Chapter 38: Chapter 35

"For a second there, I thought we were alike." Lady Mirae sighed as she broke the hostile eye contact, "It seems that I was wrong."

"Where's the crown prince?" Taehyung questioned as he stood up.

Lady Mirae also patted her clothes once before standing up, "You don't need to worry about him. The two generals by his side wouldn't let anything happen to him."

"What did you do?" Taehyung suddenly had a murderous aura around him but it wasn't enough to scare Lady Mirae who had already grown immune to the feeling called fear and this was the reason why she should be feared greatly.

A person without fear would become the most deadly chess piece and it just so happens that Lady Mirae wasn't the only fearless person in this room.

"What could I have done to him?" Lady Mirae scoffed, "I just created a small distraction for him."

"Distraction?" Taehyung's eyebrows furrowed as he heard this.

"Even if brother Daesung wasn't there, I would've still broken you out of jail. You have to understand. I'm not here to hurt you, I'm trying to save you."

Taehyung shook his head as a response, "I don't want to listen to your bullsh*t. Just tell me why you wanted to break me out of jail."

"Your brother is here to take you home. I'm nothing more than a mere helper."

"I see..." Taehyung didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry as he heard this. It wasn't unexpected, in fact, he was sure that this was something his brother would do.

"So just follow me. If you have something to say, save it for your brother." Lady Mirae picked up the leftover medicine and handed it to him before turning around and gesturing for him to follow after her.

Taehyung looked down at the pouch of medicine in his hands and gripped it tightly, crushing the already crushed medicine inside.

When Lady Mirae saw that Taehyung had obediently listened to her and was following behind her, she smiled as she spoke, "You're wise. It's better not to push yourself deeper into trouble."

Deeper into trouble?

It seemed that Lady Mirae was unaware of the fact that Taehyung was nicknamed as trouble himself.

"Your brother is greatly worried about you. Try talking it out with him. It's better to go back and not get yourself involved with that unlucky bastard." Lady Mirae continued as she kept on walking. After walking and blabbering nonsense for a while, she finally asked a question, "There is something bugging me though. Why did you decide to come here in the first place?"

She waited for the answer but when she heard nothing in return, she turned around to look at the man and repeat the question again, but to her surprise, the man she was asking the question to was no longer there.

"..."

She had been a bit careless.

She had ulterior motives to break him out of jail with the excuse of getting him treated for his injuries, but it was naive of her to think that Taehyung didn't have an ulterior motive as well.

Taehyung hid behind a corner as he saw two guards walking by and when they had gone, he once again continued to run away.

A guard suddenly came into his view and Taehyung jumped into the bushes, hiding till the guard had passed by without noticing him.

He couldn't help but smirk proudly.

That Lady Mirae was certainly stupid.

To think that she believed he would follow her just like that? Just how stupid did she have to be?!

When the coast was clear, he got out from the bush and dusted his clothes before continuing to sneak away from the place as he happily whistled an unknown melody.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Taehyung froze up on the spot, not even daring to turn around as he heard the familiar voice.

"Do you plan to embarrass me more?" His brother sounded angry.

There weren't many times when he had seen his brother be angry, in fact, the times he remembered his brother being angry at him could be counted with his fingers.

"You weren't sent here as a consort to that bastard," He could hear Hanyu coming closer to him, his footsteps calm and composed like always, "Are you going to continue playing a fool?!"

Taehyung was forcefully turned around by his brother who glared at him.

Just by looking at his eyes, Taehyung was sure that Hanyu was mad. He was seriously mad this time.

"What were you thinking when you climbed into his bedroom?!" Hanyu shouted and it was probably the first time he had ever raised his voice against Taehyung.

Taehyung gulped as he suddenly wondered: If you put it like that, brother... It sounds as if I was trying to force the crown prince or something.

"Hyung, did you sneak in here?"

"Is that what matters?" Hanyu scoffed.

Taehyung nodded as he asked curiously, "The security here is so strict. Even I wasn't able to break in so how did you do it?"

"..."

"I want to know! It can come in handy."

Hanyu smacked Taehyung's head as he asked, "Tell you so that you can break in here again?!"

Taehyung rubbed his head as he smiled, "Come on, Hyung! It's not like I'm gonna try again. I don't enjoy being thrown in jail."

"Good!" Hanyu scoffed, "Since you don't like jail, let's go back for good now."

"Eh?" Taehyung felt his hand getting pulled, "No... No! Stop! Wait!" Taehyung pulled his hand back from Hanyu's grip, "I said stop!" Taehyung shouted.

Hanyu glared at the man as he waited for him to explain himself.

"I'm not going back!" Taehyung answered firmly as he met his brother's glare, "Hyung, I'm not coming with you. I'm not going back there!"

Hanyu straightened his back as he looked at Taehyung with an indecipherable expression, "What did you just say?"

Taehyung didn't look shaken, "Mother-" He stopped and took a sharp breath in before correcting himself, "The Queen was the one who sent me here. She was the one that abandoned me first..."

"Have you really lost it?!" Hanyu cried out.

Taehyung shook his head, "I'm the same brother you always had and I hope you can respect my decision this time."

"No way! You're coming with me!" Hanyu pulled him by the wrist once again but Taehyung forcefully shook his hand out from Hanyu's grip.

"No! I'm not!" Taehyung huffed, "If you want to forcefully take me away, I'll run away! Hyung, I have never asked you for a favor before this, have I?! This is the first time I'm asking you such a favor! Just let me be!"

Hanyu, "You did! You asked me to let you come here."

Oh... Taehyung almost forgot about that favor.

"Then let this be the second favor I ask you!" Taehyung corrected himself.

"..."

"I don't want to go back. I like it here!"

"Like it here?" Hanyu scoffed, "What's so great about being sent as a hostage?!"

"I know! It sounds ridiculous. My own people abandoned me, my own mother threw me away, but is that my fault?! What am I supposed to do?! I don't want to go back there!" Taehyung almost cried as he screamed at his brother, "I know being a hostage isn't something to take pride in! I know it well, but Hyung! Do you not understand what you're doing right now?! You're telling me to go back and thoroughly become a joke for everyone to point and laugh at!"

"Who would dare laugh at you?!"

"Everyone!" Taehyung took a breath in as he tried to calm himself down, "Hyung, my decision is final. I'm not going back."

Hanyu was silent for a minute and Taehyung thought the man wasn't going to say anything more so he turned around and got ready to leave him behind but he wasn't even able to take a few steps forward before he heard Hanyu scoff, "Do you like chasing around him that much? You're following him every day like a dog and humiliating yourself! Do you like that?!"

Taehyung paused and turned on his heel once again as he looked at Hanyu with a rather empty gaze, "What did you... say?"

Hanyu clenched his teeth as he looked at his brother who had never really shouted at Hanyu like this before, "You're making a joke out of yourself and you're making our whole country look like a joke! As a prince, do you really not have any sense of duty towards your country? You're dragging our royal family name through the mud! Don't you realize that?!"

Taehyung suddenly chuckled but there was no sense of joy in his voice, "Our country? Prince? Hyung, Are you stupid?"

"..." Hanyu's eyes widened in shock and anger but before he could say anything, Taehyung walked up to him and grabbed his collar.

"How dare you say that?! My title as the prince was taken away the moment The queen decided to send me as a hostage! 'YOUR' royal family name has nothing to do with me anymore!"

Hanyu was silent as he heard his brother shouting at him. He gulped as he tried to say something, but when he opened his mouth, he was unable to say anything to justify what had happened. He had tried his best to save Taehyung from becoming a hostage, but it was Taehyung himself who insisted on becoming one, on the orders of their mother.

What could he say?

As a big brother, he had thoroughly failed! He was powerless against their mother! He was useless and couldn't even save his own brother from such humiliation.

"You're right! I like being here with him! I follow him around all day! I'm not good at anything else!" Taehyung screamed, but more than his voice, it was his emotions that were currently screaming louder, "I'm considered useless in our own country! I'm inferior to you! But what to do?" He looked at his brother with eyes brimming with tears that were ready to fall down at any moment. It was the frustration, it was the anger, it was the sadness and it was the feeling of not having anything go his way. All the feelings that he had tried all his life to hide were being poured out like blood from an open wound, "What can I do?! That's me!" He screamed it all out at his brother's face.

The brother who had always looked after him and had never considered him useless. The only brother he was close to and looked up to. The only person Taehyung would ever want to consider as his true family. He had never tried to shout at his brother. He had never tried to trouble his brother or disappoint him.

He couldn't believe it.

At this moment, Hanyu realized something very important: Taehyung had changed.

The tears that were threatening to fall down, had already started trailing down Taehyung's cheeks that were red from all the pent-up sadness and anger.

"That's just me!! How am I supposed to change that?!" Taehyung felt as if there was a knot in his throat and he gulped it down as he added, "I can never compare to you, Hyung. You are you and I am Me! Isn't that why you are the crown prince while I am the Hostage? We were born different, you were always born to be this amazing prince that would ascend the throne and become a great leader... and I'll never be able to catch up to you. I'll never be appreciated like you and I don't even want to be!"

Hanyu furrowed his eyebrows as he questioned in disbelief, "You...! Did you really fall for him?"

Taehyung gulped as he heard this question.

Hanyu, "You really did... Didn't you?"

Taehyung sighed as he nodded, "You're right..."

"!!!"

"I don't want to go back anymore because..." Taehyung took a step back as he let go of his brother's collar, "Just like you, Hyung, I also found a place where I belong. I found my home."

_________________________________

A/n: *Takes a deep breath in*

He found a HOME!!!

Why was that better than a simple 'I love him'?!

(つ≧▽≦)つ

Today's late chapter is sponsored by my dead keyboard.

So yesterday I was stockpiling chapters and my keyboard suddenly decided to go sleep for all eternity and I was like, "Oh well, you lived a long life. Let's just order a new one."

I went to google and realized: I can't type keyboard on google without a keyboard.

(This was me at almost 1 a.m. so my brain completely forgot that I have a phone.)

I said, "Let's order it tomorrow."

The next day, I realized that I had to update this book, but without my computer, I can't edit it, hence, I can't update.

I had class till 5:30 p.m. and my brain decided to go into panic mode.

After classes, I ordered the new keyboard but the latest delivery date they could give me was tomorrow.

And so, I spent an hour trying to find the on-screen keyboard and editing this chapter.

After so much of panic and chaos, I am finally able to bring you guys this heartbreaking chapter and ngl, I was crying while editing it.

ಥ‿ಥ

But thankfully, I was able to update (ᗒᗩᗕ)

Then I spent another hour going through all my notifications to find a reader's account.

Happy birthday MarvelFan_101 🎉🎉

I hope you have a great day!!! Enjoy it to the fullest!!🎁🥳

I hope your day goes a lot better than mine! ಥ‿ಥ

Next update: 22 March, 2021 (If life doesn't decide to screw me over)

With all that said, let me go back to panicking about updating my webnovel books(｡ŏ﹏ŏ)

Thank you guys for being patient!

Have a wonderful day!

Don't forget to stay hydrated and safe

💜💜