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If someone were to ask Seonghwa how he thought his morning was going to go — being thrown overboard by his fellow crewmates was not how he would have initially answered.
“Wait Yunho—” but it’s too late, as Seonghwa finds himself flying over the side of the Aurora , with the last thing he sees before going under being Yunho’s panicked look, San and Mingi screeching at his sides.
Here’s the thing though. Even if the situation he’s currently in is surprising, Seonghwa can’t really blame Yunho for sending him over, or San and Mingi for still screaming, loud enough that Seonghwa can hear it underwater. Seonghwa’s pretty sure if he was in their position, and his fellow shipmate had suddenly grown a shiny blue set of fins, he would have probably done the same. If anything — Seonghwa should probably feel happy that Yunho’s initial reaction to seeing a half human half fish hybrid flapping around on their deck was to throw him into the ocean — probably thinking Seonghwa would dry out in the sun much like the bluefin tuna they were being paid to transport.
(Seonghwa’s also knows that despite his appearance, being in the sun wouldn’t kill him like other fish tailed creatures, but rather, now it’d take even longer to return to his human form — but it’s not like mermaid 101 is a class at school for Yunho to learn this.)
Seonghwa spends another second underwater, before breaking the surface and looking unamused at the three still on the deck, all in varying states of shock.
For a moment, no one says anything. Finally, Mingi — after a long breath in and a cautious look over at Yunho and San — breaks the silence.
“I know you all say I have an overactive imagination, but I’m definitely not the only one who sees that Seonghwa has a tail, right?”
—
In retrospect, Seonghwa’s actually surprised it took almost two years before someone found out. Working on a ship meant the possibility of being submerged by water was more likely than not, and Seonghwa’s actually pretty impressed he’s made it this far without showing his mermaid side.
He’s just as impressed that the reason his secret was revealed was not because of him falling accidentally into the ocean, or being coerced into swimming around like the rest of the crew like to do on their off days. This might be a first for his kind, to turn into their merfolk form after being submerged in a giant fishtank, after tripping over San on deck and flipping into the giant tank of water holding the three dozen bluefin tuna they were currently transporting.
“So— you— you’re really—” Mingi’s still stuttering, while Yunho and San still aren’t saying a word, only holding tightly to each other as they watch Seonghwa wringing out his hair, his legs finally poofing back two minutes prior.
Seonghwa sighs. “ Yes , I’m a mermaid.” He shakes his head out.
“B-but how did we not know—”
Seonghwa also knew the answer to that unspoken question. Seonghwa supposes the reason he’s lasted this long without anyone knowing is out of sheer will. He works primarily in their office, sorting out ledgers and keeping their transactions neat and orderly. Everyone was glad to give him the task, with most of their crew more interested in hands on activities. He rarely joins Yeosang and Wooyoung for their late night swims, or when Jongho takes their smaller boat exploring in the coves. One might think it would be nearly impossible to avoid water while living on a boat, but — ever since the night when Hongjoong told Seonghwa his dream to sail the seas forever and Seonghwa realized his was to follow Hongjoong for just as long — Seonghwa’s done exactly that.
Which is why—
“Don’t tell Hongjoong.” Now San’s the one with his mouth open in shock.
“ Hongjoong doesn’t know??? ” He yelps. Yunho looks like he’s about to lose circulation in his arm with how tightly San is holding on. “B-but you guys tell each other everything!”
That was also true. Seonghwa’s known Hongjoong for a long time now — from their childhood filled with playing pirates in the sandbox near Hongjoong’s house, to the teenage years with Hongjoong sailing around the local harbor as Seonghwa caught fish for them to share when Hongjoong returned to shore, to now — two years after Hongjoong purchased the Aurora and Seonghwa said yes to being his first mate before Hongjoong had even asked. There was probably no one in the world who knew Hongjoong better than Seonghwa did.
But that was the exact reason why Seonghwa couldn’t tell Hongjoong that he was a mermaid. Because at this point in their relationship — close to twelve years of being by each others side (with the last three having a more intimate relationship with each other) — Seonghwa wasn’t sure how to even approach the conversation.
“I’ll tell him. Eventually. It’s just…” he pauses, not sure how to go on.
Yunho — who seemed to be the one who got over his initial shock the fastest — smiles comfortingly, twisting his hand out of San’s tight grasp in order to cover Seonghwa’s shaking ones with his own. “I get it, you’re worried how he’ll react to you hiding this secret for… however long you have known each other for.”
“But come on, it’s Hongjoong. He loves you too much to get too angry at you about this!” San chimes in, Mingi nodding vigorously by his side.
Seonghwa can only smile sadly at them. On one hand, what San said did ring true. Somewhere in between their first meeting and now, Hongjoong and Seonghwa turned from neighbors to friends to something more — the intimacy coming natural after so many years of sharing everything with each other.
But that was what made his secret harder to share. Because even after all this time he’s known and loved Hongjoong he’s never worked up the courage to tell the other — Seonghwa doesn’t want to imagine how their relationship could change once he finally was brave enough to do so.
—
Hongjoong only had three goals in life.
The first: to travel the open seas with his crew for as long as possible. Being born on the seaside town of Halatown meant that Hongjoong had basically grown up attached to the ocean. Much like most of his cohorts — Hongjoong spent his childhood dreaming of living on a boat, sailing from coast to coast while enjoying what a sailor’s life could give him. But what set Hongjoong apart from most of his classmate was that — as soon as he graduated high school and was set free into the adult world — he made this dream into a reality; buying the Aurora from a retiring sailor and setting up his own transport business, focusing on delivering specialty goods from various ports across their country.
It was a stressful first two weeks: between attracting enough business to help get him off land (literally), while finding a permanent crew who were willing to join him on his neverending journey. Sometimes, he wonders how it worked out so well. Seonghwa was a given, the other saying yes before Hongjoong could even ask. He found Wooyoung and Yeosang at the local tavern — the two looking for another ship to work on in order to leave the one they were currently on. Yunho was a neighbor who had a knack for navigation, while Mingi’s family’s farm was their first definite customer — hoping to sell their abundance of mined onyx overseas. The final additions to their ship right before the Aurora’s official launch were the Choi brothers — who reached out to Hongjoong as soon as their father retired and they pulled the Desire off the ocean for good.
There were many others of course — sailors who would come onboard for short periods of time, or just from one coast to another. But it was the first seven that he had recruited that Hongjoong was most thankful for, with nearly two years working together under all of their belts — and there was nothing more that Hongjoong wanted but to sail with them until he was no longer physically able too.
Well — maybe there was something he wanted just a tiny bit more than that. The second goal in Hongjoong’s life — one that only the eight of them knew — was how much he wanted to see a mermaid with his own eyes.
Really, if Hongjoong were to spot any of the rare sea creatures that he’s only heard wild tales of at Halatown’s tavern — that might be enough to scratch the itch he had. From krakens to sea dragons to sirens even — Hongjoong’s heard stories of them all. Most sailors told their stories with fear in their whispered voices and scared eyes, saying they wished never to cross paths with the more often then not dangerous sea creatures, but a part of Hongjoong liked the idea of adventure, and more so loved the idea of crossing paths with something as rare as most of the mythical sea creatures were.
Of all the stories he’s heard — what Hongjoong longed to see the most was a mermaid. Of the hundreds of tales Hongjoong’s heard, mermaid sightings were admittedly the most common, with the species still lasting despite most of its fellow sea creatures slowly dying out. But that didn’t take away from the magic of the merfolk population, from their glittery tails to gorgeous features as they glided across the ocean, casting a beautiful hue of colors when they were close enough to the surface and the sun would hit the shine on their bodies at the right angle. Hongjoong could only imagine the beauty behind such a sight, which only added to his anticipation in finding himself in the vicinity of one.
While Wooyoung would chuckle and Jongho would roll his eyes whenever Hongjoong would send them off course to chase a merfolk sighting — they would all play along, and even Jongho couldn’t hide the bit of excitement whenever they Hongjoong heard about a possible merfolk gathering on their radio.
At least, most of the crew would. Hongjoong’s still not sure about what Seonghwa thinks — with nearly a decade and a half of knowing the other telling Hongjoong that the look in Seonghwa’s eyes was guarded at most whenever their crew discussed chasing merfolk. But that wasn’t the only thing Hongjoong wasn’t sure about Seonghwa — because the third goal of his was to figure out how come, after two years of being on the Aurora , Seonghwa still refused to touch the damn ocean despite practically living on it.
It’s not really a new thought, because even throughout their childhood, Hongjoong’s always wondered about Seonghwa’s aversion to water. But he’s always figured it was some sort of internal fear, so Hongjoong’s never really pushed to learn more.
But then Seonghwa had immediately said he would join Hongjoong on the Aurora, even before Hongjoong could ask with the expectancy of a no. And even if Hongjoong was ecstatic about that, it also brought up the question of why the hell did Seonghwa refuse to even touch water?
At the end of the day, Hongjoong supposes that would be one of the questions he’d never find an answer too, much like the one on his mind now, as he watches Yunho, San, Mingi and Seonghwa huddled together in the corner, hushed whispers with the momentary glance over in his direction. His first bet would be the three were bothering Seonghwa about their love life (which — as an indirect consequence of living in such tight quarters like a ship — was fair game to everyone), except Wooyoung was at the bow, and Hongjoong knew for a fact that Wooyoung would never miss some sort of interrogation of Seonghwa about his and Hongjoong’s relationship.
“I heard Yunho mention something about Seonghwa going overboard. What’d you do?” Hongjoong blinks, raising an eyebrow.
“Why do you think I did something?” Jongho snorts.
“Don’t worry, I know you didn’t throw him overboard. At least, not intentionally. But knowing the two of you, you guys were doing something… that I don’t really want to think about, and Seonghwa somehow lost his grip and fell over—”
“First off. No. Second: this is the first time I’m hearing about Seonghwa going overboard. Third: no that is not what happened.” Hongjoong cuts in. This time Jongho’s the one who looks unamused, but keeps his mouth shut.
A second passes.
“Do you…” Hongjoong finally continues. “Do you think that Seonghwa can’t swim?” Jongho chokes.
“I’m sorry but why are you asking that?”
“I’m just… I’m just trying to figure out why Seonghwa’s so afraid of water. Because thinking back I’ve never seen him in water, and like… if it’s because he can’t swim than we can teach him…”
“I feel like it’s physically impossible for someone born in Halatown to not know how to swim. Like, I’m pretty sure I was doggy paddling the water before I even knew how to walk.” Jongho says.
“Yeah but—”
“Hongjoong, what’s really bothering you?” Hongjoong pauses. Jongho’s looking his way, his face lowering into a more comforting look.
Another second passes, before Hongjoong sighs and gives in.
“It’s not that I need to know everything about Seonghwa, he’s entitled to his secrets as much as everyone else. But… I just feel… there’s something he’s hiding from me and now I’m— I’m wondering…” Hongjoong pauses, but Jongho hums understandingly. He pushes off the ledge they were standing at.
“I mean,” he says, patting Hongjoong on the back comfortingly. They both look back at Seonghwa, the tension in his shoulder clear as day, unnerving Hongjoong.
“The only one who can answer that question is Seonghwa, isn’t it?”
—
“You have to tell him Seonghwa — there’s no way I can keep this secret anymore for you!”
Usually, Seonghwa would roll his eyes at Mingi’s exaggerated exasperation, but this time, he was feeling the same. It felt that his fear of being found out in a unconventional way was starting to bubble over — because if all it took for three people to learn about his fins was a slip on the deck — there was no telling how much longer Seonghwa could keep this hidden from Hongjoong, especially considering —
“We live on a freaking boat how the hell did you manage to hide this for so long?”
“To be fair, Seonghwa hides in the office all the time—”
“Stop whispering like that, Hongjoong’s looking over— no don’t look back oh my gosh— ” It was just his luck that of all the crew members to find out his secret, it just so happened to be this three. Yeosang would be willing to keep it from Hongjoong for him, while Jongho probably would just shrug it off and stop caring after a second. Wooyoung was much more of a loose cannon when it came to ship gossip — but he also had a much shorter attention span and Seonghwa knew he’d forget about the fins almost as soon as he learned about them.
But it just so happened that these three were probably the worst people to ask to keep a secret, because considering they have all spent months on end enclosed in close quarters together, secrets were practically nonexistent when given to the wrong person.
“Can you guys just promise me to hold off on telling anyone else until I’ve had a chance to talk to Hongjoong? On my own?” There’s a pause, before the three with Seonghwa slowly nod. It’s hesitant, but Seonghwa takes it as a firm yes.
“But when will that be? When are you going to talk to Hongjoong?” Mingi whispers. Seonghwa opens his mouth to answer, but another voice cuts in.
“Well, Hongjoong’s free now and wants to talk to you Seonghwa…” Everyone freezes. Jongho’s eyes dart amongst the four. “...about something else, not sure what you want to talk to him about, and frankly, I don’t care. San, we’re on cooking duty today, get your ass up.” He leaves, pulling San with him.
Seonghwa’s still partially frozen, before slowly turning his head towards Hongjoong. Granted, he couldn’t see the exact look on the captain’s face, but there was a small sense of relief that he didn’t look angry or disappointed, so with one last pitiful glance in Yunho and Mingi’s direction, Seonghwa rises, making his way over.
“Hey…” Hongjoong grins as he approaches. It calms Seonghwa’s heart, and he sends a timid smile back.
“What’s up, Jongho said you needed to speak to me?”
“Oh, yeah, two things. Yeosang said he could possibly make a stop at Treasure Island before we get to our final destination. I’m thinking we can bargain for some gold crabs, those are always big sellers.” Seonghwa hums, making a mental note to check their records to see if they had enough space for the purchases.
Hongjoong’s statement of two didn’t escape his mind however. “What… what else did you want to speak to me about?” he starts, averting his eyes for a second.
Hongjoong takes a deep breath in. “Look, Seonghwa,” he says. “I just want to say that, if… if there is anything you’re afraid to tell me, because you think I’ll judge you for it or— or something…”
Seonghwa freezes. The thought that Hongjoong somehow knows his secret passes his mind, and even if Seonghwa’s sure the three had kept it a secret (they had only just learned about his mermaid self merely an hour prior), his brain is scrambling for what might have tipped Hongjoong off.
Hongjoong — most likely seeing Seonghwa’s mind go into overdrive, smiles softly and reaches a comforting hand out. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want too. I want you to know that first and foremost. You’re entitled to keeping things to yourself, and I’m not going to feel as if you don’t trust me or something, okay?”
Seonghwa nods, feeling Hongjoong’s words wash over him — enough to calm his anxiety-ridden brain down.
“But I just want you to know also, that I’m here for you, okay? Before I’m your captain— hell, before I’m your boyfriend even, I’m also your best friend, and no matter how small it is or if you think it’s too troublesome to tell me — it isn’t a bother at all, and I won’t get angry or anything at you for it. I promise, okay?”
Seonghwa feels his throat clench at how sincere Hongjoong sounds. His smile is warm, expression bright and genuine — and really, how could Seonghwa ever think that Hongjoong would judge or hate him for keeping his secret from Hongjoong? Fifteen plus years of being by Hongjoong’s side should have told him otherwise.
And well, before when Mingi asked when Seonghwa was going to tell Hongjoong — Seonghwa’s answer was going to be ‘when the time was right’, despite not knowing if that would ever come. Now though? There felt like no better moment than this.
“Well,” Seonghwa starts, Hongjoong leans in. “There… there is something I need to show you—”
“ Yeosang there’s something coming our way —”
That’s the only warning anyone gets when Yeosang — after hearing Wooyoung’s call — swerves their boat to the left. Seonghwa only gets a peek of a dark figure swimming around the water before Hongjoong is scrambling for the mast.
“Oh— sorry—” he bumps into Seonghwa. Seonghwa stumbles back a few steps, slipping on some rainwater from the day prior. He feels his back hit the railing, and — as a result of bad luck and his own clumsy self — falls overboard.
There’s a yell, and he can see Hongjoong climbing the ledge, and well, really, there was just something so funny about all this; where — as soon as Seonghwa was finally ready to tell Hongjoong the irony of looking for a mermaid when he’s been there all along — fate decides to let Hongjoong know Seonghwa’s secret in it’s own way.
—
“He…. he can’t swim.”
Yeosang’s freezes, turning slowly with an incredulously look over at Hongjoong. Out of the corner of his eye he can see everyone else on their crew is racing over. Jongho is the first to arrive, and hears the tail end of what Hongjoong says.
“You’re still on that ?”
“That’s… that’s what he was going to say right? That he can’t swim that that’s why he avoids the water?”
“How the fuck can you be so damn wrong about something—”
Hongjoong blinks. Time seems to pause for the seven of them still on the boat, with varing levels of panic and disbelief coming from them all. Wooyoung coughs in disbelief, and with that sound Hongjoong suddenly feels his self come back to reality and shit Seonghwa can’t swim and he’s in the water—
He pulls his shirt off and positions himself on the ledge.
“ Hongjoong wait!” He can hear Mingi yelp, but ignores him, diving overboard. “ Seonghwa’s a mermaid—”
It’s the last thing he hears before Hongjoong’s under the water, eyes barely able to make out his surroundings as he looks for Seonghwa’s body.
Wait, mermaid?
Mingi’s words ring in his ears, over and over and engraving itself in his brain. In front of him he spots a glimpse of Seonghwa’s pink hair. There’s suddenly a small flash of white light, blinding Hongjoong.
Mer.. mermaid???
Hongjoong can hear a small roar from behind them too. It doesn’t distract him from the fucking mermaid tail that just appeared on Seonghwa’s lower body, but Seonghwa, flapping his way over and dragging Hongjoong away.
Seonghwa’s a…
There’s another roar. Hongjoong can barely keep his eyes open with the salt water finally getting to him, but out of the corner of his eyes he can see another dark figure coming their way. It’s the last thing he sees, because Hongjoong makes the mistake of gasping and well, opening your mouth under water only means a rush of salt in his lungs, which causes him to cough — which only meant a larger intake of ocean water.
The last thing he sees before the exhaustion and his current situation finally gets to him is Seonghwa’s face, and in just a split second he looks down and still sees the shiny blue fins where Seonghwa’s usual mile long length legs would be and well now, the only thing left on his mind is the fact that —
Seonghwa’s a fucking mermaid.
—
Seonghwa barely manages to pull Hongjoong and himself to the surface, just as Jongho and San are shooting at a large octopus-like creature (a Kraken, Seonghwa now recognizes) to their left — scaring it away from their boat and clearing the path for Yeosang to speed the Aurora away. At the same time, Yunho throws a rope over board, which Seonghwa loops around Hongjoong and himself as Mingi and Yunho lug the two overboard, Seonghwa hitting the deck just as the boat shifts to the right and Yeosang steers them away.
There’s a loud cough to his side, and Seonghwa frantically turns to see Hongjoong gasping for air. Wooyoung — finally jolting out of his shocked trance directed solely at Seonghwa’s tail — drops down and pumps at Hongjoong’s chest, helping him cough out the remaining salt water.
“What the fuck—” Hongjoong freezes, his eyes catching sight on Seonghwa. Immediately he looks down, where Seonghwa’s tail is still slowly flailing around on the deck.
There’s silence for a second. And then another. Everyone’s frozen.
Finally, Mingi — once again — breaks the quiet tension. “Told you Seonghwa,” he whispers. “There was no way I could keep it from Hongjoong.”
The silence returns. There’s a bright flash, and Seonghwa’s legs return.
Hongjoong’s eyes are still on his legs, a mix of shock and confusion passing through. He finally looks up at Seonghwa. There’s something else in his expression, and Seonghwa feels his heart drop. For the first time ever, he’s not sure what to make of it, and the ambiguity scares him.
“I think…” he finally says, throat still hoarse. “I think we need to have that talk now.”
—
It’s quiet in their cabin, ten minutes passing quickly as Hongjoong stood silently at his desk, Seonghwa sitting on their bed. Seonghwa can’t help but find this ironic, since Hongjoong was the one who had suggested they talk in the first place. He supposes that he could start the conversation, but what could he even say to Hongjoong? I’m sorry I never told you I was a mermaid, it’s because I love you and I was afraid of what you would think of me hiding this from you so long—
Well, he could start like that. But this was one of the few moments where Seonghwa couldn’t tell what Hongjoong was thinking just from a look into his eyes, and the fear of the unknown emotions behind his facade was enough to keep Seonghwa silent for a moment longer.
“So…” Hongjoong finally starts. “You… you’re a mermaid.”
“...yes, yes I am.”
“I…” Hongjoong’s still not looking in Seonghwa’s way. “I never knew this.”
“Look, Hongjoong, I— I didn’t mean to hide it from you— really— it’s just that— my family, we’ve kept this secret for so long and when we first met it was practically drilled into me to never say a word and then by the time I knew you were the love of my life and I didn’t want to hide it from you anymore I just thought too much time had passed and—”
Hongjoong holds up his hand — motioning for Seonghwa to stop talking. Seonghwa feels his heart skip a beat nervously.
“How… how do you… your… mermaid tail…?”
“Oh,” Seonghwa knew what Hongjoong was trying to ask. “If I’m submerged in water completely, they appear.”
Hongjoong nods. He motions to their bathroom. “If you’re in… in the shower?”
Seonghwa shakes his head no. “No, completely submerged. Like — if I fall into the ocean I guess.” He tentatively looks up at Hongjoong, who hums his acknowledgement, a pensive look on his face.
“Can I… is it alright if I see your mermaid form?”
“Huh?”
Hongjoong’s finally looks at Seonghwa. There’s a small blush on his cheek. “I mean— I— I didn’t really get to see them before— and I mean you know I’ve always wanted to see a mermaid in real life but—“
Seonghwa blinks. “You… you’re not angry? O-or upset that I hid this from you?”
Hongjoong pauses, furrowing his brow in confusion. “No…? Should I be?”
Now it was Seonghwa turn to look surprised. “But I mean, I hid a really big secret from you even after I knew you wouldn’t hate me or be scared of my mermaid form. I just… I just thought that…”
“Seonghwa, what I said before is still true.” There’s a soft smile on Hongjoong’s face now, as he sits down and softly touches Seonghwa’s hand. “You’re entitled to your secrets. I’m not angry that you hid this from me, because I know you had your reasons to. I just… well, I hope it’s not because you thought I’d judge you or think lesser of you because of your mermaid self…”
“No no of course not!” Seonghwa jolts in alarm at the despondent end to Hongjoong’s words. “I’ve wanted to tell you for so long, I just… I never knew how to bring it up.” He chuckles softly. “If only I knew it was as easy as falling overboard for this conversation to happen.”
“Definitely quick and efficient, even if you nearly gave me a heartattack,” Hongjoong laughs as well. Their chuckles soon trail off, but this time, Seonghwa’s heart is more calm, as he smiles at Hongjoong and takes his hand.
“It’s the beauty of life really.” Hongjoong finally starts again. “We’re always going to be learning more about each other each day. And I mean, sure, something like you growing fish tails when you fall into water is something pretty big to learn nearly twelve years after we met — but I’m not wondering why you waited so long, instead, I’m thankful that you trusted me enough to let me know — even if, of course, I found out a bit before you could actually tell me, since… I mean, you did fall overboard.”
“Hey now, it was your fault, Hongjoong.” Seonghwa scoffs, but his grin only grows wider. He couldn’t believe that there was ever a moment of doubt in Seonghwa’s mind about Hongjoong’s reaction, because really, what was there for him to worry about with Hongjoong? The sweet, kind and understanding Hongjoong that Seonghwa’s fell in love with, and continues to fall more and more each day.
“So… now that we’ve gotten all this out of the way…” Seonghwa finally starts again. He grabs Hongjoong’s hand and jumps up. Hongjoong looks at him, confused.
“I do believe…” he continues, tugging on Hongjoong towards the door, his footsteps light and his heart floating even more — because now that the secret was out, there was nothing more that Seonghwa wanted to do but to make one of Hongjoong’s dreams come true.
“... a certain Kim Hongjoong wants to see a mermaid with his own eyes, does he not?”
—
They’re practically flying across the ship hand in hand, as Seonghwa leads Hongjoong towards the front of the boat, smiling and giggling the whole way. The rest of the crew is watching them with confusion, but Hongjoong pays no attention to them — instead focusing completely on Seonghwa in front of him. Hongjoong’s always been in awe of his boyfriends beauty, and this time was no different, with Hongjoong mesmerized at the Seonghwa in front of him, the setting sun shining on his golden skin, with a dazzling smile and freeing eyes — as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Hongjoong hope that’s true, because he can only imagine how much work it took for Seonghwa to hide something so big — and he can only hope that now that burden has been released completely, allowing Seonghwa to be his true self instead.
They reach the bow. Seonghwa lets go of Hongjoong’s hand, turning his way and flashing a wide grin his way, before he leaps over the railing and dives straight into the crystal clear water down below.
There’s a flash of bright light. For a moment, Hongjoong can see nothing, before Seonghwa breaks the surface. He stills himself, with Hongjoong seeing his blue fins swaying lazily in the ocean, the movement causing a ripple of glittering blue in the ocean.
There was something just as magical about Seonghwa here, where Hongjoong can see that he’s completely in his element. It fits him too, as he dives back under, his fins coming above the surface before Seonghwa’s swimming down below, Hongjoong watching in awe as he glides beautifully in circles right below. They’ve anchored their ship for the night, so dozens of fishes are brave enough to join Seonghwa so close to their ship, the synchronized swishes of their tails casting a beautiful pattern of colors below.
Seonghwa pops up again, pushing his hair away from his head as he looks up at Hongjoong, beckoning him to join Seonghwa in the water. Hongjoong doesn’t waste a second, pulling his shirt off and jumping in.
Seonghwa laughs as he circles Hongjoong, his tail effortlessly moving him around. He grabs Hongjoong by the hand. “I love you!” he says, smiling wide as he pecks Hongjoong on the cheek.
The happiness is contagious, and Hongjoong wraps his arms around Seonghwa’s back, pulling him in for a longer kiss. He can feel Seonghwa’s lips curling up his mouth opening as he presses them closer together, the salt water tasting sweet with the passion between them.
Finally, after a moment more, they separate, small gasps for air as they look at each other with wide grins on their faces. There are stars in Seonghwa’s eyes, the wet water droplets causing a glow on Seonghwa’s face. He can feel Seonghwa’s tail fluttering, and the red blush adorning his cheeks clues Hongjoong in that the movement was linked to a joyful emotion.
“So? Is seeing a mermaid like this everything you’ve ever wanted?” Hongjoong laughs, pulling Seonghwa back in for another kiss as his answer.
Because really, human form or mermaid, it didn’t matter which one. Because the Seonghwa that was his was the most beautiful of them all — and Hongjoong knew he never wanted to let any part of him go.
—
Hongjoong still has three goals in life.
His first is the same. He wants to sail the Aurora for as long as he can with his crew — jumping from coast to coast and trading for specialties of each new port they arrive in. Hongjoong’s always felt more comfortable in water, so traveling across the ocean was his dream come true, and Hongjoong never wanted his journey to end.
His second? It’s changed slightly, because now Hongjoong’s seen a mermaid, and he knows that Seonghwa would be the most gorgeous one he would ever come across. There’s nothing that compares to the shiny blue fins that glide through the water, a perfect match to the bright smile and glittering eyes that Seonghwa has — a sight that will always take Hongjoong’s breath away.
But even if he’s forever quenched his desire to see a mermaid with his own eyes, that doesn’t mean Hongjoong won’t continue to seek out the mystical creatures of the seas, because later on after he and Seonghwa’s both been pulled back onto their ship, drying themselves out as the eight core crew members have an emergency meeting — Hongjoong finds out that they had run into a fucking Kraken which had almost killed him and Seonghwa, and Hongjoong had passed out before he could even see more than just the black blob heading his way, so yes Jongho we will now be following ever possible Kraken sighting from here on out—
Seonghwa’s giggling as Wooyoung and Yeosang start arguing, with the former never wanting to cross paths with the Kraken again, while Yeosang — who had been steering the ship away — wants to see one with his own eyes. Hongjoong barely hears what they’re saying, his eyes fixed solely on Seonghwa’s, still taking in the beauty of his first mate.
The third goal of his has also changed, because he now knows why Seonghwa had always avoided the water — even if all he wanted to do was to dive in and feel free in his mermaid self. What his new third goal was to never let Seonghwa feel he had to hide that part, or really, any part of himself away for the sake of others. Because it’s always been what Seonghwa’s done for Hongjoong — supporting him every step of the way into his lifelong sailing career, even when it had meant Seonghwa pushing a part of him aside in order to join Hongjoong on his journey.
But now that his secret is out and Seonghwa no longer had to carefully live his life in order to not reveal his tail, there’s a certain radiating happiness that’s surrounding him now, his smile just a bit wider, while his eyes read a more freeing emotion than before. It’s infectious, and Hongjoong can feel his own spirits uplifted, along with the resolve to never let this newfound glow of Seonghwa’s ever dim again.
Seonghwa still only has one.
To always trust in Hongjoong, because even after twelve years of knowing the other, Hongjoong’s never given any indication that Seonghwa should do otherwise, and now — Seonghwa’s confident that that will never change.