cassiopeia ꒱ markhyuck

six

When a couple more days had passed with Donghyuck barely seeing anyone—besides the usual appearances of Renjun and his other servants—he began to seriously weigh his options.

He was sick of being tied up, with having no way of leaving the room and having nothing to do to pass his time. Even the new restraints, new pillows, and top tier treatment from his servants couldn't curb his growing restlessness, and he was admittedly starting to go a little stir crazy.

He had tried to come up with a variety of different options and strategies he could use to get out of his situation, but a lot of them came up empty. As much as he loved to believe that he was strong and resilient, the reality was that he was an omega, and practically every single person in the palace would be able to overpower him with ease the minute he tried to escape. And in the end, it didn't even matter if by some miracle he managed to reach the basement unscathed—because he was pretty sure that the scary witch guy that had summoned the portal would not do anything to help him without the approval of the king, which he knew now was impossible for him to get.

So what that left him with was, unfortunately, cooperation. If he pretended to go along with it, pretended to be on their side, maybe eventually they would give him enough freedom that he could sneak away unnoticed. Maybe, if he played their game long enough, he could acquire enough power that the witch guy would follow his orders instead of the king's, and he could leave through the portal before anybody else found out.

So, the next time that Mark entered his bedroom, Donghyuck was placid and calm as the king took a seat on the bed next to him. Mark looked at him suspiciously, clearly wary of his sudden shift in behavior, but he didn't mention it directly when he opened his mouth to speak.

"So, have you given more thought to becoming my mate? I hope I gave you enough time to think about it."

"More than enough time, actually. I was beginning to think you forgot about me or something," Donghyuck scowled, then internally reprimanded himself as he tried to reel back in his attitude, "in any case, I have been thinking about it. And I think... I think I'm a little more, uh, open to it."

Mark's eyes widened. "Wait, really? You'll agree to become my mate?"

"Woah there, slow down," Donghyuck scoffed, "I never said all that. I don't mate with any alpha I just met, thank you very much. I have my pride."

The hopeful look Mark was wearing slowly slipped off of his face. Donghyuck rolled his eyes. "But... what I'm trying to say is that I'm not going to run away anymore. If you really want me to be your mate, then I'll allow you to... court me, I guess. Convince me why it's worth it for me to stay here."

Donghyuck was lying through his teeth, he really had no desire or intention to get close to Mark in any way while he was here. All he needed to do was bide his time and acquire enough freedom and power to where he could escape without anyone trying to stop him. As Mark's face twisted in consideration, Donghyuck was suddenly thankful that he had always had a talent for lying.

"Hmm... that sounds reasonable enough," Mark murmured to himself, nodding slowly. "Alright, I accept your conditions."

"Cool," Donghyuck drawled, looking down pointedly at the restraints around his wrists and tugging at them a little, "then would you be oh so kind as to untie me, alpha?"

Mark's nose wrinkled a little at his sarcastic tone, but he indulgently reached down and began to untie him anyways. When the restraints were free from both his wrists and ankles, Donghyuck immediately jumped to his feet, stretching his arms above his head and letting out a loud groan.

"God, it feels so good to move around again," he sighed, leaning down to massage his sore leg muscles that had been straining to find a comfortable position for the past few days. Mark watched him, chewing the inside of his cheek and and looking at him with what appeared to be more guilt.