Seokjin woke up with a start, startled by a loud knocking on his bedroom door. He was somewhat thankful, for it had interrupted yet another nightmare, which he seemed to be having more and more frequently as the weeks passed.
"Seokjin, are you awake yet?" he was asked from the other side of the door.
Seokjin wanted to pretend to still be asleep, to spend another hour on his own, with nothing but a few sheets of paper and the chirping birds outside his bedroom window to keep him company. But he knew he couldn't do that, and wouldn't be able to for quite sometime. No, the only time that he got to spend on his own was when was asleep and those seemed to be the few hours that he actually needed someone beside him. From the moment he was woken up until he fell asleep, he found himself in the company of Yoongi, and sometimes Seokjin wondered if the man ever slept.
"Yes, I am" he replied reluctantly as he sat up in his bed. "Good morning, Yoongi" he yawned as the door swung open. The younger man smiled at him, and with the light of the rising sun shinning across his face he looked almost angelic in Seokjin's eyes.
"Good morning, Your Highness" said Yoongi, approaching the bed. "There's not much to do today, just having lunch with Taehyung and Jungkook seeing as the latter is leaving tonight" he explained as he sat on the edge of the bed. "You should probably go into town this afternoon, it's been a while since the people have seen you and rumours have started to spread" he said as his hands fiddled with the soft fabric of the bed sheets. Seokjin nodded, amused by the fact that a mere fortnight away from the public was long enough for people to start talking.
"Okay, Yoongi" he said as he shifted to get out of bed. "That's a good idea actually, we can take Jungkook with us and he can pick a going away present from the market place" he said, stretching his arms and rolling his broad shoulders before taking his nightware off. "Maybe we should ask Taehyung to come with us as well."
"Of course, Your Highness" said Yoongi, collecting the discarded clothes from the floor as Seokjin started dressing himself.
"That's twice you've called me that now, Yoongi" Seokjin observed. "You'd think that after all the things we've done together that you'd call me by my name" he said, winking at Yoongi as he finished getting dressed.
"Some might think that, but they have absolutely no idea how much you love being called 'Your Highness' when it's just you and I." Seokjin was about to respond when a loud crash turned both their attentions towards the doorway, and they both ran into the hall and in the direction of the cry of pain that had followed the crash.
After perhaps a minute of running through corridors they saw a large group of people gathered at the top of a flight of stairs, and as they reached the crowd Jungkook was back on his feet and rubbing his shoulder with a grimace on his face.
"Jungkook? What happened?" Seokjin asked his youngest brother as people moved aside for him to get closer. He could a graze on his Jungkook's chin and discovered that one of the suits of armour was lying on the floor as opposed to being mounted on its stand.
"I was seeing how fast I could run from one end of this place to the other and I tripped" Jungkook explained, rolling his shoulder. "I'm fine, though. Don't worry, Seokjin" he said when he saw the look of concern on his brother's face. "Ah, hello Yoongi!" the boy exclaimed with a smile on his face as Yoongi peered around Seokjin to get a look at him.
"Good morning" said Yoongi, mirroring Jungkook's smile. "I see you've been out already this morning" he said, looking up and down at him a couple of times before his eyes settled on the graze on his chin. "The young prince is fine, you can all leave now" he said to the crowd that had gathered, and they all turned around and left except for one young man that lingered for a few more seconds before someone pulled on his arm and he followed after them. He perhaps a couple of years older than Jungkook, and Seokjin vaguely recalled seeing him somewhere before.
"You know, Seokjin" said Jungkook as he picked the helmet of the armour up off the floor, "this place is so big that I thought that the rumours that I'd heard were true."
"What rumours?" Seokjin cocked his head at his brother, curious about what they might have been saying about him.
"You know" began Jungkook, "the usual: that you and a maiden have run off; that you've fallen gravely ill; that you and Yoongi have gone into hiding..." Seokjin looked at Yoongi, who was smirking at him with an eyebrow so high that it was practically hidden beneath his black fringe. He laughed, knowing that Yoongi was thinking the same thing that he was.
"What's so funny?" said a voice from above them, making them all turn around and look up. Standing at the top of the stairs was Seokjin's second youngest brother. He stood tall and majestic, head tilted forwards so that he didn't have to look down his nose at them. "Well?" he asked as he descended the stairs to join them. "I want to laugh too" he said before faking a frown.
"People think that I have run away with Yoongi, apparently" Seokjin explained as Taehyung reached them. His brother offered him an amused smile and a soft noise under his breath before they all carried on walking. "Are you two free after lunch?"
"I was planning on emptying the kitchen out, actually" said Jungkook. "But that can wait until I get back if you need me."
"Yoongi suggested that I make an appearance in town this afternoon and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to buy you a gift before you leave" Seokjin said as they reached the bottom of the stairs, a large corridor that was full of doors, most of which he had never seen open, stretching out in front of them. At the very end of it there was a bigger door, made of darker, thicker wood, that lead into a small hall.
"That sounds nice" said Jungkook thoughtfully. "But you don't have to buy me any gifts. I'll be happy just to spend time with my brothers and Yoongi" he continued. "What do you think, Taehyung?"
"Hmmm?" Taehyung seemed to have lost track of the conversation, and his hair bounced lightly when he turned his attention back to his younger brother. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"Seokjin has invited us to go into town with him this afternoon" Jungkook explained.
"Ah, of course!" Taehyung exclaimed enthusiastically. "I would love to."
They were about to reach the door at the end of the corridor when it burst open and a young man fell to the ground at their feet. He rushed to stand up again, panting. Seokjin asked him what had happened. "It's, uh- it's The King, Your Highness.." he mumbled before a small sob escaped his throat.
"The King? What about him?" asked Yoongi, a mixture of worry and confusion in his voice. The man sniffed and muffled another sob as he lowered his, which Jungkook lifted gently with his hand.
"He's... dead" he said, unable to hold Jungkook's gaze. "The King is dead."