2
The night cloaked the Kim Kingdom in stillness, but for Jungkook, sleep had long since become a stranger.
He sat in the same spot he always did — a quiet chair in the far corner of Tae’s chamber, half-shielded by the curtains. The moonlight spilled through the window, casting a soft glow over her resting form. She slept deeply, her face finally at peace after days of tireless ruling. The slight rise and fall of her chest, the way her fingers curled gently near her face — he memorized it all every night.
She never saw him there
But he was always watching, always guarding, always loving — from a distance.
Tae had been sick again. The stress, the late nights, the kingdom's endless demands… they wore her down, even if she never showed it to the world. But Jungkook saw. He always saw.
He had been the one to wipe the sweat from her brow, to change the cold cloth on her forehead when the fever had risen. He had held her hand as she trembled in her sleep, whispering silent promises even though she couldn’t hear them.
jungkook
I’m here. You’re never alone.
And when the morning came, before the light returned to the sky, he would be gone — slipping away before she woke, leaving only a lingering trace of sandalwood and spring blossoms in the air.
---
Jungkook didn’t need the title of husband anymore. He didn’t need a label or a crown. He didn’t even need her love in return.
All he needed was to protect her.
That was enough.
---
When word reached him that someone had tried to undermine her authority in court — a noble who spread lies, whispered threats — Jungkook didn’t hesitate. In the shadows of the alley behind the palace, that noble learned why Tae Kim didn’t need an army at her back.
She had him.
Jungkook never told her. She never asked. But somehow, he knew she suspected. Tae always had that quiet awareness about her, that knowing look in her eyes. Still, she never brought it up. And he never asked for thanks.
He spent his days among the people now — walking the markets, fixing broken walls, helping farmers lift their heavy loads. To them, he was just a nameless guardian, a shadow of the Queen’s former past. But to Tae, he hoped… he was still something more.
The blossoming tree he had planted beneath her window had bloomed again this spring. He’d seen it, the pink petals dancing in the wind, and felt something twist in his chest.
A quiet hope.
A stubborn ache.
A love that refused to die.
---
He didn’t regret letting her go. She had made her choice, and he had respected it. That was what love looked like now — not holding, not possessing… just being there, silently.
Even if she never looked at him again.
Even if she loved someone else one day.
Even if she forgot what they once had.
He would still be there.
---
That night, as she stirred in her sleep, her lips barely parted. And through the quiet, like a prayer half-lost in the wind, he heard it.
kim taehyung ( tae)
Jungkook…
His name. Soft. Uncertain. But real.
He didn’t move. Didn’t answer. Just sat there, hand clenched to keep from reaching out.
Because sometimes love wasn’t about being seen.
Sometimes, it was about staying when no one asked you to.
About keeping a vow you never said aloud.
---
And Jungkook did.
Every night.
Every hour.
Every breath.
Still hers.
Always hers.
---
Comments