NCT : The Dream Lab

XXXVII : Chewing Gum + The Origins of WayV

Stage 4 : Empathy Phase

Location : City 127.

As the night was going by, Doyoung and Winwin got themselves in a friendly conversation. Mark however quickly got drowned in his own train of thoughts and let his mind drift away without them noticing. When he briefly glanced at the beach behind him, he saw Taeyong and Jaehyun apparently having a serious discussion. He preferred to avoid disturbing them as he knew they hadn't been on the best terms lately.

The scientist stood up and brushed the sand off his pants. He thought about his thesis that he was able to complete in a record time after he went back to Toronto. Thanks to Taeyong and Johnny, it was a very innovative work and he expected nothing less than an honorary mention and a lot of business proposals when he graduated. Perhaps could he even work on governmental public health projects like Johnny once did, yet none of these perspectives brought him joy.

His parents... oh how much he loved them, but they had so many high expectations for him in the future, he would feel like he betrayed them if he decided to go back to Seoul to settle in the dorm definitely. Yet, ever since he went back home, got back to his every-day life, and the clothes that smelled like his mother's laundry products, he was obsessed with the memories from his time in the lab. Almost as if he had left a part of himself there, with the Neos. Every day, he scrolled through his gallery, watching the pictures of the delicious meals he had at his usual food truck, of the cherry blossoms, of Johnny dead drunk posing with all the empty bottles he just drank, Jaehyun playing the mad scientist with his serum syringes or Taeyong trying to shove a whole bowl of noodles into his mouth... There were difficult times. Moments he'd prefer to forget. In the span of a few months, the foundations of his world were shaken upside down. However, with hindsight, he realized that maybe his fate was to take the NCT experiment as far as he could.

Deep in thought, Mark suddenly realized that his feet had guided him far from the campfire. In fact, he was in the middle of a beautiful rock shore. The silhouettes of his friends weren't visible anymore. In another situation, he would have freaked out because the place, apart from looking magnificent, also looked hostile and dangerous. Despite how real the landscapes of the Neozone always looked, Mark always kept in mind that it was all only a dream. Nothing actually bad could happen to him, right ?

Possessed by a sudden impulse of baldness, the scientist started climbing the edgy rocks, always higher until the sea was at least ten meters under him, the waves crashing violently against the shore. The height made him a bit nauseous. His hands stung a bit as he gripped the sharp edges desperately. All of a sudden, he didn't have the courage to look down anymore, and regretted his sudden outburst. He took a few steps back. Surprisingly enough, he noticed there was some sort of cave nestled between the huge rocky masses behind him.

At first, he thought the wind was playing tricks on him. There were airy sounds, perhaps whispers, coming from the dark, gaping entrance. Mark was tempted to run away but before he could even realize, his feet brought him inside the dark tunnel. Almost immediately, he fell face to face with a teenager that looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Mark let out a frightened scream and jumped back, his body instantly switching to a fight or flight mode. His breathing was erratic.

-Who are you ? the teenager asked, venom seeping through his voice.

He was holding a big stone, ready to smash it against Mark's skull. He didn't look like he was physically capable of fighting an adult, though. He was very frail and looked even more scared than the scientist.

-My name is Mark. And you ? What are you doing here ?

-Haechan. I'm trapped in this cave.

-What do you mean ?