"I regret this. I want to go back." Taehyung whined almost immediately as he saw the area filled with martial artists sparring with each other.
"You promised me you wouldn't regret this," Yoongi responded as he blocked the exit from Taehyung.
"Do you really want to kill me?" Taehyung sighed.
"The opposite. I want to make you stronger so that you can protect yourself."
"Your highness is really benevolent but I'm afraid it's a pity your thoughts are wasted on me," Taehyung spoke confidently not realizing how his words could be misinterpreted.
By saying 'your thoughts are wasted on me', wasn't he indirectly saying that the crown prince had nothing better to do and was completely infatuated with the thoughts of this man. Having thought this, Yoongi couldn't help but feel his insides stirring up and his palms sweating as if an embarrassing secret had been revealed but thankfully his face was covered with the veil, or else Taehyung would have noticed the light blush that crept up on his cheeks. It was really a pity.
Yoongi awkwardly coughed, "It's really a waste. That's why I'm doing this; so that I don't have to worry about you dying on me."
"Aww~ is the crown prince worried about this hostage?" Taehyung chimed, having found a new enjoyment in teasing the crown prince.
"Who's worried? If you die, your mother would certainly take revenge on me. I want to avoid a war at all costs."
"You don't need to worry about the war. I believe in you, your highness. I may be considered a traitor for this but I hope you'll win. In fact, I know you'll win." Taehyung smiled, it was the same vibrant smile that he always showed, the smile that could warm even the heart of the ice-cold prince.
Maybe Yoongi could feel its sincerity, "Why would you be considered a traitor? I gave you the status of our prince, this is your country now. And I don't need your prayers, I know I'll win without them."
Taehyung just smiled in response, his eyes suddenly glistening with a sense of both, sadness and intimacy.
"Now go and practice. You don't even know how to pick up a sword much less, wield it."
"Your Highness is too kind. This incapable one is too daring and arrogant to decline your kindness." Taehyung spoke in a low-key sarcastic manner.
"And this benevolent one is too arrogant to take no for an answer." Yoongi glared back at the grinning man, "Take the wooden sword and go practice right this instant."
"Your Highness please have mercy-"
"Very well." Yoongi abruptly cut him off, "I'll have your trainer come here personally to drag you to the practice ground."
Not having to speak further, a man who had been sparring on the practice ground just a few moments ago had already come over and greeted the two princes' and Taehyung didn't even get a chance to refute before he was half pulled - half dragged by the young man towards the dust-filled training ground.
With the glaring sun ablaze on top, he stood on the solid hot ground and could feel his vision blurring as he suddenly wanted to faint from the mere exhaustion of having to stand in this scorching heat.
Beads of sweat formed across his forehead as if he had been here continuously practicing with the others for hours. The man threw a wooden sword towards taehyung which he caught with ease, Yoongi looked at the scene and he immediately wanted to rub his eyes, it was as if in the next moment the man would smile at Taehyung and say the words, "I enjoyed our practice session today, it's too late now, young master should go and rest." But this sentence could never be heard because the truth was that it had not even been a whole minute since Taehyung was standing there. Not even a minute in and his legs had already started to shake from exhaustion and fear, his clothes completely drenched in sweat and his eyes tired and unfocused. The man infront of him didn't seem to care too much about it and only smiled a little before swinging his own wooden sword to attack Taehyung. "Aaahhhhhhh!!" The sound came from the screaming Taehyung who had somehow managed to dodge the hit and climbed up a nearby pole. Yoongi grabbed his forehead and sighed, he could feel a headache coming.
"Young master, please come down." The man said helplessly as he looked up at Taehyung who was clinging onto the top of the pole like a monkey. The man seemed to be shocked and displeased by the sudden reaction but his face, although young was not one that contained the immaturity of a young man, rather it looked as if this man had seen too much blood and participated in too many battles, no matter what he saw, his face would not show a shaken expression for more than a mere few seconds.
"Yeowool-ah! You're not supposed to be partial on the training grounds." Yoongi exclaimed from his seat which was conveniently located on the second-floor balcony with a view of the entire training ground so no matter what happened down there, nothing could escape his eyes and it was only natural that he saw how Yeowool was struggling with Taehyung who did not dare come down from the poll.
Yeowool heard the crown prince and having understood the meaning behind his words, sighed before jumping up and grabbing onto Taehyung's right leg and pulling him down from the poll. When he looked at the man's face, poor Yeowool was even more shocked to find out that on that young face there was a pair of dark eyes moist and filled with tears threatening to fall down any moment. What was he supposed to do? Yeowool glanced back at the crown prince as if asking for some kind of assistance or reassurance; having exchanged a look of understanding, Yoongi sighed and gave the orders, "The training grounds are impartial."
Yeowool was suddenly put in an awkward position. He was a young man especially skilled in martial arts and was a well-known teacher among the new soldiers undergoing training. Yesterday evening, he was more than happy to have received his highness' order to train the young prince Taehyung, but at the time, he really could not have imagined being put in such a situation.
What training? How was he supposed to train such an unwilling person? It would have been better if he was ordered to train a 5-year-old. In fact, he wholeheartedly believed that a 5-year-old was better than this crying man in his twenties who was unwilling to even hold the wooden sword given to him.
Yeowool was not a man devoid of the world and hence he was naturally aware of the rumors that floated around the capital recently, so how could he not be partial towards this young prince? How could he dare to bully this person that wholly belonged to the crown prince and not only that but in front of him too? If he were to offend the future empress at this moment, how could he, in the future, beg for him to not hold grudges? This was certainly a sticky position for him but nonetheless, he could not simply stand there dumbfounded and so he decided to coax Taehyung instead.
"Young master, There's no need to be ashamed or cry. In fact, this is totally normal. The first time I was on the training ground, I remember fainting from fear before I could even land a strike. You're still standing, that in itself is an achievement." Yeowool, the young genius who had defeated 4 of his opponents on the first day of practice, lied to the man who was crouched down on the ground while crying and hugging onto his folded legs, coaxing him and telling him that they were alike.
Taehyung didn't move and only raised his head, peeking at him with hopeful eyes that seemed to shine due to the tears. "Really..?" He asked in a low voice.
Yeowool smiled, "Of course. Fear is natural. Let me tell you a secret; even the most powerful and talented generals are afraid in the face of war. Fear is good, it keeps you alive. After all, if your biggest fear is getting hurt or dying, you'd naturally want to keep on fighting to survive and in doing so that fear would drive you towards victory."
"......." Taehyung wiped away the tears that stained his face and stood up, "That's just utter bullshit." And after saying so, he ran away.
Yeowool stood in place, shocked for a mere few seconds, his smile still frozen on his face, and at this moment, he once again thought; a 5-year-old would have been much better.
He got ready to run after him but the voice of the crown prince stopped him in his tracks.
"I'll go get him. Yeowool doesn't need to trouble himself with the childishness of my....." Yoongi stopped speaking, his eyebrows drew together in a crease as he suddenly dwelled on the thought of how he should address Taehyung but he never did continue the sentence. Luckily Yeowool wasn't an idiot and he knew what the latter part of the sentence was going to be so he just stood there and helplessly looked over at the crown prince.
This royal couple is certainly very entertaining.
At this moment every other martial artist present on the training ground had already stopped to see the show and were completely dumbfounded by the rare concern shown by their cold crown prince. One must know, it was a rare occasion for them to actually even get a chance to glance at this crown prince and so their impression of him was limited and inspired by the floating rumors of him beheading anyone who opposed him; cruel and cold. But they were all suddenly enlightened to see a new side of this Crown prince, he somehow seemed more normal and.....human.
However, Yeowool was different. He was the lucky man who had been the sparring partner of his royal highness since a young age and so he was naturally aware of his true nature and wasn't too shocked to see him show such open emotions in public. However, he did have a thought; the rumors didn't seem to be just rumors anymore. Others could misunderstand but he couldn't. He was one of the few people who knew the crown prince well. There was no mistaking it, the crown prince had already fallen in love. Somehow he felt really emotional at the moment as he concluded this. The feelings were close to that of a mother who had seen her son grow up into a fine gentleman but he was clearly no mother and yet he could understand her well.
Yoongi knew exactly where to search for Taehyung, inside the closet.
As he opened the door to the closet suddenly a distant memory flashed by before his eyes and the image of a child seemed to overlay the man curled up inside.
He had certainly not changed.
"Get out of there," Yoongi ordered sternly
"....." There was no reply
"I said get ou-"
"Don't want to." Taehyung covered his ears like a child and suddenly Yoongi was not able to keep up with his strict attitude. This man was already a big weakness to him and what he did just now reminded him of a lot of precious memories.
On a winter's day, when the snow was falling heavily and the training grounds were as loud as ever, A child had come down here with his friend to explore the place, but the sound of swords clashing against each other and violence wasn't exactly suitable for him. After being separated from his father, he crouched down on the ground and covered his ears as tears started streaming down his puffed-up face.
Yoongi had no idea why the kid had suddenly started crying and as a child himself, he had no idea how to deal with this situation. And so he did the only thing he could: he hugged the crying boy and patted his head, comforting the boy that it was all gonna be okay. And ever since that day, real swords had been banned on these training grounds.
But he could no longer casually do that. Both the child and he had grown up now. Faced with the same situation as back then, his skin itched to step forward and hug the man but he was now an adult and knew what the consequences of that one hug could be so he dare not.
But maybe the other didn't have such thoughts.
Taehyung moved forward and casually hugged Yoongi, wiping his tears on the other's shoulder. For a moment Yoongi was stunned but later on, he could not help but break out a smile.
Such unpredictable, unruly behavior; he truly loved it.