long live the king - nct, markhyuck

♕ 28 ♕

d-11 before the execution

seated with his back resting against the bars of his cell, donghyuck's eyes were fluttered close, trying to catch up with the sleep he has missed the past days. ever since him and mark had reconciled, they spent their nights together in mark's room, guarded by mujin who made sure that nobody got suspicious of anything.

the royal guard would come and open donghyuck's cell late at night and help him through the palace to get to mark's room, where both boys would spend some time together – awake, obviously, because they weren't going to waste the little amount of time they had together by sleeping – before donghyuck was brought back to his cell at the crack of dust, before the first round of guards came to check whether he had enough water to drink.

this arrangement was perfect for mark and donghyuck, both males ready to sacrifice their sleep schedule to see each other after everything they had gone through. but as amazing as all of this was, the two lovers needed to catch up with their sleep, and so, it occurred to find them falling asleep at random hours of the day – donghyuck in his cell, and mark in his royal room – all of that to be perfectly awoken after dawn for their special time together.

anyway, just like the past days, donghyuck's eyelids had seemed very heavy in this beginning of afternoon, causing him to close his eyes and let the slumber take over him, hopefully making time pass faster, and bringing him closer to mark.

however, that afternoon, as the tanned male had almost found a peaceful sleep, he heard the door leading to the dungeons slamming shut, followed by heavy yet rapid footsteps that approached his cell.

donghyuck's eyes opened, ready to face his visitor, and hoping with all of his heart that this wasn't about his execution. thankfully, all of his previous worries vanished when he saw mark's looking frantically for him – actually, not all of his worries, because mark seemed to have puffy eyes, as if he had cried.

"mark?" the younger questioned, pushing himself up and getting closer to the bars that separated mark and him. "is everything okay?"

"i-i don't know what to do anymore..." the royal explained, hands gripping at two bars of the cell donghyuck was locked in.

"about what?" donghyuck asked slowly, his own hands lifting to wrap around mark's clenched knuckles. "you seem very stressed."

"of course, i am stressed!" the royal groaned, shutting his eyes. "they keep talking about your execution, and i can't do anything about it!"

the tanned male somehow froze at those words. he knew very well what his fate was, but for some reason, he had been locked in a cell here for so long that it was starting to feel like he would be living there forever. as hard as he tried to persuade himself that one day or another someone would take him to his final punishment, he couldn't really accept it. but having mark, his lover, speaking about it out loud somehow made all of it more real.

"w-what are they saying about it?" he couldn't help but ask, curiosity getting the best of him.

"they want it to occur in five days, on the public place." the royal explained. "they want guards to cut your head off in front of everybody, but it won't happen! i will never let them do that!"

a shiver ran down donghyuck's spine.

they wanted it to occur in five days. five days.

this was only what donghyuck had left to live, to love and to enjoy. in five days, all of this would be over, his stay in this small cell during the day and his nights in mark's company. it had only been three days that the two lovers had been reunited, and they would have to part again forever in five small days...