NCT : The Dream Lab

XXXIV : The 7th Sense

Seoul, South Korea. 2016.

In the morning, the atmosphere in the lab was ice cold. Taeil immediately sensed that the night in the Neozone went really wrong. He stirred from his slumber when he heard whispers beside him. Exceptionally, the Neos spent the night in the lab sleeping on futons and not their respective dorms so they were ready to intervene in case things went down.

-I'm sorry Doyoung, but you will probably be expelled from the dorm for some time. We will gather within a few hours and contact Johnny and Mark to make a definitive decision about you.

Apart from his frowned eyebrows due to the seriousness of the situation, Taeyong looked adorable in his oversized pajamas and his shaggy hair surrounding his youthful face.

-I am open to negotiations, Doyoung whispered. But I am deeply convinced that I do not deserve to be entirely put aside.

Taeil briefly rubbed his eyes.

-I do agree with him.

Taeyong looked at him a bit flabbergasted.

-You don't even know what we discovered about him.

-I do. You found out he killed someone, right ?

-So you knew ?

His glare hardened. Taeyong sure was going from an unpleasant surprise to another.

-I did. Why do you think our relationship was so tense ?

The student let out a plethora of swear words while rubbing his temples. Their discussion was loud enough to wake Jaehyun up. He sighed sleepily and turned around on his futon to face them with lidded eyes.

-Taeyong-ah...he croaked.

He looked miserable, as if he was suffering from an atrocious hangover, but Taeil knew for a fact that he didn't touch a drop of alcohol.

-You shut it, Jeong Jaehyun.

The waiter raised an eyebrow. Until now, those two were as thick as thieves and never raised their voice like this publicly. He had never seen Taeyong this angry.

Jaehyun opened and closed his mouth several times, as if dying to reply to this yet he couldn't find the right words to make it up to the young man. Saddened, he just stood up to wake Yuta up since he was the only one sleeping in his dorm room.

Barely an hour later, everyone was ready and sitting around the big dining table, calling Mark and Johnny. It was still very early in the morning so, with the time gap, they wouldn't risk waking them up. The silence between them was deafening as the phone rang several times before Johnny's face appeared on the screen. His smile immediately faded when he took note of everyone's gloomy expression.

-Is something wrong ?

Mark chose this very moment to appear too and joyfully greeted the Neos.

Taeyong started talking, jaws tight. He was barely masking his irritation.

-Thank you for replying so fast, I know the time gap sometimes makes it difficult for us to keep in touch. We are facing a crisis at the moment.

-Doyoung couldn't empathize following Ten's instructions ? Johnny hypothesized.

Taeyong shook his head negatively.

-I wish so. Unfortunately, the Empathy went without a problem. As you know, we've been exchanging each other's cages since we got a hunch that it was the only way to get out of the temple. We found out in Doyoung's that he murdered someone in the past.

Doyoung lowered his gaze in order to avoid catching a glimpse of Johnny and Mark's shocked expressions. Being stripped so ruthlessly from his most dangerous secret was quite unpleasant. They were judging him without even knowing what he went through.