Chapter Text
The scent of salt and sea crashed into them as the crew celebrated their victory. Months, they had chased the trail of this particular treasure hunt and after almost giving up, the captain had led them to triumph once more.
Hongjoong was pointing his sword towards the sky, a toothy smile painted on his sharp features; his gaze searing as he looked at his crew. The eyepatch was a lingering reminder of the sacrifices he’d made along the way, proof of the hunger of those relentless waves and the creatures lurking beneath.
“We made it this far. Another treasure claimed, another adventure for the history books.”
“Hear, hear!”
“May the sky be our witness today as we take what’s ours.” The captain motioned at their loot – chests spilling with golden coins and expensive jewelry. “The waves should fear us.” His grin turned little savage, silver teeth showing like a shark who’d smelled blood. “We rule the seven seas. There’s not a single creature on this earth that can stand between me and my family, my loyal crew!”
They raised their flasks and bottles in unison, praising the captain and his guidance. The celebration lasted until late at night, beach alight with a crackling fireplace and more lanterns on their ship.
Songs echoed from every direction; laughter and chatter filled the air. Rum was flowing freely and the crew was already gambling away their portions of the newly acclaimed fortune.
Mingi sat on an overturned log at a small distance to the fireplace. San and Wooyoung were playing cards on a broken crate, their daggers stabbed into the sand beside them. Judging from their flushed faces, they were drunk already; judging from their fierce ambition in regards to their card game, they were just getting started.
Mingi usually wasn’t one to sit at the sidelines during one of their victory laps. He loved the taste of triumph, the feeling of gold weighing down his pockets, that fire in his chest that made him want to scream from the top of his lungs, let everyone know not to mess with him or his crew.
But that night was different. A storm was brewing on the horizon, he could feel it in his bones before he could see it in the gathering clouds. And there was something weighing down his pocket. Something magnificent and strange; something that called to him, to a part of his soul he’d long, long buried. Something that wasn’t his.
He reached for his flask and took a swig, but the rum wasn’t nearly strong enough.
“What’s wrong, mate?” Someone slumped onto the log beside him, palm hitting his back. “Yer look like ye could use a stronger drink.”
Mingi shook his head, offering his friend the flask. “Aye. Ye tell the captain his booze tastes like water, then.” He grinned, all teeth. “Ye’ll lose the other eye, too.”
Yunho caught his smile, mirroring it in a softer shade before he took the flask. He grimaced at the taste. “Blimey, that’s not ...” He started coughing, which caught San and Wooyoung’s attention who burst into laughter.
“Aye, Mingi, stop messing with him, ye know he’s a lightweight.” San snorted, slamming his hand of cards on the crate and pointing at Wooyoung with a mischievous grin. “Got ye good, matey!”
Wooyoung glared back at him, reaching for the dagger and holding it up to San’s face. “Cheating rat!”
Mingi threw his hat at them. “Easy on the eyes, mates. Yer not gonna win, either of ye. I’ve been watching ye bullshit each other for the past hour.”
Yunho next to him stifled a laugh, then took another swig from the flask – this time he swallowed the cough.
Mingi patted his friend on the back. “Attaboy. Keep drinking.”
“No but seriously.” Yunho bumped his shoulder against Mingi’s. “What’s bothering ye?”
Mingi frowned at the fire. San and Wooyoung had forgotten about their dispute in a matter of seconds, already dealing the next hand of cards. He sighed, then narrowed his eyes at Yunho beside him. “Yer a pain in me arse, yer know that?”
Yunho grinned at him. “Aye.”
Mingi had always wondered how he’d maintained a full set of teeth during their many journeys. But Yunho was a mystery in itself. Somehow, he was the only one who could spot Mingi’s lies and that was the most annoying part of their friendship.
“Yer not chasing ghosts again, are ye?” Yunho was studying him with a mixture of amusement and genuine concern. “You were the one who slayed that damn beast. Ye should be proud.”
“Took me hours to get those bloody guts off my jacket.”
“How did it feel to kill that thing?” Yunho asked. “Hero of the seven seas.”
Mingi shrugged and took his flask back, and the thing in his pocket made itself known again.
Thief
“That stuff’s already getting to yer head.” He emptied the flask, then ran a hand through his short, black hair. “Monsters like that deserve to die. It has nothing to do with ...” He couldn’t even bring himself continue. Yunho hadn’t said his name but Mingi’s mind was already running towards that hurtful memory.
It made him angry. Because it didn’t matter anymore. He’d been dead for years. He wasn’t coming back. No matter how many monsters Mingi killed, no matter how much of a hero the others made him out to be.It wouldn’t bring him back.
He got up and kicked the sand, earning a glare from his friends at the makeshift card table.
“Mingi, I–” Yunho stood to follow him, but Mingi stopped him.
“No.” He turned, voice harsh and chest alight with that fire he felt whenever the past proved itself as an irreversible traitor. He would never allow himself to go back. He had to accept that broken part of him, had to carry that pain like he carried his blade. “Yer not gonna mention him again, understood?”
When Yunho didn’t answer him, his features painted in firelight and pity, Mingi felt the secret in his pocket again – like a lie, it lingered.
“He’s gone, okay? And he’s never coming back.” Mingi meant to use these words like he’d used his sword on the sea monster before. But he ended up cutting himself instead.
Furious, keeping his stolen treasure close, he stormed off towards the ship, ready to drink until he wouldn’t be able to feel himself anymore.
~
The next day started with a hangover. The whole crew was sleeping until noon, as the sun already stood high up in the sky. Clouds gathered in different shades of grey and when the captain announced their departure, everyone was preparing for a rough course.
“Do yer think we pulled the sea’s wrath on us, Captain?” Yeosang asked once they were setting the sails and Mingi joined them at the ship’s wheel. “Yer know, by killing one of her children?”
Hongjoong laughed before his gaze – a glass eye and a real one – settled on Mingi, who was leaning at the edge of the ship, staring out at the splashing waves. “There’s truth to many a legend, yet none of them will keep us from claiming what’s ours.”
Mingi met his gaze, raising his chin in a gesture of respect. “Aye, Captain.”
“Captain!” San’s voice carried through the roiling tides as he waved at them from the lookout. “Storm’s coming!”
“Let it come,” Hongjoong barked back with a cruel grin, then yelled at the rest of the crew, “Batten down the hatches! The sea’s a cruel mistress indeed. She’ll try to take us, but she won’t claim us tonight.”
The united “AYE!” that followed lured a smile to Mingi’s face. His heart was heavy with admiration for his captain and his love for the ocean’s unpredictable temper. That was the beauty in this life – the foreboding adventure, the ferocious sea and its many, many secrets.
His hand closed around the treasure in his coat pocket. It was a subconscious motion, a whisper of reassurance perhaps. Out of all the riches, all the golden coins and diamonds, this one chose him.
So what if he had to kill for it? So what if he had to steal it from the sea itself?
Wasn’t it finally time for him to be a little selfish?
~
The storm hit just as the sun had settled beyond the horizon. The moon didn’t even get a chance to rise because the clouds swallowed it whole, baring its thunderous fangs as white bolts of lightning struck down into the roaring waters.
The ship was swaying dangerously from side to side, and rain was pouring in an endless stream of angry tears.
If the sea was furious with them, the sky was just as angry. Thunder soared through the air as if threatening to devour them whole; wind howled in a song of rage; waves cut like blades into the belly of the ship.
“Don’t yer let her take control!” Hongjoong yelled at Yeosang who was stemming his whole bodyweight against the ship’s wheel. Rain spilled from his face onto the deck as he held onto his hat with both hands. “Keep ‘er steady, ye hear me?”
“Captain!”
Several crew members were sliding down the deck as the waves hit the ship in another ruthless impact. The vessel ached and groaned beneath the force of the sea, threatening to break.
Mingi and Yunho were securing the cannons, their hands already sore from tearing and tying the thick ropes. Mingi’s coat was slashing around him as the wind tried to take it away. Yunho’s eyepatch sat a little crooked and his hair was spilling wetly onto his forehead, his shouts completely lost to the storm.
One of the sails started to come undone on the mast. Mingi saw from the corner of his vision that Hongjoong jumped to hold it steady, but the boom was already whirling around in full force.
The last thing Mingi saw was Yunho’s horrified expression – his mouth parted in an inaudible scream, his uncovered eye wide with worry. He reached over, grabbing Mingi’s coat with his hand but it was too late already.
A sharp pain hit Mingi’s lower back where the boom hit him. The storm was roaring in his ears as he toppled over and lost control over his movements. The waves hit the ship in another vengeful splash and Mingi’s world turned upside down.
He was soaked to the bone already when he fell off the ship and right into the ravenous ocean.
For a moment, all he could see and feel and taste was saltwater on his skin. The sky and the sea were one before he even realized he couldn’t breathe any longer.
A white stroke of lightning cut through his field of vision. He saw it hit the water’s surface like a gleaming arrow – blurry and out of reach as if he was watching through a window. Water trapped him in darkness, filled his lungs with salty lies as he fell and fell further into the blackness beneath.
The song reached him just as he was beginning to lose consciousness.
A tune as subtle and beautiful as a night filled with stars, as the smile of someone he’d once loved, as the taste of wonder whenever they’d set sail for their next adventure. It appealed to the sliver of hope in Mingi’s chest that lived and breathed with him, that tied him to his crew and his family. It was pure and wonderful and all-consuming. It was drip, drip, dripping into his very soul.
Liquid moonlight
A promise drawn in salt
Hearts like pearls in my hands
A kiss of shadow
Your own refuge
Come now, sailor
A little further
Mine
All mine
Mingi’s eyes opened at the cool touch of fingers brushing his cheek. For a moment, all he could see was a blurry figure right in front of him. The salt water stung his eyes and his lungs hurt from the lack of airbut the figure’s touch felt strangely grounding.
He noticed the melody had stopped just as the figure leaned in and the cool sensation spread from Mingi’s cheek to his lips.
Air rushed into his lungs, much to his confusion. His body reacted by reaching out and maintaining that strange connection. Mingi’s lips parted, greedy for air, greedy for life. His hands found the figure’s face as he drank all that was offered to him.
His vision cleared slightly, the salty sting subsided, and as the strange figure broke away, Mingi realized what had just happened to him.
He’d heard the stories many times. The captain made a spectacle of telling them by the fire, grinning wickedly when the crew hung on his lips until the very last word.
He’d fallen prey to a siren. One of the ocean’s menacing monsters. A species related to the merfolk that would lead sailors towards rocky shores, luring them into the depths with hypnotic singing, only to feast on their hearts and leave their rotting corpses forever lost to the ocean’s endless demise.
He started to struggle against the siren in front of him; he reached upwards to swim to the surface – or at least where he thought the surface would be; his heart was thundering in his chest like a restless drum.
Death. Alas.
No, he was not going to die this way. Miserably and under some kind of wicked spell, defeated by the sea of all things!
He kicked his legs and flailed his arms into the darkness all around him. He heard the song again, but he didn’t pay it any mind.
He heard the creature move behind him, glide through the water in effortless strokes until it appeared in the corner of his eye again – a splash of silver in the dying depths, a beacon to guide him to shore, a star amiss from the night sky ...
Mingi’s head whipped around as he glared at the creature but as soon as their eyes met, his anger ceased. The siren didn’t attack him; it was swimming beside him. It was looking at him. Staring into his soul, it seemed. It was eyeing him as if it didn’t understand him, as if he was the odd one out in an ocean full of shadows and monstrosities.
In the blink of an eye, it was gone from Mingi’s side. But something else gripped him and teared at his legs, pulling him down into the depths again until the last breath of air had left his lungs, until all he could think about was dying.
~
The sound of gentle waves breaking by his side was the first thing Mingi heard. It brought him back to the shore of consciousness.
Water lapped at his arms and legs, and the scent of salt and seaweed hung in the air around him. His cheek was resting in wet sand, and his chest hurt as he took his first real breath in what seemed like forever.
Even in death, the ocean was haunting him.
But as he opened his eyes against the firm blanket of night above, he realized that – against all odds – he might be alive.
His head hurt as badly as his chest as he sat up and a sharp and deep ache in his leg made him see stars for a moment, gasping and swearing in pain.
“You’re awake.”
The voice caught Mingi completely off guard. He tensed at the sound of it, goosebumps rippling all over his body. He turned, only to find the same strangely ethereal creature he’d seen before lingering in the shallow water before him.
“Am I dead?” Mingi asked, trying to get further onto the sand, further away from that thing that had attacked him. “Did ye kill me?”
The creature cocked its head with a puzzled expression on its features. Body covered by the water, only the upper side of its body visible, it looked almost human. A male torso, defined by lean muscle and glistening skin. Yet eyes as wild and wondrous as the sea itself, a face carved by the gods, perhaps. A perfect trap to lure prey into its clutches.
“You are not dead,” the siren said with a melodic, male voice. “You were attacked. You bled. But clearly, you are alive.”
Mingi narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
Something shifted in the siren’s gaze. “I could taste in on your lips, in your blood.” He swam closer to the shore, then bared his teeth, the last word almost a hiss. “You’re a thief.”
Mingi’s blood ran cold at the word. He reached into his coat without thinking, thoughts circling around his secret treasure. Only that his pocket was empty.
The siren vanished beneath the water’s surface with a splash, only to return a second later, leaning with his upper body onto a rock while a hint of his tail was visible beneath the dark waves. In his hand he held the very thing Mingi was missing.
The medallion was just as stunning as the day Mingi had found it. When he had ripped it from the sea monster’s evil clutches, had earned it by killing that atrocity. A string of silver with a glistening pendant in the shape of a tear. It changed color with the passing day, with the angles the light hit it. Right then, in the siren’s gleaming palm, it held the same color as the stars above.
“Are you looking for something?” The siren asked, an edge to his voice.
Mingi fought the urge to throw himself at the creature and reclaim what was his. It was calling to him then, reminding him so much of what he’d lost already. “I found it. It’s mine.”
The siren laughed – a soft sound that spilled onto the shore, unfurling like seafoam. “You humans are so arrogant, thinking everything and everyone belongs to you first.” He closed his hand around the medallion in a fist. “I should kill you right now.”
Mingi’s eyes lingered for a moment. His mind settled on the images of the storm, of his fall, of the creature’s cold kiss and beautiful song. His mouth kicked up into a bitter smile. “But ye can’t.”
The siren’s face fell, his jaw hardened. He slipped back into the water and for a moment, Mingi thought he was gone. Lost to the waves like a feverish dream. But the sharp pain in his leg returned only a second later. The beautiful face with the wondrous eyes appeared in front of him, twisted into a mask of vicious resentment. Fangs caught the moonlight just like the silver gleaming skin; his hands shifted into sharpened claws as he dug them into Mingi’s leg, eliciting a choked scream from the ship-wrecked pirate.
Mingi’s vision filled with blotches of grey and black as he tried to breathe through the pain. His body was pressed into the wet sand, hot blood trickling through his already drenched clothing. The creature was heavy on top of him, cool skin pressing against his own, a firm grip closing around his throat as the sharp tips of its claws punctured his skin.
“How does it feel?” The siren seethed, lowering his lips over Mingi’s again. “To pull the sea’s wrath on you for stealing what was never yours? You filthy pirates never learn. Your hearts are sick with greed.”
Mingi felt the lack of air burn in his lungs once more. But the medallion was close and he could hear it whispering to him, telling him of all the things that could be.
The creature’s face was hovering above his own and he couldn’t help but smile again. He raised his head, pressing against the siren’s touch, feeling the claws bury deeper into his skin. His hand reached beneath his belt, heart hammering against his chest as he felt the familiar hilt of his favorite dagger – the one his captain had gifted to him. Then, he forced the blade straight up, into the creature’s chest.
The siren gasped in surprise and the second of hesitation was enough for Mingi to gain the upper hand. The rush of adrenaline spiraling through his veins was enough to overcome his pain. He pinned the creature beneath him, chest heaving as his lungs filled with salty air again.
To his surprise, the siren wasn’t struggling. He wasn’t trying to break free or hurt him anymore; he was simply staring up at Mingi with the ocean’s endless secrets buried in his sea foam gaze. Mingi’s necklaces dangled from his chest, swaying dangerously close to the siren’s body. Like a metronome or a ticking clock, biding its time.
“Yer calling us greedy? When yer the ones who deceive and kill for fun.” Mingi’s voice was as fragile as his recovering breath. He took the medallion from the siren’s hand, ignoring the tingling sensation the cool skin left on his.
He was fully in control, his fingers still closed around the dagger’s hilt which lay buried in the creature’s chest.
“That medallion you claim so arrogantly,” the siren said, his voice hoarse but strangely calm, his eyes studying Mingi as if seeing him for the first time, “contains a siren song. It belongs to me. I hid it on that island you ransacked. As long as you have it in your possession, you’re right, my kind cannot kill you with their song.”
A siren song?
Mingi remembered his captain talk about it before – one of many legends out at sea. A siren’s power solidified in a solid object. A tear shed by the ocean for one of her children.
The siren beneath him reached for Mingi’s dangling necklaces to pull him closer. The pirate gasped at the movement, finding his lips dangerously close to the creature once again.
“If you kill me,” the siren said, “you will never be able to return to your crew. You will die out here, rotting away as you clutch your precious treasure.”
Mingi felt dizzy as the siren’s breath hit his lips; he wondered how much power the creature still held over him even without the medallion.
“Fine.”
The siren let go of Mingi’s necklace just as Mingi pulled the dagger from the creature’s chest. The blade was stained with blackish blue blood and as he moved it, moonlight caught it in a translucent sheen.
The siren’s body lay slack on the sand as more blood dripped from the wound. His eyes fluttered shut and his face contorted in pain and yet, he was beautiful. Mingi couldn’t deny it even then. Black hair framed the siren’s face like precise brush strokes, the curve of his lips as alluring as it was dangerous, and the sharp lines of his jaw, dipping lower where his bare body gleamed, painted by the ocean’s wet embrace. The iridescent scales on his tail changed color in the shifting moonlight, and slender fingers curled into the sand as if searching for his lost treasure.
Saltwater lapped at the black wound as a fresh wave broke on the shore; sea foam clouded the injury like makeshift bandages. And in a matter of seconds, the stab wound had vanished and the siren flicked his tail, submerged in the water once more.
“What now?” Mingi asked as the siren surfaced, water dripping from sharp features, moonlight caught in his gaze. “Will you take me back to my ship?”
A smile – sly and unassuming, grateful perhaps. “If you promise to return what you stole.”
Mingi’s fingers closed around his secret. He felt his heart sink at the thought of parting from it but he knew he needed to strike this deal in order to return to his crew.
“We have a deal, trickster.”
The siren’s brows furrowed for a second as if irritated at the expression. Then, the corner of his mouth twitched into the hint of a smile. “My name is Seonghwa. I prefer to be addressed by it instead of beingcalled insulting nicknames.”
“’s that so?” Mingi crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Weren’t ye the one who called me filthy first?”
“It’s not an insult if it is true.” Seonghwa cocked his head. “Pirates are filthy. Men are, for that matter.”
“And yet yer couldn’t help but kiss me.”
“It’s not ...” The siren frowned as if not quite understanding what Mingi was implying. “It wasn’t a kiss. I was merely hunting for my next meal.”
Goosebumps rippled across Mingi’s skin at the words. Yet, he couldn’t help but grin and shake his head at the absurdity of it all. “If that’s how ye hunt, do I want to know what it’s like when ye actually try to seduce someone?”
Seonghwa was looking at him for a moment, picking him apart with those strange eyes of his. Tides and clouds and open skies. It was hard to breathe when they were set on him like this. Eventually, he smiled again – lips curving subtly as if telling a secret with the movement alone. “I assure you, you will know the difference.”
Mingi felt hot all of a sudden but he ignored it. He held Seonghwa’s gaze as if his life depended on it. “Well, Seonghwa, we have a deal. Ye take me back to my crew and I’ll return the siren song to you.”
“Good.”
When Mingi didn’t move, the siren chuckled softly – a pretty sound, like a splash of waves. “You have to get into the water at some point.”
Mingi narrowed his eyes at him. “Ye want me to swim?”
“How else am I going to return you to that ship? I cannot fly if that is what you’re implying.”
Mingi scoffed. “Funny, are ye?”
Seonghwa tilted his head as if to contemplate the question. “Merely telling the truth.” He swam a little further out as if to give Mingi space. “Come on, sailor. You’re not scared, are you?”
That hit the spot. Ego hurt, Mingi tried to get up from the beach but a fresh wave of pain soared through his injured leg and sent him back down. He cursed under his breath and when he looked up, Seonghwawas in front of him again.
“It’s okay,” he soothed softly as he lowered his head. “I won’t hurt you.”
Mingi felt his body tense as he felt the siren’s fingers brush over his wound. Water dripped onto his leg in cold drops, numbing the sharp ache almost instantly. The pain wasn’t gone but it was less somehow and Mingi found himself able to carefully move again.
When Seonghwa raised his gaze at him, he wiped at his cheeks and eyes and Mingi realized that he’d just seen one of those infamous siren tears. Like the one in his pocket – solid and everlasting, a crystalizedwonder.
“I cannot heal you like the ocean heals me, but I took some of your pain.” Seonghwa’s eyes held an unreadable expression. They were picking apart again, digging all the way until they made Mingi's skin tingle.“You should be able to walk. Or swim, for that matter.”
Mingi followed the siren into the ocean until his lower body was fully submerged. The water wasn’t cold but something made him shiver nevertheless.
“Why did ye stay?” He asked, surprising himself.
Puzzlement flooded Seonghwa’s features, a fresh wave of uncertainty. “What do you mean?”
“Ye could’ve left me here. Ye could’ve taken the medallion and let me drown. Why did you stay with me until I woke up?”
The siren’s lips twisted. “That would have been the wiser choice indeed. I have encountered many pirates like you. Hungry for gold and nothing else. No regard for nature’s rule.”
Mingi’s mouth twitched with amusement at the insults. “Then why didn’t ye leave me to die? Or do ye enjoy watching yer victims suffer before they meet their end?”
Their eyes met and for a moment, Mingi felt utterly seen. His broken heart, his many scars, his well-hidden secrets.
“Is that how the stories about my kind have changed by now?” Seonghwa frowned. “There is always more to tell. Always more to lie about.”
He brought a hand to Mingi’s chin to lift it slightly, regarding his face as if there was something beneath it he couldn’t quite grasp. A slender finger brushed across the pirate’s cheek, down to the corner of his mouth; his heart ached at the sensation and a fresh wave of goosebumps rippled across his arms and neck. Then, the siren removed his hand as if realizing what he was doing.
He shook his head softly. “Perhaps I was wrong about you.” His gaze – hungry, the sea’s vast greens and blues combined in a single stare – dragged back to Mingi’s eyes. “Perhaps you’re just a thief and a killer, like the rest of them.”
Strangely, Mingi felt the need to protest. That accusation seeped somewhere into his mind, settling and turning sour. Then again, that was exactly what he was, wasn’t it?
Before he could answer, Seonghwa’s head turned towards the ocean. His body tensed and his whole demeanor shifted, and when he looked back at Mingi his frown had deepened. “They’re coming.”
“Who–”
But the siren was already pulling him deeper into the water, hand closing around Mingi’s wrist. “If they see you, you will die today. They almost caught you once.” His eyes were searching Mingi’s face with hesitation. “You have to let me mark you as mine.”
Mingi stared back at him; the water was reaching up to his neck now and he could see something move among the waves behind them. “Do ye think I’m that stupid? I’m not gonna fall for–”
“You’re out of options, sailor,” Seonghwa hissed, glancing over his shoulder and back at Mingi. “They are my kind. Sirens, hungry for lost souls like you. You might be immune to their song thanks to my medallion but their voice is not the only thing that can kill. You are one against many. I cannot protect you if you choose to fight. I could barely drag you back to shore when they attacked you underwater.”
The attack underwater – a pull on Mingi’s leg as something had dragged him into the depths. Did Seonghwa save him? No that couldn’t be right ...
Mingi’s eyes searched the waves. He could see fish-like tails dip in and out of the water; he could hear their whispering already, drawing closer. His heartbeat picked up its pace again, fingers closing around the secret in his pocket. With his leg still hurt, he couldn’t take more than one of them at once.
“Son of a bitch,” he cursed, glaring at Seonghwa. “You ...”
“They will not touch you once you’re marked. And I cannot kill you, you saw that part for yourself.” The siren tugged at his wrist, impatient. “Mingi.”
Mingi’s heart trembled in his chest at the sound of his name lost to the waves. He had not shared his name before. His lips parted, shock ebbing.
The first siren broke through the surface, skin gleaming in the moonlight, long hair cascading in waves over her shoulder. A second emerged, then a third and a fourth.
“What do we have here?” One of them asked, voice dripping like honey. Mingi felt himself tense, felt his body react to the thick melody that hung in the air around them.
“He’s mine,” Seonghwa said, swimming closer, looping an arm around Mingi’s waist beneath the water’s surface. “I told you before.”
Mingi’s breath hitched at the sensation, and he willed himself to look away, but the whispers in the air grew heavier. Although he was gripping the medallion in his palm, he felt himself wanting to move closer to the stunning creatures lingering among the moonlit tides.
“I don’t see a mark,” one of the female sirens said. She smiled at Mingi and he felt lightheaded. “He might as well choose for himself. Will you, pretty boy?”
Heat rushed to Mingi’s cheeks as he felt need curl in his stomach. Something was urging him to give in, just for a while, just for a kiss perhaps.
“No.” Seonghwa’s voice cut like ice through Mingi’s haze. He felt a familiar, cool sensation tingle on his face as Seonghwa turned his head back to him. His gaze, unlike his words, was an infinite stretch of gentleness, caressing Mingi’s cheeks, dipping lower, all the way to his mouth. “You belong with me, don’t you?” The siren leaned in and Mingi’s chest was aching for that kiss, for any kind of closeness, any spark of attention he would be granted from this ethereal being that held him of all people in his arms like a precious treasure. “Tell them you’re mine, Mingi.”
The last sentence was barely a whisper, meant for Mingi alone as Seonghwa’s lips brushed his ear, cool breath sending shivers down his spine.
“I’m yours.”
The words fell from his lips before he could think about them. Shells returning to the sea, saltwater painting the shore with sea foam. They felt irretrievable. They felt wonderful. They felt as if his heart was finally whole again, after all this time.
What followed was a haze of imagery. The luring whispers of the other creatures stopped as soon as Seonghwa’s lips met the hollow curve of Mingi’s neck. At first, it was a kiss – a brush of lips on skin, a welcome refuge from whatever spell the other sirens were trying to cast on him. However, Mingi felt himself grow restless beneath Seonghwa’s mouth. His blood rushed hotly to his face before it claimed the rest of his body, leaving burning need in its wake.
The siren’s grip on him tightened as he pulled him underwater, as one of his hands settled on Mingi’s cheek and Mingi found himself losing control of his movements. His head lolled to the side, giving Seonghwa better access to his neck; his breaths turned into bursting air bubbles as he sank deeper into the ocean.
The kiss had turned savage, then. Mingi felt a sharp pain travel all the way to his core as Seongwha’s fangs pierced his skin. His tongue soothed the injury and his lips lingered as if not quite finished yet.
When he finally pulled away, looking at Mingi through the dark depths of the sea, his mouth was stained red, the water between them carrying plumes of crimson out into the open.
Mingi’s vision was blurry at first but after blinking a few times, he felt grounded once more. Seonghwa was smiling at him as he noticed Mingi’s stare. Then, he reached out to take the pirate’s face in his hands. He leaned in and Mingi’s eyes fluttered shut as he waited for another kiss – a real kiss, this time.
Instead, he heard the siren’s voice in his head. “It’s done. Take a breath.”
Mingi’s lungs were starting to ache with a lack of air and when he opened his eyes, he dared to inhale, realizing he wasn’t choking on saltwater but able to breathe instead. Underwater.
“What happened?” Mingi asked as Seonghwa’s hands left his face and he started to focus on his surroundings. They were submerged in darkness – no beach in sight, no hint of the other sirens either.
When Seonghwa answered him, Mingi realized that they were conversing in his mind only. “You’re marked. Which means they cannot claim you as their prey.”
Mingi’s hand shifted to his neck, to where that kiss still burned on his skin. Yet when he retrieved his fingers, expecting to see blood, he found them empty of such evidence. “Ye ... bit me?”
“I had to leave my mark on you for others to see.” Seonghwa swam closer, brushing two fingers across the spot on Mingi’s neck, sending a fresh wave of that same desire right through him. “Don’t worry. It’ll be a small scar. I bet you have many of those already.”
Mingi’s cheeks were still flushed as he met the siren’s gaze. “I thought I’m immune to yer ... seductions.”
Seonghwa’s lips twitched. “The mark can evoke certain desires within a human.” He tilted his head slightly, curiosity lingering in those bottomless eyes. “I assume it was enjoyable on your end?”
Mingi held his gaze for a moment, trying to grasp what he felt. It had been enjoyable alright. Even now, Seonghwa seemed different to him. Intriguing, beautiful – no question, but tempting, too. He found himself wondering what it would feel like to kiss a siren.
How foolish. His captain would smack him all the way across the seven seas if he knew Mingi was entertaining a thought like that.
I assure you, you will know the difference.
Mingi watched Seonghwa’s lips turn into a smile. Then, he realized he had been staring at the siren’s lips that whole time. His gaze snapped back to those sea-stained eyes. “Why did the medallion not work?”
“It works just fine,” Seonghwa said. “You are alive, are you not?”
“But I ...” Want you all of a sudden. No, Mingi could not finish that sentence. “Yer telling me that was still not ye trying to seduce me?”
A melodic chuckle traveled through their wordless connection. “You ask strange questions, pirate.”
Pirate
“Ye knew my name too,” Mingi suddenly recalled. “Earlier when ye were telling me to agree to the mark. How did ye know?”
“I told you, I tasted many things on your lips. Your name was one of them.”
“And we can talk like this”– Mingi gestured between them– “because of yer mark on me?”
Seonghwa swam closer, tail swaying playfully as he circled Mingi in an elegant movement. “You let me in, that’s why we are linked. Until we reach your ship, you can move in the water like I can. And we can speak like this.” He tapped a finger against his temple, then reached for Mingi’s wrist once more. “Are you ready?”
“For what?”
“To return to your crew. To uphold your part of the bargain.”
Mingi’s gaze lingered on their touching skin as he let the siren guide him through the dark depths ahead. Strangely, he wasn’t scared. He’d never been afraid of the ocean but he had respected it and its lurking dangers. Being one with it, however, becoming part of its movements, of its vastness, felt oddly freeing. He took a breath and salt seemed to seep into his bones, his heart afloat in his chest.
“How do ye know where to go?” He asked Seonghwa.
“You know something about intuition, I suppose? As an adventurer who chose this very life you lead.” The siren’s tail was a stunning array of iridescence; scales shimmering despite the lack of light all around; a beacon in the sea of night. When he looked back at Mingi, he was one with the darkness, eyes filled with treacherous secrets. Like this, he looked like a lingering threat, deadly.
When Mingi nodded at him, he smiled, fangs flashing for a moment as the bite on Mingi’s neck started to warm again. “The ocean tells me what I need to know. Your ship is not far.”
~
When they broke through the surface, Mingi felt like waking up from a dream. The sun lingered on the horizon as the early morning hours started to take on the day ahead. The sky was a canvas of soft purple and pink, turning the ocean into a glittering painting. It would be a cloudless day, Mingi could feel it in his bones – the storm had passed, the sea was ready for another adventure.
“Right there.” Seonghwa pointed further out to a small island where a ship lay at anchor on its shore. Mingi could recognize that craftsmanship anywhere. His heart leapt at the thought of reuniting with his crew.
“They are certain you will return to them,” the siren said. Mingi could feel his gaze in the corner of his eye, studying him.
“We always find our way back to that ship.” Mingi couldn’t help but smile. “It’s home.”
“Home?”
The pirate turned to find Seonghwa’s expression filled with puzzlement again. He nodded. “My family.”
The siren’s face remained unfazed but something in his gaze shifted. The ocean’s play of color and light reflected in his eyes and Mingi wondered – only for a moment – whether the stories he had heard about those sea monsters were in fact just that: stories.
“I guess this is goodbye. Will you uphold your end of the bargain, sailor?”
Mingi’s jaw tensed at the thought of parting from his treasure. His hand slid into his pocket, closing around the pendant. His heart ached with loss once more and just as he was about to retrieve it, he heard a familiar voice call out his name.
“Mingi!” A second time, more euphoric. Mingi raised a hand to wave at the ship in the distance, unsure whether they could truly spot him. “It is him alright! He’s alive! Captain! Oi, Captain!”
Mingi’s heart felt full at the sound of his friend’s voice. No need for anything but that. My family. My crew.
The siren’s tear caught the light of the rising sun as Mingi offered it to Seonghwa. As the siren’s fingers brushed his skin, he felt restless once more. The kiss on his neck burned harshly and he relished the feeling of it without allowing himself what it meant.
“Thank you.” Seonghwa smiled at him in a shade of subtle sadness.
Once the treasure left his possession, Mingi felt dizziness set in. Whispers travelled among the waves, urging him to stay for a while longer. He longed for the depths of the ocean again, for its vastness and its many temptations.
Despite his wish to return to his crew, his body moved towards Seonghwa instead. The siren looked at him in a shade of grief that Mingi had never seen before. He was beautiful, painfully so. His skin dipped in golden sunlight, his hair framing his face in whisps of wondrous black, and his eyes green and blue alike, ever-changing like sea glass among the moving tides.
Mingi only realized he was leaning in for a kiss as Seonghwa stopped him, a slender hand splayed on Mingi’s chest, right where his heart was beating only for him.
You can take it, the pirate wanted to tell him. You can use me as you like. I’m yours, remember?
“You’re not immune to the song anymore,” Seongwha said, his voice a melodic tone that reverberated deep in Mingi’s bones. “But as long as you wear my mark, no other siren can touch you.”
“Stay.” The word was lost to the waves. Mingi could hear the voices of his crew in the distance, calling out for him. “What if I don’t want to be saved?”
Seonghwa’s hand shifted from the pirate’s chest to his cheek. He leaned in, ever so slightly, and his cool breath hit Mingi’s lips in an aching promise. “I’m sorry about this.” His fingers travelled lower, to the hollow of Mingi’s neck, where the mark was tingling vividly. “I didn’t mean to step in where fate had already intervened.”
“I see him! He’s ...” But the sentence was buried by a fresh splash of water.
“Perhaps we will meet again.” With those words, Seonghwa retrieved his hand and returned to the sea. In the blink of an eye, he was gone. Like a dream, a trick of the light and the mind.
Mingi gasped as the haze lifted, as his thoughts fell back under his control. Instinctively, he brought a hand to his neck, chasing the sensation of whatever was still lingering in his blood.
He couldn’t hear the whispers anymore, couldn’t feel the song dragging him under, urging him to drown and offer up his heart. And yet, he inhaled and took a dive, water flooding his senses as he tried to see where the siren had swum off to.
His heart was thundering in his chest. Every beat a question to the open sea.
Come back, he tried in his mind. There’s something I need to ...
A harsh grip closed around his jacket, yanking him upward. He broke through the surface with a gasp, staring into the faces of Hongjoong, San and Wooyoung.
“Son of a bitch, yer not drowning now that we just got ye back!”
Mingi coughed as he landed on the hard surface of the small boat, water dripping from his hair and clothes, the pain returning to his injured leg. He rolled onto his back, closing his eyes against the sunlight.
“What happened?” Three heads were entering his field of vision, staring down at him. “There was someone with ye, wasn’t there?”
“Aye.”
“How did ye find us?” Wooyoung asked. “We got blown so far off course we never thought we’d find the spot where we lost ye. Blimey ...” He shook his head. “Glad yer alive, matey.”
“I thought I saw something in the water before,” San said, scanning the waves as if to look for proof of his assumption.
The captain helped him sit up, regarding him with that concerned yet sharp gaze of his. “Let’s get him back to the ship first.” He patted Mingi’s shoulder. “Glad to have ye back.”
“Sea’s a cruel mistress indeed,” Mingi said hoarsely, grinning up at his Captain. “She’ll try to take us, but she won’t get us.”
Hongjoong tightened his grip on Mingi’s shoulder. I got you. I would’ve searched the seven seas for you if I had to. His gold tooth showing as he offered a grin in return. “Aye!”