wake up. | nct/wayv

19

FINAL STAGES

THE MEMORY
[ FACILITY ]

DOYOUNG AND JUNGWOO

༄

> "so this is where it started..."

doyoung breathed out in awe at the structure of the building. it looked like they were in the future, belonging to a sci-fi dystopian world with androids and spaceships. every piece of furniture in that place was white, matching the walls, ceilings, even the lighting was the same.

"somewhere like this really exists?" he asked jungwoo, who wandered over towards a large circular desk in the middle of the room. unattended monitors lined the surface, their screens showing nothing but the words, "LEVEL 19" in bold letters.

"obviously," jungwoo replied. "i mean, we're here right now. not just in the game, but our bodies are here somewhere."

"so that's what you meant by finding ourselves? a copy of our bodies is sitting around in here?"

jungwoo nodded slowly. "kinda... so are you gonna help me look or not?"

they entered a long hallway not too far from the main room where they started. the smell that hit him made him feel on edge; it was the standard disinfectant with a hint of a sweet scent that made him feel tense for no particular reason.

jungwoo nodded towards the first door, which had a small engraving of a cat with bright, expressive yellow eyes. doyoung walked up to the small window next to it and saw what looked like an operating room, with a medical bed and various machines hooked up next to it. the lights were on despite it being empty.

he tried the door, but it was locked.

"we have this whole hallway to go through," jungwoo said. "maybe something will... come to us. i mean, it might jog our memories to be here. i feel it."

they took the time to check each door, all of which were the same except for the animal engraving. it felt like they were wasting time until doyoung's head started to hurt, and he couldn't tell if it was a simple headache or a soon-to-be blackout from blood loss.

jungwoo noticed his distance and moved to stand in front of him. "another migraine? it must've been from earlier..."

doyoung didn't even have the strength to nod for a second, but when he recovered he did so gently. he ignored the male's attempts to help after that, opting for "finding himself" while they still could.