Weeks went by quietly.  Everyone was on edge, just waiting for something to happen.  Mark tried to take it in stride but Jinyoung was always worried.

“You need to,” Mark peppered kisses along Jinyoung’s jaw as he spoke.  “Calm, down.”  Jinyoung was pressed up against a bookshelf in the library, trapped in Mark’s arms.

Mark’s mind always got a bit hazy when his lips were on Jinyoung’s.  He did things instinctively and it was getting harder to hold back.  His leg casually slid up Jinyoung’s, trapping him even further against the shelf and he pushed him harder against the shelf and-

“Ow, ow, ow…”  Mark abruptly got off of Jinyoung, realizing that he probably pushed Jinyoung too far up against the shelf.  “You’re saying I need to calm down?”

“Sorry.” Mark leaned in to give him a chaste kiss on his lips as an apology. 

Jinyoung laughed.  “It’s okay.” 

Jinyoung turned them around so Mark was pressed into the bookshelf.  Mark raised an eyebrow at him but Jinyoung just smiled cheekily before pressing his lips to Mark’s and trying to get back to the pace they were at previously.

Mark would be lying if he said he wasn’t obsessed with Jinyoung.  He was in love with him, he hadn’t voiced this directly yet but he knew he was gone from the moment he laid eyes on him, which sounded cliché but it was true.  There was always something that drew him to Jinyoung, even before he knew anything about him.  He didn’t question the way fate worked, he was just thankful.

Jinyoung’s tongue slid past his lips and down his throat in a hurry, causing Mark to whimper and Jinyoung to make an approving noise in response.  Jinyoung’s arms wrapped around his waist as they both leaned back against the shelf.  Jinyoung’s leg went up between his thighs and Mark felt his face heating up.  They had both gotten bolder as the weeks passed by but it was always Mark going for it first.  He soon realized Jinyoung’s leg wasn’t going to stop and--

“Oh my god.”  Mark and Jinyoung froze when they heard a third voice beside them; both too scared to turn around.  “You two… you…” 

Mark recognized the voice.  “Wait, don’t leave, don’t say anything, don’t...” 

“What… what… what are you doing?!”

Sooyoung hid her face in her hands, unable to even make eye contact with them as they sat together in the library.  “This is so embarrassing.”

Mark and Jinyoung wanted to hide as well, they were sure this wasn’t going to happen again. “Jinyoung, I thought you said you locked the door this time…”

“I did!  I swear.”  Jinyoung crossed his arms; a little angry Mark didn’t trust him.

“Actually, I just got Sungjae to open it for me since I really needed to talk with Mark and I know you guys are always hanging out here…. together… oh my god.”  Sooyoung fell further into the armchair, still trying to get herself to deal with the situation.

“How did Sungjae have access to it?”  Jinyoung turned to Sooyoung, hoping she would be able to actually face them soon.

“He has his ways, he can pick locks a bit… I mean that’s not important.”  She finally looked up, her face still flushed.  “I’m sorry if I barged in unexpectedly… I just didn’t think…” 

Mark and Jinyoung exchanged glances; she obviously wasn’t taking this news as well as Jaebum or Jackson.

“I just didn’t think my own brother would be… you know.  It’s just a lot of information to process.”

“You can’t tell anyone.”  Jinyoung said sternly.

“It’s not like I can, Mark knows secrets about me too, and if either of us was found out we’re completely done for.  I wouldn’t do that to you guys.”  Sooyoung had her body angled away not to face them directly, and she still couldn’t look them in the eye. 

“Is there a good reason you had to break into the library?”  Jinyoung asked evident annoyance in his voice. 

“Well, it was something important actually,” Sooyoung finally looked towards Mark, her expression still uneasy.  “It’s our wedding; I was told this morning that my father has moved the date up to the end the week.”

Sooyoung’s words hit him like a brick.  “What, this week? “  Mark looked over to Jinyoung, who looked at him with a panicked expression.

“He’s planning to officially announce it tonight at dinner.  I don’t know what to do; I just needed to tell you…”  Mark knew from Sooyoung’s expression that she was equally worried about the situation.

“He’s crazy; he can’t move a royal wedding like that.  There’s a lot of planning and... and…”  Jinyoung ran a hand through his hair and sighed.  “Knowing him, he probably found a way.”  Jinyoung admitted.

All three of them looked at the ground, trying to process this new information.  Mark had been thinking for the past few weeks since he talked with Jinyoung, trying to find a way to make all this work.  It wasn’t foolproof, but he had an idea.

“Jinyoung,” Mark turned to him and Jinyoung caught the fire in Mark’s eyes, nodding for him to continue.  “You are allowed to leave the castle as you please, correct?”

“Not exactly, I need a good reason to head completely out of castle grounds.  Trips for events or business are usually the only good reasons; I won’t be able to get out for anything else without a really good explanation.  Why?”

That wasn’t the answer Mark was hoping for, but there was still a chance.  “I mean, you’re friends with most of the servants, correct?  We need escorts to go out but if we get people we trust, leave the castle together; maybe we could just… leave?”  Jinyoung and Sooyoung both just stared at him as if he had completely lost his marbles.

“Mark, what do you mean leave?  We can’t just… leave?  Where do we go?”

Mark knew he wasn’t the best at coming up with solutions, but there almost was no solutions to this.  “Just… leave.  Go somewhere, anywhere, far away from here.  You said you wanted to live like a normal person for once, right?  We have royal blood but not everyone knows our faces. If we were to travel far away we could easily blend in with normal people.”

“That’s ridiculous, we’re royals.  Why would you ever want to stoop so low to be just a commoner? “Sooyoung interjected.

Jinyoung looked at her so intensely she had to finally face him.  “There’s nothing wrong with being a commoner.  All of our workers are commoners, the townspeople are commoners, but they’re not unhappy.  They get to live freely, we don’t.  We may have a lot of money and luxuries but none of those mean anything to me if I can’t be with the person I love.”  Jinyoung realized a second later what he had said and he instantly turned red.

Mark didn’t know what to say and Jinyoung was silent again, so it was Sooyoung who finally broke the awkwardness.  “So, you two are really serious about each other?  This is not just… a phase?”

Jinyoung still seemed annoyed that Sooyoung had to find out and she was reacting this way, but Mark truly understood her confusion and didn’t blame her for it.  “Yes, we’re serious.  I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”  Mark said it so sternly Sooyoung finally decided that was all the convincing she needed. 

“Alright, while I still think your plan is ridiculous and not going to work, I haven’t got any better ideas.  If you’re truly serious about leaving behind this life for each other’s sakes then I’m not going to oppose you.  I want this all to be over with just as much as you do.”  Sooyoung finally smiled at him as she got up.  “I’m almost glad it turned out this way in the end.  Prince Tuan, you are definitely the best man I’ve ever been set up with and you better treat my brother well.” 

Mark wanted to laugh, it seemed over protectiveness was another trait that ran is the Park family.

She bowed to him.  “I will ask Sungjae and the other servants if there is any way we could sneak you guys out of here.  For now, I’ll take my leave, sorry interrupting you.”

Mark smiled as he bowed back.  “Thank you, Princess Park.  It was an honour being engaged to you for the short time this was, and I hope you’ll be able to marry someone you actually love someday.”

After she had left Jinyoung was still avoiding Mark’s gaze.  “Jinyoung, you okay?”

“The more I think about the more I realize that leaving might not be so bad.  What am I leaving behind?  Wealth that isn’t even mine, luxuries that I don’t care about, belongings that I barely ever use, and a family that hardly cares about me…I’d choose you over all that.”  Mark smiled as he walked over and sat in Jinyoung’s lap.  “What am I going to tell Jaebum though?  ‘I’m glad we’ve been friends since birth but I’m leaving with a man I’ve known for a few months?’”

Mark didn’t think all of this through.  He didn’t mind leaving behind most of what he had, but leaving Jackson made his heart hurt.  “We can take him with us and Jackson too and…”

Jinyoung stopped him before he could say anything else.  “We can’t take everyone; I’m friends with most of the staff here.  We can’t play favourites.  It’s risky enough for just the two of us to try to leave, I don’t want to endanger anyone else,” Mark rested his head against Jinyoung’s chest and Jinyoung reached out to pat his head softly.  “Besides, Jaebum isn’t going to leave without Young- “

“Jinyoung.”  Neither of them needed to look back to know it was Jaebum.  “You need to attend your evening lessons.”

Mark wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there, or if he had heard much, but it was up to Jinyoung to try to think about that.  Mark gave him a look, as he pushed Mark a bit to get him off his lap so he could get up.  “You don’t need to go, there’s no reason if…”

Jinyoung smiled and nodded in disagreement.  “I know it’s pointless, but I can’t make anyone suspicious.”  He whispered.  “Can you meet me after dinner, in the back gardens?”

Mark nodded and Jinyoung ran off to leave with Jaebum. 

Mark was scared, but there wasn’t anything that scared him more than a life without Jinyoung.

“It’s very… quiet.”  Mark observed.  The castle was always buzzing with hundreds of servants and guards that worked there, so this was a bit of a shock.

“Nobody works in the gardens at night, and the guards only guard the front of the castle.”  Jinyoung explained, a single lantern providing some light in the darkness.

“No guards are assigned back here?  That seems strange.”

“The estate is entirely fenced in and there is nothing beyond here, just trees.  There’s no chance anyone’s going to try to come through here.”  Jinyoung clarified.

“Why did you want to meet here again?”  Mark had hardly been out to the back gardens since he first met Coco.

“Do you remember what I said last time we were here, about the climbing vines all over the fence?” Jinyoung held the lantern in one hand and he held Mark’s hand with the other.

It had been a while since they had that conversation, but Mark suddenly remembered.  “You said they were going to bloom flowers in late spring?”

Jinyoung smiled in response as he pulled him along by the hand until they reached the end of the property.  Jinyoung held his lantern up, illuminating the fence.  “I would’ve shown you this in the morning, but I’ve realized that seeing it at night is something you don’t want to miss out on.”

Mark was mesmerized.  The entire fence was covered in bright blue flowers.  As soon as the lantern light hit them they looked as if they were almost glowing underneath the night sky.  It was truly a spectacular sight.

“Well, what do you think?  Was it worth the wait?”  Jinyoung asked as he set down the lantern next to them and leaned into Mark.

“It’s… beautiful.”The scene was much more than beautiful in Mark’s eyes but he couldn’t come up with the right words to describe it perfectly.

“I’m glad we’re still here to see this,” Jinyoung tugged Mark’s hand and pulled him away from the fence.  “It’s been so long since we’ve met.”

“It’s only been a couple of months, Jinyoungie.” 

“Really?  I feel like I’ve known you for years.” 

“I guess when you’re in love days feel like months and months feel like years.”    Mark said with no hesitation in his voice.

Jinyoung’s face wasn’t completely lit up due to the dim lighting but Mark knew he was turning red again.  “Love?”

“You said you loved me earlier, right?  I was just returning the favour.”  Mark smiled brightly; Jinyoung was always adorable when he was flustered.

“I said that by accident.”

“Oh?  So you didn’t mean it?”  Mark pouted and Jinyoung immediately regretted speaking.

“No!  Not at all! I…”  Mark leaned in towards Jinyoung, tilting his ear towards his mouth so that he could hear clearly.

“What was that?  I couldn’t hear you.”  Mark teased and Jinyoung just giggled and reached out to turn Mark’s face towards him so that he was staring directly into his eyes.

“I love you, Mark Tuan.”  Mark didn’t waste any time closing the gap between their lips and kissing him deeply in response.

When they finally parted for air Mark stared at him and whispered: “I love you too.”

Jinyoung smiled and pulled himself out of Mark’s grip to stand before him and bow, holding his hand out.  “Prince Tuan.” 

“What are you doing?”

“We’re reminiscing the time we’ve known each other, right?  I felt this was only fitting.”  He wiggled his hand a bit, waiting for Mark to take it.

“There’s no music, though.”

“We don’t need music, just, please?” 

Mark sighed happily as he took Jinyoung’s hand and bowed to him.  “Prince Park.”

Jinyoung seemed elated and that was enough to keep Mark going as he twirled him around the gardens, their legs moving in a circle pattern that was common of partner dances. 

It was different from the first time, their hands fell together so naturally and their bodies hugged each other when they came together.  When they came to the steps where they were supposed to switch partners they both let go and immediately latched back onto each other and laughed about it because the entire situation was really quite silly but they were both too giggly and content to even care.  Soon the dancing turned into them just hugging each other close and randomly moving their feet and they both decided they should better stop before Mark died of laughter.

“That was ridiculous.”  Mark said, still trying to calm down.

“It was supposed to be sweet and memorable; you ruined it by not following the steps.”

“I can’t follow the steps properly without music.”  They both laughed some more until they were finally over the situation.

“Wait!  There’s still one more thing I wanted to do.”  Jinyoung grabbed Mark’s hand and picked up the lantern from the ground.  He pulled him towards another corner of the gardens and held up the lantern triumphantly when he finally reached his destination.  “Ta-da!”

Mark wasn’t sure what he was looking at.  It seemed like fabric draped hurriedly over some sort of stand.  Mark decided to smile since Jinyoung looked so proud of it, but he realized he couldn’t fake it anymore when Jinyoung waited patiently for a response.  “Oh!  Wow!  It’s… what is it?”

Jinyoung didn’t seem too upset he didn’t know what it was, he was eager to explain.  “I read a book recently about a man who got stranded on an island and he made something called a ‘tent’.  You sleep in it.  I tried to make one too since it’s late now and the guards are going to be inside the house we can just sleep outside!”  Jinyoung seemed excited and Mark didn’t quite get the appeal.

“Anything for you Jinyoung, as long as you’re sure we won’t get caught.” 

“We won’t, as long as we wake up before it’s completely bright outside and head back in… I wake up early naturally anyways we should be fine.”  It wasn’t like Jinyoung to be into taking risks like this.  He must’ve been really proud of his tent.

Mark shrugged and leaned down to crawl inside.  Space was rather limited and the entire thing seemed rather flimsy.  “Are you sure we can both fit in here?”

“We should be able to!  I…” Jinyoung tried to make his way inside and started bumping limbs with Mark.  “Ow, wait, move more to the right.”

Mark rolled over more and Jinyoung tried to lay his body down sideways but he was still struggling to find enough room.  “Jinyoung, move just-- hey watch your arm!”

“Sorry!”  Jinyoung tried to roll over and push himself to the left but he didn’t realize doing that would cause the entire sheet to roll, pulled it off the makeshift rods, completely dismantling the tent.  “No!”

Mark crawled out from the mess of sheets and rods piled on the floor and tried to unravel Jinyoung from the mess he made.  Mark was trying hard not to laugh because Jinyoung was obviously distraught, but he let a snicker slip as he freed Jinyoung.

“It’s not funny!  I had a plan, and that plan is ruined… it was supposed to be romantic.”  Mark finally freed Jinyoung completely and he stood up to estimate the damages.  “I don’t think I have time to fix this tonight.”

“Relax Jinyoungie, it doesn’t matter.  We can just sneak back inside; I can still sleep with you if you really want.”  Mark smiled at him and Jinyoung couldn’t stay mad for long.

So they left the mess of tent back there and headed back to the castle, dodging the night guards and making their way back to Jinyoung’s room, where Mark tackled him on the bed, holding him closely and breathing in his scent. 

“See, isn’t this much comfier than the weird tent thing you made?” 

“I guess, although with better execution the tent could’ve worked out.”  Jinyoung tried to convince but Mark wasn’t having any of it and decided to silence Jinyoung with his lips before he could try and come up with any more excuses.

Somewhere in the middle of kissing Jinyoung fell asleep.  Mark grinned when he realized the situation and tucked Jinyoung’s body in his arms so he could join him in a deep slumber.

Mark wasn’t sure what time it was when he was shaken awake.  One look outside told him that it was still dark out.

“You two!  Wake up!  Wake up now!”  Sooyoung shouted in a whisper.

 Mark was the first one to jolt up.  “Sooyoung?  What’s the matter?”

Jinyoung rubbed his eyes as he tried to sit up, finally roused by the commotion.

“It’s my brother; my father is planning to have him leave!”

This finally caught Jinyoung’s attention.  “What me?  Leaving?”

“Father is sending you off to the western kingdom to meet your wife.”

“He didn’t mention that to me, when am I leaving?”  Jinyoung looked like he had lived through three wars and Mark’s heart was beating straight through his chest.

“He’s planning to have you leave first thing in the morning.”

Mark felt his stomach drop. “No, that’s too soon!”

“I won’t go!  He can’t make me…”

Sooyoung looked tense.  “I’m sorry, I don’t know the details but I’m pretty sure if you don’t agree he’s going to find a way to force you…I mean… you know how father can be.”

Jinyoung and Sooyoung both looked unsettled and Mark knew he hadn’t seen all the things King Park was capable of.  “Then there’s no way we’re getting out of this?”

“It’s too late.  There’s nothing you can do.”  Sooyoung looked guilty there wasn’t anything she could do beyond giving them information, but Mark knew they had to find a way out of this.

“Do either one of you know when the servants and guards report for duty in the morning?”  Mark asked.

“Around five in the morning, less than an hour from now, why?”  Sooyoung answered.

Mark took Jinyoung’s hand and turned to look at him, the fire in his eyes evident.

“We’re leaving.”

A/N: Some of you may be wondering, where have you been for the past two weeks despite saying you were going to update this more frequently?? WELL I've actually got a pretty good explanation. So all of last week I was so anxious i felt like I was going to vomit on a daily basis, so basically I was a mess. Then on Sunday, the reason for my anxiety, I WENT TO GO SEE GOT7 LIVE AND LET ME TELL YOU... IT WAS LIFE CHANGING... honestly. I was sitting so close to the front, I could've reached out and touched them (the girl sitting beside me actually did get to hold hands with jackson... i swear i'm not bitter) and omg I had SO much fun!! And during the talk markjin was sitting right in front of me AND JINYOUNG REACHED OUT TO RUB MARK'S THIGH AND HOLD HIS HAND AND I ACTUALLY ALMOST PASSED OUT RIGHT THERE AND THEN IT WAS JUST TOO REAL. Anyways! I'm not going to relay my whole experience here, but, if you guys ever have the chance to see got7 live please go!! They're flawless and amazing!! So, then we get to after the concert, post concert depression is very real guys. I cried for at least three days on and off due to the trauma of not being in front of got7 anymore... I couldn't eat or sleep or anything... it was so bad. I'm only just now starting to feel better but wow! The last two weeks have been a roller coaster ride but I think I'm finally somewhat over it? I'll never be truly over it tbh but I've finally re-adapted back to a normal life, and so I'll be updating this regularly again!

Thank you all so much for 160+ subscribers and sticking with me, and I hope you have/had a fantastic day!