Chanyeol: Forever In My Memory

Call to the Sea

Chanyeol paced back and forth what felt to him like hours. He wanted to be completely sure that was entirely cool and calm when he approached Baekhyun. Chanyeol wanted to apologize and he wanted to do it right.

 

So when he finally calm enough to stop pacing, he felt ready to unlock the door to his room and walk down the hall towards Baekhyun’s. He raised his hand ready to knock when he he heard it.

 

Groaning, banging, panting, . Chanyeol had heard those sounds coming from Baekhyun before, he never was one to be quiet, but there was another voice coming from inside that room. Chanyeol paused. Do not listen. He repeated to himself. Despite it screaming to him not to, Chanyeol took a few extra seconds turning away from Baekhyun's door to listen and find out who exactly was sharing a bed with his best friend that wasn't Sehun.

 

Before he had a chance to completely decipher the voice that he was just starting to recognize, Jackson was in front of him, sweat dripping from his skin. “Jackson.” Chanyeol said, attempting to sound as normal as possible.

 

Jackson smirked as he too heard what was happening behind Baekhyun's door. “Looks like our Jinyoung has fallen victim to Baekhyun as well.”

 

“Jinyoung is in there?”

 

“I know his voice.”

 

Chanyeol sighs. “I did not need to know any of this.” he mutters. “Is there a reason you're down here?” he questions.

 

Jackson takes note of the subject change and is quick to follow Chanyeol's lead. “Actually yes, and it's important.”

 

Jackson’s tone of voice was different and his gaze was suddenly cast down. “There was another letter addressed to you.”

 

“From Junmyeon?”

 

“I don’t think so. The paper is different and so is the seal.”

 

Chanyeol let out a quick nearly undetectable sigh of relief. However his relief was suddenly replaced with fear once again. “Well who’s it from?”

 

Jackson shrugged. Chanyeol had to hold himself back from rolling his eyes as he pushed past Jackson to run to the main deck. When he arrived sure enough, there was Jaebum holding tightly onto a thin folded piece of paper.

 

Chanyeol hadn't noticed Jackson trailed behind him until the other said something suddenly. “As far as we could tell, it wasn't delivered by any raven. It just...appeared.”

 

Chanyeol hummed and took the letter, almost to roughly, from Jaebum. He looked at where the seal was supposed to be, but found there was only a single drop of blue wax keeping the letter closed. When Chanyeol began opening the letter he could feel something covering the paper. It strangely felt like wax, however it left absolutely no imprint or markings on the page. It looked completely normal, but felt extremely weird.

 

The words were written in an odd dark red ink. Chanyeol had only the first word, his name, before he began realizing where exactly this letter originated. He brought the paper to his nose and inhaled deeply the scent. It was disgusting as Chanyeol expected. The ink wasn't ink at all, but instead the blood of a fish.

 

Chanyeol couldn't help but growl at the realization. He absolutely hated dealing with these… creatures. They are disrespectful nine times out of ten and Chanyeol can't stand the whole “better than you” vibe they put off. He's only met one merling in his entire life who he didn't want to kill.

 

***

 

The sun is setting now. It was a beautiful day today, work was great, as usual. Really the only thing that could make Chanyeol happier would be his very own ship. Just working on one and getting to sail the ocean was enough for now though. He was happy.

 

Chanyeol stayed in his thoughts long after the sun has set staring out into the dark water of the ocean. Junmyeon had joined him some time ago, but he hadn't spoken. It was normal, this was their routine; working on separate ships throughout the day and staring into the water next to each other in silence while they wait for the owner of the tavern they’ve been sleeping in to close up shop. When the kind old man calls them in, they all eat together having playful talks about their days, then it’s time for bed. Chanyeol and Junmyeon will lay near each other on a makeshift bed on the wooden ground and sleep for a few hours until the crack of dawn, where they will begin to restart the cycle.

 

However, tonight, Chanyeol spots something splashing around in the water. “Did you see that?” Junmyeon asks, before Chanyeol can.

 

Chanyeol nods and quickly leans over the edge of the dock to look closer into the water. He’s looking around, but everything is still and completely unmoving once again. “I swear I saw something…” Junmyeon says.

 

“Yeah, me too… It looked kinda like a-”

 

Suddenly the face of a woman sprung from the water towards Chanyeol. She was hissing and she grabbed tightly onto Chanyeol’s head and pulled him into then under the water. He swung his fists and kicked his legs at the woman, until she was forced to let go of his face. He forced his head above water and began gasping for breath. Junmyeon was there questioning if he was alright, but before Chanyeol could reply he was pulled under once more. He fought as hard as he could as his breath began to leave his body and panic replaced it. He looked down at the woman holding firmly onto his leg and pulling him downwards into the much-deeper-than-he-thought, water.

 

Chanyeol was confused as to how she was so strong and able to do this to him, but when he saw the tail where the woman’s legs were supposed to be he became absolutely frightened. She made another hissing sound and bared what looked like fangs at Chanyeol. Her eyes glowed an intense bright blue and yup, definitely fangs.

 

His eyes widened and began fighting once more. He must’ve gotten lucky because suddenly the creature was letting go and Chanyeol was able to swim back up to the surface. He was pulled out of the water by someone else faster than he was able to pull himself out.

 

When Chanyeol finally stopped coughing and regained most of his wits he looked up, expecting to see Junmyeon. Instead he was faced with a blonde woman, dressed in all black, weapons strapped to nearly every single one of her body parts. “Did she bite you?” asks the woman.

 

Chanyeol looks up at her, dumbfounded and confused. This obviously doesn't sit well with this woman as she squats down next to Chanyeol and looks directly in his eyes so he can see just how much fire is in them. It's frightening. When she speaks this time it's slow and stern. “Did you, get bit?”

 

Chanyeol stutters for a moment. “U-uh n-no… I don't think so?”

 

The woman scoffs and rolls her eyes, standing up again. She walks over to the very edge of the dock and looks over, just as Chanyeol had before. “Hey, I wouldn't do that,” Chanyeol says. “There's something in the water-”

 

“Shut up.” replies the woman.

 

“Dara?” she calls out sweetly. “It's me princess, you have to come out now it's not safe here. Jay Park is coming.”

 

There was a silence, a heavy silence that filled the air. Just then, it was broken by a young girl, maybe only a little older than Chanyeol, was jumping from the water. She wasn't coughing like Chanyeol had when he emerged, but she didn't look quite fine either. Her skin was pale, more than what could be considered natural and she seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes open.

 

The blonde woman was helping and slightly struggling to lift the soaking wet girl to her feet. Her brown hair was covering most of her face and she was shivering. Junmyeon was quick to dart to her side and toss a blanket over the woman, but Chanyeol was frozen in place. He kept staring at the girl who he was pretty sure had just tried to drown him, with absolute adoration. She was quite the sight to see, all curves, beautiful long hair and unblemished skin. She was otherworldly, probably literally when Chanyeol thought about it.

 

All too suddenly there was a loud crash coming from somewhere in the village about a mile away and the sound of a howl. “.” the blonde woman snarled, lifting the other -Dara as Chanyeol recalled- into her arms. “Do you have a place we can hide?”

 

“Your friend just tried to kill my friend, what makes you think we'll help you?” Junmyeon said shaking his head.

 

“We'll die without shelter and I won't hesitate to-”

 

“Oh so now you're threatening us?”

 

“I don't have time for this.” she snarled.

 

“Follow me.” Chanyeol interjected quickly before Junmyeon had a chance to speak anymore.

 

***

 

Chanyeol lead the two ladies down the road, deep into the woods towards the place Chanyeol and Junmyeon had declared they'd keep secret. Junmyeon had grumbled something about not wanting to share their secret hideout with a “crazy woman covered in knives and a fish”, but Chanyeol felt some odd sort of need to make sure the two were safe.

 

When they arrived at the fairly large cave hidden behind a mess of weeds, bushes, trees and at least a couple hundred other types of plants, (at least they all looked different and that's what Chanyeol thought).

 

“You'll be safe here.”

 

The blonde woman got down to her knees and cradled Dara in her arms. After a moment she pulled something from her pocket and held it out to Chanyeol. “Spread this outside the entrance. It will mask our scents.”

 

Before Chanyeol could take the small leather pouch, Junmyeon grabbed it and darted outside.

 

There was an awkward silence for a moment, the blonde girl staring down at Dara’s sleeping form and Chanyeol sitting on the ground across from her, entirely uncertain of everything in his life. Why Was Junmyeon taking so long? “What's your name?” he finally asked.

 

There was more silence. Chanyeol nodded to himself as he made a mental note; no talking. “Chaelin.” she said after a moment, not looking away from Dara.

 

Chanyeol hesitated. He was curious, but he wasn't sure if his curiosity would be enough to get him killed in this moment. He took a moment to word his sentence carefully as possible. “What kind of creature are you?”

 

She smiled and tucked a loose strand of hair behind Dara's ear. “Human.”

 

“But-”

 

“I'm not lying. I'm all human. Dara… Dara's different.”

 

Chanyeol nodded to himself again, though he didn't understand what she meant, but then again he didn't understand what any of this meant. “So… What are you? To her, I mean.”

 

Chaelin sighed. “I'm sworn to protect her. I would give my life for her if it was necessary.”

 

Just then, Junmyeon came back inside, soaking wet. Chanyeol hadn't heard the rain, but when he looked outside he saw it was heavily pouring.

 

***

 

The rest of that night was spent in silence. Nobody said a word until the sun arose, not even when Dara silently awoke. Chanyeol and Junmyeon stayed with the odd pair until Chaelin decided it would be safe for her and Dara to leave.

 

Naturally Chaelin and Dara expressed their thanks in the form of a gift; a spell to be exact. Both Chanyeol and Junmyeon were given a small kiss on the lips by Dara and when the beautiful woman pulled away, she pulled with her their memories. Chanyeol and Junmyeon had forgotten entirely about the woman of the sea and her protector for many many years to come.

 

It wasn't until a year ago when Dara and Chanyeol crossed paths again that his memory was restored. Another kiss and Chanyeol remembered every detail of their first meeting as if he never forgot.

 

***

 

“Why did you give me my memories back?” Chanyeol growled.

 

“I need your help.”

 

“Last time I gave you help you tried to eat me then stole my memories.”

 

“I wasn't in control. I promise, but please, I'm in danger.”

 

“Where's your protector?”

 

“I ran away from her. I can't have her risking life any longer for me.”

 

Chanyeol scoffed and crossed his arms. “But you can potentially risk mine? You know I read about your kind, and right now I'm starting to believe the myths. You're deadly, you will lie to get me to fall into your trap and then you'll eat me.”

 

Now Dara was the one who scoffed. “You have to help me. It's your destiny.”

 

“Destiny is a load of bull. Find someone else.” Chanyeol replied, turning away from Dara to walk back to his ship.

 

“Park Chanyeol!” Dara called. “Chanyeol!”

 

Chanyeol didn't stop walking though, he was ready to get away from this horrid place and back out onto the ocean. Dry land made him feel sick, he was land-sick. “Mother used to sing you lullabies whenever you were sick!” she yelled and Chanyeol stopped in his tracks. Why not listen to what she had to say, it could make for some good entertainment right? “She made a soup out of everything from the garden outside, you loved it and would fake being sick just so she would make it. When she grew sick, you made her that same soup and sang her the same lullabies. You did it everyday until she died.”

 

Chanyeol turned around. “How do you know all that?”

 

Dara sighed and looked away. “I watched it.”

 

“What do mean? And enough with the games and the lies, I want real answers!” he snapped.

 

“Chanyeol, I know you don't remember me, but I… I am-”


“Sandara. My sister.”

 

 

 

~~~

 

Author's Note: Yeah, that happened. Nobody asked for it, but uh--here you go anyway. My longest and probably weirdest chapter. Whatver, it's done, it doesn't matter, I'm over it. It's out here now so... yeah... 

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Passerby127 #1
Chapter 39: oh so it was a indeed dream ! ok ok ok ok ...
Kaiho attract me more than it should ... sorry channie but you're slow take all your time XD
anyway I wonder of they gonna do it or suho will ask for chanyeol head on a silver plate to Kai or maybe both ! Please update very soon ><
blooddragon
#2
Chapter 39: I like the kaiho dynamic even though it's so wrong.
blooddragon
#3
Chapter 38: Good action scene. I imagine it's a dream.
Passerby127 #4
Chapter 38: welcome back and happy new year !
Aaaah well I am excited XD
Can't wait for the next chapter !
Passerby127 #5
Chapter 37: oh and sukai relationship too ! how will channie react ? please update very soon >u<
Passerby127 #6
Chapter 37: oooh so exciting! I can't wait for channie to meet Kai !
Passerby127 #7
Chapter 36: omg where did Jongin go !? I seriously can't wait to know !
Passerby127 #8
Chapter 35: Aye stuck between 2 bastards ... poor Nini .
Zico story is so freakin horrible T_T