Half-Blood | NCT DREAM

Chapter 18

Haerin woke up to Mark still holding onto her.

He looks so peaceful.

Haerin glanced at the clock and knew that they had to get up soon so she carefully shook Mark.

"Mmm, five more minutes." Mark mumbled, burying his face into the crook of her neck.

What am I supposed to do now?

Mark suddenly popped up, his eyes wide as he stared at her. He removed himself from her body, smoothing his hair.

"Sorry, I look terrible right now." Mark muttered, throwing his hood over his head. "We should get ready, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah." Haerin sighed, throwing the covers off.

Haerin watched as Mark dragged his feet to the door, mumbling something about Haechan making fun of him before leaving her hotel room.

Well that was weird.

...

During breakfast, Mark had informed the others of what had happen in Mnemosyne's room. They were now set for the Rocky Mountains.

To get there, they had to trek through the forest, which apparently was similar to the north woods where they played capture the flag.

Especially with Mark and Haerin, they were attracting quite a bit of monsters, although it was nothing they couldn't handle.

"I got this one." Haerin said, tugging in her necklace before slashing the monster that appeared. Mark nodded as she returned to his side.

"Nice one." Mark told her.

"Thanks." Haerin said, shoving her hands in her pockets.

Before they knew it, night was beginning to fall.

"Why don't we walk for a bit more and then set up camp for the night?" Mark suggested.

"But I'm so tired." Chenle whined.

"It's just a bit longer." Jisung said, tugging his best friend's arm. "Come on."

"Ugh, fine." Chenle groaned, dragging his feet.

They walked for about half an hour more when Haerin suddenly ran into Haechan's back. "What the heck?"

"Look." Haechan said, pointing ahead.

"What's the problem?" Haerin asked, shoving herself between Mark and Haechan who had been leading them.

That's when she spotted the mist surrounding the trees, a crossroad in front of them.

And in the middle of the crossroad was a woman with dark eyes and shoulder length black hair, with sickeningly pale skin. She wore black robes and held twin torches in her hands.

"Hecate." Mark breathed out.

Haerin gulped as she saw the goddess in front of her. Hecate's children were quite powerful from her experiences with them and she had no doubt in their mother's ability.

"Mark." Hecate replied. "It's been a while."

Had they met before?

"It's been less than a day." Mark said through gritted teeth. "What is this supposed to mean?"

Less than a day? But we've been with him all day.

"You have a choice to make." Hecate said, motioning to the paths. "Which one will you take?"

"Here we go again." Haerin heard Haechan mumbled. "More mind games."

Haerin watched as Mark narrowed his eyes. "You already told me which one to take."