When Jongin is startled awake, it is nearing evening, the sun creeping closer to the edge of the world; he glances around, disoriented, and finds no trace of SeHun on the cot's sheets.

He pushes himself up; wincing as his foot starts feeling like it was being pricked with imaginary needles. He limps to a wall and starts feeling it through, heart skipping a beat as he feels for the slight protrusion of the light switch.

He flips the switch on, breathing a sigh of relief when the scant illumination settles over the room. 

"Sehun?" he calls tentatively, and there's no response. His stomach grumbles and he bites his lip, ignoring his suddenly voracious appetite.

He goes out of the warehouse, blinking a little to let his eyes adjust to the darkness. The wind is cold and tasted like salt when it brushed against his face, and he sits at the edge where the land cut off into the roiling waves of the sea.

He ignores the cold, transfixed at the movement of the water from far away, one wave toppling into another until it disappeared into belying calmness. The sun is bright, burning red, its reflection making the sea a crimson canvas.

He doesn't know how long he sat there, sitting in the silence, until a voice barks out,

"Are you ing stupid?"

Jongin lazily turns, and sees SeHun standing a few meters away, mouth set in a thin line. Even in the distance Jongin could sense the slight undercurrent of anger running through SeHun's thin form. 

"You have a death wish." SeHun mutters, levelling him with a look that confuses Jongin for a brief moment before SeHun's face melts into impassiveness once again.

"I don't." he says, and SeHun ignores his response, walking purposely inside the warehouse. Jongin follows him, idly matching footstep for footstep until he's under the false sunlight of the light bulb once again.

He stands out of SeHun's way, watching the latter retrieve the bowl he'd used earlier, spilling the warm soup inside.

There's that strange feeling that washes over him as he twists his fingers together; it's only after SeHun has taken his first sip of the warm stew that Jongin recognizes the feeling as deja vu.

True enough, SeHun takes only a few more bites before he arranges his utensils over the bowl of half full rice.

SeHun walks the short distance from the table to his bed, and with almost careless grace, fits himself within the warmth of his blankets.

Jongin waits for SeHun's breathing to ease into calm and collected sleep; and minutes later, when the wrinkles forming on SeHun's face disappear into the canvas of his pale skin, Jongin smiles.


 

Jongin props himself lazily on his side, crinkling an eye open.

With a muffled groan he twists away from where the sun was blinding him with its radiance, curling in a fetal position.

Sehun's bed is empty and rumpled in what probably had been his fitful sleep; with a yawn, Jongin pulls himself from where he's been lying at the foot of the bed before burrowing into the sheets, pressing his face into the pillow where SeHun's scent was emanating.

He drifts off into dreamland.




 

In what seems like hours or minutes, Jongin wakes up, wide awake.

He rolls to his back and stares at the ceiling listlessly, counting the small holes of the roof from where the sun was slipping through.

He counts up to twenty-four before he loses interest and he sits up, rubbing the sleep off his eyes.

It must have been mid morning, and with his sporadic sleep he felt entirely too rested, energy bustling through his veins, despite his lack of food intake.

Quickly he gets to his knees, making the bed to the best that he could, smoothing out the wrinkles and fluffing the pillow.

He glances around and sees the minimum spattering of dust covering various boxes or surfaces. Jongin rummages through the boxes until he spots an old, tattered cloth, and feverishly, he begins cleaning the place, wiping down the surfaces until they look good as new.

He pulls the cloth covering the makeshift table, and with clumsy hands, washes out the stains and hangs it out to dry under the heat of the sun; he arranges the SeHun's clothes, folding them neatly from when they've been rumpled carelessly and thrown into the box. After a moment's decision he washes the dishes again, and he brushes the floor with an old broom, clearing it of dust. He valiantly ignores the watering of his eyes and continues clearing the ceiling from cobwebs or dust, until he's pink from exertion, sweat flushing his face.


By the time he finishes his self induced chores, it's mid afternoon, and his stomach was grumbling ruthlessly, punishing him for his inattention.

Dimly, he bites his lip, glancing around furtively. He feels stupid, because no one was around and no one was berating him if he wanted to leave for a while.

So he goes, instead; he circumnavigated the area until he spots a rundown store, and with a cry of relief he buys a few crackers from his measly currency, taking small bites and washing them down with water until the ache of huger subsides. 


He ignores the storeowner's persistent questions about his identity, resolutely turning his back and going from where he came. 

He counts three warehouses before he spots the tablecloth waving merrily with the wind, and he runs to it, feeling it with his fingers. With a satisfied grunt he pulls the now dry cloth from where he hung it, arranging it carefully on the table.

A shuffling sound breaks his concentration, and Jongin turns. He sees SeHun, who raises an eyebrow at the suddenly cleaner room, but he doesn't comment.

Instead, arranges the food he had on the table to the way he preferred it, and he began eating.

Jongin coughs. "I... Thanks. I fixed some stuff here and I went around for a while---"

The spoon clatters loudly against the bowl, and Jongin clamps his mouth shut. 

And suddenly, he hears SeHun exhale.

"Do whatever you want.”

He continues eating, and Jongin releases the breath he was unaware he was holding.







Over the span of the few days Jongin notices a routine.

SeHun doesn't tell him to leave, nor does he purposely acknowledge Jongin's presence. He wasn't antagonistic though; and Jongin accepts it as SeHun's way of seeing him as a kindred spirit.

SeHun disappears during the morning and Jongin spends the day cleaning the place, or leisurely strolling through the docks until he's memorized the vicinity.

Sometimes Jongin remembers the past of not so long ago, creeping at the edges of his mind, and when he starts feeling the depression sinking in, Jongin starts moving, keeping his mind busy enough to forget death and tears and pain and curses and screaming and bile and vomit, sadness and denial and all the baggage that death came with.

Sometimes it doesn't work, and sometimes he sinks deep enough that he resurfaces only hours later, shocked to feel the wetness on his cheeks.

Sometimes he's unaware that he's been crying.

SeHun returns during lunch, bringing food enough for one but always leaving enough for Jongin to eat; and after a brief moments' respite he leaves again in a flurry of clothes, smelling of sweat and hard labor. Jongin tries to ignore curiosity as she tempts with sweet perfume scented fingers and a pretty tinkling laugh;  he's  determined not to stick his nose in SeHun's business.

It was enough that he was a freeloader already.






A day past two weeks Jongin wakes up to the sound of clothes rustling.
Blearily he peeks one eye open and he sees SeHun stuffing things into his bag. He pretends to continue sleeping, almost falling back into the fogs of his dreams when he's jerked awake by the sound of the door shutting.

Dimly Jongin wonders why he's never been woken up by it before. Finding no explanation forthcoming he pushes the thought aside and he rids his eyes of the crusts of sleep, yawning all the while.

He's still fuzzy with the dredges of sleep when he entertains the thought of following SeHun around.

Just once, he thinks, and eagerly he goes through the idea, fixing things in a hurry as he tries to catch up to SeHun. 

When he's out, the sun is barely up, tantalizingly spreading rosy rays of warmth into the blue skies. SeHun is nowhere to be found, and Jongin surmises his direction, breathing a sigh of relief when SeHun's figure graces his vision. 

He's very far, just a mesh of colors and prints and shadows, but it's enough and Jongin tails him, keeping far behind so as not to arouse suspicion.

Minutes later, SeHun ventures into territory unknown to Jongin, and the latter creeps closer, not eager to lose sight of SeHun.

The place was another part of the harbor, the commercialized area where there was rapid flurry of activity from people going to and fro, retrieving their luggage, and people loading baggage unto boats.

To his surprise, SeHun is greeted warmly by the men, some tapping SeHun on his back as he laughs, going past laboring backs and muscles stretched tightly over skin till he reaches the edge of the area where luggage was balanced precariously over each other, waiting to be settled.

With a wince SeHun lifts one bag to his back, seemingly too big for his slight frame, but he soldiers on until the property is settled on the boat. Repeatedly he does this until the sun is high up in the clouds and the workers were starting to sweat with the effort.

Jongin sits a ways away, making himself comfortable. He was far enough to be inconspicuous, so it is to his amazement when hours later, he's tapped smartly over the shoulder by a menacing looking man.

Jongin gasps in surprise, and the man raises an eyebrow.

"Think I wouldn't spot you slacking off, would you?" he says.

Jongin shakes his head weakly. "I---"

"No excuses!" the man's voice booms over the cacophony. "Get back to work!"

"But---"

Jongin is pushed into the fray, and the protest dies down his throat when Sehun's head wheels in his direction.

He waves weakly, heart pounding in his ears, thoughts careening in his brain. Sehun was going to be mad, he was going to boot him out and he had nowhere else to go--

SeHun just tilts his head at him minutely before going back to his work, effectively ignoring Jongin.

For some reason, Jongin feels rebuffed, even as cold relief settles over him.

"Are you going to spend the day like that?" the man demands. He gestures to another set of cargo still untouched, away from SeHun's general direction. "Transport those!"

Jongin nods quickly, scurrying away and doing as the man asked, even as confusion settles in his mind. Still, he had something to do now, and he pushes aside the thoughts starting to form in his mind.

He heaves.

Hours and hours later, Jongin wipes the sweat off his brow, satisfied. The pile was gone, safely nestled in the boat's cargo hold, and smugly he thinks about what he has accomplished, all by himself.

Stretching, he looks around, watching the other workers talking to each other as they start fixing up, making themselves presentable.

To his dismay, SeHun is nowhere to be found. Mouth open in disbelief, he approaches a worker, tapping him on the shoulder. The man turns with a raised eyebrow, taking in his flushed, sweaty face. "What is it, kid?"

"Have you seen SeHun?"

The man laughs, not unkindly. "The brat? He must have gone home."

Jongin frowns, but thanks the man nonetheless. He walks, circling the area, a bit miffed and apprehensive of Sehun leaving him.

He can't have been that mad, can he?

Jongin's thoughts circled loosely on the idea of SeHun turning him away, so it's only after a few calls of his name does he spin around, disoriented.

He squints, the afternoon's brightness forcing him to place a hand over his eyes in order to see better.

When his eyes focus on the figure he sees, Jongin feels a smile creeping into his face.

Sehun was standing a few meters away from him, arms crossed.

"Are you going to roam around here all day?" the other asks him, before turning around, not bothering to wait for his reply.

Jongin smiles wider, before running, catching up to SeHun, walking by his side.

 

-----

I'm so, so sorry for the long wait TT

Like always, please read and comment! :)