Next day morning, Jungkook came to the prince's room to apologise before they go. He walked in and pulled Taehyung for a kiss, much to the prince's surprise.

After few seconds of passionate kissing they pull apart, only to keep their heads leaned on to each other.

"I'm sorry for making you upset, Tae. But you know this is my job right. I promise to be careful. Ok?" Jungkook said as he pulled back to look at the prince.

Taehyung has an unreadable emotion in his eyes and the guard looked at him with a pout.

"Won't you talk to me before I go? Please.." Jungkook said with the pout but Taehyung didn't smile at him like he would normally do when Jungkook becomes playful.

Jungkook felt his spirits do down and turned to leave the room with a sigh. But before he could reach the door, he was pulled in to a back hug by the prince.

"You better hope to God that it won't be dangerous. Because if you came back in a less than perfect condition that you are going now, then you'll see who I really am."

Taehyung growled in to Jungkook's ear as he tightened his hold around the younger and Jungkook felt a shiver ran through him at that voice.

He couldn't speak so he just gave a nod and Taehyung sighed in response.

"Go. Be safe." Taehyung said finally as he released the guard after giving a light peck to his nape.

Jungkook turned around to give a smile to the prince and felt his heart at peace when the prince gave a small smile in return.

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Taehyung watched from the open corridor as the troop goes out in vehicles for their mission. He felt a presence behind him and turned to see Namjoon standing there with Yoongi. Both looked troubled.

"Tae.. I know this is difficult for you but really, you are just being over protective. It'll be ok and he can certainly take care of himself." Namjoon said in a soothing voice.

Taehyung doesn't say anything at first. But then he looked at the king and Namjoon got startled at the depth of emotions in the prince's eyes.

"I hope they come back safe too, hyung. Because if he doesn't, I don't know what I'll do." Taehyung said in a tight voice and leaves the shocked Namjoon there.

"Yoongi, the team we sent is a good lot right?" Namjoon asked in a worried tone and Yoongi thought for few seconds before replying.

"As good as the next lot, I suppose. No where near the guards quality though. Jungkook will still be the best fighter among them." Yoongi replied in an equally worried tone.

"Oh I hope I won't have to regret this. I have never seen Tae behave like this before." Namjoon said as he looked at the quickly disappearing dots of the vehicles.

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In the car, Jungkook just stared out of the window. He hasn't spoken with anyone except for the necessary amount. The team leader looked at the royal guard curiously.

He has requested the guard to stay next to him as he fully intended to follow the crown prince's command. Jungkook didn't had any problem with that. It didn't matter with whom he stayed with as he didn't knew anyone there.

Last part of the journey has to be done on foot.They got off from their vehicles and walked deep in to the forest. They were being cautious as they neared the caves, making as little sound as possible.

Suddenly there were sounds of gun shots ringing through the forest and everyone fell to the ground seeking cover. The leader had a hand on Jungkook's back as he scanned the direction of the gunman.

Despite his trainings, Jungkook had never been in an actual fight. The sound of the gunshots were so loud that he couldn't hear anything anyone was saying. The leader seemed to be barking instructions to his men, his hand never left Jungkook's back.

Suddenly the leader pulled Jungkook by the back of his shirt and pushed him in one direction. After taking few quick steps Jungkook realized that the leader was leading them towards a huge fallen tree trunk that could possibly provide a better cover.

Once the leader pushed Jungkook behind that, he leaned in and yelled near Jungkook's ear.

"Stay here ok, don't move."

The leader gave him one of his extra guns and jump out from behind the tree trunk. Jungkook cautiously peeked his head to see him running between trees and shooting enemies.

The gunshots or the injuries didn't really scare Jungkook. But what kept him rooted behind the tree trunk was what the prince said just before he left.

For the first time, Jungkook was afraid of getting hurt as he feared the prince's reaction. But after few more seconds of seeing his comrades getting hurt, Jungkook couldn't stay hidden anymore.

He raised his gun and quickly scanned the area, shooting the targets as and when he find them. Soon the enemies seemed to have noticed him too. The same was evident by the rain of bullets that was falling on him.

He could hear someone yelling something but couldn't focus on it as a bullet hit the tree trunk and a blasted wood chip glazed over his forearm. Luckily he was wearing his jacket so it only scratched him.

Soon the gun fight finished as his side outnumbered the enemies and everyone remaining got up when the leader gave the command.

Jungkook removed his jacket and examined the scratch, it was not even bleeding. The leader quickly came near Jungkook and checked the wound.

"It's ok, it's just a scratch." Jungkook said in a reassuring voice but the leader gave him a look of dismay.

"You do know that we will have to pay hell for that, right?" The leader asked in a tight voice and Jungkook let out a tiny gasp at that. He didn't think the leader knew about his situation.

They evaluated the situation and Jungkook showed them the entrance from the caves, when it was seemed safe. It was already informed back to the palace as soon as the fight broke out to send a larger troop and they were ordered to return to the palace immediately.

Yoongi groaned in annoyance as the as the report of the gun fight brought in to his and the king's attention.

"Is he hurt?" Namjoon asked in a worried voice and Yoongi shook his head.

"I don't think so, they are on their way back so we will have to see." Yoongi answered in an equally worried voice.

"Should we inform about this to Tae?"

"He should know already. Hoseok had instructed them to inform when they get anything from the team."

Yes, prince Taehyung had heard about it already. To make the matters worse, they didn't had any specific information about Jungkook. All that was reported was that there was a fight, half of the men injured and 3 of them dead.

Hoseok dutifully relayed the information and Taehyung listened to it without any interruptions. After that he asked Hoseok to leave him alone and contact him once the team returned from the mission.

_____________________________________

It took the team several hours to get back to the palace. After the injured members were taken to the hospital, the leader, his second in command, both of them who had number of bandages around their arms and legs, met with the king at the court room.

King Namjoon was there, with a stony face along with the crown prince, commander Yoongi and Hoseok. Several ministers who are involved in the national security was there too.

The leader gave them the report. Listing out what happened and the number of casualties from both side.

Through out the meeting, Taehyung had his eyes fixed on Jungkook with an angry glare and the younger steadily avoided the eye contact.

After the report was given, the leader and the other member was excused but Jungkook stayed behind. Everyone could feel the tense atmosphere but there wasn't anything anyone could do. Finaly Namjoon leaned towards Taehyung and spoke with him.

"Tae, I'm really sorry for what happened." The king's voice was lazed with remorse but the prince didn't even look at him.

"Jacket!" Taehyung intimidating voice suddenly rang through the court room and everyone flinched at the sound, even the king.

Jungkook looked up to see the prince looking at him with a demanding look. He knew what the prince was asking him to do and he hesitantly removed his jacket.

Hoseok gave a tiny gasp as he looked at the younger's forearm which had a faint red line. It was nothing but he was absolutely terrified of the prince's reaction.

Namjoon seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he hung his head in dismay. After few seconds, Taehyung leaned towards his brother and whispered.

"Hyung." Taehyung voice had a deadly silence to it and only Namjoon, Yoongi and Hoseok could hear it.

"14 injured and 3 dead right. Hyung, I want you to think of a situation where you sent Jin hyung alone somewhere and his guards returned like that." Taehyung said in the same deadly tone and the 3 men practically froze at that.

"And now you tell me, whether a mere sorry is gonna be enough."

With that, the prince got up from his seat and walked out. He stopped Hoseok with a flick of his hand when the captain tried to follow him.

Jungkook gave a one last look at the others and followed the prince out.