"Ta-da-da-da goes the boy with the crown on his head...
Fa-la-la-la he sings munching on his bread...
Fa-la-la... Fa-la-la... Fa-la-laaaaaa" Taehyung bounced on one foot to other wiggling his butt along. Jungkook had to hold him down by wrapping an arm around his waist to tie the belt of his elaborate mantle.

"Tsk tsk..Why shall you make my task so tedious?" Jungkook tried tying the knot but the royal kept slipping away too engrossed in his little wiggle dance.

"Fa-la-la...Fa-la-la...Fa-la-laaaa" Taehyung brushed his nose against that of the older's as he continued bouncing in little bubble of excitement.

"Like a little baby you are." Jungkook laughed heartily as Taehyung now was set free to hop around the room simulating a baby kangaroo.

"I can't help it, Kook. I had convinced myself I may never receive the honor of this ceremony. I can't contain it. I'm just too happy!!" he climbed on the couch and started bouncing up and down and in that moment Jungkook wondered in bewilderment how this was a twenty year old.

This was the real Taehyung. The one who perpetually had to gimmick like a grown up since god knows when. Seeing this inner child slip out through the counterfeit of a prince gave him a sense of accomplishment. He wanted to wrap this baby in a warm blanket and protect it from the bleak eyes of the world forever.

"I'm happy you're happy." he marched towards the royal and picked him up from the couch making him stand on the floor. The prince pouted. "Nonetheless I'm afraid we can't have you mess up your hair. There is going to be a shiny new crown on there."
Jungkook ignores the pang of anxiety he feels everytime the word 'crown' comes out of his mouth and tries his best to smile at the other.

"Indeed there is. Oh my! You better kiss this excitement away before I mangle my look up." Taehyung wraps his arms around the older's neck and tilts his head upwards but before Jungkook could grant his wish a knock was heard on the door making both of them catapult far away from each other, startled.

Jungkook unlocked the door to find a handsome young man standing with a wide smile along with a man he recognizes as the leutinent who recruited him.
"Jeon? What are you doing inside the Prince's chambers?" the leutinent questions with a raised brow and an irked twitch of his plum lips.

But before Jungkook could fabricate an alibi as smooth as butter, the other gentleman beat him to it "Oh don't worry Lt. Park, our little prince here has a fixation on befriending his guards. Don't we, your highness?"

"HOBI HYUNG!!" Taehyung started bouncing again as he catches the sight of the officer smiling warmly enter the chambers followed by a hesitant one.

"Aah! What is that shiny little bouncy thing.. Aaah! It's glow is hurting my eyes! Help!" Lt. Hoseok dramatically covered his eyes with one hand while making grabby hands with the other, pretending to drown.

Taehyung giggled melodiously as he removed Hoseok's hand. "Me, Taehyung. I'm the shiny little bouncy thing." he announced proudly. The other two males awed at the precious conversation.

"It's you? Our prince?" he exclaimed cupping a hand to his mouth. Taehyung nodded adoring the smile that Jungkook once named the magical. "I thought it was some exquisite jewel! My, my! Where shall we find a crown that compares to this other-worldly beauty?"

"You and your replete compliments!!" Taehyung shook his head yet a giggle still escapes the pretty pink lips clad in rose extract.

"And I shall serve them to you till the day of my demise." Hoseok bowed down, smile never furloughing his face as if his muscles were permanently stretched into a grin.
"I visited to render you my well wishes for this night with this little rose from your own garden.
Also, I wanted you to meet leutinent Park Jimin. I suppose you have heard about this dapper young man."

Jimin stepped ahead and gave an elaborate bow, result of which a lone strand from his slick back mullet falls gracefully on the pale forehead that was somehow reflecting the light of the lamp. Dapper was indeed a justified definition for this clean-cut man.

"Indeed I have. You have broken massive norms of Arauna. My utmost respect for that. Not to mention Joonie hyung is an undying admirer of his."

"Why thank you, your highness." he cleared his throat in order to regain himself from the fluster the young prince's words gave him. Taehyung just had that power.
"I am honored to meet you. You are quite the opposite from the asinine rumors floating in the town. I feel guilty for making a biased opinion without knowing. Also, my heartiest congratulations on your coronation."
Jimin stepped ahead and presented a rose too, different from the ones in Taehyung's garden, which the other accepted with a kind smile.

"Well must you rectify then. I invite you to feast with us tonight."

"Me? Oh I-"

"It is my feast afterall, is it not? I will be thankful if you join Hobi hyung and Sir Yoongi."

"Very well then your wish is my command, your highness. And pardon me if I'm infringing but you do look ravishing." Jimin uttered forging his usual confidence but the redness on the tip of his ears gave the act away.

Jungkook, annoyed, almost had an urge to order the officer to keep his eyes to himself, however that may or may not lead to his own eyeballs being used to play Polo by the kingdom army.

With a final bow both of them took their leave but Jungkook did not miss the meager judgement in Hoseok's eyes when his vision landed on him, he subconsciously reached for his scarf to hide his scar consequence of which.

"Every one is televising their flattery." Taehyung sensually landed his nimble index finger on the other's chest right above his erratically beating heart. "All except the one I want to hear it from the most." Taehyung smiled.

Jungkook's words have never floundered in taking him by surprise. And he purposefully seeked for them awaiting a compliment that will walk right past the taboos of surface and strike an arrow through his heart. Something beyond the flimsy statements that Taehyung has practiced to tune out.

"Do you think I look good tonight, jungkook-ssi?"

A pregnant pause followed by the guard gripping taehyung's wrist gently but firmly with a glint of an unidentified emotion in his eyes-
"You are art." he bent down parallel to the vulnerable searching eyes of the other.

"The kind of art that you yourself defined for me. That is you. I was looking for a word to define you, you gave me it."

Taehyung gasped remembering the fateful conversation as Jungkook casually made his way to the door as if he hadn't just skillfully take the prince's breath away. "We must not make the guests wait, your highness. We better go."

*****

Kim Songdae stood robust and tall as always alongside the equally, if not more, erect and masculine younger version of himself. Both their eyes along with the that of all the spectators were fixated on a skittish looking fragile petite boy who would not lift his gaze from his sparkly shoes no matter what.

He remembers how his father had an hour long speech about his brother's bravery, his capabilities, the expectations and his skills during his coronation, and his overture, and his sign off for training, and once for no reason.

And here they were for him. For the past ten minutes the king had reiterated how 'good looking' he was, how everyone agrees he is 'good looking' and how numerous kingdoms had proffered their princesses for marriage because he was, well, 'good looking'.
Humiliated he feels.

But who other than himself can be condemned for it?

"Let the hall ring with your accolades as I now finally present my second son, Kim Taehyung, with his crown rendering him all alliances of the kingdom of Arauna and an official title in the mortgage alongside my elder one. I hope you make me proud, son."

As soon as the red velvet cloth was removed from the silver tray of Taehyung's dreams, he had forseen a round of applause, not a hall filled with gasps and murmurs. People cupping their hands on adjacent person's ear and whispering with abhorrent displeased eyes trained to him.

But what had him feeling real queasy in his stomach was the guard that stood at the foot of his podium. The man he had only seen with cocky smirks, gental smiles or a serious focused face, had his eyes blown wide, mouth agape and face pale like he had seen a ghost.

So now out of sheer curiosity he lifted his head to turn towards the gravitation of the hour, only to have his own breathy gasp escape his lips.

There it was, something he has one million fond and bitter memories with. Something that belonged to an amorous place in his heart.

His Mama's crown!

Ofcourse everyone was well familiar with it. The history of every single crown to ever exist is a compulsory knowledge to attain to designate yourself an Araunian.
It was a necessary curriculum in the alma mater and was included in all the chronicles and memoirs. Especially a crown as exquisite as this one.

His Mama's crown!

He turned to the king expecting him to give a bridge to his thoughts stranded across a river of confusion.
And hence the forementioned cleared his throat and finally decided to address the questions, whispers and murmurs.

"Silence Please! I full well understand your concerns about my former queen's crown here. The only reason for this being done is for taehyung's wish. You see, I had granted him to seek any promise of his choice for his twentieth birthday and he asked for this."

Kim Jongha clenched his jaw so tight that a bone could be ground between his teeth as his fists tightened around his sword. He was helpless for his brother. A failure.

"My son sought to reincarnate his departed mother by adorning her crown on his head. He has a heart of gold since refusing a crown of their own takes a lot of sense of sacrifice not everyone of us possess. Are you happy now, son?"

Kim Songdae's eyes screamed at Taehyung to play along. There was this urgency in them that he couldn't refuse. Disregarding, he shall not have refused even if there was not.

"Yes father, very." he smiled away.

There was no lie in it nevertheless. He was indeed very very happy.

The king sighed contended with the answer and proceeded to decorat the said accessory on top of his head.
After his bow to his family- the king who he realized has started to show tired signs of aging, the queen who nodded with a devious smirk and the princess who was engrossed in waving to a prince of neighboring kingdom, he turned to the audience who were now comprehending the great sacrifice and thanked them.

Why are they so shallow!

After his final bow his arm was tugged harshly towards the backside of the stage only to find his brother fuming and pacing in the old under-maintained room.

"You will take off this damn peice of guff right this moment and throw it away!! Do you hear me?  You are not wearing an old crown!!"

"Hyung-nim! Since when have you started using such fowl language?"

"Since you went dumb! I get it!  Okay?  You feel guilty! Oh boo-hoo!! So sad! Does not give them the right to walk all over you! I can stand up for you and I will!  But how am I supposed to when you yourself place your damned head in their lap eager for your beheading??"

"Yugeum-ssi, can you give us a minute?" Taehyung smiled at the guard, utterly unphased by his brother's outburst and turned to the older as soon as the man left respectfully.

"Now. Take my hand." his brother complied even in a wrath of annoyance. "Deep breathe in" Taehyung gestured by breathing himself. "Deep breathe out." It was a quick way of meditation he learned to calm down since people around here tend to lash out on him often.

"I apologize for cursing. But, you will not wear that crown, Taehyung. I will not approve of it." Jongha said now calm yet firm nevertheless.

"Hyun-"

"No! You shall not talk me your good words out of this! Reject it, I say."

"It's mama's."

"I don't care-"

"Look, it's so pretty."

"Are you even listening-"

"Remember that one painting of her in a mellow colored ballgown that matched perfectly with this tourmaline right here." he innocently pointed at the rare yellow gemstone and looked up to his brother  with big doe eyes.

"Tae.." the older pleaded since he knew exactly where this may be taken.

"Ofcourse you remember. You are right there in the picture. So am I, in her tummy. She was so beautiful, wasn't she?"

Taehyung placed the crown back on his head and flashed a beaming smile at the other.

"You have had your fair share of time with her hyung-nim. Let me have mine. I beg you."

"Taehyungie you don't understand what this means. There will be no record of you in history of Arauna. Face it, you don't join us for wars or expeditions, you are not in the training records. You are nowhere."

"This was the only contigency you had taehyung. One day when we are gone, there will be no record of you. This is their scheme, her scheme, to rid the Kim family off you. Nobody will know Kim taehyung was a prince!"

Taehyung's smile widened at this forming the glorious box that it famously does, eyes crinkling. "That is more than I could ever ask for." he said giggling after. His brother sighed defeated.

"Come here you stubborn little monkey!" he engulfed his brother in a warm embrace at which both of them sighed depicting different emotions.

"I better go show the new dazzling me to my friends." the petite beauty rushed away leaving behind the older who smiled sadly. "Where do you gather this endurance from, Tae?"

The said boy rushed through the halls almost bumping into the tacky flower decorations and strangers calling out for his attention. He couldn't care less at the moment. He slipped rummaging through the ballroom, the halls, the kitchen, even his chamber until he realized after a protracted period that-

Jungkook was gone.

================================

The picture above has nothing to do with the storyline I just thought he looks extremely pretty (when does he not tho)  and wanted to treat your eyes for reading my book.

(credits to the rightful owner)

Also I'm the master of typing errors. Please (winter) bear 🐻 with me.
You are totally allowed to make fun of it tho! :D

Bye bye