Warning! This chapter can get slightly violent and graphic, but nothing for underaged readers. I don't write , so be assured that it isn't so bad. I cut off all the bad stuff.

Enjoy!

Chapter 6

Later that evening, we all sat at the campfire with all the other trainees. I was forced to join them against my will. Whispers were heard amongst the teenagers, notably because people were trying to calm Nayeon down who had teary and blood-shot eyes. Another reason was the fact that Jackson and Mark sat at opposite ends of the circle, a rare event, considering that they were almost always glued to each others backs half the time

I broke into the tense atmosphere, not exactly knowing where to sit. Everyone eyed me suspiciously, somehow knowing that I had something to do with the whole problematic situation. Both Jackson and Mark were trying to avoid any sort of contact with me. Nayeon shot a hurtful glare at my direction as I took a seat beside Bambam to play it safe.

Bambam beamed at my presence in contrast to the rest of them.

“Noona! Have some ramyun!” he offered, his voice the only one fully heard amongst the pack. He tried to play it cool, as if nothing was wrong with the fact that everyone was fiercely staring me down.

Bambam held the lid and chopsticks full of noodles near my mouth.

“Thank you so much, buddy.” I was salivating, my stomach grumbling for food.  I took his offer and began eating my heart out despite the dozen eyes leaching on me.

“Noona, don’t let any of them hurt your feelings, alright? If they do, call us.”

I looked up to find the sweet teenager beaming, Yugyeom joining in as well.

“Yugyeom and I know that you didn’t do anything.”

Yugyeom leaned over and smiled, finding myself beside two boys thoroughly supporting me. I was so grateful to them.

“That’s really sweet. Only… All this fighting… It is my fault,” I said out loud for everyone to hear.

I took a glance at Mark, who sat there, eyes driven to the ground. It was only in that moment that I noticed that his left wrist was red, spots of blood dripping down his fists, slightly covered by his sleeve.

Oh no. Not blood.

I wanted to call out to him, but I had to be aware that the people around me were judging my every move. Mark must’ve done something stupid. It hurt to see him like that.

He suddenly stood up, everyone whispering some more as he walked away from the campfire and into the main shed a bit further away where the reception and bathrooms were. His hair covered much of his dark expression, his bloody fist shoved in his pocket now. I turned to see if Jackson was going to react, but he hadn’t even moved.

“Bambam, Yugeyom, I’ll go make sure he’s ok. I’ll see you tomorrow morning maybe.” Both grinned dimly as I stood up and followed Mark into the shed. His footsteps were quick, disappearing inside so fast that I couldn’t even get a glimpse of him.

I managed to jog to the door and peek inside before going in. Down the dark hallway, I could see a light coming from the bathroom where Mark stood at the sink, washing off the red spots from his fists.

I took a few steps towards Mark to make my presence clear, but he still hadn’t acknowledged my presence.

“Mark…” I called out of worry. “Are you okay?”

Silence. It began to worry me. I was beginning to feel royally scared. Mark always became dangerous when he was at an emotional high. I wasn’t sure what was going through his mind at this point.

“Go away,” he simply let out, and continued to wash his hands. I moved closer.

“Mark, I’m sorry.” I placed my left hand on his back and rubbed on it until I reached his shoulder. “Jackson and I… it was an accident.” He cut me off.

“Lina, if you don’t want things to get ugly… If you don’t want to get hurt… Just get out of here. GET OUT!!” his voice rose. I had never heard Mark speak so loudly before. It made me shiver to the point where my knees wobbled and almost sunk to the ground.

“Mark, I don’t want you to hurt yourself. I hate seeing you li-”

Without even letting me finish, he threw my hand out of his way, shut the door to the bathroom behind me, locking us both inside the narrow space. He pushed my back to the door and punched the wood near my head.

I was terrified. I almost forgot what it was like seeing him angry to this extent. His eyes were hostile, his breathing heavy.

“I told you to get out of here before things get ugly,” he mumbled with his deep and taunting voice.

“Mark, what are you doing?” He stared at me for a while, and locked my wrists to the door behind me. He pushed me against the door aggressively and pressed his forehead on mine. My body began to shake as I tried to push him away with no success.

Before I knew it, his lips were invading mine, but not gently like he would normally be with me, but with heavy pressure. It began to hurt. My eyes grew wide, trying to absorb what was going on. Feeling a bite on my lower lip, and Mark’s nails clenching my hand, I began to scream, finally realizing what was going on. Hearing my voice invade the room, Mark got angry and covered my mouth with his hand.

He was so strong.

There was no doubt that his medication wasn’t on my side this time.

He pulled me away from the door and threw me on top of the toilet seat. My back hit the hard surface, making me wince in pain. I was covered in tears now.

“Mark, please stop.”

He came closer, without even listening to me.

***

I didn’t sleep at all. Not even a second. The images from last night were all too vivid. The hour spent in that washroom felt like an eternity. In that moment, I was all alone. No matter how much I prayed, God just didn’t want me to get out of there.

I sat on top of a big rock near the campsite, as Nayeon wouldn’t, in no way, let me into our tent after making her cry like I did. Although it had been over six hours since I escaped Mark and all that horror, my fingers were still trembling. I cringed once the breeze blew through my ed shirt.

Despite my terror, no tears were coming out. It was as if they had all been wasted last night.

I rubbed the bruise on my back that I got from hitting the toilet seat. My brain tried as hard as it could to erase those memories, but it couldn’t. It was engraved there.

The sun rose and peeked between the tree branches. I just wanted to go home. Not to the dorms… Not to the JYP practice room where I could hide. I just wanted to go back to my parents for once. I needed them… so bad.

I heard twigs break behind me as the person who was approaching scrambled to get out of the obstacles of the trail. Turning my head, seeing Jackson breaking out of his bushes, I felt a tad safer than I was when sitting there on my own. After rubbing his eyes and eying me with his dead tired stare, he put his hood over his head and made his way towards me, shuffling his feet on the ground.

He sat beside me on the rock, without a word for the first few minutes. He was sniffling, almost like he was sick. Jackson finally turned to look at me, his strong gaze beaming all over me.  

“What did you and Mark talk about for such a long time yesterday?” he asked blinking a few times.

“He’s your best friend. If he wanted you to know what we talked about, he would’ve told you,” I simply put it, trying to avoid getting into the subject. It was already bad enough that I was scared to death about it.

Jackson’s chin rose upwards, his eyes shut as if feeling the cold breeze.

“I would’ve, but he didn’t come back last night,” he affirmed worriedly. I glance towards their closed tent and realized that it had remained untouched since yesterday. “I couldn’t sleep properly last night. I kept praying that he would be okay,” he continued seriously about Mark. “I tried looking for him for hours, but he’s nowhere. I just…”

He looked as if he were about to cry.

“Lina, I’m scared that he went off and did something stupid.”

I could hear his voice crack. The love Jackson had for his best friend always amazed me.

“He didn’t tell you that he was planning on hurting himself yesterday, did he?” Jackson turned soft, almost like a boy would when he questioned about a lost toy.

I nodded.

“I don’t know what I’d do if I’d lose him,” he finished. It was then that I realized that there was no way that I could tell Jackson what happened last night even if I wanted to. Even if I knew that it wasn’t entirely Mark’s fault, and part of it had to do with the fact that he was sick I was still mad at him. But what would I be? Breaking their friendship selfishly?

Jackson needed Mark. And Mark needed Jackson even more.

“Jackson,” I called as he stared at me again with those helpless eyes. “We have to stop liking each other. We have to try.”

“Lina,” he said with a bit of a smirk. “If it were that easy, none of this would be happening right now.”

He gawked at me for a while and frowned when his gaze dropped to my lip.

“Your lip is bleeding,” he remarked, coming closer to get a better look. It must’ve been from Mark biting me yesterday. I the blood and gaze away to avoid eye contact. Jackson took out a tissue from his pocket and scooted over. He put his hand behind my neck, making me jolt back. I pushed him away as I was reminded of how Mark had touched me last night. It brought me shivers.

“Don’t touch me!” I shouted, my voice echoing through the forest. Jackson held his hands above his head, his eyes as wide as ever.

“Whoa whoa. No worries. I was just trying to wipe off the blood. What’s the matter?” he asked in wonder. I shooed him away, trembling slightly.

“Sorry, I was just scared…”

“Scared of what?”

He waited for an answer, bending his head down to my level to hear me out.

“Your …None of your business, you dweeb!” I exclaimed going back to my usual harsh treatment. Jackson rolled his eyes, exactly how things should be.

***

When everyone woke up a couple of hours later, I took a hike in the forest, skipping breakfast and avoiding everyone altogether. I really wasn’t ready to face everyone’s hate just about yet. Having a traumatizing night was enough for me and I didn’t need anymore on my plate.

I kept my head low, escaping Bambam, Yugeyom and Jackson.

I didn’t have a particular destination, just wanting to get away as far as possible. As I made my way through the forest along the path, my head down, watching my shuffling feet, I bumped into a wide frame on front of me.

My head shot up to see who it was.

Mark.

I couldn’t help but shake. My knees went so numb, that I tripped while backing up, making me fall on my bum clumsily. Mark came closer, his expression exposing everything he might’ve been feeling in that moment.

Sadness. Regret. Frustration.

He knelt down on his knees next to where I had fallen. I couldn’t seem to move, my hands clutching the branches under me. My feet kicked his leg and pushed our bodies apart. Mark began to cry. It wasn’t just a regular cry of sorrow, there was something more. Something bitter. Something that made me feel like crap for pushing him away.

“I can’t even say sorry, because even that wouldn’t even be enough to make up for what I did,” he said with a lump in his throat. I kicked him once more.

“I can’t believe that you took advantage of me like that,” I responded firmly. Although I was scared, my heart pounding through my chest, I was still as angry as ever and I wanted him to know that.

“Jackson…” he began, but I didn’t let him finish his sentence.

“Jackson doesn’t know.” When those words came out of my mouth, Mark’s gaze dropped once more. “And he won’t. He won’t because you’re really important to him.”

I finally found my balance to get back on my heels, looking down on Mark who was still sitting on the muddy path. He was all wet and dirty, his coat and jeans soaked from top to bottom. I almost felt the slightest compassion, but told myself that he didn’t deserve it.

“You were important to me too, Mark. You still are. Without you, I don’t know how I would’ve gone through my trainee years. But now…” I paused, struggling to find the right words, my breath running short on me.

“I’m scared of you.”

Mark closed his eyes, bit his lip, his face dropping down lower than it already was.

The Mark Tuan that I loved and cared about… He was my biggest fear.

Hope you liked it. Don't worry, Mark is not a bad guy. I would never do that. ;)

Hope you have a nice day/night. Love from Canada... God Bless you all.