𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 l ♡ mark lee

42.

all i could think about was mark's limp body on the bed as haechan, jeno and jaemin drove me home. the image of his peaceful but heavily injured body was ingrained into my mind. my eyes gazed out the window and my head leaned against the glass.

something dawned on me and i was momentarily taken out of my sullen mood.

i lifted my head from the backseat of the car. my small voice filled the silence the car held. "who did it? who hurt mark?" a tremble graced my voice, yet there was a glimmer of sternness in my tone.

jeno, who was driving, peered at me from the car mirror. he blinked rapidly and exchanged looks with jaemin who was beside him in the passengers seat.

jaemin swallowed hard, the nervous look that rose on his face was unmistakable.

"someone bad, someone worse than us. he's someone you should never have the displeasure of meeting." haechan interjects roughly from the backseat next to me. he spat out the words like they were bitter in his mouths.

i turned to him with a perplexed look. someone could get the lee haechan who sported a cool aura 24/7, so worked up and bothered?

"and why was mark near someone that even you look down on?" i pestered, slight anger hanging from my tone. my protective front peeking beneath my sorrow.

i shouldn't be angry at him, we were all mentally exhausted. but the emotions were raking through my body in waves.

we both had something to lose if mark never wakes up. he meant something to all of us. to me, he was everything.

"it was the wrong place and wrong time. i only realized how much we screwed up when mark was sprawled out on floor and the guy was running away with blood dripping from the knife in his grip." jaemin admitted with an edge to his voice as he spoke about the man who attacked mark.

"we messed with the wrong people and the wrong person took the hit. mark never provoked anyone he didn't have to. it was us, we kept fucking with the dude and eventually he took it out on mark because he's our friend." jeno rushed out, his voice constricting towards the end.

i saw how his grip on the steering wheel got tighter.

"he didn't deserve it." jeno croaked out.

haechan shifted and i side-glanced out of the corner of my eye. he balled his fists and held his head up, like he was trying to keep his tears from escaping his eye.

"he protected us so well. we took his strength for granted." haechan rasped out, looking the other way.

he wasn't like this when we first saw mark. it was like the gravity of the situation hit him just now. the numbness wore off.

"i use to think he was a superhero, the way he got back up to fight after a hard hit. it was admirable. he didn't complain about the wounds he endured and that made me think he was built for bigger battles." jaemin chuckled bitterly, like he was mad at himself for misinterpreting mark.

"he endured it better but his injuries didn't heal any faster than ours." haechan gritted out, his eyebrows pulling into a pained look.

"it's not your fault." i quipped lowly.

"who's fault is it then?" haechan snapped suddenly but then softened his gaze when he realized he lashed out.

i didn't answer him.

there they were, blaming themselves. and here i was blaming myself. guilt was eating away at everyone here. the emotions that filled the silence assured me of one thing.

everyone in this car would do anything for mark to wake up.

i'll be the first to admit it, his friends aren't all that bad.

i left their car with a simple goodbye. dragging myself up to room was harder than i thought.

"shit." i cursed under my breath when i realized  something.

i left my phone in marks hospital room.

___

♡

[a/n: the plot might seem messy or weird but pls trust the process.]