🕊 𝓢𝓮𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓢𝓾𝓻𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓲𝓽𝔂 🕊 M.T ✓

c h a p t e r T H I R T E E N

     My body stiffened, sweat trickled down my forehead and into my eyes, causing it them to sting. My spine tensed so much it felt as if it was on the verge of snapping. I tried to make some type of noise but the overwhelming adrenaline took over every part of my being.

     I'm sure my breathing was irregular and sounded unnatural yet all I could hear was an odd buzz-type of sound. I couldn't explain the strange yet frightening sound I was hearing. Bassious thumps appeared in the far distance and my heart felt as if it were about to flatline.

     The sounds and heavy feelings started to fade as my body began to be shaken to consciousness. I gasped for air as if I was stuck underwater for longer than I should've been. I curled up into a tight ball, trying to sooth myself and to hide from Mark, who worriedly watched me, and whatever slumberous monster hid in the shadows of my room.

     Tears stared to form and my sinuses itched as I cried in relief and shock. I've rarely had sleep paralysis and even then, they've never been so bad or had felt that real. Light filled the room and I mentally thanked Mark for putting my worries to rest. There was no monster watching me from the corner of my room.

     Emily had told me once about how she had had one experience of sleep paralysis. She described how she saw a twisted old grandma sitting on her chest, grinning down at her whilst holding a rusted knife. I shuddered when she told me of her experience.

     My bed dipped and arms wrapped around me, pulling me into a comforting hug. Mark's long fingers ran up and down my arm while the other five rubbed circles on my back. I suddenly felt beyond tired, like the life had just been sucked from my body. Slumber took over me before I could even register it.

     I woke up again, the sun still not out and I sighed. My eyes strained as I tried to read the analog clock on my wall and barely made out 3:09 am. I attempted to turn around but a heavy limb lay around my waist and I snorted. How lovely, I thought to myself.

     Softly I lifted his arm and turned around to face Mark, who was deeply consumed by his dreams. I wonder what he dreamed about when it was just him and his subconscious; never being more raw and awake with his inner thoughts than that of when he's asleep.

     My fingers tranced the outline of his oblong face to his eyebrows, over his eyes, down his nose and over his soft lips. His hot breath tickled the hair on my arm as I brushed over his soft, yet textured, mouth.

     Mark pursed his lips as his eyes narrowly pried open and his arm left my waist to meet the headboard as he stretched. He smiled when he spotted me watching him and pulled me in for a hug. "How are you feeling?" He asked, rubbing my back soothingly and I smiled as I breathed in a tangent of his cologne mixed with his natural body odor. My neck hurt when I looked up at him again, probably stiff from earlier, as I replied with, "A lot better, thank you."

     It stayed silent for a while, with Mark holding me with his eyes closed and me drawing patterns on his bicep.

     "Choi, can I ask you something?" His voice was gruff and deeper than usual and my heart picked up at the sound. I hummed in reply and he opened his eyes again, staring directly at me. "What is your biggest fear?"

     I pondered for a while as multiple answers filled my head but none stood out more than the other. "I don't know, I'm scared of a lot of things." I mentioned and his chest slightly vibrated in an amused chuckle.

     "Do I scare you?" He questioned and I looked down to where my hand cramped from drawing on his arm. "No." I answered and a small smile spread across his lips. "Aren't you going to ask me what I'm afraid of?" He retorted and I glanced back up at him, smiling.

     "Me?" I joked, and he laughed. "You make me feel a lot of things, but scared is not one of them." My heart fluttered and my stomach tightened.

     I opened my mouth to ask what I did make him feel but my nerves cut off my vocal chords so I just sealed my lips and returned his intense stare. I could never not not be fascinated by the shape of his eyes and how they folded in all the right places or how his nose was so long and slender. Let's not even talk about how smooth his skin was.

     Mark rolled on his back, planting his arm under his head and the other around my waist. We spent the rest of the morning just talking about everything — avoiding the big question I think we both wanted the answer to; are we still just friends?

[ Hey :) please make that white star orange and comment down below on your thoughts! I hope you enjoyed this chapter

This chapter is SOOO much longer than the others and I'm highkey so proud of this chapter! UwU Mark be so sweet lmao!

What's your biggest fear?]