Alligator Eyes

Epilogue

Mark wakes up to the sun seeping into the window of his house. It's a cool morning, the autumn air signaling the start of October. He tries to sit up and stretch but as soon as he moves Jinyoung flops his arm over him, trapping him on the bed. He mumbles something Mark can't understand before dragging him close. He breaths a long sigh into Mark's neck before kissing him sloppily.

"What did you say?" Mark asks, chuckling at Jinyoung's pout.

"I said: don't get up yet."

Mark turns over to face him, smiling into a kiss. "I have to get up, you should too"

Jinyoung shakes his head, since its been getting colder they've added new blankets to their bedding and its been hard for Mark to get Jinyoung out of bed. All he seems to want to do is cuddle with him in the chilly mornings. Not that Mark is complaining, it just happens to be at times when he has jobs to do.

"I have to get up, Jinyoung, I have stuff to do" Mark gives him a long deep kiss to distract him as he pries his hands off of him, rolling out of bed before Jinyoung can stop him.

"Ugh, so mean" Jinyoung pouts, the absolute cutest in the morning.

"I'll see you at breakfast, my love"

"I love you too" Jinyoung mumbles, already falling back asleep.

Mark smiles at him one last time before leaving. Him and Jinyoung moved into a little house out of the way, closer to the tree line for the privacy it gives them. Uteh's only complaint was that it might be too far away, and what if they were needed at the temple, but Mark quickly reassured him that if there was an emergency, they could get there quickly, and it would be better to make sure the people on the way were okay.

It works well for them, with Jaebeom and Jackson living just down the road, and their little siblings living in between. He gets outside to find Jackson waiting for him, leaning on the wall of their house. He asks if Jinyoung's still asleep and Mark nods. They hurry away towards the city center where they are setting up a surprise. Its been hard for Mark to keep it a secret, mostly from Jinyoung, but also from his little siblings who would never be able to resist telling him.

Last night, he told Jinyoung he had to help Uteh with a letter to Tilopen, but actually he spent the better part of the night out there setting up. He didn't suspect a thing. When Mark came home last night, he simply pulled him onto his lap, grinding him down for a quicky before they fell asleep. He sighs thinking about how effortless it has been, mixing lives he thought would never mesh.

As they reach the city center Uteh and Saran are there with their son Nyx, smiling as they raise a banner. It is the one year anniversary of Jinyoung moving here. He's been planning this surprise for a while. First they'll have breakfast together at the temple, like usual, and then Jinyoung will hang out with Mark in the temple while he finishes up some work. Just like a normal day, and then when the sun starts to set, sitting high above the pinnacle of the temple, he'll lead him down to the party where Uteh will officiate their marriage—the first of his rule.

He's buzzing with nerves over the whole thing. He and Jinyoung have talked about marriage of course, its really just a title, and Jinyoung said he wanted it. He said he wanted it to be romantic, since they couldn't get married in the temple, they needed a good alternative. Mark found exactly that, and he's basically brought his entire nation together to do it.

Jaebeom brings Jinyoung to breakfast, having to pull him out of his blanket cocoon himself, and its normal. Everything is normal, from the way Jinyoung kisses Mark's temple, love in his eyes as they eat, to holding his hand as they ascend the steps to where Mark's old room used to be, where he now does all of his work.