“Hyung…”

YuGyeom was awake the whole while; he knew how Crystal brought the blanket up to prevent him getting a cold but didn’t stop her from leaving because it wasn’t right for him to do so. The reason that Crystal looks like his dead nuna isn’t a reasonable excuse to ask her to stay. Mark places his index finger to his lips, signaling the maknae to keep quiet if not it might wake the members up.

Without saying any more words, the maknae nodded and brought out the first aid box. This wasn’t the first time he had seen his hyung in such a horrible state, there were in fact, worst ones compared to this. Mark winces but kept his cries silent, tolerating the pain that kills him inside out. Being the tough man with minimum words, he didn’t want to show weakness to others which was also why he treated Crystal that coldly earlier.

Speaking of Crystal, Mark remembers the jacket she’s wearing just now. It had their logo on it and there’s only seven available in this world.

She spent the night here…?

“Did a girl spend the night here?”

“Ouh hyung! Did you meet her just now?”

Mark nodded and glance at the maknae for any form of expression that he could decipher. There was a smile on YuGyeom’s face and Mark got worried immediately.

“The two of you…”

“Hyung… She looks like YuRa nuna, she’s nice. I love her”

Mark heave a silent sigh to himself when he heard him mentioned his nuna. No wonder YuGyeom would pay that much attention to a girl and to Mark, this was a first time seeing how YuGyeom smiled that bashfully, the sort of smile that was shy and innocent. Next thing, when the elder male heard YuGyeom and his word ‘love, he stood up abruptly which cause the maknae to jolt suddenly.

“You, love her?”

“Yeah, she makes me want to protect her you know? If YuRa nuna was alive, I bet she’ll look exactly like her. We’ll live happily as a family and then I can have a pretty nuna to boost about”

Nuna, family… Love. Ha what is wrong with me…?

Mark settled down his twisting and turning thoughts before seating back to his position. He gets that there was a bitter and frustrated feeling in him but couldn’t quite explain to himself exactly why he would feel so. Knowing that YuGyeom meant it as a family love, the bitterness subsided almost immediately as if how a lightning strike its victim in that defining split second.

“She’s in our class too, weird that we’ve never noticed someone that pretty in our school before”

“Yeah…”

--

Crystal crashes into her bed the moment she reaches her not so pretty home-liked home. The money from the orphanage was sufficient enough for her to buy some simple furniture, get a rented house but definitely not enough to last a lifetime. Now that she has an indecent job, she starts to worry if she would survive more of the situations that happen like yesterday.

5:30am

She was dead tired and the fear that she temporary forgotten came back again. What if her boss decided to fire her for causing so much trouble? What if the man came back for revenge? What if the next time, nobody’s there to save me? What if…

As she comes up with the most number of what ifs in her mind, she slowly drifts into dreamland where she abandons all her thoughts and fear.

--

“Crystal”

“Crystal?”

Mark turns his head and took a good long look at the empty seat beside him. Crystal didn’t turn up for school today and he wondered why. He recalls the extra bruises on her face just now and started to worry. Mark did turn up for school even though he was hurt as hell because he was used to it. But Crystal wasn’t someone that strong and he knew it from the scared look in her eyes.

Damn it. She’s practically driving me over the edge!