minseok, baekhyun, kyungsoo, jongin

when it all falls down

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"baekhyun," kyungsoo's voice whispers. "you need to see this." 

"please, your grace. you need to see this." 

"i know who you are, your grace. you're high priest baekhyun of atlantis. how could i not know?" 

"you were sent here to find me, were you not?" baekhyun asks, his voice shaky. "they actually sent someone up to the upper world?" 

a whimper leaves baekhyun's mouth just as shouts come from above. he wants to look to see what's happening but the thought of minseok being sad clutches his heart tightly. he feels almost at a loss of what to do. like there's something missing from the piece of his heart. 

kyungsoo doesn't wait as he grips baekhyun's hand, pulling up the former merman with practiced ease. he doesn't have the heart to yell at the newly found merman. the guard takes him through the winding halls of the peter pan until they're on deck and see a crowd of people. 

"it's not the only reason for me being in the upper world," he says. "like you, i have found someone that i want to spend my days with. someone i can proudly call my mate but what can i do when my mate is human like yours?" 

baekhyun can only open his mouth when kyungsoo begins to pull him again, the taste of the salty breeze on his tongue. the moon and the stars provide such little light but the dimly lit lanterns shine brightly. 

baekhyun stops the moment he's in the middle of the circle. a noise releases itself from the back of his throat causing everyone to watch as he falls to his knees. he has no strength to stand and opts to crawl towards the still body of a merman. 

"minseok," he cries pressing his hands against minseok's pale chest. "what did you do?" 

baekhyun's mouth keeps forming the same words over and over again the more he waits for minseok to wake up but nothing. minseok's eyes stay closed and his breathing is starting to become heavier. baekhyun begins to panic. 

there's a small voice in the back of his mind that's telling him to kiss minseok. to kiss minseok like he should have all those years ago. but he hesitates. 

"you have the right, your grace," kyungsoo's voice calls out. "he's yours." 

it's the reassurance from kyungsoo that has baekhyun putting his lips against minseok's salty ones. he pulls away when nothing happens. he kisses minseok again. 

and again.

and again. 

baekhyun begins to sob. 

he's too late. a fish out of water for too long dies within minutes. minseok is gone.

baekhyun's body begins to feel heavy as inhumane noises come out of his mouth. he leans his head against minseok's chest, sobbing and whispering apologies into the wet skin. he doesn't think he can stop, in fact, he's not thinking at all. 

he's not thinking but he feels arms wrapping around his waist. he's not thinking but he feels the rise of minseok's chest. he's not thinking but he hears minseok mumbling his name and the feels the press of a kiss to his head. 

baekhyun looks up and see bright blue staring back him. 

baekhyun forgets to breathe. 

baekhyun chokes a laugh with a watery smile. "all has been miserable, dear sir," he responds. "but now that you are here, it is not so bad." 

there's a soft thunk and a shout of kyungsoo's name that has both minseok and baekhyun looking for the man. kyungsoo sits on his elbows, grey eyes sad as he looks to his left. baekhyun follows his gaze. instead of the two feet that brought baekhyun to kyungsoo is now a green tail that flicks nervously. 

it takes a moment for baekhyun to understand what kyungsoo means until he looks at his legs. but he has no legs and instead a gold tail that also flicks with nervousness. 

baekhyun looks at minseok who only smiles. 

baekhyun hits the sea with a loud splash followed by another. his lungs fill with water for the first time and his eyesight is hazy. it take no more than a couple of minutes before he's breathing like he used to. his sight is no longer hazy and he sees everything in picture perfect clarity. 

once again, kyungsoo is pulling baekhyun but this time to the surface. the peter pan comes into view with minseok peering over the edge. 

it takes a couple of seconds before a blur that is known as minseok jumps off the side of the ship followed by jongin who yells at the top of his lungs. twin splashes are heard before silence takes the night once more. 

"how?" baekhyun asks when he throws his arms around minseok's shoulders sobbing into them. "how?" 

there's clapping somewhere off in the distance but baekhyun nor minseok care. the only thing that matters to them is the feeling of the other wrapped in their arms once more. 

word count: 1336