Till Death

Chapter 2

A week had passed since Donghyuck stepped out of his room for the first time.

He was back in his old self... at least from time to time, or what it seemed to be his old self, a persona forgotten long ago.
Laughing and joking around the people he loved.

After arguments and a couple of mental breakdowns he started attending his job at their family Cafe. And he would go back to his college schedule too, as painful as it may be to go there on his own.

Mark dropped out right after that day.
He didn't know why he would do such a thing.
Watching Mark giving up on their dream he was ready to drop out too, but he listened to Johnny's and Taeyong's pleas to move on and so he did, for him.

Mark was acting weird since the day of his return. If he really paid attention however he would notice that he's always been weird, but hey... that's Mark we are talking about, he is different. He was always a hideous, mysterious person speaking with riddles and philosophical quotes. But this wasn't the case now.
He would randomly disappear for hours, even days and Donghyuck would lose his mind.

He would stop eating, locking himself in his room again. He would be hysterical calling Mark's phone, getting no answer, he only heard the voice recorder replaying again and again the same message: this number has no avail, he would smash things around their house, which now was more like his brothers house and his own, than his and Mark's.

And as unexpectedly Mark would vanish so he would come back again.

Donghyuck was... confused.
Asking Mark a million questions about his whereabouts always getting riddles instead of answers.

"Mark! You were gone for days, where were you?"

"Baby... this has gone too far. Please, for your own benefit stop."

"But I'm worried about you."

"Donghyuck, the one you should be worried about is yourself. Look around you. Please... I'm never going to leave you behind, I promise but please... stop this."

"I don't understand! You are the one who's been disappearing out of nowhere and yet I am the one who should stop... worrying about you!? I don't get it. I thought you loved me."

"I do love you darling... this is why I'm begging you to stop hurting yourself like this."

"Shut up! You know nothing! You are the one that's hurting me! I hate you! I fucking hate you if you weren't there that night it would've ended differently! I hate you!"

"..."

"Now you are quiet?! Say something, come one!"

"..."

"MARK I SAID TALK TO ME!"

"..."

"Mark? Mark!? Where did you go again!? Mark!"

"..."

"Yeah, okay be a pussy and go play hide and seek!"

And this is what their conversations would be like.
And during the heated arguments, the bloody screams and the shouting the pale body never saw nor noticed the painfully worried faces whose eyes were glued on his fading and sickening skinny figure.

He could never notice them, when they hugged him as he was hugging himself to sleep.
Because the goal, was to never notice and the faces to keep him happy.
But even with Mark's presence in Donghyuck's life and their acting skills on top, his happiness seemed to wither away, and no one could do anything anymore but watch the pale boy fight the air he breathed and kiss what he dreamed.

:)