The celebration in the palace was lavish as planned and it somehow made Areum and Yoongi more relaxed because it was rather a private party with their families and friends unlike the ceremony that had thousands of eyes on them. It is still strange to see people from two opposing countries have a good time together. Those that were once up against each other’s necks are now chatting, laughing, trying to get to know each other and no one really knows if it is a sincere gesture or merely a show. Nobody seems to care and the princess even found herself enjoying the party as well. She finds herself smiling and in awe with the children that ask her random questions.

The atmosphere in Vhrea is calm and the people are somewhat relieved that they are now heading to a fresh start but Areum’s comfortable bubble bursts when the event comes to an end. The guests are leaving, congratulating the newly wed couple again before they bid goodbye.

The royal family of Meri are the last to leave of course, giving her one last tight hug, best wishes and the dreaded ‘take care of each other and take care of the peace that you built together’. It makes her want to roll her eyes at this because when will her family stop acting as if she willingly wanted this. Yoongi is so good with his words though, she notices, because he surely did assure her family that she’ll be well taken care of in this country and she doesn’t know if it was all talk or he really meant it.

Now the two of them are escorted to head to their shared bedroom and the pounding in her chest returns when the servant leaves. The first thing she notices are the cream colored walls lined with gold and accentuated by the chandelier on the middle of the ceiling. The bed is covered with red velvet sheets and adjacent to it is a long couch and a table. They stand in the middle of the large room, heavy and uncomfortable silence lingering in the air, not knowing what to say, not knowing where to start because how are they even going to get over this first wedding night?

Areum is too caught up with her nerves to notice that Yoongi is looking at her worriedly.

“You look like you’re going to pass out, loosen up a bit.” He says as he moves closer but she flinches away. He gives her a puzzled look, brows furrowed.

"Sorry I… I've never…" She can feel the heat rise up to her cheeks as she makes her voice as small as possible, couldn't even finish the sentence. What is she even supposed to say?

I've never been this close to a man except for Jungkook, Jimin and my brother and I never shared a room with someone else so this is freaking me out.

I've never done anything else, no other experience aside from kissing so please…

Her cheeks flush even more at her thoughts. God, this is so mortifying. Why does this have to happen in front of the last person on earth she wants to be with?

It didn't take long before his expression changed, finally understanding why she’s acting this way. “Areum,” He tries again but her eyes remain glued to the floor, still avoiding any sort of eye contact.

“I just want to show you something. It’s alright if you want to stay there, though.” He continues as he makes his way towards the curtains to move it to the side, trying to show her the door to the balcony.

The princess lifts her gaze when she feels a soft breeze enter the room. She sees Yoongi leaning against the railings so she follows in curiosity and her jaw nearly drops at the view of the entire city from where they stand.

It is absolutely breathtaking.

“What do you think? He asks without taking his eyes away from the wonderful scenery.

“It’s… it’s beautiful.” She replies, still stunned because this is something new. Back in Meri, the deep blue sea greets her when she goes to the balcony but right now, it’s the glow of the city lights in the dark night. The awkwardness between them eases up a bit, calmed by the silence of the night and the soothing breeze. Yoongi looks so peaceful, harmless, as he takes in the scenery before them, maintaining enough distance from Areum.

Maybe things could work out, she thinks.

"If you hated it so much, why did you end up agreeing to this?" His deep voice breaks the silence and she tenses up at his question, instantly feeling a sharp pang on her chest.

Maybe things are never meant to work out.

Areum scoffs at him. "Are you seriously asking me that?"

Yoongi shrugs, "I mean, you could've ran away instead? Elope or something and never show up again."

"And what would I get from that? My conscience haunting me because I created another mess in my kingdom in the middle of the war?"

"Well, you're not happy right now either. If you left, you're with someone you want to be with, and it kind of eases the burden."

"What the hell are you trying to point out?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to know why."

Now it feels like Min Yoongi's sole purpose in this world is to make her blood boil in every way possible because right now she wants nothing but to slap that oblivious expression out of his face.

"You wanted to know why? Seriously?" Her voice trembles a bit as she feels the pain that she tried burying deep down, rising up again. "You seem to have forgotten that you told me that I'm far too concerned with my personal life, that I should know better. Now, you have the audacity to tell me that I could've ran away when in the first place you could have disagreed with this matter so they'll be forced to think of another solution to this dispute."

"I agreed to this because I wanted peace even if I have to sacrifice my own happiness for it." Yoongi snaps, quite annoyed at how she seems to blame him for all of this.

"You know nothing about sacrifice, Yoongi. You just agreed to this to make you feel better about yourself, to make you feel noble." Areum sneers. "I had to lose everything for this god forsaken peace that you all think you'd have. And in case you don't realize it yet, you can't expect that you'll gain Meri's trust right away just because you united the two kingdoms."

She turns her back at him, rushing back inside the room and Yoongi is quick to grab her arm to stop her but she shrugs it off forcefully and gives him a seething glare.

"Don't touch me and don't you dare come any closer."

Yoongi sighs in frustration, following the princess back in the room, not knowing what to do with their situation. God, why was he so bad with words? It wasn't his intention to offend her. He simply wants to have some conversation, an obviously poor attempt to get to know her and make her feel comfortable. It would probably sound insincere if he apologized judging by how she reacted and he doesn't want to aggravate the situation so he keeps silent till she calms down.

There's a long stretch of silence between them with her back turned against him and the prince decides to speak again.

"What do you want me to do?"

No response.

"Would you feel better if I leave you alone? I can sleep in my old bedroom if that's what makes you comfortable." He tries, hopefully not sounding offensive but again, he hears no response.

His patience is wearing thin with her silent game because it feels like he's talking to a wall.

"Are we playing a guessing game here?" And Yoongi ing wished he didn't open his mouth because what he said is not even helping but hey, he's feeling petty right now.

She turns to face him, looking conflicted, deep in thought and casts her gaze away when she replies with a small voice, "Don't…"

He raises an eyebrow at her as if wanting to say ask really, now? A smirk forms on the corner of his lips as he walks towards her and a part of him is quite surprised that she didn't try to move away.

They are now standing close together, barely a few inches apart and he tilts her chin so she'd look at him. "I told you not to touch me didn't I?" She says through gritted teeth.

"Is this how you try to flirt with me, princess? Push and pull, huh?"

Areum looks at him directly this time and gives him a sarcastic smile. "Don't get your hopes up, Yoongi. Everything that I do is because of my duty to my country so don’t expect anything more than this. I'm merely avoiding any rumors circulating in this palace about our obvious disagreement that resulted in their dear prince getting kicked out of his room on his wedding night." She heads towards the bed and sits on the mattress, leaving the prince standing in the middle of the room.

This surprises Yoongi again because somehow he thought that she wouldn't care at all yet she does. Well, not really care, but more like responsible enough to know the consequences of her actions. To be honest, he prepared himself to put up with all the worst case scenarios such as Areum doing things to purposely ruin everything and eventually make her return to her kingdom but it seems like she's also trying to accept it as much as he does.

He thinks that there's a lot more to her personality if only it wasn't messed up by the pent up emotions and this makes him want to get to know her. He wants to have a clue on what goes on her mind because damn, she's unpredictable. He wants to know what makes her smile, what makes her mad, what makes her sad and maybe it is wishful thinking but he's still hoping for it to happen one day.

Yoongi feels her gaze on him when he takes some of the pillows and throws them on the couch. “I guess this will do, for now. You should get some rest, we had a long day.” He says as he tries to make himself comfortable in the cramped up space because he wouldn't lie, this is small, definitely too small than what he's used to. He stares up at the ceiling, replaying in his mind everything that has happened today, and he is reminded of the kiss they shared hours ago. The feeling still lingers on his lips and they might have deceived the people by looking so in love but they can’t deny it to themselves that it’s all a blatant lie. Now it got him thinking. How far is he willing to go for all of this ? How long can they play pretend?

--------------------------------------------------------------------

To Areum's surprise, she slept quite well last night. It was a good sleep and she feels so refreshed as she stretches her limbs. She rubs her eyes and the moment she opens them, all the remnants of sleepiness leaves her body.

The prince is beside her, lying on his side, back facing hers and her first instinct is to peek under the blankets to see if her clothes are still intact, sighing in relief when it's still on but this doesn't remove the fact that her morning is now ruined.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" She perfectly remembers that he slept on the couch last night so why the is he suddenly beside her and how didn't she notice?

"It's too small, my back hurts." He mumbles, voice deeper and raspy than usual, clearly half-asleep.

"Am I supposed to care about that?"

Yoongi turns his head to look at her and props himself on his elbow, brows furrowed, hair messy. "This is our bed which means I'm allowed to sleep here. Why are you having problems with that?"

She finds herself flustered and at loss for words and he finds this morning far too interesting than he expected. He tilts his head, waiting for an answer.

"Because I don’t like it.”

“So snappy, princess.”

“Seeing your face the first thing in the morning is enough to ruin my day.”

“Well, we can change that.” He says with a playful tone in his voice, shifting his position and inches towards her just to see more of her reactions.Areum is too focused on getting away from Yoongi, trying to move further and belatedly noticed that she's already on the edge of the bed. Luck wasn't really on her side because the blanket got tangled around her ankles that made her lose balance and he did try to grab her hand to keep her from falling but instead, she ended up dragging him with her and they both fell with a loud thud.

Yoongi falls on top of her, leaving the both of them in an even more awkward situation that makes her brain short circuit.

"Enjoying it too much? Areum?" She snaps back to reality when she hears his voice and in an instant she moves to push him away but he is quick to grab her hands, pinning them above her head.

"Get off of me."

"I don't see anything wrong with it. Besides, we're married."

"You know what's wrong with it? Everything! And I hate you!"

That stings a bit but Yoongi ignores it and carries on with teasing her instead just because he finds her reactions amusing. She squirms against his hold but he wouldn't budge and instead, he moves closer, so close that if she moves, she'll end up kissing him which effectively made her still.

"If you don't get of off me in this instant, I swear--"

His lips curl up into a smirk before leaning down beside her ear and whispers, "You said you did everything because it is your duty. Isn't this your duty too?"

"You're an absolutely awful piece of sh--"

Her words are cut off when she hears the door open and both of them lie frozen on their spot, mind going blank in panic as they see the absolute shock in the servant's face. The princess is lying on the floor, hands pinned above her head and a blanket tangled around her waist down to her ankles. It is obvious enough that the prince is straddling her, legs positioned on either side of her hips and his face is on her neck, doing god knows what from the servant’s perspective. Yoongi is quick to move though, helping her stand up as the poor servant apologizes repeatedly, all fluster and explaining herself, saying that she did knock a few times and didn’t mean to walk in on them.

"No, it's fine it was.."

"It's nothing. It's alright."

They both say in unison and the maid briefly says that breakfast is ready in the dinning hall and the king is expecting them to join. She leaves abruptly, still embarrassed, once Yoongi says that they’ll follow shortly and Areum elbows him harshly on the stomach when she notices that he’s trying to contain his smile. He winces in pain, clutching his abdomen and sees the princess turn away to head to the washroom and fix herself.

This is just the first day and he knows there’s more to come.

[A/N: Hello! It's been a while. I haven't updated in a long time because online classes got me super busy :(( I hope you enjoy this short update and as usual, let me know your thoughts. Also, stream Dynamite!!!]