Rainbow | Markhyuck

thirteen

Mark broke into laughter as Donghyuck dramatically set down the plate before him, saying the offering loudly for his parents to hear.
"Oh ho thank you," Mark took the ghosty plate with a giggle. Though he didn't actually have to eat, he could taste the food set before him, and what a blessing it was to still be able to eat Donghyuck's mom's food. Not only that, but other foods, ice cream, watermelon, watermelon flavoured ice cream, oh he could still feast to his heart's content. Even more than usual as well since the concept of fullness wasn't a thing for him anymore.
Donghyuck chuckled, serving his own plate with food now. Though why he didn't just take the plate in front of him, Mark didn't know. It was now just a slight waste of physical food.

"Honey, what are you doing?" Mrs Bahng, Donghyuck's mother, asked her son.
Donghyuck ignored her, continuing to load more onto his plate. Mark pursed his lips together, staring down at his food. Donghyuck was yet to forgive his parents for what happened to him, not that Mark blamed him. He just thought it was a bit cruel to drag his mother into it when she didn't have anything to do with it.

Donghyuck had been avoiding them as much as he could, giving one sentence answers to them if they spoke to him. It had gotten worse after the day prior, Donghyuck being the one to find Mark's deceased file with Renjun. Jaemin had to take them away, Jeno going through the files himself. Jaemin had to sedate him once again as Donghyuck began to hyperventilate once more, tears streaming down his face all over again.

The file was now left on Donghyuck's desk along with the file of the man who shot Mark.

"Um, Hyuck?" Mark spoke quietly despite no one else being able to hear him. "Can you give utensils as well?" He looked down to the bowl of japchae loaded with various sides, "I don't think I wanna eat this with my hands."
"Oh right, sorry," Donghyuck snorted, grabbing a pair of chopsticks and a spoon. He held them together, bowing his head toward Mark. "I offer these utensils to the spirit of Lee Mark."
Mark smiled, chuckling under his breath as he took the chopsticks and spoon, placing them down. "Thank you, Hyuckie."
Donghyuck grinned at him, head butting his shoulder, "It's fine, hyung."
Mark smiled helplessly, taking a little moment to just gaze at Donghyuck as he turned back to his food. Maybe one good thing is that he no longer got teased by literally everyone every time he was caught staring at him. He could not appreciate the beauty without everyone mocking him about it.

But then again, was it the same? Now he wasn't pestered about it, but what was love without being able to talk about it with anyone anymore. If only he managed his time differently. Told him before their graduation instead of planning to tell him after. Maybe then he'd be alive. Maybe they would've gone away by now.

Or maybe...maybe this was just his fate.

Mark glanced up at his friend's parents, seeing Mr Lee give a confused look toward his wife. It made him laugh a little, he could imagine how weird that exchange must look to them considering they couldn't see him. Granted, Mr Lee should be grateful he couldn't see him. If he did, he would've launched at him.

Though he joked about it a lot, it did upset him a lot that he wasn't really alive anymore. He didn't even make it to the end of highschool. He didn't get to to do the last bit of growing up with his friends and instead was their source of misery and grief. He wanted to talk to all of them as per usual, and the spirit box was the closest he got. But even then, they barely spoke, and he understood why. It wasn't the same.

It...hurt. All of them, even him. They couldn't see him anymore, it felt more like talking to themselves and it was dragging them down. He sometimes wished that Jisung didn't bring the device that day. It wouldn't have hurt as much as it did. He'd rather he wasn't heard in the first place than purposely ignored. He'd rather be alive if he was being honest.

He didn't want to die. Let alone go.

He didn't like leaving but he had to.

Donghyuck wanted him to go as well. He'd go if he wanted him to. But he didn't like it.

But only for Donghyuck.

"Donghyuck, who are you talking to?" Mrs Bahng pressed on again. "Why are you offering food and chopsticks and whatnot to Mark?"
Donghyuck sighed with a shrug, "Oh hyung is still stuck here." Donghyuck spoke casually but Mark could sense the bitterness under his tongue. The younger boy placed his chopsticks down, sending a dark glare to his father. "Probably cause he got shot, you know. He needs to take care of it so he's stuck."
Mark sat up, placing a hand on Donghyuck's. "Hyuck," he tried to quiet him down as the aura around the younger boy grew tense.
"Because he never got to live his life properly," Donghyuck spoke in an annoyed tone, grinding his teeth a little. "It was cut short by someone. How horrible is that, huh?" he snapped, "The death of a helpless boy, not even out of school."
Mr Lee stared back at his son boredly. He probably didn't care, and while Mark would rather hold Donghyuck's metaphorical hoops as he tore his father to shreds, he knew it wouldn't end well.

Mr Lee sighed, "This couldn't be helped, Donghyuck."
"Why not?" Donghyuck bit back, "Tell me a damn good reason why."
Mr Lee groaned, as if he'd been drilled about this for the hundredth time, which ticked Mark off. Donghyuck deserved to know why his friend had to die. Why it apparently 'couldn't be helped'. Hell he wanted to know. What did he do to that got him to this point? He didn't want to suffer, let alone cause suffering.

Instead Mrs Bahng dropped her utensils, gaining their attention. "Stop it. Eat."
Donghyuck bit down on his lip, gulping as he stared directly at his mother. His mother should've been on his side. Someone her son cared about died because of her dreadful husband. Mark got it, he didn't get why she didn't want answers either.

Mark took a deep breath, seeing Donghyuck on the verge of tears. He gently held the side of Donghyuck's head, making sure he could see him, and guided him to look at him. The younger boy pursed his lips as he made eye contact with the spirit beside him. Mark brushed his cheek with his thumb, shaking his head at him. "It's not worth it, Hyuckie." They had to find out for themselves. It'd be useless to drill such an idiotic man anyways. They were closer anyway, they found the person's name, address, everything they needed to know about him. They'd find out sooner or later.

"I don't like this," Donghyuck stated, glass shattering in his eyes. Mark sighed, used to the look of misery now. The glass had shattered over and over, he didn't know why he continued to try and repair it.
"It's okay, Hyuckie," Mark lied again, smiling as sweetly as he could. "Eat a little. It'll be okay."
Donghyuck shut his eyes, turning his head back to his food he no longer wanted to touch. He still ate though, not wanting to upset Mark, which he was grateful for.

All he had to do now was convince Hyuck to take the pills Jaemin had given him to let him rest. He'd probably just scan through the files to see if there was any other useful information on the sheets before he got tired of that and decide to curl next to Donghyuck.

Then another wretched day would be over, and he'd get closer to the inevitable. The day he disappeared.