Notes From The Sea ✓

P R O L O G U E

He knew that. Yet, that feeling never disappeared.

Then there were the myths, of course. Those stories all over the internet and written down in books.

Some claimed that it was real, that they existed.

And with 'they,' Jeongguk had found himself engrossed in tales of half fish- half human beings.

Most declared those people to be insane, absolutely foolish to believe some fairytale creatures were swimming around in this world.

"Avert your eyes from those books and look up, back into actuality you must get. There are no such living entities swimming around in our backyard."

That's what half of them claims, wanting to roll their eyes at the mere consideration to differ.

Then there's the other half, gladly believing in such things. Jeongguk considered himself to be part of that.

Whenever he was free from his work duties, he captured tons of pictures of the sea, printed them out and stuck them to his bedroom walls.

Jeongguk takes great joy in believing in the opposite of reality; the thought of something new, an unfound and hidden world, caused sparks to course through his veins. It gave him a rush, a temporary way out of his depressing thoughts.

His life was frustratingly simple. Every day was the same, over and over again. But those myths kept him busy, entertaining him by consuming every ounce of his attention span, triggering his philosophical mind.

Since he didn't have many people to consider friends, he wasn't occupying himself by going out either. That only gave his imagination more time to think about his fantasies.

His closest and pretty much only friend, was the astounding guy named Kim Seokjin.

The eighteen-year-old met the said guy right after he got kicked out of his parents' house. Standing on the road with his suitcase, shivering from the cold of the night, an unknown, yet what soon appeared to be a very nice and social guy walked up to him to give him his jacket.

That nice guy introduced himself as Kim Seokjin, a twenty-year-old who was living the happy single life, not bothering about anyone who asked him out -which happened quite often- since he wanted to focus on himself first.

Jeongguk felt an instant connection to Seokjin. He was safe, feeling one hundred percent welcome. He was the very first friend he had made in years, since he had always been keen on putting his grades above friendships so his future would be a lot more determined, as it would have a stable fundament to build up on.

Of course Jeongguk couldn't avoid the obvious question "Do you want to tell me what happened?" after Seokjin caught him standing there, having no clue on what to do with tears cascading down his rosy cheeks and red nose.

He had explained to him every single thing, not seeming to be able to stop oversharing details to the man since he finally was able to pour it all out.

He quickly learned that Seokjin is a very compassionate and understanding guy.  The both of them had stood there for hours, talking in the middle of the freezing night. Seokjin had comforted him until he felt remotely okay again, he couldn't possibly have been more grateful. Especially, once he had offered a safe humble abode, insisting that Jeongguk should come with him.

He knew he shouldn't; Jeongguk really knew. Not that Seokjin was a creep who gave off eerie vibes─ but because of the fact that he couldn't possibly live off of him.

Eventually, he had agreed to come with him regardless. He went through his options, but since he realised that he didn't have any and Seokjin was literally his only hope, he had followed suit.