One of the first things the Elemental Princes were taught was to never misuse their powers. Only use it when absolutely necessary or in a controlled environment, such as during the weekly training exercises.

But Jinyoung decided that if things were going to be different around there, that would be the first thing to change.

It occurred to him, while he had been planning how to get back to the town undetected, that he controlled the darkness. The shadows. If he played his cards just right, he could simply walk out of the palace and no one would be the wiser.

So that's what he did. After mapping out his escape route, he gradually formed shadows in the perfect places - as the sun went down, so as to not cause any suspicion - until they were just dark and dense enough to pass through safely.

He slipped through halls and corridors, having to stay as quiet as he possibly could. Until, with an almost manic moment of 'what the am I doing?', he stepped out of the – weirdly wide open - palace gates and started down the road, finally breathing a sigh of relief when he got far enough to not be spotted by the guards in the natural darkness of the night.

Suddenly, without warning, as he stepped into a small puddle, his feet seemed to have given out and he fell forward, landing hard on his knees and groaning at the pain that shot up his legs.

Instinctively trying to get back up, it took him a moment to realize that he couldn't move his legs at all and that it felt like he was stuck to the ground. Finally turning his head to see what exactly was going on, he went rigid and his blood ran cold at the sight of the solid ice encasing his feet.

All at once, he felt the cold seep rapidly through his shoes and cling to his skin, frostbiting him as his feet started to go numb.

"Jackson, stop it! Let me go!" He shouted into the night, not seeing the Ice Prince, but knowing that he had to be nearby.

"I knew you would leave." The older's voice sounded from up ahead and Jinyoung immediately snapped his head in that direction, spotting Jackson a little ways up the road, walking closer while glaring coldly at him, "You didn't hear a damn thing I said last night, did you?"

"I did. But this isn't the same as that story." The Prince of Darkness assured, "I can handle myself, Jackson, you should have a bit more faith in me."

The Ice Prince scoffed and suddenly the restrictions around the younger's feet got tighter, pressing into his already marred skin and causing him to cry out in pain.

"Jackson, please! Stop, it hurts!"

"I know you." The older started, looming over the other's crippled form, "You've never cared so much about anything in your life and that fact that you're going against everything we've been taught for... whoever the this guy is... It's not gonna end well, I can tell you that right now."

"You don't understand." Jinyoung pleaded, being in too much pain to keep silent, "He's not just some guy. From the moment I met him, I knew he wasn't just some guy. There's something up with him and I need to find out what it is, I can't just let this go."

Jackson sighed and kneeled down in front of his friend, cupping his face with a hand, "Listen to me... Forget him."

"I can't..."

"Jinyoung..." the Ice Prince tilted the younger's head up to look at him, feeling his heart crack at the sight of the other man's teary eyes. It hurt to hurt him, but Jackson was desperate. "Please..."

Jinyoung looked up, locking eyes with the other prince, trying to keep a somewhat calm facade despite the physical pain from his legs and the emotional pain from seeing just how much this was affecting his friend-turned-fiancé. "I... I'm sorry..."

The hurt in the Ice Prince's eyes was enough to have a tear finally roll down Jinyoung's face.

Letting his eyes close so he didn't have to look at his closest friend of his entire life in the eye, the Prince of Darkness leaned in, capturing Jackson's frigid lips with his own for no longer than two seconds before pulling away and touching their foreheads together. "Please, just... let me do this."

Jackson didn't reply, but his breathing picked up and he started feeling unusually cold; like his insides were beginning to freeze. He gripped his chest and tried to ignore it, gasping when the ice around Jinyoung’s feet rapidly melted back into a puddle.

Fear sparked inside the older prince as he attempted to recreate the icy shackles, only to have it turn to water immediately.

He didn’t understand what was happening. Never in his life had he ever had trouble using his power and suddenly even the simplest of icicles seemed impossible to form.

"What the is going on?" He asked, voice shaky with the fear of the unknown.

"I... I don't know..." Jinyoung replied, getting feeling back in his feet as they warmed up, still excruciatingly painful.

Jackson stood up and looked around frantically, "Something's not right."

The younger watched as his friend's eyes darted back and forth, looking for something to offer him an explanation. Jinyoung didn't feel anything strange. There was nothing off. Nothing was wrong. But Jackson was obviously freaked out by something.

And then it hit him.

Jackson seemed to be anxious. Fearful. Completely on edge for no apparent reason.

Exactly the way Jinyoung had felt when he first met Mark.

"Jackson, I--"

"Prince?" A somewhat familiar voice interrupted Jinyoung and he turned to see a figure running purposefully towards him. The man seemed to ignore Jackson outright and dropped to his knees next to the Prince of Darkness, "Oh my God, are you ok? Are you hurt?"

"Jae... Jaebeom?" The prince started, tilting his head, "What are you doing here?"

"I... came to look for you." Jaebeom admitted, "I was worried you wouldn't be able to get out."

"What..?" Jinyoung muttered in confusion. Something was very strange about the way the other man was acting. Jaebeom didn't seem to be terribly fond of him the last time they saw each other. And even if he did have a random change of heart, the whole overly concerned persona just didn't... fit with him.

Jaebeom stood and attempted to pull the prince to his feet, cringing as Jinyoung groaned in pain from his raw wounds rubbing against the insides of his tattered shoes. He paused before turning and kneeling back down to let Jinyoung get onto his back.

The other man took the invitation - Jaebeom was pretty much a stranger that Jinyoung didn't really trust, but he had the option to either rely on him or walk all the way to town on his painfully burned feet and risk getting infections or, worse, getting caught by someone else - and hopped on to the other's back, wrapping his arms around his neck while Jaebeom stood up and held the prince securely in place.

Suddenly a jagged block of ice whizzed past them with Jaebeom barely managing to step out of the way just in time. Jinyoung turned his head to look at Jackson and gasped slightly at the sight in front of him.

Jackson looked... feral.

His eyes were wide and his pupils were blown, making his usually icy blue orbs look almost completely black. He stood with his body hunched slightly as if preparing to strike at the slightest movement, fists clenched so tightly Jinyoung worried he would draw blood.

It was terrifying.

"J... Jackson..." the Prince of Darkness started, scared of his best friend for the first time in his life.

Jaebeom chuckled, aura changing instantly as he walked toward the Ice Prince.

Jinyoung panicked, tapping the other man's shoulder frantically, "Stop. Something's wrong."

Jaebeom turned his head to look at the man he was carrying, wearing a dark smile, "I got you, Prince. He's just a little agitated. Like a dog whose territory has just been invaded." He walked past Jackson, leaning in close to him to whisper a condescending "Down, boy."

"Where are you taking him..?" The Ice Prince asked, dark, hate filled eyes locked onto the strange man.

"Just to have a little fun." Jaebeom replied, quickly maneuvering just enough for him to give Jinyoung an over-exaggerated kiss on the cheek, causing the Prince of Darkness to instinctively recoil and almost fall from his position on the other's back.

Jackson growled and another sharp block of jagged ice attacked Jaebeom from the side. He calmly stepped forward to dodge it, letting it hit Jinyoung instead, cutting him on his side and causing him to scream from the mixture of pain and cold.

"I told you to stand down, dog." Jaebeom spoke, grinning at the horrified look on Jackson's face. He tsk'ed and continued down the road, "I'm sure you wouldn't want him to get any more hurt."

Jinyoung did his best to ignore the pain and looked back at his friend, seeing him standing frozen in his spot, staring after them with a mix of fear and regret playing across his features. The Prince of Darkness mouthed a silent 'I'm sorry' to him before turning back around and burying his face in Jaebeom's neck in a subconscious attempt to ease the pain shooting through his body.

"Sorry about that." Jaebeom apologized when they were far enough away from Jackson, "Just a little collateral damage. To get my point across. Mark is gonna kill me..."

"Who are you..?" Jinyoung asked weakly, voice muffled by the other's clothes as he felt his shirt stick to his skin with the warm blood slowly seeping through the fabric.

Jaebeom chuckled, "I'm nobody. I'm just the middle man taking you to your insane Cinderella, Prince Charming."

"Insane?" The Prince of Darkness questioned, "Is Mark a wizard or something?"

"No. Close, I guess. But no." The other replied cryptically, "You'll probably learn a lot about him soon. He really likes you."

"Are you guys close?"

"Very. We grew up together."

"Jackson and I grew up together too..." Jinyoung muttered, thinking out loud rather than telling his companion, "I've never seen him look as... terrifying as he did today.”

“You know him well then.” The other man responded, more as a statement than a question.

“I’m engaged to him.” The prince admitted before laughing softly, “Oh, but that’s a secret, shhh.”

Jaebeom scoffed, “I’m bad at keeping secrets. You know I have to tell Mark, right?”

“Mark is special, he can --ah..." he groaned as Jaebeom shifted him to get a little more comfortable.

"You ok back there, Prince?" Jaebeom mused.

"Perfectly fine..." Jinyoung replied sarcastically, "Just in excruciating pain, but other than that, I'm great..."

The other man chuckled, "Just close your eyes and enjoy the ride. I'm sure you must be a little weak from the blood loss, so..."

Jinyoung snorted, "You're not waiting for me to pass out so you can just let me bleed to death, are you? Cause if you are, you... probably don't have to wait long..."

"Do you have any idea how many creative ways Mark would murder me if I let anything happen to you? I'm sure that gash on your side is enough to warrant strangulation." Jaebeom stated, not sounding the least bit afraid, despite his words, "Just go to sleep, Prince. We'll be in town before you know it."

Jinyoung didn't have much choice in the matter as the blood loss and the exhaustion got to him and he slowly out.

•┈┈┈••✦✧✦••┈┈┈•

When Jinyoung woke up, the first thing he saw was the multicolored lights of fireworks exploding in the dark sky. It was the end of the festival, the prince realized in his hazy mind. The festival always ended with a bang with everyone busting fireworks at midnight. The palace especially always had a magnificent fireworks display.

The second thing he saw, as he turned his head a little, was Mark. He was watching the fireworks as well, his soft features being illuminated beautifully with each colorful explosion.

It took him a moment to realize he was back in that seemingly abandoned building that Mark and Jaebeom called home, in the makeshift bed, looking at the sky through the missing roof.

It took him another moment to realize that he was lying with his head in Mark's lap and that the other man was very gently his hair.

He lifted a hand up, mustering every ounce of strength he had in order to give in to that ever present need to just touch him.

Noticing the movement, Mark looked down at him and smiled, "Hey."

"Hi..." the prince greeted back softly, gently running his fingertips over the other's jaw.

"How you feeling?" Mark asked, brushing the prince's hair out of his face.

Jinyoung suddenly remembered. His raw, broken feet. The large wound on his side. The way he broke his best friend and future husband's heart for the chance to see a guy he had just met...

"I... uh... I'm ok."

"Jaebeom dropped you off here." Mark explained, "Said you guys had an interesting encounter and that it, quote, 'wasn't his fault'."

The prince chuckled, "It wasn't. Not really." He paused before trying to turn his head to look at his feet, "Did you... did you patch me up?"

Mark grinned, "I never had someone who could magically heal me, so I had to learn to do stuff like this to survive."

"Thank you..."

"No problem. I won't ever let anything happen to you, Jinyoung."

The prince blinked. It was... strange. They didn't know each other. Why did Mark care so much about him? Why did he care so much about Mark? What was it that drew them to each other and made Jinyoung feel like they had been together for his entire life?

He had questioned this internally before, but he was a little nervous to ask Mark about it. He obviously knew more than Jinyoung did, but... the prince was weirdly afraid of what the reason would be.

"Tell me something..." he started hesitantly, "What is happening?"

"Hm?" Mark asked back, tilting his head.

"With me. With... us." The prince clarified, "What is this? Why am I so comfortable around you? Why am I so antsy when I'm not with you and so calm whenever I am?"

Something flashed in the other man's eyes before a smirk spread across his lips, "Sounds like you're in love with me."

"I don't know you..."

"Then it's destiny."

Is that what it was? Destiny? Fate? Were they meant to find each other by chance like they did? Were they meant to be together like this, watching the fireworks light up the sky? Were they soulmates?

Jinyoung didn't know if he even believed in destiny, but everything was too perfect to just be chance.

His mind went back to the encounter with Jackson and Jaebeom earlier. Jackson had initially reacted to Jaebeom's presence the same way he himself had reacted to Mark's.

But then... something was different.

Jackson looked like he wanted to kill Jaebeom. And, in turn, it didn't seem like Jaebeom liked the Ice Prince very much either. They instinctively hated each other.

Was that also destiny?

There was also that confusing instance with Jackson being unable to use his powers properly and then Jaebeom showing up a moment later.

Again, too coincidental…

Jinyoung attempted to sit up, only to flop back down with a hiss as pain shot through his side.

Mark looked at him in disapproval, "You shouldn't move. Your wounds are still raw and there was only so much I could do with the supplies on hand."

"It hurts..." the prince grimaced.

"You should go back." Mark suggested, "Get healed up and maybe come back after."

Jinyoung shook his head, "I can't. I'm sure Jackson's told them by now. Youngjae's not gonna just heal me and, even if he does, they're not gonna let me out of their sight again."

“Dammit. You're probably right.” the other man sighed, “Maybe you should just rest for now? We'll make a plan in the morning.”

“Can I sleep here?” Jinyoung asked.

Mark nodded, “Of course. Why would I ever give up the chance to spend more time with you?”

Jinyoung's lips quirked up into a smile as they locked eyes. There it was again; that feeling of completion. That feeling of tranquility. He was sure he’d been happier in the past few minutes than he had in his entire life and smiling, for the first time in years, came naturally to him when Mark was around. The Prince of Darkness may not have understood it, but he loved it.

“So,” Mark started suddenly, startling Jinyoung a little. He maneuvered the prince off of his lap as gently as possible before flopping down on the blankets next to him, “What did you learn today, Your Majesty?”

“Huh?”

“It was skill building day, right? Day four?” the other clarified.

“Oh. That.” Jinyoung muttered. He'd actually completely forgotten about that. Day four of the festival was about learning a new skill. Everyone was encouraged to try something new on the day and the princes were allowed to pick any skill to learn. Usually it was Jinyoung's favourite part of the festival because it was always nice to learn something new and unusual to the kingdom. But this year… “I didn't even think about that today, to be honest. I was too fixated on a certain someone.”

“And who would that be?” Mark asked playfully.

The prince turned to look at his companion who was mirroring his position, their noses barely an inch apart. “I wonder.” He pursed his lips together before continuing, voice low at a near whisper, “Why don't you teach me something, Mark?”

“Like what?” The other asked, eyes following the motion of the prince's tongue dragging across his lips.

“Something more intimate.” Jinyoung didn't know where this sudden burst of seductive courage came from, but he figured he'd already come this far, he might as well take it just one step further.

Mark grinned, letting his eyelids fall shut, “Oh yeah? You want me to start with the basics or do you think you're at a more intermediate level already?”

He had barely finished his sentence when he felt Jinyoung's lips brush against his ever so lightly.

“You're being forward, Love…” Mark whispered, revelling in the way their breaths mingled.

“You're one to talk.” Jinyoung replied, equally as softly, “You just called me ‘Love’.”

Eyes still shut, Mark slowly felt around for Jinyoung’s hand, linking their fingers together when he located it. They paused like that, drinking in the closeness of their bodies and the innocent affection of holding hands. The rest of the world could go up in flames and neither would care at that point. All that mattered was being together. Drowning in each other.

“Jinyoung…” Mark breathed out, a subtle desperation litting his voice.

The prince sighed against the other man’s lips, “Are you gonna kiss me or do I have to beg..?”

Mark had a witty response on the tip of his tongue, but held back, opting to instead to tilt his chin up just that small distance they needed for their lips to connect.

Gentle. Like snow or cotton candy or a first love. That’s what it felt like to the Prince of Darkness. There was no ulterior motives behind the kiss. Even as Mark softly nipped at his bottom lip, there was nothing ual or tainted. Nothing that would ruin the single most perfect moment of Jinyoung’s life.

He didn’t know how long they lay like that, perfectly mirrored against each other like some sort of beautifully intimate yin-yang sculpture, but when Mark finally broke the kiss, Jinyoung knew it wasn’t nearly long enough.

“Why’d you stop?” He groaned.

Mark chuckled and lifted himself up onto one elbow, facing the other man while gently cupping his face, “You still gonna deny being in love with me?”

“The fact that I do have these feelings for you is the problem.” Jinyoung countered quietly, “I met you yesterday.”

The other man smiled, swooping in for another kiss. This time was far more intense than the first and Jinyoung felt himself moan before he could think about it as Mark ran his tongue along the prince's lips, asking for entrance. He was granted permission a second later and Mark wasted no time in mapping out Jinyoung's mouth, on his tongue every now and then.

Suddenly Mark was shoved away as Jinyoung let out a pained hiss of “Ow, !”

“What… what happened?” Mark asked, equalling Jinyoung's pain with his panic.

“You, uh…” the prince started, “Your fingers kinda dug into my side.”

The other man glanced at what Jinyoung was referring to and noticed his blood-stained shirt, suddenly remembering that, right, the Prince of Darkness had a very violent run in earlier, “Oh. , I'm sorry. Does it feel like it opened up again? Do I need to redress it?”

“No, I'm fine.” The prince assured, “Just… the sudden pain startled me more than anything.”

Mark sighed in relief and flopped down next to the other man once again, “We really need to get that looked at. It could get infected if we're not careful.”

“But where could we go? I can't exactly just walk around town, looking for a doctor.”

“I dunno.” The other replied with another sigh, scooting closer to Jinyoung and burying his face in the crook of the prince's neck, “We've got a few more hours till the sun comes up. Let's go to sleep. We'll figure something out when we wake up.”

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A/N: Ahhhhhhh MarkJin! Yes. So much yes...
       Since this is the only GOT7 fic I've currently posted here, I'm sure many of you guys haven't read my other Vixx stories, so you may not know this but I freaking LIVE for love and cheesy romance and all that good stuff. So yeah, writing romantic scenes is my favorite thing <3
       I hope you guys are enjoying this so far. It's actually not a long fic, it's much shorter than what I'm used to writing. That's why I'm spacing out the uploads to twice a week, instead of my usual spastic random uploading, cause otherwise the whole fic will be finished in like a week ^^;

Big big thank you to Markjinlife, UnordinaryMe and park-jinyoung for the comments. I get so excited whenever I see the *new story comments* alert! Thank you guys. I'm sorry for not replying to comments, by the way. I just always want to say something more interesting than just "Thank you" but then I end up spoiling the story somehow lol. It's a curse XD

Thank you to vania_huang and sagigirl94 for the upvotes <3<3
Thank you to everyone who subscribed as well!