Doom, Death, and Destruction (A Tale of Superpowered BTS)

chapter 16

  Hoseok kicked the gravel as he walked along the streets of the small fishing community. His lips were twisted, unsure what to say. Namjoon walked beside him, just as quiet. The two boys may have been the same age, but they were just as awkward as if they were decades apart in age. "How are you expecting to find some amazing smuggler with just a glance."

  Namjoon clenched his teeth and shoved his hands in his pant pockets. Yeah, he definitely hadn't thought of that.

  "Well? Are you just going to summon a boat wizard? Or perhaps scream at the top of your lungs that you are a meta, how about that? Sound good?" Hoseok scoffed at Namjoon's silence. He couldn't respect the former lab assistant, Namjoon just had nothing to  him. He was easy to push around, he found it hard to respect someone as washy as Namjoon.

  "Leave it, I'll figure it out as we go." Namjoon hissed through his teeth, feeling anxiety with every word out of his mouth.

  "Sure. I'll leave it." Hoseok shook his head instead looked around the streets. His eyes found every food stall around. He licked his lips with every wafting scent of boiling seafood.

  "We don't have money." Namjoon shook his head, not needing to look at what Hoseok was seeing to guess what he wanted. "We will get there, then we can eat." He stepped onto the wooden steps that would take them down to the docks and he scanned the boats as he walked down the steps. He identified each boat and tried to match each boat with its owner.

  "Slaveworker." Hoseok drawled dryly. He watched as Namjoon's face contorted into a guilty look of frustration. He wouldn't deny that reaction made him feel better about himself. Namjoon ran his thumb along his lips as he stared down the owners of the boats. He blanked out to the world as he calculated how likely they were to help. "What are you doing?" Hoseok shuddered recognizing the look as the same type Siwon had when he looked them over.  "What's necessary." Namjoon mumbled. He didn't notice the horrified look that flashed across Hoseok's face, or think that his words could be misinterpreted.

  "I know what you need." Namjoon spun around, his hands clutched a bearded throat as he pushed the stranger into a tree. At first glance the man was unimpressive, at second glance he was even less so. The man under Namjoon's hand had a weathered face, etched with salt induced wrinkles. His clothes were tattered and had stains from wading through the kelp filled water. The hair was matted and dried into wisps collected into a messy bun, clearly done for convienience rather than fashion. Remarkably, he was extremely unconcerned with the hand clasped around his throat.

  "Who are you?" Hoseok growled out, glaring at the older man in front of them. It unnerved him that Namjoon could move so well. He could never let himself forget that Namjoon was a trained fighter just like Jimin and Taehyung. He wasn't allowed in the lab without experience in fighting. However, he could never show it. He could never like Namjoon see any weakness, he could not trust him.

  "I am the boatkeeper." The mans dried out lips crinkled into a smile as he looked at the two boys. "I traffic metas to the asylum. Come with me, we can talk." His calloused fingers wrapped around Namjoon's wrist as he moved the confused boys hand away from his throat.

  "We are not metas." Namjoon said slowly, lifting his eyes to meet the man in front of him.

  "Yes, yes. But you still seek their asylum do you not? Come with me, I will give you supper and we can talk about this." He started walking down the steps towards the docks, not bothering to look behind him. If the children did not follow him, it didn't matter.

  "I will not go." Namjoon sucked in a breath and held it, letting it weigh on his chest. He could not trust that man, he couldn't trust anyone. If he had to he would steal a boat and take it to island with his friends, but he would not follow a strange old man into his home and break bread as if they were long lost friends.

  "Fine, but I am going. We came to find a way, it's our duty to peruse anything that comes our way." Hoseok said with a challenging glare. "But if you aren't willing to do what is right then whatever, do what you like. I knew you weren't strong enough for this. You try and act like a leader, but you are not willing to do what it takes."

  "Fine." Namjoon grabbed Hoseok's collar and glared at him. "I'll act like that kind of leader, and we'll see how it turns out." He used his hold to push Hoseok away then he followed after the old man.

  "I'll act like that kind of leader," Hoseok mocked as he glared at Namjoon's back. He had found the words that made Namjoon do what he wanted, and he was going to use them however he could. He didn't know why mentioning being a leader got Namjoon riled up, but it worked. He wouldn't begrudge the results. If he were honest, it would be best if they didn't follow the man, but this was the best chance they had. Even if the man worked for Primatech, he could get them where they needed to go.

  They followed him along the docks until they came to an old run down hut sitting haphazardly on a strip of beach. The wood was coloured from the constant abuse of the sun and ocean, and the place looked ready to collapse from the amount of floods and wind it had been attacked by.

  "Nice place." Hoseok said dryly as he followed the other two into the hut. His eyes ran along the walls. Everything was covered in different supplies for repairing boats, that and fishing supplies. The hut smelt like guts and muddy water, no doubt from the floods, and there was a large pot sitting in the middle of the room boiling away.

  "What do you want?" Namjoon skipped all pleasantries, crossing his arms as the man stirred his pot.

  "I want to help." The middle-aged man laughed and looked closely at his pot, stirring until a fish head was pulled up with his spoon. Clicking his tongue the man picked flesh off the bone and stuck it in his mouth. "Good, good, its ready. I'll get the bowls!"

  "We are okay." Hoseok watched with disgust as the head of the fish slowly sank into the congee again, disappearing under kelp and rice.

  "How many of you am I taking over?" The man ignored Hoseok and spooned food into the bowls then passed it over to the boys, smiling and revealing wonderfully crooked teeth.
 
  "There are eight of us, we can squish if we have to." Hoseok shuddered as he stared at the warm bowl in front of him. It was repulsive. He liked fish sure, but he had doubts that the man had even gutted it before it was thrown into the soup like congee.
 
  "It doesn't matter how many of us there are." Namjoon said dryly as he shot Hoseok a look of disapproval. "What are you going to ask of us in return? There is no free meal in the world." He put the bowl down on the rickety table by the pot and stared the old man down seriously.

  "Such a suspicious kid." The man laughed heartedly and shook his head. "I have no place in the world, I am not looking for one. I like being without. I look only to help people that are trying to find their way. My name is Sung." Namjoon's eyebrow twitched in disbelief, he was positive that was a last name. "Let me take you over, and I will make sure everyone arrives safely."