long live the king - nct, markhyuck

♕ 21 ♕

mark had rarely had such a good night of sleep, and yet, that morning, his eyes had fluttered open so lightly, his mind and body rested more than sufficiently.

the reason for his well-being so early in the morning was mostly due to the mop of golden hair that was still nestled between his neck and his collarbone, the curls tickling his chin in a delicious way.

the future king let his eyes run over what was visible of his lover's face and body, a fond smile inevitably taking over his features as he stayed still, too scared to disturb the tanned male's beauty sleep. their bodies were completely tangled under the sheets, making it impossible – if not for their different skin tones – to identify which limb belonged to whom. donghyuck's face was pressed against mark's skin, taking in all of the warmth he could, and breathing in the royal's scent like it was something vital for him, and this could only make mark smile more.

after long minutes of staring, mark's eyes eventually fell on the boy's closed eyelids, and this had his smile faltering and be replaced by a frown. they were slightly red, a sign that donghyuck's eyes would most likely be puffy upon waking up; this had to be because of all of the crying that had occurred the night prior.

mark hated to remember the way donghyuck had broken down completely the night before, the way his tears had started cascading down his cheeks and his lips had quivered to let loud sobs slip past them. the sight of his lover so sad and hurt had caused mark's own heart to shatter, and made him feel the urge to resolve whatever was happening, to make his lover stopo crying and to reassure him, to fight against what had put his precious boy in that state...

as beautiful and enchanting as love was, it was a dangerous feeling, one that could fuel the darkest desires and cause people to make the worse decisions. mark surely wasn't aware of it before, but he had somehow understood it perfectly the night before, as his whole being was first hit by ultimate sadness from seeing his lover in a bad state, but as this sadness slowly morphed into burning rage as he came to the realisation of how hurt donghyuck really was.

donghyuck hadn't told him what had him barging into the royal palace so late at night, with a heavy heart. he had simply asked mark about his opinion on what he should do – follow his family or his own self – and mark had answered him truthfully. they belonged to a world in which the family you were born in defined who you were and what your life would be without a possibility to change it. as much as mark wanted to encourage his lover to pursue his dreams and follow his desires, he knew that this would lead him straight to his loss. mark himself would love to forget about his future duties and just run away with donghyuck to forget about all of their differences and start over from a more egalitarian stage. but this wasn't possible. mark was a royal, the future king of aes, and he had duties. donghyuck was just a peasant, someone living on aes' lands and at the royals' mercy.

anyway, to be completely honest, mark didn't think knowing what or who put donghyuck in this state was a good thing. with how mad he had become the previous night, he could only guess that knowing who or what was to blame for his lover's despair might push him to do things he could regret later on.

damn, love was indeed something powerful and dangerous...

"mmh..."

the royal looked between his arms at the tanned beauty who was stirring from his deep slumber, slowly coming back to consciousness after a long night tangled in his lover's embrace.

"morning, sunshine." mark whispered, a bright smile taking over his features at the sight of his boy's bed head, half-asleep eyes and pouty lips.

"morning..." donghyuck mumbled without articulating, pressing his body closer to mark's.

the future king could only chuckle at donghyuck's cuteness, leaning forwards and rubbing their noses together lovingly.