Twenty Four

twenty four

everything about yeonjun was infuriating to you. the way he assumed he had the right to toss other women aside simply because he was arranged to marry you, the way he didn’t care for the kingdom he was going to one day rule, and most importantly, the way he didn’t love you the way that you loved him.

pairing choi yeonjun x fem! reader

genre drama, angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, royal au, prince! yeonjun, princess! reader, set in the past (unspecified)

warnings misuse of alcohol, mature discussions, minor injuries, minor violence, a horse dies, large amounts of blood, weapons (daggers and arrows), cursing, slight misogyny, gets a bit heated but not too far, mentions of death

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it was funny how alcohol could change so much. everybody shows their true colours, even if they don’t want to. people cheat, love is drunkenly expressed, confidence is boosted, awful confessions are spilled, mistakes are made. you had once vowed to never let your true colours show, no matter what. it would be more harm done than good. nevertheless, you couldn’t resist an invitation to drink.

just you and the other girls in flowing nightgowns, laughter filling the room. you would sing and dance and knock empty bottles to ground as you clumsily navigated your bedroom on a loop. gossip and the never-ending ‘who is doing who’ updates would be exchanged, your favourite aspect of the night. and much like your present, all of this would be a result of a mandatory ball or dining experience. the need to free yourselves from those obligations always ended in drinking until you passed out, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

the forced smile on your lips faltered for a moment as the boy standing before you looked you up and down. if it weren’t for the required formalities, you would have taken your hand out of his own and used it to shove him far away from yourself. as a princess, though, that was merely a fantasy. you could only dream of breaking character in a room full of watchful eyes.

your father was the king, or at least one of them. the land was split into two separate kingdoms thousands of years ago, as the two families totally despised each other. in a sense, you were the juliet of the story. your mother was forever searching for peace, and convinced your father to make a deal with the rival kingdom. that deal involved you and the other family’s son, choi yeonjun. you were to be married, and the two kingdom’s would be united into one. everybody was sick of war, and you were roped into their need for peace before you had even been born. now you were the queen-to-be, and had a reputation to uphold as their peace-loving princess.

you actually hated peace. you loved bad habits, both alcohol and boys. being queen was something you dreaded, and mostly because it meant being married off to a man who couldn’t care less about you if he tried.

yeonjun was quite like you. he loved socialising in rebellious ways, although he always got away with it. to the adults, he was a prince hard at work in preparation for his throne. to your generation, he was the biggest heartbreaker of both kingdoms combined. it didn’t taint his image, in fact it only made him more desirable. a king who valued fun and freedom over ridiculous activities such as hunting and fencing, and one who everyone on the land had a chance to sleep with. watching girl after girl sob and splutter about how yeonjun broke her heart at your secret, drunken parties always gave you a sickly feeling. how could a man be so cruel? and how come you were the only woman he wasn’t interested in?

‘would you excuse us?’ yeonjun spoke. talk of the devil and he will arrive. ‘i’d like to have a word with my betrothed.’

right, this was your engagement party.

‘of course,’ the man dropped your hand, and you smiled politely before following behind yeonjun.

‘i’m not a damsel in distress,’ you reminded. ‘i don’t need you to step in every time a man so much as looks in my direction.’

‘that man was eyeing you as if you were a bag of gold,’ yeonjun stopped and turned to face you. of course, he had to do this in the middle of the ballroom. ‘he has no status, so he’s not worth tainting your image over. a queen shouldn’t be seen mingling with commoners when she’s engaged to be wed.’

‘i was making polite conversation,’ you raised your voice slightly, before catching yourself and taking a deep breath. ‘i had no intention to sleep with him. i’m not you, i don’t just take every living, breathing thing home with me.’

‘i’m friends with enough of your previous lovers to know that’s a lie, y/n,’ he held out his hand to you, bowing slightly. ‘now, may i have this dance?’

‘absolutely not,’ you scoffed, but raised your eyes to see that everybody had turned to watch you. another forced smile made its way onto your lips and you took his hand. ‘just know i’m doing this for the kingdoms, and not you.’

‘that’s my girl,’ he flirted, pulling you in closer as the band began to play a slower song. ‘now look pretty and dance for the sake of our parents.’

the laughter didn’t seem to stop. you fell back against your bed, still giggling to yourself as your best friend hid her face out of embarrassment.

‘your turn, y/n,’ another girl spoke, running across the room to deliver a freshly opened bottle of mead to you. ‘we’ve been waiting on a story about how it is to be yeonjun’s girl.’

‘well, i am definitely not yeonjun’s girl,’ you pulled yourself to sit up. ‘although, he did refer to me as such at our engagement party. still, it’s only for show. we don’t share a bedroom, we’ve never kissed, i would rather eat coal than hold his hand, and he’s already slept with half of the women in this room. the most i can say is that he’s a swell dance partner.’

‘well, i can say so too,’ another girl spoke, sending everybody into another fit of laughter. ‘and of course, i mean outside of the ballroom.’

‘yes, yes, we all got it the first time,’ your best friend looked at you with pity in her eyes. ‘i think it’s time we left y/n to sleep, she has a big day ahead of her.’

after the room was cleared of drunken girls, you locked your bedroom door and hit your head against it a few times. hiding your jealously behind humour had became a very bad habit of yours, but it was the only way you could cope. you were being forced to marry the boy you had been in love with for your entire life, and he just didn’t feel the same. it was cruel and torturous, and yet only one other person in the world knew just how much it pained you to hear of his recent hookups.

it took mere seconds for the alcohol to knock you out, but it was only a few hours later that you were being forced out of bed again. a loud knock echoed throughout the room before the door was shoved open and yeonjun stepped inside.

you gasped, sitting up and using your silk sheets to cover your almost-bare body. the only thought running through your mind was that you were sure you had locked the door, and that only palace staff had access to the key. the words were about to leave your lips before yeonjun interjected.

‘i asked for permission to wake you up this morning,’ he smirked, closing the door behind himself. ‘from your father, and from the staff. i wanted to get a feel for what i’d be getting in the morning for the rest of my existence. so far, i’m not totally appalled by you. considering the fact that you’re hardly covering yourself with those sheets, especially.’

the sound you let out in response was a mixture of a growl and a gasp. you gripped the sheets harder and tried to shuffle further into them, while yeonjun stood there looking amused.

‘get out,’ you ordered, glaring up at him. ‘we’re not yet married so you have no right coming in here without my explicit permission. my father’s permission is not enough.’

‘i only came to deliver you a hangover cure,’ he brought his hands out in front of him and presented you with an old glass bottle filled with a brown liquid. ‘the kitchen recently received the recipe for coca-cola, so i asked them for a sample.’

‘just leave it by my dressing table and get out,’ you avoided his eyes, waiting for his next move. he simply raised a brow and tilted his head. ‘thank you, yeonjun.’

‘you’re welcome, y/n,’ he smiled, crossing over the room to place down the bottle. you watched his every move like a hawk. ‘and breakfast is in an hour.’

then he was gone. the door closed behind him and you did what could only be described as a child throwing a tantrum over having to do something they didn’t want to. but there was no choice about it, obviously. the servants would arrive shortly to dress you, and then you’d be carted off to village after village in search of peace.

you slipped out of bed onto the hardwood floor and hurried towards the bottle. the throbbing headache was kicking in, and you had all the hope that this would work.

‘your highness?’ a woman’s voice called, causing you to run back towards your bed and gulp down as much of the drink as you could. ‘are you awake?’

‘yes,’ you breathed out. ‘could you give me one moment just to bathe myself alone?’

yeonjun was flipping through an old book and producing different sounds based on how far he agreed with their views. you felt like throwing your knife across the long table and hitting him right between the eyes. of course, you had no choice but to put up with his annoying habit — although you’d bet he was simply putting it on in order to annoy you — whilst many servants surrounded the two of you.

the doors swung open and your father came towards you with purpose in his stride. you placed your cutlery down beside your plate and stood, assuming he’d ask to speak with you privately. that assumption was proven wrong when he began to speak in front of everybody.

‘a maid found an unregistered bottle beside your bed,’ he fumed, filling the room with his large voice. ‘you know the rules, y/n, and breaking them won’t do you any good when you’re queen. i won’t be able to step up and explain your mistakes, and i certainly don’t expect the prince to do so.’

‘it was me, sir,’ yeonjun stood. ‘i delivered the bottle to her early this morning, it was a new recipe i wanted to share.’

your father looked down the table and over at yeonjun, the anger in his expression slowly dissipating. you smiled down at your plate, mentally thanking him for saving you.

‘from now on, register every item that goes into and comes out of your rooms,’ he spoke in a softer tone. ‘when you’re married and crowned the new royals in charge, mistakes like this won’t pass. it only takes one servant for the word to be spread, and for your image to be ruined by the rumours.’

‘yes, father,’ you bowed your head. yeonjun stayed silent, but mirrored your actions.

‘the carriage is waiting outside,’ the king continued. ‘add some layers so you don’t freeze, and be friendly to the townsfolk who came to watch your departure.’

there were minutes of silence that followed. your father’s footsteps echoed throughout the room before the large, wooden doors creaked open and then slammed closed. servants began to whisper and yeonjun seated himself with a kind smile on his lips. it was all just for show.

your mother buttoned your cape at the collar before grabbing your face and pressing a kiss to your forehead. you smiled sadly and made a silent promise between yourselves that you would keep yourself safe. only another woman would understand the dangers of travelling alone with a man, whether that man was involved with you or not.

‘the king and queen to be,’ you were introduced, followed by the doors opening and the sound of cheering filling the area. both you and yeonjun put on a smile and he offered his arm for you to hold onto as he led you down the stairs. children jumped with joy at the sight of your dress, and women fanned themselves at the sight of the man on your arm. if it weren’t for the audience, you’d be rolling your eyes already.

the carriage was cramped, as always. you never minded if it was just you and your own family members, but being forced to sit that close to yeonjun was going to make for an awful few weeks. on the seat, there was a basket of baked goods and clothing items for the villagers. you wanted to question how the next basket would be delivered, but you assumed your parents would have already thought of that.

yeonjun helped you inside and took a moment to wave everybody goodbye before he sat beside you. you scooted as far away from him as you possibly could and faced the wall.

‘we’re going to be sitting here beside each other for the next three hours,’ he reminded. ‘maybe i can offer something more interesting than the wall.’

‘i actually think the wall will offer much more intelligent conversation,’ you shot back. ‘i want a peaceful ride.’

‘sorry, your peaceful majesty,’ he mocked. ‘i had no idea you were such a genius.’

‘how dare you?’ your head whipped around to face him. ‘i would have loved to go to school. i would have loved to read and to learn, not be forced to practice crochet patterns and piano. do not mock a woman whose only purpose was to marry, because i can assure you it wasn’t my choice.’

‘i didn’t mean to offend,’ he sighed. ‘i’m sorry, truly.’

‘gosh, yeonjun,’ you scoffed in disbelief. ‘i can’t believe so many women want to sleep with you when you famously can’t go three minutes without displaying that you’re a misogynist.’

‘you think too little of me,’ he rolled his eyes. ‘i only meant to throw an insult back at you. i didn’t think about the context, only how i wanted to fight you back.’

‘this marriage will never work if you can’t respect me,’ you turned your head away. ‘i’m not asking you to love me or even to like me, but a bit of respect would be nice. i’m not a joke, i don’t need saving when another man approaches me. i have fought my own battles for my entire life, and i want you to respect that i’m my own person and not just your queen.’

‘i do respect you, y/n,’ yeonjun sighed. ‘we’ve always been this way. you take the first chance to insult me and i take a jab back at you. just because we’re going to be married doesn’t mean we have to act all grown-up from now on.’

‘but i do,’ you met his gaze. ‘a queen has to be perfect. perfectly dressed, perfectly well-spoken, perfect manners, perfect attitude and a perfect reputation. a king merely has to fulfil his duties, and the rest is his business. he can have as many mistresses as he pleases, he can drink any day of the week at any time of the day, and nobody will blink an eye.’

‘and you think i’m going to cheat on you with every woman in the kingdom?’ he laughed. ‘drink myself to death? ruin the image my father created for our family?’

‘did you not invite one of my girls to your room last night?’ you raised a brow. ‘did you not grab a sample of coca-cola for yourself as well?’

‘no, i didn’t,’ something in his expression shifted. ‘i haven’t even looked at another woman since i proposed. this marriage is for show, so there’s no way i’m going to risk being caught being disloyal and ruin the whole illusion.’

‘you’ve gotten away with it for years,’ you clicked your tongue. ‘has all the secrecy and tiptoeing around finally gotten to you?’

‘you don’t know me, y/n,’ he frowned. ‘as much as you’d like to believe you do, you don’t. family comes first for me, and now that you’re part of my family, you come first. i don’t want to risk ruining you or us, so i’m doing the right thing. i’m sorry for spending my days of freedom doing the things i wanted before i would be inevitably made king of two kingdoms.’

‘freedom?’ you rolled your eyes. ‘and what freedom will you be losing as king? i, on the other hand, now belong to you. i belong to you. i’m your wife, i’ll mother your children, i’ll greet the townspeople everyday while you make all of the important decisions, and i’ll never get to experience love.’

‘oh, please,’ he dropped his head back against the seat, closing his eyes. ‘i’m done arguing with you.’

‘because you know i’m right and i’m winning,’ you had to get the last word in. ‘because you know everything i said to be true, and you can’t deny it.’

the first thing you noticed was that it was muddy. yeonjun had dropped down from the carriage already and was holding a hand out to you, but you only stared at the ground and then back at your dress. he groaned and lifted you from the carriage into his arms, before placing you down on solid ground. the women audibly gasped and cooed at the sight.

‘thank you,’ you smiled. yeonjun left your side to reach for the basket, before placing it in your arms.

‘prince yeonjun, and princess y/n,’ the carriage driver introduced, bowing as he did so. the two of you smiled and bowed too, before the townspeople came excitedly towards you. yeonjun watched as you were practically swept off your feet and brought into the village.

the carriage was parked elsewhere. you handed out the food and clothing while yeonjun gave hefty donations to each of the market stalls. the children swarmed around you and tried to play, some of the girls reaching for your hand and asking for you to dance with them. it was a fun interaction complimented by the live band that played jolly music. for once, you enjoyed the obligation. the people loved you and were thankful for you, and that made you feel so good inside. becoming queen was something you definitely didn’t want to do, but you thought it’d be a little bit easier now that you were loved and respected by your people. well, they were currently yeonjun’s people as you were visiting around his kingdom.

‘i think the queen would like to rest now,’ a woman spoke, placing her hand on her daughter’s back to pull her away from the crowd. the rest of the children began to space out, and you looked at yeonjun for help. ‘i can take you.’

‘oh, thank you very much,’ you smiled at the woman, and began following her through the village. yeonjun caught up with you and offered his arm, you wrapped your own arm around his and held onto his bicep for support. the ground was very uneven, that was the only reason.

the sun was starting to set when you were left alone in the room you’d booked for the night. yeonjun began undressing, unclipping his cufflinks and unbuttoning his waistcoat. you choked out a sound of surprise and spun around.

‘what’s the matter, princess?’ he pried as he shrugged off the waistcoat and placed it on the bed. ‘do you want me to step outside to change and raise suspicion?’

‘you could have warned me,’ you huffed. ‘watching you strip wasn’t part of the deal.’

‘these people have to really believe we’re in love,’ he began with the excuses. ‘for all we know, they could be peeking through our window right this second. and i can guarantee they’ll all be listening out for some bed squeaking tonight.’

‘shut up, choi,’ you snapped. ‘you can’t manipulate me into sleeping with you ‘for the people’.’

‘you can’t keep using my surname against me,’ he joked. ‘it’ll be yours in a matter of months.’

‘stop,’ you were furious now. ‘you’re being mean. i’m having my name and my freedom stripped away from me by you, and you think it’s all fun and games because you get to be king. the reality will hit you hard when you figure out that ruling isn’t as easy as you think it is. and i’m not going to become your wife, i’ll be the queen who stands just as tall as you will.’

‘and how easy will that be for you?’ he pressed. ‘you hate responsibility. you love drinking until you pass out and sleeping with the men who fall at the knee in front of you as soon as they hear of your status. you’re no better than me, in fact you’ll be a worse queen than i’ll be king.’

‘if i’m no better, why do you think so highly of yourself?’ you argued, and yeonjun had already spun around to start unbuttoning his shirt. that pissed you off. you ripped out the bows in your hair and set them down, before undressing yourself down to your undergarments.

the bed was going to be yours. you stomped around and huffed as you picked up yeonjun’s neatly folded clothes and tossed them to the ground. he spun around in disbelief and his eyes widened at the sight of your barely-clad self. you got under the sheets and pulled them up over your head, leaving yeonjun half-dressed in the middle of the room. he sighed heavily and moved to blow out the lamps around the room.

‘i wish you would stop fighting me,’ he spoke softly. ‘i don’t want to spend the rest of my life fighting with you.’

the rest of his life. the rest of your life. you were going to be trapped in a marriage with no love and no affection. you’d never get to experience sleepy morning kisses or intimate nights, you wouldn’t be introduced to his friends at parties as the woman he loves, your children would never tell stories of how dearly their parents loved each other. he wouldn’t hold your hand or kiss you goodbye, he wouldn’t fix together a poorly made soup when you’re sick or hold you when you’re struggling. a loveless, cold marriage doomed for eternity.

‘excuse me,’ you rushed out of bed and through the room until you were pulling open the door and leaning against it from the other side. yeonjun took a seat at the foot of the bed and he felt his heart ache. both for you and for himself.

it was miserable. you’d never get to be happy, and neither would he. your lives were dedicated to reuniting two rival kingdoms and combining them into one. the whole point of your trip was to convince everyone of your love and help them adjust to the collaboration, not a romantic getaway to test your love. you lived to serve your parents and your people. it was either you spent everyday feeling hopeless and miserable or you sucked it up and learned to be happy in an environment not built for happiness.

you let the tears fall. it didn’t matter. you sobbed and wiped furiously at your eyes, your vision turning blurry after the amount of tears filling it.

‘why so glum, princess?’ a man’s voice, and you gasped. he placed his hand over your mouth and held your arms behind your back in an attempt to keep you quiet. ‘make a sound or scream and i’ll kill you.’

your mother had taught you what to do in this situation. he’ll kill you even if you’re quiet, so you need to kick and scream and cry for help. and when you’re free, go for the weak spots. eyes, nose, stomach, and you know where. you squirmed aggressively and freed your arms, reaching forward to grab his hand and rip it away from your mouth.

‘yeonjun!’ you cried, still flailing around in the man’s arms. he reached into his pocket and pulled out a dagger, holding it up to your throat as a warning.

‘i mean it, princess,’ he spat. ‘i was sent here to snatch you, dead or alive. your father’s stupid for trying to get us to join him, i know hundreds who won’t do it.’

‘that’s not her doing,’ yeonjun interrupted. ‘get your filthy hands off my fiancée.’

‘what are you going to do?’ the man snorted out a laugh. ‘i’ve raised chickens with more muscle than you’ve got.’

you took the distraction as a chance to elbow the man hard in the stomach. his dagger sliced across your arm as he dropped the ground, and you winced momentarily. yeonjun grabbed you but you pulled your arm back and placed your foot firmly on the man’s hand. he groaned while you reached down to slip the dagger out of his grasp. once again, yeonjun reached for you and pulled you back, but you only slipped out of his hold again and returned to the bedroom.

you grabbed your cape and fastened it over your shoulders when you heard more disturbance outside of the room. when you stepped outside, the man had grabbed yeonjun by the collar and was holding him against the wall. you looked around for a solution, and noticed a table holding a single lamp. you blew the flame out and tossed it aside, spilling wax all over the wooden floorboards. as you lifted the table, you thought that maybe the hot lamp would have been a better choice.

still, you lifted the small table above your head and used your strength to throw it towards the man. it hit him over the head, and yeonjun quickly ducked out of the way onto the ground. the man dropped silently to the ground and blood trickled out from the small wound in his head.

‘we should go,’ you breathed out, feeling the ache in your arms. not to mention the sting of the slice you’d endured from his dagger. ‘quickly before another shows up.’

‘thank you,’ he cleared his throat, his eyes full of worry. ‘y/n, you’re bleeding.’

‘don’t pity me,’ you rolled your eyes. ‘i don’t need your pity, and evidently i don’t need you to come and save me.’

‘why’d you call for me?’ that same smirk was on his lips again. the sight of it made your blood boil and your body tremble slightly with anger. ‘if you don’t need saving.’

‘you seriously need a reality check,’ your eyes narrowed. ‘i can’t wait for the day somebody finally ruins your confidence.’

the sound of a door slamming cut you off, yeonjun grabbed your uninjured arm and began dragging you down the unstable stairs. if it wasn’t for the current life or death situation, you would have fought him on his need to act a hero once again. instead, you just followed along.

outside of the inn, a few more men were waiting. yeonjun began to run, but when he noticed the arrows flying towards you, he shoved you aside and ordered you to hide. you caught yourself before you fell face first into the mud, and ran towards the stables. the bottom of your white slip dress was now dripping and drenched in mud, and you had smudges of blood ruining the upper half.

you looked for your family horse in the stables, a smile lighting up your features when you spotted her. in a struggle to unlock the gates, you noticed hurried footsteps approaching you. but much to your delight, it was only yeonjun catching up with you. no words were exchanged as he squeezed his way past you and opened the gate easily. the usual huff or groan that you’d respond with was nowhere to be found, you simply looked at him with thankful eyes as he guided your horse out.

‘you first,’ he ordered, holding a hand out for you. you nodded and climbed up onto the horse. you grabbed hold of the reins as yeonjun sat comfortably behind you. your breath hitched when you felt the warmth of his body surrounding yours, and his firm chest pressing against your back. ‘we’ll be best off going through the woods if we want to lose them.’

you nodded in agreement and pulled on the reins, sending your horse into a hurried run towards the thick woods. the men followed the sound of her hooves hitting the ground, still clutching onto their bows as arrows repeatedly zoomed past you. it was unnerving, the whipping sound of arrows and the thump as they pierced into trees all around you. yeonjun tightened his hold on you in order to calm your nerves. the woods were getting thicker and thicker, branches scratching against your bare skin and tears beginning to form.

‘i won’t let anything happen to you,’ yeonjun whispered beside your ear, but his voice was shaky and unsure. ‘i promise.’

the moment was ruined when your horse stopped and began to refuse to move. you held on tightly to the reins, despite her insisting on throwing you off.

‘over there!’ a man’s voice announced, followed by the sound of more arrows flying past.

the tears began to fall. the horse finally agreed to move, but the amount of arrows in motion was becoming dangerous. you could hardly see due to the speed, the darkness, the amount of greenery and now your tears.

‘let go of the reins, y/n,’ yeonjun wrapped his arms around you waist and pulled you flush against him. you shook your head, letting out a sob. ‘let go!’

it was an order now. the reins slipped from your grasp and yeonjun dragged you down the floor with him. you landed harshly on a mess of twigs and mud, but yeonjun took most of the fall. he coughed, having been winded. your horse began to throw a fit once again, before a pained sound that you’d never forget echoed throughout the trees.

‘no,’ you whimpered. ‘please, no!’

yeonjun couldn’t stop you. you picked yourself up and began to run towards your horse. her beautiful white fur began to turn red from the multiple injuries she sustained from the arrows. she laid motionless on her side, and you couldn’t hold back the sobbing and screaming. blood soaked through your dress and began to paint your hands and arms, and then your face when you tried to wipe away your tears.

‘we have to go, y/n!’ yeonjun grabbed you by the arms and pulled you back, but you shrugged him off and went back to stroking over your horse’s lifeless snout. ‘if we don’t leave now, we’ll both be dead!’

as irrational as you wanted to be, he was right. you felt numb as he grabbed you and pulled you to stand. you didn’t really understand what was going on, your mind was hazy. yeonjun held you behind a tree while you tried to calm down, a hand placed over your mouth to silence your cries. you only snapped out of it when you heard him wince in pain, and noticed the arrow that had just skimmed past his arm.

this time, you grabbed his hand and began running with him. you had no idea of which direction you were running in, just that you wanted to get far away from your attackers. you began to grow hopeless after running yourselves to exhaustion, when you spotted an old, small house not too far away. the coast seemed clear, so you silently agreed on the plan with yeonjun and made a run for the house.

he tried the door handle first while you scanned the area in a paranoid and erratic manner. it was stiff, but he managed to nudge the door open. he grabbed your hand and dragged you inside before slamming the door behind you.

‘close all of the curtains,’ he ordered, and you did so happily. you liked this side of him. he was assertive and put-together. ‘i’ll block all of these doors off so they have no chance of getting inside, but we have to be quiet.’

it was almost half an hour of making sure they wouldn’t be able to break in, and all you could think of was wrapping up yeonjun’s wound. that thought made you feel stupid, because you knew the slice on your arm wasn’t bothering him in the slightest. still, you began searching the cupboards for anything to wrap it up. of course, it was practically bare. but if by magic, there sat some gauze on a high shelf. you climbed up until you could reach it, as well as grabbing the only knife left behind by whoever used to reside here.

‘come here,’ you called softly. ‘we need to wrap that wound up before you bleed out.’

you pulled out a chair and took a seat at the small table. it was incredibly dark, but your eyes were adjusting enough for you to make out the objects in your hands. yeonjun pulled out the only other chair and sat close to you. he grabbed your wrist and turned your arm over.

‘and what about you?’ he sounded tired, the sound tugging at your heart. ‘you’re grieving, y/n. i’ll wrap your arm up and you’ll go to bed, and i’ll take care of myself.’

‘yeonjun, please,’ your voice broke. ‘i’m too afraid to sleep.’

he ignored your words and went straight to wrapping your arm up in the gauze. when he got to the end, he held the material between his teeth and sawed away at it with the knife. then he tied it into a dainty bow, making sure to keep it pretty as he felt you deserved.

‘now—’ he tried to speak, but you cut him off immediately.

‘i’m not tired,’ you reminded. ‘let me do the same for you.’

yeonjun didn’t want to fight. he’d lost all desire to rile you up. he’d seen a new side of you, and his opinion was starting to change. you weren’t heartless, you cared so much about everybody and everything. he’d seen you break down over a horse you’d loved throughout your childhood, you saved his life, and you were begging for him to let you help him.

he didn’t see you as a person, that was his problem. as children, you were an annoying little girl who always wanted to be in his space. as teens, you were rude and could never see eye-to-eye with him. and as adults, you made it as clear as possible that you wanted nothing to do with him. it was rejection after rejection. you’d glare and roll your eyes, scoff and groan every time he spoke. he wasn’t invited to join you and your friends, he only ever saw you at formal events. you were cold towards any man in your path, including close friends of his that he’d grown up with. all of this just painted you as a dark, looming presence in his life. you always had something sarcastic to say, you snapped and broke character easily around him, you always had the perfect insult to throw his way and you wouldn’t dream of viewing him in any way other than the opinion you’d created of him in your mind.

you wrapped the fabric tightly around his arm, and he tensed his arm in pain. he looked down to meet your concerned gaze and he relaxed again, but he was hoping you hadn’t noticed.

‘you’re so full of surprises, princess,’ he whispered.

‘what’s that supposed to mean?’ expecting an insult, you pulled tightly on the bandage again. yeonjun grunted in pain, and you felt your body heat up.

‘perfect self defence, stamina for running, you can control a horse, you’re strong, and you know how to wrap gauze,’ he smiled, ignoring that you were totally taking everything he said the wrong way. ‘i was thinking you were just a girl dressed in bows and lace, dreaming of owning a castle.’

‘well, you don’t know me very well,’ you tied off the end of gauze, your hand lingering on the sleeve of his shirt for a little too long. your eyes dropped to the area of his chest visible due to the first few buttons being left undone. you guessed he didn’t find time to fix himself in between all the running and trying not to die. ‘i never wanted to be queen. i love bows and lace, but the new castle will be too lonely and too large.’

‘you have a point,’ he agreed. ‘it was built way too far away from the centre of the kingdom. and what will they do with the two empty castles?’

‘don’t you mean, what will we do?’ you sighed and stood up, placing the knife down onto the table and approaching the bed. ‘don’t you wonder who used to live here? and how come they left all of this behind?’

‘all of what?’ yeonjun followed you, stopping in front of you. you were only inches apart, but he stood taller than you. ‘it was poorly built, it’s cold, and it’s in the middle of nowhere.’

‘it’s quaint and beautiful,’ you whispered, realising there was no need to speak when you were this close. ‘much less lonely than a large castle with too many rooms to count.’

yeonjun grabbed your hand, interlocking your fingers. the both of you watched your hands before locking gazes.

‘what would you do?’ he whispered back. ‘with the castles.’

‘schools,’ you felt your body forcing you to step closer to him. ‘education for everyone, no matter their status. every girl—’

his lips pressed against yours. only for a moment, and it was the lightest touch, but it made you feel warm inside. when your lips parted, he was still only inches away from you. he dropped your hand and placed one hand in your hair in order to pull you in again. you moaned into his mouth and let yourself melt into the kiss.

‘i’m sorry,’ you pulled away, eyes closed and lips pursed. ‘i’m so sorry, i don’t know what came over me.’

‘why are you sorry?’ he leaned to place his forehead against yours, his eyes also falling shut. ‘it’s just you and me, princess… it’s just you and me for the rest of our lives.’

yeonjun didn’t sleep. you’d passed out with your head on his chest hours ago, and he laid thinking about you and the kiss you’d shared. never in a million years did he think he would fall in love with you, but now he was realising he just wasn’t allowing himself to fall. why did it bother him that you paid him no mind? and why did he enjoy poking and prodding at your nerves until you inevitably snapped? because he wanted to be something more to you.

the sun shone intensely through the gaps in the curtains. you whined and buried your face into yeonjun’s chest without realising what exactly you were doing. he lifted his hand and held it over your eyes, protecting you from the sun. he wanted you to keep sleeping, he wanted to keep thinking, he wanted to stay in this small space alone with you forever.

alas, your eyes opened and you were met with yeonjun looking down at you. immediately, you sat up and apologised. he just smiled and stretched his arms above his head, making his shirt ride up above his hips.

‘you look terrible,’ you commented. ‘you’re covered in blood.’

‘i could say the same for you, princess,’ he gave you a lopsided, half smile. ‘your mother is going to hate me.’

‘my mother loves you,’ you laughed shortly. ‘you could set a village alight and she would still defend you.’

‘we should set off to get home before nightfall,’ he suggested. ‘i’d rather deal with our parents now rather after two nights of us fighting for our lives.’

the walk home took several hours. it was easier once you’d made it onto the path, and once yeonjun had insisted on holding your hand so that you wouldn’t fall behind. walking into the castle grounds was terrifying, the stall keepers whispered amongst themselves and mothers covered their children’s eyes. who could blame them? the future king and queen were walking hand-in-hand, covered in blood and in clothing that had been ripped and stained black and brown. not to mention that you were both barely clothed, having had to flee from the inn mid-preparation for bed.

word spread like wildfire and your mother came running out of the castle to see if it was true. she pulled you away from yeonjun and into her arms, checking you for injury. then she ushered the both of you inside as quickly as possible.

you were taken away by servants to be bathed, treated and dressed in appropriate clothing. for the next few hours, all you could think about yeonjun. the way his lips felt, the way his fingertips rubbed against your scalp to send you to sleep, his warm hand in yours, the skin showing beneath his shirt, the way his gaze now softened whenever he looked at you. it made you feel giddy and childlike, and you were kind of thankful for the men who’d tried to hunt you down.

yeonjun didn’t seem to be around. he wasn’t seated at the table for meals, you didn’t see him walking around the castle, and you hadn’t heard anyone else mention his name. a part of you wondered if it had all been a dream.

that was, until nightfall.

the shock of everything you had experienced and the pain you felt every time you relived the memory of your horse being shot down had kept you inside. not just inside the castle, but inside of your room. so when it came to the night, you were finally free to walk around the castle.

you peeked through your door before opening it fully, and began walking towards the servant’s entrance into the kitchen. it was no longer mandatory for use, per your mother’s request, but you loved how quickly it took you into the kitchen. you stepped down the steep staircase and pushed open the door at the bottom, only to be met with a figure standing by the sink. they turned back at the disturbance and you realised that, in all his glory, it was yeonjun.

‘y/n,’ he practically sighed. it was obvious, even under the candlelight, that he was tired. he’d had no chance to sleep, not that you knew it yet, and was too shaken up to do so even if he’d had the chance. ‘i didn’t mean to disappear on you.’

‘i’m not upset, yeonjun,’ he loved the way you said his name when it wasn’t coming out as a snarl or mid-insult. ‘i was worried about, if i’m being honest.’

‘i had to talk with our fathers,’ he placed his cup down. ‘they’re going to put in a new law surrounding treason.’

‘and that is?’ you came towards him, stopping just a few feet away from him.

‘punishment of death,’ he sighed. ‘i don’t have hope.’

‘that’s awful,’ you agreed. ‘but we don’t have much choice, do we? it’ll either do well to scare them off, or we’ll be sentencing hundreds of men to their deaths.’

‘i’m worried that it won’t work,’ he admitted. ‘that they’ll come back for you and you won’t make it out alive this time. then does it really matter if they’re killed for their crime?’

‘we’re protected here,’ you reassured. ‘the world won’t take me away that soon, i’m not done bothering you yet.’

yeonjun couldn’t take it anymore, he’d been going crazy thinking about you all day. he placed his hands on either side of you and kissed you hard to try and portray at least some of the emotion he felt towards you. you wrapped your arms around his neck and reciprocated the kiss, no longer feeling the need to apologise for wanting to be this close to him.

‘and i’m not done loving you yet,’ he mumbled between kisses, making you pull back with a smile.

‘don’t tell me you’ve fallen in love with me over the past twenty four hours,’ you smirked. yeonjun felt his heart skip a beat at this new flirty side of you.

he didn’t feel the need to answer, it was obvious that you were right about his feelings. he lifted your chin and placed another tender kiss to your lips. finally, for the first time, you actually felt at peace, and you didn’t feel like disrupting it.

SOOBIN WINS MOST RELATABLE IDOL AWARD ISTG 🙁💔 STOTPFKFK IM SO EXCITED FOR THE ENHA ONE NOW OMGOGM YES ‼️‼️‼️‼️

GUYS I MADE A TXT DATE QUIZ GO TAKE IT AND RB TO SHOW UR ANSWERS CAUSE IM CURIOUS!!! quiz here!! HAVE FUN MY ADORABLE MOOTS <33 @blue-jisungs,, @yeonjuns-bluehair,, @ddenoudepression,, @syrxiee2,, @delcakoo2

p.s I may or may not do this for more groups (probably) so yeah... look forward to that pspspsps

Perfect Harmony ‣ cbg

‣ pairing: palace attendant!beomgyu x princess!reader

‣ genre: implied f2l, royal!au, fluff, some angst, sorta slice-of-life

‣ wc: 5.7k

‣ summary: “A perfect harmony… that’s what they are”; alternatively, you're slipping and stumbling for with anyone but Choi Beomgyu—but maybe it's a good thing…

‣ warnings?: reader keeps worrying about an upcoming event (a ball) and experiences near-humiliation surrounded by a group of people, lots of question asking (overthinking?), ending might be rushed bc I write at like 4 in the morning

‣ an: this was cuter in my head :( and I rly just pulled this outta nowhere because I wanted to write something but thanks to @hoonieji for helping me a bit with this

The ball happening at the end of the week was all for you. Its purpose was to find a gentleman that was to take the place of the king once your mother chooses to step down as the queen. This was why your mother was making a great deal out of everything. So great, that you can almost see the veins popping out of her forehead from stress.

The entire situation was bittersweet. 

Although, you admit that it is more bitter than it was sweet.

It was sweet because you loved big gatherings. You loved spending time with people who have travelled miles just to attend your party, as well as the people who resided in your own kingdom. There was also a small part of you that was rather curious about the gentlemen your mother deemed candidates and the fact that any of them can be your future spouse.

It was bitter because this wasn’t how you wanted to find love (or at least, what people defined as love). You always imagined yourself finding love on your own. Whether it be by accident or having seen it from afar… you just wanted to find it on your own. Not through the judgment of your mother. 

You were afraid that these ‘gentlemen’ would turn out to be roach-like, or put into simple terms, disgusting. But you wanted to give your mother the benefit of the doubt. If she was able to choose a kind-hearted man like your father, then she would also have the ability to do the same for you. 

Or at least you hope.

“Princess!” 

You’re knocked out of your thoughts by the sharp voice of Mr. Geum, who was impatiently standing at the centre of the ballroom. He had his hands on his hips, weight shifted to one leg while he tapped his foot against the cool floor, “I am here to assist you with your ballroom dancing. Not watch you get lost in your daydreams.” 

Moving swiftly, you stand up from the chair placed at the corner of the room and towards Mr. Geum. One last reason that this all falls under bitter. 

You had to dance.

When you were younger, your mother would point out how dancing was often related to elegance and how elegance was a significant trait that every princess must possess. You remember thinking that all of that was nonsense. Only because elegance could be indicated by many other things. Not just dancing. 

And although dancing didn’t always signify the elegance of a princess, you started to realize that it did play a role in the trait. Especially when ballroom dancing was one of the most considerable parts of a ball. It created opportunities to showcase yourself, and you figured that knowing how to ballroom dance was important in finding your future Prince. 

“Today’s lesson is close to finished,” Mr. Geum points out, “We need to use all the time we have to see improvement, Princess.” Smoothing out his shirt, he gestures for you to raise your elbows as he’s taught, and along with your arms, you straighten your back. 

You don’t say a word. Instead, you sigh and follow Mr. Geum’s orders. One of the ladies at the side of the room starts the music, and through muscle memory, you begin moving your feet. They move in a box-like motion, the waltz, while Mr. Geum leads you across the dance floor. 

You follow proper ballroom dancing etiquette, counting by fours in your head. Although you’re certain you’re following the steps right, you begin stumbling over Mr. Geum’s feet, which causes him to trip over yours. He tries his best to correct you, pulling and pushing you in a way to fix your positions. This doesn’t work.

“I apologize, Mr. Geum,” you say at the song's end. If you’re doing this horribly with the waltz, you can’t imagine how terrible you will be with the foxtrot. The corners of your mouth turn down into a frown, brows furrowing in frustration, “That was all my fault.”

Mr. Geum waves off your apology, “No need to apologize, princess. You’re learning, so it’s understandable that you make mistakes. I have noticed that you’re following the steps well.” 

“That’s what I don’t understand, Mr. Geum,” you say, “I’m not uncoordinated. I can comprehend everything you’ve taught me and translate them into dance moves. I don’t understand why I can’t complete the dance.”

Mr. Geum nods in sympathy, bringing a hand up to his chin as he’s sucked into thought, “I have taught many students who have gone through similar situations as you have… it sounds absurd, but partners do affect how the individuals act together within a routine. You can think of it as two different notes creating a perfect harmony.” You watch as he goes back into his thinking pose, spinning on the spot. 

As if on queue, Beomgyu, the palace’s attendant, and one of your best friends, enters the room, layers of cloth napkins in his arms. He’s out of breath and restless. But even so, Mr. Geum calls on him, “You! Boy! What’s your name?” He waves Beomgyu over, to which Beomgyu complies. 

“It’s Beomgyu, sir,” he answers quietly, trying to catch his breath, “Princess.” He bows to you, and although he normally doesn’t do this when it’s only him and you in the room, he still makes sure to show you respect when there are others around. 

“Do you know how to waltz?” Mr. Geum continues, “The princess needs a partner that may help her prove her skill.”

Beomgyu nods, “Yes, sir, I do.” He looks between you and Mr. Geum, still slightly nervous. 

Mr. Geum claps his hands together, “Ah, perfect! Let’s see it!” He makes his way to the music player, motioning for you to set yourselves up. His attention is kept on you and Beomgyu, and you admit that it’s a bit nerve-wracking. 

“You know how to waltz?” You ask Beomgyu, “What other secret talents do you have?” Raising a brow, you take one step forward towards the boy. The space between the two of you is small. You would feel Beomgyu breathing on your forehead if you stood up straight. 

“It never really came up,” he says quietly, “May I?” His left hand hovers above your waist, closer to your shoulder blade, raising the other hand at the level that you would be holding your right hand. 

“Of course,” you grinned. With one hand you take his raised hand in yours while bringing your other up to his shoulder.

Mr. Geum counts down and begins the music. When it was time, the both of you began moving your feet in sync, Beomgyu leading and you following. 

Almost instantly, you feel a difference between the way Mr. Geum leads and how Beomgyu leads. When Mr. Geum leads, you can feel that he was much more commanding. The push and pulls were forceful, though they weren’t forceful in such a way that was considered rough. In the way you danced with Mr. Geum, it was evident that he lives up to his role as your instructor, leading you as if you had no knowledge of what you were doing. You guess it made sense, but you weren’t an amateur. 

You liked the way Beomgyu led. 

Instead of simply leading you, or almost dragging you along like Mr. Geum, Beomgyu made sure to move you along with him. It was almost as if he was waiting for you to follow in his footsteps although you both had to execute moves at the same time. Beomgyu was gentle. He knew how to move as if you both were one piece. 

The way Beomgyu leads lets you show off the knowledge that you have managed to acquire over the lessons you have taken. Your confidence is heightened, and you can’t help but feel relieved because you now know that you have the ability to dance with elegance. It all just simply depends on who you’re dancing with. 

You look up at Beomgyu, who is already looking down at you. His eyes are glistening—you don’t know why. You smile. You wish you could dance with Beomgyu at the ball. 

You’d probably feel the most confident with him.

“Beautiful!” Mr. Geum exclaims from the side. He stops the music and approaches you and Beomgyu quickly. He has a smile on his face, hands clasped together with pride, “That was a perfect example of what it looks like to find someone you, with lack of words, harmonize with.” He pauses and continues, “You two looked wonderful!”

You drop your hand from Beomgyu’s shoulder and turn to your dance instructor. Your eyes light up at the compliment, a smile following it, “Thank you, Mr. Geum. I’m glad I can show you what I learned from you.” Mr. Geum nods and begins to list what he’s prepared for tomorrow’s class, seeing that you’ve finally reached his current expectations. 

As you nod along to the upcoming plans, you don’t realize that you’re still holding onto Beomgyu’s hand. He’s looking down at your joined hands, unsure whether or not he should let go. He tries loosening his grip, but that’s when he realizes that it’s you that is maintaining the hold.

Finally, Mr. Geum concludes the class, “The lesson is over for today! I will see you next time, Princess.” He goes in for a fatherly hug and that’s when you let go of Beomgyu’s hand. 

Even then you don’t realize, and Beomgyu’s left confused.

°•. ✿ .•°

Beomgyu feels like a fool. 

And not because he was sitting on the filthy floor of the stables. 

He feels like a fool because he can’t get the feeling of you holding his hand out of his head. He shouldn’t even be feeling this way towards you but he can’t help it. He blames you, but not in a way where he’s angry at you.

Sighing, he shifts in place and glances out at the setting sun. He can feel his clothes getting filthy by the second, but he also doesn’t mind because he knows the day’s almost over. He can change into his pyjamas and then he can go to sleep. And by then, he hopes he can forget about the things that happened in the morning. 

“There you are!”

Beomgyu jumps slightly and his head turns quickly towards the direction of the voice. He sits up a bit, hands pushing him up so he’s not laying on the unused pile of hay.

Beomgyu’s eyes widen at you making your way into the stable. You shut the stable door behind you and make your way down towards Beomgyu, who’s evidently confused. 

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” You halted in front of him, “And turns out you’re just here.” You plop down to his right, using the back of your dress as a makeshift blanket to sit on. “What are you doing here?” 

Beomgyu stretches his legs out and shrugs, “Thinking.” He has no other way to put it. He’s been sitting here for the past hour just… thinking. His eyes flicker to your crossed hands, then to his toes, “What are you doing here?” 

“I wanted to talk to you,” You say nonchalantly, “I want to get my mind off of the ball.” You almost shiver at the thought of the anticipated event. 

“So I’m just here to distract you?” Beomgyu jokes. He raises an eyebrow, “Am I just that to you?” 

You lean forward and push him lightly, though it’s still strong enough to make him fall back into the hay piled up behind him, “Of course not, Gyu.” Sitting back up into your original position, you continue, “It’s just… every single person in the palace… hell, even anyone I encounter in the town… all they want to talk about is that ridiculous ball. I feel like you’re the only person I can talk to that will talk to me about anything else and understand.” 

Beomgyu hums a response, a sound that lets you know that he’s listening and, just as you said, that he understands. “Well… what do you want to talk about?” 

“Anything but the ball,” you snort, “You suggest something.” The sun has sunken deeper under the horizon, though it’s still peeking over it in the slightest. The blue of the sky is more light than it was navy. There was still plenty of time to talk.

For a moment, Beomgyu’s stuck with no topic to talk about. To be fair, his head has practically been occupied by you, and only you, for the past hour. Then he suddenly remembers, “How about Mr. Geum’s toupee?” Beomgyu looks over at you with a knowing look, trying not to burst out laughing at the image of Mr. Geum’s toupee that had been sliding off of his head. 

“I wasn’t the only one who noticed?” You let out a hearty laugh, “I couldn’t stop looking at it! I swear that that was the reason why I kept losing my footing with him! I wanted to fix it so bad.” This wasn’t just a one-time thing. During the past few classes, you constantly kept getting the urge to push Mr. Geum’s toupee up higher on his head. You were unsure whether it would have been more embarrassing for the man to have you do that for him, or have it flop to the floor without warning.

Beomgyu lets out a laugh, “It was the first thing I noticed when he called on me.” He grabs a handful of hay and crunches them up, “How could I not? It doesn’t look even close to his real hair!” 

You continue to laugh, “I’m telling him that you said that!” Beomgyu doesn’t sense that you’re joking, and at this, he feels the need to poke your rib. 

“Ow!” you whine, using one hand to clutch your side, “I was joking!” You’ve sunken closer to Beomgyu, almost laying down. You fix yourself up, clearing your throat, “That reminds me… where did you learn how to dance? You were good! I think you’re better than me.”

Shrugging, Beomgyu purses his lips. “It’s not really a special story.” He’s actively recollecting the moments related to dancing.

You furrow your brows, “I still want to hear it.” 

Beomgyu looks at you as if he wanted to make sure that you were fine with him taking over the conversation. You gesture for him to begin. He nods, “You know how my mom would always bring me to the balls the queen held when I was younger? When I wasn’t obligated to be there?”

Your face lights up, bringing a hand up to your mouth, “Of course I do.” Beomgyu’s mom was your mother’s lady-in-waiting, so she would often be found at her side, waiting for any orders. Your mother never minded Beomgyu tagging along with his mom, just as long as he didn’t cause any disturbances. She was lucky that Beomgyu was a good kid. 

“Whenever it was time, I would always watch everyone dance, and I memorized it all by observing. It sounds odd, but I stood back and watched the same routine be performed every ball.” Beomgyu looks over at you, “And when you see it happen tens of times a year for many years, I guess it just makes sense for me to memorize it without being taught it.”

Beomgyu finishes his short story, and you're left finding it endearing how Beomgyu had actually managed it memorize the ball dances simply through watching. Many people would see these dances happen would but would not bother watching the entire routine. “That’s amazing.” 

Even though you asked Beomgyu not to direct the conversation towards the ball, you decide to do it. “I want to save you a dance at the ball.” 

It was an impulsive suggestion, although you wouldn’t even consider it a suggestion. It was more of a statement, a sure one at that. It should have been a question, but there was a great part of you that truly wanted Beomgyu to dance at the ball. 

Beomgyu’s slightly dumbfounded at what you just said, not quite certain if he heard you properly, “What?” He didn’t mean to come out as disrespectful. He was genuinely confused. He needed you to repeat yourself.

“I want to save you a dance,” you say, “Dance with me at the ball.” 

Eyes widening, Beomgyu shakes his head, “Y/N, I can’t do that.” 

“And why not?” You raise a brow, sitting up straighter before crossing your arms. He better have a good explanation. Beomgyu tended to lie to get out of situations. You can still recall the times he admitted to lying to his mom to get out of certain duties. It was simply Mrs. Choi’s mistake for believing the boy every single time. 

Beomgyu flicks up some straws of hay towards you, “I’m part of the staff… I have a job to fulfill during the ball.” He shakes his head again and starts fiddling with more hay. He’s somehow grown nervous over nothing. 

“I can tell them to let you—”

“And I don’t want to take the spots of the gentlemen the queen has lined up for you, Y/N,” he interrupts, “Imagine what they’ll say if they see that someone from your staff is taking up time that someone else could be using?” 

If Beomgyu was going to be honest, having the chance to dance with you at the ball would be… nice. Sure, he already his chance to be your partner during your lesson, but the atmosphere at the event will be different. There would be people watching, you both would be dressed in formal attire, and there would be live music. Everything about the idea of dancing with you at an actual ball is perfect, but there undoubtedly were factors standing in the way of it happening. 

You frown, “I don’t care about them, Beomgyu. That just says something bad about them if they’re like that. Besides, I think I’d enjoy it more if you were there with me.” It was true. Despite the fact that your friends will be present at the ball, Beomgyu being there would help ease the stress you already knew you would be feeling that night. 

I think I’d enjoy it more if you were there with me.

How can Beomgyu react to that? 

Beomgyu thinks fast. He mentally rakes through all the luxuries that will be present at the ball, all the people you loved building relationships with, and the music. He feels as if all those things would easily drown him out. Then he scoffs. “There’s no way you would enjoy the ball more with me there.” 

“Of course, I will,” you sighed, “Why would I not?” You look at Beomgyu as if he’s said something remarkably ridiculous. 

Before Beomgyu could think up an excuse, you hear a voice call for you from the palace. Only then do you realize it’s much darker than it was when you first found Beomgyu. You stand up in haste, brushing off the back end of your dress, “I need to go… Please consider it, Gyu.”

Only to please you, Beomgyu nods his head, “I will. Goodnight, Princess.”

You roll your eyes at the title, “Goodnight, Gyu.”

°•. ✿ .•°

The guests will be arriving soon and despite the fact that you should be looking forward to it all, you were sitting in your room lacking the spirit to leave. A list of the gentlemen, the suitors, that your mother invited for you is staring right back at you, and you couldn’t help but grimace at some of the names on it. 

Sure, there were some names that you weren’t as displeased with, but there was still that one name lingering at the back of your head that you wish you could easily substitute for a name on the list. 

Your finger plays with the corner of the list, pursing your lips. 

“Y/N?” Your lady-in-waiting, Chaeryeong, knocks at the door, peeking her head in, “The first guests are arriving. The queen asked me to tell you to get ready for your entrance.” She knows how you feel about the event, hence the hesitant smile on her face. 

Your heart briefly tightens at the mention of the guests, your stomach twisting soon after. You turn to her, presenting an uneasy smile,  “Thanks, Chae. I’ll be in position in a bit.” She nods before slipping back out of the room, leaving you alone.

You take a few moments to relax and catch your breath. You want to admit. Although you’ve attended and hosted many galas and promenades before this one, you have never felt this nervous about a ball. It was the purpose of this ball that snatched away the carelessness you often had when attending these celebrations. 

Sighing, you stand up from your chair and smooth out your ball gown before leaving your room, still feeling your heart pounding against your ribcage. Opening the door, you squeeze your eyes shut as if it’ll help you ease your worries. And even if it doesn’t, you use it to help you focus on your breathing. Then in one motion, you step out and swing the door closed behind you. 

This is just another ball, you convince yourself, There is nothing to worry about.

Expecting there to be an empty hallway, maybe a knight or two standing guard as normal, you’re startled by the presence of Beomgyu, who’s patiently standing, waiting, against the wall across your room. Your eyes habitually scan his attire, which is what all the other male staff were wearing—a white dress shirt, a suit vest, slacks, and black dress shoes. 

“I’m here to escort you,” he smiles, holding out his arm, “You look beautiful.” 

Your heart leaps just for an instant, “Thank you.” Grabbing onto his forearm, he begins leading you down to the top of the staircase, which is the place you were to be for your introduction. Many of the other staff you pass compliment you on your appearance. Their comments bring you temporary solutions to your current predicament. They almost help you forget that you were expected to keep an eye out for a possible future spouse in less than an hour. 

Others comment on how the invited gentlemen are going to swoon, and that’s where you’re taken back to the reality of it all. You turn to Beomgyu, “Are you… sure you don’t want me to save you a dance?” At this point, you don’t care if you appear desperate. 

No. “Yes, I’m sure,” Beomgyu replies, tapping his index finger against the back of your hand, “My reasons are still the same. I don’t want to cause any conflict between you and the gentlemen.” 

“But you saw how well I danced with you the other week,” you reason quietly, “What if I mess up with the suitors and they decide that they—”

“If you mess up and they don’t like it, then they don’t deserve you,” Beomgyu says in a hushed tone. He’s not looking at you but at the staff members waiting for your queue to enter, “Remember that, okay?”

Everything, in the beginning, went by in a blur. You were only aware of the conversations you had with your friends, the delicious food, the lovely music—you wished it was like this the entire ball. But once your mother had announced the commencement of the special portion of the ball, everything was back to its normal pace. Maybe it was just your mind doing you a favour. Only because you did have to choose carefully.

You were instructed to proceed to the centre of the ballroom, and once the music started the gentlemen were allowed to approach you and ask for a moment with you. 

You didn’t think anyone would have the courage to be the first to dance with you. Many pairs of eyes settled on you, awaiting the suitors to come up and ask for a dance. But once the music started, a handful of the suitors approached you swiftly. You decided to go for the one directly in front of you, “May I have this dance, Princess?” 

You nodded, almost reluctantly, offering a gentle smile. 

“My name is Sungchan,” he introduces, “Jung Sungchan.” 

“It’s very nice to meet you, Sungchan,” you reply. You couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was. His smile was eyecatching, and he had this mysterious glint in his eye that enticed you. You now wonder what criteria your mother used when inviting these suitors. 

Was it through appearance? Success and wealth? Personality? 

He holds out his hand, and you accept it, taking this as a sign that he was going to begin dancing. Just as you were taught, you start following the steps that you practiced many times, counting mentally, while simultaneously listening to the things Sungchan was telling you.

“How has your night been?” He drops his hand from your waist and he spins you, “Good, I hope?”

You giggle nervously, “It’s been… busy.” Unexpectedly, you step on Sungchan’s toes, causing the two of you to stumble slightly. “Oh, I’m sorry! It’s–“

“Don’t apologize,” Sungchan interrupts, “Accidents happen.” 

You feel a sense of relief in your chest. Even if there shouldn’t be any excuses for such mistakes, you’re thankful that Sungchan seems to genuinely understand the occurrence. 

He leans forward, “I’m nervous, too.” Sungchan squeezes your hand and continues to make conversation. His movements are quick and sharp, which makes you feel like you’re obligated to move along to his tempo. Unlike Mr. Geum, he makes sure that you’re caught up with him before making the next move, and you believe this is why you aren’t tripping any more over his feet.

After you and Sungchan have danced together, another gentleman approaches, “May I take it from here?” He’s bold enough to bring a shoulder to Sungchan’s shoulder. 

Sungchan nods, “I hope to see you again, Princess.” He brings your hand to his lips and kisses it, backing up to give you space.

You smiled genuinely, nodding him goodbye before moving on to the next suitor. You know who he is. Yoon Jaehyuk. 

You’ve heard of many things about Jaehyuk from your friends. He’s got the reputation of being stubborn especially when it comes to business deals. If he wants it, then he gets it. You think that this was likely why your mother had invited him as a suitor. He was powerful when it came to connections and was rich as well. 

“Let me sweep you off your feet,” he winks, “I’m Yoon Jaehyuk.” 

Immediately, you feel Jaehyuk push and pull you similar to how Mr. Geum often did in your lessons. It felt like he will quite literally sweep you off of your feet, and you’re worried. Your mind flashes back to your lessons with Mr. Geum and how you did poorly with your instructor, and just as you expected, you step on Jaehyuk’s toes. 

You apologize quickly, eyes widening, “I apologize!” Jaehyuk shakes his head and tells you not to worry about the accident, continuing to lead you with the dance. Jaehyuk doesn’t seem to understand, nor regard, that you were struggling to keep up with his movements. But then again, ballroom dancing required two people, and you weren’t fulfilling your half of the sequence.

Jaehyuk brings up the topic of his travels, having travelled from two kingdoms over just to be here, “Your region is the prettiest.” He comments, “The flowers here are beautiful and they are unique compared to those in the others.”

Before you could reply, you stagger in your footsteps and interrupt the tempo that you both were following. The unexpected disruption causes Jaehyuk to pull you towards his own body a bit harder than anticipated, and before you know it, you’re falling into his chest. 

You regain your balance on your own, trying to catch sight of Jaehyuk who made a noise of frustration. 

“I’m sorry,” you repeat frantically, “I just–”

Jaehyuk doesn’t say another word, instead, he lets go of you and he walks away, shaking his head. You can’t tell if it was out of irritation, disappointment, or embarrassment, but you felt a huge sense of remorse for what just happened. 

If you mess up and they don’t like it, then they don’t deserve you. Beomgyu’s words echo in your head. 

You squeeze your eyes shut and then open them again, scanning the crowd for the other suitors. All of the room’s attention was on you, and after what just happened, you didn’t like it. 

“Next suitor?” You hear your mother’s voice bound from behind you. The music is still playing, waiting for bodies to dance to its melody. 

Your heart was beginning to beat faster and you felt as though the temperature in the room was rising rapidly. Again, your eyes scan the crowd, and to your left, you see Jaehyuk whispering to the other men words that you cannot hear from where you stood. And although you don’t want to assume the words are about you, his eyes continue to flicker to you, almost signifying that you were the topic.

“Next suitor?” Your mother repeats, voice wavering. No one dares to move forward and you’re not sure why. 

Was it because of your mistake? What was Jaehyuk telling them? Were you simply imagining everything?

Then, your mother’s voice appears in your head. The ability to dance signifies elegance. 

Did that one misstep give them the impression that you didn’t have elegance? Why did this even matter?

Questions are running through your head and you’re unable to stop them. Not when everyone’s staring at you. Not when no other gentleman is willing to take his turn. Not when you think you’ve actually blown your chances of finding someone that will take place as king. 

Your head falls in between your shoulders and you close your eyes, only hoping for all of this to end. Why couldn’t this all go by in a blur? Where was Beomgyu when you needed him?

As the music continues on quietly in the background, you start to hear commotion somewhere in the crowd. You choose not to look, afraid that whatever is happening will only cause you more stress. There’s whispering, though you can hear it gradually increasing in volume. 

Then you feel a hand on your shoulder.

You lift your head, opening your eyes so that you could graciously face whoever it was saving you from your embarrassment.

“Y/N.”

You open your mouth but nothing comes out. And you know he understands the reason for this. Without hesitation, you took a big step towards him, the front of your dress pressed up against his legs, and you let your forehead fall onto his chest. 

You close your eyes. “Beomgyu…” 

You feel like crying. It’s not clear whether you want to do it out of humiliation or built-up stress, but you know for sure that part of the urge is from relief. You’re relieved that someone’s here to join you at your side, despite the numerous people watching, and judging. You’re even more relieved that this someone was Beomgyu—the boy who you want to admit brings you comfort no matter what the situation.

“Still have that dance saved for me?” He whispers. He nudges your forearm with the back of his wrist in attempt to lighten up your mood. Beomgyu can feel all eyes on him as much as they were on you. But he turns a blind eye to them, his priority being you and making sure you are okay. 

Lifting your head, you nodded, “Always.” 

A smile rises upon Beomgyu’s lips at your answer before he steps back to bow, “May I have this dance, Princess?” 

You nod, mirroring Beomgyu’s smile.

In one swift motion, you and Beomgyu bring your hands up to  appropriate positions. Once you both were set and ready, your feet begin to move along to the music, counting to fours mentally. Your eyes travel from Beomgyu’s chest and up to his eyes. He’s already staring back at you, lips permanently propped into a gentle and comforting grin. 

Anyone who’s watching from the surrounding crowd can see how well you and Beomgyu danced together. As if the floor was ice, you both glided across the dance floor with ease, almost as though you practiced the routine for endless hours. 

As the song continued, you feel the worry in your chest begin to diminish, your confidence level slowly increasing as moments go by. The guests soon start to disappear from your peripheral view, almost as though as you and Beomgyu were the only ones in the room. Your mother was gone, your friends were gone, Sungchan was nowhere to be seen, and Jaehyuk? You couldn’t care less about where he went. 

It was just you and Beomgyu. 

As you and Beomgyu waltzed, your mind wanders back to the words that Mr. Geum had described how two people connected when they were dancing. You couldn’t help but ponder over his metaphor because here you were, dancing almost perfectly with Beomgyu, when not even minutes ago, you were stumbling roughly over, not just your own feet, but even another’s. 

If you were a musical note, you simply did not harmonize with Jaehyuk or Sungchan. And although it was a shame that you may not even get a chance to dance with the other gentlemen, dancing with Beomgyu made it evident that your notional musical note is compatible with his. 

Unbeknownst to your knowledge, Mr. Geum stands at the edge of the audience, a sense of pride growing steadily within his chest. His hands are crossed together, palm-to-palm, and brought up to his chin as he watches the two of you in endearment. 

“A perfect harmony.” Mr. Geum says this under his breath—so quiet that he believes that he is the only one who is able to hear his statement. Only, he doesn’t take notice of the queen who quietly positions herself at his side.

“Perfect Harmony?” She has a brow raised as she looks to Mr. Geum for an explanation. She says this out of curiosity, not quite understanding the meaning behind the instructor’s words. 

Mr. Geum nods and repeats himself, “A perfect harmony… that’s what they are.”

°•. ✿ .•°

hope you enjoyed this!

tags: @k-radio @whipped-kpop-creators

NOOOO OMF :( have a warm drink n lie down bae i hope they go away soon 💔

HI

HELLO THAT IMAGE WAS THE LAST THING I WAS EXPECT8NG 😭😭😭 THE BOOBS GODDAMN ⁉️🤨

HI ANGIE DARLING HRU ?!?! 😟😟

Unknown Number

Synopsis ☏ — Desperate for a math answer you text random numbers until one finally replies to you. What are the chances that it's your old online friend and a now famous idol? Well apparently not 0%.

Pairing — Niki x Desi!Reader

Genre ☏ — Online friends to strangers to ??? SMAU, Fluff, Crack, Angst (just a pinch)

Featuring ☏ — Enhypen, my moots, OCS, HYBE idols, JYPE Idols, + more!

Warnings ☏ — Kys/Kms Jokes, deez nuts jokes, I have the humour of a 13 year old boy alright, more to be added + warnings at the start of each chapter!

Taglist ☏ — Open! Send an ask please!

Status ☏ — Coming soon!

Started ☏ — ?

Finished ☏ — ?

Notes ☏ — Thank you Ela for the banner @dearhee <33. I wrote this when I was feeling goofy. Look I know the online friends part might look weird but I have a reason for that trust. Man this is just something...

Profiles

Car Engines | Emo Vampire M&Ms | Space Dust | Extras

Chapters

☏ — Pride and Dignity

☏ — Minecraft Dogs

☏ — #notabttocry

names of unreleased chapters can change!

enha taglist - @delcakoo2 @ddenoudepression @syrxiee2

desi taglist - @heephoriia

unknown number taglist -

HELPPP LILYMA SOUNDS SO GOOFY 😭😭

lily x ema 4ever for realz!!!

LMAO WRONG ACC BAE HOW DID U GET HERE 😭😭😭