without love | markhyuck

twenty-one

donghyuck reluctantly loosened his grip, pulling his face from minhyung's shoulder. minhyung sighed and cupped his face once again--swollen eyes, the trail of fresh tears ran down along his heated cheeks and the red and runny nose that donghyuck tried to sniff but to no avail, were on minhyung's display.

the calloused pad of minhyung's thumbs was wiping any stain on his lover's face. "it hurts me seeing you cry like this, what should i do?"

"i'm sorry minhyung," donghyuck's lips quivered, preventing himself from acting weak again. to think back of his previous action, donghyuck knew very well he was being selfish, wanting minhyung all to himself when actually he had an important task to settle. sighing heavily, donghyuck let out a half-hearted smile and composed himself. "you need to go now," donghyuck said.

minhyung nodded his head with concern was shown on his face as he watched the tanned male slid open the door. outside of the house, at the yard, renjun was waiting for the crown prince. donghyuck saw him looking back at him and he was positive renjun threw him a small smile before bowing.

"i'll be fine. don't think too much and don't wander alone at night. bring jaemin with you here if you want," minhyung's voice made the tanned male tore his gaze from the latter standing like a statue down there.

"i will," donghyuck reassured as he was pulled into a hug, breathing the scent of his husband that calmed down his mind.

as minhyung pulled away, he pecked donghyuck's cheek. "i love you."

donghyuck closed his eyes hearing the comforting words. "i love you too."

the warmth of minhyung's body left him as he walked towards the petite general. "let's go renjun."

"minhyung!" donghyuck shouted from the porch that made the latter turned around and caught sight of him. "don't break your promise.."

minhyung smiled and breathed out. "i won't."

just like that, donghyuck watched the two figures slowly disappeared from his sight behind the wooden gate and a heavy sigh left his lips, praying inside his heart that everything was going to be alright.

🌻🌻🌻

at one of the palace's hall, an unexpected meeting was conducted, proposed by the ministers. the king sat on his throne looking at a particular minister, brows furrowed at his statement.

"my son-in-law is having an affair?" the king snapped, fuming hearing the unexpected news.

several gasps were heard, filling the hall as state councilor lee bore his gaze toward the one who had spoken about his son. "why is it out of the blue that you decided to bring up this matter?"

"it is not out of the blue but the rumor has been going on for a while even before your son got married to the crown prince. how could you not know about this councilor lee?" he asked in disbelief.

"with whom does he has an affair with?" the king beat councilor lee before muttering any words.

"with the late general lee jeno, your majesty," councilor kang butted in, keeping his poker face as councilor lee was taken aback by the name of the person mentioned.

the king balled his fist and took a deep breath, trying to control his anger.

"we need to do something about this, your majesty. it's a disgrace and we can't let it spreads outside of the palace. it will ruin our nation's name," one of the ministers said with a concerned voice.

councilor lee's didn't know what to do at the moment. he needed to think fast to save his son. "but we don't have any proof for this groundless accusation!"

"bold of you to assume that councilor lee, i have the person who knows about this matter," councilor kang spoke up with a smirk lingering on his face, longer than he intended to. "if you'll allow me, your majesty, can i bring in the person at this moment?"

the king was having a mental debate if this rumor was true or not because he was sure, he chose the right person to marry his son. however, thinking about his nation, the reputation of his nation, he couldn't let it slip. even if it was just a rumor.

with a single nod, the guard opened the door to let the person in and donghyuck's father couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the familiar figure.

donghyuck was going to his father's quarter, trying to clear his mind from thinking about negative things. he skipped his way and knocked on the door. he knocked twice, thrice and the number increased after some time of doing so. but all donghyuck received was zero answers.

he saw one of the maids at the back of the house, drying some clothes before hanging them on the line. "where is councilor lee? and jaemin?" donghyuck asked, startling her.

she bowed immediately showing respect for the superior, some of the remaining clothes were still in her hands. "councilor lee is out to meet the king since the morning and as for jaemin he's--"

"your highness!" jaemin's voice interrupted the maid from speaking and donghyuck turned his body to look at the latter.

"jaemin!" donghyuck squealed happily as he ran to him and engulfed him in his arms.

"why are you here? i mean where's the crown prince, he's not coming with you?" jaemin asked, scratching his temple.

"yeah he has some work to do and he's away for a week," donghyuck replied. "where were you just now?"

jaemin avoided his eyes from donghyuck as he swallowed thickly. "uh, i wanted to get some fresh air."

donghyuck raised a brow as he looked at the latter weirdly. "are you okay? you look pale," donghyuck stepped forward to rest the back of his hand on jaemin's forehead but the latter flinched.

"donghyuck.. i.. i was walking by the hall where your father, the king and some ministers are and i heard.." jaemin was sweating profusely as his body shook, looking down at his feet.

donghyuck didn't get what jaemin was trying to say but by his expression, donghyuck was alert that it wasn't something good. "what is it jaemin?" donghyuck's voice was just above a whisper.

"they've found out about your affair with jeno.. and the worst part is.. they're going to interrogate you until you tell the truth.." jaemin's eyes watered as he tried not to imagine how painful it would feel. "..you know how it will be carried out, right?"

donghyuck's breath hitched when the main gate of the quarter was being forcefully opened, four armies were striding toward him.

"j-jaemin! what are t-they doing?!" donghyuck retreated as he hid behind jaemin. "hey! let me go!" donghyuck squirmed as he was captured in the stronghold, kicking his feet in the air.

"i-i'm sorry.. i'm really sorry.." jaemin cried silently as he watched the tanned male struggled to escape.

🌻🌻🌻

|to be continued|