MARKHYUCK - Alexithymia

03.

As time went by, Haechan became affiliated with gangs.

Him and his friends from the forest began to hang out with wrong crowds, such as the gang everyone knew and heard of, NCT.

Their leader was Lee Taeyong, who Haechan was frightened of to say the least. Just by the way he yelled and commanded all the members was intimidating, his glare alone made Haechan want to get up and go.

And yet, even though he's watched people die in front of his very eyes, he still prefers the gang house more than his own home.

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Mark noticed the odd behavior in Haechan, he saw how he would be alert at all times, and how he started hanging out with rough looking guys.

Mark didn't like it at all. He missed Haechan, his missed them together.  He missed how Haechan would walk into the lunch room, his eyes going from dull and dark to bright whenever he saw him and his friends at the lunch table, how he would eat well and be talkative.

But now, he didn't even look in his direction, instead it was the exact opposite. He sat with men who looked like they could have killed people, he wouldn't eat, he barely even smiled. It's almost like he didn't even have emotion anymore.

Some nights, he wouldn't even answer his phone. Sure, sometimes it would take a bit to get Haechan to answer his text, but it's not like Mark didn't know about the forest. About the nights he'd get drunk without a care in the world.

He knew Haechan didn't remember, but he remembers clearly.

Haechan called him on the phone at a time of the night he should be asleep, and he didn't call once. He called multiple times, which caused Mark to worry.

Whenever Mark answered the phone, he heard Haechan laughing. He heard more than just him laughing, he heard more people.

"Haechan? Where are you? What's going on?.." Mark cautiously asked into the phone, diverting all his attention to the younger.

"Haaa... I'm in the forest.. agh.. everything hurts" Haechan slurred out, "I... I'm scared, Mark."

Hearing Haechan's soft voice say that made Mark sit up straight immediately, "Why? Haechan what's wrong?"

"I don't want to go back.. I can't. I can't go back," Haechan muttered, his voice almost a whisper.

"Haechan.. send me your location. I'll pick you up."

That's whenever Mark heard a loud thud, "Haechan? Haechan?!" Mark yelled, with no answer. That's whenever he lost it. He immediately got out of bed and put on the first pair of shoes he saw, and slipped on a jacket.

He was gonna find his friend, even if he had to search for hours. He just wanted him to be safe.

Whenever Mark found Haechan, he saw him and all the people he heard in the background, some were still half awake, some passed out like how Haechan was. Mark looked at all of them, confused. They all looked almost the same age as him, so how were they like this?

Mark crouched down beside Haechan, tapping him lightly. "Channie.. Haechan please wake up." Mark said, Haechan opened his eyes slightly, looking at Mark. "Mark..." Haechan said, with a pouting face. Marks nose scrunched up due to the smell of alcohol,

"Let's get you home, huh?" Mark said, slowly lifting up the latter. With that, Haechan basically sobered up.

"No! No... Mark, I can't go back.. please.. please don't make me.." Haechan said, beginning to wrap his arms around Mark, crying into his neck. Mark stiffened. He had never seen Haechan in such a fragile state.

"Haechan... you can come home with me.. but, why can't you go home?" Mark asked softly, rubbing circles on Haechan's back, attempting to calm him down.

Haechan lifted his head up and rested his chin on Marks shoulder. "I... I can't tell you. I'm sorry Mark.." Haechan softly said, Mark nodded his head, not wanting to cause more stress for the younger.

"Hyuck.. please remember, if there's anything you need to talk about, please tell me.. I'll be here for you, forever and always. I'm not going anywhere."

Haechan nodded and sniffled, standing up straight, "Can we go?" Haechan asked, not brave enough to show his face to Mark. He's embarrassed by how much emotion he's showed, it was way out of the ordinary.

"Of course." Mark said, smiling. He grabbed Haechan's hand and lead him the way to his home. Whenever they got to the house, Mark looked at Haechan, seeing him in the light now.

Haechan got thinner and has more muscle now, his face more tough then before. He noticed how the tears stained his face,

And it hurt Mark because he couldn't help his friend.

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The next morning, Haechan woke up with a headache. He couldn't remember anything from last night.

Haechan lifted himself up and looked at his surroundings, none of this place was familiar. Haechan slowly slid off of the couch he slept on, and wandered around.

He went up the stairs of the house, and opened one of the doors, where he saw Mark asleep in his bed.

"Mark?" Haechan said, Mark opened his eyes almost immediately. It was half impossible for him to sleep that night, he was beyond worried about Haechan. Mark turned his head to face Haechan.

"Mm?" Mark said, yawning.

"Why am I here?" Haechan said.

"Do... do you not remember?" Mark asked, looking at Haechan intently. "No." Haechan said slowly.

Mark sat up and looked at Haechan for a bit, "Maybe it's better if you don't know." He said, Haechan pursed his lips and nodded his head once before closing the door back, and went back downstairs.

He immediately grabbed his phone and called Taeil.

"Hello?" Taeil answered on the other line,

"Hey." Haechan said.

"Why weren't you here? We thought you died. Yangyang said they woke up in the forest and you disappeared, where the hell did you go?!" Taeil said, yelling in concern.

"I.. I don't even know. One second I remember passing out on the floor, then the next second I'm at Mark Lee's house." Haechan said, looking around the house. "Can you pick me up?" He asked.

Taeil shook his head, and let out a long sigh. "Okay. Send me your location. But be careful, if Taeyong finds out you were gone for that long, who knows what'll happen." Taeil said. Beginning to walk out of the house and getting into his car.

"Mmm.." Haechan said, nodding his head and pressing the send button so Taeil could find him. Haechan walked outside of the house, and shivered right as he felt the air touch him. He didn't remember it being that cold.

"Hurry up," Haechan said, shaking.

"Calm down Haechan. I'm on my way now." Taeil said.

"Okay." Haechan said before hanging up. Giggling at the name Taeil had in his phone.

Taeil and Haechan share a room together, and some nights they stay up just talking about everything. And one night, they were talking about names they could give each other. And, Haechan settled on the names 'Tail' and 'Grandpa' for Taeil, and so, he has his name saved as "Grandpa Tail" in his phone,

Whenever Haechan saw Taeil's car pull up to where he was, he never ran faster. He immediately opened the car door and hopped in.

"You're lucky I could shut up Yangyang," Taeil said, immediately putting the car and drive and driving back to the base. "If I hadn't shut him up, his loud ass would've got you caught. You're welcome." Taeil said,

"Thank you." Haechan breathed out,

The car ride was silent the majority of the ride back.

And little did Haechan know, Mark watched him get in a car with someone Mark had never seen before, seeing this made him curious as to what was really going on, and why he was in such a rush to leave.