Chapter Text
If someone had told Taehyun six months ago that he’d have Amerell palace guards in their quite ridiculous white and lavender uniforms march up to his quaint little abode and tell him that he had a week to gather his things and move into the palace for work, he would’ve looked at them and blinked. And looked at them again. And looked at them again, lips parted and mouth open without even him realizing, and then he would’ve let out a high pitched laugh and continued on with his work.
Which is what he did just now, besides the last part.
Because no way in hell would the royal palace find his, quite frankly, splintered shack of a restaurant. How would they? He’s in the lower middle class if you’re being generous, in a simple run down house in their local marketplace. The palace is literally a five day trip by carriage, which was a luxury most people around him could never even afford with five years wage.
But here they were, a white carriage with a delicate deep purple trim parked out front. It looked absolutely foreign in the middle of the muddy road, the contrast against the browns and grays of the marketplace was nearly comical.
Taehyun let out a deep, soul bearing sigh as he crossed his arms in front of him, standing in the doorway of his restaurant.
“So, I don’t even have a choice, right?”
“Not particularly, sir. Your presence has been specially requested as a palace chef.” She replied steadily as ever in response to Taehyun’s exasperation.
“I’m not even…” he spaced out, looking at the trees nearby. A shiver ran along down his spine; it was getting colder now but he was quite used to it already. Taehyun reached up and touched his ear and looked back at the soldier at his door, playing with the single silver stud there before turning his head to the other side. Her eyes tracked the movements. “Are you sure they want me? ”
“Your class is not an issue if that’s what you are concerned of, sir. We were told to find ‘Kang Taehyun of Gourd’.”
Taehyun looked back at them with a crinkled brow and dropped his arm back to its place crossed over his chest.
“Can I make any demands before I go? If I’m leaving everything else behind then I at least need some compensation,”
She nodded.“What are your requests, sir?”
He paused for a moment. He needed to think this through, needed to get the most out of this without asking too much; Taehyun racked his brain for a quick response.
“Pay off my house and shop, let it’s ownership remain under my name. Repair it over the course of my stay at the palace, so I have a place to return to if I come back, and give me 10,000 gold shekels up front.” That… was a high shot, and ballsy as fuck to ask for. 10k in gold would be plenty enough to pay off his shitty little place two dozen times over, an amount he was planning on making in maybe twenty years. He wasn’t expecting to see more than 1000 gold in his whole life. But this is the palace, better to shoot high. What are they gonna do, laugh at him? He couldn’t care less about what palace people think.
The soldier at the front waved her hand to signal to the people behind her; they moved to the carriage to grab something inside.
“Consider it done, sir. We had planned on compensation already, but the other things can certainly be done. Give us a list of instructions for repair and maintenance next week,” he moved out of the way to let the soldiers drop two bags of shekels right at the entryway, the gold clinking together. “We only have 5,000 for you right now, but I’m sure another 5,000 can be done as well,”
Taehyun released a breath he didn’t know he was holding and nodded confidently, far too confidently for a man wearing clothes that haven’t been washed in a week standing in front of literal royal guards.
“Okay. Then I agree, I’ll go with you to the palace next week. How long will I be staying?”
“Ideally, as long as you have hands to cook with, sir,”
The brown haired boy cringed slightly. He didn’t want to work at the palace for the rest of his life, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Maybe if it was that bad he’d just have to fuck up something slightly and hope it wasn’t enough to execute him. He poked his tongue to the inside of his bottom lip as a nervous habit.
“Alright,” he huffed out, more content now that the abundant funds were at his feet, “I’ll be honored to serve in your palace,” and bowed, hoping these ever so awkward soldiers looking out of place like garden gnomes in a cemetery would get the hint and leave. Luckily, they did, and bowed ever so slightly in return.
“Next Wednesday morning is when we will pick you up, sir. We appreciate your cooperation, good day.”
She replied, before they all shuffled their way back into the carriage.
Taehyun wasn’t exactly telling the truth about being honored, but it just seemed more appropriate to say than any alternatives. Honestly, he was indifferent. He loved the people here, liked his small little pub of a restaurant, and liked the simplicity of the farming town. But maybe being in a castle wouldn’t be too bad either; he had no way to tell.
Evidently, the arrival of royal soldiers had stirred up the neighborhood, where families watched from windows or behind their houses. Taehyun reached his hands up to cover his face, head tilted down as he massaged it all over.
A palace chef? Him? No formal training, no interviews, no test run? He felt a stress headache coming on and decided he needed to get out of everyone’s sight. His neighbors weren’t dangerous, but 5,000 gold shekels could make anyone go mad. Taehyun grabbed the bags at his feet and went back into his restaurant before climbing up steep ladder-like stairs to get to his single room house and set down the gold carefully.
The brown hair boy sat down on his musty mattress on the floor and picked out the dirt under his nails, letting himself think about everything that had just happened and was going to happen. He looked across the room to his little glass cage that held his snake companion Aengdu and quirked up a smile. The red snake was oblivious to Taehyun, just moving around and doing snake things, but Taehyun was easily entertained.
Suddenly, his eyes blew wide and he muttered a fuck, oh shit under his breath.
He didn’t even think about adding Aengdu to his demands coming to the palace. For some reason, the kingdom hated snakes and anything to do with them; he might now have to leave his friend behind. Groaning in frustration he leaned back on the bed. He’d have to barter with them when they’re leaving, or else leave Aengdu to the will of a less capable caretaker. Absolutely not; that was his baby, his friend.
Taehyun was ready to be done with this whole palace chef thing and he hadn’t even gotten to the palace part.
It wasn’t late morning yet, he hadn’t opened his restaurant for the day, but Taehyun eventually put up a sign to let everyone know he was closed for now so he could give himself time to plan.
He had a busy week ahead of him.
—
Word travels fast in places like this.
It wasn’t surprising to him that when he reopened the next day, nearly every customer wanted to hear what was going on.
“What was with those carriages?”
“Did they want something from you? Are you going to jail?”
“I always thought they’d get you for the name of the place being ‘Serpent’s Tongue’ and all. You know how they feel about snakes,”
Taehyun couldn’t help but chuckle. It sucked for them that snakes were one of his favorite animals. One of his friends had carved out the sign for his restaurant, a beautiful wooden serpent surrounding the words. The royals weren’t even close enough to see it so why should they care about it?
He explained to his customers (aka, mostly neighbors and friends) one by one how he’d have to close down and move to the palace, how he’d been recruited. Many of them were saddened and upset, some even a bit worried, but they congratulated him none the less. He never spoke about his compensation though; that news would come later to them.
The next day, after closing, Taehyun stood over a basin and washed all the dishes used throughout the day. Sometimes he’d ask for help from people if it was an especially busy time, hiring some over the holidays or during festivals, but most of the time it was just him. Although, some younger kids or adults in dire straights would come to him from time to time and request just a few nights of work to help out and get paid, he almost never turned them down. Tonight, it was just him, until the door creaked open.
“… Hello~ Taehyun~ I’m here,” the calm voice sang out, Taehyun recognizing it immediately.
“Ah yes! Come sit down,” Taehyun turned his head back from the basin to see his visitor, a light haired boy with big eyes and nearly shoulder length hair named Yeosang approached the bar and sat himself on a stool.
“How have you been? I’m sure people kept asking you about the carriage and palace and all,” he waved his hand around in the air before resting his elbows on the bar top in front of him. Taehyun stopped washing and dried his hands to converse with his friend.
“Oh they definitely have,” he grinned, although it took the form of a grimace as well, “I actually wanted to talk to you about that, it’s why I asked you to come here now. You’re my closest friend here, you know,” he said in a quieter tone. Yeosang smiled slightly and nodded, brows betraying his slight sense of worry for Taehyun.
“What’s up?”
And Taehyun’s never been one to beat around the bush.
“Well. I made some demands before I told them I would go, but I need someone to look after everything. They’re paying off my place here fully,” Yeosang’s eyes widened, “they’re also going to start repairing the place while I’m gone, so it’ll essentially be upgraded as well. I still am gonna own it,” his friend now had a slight grin on his face. Taehyun fiddled his fingers on the table top separating him and Yeosang, his eyes darting around the room as the other boy patiently waited for him. This was the hard part to say.
“-and I askedfortenthousandgoldandtheyactuallyaregivingittome.”
The blonde boy’s jaw slowly dropped as he processed the words.
“You asked for WHAT?????”
“Gold. Ten thousand. Up front.”
Yeosang brought a hand gently over his mouth and stared in shock for a second.
“Taehyun, someone would try and kill for that kind of money. Ten thousand… fuck…” he mumbled. Taehyun nervously laughed and nodded, still hardly believing it himself. “So, what are you gonna do with it? I’m sure everything will be paid for at the palace, you can’t even use the money,”
“Yeah,” he breathed out, “that’s why I need someone to distribute it from time to time to the neighborhood. That’s what I was going to ask you to do for me,”
Yeosang now realizing his intentions, curled his lips up in a watery smile.
“Oh Taehyun… you literally asked for that much money just so you could help the town?”
Taehyun let out an indiscernible noise from his throat, “Well I lend money to a lot of people! This place,” he gestured to the small restaurant around them, “draws in outsiders and gets some money flowing around here, I have enough to spare for others and myself, but since I’m gone I can’t just… leave everyone else behind, you know?”
“And,” he rambled on, “I was thinking that someone could live here, too, if they wanted. You could or your brother could. Or your mom, I heard she was having trouble. The place would be paid for and essentially free to live in, so I wouldn’t want it just empty the whole time. Especially if they make it all nice. I trust you guys to respect the space, so why not,” he finally finished off, Yeosang now warmly looking up at him.
“You are too fucking kind, Tae. Firstly, I can hold onto the money for you and distribute it around, but gold will be pretty hard to keep inconspicuous so it might be best to do it anonym—”
“Oh, just turn some into silver or copper at the bank. It’s run by people from Amerell palace so no gossip will happen,” he spoke with his hands, waving them around to set his point, “Just put it in a pouch or envelope with my name on a slip inside, leave it on their doorstep and they’ll understand. Everyone knows me anyways, I’ll hint that I have some emergency fund and it’ll get whispered around I’m sure,”
“Damn. You thought this through,” Yeosang huffed out with a smile, slightly shaking his head, “Okay. I can do that. I’ll talk to my family too and see what they think about maybe living here or taking care of the place. My mom’s place just lost water from the cold and she can’t afford to heat things up right now so she might really consider it,” Taehyun nodded, a smile touching his lips. He liked Yeosang’s mom; he hoped she’d agree to it. There was a beat of silence, just the gentle shake of the wind against the sign outside could be heard faintly.
“Taehyun… you know you really didn’t have to do all this,”
“But I really do want to. Think about Minho! He has no children left to help him, he comes in here a few times a month and asks if he can help sweep just to make ends meet. Maybe with some extra money he can hire someone to chop his wood since I’ll be gone too,”
Yeosang nodded in agreement. Taehyun really was a staple of this neighborhood, if he wasn’t cooking then he was gardening or chopping wood or helping repair homes or offering care and amusement to the children. His absence would definitely leave a dent in the community.
Taehyun continued on, “And maybe, if your mom wants, she can rebrand the place for the time being. I know she makes a mean ale and she’s a pretty good cook as well. Maybe turn it into a pub or something, if she wants,”
Yeosang chuckled and ever so slightly shook his head, like he couldn’t believe this was happening still.
“She really might like that. She’s always been good at conversing with everyone too. I’m sure she’d have a fun time running a little pub,”
“Exactly! Who knows, maybe they’ll get attached and no one will want me to reopen if I come back!” the brown hair boy added with a huff of laughter and a tinge of sadness. Yeosang’s smile faded at the edges despite the jest.
“Taehyun, you know how valuable you are here. There’ll always be a place for you to come back to. Plus, your food is like the absolute fucking best, even if they like mom better than you I doubt anyone would try and deny they could get any food in a 3 day trip that’s even remotely as good as yours,”
Taehyun’s face heated up and he groaned in embarrassment at being buttered up.
“Yeosang, I’m not even technically trained for any type of culinary arts. There’s whole schools for cooking, I’m really not that good. I don’t even get why they want me,”
“You were hired by the palace on a damn special request!” Yeosang slightly yelled out, lips upturned and indignant at Taehyun’s denial of skill, “ROYALTY want you, Tae! You’re fucking GOOD!”
Taehyun just groaned more and released an airy laugh, not being able to have a comeback for his friend’s incessant and aggressive compliments.
“Fine, fine. I’m good. I just don’t get how someone with no training is fit for a palace. I’m only formally educated through middle school too, people like me don’t belong there,”
“But you taught yourself beyond that. We literally bought all those books together to learn, you have the drive” and that was true. Taehyun couldn’t really say anything to that. “and you taught yourself cooking too. God knows where your parents went, but you’ve been fending for yourself for so long now. You made the absolute most of the worst growing years for this place, you rationed food and made recipes that should’ve been disgusting actually bearable as a fuckin’ teen . I don’t know how you do it, but education be damned. You’ve got something education can’t give,”
He wasn’t sure if that was true, but he had to admit sometimes he felt like it as well. Something about food he just understood; it was like he could nearly taste it as he made it, could determine how flavors changed with heat and spice. He’d scraped meals from the worst of ingredients and he’d gotten the chance to cook with expensive ones as well.
“It’s because I made bug soup for a week when I was 6,” he deadpanned, not really sure what else to say, “They really gave me some kick for the culinary field,”
The blonde boy chuckled, now resting his weight forward on his elbows on the bar. Silence passed through them; never awkward, only contemplative, like they were both accepting the things they spoke of.
“I want to give you plenty of it, too. Thank you, Yeosang, for everything.”
“Oh shut up, You have 5 days til you leave, don’t start talking like that now!” He reached out to playfully hit Taehyun, who clutched his arm in feigned injury.
“No but I mean it! Pay off your place. With the money,” Taehyun breathed out, hoping his sincerity reached the other boy, who seemed to be blinking away water gathering in his eyes, “and buy some more expensive wood. Fix up your place a bit. Really, if you need money feel free to dip into the gold. You’ve been with me as long as I can remember, you basically helped raise me. Maybe you can even fund a marriage with the money,” he waggled his eyebrows, causing the blonde boy to cover his reddening face with his hands.
“I’ve been seeing him for just a few months, Taehyun! Way too early for marriage!”
“But I’ve heard you go on about Yunho for years, Yeosang. How tall he is~ how broad his shoulders are~ how kind he is~” Yeosang was laughing painfully into his hands, completely unable to defend himself, “as long as I get an invitation to the wedding I’m fine with it. You have my blessing,”
Yeosang uncovered his face to reveal watery eyes, tears falling freely down his face, whether out of sadness or being overwhelmed Taehyun couldn’t tell. Taehyun’s vision started to blur as well, tears threatening to fall. He had a weak spot for seeing someone else cry, especially if that someone was dear to him.
“Ah, really, you. I’m gonna miss you so fucking much. I can’t thank you enough, Tae. Gold is nice but I'll really miss you here; we all will,” Taehyun was already moving around the bar between them; Yeosang stood up and opened his arms so the two could hug. They tucked their faces into each other’s shoulders as the emotions flowed through them.
“I’ll miss you too. Can you be here? This Wednesday?” Taehyun pulled back to look at the shorter boy.
“I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” he breathed out, sniffling soon after.
“Thank you,” a pause. “And… I forgot to ask them if I could bring Aengdu, if I can’t convince them then can you take him?”
Yeosang gave another watery smile while nodding, “Of course. Your pets are my pets. I’ll take care of the stray cats around here too, just for you,”
“You take care of them anyways though,”
“Shhh. No need to thank me,” the two started giggling there, Yeosang still clearing up the last of his tears. Soon, it was all quiet again as they calmed down. Taehyun pulled further away and mumbled something under his breath before going up and grabbing a bag of gold to give to Yeosang. He brought it down and set it on the bar table, the clinking of shekels resounding through the restaurant.
Yeosang made eye contact with Taehyun, uncertainty filled his gaze as Taehyun gestured for him to take it. The blonde boy looked in the bag with wide eyes to see the gold dully glistening inside. He cinched the bag tighter and lifted it up as Taehyun had except with a strained groan.
“It’s fucking heavy, you just carried this up the ladder like that?”
“Well, yes. And the other one,”
“ Two?!”
“I’ll give you the rest before I go. There’ll be four bags total hopefully,”
Yeosang looked between him and the bag before breathily snorting a laugh.
“Never underestimate those arms of yours. It must be all the chopping and stirring you do,”
“It’s not just the arms…” he added quietly, causing Yeosang to chuckle again.
“Don’t get buffer while you’re gone, it’ll be too much to handle when we wrestle,”
Taehyun deadpanned at his friend, “No promises. It’ll be on sight when I get back, you know,”
Yeosang nervously chuckled and shook his head, knowing the boy wasn’t lying and would gladly try and tackle him in the street.
“It’s getting late though. You probably have dust to clean up still,” Taehyun continued
Yeosang hummed in agreement, “I really do. I really don’t want to though, I’m too tired now,” he frowned. The brown haired boy giggled again.
“That’s what you get for being a wood carver, though! Plus I still have to clean up too, so no complaining. Either you clean up dust or wipe down tables,”
Yeosang grumbled in response, now gravitating towards the door as Taehyun ushered him out.
“At least I’m used to the dust I suppose,” he mumbled, almost unheard by Taehyun, who snorted in response. The two stopped by the door and hugged again.
“I’ll see you again soon. Be sure to keep the gold well hidden; I don’t want you to become a target because of me,”
“Of course. I’ll see you soon, Taehyun. If you need any other help this week don’t be afraid to come find me,”
The two said their goodbyes and Yeosang went off into the night, leaving Taehyun to finish cleaning up in his dimly lit restaurant, able to breathe a bit easier knowing he had his friend’s support.
——
Five days passed far too quickly.
His first priority was what upgrades his place needed; Taehyun ran around finding what he could upgrade and all the things he could ask for. Things like his stove, his ice box, the pantry in the back, the walls for insulation, the floors and their creaks. He didn’t want to completely change the place, but if he could upgrade the appliances and make it more comfortable for guests than he certainly would. He carefully wrote them down on paper as he went through the week.
Taehyun announced to the town a closing party for the Serpent's Tongue and hired a few people around to help that evening, a big bash on Sunday to use up all of his ingredients and close up for good.
It all went smoothly. The rumor that Taehyun was leaving something behind was spreading around in whispers and in shadows, since the boy would be gone and his house would be under soldier’s watch, he couldn’t really care who heard. Surely some folk with ill intentions would try to get their hands on this fabled something , but many were his long time friends. Greedy, maybe, but malicious they were not.
After this he made a few anonymous donations to other nearby shops and public centers that he was sure would lose traction over the winter months, like they all tended to do. He also hired a few more friends to help him deep clean the restaurant and paid them all generously before giving the rest of the gold to Yeosang. Taehyun spent the remaining few days washing and packing his clothes, although he wasn’t sure how many he’d be allowed to keep wearing at the palace. Certainly they would have him wear other things, but he packed his own nonetheless. It’s not like he had that much to bring.
And just like that, it was Wednesday morning, the sun had just risen fully to start melting away the incessant mist of the night.
He sat at the front of his restaurant with Yeosang in a seat across from him, quietly conversing as they waited for the carriage to arrive. Aengdu was also present, the small cherry snake slightly unsettled in his glass cage on the table since he wasn’t used to being moved. Taehyun was wrapped up in a black scarf and some of the nicest clothes he owned; some slightly tight black pants, calf height boots, a plaid pattern button up over a regular white shirt, and last but not least, a short but dangly thin silver chain hanging from his ear instead of a typical round silver stud. His brown hair (which was honestly mostly a mullet at this point) was neatly brushed down with a sliver of his forehead peeking through. He wanted to feel at least slightly acceptable for a kingdom and not entirely out of place (although Taehyun wasn’t sure how possible that would be right now). He played with the edge of the paper holding his repair plans, anticipating all the things that would change in his life after today.
It wasn’t long before they heard the telltale clippity-clop of horse hooves along the dirt road stop in front of his home, and soon, a knock. Him and his friend made eye contact before slowly rising from their rickety seats to answer the door.
Taehyun was greeted by the same soldier as before, who handed his suitcase off to another on the side. He handed her the plans as well, to which she quickly scanned before putting carefully in a pocket. Then, Taehyun glanced at Aengdu then back at the soldier, deciding to go for the route of blissful naivety.
He stepped over to the small glass container and picked it up, stepping out of his door with a complete poker face and proceeding to walk up to the carriage door himself. Soldiers looked at him from the side, clearly unsettled by his choice pet, and he almost got away with it until-
“Hey. There are no snakes allowed at the castle,”
A soldier called from the side, their voice deep and gruff. Taehyun stopped where he was and turned, feigning the most disappointed and confused look he could muster.
“What? Why? If I’m living at the castle, I must bring my pet along as well. I promise he doesn’t cause trouble,” he pouted, blowing his eyes as wide as he could.
“The palace strictly has a distaste towards serpents. Surely no snakes will be allowed inside, sir. We just can’t allow that,”
Taehyun paused for effect, allowing himself time to glisten his eyes. He would be bringing Aengdu, no matter how much petty manipulation was involved.
“I’ve had Aengdu here for seven years. He's my only family left… you’re really not gonna let him stay with me in my own room where no one else can see him?” He made direct eye contact with the soldier who was denying his pet, Taehyun’s mouth kept slightly open in fake shock. The man wavered under the look.
“You… have no family, sir?”
Taehyun shook his head sadly, refusing to break eye contact. The soldier grumbled and looked back at Yeosang in the doorway as if for confirmation. His friend was quick to catch on.
“He was left alone as a child, luckily the people around here took care of him. He's one of my oldest friends, and he’s telling the truth. He only has one suitcase too; will you really not let him have the only other thing he holds dear?”
The other soldiers mumbled to each other, some now looking at Taehyun with pity. He didn’t really give a fuck; he just wanted Aengdu, and if that meant pity from some guards, he was cool with it. Finally the main soldier spoke.
“Just let him keep the snake,” she called out, “it’s clear he has an attachment to them already if he named his restaurant after it. He’s just a chef for heaven's sake, not like the King will be in his room,”
The soldier holding him back before sighed and stepped to the side, allowing (the now very smug) Taehyun entry into the carriage, where he carefully placed the glass container on the cushion next to where he’d be sitting. He exited the carriage and made his way back up to Yeosang, who opened his arms wide for a hug.
“Thank you for that, I pulled all the punches I could but I think you sealed the deal,” the brown haired boy mumbled to his friend. Yeosang softly laughed into his shoulder and pulled away to look at Taehyun with glassy eyes.
“Nonsense. You’re just a genius I go along with, Tae,”
“I knew you’d admit it one day,”
“Ah shut up,” Yeosang playfully smacked Taehyun on the arm. “I’ll miss you. Write me whenever you can, and visit too. Don’t get into too much shit over there,”
Taehyun sucked in a shaky breath and nodded, eyes starting to feel misty as well. “I’ll miss you too, but I’ll see you again soon. Wedding, right?” He smiled, mirroring Yeosang’s own.
“Yah, right. Whatever you say. Now get going before they drag you away or change their mind about Aengdu,” Yeosang gently patted his shoulder. The two exchanged a hug again and he said his goodbyes. As he turned away, he stopped in front of the soldier for just a moment.
“This is the Yeosang that I refer to in the paper, whoever is working on my home should know that he and he alone are allowed here at all times. He will be the supervisor for this house in my absence, and if he allows someone else in, then it is my will as well. Please look after him well and give the remaining gold to him for safekeeping,” Taehyun said just loudly enough for the soldier to hear him and bowed his head at her. She merely acknowledged his request with a grunt and nod before ushering him back to the carriage.
Taehyun took one last look back at the golden haired boy on his doorstep and waved, feeling his throat close up as he blinked back the sting in his eyes. It would be alright; this wasn’t forever, he would see him again. The door closed and Taehyun took his seat, carefully setting his arm around Aengdu beside him.
About five more days until his arrival at the palace of Amerell; five more days til he started his new life.
——
As it turns out, people greatly exaggerated the distance to the castle. Well, it was either an exaggeration, or the common carriages were much slower. Taehyun supposed that no one from his town had ever ridden in such a high class carriage before so both were probably true.
This was because rather than a five day trip, Taehyun arrived thr evening of the next day. Two full days in a carriage and he had arrived; it was quite a pleasant surprise, as Taehyun was slightly afraid he’d have to go through most of his clothing already.
However, this also meant that Taehyun had to face the castle much sooner than his poor panicked brain was ready for.
The carriage finally came to a halt, the outside growing ever darker, as it was past dusk by now. Taehyun was ushered to stand up and exit the carriage, which he complied easily, the soldiers picking up his suitcase (since he’d already snatched up Aengdu).
He stepped out to reveal a magnificent castle in front of him, incredible swirling architecture carved into pure white stone that was visible even from such a distance in the dark. It was a size that Taehyun could hardly fathom; what could possibly need so much space, and was every single corner of it so wonderfully made? Even the path was beautiful, an unblemished brick road laid out before them. And lights, lamps, all around the courtyard where they stopped; it lit up the fountain in the center, with no particular grandiose statue in the middle of it, but water gushing freely like Taehyun had never seen. Flowers lined the edge of the stone paths, dimly lit by the lamps to show primarily purples and blues there alongside the lush green grass. It was beautiful, there were so many colors Taehyun wasn’t used to seeing that were bleeding into his vision. He took it all in with a gaping mouth and starry eyes before stepping forward and following wherever these soldiers took him.
This strange and vibrant place was his new home, and his eyes, for one, would have to get used to it.