2. A bad offer

"You know we don't like when you lie to us, right? Don't you remember what happened the last time?" His father smirked now and took another step forwards.

_________________________________________

"Uh, I was just... sorry..." Jungkook mumbled.

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you." His father was now a few steps away from Jungkook.

"I'm sorry that I avoided you for no reason..." Jungkook blurted out.

"Are you sure you didn't hae a reason to avoid us?" His father took another step, now he was standing in front of Jungkook, watching his every move carefully.

"I-" Jungkook couldn't speak. He was pale and he couldn't talk. His father was too intimidating and scary.

"Jungkook. You know how much I hate it when you don't answer to me." Jungkook's father stated and pushed him a little, which made him fall on the ground and hit his head against a table.

"You poor boy. You don't even know how to behave, do you?" It was now his mother who was speaking. Jungkook took a glance at his mother who was looking at him like he was a piece of trash. "Do you know where we went?" His mother continued.

"We made a deal with someone really important." His father disturbed his mother and kneeled in front of Jungkook. "We applied you for something big." His father smirked and took Jungkook's chin in his hand so he would look at him.

"You know about the seven kings, yes?" His father almost yelled in excitement. Jungkook went silent again. He couldn't believe what he just heard.

"What..?" Jungkook stuttered again. "T- the seven kings? Why did you apply me for something like that??!" Jungkook almost yelled at his father who was still in front of him, holding Jungkook's chin.

"Do NOT yell at me young man!" His father yelled and punched Jungkook in his stomach. "We applied you there because we need money! You are obviously not helping at all! YOU FORGOT ABOUT IT TODAY! WHERE IS THE MONEY, HUH? WHERE IS IT?!" His father yelled loudly.

"Ugh..." Jungkook whimpered in pain as his father continued kicking him everywhere.

"The ceremony is tomorrow, Jungkook. You better look good or else..." Jungkook's father threatened once more, before punching jim so hard that he passed out on the floor, laying in his own blood. "Stupid whore..." His father cursed under his breath before leaving Jungkook in the living room all alone.

˜"*°•.˜"*°••°*"˜.•°*"˜

It was now morning. Jungkook was still on the floor, covered in bruises and blood. It was hurting a lot and it was almost unbearable. He knew he had to cover all the bruises before going to the palace. He didn't want to go there. It was scary.

Jungkook was scared. Why did his father apply him to be one of the seven kings? Jungkook did not have any powers. He was not handsome or rich like all of the other kings. He didn't have riches and power like they did. All of the kings were famous and known worldwide. They were powerful, as no one even dared to fight them. They possessed power so enormous, that they could wipe an entire nation of the map with a single hand flip. It was amazing, really.

Of course Jungkook wanted to have a power like that, but he didn't, sadly. It was really rare to be born with power and poor people were never born with powers. This is why Jungkook was very puzzled why his parents applied him there. Did he have any chances of winning, or was he just going to be killed then and there.

All of the kings were deadly. Even looking at them was acrime and you would be punished for that. It was almost always a death sentence for the one who stared at one of the kings. It was a horrible fate, but the kings didn't care. They were cruel and cold blooded after all. So why. Why would Jungkook be able to win them on his side? How could he do that? Jungkook was not a cold blooded monster like they were. He didn't want to kill anyone. Never. He would rather kill himself that anybody else. That's how kind-hearted Jungkook was. He was still the same 12-year-old boy who didn't know anything about the world, innocent as ever.

"Jungkook. Get up and go get ready." His mother ordered and Jungkook shot up immediately. "And remember, behave."

Jungkook just nodded and left the living room to get ready for the big day that was ahead of him. He was anxious and nervous. It was killing him from the inside. His brain wasn't functioning correctly at all. It felt like steam was coming from his ears as he tried not to think about the future.

He entered the shabby bathroom and applied some makeup to cover his bruised and scars. Of course he used some on his face so he would look at least decent. His cherry-red curly locks were placed nicely on his forehead and his clothing wasn't that bad to be honest. He did his best. When he was ready, he came out of the bathroom and was faced with his mother, that was staring at him from the living room.

"Is that the best you can do?" His mother looked at him with a disgusted face looked away after a moment of staring. "That will have to do I guess." She sighed and grabbed Jungkook's wrist again.

"Are... are we going already?" Jungkook mumbled.

"Yes, we are. Is there a problem?" His mother turned around and looked at Jungkook again.

"Can I go say bye to Youngsoo?" Jungkook begged in his mind, that he could go say good bye, if he were to die there. He didn't want to leave him alone without goodbyes.

"No, you can't I'm afraid," His mother said sternly and dragged Jungkook outside.

"But-" Jungkook tried, but was stopped because of a sting that he felt on his cheek.

"Shut up! I don't have time for this right now!" His mother yelled and threw him on the ground. "If you don't behave right now, I might as well throw you in a lake and let you drown!" She continued her blabbering.

"Sorry..." Jungkook apologized and stood up. "I'll behave from now on, I promise." He mumbled the last part.

"Good," The woman nodded and started walking through the forest, torwards the castle that was an hours walk away from their home. It was going to be a long day.

˜"*°•.˜"*°••°*"˜.•°*"˜

"We are here," Jungkook's mother announced adn Jungkook looked at the huge castle in front of him. It was enormous, just like in the book Youngsoo had, if not bigger.

The huge towers were reaching the sky, almost disappearing when looking at the sky. The front gate was a big iron gate with at least four guards guarding it. They looked at you and you rmother, and one of the guards stopped you.

"Stop right there madam, we can't let you through," The guard placed his big spear in front of you so you couldn't continue your walk torwards the castle.

"This man right here has applied for the seventh king's spot, so if you'll excuse me, we are in a hurry. I assume the six kings don't like it when someone is late from something," The woman said proudly, which made the guard gulp a little.

"Alright, passage granted. You may proceed," The guard said and removed the spear that was in front of you. Your mother started dragging you again.

After a while, you were faced with the big entrance to the castle and dozens of guards that were guarding the enormous yard that surrounded the castle grounds completely. Jungkook was speechless. He had never seen something like this.

The inside of the castle was beautiful. Big statues everywhere and long dark-red curtains covering the enormous windows. The marble floor felt amazing under you bare feet, yes bare feet, because you don't own any shoes at the moment.

The high-up ceiling was decorated with diamond chandeliers and paintings that took your breath away. Your mother noticed that you were daydreaming and nudged you a little. You averted you rgaze from all the amazing paintings and looked at your mother again. She was angry. It looked like she could stop you to the ground at any time now.

"Behave.." Your mother growled and led you to the hall where the other applicants were waiting patiently.

She opened the hall's doors and you were welcomed by a golden room, filled with riches and amazing decoration you had never seen before. In front of you were five people. They were looking at the ground nervously before, but when you arrived, all of then looked at you. All of them immediately looked back at the ground, as if someone was watching their every move carefully.

And your gut was right. The six kings were all sitting on their thrones, watching your every move as your mother pushed you into the room and fled the castle almost immediately after. You were welcomed by silence as you walked next to the other applicants and looked at the ground too.

"Good, now that everyone is here, shall we begin with the test?" A dark voice echoed through the room which made you shiver to your very core.