Make me eat my words || Taegyu

Chapter 6

At this point, the plants had begun to become unexplainable.

The first one Beomgyu could understand. It was a regular succulent surrounded by a cute red clay pot, likely sold at any market in the area. He'd put it back on his windowsill where he'd found it, smiling at the memories it brought of home, and written it off as a present from Soobin.

As the weeks passed, though, more plants started to appear; ones that Beomgyu knew for certain didn't grow in the Dragon Kingdom. An orchid on his dresser, a hanging plant for his clothing rack, an aloe plant right next to the place where he kept his first-aid kit.

"Should I be worried?" Beomgyu asked Soobin as they stared down at the newest addition, a single white daisy in a blue-tinted pot. "Why is someone bestowing all of their plants on me? How are they even getting into my room?"

"Could be Taehyun," Soobin suggested. Would Taehyun be giving Beomgyu plants? Taehyun, who'd started to gradually warm up to him but still barely gave him the time of day unless it was during their fighting lessons? The pair shared a look, and Soobin shrugged in defeat. "You're right, never mind. Kai, then?"

Beomgyu frowned, running a careful finger over one of the petals. "I mean, I guess, since I'm pretty sure he's the only other one that can get in here without being stopped. But why would he...?"

"Could be delivering them for someone," Soobin pointed out. "They know he has access to Taehyun's quarters, they know you live here. Two plus two equals four."

"I just don't understand why anyone in this entire palace would be sending me plants."

Soobin lowered his voice, glancing around suspiciously. "It could be Jongin, trying to freak you out."

"If that's the goal, then it's working," Beomgyu said with a laugh. In all honesty, though, he liked the little plants and how they brightened up his room. It was after he'd received the orchid that he realized they reminded him of home, and he'd treated them with the utmost care ever since.

He asked Taehyun about it one day as he walked the younger prince from the war briefing to his dance studio. At first, Beomgyu had been upset about being left out of the war briefings, but he'd understood why; after all, what kind of Kang would want a Choi sitting in on a meeting in which they discuss all of their weaknesses?

So instead, he'd taken to waiting for Taehyun outside, and sometimes they would sneak into the library afterward so Taehyun could update Beomgyu on how well the Earth Kingdom was doing. Today, though, they were going straight to self-defense practice, which they'd elected to do in Taehyun's dance studio whenever it was too hot to go outside.

Taehyun was talking about the specifics of one of the battles in the westmost corner of their northern border and giving his father grief about troop positioning when Beomgyu blurted out "Hey, have you noticed anyone coming into your room with plants?"

"Plants?" Taehyun echoed, frowning. "Not that I've seen. Why? Are they weird plants? Should we be worried?"

"I mean. Do you think we should be worried? Someone is breaking into my room and leaving me plants. Which is odd. Quite sweet, to be honest, but still odd."

Taehyun pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek. "I mean, if it's just plants, it's probably fine, right?"

"Sure," Beomgyu agreed, not believing him for a second. Taehyun not caring about someone breaking into his room after what'd happened with Jongin? Something was definitely up. But he pushed the thought away as he entered the studio, watching with amusement as Taehyun instinctively wandered over to put music on then froze, remembering why they were actually here. "You know, I've never seen you dance."