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Chapter Text

Kim Namjoon had been the emperor of his kingdom since he was seventeen years old. His parents had been killed while on a trip to a neighboring kingdom (they had been confused for two criminals and promptly killed for refusing to come out of their car), so Namjoon had to take over fairly young. Now, Namjoon was 31 and hadn’t been married, this was at no fault of his. Kim Namjoon had been consistently ranked in the top 10 “Most Handsome Bachelors of Korea” since he was 18; Which also meant he had received an overwhelming amount of marriage proposals. He refused all of them, stating that he was only worried about his kingdom and that being married would get in the way of that. Today he was meeting with his counsel and he was sure they would ask him to find a spouse for the hundredth time. The man sighed as his head maid finished buttoning up his shirt. He saw Mrs. Jeon give him a look, and he shook his head. Once he was done getting dressed, he started to make his way to the meeting room. He took his time, admiring the wine-colored walls, each of them adorned with expensive paintings. There were doors all through the hallways, Namjoon figured there must be 50 or so bedrooms, most of which were empty as the help had their own, separate building. Namjoon reached the old meeting room and could hear the counsel already sitting and speaking, he took a deep breath before entering the room.

The room went quiet, everyone standing up and moving to bow to him. Namjoon sighed and waved his hand. He was sure he had repeatedly asked them to stop bowing for him, he found the act to be worshiping and fake. He went to his seat at the foot of the long, oak table. On each side, he had 4 men and women who were there solely to help him make the best decisions for his kingdom. He noticed the pile of manila envelopes. There had to have been at least 30 of them, each filled to the brim. He glanced over to Mingyu, his right-hand man, in a questioning manner. The man noticed his gaze and then looked over to the rest of the table.

“Emperor, we would like you to reconsider waiting another 5 years for marriage,” Namjoon sighed, but Mingyu seemed unfazed as he continued to speak, “We’ve gathered the best offers and requests for your marriage. The kingdom needs somebody else, you are constantly busy and they want someone who can interact with them. Be there as a warm presence when you can't.”

Mingyu stood and walked over to the stack of folders. Namjoons eyes followed each step, his eyes dark from under his eyebrows. The counsel knew this would likely end the same way. Namjoon would put up a fight, agree to look the files over, and then come back stating he saw nothing promising. “I believe we had this damn conversation 3 weeks ago, I'm not fond of having to repeat myself, Mingyu”

The man's words fell on deaf ears, “We have Princess Kim Hyungseo, or Bibi, as you know her, her family is offering parts of their military and they would also come with 4 alliances.” The file was slid over as Mingyu began to read the next one, “Or Kim Hyojong, his family owns a handsome piece of land up north, he's a sight for sore e-”

“Enough, Mingyu. I am not going to look through these fucking files and shop for a spouse. All you ever mention is what their parents are offering. Doesn’t it sound bad to you? To marry someone because their family is willing to give up half their wealth.” Namjoon slammed shut the folder in front of him, only to become more upset when he saw the picture of Hyungseo paper clipped to the front, “When I find someone worth marrying, I will do it because I love them. Not because I got three cows and two goats.”

The man stood with such force his chair slammed back onto the hardwood floors. He ignored it and made his way to the door before he was called back. “Wait, Emperor, please. The people are getting restless, you are a great emperor, but they need someone whose entire focus is them. Please, just consider it.” Namjoon turned and stared at the face of Lee Jieun. She was younger than the rest of her team but was incredibly intelligent. Namjoon sighed and grabbed the stack of files before leaving.

Hours passed as Namjoon sat in his private library, he decided to be a good sport and give the people a chance. He read through each of them before deciding to make three categories- no, not likely, or maybe (God, he felt like he was out shopping). He had begun to get frustrated, it felt useless. Namjoon had been so focused on being the best emperor he could be, so how was it possible that they still wanted more? Namjoon groaned and leaned back against his chair. He heard the old wood door creak open, but he didnt move, the only person permitted to be in here was Mrs. Jeon. She had been his head maid since he was a baby.

“Do you know what time it is, young man? You have a very important meeting tomorrow,” She walked over, scolding him as if she wasn't refilling his coffee cup. She looked at the man, who still had his eyes closed, before scanning the rest of the room. “She's pretty, your soon-to-be wife?”

Namjoon finally opened his eyes, looking at the file that Mrs. Jeon had picked up, “I'm not very young anymore. And no, Chungha is very pretty but the few times we met she did not seem fond of me. I just don’t get why her family is asking me to marry her.” He sat up and rubbed his eyes, quietly thanking her for the coffee as he took a sip. “My advisors are pushing me to get married, but this is the most annoying thing I've done. How am I meant to marry someone I've never met?”

She nodded along to his words, moving some files around before turning to him, “What about it is boring to you?”

“Huh?” He tilted his head slightly, but the older woman kept her gaze on him, “I don’t know. I'm just sitting here, looking through papers of people when I have no idea if they have any sort of personality. Plus, this is meant to be for the kingdom, right? So why am I meant to make this choice all on my own? I need to find someone that I and my people like. How am I meant to do that when all I'm given is essentially a job application?”

“Well, lately I’ve been watching those kpop survival shows. You know, it's interesting because the fans get to vote and the coaches also get a say. In the end, the highest ranking members get to become a kpop group. So, why don't you do that?” Namjoon frowned, how the hell were kpop survival shows meant to help him find a spouse? “Look, you get people from all over to ‘audition,’ and then go through some rounds. The top 100 get to come to the palace and every other week there's an elimination based on your, the kingdom's, and your council's votes. That way you and the residents of Eldoteria get to know them.”

Namjoon was close to protesting before he thought about it. Mrs. Jeon was right. Although Namjoon wasn't very happy about turning this into a reality show, it would be a great way to interact with an entire group of people and find someone he genuinely liked. He smiled up at the older woman. “This is why I keep you around, Mrs. Jeon.” He laughed as she rolled her eyes and threw away all of the files.

“You would be nowhere without me. Now go to sleep, you and your little team can figure out the intricacies tomorrow.” She shooed him away, practically pushing him out of the library.

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“So, Your Highness, did you manage to look through the files?” Mingyu asked the second Namjoon to step into the room. He had clearly noticed the files, or lack thereof, where no were in sight.

Namjoon glanced at him before sitting down, “I looked at every single one. Multiple times, actually. And I almost gave up until the wonderful Mrs. Jeon gave me the best idea to find my lover.” The group all perked up at this, leaning forward to hear Namjoon explain his plan. They all listened intently, nodding along and writing down any questions instead of asking right away, they were so tuned in that they wanted no part in interrupting the man.

“Interesting, so this way, everyone would get a say as to who you married and you wouldn’t be marrying anyone based on their assets?” Jieun asked, moving her glasses to sit at the top of her head.

Namjoon nodded, “Correct, it wouldn’t just be useful, but it would be a fun way to find someone with a personality. Plus, people would find themselves fond of the future spouse, and even the people who don't get chosen would get really good publicity.”

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the meeting room. Everyone seemed excited, maybe it was because it was a good idea, or maybe it was just because they were glad Namjoon had come to his senses and would finally be getting married. Regardless, Namjoon was glad to have his team so energetic.

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Three weeks had passed. Namjoon and his counsel had perfectly planned out every single part of this. They were in that godforsaken room every single day, it had become less of work and more of them having fun adding in silly challenges and setting up the bedrooms so that their 100 contestants would be perfectly comfortable.

“Right, so then after they finish that challenge, maybe we need to have a break episode, that way they aren't constantly on high stress?” Sunmin suggested, to which the team agreed. They all went silent when Mrs. Jeon walked in, they greeted her and explained the new idea that they had.

“Well, dare I say, you've all done well. So, how are you going to get people to audition? What's the criteria?” Mrs. Jeon smiled, excited to hear what they had planned. Instead, she noticed their faces fall. She laughed at their faces, “Well how are you going to have a show with no contestants? Will the king be marrying a ghost? Hello, Miss, are you here for the competition?” Mrs. Jeon spoke to a wall, laughing so hard her face had turned red. This was not funny to anyone else, they all stared at each other.

“Right… uhm, well maybe we have them send a video? Like introducing themselves?” The team threw themselves back into work mode. “How about they show off their talent?” “What age are we inviting?”

Two days later, they were sure that they had planned everything out. They would be opening auditions to people from East Asia, more so Korean-speaking ones. The ages would range from 20 to 30, and they would be doing thorough background checks. The auditions would go through three rounds, the first being the background checks (How horrible would it be to be 3 weeks into the show only to find out the number 1 rated contestant was freshly 18!), the second would consist of his counsel, where they would see that the individuals were impressive enough for Namjoon. And finally, Namjoon would receive the final 500 auditions to rank his top 100, who would then be invited to the palace.

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“Hello everyone. I am Emperor Kim Namjoon. I am here as I have decided I will be getting married,” Namjoon heard the uproar from his people. He smiled to himself, “There is no spouse yet. In fact, me and my team have decided we will be hosting a survival show for the title of my spouse. Me and my team have been working tirelessly to plan out how this process will be run. I promise that we will find the best person to rule alongside me. I hope you all understand why I have chosen to make this decision. Thank you all for your constant support.”

Namjoon stepped off the podium, his social media manager would be releasing the rest of the details fairly soon, so all he had to do was wait until the audition period was closed. He walked back into the kingdom, said social media manager immediately walking next to him. She was holding her phone, and namjoon figured she must have been filming behind the scenes to post.

“This is SO exciting, I'm glad you chose to be fun instead of waiting ages to get married.” Namjoon laughed. Hanni was a young woman who had proven herself to be great for his reputation. He didn’t quite understand what she was saying half the time, but he knew that since hiring her, he had been more praised. “Please tell me that I get some super important job for this”

“Yes, actually, I decided to make you the host.” He heard the girl squeal before hugging him, she ran off, muttering something about how she was going to ‘so totally tweet about this’. The original plan had been to have Namjoon host everything, but he realized it would become extremely chaotic to have him trying to rate people and also be funny and ‘there’ for the cameras.

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Today, the first round of auditioning began. Namjoon stood in the back corner as he watched the room of hundreds of workers thoroughly going through each audition. They hadn’t planned to get so many auditions, so they had to hire even more people than originally planned. There ended up being 13,671 auditions, but he had been informed that many people had been trying to forge documents to appear older or younger than they truly were, which made Namjoon glad that his team had come up with the idea of having a team that would go through the wider part of the auditions so his small team of 8 wouldn't have to be stuck in a room watching videos for multiple weeks. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the door open, only to find Hanni walk in, he chuckled at the heart top and bright pink pants. She was already talking on her phone, which was being held up by a selfie stick.

“Guys! Today is the first day of review. We got so many auditions so we have all of these lovely people going through each and every one.” He listened to her talk before sneakily making his way out. He was sure that if she had seen him, he would be made to answer questions filled with words he didn't understand.

Namjoon made his way to his bedroom, he laid back on his bed, letting himself sink into the soft mattress. Although this had all been planned to a T, he was worried that something might go wrong. Regardless of him putting off getting married for so long, Namjoon wanted someone to spend his time with, it was exhausting to work so hard just to spend his time alone. Namjoon was worried. What if he hated all of the candidates? What if he wasn't what they expected at all? Namjoon shook his head, making his way to his bathroom. He turned the bath on and watched the tub slowly fill up. If it came to it, maybe he would just marry MIngyu. Wouldn’t that be a conversation? Namjoon laughed, slowly undressing himself before he let his body sink into the warm water.

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It ended up taking 2 weeks to go through round one. They had now entered round two, which meant Namjoons counsel was all busy watching videos of Namjoons potential spouses. While he and his team were close, they all refused to tell him about the candidates. All Namjoon got to see of them were small clips when Hanni went live to show off what was happening. He would occasionally hear a voice he was unfamiliar with before Hanni was kicked out.

Namjoon sat alone in his garden, he had started to read to keep his mind off the fact that soon enough, he would be presented with a group of people that he would have to rank. Really, ranking people sounded almost as bad as picking one out. He watched the river flow, it was cold out, but it was getting sunny enough that the water was no longer frozen. He looked back at his book, although he was halfway in, he hadn’t retained any of it. He sighed, closing the book and getting up to make his way inside.

Once inside the castle, he found his way to the kitchen, where he figured Mrs. Jeon would be. She smiled once she laid her eyes on him. “What brings you in here?”

“Just needed some advice, and I was hungry,” The woman hummed as Namjoon leaned against a counter. “How am I meant to rank them? Like, do I do it by looks? Or by talent?”

Mrs. Jeon shook her head, “Sir, when you see them you'll know. Some of them will be in the top 100 because you think they're attractive and someone might be at the very bottom because you just don’t like their vibe. Don’t try to do this all smart, follow your heart.”

Namjoon groaned slightly, he knew that's what she would say, and even though he had hoped that she would have some new insight, hearing her words did help to calm him down just enough. He moved over to see what she was cooking. “But what if 100 and 101 are so similar that I can't choose? How do I know that someone I ranked at 437 isn't my soulmate?”

“Well, if they were, you wouldn't have ranked them so low. How about this, if you truly can't make a choice, call me and that girl with the phone and we can help you make your choice, yes?”

Namjoon laughed at the mention of Hanni but nodded. It would be smart to get some second opinions. Namjoon had never been indecisive, but he figured it couldn't hurt to have some support for his choices. Plus, the public would already be voting, so it wouldn’t hurt to have the opinion of two of the women whose opinions he valued the most.

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It was finally time, they had gone through all the rounds of auditions, they had sorted through every single person at least twice, and now, Namjoon was in his library, a television had been moved in. He stared at the leather sofa in front of it, with two tables on each side. One of them with a stack of files, and the other with enough snacks and drinks to keep him going for weeks. He looked to the left of the TV, there was a long whiteboard, it was empty except for the numbers 1-100 written in long rows. He sat down, grabbing the remote but he wasn't ready to hit play, the screen was already on and he stared at the face of a woman. He leaned back, grabbing the folder that was next to him before pressing play.

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Namjoon was on the 14th video now, he was on the floor, with those damn three stacks, three categories once more- no, maybe, or yes. There were only 2 people in the yes category so far, so it wasn't going particularly well in Namjoons eyes. Namjoon sighed before he reached over to grab his second Americano, he took a small sip before he pressed play again, and he let the video play as he reached over to grab the 15th file. “Kim Seokjin, huh,” He looked up at the TV and smiled, he recognized this man. Kim Seokjin was the youngest son of a king up north, he had met Seokjin before, and Namjoon wouldn’t lie and say Seokjin hadn't made an impression. Everyone around him noticed just how attractive Seokjin was, and Seokjin knew it too. Namjoon was well aware that Seokjin used his pretty face to get away with whatever he wanted.

“Hello. My Name is Kim Seokjin, I am the son of King Namgil.” Namjoon sat up to watch the man speak, he noted that Seokjin was in a kitchen. “Today, I would like to show off my cooking skills- can’t have a good king if he's not well fed.”

Namjoon laughed at the awkward wink and watched as the man started to explain what he was making, Seokjin seemed to get a fire in his eyes when he was cooking, it made Namjoon lean forward to focus on the expression on his face. “Kimbap is fairly simple to make, I pre-cut my vegetables, so they should all be in this matchstick-like shape.” Seokjin held up a piece of carrot before he continued with his instructions.

Even though Namjoon didn’t care much for cooking, he couldn't look away from the screen. Every movement Seokjin made was so precise, it was mesmerizing to watch someone cook with this much passion. Plus, the fact that Seokjin was so funny -and pretty to look at, made the experience so much better.

“Now that we have this done, let's cut it so we have cute little pieces,” Seokjin cut the kimbap, and Namjoon was far too impressed by how even and equal each piece was. Seokjin held up one of them, admiring his own work. “There it is, the famous KIM-bap.”

Namjoon chuckled a bit as Seokjin gave a final smile to the camera and the video shut off. He looked down at the file, eyes locked on the picture of Seokjin. Sure, Seokjin had a bit of an ego, but Namjoon was looking for someone with some personality- some fire to them. He nodded to himself, and placed the file on the yes. He gave one last look at the screen before he moved on to the next video.

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Namjoon was now on the 101th video, he had told himself that this would be the last video of the night (he had been in the stupid library for eight hours at this point and he knew that if he didnt get out soon he would go insane). He grabbed the file and went to the corresponding video. ‘Min Yoongi’ was written at the top of the file, Namjoon had never heard that name before.

“My name is Min Yoongi, I am 28 years old. For my talent I have decided to show off a rap that I made.” The man bowed at the camera before the beat started to play. Namjoon tilted his head slightly, the song had begun with traditional instruments before shifting towards an actual beat. The man began to rap and Namjoon was instantly impressed. The neutral tone had become almost aggressive and passionate. Namjoon couldn't help but bop his head around to the song.

Yoongi had an incredible flow and his pronunciation was impeccable. If he had gotten to, Namjoon may have gotten into the rap scene, but there wasn't much time for rapping when you have an entire kingdom to take care of. Just as he listened to rap music, he was appreciative of the traditional sound mixed in with more formal sounds. He hasn’t heard much music like this, and it was a pleasant surprise.

When Yoongi finished he bowed before reaching over and turning the camera off. Namjoon reached over to grab his phone, he figured someone with so much talent had to be somewhat famous. Maybe he was a kpop idol. Namjoon frowned when he noticed that nothing came up. Yoongi was the first person from all of the auditions that Namjoon had looked up, he had wanted to base his opinion on what was presented to him, but he wanted to hear more from Yoongi. After 5 more minutes of scrolling, he groaned and stood up. He felt his bones popping and stretched some more. As excited as he was to go through even more candidates, it was starting to get hard to keep his eyes open.

He made his way back into his bedroom, thankful that he stayed in his pajamas from last night. His body instantly sunk into his bed, as he was trying to fall asleep, he couldn't help but think of Yoongi again. He eventually managed to get to sleep, with Yoongi being the last thing on his mind.

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After a good night's rest, Namjoon felt more than ready to tackle another few auditions. He had a good breakfast with Mrs. Jeon, but she was quick to shoo him off and make him get back to work. So he was in the library with a hot coffee and a plate of fruit. He looked at the file that was sitting at the top, “Jung Hoseok, pretty face…” He took a sip of his coffee before turning on the television. He saw the man in baggy jeans and a loose t-shirt. Hoseok took a few steps back before he bowed.

“What's up- Hello. My name is Jung Hoseok, uh, i'm an underground dancer and I do comedy sometimes, under the name ‘J-hope’ cause Im you hope.” Hoseok stood still for a few seconds before laughing at himself, “Right, anyways, I’m going to be doing a freestyle to show off my dancing.”

Namjoon nodded along and watched as Hoseok grabbed his phone and showed the camera as he shuffled a playlist, he landed on ‘In My Feelings’ by Drake, Namjoon laughed at the song but quickly became entranced by Hoseok. He saw how Hoseok's body instantly started to move to the beat and tempo of the song. The emperor watched every single dance move being made, he noticed how it seemed as though Hoseok could control every single bone in his body, the tips of his fingers moved along the same way his hips moved. The song ended and Hoseok gave another bow, picking up the camera and smiling “Hope I get to meet you, Emperor”

“Oh…” Namjoon stared at the screen, his face slightly red at the way Hoseok had ended his audition. He wasn't quite sure what to do, obviously, the man was a yes, and he likely would have been his number one if Namjoon hadn't seen the audition of Roh Jisun the night before. He stood up and went over to his whiteboard and wrote “Jung Hoseok '' at the number two slot. Namjoon stood there a second longer before he made his way back to his seat. He was close to moving on but decided there would be no harm in watching the audition again.

Namjoon was okay at dancing but he never did it for fun, the only reason for him to dance was when his parents would send him to balls in hopes that he would meet someone whom he liked. That didn't end in anything, even if Namjoon liked someone he was oblivious as to when someone liked him back, but Hoseok was dancing for Namjoon. Showing off his talent in the hope that Namjoon would respond. Stupid, maybe Hoseok just wanted good money to fund him going off to dance competitions or whatever.

When the video ended once more, Namjoon leaned back against the chair and brought a cherry to his lips, nodding to himself as he reminded himself that it was VERY possible some of these people hated him and just wanted to use him. Oh, whatever, Hoseok could use Namjoon any way he wanted.

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Namjoon was on his 300th or so video (It was hard to keep track at this point), he had some pretty good success so far, his “yes” file was at 39, his maybe was at 84, and everything else was at no. It was honestly kinda hard for Namjoon to put so many people in ‘no’ because the extensive amount of trials really had made it so Namjoon only got the best of the best. Aka if Namjoon didn’t like the way they said hello he would set them aside just so he could save some time.

Just as he was going to start the next video he heard someone coming in, he was expecting to hear Mrs. Jeon but instead- “Hey, you! How's it going?” Hanni walked over and sat herself on the chair across from him. Namjoon was about to remind her that she wasn't allowed in this room, but Hanni was as close to a sister as he had. The Vietnamese girl had made quite the impression, which is the only reason why he had allowed what he deemed a child to have such an important job.

“It’s going, how has the live streaming and Instagramming been?” He asked and offered her one of his sandwiches. She happily took it and grabbed a water bottle as well.

“It's been super fun! I've already begun to plan my speeches and how I’m going to interact with the contestants!” She took a bite of her sandwiches before her eyes lit up and she began chewing faster just so she could tell him the, apparent, important news, “I’ve even managed to convince Sunmin that I need my own private stylist and makeup artist, so I’ve been planning all my outfits with the challenges in mind.”

The older man shot her an amused look and nodded, “Well, if you’d like, you can watch this audition with me.” Hanni instantly nodded, so Namjoon played the video.

“Hello. My name is Park Ji-”

“OH MY GOD THATS PARK JIMIN, NAMJOON OH MY GOD” The girl instantly stood up, her eyes big, and turned to him.

“Who’s Park Jimin?” Hanni looked shocked that Namjoon didn't know who he was.

“Girl, only the most popular traditional AND ballet dancer. He's a guy so the fact he's so good at these dances is so insane in the dance community! How do you not know who he is? PLEASE tell me youre going to let him in the competition!”

“Can we watch the audition first?” Hanni huffed before she nodded and sat back down. Namjoon played the video again, and Jimin explained that he would be doing a traditional Korean dance. The emperor ignored the fact that Hanni was watching his expressions instead of the dance.

After Jimin finished, Namjoon nodded and looked over at Hanni, she nodded because she knew that Jimin's dancing spoke for itself. “Okay, yes, he can come.”

Hanni squealed and hugged him, “The fact I can't tell any of my friends that I'm going to meet THE Park Jimin is insane. WAIT does that mean that you've gotten interviews from other celebrities??” Namjoon gave her a small look, which she understood as a yes. “Can I stay for the rest of the auditions?! Please, I'll be super quiet and just sit silently.”

“No, no, you can't be biased at all. You'll get to see them before the show begins, but that's it.” Namjoon shooed her off, and she complained until Namjoon shut the door on her face.

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“Okay, last 50 auditions, let's see… Kim Taeh- Taehyung.” Namjoon stared at the picture on the file, quickly going to the page with Taehyung's signature. He rushed over to a painting over his fireplace. He placed the file next to the signature to confirm that they were the same. Namjoon and Taehyung had met a few years ago, it was a brief interaction where Namjoon paid for an original, complimented his work, and then moved along. Namjoon made his way back into his seat and turned the video on.

Taehyung had pretty, curly, blonde hair. He smiled at the camera before he brought a saxophone to his lips. There was no introduction, but Namjoon was hooked. The blonde man was incredible, Namjoon hadn't heard the song before so he assumed that Taehyung had written an original. Once he finished playing he set the saxophone down and moved closer to the camera. “I’m Kim Taehyung, and Emperor Kim met once. I never really sold a lot of paintings, and that day I had told myself that if I didn't get a sale, I would give up on art and music and become an accountant like my dad. But, you bought my painting and told me to keep painting. So, that's what I’ve been doing. I know it said only one talent, but I wanted to show you this.”

Taehyung stood up and went off camera, when he came back he was holding a canvas, he had painted Namjoon in so much detail it was almost indistinguishable from a picture. “I hope you like it.” Taehyung gave a boxy smile to the camera and then turned it off. Namjoon was geeking. Like, giggling and walking around because he found taehyung to be cute and charming. Once he settled down, he sat down and placed the file on yes. He knew that having Taehyung there would be good.

Namjoon always supported the arts, through his years as emperor, he had made sure every school had an art program. To him, being able to have his people follow their dreams of becoming artists was incredibly important. Taehyung was there now, the man was 27, which meant that he had to have been maybe 14 or so when Namjoon became emperor. He hoped that he had managed to get some resources at Taehyung schools so he could discover his passions, someone so talented needed some support.

He gave a final look at Taehyung's picture, confident in his decision. He also laughed at how so many people he was giving immediate yes’ to were artists. Maybe he had a type (definitely not maybe).

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Once he was done reviewing all of the auditions, Namjoon went to look at the maybe pile. His ‘yes’ category had ended with 71 people, so Namjoon just needed 29 more to have his completed lineup. So, he grabbed the file at the top. ‘Jeon Jungkook’ was written at the top.

So, here's the thing, Namjoon was going to put him into the yes file, but then he realized that this was Mrs. Jeon's son. The two had never met, but Namjoon was afraid that Mrs. Jeon would be upset at the fact that Jungkook might get kicked out. So, he called her in, just so that they were both on the same page that just because Namjoon was so fond of Mrs. Jeon, he couldn't just let Jungkook win to make her happy.

“Mrs. Jeon, you know I love you, and I want you around forever, but I was a little caught off guard by the fact that Jungkook aud-” Namjoon paused, and he noticed the confused look on Mrs. Jeon's face. “I’m guessing you weren't aware?”

The older woman shook her head, “he didn't mention it. But, Namjoon, don't worry. If he gets on, that's great, and if he gets eliminated, oh well. The entire point of this is for you to find someone you want to be with. Of course, I will hope that he wins you over and I become your mother-in-law, but he won't be getting any special treatment from me.”

Namjoon felt relieved at this, he nodded and thanked her before she left. He auditioned for Jungkook once more.

“Hello, I am Jeon Jungkook. I’m a 3rd-year university student studying economics and communication. I’m currently on track to be on the dean's list and I plan to get my master's degree as well. I have chosen to sing and dance to show off my singing and stamina.” Jungkook gave a bow before he did his performance.

And just as he had been the first time, Namjoon was a bit smitten over the man. Jungkook could have been an idol if he wanted to. Not only that, but Jungkook was incredibly intelligent, handsome and from the notes his counsel had given him, he was very popular with his university peers. Namjoon was aware that because Jungkook's mom worked for him, Jungkook was free to go to the most expensive university, but after looking through the university students' grades, he was sure that Jungkook could've gotten into that school all by himself. So, Namjoon placed him where he rightfully belonged, on the yes pile.

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After much shuffling along, Namjoon had his final lineup, 100 contestants. He happily grabbed the folders, his written list of the candidates- with the rankings he had given each of them- and walked them over to his meeting room. This time, he was the first there, so he sat down and straightened everything else. He felt like a little boy, so giddy and excited over the fact that he was going to find a husband or wife to rule alongside him. It was especially rewarding, because Namjoon had done it logically and creatively.

It only took 20 minutes for his team to arrive, they all seemed to be just as excited as he was. “So, after a week of looking through hundreds of videos of the most attractive, talented, and intelligent people. I have my top 100.”

Everyone cheered as Namjoon stood up to present his picks and their ratings. Sohee, their note taker, pulled out her laptop to write down who they would be sending out invitation letters to.

“So, at number one, we have Roh Jisun, at number two we have Jung Hoseok, at number three we have…”

As he went through his picks, his team jotted down their notes and listened intensely. Once Namjoon finished naming off his 100 options, they all began to discuss who they knew would make it in, or ask him about a candidate that hadn’t made the cut. They discussed it for about 30 minutes before they wrapped up.

“Alright guys, let's get those invitations made and sent out. I have a good feeling about this.” They all dispersed, but Namjoon sat in the room for a bit longer. He smiled to himself, excited, but a bit worried about just what he had gotten himself into.

Chapter Text

“Mrs. Jeon, wait up,” Namjoon found Mrs. Jeon just as she was leaving the kitchen, she seemed confused as she turned around to face her boss. “I wanted to deliver this to you myself.”

Namjoon handed the letter to her, the envelope was dark green and made out of velvet, Jungkook's name was sown on, written out of thick, gold thread. Mrs. Jeon said nothing as she traced the letters. She looked up at Namjoon, “I’m not quite sure what to say. Thank you, Jungkook will be thrilled to have been invited.”

“I hope so, Jungkook is incredibly talented and intelligent, he deserves this spot. There's more information inside the letter.’ Namjoon smiled and turned, taking a few steps before he turned to face the woman again, “Mrs. Jeon? Why don’t you take today off, I don't have much to do, and the other maids will do the rest.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty” She bowed before practically running off to the small home Namjoon had built for her and her 3 children.

Once she made her way in, she hurried over to Jungkooks bedroom, the man was at his desk, headphones in and eyes glued to his laptop as he hurriedly wrote notes. Mrs. Jeon smiled, her eldest boy had always been so hardworking, she watched him for a second, waiting until Jungkook noticed that she was in his bedroom. “Oh, hey mom,” he noticed the envelope in her hands. Jungkook had Hanni’s live in the background and he had seen what the invitations looked like, “Is that..?”

“Yes, Emperor Kim gave me the letter and asked me to deliver it to you.” His mom had the biggest smile on her face as she handed him the envelope. Just as his mom had done, he traced his name on the front. “What are you waiting for? Open it”

So, Jungkook did, the letter was handwritten, it read,

“Dear Jeon Jungkook,

I, Kim, Namjoon would like to personally invite you to my castle to compete for my hand in marriage. I reviewed your audition, and I would like to say that you are incredibly intelligent. I find your field of studies to be incredibly useful for someone who would become my spouse. Also, please know that you are being invited because I was impressed by you, not because your mother is someone who works so close to me. That being said, there will be no special treatment from me or your mother while in the kingdom. Thank you for auditioning. You have been ranked ninety-three. You will be sharing a room, for the time being, with Kim Taehyung (more known as J.seph) and Kim Yugyeom.

Looking forward to seeing you,
Kim Namjoon”

“I can't believe it, I actually got chosen. I auditioned as a joke, but he actually invited me… and Yugyeom got invited too” Jungkook continued to stare at the letter. Sure, he wasn't very happy about being ranked so low, but he figured that the emperor had him there so he was aware that he wasn't going to be ranked high just because his mom worked there.

“This is so exciting, is there more instructions on the back?” Jungkook nodded as he read the instructions, this was printed on, but it still had Jungkook's name written. This side just told him how many bags they could bring, and what would be provided by the kingdom. It also told them when they were expected to show up. “Oh wow, so you have to be all packed up by Friday and get there early Saturday?”

“It appears so, I have to go to my University classes, sit around my friends, and not tell them that this whole summer I’m going to be in the castle? This is crazy, this is going too fast…” Jungkook's mom hugged him from behind and kissed his head. “ There's going to be a bunch of rich kids who will smell that I don’t belong with them. At least I’m rooming with my best friend.”

“You have the right to be there just as much as everyone else. Yugyeom never discriminated against you despite the fact he's a duke's son, right? So don't be discouraged. Plus, you are so popular at your school, so you know you have a couple hundred votes, right?” She kissed his head again before making her way out, “I’m going to cut you up some fruit, okay? Get back to studying.”

The next day, Thursday, Jungkook made his way to his first class of the day. He sat down next to Yugyeom, but instead of talking as they usually did, they both sat silently. “So. Any plans for the summer?” Yugyeom asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Yeah… You?” Yugyeom made a small approval noise, to which Jungkook nodded. “Camp?”

“Camp,” Yugyeom responded, they sat quietly until class started, neither knowing how to respond to the fact that they had both been chosen, meaning they were technically competitors now. Once class ended, they both awkwardly said goodbye. Friday classes were the same, both saying goodbye for the summer, Jungkook adding in, “See you on Saturday.” Yugyeom did not respond, but they both smiled at each other before parting ways.

Jungkook got home, his two siblings were at the kitchen table doing homework together. Jihyeon was in her last year of high school and Jinho was about to start high school. They both said hello, Jihyeon following him to his bedroom. “It’s so unfair that you get to spend your summer in the castle with that hunk of a man.”

Jungkook gave her a look before he continued to pull his suitcases out from under his bed. They had been his fathers, a matching set of three made out of leather. He opened them up before opening up his closet doors to see what he would be taking. Not that he had enough clothes to consider leaving any of it. “You think I should pack for a long time?”

Jihyeon sat down on his desk chair, “Duh, he’s totally gonna love you. And then we get to move into the castle. You guys can even bond over the dead parent thing.” Neither of them laughed, instead, Jungkook showed her two button-ups, “Take both but give me the red one, it's missing a button. I’ll fix it for you.”

“Thank you, Jihyeon. You take care of Jinho, okay?” His sister nodded and walked off, leaving Jungkook to his thoughts. Jungkook was worried, of course. This was the opportunity of a lifetime and Jungkook couldn't screw it up. He shook his thoughts off and finished packing. His mom had come in after her work and helped him finish up.

Saturday morning, Jungkook, Mrs. Jeon, and Jihyeon were eating breakfast together. It was early in the morning, Jungkooks bags were sitting by the door and all that was left was waiting until someone came to pick him up. They sat in silence until they heard a knock on the door. Jungkook rushed to brush his teeth as his mother opened the door.

“I’m here from the kingdom of Eldoteria to take Jeon Jungkook to the kingdom.” Jungkook quickly made his way to the door, showing his ID to the older man at the door. The man nodded and grabbed Jungkook's bags to put into the trunk of a nice-looking car.

“Well, I guess this is it.” Jihyeon hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek and wishing him good luck. His mother walked over and kissed him, telling him she would be seeing him around the castle. Jungkook made his way into the car and waved goodbye as they drove away.

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

Kim Seokjin had the perfect life. He was the youngest son of an emperor, which meant he got all the privileges without having to worry about becoming the emperor one day. Today, it was 11am, on a Wednesday and Seokjin was still in bed. His eldest brother was probably training with their military sergeant. So, the thing about Seokjin was that he was handsome, too handsome. And being treated as if he were sculpted by the gods themselves his whole life had given Seokjin a bit of an ego boost. Now, Seokjin wasn’t a brat or a complete dickhead, but he knew how to manipulate people into getting what he wanted. Despite that. He was still fairly well-liked. Seokjin's siblings were all married now, sent to different kingdoms or rich families so that Seokjin's family could keep their wealth, except for his sister, Hyewon, who had married a farmer. Recently, the talk about who Seokjin would marry had come up. Seokjin didn’t care as long as they were hot and rich. Before they sent off offers to different people, Seokjin saw the announcement made by the Kingdom of Eldoteria, their emperor would be inviting 100 people to compete to be his spouse, so Seokjin told his parents and they quickly made his audition video.

And now we are here, with Seokjin's butler gently trying to wake up the man to show the letter he had received. “Yes, Kyungseo, I’m awake, what is it?” Seokjin sat up in bed, slowly rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he noticed the envelope in his butler's hand and reached for it. He slowly read the letter,

“Dear Kim Seokjin,

I, Kim, Namjoon would like to personally invite you to my castle to compete for my hand in marriage. Seokjin, I recall that we’ve met before, and to be honest, I’m surprised (but delighted) that you've decided to audition. Despite the fact you have an intense amount of confidence, you have a personality that I’m rather intrigued in. You seem very passionate about your cooking, and I like someone with passions. I’m aware you know this, but you're incredibly attractive, and I wanted a pretty face like yours to look at. Thank you for auditioning, I look forward to seeing you again. You have been ranked at thirty five and will be sharing a room with Choi Youngjae.

Warm Regards,
Kim Namjoon”

“Well, as expected… although that rating is quite low, isn't it?” Seokjin handed off the letter to his butler so he could read it. “Sharing a room isn't ideal either. Oh well, is there any other information?”

“Yes, Your Highness. It says that you are allowed three suitcases, and there is a list of things that will be provided by the kingdom. It says someone will be here Friday at 10pm to pick you up and take you to the kingdom, shall I tell your parents about the news?”

Seokjin shook his head as he stretched and made his way to his closet, his butler following along so he could help the younger man get dressed. “I will tell them tonight at supper, my siblings are coming today.”

Later that night, Seokjin and his parents greeted his siblings and their families. Having 5 siblings, Seokjin's family was now huge, each sibling having 2 children (at the minimum) already, they had all taken their seats and had started on their main course when Seokjin's brother, Seunghyun turned to him. “Seokjin, how has the quest to find yourself a spouse been?”

Seokjin smiled, he had been waiting for this question to come up, “Actually, today I received a letter from the kingdom of Eldoteria. I have been selected to compete with 99 other people for the emperor's hand in marriage. I will be leaving Friday night.”

Seokjin's whole family cheered, his mom the most excited. “Oh, Seokjin, that's great, shall we go out tomorrow morning to find you new clothes to wear?”

“That won't be necessary, me and Kyungseo have already begun to plan and pack my outfits. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to survive those months without him.” He smiled at Kyungseo, who smiled and bowed his head.

“And you’re doing this because that emperor is someone you want to be with, right?” Hyewon asked, to which Seokjin's father grunted.

“Hyewon, just because you were permitted to go off and marry for love doesn't mean you should try to push that on your siblings. Kim Namjoon is a great man, and if their relationship begins because of his status, so what?” Seokjin's sister rolled her eyes, her husband looking incredibly uncomfortable sat next to her.

In an attempt to make things slightly less tense, Seokjin turned to Hyewon, “Me and Namjoon have met before. He's very handsome and very smart, I find I’ll become quite fond of him,"Seokjin turned to his father, “just as I am fond of his title.”

Seokjin's family continued their dinner, slightly awkwardly but they managed to get over it. The next day, Seokjin and his butler began to pack. The man wasn't worried, he knew that he stood out in a crowd and that Namjoon had chosen him, more or less, because he found him attractive. So all Seokjin had to do was be his perfect and hot self and everything else would fall into place. He had given it a bit of thought, he knew that Namjoon would treat him right, but there was still some doubt in his mind that maybe he should be finding someone to fall in love with rather than just going after someone who could sustain his lifestyle. He disregarded his worries and finished his packaging.

Friday night had arrived, Seokjin and his parents were waiting by the kingdom doors, his butler holding his bags. A sleek, red car pulled up and out came a tall man. “I am here to take Kim Seokjin to the kingdom of Eldoteria.”

“That's me,” Seokjin said as his butler walked to the trunk of the car to place his belongings there. Seokjin's mother gave him a kiss on the cheek and his father pulled him into a tight hug.

“You go and show that man that you’re the only right option. Me and your mother will be tuned in and voting every week.” Seokjin's father let him go and Kyungseo opened the door for him.

“I will be voting for you, sir.” His butler gave him a final smile before closing the car door. Seokjin bowed his head at the three before the car drove off and took him away.

--------

Jeon Jungkook wasn’t the only child of a staff member working under Namjoon. Except the circumstances here were different. Jung Hoseok was born to Namjoons military sergeant, Jung Baekhae, but Hoseok’s father was very quiet over the fact he had a child. As far as Baekhae was aware, nobody in the kingdom knew he had children, until Kim Namjoon walked over and asked him to deliver a letter to Hoseok.

“What is this for, your highness?” Baekhae was basically staring holes into the damn envelope.

“Oh! I guess Hoseok didn’t mention it, your son auditioned to be one of the competitors for the whole survival dating show thing im doing. Your son is very talented, Baekhae. I’m surprised you don’t show him off.” Namjoon smiled and told Baekhae to head home for the day. And that Baekhae did, he was livid! How dare Hoseok go on and try to get involved in his fathers place of work, and what talent did Hoseok possibly hold? That studio dancing he did at 3 in the morning?

“Jung Hoseok you better get your ass down here you little piece of shit!” Baekhea yelled once he entered the house. Hoseok had an idea of what was going on, he had hoped that the invitation would be delivered to him so that he could have played it off as if he was going to a dance camp or something. Hoseok sighed and made his way down the stairs to meet his father. “What the hell is this? Why the hell is my boss inviting you to go play some fucking games.”

Hoseok caught the letter his father threw at him. “I auditioned but I didn't think I would get in…” He held the letter to his chest, a bit afraid that his father would try to take it away.

“I don’t know what the hell you're doing with that dancing and now this gay shit. Where did I go wrong?” His father whispered that last part to himself, his face deep in his hands. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, you’re going. You're going and you're going to be good. And dont get the wrong fucking idea, you’re only allowed to go because Namjoon is expecting you there.”

“Thank you, sir.” Hoseok bowed to his father before rushing upstairs. He actually wasn't expecting his dad to let his go, but he knew that he had to make the most of the situation. Hoseok locked himself in his room before he opened the letter and began to read it.

“Dear Jung Hoseok,

I, Kim, Namjoon would like to personally invite you to my castle to compete for my hand in marriage. Hoseok, I have no other words but WOW. You are an incredible dancer and you are extremely charming. I will say, I wasn't aware that Sergeant Jung had any children, and frankly, I’m a bit upset that I haven't met you before. Regardless, you are incredible and for some reason, you plagued my mind for a few hours after watching your audition. I've never seen anyone who danced with so much passion. Also I liked the song and how you managed to show your personality through your dancing... I am looking forward to seeing you. You have ranked at number 2 and will be in a solo room.

Excitedly,
Kim Namjoon”

Hoseok fell back onto his bed, this was incredible! Hoseok had placed at SECOND, he laid in his bed, holding the letter against his chest, he had to go and tell his dance crew- Shit his dance crew, they had a bunch of competitions this summer, and how was Hoseok going to tell them that he would be gone for an insane amount of time. Hoseok jumped up, hurriedly tying up his converse and grabbing a sweater on his way out, “Dance practice, I’ll be back soon” Hoseok muttered past his dad.

He sprinted the whole way to their dance room. He saw that three fourths of the team was there, he leaned against the door to catch his breath before he entered the room. They all greeted him, his co-captain noticing the guilty look on his face. “What's up with you?”

The whole team turned to look at him, “Uh, you guys know how the emperor is having a whole competition to pick his future spouse? Yeah, uh, I’ve been invited and I ranked at number 2, which means that I won't be able to participate in any of the competitions that we had planned for this summer.”

The room was tense and so quiet you could hear the slight heavy breathing from Hoseok. “Well, that sucks. But, you ranked second! That's exciting, look, you go and show them why us dancers should rule the world.” Everyone else piled on to the praises, all promising they would be here at home voting for him and cheering him on. The rest of their dance practice continued on, Hoseok helping them with as many corrections as he could before he had to leave.

Friday came soon enough, Hoseok had been up in his room packing all night. There would be someone coming for him Saturday morning. The fact that the card said he would be getting a solo room must have meant that other people had gotten doubles right? Hm, maybe the emperor had liked him more than he had let on in his brief letter. Hoseok quietly giggled to himself, he wondered what Namjoon would be like in person, would they even get to meet him on the first day? Hoseok wished they would, he wanted to hear Namjoon's praises in person.

Saturday morning Hoseok had made sure he had plenty of time to get ready, he wanted to look the best he could for the emperor and for the cameras. His father hadn’t spoken to him since Wednesday, but Hoseok figured that was for the best. Finally, at 8am he heard a knock on the door, the man asked if he was Hoseok before he took his bags. Hoseok followed him outside, locking the door and getting into the nice blue car. He gave one last glance at his house before putting in his earphones and closing his eyes.

-----------

There were plenty of popular dancers in Korea, Park Jimin was the it-boy of his generation. He had been dancing since he was 4 years old and he hadn’t stopped since. He was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for his performances. So, was he surprised when his personal assistant handed him a letter for Emperor Namjoon? No, not at all. Jimin knew that his audition was IT, and if his dancing wasn't enough, Jimin's name itself should've been. Jimin was quick to open the letter and read what was sent to him.

“Dear Park Jimin,

I, Kim, Namjoon would like to personally invite you to my castle to compete for my hand in marriage. To be completely truthful, Jimin, I didn't know who you were. That was until my social media manager screamed it in my ear, but you weren't selected because of your popularity. I haven’t seen anyone move as elegantly as you do, you’re incredible. I will say, I stopped myself from looking you up, but I do hope I get to see more of that dancing in this competition. You have been ranked at twenty four and will be sharing a room with Han Jisung.

See You Soon,
Kim Namjoon”

Jimin smirked to himself, he wasn't ranked too low, but he knew that within a few weeks, he would have Namjoon and the public wrapped around his finger. Jimin left the letter at his vanity and made his way to his bathroom. His secretary turned once she noticed he had begun to undress. “Jia, you have to reach out to my manager and let him know not to book me this summer.” Jia took that as her way away from Jimin. He got into his bath, letting the water slowly come up to cover his body.

Jimin had a feeling that there would be other dancers there as well, Kim Namjoon had always been loud about how he wanted to fund the arts, he imagined that Namjoon wished he could watch plays or dance performances. Of course, someone with such a high status couldn't just go and watch shows. That was okay, when Jimin and Namjoon get married, JImin will be sure to get Namjoon a private session at all of his shows.

Thursday, Jimin had gone out with two of his friends. These two were married, so they were nothing but excited to hear that Jimin might make his way to marry an emperor. As they were gossiping and sipping their iced lattes, they heard someone laugh from behind him.

“Jesus christ Jimin, I knew that you were obsessed with me, but now youre going to places I’m known to vist.” Jimin groaned, he knew that voice before he turned around. It was Lisa, it was always Lisa. Jimin didnt understand where this rivalry had come from they danced completely different genres. His lack of understanding didnt mean he didnt fight back.

“Oh my God, of course you think I’m here because I want to see you. Maybe you heard I was here and wanted an autograph from the winner of Most Distinguished Dancer 2024.” He smirked as she saw him frown, they were both aware of how to push the others buttons

“I dont have time to feed into your games, you may have won that award but emperor KIm Namjoon chose ME to come and compete. Rank 65.” Jimin and his friends laughed, standing up.

“Thats really cute, Lisa. I guess I’ll see you there.” Jimin made his way to the door, turning to her and saying “Rank 24.” before he walked out.

Jimin, Taeyang and Hyorin made their way to Jimins house, the two had told Jimin that they would help him pack up. “So, will you be able to send up videos of the inside of the kingdom?” Hyorin asked as she sat down in a couch in Jimins closet.

“Ugh, no. They’re taking away our cellphones because they dont want us to interact with the public.” JImin responded as he brough his suitcases down. Usually his secretary would be doing this for him, but she had appointments to deal with.

Taeyang was looking through Jimins jeans in a different part of the closet, but he still yelled out to them. “Jimin, why do you only own designer? What if they have you guys doing things outside and you ruin your pants?”

“Then I’ll buy new ones?” Hyorin laughed and stood up to help Jimin. The three made quick work of packing up Jimins suitcases. Jimin had been sure to pack outfits that would match multiple occasions. If his silver hair didnt catch the Emperor's attention, he was sure that his outfits would. A few hours after they finished packing, Taeyang and Hyorin left so that Jimin had time to relax and mentally prepare himself

Jimins letter had explain that they would come to pick him up Friday night, so Jimin lounged around his house. By lounged, it means he had his hair stylist come in to touch up his roots, got a facial, nails done and everything else that could ensure that he looked perfect. Come Friday night, Jimin had taken a shot once he heard someone at his door. He took a deep breath before he opened the door. A man stood there, and Jimin handed him his bags and followed the man to the elevator and down the building until they made it to a car. Jimin sighed and got himself into the car. He hadnt been this nervous since his first solo performance. This would be good, like a social detox or some shit.

-----

Frank Sinatra could be heard coming out of a small studio apartment, Kim Taehyung was softly singing along, his paintbrush flowing on the canvas, his eyes closed just so that he could FEEL the music and creativity. Unfortunately for him, his process was interrupted by a knock on his door. He sighed before getting up, he opened the door to see a messenger from the kingdom holding an envelope to him. Taehyung frowned, but he took it. “Thank you?” The man nodded before he left. Taehyung made his way back to his seat, turning down the music and cursing at himself for getting blue paint on the fancy envelope. He opened it and was surprised by the content inside.

“Dear Kim Taehyung,

I, Kim, Namjoon would like to personally invite you to my castle to compete for my hand in marriage. I was delighted to see your audition, I still have the painting that I bought from you. I was unaware that you played the saxophone, but I am impressed. You are definitely an old soul. Your painting of me was incredible, I do hope to be able to buy it from you. I’m excited to see you here, I think you have a very good chance already. You have been ranked at number thirty-six and will be sharing a room with Nicha Yontararak, who goes by Minnie. ”

Yours,
Kim Namjoon”

Taehyung stared at the letter for a while longer, he wasn't going to audition because he had thought the king would only want people hes never had an interaction with. Not only was he accepted, but Namjoon had remembered him. And he was excited to see him. Taehyung looked up at what he had been working on, it was Namjoon, again. Ever since he had turned in his audition, all he could do was paint the man. He turned away from the painting and turned off his music. He wanted to finish his painting, but he couldn't hyper-fixate on painting Namjoon over and over again. So instead he chose to head to his friends pottery shop. Junyoung and Taehyung had been friends since they were young, and now they were starving artists together. Well, Taehyung was starving, and Junyoung had been doing just fine for himself.

“Taehyung, what are you doing here? I thought these were your painting hours?” Junyoung looked up at the bird clock he had set up on top of the door.

“Yeah, but I got interrupted and couldn't get into the flow again… Look what was delivered today.” Taehyung handed him the envelope before he sat next to Chaeyeon, Junyoungs daughter. He helped her paint the vase she was working on as Junyoung read the letter.

“Oh shit… This is really happening for you, huh?” Tae nodded, but he didnt look back up at his friend. He focused on painting small pink flowers, he was a bit too embarrassed to say anything else. “Do you need suitcases?”

Taehyung shook his head and finally looked back up, “I have one and all my clothes fit in there. So I think I’m good off that one. He remembered me, Junyoung. And he wrote ‘Yours, Kim Namjoon’ like, mine.”

“Maybe he wrote that for everyone… or maybe you're special. Oooh maybe hes crushing on you.” Junyoung laughed as Taehyung's cheeks turned red. “No, but seriously, there's not a lot of ending for letters. Maybe he repeated some. But this Minnie girl, ever heard of her?”

“No, I looked her up but I couldn't find anything about her, so maybe shes just talented but not famous?” Junyoung nodded and went into the back. He was probably making lunch.

“Wow Chaeyeon. Those are so pretty. Just like you!”” Taehyung said to the 6-year-old. She smiled up at him.

“I want to be a painter, just like you.” She said, Taehyung laughed and nodded in approval. They continued their painting in silence until Junyoung came back with sandwiches for the both of them. The shop was quiet for now, there was usually a rush after schools were let out, so Tae would come and help watch Chaeyeon.

“You think you have a good shot at winning?” Taehyung shrugged and leaned back.

“I think so, but even if I dont, I can show off my art and get some publicity.” Junyoung nodded and continued to clean up the tables and shelves.

Taehyung left after a closing. He thought he should pack up so that he didnt forget anything. It was unfortunate that he wouldn't be able to take his canvases or paint cans. Instead, he settled on bringing a sketchbook and a watercolor set. He packed up most of his clothes, leaving two outfits for the rest of the day.

On Thursday, Taehyung spent all day practicing his saxophone and painting, he had to make sure that his skills were as perfect as they could be, just in case they had to show off. Other than that, by Saturday Taehyung hadn't done much else but wait. He was restless and too anxious to do anything but wait. So, Saturday came, and Taehyung wasn't awake until he heard someone practically banging on his door. He bolted up and rushed to open the door. There was a different man from the kingdom here. The man raised an eyebrow at Taes pjs but Tae just handed him a suitcase and rushed to grab his things so he could get ready in the car. Taehyung left a voicemail to Junyoung, telling him to watch the show and vote for him.

-----

“Dear Min Yoongi,

I, Kim Namjoon would like to personally invite you to my castle to compete for my hand in marriage. Yoongi, I want to thank you for your audition. You are an incredible rapper, you have a very nice voice and I was very surprised to see you have so much power when you were rapping. I want to be honest with you, I looked you up after your audition and was a little upset when I couldn't find anything else about you. I’m looking forward to having your rapping be shown publicly. You have been ranked at seventy-six and will be sharing a room with Seo Soojin.

With care,
Kim Namjoon”

Yoongi read the card over and over. He had received the letter on Wednesday and it was now Friday. Yoongi still couldn't believe it, he actually had a chance to get out of the shithole he was in. Min Yoongi had been kicked out of his home when he was 15, and ever since he had bounced around places. Until recently. Emperor Namjoon had built so many homes for homeless people. So technically Yoongi wasnt homeless anymore. The houses werent perfect, there were sx to eight bedrooms in each of them. Everyone got their room, but that was just because the rooms could barely fit a twin bed and a small bedside table. Yoongis clothing all fit in a backpack, so It wasn't too hard to pack up.

Yoongi didnt have anyone to tell, he didnt have any real friends. His roommates all kept to themselves, thankfully, and his coworkers didnt care to talk to him. So it was Friday night and Yoongi couldn't sleep at all. He was scared, he knew that it was very likely that the other contestants were rich kids, or at least not dirt poor like Yoongi was. So Yoongi stayed up all night and when It was 8 am, he went and sat infront of the house. He didnt have to wait very long until a sleek white car pulled up. He ignored the man's looks as he handed him the backpack and sat down in the car. The seats were brown leather and there was a small box with snacks. Yoongi's stomach growled and he happily reached to grab a granola bar. The driver didnt say anything when he got in the car, if the drive was longer, Yoongi might hve tried to make small talk. But he was more focused on eating as much as possible. Jesus, he would be getting meals made by the kingdom's chefs… he hoped they would get to eat lunch, God he couldn't help but fantasize about steaks and expensive fish. The drive took 30 minutes, when they reached the kingdom, he noticed how many people were also there, getting help with their suitcases, he kind of felt bad for his driver. He looked kinda sad standing there with a worn-out backpack, but the driver didnt seem to mind.

The man lead him to the inside, it smelled expensive already. The two waited in a line, Yoongi kept his eyes down, he was terrified. Finally, they reached the person sitting down at a table. The woman smiled up at him, “Hi, I’m Jieun. Can I have your name and ID?” Yoongi nodded and handed both to her. She verified them both and before grabbing a big box and handing them to him, the driver received another bigger box by an assistant. “Inside this box is your day-to-day schedule, the food menu-you'll get a new one every week, a map of the castle, and your key to your room. In his box, there are two pillows, a comforter, sheets and some other necessities. Haseung here will lead you to your room.”

Yoongi followed the man, they made their way down the long hallways, this was starting to feel like college move-in days. They finally made it to the room, Yoongi pulled out his key and thanked the man. He opened the door and found a woman in there. She turned and smiled at him. “Hello, Im Soojin. It's nice to meet you.”

“Im Yoongi. Nice to meet you too.” Yoongi took the backpack and box from the driver, thanking him before he left. Soojin continued to make her bed. Yoongi thought she was very pretty. He pulled out the sheets and noticed they had all been embroidered with his name. He made his bed and pushed his backpack under his bed. He sat down and stared at a wall. “Soojin, what did you do for your audition?”

The woman looked up from her book, “Taekwondo, just did that for a few minutes and sent it off, you?”

“I rapped.” Soojin nodded and laughed a bit, Yoongi couldn't help but laugh as well. “When do you think we get to eat? Im starving.” The two continued their conversation until they heard a voice come from the speakers.

They followed the voice's instructions and made their way to the dining hall. The room had so many long tables, each of them covered in deep red cloths and flower arrangements. Yoongi and Soojin sat next to each other. They all waited until every seat was full. Yoongi watched as a young girl made her way to the front of the room. A camera followed her and she held a microphone to her mouth. “Hello everyone! My name is Hanni and I’m going to be your host. Today and tomorrow will just be about getting you acquainted with the castle and the staff, your challenge will be revealed on Monday, you'll get more information then. Please keep in mind that the cameras are always on and your microphones are also, always on. With that, enjoy your first meal!”

The competitors all turned their heads when they heard doors open, a giant group of waiters coming out with carts of food. Yoongi got his food and he could swear he was drooling. They were being served some pasta Yoongi had never heard of before but it smelled amazing. Yoongi could definitely get used to this.

Chapter Text

Jungkook and Yugyeom were both glad to be sharing a room. The two boys had been nervous, but having each other made this process a lot better. Taehyung, who insisted they call him J.Seph, their third roommate, was a nice man, he was quiet and kept to himself. They hadn’t really made any other friends, but Jungkook hoped that they would be able to this week. It was Monday morning and the two were slowly getting dressed, they had been woken up at 6 am and told that breakfast would be served at 8 am. Jungkook could tell how planned out this whole thing had been, there were schedules for everything and it all seemed seamless so far. Jungkook was drying his hair and staring at the clock. Despite the fact they had snacks stocked in their rooms, nothing was as good as the food they had been served, according to the menu, today they were having a western-style breakfast- waffles, eggs, pancakes, bacon, etc. The food was all made from scratch and it was so obvious, he had never had orange juice that tasted so fucking good. Yugyeom came out from the bathroom, dressed, and moved over to pull on his Prada sneakers. Jungkook finished his hair and reached down to slip on his Converse, he had planned to befriend J.Seph but he had left the second he was done getting dressed. Jungkook figured he had better luck making friends than they did. The two made their way to the dining hall, they all had their food served and Jungkook was so glad the servers would automatically keep giving you seconds until you asked them to stop. In the middle of their eating, Jungkook noticed Hanni walking over to the small stage at the front of the room. Cameras were following her and he saw a woman fixing up her makeup before she tapped the mic.

Once Hanni noticed that she had gotten everyone's attention, she smiled and held the mic up to her mouth. “Good morning everyone! I hope these last two days have been relaxing. I wish that every day could be so relaxing, but unfortunately, this is a competition. So, before I give you guys your challenge, I want to give you some new info. After every challenge, your rooms will be changed. Your roommates are based on your rankings, so the top 5 get their rooms and rank 87 to 100 have triple rooms. Your current rank was based on Emperor Namjoon’s ranking alone. This challenge will have you ranked solely based on the public. Your votes will be reset after every elimination, so don't think that just because you got number 3, you'll stay high up after. You could likely fall to 89 or so. Now, who’s ready to hear your challenge?”

The group of young adults cheered and Hanni laughed before turning back to the camera, Jungkook’s eyes looked up at the big screen, trying to ignore the camera that was moving around his table. “For this week’s challenge, you have all been tasked to show your skills and personality to the public. You'll get from today to Wednesday to plan out what your table will look like. Then, we’ll all head down to the town square on Thursday where you’ll set up your table. You will get two hours to do so before we let the public in. We have created an app and everyone who is registered will get to vote for who they liked meeting the most. Today, brainstorm and try to figure out how you want to decorate your table. On Tuesday, you'll each be allowed to write up a list of things you need, including instruments, clothing, and such. Now, on Wednesday, I would recommend that you start to practice what you want to show off.” Hanni smiled towards the camera before she bowed to the contestants and made her way out.

Yugyeom turned to Jungkook, who was already stuffing his face. “This feels so weird, right? Like, it's kinda crazy that we get to sit in this castle and actually get a chance at marrying the Emperor.”

“It's cool, yeah,” Jungkook managed to say between his bites of food. He ignored the judging glances of the people around him, he was a big boy! He needed as much food as possible… Yeah, maybe 4 plates was overdoing it. He made a signal to the waiter to stop bringing him plates. “Uh, do you know what youre gonna order?”

Yugyeom shook his head and leaned back a bit, “Maybe just displaying some of my school projects and research. Hey, you should tell them about the grant you got to do your study around the kingdom.”

“Thats a good idea, I was thinking of doing something like karaoke mashed with Dance Dance Revolution. I like to show off my talents, but everyone is doing that so maybe it would be better to show off my academics.” Yugyeom nodded but didn't say anything back, so Jungkook took it as his chance to look around the room. It was a huge room, there were red double doors on one of the walls, mimicking those fancy restaurants you see on TV. The tables were able to hold 8 people on each side, the ends of the tables didn’t have chairs. They were in a U-like shape, leaving the center and back open, it showed off the small stage that came out from the wall. Jungkook looked up at the huge screens around, they were all displaying different contestants and it made Jungkook more intimidated. Everyone there was so attractive, that he noticed a screen showing Yugyeom, the screen slowly moved to Jungkook so he smiled and waved at the camera.

After breakfast, Jungkook and Yugyeom decided that they wanted to work together and try to find ways to decorate their stands. They found a small table in a sunroom and were quietly working together. They had been given computers that blocked out all types of social media and articles based on the competition, Jungkook didn’t mind since they could still listen to music and go to Pinterest. Jungkook had been drawing up some ideas when they heard the doors to the room open. Two people walked in and smiled. “Hi, My name is Minnie. I’m ranked 58.” The girl bowed and the man she was walking with kept walking. “Oh, this is Taehyung, hes ranked 59. He doesn’t talk too much.”

Jungkook and Yugyeom introduced themselves and the two groups started to work silently. Jungkook groaned and closed his sketchbook. He grabbed one of Yugyeoms lists to see what the man had planned, the ideas were pretty standard so far, it made him glad he wasn’t the only one who was struggling. He turned himself back to the laptop and started to look up some clothing ideas. He had thought about asking for expensive clothes, but he didn't want to seem inauthentic. So, here he was, scrolling through a bunch of outfits so that he could find something appealing. He eventually found something he liked and started up his list of what he was going to ask for. He kept scrolling and saw a picture of a man with dark blue hair, his eyes trailed to Taehyung. The man had bright blue hair and Jungkook wondered if he would dye it a more natural color to seem more presentable. Taehyung made eye contact with Jungkook, so Jungkook tried to smile to make it less awkward. Taehyung didn't smile back though.

A few hours after work, they heard the speaker make a noise and they were reminded that lunch would be served soon. They all packed up, Taehyung seemed ready to leave, but Minnie told him to wait, “Do you guys want to sit together? I’d love to know what ideas you have for your tables.” Yugyeom and Jungkook glanced at each other before agreeing.

The four of them walked out together, slowly making their way to the dining room. Jungkook walked next to Minnie and he noted she smelled really good. She had been talking and Jungkook would respond here or there, but the conversation was being carried by Yugyeom and Minnie. They sat down together, greeting the other people at the table. After they were served, Minnie looked back up to them. “So, what are you guys going to show off?”

“Well, I was just thinking of showing my academic achievements and some of the things I plan to do after college,” Yugyeom said as he opened his sandwich to take off the onions.

“I was gonna have a binder of projects I've worked on and also do some singing.” Minnie nodded and looked at Taehyung, expecting him to answer even though he looked very focused on his soup.

“Uh, well I’m going to be playing the piano, so tomorrow and Thursday, I’m going to be busy learning a bunch of pieces so I’m ready to go on command.” Jungkook’s eyebrows shot up, and he was impressed, for some reason he had thought Minnie would be singing or something.

Finally, Taehyung looked up, clearly having felt the stares of the other three, he sighed before he answered, “Well, I was going to go in between painting the castle and playing saxophone. I have a list of songs I know so people can just come up to me and ask.”

They all nodded and kept up with some small talk, Jungkook didnt think that they would become the closest of friends, but it was good to at least have some acquaintances. After lunch, Jungkook decided to take a walk so he could gather up his thoughts some more. He wanted to show off how smart he was, but did people REALLY care about that? It was more likely that they would be ranked on their attractiveness. Jungkook found a nice bench to sit on, so he got back to work. He sat there until around 6 pm when he decided he should head back for dinner. He was the first in the dining room, and he very heavily considered going into the kitchen to see if his mom would be there. He knew that most of the time she was up on a high floor, where Namjoon’s room was. He took his eyes away from the door and back to the notebook he had been writing on. He was requesting lots of his projects, works, successes, and a karaoke machine, as it would bring some flare. He figured that the people there could appreciate a pretty face a lot more if they knew that there were also brains.

Jungkook managed to get around 30 minutes of work before Yugyeom sat down next to him. His friend’s face was a little puffy, so Jungkook figured that he had probably been napping. Yugyeom laid his head in his arms, sleep clearly clinging on to him. Until Jungkook pushed him, the man bolted awake and gave Jungkook a look before stretching his back against the chair. “You've been working hard, huh?” Yugyeom reached over to grab Jungkook’s notebook.

“Yeah, I have some ideas here or there, I want to show off a little bit of my singing as well, just to show I’m more versatile,” Jungkook answered and watched as Yuggyeom nodded along as he read the list of what Jungkook had requested for his table.

He handed back the list and moved his body more towards Jungkook. “Don’t forget to get some table covers, so that they don't see just the bare table,” Yugyeom whispered, clearly he didn't believe that many other people had thought of the idea.

“Secrets, secrets are no fun. Secrets, secrets make Minnie sad.” They heard Minnie sing from behind them, Taehyung walking behind her with an amused look on his face. “What are we talking about boys?”

“Oh, I was just telling Jungkook to remember a chair so he could sit down,” Yugyeom responded fairly quickly, Jungkook raised an eyebrow. He wondered how many times Yugyeom had lied to him. The lying came too easy and too naturally.

Minnie accepted this as her answer and sat down in front of Jungkook. She smiled at him before looking up above the right of his head. She smiled and he figured that there must have been a camera there. The four had a little bit more of a chat before the food was brought out. They got to eat until 8 pm, and then they were meant to be in their rooms by 11 pm. It was kinda odd to have a schedule like this when they were all adults, but Jungkook thought it was so that the contestants didn’t look tired. There wasn't much else to do when they were constrained in their rooms, so sleep was all they could do. Unless you had a friend sharing the room with you, then you could stay up until 1 am talking about embarrassing moments, speaking from Jungkook’s experience.

“There’s no way they would do eliminations based on these rankings right? Like, we were placed on Emperor Namjoons ranking, so maybe they just want to see how the public ranks the competitors,” Yugyeom said and ate his rice. Jungkook frowned at that, he hadn’t considered that they could be voted out so easily. He didn’t respond, instead, he kept picking at his food.

“Why wouldn't they though? Isn't the whole point to find the Emperor a spouse right away?” Taehyung answered but didn’t look up at Yugyeom. Jungkook looked over at Yugyeom, who was frowning.

“I don’t think the Emperor would flash by, though.” Jungkook groaned at Yugyeoms answer, after knowing Yugyeom for so long, he knew that the man was stubborn and loved to get into arguments. Jungkook fit a large portion of food in his mouth before standing up and saying goodbye.

He had left the table to get away from the argument, Jungkook had also noted that he was incredibly tired. He got to his bedroom and forced himself into a shower. He let the hot water turn his skin pink, leaning against the shower wall. He stayed in there for 10 minutes before getting out and slipping into some random shorts and a T-shirt. He glanced at the time as he got into his bed, it was only 7 pm but Jungkook felt like he had gotten hit by a bus. Usually, Jungkook could stay up deep into the late hours of the night, but something about knowing he didnt have to study or worry about having to find some random gig online made sleep come so easy.

-----

The morning of the event, Jungkook had to force Yugyeom out of bed. The man had somehow gotten sick, but Jungkook went and found some medicine while Yugyeom showered. They had been informed that they would be leaving the castle at 11 pm, right after breakfast. Jungkook got back to the room just as Yugyeom had gotten out of the bathroom.

“Here, this one shouldn't make you drowsy.” Jungkook handed him the medicine and moved over so he could shower as well. He didn't want to take too long in the bathroom, but they hadn’t received the clothing they had asked for yet, so they could just wear a lounging outfit at breakfast. He used a bit of Yugyeom’s expensive shampoo, just to make his hair nice and shiny for today before he finished his shower.

Walking back into the small room, he took note of Yugyeom staring off into space, Jungkook laughed and threw something at him so he would get his head out of the clouds. “Sorry, sorry. I’m nervous about today, what if they think I’m boring?”

“They aren't going to think you're boring,” J.Seph answered from his bed. He had already showered and was sitting on his bed doing his hair. J.Seph had dark red hair that Jungkook thought suited him very nicely. “Plus, we’re already this low, can't get much lower than 94, right?”

“True… all you have to do is be charismatic and handsome, people don't really want anything else,” Jungkook answered while looking in his suitcase. He pulled on his loosest sweats so he could easily change into his new clothes.

Yugyeom groaned and turned over on his bed, J.Seph laughed and stood up, heading towards the door. “Well, I’m going to head to the dining hall, I’ll see you two after.”

“What do you think he's doing at his table?” Jungkook asked, still staring at the door. When he didn't get a response from his friend, he looked back over and realized Yugyeom had fallen asleep again. He laughed and smacked Yugyeom to wake him up.

After he managed to wake him up, the two made their way into the dining hall. The room was loud with the excitement of the other contestants, everyone knew that this would be a huge change for the path of the show. Nobody wanted to be seen as rude or as someone who was unworthy of their king. Namjoon was odd and silly, but everyone loved him as he had really made a change for the kingdom. The two men made their way to their usual table and greeted Minnie and Tae. They exchanged small talk about their mornings before getting to actually talking.

“Isnt this the most exciting day ever? I almost couldn't sleep from how excited I was to wake up and know that we would be competing in our first challenge,” Minnie said excitedly as they got their breakfast. Taehyung nodded at her statement, clearly having dealt with her last night.

“Me and Jungkook couldn't sleep, but our other roommate, he just passed out so fast. That man is so interesting. But, I'm still wondering if they're going to give us the clothing we requested right after breakfast or before they let people come look at the tables.” Yugyeom had already fed these concerns to Jungkook the night before, so Jungkook was more focused on eating his breakfast.

“It might be better if its right before the presentations, that way we dont get the clothes dirty,” Minnie responded, also eating bits of her breakfast. Jungkook yawned and looked up at the screens. Everyone looked so put together, makeup done so sparkly or so natural that Jungkook could barely tell they were wearing makeup. Ignoring the pajamas and loungewear, everyone looked fancy.

“I’m only nervous about the setup. We probably won't get any help in setting up, so we just have to make it look nice.” Jungkook said as he looked back down.

Minnie frowned and looked away thoughtfully, “They have to help us a little, I can't imagine they would expect me to move an entire piano to my slot.” She made a small gesture to herself and the three men laughed.

“With that piano thing, are you even gonna have a table? I feel like the piano is gonna take up all of the space.” Minnie nodded at Yugyeom's observation.

“Well, I think it's best like that. That way they can focus on the piano. Oh, by the way. I've been listening around and there are some people doing interesting things. Someone’s doing a tarot reading, and someone else is making dolls. I even heard someone is doing crocheting. I think that one will be hard. Just having to crochet a bunch of things super fast.” The group continued to debrief, trying to give each other tips and ideas.

In the middle of breakfast, they heard Hanni calling out to them. “Good morning everyone! I am so glad to see you all this morning. It is finally the day of our first challenge. Emperor Namjoon wanted me to let you guys know he is so excited for this to begin and for you all to show off. Now, you will all be expected to head to the entrance of the castle right after breakfast. So, if you aren't done getting ready, go do that after my announcements. I would also like to let you all know that your tables will not be next to the people around your rankings. While that was the original plan, it was taking too long to set up, so when you get there, go and look for your table. All of your decorations and such will already be there. After the two hours of set up, you'll be given thirty minutes to get dressed. I’ll let you guys get back to breakfast! See you guys soon.” With that, Hanni left the stage and instantly people got up to rush to their rooms and finish getting ready.

“I’m gonna go get these rollers out of my hair. I’ll see you guys on the bus!” Minnie let herself leave, leaving the three boys to finish eating.

“So, Taehyung, are you excited to draw in front of everyone?” Jungkook asked Taehyung, who was mid-bite of an apple.

The boy swallowed his food before shaking his head, “I’m kinda nervous. I was going to ask to get the canvas early so I could at least do an outline but I think it’ll be better if I show start to end. So these last few days I’ve been doing practice drawings.”

Jungkook nodded and decided to stop asking questions. The three finished eating with few words in between. Soon enough, it was ten and they were all asked to head over to the castle entrance. The three boys walked together and went to the line on the left. They hung back a bit, waiting until Minnie managed to make her way back to the group. While waiting, J.Seph walked up to them and introduced himself to Taehyung, both smiling at the fact they shared a name.

“I hope you guys don't mind me hanging back, most of my friends are ranked 50 or higher, so I’m kind of on my own for now.” Jungkook and Yugyeom quickly comforted him, saying they really had no problem. Eventually, Minnie made her way next to them. She was wearing a pretty, blue slip dress. Jungkook knew that she would be ranked higher, she looked gorgeous.

After a few minutes of waiting for everyone, they were able to get on the bus and head to the kingdom's center. It was a beautiful, rounded area in the middle of the town. It was surrounded by native flowers and there were often festivals and markets being held there. It was quite a ways away from the kingdom, but the ride there was peaceful. Jungkook had talked with his small group of friends for a little before he put in his earbuds so that he could mentally prepare himself. He hoped that his siblings would be able to come, but it was school hours.

After the drive, they were all instructed to get out slowly so that there would be no accidents. Jungkook really felt like he was on a school trip. Finally, it had reached his turn, he and Yugyeom walked together so that they could find their spots. Yugyeom got lucky and was right by the entrance, so Jungkook said goodbye and kept searching. He was walking for a while, going through the outer circle of tables before looking into the next layer of tables. He finally found it, the people beside him hadn't gotten there yet, but Jungkook snuck a peak at their names. To his left was ‘Jinsoul’ and to the right was ‘Hueningkai.’

Jungkook started to unpack his box. Inside were all of the table decorations and the requested paper. He set the box on the floor and pulled out the tablecloth. While he was in the middle of tying the ends to the table, he noticed the girl next to him arrive, she smiled at him before looking into her own box. Jungkook kept on working, setting up the stand meant for his binder full of his academic achievements. The binder was thick and full of test scores, project ideas, and all of the work/community service he had done around the kingdom. He opened it to a page focused on the grants he had received while in his freshman year of college. He continued to set up, trying to figure out how to set up the karaoke machine he had gotten. It didn't take him too long, but he made sure to make a new playlist with songs he was comfortable with singing. He also added some duets, just in case anyone wanted to sing with him. The rest of the setup was just making the stand look nicer, he wanted it to feel cozy. He got done earlier than the people around him, so he tried his best to look at what they had without seeming nosy. Jinsoul seemed to be setting up balloons and such, so Jungkook figured she was doing balloon animals. Hueningkai had a guitar and a flute, so he was probably just showing off his instruments.

Jungkook left his stand after receiving his clothing, he rushed to change so people waiting didn't have to rush themselves. After changing, he went and found a water bottle, he tended to get a dry throat when he was nervous. Finally, after the two hours were up, they heard Hannis' voice through speakers all around the quad.

“Hi everyone. The doors are opening in two minutes! Be sure to be at your stands and ready to talk to the people of Eldoteria. We’ll be letting the crowd in by waves, so don't worry about being overwhelmed.” Jungkook sighed and leaned back against his chair. This was really happening, so he stood up and planted a smile on his face.

It took a while before people were near his booth, but the first people to come up to him were two older men who Jungkook recognized as two teachers he had in high school.

“Mr. Jeon, how interesting is it that you're here!” Mr. Lee said as his eyes scanned Jungkook's table. His hands reached over and grabbed the binder, reading the pages.

“Hello, Mr. Lee. It's nice to see you again, even if the circumstances are different.” Jungkook laughed and reached over to shake hands with Mr. Kwon. “I have a project I did in your class in that binder.”

Mr. Lee nodded and Mr. Kwon looked at Jungkook, “You know, I always thought I would be seeing you at your college graduation, we just came to drop off our wives but when we got this flyer and noticed some of our previous students we figured we would pay a visit. I noticed that Yugyeom is here as well.”

“Yes, me and Yugyeom are sharing a room, so we had an easier time getting used to being here. Other people are having a hard time making friends.” Jungkook smiled at the people walking behind the two men, he hoped that they would come and say hello after his former teachers left.

“Well, we will be voting for you… although, Jungkook if you do win, don't forget all of the projects and improvements you wanted to make.” Mr. Lee said as he put the binder down, smiling at Jungkook. Jungkook gave them a nod before the men left.

Once they left Jungkook continued to greet people walking by, he noticed some of them had flower crowns and others were holding cotton candy. He really underestimated how far people would go to get votes. He turned himself to his karaoke machine, deciding to sing some music to hopefully lead some people over. He played a song and let himself sing at an appropriate volume. Jungkook lost himself in the song, so much so that he was startled when he heard people clapping once the song was over. He laughed at himself before thanking everyone, this show of his singing had it so he constantly had people over at his table.

After a few hours of talking with new people, singing, and explaining his old projects, he heard a familiar voice. “Wow, someone’s popular.” Jungkook looked up and saw Jihyeon and Jinho walking up to his table. He looked at his watch and noticed it was around 4 pm now.

“Hey you two, how was school?” Jihyeon rolled her eyes and his brother laughed.

“Who cares about us? You've been in the castle for a whole week, you need to tell us all about that.” Jihyeon responded, Jinho nodding along.

“I don't think I have the time to tell you all about it. I have to interact with other people, you know, people whose votes I don't have guaranteed right now.” Jungkook reached over and ruffled Jinho’s hair. “So I repeat, how was school?”

“It was good, it's so easy since we get out for break this week. That means we’ll be able to make it to all the events you have, right Jihyeon?” Jinho asked, turning to his older sister. The girl nodded and smiled.

“Well, I’ve been telling all my friends to vote for you, but they're all crushing on different people. The episode doesn't come out until this Friday, but they’ve released all of the audition videos.” Jungkook was glad that he had his siblings to tell him all about what was going on with the show, he only got the information that Hanni was giving them.

Jungkook talked to them for a bit more before he encouraged them to check out more tables so they could find him snacks and tell him who was popular. They quickly left, wanting to go and complete the mission they were given. Jungkook knew that they would get distracted and forget to tell him anything about anyone, but that was okay. Jungkook thought he was doing pretty good for himself, he had received a lot of attention and knew that he had secured quite a few votes.

As the event was winding down, he finally realized how many cameras were around, they were probably going to edit the episode today and tomorrow, then release it late on Friday. Jungkook smiled at a cameraman, making sure the smile was for the man and not just the camera. It looked more sincere that way. Before they knew it, it was 8 pm and all the people that were left were instructed to leave. Jungkook was so tired at this point, so he was glad they were going to go to sleep. He started to pack up all of the decorations he had used, trying to pack everything up as neatly as he had received it. Since he finished faster than the other people, he moved over and asked Jinsoul if she needed help. She had agreed and the two made quick work of all the balloons and supplies. While cleaning up, they had some small talk and Jungkook learned she was ranked at 85. Once finished, they made their way to the bus, where they said goodbye and went to find their own friends.

“So, how did that go? Did you act just the way you thought you should?” Jungkook asked as he caught up to Yugyeom. Yugyeom looked so tired, Jungkook knew the sickness had probably been kicking his ass now.

“I think so. I didn’t cough a bunch and I was smart and well-spoken. Although, I do think I came off a little boring. You think this handsome face will make up for it?” Yugyeom turned to Jungkook, making his (supposedly) handsome gestures at the man. Jungkook gave him an awkward smile, making Yugyeom groan. “I’m cooked, huh?”

“No, I don’t think so. You probably did well. I think I did all right for myself. No voice cracks in the middle of songs, no stuttering or such. I can't believe we have to wait until Saturday to find out how we did.” The two men made their way onto the bus, saying hello to Minnie and Taehyung who were leaning back against their seats.

“How did it go?” Yugyeom asked, only receiving a groan from the other two. While the drive to the event had been full of laughter and talking, the drive now was quiet. Everyone seemed so exhausted and ready to go to bed.

“I can't believe it’s not even 10 pm and I feel like I got hit by a bus,” Taehyung muttered, his eyes were closed and Jungkook had thought the man had already fallen asleep.

Minnie straightened herself up, opened her eyes, and turned to Yugyeom and Jungkook. “My piano sets went great, I got to talk to quite a few people our age who asked for tips. I just can't wait to get out of this outfit.” Minnie nodded towards her sequined top. It looked like it would be itchy and uncomfortable.

“You’re so pretty Minnie, there's no way you don’t get boosted up. But, did we ever learn whether or not there's going to be eliminations?” Jungkook asked, he was still pretty worried about the fact he might get eliminated for not being social enough.

“Well, the schedule says ‘Eliminations’ so, it might be likely. But don’t worry, you won't get eliminated.” Yugyeom responded, placing a hand on Jungkook’s shoulder to comfort him. Jungkook sighed as a response, with that, the rest of the ride to the castle was quiet. The two boys said goodbye to Minnie and Taehyung and headed to their room.

Once they arrived Jungkook threw himself on the bed, and Yugyeom rushed to the bathroom in order to shower. Jungkook felt like he was having an out-of-body experience, he could hear what was happening around him, but he was so exhausted he couldn't respond. So, he ended up falling asleep in his clothes from the previous night.

The next morning, Jungkook woke up before the morning announcements, aka he woke up at 3 in the morning, he quietly made his way to the shower and barely managed to get into actual pajamas before throwing himself at his bed again. He didn't care if he missed breakfast today, the more time that went by the better. With that, Jungkook fell asleep, wishing and dreading Saturday, he wouldn't be eliminated, he knew it.

Chapter Text

“Hello everyone, welcome to our very first elimination! On Thursday you were all given the time to interact with the public of Eldoteria. On Friday, we released the episode and allowed another round of voting. Do not worry, we made sure to include a clip of everyone so you all got a fair chance. Now, we will be going from first place down to last place.” Hanni was interrupted by a woman rushing over and whispering something in her ear. Hanni seemed confused but couldn't say anything before she was handed new flash cards. “Um, so. I've just been informed that Emperor Namjoon doesn’t think it's fair to eliminate anyone, so. No eliminations will be held. Because of this, we will be going from 100 to number 1”

Hanni smiled and began to read off the list, giving each contestant a chance to come up and replace their pin with their new number. “Ranked at 100, we have Kim Jiwoo, who was originally ranked at 41…” This continued on with each person, the process was long, but as numbers went higher, people started to feel more relieved than tense. “At 88, Min Yoongi… 49th Jung Hoseok… 35th Kim Taehyung… 19th Jeon Jungkook… 12th Kim Seokjin”

Reaching the top ten, everyone felt excitement, being this high up for the public would definitely mean something to Namjoon, and being a favorite somewhat guaranteed safety for the following episodes and challenges. “Now, our top ten. At number 10, we have Nicha Yontararak who Emperor Namjoon ranked at 58. Number 9 is Lee Heeseung, originally at 100! Wow, what a jump… Ranked 8th is Park Sunghoon, originally at 26. Ranked 7th is Jeon Jiwoo who was originally at 17. Ranked 6th is Kim Yerim, originally at 88. Now, we get to our top five, they get their exclusive rooms and occasional goodies. Number 5 is Kim Chaewon who was originally at 14. Number 4 is Sim Jaeyun, originally at 82. Number 3 is Kang Seulgi, originally at 97. Number 2 is Choi Beomgyu, originally at number 10. And finally, the contestant who took the publics heart, is… Park Jimin who was originally at 24!”

There was clapping, but many whispers from people who ‘knew’ he was going to be ranked highly just from his status. A lot of contestants thought it was unfair to have someone so well known be part of the show, but they couldn't really say anything about it.

Namjoon turned off the TV as Hanni continued to talk about how they would be switching rooms and so on. He turned to his counsel, who seemed upset that he had turned off the show. “How is this going to work? Isn't it a little crazy that someone I ranked at 100 has shot up to number 9? Is the middle ground even fair? What if I love someone but the public doesn't care for them and they eliminate them?”

They all stared at him for a while, they were trying to be cautious, Namjoon had been tense and easy to set off lately. The only people who could regulate him were Hanni and Mrs. Jeon, but both of them were busy. So, Jieun decided to step up, “Emperor, you decided to do it this way because you wanted the public to have a say, right? Well, it'll happen that someone you become fond of may be eliminated, but you’ll have to accept it…”

Namjoon groaned and leaned back against his seat. “You’re right and it's very upsetting.” He lifted his head up. “This is going to be the longest procces ever. I need to learn how to not be attached to these contestants.”

Mingyu nodded and leaned over to pat his friend's shoulder. “It’ll get easier with time. Plus, you chose all of them for a reason. So you can't act like you don't like each of them, even a little.”

Namjoon glared at Mingyu a bit, not because he was mad but because he did not like having to be rational. He looked back at the screen of the TV before turning it back on. Namjoon and his counsel had a live stream going with a main camera, this stream mainly followed Hanni and she was able to hear Namjoon through an earpiece. “Hanni, tell me what's been going on.”

Hanni paused for a second before she answered. “Well, everyone has received their pin and they’ve all been released to go and pack up before they move into their new rooms.” She smiled at the camera and kept walking, the camera peeked into one of the rooms where Namjoon saw two contestants packing up into their suitcases and the box they had gotten with the comforter and such.

-----

Park Jimin knew he would be ranked highly by the public, but to be ranked number 1? That was beyond his imagination. He was on a high at this point, Namjoon surely knew that Jimin had an impact now, so the Emperor couldn't ignore it anymore. Honestly, Jimin was glad that his fans were rooting for him so hard. Nobody cares about the 50s and 30s, the only way to get recognized would be to get in the top 10 or the bottom 10. Jimin was more than comfortable to be ranked so high. He walked back to his room with a small smirk on his face. Lisa had only been ranked at 47. FORTY SEVEN. He hoped she would be fuming.

Han was already in their room packing, he had a big frown on and Jimin knew just why. The poor guy had gone from 25 to 99. Jimin didn't know if he should say anything, so instead he moved and started to pack his suitcase. The two worked silently, Jimin walked into the bathroom and grabbed his own things, deciding to grab Han’s small cubby and bring it back to the boy. Jimin didn't say anything, just gave the boy a small smile as he handed him the box.

Once Jimin was packed he made his way up to his room, where he rightfully belonged. He opened the door and felt his jaw drop. The room was gorgeous, there was a huge king sized bed in the middle, but it was a circle bed. Jesus, Jimin didn't even know these existed. Hopefully Namjoon had one in his own room. He walked into the room and shut the door, letting his luggage fall onto the floor before throwing himself onto the bed. Maybe it was just his imagination, but the bed felt softer and more plush than the bed in his previous room. Once Jimin got enough of laying on the bed he stood up and looked around. There was a mini fridge that had clearly been stocked a bit ago. There was a huge glass stained window facing the gardens, to the left was the bathroom. The bathroom was stunning, the shower and bathtub were two separate utilities, there was a double sink and light up mirrors. Jimin decided he should unpack a little.

In the middle of his unpacking, he heard a knock at the door. Once he opened it, he didn't see anyone but saw a box on the floor. Inside was a bouquet of flowers and a box with sunglasses inside. The sunglasses had Jimins name engraved on them. The card on the flowers was from a company. Jimin was used to PR, but getting it because he was 1 step closer to getting the king to marry him was just so much more satisfying. Because the eliminations were held after lunch, Jimin knew there likely wasn't much more time before dinner. He moved back to his suit case to look for his hair products, he needed to look even better now that he had found out he was ranked so highly.

After Jimin changed and fixed his hair, he made his way to the dining hall, a bit later just so that he could make a grand entrance. Once in the room he moved to sit by his friends. He sat down next to Sana, a girl he had met once or twice before. She was a Japanese princess and Jimin was rather fond of her. “Well, if it isn't the talk of the town. You wouldn't believe the amount of people who are pissing themselves because you ranked so high. Like, no offense, but if you have no impact, why would the emperor want to marry you?”

Jimin laughed and leaned closer to whisper, “See, this is why I like you, people need to get over themselves and realize that someone with a little fame to them will get further.” Sana nodded and then pouted.

“Can you believe I dropped down so much? I mean, 30 ranks down is ridiculous.” She rolled her eyes a bit before turning to Jimin again. “Hey, let me come see your room after dinner, I’ll die if I can't at least see the room.”

Jimin nodded before running into what the rest of the table was talking about. Soyeon and Keeho were talking about what the next challenge may be. “It has to be something big right? I feel like since it'll be the first actual elimination they're going to want to have something that's fun.”

“Well, they were going to eliminate someone, so maybe it won't be that huge.” Jimin said getting the attention from the two others.

“I think so. But I agree with the Emperor. Can you imagine getting voted off because the public didn't like you? It would be horrible.” Soyeon said. Jimin quite liked Soyeon, she was a bit too loud but Jimin appreciated the fact she always spoke up for herself and spoke her mind.

Keeho tilted his head, “Wouldn't it make sense to do something big though? I think it would be so cool if they had us do a huge project so the viewers could see more of our personality and we could get more attention.”

“Well, whatever it is, we all know that we’re safe. I can not imagine having to share a room with 2 other people! I dont even know how I've managed to share a room with 1 person.” Sana’s words made the rest of them laugh. They continued eating and a bit more chit chat.

Soyeon stood up abruptly and accidentally slammed her chair back onto another girl. Jimin remembered the girl went by Kim Lip. Kim Lip made a loud noise, “What the hell is your problem? Watch where you're going!”

“Watch where I’m going? Bitch, why the hell are you walking this close to the chairs? Look around! There's so much space to walk in.” Soyeon was quick to argue back. The two girls continued to scream at each other and Jimin noticed how many cameras were on them. He quickly stood and tried to pull Soyeon away. “You rise up a few levels and suddenly you think you're the shit, huh?”

“How dare you speak to me this way? You pushed your chair into mine! I am so sick of you prissy rich kids thinking you rule the whole world!” The girl shot Jimin an angry look. Jimin frowned at that, he wasn't the one she was arguing with, why the hell was he catching strays?

“Soyeon, c’mon. The cameras are watching you.” Jimin whispered into her ear, the girl continued to glare at Kim Lip before rolling her eyes and walking out of the dining hall. Jimin gave the girl a look before he, Sana and Keeho followed Soyeon. They caught up with her and managed to pull her into Jimin’s room. “Soyeon, I know you have very strong emotions, but you can't act like that! Things like that could get your ranking to tank.”

“That girl started an argument for no reason. I WAS going to apologize before she started to act like I did it as if it was on purpose.” Soyeon huffed and moved to sit on Jimin’s couch.

“Right… but girl imagine if you had played it off. People would have seen you as a lady and not as someone who is quick to anger.” Keeho said as he moved to sit next to the woman.

Sana didn't seem like she cared about this very much. Instead she was looking around the room, She moved and sat on the bed, sitting for a second before falling back on it. “Ok, Soyeon I know you're all upset right now, but I think if you just laid here for a while it would make it all go away.”

The group went quiet before they all moved to lay around the bed. “I know, why don't you three stay here tonight. That way we can freely gossip and we can plan how Soyeon can make herself look better.”

The three quickly agreed to the idea, Jimin was so glad he could help here. This would help him make these three his real friends and they could all help eachother. Once the idea was made, the three left the room and went to find their pajamas and such. While they were gone, Jimin decided to find all of the face masks and such so they could have a little spa night and relax before the challenges on Monday. Sana was the first to arrive. She was wearing a matching set of shorts and a tanktop with small flowers. Soyeon returned in sweats and a long sleeve. Keeho took the longest before arriving in basketball shorts and a loose shirt. The four huddled around the bed, turning on a movie they had access to before they started putting on the masks.

The night went very nicely, they talked about what challenges they wanted to do, explained more of their background and overall had a great time bonding. They all fit on the bed pretty comfortably, so at around 12am, they had all fallen asleep. The next morning, Jimin woke up first. He carefully left the bed and went to shower, his friends had brought clothes for the next day, but Jimin insisted they didn't bring shower things as they could just use his. He had a nice shower before getting out. Yesterday he had found that the staff had provided hair dryers, straighteners and everything he could dream of. He was thankful that they had splurged beyond belief, Jimin felt so spoiled he never wanted to leave.

His friends didn't take too long to shower. So they all got ready together in the bathroom. Jimin had friends, yes. But he never really took time to really bond with them this way. He was having such a fun time talking with them, he didn't feel like some mega celebrity and it almost made him wish he had gone to college so he could’ve made some real friends. The dance school he had gone to was great, yes, but everyone there saw each other as competition. And now that he was in a real competition and didn't feel any of that hatred towards each other, he wondered how it was possible that a school had turned so many people into enemies.

During breakfast, they convinced Soyeon to go and apologize to Kim Lip. They figured the girl wouldn't accept it, but Soyeon apologizing would make her look better to the public and it would hopefully make her seem kind. Soyeon managed to act like she was very sorry (she wasn't, at all) and gave a great apology. Kim Lip seemed confused and ended up just rolling her eyes, but Soyeon had done her part, so, oh well. Sunday wasn't going to be very eventful.

-----

Namjoon couldn't believe this. A fight! Two people had actually had a fight. Namjoon thought it would make sense if they had been fighting over him or fighting because of the rank, but they were fighting over an accident. Namjoon felt slightly conflicted here. Had this been his fault? Had he accidentally chosen contestants that weren't suitable for his kingdom? His counsel had reassured him that there was no way he could have prevented this. Namjoon disagreed. He sat in his office, trying to figure out if he should intervene at all. He was at least glad that Jimin had managed to calm Soyeon down. Maybe he wasn't giving the voters enough credit, Jimin seemed like a great candidate at this point.

Namjoon called for Hanni, the girl took her sweet time before she made her way to Namjoon. “You called?”

“I did, yes. Hanni, do you think I need to do anything here? That whole fight was not a good look, maybe I should ask our editing team to make sure that it doesn't get out?” Namjoon asked, Hanni was smart, and she quickly shook her head.

“Emperor, You shouldn't censor these things! Things that display someone's character so much need to be shown so that everyone can make an educated decision. I think this was a good thing. It shows how they both react to situations that could happen to anyone. Have you seen? Soyeon went up to Kim Lip and apologized.”

Namjoon frowned and shook his head. Hanni moved over and took the remote, she managed to find the clip and Namjoon let out a deep breath. He wasn't sure if this was a good thing. Soyeon apologizing was good, yes. But for some reason it seemed scripted. Namjoon hoped that nobody would think they put her up to this. “Hanni, do you think this was a bad idea?”

“What is with you and this self doubt? Emperor, this is a great idea. Of course there are going to be hiccups here and there, but that's fine. You shouldn't have to worry so much. Relax a little.” Hanni’s words made Namjoon feel a bit better. She was right, it wasn't going to be perfect all of the time. So he should try to watch normally.

“I'm always glad to be reminded why I have you on the team.” Namjoon said as the girl laughed.

“I know. I'm pretty great! Now, Mingyu told me to tell you that they want to confirm all of the details for tomorrow. I hear he's still a little upset at what you pulled with the ‘no eliminations' thing.” Namjoon groaned and gave her a defeated look before standing and making his way to their meeting room.

He entered the room, knowing that having held back from their last meeting, Mingyu would be ready to talk his ear off. He sighed, wondering why he had decided to allow Mingyu such a high position, and entered the room. He smiled at everyone, except Mingyu before he sat down on his seat. “So, what's on the agenda today?”

“Namjoon, you are aware that next weekend we will be sending away 10 people, right?” Mingyu spoke, Namjoon frowned and leaned back. Yes, they had made a really good plan before starting the show, but things always needed some altering.

“About that…” He noticed the defeated look on Mingyus face, but he continued anyways. “I think next week we should only eliminate the bottom 5. I realized it isn't very fair to show so little about 1 person and then have them kicked out so fast. Plus, I was speaking with Hanni and she opened up my eyes to how every action is very important.”

“That girl… Namjoon, if you want to eliminate 5 people next week, you can't do any editing to the next couple of episodes. We had everything planned so well for a reason, please try not to alter everything just because you're in your feelings about people you know nothing about.”

With that, the team finished up some last comments and then dispersed. Namjoon sat in the room for a while longer. This whole thing was so fun at first but now Namjoon felt a bit afraid. Things were going pretty well and Namjoon didn't want to be the downfall for everything else. He took out their show schedule and plans, deciding he needed to remember it all so that he would be able to follow the timeline as it was.

-----

After Soyeons apology, Jimin and his friends had split up so they could take a break before Monday. Jimin was fairly sure that they would have a challenge that was actually hard; he hoped it had something to do with dancing. If he could really hone in on dancing, he knew there was no way he would drop bellow 30. Although, Jimin was a bit afraid that the public would get bored of it. Jimin sat on the bathroom counters, he was very carefully plucking his eyebrows- there wasnt anything to pluck, but he needed a distraction from his nervousness.

The pretty dancer had never been this on edge for such a long period of time, he had a big ego (obviously), so he usually never worried about things like this. But Jimin could feel how different this competition was, even if some of these people were unknown, they had some talent. Jimin had watched some of them dancing and they were incredible. Not as good as him, that was impossible, but they still had some charm to them. He sighed and stared at himself, it was lunch time, but Jimin wasn't very hungry. He was sure he would puke out the food if he ate anything. Jimin scrambled around for some rubbing alcohol to make the nausea go away. For christ sake, he felt like he was 18 again. But he wasn't, he wasn't that boy who would cry of anxiety at the thought of going on stage in front of two thousand people. He was a man who would perform in front of hundreds of thousands any day of the week and be ready to do it all again by the next day.

Jimin stared up at himself, he heard a knock at his door, so he forced the tears back in and walked to the door. Keeho was there, holding a plate of sundubu jjigae. The boy frowned when he saw the look on Jimin's face. “Hyung? Are you okay?” Jimin nodded and moved to let Keeho in, he knew that the food looked delicious, likely tasted so good too, but he had to hold himself back from gagging at the smell. “I noticed you tend to skip lunch, so I thought I should bring it to you…”

The two men stared at eachother. Keeho knew, and Jimin knew that the younger man knew. But Keeho shouldn't have to worry about him. “Thank you! I tend to get really busy so I just keep myself running on the snacks.” Jimin mustered up a small laugh.

Keeho nodded, but he didnt smile. He kept a concerned look on his face. “Do you mind if I stay here while you eat? I dont want to walk to my room.”

Jimin sucked his cheek in, but he nodded. “Yeah, go for it.” Jimin sat at the couch, staring down at the food. He gave Keeho a slight glance before smiling. “Smells good.” He took a small bite, forcing the food down.

“You know, I can start coming by before lunch so you dont get distracted…” Jimin looked up at the man, slightly intimidated by the stare he was receiving.

“You dont have to do that, Keeho. You shouldnt worry about me.” Jimin didnt smile, just looked back down at the food, putting the spoon down.

There was an awkward silence filling the room. Jimin leaned back against the couch and stared down at the food. “We work hard, Hyung. I notice what you eat at breakfast, I don't know how you're running. This morning you had a a piece of bread, 4 strawberries and half an apple. During dinner you never get seconds. Hell, you barely eat half the food on your plate. You think the public won't notice either? You can't be such a big public figure, on a competition AND be starving yourself! How stupid can you be!”

“You watch your words with me, Keeho. I like you but you remember that I’m your elder and I have a lot of influence. Who the hell do you think you are barging in here and insulting me like this? We don't know eachother, Keeho. You can leave now.” The two stared (glared) at eachother. Keehoo shook his head before standing up and walking to the door.

“I’m sorry. But even if we know nothing about eachother, I still care about you. Come to dinner. Please.” The man left the room and Jimin deflated. With his head in his hands, he finally let himself cry. Jimin didn't cry usually, he thought it was a sign of weakness and if there was one thing Jimin wasn't it was weak. He stayed in that position for a few minutes, crying.

He was no longer crying at the fact he had been discovered. He was crying over the fact he hasn't spoken to his parents in years. He was crying at the fact new articles about him being old news were coming in every hour. He was crying at the fact he had never felt such real friendship and now he had gone and fucked it up.

Jimin never used his influence over peoples heads. That was tacky and so cruel. But he had to defend himself some how. He dragged himself into bed, wanting to be absorbed and never see the world again. Except he would be getting up for dinner. And he would be apologizing to Keeho.

Dinner time came eventually, he forced himself into the dining hall and sat right next to Keeho. The two girls hadn't gotten there yet so he took this as his chance. “I’m sorry for what I said, Keeho. I appreciate the fact that you're worried about me, I've just never had anyone notice it before.”

Keeho nodded and turned to look at him. “I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you, Hyung. It was way out of line. I just want you to know that people care about you, not just how well you dance or how well you perform.”

“Thank you. I don't know how to react…” Jimin averted his eyes again. Damn, having someone really care this much was so different.

They sat together quietly until Sana and Soyeon finally made their way to their seats. The four had a nice little dinner. And Jimin allowed himself to eat a little more than usual this time. He pretended not to notice Keeho’s proud smile.

That night Jimin laid in bed, staring up at the ceiling for what felt like hours (it was like, 30 minutes), he was so used to falling asleep quickly. Before, he would have to get all the sleep he could, but now he could relax a little. He didn't have a dance instructor up his ass every minute of the day, his manager couldn't send him four million emails about things she was meant to deal with on her own. This had become a bit of a vacation for Jimin, a slightly stressful one but a vacation never the less. He turned and stared out the window. He could see some twinkling lights from the town. He smiled, imagining this being his view everyday, until he fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Seokjin and his new roommate, Jinyoung had hit it off pretty well. The two were some of the oldest there and had grown up in fairly similar backgrounds. Because of this, they both felt able to be comfortable with each other. Monday morning was relatively relaxing for them. While everyone else was stressing out trying to look their best, the two were quietly doing their skincare while listening to soft jazz. Seokjin had heard that the table he sat at was considered the “Rich and Royal” table, and while it was true, there were PLENTY of other rich or royals seated at the other tables. At first, he had thought that this was a compliment, but he quickly learned they were being made to look like spoiled brats.

The two men quietly made their way to the dining hall and greeted the people around them. Seokjin never talked much, he knew he should be trying to make some more friends so he wasn't so lonely (and so if one of his friends got voted off, their fans would start to vote for him), but he found it a little hard to befriend anyone. Seokjin was spoiled, but these people were a whole new level of spoiled. Seokjin was fairly sure that everyone at the table had a four-page list of ingredients they were allergic to (they refused to eat).

Midbite, he heard Hanni start to speak. “Good morning everyone! I hope breakfast is delicious, unfortunately, I have to interrupt you guys so I can explain this week's challenge.” Seokjin kept his eyes locked on Hanni, except for a side eye at a table nearby who were still whispering. “This week, we will be having eliminations, so please try your hardest. Today and Tomorrow, you will be planning a complete plan for a festival. On Wednesday, you will be presenting your idea to the public, however, you choose to present it is fine, just make sure it catches people's attention. On Thursday, the winner will be announced, the winner will then meet with our event planning team and they will spend the whole day planning the festival. The festival will then be held on Friday. Rankings will be based on how you rank for your festival idea. The winner will also be attending the festival with our Emperor, Kim Namjoon.”

The contestants all gasped and started to whisper. Hanni seemed like she had more to say, but she was motioned to leave it at that. Seokjin's eyes followed her until she was completely out of sight. He turned back to his food, ignoring the loud talking around him. Seokjin finished his meal and excused himself, deciding he wanted to get some quiet time.

Seokjin wandered around the castle for a while, making plans in his head on how he would redecorate and where his and Namjoons portraits would go. He passed by a room but quickly turned around to listen against the door. He could hear some people talking about what they wanted to do for the festival. He pressed his ear against the door, wanting to hear everything that was being said so that he could be sure not to have a concept like anything else. Most people in the room wanted to do something based on music or arts.

Seokjin continued this around the castle, keeping note of the ideas and concepts. Once he was sure that he had enough data, he made his way back to his room. The ideas seemed to overlap, with only a few originals here and there. Everyone around him was working their asses off to plan everything, but Seokjin decided a dip in the pool would help his mind relax. So, that's what he did. Of course, after the pool it was dinner time, but Seokjin knew that his mind would be able to come up with a brilliant idea afterward.

“So, how far along is your idea?” Jinyung asked when Seokjin sat down. Seokjin's eyebrow shot up as he pulled the napkin on the table onto his lap.

“I haven't started yet, but I have something in the back of my mind… You?” Seokjin asked, glancing at the waiter and smiling before moving his eye back to Jinyoung.

“Pretty good actually. I think I'm going to do a carnival-type thing. It'll be entertaining for the children of the kingdom and younger couples, and since the show is all about love, I think it'll do fairly well.” Seokjin nodded, but to be honest he thought this was a stupid idea. The only people allowed to vote were 16 and up, so adults probably wouldn't care much for it.

The rest of the dinner was somewhat silent, but finally, around 8 pm, Seokjin sat down in his room to write up some ideas. He first wrote down his list of the ideas that had been taken by other people, and some more ideas he figured would be taken as they were cliches. After an hour of writing down, his top three ideas were a masquerade ball’, traditional Korean, and a whimsical forest. After sitting with these for a while, he decided on the last. With this theme, he could have the festival be held at night (something he was sure not many others had thought about), and it would be appealing to most ages. With this great idea, Seokjin got to work on planning out the activities, the colors, the food, and everything that needed to be planned. Seokjin had done similar work for his kingdom, so he knew that he had more experience and a better idea of what needed to be planned. Seokjin worked until 11 pm before he got bored and decided that it was time for bed.

The next morning, Seokjin skipped out on breakfast and made a beeline to the library. He had lots of pictures to print out so that he could perfect his moodboard. He wanted this to be a complete fairy forest wonderland. Eventually, the library began to fill up even more, Seokjin rolled his eyes as he heard the quiet fade into loud laughter and chatter. He grabbed all of the supplies he was using and made his way back into his room. He let out a sigh of relief at the fact that Jinyou wasn't there. He could work comfortably without Jinyoung seeing what he was up to. Seokjin liked Jinyoung, yes, but he had to remember that this was a competition, and Seokjin's great ideas could very easily be taken. For about an hour, Seokjin worked quietly, cutting up pictures and asserting his poster. The man found comfort in it, the task was simply a bit entertaining considering he had nothing more to do. Eventually, Seokjin finished up the poster, an hour before dinner started. He carefully hid the poster under his bed before making his way into the shower. He took his time, letting the cold water release all the tension from his muscles. He eventually forced himself out of the shower and into clothes. He was starving at this point, considering he had skipped out on breakfast and lunch. Still, he was slow to make his way to the dining hall. He was the last at his table to sit down, so the conversation around him had already begun. He let himself listen without adding to the conversation for a few minutes. Of course, the communication was focused on this week's challenge, but sometimes they would deviate to gossip about the people around them. Seokjin rolled his eyes when they started to talk about how ‘cheap’ some people were dressed. That was how Seokjin knew that these people were just rich. They were not wealthy, just plain rich and spoiled. He held back the urge to scoff at their comments, there was no way that seokjin would be indulging in this. He noticed Jinyoung's look and knew they were on the same page.

After eating about half of what was on his plate, Seokjin angled his body to Jinyoung, “How’s your idea going? Are you all ready to present tomorrow?”

Jinyoung nodded and swallowed the food in his mouth. “About ready, yeah. Just figuring out my speech, I want to make sure I sell it the best I can.”

“Right, that's a good idea. I was thinking I would just wing it. I would prefer that my idea spoke for itself, but I’d like to look prepared as well…” Seokjin thought back to his already prepared notes. He would be an idiot to go in blind like that, but this way Jinyoung could feel like he somewhat contributed to Seokjin's work.

“I think the fact that only one festival is going to come to life is making people put a lot more effort into it. But, so many people want unnecessary things, nobody wants a merry-go-round AND a cheese tasting right next to each other.” Jinyoung said as he took a sip of his wine. Château Margaux 2015, Jinyoung had told Seokjin that he had asked for their wine while selecting the first dinner they were there, Seokjin watched the man take a sip. Jinyoung made a slight nod but made no further fuss over it- Seokjin smiled to himself, Jinyoung wasn't a fake like these people. He knew wealth and Seokjin knew that this would be a great asset. The public was obsessed with elegant people without being flashy. Seokjin thought JInyoung should slip up a bit, Just so Seokjin could show how much better he was than his friend.

After dinner, the two men walked back to their room. The palace was slightly warm from the open windows, but there was still a slight breeze coming in. “Hyung, you haven't told me what theme you’re doing for your festival.”

“Oh, haven't I? Sorry, I got so ahead of myself that it must've slipped my mind. I’m doing a whimsical forest theme. I thought it would be interesting.” They reached their room and Jinyoung held the door open for Seokjin.

“That's interesting. I haven't heard of anyone else doing something like that.” Seokjin sat on his bed and nodded to Jinyoung's comment.

“Right, when I thought of the idea, I knew I had to do it. Do you reckon that they’ll have us present our ideas from highest rank to lowest or the other way around?” Seokjin was stretching lightly, eyes closed and all he could hear was Jinyoung pacing back and forth.

“Not sure, but I hope it's from the highest down. I have little to no patience so I can't imagine sitting through all of those explanations. Especially since I'm sure that so many people are going to be doing the same.” Jinyoung finally sat down, moving to take his shoes off.

Seokjin nodded and opened his eyes, watching the younger man in front of him. “I’m surprised they didn't tell us the order today during dinner. Maybe it's so people didn't have time to procrastinate and they would be ready whenever.”

Jinyoung shrugged and stood up. “I’m gonna shower and then go to sleep, if I think about this any longer I’m going to break into hives.” With that, the man moved to the bathroom and Seokjin laid back in bed.

He reached into the bedside table beside him and grabbed his paper. He wanted to memorize his speech so that he could keep eye contact with the camera at all times. He knew that if people had to stare at his pretty face for the full three minutes, they would fall in love and be more likely to vote for him and his idea.

Once Jinyoung came out of the bathroom, Seokjin also went to shower. After, he noticed Jinyoung was already asleep. He sat in his bed, staring at the man before reaching into JIyoung's drawer to see if he could find his speech. Of course, it was there. The descriptions and explanations were basic, it was written like a robot. There was no personality or fun, damn, Seokjin knew that the competition would be easy but he didnt know it was going to be that easy. He left the card back where it was and made his way back into his bed. He also wanted his beauty to sleep.

----------

The next morning, Seokjin had woken up before Jinyoung. He took his time to stretch and drink water. He figured that they would tell them the order they were presenting during breakfast, so all he could do was get himself ready and pretty. Once the morning announcements went off, Jinyoung also woke up. The two men dressed themselves quietly, before making their way to the dining hall. The room was more lively than it usually was. Most people were reading over their sheets, scribbling here and there. Seokjin had just been going over what he remembered in his head and filling in the blanks. His table was still chatting with each other, dressed in expensive sundresses and fitted suits. Seokjin and Jinyoung also followed this trend. But Seokjin went in softer colors, a pink Brioni suit he had shipped overseas. He stood out amongst the blacks and navies around him. He couldn't help but stare at a table next to them, they were all dressed in Gucci and Chanel. He had learned that the table considered themselves SO much better than everyone else in science they were rich. Seokjin couldn't help but roll his eyes, they were rich but couldn't afford to get custom clothing made for them. Seokjin was okay with wearing branded things, but having a designer make something just for you to wear, was a luxury—something these people wouldn't understand.

Seokjin managed to get out of his head just in time to hear Hanni start speaking. “Good morning everyone! I hope that you are very excited to start our filming so the public can hear all of your wonderful ideas. We will start filming after breakfast is done. There is a random order, so. At 10 am, we will call 15 people over the speakers, every thirty-five minutes we’ll call another group. Please prepare accordingly, see you soon.”

“Gosh, I can't believe this is happening,” Seokjin turned to look at Shuhua as she spoke. She looked stunning, the Taiwanese dutchess always looked like a doll and Seokjin was glad to be associated with her. “I knew I had the perfect outfit since it’ll probably only be waist up, we have to shine.”

Seokjin's eyes went up to the fuzzy hat Shuhua had on. It was something only she could make look elegant, he was sure most people would look ridiculous. “Well, you better be careful with that. I’m not sure I trust some of the people around here.” Jinyoung said and shot a subtle glance at the same table Seokjin had looked at.

Seokjin laughed and rolled his eyes, “Please, they're spoiled, not the flies. Anyways, You look amazing, Suhua. I wouldn't be surprised if your looks alone were what got people to vote for your idea.”

Shuhua giggled and lightly hit Seokjin, “You flatter me too much. Anyway, hopefully my ideas will be good enough. I got too overwhelmed at some point.”

“You’ll do great,” Seokjin said. They continued chatting for the rest of breakfast. Afterward, Soekjin made his way back to his room so he could be ready whenever it was his turn.

-----

Around 11:45, Seokjin heard his name being called, he was quick to get up so he could get to the filing room. He didn't want to spend too long just waiting. Once there, there were about 5 or more people in front of him. He recognized some of the people he had seen passing by him. But other than that, nobody who he had spoken with. Eventually, it was his turn. He sat in front of the camera and waited until he got his queue to start.

“Hello everyone, my name is Kim Seokjin. For my festival idea, I want to host an enchanted forest party. The festival will be held at 7 pm and forward. There will be a children's section where there will be babysitters so that any parent gets a chance to enjoy the different activities. There will be live bands, guided painting, and scheduled nighttime walks. Not only this but the food will also be prepared by kingdom chefs.” Seokjin continued to point towards certain pictures that he had printed as inspiration. The rest of the time went by smoothly, Seokjin managed to convey everything he needed to just at the three-minute mark, he knew he had done a wonderful job, displaying all of the activities and events that would be there.

As he was making his way back to his dorm, he noticed Jinyoung waiting near the back of a line. The two men nodded at each other, but Seokjin kept walking- he didn't feel like talking to him at that moment. Once in his room, he laid back and relaxed. He had heard Shuhua be called to film in the first group, so he could probably go to her room and hang out with her until it was time for lunch.

After relaxing in bed for ten minutes, he stood up and headed down to the twenties. Once there, he knocked on the door and was greeted by a woman slightly shorter than Suhua. She had long black hair. Once he realized he had just been staring at her, he straightened up. “Ah, is Suhua here?”

The woman turned, opening the door some more. His friend peeked her head out of the bathroom before getting excited. “Ah, oppa I didn't expect you to come by. Did you already finish your shooting?”

Seokjin let himself in and nodded, “Yes. I think it went well.” He turned back to the other woman. “Hello, I’m Kim Seokjin.”

“Oh, my name is Cho Miyeon.” The woman bowed before sitting on her bed, and Seokjin awkwardly sat on Suhua’s bed.

“These rooms don't have enough space. How did your filming go?” He asked Suhua.

“It went alright. I was kinda shocked at one part but I'm hoping they’ll do some light editing.” The three laughed and Suhua looked at the laptop that was on her bedside table. “Seokjin oppa, let's walk around the castle and give Miyeon a chance to get ready.”

“Ah, that's a good idea.” Seokjin stood and opened the door to let Suhua pass by first. “It was nice to meet you, Miyeon.”

The two walked through the castle, Suhua holding onto Seokjin's arm as they walked. They managed to make their way outside. They walked quietly at first, enjoying the outside breeze. Suhua had taken the fur hat off and was now dressed in a short pink dress.

“Seokjin, can I ask you something?” Suhua asked.

“You can ask me anything you’d like,” Seokjin responded, smiling at the woman.

“Why do you want to win? Like, why do you want to marry Emperor Namjoon?” Seokjin glanced at Miyeon before looking forward.

“I'm not sure, to be honest with you. My family always thought that status was important, and that it was better to marry for money than love. My older sister married for love, but it's not like our parents dont send her weekly checks… Namjoon is a man who has money and status. So I would be glad to marry him,” Seokjin sighed and looked back at Miyeon. “But, I think I could fall in love with the man. He seems like a good man who would make me happy. So I guess it's a bit for love as well, you?”

Suhua and Seokjin made it to sit on a bench, she leaned her head on Seokjin's shoulder. “My parents pushed me to audition, so I did. They decided to make my younger brother the king, even though I’m the oldest. This is the only way I would be considered a queen like I always thought I would be.”

Seokjin didn't know how to respond, so instead he leaned his head on hers. “Let's get married if neither of us wins, yeah?”

Suhua laughed and looked up at Seokjin, “Oh yeah? Just like that?”

Seokjin nodded, “Why not? If you can't be a queen, at least we can travel the world together on my parent's wealth.”

The two laughed again, Suhua agreeing that it was a good idea. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Lunch and dinner were full of conversation, everyone asking around how the filming went and whatnot. Seokjin was too tired to indulge in the conversation, so he ate quietly.

---

Breakfast the next morning was wild. Everyone had a new anxiety bubbling up, whoever had their festival come to life would be sure to rank number one this week. Seokjin couldn't help himself from glancing at the door every 3 minutes, he wanted to see Hanni walk in so he could be ready. He had been pretty confident earlier, but now he was a little worried that he had not come in the first place like he wanted to. Finally, after what felt like hours, Hanni walked in. Everyone was quiet, watching her get to her usual position.

“Good morning, everyone. I hope that all of you slept very well. I am so excited to announce the winner of our competition. You all had so many great ideas, and we wish that we could go on and make every single idea come to life, but that's a little unrealistic. Now, the winner, who the public loved the most for their idea… Kim Seokjin.” Hanni said, a camera coming over to film Seokjin.

Seokjin’s jaw had dropped, his hand now covering his face. Suhua next to him laughed and grabbed his arm. Jinyoung clapped along with the rest of his table.

“Seokjin, after breakfast please head over to the same room we filmed in.” Hanni smiled as Seokjin nodded and gave the camera a thumbs-up.

“This is so crazy, how do you feel?” Suhua asked once the camera had left.

“I had a little doubt honestly, wow. I can't believe that my idea was chosen out of everyone else.” Seokjin responded, laughing a bit as he tried to eat but was just too excited to do so.

“Well, now that we know who number one will be with the ranking, the rest of us have to work the cameras, there's no way that they're not eliminating people this round.” Jinyoung chimed in, the rest of the table nodding along and starting to discuss how they would work the camera to rank high.

----

After breakfast, Seokjin made his way to the room he had been instructed to go to. There, Hanni and 6 other people were sitting. There was also a camera team. Seokjin bowed politely and made his way to the empty seat at the front.

“First of all, congratulations, Seokjin. Winning this challenge is a wonderful advantage since most of the festival episode will focus on the winner and Emperor Namjoon. So, here I have the best team of designers and event planners.” Hanni introduced everyone, telling seokjin what they specialized in and how they would help. “We went over your video and created an event book with all of the items we plan on buying for your festival, as well as performers and food.”

Hanni handed Seokjin the book and he began to look through it. Seokjin and the team spent about an hour in the room. They had brought in a lot of elements that Seokjin was in love with and he could tell that they understood his vision, but that wouldn't stop Seokjin from wanting to add or swap certain elements.

“Are any of you aware of what Emperor Namjoon will be wearing for the event?” Seokjin asked and when he received a no from the table, he continued. “I have a friend who makes all sorts of things. I would love for you to reach out to him and have him create fairy wings in the kingdom colors for Emperor Namjoon and me to wear. Also, something airy and flowy would be great.”

After that, there wasn't much else for Seokjin and the team to discuss, they let him go on his way. The rest of the day felt like a dream. Seokjin couldn't get himself to focus. He would be going on a date with Namjoon and finally get his room. Seokjin had never been so excited that he couldn't sleep, but then it was 2 AM and he still couldn't get himself to sleep.

---

Seokjin was just going through the motions until after dinner. Seokjin, Jinyoung and Suhua were sitting in Seokjin's room. They were just chatting until they heard a knock on the door. When Seokjin opened the door, he saw Hanni.

“Hello Seokjin. I came to get you since we have your outfit and a makeup artist ready for you.” The girl smiled and Seokjin nodded.

“Well, I’ll see you two around the festival.” Seokjin pulled his shoes on and said his goodbyes before following Hanni.

Seokjin felt his nerves start to come up, he was getting more excited by the second. After getting his clothes on and makeup on, all he could do was wait. He and Hanni had a nice chat until he saw Namjoon walk in. The man smiled at Seokjin.

“Hello, Seokjin. It's nice to see you again.” Namjoon reached his hand out for Seokjin to take and after he did so, they began to walk. “I have a car ready to take us straight to the festival. I must say I was very pleased to hear the idea that you came up with.”

“Is that so? I’m glad I could impress you, Your Majesty.” Seokjin responded as he got into the car. Namjoon laughed and followed after.

The chauffeur went off and Namjoon turned to look at the man. “I meant it earlier, it's nice to meet again. It's been a very long time.”

“Ah, so you missed me, is that it?” Seokjin responded, both men laughing.

“Sure didn't miss this little narcissistic attitude. But, I did think about you after we met. It’s a shame you're aware of how damn handsome you are, it gets to your head so easily.” Namjoons eyes scanned Seokjin as he spoke, “There will be a camera crew following us around, so just let loose and show them who you are… but maybe tone down just how in love with yourself you are, yeah?”

Seokjin agreed and eventually, they arrived at the festival. The center looked amazing. Fairy lights were hanging down the trees, long sheer fabrics hanging down and small fairy dolls hiding around. It smelled of hot chocolate and various other sweets. Seokjin saw that his vision had come true. Namjoon presented Seokjin his arm so they could walk through the festival closer together.

The two men decided to make their first stop at the guided painting. The last group had just ended so they could follow along. The artist was teaching them how to draw a night landscape with little fairies and elves around it. Namjoon and Seokjin couldn't help but laugh at each other's painting, Namjoons fairies looked like little bugs and Seokjin had made the most meek little tree. The rest of the people had done a wonderful job and followed the instructor so perfectly that the two men couldn't help but be embarrassed.

After listening to the live band, they decided to get a meal together. They decided to share a plate of fishcakes and lobster jamming. They found a quiet little place where it was just the two men and the camera crew.

“You did a wonderful job with planning, Seokjin. Everyone is having a lot of fun.” Namjoon said after taking a bite of the fishcakes.

“Thank you, emperor. I had hoped that this would be an event where everyone could find something to do. I want people to come together… I hope the rest of the contestants are also having a fun time. I can't imagine how I would feel losing this.”

Namjoon smiled at Seokjin, reaching over to clean a bit of broth off Seokjin's chin. Seokjin blushed a bit, thanking Namjoon for cleaning his face. “Do you get a lot of practice planning events from your kingdom?”

“Not really, My eldest brother and sister handle those things together. But, for my birthdays I have a party for the whole kingdom. I try to have these parties often, but I can only get the people off work without repercussions on my birthday since it's considered a holiday. The day after my birthday, I go out and help the villagers clean up.” Seokjin thought back to his birthday last year, the event went wonderfully and the day after was even better. Seokjin enjoyed talking to the people from his kingdom.

“That's nice of you to go and clean up with them,” Namjoon responded.

“It's the least I could do, they celebrate with me and I just clean up a bit of it. What do you like to do for your birthdays?”

Namjoon seemed to think for a bit, glancing at the camera and blushing a bit. “Well honestly. I don't celebrate my birthday too often. Mrs. Jean, my headmaid, makes me a cake. Then it's just me, her, and my right-hand man. Although, I imagine Hanni will also be joining us.”

“That's your chosen family, right?” Seokjin asked, seeing a flash of sadness pass through Namjoons eyes.

“They’re all I have.” The two men stared at each other for a while, just letting it be the two of them.

“Well, for your next birthday, you should celebrate with a few more people. It would be good for you to have some more friends, you can't be so alone all the time.” Seokjin thought for a bit before laughing, “Although, I only have such a big party because the villagers are as close to what I have as close friends.”

“Let's go get a beer, Seokjin.” Namjoon stood up, stretching his arm out to Seokjin.

Namjoon and Seokjin walked around together, beer in hand. They went and watched children make fairy wings with wires and cloth and spoke about wanting kids. Seokjin learned that Namjoon had never thought about having children, but after thinking about it, he wanted three. Seokjin agreed with him.

The two of them also went to pick flowers. Namjoon made Seokjin a small bouquet that didn't quite go together, but it was so endearing. “I think even though yours is wild, mine looks so bland.”

“I think you're just so pretty on your own that your flowers don't need to bring any more attention.” Namjoon gave Seokjin a goofy smile but Seokjin couldn't help but burst into laughter. The emperor was such a softie, and so sweet.

“You're adorable,” Seokjin responded as they traded flowers. The rest of the night went like this, the two subtly flirting with each other. They had a few more drinks together and spoke with each other. They were caught up in their own little world, trying to get closer.

“I was such a brat growing up, like, any time I heard the word ‘no’ I would throw into this horrible tantrum, even if the no wasn't directed at me,” Seokjin explained as they ate their ice creams. “I don't think I got over it until I was around 12. But, it's completely gone now, at least for the most part. There are just some places I can't be told no to.”

“Oh? Where?” Namjoon asked, Seokjin only responding with a mischievous smirk. Namjoons cheeks blushed into a bright pink. “Oh..”

Finally, at around 2 am, the festival was over. The two men had around 6 drinks and were almost tripping over each other. Once in the car, Seokjin's head fell onto Namjoons shoulder, but Namjoon adjusted to wrap his arm around the older man. “Cold?”

Seokjin only nodded and dug himself closer. As drunk as he was, there was that sober part of him telling him not to kiss Namjoon. But he wanted Namjoon to crave him, and Seokjin would be happy to play hard to get. The car ride back was quiet, if not for their small laughs together. Namjoon walked Seokjin back to his room.

“I had a wonderful time with you tonight, Seokjin. You're incredible.” Namjoon said as he turned to look at Seokjin.

Seokjin blushed a bit and smiled, “I’m glad the voters liked me. I would have been green with jealousy if I had to see anyone else walking around with you.”

Namjoon laughed and nodded, reaching for Seokjin's hand. “Goodnight, Seokjin. Let's meet again, yes?” Namjoon pulled Seokjin's hand to his mouth and planted a kiss on Seokjin's knuckles. With, that he walked away and left Seokjin with his lips slightly parted.

Seokjin stood there for a few minutes. So, Namjoon had done the same ‘hard to get’ play. That meek kiss on his hand was nothing, he wanted the man to kiss him. Damn, he really should've kissed him, himself. Seokjin finally went inside his room, throwing himself onto the bed. Jinyoung was fast asleep, so all Seokjin could do was go over the night's events, he hoped that he had been just perfect for the cameras.

Chapter Text

“Good morning Namjoon. I have the complete script for the 10 you’re eliminating.” Was the first thing Namjoon heard when he walked into the meeting room. He rolled his eyes and stared at Mingyu. “What? Are you excited?”

“Well, first of all, Emperor Namjoon to you when we’re working. And second. I made the choice that we are only eliminating the bottom five.” Namjoon smiled, not letting the defeated and annoyed look of his counsel bother him. “I know you are all eager to get me to hurry up and marry someone, but unfortunately for all of you; I am the emperor, I'm having too much fun to just let go and you guys can deal with it.”

“We can't keep pushing eliminations off, how long until we decide to eliminate someone? We need to hurry now, we can't take up the entire summer, some of these people are college students, or have jobs. Even if we are compensating them for their time, we shouldnt be abusive.” Mingyu said, a deep frown on his face.

Namjoon frowned again, licking his lips and laughing, shaking his head a bit. “Mingyu, I don't care how long it takes. You were the ones who wanted me to find a spouse and look at me now, doing it. We are going to do this however the hell I want. Or, we can call this off right now.”

Jieun spoke up, “Okay, Emperor. I’ll let the writing staff know they need to create another script before today's eliminations.”

“No need. I’ve had to speak to the public multiple times, I think I can handle a little free-styling.” Namjoon stood and smiled at Jieun before turning to Mingyu, “You could learn a lot from Jieun.”

With that, Namjoon left the room with a proud smile. Usually, he wouldn't use the emperor card to make sure he got what he wanted, but he had his mind set on giving each person the best shot they could get. He did feel a bit bad about how he snapped at Mingyu, but that man tended to overstep his boundaries with Namjoon and the man was sick of it. Originally, Namjoon wanted to let everyone stay before they started to eliminate contestants, but he figured his team would fight back before that happened. Every day, Namjoon had to resist the urge to head down to the contestant's area. He wanted to get to know them even more, but he knew it was probably a bad idea. Even if his urge was growing every day, he would hold back and try to keep his opinion based on the challenges.

The emperor kept walking to his room, he had to get ready before elimination. The contestants were having lunch around now, so he only had an hour before the eliminations. Mrs. Jeon was already inside his closet pulling out a nice suit and shoes. Namjoon usually wore custom clothing, but Mrs. Jeon loved to dress him in expensive clothing that was also branded.

“For a man with so many clothing options, you tend to stick to the same ten outfits.” Mrs. Jeon said, not even coming out of the closet to greet him.

“Well, studies prove repeating the same outfits allows the brain to focus on more important choices throughout the day, that's why students tend to sit in the same seat despite their being no forced-” Namjoon was cut off by Mrs. Jeon letting out a loud sigh.

“Do studies know anything about Emperors being annoying?” Mrs. Jeon laughed and finally emerged from the closet. Namjoon frowned but had a smile on his face.

“You know, I’m sure they do somewhere,” Namjoo said as he undressed and pulled on the dark blue button-up. Mrs. Jeon walked over to help him button it up.

He continued to get ready in silence, waiting until it was time for him to make an entrance and reveal everyone's rank. Once the contestants had all been gathered up into the room, and Hanni was ten minutes into the show, he was ordered to go into the room.

The contestants cheered once Namjoon walked into the room. He smiled and waved at them, heading to grab the mic from Hanni. “Good morning everyone. I hope you all had fun at the festival yesterday. Seokjin had some great ideas, let's give him a round of applause please.” There was a few minutes of clapping before everyone quieted down. “Why don't we begin with the rankings.”

They went through all the rankings, from six to ninety. “Now, originally the plan was to eliminate the bottom ten, however, we will only be eliminating the bottom five,” Namjoon revealed the ranks of ninety-one to ninety-five. “Now, the five contestants going home are, Park Jongseong, Shon Seungwan, Kim Seungmin, Lee Seoyeon, and finally, Byun Baekhyun. It was wonderful to have you all here, unfortunately, your time is up.”

Namjoon waited for a second while the gasps and shock wore off before he continued, “Now, our top five, going from five to one are. Felix Yongbok Lee, Minatozaki Sana, Park Jimin, Lalisa Manobal, and our number one, Kim Seokjin. You all did incredibly and should be proud of yourself. Now that we have begun with the eliminations, the top five will also be getting more benefits. This time, the top five will be going on a trip to one of my private islands where I will be joining you. If you have been eliminated, please use this time to go and pack up your belongings. For the rest of you, please come and collect your pin with your new ranking. Thank you.”

----

Seokjin was almost giddy walking back to his room. He would finally be getting the single room he deserved. He did feel a bit awkward, Jinyoung had fallen to sixty-eight. Well, at least he didn't get shoved down to the very bottom. From what he knew, the others in the top five were dancers and a princess. He didn't know much about Felix, but he couldn't be too bad if he had managed to get all the way to number five. Anyways, Seokjin was pretty excited to be going to one of Namjoon's islands. He was glad he had packed one of his swimming suits. Plus, he was sure that there would be filming while they were on the island, so the public would get a great look at his broad shoulders. That was one of his best features.

Seokjin got to his room before Jinyoung, so he tried to pack faster, it's not like they wouldn't be seeing each other during dinner, so it would be okay for them not to speak while they tried to get all of their belongings into another room. Jinyoung's roommate was Yang Jeong-in. Seokjin didn’t know anything about the man, but Jinyoung would hopefully keep his judgment to himself.

Seokjin finished packing fairly quickly, eager to get into his nice luxury room. The previous number one, Park Jimin, walked out. The two shared a small smile and Seokjin walked in. The room was just what he expected, it was perfect for him. It was around the size of his closet, yes, but it was a much-needed upgrade from the shared dorm room he was in. He took a set of suitcases that had been delivered so he could pack up for his four days away in paradise. Being number one was all he needed.

-------

Hoseok had moved up from fifty to thirty-four. He was now sharing a room with a man younger than him, his name was Yeonjun. The two introduced themselves and spoke a bit about what their festival ideas had been. Yeonjun had only moved down by one ranking, which was actually pretty impressive.

After the small talk, the boys continued to unpack all of their boxes. Yeonjun left once he was done, Hoseok decided that he just wanted to hang out in his room. To be completely honest, Hoseok thought that he was going to drop in ranking after his idea of a festival. He had decided to plan the event around traditional clothing and dances; he would get dance teachers from several different kingdoms and have them teach it. He had thought that the idea would be too niche for the public to take an interest in, but he was glad to see that they liked it enough to move him up that much.

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

Before dinner, the top five contestants, Namjoon, and a filming crew had left for the island. The rest of the contestants continued on with dinner as usual. Eventually, Hanni walked in, a camera still following her.

“Hi everyone. I know we all may be a little sad or disappointed because your friend was eliminated or you didn't make the top five, and since Emperor Namjoon isn't here to say no, I thought that around nine PM we could all head down to the lake and have some night swimming. Now, you are not required to come, but I think we could all use a little relaxation.” Hanni laughed as everyone cheered at the idea. Hoseok thought it would be nice to get into the water, it was so hot earlier that he could imagine how warm the water would be.

“A night swimming sounds like it would be amazing, I love the water,” Hoseok said to the people at his table. The table was mainly taken up by dancers, some different types of performers were also mixed in.

Momo shook her head and frowned, “Swimming at night sounds like a recipe for disaster, all of these people are your competition, what's to say someone won't try to drown you?”

The table laughed at Momo’s worry, trying to defend herself until Hoseok spoke up, “Don’t worry, me and Jungwon will make sure none of your enemies try to attack you.”

Momo frowned once she realized that he was also teasing her, shoving him a bit. “Well, you guys enjoy your death wish, I think I’ll just stay here and take a nice dip in the hot tub.”

“You know, most people are going swimming, so nobody would be here to see you get drowned in the scorching water,” Heejin spoke up from the other side of the table.

“Oh… You have a good point. Okay. I’ll go, but I need one of you by my side the whole time.” Momo said, still frowning as if she still wasn't very convinced with the idea.

They laughed but agreed that they wouldn't leave her alone to be hunted down by anyone. After dinner, everyone left to get dressed in swimming gear. Some people had to request it since they weren't prepared to go swimming. Hoseok and Yeonjun hung out in the room until late eight Pm when they started to head to the front of the kingdom. They didn't stick together for too long, just trying to find their own group of friends.

Once everyone had arrived, they all made their way down to the lake, it was pretty close to the castle, so they just had to make a small walk down. Once there, Hanni informed them that she had brought floaties, water guns and other fun things so they could really have a good time. Hoseok convinced Momo to get on a floatie with him. The two managed to get a bigger one, so himself, Momo and Kyungsoo could all fit. The water wasn't moving too much, and the lake wasn't too big, so they could just let the current take them and know they would be safe.

“Man, I’m not going to get over the fact I was two places away from going to a private island.” Kyungsoo groaned, opening a can of beer and staring up at the stars.

Hoseok rolled his eyes and laughed, “if anyone should be complaining it should be me. You got seventh and Momo got ninth and I'm all the way down at 34.”

“It’s better to be down there, you don't feel as disappointed knowing that you were so close to getting such a good prize. Instead, I’m in a big, pink floaty drinking beer.” Kyungsoo responded, Momo laughing at his comment.

“You are such a baby. You’ll live. Plus, eventually we’ll get a prize that is good. God, I can't even imagine what other gifts the Emperor has for us… ugh, but drinking mojito on a yacht next to Namjoon sounds so much better.” Momo looked off into the distance, the two men agreeing with her.

“Well, we can't just sit here complaining,” Hoseok looked down at the water, finishing his soda before throwing himself into the water. He heard Momo and Kyungsoo gasp and laugh. The water was NOT as warm as he imagined it would be. It wasn't freezing, but he should've tried to get acclimated. He made his way up to the surface, grabbing onto the floaty. “What? You just aren't going to get into the water?”

“Drinking and swimming is not a good idea, to be honest. But we’ll probably be here for a while, maybe later.” Hosoeok nodded at Kyungsoo's response and then turned to Momo.

“What if you’re the person trying to drown me?” Momo said, Hoseok rolling his eyes.

“Enough with this murder talk, get in the water.” He splashed her with water, making her gasp and stare at him.

“Oh you do not want to play this game with me.” The girl said, taking off her swimsuit cover.

“I’m not scared of little water.” Hoseok said, beginning to swim a bit away from the floaty so she could properly get into the water. Momo was a bit smarter. Letting her legs in before slowly lowering herself in. Hoseok splashed her a bit more, getting the girl to gasp and do the same.

They continued to splash each other for a while, until Hoseok swam off to get them water guns. Eventually, everyone was spraying each other, battling. It was a great way to get the contestants closer, in Hoseok's opinion.

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Namjoon had not visited this island in a while, he was excited to be back with the contestants. It was a bit later in the day when they got there, but Namjoon knew that they would still find a way to have fun. They got to the house Namjoon had there fairly quickly. There were around eight rooms, so they should be fine with everyone in their own rooms. After they all left their bags in the room, they went down and hung out in the kitchen. The fridge had been stocked the day before, so they were all wondering what to eat.

“I could make us galbi-jjim… Yeah, we have all of the ingredients,” Seokjin said after looking through the fridge and pantry.

“No, you shouldn't have to cook on your mini-vacation. I can probably get a chef here in a hurry so they can make us something good.” Namjoon said, already reaching for his cellphone.

“Emperor, I enjoy cooking, it’s really no worry for me.” Seokjin said with his back turned, he was already pulling out the ingredients that he would need. The other contestants hurriedly went to help, taking orders from Seokjin as to what they would need to prepare the dish.

The emperor frowned, “Let me help with something.”

“Do you know your wines?” Seokjin asked, when the man shook his head Seokjin smiled, “If you can, find a prosecco, it'll be so refreshing with what we’re eating.”

Namjoon nodded and went off to find the drink like his life depended on it. The five contestants were having a fun time working together. It didn't take Namjoon too long to find the wine. He was a bit glad that he didn't have to cook, he was alright at cooking but since he hadn't had to cook a meal for himself, he was definitely rusty. He wondered how Seokjin was so good at cooking. The man's family was definitely rich enough to not have to worry about money, so why was he so talented at cooking? He must have been a chef in his past life.

After cooking, they all gathered up at the table. They were passing out food when Sana turned to the camera men, “I know you’re busy, but can we pause filming for a bit so you all get to enjoy the food as well?”

The men looked at Namjoon, who nodded with a smile on his face. The 2 camera men moved to the kitchen island to eat. “That was very kind of you, Sana.”

Sana blushed a bit and laughed, “I had been wondering when they would get the chance to eat since they probably won't have a break to eat for a while. Plus, we can all chat comfortably now knowing we aren't being filmed.”

The other four nodded and praised Sana for her idea. “How have you all been enjoying the kingdom so far?” Namjoon asked, hoping he could get the conversation flowing.

“It’s a lot bigger than I thought that it would be. The first week or so I was getting lost every other second just because I wouldn't carry around the map.” Felix answered, everyone else laughing or agreeing.

“It’s so nice. It really makes you feel like you're in a fairytale. I never thought I would have the chance to go in so being in there is surreal.” Lisa stated, making Namjoon laugh a bit.

“The decorations are nice, yes, although I feel like it's due for an upgrade, it has that old time feeling since nobody had renovated it for quite a few years,” Namjoon said, putting more food in his mouth.

“The older feeling has a lot of charm, though. It’s cozy and feels like a real palace. I think it would be a shame to have someone come in and take away all the beautiful characteristics from the past.” Seokjin responded, taking a sip of his wine.

Namjoon smiled a bit before turning to hear Lisa speak up, “We can't stay living in the past though. Adding a modern style here and there will keep the palace feeling elegant.”

“I disagree, trying to keep up with trends will end up making the kingdom look cheap, maybe it’ll look nice to someone who shops at Gucci or whatever, but anyone with real money would see it as a desperate attempt to seem like there's more money then there really is.” Lisa frowned at Seokjin's answer. Namjoon was entertained, wondering if this is what happened around the contestants.

“Uh, moving on. Emperor, is there any way you could give us a few hints about the next challenge?” Jimin said, making the other contestants look his way to see if he would agree.

Namjoon laughed and took another drink, “I think Hanni would be very upset if I told you any of the plans. Plus, you five are already getting more than the other contestants, this wouldn't be very fair.”

The five whined a bit, in a cutesy way, but nodded and agreed with Namjoon. After eating, they made their way outside, there were hammocks and tables around. A few cabinets that contained books and boardgames. Felix pulled out a game, convincing everyone it would be fun. While they were setting up, Namjoon noticed that Jimin wasn't at the table. He excused himself to go back to see if he could find the man.

Jimin was in the kitchen pantry. Namjoon leaned on the door to see what he was up to. When Jimin turned, he jumped a bit out of surprise to see the Emperor there. He was holding a case of hard seltzers. “I thought playing games would be more fun if we drank a bit.”

“That is a great idea. Here, let me help you carry them out.” Namjoon took the drinks from Jimin. The two finding some snacks.

“You know, I didn't think of you as a hot Cheeto fan?” Jimin held up the party-sized bag.

Namjoon laughed, “My friends have full access to the island, it was probably them. I only eat this when I hang out with them. They are pretty good though.”

The two made their way outside with the drinks and junk food, getting a cheer from the others. The camera men had gotten back to work, getting to capture them playing.

“You know, just because you're the emperor doesn't mean I’m gonna let you win.” Felix said, the table laughing and agreeing.

“That's perfectly fine, I’ll win because I’m great at these types of games, so how about that?” Namjoon responded.

The night continued on, everyone getting a fair amount of drinks in and some games. At the end, Namjoon ended up carrying Sana back to bed, she had fallen asleep on a hammock and Namjoon thought she looked too cute to wake up.

The next morning, Namjoon woke up with a massive hangover. He managed to stumble to the kitchen, where Seokjin and Lisa already were. Seokjin had gotten himself to work, making kongnamul-guk, Lisa was chugging a glass of water as she waited for the food to be done. The two looked up at the man, giving him a tired ‘good morning.’ Namjoon returned it with a groggier one. Seokjin told him it wouldn't be another twenty minutes until the food was done, so he was better off going to shower until it was done. Namjoon noticed Lisa's wet hair and figured he had given the same advice to the girl.

The cold water felt so damn good on his skin, He felt like a plant getting watered after months. He couldn't help but spend more than twenty minutes in the shower. Even if it was only slightly helping with the pounding headache, it felt like he was getting his head all washed up. He made his way back into the kitchen after, sweatpants and a tight black shirt on. The man looked like a wet dream. Sana had managed to find her way downstairs as well, she seemed like she had already showered. The two girls had already showered, and it seemed like Seokjin had gone to do the same thing. Namjoon served himself a plate and sat at the table.

“Ah, Emperor, I wanted to say sorry and thank you for last night. I don't usually drink so much…” Sanas face was red, Namjoon and Lisa couldn't help but laugh.

“Don't even worry about it. It really wasn't a big deal. Plus, I would be a jerk if I had you wake up and walk back.” Namjoon responded, taking a huge bite of the soup. It was just what he needed.

“Still, thank you. It was very sweet of you to do so.” Sana said, giving the man a smile.

Eventually, everyone made their way downstairs. Felix had gone the hardest with the drink, the poor man had overestimated how much he could drink and underestimated the amount of alcohol in the drinks. Seokjin had served him a bowl, and handed him an aspirin.

“Well, I think we should all hangout inside until later. Maybe no more heavy drinking.” Seokjin said as he sat down to eat himself.

“We all got too excited at the fact we were on an island that we drank so much… When everyone feels better, maybe we can go and ride the jet skis around. I saw them yesterday.” Jimin piped up, Lisa and Seokjin agreeing it would be a good idea.

“You guys should go, I think after I eat I’m going to shower and then sleep. I feel like a bus hit me.” Felix said, his already deep voice even deeper than it already was. They all laughed a bit, they were a bit worried for the man, but he should be fine later.

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Hoseok was having breakfast quietly. Sunday was the only day they weren't being filmed constantly so they could actually relax and enjoy their day. After they got back from the lake, everyone was completely drained of energy. Hoseok half wondered if Hanni did this so they wouldn't have time to be sad. Regardless, breakfast was a lot more lively than dinner yesterday. One of their friends at the table, Baekhyun, had been eliminated. So they were a bit upset at that, but they were also glad that it hadn't been them. His chair was now empty, Hoseok wondered what it would look like when more and more people were eliminated. Would they start to take tables away and make tables merge? He hoped he would make it to see what that would be like.

“So, the top five are going to be gone by late Tuesday, does that mean that we’ll have an easy challenge given?” Momo asked, the table looked around at each other.

“Well, I hope so. Since there's no way that they aren't going to have the top five compete. Unless they're going to be told about the challenge by Emperor Namjoon directly tomorrow.” Kyungsoo spoke up.

“Hm, it probably will be something easy, so that we get some time to adjust after the first elimination,” Hoseok said.

“I doubt it. It could be something hard that doesn't take us planning anything.” Heejin responded, “Like, ot a one day event and we just have to participate, you know.”

“Well, I hope it’ll be like, a fashion show or athletic show,” Momo said, some at the table groaning.

“Yeah right. It's going to be something based on the castle or based on what we want to do for the kingdom. You guys can't forget this is still a competition, they aren't going to go easy on us.” Heejin had a frown on her face. Momo nodded a bit.

“I guess so… still we need to enjoy what we can while we wait for them to tell you whatever they want us to do.” Hoseok said, now slightly nervous. The next challenge needed to go well for Hoseok, he had gotten a taste of what it was like to be ranked highly and he wanted it back already.

Chapter Text

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The story will continue as Namjoon only marries one of the other members. I am not making this a complete OT7 as it would not fit into Namjoon’s character. I’m sorry to anyone who was disappointed and hope you will continue reading. Thank you.
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The rest of the trip had gone perfectly. They would be leaving soon, so everyone was trying to soak up the last of their journey. They were all lounging around outside, Felix and Jimin had gone swimming, the two had gotten closer, they were both glad to have someone else to talk to. Lisa and Sana were reading on a hammock, they had found an incredibly ridiculous book and were now giggling with each other as they read. Seokjin was cleaning up near the bonfire area, he hoped Namjoon would be able to see how responsible he was.

Namjoon was glad to see how this trip had gone. The idea of having the top five contestants get some grand prize would encourage everyone to work hard to show themselves off. Namjoon thought he should head to the island some more, it was rare for him to take days off. He was staring off into the horizon, the island was far enough away that you couldn't see anything else, but close enough in case of an emergency.

Eventually, it was time for them all to head back to the kingdom. Everyone was quiet on their way back, the tiredness of everything they did had finally hit them. Most of them had fallen asleep, but Jimin was soaking up the silence and watching the view go by. Once they arrived, they all thanked Namjoon with big smiles before all going to unpack their things and get ready for lunch.

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Jungkook was lying in bed, he was thinking about what the next challenge would be. He wanted to get a higher ranking since he had dropped from nineteen to twenty-four. He shook his head a s he thought about it, it wasn't as dramatic of a drop as the other contestants, but Jungkook didn't care, he needed to get back up the ranks.

So far, the challenges had been a bit random, so there wasn't anything that he could think of. Maybe it would be some kind of challenge involving smarts? Jungkook laughed a bit at that, maybe Namjoon was interested in how smart someone was but everyone else was voting? No way.

Jungkook reached in his pocket for the compact mirror. Lately, Jungkook has been focusing on looking handsome on camera. He would look at the camera and smile so the people watching could see how charming he was. He wasn't sure if that was even being kept in the episode, but it didn't hurt to try. When he couldn't sleep, he would sit in the hallway and check different angles of himself. If he trained himself to look good constantly, there would be no way for them to catch him off guard.

He was only forced out of his thoughts by the fact the lunch announcement went off. He could only imagine how good the top five had eaten on their trip. Fuck, now he was craving crab legs. Lunch today was simple, bibimbap and some side dishes. Jungkook hoped there would be a hearty meal at dinner today.

Jungkook sat down next to Yugyeom, his friend seemed like he was zoned out so Jungkook didn't bother him. It didn't take too long for lunch to be served. Jungkook asked his waiter to bring him two more servings.

“The top five got back today, right?” Yugyeom asked, glancing at Jungkook, who nodded. “Does that mean that we’ll have the challenge today?”

“I mean, it's only Tuesday, they may have us do it tomorrow, right?” Jungkook responded, taking a big bite of food.

“Sure, that's possible, but I think they’d like to have the filming all ready so they could get to editing or whatever.” Yugyeom looked back at his food.

Jungkook shrugged, trying to get his food down faster, “Most of our challenges have been done on Thursdays and Fridays. They probably have like fifty people editing so they can get everything out fast. And also, they probably edit every day, like with the clips they get.”

Yugyeom nodded, “Yeah. I guess you- and there’s Hanni.”

“Huh?” Jungkook looked up and saw Hanni walking up to the stage area.

“Hello everyone. I’m sure you’re all nice and rested since we haven't had any challenge prep. However, it’s time we get back into the zone. Today, your challenge is going to be a bit easier than the past challenges. We've had staff members hide ninety-five keys,” Hanni held up a small key “These keys will open up a locker. Now, eighty of these lockers do not contain anything, the other fifteen have special perks. I won’t spoil those, though. Directly after lunch, I would like all of you to stay or return here so we can begin the challenge. Some keys will not be found, so let's just hope it's an empty box. Okay, continue with your meal, I’ll be back soon enough.”

Everyone watched as Hanni walked out before turning to their tables. Jungkook's table was discussing what would be in the boxes. The only thing Jungkook cared about winning was a call to his family. He missed them so badly. He kept eating while he listened to their ideas. Some of them seemed a bit stupid (honestly, did they really believe that Namjoon would give them their cellphones back?), but he thought some of them were plausible.

Lunchtime went by pretty easily, but slowly. Everyone was just waiting around until it was time for them to start the search. Jungkook was a bit nervous, he didn't really have a plan. Maybe he would go far down into the castle and look there. He didn't want to go anywhere lots of people would be since that would ruin his chances. He really hoped those fifteen keys would be found, even if he didn't get one it would suck if some things were never released or went unused. He was also slightly worried that he would get something he would never need, like expensive sunglasses or whatever.

Finally, after what felt like forever waiting, Hanni walked back in. “Okay, are you all ready to go and search?” Everyone cheered, making Hanni laugh. “Alright then! Head out and try to find your key. No keys are outside though!! Stay inside. Once you find a key come back here, if you take more than one you will receive a penalty by having your rank lowered. You have an hour.”

Everyone started to clear out of the dining hall. Jungkook decided to wait until enough people left so he wasn't caught up in the mob. Finally, when the tail of the crowd was clearing, he stood up and started to head out. Hopefully, nobody had thought of the same plan as him. He wanted to get a key quickly. He walked down, avoiding any areas where there were lots of people. He finally made it to the elevator and decided that he would go to the second to last floor. It took a bit, but once there, he didn't see anyone else. Only issue was that Jungkook hadn't thought about how big these rooms were. It would take him longer than people in other rooms to look around. Plus, he didn't even know if there would be a key there, but he had to get looking anyways.

Jungkook spent the next ten minutes (neatly) tearing the room apart. There weren't very many places where a key could be hidden, but he figured the people who had hidden all the keys away had done so in the most sneaky way possible. So, Jungkook kept searching until finally, behind a painting, he found a key. Jungkook could have jumped from pure glee at seeing the key. Although he knew not to celebrate early, he still had to find out if he would be getting one of the prizes.

Key in hand, Jungkook practically skipped back into the dinning hall. It had taken Jungkook about 30 minutes to find his key. He had thought that it was really bad timing but when he came into the room there were only around 20 more people sitting.

He sat down in his seat, glancing at the screen that sat above the stage. It was counting down and there were only 30 more minutes on the clock. Jungkook turned to watch the entrance, wanting to see if any of his friends would walk through. 10 minutes later, Taehyung walked in. The two boys smiled at each other before Taehyung sat down.

“Where did you find your key?” Taehyung asked, leaning back against his chair.

Jungkook glanced at his key before he answered, “I went to a really low floor and it was behind a painting.”

“Mine was taped to the leaf of a plant.” The two boys laughed at the ridiculousness of how the keys were being hidden. “There aren't very many people here, I doubt that all of the keys will be found.”

“Same, if anything, I hope the people who did find a key are going to get a prize, I doubt they would show us what we missed out on.” Jungkook glanced around the room as he spoke, turning to look back at the entrance as people slowly came back in.

Taehyung shrugged, “Some people started to work together, one person near me found a key early on but kept on looking so they could find one for their friend.”

Jungkook frowned and turned back to look at Taehyung, “I guess that's nice and gets more keys found, but isn't it a bit unfair to everyone else?”

“Yeah, but at this point, having friends will be good. I’ve had my fair watch of survival shows and a lot of them have other contestants vote for who the winner will be at the end. Or at least count their vote.” Taehyung responded, his eyes looking behind Jungkook and waving at someone. Jungkook turned around to see Minnie walking back, showing off her key.

“You will never believe where I found this,” The woman spoke as she sat down in front of Taheyung. “One of the guards in the main entrance had it on his keychain! I was worried that it was just a similar-looking key but when I asked for it he handed it to me. Seriously, aren't these keys hidden in such sneaky ways?”

“At least you spotted it and had the confidence to ask for it. I would’ve walked away and kept looking somewhere else.” Jungkook responded, his eyes still watching the door to see who else would be walking in.

“Good thing I did,” Minnie replied, grinning as she looked down at her key. “I was about to give up, too! I just barely managed to spot it.”

The small group continued to chat as more contestants came back in. Some of them were smiling ear to ear while others seemed like they had just given up. There were only four minutes on the clock, so Jungkook was sure that many just decided to head back empty-handed.

Hanni came back into the room and up the stage, Everyone was quiet watching her. “Alright, everyone! Time is up. If you’ve collected a key, people come up on stage and open the locker numbered the same as your key. To those of you who weren't able to find a key, I’m sorry but there will be other challenges very soon.”

Jungkook, Taehyung, and Minnie walked over to the stage. Jungkook glanced behind and noticed there weren’t very many people who hadn't managed to get a key. He was glad that there were so many people who had found a key, all that was left was going to see if he had been one of the few who had managed to find a key that would give them a prize. The first six people had opened their locker to find nothing. The seventh person, who Jungkook learned was named Jinsoul, was the first to get a prize. She pulled out a small envelope and found a card.

Hanni asked her what it said, Jinsould read it outloud. “Congratulations. You have earned four vouchers for a spa day with the Emperor’s masseuse.”

Jungkook heard some of her friends cheer, the girl smiled and thanked Hnani before walking off the stage. This continued on. A moderate amount of people would go by with no prize and then one person would win something. Some contestants were pulling out “plus-one” ranking cards (in which they would heighten their rank by one), luxury prizes like perfumes or nice watches, and other nice little rewards. The lucky ones got week-long trips for their families to be used when the competition ended. A girl named Roseanne got the best prize of a dinner date with Namjoon.

When it was closer to Jungkook’s turn, there were only three prizes left. He slowly walked up to the locker numbered 74. The door swung open to reveal a small envelope. Jungkook sighed in relief, at least he had gotten a prize. He carefully opened the envelope to reveal a card with the words, “Special Privilege: Direct Call Home.”

Jungkook almost jumped out of happiness. A call home was just what he had been wishing for, it would help him keep fighting for his spot here if he could talk to his mom and siblings. They were his main reason for going on, so being able to talk to them would put his mind at ease. He walked back to his table and showed his friends. Taehyung didn’t receive a prize, but Minnie got a ticket for three outfits made by the Kingdom's private stylist.

“What did you get, Jungkook?” Yugyeom asked. Yugyeom had been one of the few who hadn’t managed to find a key, although he didn’t seem too disappointed.

“A call with my family,” Jungkook proudly showed off his ticket. The rest of the table oohed, Jungkook knew lots of them missed their family. At least he could see his family at their first event, some of these people hadn’t been able to see their families since they left home.

“Mmm, that's good. Wow, today was pretty easy. Honestly, this might end up being the hardest week since everyone will just be voted based on their past week and stuff.” Minnie said, looking up at the camera.

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Later that night, Jungkook made his way outside in his pajamas. The warm night air felt so good on his skin, it was the perfect time for him to call his family. He found a hammock to lay back on so he could focus on the call. His family had been given a slight timeline of when he would be calling, so they should be ready to know. He hit the call button, anxiously waiting until the call went through.

“Jungkook?” Jungkook almost cried when he heard his mother's voice. Even though they were in the same place, they hadn't managed to cross paths.

“Hi… It’s been so long, I can't believe I’m hearing your voice. I miss you all so much,” Jungkook was trying so hard not to cry “How have you three been?”

“We miss you too, Jungkook. But, it’s good to see you on the TV every Friday and Sunday.” Jungkook's mother responded. Jungkook smiled a bit, feeling slightly awkward hat his family had been seeing him on TV, he hoped he hadn't done anything embarrassing that his siblings would make fun of him for, for years

“I’m scared that all of this has been for nothing, I could be home making money for our savings instead… I’m worried that I'm being selfish.” Jungkook frowned, looking away from the phone. “But at the same time, it feels good to have so much attention on me, with the fame that comes with it and the money we are being given for participating, I think we could finally go on that trip we’ve always wanted to go on.”

Jihyeon and Jinho laughed, his mother shaking her head and saying “Jungkook, do this for yourself, okay? You don't need to worry about us this much. Let yourself enjoy this moment with no regrets.”

“I guess… Well, you've been working with Namjoon, right? Surely he’s mentioned-” Jungkook was cut off by his mom.

“Now Jungkook, we both know I am not saying anything. You have to win this on your own, okay?” Jungkook sighed and rolled his eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes at me young man, I’mm make Emperor Namjoon kick you out.”

Jungkook whined and started to plead with his mother. The rest of their phone call was spent trying to catch up with each other, making plans for when Jungkook would be back home, and a little making wedding plans. The call may have been shorter than Jungkook needed, but he was glad to at least be able to talk to them for a while. He just needed their support.

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Being ranked at 92 did NOT feel good. Yoongi had been ranked at the bottom consistently now, and if the Emperor hadn’t decided that he wanted to eliminate bottom 5 instead of bottom 10, he would have gotten kicked out already. Yoongi had been trying hard to make himself seem friendly, but it wasn't his fault he wanted to warm up to some people first. Him and Soojin had continued to be friends, she was ranked at 62. His current roommates were Park Chanyeol, a model and Yoo Jeongyeon, the daughter of a famous chef. Jeongyeon was almost as introverted as Yoongi, but Chanyeol was full of energy. The man seemed too happy for someone who ranked at 91, but Yoongi figured he was just trying to keep his spirits high.

Neither of them had managed to find any keys, but none of them seemed very bothered by it. The three were in their small rooms, doing their separate activities before Jeongyeon shut her book and turned to them. “Seriously, isn't it crazy that Rose won an exclusive dinner with the emperor? This challenge hardly showed off any of us too, so she's guaranteed a higher ranking.”

“Mmm, I guess. I think the worst is the top five getting to go on that trip with Namjoon, I feel like that will guarantee that they stay high in the rankings.” Chanyeol responded, still doing push-ups on the floor.

Yoongi turned to his side to face them. “ I doubt that this is going to be the only challenge that they have right? It feels a bit too easy.”

Jeongyeon tilted her head a bit, “I think so… But also, they're getting a bunch of footage from us relaxing and hanging out so they might just use that and call it a day”

“Well, if that's what they’re going to do, we should get out there and try to get the attention of the cameras.” Chanyeol jumped up and started to slip his shoes on, he paused when he noticed the other two weren't moving. “What are you waiting for?”

Yoongi sighed, ready to protest but Jeongyeon started to get up. Since he was outnumbered, he figured he should just follow along. They made their way out of their rooms, Yoongi managing to get to Soojins room to invite her, and found a lounge where two cameras were on. Chanyeol moved to open a window as Yoongi and Jeongyeon found a board game to play. The four sat down at a table right in between the two cameras.

“This castle is so nice, all I want to do is walk around and find new places to explore.” Soojin said as they set everything up, “I miss my moms cooking.”

“The food here is so good, though. I think I'm going to miss it most,” Chanyeol said, joining them at the table. Yoongi noticed how he glanced at the camera facing towards him.

“Really? You’re going to miss the food over the view of Namjoon? Lord, I might have to get a poster of him if I get kicked out,” Jeongyeon said, the three others laughed at her boldness, hopefully the Emperor wasn't watching.

Despite the fact that Yoongi was pretty sure he was going to lose before he even got here, he was glad that he had the opportunity to meet so many new people. Even if they were all better off than he was. That had been his main concern, being alienated just because he didn't take weekend trips to Europe or America. They were all here for a common goal, to marry the king. The little group of friends he had made was great, they were all king and funny. Despite whatever happened, he hoped they could stay friends after the competition.

They were halfway through the ame and Yoongi was still zoned out. He was just going through the motions of the games. He could hear Chanyeol laughing, of course the man would be great at playing board games. Yoongi noticed fingers in his face and turned to the owner.

“Yoongi? It’s your turn,” Soojin said, a small frown on her face.

“Oh, yeah sorry,” Yoongi stared at the pieces, moving one without thinking before Jeongyeon groaned.

“Dang it, you let Chanyeol win,” Jeongyeon frowned at him in a playful manner.

“Hey, hey. Don’t get mad at Yoongi, I would have won no matter what. Chanyeol stood and started to bow in front of them. “Shall I make my victory speech now?”

Chanyeol started on some rant about how he couldn't have gotten that far without the academy, Yoongi laughed along with his friend. He was glad to have such silly friends, but for some reason it made him feel worse? Like, why was it that they were so carefree and willing to relax while he was barely hanging on?

They packed up while making some small talk, Jeongyeon stretched as Soojin went to put the game away. “We need to do this again, I mean, who knows what’ll happen after the eliminations.”

Soojin whined and hugged Jeongyeon, “Don’t say that tt, we’ll definitely see eachother again. Don’t worry, I’ll invite you guys to the kingdom whenever.”

Everyone protested that, claiming that they would be the ones inviting each other to the kingdom. Chanyeol spoke up after, “Well, I’ll be sure to keep up my charms, get all those extra points.”

“I doubt that we’re getting bonus points for charm,” Yoongi responded, pulling his hoodie back on.

“You never know, maybe I have 100 charm points,” Chanyeol winked at the camera, getting them all to laugh again.

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

Late at night, Yoongi was still awake. The room was quiet, Chanyeol was snoring and Jeongyeon would occasionally shuffle in her bed. Yoongi's bed faced the window at the end of the room. He could vaguely see the moon through the dark green voile curtains. Eliminates were soon, and if he hadn't managed to get higher in the ranks, this would be his last day here.

Were Jeongyeon and Chanyeol not worried about that? They could be leaving with him, but they still smiled through it.

Fuck. Why was he here? Why did Namjoon decide to bring him out of all the people that had auditioned? His rap was good, but it wasn't Yoongi's best. Yoongi didn't think he was going to get in, so he didn't put in as much effort as he could have. But, he still made it.

He turned away from the window and stared at the bunk bed to his right, he could see his roommates' reflections. Maybe Yoongi didn't have to do this alone. There was no way that the two of them were not worried about eliminations. They probably felt just like him. He knew that they would all open up to each other, he would talk to them in the morning.

-----

The soft music in the morning woke Yoongi up. He stretched bak a bit, feeling his back pop uncomfortably. The thin, cheap mattresses were so uncomfortable. He glances at his roommates. Chanyeol was already sitting up, his hair was going in all different directions, he was softly wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. Jeongyeon had pulled the blanket over herself, but Yoongi knew that she would just lay there for a second before sitting up.

Now, how could Yoongi bring up the conversation? He knew that he had to try, but he was slightly scared they would brush him off. OKay, he could do this, he just had to ease them into it.

“Morning,” Yoongi's voice was deep, slightly shaky but that was okay.

Chanyeol blinked hard before gaming at Yoongi. “Good morning. How'd you sleep?”

Yoongi shrugged, “Jeong, get up”

“No,” Jeongyeon answered, but she moved to uncover her face, her hair not nearly as messy as Chnyeols.

Chanyeol came down from his bed and moved to the bathroom, “Come onnn, we have a long day ahead of us. We have so much lounging to do, a long list of looking sexy,” He laughed before they could hear him brushing his teeth.

“Right…” Yoongi sat up and stared at the wooden floors, “Elimination is soon. Are you guys worried?”

Jeongyeon stared at him before sitting at the end of her bed. She sighed, “Of course I am. How could I not be? It's not like we’re anywhere near the top. In fact, we are right at the bottom.”

Chanyeol came out of the bathroom, leaning his back against the doorframe. “I mean, yeah. But I try not to think about it too much. It's not like I can worry my way to the top.” He laughed, but it wasn't his usual cheery laugh.

“It's been on my mind a lot. I’ve been feeling so alone because you two seem so confident, I didn't want to seem weak.” Yoongi scratched his head as he spoke. He felt awkward talking about his feelings like that.

“Well. We’re all weak here. We aren't Seokjin or Lisa. We have to fight hard here, but at least we have each other, right?” Jeongyeon said.

Chanyeon sat next to Yoongi and shoved him a bit. “Don't worry too much. It’ll make me sad too. We have each other here. Let's just keep on fighting, okay?”

Yoongi nodded and felt the weight fall off his shoulders. It felt good to connect with them. Maybe he would get eliminated this week, but he had made some really great friends. As long as he wasn't alone, maybe it would be okay.

Chapter Text

Taehyung's roommate, Karina, was one of the most beautiful women Taehyung had ever seen. The woman had told Taehyung she was a model, although Taehyung was sure he could’ve easily guessed that. Karina’s moves were always calculated; she woke up earlier than the morning music on command and was extremely charismatic. While the two were in the midway for rankings, she didn't seem worried.

Taehyung had begun to do morning yoga with her (he really, really hated it but he wanted to show her he was just as determined as she was) and they would make small talk. The two weren't friends, and probably wouldn't talk once they had a room change, but that was fine. They were good roommates, and that's it.

“Karina, where do you think you’ll rank this time?” The man asked while they both fixed their hair.

Karina hummed and looked up from the mirror, “Maybe in the 30’s? I’m hoping I don't fall lower than where I am currently. You?”

“I'm in the same boat.” Taehyung turned off the LED mirror and stood. “I’ll be leaving first, see you later.”

And with a polite smile, he left. He missed sharing a room with Minne. The girl did most of the talking for him, so he could just sit and analyze what was going on. Tae walked to the dining room, he was earlier than usual as their yoga hadn't taken as long as usual. He knew Karina had made her sessions easier for him, but she didn't seem to mind too much.

To his surprise, Yugyeom was already sitting at their table. Hm, Taehyung didn't know what to think about Yugyeom. The man was loud and had no filter, he said exactly what he thought and didn't seem to care about getting closer to others. But, Taehyung didn't dislike him? Yugyeom had his own odd charm, and he had never been directly rude, so they were okay.

“Good morning,” Taehyung said as he sat down. Yugyeom looked up and made a humming sound. Tae noticed he was reading a book. Interestingly, he didn't know Yugyeom was someone who read.

They sat quietly for a few minutes before Yugyeom put the book down and turned to Taehyung. “Where are you ranked?”

“Fifty-seven. You?” Taehyung noticed Yugyeom nod and thought for a bit.

“Thirty-two.”

Taehyung was going to respond, but Yugyeom started reading again. Okay… that was a bit odd, Yugyeom was a man of many words, he never stopped talking. Actually, now that he thought about it, Yugyeom talked a lot when Jungkook was around. It makes sense, the two had told them that they had been friends for a while. But, Yugyeom talked A LOT. Maybe Yugyeom didn't see Jungkook as just a friend… Or maybe Taehyung was so bored he was making something from nothing.

There was an awkward beat, before Taehyung spoke up, “So, uhm, what are you reading?”

Yugyeom pursed his lips a bit, holding the book up, “It's a book about strategy.”

“Strategy..? Why do you need to know war strategy?” Taehyung frowned, man, this guy was weird.

“Thinking ahead. That's important in games like these. Everyone else is playing some weird game, they all have a goal and know how they're going to play it. So, I’m figuring out how to know what they’re playing at.” Yugyeom turned back to the book, Taehyung blinked twice, trying to comprehend what this man was saying.

Thankfully, Taehyung was saved when Minnie walked over, the woman was wearing a brown top and a jean skirt, and Taehyung laughed, pointing down to his denim jacket and brown pants. Minnie fake frowned, “Ahh, Taehyung, you just love to copy me, huh? Good morning, Yugyeom”

Yugyeom muttered a quick good morning, Taehyung turned to fully face her. “I came out here first, I think you just came and saw my outfit and then ran back to change.”

“Oh, right, right. So.. what are you two talking about?” Minnie looked at where Taehyung was pointing to the war strategy book Yugyeom was holding. “...War… strategy? Why do you… Actually, I'm more shocked by your reading, didn't peg you as a reader.”

Yugyeom shrugs, a small smirk on his face, “Yeah, there's a lot you don't know about me, I’m a bit of a mystery.”

“That's true, I guess,” Minnie said, “But I do know you’ll talk someone's ear off if they give you the chase.”

“Depends on the person,” Yugyeom said, glancing away before getting back to his book.

The two continued their conversation until Jungkook came over. The man gave them a big smile as he sat next to Yugyeom, in front of Taehyung. “Hello, hello… So, eliminations today, are we freaking out?”

“Nothing to be scared about, we all have skills and such, I think this whole table will be safe. Plus, it's only in the bottom 5 so it's not too scary. Like, even if I AM low, there's no way I can be THAT low, right? I had some nice moments, I just hope they actually put it on screen.” Yugyeom responded, Taehyung's eyebrow raised, See, he talked too much… It was odd.

“Hm, I think I’ll be okay. It's impossible to not be at least a little scared, but I have faith.” Taehyung was half listening, well, ¼ listening, his attention was more in watching people come into the dining hall. He watched their faces, mainly, trying to gauge who was the most nervous. It was really obvious when someone was sure they weren't going to get eliminated. They would have this almost smug look on their face, Taehyung wanted that look too. He wanted the thrill of being in the top 5 and knowing that he would be safe.

Minnie moved him a bit, she was frowning. “Tae? Are you okay? You’ve been staring at the people coming in for a while, it's like we're trying to intimidate them.”

Taehyung had to pull himself from looking away from where he was staring, he turned back to Minnie, who had an amused look on her face. He shook his thoughts off and smiled. “Yeah, sorry. I didn't get much sleep.”

“Ooh staying up to think, that's a dangerous game.” Jungkook spoke up, Yugyeom nodding.

“Yeah. Yeah, it is.” Taehyung smiled a bit, turning back to the door to see there were only a few stragglers coming into the hall.

The food came out, it was comforting. Maybe this was how they made sure their nerves weren't as high when it was actually time for eliminations. Taehyung wasn't worried. He didn't even think he would be making it this far, so any more time that he got, he would take. Breakfast went on peacefully, he listened to the people at his table talk, sometimes he would join in, but that wasn't often.

-----

Taehyung went into the hall where they did eliminations. They all sat in the chairs corresponding to the number they had. He had changed into a new outfit, now wearing navy blue slacks and a white and blue striped shirt. It clashed a little with his fading blue hair, but Taehyung knew he had a pretty face. He doubted that they would really be looking at what he was wearing. Although he did wonder if they had those “Steal the look” websites set up for this show. He smiled as he thought about it, Taehyung had made most of his clothing, so they would only be able to get close. Taehyung looked over as Karina sat down next to him.

The woman was wearing a silvery dress, it had a slit on the right side and she did look beautiful. The two smiled at each other a bit, today would be the last day they spoke, that was cool. Taehyung hoped he and Minnie would be roommates again. They had gotten along really well.

It didn't take too long for the room to completely fill up. Once it had, the lights dimmed and Hanni came out.

“Wow, hello everyone, can you believe we are already four weeks into this experience? I hope you've all had an amazing time so far. Now, this week and going on, we will be eliminating the bottom ten. That may be scary, but I do hope that it encourages you to try even harder than you have already.”

Hanni’s words had everyone looking around, gasping. Taehyung briefly glanced back and saw how the people low down were freaking out a bit more than the other. Christ, things were really starting to get scary…

“I will now reveal the bottom ten, starting with ninety five and then moving up. Ranking at 95, Cho Haseul. Ninety four Lee Heesung. Ninety three Song Hayoung. Ninety two Kim Hyunjin. Ninety one Jeon Somin. Ninety Kim Junmyeon. Eighty nine Hwang Intak. Eighty eight Kim Taehyung (KARD). Eighty seven Choi Jiung.And finally, at Eighty six, Nicha Yontararak.” Hanni looked up after reading her list.

…

Nicha Yontararak?

That was Minnie. That was Minnie's name.

Taehyung quickly looks around, trying to find Minnie. He makes eye contact with her. Her mouth is open, and her eyes are glassy. How could that be possible? Minne wasn't low at all, and then, just like that she was eliminated? And because they decided to change it from eliminated five people into ten.

“If your name was called out, please stand now and head to your room to pack up your belongings. Thank you so much for joining us, and I’m really sorry to see you go.” Minnie stood as Hanni spoke. She went towards the entrance, turning once more to mouth ‘fighting’ and giving Taehyung a small smile before she left.

Taehyung didn't know why he felt like he was going to cry as well. Minnie was his best friend here, and now what..? He had to deal with Yugyeom alone. Taehyung didn't have any time to really think about what had happened as Hanni began to talk again.

“Okay. Now I will reveal the top five. Ranking at number five is Lee Nagyung. Number four is Im Nayeon. Number three is Jeon Jiwoo. Number two is Kim Seokjin. And our top ranking contestant is Park Jihyo.”

Taehyung looked at the top five, he belonged there. Well, the only man in the top five was that KIm Seokjin guy… hm, that guy had managed to get in the top five last week as well. He was doing pretty good for himself.

Taehyung anxiously waited for his ranking to be revealed. And finally, “Ranking at number eleven is Kim Taehyung.”

Taehyung smiled, that was great, that was a really good ranking to be at. If he kept it up, he could probably end up ranking in the top 5, easily.

(Jung Hoseok at forty, Park Jimin ranked at seven, Min Yoongi at eighty and Jeon Jungkook at twenty seven)

After they all gave in their number pin, Taehyung headed back to his room to pack up. Karina was already there. She gave him a polite smile, as she kept packing. Karina was ranked at number 8, so they would be pretty close to each other, which would be cool. Now that Minnie is gone (And still, wow, Minnie was gone somehow), Taehyung should be trying to make some more friends. He would have to socialize a lot more at his table, that was okay.. It would be fine.

"You think your new roommate will be nice?" Karina asked, glancing at him as she zipped up her suitcase.

"I hope so. I got lucky with you, I don’t want to get stuck with someone who snores or leaves their stuff everywhere," Taehyung admitted, stuffing his last pair of socks into his bag.

Karina smirked. "I could say the same. I’d rather not end up with someone who wakes up late and rushes around in the morning."

"You mean like me?" Taehyung teased, raising an eyebrow.

She chuckled. "Exactly like you."

They fell into a more comfortable silence, then Taehyung said his goodbye and left the room. Taehyung heads to his room to meet his roommate. He slowly entered the room, but he didn't find anyone else there. He didn't think about it too much, instead he left the door open so that his roommate would know that he was in there already. Taehyung let his pillow and sheets go onto the bed as he moved to put his hygiene stuff into the bathroom. Taehyung was close to finishing his packing when a man shorter than him walked in.

“Hello. I’m Jeongdae, but you can call me Chen.” The man said as he gave Taehyung a polite smile.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Taehyung.” Tae moved his bag, letting the man walk in. He thought about helping him with his things, but the man had it handled.

Chen placed his belongings on his bed and looked around. He nodded a bit before he turned to his belongings. Taehyung pushed his suitcases under the bed. Chen spoke up a bit, “I hope you won't mind. I'm not much of a talker. My last roommate had his moments…”

"Yeah? Who was your last roommate?" Taehyung asked, sitting on his bed as he observed the other man.

"Man named Yugyeom. He was fine, but he had a habit of wanting to talk a lot at night. Imind the late night talks, but not when I’m trying to sleep," Chen said with a small laugh. The laugh was a nice, deeper sound. Yeah… Taehyung wouldn't mind this arrangement at all.

Taehyung chuckled. "No way… I sit with Yugyeom at the dining hall."

Chen froze a bit before he faced Taehyung. “Ah, don't tell him I said that, it's not like it was horrible…”

“No trust me I get it. Yugyeom is a strange man.” Taehyung laughed, noticing how Chen's shoulders relaxed a bit. Chen gave him an appreciative smile before he turned to continue unpacking.

Taehyung laid in his bed, reading a book as Chen finished up unpacking. “Okay, I know I said I wasn't much of a talker, but we should get to know eachother even a little bit. What did you do out there?”

“I’m an artist. For my audition tape I played the saxophone.” Taehyung responded, Chen nodding approvingly.

“I was an actor. I don't… Yeah, I don't actually remember what I did for my audition tape, but it must've been good, right?” Chen and Taehyung laughed.

-------

After dinner, Taehyung decided to take a walk around the castle. There was lots to do, so he might as well explore. He ends up at the Library. The smell of old books is somehow comforting. He lets his fingers drag through the older books. He wondered how often Namjoon came down here… or anyone for that fact. As Taehyung wandered through the huge library, he thought about the surge in his ranking. What had he done? And how can he do it again.

The library really is huge. Taehyung spent 40 minutes just walking through the different levels, reading the titles of books here and there. Eventually he gets to the third level of the library. He wanders around, then notices a door near the back of the room. He shrugs and walks in.

There's a smaller library here. This one looks more used, there's painting and instruments all around. Taehyung appreciates everything around, it's nice. Like a little sanctuary. As Taehyung explores, he sees a saxophone. In his hurry, Taehyung had forgotten to pack any reeds. There was a packet of them next to the saxophone. He thought for a second before he picked it up, changing out the reed.

Taehyung let himself play. His heart taking over, he loves to let his body play. Taehyung loved the music, but what he loved even more was the action. Letting his fingers press the different buttons, making sure he kept up his breath work. The room was filled with the sound of Taehyung's playing. The music was calming, but strong.

Taehyung finished just to hear someone clapping behind him. He jumped and turned to be met with the Emperor. He felt his face flush, what the hell was NAmjoon doing here?

“Ah, Tawhyung, it seems you've managed to find my private library… You know… nobody but me is allowed in here…” Namjoon said, an amused smile on his face.

“Oh. oh my god. I’m so sorry, I was just doing some exploring and I managed to get in here. UHm, I'll leave now…” Taehyung felt his face flush red as he placed the saxophone back down.

Namjoon laughed, shaking his head, “No, no. You're okay to stay. You're so incredible with that, by the way.. I like to buy instruments but I never really learn how to play them. I get a bit too frustrated trying to figure out what I’m even doing.”

Taehyung blinks. He’s not quite sure how he's meant to respond to Namjoon. I mean… he was the Emperor for fucks sake. Taehyung met Namjoons sharp eyes, they were warm so Taehyung knew that the man wasn't teasing him. “Thank you, Emperor. The praise means a lot coming from you.”

“You’re welcome, Taehyung… You know, I’m really glad you found this place actually. AFter your audition tape, I was really hoping to hear you play live. I guess I can check that off my bucket list.” Namjoon was blushing… not a lot, but it was there.

Taehyung nodded as they fell into silence. Should Taehyung be making the first move here? Leading the conversation with an emperor seems weird. So instead, he just stands there. They both do. Quietly staring at each other. Namjoon glanced away for a second before making long strides to a painting above the fireplace.

That… That was a painting Taehyung had made. The one that Namjoon bought, the one that got him to keep going. “This is one of my favorites. It’s a really amazing piece of work. I was glad to hear you decided to keep going.”

“I’m really thankful for you, Emperor.” Taehyung said, a lot more sensually than he had meant it to be. He noticed the taller man swallow hard, his face flushing more. “Uhm, yeah. I’m grateful for this opportunity as well.”

Namjoon nodded and turned back to meet Taehyung's eyes. “I have some things to finish up. Taehyung, feel free to come in here whenever you’d like, just do me a favor and don't tell anyone else about it, okay?”

Taehyung nodded as Namjoon started to leave, the emperor taking one last look at Taehyung, giving him a smile before he left the room,

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

Oh fuck.

Namjoon was in trouble. He had tried not to interact with the contestants unless he needed to, and that was why. Taehyung was, fuck, Taehyung was so hot. And it made Namjoon feel guilty that he thought that. Namjoon wanted this to be professional, to make sure he was ranking them accordingly, but it was happening so easily, he had already ranked Seokjin and Jimin higher just because he found them so attractive and so intelligent. And now there was TAehyung.

Taehyung with his pretty blue hair and his boxy smile. Taehyung looked so sexy playing Namjoons Saxophone in Namjoons private library/study room. This wasn't okay. Namjoon should go meet his council and tell them to lock him up and never let him interact with the pretty contestants.

But he didn't. Because that would mean he might never see Taehyung's face again. And that wasn't okay.

Instead he headed to his own bedroom. And just sat there, trying to be logical of how this would end up affecting the show. It wasn't even like his vote had that much weight, but it had SOME weight, so he had to be fair. Right?

Right.

God, when did being an emperor become so hard? Namjoon was running a great kingdom before he got distracted with this. And like, yes his kingdom was still running amazingly, actually the economy was booming since he started but whatever. That wasn't the point/ The point was that Namjoon was a mess. An emperor shouldnt be blushing over some pretty boys. He was a grown man, a king.

A king with really attractive people living in his castle.

Namjoon left, going to meet his council so they could watch the raw elimination episode. Namjoon could worry about how weak his knees were later.

-----

The king walked into the room, opening the door a bit too hard. His council jumped, looking over at him as he shyly apologized and took his seat. Raising an eyebrow at the snacks and drinks. “Really? This is your job…”

“Uhm yeah but this is also really entertaining so shush and watch the show,” Mingyu said, throwing a piece of popcorn at the emperor.

--------

They watched in silence, everyone making notes so that they could remember where they wanted to rank some people, just preliminary things. Namjoon groaned after, turning to his workers. “This is bad. We got people that are too attractive.”

They burst out laughing as Jieun shakes her head, “Well, we need a nice face to be available for the kingdom's needs. Plus, the emperor deserves the best.”

Namjoon nods absentmindedly. He knows WHY they're attractive, it's not really an issue. It might be an issue if they were all really ugly. But they weren't so, yeah. He met the looks of his council, shaking his head. “Okay, we should make sure everything is set up for next week. We want to make sure nothing goes wrong. ANd make sure everyone has equal time on screen, it’ll be bad if it seems like we have favorites.”

“Speaking of favorites… Do you have any?” Mingyu said, leaning forwards to hear Namjoon.

“Well… yes. I’m sure everyone in this room does,” Namjoon says, but Mingyu gives him a look, asking for some more information. “Uhm, Seokjin, Jimin, Taehyung, Sana… Those four stand out to me the most, I believe.”

The rest of the people agree, they start to talk about who they like, making sure they use respectful words. The meeting goes on for a bit more before Nmajoon is free to go back to his room.

This is okay. He could focus and not let his heart take over, this was serious. And Namjoon was a serious man… Yeah.

Yeah.