the prompt: prince jungkook au where he always comes into the kitchen for late night snacks and y/n is new to the kitchen staff. soon they become friends and maybe something more. (definitely something more who am i trying to kid)(also request was rlly long so i summarized it)
category: fluff + once again, fond!kookie
author note: never apologize for long requests bc that is how i survive. also, someone seriously needs to stop me from writing about fond jungkook bc ya girl can’t get enough. anyway, please enjoy!
“You’ll have the night shift,” the head chef of the castle, Mr. Kim, stated, “along with a few other staff members. Your job will be to wash dishes and make food. Then, as you get used to it, you’ll eventually spend all day here.”
“I have to make food in the middle of the night?” You asked.
Your eyes drifted around the kitchen. Shiny pots and pans hung from the ceiling, along with dried herbs and spices. The walls were made of stone bricks, and wooden tables surrounded the floor. Crates of rice were hidden under the tables, along with bowls of fresh fruit and vegetables. Your fingers were itching to make something with all of these ingredients.
“A chef’s work is never done.” He said, a slight twinkle in his eye.
You had to agree. Excitement was rushing over you as you realized your dreams were coming true. Surely you would be cooking for the royal family soon!
“So, shall I begin washing dishes?” You asked.
“No, wait until after dinner. For now, you can act as an assistant to me while I make the royal family a meal.”
Jungkook could only stare at his plate at this time.
One of his favorite meals had been prepared for him, and yet he wasn’t sure he could even consume it.
His mother had been grilling him all week about a future queen, and the young prince detested the idea.
He was only nineteen. An age ripe for going on hunting trips and learning about other cultures. An age for visiting sister-countries and trying out their delicious food.
Except Jungkook was different. His father, the king, had been murdered two years prior. Which meant that it was up to Jungkook to become King as soon as he could, in order to preserve the lineage.
Which also meant it was time for him to find a wife. At least, that is what the queen liked to bring up every meal.
Jungkook was a fairly obedient son, yet marriage was something he felt he could be rebellious about. After all, he was going to spend the rest of his life with this person.
So when his mother said that she would start bringing eligible ladies into the castle, Jungkook couldn’t find it in himself to eat one bite.
Naturally, as Jungkook was a growing boy, he was still hungry by the time the day was over.
He was supposed to be asleep in his bed. He had a meeting with the ambassador tomorrow, and it wouldn’t look good if he was yawning throughout.
Still, the young prince found himself walking towards the kitchen, a place where he often found solace.
All of the kitchen workers loved him, and they were used to his many journeys to the kitchen in the middle of the night. Jungkook was a stress eater, and if it hadn’t been for his fast metabolism and active agenda, he would’ve become a rather chubby boy by now.
Everyone bowed when he entered the kitchen. He bowed back respectfully and smiled shyly, “Would you guys happen to have any spicy noodles?”
Jungkook leaned against the counter and talked to everyone about their day. In return, they listened to his stress-filled complaining. It was a good system.
You came into the kitchen after a bathroom break, only to see the one and only crown prince leaning against the counter, chatting with the staff.
You bowed deeply, keeping your gaze to the ground, as was respected. “Your Highness.”
“It’s just Jungkook,” he said awkwardly. “Are you new here?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” You bowed again.
Jungkook scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
Then one of the cooks stuck an entire pan of spicy noodles in front of the prince.
“I’m making spicy chicken for you as well!” she cooed, reaching out to pinch Jungkook’s cheeks.
Jungkook smiled brightly and accepted the chopsticks from her.
You hesitantly moved away from the prince as he ate his food.
The cook who was making chicken for him, Mrs. Choi, gestured for you to come help her.
“Jungkook doesn’t like formalities,” she whispered. “He also comes here often in the middle of the night to eat and talk to us. It’s best to just let him say his piece.”
“Okay.” You took in her words as you mixed the ingredients for the chicken sauce.
“Mom keeps bringing up marriage,” Jungkook said. He slurped his noodles quietly as he mulled over his memories of dinner. “Can you believe she’s going to start bringing ladies in for me to court?”
Mrs. Choi tsked. “You’re growing up, Jungkook. It’s time to take responsibility and get yourself a wife.”
You furrowed your eyebrows as you poured the sauce over the chicken. “With no disrespect, Mrs. Choi, marriage is a really big decision. How can he choose out of people his mom picked for him?”
“Thank you,” Jungkook breathed. He walked up towards you and took a piece of chicken.
You backed up respectfully as Jungkook ate his food.
He continued, “I have told her time and time again that I am perfectly capable of becoming a good king without a queen. I’m too young, anyway.”
Picking up courage to address him, you spoke, “As long as you have wise advisors by your side, you won’t need a queen. Besides, it’s not like the current queen will drop of the face of the earth.”
“That’s what I’ve tried to tell her!” Jungkook but into a chicken leg angrily. He chewed thoughtful for a moment. “This is so good it almost makes me forget my problems.”
While he ate, you collected the empty dishes and brought them to the sink.
“Where are you going?” Jungkook asked.
You turned around, your arms filled with dishes. “I’m just going to clean the dishes.”
“Oh,” the prince picked up his plate of chicken and followed you.
This action was strange, as the sink was only across the room. You weren’t going into another room or kitchen or anything.
“So,” Jungkook leaned against the counter. “How do you think I can get my mom to let the subject go?”
Mrs. Choi pulled on her coat. “I’m going! Y/n, finish the dishes and you’re done. Also, don’t give him any ideas.”
You nodded as you scrubbed the dishes. “Yes, Ma'am.”
As soon as she left, you turned off the faucet and turned around. “Okay,” you gestured with your soapsud-covered hands. “So you have to prove to the queen that you can run a kingdom without a queen. Make wise decisions based on facts and not feelings.”
Jungkook smirked, “Ah, so after she trusts me, I’ll ask her if I really need a queen.”
“Right.” You smiled at him.
“Thanks so much…” his voices faltered. “What’s your name?”
Jungkook smiled. “Thanks Y/n, I feel a lot better now.”
Jungkook didn’t come back for the next two nights. You heard a lot of gossip from your fellow cooks, that Jungkook had been busy lately.
You secretly hoped it was him taking your advice and proving his strengths to his mother.
Unfortunately, his efforts were fruitless.
You were sitting around the kitchen, idly waiting as the dinner plates soaked. The kitchen was lonely, save for you, since Mrs. Choi had fallen sick and wouldn’t be back for a few days.
Jungkook slumped into the kitchen, surprising you. The frown on his face was enough to answer your unasked question.
“Mother didn’t appreciate my efforts,” he said sadly. “She told me I would never understand.”
You sighed. The last thing you wanted to do was disrespect the queen. Still, you felt bad for the prince. “That’s hardly fair. I wonder why Her Majesty is so adamant about you getting a wife.”
Jungkook pulled a chair beside you and fell into it. “I think she is worried that she won’t be around much longer. Ever since Father was murdered, Mother fears that she is next. I think the real reason is that she wants to know I’m being taken care of, even if she leaves this world.”
“Hmm…” You hummed. “That’s understandable. But the staff takes care of you. It’s not like we would leave you if she died.”
“I know that, I just wish she did,” Jungkook said. He looked around the empty kitchen. “Where is everyone?”
“Mrs. Choi is sick so she’s been home. Why? Do you want me to make you something?” You stood up.
Jungkook stood up. “I dunno. I kind of want cookies.”
You stood up. “How about double chocolate chunk? I’m really good at making those.”
“Can I help?” He grabbed the chocolate from the cupboard while you preheated the oven.
“If you want.” You shrugged and passed a cutting board and knife towards him. “You can cut half of this into chunks while I melt the other half.”
Jungkook grinned. “Mrs. Choi never lets me help her.”
“Why not?” You asked. You broke up the chocolate and placed it in a glass bowl. “Oh! Wait, Your Highness.”
Jungkook paused while you ran to get an apron for him. You let him pull it over his neck while you tied the lower strings around his waist. “We wouldn’t want to mess up your nice outfit.”
Jungkook snorted in an un-princely manner. “I don’t care about that.”
You moved to place the bowl of chocolate over a pan of boiling water. “Well, I live in the servants quarters, and I know for a fact that the laundry workers do.”
Jungkook nodded appreciatively, “I’ll wear the apron.”
Once the chocolate was melted, you began to mix cookie dough from scratch. You didn’t have a recipe, since you knew it by heart.
“Wow,” Jungkook said, watching you. “How many times have you done this?”
“I used to make these all the time when I was younger. It’s my own recipe.”
“Really?” Jungkook reached his hand into the bowl and took a small piece of dough.
“Don’t do that!” You slapped his hand away. “You’ll get sick.”
“Try and stop me,” Jungkook sassily replied as he grabbed the mixing spoon and began to eat the cookie dough off of it.
You sighed and let him continue to eat off of the spoon. Then you added the melted chocolate, along with the chocolate chunks Jungkook had cut for you.
Jungkook watched you mix it with a new spoon. “When will it be ready?”
“In fifteen minutes,” you answered. “We have to play the waiting game.”
Jungkook pouted and blew air out of his cheeks. “Fifteen minutes is a long time.”
“Patience is a virtue, my friend.” You said calmly.
Jungkook peeked up, although you were busy greasing the pan so you didn’t see his happy expression.
You turned around, “Of course, if that’s okay.”
“That is more than okay.” Jungkook said. Then, trying to hide his smile, he said hastily, “Now let’s get these cookies in the oven!”
Mrs. Choi eventually came back, along with a few more staff members.
Since there were more than a dozen eligible ladies in the castle, the entire kitchen staff had a lot more dishes to clean. Not to mention more portions to make.
You and the rest of the kitchen were very busy, as well as the rest of the royal staff. The royal family had been in meetings with the many ladies all day.
The first day the ladies came, you and the rest of the kitchen staff had to work very hard to create each of the new guest’s favorite meals for dinner.
By the end of the day, you and the rest of the staff were tired. The smell of grease and seasoning was stuck to your clothes and hair.
You were washing dishes when Jungkook came in. He plopped into the chair, and sighed. “If I get asked my goals for marriage one more time I am going to lose it.”
You smiled, “Don’t worry, I’ve got cookies in the oven.”
Jungkook’ expression brightened.
Mrs. Choi came over. “A cookie for Kookie?”
“Kookie?” You looked at the prince. “Is that your nickname?”
The prince’s face flushed. “Maybe.”
The prince looked down at his shoes. You didn’t noticed the red blossoming on his cheeks. “I want you to call me Jungkook.”
You rolled your eyes. “Fine.”
“Yes!” Jungkook sprouted up. He walked over to the oven and pulled it open.
You tugged an oven mitt over your hand and took out the cookie sheet.
Jungkook, in his impatience, grabbed a cookie off of the pan.
“Ow, ow, ow!”
You yanked the pan away and grabbed his wrist. “What did I say about patience, Jungkook?”
“It’s a virtue,” he recited like a scolded child.
All of the other cooks were on the other side of the kitchen, washing the dishes.
You grabbed a first aid kit out of the cupboard.
While you were sorting through the kit, Jungkook carefully picked up a cookie with his uninjured hand and ate it in one bite.
“You’re ridiculous,” you muttered.
You dabbed the ointment onto his fingers before bandaging them.
Jungkook watched before he picked up a second cookie. “Even so, thanks for taking care of me.”
“Y/n!” Jungkook barged into the kitchen in the middle of the day.
All of the staff were used to you and the prince’s strange friendship. Jungkook was most confident around you and he was able to confide only in you.
To be frank, the kitchen staff had never seen Jungkook more stress-free than when he was with you. They liked seeing the happiness on the prince’s face when he talked to you.
Many times he talked to you about anything going on in his life. More than nought, he talked about nothing at all. Sometimes he just liked to stay in your presence and help you cook or clean.
All of the older staff could tell Jungkook was very fond of you. With your humble and kind attitude, it would be hard for the young prince not to fall for you. They believed you would be a good queen for him, should he ever come to terms with his emotions.
“What’s up?” You asked. You were eating a sandwich on your break.
Jungkook sat across from you and opened his mouth expectantly. You fed him a bite of your sandwich.
“I went on a date today.” He said between chews.
“How was it?” You took a sip of your water.
Jungkook swallowed his bite and took a sip of your water as well. The boy had no boundaries when it came to sharing food. You had learned to get used to it.
“She wanted to go to the bakery to try some food. I ordered some chocolate chunk cookies.”
“They were dry.” Jungkook frowned. “I kept thinking of your cookies and how cool it would be if they were sold at the bakery. Could you imagine having your own bakery?”
You ducked your head. “I don’t know if I could ever pull it off. I need to be good at business and I don’t think I’ll ever be good at that.”
“I think you could do it,” Jungkook said, assured. Then he sighed, “So I told her about your cookies and she got mad at me.”
“Why? Because you didn’t like the bakery cookies?”
“No. She said I shouldn’t talk about other women on a date. She said it was rude.”
“I told her that I didn’t even want to be on a date with her so I should be able to talk about who I wanted.” He took another bite of your sandwich, “Besides, she wouldn’t give me a bite of cheesecake. I can’t build a marriage on a foundation like that!”
You snorted. “Jungkook, you’re never going to get a wife if you talk to her like that.”
Jungkook rolled his eyes, “That’s the point, Y/n. I’m trying to stay single as long as I can.”
“You know what you should do?” You pointed at him with sandwich in hand. “You should run away.”
Jungkook snapped his finger and pointed back at you, “You know, if you and I run away and start a bakery, we can stay single forever.”
“True.” You agreed. “We can make the best cookies this kingdom has ever seen.”
“I’m ready when you are,” Jungkook smiled.
Jungkook came in the next night, hoping to make some more cookies with You. “Y/n?”
Mrs. Choi peaked around the corner. “She’s got an off day, today. Sorry, bud.”
Jungkook pouted unconsciously. “Will she come back?”
Mrs. Choi smiled. “Aren’t you the sweetest.”
“What? Why?” Jungkook’s eyes widened.
Mrs. Choi’s eyes glistened mischievously. “This whole kitchen knows how you feel about her.”
“How do I feel about her?” The prince gulped nervously.
“You love her, Kookie. The two of you are practically joined at the hip. Even when you talked about running away, you still wanted to take her with you. Isn’t it love when you can’t imagine life without another person.”
Jungkook’s entire face was red. “I don’t really know how it happened.”
“She takes care of you, Jungkook. You found someone who listens to you and is willing to help you fix your problem.”
“I don’t want to tell her,” Jungkook said. “She won’t feel the same.”
“You don’t think?” Mrs. Choi quizzed. “You think she wouldn’t take this much time out for you if she didn’t like you?”
Jungkook bowed his head, “I think I’m afraid she only treats me like that because I’m the prince.”
You walked down the halls towards the kitchen.
On your day off, you had spent it reading and sleeping the day away. Your only regret was that you forgot to tell Jungkook you were on a break. He must’ve been confused when he entered the kitchen last night.
You turned around and saw Jungkook leaving what you assumed was his bedroom. He was half-dressed, in his pants and an undershirt. His dark hair was messy and you were slightly surprised to see his bare, flushed face.
“What are you doing out here?” His raspy voice questioned you.
“This is my route to the kitchen,” you answered. “Shouldn’t you be on your way to breakfast right now?”
Jungkook leaned against the doorway and smiled sleepily. “You caught me. To be honest, I couldn’t sleep.”
“Oh? Why not?” You stepped closer to the prince. “Are you sick?”
“I just have a lot on my mind,” he said.
“Well, try not to stress about it. If you want, I can make you some chocolate chip waffles.”
“Really?” He straightened up.
His tall figure seemed even more attractive to you this morning. The prince was always attractive, but here, in the rawness of the morning, he looked so natural. And natural was beautiful.
“Really.” You ushered him back into his room. “So go get ready and I’ll have your waffles ready for you when you come out.”
He retreated into his room and you walked on, a smile on your face.
How many other people got to see the prince in such a beautiful state? You thought it might be a privilege.
You began the waffles as soon as you entered the kitchen.
After making enough for the entire royal family, you placed them all on the tray.
Then you carried it out into the dining room, where the queen and her son sat, along with a few remaining ladies.
“Have you chosen a wife yet, son?” The queen spoke.
You timidly walked towards the table and placed the tray of waffles in the middle of the table.
Jungkook caught your eye as he answered, “I’ve got someone in mind.”
If you were already nervous, being in the presence of the queen, Jungkook’s comment rattled you fatally. In shock, you lost your footing and fell towards the table. Only, when you used your hands to keep you from falling on the table, your right hand fell onto a small teacup, which ceremoniously broke, stabbing your flesh.
“Are you okay?” One of the ladies asked, reaching out for your hand.
You held you hand close to your stomach and bowed in respect. You were biting your lip to try and distract yourself from the pain. “I’m fine, My Lady. Please enjoy your breakfast.”
You hastily cleaned up the broken teacup and speed-walked back to the kitchen.
A few tears escaped your eyes as you extracted the painted glass from your palm.
“Y/n?” Jungkook entered the kitchen.
You looked down as he grabbed the first aid kit and extracted some ointment and gauze.
“Clumsy girl,” he tutted, kneeling in front of you. He grabbed you hand gently and examined it before applying the antibiotic ointment.
“It’s your fault,” you retorted.
Jungkook pretended not to hear. He really hadn’t meant to let that little comment slip during breakfast, but he couldn’t stop himself.
“I can wrap it myself,” you said. “You need to go finish dinner with your mother and those ladies.”
Jungkook scoffed. “I told them I had a stomachache and needed to go.”
“But—” Jungkook cut you off with a soft gaze.
“Hey,” he muttered, “You take care of me all of the time. Let me return the favor just this once.”
Your heart beat just a tiny bit faster after hearing those words. Not sure what to say, you simply replied, “Thanks.”
Jungkook wrapped the gauze around your hand and tied it securely. “Just so you know, I wasn’t lying.”
You bit your lip. “I know.”
“It’s just…you’re the only person I trust fully. I know that you’re fully capable of being a good wife and a good queen. But if you don’t want the responsibility, the runaway option is still available.” Jungkook gave you a nervous smile, as if he was worried you would reject him.
“Jungkook, you know you’re my best friend,” you said. Then, watching his smile falter, you shook your head. “I just mean that I can trust you with anything as well. You’re my favorite part of every day. Your voice is my favorite out of all the voices in the world and I want you to know that there is nothing on this earth I would rather do than be by your side for the rest of my life.”
With those words, Jungkook lifted himself to your level and kissed you. Gently, tentatively at first, until he grew more confident because you loved him as well.
“Besides,” you whispered against his lips, “Who says a queen can’t have her own bakery?”
“You are absolutely right,” Jungkook said. He grabbed your waist and pulled you closer to him. “I love you, Y/n.”
“I love you too, Jungkook.”
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