into the unknown |t.k|

eleven

Pain. There is pain everywhere. Jeongguk shifts around on the sand with his eyes still closed. He can feel the warmth of the sun on his skin. 

"How long has it been?", he says to himself.

"Well, I don't know. But I was sure as hell you were dead. Thank god, you're not. You saved me a lot of work."

It was that voice. It was the voice that irritated Jeongguk to the core. He feels a strange weight on his-

"Legs! I have legs!"

Jeongguk tries to sit upwards, but his head comes into contact with something hard. He presses his hand to his forehead, glaring up at what hit him. 

"Was that a rock?"

"No, that was my head that you just hit. And yes, you have legs, you're naked, too."

He drapes something over Jeongguk legs. 

"What happened, are you okay? Do you remember anything?"

This was different than yesterday. Jeongguk squints up at Taehyung, wondering if he should pretend he doesn't know anything, or say he knows Taehyung, but then that might lead to an interrogation. 

Jeongguk doesn't want to be interrogated which might lead to him confessing what he's done and what he's willing to do.

Jeongguk shakes his head. 

"I don't remember what happened." 

He says slowly, pulling the clothing Taehyung draped over his body.

"Really?", Taehyung is worried. 

"Nothing at all? Were you fishing or anything?"

Jeongguk nods. 

"Something like that."

Taehyung scratches the back of his head, "You don't seem steady on your legs then. Is it okay if I carry you back to our house? I don't think they'll mind another person."

Jeongguk really doesn't know what else to think about except, that he's finally close to the human.

Taehyung reaches under Jeongguk's legs and his back. 

"Just throw your arms around my neck."

Jeongguk just nods his head again. Taehyung looks down at Jeongguk with apathetic eyes. 

"So, what's your name? Nevermind.", Taehyung mumbles the rest, looking straight ahead as he walks in the direction of his house.

He did remember what happened yesterday.

"My name is Jeongguk, I don't remember where I came from. But I only remember my name.", Taehyung nods this time, pursing his lips together.

"That's a nice name. I've never heard a name like that before. Oh right, my name is Taehyung. Kim Taehyung, I live around here and my family owns 'Breaking Waves'."

Jeongguk giggles.

Taehyung looks down at Jeongguk with a confused look, his left eyebrow raised. 

"Did you hit your head on a rock or something? What's funny?"

"You. Your looks are different from how you act."

"What do you mean? How would you know, you just met me." 

Taehyung laughs along with him. 

"I really do think you hit your head too hard on that rock."

Jeongguk doesn't know how long they've walked, he's been too engrossed in thinking about how he's already this close with Taehyung.

"Well, we're here. Why don't you go take a shower, I'll bring you some clothes." 

Taehyung leads Jeongguk to the restroom.

Taehyung sets Jeongguk into the bathtub carefully. The front part of his body is still covered by Taehyung's shirt. 

"Here you can wash off your body. I'll come back later."

Taehyung leaves the restroom, and Jeongguk is by himself. When Jeongguk believes that Taehyung is out of the bathroom, he covers his face with his hands, screaming into them. 

"Finally." 

He's finally with Taehyung, he's finally interacting with him after watching him from beyond the shores.

He takes back what he said about Taehyung being cruel or mean. If someone was mean, they wouldn't have taken him into their arms and used their human legs to bring them to their residence. 

He looks around the 'bathroom' as Taehyung referred to it. 

It was filled with bottles, and many more items that he doesn't even know the name of yet.

Jeongguk scoots closer to where his toes are. He hasn't had time to admire his new human legs. He traces his fingers over each individual phalanx. 

"It's bizarre." 

 He tries to wiggle them. 

"Peculiar, indeed!"

His hands then start to slide up his leg, from his calf up to his thighs where he rubs circles on them, then to the middle of his body where his tarse is. 

"This is the human sex organ." 

Jeongguk holds it in both hands, looking down at it with curious eyes. 

"This is how humans can have children." 

Jeongguk falls back to the tilled wall, raising his arms and legs into the air.

"Being human is incredible!", he yells at the top of his lungs.

Taehyung then barges back into the restroom with his arms full of clothes. 

"Why are you yelling? Is the water too cold?" 

Jeongguk shakes his head. 

"Oh wow, you didn't even turn on the water yet. Don't tell me you also forgot how to shower?"

Jeongguk nods his head. 

"How do you use this?" 

Taehyung groans, setting the clothes on the sink counter before walking toward the boy in the bathtub.

"Consider this, a life for a life." 

Jeongguk looks at him questioningly. 

"Right, you forgot that too. Okay, well. Here." 

Taehyung turns one of the two circular knobs. 

"This one on the left is for hot, this one on the right is cold. You move each one to get whatever temperature of water you want."

"How does this water feel, Jeongguk?"

Taehyung showers Jeongguk with the hand held removable showerhead. Jeongguk smiles up at him. 

"It feels nice, ticklish. I like it!" 

Taehyung nods, giving Jeongguk the shower.

"Okay, you finish up here then and get changed all your clothes are there. These are the shirts that I don't really wear anymore. I'm sure you'll fit in them. I'm going to go make food."

"Food?" 

Jeongguk's ears perk up, he's been waiting to eat human food also.

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind budae jjigae?" 

Jeongguk shakes his head.

"I want to try it!" 

Taehyung chuckles a bit.

"Alright, I'll be out here."