Chapter Text
Park Jimin had always thought it was fun to have the duplicate version of him. He always took advantage, being the twins with his sibling. All the twin activities, the pranks He had it all growing up as a twin.
For a long time, until six, Jimin and his sister were pretty much the same. No, they were exactly the same. Only the moles on Jimin’s face, which wasn’t on his sister's, differentiated them from one another. So, before they’d start their school life they had their twinning fun and pranked lots of friends and even their parents. Impersonated one another so many times. But the game ended for them when Minjeong, his twin sister, decided to grow hair long. At that time Jimin liked his hair short. The fun part of twining ended there.
Plus, relatives started to notice the difference between Minjeong’s and Jimin’s voices. Jimin’s was a bit lower than Minjeong’s more girly and higher. When they were teens their bodies started growing just the way they had to biologically, but they were almost the same height, they had almost the same body type. They had slim bodies with slim shoulders, narrow rib cages, and a waist. But the significant difference between Jimin and his sister was that as Jimin grew his body posture became bigger. His shoulders grew wider while his waist stayed delicate and slim, while his sister’s shoulders remained narrow and the other body parts started growing and changing.
Simply, after the age of eight, there was no chance Jimin would sell himself as his sister. But he was okay with it because he had the brightest childhood with everything he wanted to have. Until now he thought, even though his sister was a pain in the ass, Minjeong was still a cool kid. She was good at wiping Jimin’s tears back in the days, sometimes his snot too. She had some jokes on her and made Jimin laugh so much. She was cool to hang out with.
Until this day Jimin thought even though he and his sister acted like enemies, and rivals at the competition, still having a twin sister was something he was thankful for. He could have never imagined that having a twin sister would make his life harder, and turn his life completely. How could he ever imagine that having a twin sister would bite him on his ass after years and years, and bite him that hard?
“I hate her” Jimin screams and an entire room echoes with it. The loud stomps of his shoes match the rhythm of the huge clock hanging from the ceiling. The long robe which looks more like a bride’s gown is dragging on the floor with him. “Mum!” He whines and looks at his mum helplessly. His mum’s standing on the other side of the room, in the corner like a grounded child. “Why is she doing this to me? Why are you doing this to me?” He raises his brows, eyes wide open with disbelief and frustration.
“Y-you know, it’s not as bad of the thing as you exaggerate”
“Exaggerate?” Jimin screeches, shocked by the nonchalant expression his mother has, and the tone she uses when she talks with him right now when Jimin is literally having a crisis. “Exaggerate? Mum, Are you– God, did I hit my head somewhere and all I’m hearing right now is just my delusions? How can you be so calm when she just kicked her feet and ran away? I can’t sit here and take all the punches instead of her”
“No one’s asking you to do that” Mum says and steps ahead. She holds her chin up, face calm and collected, unlike Jimin’s. She’s acting as if Jimin’s making a big fuss for nothing.
“I hate her” Jimin repeats again. It doesn’t help his frustration go, it doesn’t help him forget what her sister did, but at least he itches the irritated wound for quick satisfaction. “She’s the most self-centered person I’ve ever met. I hate her”
“No, you don’t”
“I do. Mum. And I’m gonna beat her ass when she comes back, if she even will come back” He throws his index finger midair, threateningly.
How dare she? Is she really that son of a bitch to back away from the responsibility she was applied for? Is she really gone? Did she set Jimin up for this? Didn’t she think about the consequences of her actions?
He groans and puts his hands on each side of his head, squeezes it, and gives it a few rubs. He didn’t have time to acknowledge all this. It’s been only ten minutes since mum ran inside his room with panic, terror in her eyes, and told Jimin the news.
Park Minjeong, Jimin’s one, and only sister, his twin, the one who was one week engaged with Jeon pack’s prince ran away. She just vanished from their castle, city, and country. No one knows anything about her. And what makes all this ten times worse is that Minjeong ran away barely five days before the marriage ceremony. Marriage – which has been the most talked about topic for one year straight, starting from magazines and ending with the articles in the media. The marriage was planned long before Jimin and Minjeong’s birth. It was decided by gods, as the two packs say.
Once upon a time, there were no Jeon or Park’s packs. The land was the joint for thousands of people and they lived under the same rules. They had one king to respect. There were rebels and conflicts, but even during the hard times, the royals and citizens were connected with one mutual interest – safety. But nothing’s permanent, and eventually, the conflicts of personal interests started to peek, the danger was near, and tension was there.
Everything began from the very first fight between two alphas from Jeon’s and Pack’s clans, two of the biggest clans ever to exist in their motherland. Conflict soon spread like a disease and turned global, reaching the heads of each clan.
The thing no one ever mentions while telling this story is that these two clans have always been on the edge of the cliff, just waiting for one another to jump to take the first step, waiting for each other to make a mistake, and then…
The clan leaders took a chance to exaggerate the incident and made a big fuss out of it. They just used it as an excuse and started the war, the rivalry, which already existed since day one, they just never pointed it out, never talked about it.
And like that one of the hardest periods of history started. The kingdom tore apart and never came back.
The two biggest clans started fighting for a bigger chunk of land which resulted in dividing their motherland, once whole and safe, and turned it into a war marathon.
The happiness and freedom were taken away from thousands of people, their families, and their children. The sparks in citizens’ eyes were replaced with constant fear. The fear of another war, another invasion, another stream of blood.
The young alphas and omegas who were willing to fight for their own land were at the front, on their borders with their armored bodies and bare souls, ready to look into the eyes of death to save their families, their omegas, alphas, children, and people who were waiting for them back at home.
It was always – submit or die between the packs. If one invaded and took away a part of the land, another didn’t back away and did the same to the other, if not more. None of them were willingly kneeling down for each other. So people died. Blood drenched the soil. The families got emptier. The children lost their parents, a family lost their daughters and sons, and the hope and the spark of life slowly drained out of people.
The biggest clans of the kingdom took the land and made it theirs like it was a loaf of bread you could share with somebody else.
They got on their throne and ruled their own clans, and not only theirs, but whoever got trapped in their kingdom. Two kings of the two packs played the lands like a battle game, trying to prove to one another who’s the strongest, which brought millions of death and loss of souls. And while the dictatorship destroyed the kingdom, people sacrificed themselves. They lost hope and passion. They walked, ate, and lived like zombies, like robots who were created to fight only. They were exhausted by the war, which was never necessary. Citizens, we're fed up with all the battles but when could a lower rank say a word against the highest? Once they raised their tongues they got cut off. So there was no hope of bringing the peace back. Until the power of nature took the job in their hands and one day in one of the usual battles the two kings got killed by the traitors.
And just like the sky cleanses after the hurricane, just as the ocean calms down after a storm, two kingdoms found their peace. Now separately.
The permanent war and living in fear came to an end when Jeon started ruling one pack and Park started ruling another. They came to the terms of being just neighbors but just as everything has its ups and downs, their negotiation had defects too.
Well, back in time everyone was happy and relieved, assured of peace when the two kingdoms decided to prove their alliance by the marriage of the two clans' prince and princess. They arranged the marriage of Jeon and Park since they signed the contract of the alliance. And after twenty-four years of waiting when the long-awaited day came when it was time for their contract to come into life Jimin’s sister, the princess of the Park ran away and
– Jimin was the one exaggerating? Sure.
He’s the one at fault? He’s the one who’s possibly gonna be the reason two kingdoms raise their weapons against each other? Again?
Jimin’s legs are sore. But he refuses, his entire body refuses to stop in one place. He can’t. His mind is running everywhere, imagining every possible, the worst scenarios this situation can bring.
But mostly what he feels is a shock. The disbelief. He can’t imagine how his sister, who he knows, or at least he thought he knew, vanished and left the lives of thousands at the thin line where peace ended and the war started.
The marriage itself carries so much responsibility, it's not only just a decision written on paper but it's part of the duty the princess had to take responsibility for, but she ran away.
What if his sister left because of this burden?
But she could have just said no. From the very first day. Right? She had every right to say that she didn’t want this. She didn’t want an arranged marriage that was heavy and full of responsibilities. But she could have said that, explained it, talked about it. There's always an alternative for everything. Her family would try to find one too. In the worst scenario, their cousin would be the replacement for her
Why agree on something when you are going to neglect it after?
Was she scared? Did she think about it for a long time or did it out of whim?
It must be planned.
She knew it all along. She planned all these. Jimin thinks.
It makes Jimin’s blood boil. His entire body is burning in flames while his brain is trying to not lose it. There’s a huge rock on his heart hanging with so much rage but mostly it’s a disappointment. He feels betrayed by his sister. If he says his sister’s name out loud he may feel bitterness on his tongue. He doesn’t want to even say it. He wants to be mad, hate her and never search for her. Why would he when she was the one who turned her back on him, on her entire family?
One part of the brain thinks he should resent his sister for this. For the trouble and for expected chaos it will bring, while another part, a more civil, rational part tells him to calm down, breathe and analyze, think and look at it from a different side. It’s not as bad as he thinks and even though they are only five days apart from the wedding and the bride’s disappearance can cause scandal and noise, he can still do something about it. He’s from royalty after all and his family can come up with a believable reason and with that, post point the wedding.
Right?
It’s not the greatest plan of all, but at least it’s better than announcing that the bride ran away because she didn’t want to get married. Plus they could buy some time with the delay.
Fuck. Jimin can’t wrap his mind around this incident. Out of all the people, Jimin thought he knew his sister the best. Turns out it was all just fraud. All this time Minjeong was someone Jimin didn’t know a thing about.
But maybe there’s more to the story.
Maybe Minjeong had a serious reason for it. There has to be something under the rock. Jimin wants to find out. His heart is demanding to know it. He wishes there was a really serious reason which can excuse his sister’s irresponsible move and help Jimin forgive her easily.
“What are we going to do now?” Jimin throws his body on the couch like a heavy sack and shoots a long sigh out of his lungs. The buzzing sound in his mind and the ears screaming make him dizzy a little bit. The tensed-up brows and his clenched fists take all the energy like a vacuum. He needs to loosen up.
He tilts his head back and puts it on a headset. Blankly stares at the ceiling on the one spot. There’s a little crack forming from the center of the ceiling, just next to the golden chandelier, which seems heavy. It may be What, 50 pounds? Jimin wonders how did anyone climb up to reach the ceiling first and then bring this immense chandelier there. Does a ladder that high, and long even exist?
“For now we have to stay calm” Jimin’s is brought back from his thoughts when his mum speaks. “and not allow this to spread around. I don’t know what your dad planned but I think we should try to come up with something. Something like she got sick, or unexpectedly her fever started.” Mum explains but Jimin notices something’s off with the tone of his mother.
She shakes her hands on his long dress like she’s wiping dust off and then sits on the couch right in front of where Jungkook seats. Her eyes never leave his son.
Jungkook feels the stare and his eyes flicker on her. He doesn’t blink for a second, thinking about what her mum said. She’s almost on the same page as him. They'll try to post the marriage but the reason for it has to be something unusual to catch everyone off guard. Jimin puts his hands on his temples and gives them a little massage. He pushes his tailbone back and straightens up. He can’t help but sigh.
There are millions of things he wants to do. First thing is to start cursing and shouting again, but now that his mind is done with panicking and overreacting, he thinks with a cold mind. He shouldn’t let his emotions take over. Not even once has he ever accomplished something with his heart and mind hot. The brain simply doesn’t work straight whenever he lets the feelings control him.
No cursing.
No shouting.
No bad mouthing her sister. At least for now.
“We can’t lie about her health” He starts, voice weirdly calm, low, barely hearable. But the room is completely silenced not only this room but seems like the entire castle has decided to swallow their tongues. Jimin’s mum waits patiently with her eyes full of curiosity, hope, and maybe a little bit of fear of what Jimin’s going to say, what’s gonna be his final judgment. “If we lie that she’s sick, Jeon’s family might ask us to let them meet her.”
Mum shakes her head. “Their queen would never let that happen before the marriage. She’s too traditional to break the rules for it just before the marriage ceremony and let the prince see the princess until the right time comes” she says with full confidence but her voice gives in. Jungkook hears the doubt in her voice. She’s not sure about that, just like Jimin.
“We don’t know that. People might go wild. They’ve been looking forward to this marriage for ages. They are eager now. It could cause more problems than we expect. Ugh.Just think. Think About the scandals and all the gossip created if we won’t allow the family to see the princess. We can’t risk that” Jimin stands up. The restlessness comes and crawls under the skin whenever he thinks about Jeon's family finding out the truth. They can’t know the truth. Not now. The news is still fresh. They should at least wait for a few hours until they find a lead, something, which could help them at least know how her sister managed to sneak out of the castle without anyone noticing, without cameras catching the evidence.
"I don't know what other excuse we can come up with if not that, but it's pointless, it's not up to me and you, Jimin"
Jimin ignores how his mother looks up at him with testing eyes as if she wants to say something but is scared of Jimin's reaction.
Jimin's mind is occupied by the what-ifs.
What if there was more than one, more than his sister involved in this? Jimin already had suspensions. There’s no way Minjeong would handle all of this alone, but that someone, or maybe even a group of people might be close to security. Only with the connection with security could Minjeong leave the castle without any evidence left behind. But it’s not that simple to accuse the pack’s one of the best soldiers, guards, and security of helping her sister run away. He can’t just put a finger on someone and say guilty and bang the gavel. He’s expected to be much more serious, and responsible, after all, he’s the heir of the throne of Park pack. Though he doesn’t think he’s worthy of it.
“What about dad?” Jimin twirls on his heels and stops the pacing.
“What about him?”
Jimin quickly approaches mum and gazes at her. “H-he must say something about this. Where is he? We need to discuss this together.”
“H-he’s –” Mum has to think for a little more than a minute to gather her thoughts. Her eyes are roaming around, spacing out, barely blinking. She’s thinking about something. There’s something that makes her shrug her shoulders, makes her shuffle in her seat. She barely manages to look Jimin in the eyes. “He heard the news just like me. We were together when we heard about Minjeong and well, he was– He was calm. I-I was more startled by his reaction than the incident itself for a second.”
“What do you mean calm?”
His mum looks at Jimin as if she wants to scold her son for not understanding her. “He seemed so collected” Her voice stays the same. Quiet, silky, and somehow soothing for Jimin "He didn’t even let out a sigh or gasp. He – Jimin!” Suddenly she stops the stuttering and whines at his son, looking at him almost apologetically. "I don’t know what to say. I’m tired let’s just” She raises her voice, not aggressively, she sounds restless, her eyes panicked.
She helps her body with hands on each side of the couch and decides to get up but Jimin crouches down and grabs her mother’s hands, and puts them in his hands. “No, no. It’s okay. I’m not forcing anything.” He rubs his thumbs over her smooth skin. “B-but what you meant by that. Mum, please tell me if you are hiding something. I can’t handle another hit of bad news from someone else. It– It better be from you than from others.” Jimin whispers and he means it. He’s exhausted already. His brain isn’t working as it used to in the morning. He feels helpless, and scared, having a hard time acknowledging any of his emotions. He feels…unsafe.
But if her mother talks to him, just the way she has been doing from the very first beginning of his life, he might survive a few breakdowns. “Please” His voice cracks and immediately bites his lips to suppress it.
Mum finally looks at him. Now she grabs Jimin’s hands and brings them to her lips. “Jimin” She whispers and Jimin’s breath hitches at the choice of tone her mother uses. He recognizes the tone. He gets her mother with just one word. He feels there’s something his mum knows and hides from her. But Jimin’s not mad. He can’t be mad when he sees the worry in his mother’s watery eyes. He can’t be mad when he knows whatever his mum is hiding is only for Jimin’s safety, or well-being. But also he understands that he will hear whatever it is, soon.
Jimin’s hand quickly finds its way to wipe the falling tear off of his mum’s cheek. “It’s okay” He tries to soothe his mother but finds it hard to find comforting words when he’s the one in need of comfort, a hug, a shield, something to hide behind and avoid the danger. “It’s okay. There’s always a solution”
But is there a solution to this situation?
The tears form faster in his mother’s eyes when Jimin puts his head on her lap. “N-no” She lets out a whimper. “There’s nothing okay with this. B-but, Jimin, I promise we will make it better, just please receive it as a prince, as the heir of the throne, with responsibility, we need you. D-dad needs you right now the most. H-he… I don’t know why it happened but hopefully, we will soon find Min safe and alive and ask all these unanswered questions to her. But for now, please— I beg you don’t go against your dad. I–”
He lets out a strangled whimper when he feels her mother’s soft hands in his hair. And Jimin lets the sensation make him forget the danger, something bad coming, at least for a few minutes. He lets his mother’s affection take over him and lets his mind panic, while he’s reminded of all the times he has fallen asleep on his mother’s lap. He remembers how perfectly he fitted on this lap, in which Jimin can only put his head now.
When did the time fly? When did all the carelessness and glory of childhood disappear? When did Jimin become mature with so much responsibility hanging on his shoulders?
“Is it that bad?” Jimin speaks after the quiet sniffling dies down. But he doesn’t raise his head, just yet. He wants this moment to stretch in hours while he forgets that he is a prince, his family’s having a huge dilemma and his pack is in danger. Literally.
“Hmm?”
“The thing which you aren’t saying, Is it that bad that you can’t tell me yourself?”
Silence
She doesn’t answer. Jimin can’t see her from this pose, but he feels how she’s trying to suppress her whimper. And for a second he regrets that he even asked the question. Does he really want to know the answer?
Jimin hears her mother gulp before she speaks. “I-It’s… I don’t even know how to name it. It’s so weird, but also very clever of your dad to think of it–”
“So it was dad who made a decision?” Jimin figures it out. But whatever the decision is, Jimin can’t seem to predict it.
“Yes, He had no other choice. They were talking about it in the conference room and it was the only one that didn't seem forced. Jimin–” Her mum grabs his chin and makes him look up and into her eyes. – Eyes are red and puffier than before. “Don’t tell this to anyone, but I think your sister ran away earlier than we heard about it and– I think” Her voice gets quieter each time she adds the words to the sentence. “I think your dad knew it from the beginning. Because he was just so calm, and he decided in a minute, like he was ready for it, he was expecting it. I think he— He has something to do with your sister’s disappearance”
The words hit Jimin like a slap in the face. The cold chills run down his spine.
His dad? Did he know it before all of them? He was involved in this? So not only his sister but his dad too were plotting things behind his back, behind his mother’s back?
But why?
Not a single thing makes sense inside his mind. There’s a hurricane of words inside his mind. The questions pop up in his mind and go every other second. But who has to ask all these questions, who’s gonna answer them?
Jimin opens his mouth to ask something but he’s cut off by the loud noise of doors opening. His mother jolts in a place, startled.
“Jimin!” He hears his dad echo his name in the room. The few servants follow him behind. “Jimin, where are you? We have to— Oh, here you are.” Dad looks at him, then his eyes travel down to his wife. “Oh, great. The entire family is here. Then we can discuss this quickly and get over it.” He looks behind and twitches his head, indicating for servants to give them privacy.
The servants go backward, bowing, closing the doors behind them.
“Son, get up” His dad commands and Jimin does as told. He drags his body up. His mother refuses to let go of his hand. Instead, she squeezes it harder. Jimin lets her do that. He lets her comfort him like that.
It’s working. A little bit.
Jimin looks at his dad who’s still standing still in front of the closed doors. His tall posture, chin up and broad shoulders predicted the power of the king. It’s no surprise he’s one of the best kings and rulers. Jimin adores his dad for it. He always looked up to him for being always ready to protect his pack and his land. Sometimes he did a bit too much and crossed the line way too many times, but Jimin always thought it was cool because his dad was willing to take risks to protect his family, his citizens, and his land.
The king walks slowly, weirdly calm toward Jimin, and Jimin wishes he wasn’t here right now. He wishes he was still a small kid, careless, happy with everything he had around him, in the hands of his caring parents, being spoilt.
Jimin feels the drop of sweat roll down his temples, slowly.
It seems time around them started to stretch a little longer.
But his dad finally speaks when he’s face to face with his son, finally breaking the suffering silence.
“I guess you’ve heard the news about your sister” His dad speaks up.
Jimin wants to run away even more now. Hearing his dad talk in king's tone with him, not with dad's tone proves his suspension that there’s something really bad coming from him. The decision which will change his life.
Fuck, Jimin begs for it to be just his exaggeration of the situation. He begs for it to be just him reading this too deep.
Only if it was something simple they could solve together.
But nothing’s simple when the princess runs away and leaves his brother, queen, and king behind. Vanishes away and leaves the marriage without a bride.
Who the fuck’s going to stand beside the Jeon prince if not the princess?
What’s gonna happen when everyone hears the truth? How will they avoid the war? How’re things going to escalate?
Standing in front of his dad up close Jimin turns into a bundle of panic, while on the other hand his dad's expression is blank and his body seems suspiciously calm.
Doesn’t all these questions bother his dad? It’s about the future of the two kingdoms. For fuck sake, why is Jimin’s dad standing in front of him with an expression so blank, as if he’s here just to invite Jimin for family dinner?
What’s something dad knows which makes him so sure that everything’s going to be okay?
“I know,” Jimin whispers, scared that his voice might crack if he talks any higher. He’s not sure anymore. He’s not sure if he’ll survive this. He’s not ready,
It was never going to happen.
Whatever his dad has to say — It wasn’t supposed to happen. He was just going to be beside his sister, supporting her from behind, ending the marriage ceremony, then exchanging farewells with her and seeing her off the castle, promising her to visit her in her new castle so often. Then he was supposed to go back to the training, the lessons, the practices, which were preparing him for the throne.
“It’s still hectic and we are still in shock but we’ve tried our best to conceal it because Minjeong’s still expected to be at your grandmother’s village. Everyone knows she’s at her grandma’s as she wants to see her until she finally gets married. We are going to leave it at that. In the palace only me, you, your mum, and a few of my men know about it, of course, it includes Minjeong’s guards too and my few advisors. All of these are people who I trust the most. I could leave the house, the entire pack and they wouldn't turn the8r back on me . I’m sure the news won’t get past these people and we will win time before the actual wedding.”
Good. It’s good, right? They can find Minjeong before the wedding ceremony and everything will go back to normal. Right?
“But, Jimin. I’m afraid Minjeong Isn't coming back anytime soon.”
“What do you mean? We can find her. I mean you can send tons of people for her to search everywhere, so–”
“Jimin, Minjeong visited me before she’d go to the village" Dad cuts him off and lets the words sink in before he continues, voice deep "and we… We kinda argued–”
“Kinda argued? What do you mean? About what?”
“About the wedding." Another pause. Jimin gulps. So far he doesn't like how the story's going. "She was a bit tipsy and I didn’t take it seriously, but now that I recall she talked about running away because of how tired she is of doing what she doesn’t want. She– She said she won’t be like this anymore and I don’t know if I remember correctly– I mean not that I’m sure she said that but I think it just slipped out of her mouth that she was going to run away and not come back until I make it right for her.”
What? Minjeong and Jiwon fought? Minjeong cried and argued with her father. She was refusing to marry the prince?
Hold up. Hold up.
The last time he checked Minjeong was the one who agreed on this. So why change all of a sudden? Why now?
“If you heard her say that, why didn’t you calm her down, or I-I don’t know, explain? Make it work? Or just fucking talk to Jeon's family about it?”
“It’s not that easy, son. And at first – I thought Minjeong was just rumbling, ‘cause she was pretty tipsy that day and there’s no other solution than this. I didn’t take it seriously–”
“Right” Jimin cuts him off. He feels like burning. The fumes must be coming out of his ears. “Perfect! How professional of you” Jimin steps forward. He’s surprised by his sudden boost of boldness. "You hear your daughter talking about running away and you just turn a blind eye to it just because what? You thought she was drunk talking?”
“Jimin, I don’t want to argue about that right now I came here to–”
“I’m not arguing, I’m just trying to make it make sense. This wouldn’t happen if you talked to her just like dad, not just like the king and maybe it would never happen, nor the running away, nor the wedding, if needed”
“Son. Please just listen to your dad.” Mum whispers and Jimin feels her touch on his back. He steps forward and avoids it.
“Listen to what? I already heard everything. Everything’s clear. It’s just sad that now we all have to pay for Minjeong and your actions.”
Dad’s silent. He looks straight in his eyes and is expressionless, blank. Why does he seem so calm?
“I’ll talk to you about it later. Now I wanna bring your attention to something else”
Jimin feels his heart skip one or two.
Here comes that bad decision mum was talking about a minute ago.
Whatever it is, Jimin’s not ready to hear it.
“Less than a week is left before the wedding and we don’t have any hope that we’ll find Minjeong by that time. It happened so quickly, unexpectedly, we can’t just sit and wait for these days for Minjeong to come back. It happened so quickly that we didn’t have time to come up with another alternative.” The king explains.
Liar, liar, liar.
They still have four or five days to change whatever this decision is.
Jimin knows his dad too well to not notice the way the king himself is suddenly avoiding direct eye contact with him. He doesn’t miss the chance to notice the way his dad starts fidgeting with his fingers.
His body’s saying otherwise, while his mouth’s telling the complete opposite. Lie.
“You are the only one who can help me.”
Him? Help him with what? Lie to the public? Or find Minjeong?
“There’s no time. We have to hurry. We barely have 24 hours for this to work. We talked about it in the conference room and believe me, it’s not only my decision” Dad explains.
Right, the other ten or more people, including dad, decided something for Jimin, without Jimin being in the room. Yeah, the perfect explanation of Park Jimin’s, the prince’s life.
“You are Minjeong’s twin, right?” He pauses.
What?
"What?" He can not help but scoff. He tries to find the connection between the question and the current situation they are in.
It's irrelevant.
God, Jimin wants to shout at his dad. He’s taking so long to spill the damn thing. He doesn't need to put dramatic pauses between the words, goddamn.
Jimin nods. He wants to say something but he suppresses the need, he controls the emotions. Just as if his mother sensed him struggling she comes from the back and slides her arm down on Jimin’s and holds his palm.
“You two have grown together”
Well, that’s how the siblings' lives work. They grow up together. Surprising. Right?
“You are almost the same. Your appearance is almost the same.”
Jimin feels his fist clench so hard he feels the nails dig in the back of his palm. He feels how his dad’s dragging the words, he almost sounds silly with that.
When his dad started to spell each word out for him. Why is he acting as if Jimin is a five-year-old and dad is explaining something to him in his own language?
“Well, of course, your sister’s a girl and she’s a little different but your body postures are almost the same, still. Don’t get me wrong, son. You are masculine and fit, strong in your own way but you are omega and–”
Jimin squeezes his mother’s hand, unconsciously, so hard she yelps. Jimin mumbles sorry and nods when his mother mouths It’s okay and smiles at him. Smile’s more apologetic than soothing. But Jimin takes it. He looks back at his dad when he talks again.
“And you two have similar types of bodies just a bit different on some parts of bodies” His dad flickers his eyes down on Jimin’s chest.
“Are you fucking with me?” Jimin snaps. His lips slip before his mind registers it, but even his mind approves of it. He just feels so humiliated right now. He wants to punch his dad.
“Language Jimin” The king scolds him, coldly.
“Yeah, wish I could do that but I can’t stop it when you are humiliating me without even concealing it.” Jimin storms in and the red lights in front of him.
Bad. It’s bad. His tone’s rising.
"There’s nothing which could be harsh or offensive for you here, Jimin" Dad states. He has the wrinkles between his brows and his eyes are piercing through Jimin.
He feels the blood boiling.
But it’s too late. He already spoke up. There’s no going back, so why not just give it all?
“How long do you think I’m going to stand here and receive your assaults about my body and say nothing about it?”
There’s nothing which could be harsh or offensive for you here, Jimin" Dad states. He has the wrinkles between his brows and his eyes are piercing through Jimin. “I’m your dad, Jimin, and I–”
“You what? You have all the rights to talk to me about the size of my and my sister's tits?" Jimin cuts him off. He barely remembers the time he cut off his dad, the king while talking. But right now he doesn’t care. He doesn’t give a single shit about manners. How can he, when his dad’s the one breaking every ethical rule?
“Be quiet!”
“I said, I’m not going to bite my tongue and sit here and watch you attack me with–”
“Shut your mouth, for God's sake. ”
The loud, cold voice echoes through the room. Silence.
The vibration goes through Jimin's veins.
Jimin tries to remember when was the last time his dad raised his voice at him.
He can’t remember.
So, this right here hits him right in the heart, like an arrow. It doesn’t scare him. The last thing his dad would want is to scare Jimin. It just breaks his heart.
It hurts that dad is looking at him just as kIng would look at his heir, at the prince not as his son, not right now when Jimin wants it the most.
“I don’t have time for the blabberings” The king changes back to his calm, irritatingly calm voice.
“Says who?” Jimin mumbles.
“What?”
“Nothing dad.” Jimin tilts his head again and locks eyes with his dad. He fakes a smile, making it obvious that it’s the fake one. “Continue, please” He has to purse his lips after not to give himself away and show how shocked his body still is.
“Good” The king smiles back, but it’s not fake. It’s more of a relieved smile that Jimin isn’t throwing tantrums and is letting him talk. “We have no time so I’m gonna skip all the other explanations and go straight to the point”
Good, because he’s been beating the same ground since he stepped inside.
“Jimin”
God, another dramatic pause. What’s wrong with him today? Are they filming some kind of drama?
“Yes?” Jimin responds, forcing a voice out. He’s tired of this. Tired of today. He wants to sleep it away and wake up the next morning to the wedding which is going smoothly with her sister beside the Jeon prince, while everyone’s happy that the two packs have finally signed the unwritten contract of never attacking, invading each other’s lands.
“We decided” King’s voice echoes loud and clear in Jimin’s ears. “It’s best that you take place instead of your sister”
Tick
Tock
Tick
Tock
Silence
“Jimin?” The king calls out his name when it feels like silence is too much, too long.
“Jimin” Mum rubs Jimin’s shoulder from the side. But nothing works on him right now.
He’s numb.
Not from pain, not from sadness.
He’s numb from shock.
He feels like a bucket of iced water was poured on him.
Suddenly, Jimin starts laughing, which he can not control. His parents exchange glances. His mum squeezes his shoulder blade and calls out his name. But his ears don’t catch any of the noise anymore.
He can only hear his laugh, which gets louder and louder. He can’t control it. He’s laughing hysterically, bending his body, squeezing his stomach because it already hurts from it. He catches the worried look on his mother from his lids, but he can’t do anything about it. He just laughs.
The room is filled with only his voice. If someone would pass by this room, they’d think someone cracked one hell of a joke that made Jimin laugh out so loud.
It’s a bit scary for Jimin. He can’t control it. He acts illogically. Maybe the shock made his brain twitch so much that it mixed the definitions of the emotions, laugh and crying and now he’s laughing instead of crying with anger, and disbelief.
“Jimin, stop it!” The king raises his voice again. Jimin sees how his dad’s face is grimaced with confusion and irritation.
“Jimin, please, gather yourself. Breath baby” Mum tries to soothe him from the side. And Jimin appreciates the effort, but only he could stop it now. He really can’t stop the hysterical laughter.
The tears are rolling down from the corner of his eyes and his stomach is almost in spasm.
“I–” He tries to talk while trying to catch his breath. “You are–” He throws small words between the laughter.
Him? Taking place instead of his sister?
What is this? A fairy tale? A drama?
Seriously, he’s convinced he’s been pranked right now. And it’s working well. He almost believed it.
“Dad, you– could have come up with a better lie” He finally tries and forms the full sentence while panting, the laughter slowly dying out.
“It’s not a joke”
“Oh, come on." Catching his breath he finally speaks up, properly. :I don’t have time for this. Where are you? Minjeong? Come out. I read you all. I know you are hiding somewhere, laughing at me. – Good job yall. I almost believed it. Mum! You too?” Suddenly Jimin starts walking around the room, clapping, applauding for the prank his family put up for him. He exclaims and keeps calling for his sister. His parents watch him with half-parted lips, confused, shocked by Jimin’s abnormal behavior.
“Jimin, come back here and stop playing like a kid. Your dad is serious about this'' There’s a hint of irritationin his mum's voice.. Jimin watches his mum walk between the table, with quiet steps, and stand next to his dad. “I-It’s decided. You are going to take Minjeong’s place”
Jimin laughs again. But now with disbelief. “Are you two out of your minds?” This is crazy. He would have expected everything, literally everything, even him sacrificing his life for the pack, but not this, not becoming his sister, literally.
“Behave, Jimin” Dad threatens.
“Or what? Are you going to tie me up and force me to become my sister?” Jimin walks loud and heavy. His shoes echo through the room. He clenches his fists and breathes through his nose, but stops breathing for a second when he stands close to his parents. He takes a minute to study each of their faces.
Is there any chance they are still playing with him? Maybe it’s April and they are making a fool out of Jimin.
Right! In the middle of winter, it’s April.
But it seems more believable for Jimin than the words his dad spoke up a minute ago.
Seriously? Taking place as a princess? Selling himself as his sister?
Come to think of it. He’s not unfamiliar with it. After all, all childhood they’ve been tricking their relatives and lying about being one another. It’s not something Jimin hasn’t done back in the day.
But it’s different now. For god sake. He’s a grown-ass man, not a five-year-old. He can’t just simply turn into Minjeong. He’s not going to become a girl in a blink of an eye. It doesn’t work like that. There are so many things that don’t add up.
Who came up with this idea? It’s the most unserious, dumb idea he has ever heard. Are they really in their right minds?
Jimin as a princess?
Never in a million years, he’d be a princess. Simply no because he’s a goddamn grown-ass man. Not a girl.
“This is ridiculous. I just can’t believe it” Jimin’s voice cracks and he’s surprised by it. He wants to deny it. He wants to pinch his arm and wake up from the nightmare. He wants to go away from here.
He feels humiliated, played, betrayed, unsafe, so uncomfortable, and puzzled. Everything’s crumpling inside his head and he doesn’t know if he’s going to survive this shock. Can’t he just skip this part of his life?
“We are pretty much serious here, Jimin.” Dad steps forward and stretches his hand to touch Jimin but he’s fast enough to step back and avoid any contact from his dad. “J-just as your mother said, we had no other choice, we don’t have time. It’s decided already. I came here to just tell you. That’s it”
“No!”
“Yes!”
“No, dad. I can’t just do that?”
“Why not?”
“Are you–” He pauses and nibbles on his lower lip. He’s having a hard time filtering the raw thoughts and words of his mind. He tries his best to not insult his parents again. He inhales and exhales for one long second. “H-how did you come up with this idea? How is this even possible, I– There’s like… I don’t know, there are so many questions, I can’t find answers to”
“It’s okay, baby” Now his mother steps forward. Now Jimin lets his mum cross the private space. He lets his mother touch his cheek.
Jimin clenches his jaw under his mother’s touch.
“It’s okay. We are here to explain everything to you, in detail. Everything will make sense when you know it all.”
“Know what?”
“Well, if you’d listen to me. You’d be enlightened by now. But who has to be the brat?” dad scolds, irritated.
”Jiwon!” Jimin’s mum snaps his head back and throws daggers at her husband with her stare. “Don't,” She warns, rather calmly.
“You can ask, Jimin. We’ll do our best to answer every one of your questions” Mother’s body heat on his cheek makes Jimin close his eyes. Only if it could fade away the anger, the feeling of bitterness. Only if his mother could make it fair.
But nothing’s fair. It’s not fair.
They can’t simply decide Jimin plays the role of the girl just because they want to. And it’s not really the best idea. It’s so…unserious. He feels like he’s in some kind of bad-written comedy show.
How can Jimin, a very much manly omega turn into a princess? Won’t people know it the second he will go outside? Won’t Jeon’s family notice it? Read them through? And how the hell is he supposed to hide his gender for the rest of his life if he ever agrees to marry someone he doesn’t know?
Right. Minjeong didn’t know this Jeon prince or whatever. She was going to marry someone he has never met, but it was different. She’s a girl and the contract says that she had to be the one married to this prince. There was never Jimin in the picture. He should never have been in the frame. Maybe he would one day have arranged marriage if he didn’t find his significant other, but right now there was no plan for him, not now. It’s not his fault that his sister had to be the first to marry someone. Rules are rules. The promises are promises and they shouldn't be broken, not when no one is against them. Minjeong agreed to it willingly. There was nothing wrong when she heard about it two or three years ago. No one expected that she’d change her mind, like this.
But what makes Jimin burn with rage is that he was never meant to be between whatever plot twist it is. He was never meant to take anyone’s place.
“H-how are you going to hide that I’m Jimin?” He speaks up finally, voice so weak, vulnerable as if he just got defeated in a war. "Don't they all have that weird scent culture and no suppressant's rule? I can not hide my smell from them, they'll gonna know by smell that it's not Minjeong."
“You and Minjeong are twins. Yeah, with different genders but surprisingly that doesn’t change much about you two. They don't know you as much as we know you and they don't know exactly how you smell. Not only that but, you have the same eyes, same nose, same lips, and even the same hairline. You are just you but there’s another you too. The only difference you have is known only by us and our relatives. No one actually knows who is who if you and your sister don't wear different clothes.” Dad speaks. Jimin catches a little bit of crack of ice in his tone. It’s not as icy as it was from the beginning. “When you had your hair short everyone knew who was who 'cause that was easy, but since you’ve grown so long hair recently, now you two are back at twining. It will be not easy but not too hard to transform you into a princess” Dad’s lips twitch in a smile and Jimin hates that he’s reminded of the smile he saw so often and made him warm, comforted him. He wants to look away. He wants to turn his head away and deny it, denying that his dad is the one he knew from the past. The dad he knew would never do this to him.
Right, there were lots of times his dad acted as a king in front of him, towards him, but it was always because he was teaching Jimin the importance of morals, the rules, and the lessons to remember for his future. But this is different.
“I know you can do this Jimin” Jimin’s eyes drop down at his mother. He looks her in the eyes. Just how pretty she is.
Jimin has her eyes, her nose, and her smile.
“B-but what about after the ceremony ends? I’d have to finally meet the prince. How am I going to handle that? Do you think I’ll sit there and wait while that fucker finds out I’m not who he wanted? Do you think I’ll sit there while he humiliates me? I’m gonna rip his neck if he lays a finger on me. I will not tolerate any alpha touching me. I will not fucking sleep in the same room as him. I won’t fucking–”
“Jimin, Jimin, listen. There’s no need to get mad again.” Mum squeezes his cheeks and wiggles his head. “Listen to your dad, okay?”
Jimin finds it hard to say no to his mother when she’s looking at him with those eyes, so kind and pure. Also, he’d lie if he said he wasn’t curious.
The situation is ridiculous. He still thinks these people are playing with him. He thinks someone is filming a drama without his consent. But He would be a liar if he said he didn’t want to hear what his dad was offering. I mean– Does anyone ever get the duty to play the opposite gender in their real lives? It’s intriguing, a bit. Enough for Jimin to forget the anger for a minute and listen to his dad and whatever he has to say. Though he thinks nothing will convince him that this plan isn't already a failure.
“You already know things about the contract, the arranged marriage and alliance” His dad starts, voice not so cold again, but not so welcoming. Expression is serious, but not too strict.
Jimin nods. He doesn’t plan to speak up and waste time. He is eager to hear the details.
“Well, the contract says that the princess and prince will get married, which will assure the permanent peace between the two kingdoms"
Yes. Everything that his dad said, Jimin already knew very well. He's been living with this contract for his entire life. Where's the answer here?
“That’s the part which is written in the contract, but—” Another dramatic pause.
Seriously, Jimin’s dad could be a good actor in some kind of drama. He’s convinced.
“There’s a sub-chapter in every contract. The one which is known only by the government. Because simply… There’s no need for people to know it.” Jiwon explains and Jimin watches him, listens to him, and becomes all ears, waiting for everything to make sense.”This particular sub-chapter says that the princess and prince are going to marry each other, but it’s only for the public eye. If they don’t want to, they are going to stay formal, be wife and husband only when they are outside and inside they live just as they used to. The only thing that changes will be their status. That’s it. So basically–”
“Basically you all are lying to people?” Jimin cuts off.
“No, son. No. That's not like that. Come on. Since when did you become impatient?” Jiwon scolds him, no aggression, or irritation included.
“Well, since I heard that I’d become princess from like – tomorrow?!!” Jimin remarks.
“He takes impatience from you,” Mum says
“Right” Jiwon scoffs, offended. “Okay, back to the topic. Long story short, it’s not exactly a lie. Let’s just call it a white lie. Politicians, government, and everyone use it for good, not for something bad or to conceal the bad. The thing is that back when I had been freshly given the status of the king, me and Jeon met each other. It has been around for nearly thirteen years. We talked about everything. You don’t remember but we were desperate. The lands of our and their packs were mixing. No one knew whose land was whose anymore. We were really in the worst situation. Thanks to the man king Jeon is, we came to the idea pretty quickly after a week or two and we decided that we make this rule for people to find peace, and be sure that we weren’t the kings they used to have. We had to feed their trust with something. So we came up with an arranged marriage that we knew would never go the wrong way. But as we planned to have kids and wanted to be good dads, we made a little secret and made this marriage as comfortable as it is right now. Basically, you don’t have to worry about anyone finding out about your gender. We will say that you went abroad to study, and it’s a secret company you are under, studying. While you’ll be playing Minjeong and no one, Jimin– literally no one will know, even the prince himself won’t know it’s you. We will make sure of that. I will make sure to keep you safe. I promise.”
Jimin stays quiet while his father promises him, explains everything, and makes everything clear. He stays quiet when Jiwon finishes all the explanations. He needs a few minutes to let everything sink in.
“Okay, but if you and King Jeon were buddies, as you said, why can’t you just tell him the truth? Why lie to them?” Jimin points out.
“I don’t think you remember but we had a few arguments years ago. Nothing you have to worry about. It’s between me and him only but since then our relationship has gotten colder and right now… We aren’t in that good of a relationship. I can’t risk it. I don’t know how he’ll react. It’s been many years. People change and I don’t want to—”
“Okay, I understand,” Jimin says and he means it. All this time while dad was explaining, making everything clear to him, he hasn’t noticed dishonestly from his dad. He sounded very convincing.
If he’s gonna look at it objectively, it may be, just may be a good plan, if it goes as it’s planned. From the start, it sounded drastic, unprofessional, and cruel. But now that he thinks about it, now that he weighs the advantages and disadvantages, there are not many side effects.
Right, tricking publicity into believing that you are a princess while you are a prince, is far from someone’s comfort zone. It’s uncomfortable, nerve-wracking, and risk-taking, but if Jimin looks at it just the way he looked at twinning, tricking, and lyings he and his sister shared in the past, it doesn’t feel like an inferno.
Even though it’s still debatable whether it’s worth doing something like this in real life, Jimin thinks he can maybe do this. Right?
He’s the prince. No matter how much he’s going to blame his sister for this, he’s somehow connected to it. There are responsibilities he has as a prince. If he looks at it this way, if he'll take whatever this is as one of his duties, then maybe it doesn't sound that drastic. If he'll take this responsibility and treat it like a job, a sacrifice which he can make to assure his people's and his family's peace and safety, then be it.
“How long is it going to continue?” He asks and finally, he feels the tension that has been in the air all this time, slowly tone down slightly, enough for Jimin to drop his tensed-up shoulders.
He thinks maybe somehow he can actually work it out.
“About that… It will continue for five months until prince Jeon will finally take the throne. Then he’ll simply be able to break the contract or change it. He can even make a new one without any scandal and panic. Which I and his dad couldn’t because we were the ones who created that. And who creates, never destroys. It was our old kingdom's rule we can not change." Jiwon looks down and sighs. "After five months the preparation will start for coronation and stuff, and then after he’ll finally take the contract down, with minimal fuss. We both will explain it and excuse that you two, I mean Minjeong and Jeon prince, couldn't get used to each other and your wolves denied each other, so everything will be clear and done." He pauses. He takes his wife's hand and holds it, strokes her palm with his thumb as if he's trying to comfort himself with. "Wish I could have said all these sooner. I was pretty late– I mean to your sister. I couldn’t explain all this to her earlier. Well, I didn’t know I had to hurry ‘cause she made it clear– I thought at least that she was okay with it. I was planning to explain it to you altogether.” Dad’s face falls when he talks about Minjeong. He stares down at his feet again.
“It’s not your fault darling.” Jimin watches her mum approach Jiwon closer and hug him. “I know she’ll come back soon. We just need to find a lead and contact her, let her know everything's okay and I’m sure she’ll come back. She’s strong, just like you and me. She’s our daughter.” His mum’s right. Minjeong is the type of omega who could bite the neck off of alpha if needed but also is sweet and softest. Jimin’s sure that wherever she is, she’s safe, maybe bossing around, just the way she is.
“She’s Jimin’s sister after all”
" But I'm not like her. At least I wouldn't run away from my arranged marriage at the last minute just because I could" Jimin attempts to make it out as a joke, but fails as he feels bitterness on his tongue.
For a few seconds the silence engulfs the room.
“Okay, wish I could stay any longer here, but if Jimin doesn’t have any questions I have to go.” Jiwon kisses his wife and returns her warm hug. Then he approaches Jimin. His hands are a bit hesitant but Jimin sees them and nods.
His father still a bit stiffly stretches his hands and wraps around Jimin, pulling him in the hug.
“You don’t know how much this means to me Jimin” He whispers. “I knew I could have faith in you. Thank you, my son”
Jimin can’t lie, the words wrap around him like a warm scarf. There are still many doubts, he’s still a bit hesitant about the decision, but he’s going to risk it, and right now hearing his dad’s words and seeing how thankful he is, makes Jimin forget the argument they had minutes ago. It’s not the first time since they had little arguments, not as big as this, but father and son have always been in a duel of bickering.
“You don’t have to thank me. It’s my duty and responsibility, I think” Jimin stretches the last syllable, tone playful, easy, with no masked emotions. His dad nods in the hug and Jimin thinks he felt it when his dad smiled.
“Oh and about the shouting.” Jiwon turns around when he’s at the doors. He looks Jimin in the eyes, apologetically. “I’m sorry about that. If I had another choice I wouldn’t–”
“I know, dad. It’s okay. You are forgiven” Jimin assures his dad and smiles.
He means it when he says it. He knows his dad too well. He knew his dad wouldn’t push him off of the cliff. Well, he’s still standing in front of the cliff but at least his dad and mum aren’t the ones behind him, but standing beside him, holding hands. If something, they are all going to jump together.
After Jiwon leaves, Jimin’s mother takes the time to apologize, pepper Jimin’s face with kisses, pat him, give him the hug in which Jimin feels the safest and comfortable, and when she makes sure Jimin’s okay to be left alone with his thoughts she leaves with one last good night kiss and waves Jimin goodbye.
Behind closed doors, Jimin has a long night to go through. There’s not a chance he’s going to close his eyes. Sleep won’t even come close to him, because of all the things which happened in such a short time, it feels like he skipped ten chapters of life in a few hours.
He’s confused, a little bit curious. No. He's very, very curious, and he’s still hesitant, a bit terrified.
Is he ready? No. He could never be ready to turn into a princess.
Is he looking forward to it? Partly, yes.
After apl the explanation the plan doesn't sound as impossible as before. Jimin tries to force himself believe it.
What could possibly go wrong? The worst scenario he can imagine is prince Jeon finding out sooner than planned but Jimin understands that they won't be able to do anything. Jimin's secret reveal would damage them as much as the Park pack. So, they are tied with their feet, just as much as him.
Is this something he finds intriguing enough to make him excited or thrilled?
Umm.. debatable.
So many things happened at once today that he can’t name a single emotion he feels right now but he thinks and hopes, he’s ready to pass this type of life exam if it means that peace will remain on both sides. If it means his family's gonna be safe.
He thinks he's gonna risk it. He has no other choice as his dad made clear to him that it was obligatory.
He really is going to do it.
He is not ready for this kind of sacrifice. But he has to, his duties are demanding him to do it.
"Fuck"