Chapter Text
It was never supposed to happen. This place was supposed to be safe. He was supposed to be the only one here tonight. He was supposed to be gone for a few hours and then return home. Yet fate had other events in mind. So Seungkwan found himself struggling against the net. He tried to free himself so he could dive into deeper water. His attempts were fruitless as he was being pulled closer to the surface. Just before he was forced out of the water, he raised a hand up to his neck feeling for the necklace that he usually wore. He couldn’t feel it and looked around as best he could in the net. He could see a flash in the corner of his eye. It was his necklace drifting down and away from him. Tears mixed with the pond water as he watched his last hope fade into the dark abyss.
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Seungkwan had asked if he could go to the Cheonjeyeon waterfalls alone. It was very unusual for a merfolk to want to go the waterfall alone. Everyone always said it was dangerous to go alone. Hell, it was dangerous to go in groups less than five. But Seungkwan really wanted to go. Everyone else was too busy to accompany him. Besides, he just wanted some alone time.
It took a bit of convincing, but his mother finally agreed to let him go alone. Her only condition was that he made sure to wear his conch shell necklace. Seungkwan never went anywhere without it so he agreed in a heartbeat. He called the lady who worked at the tourist spot for the waterfall to inform her that he was stopping by later that night. She promised him she would ensure all tourists had left by ten and any Munprarians working there would be gone. She gave him a forewarning about it being dangerous at night like he expected she would. He promised he’d stay safe and would be gone before it was two in the morning.
That was his plan. Arrive at ten thirty. Leave by one thirty. Just a few hours to himself. Before he left, Seungkwan’s mother stopped him, “Honey, hold on. Let me check your necklace.”
Seungkwan turned to his mom with a smile. He pulled the shell out from inside his shirt, “It’s right here Mom. You know I never leave the house without it.”
“I know,” she smiled sweetly, “I just had to make sure. Remember if you are ever in danger, just blow into it. It will emit a signal only Sciltroans can hear. We’ll come right away if we hear it. Okay?”
Seungkwan let the necklace go. It fell against his chest as he wrapped his arms around his mother, “I’ll only be gone for a few hours. I promise to be back before you even wake up.” He felt her return his hug. Her only reply was a nod. They stood there for a few seconds before his mom reluctantly let him go.
“Be safe.”
“I promise I will be,” Seungkwan gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. He stepped back and left with a wave.
The journey there wasn’t too long. He biked most of it. Once he reached the fall, he made his way to the second waterfall’s pond. His bike was left safely hidden in forrest. Seungkwan was certain nobody would come out here. It was technically illegal to after tourist hours. The merfolk were allowed to as the water was actually from Sciltroa. The cave from which the water flowed out of was somehow connected to the other land. Creatures couldn’t pass through, but water could. Or that was what Seungkwan was told.
He had been born in Sciltroa, but shortly afterwards his family moved into Munpraria. They settled in Jeju for the Cheonjeyeon waterfall specifically. He had no memories for his birth land. He had no idea how they knew this was Sciltroan water. ‘We can feel the difference’ was all he was told when he asked how they could tell. Seungkwan couldn’t tell the difference between the types of water if his life depended on in. But he really had no right to question them. No matter where the water came from, he enjoyed his life here.
At the pond of the second waterfall, Seungkwan stripped himself down. He left his clothes in a neatly folded pile next to his backpack. He stepped into the water. It was cool and refreshing against his skin. He swam out until he was above a deeper section. He relaxed and himself shift into his true form. He could feel his scales grow over the skin of his legs forming his tail.
Seungkwan spun around happily. He looked down at his tail. It was a pale blue with pastel pink on the fin tips. The moonlight reflected off the scales dimly. He smiled widely and dove down. He flipped around, swimming in various directions. His laughter rang out underwater as clear as though he was on land.
He spent nearly thirty minutes splashing around by himself. Then he heard it. The sound of others. Seungkwan could hear their footsteps, but he couldn’t make out their voices. Curiously he swam over to a rock near the shore. He glanced out looking for the source of the voices. The people were obscured within the trees. There was no telling if they were some merfolk who decided to come afterall or were simply humans.
His eyes darted around looking for where he left his stuff. He couldn’t find them from where he was. He sank low into the water so his eyes were still above water to look for his clothes. Seungkwan quietly swam parallel to the shore. His attention solely focused on locating his items. He didn’t notice the figures emerge from the treeline. Nor did he notice the contraption several carried.
It wasn’t until Seungkwan found himself in a net did he realize what was going on. Fear filled him. Even though he managed to swim a few feet down, he knew it was much too late to escape now. He missed his chance. And when he had thrashed about in the net, his necklace came loose. Seungkwan stuck an arm through one of the holes in the net in an attempt to grab the shell. It was too far out of his reach.
He was sobbing by the time he had been forced upon the shore. The thought of shifting back into human form and running crossed his mind. It wouldn’t work. There were too many people. One would most definitely catch him.
Seungkwan just laid still as they pulled the net off him. He watched them work with blurred eyes. Tears ran down his face. He wanted to scream, but held his tongue fearfully. A man stepped closer to him. He held some object toward the merman. Seungkwan felt a jolt of pain shooting through his body. He cried out in pain. His vision dimmed and black creeped around the edge before closing in. Seungkwan tried his hardest to stay awake, but grew weak. He finally caved and passed out cold.
When he awoke, Seungkwan found himself in a tank. He vaguely remembered stirring several times, but promptly being knocked out each time. He was still in his true form, never having switched back. He looked around trying to figure out where he was exactly. Everything was unfamiliar to him. There was nothing to indicate where he could be. The only things he could in the room other than the tank was a shelf full of boxes, a moveable staircase next to his tank, and a desk with a computer on it.
He swam up to the top of the tank where a mesh fabric covered it. Tentatively, Seungkwan reached up to touch it. Electricity shot through him. He screamed and quickly withdrew his hand. Cradling his hand, he looked around the tank. It was around fifteen feet tall, twenty feet wide and twenty feet long if he were to guess. He could swim around, but not comfortably. There was a square towards the bottom on the side of the tank next to the wall.
Cautiously Seungkwan swam towards it. He didn’t dare touch it. It appeared to be a door. Where it lead, he didn’t know. The gaps weren’t big enough for him to look through. He frowned in confusion.
The door to the room swung open. Seungkwan spun around in the water. An older Asian male stepped into the room. He was short with grey hair and wrinkles weighing his face down. He wore a sharp business suit. His dark, cold eyes were framed with thin golden square glasses. Seungkwan didn’t like the aura the man gave off.
“I see your up now,” his voice was just as cold as his eyes, “Welcome to your new home.”
“And where is that?” Seungkwan asked. His voice trembled, but came out stronger than he thought it would.
“MinJi’s Wonders of the World. And you are my new star wonder! A real merman! Although the people will probably assume your an actor… No worries. You are real regardless.”
“Return me home at once! I’m not some attraction for people to look at! Especially when I’m being held against my will!” The merman wasn’t sure where his confidence was coming from.
“Return you? After I flew you all the way out to New York from Jeju? No, no, no. Not going to happen. I care not for your wishes. I must take my leave. Just know that you will act happy when on display. Unless you fancy being electrocuted that is. Rest well. Your exhibition opens tomorrow,” The man disappeared out the door. Seungkwan could hear the lock click in place.
He broke down crying. New York? That was a joke right? There was no way he was that far away from home. This had to be a bad dream. He’d wake up soon in his nice warm bed. He pinched himself. Yet nothing happened. He was still trapped. Swimming down to the bottom of the tank, Seungkwan curled himself into a ball. He thoughts raced as he tried to process what was going on. The emotional toll weighed down on him making him exhausted despite just waking up recently. He closed his eyes to fall asleep. Just before he drifted off, he whispered to himself, “I’m sorry Mom.”