Chapter 7: The Little Mermaid

That day when The Little Mermaid died.

She was granted her only wish.

To have an eternal soul.

Jiyong was a lot like the Beast or perhaps even more like the Little Mermaid As if mute he couldn't speak about his feelings freely, trapped, enchanted. The witch gave him a pair of feet so he could stand on his own, yet every day was filled with unbearable pain because he could never be his true self without his beautiful voice, never. In the end he gave up his life for the loved ones so they could be happy without a single worry. But instead of turning into the foam of the sea, in exchange for his heavy sacrifice his only wish was granted. Eternal life, trough pain and happiness, the sun shining at the end of the tunnel. And he was alive again. The Little Mermaid never ended up with anyone but The Beast did. He tried his best and he was finally loved for who he was. Belle left but came back, exactly on time.

The Little Mermaid never died.

As yourself, what if the little Mermaid never died but had killed the prince and his lover on that stormy night? What would you think about love now? Would it even exist to you? Her death represents the beauty of those burning feelings we feel once in a while. This just proves that love lives on. Always and forever. Life is a never ending fairy tale. Someone will have to sacrifice and someone to accept the gift. No one can be as lucky but everyone has different preferences, different things make us happy. Trust in love, it will save you. Live on like you have no regrets.

Just scrub the magic lamp.

Merchant: [holds up lamp] Do not be fooled by its commonplace appearance. Like so many things, it is not what outside, but what is inside that counts. This is no ordinary lamp. It once changed the course of a young man's life. A young man, who, like this lamp, was more than what he seemed. A diamond in the rough.

- Disney: Aladdin

The plan was to change places for just a few days but on the last day Seung Hyun found out that Bom had been kidnapped and Sil Jang wasn't doing anything about it. He told about this to Jiyong and the plan was for Jiyong to distract Sil Jang while Seung Hyun would save the girl he loved so dearly. But. Not everything went like planned or should I say nothing went like planned, absolutely nothing.

Sil Jang had always disliked Seung Hyun, even since Bom had brought him home for dinner. Sil Jang had taken the boy to his office and told him not to get too excited, he could hang out with Bom until her groom was picked out and then quietly 'fuc.k off'. In the beginning Seung Hyun had no troubles agreeing because their "relationship" was experimental in the first place. Had he known he would have fallen for her so hard after all, maybe he would have done some things differently.

Pumbaa: What'd ya do, kid?
Young Simba: Something terrible. But I don't wanna talk about it.
Timon: Good. We don't wanna hear about it.

- Disney: The Lion King

The one who found Bom was Jiyong, it just happened that way. Because he was hanging around Sil Jang's house, ordered there to spy and report any news he could find out. He happened to overhear a discussion of two men who were coming out from the huge gate and found out Bom's whereabouts. He was supposed to call Seung Hyun but he didn't, feeling like this was maybe his only chance to prove his own worth. If he could save the girl his hyung loved so much maybe he would be finally able to forgive himself. Maybe. 

Of course, going to that cellar was like going on a battlefield unarmed simply to die. Jiyong didn't think about such things, he had no plan either, his pride and urge to prove whole world he wasn't a coward won over and he kicked that tall wall of boxes letting the others in that smoky little room know that he was there. If he happened to die then it would be a pity, that's all he thought. He was ready to fight for a girl he had met twice before and had no feelings for. Maybe the stupidest decision of his life.

He was beaten up so badly not even his mother would have been able to recognize him but nevertheless, he survived alive. The kidnappers had been beating him up until the cops arrived to the scene. Bom, knowing her father wouldn't even lift a finger to save her, had called her mother. Jiyong was taken to the hospital and treated. Arm, leg, nose and five broken ribs, missing teeth, dislocated jaw and huge loss of blood but what topped the list of injuries were his eyes, so damaged he'd never be able to see again and maybe his heart, which kept barely beating. Plastic surgery was something inevitable if he didn't want to continue living on as a monster but... there were no donors for the eyes and the heart.

“We can always make some.” 

Up until now everyone still thought it was Seung Hyun, even Bom who could tell right away who was who and had found out about the brother's secret on the day when she had first met Jiyong, immediately asking him where was Seung Hyun and what was this prince and pauper game about. Now she was in too much of a shock to realize and thought the patient in front of her was Seung Hyun, the love of her life. She begged her mother to save him but there were a few terms he had to agree upon before the operation could go on. Bom also didn't know that the donor would her step brother who got in a "car accident" on the same day. It was either him or no one. Bom's mother had a perfect plan in her head already.

Ursula: If you want to cross a bridge, my sweet

You've got to pay the toll

Take a gulp and take a breath and go ahead and sign the scroll!

Flotsam, Jetsam, now I've got her, boys

The boss is on a roll

This poor unfortunate soul!

- Disney: The Little Mermaid

Jiyong made a deal with the devil herself, gaining his life but loosing his freedom. From now on he would live for only one purpose, to be of a use to Bom's mother. The instructions were given out and someone lost his life because the Goddes herself needed a pair of eyes and a beating heart. It wasn't just random someone, it was Sil Jang's precious son, Choi Tae Hoo who's eyes and face were passed on to Jiyong. Everything was a part of a wicked plan, a revenge that went out of hands long ago already. Maybe Jiyong couldn't be made to look exactly like Tae Hoo but the resemblance was miraculous. After losing his important son, if Sil Jang met Jiyong, a boy who so much resembled the lost one, an empty gap in a devastated father's heart could be filled. There was no way Jiyong would fail.

Only later Bom finally realized her mistake. The selfish part of her was happy about how the events had turned out. Now Seung Hyun would be with her forever, always by her side. Only, it was not Seung Hyun she got, it was someone else. Seung Hyun, after finding out what had happened never forgave her. For such a horrendous act, for not informing him either, for deciding his little brother's fate on her own. He had never been so angry before as he was after seeing Jiyong in that hospital bed while hearing out the story behind it all. The three of them, broke all apart and could never be reunited again.

The witch won the first round.

If Hansel had never kicked the which into the oven and burned her, this is what would have happened instead of a happily ever after. “Why?” Seung Hyun asked again and again. “Why did you agree?” There was no answer, really. Nothing worth saying aloud. “Because I am a coward. I was afraid, I didn't know what else to do, they said I would die. I am selfish, I know.” Because even though he thought he didn't care, a burning wish to live on existed within Jiyong.

“Because I want to live on, forever." 

Seung Hyun sighed, his hand fumbling for Jiyong's. “Anyway, we are in this together.” Silently Jiyong disagree