After his make out session with the king, polls had risen, comments had been made, opinions had been heard and analyzed.

Suddenly everyone was rooting for Park Jimin. Suddenly everyone was shipping Jimin with the King. Not Seokjin. Him.

At first, Jimin ignored the comments. He avoided watching the news. He ignored the whispers of his fellow candidates. After a while he got used to hearing it. And it amazed him how many days had passed and people were still talking about him and the king.

He began to grow curious. Why him? Jin-hyung was clearly much more handsome. Jin-hyung was clearly in love with the king. So, why him?

He managed to obtain a tablet for a few moments (the guards were nice) and went through comments on social media. There were so many comments.

"They look good together."

"They look like an actual married couple."

"These two are the perfect match."

"Park Jimin just has that charisma needed to be king. That charm, you know?"

Charm. Charisma. That made him laugh.

Since elementary school, Jimin remembered several teachers telling his mother that Jimin was an angel, that he had a natural charisma that drove others to him.

As he grew older and took up ballet, he began to be sensitive to the airs around him. He could feel the ripple that went through everyone as they caught sight of him. It was tangible and there was no mistaking the attention that was immediately focused on him.

Solely him.

Men weren't so subtle, women were the most obvious when they giggled among themselves as he walked by. Adjummas would swoon whenever he smiled. Even Hoseok and Da-won would give in to all of his demands. It seemed that everyone was captivated by his natural allure. 

Whatever that was.

Till he met Tae.

Tae wasn't so easily swayed. If anything, Jimin found himself being swayed by the boy's eccentric ways and blinding boxy smile. Taehyung was younger by a few months, but the affect he had on Jimin was amazing. He always cheered him up, always played with him, always listened.

Jimin almost felt like they were soulmates.

One night, Jimin got the news of his mother's passing. His father lost it, drank too much. Jimin wasn't used to seeing his father at home since he was always out working. From that moment on suddenly his father was always home, dead drunk.

Then one night, Jimin realized why his father always avoided him. His father was no more immune to his unnatural allure than anyone else. Because he, too, was attracted to Jimin and he despised the boy for it.

The beatings came, the words broke him. Jimin found himself wanting to just vanish and not attract the attention of anybody so that he could live in peace. He didn't want his friends to worry, so he kept it all in. Even when Seokjin noticed the change in him, he didn't say a word.

Dance was his one escape. It let him release his inner self, let him shine as he truly should. He hid nothing when he danced. It was the one place where he could stand out and not feel bad about it. He could be himself.

Sometimes, when he was alone with his friends he could feel that shine escape him. Sometimes Jin-hyung and Hobi-hyung would stare at him as if shocked by something. Jimin began to notice that it happened mostly when he was with Tae. He understood why though. He wanted Tae to like him, wanted Tae to look at him the way others had but Tae seemed to care for him as a brother. He didn't see the soulmate aura they had.

With everyone else, he blended in. It was easy to do once puberty hit them. It hit all of them like a truck. His friends became much more handsome than before and caught the attention of many. Jimin of course grew handsome too, but he decided not to let it seem evident.

Jimin watched as people approach his friends, watched them be admired, watched them receive gift and confessions. Seokjin even went to an all boys school yet he still received chocolate on Valentines Day. He even got 16 roses once. 

It was fine. As long as he didn't stand out.

It wasn't till high school that realized these people weren't interested in his friends as people, they only saw them as unattainable objects. He overheard conversations in the bathroom. His friends were kind of like idols. Dating one of them would apparently raise their status, would make them seem cool. And everyone wanted a piece of them. Their confessions weren't real. None of them truly took the time to get to know his friends. All of them just mumbled "Handsome, handsome" over and over again. Some would even bet on who could get them to bed first.

It was sickening.

No one cared about their precious hearts.

There was one guy that made him snap. Choi Min-ho. A third year. He was too close to Taehyung. Hung around him too much, touched him too much. At first Jimin managed to ignore him, because Taehyung seemed to like his presence. 

Then he heard Min-ho talking with others in the hallway. His true intentions were rotten. Jimin had never been more mad. He decided that Min-ho and Tae needed to separate.

It was too easy. One little "I'm your fan", a few smiles, a few simple touches, one invitation to his dance competition. 

Min-ho forgot all about Tae.

Jimin noticed how easily it was to sway people when he wanted to. His smile did most of the work, his aegyo killed them, his dancing trapped them.

Once they confessed, Jimin would reject them lightly, saying he never thought of them as more than a friend and was not interested in dating at the moment. They never complained. They couldn't when he thanked them so earnestly for liking him.

He never really felt bad about it all because he wasn't going to date anyone from the beginning, the idea of him dating them was just all a delusional thought in his head. He never mentioned anything of the sort. He just needed his friends anyway, not some boyfriend/girlfriend who was easily swayed by good looks. 

Then the realization that eventually they would all leave him came when Da-won-Noona started dating. She didn't pay attention to him. She wouldn't look his way when the boyfriend came over. She didn't ask him about his day nor whether he was okay or not like she usually did. 

Jimin snapped.

He didn't feel guilty breaking them apart. Her ex-boyfriend gave in too easily. He didn't deserve her one bit if he had been so easily swayed by Jimin's charm.

Things got difficult at home again. His father started noticing him again. Started beating him again, saying that all he had to do was "beat that pretty face" of his so that is wasn't so pretty anymore. Then he wouldn't "feel like some faggot".

It had also occurred to his father that not feeding him would also do good damage. He was lacking energy so much that he had to drop out of dance during his last year because he would faint from the simplest move.

Then the general came. 

It had hurt. It had hurt seeing his father give him away so easily, as if they didn't have any blood that tied them. Despite everything, his father was his father.

But he'd be an idiot not to take advantage of the situation to stay away from that hell.

His original idea was to seduce the king. Make him completely fall for him. Win the crown and live the rest of his life happily.

Then he started to notice the look in Jin-hyung's eyes when he saw or talked about the king. He thought maybe it was just simple admiration. But then he discovered their feelings were mutual and weren't as simple as he thought.

Seokjin-hyung never really like someone before, never really thought about dating. Jimin grew curious. The whole thing was so sudden. What made the king so special? Was the king only interested in Jin-hyung's looks like everyone else?

Jimin watched every episode of The Reveal to get his info. He studied the way the king interacted with others, tried seeing him as a person. It was hard. In front of the cameras all he could see was the king's mask. He'd have to wait.

The date came around. It was unexpected. In the car, when the camera's were off, the king only talked about Jin-hyung. How he smiled, how his laugh was the cutest, how he was just so so gentle and kind. 

Jimin knew all of that about his hyung.

But hearing it from someone else and watching their eyes light up while they said it. That was new.

He found the king's company quite nice. They chatted as friends, so much so that Jimin didn't realize how much they had drunk. 

The kiss was an accident. It was a mistake. But further on, Jimin began to wonder why he did it. He never kissed to seduce. 

For the first time, he felt bad.

But he couldn't just leave the competition because of it. He still had to work hard, not to win the king over, but to stay as long as he could till he could accumulate enough money to leave home.

He practiced on his dancing. It cleared his mind, cleared him of guilt and it was something he just needed to do.

Then last night, the king was there watching him. Damn. He should've been more careful. Then he noticed that the king didn't look at him dance like others did. He didn't see lust or desire in his eyes. He just seemed...impressed?

And when he brought up his past, the king didn't judge him. He looked at him with admiration, as if he had done something great in surviving.

Their light chat was actually pleasant. Both of them seemed to be on the same page about a lot of things. Both with overflowing charisma and charm that caused different problems. Both so used to being judge.

Then.

"I was hoping to find Jin."

Right. Jin-hyung. He let that sink in. The king didn't come here looking for him like others did when he seduced them. Their meeting tonight was just a coincidence. He had been looking for Jin-hyung, despite hyung probably not wanting to talk to him. "You really like Jin-hyung, huh?" 

It was a test. At this point, most people would deny it. They would admit that they only had eyes for Jimin and they would confess. If the king did the same then Jimin was saving him the trouble of going through anymore heartbreak. And Jimin could use the king to leave home. Jin-hyung wouldn't mind, Jin-hyung would understand.

"I do," the king replies with just about the most genuine smile Jimin has ever seen. "Very much."  

Something Jimin's chest jumps. Something in him stirs. He has never been denied. He has never seen such sincere eyes that looked as sweet as honey.

And those eyes were for Jin-hyung.

Not him.

Jin-hyung.

He had a hard time sorting out his feeling that night. Couldn't sleep until he realized that he wanted someone to look at him like that. For the longest time he had waited for Tae to look at him like that. He never did. He never saw anyone look at his friends like that, till now. And he wanted someone to speak of him with that tone, to look at him as if he were the most precious thing in the world.

He wanted the king to look at him like that.

"Hyung."

Seokjin looked up from the newspaper he was reading. Jimin glanced at the front page. It was poll that showed Jimin as the current favorite of the public, the one they wanted to marry the king. It was like a sign. He took it as one. "Hyung, we need to talk."

The raven haired elder puts the newspaper aside, glances behind him. Hobi and Tae are watching with worried expressions on their face, obviously keeping their ears in their direction to hear the conversation. Seokjin ignores them and looks at Jimin straight in the eyes. "Yes?"

Jimin didn't stir. "Hyung, I like the king."

Hoseok had to hold Taehyung back.