Chapter Six: Breakthrough

All of Bom’s last hope fled the room along with the man.

Disparate and completely on her own, Bom was forced to huddle back into her chosen corner, holding herself tightly as sobs of terror and despair wracked through her.

In spite of herself . . . she wanted to live.

She wanted to see her family, her friends and her home – even if it was just for one last time.

She wanted to curl onto her beloved bed, sing to her father and sister and dance with the merchildren. She wanted to guards, help the royal staff with the palace housekeeping and swim through boundless oceans; free from any shackles.

Every day, Bom prayed fervently to any deity that help would come her way. She thought her prayers were finally answered when the male human came into her dungeon, tempting her with his words and failing miserably at what would have been her only way out of this hellhole.

Bom knew now – there was no way they were going to let her live.

She had heard their murmurs, acquisitions and their final decision. In order for their thirst to be quenched, they would kill her.

Murderers, Bom thought, humans are savages.

Believing that she wouldn’t live to see the light of another day, Bom began to sing a song of death – one of the few mourning songs that her people sang at funerals.

She closed her eyes, slowly leaning onto the glass tank she was held in, and sang the song that would hopefully be heard by her family, alerting them of her death.

This is it – this is my demise.

OoOoOo

Twenty feet away from the room, Seunghyun heard the mermaid singing hauntingly.

He stopped in his tracks, turning to face the direction of the mermaid’s prison.

Her voice tormented him, and he was reminded of his brothers that were lost amongst the gunfire in Afghanistan. Her singing brought back unwanted memories of explosions, injuries and death.

Her song was one of mourning, and Seunghyun knew what she was woeful for – and that was for herself.

Yet he couldn’t do anything to save her; his hands were tied. No matter how excruciatingly painful it was to simply leave her, he had to do it.

There was no changing Teddy or any of the other’s mind.

Murderer, Seunghyun could hear Seungri’s voice chanting at the back of his mind. And he was right – Seunghyun was a murderer. This was different from all the opposing forces he was up against before during his stint in the army. This went beyond the boundaries of justified killing.

This was outright murder, and Seunghyun couldn’t do anything to protect the mermaid.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, closing his eyes as he clenched his fists. “I’m so sorry.”

OoOoOo

“Come on, come on, come on,” Seungri muttered, running as fast as his feet could take him, his still-charging laptop slipping out of his grasp. “!”

The boy felt very much like a cartoon character, skidding across the cemented pathway of the street as he struggled to pick up his fallen device. “, , , , !”

“Seungri-ah?” A familiar, smooth and slightly deep voice called out to him, causing Seungri to scramble for his things once more.

Looking up, Seungri felt as though a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped on him.

Following that, a wave of absolute delight and relief flooded the maknae’s entire system. “Youngbae-hyung!”

The man before him laughed, his fauxhawk hair standing proudly against the heat of the sun. He wore a sweatshirt over baggy pants, a bandana covering half his face as sunglasses hid his eyes. Bending down to help the boy up, he dusted the gravel off Seungri’s clothes and ruffled his hair. “It’s nice to see you–”

“Hyung, I need a favour!” Seungri demanded, pushing against the latter’s body. “Could you maybe help me break into a top secret scientific research facility?”

Youngbae stared at him, his eyebrows creasing as he became quiet. “You know I can’t do that now – I’m a soldier.”

“Who doesn’t listen to orders,” Seungri grinned. “Come on, hyung! This is going to be so worth it, believe me. Someone’s life is at stake here, and if we don’t make it there, she won’t have any chance to live at all.”

“Always so dramatic.” Youngbae sighed before he shrugged. “Well, it’s a good thing I’m on leave now. What’s the address?”

OoOoOo

“We shall commence the procedure at 9 PM, sharp. I want everyone to be there, all tools, cameras and systems on standby. The entire place will be on lock down, so nobody gets to leave until we are done.” Teddy ordered, glaring at his team with an unsettling glint in his eyes.

Seunghyun stood at the back, watching as his team leader gave further instructions.

He was revolted by the buzz of excitement his colleagues had, that strange air of anticipation that surrounded the atmosphere of the room and sickened Seunghyun to his very core.

He ignored Teddy’s eyes, trained on him, as he left the room, unable to bear the guilt that rode heavily on his shoulders and weighed him down with every footstep he took.

“Seunghyun-oppa!” He heard a voice call out, and turned to face its direction.

Lee Chaerin stood across him, arms folded as she stared at him with confused eyes. “Are you . . . do you think that what we’re doing, or what we’re about to do . . . is it right?”

Sometimes Seunghyun forgot what an intelligent person Chaerin was – after all, she joined the team when she was only seventeen years old, freshly graduated from one of South Korea’s most prestigious universities, under a programme designed for highly intellectual students. Six years later, she rose to be one of the world’s top scientists.

He also forgot that she was great at reading people, too.

“What do you think?”

“I think this is bull,” Chaerin sighed, flipping her blonde hair. “We don’t have to kill 021 just so we can advance our research.”

“Exactly my sentiments.” Seunghyun sighed, gesturing at the girl to follow him.

Later, they stopped beside the vending machine, and the two lapsed into a contemplative silence that said everything that they had been thinking. Words that screamed at the back of their minds, dying to be expressed, couldn’t be articulated in fear of someone hearing them.

“It’s wrong, oppa,” Chaerin whispered, “it’s so wrong.”

“I tried to talk him out of it,” he replied, shaking his head remorsefully. “But orders were given to him, and who are we to deny the government’s wishes?”

“We’re the ones who discovered the mermaid.” Chaerin pushed herself off the machine which she had been leaning on, eyes furious and voice almost toxic. “We deserve every right to decide what we should or shouldn’t do with our experiment.”

“Is that what she is to you?” Seunghyun questioned, frowning. “An experiment?”

“No, I–”

“You’re no better than them, Chaerin. A great scientist wouldn’t think of their experiments as merely that – they think of them as beings, living things that–” Before Seunghyun could finish his words, the lights of the building out, causing the two scientists to be startled.

“Oppa, where are you? I can’t see you!” Chaerin screeched, lost in the darkness that surrounded the hallway. Seunghyun blindly followed the direction of her panicked voice, hands numbly waving about as he tried to grasp his surroundings.

He felt a wisp of hair brush against his left arm, then he made a wild grab, ignoring Chaerin’s terrified scream. “It’s me, it’s me! Relax!”

The emergency red lights began to flash, tainting their vision with an unforgiving crimson colour.

“Intruder alert! Intruder alert!” The sound system blared out. “All security personnel to form up at the southern entrance! I repeat, all security personnel–”

“How is this possible?” Chaerin gasped, her hand tightly grabbing Seunghyun’s. “There is virtually no way for anybody to break into this place! It’s a fortress!”

Seunghyun bit his lip, tugging her along as he began to make his way over to the closest room.

His mind was working hard, metaphorical gears in his head chugging to come up with a rational explanation.

Chaerin was right – there was no way for anyone to break into their facility. There wasn’t anyone who could possess the power to barge their way through here.

No one, he thought, no one but . . .

OoOoOo

“Youngbae-hyung!” Seungri gasped. “You have five minutes!”

“I’m working on it,” he grunted, pushing off another guard and knocking him out with a solid punch to his right temple. “Okay, let’s go!”

Youngbae didn’t know what the hell he was doing, helping his dongsaeng in this downright insane plan of his. Seungri had told him everything that went down during his time away, and Youngbae had to agree – there was no rational reason to play god and take away someone’s right to live, no matter what they were.

He was grateful for all his devoted years to being a soldier, honing his fighting skills and effectively allowing him to kick some major . It also helped that all the training allowed him to develop muscles that attracted a ton of ladies.

“You owe me big time, maknae-ah,” he grunted, pushing with all his might against the door that would lead to Seungri’s so-called mermaid. “Get in!”

The maknae hurried into the room just as Youngbae forced it to close, breathing heavily as Seungri began to work his magic, pressing numerous buttons on the pad beside the door and sticking a suspicious-looking device on the handle. “What the hell is that?”

“It’ll last us thirty minutes, tops.” Seungri grinned at his hyung, smiling so widely Youngbae was sure it would hurt his cheeks. “Thanks, hyung!”

“Whatever,” he snorted, turning around.

Youngbae had seen plenty of things in his rather short life.

He’d seen one of his first friends join the army against his better judgement because he didn’t want to disappoint his politician of a father. He’d witnessed as his first love cheated on him with another. He’d watched as he himself underwent so much reformation in his bid to become a better person, for both himself and his future family – if he would even have one, that is.

But nothing prepared him for the sight before him.

The mermaid sat still, ten feet across from him, locked in her prison of a tank, eyes transfixed on him. “Holy ,” he murmured. “You were actually telling me the truth!”

“I told you so!” Seungri cackled. “Now, would you please watch the door for me? It’s going to take a while to install my programme into their computer system.”

Youngbae sneaked another look at the surreal, beautiful creature before him. “Yeah . . . yeah, sure.”

OoOoOo

“Stay here, Chaerin!”

“What? Oppa, wait–”

Grabbing his work phone from within the confines of his pocket, Seunghyun used the dim light emitting from it to pave the way to the room that held the mermaid. The flashing red lights were only a hindrance, and Seunghyun found that his old Nokia was more useful than he thought it would be.  

Seunghyun’s run came to a screeching halt when he saw the numerous guards lying unconscious on the floor in front of the mermaid’s test room. “This idiot,” he laughed, kicking aside a guard as he hurried to bang his fists against the door.

“Youngbae, open up! It’s me!” He shouted, ruthlessly knocking on the steel door.

“Seunghyun-hyung?” Youngbae’s voice was muffled but Seunghyun could recognize it anywhere. Youngbae wasn’t one of his closest friends for nothing – after all, he did join the army with him and was even in the same company. Seunghyun knew him like the back of his hand.

The two of them went through so much, even Jiyong was jealous of their friendship. “Yeah, it’s me, open up!”

“Seungri says not to trust anyone, hyung,” Youngbae chimed from the other side, and Seunghyun could hear the boy chastising him for revealing his identity. “What? You know I can’t say no to our hyung. Respect your elders, maknae-ah!”

Seunghyun would’ve laughed if the situation wasn’t as dire as it was now. “Seungri, you better get this door open right this instant or I swear to god, I will kick your so hard, you wish you’d–”

“Be kind, hyung!” Youngbae warned him from the other side.

Seunghyun wanted so badly to throw something at his friend whose personality alternated between badass and a naive little girl. He heard Seungri shout something incoherent just as a loud thundering of footsteps entered the hallway he was in.

Turning his back against the door, Seunghyun took a deep breath and shook off his lab coat, clenching his fists tightly beside him.

The group of heavily armed guards barrelled their way into the hallway, their leader staring at Seunghyun in confusion, eyeing the fallen guards underneath his feet. “Doctor Choi, I highly suggest you step away right this instant, and surrender yourself to us.”

“And if I don’t?” He challenged, eyebrows raising in defiance.

Seunghyun could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins, and he swore he had never felt more alive.

The leader glared at him. “Then, I’m afraid we will have to take you down.”

He laughed then, shaking his head before looking up with a malicious glint in his eyes. “I would love to see you try.”

OoOoOo

Back in the room, Seungri worked furiously, his knee bouncing up and down anxiously as he waited for his upload to finish. He could hear Seunghyun fighting behind the door, and he knew Youngbae was dying to join him.

He couldn’t afford to lose Youngbae, though – the man was too talented and strong. Seungri needed him if Seunghyun couldn’t hold off the guards beyond the door.

Besides, he had huge faith in his favourite hyung. Seunghyun wasn’t someone who could be easily beaten; Seungri had seen it and even had files upon files of background information to prove it. Seunghyun was a monster back in the day, and anyone who dared to enrage him faced the wrath of his fists.

Of course, that was years ago, when he was still in the army.

Still, Seungri believed in him reverently.

“Seungri, how much longer?” Youngbae asked, his hands shaking as he listened to the chaos ensuing on the other side.

“It’s already at 99 percent!” Seungri cried, hands pulling at his hair as he prayed to every possible god to answer his prayers.

As he shuffled between Buddha and Jesus Christ, the computer screen turned green, stating, UPLOAD SUCCESSFUL.

“ yes!” Seungri screamed, jumping out of his chair and tripping over to the mermaid’s tank. He ignored Youngbae’s warning and pressed his body excitedly against the cold glass of the tank he dearly created. “Hi!”

The mermaid didn’t respond, startled by his sudden approach. She pressed her body away from him, trying to hide her breath-taking face behind her luscious hair. 

Just before Seungri could say anything else, the door burst open to reveal Seunghyun captive in the arms of a guard, alongside Teddy who wore a grim expression.

“What the is going on here?” He demanded, pushing aside Youngbae as the guard dumped Seunghyun on him.

Seungri glared at Teddy, straightening his back as he turned to shield the mermaid away from the head scientist’s inquisitive stare. “I’m proving to you why it’s a horrible idea to kill her.”

“The do you mean?”

“Five minutes,” Seungri persisted, “five minutes is all I need then you can arrest me.”

Teddy softened under Seungri’s plea – no one could resist the maknae when he begged. “Five minutes, go,” he gestured at Seungri, his expression flippant and arrogantly smug.

Seungri pressed his hand against the glass, his eyes looking deep into the mermaid’s as he said, “I know you’re frightened right now, and you have every right to be. Please, I’m here to help you. Would you tell me your name?”

She remained unresponsive, her eyes growing wider with shock as he spoke directly to her. When she refused to answer, Seungri felt doubt gnawing away at his confidence.

Everything he had was at stake; all his hard work, his achievements, they would be for nothing if he was locked away. What good would his technology be if it couldn’t save him from what he thought was the right thing to do?

OoOoOo

Seunghyun could hear the clock ticking away, eating at the little time that they had before hell descended upon them. He could see Seungri, deflated and at a loss, hanging his head in shame as he gave up.

But he had confidence in him, in his work. Seungri never makes mistakes, and that was a fact that Seunghyun strongly abided by.

Whatever he did now, Seunghyun believed it had something to do with communicating with the mermaid. There had to be no other explanation but that. Seunghyun couldn’t possibly know what Seungri actually did, given that they had been fighting merely twenty-four hours ago.

Somehow, Seunghyun just knew.

Stepping up and shaking off Youngbae’s restraining arms on him, Seunghyun carefully made his way over to the tank, bending down so he could be on eye level with the mermaid.

Her beautiful, obsidian eyes stared right back at him, and for a second, he forgot what his true intention was. He was lost in the beauty of her eyes, enraptured by her stunned expression, and captivated by her open, full lips.

He could see her mind trying to decipher what was going on, and he knew then that this creature before him was so much more intelligent than he gave her credit for.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Seunghyun whispered, leaning closer. “I won’t ever hurt you. Would you please tell me your name?”

Her eyes grew impossibly wider, and he could see her struggling to make a decision. “Please, believe in me when I say that I wouldn’t dare to hurt you. I’m with you; I want to protect you. Please, tell me–”

“Five minutes are up!” Teddy chirped maniacally. “Arrest them.”

“No!” Seungri cried as a fresh group of guards appeared in the doorway, gruffly making their way towards them.

A guard grabbed the boy then, pushing at him until he fell to the floor.

Seunghyun’s eyes widened when he heard a sickening thud as Seungri’s head slammed against the concrete floor. “Let him go, you’re hurting him!” He shouted, desperately trying to make his way over to the now unconscious maknae.

“Seungri!” Youngbae cried, fighting against the huge group of guards assembled to dispatch him.

And just as Seunghyun had completely lost all hope, he heard a voice ring out, clear as day. It commanded all attention to be focused on it, enchanting anyone who would listen.

“Bom!” The mermaid cried out, her voice amplified by the speakers on the computer. “My name is Bom!”

OoOoOo

Go Eun meticulously changed the dressing on Seungyoon’s body, careful not to disturb the horrible injuries he had yet to recover from.

She bit her lip, feeling uneasiness spread through her chest as she watched the head guard remain deep in his coma, refusing to respond to any medical treatment she gave him.

He’s gone, she thought, he will die very soon.

Swimming away from him, she picked up a spare piece of seaweed lying idle on the palace floor. She twisted it about her fingers, tears prickling in her eyes as she recalled Bom’s complains when she listened to Seunghoon’s ‘advice’ on tail care.

She prayed to Poseidon every day, wishing that her sister would magically appear on her bed, sleeping soundly with a smile on her face.

Her prayers remained unanswered, and Go Eun was faced with the bitter reality of an empty bed.

Her heart was broken, knowing that her beloved sister was missing, captured by the filthy creatures that were humans.

She knew that they were ruthless, complete savages. She knew that when she lost her mother, and her belief was further fuelled when her sister was wrongfully kidnapped.

The whole kingdom was in a mess following the news of their captive princess. They demanded war against the humans, and her father passed their petition with the blessings of the council. All the palace guards and the royal army were preparing for a battle that Go Eun knew would end only in bloodshed and many deaths.

Seungyoon was a testament to that.

She didn’t want her sister’s fate to befall upon anybody else in her kingdom.

With that in mind, she hurriedly swam to the council room, where her father had been diligently planning an attack.

“My daughter,” he rasped, brows furrowing at her sudden presence. “What are you doing here?”

Before Go Eun could answer, a scream erupted from the room, resounding from the mermaid in charge of bringing refreshments. “What is the matter with you?” The sea god demanded, swimming over to pick up the broken china cups.

“My king,” the mermaid whispered, and Go Eun felt an eerie feeling crawl up her spine. “Please be quiet and listen carefully.”

The council representatives as well as father and daughter became silent as they listened intently.

Far away, almost like a whisper carried on a soft current, Go Eun heard her sister’s voice singing a death song.

The very same song her mother sang before she died. 

A/N: One of the longest chapters I've had to write - I hope you guys like it! Thank you for all the upvotes, subscriptions and comments you've left :)