It had been weeks since Yoongi enjoyed a b, ice-cold cup of rice wine. He was sitting alone at a wooden table in the corner of the crowded tavern that was connected to the equally crowded inn they had settled in for the night, sipping his drink and waiting patiently for his food.

The interior of the tavern was substandard with sets of small rectangular wooden tables with matching wooden benches on either side. A small handful of daisies, which looked almost as worn out as Yoongi was, served as the only decoration in the otherwise plain room. The place had been so overfilled with people when he arrived that he almost turned back around and walked the other way. But the grumbling of his stomach had served as enough motivation for him to elbow a path for himself towards the only vacant table.

Although there was barely any space on the bench to accommodate both him and his weapon satchel, and the boisterous chattering of drunk men continuously assaulted his ears, he remained patient. His body needed to be replenished of its energy after the torturous climb they had just endured. And in his mind, a hungry man was a useless man.

“Lisa, I swear to God I am never letting you dress me again,” the annoyed tone of Kim Jisoo drew Yoongi’s attention.

He glanced up to see the three of them enter the tavern – Seokjin appearing freshly showered with his hair a ruffled mess that most women seemed to somehow find attractive, Lisa with her normally braided auburn hair flowing freely down her back like a sea of lava. And then there was Jisoo.

He gulped his drink loudly when he saw her, finding himself staring at her for a few seconds longer than he cared to admit. She wore a white and blue hanbok that, although simple, contrasted with her raven hair and pale complexion perfectly. The neckline hung a little deeper than most of her usual clothing, so she constantly tugged at it as they made their way through the crowd amidst a sea of men unabashedly turning their heads to ogle at her.

Attempting to avoid them, he slowly slid his back down the wooden bench and used a hand to casually cover his face. Spending such a great deal of time with this dysfunctional group of people was beginning to wear him down in ways he could barely comprehend. It seemed almost impossible to separate himself from them, though he tried his absolute best. All he wanted was to enjoy a nice, fresh meal alone – with no irritating windshield laughter, or raven-haired women to distract him. Was that so much to ask?

Apparently so.

“Hey, I found Yoongi!” Seokjin’s enthusiastic tone could be heard from across the loud room.

Yoongi cursed under his breath as the three of them approached his table, inviting themselves to sit down before he could even attempt to scare them away. Seokjin and Lisa immediately took a seat on the bench in front of him while Jisoo stared at him expectantly.

With a frustrated sigh, Yoongi moved his weapon satchel to the ground beneath the table and scooted over to make room for the intimidating woman and the tufts of colourful cloth which accompanied her. She took a seat as far on the edge of the bench as possible, but the limited space still caused their thighs to brush under the table – much to her dismay.

“Do you mind?” she asked, her posture tense, “I’m about to fall off this bench.”

“That sounds like a you problem,” he replied, unbothered as he continued to sip his drink, even though there was still a smidge of distance between him and the wall which he could easily occupy to diminish her discomfort – but what would be the fun in that?

“Fine,” she scoffed, scooting closer until she was fully seated on the bench and their sides were smushed together, “I guess we’ll just have to stay this way until one of us feels uncomfortable enough to move.”

Yoongi clenched his jaw, determined to win this obvious challenge, but he could only endure her annoyingly warm body heat for so long. Eventually, he rolled his eyes and pushed over, ignoring Jisoo’s victorious smirk and, instead, focusing on the menus Seokjin and Lisa were currently engrossed in.

“That’s what I thought,” Jisoo muttered, satisfied.

On the bright side, at least the two lovebirds were not there to worsen his misery. If he had to watch Taehyung and the Princess gaze longingly at one another and find any excuse to touch, for one more second, he was seriously going to lose his ing mind.

Don’t even get him started on the old man who was supposed to be ‘guiding’ them through this quest, but in reality hadn’t done to get them to where they need to be. All he ever did was spew nonsensical philosophical quotes and speak in riddles. Yoongi had no doubt that Namjoon was the main cause of his ever-growing headache and stressed state of mind. Thank goodness at least he was not there –

Just as this thought crossed his mind, the old man seemed to appear out of thin air and now stood in front of their table expectantly. All the curses in the world could not accurately depict Yoongi’s level of frustration.

“I hope you all were not planning on eating without me,” Namjoon said in his characteristically calm voice that made Yoongi’s ears ache.

The old man used the end of his cane to poke Lisa’s side, forcing her to make room on the tiny bench for him.

“Aren’t you supposed to be fasting or something?” Lisa muttered in an annoyed tone while rubbing her side.

He turned to look at her sternly, “you think just because I am a monk, I cannot enjoy the same pleasures that you mundanes enjoy?”

Lisa grew completely silent, her eyes widening in fear that she may have accidentally insulted him.

“Well you are absolutely right,” Namjoon’s mood suddenly shifted from stern to pleased in the span of a millisecond, “you are correct, Miss Manoban. I am fasting.”

“Then why are you here?” Yoongi groaned. This could have been a relatively peaceful time without the old man, but of course he always had to find some way to interrupt Yoongi’s tranquility.

The monk turned towards Yoongi with a bemused glint in his eyes, seeming pleased at the question.

“Why are any of us here, Mr. Min?” Yoongi cringed at the formal use of his name, “what purpose does our existence serve and how are we all linked in the grand scheme of things? –

“Oh , here we go again,” Yoongi practically banged his head against the wall, cursing himself for triggering another philosophical debate from the obviously troubled man before him.

Jisoo’s quiet chuckle only aggravated his annoyance as she made no attempt to hide her amusement.

“Is there life among the stars and the galaxy beyond? And just how does gravity work? These are the questions which keep me up at night,” Namjoon continued.

“I think he meant why are you here, in the restaurant, if you can’t eat?” Seokjin spoke up, doing something right for once.

“Ahh,” Namjoon nodded in understanding, “that is a slightly easier question to answer. Well, to put it simply: I was bored.”

“Can’t you be bored somewhere else?” Yoongi asked, “preferably somewhere far, far away from here.”

“I suppose I could,” he seemed to entertain the thought for only a few seconds, “but taverns are one of the most interesting and useful places to spend one’s time.”

“Really?” Jisoo’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, “I didn’t peg you as the drinking type.”

He laughed heartily at that, “alcohol is not the only use of taverns, Miss Kim. I want you all to listen closely to the conversations around you and tell me what you observe.”

Out of sheer curiosity, Yoongi tuned in to the conversation behind him between a handful of slightly drunk and extremely angry men.

“What do you mean the price of one drink is half a silver piece? Have you heard of anything more ridiculous than that?!”

“Ya, well you can blame the new King for raising the taxes yet again. More and more towns are starving by the day!”

“ the new King! He’s nothing but a child puppet for Concubine Kim and Official Yang to throw around to do their dirty work. I have had enough of this monarchy!”

“What about the Princess? The prophecy states that the first-born is to rule and save our country.”

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