Donghyuck found himself feeling nervous as he made his way down to the royal gardens later that night.
He had met Mark like this countless times before, had spent many nights curled in his embrace or on the receiving end of some sweet romantic gesture that made his heart flutter annoyingly in his chest, but it all felt different now after his recent realization.
He couldn't bring himself to deny it any longer. He was in love with Mark, the kind of love that left him breathless and made him ache with desire, the want to always be close to him and never leave his side. He was head over heels, completely and hopelessly, and in his opinion, it was arguably one of the worst things that could possibly happen to him in this situation.
He was supposed to return to his own world, sooner or later. He had always known that, he had been acting under the assumption that what he did in this world ultimately wouldn't matter because he would eventually return to his own and leave it all behind. He couldn't stay, it wouldn't be right.
But, then, what was he supposed to do about his feelings? How was he supposed to leave Mark after all that they had been through together? He couldn't imagine spending the rest of his life without Mark, and he came to the gut wrenching realization that he actually wanted to become Mark's mate, more than he'd ever wanted anything else in his entire life. He wanted to get married, to wake up every day next to him, to feel the king's lips against his own and his arms wrapped securely around his waist, safe and warm.
The realization had him feeling more distressed than he could've predicted. He didn't know how to navigate his new feelings, and reconcile them with the inherent need to return back to his world, the one goal that was the motivation behind every action and decision he'd made in this world so far.
So he walked down into the gardens and prepared himself for the metaphorical worst, expecting to be swept off his feet once again and to have his emotions muddled even further. He internally cursed as he saw the twinkling fairy lights hanging from the tops of the bushes, making the stone path glitter with refractions of light. There were rose petals lining the way, guiding him to the spot where Mark was undoubtedly waiting for him, and his stomach swooped with adoration even as his brain lamented.
Why did Mark have to be so sweet and thoughtful? It would've been so much easier to leave him if he was the selfish, spoiled asshole he had believed him to be when he first arrived.
He bit into his bottom lip and poked his head out around the corner of the stone wall, peering into the space the rose petals guided him towards. He immediately spotted Mark sitting in the center of an open clearing, surrounded by candles with a small picnic basket sitting in his lap. Rose petals were laid around him in the shape of a heart, and Donghyuck should've thought that it was tacky and corny, but much to his frustration, he didn't. He thought it was adorable, the cutest thing he had ever seen. He hated that he was so easily swayed by Mark's romantic gestures.
When Mark spotted him, his face lit up into a bright smile, making the omega's heart stutter again.
"Donghyuck!" Mark called cheerfully, waving him over. The omega gave him back a strained, tight lipped smile, shuffling over towards the center of the clearing. Mark scooted over to make room for him, and Donghyuck sunk into his spot, keeping his hands clasped in his lap and pointedly not looking in Mark's direction.
"Do you like it? I set it all up, just for you. I may have overdone it a little, though," Mark chuckled, his voice lilted with nerves and a hint of hopeful expectation.
Donghyuck squeezed his eyes shut and bit back a sigh. Mark was so cute, it was unfair.
"It's... gorgeous, thank you," Donghyuck murmured, staring down at the checkered blanket beneath them. In the low light of the setting sun, he could just barely make out Mark's shadow inching closer to him, and he held his breath in anticipation.
"Is something the matter?" Mark asked softly, his hand landing on Donghyuck's shoulder. The omega flinched horribly, and Mark pulled his hand back immediately, surprised.
"Nothing's wrong. Everything is fine," Donghyuck squeaked out, embarrassment creeping up the back of his neck. He could feel Mark's gaze boring holes into the side of his head, most likely concerned.
"Donghyuck..." Mark started, his voice lined with concern and confusion, "you keep acting strange around me. Are you sure I didn't do anything to upset you?"
Donghyuck stifled a groan, trying to rack his brain for some sort of excuse that wasn't "I'm acting weird around you because I just realized I'm in love with you".
"You didn't do anything Mark... don't worry about it, I promise I'm fine," Donghyuck mumbled, covering his face with his hands.
Mark hesitated, pursing his lips. "Did I do too much? Is it making you uncomfortable?"
Donghyuck tentatively lifted his head, furrowing his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
"Like... with the picnic set up," Mark coughed, gesturing around him at the rose petal heart and the romantic lighting, "did I come on too strong? I didn't mean to overwhelm you, I'm sorry."
Donghyuck flushed, quickly shaking his head before he could think twice about it. "No it's... it's perfect Mark, really. It's beautiful, I'm touched that you went to such lengths just for me."
The king's frown only deepened, his expression perplexed. "Then, I don't understand why you're acting this way."
Donghyuck took in a deep breath, releasing a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, it's just me being weird, I promise it has nothing to do with you. I'll handle it, just... can we drop it?"
A long silence fell between them. Donghyuck waited anxiously, breath caught in his throat.
"Okay," Mark said finally, voice quiet. Donghyuck deflated, instantly relieved.
Another beat of silence passed before Mark cleared his throat, gesturing to one of the servants.
"Um... the moment may have been ruined a little, but I prepared something else for you," Mark said sheepishly, watching as a servant rushed over to hand him a bouquet of roses and daisies. Donghyuck stared and blushed red all the way up to his ears, heart pounding against his rib cage.
"These are for you," the king smiled, placing the large bouquet in Donghyuck's arms. Donghyuck felt like he could melt right into the ground.
"And, um... I had something I wanted to say to you as well," Mark mumbled, sounding almost shy. Donghyuck looked up and bit his lip, bracing himself.
"I wanted to say that I enjoy all the time I spend with you, I love having you around and you've already had such a positive impact on my life during the time you've been here," Mark started, staring at the omega with a small smile, "and... I know that you originally didn't want to be here, and I'm sorry that I took you here by force, but I hope you've grown more comfortable here. I hope you consider officially becoming my mate soon, because I think we could have a wonderful life here together. I want to take care of you, make you happy here with me and give you all the love and care that you deserve."
Donghyuck just stared, completely floored as his face burned. Mark's words were heavy and loaded, and it was essentially a proposal. Mark had just confessed to him, and basically asked to marry him all in the same breath.
"You don't have to give a response now," Mark added quickly, flushing red himself. Donghyuck didn't think he'd ever seen him so nervous before. "I'll wait until you're ready... I'll wait for as long as I need to, for you."
All Donghyuck could do was nod stiffly and mutter an awkward 'thank you', his head spinning as he processed.
Mark loved him too, that much had been made obvious in his confession. He had already known that anyways, if he was being honest with himself.
But now, he had been presented with a choice, a choice that would undoubtedly affect the rest of his life going forward. He could choose to accept, to stay with Mark and become his mate, become the queen of the country and spend the rest of his life as royalty in a foreign world with people he loved and considered his friends. Or, he could return to his world as planned, go back to his life as a miserable college student who some weeks barely managed to scrape by with enough money to buy food, in a world that he had grown up in but one where he had been lonely, with no friends or family to support him.
The choice should've been obvious. He wasn't meant to stay, and even if his life had been less than desirable, it was still his.
But now the lines had been blurred, relationships had been formed and attachments made, and he came to the harrowing realization that he truly didn't know what option was right to choose.
┈ ୨ 👑 ୧ ┈
The only person John could trust with divulging his suspicions about the identity of the remaining alpha traitor was Jeno, because he knew he would be smart enough to keep it a secret until they had solid confirmation.
Jeno had agreed that it made sense, that it should've raised their suspicions more when Kim Woohyun had offered a flimsy excuse for why he had stepped away from camp and opened the window for an assassin to attack. It was their only lead that they had so far, but and they knew they couldn't act recklessly based on the flimsy suspicion alone. They had to have tangible, undeniable evidence, and to get that, they were going to have to conduct the most inconspicuous investigation they've ever attempted.
It started with John assigning Jeno to the same shifts as Woohyun. Jeno had the opportunity to watch him while they worked, even making idle conversation to try and wriggle any ounce of information that might be useful to them, but he ultimately came up short. Woohyun was reserved, barely speaking unless absolutely necessary and mostly keeping to himself, keeping his personal life guarded. It became obvious very quickly that they would need to revise their strategy if they wanted to get anything useful out of him, so John decided to pivot and take matters into his own hands.
He began to follow Woohyun around during the times when he wasn't working, trying to assess what he did on his off time. He utilized his stealth training to make sure he wasn't noticed, trailing behind him after hours to try and catch him in the act, whatever the act may be. He took note of everything he did, every person he talked to or socialized with inside of the palace, how late he went to bed and how early he woke up.
But still, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he watched him and tried to find any crack, any flaw, any indication that he wasn't who he said he was, he found nothing. The only information he was able to gather was that he didn't have many friends within the palace, he spent most of his free time reading books or walking outside, and he went to bed early and woke up early, leaving little room or time to scheme or do anything other than his job.
Frustrated, John eventually gave up, going back to his normal routine and trying to come up with another strategy to catch Woohyun. He and Jeno even considered switching targets entirely, because they were beginning to doubt that they had any reason to suspect Woohyun of anything sinister in the first place.
But, little did they know, Woohyun had been aware of their eyes on him the entire time. He had intentionally been cagey with Jeno, had taken a pause in his routine to try and appear more boring than usual when he realized that John was following him. And now that they had given up, reconvening to figure out another strategy, Woohyun could resume his plan, putting into motion the plot he had devised to kill the queen.
One evening, after everyone else in the palace had gone to sleep, Woohyun snuck away from his post and crept into the potion making room, slowly closing the door behind him and making sure he would have adequate time before flipping on the lights and getting to work. He pulled out the recipe he had stolen from one of the magic books in the palace library, a step by step guide to making a sleeping potion. He poured each ingredient in one by one, mixing them all together until it was ready, which is when he finally used it to fill tiny, individual gas bombs that he had built weeks ago, in preparation for this moment.
The pieces of his plan were complete, set up to completion and ready to go.
Now, all that was left for him to do was find the right moment, the perfect opportunity to set everything in motion.
The queen was soon going to die in his arms. The thought alone made him excited, keeping him awake and filling his head with fantasies that he nurtured until the early morning light came shining through again.