angel horns ; norenmin [ ✓ ]

roots³¹

jaemin awkwardly smiled before poking at the root with his fork. it definitely looked hard and unappetising, along with that strong, unpleasant smell.

deoksu was still watching him with his grey eyes and his lips in a tight frown, making jaemin's stomach burn with nervousness. he didn't want to eat it at all, but he already got the message that it would be disrespectful.

jeno had already distracted dal by showing him the shell he found for his grandmother while renjun watched too, though he gave his human boyfriend another sympathetic look. he even mouthed "just eat it" at him before turning his head back around.

but he then gave into deoksu's intense stare despite his clear hesitation and managed to stab his fork through the thick, pinkish root and held it up to his mouth, gulping before taking a bite. he struggled for a moment to bite a small chunk off before chewing.

it was worse than bitter, as renjun had called it. it was amazingly hard to chew, which he had also said, and tasted disgusting. he knew he had to force it down, but the last place he wanted it to go was down his throat.

jaemin wasn't able to hold back the grossed out look that appeared on his face, and he had to drop his fork and place a hand to his mouth, his cheeks puffed up with bits of hardly chewed root. he really just wanted to barf it back onto his plate, but he had to strongly fight the temptation.

"do you not eat normally?" deoksu asked, holding up a small slice of his own root, which was a bit bigger in size compared to jaemin's. "swallow your food and stop acting like a chipmunk."

"no need to be rude, deoksu," dal cut in. "sorry jaemin, i didn't know you didn't like roots."

jaemin finally forced himself to swallow, feeling the disgusting food slide down his throat uncomfortably. "it's fine."

"i don't get how anyone can eat roots," jeno snorted and deoksu just glared at him. his son then looked in his direction. "oh right. sorry dad."

dal promised they would get him something to eat when they go to see his family, saving jaemin from eating anymore. deoksu just shook his head, mumbled something under his breath, and finished off his meal.

the human didn't understand how the king could chew and swallow like it was nothing and manage to actually like the gross, earthy taste on his tongue as he ate. as soon as he finished, they set out for dal's family's place.

the streets were lively, but had noticeable differences from the town of morning moon village. the shops weren't together but spread apart, a lingering strong smell of fish filling the air. voices calling out what products they were selling as music also played from somewhere else. if anything, the village of little creek was more... louder. that was the perfect word to go with.

"i miss this place so much!" dal burst out with a sigh, twirling around before grabbing onto deoku's hands and pulling his husband closer to him. he had to angle his head upwards just to look at his face, dark brown eyes meeting grey. "y'know, we haven't danced together in awhile."

"we haven't had a whole lot of free time to," deoksu said softly.

"oh ew, my parents are being overly affectionate," jeno stuck out his tongue before noticing a food cart. "oh hey, jaem, that person's selling buns."

"oh really?" jaemin looked over to where he was referring to.

"oh yes, don't you like those?" renjun asked. "i might get me one too...."

having one of those perfectly golden brown, warm buns in his hands was a breath of fresh air as his nose was relieved from just the same fishy smell. the taste also helped him erase the gross aftertaste of the heart fruit plant root he had eaten not too long ago, jaemin unable to hold back a satisfied sigh from slipping past his lips.