Archive of Our Own ^beta

Rainbows don't always appear after the rain, and if there is calm before the storm, there certainly isn't after — Donghyuck should know. 

It was a calm day, he had woken up along with the birds chirping outside his window, sunlight creeping in, after what had been the longest following of rainy days this year. He felt rather elated, waking up so peacefully. Not that he hated the rain — not at all — but there is such an easiness behind falling asleep to the thunder’s lullaby and waking up to blue skies. Donghyuck can't help but let it affect his state of mind. Although he should know better.

He can't even have a normal breakfast in the castle anymore.
It takes nothing for a sunny spring day to turn into a gloomy one when your life isn't yours to control.

Donghyuck receives the news right after he finished drinking his tea — at least his parents had the decency to wait until then. However, they don't have the same grace in addressing the matter, dropping the news the same way they get rid of their coats in the hall: like it's nothing, assuming someone else will deal with it, and someone else always does.

In this case, that someone else will be Donghyuck — because who cares what the prince thinks as long as his parents rule, right? The same way the choice is made without taking his feelings into consideration, it's announced without him having the right to say a word about it.
It's funny because his parents like to make him believe he can share his opinion if he wants, but Donghyuck sees past them, he has learnt their tricks by now.

On a sunny morning of spring — after Donghyuck finished drinking his jasmine tea — his parents tell him he'll be marrying a prince from a far away kingdom the same way one would talk about the weather: like it's boring and meaningless. Donghyuck knew it was coming. He knew he'd have to grow up and marry someone because of interests and not because of love. 
But his parents tell him he'll have to leave his family, his land, his friends — all he knows and all he's ever known — to go spend the rest of his life in a far away kingdom, a kingdom he probably can't speak the language of. 

And they tell him the same way they leave every room: assuming the servants will clean up after them.
Donghyuck doesn't have to clean whatsoever, that's just a metaphor he came up with. All Donghyuck has to do is just abandon his life and start a new one, away from everything he grew up around. He knew he'd marry for peace and not for love, but another continent sounds a little further away than what he was expecting all his life.

But Donghyuck doesn't have to clean up after his parents, he doesn't have anything to really deal with and he should be grateful for that, right? He doesn't have to worry about organizing the marriage, the trip or the gifts, so why should he protest, right?

He doesn't speak a word after that, just nods obediently and forces down the last bits of food left on his plate even if he's not really hungry anymore. 

***

Donghyuck has been a prince all his life. 
He was before being born, and despite the fact that he might not be all his life (assuming he will become king one day) he will be a royal until his very last breath.
He feels like he's wronging his teacher if he only considers the disadvantages of his status, that's why he mentally apologises to Lady Im whenever he complains — complaints that he keeps for himself exclusively, and, sometimes, for the wind to carry away.

Lady Im took care of him until he became an adolescent. She taught him most of the things he knows now: about being kind, about being empathic, about being the best version of himself he can be. Of course it's not his parents that would teach him such a thing, they were way too busy with the kingdom, Donghyuck doesn't resent them for that. Being angry at his parents because they didn't help him grow, because they were too occupied with taking care of an entire kingdom, would be very selfish. Lady Im taught him that, and now he understands. 
Now that it's finally sinking in that it's not in the place he was born that he will grow old, but rather miles and miles away from it, he understands better than ever the importance of the kingdom. The kingdom and people he grew up to love and learn how to protect without knowing any of them personally. He could never blame his parents for taking care of them instead of him. 

Yet, he still sits at his window and allows himself to be selfish, he gives himself the time to blame his parents about not letting him age in the only place he has ever known. He blames them for forcing him to leave so far away from his home.

But when your life isn't yours to control, there's nothing else you can do but blame in silence and fake gratefulness loud enough for everyone to hear.

It's barely been a week since he was told of the wedding, but the trip is already planned for mid June, right after his eighteenth birthday. A long boat trip to the other edge of the world, so long that his parents won't be allowed to accompany him because they can't leave the kingdom unsupervised for a month — so long that Donghyuck may never be able to come back. 
So, he has been thinking, walking, seeing and learning. 

Thinking about how he will do in the future, how he could just forget everything he knows and make somewhere else his forever home. Thinking about Lady Im, who won't see him become the great king he promised her he would be when he was seven, thinking about how he will never be able to make her proud, thinking about how he might never see her die. Thinking about everyone at the castle, servants or not, anyone that ever smiled at him or covered for him to his parents, anyone that saw him grow, all his teachers, all the people who washed his clothes or cleaned his rooms. Thinking about his friends, Jeno and Jaemin whom he grew up with, already bound to become great lords. Thinking about all those people that were part of his everyday, and that he will see for the last time in a little more than a month. All those people he'll have to leave behind. Thinking about Jaehyun, his parents most trusted counsellor that took him under his wing as soon as he became a teenager — because that's the age to learn business, to learn how to be a king — that has been by his side up to this day.

Donghyuck thought about asking him to come with him, if there is one person he wants there, it is him — but he can't do that. He can't ask Jaehyun to leave everything behind as well, just to keep company to a little cry baby prince who doesn't want to live so far away. That would be so, so selfish. Donghyuck is okay with selfishness, as long as he keeps it secret and it doesn't affect others. He may be a prince, but he's still human and he learned that it is a really present trait between the human species. So, he also thinks about what would happen if he were to be selfish.

He goes walking through the gardens and the towns and the mountains, to impress everything about his kingdom in his memories, souvenirs to cherish forever. Walking in the forest, where he'd go to play, where Lady Im taught him about plants and about some of their medicinal abilities (although he promised to keep that a secret), where him, Jaemin and Jeno would play hide and seek — Donghyuck got so deep into the woods once that they had to bring out his father's hunting dogs to find him again. He goes for walks in the city although he isn't usually allowed. His parents let him — they aren’t as emotionless as Donghyuck thinks — and they understand his wish to spend the most time he can seeing his land. 

They order Jaehyun to bring Donghyuck to see the sea. He had never seen the sea, or he did, but he was so young he barely remembers it. What he remembers from the first and last time he was at the beach is that him and Jeno pushed Jaemin in the water, which got them in big trouble. But Donghyuck was happy. That's what he associates with the sea: happiness. The sea also gives him some hope, because that sea — at first the river flowing through the forest — becomes an ocean, the ocean Donghyuck will cross. The ocean that will stand between him and home. He stares at the sea and at its infinity, at its non-ending extension — and he goes back to thinking because he knows that will be the hugeness keeping him away from home, but also close to it. In some way, the water that grazes the shore of his land, will one day be the same one that'll touch the sand in his new kingdom. He hopes they have the ocean close to the castle.

Donghyuck also sees the people. He sees the farmers, doctors, forgers, bakers, sewers and lawyers, meets women, girls, boys and men. All the people from the kingdom — his people — come to the castle, bringing him gifts, wishing him a good trip. They promise to pray for him, to never forget him, to watch out for him no matter how far away he will be. They will all remember their prince. Donghyuck cries that night because he knows it's true. He knows those people will keep their promises, he knows that when those new communication engines people speculate about arrive, there will be ways for them to keep an eye on him, there will be a way for him to contact the people back home even without telegrams or letters. He cries because they are honest and they love their prince and Donghyuck doesn't know what he did to deserve it, and he doesn't know why he has to leave them. 

He sees parties and the people at parties, enjoys the traditional celebrations before he can't anymore. He spends his last month's nights at balls, twirling around and flashing a smile, a smile he doesn't necessarily have to fake because those really are fun, and Donghyuck likes dancing. He spends way too many afternoons with his mother, at those tea parties she loves. They are quite boring but Donghyuck won't say no to spending some time with his mother, and her friends who are not so bad themselves — especially Lady Son. She is a traveler and before today Donghyuck always saw the world through her eyes when she'd share her adventures with him. Donghyuck always wanted to explore the world, to travel and visit new countries. He should see this wedding as a chance as well, but there's just one little big difference: Lady Son always comes back home after her travels. She has a home that waits for her, and although she wanders away from it, she always finds her way back. Donghyuck doesn't have that, Donghyuck won't have that. He's leaving for good. 

When he's not thinking, walking around or seeing places and people, Donghyuck is learning. Learning a new language, a new culture, new customs. He has to be ready, he has to make the people love him, all that while knowing himself around. He learns geography and history of the kingdom. They have quite some antecedents, wars — more won than lost — and peace, revolutions, new beginnings and a very long dynasty — of which Donghyuck will marry the heir to the throne.

They have animals, they have rain, wind, snow and sun, they have mountains, forests and the ocean. It's not much different from his kingdom. It's a bit bigger, and the temperatures are slightly colder, but it's pretty much all similar. The one thing that really marks them apart is that it's not Donghyuck's home, it's not where he grew up — and that overbalances everything else. Donghyuck learns, he learns that the wedding has the purpose of uniting the two kingdoms, not only to make one big realm, dominating two continents and the oceans in between, but also in light of their knowledge. Knowledge that combined with his kingdom's manual expertise could bring revolutionary progress. Both kingdoms could benefit under economical, medical, and scientific aspects, just with Donghyuck saying "I do". Jaehyun had mumbled something about there being small tensions as well, and this being a way as to end them. 

He learns, and Donghyuck always loved learning.

From all this learning, there is one thing he understands on his own, one thing that stands out to him and washes away selfishness and complaints from his mind. His union with this prince of the East seems to be the best thing for his kingdom, his people. And the best for his kingdom is the only thing Donghyuck cares about. The first decision he takes that makes him feel like he's finally in the good path of becoming a sovereign is that to take part in all the future exchanges before his departure, and that to accept this wedding no matter how much he's saddened to leave his land, no matter how many complaints he still has deep inside him.

If he can't die in the same castle he was born in, then after prosperous years as a king, just like he has been prepared for all his life, he will grow old reigning on his kingdom from afar and doing all it takes for it to be the greatest.

***

"Your Highness, I tried to stop them...but You know there is not much I can say to Them. Please pardon me, Lord Na is-"

With one flick of Donghyuck's finger, the maid immediately shuts her mouth. She's supposed to take care of the prince apartments but whenever Lord Na and Lord Lee come around, she can't help but silently comply. Not that she doesn't respect His Highness' orders, but there's not much a maid can say to two lords.
Donghyuck stops in front of her with a smile.

"Mina, no need to panic. Thank you for warning me, I'm sure you did your best." Mina finally releases her breath that she didn't realise she was holding. The prince is way too kind to her. 

He shakes his head and sighs, turning his head to one of the white doors. You can hear laughs coming from the room even from outside. "Those two will never learn, will they?" He pinches the bridge of his nose and walks decisively towards the door but stops midway to face the servant who's just standing there, head low.

"Mina, I think Chef Kim just finished baking some cookies, could you bring us some? And some tea?"

"Of course, Your Highness." She bows and hurries away, her black shoes clacking on the marble of the hall.
Donghyuck doesn't wait any longer to throw open the white doors between the hall and his parlour.

"Will you two ever not barge into my apartments and absolutely terrorise my servants. The next time, I'll allow Mina to call the guards on you."

Jeno and Jaemin freeze in place. They’re sitting on the couch next to the fireplace, a book open on the table in front of them. It looks like one of the many photo books from Donghyuck's younger days. 

"Now now, Your Royal Highness! We weren't doing anything wrong!" Jaemin says, breaking the silence first. He walks up to Donghyuck and wraps an arm around his friend’s shoulder.

Jeno lays his back on the pillow and huffs. "You know even the guards wouldn't keep Jaemin out."

Donghyuck goes to sit next to him, taking Jaemin's place as the lord protests.
"Then, I'll call the dragons."

"But those don't exist, Hyuck!" Jaemin chuckles, pushing one of the armchairs closer to them before sitting. There is a knock at the door.

"You don't know that," Donghyuck replies with a wink, before directing his head at the door.
"Come in."

It's Mina, with a trail of warm biscuits and full teacups, as requested. The three boys all thank her before the prince dismisses her.

"So, what were you two doing, anyways?" Donghyuck asks.

"We came to spend time with our best friend before he leaves far, far away, to never come back!" Jaemin exclaims dramatically. "What do you think we were doing?!"

Donghyuck smiles at him. "I don't know...looking at my baby pictures?" He tilts his head on the side, towards the open book on the low glass table.

"Looking at baby pictures of us,” Jeno corrects, "as we waited for you to get back so we could go through them together." 

"Where were you, anyways? What was so important that you got out of bed before 10am?" Jaemin teases before taking a bite of a chocolate biscuit, in a not so refined way. 

"In case you forgot, I am getting married, Jaemin." Donghyuck frowns.

"Oh, don't worry I haven't forgotten that!" The lord replies with a grin, "I was just wondering what could keep a prince away from his bed so early."

Jeno sighs loudly, taking his head into his hands. "Don't mind him Donghyuck, he's annoying you because he is too much of a coward to say how much he'll miss you,"  he explains, earning a slap from a pouty Lord Na.

Donghyuck just laughs, spending any time with his two friends always turns out to be a very important source of joy. He really doesn't know what he will do without them, once he leaves. Waiting for their letters won't be the same thing as having them show up at his door unexpectedly at any hour (more or less) of any day.

"I had classes, actually. But on the way here I was told my parents want to see me, so I don't know how long I can stay, still,” Donghyuck admits.
"They keep on stealing you from us, that's not fair!" Jaemin whines, "Do we have to kidnap you to spend some time together? Because we will! Right, Jeno?" When he looks at Jeno, he sees he has a serious look on his face.

Jaemin wonders if he misread the room. With all these important things going on, he tries to bring a little light any way he can. It's hard for him too, saying goodbye to his lifelong best friend. Although, Jaemin has already settled on this being a goodbye and not a farewell. He has much more liberty to travel than the King and Queen do — a little trip one day won't hurt. But for now, it's only a very futuristic project, it's so unsure that he couldn't even mention it to Donghyuck, in case of it turning out to be an empty promise. He still has a lot of business to take care of in the kingdom — he has been procrastinating more than he should have, to spend more time with Donghyuck.

"Do you have an idea of what they want to tell you?" Jeno asks, worried.

"No idea,” the prince shrugs. "But it's obviously related to the wedding, or the trip, so nothing new. Let's not talk about that, please. I'm sure the photographs from our younger days will do me better than to dwell on my departure."

"Donghyuck-" 

"Jaemin, it's alright,” he interrupts. "Spending time with you is honestly the best remedy to all of this, I really want to make the best I can of the time I have left here."

The lords both nod. The sadness heavies on the room nonetheless, even when Donghyuck promises he'll get a free day for the three of them to go to the Na's mansion, just like when they were kids, and even when they start laughing over funny stories from their childhood that the black and white photographs bring back to their minds. Maybe reminiscing makes it a little worse for the prince, nostalgia already coming to join sadness in his bags of emotions that he keeps locked away inside him, along with his selfishness.

He made the choice of doing what's best for the kingdom, after all. 
Like Lady Im said, negative emotions don't always bring negative results: Donghyuck can make comforting reminders out of the nostalgia he feels right now. 
One day, when he will be far away from home, memories will be the only things he'll have and remembering will be the only thing he'll be able to do for him to have a piece of his homeland wherever he'll go.

***

"I apologise, Father. I am not sure I heard that correctly," Donghyuck stutters, incredulous.

"You did, Donghyuck. Jaehyun will come with you. Me and your mother can't be there, but we can't let you go alone. You'll need someone by your side to help you,” the king repeats.

Donghyuck did hear correctly, he just cannot believe it. 

"Unlike your parents, it's a time I can afford spending away from the castle,” Jaehyun explains, "I'm not saying you won't do well, Your Highness, but I’m sure you could do with some help."

Donghyuck nods, "I can do with some help, Jaehyun. I'll need help. I was terrified, I really thought I'd have to go there completely alone."

"Of course I wouldn't let you travel so far away without a trusted person to serve you as a reference. It is already enough for me to not be able to witness my son's wedding!” The queen exclaims.

Donghyuck feels relieved, a huge weight having lifted off his shoulders with the knowledge of Jaehyun's presence beside him. Jaehyun continues a conversation with his parents, getting into details about the trip, the country, the ceremony...Donghyuck is not so sure. As he is not included in the discussion, he has stopped listening. His relief and thoughts are much more important at the moment. 

Donghyuck should've known his parents wouldn't have let him go alone, he knew already he'd have some of his servants with him — but from there to think Jaehyun would become his right arm...he could've considered it more. He had thought about it, because Jaehyun was the perfect person for him to have by his side, but he was afraid of being too inconsiderate. 

Knowing Jaehyun had offered himself for this made Donghyuck feel much better. Now, even though he was leaving home, he wouldn't be completely alone in that, he wouldn't harbour in a new place without anyone he knew. Roaming through empty hallways and empty rooms, with the only possibility being that to spend time with a husband he doesn't even know the face of, and of whom he only recently learned the name. 

Mark. His parents gave him the information earlier, along with a letter he wrote for Donghyuck to read during the trip. It does sound like a name of someone who lives overseas, away from the places Donghyuck knows.

Places that he is not so scared of going to, now that he knows he won't be alone. Facing new people, a new country and new customs, the new beginning — it all sounds less terrifying now that Donghyuck knows he'll have someone he trusts accompanying him. 

If he ever wanders off, Jaehyun will put him back on track, and if he ever misses home too much, Jaehyun will be there to reminisce with him. Taking on the world sounds like an easy thing when you have the right people by your side. 

Donghyuck is doing this for the well being of his people and his kingdom after all, he might have slightly less things to worry about, now that his most trusted counsellor is tagging along.
Donghyuck made the choice to make his kingdom prosper, with Jaehyun's help. 

This single little thing, washes away so many worries Donghyuck had, some he didn't even realise had stuck in his brain. He finally is able to enjoy the last weeks with his friends, with his family, with his people, with his land and its sights.

Although, there is one thought that doesn't leave his mind, but it's not an anxious thought. 
Just a little dust in a corner of his mind, not annoying, not repetitive, not insistent, but that stays there because Donghyuck can't brush it away just yet: he hopes Prince Mark is sweet.

***

Love is a bizarre thing to Donghyuck's eyes.
He knows it exists, but he doesn't know how. He knows what it is, but he doesn't know how it feels. He knows he loves Jaemin and Jeno because they are his best friends and he cherishes them more than anything else in the world. He knows he loves his parents. Although they sometimes make him sad and frustrated, he was born from their love. He knows they want the best for him and he loves them for that. He loves his country, his kingdom and its people: they made him who he is today, they are in every part of him, he loves them because they are his home.
But Love, “capital L", “o”, “v”, “e”... Donghyuck has no clue.

He remembers the first time his mother told him one day he'd marry, but it wouldn't be because he wanted to, or because he found someone he Loved — she told him then that it would be for the kingdom. Back to the days when Donghyuck was still so young, and he laughed telling the story to Lady Im because he thought that's how it was always supposed to be. He always thought marriage was in a beneficial purpose, economically speaking most of the time. What did Love had to do with a wedding? 
Now, the only reason he really knows is because of Lady Im. She taught him most of the things he knows and Love is one of them. Or at least, the knowledge he has on it.

What was bound to be the last year Lady Im would spend as his teacher, Donghyuck's twelfth year of life, was spent for the most part reading fairytales.
Just like every kid in the realm, Donghyuck learned thanks to tales and stories of princes and dragons and damsels in distress. It was absurd to him: the fact that people wrote such things about the people like him. 

The prince enjoyed them nonetheless, and although the ones where the king would defeat the dragon all alone to protect the castle were his favourites, the undying curiosity about Love made him read many stories of princesses waiting for their prince to come and save them, or kings willing to start wars for the women they loved. Those are awfully cliché, but it was the foundations of what is now his idea of Love.

But the world isn't like the one in the fables — and not only because dragons aren't real. 
Day by day, year by year, Donghyuck adapted his idea of Love to reality, because the world is less princesses in castles, and more obligations, responsibilities and progress.  He likes to believe Love exists. Although he might be able to witness it, see it in other people's eyes — he hardly recognises it sometimes, but he can tell it apart better than when he was eleven — it’s not for him to experience.

He likes to believe people like him, kings and queens and princes and princesses, leaders of lands and their people, cannot experience real Love. They are too busy doing what it takes for peace and wealth of their country to fall in Love, to find that one person who was born just for the Universe to make it their destiny.

Donghyuck's life is not his to rule until he takes the throne, and once he does it'll be too late for him to change most things in his life, that's how it is for royals. His parents chose who he'd be destined to, not the Universe. How minimal are the chances for him to find his destiny because of a choice, a prince picked between many others by his parents? Because that's what happens in fairy tales too. 
The world isn’t like the one in the fables because those are completely surreal. It's obvious the writers of popular stories weren’t royals. Reality is that him, a prince, will never know what Love truly feels like. 

You know what? Donghyuck is alright with that. He lived eighteen years without Love, his friends' and parents' affection has always been enough, he doesn't need more than that. He will marry this prince and hope they at least become good friends. He is alright with his own experience of Love being limited to that. 

Although, he is a little less alright with the lack of sunlight when his ship enters the port, a month after Donghyuck left home.

***

Dear Prince Donghyuck,
if you are reading this you are either bored on a boat on your way here, 
or bored in a country that isn't yours anymore, 
or maybe you're not bored, and that's the better option out of the three,
although also the most unlikely. 
I am Mark, your future husband and the future king. 
You are probably wondering why I am writing you this letter. 
To be brief, I am trying to anticipate my parents' next move.
I am sure you will understand, we probably can understand 
each other better than anyone else. 
I am not the most enthusiastic about this wedding. 
I had other plans, to say the least — I don't know about you...
But even if I knew I was going to marry an heir to the throne,
I hadn't expected for it to be you.
Don't take this the wrong way, I mean no harm. 
But the situation with my parents isn't the best, not that it ever has been. 
They're still trying to convince me about the marriage, 
and they won't hesitate to use you to do so as well. 
But I am sure you are not enthusiastic about it all either, right?
I am sure if we work together, we could find a way to arrange things 
in a comfortable way for the both of us.
I am sorry this has to be the first words that I address you with,
but this was the only way for me to get ahead of my parents without raising suspicion. 
They have been breathing down my neck enough these past weeks. 
Do not worry, I did not write this letter with the sole purpose of getting you on my team to sabotage our wedding, 
but to also make you aware of what awaits you here. 
I will not be able to come meet you at the port, 
I apologise in advance for that, but the city here is really big and the people
get way out of hand at any royal motion outside of the palace.
The hour of your arrival is also uncertain and 
although I would gladly be there at three in the morning,
I am pretty sure everyone has the order of letting you sleep until at least seven. 
You will be staying at the palace, 
your apartments have already been prepared and 
I hope they will be of your enjoyment. 
I wish I could've left you more time to rest after your trip, 
but you have the obligation to appear in public by my side as soon as it can be arranged,
on the same day of your arrival.
I will give you more details when I meet you in person.
I am sorry for this long letter, I can imagine this is a lot to unpack. 
Please rest well while you can.
With all of that being said, welcome to my kingdom.
I hope you and I can be friends, nonetheless.

Yours sincerely,
Mark Lee.

Donghyuck folds the letter in two and puts it back in the envelope. He checks his wrist watch: exactly four minutes past three in the morning. After sliding the open envelope in one of the books he has been reading lately, he walks back to his bed and puts the candle on the night stand before blowing it off. 
He sits on the edge, unsure if he wants to lay down again. His feet feel cold on the parquet.

He wasn’t supposed to be awake, but he's a light sleeper and when he heard the engine stop earlier he couldn't help but wake up. From the window of his cabin, he could barely distinguish some of the ships around their own, and not a single person could be seen. 
Donghyuck had tried to use Mark's letter as an outlet to help him go back to sleep, but he's not so sure he can do that now. 
At least, it's good to know he won't be disturbed before seven.

A shiver runs across his skin and he slips under the covers, eyes fixed on a ceiling he can't see as he lets warmth engulf his body. The bed is extremely comfortable, especially for a ship, he had found himself falling asleep easier than he'd expect. When he has a lot on his mind, though, not even the comfiest of beds can help.
 
There is a lot to unpack, Donghyuck doesn't even know where to start. 

Should he begin with the fact that Mark wrote him a letter to let him know he wants to find a way to dismiss the wedding? That caught Donghyuck awfully off guard, and he doesn't know if it's in a good or bad way (he wasn't expecting that obviously, but at least Mark didn't sound like one of those boring, egocentric princes.) 
And what about the fact that Donghyuck actually considered it for a short minute ? Just before he remembered that he wanted go through with this for his kingdom, and now that he has come this far, there really is no way of going back (quite literally, he seemed to understand this sea crossing happened only for this occasion, it usually only happens maybe a few times a year for commercial purposes).
There was also the fact that Mark didn't expect it to be him (he tried not to take it in a bad way but he felt slightly offended anyway) — the fact that Mark had "other plans". Or maybe the fact that even with all of this, with Mark not wanting the wedding to happen which is making Donghyuck feel like an obstacle between him and his "other plans", and maybe a little bit unwelcome too — Mark was still so kind.

Just like Donghyuck had hoped for, Prince Mark is sweet.

***

"How are you feeling, Your Highness?" Jaehyun asks, slightly exaggerating on the title —  which Donghyuck asks him to not use when they are alone.

He's sitting in front of him in one of the cars that were sent from the palace to pick them up. Jaehyun and Donghyuck had took one alone, while the few servants that came along were in another one, with most of the suitcases. Donghyuck had never been on a car, he has heard of them a lot, read of them in books, but for now his kingdom was not in function to build anything like that, not that they actually needed it.

He thinks two things the second he sits into the vehicle: they are way better than he imagined and the marriage will help his kingdom develop them, too. (Another reminder of why he left home, in case he has any doubts. The more the better!)

Donghyuck looks away from the little window. The sun is already high for the early hour, although the streets are mostly empty. When Donghyuck had been woken up that morning — at seven o'clock — his luggage had all been loaded already. They were set to leave as soon as Donghyuck was ready, to get to the castle before the city would wake up.

"Nervous, excited, indifferent..." Donghyuck answers, uncertain. He hadn't really paid attention to his emotions until he was asked to, and he's not sure he can make sense of the mixture of feelings sitting in his belly.

Jaehyun frowns. "Indifferent?"

"It's strange...but it all feels normal, for some reason. Maybe it's the fatigue, but I think I have yet to process the fact that I am not home anymore." He sighs, tilting his head back towards the window.

He can already see a silhouette in the distance that he assumes to be the palace. Yet, it doesn't really sink in for Donghyuck. When he put his feet on land for the first time after a month, he did have the impression of the earth beneath his feet slightly swinging. Then he realised he actually arrived at his destination — he knew he was not home anymore. However, looking around and thinking "This is going to be my new everyday" didn't resonate anything in him, yet.

"You do look tired, did you sleep well?" 

Donghyuck nods, "It must be the trip. Although, I woke up at some point tonight, but I fell back asleep quickly. Those beds were really comfortable." Donghyuck hadn't exactly fallen asleep right away, that was a little distortion of reality — if you consider quickly a good hour and a half. Just the time to read a letter and overthink every detail of it.

Jaehyun hums in agreement. "I hope there isn't too much planned for the next few days, so that you can get some proper rest. By the way, have you read Prince Mark’s letter?"

"Well, about that, it seems there is a public apparition planned today already. The time for us to settle in, I guess..."

"Did he tell you about any other schedules?" 

"This was the only one."

"Good. I'll prepare the agenda first thing when we get there." Jaehyun takes out his little notebook from his jacket pocket, along with his thin glasses. He starts writing down and Donghyuck takes it as his cue to space out again.

The palace has gotten closer now and the sunlight shines on the white stone walls. It's breathtaking. The architecture is much different from his own back home, but Donghyuck was expecting — and also looking forward, surprisingly — to new things. It’s immense, built on top of a hill, it towers on the entire town. He then notices the trees all around and wonders if the gardens are big and if yes how big, how the inside decor is if the structure already shines when seen from afar. It's like he's a kid all over again, and a kid who has never seen a palace. That's true in some way, because he has never seen one quite like this. Donghyuck wonders if he could touch the stars at night by putting his hand out those glimmering windows. 

It's like it jumped out of one of his fairytales.

He has been there for less than a day, yet he's already mesmerised by the unknown, which is making him miss home a little less now. He would feel a little guilty about it if he hadn't been missing everything from his kingdom as often as he'd breathe for the past month.

Jaehyun clears his throat, snapping Donghyuck out of his thoughts. Only then the prince notices his eyes glued on him as if to pierce his skull. Curiosity is eating him up.

"What?"

It's like Jaehyun was waiting to hear those exact four letters because right as they slip out of Donghyuck's mouth, he exhales and grins before flooding him with questions.

"So, how's Prince Mark? Don't tell me He just wrote to tell you about the apparition today? Did He write a lot? What did He write? Does He have a nice handwriting? How did He sign off the letter? Do You think You will get along well with Him? Have You been thinking about what He looks like? How are You feeling about the wed-"

"Hold on, calm down,” Donghyuck interrupts him, "I forget you can be worse than Jaemin at times."

"My prince, you wound me."

Donghyuck ignores him, "I only read a letter, Jaehyun. I don't know how you want me to answer half of those questions."

"Well, then what did he write? You can answer that one, can you?" Jaehyun asks, sighing.

"It's business between me and my future husband! It doesn't concern you,” the prince answers with a huff. He's trying to get Jaehyun off his case, because he really doesn't want to think about all that again. He still hasn't met Mark! He doesn’t even know what he looks like, he can't be overthinking about a simple letter already. 
That might’ve been a bad way to do it though.

"Look at you! All grown up! It was a love letter wasn't it?" Jaehyun teases, a cheeky grin on his face.

"I told you, it's none of your business! And please...tell me how could it be a love letter when we never met?!" 

"Alright, alright! I'll stop! But I'm always glad to help if you need advice, especially on that, Your Highness." Jaehyun chirps, the same grin still plastered on his face. Donghyuck turns to stare out the window again, rolling his eyes before they find the outlines of the palace getting closer and closer.

If he'll need Jaehyun's help, he'll come to him on due time. Until then, telling him his future husband wants to send him back home and cancel the wedding might not be the best option.

Although Donghyuck wasn’t a fanatic of the wedding either in the first place, he decided to keep his enthusiasm (or lack thereof) on the side until he met the prince. After all, Mark could be a hideous being, who just faked being sweet, or he could be a prince worthy of that glowing palace.

In Donghyuck's plans, the union is important, but the wedding itself is just a bonus anyways.

***

Donghyuck feels a bit stupid, because not only must he look dumbfounded, but he feels so too. When the car arrives at the palace, Donghyuck can't believe his eyes. The palace looks even bigger now that he is standing right at the doors. 

To say the gardens are vast is an understatement: they seem infinite. Donghyuck sees where they begin — with many paths all starting from the driveway bordered by bushes and flowers — but he doesn't see the end of it. It must be a labyrinth out there. He's speechless, and he hasn't even gotten inside the building. The little giggle coming from the chauffeur isn't very promising either, it must be weird seeing a prince's mouth opened wide in stupor, but Donghyuck is absolutely in awe.

"Jaehyun, do you see it?" He asks once he's out of the car.

"I do, Your Highness. It is very beautiful."

Donghyuck smiles. Beautiful is an understatement, definitely.

"Oh, here you are! You have finally arrived!"

It's a woman. She has black hair tied in a long braid, an elegant posture and a flawless face. Donghyuck catches with the corner of his eye the chauffeur bowing down, and when the woman starts walking towards them, lifting her blue dress, Donghyuck catches the jewels on her head as they reflect the sunlight.

"Donghyuck! It's so good to finally meet you." She finally says once they’re face to face. She extends her hand and Donghyuck plants a light kiss on the back of it, bowing, in copy of the country’s etiquette he and Jaehyun finished learning during the travel. Jaehyun does the same.

"Your Majesty," he greets her.

"What a polite young man! Did you have a good trip?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Thank you,” Donghyuck smiles.

"Please, follow me! Let's get you inside." She hurries.

Things work very differently compared to home. He feels like he's being greeted into a warm house by a housekeeper, no offence to the queen. Excluding the honourifics, this is exactly hoe going to Jaemin's or Jeno's manors would feel. Back home, the queen would barely ever get out of the castle, even less to greet someone at the door, even if it was a prince.

"My husband and my son are momentarily absent, but they will be back soon. I'll have you settle in your apartments and send my son to you as soon as they get back,” she explains. She continues talking but Donghyuck stops listening because they enter the hall and the view is spectacular. There are shimmering chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, ceiling that is covered in fresco and gold ornaments. 

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The queen asks.

"Very. I've never seen anything like this." Donghyuck lowers his head, "The architecture is very different back at home."

The queen smiles, "I hope you'll love staying here. If you like art, I'm sure Mark will love to show you around and teach you."

Donghyuck smiles, with a little more sadness than he would like, as he thinks of home again. 
It’s starting to sink in, how far away he is. It's almost like he's in another world.

"Johnny!"

As if summoned by the queen, a tall man appears out of nowhere.

"Your Majesty."

"Johnny, this is Prince Donghyuck from the West, and this is his secretary, Jaehyun." Johnny bows to Donghyuck, the queen continues with the introductions : "Johnny is the royal secretary and also Mark's butler, if you need anything you can go to him."

"Shall I bring them to the apartments, Your Majesty?" Johnny asks.

"Of course, of course! You must want to rest. Johnny please also update Jaehyun on the schedules. Now, I won't hold you back any longer and will go prepare the apparition for this afternoon. Wait, I forgot to tell you!” She exclaims.

Donghyuck reassures her with a smile, "Mark wrote me about it, I am aware of the public apparition." The queen seems surprised but she smiles back.

"Then, I will let you settle. Welcome home, Donghyuck," she says lastly, before leaving.

Donghyuck feels bittersweet after her last words.
He does feel very welcome, everyone has been only nice to him. But this is not home. Although, everything is so pretty and different from his home, just as their manners — in the best of ways — it's not better than home. Staying here won't be so bad — until he starts missing everyone even more. The kingdom is beautiful, and feels new to Donghyuck, but it could never be home.

He looks around, up to the painted ceilings, or the white walls, covered in paintings. His breath getting stuck in his throat at every turn by the beauty of the palace. For a while, he thinks he won't feel homesick for as long as he has more to discover around here. 

For a prince who has grown up in huge empty castles, he is not done with being surprised when Johnny shows him his apartments. The rooms are spacious and nicely decorated, light enters from the many windows all around. When Donghyuck looks outside, he sees they are at one of the highest floors, further from the gates. The extent of green sees no end even from up here.

"Prince Mark's apartments are the closest to yours. Your Highnesses have this wing of the palace all to yourselves." Johnny explains.

"What about Jaehyun?" Donghyuck asks.

"His rooms are on the wing reserved for the other servants who stay at the palace. But if you want him closer, I don't doubt we could find a way to fulfil any request." 

Donghyuck notices that except the chauffeur and Johnny, he hasn’t seen any other servants around the palace since he arrived.

"That won't be needed, thank you Johnny." 

"Of course, Your Highness. I recommend you rest for a while, I’ll send someone to call you once breakfast is ready." 

"There won't be need to prepare breakfast just for me, Johnny."

Johnny chuckles, "Here breakfast is at nine, Your Highness. Every day, except on Sundays. Very often the King and Queen are up before then, but the prince usually sleeps until then. He had some particular business to handle today."

Sleeping until nine? That's something unusual to Donghyuck, he'd always have to wake up early, and breakfast would be prepared for him, or his parents based on when they asked to have it. He surely won't mind getting used to sleeping a few extra hours.

Jaehyun clears his throat. "Johnny, can I have a minute with the prince? I'll be right out." Johnny nods before exiting the room.

"So?" He asks once the door clicks behind the butler.

"So what?" Donghyuck retorts.

"Thoughts? How do You feel? Do You need anything before I go take care of the administrative stuff with that fine piece of a man?"

"Oh my, Jaehyun!" Donghyuck gasps, looking incredulously at his secretary as he laughs sonorously.

He proceeds to ignore Donghyuck's remark and queries again, in a teasing tone. "Are you more nervous now that you know your room is so close to your future husband's?”

"Jaehyun you are insufferable!" Donghyuck sighs, exasperated. Why did he take Jaehyun with him ?

"Yet, you'd be crying without me!" The secretary hoots. Right, Donghyuck thinks, that's why.
"Seriously speaking now, do You need anything?"

"I'm fine, Jaehyun. All I need is some rest." 

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure,” Donghyuck insists. "Look at these rooms! Nothing is missing, I haven't seen the bed yet, but I know it's hiding behind one of those doors, and I'm sure it's very comfortable. I'll be great.”

"Okay, then I'll leave. I don't know how it works here but if You need help, just yell or something. I’ll get it to You."

The prince chuckles, "Thank you, Jaehyun.”

He opens the door and Donghyuck watches him close it.
Before he reopens it again.

"You didn't tell me how you felt..."

"I feel good. Just go Jaehyun."

"Fine, fine,” Jaehyun mumbles, "seriously, call me if You need anything."

Donghyuck shakes his head with a sigh. "Just go take care of the administrative stuff with that fine piece of a man!"

Jaehyun gasps, looking around to make sure Johnny isn’t close enough to hear, before looking back at Donghyuck with a scolding look. To which the prince just laughs. 
He mouths "Go" and Jaehyun finally closes the door.

Donghyuck walks to one of the many windows, it's not like he'll be sleeping — there's just a little more than half an hour left before breakfast. But he'd rather look outside than explore his apartments. He's not sure he's ready to see what will most likely be his room for the rest of his life.

A prince's apartments are most important to him, it's his own space where he can go without being disturbed — it's kind of a safe place. Donghyuck had his back home, and although the peace and quiet of it often got disrupted by Jeno and Jaemin, he loved it just like that. This room could never feel like that — Donghyuck feels like his thoughts have been way too repetitive but it's true: it's not home, so it can't feel like home. After all, Donghyuck could make new memories, and maybe one day his new apartments will feel like a safe place, but for now it's just big spacious empty rooms, that can't be filled just by a prince and all his memories of a far away place.

Donghyuck would give it a chance. Maybe he's being close minded, not taking in the positive aspects. He doesn't doubt he'll like living here, and for now the only issue he has is Mark wanting to dismiss the wedding, which might be resolved easily. Things aren't bad at all here. Donghyuck might even call this his house, one day. But he knows it'll never be like home, nothing could ever be like the land he was born on, the people who share his same blood, or friends he grew up with. There is no place like home, that doesn't ever change.

Donghyuck’s attention shifts back to his surroundings when he heard a soft knock on the door. He sighs.

"Jaehyun, I told you to g-"

"Who's Jaehyun?"

Donghyuck's words stuck in his throat the moment he turns around and he sees that no, that's obviously not Jaehyun because that's not his voice. Standing at the door is a young man with black hair, perfectly pushed to the side, a black shirt and a perfect face. Donghyuck can't seem to move, or stop staring at him.

"I'm sorry if I startled you.” An embarrassed smile tugs on the stranger's lips as his cheeks blush slightly. Donghyuck clears his throat, finally regaining control over his body as he stands straighter, readjusting the collar of his shirt. 

"Don't worry. It's...it's fine,” he stutters out.

The stranger smiles and walks closer. "It’s nice to finally meet you, Donghyuck. I'm Mark."

And there it is! It's not love at first sight — if that's what you’re thinking — it's more like a mixture of fear and surprise, creeping inside Donghyuck's mind and stomach. The realisation of some of his worst fears — or best wishes. 

Prince Mark is sweet, and he's also more than worthy of his glowing palace. Donghyuck just found out you can be even more awestruck than awestruck — because Mark is more breathtaking than any breathtaking thing Donghyuck has seen so far.

"It’s nice to meet you, Mark,” Donghyuck replies, with a light bow of the head.

It's awkward, to say the least.

They're just standing — Mark right by the door, feet away from Donghyuck’s spot next to the window — in complete silence.

Donghyuck's mind goes a mile a minute — should he answer the question he absolutely ignored? Should he directly mention the letter? Should he just shut up? Yeah, the latter seems like the best way to avoid any embarrassing situation. But is Donghyuck really about to listen to his common sense?

"Jaehyun is my secretary."

"Did you have a good trip?" They both say, almost in unison (Mark has a one second lag, but it's almost imperceptible).

"Very,” Donghyuck answers. "It was...really calming."

Mark smiles, the blush previously on his cheeks completely dusted off. "I'm glad. I'm sorry I couldn't greet you when you arrived. I was caught up in a little father-son moment, if you get what I mean." Mark winks.

Donghyuck gives him a perplexed gaze, he — in fact — doesn't know what he means.

"You don't know what I mean...That's okay." He scratches the back of his head, his voice faintly trembling. Donghyuck pretends he doesn't notice, instead he shakes his head with an apologetic look in his eyes.

Silence falls again, and the awkwardness is so palpable Donghyuck feels almost uneasy in his skin. Mark chuckles, nervous.

"Do you mind if we sit...and have a chat? Breakfast won't be served until nine anyways, and I tend to avoid sharing it with my parents. If it's okay with you.."

"Of course,” Donghyuck hurriedly replies, "Yeah of course. I do have some questions, so it's perfect." He invites him to take a seat on one of the armchairs before he himself takes place in front of him.

"You're different than what I imagined,” Mark blurts as soon as they're both sitting.

"Huh?”

"Oh, not in a bad way, don’t get me wrong. I just...thought you'd be one of those spoiled pretentious princes. But you're...not." 

Donghyuck has noticed that Mark stutters alot. 
Sweet.

"Mark, we are princes. We are spoiled."

"Yeah, yeah I know,” he chuckles, "I didn't mean it like that...I just thought you'd be all snobby...but you’re not. Which is great! You look very smart, actually. And as soon as I arrived Mother couldn't help but brag about how polite and kind you were."

Donghyuck blushes. "Well, thank you."

Mark looks down at his hands and they're both quiet again. 

Contrary to him, Mark is totally not what Donghyuck had imagined. From the letter, he imagined someone imposing but kind. Someone who'd make the walls fall off when entering a room — someone with a big aura. Instead, Mark is a little shy and awkward, someone who chuckles and scratches the back of their head if they don't know what to say. Not that he notices. 

From the letter, he also expected a rebellious prince, ready to go against his parents to live a life he was not meant to live. Instead, Mark has a perfect appearance, cured to the details, he looks almost strict. Once again, not that he notices.

The prince of the East is not exactly how Donghyuck imagined him, but at the same time he is.

He himself is a prince, and he can recognise a great sovereign when he sees one. Mark looks exactly like that: Like he'll be a great king, like he already has the wise mind of an emperor, like he knows what's best. Not that he notices.

Something in Donghyuck’s stomach tells him that Mark is not the same person when he has to take care of business for the kingdom, than when he's the little prince living alone where there's too much space to fill. Unlike Donghyuck who has always been the same — the same prince "on stage" and "behind the scenes". 

What Donghyuck notices is that the Mark who thinks for his kingdom would want the marriage, but the little prince that grew up alone wants nothing to do with it because he found something better, something Donghyuck has never known. And that makes him die of curiosity.

Mark and Donghyuck are from the same world, but at the same time two different, and very distant, ones.

"There's no servants around here?" Donghyuck breaks the silence, interrupting Mark's thorough analysis of his own hands.

The prince sighs. "No no, there are. They kind of...fill the rooms once you're not there anymore. It makes me feel like I'm alone in the world....You noticed?" He asks Donghyuck with wide eyes.

"Back at home, there are servants in every room, at all times. As soon as I entered the palace, it immediately stood out. It felt different. It felt empty."

"Yeah, it does," Mark says, looking away from Donghyuck.

"It must have been lonely, growing up here."

Mark nods. "I had only Johnny growing up. Mother and Father were very busy, they started looking at me only when I became old enough to start talking business and marriage." There's bitterness in his voice, so much of it that Donghyuck can't ignore it.

"It was similar for me too. Though, there's one important thing my teacher would say: I should never resent my parents for taking care of the kingdom instead of me, because they were doing the best for our people, while also making sure that in the future, when I'd become king, things would be the best for me too. By resenting, I was being selfish and jealous. And a king should have no place for those emotions in his heart."

Mark is speechless, Donghyuck can read it on his face. 

"That's...that's really wise." Mark smiles sadly. "I wish I had a teacher like that to teach me that when I was young."

Donghyuck has noticed that there's a lot of sadness when Mark speaks about his past, he realises how different they really are.

"We never stop learning, Mark."

The uncomfortable air between them has completely dissolved, and the silence — before Mark recommends they head to breakfast, because Donghyuck must be hungry — isn't uneasy anymore. 

They are from different worlds, but maybe Mark will learn from Donghyuck. 
Maybe Donghyuck will learn from Mark as well, but for now he'll focus on hoping Mark magically forgets he wants to cancel the wedding. Who knows, maybe Donghyuck being so different from what he imagined changed his mind. That, and the food they'll serve at breakfast, because he is starving.

***

"Are there only good looking people in this country or what?" Jaehyun exclaims as soon as the door closes behind him.

Donghyuck pinches the bridge of his nose, "Jaehyun...will there ever be a day in which you don't make totally out of place remarks?"

"Yes.That'll be the day I die, Your Highness!" 
'His Highness' sighs and slumps on one of the armchairs.

He's just gotten back from an encounter with the king after a very, very quiet breakfast. Him and Mark were alone at the big table, until Jaehyun didn't storm in. 

After their first conversation ended, Mark had been awfully quiet, like he totally closed up on himself. So except formalities — like offering him some food, and asking if he liked it — the other prince didn't say a thing throughout the entire breakfast.

Then Jaehyun arrived and started talking in his mother tongue so that Mark wouldn't understand that his secretary was freaking out about the palace, the people and now Donghyuck's future husband. 

Now breakfast is over and Donghyuck has about two hours before the public apparition with Mark because it seems that people who have late breakfasts, logically have late lunches and Mark's mother decided on them having lunch together at one of the most luxurious restaurants in the city — of which the royal family are loyal customers. 

"Jaehyun, I have a proposition."

"I'm all ears, Your Highness." He grins.

"What if you stopped talking about my future husband and told me about my schedule instead? Hmm?"

"Possessive already? It hasn't been even two hours, that's promising,” he chirps as he takes his notebook out from his pocket, ignoring the death glare Donghyuck throws at him.

"So, your schedule! You have the apparition later this morning, it's nothing big, you and Mark will just appear, have a little talk, have the people acclaim you and that's it! They do these quite often apparently, they are very public here, compared to what we know." He chuckles lightly, licks his finger to turn the page, and proceeds to scan his notes. "I prepared you a little speech, in case you'll need to say something. Just a little, “Hello I promise to take good care of you all”. Nothing big! And that's it for like the next two weeks. You are completely free!” He closes the notebook with one hand and looks at Donghyuck.

"What? That's it?” 

"Yes! At least that's all I've been told, for now. I don't know if tea parties or balls happen here, or if they're only on special occasions but for now, I know nothing else. I mean, the next two weeks will probably be busy with the preparations anyways."

"Preparations?" Donghyuck asks. "For what?"

"Preparations for what?" Jaehyun parrots, as incredulous — because Donghyuck isn't realising rather than because he doesn't know. He does know, actually. "Your wedding of course, Donghyuck!"

"Oh right. I almost forgot about that." Donghyuck chuckles, "well if that's all. You can go."

Jaehyun's mouth falls open. "What? No questions? No freaking out because you’re getting married? No thank you?"

"You’re right, I'm sorry. Thank you Jaehyun. I will rest and read the speech you wrote for me until Mark comes to bring me to meet his people. I need to prepare myself mentally for that, I think." Donghyuck eyebrows furrow and Jaehyun can't help but let a fond look take over his face, replacing the fake surprise. 

That's the boy he knew since he was ten years old, handling everything smartly and maturely, getting married in two weeks — maybe Jaehyun should keep his sappy comments for then. 

"You're doing great, Donghyuck. I'll let you rest." He leaves the piece of paper where he scribbled the speech on the small table before walking to the door. "Oh, and Donghyuck?"
The prince looks up, "Yes?"

"You're getting married to another fine piece of a man!" He winks and leaves the room, laughing at Donghyuck's protests.

Well, I have to convince him to marry me, first.

***

A soft knock wakens Donghyuck from his nap. It's the same knock from earlier so once he's rubbed his eyes, he's not surprised to see Mark standing next to the door.

"You can put it there,” he hears him whisper. A maid enters the room with a pile of clothes and a suit jacket on a hanger, and she lays them on the table Mark pointed at before leaving without a sound. That’s when Mark sees Donghyuck is awake.

"I’m sorry if I woke you up." 

Donghyuck shakes his head. “Don't worry,” he chuckles, "This is giving me déjà vu." Mark smiles.

"What is it?" Donghyuck asks.

"Oh. Yeah, it's your clothes for later. Mother insisted I brought them to you."

"Thank you." 

"It's nothing."

It's quiet again. Mark is standing awkwardly, Donghyuck is sitting awkwardly, everything is awkward! And Donghyuck thought they got over that. Apparently, it’s not as easy as he thought.

"Mark?”

"Oh right. Sorry, I'll go, you probably want to keep on resting,” he stammers, almost tripping — God knows how — trying to walk out of the room.

He freezes when Donghyuck calls him.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to sit and talk with me...Don't you also think we have something we should talk about?"

Mark's embarrassed smile slowly falls off his face as he nods in agreement but walks to sit, almost like a kicked puppy. Then it's a staring contest to choose who will speak first. Donghyuck lets Mark win.

The black haired prince clears his throat, "Have you read my letter?"

"Mark, what did you think I wanted to talk about?" Donghyuck scoffs.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe lunch or the public apparition today...or anything else,” he mumbles. He's avoiding Donghyuck's gaze, fiddling with his fingers and Donghyuck feels a little sorry for him. It’s the second time they are alone, basically the second time they talk as well and Donghyuck feels like he's making Mark extremely uncomfortable. He feels like he's an obstacle on his path. 

They've known each other for barely three hours yet Mark is already showing himself so vulnerable to Donghyuck, so awkward and clumsy and maybe a little bit sad. And Donghyuck wants to know why. He wants to know what made Mark write that letter, what were his other plans, what is keeping Mark away from just sucking it up and marrying him just like he did.

"Why don't you want to marry me, Mark?"

Mark looks up, bewildered. He opens his mouth as if to say something, then closes it just as fast. He takes a short breath before really speaking this time.

"It sounds wrong the way you say it."

"How am I supposed to say it, then? That's what it sounded like to me." Donghyuck might seem rude with how he phrases things, but his tone is calm and it's not anger in his voice: it's genuine sympathy.

"It's not like that. You make it sound like I don't want to marry you. But I don't want to marry at all,” Mark explains.

"And why is that? Are you in love with a non royal, is that it? Is it a servant?" Donghyuck gasps as he exaggeratedly covers his mouth with his hands. He makes a mental note that this is exactly how Jaehyun acts and what he would say in a situation like this.

Donghyuck definitely spent too much time with him. But it gets a little giggle out of Mark, who looked so so tense and stressed, so he'll accept it.

"No, no, please. It's nothing like that. I'm not in love with anyone." 

"Then what is it?"

Mark stays silent.

"Mark?" Donghyuck insists.

"I'm sorry. It kind of feels rude to say it out loud now."

"Listen, I've been there too. Not wanting to marry, not wanting to leave home. I said some rude things as well, so just suit yourself."

"I don't want to be stuck with someone else. Actually, I don't want to be stuck at all. I know it's a little childish but I don't want to marry someone I barely know because my parents said I should. If I have to lead the kingdom by someone's side, I want it to be someone I choose."

Donghyuck nods his head silently. He understands Mark's point of view — if he knew Love, he thinks he'd feel the same way. But they're standing on a different side, because Donghyuck wants to be king no matter what — to pay his parents back. Mark doesn’t sound like that at all.

"Do you want to be king, Mark?"

Mark doesn't miss a beat, like he had the answer ready to the question. "I don't know." And what a surprising answer it is.

"You don't know?" Donghyuck's voice raises, slightly. "You don't know? Do you care about your people, Mark? Do you care about your kingdom? Do you care about them being able to live proper, healthy lives? Do you?"

"Yes...Of..of course I do. I care about the people. I care about the kingdom...It's my home,” Mark stutters out.

"Oh really? Because it doesn't sound like it. You don't know if you want to be king! So when your father dies, and then your mother, and no one can take care of the kingdom because you don't know if you want to take the lead, then what? You'll just let things be until you decide? And what if that just brings chaos? You didn't know so whatever? Do you hear yourself? Do you hear how selfish that is?" Donghyuck didn't want to sound so mean, he really didn't. But he did not leave everything behind, he did not sacrifice his own future plans to be met with a prince that won't give up his for his kingdom. He did not leave his home to have selfishness push him back where he came from. 

But that makes Mark explode.

"Selfishness?" He spits. “All my life all I did was be selfless! Do you think I wanted to be born as a prince? Do you think I didn't want to live a normal life? I never asked for this, but I lived with it. I grew up learning how to rule a country, I grew up like no other kid in this kingdom did because I had to learn languages and mathematics and God knows all the hours I spent doing just that, while normal kids my age played, ran and just lived their life in due time. And for the longest time I didn't complain. I just did what I was told because how could there be another way? There wasn't another prince. It was me and always me, Prince Mark, future King Mark. That's it, that's all I've ever known. And I did all that without questioning it, I did that because I just accepted that's how it should be. Do you really call that selfishness?" Mark is almost panting, but he keeps going.

Donghyuck sees the anger in him, he sees it run through his veins and come out of his mouth. He sees all those years in which he just kept all of this locked up, somewhere deep inside of him.

"Just because I woke up one day and questioned how is it that I am supposed to get all I want as long as I ask yet I can't get a normal life, I won't allow you to call me selfish. Just because you always ate up whatever they told you, and never dreamt of something else, something real rather than a life that wasn't ever yours, it doesn't mean you're right, Donghyuck."

"We grew up in different places, Mark. I'm sorry if what you lived wasn't real, because my life back home was. My kingdom, my parents, my friends, everything. But a king can't be a good king if he does things hoping people will give it back to him. It was bound to get you in trouble if you grew up doing what you were told in hopes that one day, when the throne got close, you could just run away like a coward. Because you did everything when you were younger, right? So they should allow you that? Isn't that what you think? Snap out of your delusions, Mark. Grow up." The contrast between Donghyuck’s harsh words and his perfectly calm tone is unsettling. Mark is pale, it's like a punch to the stomach.

"You said it yourself, there's no other prince, there's no one else. It’s you who's going to have to be king. You'll have to marry me, inherit the throne and lead your kingdom. And that's how it is. You can't change that by saying no when the day comes, because you thought that by being a good little prince while growing up they’d have to let you. You can't risk your people's wellbeing because of one selfish wish." He articulates the last words, slowly, to let them sink into Mark's brain. And he feels horrible for it.

"Wow..." Mark breathes out with tears in his eyes. They're both standing face to face, Mark is taller than Donghyuck, but his body language is making him seem smaller and smaller.

He lets out a wry chuckle. "That's all it took? Three hours? My parents already brainwashed you? God, I didn't even see them talk to you. I really thought you could be on my side." 
The next thing he knew, Mark stumbled out of the room.

Donghyuck lets himself fall back onto the armchair, wishing it'd swallow him up. He feels empty, he's out of breath, he ran out of words, his thoughts are still. All except one, flashing in red letters, along with a blaring alarm in his ears: Donghyuck is a hypocrite.

He's a hypocrite and he knows it very well: that he just forced all his own locked up emotions on Mark, because the other had the courage to keep and speak the thoughts Donghyuck was forced to push down.

He's a hypocrite because he yelled about Mark's selfishness, because he thought his motive was fair: just because he thinks his sacrifice — the one of leaving home for the best of his kingdom — is more rightful than Mark's — the one of giving up his childhood for the best of his. He's a hypocrite because on the first lines he thought about how this life wasn't his own, and will never be. He's a hypocrite because he's jealous. 

He's a hypocrite and a coward, because he let those ideas go and accepted his fate blindly, while Mark heard them and let them grow because he considered them and used his own brain. He's a hypocrite because he didn't do anything about it and just obeyed like a puppy, while Mark won't.

He's a hypocrite because he made his choice of following orders because he saw the positive outcome it could still have as a compensation, while judging Mark for expecting something back from his actions — because once again he thought his were more rightful.

He's a hypocrite and he knows Lady Im would be ashamed of him. He just did something she taught him to never do: impose his opinion on someone else, ignoring their reasons of belief. He just got angry because he himself was being selfish — thinking he couldn't let Mark ruin this now that Donghyuck had already came this far and accepted that he would never go back home again.

Lady Im would be ashamed of him, but he's already ashamed of himself.

Donghyuck managed to mess up whatever he and Mark could ever have on the first day they met, after three hours, on their second conversation ever. Which might have been their last. 

Donghyuck is extremely ashamed of himself, because he did that, while in the end Mark still blamed it on his parents. Donghyuck was in the wrong, although some of his arguments weren't. He was mean and tried to convince Mark, ignoring his feelings.

Yet Mark assumed it was his parents. Not him, not the one that actually said all those mean things out of pure spite, no. His own parents. Donghyuck wonders what they could have ever done to him. He wonders what they could have ever told him for him to take in everything he threw at him and still blame it on his parents, convinced they had something to do with how Donghyuck was trying to convince him.

Mark's parents really must've done something for him to believe that and that makes him realise just how different their worlds are, the differences all hanging from the same thin string: who birthed them, who educated them, and who didn't. Although Donghyuck was unhappy with some of his parents' choices, it could never be in the way Mark was unhappy with his parents. He doesn't want to pity Mark, but he feels like Mark really had it worse. 

The difference between their worlds keeps on separating them further and further, and Donghyuck realises because he said such horrible things, yet Mark didn't believe they could really come from him.

Donghyuck was mean and yet Prince Mark, deep down, was sweet.

***

Donghyuck isn't surprised by the heavy silence in the car, filling all the empty space.

He's alone with Mark, Jaehyun and Johnny preceding them and Mark's parents in another car to the public square, which was also named the royal square due to the many presentations the royal family did throughout the years, always at the same place. 

Mark doesn't even lay his eyes on Donghyuck — not that he notices, not that it surprises him. The silent treatment was the minimum he'd expect.

The city he previously drove through doesn't look the same: it feels alive now.
People walking on the sidewalks, shops and boutiques' showcases shimmering and filled, kids with their parents, street sellers going around with their loud voices calling for people's attention.

All of them turn around when they see the cars pass by and it’s something Donghyuck isn't quite used to: men take off their hats to wave at them, women and kids wave and exult. And then, they get back to what they were doing.

The prince notices soon enough that they are all walking in the same direction, following the cars.

"We're here,” Mark says dryly. Donghyuck moves his gaze from the right window to where Mark is looking at, and the sight is something he isn't used to seeing. 

People, everywhere. 
There is a crowd covering every inch of the square, and the people still come. Kids on their fathers shoulders, women at their husband's arms, young girls with their friends, farmers, bakers, forgers, everyone has come to see Mark, and...him?

This gives Donghyuck déjà vu, although the only time he saw so many people all in one place was at his mother's birthday party — and actually the guests were probably half the people present today. The engine stops and the car door is opened from the outside. Mark is the first one to get out and the roaring of the crowd leaves Donghyuck's mouth dry. The prince gulps before he decides on finally getting out — he hadn't realised he was this nervous. 

Mark reaches his hand out for his. 

"Just go with it and let's get this done. Okay?" He whispers softly. He has a little smile on his mouth and Donghyuck believes his anxiety is showing much more than he'd like it to. He just nods at Mark, taking his hand. 

When he steps out of the car, lights and noise run through and over him, but what Donghyuck focuses on is Mark's arm wrapped around his own. Donghyuck is not used to this, he's not used to pretending — not as well as Mark is, at least.

Mark is a natural, with a charming smile plastered on his face as he waves at people around him with his free hand. Donghyuck doesn't know what to do, he just copies Mark, gesture by gesture. They walk along a path traced for them between the crowd, going up to a sort of lifted platform. Mark's parents are already there, sitting on two fancy chairs, Johnny and Jaehyun by their side.
The walk there seems to take forever, but after minutes that seem as long as hours, Mark lets Donghyuck go up the stairs before him like a gentleman.

The people clap as Donghyuck goes to stand next to the King, Jaehyun on his right.

"How did I do?" He whispers to him.

"You did great, Your Highness,” Jaehyun winks, with a smile and a voice quieter than the wind.

Donghyuck is not used to this, to people staring at him like he's some superhuman being, like they owe him something. He doesn't listen to what Mark is saying, as long as millions of eyes aren't fixated on him anymore. Donghyuck doesn't miss the prince's sweet look when he introduces him as "his future husband, Prince Donghyuck from the West”. It gives him whiplash. And he is so not used to this.

Walking forward, to stand by his side, Donghyuck now feels like he owes all these people something. He's used to speaking in public, he always felt like he was good at it — until today.

His throat is dry as he scans, slowly, the faces in the crowd. Mark is still by his side, and he's not used to the smile he gives him — as if they hadn't spit at each other's faces thirty minutes ago. He's not as good as pretending, he hopes no one can tell — he's glad Jaehyun can't see his face because he knows he could tell. Men, women and kids are all hanging at his lips, he can tell. He smiles, in hopes to show assurance — they'll think I know what I'm doing, he hopes. 

"Good morning to everyone. It's an honour to be here, " he starts. Donghyuck notices the look of surprise on some people's faces — yes, I can speak your language, he tells himself before proceeding. "From where I come from, speeches like these don't happen often, there is still much I have to learn, but I'll do all that is in my power to promise the best for you all." God bless Jaehyun and his writing skills.

The crowd cheers for him too. He could swear he hears Mark sighing in relief.

Donghyuck thinks that's it, it's done. It's time to go have lunch and leave all of this this behind. But he's wrong. The queen stands and walks to the front of the stage, Johnny follows with two boxes on a silver plate. Donghyuck isn't the only one surprised: he sees Mark's eyes in total panic. This wasn’t planned.

"Now that you have all met your future kings—"
Cheers interrupt the queen, who shushes them with a finger after a minute. "It is time you meet the fiancés." She smiles warmly at everyone, Donghyuck, Mark and Johnny as he walks forward with the two boxes, as if Mark's mother didn't just say what Donghyuck thinks she said.

This wasn't in the plan, he is so not used to this. 

He sees Mark trying to keep his calm as the crowd goes wild. What are they? A circus? This is something Donghyuck doesn't want to have to get used to.

The queen opens one case, then the other and both princes can confirm the content is exactly what they thought it would be. Two silver rings with a little gem, there's a topaz casted in a sun shape in one, and a diamond in a moon shape in the other.

Donghyuck studied this well, these stones weren't chosen just like that. He knows for fact that topazes are commonly found in his kingdom — some of his people made a lot of money thanks to the stone, wether it was the miners or the jewellers — and he remembers reading in a book that here, in Mark's kingdom, diamonds were the most common gems. This wasn’t just a coincidence. 

Mark looks at Donghyuck with wide eyes — Don't look at me like that, I got here this morning, he tells him telepathically — then he looks over at his mother. Her smile doesn't falter, it looks almost sarcastic right now, totally out of place due to the situation. Mark gulps, it's not like the thing isn't obvious enough. Without her smile wavering even slightly, she mumbles Mark's name through her teeth. Her son takes the case with the sun ring and then reaches for Donghyuck's hand hanging along his side.

His hands are shaking. 

Donghyuck looks at him while he slides the ring along his fourth finger on the right hand. Mark doesn't look at him for even one second. The moment seems to last forever, but once he's done, Donghyuck does the same. He remembers reading the engagement ring should go on the right hand, because the left one is reserved to the wedding hand: for it to be closest to the heart. Donghyuck's unsure Mark will want him close to his heart, in any way. He guessed after their argument earlier that day, but the way Mark's pretending to look at him with his eyes focused on a far away point right over Donghyuck’s ear leave no trace of a doubt. Anyone could say Mark’s looking at him: but he isn't, at all. Mark hasn't looked at him since he said his speech. 

So Donghyuck really is glad he'll be putting the ring on his right hand, it's better that way, Mark surely wants it that way. He doesn't want to worry about the day he'll have to put a ring that'll reminds Mark of him the closest to his heart. Donghyuck also doesn't want to worry about having to get used to crowds witnessing moments like this, it would have never happened that way had it been back home.

Once the diamond moon is placed around Mark's ring finger, his mother takes both of their right hands and places them one next to the other. Donghyuck’s not used to this: eyes pointed on him, exulting, cheering and whistling, and he understands that's how Mark's kingdom works, but it's one thing he won't get used to, ever.

The daylight reflects on the topaz and the diamond, before the queen calls the end of the event and both Mark and Donghyuck simultaneously take their hands back where they were: Donghyuck's behind his back, Mark's curled up in two fists.

***

Donghyuck would rather be up on that stage with twice more people staring at him instead of sitting at this lunch table with the king, the queen and their son. He fears if he moves even a fraction of a millimetre, the tension in the air will cut his skin. 

No one said anything since they arrived at the restaurant — except to order — and the food has now been served and finished. They aren't ignoring the elephant in the room, they invited him to sit at the table with them and Donghyuck has reasons to believe this isn't unusual for the royal family.

It’s awkward. Donghyuck wants nothing to do with this. His day has been stressful enough, actually — his first day here has been more stressful than his entire life back at the castle. 

He really wants to go home, but for now, he'd be okay with just going back to the palace.

Mark clears his throat, and it's like the entire room gets filled with light and Donghyuck imagines him riding a white horse, like he jumped out of one of his fairy tales.

"Father, mother, I think Donghyuck should go back to the palace. He should rest some more." 

My knight in a shining armour, Donghyuck thinks.

"That's a marvellous idea, Mark." His mother smiles, "Jaehyun! Joh-" 

Mark interrupts her, "I think I should accompany him."

The queen is about to retort but Mark's father claps his hands. "Yes, you're right Mark. You two go ahead and go home to rest."

Donghyuck smiles and thanks them for the meal as he stands up, but the sovereigns are way too busy whispering frenetically between them. They're arguing about something, that's easy to tell but Donghyuck couldn't care less right now, all he wants is to be alone. 

Mark seems to be of the same advice — Donghyuck should be alone — because he started walking away and Donghyuck would've lost him if he had waited a second more. He runs after him but he must have took a wrong turn somewhere because, yes he is outside of the restaurant, but Mark is nowhere to be seen.

Instead, it's screams who greet him and he absolutely can't process what is going on because of the overwhelming information his brain is receiving from all sides. Voices calling — yelling — for his name. Hands tugging at his clothes, his arms, his legs. All his eyes register are blurry shapes moving fast — he doesn't know what is happening. His head spins as more hands touch him, as more noises pierce his ears.

He could faint. Maybe that's exactly what’s happening: he's hallucinating before he loses consciousness. It's probably the sleep deprivation, or maybe something he ate. What if someone had poisoned his food? What if they were trying to get Donghyuck killed? With the throbbing pain in his head, the ringing in his ears, his blurry vision and all the pulling and pushing he feels at every end of his members — maybe that's exactly what's happening. This does feel like one of the many death possibilities he had imagined. His eyelids feel heavier and the screams in the background slowly fade into nothingness. 

Until he hears his name.
Until he sees a silhouette making his way to him.
And an arm around his waist, strongly holding him, pulling him closer.

The piercing sounds don't stop, but the tugging does. He hears a faint voice that sounds like Jaehyun's — or maybe it's Johnny's — telling people to back off. But he's being dragged away, through, he realises, a crowd of people. His vision still doesn't focus but a faint smell of vanilla reaches his nostrils. He can't even stand on his own two legs, but two strong arms hold him up, one still with a tight hold around his waist, the other holds his hand. 

The world moves in slow motion and Donghyuck feels sick. He's not used to this.

The more he blinks, the more the dark silhouettes around him take actual shape and colour: the people from the royal square. The kingdom's people. 
He looks down at his clothes, they're ripped, messy — and somehow his legs are actually moving.

Then he looks up, and he sees Mark.

Mark holding him, Mark pushing through the crowd in the path Jaehyun and Johnny made for them with the help of some guards, Mark looking straight in front of him, with worried eyes and angry traits. Mark who then looks at him, and the world stops.

Their faces are so close, and Donghyuck still feels so dizzy. His eyes don’t move from Mark's dark ones for what seems an eternity. The screams have stopped, his body finally responds. He quickens his step to keep up with the other prince the moment his legs allow him to — and then it's like the world moves two times faster.

Mark breaks the eye contact and in a blink of an eye, he's helping Donghyuck into the car. 
As soon as the engine roars and the door is closed, he snaps back to reality. He sees, he hears and he feels.

He wasn't dying. He wasn't hallucinating. He wasn't poisoned. He was jumped by the people of his future kingdom. Did he do something wrong? Already? 
He's not used to this, he shouldn't grow used to this. He shouldn’t have to.

"Donghyuck are you okay?" It's Mark.

Mark is still there, his hand on his shoulder, slightly caressing his neck in hopes it doesn't get noticed. But Donghyuck does notice.

He nods, not sure of how much he can trust his tongue right now. Does it even work?
Mark sighs in relief, his shoulder relax and his touch becomes softer — and Donghyuck feels it.
His eyes dart discretely to Mark’s hand on his neck, who follows them and becomes conscious of what he was doing. 

He abruptly jumps off, sitting straight on the seat in front of Donghyuck’s, and we're back to the Mark the prince who just met him can tell is not the normal Mark.
We're back to Mark avoiding even looking at Donghyuck. The Mark who'll go back to being mute, after he says what he wants to.

"I told you the people get a little out of hand,” he blurts out dryly, "How could you just walk out the front door like that?"

Donghyuck wants to fight back, to yell that Mark was the one that walked away so fast that Donghyuck couldn't follow him. That what happened is not normal, that people shouldn’t react like that, that people shouldn't even manage to touch a member of the royal family.

He wants to argue that maybe he should've been warned about crazy people waiting outside restaurants to jump on a prince like a tiger on its prey. Instead he stares at him, bewildered, angry, sad, spaced out — puts all the emotions flashing through him in his gaze — and he takes a deep breath and ignores him.
He stays quiet and ignores Mark, closing his eyes.
He's not curious about what there is outside, anymore.

All Donghyuck wants is to go home.

***

All Donghyuck wants is to go home.

He feels like a baby running to his mother's gown as soon as things go wrong. Except he is a prince in a foreign land, about to marry an heir who does not want the wedding, and who doesn't look at him. He's alone in an empty palace he doesn't know because Jaehyun has been busy with the ceremony and God knows what else. 

He has no one, so of course all Donghyuck wants is to go home.

The countdown to the wedding is going slowly, but there's only a week or so left, and Donghyuck's days follow the same pattern. His days were never this boring, and maybe that's exactly why he's getting homesick now. With days as empty as every room in the palace, he has nothing else to do but reminisce about where he comes from. 

He has nothing else to do but lay in bed and think about all the time spent with Jeno and Jaemin in his apartments, where they played, laughed and shared secrets. He has nothing else to do but wander around the garden and remember the forest, the trees, the flowers, hills and mountains from his homeland. And the sea. He has nothing else to do but walk in the big hallways and remember his own castle, his home. 

Sometimes he walks into Mark, lonely just like him. It's funny because they were supposed to keep each other company, yet all Mark does is flee every time he sees Donghyuck, all he does is ignore him. Donghyuck tried to talk to him: each time, the second he'd open his mouth Mark would be gone. 

If he were home, he wouldn't feel so lonely.

He feels like a prisoner inside the palace with nothing to do, no one to talk to. He thought he'd be busy with business matters — at least. But he hasn't seen the king or queen since the (catastrophic) lunch the day of his arrival. 

Even on the rare occasions Jaehyun finally comes knocking at his door — all giddy and excited about the marriage, and he is not the one getting married — Donghyuck smiles to him, listens to him talk but he avoids all the questions about Mark as well as all the ones about home. He hopes Jaehyun won't figure it out, but it's a foolish hope.

Jaehyun is Jaehyun, he has known him since he was ten years old, he'll figure it out and if he has already — he's just being polite.

Maybe if his friend (not secretary, not right now) wasn’t so constantly busy, Donghyuck would feel a little better — to have Jaehyun by his side like the good old days. But it's not the case, so what can he do, more than this? He’d find shelter in one of Lady Im's teachings, if they didn't make him sad because it makes him think of home and all the people he misses.

He has nothing, so all he wants is to be home.
When Donghyuck was home, he had everything.

All he has now is memories, and apparently a really bad hearing because he doesn't notice Mark until the prince walks into him. Literally. 
He has a book in his hands.

"Could you please watch where you're going?” He says through gritted his teeth and — Donghyuck can't believe his eyes — he looks at him while doing so! Ah, to think this is where boredom got him: noticing when Mark does something different, when Mark acknowledges him. Ah, to think he and Mark still don't know each other...

Donghyuck, too caught up in his thoughts, didn't notice Mark walking past him already, nose back in his book. "’Hey, maybe you shouldn't read while you walk,” he scoffs, "what are you reading anyw-" 

Mark closes the book to show the cover to Donghyuck, but the latter has already seen the title: The West. There's a painting of the city, his city, and you can see his castle in the background. 

His breath catches in his throat and his heart suddenly feels so, so heavy. Why hadn't he thought about books? He had brought quite a few from home, but all were about Mark's kingdom. Asking about the library had never crossed his mind, and Donghyuck seriously wonders why.

"You have books about my h-"

"Since it looks like I have no other choice, I might as well learn something,” Mark interrupts Donghyuck with a voice full of resentment. It's dripping in annoyance and anger, but Donghyuck can identify a point of sadness that Mark probably doesn't even notice he put there. Donghyuck knows, he's been there too. But why would Mark be angry about having no other choice?

Wait — why would Mark be angry at him for not having another choice? Does he really think Donghyuck had one?

"I could tell you about it,” Donghyuck suggests, his voice suddenly very soft. The idea of talking about home to someone, finally, makes him feel so light.

"I'll pass."

"Listen Mark-"

His jaw clenches. "I don't want to listen to my parent's puppet. Thank you." 

"I'm not your parents puppet. It wasn't your parents," Donghyuck says vaguely, but Mark knows. 
Mark understands exactly what he means, Donghyuck doesn't know if it's good or bad. The hallway is quiet. Mark's standing slouched. He looks so small.

"Well that's not any better, is it?" He mutters before he walks away. Just like their encounters the previous days: Mark is just gone, like he disappeared somewhere, maybe the ground swallowed him. Donghyuck would like it if the ground swallowed him instead, but it doesn't so he's left standing there, staring into space. 

He should go look for the library.

***

"Lunch?"

"Yeah, you heard me right. So get up from there and dress properly,” Jaehyun says with his usual bright tone, but Donghyuck doesn't budge from his armchair.

Donghyuck shakes his head in disapproval. "There is no way I'm going out of the palace after what happened. You know that right?" 

"No one said anything about leaving the palace, Donghyuck,” Jaehyun explains, "You're having lunch here like every other day, except it's everyone at the same time: the king, the queen, the prince and I think his grandmother as well."

"Oh great. Introducing me to the family,” Donghyuck mumbles, sarcastic.

"Huh?" 

"I'll go get ready." 

Donghyuck ignores Jaehyun's frown when he exits the room. Giving too much attention to Jaehyun's curiosity can make him even more suspect. Although Donghyuck isn't hiding his lack of enthusiasm about the meal, he wouldn't want Jaehyun to get too curious.

Hopefully, lunch turns out better than the previous one.

Mark is waiting outside Donghyuck’s door. They don't speak (which isn't news for anyone) they walk silently down the hallways. Donghyuck guesses Mark has to accompany him. He imagines they'll have to pretend, he came to learn that's all they do here, in the East.

That's why, although it freaks him out (like just a tiny little bit), he waits for Mark when they arrive at the dining room. He watches him shrug his whole body, like an actor trying to relax before going on stage, and put a smile on his face, before they walk in. Donghyuck still doesn’t know why he does that, he doubts he'll ever know now.

The thought of Mark walking down the aisle with that same fake smile makes him sick to his stomach.

Mark’s parents are already sitting at the huge table, but they're not alone. An old lady, with shiny grey hair, perfectly tied up in a bun, is sitting next to the queen. Donghyuck gulps.

Her lips are pursed and everything on her face screams age and wisdom. With how things are in this kingdom, he fears this lady, who he guesses is Mark's grandmother, will be strict and judgmental — nothing on her face leaves place for another guess. 

Until the woman turns around when she hears their steps on the marble floor. Until the woman sees Mark. The joy that takes over her face makes her almost unrecognisable.

Mark rushes to her side to give her a hug as his grandmother just coos at him. Donghyuck doesn't know what to do with his body. It's only rightful to greet her politely, but he doesn't know if he should stand behind Mark, slightly shifting on his feet as he watches the reunion. 
Not that he notices, but Mark's smile had changed once he pulled back from the hug, now it looked real. 

The lady finally notices his presence and Donghyuck is relieved to see she has a smile in store for him too.

"What a charming young boy,” she chimes when Donghyuck introduces himself — she has a very lovely voice. Donghyuck never met his grandmother, but Mark's is exactly how he would have imagined a grandmother to be like. She has a very comforting and spring-like aura, it's like she'd make flowers bloom and she does look like she talks to birds, Lady Im used to do that. 

Yeah, that's exactly it! Donghyuck thinks once he's taken his place next to Mark.
The lady reminds him of his childhood teacher, and there he goes: missing Home again.

A conversation builds up nicely, mostly between Mark and his grandmother, but also his parents and it's the first time Donghyuck has seen them exchange so comfortably, it's the first time Donghyuck doesn’t feel like his presence is out of place at the dining table. Although he doesn't find a way to fit into the ongoing discussion he doesn't feel awkward, he looks and listens to the family talk and that's exactly how it feels: like family. Not to him, not at all, but it's that good feeling when you listen to people talk and you see things are well between them.

Usually he'd see Mark pretending, especially with his parents, but it's genuine now. It looks genuine, he looks happy. Maybe it's all because of his grandmother's presence that things are so well, or maybe Mark suddenly fixed whatever silent war was going on between them. Donghyuck will take it.

It reminds him of the meals he'd have at home (the ones where his parents didn't drop news bombs like they were nothing), and on this sunny day, for the first time since he arrived, Donghyuck feels good. 

Lady Lee takes a sip from her glass and then turns to Donghyuck. "Donghyuck, please tell me about your kingdom! I haven't travelled to the West in a long time." 

"Well, it's different from here." He gathers his thoughts. "It's a little less frenetic, if I must say. I don't have the sea as close to the castle as it is here, and we have long extents of fields going on for miles and miles — until the horizon." He gets lost in his memories, a soft smile on his lips. "The food is also very good — just like the food here, of course — it's just different types of food. And well, the weather in summer is a little warmer, so I absolutely don't mind the fresh air here." Lady Lee chuckles in reply.

Donghyuck looks down at his plate, he misses everything from home.

"You have a very nice way of speaking of your land," the king remarks, "it's like you still live there."

Donghyuck bites his tongue and still manages to force a smile before he focuses on his plate. He fills his mouth with food so it stops him from talking.

He knows the king didn't mean it the way Donghyuck took it, he didn't sound like he was implying anything. It feels like a double edged sword nonetheless, a bittersweet reminder that Donghyuck has a new land now, a new home. You don't live there anymore, in case you had forgotten.

That's what it sounds like to him and Donghyuck has to fight to keep the tears away. When did he get so emotional? 
When did the silver plate in front of him and its contents become so interesting?

"Donghyuck has been telling me about his home a lot,” Mark blurts as his hand flies on top of Donghyuck’s resting on the table. "I was very curious, and we’ve been looking at books too."
Donghyuck is looking at him, shocked. Mark turns around with a grin and asks "Isn't that right?"

Donghyuck, still in shock, barely nods, now focused on Mark's hand, his moon ring sparkling over his own hand. Mark follows his gaze, curious and when he notices he retreats his hand to place it back in his lap as quickly as he had placed it on Donghyuck's earlier.

"That's so sweet of you, Donghyuck,” the queen comments. 

"That's the best of ways to learn,” Lady Lee adds, "The stories Donghyuck has to tell are probably more interesting than any you could find in those books, Mark. I'm very glad to see you two get along well, it really was a good idea."

The last bit of her sentence gets all of Mark's and Donghyuck's attention, they don't notice how insistently staring they are.

"Idea?" Mark sputters.

His grandmother hums, "I was the one who choose who you'd marry. Your father was of a totally different opinion. But an old mother always gets what she wants." She chuckles, but Mark's not laughing at all.

Donghyuck can hear the gears in his brain, but he has no idea what he's thinking. 
He can guess he's probably asking why he had to marry anyone, and why it had to be Donghyuck. A lot of "why"'s and no "because". Donghyuck takes the leap instead of Mark.

"Why me?"

Lady Lee smirks, as if this is exactly what she had been waiting for. "I knew your grandparents, me and my husband, we used to be friends with them. We'd exchange letters during the year because it was our only way of communication until our annual meeting. This union was planned by your grandfathers” — She nods towards Donghyuck and then towards Mark — "back then. No matter what happened, you two were meant to be."

After that, the room becomes so quiet you could hear one of the petals from the roses in the vase fall to the table. It's like time stopped ticking and the birds have stopped singing. There's a knot in Donghyuck’s throat.

She frowns and the prince seems to finally be able to see the age on her face, "Donghyuck, you’re smart: I'm sure you know what this is all about. What all of this will bring, what marrying my grandchild could do for your kingdom."

"Mother, I don't think we should talk about this..." The king interrupts with a nervous chuckle (so that's where Mark got it from). That doesn't stop the staring contest between Donghyuck and the old queen.

"I know." He finally speaks, voice still like the water in their glasses, "But it seems like Mark doesn't." Maybe if Mark knew, he would marry him — but wouldn't that be out of pity?

"Know what?" Mark asks, tense.

There's a light obscurity in the room all of a sudden, like the sun is being covered by a passing cloud. No one answers. 

Donghyuck doesn't want to get into it. He doesn't want to admit out loud what everyone back home kept secret from him, what he had to figure out on his own. Admitting it out loud would mean make it real, Donghyuck just needs to go through with the wedding for it to be solved and he's so close to doing that without acknowledging it.

Because what if it's not true? What if he's wrong and right now, Mark's grandmother is talking about the other thing. He doesn't want to think that his grandparents predicted it years ago, there must be a reason it was kept a secret, right?

Then, Lady Lee starts laughing, melodiously so. The suddenness almost startles Donghyuck, but the clouds move away from the sun — who seeps through the window — and the birds are singing again.

"You didn’t tell Mark about all the progress we could make? I thought he loved cars! He'd be glad to know what we could do with the materials from the West!" She laughs and Donghyuck realises he wasn't the only one holding his breath when the king lets out a sigh. 
At the mention of cars, Donghyuck sees Mark’s eyes twinkle, although he's trying to force his smile away.

Donghyuck turns to face Lady Lee again. "And not only that," he adds, this is what he wanted to talk about since he got here, "but with our knowledge in medical herbs, and your science — which is amazing by the way, I could only read so much about it — we could make remarkable progress in the medical department."

"Medical herbs! I remember your grandmother used to tell me about those!" Lady Lee replies enthusiastically.

"That sounds cheaper than what we are trying to use now," the king butts in, "I hadn't focused on this aspect but...that's brilliant."

"It doesn't only sound cheaper, it is cheaper! The less money it costs, the easier it will be to make it free and available to all," Donghyuck explains. "Medicine is the only thing I could actually research on” — Lady Im taught him all she knew on the subject (which was a lot), he knew it wasn’t for nothing, it had a bigger purpose — "and I believe it's one of the most important things. Not only can medicine help lower mortality, but we'd need health establishments and that could offer more jobs."

Lady Lee exults, "Incredible!"

The conversation continues, jumping from idea to idea, solution to solution, hypothesis to hypothesis — Lady Lee should've come sooner if that's when he could've finally talked about all of this. All of the projects building up inside his head.

This is all it takes for Donghyuck to feel a little less homesick, because he feels like he has a purpose now, he feels like his presence here is needed: he doesn't feel like an obstacle anymore. He feels like he can finally really do something.

Donghyuck pretends he doesn't notice how quiet Mark is, until the end of the lunch he doesn't say a word. While both his parents and his grandmother are conversing vivaciously with Donghyuck — his meal is long finished — he's silent, in his corner.

If Donghyuck wasn’t so aware of everything about Mark, he wouldn't have noticed if he had left. It's like Mark didn't exist, but Donghyuck noticed.

He finally speaks again only to say goodbye to his grandmother, after the dessert, after they all moved out to the veranda to drink coffee, after they have completely depleted the well of Donghyuck's propositions. Then he leaves, and it's like he was a ghost and no one except Donghyuck could see him.

It's the feeling at the pit of his stomach that sets Donghyuck off. Something was up with Mark, he didn't talk because he didn't want to, not because he didn’t have anything to say. At the lunch table, Mark became transparent, and no one minded, no one noticed — except Donghyuck.

 And Donghyuck notices, because Donghyuck has been so strangely aware of everything Mark, lately.
Maybe it's because of the lack of contact with Mark: he hasn't spoken to him properly since that day and things were left off so hastily that of course Donghyuck couldn't stop going back to it. His days are filled without Mark (at least physically), so of course he becomes overly conscious about anything he does or doesn't do as soon as Mark is around him.

Donghyuck notices Mark disappears like water slipping out of your hands if you try to hold it (maybe he really is a ghost!) 
As he walks back to his room he also notices that the enthusiasm he felt just moments ago is completely gone, washed away the moment Mark hogged his entire brain like a perfume too strong that fills the room before the person does. 

The fact that Donghyuck has no idea what Mark is thinking upsets him almost obsessively, because Donghyuck wants to know, he wants things cleared between them too. 

He wants to apologise and then he wants to understand, he wants to know everything Mark thinks about and why, he wants to know what happened between him and his parents, he wants to know why Mark pretends so much and he wants to know if Mark looks as clueless about this whole thing as it seems because then — he could understand why Mark doesn't want him, why Mark doesn't want the wedding. And he hopes that will take the uneasy feeling away, he hopes helping Mark will make him feel at peace with himself.

He also wants to know why Mark touching him makes Donghyuck so aware of his own body. He doesn't become conscious of it in a bad way, no — when Mark fakes their good terms, when Mark held him by the waist, when Mark held his hand: Donghyuck knew exactly where his body started and where it ended.

Being overly aware of Mark seems to make him overly aware of himself, and it makes no sense to Donghyuck.

Ouch.

He just crashed into someone's back — right, his surroundings are something he's completely unaware of when he gets caught up in his own head.

"Donghyuck! Watch where you're going."

"What are you wearing, iron shirts?" He rubs at his forehead, that shouldn't hurt as much as it does.

Jaehyun giggles, “I was waiting for you! How was the lunch?" He asks, opening the door to enter Donghyuck's apartments, waits for the prince to walk in before following him.

"It was alright, we finally could talk about concrete things." Donghyuck enters, heading for his armchair. He found himself spending a lot of time on the armchair facing the window, it's one of the things he grew fond of. 

"Concrete things?" Jaehyun asks.

"Medicine, business, economy advantages...It felt good to finally talk about this, instead of being confined in my room."

"Confined in your room? And what about the time you're spending with Prince Mark?" 

Donghyuck completely ignores his remark, "Lady Lee is such a great woman. She knew grandmother and grandfather, she's extremely intelligent and open minded. I was a bit worried, at first — but if it wasn't for her we wouldn't have talked about the future of the kingdoms, and about projects and ideals. It was a very much needed talk." He sighs, content but he definitely isn’t as good as Mark at pretending — or maybe Jaehyun knows him really too uncomfortably well.

"Donghyuck, something is bothering you, I can tell. What is it?"

Donghyuck fakes incredulity. "I don't know what you’re talking about."

"Are you homesick? You know you should tell me if that's it, we could talk about it together, it's not an easy thing, and it’s not something you should keep inside of yourself either."

"It's not that..." Donghyuck sighs, Jaehyun exults.

"Aha! So something is bothering you! I knew it!"

He's about to ask more, feeling very close to obtaining the answer he's looking for, but seeing Donghyuck's face takes the cheerfulness out of him. 

Donghyuck looks sad, Donghyuck never looks sad.

"Donghyuck?" he says, softer this time. "Please tell me, is it home you're missing so much, is it something else? Is it.." Jaehyun stops mid sentence, and there's a shadow of worry.

It's gone as fast as it came, but if Jaehyun knows Donghyuck well, the prince sure knows his secretary well, too — and Donghyuck noticed it. He knows what he was insinuating, but Donghyuck isn't supposed to know about that, so why would that worry him, right? So He pretends he didn't when Jaehyun continues his sentence and offers his help to his prince.

"I could make you your favourite dish if you'd like. I'm sure no one would stop me from using the kitchen if it’s for you, or maybe we could go read some of the books they have here. Just tell me what I could do to make you feel better-"

"Mark doesn't want the wedding."

"Oh."

Yeah, oh.

"I don't think I understand."

"There isn't much to understand — or for me to explain. He simply doesn't want to get married, not because it's me but because he had other plans and I got angry at him because he doesn't know what his other plans are, and we fought and we haven't spoken since the day we arrived." Donghyuck lets it all out in one breath.

"Other plans?"

"Don't ask, it wasn't clear for me either."

"You fought?"

"Yes."

"You got angry? As in, Prince Donghyuck?"

"I did. What is so unbelievable about that?"

"You never get angry. Eventually annoyed, but never angry. So, what upset you?"

"He was being selfish."

Jaehyun sighs, it's obvious the prince doesn't want to talk about this — the conversation sounds like that of a father trying to get the truth out of a child in the wrong, and Donghyuck curses Jaehyun for knowing him so well and for being the only person he is incapable of keeping things from.

"Alright, maybe he wasn't being completely selfish and I was in the wrong too, but from where we were standing we both couldn't take the other's opinion. I don't care if he doesn't want to marry me because I'm me, or because he wants to marry for love or whatever other reason he has. I need this, Jaehyun, the kingdom needs this and you know it. I can't let a prince full of delusions and dreams he can't reach get in the way."

Jaehyun stands up, giving Donghyuck an understanding look. “But you also want to be on good terms with him although he's being forced to marry you when he doesn't want to, because you understand how he feels because you were in his place just a few weeks ago. And you’re a very empathic person and although you want to be more annoyed at his behaviour you can't because you overthought this too much and you want to talk it out. I know, so I'll let you do it."

"Do what?" Donghyuck asks, confused.

"Apologise, explain yourself and tell him all you told me just now."

"Jaehyun, you missed the part where Mark doesn't speak to me and doesn't even want to look at me...or wait did I not just tell you?”

Jaehyun chuckles softly, "There's nothing in the world, not a door, not a wall and not even a war that can stop words on paper...Well, maybe a fire, but I'll make sure it doesn't happen anytime soon." Jaehyun winks, and with that he's gone.

Donghyuck stares at the door that just closed behind Jaehyun, quite bewildered. His secretary, his councillor — his friend, is right again. And once again, he gave him the best advice.

Jaehyun became his teacher when he was eleven, but it seems that Donghyuck will never stop learning from him.

***

Dear Prince Mark,
Jaehyun recommended I do this and he is the one person 
I trust the most, he wouldn't tell me to do this 
if there weren't chances of this working somehow.
So, I hope you're reading this, and if you are, 
I guess you are the prince I wished you'd be,
before I even met you.
Or, you might've stopped reading this the second 
you unfolded the paper, maybe you didn't even bother 
and this letter will end up in your fireplace.
I wouldn't be too surprised, you have been obvious about
not wanting anything to do with me, and I can't blame you for that.
Striving me to continue writing anyways, is the hope that 
you’re the same prince, the same man that wrote that letter.
I couldn't care less about looking desperate, reaching the point
where I am writing a letter to you when you've made clear you don't
want to hear about this — or me, for that matter, but it's true: I am desperate.
I want to clear the air between us. This is an apology and an explanation.
I'm not trying to convince you of what's right and what isn't, but hopefully 
you will understand my reasons, and be willing to forgive me.
I am not asking for pity, I don't want you to feel sorry 
once you finish reading this letter.
Please keep both your reason and emotions in mind 
when you're deciding wether you accept my apology or not. 
With that being said, Mark, I am sorry.
I am sorry for yelling and for lashing out at you,
I apologise for some of the things I said.
I wish for you to not think of me as stubborn, 
but there are some things I meant and won't take back. 
But I was taught not to force my opinions and feelings onto others,
completely ignoring theirs, that's exactly what I did and for that
I apologise from the bottom of my heart.
Although I would blame my impulsivity on fatigue, 
on the matter of the kingdom and our wedding I have no time for that.
Remember what I told you the day we met? About resentment and selfishness?
About how my parents, as sovereigns, did the best for our kingdom,
to make sure things would be the best for me too? Do you remember?
This wedding is the best I can do for my people, 
actually it's the only thing I can do to make things better 
for my kingdom and the future of it.
As you know, by our marriage, our kingdoms will unite and 
as you heard at lunch, both could benefit from resources. 
My kingdom deeply needs the economic stability this will bring.
I didn't want to tell you and I, theoretically, shouldn't know about it either,
but my kingdom hasn't been doing well as of late, and all your kingdom has to offer
and share is as an assured solution.
That's the reason why, although I did not want to leave home, 
although I did not want to marry,
I travelled across the sea to live here and to marry you: for my kingdom.
But that is not the only reason I got angry, the day we met.
When I heard you so unsure about wanting to be king — I thought a lot about it:
I think my reaction was due to the fact that I was jealous. 
Jealous to hear you consider something else, when I prohibited myself to do so.
All I have ever known is life at the castle, being king and leading a kingdom,
and it is that way because I never allowed myself to desire anything else.
I knew I would never get what I wanted.
When your life isn't yours to control, dreams and expectations can only be so harmful.
That is why, the day we met I said the things I said. 
I hope you can understand me better now and I hope we can be friends.
If not — which I'll accept — I hope you will forgive me.
I couldn't forgive myself if you were bound to be stuck with me, 
yet refuse to look at me.
With that being said, I want to thank you for being sweet.

Yours truly,
Donghyuck.

In spite of the late hour, the prince of the West has decided to bring the letter to its destination. The sooner it serves its purpose, the better. 
He slides the folded paper in the envelope under Mark's door, gives it a light knock and then walks away, back to his room, sitting on the armchair because he knows he will be incapable of falling asleep tonight.

***

Donghyuck wakes up when he hears the door squeak (it has been said already: he is a light sleeper). He apparently fell asleep on the armchair, and his neck tells him it's not a good idea when he turns around towards the noise and pain runs through his spine. He groans, rubbing his eyes and then he sees Mark.

Mark, a hand on the door handle, looking like a statue, slowly trying to get out of the room. He hasn't noticed Donghyuck's awake.

"Mark?" He says in a groggy voice making the other boy jump. "Sorry," Donghyuck whispers, biting down a chuckle at Mark's clumsiness.

"Did I wake you? I didn't mean to..."

"Don't worry, what is it? Is everything alright?"

"I read your letter." Of course he did. "I couldn't stop thinking about it so I hoped you'd be awake."

"Well, I am now." Donghyuck smiles. He will definitely have to thank Jaehyun for this.

"I don't want to bother...you must be tired and it's late and-"

"Mark, sit here and let’s talk. Okay?" Donghyuck interrupts, voice firm.

Mark sighs and gives in, walking to the armchair by Donghyuck's side.

The window curtains are open and the moonlight seeps in while the world is asleep. There are some faint lights from the city that can be seen, they must be from the port. Sky and earth are at their feet, as the two princes observe them from their comfortable chairs, from the big glass window. Donghyuck glances at his wrist watch as a comfortable silence settles over them once Mark is sitting.

It's three in the morning, it makes Donghyuck smile — what a nice coincidence, Donghyuck might call it fate.

"Am I forgiven?" He finally asks.

"Of course you are." 

"That easily?" Donghyuck teases, but a weight lifts off his shoulders.

Mark hums as a reply, "I have a lot to say, not only regarding your apology, but mine as well."

"You don’t owe me an apology, Mark."

"Yes, I do. Just hear me out. I haven't stopped thinking about what you told me that day. It just really stuck with me — and not necessarily in a bad way. I actually needed someone to knock some sense into me." Donghyuck is about to protest but Mark shushes him, "Let me finish, please."

He holds Donghyuck's gaze — sparkling in then moonlight — for a few seconds, until the latter gives in and nods. Mark continues.

"I know you told me not to feel sorry, and trust me when I tell you I do not pity you. I actually feel more sorry about myself not thinking that there could be really important reasons for you to want this wedding with no second thoughts. I would tell you that I am sorry to hear about your kingdom, but you told me not to, so I won't."

Donghyuck can't help the smile on his face. "You just did." 

"You don't have to worry about that anymore, Donghyuck. Your kingdom will be safe, everything will be alright. I promise you that." Mark is looking right at Donghyuck, and although no lights are on, the starlight is enough.

"Thank you. Thank you for understanding, Mark."

"I told you the first time, didn't I? We can understand each other better than anyone else." 

Donghyuck laughs at that, he's right.

"But there's more I want to say. You were right about a lot of things: I was being selfish. Maybe more stupid than selfish, but you're right, I can't live expecting things in return. And I want to be king, I want the best for my people. I wish sometimes — almost all the time — that I wasn't born as a royal, I wish to be able to live a normal life but I have accepted that I can't. This is my destiny and I have realised I cannot escape from it and I won't. I will live as Prince Mark because it's my role and I cannot desert it. So don't worry anymore about your kingdom's future, everything will be alright, we will marry, our kingdoms will unite and we will use medical herbs and make health care available to all."

"And we will make huge progress and improvements with transports, and cars especially,” Donghyuck rejoins.

"Yes, that too."

"Mark, you are really wise. I knew you were a great prince and future king."

Mark turns to face Donghyuck, a smile on his lips.

"A new friend of mine taught me a lot,” he says, slightly bowing his head to which Donghyuck snorts.

"They sound like a great friend."

"They are," Mark chuckles, "I just found out they get a little full of themselves.”

They both laugh, looking at the night before them. Donghyuck feels at ease.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you too,” Mark says once their laughter calms down, not letting silence take over for once.

"Our emotions got the best of us and that's alright. It happens. I'm just glad we could sort this out."

"Yeah, me too." Mark sighs.

"By the way, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"Go ahead."

Donghyuck pauses a second, thinks it over again. Things are well between him and Mark now, they will marry, and his kingdom won’t have to worry, does he really want to get onto this now? This shouldn't risk another fight, or at least he hopes so. Is it worth it to try and satisfy his curiosity now? 

"Donghyuck?"

Oh, just go for it.

"That day, you blamed your parents — after all I said you still brought it back to them. You don't have to answer, and if you don't want to talk about it, I will understand. But what happened between you? I couldn't help but notice the tension between you and get curious."

Mark smiles, sadly. "Me and parents never got along well. I really don't remember ever seeing them when I was younger. Then one day they suddenly turned up and tore my life apart. I was already studying languages, history, geography, everything to become a good prince. But to them, I think that's the only thing I was: a prince, a future king. I was never doing enough, I always had to learn more. I used to love learning about flowers — but a king doesn't need that so they would do anything to make sure that I didn't have time to spend in the gardens. All they talked about was how I needed to do better, because I'd have to rule a kingdom, and I'd have to marry and I wasn't putting in enough effort. And these were the people I had barely ever spent time with for my entire childhood. Maybe that's where I took it from, this whole "I don't want to be a royal" thing."

Mark sighs, "I'm glad I had my grandmother, though. She always made me feel like I actually was someone. Like I was Mark, not just a future king that wasn't good enough to be one...Oh, no. Don't look at me like that, Donghyuck. No pity."

Donghyuck reaches out for Mark's hand and gives it a light squeeze, Mark laces their fingers.

"If it can help, I think you are more than enough. You are a perfect prince Mark, and you will make a perfect king too."

"Thank you, Hyuck. It does help."

"Hyuck?" Donghyuck observes, quirking his eyebrow. 

Mark clears his throat, obviously flustered. "I'm...I'm sorry. It just came out. I didn’t mean t...I won't call you that if it makes you uncomfortable,” he manages to stutter out.

To which Donghyuck just laughs, "You are too sweet for your own good. It's fine, Mark. I don't mind. Actually..." Donghyuck pauses, sighing as memories flash through his mind. "My friends back home used to call me that."

Mark squeezes Donghyuck's hand this time around. "Do you want to talk about it? Leaving home really mustn’t have been easy. I could tell you've been homesick."

"You did?"

"The day we walked into each other in the hallways, there was something in your voice when you proposed to tell me about your kingdom. There is always something in your voice when you talk about your home, for example yesterday at lunch, but that day in the hallways, it was different."

"You're right, I've been missing home. I think it was just because I was lonely and my days were so empty, Jaehyun was really busy too. I had nothing else to do but dwell on homesickness."

Donghyuck feels the warmth of Mark's hand on his.

"Tell me about your home. About your childhood, your parents, your friends. Tell me about your people, about your castle and about your land. I want to know everything!" Mark asks enthusiastically.

"Really?"

He nods. "My grandmother is right, no one could teach me about your kingdom better than yourself and if it can cheer you up...I want to hear everything."

"We might get lost in time." 

"I don't mind, I'm in good company. And I told you about myself, it's only fair you give me a lesson on your history, now." Donghyuck smiles and gives in under Mark's soft eyes.

He does tell him everything.

He tells him about Lady Im, about the forest and the big castle he grew up in — very different from Mark's palace. He tells him about Jaemin and Jeno, about the holiday at the beach or the games in the woods, or the days spent running around the gardens or the Na's mansion. He tells him about Jaehyun, their friendship, all he taught him. He even confesses his councillor's attraction towards Mark's butler which has them both laughing. 
He tells him about his people whom he swore to protect, that promised to wait and pray for him and keep him in their thoughts. He tells him about the maids and the cooks, about Mina who had such a hard time with Jaemin and Jeno — yet was always kind and helpful. As he does so, he also notices all the dissimilarities between his and Mark's kingdoms.

"It's surprising — in a good way — just how differently we grew up,” Mark interrupts then. "Some of your ways to do things are just so logical, I wonder how we didn't think of it."

"That, Mark, is how cultures are born, how each country develops its traditions. And it's just different — that's what makes learning and travelling so interesting."

So he tells him about his parents, about how just his father was, about his mother's tea parties. He tells him about Lady Son, her trips that lit up curiosity and adventure in him. He tells Mark how much he wanted to be like her, travel around the globe, across oceans and on top of mountains, learn languages and cultures, taste foods and witness places like he had never seen.

When Mark asks, with a bright innocent voice: "Then are you happy that you could travel to a land across the sea and discover a new place?" He tells him about the day his parents told him he'd get married somewhere far away. How he reacted, how he felt about leaving home knowing he wouldn't come back.

He allows himself to be vulnerable for the first time in months — since he received the news about the wedding and his departure. But he doesn't cry.

"That's the difference, I remember pondering it too: Lady Son travelled but at the end of the day — at the end of the long months spent away she had a place to come back to. She had a family, friends and a home. I don't really have that same chance. That was the hardest for me."

"You were and are very strong, Donghyuck," Mark says, squeezing his hand.

Mark has done that every time he felt Donghyuck’s voice get thinner, every time he saw his eyes shine while he'd share his memories — and every time it was the push, the touch, Donghyuck needed to go on without shedding tears. It made him feel less alone, it made him feel heard.

They somehow ended up sitting in front of each other, in a rather un-princely way. They turned the chairs away from the window so that they would face each other, the city and the night sky lightening up as the hours passed becoming much less important — to Mark —  in comparison with Donghyuck's eyes and lips.

"What is the thing you miss the most about home, Hyuck?” Mark asks. The nickname rolling off his tongue makes the other prince smile.

"Except my family and my friends, I have to say the balls."

"The balls?"

Donghyuck hums. "We'd have them for my birthdays, or for my parents', we’d find any excuse to have them actually. The castle would shimmer, and men and women would fill the hallways and the rooms, spinning in their beautiful clothes. We'd just dance the night away and worry about nothing but the present moment. I miss those the most. Have you ever gone to a ball?" 

"We never had those here, it sounds wonderful." Mark sighs. 

"It is. I loved dancing, I still do actually. It made me feel so free, it was such an amazing moment. Going round and round in golden rooms, it's a feeling that lifts you off your feet. I've never felt happier than when I was dancing," Donghyuck explains, voice undeniably nostalgic yet so happy.

Mark stands up, dropping Donghyuck's hand for the first time since they wrapped them together. Donghyuck observes him, surprised as he pushes the armchair away - only then Donghyuck notices Mark is dressed in his pyjamas. A royal blue striped shirt, with assorted pants. 

Donghyuck smiles.
Sweet.

When Mark decides whatever he was doing is enough, he turns around to face Donghyuck and bows.

"May I have this dance?" He asks, reaching his hand out towards Donghyuck.

Donghyuck's lip quirks up, "You know how to dance?" He teases.

"Hyuck, I am a prince. Of course I know how to dance." 

Donghyuck takes his hand with a light laugh (he hasn’t felt this light in forever), stands up and returns Mark's reverence. Then, Mark pulls Donghyuck closer, one hand on his side, the other holding his hand and they let their bodies follow the non existent music, dancing along to the silence setting into a familiar rhythm. One, two, three, one, two, three. They sway around the room, slowly, delicately like waves crashing on the shore on a summer day. Just like that, Donghyuck is floating inches above the ground.

And he could get used to this. Spending nights by Mark's side, staying up and talking until their throats go sore. Dancing down those empty hallways because no one is ever there, no one would ever see them. 

And Donghyuck decides he's done not noticing.

He noticed the way Mark made him comfortable, the way he made his heart feel at ease, because Mark is so, so sweet. Just like he hoped, just like he imagined. Mark is perfect — and Donghyuck does love his kingdom more than anything, but maybe he found a new home, a new safety in the prince. He could get used to this and he will get used to it. He notices the way Mark feels all over his body, the way the cold metal of the ring feels against his hand because Mark didn't take it off either.

The moon around Mark's finger and the sun around Donghyuck's glisten under the stars and the next thing Donghyuck notices is Mark whispering in his ear.

"We'll marry and we'll have balls and tea parties, I already know Mother and Grandmother will love those. And I'll bring you to the beach and ask Jaehyun to cook the food you love and miss. We'll go for walks in the gardens and I'll bring you around town and show you all the places I love. And one day I will bring you home, Donghyuck."

Donghyuck is quiet, breath cut short.

"I will bring you there, and we will visit your friends, go to the sea and get lost in the woods. We'd have long conversations with Lady Im and Lady Son, I would meet your parents and you'd introduce me to your people. And then you'd show me all the places you love. I promise."

Donghyuck knows Mark would be there to catch him if he fell, Mark would be there to comfort him when he's homesick, Mark would be there to drag him away from a wild crowd, just like he did it before. Mark would be there. 
No, Donghyuck realises, Mark is already there.

"I will bring you back home."