please read author's note~

"mother . . ."

it was when taehyung realised that the gods were still siding with him, that he saw his mother — the beautiful, respected queen jisoo of silla kingdom — sitting under a pine tree with ahro, most likely discussing about their next strategy of defeating goryeo and escaping to china. long gone was the calm and collected mother he once knew, for the bags under her eyes were half the size of his territory itself, looking tired and sleepless from thinking too much. 

all taehyung wanted to do was going in for a hug.

looking back to the person who called her, the queen and ahro shifted their heads to meet a row of three men in lush clothing, with one of them being her son, her trusted eunuch, and another handsome stranger who seemed like he came from a place, far away from silla.

"p-prince taehyung?" bewildered, the queen immediately stood up from her seat and ran in full speed, embracing the man she loved the most in a desperate squeeze. "taehyung-ah!"

taehyung couldn't help but giggle as her hands made contact with his forehead, eyes, nose bridge, cheeks and lips, as if wanting to make sure that what happened was more than just a mere fantasy.

"it's me, mother . . ." taehyung paused to bow. "it's me, i'm here."

"where have you been?!"

before the queen could go on another set of vents, it didn't take long until her longing gaze travelled back to the man who had been hiding behind yeowool's figure, who was none other than a very shy jeon jungkook.

"taehyung-ah," the queen soon moved away, now questioningly pointing at jungkook. "who is he?"

someone who made the idea of the future seems less intimidating than it truly is.

but instead of giving a definite answer, taehyung only shook his head and grabbed jungkook's hand, trying to make a point that he was none other than one of the most precious people in his life.

"mother, i believe it's a long story to tell."

after having a quick lunch with everyone inside of a makeshift tent, taehyung smiled at the sight of jungkook sleeping peacefully under a blanket, understanding that all the running and yelling must have exhausted him to bits. because how couldn't he, when present seoul had given its citizens so many different facilities to use and compromise?

but this was silla. oh, i have to keep reminding myself that. nothing was free and nothing was effortless to receive. the world could crumble down any second, and the only way for them to escape this bitter truth was to keep moving forward . . . even when jungkook wasn't a part of their plan.

taehyung wasn't sure how to bring back jungkook to where he belonged. as much as he liked it, he obviously wouldn't let jungkook stay here forever. the younger had a life somewhere else — a life where hanbok man shouldn't have existed in the first place — and if what they had was real, taehyung wouldn't dare to intrude it. 

because presence wasn't even something that taehyung could easily promise to any of them, even to himself.

it was only a matter of time and goryeo could catch up with silla and declare a war, and if something ever happened to jungkook, taehyung knew he wouldn't forgive himself.

"taehyung-ah," yeowool called from outside the tent, a sad smile quivering his mouth. "can we speak for a second?"

looking back at jungkook's sleeping figure, taehyung took a deep breath and nodded.

"of course, hyung."

sitting side by side on the edge of a wooden dock, taehyung looked past the crystal clear water and frowned. jungkook would have loved it if i brought him here.

"do you like the sea that much?" yeowool nudged, arduously trying to start a conversation.

"i guess," taehyung flashed his infamous rectangular smile. "well, only when my loved ones are present."

and then,

the echoing water was the only thing that filled their eardrums.

scratching the back of his neck, yeowool wasn't exactly sure where to begin. "look, taehyung, the reason why i called you here . . ."

"i know."

"you what?"

"you want to talk about how we're planning to evacuate the remaining people to china and japan before heading back to the battlefield to fight goryeo, am i make myself right?" taehyung looked away, this time the sea didn't matter anymore. "you and i — we are all going to fall in this war. i can feel it in my bones."

"taehyung . . ." yeowool could only drag his sentence.

he could feel it too.

"about jungkook," taehyung cleared his throat. "i will bring him back to the future before the battle occurs, no matter what it takes. he shouldn't die in their hands."

"and how are you even going to do that?"

"i . . ." taehyung was lost for words. 

"can you please, please help me? just for tonight?"

and then, something else clicked inside taehyung's brain. is this uncultured scumbag going to kidnap me, the forthcoming ruler of silla kingdom, and then ask the royal family to trade this sole legacy of theirs with gold and money?

kim taehyung was going to scream for help, until he realised he thought wrong.

"look, my name is jeon jungkook, and i know that this might sound weird . . . but i am currently stuck with a really bad blind date that i never even signed up for," jungkook paused to catch his breath, hands still holding taehyung's bigger ones. "i will do whatever you want after this - hell, free food and arcades won't be a problem - but please, i am now lowering my ridiculously high self-confidence to beg you, can you please pretend to be my boyfriend for the night?"

a slight glimpse of sadness began to roam under the pit of his stomach.

"i will give jungkook my pendant," taehyung reached for the locket, knowing that it was the right thing to do. "it's the only way to keep him alive."

hello, everyone! how are you doing today?

i just finished my first day of exam, which explains the slightly late update :( but anyways, i have a little announcement to make. since paralyzed is ending soon (oh trust me, i really don't want this to end, but dragging the plot even further won't be the right thing to do), i already have three different bts drafts in my account and i want you to vote which story should i publish first:

[ 1 ] high school mystery/thriller

[ 2 ] fluffy romantic comedy with a twist

[ 3 ] modern retelling of "la città di smeraldo", an italian tale that inspires the truth untold

please comment your vote & tell me the reason behind it, i'll appreciate your kindness a lot :) thank you & have a good day!