╸𝔗𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔯𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔰 ╸

╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸

ℜ𝔢𝔫𝔧𝔲𝔫'𝔰 𝔭𝔬𝔳

╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸╸

Before I could say anything else, I remembered that Mark still doesn't know what's going on.

If he comes down looking for me, that could cause more trouble. Before anything else, I have to keep him safe. And to add on to my problems, Jaemin and Jeno might attack him if something feels off to them.

I've got to make sure that they don't come downstairs either before they attack Donghyuck.

"...Listen to me Hyuck. I'm going to help you, but I have to make sure that none of the others come down here first. Can you hold on just a little longer until I come back?"

It took him a few seconds to respond, but he nodded.

"Thank you Hyuck. I'm gonna close and lock the door back for you, just to be safe"

I slowly did so, and then slowly made my way upstairs.

I checked on Jeno and Jaemin first, and thankfully they were still asleep. I quietly closed their door back, and scurried back to Mark to inform him of what's going on.

"Something happened with Donghyuck didn't it..?"

"Unfortunately yes.. I wanted to come let you know first so you wouldn't come down and get hurt"

"Smart move. I'll stay here while you help hi-"

Out of nowhere, we both heard a loud bang suddenly come from downstairs.

I looked down the hall, and the door to Jeno's and Jaemin's room was open! But I already checked on them, and they were asleep!

They must've been faking!

"This is bad. They're gonna kill Donghyuck if we don't do something"

I didn't stop him from coming along, and we both ran down the hall to witness drama unfolding before we even made it downstairs.

The bathroom door had actually been ripped from its hinges and discarded to the side of the room, which was the source of the bang we heard.

Donghyuck was no longer in the bathroom and had been thrown into the couch, causing it to move out of place. And Jeno and Jaemin were both approaching him and ready to kill him, both of their eyes glowing with rage.

But instead of looking like he wanted to kill them too, Donghyuck only looked terrified, but not only of them. He also looked like he was afraid of losing control of himself.

He was even trying to back away from them as he continued to tremble, but neither of them seem to realize this. And the terror in his eyes...reminds me of my own fear from that night...

"Jeno. Jaemin. Both of you cut it out and back off, now"

I ordered them as Mark and I walked down the stairs.

"What?!"

"Are you not seeing what we're seeing?! He's going to try and kill you just like the last one!"

They both yelled.

"I understand that you two only want to protect me and Mark-hyung, but both of you are missing the picture. Calm down for a second and really look at Donghyuck. He's more scared of you than you are of him. If he wanted to hurt any of us, he would've finished me off first when I came down to check on him. Don't treat him like a monster just because he's zompire. In the end, his life has been rearranged just like yours and there was nothing he could do about it"

I calmly scolded them.

Despite realizing that I was right, they seemed more confused by the misunderstanding rather than surprised.

I ventured to the kitchen to get a small raw steak from the fridge and quickly brought it over to Donghyuck.

"Hyuck, you're hungry right?"

I calmly asked, holding the meat in front of him.

It took a few seconds for him to respond but he nodded, even though he was fighting the urge to take it.

"It's alright. Start by sucking some of the blood out of the meat, and then chew it slowly. There's no rush so you can take your time and get used to it"

He slowly followed my instructions, and his eyes seemingly lit up once he started drinking the blood from the meat.

But while he was eating it, he looked back up into my eyes, and tears started rolling down his face.

After seeing that, Jeno and Jaemin pushed the couch back into place, and carefully helped him sit down on it.

"Ah jeez, we really messed up... We're really sorry..."

"Yeah.. We didn't know that he really didn't have any bad intentions..."

They both apologized, staring down at the floor.

"Don't worry about it guys. Nobody is at fault here"

Mark gently wiped away Donghyuck's tears with tissues, while I continued to help him finish the steak.

-

45 Minutes Later

-

After Donghyuck finally finished the small steak, we all kept him company until he suddenly stopped responding to us and his eye stopped glowing.

"Is he alright??"

I tried waving my hands and snapping my fingers in front of him, but he still did nothing.

His eyes are still cracked open a little bit, but he's just not responding.

"Well, he's a bit different since he's a vampire and zombie mix. Zombies aren't exactly capable of sleeping like the rest of us, so instead they enter a sort of dormant state. So by him being a zompire, he can sleep normally like the rest of us during the day, but at night he'll just enter this dormant state"

Jeno explained.

"Zombies will usually enter a dormant state like this when there's no food around and they're waiting for their next victim. But in Donghyuck's case, since he's obviously not like other zompires, he's in this state most likely because he feels comfortable and safe, or even a bit tired"

Jaemin added.

"I see..."

After hearing that, I gently laid him down after Mark repositioned his pillow, and then covered him with his blanket.

But after we tucked him in, none of us wanted to leave him alone after what happened.

It took some thought, but we all decided to sleep with him. Jaemin rested himself on the ceiling, Jeno curled up in one of the smaller couches, and Mark rested on the opposite side of the couch with me laying on top of him.

I just hope that we'll be able to help Donghyuck more in the future. He's been through enough already..