The area was lively as if it were a festival and the people who were surrounding the chickens were loudly cheering. Their voices weren't in any manner kind at all, it almost sounded like they were angry at the chickens.
When Yoongi looked at the chickens, he felt bad for themâhe almost believed that the reason the chickens were so aggressive was because they were scared out of their feathers when they heard the people screaming at them.
Taehyung held onto Yoongi's hand and made him join the crowd of crazy chicken gamblers.
"How many gold coins does this monk have?" Taehyung whispered in Yoongi's ears, his warm breath sending an odd sensation down Yoongi's body.
"..." Yoongi remained silent and it wasn't like Taehyung had expected a reply from the crown prince.
In Taehyung's head, he already knew that the man had probably brought enough gold coins to bless a household for three generations. Hence, he need not worry about falling short of money.
Taehyung had never placed bets on chicken fights because he always felt that it was a waste of his money but he had always wanted to place a bet at such a lively gambling spot.
Now that he had brought with him a man with deep pockets, how could he not make his wish come true?
Taehyung squeezed his way to the front of the crowd, dragging behind him a struggling and uncomfortable crown prince who was trying his hardest to grip onto his straw hat so that it does not fall off from his head.
"Ten gold coins on the black one!" Taehyung exclaimed and suddenly the crowd went silent.
Everyone looked at the well dressed elite they had never seen before, some eyes even peeked at the monk who stood beside him.
One look and they were sure that these two odd people didn't belong at such a place, but who could stop them from placing bets?
Throwing ten gold coins at a chicken fight? These two people could only be considered as crazy elites who were looking for a garbage bin where they could discard their money just because it didn't fit into their pockets.
The highest betting gambler, who proudly had 1 silver coin in the pot, looked at the two and his facial expressions could not be deciphered.
The one in-charge of the eventâthe man who looked after the betting accounts also stared at Taehyung with an unreadable expression.
"Ten gold coins? Are you sure young lad?" The man asked, making sure that he hadn't heard wrong.
Taehyung nodded and stretched out his hand.
The man looked at his empty palm and then back at Taehyung's face.
The crowd had only one thought: 'was this man joking around?'
But before anyone could laugh and call him a mad man, the palm which was empty was suddenly filled with a sachet that contained ten gold coins or maybe even more.
What was even more shocking was the fact that this sachet was placed there by the poor monk who had come together with the man.
"..."
The man-in-charge looked at the sachet and collected it. He checked the insides and calculated the gold coinsâeven checking if they were real or not. The man was almost sure that these were fake coins but no matter how much he checked, the conclusion was always the same; this was indeed hundred percent real.
The man looked back at Taehyung and thought: this man is crazy! It is better not to deal with lunatics like this.
Taehyung was not bothered by the reactions he got and on the contrary he was quite satisfied with it.
The feeling of gambling away ten gold coins was certainly something exciting especially if the owner of those gold coins wasn't you.
Yoongi was unaffected by the stares and by the fact that his money was being gambled away. He was a crown prince so for him, it was just not worth reacting over.
The man returned the sachet with a heavy heart, "I'm sorry young lad, but I can't let you bet."
Taehyung's face dropped a few colors, "Huh? Why not?"
"We won't have enough money to return to you in case you win. The pot right now, if calculated, would hardly make up one gold coin."
Taehyung couldn't understand it. He had often watched such gambling shows but it was his first time participating in one hence he was unaware of the way this whole process worked.
The man, as if having sensed the confusion in Taehyung's mind was more than happy to patiently explain himself, "The pot is where the participants place their money. Whoever wins the gamble wins the total pot and if there are multiple winners the pot is divided among them."
Taehyung could still not comprehend the reason why the man was not letting him join the gamble so he tilted his head and asked, "So what? I want to join. Put my money inside the pot."
The man sighed, "Young lad, you have brought ten gold coins and the existing pot hardly has enough to make up one gold coin. If you win the pot, the money will still be divided among all the other participants. If there are ten people who placed a bet on the winning chicken, the eleven gold coins will be divided among all ten people. You can never recover the amount of money you bet."
If there were ten winners, the pot money will be divided among them hence no matter if he won or lost, Taehyung would just be stupidly squandering away his money for no reason at all.
The man thought that the youngster in front of him has understood him and was going to leave soon, but instead of leaving, Taehyung remained standing there with his hand outstretched, giving the man the small sachet that contained ten gold coins.
"I still want to bet." Taehyung was stubborn.
This had been his wish and he wanted to see it fulfilled even if he was being stupid and throwing away money.
In any case, it wasn't like the money was his to begin with.
The true owner of the ten gold coins was unphased by the happenings.
Although Yoongi was a crown prince, he was still aware about the prices in his country and knew that the amount Taehyung was betting away was, in no case, small.
Ten gold coins could last a household for three generations.
Yoongi still went along with it because it was Taehyung who was throwing away his money. This could be considered as Yoongi's weakness-a weakness he wasn't aware of and would never admit.
Yoongi would explain himself by saying something along the lines of "I'm helping the people. They will earn money and wouldn't need to return to such a place."
It was his wishful thinking. The gamblers who would bet on chicken fights were usually very poor and were here to look for a way they could earn themselves a meal or maybe buy back the house that they lost to debts, at least that was how it started.
The people came here because of certain conditions that forced them to take such measures but once they came here, they would get addicted and sell of the family they were trying to feed.
It was a cruel truth that was known by all.
Even if the gamblers won today's pot money, they would still not be satisfied and instead they would be even more encouraged to place bets. It was a horrible cycle that never seemed to stop.
The man took the money with a sigh, his face didn't say much but on the inside he was both dancing and cursing the young man as a fool.
The bet was placed on the black chicken and the fight began shortly after.
The yelling atmosphere, Yoongi had first seen had somehow subsided as the high bet was placed. This was only natural considering the fact that it wasn't all fun and games anymore. A chicken was soon going to decide their future now, if they won, they would be able to live on lavishly without ever having to work hard and if they lost-they probably had the worst luck ever.
The atmosphere was silent as the people looked at the fight with worried expressions. The only voice that could loudly be heard belonged to Taehyung who would cheer on the chicken to fight.
He was enjoying himself thoroughly.
A few minutes passed and the black chicken lost.
Yoongi had already bid goodbye to those ten gold coins the moment he handed them over to Taehyung so he wasn't too sad about it.
Taehyung sighed, dejectedly, as if wanting to show his grievance, but his face looked rather too happy, "Oh well... Maybe the heavens don't find me handsome enough today."
The happiness the participants who placed a bet on the other chicken could not be hidden, they shouted out their hurrays and celebrated their winnings, they were now rich.
The man calculated the money and divided it among the participants who had won, however before the money could be handed over, Taehyung intervened.
"Uncle, I think there is something wrong."
The man looked at Taehyung and mentally wanted to cry, thinking that maybe this young master was like those people who were not able to handle a loss.
"What is wrong?" The man asked politely, hiding his true feelings behind a smile.
"The money doesn't add up"
"What do you mean?"
Taehyung looked at the gold coins the man was getting ready to give to a certain someone.
"You said the total pot money before my bet could be considered hardly worth a single gold coin. I put in ten so that means the total pot money should be increased to eleven gold coins."
The man's face twisted as he understood what the young man was trying to point out.
"There are 6 winners hence each person should get one gold coin and eight silver coins and that's the minimum amount."
"Young lad, what are you trying to say? Don't try to push around the bush."
Taehyung grinned, "You are only giving them six silver and eighty-seven copper coins, where is the rest?"
When the man saw the grin on Taehyung's face he had already guessed that this conversation was not going to go anywhere pretty.
"Fifty percent of winnings of all players go to the organizer. Everyone knows this." The man defended.
Taehyung nodded his head, "understandable."
The man thought that Taehyung won't dig around anymore and so he tried to pay the winners once again but how could Taehyung let it go this easy?
"But who is the organizer?"
"Who else could it be but me?" The man asked, trying his best to calm his anger down and not let it reflect through his voice.
Taehyung was amused at the answer, "That's a lie."
Yoongi who had silently observed the situation like an outsider finally stepped forward and squinted at the man. The crown prince had also discovered something amusing.
Taehyung, "When you divided the money, you divided it into eight parts instead of six and the seventh portion of the pot money went inside your pocket. The rest six are for the winners but who is the lucky person who gets the eighth portion?"
The man wanted to curse at Taehyung, he had already known that such young master's should never be involved in gambling eventsâthey would always bring in trouble. This had also been one of the main reasons why the man had originally not let Taehyung place a bet, but when he saw the glistening gold coins, his greed got the best of him.
"The eighth portion is also mine. I'm just keeping it separate because I have other uses of it."
The answer was an apparent lie and anyone could see through it.
"Old Lao, didn't you say that the last portion went into taxes?" A man who was a participant from the winning side questioned.
"Hahaha... Yes! You are right, it is for taxes." The man awkwardly laughed, praying in his mind that the two uninvited men leave him be.
But how could his prayer be heard?
Taehyung smiled even wider as his eyes glistened with mischief.
Yoongi, "Taxes?"
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A/n: Thank you for reading. ðð
It took a bit of time to publish this chapter because I was outside but it's finally here~
You guys thought I would randomly put in a chicken fight? ð
Muahahahaha
Everything happens for a reason (this is the biggest hint that I can give out)
And the correct term for chicken fight is cockfight but Taehyung wanted me to call it chicken so before anyone can say anything, I'm just informing that it was intentional (I do know the difference between a chicken and a hen/cock)
Next chapter: 21 December, 2020
\(^~^)/
Drink lots of water, eat healthy, excercise and be happy.
Have a nice dayðð