{ chapter twelve

Being home alone for over a day isn’t something Jongin is used to, nor something he looks forward to. It’s not often he’s left to his own devices at home, but due to their distance from the city, work will occasionally call for unfortunate circumstances, and his parents will be forced to stay away from home.

However, for once, Jongin is forced to suppress his excitement when his parents announce they’ll be leaving Jongin for ten days on a business trip to another city. All Jongin can hear in translation is “more time with Kyungsoo”, and he struggles not to smile when his parents break the news.

“I’ll be fine,” Jongin says, feigning a hint of disappointment just to seem believable. “I’ll just invite my friends over to keep me company.”

“Speaking of which,” Jongin’s father says, “Sehun hasn’t visited in a while. Is he alright?”

Jongin braces his teeth in a false smile and stands up from the dining table, taking his empty breakfast dishes into the kitchen. “Everything’s fine. I might call him once I get down to the beach.”

“Be safe down there!” his mother calls, watching him grab his towel and run out the front, but the door slams behind him before she can finish speaking.

* * *

Jongin only realises how much his swimming has improved when he reaches Kyungsoo’s rocky hideout at record speed, his enthrallment propelling him forward, the salty water streaming through his grinning teeth. A whole ten days of Kyungsoo, Kyungsoo, Kyungsoo, from dawn to dusk with no time restraints to ruin the moments – Jongin can’t wait to tell him the good news.

Except that Kyungsoo isn’t there.

Jongin circles their normal area multiple times and zigzags through the rocks they don’t normally sit by, and his smile finally begins to falter when he realises how odd it is for Kyungsoo to be situated somewhere that Jongin struggles to locate.

He calls the prince’s name softly, once, twice, and finally slows down in confusion at the silent response.

Kyungsoo isn’t here.

Jongin doesn’t know how to find the valley of coral they visited before, and he’s sure Kyungsoo wouldn’t expect him to track it down himself. Either Kyungsoo is caught up in family business, or he wants to be alone. And he hadn’t mentioned any family events he needed to attend.

Jongin doesn’t understand why Kyungsoo would need to be alone, because he doesn’t isolate himself when he’s upset. In fact, he does the opposite – he’s clingier when he’s upset, he directly seeks out Jongin’s affection.

He specifically recalls Kyungsoo’s words from when they met up the day before – “we’ll meet up tomorrow, right?” He’s sure he hadn’t missed Kyungsoo mentioning anything out-of-the-ordinary in his rush to confront Taemin about their quarrel.

Jongin slumps against a rock, stumped. A part of him feels compelled to visit the palace and see if anything suspicious is happening, but he settles on waiting at their normal spot to see if Kyungsoo is just late. But hours pass and Jongin grows restless, and he finally decides the prince isn’t coming. He’s afraid there won’t be time to visit the central province and return home before nightfall, so Jongin swims up to the Surface and returns home, mood dampened and heart heavy.

Jongin can’t tell whether the sinking feeling in his stomach is intuition or anxiety, but he brushes it off nonetheless, convincing himself he’ll see Kyungsoo tomorrow.

* * *

The cloud coverage is thick and dense and promising rain the next morning. Jongin hugs his arms and rubs away the chills the crisp morning air brings, watching his parents pack their suitcases into the car. He waves a reluctant hand to farewell them as they drive off, and trudges back into the house the moment the car disappears.

The air is cool and Jongin knows the water will be cooler, but thinking about Kyungsoo is enough to force him into his swimming trunks and down to the beach.

His hair twirls in the wind and sand dances at his ankles. The beach is empty and the waves are rough – a storm is approaching, and by the looks of it, it’s approaching fast. Jongin can only hope the dark clouds will have passed by nightfall.

Taemin isn’t at the rock shelves, but Jongin didn’t expect him to be – after all, the tension between them is still high, and he’s barely been forgiven. Nonetheless, Jongin can’t help his disappointment, feeling lonely and slightly apprehensive. He doesn’t want to enter the Sea alone for once, and he can’t explain why, but concludes in his mind that it’s just the weather affecting his mood.

Jongin jumps into the cold water, but comes up immediately, gasping for breath and spluttering. The Sea is icy cold, and its barrier was not broken.

He hasn’t had trouble entering the Sea since his first time going under.

Determined, Jongin swims himself out further and dives in deep, shutting his eyes to connect with the Sea, but despite feeling disconnected with the Surface, the water only pierces his lungs and causes him to flail in a panic, desperate for air. He tries again and again, the waves crashing over his head and the panic beginning to set in, but nothing works, and the Sea rejects him over and over again.

Frustrated, Jongin cries out to the turbulent waters, and he kicks himself up to float on his back, exhausted. The water washes over him and tries to force his slim frame down, but Jongin resists, knowing if he’s dunked he won’t be able to breathe.

He tries again, thinking of Kyungsoo and Taemin and the warmth of the Sea in his body and the water around him, but nothing seems to work – he can’t get in.

Finally defeated, Jongin swims back to the shore and collapses onto the rock shelves, breathing hard. More than anything Jongin wishes for Taemin’s bright face to appear from the water, to help him, to assure him it’s not his fault, but he knows Taemin won’t be coming.

The moment Jongin catches his breath and sits up to enter the water again, he hears thunder rumble in the distance, and groans, slumping on his back again.

His first day of being alone, finally being free, and he can’t even enter the Sea.

The rain begins to fall, drop by drop, progressing quickly as it showers onto the now dark and gloomy beach. Jongin collects his towel and curls up under the minimal protection of the cliff face, shielded by protruding overhead rocks. The cavern does enough justice to last him an hour, as he waits, hoping the weather won’t have reached Taemin and he’ll come up at some point – which he never does.

Despite the pouring rain, Jongin trudges home slowly and drearily. The saturation of rain in his clothes almost resembles the wetness of being in the Sea.

* * *

Three days pass. Jongin tries to enter the Sea every time he goes down to the beach – and every single time, he’s rejected.

The poor weather is incessant and the Sea no longer feels warm on Jongin’s skin. The waves seem to submerge him with a ferocity he isn’t familiar with – and worst of all, Taemin doesn’t show up, at all.

Four days into his parents’ business leave and Jongin finds himself fed up, wondering if he’s simply missing his friend, wondering if he’s doing something wrong. He fears the worst, and envisions terrible things happening to Taemin that’s resulting in both his friend’s absence and his inability to enter the Sea. He’s been at the beach since dawn, and despite the afternoon sun deflating and dropping towards the horizon, Taemin is nowhere to be seen.

Jongin’s umbrella slipped from his hands hours ago. He’s soaking wet and shivering, but barely notices just how cold he is, too consumed with distress for the safety of Taemin, for his ability to enter the Sea, for Kyungsoo.

What would Kyungsoo be thinking? What if he’s assumed Jongin has given up on their relationship because of his betrothal?

Jongin’s tears mingle with the raindrops dripping from his hair and running down his cheeks. He hasn’t held Kyungsoo in his arms, felt his kiss or heard his voice in days. The sound of the ocean has always been soothing for Jongin, but it’s nothing in comparison to the sound of Kyungsoo’s beautiful voice.

His shoulders tremble as sobs rack his body.

The hardest part is knowing that the loneliness would be bearable if Sehun was with him.

The waves smash noisily against the rocks below him and mask the sounds of foreign movement in the water.

“Jongin?”

He seizes up at the sound of someone else’s voice, and scrambles to the edge of the rock shelf, crying out when he sees Taemin’s face.

“Taemin!”

Jongin extends his arms to help Taemin up onto the rocks, but Taemin recoils, shaking his head.

“Jongin…”

Jongin widens his eyes, his arms frozen into place, and the relief from seeing his friend quickly turns to panic. The sadness in Taemin’s face tells him something is very, very wrong.

“Can you come down? In the water?” he says softly, his voice difficult to hear over the rain.

Jongin waits for a few moments, dumbfounded, before he slowly pushes himself off the rocks and into the cold, choppy waters. He trembles as the frigid temperature seeps the warmth from his skin.

“You’re drenched,” Taemin murmurs. “Are you cold?”

“Taemin, what’s wrong with me?” Jongin whispers, brushing off his concern instantly – somehow, he knows that Taemin is aware of what’s been happening to him. “Why can’t I enter the Sea?”

Taemin’s Adam’s apple bobs up and down as he swallows thickly, and his eyes moisten with tears. He shakes his head, unwilling to answer.

“Taemin, please. I’m scared. I need to see Kyungsoo again,” Jongin pleads. At the mention of Kyungsoo’s name, Taemin turns around, continuing to shake his head, clutching his hands so tight his knuckles whiten.

“I can’t. I can’t do this,” Taemin chokes. “I’m sorry, Jongin—”

“Please!” Jongin cries, grabbing onto Taemin and tugging him back. A rumble of thunder erupts from the clouds and both of them wince, despite it being barely audible over the loud patter of rain on the seawater.

“Please, Taemin, I have to see Kyungsoo. I have to see if he’s okay—”

“You’re not going to see Kyungsoo anymore!” Taemin yells. Jongin is taken aback, and he draws away, wordless.

“You can’t see him anymore,” Taemin says shakily. “I’m sorry, Jongin.”

He hides his face in his hands and turns away, and Jongin lunges at him, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him back. Jongin holds Taemin tightly against him, quaking with rage, tears building and slipping from his eyelashes.

“What have you done?” he hisses, one arm wrung tightly around Taemin’s neck, the other around his chest. Taemin grabs his arms and tries to pull them away, but Jongin’s strength is incredible now that he’s so overcome with emotion.

“Let—go—of me, Jongin—”

“What the hell did you do?” Jongin shouts.

“I didn’t do anything!” Taemin cries. “I tried to protect you, damn it, I did everything I could to stop this from happening! Let go of me, Jongin!”

The thunder rolls are louder than ever and the rain falls at an increasing speed, so quickly they feel like small pellets powerful enough to bruise. Jongin releases him, desperate for answers, and Taemin turns around to confront him.

“I’ll give you one last chance, Jongin,” Taemin warns. “If I tell you what’s happening, it’ll ruin you forever. You don’t have to hear it.”

“I need to see Kyungsoo,” Jongin growls.

Taemin shakes his head, knowing there’s no way Jongin will let him go without an explanation, and stares at the water, unable to meet his eyes.

“Someone found out.”

The rain cascades from the locks clinging to Jongin’s forehead down into his eyes, and he wipes a wet palm across his eyelids to halt the irritation. The pieces don’t fit together in his mind instantly.

“What?”

“Someone saw you!” Taemin screams.

His words echo against the rocks, but the loud thunder crackles overhead and masks his voice. Finally, the realisation hits, and Jongin blanches, colour seeping from his cheeks.

Somebody saw them.

Jongin’s mouth seizes up in pure horror, and all of his terrified questions bundle in his throat, unable to form on his tongue. Taemin forces his gaze to stay on the waves surrounding him, terrified of what Jongin’s face will show.

“Where is he?”

The sounds of the storm seem to have drained away, and Jongin suffocates in the silence between them. He can’t bear Taemin’s unresponsiveness – his heart is pounding, his head is spinning, and he needs answers.

“Taemin, what the hell is going on?” he shouts.

Finally, the Mer boy raises his head – and he looks devastated.

“You’ve disrupted the balance of the Sea,” he says. “It won’t accept you anymore because of what you’ve done.”

The words barely reach Jongin’s mind. “What about Kyungsoo?”

Taemin stares at him, his eyes pleading for him to take back the words. You’re going to regret this, he tries to say, but his mouth won’t move – he can only hope his face will convey the warning. He doesn’t want to reveal any more, but Jongin’s hard stare forces him to speak.

Immediately after Jongin hears the words, he wishes he’d never asked. He wishes he’d never come down to the beach at all.

“The King found out. Kyungsoo’s execution is tomorrow.”

✏ [ a/n ] HAHAHAHA IM SO SORRY Y'ALL PROBABLY HATE ME SO MUCH YOU DIDN'T REALISE HOW SHORT THIS CHAPTER IS. also @ me bae goojayhee no pressure or anything but u might have missed the last chapter (just assuming cuz u didnt comment) but if not then no worries bro just thought i should let u know ya know B)

word count: 1971