Acrophobia: extreme or irrational fear of heights
"come on mark! It's just one ride, just do it just this once! Please?" hyuck tugged on mark's arm much like a toddler as he begged mark to ride the rollercoaster with him. Mark had a serious expression on his face as he planted his feet firmly on the ground.
"no hyuck. I'm not riding the roller coaster." Mark said sternly.
Hyuck whined loudly continue to jostle mark's arm.
"marrrrkkkkkk come on please! You have to have two riders and I don't wanna sit with a stranger!!" he whined loudly causing the other amusement park goers to give them a weird look.
"oh my god hyuck, you're acting like a child! You are an adult stop whining." Mark scolded crossing his arms.
Hyuck gave mark puppy dog eyes and stuck out his bottom lip in a pout.
"mark, you're my best friend in the whole world. Won't you just ride one roller coaster... for me?" hyuck spoke in a soft cute voice which he knew was always a weakness for mark.
Mark closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He sighed loudly before he looked at hyuck.
"okay fine. ONE ride and that's it." Mark gave up, he knew that he was no match for hyuck.
Hyuck jumped in excitement giving mark a tight side hug and pressing his cheek against mark's.
"thank you! Thank you!" he squealed.
"okay, get off me," mark said as he gently removed hyuck from his shoulder.
Hyuck grabbed mark's wrist and pulled him through the amusement park until they reached the line.
Mark's eyes widened as he scanned the tall coaster. It was the tallest one in the whole park.
Mark swallowed hard his palms becoming instantly sweaty.
"this is gonna be so much fun!! I'm so excited!" hyuck giggled as he bounced on the balls of his feet as the line gradually became shorter.
Mark felt his heart beat faster as they approached the cart. His breathing quickening slightly. The platform they were on was already too high for mark's comfort level and he couldn't even imagine being as high as the track.
"hey. Hyuck... on second thought I don't think I'm gonna ride this." Mark stuttered nervously as he clutched donghyuck's sleeve.
Donghyuck rolled his eyes and wrapped his arm tightly around mark's shoulders.
"oh, come on mark! Don't be such a wuss. It's fun I promise!! Plus, we're already next, it's too late to back out now." Donghyuck teased as he walked them to the cart.
They sat down and mark was panicking. His hands were shaking, he was sweating, and his heartbeat was rapid.
Hyuck smiled excitedly as the employee lowered the safety bar over their laps.
Mark squeezed hyuck's arm in panic.
"hyuck... please, I don't think I can do this." He choked.
Hyuck took mark's hand and held it in his.
"mark you'll be fine. It'll be over in a second. Just relax okay!" hyuck gave mark a reassuring smile and the cart began to move.
As they were ascending mark was absolutely terrified. He refused to look down, his whole body in panic mode. As they reached the top of the hill, mark was really wishing he had told hyuck about his acrophobia. The cart stopped for a second at the top so the riders could look out over the entire park.
Mark peeled one eye open and lost all color in his face. He felt kinda sick, his head dizzy his body trembling.
The cart slowly edged off the top and before he knew it, they were rapidly speeding down the track, it being an almost straight down fall.
Mark didn't feel right. He dug his nails into hyuck's hand as his light headedness took over.
He blinked a few times seeing black dots cloud his vision. Before he could alert hyuck, he passed out, his head hitting hyuck's shoulder hard as his entire bod went limp.
Hyuck felt him hit his shoulder but hadn't realized he was unconscious yet.
The ride had slowed as the cart pulled back to the platform. Hyuck laughed loudly as he squeezed mark's hand, only now realizing how limp mark's body was.
He quickly turned his head to look at mark seeing his white face and closed eyes, his body motionless against him.
"mark?" he said abruptly shaking his shoulder.
Mark didn't move.
Hyuck grew worried. He began shaking mark harder.
"mark! Hey, wake up, can you hear me?" hyuck gently tapped mark's cheeks.
"sir is there a problem?" the ride employee ran over to check on the situation.
"my friend passed out can you help me lift him?" hyuck said as he stood up.
"of course." He said as he stepped on the other side of donghyuck. They picked mark up by the armpits and carried him to the platform laying him down carefully.
The man brought a bottle of water and a cloth. He placed the cloth onto mark's forehead after soaking it with some water.
Hyuck began fanning him as he cradled his head in his lap.
After a few minutes mark peeled his eyes open still feeling dizzy. It was bright and he didn't know where he was.
"mark?! Hey, can you hear me?" hyuck said frantically as mark began to sit up.
"hey, easy. Take it slow. Here drink some water." Hyuck said as he tilted the bottle into mark's mouth. When mark came to, he still felt terrified, his body was full of anxiety and crippling fear.
He clutched at hyuck's hands as his eyes filled with water. He looked at his surroundings seeing the high distance the platform was off the ground. His breath hitched and he squeezed his eyes shut tight, his panic starting all over again.
"mark? Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" hyuck asked quickly.
"it's... it's too high hyuck..." mark choked out in a breathy sentence.
"okay, okay let's go back to ground level then. It'll be okay, I've got you just hang on."
Hyuck stood mark up slowly and walked him down the ramp and back to the ground. He rushed mark to a nearby bench and sat them both down, his hands still firmly holding mark.
Mark had tears streaming down his still very pale cheeks and hyuck felt terrible.
"hey, mark don't cry it's okay, we're back on the ground. I'm right here, you're safe hyung." Haechan cooed to him softly as he wiped mark's cheeks with his thumb.
Mark was still shaking which worried hyuck.
"mark, why didn't you tell me you were afraid of heights?" hyuck said softly.
"i... I thought you'd make f... fun of me." mark stuttered ashamed as he avoided hyuck's eyes.
Huck felt terrible.
"mark, why would I make fun of you? You should have told me. I wouldn't have made you ride the roller coaster if I had known. I'm so sorry I forced you hyung." Hyuck said before he grabbed mark and hugged him tight.
"it's okay hyuck... I didn't tell you. I'm sorry I ruined the day." Mark said sadly.
"hey, you didn't ruin anything. You scared the hell out of me though. Promise me you'll tell me when something's wrong, don't let me force you to do stuff again okay?" hyuck stroked the back of mark's head.
"okay hyuck, I promise."
They stayed in the hug for a few minutes before breaking apart.
"are you okay? Do you need anything?" hyuck said examining mark's face which was gradually gaining back its color.
"I'm okay hyuck." Mark reassured.
"okay, let's head home yeah?" hyuck said as he stood up holding mark securely.
Mark nodded as they walked out of the park.