Chapter 8

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That night Jungkook woke up from yet another nightmare, gasping for air, his body burning up. This time he had been back in the ocean. The clawed hand pulling him under, those gray eyes staring straight at him. No emotion. No guilt. Just a blank face.

Struggling to breathe Jungkook sat up on his bed. His lungs felt worse again. Every breath hurt and it just didn't feel right. Still careful not to wake up the boy sleeping on the floor he tiptoed out of the room. He had to drink something. His throat was way too dry.

Slowly his breathing got better, but it still felt a bit off. Breathing was a bit harder than it should have been. Quickly he gulped down his water, his heart still racing in his chest. Once he was done he backed up against the counter, leaning against it with his full weight.

His body was hot, but at the same time he also felt cold. Maybe he should take his temperature. After all he had been put into absolutely fantastic conditions for catching a cold. First he had went for an unwanted swim. Then he had wandered through the night in soaked through clothing and even today he had been sitting by the beach for hours, not wearing anything but a t-shirt and two hoodies to keep his body warm.

Once again he startled when he looked up to find the boy standing there. Really had a great sense for his prey running away, hadn't he? Jungkook couldn't leave the room for more than three minutes without him noticing.

"I'm not feeling too well. I'm going to take my temperature." The boy looked confused but didn't say anything. How could he after all?

Jungkook moved over to the drawer and grabbed a thermometer from it. Then he sat down, feeling oddly dizzy. For now he just decided to ignore the boy because he really couldn't have cared less what he was doing. Jungkook really didn't feel all that great.

After clamping the thermometer between his arm and armpit he waited. Just closed his eyes and waited until the thing made a sound, informing him that it was done taking his temperature. Next to him he could hear the creature flinch and he couldn't help chuckling. So scary, but clearly not used to technology.

When he took a look at the thermometer, it clearly displayed thirty-nine degrees Celsius. He sighed. So yeah, he had a fever. Fucking great. What was he supposed to do now with the spawn of the devil in his home when in addition to that he was also sick?

Actually, for the most part... he should probably just go to sleep. After all that was what he needed the most right now. A warm bed and some more sleep, because it was three in the morning and he really couldn't keep his eyes open right now.

He turned to the guy, holding up the thermometer. The creature eyed it curiously. "I'm sick." Now the eyes were on him. At least they almost looked normal now, aside from their unnatural color. "I don't know if you even know what that means, but basically I'm really weak right now because I made my body go through something it wasn't supposed to go through – after all I almost drowned because of you – and now it's kind of in a bad state." Yeah, he was still angry. He knew that there was nothing to gain out of being mad at an emotionless creature, but at least he'd get some satisfaction out of it.

"And that means, if you'd be so kind to let me, I should get a lot of sleep and no... whatever you want to do. No drowning. Please no threatening because I really don't have the energy to deal with that right now." Wow, he really wouldn't be talking like this if his head wasn't as hazy as it was. But right now he just felt annoyed with this whole situation. The whole world for making him go through this. "I get it. You're scary. You don't have to prove it to me anymore."

The guy said absolutely nothing. Hey, at least he wasn't already killing Jungkook, so that was one good thing happening for a change. After closing his eyes one last time to gather his strength Jungkook got up. "I'll go to sleep now. Please don't wake me up."

With that he left. God, he was so dizzy. He really needed some more sleep and hopefully he would feel better then. If he didn't maybe he'd call... no, he couldn't call anyone here while the creature was still there. He couldn't endanger one of his friends. He'd have to get through this on his own.

Sighing he slipped into the bed. The boy followed after him, but he just stood still next to the bed, staring at him. Even though he felt uncomfortable, Jungkook forced himself to simply turn around and relax. It wasn't like it made any difference if the guy was staring. Jungkook was in constant danger of being killed. No matter if the creature was asleep or standing there.

He forced himself to slow down his breath and think of something else. The show he had recently watched. How it might continue. Anything that wasn't the creature standing next to him.

Finally he heard rustling as the guy laid back down. A soft sigh of relief slipped past his lips. He pulled the blanket up a little higher. Even though he felt so hot and sweaty underneath the sheets, he had to. Better too hot than too cold. Especially now that he was both at the same time.

After what had to be at least half an hour he finally drifted off, his head trying to wrap around what was going to happen next. He really had no idea.

When Jungkook woke up again it was to a hand on his shoulder. He almost had a heart attack when he opened his eyes only to find the boy's face only centimeters from his. Apparently also startled by Jungkook flinching away the boy quickly stood straight again.

Wow, he'd told him not to wake him up and of course that was what the guy did. But to Jungkook's surprise he hadn't just come to bother him. Instead he had a glass of water in his hand. That was... odd.

Confused he sat up, looking at the boy, who just stood there awkwardly. "Did you wake me up for a reason?" Jungkook asked, tilting his head to the side.

His lungs still felt weird but it wasn't as bad as it had been in the middle of the night. Instead of answering the boy pushed the glass into his direction. For a second Jungkook hesitated. What if he had poisoned it? He quickly tossed that thought out of the window. There seemed to be thousands of ways the creature could kill him. Why pick poisoning when he had already had so many chances to kill Jungkook?

Hesitantly he took a sip, instantly realizing how thirsty he had been. He gulped down the rest of the water and when he looked up, just for a second, it seemed like the guy was smiling. But he couldn't see it all too well since the other was leaning down and grabbing something from next to Jungkook's bed.

When the thing came into view Jungkook was simply confused. The boy pushed the glass of pickles into his hands and Jungkook just... stared at it, not sure what he wanted him to do with it. Then it hit him and for the first time since this whole ordeal had started he had to stop himself from laughing.

A creature had forced itself into his home, threatened to hurt or even kill him and now that he was sick it had brought him pickles for dinner. Jungkook just assumed he'd grabbed the first thing he had seen from his fridge to feed Jungkook.

Jungkook couldn't help but smile when he looked up. "Thank you." He wasn't going to eat those though. He didn't need to confuse his body any further.

When he sat up the boy instantly backed up from the bed. Wow, he really was being considerate, wasn't he? Maybe the speech Jungkook had held yesterday had finally reached him.

"I'll go cook some proper food. I feel a bit better right now so I'll make something to eat for both of us." He got up, feeling indeed better, even now that he was standing. He'd just make some food and go back to sleep afterwards. Quickest way of curing his body.

The boy followed him all the way to the kitchen, where Jungkook set down the glass with pickles and moved to go through his fridge to find out what he even had left in there... actually, maybe he was just going to make miso soup and order some food later. He still had some meat in the freezer that he could give to the boy.

When he turned around he found the boy staring at the glass of pickles. "I'm not eating those because they are not a proper meal."

The boy looked confused, so Jungkook went and grabbed the pickle jar and opened it. He fished out one of the pickles and went to hand it to the boy. "Here, try. You'll know what I mean."

For a second the boy seemed to hesitate. Then he took it, carefully inspecting it before taking a bite. Jungkook really had to hold back a laugh at the bewildered face the boy was making. He was pretty sure that nothing he'd gotten to eat, back in the middle of the ocean, had quite the unique taste of pickles.

"You understand now?"

The boy nodded and really, Jungkook couldn't help but laugh when he handed him the pickle, that disturbed expression still on his face. Like a child that had bitten into a vegetable expecting candy.

"I'll make us something better. Have you ever eaten soup?"

The boy shook his head. That had been somewhat expected. "Okay. I'll make some and if you don't manage to eat it just drink it."

About fifteen minutes later both the miso soup and the little bit of rice he had put into the cooker were done. The boy struggled quite a bit with his spoon, but it was his first time and he hadn't spilled anything onto the floor and that alone was quite the achievement.

For a second Jungkook even found himself rooting for the boy, but then he had to remind himself that he was bad and Jungkook had to dislike him. They ate in complete silence since the creature still didn't speak and Jungkook didn't have the energy to. Instead he quickly gulped down all of his soup to warm his stomach and then started eating the rice with some kimchi on top.

When he was done he got up, explaining that he was going back to bed. The one thing that could really prove that Jungkook was sick was whenever he could stay asleep throughout the day. He usually never fell asleep during the day, so when his body hit the mattress and he felt like he was going to doze off he knew that this was far from over.

The next time Jungkook woke up it was already dark outside. His fever seemed to have risen again and he felt worse. His chest was burning and his body covered in sweat. When he looked around he realized that the boy wasn't there. Wow, this had to be the first time since he'd almost drowned that the boy wasn't monitoring him.

Careful not to get dizzy again in the process he sat up and grabbed his phone. It was nine pm. He'd really slept through most of the day. That was why his stomach was growling now. He felt like it was an empty hole.

He got up and made his way to the kitchen. There he found the boy sitting by the table, his legs crossed, the weird scales back on his legs again. This time Jungkook could see more of them because of the sweatpants though, there actually were quite a few patches full of black scales. The creature was reading a book. If he could read at least. If not he was just staring at the pages.

When he heard Jungkook enter he looked up, tilting his head. It almost felt like a question. Jungkook just assumed it was one about his well being, though he doubted that the creature actually cared.

"I feel a bit worse again, but I think sleeping was good for me. I'll order food for the evening so... don't get scared when someone rings the doorbell. And I'll have to talk to them."

To his relief the boy nodded.

Jungkook slipped into the living room and of course the boy followed him. He sat down on the couch next to him and Jungkook couldn't help getting distracted by the scales. They looked a bit different from a fish's scales. Sharper. The shape was slightly different too.

He forced himself to look away. It felt wrong to stare, although that was what the boy was continuously doing to him. Instead he turned on the TV and to his surprise the boy didn't seem too confused by that. Okay, so he knew TVs too... Jungkook still had no idea how the boy had gathered the knowledge he seemed to have of humans and how it was so... lacking.

Realizing he'd need more than the thin sofa cover he got up and went to grab his actual blanket and his pillow from the bedroom. Back on the couch he put on some series on Netflix he sometimes used to pass his time but wasn't all that invested in.

Next to him the boy put the book aside and started watching too, seemingly curious. Although it was kind of useless, Jungkook paused and gave a quick summary of what had happened so far and which character was who.

And then they just sat there in complete silence, watching the series together.

A/N

Wow that out of all updates I did today this one would be the one making my readers the least sad... what a harsh reality we live in;----;