Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When the last nobleman left the room, the remaining trio let out a collective sigh.

“I will never understand how the sickness took my husband but none of those decrepit old men,” Queen Taeri says with a groan as she rubs her temples.

“Mother!” “Your majesty!”

The queen rolls her eyes and gives her son and friend a dismissive wave. “Oh I know you two are thinking it too! Especially you, Hanchul! Some of these lords have been on the council since you were a child. Is this not Lord Yongjae’s third king?”

“Fourth,” Hanchul mutters under his breath. He turns to look at Taehyung. “He got appointed during the last year of your great-grandfather’s reign.”

“That makes it even worse!” Taeri shrieks. “I don’t know why these men cannot put aside their egos and let their heirs come take their spots. We need new perspectives here.”

Hanchul sighs. “Your majesty, you know as well as I do that these men do not let go of their positions until they die.”

“That can be arranged,” the queen mutters under her breath. Taehyung can’t help the cackle that escapes his mouth while Hanchul lets out a pained groan. His mother simply shrugs.

Hanchul stands from his chair and fixes the two royals with a glare. “I believe it is best I take my leave before I hear something that will put me at jeopardy.” Taeri scoffs while Taehyung nods to the nobleman.

“Thank you for your work today, Uncle Hanchul, and for supporting me in courting Jimin.”

Lord Hanchul sighs again as he gives Taehyung a stern. “As long as you keep your promise, your majesty. If my son says no then you must find someone else.”

“Yes sir,” Taehyung instantly responds with a slight bow. Hanchul studies him for a moment, Taehyung thinks he’s like Jimin, watching to see if this is some kind of joke. Once he realizes that Taehyung is serious in his response, the lord returns his nod and takes his leave.

After the door shuts, Taehyung looks over at his noticeably quiet mother.

Queen Taeri’s appearance is always at the center of conversation. Since youth she’s been considered one of the most beautiful people in the kingdom. Taehyung has always agreed, but looking at her now he sees a difference.

She’s lost weight due to not eating. Her naturally sharp cheekbones now give her a worn look. Her eyes rimmed red from a mixture of crying and lack of sleep. Her hair usually twisted in intricate styles, rests in a simple bun, littered with stray hair pieces. Instead of the upright posture expected of a queen, she slumps back in her chair.

If Taehyung could use one word to describe her he would say she looks tired.

He reaches over to take her hand in his, squeezing it a few times to comfort her. His mother looks up and gives him a weary smile.

“Go rest, mother,” he says while squeezing her hand. “You don’t need to do anything else today.”

“Now now, you do not get to command me just because you are king now. I am still your mother and I am still a queen,” she says, giving Taehyung’s hand a tight squeeze right back. She keeps her hold on him and sits upright, shoulders back, and head held up. Taehyung instinctively finds himself moving to match her posture. This is not just a mother-to-son talk.

This is King Taehyung and Queen Taeri speaking monarch to monarch.

“I apologize, Queen Mother.”

“Apology accepted,” she responds as she lets go of the king’s hand. “Now what is this nonsense promise you made to Lord Hanchul?”

“You heard him, your majesty. I promised him that if Jimin turned down my proposal I would accept his rejection and find another suitor.”

The two lock their sharp gazes. There’s a mocking tilt on the queen’s lips.

“It is not good for a king to make promises he does not intend to keep.”

Taehyung takes a deep breath. He thinks about what his father always told him: “Queen Taeri has a sharp tongue, but it makes one a better king.”

So he swallows down the retort he wants to give and asks, “May I ask Her Majesty why she thinks I will not fulfill the promise?”

“If you were willing to accept no as an answer then we would not be having this conversation. You would have accepted Jimin’s first rejection and settled down with Lady Jihye or Prince Hyungsik or any of the other suitors you had over the years.”

“Your Maj—”

“And most importantly, I am your mother.”

Queen Taeri smiles at the king before she pushes back her chair and stands from her seat. King Taehyung watches as slowly walks over to the windows behind him. With her back to him, she speaks again.

“Did you know your father rejected my proposal?”

“What?” Taehyung gasps, finding his mother’s admission hard to believe. “Why would he do that?”

“It was well known throughout the kingdom that Lord Dowoon, the heir of the Lee family, had asked for my hand in marriage. Everyone assumed I would accept it because it would be a powerful union, considering we were two of the wealthiest families. Your father thought the same and said as much when he wrote to me to reject me.”

Taeri turns to face her son again. Relief fills Taehyung’s heart when he sees the bright smile on his mother’s face. It’s the first time since his father’s death that she’s been able to talk about him without falling into tears.

“I did not want to be just another rich noblewoman.” Taehyung follows his mother’s gaze to one of the paintings on the wall. There are various portraits of the kings who had ruled their kingdom.

“Since I was a little girl I knew I wanted to be a queen. I wanted the power to make changes and make Wyentar a better place.” She sighs as she turns to face her son again. “But I was not born into the royal family, my father was not a member of the royal council, and I could never wage a war to take the throne. Marrying the crown prince was my only hope.”

“And to think that I always believed that you and father married for love.”

Taehyung gives himself mental praise when his mother lets out an undignified snort and laughs at his outburst.

“Oh, Taehyungie. It may not have started that way, but we did reach that point.” She looks at her son with a soft smile and warm eyes. The memories of his father finally bring her peace and not just pain. “I made your father fall in love with me by being a constant presence in his life.”

“When my father was called to the palace on some business I begged him to bring me along. Yeji and I had hatched a plan where the crown prince would see just how much he needed me. I was the first person he saw when he left his chambers each morning and the last person he saw before he retired every night. I took all my meals with him, joined him to read books in the library, listened to him play music, even cheered him on as he did his exercises and sword practices.”

With each word, Taehyung leans closer to his mother, intrigued by the story no one had ever told him.

“It was easy for Hyun-soo to say no to me over a letter, but he did not have the confidence to say it to my face. He tried to ignore me for the first few days, but eventually gave in and started talking to me. It also helped that his family took a strong liking to my presence. By the end of our visit I had the whole palace smitten and I was deeply in love with your father.”

Taehyung sits at the edge of his seat as if he’s at a thrilling performance. “And so he proposed before you left?”

“No.”

“WHAT?”

“Kim Hyun-soo was quite thick headed in his youth. Hanchul was the one who eventually told me that Hyun-soo was in denial that I actually wanted to be with a ‘boring man like him.’ So when Hyun-soo came to see us off from the palace, I gave him a kiss on the cheek right before I turned around and left without another word.”

“What happened afterwards?”

Taeri turns to her son, her lips turned up into a mischievous smile. She steps closer to Taehyung and looks at each other so that they are at eye level. “A week after we got back home, your father started sending me letters. I never responded to any of them. That kept up for about a month until he finally showed up at our doorstep. He asked to speak with me in private and once we were alone he got on his knees and begged me to forgive him and to accept his courtship because he couldn’t live without me.”

Gobsmacked, Taehyung watches as his mother stands back up and walks over to the window again. When she briefly looks back at him he takes that as a sign to follow her. Standing side by side he follows her gaze into the garden and sees what she’s been looking at.

Park Jimin sits on the bench looking at the fountain in the middle of the garden.

He does not know how long they stand there watching Jimin, but the silence is broken once his mother speaks again.

“Trust me, your majesty,” she says as a queen again. “I know better than anyone that you will not accept a rejection.”

Taehyung feels her hand wrap around his chin as she turns his head towards her. Her sharp eyes bore into his.

“If you want to be successful you must have a plan. You must show Jimin that his life is nothing without you by his side.”

Jimin takes another deep breath as he looks at the tree sapling.

It’s been over a month since he was last allowed outside. Both he and his mother caught the sickness that came through the kingdom. To contain the spread, the two of them were quartered away in their palace rooms. At first, their only contact was each other and the servants that cared for them. Once their symptoms lessened, his father was allowed to visit them. What should have been an exciting reunion quickly grimed with the news his father brought.

King Hyun-soo had died.

Jimin remembers how his chest tightened as he watched his father stutter and sob while giving them the news. As a family, they wept for the man who was more than just their king, but an additional family member His mother worked herself into a coughing fit as she panicked about the condition of Queen Taeri. That sent Jimin’s mind spiraling about his friend. His father seemed to sense his worry and assured him that Taehyung was alright and would be back in time for the funeral.

As soon as the king fell sick the crown prince was sent to another castle in a less populated area to wait for the sickness to pass. Jimin had been making arrangements to join his friend when he became sick. His father had sent a letter to Taehyung informing him of Jimin’s illness.

Taehyung wrote to him a few times, but too sick to sit at his desk and not wanting to dictate to the servants who were already working hard, Jimin never responded.

This was the longest the two had been separated and Jimin desperately wanted to see his friend again.

It’s been exactly one week since the funeral. Jimin begged and pleaded with his father to allow him to attend. The nobleman declined, saying Jimin needed to rest as possible before returning to his duties.

With one last look at the sapling, Jimin makes his way back to the forest entrance. King’s Forest is a section of the palace land that had been marked off by one of the kings decades ago. He had wanted to be buried under a tree, believing that he would still live to care for the kingdom as long as the tree still stood. While he was the only king to be buried there, the tradition continues that each one still receives a tree upon his death.

As soon as he steps back into the garden he hears a voice he could recognize anywhere calling behind him.

“Park Jimin!”

He turns around to see Taehyung striding towards him. Without thinking, he instantly takes off in his direction. They both run to each other, colliding in a tight embrace.

They stand there, letting the world around them slip away as they hold each other closer.

He whines when Taehyung pulls back from the embrace. “Why are you crying, Jimin-ah?,” Taehyung asks, bringing up his hands to wipe away tears. Jimin had not even realized that he was crying.

“I-I missed you so much, Taehyungie.”

“I missed too,” Taehyung softly responds. He pulls Jimin closer as he plants a kiss on his forehead.

“I am also so sorry Taehyung.”

Jimin has to stop himself from cooing at the way Taehyung’s eyebrows scrunch and he tilts his head in confusion.

“What are you apologizing for?”

“For not being there for you. I was supposed to travel with you and I got sick. Then I did not respond to your letters. I even missed your father’s fu–”

“Jimin,” Taehyung cuts him off. His tone is harsh and his fingernails dig into Jimin’s arms.

“You do not apologize for being sick and recovering.”

“But Taehy–,” Jimin is cut off again when Taehyung pulls them closer. Their foreheads rest against each other. Their proximity is close, too close for an open space. But for once Jimin does not care enough to scold his friend. He has missed their closeness and the peace it brings him. So instead of resisting, he closes his eyes and wraps his arms tighter around Taehyung.

“You do not need to apologize, do you understand?”

“I understand.”

“Good,” Taehyung mutters before kissing Jimin's cheek as they continue holding each other in the middle of the garden.

Taehyung dismissed the current royal court season. He instructed the nobles who remained at the palace to go back to their homes and assess what problems their lands were facing after the sickness passed. Today Lord Hanchul, Lady Yeji, and the Queen Mother were traveling back.

Although the Parks mainly resided in the palace, they did have the dominion that they oversaw. They were traveling to visit their family, and on the way there they would take Queen Taeri to her ancestral castle to visit with her family as well.

Taehyung and Jimin stood side by side in front of the stairs as they watched the carriages be prepared for their parents.

“Well you two look like a beautiful couple,” Lady Yeji teases as she walks to the two young men.

Taehyung chuckles while Jimin hisses a sharp, “Mother.”

“Yeji, please leave the boys alone,” Hanchul says as he walks to his wife. He looks at the two boys in question, “now you two know that if you need me for anything, I will return as soon as I receive a letter.”

“Yes sir,” the two respond in unison.

Lady Yeji looked between the two as tears welled in her eyes. “I remember all those years ago when Taeri and I first moved to the palace. And now we are leaving to let our sons rule.”

Hanchul and Jimin protested her dramatics while Taehyung remained sympathetic. “It will only be for a few months, Aunt Yeji. You all will be back soon.”

“She knows Taehyung, let her have her moment of theatrics.”

Everyone present turns and bows as Queen Taeri descends the stairs. She greets everyone before turning to her son. “Your majesty, may I speak with you for a moment?”

Taehyung mutters a polite, “excuse me,” before he steps away with his mother. Yeji turns to Jimin, grabbing his arm to pull him close to her.

“A little birdie told me that the king has a gift for you.”

“Mother,” Jimin grumbles, “I do not think her majesty will appreciate being called a little birdie.”

His mother ignores his comment and continues with her ramble. “I want you to be open minded during this time, understand?”

“Yes ma’am.”

A few minutes later, Taehyung and Queen Taeri rejoin them. “I believe it is now time for us to say goodbye.”

The goodbyes went with sobbing from Lady Yeji and a few discrete tears shed by Queen Taeri and Lord Hanchul. Jimin and Taehyung remained in front of the palace, watching their carriages until they disappeared over the horizon.

The silence that lingered between the two was broken by Taehyung.

“Jimin, come with me. I have something to give you.”

Excitement seized Jimin the moment they entered the hall to the royal suites.

It was far from his first time in the area of the palace. He was a familiar face due to his frequent visits to Taehyung’s bed chambers. However, Taehyung moved into the king’s chamber and Jimin believes that is where they are going.

Until they stop in front of Queen Taeri’s room.

“Taehyung,” Jimin starts before Taehyung can open the door. “Why are we in your mother’s room?”

Taehyung’s sly smile makes a pit of nerves within his stomach. With no other words, Taehyung opens the door and pulls Jimin into the room.

Despite never entering the room, Jimin had heard many stories about it from Taehyung. He always spoke of how dark the room was with deep green walls and brown curtains. The room Jimin currently stands in looks worlds different.

The room shines bright with its cream-colored walls. The open curtains also carry a cream color with gold embroidery. Various plants rest along the windowsill behind the back of the loveseat sitting in front of the window.

Against the other wall are two cherry wood dressers with a matching vanity sitting between them. On the opposite wall was a door to what Jimin assumes is a private washroom. Beside Jimin is a massive canopy bed in the same cherry wood as the other furniture.

“Taehyung, this is a beautiful room,” Jimin says as he runs his hand on the soft blankets on the bed. “But are we here?”

“There’s one more thing for you to see,” Taehyung replies, completely avoiding Jimin’s question. Grabbing his friend by the shoulders, Taehyung spins him around to see the last wall in the room. It has the same base cream color as the other walls, but unlike the others, it is decorated with intricate hand-painted images of various flowers.

“How lovely,” Jimin whispers as he walks up to the wall. His fingers trace a painting of ivy that looks freshly painted. “Did you have this painted?”

“I did,” Taehyung's voice comes next to his ear. Jimin jumps, not expecting the other to be so close. He feels Taehyung lay his hands on his waist to settle him.

“Why? I thought you were staying in the king’s chamber now.”

“I am.”

“Then who is this for?”

Jimin feels Taehyung rest his chin on his shoulder and nuzzle his face into his. A shiver goes down his spine when he feels Taehyung’s lips on his ear.

“This room is now your room.”

They stand like this as his words wash over Jimin.

Taehyung had this room redone for him. This room, the queen’s chamber, is now his.

“HAVE YOU GONE MAD?” Jimin tears himself from the other’s embrace and pushes him away.

Offended at the outburst, Taehyung glares back at Jimin. “Me? You are the one yelling and shoving. What is wrong with you?”

“Me! Think about what you are doing, Taehyung! You cannot give this room to me.”

“And why not?”

“Because it is meant for your future spouse, not your royal advisor!”

Jimin pulls at his hair in frustration. He cannot understand why Taehyung does not understand the error of his actions.

“Just because that is the custom does not mean that is the rule, Jimin. You of all people should know that.”

Taehyung takes a stride closer, getting into Jimin’s personal space. “I am the king now, Jimin. I have the power to create or get rid of these rules you love so much.”

“And you are abusing your power, your majesty. I could report you to the royal council.”

Jimin knows there is no power behind his words. He could never bring himself to report Taehyung and Taehyung knows it too.

“Angel, we both know you would never do that to me.”

Jimin’s breath hitches at the new name. Throughout their life, Taehyung has given him many names, but angel is new.

He’s brought back to focus when he feels Taehyung’s palm on his cheek. “Besides, just think if you tell them that our problem is that you do not want to sleep in a room next to mine. Do you know how many of them would quickly offer up their sons or daughters to take your place.”

“I will not let that happen!”

Jimin slaps his hand over his mouth, startled at his outbursts, while Taehyung bursts into laughter.

“Well I would say that settles this discussion,” Taehyung says through his chuckles. Jimin grumbles in agreement.

“Fine, yes, I will take this room. Thank you for preparing it for me, your majesty. But I hope this is the end of your gifts.”

“Oh darling,” Taehyung says, wrapping his other arm around Jimin’s waist, drawing him closer. “I’m just getting started.”