After squeezing through all the cameras and the paparazzi all the men were guided to Geunjeongjeon Hall's courtyard, where they sat nervously, awaiting the next part of this crazy journey to become the king's husband.

Against their will.

They squeezed in next to one another, each man sitting on top of small mats placed on the floor. Jin can't help but stare around. So this was the palace. It's interior, which he had only seen through documentaries, was beautiful.

Around him, Tae, Jimin and Hoseok stuck close. There were more people than Seokjin would've imagined. Seokjin is pretty shocked that there would be this many men-loving men in South Korea. 

Photographers and news station reporters sit around the wooden cloisters of the courtyard. Court officials and royal advisers stood before the two stones platforms where Geunjeongjeon sat. After a few minutes, the main door to Geunjeongjeon slides open and out steps out a short man with black hair.

Seokjin recognizes the man's face immediately from seeing him on the news plenty of times. When he arrived at the truck with Jimin, Seokjin already knew who he was. General Min Yoongi, South Korea's youngest general. The main man in charge of the Royal Family's safety.

Cameras start flashing. General Min doesn't bat an eye as he approaches a podium that's in front of the building and speaks, welcoming them, briefing them of what they were doing here. Though most of them already knew or at least, had an idea of what was going on.

Jin was utterly impressed by the man. He was young, short, yet he was by far the most intimidating man Jin has ever seen, despite having certain soft features. 

Maybe it was the fact that he had witnessed the man kill one of his own soldiers without flinching or remorse, but he emitted pure charisma when he spoke. There was something that made you be scared of him but also made you feel safe when he said that he would protect you.

"You will each be assigned a room," the general continues, "Your physicians and stylists will come to you at the same hour every day. There's an emergency button in your rooms in case you feel unwell, your physician will come running. Also these doctors will also be assigning your diets, each one of your meals will be different, based on what the doctor thinks you need in order to remain healthy."

Jin glances at Jimin takes in his slim figure and can't help but to feel glad that at least he'd be getting a proper meal here.

"You cannot leave the palace unless the King is the one to dismiss you. No other person in the palace has the authorization to make you leave. Also there is no set date for this competition to end, it will take as long as the King wishes for it to last."

Whispers of disagreement circulate among them. Seokjin keeps his thoughts to himself but that didn't mean he didn't disapprove of this. If anything, he wanted to go home immediately. He wonders if there's a way.

"You are not to go into anyone else's room but your own. This is obviously to prevent any...hidden romances from occurring. If you want to meet up with anyone you will do so within plain sight."

"Oh, so since we're all gay they think we're all gonna sleep with each other if we're in the same room?" Hoseok whispers, earning a few giggles from the others.

Unable to hear the giggles below him from where he stood, the General continues. "And lastly," he pauses for a moment, everyone grows silent to hear, "we are aware that being here is not really something that most of you actually want. If anything, I agree, this is ridiculous."

Seokjin's eyes widen. Next to him, he hears Jimin whisper, "Is he allowed to say that?" Seokjin honestly doesn't know. Maybe the general doesn't care.

Someone in the crowd raises their hand. General Min raises a brow. "Yes?"

"Will we have personal servants?"

"No. The staff," he clarifies, "is here in case you need something but considering we have adults here I'm sure you can wash your own ass right?"

As snickers erupt around him, the guy lowers his hand. General Min gives him the stink eye, but leave him to his own shame. He turns to the rest of them.

"Still, I can assure you that the prize is worth it," He states as he glances over them. "After all, winning this means you get to be a king." 

Chatter starts up among the candidates.  The General doesn't explain his words, just turns around and walks back into Geunjeongjeon without saying another thing, leaving everyone in a frenzy.

Jimin leans into the others, never letting go of Taehyung's hand. "What do you think that means?" he asks, rubbing the back of Tae's hand with his thumb.

No one knows for sure, but Seokjin had his suspicions.

Taehyung frowns, moves over and leans into Jimin's side. "I don't care," he mumbles, "I don't want to be married off to someone I don't know."

"Well if you're going to be forced to marry someone you don't know then it might as well be the King of Korea," Hoseok points out.

It was a valid point. 

Palace staff begins calling them one by one by their provinces, guiding them across the courtyard towards their rooms. Jin was the first one in his group to be called. While being lead through the large estate, Seokjin can't help but wonder where they were going to keep all of them. In his opinion, there were too many of them, but then again as far as he knew the palace contained more than 500 buildings.

"The staff members who tend to live here have been sent to hotels," the staff answers him when he asks. (He asks because they've been walking forever and he's bored of the silence). "This is to accommodate the candidates better. This will be your room," he adds as they stop in front of the Jae-style building.

It's a bit more westernized than Seokjin thought. The traditional sliding door has been replaced with a western door that has a keypad. As he steps inside he also notices a television plus a western style bed.

A knock brings his attention back to the door. A woman with short dark brown hair wearing a white coat, steps inside. She holds a clipboard in hand and drags a cart behind her, carrying a few bits of medical equipment.

"Hi," she says as she parks the cart off to the side and bows to Seokjin. "I'm Song Hye-kyo, I'm your personal physician. I'm basically in charge of keeping you healthy."

He gives her a light smile and bows as well, as close to a ninety-degree bow as he can. "I'm Kim Seokjin," he replied, "Please take care of me," he says.

She smiles back, the right side of her lip turning upwards. She's pretty, Seokjin notes. "Ooh. Well mannered, aren't you? That's new," she comments, setting her materials aside.

There was a knock at the door, Doctor Song yelled for the person to come in. The door clicked open and in came another female, just a few centimeters shorter than Jin. She was also ridiculously pretty, looking highly sophisticated in a vibrant pink suit, her long brown hair straightened and her short bangs covering her forehead, framing her beautiful amber eyes. The woman walked up to stand next to the doctor.

"This," Doctor Song points out, "Is Lee Sungkyung-ssi. She's in charge of your appearance and of course to make you look good in front of the King."

Jin blushed at the mention of the King. He waved his hands in front of him, "Ah, no. Please don't waste your time with me. I'm sure I'm not to the King's liking."

Both ladies gave each other a look that Jin couldn't quite pick out. Were they silently telling each other that he had a point? "What?" he dares to ask.

Doctor Song turned to him, "You do realize that you're a crowd favorite right?"

"I'm sorry, what?" he asks, entirely confused.

"Don't you know?" Sungkyung asked, her brows furrowed together, "You got out of that truck and the whole internet started talking about you. There are millions of comments on social media talking about your good looks."

"Really?" he asked, turning shy all of a sudden.

Both nodded. Jin lowered his head, a little embarrassed for being complimented over something that seemed so surreal. He had never thought himself to be handsome. Tae was handsome. Jimin was cute. Hoseok was good-looking. But Jin?

No, he couldn't believe it.

"Will you two be in charge of me only?"

Doctor Song was the one to answer, "We were hired to work with groups. Basically, the people you rode with on the way here will also be under our care."

Jin smiled, he found himself happy to know that he and his friends would be under the care of two great ladies.

"Now," Doctor Song began, pulling on some rubber gloves, "Please remove your clothing."

"So," General Min began as he took a seat across from him, "found anyone you like yet?"

King Namjoon looked up from his book. He and his siblings were currently in Jibokjae (the King's personal library), each one glued to their favorite genre of literature. They didn't have any important meetings to attend to nor any documents to go over. Any foreign affairs were handled by their grandmother since she wanted them to be solely focused on finding someone to marry.

His sister answered for him, "Oh come on Yoongi, he hasn't even seen them all yet."

General Min Yoongi, shrugged, crossing his legs comfortably on the chair and leaning back. "Not much to see. It's better to wait till they give them a makeover, some of them look like a real mess. Came from horrible family situations."

"Maybe we should've given them the check instead of their family members," Jungkook suggests.

Namjoon thought about that for a moment. Most of the candidates were the legal adult age in Korea, some were still 18 but the most logical thing was to give them the money since only one would end up as his spouse. He felt like an idiot for not noticing that flaw in his grandmother's plan. He nodded and turned to the general. "Yoongi lets do that. Give the money to the candidates as they're eliminated. It's the fairest thing to do considering their situation."

"Sure thing, boss."

"And another thing."

The general looks up at the King.

Namjoon hesitates, "There was a guy that was in your truck..." he began slowly. By now both his sister and his brother were also looking up from their books. "He was tall, wearing a pink hoodie."

Yoongi raises a brow smugly, "Yeah, what about him?"

The king clears his throat, "What's his name?"

There was a second of silence before his siblings both crowded him.

"Oppa! Did someone catch your eye?!"

"Hyung, what the heck? Already?!"

The King held his hands up in surrender as they bombed him with questions.

"Kim Seokjin."

All three of them turn to the general. He stared back at them, his elbow propped up on the table, his chin resting on the palm of his hand. "His name is Kim Seokjin. I remember because the list only contained four names in that part of town."

"Is he really handsome?" Geong Min asked excitedly, practically jumping up and down.

The King looks down and smiled, his dimples clearly showing, "He looks like an angel."

The princess squealed in excitement. Jungkook began singing "Hyung has a crush~" from the top of his lungs. Yoongi just kept a smug look on his face.

Despite the teasing that he was receiving from his siblings and his friend, the King felt that he couldn't remove the silly grin he had off his face. He could finally put a name to the face of an angel.

And his name was Kim Seokjin.

Taehyung flinched as the doctor drew blood from his arm. The needle was cold, as were the doctor's hands despite the gloves that she wore.

She put the needle aside and wrote something down on a clipboard. She checked his pulse, wrote down his weight, his height, even measured several weird parts of him like his hands and feet. She calculated a few things mentally before jotting them down as well.

"Well you seem to be healthy enough," Doctor Song commented, removing her gloves. "We'll have to adjust your diet a bit but everything else seems to be well. During course of the week, however, we will be doing a few scans and other tests to see if there's anything we need to be particularly worried about." She grabbed her clipboard and turned a page, then reached out to grab a pen. "Now the last part of today's examination consists of a few...personal matters."

Taehyung cocks his head to the side, waiting.

She looks up from her clipboard to meet his eyes. "Taehyung-ssi. You must answer this truthfully. Even if you do not then I can confirm it later through several tests." She eyes him firmly. "First. Have you had any previous sexual intercourse?"

Was she serious? Were they really obligated to reveal such personal information all for the knowledge of man that they hadn't even met?

"No," he simply states, giving in. He had no reason to lie when he personally was not even remotely interested in becoming the King's husband.

In fact, if anything the whole situation was maddening.

They took him from his home. They took his mother from him. They're prohibiting him from being with his brother unless it's in a public setting and now they were basically violating his privacy.

"And as far as our data shows, you're attracted to men only, correct?"

"Yes."

"Any STDs that you are known to be carrying?"

He shakes his head.

"Do you consume any tobacco or other drugs?"

"No."

"You're single?"

Shouldn't that have been asked before kidnapping them? "Yes."

She writes something down, nodding. "Okay, now if there's anything particular that you need us to bring from your home to make your stay here more comfortable-"

"I just want to be roomed with my brother."

A brow is raised at that, "I'm afraid that won't be possible, Taehyung-ssi." Of course it wasn't.
"We have strict rules to keep all of you in separate bedrooms."

His body slumps in his chair. "I just...I just have a really hard time sleeping if I don't have someone with me. And usually that someone is my Hyung." Or Jimin, or Hoseok. Mostly Jimin when Seokjin was too busy.

"What did you do when you didn't have your hyung sleep with you? I'm sure you've found an alternative when he was off with friends or-"

"No," he snaps. "We've never been separated." Which was the truth, ridiculous as it may seem considering their age.

Doctor Song shot a look at the other woman that she brought with her. His new stylist, Sungkyung he recalls. The woman had her lips pressed into a thin line.

Taehyung didn't blame them for the looks he was getting. Looks of pity. He understood. Even he was currently pitying himself.

Seokjin had never stayed the night out. He never slept over at a friend's house unless Tae could go with him. Seokjin cook for him when their mother was out. Seokjin would help him with his homework. He was like a second parent, but closer. And as of right now they were all they had.

The look on his face was probably super pitiful because Doctor Song ends up sighing and says, "Look, Taehyung-ssi. I can't guarantee anything, but..." she pauses as if hesitating. "My husband works under General Min, the best I can do is have him pass this info to General Min so he can let the King know. But as you may be aware, the King has more important things to attend to."

Tae nods. He understood clearly that he wasn't as important as any other matters that the King may have. He still couldn't help but feel an ounce of hope. It scared him being here. He felt suffocated. He needed his hyung to at least feel that one thing in his life hadn't changed.

"In the meantime," the doctor said, writing something down on that darn clipboard, "I'll have our palace psychiatrist come here every once in a while to check on you."

Great. Now the lady thought he had problems.

Sung-kyung steps forward to hand him a pair of clothes. It was all denim. Dark blue. "Change into that, please," his stylist instructs him, "This is your uniform for the competition. At 5pm, you will all be presented to Korea officially. Be at Geunjeongjeon's courtyard by that time. For today you're allowed to do your own hair and makeup. Starting tomorrow I'll be the one to do all that for you."

"Am I allowed to walk around once I'm changed?"

"Yes. The outfit allows everyone to identify you as a candidate, so you're free to roam around."

Without anything else to say both ladies left the room. Taehyung sighed and moved to put the outfit on, buttoning the jacket all the way up, minus the first button. He eyed the stacks of unopened makeup products on the dresser on the far right, but wasn't going to bother with hair and makeup. Maybe if he showed enough lack of interest he would be the first to be disqualified.

He went out to the courtyard, closing the door behind him.

Several other candidates seem to have finished their medical examinations as well. Tae watches through the open doors as some were furiously applying makeup or blow-drying their hair. He rolls his eyes at the action.

Sad how the King was probably going to end up with one of those cake faces. He searched around for his hyung's room, eventually finding it after asking a staff member.

Jin was inside, seeming to struggle to decide whether to keep his denim jacket buttoned up or loose.

"I'd keep it loose," Taehyung pipes up, startling the elder from the doorway. "If you button it up it's going to be pretty tight around your shoulders." His brother had very wide shoulders. 60 cm last time they measured them.

Jin began unbuttoning the jacket, leaving the white t-shirt to be revealed underneath. Glancing at himself in the mirror, he nods, satisfied. "You're not gonna doll up?" he asks curiously, noticing Tae's clean face, devoid of any makeup.

"Are you going to?"

"I don't think I have a chance to win even if I do anything," Seokjin says while fixing his hair in front of the mirror, "So I might as well just stay like this. You, on the other hand, have a much better chance at this than me."

Taehyung eyed his hyung. Seokjin was always good looking. Both of them were, really. They got their good looks from their mother who was once a beauty in her prime years. However while Tae knew that both of them were hot, Jin struggled to believe he was even decent.

He thought the many chocolates that appeared in his locker every year were jokes or bets. He swore that no one ever asked him out because he had been a nerd and ugly, not knowing that the girls just thought that he was way out of their league.

Jin was much more handsome than him, probably the most handsome man he'd ever seen in his life. Yet here he was telling Tae to go for the King.

Which explained his actions back when they were getting off the truck when they came in.

He understood perfectly. Taehyung's eyes weren't big for nothing. Jin had always been selfless. He always gave and gave, never wanting anything in return. He wanted to give up his spot so that Tae could actually have a chance at winning and even if it wasn't him, he would give it up for Jimin and Hoseok too.

Normally, Taehyung wouldn't question anything his Hyung tells him to do but he really couldn't agree with this. Something about it made him feel uneasy.

"Hyung," he sighs, leaning against the doorway, "I really don't want to marry the King."

"You haven't even met him yet, Tae."

"I know, but I'd rather just grow old with you," the younger says. Seokjin laughs and ruffles his little brother's hair.

"How about this," Jin states, voice as if he were negotiating with a child, "How about we both give it a chance? We haven't met the guy yet but maybe he'll end up being to our liking? We should make the best of it after all. Who knows how long we'll be stuck here."

Taehyung really doubts he'll be falling for anyone if he's honest, but his brother looks hopeful and Taehyung really can't say no to that face.

"Fine," is all he says.