Chapter Text
the winter would be arriving soon - the cool breeze blowing in the middle of the day lone was the sign of it. the trees were already deprived of their leaves, making the naked branches stand tall. they awaited the blanket of snow to cover them until the next spring. until the bloom arrives.
out of the royal robes and into the common peasants' clothes, jimin could feel the air tearing through him eerily. everytime he wore one of these robes - that he had hidden so well from the eyes of his maids and guards - he'd feel exposed. but that was being exposed in a good way. being as close as he could to the normality of life, out of the royal palace and into the town like every common person of his nation baekje.
the only object that connected jimin to his royalty right now was his silver tainted sword. he looked like any other average person from the state of baekje - black hair, face covered with a clothe that was tied around his head and a fainted grey robe made of the cheapest clothe - as thin as air itself. but that sword that rested against his waist told another story. his horse was once of the finest too - sakura he'd named her for her lightest shade - fast and beautiful just like his own self.
after running his horse roughly a few miles away from the palace, jimin was sure he's reached his destination. he was informed about this temple a week ago. one of his special connection served to fill him in on his habit of adventures that the king was completely unaware about. jimin loved fighting on the front lines, he'd trained with swords for so long despite of being presenting as an omega. he had told himself, scolding the hell out and engraving the words onto his brain - being an omega wasn't going to stop him from being the best fighter out there. he knew his father would never allow that. so all of the training that jimin had was a secret. and so were these little adventures of his.
every now and then, jimin would travel to the side skirts of baekje and fight off the little groups of theives and thugs living around. although they never harmed the palace in any way, keeping their assaults to the travellers instead, jimin felt a need to protect even them. initially, he had many groups to fight off with. he had been shocked over his own skills when he took down a group of 13 people alone, boasting off his self esteem for his next fights. soon enough, jimin was the undefeated.
this time, he was informed about the temple at the skirts of baekje that connected it to the state goryeo. that temple was way too old for anyone to pay attention to. making it the ideal place for those thugs to hide. for one thing jimin knew, those thugs could only be good at one thing, and that was stealing. they would never be able to defeat him in a fight no matter what.
jimin pulls the reigns of his horse, patting sakura the moment she skids to a halt. he takes in the surroundings for a moment. it's been roughly a month since jimin's last fight. though he'd trained all this time back in palace, but he still felt a little rusty on his skills. the omega then pulls on the reigns and heads straight for the temple's open rusted gates. the overly grown bushes under sakura's feet crunch and jimin gets off her, patting her and instructing her to stay at the gates as he climbs the broken wall to enter the courtyard of the temple.
the silence is deafening and jimin knows what that means. there definitely is someone here. his hand around the sheath of his sword tighten and he draws it the same moment as the ever silent temple errupts into a chaos. there are thugs everywhere, their swords - the cheap iron - out in their hands and mouths covered with clothes. jimin starts off with the one in front of him, easily twisting his wrist with his sword while one of his hand rests at his back. he's effortlessly skillful at this, he thinks, a smrik full of pride decorating his face under that clothe. it doesn't take jimin a long time to take down so many of them, some receiving cuts on their stomach, legs, arms and shoulders - proved lethal. the omega never counts them, being too determined to be done with them just now.
it feels refreshing, as if taking a run through the forest on a hot day. he imagines sakura running effortlessly as he carries her through the thickness of those trees and he'd feel the sweat evaporating over his skin. the feeling of taking down these untrained thugs was mutual.
and just like that, jimin is done with them.
he pants, almost about to take off his clothe to take in the whiff of fresh air when a commotion captures his attention.
the omega whips his head up to take a look around the tall walls of the temple. there are many windows and he is sure the rustling was just heard from one of them. he narrows his eyes at them, counting the dead bodies around him even though that's an absurd thing to do in his dictionary. before the prince has a chance to evaluate what happens, there is a blow on his back and he goes stumbling over one of the dead body.
he turns around at the speed of light and takes into view a figure who doesn't look like he belongs to one of those thugs. he's dressed in common clothes as well just with an exception that they're black. the brown belt around his waist holds daggers of various kinds and jimin suddenly feels unarmed. the man has his mouth covered with the identical black clothe and his eyes that bore right into jimin's are intimidating.
he isn't one of them, jimin decides. but that doesn't mean he doesn't want a fight.
so jimin lunges forward with his skilled speed, ready to pierce the hilt of his sword right into the stranger's chest when he dodges the move with his own sword, locking it against jimin's. the omega bites his lip, his feet slipping past the ground with the stranger being slightly taller than him - buying him an advantage.
for once, jimin really believes he's fighting against someone equally skilled as him when the stranger takes back every one of his move and technique. jimin turns and ducks down to dodge stranger's attack, hearing a groan of annoyance in his voice. jimin almost snickers, ready to take him around his stomach. but right before that, the stranger takes a step back, tossing around and twisting his wrist, making jimin's grip on his sword and the ground weaken. the omega falls on the ground, his sword falling with a clunk and the clothe around his face tearing away.
the stranger who was admist of attacking jimin, provokes his action, stumbling and falling right over jimin. his face exposes the moment he stares at jimin's. his eyes turning into huge circles - completely different from being the narrowed and predatory earlier. he's too close. jimin notices his round nose and a tiny birthmark under his lowerlip. the omega can now easily tell that he's an alpha. his scent is minty and fresh - with a sweet hint of lychee lingering. it's worth taking a whiff of but jimin refrains himself. the alpha states at him for dead minutes, making no effort of getting off him.
his lips curve in amusement as he takes in jimin's scent.
"omega?" he questions in a low voice and jimin can't help but think that it suits his face.
before jimin can say anything, the stranger smirks, burying his nose into jimin's neck and nosing at his scent glands. jimin's eyes widen. this motherfucker of an alpha who just defeated him in a sword duel is now scenting him...? who the hell he think he is?
jimin pushes him away with a kick to his stomach "stay the fuck away from me!"
"says the strange omega who plays with the swords" he clicks his tongue and jimin gets up "sword isn't an ideal thing to play with for an omega like you. your delicate skin could get pierced"
"an omega like me?" jimin scoffs "just someone who gave you a hard time a moment ago. come back when you can take this omega down in one go"
with the words spat, jimin turns on his heels and climbs the wall towards the gates of the temple where sakura waits for him.
he hates that alpha, he decides.