Theme 4 || Rivalry

Word Count: 1171

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HoSeok stood there in shock momentarily. Had he heard correctly? Surely it was impossible, right? These kinds of things never happened. Did he say JiMin? HoSeok and his best friend, TaeHyung, had fallen for people many times before, but never was it with the same person. Their tastes were far too different to fall in love with the same person. Then there was Park JiMin. The most perfect being on the face of this planet, and HoSeok understood how TaeHyung had fallen in love with him as well. JiMin had the adorable qualities that HoSeok was attracted to, but, at the same time, was also strong and manly: TaeHyung's ideal type. 

"HoSeok," TaeHyung spoke softly. He was well aware that it was going to be difficult for his friend to accept this, especially since HoSeok had told TaeHyung ages ago that he was falling for JiMin. TaeHyung didn't want to hurt his friend, but their friendship was built on their honesty with each other. He felt that she shouldn't keep this a secret from him. "If it helps any...I tried to keep myself from falling for him." TaeHyung's tone was sincere, and HoSeok knew that he meant his words.

"There's only one thing to do." HoSeok gave his friend a serious look. "We'll let JiMin who he likes."

TaeHyung looked at the elder as he crossed his arms. He shifted his weight to one leg and tapped the other foot on the ground rhytmatically. "And what makes you think he would be in love with either of us?" TaeHyung questioned.

HoSeok sighed. He knew that JiMin was difficult to obtain thanks to his being a prince of the kingdom, but that didn't mean much to HoSeok. JiMin's father had many wives and many sons. The kingdom would go onto the eldest son of his first wife, which wasn't JiMin. Also, not being a likely heir to the throne, JiMin was not in an arranged marriage, and could have any partner he wanted. Not to mention, HoSeok and TaeHyung were part of the royal guard, and really close to JiMin. It was was likely that they had more of a chance with the prince than any one else who would have tried to confess their love. "It's worth a shot." HoSeok said, and then thought for a moment. "Just promise me, no matter the result, this won't come between us."

...

A few days had passed since then, and neither TaeHyung nor HoSeok had brought up the courage to tell the prince their feelings. They agreed that if they were going to let him choose between the two, or neither of them, they were going to tell him together. The right time never seemed to come.

It was late at night, and TaeHyung was in his quarters with his roommate, JungKook. JungKook was lying on his own bed, reading a book about military tactics. The king thought he could use whatever knowledge was stored in there, but TaeHyung knew that younger wasn't interested in the content at all. JungKook had always been more of the hands-on learning type. If wanted to learn about military tactics, he would do so in battle. TaeHyung was sitting at the desk, polishing his sword that was soon going to need to be replaced from so much damage caused in battle. 

A knock came to their door, and TaeHyung wondered who would be coming to this hour. He started to get up to go answer the door, but he was sat back down once JungKook shouted, "Come in!"

The door came open and TaeHyung was surprised to see JiMin. JiMin was probably the only member of the royal family who knocked on the doors before entering their rooms. The rest of them believed that, since they owned the castle, no one had that right to privacy. JiMin looked at JungKook. "JungKook," He said, attempting to get the young knight's attention. JungKook lay the book on his stomach to look at his prince. "Mind if I have a moment alone with TaeHyung?"

JungKook picked up the book and continued reading. He was probably the only night that didn't care to respect every small request that came from a member of the royal family. TaeHyung was surprised that he was even made it to the royal guard. The king must have seen some potential in him that he believed would make him a valuable member of the guard. "Kook." TaeHyung said, tilting his head toward the door once the younger was looking at him.

JungKook sighed and got off the bed. "I never get to stay for the interesting things." JungKook complained as he left the room, closing the door behind him like a good boy.

TaeHyung rose, but JiMin put up a hand stopping him. "May we sit?" JiMin asked, motioning a hand toward TaeHyung's bed. TaeHyung nodded and they both sat on his bed.

The prince looked at his knight, taking in a deep breath before he began speaking. "I am not exactly sure how to say this." JiMin said. "But there is something I need to do, and I am requesting your help."

TaeHyung was nervous as he looked at JiMin. Usually when he had a special request, he would go to HoSeok, as he was captain of the Royal Guards. "What is it, my prince?" He asked once he realized that JiMin was awaiting a response from him.

"Usually I go to HoSeok for these kinds of things, but I'm actually here about HoSeok...so that would be a little weird." JiMin said, looking at his hands. TaeHyung could tell that the prince was nervous, so he felt that he knew where this was going. It was a little disappointing. "He's your best friend, right? And you know everything about him?" JiMin looked at TaeHyung and the guard nodded. "I want to confess to him, but I've never confessed my love to anyone before, so I'm not quite sure how to go about it. That's why I need your help."

TaeHyung swalled. It was exactly as he feared. The young prince was in love HoSeok, and not TaeHyung. On thing was clear and off the table now, TaeHyung and his friend did not have to worry about their own confessions to the prince now. And TaeHyung begins to wonder if this would be easier if he never said anything to HoSeok about his feelings for JiMin. TaeHyung grabbed JiMin's hand and rubbed it comfortingly. "I happen to know that he wants to confess his feelings to you as well." TaeHyung said with a smile, trying to hide his pain. "No matter how you tell him, nothing can go wrong."

It was better this way. HoSeok deserved JiMin. He was the one who was there to take care of the prince every night and day. Partly because it was his job as captain, but mostly because he genuinely cared for the prince. Besides, TaeHyung felt that he could better deal with missing this chance than HoSeok would.

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Author's Note || Hello, lovelies! Thank you guys for your support and encouragement on these stories! Here is the one for rivalry! I think it's obvious, but the rivalry is between HoSeok and TaeHyung to win JiMin's heart. There aren't really any couple scenes in here simply because this is how I wanted to write it.

Um. I ship VMin more than HopeMin...but I love HopeMin, too (I love Bangtan love...), so they get the love in this story...and yes~ JungKook makes a small appearance and JiMin doesn't care about him...despite my undying love for the JiKook couple...huhuhu. Anyways! This was fun to write, and I hope that you guys liked it!

It is classified as VMin/HopeMin because I didn't want any spoilers as to who JiMin loved before the end.

Enjoy and stuff! Bye!