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The more Mark mulled over what Donghyuck had told him, the more curious he became. He lay on his bed at nine o'clock the next morning, struggling to piece together the puzzle. He rubbed his temples soothingly and pushed his head back into the soft pillow. The glow of the morning peaked through the blinds, the only things keeping his room dark and comfortable, but he knew he had to make a start on the day and get moving. Firstly, he needed a drink.
Standing up slowly and unsteadily from a while of lying down, a few dots blurred his vision. He ran the cold tap and a cool glass of water was poured for him. So Donghyuck was a 'liaison' between the dead and where they go after? He was posted to show them the way? And Mark had somehow stumbled across the field? He didn't believe he had accidentally found it. He wasn't a fluke. There must've been a reason...
His eyes widened when a pain shot through his head, like a pellet, like a stronger headache. A headache he had been experiencing since before he had ever come across Donghyuck's garden. He roughly put his glass down and moved to sit in the stool, laying his head against the island in pain. It had been momentary but strong. He groaned under his breath and rolled to lie on his cheek, eyeing the glass that was still sloshing gently with water. He wanted to go to see Donghyuck again and relieve the haze in his head, but he wasn't in the position to just leave as he needed to sit down for a while.
"What's wrong with me?" He whispered to himself, breaking the tense silence. He didn't like the silence this morning when it meant he was all alone. He'd much rather experience a comfortable silence with Donghyuck.
He frowned and sat up, massaging his temples again with a contemplative air and eyes burning from behind. He had been experiencing these since before meeting Donghyuck...and when he did spend time in the field - a field for souls - he suddenly felt so much more calm and tranquil. He reached into his pocket and fished out his phone, which then buzzed unexpectedly.
→Mr. Yeo → Good morning, Mark. There's a staff shortage today, so would you be available to work this afternoon?
"No," he hummed softly and flicked out of the message. What he really wanted to do was check a search engine. He typed quickly and inaccurately 'why has my headache gradually gotten worse'. The results popped up and he sifted through them absentmindedly, trying to match his symptoms with possible reasons. They had started out simply as signs of dehydration, so he began to drink more. But they clearly weren't signs of this since it never went away. It didn't get worse for a while though, and had remained as a foggy feeling between his ears, somewhere in his head. It wasn't overly painful. It hadn't been, at least, until recently.
Now they were a bit more noticeable. And this morning a pang was sent through like a bullet. It wasn't right, it most definitely wasn't just stress from having to think about surviving with minimal money (which he had initially assumed). His eyes widened when everything slipped into place like the final piece of the puzzle. Except, he hadn't even needed to find the missing piece because it had been staring him in the face since long ago. But somehow, he wasn't scared.
•・•・•
Donghyuck was also on the road to figuring it out. He sat alone, much like Mark, and ruminated over how it was that he had been visited by someone who wasn't expected to the field. It was bizarre, and the more he thought about it, the less it seemed to be a coincidence. On top of that, Mark had mentioned to him that he had been experiencing headaches but didn't have the finance to see a doctor.
He bit the corner of his nail nervously, hoping like hell that there was nothing fatally wrong with him. But it did make more sense than just a lost wanderer stumbling across a secret space. It made all too much sense, and suddenly Donghyuck found himself pacing the field subconsciously. He brushed through the flowers and circled around, turning and changing direction every now and then.
Soon enough, he was shivering nervously and stopped to watch his hands shake involuntarily, like he was fragile by the breeze. He shakily dropped his arms to his sides and brushed down his legs to calm down. Mark must be dying.
"Hey!" The same cheery voice greeted Donghyuck as Mark's familiar frame emerged from the forestry.
Donghyuck turned and felt his heart plummet. "Mark!" He jogged towards him and held his arms out, stopping the boy from proceeding. "Mark, you should go home and, um, rest or something. I'm busy today."
"Really?" He sceptically looked behind him to the empty, well-kept meadow and raised an eyebrow. "You look free to me."
"I'm just..." his eyes lit up. "I'm expecting someone. Yes, there's a visitor due. So you should leave for confidential reasons."
Mark shifted his weight and frowned. Donghyuck seemed nervous and on edge. He had visited not to tell him about the 'dying' issue, rather, he just wanted to hang with him and clear his head. "That's a shame."
"It is. But I'll be busy for the next while." He dropped his arms to his sides and clearly his mood fell glum too. He knew he should have kept turning Mark away in the first place. But then...that would've been cheating death and it wouldn't have done anything in the long run. "You should probably stop visiting."
"Not this malarkey again," Mark sighed jokingly and folded his arms. He just wanted to be with the boy he likes. "If it's a bother, then I'll come back tomorrow."
"No. Not tomorrow." He scratched the back of his head and dropped his hesitant gaze to his feet. He bit his lip sadly and felt his chest tighten at the words clawing to come out. "You shouldn't come back. Not again."
There was a moment of silence between them and when Donghyuck lifted his head cautiously, he decoded the lost look on Mark's face. The older was thinking 'does he know I'm dying?'. "Okay, I'll leave then." He spun dejectedly and took a few steps until he passed the field's boundary, then turned to meet Donghyuck's upset eyes. "See you tomorrow then."
The younger nodded but froze in disbelief when he comprehended what Mark had said. "No! Don't-" But by the time he realised, Mark had already disappeared into the canopy.
He held the side of his head in worry and crouched down. Why was Mark so stubborn and difficult? He hadn't changed since they first met.
