Chapter 2
The sun rose gently over the Daehan Empire, brushing golden light across the rooftops of the palace and the quieter town below.
In the royal courtyard, the first steps of the day were taken by those whose names would never be remembered—cleaners, gardeners, cooks, and servants.
Among them walked Jeon Jungkook.
He wasn’t the kind of man people noticed. Not at first.
He didn’t wear silk robes or speak with entitlement. He didn’t raise his voice or demand attention. But he moved with quiet purpose… and something about his presence—composed, unreadable, steady—made others pause when he passed.
Jungkook worked in the inner palace, part of a team that managed supplies and documents.
It was a simple job, but important. He handled royal inventories, ensured the daily deliveries reached the right halls, and coordinated between servants and ministers when the days grew chaotic. He wasn’t high in rank, but people trusted him. Because he was reliable. Always early. Always efficient. Always loyal.
His sleeves rolled up. His words are few. But when he did speak—it was with calm confidence, never arrogance.
There was a kind of stillness to him that felt like peace. Yet beneath it, something colder slept. A strictness. A distance. As if his smile had been taught to stop just before it reached his eyes.
Well a smile doesn't change the truth... it's just good at hiding things.
Jungkook lived in a modest home near the city gates with his wife, Haeun.
She was beautiful. Sweet. The kind of woman who laughed easily and looked perfect on his arm. Their marriage had been arranged years ago by her family, who held distant connections to the palace. It was a quiet union, free of drama or scandal. On the surface, it looked peaceful.
But peace doesn’t always mean closeness.
That morning...
Jungkook stepped into the house after his dawn shift. Haeun was already dressed—her hair perfectly styled, her perfume light and floral.
Haeun Jungkook's Wife
You’re early ?
She said softly, pouring tea into a small porcelain cup.
Jeon jungkook/Servant
*Nodding*.....*setting his satchel down by the door* Finished earlier than expected. There was less to sort today.
Jeon jungkook/Servant
“She looks perfect. Always perfect. Too perfect… like someone ready to be seen by others, not by me.”
She handed him the tea and leaned against the table, watching him with curious eyes.
Haeun Jungkook's Wife
You work too hard.
Jeon jungkook/Servant
It keeps my mind clear.
Haeun Jungkook's Wife
*Tilting head playfully* And what about your heart? Is that clear too?
Jungkook looked up at her, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Jeon jungkook/Servant
I try not to carry unnecessary weight.
Jeon jungkook/Servant
“Weight drags you down. Doubt drags you down. Better to stay empty.”
Haeun Jungkook's Wife
* laughed gently.*
Haeun Jungkook's Wife
Of course you don’t.
They talked like this often. Polite. Careful. As if walking on a glass floor neither of them dared to crack. She asked him about work and he answered without detail. He asked her about her day; she told him just enough to satisfy the silence between them.
He never questioned her late returns.
Never noticed the way she avoided his eyes when he spoke.
Jeon jungkook/Servant
“If I start questioning, maybe I’ll hear answers I’m not ready for.” *Sigh*
Well because Jungkook believed in trust. In loyalty. In doing what was right, even when no one else was watching.
After tea, she kissed his cheek and left, saying she had errands in the market.
Jeon jungkook/Servant
*Touched the spot her lips had brushed, then turned away.*
Jeon jungkook/Servant
“A kiss should feel warm. Why does it feel… hollow?”
He folded his coat over his arm and stepped out once more into the empire that never truly slept.
As he made his way back toward the palace, something in him stirred—a strange tightness he couldn’t place. A shift in the wind. A whisper too quiet to understand.
Jungkook didn’t know that his life—quiet, disciplined, carefully built—was about to change.
Not because he went looking for chaos.
But because chaos was about to find him.
Author
I'm trying my best nvm
Comments