The Trials of Neo City [WINWIN • YUTA]

🖤 41. Wind Song/Interlude: Set Me Free 🖤

Renjun isn't completely heartless. He'd never leave Jeno to die alone like that.

And he regretted telling Jeno to kill himself.

But Renjun did need air. He did need time to think. And he hoped Jeno didn't take him up on his offer and offed himself already because he wouldn't know what to do after that. He wouldn't know what to do with himself, honestly.

He kicked at the rocks in the road, listening out for any other tributes around him. But the streets were silent.

Renjun was lost. He knew where he was going and knew the way back to Jeno, but he didn't know what to do. Jeno wanted to die but he couldn't bear killing him, not directly.

He'd stared up into the smoggy sky in frustration, letting ash fall into his hair and onto his cheeks.

A little voice played back in his head and he listened curiously. A memory started playing back in his mind, like a film Renjun's seen time and time again.

His heart raced as he remembered, remembering what he'd heard only a few days ago. A few days feels like a lifetime in here, he thinks.

"It's a Neobettle!" Jaemin had smiled, holding up the dark bug between his fingers. Renjun grimaced and Jeno squealed, crawling away from the insect and from Jaemin.

"Am I supposed to know what that is? We're not all bug geniuses, Jaem." Renjun reminded, digging through his now almost empty bag for his knife, in case the creature was dangerous or mutated. It'd have been a shame to die from a bug.

"You said you were hungry and there's no plants or rations around. There is, however, this lil' guy!" Jaemin beamed, before squishing it with his bare hand. Jeno, who sat curled up in a ball behind Renjun, made a retching noise. Jaemin only kept examining its guts excitedly. "The Neobettle is rare and oftentimes they don't leave the proximities of their nests. Meanin' where there's one, there's dozens!"

Jeno's face lit up as he ate the bug's remains. "It's.. it's not so bad."

Renjun turned up his nose. "It tastes like spoiled chicken." He winced, though happy he was finally eating.

Jaemin smiled. "Where there's one Neobettle, there's hundreds. But only the ones with black backs are safe to eat. Any bright green Neobeetle with scratchy markings is insanely venomous. It'll put a man to sleep and he'll never wake up. It's like a tranquilizer."

"How do you know? How can we trust you, Jaemin?" Renjun eyed him suspiciously, making Jeno nod and question Jaemin too.

Jaemin smiled confidently and ate the dark Neobeetle, crushed in his hand. "If I really wanted to kill either of you, there's enough green beetles in the sewers for me to have done so already."

"And neither of you would have a clue."

"I got it." Renjun giggled hysterically, looking up into the bleak sky as if he'd magically see the deceased boy's face in it. "Jaemin, you genius! I got it! You psycho! You brilliant, beautiful psycho!" He rummaged through his bag to find his small, empty flask. He practically beamed, mind running a mile a minute as he looked around.

A sad smile played on Renjun's face and with that, he was on the hunt for as many bright Neobeetles as he could find and riverwater that could kill.

• • 🖤 • •

Renjun slipped into his and Jeno's shelter, praying that Jeno hadn't actually offed himself yet. And to his relief, the other teenager sat on the ground where he'd left him, still breathing and staring outside.