𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀; nct dream

one

Chapter 1: The beginning
           of the end

The suffocating sensation of his breath getting stuck in his throat returned as he saw his little brother standing at the door of his bathroom, football beneath his arm as his eyes searched for something.

"What are you doing here?" The elder of the two voiced so gently, afraid to startle the young boy who seemed rather confused by the situation that had unfolded before him.

"I should be asking you this Mark." Each of the ten year old's words were laced with concern as he furrowed his brows at the sight of his older brother.

"Nothing to worry about," Mark whispered, watching as the brunette scoffed, glancing at the football that rested under his arm and back at the ravenette who sat on the floor helplessly, almost begging the younger to leave.

"I'm not two years old you know?" The younger questioned, taking a tentative step forward while carefully watching Mark's every move. "And I know that mum, dad and you are hiding something from me....and I am going to find out, brother."

The younger almost seemed angry if Mark didn't know him better. The ten year old had an awful habit of mixing worry and anger up, and Mark knew that his brother was worried for him, worried of what he had become.

° ° °

Gasping for air as if it were something that the Earth was lacking, Mark sat up in his uncomfortable bed, checking his surroundings in the hopes that they would be his blue and white themed bedroom, but to no avail. He was still in the boring hospital as he had been for the past year of his life.

There was nothing wrong with him though. That's what he kept having to tell himself as he and his friends planned their great escape from their idea of hell.

Once he had caught his breath, still slightly startled by the flashback that he had from only a year ago, Mark noticed that a familiar silhouette stood at his 'bedroom' door.

"Hyuckie?" He called out weakly, seeing the younger boy nod wearily.

Taking a few steps forward, Donghyuck showed his full face, the shadows that once loomed over his features now shifting elsewhere.

"Come sit with me Hyuck," Mark continued, patting the space beside him, even if his bed was now soaked in sweat from the nightmare that he had just awoken from.

"What was your dream about?" Donghyuck mumbled, hesitantly sitting beside the older and watching fondly as Mark thought about how to phrase his next words.

"It- no- nothing Hyuck. It was nothing to worry about," he muttered, lying down on his back again before releasing a defeated sigh.

Donghyuck lay back, much like the older, but was now resting his head on the raven haired boy's chest.

The older's heartbeat calmed him as he wrapped his arm around Mark's waist, wincing when he felt how small his friend was.

"He came and visited me again last night," Donghyuck weakly stated, his voice cracking in fear as he looked up to see Mark frowning.

"Really?"

"Yeah...it was really scary and I wanted you to be there with me, but the night nurse said that you were 'bad for me'." He turned his attention back to the thumping beneath his head as well as the steady breaths that left the ravenette's nose.

"Well she's a bitch!" Mark hissed, wrapping a protective arm around the younger, burying his nose in his fluffy hair.

He inhaled the scent of cherries that followed Donghyuck everywhere he went. At this, the teenager calmed his anger slightly, rubbing reassuring circles onto the younger's forearm, knowing that it was enough to calm the younger.

"Let's get breakfast?" Mark reluctantly nodded at the younger's words but didn't move, not wanting to disrupt the peaceful moment that they were sharing. "Renjun said that he will have a word with you if you make him wait any longer," the younger continued, chuckling when Mark pushed him up and threw his feet over the side of the bed while the younger boy sat in his lap.

"Better go now then, Hyuck. Don't want to anger the king!" Mark exaggerated, though he knew that today would be rather unpleasant had he ignored the request.

"Yeah Mark, lets go," Donghyuck urged, laughing when a blush spread on the older's cheeks.

"Yeah Hyuck, it would be a great idea, but somebody is sitting on my lap," he teased, wanting to divert the attention from himself to the smaller boy.

"And you love it." With that, the younger jumped from his lap, turning around and cheekily smiling at Mark before trailing out of the room.

Mark felt his heart beat speed as he watched the boy walk down the hallway, turning back every few steps to see if he had risen from the old fashioned, single bed.

"I'm coming Hyuckie," he mumbled to himself, sighing as he stood up onto his unsteady feet. The temporary black vision took over him before he was knocked back to reality.

Slipping his dainty feet into the fluffy, white slippers that the institute had provided him with, he walked out the door, closing it behind him and listening to the sound of it clicking shut.

As he ambled down the fairly empty hallway, passing the odd nurse or fellow patient, Mark adjusted his oversized t-shirt that hung off one of his shoulders, exposing his prominent collarbones along with the sweatpants that were many sizes too big for the small and underweight teen.

"Mornin' Mark. Sleep well?" A kind voice chimed. The half-asleep Canadian glanced up, a tired smile gracing his features so effortlessly.

His friend shut the door behind him, but instantly his face contorted into a deep frown. He opened it again, listening to the click of it closing. Again, while shaking his head, he opened the wooden surface another time, closing it for the third or forth time before letting out a satisfied smile.

"Hey Jeno. I had a good night...you?" The younger looked up from the floor and jogged slightly to catch up to the shorter boy who continued on his hike to the canteen.

"Yeah, but Jaemin woke me up saying that Renjun was in a bad mood, so I sped up the process to get there before he exploded." The taller of the two laughed after saying that, but stopped for a moment and tilting his head.

"Don't even," Mark sighed, predicting the younger's next moves and not being in the mood to hear him repeat himself for the next ten minutes. "Let's just get there before Renjun kills us both."