Chapter 26.

Mark slept beside Ten who had gone quiet once again. Johnny was fast sleep, Yuta had been working on the cuts on his arm and given him tea that made him sleep fast. Ten had been watching the other work, and it seemed as if as soon as Johnny couldn’t be there to talk, Ten didn’t have anything to distract himself from his thoughts anymore. Yuta had left Johnny’s side and sat down beside Ten, and Mark looked at Yuta who slept on the other side of Ten. He’d been very comforting and Mark sensed that Ten had fallen asleep too. Renjun had offered to take the first watch, he’d crawled up in one of the trees where Mark originally had wanted to sleep. Now he slept amongst the others.

The reason why he did that was because Jaehyun slept close to him. Because now that Johnny was under an induced sleep it meant he couldn’t defend the other as well as he wanted to. So Mark needed to be there for him. Haechan slept on Jaehyun’s other side. Kun sat up while sleeping, one hand on his sword.

Renjun was scanning them all and Mark met the other’s eyes. Renjun’s eyes lingered on him for a moment. Then he continued to look at the others. Mark tried to get comfortable, focusing on the breathing of Jaehyun and Ten who lay beside him sleeping peacefully. Jaehyun’s heart beat not as calmly as Ten’s did. Mark turned to face Jaehyun, he reached out and let his fingers spread out upon Jaehyun’s wide chest. He felt the others heartbeats and heard the other’s voice in his head once again. He wasn’t sick yet, but with a heart as weak as that, how long could he keep on?

Mark wished he could give some of his strength to Jaehyun’s heart. His eyes moved up to look at Jaehyun’s face. He was pale, hair brown and a little long. Not as long as Johnny’s that had to be pulled away from his face in a small bun. It fell over Jaehyun’s face and the bridge of his nose, hiding his eyes. Mark pulled his hand back and closed his eyes.

The night was cold.

Mark woke up to a smell that almost tricked him into thinking he was back home. It was the warm hand holding his that made him focus on something other than the scents around him. It grounded him and made him realize what had happened the day before and what he would see when he opened his eyes.

Mark sighed and opened his eyes to see that it was early dawn. The sun was painting the sky a brighter blue, golden and pink. The colors seemed to make Jaehyun’s skin glow. Mark looked down at his hand that was clasped in Jaehyun’s. Mark’s eyes widened and slowly pulled his hand towards himself, pushing himself up. He didn’t want to think about who had held on first. They had been sleeping. Jaehyun probably had a bad dream.
Mark ran a hand through his hair and looked at Ten. The other was awake.

  “Can’t sleep?” Mark whispered and Ten shook his head. Mark wore his jacket and packed his things as quietly as he could. Then he urged Ten to come with him. The other seemed eager to go for a walk.

The two of them went off the bridge and started climbing. Mark’s shoulder was still a little sore from the fight yesterday. Yet it was a relief to just feel the wind in his hair, ripping in his clothes and using his muscles to jump off branches and swing towards the next.

The two of them sat down together on a branch that reached up above most of the crowns and they watched the sunrise.

  “Do you…” Mark started and glanced at Ten who turned his head to look at Mark. “Do you want to talk about it?” Ten blinked and then realized what Mark was talking about. Mark patted Ten’s thigh. “We never really talked about it but… I noticed you with Taeyong and Johnny too.”

Ten gasped. “It was that obvious?”

Mark nodded. “They both really like you.” He said and then stopped himself. Ten held Mark’s hand and the two looked down at their feet.

  “I’ve never experienced someone being so openly attracted to me like Taeyong is- was… something.” Ten grimaced. “I couldn’t help but be curious as well, even if he wasn’t in control of his feelings.” Ten was inspecting the scars and bruises on Mark’s hand. “I should’ve known not to let him get too close. But Johnny… Johnny said something when you were gone. Something that made me stop seeking his company.” Ten ran a hand through his hair. “Man, we’ve never talked about this subject before, it’s weird.”

Mark laughed and nodded. “It’s a bit awkward.” He admitted and Ten chuckled.

  “It’s a little refreshing, I haven’t really had anyone to talk to. Except Yuta is good at giving advice.”

  “He is?” Mark asked with a cocked brow. He didn’t expect that.

Ten hummed in reply. “He told me about… Him and Hansol.” Mark ignored the pain in his chest at the mention of Hansol. “They often got into arguments and Yuta didn’t like it when they both lost control but they just did. I think I know what Taeyong felt, but still… I felt scared, terrified in that moment and I even fought back-” Ten’s voice got caught and Mark wrapped an arm around the other. Ten cleared his throat, stopping himself from slipping back into the moment. “That was too far.”

  “It’s okay, Ten,” Mark assured his brother. “You shouldn’t forgive him. I can’t either.”

Ten put his head on Mark’s shoulder. The two of them mourning what happened together. Mark realized he should be careful. Love. His mother had always described it as a thing that drove people mad, but it was also the strongest bond. Clearly it was out of the hands of a Damned and what if… what if Mark couldn’t control it as well?

What if he fell in love?

 

Mark felt odd, because when that thought hit him, he thought of two people. Not just one.

Mark and Ten met Kun on the bridge. He was sweating and was breathing deeply. Mark eyed him, the other looked behind Ten and directly on Mark.

  “Training.” He said shortly. Mark nodded. Of course.

  “We have a long day ahead of us.” Mark reminded the other. “Save your energy for later.”

Kun only smirked. “I got lots of it, don’t worry about me.”

Mark was a little unnerved but pushed Ten forwards with a soft pressure on the other’s lower back. Ten first walked when Kun was at a safe distance, the other taking the lead. Most of them were ready to go, breakfast had been served and Ten and Mark ate what was left. Haechan gave Mark a smile when he came over. Mark felt like his heart stilled. He tried to control his urge to just explode. It was like so much energy filled his chest. He was nervous, but also happy.

  “It’s odd.” Haechan said. “Having finally been honest with you.” His smile grew wider. Mark felt the same smile spread on his own face. He couldn’t control his reaction. “I’m happy with it.”

  “Me too.” Mark said and automatically reached out to hold Haechan’s warm hand. The two startled at the touch and Mark looked into Haechan’s wide eyes before quickly pulling his hand back. Haechan hid the tip of his fingers in his palm, eyes downcast. Mark wanted to say something to lift the awkwardness but Renjun suddenly came close.

  “Can I talk to you?” He asked and Mark was about to answer when he noticed the other was looking at Haechan. The younger immediately fixed his expression to a more mature one.

  “Sure.” He replied and looked at Mark. Mark nodded, knowing it was a gaze that asked for permission to leave. Mark tried to analyze the look on Renjun’s face. Was it bad news? What did Renjun want to say?

Using the bridges they found themselves more at ease with travelling through the clan. Mark noticed Haechan stay in the back of the group and as Ten, Jisung and Mark travelled in the trees, instead of walking with the others, he noticed that Haechan kept looking back. As if he expected someone to be there.

Mark looked into the woods as well, waiting for the others to walk past him. He didn’t see anything behind them. So he moved forwards again with an uneasy feeling.

Mark couldn’t help himself but watch Renjun. As he walked from branch to branch, he found himself glancing down at the other who was walking with Jeno as always. A few incidents seemed to pop up in his mind again. Like the time where Renjun woke up from death. When he warned them about Jisung wandered in the woods. How could he know? Mark’s mind went through his memories and remembered the moment when Jisung was thrown towards the edge, but even before it happened Renjun had jumped in the way, taking the fall instead.

What could this mean?

Mark looked up at the grey sky. The rain. It was coming.

  “Alright, let’s stay here. We’ll be at the 4^th Clan very soon, I think us Damned will have to camp out here while the chosen group goes to find the True Commander.” Mark explained as they found another camping spot like the one they slept on before. Just a wide platform between trees to keep up the resting travelers. It also had a roof above it and what could be called a railing surrounding it. It wasn’t connected directly to the bridge, giving them a bit of privacy.

It was also getting dark. Mark didn’t want to risk their eyes glowing too close to the border of the 4^th Clan. So they had to stay there.

 

When he knew everyone was occupied with setting up their camp, he decided to go for a walk.

He went alone. Even though he heard steps follow him and knew who it was. He crawled up into the trees and as quietly as possible followed their path and went back a distance. The wind was cool and blowing past him, his scent wouldn’t reveal him. It was all about getting close enough.

Mark stopped when he saw movements below him. In the lowest part of the trees a figure was moving and Mark couldn’t help but snicker inside his head. Of course. Mark stood up and looked at a branch ahead of him. He waited for the wind to rustle in the trees before he moved. As it rippled in the leaves the sound of his boots scratching against the bark seemed to be muffled. His hands gripping the branch and swinging himself forward was barely noticeable.

Mark was in the air when the figure tensed up and spun around. The eyes were glowing softly as they looked up at him, Mark was sure his own eyes glowed too.

There was a grunt as their bodies collided and then they fell off the branch the stranger had been standing on. Mark controlled his fall which wasn’t too far. As the stranger landed harshly on his back in a pile of leaves Mark landed feet first and rolled forwards to take off the weight of the fall. He rolled directly on top of the stranger.

Well.

It wasn’t a stranger.

Mark gritted his teeth, curling his fingers into the front of the Damned’s shirt. The white eyes glowed up at him and when the other recognized him he stilled below Mark. Mark’s sight was clearer than ever.

  “Taeyong.” He growled.

A/N:

Here is a link to the playlist I've made for Damned. I use it when I write and when I re-read the chapters. So it's kind of like the soundtrack. 

Kudos to ZeiinHao for noticing the clue in the last chapter. Yup. Taeyong was tailing them. 

 - Thank you for all the comments, they really inspire me to make this as good as possible. I'm again way ahead with the chapters because I felt so inspired! <3

(NCT 2018 coming soon, who's ready for this? Ten said he has a duet in the album. 6 MVs too!! Be prepared!)

Love,
Emma <3