Archive of Our Own

Check out the trailer for this fic here!

When Kyungsoo was 6 his parents were stolen from him. A ship pulled them right out of the water. That’s the day Kyungsoo truly understood why merpeople fear ships and stay as far away from them as possible but Kyungsoo doesn’t fear ships anymore. It’s been 11 years since his parents were taken by humans and he’s dedicated a lot of his life to finding the ship that stole his parents. He’ll find them again and free them of whatever the ship is keeping them in. 

He hasn’t found his parents yet but he has perfected his tactics. He’s learned where the ships go, they all end up at a shallow place with decks. Once they dock, Kyungsoo trades his tail for legs and crawls in. He hides in small spaces until night when there are fewer people. He searches the ships for his parents and when he’s done looking he jumps off the ship. 

His grandparents were never fond of this, they tell him he’s been reckless and this is just a rebellious phase but it’s not. He’s not just being a rebellious teen, he’s trying to find his parents, even when everyone else gave up. Plus, land isn’t that dangerous if you know what you’re doing and Kyungsoo does.

He’s learned a lot about ships, they are filled with people, food and weapons. They have a captain who usually has a bigger dumber hat and they have a brig which Kyungsoo has been locked in a few times for being a “stowaway”. He doesn’t usually spend much time in there before they decide to make him walk the plank and he moves onto his next ship to hide out on. 

Today’s ship is no different, bigger maybe, it might be the biggest one he’s ever been on but that’s just good news. Bigger ships mean more hiding places.

Kyungsoo learned rather quickly that humans don’t like it when he doesn’t wear clothes so he hides some that he’s stolen in a special place at the pier. He gets out of the water making sure he isn’t seen and then gets changed into his clothes. After that getting on ships is simple: help bring supplies on and then sneak off. 

Everything goes to plan and Kyungsoo hides in a storage room behind supplies, he usually sleeps during the day so Kyungsoo can explore at night. After the ship leaves the dock, and things calm down a bit, that’s exactly what Kyungsoo does. The sound of the waves hitting the ship lull him into a restful slumber. That is until he hears a large crashing sound and suddenly there’s a sword at his throat. 

Kyungsoo looks up and sees a tall young man, probably around Kyungsoo’s age, in those weird white fancy frilly clothes pointing the very shiny sword at Kyungsoo. Just from his clear clean skin, Kyungsoo can tell he’s important. He’s never seen this type of person walking around on the lower decks though, usually they stay higher up where they keep things cleaner and nicer. 

“Tell me one reason I shouldn’t tell the captain about you, stowaway” the young man says. 

“Not yet” Kyungsoo mumbles to himself before addressing the man “Go ahead, tell him, make me walk the plank or just throw me off I don’t care.”

“You don’t care?” the man asks confused “never heard that one before.”

The young man lowers his sword and puts it away. 

“I’m not one to follow the rules” he explains “but usually I like hearing the interesting stories stowaways come up with.”

“Well I don’t like talking to... people” Kyungsoo says, choosing his words carefully. 

“Just tell me why you’re on the ship” the man says walking closer to Kyungsoo “I’m Chanyeol by the way, the captain’s son and I can probably think of an excuse to get you a bed on the ship, I’ve done it before.”

“I don’t need a bed” Kyungsoo says curtly, not happy to be talking to a human. 

“Oh come on everything on this ship is boring, I want a friend.” Chanyeol says sitting beside Kyungsoo “Please, stowaway”

“Don’t call me that” Kyungsoo frowns. 

“Then can you tell me your name?” Chanyeol pouts, actually pouts “You can make one up.”

“Do Kyungsoo” Kyungsoo answers honestly. 

“Is that fake?” Chanyeol asks. 

“Yes” Kyungsoo lies. 

“I’ll call you Soo then” Chanyeol smiles. 

“Isn’t your dad going to wonder where you are?” Kyungsoo asks trying to get the human to leave him alone. 

“Nah he doesn’t pay attention to me” Chanyeol smiles but Kyungsoo can tell he's not happy about it. 

“Do you have any women on this ship?” Kyungsoo asks, hoping Chanyeol could maybe help him find his parents. 

“Of course not, that’s bad luck” Chanyeol answers “Why? Were you hoping to find a wife on board?”

“I don’t like girls” Kyungsoo says with a wry expression. 

“Me neither” Chanyeol answers still just as smiley “I don’t understand them.”

“Do you have the list of everyone on the ship?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“You’re looking for someone” Chanyeol realizes “that’s why you came on board!”

“My parents” Kyungsoo admits “they were stolen by a ship like this.”

“No, you have it mixed up, this isn’t a pirate ship” Chanyeol says seriously. 

“No, it didn’t have a black flag, it was like this one.” Kyungsoo argues remembering what he saw that day. 

“But we obey the law, we wouldn’t steal people” Chanyeol says confused “were your parents criminals?”

“No” Kyungsoo says angrily “They never did anything wrong, your people just don’t value our lives.”

“My people?” Chanyeol asks “and what are you?”

“I’m from a different... country” Kyungsoo says, remembering the word. 

“Oh I don’t know anything about politics but this is just a ship for trading and transport” Chanyeol says “we wouldn’t be involved in that, sorry but you have the wrong ship.”

“I always do” Kyungsoo sighs. 

“Well, you can still hang out with me for two weeks! Then we arrive at our next port” Chanyeol smiles. 

“Maybe” Kyungsoo answers. 

“I’ll get you some better clothes and find you a room” Chanyeol says before getting up and running out of the dark storage room. 

Kyungsoo’s not sure why but he waits for Chanyeol. He should probably just jump off the ship and swim back to shore, but he doesn’t want to. Maybe befriending a human wouldn’t be so bad, maybe he could use some more education on humans. He could learn something important that could help him find his family. It could also be... fun and Kyungsoo hasn’t had fun in a while. He hasn’t really even had a friend in a long time, ever since he stopped coming back home. 

Kyungsoo hears a sound like someone approaching so he gets up to hide in case it’s not Chanyeol but instead he accidentally knocks over a jar which apparently had some saltwater in it because Kyungsoo flops down on the ground since he no longer has legs. 

“Ok so I couldn’t get you a room but I have a couch you could-” Chanyeol pauses realizing what he’s looking at “You’re a-”

“No, I'm not” Kyungsoo says, trying to dry his tail as quickly as possible with his pants which have been ripped off his body during the transition. 

“But you have a tail” Chanyeol says still shocked “and it happened when water touched you!”

“Saltwater” Kyungsoo corrects him “and if you tell anyone I will curse your whole family with the fury of the sea.”

It’s an empty threat, Kyungsoo can’t do anything like that but Chanyeol doesn’t need to know that. 

“I won't, I swear” Chanyeol says nervously before pausing a moment and smiling again “but this is great.”

“Great?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“I can show you what it’s like to be human!” Chanyeol says excitedly. 

“I don’t want to be human” Kyungsoo frowns. 

“Come on Soo, it’ll be fun I swear!” Chanyeol smiles “Not all of us are evil!”

“I guess” Kyungsoo says thinking about how many chances Chanyeol has had to kill him or imprison him but he never did. 

“How do you... untail?” Chanyeol asks looking down at Kyungsoo’s iridescent tail “I mean don’t get me wrong it’s absolutely beautiful and black suits you and the little specks of blue and green are so-”

“I just need to dry but I tore my last pair of pants so if you don’t mind giving the clothes you brought and turning around that would be great” Kyungsoo cuts him off feeling a little embarrassed that Chanyeol is staring at him like he’s a piece of art or something. 

“Right” Chanyeol says, doing what Kyungsoo says and turning around “when you’re ready we should raid the kitchen, I know where they hide the sweets.”

“I prefer salty but I’d like to try something sweet, just to see what it’s like” Kyungsoo says, still getting dressed. 

“You’ve never had sweet things? Not even fruit?” Chanyeol asks. 

“We don’t really have that in the ocean, I ate an apple once though” Kyungsoo explains walking towards Chanyeol “It was pretty good.”

“This will be way better than an apple” Chanyeol smiles looking at his new friend. 
 

Chanyeol leads Kyungsoo to the kitchen of the ship and they both wait quietly outside the door. When they make sure there’s no sound coming from within, Chanyeol pulls out a key that he no doubt stole and unlocks the door. Both boys run in quickly before closing the door. 

“It’s over here” Chanyeol whispers. 

Kyungsoo tiptoes to where Chanyeol is hoping none of the wood floors will creak and give their position away. Chanyeol opens a crate that contains a dark glazed loaf with little pieces of coloured things that Kyungsoo assumes is fruit. 

“What is it?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Fruitcake” Chanyeol says “We’ll be eating it tomorrow but I’m sure they won’t notice if one cake goes missing.”

Chanyeol takes one of the cakes out and places it on a plate. Then he shuffles the other cakes around so it won’t look like one is missing. 

“How do you eat it?” Kyungsoo says looking at the dense cake. 

“With a knife” Chanyeol says, pulling out a knife from one of the drawers. 

He walks over and slices the cake into pieces before taking one and eating it in one bite. Kyungsoo does exactly what Chanyeol did and his mouth is filled with a lot of flavours, fruity, nutty and mainly sweet which is a little overwhelming. Kyungsoo isn’t really sure he likes it. Chanyeol just starts laughing as he watches Kyungsoo eat it. 

“What?” Kyungsoo asks while he finishes his first piece. 

“Your face!” Chanyeol laughs louder “You should see it!”

“I told you I prefer salty!” Kyungsoo says but Chanyeol’s laugh is rather contagious and he feels himself stifling a laugh. 

“Well then more cake for me” Chanyeol smiles as he slides the plate closer to him.

“No!” Kyungsoo says trying to protect the cake “It’s kinda good... in a gross way.”

“That’s probably the most accurate description of fruit cake I’ve ever heard.”

Suddenly they hear the door open and Kyungsoo hides under the table as quickly as he can, Chanyeol tries but his longer limbs make it harder. 

“I should have known it was you Chanyeol” The voice says “I hope you know you won’t be getting any cake tomorrow now.”

“Why do you have to ruin everything” Kyungsoo hears Chanyeol whine. 

“Because it’s my job” The man responds “whoever you are under the table just come out I’m not going to get you in trouble.”

Kyungsoo looks up to Chanyeol who looks rather relaxed and decides it’s ok for him to come out. The man doesn’t seem too much older than Chanyeol so it’s certainly not his father. 

“Who is this?” The man asks Chanyeol.

“Kyungsoo” Chanyeol answers “He got stuck on the ship by accident when he was unloading the crates.”

“Oh sure he did” The man rolls his eyes “Hi Kyungsoo, I’m Junmyeon, the only crew member who keeps Chanyeol from blowing the ship up.”

“I’m not that bad!” Chanyeol defends himself. 

“You lit your bed on fire last voyage” Junmyeon argues. 

“Oh yeah” Chanyeol tries not to smile before looking at Kyungsoo “but now I have Kyungsoo to keep me out of trouble, right Soo?”

“Uh yeah” Kyungsoo answers. 

“And that’s why he helped you break in?” Junmyeon asks Chanyeol.

“I didn’t really help actually” Kyungsoo speaks up “He just asked me to follow him, so I did. He had a key and everything, he was going to do it even if I wasn’t there.”

“Traitor!” Chanyeol yells in surprise.

“I like you” Junmyeon laughs “Now you boys take that cake back to your rooms and eat it there. If you don’t get caught then you can have the whole thing.”

“Yes sir!” Chanyeol says before saluting and picking up the cake. 

≋⚓︎≋

“I’m sick” Kyungsoo says, finishing yet another piece of cake. 

“Seasick?” Chanyeol asks and Kyungsoo just gives him a look before Chanyeol realizes he means the cake “Oh right.”

“Well do you want to have dinner now?” Chanyeol asks.

“No?” Kyungsoo says as if it were obvious “How could I eat more food?”

“It’s pretty simple actually, you just take the food and eat it” Chanyeol jokes and Kyungsoo rolls his eyes “well my dad is kind of used to me not showing up for dinner so I’ll just stay here with you.”

“We’re not going out to break more rules?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Is that all you think I do?” Chanyeol smirks. 

“It does seem like it” Kyungsoo laughs.

“I mean breaking the rules is fun but so is talking to my new mermaid friend.” Chanyeol smiles. 

“I’m not a mermaid, I’m a merman” Kyungsoo huffs, offended. 

“But you are my new friend” Chanyeol nudges. 

“Yeah” Kyungsoo smiles lightly.

“So what were you doing before you started looking for your parents?” Chanyeol asks. 

“Just being a kid I guess, going to school-” Kyungsoo pauses to look at a smiling Chanyeol “if you make a pun about a school of fish I won’t tell you the rest.”

“Ok no fish jokes” Chanyeol laughs. 

“I went to school, trained my pet dolphin, played in the reefs and learned everything I could about humans” Kyungsoo explains “Then I started leaving home to search ships for my parents, after a while that’s all I did.”

“That doesn’t sound very magical” Chanyeol frowns “Don’t you control the sea and cast spells and stuff?”

“Don’t you know anything about merpeople?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“I mean I didn’t really believe in them until I saw you” Chanyeol explains.

“Didn’t believe in merpeople?” Kyungsoo asks, confused. 

“It’s just a legend, there’s never been any real proof. All I’ve heard is that mermaids sing to sailors and lure them to their death” Chanyeol explains “but you’re not a girl so clearly I don’t know much.”

“We don’t lure people to their deaths” Kyungsoo shakes his head “we can sing to fish to lure them into traps though. There’s a special fishing song that confuses them.”

“Sing it then” Chanyeol says seriously. 

“What?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“I want to hear the siren song” Chanyeol says “I want to know if it’s true.”

“Uh alright” Kyungsoo agrees.

Kyungsoo doesn’t know why Chanyeol is so curious about this but agreed to do it so he closes his eyes and starts to sing the song focusing on getting the melody just right. It’s hard at the start and he sounds awful but to be fair he’s never done this out of the water and air is a lot lighter than water. After a couple of seconds though he compensates and starts singing the song the way it’s meant to be sung. Once he’s confident with how it sounds he opens his eyes and looks at Chanyeol for his reaction. Which was not at all what he was expecting. Chanyeol has gotten up off his couch and is walking straight towards Kyungsoo in what looks to be a trance. His pupils are dilated way more than they should be, even in the dimly lit room. Kyungsoo stops right away because he’s worried about what would happen when Chanyeol actually reaches him. 

“That was so weird” Chanyeol says, shaking his head as he snaps out of it “It was beautiful though, the best thing I’ve ever heard.”

“But you’re not a fish!” Kyungsoo says confused “it doesn’t work on dolphins, only fish! Why would it work on humans!” 

“Because it does” Chanyeol laughs “So the siren legends are real then”

“We wouldn’t do it on purpose though, we have no use for humans” Kyungsoo says. 

“Maybe some merpeople do” Chanyeol suggests “you haven’t met every single one have you?”

“That’s awful” Kyungsoo says, pulling his legs up to his chest “no merperson should be killing humans.”

“You eat fish, what's the difference?” Chanyeol points out. 

“Fish can’t talk” Kyungsoo says, still uncomfortable with the idea of his own people killing someone like Chanyeol “and a lot of them are really mean, bluefin tuna are real dicks.”

“Humans aren’t so great either” Chanyeol admits “I mean you know that, you know what they can do.”

“I guess” Kyungsoo says quietly. 

“You aren’t responsible for what some merpeople do” Chanyeol says sitting beside Kyungsoo “just like I’m not responsible for what some humans do.”

“Well if you ever hear the fishing song again, don’t follow it” Kyungsoo says knowing full well Chanyeol won’t be in control. 

“I won’t”

≋⚓︎≋

Chanyeol finishes getting dressed before looking over at Kyungsoo, still asleep on the couch. He tried to get Kyungsoo to take the bed instead but he insisted. Kyungsoo stirs in his sleep slowly and Chanyeol walks over to look at him. During the day Chanyeol can tell he’s a bit reserved, which makes sense given his history but while he sleeps Chanyeol can see how sweet and peaceful he can be. Chanyeol hopes to see Kyungsoo’s softer side but they have only known each other for a day, might take a little more time. Kyungsoo sleepily pushes off the bandana he’s had on all day, even kept it on to sleep, and Chanyeol notices that Kyungsoo’s hair isn’t quite black like he thought it was. 

“Kyungsoo your hair” Chanyeol says, which wakes Kyungsoo up “It’s shiny like your tail.”

Kyungsoo quickly grabs his bandana and puts it back on to cover his hair. 

“But it’s so pretty, why would you hide it?” Chanyeol frowns, moving closer to Kyungsoo. 

“Because it’s not human” Kyungsoo explains “I can’t really be sneaking around on land with it.”

“But no one will come into our cabin” Chanyeol smiles “You don’t have to hide here.”

Kyungsoo slowly takes his bandana because Chanyeol’s right, it’s safe here and having his head covered all the time is annoying. He fluffs his hair with his hand to fix his hat hair. 

“Can I touch it?” Chanyeol asks. 

“That’s kind of weird but ok” Kyungsoo says looking confused. 

Chanyeol runs his hand through Kyungsoo’s medium length hair. It’s not soft which Chanyeol should have suspected because he was wearing a bandana all day but with the way it changed colour in the light he thought it would have been impossibly soft too. Chanyeol moves a small piece of hair from one side to the other to see it change from black to blue to green and back to black. 

“That’s magic” Chanyeol says, mesmerized. 

“It’s really not” Kyungsoo disagrees “haven’t you seen fish scales do this?”

“Well yeah but never hair” Chanyeol argues. 

“It’s the same thing” Kyungsoo says, sort of enjoying someone running their hand through his hair. 

“I think it’s amazing” Chanyeol says “It’s like you have 3 hair colours.”

“Four actually but the last colour is ultraviolet and you can’t see it” Kyungsoo explains “So what are we doing today.”

“Well first is breakfast”

≋⚓︎≋

“Tell me why we’re doing this again?” Kyungsoo says making sure he doesn’t step in any of the wet spots on the ground in case it’s seawater. 

“Have you ever pet a cat?” Chanyeol asks. 

“No” Kyungsoo answers. 

“Well there you go, add this to your human bucket list” Chanyeol says as the both quietly take a step across the creaky lower deck of the ship. 

“It’s getting really long, do you think we’ll be able to do all of that in 10 days?” Kyungsoo says “roast food on a fire, learn to read, fly a kite, drink wine and now catch a cat and pet it.”

“We’re not just going to pet the cat” Chanyeol smiles “We’re going to keep one as a pet, in our cabin.”

“I do miss having pets” Kyungsoo admits. 

“You had a dolphin right?” Chanyeol asks. 

“Yeah her name was Bubbles, she was really great” Kyungsoo says, remembering his childhood pet. 

“Well we’ll name our cat Bubbles then” Chanyeol says before seeing a movement in the distance “I think I see one.”

“How do we catch the cat though?” Kyungsoo says following Chanyeol. 

“Cheese” Chanyeol says. 

“What?” Kyungsoo asks before Chanyeol throws a small piece of what is probably cheese where the cat ran past. 

“They like milk, cheese too” Chanyeol explains. 

“Why do I have a feeling you stole that cheese last night when we begged the cook for a late-night snack” Kyungsoo smiles thinking about his friend’s ridiculousness. 

“You know me so well” Chanyeol smiles “Now let’s sit and wait for our trap to work.”

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo find a dry spot near some of the storage crates they keep on the lower levels. 

“So why are there cats on a boat? I thought you said they don’t like water” Kyungsoo asks. 

“They hunt the mice and rats that find their way on the boat” Chanyeol explains “but they’re really cute too, the crew likes them.”

“Are the mice and rats bad?” Kyungsoo asks.

“Yeah they’re awful, they eat our stuff and make holes everywhere. Plus they are dirty and carry disease.” Chanyeol explains looking over at the piece of cheese.

“What do they look like?” Kyungsoo asks, a bit scared. 

“Um well they’re small and fuzzy and they have a long skinny tail” Chanyeol says focused on the piece of cheese on the ground.

“Is this a rat?” Kyungsoo asks, his heart pounding as the fuzzy orange and black creature headbutts him. 

“What?” Chanyeol says turning back to look at Kyungsoo “Oh! No that’s a cat”

“Oh good” Kyungsoo says, taking a deep breath “How do I pet the cat?”

“They like their head pet, their body too but avoid the tummy” Chanyeol instructs before leaning over Kyungsoo to pet the affectionate little cat “like this.”

“Ok” Kyungsoo says softly as he feels his personal bubble being burst, but Chanyeol does that a lot so Kyungsoo is getting used to it. Humans are just more touchy so Kyungsoo just needs to accept that, it’s not really that bad anyway. It’s kind of nice, it makes Kyungsoo feel all warm and safe. Kyungsoo reaches out and pets the cat's head who starts rumbling a deep sound “what’s she doing?”

“Purring, they do that when they're happy” Chanyeol explains “I’ll pick her up and we can bring her to our room.”

“How do we take care of her?” Kyungsoo asks as Chanyeol scoops up the little cat in his arms. 

“We can just give her some meat and leave our door open for her” Chanyeol explains as they walk back towards their rooms “As long as we feed her she’ll come back, but she does need to run around the ship for exercise.”

“That makes sense” Kyungsoo says, looking at the cute cat. 

“Also don’t tell anyone we’re feeding her” Chanyeol says “it might be against the rules.”

“I figured” Kyungsoo laughs “How are you going to be a captain when you never follow any rules?”

“I’ll be making the rules” Chanyeol smiles “and no one can tell me what to do when I’m captain.”

“I don’t know much about this” Kyungsoo says “but I’m pretty sure there are laws you have to follow even if you’re a captain.”

“Not all laws are meant to be followed” Chanyeol explains “I’m sure the law says I’d have to tell people I found a merman but I wouldn’t. They would experiment on you and stuff. So what the government doesn’t know, doesn’t hurt them. I’ll make the judgement calls on my own ship.”

“Would they really do that?” Kyungsoo asks, concerned. 

“I told you not all humans are nice” Chanyeol says without his trademark smile before forcing one “but you’re my friend so no one is going to hurt you while you’re with me.”

Kyungsoo smiles. If what Chanyeol said is true, he got really lucky. Chanyeol has been a great friend, always protecting him from the people who think he should get kicked off the ship. He gets him food and makes sure he’s always making sure Kyungsoo is happy and comfortable. It’s nice to have someone care so much about him. Kyungsoo’s grandparents tried but they had jobs and barely had time for him which is fine but he’s just missed feeling... loved. 

“Come on Bubbles you’re going to your new home.” Chanyeol whispers to the cat. 

≋⚓︎≋

“Kyungsoo” Chanyeol nudges waking up Kyungsoo from his nap on the couch “it’s time.”

“I’m tired” Kyungsoo whines, not opening his eyes. 

“It’ll be worth it I swear” Chanyeol says, still trying to wake Kyungsoo up.

“That’s what you said about climbing the mast and it wasn’t fun at all” Kyungsoo says, sitting up to glare at his friend. 

“I didn’t know you’d be afraid of heights” Chanyeol defends before fluffing his friend’s bed head with a smile. 

“Stop” Kyungsoo whines again pushing Chanyeol’s hand away “I’m not afraid of heights, I’m afraid of falling. 

“Same difference” Chanyeol laughs “now let’s go!”

Kyungsoo sighs and gives Bubbles a few pets before he gets off the couch. Kyungsoo walks towards the door but Chanyeol’s in his way and doesn’t move so Kyungsoo looks up at him. Chanyeol just smiles before putting Kyungsoo’s bandana on his head. 

“Oh right” Kyungsoo says, remembering he needs to wear it. 

The two boys walk out and Chanyeol leads Kyungsoo to the deck. The sky is clear of clouds so the stars shine brightly and Kyungsoo smiles looking up at them. He doesn’t even notice Chanyeol walk away until he hears scraping sounds. Chanyeol’s pulling a colourful canon thing towards him. 

“This is a firework” Chanyeol says moving the large cannon thing “You add some fire on the end of this string and once it hits the cannon an explosion is sent out into the sky and it’s pretty.”

“I thought you said we weren’t breaking any rules tonight” Kyungsoo says. 

“We’re not” Chanyeol replies “My dad gave me this for my birthday, it’s just for fun.”

“And it’s safe?” Kyungsoo asks “I thought you said fire burns wood and the ship would sink.”

“Yes but the explosion will be in the sky where it can’t set anything on fire” Chanyeol explains. 

“Ok” Kyungsoo agrees. 

Chanyeol lights the fuse and Kyungsoo stands back not wanting to be close to the flame. 

“It’s going to be loud.”

“What?” Kyungsoo asks before hearing a deafening bang.

“Look!” Chanyeol says pointing to the sky that erupts into a beautiful blue sparkle of light. 

“Wow” Kyungsoo says watching it burn out. 

“Chanyeol!” The captain yells “What are you doing!”

“Firework” Chanyeol says pointing to the cannon.

“You can’t do that without warning us we thought we were under attack!” The captain continues to yell. “You’re grounded, go in your room and stay here, don’t come out till Wednesday.”

“Fine” Chanyeol sighs “let's go Kyungsoo, I guess I’ll teach you to read for 2 days.”

Kyungsoo follows Chanyeol awkwardly back to their cabin.

≋⚓︎≋

“Please!” Chanyeol begs “Just one little snack!”

“No Chanyeol, if you and your little friend keep having extra portions and snacks we’ll run out of food before we even get to the first port!” Junmyeon answers angrily. 

“But we’re hungry!” Chanyeol whines. 

“How is that? You eat every meal! You shouldn’t be hungry” Junmyeon says, narrowing his eyes. 

“Fine” Chanyeol says, not wanting to be interviewed about where some of the portions of meat may have been going “Come on Kyungsoo, let's go do something fun.”

“Not too much fun!” Junmyeon yells as the boys walk out of the kitchen. 

“We’re going to steal more food later aren’t we?” Kyungsoo smirks as they walk out. 

“No they’ll notice” Chanyeol shakes his head. 

Chanyeol stops walking causing Kyungsoo to look back at him. Chanyeol just smiles in a way that makes Kyungsoo a little worried. 

“What?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Well you know how to catch fish don’t you” Chanyeol smirks. 

“In the water, yeah” Kyungsoo replies, not catching on.

“So all you have to do is jump out a window, swim around, catch some fish and climb back on board with your catch” Chanyeol explains. 

“How would I get back on board?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“There’s a ladder on the side of the ship duh” Chanyeol says as if Kyungsoo would know. 

“I don’t know” Kyungsoo says, not really liking the idea of this plan much. 

“We can feed some to Bubbles, cats love fish!” Chanyeol smiles before grabbing Kyungsoo’s hand and running towards the stairs that lead to a lower deck where they can sneak off without anyone seeing. 

“Sometimes I question why I’m your friend” Kyungsoo laughs as they run. 

“Not too often I hope” Chanyeol replies with a big smile. 

“Only once a day” Kyungsoo teases. 

Once they arrive at the lower deck Chanyeol opens one of the little windows. It might be a little hard for Kyungsoo to climb out but he should be able to manage. 

“Turn around I’m not ruining these clothes when I change” Kyungsoo orders. 

“Right” Chanyeol says, giving Kyungsoo some privacy. 

Kyungsoo has grown accustomed to wearing clothes so it does feel weird to take them off but once he’s in the water it won’t matter. He does manage to get out the window without needing Chanyeol’s help which is good because this is a little embarrassing. 

Once he hits the water he feels much better. He’s really missed swimming and his tail, he’s never gone so long without swimming. It’s been almost a week now. The most he’d gone before was maybe 4 days. 

“Yay!” Chanyeol yells from the window “Now go find some fish!” 

“Yeah fine” Kyungsoo yells back with fake annoyance. 

Kyungsoo swims way farther below the surface and begins his search. Without a reef or a dolphin to help him hunt it may be a little difficult to find a fish. Kyungsoo makes sure to keep up with the ship and swim up to the surface to wave to Chanyeol as he searches the ocean for any sort of fish. It takes a while, about an hour, but he locates a small shoal of anchovies. They aren’t Kyungsoo’s favourite but if he waits, predatory fish should show up. He swims closer to the ship to let Chanyeol know. 

“I’ll catch something soon” Kyungsoo yells “there’s finally some fish”

“Good cause I’m starving” Chanyeol pouts. 

“Wait a little longer” Kyungsoo laughs. 

Kyungsoo goes back to the shoal and chases them so they’ll stay near the ship. As predicted eventually a small, probably young bluefin tuna arrives and Kyungsoo smiles. Knowing he’s far enough away from the ship for the humans to hear, Kyungsoo sings the fishing song and soon all the fish (anchovies and tuna) swim towards him. He pushes past the small fish and grabs the tuna and swims towards the ship. After a few minutes of singing the tuna is stunned and killed painlessly. 

Kyungsoo shows the 50-pound fish to Chanyeol who smiles. 

“Uh Chanyeol” Kyungsoo says. 

“Yeah?” Chanyeol answers. 

“How am I going to climb a ladder without legs?” Kyungsoo asking, now realizing the flaw in their plan. 

“Oh” Chanyeol answers “I’ll get a net.”

“You’re going to put me in a net?” Kyungsoo asks, feeling a little ridiculed. 

“Yes” Chanyeol says before walking away. 

Sure enough Chanyeol comes back to the window before throwing out a midsized net that Kyungsoo might not even fit in. 

“Put the fish in first and then I’ll help you up” Chanyeol explains.

Kyungsoo does what Chanyeol says and can’t help but feel embarrassed when Chanyeol starts pulling him out of the water. 

“You’re really heavy” Chanyeol says as his face turns red. 

“I’m not really meant to be out of the water like this” Kyungsoo laughs “Just hold me up here till I dry. I won’t be able to get in the window without legs anyway.”

“Wait I have an idea” Chanyeol says before pulling Kyungsoo up a little higher and then dropping him back down “I tied you to a post.”

“If anyone sees me like this-” Kyungsoo starts. 

“They won’t!” Chanyeol smiles before throwing Kyungsoo his clothes which he barely manages to catch “now you can get dressed when you’re dry.”

“Thanks” Kyungsoo smiles. 

With the strong winds, it doesn’t take long for Kyungsoo to dry fully and put his clothes on. Once he does Chanyeol pulls him up with no trouble at all.

“So how do we eat this?” Chanyeol asks. 

“Sashimi” Kyungsoo answers “We’ll need some soy sauce and a sharp knife though.”

“On it” Chanyeol smiles “I’ll meet you back at our room.”

Chanyeol runs out before coming right back in the room with a smirk. 

“You know you’re really pretty with a tail” Chanyeol teases “we should do this more often.”

“Shut up” Kyungsoo laughs but he does blush slightly from the compliment. 

≋⚓︎≋

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo get a lot better at “fishing” and it becomes a bit of a habit. Kyungsoo doesn’t always grab something as nice a tuna but it’s usually tasty and the kitchen staff are certainly happy that they stopped stealing so much food. 

“This is my favourite fish” Kyungsoo says, cutting the amberjack fish into thin slices “My grandparents don’t like it much.”

Chanyeol takes a slice and dips in the soy sauce before eating it. 

“I don’t know what they’re talking about, this is great.” Chanyeol says before taking another piece. 

“They’re narrow-minded” Kyungsoo says once he’s done preparing the sashimi “I never really got along with them much after they took me in. I think they blame me for losing my parents.”

“What? That’s crazy why would they think that” Chanyeol frowns “You never really explained what happened with your parents but how could it be your fault?”

“I wanted to go out to the reef to play with the octopi” Kyungsoo says “we weren’t supposed to leave our cave but my mom took me anyway.” 

Kyungsoo starts to explain the whole story to Chanyeol in detail. 

“I want to keep playing!” Kyungsoo says trying to swim out of his mother’s grasp. 

“It’s time for dinner Soo and your dad’s making scallops” Kyungsoo’s mom says and Kyungsoo smiles, excited for dinner. 

Kyungsoo swims back with his mother, but on their way his mother pauses. 

“There's a ship” She says looking up at the surface. 

“Ship?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Remember when I told you never to go near the surface?” His mom asks. 

“Yeah” Kyungsoo nods. 

“That’s why” His mom answers “ships are trouble, they steal merpeople. Never go anywhere near ships Soo.”

His mom continues to look at the ship in the distance. It’s right near their home, so they’d need to go near it to get back to Kyungsoo’s dad. Kyungsoo doesn’t say or do anything waiting for his mom to tell him what they should do next. Kyungsoo watches as his father swims towards them but stops suddenly as if an invisible force had stopped him. 

“No!” Kyungsoo’s mom yells seeing her husband stuck in what is probably a net “Stay here and don’t move. I mean it Kyungsoo, don’t swim anywhere, even if you see an octopus, don’t move until I’m back.”

“Ok” Kyungsoo says softly. 

“Then my mom swam at full speed to go save him but they both got yanked to the surface and I didn’t know what to do so I just screamed and called for help but no one came. None of our neighbours, not even my grandparents. I just stayed where my mom told me to and kept screaming until I tired myself out. I didn’t go home that night, I just grabbed onto a kelp plant and slept there. The next morning my grandparents tried to take me in but I fought them and kept trying to stay right where my mom told me to but I wasn’t that strong so they took me in eventually and explained that no one helped my parents because if they had, they would have been stolen by the ship too.” Kyungsoo finishes explaining. 

“That’s awful Kyungsoo” Chanyeol says, putting a hand on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. 

“It’s fine” Kyungsoo mumbles “It’s been a really long time since then so it hurts less now.”

“That doesn’t make it ok” Chanyeol says before deciding Kyungsoo deserves a hug. 

Chanyeol wraps Kyungsoo up in his arms. At first Kyungsoo feels a bit weird and doesn’t know what to do but eventually he hugs Chanyeol back and likes the feeling of being in his arms. It feels safe. 

“Kind of random but I was thinking” Chanyeol says quietly while hugging Kyungsoo “You don’t have to sleep on the couch anymore, there’s enough room on my bed for both of us and I think we’re close enough. I mean I think you’re my best friend.”

“You’re definitely my best friend but I also don’t have any other friends” Kyungsoo answers. 

“If you did, would I still be your best friend?” Chanyeol asks. 

“For sure” Kyungsoo smiles. 

They finish the sashimi which doesn’t take more than 20 minutes and store their knife and soy sauce in the chest Chanyeol keeps it in. 

“Can we read today?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Again?” Chanyeol asks. 

“I like reading” Kyungsoo smiles “I know I’m not good at it but it’s so cool, merpeople don’t have books.”

“Well we already read my books” Chanyeol says looking over at his small collection he keeps in his room “but I did have another idea.”

“I’ll still get to read right?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Yeah for sure” Chanyeol smiles “we’re going to break into my dad’s room and read his books.”

“Wouldn’t he just lend you them?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“No, he says they’re special and I’m not mature enough for them” Chanyeol explains. 

“I’m sure we can find other books” Kyungsoo suggests. 

“I’ve always wanted to know what’s in those books” Chanyeol answers “This is a good excuse.”

“They better be good stories.” Kyungsoo says getting up. 

“I bet they are.” Chanyeol smiles. 

They boys easily sneak into the captain’s room and Chanyeol picks a book at random for Kyungsoo to read while he searches through all the other books. 

“The pirate took the s-” Kyungsoo pauses trying to figure out the word written on the page  “the sword and tossed it overboard before taking out his ka-nif.”

“Knife” Chanyeol corrects. 

“What? but there’s a k” Kyungsoo says, showing Chanyeol the page. 

“Yeah I know but the k is silent, usually if there’s a k followed by an n the k is silent.” Chanyeol explains. 

“That’s so dumb then why is it even there.” Kyungsoo complains. 

“I don’t know it just is” Chanyeol says skimming through another book “there’s one in knight too but not in night.”

“What?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Chanyeol shrugs. 

“The pirate takes the knife” Kyungsoo continues reading “and stabs it into his own heart- wait, what why would he do that?”

“If he lives he’ll be caught and everyone will know his daughter is a pirate too.” Chanyeol explains “He’s sparing her life.”

“Why would you kill a baby just because her father is a pirate?” Kyungsoo asks “she didn’t do anything, she's literally a baby.”

“I told you I didn’t like the rules” Chanyeol says continuing to look through his father's books. 

“That’s an understatement” the captain says walking into his room “I told you not to read my books Chanyeol.”

“Yeah but why? they’re all boring” Chanyeol says putting one back on the shelf. 

“I was foolishly hoping I would prove you could respect me” His father sighs “Is grounding you not working? Do I have to separate you from your friend?”

“No!” Chanyeol yells running over to Kyungsoo “I won’t do anything else I promise! Just don’t take Kyungsoo.”

His father gives him a stern look before looking at Kyungsoo and then back to his son who is now holding tightly onto his little friend. The captain sighs before losing his mean look. 

“Fine you can keep him” the captain says “although locking you up with him hardly seems like a punishment given how fond you are of him.”

“Staying in our room is boring” Chanyeol answers “there’s nothing to do.”

“Well good then hopefully it’ll teach you some discipline” the captain sighs “sometimes I don’t know what to do with you.”

“Good chat” Chanyeol smiles fakely before leaving the room and Kyungsoo follows closely behind. 

“Don’t you think he’ll notice you took one of the books” Kyungsoo says, stealing the book from behind Chanyeol’s back where he was trying to hide the small book. 

“I hope not” Chanyeol laughs “but this was the only locked one so it should at least entertain us while we’re grounded.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t read it” Kyungsoo says, pressing his lips together. 

“Why not?” Chanyeol asks, opening the door to their room. 

“What if it’s locked for a good reason” Kyungsoo says walking into their cabin “What if it makes you see your dad in a not so good way.”

“I don’t know if you noticed but we don’t have the best relationship” Chanyeol says falling back on the bed “I don’t think he ever wanted a kid.”

“Still” Kyungsoo says, insisting. 

“Well, then you should read it” Chanyeol suggests. 

“I guess” Kyungsoo says feeling like Chanyeol isn’t really getting the point. 

“Come on Soo my curiosity is killer” Chanyeol pouts making Kyungsoo’s heart beat just a bit faster which is completely unfair because he knows how pouting affects Kyungsoo. 

“It’s going to get you killed” Kyungsoo says jokingly. 

“Please” Chanyeol pleads getting off the bed to walk closer to Kyungsoo to pout closer “Pretty please.”

“Chanyeol-” Kyungsoo starts to protest before Chanyeol hands him their little diy lockpick.

“Do it for me” Chanyeol says softly while smiling. 

“Fine” Kyungsoo gives in not being able to resist. 

“Thanks” Chanyeol says, pulling Kyungsoo for a hug which Kyungsoo happily accepts. 

Eventually Kyungsoo pulls away and sits down on the couch with the book and the lock pick. He follows the technique Chanyeol taught him but it’s hard because the lock is old and a bit rusty. 

“I don’t think your dad ever opened this” Kyungsoo says still trying to open it “if he did, it's been a long time and it probably got wet.”

“Maybe he didn’t have the key” Chanyeol says, trying to sit beside Kyungsoo who pushes him away. 

“I’m reading it, not you” Kyungsoo frowns “we agreed.”

“Fine” Chanyeol frowns before walking back towards the bed. 

After a little while, Kyungsoo manages to pop the lock open and turn the first page. Looks like it’s a captain’s journal but not Chanyeol’s dad, someone else, the dates are too old to be from his time. The handwriting is really hard to make out and Kyungsoo isn’t the strongest reader in the first place. 

“Ok fine you can read it” Kyungsoo says tossing the book to Chanyeol “it’s definitely not your dad’s.”

“Ooo a journal” Chanyeol smiles opening the book “come sit beside me and I’ll read it to you.”

Kyungsoo happily obliges and gets under the covers beside his friend, even leaning his head on his shoulder to get comfortable. The boys read day after day of the life of the mysterious unnamed captain from 80 years ago. The entries talk about trivial things like the weather and wind of the day but also quite a few run-ins with pirates. Almost every day the captain also talks about his “matelotage”. 

“What exactly is a matelotage?” Kyungsoo asks, hoping he repeated the word correctly. 

“It’s an agreement between two sailors that they share their property together.” Chanyeol explains “It’s also a bond, you wouldn’t do it with a random sailor obviously because you are sharing your stuff so you have to trust them.”

“That sounds like us” Kyungsoo points out “I mean I don’t have much but you share all your books and gifts with me and I get you fish sometimes.”

“Yeah I guess that is what we are, matelotage” Chanyeol smiles “as with most good things, it’s not really allowed by the government.”

“Of course it isn’t” Kyungsoo laughs lightly. 

They continue to read through the life of the captain and find themselves very invested. The captain overcame so many challenges and directed his crew through storms worse than Kyungsoo and Chanyeol have ever seen. The captain says he gets his strength and courage from thinking about protecting his crew, more particularly his matelotage. The captain always seems to change his writing to a poetic style when describing his partner. Kyungsoo doesn’t know why but it makes him smile, this captain certainly deserves someone who makes him feel as happy as Chanyeol makes Kyungsoo. 

“His strength is my strength, my victories are his victories, his pain is my pain, my happiness is his happiness and my lips-” Chanyeol pauses. 

“What?” Kyungsoo asks “What does it say?”

“It may be time to stop reading” Chanyeol says closing the book “I feel like we’re intruding on his life.”

“He’s long dead, Chanyeol” Kyungsoo says. 

“I know but-” Chanyeol says taking a breath “this is about his private life.”

“It’s a journal” Kyungsoo says, still not understanding “all of it is his private life.”

“Reading about his battles with pirates is one thing” Chanyeol says “but reading about his intimate relationship with his matelotage is different.”

“Oh” Kyungsoo says quietly “I didn’t realize it was that type of bond.”

“It’s common” Chanyeol explains “not always though.”

“So which are we?” Kyungsoo asks quickly before he regrets it. He looks deep into Chanyeol’s eyes, letting his face express the emotions he doesn’t want to admit out loud.

“Uh-” Chanyeol says, clearly trying to figure out how he’s going to react. Kyungsoo’s heart races feeling extremely nervous about how Chanyeol is going to react. He tries to read Chanyeol but all he sees is his own nervousness mirrored in Chanyeol’s face. Both of them are too scared to voice their thoughts and be rejected, but Chanyeol does start to lean forward and place a hand gently on Kyungsoo’s cheek. Kyungsoo closes the gap now certain they’re on the same page. It’s a sweet, innocent kiss and short kiss but extremely meaningful.

If someone told Kyungsoo his first kiss would be with a sailor he never would have believed them but he’s happy with his choice. He’s never met anyone in his life he’d rather share this with. Kyungsoo’s moment of pure happiness is burst once he remembers that the boat docks in roughly three days and they’ll be separated. 

“But I’m leaving in 3 days” Kyungsoo says as he pulls back. 

“And this will be nothing but a memory” Chanyeol agrees the smile fading from his face “So let’s make it a beautiful memory, the best we can make it.”

“Ok” Kyungsoo nods. 

“And who knows, maybe one day you’ll board a ship I’m the captain of.” Chanyeol smiles. 

“You’ll be a great captain” Kyungsoo says, squeezing Chanyeol’s hand “now let’s get to bed.”

Kyungsoo gets off the bed and walks over to his couch before Chanyeol catches his hand making Kyungsoo look back at him. 

“Remember” Chanyeol starts “We agreed we could share my bed.”

“Right” Kyungsoo smiles walking back towards Chanyeol.

≋⚓︎≋

“Chanyeol, I don’t understand the point of this” Kyungsoo says, pointing to (or trying to) the bandana covering his eyes. 

“It’s so you can’t see” Chanyeol laughs, pouring some wine into the glass in front of Kyungsoo. 

“Yes I got that part, but why shouldn’t I see?” Kyungsoo smiles at his partner’s antics. 

“Ah well we’re not grounded anymore so I wanted to do something special and I wanted it to be a surprise” Chanyeol says walking over to Kyungsoo before removing the mask “did it work?”

“Chanyeol-” Kyungsoo says looking at the extremely fancy dinner in front of him. 

“I’m taking that as a yes” Chanyeol smiles before sitting at his side of the table. 

“You didn’t have to do this” Kyungsoo says knowing Chanyeol more than likely had to pull quite a few strings to get them alone in the captain’s dining hall. 

“I know but I want to” Chanyeol says, taking a baked potato “Do you like it?”

“It’s amazing” Kyungsoo says after taking a bite of his meal “I might like our private lunches in our room a little more though.”

“Those are fun but this is my chance to do the work” Chanyeol smiles “well actually hauling you out of the water is work.”

“I’m just helping you get stronger” Kyungsoo smiles before taking a sip of his glass and frowning at the bitter taste “What is this?”

“Wine” Chanyeol answers “It’s an alcohol.”

“Oh” Kyungsoo says looking at the red liquid “That’s not how I thought it would taste.”

“There are sweeter ones but we don’t have any on the ship” Chanyeol explains “before you drink much more though I had a question I wanted to ask.”

“Ok” Kyungsoo says, putting down the drink. 

“I was hoping you would tell me eventually but now that you're my matelotage I think I have the legal or sorta legal right to know your name” Chanyeol says getting a bit confused about the logistics “Could you tell me your real name?”

“What?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“When we met I asked you for your name but you made one up, I want to know what you’re really called” Chanyeol says “or do merpeople not have names?”

“It’s Kyungsoo” Kyungsoo smiles “I told you my real name.”

“But you said it wasn’t” Chanyeol replies. 

“Well I lied because that’s my name” Kyungsoo says taking another sip of the drink that is slowly growing on him “I wouldn’t have let you call me by a fake name for this long.”

“Oh” Chanyeol smiles feeling a little dumb “I like it.”

“My name?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Yeah” Chanyeol nods “I’m glad it’s your real name because I really think it suits you.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t quite know how to answer that so he just smiles and continues to eat. The food was all really well made and soon enough their plates and the wine bottle are empty so they walk back to their room together. 

“I think we drank too much” Kyungsoo giggles as he clings to Chanyeol. 

“No, no” Chanyeol denies a little too enthusiastically before literally stumbling into their room “maybe a bit too much”

Kyungsoo laughs and nods before pulling Chanyeol in for a kiss that ends up being less romantic and more sloppy than Kyungsoo wanted. Kyungsoo pulls away after less than a second but Chanyeol pulls him right back for another drunk kiss. 

“I’m going to miss you” Kyungsoo says, pushing Chanyeol off him lightly “I heard the captain say we’re docking tomorrow.”

“Shhhhhh” Chanyeol shushes loudly “Don’t be sad little Soo. You need to go find your parents, it’s important.”

“But you’re my only friend” Kyungsoo frowns. 

“Matelotage, not friend” Chanyeol pouts “It’s more special.”

“So you won’t replace me?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“I would never” Chanyeol shakes his head “You’re forever mine and I’ll always be yours.”

Kyungsoo smiles and hugs Chanyeol, tightly satisfied with the answer. 

“No getting a wife either” Kyungsoo says against Chanyeol’s shoulder. 

“I told you I don’t like girls” Chanyeol laughs. 

Kyungsoo continues to hold onto Chanyeol, liking the feeling of being enveloped in someone’s arms. He’d like to stay here forever but he really needs to continue the search for his parents and like Chanyeol said, they might meet again on another ship. 

“Don’t be sad Kyungsoo” Chanyeol mumbles again “I can hold you while you sleep if it makes you feel better.”

Kyungsoo nods and they both get ready for bed. Kyungsoo falls asleep in Chanyeol’s arms trying to forget it might be the last night they ever share together. Kyungsoo will come back after he finds his parents, he’ll find Chanyeol. It shouldn’t be too hard since he knows his name and family. They’ll be reunited, for sure. 

≋⚓︎≋

Kyungsoo looks back at the ship still docked at port. Chanyeol said it would stay there for a few hours and Kyungsoo is tempted to run right back on and wait till the very last minute to get off but it wouldn’t be smart because after they leave this port they’ll be sailing for 20 days straight and Kyungsoo really needs to get back to finding his parents. 

Kyungsoo turns around and looks at the town, he’s never spent long at a port before but he’s sort of curious about human things now, he’s experienced so much with Chanyeol that he never knew existed which has him wondering what else hides in the town. Maybe there’s a place with books that could help him narrow down his search. 

There will always be ships at the port so a small detour wouldn’t hurt. Kyungsoo walks into the town and looks around at the shops. One sells sweet things, one sells armour but the one that catches his eye is a store called “Minseok’s Written Knowledge.” He decides to go in and have a look. Inside he sees more books than Kyungsoo has seen in his entire life, which was just all the books on the ship but it’s still a little overwhelming. At a counter looking thing he sees a man with eyes like Bubbles (the cat not the dolphin) who waves to him. 

“What kinds of books do you have?” Kyungsoo asks the storekeeper, presumably Minseok. 

“A bit of everything, history, some science and some fiction novels” Minseok answers. 

“Anything on merpeople?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Like mermaids and sirens?” Minseok asks. 

“Yeah like that” Kyungsoo answers. 

“I might” Minseok says before walking to a different part of the store so Kyungsoo follows him. 

“Ah yes here it is” Minseok says pulling a book off the shelf “The dangers of the sea.”

“I’ll take it” Kyungsoo says, reaching his hand out. 

“It’ll cost you.” Minseok says looking at Kyungsoo like he’s an idiot. 

“Cost me what?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Money” Minseok laughs lightly in disbelief. 

“Right” Kyungsoo nods “What’s money?”

“If you don’t have any money I’m going to need you to leave the store sir” Minseok says sternly. 

Kyungsoo frowns, that book would have been useful. Maybe Kyungsoo can find some money somewhere, why didn’t Chanyeol ever mention money if it seems so well known to humans?

“Need money?” A deep voice says as Kyungsoo leaves the shop. 

“Yeah how did you-” Kyungsoo says turning to look at the man, Chanyeol “Why the hell did you follow me!”

“You really thought I’d stay on the ship without you?” Chanyeol smirks “Come on Kyungsoo, there’s nothing interesting on board for me and you know that.”

“Still! Your dad will be looking for you!” Kyungsoo yells. 

“Once he finds out I’m gone, he’ll have already left the port and I’m sure he’ll figure out where I went.” Chanyeol says “Aren’t you happy I’m here?”

“Ye- No.” Kyungsoo answers “I’m happy you’re here but you really shouldn’t be, you should have stayed on that ship.”

“But I have a great plan” Chanyeol says singsongedly. 

“What is it?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“First let’s buy that book you were looking at” Chanyeol says taking out a shiny piece of metal from his pocket “it’s about mermaids right?”

“Yeah” Kyungsoo says “but we need money.”

“This is money” Chanyeol says showing him the coin “I don’t know if you know this Kyungsoo but I’m not what people would call poor.”

“Don’t even know what that is but if it means you can get the book I’m happy about it” Kyungsoo says opening the door to the shop for Chanyeol.

“Mr. Park” Minseok says, straightening his posture. 

“Hey Minseok, I’m here to buy that book Kyungsoo was looking at” Chanyeol says, pointing to Kyungsoo standing beside him. 

“No trouble at all” Minseok smiles before getting it back from the shelf “If you don’t mind me asking, is he a prince or something? How is it he doesn’t know about paying for things?”

“He’s not a prince that I know of” Chanyeol answers before looking at Kyungsoo “Are you?”

“No nothing like that” Kyungsoo shakes his head. 

“He hit his head so his memories are a little faulty” Chanyeol lies cooly “he hasn’t left my father’s ship in quite some time so the topic of money never came up.”

“It’s good he has someone to take care of him then” Minseok smiles. 

Chanyeol pays Minseok and takes the book. The boys leave the shop and find a nice little spot near a tree to read it. Which is mostly Chanyeol reading out loud and Kyungsoo correcting the information in it although it is true sometimes. 

“It says here a mermaid’s kiss will cure any illness although they’ll only kiss you before dragging you down to the depths of the ocean to drown you.” Chanyeol reads. 

“I don’t think it cures anything.” Kyungsoo says looking at the book. 

“Should we try?” Chanyeol teases “We’ve never kissed while you had a tail.”

“Later, right now let’s read.” Kyungsoo says pointing to the book. 

“Right fine ok, mermaids cry pearls” Chanyeol reads “Oh please tell me that one is right.”

“No that doesn’t make any sense, pearls come from molluscs and I’m not a mollusc.” Kyungsoo frowns “We cry salty water.”

“That’s the same for humans” Chanyeol says a little disappointed “Can you control the sea or water? because there’s a whole chapter on that.”

“Nope” Kyungsoo says, flipping the page to an image of a trident “that’s real though, it’s for hunting.”

“But not controlling the sea” Chanyeol pouts “The only magic thing about you is the shape-shifting and shiny hair.”

“My hair is not magic” Kyungsoo disagrees “and the fishing song is pretty powerful.”

“That’s true” Chanyeol nods “there’s still a lot right in this book, maybe we should talk to one of the authors.”

“Why?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“If they actually know about mermaids they might know where your parents would have been taken or even who took them” Chanyeol explains. 

“Oh that’s true” Kyungsoo smiles. 

“Did you bewitch me?” Chanyeol teases showing Kyungsoo a page “it says here a mermaid can bewitch sailors into falling in love with them simply by grabbing their hand.”

“Why would I do that?” Kyungsoo laughs. 

“For my money, obviously” Chanyeol smiles. 

“I didn’t know you had any” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. 

“Well then because I’m handsome” Chanyeol continues. 

“You are” Kyungsoo says placing a hand on Chanyeol’s cheek “but your feelings are your own, I’m not a witch or wizard or whatever.”

“I’d be fine if this were a spell” Chanyeol says. 

“Really?” Kyungsoo asks, surprised. 

“I’m happy when I’m with you” Chanyeol says honestly “I don’t care why.”

“You’re being extra lovey-dovey today” Kyungsoo points out “It’s gross.”

“Gross?” Chanyeol says baffled “Fine I’ll go back on the ship.”

“No” Kyungsoo says, grabbing Chanyeol’s arm as he tries to stand up. 

“That’s what I thought” Chanyeol smiles “Well, the next thing in my plan is to get a room at an inn so we should do that, tomorrow we can find the authors of the book and talk to them”

≋⚓︎≋

“Which one of these authors should we talk to?” Kyungsoo asks looking through the book. 

“Any we can” Chanyeol says, getting dressed to go out “I have a friend who knows a lot of people and hopefully he’ll know where we can find the authors.”

“The book guy right?” Kyungsoo says, referring to Minseok. 

“No he just has a book shop” Chanyeol explains “His name is Jongdae and he does a lot of trading.”

“How many people do you know?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“2 isn’t a lot” Chanyeol laughs “but I know a lot of people here, this is the town I grew up in until I started joining my father on his ship.”

“So does your mom live here then?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“No she got really sick and um...she... well” Chanyeol says dropping his smile “Anyway we should go visit Jongdae.”

“I’m sorry Chanyeol” Kyungsoo says, grabbing his hand to comfort him “I didn’t know.”

“It’s ok, I don’t really talk about it much” Chanyeol answers “but we can find your parents so we should do that.”

“Yeah” Kyungsoo smiles “they’ll really love you.”

“Even though I’m human?” Chanyeol asks. 

“I don’t think they’ll care” Kyungsoo shakes his head “As long as you’re nice and respectful they’ll love you. 

“I hope so” Chanyeol smiles thinking about meeting Kyungsoo’s parents “So Jongdae’s house is just in the next town from here.”

“Sounds like a lot of walking” Kyungsoo pouts for a second. 

“You’ll be fine” Chanyeol laughs. 

Kyungsoo was right, it is quite a walk and his feet hurt quite a lot by the time they get there. He might have had legs for almost 3 weeks now but he’s never walked this much and it shows. Chanyeol on the other hand seems quite comfortable with it and Kyungsoo is a bit jealous. 

“Chanyeol!” Jongdae smiles once he looks away from his plants he was watering “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Well I am here to visit but I also need your help with something” Chanyeol explains “Oh also this is Kyungsoo.”

“Hi” Kyungsoo says before Jongdae holds out his hand and Kyungsoo looks at it in confusion. 

“Shake his hand” Chanyeol whispers to Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo quickly does as he’s told. 

“You’re a little weird” Jongdae laughs “Make sense Chanyeol likes you.”

“He likes you too so wouldn’t that make you weird?” Kyungsoo responds with a smile. 

“Touché” Jongdae smiles “So what did you need help with?”

“We need to know where we can talk to the authors of this book” Chanyeol says, taking the book out of his bag and handing it to Jongdae. 

“It’ll cost you” Jongdae says seriously. 

“What do you want?” Chanyeol sighs. 

“You and Kyungsoo are staying over for dinner” Jongdae says firmly. 

“Deal” Chanyeol smiles. 

“And you make dinner” Jongdae smirks. 

“Do you want your kitchen to explode?” Chanyeol asks. 

“I can just make sashimi” Kyungsoo offers. 

“Great, I haven’t had Japanese food since I was there 5 years ago” Jongdae smiles. 

“Do you know how to make anything else?” Chanyeol teases. 

“Yeah but not... here” Kyungsoo says trying to hint at what he means. 

“Right ok well you better get started, I’m hungry and almost done gardening.” Jongdae laughs. 

Kyungsoo and Chanyeol head down to a nearby market to get some fresh fish which Kyungsoo avoids touching in case it’s covered in seawater. Once they get back to Jongdae’s house the meal is prepared pretty quickly. Kyungsoo handles the fish while Chanyeol sets the table and gets the soy sauce. 

“Looks amazing” Jongdae smiles before he starts to eat “So how did you two meet?”

“I found him on board my dad’s ship and wanted a friend so I covered for him” Chanyeol answers. 

“You’re still working on your dad’s ship?” Jongdae asks. 

“Uh yeah”  Chanyeol answers pretty sure he knows where this is going. 

“And he just let you come here for a little visit?” Jongdae asks. 

“No...” Chanyeol smiles. 

“So let me guess” Jongdae smiles “Kyungsoo had to get off at the next port, probably something to do with this book so both of you snuck off together because you couldn’t bear being alone.”

Kyungsoo momentarily chokes on his food, he wasn’t expecting Jongdae to be able to read the situation that well. 

“He wasn’t supposed to follow me” Kyungsoo corrects. 

“Oh even better, Chanyeol’s throwing away his old life to be with you but you wanted him to stay on the ship” Jongdae smiles “Sounds like you both care about each other more than yourselves, cute.”

“I thought you said he was nice” Kyungsoo says to Chanyeol. 

“Nope I said he could help and he was my friend” Chanyeol corrects “He is very annoying.”

“Hey I’m just interested in your life Chanyeol” Jongdae says offended “I’m glad he found someone he cares about, he needs a sense of purpose in his life.”

“I had purpose” Chanyeol argues. 

“Being a captain is a career but it wasn’t your purpose” Jongdae says eating another piece of fish “You’re a people person, people are your purpose.”

“I forgot why I don’t like coming here” Chanyeol pouts. 

“Because I know you better than you do?” Jongdae smiles “You just don’t like hearing the truth.”

“Can you just tell us about the authors so we can leave?” Chanyeol asks. 

“Yeah alright fine give me the book” Jongdae answers before Chanyeol passes it over the table. 

Jongdae looks through the first couple of pages where the authors are listed before looking up at Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. 

“Alright well the first dude here is completely insane so don’t talk to him, the second one is dead, third one is in hiding but the last one lives nearby” Jongdae answers “He’s your best shot, his pen name is Kris Wu but his real name is Yifan. He lives right near the blacksmith beside the docks, blue house.”

“Thank you” Chanyeol says, taking the book back. 

“So mermaids?” Jongdae smiles and Kyungsoo visibly tenses. 

“It’s an interesting topic” Chanyeol covers. 

“Yeah I bet they don’t understand what a handshake is” Jongdae smiles, he really does know too much “Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone.”

“We’re looking for his parents” Chanyeol says. 

“Well, then I wish you good luck” Jongdae smiles.

“We’re leaving?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Yeah we got the information we needed” Chanyeol answers. 

“But my feet still hurt” Kyungsoo says, worried about walking all the way back. 

“I have a guest bedroom” Jongdae chimes in “One bed but that doesn’t matter does it?”

“Jongdae-” Chanyeol starts. 

“I’m your friend, why do I have to pry all this information out of you?” Jongdae says with a little frown “Why can’t you just come in and tell me you have a fishy boyfriend? I’m happy for you! I like hearing about your life.”

“I’m not his boyfriend” Kyungsoo answers, having no idea what that means “I’m his matelotage.”

“Oh my god you married him?” Jongdae says surprised “And you didn’t even send me a letter, what the hell Chanyeol!”

“We didn’t get married- see this is why I didn’t want to tell you, you just embarrass me” Chanyeol frowns. 

“Matelotage is literally a marriage, don’t lie” Jongdae disagrees “There’s a whole ceremony with that person that officiates with all that “You shall share your lives blah blah”, it’s exactly like marriage. Except it’s only supposed to be while you’re sailing but who cares, it’s not like your feelings change when you take a step on land.”

“We didn’t have any kind of ceremony” Kyungsoo adds in “It’s just because we share everything.” 

Chanyeol looks at Kyungsoo with wide eyes, surely he knows it’s not just because they share everything. Chanyeol explained that, didn’t he? He did. He said that very clearly. 

“So you’ll need separate beds?” Jongdae raises an eyebrow not buying it. 

“No” Kyungsoo says softly. 

“That’s what a thought” Jongdae smirks “Ok well good night you two lovebirds, Chanyeol knows where the guest room is, I’m going to bed.”

“Yeah it’s just this way” Chanyeol says showing Kyungsoo the way. 

The boys get as comfy as they can in the smallish bed, it’s not nearly as comfortable as the inn but it’s so much better than walking back. 

“Hold me” Kyungsoo says, thinking of a way for them to be more comfortable on the cramped bed. 

“You sure?” Chanyeol asks, sounding a little mad. 

“Yeah why?” Kyungsoo asks, confused. 

“You told Jongdae we just share everything but we’re not together together” Chanyeol sulks. 

“I only said that because you said we weren't married” Kyungsoo replies “I didn’t think you wanted Jongdae to know, like how you said we shouldn’t tell the people at the inn.”

“No that’s different” Chanyeol argues “I don’t mind Jongdae knowing it’s just that he’s like a big brother to me and it feels weird to talk about.”

“Oh” Kyungsoo says, realizing his mistake. 

“It’s fine, I was just worried for a second you didn’t actually have feelings for me” Chanyeol says softly. 

“Well I do” Kyungsoo says before kissing Chanyeol softly “So don’t worry about it.”

“Ok” Chanyeol smiles. 

“Now hold me so we can sleep.” Kyungsoo orders.

“How about you hold me, I’m tired of being big spoon.” Chanyeol replies. 

“Sure” 

The next morning Kyungsoo’s feet feel better and they leave Jongdae’s house after they’ve all had breakfast together. The walk back is just as long and painful as the walk there but Kyungsoo smiles knowing they’re one step closer to finding his parents. 

“We’re here to talk to Yifan” Chanyeol says as the door opens “Jongdae sent us.”

“Oh right” The man answers “that’s me, come in”

Yifan opens the door wider and ushers Kyungsoo and Chanyeol in. The house isn’t huge but it’s decently decorated meaning Yifan probably has quite a bit of money, Chanyeol even recognizes a couple of the paintings and they aren’t cheap. Overall the house has sort of a dark but homey vibe, there’s a lot of dark wood and in the center of the main room there are a few couches with red cushions which is where they all end up sitting. 

“I’m guessing you wanted to talk about one of my books” Yifan says pouring some tea from the pot on the coffee table “tea?”

“Sure” Chanyeol answers, taking the cup. 

“We wanted to talk about this one” Kyungsoo says, taking the book out of his bag “is there anything else you know about merfolk?”

“Ah, that one” Yifan says taking a sip of tea “I wrote all the information I had gathered from my research with sailors, I don’t have anything else.”

“Do you know where we could find your sources then?” Chanyeol asks. 

“They’ve all left, long gone since I talked to them” Yifan explains.

“He’s not going to be any help finding them. Chanyeol, come on let’s go” Kyungsoo says putting his tea down and standing up. 

“Wait” Yifan says “I didn’t say I couldn’t help you find a mermaid.”

“We’re listening” Kyungsoo says, sitting back down.

“There are some... people who are able to catch them using a net invisible to mermaid's eyes” Yifan explains. 

“See I told you that part was probably true Soo” Chanyeol says looking at Kyungsoo. 

“It also said the net was shot out of a volcano and then picked up by Poseidon who put a spell on it” Kyungsoo defends himself “It doesn’t sound real.”

“That part might not be true but the net is” Yifan explains “I’ve seen it used.”

Kyungsoo looks at Yifan like he wants to rip his heart out which even frightens Chanyeol. Chanyeol quickly changes the subject to get Kyungsoo to stop. 

“So you might know where we could find a mermaid?” Chanyeol asks. 

“One mermaid and one merman” Kyungsoo corrects letting his jaw unclench.

“I could ask someone” Yifan says cryptically laying back in his chair “How much are you willing to pay?”

“Anything” Kyungsoo says. 

“Anything?!” Chanyeol whispers angrily to Kyungsoo who gives him a look “Yeah ok anything I guess.”

“In that case I can probably get those for you in a month” Yifan smiles. 

“Great” Kyungsoo smiles back “So the mermaid has a dark purple, almost black tail and the merman has a blue-green one. Both should be around 45.”

“That’s really specific. I can’t promise they’ll get you that” Yifan frowns “Is the colour that important?”

“Well yeah” Kyungsoo says, upset “I’m looking for two that... got away from me.”

“Got away from you?” Yifan asks “How did you let that happen?”

“Another ship ambushed us” Chanyeol lies. 

“Well sorry to tell you but if they took your mermaids, they’re dead.” Yifan says casually. 

“Dead?” Kyungsoo repeats in shock.

“Yeah and sold for parts” Yifan explains with the same casual tone as if he’s not describing murder “If you read the book you’d know they can kill you just by singing and it’s dangerous plus the meat-”

Kyungsoo stands up forcefully knocking the table a bit and Chanyeol reacts fast getting up and holding Kyungsoo back from doing anything stupid. 

“He’s upset because he liked them” Chanyeol says, explaining Kyungsoo’s behaviour “Thank you for your help but we need to go now.”

“Chanyeol let me go” Kyungsoo grumbles, turning his attention away from Yifan and towards Chanyeol. 

“We’re leaving” Chanyeol says softly hoping Kyungsoo will understand they need to have a conversation privately “staying here won’t help us.”

“Fine” Kyungsoo says before walking out of the room leaving the book on the ground.

“Is there any chance they’re alive?” Chanyeol asks Yifan once Kyungsoo is out of earshot. 

“None at all” Yifan answers “They’re killed shortly after they’re caught before they get their legs.”

“What if they dry quickly?” Chanyeol asks hopefully. 

“They throw a bucket of water on them and kill them” Yifan explains “If they have legs, they can get away and no one wants that.”

Chanyeol has to hold back his own anger, Kyungsoo was right when he said humans don’t value their lives. It’s ridiculous, just because they have a tail sometimes doesn’t make it ok to kill them like fish. He grabs the book and runs out after Kyungsoo but he’s already really far away. 

“Kyungsoo!” Chanyeol yells after his partner. 

“Leave me alone!” Kyungsoo yells back before he starts running towards the ocean coast.

“Kyungsoo! Wait!” Chanyeol yells, sprinting.

“Why should I wait?” Kyungsoo stops momentarily to laugh bitterly “Humans murdered my parents, there’s nothing for me here. I’m going home.”

“Kyungsoo I’m here” Chanyeol says hurt but Kyungsoo just continues going back to the ocean.

Chanyeol reminds himself that Kyungsoo is just hurt and lashing out. He doesn’t mean it, he can’t.

“Remember when I said you aren’t responsible for merpeople killing humans?” Chanyeol yells trying to persuade Kyungsoo to stay “I told you humans can be just as awful but that doesn’t mean I’m like that! Please don’t leave me.”

Kyungsoo finally stops and looks back at Chanyeol while Chanyeol runs as fast as he can to catch up to him. Chanyeol is thankful Kyungsoo doesn’t change his mind before Chanyeol has a chance to grab him and hold him in an attempt to help him feel better. Kyungsoo fights him for a while before breaking down and allowing himself to be hugged.

“They’re dead” Kyungsoo mumbles into Chanyeol’s chest “I don’t know what to do without them. My whole life has been about finding them and I never even had a chance”

“I’m sorry” Chanyeol says softly.

“Sorry won’t bring them back” Kyungsoo says angrily. 

“We can run away together” Chanyeol suggests “Away from all this and just be happy.”

“I don’t want to run away” Kyungsoo says, pushing Chanyeol off a bit “I never wanted to run away. I came to land to find my parents, to fight for them and... I’m still going to do that.”

“What do you mean?” Chanyeol asks. 

“I want to find the boat that caught them” Kyungsoo says looking into Chanyeol's eyes “and avenge their deaths.”

“You want to kill people?” Chanyeol asks, surprised, he never thought Kyungsoo was capable of that. Chanyeol is a little worried about Kyungsoo’s plan. Obviously Chanyeol has no trouble breaking rules or even the law but he never puts anyone else in danger. The fact that Kyungsoo wants revenge just doesn’t sit well with him. They’re happy together so why does Kyungsoo need anything else?

“They took my parents and murdered them” Kyungsoo says as a tear runs down his face “How am I supposed to let them go unpunished?”

“I don’t think killing them is going to make you feel better” Chanyeol says “but I’ll help you find the ship.”

“You will?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“I don’t agree with you but I’m here for you” Chanyeol says “and if this is what you want to do then I’ll help.”

“Thanks” Kyungsoo mumbles “and I’m sorry about earlier, I didn’t mean it.”

“I know” Chanyeol says, grabbing Kyungsoo’s hand “let’s go to sleep and in the morning we can find that ship. I think Yifan knows more than he’s saying.”

≋⚓︎≋

Chanyeol’s not surprised when he wakes up before Kyungsoo, it’s usually what happens because Kyungsoo is not much of a morning person. But usually, Kyungsoo wakes up when Chanyeol starts getting ready, so Kyungsoo staying tightly tucked in his bed is weird. 

“Soo?” Chanyeol says shaking him lightly. 

“I’m cold” Kyungsoo mumbles without really waking up.

“Cold?” Chanyeol asks, it’s the middle of summer and the room isn’t cool at all. 

“Mmm” Kyungsoo mumbles, pulling the blanket up higher and hiding his head in it. 

Chanyeol pulls Kyungsoo gently away from the blanket and puts his hand on Kyungsoo’s forehead. 

“Kyungsoo you’re burning up” Chanyeol says loudly. 

“No” Kyungsoo says, finally opening his eyes “I feel cold.”

“You’re sick” Chanyeol realizes “I don’t know anything about mermaid sickness. What do I do?”

“Um” Kyungsoo says, still trying to wake up “Get the book.”

“Right” Chanyeol says, quickly running to get it. 

“I’m cold” Kyungsoo repeats again. 

“I know but you actually have a fever” Chanyeol says opening the book and looking for anything on sickness. 

“I’m trying to help you narrow it down” Kyungsoo frowns “I’m cold and I’m sweating and my head hurts.”

“Are you nauseous?” Chanyeol asks, still trying to find something about sicknesses. 

“I was yesterday but I think that’s from... the news” Kyungsoo explains “I feel dizzy.” 

“Stay here I’m going to go talk to Yifan.” Chanyeol says since he can't find anything in the book. 

“Chanyeol, stay with me” Kyungsoo frowns. 

“I want to, trust me I do, but I need to find out why this is happening” Chanyeol says before putting on his belt “It’s my turn to take care of you.”

“You’ve been taking care of me since we met” Kyungsoo laughs lightly.

“I’ll be back” Chanyeol says leaving the room. 

Chanyeol walks down to Yifan’s house and desperately hopes he’ll know what to do because Chanyeol has seen people die with similar symptoms and Chanyeol doesn’t know what he’d do without Kyungsoo. He’s never cared about anyone as much as he cares about Kyungsoo.

“Yifan open up!” Chanyeol says knocking on the door. 

“Oh hello again” Yifan says, opening the door. 

“What do you know about mermaid sicknesses?” Chanyeol asks cutting to the chase.

“Your friend is sick” Yifan smiles. 

“Just tell me what you know” Chanyeol says, angry with how happy Yifan seems to be finding out Kyungsoo is a merman. 

“I had my suspicions about him when he got so worked up about those two mermaids being dead” Yifan says sitting down. 

“Frankly I’m just as angry I’m just better at hiding it but if you don’t tell me how to help Kyungsoo you’ll regret it” Chanyeol says taking his sword out and pointing it at Yifan “Tell me now.”

“He’s just reacting to the licorice root” Yifan explains calmly even with a sword pointed at him “It acts like a poison to mermaids but it’s quite good in tea. I serve it to all my guests as a precaution.”

“You poisoned him?” Chanyeol says before bringing the sword right to Yifan’s throat “What’s the antidote?”

“You might want to put that down” Yifan says putting a finger on the tip of the sword trying to lower it “we both know you won’t use it and I’m really helping you. Mermaids are evil, whatever he’s told you is a lie, you’re better off letting him die.”

“You don’t know me at all” Chanyeol says, putting a bit of pressure on Yifan’s neck “Tell me the antidote.”

“I don’t have it” Yifan says, finally getting scared “But Zhang Yixing does, his shop is up the hill. Just ask for his hand cream. It has the right plant in it to reverse the effects.”

“Thank you” Chanyeol says, lowering the sword and noticing he cut Yifan a bit, serves him right “If you lied about the antidote I’ll have you tried for murder. I have friends in the king’s court. You won’t get away with it.”

“Then go quickly, but don’t say I didn’t warn you” Yifan says seriously “Mermen are dangerous and keeping him alive is a mistake.”

Chanyeol doesn’t waste a single second debating whether Yifan is right or not. Some merpeople might be dangerous but Kyungsoo isn’t, not to Chanyeol. He would never hurt him. Chanyeol leaves the house quickly and runs to Yixing’s shop, he knows exactly where it is because he’s been there before. While Chanyeol generally would rather spend his money on food or fun activities he does like some posh things, particularly a nice sandalwood soap that Yixing makes. Luckily the shop opens early. 

“Hi Chanyeol back for soap? I thought I’d see you yesterday when your ship was supposed to dock but I guess you’re late” Yixing says with a smiles. 

“It docked yesterday, I’m not getting back on it” Chanyeol smiles back, Chanyeol would love to stay and chat but Kyungsoo is sick and he needs to help “and I’m actually looking for your hand cream.”

“Your father doesn’t know you snuck off does he?” Yixing laughs as he walks towards the creams. 

“He probably knows by now” Chanyeol smiles seeing a jar labelled hand cream. 

“Is this all you want today?” Yixing asks, handing Chanyeol the jar.

“For now” Chanyeol says handing Yixing the amount of money on the tag in front of where the jar is “I might come back but right now I just need this.”

Once Chanyeol pays he runs back to the inn and Kyungsoo has only gotten worse. He’s lost all colour in his face and he’s shiny with the amount of sweat on his face. He stole the blanket from Chanyeol’s bed and he’s tightly wrapped in both, still shivering. 

“I don’t think that helps with the fever” Chanyeol says while walking towards Kyungsoo. 

“Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo says weakly, turning to face him. 

“I have medicine for you” Chanyeol says opening the jar of hand cream “eat it”

“No” Kyungsoo says, looking at the jar. 

“You were poisoned and this is the antidote, eat it” Chanyeol says pulling Kyungsoo’s blankets off so Kyungsoo can grab the jar with his hands.

“That smells awful, I'm not eating it” Kyungsoo protests, pulling his blanket back up. 

“You’re sick Kyungsoo and you could die” Chanyeol says seriously “Just eat it.”

“Can you get me some water to wash it down?” Kyungsoo winces bringing the jar closer to his face. 

“Yeah” Chanyeol says, getting up to grab his waterskin and bring it to Kyungsoo. 

“This is gross” Kyungsoo says swallowing a large glob of the medicine “Give me the water.”

“Are you sure that’s enough? Maybe finish the jar” Chanyeol says a little worried. 

“I’ll throw up” Kyungsoo says before taking the water from Chanyeol and chugging it. 

“I guess that wouldn’t help” Chanyeol says before once again taking the blankets away from Kyungsoo “Stop making your fever worse.”

“I feel freezing” Kyungsoo says after he’s cleared his mouth of the awful taste. 

“Hopefully you’ll feel better soon” Chanyeol says sitting beside Kyungsoo on the bed “maybe a swim in the ocean would help?”

“I feel too dizzy to get up” Kyungsoo says before clinging to Chanyeol for the warmth he feels like he needs.

“From now on, avoid licorice root” Chanyeol says softly “Stick to food you know won’t kill you.”

“Licorice root?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“It was in the tea” Chanyeol explains “apparently it’s poisonous to you.”

“That tea was gross” Kyungsoo says, remembering it.

“I can’t believe you almost died because of tea” Chanyeol frowns. 

“Hey” Kyungsoo says poking Chanyeol lightly with a smile “I’m not dead and who knows maybe I would have been fine.”

“You’re not healed yet” Chanyeol says, still unable to smile back.

“I feel better” Kyungsoo smiles “Less sweaty.”

“Probably just because you stopped baking yourself in those blankets” Chanyeol replies “I think the antidote would take longer to work.”

“I’ll be fine” Kyungsoo smiles. 

“You better be” Chanyeol agrees “I was really scared. I thought I might lose you and I just can’t stomach that thought. You’ve made me happier than anyone else and I just don’t want to live in a world without you. You’re the only person I’ve ever truly cared for and... I love you.”

“I love you too” Kyungsoo says without needing a single second to pause to think about it. 

“I’m really worried about finding the ship that killed your parents” Chanyeol admits “I feel like we’re in over our heads with this. We’re not messing around on my dad’s ship anymore and the consequences won’t just be being sent to our room for a couple of days.” 

“But my whole life has been about finding my parents, I know they’re dead but I can’t just give up on them because it’s scary” Kyungsoo says “I couldn’t save them so the best I can do it get justice for them, I’m not willing to just give up and move on.”

“I know and I wouldn’t ask you to” Chanyeol says softly “I always thought I wanted some big adventures fighting pirates or something but now that we’re here I’m just scared. I just don’t want to lose all the good things I have in my life for the sake of an adventure.”

“Maybe we could just be more careful?” Kyungsoo asks “I mean we don’t have to be so bold, we could have a secret mission that way no one will try to hurt us.”

“That could work” Chanyeol nods “but first you just need to focus on getting better” Chanyeol says finally smiling “and then I think we should take a little break. Yifan knows you’re a merman and he thinks you should be killed and I did threaten him but I’m still worried he might try something.”

“So we just lay low?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Lay low and we’ll go down to the docks to see if there are any useful rumours, well maybe just I should go cause there's a lot of seawater and you never know” Chanyeol explains “maybe I can show you more human things and you could show me some merpeople things?”

“I’ve always wanted to swim with you” Kyungsoo smiles, feeling his head hurt less. 

“Me too” Chanyeol smiles back “Your tail is so pretty.”

“I’m feeling a bit better already” Kyungsoo says softly. 

“It feel like your fever’s gone down a bit too” Chanyeol smiles. 

“Good, I’m glad that gross medicine was worth it.” Kyungsoo says sticking out his tongue for effect “Now hold me I’m still cold.”

“Fine but only because your fever is getting better” Chanyeol smiles before wrapping his arms around Kyungsoo. 

≋⚓︎≋

“Chanyeol” Kyungsoo whispers, poking Chanyeol’s cheek “You fell asleep.”

“Huh?” Chanyeol asks waking up. 

“You took a little nap after I asked you to hold me and keep me warm” Kyungsoo smiles “I’m feeling a lot better now though.”

Chanyeol brings the back of his hand to Kyungsoo’s head to check and sure enough his temperature is perfectly normal now. 

“I know we’re laying low but could we go for that swim now?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“As long as no one will see it” Chanyeol agrees. 

“Good” Kyungsoo smiles. 

Kyungsoo gets up slowly to make sure he is really better, he takes a few steps and doesn’t feel dizzy at all. He smiles and looks back at Chanyeol who is getting out of bed too. They both walk out of the inn together and walk down the street. 

“So where do you want to swim?” Chanyeol asks. 

“Um” Kyungsoo says looking around before seeing a bridge over a small inlet up the street “The water there looks deep enough to jump in.”

“I’m not jumping” Chanyeol says looking at the drop. 

“Come on it won’t be that bad, it’s just a little jump” Kyungsoo teases.

“I could hit a rock or something underwater” Chanyeol whines as they approach the bridge. 

“I’ll jump first and make sure there are no rocks” Kyungsoo answers. 

“What happened to being careful?” Chanyeol asks. 

“Fine you can just walk down the hill and find somewhere to walk into the ocean like a baby, but I can’t really do that without being beached so” Kyungsoo says speeding up till he’s on the bridge.

“No, fine ok I’ll jump” Chanyeol says catching up. 

“Great” Kyungsoo says, taking Chanyeol’s hand and helping him up onto the rail “On the count of 3 we jump.”

Kyungsoo counts to three and they both jump off the bridge before quickly landing in the rather cold ocean water. Kyungsoo pulls Chanyeol up to the surface since he figures the human won’t be that comfortable 10 ft underwater. 

“That was really fun!” Chanyeol yells once he’s above water. 

“I’m glad you liked it” Kyungsoo laughs. 

“You didn’t change” Chanyeol says, noticing Kyungsoo’s still wearing his shirt. 

“Yeah um oops” Kyungsoo laughs seeing his torn pants floating away from them “well you can buy me some more clothes.”

“I’m really starting to feel like our mateolage agreement is a bit unbalanced” Chanyeol laughs. 

“Too bad you already agreed” Kyungsoo laughs before diving under the water, splashing Chanyeol in the process. 

“Hey!” Chanyeol yells in surprise before following Kyungsoo underwater. 

“You might have money but apparently I can kiss you and fix all your problems” Kyungsoo laughs. 

“Blsbadbf” Chanyeol tries to reply but it doesn’t work because he’s underwater and it just comes out like a bunch of mumbled sounds and bubbles. 

“Right you don’t breathe water” Kyungsoo says before pointing to the gills on the side of his neck “another merperson perk is being able to talk underwater.”

Chanyeol swims back up to the surface and Kyungsoo follows. 

“That is so not fair” Chanyeol pouts. 

“I’m sorry you’re a boring weak human” Kyungsoo smirks. 

“You’re mean” Chanyeol frowns “Fine that’s it, I won’t kiss you now.”

“Who said anything about kissing?” Kyungsoo laughs. 

“You did” Chanyeol says “But I refuse so now we’ll never know if merman kisses heal headaches.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and smiles at Chanyeol’s childish behaviour before wrapping his hands around a now smiling Chanyeol’s neck and pulling him for a quick peck. 

“Mmm I don’t think that was good enough, didn’t do anything” Chanyeol says earning another eye roll from Kyungsoo “I’m doing this in the name of science, we have to be thorough.”

Chanyeol kisses Kyungsoo with more passion, unlike the previous kiss this one lasts for multiple seconds and Kyungsoo pulls away before it gets too heated. 

“There, how’s your headache now?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“I never had one but I feel pretty good now” Chanyeol smiles mischievously. 

Kyungsoo just splashes Chanyeol in reply which starts a petty little splashing fight. They spend a few more hours in the water playing around. A lot of their time is spent with Kyungsoo pulling Chanyeol around at high speeds underwater or Chanyeol admiring the way his tail shines underwater. 

Eventually Chanyeol gets out and buys Kyungsoo another pair of pants and then they walk into town together so Chanyeol can show Kyungsoo some more human things. 

“So this is the town” Chanyeol says as they walk down the street. 

“I know, I was here before you walked off the ship” Kyungsoo laughs “I looked at some of the shops.”

“So you don’t want my super inside tour?” Chanyeol asks. 

“Depends if that’s going to be fun or not” Kyungsoo teases. 

“It’ll be fun” Chanyeol says before walking towards a bakery “Let’s get some fresh pastries, I miss them.”

“I’m back to knowing nothing about humans” Kyungoo sighs “What’s a pastry?”

“Just a tasty bready often sweet thing” Chanyeol explains “See you know what that means, you know human things.”

“Sweet?” Kyungsoo asks nervously, he still doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth. 

“Ok none for you then” Chanyeol laughs walking into the bakery, he looks at the selection and picks something Kyungsoo might enjoy “Can I get 2 pasties?”

“Sure” The baker answers. 

“I thought I wasn’t getting anything” Kyungsoo smiles. 

“This is meat and veggies so you’ll probably like it” Chanyeol says, taking the pastries and giving the baker the money “Next we should go to my friend’s store, he’s the one who gave me the medicine.”

“Then I’d like to thank him” Kyungsoo says before taking a bite of the flaky pastry “This is really good.”

“Fresh food is always better than what we have on the ship” Chanyeol answers as they walk towards Yixing’s store. 

They continue to eat their food as they walk up the hill towards the store. After a few minutes they arrive at their destination and their pastries are gone. 

“Chanyeol!” Yixing greets him “You brought a friend.”

“Yup, he’s new in town so I thought I’d show him my favourite places” Chanyeol explains “maybe get some sandalwood soap while I’m here.”

“I have to say I’m surprised you didn’t buy it when you bought the hand cream” Yixing smiles before walking towards the soap to get it for Chanyeol. 

“Hand cream?” Kyungsoo asks Chanyeol “You bought hand cream here? I thought this is where you bought the medicine.”

“It had the antidote in it” Chanyeol says quietly. 

“You fed me hand cream?” Kyungsoo says, feeling betrayed “I ate hand cream and you didn’t even tell me?”

“I thought it would be best not to tell you” Chanyeol smiles a bit, trying to contain his laughter because he knows Kyungsoo will be really mad if he laughs. 

“Does your friend want to try any of the products?” Yixing asks from across the shop/

“That’s ok, I had hand cream earlier” Kyungsoo says, still frowning. 

“Come on Kyungsoo, at least smell the soaps they are really nice” Chanyeol pouts knowing Kyungsoo won’t be able to resist. 

“Fine” Kyungsoo agrees as they both walk towards Yixing.

“This one is lavender” Yixing says, holding the soap out for Chanyeol and Kyungsoo to smell “It has calming effects, very good for stress.”

“It smells... strong” Kyungsoo says, not wanting to offend Yixing but Yixing just laughs looking at his clearly disgusted face. 

“It’s not for everyone” Yixing admits “What types of smells do you like?”

“Salty” Kyungsoo answers “Or seaweed, I really like red kelp.”

“I have a soap with seaweed” Yixing says before picking it “most people choose it because it’s good for skin but the smell is usually the drawback.”

“I spend a lot of time in the water so I like it” Kyungsoo explains before smelling the soap “That is really nice.”

“Really?” Chanyeol asks before smelling it and immediately regretting it “That’s so nasty!”

“I want it” Kyungsoo says to Yixing “Chanyeol give him your money.”

“No! There’s no way I’m paying for soap that smells bad, what is the point? Pick something less gross and I’ll buy it.” 

“Maybe you’ll like the coconut milk and jasmine soap? It smells sort of tropical and beachy” Yixing suggests “It’s a rather pleasant smell.”

“I like it” Kyungsoo says, smelling it. 

“Yeah that one is nice” Chanyeol agrees. 

“Seems you’ve made a choice” Yixing smiles “Coconut milk and the sandalwood one.”

“Sandalwood?” Kyungsoo asks Chanyeol. 

“It’s the one I use.” Chanyeol explains while paying Yixing before handing the soap to Kyungsoo. 

“You smell nothing like this” Kyungsoo says, enjoying the warm woody smell of the soap “This smells amazing.”

Yixing stifles a laugh trying to keep his professionalism as he takes the money from Chanyeol. 

“I didn’t use it while I was on the ship” Chanyeol huffs as they walk out of the store. 

“I would have fallen for you way faster if you smelled like this” Kyungsoo says, still holding the soap. 

“At least you like me for me and not my soap” Chanyeol says as he sees the sun start to set in the distance “ready to head back or do you want to check out another store?”

“We can come back tomorrow” Kyungsoo answers. 

“Let’s do it”

≋⚓︎≋

“I’m back!” Chanyeol yells as he walks back into their room at the inn “Did you miss me?”

“Ehh” Kyungsoo smiles putting his book down. 

Chanyeol pouts dramatically the way he does every time Kyungsoo teases and Kyungsoo just smiles before getting up to greet Chanyeol with a quick kiss. 

“There, happy?” Kyungsoo smiles. 

“Yes” Chanyeol smiles back “Now wanna hear what I learned?”

“Yes” Kyungsoo says before sitting on one of their chairs. 

“I met a couple of guys who know a lot about the ships that dock at port” Chanyeol explains “Sehun and Jongin are really chatty, I don’t think they talk to many people other than themselves.”

“So what did they tell you?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“That there’s one ship that comes often but that seems weird” Chanyeol explains “The ship always has too much cargo and pays extra to have it taken off without it being recorded in the official document.”

“Obviously they are doing something illegal but how do you know it has anything to do with merpeople?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“They also buy a lot of tea” Chanyeol says before winking. 

“So it’s a British ship?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“No, like tea with licorice? You know to keep them safe from mermaids?” Chanyeol suggests. 

“I don’t know Chanyeol, that sounds kinda like a stretch” Kyungsoo replies. 

“Sehun and Jongin got caught by their boss before I could get any more information out of them but I’ll talk to them later and we’ll see if I’m right” Chanyeol says. 

“Sure” Kyungsoo says quickly “Can we go swimming now?”

“Yeah ok let’s go” Chanyeol smiles. 

The boys go to a new swimming spot Kyungsoo found with a shorter jump, it’s also farther from town so it’s a little more private which Chanyeol is happy about because he’s still worried about someone finding out Kyungsoo is a merman and hurting him. There’s also a lot more plant life around this spot giving it a fun tropical feel to it, that is until they jump into the cold water. How did Kyungoo live in this?

“I think I’ve been here before” Kyungsoo as they swim around the lagoon “One second.”

“Ok” Chanyeol says before Kyungsoo dives down and away from Chanyeol. 

He watches as Kyungsoo swims around near the ocean floor looking around. Chanyeol will never not be completely amazed by Kyungsoo in his natural form, his tail moves so beautifully in the water as the sun lights it up making it change from black to the amazing green/blue colour. Even as Kyungsoo swims way far down where the sunlight is less intense it still shines all the pretty colours. Chanyeol obviously doesn’t know that much about merpeople but he’s pretty sure Kyungsoo has one of the most beautiful tails ever. He never thought mermaids would have black tails like that but it’s actually more captivating than any bright coloured tail could be. 

Kyungsoo seems to have found something and smiles as he swims back up to Chanyeol. 

“I was right, I have been here before and I have something really cool to shows you” Kyungsoo smiles before taking Chanyeol’s hand “Hold your breath and trust me.”

Chanyeol does exactly what he’s told and they both dive under the water together. Chanyeol swims as fast as he can to keep up with Kyungsoo because he knows Kyungsoo is going really slow for his benefit. Chanyeol really hopes whatever they are looking for is close by because he’s starting to need air. Kyungsoo pulls him towards a huge rock formation near the drop off of the lagoon. Chanyeol pulls on Kyungsoo’s arm lightly to signal that he’s worried. 

“Don’t worry, it's just an optical illusion” Kyungsoo says as they swim into a tunnel behind the kelp growing near the rocks. 

When they get to the end of the short tunnel Kyungsoo leads Chanyeol up to the surface where he finally takes a breath of air. 

“Sorry I didn’t realize it would take that long” Kyungsoo says, smiling lightly as Chanyeol takes plenty of deep breaths. 

“Next time we should dive down closer to the tunnel” Chanyeol answers once he’s done catching his breath. 

“Good point” Kyungsoo laughs. 

“What is this?” Chanyeol asks looking around the cave. 

“Just a cave but it’s where some merpeople store their things” Kyungsoo explains “Anything that doesn’t do well in water like jewelry we find in the ocean.”

“How is there light in here?” Chanyeol says looking around at the blue light bouncing around the cave walls. 

“Um I don’t really know but there’s like this goo stuff” Kyungsoo says swimming to the edge of the cave to put some on his finger “and it glows and the cave walls are shiny so it makes it brighter.”

“Mermaid magic” Chanyeol concludes. 

“It’s not us we just find these caves and hide them to keep them a secret” Kyungsoo explains. 

“Magic” Chanyeol laughs. 

“You think everything about being a merman is magic but it’s not, it’s just as magical as baking a pastry but I don’t call that magic” Kyungsoo says swimming back towards Chanyeol. 

“You may have a point” Chanyeol agrees, happy to have Kyungsoo’s warmth closer to him because the water in the cave is pretty cold. 

“Do you know why I wanted to show you this?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Because we’re in a sparkly cave and it’s romantic?” Chanyeol flirts. 

“No, well yes but that’s not the main reason” Kyungsoo says before swimming away from Chanyeol making him frown. 

Kyungsoo looks around little divots in the cave wall before finding what he was looking for and bringing it back to show Chanyeol. 

“It’s my favourite toy from when I was younger” Kyungsoo says handing it to Chanyeol “I put it here when I started looking for ships because I knew I probably wasn’t going home.”

“What is it?” Chanyeol asks, trying to look at it in the dim light. 

“It’s a dolphin carved out of cuttlebone” Kyungsoo explains “It’s not much but with a child’s imagination it was really fun to play with.”

“I had toy soldiers” Chanyeol says “It’s the same idea I’m guessing, you just act out stories with it right?”

“Yeah exactly” Kyungsoo smiles brightly. 

“I’m really glad you have something from your childhood here” Chanyeol says “Sometimes I’m worried keeping you from your merman life just makes me selfish.”

“Well it’s not” Kyungsoo says taking Chanyeol’s hand “I love the sea but I’ve never had as much fun as I have with you. There’s so much on land and I love learning about it. Plus we come to swim anyway so I get the best of both worlds.”

“I’m glad” Chanyeol smiles “I just want you to be happy.”

“I am happy” Kyungsoo says before hugging Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol is really willing to help Kyungsoo with his plan to avenge his parent’s death but he would rather not. He’s only helping to make Kyungsoo happy but if they’re happy now maybe Kyungsoo won’t care about revenge anymore. He’ll support Kyungsoo either way but just based on the way he seemed not to care about the gossip that could lead them to the ship and now how happy he is sharing his life with Chanyeol, Chanyeol just has to wonder if maybe Kyungsoo has new priorities. It makes him smile because Kyungsoo becoming a murder, even if he just avenging his parents’ death, makes Chanyeol feel awful. 

≋⚓︎≋

“Where do you want to go next?” Chanyeol asks as him and Kyungsoo walk around the main square of the town. 

“I don’t know we’ve spent all day here, is there anything left?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“If I remember correctly there’s a music shop down the road” Chanyeol says pointing down the dirt road “it’s getting late anyway though, maybe we should wait till tomorrow.”

“No” Kyungsoo says, grabbing Chanyeol’s hand “Let’s go, I want to see it.”

“Do merpeople have musical instruments?” Chanyeol asks softly in case anyone is around to overhear their conversation. 

“We mainly just sing” Kyungsoo says “It’s a lot harder to make sound underwater so singing is just easiest.”

“Well then maybe you’ll enjoy hearing me play something?” Chanyeol asks. 

“I’d love to” Kyungsoo smiles. 

They walk down the street until they reach the shop, the shop owner seems to know Chanyeol (like almost everyone in this town) and happily lets Chanyeol pick up a guitar and start to play it. Chanyeol ends up tuning it a bit first before he starts to play and Kyungsoo sits back in awe at the beautiful sounds coming from the wooden instrument. He never knew objects could sound as beautiful as person singing but it certainly does. Chanyeol must be extremely skilled and Kyungsoo starts to wonder why he didn’t have one on the ship. 

If Kyungsoo could use only one word to describe the song it would be “beautiful”. There’s nothing sad or angry about it, it’s just peaceful and incredible. It reminds Kyungsoo of just floating in the water and looking up at the clouds in the sky. It’s amazing. Chanyeol finishes playing the song and just looks up at Kyungsoo smiling without saying a word. 

“What is it?” Kyungsoo says breaking into a smile after seeing Chanyeol’s.

“I love you” Chanyeol answers sincerely. 

“I love you too” Kyungsoo laughs “and I loved your song too, it was perfect, you should play more often.”

“You should sing along” Chanyeol smiles “not the siren song but something else.”

“Sounds like a plan” Kyungsoo answers “Not right now though because we should really be getting back, it’s already getting dark.”

“Good point” Chanyeol says, putting down the guitar.

They leave the store shortly after and Kyungsoo wonders if maybe they should have stayed longer. They only stayed for like 10 minutes but then again they always come back tomorrow. 

“That’s Sehun and Jongin!” Chanyeol exclaims pointing down at the pier “I know it’s late but maybe I should try talking to them.”

“Yeah that’s probably a good idea” Kyungsoo agrees before leaning on a barrel “You never know when they’ll be there again.”

“Oh! Don’t lean on that” Chanyeol says, pulling Kyungsoo off the barrel. 

“Why?” Kyungsoo says, surprised. 

“It’s full of gunpowder, it’s explosive” Chanyeol explains but he can tell Kyungsoo doesn’t understand at all “Remember the fireworks?”

“Why is it here then?” Kyungsoo says jumping away from the barrel. 

“They need to load it on the ships for the canons” Chanyeol says “which they use as a defence-”

“Against pirates” Kyungsoo finishes “Like in the journal.”

“Yeah exactly” Chanyeol smiles “so just don’t touch it, just in case.”

“Ok I’ll just wait here” Kyungsoo says with a cute smile. 

“Do you mind going to our room instead?” Chanyeol asks “I’d just be worried Yifan or someone tried to hurt you while I wasn’t looking and I know you could probably defend yourself but I'm still worried.”

“Ok” Kyungsoo says softly. 

Kyungsoo walks back to the inn alone. He walks pretty quickly now worried about someone coming to get him, but Yifan wouldn’t, would he? Chanyeol seemed to think that Yifan wouldn’t do anything since Chanyeol threatened him. Even if there’s almost no chance anyone would try to hurt him Kyungsoo still feels a little paranoid so once he’s in the room he locks the door, which helps him feel safer. He waits patiently for Chanyeol to come back as he reads through a book Chanyeol bought him earlier that day.

“Why is the door locked?” Chanyeol asks after trying to open it. 

“I got a little scared” Kyungsoo admits, opening the door. 

“I’m sorry to worry you” Chanyeol says before pulling Kyungsoo in for a big hug as soon as the door opens “You just mean so much to me that I might be a little overprotective.”

“It’s fine I get it” Kyungsoo smiles hugging Chanyeol back “I would do that too if you had almost died after drinking some tea.”

“I hate tea” Chanyeol jokes “I’ll never drink it again.”

“You love black tea” Kyungsoo laughs, pulling out of the hug. 

“Yeah you’re right” Chanyeol smiles. 

“So what did you learn?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Oh!” Chanyeol says excitedly “I learned so much, the ship with the tea and shipments and stuff apparently is called the Camarde and it’ll be docking again soon.”

“But it still didn’t really sound like that was the right ship” Kyungsoo says, remembering what they had learned before.

“Right but I got more information today about that too” Chanyeol says “They have a lot of money and they seem to get it selling really big fish but they aren’t a fishing ship.”

“But can we prove they aren’t just catching tuna or something?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“Sehun said the fishtails were pretty colourful” Chanyeol explains. 

“How colourful?” Kyungsoo asks as his heart speeds up, it sounds like this really is the right ship. 

“He only saw it for a second by accident but he said it wasn’t like any fish he’d seen, it was red but it shinned purple” 

“Oh” Kyungsoo says feeling the pain settle in, being reminded that merpeople are being killed hurts. 

“I’m sorry Kyungsoo” Chanyeol responds seeing the pain in Kyungsoo’s eyes “but at least I found the ship, right? You know who did.”

“Yeah” Kyungsoo nods “We can figure out what to do next”

“We can expose their illegal activities” Chanyeol smiles “Get them banned from the seas.”

“What? No that won’t work, they’ll just become pirates” Kyungsoo responds “What if we just set off that stuff that blows up on the ship we could destroy it, right?”

“Uh yes, setting off the gunpowder would destroy the ship” Chanyeol answers “but you’d kill everyone on board.”

“And we could do it from far enough away to not get hurt” Kyungsoo smiles lightly thinking about finally ending this. 

“I understand wanting justice for your parents’ death but, at what cost? How many people on that ship are the crew that killed your parents?” Chanyeol asks “Maybe the captain is the same captain but that doesn’t mean the rest of the crew should suffer. I can’t blow the whole ship up.”

“You said you’d help me” Kyungsoo says getting angry “Why are you suddenly not ok with it now?”

“I was hoping you would realize you’re happy now and you don’t need-” Chanyeol starts. 

“Were you ever actually going to help?” Kyungsoo yells “Or did you just say that to shut me up and play with my feelings?”

“I was but you’re talking about killing everyone on that ship” Chanyeol says getting angry himself “I agreed to get justice not killing a whole crew to avenge the lives of 2 people. I really mean it when I say I understand wanting justice but this isn’t justice.”

“You’re saying you understand how important this is to me but clearly you don’t. All the people on that ship are responsible even if they didn’t kill my parents because they know what’s going on board and they aren’t stopping it.” Kyungsoo yells back “It’s not just my parents Chanyeol, how many of my people were taken from their families and slaughtered for money? How many families were torn apart by those people? You of all people should understand what it’s like to lose family.” 

“I do and that’s why I don’t think you should do it. The people on that ship have families too! How many more families will you tear apart just for your own sense of morality?” Chanyeol yells back “You know what, I’m done, you can do whatever you want but I’m not helping you become a murder. I can’t do that.”

“Well I’m glad you can’t allow the death of humans who hunt merpeople” Kyungsoo spits “It’s nice to see where your priorities lie.”

“I hate this side of you” Chanyeol yells back “I was so used to seeing you as my partner who just tags along and wants to have fun. As someone who wants to learn and is ready to absorb as much as you can about human life. I never thought you could ever want to blow up an entire ship. But maybe I don’t really know you at all. Maybe Yifan had a point. Maybe mermen are evil.”

“My parents were right” Kyungsoo yells back trying to cover the pain Chanyeol’s words caused “Going near ships is dangerous, humans don’t value our lives!”

“I’m staying at Jongdae’s” Chanyeol says in a huff grabbing his stuff and leaving through the front door “This room is only booked for another day so have fun trying to find somewhere to live!”

“I don’t need a roof!” Kyungsoo yells back “I don’t need anything you gave me!”

Once Chanyeol slams the door shut, Kyungsoo's anger very quickly turns to sadness. Not that he’s not still really upset with Chanyeol but it’s the fact that Chanyeol made him so angry that hurts him. He really trusted him but Chanyeol clearly doesn’t care about him as much as Kyungsoo thought. If he did he wouldn’t have said what he said. He just wanted Kyungsoo to be this perfect person who’s just happy and fun to be around but that’s not who he is. He loves spending time with Chanyeol but his whole life since he lost his parents was about getting them back. He’s not just going to drop that because he has someone who makes- or rather made him happy. There’s no reason to pick just one, he can easily be happy with Chanyeol and avenge his parents and he really thought Chanyeol understood that. If Chanyeol isn’t ok with that then really he’s not ok with Kyungsoo as a person and that really hurts, more than anything else. He thinks Kyungsoo is evil. When Chanyeol left Kyungsoo was worried he’d lose him but now he realizes he never really had him. Chanyeol only liked the idea of him, now that it’s shattered, Chanyeol won’t want to come back. 

Kyungsoo takes a deep breath and thinks about what to do next. If he’s on his own now then he might as well just jump into the ocean. At this point he’d just do anything to forget what just happened. He doesn’t know what else to do but he’s sure he wants to stop feeling like this.

Kyungsoo runs out of the room and down the street until he finds the bridge they jumped off together. He jumps off it and lets himself drift to the bottom of the ocean floor. He sits there for a while wallowing in his feelings. His heart feels like it’s been ripped out and he has to assume this is what heartbreak feels like but he’s never been in love before so how should he know. He just can’t get past how angry Chanyeol was with him even though he knew the plan all along. What did Kyungsoo do wrong? They had been planning this for a while, why was he just all of a sudden so mad about it? The moonlight shines on Kyungsoo’s tail and he looks at it as to momentarily distract himself. He hasn’t seen his tail in the moonlight in so long it almost looks foreign to him. Most merpeople would be horrified by that but Kyungsoo has never minded. He was easily willing to trade a life in the sea for one with Chanyeol but that’s not really an option anymore. 

Kyungsoo pushes his thoughts away to try to find a safe spot to sleep during the night but the only nearby cave he knows is the storage one. He didn’t want to go there because of his memories with Chanyeol but he does need to sleep. He’s exhausted and it’s probably at least partially from all the emotional pain he’s going through. 

Once he’s in the cave he closes his eyes and tries not to think about Chanyeol. Not to think about how much fun he’s had. Not to think about how happy he’s been and how long it has been since he was happy like that. Not to think about how he’ll find happiness without him. Not to think about how much he loves Chanyeol and can’t picture his life without him. It doesn’t really work but eventually Kyungsoo does tire himself out and falls asleep holding onto the little dolphin toy he showed Chanyeol. 

Kyungsoo wakes up confused about why he’s in water instead of a bed but the memories quickly come flooding in. Chanyeol left him and he’ll need to figure out how to take down the ship by himself. Except he doesn’t really want to think about that right now. All he wants is to be with Chanyeol again running around town and playing in the water together. His life without that is frankly really sad. His feelings of anger have mostly slipped away overnight since Kyungsoo had a chance to calm down a bit. Last night Kyungsoo was really angry with Chanyeol, for good reason and then he was hurt and sad but now he misses him. 

Could Chanyeol really leave that easily? Kyungsoo knows he said some pretty mean things but that doesn’t mean Chanyeol can throw everything away right? Surely Chanyeol misses him just as much as Kyungsoo misses him. He’s still pretty angry with the way Chanyeol acted but he misses him too much not to give him a chance to apologize. If Kyungsoo does really know Chanyeol and Chanyeol loves him as much as he loves Chanyeol then Chanyeol is missing him too. Kyungsoo prays that he’s right about this but he has a feeling he’s wrong. 

Kyungsoo leaves the ocean the same way he did every time he found a new ship to jump on, stealing nearby clothes before walking towards Junmyeon’s house. The long walk was hard enough with Chanyeol by his side but without him it’s going to be so much worse. Especially since his brain won’t shut up. He's so caught up in his thoughts he doesn't hear someone following him.

“Hey fishy” A familiar voice calls from behind Kyungsoo, who turns to face it. 

“Yifan?” Kyungsoo asks in surprise. 

“I heard Chanyeol got on a ship, without you” Yifan smiles lightly before pointing a small handheld object with a barrel at Kyungsoo “looks like he came to his senses so I’ll just finish the job for him.”

Kyungsoo realizes very quickly that whatever Yifan is holding is most certainly a weapon and does the only thing he can think of, he starts singing the siren song. Almost instantly Yifan drops the weapon and Kyungsoo hears a loud bang similar to the fireworks and Kyungsoo screams in pain as something hits the side of his calf. Yifan regains his senses and runs to grab the weapon and reload it but Kyungsoo is already jumping back into the water to escape. 

Once he’s safe Kyungsoo looks at the damage. He’s not sure about what the wound is like when he has legs but on his tail it seems to be nothing more than a deepish cut. Nothing he hasn’t experienced before but it still really hurts. There’s no way he’s going back out with Yifan out there. Plus apparently Chanyeol is already sailing somewhere else. He could try to ask Jongdae where he went but to do that he’d have to get by Yifan and he’d rather not risk it while he’s wounded.

In under a week Kyungsoo managed to lose everything he cared about. While finding out his parents are dead is definitely on his “top 10 worst things that have ever happened to him” list, it still doesn’t hurt as much as losing Chanyeol. It had been over 10 years since he’s seen his parents so in a way he’s used to not having them, of course, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt knowing they’re dead, but it still hurts less than Chanyeol leaving him behind. Even if Chanyeol made mistakes and acted poorly, so did Kyungsoo and ultimately who was right doesn’t matter because either way, Kyungsoo is alone and in pain. Now in physical pain too. 

Kyungsoo doesn’t want to stay out in the open water since a shark might be attracted by the smell of him bleeding. He could probably fight a shark but he really doesn’t want to right now. He’s lost everything with no chance of getting it back so for now he’d rather sulk in a pretty cave with pretty memories that’ll end up making him feel worse.

Kyungsoo swims into the cave and starts looking at all the objects hidden there by other merpeople. There’s a lot of jewelry but also a lot of junk. Forks and doorknobs, anything that could be found in a shipwreck. It’s weird how different Kyungsoo's life would be if his parents were never stolen. He'd probably still be living with his parents in the same cave near the same reef. Just fishing, playing with dolphins and learning in school. He would probably pick up a doorknob and think it was interesting. He’d be naïve but he’d probably be happy, which would be what his parents wanted. Now that he knows about humans though, Kyungsoo’s not sure he’d want to live like that. It would seem like such a small sheltered life, boarding on mind-numbingly boring. 

Kyungsoo’s thoughts are disrupted as he hears something entering the cave. Fish do wander in from time to time but this sounds bigger so Kyungsoo grabs the nearest object that could be used as a weapon, a fork, and points it at the cave entrance while mentally reminding himself of his shark defence courses. Hit the nose, don't get your hand bit. 

“Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo asks as a very human-looking person takes a breath of air. 

“Yeah” Chanyeol responds taking another deep breath “I was hoping you’d be here, when you weren’t in the room I was worried you left.”

“Not yet” Kyungsoo says quietly “last I heard you left on a ship.”

“I was going to but I changed my mind.” Chanyeol answers. 

“Why?” Kyungsoo asks, feeling some anger but mostly pain resurfaces just by talking to Chanyeol. 

“Jongdae told me I was being a dumbass” Chanyeol answers “and he’s right, I was mad and not thinking things through. I was mad because I just didn’t want anything bad to happen to you and I thought you didn’t realize how killing people would negatively affect you but that’s not up to me, it’s your decision and I can’t stop you.”

“You’re right” Kyungsoo answers “that is up to me.”

“So I’m sorry” Chanyeol says “I know it doesn’t fix what I said or how I acted but I hope you’ll forgive me because no matter what you chose to do I’ll still love you.”

“I don’t know” Kyungsoo says, not willing to give in right away since he’s still a little mad “I’m not sure why I should when I’m clearly not who you want me to be.”

Chanyeol audibly winces. 

“I’m sorry I said that. I was angry but that doesn’t make it ok” Chanyeol answers “just like you said some things that I hope you didn’t mean.”

“I didn’t” Kyungsoo admits “and if I’m being completely honest I tried to find you to apologize too. I regret everything that’s happened.”

“Then why aren’t we just making up” Chanyeol says and Kyungsoo can see the smile in the dim light of the cave. 

“I don’t know!” Kyungsoo says exasperated “I’m still mad but more than anything I just missed you.”

“I missed you too” Chanyeol says before swimming closer to Kyungsoo to hug him. 

“I’m sorry I said I didn’t need you” Kyungsoo says, hugging back “I was wrong I definitely need you just not in the way I thought.”

“Last night sucked” Chanyeol laughs almost pitifully “I was on the terrible little bed alone and I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

“I slept here” Kyungsoo says softly. 

“I’m really sorry” Chanyeol says, holding Kyungsoo just a little bit tighter “if you think you need to blow up the ship to avenge your parents then you should do it.”

“Really?” Kyungsoo says, pulling away from Chanyeol to look at his face. 

“Yeah” Chanyeol nods “I can’t know how you feel or what you need and I shouldn’t have thought I could. I’m not in charge of you, we’re partners. The ship is at the docks now if you want to do it.”

“There’s something I learned too” Kyungsoo starts “I thought I wanted to get revenge for my parents but they wouldn’t have wanted that. They just would have wanted me to stay safe and happy. I don’t think I want to go through with it. As much as I hate those people for what they did, you were right killing them won’t make me feel better. What makes me feel better is trips to the music shop and eating pastries.”

“I’m kind of glad you agree” Chanyeol smiles “but they can’t really be allowed to continue to kill merpeople so I went ahead and did something.”

“What?” Kyungsoo asks.  

“I’ll show you but we have to get back on land” Chanyeol says. 

Kyungsoo reaches out and takes Chanyeol's hand and they swim out of the cave together. Once they reach the surface Kyungsoo notices the bruises and small cuts on Chanyeol’s face. 

“What happened?” Kyungsoo asks lightly, touching Chanyeol’s face. 

“I kinda got in a fight” Chanyeol smiles lightly “more like they punched me for being somewhere I wasn’t supposed to.”

“You never change” Kyungsoo laughs. 

“Would you want me to?” Chanyeol asks with a smile. 

“No” Kyungsoo says before leaning forward and kissing Chanyeol sweetly. 

It’s only been a day so Kyungsoo shouldn’t feel like he’s missed kissing Chanyeol but he really thought it would never happen again so his heart is overwhelmed with happiness and love. When he pulls away Chanyeol’s face is completely healed. He reaches out to touch the cut that was on his eyebrow but it’s like it was never there. 

“It worked” Kyungsoo smiles “you’re healed.”

“That’ll come in handy” Chanyeol smiles. 

“No because you won’t put yourself in danger again” Kyungsoo says sternly. 

“Not without you beside me” Chanyeol responds. 

“Well I guess that’s good enough” Kyungsoo laughs “now come on let’s get out of here.”

Chanyeol gets out of the water first and brings Kyungsoo some clothes while he dries in a hidden spot. When he comes back Kyungsoo already has legs. 

“You're hurt” Chanyeol says, seeing Kyungsoo’s wound on his calf. 

“Uh yeah I sorta ran into Yifan and he had the weapon that made a really loud sound” Kyungsoo explains taking the clothes from Chanyeol to get dressed. 

“He shot you?” Chanyeol asks. 

“He had it pointed at me so I used the siren song but went off when it hit the ground” Kyungsoo corrects. 

“That’s not really better” Chanyeol frowns “does it hurt?”

“A bit” Kyungsoo says looking at the mostly scabbed wound “Not as much as it did before.”

“Seems like when we’re apart we just get hurt” Chanyeol says before sitting down on the sand. 

“Yeah, let's not do that again” Kyungsoo says sitting beside Chanyeol. 

“I shouldn’t have left in the first place” Chanyeol responds “I knew Yifan could have come for you but I was so mad I ignored it. It was stupid.”

“We’re going to fight, it’s inevitable” Kyungsoo states. 

“That’s true” Chanyeol frowns “but can we promise not to leave like this again?”

“I certainly can” Kyungsoo smiles “my life without you is awful.”

“Good” Chanyeol says awkwardly side hugging Kyungsoo before realizing what he said “I mean no not good, your life shouldn’t be awful I just mean-“

“Shut up” Kyungsoo laughs before pulling Chanyeol by the collar to kiss him. 

“Too bad a kiss from a human won’t heal you” Chanyeol pouts. 

“I’m really fine” Kyungsoo laughs “so what was it that you wanted to show me?”

Chanyeol smiles before turning away from Kyungsoo to pick something up. 

“This is it” Chanyeol says, showing Kyungsoo his hand. 

“You found a cool grain of sand?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“No, it's the net” Chanyeol says taking Kyungsoo’s hand and placing it on the invisible net “it’s a reddish colour so I guess you don’t see red very well.”

“How did you get it?” Kyungsoo says grabbing it the net he can’t see. 

“I stole it and now we’re going to burn it” Chanyeol explains. 

“Won’t they just make another?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“They can’t because they didn’t make it” Chanyeol explains “Pirates found it in a chest and then it was taken by the royal navy when they were caught. No one knows what it’s made of or how to make another.”

“Do you have a match?” Kyungsoo asks standing up. 

Chanyeol nods and hands it to Kyungsoo before getting up and putting the net on the sand. Kyungsoo throws the match and they watch as it burns into nothingness.  

“Now can we run away together?” Chanyeol smiles wrapping his arm around Kyungsoo. 

“What about you being a captain?” Kyungsoo asks. 

“You can be my first mate” Chanyeol fantasizes.

“Let’s do it.”

The end.