"I missed you Halmeonie...."

The corner of Seokjin's lips tugged upwards as Taehyung kneeled in front of his grandmother's tombstone.

"Jen couldn't come.... Her mate needs her right now;I'm going to be an uncle soon;And you're going to be a Jeungjo-Halmeonie!",the blonde told his grandmother like an excited baby.

And then his eyes widened at a sudden realization.

"Oh!...",he exclaimed before turning around to look at the older.

"Come here...";extending his hand,he gestured Seokjin to sit beside him.

Seokjin complied.

Taehyung wrapped his left hand around the omega's shoulders and chimed proudly,-

"Halmeonie..... Meet Seokjinah; my mate..."

Seokjin smiled and bowed at the late Queen of the Northern kingdom.

"....you remember his name,right?! He is that very Kim Seokjin whom I used to talk about with you.... You were right Halmeonie;my fate has been tied with my prince...",Taehyung continued with a wide smile.

"I'm... Going to be a father too... My child,my family needs your blessing,Halmeonie...",he muttered; eyes glistening with tears of joy and maybe a bit of sadness too.

Seokjin was staring at his Taehyung's face until now.

"Won't you let me talk to Halmeonie?!,he worded as soon as he noticed the tears pricking at the corner of his mate's eyes.

The younger blinked away his tears and smiled genuinely.He nodded at the omega;encouraging him to say something.

Seokjin sighed and looked at the beautiful tombstone.

"Halmeonie....",he whispered.

-"Thank you.... Thank you so much for being there with him when he needed you the most..."

Seokjin's voice wavered as he bit down on his lip.

Taehyung wasted no time before tightening his grip on the older and leaning in to plant a soothing kiss on the side of Seokjin's temple.

The older smiled at him,sniffling a little as Taehyung took his hand to pull him up from the velvety grass.

"Let's go..?",he asked;intertwining his hands with the prince's.

"You didn't have to bring Namjoon with us,you know...',he whispered as they were proceeding towards their carriage;where the afore mentioned beta was waiting for both of them.

Seokjin pursed his lips.

"But you kept telling me that it can be dangerous here......!",he said in defense.

"Yes because it is true... Many of our peasants don't have mates and;Its quite difficult for them to control their thirst.... Maybe they won't want to hurt you;but they'd end up doing that unintentionally. That's why I was saying that it can be dangerous for you... But...",Seokjin scrunched his forehead as the younger trailed.

"But....?",he echoed the vampire's quiet voice.

"It was not necessary to bring him with us....I could've arranged securities for you...",Taehyung mumbled.

"That would've been so boring, Taehyungah ~The King is returning after such a long time;you'd be extremely busy! I would have become so awkward with your guards! Its a lot better to spend the time with Namjoon...  At least I'd be able to talk to him freely...",the elder reasoned; tilting his head to the side with a sweet,charming smile on his face as the younger seemed to be not so convinced.

Taehyung finally smiled at the older.

"What are you being so adorable for?!",he muttered;opting his hand around Seokjin's waist as his gaze flickered from the omega's still glassy eyes to his subtle pout.

-"Seokjin-hyung!"

Taehyung groaned softly at Namjoon's interruption;making the older giggle in amusement as he dragged him towards the carriage.

-----------------------

"Your Grace!"

Seokjin saw a lean man kneeling infront of them when they entered the Northern Kingdom's royal castle.

The man placed his fisted right palm upon his heart and mumbled with a polite voice,-

"Northerners were dying to see their King, your highness..."

With wonder in his eyes,Seokjin noticed how the man's features were surprisingly similar with Taehyung.If he didn't know better,he definitely would've mistaken both of them as brothers.

As the man stood up with a smile,Taehyung tackled him into a warm hug.

"Baek-hyung~",the vampire chimed heartily.

"Its General Byun, Taehyung!",the older groaned in slight embarrassment.

Taehyung pulled back to look at the supposed "Baek-hyung"-s face.

"Hyung, come on~ we are meeting after five years! Stop these formalities, will you?!",he complained;earning a chuckle from Seokjin who couldn't control himself at the sight of his enthusiastic mate.

General Byun's eyes darted towards him.

Taehyung turn towards the elder and his right hand found its way upon Seokjin's small waist.

"General Byun~",he dragged as he tugged the omega closer to his side.

-"This is my prince...."

General Byun smiled.

Bowing at Seokjin once again,the man uttered a humble,-

"Its a pleasure to finally meet you, Your Highness...."

-"Well I never imagined that the ten years old prince about whom our King used to talk about all the time, would come infront of me as an ethereally handsome being!"

"Who is breaking the formalities now?!",Taehyung sneered;tightening his grip on his mate's waist.

"I'm sorry that you have to deal with this possessive kid of mine, Your Highness!", General Hyung gave Seokjin an amused smirk.

"Hyung ~", a complaining whine came out of the younger vampire.

"Well you have to admit it General Byun-nim that this is one of his charms...", Seokjin defended his mate with a light smile on his face;gulping down an yelp as the younger squeezed his side in appreciation.

General Byun nodded with a flustered yet wide smile.

As the four of them,including Namjoon;walked through the castle's huge hallway, Taehyung inquired,-

"How's Hal-Abbeoji's health?"

"Much better than the past three days.He hadn't been able to consume anything because of illness...But,he has become quite stable from last night...",the older answered.

"Hasn't he asked about me at all?",the blonde asked quietly and Seokjin could tell that he was dying to hear a positive reply.

"He.....he did inquire if you know about his condition or not....",Byun muttered.

-"Does he know I'm here?!"

-"No....I didn't inform him,so that you...."

"Thank you Baek-hyung! I swear on almighty, you always know what I want to do!",the king cut the general's sentence as he shrieked in childish excitement.

"He'd be surprised to see us all of a sudden!",he beamed while looking at his older mate;who returned him a soft smile and a small nod of assurance.

"But...",Taehyung's Baek-hyung cleared his throat.

"I think....Your Highness...-",he looked at Seokjin as he continued his statement reluctantly.

-"-.....shouldn't visit him..."

Taehyung frowned at that.

"What....do you mean,hyung?",he asked;clearly unsatisfied with the conversation.

General Byun fidgeted with his own cufflinks;glancing at the omega and then at his personal guard and finally looked at Taehyung.He gulped unintentionally at the way the younger was staring at him with a serious,unamused look in his eyes.

"Well,you see My King....",he started but the blonde stopped him.

"Come to the point, hyung.",Taehyung's voice was curt and dead serious.

"Taehyung...",the elder sighed.

"You have to understand.... Elder King's health is still not completely well and...It can be risky for his mental health to introduce any.... Southerner to him...",he trailed.

"He is my mate !",Taehyung growled in protest;resulting the omega in his arms flinch.

"Do you really think I have anything against the Southerners;especially your mate,Taehyung?!",Byun retorted.

-"I'm doing this for elder King only and you know that very well...
No matter how much we try,he still has this hatred against all of them-!"

Seokjin noticed Taehyung's jaws tightened at the statement and he acted in an instinct.

"Taehyung...",Seokjin called out;rubbing the blonde's bicep to gain his attention.

"Can we talk for a moment?",he asked softly.

---------------------

Soft kisses went down the tensed muscles of Taehyung's face as he clutched at Seokjin's shirt.

"Taehyungah...",Seokjin murmured;massaging the vampires tensed cheekbones.

"General Byun is absolutely correct.... What he said might feel like a bitter truth;but its the truth right?",he nodded his head which the younger mirrored unconsciously.

"But.....",Taehyung tried to reason.

-"There's no room for any excuses, Taehyungah....
You've come here for Hal-Abbeoji...So its your responsibility to consider his health first,isn't it?"

Seeing the younger being silent with a sad expression on his face,Seokjin clicked his tongue.

-"Stop sulking Taehyungah ~ Hal-Abbeoji has his own reasons for.... hating us.... And General Byun-"

"Baekhyun-hyung didn't want to insult you,Seokjinah; I swear! He is not like that.He has always been a father figure to me even though we are just a few years apart.....He can never degrade my mate deliberately!",Taehyung mumbled; nestling his face in the crook of the older's neck.

"That's what I am saying! Please understand his responsibilities towards your family, Taehyungah...
And...try to understand Hal-Abbeoji's situation too.I promise I don't mind this at all;alright?Now go.....meet him..",Seokjin cupped the younger's face;pecking his lips mildly.

And Taehyung finally smiled.

"Take rest hm? Both of you need a tight nap...",he chided;nibbling at Seokjin's jaw and petting his belly for a moment.

"I'll try my best to come as soon as possible; but...there are actually a lot of piled up works.... But,Namjoon is staying right next to our room;So if you need anything, make sure to call him,alright?",he instructed the older who nodded like an obedient kid.

Taehyung flashed his endearing box shaped smile and leaned in to press a new kiss on the omega's plush lips.

"Stop being so adorable...
I might change my mind....",he muttered against Seokjin's lips,making the omega whine a little.

"Go~",Seokjin gave him a slight push;earning a heartfelt chuckle from the other.

As Taehyung was just about to exit the room,he halted and turned back to look at Seokjin.

The older raised his eyebrows questioningly.

-"You can explore the castle as much as you can but don't forget to bring Namjoon with you...."

Seokjin rolled his eyes.

"Yes , Your Highness!",he scoffed at his strict mate.

"And Seokjinah....",The vampire continued; this time with a more seriousness in his voice.

"Don't go out of the castle without informing me...."

-#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#--#-

I'm SO sorry to those who had to waited for this crappy update.....

I was.....actually a bit upset with the negativity that was spreading on my twitter tl.

But I  realized at the end that those people who try to create competition between our boys are actually not worth of being called as ARMYs...

So,I've just stopped being bothered with them.

Yet again,I'm sorry for the late update.

And I'm more sorry for this....Idk...super boring update?!

But yeah...things are going to be a bit dramatic from the next chapter coz I'm a hoe for drama.... ლ(´ڡ'ლ)

Okay enough of my rambling!

Purple Ya! ^_^