"Do not touch that!"

Taehyung slapped Jungkook's hand away, the latter having touched one of the most precious and valuable books in his possession.

"Woah, that's a nice book. It looks like it's been here for centuries," the brunette determined, admiring the dusty, beautifully constructed golden cover that looked like it had taken centuries to fabricate. "Because it has. This is my most precious and oldest book, filled with ancient poetry and lovely short stories, mostly romantic ones. It has been here generations before I had even been born."

The two of them were currently standing inside Taehyung's private library, a truly sacred place for Taehyung that he valued as much as an own personal church. Bringing Jungkook here was truly a big deal to him, and only showed how much he cared for the younger commoner boy.

"You know, this place is freaking bomb. Like in a fairytale. It would just be better if you could see properly," the brunette commented, squinting his eyes to see better through the dim candle light. It was true, the room had no windows or chandeliers and was therefore extremely dark and most definetely not a fit place to read a book. However, it was also immensely big with dozens of long wooden shelves filled with nothing but books after books.

"That's why I go outside to read," the prince smiled, looking at his safe place with nothing but fondness in his eyes. "What do people like you do during leisure times? As you have told me, not many of your kind like to read. Which is understandable, of course. Even my siblings cannot be bothered with it," he rambled.

Jungkook stepped back to face him. "You make it sound like we're a completely different species," he laughed. "At the end of the day, we're all living, breathing humans. We were just brought up with different beliefs and different traditions."

"To answer your question, we have this place called the Internet. Many people use it. No matter what your interests are or where you're from, on the Internet you can access anything. Art, music, philosophy, science, it's all there. You can learn a lot, too." Taehyung's eyes widened in fascination.

"How very lovely that sounds! Is it far from where you live? How would you travel if you live far away from there?" At that, the younger had to laugh in amusement.
"Oh god, you're so cute. I'm not talking about an actual place. The Internet is something you access online. From an electronic device. Let me show you," he said when seeing the crown prince's puzzled expression.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket (he frequently kept it in there since it made him feel safer, somehow) and positioned himself behind Taehyung as he turned it on. The latter stared at it with huge eyes filled with curiosity that shone brightly in the candle light, which he found quite adorable.

"This is Google. You can search stuff on here and then you'll have access to several websites, related to what you searched for. I don't have phone service here, though, since I'm practically in the middle of nowhere here. But yeah. Pretty cool, huh?" The prince could do nothing but nod, staring at the display in awe and wondering why things like this wonderful Google-thing didn't exist in Elysium.

"Wonderful," he whispered, feeling his breath slightly hitch as he could feel Jungkook's breath on the skin of his right shoulder while his hand rested on his left shoulder. Realizing this, he felt his heartbeat accelerate and a strange lurch inside his stomach. Was he feeling uncomfortable?

He already knew what it felt like to be uncomfortable, but this? This felt different. In a discomforting position, he would not hesitate to slip away immediately, but right now it seemed as if all his limbs were suddenly frozen, but not in shock or terror. It was almost as if he wanted to stay in this quite unusual position.

"Yeah. Wait until you see YouTube, you'll probably faint of excitement." Jungkook laughed softly, the sound ringing inside his ears like a beautiful melody. Taehyung turned around so that they were now standing face to face, avoiding the other's gaze on purpose and feeling rushes of nervosity spreading through his body. He couldn't explain what was happening or why he was acting like this.
"You-- what?"

"YouTube. You can watch all sorts of things on there, listen to music, communicate with others... I'll show you, if I ever get the chance." Now, the older suddenly met the other's gaze and looked into his soft orbs, glowing faintly in the dim candle light, with mixed emotions while nodding slowly. Adding to the curious nervosity that he felt in the brunette's proximity, he felt something else. It felt like a heavy pang, like a weight was suddenly crushing his chest.

Because how would he ever get a chance to do so?

°○●○●○°

Taehyung was surprised when his chamber guard announced that afternoon that he had a visitor who wished to see him.

Jimin and Jungkook were currently "working" in the kitchen and he was starting to feel mightily bored, so he asked the heavily armed guard to let the visitor inside his chambers, relieved about the distraction.

Surprise overtook him when he saw none other than his younger sister Sojung stand in front of him, not having properly talked to her in months, maybe even years. He was starting to regret that decision as he scanned her appearance- she had fully grown up without him even noticing a bit.

She was now almost as tall as him, and resemblances to the Queen could be seen in her expression, sophisticated grace and a proud smile playing on her lips as well as pride shining in her eyes. She had transitioned from a girl into a grown woman. Was the once so bubbly and eccentric girl gone? Even her attire had evolved- her violet dress pouffier and even more layers of delicate lace decorating it beautifully.

"Sojung. I haven't spoken you in a while. What brings you here?," he asked, trying to avoid being extremely awkward. But she didn't seem to mind, looking around his room with curious eyes. For a second, she almost looked like a little girl again.

"Your room has hardly changed throughout all these years. But I see you have developed a liking for pastel purple and gold?" Taehyung confirmed that statement with a polite nod of his head, still not understanding the purpose of his sister's visit.

"Why yes, I have. Dearest sister, my intention is not to be rude. But allow me to ask the reason of you seeking me." She smiled calmly, again resembling her mother, the Queen.
"Of course, how could I forget? Well, I actually have a question to ask you. There is something that I recently observed and I found it quite curious." Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows in question.

"And what might that be?"
"Your servant. Now, I am not talking about Park Jimin, I've known him since he was just a little sapling. But the other one. Tall, brunette, with a good build... Where did that man come from?"
As she talked, Taehyung felt his blood run cold. No matter what, he could not risk Jungkook's true existence getting exposed to anyone, not even his own sister.

"Jimin actually currently has some family business to attend. I hired a new personal servant so he could have time attending to his own personal problems." That was only half a lie, rumour had it that Jimin's father was unwell, a rumour that was most likely to be true. Taehyung had offered Jimin to take some time off and see his family several times, but the latter strangely declined, not allowing himself to ignore his palace duties.

"That was a fine thing to do of you, brother. I am very well aware that father doesn't like or appreciate your kindness and pure heart, but I very much disagree with him. Do tell me, what is your new servant's name?," Sojung asked.
"Jeon Jungkook," he answered, somehow feeling a little tingle rush through his body as he spoke the 'servant's name. He had no idea why.

"Jeon Jungkook. What a unique name. But there is also something else I have observed. You seem so awfully close to him. Like he's your friend, not your servant. It appears like quite an unusual relationship." Taehyung tried extremely hard not to panic or blush. Who would have known the Princess was so awfully observant?

"I am just being friendly. Being with servants is just much more pleasant if you treat them with kindness, as if they had the same status!," he excused, and Sojung actually seemed to buy it. "You have a point..."

"Well, that Jungkook of yours seems to love you very dearly. Worship you, even. Whatever you're doing, it seems to make him very happy. Now, my lady's maid, Yuna, serves me and dresses me perfectly well but looking away from her duties, she does not seem fond of me at all. I don't think I have ever seen her smile in my presence!," the princess rambled, her childlike persona making another brief appearance.

"I am very polite to her and even offer her juice and bits of my breakfast but she declines and always has that look etched across her face! I simply do not understand," she kept ranting, Taehyung smiling since this energetic and chattery girl was definetely the Sojung that he knew.

"Well, certainly she must appreciate your kindness. Maybe she was just born with a stoic expression. Or she has an issue that has not been solved yet." Much to his surprise, his sister shook her head.

"I assumed the same thing. But then I came to notice something- She isn't always like that! This quiet, reserved and reluctant maid that lives without joy. When the other girls visit the castle for our dancing lessons, she always watches with a smile. She loves watching my friends dance. She loves observing my friends in general. I wonder why that is." The older boy nodded in wonder.

"Perhaps she has a passion for dancing. Or she really wants a friend. Either way, why don't you try to talk to her like an equal? It is a surprising thing to see how different people from how we perceive them when we talk to and get to know them," he suggested, thinking of his first impression of Jungkook compared to the Jungkook he knew and valued now. Only over the course of few weeks, the boy had shown different sides of himself and even more importantly, brought out sides within himself that he didn't even know he had. He really did care for Jungkook...

"That might just be true," the female agreed. "It is tiring to see this strict divide in society. Who we are allowed to talk to and who we are not. Who is allowed to do what, just depending on where you were born. Sometimes, I wonder what would be if everything were different." The crown prince nodded.

"I believe that in a far away land, everything might be different...," he said, thinking of Jungkook and his world once again. What would have been if he had been born there, living among people like him? Surely, everything would be so different. No royal duties, for one. He was starting to find comfort in that thought.

"I know that the pressure is hard on you especially and all of us lost contact and isolated ourself, despite of living in the same building! But it doesn't have to be like that, you said it yourself. We should always stick together. Let us do this every once in a while, just talk and spend time like siblings do." Sojung smiled before leaving the room, leaving him to think about her words, and agree with them.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

(A/N: i wanted to publish this yesterday but i fell asleep so i'm a day late but hsjdjsks hiii

another filler chapter and i think we might be getting to some interesting stuff🤔 as always i hope you're doing well and you kind of enjoyed, thank you very much for being here i love you lots 💜💜)