NOW | woosan | ON HIATUS

- 6 -

"We should find something to arm ourselves with" San whispered urgently as they stealthily made their way through the dimly lit corridor, their own shadows dancing ominously around them.

After meticulously searching through each lab room, uncovering only the grim sight of decomposing bodies, they grew anxious and impatient.

Wooyoung scoffed under his breath, "The least of my worries is being armed when I'm practically naked in this foreign hellhole." The hospital robe draped around them provided little comfort or protection. The two of them walked down the tiled corridor head to head both wearing only but that skimpy hospital robe.

San shot him a glare, his voice low but resolute, "It won't be the least of your worries the moment we run into someone. They could be secret police or whoever might be guarding this place, and I doubt they'll come alone and empty handed."

Wooyoung waved dismissively, frustration turning into a thin line on his glabella, "This place is a graveyard, guarded by ghosts at best. Have you seen the hundreds of decaying bodies just... laying around everywhere? It's like this place hasn't seen human life for the past, I don't know 10 years? Let alone a security check. The design is also pretty outdated if you ask me..."

"You sound like an expert," San retorted, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

Wooyoung grimaced, struggling to keep his voice down amidst the echoing walls, "It's weird... everything from the simulation feels ingrained in my brain, like real memories. Even the pain."

"Yeah... everything I felt there is definitely real" San spoke under his breath. His response was unexpected, tone veering away from empathy, stirring an uncomfortable itch beneath Wooyoung's skin.

"San with the big feels. What's even your surname?" Wooyoung quipped, trying to lighten the mood.

"Choi. I'm Choi San." came the calm reply, the letters rolling smoothly off his tongue. Wooyoung sized him up, acknowledging the grace with which he carried his name.

"Jung Wooyoung. If that's even my real name and not something they gave me in this place, considering the fact that I don't remember shit that was before the simulation. I can't even tell where the simulation ends and reality begins. I–"

"Shh!" San interrupted abruptly, his hand cutting off Wooyoung's words as he held out a hand before Wooyoung who bumped into it grumpily.

"Don't hush me when I'm speak you–"

"Shut it for real" San hissed, a hand covering Wooyoung's mouth, the urgency in his gesture silencing any protest.

Wooyoung put on a fight at first, but when he finally settled, his ear caught on a faint ticking noise piercing the air, drawing his attention forward. They both froze. San caught onto that little noise so fast? – Was what Wooyoung thought judging by the expression he made ever since he told Wooyoung to quiet down.

Maybe San's instincts were better. No, they were definitely better. San had remembered everything he encountered in the simulation, from learning how to do close combat, to using knives and guns and survival techniques. Wooyoung on the other hand, was mostly unfamiliar with this world. Yes, he shot people, yes he handled guns and knives, but they worked almost instinctually in those dire situations where he remembers using them, whereas San can do it on sheer will. He can't. How could he? Shoot another person? Don't joke... All he remembered was fake memories with Yeosang. Fake childhood, fake schools, fake work, fake dreams. Everything fake. The only real amidst all that was this stupid annoying San who calls him stupid little nicknames that he would never admit they made him blush a little.