d-11 before the execution

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

a shiver ran down donghyuck's spine.

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

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

"sunshine, don't cry." mark's voice was slightly panicked. "none of this will happen. they won't get you and kill you."

the tanned male hadn't even realised that tears had started to fall down from his eyes, too lost in his thoughts and his misery to even feel anything.

mark's hands left the bars that they were previously holding to pull donghyuck's body closer and hug him as much as he could despite the bars of the cell that separated them.

"i'm not sure you'll be able to..." donghyuck stated with a small sigh, reaching for one of his cheeks with the back of his palm.

"i will be. i promise you." mark assured, looking deep into donghyuck's eyes. "i will never let them hurt you again."

"but how...?" the tanned male heaved out another sigh.

and well, mark couldn't help but sigh as well.

"i don't know yet, but i'll find a way."

♕

d-8 before the execution

similarly to a few days prior, donghyuck was awoken from his sleep inside his cell by the loud thumping of footsteps against the ground. from what he could hear, the person coming down had to be in a hurry, and donghyuck was almost worried that they might tip on their feet or miss a step with the speed at which they seemed to go.

somehow, in a corner of his mind, donghyuck hoped that these footsteps were none other than mark's, coming down to him in a hurry to announce him good news. he really hoped it was the case, but at the same time, he didn't really see why any royal guard would be hopping down the stairs this fast to get to him – except perhaps if mujin judged it necessary to take him out of the cell at the speed of light?

anyway, all of donghyuck's stress vanished when he caught a sight of the boy with whom he had spent the night hopping his way to his cell with a bright smile on his face.

"i have good news!" the future king exclaimed, excitedly grabbing the bars of the cell to get closer to his lover.

donghyuck flashed the boy a smile, approaching him for inside the cell. "what kind of good news?"

"the kind where you won't have to get executed on the public place." the royal smirked, wiggling his brows at donghyuck.

on his side, it felt as if someone had suddenly lifted all of the weight of the world from donghyuck's shoulders, as if he had been discharged of all of the burdens that came with life in one sentence.

however, he didn't want to get too overwhelmed for nothing or to be getting a false hope, so instead of letting himself burst in tears of joy, he took a deep breath.

"d-does that mean that my execution will only be p-private?" he asked in a shaky voice.

mark raised a brow at those words, shaking his head with a loud sigh before passing his arms inside the cell to cup donghyuck's cheeks.

"it means that there will be no execution, my silly sunshine."

"o-oh..." donghyuck let his lips curve up in an impossible smile, happy tears appearing in his eyes and threatening to fall at the news.

for the past three days, he had been counting the hours he had left to live, and the minutes he had left to spend with mark. for the past three days, he could only focus on what was about to happen to him, wondering how it would feel like and what would be reserved for him later on. but now, he didn't have to worry about that anymore, he didn't have two more days left to live, but a whole life in front of him.

in a burst of joy, donghyuck reached for the front of mark's robes, fisting the fabric as he pulled mark closer so that his face was pressed against the cell's bars and so that he could plant a deep kiss on his lips.

he had been wondering how many kisses left they would have had before his execution, but now that he knew that there would be no execution anymore, this countdown didn't matter anymore.

"how did you even cancel the execution?" donghyuck questioned once the two of them had parted.

"well..." the royal flashed the boy a sheepish smile. "to be very precise, i didn't cancel the execution. i simply postponed it."

the brunette blinked at those words. "p-post... postponed...?" he repeated as a cloud of dark thoughts formed above his head.

"yeah, instead of occurring in two days, it will occur in eight." the royal continued.

"e-eight days, but... h-how..."

"the execution occurs in eight days, and do you know what occurs in five days?" mark raised a questioning brow to donghyuck who seemed to be too lost in his thoughts to answer. "my coronation as the new king of aes."

"your c-coronation?" the tanned male blinked in confusion, as if a sudden glint of sanity had hit him.

"yes, sunshine. in three days, i will be the king, and no one will have the right to counter whatever decision i may take."

donghyuck tried connecting the different pieces of the puzzle inside his mind, the dark and stormy cloud that had formed above him slowly being chased away by a beaming sunlight. he couldn't hold himself from smiling like a mad man at those words.

"i told my mother that i'd like the whole kingdom to see how i, as the new king, deal with resistants."the future king explained with a proud smile. "and well, they are so not ready for what they will see..."

♕

d-3 before the execution

the whole royal palace was livelier than it had ever been that day. it was finally occurring, the coronation of the new king of aes, namely mark, donghyuck's lover.

outside the palace walls and around the coronation room, people from kingdoms all around had gathered chatting together happily and loudly, and all waiting for the moment mark would step up the aisle and finally bear the crown that would make him the king of aes.

because of all of the special guests that were supposed to attend the meeting, all of the royal guards were requisitioned to ensure protection of all royals – marl may or may not have insisted that he needed all guards protecting the guests – and so, donghyuck as a prisoner had been left alone. well, not as alone as one could imagine...

as the first guests had started to arrive and as the guards had migrated from the inside of the palace to the outside where the festivities were taking place, mark had walked down to the dungeons and freed donghyuck from his cell, bringing him back up sneakily into his room.

the peasant had hidden in mark's bathroom as a few maids and servants had come to dress and pamper mark, and once they had been dismissed, mark had freed donghyuck from his bathroom and let him stay in his company for his last minutes as nothing but a royal highness of aes.

trying their best not to rumple the fabric of mark's clothes which had been carefully and skilfully wrapped around his body, the two boys had hugged, kisses and stayed close to each other as they talked mindlessly, as if one of them wouldn't be crowned king of a kingdom in a few minutes.

as the crowd became louder and louder, both males judged that now had to be the moment mark should get finally ready to step up his game.

the royal had stood up from the bed, leaving donghyuck seated there on his own as he approached the length mirror disposed in a corner of the room. the tanned male watched his lover studying himself from head to toe, obviously getting in the right mind space for what was about to happen. he couldn't even dream of imagining how stressful this all would be, but he knew that mark was nervous about all of this, it was a topic that had come up often during their conversations of the past days.

sensing mark tensing in front of his mirror and feeling the way the royal was questioning himself in such a bad way, donghyuck couldn't help but stand up as well and get behind his lover.

"don't be nervous, you'll be an amazing king." the tanned male whispered against the shell of mark's ear.

mark didn't respond to those words, seemingly too deep in thought to even realise that donghyuck had spoken. but honestly, it didn't matter for donghyuck. he knew that despite having no response, mark could hear his words of encouragement, and they would help him gain in confidence for what was about to happen.

"it is time, now. your people are waiting for you." he continued on a calm tone. "it's nothing more than wearing a crown."

although he couldn't even imagine what all of this was about, donghyuck tried his best to reassure him, to whisper soothing words in his ears and to make mark feel like he could do it. because that was true, he could do it, he could be an amazing king, and donghyuck had no doubt he could be an amazing king.

"and once this is over, everything will fall back into place. perfectly."

his final words seemed to be what helped mark wake up from the trance he was in, his eyes diverting in the mirror to find donghyuck's reflection after one last check of his whole being.

however, before he could talk, a couple of knocks broke the silence. 

"your highness, her majesty the queen was wondering when you would join her?" a guard announced behind the door.

mark turned around fully, looking into donghyuck's eyes like it was the only thing that truly mattered right now, because perhaps that it was. "tell her i'll meet her in a minute." he spoke, waiting a second to hear the footsteps of the guard walking away before taking a step closer to his lover and locking their lips in a passionate kiss, the last one between peasant donghyuck, and future king mark.

the journey from the outside of the palace to his bedroom had never been so fast. and yet, he hadn't taken any shortcut or passed through any wall. in fact, the adrenaline and rush of happiness that he had felt from having a crown put to his head was a good enough fuel to make it reach the place in a record time.

the now crowned king of aes slammed open the door of his bedroom, getting inside and locking it behind it immediately before looking for his lover whom he had left there a few hours ago.

the boy in question was lying on mark's bed, arms and legs spread apart and face pressed against mark's pillow as he snored lightly, looking more peaceful than ever in his sleep.

as much as mark knew that donghyuck didn't have the luxury to sleep on a bed anymore and that he should leave him be for a while so that he could rest, the royal was way too excited to simply watch his lover sleeping peacefully.

"sunshine!" the king exclaimed, plopping on the bed by donghyuck's side and wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug. "sunshine, wake up." he continued, wiggling his body around and causing the tanned male to stir.

donghyuck's eyes slowly fluttered open, blinking a few times before they fell into mark's glistening orbs.

"m-mark...?" the sleepy male mumbled confusedly, looking all over mark's face before focusing on the piece of metal resting on top of his head and gasping.

"it's 'your majesty' mark, from now on." the royal smirked, poking the tip of donghyuck's nose with his finger.

donghyuck snorted at those words, remembering how mark used to be so amendment of having the peasant calling him 'mark' rather than 'your highness' when they had started hanging out.

"dream on, there's no way i'm calling you that." the tanned male protested, letting himself melt in his lover's embrace.

"oh yeah?" mark raised a teasing brow. "what will you be calling me, then?"

a blush crept on donghyuck's cheeks as he looked into mark's eyes, daring to speak up a pet name that he had only been referring to mark as in his mind. "my king..."

mark's lips etched in a smile at those words, and he doubled the strength with which he was holding donghyuck, locking the male between his strong limbs.

"you'll be my queen, then." he stated, leaning forward to peck donghyuck's temple. "my sunshine queen."

♕

d-day of the execution

"are you ready?"

the tanned male turned his head to look at his lover who was seated on his bed while watching him in front of the length mirror. the scene felt oddly familiar, a bit like three days prior, when donghyuck had been watching mark studying himself from head to toe before being crowned king. except that this time, mark was the one sitting back, and donghyuck was the one about to get 'executed' on the public place.

"i'm not sure that's something you're supposed to ask someone who is about to have his head cut off." the tanned male sassed, turning around to look at his lover.

"you're very dramatic for someone whose beautiful head will stay attached to their wonderful body."the king tackled back.

"and how can i be assured that you won't decide to kill me in front of everyone?" donghyuck challenged his lover's words. "who tells me that you will in fact let go of the sword? you could be pretending everything right now to kill me better in an hour."

"i won't do that because i love you." mark explained in all honesty, pushing himself up from the bed to approach his lover and back hug him.

the two males looked at themselves in the mirror, mark placing his chin on donghyuck shoulder as his hands roamed over his lover's sides.

"i can't wait to have you by my side without worrying of being seen..." mark whispered as he nuzzled against donghyuck's neck.

the movement of his head being a bit too sudden made his crown slide from his head and fall off. thankfully, donghyuck was quick enough to catch it before it reached the floor.

"be more careful with your belongings." the tanned make tsked, straightening his back as he held the crown in both of his hands before placing it over his own head while looking at his reflection.

mark didn't make any comment, letting the boy try on the crown as if it belonged to him. he secretly liked seeing donghyuck with it, perhaps more than he liked it on himself. the beautiful golden hue of the metal was a perfect combination with donghyuck's messy brown locks and his sunkissed skin.

"the crown fits you well, sunshine." the king stated, squeezing donghyuck waist. "you'd look perfect as my queen."

"i sure would." donghyuck nodded. "but for that, i need you not to kill me."

donghyuck turned around in mark's embrace, facing his lover as he reached for the crown again, taking it off his head before placing it over his lover's.

"mmh, i'll see if i kill you or not on the spot." the royal teased.

"do whatever you'd like, but just remember that if you kill me, you won't have anyone to cook as good as i do for you, or to hug you and to kiss you and- "

"alight, i've made up my mind." mark cut his lover's words. "i guess i won't kill you. i'm not sure i can live without your hugs and kisses."

"good news." donghyuck slurred, his arms wrapping around mark's neck as he got on the tip of his toes to reach mark's mouth with his own with more ease.

the two males stayed like that for a while, kissing and making out endlessly, hands roaming around each other's body and feeling every inch of skin in a delicious way. as when air lacked in their lungs, the two boys parted their lips, but kept their bodies close.

"not that i'm not enjoying all of this, but if we don't want to have our plan failing miserably even before it can start, you might want to bring me back to my cell." the tanned male stated.

"i'm not the biggest fan of the idea, but if it means that all of this is over in an hour, i might consider it." mark frowned, and donghyuck found no better way to get rid of his pouty face than by kissing him.

and so, as both boys slowly rejoiced of finally approaching their freedom, they walked carefully hand in hand to the door of the dungeon, mark locking his lover in jail for the last time ever.