A few days spent in Daegu was more than sufficient, in Chaeyoung’s opinion. It was a bittersweet feeling, leaving such a loving community, but the place and all of its people served as constant reminders of the life she desperately wanted – the life she could only dream for herself. And the longer they stayed, the harder it was to leave. For everyone.

“Aw, I’m going to miss them,” Lisa pouted, staring longingly at a family of white cats that ran past Chaeyoung’s horse.

With a sigh, Chaeyoung looked up from the bag she was packing full of food to glance a few feet away at all the people who had gathered to bid farewell to Taehyung and Yoongi, “me too.”

“Hey, how are you doing?” Jisoo glanced over from her horse at Chaeyoung, her expression a cross between sympathy and pity, “you know, after the break up and everything?”

Chaeyoung groaned in exasperation, “for the last time, we were not dating.”

“Maybe not officially, but –”

“I’m fine,” she replied curtly, attaching her leather bag to Midnight’s saddle with what some would consider ‘aggressive’ force, “we have more important matters to attend to. Defeating a corrupt king and saving the country, to name a few. So, it doesn’t matter how I’m feeling. Queens are not allowed to feel.”

Lisa squeezed her hand reassuringly, “That’s not fair, you two are perfect –”

“Guys, please,” Chaeyoung pleaded, looking up at the pale-blue sky and blinking rapidly to clear her eyes of the burning fluid that seemed to continuously pour out of her these days, “I can’t do this right now.”

No matter how irrational it was, a part of her was hoping the longer she avoided the topic, the sooner she would move on. Dwelling on the matter always ended with the same outcome: tears, pain, and more tears. And what she was not about to do was break down in front of Taehyung and all his people. That would only hurt him.

Thus, as always, Chaeyoung needed to be strong.

“Your majesty,” Mr. Kim’s voice caused Chaeyoung to clear and pull herself together quickly before turning around to face Taehyung’s father, “I wanted to thank you. With your help, we were able to produce enough medicine to treat the majority of our patients and host an excellent lantern festival at the same time.”

“It was our pleasure, Mr. Kim,” she smiled politely at him, trying not to think about how much the older man resembled his son.

He smiled and beckoned at someone behind her, “and, a deal is a deal, so here comes our present to you for your assistance.”

Chaeyoung turned around curiously, her eyes growing wide when she saw Jimin walking towards her, fully suited in protective armour, and dragging along a very reluctant Jennie by her sleeve.

“I promised you our best archers, and since you already have 2 of them by your side, we thought you could use two more skilled warriors to aid your quest.”

“That is very generous of you,” Chaeyoung replied, though a part of her felt guilty for tearing two more people away from their home to aid her dangerous journey, “but, I wouldn’t want to steal any more of your warriors from their families. I know how much they are needed here.”

Mr. Kim gazed at her warmly, “well then I guess that means you must promise they will return to us safely.”

Chaeyoung gulped, her stomach turning anxiously at the weight of such a request, “I promise they will come back. All of them, Taehyung and Yoongi included.”

“Thank you,” he nodded, his eyes shining with understanding.

At that moment Jimin and Jennie reached them. Jennie was practically scowling, but Chaeyoung could’ve sworn she saw Jimin flash Lisa a grin before he bowed deeply in front of the ladies.

“Park Jimin at your service, your majesty,” he said politely.

She smiled warmly in return, “please, call me Chaeyoung.”

Taehyung and Yoongi also finished their farewells at that time, making their way over towards the rest of the group and waving to the large group that had gathered at the town gates to see them off.

“Oh, look who has decided to tread on the path of righteousness and do some good in the world,” Taehyung said sarcastically, nudging Jennie’s shoulder lightly as he passed by her to untie Crystal’s reins from the tree next to Chaeyoung.

The Princess froze as he neared but managed to avoid eye contact when he came to stand next to her, her heart clenching simply from the deep sound of his voice. Telling herself that everything would get better with time and that she would not pine for him forever, she continued to silently pack her belongings.

“As if,” Jennie scoffed, her arms crossed over her chest defiantly, “the only reason I’m doing this is because your father asked, and it’s impossible to say no to him.”

“No, it’s not,” Yoongi retorted, “Taehyung does it all the time.”

“Oh, how I wish that wasn’t true,” Mr. Kim sighed just as Mrs. Kim came running down the street, her skirt swaying with the wind as she practically ran into Taehyung’s arms.

“Go make a change, protect the people you love, save the world,” she said as she hugged him tightly, causing Chaeyoung to smile warmly despite everything. She had never had a true family, but she was glad that he had such a wonderful one, “but no matter what you do, you must come back alive.”

He chuckled lightly in response, “I will.”

“Here, take this,” she pulled back, bringing her hands up to the base of her neck to pull off a thin, gold necklace with a coin-sized, intricately designed jade pendant in the middle. She reached up to tie it around his neck, her eyes glistening with tears, “that way I will be with you every step of the way.”

She tip-toed up to also whisper something into his ear to which Taehyung smiled warmly. At this point, Chaeyoung had already looked away, the sweet moment only aggravating the guilt she harboured for forcing him to help her.

“Thank you,” he said softly, pressing a kiss to his mother’s cheek.

After he had bid farewell to both parents, the group began to mount their horses simultaneously. In an organized line, they began to exit through Daegu’s gates one-by-one, leaving their emotions behind and taking a week’s worth of memories along with them.

“You know what they say,” Jimin turned his head to glance over his shoulder from the front of the pack, his expression enthusiastic, “no road is too long with good company.”

“Oh , this road is going be endless then,” Yoongi remarked sarcastically.

Jimin shook his head in disappointment, “a guy can’t even try to lighten up the mood around here.”

“Wait,” Seokjin stopped suddenly, causing a row of horses to crash into his with loud grunts of protest, his tone bordering on panic.

“What is it?” Chaeyoung asked with concern, “did you forget something behind?”

“Does this mean we have to change the group name?” he asked with wide eyes, “now that there’s 9 of us.”

“Technically 10, if we count the hostage,” Jennie added.

“Who the cares about the hostage?” Yoongi turned to look at her as if she was crazy.

Taehyung groaned in exasperation, “is that really why you stopped, Seokjin?”

“It’s an important issue!” he exclaimed as they all began moving along through the twisted forest path again.

“Should we brainstorm?” Chaeyoung asked, trying to help the situation.

“No!” everyone, except Seokjin and Namjoon, turned towards her sharply to exclaim at the same time, immediately silencing both of them.

“Everyone ,” Seokjin muttered with a pout, causing Chaeyoung to chuckle lightly.

Perhaps Jimin was right. With a dynamic group like this, they were bound to embark on a wild, unpredictable