wake up. | nct/wayv

15

LEVEL FIFTEEN : NEO ZONE

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THE CITY

HENDERY AND CHENLE

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> the obstacle was their deepest fears—hendery knew straight away after seeing what looked like something that would only appear in a delirium, and refused to believe it was real.

"it's not actually real," chenle pointed out as they hid between two buildings. the corner of his mouth twitched in amusement as he watched hendery sink further into the shadows of the alleyway. "this is all one big dream, remember?"

hendery's eyes threw daggers at him. "does that explain how we could still be killed by those things? just because this is one big dream, i'm not risking anything by facing those... those monsters!"

"they're frogs, hendery..."

they were. they really were. green and brown amphibians the size of horses were manifested into the game as a product of one of hendery's worst fears. it couldn't get any more ridiculous to chenle, who had to calm hendery's hyperventilation.

"you're so lucky i found this gun," he said, patting the said weapon through the pocket of his pants. "or you would've been eaten up like a fly at this point."

"whatever. let's just hide until they're gone."

they ended up doing the exact opposite, with chenle insisting that they had to get out of the city if they wanted to continue on in peace. hendery was reluctant, but he had no other choice.

they were crouched behind a food cart, the resounding steps of the creatures passing them slowly. it was too slow for hendery, who wanted nothing but to be far, far away from them.

"let's move to the other food cart," chenle whispered. he eyed the portal at the end of the street, a small and faint glow taking the form of a chinese structure. he peered around the cart to see the frog's head turned elsewhere, so he motioned for hendery to move with him.

the older male was in clear distress; chenle could see the dark patches on his underarms. "this is gonna take an eternity..."

"yeah, because you're too afraid to move..."

"shut up, chenle. you don't understand this phobia."

"you're right, i don't. they're frogs, for fuck's sake... i mean, i know that they're, like, man-eating or whatever, but they're frogs!"

hendery sighed and lightly pushed chenle's shoulder. "hey. you're not helping whatsoever."

"me? not helping? i'm literally leading you out of here."

hendery didn't say anything else. they were slowly moving towards the next cover when one of the frogs let out a bellowing croak, and hendery froze in his spot.

in a position where he couldn't say anything, chenle waved for him frantically. hendery hesitated to move, but when he did, he mistakenly stepped on a crushed water bottle. the crinkling sound it gave off almost made their souls leave their bodies.