ɪᴄᴇ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴍ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴀғғʟᴇs | ᴍᴀʀᴋʜʏᴜᴄᴋ

ten

Donghyuck embraced himself as the cold air hit his body. It was a great contrast as his body was heated from all the crying he had done. What Mark had said shouldn't have convinced him as quickly as it did, but Donghyuck didn't exactly mind. He wanted to know what Mark's reasoning was. Why was Mark so afraid of not telling him what was wrong?

The car was parked outside his house so Donghyuck hurriedly climbed into it and buckled his seatbelt. Mark had the heater on and so Donghyuck relaxed into the seat quickly. Silence filled the car as they pulled out of the parking spot and began to drive down the road. It was night and Donghyuck's mum was in another city with her sister. Donghyuck would've joined her if he hadn't been so down in the dumps. 

"Donghyuck," Mark said as the car climbed onto the motorway. "Can I explain myself?"

Donghyuck took his slippers off and pulled his legs to his chest, softly placing his chin between his knees and then hummed. "Go on."

"As you know, I've known Jeno since we were kids," Mark started. There weren't many cars around them — only about five — and the light sound coming from the radio was making Donghyuck feel sleepy. At the mention of Jeno, Donghyuck preferred to go to sleep rather than listen to him talk about Jeno. "After what happened with my parents and then my relatives back in Canada, his family was very happy to let me move in with them."

Donghyuck kept his eyes fixed on the road as he flew past. He was listening, of course he was, but he didn't want Mark to know that he was eager to find out what his reason was. 

"Obviously, as a kid who had just lost their parents, I used to look for attention," Mark chewed down on his lip and glanced to his left to see that Donghyuck was still not looking at him. He sighed and continued. "Jeno used to get a lot of love from his parents, and once he began to open up more and finally came out of his shell he got love from everyone. It was meant to be something I should've been proud of, since I helped him gain confidence and reassured him that nothing bad would happen, but I sadly didn't."

"You didn't?" Donghyuck echoed, tilting his head to the side to catch a glimpse of Mark's expression. The older had his eyebrows furrowed and he was frowning at himself. 

"I didn't," Mark repeated with a small groan. "I was selfish and wanted to get loved by someone. Jeno's parents were nice, they really were, but they couldn't love me the same way they loved their own son, despite all the promises they made. I got upset and angry."

"You got angry?" Donghyuck shifted in his seat to look at Mark with a surprised face. From the time he spent with Mark, he knew that the older never got angry. 

"Yeah..." Mark let out another deep sigh. "I did." He shook his head and went on with his story. "I began to hurt Jeno in every way that I could, I know that sounds bad, it was bad. He would cry at night — he thought I couldn't hear him but I could. He once asked me why I did this to him but I just brushed him away. You know what was worse?"

"What?" Donghyuck mumbled, too shocked to speak any louder.

"The fact that he would smile at me whenever he could," Mark's voice cracked yet Donghyuck couldn't find it in himself to laugh at it. "He would smile and ask me if I wanted to join him when he did things with his friends. He would ask me if I had eaten or if I wanted to check out the latest game he had bought. Jeno was so nice to me, it truly hurt."

"Then what happened?" Donghyuck asked, turning his entire body around to face Mark. He couldn't hide the curiosity that filled his body. How could someone who hurt another person deeply and felt no remorse or regret whilst doing it have changed into someone like Mark? It shocked Donghyuck how quickly someone could change themselves.