cassiopeia ꒱ markhyuck

thirty three

That's when Woohyun finally emerged from the shadows, his laugh muffled by the mask keeping him from being affected by the sleeping gas.

"Goodnight, dear captain. Sweet dreams," he crooned mockingly, watching in amusement as the alpha captain weakly struggled to regain his consciousness. He lost, his body inevitably slumping down to the ground next to the others, and Woohyun felt incredible glee as he stepped over John's limp body and waltzed right into the bedroom of the king and queen, locking the door behind him just as a preventative measure.

┈ ୨ 👑 ୧ ┈

Jisung felt more and more uneasy the longer he waited, tapping his foot and continuously glancing at the door where his partner was supposed to emerge to join him.

Jeno had approached him a while ago to give him a very important task. He had said that something was suspicious about his partner—Kim Woohyun, he believed his name was—and that he wanted Jisung to keep a close eye on him during their shift. Jeno said he had trusted him, which had made Jisung swell with pride, filling him with determination to carry out the task as effectively as possible. Jisung desperately wanted Jeno's approval, because getting Jeno's approval meant getting John's approval, and John was the soldier that had inspired Jisung to join the royal guard in the first place. He had met John coincidentally in the town square when he was young, had watched the captain stop a group of bandits robbing a poor old woman, and Jisung had gone starry eyed at the brave, handsome man and decided that he wanted to grow up to become like him one day.

But he couldn't follow Jeno's orders if his partner didn't show up at all. He paced in front of the entrance anxiously, peeking around the corner and trying to see down the dim hallway and spot Woohyun, but nothing. Minutes creeped by, and Jisung started to grow panicked, wondering what could have possibly happened to hold up his partner.

Jisung remembered that Jeno had said he was suspicious of Woohyun, implying that Jisung should be suspicious of him too. This made him worry even more, wondering if Woohyun might be the alpha traitor everyone was still looking for, if he had done something bad to the other guards or even worse, the king and queen.

Jisung hesitated in the doorway. He wasn't supposed to leave his post without permission, and he could end up getting in really big trouble if it turned out he was just worrying over nothing. But something in his gut told him that he needed to go and check, so he swallowed the lump in his throat and ran down the hallway, making his way back to the side of the palace where the king and queen's bedrooms were located.

┈ ୨ 👑 ୧ ┈

Mark was awoken by the distant sound of an unfamiliar voice calling out his name.

Waking himself up felt like struggling against being submerged in deep water, his hearing muffled and his brain cloudy and muddy. He finally managed to pull his senses back together, blinking open his eyes and waiting as his blurry vision cleared and focused.

The first thing he registered was that he was facing the bed, where Donghyuck was still sleeping. He saw the omega laid out on his back, still sound asleep, but his hands were tied above his head to the bed frame, his ankles also wrapped together with rope.

Panic immediately shot through him, and he lurched forward, only to meet similar resistance. He looked down and realized that he was tied up as well, sitting in a wooden chair with his wrists bound to the armrests, and his feet bound to the chair legs. He tried to struggle, but his limbs were still heavy with exhaustion, making him weak and helpless.

"Ah, you're finally awake."

Mark stiffened, immediately turning to look at the source of the voice. Standing beside him was one of the alpha guards, wearing a dark cloak with a wide grin spread across his face.