The Boy with Ocean Eyes

5: Encounter

Hoseok awoke to the familiar ticking of the pendulum clock. It sounded just as comforting as always and could have easily soothed him back to sleep if not for the bright sun shining through the open window. From the window, the smell of ocean air and fresh baked goods travelled to Hoseok's nose once again. He had only been conscious in Seokjin's house for about two days now and it already seemed so familiar.

The night before when Hoseok had been out while a ship docked, he had decided that it was unnecessary for him to stay at the docks. He had been wondering who was aboard the ship, though he figured he may get in the way by standing nearby or even get into trouble with Yoonah if she found out about him staying out late at night.

He could find out later who the occupants of the ship were.

Then that night after he'd returned to Seokjin's home, he was greeted by the man himself. He still looked at him suspiciously as if he knew Hoseok was hiding something, though he never said anything, only ushered him up the stairs to the bed he'd slept in before. Seokjin even made sure Hoseok had a glass of water on the little bedside table before leaving him be and walking back down the staircase.

Hoseok had heard the quiet slide of the front door opening and multiple hushed voices followed, the owners of which he could only assume were Seokjin, Yoongi and Namjoon. It wasn't long after catching bits and pieces of the hushed conversation that Hoseok had drifted off to sleep. Now he sat up in bed, having entirely forgotten any words he'd heard the night before.

A yawn floated up from his mouth and he stretched out his limbs, trying to wake himself up from his restful slumber. Downstairs he could hear a jumble of voices, all of which sounded rather awake and energized. He wished he could be that energized, but it was much too early in the morning for that and he still wasn't entirely accustomed to his body.

The gently ticking clock on the wall showed that it was fifteen minutes past eight in Roman numerals, though Hoseok couldn't understand the clock. He could read the numbers, but it still made no sense to him.

It took a few minutes for Hoseok to get the sleep out of his eyes. He slipped out of bed and stretched again, only then noticing a change of clothes for him atop the small stool in the corner of the room. Yoonah must have put them there while he had been asleep. He smiled softly and silently thanked her before quickly changing into the clean and tear-free outfit.

Only a moment later, Hoseok was bounding down the stairs, as energetically as he usually was after properly waking up. Most of the heads in the room turned towards him at the sound of his bare feet padding down the steps. He smiled softly at them all and greeted them with a good morning which was promptly returned.

His eyes scanned the small crowd of people as he skipped down the steps, only to come to a halt on the last one. He recognized one of the two new faces that he'd just caught a quick glimpse of in his peripheral. Though he quickly shook his head as the man turned away. It was impossible, he had never met the man before and therefore couldn't possibly recognize him.

Hoseok finished his trek towards the dining area and seated himself beside Yoonah at the low table where he was served a simple breakfast that looked and smelled divine. How did one make such wondrous meals out of the simplest of ingredients? That was a question that stuck in Hoseok's mind every time he'd eaten one of Seokjin's home cooked meals.

He was two bites into his breakfast when he noticed someone sit down on the opposite side of the table. A blue, ceramic teapot was lifted up off the surface of the table and tipped over to fill a matching teacup with a translucent tea that smelled faintly of seaweed. At the same time the teapot was set back down, Hoseok took a third bite of food before looking up at who had just poured the tea.