Chapter Text
Seokjin walks past a distressed looking Jungkook.
As an alpha that is sensitive to the scent of another omega, Seokjin had immediately sensed the apprehension rolling off in waves from the handmaid’s honey lemon scent. He had to stop the young man from running around to ask what exactly was he so stressed about.
Still breathing heavily, but trying to make himself look more presentable in front of the second alpha king, Jungkook pants out. “It is Prince Namjoon, your majesty.”
Seokjin’s heart hammers inside his chest. “What happened to him? Is everything okay?”
Jungkook once again exhales tiredly. “I have been looking everywhere for the prince, your grace.” He glances worriedly at the second alpha king. “And I just cannot find him.”
The handmaid looks down and flinches, expecting the king to lash out at him.
To Jungkook’s utter surprise though, Seokjin simply giggles. The handmaid didn’t know what to think, but of course, he learnt to never question his king. “Have no worries, Jungkook.” The king smiles, as he remembers the silhouette of a six feet tall omega that ran past him just a few minutes ahead of the handmaid. “I know exactly where he is.”
And the second alpha king was never mistaken.
For there indeed at the border of the gardens, just short from the lake hidden beneath the palace trees, a tall and dimpled omega was hunched over a plant. “Oh look at you, cutie,” He cooed as he spoke to what seemed to be a little ladybug. “Now go, and don’t let yourself be eaten.”
A fond giggle escapes Seokjin’s lips as Jungkook sighs exhaustingly. The sound snaps Namjoon’s head towards the alpha king and his handmaid’s direction. His eyes widen, gaze shifting downwards, a little ashamed as he takes in his company. “Your Majesty. Jungkookie.”
“Hyung.” Jungkook sighs, forgetting that the second alpha king could hear him call his prince so informally. “I was looking everywhere for you.”
At least Namjoon had the audacity to look sorry. “Sorry Kookie, I saw a butterfly and I literally got carried away.”
Jungkook would be mad, if this was the first time this actually happened. But in more than half the year Namjoon has been in the castle, the number of times Namjoon has pulled something like this has already gone past his fingers. Maybe that’s why the king beside him could only laugh fondly.
“Oh, Joonie,” The king coos as he inches closer towards the omega prince. “You have to be careful, sweetheart. Remember, we told you to always tell your handmaid where you are.”
“I know, I know.” Namjoon sighs out. “I am sorry, your Majesty.”
Seokjin lifts an eyebrow at that, and Namjoon immediately understands his error. “Hyung.” He tries again. “I am sorry, Seokjin hyung.”
It was only around a month ago did Seokjin insist that the omega prince call him hyung, after all, so he understands that Namjoon might still sometimes slip. But that’s okay, the omega had a very, very long time to get used to it.
“What are you even doing here, Namjoonie?” The alpha king questions as he fixes the omega prince’s messy collar.
“I wanted to go past the lake and see the waterfall, hyung.” Namjoon tells him excitedly. “I was going to drag Kookie with me as soon as I found him.”
Jungkook almost snorts from beside the king. “You mean when, I, find you, hyung.” And Namjoon only smiles sheepishly. “Fine, come on. Please wear your slippers, hyungie.”
But Seokjin abruptly puts his hand on Jungkook’s forearm, disabling him from taking another step. “That would not be needed, Jungkook.” He smiles at the confused look on the handmaid's adorable face. “For I will be taking Namjoon to the waterfalls myself.”
Well, that was unexpected. But it was a surprise Namjoon welcomed with an excited clap to his hands.
“Really, hyung?” If Namjoon was a puppy, his tail would probably be wagging in excitement. “You will take me there?”
The second alpha king finds himself smiling fondly, his hand reaching out to poke one of those dimples that he absolutely adored as he smiled at the omega prince. “Why of course, Joonie. Now come on, little one, before I change my mind.”
Without another word, Seokjin intertwines his hands with Namjoon’s own, not missing the way the prince blushed. The two royals left Jungkook by the gardens, ready on call in case they needed help. The waterfalls were not even that far, just a little walk past the lake. So the omega prince and the alpha king arrive after a fifteen minute walk.
“Wow,” Namjoon sighs out with an amazed look in his eyes, as if it was the first time he arrived here. “It gets even more beautiful every time I see it.”
Like you. Seokjin almost bites out.
Instead, he only shakes his head fondly, “Shall we take a closer look?”
The omega prince nods enthusiastically. He smiles so widely and so excitedly that the king could not help but mirror his glee. The omega's dimples pop out as he drags Seokjin closer to the falls.
And Seokjin’s heart crashes louder than the waters everytime he sees those dimples.
Namjoon was looking at the beauty of the waters in front of him when he then caught sight of a fading hickey on Seokjin’s neck. He looks down, feeling a little trinket of pain in his chest. He remembers that Seokjin just had his rut two weeks ago, and he spent it with their first alpha king, King Taehyung.
Well, he is Seokjin and Namjoon’s alpha, but Taehyung is only Seokjin’s mate.
He tries his best not to dampen his own mood. Namjoon cannot dwell on thoughts like these. Indeed, he was only here to fulfill tradition — a seven century pact between Namjoon’s kingdom, the Kingdom of Onom, and Taehyung’s Kingdom, the Kingdom of Etnav, where he resides now. A law that stated that the eldest omega of Onom shall be married off to the alpha king of Etnav. So he was not here out of love, Namjoon was only here out of duty.
It has been six months since he left his home, he was long over that. Or that is what the omega tries so hard to believe.
“Look, Joonie,” Seokjin points at a nearby tree with Namjoon’s favorite flowers at the bottom. “It is now in full bloom.”
And Seokjin, Seokjin was the alpha Taehyung had mated with. Not him. Yes they were both alphas, and that is why Seokjin is known as the second alpha king, while Taehyung, the original prince of Etnav, was crowned first alpha king when he descended on the throne. For five years, they were happy and content. They did not need an omega — they did not need Namjoon. Taehyung has only taken Namjoon as his husband, but not as his mate. That was Seokjin, pretty, pretty Seokjin — the beautiful, intelligent, and gentle alpha king Etnav has adored ever since he mated with Taehyung.
It was only Seokjin whom the king was in love with, not with Namjoon, too.
Quite frankly, Namjoon thinks there was no place for him in the palace, or in their bond at all.
But sometimes, he likes to think that maybe, just maybe, he can squeeze himself a little in between them. The same way Seokjin squeezes his hand as they look at the plethora of flowers that surrounds them. Sometimes, he gets lost at the look in Seokjin’s eyes, the same way Seokjin gets lost in the omega prince’s smile. And thinks, I wonder how it feels to be the reason they shine.
“These are beautiful, Namjoonie,” Seokjin picks a red flower, and carefully places it on the younger man’s ear. “You are so beautiful, omega.”
Namjoon will never be able to deny how his heart hammers inside his chest as he blushes at the sweet words. Instead, he looks away, glancing at the waterfall, mumbling a shy, “Thank you, hyung.” And because he does not want to be the only one blushing around here, Namjoon also takes a yellow flower and does the same thing to Seokjin’s ear. “But you are much, much more beautiful, hyungie. The most beautiful alpha in the land.”
That was why the king had fallen in love with Seokjin after all, for he was as beautiful on the outside as he was on the inside.
And maybe why Namjoon has, too.
“Nonsense, sweetheart.” Seokjin sees the insecurity swimming inside the omega’s eyes. He wishes he could erase them entirely, but for now, this would have to do. “No one is as beautiful as you.”
Namjoon giggles lightly, wishing his heart would stop blossoming the way these flowers bloomed. He looks away as he shakes his head, yawning a little as he gazes at the open field.
“Are you sleepy, my lo—darling?” Seokjin does not want to call that a slip. “Do you wish to take a nap?”
There is a soft smile on Namjoon’s face that reminds Seokjin of the koala he has seen on one of his foreign travels. “Yes, hyung, I am. Let us go back so I could ask Jungkook to take a nap with me.”
No matter what they say, Seokjin’s heart does not twist at the thought of Namjoon preferring to spend his time with another omega than his alpha’s mate. It sounds so wrong, but it is what it is.
“How about you take a nap here?” Seokjin asks as he pulls Namjoon along, preparing to sit against a gigantic tree trunk while patting his lap. “Come, sweetheart. You can rest here with me.”
The omega gawks at the king. “Here?”
Seokjin only smirks teasingly, “Yes, Joonie.” And because he is Seokjin, he plays it a little dirty for his the omega. “Unless you wish to deny your king of his request?”
But because he is Namjoon, he only glares playfully at his hyung. He hates it when either Taehyung or Seokjin pulls the ‘king’ card at him, because they know that Namjoon cannot say no to that.
“I hate you.” The omega grumbles even as he kneels down to place his head on Seokjin’s lap.
The king only laughs fondly, “No, you do not.”
You are right, I do not. I do not think I physically can.
Instead, Namjoon only huffs as he snuggles closer to his hyung’s tummy, yawning once more when Seokjin begins to run his fingers through his hair. “What if someone attacks you here, your ma—hyung?” He worries a little. “You are the second alpha king, you must not be left unprotected.”
It was in moments like these where Seokjin wishes Namjoon would also place as much value to himself as he does to Seokjin since he was also the prince of the land, and the first alpha king’s husband. But everyone knows that Namjoon will always see himself as someone inferior to his hyung.
He is only second after all.
Not even mate, just the second husband of King Taehyung.
But Seokjin does not know the thoughts that run in Namjoon’s head, so with the gentleness that he was known for, the alpha king drops a kiss to the prince’s forehead. “Worry not, little one, hyung is strong.” And another one on his dimple just because he can. “I can and will protect you, sweetheart.”
Namjoon’s eyes were half way closed already from the sensation of Seokjin’s fingers running through his hair. In addition to the calming scent of pine and lemongrass the alpha exudes, that blended so perfectly with his own vanilla caramel, it did not take long before his eyes fell shut.
“That should be me, hyung.” Namjoon whispers, as he is lulled to sleep. Seokjin’s presence alone was so, so comforting, it made him feel incredibly safe. “I should be the one keeping my alpha’s mate safe.”
Silence.
Seokjin’s heart drops as Namjoon’s eyelids finally do.
“Nonsense.” The alpha king whispers even though he is certain that Namjoon has long fallen asleep. The boy was so tall and so big—as big as his heart—yet in Seokjin’s arms, Namjoon looked and felt so small. It has been six months since he came into their lives, and while Seokjin, at first, had his own reservations, he was the first husband and Taehyung’s only mate after all, he finds that he absolutely has no regrets when they welcomed the young omega prince into their home.
And maybe even into his own heart.
Seokjin drops another kiss on Namjoon’s forehead, never seizing in running his fingers through his hair. The boy was so beautiful, his eyes always shined so brightly and his smile glimmered everywhere they went. Seokjin could stare at him forever.
“I am willing to give up my life for you, my Joonie. I will protect you even if it is the last thing I do.”