bury a friend. ᵈʳᵉᵃᵐ

𝖋𝖔𝖚𝖗

Donghyuck's POV

I woke up from my peaceful sleep last night. It was still early in the morning, but I still have to check on the guys. Yep, I'm responsible for learning about their whereabouts.

I stood up from my bed and ruffled my hair while making my way out of my room. The nearest room to me was Chenle's and I slowly opened the door. I smiled at him, who's clutching his dolphin plushie.

I closed his door and went to Renjun's. He was still asleep. His arms were above his head, exposing his tummy. I closed the door again and went to Mark's.

I was surprised to see him awake. His back was on the head board and he was staring into space. I walked closer but it seems like he doesn't care that I was there.

Most of all, he looked pale.. like he didn't get some sleep.

I waved my hand in front of his face. "Mark hyung?" I waved my hand faster. I sighed and snapped my fingers loudly, making him blink. "Mark hyung, are you okay?" I asked and sat in front of him.

He looked at me. Oh, man, those eyebags. "What happened to you?" I asked again, not letting him answer the first question. He suddenly shook his head. "I'm not okay, Hyuck."

My eyebrows creased as I placed the back of my hand on his forehead and neck. "You don't have a fever." I said matter-of-factly. He gulped. "J-Jaemin.." I was waiting for him to add something when his bedroom door burst open.

"Good morning!"

Mark suddenly screamed and ran towards the edge of his bed. I looked at Mark weirdly then at Jaemin, who was giving him the same look. Jaemin slowly dropped his arms that was on the air. "Are you okay?" He asked.

Our older brother shook his head violently. "Stay away from me." He said. Jaemin took a step and Mark covered himself in his blanket. "Mark hyung! It's just Jaemin." I said and tried to pull his blanket back.

"That's the point!" He suddenly pushed me away. "Mark hyung!"

"What's happening?" Renjun bursted inside the room with Jeno and Minsoo trailing behind him. Next was Jisung and Chenle who was rubbing their eyes. Mark looked horrified to see Jaemin.

Mark pulled Renjun towards him. "Renjun, he's a monster!" He said and pointed at Jaemin. The latter scoffed. "I'm not! I'm completely human, Mark hyung." Renjun raised his hand.

"Let's talk about this in the dining room." He said and went outside of Mark's room. Jisung looked weirdly at Mark hyung before he left with Chenle and Jaemin.

Minsoo walked towards Mark and patted his shoulder. "It's okay. Maybe it's just a bad dream." Mark gave her a hopeless look. "Minsoo, I wished it was. But it was all in front of me. It happened to me."

Jeno helped Mark up. "Come on, hyung. Tell us at the table." He said and we walked out of his chambers. We made our way to the dining room and went to our seats. Renjun just stood up, his arms folded.

"Mark hyung, tell us."

Then Mark started story telling about what happened in his bedroom last night. From his watch to the creature who looked like Jaemin and how connected and similar they were.

"I asked it 'what do you want from me?' but it just said the same thing. It also said, 'Why don't you run from me?' and 'I am you. You are me'. I told myself mentally that I hoped it was all just a nightmare, but it's like it read my mind because it said, 'You wish it was, but it isn't'." Mark sighed after that.

Jaemin coughed. "I'll make myself clear. I was just in my bedroom last night. I was sleeping. I've never sleep-walked before, you know that, Mark hyung. You know me."

Then, it hit me.

I tapped my hand on the table, gaining all of their attention. "I know why the creature looked like Jaemin." I said and they lent their ears, especially Mark and Jaemin.

I moved my hands in a gesture. "Maybe the creature said what you said and you also said what the creature said is because you two are close. Jaemin just said it. You know him, he knows you. And maybe that was the meaning of the 'I am you. You are me'." I said.

They all went quiet for a while before Minsoo nodded. "I agree with Hyuck." Jisung slammed his palm on the table, gaining our attention. "I agree, but where did this creature came from? Was Jaemin hyung really in his chambers last night? If it wasn't Jaemin hyung, then who was it?"

"Those questions looks like they have no answers." Jeno said. "Did this happen before?" Minsoo asked and we shook our heads. "That's weird.." She muttered and fell back on her seat.

"But I was sure of it. I saw Jaemin. It was Jaemin." Jaemin scoffed again and chuckled unbelievably. "I was in my bedroom! I would know if I'm awake!" Mark laughed and shook his head.

"You literally broke your own bones and got them back together. You were under my fucking bed!"

"If I slept-walked, I wouldn't have made it in your bedroom and fell on the stairs instead. You know that mine is on the third floor!"

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me! You're lying? Here? Hah!"

"You're being unreasonable with your nightmare, Mark hyung!"

"Stop it!" Minsoo shouted. Mark and Jaemin finally stopped shouting at each other. They sat back on their seats, sending glares. "It's still the first time. If this happens for the third time, we'll talk about this. Am I making myself clear?" She said.

We nodded except for the two. Jaemin chuckled. "You said I didn't touch you but why do you seem so scared? Such a pussy." Mark stood up and crawled on the table to attack Jaemin. Renjun and I went beside him and held him back.

"See? See? He literally did it." Mark muttered. We pushed him back to his seat, his breathing heavy. Chenle sent them glares. "Stop being immature. Listen to what Minsoo said."

"If this happens to me again, Jaem, you're not gonna escape my wrath."

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