{ chapter thirteen

Endless things crowd Jongin’s mind, but none of them seem to come together to form coherent thoughts. The words that slipped from Taemin’s mouth echo in his ears in disorderly sequences, filling his head, blurring out the storm that rages around him. Veins of lightning streak across the sky and illuminate Taemin’s despairing face, but it does little to spark a reaction from Jongin.

Even when Jongin finally drinks everything in, the most he can derive from the clutter of screams in his mind is: It can’t be true.

“Execution?” Jongin whimpers.

He silently pleads for Taemin to elaborate and comfort him, tell him that Mer execution is different from human execution, but Taemin sees his hope and shakes his head.

“I’m sorry, Jongin.”

The waves smash against Jongin’s body and rock him back and forth, but he doesn’t have the strength to keep himself in place. Taemin backs away, continuing to shake his head, tears b his eyes, and the world finally crashes down on Jongin and he finds himself moving – thrashing against the water, gasping for breath, trying to swim out deeper.

“No,” he chokes, “no, no, no!”

“Jongin, stop!” Taemin yells, swimming after him and seizing him under the shoulders. He pulls him back and flinches as Jongin flails, splashing water everywhere.

“Kyungsoo!” Jongin screams, tears streaming from his eyes. His heart is pounding and his mind is frantic, his body is desperate, he’s barely conscious of himself with his world so consumed with Kyungsoo.

“Jongin, you can’t do anything!” Taemin cries. “It’s too late—damn it, Jongin, stop moving!”

“They’re going to kill him!”

Jongin manages to squirm from Taemin’s grasp and he dives under the water, inhaling salty seawater, distressed. He coughs and chokes, eyes watering and stinging from the saline, and his arms instinctively windmill around to force him back to the Surface, where he heaves the water from his lungs and gasps for air.

“No,” he rasps, “Kyungsoo, Kyungsoo…”

He tries to swim under again but Taemin has captured him again, and is dragging him back to the beach. Exhausted and defeated, Jongin weakens in Taemin’s grasp and simply cries in anguish, sobbing to the ruthless and cold air with Kyungsoo’s face imprinted on the backs of his eyes. He can’t envision Kyungsoo empty of life – the thought of his hopeful eyes dulled and hollow, his skin drawn of colour, his body limp on the seafloor, slumped over the coral he’ll never smile at again—

The waves roll over Jongin and fill his mouth, and he’s caught between crying and trying to retch the salty water. The rain stings his eyes so he squeezes them shut, forcing his tears out.

Finally, Taemin reaches shallower waters and almost tosses Jongin onto the shore once he can’t swim any further. He drags himself up along the sand, his tail heavy and difficult to move, struggling to breathe as he pulls Jongin along, away from the crashing waves.

“Kyungsoo…” Jongin whimpers helplessly. When Taemin finally manages to heave both himself and Jongin a safe distance from the breaking point of the waves, he rests Jongin against his chest and holds him close, trying to soothe his weeping. Jongin curls up against Taemin, struggling for breath, shivering from the cold. The sky has darkened significantly and the rain still pours, but neither are affected by the storm overhead.

“I’m sorry, Jongin,” Taemin says shakily. “I couldn’t bring myself to tell you earlier.”

 “Tell me it’s not true,” Jongin gasps, “please, please…”

The lightning illuminates the sky and Taemin winces, unfamiliar with the Surface phenomenon of a storm. He’s finding it hard to watch Jongin suffer, and the fall of night makes him long to return home, but he knows his friend needs him more than ever, so he suffers through the thunder and rain until Jongin can’t cry anymore, his sobs dry and heaving.

“Jongin,” Taemin says, “you have to go home.”

“Please t-take me under,” Jongin begs, still snivelling and struggling to catch his breath. “I have to—have to see him—”

“I can’t, okay? Please, just go home. Please, Jongin. You’re going to fall ill.”

Jongin hears the desperation in Taemin’s voice and tries to will himself to stand so Taemin can return to his family, but he just can’t bring himself to do it. His parents are gone, he’s lost his best friend – and now, the love of his life is being held to a death sentence, fated to execution by nightfall tomorrow. And Jongin can’t even say goodbye.

“Please,” Jongin whispers, “just…a little longer. Please—please don’t leave me.”

Taemin bites his lip and nods slowly even though Jongin can’t see, holding back tears. He grieves for Kyungsoo’s unfair death sentence, but seeing Jongin in so much pain is what really hurts him.

“Okay,” Taemin assures, “I won’t leave you. I promise.”

They sit there together as the world blackens, the stars hidden by storm clouds, until Jongin decides that he’s coherent enough to return home by himself. Taemin drags himself back along the sand until the water is deep enough for him to swim in, reluctant to leave, and squints in the darkness to watch his friend walk away. Despite the lack of light, Taemin can tell Jongin is slumping, and that the news has ruined him.

* * *

Jongin sleeps restlessly, tossing and turning for hours, hot flushes causing him to kick back the bed sheets, only to pull them back minutes later, chilled to the bone. He dreams of smooth tails and lifeless arms, shadows of monstrous figures and Kyungsoo’s charcoal-black hair. He wakes up in a cold sweat, panting and gasping Kyungsoo’s name, and no amount of crying soothes his overwhelming emotions.

The sun rises and Jongin finally crawls out of bed, drenched in perspiration yet still shivering feverishly. He knows there’s no use in trying to enter the Sea and that it will only make him sicker, but knowing Kyungsoo’s fate compels him to put on swimming trunks and a jacket before heading out towards the beach.

The weather has cleared and the sky is bright and blue again, but Jongin’s mood still feels sodden with hopelessness. He drags his feet all the way down to the rock shelves, and spends a good fifteen minutes sitting in the sunshine and trying to come to terms with the news.

He’s only known Kyungsoo for a few months, but picturing life without the prince hurts – let alone the possibility that he may never enter the Sea again. The sheer idea that Kyungsoo’s precious life is soon to end – or potentially, already ended – is agonising.

And it’s his fault.

He sinks into the water and paddles out slowly, his body heavy in the water, the waves caressing him as if to apologise for throwing him about so carelessly the night before. Once he finds himself sufficiently distanced from the beach, he treads in the water for a few moments before ducking under the surface, just for good luck.

The soft current rocks him back and forth, cradling him like a child – and at that moment, Jongin really feels like one. He wants to be held and comforted, but not by the Sea – by Kyungsoo.

Jongin only realises he’s breathing when his sobs cause him to sharply inhale the water, and it doesn’t burn his lungs.

Taken aback, Jongin blinks in shock and tests out the water a few more times, inhaling and exhaling deeply. He’s not delusional – despite what Taemin said, the Sea has  finally accepted him.

His heart begins to race. He’s in the Sea. He’s closer to Kyungsoo. If he makes it in time, he can swim down to his and Kyungsoo’s hideout, or even to the palace, he can find the prince and swim away with him, hide him away and shield him from his father…

Of course, he doesn’t really comprehend his thoughts, and can only focus on the fact that he needs to see Kyungsoo. Jongin kicks his legs and swims down towards their rocky maze frantically, breathing hard, his mind awash with panic and desperation, his only goal to find Kyungsoo before it’s too late. He doesn’t consider the danger he’s putting himself in, or how unlikely it is for him to successfully rescue the prince, let alone where he’ll take him if he does.

Jongin searches the labyrinth of rocks for Kyungsoo, his head and heart pounding, but the prince is nowhere to be seen.

Once he’s concluded that Kyungsoo isn’t at the rocks, he makes his way down to the central province, fear for his own life beginning to build in his chest. Undoubtedly the citizens will be swarming, buzzing with dread – or anticipation – over Kyungsoo’s execution, and he’ll struggle to go unnoticed. But what frightens Jongin most is the likelihood of not only someone seeing him, but someone seeing him and then telling the King.

However, to Jongin’s surprise, the place is deserted. Not a breath of Mer life to be seen.

Jongin swims around suspiciously, pursing his lips, disliking the quietness around him. He doesn’t know how Mer would normally act when a member of the royal family is scheduled to be put to death, but something just doesn’t seem right. There should be people. There should be something.

He stops when he sees a single figure sitting at the palace gates, facing the other way, and he squints to try and figure out who it is. The shoulder-length brown hair and teal-coloured tail look oddly familiar.

Jongin  gasps when the Merman’s head turns and catches sight of his face.

“Taemin!” he cries, swimming over quickly. Taemin does a double take and stares in shock as Jongin approaches, astonishment written all over his face.

“Where is everyone?” Jongin asks.

“How…how did you…?”

“Taemin, what’s going on?” Jongin demands. “Where’s Kyungsoo?”

Bewildered, Taemin rises to Jongin’s level, before looking around to check that nobody is watching.

“A public assembly has been called in the central arena. The citizens are required to witness the execution. I—I didn’t want to go. Junmyeon…he’s…”

The colour in Jongin’s face filters away and he interrupts Taemin quickly.

“Wait. It hasn’t happened yet?”

“Not yet, but—”

“Where is it? Taemin, where is he?”

Taemin sighs in exasperation, shaking his head. “Jongin, I can’t. I can’t let you see it. It’ll scar you.”

“But—”

“And what if the King sees you?” Taemin fires.

Simmering over with frustration, Jongin groans and whirls around, fed up with Taemin’s excuses. “Fine! I’ll find it myself.”

“Jongin…”

“He’s going to die, Taemin!” Jongin shouts. He wants to yell in his friend’s face, but doesn’t want to risk wasting time by turning around, so he continues onwards, paying no heed to the disapproving stare Taemin is boring into the back of his head.

“Wait,” Taemin calls. Within seconds Jongin feels a hand being laid on his shoulder, and Taemin swims in front of him to halt him for a moment.

“I’ll take you,” he says softly. “But I’m not going to let you be seen. The King will kill you. He will murder you, and throw you down in front of everybody, right beside Kyungsoo’s body.”

The threat is not exaggerated, and Jongin knows he’s serious. His life is at stake – but so is Kyungsoo’s, and that’s enough to finalise his decision.

“Fine,” Jongin agrees. “Take me. And hurry.”

✏ [ a/n ] y'all probably still hate me but at least u have a little bit of hope now right

word count: 2169