The Brothers Kim

After her narrow escape from the imperial guard, Gyuri had rushed to get as further away from him as possible. She surveyed her surroundings and found that she had managed to arrive nearby the kitchens, where she had a good overview of the festivities. A long sigh escaped Gyuri"s lips when she spotted Minseok and Chayoung dancing gracefully at the centre of the courtyard.

"Oh! They"re so cute" she cooed while observing how Minseok never took his eyes away from his bride. As the couple glided across the dance floor in their strange but alluring dance, Gyuri couldn"t help but sigh in envy at their enamoured expressions.

"That"s relationship goals right there" she murmured to herself. "Why can"t I get a guy that looks at me like that?"

While Gyuri pondered about this, she failed to notice someone approaching her from the shadows. The shadowed figure smirked when he saw Gyuri gaping at the couple with a wistful expression.

"I hope you are not skipping duties" he spoke, making Gyuri jump.

"b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l!" she exclaimed as she turned while clutching the teapot in her hands tightly. "G.o.d, you scared me!"

The shadowed figure emerged from the darkness and Gyuri discovered that it was Namjoon. He grinned at her, revealing his dimples while wearing an entertained expression. Clearly, he was still amused by Gyuri"s odd choice of language. "G.o.d did not scare you" he pointed out, "I did." Namjoon walked over to join Gyuri"s side before glancing at the festivities below them. "What are you doing all the way over here?"

Gyuri shuffled on her feet. "I-er, was just taking a break."

Namjoon nodded slightly before asking, "Are you enjoying the celebrations?"

After two weeks of frequent contact, he had discovered that Gyuri was a naturally inquisitive person. Like a curious child, Gyuri was keen to learn about many things, making it easy and entertaining for Namjoon to converse with her. It was like she possessed the same interests as him but what surprised him most was how she could comprehend challenging concepts and provide her own opinions despite her educational background. Lately, Namjoon couldn"t help chuckling every time he thought of Gyuri. There was no doubt that he found her intriguing but most of all, what he hadn"t realised yet was how he had grown unquestionably fond of her.

"Yes," Gyuri replied enthusiastically, "I haven"t seen anything quite like it."

Namjoon continued to smile as he listened to Gyuri"s account of what she had seen during the banquet. It didn"t come as a surprise to him that Gyuri was captivated by the vibrancy of the affair. After all, it must have been her first time serving at a banquet.

"But there"s one thing that kinda bothers me."

"Oh?" Namjoon peered at her attentively. "And what would that be?"

"There was this creep" Gyuri proceeded to explain. "He says that he"s the Princess" bodyguard but he was asking about the Young Master."

"He was asking about Taehyung?" he repeated. "Why? What did he say?"

Gyuri c.o.c.ked her head to the side as she thought. "Actually, all he asked was if it was the Young Master that was with me." Gyuri elaborated, "I was speaking to him before I met the bodyguard-Zeren- I think that"s his name."

Namjoon tugged at his bottom lip as he pondered. "Zeren..." he mumbled to himself. He didn"t recall ever meeting anyone with that name. "Did he say anything else?"

"Erm..." Gyuri fumbled as she debated if it was relevant to inform him of the flirty t.u.r.d"s flirtation attempt. In the end, she decided that it was too embarra.s.sing to divulge. "N-no. That-that was it."

Namjoon contemplated the name some more.

"Master Namjoon?" Gyuri suddenly spoke, breaking his meditative state.

"Hm?"

"Do you know where the Young Master is?"

"Why do you ask?" He tugged at his bottom lip again as he thought. "Now that you mention him, I remember seeing him sulking in a corner somewhere by himself." He eyed Gyuri questioningly. "Do you know why?"

Namjoon watched as Gyuri averted her gaze guiltily. "It"s a long story..." she mumbled. "I may have said something insensitive."

Namjoon eyed her intently. "Indeed," he replied. "Taehyung does not normally pull a tantrum unless someone he cared about has hurt him so."

"He-he doesn"t care about me" Gyuri protested.

Namjoon inspected her face and saw that she was fl.u.s.tered. If only you knew... "Well, I will not ask what it was that you did to upset him but, I do ask that you be kinder to him from now onwards. Despite his playful nature, Taehyung is a sensitive child."

"I"ll try to be nicer" Gyuri grumbled, "but the Young Master can be so unreasonable sometimes."

Namjoon spoke sympathetically. "I agree but please try to understand his position." Namjoon searched his surroundings before continuing, "I should not be telling you this but Taehyung is very unhappy."

"He is?"

Namjoon nodded. "He is not very close to his brothers nor my uncle so he has had a very lonely childhood. As his cousin, I can only do so much to support him but what he really needs is a friend in the household." Namjoon locked eyes with Gyuri as he said, "That is where I hope you can help."

"Me?" Gyuri was baffled. "What can I do?"

"You can be his friend."

Gyuri blinked.

"I know that it is improper to ask a servant to befriend its master but, I hope that you can support Taehyung and show him kindness where his true family is lacking."

Gyuri nodded slowly. On some level, she could empathise with Taehyung"s loneliness as she herself had experienced something similar. While growing up, she never really had a close relationship with Yoongi, her half-brother, because of the large disparity in their ages. Her closest relationship was with her best friend, Liha, who was the same age as her.

"Okay," Gyuri consented. "I will try my best."

Namjoon was relieved to hear it.

Gyuri tilted her head to the side as she stated, "You must really care about the Young Master, huh? He"s very lucky to have a nice cousin like you, Master Namjoon."

Namjoon grinned bashfully. "Yes, I would do anything for Taehyung." Gyuri watched as his eyes softened as he turned to look at the inky, black sky. "He is like a brother to me."