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Somehow, everything had returned to normal. Classes were back, the friend groups were as they had previously been, and Mark was a walking zombie.
His sleep had once again been ripped from his grasp, sliding through his fingers like sand. Those precious nights where he had been granted the fragments of rest he needed, were gone. Yet at the same time, he wouldn't have traded his friendlier relationship with Donghyuck for anything.
Yes, this would surely take a toll on his body eventually.....but he'd be damned if he'd go back to the way things were. Each day was a nightmare and each night was a listless daydream. But it was worth changing it all for more enjoyable daytimes, even if shadowed by sinful nights.
Now, sitting through what was possibly the most boring science class of all time, Mark was running on autopilot as Donghyuck pottered along through the experiment.
"Be careful with the wax," the teacher boomed, "Don't let it congeal on your gloves."
More muttering echoed throughout the old lab, never settling to create an awkward silence. Hyuck was humming something soft as he worked, not particularly noticing that Mark was gripping the edge of the table harshly and trying to stay awake.
That sound. That humming. It was lulling him into a sort of trance, a space where he could let his eyes close and body rest. But he couldn't. He needed to stay vigilant, ready, prepared. The boy was in school, after all.
"I think I may have put too much in," Donghyuck sighed irritatedly. "Mark, you need to be reading the instructions to me, or else I'll screw this up. Help me out here."
The ravenette made a small noise of acknowledgement as he shakily picked up the investigation notes. They blurred and swirled across the page, not making a whole heap of sense. "Does that say.....bread?"
Donghyuck groaned and ripped the sheet from him. "It says 'burn', Idiot. What's the issue here?"
Mark shook his head, blinking twice to shake off his dizziness. "Nothing. A bit tired, really."
"Aren't we all? Dude, you're an insomniac. Don't go blaming the no sleep issue on......us.......Wait a minute."
The older panicked suddenly, waving his hands to dismiss the other's obvious thoughts. "It's not your fault! I'm totally fine." Oh, but it was Donghyuck's fault. The disruptive nighttime behaviour was crippling.
"Are you sure?" The younger pressed with great desperation. "Does my problem affect your rest? Be honest with me-"
"No!" Mark lied, shaking his head vigorously. "No, it doesn't. Coincidently, you only walk about when I'm awake......"
C'mon, Dumbass. Come up with something better than that!
"Oh," the brunette pouted, having bought the flawed statement all the same. "Guess our bodies are in sync, hm?"
"Must be...."
But even with a small victory like convincing the other that everything was fine, it didn't make it so. Mark's mind was swimming, his eyes heavy and muscles weak.
"Hold this," his partner passed him a glass of murky solution. The ravenette took it carefully, trying to stay focused on it as well as he could. There almost appeared to be two or three glasses, each dancing in circles.
Donghyuck applied a pair of tweezers to a small piece of metal, holding it up and inspecting it carefully. Before he could even instruct the older to anything else, the sound of glass smashing, a body hitting the floor and a round of gasps beat him to it.
He paused, peering slowly down at his feet and allowing his eyes to widen at the teenager unconscious on the floor.
"Mark......?"
☆★☆
"Exhaustion," the nurse muttered unenthusiastically, poking around Mark's unconscious pale face for a minute before pulling back and facing Donghyuck. "It looks like he hasn't slept in quite a while."
"Well duh. He's an insomniac," the younger pointed out, pacing around and chewing on his thumbnail nervously. "He can cope with low levels of sleep."
"An insomniac isn't magic," the older woman rolled her eyes, "They don't just survive without rest. His body should've had a decent sleep at least a night or two ago, yet here he is. I think he's skipping out on sleep."
The teen furrowed his brows and tilted his head questioningly. "Why would he skip? I know Mark, and I know he wouldn't deliberately put himself in this position."
"Well maybe there's something preventing it then, because this boy has collapsed from exhaustion. I don't know why, and it's not really my business. But figure it out, tell him to stop being stupid, and tell him to skip some school."
With that, she stood up and wandered over to the cabinet, pulling out a white tub of pills. "These help send people to sleep. I'll give him enough to last a week, and if it solves the problem, we're good to go."
"If not?"
The lady turned to him with an ambiguous look. "Let's imagine that this will work. I don't know how to handle problematic sleepers."
Donghyuck pulled at his hair frustratedly and growled. "What does this school pay you for? Less attitude, Lady!"
"Watch it," she hissed, tossing the tub at him and watching the boy catch it skilfully. "And for your information, I'm not paid enough to act like I enjoy your company." She pulled her coat off a rack and slid it over her arms. "While you're here, look after him. I'm going out."
The student couldn't believe what he was hearing. There were serious problems here, yet he couldn't help but understand how bored she probably was. "What should I do if someone comes by?"
"Tell them to kiss themselves better and suck it up."
Wow, I can't wait to graduate, Donghyuck thought, watching as she left. He then turned to Mark's sleeping form, and admired it slightly.
