𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀; nct dream

five

Chapter 5: Losing Sanity

The morning came around quickly, and the hellish lives of the seven boys continued, no trace of easing off.

Waking up, Mark was alone, bed ruffled as his body lay sprawled across the rickety, single, old fashioned bed.

Each movement from the tired teen resulted in the groaning of the ancient bed beneath the average weighted boy. The flat and uncomfortable mattress had springs sticking through and into his back.

Releasing that of an exhausted sigh, Mark sat up, almost flinching when the groaning sounded throughout the closed room.

The echo hit the white walls horribly, making the high pitched squeak ring through each nook and cranny that the old fashioned institute's room had.

Kicking his legs over the side of the bed, the ravenette ruffled his hair absentmindedly, wondering where Donghyuck was.

The younger had always come to wake him up, or at least would be there when he woke up, but not today.

His chest rose and fell as he examined his reflection in the mirror that stood near the bed.

He could feel the frown of discontent set onto his face when he could pick holes in each part of his body that he had once been proud of.

Nothing was enough for him though, not even when his group of friends encouraged his recovery. He would never call it that. It made him feel like he was sick in the first place, and Mark knew that he was far from sick.

No convincing from his family, friends and nurses could change his mind.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock in the door, and in walked Renjun.

"Hey Jun..What's up?" He quietly asked, voice hoarse from sleep.

"I need to talk to you about something serious," the younger muttered, eyes almost manic if Mark didn't know better. "I'm a fucking idiot!"

Mark flinched at the loud words, ears sensitive from being hardly awake. His lack of awareness was being made up by other senses.

"I think I like him Mark," the brunette continued, hastily pacing around the room, not even acknowledging the fact that Mark hadn't accepted the rant ticket.

"Who? Jeno?" The ravenette asked slowly, standing to his feet and dragging himself to make the bed he had just gotten off. "'Cause that much was obvious Renjun," he continued, boredom lacing his words unintentionally.

He was always giving advice to his friends, yet they were never willing to give him advice when he needed it - except Hyuck.

Mark felt unable to open up the younger, having always hidden emotions from him.

"Of course it's Jeno!" He hissed, his anger levels peaking when his oblivious senior was all but asleep. "But he's been hoeing around with Jaemin!"

Mark accidentally released a snicker, finding his choice of words quite questionable.

"And you would prefer him to 'hoe around' with you," he pushed, wanting to get the older to admit it to not only himself but to Jeno too.

A full year of watching disgusting flirting, and it was the least they could give him.

He had had the exact talk with Jaemin, who had grown jealous of Renjun's closeness to the older.

What Mark saw as the problem was not the rivalling boy's, but the painfully oblivious centre pice who had unknowingly wrapped two boys around his pinky.

In any orher situation, Mark would call this relationship 'cute'. But the fact that the three were unstable in one way or another led Mark to believe that them grouping together wouldn't be the smartest idea.

He himself wanted someone who could take care of him. Not another person that he had to care for.

Though he knew he was lying to himself, 'cause he had fallen too far....for his best friend.

Chenle, on the other hand, stormed through the buzzing hallways. His face showed the determination that lay within as he searched for the youngest's room.

He hadn't seen Jisung since he was punished, and he was extremely worried for the pinkette, even if his lies were becoming tedious and quite aggravating.

Upon finding the room, labelled like the rest with the rusted gold number, Chenle skipped the mannerly knocking, and barged through the door sassily.

"Park Jisung. Don't ever scare me like that again!" He yelled, voice pitching above what would be deemed normal for a teenage boy his age.

He had yelled before looking, quickly regretting that decision when he saw the distraught and dishevelled boy in front of him.

His pink hair was strewn messily across his forehead, clearly pulled. A hand shaped bruise was blooming on his cheek as the rare sight of tears streaming down his cheeks irked the older.

"What the fuck did they do to you?" Chenle angrily huffed, voice lower than before with pure rage.

After receiving nothing but a choked sob from the boy who had curled in on himself, Chenle couldn't help but let his eyes droop with the pain he was sure Jisung was feeling.

"They..." Chenle shook his head at the vague words that Jisung let out, his imagination running wild with the ideas of what they would do to his best friend. "They- I can't Lele. Can you just hold me?"

Without another thought, the older of the two sat on the bed, the dip reassuring Jisung as he knew that Chenle hadn't left him. He wasn't like his parents.

Chenle encased the younger in a warm embrace, letting his soft breaths fan the back of Jisung's neck comfortingly.

"Thank you Chenle," he mumbled, looking up to notice the confused look on the other's face. "Thank you for being here."