Where the sea sleeps [HoonHao] ✔

26

The door to medbay creaks open, Mingyu's head peeking in. A quizzical look crosses his face as his eyes take in the three of them. Since their conversation, they haven't left. Woozi took a seat on the bed, staring blankly at the ground while Joshua went to rest on the other one. All the while, Hoshi stood near one of the cabinets quietly.

"Is everything okay?" Mingyu asks aloud when none of them turn his way. "What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing. We were actually about to come down," Hoshi responds cheerily. Far too cheerfully for the conversation they just had. Woozi finds it remarkable that he's able to switch his emotions like a switch. It would definitely be an effective skill to have.

Mingyu's face fills with relief. "Great. 'Cause the food is done."

They start to move when Hoshi stops, turning around to look at Woozi who hasn't moved along with them. He shoots him a questioning look to which Woozi lifts his wrists in the air. "Need to change the bandages," he says. "Covered in paint."

Seeming to understand, Hoshi nods and steps out. He's just gotten up and found the bandages when the door opens again, Dino walking in. He walks over to the cabinet, eyes shifting over to Woozi who groans softly in his struggle to wrap the new bandages around his wrist. With a smile, Dino approaches him, hands held out to offer assistance. Knowing he's not going to be winning on his own any time soon, he accepts gratefully. Every time he watches Dino work his way around the medbay, it only makes him realize how much he belongs in the position he's in. Anywhere else and in any other position, he doesn't think it would work out as well.

"Dino," he starts, words slipping past his lips before he can so much as grasp that he has done it. Dino looks up and he has no other choice but to continue. "May I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, sure." His smile brightens curiously. "What's up?"

"Do you know who I am?"

Startled. It's the best way to describe his expression at that moment. Startled, which means he either knows something or he genuinely has no idea why he's being asked. "Why—"

"You told me not to take these off," he cuts him off smoothly. Any possible lies or excuses that could have followed being cut off with it. "No matter what. So, I ask again, do you know who I am?"

"I have an idea," he admits after a moment.

"But you cannot tell me."

With a shake of a head, Dino confirms his suspicions. His brows crease apologetically, and he's about to say something, maybe apologize, but Woozi doesn't want to hear it. So rather than hearing it, he smiles politely.

"Thank you for your assistance. I should be going."

"Are you not going to eat anything?"

"I am not entirely up for it. I am not hungry, so it is okay," he assures softly. With a final greeting to Dino, he makes his way out. Going up to the upper deck and climbing up to the watchtower. When he lands, he freezes on the spot as he catches sight of Minghao seated on the floor, back against the wood and head tilted up to the sky.

There are two plates of food rested on either leg. When he looks up, he's got the faintest of smiles across his face. "I figured you'd come up here." With one hand, he gestures to the plates. Woozi has no idea how on earth he could have gotten them up here, but he doesn't ask.

Sitting down, he accepts the plate Minghao offers him and murmurs a soft thank you. He's almost ready to take a bite when Minghao stands up and looks like he's going to leave. Of course, he didn't want to eat alone, and maybe that's what prompts him to speak up. "Would you care to eat with me?"

"Are you sure?"

"I would greatly appreciate it."

That's all the convincing he seems to need as he sits down beside him and starts eating. They eat together in silence, but it's all the company he needs. He's glad Minghao showed up here because he was hungrier than he cared to admit. He only told Dino he didn't want to because he wasn't sure he could sit with Hoshi and Joshua at the moment. Peeking over at Minghao, he recalls the thing he remembered back in the bakery.

"How old are you?"

"Me?" Surprise is audible in his tone; it's probably the last question he expected Woozi to ask. "I'm twenty-three."

Woozi hums in thought. Lifting his head, he looks up to the sky. "Back in town, Seungkwan asked me." He pauses, glancing over at Minghao. "I am twenty-four."

The surprise that had been in his tone shifts through to his expression. "You remember your age?"

"It is all I can remember," he admits.

"Yeah, but at least it's something. Age can tell us a lot about the lives we lived." He's murmuring softly.

"I do not—" He doesn't have a chance to finish as he's cut off.

"You lived a tough life, but somehow you're still going." He gestures with a hand to Woozi's face. "Can see it in your eyes too. It's usually a great combination to be able to know the life people lived."

For a long moment, he processes the words. He contemplates the thoughts that have been hiding out in his mind since he woke on the little rowboat. Lips pursed, he looks up for a moment, watching the sea as it flows smoothly. Finally, his lips pull tightly to his cheeks, still pressed tightly together and he turns to Minghao.

"May I tell you something?"

"Yeah, go for it," Minghao encourages softly. He looks expectant; a look Woozi knows will disappear as soon as he says what he's thinking.

"I do not think I am meant to be alive."