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If there is one thing that most people can agree on, it’s that the Gods can be needlessly cruel. To prove a point or teach a lesson, the Gods can wreak havoc on an entire village or bring madness to a bloodline that can only be resolved through arduous retribution.
Cursed to an eternity of solitude for crimes he did not commit, Seonghwa knew better than most just how cruel the Gods could be. The tale of his imprisonment had long since faded to a mere whisper on the winds by this point, but the punishment still stood strong regardless. It was a tale that once entranced and horrified those who heard it, but now only the oldest citizens remembered it in bits and pieces.
Seonghwa’s father had been a headstrong man, brave to a fault and stronger than anyone who attempted to challenge him. He valued strength and power above all else and would stop at nothing to obtain it. There was only one thing that he placed above both strength and power–beauty.
Seonghwa’s mother had been a child of one of the Gods. The most beautiful woman the world had ever seen. Her beauty was comparable to all the flowers in a meadow. Her smile shone like sunlight on a crystal clear lake. There was no one that could compare with her beauty, and it nearly drove Seonghwa’s father to madness in his desire to possess her.
She was no angel. Though she also wanted Seonghwa’s father, she made him work for it tirelessly. Demanding a courtship to rival all courtships that had come before them. And he worked hard for her love. He would stop at nothing to stand by her side.
For her final request, she begged him to steal the most beautiful flower from her father’s garden–a creamy pink lotus flower that shone like the moon even in the dark of night. It was located smack-dab in the middle of a picturesque lake that stood as the centerpiece of his magnificent and enviable garden. A verdant dreamscape that boasted massive willows and plentiful blooms of all different colors and sizes.
His father made quick work of planning the caper. It didn’t take long before he was wading out into the mossy green waters to pluck the vegetation from its sunny pedestal in broad daylight. The plant seemed to shudder and gasp as he pulled its roots from the bed of the lake, but he paid it no mind. Without a backwards glance, he swam back to shore and pulled himself up onto the grass to wrap the lotus flower in the finest silk.
Before he could depart, the woman’s father–an actual God–appeared before him. The God was furious, shaking with rage, as he addressed the man who was still cradling the thoroughly wrapped flower in his hands.
“You dare steal from me with no plans to repay me?!” The God’s voice echoed throughout the meadow like booming thunder.
“It is for love! I have taken this flower as a gift for none other than your daughter. The most beautiful woman in all the land.”
The God glared at the shivering man below him and narrowed his eyes. “I see.” He exhaled sadly and frowned at the man in front of him. “I will allow it, but not without payment. What can you offer me as recompense?”
The man blinked up at the God and stood up straight. “Anything. I’ll give you anything. Just let me have this one thing.”
“You have taken my most prized creation.” The God replied morosely. He took his chin between his fingers, his brow furrowing deeper. “For your blasphemy, I will take your most prized creation…when the time comes.”
The man nodded happily, his eyes shining with the joy of a battle won. He would return home with his prize in hand and sweep Seonghwa’s mother off her feet. They would marry within the fortnight. She would be with child before the next full moon.
It would take almost a year before he realized that he may have won the battle, but in doing so, he had lost the war.
He returned home from a long day of hard work to find his wife, the most beautiful woman in all the lands, sobbing violently over an empty crib.
In her hands was an empty wrapping of silk that shimmered like gold in the midday sun.
In the wrapping was a letter written in the finest calligraphy.
In the letter was the following proclamation:
You know nothing of love, and as such, you will never know love.
Your one and only son will be cursed to inhabit the lake until true love lets him flee.
Until those that love him can see and do see
And reach out to grab him and set him free.
For love is a lotus with roots that run deep
That blooms from the putrid to make itself clean.
⁕⁕⁕
Seonghwa was a human that had no age. He merely existed ; wandering the floor of the lake that he was cursed to inhabit for the rest of his days. Above his head floated a beautiful lotus flower that sank to the bottom of the lake at night and resurfaced in full bloom under the sun’s rays. It was as much a part of him as his ten fingers and ten toes that dug into the foul dirt beneath him with each step he took. He knew why he was stuck here. He had heard the story from people who passed by the lake and looked down at his lotus flower with sadness. For years, he watched the people from up above poke and prod at his pure, pink petals with sadness and pity etched into their faces.
They could never love him. They couldn’t even see him. All they saw was a pathetic flower that sunk to the bottom of the water at night then floated back up every dawn to greet the morning sun.
Over time, Seonghwa grew accustomed to his solitude. He had never lived above the water, so it was no loss to be alone and without material things. Although he did appreciate when people dropped objects into the water as they passed. For a while, people threw in items purposefully. They dropped their valuables as a tribute to the pitiful soul that dwelled deep within the lake’s depths, cursed to wander alone and lonely for all time. After a while, the items were less valuable. They were dropped in accidentally or thrown in out of anger. His lake home was decorated intricately, with the offered items lined up on makeshift shelves like birds on a branch.
After a while, he stopped expecting tributes. He stopped expecting anything at all. The tale of the boy in the water had simply disappeared from memory like dirt dispersed in water. He simply sat down on the bottom of the lake and watched his lotus flower bob up above with no hope for change in his life.
Until one day, things did change. It was nighttime so his lotus flower was closed and nearly perched atop his head as he looked up at the moon longingly. He wondered if the moon looked different from outside the water. He wondered if the birds sounded even more beautiful.
“Hello?” A soft voice reached his ears by some miracle.
His eyes widened as he spotted a young boy up at the water’s edge staring down at him. He was shocked. No one had ever seen him. How was this possible?
“Hello.” He echoed back at the boy. Seonghwa knew little about age, but this person was small. He had short, black hair and a cute, sharp nose that seemed even tinier under big, inquisitive eyes. Seonghwa’s fingers felt tingly as he waved up at the boy with a smile. “My name is Seonghwa. What’s your name?”
The boy waved back and smiled brightly. “I’m Hongjoong. It’s nice to meet you.”
They stood staring at each other from their respective sides of the lake until Hongjoong spoke again. “Why are you in the lake?”
“I’m stuck here. My dad was bad, so now I have to wait for someone to come save me.”
The boy’s chest puffed up at the explanation. His best attempt at bravery sounded like squeaky leaves to Seonghwa. “I’ll save you!”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Seonghwa replied hastily. He waved his hands dismissively and smiled up at the young boy.
Hongjoong paused for a moment then frowned. “I don’t actually know how to swim though.”
This made Seonghwa giggle, the laughter bubbling up to the surface and taking Hongjoong by surprise.
“That’s okay, Hongjoong. Just come visit me if you get the chance. That’s enough for me.”
Hongjoong clapped excitedly then leaned down to run his fingers through the water. He couldn’t reach very far, but it meant a lot to Seonghwa that he even thought to try.
The boy pushed his face into the water and stared down at Seonghwa with bright eyes. “I’ll come back every Sunday.”
The cursed soul stood up on his tippy toes in an attempt to reach out and touch Hongjoong’s pretty nose. “Promise?”
Hongjoong pulled his head out of the water with a gasp and pushed his pinky under the water to wiggle in Seonghwa’s direction. “Promise.”
Seonghwa doesn’t know a lot about love, but he knows that Hongjoong is his first love. A childlike love that fills you with so much pure joy that you feel like the days will never end as long as you just keep moving.
The promise stayed strong for quite a while. Hongjoong did come to visit most Sundays. Although, as he got older, those visits became less and less frequent. Through long talks in the moonlight, Seonghwa learned that Hongjoong was starting middle school soon and wouldn’t have much time to meet. He had sports and clubs to attend that would take up most of his time.
Having been alone for most of his life, Seonghwa didn’t mind much. He barely even noticed when Hongjoong stopped coming to visit him. He simply went back to his old routine of rearranging his rescued items that people had dropped over the years and staring up at his lotus flower as it bobbed in the sun’s rays.
The next time someone spoke to him was much louder. And even more unexpected. It came in the shape of a hulking body running at full speed and jumping straight into the lake. Seonghwa nearly panicked as he watched the young man sink like a stone almost to the bottom of the lake before he opened his eyes and stared straight at Seonghwa. Chunks of blonde hair flew around the stranger’s face as he stared at Seonghwa in shock, his lips rounding to form a pronounced “O” as he ran out of stored oxygen.
The massive guy’s name was Yunho, and he was not supposed to be at the lake this late at night. Seonghwa liked Yunho, because he was always smiling. Seonghwa had learned what smiling was from Hongjoong years ago, and he quite liked it when Yunho did it.
When Yunho smiled, it didn’t matter that it was night time. It felt like daytime. He could hear the birds and smell the freshly clipped grass just past the lake when Yunho smiled. It was a funny phenomenon. Despite his shining smile, his body looked tense almost every time he came to visit.
Yunho usually visited on Monday night after he finished cram school to “let off steam” as he called it. Seonghwa wasn’t sure why Yunho had school after school, but he guessed it was important.
“My parents track everything I do. I swear…seeing you is the only good thing in my life. And I can barely see you.” Yunho leaned closer to the water, the tie from his school uniform dipping into the lake as he went. “Can you come any closer? You look so handsome. It would be nice to see you up close.”
Seonghwa felt a rush of excitement from that comment so he got up off the ground and tried to swim upwards. Something like a wave of water formed just above him to shove his body back down to the ground every time he tried to move closer to the water’s surface. He could see Yunho’s sad face that got even sadder with every failed attempt.
“I’m so sorry, Seonghwa. I didn’t know that would happen. Are you okay?” Yunho cried out as he stuck both hands in the water in an attempt to get just a little closer.
The sadness in his voice caused Seonghwa to straighten up and force a smile. “Don’t be sad, Yunho. I’m sure we’ll find a way to meet sometime soon.”
This brought a smile to Yunho’s face as his long fingers danced across the water’s surface like the petals of a lily. “Do you promise?”
“I promise.” Seonghwa agreed with a bright smile.
The next person who noticed Seonghwa was the complete opposite of Yunho. It had been about a year since he had met Yunho and nearly three months since he had seen him last when this new young man stumbled upon his lake.
“Maybe I should just give up.” A sad voice rang out through the lake as a murky image of a young man came into view at the edge of the water. Seonghwa moved as close to the edge of the water as possible and listened carefully to the low, honey-smooth voice. “They’re probably right. I’ll never amount to anything anyway.”
Seonghwa watched as a new object was chucked into the water just above his head. It almost hit his lotus flower as it sank to the bottom of the lake. When it hit the ground beside him, it bounced. It was round and had black and white shapes on it. He could only frown at it in confusion when it rolled away after he touched it.
“I wonder if anyone would even miss me.” The voice from just outside the lake filtered through the water and down to Seonghwa again. He watched two bare feet dip into the water slowly then he decided that he should probably answer the stranger.
“Sorry to interrupt.” He replied quietly. The feet in the water disappeared as the man just outside the water gasped.
“What…what the hell? Are you…Oh, I’ve finally gone mad, haven’t I?” The stranger exclaimed. Seonghwa stared up at him and couldn’t believe the beauty this man possessed. He had heard tales of his mother’s beauty, but there was no way she could compare to this.
“You’re not mad.” Seonghwa replied confidently. He let a smile filter into his voice as he responded.
The stranger had jet black hair that he kept tucked behind his ears. His skin looked almost pearlescent in the moon’s glow as he gazed down at him in awe. Wide, almond eyes shone with wonder as the young man spoke again, “H-how is this possible? You’re…in the water? Speaking to me?”
“Yes. I’m afraid I’m stuck here for now. But don’t worry about me. I’ve been here for as long as I can remember. How are you? ”
It turned out that Kang Yeosang was not doing very well.
If the Gods were sometimes cruel, then humans were downright sinister at times. For no reason that Seonghwa or Yeosang could discern, some people felt joy when they made other people sad. As if going to college and a part time job wasn’t hard enough, Yeosang had to deal with a near constant deluge of beratement at the hands of his classmates and co-workers. Seonghwa had a feeling it came from a place of envy.
“It has to be envy. Look at you! You’re perfect!” Seonghwa just couldn’t believe it. He had seen a lot of people over the years, but no one was as beautiful as Yeosang. “And your voice is lovely too. So low and pretty. You’d probably be a good singer. Have you ever sung before?”
“Oh…no…” Yeosang replied glumly. He kept his eyes on the sky above them as he spoke, his eyes getting more watery with every word he spoke. “Well…that’s not true. I used to sing. My parents…didn’t like that. They wanted me to play a sport, so…” He waved his hands around and frowned some more.
“I think you should sing. You have the perfect voice for it.”
“You really think so?”
“I know so. And this is the perfect place to practice.” Seonghwa confirmed with an excited nod. “I don’t get many visitors. So it’ll just be you and me.”
For the first time since Seonghwa met Yeosang, he started to smile. Not all the time. But when he came to the lake at night to practice his singing on Tuesday’s, his eyes looked just a little brighter than they had when he first showed up.
Yeosang wasn’t like Hongjoong and Yunho. He kept coming to visit every week to practice his singing, but it was still a lonely life for Seonghwa. He tried to play with the “soccer ball” that Yeosang had thrown into his lake, but the water made it very difficult to “dribble”.
He wasn’t alone for long. A few months after he met Yeosang, two young men stopped by his lake. They weren’t nearly as sad as Yeosang. As a matter of fact, they were very happy. Almost too happy.
“What if someone sees us, Woo?”
Seonghwa perked up when he heard a new voice just by the edge of his lake. From where he was sitting, he could see two men in wildly different outfits clinging onto one another like leeches to skin.
One was broad and muscular, his shoulders nearly bursting from his white button-down shirt as he squeezed the other man close to him. The other man was lithe and very easy on the eyes. His tan skin looked endless under a tight, black tank top that left little to the imagination.
The one in the black tank top pressed his lips against the other man’s lips and let out a pleasant sound that made Seonghwa smile.
When the pair stepped away from each other to take a breath, Seonghwa called out to them excitedly, “Hello there. My name’s Seonghwa. What are you doing to each other’s mouths?”
The couple nearly fell into the lake as they stared down at Seonghwa in the water waving up at them. It was almost night time again so his lotus flower was slowly sinking into the water as they watched.
“Y-You…” The broader man blinked at him repetitively then fell behind the smaller man as if to hide from Seonghwa.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. I promise. I’m just stuck down here.” Seonghwa explained patiently. He smiled at the man in the black top. “He said your name is Woo, right? That’s a funny name.”
“No.” The pretty man pushed some hair from his eyes and squatted at the lake’s edge to stare down at Seonghwa in awe. “My name is Wooyoung. He just calls me that as a nickname.”
“What’s a nickname?” Seonghwa inquired, his face screwed up with confusion.
The taller man inched forward slowly to peek over Wooyoung’s shoulder. “I-It’s a shortened version of your name. Or a special name you give someone you’re close with.”
“Yeah. San calls me ‘Woo’ and I call him ‘Baby’.” Wooyoung explained plainly, a sweet smile painting his face as he stared at San.
“Woo…don’t just tell him our names. What if he’s a monster? Or a ghost?”
For being the taller and stronger-looking of the two men, San sure liked to whine a lot.
“Oh, I’m neither. I’m just a human cursed to dwell at the bottom of this lake until true love comes and saves me or something.”
“What?” Incredulity was plain on San’s face as he settled down beside Wooyoung and they both dipped their feet into the water.
“Oh, it’s really a dumb story. I’m sure parts of it aren’t even real anymore.” Seonghwa clarified with a wave of his hand. “Tell me about yourselves. I don’t get out much…obviously. What’s the world like out there?”
Seonghwa learned that Wooyoung liked to talk. A lot. He explained the modern world to him with a lot of detail. It made Seonghwa happy, but it also made him sad. He wanted to ride a skateboard. He wanted to drink a milkshake. He wanted to put his tongue in someone’s mouth the way Wooyoung always did with San. The more Wooyoung and San explained to him–the harder it got for him to be happy with the life he had been dealt.
Something interesting happened one day while Seonghwa was tending to some underwater vegetation and smiling up at the sun through the water. He was used to hearing Yeosang sing on Tuesdays, but he was sure that it was Friday. And that was definitely more than one voice.
He watched, astonished, as Yeosang poked his head out over the lake to wave down at Seonghwa.
“Evening, Seonghwa. I have a surprise for you.”
“For me?” Seonghwa replied with an excited clap. He hurried over to the edge of the lake and peered up at Yeosang. A few moments later, two other men walked into view to stand beside Yeosang. One was tall and willowy. The other was shorter but looked strong. Yeosang had an arm around both of them and a bright smile on his face. Almost as bright as the ones Yunho used to wear. “Was…were you all singing a few minutes ago?”
“We were.” The tall one called out. His voice had a low rasp to it that made Seonghwa’s chest feel funny. He cleared his throat nervously and smiled at the newcomers as they introduced themselves. “I’m Mingi. Yeosang told us all about you, and we couldn’t wait to meet you.”
“Wow, hyung…” The shorter man gazed at Yeosang in shock then back down at Seonghwa at the bottom of the lake. “He’s even prettier than you described.”
Seonghwa’s lotus flower seemed to bounce on top of the water at that compliment. His cheeks rounded to a smile as he waved up at them. “What’s your name, strong boy?”
“Strong boy?!” The still-unnamed man said to him. “I’m Jongho. And I’m a lot more than muscles!”
“He’s smart.” Mingi called out to Seonghwa.
“And handsome!” Yeosang tacked on for good measure.
“But most of all,” Jongho added with a grin, “I have a hell of a voice. Would you like to hear?”
If Seonghwa wasn’t fully submerged in water, his cheeks would have been wet as the trio sang to him. It was a strange sensation. The moon was high in the sky by the time the three men said their goodbyes and left Seonghwa alone on the floor of the lake.
His heart ached in his chest as he looked up past his closed-up lotus flower to stare at the moon. Grabbing blindly, he pulled the sad flower to his chest and cradled it like a newborn. Though he was drenched at all times, he could feel the tears that streamed from his eyes to his chin in rivers. The night sky had never seemed so lonely, the sounds around him so dull.
Because even though he could see love, and he could know love from down below…he couldn’t be in love. He could barely remember his first love at this point. And that fact made him shiver from the cold for the first time in his long, lonesome existence.
⁕⁕⁕
There was a storm coming. His visitors kept telling him about it every time they came to see him. Worry was plain on their faces as they packed up their belongings and headed home each night, leaving Seonghwa to stew alone in his lake.
He wasn’t sure if he was lucky or if the Gods had granted him this one peace, but he had never encountered a severe storm. At least not one as bad as his friends were describing. Though he was generally very confident in his ability to survive, this upcoming storm was starting to scare him. With each passing day, he prepared himself for the worst, even saying “goodbyes” to his friends as they came to visit him one by one.
He was right to worry.
The storm was one of the worst storms to hit the lands in decades, maybe even centuries. Seonghwa could certainly attest to that. He had been stranded in this lake for longer than most people’s bloodlines had existed, and he had never seen anything quite like this. The winds rocked him around like a bag in the wind, his limbs cracking painfully as massive waves formed above and around him.
This was it. He knew this was it. He could feel it with every crushing wave that pushed his frail body into the filthy mud of the lake’s floor. He could only hope it would happen fast. He had never been a fan of pain.
His eyes had drifted closed as the onslaught worsened, his arms wrapping around himself protectively. There was a loud, blubbering sound near his head that he tried to ignore. He couldn’t stand to see another animal get hurt in this storm. He begged the storm to take the intruder away.
“--wa! Hwa, please, look at me!”
His eyes shot open to find a familiar face right in front of him. Two, wide inquisitive eyes and a small, sharp nose greeted him. His hair was longer, much longer, and dirty blonde–but it was him…it was definitely him.
“H-Hongjoong?” He forced out as he watched Hongjoong reach out to him in a panic.
But it wasn’t just Hongjoong. Hongjoong’s ankle was being held by Yunho. And Yunho was being held by Wooyoung and San. Near the top of the lake, he could also see Yeosang and Mingi holding Wooyoung and San by their ankles. The whole way up at the water’s edge was strong boy Jongho holding them all and standing firm against the raging storm.
He rushed forward to grab Hongjoong’s hand, momentarily tugging him closer until they were nose to nose. Their pink and blonde hair flew around them like the fronds of a willow in a storm. Seonghwa reached up to run his fingers through Hongjoong’s wild hair and smiled with tears in his eyes.
“Sorry I’m late.” Hongjoong’s words came out of him like bubbles as he pulled Seonghwa closer to brush his slender nose against Seonghwa’s pale cheek.
Then they were moving upwards, being tugged towards the surface by all six men with Jongho as the anchor. Seonghwa’s heart felt ten times its normal size as he looked back to see the lake’s floor disappearing from view. When he looked back up, he could only see Hongjoong. And though he had grown up well, he still smiled like that young boy from all those years ago.
When they all finally broke the surface, Seonghwa stared at them in awe. The storm was still whipping around them wildly, but Seonghwa could barely feel it. His fingers dug into the grass around him, his face pressing into Hongjoong’s soaking wet jacket as he collapsed to the ground.
“Whoa, whoa…Seonghwa, I get it, but we have to get out of here. They’re calling for a tornado any minute now.” Hongjoong spoke into his hair gently. He pulled him close and pressed soft lips to his ear. “We have all the time in the world now. Let’s get out of here.”
Seonghwa leaned back to stare out at his friends, his eyes wide and wet with wonder and awe.
Jongho had an arm around Yeosang, his jacket covering both their heads from the onslaught of rain. Mingi was huddled on the ground below them staring over at Seonghwa like he was looking at a ghost. San and Wooyoung were grinning excitedly, their hands intertwined between them. Yunho was rushing forward to wrap Hongjoong and Seonghwa up in a warm hug with the biggest smile Seonghwa had ever seen.
Then there was Hongjoong. Always inquisitive, sometimes spontaneous Hongjoong who had planted a seed in his heart when they were only children. Only to come back just in the nick of time to watch that seed explode into a technicolor garden of light and love.
“You came back.” Seonghwa looked at Yunho and Hongjoong in turn.
“Of course we did.” Yunho smiled at him like Seonghwa held all the answers to life’s endless questions.
Hongjoong gripped his hand tightly and pulled it to his lips for a brief kiss. “We promised we would. Didn’t we?”
⁕⁕⁕
“But why did you disappear for so long?” Seonghwa asked later that night after all his friends had fallen asleep in a pile on Hongjoong’s living room floor.
Hongjoong smiled sadly at him and shook his head. “My parents made us move. But I never forgot about you. I started taking swim lessons the day after I met you. Then I joined the swim team in high school. I just kept hoping I’d get good enough to come down and save you. But my lungs aren’t so good.”
Seonghwa could only nod in astonishment as Hongjoong explained. “That’s okay. It was nice of you to try.”
“I never stopped trying. That’s what I’m saying. I’ve been practicing every day to be able to hold my breath long enough. To be strong enough to reach you. I’m still not very strong, but it’s a good thing all your other friends had the same idea that I did.”
Seonghwa’s cheeks flushed as he looked across the living room floor and took in the sleeping forms of his friends who had come to rescue him from the storm. “I don’t know what I did to deserve this.”
“You’re easy to love.” Hongjoong scooted closer and brushed some hair from Seonghwa’s face. “And if it weren’t for you showing us love…I don’t think any of us would be who we are today.”
The room felt warmer as Hongjoong spoke. Seonghwa could only smile and nod, keeping his eyes closed to avoid Hongjoong’s thoughtful gaze.
He had almost dozed off when he felt a soft touch on the corner of his lips, and somehow, he knew it was a kiss. But he couldn’t be sure who had done it.
With all the love he felt for the men surrounding him, he didn’t really care who did it.
He was just happy to feel it. To know it. To see it in all their faces with every passing glance.
Love. He was in love.
⁕⁕⁕
You know nothing of love, and as such, you will never know love.
Your one and only son will be cursed to inhabit the lake until true love lets him flee.
Until those that love him can see and do see
And reach out to grab him and set him free.
For love is a lotus with roots that run deep
That blooms from the putrid to make itself clean.