ʟᴀ ᴄᴏꜱᴛᴀ | ɴᴄᴛ ✔️

Chapter 3: New Neighbor

Taeyong showed you around the abandoned resort, allowing you to get acquainted with the many facilities it offers.

All the while, you felt a weird sense of disorientation. And it didn't help the fact that wherever you went with Taeyong, there would be either a pair, a group, or a single boy giving you a look that you couldn't quite decipher.

Not only did it annoy you, but it also made you uncomfortable to a certain extent, almost like an invasion of privacy.

"Do your boys have anything else better to do?" You finally drew attention to the trio by the pool, all of their eyes glued on you and Taeyong, but mostly you.

Taeyong, preoccupied with a notebook in his hand, turned back to look at you for a moment. "Excuse them. Like I told you, it's been a while since we had a girl at our camp."

"Doesn't change the fact that it's still rude..."

"Hmm, you are right about that." Taeyong looked over at the boys who were still staring in your direction. "You're all making her uncomfortable. Don't you have anything else to do?"

His eyes narrowed at the three, and one of them scrambled to come up with words to say.

"S-Sorry, Tae..."

"Jungwoo, where's Yuta? I want him to show Y/N where she'll be staying..."

"He left this morning with Jaehyun and Johnny. They said they were gonna go check the animal traps they set up last week..."

"I can show her; I don't mind." Another one of the boys spoke up.

"Alright, good." Taeyong turned to face you. "He's gonna take you to the hotel and show you around a bit. If you need anything from me, let me know, okay?"

"Got it..."

"Hey, Y/N, right?" The boy approached you with a slight smile on his face. "I'm Jaemin."

"Nice to meet you, I guess..."

"So, you're the one Chenle brought back with him?" He tilts his head, observing you and your stance. "You don't look like a troublemaker..."

"Because I'm not." You groaned lowly. "I don't know how many times I have to explain that before y'all get it..."

"Alright, alright, don't mean to make you upset." He chuckled a little. "That's just the story he told us earlier."

"Well, he lied." You tell him, following him inside the hotel building. "Taeyong can tell you; it was a misunderstanding."

"I guess that makes sense, seeing as he didn't kill you outright like he normally would've..."

"Normally would've?" You repeated him.

"Yeah, Chenle didn't tell you? Taeyong's cold-blooded," Jaemin explained. "Most of the guys around here are scared of him, but I'd like to think it's mostly out of respect."

"That's...hard for me to believe..." You shook your head, not knowing how to take in what he told you.

"Fine then, you don't have to believe me. Go ahead and ask him yourself if you want..." He shrugged, pulling out a carton of cigarettes and shaking it.

"Gotta warn you, though. Taeyong gets a little...annoyed when people pry into his business."

If it weren't for the way he worded it, you wouldn't have felt so uneasy about Jaemin's statement. But his words were slowly starting to eat at you, it soon being something you couldn't take your mind off of.

~~~~

"Alright, this is your room." Jaemin pointed to a closed door to your left labeled 303. "It's not much, but it's still something."

"I'll take whatever I can get at this point." You shrugged, twisting the doorknob open to take a look inside the room.

He was right – the room was indeed bare, though you could instantly spot a clean bed, a desk, a bedside lamp, and a small wardrobe.

"I'll let you get settled in. Whenever you're ready, come outside, and I'll introduce you to everyone. Sound good?"

"Yeah, okay." You nod. "Thanks..."

He smiled at you before turning to walk down the hall, leaving you to set your backpack down on the bed.

You zipped it open and began taking out your belongings and stowing them away in your provided drawers, and then you felt your fingers brush against something metal.

You pulled your hand from inside the backpack, only to see a gold locket dangling from your fingertip, and you smiled since you knew exactly what it was.

One of the girls in your group got them for all of you at the start of the apocalypse. So, just in case anything happened to the ten of you, you'd have something to remember each other by.

The tiny photograph inside the locket made you smile even more, being that it was all ten of you at a state carnival with bright grins on all of your faces.

But your little sentimental moment was then cut short by a voice exclaiming from behind you.

"Well, hello there, neighbor!"

That voice sounded all too familiar to you – you didn't even have to fully turn around to know that it was Chenle, standing at your door with a sly smirk on his face.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me..."

"Aww, why you gotta look like that?" He faked a pout.

"...You're really fucking asking this now?" You asked him in an abnormally calm tone. "Don't act like you weren't just shit-talking me earlier..."

"Oh, that...?" He chuckled. "W-Well, that was before I knew Tae cleared you. All water under the bridge now, right?"

You blinked, clearly more than confused, and you made eye contact with a brunette boy standing behind him. "Is he always this quick to let shit go?"

"Believe it or not, yeah." He chuckled back.

"Come on, why not start on a new slate, huh?" Chenle stretched his hand out to you. "I won't get in your way, and you won't get in mine, deal?"

You stared at his hand for a moment before looking back up at his face, the expression he held being almost genuine, and sighed.

"Fine." You grabbed his hand and shook it firmly.

"Awww, look at you two hatching shit out!" You heard Jaemin laugh.

"So you knew I was gonna be on the same floor as him and said nothing?"

To this, the boy shrugged his shoulders. "In all honesty, I wanted to see how this played out. Glad it went well. Now I don't owe Jeno ten bucks."

Your eyes widened. "What the fuck are y'all doing placing bets in an apocalypse? Money is useless now – you know that, right?"

"True, but now I'm ten bucks richer than all of you, so ha." Jaemin stuck out his tongue in a playful manner, turning to walk away once again. "I'll be downstairs, Y/N!"

"What's he waiting on you for?" Chenle asked.

"I'm afraid that doesn't concern you." You nudged the two boys out of your doorframe. "Now go. I have to finish unpacking..."

"Jesus..." The boy behind him laughed. "You never said she was this tense, Chenle..."

"Holy fucking shit." You scoffed. "Do I have to pull out my knife for you two to get outta here?"

"Alright, alright! We'll leave, goddamn!" Both of the boys laughed. "Have fun unpacking!" Chenle bid his goodbye to you with the brunette trailing behind him.

You sighed, this time shutting your door and locking it to make sure no one else would intrude while you finished putting away your belongings.

~~~~