cassiopeia ꒱ markhyuck

eleven

Donghyuck couldn't stop shaking, even as Renjun wrapped him in a blanket and pressed a warm cup of tea into his trembling hands. He sat and stared at the far wall, his eyes unfocused, trying to process his close brush with death.

"I'm so sorry, Donghyuck," Renjun cooed sympathetically, sitting next to the omega on his bed and rubbing his back comfortingly. "I wish there was more I could've done to protect you, I'm so sorry."

Donghyuck was quick to shake his head, finally turning to look at Renjun. "No, don't apologize. There's nothing you could've done, it's okay. I'm okay, I'm alive, and that's all that matters."

"His Majesty saved you, didn't he?" Renjun asked gently, still broaching the topic with caution. Donghyuck just nodded distantly, the mention of Mark leading him down an entirely different train of thought.

He couldn't stop thinking about it, actually. He couldn't get Mark's worried expression out of his mind, the way he had held his face so delicately and had been on the verge of hysterics when Donghyuck wouldn't answer him. He thought of how quick he was to put Donghyuck's life before his own and chose to shield him with his own body rather than simply moving Donghyuck out of the way. He thought of the relief on Mark's face when he finally answered, how he had stared at Donghyuck so sincerely, like he couldn't be more grateful that he was still alive and well.

Donghyuck desperately tried to push the thoughts away whenever they came up. It doesn't mean anything, he tried to tell himself, he only cares about your well-being because he needs an omega baby-maker. He only shielded you because he's an alpha, it's in his instincts. He doesn't care about you, he just wants to use you to get what he wants.

But he couldn't help it. He couldn't stop himself from replaying it over and over again in his mind. He couldn't stop his heart from fluttering dangerously when he remembered the ghost of Mark's fingers against his skin, cupping his cheeks like he was the most precious thing in the world to him.

Donghyuck groaned loudly, startling poor Renjun as he hunched the blanket further around his shoulders and buried his hands into his face. "Renjun, what am I gonna do?"

"What?" Renjun asked hurriedly, looking worried again, "what's the matter, Donghyuck? Are you feeling ill?"

"I must be," he muttered miserably, refusing to lift his eyes to look at his friend, "because why the fuck is Mark kind of hot all of the sudden?"

Renjun just stared at him, blinking slowly. "I beg your pardon?"

Donghyuck just whined and flopped forwards, muffling his voice into the bedspread beneath him. "He saved me, Jun. He saved my life without any hesitation or any regard for himself, and now I suddenly think he's kind of attractive because of it. Damnit."

Renjun stared a moment longer, before he let out a soft, disbelieving laugh. "You find the king attractive? I never thought I would hear those words coming out of your mouth."

"Well it's not like he's ugly or anything. I could recognize that he was objectively nice to look at before," Donghyuck snapped, lifting his head a little to glare at Renjun, "but it was so much easier to hate him when I thought he was a selfish jerk who didn't care about anyone but himself. You should've seen it, Junnie. He wasn't even scared, and he reacted so fast, it was like... so manly, so alpha-like. He was so gentle with me. He held my face. Fuck, I'm so screwed, he looked so cute when he was worried about me."

Renjun burst into full blown laughter at that, looking down at Donghyuck in amusement. "He's very kind, isn't he? Very gentlemanly. We all tried to tell you that before, you just weren't willing to listen."