•Chapter thirty two•

Why is it a shameful thing?

Taehyung didn't have any idea that the things he kept a secret--the truth he had been hiding for so long--would come out in such a way.

Everyone knew everything now, and they didn't find out about it after a long and nice conversation with him or by Chohee telling them about it. In other words, they didn't find out in the way the pregnant male was expecting them to.

Rather, things were worse.

It had been a long time since he came now. He should have told them about his situation, but he didn't because he wasn't very sure of how things would turn out.

Now that he thinks about it, it would've been much better if he had just told them rather than letting them find out in such a horrible way.

He fell on the road when coming back home from the fields because of the dizziness he felt after a long day of work, and it ended up with him screaming in pain that spread his entire body, harshest on his stomach.

He had skillfully hidden his big tummy within thick clothes while making people believe that it was the clothes that made him look rounder.

It did work. No one suspected a thing. They knew he was hiding a few things but had concluded that it wasn't important.

He became a proper part of the village and the little awkwardness he had when he just came there had all vanished. They let him live freely and had stopped nagging and troubling Hyeon to form a relationship with him.

It was all okay.

Even if he was living in a pitiful way.

He would wake up with painful cramps all over his body, force himself to go and work in the fields or for lifting water in buckets from the river to the houses, and all other such things that made the pain grow worse.

He didn't want to feel pain, but doing all this was the only way to not seem suspicious to the villagers.

Moreover, it made this deep hole of lonely feelings in his heart grow when he was staying all alone and wasn't occupied.

He never thought it would be easy to live a pregnant life without his mate, but he hadn't known it was this difficult too.

His swollen legs, shoulders, and back hurt very, very bad, but it was still manageable. He would get a nice massage from Chohee every night too while she expressed her concern towards him and made him feel wanted.

He did all the work because it kept him occupied.

He overdid it today.

He had a pounding headache when he woke up that morning but still insisted on going to fields. He couldn't walk at all after doing a little work but continued working to not worry Hyeon.

But the heaviness in his head got too much when the day had ended and they were coming back home.

As a result, his weak legs gave out and he crashed down on the ground even when Hyeon held onto him and tried to save him from the fall.

After having fallen on his knees, Taehyung had screamed loud enough for everyone around them to come running. He was panicking, crying, while writhing on the mud road.

Chohee was there within no time. Taehyung had fainted by the time she came, and she just spurted out the truth to the people who bombarded her with questions.

The atmosphere had calmed down now, about three hours later.

There was no voice at all.

Taehyung was in his room, on the verge of tears, while an inexperienced girl doctor was applying some type of herbal paste on his back.

God, his entire body hurt so bad. He couldn't move a muscle without having massive pain shoot up his body.

It was rougher and harsher because he could hear hushed murmurs of people from outside, speaking about this discovery of theirs, and they didn't seem quite happy.

"Please, calm down," The inexperienced doctor mumbled to him. "Your body looks like it's in a very bad shape. Your legs also have these cuts and wounds as you don't wear any slippers. It is a serious matter, and you can't go on being like this."

All that doesn't matter until my child is alright.

"Is m-my child okay?" Was the only question whose answer he was searching for. The hesitancy of the girl proved to him that she wasn't sure too, not being a well-learned doctor.

"I can feel its movements. Though I don't know how to find the state of the child, I can say that it's healthy. Though very subtle, I can hear its heartbeat too. He or she is very active."

"I shouldn't have done this..." A sudden wave of realization hit Taehyung. In his deep need to hide the truth and to run away from loneliness, he forgot his baby and that he wasn't hurting only himself or straining himself when he did such things.

Lord, what if something happened to the baby?

When he had fallen on the ground, he had tried his best to save the child, and if it wasn't for Hyeon who held his waist securely before he fell off, he would have hurt his baby.

Nothing happened, fortunately.

Normally, he would not cry for things that didn't happen, but the thought of his child being hurt made him shed tears.

He was learning how to stay emotionally strong, but his heart squeezed and his eyes teared up within seconds like he hadn't practiced all these months to keep his emotions under control.

What was the point of running away from home if he was himself hurting his baby?

His stupidity and incompetent self paid attention to his fear rather than the child.

Honestly, at this point, he had so many things going on in his mind that he just didn't want to pay attention to his baby. He used to speak to the unborn and pat his belly all the time in the beginning, but all of that stopped.

All of it stopped.

Jungkook couldn't experience it; how could he take the happiness that was supposed to be shared with his mate?

By what right did he keep a child away from its father?

Mira could be blamed for everything but this. This decision was taken by him just because he couldn't take a little humiliation.

Was his stupid respect more than keeping his child close to his mate?

Pathetic.

"Does your child usually move this much?" The girl asks. "You will be fine within a few days of complete rest and with proper food, but I'm curious about your child."

"I don't know."

Taehyung's bland, lifeless response left the girl astonished. She couldn't grasp onto the exact meaning and chose to just keep quiet because Taehyung didn't seem interested in responding.

But the omega genuinely didn't know.

How was he supposed to know when he had distanced himself from the baby as much as he can? The urge to touch and feel would eat him up, but he chose to rather ignore the urge than to give in.

Jungkook didn't have an option to touch his child.

How could Taehyung choose to touch the baby then?

It took a little more time for this type of massage on his bare back and legs for Taehyung to feel his legs and body again. His body was numb, the pain had been too much.

"I'll leave now--"

"Wait!" Taehyung shrieked even in his tired state. No, he wasn't ready to face the people now. "Don't leave just yet! S-stay... They'll come to speak to me if you go now."

He would break down completely now if he was to face them.

They must be disappointed and anxious because of him... He wasn't ready to see their sad eyes.

He didn't even wish to speak to them about the matter.

"If it comforts you..." The girl started. "I could tell them to not speak to you or make you more stressed by doing anything. It's not even slightly fine for you to get tensed or take stress at this stage."

The boy stayed quiet.

He turned his face away from the door, letting his tears fall. My child... My child... My child... That's all that ran in his mind. He had pushed out thoughts of his child, but he couldn't think of anything else now.

He just put his child's life in danger.

How ruthless was he? If this was the type of treatment he was giving his child, how was he being a better mother than Mira?

"Lovely..." He couldn't help but sob when he recollected how Jungkook held him and mumbled praises when he was upset or sad.

When someone's presence filled the room, Taehyung wasn't afraid or anxious. He didn't even care about the fact that he only had a thin blanket covering his naked upper half of the body while his shorts barely covered his thighs.

He didn't care even when the person sneaked into his bed and scooted closer to him.

"A baby like you has a baby in you?"

The lighthearted voice didn't make him happy, but it provided him with the warmth his cold heart desired. Though strained and tired, Hyeon sounded sweet and friendly.

"Hmm..." The alpha slowly back hugged Taehyung around his stomach. "Why did you make all of us seem like dumbfucks? You have such a huge belly but none of our dumb selves knew."

"W-what did they say?" Taehyung tried to change the topic. He could feel the warm hand caress his stomach, and it made him overwhelmed when he felt a tiny kick.

He wasn't the only one who felt it. Hyeon gasped before squealing happily. He wished to turn Taehyung and feel more of those kicks, but he knew that wasn't right.

Especially when the pregnant boy was trying to not make his chest visible to him.

Hyeon calmed his excited heart and took his hand away from Taehyung. "I'm sure this wasn't little one's first kick. Am I right?"

"I don't know..."

"What?" Hyeon was genuinely confused. He turned nervous when the boy's shoulders shook and a sniffle was heard. "Tae, what's wrong?"

"I d-don't know! Nothing! I know nothing about my child!"

Hyeon's eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Shh," Hyeon hugged his waist again because that was all he could do to calm the boy down now. "Calm down! Just breathe, Tae!"

"Why is he crying?" Another strained voice came, and Hyeon snapped his head around and looked at Chohee with sad and worried eyes.

The older beta just calmly walked to the other side of the bed and lay down before Taehyung, hugging him from the front.

"Just sleep now, baby," She muttered, feeling absolutely useless that all this happened even when Taehyung had her. It wasn't the right time for anything. All of them were too stressed for similar matters, so it wasn't right to do anything at that moment.

"You don't need to face them, okay? I'll manage all of this. You just rest and take care of yourself."

"M-my baby--"

"It's fine," She assured. "I can feel the darling against me. It's okay. Just... Just sleep now."

Taehyung gave in to her request.

They cuddled up together, the alpha and beta comforting the omega in between every time he sniffled or whimpered.

*-*-*-*

"Hyeon?" Chohee carefully shook the boy who was fast asleep behind another sleeping boy while holding his stomach.

She could see them portraying their sub-gender just by these unconscious actions of theirs. The alpha was protectively holding the omega who slept with no care of the world, letting himself be held by the person he trusts.

Though just friends, they trusted and loved each other a lot.

Chohee kept all those things aside and patted Hyeon's head. She carefully pulled the blanket which had gone lower up to Taehyung's chest.

None of these things fazed Taehyung, but Hyeon frowned when Chohee pulled his hand away from Taehyung's belly.

"Get up," She whispered to him. "We need to do a lot of work before Tae gets up. I cannot speak to everyone myself."

This seemed to wake the alpha up. Hyeon looked at her with half-lidded eyes before getting up and rubbing the sleep off his face.

"Come on," He said, walking to the door with lazy steps. "They were impatient yesterday, and we told them that we will speak today. I didn't know anything so you are the one who needs to speak."

He left the hut after that, going straight to inform the people to gather in a place so Chohee could tell them the things she knows.

The girl had to choose what she has to say now. She wasn't going to let Taehyung face them because she had to help him out in every way she could.

So she did tell them whatever she felt was right.

She told them that Taehyung was pregnant since the time they came here, with the child of the king who does love him but is forced to not accept him.

"How did this happen anyway? Why did Taehyung... Why did he do it with the king?"

"They love each other," Chohee defended her best friend, not wanting things to seem like it happened because Taehyung slept around with people and just happened to get pregnant with one of his one-night stand's child.

It wasn't that.

"But with no name to their relationship... How are you going to manage all this? I've never seen the king come here to meet the boy too! If he did love and care for him, why is he here alone?"

"Youngmi took the child from us and promised to take care of Tae, but she didn't. How are we supposed to believe that Taehyung is not in a trap?"

"What if the king asks him to kill this illegitimate child?"

The number of questions just increased and increased, but Chohee was glad that they didn't blame anything on Taehyung and were just worried for him and the child.

It was a piece of news that shocked them, surely, because they did not expect such a young omega to be a soon to be mother.

But they loved him enough to not hate him for holding an illegitimate child and hiding it from them. That didn't matter until he got out alive and happy from the situation.

"How will he handle the shame?"

"It isn't a shameful thing!" Chohee exclaimed. "I know you are just worried for his wellbeing, but please chose your words wisely. He'll be hurt if he hears you say such things about the baby."

"Still... We understand these things, but if the royals find out about him and the child, they'll try to kill the baby so it doesn't pose a threat to the crown prince who will be the child of queen Mira."

"That won't happen," Chohee said confidently. "King Jungkook won't let it happen."

"But queen Mira..."

About Mira doing things to kill the child and Taehyung, even Chohee didn't know. The main reason she wanted the child was for her benefit, but if her child survives, she would kill Taehyung's.

It wasn't an impossible thing when she wouldn't be given a punishment for doing so. The open-mindedness of the kingdom only went up to accepting all ranks and loving people of the same class. Inter-class relationship was never welcomed.

For it to be welcomed, they need more great people like mother Atlas to prove that wrong things were wrong.

She just shrugged in response to that.

"Hyeon," An old man called the orphan alpha, extending his wrinkly, trembling hands to hold his shoulder. "You didn't like Taehyung even though he's a perfect omega, completely your type. Is it because you knew he was pregnant?"

"N-no," Hyeon quickly declined, shaking his head. "I didn't know since the beginning..."

Chohee's wide eyes snapped towards him in confusion. "Since the beginning? Then did you find out about it before yesterday night?"

"I did..." He was blushing hard at this point, not knowing how exactly he was expected to answer them or justify his actions. "I-I had seen noona lifting Tae's shirt a few weeks back and holding his stomach..."

"This guy!" Chohee yelled in embarrassment. "You telling it so shyly makes it sound like I was making love to him! I was just trying to--"

"That's not the point!" Hyeon groaned. "We know what you were doing. Let me explain why I didn't say anything and act like I didn't know. Taehyung was trying to hide it from me, so it felt wrong for me to just go to him and tell him that I knew. It's like... I was entering his personal space..."

His voice faded to a whisper towards the end. He felt like a child who cares a lot about the protection of secrets and all such things.

He just didn't feel right to act like he knew.

"Anyway," Chohee decided it was better to move on. "We need to take care of him. He's nearing the beginning of his seventh month now and will need a lot of care and love. Please, forget about the fact that we hid things from you and take care of him like you did until now."

With that, another huge part of Taehyung's tensions ended.

All that was left for him to do was protect his baby from every danger that lurks around and bond with his child.

He had to handle himself too because he couldn't handle things while being such a mess of emotions.

It should go well. If he and his child end up in Jungkook's arms at the end of all this, everything he did and all the pain he took was worth it.

Just... It depends on the time and his destiny now.

*-*-*-*

"My father..." Mira held her breath in, heart stopping for a mere second at the news her husband was giving her.

Jungkook, clad in shining silver armor, had left the castle early in the morning before she had woken up. She didn't know where he went or what he was doing.

But she had a slight clue about the matter.

Seeing Jungkook return with blood decorating his body made her so shocked and scared that she was frozen in her position behind the king, waiting for him to just tell her what he had done.

"He's dead," Jungkook announced like it was no big deal. "I killed him because he deserved to die after whatever he did. I let his kingdom men know too that their state would be just like their dead king's if they wished to be as ruthless as he was."

"H-he is dead?" Tears filled her eyes as she clasped her shivering hands together.

Jungkook glanced towards her for a split second before turning away. "Yes."

Mira wasn't as happy as Jungkook thought she would be. Rather, she sniffled and covered her mouth, her heart sinking.

Though Jungkook wished to ask her why she was reacting like this, he didn't as he didn't want her to think he cared.

She was sad that she lost her father. Keeping aside the million things wrong he did to her--because she always tried to see what good a person had done to her rather than the bad--he was the reason she was alive anyway.

Even if he abused her, he gave her the food and clothes that she needed.

Jungkook stood right in front of her and said, "I'm leaving you with no reason to be here, Mira. The king of Cyrus is dead, your brother is too young to rule and you're very well trained to be an independent ruler of a kingdom."

His eyes gave away the meaning of his words.

He wanted her to leave.

And she got the message. It angered her so much that she impulsively just decided the next actions of hers, keeping aside her feelings for Jungkook.

She strode to the loyal spy and ordered, "Go search for Taehyung. I need you to find out where he is living and report it to me."

"The king said..." The spy spoke up in confusion.

"Not to talk or try to bother Taehyung? That doesn't matter now. Do this work for me secretly. If you're caught, I'll take the blame."

When it's close to the time Taehyung is giving birth, I'll go to him.

x-x-x-x