the sound of mark's feet hitting the ground and the sound of his panting echoed through the hollow alleyway. he paused, hands on his knees as he leaned over to catch his breath. "fuck," he cursed, kicking a stray can on the ground.

   he had been running for only about five minutes, but he was getting extremely anxious. there was still no sign of donghyuck anywhere. a cold wind blew and pricked at his skin, reminding him that somewhere out there, donghyuck was alone. with one hand clenching the jacket that he brought from the dorms, he took a deep breath and took off. his feet ran without a clear direction. all he knew was that he needed to run to him.

   it had been another five minutes of running and mark had stopped again, leaning against the brick wall as he did so. his chest heaved up and down while his lungs did their best to expand as much as they could to allow more air in to breathe. 

   he wondered why he hadn't just left the dorm when donghyuck did. although the younger made it clear that he wanted to go alone, it would've been easy to get up and run after him. his safety was the most important thing in that situation and if anything happened to donghyuck, he wasn't willing to forgive himself easily for forgetting that.

   just as mark prepared to run again, he paused. he could've sworn he had just heard the sound of someone's muffled voice on the other side of the wall. instantly assuming that it was donghyuck, his heart rate picked up again, pounding in his chest. 

   moving as stealthily as possible, mark crept around the wall and ducked behind a trash can. his eyes widened as he took in the sight before him.

   donghyuck was pushed up against a wall as a random guy had a hand over his mouth and his other hand trying to undue  the button of donghyuck's jeans. the brunette's hands were tied behind his back, pushed roughly against the wall.

   mark was completely pissed off and enraged. if the fact that the stranger had enough nerve to abduct donghyuck when he was alone wasn't enough, he was shamelessly sexually assaulting him. mark's nails dug into the palms of his hands. all he saw was red.

   knowing that moving irrationally wouldn't be good for either of them, mark kept his focus in check. it was clear as day that he didn't have much time, but donghyuck fighting with all his will against the random person was buying him enough time to come up with a plan.

   he took notice in the empty alcohol bottle lying on the ground a few meters away. if he used it to hit the person on the head, he had a high chance of saving donghyuck faster. keeping in mind that any sudden sound could get their attention, mark crept over to the glass bottle, picking it up and holding it tightly in his hand.

   when it was secure in his hold, he walked past the wall where he had been hiding and approached the man with his hands on donghyuck. donghyuck met eyes with him and as his eyes widened, mark slammed the glass bottle against the stranger's head.

   the man staggered, tripping over his own feet as he clutched his head. mark was quick to run to donghyuck's side as the young male had fallen to his knees weakly. the older untied him and just as he was about to help donghyuck up, he felt someone grip onto his shoulder. he spun around right as the man's fist flew to his face. the pain shot through his jaw up to his cheek. mark coughed up blood, the wind was knocked out of him. he didn't know the last time someone hit him like that.

   "you fucking bastard," mark glared, standing up and grabbing the man's collar. he pushed him against the wall roughly, swinging with his fist to give the guy a matching bruise. the sasaeng spat in his face, mumbling incoherent curses. "don't ever touch him again," he warned. the ravenette didn't wait any longer before he punched the man straight in the nose, the sound of something cracking being heard throughout the alley.

   donghyuck was crying and pulling at mark's shirt for him to back off— and that's when reality hit. 

   mark released the man and he fell to the ground in a lump. "shit, shit, shit," mark pulled at his hair with his bloody hands. he turned around to look at donghyuck who had tears streaming down his face. immediately, he ran over, pulling donghyuck into his arms. "are you okay? are you hurt?" he looked at donghyuck's wrists that were pink where the guy had tied him. 

   "hyung," donghyuck cried, burying his face into mark's chest. even though donghyuck mostly used honorifics with mark, this time it felt different. it showed donghyuck's vulnerability and how much he needed the older. "shhh, i'm right here," mark said calmly although his heart was beating in his chest at one million beats per hour.

   once donghyuck had calmed down a bit, mark helped him locate his phone, and they called the police. mark kept a close eye on the stranger who had abducted donghyuck, making sure that he didn't try to run away or hurt the younger anymore. he was absolutely disgusted with the guy and wanted him out of his sights as soon as possible.

   "is that all?" the officer asked. "yes, that's all. thank you for your help," mark nodded, still holding donghyuck tightly at his side. "what do you think will happen?" donghyuck asked after the police man walked off. 

   mark shrugged, rubbing donghyuck's shoulder up and down. "hopefully that jerk will get what he deserves," he said. the younger nodded and finally felt like he could breath. "how are you feeling?" mark turned towards the brunette. donghyuck paused, eyes staring off into space as he relived the moment, "i don't know. i feel like i still need time to process all of it."

   the soft tone in his voice disappeared in a matter of seconds as his face turned to a grave expression. "hyung, what are you going to do?" he looked at mark in worry. mark chuckled lightly and ruffled donghyuck's hair, "don't worry about it. i'll take care of it myself." donghyuck pulled his hand from off of his head and frowned at him. "this is more serious than that. what if news breaks out that you beat up a sasaeng for harassing me?"

   honestly speaking. mark hadn't thought that far when his actions overpowered his worries during the heat of the moment. even if he had a chance to go back in time and redo things, he would still beat the bastard up for touching something that didn't belong to him.

   "i'll deal with it and talk it over with my managers. now," he pulled donghyuck towards one of the cars, "i want you to stop thinking about this so you can get rest." despite being against the idea, donghyuck had nothing better in mind so he agreed. together, they climbed into the car. their argument from before was long forgotten as donghyuck slowly fell asleep, head resting on mark's shoulder.

---

   donghyuck woke up in the middle of the night. he was drenched from head to toe with sweat and he felt as if he couldn't breathe. air failed to reach is lungs as he clawed at his throat, willing it to give him air to breathe. he whimperd while his left hand gripped the sheets under him, his other hand still holding onto his neck tightly.

   "mark," he managered to gasped out before his vision turned black. he was still completely concious, but he was too light headed to see anything. 

   in a matter of seconds, the covers were ripped off of him, releasing some of the heat that had been trapping him. he was losing his senses of hearing, but he could still feel the warm hands prying his own hand off of his neck. not able to reach his neck, his vacant hand gripped at the sheets just as his left hand was doing. 

   it took a few moments to realize that someone was trying to shake him concious. he wanted to do or say something. yet, all he could do was hold on tightly to his bedsheets, hoping that whatever was happening would end soon. before he noticed it, cold water was being poured down his throat. unable to swallow the water properly, he coughed and sputtered, eyes fluttering open and chest heaving up and down.

   "hyuck," mark breathed out, hugging donghyuck tightly to his chest. color flooded the said male's vision, he was finally able to see normally again. objects had shape and figure, everything seemed to come alive.

   donghyuck sat up slowly, leaning against the headboard of his bed. a tear trickled down his face as he cried for the second time within a few hours. no words were uttered as mark slipped into the bed with donghyuck as the younger laid his head on mark's chest and shivered every now and then.

   "i'm scared," he finally said, moving closer to mark as if he would try to run away. "i know," mark stroked his hair, chest tightening at how broken donghyuck sounded. "but you don't have to be scared anymore. i'm here for you," he pecked donghyuck's forehead which made both of them blush.

   although they had kissed and touched eachother in much more intimate ways from their past sexual intercourses, they never kissed outside of pleasure. having mark openly kiss him on the head was a big upgrade from where their relationship had been before. "just-," the shorter paused, slightly embarrassed to continue. "please just don't leave me," he forced out, voice more quiet and timid than ever.

   mark smiled at his cuteness and pulled the covers over them. "i won't, i promise i'll always be by your side when you need me."

-----

word count: 1680

i sincerely apologoze for this shitty chapter. this writing was literally trash but i wanted to update.

i'll try to make the next chapter longer and better, but i'm staring to have a lot of writer's block. i don't know where this book should go, how long it should go, and how it should end. consider this a filler chapter i guess.

✎ ---- dreaminghyuck⤾