world outsiders, nct dream

chapter twenty-three

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
NEW CHORES

❝WE DON'T EVEN EAT THIS MUCH, HOW ARE THERE SO MANY DISHES?❞

━ GIRLS FOCUS ━

A knock at the media room's door drew them out of their conversation. The three girls looked up at the door to see Donghyuck standing there.

"Yes?" Hyeji voiced.

He fidgeted for a second hearing her speak to him and stood up straighter at the doorway, clearing his voice. "U-Uhm, Nurse Kim wanted me to tell you guys the chore list has been put out now. She said you guys can start working now if you want so you'll be done early."

The girls nodded, each of them standing up while Donghyuck quickly walked away, heading back outside to talk with Jeno and Jaemin.

They made their way to the kitchen, scanning over the list given. They were each listed together under the dishwashing chore. They each groaned, unhappy with their job. Either way, they found their way over to the sink.

They all looked down at the dishes, amazed at the amount there. Minsoo looked at the other two, clearly confused. "We don't even eat this much, how are there so many dishes?"

The other girls shrugged, clearly not sure. "I guess it's both our plates and the dishes from all four nurses. I'm pretty sure they eat a lot more than us."

Eunha nodded, taking the initiative to start the entire process. "Who's doing what?" She asked. "I can run the water and start by scrubbing the food off."

Hyeji slightly raised her hand, "I can do the cleaning and stuff. Like putting soap and all that on them then rinsing."

"Then I guess I'll dry them all and put them away. Should we get started?" Minsoo asked. Hyeji and Eunha nodded, each of the girls walking over to the places they'd be able to complete their task.

Having three hands made everything a lot easier on the girls and quickened the process for them, which they were very thankful for.

They waited for Minsoo to finish putting away the rest of the dishes and finished cleaning up their working spaces from any excess water that had got anywhere.

With tired sighs, their feet led them back to the media room. They each fell onto their couches, their legs aching from standing for so long.

The room was silent as they all rested for a moment, each of them up for the idea of a nap right about now although they knew it wasn't allowed.

Their bodies all flinched at the sound of the door opening once again. Their eyes darted open, looking to see who was coming inside.

Nurse Lee smiled seeing the three girls together and stepped inside of the room, "sorry to interrupt, girls. I just wanted to stop by and borrow Eunha for a moment."

The youngest out of the three girls stood, following Nurse Lee out of the room and to the conference area away from everyone else.

They both took seats across from one another, Nurse Lee holding a clipboard as she scribbled some things down after studying Eunha for a second.

"So," she began, grasping the clipboard with both of her hands as she looked at the younger girl, tilting her head for a second as she moved her black bangs out of her eyes. "I'm sure you're wondering why I brought you in here. Don't worry, everyone has come in here after they've arrived, it's just standard procedure."

Eunha nodded, trying her best to smile but not committing to it, her lips forming a small curve as she digested her nerves.

"So, Eunha, how are feeling after arriving here? How's your sleeping schedule, the food, how's everyone treating you, you know, just the standard stuff you guys do every day now?"

Eunha relaxed a bit, beginning to answer the adult. "I'm sleeping fine. I still get up a bit early, though."

"Because of your school schedule, I presume?" Nurse Lee asked, writing something down while Eunha nodded.

"The food is okay. I've never been much a big eater. Everyone here for the most part has been nice," she paused thinking if it'd be best to tell her about the attitude Minju had been giving her.

She goes against it, something in her gut telling her it's not worth it.

Nurse Lee nods, "and the pills? Have you had any recent hallucinations?"

She freezes for a second thinking about what landed her in Neo House. She knew they weren't hallucinations. What she saw.. was real.

She reaches upward towards her neck to grasp the gold amulet on her necklace. She rubs it to soothe herself while she momentarily thinks of what to say.

Just like before there was a feeling in her gut telling her to just say what the nurse probably wanted to hear.

So she nods. Nurse Lee smiles, writing something down.

→ ♕

okay so i originally wanted to finish this book on jisung's birthday but i feel like that's rushing it way too fast cause there are 70 chapters of this book and his birthday is like in a week so i'm just gonna go back to one update at a time. hopefully anyone reading this doesn't mind and also if ur wondering, i did unpublish a few chapters that are going to be uploaded as days progress