The Trials of Neo City [WINWIN • YUTA]

🖤 27. lovely/Racing Against the Sunset 🖤

Eight hours before Renjun died, Mark had killed himself.

Renjun -of course- didn't know this and didn't care, either. 

Three teenage boys stared out at the sky through the broken window as another cannon sounded in the sky and Jeno shuddered, curling up closer to Jaemin.

"Who do you think that was?" Jeno's voice was quiet, looking up at Jaemin. Jaemin shrugged and looked outside at the bright sky and perpetual ash raining down.

A scoff resounded from a small figure in the corner, picking at his own skin.

"Another one down for the count. Every person dead and every day passed is good. Why should I care?" Renjun looked up from where he was picking at his arm and grabbed his dagger, sharpening it against a shard of glass below him.

"Oh, come on! Don't be heartless! What day is it anyways?" Jaemin asked, which made Jeno shrug.

Renjun grabbed his dagger and stabbed it into a wooden wall with dusty, old spray paint on it. "Day three. You both should really keep track of that." He chided, stabbing the wall again idly.

"We need to find food and water." Jeno reminded suddenly, hearing his own stomach growl.

Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows. "We have rations."

"We don't. Remember, the stupid rats ate them during the night and you failed to chase them off." Renjun grumbled, resuming his sharpening.

Jaemin got up from where he sat and got close to the window where Renjun was. "The rats are getting bigger, I'm telling you. These ones were the size of your fuckin' head, babe!"

"What have I said about you calling me 'babe'?" Renjun shot back, narrowing his gaze. "The rats aren't getting bigger, that's bullshit."

Jeno got up and pointed at the window. "Fighting isn't gonna feed us. I'm sure there's some source of water. They wouldn't make all 24 of us die of thirst. Think about it, that would be a boring Hunger Games."

Renjun thought for a moment and nodded. "Then let's go. I'm sick of this place anyways."

• • 🖤 • •

"I knew there'd be water nearby! I'm surprised no one else seems to have found this river. The bridge and winds around it, but it seems like it flows out where the force field stops." Jaemin tossed a rock into the river and smiled. "It's safe. Not acidic, barely metallic. Just a little salty and a little green. Still water, no currents and no rapids. And if this city wasn't destroyed, the soil could produce plants and maybe vegetation. Root veggies, mostly. However, the waterbed has a high chance of flooding if it rained. Fortunately, it doesn't rain here, so we don't have to worry about that. I wish we had seeds."

"How do you know all this? You're like... so smart, Jaemin." Jeno was bewildered, watching as Jaemin took off his jacket and shirt, throwing them on the ground.

Jaemin shrugged and took of his pants, causing Renjun to blush a bright red. He turned to both boys with a smile on his face and kicked over his shoes. "I'm really not, but thank you ."

He unclasped the necklace around his neck and sighed, holding the beaded jewelry. It was his one item he was allowed to have in the arena.

"You don't bathe with the necklace on?" Jeno furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Nah, never. I don't want the string to get worn and gross and moldy, y'know?" Jaemin shook his head, tossing the necklace against the riverbank's scarce, dead grass. Then, he peeled off his undergarments and waded into the river. "Sunset skinny dip?"