there was something about the friendship that had blossomed between the royal and the peasant that wasn't like what friendships usually were. aside from the fact neither of them had ever experienced such thing, they both had quickly become familiar with the bond that united them, but somehow, there was still some sort of distance between the two of them.

mark and donghyuck had met every single day for a week now, donghyuck sneaking in the royal palace through the back door after lunch, then preparing something for mark to eat – which became more and more aesthetically pleasing with each day passing – and finally wandering across the endless corridors of the palace, discovering new places, and for donghyuck, learning lots of new amazing things.

but compared to the way another friendship would blossom between two males of the same age, for them, despite those seven afternoons spent together, they still barely knew anything about each other.

it wasn't exactly that they didn't want to get to know each other – quite the contrary actually. both of them often ended up wondering things about the other when they would be lying on their bed and facing the ceiling right before falling asleep. but somehow, neither of them dared to ask anything personal.

on donghyuck's side, the reason was obvious. the peasant didn't want to come off as rude to the future ruler of the kingdom, and he always had so many questions to ask about his surroundings that he could always drown his urge to ask something personal by questioning the royal about anything else he might be curious about.

on mark's side, it was a bit different. ever since their first meeting a week ago, the future king could see how curious donghyuck was – and he couldn't help but think that his curiousness was a charming trait of his personality. hence, he thought that the younger male would have been curious about him and asked him questions, the same way he did ask about the palace. but no, after seven long afternoons spent together, the younger hadn't even asked anything personal. mark didn't necessarily want to tell donghyuck about him, but he'd rather have him ask stuff so that he could mutter a small 'and what about you?' after in order to collect information about him. because yes, mark was dying to know more about the tanned male, to understand how he lived, and why he was always so cheerful and positive. but well, he didn't want to make it seem like he was questioning the younger to gather information about the people he would be leading in the future. so, he was expectantly waiting for donghyuck to ask anything personal.

despite the two boys knowing barely anything about each other, their time together was anything but awkward. with donghyuck's endless questioning, the conversation always kept going, and whenever the younger didn't have a hundred questions to ask, they walked in a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's presence.

neither of the two boys had ever admitted it out loud, but they truly cherished the friendship that was forming between the two of them. after a few days, mark didn't even need to ask for donghyuck to come to the palace the next day, the younger came on his own, bearing his usual bright smile and innocent curiosity.

as weird as it seemed, they found comfort in each other, both being the opposite of what they were used to.

mark liked being around someone who contented himself of simple things, and someone who wasn't used to the superficiality of the royal world.

as for donghyuck, he was fascinated by how mark fitted in this world of riches that he discovered more and more every day.

and one thing was sure for the two boys; they may still be somewhat foreign to each other, and completely different, but they wouldn't give up on this friendship anytime soon.

"mark?" the peasant called as the two of them were taking a stroll through the back gardens of the palace.

"yes?" the royal replied, wondering whether donghyuck's next question – because he was sure donghyuck's curiosity would push him to ask one – would be about the flowers growing on the lands of aes, or perhaps on the foundations of the castle.

"do you have the mark as well?"

mark was rather confused at the interrogation, causing him to turn his head to look at the brunette and hopefully, make him understand that he needed some more explaining.

but well, the second he saw the younger male with his long sleeve rolled up enough to reveal the inside of his right wrist, mark understood immediately what he was referring to.

"i don't." mark shook his head, pulling his own sleeve up to show the younger male his pale and bare wrist. "the royals don't have it."

donghyuck looked at the flawless skin with admiration for a few seconds before looking back down at his own wrist on which the scars of the red iron would be imprinted on him forever.

"but why would you need to mark all of the kingdom?" the tanned male ended up asking innocently. now blinking a few times as he looked into mark's eyes.

the future king stayed silent and unmoving for a while, looking back at the brunette. "well..."

that question was all answered on his mind.

the people living on the land of aes were the lee dynasty's property, and they were marked after their birth to make sure that they wouldn't try to break free from the royals' influence and runaway to any other realm. it was a way to make sure they controlled who was on their land, and anyone not bearing that mark found in aes could end up in a very bad position.

but let's be real, he couldn't say that to donghyuck – not that way at least. this would be admitting that he placed himself above donghyuck and all of the other peasants.

"it is..." mark stated searching for his words. "...so that people know where you are from when you are found outside of aes..."

"but why would we be outside of aes? we wouldn't survive outside." the brunette frowned, recalling how everybody had been taught to never leave the realm – the people who had tried to had never returned. "it would make more sense if it was the royals who had the mark. because they are the one to come and go more often."

mark – who thought he had done a good job finding a satisfying answer – kept his mouth shut for a while, his eyes staring at the horizon as he was deep in thought.

if this had been the true justification of the mark, the donghyuck was right, it should be borne by royals instead of peasants, because any peasant found outside of their realm would end up killed by the owner of the realm they trespassed on.

but well, this wasn't the true justification of why peasants were marked with red iron after their birth, and the real reason was much darker, and could not possibly be heard by donghyuck so well.

"you know, these are rules that have been decided long ago, when i wasn't even born." the royal ended up saying, blaming it on other people to make sure donghyuck's image of him wasn't tainted – because it seemed like in these past seven days of friendship, mark had started caring about what the peasant thought of him. "they don't really make sense anymore."

"oh, i see." the brunette nodded, glancing one last time at his wrist and tracing the scars with his fingers.

the two males fell in a comfortable silence after that, donghyuck not pushing the conversation further – to mark's greatest pleasure – and not asking about any other topic that would put mark in a somewhat embarrassing situation.

still keeping silent, the royal led donghyuck back inside the palace after they had spent quite a while in the royal gardens, enjoying the beautiful scenery. the two boys took a stroll across the corridors, mark planning on showing his new friend the dojo in which he spent a lot of time training. he wasn't sure whether to show the male this place that was very precious to him or not, but after seven long afternoons, there wasn't much more of the palace that donghyuck hadn't seen.

"are they changing the flowers?" donghyuck's sing-song voice broke the silence once again, hence catching mark's attention.

"huh?" the royal turned around, noticing that donghyuck had stopped a few steps behind.

he made his way to the young boy's side before peeking inside the room donghyuck had stopped in front of, his eyes falling on a few female servants surrounding a glass vase from which they pulled flowers out and put others pack in.

"i guess they are changing the flowers." mark hummed, glancing at the tanned male who bore a curious expression – as he always did.

"but they still look so beautiful... why would they change them so soon?"

it seemed donghyuck truly was another level of curious.

actually, maybe it wasn't that he was curious, but it was just that he couldn't keep his thoughts to himself. because if you thought about it, mark also questioned himself and the things he saw all of the time, but he kept those interrogations under his breath. however donghyuck asked about anything and everything, as if as soon as a question popped in his mind, he didn't take the time to try to think of an answer or to wonder whether the question was stupid or not before asking it out loud.

but well, mark didn't mind that habit of his. at least, it helped creating conversation between the two of them, plus, he found it quite endearing and cute.

"my mother hates it when the flowers are not fresh." the royal explained, giving an answer to the curious male. "a few servants were badly scolded for leaving the flowers to wither, so now, they make sure to change them every now and then, before they can start to wither."

"oh..." the tanned male nodded, keeping his eyes on the servants at work. "and what are they doing with them?"

"the flowers?" the king questioned, not really sure he understood donghyuck's interrogation.

"yes. the ones that they remove for the vase." the boy nodded. "are they throwing them away?"

the royal blinked in confusion at the peasant's nth question. "what else do you want them to do with dead flowers?"

"but they're not dead yet. they still are so pretty..." the young male pouted, his eyes lingering on the servants who now had finished changing the flowers and who were about to head out with the withering flowers in their arms.

the tanned male heaved a sigh, shrugging his shoulders as he turned around to walk away in the direction mark was previously leading in. however, after a few steps, he realised mark wasn't by his side, causing him to halt in his tracks and turn around to see why the royal hadn't followed him.

and well, what he saw was everything but healthy for his poor peasant heart.

mark was now walking in his direction, his face almost invisible behind the variety of flowers he was carrying in his arms. and it didn't take long for donghyuck to recognise the flowers that had just been changed, mostly because he caught a glimpse of the servants walking out of the room empty-handed after giving the flowers to the royal.

"m-mark? what are you doing?" the tanned male questioned with a slight chuckle.

"you seemed sad that they were being thrown away." the royal explained. "so, i'm giving them to you, so you can decorate around your house or at the restaurant you work at." he added with a smile, holding out the flowers for donghyuck to take.

it was no secret that the younger was taken aback by the sudden gesture, his cheeks becoming rosy at the gentle thought. he definitely wasn't asking all those questions about the flowers to have mark giving them to him; actually, he was just once again letting his mind speak without filtering what was being said.

"b-but..." the male replied with rosy cheeks. "w-what if you still need them to- "

"they were about to be thrown away." mark cut the tanned male's words. "but you're right, they're still pretty and they didn't wither yet. so, i want you to have them. i'm sure you'll find a nice place to put them."

donghyuck's cheeks flushed brighter at those words, finally accepting the gift and taking the flowers in his arms under mark's smile.

"so, where do you think you'll put them?" the royal asked. "do you perhaps have a nice vase at the restaurant you work at?"

"i can't put them there..." the tanned male shook his head. "people would know they come from the royal palace. they're nothing like flowers we have at the village."

"and?" mark frowned. "is that bad that they know the flowers are from here? i'm sure your parents would be happy if they knew you were friends with the future king of aes."

the tanned male kept his mouth shut, trying his best to ignore the question that he had just been asked.

would his parents be happy if they knew he was friends with the future king? the answer was obvious for his father; definitely not. as for his mother, she would want what made donghyuck the happiest, so maybe she would be happy about it, even if she was an anti-royalist.

but well, there was no way he would let the royal know who his family really was. this would definitely be a reason for the royal to stop whatever was starting between the two of them, and this was the last thing donghyuck wanted now.

the tanned male felt so happy that he now had a friend his age to hang around, and he leanrt so many interesting things from that friendship... he wasn't ready to give it all up by introducing himself as the anti-royalist he had been raised to be.

"i know a nice place where i can put them." the peasant answered simply, ignoring mark's question about his family.

"where?" the royal asked expectantly. and well, he wasn't mentally prepared for the answer he was about to receive...

"on my mother's tomb." donghyuck replied with a smile. "she would absolutely love them."

that sentence somehow created a big silence across the royal palace, mark staying frozen on his spot as he processed the words that had just been pronounced by his friend.

donghyuck didn't really seem affected by what he had just said judging by the way he was smiling brightly at the flowers.

"is there a problem?" the tanned male questioned after a while, diverting his attention from the rare and beautiful flowers to the royal that was still silently looking in the void.

"n-no, it's just that..." the future king paused for a second. "i had no idea you had lost your mother... i'm... i'm sorry."

the peasant looked at the royal with a small smile, feeling touched by the boy's words. "it's okay, there's nothing to be sorry about." the tanned male assured. "there are things that no one can't control and that just are meant to happen."

the royal blinked a few times, his eyes fixed on the tanned male holding the flowers. he somehow couldn't believe that someone could accept a parent's death so easily, not when he still struggled to cope with his own father passing away ten years ago.

"h-how can you say that...?" the future king asked, trying his best not to have his voice breaking.

"what else can i say?" donghyuck tackled back. "it's not like crying every day for her will bring her back to me."

mark was honestly surprised by the tanned male's words, definitely not expecting such things to slip past the boy's pretty lips. donghyuck was still young, and he had this innocent curiosity that made him adorable and that could fool anyone. but just now, as he spoke so wisely about his mother's death, mark couldn't help but realise how mature the young male actually was, perhaps even more than he actually was – and yet, he would be the one to take the throne months later.

"she had a liver disease." donghyuck continued speaking after a while since mark didn't seem to be willing to speak. "it was a miracle that she could survive this long with the condition that she had and without a treatment."

the royal's head shot up, eyes looking right into donghyuck's. "a liver disease? my father did have one too." he stated. "but thankfully, he was able to take the treatment, so this is not what killed him..."

donghyuck's previous smile faltered at those words, thus causing him to look at the royal with a pained expression. how could he even forget about the death of the king of aes, the reason why mark was now the soon-to-be king. the whole kingdom had mourned for so long at those news, well, except for his father and his friends, for whom this had been the best news possible.

"i-i'm sorry for your loss." donghyuck muttered, quite shameful to say those words out loud; not that he didn't mean them – he actually did, no one deserved the death of a closed one – but he couldn't help but find himself being a hypocrite for saying sich things when he had been celebrating the event when it had occurred ten years ago.

"i wish i could be as strong as you and say that there is nothing to be sorry about... but unfortunately, i can't seem to get over it..." mark explained with a sigh.

seeing the way the royal's expression had become gloomy so quickly, donghyuck realised that he may have made a mistake bringing up the subject of his mother's death.

he was quite mature about it, and had stopped being miserable about her loss long ago, knowing that it wouldn't change anything, but most people hadn't yet understood that at that age.

"you won't really get over it, to be honest..." donghyuck stated after a while, his sweet voice making mark lift his head and look at him. "but you'll just... learn to accept it, and to cherish the happy memories."

"mmh..." the royal hummed, only half-convinced by those words. "i hope so..."

donghyuck's eyes diverted from the royal to the flowers he was holding in his arms. he slowly readjusted his grip on them so that he could hold them with one hand, using the other to reach for mark's shoulder comfortingly.

"mark?" he called, letting his palm pat the expensive fabric of the oryal's clothes.

"mmh?" the boy lifted his head, allowing donghyuck to see the void in his eyes.

"let's go put some flowers on his tomb. i'm sure he would appreciate the gesture."

mark's heart skipped a beat at those words, his mind completely blank as he tried to process the words that had just got out of donghyuck's mouth.

the tanned male standing in front of him had – in a total of eight afternoons – shown more compassion and care for his loss than the rest of the kingdom had for the past ten years. somehow, for the first time, mark felt like his existence mattered; like his pain and his terros were heard and understood. and more than just understanding them, donghyuck was willing to help him overcome them. just how precious was this boy?

"yes, i'd like that." the uncrowned king declared, flashing donghyuck a small smile despite how pained he was.

donghyuck smiled back at him sincerely, his expression lighting up the whole royal palace with how bright and happy it was.

there were so many things hidden in this tanned male, and he was much more than he actually let see. but after eight afternoons spent together, and perhaps their first real personal conversation, mark couldn't help but realise how strong the boy actually was.

donghyuck was a peasant, mostly living miserably in a shitty village at the end of the lands of aes, with barely enough food to eat, and while overworking himself to survive. and yet, he had this natural joyful aura surrounding him, this pure innocence and unparalleled curiosity that made him so easy to approach. but now that he could see a bit more of it, mark could only realise that despite the harshness of the life he had endured, he held onto the little bits of happiness and joyful moments to keep himself sane.

and so, the royal couldn't help but be impressed by the maturity of this boy that he had first judged so badly. quite ironical coming from the future ruler of the kingdom, but he had so much to learn from this peasant.

convinced by donghyuck's proposal, the royal led donghyuck across the corridors, making his way towards the small chapel built inside of the palace for his ancestors.

the walk started in silence, neither of the boys knowing how to start a conversation after the hard topic that had been brought up, but inevitably, donghyuck managed to find something to say as they took a nth turn in another corridor.

"can i tell you something?" the tanned male asked, making sure mark was okay with him talking before imposing his blabber on the male. he knew mark had been quite shaken by the conversation they previously had, and maybe the older wouldn't want donghyuck's endless talking to bother him.

"of course." mark replied immediately, quite thankful for the younger male's question which had broken the silence and prevented himself to lock his mind in an endless dystopia.

"it is weird, but sometimes i feel like i've already been there..." the tanned male explained, looking at his surroundings.

mark turned his head to stare at the brunette who was looking around with awed eyes. he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at those words.

"well, you have." the royal informed. "you were there yesterday and the day before. and even the day before that."

"no, but i mean..." the peasant thought for a few seconds. "the first time i came, the kitchen, the corridors... they all felt so familiar to me."

mark smiled at the boy's words. "perhaps because you're meant to be there."

"pff." donghyuck immediately huffed at those words, staring at the royal with a brow raised questioningly. "how could i be meant to be in a royal palace when i'm nothing but a peasant?"

the future king of aes didn't answer immediately, keeping his eyes on the tanned male for a while before letting his lips curve up in a sincere smile.

"i don't know..." he stated. "life is full of surprises..."

and he couldn't help but admit to himself that this blossoming friendship was one of the best surprises he ever had.