long live the king - nct, markhyuck

♕ 19 ♕

"hello sunshine..."

it seemed like mark was a man of his words – not that donghyuck ever doubted it, but still, he felt a weird giddiness meeting eyes with the royal the second he walked out of the restaurant after his lunch shift.

"mark!" the brunette couldn't help but let out, throwing himself in the arms of the future king, pulling him tight against his chest as if they hadn't seen each other in months. it was far from being the case, their last encounter having occurred a day prior, as they both had woken up from a – more or less comfortable – sleep in each other's embrace, but the sole thought of mark going back to the palace where his mother had seemed so hostile was enough to make him believe that she could lock the royal in forever and never let him see donghyuck ever again.

"someone missed me, huh?" the future king chuckled, returning donghyuck's hug as he spoke.

"i was scared you wouldn't come." donghyuck admitted, pulling mark tighter against him if possible.

"i told you i would." mark replied.

"yeah, but what if the queen didn't let you? or what if you forgot? or if you had changed your mind and didn't want to see me again? or what if- "

"sunshine." mark cut donghyuck's rambling short, pulling from the hug and cupping donghyuck's cheeks with his palms. "that wasn't going to happen. i don't care if my mother doesn't want me here. i wouldn't forget about a meeting with you. and i don't think it is possible that i would ever not want to see you." the royal spoke slowly, holding the eye contact with the other. "so, rest assured."

donghyuck kept his eyes in mark's for a bit longer, cheeks colouring red as his heart fluttered inside his chest. he couldn't believe how lucky he was to have someone like mark by his side, loving and cherishing him.

inevitably, having mark's such intense stare on him for ten seconds straight got overwhelming for the peasant, and he couldn't help but lower his head in shyness. this had mark chuckling at the boy's cuteness.

"so, what are we doing today sunshine?" he questioned with a brow raised, trying to put the tanned male's attention back on him. "do you plan on making me explore the place you live in."

"i'd be happy to if you don't mind." the peasant answered shyly, cheeks still a flaming colour.

"are you kidding?" the royal snorted. "getting to know you better is like the top thing on my priorities list. and i'm a future king, so i've got plenty of things on my priorities list."

donghyuck could only let out a snort himself at those words, nudging mark's arm.

"stop saying nonsense." he sighed. "let's go. i've got a lot to show you."

and that being said, mark let himself being dragged away by the tanned male, their fingers intertwining and their smiles matching the whole afternoon.

♕

the two lovers met again the next day, the day after, and two days later, but neither of them seemed to get tired of these frequent rendezvous, each day looking forward eagerly to the moment they would be reunited again.

donghyuck's village was small, and they had practically visited everything in the village and on the surrounding lands after the first day, but it didn't matter to them. neither of them could care less about boredom whenever they were together, taking strolls mindlessly across the busy streets of the village, or sharing whispered conversations under the fruit trees on the lands behind the village. their presence somehow always made everything better.