The frost that embraces the petals of the cherry blossom have started to melt away just like my heart that has learned how to love you.
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It had only been two days since Taehyung was in jail and Yoongi was already dying with worry. He hadn't slept a wink and his mind was so preoccupied with thoughts of the man that he was clumsy even at work.
Hyun tried his best to reassure Yoongi by saying words such as, "He won't be harmed at all. We'll make sure that the young prince is comfortable there."
Every time Hyun would say such a thing, Yoongi would simply nod and agree even though he refused to believe such words cause there was no way life in jail could be comfortable! It was jail!
In reality, Hyun wasn't lying when he said Taehyung was receiving special treatment in jail. Even, Taehyung himself felt as if everything was a joke and almost wanted to teach these people how a prisoner should be treated.
They would bring him food that was so delicious that even before it appeared in front of him, he could still smell it's mouthwatering scent. There was no shortage of water and the two guards who were stationed in front of his jail cell would politely ask him if he needed something.
The other prisoners couldn't help but be shocked as they saw this man receiving such special treatment. Some were amazed and some were spiteful about it. Since this was a prison, wasn't everyone supposed to be treated the same?! This was unjust discrimination!
One of the prisoners asked Taehyung what he had done to be thrown in jail and when Taehyung narrated the whole incident, the prisoner who had asked the question choked. He couldn't believe it and almost thought this man was joking but when he looked at the guards and got a strong response, he was even more shocked as he asked, "How come your head is still attached to your body?"
"Eh? Maybe cause I have thick skin? It's hard to cut my neck hehehe..." Taehyung chuckled as he responded.
The man only shook his head as he decided that it was better not to interact with such a fearless person.
Being fearless was good but sometimes, a bit of fear was needed in order to keep yourself alive.
Taehyung didn't think about it any further and continued eating the delicious dumplings that had been ordered especially for him. These dumplings were from the shop that he and Yoongi had visited previously so it need not be said how much he loved these dumplings.
.
.
.
Hanyu looked at the shadow guards that were kneeling before him as he gritted out, "You were sent here to look after him! Just what the hell have you been doing?!"
The shadow guards didn't move an inch as they kept their head down low and simply listened to Hanyu shouting and scolding them.
"You had one job! How dare you show your head before me?! Is my one brother too much for you to handle?! There are more than ten of you here!" Hanyu glanced around and his eyes fell on a man that was shaking from fear as he kneeled down before him and tried to make his existence as small as possible in order to not be noticed, "Shao Lan!"
"Yes, your highness!" Shao Lan immediately hit his head on the ground as he responded loudly.
"How old are you?!"
"33 this year, your highness!"
"..." Hanyu glared at the man, "And you still can't control my brother?! How come you're so useless?! My mother must have wasted a lot of money on you, hasn't she? Do you want to go back to being a slave?!"
Shao Lan shook his head and hit it on the ground again. His forehead now started turning red and he was quivering as soon as he heard Hanyu raise his voice.
"Answer me!"
"A-absolutely not, your highness. I'd rather die."
"Die? If you're so eager to die, why don't I help you?"
"..."
"Tell me why you failed to do your job! Why is my brother in jail?"
Shao Lan suddenly wondered how blind this man was. His love for his brother had blinded him into thinking that his brother was an innocent toddler that would never make trouble if people were there to guide him.
He was so goddamn wrong!
His brother was a devil born with an angel's face! He was evil and would never listen to anyone no matter how much a person yelled or pleaded.
If Shao Lan had such a brother, he would've sent him to a strict teacher and got him fixed up instead of blaming others for not looking after him.
It wasn't like any of this was Shao Lan's mistake nor was it neglect on behalf of the shadow guards.
Even if they wanted to stop Taehyung, how could they?
"Well... A-as you've heard, there are a lot of reasons why he's in-"
"I don't want to hear that bullshit again!" Hanyu cut him off, "Tell me the real reason!"
At this moment Shao Lan stood up and bowed in a ninety-degree manner as he apologized beforehand for what he was about to say next.
"I believe this was all that dictator's plan."
"Plan?"
Shao Lan nodded his head as he spoke, "It was certainly planned!"
"What plan?"
"Young master has been his target since day one. He might be using this method to trap young master and..."
"And?"
Shao Lan gulped as he continued, "And to force him."
"Force him?" Hanyu seemed to be confused with the meaning behind the words.
"Force him to... You know... That sort of stuff." Shao Lan responded carefully.
Hanyu gritted his teeth, "Stop talking nonsense!"
Shao Lan unconsciously took a step back as he heard the anger laced along with the man's words.
"That man is not that low. Even if he tried to force Tae, my brother wouldn't stand for it!"
Shao Lan wondered if he should correct Hanyu's misunderstandings.
His brother won't stand for it?
Just how misinformed was he?
His brother would definitely promote it even more!
Hanyu turned around as he spoke, "You people are useless!"
Shao Lan accepted the curses that were aimed at him without bothering to deny it even though he was sure that none of this was his fault.
"I'll wait. I'll wait for him to get out of jail and when he does," he side glared at the people as he continued, "Your punishment would be decided."
Shao Lan nodded but said nothing.
He almost felt that it was reckless of the queen to leave the country in the hands of this man who couldn't even understand his own brother well enough.
Does he really believe that Taehyung would be freed that easily? Even if he were freed, would he willingly go along with Hanyu? The answer was clearly a big NO.
There was no way Shao Lan could see something like that happening in the future.
Hanyu had just arrived here so his knowledge may be a bit lacking but Shao Lan was different.
He could see the bigger picture clearly.
There was no way Taehyung would be arrested for jumping the palace walls and breaking into Yoongi's room. The reason why he was arrested was certainly different from any of that.
Shao Lan knew this was all Yoongi's plan and maybe Taehyung was also in on it. Even if it was revealed that Taehyung was the one who planned this, Shao Lan wouldn't be too shocked.
.
.
.
In the end of the day, Yoongi couldn't handle it and eventually went to the prison to take a look at Taehyung who was said to be living comfortably here.
He didn't show himself to the man who was happily folding leaves to make something. The crown prince hid behind the corner and peaked at Taehyung who really seemed to have gotten comfortable in this cold prison.
Yoongi wanted to go and show himself to the man but he was afraid of being cursed at. No matter how much Taehyung was enjoying his life here, this was still a prison and he was surely going to be mad at Yoongi for throwing him in this prison for something so 'trivial' such as breaking into the crown prince's personal bed quarters.
Yoongi let out a sigh and walked away without another word. He had no idea what he was gonna tell Taehyung.
He couldn't simply come out and say "Yeah! So I put you in jail because I was afraid you'll leave me and go back with your brother."
Yoongi would rather die than face such humiliation of coming out and talking about his obsession.
After walking for a few minutes, Yoongi was already away from the prison. He let out a sigh and looked ahead at the cherry blossom tree that had been planted here by his mother.
He had never known why his mother was so obsessed with cherry blossoms. She loved planting these trees everywhere and when Yoongi had asked her why, she smiled and told him that he'll come to understand its beauty when he grows up and falls in love.
He had grown up and... It seems that he had also fallen in love so why couldn't he understand her obsession with its beauty?
He stood under the cherry blossom tree and looked at the moon that decorated the sky. Yoongi was sure that the prison had a window and if Taehyung was looking outside the window, they were probably looking at the same moon at this moment, weren't they?
Unconsciously, his lips curled upwards as he thought about this. It wasn't much but he was still happy to know that they were looking at the same moon.
He felt something cold fall on his cheek and when he removed the veil and touched his face, he realized that it was the frost that had melted off from the cherry blossoms and was now falling down like the lightest drizzle.
He looked up at the tree and realized that the seasons were changing once again. Summer was coming. Taehyung had been here for so long and yet Yoongi still felt as if he hadn't spent enough time with the man.
When he had first met Taehyung, he was a mere child that would run after every butterfly that passed in front of his eyes. He was attracted to beauty and it wasn't limited to material beauty so naturally, when he first laid his eyes on the little boy who was a few years younger than him, he couldn't look away no matter what.
He was attracted.
Just like the beautiful butterflies he chased, he wanted to chase after this little boy who seemed to put the beauty of butterflies to shame.
He remembered how they were both standing in front of a young cherry blossom tree. He remembered how reluctant Taehyung seemed as he clutched onto a man's robe and hide behind the man, looking a bit scared even though he peeked at Yoongi with curious eyes.
There was a gush of wind and it wasn't the cherry blossoms that fell down softly. It was the water droplets that still hung up in the petals of the cherry blossoms that had showered down and Yoongi who was standing directly below it was the one who took the most of the fake shower impact.
Little Taehyung who looked at the boy in front getting showered on in broad daylight when the sun was so high couldn't help but break out laughing and his initial fear and cautiousness was thrown away as he decided to help the super embarrassed child.
"Are you okay?" He asked as he stretched his hand forward and the moment Yoongi grabbed onto that hand, he had already made up his mind to never let go of that hand.
He was never going to let go.
He was gonna hold onto this beautiful butterfly that had put him in a trance.
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A/n: Sorry for the delayðââï¸
I had a few assignments to submit so it took me a bit of time to edit this chapter.
(I'm literally dying from all the workð)
So finally we got a glimpse of their first meeting as kids owo
Ahdjdjjsijeisj
I'm screaming!! They are so freaking cuteee~
Next update: 8 March, 2021 â¨
And
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I have an avatar now!
Cherry ð â°(â¸â¸â¸'ê³'â¸â¸â¸)â¯
In Korean, 'R' and 'L' are written with the same character so I didn't change my author name.
It was always written as Cherly but it's pronounced as Cherry.
So many of my author friends get confused and end up calling me Cheryl or just Cher ð
With that said,
Thank you guys for readingðð
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Take care of your health and remember that this Cherry loves ya~