The next few days were as silent as ever.
Not a single disturbance in the court.
Taehyung was as carefree as ever as he walked down the crowded streets, sometimes buying useless stuff from the side stalls just because he felt like it.
Taehyung hadn't met the crown prince for the last two days, the last time being the day the man took him to the training fields. Taehyung was not very pleased with this, but on the third day, he suddenly realized that the crown prince hadn't really forgotten about him but was actually following him around in silence.
He glanced through the small mirror he had just bought, there was a man dressed in plain clothing and a straw hat, following him closely behind like a shadow guard. There was no way on earth Taehyung would not be able to recognize that straw hat.
The corner of his lips turned upwards as he looked at the reflection of the man in the mirror. He didn't stop in his tracks nor did he show any signs of knowing that he was being followed.
Suddenly he started to run.
Yoongi was stunned at this sudden action and didn't have enough time to think before his own legs started taking action and ran after the young prince.
There was a turn on the road and Yoongi increased his speed, fearing that if he was too slow, he might lose the trail left behind by the man, but to his pleasant surprise just as he turned at the corner, he knocked into a sturdy chestâslightly muscular and the owner, slightly taller than him.
Yoongi was so shocked that he almost lost his footing and was going to end up falling on his butt, however, he was suddenly saved by the man in front of him who took hold of him by the waist.
Yoongi looked up, into the eyes of the man who had obstructed his way and saved him as well. Their faces, so close that he could almost feel the warm breath entangle together. There was no way he could not recognize this faceânot in a million years would he mistake it.
Taehyung had his lips curved upwards in a smirk as he looked into the eyes of the crown prince behind the veil and Yoongi stared back.
No one dared to move, it was still as if the world had stopped moving.
At this moment, not even the veil could hide the apparent blush on Yoongi's face and Taehyung was no differentâenjoying the situation to the fullest as his thumb lightly stroked the man's waist.
They stayed in this awkward position for more than a solid minute and they soon realized the number of eyes they had attracted. Although Taehyung didn't seem to care about the onlookers, Yoongi was still here in a disguise and this disguise shouldn't be broken at this moment and so Taehyung soon released Yoongi from his clutches, chuckling cutely as he did.
"I told you to stay at the temple, why are you following this great me all the way to this poor street?" Taehyung questioned out loudly, acting as if he were angry and yet, his eyes were filled with love.
"H-huh?" Yoongi couldn't catch up with the sudden words, his mind wasn't fast enough to decipher the situationâstill in a daze with how beautiful Taehyung's eyes looked.
Taehyung continued his small act made to trick the onlookers, "The temple is pure, deserving of your presence, why leave it and come here in the dirty mortal world?"
The onlookers stared at the young man dressed in plain clothes with a straw hat on top, no matter how simply he was dressed, his aura could not be hidden. Everyone came to the same conclusion, that this was a monk from the temple who had lost his way and wandered over here. But even if that was true, the main question remained, Who was the man scolding him??
Taehyung wanted to laugh out loud at the dumbfounded expressions he got, suddenly finding it very enjoyable so he decided to spice things up even more.
"Honey, you can't let the mortal world stain you."
"...."
If there was a bucket of popcorn in the hands of the onlookers, they would have stopped munching on it as it would've fallen down from their hands.
One of the onlookers included a woman in her forties who was quietly running the roadside shop. The woman saw the entire scene unfold in all its glory and finally decided to speak up, "Dear young masters, would you like to buy some hot dumplings from me? If you are a couple, I'll throw in some extras for you."
"...." Yoongi looked at the woman with an unreadable expression and Taehyung looked at her with an amused expression.
Tricking people into buying your stuff, making the most use of a situation, this woman was certainly smart and Taehyung liked such people who were blessed with brains that could actually work.
"Good! We'll eat and I'll accompany you back to the temple." Taehyung spoke as he dragged Yoongi by the hand and made him sit down at the chair inside the small shop, "Give us two plates of dumplings."
"Two plates coming up." The woman responded enthusiastically, mentally patting herself for speaking up. Morning business was always hard, especially when there were better dumpling shops ahead on the road.
Yoongi looked up at Taehyung, suddenly understanding the hidden meaning behind the words he had previously spoken.
By temple, what Taehyung actually meant was the royal court. So deciphering it by placing in the right keywords and context made the sentences make complete sense and Yoongi didn't know if he should cry or laugh when he finally realized this. At this time, he finally came to know that he had been found outâTaehyung had already known about Yoongi stalking him and was actually calling him out for it.
When the unspoken fact was made clear and a plate filled with dumpling was placed in front of the twoâemitting a delicious smell and steam, Yoongi's face didn't betray anything but his ears turned colors faster than a chameleon.
Taehyung looked at the flushed ears and understood that the man had finally come to his senses and seen through Taehyung's wordings. He felt delighted as if his heart was at the most comfortable yet also at the most uncomfortable position.
"Looks good." Yoongi commented as he picked up the chopsticks and joined his hands together as if having recited a small prayer of gratitude for the meal. Taehyung watched the small action and couldn't help but smile even widerâfeeling his heart getting warmer and warmer.
The two men took a bite out of the dumpling and suddenly looked up at the same time, exclaiming at the same time as they did, "Woah! Delicious!"
The woman looked at the reaction from the two and laughed, feeling proud of her shop's unique taste, "Do the young masters want another plate?"
Taehyung nodded enthusiastically as he looked up at the woman with sparkling eyes, "I'd like that very much."
"Another two plates coming up." The woman responded with a happy and satisfied tone. To sell four plates of dumplings this early morning could only be the heaven's blessing her with luck for the rest of the day.
Yoongi started eating the dumplings and found himself unable to stop, they were just that delicious. Yoongi fought against his urge to offer the woman a job as the head cook at the royal palace, cause if he did that then he'll only be giving away his identity as the crown prince. However, Yoongi still made a mental note to go back and have Hyun come here and recruit the woman.
Taehyung was also delighted to find such mouthwatering dumplings but what really made him happy was the reaction he got from Yoongi who was eating the dumplings as if he hadn't had such delicacies in the palace.
Now that Taehyung thought about it, he found out that he hadn't yet had the great luck to eat those delicacies that they served in the royal palace.
Back in his country, Taehyung also had the notorious nickname of "empty stomach" this nickname was given to him by the head cooks who cooked every delicious food they could for him but the man's stomach was never filledâalways hungry and wanting to eat more. It was truly a miracle that he hadn't gained any weight from all that binge eating but then again, he was running around to cause trouble most of the time so maybe he really needed all the energy.
The life of a troublemaker was physically exhausting...
The two altogether ate two full plates of dumplings each and left the small shop with two more plates packed for themâplanning to eat it later on.
The woman was happy to receive the extra money given by the generous young masters and enthusiastically kept on waving at them till their silhouettes completely disappeared from her sight.
"Where does your highness want to go?" Taehyung asked once they were away from the crowded streets.
"Weren't you going to accompany me to the temple?" Yoongi responded, passive-aggressively.
Taehyung tilted his head and wanted to laugh, "Is your highness holding a grudge against me?"
"I dare not." Although Yoongi had answered the question with docile wordsâhis tone while speaking was far from docile.
"Your highness is not lying to me?" Taehyung looked at the man and stepped closer to him as Yoongi faltered a step back.
"Why would I lie? I'm a monk who is untainted by such worldly affairs."
"...."
Taehyung really wanted to laugh out loud as he heard the man saying this.
Yoongi wasn't mad but he wasn't happy either, and so, he decided to do and say as he pleased, not filtering his words in the least.
Taehyung suddenly felt like he had a genius idea as he moved closer to Yoongi, so close that Yoongi was reminded of the shameless scene from before where he was in the man's arms.
Taehyung moved so close that Yoongi's eyes went wide as he got a bit too worried about the closeness, almost having improper thoughts such as the man actually leaning in to kis-
Taehyung diverted his movement and leaned closer to his ears as he spoke in a deep raspy voice, "But I want to be the one who taints you."
"..."
Yoongi panicked as his heartbeat rose at an alarming speed and his face betrayed him this timeâturning the color of red wine. Taehyung was satisfied with this reactionâhe should've been embarrassed by his own words but he was too shameless to mind that.
Yoongi desperately tried to look away in hopes of calming the heat that had rose up to his cheeks and while doing so, he heard the man in front of him laughing.
"Let's go get you tainted." Taehyung grabbed onto his wrist and dragged him along to god knows where.
Hyun, who had been secretly following them for quite some time couldn't help but cry out in worry as he felt like the two were like the one and the sameâalways doing whatever they wanted and not caring about how much distress they caused others who had to look after their backs.
When Yoongi was dragged away with the vague provocative statement, he stumbled along the way in utter confusionâhis mind going haywire with the improper thoughts.
Only when they reached a certain spot did Yoongi finally sigh in relief.
They had reached a spot where chicken fights would take place. On the side of the street, two chickens would fight each other and the people would place bets on the fight. If you bet on the winning chicken, you take home, double the amount you bet, and if you bet on the wrong oneâyou go back empty-handed. This was the local gambling place where the crown prince had never found an interest in visiting.
Gambling wasn't exactly something a crown prince should be fond of cause if he was, the treasury would have been emptied out on chickens.
_________________________________________
A/n: Hello!
Anyone else really love this chapter?
Cause I do!
\(^~^)/
I really love writing this book, it's so refreshing. I sit down to write and my hands move on their own as if the story is writing itself.
(Ngl I'm a fan of it tooð)
Next update: 14 December, 2020
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