Dreams of Arcadia

49

Wooyoung PoV

"Wahh... why is the ground so slippery?" I exclaimed as I bumped into the back of the person in front of me for the third time. Strong hands held me by the waist from behind while I heard Yeosang laughing from the very back. The tunnel was pitch black, so I had only recognized it was Jungkook by the swearing in front of me, who I kept sending to the ground.

"I'm sorry, hyung... I better watch out." I apologized and heard giggling close to my ear.

"Haha Kookie... Who calls you hyung again." Taehyung's amused voice rang out while Jungkook snorted in front.

"I hope there's somewhere to wash up here, I'm full of the stuff on the floor." he said.

"Soft soap." Yeosang explained.

"Well, at least it's nothing disgusting." I interjected, but it wasn't really reassuring... we had a whole parkour of obstacles ahead of us and I didn't know how we were going to get it so sticky. We couldn't see what was ahead of us, but the hall I had seen through windows in the initial area looked like it was made of fall guys.

"I see something up ahead.... Light..." Jungkook informed us.

"Don't go into the light, Kook." Taehyung shouted dramatically, which now made me laugh.

"It's a bit late for that now," Yeosang said dryly.

"Did you go through any light when you died?" I asked curiously, as I couldn't remember such an experience.

"No... I felt myself being crushed... but only for a few seconds... I don't even remember any pain... but someone was screaming quite loudly right next to me. I closed my eyes and the next time I opened them, I was here," Taehyung narrated.

"The screaming was Yoongi, he saw Jin's head burst... it was the last thing I heard too." Jungkook explained casually.

"I was sleeping... then I woke up here." said Yeosang.

"I think it's funny how we can talk about it like it's just something interesting to talk about.... I don't have any negative feelings about it," I remarked.

"We left all that in the other world... I guess it makes the transition here easier. Yeah... I think it's a shame not to see anyone I knew anymore except you guys.... But I'm not really sad." Taehyung said, again so close to my ear that I got goosebumps. His hands had now slipped down to my waist, but with his firm grip, I didn't fall again.

"Oh wow...." came from Jungkook, who had stopped at the exit. Curious, I peeked over his shoulder and saw what awaited us. There were balls hanging from the ceiling on rubber ropes, slightly larger than the exercise balls you sit on at your desk for good posture, and there were platforms leading up to a new tunnel entrance. Apparently you had to swing from platform to platform with the balls. Looking down, I noticed that the floor consisted of a pool... I couldn't see how deep it was, but it had to be deep enough so that you wouldn't hurt yourself if you fell off.

Jungkook suddenly got moving, stripped down to his underpants and rubbed his hands on his shirt before throwing it to the ground.

"I'll slip right off with these greasy clothes... You should at least take your shoes off." he recommended before he jumped onto the first ball and made it swing with ease before jumping onto the saving platform after three swings. The ball came back and I took off my shoes while I let the ball come to rest. Then I took a deep breath and jumped... Unfortunately, Taehyung probably had exactly the same idea and wanted to take advantage of my hesitation to jump himself, which meant that we both hit the ball, but it flew so high due to the hard impact that we couldn't grab the rope and slipped off....