https://imgur.com/a/DTGHvLP

San angrily tapped his foot as he scrubbed the deck of the ATINY. Days had passed since he and Yunho confirmed that their food stocks were running low and no one on board had made even a peep about their next location or when the next time they would dock. Impatience and irritation of not knowing had set in and kept San on edge for the past few days. Yunho had also been on edge recently. The tiredness showing on his usually bright face. He had told San he spotted a few islands with some towns on his lookout but the ATINY never approached and simply sailed past.

San was frustrated. He didn’t think that they would announce plans the day of, that way of planning seemed too rushed even for pirates; but what would he know about how pirates planned? He was just frustrated by the lack of communication of plans to him and the fact that he couldn’t prepare an escape plan accordingly.

Another annoyance had also kept San on his toes recently. Wooyoung.

The bright and loud man from day one had been all over San and interacted with him. One night he even decided to stay over in their bedrooms, trying to snuggle into San’s hammock with him to which the latter kicked him out. Honestly San was surprised how much he got away with talking back to the others. He’d expected newer members to be poorly treated, but he was treated indifferently for the most part by most of the crew. He realized that he had special privileges as he was purposely recruited by Hongjoong and no one dared to bully him.

His interactions with the rest of the crew was minimal aside from mealtimes. The other pirate crew mostly kept to themselves, sending shifty glances towards San and Yunho that they ignored. Wooyoung and Seonghwa usually sat by them so no one usually approached and San was thankful because he really did not want to interact more than he had to. He had heard the harsh gossip and insults about his species and the assumptions on his body. He felt sick getting near them unlike anything he ever felt before. The townspeople he grew up with never outwardly spoke like this. Here, they knew of his identity and while they never approached him or harmed him directly. San still felt tension from them. He was amazed at Seonghwa who was the quartermaster and still demanded their respect. The crew obviously had a disdain towards merfolk but never questioned his orders.

The only person on the crew he talked to was John.John wasn’t like the other pirates. He was but just a boy, at a mere 15 years of age. When San found out he frowned at John all day long as to why he was on a pirate ship, but John laughed saying that some pirate crews had boys as young as 12 working on ships to fit into small areas that couldn’t be cleaned by adult men. John was cordial to both San and Yunho, never sending him angry glares or suspicious glances; only bright gentle eyes.

San hated how the older pirates would force John to do extra tasks that they didn’t want to do. So he decided to help out when he could, lending an extra hand to scrub at the decks. John initially protested but eventually allowed San to continue after much coercion.

San eyes burned under the glaring sun that beat down on them. John and San had been scrubbing at the deck all afternoon, washing off the grim that had washed onboard and filling buckets. Seonghwa had kept the ship impeccably clean. San initially thought he was just being an but he realized after a few days the best word to describe him. A Mother. A very annoying nagging mother.

His own mother had passed when he was too young for him to ever really experience. But he had seen his fair share of stern angry mothers in the market scolding and nagging at their children and husbands. Seonghwa reminded him of an angry mother, nagging them to clean the ship of trash and to scrub everything down daily. San honestly thought the wood planks of the ship would erode with friction and snap if he were to rub at it so much, but it held up until now.

San’s back began tingling and he quickly stepped out of the way. Wooyoung whizzed past him with outstretched arms.

“What-!” Wooyoung screeched as he continued running until he hit the center mast. “Hey!”

San had gotten really good at avoiding Wooyoung to the point where he no longer had to even keep his eyes on him. He’d almost sense when the other was launching himself at him, and he began responding accordingly to it. San had been dealing with him so far but his patience was wearing thin with his frustration on not knowing when they’d land soon. He snapped. He wouldn’t get it unless it was clearly out in the open.

“Would. You. Stop?” He hissed.

Wooyoung had turned around and looked at San. He pointed at his own cheek with confusion on his face. John was on the other side of the deck and the person in the Crow’s nest was too far to hear them speaking; no one else was around them to hear them.

“What’s your deal?” San continued.

“What do you mean?”

“You can’t possibly be that dense can you? Stop getting so close to me!”

“Close? I do this with everyone.” Wooyoung set his hands on his hips. “I thought you’d get used to it.”

“Well I don’t like it, so stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop touching me and trying to grab at me!”

“What? Do you have an infection and might spread it to me?” He teased.

“No! I just! I don’t want you touching me.” San made a stressed face and pushed his hair back. “I don’t like it when you touch me…It’s...”

“It’s?” Wooyoung had a somber expression but didn’t approach San. “At least tell me the reason why, San.”

San took a step backwards. “It grosses me out…”

“I’ve seen you touch Yunho plenty of times. Is it because you think we pirates are dirty?”

“No it’s not.”

It was the truth and San didn’t want to get on bad terms with the entire crew. San clenched his fists by his sides. He didn’t want to have to explain his trauma to Wooyoung. In general he hated being touched by others, but it was particularly because of the way Wooyoung dressed. San knew he was a male, his strong toned muscles and broad shoulders were obvious to everyone. But it was the curve of his back and neck, the lean and smooth skin and his loose seductive clothing that caused San’s breath to hitch everytime the other was near him.

“Then is it because of me?”

San stayed quiet.

Wooyoung had a difficult expression on his face and sighed as he ruffled his hair. “Fine. I’ll stop trying to touch you. It’s just a habit of mine. But we’re still going to have to work together on this ship, so just...push me away if I do it again.”

San only nodded in response and Wooyoung gave him a disappointed stare. He turned around cupped his hands calling everyone for their afternoon meal. Within seconds people were bounding towards the deck eager for their meal of the day and Wooyoung walked away to deal with them; leaving San with no further conversation.

The meal went by quickly. Wooyoung had dragged Seonghwa closer to him and further away from where San and Yunho sat. San noticed but decided not to acknowledge it. Yunho, however, did not.

“They’re sitting far away today.” He mumbled towards San with a spoon in his mouth.

He turned to gaze over at Wooyoung who had basically crawled in between Seonghwa’s legs, his head resting against the merman’s chest. The merman was talking and Wooyoung’s hair with an uncharacteristically gentle gaze, not that Yunho or San could hear.

“You think they’re together?” Yunho asked and San looked up to finally acknowledge the two. Wooyoung’s earlier pout had been replaced with a smile and laughter as he talked animatedly with the merman.

San shrugged. “Who knows? Who cares? I have no business getting involved with pirate relationships.”

“You said Seonghwa’s a merman right?”

“Yeah?”

“I mean I just thought it was nice.”

San looked up at Yunho in disbelief.

“No, I just thought...you’ve never had a relationship before. You’ve always been scared because you didn’t want to risk getting caught.”

San nodded. In his 20 years of life, he had basically resigned himself to staying single forever. He couldn’t imagine himself with another mermaid, he had grown too used to humans being by his side. But he couldn’t imagine being with a human either. Any offer he had received growing up, he had always rejected.

Yunho patted San’s shoulder. “I just thought it would be nice if you could find a partner that would accept you for the way you are. A person who wouldn’t judge you for being a merman; a person that will love you for you. And if Wooyoung and Seonghwa are together, then wouldn’t that be a good thing? It means there’s a chance you’ll find someone too.”

San watched Seonghwa push Wooyoung away from him, but Wooyoung immediately sat back down on his legs. Seonghwa put on a pained expression as Wooyoung wiggled on his lap giggling.

He just shrugged. “I’ve never had an interest in finding a partner and I don’t plan on it anytime soon.” He mumbled under his breath and Yunho just gave him a gentle smile. It wouldn’t matter anyway. All mermen were infertile and he couldn’t make a family. San had no hopes for building a family.

The brunette leaned over and whispered to San. “When we escape and get settled into a new town, hopefully we can find a nice sweet person for you.”

Yunho jumped to his feet and laughed before San could angrily swipe at his legs. Grabbing both their dishes to bring to the water trough for John to clean. San watched as he gave a hard pat on John’s back and engaged in conversation with the other pirates from his corner; somewhat jealous he could socialize so easily with others.

“San.”

He looked up to see Seonghwa walking towards him. His skin glowed in the sunlight and his white shirt cinched by a red cloth around his waist, dancing in the wind. It reminded San of his merman form, the cloth flickering like fire.

“Bathtime.” Seonghwa ordered and San hoisted himself up to his feet.

Compared to the other pirates on board, he had the luxury of having baths more often; every three days. It couldn’t be helped as they needed saltwater baths consistently every four days otherwise they risked drying out and getting sick.

Other pirates on board only got to have a quick scrub down with a single bucket of water once a week at most. San vividly remembered Yunho who had complained when he returned back to their chambers one night about it. Yunho was used to bathing every three days back when they were at the barkeep. He was appalled by the fact that bathing once a week was already considered an impeccable standard of cleanliness; he heard from other pirate gossip that men on other ships only bathed once a month or never at all. Seonghwa was the one who monitored everyone’s sanitation and always ordered someone to take an extra bucket shower if he noticed they were extra grimy that day.

San was forced to take baths with Seonghwa, somewhat as a precaution, he assumed. He was never truly left alone on the ship, always with someone hovering around him. At first he refused vehemently, but after being scolded by Seonghwa a few times he eventually gave up trying to fight the mother figure.

He was led downstairs into a spacious cabin where they usually kept storage; there a small sized tub, only slightly big enough for San to wiggle his lower body in, was placed. It was actually a tub that was used for pickling purposes, such as kimchi. But they had repurposed it for San. The tub had already been filled with saltwater and as San walked closer to the tub, he wrinkled his nose at the smell of kimchi mixed with saltwater. They didn’t allow him to bath in the open seas which Seonghwa did. He was jealous but he understood why, he knew that the pirates were still on guard around them to make sure they didn’t escape.

“I wish the tub was cleaner.” He grumbled as he shed his shirt to place on top of a nearby barrel.

“Sorry we couldn’t provide a tub to your standards. Mr. I grew up in a fancy tub.” Seonghwa sneered but it lacked the malevolence from his first few days. It was much more teasing and whimsical.

“It wasn’t that fancy.” San grumbled as he shed the rest of his clothes.

He still felt uncomfortable undressing in front of the other. But he didn’t want his clothes to explode again like the day he jumped from the docks into the water. Seonghwa is also a merman. He’s also a merman. Don’t be weird. Don’t be weird. He thought to himself as he got bare in front of the other. Not that it mattered anyway as Seonghwa had his nose stuck in a paperback.

San held his breath and dunked his body into the tub up to his neck; hissing as his body transformed. His feet that had been poking out slowly melted together and pushed further out of the water now as a long sapphire blue tail.

Minutes passed and San’s eyes flickered from the wooden walls to Seonghwa to the empty barrels back to Seonghwa. So awkward.

“What are you reading?”

“Some human text.” Was the curt reply.

“Oh.”

More awkward minutes.

“What’s it about?”

“A fictional story about a trader travelling and selling his wares around the world.”

More silence.

“Is it….interesting?”

“Not really.”

San looked at him with a confused expression. “Then why are you reading it?”

Songhwa shut the book and looked back at San. Their eyes met for the first time that day. “Was told it would be nice to understand more about human culture and was recommended to me. We don’t have paper where I'm from.”

San stayed quiet for Seonghwa to continue.

“Stone tablets were hard to find and also impractical. We only ever recorded history. We don’t have such a concept of fiction that humans have. They’re very... different and imaginative. I was told by reading I’d get a better understanding of humans and their culture.”

San saw a gentle gaze of Seonghwa’s face as he looked at the paperback.

“Where did you get it?”

“Someone bought it for me.”

He remembered Yunho’s words from earlier. You think they’re together? San had an audible gulp before asking the next question.

“Is it from Wooyoung?”

Seonghwa looked at San with a raised eyebrow. “What is it with you and your questions today? You usually just bathe and ignore me.”

“Ah sorry I was just curious.” San muttered. “I just- I thought.”

Seonghwa huffed and closed his book. “What is it? Spit it out.”

“It’s dumb.”

“I get to decide that. What is it?”

“Are you...together with Wooyoung?”

Seonghwa’s expression didn’t change and honestly San thought he was right for a second until Seonghwa responded.

“I’d sooner die than be with that . It was a dumb question, I can’t believe I thought you actually had a brain.”

“Hey!” San splashed some saltwater at him.

The taller man hissed as he dodged. “Stop it! I’m going to transform!”

“Transform! Transform and then you’ll choke without water and then you’ll die!” San huffed as he continued splashing.

“I’ll kill you before I die. I can promise you that.” His voice was deep and threatening and San stopped and sulked in his bathtub.

“No fair...you’re stronger.”

Seonghwa sighed and rubbed his bangs back to show his forehead. “What made you even think we could be together?”

“You looked close during mealtime earlier….and Wooyoung is close to everyone but he’s especially touchy feely with you.”

“Wooyoung is probably closer with Yeosang. They’ve known each other the longest.” Seonghwa deadpanned. And San belatedly realized that it was true, Wooyoung’s interactions with Yeosang was by far the most extreme. They always gave each other playful kisses on the cheeks.

“Oh so is Wooyoung and Yeo-”

“No they’re not together either.” Seonghwa slapped his own forehead. “Why are you so curious? Don’t tell me you like Wooyoung or something?”

“No it’s not that.” San blew bubbles. “I just thought...I just thought it was interesting if a merman like you has a partner.”

Seonghwa stared at the smaller brunette. “And if I do?”

San jumped and looked at Seonghwa incredulously. “Wait really!?”

Seonghwa didn’t reply and just continued to stare at the younger. San slumped and looked at his tail and flicked it in the candlelight.

“It’s just...you said that all mermen were infertile. And all my life i’ve been avoiding any relationships because I didn’t want to get found out. All my life, I just thought it was an impossible dream…and now that I know I can’t build a family. I-!”

“The ability to reproduce doesn’t define a family.” Was Seonghwa’s dry reply. San looked back up to face him. “It doesn’t matter what you are, as long as you find someone willing to be with you. And although it’s probably uncommon among you land dwellers, finding a male male partnership isn’t unusual for those at sea. Those among our profession, we’re not aiming to settle down and build a family. But that doesn’t mean we seek emotional and physical affection; every living being craves for it by instinct. No matter what you are, even if you’re a merman. Doesn’t mean that we will be fated to die alone.”

He was almost surprised by the mother gaze Seonghwa gave him.

“But only you can actively seek a relationship. Keep pushing others away and then you’ll truly end up alone as you fear.”

He was silent this time. He used to be afraid of Seonghwa; thought he was just an angry savage pirate who loved to hurt him any chance he got. But here he was actually giving him advice and….comforting him?

San was about to reply when he heard hurried steps creaking towards them. A loud knock at the storage door.

“Quartermaster!”

“Report!” Seonghwa barked as he ripped off his own shoes.

“Incoming storm! You’re needed on the deck according to captain's orders!”

San held his breath and scrambled out of the tub, almost tipping it over as he slid out and onto the floor. He grabbed his nearby sheet to dry himself with, rubbing furiously at his gills for them to return to normal. He felt Seonghwa grab his head and before he could protest he felt warmth surround his body. The remaining water droplets on his body steaming away into the air as he felt his legs return.

“Seonghwa-?”

“Get dressed. Keep your shoes off, in case you transform again.” Seonghwa hissed as he tossed San’s clothes from on top of the barrel at him.

San roughtly tossed his clothes on, barely getting a chance to button his shirt before Seonghwa dragged him by the neck back to the deck.

“W-wait!” San struggled as he barely tugged his trousers over his when they reached the deck.

On deck mostly everyone was on beck and call. Running around frantically to secure any loose barrels or boxes with rope. He saw people with ropes tied around their waists climbing down the netting surrounding the masts. Several people in line were heaving ropes to tie down the tails so the strong winds wouldn’t flip the ship over.

San flinched as he felt the rain shower down on them. He didn’t transform unless it was saltwater but he was surprised nonetheless. He looked nervously at the large waves splashing onto the deck and hesitated to exit the cabin. But Seonghwa harshly pulled him towards the briefing room where the others had gathered.

Inside the room, Yeosang, Hongjoong and Wooyoung were gathered around a map with serious faces. They all looked up when Seonghwa entered.

“Good you’re here!” Hongjoong smiled.

“Crew has already started securing. Orders.” Seonghwa replied.

“Yeosang’s looking at the map to find out where we are. We have to get out of this storm but it’s a rocky area and we can’t just sail in any random direction otherwise we’ll crash. Wooyoung go lookout and keep Yeosang posted over the voice pipes, so he can monitor the direction of the waves.”

Wooyoung nodded and rushed past them without sparing them a glance.

“After we have directions, I’ll direct the ship. Seonghwa stay near the rear cabin and tie yourself down with rope. Don’t fly overboard even if you can survive in the water.” He joked. “Direct the others according to my orders.”

Seonghwa nodded and started to turn around to go back into the storm.

“Take San with you and tie him down too. The others can take care of the sails and San will just transform.”

Hongjoong and Seonghwa hooked their arms around San and dragged him back outside. The rain was pouring impossibly hard and San struggled to keep his eyes open. He felt Hongjoong let go of him and he watched as Hongjoong mounted the cabin to take hold of the erratically spinning wheel, slowing it to a stop to balance the ship. Using his foot he kicked open the lid of the voice pipe and screamed in.

“Report!”

San could only hear loud shouts from around him. But with the pounding rain even screams sounded muffled to San’s ears. Seonghwa had quickly tied him down to an already secured barrel and was working on himself. Barking orders at the rest of the crew to make sure they tied themselves down too in order to avoid being thrown off.

“Giant rock! 2 O’ Clock!” He heard Wooyoung scream from up in the Crow’s nest. His voice carrying downwards for everyone to hear. He saw Hongjoong turn his entire body weight into shifting the direction of the wheel, the sails rotating to narrowly avoid the incoming rocks. The ATINY lurched as the waves ricochet off the rocks and back under the boat, San stumbled and hissed as his knees felt the impact of the floor. The rain was deafening and the splashing among the sides of the boat made the wood creak with an unpleasant sound. He heard an unusually loud splash and the ship lurched again as the ship dodged another rock. He desperately grasped at the barrel next to him.

“Clear skies. 200 meters straight ahead!” He heard the familiar voice scream from above and the crew sprang into action to shift the sails again. Within a minute and another lurch the ATINY sailed out from the storm back into the clear skies. They had finally escaped. San heard loud grunts and sighs as the men all laughed and cheered.

“Survived your first storm huh?” Seonghwa grinned as he watched San huddle into a corner next to a barrel. “Next time hopefully you’ll be more useful.”

San just attempted to make his most threatening glare.

“ROLLCALL!” Wooyoung screamed as he descended the Crow’s nest. San watched as the crew count off their names one by one. He saw Yeosang exit the briefing room with a map in his hand and Hongjoong climb down from on top of the cabin.

San blinked as he wiped away the water dripping into his eyes from his soaked hair but his body froze.

The names had stopped calling, but he had yet to hear Yunho’s voice. He shot up to his feet and scanned the men on the deck, the familiar brunette missing.

“Everyone here? Report of injuries!” Seonghwa clapped and was about to continue when he also noticed the headcount. “…”

“Yunho!” San screamed loudly and the crew started buzzing.

Wooyoung’s eyes widened as he counted the people with his eyes. “ he’s not here!”

“Everyone! Search the boat!” Hongjoong barked and the crew raced off to search. Wooyoung ran the fastest and into the cabin, the rest of the crew leaping to their feet to search the cabins after Wooyoung, deck and sides of the boat.

Seonghwa knelt down to place a hand on San’s back. From the corner of his eye he saw John inch forward with tears in his eyes.

“Q-quartermaster-!”

“Report.”

“Everyone was busy tying themselves d-down! I don’t know if Yunho...I don’t know if he tied himself down! He didn’t know the protocol and-!” John stuttered out and San stared at him incredulously.

“Seonghwa!” Hongjoong barked and took Seonghwa’s own saber from his belt and sliced the rope that bound him down.

Yunho fell. Was the only thought that preoccupied his mind. He felt a darkness creep into his vision as he processed his words. He fell. He’s gone. He fell. He’s gone.

San felt a rough kick to the side of his stomach as Seonghwa kneed him. San gasped for breath and held his side as he looked up at the other. Flinching when he saw Seonghwa brandish his saber and bring it down upon him. San shut his eyes expecting the pain of the saber to cut into him, but as he opened his eyes he realized that Seonghwa had sliced the rope that secured him down.

“We’ll find him.” His voice was loud and strong as he pulled San up to his feet. “He’s your family.”

San felt tears stream down his eyes as he weakly choked out a cry. “Yunho-!”

Seonghwa patted San’s shoulders. He quickly discarded his trousers, the red cloth around his waist obscuring any flashing. Giving a single nod to Hongjoong as he ran to the edge of the boat and jumped over the edge. A moment later, a loud splash was heard.

“He’s off to find him.” Yeosang grabbed San’s hand and held it to comfort it, trying to give him a comforting smile.

Wooyoung burst through the door back onto the deck. “He’s not on the ship!” He screamed, pausing when he noticed the two men holding hands. He shuffled towards them repeating himself again to Hongjoong and nodded at each other. San screamed as Wooyoung knelt to drag his trousers down to his feet. He forgot to button them earlier and there was no resistance as he felt the cold air touch his legs. He rushed to shield himself.

“San.”

San looked towards the captain with tears in his eyes.

“I’m going to trust you.” Hongjoong ordered sternly, his nails dug into San’s shirt. “Go find your brother. Find him and come back.”

San wiped his tears from his face and nodded. Shouting a quick thank you as he also rushed to the edge. He hesitated for a moment before holding his breath and leaping into the cold blue sea.

He shut his eyes tightly as he felt the water surround him. The impact of falling a long distance hurt more than he thought, but it distracted him from the uncomfortable sensation of transforming. He opened his eyes and blinked rapidly to see the area around him, adjusting to the light refracted beneath the surface of the water.

He cautiously whipped his tail twice before propelling himself back towards the storm. He wasn’t as fast or as strong as Seonghwa, the fire red merman already no longer in sight as he swam desperately as he could. He reached the rocks and began desperately searching for the familiar brunette. Screaming his name out loud.

His temporary braveness was quickly fading as fear and panic set in second after second, minute after minute. He caught sight of a familiar red tail dancing in the distance and he screamed. “Seonghwa!”

The other looked startled as he turned around to face San. His own eyes wide with confusion but a moment later he nodded his head in understanding. “I already searched that area. Look over there!” He yelled back before speeding off again.

San turned around and propelled himself in the direction Seonghwa told him to. San felt like minutes were quickly passing as he searched for Yunho amongst the rocks. He almost missed the pale arm in the corner of his eyes and he screamed as he dove down to desperately grab at his brother. As hard as he could he dragged them to the surface of the water.

When his head broke the surface of the water, he angled Yunho the best he could so he could breathe. But his heart sank when he saw the blue lips stained on Yunho’s face.

“San!” He heard Seonghwa’s cries from behind him and turned around to find Seonghwa rushing towards him.

“Seonghwa! He-!”

Seonghwa immediately understood and took Yunho from his arms, propelling his red tail even harder and leaving San behind. San ducked back underneath the surface and tried his best to keep up but he saw the ever accelerating figure become a dot in the distance. He looked overhead and saw that he had broke through the barrier of the storm clouds and saw in the distance a longboat rowing towards them. In the ship was John and Wooyoung who looked equally as desperate as them. As he finally caught up he saw Seonghwa tossing Yunho into the longboat, Wooyoung and John groaning to bring the much taller and waterlogged man onboard.

“Help him!” San screamed and pleaded, crying while holding onto the side of the longboat. He and Seonghwa could only swim by the side and stare as Wooyoung used a knife to cut the front of his shirt open to bare his chest and began performing CPR. John continued rowing in the opposite direction away from the storm and back to the ATINY, with San and Seonghwa slowly trailing behind.

San felt Seonghwa’s arms wrap around him as his body wracked with sobs. Wooyoung compressed relentlessly, pausing only to breathe into Yunho’s mouth to blow air in. Time continued to pass and San wailed even harder, Yunho’s complexion growing bluer by the second as life faded away.

“Is- Is he?” San whimpered into Seonghwa’s chest.

“No!” San flinched at Wooyoung’s roar. Sweat had begun beading at his forehead and his own breath was ragged as he continued compressing. “He’s not going to die! I won’t let him!”

And suddenly with one last compression, Yunho coughed up water from his mouth. Weakly as he gasped desperately for air. San screamed when he saw Yunho’s eyes flutter and reached over the boat to grab at him. Seonghwa held San back from the ship and held his arms by his side in a bearhug.

Before they had even noticed it, John had brought them back to the ATINY. Wooyoung was tending to Yunho’s vitals as John secured the rope to their longboat so they could be pulled back up. Seonghwa clutching San and swimming out of the way as another longboat descended into the water. Seonghwa threw San into the boat and he felt sheets being thrown overboard at him.

When San finally reached the deck of the ship, he screamed as he wiggled towards Yunho who was laid down by Wooyoung. He clutched his wet sheet to himself as he skidded his body over Yunho’s, shivering.

“Yunho! Yunho!”

Tears pricked his eyes as he saw a wet hand reach up, grasping at his own.

“I’m here, San.” Yunho smiled.