Let's Play Ball ⟨Markhyuck⟩|| completed

chapter 19

As much as Donghyuck wanted to give up fighting for his life, he did not. He had Sunny who was probably scared to death. He had to stay alive for her so that when he finally sees her, he can give her the biggest hug and apology in the world. It was his fault that they are stuck and hurt like this. He just hopes Sunny will not be too mad at him.

But who is he kidding though? Sunny could never be mad at her older brother whom she loves and looks up to.

Mark, well as Donghyuck knows him as Minhyung, had fallen asleep hours ago probably because of the blood he was losing. Donghyuck wanted to help him, but there was nothing he could do as they were on either sides of the barricade. They could only see each other because of the hole and a few cracks in the piece of cement. He became attached to the other boy without him knowing.

Donghyuck checked to see if Mark was still sleeping, he was. He was not surprised though, he would not even be surprised if he died to be honest because of the blood he is losing but Donghyuck did not want to think about losing someone he knows and loves and cares for. He would not be able to handle it.

He did not know how long they have been down here, but he was starving. Donghyuck could feel his body growing weaker and weaker by the second due to malnutrition. He heard his stomach growl in hunger as he tried to clench his tummy. It was hurting so much that Donghyuck shed a few more tears. The smell underneath the ground was becoming unbearable due to all the corpses and blood contaminating the area. The light on Mark's phone had died a long time ago so he was back to being in the dark with a red dim that was shown from the unbelievably working exit sign.

Donghyuck did not want to cry anymore, but he just could not help himself because of the situation they are all in right now. He kept thinking about his screwups and all the things he should have done before this.

The ten year old started to feel a wave of panic and fear hit him again when he heard painful groans, meaning someone else was alive and stuck in here. Not that he is surprised though because the mall had plenty of people in it today—or whenever the day was—so it only makes sense that people are down here either dead, barely alive, or trying to survive.

The groan got louder as if it was coming closer as Donghyuck pressed his back deeper into the wall of cement behind him, knowing he could not move any further. He saw a figure in the dim red light come closer to him as it spoke up with a raspy voice.

"H-help me," the male voice crawled towards Donghyuck, dragging his lower body.

Donghyuck was frightened as he had gotten closer and grabbed the ten year old's small bruised leg. Donghyuck screamed and tried to kick his way out of his grasp.

"L-let me go!" Donghyuck panicked.

"Help me, please," the male begged as he was in pain and ignored Donghyuck's plead.

The male held Donghyuck's leg and made eye contact with him and that was when Donghyuck saw his face and body appearance. He had light colored hair that he could not really see due to the lighting, his face was round, and his teeth were straight. He was wearing a uniform that read "South Music Arts School." He could not be more than seventeen or eighteen. What horrified Donghyuck though, was that the teen was missing a leg.

In fear, Donghyuck hit him in the face as he kicked his legs away, making the teen stumble backwards and hit his head against the concrete as he cried in pain.

"P-please!" The teen attempted to reach out. "M-my name is Taeil, I won't hurt you! I-I swear! I just need your help."

Adrenaline rushing through his body, Donghyuck tried crawling away but Taeil grabbed a hold of him again, this time roughly gripped Donghyuck's arm to the point where it bruised instantly. Donghyuck winced as he struggled to get out of his grip. This however, made him remember the bag with the frog plushie hooked on his wrist. He used his feet to kick off the teen's hand and hastily crawled away over dead bodies, leaving Taeil bleeding to his death...

The ten year old felt terrible for leaving the older teen like that, but what could he do? He was stuck down here just like him and there was nothing he could do about it. Sure, he was not missing a limb like him, but that does not mean he was not in pain either. He has to take care of himself before he can even worry about anyone.

If there was anything Donghyuck had learned from being stuck in here for hours, days, weeks—he did not know—but it was that every man was for himself. He did not have time to sit and help anyone else when his own life was at stake.

Donghyuck sobbed as he was terrified and just wanted to get out of here already. He wanted to see his little sister and be with his parents. However as if he was not losing consciousness again, his head was crashed with a block of cement that knocked him out completely.

Donghyuck had woken up again when he heard multiple footsteps and muffled voices.

"Over here!!!"

His eyes opened, but were blurry. The noise was coming from the other side of the wall that barricaded him and Minhyung. He peeped through the hole and saw the other boy being lifted by a few firefighters and placed on a stretcher, his impaled leg dangling from it before being taken to an ambulance.

"Bring him up!!!"

Donghyuck tried to speak up and call for help, but something in his throat was refraining him from doing so—probably the dust and dirt particles from being stuck underground. It was as if he had lost the ability to speak. Tears rolled down, mixing with the blood on his cheek as it trickled to his lips, tasting the metal and salt in his mouth. The ten year old laid there in defeat.

The firefighter will come back for him, right?

"We need help breaking this wall!!" Donghyuck heard.

His hopeful thinking was accurate as another firefighter was breaking the cemented wall down with an axe hammer. Small pieces of the wall hit him in the head again, but he forced himself to stay awake even though it was hard and he could not feel his body anymore. He knew he had a severe concussion.

The firefighter's flashlight shone through and glanced around, finding Donghyuck leaning against the a pile of broken parts of the mall; surely, they found Taeil's dead body but the little boy tried his best not to think about the deceased teenager he basically killed. Donghyuck tried to move his body, but failed to do so as the firefighter carefully made his way closer to the boy. He carefully lifted Donghyuck's body up and carried him through the underground pathway they had created to reach the surface.

It was the first time Donghyuck saw light again as he squinted his eyes due to the strong sunlight. Donghyuck was placed on a stretcher and set inside an ambulance besides another stretcher that had Minhyung's unconscious body on it. Donghyuck's eyes felt dreary again with the frog plushie bag on his tummy as he drowned out the sounds of sirens and passed out as the ambulance drove to the hospital.

He could finally see Sunny again.

————————————tbc———————————-