Suffering Souls ¦ Markhyuck

Part Two

The grey drape that hung in front of the window billowed as a breeze passed through the room. The bed remained occupied by the boy, unwilling to haul his body from the slight comfort of which the bed provided him.

Weakness consumed him as he stared up at the ceiling, the dancing shadows cast by the curtains. The small amount of light that seeped into the room being the only thing indicating the arrival of dawn.

He shuffled in the sheets as he turned to his side, averting his eyes from the flickering light, his tousled hair sticking to the sweat that coxed his forehead. All he wanted was for the dark to return to consume him, allow him to hide in the shadows and let his thoughts and fears devour his mind.

He winced as the door flew open, allowing more brightness to flood into the room, blinding him momentarily.

"Hyuck, seriously, get out of bed. It is almost lunch and yet here you are, still in bed. Come on, get moving please" his mother spoke as she placed a basket of clean laundry at the end of the bed.

"Mom, please just leave me alone" Hyuck requested, stuffing his face into his pillow in an attempt to hide his eyes from the increase of light entering the room.

"Not today, the Maynard's are coming over for dinner and I need your help with some chores before they arrive. Maybe you should think before drinking as much alcohol as you did last night, I could smell it on you. Now go have a shower and come join us for lunch please" the woman requested, pausing at the door when she noticed that the boy hadn't even flinched.

"Hyuck, now please," She asked again, waiting for some sort of reaction from the teen.

"No, Mom. And for your information, I only had two beers, some dude spilt his drinks on me. I don't feel like getting out of bed and it's not because I'm hungover. Just get out and leave me alone" Hyuck retorted, his voice raising more than he had intended. He looked his mother dead in the eye, his own red-rimmed and glossy. His face was pale and appeared more scrawny than on a good day.

The woman at the door nodded with a small smile, "Get some rest, maybe you will feel well enough to join us for dinner" she said, turning as she closed the door on her way out.

Hyuck let out a deep sigh as he slumped back into his mattress, the softness of the sheets and pillows hugging him tightly as he pulled them closer to himself. His body ached as though he had run a marathon, yet his breathing remained somewhat calm. He felt tired yet he had just had one of his longest nights sleep in well over a month. His tongue was bitter and dry yet no appetite had built.

He lay there, motionless as the thoughts swallowed him, as if a wave of darkness had washed over him. His eyes looked blankly towards the ceiling. There was no way of him knowing how long had passed before there was a knock at the door.

"Mom, I said leave me alone!" Hyuck shouted, his voice coming out feeble and dry.

"It's me, can I come in?" A voice asked from the other side of the wooden panel.

"Sure" Hyuck sighed, only just loud enough for the other who stood outside to hear. A few seconds later there was a small squeak as the door gradually opened, revealing a young boy who shuffled into the room before closing the door again. He then walked over to sit in the bed next to where Hyuck already laid.

"My Mom called, didn't she?" Hyuck mumbled as he turned his head on the pillow to face the other who was resting on the pillow next to his.

The other boy was slightly younger than Hyuck but that was not physically apparent. He had pastel blue hair but the dark brown roots were slightly visible. His face was soft and his gaze gentle. His eyes flickered from side to side as he scanned his friends face, noticing the signs of fatigue on the older.