her, "you're right. I shouldn't get mad over something I can't change," and drops a thankful kiss to the star on her snout before moving on to his next task.
When they finish, finally, they actually don't have much to do at home base so when Seulong and Changmin ask if he wants to join them in watching the parade from one of the closer outlook towers, Taehyung says yes, bouncing along excitedly and climbing all those stairs to the top without even breaking a sweat. The weather is perfect and the lines of soldiers on stallions seem endless. Waste aside, the parade is really a sight to see, so elaborate and complex it'd take some true folly for the ambassador to believe it was all merely to greet him.
The one who comes out to greet him is, to Taehyung's surprise, Prince Jeongguk, decked in the royal crimson and indigo, chin held high, that golden crown atop his head in its rightful place. They aren't close enough to hear his words but Taehyung can imagine it's the standard greeting, the age-old words on Jeongguk's lips. It looks so natural, he holds himself so well.
"Taehyung?"
He startles, turning to Changmin, who's looking at him with something too close to pity in his eyes. Taehyung's never been too good with keeping his emotions from getting to his face, and he wonders what Changmin saw - awe and envy, maybe longing. "What?" he asks anyways, trying to keep the defensive note out of his voice but not sure whether he's succeeding.
"You all right there?" Changmin asks not unkindly. Taehyung's fingers tighten on the roughly hewn stone under his hands and it's a wonder he doesn't cut himself (which would make work ten times more difficult than necessary, he knows from experience).
"I'm fine," Taehyung says, and looks out at the kingdom again, the ostentatious parade and the golden boy standing in the heart of it wearing a crown like he was made to. Jeongguk is so gorgeous it kind of makes his chest hurt, but the distance between them is achingly vast as well, all this space. He's looking down from the top of the outlook tower at Prince Jeongguk and his entourage, but it feels like he's been craning his head back to look up forever.
♕
Jeongguk is surprised and, though he'll never admit it out loud, a little disappointed when he steps into the horse stables and Taehyung isn't there, refilling the hay feeders or cooing at the skittish new horse they'd recently added to the stables. He makes a point to stop by, though, holding his hand out patiently until the horse snuffles tentatively at his palm.
His favorite mare recently foaled, he knows, but he's been too busy recently to check up on her until now, overloaded with document after document. All of his tutors and his father's advisors have been hinting towards a shift of power lately, more responsibility for the heir as the king prepares to step down. For all of Jeongguk's education and training, which he's been doing for as long as he can remember, he doesn't really think he's mentally ready for this. He doesn't even have the time for this break, but Jeongguk's not king yet. He can still escape his responsibilities for ten minutes and nothing will fall apart when he's gone.
Sugar cubes in hand, he approaches her and lets her daintily pick the first treat of many off his palm, murmuring, "Hey, girl" as he rubs her snout in greeting. She seems pleased to see him, eyes bright and alert. Healthy as always.
He lets himself into her stall to check on her tiny filly and startles a little, not expecting someone else to be here - and definitely not expecting it to be Taehyung, asleep in the hay, a delicate crown of summer daisies perched on his dark hair. The newborn filly is lipping at them curiously, intrigued, and Taehyung looks surreal, something out of a fairy tale.
Should he wake Taehyung up? Jeongguk crouches gingerly next to the sleeping boy, reaching up to stroke the filly's ears affectionately, and just watches uncertainly as Taehyung sleeps, his breathing steady and deep. He still has a few daisies held loosely in his hand, which rests against his chest, and Jeongguk is tempted to slip them out of his curled fingers and feed them to the filly himself. But he's scared to touch and wake Taehyung up, end the magical spell - he's never seen Taehyung look so vulnerable.
The filly can smell his sugar cubes and stumbles forward to bump insistently against Jeongguk's shoulder, and he laughs a little, reaching into his pocket to get her one. "Has he been here long?" he asks her softly as she takes the sugar cube, as graceful as her mother. She blinks at him with sweet, big eyes, as if she wants to answer him. He pets her ears again.
In the end, his ten minutes are up too soon and Jeongguk stands, brushing off his pants. He is needed elsewhere, and this boy, still traipsing obliviously through his dreams, is not something he can have. A secret nestled in another world.
"I'll try to visit you again soon," he tells his mare, even though he knows soon may be a very long way off. She seems to understand, as always, and he gives her his last sugar cube in thanks.
♕
Prince and heir Jeon Jeongguk is crowned as King on a chilly autumn day. Taehyung watches the ceremony in the same room, having earned a spot in the coronation hall with the other servants, as Jeongguk bows his proud head for a weight heavier than the jewel-encrusted crown that used to sit on his father's head.
It's strange, Taehyung thinks, that Jeongguk feels so far away even though they are in the same room. It's strange that the lengths between Taehyung here and Jeongguk at the head of the room feel even farther than they were back when Taehyung was up in the outlook tower and Jeongguk was in the parade, up on a pedestal he couldn't scale even though Jeongguk once introduced himself to Taehyung with only his first name.
Oath still on his lips, Jeongguk takes his new throne and looks out at his court, his subjects, his servants. The nobles swear fealty and homage is paid. There is a ridiculously lavish party to celebrate, to which Taehyung is not allowed attendance.
This is not a party he will be recounting to his little sister.
taehyung/jeongguk // g // ~3.1k
jeongguk is a prince, taehyung is a stable boy, and the lines of their lives just barely cross. (for carboxyls again because #economics demands a free market with an actual exchange of goods)
The year the heir is born was supposed to be a prosperous one. By all means, it should have been with everything else going so well, the ample crop yields and the just-renewed, friendly alliances with the neighboring territories. The bustling ports. The smiling faces in the morning markets.
And the way the king and queen loved each other so much, their joy pouring into their joined reign like a cup filled to overflowing. It was a golden age, their golden age, and a royal child was only destined to make it glow brighter, taste sweeter. These days, the gossips say maybe the king's luck finally ran dry. Too much good without enough bad to balance it out. All rumors and folly aside, the fact that the queen passed away before His Highness had a chance to begin to love his new son remains.
"He has soured," the court murmurs now. "The king is no longer the man he used to be."
"As if he has been the same since she passed in childbirth," no one says aloud, but the thought circles everyone's minds, the undeniable truth.
For he is quick to temper and even quicker to cut ties with past friends and allies, his slow self-destruction sending aching vibrations throughout the country. Good fortune no longer lingers on the doorstep. It seems the warmer he was to his beloved queen, the colder he is to his subjects - the more he refuses the child who needs his guidance most. By the time prince and heir Jeon Jeongguk is old enough to understand the source of the blizzard gusting over his life, it is too late for summer.
♕
Jeongguk peruses the scroll before him for a few seconds longer before sighing and flinging himself back in his chair, arms strewn over the sides. "Ugh," he proclaims to an empty room, his tutor having departed hours ago after their lesson ended.
As the prince and someday king, he is tacitly weighed by the responsibility of knowing these treaties and how they weave into the history of his future country. He knows this. Clearly he does, or he wouldn't be here, putting in extra hours to memorize date after date. The study is by far the most tasteless of his duties; Jeongguk would much prefer sparring with the knights in training or charitably visiting the villages on the outskirts of the capital to bring them food and supplies, as he is not yet old enough to represent his father in diplomatic journeys.
His last set of duties are one he brings upon himself, and doesn't regret a second of it. He puts away his scrolls and texts, stopping by his room to change into something much more easily soiled, before escaping out of the castle to visit the stables.
"Hey there," he whispers to his favorite mare, stroking her long, soft muzzle. The sight of her gentle eyes watching him placidly are the perfect remedy to soothe stress he didn't know was building up, and he checks his pockets for treats, cracking a smile when she carefully takes the sugar cube from his palm.
The horses around him, shifting their weight from side to side occasionally and swishing their tails to flick off an errant fly, lull him into a false sense of security. When someone from the barn doorway says casually, "Wow, would've never thought to see your Highness around here," Jeongguk startles so hard his mare huffs in displeasure, a little spooked.
He steadies her with an absent touch, putting his guards up at the sight of the boy in the doorway. The stable boy - he must be, with his dirty, patchy clothes and hair strewn all over the place, mucking shovel in hand - looks to be Jeongguk's age, hardly older, an impish smile teasing at the corner of his lips. "What do you want?" Jeongguk says coldly.
"What do I want?" the stable boy echos, eyebrows raising at Jeongguk's frosty tone. It makes Jeongguk regret it for a moment, regret that he is this way and doesn't know how to reach out in friendship after a lifetime of his father's aloofness; he meets people his age so rarely as prince. "Nothing, really. Now I know to try a better conversation starter next time. I just didn't know princes had time to waste in a barn."
"It's not a waste of my time," Jeongguk says, frowning and looking away. His mare nickers quickly in demand for more treats, and Jeongguk takes a surprised step back when the boy comes up to her with his own sugar cube, feeding it to her easily as if he does it every day. Which he probably does, seeing as he works here every day and Jeongguk can barely get some time to breathe in private nowadays.
"My apologies for the misinterpretation, your Highness," the boy says, and Jeongguk half-expects him to stick his tongue out or something equally juvenile. He doesn't like the way the boy says Jeongguk's title, with the distinct sense that Jeongguk is being mocked.
He puts his hands into his pockets and wishes he had more sugar cubes to feed her, just so he could do something and not have to keep talking. "My name is Jeongguk," he says finally, even though everyone in the country and all its surrounding territories and neighbors know his name, have known since he was born, for God's sake.
The boy reacts in surprise as if he's never heard of it, though Jeongguk guesses it's probably from the sudden familiarity of it all, but he takes it in stride quickly. "And mine is Taehyung. Hello, Jeongguk."
♕
In this country, two boys live on the same castle grounds and, although they don't know it yet, they are meant to fall in love.
Whereas Prince Jeon Jeongguk grows up wreathed in wealth and finery, Taehyung's family barely can scrape together to feed his two younger siblings properly on a good day. And Taehyung as well, to be honest, but he's long stopped counting himself as a mouth to feed and more acted and thought as one of the people doing the feeding - that's the duty that comes with being the oldest child, and Taehyung carries it on his shoulders cheerfully, because the alternative is cursing it bitterly and he'd much rather have a positive outlook on things.
It's a stroke of pure ol' luck that gets him work at the horse stables, on the royal grounds, no less. One of their neighbors happened to know a man seeking a pair of strong hands to help out with a workload that had grown rapidly with the arrival of a few new horses, and she'd recalled how Taehyung greeted her with a smile and brought her fresh bread on the way back from the market every day for three years and recommended him for the opening. The work is more arduous than it should be but Taehyung hauls around saddles and shovels hay and even appreciates the seemingly endless grooming; it isn't long before he's allowed to ride the horses, even the more spirited ones. He works hard, showers every horse with love, and comes home to more open affection every night.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," he says to her mother, laughing, getting down on his knees without a second thought to hug his excited little sister and brother. They are still young and easily made happy, especially when Taehyung promises them he'll take them to the stables to meet all his favorite horses.
"You must be so tired," his mother, his lovely mother with so many lines in her beautiful face, says as she massages his shoulders with too-thin fingers, the skin at her knuckles peeling from hours washing other people's clothes. If she was born into another life, Taehyung personally thinks she would make the perfect queen. "Taehyung-ah, come sit down. Do you want anything to eat?"
"No, thanks, I ate already. The cook's assistant brought me leftovers from today's feast," he says, which is technically true, though hardly enough food for someone still growing taller the way he is. But it's fine, it really is. Taehyung knows how to make do.
"Feast?" asks his little sister, her tiny hands clinging to the hem of his shirt without even minding how dirty he still is. He untangles her little fingers and lets them curl around his own instead, laughing again when his brother pouts and tries to get in on the fun. "What feast was there today?"
And there he goes again, painting the scene, a glittering ballroom with tables filled with food from end to end, the gorgeous ladies of the court dressed in silk and tulle and chiffon or whatever all those fancy fabrics are called. It's storytelling at its finest, seeing as Taehyung has never even stepped foot inside the castle, but he's seen Jeongguk in his ballroom best, all broad shoulders in that suit jacket and legs so long they should be a crime, and doesn't think he's too far off. These stories, plus a few about the knights' training to be fair, tide the kids over when there isn't enough food to go around.
When his mother sends him off to bed afterwards, holding his face in her small hands before finally kissing his forehead, it isn't without a bit of sadness. He knows she would do so much for him if she had the chance, if they'd drawn a better lot in life. Sure, he wishes he could fill his siblings' stomachs until they groaned to stop eating and sure, he wishes his father didn't have to work so much so they could see him at home for once, but this isn't all bad.
He squeezes her mother's hands between his own rugged, calloused ones and goes to catch a few precious hours of sleep before he's off again, working, because the horses wake with sunrise and there's no time to waste.
♕
It's a special day, Taehyung can sense it the second he steps into the stables and sees almost all of the stallions being saddled up in their finest, smooth leather and even breast collars, fenders, hooded stirrups caked in silver and jewels. Each parade saddle is probably worth more than Taehyung's father will ever earn.
"What's the occasion?" he asks an older stable hand, Seulong, even as he jumps to help out with the work. He hadn't realized something big was coming up.
"Not sure," Seulong says, grunting as he heaves a saddle onto the back of the horse before him. "I believe an ambassador from a neighboring country is visiting the capital and our ties with them have been a bit...uneasy as of late. So the king probably wants to assert our country's power here."
"So it's really to show off," Taehyung says slowly, an unfamiliar rush of anger rising in his chest, making his fingers tremble and slip on the bridle he's buckling into place. All this work and all this wealth, just to assert the country's status in someone's face in a part of some unnecessarily complicated political game?
Seulong glances at him and shrugs, unfazed. "His Highness does what he thinks is best for the nation, and we do what he wants us to do. Can you pass me that cinch?"
Taehyung hands the strip of leather over and forces himself to keep going, keep working. Between horses, he puts down a box of curry combs and hard brushes too roughly, startling Jeongguk's mare - seriously, when did he start thinking of her as Jeongguk's? - and hastening to comfort her. "Sorry, I don't have anything for you today," he says regretfully; his sugar cubes are in the storage room, and it's crowded with too many people to grab her a treat right now.
She snorts, the puff of air sending Taehyung's bangs awry, and he laughs as he combs them back into place with his fingers. "Yeah, yeah," he tells her, "you're right. I shouldn't get mad over something I can't change," and drops a thankful kiss to the star on her snout before moving on to his next task.
When they finish, finally, they actually don't have much to do at home base so when Seulong and Changmin ask if he wants to join them in watching the parade from one of the closer outlook towers, Taehyung says yes, bouncing along excitedly and climbing all those stairs to the top without even breaking a sweat. The weather is perfect and the lines of soldiers on stallions seem endless. Waste aside, the parade is really a sight to see, so elaborate and complex it'd take some true folly for the ambassador to believe it was all merely to greet him.
The one who comes out to greet him is, to Taehyung's surprise, Prince Jeongguk, decked in the royal crimson and indigo, chin held high, that golden crown atop his head in its rightful place. They aren't close enough to hear his words but Taehyung can imagine it's the standard greeting, the age-old words on Jeongguk's lips. It looks so natural, he holds himself so well.
"Taehyung?"
He startles, turning to Changmin, who's looking at him with something too close to pity in his eyes. Taehyung's never been too good with keeping his emotions from getting to his face, and he wonders what Changmin saw - awe and envy, maybe longing. "What?" he asks anyways, trying to keep the defensive note out of his voice but not sure whether he's succeeding.
"You all right there?" Changmin asks not unkindly. Taehyung's fingers tighten on the roughly hewn stone under his hands and it's a wonder he doesn't cut himself (which would make work ten times more difficult than necessary, he knows from experience).
"I'm fine," Taehyung says, and looks out at the kingdom again, the ostentatious parade and the golden boy standing in the heart of it wearing a crown like he was made to. Jeongguk is so gorgeous it kind of makes his chest hurt, but the distance between them is achingly vast as well, all this space. He's looking down from the top of the outlook tower at Prince Jeongguk and his entourage, but it feels like he's been craning his head back to look up forever.
♕
Jeongguk is surprised and, though he'll never admit it out loud, a little disappointed when he steps into the horse stables and Taehyung isn't there, refilling the hay feeders or cooing at the skittish new horse they'd recently added to the stables. He makes a point to stop by, though, holding his hand out patiently until the horse snuffles tentatively at his palm.
His favorite mare recently foaled, he knows, but he's been too busy recently to check up on her until now, overloaded with document after document. All of his tutors and his father's advisors have been hinting towards a shift of power lately, more responsibility for the heir as the king prepares to step down. For all of Jeongguk's education and training, which he's been doing for as long as he can remember, he doesn't really think he's mentally ready for this. He doesn't even have the time for this break, but Jeongguk's not king yet. He can still escape his responsibilities for ten minutes and nothing will fall apart when he's gone.
Sugar cubes in hand, he approaches her and lets her daintily pick the first treat of many off his palm, murmuring, "Hey, girl" as he rubs her snout in greeting. She seems pleased to see him, eyes bright and alert. Healthy as always.
He lets himself into her stall to check on her tiny filly and startles a little, not expecting someone else to be here - and definitely not expecting it to be Taehyung, asleep in the hay, a delicate crown of summer daisies perched on his dark hair. The newborn filly is lipping at them curiously, intrigued, and Taehyung looks surreal, something out of a fairy tale.
Should he wake Taehyung up? Jeongguk crouches gingerly next to the sleeping boy, reaching up to stroke the filly's ears affectionately, and just watches uncertainly as Taehyung sleeps, his breathing steady and deep. He still has a few daisies held loosely in his hand, which rests against his chest, and Jeongguk is tempted to slip them out of his curled fingers and feed them to the filly himself. But he's scared to touch and wake Taehyung up, end the magical spell - he's never seen Taehyung look so vulnerable.
The filly can smell his sugar cubes and stumbles forward to bump insistently against Jeongguk's shoulder, and he laughs a little, reaching into his pocket to get her one. "Has he been here long?" he asks her softly as she takes the sugar cube, as graceful as her mother. She blinks at him with sweet, big eyes, as if she wants to answer him. He pets her ears again.
In the end, his ten minutes are up too soon and Jeongguk stands, brushing off his pants. He is needed elsewhere, and this boy, still traipsing obliviously through his dreams, is not something he can have. A secret nestled in another world.
"I'll try to visit you again soon," he tells his mare, even though he knows soon may be a very long way off. She seems to understand, as always, and he gives her his last sugar cube in thanks.
♕
Prince and heir Jeon Jeongguk is crowned as King on a chilly autumn day. Taehyung watches the ceremony in the same room, having earned a spot in the coronation hall with the other servants, as Jeongguk bows his proud head for a weight heavier than the jewel-encrusted crown that used to sit on his father's head.
It's strange, Taehyung thinks, that Jeongguk feels so far away even though they are in the same room. It's strange that the lengths between Taehyung here and Jeongguk at the head of the room feel even farther than they were back when Taehyung was up in the outlook tower and Jeongguk was in the parade, up on a pedestal he couldn't scale even though Jeongguk once introduced himself to Taehyung with only his first name.
Oath still on his lips, Jeongguk takes his new throne and looks out at his court, his subjects, his servants. The nobles swear fealty and homage is paid. There is a ridiculously lavish party to celebrate, to which Taehyung is not allowed attendance.
This is not a party he will be recounting to his little sister.