The Jeon of Jeonseol

8. Y-Your Highness?

"What do you mean you prepare your own baths?! Weren't you a nobleman?!" 

Namjoon's face was calm and collected, but the subtle shake of his shoulders showed how hard he struggled not to laugh. It was rude, after all. 

Now that it was proven that Jeongguk really was from the fourteenth century (something he still couldn't believe, though), his confusion was understandable. 

He was a prince, no less, and noblemen of his times had maids to prepare their baths. What else would Jeongguk expect? 

"Just because we are noblemen, we don't hire maids to prepare our baths, J-Jeongguk..ssi?" Namjoon ended very awkwardly, not knowing what to address Jeongguk as. He probably never had anyone other than his parents and siblings call him by his name. 

Namjoon noticed Jeongguk's body stiffen and bit his tongue. "Y-Your Highness?" he said and Jeongguk relaxed. Namjoon smiled to himself at that. Jeongguk at least seemed polite enough to not demand Namjoon to call him by his title. 

"Yeah, and this is Taehyung's house. You know...the one you choked earlier. He is the nobleman here. Not me. I'm just a close friend of his and someone who works for him," he said. He somehow felt like he had to let Jeongguk know about that. 

"I see. Who takes care of him, then?" Jeongguk asked while offhandedly exploring the taps in the bathtub that Namjoon had earlier taught him about. He still found it fascinating how water came out of the taps. 

Namjoon, however, grimaced. It had been fun to watch Jeongguk assume Taehyung to be a madman, but that couldn't continue. Not when Jeongguk was going to stay with Taehyung for a while. 

"Umm...he doesn't need anyone to take care of him," Jeongguk stopped playing with the taps and snapped his head towards Namjoon with a confused expression. "He can do that himself just fine."

"...how?" 

Namjoon grimaced again. "He...umm..." he chuckled and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, "...he is perfectly alright, Jeong-Your Highness. He is not a lunatic. Just dramatic." 

"...how?" Jeongguk asked again, seeming more confused than ever. 

"What made you think he's not alright?" Namjoon asked. 

"He was...umm...he was talking all by himself..." Jeongguk looked at Namjoon in confusion and for a fraction of a second, for a very little fraction, Namjoon wanted to coo at him. He looked cute - just for that fraction of a second - with his head tilted to his side and his eyes blown wide in confusion. "....with that little box," Jeongguk said, trying to show Namjoon what he meant by drawing a little box with his fingers. He frantically looked around before Namjoon could reply, however, and pointed to a soap box. "It was slightly longer than this!! He held an entire conversation with it!!" he exclaimed desperately. 

Being a prince, he had always dreamt of being a wise and just King for his people. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if that man wasn't actually a lunatic and he had called him so several times already. 

His heart dropped when Namjoon chuckled slightly and shook his head. He started feeling ashamed of himself for arriving at conclusions without knowing that man properly. 

Before Namjoon could reply, however, Jeongguk heard a deep chuckle come from the entrance of the bath area and snapped his head towards the sound, only to find the beautiful man standing there looking amused. 

"I came to check out how my guests are doing," Taehyung offered as an explanation for his presence. "It's called a phone, Jeongguk-ssi!!" he said with an amused boxy grin that had Jeongguk's legs going weak. As naturally as possible, Jeongguk reached out for the tap and subtly supported himself with its help. 

"Your Highness," Namjoon corrected Taehyung, but Jeongguk dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "It's alright. I see you people are not used to giving respect to people. I shall not force anyone to learn it now. I'm being here against his wishes, after all," he said. 

Both Taehyung and Namjoon barely stopped themselves from snorting at that. "You are not being here against my wishes, Jeongguk-ssi, don't worry," Taehyung assured him. "And about the phone - it's used to talk with people far away from you. You wouldn't understand even if I try to explain it now. I'll show you what it does later. For now, just freshen up and come out. My cook is here and will cook something for all of us by the time you guys are out, yeah?" 

"Wait," Jeongguk called out when Taehyung turned around to walk away. 

"Yes?" 

"I'm not mannerless like you, so I shall apologize for my arrogance earlier. I deeply regret thinking of you as a madman and calling you so. Please forgive my ignorance," Jeongguk said with his hands held in front of him, complete with a small bow. 

Taehyung actually snorted at that. 

"I have to do something about the way you talk, oh god, it's so ancient!!" he said, his lips still pulled up amusedly. "And okay, Jeongguk-ssi, I forgive you. Despite you calling me mannerless, your apology was very polite, so yeah."

"Well, I wasn't wrong," Jeongguk said, now standing straight in all his glory. "You are still not calling me by my title. So I wasn't wrong about you being arrogant and mannerless."

Taehyung rolled his eyes. "We don't give such titles in our century, Jeongguk-ssi!! Calling you Jeongguk-ssi is me giving you high respect despite you calling me all kinds of things ever since you stepped into my house," he said, stressing the word 'my' purposefully. 

"And none of us has ever called anyone 'your majesty' or 'your highness', so it would only bring unwanted attention to you if it continues even in public. So suck it up and accept me calling you Jeongguk-ssi or I'm gonna drop that -ssi as well. I definitely have that right after you almost choked me to death in my own house after causing me a heart attack out of nowhere in the middle of the night."

Namjoon looked at him like he had lost his mind, but Taehyung ignored it. Jeongguk was in his century, in his house. Not the other way around. So he needed to know his place if he wanted to keep staying with Taehyung without getting handed to the cops again. 

Jeongguk took a deep breath and looked at Taehyung with a gaze that would bring any grown man to their knees. It did nothing to waver Taehyung, so Jeongguk just said what he wanted to say. 

"Alright, Taehyung-ssi, and I shall see what I can do about you and your manners while I stay here."