"Where am I?" Jungkook groaned, feeling his nostrils blocked due to crying before he passed out. 

"You are in my house, my prince," Jungkook looked at Jimin stirring something in a cauldron from the living hall into the kitchen. The fragrance was refreshing and somewhat appetizing, and it alone made the prince feel a little less gloomy. "You must be hungry. The food will be done in ten minutes." Jimin covered the lid and made his way toward the diwan. 

Jungkook blinked and looked around. The house wasn't of stone, but wood. It wasn't as big as his castle, but it was really comfortable and gave a feeling of peace and warmth. Jimin sat over a chair beside the diwan and looked at the prince staring back at him with empty, big ovals. Jungkook anticipated more words from Jimin, but the man only calmly observed Jungkook. "Are you a private detector for hiring?" He mumbled softly.

It caused Jimin to smile softly. "I provide therapy, my prince. I apologize again for the intrusion. My ways might not have been ideal, but I promised his highness that I wouldn't stop until I have figured everything out."

"Do you do this for your other patients or am I the one getting special treatment?" Jungkook asked timidly, yet his usual haughtiness was beginning to return in his tone. 

Jimin felt relieved that Jungkook was remedying the trauma. "I will set the table for dinner, young prince. Please allow me a few minutes."

Jungkook turned on his back from his position to stare at the ceiling. Where expensive chandeliers hung in his bed-chamber, there was a lantern light mousily igniting here in the same place. The bedding was smelling faintly of frangipani and the house, albeit dimly lit, was clean. The car keys sat on the side table. If this was any other place, he would feel repulsed. It was a protocol to get a place cleaned by the royal staff if the prince wanted to stay there. "Do you need my help in getting up?" Jimin asked, standing two feet apart from the diwan. 

"Yes," Jungkook uttered emotionlessly. "I think I am going to be sick. Where is the bathroom?"

Jimin's eyes widened as he unquestionably ambled towards the prince, offering his hand. Jungkook put his gloved fingers into the older's palm and sat up with a little help. Jimin walked the prince to the bathroom and waited outside.

Jungkook skimmed around.

The place was equipped with everything, only it was smaller and much cheaper, but that didn't hinder the prince's fascination. This was the first time he was in a commoner's house. He remembered asking his father if the commoners had big vineyards, at which, the king always laughed and said, "the commoners might not have the biggest of homes or prettiest of gardens, but they have the most beautiful hearts." 

The feeling of the insides twisting suddenly stopped as he breathed and scoured for the mirror. He'd never gone so long in a day without looking at himself. As he examined his tear-stained face, he felt disgusted. A man so delinquent didn't deserve to be called a prince. Turning the tap, he filled his gloved palms with water and splashed it over his cheeks, rubbing his fingers deftly over the skin right after. 

The mesh of the gloves, albeit knitted with threads of silk, scrubbed against the silkier skin, and a hiss left his mouth. Now directing his anger towards the piece of fabric, he pulled them off with the help of his teeth and threw them on the floor. 

Jimin worried outside, but couldn't do anything and only waited for the prince to return. 

When Jungkook walked out, his nose was red like a cherry tomato. "Are you alright, young prince?" Jimin's eyes dripped with sheer concern as he stalked closer to the man who smelled out of this world. 

"What did you cook?" Jungkook asked instead, seeing the utter concern in Jimin's eyes, and still not showing mercy to answer him. 

"I have made white rice with seaweed soup. There is also beef bone soup." Jimin answered, feeling amused because he found himself sounding like a server in the hotel. But anything for the kingdom prince whom he began to adore too much. 

"I can have some beef bone soup. Do you have kimchi?" Jungkook speculated, chin high and chest puffed as he stood with poise, now bare hands joined together. His hair was no longer straight and the tussock on his forehead had turned wavy as it softly blew with the cross breeze. 

"This way, prince."

Jimin led the man into a very ergonomically arranged dining hall. It was near the kitchen and also the living room. If Jungkook was being honest, he loved Jimin's house. He made a note to ask the older counselor to rent his humble cabin to him for a few days, and, in return, he could offer the strange-haired man to live in the grandest of hotels. 

"How much money do you earn?" 

Jimin turned to see Jungkook standing by the chair and staring at the pots kept over the kitchen island. "Apologies, my prince. It is considered rude to ask a man his income and a woman her age." He wanted to know what was going on inside the prince's head, but he was relieved that at least the thoughts weren't detrimental. 

"Do you think I can ever become a good king like my father?" Jungkook asked next, holding the wood on the backrest of the chair. His eyes were on the table and his fingers fiddled with the solid surface. 

Understanding that if he commented on it, Jungkook might break down again, Jimin wanted the prince to eat first, so he ignored him. He brought a tray with four food bowls neatly placed on them and an empty plate and cutlery. "Please eat."

"Where is your food?" Jungkook looked up from his barren state. 

"I will eat once you have eaten."

Jungkook nodded, sitting down on the table, and hesitantly brought his hand with soup to his lips, blowing on it before slurping some. Jimin's eyes continued to keenly gauge for any sign of discomfort, but he smiled when Jungkook picked speed and started eating deliciously.  

"Do you have more soup?" He asked, holding an empty bowl towards the man who stood at a distance. 

"You can eat as much as you like." Jimin accepted the bowl and quickly dashed into the kitchen to refill the steaming-hot soup into it.

As he returned the full bowl, Jungkook resumed eating. "Eat with me," the younger commanded, feeling his stomach thanking him for the delicious food. It wasn't a 12-course meal, but at the time of hunger, it looked no less than any royal feast. "Sit there." Jungkook pointed his chopsticks at a chair.  

Jimin brought his own food and settled down on the chair the young prince wanted him to take. They ate in silence. Jungkook finished first and sat silently, looking at Jimin eating and sometimes looking away. On asking if he wanted more, he only shook his head. Jimin finished his own meal quickly and cleaned the table.

**

"You take the bedroom, I will sleep in the living room." Jimin offered,  looking at Jungkook still sitting at the chair when he returned after washing the utensils. 

"Will you tell my father about it?" Jungkook asked, his voice devoid of emotions and his body catatonic.

It terrified Jimin and he crouched down on the floor. He'd made a promise to the king and it was his duty to fulfill it. He couldn't make a reinvigorated promise to the prince that he wouldn't. "Don't worry about this and get some rest." The counselor formed the words carefully. 

Jungkook nodded, unable to make eye contact with the outsider he somehow trusted. As he shifted in the room, he felt safe in the filmy night of a stranger's house. Now that he was left alone with his thoughts, the pain in his chest returned. Turning to his side softly, he closed his eyes, curling into himself.

He couldn't sleep for hours, knowing he was so close to finding out for himself, so close to seeing if Jimin was speaking the truth. Slowly, he walked out of the room and spotted Jimin lying on the diwan. He held his shoes in his hands and, on light feet, crossed Yeon to get out of the house before picking up his car keys.

Jimin was so tired after driving for half a day that he snoozed the moment he hit his head on the pillows, unwary that Jungkook had driven off. Although it was only ten at night, it was dark and the electricity was off due to the damage done by the rain. 

Jungkook drove frantically, not having a care in the world, as if a prince's life meant nothing. Asking a few locals, he found the institute easily and barged in.

This time, the old receptionist was drowsy and the prince avoided him successfully. He still had no clue which room was he looking for. Darting around fervently, it clicked. If he wanted private time, he would stay afar from the crowd, and with that thought, his eyes spotted a dark corridor. Towards the end of it, there was a door handle that shimmered faintly under the lantern light. 

Jungkook ran for it, suddenly feeling that it was a mistake. If he saw something on the other side of the door, he would crash and burn. 

But he also couldn't return without discovering the truth one more time like a coward.

His fingers held the door handle, gripping it. He retreated his hands and wrung them. Every sense in his body intermingled. He hadn't a clue what he was doing when he kicked the door open and spotted two naked men lying in the comfort of the blanket. 

At the bottom was the strange face and on top was his Lee Geon that he could recognize even on the opaquest night. The man who taught him how to make love, a man who promised him a love tale. The same lover was now making love to another man. 

On the intrusion, Lee Geon's eyes went wide as he spotted the prince, Jeon Jungkook. He pulled out of another male and jumped on the ground, having the sanity to wrap his lower body inside the blanket. "Jungkook-"

The prince had the confirmation he needed and when he turned and ran with all the strength in his legs, he didn't cry. All he knew was he needed to go back to the safe house. 

His mind suddenly turned numb and he could hear his ears ringing as he drove carelessly. Within a matter of a few minutes, he found a familiar wooden house. The door was still open as he had left earlier. He looked at Jimin sleeping peacefully as he entered and made a bee-line to his room. 

Just as his shivering form fell on the bed, the soft sobs ripped free from his lips as his face scrunched. He tried to push his face into a pillow so it would stop, but nothing helped. Hands trembled, teeth clattered, ribs hurt, and muscles bit him as tremors broke unrestrained. He couldn't control his voice anymore. Wanting to let the pain out, he pulled his face back from the pillow and screamed.

Jimin's legs dropped onto the cold wood just as he heard the ear-curdling shriek and they ran across the hall. "Prince?" Jimin turned on the bedside lamp to only brighten the room enough to bring a sense of security to the younger, but he found the bed empty. 

"Prin-"

Jimin's back was pushed harshly into the bed and he felt a hand choking his neck firmly. On top of him was Jungkook with the same sinister look in his eyes that he'd seen in the hotel and when the prince's hand started to unbutton his pants, Jimin's heart stopped. He looped his foot in between the prince's legs that positively were on the ground and curled them, causing the younger to lose balance. He simultaneously used force to bring the younger onto the bed and it was now his hand that choked Jungkook as the tables turned and he hovered on top. 

"I am older than you, stronger than you, and more experienced. How -"

"Jimin-n," the younger hiccuped. "My chest, I don't think I can stop it this time. I think I will die."

Once again, Jimin was rendered speechless, knowing with Jungkook's very condition, he needed to be comforted, so he pulled him up in his lap and hugged him close to his chest. "Shhh... You can do it, my prince. Focus. Breathe..."

As Jimin rocked the younger male into his lap, he breathed through it, asking the man to copy him. "Just like me, breathe."

He didn't look at the prince's face to save him the humiliation later, but when Jungkook put his head over his shoulder, Jimin's eyes fell on him. The wobbling lips, the red face, the bulging veins, and the ever-flowing streams of tears broke his heart. "I know it hurts," Jimin continued to rock the male. "I know you want to go look for him and ask for the reason. But no explanation will make it better. I know you loved him and he didn't love you back as you wanted. But you are strong. You are the son of Jeon Sun-Young. You are kind, beautiful... You deserve the world and you will feel peace again. I promise you. You will mend and you will become stronger."

"Why did he d-do this to me? W-why did he play with me? Am I r-really that ugly?"

"No, little one," Jimin cooed. "You are the most appealing man, the most innocent, one of a kind. I have never laid my eyes on anyone quite like you."

"Will you hold me close, please?" Jungkook bunched Jimin's chest through his muslin shirt tightly. 

"I will," Jimin hugged the poor little man close, tightening his grip around his waist, making him feel secure. "I can hold you forever if you need me to." He mumbled softly.