long live the king - nct, markhyuck

♕ 6 ♕

recalling the future king's comments of the previous day at the sight of his dish, donghyuck couldn't help but double his efforts to make the food look presentable and appealing for the royal to be willing to taste it.

the dish in itself wasn't that incredible. just a portion of rice, pieces of meat and the broth the meat had been cooked in. at the restaurant, donghyuck would have just put rice in every bowl before putting the meat on top of it, and adding the broth after; but well, the aesthetics of this would be making the future king run away.

so instead, the young chef recalled what he had observed the day before, when the royal chef had been preparing his dish. he tried to remember how he had disposed the different elements in the plate, and then arranged them so that they created a unique design.

seated behind the bar, the royal observed carefully donghyuck's every move, a small smile etching on his lips when he realised that the tanned male was trying to pay attention to the aesthetic of his dish.

to be honest, mark thought he looked cute, his tongue poking from between his pinkish lips as his small hands manoeuvred the chopsticks he was using skilfully, arranging the disposition of the different elements.

there was something about donghyuck that intrigued mark. the peasant was so different from the people mark was usually around.

first of all, he was so foreign to the royal world and the riches that came with it, and this caused him to have an innocence about everything that astonished mark.

second, he was so easily amazed by everything around him, and he always looked at his surroundings with glistening eyes, taking in every detail and making sure to create a place for each memory in a way that looked so precious in the royal's eyes.

and third, he was abnormally simple for mark, contenting himself of so little and never complaining or being sad about it – something that royals definitely didn't relate to.

in fact, the tanned male was so different from mark, so foreign, but at the same time oddly comforting. perhaps was it the fact that mark had only ever hung out with royal people that were much older than him, but for once, mark felt like it was his responsibility to take care of this younger male the same way the others had taken care of him.

all he had ever wished for was a friend to stay with him and bring him company in this boring castle in which he had been locked in ever since he was born. and donghyuck was bringing him just that; comforting company, someone to talk to, and someone who always seemed to be amazed by every little piece of information he might learn from the royal.

so, yes, donghyuck intrigued and interessed mark a lot, and this meant he wouldn't let the boy disappear from his sight so soon.

"i'm sorry... it doesn't look as nice as the dish of your chef..." the younger declared after a while, placing the plate he had set up in front of mark.

the royal could only smile when he looked at the dish, finding it adorable how the tanned male had done his best to do something that he obviously wasn't used to.

"it's perfect." the future king simply said, the divine smell of the dish already travelling through his nose.

mark didn't waste a second more, immediately digging in the dish and savouring it – he had had a very light meal, because he knew he'd rather have more of donghyuck's dishes which were much tastier than the royal chefs'.

"so...?" the tanned male looked at the royal expectantly, his eyes never leaving mark's face.

"it's even yummier than yesterday..." the future king declared with a hum before having another spoonful of the dish.