ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ ғᴏʀ ᴍᴇ | ᴍᴀʀᴋʜʏᴜᴄᴋ

-ˏˋ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ ˎˊ˗

❝ ʙᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ
ʜᴇʀᴇ, ʀɪɢʜᴛ? ❞

Alright, maybe asking Jisung if they could play some video games wasn't the best idea Mark had ever thought. Because now here he was, sitting on one of those squishy bean bags, whilst clutching onto the controller and silently groaning as Jisung beat the crap out of him in the game. But that wasn't even the worst part, it was the fact that the two were sitting in awkward silence and the only thing they could hear were the noises being created by the controllers and the TV screen.

"Okay." Jisung sighed, placing down the controller after winning another game, and turned around to face Mark, who was sitting a few metres away from him, (and that definitely wasn't because he was scared his thoughts would be said out loud). "Let's talk."

"Talk?" Mark asked, copying Jisung and then looking at him with confusion. He hadn't really spoken to Jisung since he had moved into this house, and that was mostly because Jisung was stuck by the hip to Chenle, and Chenle didn't want to speak to Mark. And so, Mark never got the chance to talk to any of them.

"I know that Donghyuck told you about how Chenle joined this group, and Jeno explained his and Jaemin's story." Jisung said, shuffling around on his seat to get comfortable, even though it was pretty hard to do that on the bean bags. "So I might as well tell you mine."

"Uh...okay." Mark rubbed his eyes in attempt to get rid of any sleep, and then folded his legs, ready for another story time with a different person. Maybe Mark should get used to this.

"When I was only around a few months old," Jisung started, causing Mark to immediately focus all of his attention on him. "I got adopted, like you. I was pretty happy with my family, to be honest. We were always having fun, and my parents used to make sure I got what I wanted, even though I wasn't spoilt. People used to call out family perfect because of the way we were.

"But that was before my powers got activated." Jisung bit his lip, lowering his gaze from Mark, and choosing to focus on the floor instead. "I accidentally made the thoughts of my parents be heard out loud, and that's when my mum found out that my dad was cheating on her. It was quite crazy, actually, especially since the three of us were so happy together. But as soon as my mum found out, she wasted no time to separate from him. They filed a divorce and within 5 months I no longer had parents who were married."

Mark stared at Jisung, who nervously played with his hands. It was obvious he felt guilt for revealing his parents' secrets, but it wasn't his fault. And as much as Mark wanted to say that, he was worried that it might caught Jisung to get even more nervous.

"I was forced to choose between my parents," Jisung said, scrunching his nose up as he remembered the way his dad looked at him with betrayal. "I chose my mum, obviously. So then I moved in with her, and things were going on a stable pace. She got promoted and the money she was getting was good enough for the two of us. But since my powers were still activated, and I couldn't work out how to turn them off, I heard her inner thoughts.

"She didn't hate me." Jisung cleared out that issue before Mark could question it, as he understood what his facial expression meant. "But she did obviously hate the disadvantages of living on her own with her son. And so, she finally spoke out about how she really wanted me to just somehow leave.

"Around this time, I met Chenle." Jisung smiled at the memory of how he met his best friend. Although Chenle was in ragged clothes, and his face was tear stained, he still looked cute, and somehow managed to make Jisung's heart do flips. "I helped him out a little, snuck him food from time to time, and even offered him a room in my house. Soon after meeting Chenle, I met Renjun and Donghyuck, who immediately asked me to move in with them."

"Did they make you run away?" Mark asked, although he knew what the answer would be.

"No." Jisung sighed, raising his head and looking at Mark with sadness in his eyes. "They asked her only once if I could move in with them. And without any hesitation whatsoever, she agreed, and I moved here with them. Honestly, I was surprised she did that, because no matter how much she loathed the idea of me living with her, she still loved me. But I guess when times get tough, people don't really think twice."

"But you're happy here, right?" Mark tilted his head, a small bit of happiness bloomed in his heart as he saw Jisung nod and smile at him brightly.

"I'm so happy that I moved here!" Jisung exclaimed, smiling so widely that his cheeks pushed against his eyes. "Chenle's actually really fun to talk to, and the others act like the older brothers I never had. I really enjoy my time here."

"That's good." Mark leaned back into his seat, a satisfied grin plastered over his face.

To be honest, he could see from the way the kids acted that they liked being around each other, and that they enjoyed each others company. But he still couldn't stop thinking about how they were all away from their parents. Jeno ran away from his parents because he was scared of hurting them Jaemin left his house just for Jeno, and he didn't even look back once. Chenle had been abandoned by his mum at such a younger age, and the fact that his body was much older than his mind wasn't helping either. Jisung had basically been disowned by his mum without any hesitation. They actually had harsh pasts, and seems a lot worse than Mark's, so he didn't really have the right to complain.

"You do." Jisung said, getting up from his seat and walking over to Mark. "I'm sorry, I accidentally let your thoughts wander out of your mind. But seriously, you do. Of course we all went through a lot of stuff, and we didn't exactly have the best childhood possible, but you're not going through anything better. You have the right to complain." Jisung smiled down at Mark, before patting his shoulder and turning to leave.

"Oh wait!" Mark said, jumping forwards and grabbing Jisung's arm, tugging him backwards, finally remembering the thing that had been on his mind this whole time. "I needed to ask you something."

"Go on." Jisung turned back around and then looked down at Mark, waiting for the question.

"Where does Donghyuck disappear to from time to time?" Mark asked, finally getting the question out from his mouth. Jisung tensed and then awkwardly shuffled on his spot.

"Um...I can't really tell you but," Jisung hurried to the door, ignoring the suspicious looks Mark gave and then glanced back one last time. "The person you're friends with is Donghyuck, so if you ever meet anyone called Haechan, run away."

Before Mark could question any further, Jisung closed the door behind himself and left Mark even more frustrated than before.

Mark had tried to ask Donghyuck about this, but obviously wasn't getting any answers. The other kids were hiding it, claiming that it wasn't their secret to tell, and sometimes even shooting him confused looks as if they don't understand why Donghyuck hasn't told him yet. But what did Jisung mean by Haechan? Who the hell was Haechan, and how was he, or she you never know, related to Donghyuck.