Author's POV: 

You noticed Taehyung in his formal shirt and jeans. He looked good. But, it was winter. Wasn't he cold? 
"Aren't you cold?" You asked. 
"Not really... I have heat packs in my pocket."
"Your arms?" You asked. He just shrugged as you followed him. You had an overcoat in your hands so you wore them, following him. 
"I can't ride horses." You said. He raised a brow, looking at you blankly. 
"You didn't learn?" 
"Uh... you know we don't get thousands of horses in my uncle's house like we do here." You said. He looked down, thinning his lips. 

"I'll teach you. Ride with me, then." 
"Oh?" You asked, raising your brows. You'd ride with him? That sounded quite intimate. After all, it meant your bodies would be centimetres away... oh no.

"Uh, maybe I could ski-" You were cut off by him walking away. You frowned, not understanding why he left abruptly. Did he not want you to finish that sentence or was he just in a hurry? God knew. 
Taehyung got on the horse first and forwarded his hand for you. 
"Place your foot on the paddle and get up." He said. You looked at the paddle and gulped, "I could just-"
"Get up." He said again. You frowned but sighed, placing your foot on the paddle hesitantly. He pulled you up, making you gasp. And after some problems, of course, you were in front of him. 
"Bro.. this is scary." You spoke in a low voice.

"Bro?" He asked. He never had someone address him that way. You thinned your lips and said, "I mean... your Highness." 
He shook his head, sighing. 
"You lack the grace I was told you'd have." You frowned and turned around, facing him. He backed his face away, frowning a little as you stared at him. You felt your heart beat louder and cleared your throat, looking back. 
"I mean... I do have some grace... you're underestimating me." 

He didn't reply. He stayed quiet for a minute. You could hear his heavy breathing behind you. You wondered why he was breathing so heavily. 

Taehyung, on the other hand, inhaled the scent of your shampoo. Rosy, it smelled. He looked away, "So... hold tight." 
You nodded, blinking awkwardly as he pulled the lead rope, making the horse neigh as it started walking. 
"Woah!" You gasped but controlled yourself, well aware of the presence behind you.
"It's okay. You won't fall. Maria is good at keeping balance." He said. 
"Maria?"
"Her name."
"So it's a she..." You smiled a little.

You both exit the palace in another way. As Paparazzi would always follow, you were going to the forest through a secret pathway. 
"This place is beautiful. Where is this?" You asked as Taehyung replied, "The forest behind the Palace?" 
"You don't know either?" He didn't reply, just let out a small confused hum. 
This guy preferred to stay quiet when he was embarrassed, you guessed.

You both were silent. You didn't feel unsafe with him. Usually, if any man got close to you, you'd get creepy vibes. But he seemed to not even care much so you felt safe, you realized. Soon, you both arrived at the forest as you asked, "Are you sure we won't be hunted by animals? This looks creepy." 
"We won't. I'm here." He sounded so normal and bland when he said that but you wondered how those words even escaped his mouth. So filmy. But you still smiled a little.
"Are you sure you won't feed me to the lion?" You asked. You must've heard him scoff because you turned your head, raising your brows. But to your surprise, his face was quite plain.

You turned around as he spoke, "Don't move so much. Maria isn't a super mare." 
You smiled a little, nodding. 
"So are we stopping somewhere?" You asked. He didn't answer. Instead, he stopped at a corner, near a tree. 
He got down, helping you next. You almost fell on him but thankfully, you didn't. It was awkward. 

He tied Maria's rope to a tree, saying, "Come." 
You followed him just to reach a lakeside. Beautiful. 

You smiled as soon as you noticed the trees and bushes, the little flowers and the lake. It was a beautiful forest corner.
"Wow... this place is beautiful." You said. He nodded and sat down on a nearby chair, gesturing for you to sit on the one beside his. You did as he said, looking at him. 
"Do you come here often?" He nodded at your question.
"So... how do you think we could stop this marriage?" He asked. Straight cut. Okay. 
You wondered, "Maybe... pretend we don't get along? Should we pretend to fight in front of them?" 

"Fight...? How?" He asked. You smiled and said, "We'll see when we get there."
"Backup plans?"
"Hmm... if not fight, we can try the opposite way. You see... if we act all cringe and cheesy and do strange stuff in front of them... they'll think we're going the wrong way and call it off." You said. Taehyung looked horrified at your idea, making you frown.
"What's wrong?"
"Strange stuff?" He asked. You frowned, wondering what went on in that head of his. 
"Come on. I mean... pretending." You sighed as he cleared his throat, looking away. 

"Backup plan for the backup plan?" He asked. You let out a huff in disbelief, "Hey, what's with this backup plan thing?"
"Your plans aren't reliable."
"Make them yourself then." You rolled your eyes as he looked at his fingers. Your eyes went in his hand's direction as well. You had gawked at them previously while riding the horse. Veiny huge hands... luscious. 

You fiddled with your overcoat as he spoke, "We could try to make rumours. Gossip is strong in the palace and outside." 
"Rumors?" 
"Dating? cheating?" 
"You just want to kill yourself." You said, sighing. But he didn't react. He seemed to ponder. Did he care?
"Do you care?" You asked. He shook his head as you sighed. 

"Okay... why do you not want to marry at all though? Do you have someone you love?" You asked.
"Why are you asking that?" He asked back, frowning.
"Maybe... we could come up with a valid plan if we knew our reasons?" You asked, unsure if whatever you said came from the bottom of your heart. You were curious. What could make someone not want to marry at all or was he just bluffing? 
"I don't." He said. You looked at him confused as he continued, "I don't love anyone. Nor do I have any ex or whatever you're imagining." 

You nodded. A disturbingly intriguing question popped into your mind but you were scared to ask him. You looked at him, a little hesitant, "Or... do you just don't like girls?" 
He faced you, his icy-cold eyes meeting yours. He frowned a little, "What do you mean?"
"Maybe you're interested in guys? I mean, I'm not homophobic... I'm just asking. You know, people tend to hide that... it'd cause some gossip." You said. He let out a sigh and shook his head, "Did you read gossip articles about me?"
Your eyes widened, blush coating your cheeks. He shook his head, looking away. 
You hummed, "I did... I mean, it's public. But who knows if it's true or not? So I asked you." 

"They always have to find something to gossip about," Taehyung spoke as you looked at him, feeling guilty. Spreading gossip about someone, whether true or not, slandering someone wasn't right. And the person who was the victim of all this would suffer the most. 
"Sorry. I shouldn't have asked something based on the rumours." You said. He looked at you blankly. He blinked a few times, not removing his gaze from yours. You looked away first, feeling yourself getting nervous. 

He looked at his lap, smiling a little, nodding. 
You peeked a little to see his reaction but failed because when he raised his head, his face was normal again.  

You both chatted for some more time, riding the horse back. But this time, shared some words. You smiled a few times because he didn't realize it but he said some funny things often. Weirdly funny. Or maybe they weren't even funny but you smiled. 

Taehyung didn't mind his time with you. He usually didn't like many people because they seemed to be with him for their gain. But he realized you were just trying to find ways to get rid of him. Maybe not exactly him, but this marriage. He had the same intentions so... why not? Maybe you weren't after this fame and money of the palace. He kind of believed. 

But again, no one's to be trusted. So, he wouldn't let his guard down. But he didn't mind you either. He couldn't say he did. 

Not when you had tried to lend him your overcoat seeing the cold breeze. But it didn't fit him because it was too small for him. But he still thanked you politely. And something in him wondered if you were just selfless. Because who would give their coat to someone else in this cold weather? 

It was lunchtime since you came in the morning. But you had plans with your best friend, Mina. So you took your leave early. 

Taehyung looked at Jungkook, playing with the cousins who had visited earlier. 
"Hyung! I heard your fiancee was here!" Jungkook said as Taehyung hummed.
"I haven't seen her yet. I wanted to find her online but couldn't. Let me meet her next time." He said, making Taehyung nod.
"Is she pretty though?" Jungkook asked as Taehyung looked at him. Your brown Bambi eyes, naturally flushed cheeks and plump lips entered his vision. He didn't answer, just walked away. 
"See for yourself." 

—Next day 

You looked at the chat on your phone where you had added Taehyung. Guy sent a " . " as the first message. Well, what else would he send? 

You thought that maybe talking about it online would be helpful too. 

"Hey, this is Y/N." You sent the first message.
"I know." His reply made you sigh. He needed to know better socializing. 
"Then what should we talk about first?" For a moment, you wondered if whatever you asked made sense. You tried to write more but deleted the texts, sighing. 
Suddenly, he replied again. 

"Marriage cancellation plan." 

You let out a soft chuckle. You could hear him say that, weirdly. 
"They say it's true... the lesser someone talks the more you remember their voice." 
Usually, bland people were a turn-off but this guy was interesting. He said intriguing things one second then stopped talking the next. He wasn't rude or ignorant, you could feel he might be just introverted. 

A few days passed by and you both shared light texts online. He replied so shortly you wondered if he was even interested. But again, you had to get a plan out so you continued. Finally, you both came up with the program, pretending to be enemies who do not get along. 

You'd have dinner with the two families outside the palace very soon. You'd carry it then. 

But other than all that, you talked about other things with him too. Like...

"How is Maria?"
"She's good." 
"How many horses do you have in the palace?" 
"Around 25." 
"That's a lot... Did you ride all of them?"
"Yes, you want to?" 
"Woah... sounds quite fascinating but no. I'd die." 

He didn't reply for a minute until he did. You wondered how he reacted. He didn't use emojis or anything. But you could feel his words increasing every day you both texted. 

He sent you 2 photos as well. 

One of Maria and the other of the food menu of a daily lunch in the Palace. It had been almost half a month since you knew him. You could say you decently knew him a little. But not much. Considering his very reserved personality and you weren't quite the pestering one either. So, it was rather a formal relationship between you both now, only brought closer to finding ways of abolishing this betrothal.

—Next day 

"So... plan activated." You texted Taehyung before you all entered the private VVIP room of the restaurant. You all greeted everyone. A new face was there. The King was in the palace, but he didn't come.
"Hello, I'm Prince Jungkook." The other guy, dressed in formal attire spoke as you smiled at him. He had a charming smile that reminded you of bunnies. God, everyone from the royal family was abnormally good-looking. You sat down on the seat next to Taehyung when the Queen said, "Y/N, you look really pretty today!" 
"Thank you so much." You said in a polite voice, smiling. Taehyung looked at your smile, fisting his hands as he looked away.

And the next words he spoke turned all heads towards him.

"Not all that pretty though."