“Oh god,” Jongin choked out, cupping the unconscious boy’s face and gently his thumb over his cheek. “What caused this?”

“You’re the sea witch, aren’t you?” Jongin glared with cautious eyes and tightened his grip on Kyungsoo’s shoulders.

“No need to be so hostile, boy.” Baekhyun continued filing his nails but finally looked up with a bored expression. “I’m not here to harm anyone. His time is up.”

“What do you mean?” Jongin gaped at him.

Baekhyun ignored the question and continued. “It’s not your fault, you know. The sad lad decided this for himself. Swam over to my place enthusiastically and all.”

Baekhyun clicked his tongue at Jongin. “Then again, I supposed if you two weren’t so shy and bashful and just went in for the kill, he’d still be here.”

“There must be a way to reverse this somehow, right? I…I mean, there must be a way to undo this.” Jongin frantically motioned toward Baekhyun, but the witch simply shook his head and smiled.

“As I said before, prince, his time is up. All you can do is move forward.”

Luhan stood behind Jongin, unsure of what to say or do. It was still difficult to take everything in. Minseok had told him that the guards found the boy wandering the streets at night, so what was the witch talking about?

Kyungsoo squeezed his eyes shut before slightly opening them again. He curved his upper lip up.

“It’ll be okay, prince.” He said weakly, reaching for Jongin’s hand. The latter immediately grasped the offered hand.

Jongin didn’t say anything, eyes darting back and forth between Kyungsoo’s face and their hands.

Only a few days had passed upon meeting each other, and he still didn’t comprehend what was going on besides that this man was dying before his own eyes, in his arms, and he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

Kyungsoo closed his eyes and waited. He braced himself for the worst, hoping that his cold death would be swift.

It’ll be okay. Kyungsoo tried to convince himself, and hoped that the prince could hear him.

Suddenly, a soothing warmness swelled inside of him as if the gods were assuring him that they agreed with him as well.

It’ll all be okay.

“Jongin,” An annoyed voice called out from behind. “…Joonmyun says it’s time to go.”

…but of course, this same voice would always interrupt him before he could indulge himself with the opportunity.

Jongin turned his head left to see his helper and friend from the corner of his eye and nodded. “I’ll be there soon, Sehun.”

Even though the building of the company he is bound to inherit stood proudly above the beach, Jongin would only have enough time to admire nature’s gift from afar before he was dragged to meetings and tend to his father’s business.

He took one last glance at the soft waves washing against the damp shore and heaved a sigh.

Sehun paused to mutter under his breath as he furiously shook his legs and pants in a futile attempt to remove all remnants of sand. He finally gave up and sighed. “Jongin, I swear your visits to the beach will be the death of me one day.”

Jongin paused and turned to look at Sehun. He snorted as the latter furrowed his eyebrows. “You know Joonmyun’s going to lecture us again.”

Every morning the heir opened his eyes to a white ceiling above him. He breathed in the scent of fresh food that sat at a small table next to his bed. Butlers would patiently wait for him to finish while holding his clothes for the day. He would smile and greet people he would never see again for months or years.

Jongin was confident that this was how his life would be for many years to come. As far as he knew, there was no way of escaping this lifestyle…but at least the seemingly endless ocean was there to give him some hope.

Jongin heaved a sigh as he stepped through the double doors into the building and felt the air conditioning hit against his face.

It didn’t feel as relaxing as the natural breeze from the beach.

Sehun followed shortly.“Wait right here, okay? I’m going to get Joonmyun.” He started to lightly jog to the reception desk.

Jongin whistled, looking around the lobby, completely bored. Businessmen chatting with clients, receptionists smiling and attending to guests, security walking about, janitors mopping.

Jongin paused. And blatantly stared at the young man wearing a blue blazer standing near the sofas. He was scouring through his messenger bag and when he couldn’t find what he was looking for, he slightly scrunched his nose and scratched the back of his head.

Somewhere along the line of noticing his actions, Jongin found himself standing in front of him.

Jongin continued to stare, taking in every detail of the man. Although he swore this was the first time he ever saw this face, there was just something…

“I’m so sorry, what’s your name?” Jongin asked, extending an arm out.

“Do Kyungsoo.” Kyungsoo responded (almost as a question) as he accepted Jongin’s hand.

“Do Kyungsoo.” Jongin repeated as if it was the most natural thing he could say. “I’m Kim Jongin.”

In the distance, he could hear Joonmyun calling for him.

"This…is going to sound crazy, but would you like to have dinner with me?” Jongin blurted out.

“What?” Kyungsoo slightly leaned his head forward, confused.

“There you are, Jongin. Your father is going to have a heart attack.” Joonmyun walked out from behind Kyungsoo. Joonmyun grabbed Jongin by the shoulders, not even looking at Kyungsoo. “You’re already late.” Joonmyun started to push him toward the elevators.

Kyungsoo stood in place, blinking.

“Meet me in front of the Lille Havfrue restaurant! 8 o’clock!” Jongin yelled over Joonmyun’s annoyed voice, still being dragged.

Kyungsoo could only nod in return, and even if he was completely freaked out by the randomness of the situation, there was something about the young man that he felt was…familiar.

When he looked around him, he saw people with annoyed faces, and Kyungsoo bowed in apology at the commotion.

God, he needed to get out of here.

“Kim Jongin.” He repeated, tapping his chin while walking toward the exit of the building.

He still couldn’t place where he recognized him from. The sun was now setting against the sparkling ocean.

With a shrug, Kyungsoo started to hum and walked toward the beach.





It’ll be okay.