Hyun was thoroughly shocked to see the crown prince running past him in a manner much alike a cat that had fallen in water by mistake. The crown prince was soaking wet and running to who knows where.
Hyun thought he might as well bring the hot news he was enthusiastic to discuss with the crown prince. He thought if the crown prince heard the news Hyun was here to bring, Yoongi would most certainly be in good spirits and so Hyun decided to come here early.
He really didn't expect to see such a sight. It was so early in the morning, just what was the crown prince doing here like this?
The servants and guards had only seen the hostage prince come and pester the crown prince and the next sight they got to lay their eyes upon was this. The crown prince running, dripping wet from top to bottom.
Nobody had ever seen such a sight and so it was only natural that they started making up stories amongst themselves. Most thought that the crown prince had been bullied by Taehyung and what shocked them the most was that the man was still alive even after bulling this cold-hearted prince.
Hyun was stunned at the sight as he stared at the back of the crown prince who was running away. The water had made his clothes translucent and it started sticking to his porcelain skin, hugging his body in the most natural way possible, showing off his curves and muscles.
Hyun was not affected by the sight but someone else was most certainly affected a lot as he saw this.
Hyun stood there in shock, his feet not daring to move as he felt like he was still dreaming. The moment he snapped out of it and decided to run after the crown prince, he was once again shocked by someone else. The hostage prince was also running right behind the crown prince, in the same state as him, soaking wet.
Just what in the hell had happened between the two?
Had they been playing in the hot springs together?!
Taehyung patted Hyun's shoulder when he passed by him, this was a small gesture that spoke 'I'll go after him, you don't need to worry.'
Hyun wanted to run after the two but after walking a few steps forward, he stopped. It was better to leave the two alone. The crown prince trusted this man so Hyun would also naturally place his trust in the man.
Taehyung was a mess as he ran. His clothes were wet and hugging his body in an uncomfortable manner which made it hard for him to run faster. At this moment he felt like Yoongi was certainly impressive to be able to run in these uncomfortable clothes while looking as elegant as ever.
Yoongi's back looked elegant even when running away in embarrassment, the man looked like a fairy, a saint that had come to visit the mortal realm.
Taehyung had noticed it before but now that he got to see such a scene, he couldn't help but think 'The crown prince has a really great figure.'
The palace was big with a lot of twists and turns and the crown prince was much better versed at it than Taehyung. It came as no shock that Taehyung was not able to catch up.
He ran for quite a bit but finally came to a stop, if the crown prince was this adamant about running away, he probably should just let him go for now. There would always come a second time and when that time comes, he'd just hold onto the man and not let him run away again.
Taehyung looked down and buried his head in his hand, looking as if he were crying, his shoulder started to shake and the servants who saw this changed their original assumptions.
It was probably the crown prince who bullied this young man, how could they even think this man would have the guts to bully the royal highness?
One maid who was supposed to attend to the needs of the crown prince saw Taehyung crying silently and moved towards him. She patted his back and gave him a handkerchief as she reassured, "It's okay, young master. The crown prince is not bad at heart."
Taehyung looked up to see a hand offering him a handkerchief and he stopped chuckling, "Isn't this towel too small?"
"Eh?" The woman was shocked.
Wasn't this man crying?!
He was actually laughing?!
She gulped as she looked at him with sparkling eyes. Like a football that was being passed between players, she once again changed her assumption. This young man had really bullied the crown prince! Such a courageous man, unafraid of death!
"Why don't you bring me a bigger towel and a set of new clothes?" Taehyung requested as he smiled. He did not know what went inside this female servant's mind and he was naturally not interested in correcting the misunderstandings.
Whatever misunderstanding he had caused wasn't his problem, it was the problem of the people who let their imagination go wild. Why should he mind them?
The servant stepped back and bowed her head, stuttering as she nodded enthusiastically, "I-I'll be back."
She ran away and Taehyung looked at her running silhouette.
Just what had her little mind thought up of to make her so embarrassed? Whatever it was, it was better if it wasn't voiced out loud.
Taehyung straightened his back and continued walking forward. He was unfamiliar with this place so he naturally had no set destination in mind, he was just in a very good mood as he lightly hummed an unknown melody and strutted down the hallway.
He was still soaking wet and with the season being winter, he should have felt cold yet he was feeling a bit hot even in this kind of atmosphere.
The servant who had said she'll bring him towels and clothes returned soon after. It took her a while to find the man who had disappeared from where she last left him off at.
Yoongi had run back to his room and ordered the servant to get him clothes and warm towels. He was in the same state as Taehyung. Even in such a cold season, where snow would decide to fall at any moment, he was feeling hot as his cheeks were bright red with all the blood rushing up to them.
Yoongi got dressed and took a solid half an hour to calm himself down. He told himself that nothing had happened or at least nobody else knew what had happened so he could just play it off and act like his usual self.
It was kinda pathetic considering the fact that half an hour was enough time for the news to spread throughout the entire palace.
By the time, Yoongi finally came out of his room, everyone in the palace knew that their crown prince was seen running away from the hostage prince, both dripping cold water, but although everyone knew it, they would not say anything out of fear.
"Your highness." Hyun bowed in respect as he greeted the crown prince who had changed his entire attire, once again, looking like his usual cold and aloof self. It was like the man he had seen earlier today wasn't this crown prince but an imposter or his own imagination.
"Anything to report?" Yoongi asked coldly, it wasn't intentional, it just came out coldly because of the crown prince's absent-mindedness.
Hyun was well acquainted with it so he didn't take it to heart. He had known this crown prince for years so of course, he knew Yoongi's tendency to sometimes come off as a bit too harsh.
"The old gambler opened his mouth."
"..."
Hyun was enthusiastic when he gave the response, he was sure the crown prince would react to the news. They had been after this for weeks so of course, the crown prince would be ecstatic to hear the news but Hyun was shocked to see no such expected response.
"Did your highness hear me?" Hyun asked with an awkward smile thinking that he was probably ignored by the crown prince who did not hear what he had said.
"I heard you," Yoongi responded which furthermore shocked Hyun who was sure that the crown prince would react a bit more strongly to the news.
Just what was going on with the crown prince? What was he thinking?
"What did he say?" Yoongi asked, his face covered behind the veil and his voice, cold and strict. He really seemed not to be fazed by the news.
"He didn't give a name but he gave an address." Hyun replied as he looked at the files that he was clutching onto, "I went to check it out and it seems he wasn't lying."
"What address?"
"It's a house address of a low-ranked official in the court but..."
"But?"
"The official committed suicide a few weeks back."
Yoongi looked up at Hyun, his expressions, indecipherable.
Hyun continued, "We checked the late official's house and found stacks of gold."
As Yoongi heard this, he stood up abruptly and stopped Hyun from speaking any further, "He is not the suspect."
Hyun nodded, "He is not. We checked the background of the official and it seems like someone is framing him."
Yoongi had guessed this much.
"But whoever it was had left behind evidence."
Yoongi seemed to be interested as he heard this, "Evidence?"
Hyun took a pouch out of his pocket and gave it to Yoongi, "I'm guessing that this belongs to the perpetrator."
Yoongi took the small pouch and looked at the contents inside it.
His grip around the pouch tightened and he reacted a bit too fiercely. Hyun could not see the expressions of the crown prince, but from his actions alone, it was clear that Yoongi was angered.
Evidence was never supposed to be kept with the prince, it was supposed to be returned, but this time, Yoongi decided to make an exception as he declared, "I'll be keeping this."
Yoongi kept the sachet with him and walked away, leaving Hyun behind.
Hyun who had known the crown prince since they were kids thought he could read the man, but this time, he really could not comprehend why he got such a reaction.
When he thought he'd be giving the news to the crown prince, he expected the crown prince to be eager to listen and happy to see the evidence but all of his guesses had been wrong.
The crown prince was unfazed by the news and angered by the evidence.
How could it be so?
Yoongi walked a few steps forward and stopped, he did not turn around, but spoke, "Today evening, I'll be visiting the Hwang manor for tea."
Hyun nodded and the crown prince went away without any further words wasted.
His feelings were all over the place, he really felt like chopping down a few heads.
Hyun couldn't understand what this man was thinking.
The old official Hwang had been inviting this crown prince for weeks and was always rejected, but now it was Yoongi who personally sought him out?
It was still early and the whole day was ahead of him yet Yoongi felt extremely tired. He went back to his room once again in order to rest and calm himself down.
Once he was alone in his room, he sat down on his bed with one hand on the hilt of the sword tied to his waist, his thumb stroking it slightly. He opened the sachet containing the evidence and took out the item that caused him so much anger, so early in the morning.
Yoongi glared at the item in his hand, with the other hand still on the hilt of the sword and his mind in turmoil.
He really couldn't sum up his feelings in one word.
Just why the hell did this have to be the evidence left behind? He refused to believe that the perpetrator was the owner of this hairpin.
The hairpin in his hand glistened as the light hit it. A beautiful yet simple and elegant design, a flower with drops of beads hanging from the ends of the petal.
This was the hairpin that Yoongi had personally bought for Taehyung from a local vendor for a really foolish price.
Yoongi refused to believe that it was the same hairpin. There were probably a lot of other replications of this pin, it probably just looked the same, or at least he hoped it to be the case.
He really didn't want to believe that Taehyung was even remotely related to all this mess. It didn't make any sense for him to be.
________________________________________
A/n: hmmm
Is Taehyung being framed or does the hairpin just happen to look the same? ð¤
This will be the last update of this year.
2020 is finally ending and I hope next year is better (I mean it would definitely be better considering the fact that 2020 was a complete disaster) (I hope I don't jinx itð¤)
(Looking on the bright side, I'm sure there would be a movie about this year and we will all be able to proudly say "yeah, I was one of the real characters")
Since it's a new year, I will be posting a chapter on the 1st of Jan, 2021.
Welcoming the new year with an update ð
(A small spoiler from chapter 15: Someone is gonna be sick and cute)
Chapter 15: 1 Jan, 2021
Chapter 16: 4 Jan, 2021
Like always,
Thank you for reading ðð
Take care of your health, drink plenty of water and remember that this author loves you ðð