Chapter Text
The aquarium is brimming with life every weekend. Visitors will walk through the gate from the moment the ticket booth opens, their faces were bright with joy and eagerness to see the marine life up close. Even though the aquarium is not as popular and big as those in the city, it still got a steady number of regular or even new visitors from time to time. Many of them are children who were born and raised down the street from the aquarium, where a small town nestled peacefully among the big reefs and white sand beach.
Ideally, Seonghwa knows that weekend should be the worst day of work because more visitors equal more jobs for the small team that runs the whole place. But, on the contrary, he loves working on the weekend more than on a weekday. He likes to see familiar faces and new faces around the aquarium. Especially those of the children who run around the place with high pitch squeals and sparkling doe eyes looking at everything with wonder.
“Hyung, have you had your lunch yet?” Seonghwa turns slightly to see one of his co-workers walking closer with a bento box in hand. He shakes his head no as the answer.
“Nah, I need to head over to the otter exhibit soon. Dami had to go home early to take care of her sick mother,” His co-worker plops down on the seat across from him, hands eagerly unwrapping the bento even when his eyes are still on the older one.
“So… you’re going to skip lunch… again,” Seonghwa resolutely looks away from the younger one, knowing that he’ll be looking at him in disappointment. “Hyung… how can you take such good care of the animals when you fail to take care of yourself is beyond me,” He shakes his head a little then finally look down at his meal, beaming at the delicious meal his significant other had prepared for him.
Seonghwa takes a peek at his lunch box which is filled with clearly homemade dishes that are arranged a little lopsidedly. Albeit a little poorly plated, he still can see the love and dedication from the chef. “I didn’t know Mingi can cook,”
“He’s been practising his cooking skill after watching that ridiculous anime show about cooking contests. He even ropes Jongho to watch with him for hours,” Yunho tilts his lunch to Seonghwa, silently asking if he wants some, but Seonghwa only shakes his head. “It’s edible now at least… you should see his first creation.” Yunho shudders “I didn’t know rice can turn back into its original state after being cooked. Hell, I didn’t even know someone could mess up the rice so bad until Mingi,”
Seonghwa grimaces just thinking about it. “That bad? And you still let him cook after?” Yunho nods solemnly.
“Had Jongho to supervise him when he cooks, still until this day. Can’t believe a giant grown-ass man like him is being supervised by a 6-year-old boy no taller than his waist,” The taller picks a big chunk of rice into his mouth, followed by a piece of beef. Chewing thoughtfully as he tries to remember Mingi’s culinary disaster instances. "One time he almost put salt into pancake batter, luckily Jongho was there to tell him or we’ll be eating a salty pancake for breakfast,”
“Jongho is a good kid,”
“He truly is the best boy we could ever ask for,” Yunho smiles fondly into his food, before continuing to eat his meal.
Seonghwa also smiles with him, but he is a little sad. Hearing the younger sharing stories about his little family sparks the longing feeling in his chest, the same one he gets whenever he sees family spending time together at the aquarium. Before he could dwell on the feeling any longer, the older one chose to push it aside again and get back to work.
“I should probably head now, need to prep food for the otter first,” He bids the taller one a quick ‘see ya later’ and then went on his way.
Ever since that accident 3 years ago, Seonghwa hasn’t been the same. He is still the kind, friendly and charming guy everyone met when he first came to the seaside town. He is still the kind of guy that will go out of his way to help everyone. His friends tell him that now he works too much, never taking proper rest or eating much. They were concerned, and for a good reason since Seonghwa was known for his big appetite that could rival 3 grown men. Now, nobody had seen him eating or sitting for longer than 15 minutes during his shift.
Seonghwa himself know that what he does is unhealthy. But he can’t afford to rest, even just a moment. He needs to keep moving and keep his mind and body busy with tasks. There’s no time to rest or else his mind will wander, far into the past. To that single moment in life where everything still seemed perfect, where his happiness was a second away before fate took it from him.
The rest of his shift went on as usual, with a couple more tasks that aren’t assigned to him but still, he offers help anyway. Anything to keep his mind and hand busy throughout the day. If allowed, he even will take night watch too. But sadly, His boss firmly denies him.
So when his shift is over, Seonghwa head to his locker with heavy steps, dreading the lonely trek back home to his humble abode down the beach. How he wishes he had bought a house in the town rather than the only house by the seashore. Although the view had been pretty, he has been singled out from the other folks. If he bought the house in town, he wouldn’t have to walk alone every night.
“Heya, Hyung!” Yunho suddenly appears beside him with his own bag as he is walking down the now empty hallway.
“Yo,” He nods to the younger one with a small smile. After all, it’s hard not to smile at the resident puppy of their team. The taller boy just radiates so much joy, much like his partner. When in shift together, the duo could light up the place with ease. Even the children will flock to the exhibit they’re in because they thought it’s funny to see giants interact with sea animals.
“Jongho been wanting to eat hotpot for a while, do you want to join us for dinner?” The taller glance at him from the side, hopeful that his older friend will take on his offer this time. Every night, Yunho or Mingi always invite him for dinner together, and each time they were rejected. The same goes for their other co-workers that are close to Seonghwa, and even the boss can’t get through the black-haired male. That doesn’t mean any of them will stop trying tough since Seonghwa is a dear friend to them. A friend that clearly needs help but refuses it.
“I can’t tonight, Yunho-ya. I’m sorry,” Another failed attempt as it seems.
Seonghwa looks apologetically at his friend, feeling guilty for yet turning down another dinner invitation for the nth time. He doesn’t want to intrude on their family time, and also doesn’t want to be reminded of another piece of his past. Yunho nods in understanding.
“It’s okay Hyung, take your time,”
When they exited the building, two figures greet them beside a green Leyland mini car, the smaller one perches on the shoulder of the other. The dimly lit lamppost makes their figure look like a scary tall creature with 4 arms.
“APPAAAA,”/ “YUN-AAAA,”
“MUYAHOOOOO,” Yunho shouts back at the duo while Seonghwa chuckles at the family antic. The Song-Jeong family are truly something else.
Seonghwa greets Mingi with a brief hug and a pat on the head for little Jongho before they part ways. He stands on the side road to watch the green car drive away into the town with a small smile. Deep down, he is glad to see them right now as a happy family. He remembers the first time the little family moved into town, Jongho was barely able to walk back then. They were so cautious and closed off then, afraid of being harassed again for being a gay couple with a child. But here, no one cares about that. As long as you have manners and treat others with kindness, then that’s all that matters.
After the car is no longer seen from where he stood, Seonghwa turns his back toward the nightlife of the town. Leaving behind the bright, yellowish lights of the buildings in favour of the empty beach lit only by the moon’s pale light.
The wind is icy cold as usual. Seonghwa can feel his face slowly going numb from where the wind caresses his face without the protection of his hair. His hands tighten the long coat he wears, trying to stave off the cold as much as they can. Quietly, he scolds himself for forgetting to wear his padded jacket this morning despite knowing how cold it will be at night. Luckily, he didn’t forget to wear the thickest boots he had. At least he won’t have to deal with frozen toes at home unlike two nights ago.
Bored, Seonghwa looks around him in his strolls. The sea has always been his comfort place for as long as he could remember. Just standing by the shore, inhaling the salty but refreshing scent of the ocean could calm his racing thought, especially at night. There is something about the empty beach bathed in silverfish moonlight, the sparkling dark sea that seems to stretch for eternity, the noise of waves crashing against the rocks and crisp air that ease his mind. But sometimes, when his thoughts are jumbled beyond comprehension, not even going for a swim in the freezing water could help him. He is just glad that tonight isn’t that night.
Just a few meters again and he will arrive safely at his home. A small, lovely house painted cream and pale yellow like the slice of lemon in a lemonade. The home that no longer feels like one anymore.
Seonghwa is about to hasten his step when something catches his attention. He squints his eyes as slowly he makes his way towards that thing, a dark lump on the shore that looks more like a big fish has been washed ashore. Secretly he prays for the thing to be driftwood, and not some poor animals that stray away from home.
The closer he gets, the clearer what is the thing laid limply on the wet sand. However, is not an animal that he found, nor that is driftwood.
The black hair widens his eyes when he sees that it is a man unconscious. He doesn’t care anymore about frozen toes as he braves the freezing sea to drag the man away. His body is so cold to the touch that has Seonghwa gritting his teeth from the painful sensation on his skin. For a slender figure like him, the man is very heavy too. It took Seonghwa’s remaining strength and a lot of time before he is finally safe on the beach.
Seonghwa quickly scans him for any injuries, he found lots of them. The pale, slender body is full of purple bruises and cuts that are fortunately shallow enough to not warrant any stitches, except for the gashes on his upper left arm and the right side of his temple. There are also cuts on his neck, three clean slits on each side of his neck. This confuses him, as to why there’s no blood or sign of the skin being cut open, it also doesn’t look bad.. maybe it’s just a scar.
When he is done examining the upper body of the stranger, Seonghwa turns to assess his legs… except there is no legs insight.
He can feel his heart stop beating for a moment as cold fingers of fear wrap around him. Instead of legs, Seonghwa finds something that he thought only exist in fairytales, something that shouldn’t be real. Even after roughly rubbing his eyes, it does disappear. He couldn’t believe his eyes.
The stranger has a tail… a very long and scaly fishtail.