As the princess awoke, the glint of the sun breaking through a window caused her to squint. It took her a moment to sit up and take in her surroundings. They were completely unfamiliar, but held the cozy feeling of home. Jimin and the other's had planned once they'd escaped the castle, that they needed somewhere safe to hide. And Hoseok had suggested that his childhood home which was on the outskirts of the nearby village would be suitable. His parents had traveled to a neighboring kingdom, and for the time being it was unoccupied.
Jimin was the first to notice Miyu sitting up and squinting around the room, seeing as he was the one that'd been kneeling on the tatami mat beside her ever since they'd arrived. He wasn't sure at which point in their escape that she'd become unconscious. However, it wasn't until they piled into the back of their getaway cart that he noticed. "Miyu, I was so worried," Jimin didn't even bother asking how she was feeling and instantly wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
"Jiminie," Miyu mumbled his name and the urge to cry at that comforting familiar smell of him came over her but, as her vision focused she realized they weren't alone. Jungkook was sitting on the edge of the veranda just past the wide open sliding doors. He'd turned around at the sound of Jimin saying her name, and it was the first time he'd smiled since she'd left.
Jimin pulled away and held her out at arm's length again, and her gaze met his. But again, her mind wouldn't let her feel the happiness she should at seeing him. "Is she finally awake?" Jin's voice sounded from a nearby room, and then their attention was drawn as his head poked in the doorway. "See, I told you she'd be fine. She just needed a little rest and something delicious to eat." Jin said. For some reason, it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else.
"Where are we?" Miyu mumbled, still trying to get a grip on her bearings. The last thing she remembered was being in the castle, being pulled aside and then seeing Jimin.
"The princess is awake?!" Hoseok burst into the room and Jin smacked him with the spatula he'd been holding. "Yes, she's awake. But she still looks quite dazed, so stop making such a fuss or you'll just stress her out."
"Oh, sorry.." Hoseok mumbled before kneeling down beside Jimin and giving her a tiny reassuring smile.
"We're at Hobi's house, so you don't have to worry. They won't be able to find us here." Jimin told her, but this did little to deter her unease. "It's safe here, and you can rest." Hoseok added, and the princess forced herself to give him a small smile. She didn't know him, although he looked familiar, but he was kind enough to let them come here.
"Thankyou Hobi.." The princess said. And before anyone could say anything else, Jin's voice rang out Jungkook's name, calling him to help serve breakfast. Hoseok moved over to clear the low table in which they would eat, but Jimin didn't move. He still held Miyu's shoulders lightly in his hands, and just having her there, right in front of him, was overwhelming him to where he feared that if he let her go, she may just vanish.
Miyu, noticing how vulnerable Jimin looked, carefully took his hands in hers and clasped them in her own. "It's okay, Jimin. I'm okay." She tried her best to reassure him, but as the thought of Taehyung rose to the surface of her mind, she couldn't hold it in anymore. "There are things I need to tell you urgently," she went on, but as Jungkook and Jin came busting through the door, it pulled both their attentions. "Can it wait until after we eat, at least?" Jimin asked, and as she saw everyone else sitting around the table waiting for the two of them to join, she gave in.
She silently sat as everyone around her plated up servings, but it was like her mind had stepped on the accelerator and revelation after revelation hit her. Jin, Jungkook, and Hoseok could only see her sitting there quietly. As worried as Jimin was, he was also oblivious to how loud the bombs were setting off in her mind. Taehyung.
Taehyung had risked it all. For her. Because he loved her. And he'd been willing to make himself the villain, all to stop her from being killed. Deeper and deeper this truth sank, until she just couldn't take it anymore.
"I need to go back. I need to go back to Taehyung." The spoonful of rice Jungkook had scooped up splattered on the table as everyone looked up at her in utter disbelief. "Miyu, what?" Jimin looked like a ghost and his voice barely came out. "You don't understand, Jimin, he risked it all for me. For us. I-" Miyu choked back a sob as she desperately tried to not fall apart. "I don't have time to explain. Please, I need to go back, Jimin."
"No, I'm not letting you go back to him, I can't-" Jimin shook his head, unable to believe what he was hearing come from her mouth. "Taehyung tried to kill you."
"No, no Jimin. He saved me." The pain of speaking those words hurt so badly that it was almost unbearable. Jungkook noticed she was having trouble breathing as she sucked in sharp breaths between sobs. He darted from his place across the table and to her side to try to help her calm down.
It paralyzed Jimin in place, unable to move. Nothing had prepared him for this. Not in his wildest imagination had he thought after everything he'd done to her she'd willingly go back to him. It was incomprehensible to him, and there was no way he could just take her back, right?
"No.." The words left Jimin, but as he watched Miyu on the verge of breaking, he had to consider it. She was in so much pain. He'd never, ever seen her like this. He just wanted it to stop. "Princess, I'll take you back, please just-"
"What?" Jin shot, still glancing back and forth between the two at the alarming scene unfolding before them. "Hyung," Jungkook shot back at him warningly, trying to get him not to argue and make the situation worse as he tried to soothe her. Miyu's breathing had slowed slightly, but the urgency within her had not.
"Can we really just take her back?" Hoseok whispered, as though not wanting to make anything worse by speaking too loudly. Jin shook his head, and Jimin sucked in a sharp breath to get it together. After a moment, Jungkook could calm the princess down enough for her to explain the situation.
The four men sat intently, listening to her until she'd finished. Miyu told them everything. How Taehyung had planned to marry her, that she had a half brother named Namjoon. Her visit to the seer and the wisdom he'd parted with her regarding Taehyung's mother, every single detail until the last thing Namjoon had confessed about her father's plans to murder her once she and Taehyung were to be wed.
The room was silent, and it stayed that way as Jin, Jungkook, Hoseok and Jimin tried to come to terms with what they'd been told. The princess lay her head down on the table and closed her eyes. She was tired, so tired. Everything was so twisted and she didn't know what to do.
"So, you're saying.. Tae killed your father, to stop him from killing you?" Jimin finally broke the silence, and Miyu raised her head and looked at him. "We need to go back, Jimin."
"Alright." Jimin said. Everyone looked at him and he gave a strained sigh. "I need to know for myself if any of this is true. We're going back."
"We're coming with you." Jungkook quickly declared. "I still have my doubts but it's better that we go with you in case the worst happens."
"Jungkookie, it's dangerous.." Jin muttered. "I'm coming too Jiminie, there's no way I'm letting you go back there alone." Hobi pat Jimin on the shoulder and gave it a sturdy shake. Jimin feigned a small smile. This situation had become so much more complicated than he'd ever imagined, but Miyu was right. They could not run away from this. This was something they needed to confront Taehyung about, and to learn the truth behind his betrayal. After all, no matter how many fights they'd had during their childhood, in the end, they always stuck it out and sorted out their differences. Jimin knew the caliber of this fight was well off the scales, but he couldn't leave this unfinished.
"I don't want to stay here by myself so I'm coming too. Besides, I'm not letting Jungkookie go with you guys alone." Jin gave a defeated sigh. "I also heard that the tarts in the castle are the best in the lands.." Jin added thoughtfully.
So, seeing as they had come to a unanimous agreeance to return to the castle, they finished their meal and then prepared to leave for their journey. Jungkook and Hoseok prepared the horses that belonged to Hoseok's family, and Jin and Jimin formulated some sort of plan. Neither of them were fool enough to think it would be that easy, that they'd just show up and that everything would work out somehow. So, whilst they did that, they tasked Miyu with packing a few supplies and organizing the bags. Each second that passed, she couldn't help but to feel guilt bearing down on her. Did Taehyung already know that she wasn't there? What had his reaction been when he'd realized she was missing? Surely it would've hurt him? Or would he be mad? It was just as he said that night as they sat together in the teahouse.
'Do you have even the slightest idea of the living hell I went through for the past ten years?'
Taehyung's question back then seared in her mind, and she now understood its meaning. But as though unlocking the floodgates, more of his words washed through her heart. When she'd run away from him, and he'd caught up to her.. When he'd stared straight into her eyes.
'That's not fair. You don't get to run away when things get tough. You don't get to run away from my love when it gets too hard. I never had that choice, and neither do you..'
Miyu wiped the stray tear that ran down her cheek, because that's what she had done. As soon as Jimin had shown up, she'd run away. She'd left Taehyung there after all his selfless sacrifices for her. She'd called him a monster that night, but... who was truly the monster here..
Once the preparations had been made, and they were ready to depart, they gathered outside and mounted their horses. Jimin helped Miyu mount on their horse and once she was on, he climbed on behind her. She felt his warmth as he took the reins in his hands and the feeling of his breath on her ear made her shiver. "This is it, princess," and he almost sounded sad. With a single snap of the reins, Jimin and Miyu's horse whinnied and charged forward, and the sound of the horses' hooves thumping against the ground only charged them with determination.
As they galloped through the countryside, Miyu took in the sights of the mountains and the fresh air. It helped her to steady her troubled mind, but as they finally slowed their pace and reached the village just outside the castle, the daunting task of confronting Taehyung became all too real.
To her surprise, there was a commotion in the streets, and it looked like the commoners were celebrating something. Jungkook shot Jimin a questioning look, but Jin was the one that had overheard a few of them conversing. Apparently Taehyung hadn't made an announcement calling off the royal wedding, and people were out in the streets celebrating the special occasion. The five of them tried to avoid being noticed by the crowds, but to no avail. Just as they made their way down the main street leading to the castle gates, those in the crowd instantly recognized the princess.
"Look, there she is! It's the princess!" She heard shouts and cheers, and heads instantly turned and moved out of the way, making a clear path for them ahead. "Who's that man with her!? Oh my, he's so handsome." More comments could be heard, and Jimin had to try to ignore the attention he was getting so as not to blush. "That's the princess' personal guard. I've seen him before."
Eventually they'd made it to the gates, and as they approached and halted before the tall iron gate, a guard from atop called down to them. "State your name and business." But as the guard realized the princess was in the odd party's company, he stiffened in shock at her abrupt appearance.
"We wish to speak with Taehyung. It's Jimin from the royal guard." Was all Jimin said, and after a moment the man called for them to open the gates and grant them entrance.
Miyu inhaled deeply as the horse carried them forward. She watched as the guards that had been stationed inside the walls fell into step beside them, escorting them forward. She felt uneasy knowing they could turn their swords on them at any moment. All it would take would be for Taehyung to give the order and a fight could break out just like that, but she hoped, even prayed, that it wouldn't come to that.
As they finally passed the innermost gate and the steps of the castle, the princess saw Taehyung already standing there, as though awaiting their arrival. Once they got close enough, Jimin helped Miyu dismount from their horse. Jin, Hoseok and Jungkook didn't move though, as they were still quite weary of the guards that had blocked them in.
"Taehyung." Miyu called out to him, and she watched as he slowly descended the stairs and came closer. She felt Jimin tense from beside her, but all she could see was the hurt in Taehyung's eyes. All those years she'd been unable to decipher those stoic glares, but this time, she saw right past it.
"So, you're all here to defeat me and take back the castle, I assume?" Taehyung spoke in a harsh tone, and the princess felt the tension rising from behind her. But she didn't feel any fear anymore. All the hate and content she's carried around with her seemed to disappear. And as she took a step closer, Taehyung's gaze darted to her and his expression hardened. "Princess! What-" Jungkook called out to her but stopped. They were all left stunned as they watched the princess wordlessly embrace Taehyung. And even he was shocked by her actions, but as he felt her warmth encase his heart, he faltered. He'd come out here, prepared to face Jimin and the princess and their band of accomplices, and was ready to throw it all away, no matter how much it hurt him to do so. But this had blindsided him entirely.
"Taehyung please, can we just talk.. Me, you and Jimin.. I don't want to fight anymore.. I just want it to go back to how it was, I want my best friend back.." Taehyung looked down at the princess as she smiled, her eyes glassy from the tears welling.
Then, Taehyung felt her grip on him weaken, and just as he saw her eyes flutter closed, he caught her in his arms. Panic arose, and he looked around frantically for help. He didn't know what'd happened, why she'd suddenly fainted, in the moment his heart had near stopped beating. But Jin immediately dismounted and ran over to her side without a second thought.
"What happened? What's wrong with her?" Taehyung's voice quivered. Jin lifted her sleeve to feel for a pulse, and once he was sure he could feel it faintly beating, he let out a relieved sigh. "She'll be alright.. She's been under an immense amount of pressure over the past month.. When it's too much to bear, and the body can't handle it anymore.." Jin hesitated. But Taehyung needed to know. "When the body can't handle it anymore, then?"
"It could kill her."
Time stood still, and Taehyung's vision blurred. Through it he could see Jimin slowly approaching, and as Jimin rested his arm around him and Miyu, a strange calm came over him.
"C'mon Tae, we need to get her inside. Once she's awake, let's talk this out. I know this is probably one of the worst fights we've ever had but, you know as well as I do that the three of us.." Jimin choked up but forced a smile. "Okay Jiminie," Tae gave a pained nod and the two of them turned around. Jiminie walked beside Tae, arm still wrapped around him as Tae carried Miyu in his arms, and it oddly reminded him of just like when they were kids. Of times they'd gotten too carried away, they'd fight, and make up. There'd been misunderstandings, but despite it all, it always ended the same way. The three of them were best friends, and that was something that would never change.
Notes:
Yay, okay, a short epilogue coming and then we dones with this piece :)
Really hope you enjoyed this odd different story I randomly wrote <3