𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 || 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐡𝐲𝐮𝐜𝐤/𝐍𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧

8

What day is it? Donghyuck thinks.

He’s incredibly disoriented, lost between what’s past and what’s present.

Everything is starting to blend together, probably because the only thing he’s done in a while is get up to eat. It’s easy to just lay there, memories threatening to suffocate him—that or make him loose his remaining sanity. At one point when he opened his eyes he saw Mark looking right back at him, eyes sad. When Donghyuck reached out to place his hand on his cheek he’d already disappeared, leaving Donghyuck on his own again.

He’s been alone too long.

If Chenle was here he might be better off. That kid always knew how to make time pass fast. He was always doing something, dancing, singing, bothering Jaemin when he accidentally caught his eye. Partnered with Jisung and even Renjun, they were unstoppable. He had loved to watch them bother others, except when they would turn on him. He’d always felt burdened, like he had to match their energy and react in a way to continue the mood.

When they come back I’ll see if they have anything interesting to do.

Donghyuck pauses at that, frowning.

But they’re not.

He can’t sit still then—it gives him too time to think, to remember. He has to do something to take his mind off of it, so he decides on taking a bath. It’s one of the luxuries of finding a mansion that was seemed to be prepped for a natural disaster to happen, even though it would be his first time taking advantage of it.

Twenty minutes later lukewarm water flows down Donghyuck's back, soothing the ache there. It’s been a long time since he’s properly cleaned himself, when before he would loath to miss one day. He can remember how he was back then, confident in his looks, his social standing, his future. Life was so simple then. He had his college friends, went to enough parties to keep them, and still managed to get good grades. Everyone liked him and he had never been happier.

It was only after everything went south that he realized how shallow that happiness had been.

There was no way he could have known true happiness when he had no sadness to compare it to. He hadn’t known the pain of death then, the pain of watching his parents sacrifice themselves for him to live. He didn’t know how content he could be covered in dirt and sweat, exhausted from running. How watching as the people that knew him from his most intimate highs to lows race along the beach, happy for one moment in time, could make him feel so at peace.

He had started to believe that they would make it, that they could beat all odds and show life what they were made of.

Shaking his head, Donghyuck dumps water over himself again, shivering of the thought of how he had realized that things had changed. The water flowing over his skin serves as a chilling reminder, Goosebumps rising along his arms despite the warmth. He collapses against the cold tile of the wall and gasps for breath. No matter how much he tries to avoid it he can’t keep the memories from rising to the surface, aided by the water cooling on his skin.