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It’s not easy, you know? Living at the sea, inside a vessel, surrounded by stinky, grumpy and, most of the times, drunk people, that don’t do anything but scrubbing the ship hull, dropping the anchor or cleaning cannons. I’ve been in their shoes, I know what it’s like. The life of a sailor isn’t glamorous, let alone happy. It’s lonely. Months upon months, years even, away from their families, their loved ones, living with a bunch of other lonely souls, which wander through the seven seas alongside your own.
Humpf, as if the captain’s life was any better. Yeah, okay, I admit it. I had some perks, like a room just for me, a cabin where I met with my official so we could talk about the best navigation tactics and strategies, without having to stay in the same place as the rest of the crew. I had access to fresher water, more food, more space, more respect. I wouldn’t get so many diseases, but even so, the waves made me sick anyway.
And if there was something that no one could deny is that I was faithful to my crew. There was no treasure map that could make me even consider to abandon them. I promised I would come back. I promised that I would take them back home, back to their mothers, children and spouses arms.
Well, at least most of them.
Every time we faced a moment of calm at the sea, we gathered on deck, everyone would tell a story, because the lack of strong wind usually made us wander for days, and there was no service left. The funny thing was that the stories were all told with a lot of passion, so when we realized, we were back talking about how we missed the storms.
I know it sounds contradictory, but when the storms finally returned no one was happy about it. The most experienced sailors struggled to maneuver the ropes that held the sails on the mast, while the younger ones gathered in the basement to remove, with buckets, the water that entered through the cracks. As soon as they had a break, they held hands and started to pray, asking for the weather to calm down.
It would be the best thing ever if we could find an island at a time like this, but my compass was broken and didn’t really point to anywhere. Speaking of which, an old lady once said that this compass was somewhat “special”, that it would only point north when I finally found what my heart longs for. Yeah, right.
I was using my telescope by the end of the ship, hoping I could find any sign of anything, really, when I heard the voice of one of my sailors calling me. “Captain Jeon! Hurry, Captain Jeon!”
It was Namjoon, my commander. He seemed desperate, looking between the sea and me, breathing heavily, without being able to communicate exactly what he wanted to say. “What happened?” He put his hand on my shoulder, regaining some strength, and started talking. “Captain Jeon! It’s Yoongi… h-he just stopped working on the sails out of a sudden… fixed his eyes on the sea… and jumped!”
“What? What are you talking about? Why would he jump from the ship like that?” I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. I had lost one of my best men, one of the most experienced, and I didn’t even know why. I had to find out, even if it was just to explain everything to his older brother back home.
While I was waiting for an answer, I heard a noise, as if something had just hit the water. I looked around, fearing the worst. Analyzing the faces of each and every man that was on deck, I didn’t see Jimin. I ran until the edge but couldn’t see anybody. Did he jump, too? Had he already drowned? What the hell was going on?
Still feeling completely lost, trying to find a way for everything to make sense, I noticed that Taehyung was running in my direction. He had a bucket filled with water in one of his hands, breathing with difficulty. “Captain! We don’t know what else to do, the water is flooding the ship faster and faster… if it continues like this, we will have to abandon the ship!”
“Never!”, I replied, afraid of losing the vessel, my companion for so many years. “We will find a solution… hey, Hoseok!” I called one of the most reliable men inside that ship, which had been traveling with me for a long time already. “Aye, aye, Captain!” I sent him to the deck alongside Taehyung, so he could help to get rid of the water. If needed, he should take all the cannons and throw them into the sea, so the ship would become less heavy and we could buy ourselves some time.
However, Taehyung didn’t move. He didn’t go after Hoseok, like he should’ve done. He froze, like a statue, looking at the sea, with a grin on his face. His hand was slowly moving up, like he was trying to reach something. Step by step, he went forward and got close to the ship’s plank.
“What the hell is he doing?”, shouted Hoseok, holding him by the waist. He tried to pull Taehyung back, but it was like the ladder had an unnatural strength, making him move only forward. He was under some kind of spell and nothing could be done to break it.
I didn’t know what to do. For the first time in all my years as captain, I was left without a clue. It was beyond my power. I had a slight idea of what it was all about, but my men hadn’t connected the dots yet. It all happened so quickly, like a flash. The story had been told in one of our nights without a storm.
“Mermaids are beautiful creatures, who let out marvelous lullabies, enchanting and seducing the sailors in a way that they jump into the sea to follow said creatures and end up drowning”.
I thought it was only a legend, a horror story passed from generation to generation so that the crews would always follow the rules and not fall into temptation. But, as it seems, I was completely wrong. I had to warn them, before it was too late and I would lose all my men.
“They are mermaids…” Namjoon was faster. “Pay attention to the sound!” His voice was calm, almost as if he was accepting the fact that he would be the next victim. Hoseok was being dragged, clinging to Taehyung’s feet, still trying to avoid his friend of meeting the inevitable faith.
I couldn’t lose both of them at once. “Let him go, Hoseok. We can’t do anything”. His eyes begged me for help, but there was really nothing we could do.
Namjoon was also getting closer to the board. I ran to him, putting myself in front of his way. He grabbed me by my collar and pushed me away, ripping my shirt. I went after him again, trying to cover his ears so that the mermaid’s voice wouldn’t reach him. I was able to get to him, but maybe the spell had already worked, because he wouldn’t stop. Nothing could stop him, actually, not even the fact that Hoseok was being trampled under him.
So there he went, taking the step that would lead him straight to his death.
Hoseok was still laying down on the board, maybe with no strength left to get up and keep going. We lost 5 friends in a matter of minutes and I wasn’t too keen on losing the sixth. Suddenly, I realized something; only the crew on the left side of the ship was being affected, the rest of the men was okay. I started to think that maybe, since I was the captain, I would be the main target. And I would sacrifice myself so that they could go back home, safe and sound.
I would leave the ship to Hoseok, he would know what to do. After all, they couldn’t stay without a captain. I fixed my hat, looked at my compass for the last time and I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was finally pointing north. When I looked up, I saw the needle was pointing toward… Hoseok? No, it couldn’t be.
Was it him what my heart was looking for? What was that supposed to mean? And what was he… “Hoseok, don’t!” He was crawling to the edge of the board. With his left hand, he dragged his body forward and with his right hand, he tried to reach something I couldn’t see from where I was standing. “I’m coming, please wait for me!”
I got closer to him and grabbed his legs, pulling him hard. I wouldn’t let him go so easily. “Hoseok, look at me! Don’t listen to her, it’s just a silly lullaby! You will die if you follow her, understand?”
“I have to get to him, Captain! He’s calling me!” He?! What the hell?! “Hoseok, you’re confused! The mermaid is manipulating you!”
“Captain, there’s a man drowning in the sea! I have to help him!” That’s when I saw him. An unknown man, inside the ocean, with dark, silky hair, looking straight into Hoseok’s eyes and singing. For me, the words that left his mouth didn’t make any sense, they were just melodic. But for Hoseok, they must’ve been a call for help in the form of a song.
Hoseok then jumped, leaving me with no option to try and save him, and dove into the sea. The only thing I could do was watch him go, powerless. I saw when the unknown man waited for Hoseok to approach, still singing. I saw when he stretched out his hands and wrapped Hoseok’s head with them. I also saw when he pressed his lips onto Hoseok’s and took him under the water.
Had he done that to the others as well? Were all of them dead? Who is this creature?
The next thing I saw was the man returning to the surface, alone, facing me and smiling. I knew that I was his next victim.
I took a deep breath. I waited. I put my hand inside my pocket and grabbed my compass. It was almost as if I could feel that the needle was frozen in place, I just never knew why. I guess I thought I would find the answer later. I looked up; the clouds were still heavy, it was still raining. The thick drops were falling on my face, but I couldn’t feel them at all.
I fixed my hat again, dropped all of my belongings. The ship was still swaying under my feet, the ocean still raging. The creature didn’t look disturbed, just like he wasn’t before. He must’ve been used to shipwrecks happening during sea storms. My crew was still working to keep the vessel up and running.
A vessel that would no longer have a captain in a matter of seconds.
With the aid of a rope that was tied to the mast, I climbed until the edge of the deck. I awaited my destiny with patience. I resisted the strong wind, which hiss attacked my ears. But it didn’t take so long until I could hear the melody. Yes, the man’s song had already started.
Little by little, the song grew stronger, louder. The man was getting closer to the ship. He faced me and I faced him back. Even if he wasn’t a magical creature, that casted spells on others to have them under control, I could understand why someone would be enchanted by him. He was gorgeous.
I felt compelled to follow him, but I didn’t want to jump just yet. I rather keep listening to his voice for a little longer, appreciate his beauty from afar, be seduced slowly. He was emerging from the water, revealing his upper body, and he looked human, just like the rest of us. His shoulders were wide, his chest well-defined and his waist was really thin, ending at the part that made him different: he had a tail, full of blue scales.
The more I looked at him, the more I wanted to be closer, touch him. Was this the feeling that the others had? But Hoseok said that the man was calling for help… why didn’t I hear the same? Did he have a different approach with each one of his victims?
In fact, it didn’t bother me anymore. I wanted to be with him… what was happening? Up until just a few moments before I hated him and then, suddenly, I wanted to go with him wherever it was. I couldn’t hold it in no more, I had to go, he was calling me. His arm was stretched out, begging me to meet him. I couldn’t deny him that.
I jumped. The sensation of falling was the same as always. My body met the cold and turbulent water. My clothes soaked up instantly. I had no use to my hat anymore, so I took it off. The man asked me to get closer with his index finger and I obeyed.
At first, he didn’t say a word and neither did I. Maybe I thought that he would smell like fish, given the circumstances, but I certainly didn’t think he would have a scent like that. Not even the most well-written poems could define clearly the aroma that exhaled. His dark brown eyes sparkled with a big intensity. If the weather wasn’t as dark, I would say his eyes were reflecting the stars.
His cheeks were dusted with pink, giving him an angelic look. If he wasn’t a predator, I could fall in love with him by the blink of an eye. His lips were plump and red as an apple… I wondered if they were juicy as well. What did the others feel when they kissed him, seconds before their deaths?
It was as if he was analyzing me, inch by inch; we were very close to one another and he seemed… intrigued? I was sure he had seen thousands upon thousands of humans around, so why was he so interested in me? He was not flashing the same smile as before and started touching my face, as if he was trying to discover something.
He did the same with my neck and my chest. He moved around me, observing me from every angle, getting close, real close to me. I was alive for way longer than any of the others and I couldn’t understand why.
When I thought he would finally kiss me and lead me to my death, he moved away from me and talked. “I am Seokjin”. My eyes grew bigger. I never imagined that the creature could speak, let alone speak my language. But I replied. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Seokjin. My name is Jeongguk”.
With a light smile, gentler and more sincere than I could ever think was possible, he put his hands on my shoulders and I had never felt so ready. He made his way up slowly, scratching the back of my neck, his thumbs caressing my cheeks, and started to bring his lips closer to mine.
Even though it was cold, the kiss felt hot. Even though it was a kiss of death, it somehow filled me up with life. Even though I was tense, his soft lips made me feel at ease. I knew what was coming for me and, even so, it didn’t scare me at all. I had given myself to my faith, I had given myself to Seokjin. And I was glad I did.
Slowly, I felt that Seokjin was taking us both to the bottom of the sea. I embraced him and I didn’t want to let him go. I wouldn’t let him go.
I also felt, at that moment, that my heart had found what it was looking for.
And my compass, located somewhere on the deck of that ship, could prove it.
Until someone else could call it their own.