☾unavngivet - ☼

After joking around and talking with each other for a few hours, the six boys came to the topic of the boy Mark had brought with him. The older told them everything that had happened the past week, making sure to get as many details filled in as possible.

A silence fell when Mark finished off the explanation. Jeno's face was neutral while Renjun, Jaemin, and Jisung looked puzzled. Chenle, however, looked very excited, bouncing up and down slightly, his mouth agape.

"Where is he now?" Jaemin asked, breaking the silence.

"In a bedroom upstairs," Mark said. "He fainted as we were about to leave my house."

Renjun opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, slumping down into the couch he and Chenle sat on. "Do you think he has superpowers? Or maybe the ability to read minds or see people's memories?!" Chenle suggested energetically.

"No..."

A faint, shrill voice said from somewhere behind the couch. They all turned towards the voice where they saw Haechan standing at the end of the stairs. The tanned boy walked over to them.

"Haechan, you're awake," Mark muffled.

"I've had visions of a lot of things that's happened to Mark lately but it's not Mark's memories I remember," he said. "It's my own."

Mark furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean. You said you saw me breaking my arm when I was younger. That's my memo-"

"No," Haechan cut him off. "I see the things happening out of my own eyes like I'm witnessing it all," he looked at Mark and teared up. "I don't want you to hate me but while I was unconscious I-" he stopped and sniffled.

"I remembered everything."

"Everything that has ever happened in your life, Mark, and I saw it out of my own eyes like I was a witness to every single second of it."

☾ ☼

Everyone had gone to bed. It was just Mark and Jaemin left at this point.

Jaemin served Mark some leftovers of the soup they had eaten for dinner a few hours before. He walked up behind the counter and took a seat next to the blank raven-haired on one of the barstools.

They sat I silence for some time, Mark staring out into nothing.

"He hates me, Jaemin."

"Who hates you?" Jaemin asked and looked at Mark with worry.

"Haechan."

Jaemin sighed. "I don't think he hates you."

"Didn't you see the way he looked at me?" Mark stared at the latter.

"I think he thinks you hate him," the younger said.

"But I don't hate him, Jaemin," Mark whined as he took a spoonful of the soup. "I can never hate him. He can't think that I hate him because I'll never hat-"

"Stop rambling," Jaemin interrupted and snatched the spoon out of Mark's hand. "I think you need some sleep," he said before leaving the kitchen muttering goodnight before, causing Mark to sigh.

He turned off the lights in the kitchen, not bothering to clean up the uneaten soup on the counter, and then he left for his room.

To be honest, Mark didn't feel tired at all when he walked into the guest room he had to sleep in. There were six bedrooms in total and Mark always got the one he was in now. He turned and twisted but couldn't find a comfortable position to fall asleep in, and although he closed his eyes shut, he just couldn't sleep. There wasn't a particular reason, not that he could think of.

He turned for the last time in annoyance, front towards the doorway where a black silhouette stood, scaring Mark.

"It's just me," Haechan's soft voice whispered when he saw the scared look on Mark's face.

"Haechan?" Mark sat up. "What are you doing here?"

The younger took a few steps into the room so Mark could make out his features. "I can't sleep."

"Me neither," Mark sighed. A silence fell and they stared at each other through the rays of moonlight. Mark started fiddling with his fingers. He didn't know why he suddenly became so nervous.

"Can I sleep with you?" Haechan asked after some time. He sounded hesitant which made Mark feel bad.

"Of course," the older answered and moved to the side of the bed so Haechan could lay next to him. The younger waddled over and went under the covers, accidentally brushing his hand on Mark's abdomen causing both to move away from each other a little. The atmosphere was a mix of confusion, sadness, and awkwardness, as the two laid in front of each other, just staring.

"Do you hate me, Mark?"

"No."

He could never.

"Then why did you act like I had done something bad?" Haechan's voice was soft yet raspy like someone was squeezing his throat from the inside.

"I was nervous," Mark told him because that was the truth.

It caused Haechan to smile slightly. "Nervous," he repeated cutely.

Mark couldn't help but smile back. Maybe it was the calmness of the moment that made him feel so tired all of a sudden, or maybe it was the closeness of the younger boy. "Why couldn't you sleep?" he asked in a yawn.

Haechan scrunched his nose a little, a pout appearing on his face. "I was worried about you," he said.

"Why?" Mark asked dumbfounded.

"I don't know," the younger sighed. "I just feel like I need to protect and be with you all the time."

Mark laughed. "I should be the one to protect you, though. You're so cute and tiny," he blurted out without much thought.

The comment only made Haechan smile even wider and he jerked closer to Mark. "Goodnight," he sang and snaked his arms around Mark's waist. The older blushed and looked at Haechan with wide eyes. He still pulled the latter closer to him despite how flustered he was.

"Your heart is beating really fast, Mark. Are you okay?"

"I-It's nothing."

☾ ☼