There was people screaming and yelling out of surprise as a certain Crown Prince trudged through the ever-so busy Seonghwa’s village centre on his white horse. His eyes lingered around the area as he tried to remember the bits and pieces of where the path leading to the forest would be at. He would constantly mumble a short phrases of ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘pardon me’ as he continued his journey down the place.

Taehyung did a shockingly bad distraction actually when Jimin made his way to the main gate of the palace. The palace guards were literally not buying anything he was selling. Perhaps it was already worse enough to him do the distraction job since they might already knew his real intention. Hiding behind the huge tree on his horse, he made a silent attempt on escaping when he saw the chance but of course, luck did not seem to be on his side that day. The steps taken by his horse might be a tad loud since he managed to squeeze in the time to change the horse’s shoes before leaving.

Literally muttered a curse under his breath, Jimin thought it would be better for him just to leave the palace grounds even though he knew better than the King and Queen would demand the guards to chase him. If only he could and he might be able to fly, that would not be such a big deal. Of course, thanks to the training on field with Master Heo finally come in handy as he could move as twice as fast than the palace guards who were in charge of getting him back to where he apparently belonged.

The Crown Prince managed to find his way to escape the chasing herd of strong men behind him after just ten minutes of galloping around the less dense forest which acted some kind of buffer between the Seonghwa’s village and the palace ground. He did not stop there though since his intention was not to just merely run out of the palace. He needed to act fast because he had a good hunch that the guards might actually arrived in the village centre if he was not to make any move.

Jimin’s eyes immediately landed on a particular couple that walked passed him, appearing to be calm unlike the other currently gawking villagers. Trying not to be rude at the random strangers, he called out to them, mainly the one with dark fuchsia and silvery highlight for hair and they actually were surprised to finally realise the person that they had missed. “I’m sorry for disturbing but by any chances you two know the way to the Navillera’s forest?” He asked them but his eyes wandered up to where he was from, hoping that the guards were not on his tail just yet.

“It’s just there, your highness.” The male politely gestured to a direction on the Prince’s back. He was actually curious as why the Prince would want to be at the forest. Nevertheless, seeing that he was presently at the centre of attention, he had a thought and it was to help the young Crown Prince without him even realising. “There’s nothing to see here, folks. Now, go on with your lives.” The male stated as matter-of-factly whilst gesturing the people around him to leave and miracle enough, people began to disperse.

Smiling brightly at him, Jimin questioned about his actual relationship with the people at the village centre. The other returned him another smile, only wider if it was possible. “I’m the village head, your highness. We’re just head back from the physician for my wife’s check-up nearby. Be safe in the forest by the way. I’ve heard strange things about it before.” Jimin instantly nodded but before leaving, he was able to get the Seonghwa’s village head’s name and planned to get to know the people better after solving his problem. “Kim Seokjin, I’ll be sure to remember him.” He pondered in his mind as he signalled the horse to head over to the pointed direction.

As soon as he was in the forest, he recalled the sound of nature playing for him once he found himself glancing around the area, scouting for anything that could trigger his memory regarding the sparkly, dry leaves path. He sighed when he realised he should have been patient and waited for Taehyung’s free day because the only reason how he could move in the forest was due to the fact his friend would fly ahead of him. From higher point of view, the dirt forest path appeared to be clearer rather than his current position.

The horse seemed to be trotting slower than the usual. It was not like it never been out before. He was that one horse that he would bring out whenever his father was in the mood for hunting which he still never understood the purpose actually. To be honest, he was never fond of doing such thing as the bow and arrows armed seemed to act not far from just a decoration. His eyes glanced forward to where the path continued to elongate on his north and mumbled something about ‘regretting of doing it without Taehyung’ kind of deal.

That however did not stop Jimin from gesturing the horse to move faster across the forest, not wanting to delay the time he had consumed. He needed to find the strange path again before he got caught and he believed it would be soon. Galloping faster than its normal pace, he kept a good eye on his surrounding yet he only found himself setting on the same looking trees, birds and atmosphere. There was nothing weird coming in his vision.

As he decided to increase his pace, his ears managed to capture a foreign sound. It was registered as foreign since it just broke the tranquil ambience of the dense forest. He could sense the sound was not far but the faster he went, the nearer he could pick the sound up. The heartbeat that was once at its normal pace increased as he gotten surprisingly nervous and scared at the same time. Not your typical Crown Prince set of emotion if he said so to himself. His head turned from one spot to another with his eyebrows almost connected out of curiosity. But what he did not look out for was his front which could lead to a major incident if it was not for his horse to cry aloud and stopping his fast pace.

Jimin could hear the sound of a female scream up front as he tugged the leather strap around the horse though the animal was clever enough to halt on his own. There were dusts everywhere as he turned his head to the back and instinctively closed his eyes. Followed after were someone coughing and a loud gasp, a male voice if his ears were not tricking him. After recovering from the dust, the Crown Prince finally opened his eyes; only to have his mouth slightly ajar.

“Jimin, what are you doing here?” The younger fellow questioned, genuinely surprised to meet him on the strangest time and location for the day. The asked one never actually shocked to bump on to him because the one sitting in the cart he had been pulling was even more shocking. That was one unexpected turn out. “My guess we are here with the same reason, Jungkook. But why is she with you? You’re not kidnapping her, are you?” Jimin said as he dramatically pointed at the female figure behind Jungkook. He was trying to divert the young one’s attention from him being nervous upon their random meeting actually.

“Why would I kidnap my own friend? She was the one that wanted to follow along.” Jungkook replied after rolling his eyes which followed after Jimin’s movement as the Prince made his way off the horse and went nearer to them. Patting the animal, it tailed behind him before stopping a good distance from its owner. “I don’t remember you being friends with the Princess. You sure have your way around with the Navillera’s royals.” He stated with a light chuckle.

“Yeah, sure; you can say that. I guess we’ll have an extra company in finding that mysterious path today, Jiyeon. Maybe Jimin remembers where it is.” Jungkook uttered as he turned his attention to the Princess who was her train of thoughts and looked back at the Prince in front of him. “I wish I remember it, Jungkook. But say, Princess Jiyeon, why are you trying to find the sparkly path?” Jiyeon eyes widened when the Prince attempt to converse with her but she was cut by her friend.

“You know what? I just realised there is something strange about you two.” The youngest among the three confessed as his eyes darted from one person to another with curious look plastered on his face. The silence held by the group did not last long, thankfully, once Jungkook decided to continue without getting any form of response first. “It is such a surprise what you can know in one day of conversation with Taehyung and he knows too much about the Haesang too by now.”

“What are you trying to say, Jungkook?” Jiyeon questioned but the fellow did not answer because instead he was puzzled when Jimin’s eyes never left whatever lying behind him. Spinning on his heels after letting the cart’s handle off his hands, the Princess yelped at the sudden surprise as the cart plummeted without any warning. The small scream did not go unnoticed by the Crown Prince though and his attention drove towards her. “I think we should head there.” He said shortly.

Jiyeon did not understand his random statement at first but once she followed the two males’ gaze, she finally got the message. How could she and Jungkook even miss it in the first place? There it was relatively two metres away from them, the mysterious sparkly path with what it seemed to be autumn leaves arranged neatly, leading to somewhere unknown to the three of them. Jimin had slight hesitation to bring the other two along with him to be honest but they were the only ones he felt he could trust though technically speaking, he barely made any decent conversation with them other than at the birthday ceremony.

“I think the Princess should take the horse, it might be a long path in there.” Jimin suggested as he advanced closer to the cart before offering her a hand. Glancing at the hand and also Jungkook who was staring at her with a small smile, she took the hand after a short session of contemplating. She hated how her heart seemed to beat jokingly fast for her own good. Surely, she hoped he did not notice her being nervous out of the blue.

Once Jungkook secure his brown cart with the horse, he could easily walk on its side without his arms aching from pulling the burden. It sounded like a smart idea to pull the Princess all the way to their destination as she was lighter than the crates he had been bringing. At least the leftover rope scattered in the cart came in useful. The three of them stopped in synchronise right at the beginning of the path. All of them refused to take the first step but Jiyeon had no choice since her movements were determine by the horse and its owner who gently pulling it to their desired location.

The walk was accompanied by total silence other than the fact each steps taken were causing the dry leaves to make crunchy sounds as the light beams penetrated through the canopy. There was not much to see other than the generic looking trees, the same ones they saw before entering the path. Jimin’s eyes were scanning around the area as he tried to make sense of the new found area. He never witnessed such place before and same went with Jungkook’s mind and he was the kind to go out into the woods more often than the two.

The three of them stopped their walk once they reached what assumingly the dead end of the path. Looking up, they saw a steep cliff with no end to it and Jungkook took the opportunity to gaze over to his left side where a small trail of dirt path was hidden. “This is not the end of the path. We can go on but we have to leave your horse here, Jimin. Is that fine with you?” Jungkook said calmly before turning towards the Crown Prince who nodded at the plan. Jiyeon gracefully jumped off the horse with Jimin’s help before patted her outfit out of her habit in keeping things clean.

“Why does this path feel so familiar?” Jimin admitted once they walked on the same path. They had to walk in one straight line: Jungkook, Jiyeon and Jimin respectively. “Yes, I got to agree with you on that part, Crown Prince Jimin.” Jiyeon replied without leaving her eyes on Jungkook’s back figure. She heard the Prince chuckling at her reply which she asked what was it all about.

“Sorry, I can’t help myself. Just call me Jimin. We are not out in the public or crowd anyway. Even Jungkook call me that. It’s more comfortable that way.” He spoke honestly and saw her bobbing her head. She took it well for a very wise Princess, that was what he heard because he somewhat expected her to push off the offer to converse less formally with him. He felt restricted to say the least on his concern.

“Sure, that’s not weird at all you two. But I think I know where this path might lead us.” Jungkook stated after minutes passed by as they continued making their way up the hill. They had to jump over a couple of streams and stopped to pick any fruits grew nearby to fill their energy back up. It was fortunate to have Jungkook the experience young farmer just so they would not end up dead by eating something poisonous.

Panting hard, Jungkook was the first one to suddenly scream when he realised something fascinating. Gesturing the two royals of different places, they made it to the flat ground as they plotted themselves by the youngest where he beamed brightly at the view laid in front of him. Wonderful enough, it was another look-out point, the final one that he was trying to find after so long. Or so he thought the last one.

“This is beautiful! The air never felt so refreshing before in my life.” Stretching his limbs, Jungkook told on how long he had been trying to find the place by air in his butterfly form but he never thought he had to walk to find them. Jimin inhaled a large amount of oxygen into his lungs as he smile lingered on his face. He never felt that free before and same could be applied to Jiyeon; that was if she was not keen into some other thing.

“Jungkook, Jimin, look here.” Jiyeon easily called them out and for a strange reason, which made the Crown Prince all jumpy of excitement when he heard her saying his name but he managed to control it on the inside. They instantly walked towards the Princess and witnessed an interesting drawing of an arrow pointing upwards. “Why do I have a good feeling there is more up there?” Jungkook uttered in worry because to be honest he was not ready to go up higher.

“Come on Jungkook. Who knows that will finally answer my weird condition and dreams?” Jiyeon said as she gently shook the young one by his arm but her statement caught the Crown Prince’s attention. “Weird condition? Dreams? What kind of them? But wait, before that. By any chance you finished the book I gave to you?” Jimin asked out of oddity. He did not want to ask but he just did.

“Mind sharing your problems?”