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in the palace, nothing ever stops. the kitchen workers get afternoons of feast days off, but as Jin has gotten older, sleeping early has started to win out over attending the dances, enjoying the festival. and after the parties end, after the scullions and cooks come crawling back to their rooms at all hours of the morning, they still wake well before dawn to make sure the palace doesn't go hungry.
so Jin is used to working, more often than not. he'd worked through the days after Yoongi had left, after his final summer in court. he'd worked through the aftermath of his first real fight with Minyoung, with both of them too hurt to offer any kind of peace for almost a week. and when he shuts the door to Yoongi's quarters behind him, eyes sore and swollen, he stops into a washroom to press a soaked cloth to his face, before walking back to the kitchen and tying an apron around his waist.
it's what he knows. it's what he does.
long hours later, after the sun has gone down and the kitchen has been all but emptied, Wooyoung finds Jin in the kitchen. Jin hears him coming, expects the gentle hand that lands on his shoulder, pulling him away from the sink.
"you weren't at dinner," Wooyoung says quietly. there's water up to Jin's elbows, scrubbing at the bowl he'd used after the kitchen girls had all left for the evening.
"i ate," Jin promises. he looks up quickly, just enough to see the concern folded on Wooyoung's face, hopes that the redness from the morning has faded entirely. "just didn't feel up for the hall."
Wooyoung's sigh is warm against Jin's nape.
"just making sure," he says softly. there's something heavy in his voice, something that makes Jin look up and pay attention. "i know you might not have been sleeping well lately."
"i-" Jin starts, heat burning in his cheeks, but Wooyoung cuts him off with a raised hand, a smile tugging at his lips.
"he didn't say anything," Wooyoung says, and something Jin hadn't even known was tensed in his throat relaxes. "you're okay. it's our job to know where the prince is, though, even if we don't follow him around all the time."
"oh," Jin says, feeling suddenly a little foolish. the crown prince of the country; of course he'd been followed. of course there had been no privacy, underneath the illusion.
"Jungkookie and i just wanted to make sure you're okay." it's the last thing Jin had expected, really, but he might have known better. Wooyoung and Jungkook have never been anything but kind, if a little terrifying for their status. "i know you're new to being around Namjoon. i just-it's okay to tell him no. he'll understand, if you mean it."
too much, Jin thinks, the words echoing in Namjoon's voice. he wonders, achingly, who must have told him that. not Jungkook, or Wooyoung, but-someone.
"i invited him in," he says, instead of asking.
Wooyoung's grip on his shoulder relaxes, just a little.
