Jimin woke up the next day feeling refreshed and relaxed, even though he went to sleep extremely late. Dying his hair took longer than expected but he was very satisfied with the outcome. He looked to his right where the balcony doors were open and the sunlight washed the room. Jimin sat up seeing his three butlers going around and mumbling incoherent things. It was then that he realized that he woke up by himself, they didn't wake him up. Clearing his throat he drew their attention to him. 

"Morning guys, how come you didn't wake me up this morning?" he asked, his voice still raspy from sleep. 

"We didn't wake you up because it's still quite early." Seonghwa answered. 

"Yeah you could have slept for another half an hour or so." San added. 

"But since you're already up, how about a warm bath?" Wooyoung asked holding Bugs. 

The bunny stayed with them since the Prince did not show up the night before to take him. Jimin was a bit upset about it, but he assumed the Prince had to deal with a lot of things because of the attack. However, he was thankful that he got to keep Bugs for one more day. 

"That actually sounds like a perfect idea." Jimin said smiling happily. 

Wooyoung and San went to draw a hot bath for him while Seonghwa was fixing his bed. 

After he enjoyed more than half an hour in the bath, Jimin left the bath with a robe covering his body and towel over his head. He was drying his hair gently with the towel, going to his room he saw there was a suit ready for him on his bed. This time the suit was black with patterns in silver all over the jacket while the slacks were clear black. After putting the suit on he thought to himself that the colors if the suit fit his light silver hair perfectly. Looking close in the mirror, he thought the tips of his hair were closer to purple rather than silver. And he loved it. 

"Jimin you need to sit down so I can do your hair and makeup." Seonghwa said softly. 

Jimin nodded taking the seat in front of the mirror. While Seonghwa was blow drying his hair, he saw San and Wooyoung going over the jewelry box and contemplating which would fit this suit best. 

"I thought about trying something new with your hair and makeup." Seonghwa said. 

"What do you mean?"

"I thought about curling your hair a little, and maybe make your makeup a little bolder."

"I don't know." Jimin hesitated. 

"How about I will do your makeup and if you don't like it then I'll just change it hm?"

"Alright, that sounds like a good idea."

Seonghwa started curling his hair. When he was done he moved to doing Jimin's makeup. Jimin didn't look in the mirror while Seonghwa was working, he decided to look when he'll finish. While Seonghwa was doing the last touch ups to his makeup, San and Wooyoung came and put on his earring a few necklaces and bracelets. After about forty minutes Seonghwa pulled back. 

"I'm done. I think that you should look in the big mirror, that way you could get the whole effect of the look." Wooyoung suggested. 

"I agree." San said while Seonghwa nodded. 

"Alright then." 

Jimin got up and walked to the big mirror. Standing in front of it he took in his appearance. The dress shirt under his suit jacket had two buttons undone, revealing his neck and collar bones that were adorned with the necklaces Wooyoung and San chose for him. His hair looked fluffier and made him look softer. When he looked at his makeup he couldn't help but think that Seonghwa was a genius. He had gray eyeshadow and peachy lipstick, he looked good. The eyeshadow made his eyes look more fierce and sharp while the lipstick made his lips look fuller. He turned to his butlers who were watching him in silence. 

"I think I've won when I got you as my butlers." he said smiling, drawing big smiles out of them as well. 

"We're actually not doing a lot. You're naturally beautiful, so everything looks good on you." Wooyoung said while the others nodded. 

"Thank you, but I think you're exaggerating a little." Jimin said, a soft blush spreading across his cheeks. 

"He really isn't. Your really beautiful even without makeup, jewels or fancy clothes." San said. 

"Alright enough, you're just feeding my ego and making me blush." he said smiling. 

"You should get going, I think breakfast is being served right now." Seonghwa suggested. 

"I will, have a nice day." he said. "Oh,  and take good care of Bugs." he exited the room before they had a chance to answer, but he had Wooyoung giggle which made him smile. 

Halfway to the dinning hall he ran into someone, almost smashing into them. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you." 

"Maybe if you were looking at where you're going it would not have happened." he hear a snarky voice. 

Looking up he saw he ran into the last person he wanted to. Lisa. 

"I was looking where I was going, but you simply came out of nowhere."

"Are you suggesting that it was my fault while you were the one who bumped into me??" her eyes had a glint of annoyance. 

"I did not blame you, but simply stated a fact. You could be nicer, especially since I already apologized." he crossed his arms over his chest. 

"Oh look who became brave all of a sudden." she said in a mocking voice. "Listen here you nuisance, I don't care if you are wearing fancy suits and jewels right now, but you are still the same poor lame peasant that you were before. As for me, I am way out of your league and so is the Prince, and it would do you well to remember that I'm clearly superior and should be addressed as such. Now move out of my way I wanna go eat." she pushed past him after her small speech, not waiting for a response. 

Jimin was left where he was standing completely speechless. 'What the hell just happened' he thought. 'Whatever' he shook his head, heading to the dinning hall. When he reached the dinning hall he spotted everyone sitting already and enjoying their meal. He took his seat, noticing that the Prince was dining with the king and queen today. When the butler brought his food with a smile, his eyes met Jungkook's eyes. He saw his eyes widen as he took in Jimin's appearance, his mouth slightly open. Jimin offered him a shy smile and a questioning look, unsure as to why the Prince was so focused on the way he looked. The Prince seemed to snap out of the trans he was in, locking eyes with Jimin again and mouthing 'wow'. Jimin blushed and lowered his head deciding to focus on his food. 

"Jiminie! You are so stunning today, I love the new look and your hair is silver! I love it so much!" Hoseok exclaimed as soon as he saw Jimin. 

"Yeah you look so beautiful." Seokjin complimented him with a smile. 

"And the new hair color really suits you." Namjoon added with a nod. 

"T-thank you guys." Jimin blushed even harder. 

They spent their breakfast talking about anything and everything. Jimin chose not to mention the little incident from earlier with Lisa, though she was throwing mean looks his way. He didn't understand why she was so mad at him, he didn't do anything to offend her. All the while, Jungkook was glancing over at his table every couple of minutes, which made Jimin's blush permanent. 

They were in the conference room already when Jinyoung entered and started talking straight away. 

"As most of you know from yesterday, you will be appearing in the main broadcast this Friday which is two days from now. As the chosen ones, you are expected to behave appropriately. That means you will not raise your voice but talk softly and delicately. You will have to seat with two legs on the ground, like a Prince or a Princess would sit, for one of you will be the next Prince or Princess. In addition, you will only talk if you were addressed, other than that you are to seat quietly." he paused looking everyone in the eye to make sure everyone understood. "Here I have some of the questions you might be asked. So please split into groups of four at most and start reviewing the questions." he said showing everyone the paper sheets he had in his hand and everyone slowly came and took one for themselves. Jimin was in a group with Hoseok, Namjoon and Seokjin, who by that time asked them to just call him Jin. As they were going over the questions, the door opened and inside walked the Prince. He made eye contact with Jimin and smiled brightly. He whispered something to Jinyoung who nodded and walked straight to Jimin. 

"Sir Jimin would you mind joining me outside? I have some important matters to discuss with you."

"O-oh yes of course highness." Jimin said getting up and heading to the door with the Prince. 

He could hear the entire room buzz and stare at him but he tried to ignore it. When they were both outside the Prince turned to him with a smile, looking at him up and down. Surprisingly, that didn't make Jimin uncomfortable. It only made him feel slightly giddy, since the Prince was clearly checking him out.  He cleared his throat, making the younger snap out of his staring.

"Jungkook what was the important thing you wanted to talk about with me?"

"Oh, there's nothing really. I just saw you this morning with your new hair color and your dashing outfit and everything. And you look absolutely gorgeous. I thought you should know that, that's all." he scratched the back of his neck. 

"You came here, while you have all your Princely duties, only to let me know you think I look good today?" Jimin asked incredulously. 

"Good? You look nothing short of stunning." 

"T-thank you." the blush was spreading on Jimin's face again.

"Oh, I also wanted to apologize for not coming to check up on you yesterday. It's just that after the attack the was a whole lot of mess. I do hope that Bugs was good company to you."

"It's alright, I assumed that you were too busy to come by. And Bugs was very good company to me, the butlers and for three of the chosen yesterday when we hang out in

 my room."

"Did you have a party and did not invite me? I'm honestly so offended." he said in mock seriousness. 

"Did you not just say you had been busy yesterday? How could we have invited you only to be rejected." Jimin answered with a little smirk. 

"Alright I see how it is." Jungkook smiled. "How about to make it up to me, you'll join me for dinner tonight?"

"Sure I'd love to." jimin smiled, willing his blush away. 

"It's a date then." He smiled his big bunny like smile and walked away, waving Jimin goodbye. 

When his butlers heard that he'll be going on a date with the Prince they went rigid. Wooyoung screeched and almost dropped the bunny from his arms. They insisted that he should be wearing something different than his 'morning suit' ,their words not his. He was confused as to why he couldn't just wear a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, but the butlers were not having any of that. At the end, they decided on a pair of black tight pants and a white dress shirt, only retouching his makeup. When the Prince knocked on the door, Wooyoung made a sound that sounded a little like a dying cat and Seonghwa went to get the door while San shushed Wooyoung. The Prince looked surprised that Seonghwa was the one opening the door since Jimin usually opened it. He smiled when the three butlers bowed to him, and walked further into the room. Seeing Jimin his smile grew even bigger which made Jimin smile as well. 

"You look beautiful min."

"Thank you, you look handsome yourself." he said noticing that Jungkook didn't have his suit jacket or his tie. 

Instead he was wearing his slacks, his white dress shirt had the first two buttons undone and his hair looked a little messy. It made him look more boyish. 

"Are you ready to go?"

"Sure but where are we going?" Jimin asked as they headed to the door. 

"It's a secret. You'll find out when we'll get there." Jungkook smiled seeing Jimin's little pout. 

"Bye have fun your highness." Seonghwa said and the youngers nodded and bowed. 

"Thank you we will. Have a pleasant night."

"Oh and you don't have to wait here you can go rest, I'll be fine. " Jimin added as soon as he saw Seonghwa was going to protest. 

The three butlers nodded and Jimin and the Prince left the room. They were walking side by side in silence, but it didn't feel uncomfortable. It was peaceful and nice. Jimin noticed that they're heading towards the gardens. He looked at Jungkook but the younger only smiled to himself and kept on walking. When they reached the gardens Jimin's mouth dropped. He was so stunned by what he saw that he just froze in place. Outside was set the perfect picnic. There were fairy lights everywhere and the blanket was set between all the flowers. Jungkook took Jimin's hand gently and led him to the blanket. Coming closer Jimin saw there were pillows and blankets everywhere, a ridiculous amount of food and wine. They reached the blanket took off their shoes and took a seat among the pillows. Jungkook looked at Jimin's hesitantly. 

"D-do, what do you think?"

Jimin looked and Jungkook incredulously, was it possible that Jungkook thought that he wouldn't like all of this?? 

"Kook, I love it. You probably worked so hard to make it and I'm sorry it took so much out of your time. But I really like it." he said honestly, gently touching Jungkook's shoulder. 

"Oh great, I thought you wouldn't like it." he released a breath. 

"Why? I love picnics, especially in the moonlight. But I thought they were couldn't be outside at night." he looked at Jungkook questioningly. 

"I don't know if you noticed, but I'm sort of the Prince, so I get to do things others aren't allowed to do." he smirked teasingly. 

"Oh really? You're the Prince? I would have never guessed." Jimin joked, making the younger laugh. "Now seriously, are we really allowed to be here?"

"Yes we are you needn't worry. Plus we have the guards at the door watching us very closely. We can't stay here long but we can have a peaceful dinner together."

"Hm, alright if you say so."

They started eating enjoying the Palace's excellent food and wine. When it got colder, Jungkook placed one of the blankets over Jimin's shoulders since he saw him slightly shivering. Jimin thanked him quietly and looked up at the stars. 

"The night sky is much prettier than the morning sky in my opinion. Cause in the night there's enough darkness for so many stars to shine along with the moon. In the daylight, there's only place of the sun to shine."

"I see what you mean, but I actually prefer the daylight. Since in the daylight everything is clearer, the night holds too many dark things that the daylight is shooing away."

"I think that bad and dark things can be everywhere. Since even when there are sunshines, there are also shadows. And those sometimes hide the darkest things and demons." Jimin said not turning away from the sky. 

Which is why he didn't see Jungkook stiffen at what he said. 

"I suppose you are right." 

They kept watching the night sky in quiet until Jimin turned to the younger making eye contact with him. 

"Tell me something about yourself that no one knows."

"If I do that would you answer a question for me?"

"Hm, alright, it's a deal." jimin shook Jungkook's hand. 

Jungkook didn't want to let go of the tiny hand that felt even tinier when his bigger hand engualfed it. But he eventually let go, no wanting to make Jimin uncomfortable in any way. 

"Alright, one thing no one knows about me?" Jimin nodded. "Hm, I guess that no one knows that I can sing, I don't know if I'm really good at it. But I can sing." he watched as Jimin's eyes got wider. 

"You can sing?? I would have never imagined that the Prince can sing. But if you can, in fact, sing why have you never sang?"

"My father doesn't find my singing abilities appropriate for a Prince. So I never sang." he shrugged. 

"That's a shame. Would you sing for me?" Jimin's eyes sparkled. 

"Maybe someday." Jungkook smiled at him warmly, seeing Jimin's pouting. 

"Fine, but I'll hold you to it."

"Now you need to answer my question." Jungkook looked a little nervous. 

"Sure, fire away." Jimin made himself comfortable between the pillows and blankets. 

"Would you tell me about your ex?"

Jimin was silent for a few moments and all that could be heard was the sound of the leaves moving in the night breeze.

"I, I'm not sure what there is to tell really. It's not that special and it's clearly over now so."

"You don't have to tell me, and I won't make you. But I thought that if you were to talk about it with someone, it would make you feel better. That's all." jungkook ruffled his hair, a habit he did when he was nervous, Jimin had noticed. 

"Will you listen without interrupting? Hear me out till the end and not make fun of me?"

"What, Jimin I could never make fun of you."

"Alright then. It's not that complicated if a story, just a sad one. Our moms were friends since a long time now, so we have always known each other. Since our moms would hang out a lot with each other, we met a lot of times since we were kids and became friends. When he turned 23 and I was 20, he asked me out secretly. You see we were quite attracted to each other for a while back then but we were both anxious about making a move. Because so help me God my mom would never allow me to date and potentially be married to someone who's poorer than us. And his family really is poorer than mine, that's why we dated in secret for over a year. That was until my mother said that I must sign up for the selection and come here. Believe me I never thought that I would be chosen. But when he found out that was chosen, instead of telling me that he loves me and he'll wait for me,  he said that we should break up cause we're clearly not meant to be together. The really messed up thing is, that I know he's right. I knew it back then too, it just takes a lot of time to process that. But I have no doubt that he loved me just as I loved him. It's just that some things are not meant to be I guess." Jimin couldn't remember when he started crying.

It wasn't desperate sobs that left him shaking and out of breath. It was quiet sad tears for things he couldn't control. Jungkook looked speechless  his eyes moist from the tears that pooled in his eyes. He kept saying nothing as he slowly came closer to Jimin wiping his tears and bringing him to his chest, hugging him. Jimin simply let his tears flow as he embraced the younger as well, placing his head in his neck. Jungkook was petting his head, slowly threading his fingers through the now silver hair. Jimin felt himself relax slowly, Jungkook's embrace always comforting to him. After they sat cuddled up for a while Jungkook spoke up with a soft voice. 

"Min, I really wish I knew what to say that would make all the bad things and experiences that you had go away. Unfortunately, I can't. But what I can promise you is that I will do my best to make sure that while you're here, you'll be happy and peaceful. That you won't have to suffer from heartache here. You have my word."

"Thank you so much kook, you have no idea how much that means to me. I'm sorry I misjudged you like that and treated you so badly." Jimin said to his neck. 

"It's all long forgotten love." 

They spent some time just hugging and enjoying each others company. Until a guard approached them.

"Highness, I'm sorry to intrude but you must return inside it is not safe for the both of you to be out here." 

"If course officer, please leave me for a moment with sir Jimin and I will him back to his chambers." The soldier nodded and left them. 

"Minie, we should get inside now." he rubbed his back in soothing circles. 

"Mm." was Jimin's response.

Jungkook chuckled. "Do you want me to carry you to your room?" he felt Jimin's soft nod. 

He stood up lifting Jimin up with him. Jimin was still covered in blankets eyes closed and his face in the younger's neck. Jungkook slowly and steadily walked with Jimin in his arms, to Jimin's room. When he got there he placed Jimin on the bed taking off his shoes and covering him in blankets. He looked to the corner where Bugs was sleeping peacefully on one of Jimin's pillows. He chuckled to himself quietly, leaving the room after placing a small kiss on Jimin's forehead. Just before he closed the door he heard Jimin mumble.

"Thank you kookie, that was the best date ever." which left Jungkook pleased and proud of himself. 

"I had a great time, sleep well love." he closed the door, leaving to his chambers to catch a short sleep. 

To be continued…..