recalling the future king's comments of the previous day at the sight of his dish, donghyuck couldn't help but double his efforts to make the food look presentable and appealing for the royal to be willing to taste it.

the dish in itself wasn't that incredible. just a portion of rice, pieces of meat and the broth the meat had been cooked in. at the restaurant, donghyuck would have just put rice in every bowl before putting the meat on top of it, and adding the broth after; but well, the aesthetics of this would be making the future king run away.

so instead, the young chef recalled what he had observed the day before, when the royal chef had been preparing his dish. he tried to remember how he had disposed the different elements in the plate, and then arranged them so that they created a unique design.

seated behind the bar, the royal observed carefully donghyuck's every move, a small smile etching on his lips when he realised that the tanned male was trying to pay attention to the aesthetic of his dish.

to be honest, mark thought he looked cute, his tongue poking from between his pinkish lips as his small hands manoeuvred the chopsticks he was using skilfully, arranging the disposition of the different elements.

there was something about donghyuck that intrigued mark. the peasant was so different from the people mark was usually around.

first of all, he was so foreign to the royal world and the riches that came with it, and this caused him to have an innocence about everything that astonished mark.

second, he was so easily amazed by everything around him, and he always looked at his surroundings with glistening eyes, taking in every detail and making sure to create a place for each memory in a way that looked so precious in the royal's eyes.

and third, he was abnormally simple for mark, contenting himself of so little and never complaining or being sad about it – something that royals definitely didn't relate to.

in fact, the tanned male was so different from mark, so foreign, but at the same time oddly comforting. perhaps was it the fact that mark had only ever hung out with royal people that were much older than him, but for once, mark felt like it was his responsibility to take care of this younger male the same way the others had taken care of him.

all he had ever wished for was a friend to stay with him and bring him company in this boring castle in which he had been locked in ever since he was born. and donghyuck was bringing him just that; comforting company, someone to talk to, and someone who always seemed to be amazed by every little piece of information he might learn from the royal.

so, yes, donghyuck intrigued and interessed mark a lot, and this meant he wouldn't let the boy disappear from his sight so soon.

"i'm sorry... it doesn't look as nice as the dish of your chef..." the younger declared after a while, placing the plate he had set up in front of mark.

the royal could only smile when he looked at the dish, finding it adorable how the tanned male had done his best to do something that he obviously wasn't used to.

"it's perfect." the future king simply said, the divine smell of the dish already travelling through his nose.

mark didn't waste a second more, immediately digging in the dish and savouring it – he had had a very light meal, because he knew he'd rather have more of donghyuck's dishes which were much tastier than the royal chefs'.

"so...?" the tanned male looked at the royal expectantly, his eyes never leaving mark's face.

"it's even yummier than yesterday..." the future king declared with a hum before having another spoonful of the dish.

donghyuck's lips curved up in a smile at the compliment. "and..." he spoke again. "...would you have tried it if you had seen it in a buffet?"

the royal stayed silent at those words, stuffing his mouth with another spoonful of food so that he had an excuse not to answer truthfully – and more time to find an appropriate answer that wouldn't hurt the tanned male.

let's be honest, mark had royal taste, and anything that didn't look like it could be winning a prize for aesthetics wasn't worth his time. he may have discovered with donghyuck's food that sometimes, dishes could look awful but could taste delicious, but he wasn't sure he would be ready to give a chance to any dish – not yet, at least.

"well..." the future king was forced to speak once he had finished what previously was in his mouth. "it depends..."

the tanned male tilted his head to the side, his chocolate orbs full of curiosity as he looked at the royal. "it depends on what?"

the uncrowned king bit the inside of his cheeks, trying his best to come up with an answer that wouldn't hurt him – and bonus if it also made him understand that mark wouldn't have tried the dish if it had been in a buffet.

"depends on whether you are standing next to the dish or not." the future king of aes finally let out, flashing the tanned male a sheepish smile. however, noticing the confused face of the peasant, mark was forced to explain further. "i'd be taking it if you were standing next to it. or even better, if you were giving it to me."

"oh..." the tanned male slightly pouted at those words, immediately understanding the message mark was trying to pass. "so, it's still not looking nice enough..."

"no, no it's not that, but..." the royal spoke immediately, his heart skipping a beat weirdly at the sight of donghyuck's saddened expression. "...but yeah, it's just that i'm not used to eating dishes that haven't been prepared specially like we want them to look, and..."

"i'll try harder next time, then."

mark was stunned by the words that just left the brunette's mouth, not exactly expecting him to be this enthusiastic after having his dish being criticised by the royal. and once again, mark couldn't help but feel more intrigued by the peasant in front of him – they were so different on every point in a way that amazed mark.

royals couldn't take criticism; may it be as constructive as possible, they just couldn't.

any negative feedback made on something done or said by a royal could become a valid reason to condemn someone. needless to say, when addressing to the king, the queen or any other member of the royal family, everything had to be positive, and the royals should always be praised and told that what they did was the right thing. they liked to have their ego flattered, and to hear that they were the best, and anything that didn't fall into those two categories caused them to be offended.

and just a while ago, mark had criticised donghyuck's work in a way that would have him imprisoned if he had been speaking to the queen. sure, the royal had tried to put some form in his criticism, but it still sounded mean and offensive. and yet, donghyuck hadn't even reacted badly to it.

usually, when the royals criticised their workers' doings, the workers in question would stay silent, hanging their head low in shame before leaving and disappearing for a while; but they never spoke back whether it was to apologise or to say they'd try harder later on.

and yet, this was exactly what donghyuck had done; saying that he'd try harder next time. these words were so foreign to mark, but they brought him so much joy for some reason.

"you'll try harder next time..." the royal repeated, his lips curving up in a smile as he looked at the younger male.

"well, if you allow me to." the tanned male was quick to ask, his eyes widening slightly as he hoped he hadn't been too straightforward in a way that could disturb the king. "i wouldn't dare inviting myself here uninvited."

mark throught these words were quite ironical considering how he had caught donghyuck inside his bedroom, pretending to be a servant the day before. but well, this wasn't what mattered right now.

"don't act so formal with me." the royal stated, keeping his eyes on the younger.

"huh?" the boy blinked, his lips in a small pout that had mark's smile widening.

"just act like you do with your friends." mark explained. "we're around the same age, there's no need for you to be formal."

"b-but you're the future king..." the brunette couldn't help himself but remind the royal of who he was.

"this is just a detail." mark replied, with an eye-roll.

"a detail?!" the peasant gasped, his brows furrowing at the king's words. "you are the most important person in this realm. you are the one to have the power. i shouldn't even be able to be this close to you! this is everything but a detail and- "

donghyuck was cut in his rambling by a chuckle coming from the future king himself.

"i'm the most important person in this realm, and yet, you're scolding me so easily..." the royal sighed.

this comment had donghyuck slamming his hands on top of his mouth, silently scolding himself for being so careless and foul-mouthed.

in fact, he had never exactly been taught how to address the king. peasants like him normally had no opportunity to find themselves facing the royals, so there was no need for them to learn how to address them. they knew a few bases, but definitely not enough to stay in the castle for a full afternoon and not do or say something that could offend a royal.

plus, donghyuck was particularly bad at that, his endless curiosity and easiness to speak causing him to open his mouth a bit too often and never at the right time – something his father blamed him for quite frequently.

"aright, now, you see..." mark leant over the counter, reaching for donghyuck's hands that were clasped over his mouth and removing them. "...there is no need to change the way you usually are. be your natural self, and treat me like a friend. you don't mind being friends with the future king, right?"

donghyuck stayed frozen, shaking his head after a while to indicate that he wouldn't mind becoming friends with the uncrowned king.

"good." mark smiled. "so, since we're friends, we need to act like it. just pretend like i'm not the king if it helps you."

seeing that the tanned male wasn't planning on giving him an answer – donghyuck may or may not be too stunned to speak, somehow slowly processing what was really happening to him – the royal decided to take the lead. this was what mark was used to do, anyway.

"okay, so, since we're friends now, i guess it is a good time to have you visit the royal palace!" he explained, hopping off the chair on which he was sitting. "how would you like that?"

donghyuck gulped, somehow not wanting to show his endless excitement – but failing as his mouth stretched in a big grin. "s-sure."

"great." mark beamed, signalling donghyuck to follow him as he headed towards the doors.

"wait!" the brunette spoke, causing him to halt in his tracks and turn around.

"what is it?" the royal asked with a frown.

"i need to do the dishes." the younger male informed, gesturing to the plate and the spoon that were remaining on the counter, and the few pans and utensils he had used to cook.

"someone else will do them, don't worry." mark reassured the boy – or at least tried to. but well, the statement had donghyuck more weirded out than anything else.

"that's not very nice to them. i was the one to do the cooking..." the tanned male said in a sad tone.

the royal sighed, taking a few steps closer to the younger male and taking the boy's hands in his. his lips were once again curved up in a smile, unable to have them another way when he looked in the curious boy's eyes.

there truly was something about donghyuck that intrigued him. and somehow, this thing pushed him to keep the younger close.

"just trust me, donghyuck, and enjoy your time here."

and well, as mark pulled on the tanned male's hands to drag him away from the kitchen, the brunette couldn't help but let a beautiful smile decorate his face and forget about the dishes, the fact he was just a peasant and that mark was a royal, and also, who his family really was.

♕

it had to be a dream.

a very unrealistic and far-fetched one.

it couldn't be otherwise.

there was no way lee donghyuck, peasant living on the land of aes under the lee dynasty during the silver age, was able to sneak in the royal palace – not once, but twice – and to befriend someone who happened to be the future king of the realm.

yes, it had to be a dream.

this was what donghyuck repeated inside his head, trying to persuade himself that all of this wasn't really happening. but as hard as he tried pinching himself while wandering around the royal palace by mark's side, he never woke up, and so, this necessarily meant that this wasn't a dream.

he couldn't believe this was happening to him and yet, he was so happy that he got to live all of those wonderful things.

being able to go around the royal palace allowed him to discover a universe donghyuck absolutely wasn't familiar with, but that he was eager to discover. being the epitome of curiosity, the tanned male would do anything to have someone by his side, answering all of the questions he had to ask – and god, he did have tons of questions in mind – and so, it seemed like he was in the most perfect situation for that. who could answer his questions on royalty better than the future king of aes himself?

it was so weird for donghyuck to tell himself that he was friends with the future king of the realm, the person who had the fate of all of the villagers staying on his land in his hands.

actually, it was quite crazy to think that the future king was willing to become friends with donghyuck when he was so curious and foul-mouthed. people often got annoyed by his countless questions and his blabbering, but it seemed like it wasn't the case with the royal – but at the same time, it had only been two days.

on his side, donghyuck found the royal absolutely charming. he was caring, and seemed genuinely interested in donghyuck and willing to learn more about him and his life.

donghyuck didn't have much friends at his village. actually, there weren't many people around his age there, as the people usually sent their children away, in other and more advanced villages for them to train and start working to bring back home money. but donghyuck couldn't afford going to another village and leaving his father behind, not when he was still so broken by his wife's death.

the absence of people around donghyuck's age caused donghyuck to hang out around people much older most of the time, but adults still considered him a kid, and donghyuck was often excluded of their conversations. that was why meeting the future king had been such a nice thing for donghyuck. for once, he was able to hang out around someone his age, so sure, they weren't from the same background, but they could understand each other better.

all in all, donghyuck was glad to say that he was now friends with the slightly older boy, and he was happy that the future king thought of him as a friend as well and pushed him to act unformal with him – something that wouldn't be hard since donghyuck had never had learnt how to talk to a royal.

it was only the start of a blossoming friendship, they had met two little days ago, and spent only two afternoons together, but somehow, donghyuck was ecstatic to know he was invited to the palace the next day as well, because the future king wanted to hang out with him. finally, he was able to do like other people his age, seeing friends during his free time.

the feeling was so new and so fulfilling that donghyuck wasn't sure he'd ever get tired of it.

in fact, there was no way donghyuck could ever get tired of discovering more and more about royals and royalties, wandering across the maze of corridors that was the royal palace or discussing with his new friend.

he'd happily go back to the royal palace as soon as he could to ask more questions to mark and just enjoy his time there, surrounded by riches he never thought he'd be able to get close to.

"ah, son! here you are!"

unfortunately, donghyuck's oh-so-pleasant daydream was cut short by his father's voice the second he pushed open the door of the restaurant.

coming back to reality – not that his afternoon had been imaginary, but let's say it was a different kind of reality – the tanned male's eyes fell on the table in the middle of the restaurant around which were seated his father and a few of his friends that donghyuck recognised immediately.

"close the door, we were in the middle of a discussion." sangkyu declared, donghyuck obeying immediately, not forgetting to check his surroundings before to see if anyone could be around, listening to what they had to say – a precaution that donghyuck had been taught to take every single time they were discussing.

the door shut close, allowing donghyuck to turn around and face the group of men, and that's when the young male felt like he was slapped in the face full force – not physically, because no one was close enough to do so, but metaphorically, because all of the guys' eyes were on him, as if they were expecting something from him.

and that's when it hit donghyuck.

this whole afternoon at the palace, it wasn't just supposed to be a nice and chill afternoon, hanging out with a friend. in fact, it was supposed to be a mission, something he had promised his father the night before, after realising how selfish and awful royals truly were.

but of course, the second he had taken a step within castle walls, any sign of this mission had completely vanished from his mind, leaving him only to enjoy his time carelessly.

"so, how was that visit to the castle? anything interesting to share?" his father asked, causing a few other males around the table to nod as well.

"n-nothing major today..." he stuttered. "b-but maybe i'll be able to find something tomorrow."

and well, what else could donghyuck have said...?