The Second Marriage...||TAEKOOK||

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Taehyung could not deny that he had fought tooth and nail against this marriage. When the court announced that he had been chosen for one of their ridiculously named 'peace marriages', he'd protested on the spot and had almost been fined for belligerence.

Taehyung had done everything he could to try and weasel himself out of it, including ignoring his betrothed when he arrived in the South.

Despite the fact that Jungkook clearly forgave him—or, more aptly put, did not see it as a problem in the first place—the shame of his behaviour followed him still. There were times when he asked himself if he even deserved Jungkook's trust, he'd acted so foolishly.

Rolasine had literally knocked him over the head when he'd shared those thoughts with her. "Get over yourself. What's done is done. That boy needs your attention and your love, not your pity. Don't borrow trouble."

She'd been right, of course, as she always was.

Still, he couldn't help how he felt about his past actions, even though he tried not to indulge those feelings.

Everybody had been surprised by how easily he had greeted marriage once it had actually happened.

Has your Omega killed you of ? Why haven't you come around? Elisa had asked him in a terse message a couple of weeks after the bonding. Taehyung had written back sheepishly with a few excuses—no one had been as shocked as he was by how much he liked being bonded.

For those few, sparkling first weeks, he hadn't been able to make sense of it. It was Elisa and Jimin that had shed light on the mystery.

"Well, in retrospect, we shouldn't be so surprised. I don't mean to be blunt, dear friend, but you have been very lonely for many years," Jimin reasoned.

"No, I haven't. Your friendship has been invaluable. And Jasper and Rolsaline—they are like family to me," Taehyung argued. It had been a while since he'd spent time alone with his friends, lounging about in Jimin's tea room after dinner and drinking some scotch as they talked. 

He had missed it.

"And we love you too,Tae." Jimin had smiled. "And we are a family of sorts, I think, with how close we three are."

Elisa nodded. "Let's drink to that."

"But you've always needed a little more. Or, perhaps not more, but something a little different —you can't share your home and mind and soul with your friends. Some are perfectly happy with that, but you...you've always been a romantic, Taehyung. I think it's the bond itself that is causing you such happiness."

Taehyung thought about it, swirling his amber drink in his glass. "It's...it's not what I expected, I have to admit. To feel so connected with someone, body and spirit. I can almost...feel the shape of him. Of his intentions and his character, even though he keeps the bond private, on his side. And I. I don't know. He shines so brightly, to me."

"Ah," Jimin said, raising his glass. "Our friend is in love!"

Jimin smiled teasingly. "Madly. I caught Clara in the market the other day and mentioned Jungkook —I thought she was going to burst. Apparently, Taehyung has been talking non-stop about Jungkook at work. Really, Taehyung, you sap."

"Right," Taehyung blustered. "I don't talk about him that much. I can contain myself." 

"Oh, he can contain himself, what an evolution of man." Elisa teased.

"Oh, shush. Leave me be. I'm just...happy."

Jimin swatted at Elisa. "And we are so happy for you, Taehyung. Truly. We jest, but we'd give Jungkook the moon and the stars for how he's brightened you."

"Yes," Elisa agreed. "We would."

This was the wonder of great friends—they could tease and love you in the same breath. As he returned to his husband, imagining him reading in bed, waiting for Jungkook to return, he

thought about how Jimin was right. Jungkook hadn't fully opened up to him—it would take him a while to do so, Taehyung knew. But Taehyung wasn't lonely anymore. Every day was filled with Jungkook—and it was all the more beautiful for it.

 𓇼𓏲*ੈ✩‧₊˚🎐

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"Always," he whispered in the breath we shared. "Your heart was always safe with me. It always will be. There is nothing I will protect more fiercely or with more devotion, Poppy. Trust in that—in what you feel from me. In me."

A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire. Casteel Da'Neer ....🌸🌱🤍✨