Chapter Text
It was the ideal time to go surfing. Early in the morning, right after a stormy night.
The waves were still relatively high, the sea was empty of both swimmers and boats, and Chan knew he was gonna have a great time. The little secluded spot he chose was a bit risky, what with all the rocky outcrops and the shore taking the form of a cliff with a barely marked path allowing him to reach the water. It was, however, right behind Jeongin’s house, where they were all staying during their vacation in Busan, and Chan prioritized the quicker route to the sea rather than the safer (but much busier) beach further up the coast.
It wasn’t his first time in that particular spot. He’d gotten used to it during the past three years or so that Jeongin had started inviting them to his family’s house for the summer vacation. Back then, they’d all still been in high school, with Chan and Minho about to graduate to college. He was glad they’d managed to befriend the shy freshman and add him to their eclectic group.
They now were all university students back in Seoul, except for Jeongin who’d just graduated high school before the summer. This trip to Busan felt especially meaningful and all the older boys hoped to help their friend sort out which program he was going to chose for the fall semester.
For today however, they’d decided to relax, everyone doing their own stuff. Ever since the storm started, Chan had felt the call of the ocean and it’s with a huge grin on his face that he threw his board in the water and started paddling out. He had to avoid a couple of rocky outcrops, navigating carefully so the waves didn’t slam his board on the sharp edges jutting out of the water. He was almost out of the tricky spot, the open sea calling him from just ahead, when something caught his eye.
On one of the half-submerged boulders, a pile of what looked like fishing nets was moving, rocked back and forth by the waves. That wasn’t surprising, since storms tended to carry lots of debris around. But the bright pink and purple color of whatever was trapped in the net was much more startling.
Approaching carefully, Chan yelped when the pink thing moved. It was an erratic jerk, almost like a fish flopping on land. That description would fit the scales he could make out through the net, but their color was simply otherworldly. Now that he was closer, he could also spot some soft beige, some weird translucent shine, and was that hair?
That couldn’t be right. No fish he knew about had hair…
Chan gasped.
“You gotta be shitting me…”
With newfound urgency, he rushed towards the pile of nets, trying to untangle the mess of knots and rough ropes. The creature inside did not move or whimper, most probably unconscious.
“Fuck… I gotta do something… Can’t leave it like this…” Chan mumbled, pulling futilely on the mess.
A wave bumped into him, bringing him closer to the pink alien thingy and ramming his surfboard against the rocks. Chan eyed the board under him, then the nets. A decision was quickly made.
He slid down into the water and, with a mighty heave, managed to transfer the whole bundle from the boulder to his board. “Hang in there, I’ve got you!” Chan panted, swimming right next to his board, one hand securely holding his newly acquired package onto it. Then, with a kick of his legs, he swam back towards the narrow shore he’d just left a few minutes ago.
The strong current was thankfully pushing him in the right direction, Chan’s feet quickly touching coarse sand and pebbles as he reached the place at the bottom of the cliff where he left his bag. He knew he couldn’t make it back up the steep path with his cargo, so he dove for his phone instead, after making sure his board was safely on land.
His hands flew over the screen, dialing one of six numbers that he knew by heart.
“Hello?” a lazy voice answered, obviously still trying to wake up.
“Minho! I need help! I’m down by the water, I’ve got my board and I found… well I don’t know what, but they need help and I can’t leave it alone here, but I also can’t bring it back to the house-”
“Chan. Breathe.”
Minho’s stern tone helped the surfer calm down slightly, despite his now shaking hands and worried glances towards the bundle on his board. His friend spoke up again from the other end of the line.
“Someone’s injured?”
Chan honestly didn’t know how to answer that question, because was it someone? “Eh…”
“Is it you?” Minho added.
“No” Chan quickly reassured his friend.
“Alright. Do you need me or Jisung?”
Minho or Jisung? Their vet in training or the nursing student?
“Uhm… Both?”
“BOTH? Chan what did you DO?” Minho yelled through the phone and Chan couldn’t blame him.
“I didn’t do anything! But I really need help. Can you get all the guys to come down and help me?” He asked, inching closer to his surfboard. “And bring scissors too, strong enough to cut through a net,” he added as an afterthought. Cutting would be easier than untangling.
A sigh answered his request, and he knew the cavalry was on its way.
His day had been going so well up till that point.
One of his traps had rewarded him with a juicy cod, which had satiated his hunger pains for the first time in days. Not that he wasn’t a good hunter, but during storm season, fish schools became rarer.
He’d spotted a cave just that morning, which would do lovely as a nightly hide out from strong currents, so he had a safe spot to sleep.
He’d even found a bunch of treasures during his daily swim; a couple of shiny human artefacts and even some of the colored-but-transparent-not-rock that he loved so much. They’d joined the ever-growing collection in the pockets of his shawl, weighing down the cloth around him nicely.
All in all, it was a perfectly good day! Until the aftermath of the storm hit.
During the rainy season, strong currents and bad weather were to be expected. They’d never troubled Seungmin much, the mer being used to the temperamental condition of Mother Nature, especially so close to shore. What he hadn’t accounted for was all the human trash that got swept by the waves.
One moment, he was swimming in shallow water near a rocky cliff in search of mussels, and the other, he found himself tangled in some inextricable human contraption. It wrapped around him from all sides, almost like algae but much coarser and so much heavier. In less time than it took a dolphin to whistle, Seungmin found himself completely tied up, with his right wrist very painfully trapped in an awkward angle. The weight of the weird human material dragged him to the seafloor, the currents dragging the merman roughly along the sharp stones at the bottom. He could feel his skin and scales get scratched up with each new wave. No matter how hard he flicked his fin, he couldn’t seem to get away, quickly losing any sense of orientation. Up and down tumbled together and left and right were just stronger currents dragging him around.
He saw the big boulder only a fraction of a second before hitting it full force, his head snapping back with the impact and air bubbles leaving his lips in a silent gasp. Then, it all turned black.