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No one believed how awful his heats were. The scorching fire that would never cease engulfed time and time again. Everyone thought he was full of it. They just told him to take his sepressents and keep pushing his body. He wasn’t allowed to take a break. Perfection was what he was constantly told to strive towards.
“Haechan! What are you doing!? That is the fifth time you have messed up that move. What is wrong with you today?” The choreographer halted the practice immediately.
Donghyuck shrunk under the scrutiny of his teacher and peers. He knew the other members were glaring at him. Pissed that they hadn’t finished practice yet. They were all antsy to get out of the room and enjoy themselves.
“S-sorry. I’ll try harder next time.” Donghyuck spoke in a soft whisper, so only the choreographer could hear.
“Next time!? Why haven’t you been giving it your all now? You think you can survive this industry with an attitude like that. Think not. You will just become another failure.”
Donghyuck felt tears well up in his head. He tried hard to repress his sobs. All he could do was keep his head down. To show submission in an attempt to appease his angry teacher.
“Since you want to try harder, how about you practice the part until you have perfected it. I don’t care how long it takes you. A couple of hours or all night. I expect to see no mistakes tomorrow. The others may go. They have clearly proven that they are willing to put in the work and it shows.” The choreographer said with an authoritative tone.
Cheers could be heard from the others. They quickly packed up, so that they could enjoy the rest of their day. No one even thought to check on the maknae. They failed to even bat an eye in his direction. Even Mark left without saying goodbye to his best friend. Jungwoo and Yuma had stolen his attention with plans to go out to eat.
Donghyuck’s stomach growled with hunger and his limbs felt like paper weights. His suppressed heat had taken any remaining strength out of him. He felt the familiar burning sensation in his gut once again. His heat was back already? Donghyuck went to check his bag for his pills. The bottle was kept safe in a secret inside pocket. He popped four more pills into his mouth. It should be enough to get him through the rest of the night. He paused. How many pills had he taken already today? Ten? Twelve? He couldn’t keep track nor did he honestly care what the consequences were. THe stupid things never seemed to work properly anyways.
Donghyuck returned to his position in the center of the dance room. He was about to begin. However, what made him pause was what stared back at him. His reflection looked horrible. His cheeks were sunken in. They had no trace of their adorable usual baby fat that the hyungs loved to pinch. His body was so skinny it resembled that of a skeleton. His beautiful tan skin was now pale and ghost like. The dark rings under his eyes illustrated his long nights with no sleep.
He sighed. He was hideous. No one could or rather would love something as disgusting as this. It didn’t matter if anyone loved him. Why should he care? He had himself. No matter how much he loved the members, they would never return those feelings. Even Mark had told him he didn’t even like him most of the time. Mark just tolerated his presence so as to not cause tension within the group. It broke his heart when his best friend rejected him so quickly and took to just avoiding him altogether. He was completely and utterly alone. Quite frankly no one really cared whether he was alive or not. So what did it matter if he stopped taking care of himself. Eating hardly a meal a day. Sleeping one to two hours every night. All while pushing himself beyond his limits all so that he can fulfill his dream to sing. To let his voice be heard. Was it truly worth it in the end?
Donghyuck spent hours practicing the same move over and over. He was beyond frustrated in the beginning, but those feelings soon turned to hopeless. He couldn’t get it right no matter how hard he tried. His body screamed at him to stop. He could barely lift his arm into the air. His legs were close to collapsing. It was one wrong that everything went wrong. Donghyuck slipped and collided harshly onto the wooden floor. His body had been too weak to try and cushion his fall. His head hit the floor first. Blood started pooling all over the floor. Donghyuck felt his body get even weaker. All of limbs failed to respond when he tried to get back up. Then all of a sudden everything went black.
. . . . .
Donghyuck’s mind felt hazy. It felt like he was dreaming, but couldn’t wake up. All he could hear was a hushed voice. He couldn’t make out the words, but the tone alone sounded so sad. Who were they? Why did they sound so heartbroken?
. . . . .
The sight was horrific. Mark rushed in pushing past all of the other members. He was sobbing so hard. He ran to the side of his best friend in a pool of his own blood. What the hell happened? Donghyuck was only supposed to practice for a little longer. The fact that he never came home was what worried everyone. The maknae always came back or at least told them when he was going to the dream dorm. The members were all releasing a distressed scent. It only added to the tension in the room.
Mark pushed everyone away and growled at anyone who tried to get closer. Mark’s alpha was going feral. Whether Mark had realized it or not, his alpha had long since claimed Donghyuck as its omega the second the boy presented. Mark was so dense that he never realized what made him always gravitate towards the younger. He always had a gut feeling to protect the boy from harm. But at this moment in time, he considered himself a complete failure. His love was now lying on the floor completely unconscious, covered in blood. Mark ripped off his shirt to wrap around Donghyuck’s head. He made sure to tie it tight enough as to stop the bleeding, but not too tight as to cause him anymore pain whether he could feel it or not. It did wonders to stop the bleeding. Mark then picked the boy up and cradled his body in his arms. He placed his head on his neck and began to release calming pheromones. His alpha did its best to try and get the omega to respond, but Donghyuck made no attempts to move. It was a bad sign.
The other members completely gave up trying to get any closer to the alpha and omega pair as the warning pheromones Mark was letting off only indicated a deadly fate. No one would touch what was his. Mark buried his head in Donghyuck’s neck. There was still a faint scent of honey. It was the only thing that told Mark he was still hanging on even if only by a thread.
At some point someone had called an ambulance. Most likely Taeyong or Johnny. The paramedics rushed into the room when they got there, only to hesitate at the sight before them. Feral Mark would not let a single person touch a hair on his beautiful mates head. There was a low chance of getting the couple to separate. Luckily, the workers had seen many cases like this and knew how to not provoke the alpha in this scenario because it would only cause harm to all of the parties involved.
“Sir. We need to take your mate to the hospital. Can you come with us?” One of the paramedics spoke up. A male beta.
Mark growled at the strangers. His eyes turned a deeper shade of red. Threats. They wanted to take his Donghyuck away. Hell no. Not over his dead body.
“Sir, your mate is in serious condition. If we do not get him to the hospital, he will die.” He tried to reason. The beta let out calming pheromones as an attempt to calm the tension.
Die? Donghyuck will die? No, his Donghyuck cannot die. His alpha was beginning to see reason. His mate would die if he didn’t take him to the hospital. His alpha panicked at the thought. They could help him, right? They didn’t want to hurt him, right? They could save his precious Donghyuck. Mark’s alpha relinquished it’s control.
“Sir we really need to go now before he loses too much blood.”
Mark looked down at the bleeding boy in his arms before looking back up at the paramedics.
“Y-yes of course. Let’s go.” Mark stood up carefully so as to not disturb the sleeping boy in his arms too much and made a break for it out of the building.
The trip to the hospital was nerve wracking. Only Mark was allowed in the ambulance with Donghyuck. Something about being his mate? Mark’s brain was too frazzled to give it much thought. He held onto Donghyuck's hand. Squeezing it as if to get some kind or response. He didn’t know if he was holding it for Donghyuck’s sake or his own. Donghyuck was still breathing and his heart was still beating, that was all Mark knew. It was the only piece of information that kept him sane.
The other members piled into the vans and followed suit.
Once they got to the hospital, Donghyuck was sent to the ER for immediate surgery. The wound to his head could have done serious damage as well as the blood loss. The omega was in critical condition. The state his body was in before the accident severely hurt his chances at survival. He was malnourished and in heat for god’s sake. Luckily, his body seemed to recognize that and ended his heat earlier as Mark could not smell the addicting pheromones the omega expelled during his heat.
Mark was the worst alpha. The worst possible best friend. He let his best friend suffer. How long had he let this go on? Mark thought back to the last time they had really spent time together just the two of them. Years. It would’ve been years since then. If Mark could recall correctly, the last time he had been with the maknae was the night Donghyuck confessed to him. Mark didn’t know what to do with his feelings then. He was too scared to address them, so he pushed them down. That resulted in him destroying Donghyuck’s heart. While the omega liked to appear strong to others, he was very soft at heart. It was almost too easy to shatter his heart of glass. Many things got to him even if he didn’t show it. Mark would always have to comfort him when he saw hate comments from people. He felt proud that Donghyuck had trusted him enough to go to him in some of his most vulnerable times. Mark had left him to deal with his demons himself.
Mark waited hours and hours to see Donghyuck. He refused to listen to his hyungs when they told him to go back to the dorms to rest. The only thing the members could do was watch from a distance. They felt immense guilt for pushing away their ray of sunshine. It was all of their fault that Donghyuck was in the hospital.
Mark even yelled at the managers when they tried to make him go to dance practice.
“Forget about that omega! You need to focus on what really matters. Now get your ass in the van!” The manager yelled.
Those words triggered something in Mark. His eyes turned red. “Go fuck yourself, you son of bitch!” His tone was venomous.
“Don’t you dare use that tone with me. Do you remember who I am? What I can do? I ruin everything for you. For all of you” He gestured to all of the members who had been taking up a large portion of the waiting room.
“I don’t give a shit about dance practice or anything for that matter, so why don’t you leave before I rip your throat out.” Mark was seething.
“You really think our jobs are more important than our bandmate cause if so you are truly fucking up. We aren’t leaving until Donghyuck has fully recovered. I don’t care how much you threatened us.” Taeyong spoke up after being silent listening to others for so long.
The others agreed and stood their ground. Only adding to the tension and anger radiating off of their supposed manager.
The pheromones between both alphas were reaching a dangerous level. It forced a nearby nurse to call security. They could not afford to have an all out alpha fight in the middle of a hospital.
Security guards rounded the corner only a few minutes later. They quickly stepped in front of Mark to divert the focus of the manager.
“Sir I am gonna have to ask that leave. You are causing a ruckus in the hospital. We really do not want to get the police involved unless we absolutely have to.” The security guard spoke in a calm and reserved manner.
The manager could only bite his tongue. He had enough decency to not fight anymore and more or less leave peacefully but not without throwing Mark a few glares. The tension practically evaporated after that.
“Mark Lee.”
Mark’s attention was stolen by a new face that had just entered the room.
“Yes? That’s me.”
“Ah yes. Hi, I am Doctor Kim. I am looking after patient Lee Donghyuck. You are his mate I presume.”
Mark doesn’t register the last sentence, more worried about Donghyuck health. “Is he alright? Were there any complications?” Mark was frantic.
“No sir. The surgery was a complete success. Your mate is currently in the recovery ward if you would like to see him. I can only allow you to visit him at this time. The others will have to wait.”
Mark looked back at the members. Taeyong and the others nodded at Mark to go ahead and see him. It would be the only way they could get any idea of his condition.
Mark turned towards the doctor. “Please take me to him.”
“Alright then. Follow me.”
The doctor took Mark through a confusing maze of corridors until they reached the door that Mark presumed Donghyuck to be in. The smell of the room made Mark flinch back. It was the scent of antiseptic and bleach that had Mark wanting to gag. The sweet scent of Donghyuck was completely overshadowed by these repulsive scents.
“I shall leave you two alone. If something happens, just press this button and a nurse will come.” The doctor pointed to a small remote next to Donghyuck’s bed. The doctor left swiftly afterwards to give the two some privacy.
Mark still stood near the doorway of the room. All he could do was stare at his sleeping friend (crush?). His head was bandaged. He looked like a shell of what he used to be. The only movement that could be seen was the small intakes and exhales of air. Mark walked over to the bed and bent down onto his knees to be at the same level as Donghyuck. Mark looked down at Donghyuck’s hand. It was covered in scars and now held IVs that acted as his life line. The sight broke Mark. Tears kept streaming down his face. Mark reached down to cradle Donghyuck’s hand in his own.
“I’m so sorry Huckie. I should’ve never left you. This is all my fault.” Mark’s sobs turned into hiccups.
“I’ve loved you for so long. Your beautiful smile brought joy to me everyday. Just seeing you happy made everything worth it. I love your voice. I love your eyes. I love your scent. I can’t get enough of you. I always crave you. Your touch. I miss your hugs and yours kisses. I miss cuddling on the couch during our movie nights. I miss our late night conversations at three in the morning. I miss when you used to take my songbook away from me because I would always get too engrossed into writing music that I would forget to eat and sleep. I love you, Donghyuck. So fucking much it hurts. So please come back to me. I can’t live without you.”
Mark placed a gentle kiss on his hand. Mark sat down on the ground still holding Donghyuck’s hand. He let his head fall back onto the bed and proceeded to close his eyes. He made a silent promise to himself before falling asleep. He would wait however long it took for Donghyuck to wake up and he would do everything in his power to make it up to him.