his territory | markhyuck

19

— chapter nineteen: now you know —
[tw: mentions of domestic abuse]

both exhausted, the two rested for a while before mark got up and made himself another coffee. donghyuck had asked if he could use the shower so when mark returned to the room, the omega wasn't present anymore.

mark dressed himself again, in day clothing this time. it was snowing outside again and mark watched as the flakes covered everything in white. while knowing it was late morning already, it felt like the day hadn't begun yet. the clouds were hanging low and no sun rays managed to peak through.

in opposite of the moody weather, mark did feel great though. when donghyuck returned from the shower, he happily gave the boy a few of his clothes which all looked adorably big on the omega.

"this might be my most peaceful christmas yet." mark said as donghyuck sat next to him. they were both looking out the window now, engulfed in a cozy atmosphere.

"how come?" the younger asked, his fingers playing with the sweater paws of the shirt.

mark cleared his throat and then told him "oh uhm, i don't have a good relationship with my father and he was always very strict about traditions and stuff when i was younger. so whenever i didn't do what he said, he would scream at me. or if i didn't enjoy my presents which was the case literally every year. he's also the reason i'm living with doyoung-hyung and taeil-hyung now."

the alpha could see donghyuck frowning out of the corner of his eye. a little pout had formed on the boy's lips and it looked so adorable, mark just wanted to kiss him.

"that's... awful. and how did you get to meet your hyungs?" the omega asked, obviously invested in mark's story.
"taeil-hyung is actually my therapist. i have anger issues and they became a problem for my father. he arranged a meeting with taeil-hyung and he decided it wasn't good for me to be living with my parents, so now i live here with him so he can have an eye on me." the alpha explained.

"oh. are the anger issues the reason why you were so angry yesterday about.. you know..." donghyuck asked with a small voice. mark took his fiddling hand in his own and looked at the boy before replying "no. that's because i can't see you hurting. what that alpha did to you was disgusting and no one should ever endure that."

donghyuck gulped and the alpha could see that the boy's eyes were very glassy all of the sudden.

"you're hurting, aren't you?" mark asked softly. he knew that donghyuck knew that he had seen the bruises but he didn't want to be all too pushy about the topic.

"to be honest, yes. but i'm so scared." the omega said, his voice weakened and it was evident that he had to hold back his tears.

"why? who are you scared off? i'll protect you, hyuckie." mark whispered, giving donghyuck's hand kiss. the boy looked at him with wide, scared eyes but in the end took all his courage and said "it's jungwoo. he is the one who did this to me, the bruises and stuff."

mark clenched his teeth and tightened his grip on donghyuck's hand. however he refrained from cursing or interrupting the omega. he had to stay calm to hear the whole story for the omega's sake.

"go on. don't worry, i will not judge you." he said reassuringly, giving the younger a smile. the latter nodded and gulped before continuing "i- my parents disowned me about a year ago because i accidentally had sex with someone during heat. i hadn't been on suppressants back then as my parents deemed them as dangerous. but so naturally i was a mess and this one alpha just took advantage of me. they told me off, saying that i was not pure for not waiting for my mate to have sex. i was out the house the next day. jungwoo was one of my only friends who lived alone so i called him up and asked if i could stay at his. it was such a big mistake." donghyuck explained. a tear rolled down his cheek and the omega swiped it away in frustration. mark frowned and rubbed his thumb over donghyuck's hand in reassurance.