Let Us Have An Adventure - MARKHYUCK

different night, same nightmare.

I'm sorry for not updating In so long, I had covid and still feel a bit poorly but I wanted to write something. Also, Mark released Child! I rly liked it :) the chapter title is a line taken from the song. I couldn't properly come up with a good title, so I thought why not choose this...

The day was almost uneventful. Yes, Ms. Adelaine announced we'd be having our main assignment for this year in the form of a talent show, but that was just about two and a half months away. Nothing to be gravely bothered by. 

In the evening, the dorm was quiet. The emptiness bothered me, though it had never really did that before. Normally I'd prefer it to have the place to my own. You would have no responsibilities, or chores or whatever. Though with Donghyuck, the emptiness felt incomplete.

I tried to shake it off of me. After all, I arrive late all the time. All the lights were turned off still, suggesting Donghyuck hadn't been home in a few hours. 

As I flipped the light-switches to my left, the lamp above the couch lit up. Though I hadn't used it  in quite a while, I stoked up the fireplace. Instantly the place warmed up. Now, it wasn't like you could see my breath condensing when I breathed out, but it was damn cold. Way cooler than the previous week. 

Deciding that that wasn't enough, I went to fill the bathtub with hot water and some soap. I had rather dumped a bath bomb in there, but I had left those at home. 

This time I didn't forget to bring my clothes. 

Feeling the water on my skin, I let out a relaxing sigh. The smell of the apricot body wash came over me as I made myself comfy. The warmth that spread made me feel like being hugged by a huge teddybear. 

As the water cooled down I let myself sink to the bottom. No sounds reached me there, as I was engulfed only by soothing warm water. In no time my head was cleared, leaving me with a content feeling. 

After raising myself up from the bath, drying and then dressing myself, I realised that Donghyuck was still not back. I made tea, unconsciously choosing the mint tea bags he stocked up on, it being my favourite.  

The clock on the left wall ticked every time a second passed by, as I sat there on the couch. The tea, now cold, was left untouched on the small wooden table in front of me. The table was quite old, you could see the paint flaking off at two corners. Underneath the dark brown paint, was light brown oak wood. The color reminded me of Donghyuck's skin, and the darker brown paint had me remember the color of his bruises that were now healed. 

That's when I decided to look for him. Though it wasn't unusual for students to come back to the  dorms late, most of those students were in the football or lacrosse team, and thus had late evening training. Donghyuck did not. In all the few months I had known him, he had never been home this late. And most of all, he isn't liked by everyone. There is no guarantee he was not being beaten up again. So there I went. 

We do have a curfew, and the hall monitors are always active. However lucky for me, we have the tower for ourselves, so there are barely any people patrolling the stairs up to our dorm. 

I scouted almost the whole fucking castle before I found him. 

But, hiding behind the bookshelf of the History section, he sat. With his head focused on the pages of a purple pocket sized book layer on the table before him. His shoulders strained and his hands rolled up into fists. As if he was doing everything he could not to give into his emotions. Whether those were some of fear, anger or sadness, I don't know. To those who might've passed him, he just simply looked engrossed in his book, probably feeling for the main character. 

I'm not one of those people. 

Although I've known him only since this school year started, I'm not a stranger to him or his body language. I've held it close on most of the nights we laid next to each other. He can fool fool anyone, but not me. Hours I spent just watching- no wait, that sounds creepy. Hours I spent admiring him. How he pokes his tongue into his right cheek when he's annoyed, how when focused on something he slightly purses his lips and he furrows his brows. 

I know the way his body crumbles into my arms on some nights. The way I can feel his muscles relax after I hook his head beneath my chin. The way he looks when he feels content.

The sight I saw in front of me couldn't have been more different. He was afraid. His whole body was stiff from fear. 

A few steps forward was when I saw the other two people. "Donghyuck," I called out. "What's going on?"

The question was not only directed at him though, as I made eye contact with Steph and Damien, standing at the other side of the table. 

Everyone stayed quiet.

That was until Steph spoke up. "Nothing, we just wanted to ask him something." They smiled. The smile didn't reach their eyes however. It wasn't genuine. 

I decided to ignore what they said, instead looking at Damien. "What is it you want from him?" I could feel myself getting angry. "Don't make me ask again man," I said haughtily. 

His eyes flickered in Steph's direction, before quickly averting his eyes. "We just wanted to ask something, man." He stared down at the ground before raising his head towards Donghyuck. "Right? I mean c'mon, tell him Donghyuck." 

He tried to approach him, knowing Damian, he probably wanted to give him a 'friendly' shoulder pat. In my peripheral vision I could see Donghyuck jerk his body backwards slightly. 

 "Damien." He was too close for my liking. Damien didn't listen however. He took another step forward, still focussing on Donghyuck, not looking me in my eyes. I told him once more to back up, to not approach him. He didn't listen. 

So, I hit him. Hard. 

I hit him again, and again. Blood flowed from his nose on to the blue carpets that laid decorated the reading nook in between the bookshelves. 

Then Steph pushed me off. They looked me straight into my eyes. 

"Mark." It was a warning. A warning to not take it too far. 

I took a swing at them. I was mad, and will admit that was not really thinking clearly. It shows, since a minute later I ended up on the floor with Steph straddling my waist, mercilessly punching my face. 

Donghyuck caught my attention by trying to kick Steph off of me, but alas, Steph was too strong.  The only thing that saved me were the sounds of a guard coming towards the library. The jingle made by the multiple keys strapped to the side of his pants let us know he was near. 

Steph got up and grabbed Damiens arm, "We gotta go." He sounded out of breath, probably from giving me a black eye and scabs across the rest of my face. 

In a blink they were gone, leaving me and Donghyuck at the mercy of the hall monitor. Donghyuck lifted me up by hooking his hands underneath my arms, and then made me sit down on one of the tables he previously sat at. 

"Come, I'll give you a ride." He turned around and 

I climbed unto his back like a monkey, holding onto him for dear life.