"Will you let me in?" Mark breathed out once his drowsy eyes met with Donghyuck's for a brief second before falling back to the ground again with his dark locks falling along brushing lightly with his eyelashes. Mark had one hand on the side of the wall, while the other was on his knee supporting his weight. He was breathing heavily as if he was running away from his own shadow that was chasing him endlessly. 

"You're bleeding!" was all that Donghyuck managed to say sporting a bewildered look on his face after examining the whole image in front of him for the last ten seconds since he opened the door of his apartment.

Donghyuck reached his hand out and snagged Mark's wrist pulling his hand from his knee, throwing his arm around his shoulder pulling him up to his feet. He took a mental note that the elder most probably has a high rate of alcohol running in his blood as he reeked with the smell of it. "Hang in there!" Donghyuck whispered carefully dragging Mark inside and the next thing he noticed is that Mark was limping eyes shut tight in pain. 

Donghyuck shut the door closed behind him with his foot adverting his attention back to Mark's body that totally gave in putting all of its weight on the younger. "Few more steps to the couch" Donghyuck's shaky voice gave it away that he was totally nervous and scared not knowing the background story of what made such a mess out of his best friend. 

Donghyuck gently placed Mark down who instantly threw his head back on the couch wrapping his right arm around his stomach frowning in pain. Before that Donghyuck was able to say anything, he felt his phone buzzing in his shorts' pocket. Donghyuck pulled out his phone sighing reading the name of the caller. 

"Is Mark with you?" the voice over the phone asked the moment Donghyuck picked up. 

"Care to explain why he looks half-dead, Na Jaemin?" Haechan asked face red as he was starting to get angry. 

"I think we should be thankful he made it there not so fully dead!" Jaemin said in a matter-of-fact tone. 

"What happened?" Haechan patiently asked stomping his way to the bathroom to grab the first aid kit. 

"He got into a fight that's all I can tell you now. I gotta run as Renjun doesn't look any better here, just take care of him please!" Jaemin begged before he ended the call.

Donghyuck shoved the phone back into his pocket. He rolled his eyes clenching his teeth trying to keep his emotions under control. He grabbed the box of first aid kit and made his way back to the living room in a rush.

"Hey," Donghyuck whispered kneeling in front of a half-conscious Mark. "Stay with me" Donghyuck firmly said giving small taps on the elder's bare knee through his black ripped jeans. 

Mark breathed in sitting himself straight for a mere second only to lean down and rest his forehead on Donghyuck's shoulder, arm still wrapped around his torso. Mark growled in the process which made Donghyuck glance at him from the corner of his eyes not wanting to make any wrong moves as he still can't locate the main source of the elder's pain. 

Donghyuck noticed a strain of blood running down Mark's temple. He couldn't see the rest of his face as his dark messy hair was covering most of it. "I need you to lean back, Mark," Donghyuck said placing both of his hands on each side of the elder's shoulder pushing him back gently only to earn another growl as Mark's eyebrows furrowed, breath getting heavier.

"What did you do to yourself, dumb !" Donghyuck exclaimed grabbing ointment from the box, squeezing some on his finger. He jumped on his feet dropping on his knees on the sofa next to the elder. Mark opened his eyes slowly, staring right into Donghyuck's eyes which made the younger freeze motionless for a second. Donghyuck bit the inside of his lip as he felt weak under those stares. "It's gonna sting!" Donghyuck finally said snapping out of it. Mark let out a soft chuckle at how he was being babied by the younger at this moment. 

Donghyuck pushed Mark's fringe out of his temple with his free hand to reveal a small cut on his soft skin. "You dare to smile in this situation?" Donghyuck asked rubbing the ointment on the wound. That's gonna leave a scar Donghyuck thought to himself. Mark whimpered when the cold cream met with his fresh wound. Donghyuck stopped rubbing it when he felt satisfied with the amount of medicine he applied. He held the side of Mark's face tilting it slightly to the side as he started blowing on his cut to ease the pain. 

"Better?" Donghyuck asked which made him earn a slight nod from the frowning elder. He sealed the cut with a liquid bandage sighing in the process. Donghyuck's eyes landed on Mark's lips next. He leaned in closely examining the bruised corner with stains of blood. He rubbed his thumb on the side of his lips and to his surprise, Mark leaned into his touch.

Donghyuck knew Mark for an eternity, he's his childhood best friend, and the one thing that his best friend hates the most is skinship. Mark would always be making vomiting noises whenever Donghyuck tried to hold his hand and with sneaky kisses. The latter looked so vulnerable under his touch right now and Donghyuck just wanted to cuddle him and sleep everything away. 

"Who did this to you?" Donghyuck asked not expecting any answer as Mark couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. The younger grabbed a cotton swab dipping it into a saline solution to clean the wound first. "Don't sleep here, I'm almost done I'll take you to my bed, hm?" Donghyuck tried to keep the elder distracted so he wouldn't fall asleep anytime soon as he kept working on treating his wounds. Mark suddenly coughed from the strong smell of alcohol that hit his nostrils gripping his side as he coughed some more. 

Donghyuck immediately placed the cotton swab down giving Mark light pats on his back noticing the damage in the collar of his white plain shirt. It was slightly ripped as if someone grabbed him from there. Mark groaned clenching on his side that he kept holding ever since he made it to Donghyuck's dorm and the younger's attention shifted to that. "Mark!" Donghyuck called out grabbing Mark's arm away pressing not so gently on his hip which made Mark release a moan muffled with a painful grown. Donghyuck quickly lifted his shirt to reveal a red large bruise that is already switching to purple color. "I need to get you to a hospital!" Donghyuck's eyes widened at the sight and he immediately grabbed his phone to call an ambulance only to be stopped by a firm grip on his wrist. 

"Don't" Mark breathed out and Donghyuck realized that this is the first thing he heard the elder say ever since he arrived. "Don't be stubborn, Mark. I can't treat this! This looks serious!" Donghyuck cried out watching Mark shake his head from side to side. "I'm fine, Hyuck...please" Mark begged, giving Donghyuck's wrist a small clutch. "You can't show up looking like at my door and expect me to be so calm about it when I know nothing of what happened and the only thing I know is that you most probably need medical attention right now" Donghyuck snapped as he started to lose it feeling tears gathering in the corner of his eyes. 

"Don't cry" Mark ordered reaching a hand out to cup Donghyuck's cheek which fits perfectly in the elder's palm. Donghyuck's heart started racing at the touch as the elder never in his life touched him in that way neither looked at him the way he did at that moment. Mark's thumb drawing comforting circles on the younger's golden skin succeeded in calming him down. Donghyuck convinced himself that the only reason Mark was acting like this, is because he's drunk and totally wasted. Mark gave Donghyuck a small smile before moving his hand down to rest it on Donghyuck's nape. 

Donghyuck felt weak under his sudden touches, locking eyes with Mark who brushed his finger lightly through the back of the younger's hair, it felt right and wrong at the same time. Donghyuck was about to ask Mark to stay put so he can finish treati