MARKHYUCK - Alexithymia

01.

The date is June 4th, Lee Donghyuck was 9 years old. In 2 more days, he was going to be 10. And at the time, he thought he was living the best life he ever could.

He had a father, that was one thing. He knew he had a loving mother, even though he never got to meet her, he was once with her. And that was enough for him, he knew she was watching over him.

He also had his best friend, Mark Lee. Mark was a foreigner, he was from Canada. Mark is the one who gifted the nickname "Haechan" to Donghyuck, im which Donghyuck wore that nickname proudly. He even preferred it over his real name.

He doesn't particularly like the name 'Donghyuck', yes, his mother gave him his name, and in which he cherishes that. It was one part of his mother he knew he couldn't lose. But the way his father spat out his name with such distaste bothered him. He knew his father hated him, it wasn't like he didn't make it clear.

He and Mark were practically inseparable, they were in all classes together, and even outside of classes you'd never see them apart. Sometimes their friends Jaehyun and Taeyong would be with them, but it wouldn't stop Haechan and Mark from being side by side. Being near each other comforted them.

Haechan got bullied frequently at school for having a super high voice, and who stood up for him? None other than Mark Lee. He once got in trouble for punching a kid and knocking his tooth out,

He was forced to sit in the same room as the principal the entire day, which was the longest day of both the boys' lives.

One more day.

Tomorrow was Haechan's birthday, he couldn't believe it. He was finally turning 10! He'd been waiting for this moment his whole life, literally.

Haechan jumped off the last bus step and waved goodbye to the bus driver. His dad didn't let him be in his car without having something wrapped around the seat so "Something as dirty as him wouldn't touch and infect his car". Whatever that meant.

Haechan contently skipped to his school doors, knowing Mark was waiting there for him as he always was. Except, whenever Haechan entered the school building, Mark wasn't there. Haechan looked around, beginning to feel sad. Mark wouldn't leave him, right?

Haechan started walking more into the school whenever he felt a big weight on his back, and he flew towards falling into the ground. He turned around, his knees hurting, to see Mark and his contagious smile. Mark laughed and stood up, brushing off his clothes and holding out a hand for Haechan to grab.

Mark's smile was super contagious, anytime he smiled, Haechan would smile too. Even if Mark was missing two of his teeth, it just made him even cuter!

"Hi, Haechannie!" Mark exclaimed, swaying on his tiptoes.

"Hi, Markkk—" Haechan said, dragging out the 'K' for as long as he possibly could.

"So, Chenle got a new puppy, right? His name is Daegal, I think you'd really like him!" Mark said he began ranting about Chenles dog, "I think you should try and be friends with Chenle! Just because he's super duper rich and probably has a gazillions of dollars doesn't mean he's mean! He's actually super nice! And laughs like a dolphin.." Mark finished, trying to imitate his laugh and failing miserably.

This made Haechan laugh so loudly, you could probably hear him from the whole other side of the world. "Maybe me and Cheny can become friends during lunch, we can sit together!" Haechan suggested, causing Mark to giggle.

"It's Chenle, not Cheney. And of course!

Once lunchtime came around, Haechan was undoubtedly nervous. Why did he say that? Although no one could compare to Mark, he didn't even know this guy. What if he's mean?

Haechan and Mark went through the lunch line, happily grabbing whatever the lunch lady made for them. It had felt like forever since Haechan had eaten, he could eat the entire lunchroom and more.

While he and Mark were walking to their usual lunch table, he saw more than just Chenle. He also saw another kid, one he'd never seen before. He sat beside Mark, as always. Just because there are two more friends doesn't mean tradition has to change.

"Hi! I'm Chenle! What's your name?" Chenle said, he had a round face with a cute smile, Haechan would be lying if he said he didn't like this guy. "I-I'm Haechan." The latter said slowly, pronouncing every word as proper as he could. "Who's the guy beside you?"

"That's my friend! Jisung! Say hi!" Chenle said, nudging his arm. Jisung was one of the cutest people Haechan had ever seen. He had one of those sweet faces that anyone could see and not be able to say no to.

"Hi, I'm Park Jisung," Jisung said, Haechan stretched his whole body over the table, reaching his arm out to shake Jisungs hand.

"Well, okay! I've made two new friends, this is great! That's two more than I had before!" Haechan exclaimed happily. All anxiety he had before faded away once hearing the boys' voices.

"So, Mark told me about your dog!" Haechan said, Mark's head swinging up to Haechans direction upon hearing his name. "Please tell me about your dog! I love puppies, but my dad won't let me have one. He says they're a waste of space,"

That sentence alone led Chenle onto talking about Daegal for nearly the entire lunch period. Haechan started talking.

"My birthday is tomorrow!" Haechan exclaimed, he felt as though he was on top of the world, he made more friends right before his birthday! What else could he want?

The school day went on, and eventually, he went home. He loved riding on the bus, he was a social butterfly of course. He always talked to everyone, whether it be the bus driver, or maybe even just someone with a seat beside him, there was always someone to talk to.

Whenever he got home, he noticed his father's car was in the driveway, which was unusual. His dad usually got home later on in the day, and there was usually a babysitter waiting for him.

When he opened the door, he didn't expect what was going to happen to him.