The bright pink candyfloss sky slowly ate up the once dark and gloomy night, the residents of Jasper Cove were awaking to begin their daily duties while one boy sat having been awake for hours, finally witnessing what he had stayed up so long to see.

Dolphins of all shapes and sizes jumped from the crystal waves off in the distance, the boy who was watching them intently from his boat chuckled at their playfulness. The animals squealed their language to each other, leaping and catching fish for themselves as a morning delight. The boy raised his camera and snapped his finger down repeatedly on the clicker, a smile adoring his face when the sound of successful pictures rung through the otherwise silent air.

The moment of bliss was shortened as a trade ship began to enter the docks, leaving no view for the boy to snap his photos. Letting out a soft sigh the photographer let his hands fall to his sides, his camera resting around his neck from the supportive strap entangled in the technologies clearings.

The young man having deemed his morning desire accomplished, retreated from the bow of the ship towards the stern where he quickly grabbed his old worn out satchel before disembarking the vessel and heading back towards town. By the time his feet met solid concrete the sun had officially rose fully into the sky, taking with it the pink and orange hue. The village temple rang out it's morning greeting to the people of Jasper Cove. The young man smiled to the waving neighbours who wished him good luck at his studies as per daily routine.

"Good morning Chanyeol how are you my boy?" Mr Jung questioned, his eyebrow raised as the young male entered his bakery with a polite smile and a bow for welcoming.

"Good morning Mr Jung, I am quite calm and relaxed this morning" Chanyeol admitted, his eyes sparkling at the delicious looking treats and pastries lined in different display cabinets that divided the bakery into two. One side focusing mainly on special occasion treats such as cakes and cupcakes, both deliciously coated in either frosting or cream, while also being decorated with flowers or fruits. The other side of the bakery consisted of pastries like croissants, tarts, pies, doughnuts and other cakes for simple cravings instead of outgoing details like the birthday or anniversary selection.

"Any new photos of yours?" The baker inquired, already preparing the sweet treats he knew the younger boy would be more than delighted to taste. "I must say Chanyeol my boy, you really do have a keen eye for projects such as this"

Chanyeol passed his camera to the man that had gifted it to him all those years ago. Mr Jung took the device into his hands excited to see the beautiful landscapes Chanyeol would usually insist on taking pictures of, however the sight of the leaping dolphins against the backdrop of a morning sunrise made the baker loose his breath at the beauty. "It isn't like what I'm used to taking pictures of is it?"

"No, it is not but it really is beautiful Chanyeol, the way you managed to capture the dolphins and the sunrise.. it's truly magnificent" Mr Jung smiled, placing the camera down on the counter since it's owner was too busy chewing happily on an Elmo themed cupcake.

"Thank you uncle" Chanyeol mumbled through the food in his mouth, he continued on when he swallowed. "I was thinking about going up to the mountain peak this afternoon after I take a dip in the ocean later, will you be able to-"

"Keep your friends distracted for a little while? No problem at all" Mr Jung nodded with a deep chuckle radiating from his throat. Chanyeol smiled having asked that favour from his friend on more than one occasion. "Jeez I remember when I was in college, I never had as much popularity as you do now of course, whose party are you trying to avoid today I wonder?"

"Some freshman's, I have no idea where it is or why my friends want to go but apparently it's the perfect place to blow off some steam from the first semester" The boy shrugged, his gaze however held onto one of the doughnuts Mr Jung had given him in the box filled with treats.

"Don't you think it would be a good excuse for you to let out all that stress from the semester?" Mr Jung asked already knowing the outcome of the answer. Although Chanyeol often kept things to himself the baker found it somewhat easy to figure the boy out since he had witnessed him grow from a very young age.

"Nope, I don't think loud music and alcohol is a stress reliever, it just calls for hangovers and serious headaches.. a long walk or a dip in the water is enough for me uncle"

"You say that but you're studying music in college Chanyeol" Mr Jung laughed reaching across the counter to pat the boy on his shoulder. Chanyeol nodded in acknowledgement however he briefly explained that he would eventually attend a party to at least understand the music that plays, however club music would never be his escape from the real world.

"I'm going to have to get going hyung, I can't be late again otherwise Ms Choi will clatter me across the head and I don't need another bump to add to the collection" Chanyeol exclaimed once he noticed the time displayed on the clock behind his uncle's head. He stuffed a doughnut into his mouth, grabbed his camera and rushed out of the small building with only a wave to gesture his departure.

Mr Jung laughed quietly to himself, wiping the counter free of the crumbs that had fallen from the young college student's early morning breakfast. He had hoped to have been able to give the bakery to Chanyeol once he retired but having seen that boy's dreams landed elsewhere, he would have to pass his legacy on to another.

Chanyeol found himself humming a soft tune as he continued through the village square, his eyes scanning through the buildings surrounding him on his journey. The village had very compact buildings grouped close together making it easier for reasons Chanyeol didn't fully understand.

"Hyung!" Somebody screamed, their voice bouncing off the buildings adding to the echo, Chanyeol halted in his steps immediately recognizing the voice that had called out.

"Oh Sehun why aren't you helping your father at his stall in the market?" Chanyeol questioned his eyebrow raised at the panting boy before him. Sehun coughed dramatically, his otherwise built body folding upon itself as he acted as if he was choking up a lung. On any other occasion Chanyeol would be a very concerned friend but since he was still salty about the whole trade ship cutting his photoshoot short this morning, he believed that he would be like this until (at least) lunch.

Sehun who seemed to catch on to his hyung's dull mood quickly recovered himself, standing straight, his breathing seemingly fine now. "Yes I am doing exactly that, but we got a new shipment of foods in today so I'll have to go to the docks before school, I'll get there in time for classes but I was supposed to meet up with Suho this morning and since he's still learning his way around campus I feel guilty not being able to help him out"

"So you're forcing that burden onto my shoulders huh?"

Sehun in a breath that sounded almost like a hiss, Chanyeol could see just how much Sehun was struggling to just come out and say what he obviously needed his hyung to do. "I was just wondering if you could just step in for me today, show him around a bit until I get off my shift. But I can see that something is bugging you hyung so I guess I'll have to find someone else, say do you know what Jongin is doing this morning?"

"You want Kim Jongin to show your lover around the campus?" Chanyeol gasped, his naturally big eyes widening in shock. Kim Jongin otherwise known as Kai was the campus playboy, he practically flirted and dated everyone he could get his fingers into (literally).

"Of course not but he is still technically our friend and I want my baby to have a good time but since my best friend has something shoved up his hole this morning I don't have much choice now do I?"

"Why can't you ask Minseok I'm sure he would happily show Suho around, besides it wasn't that long since he appeared on the island. At least they can bond over Minseok's experiences as a newbie too"

Sehun's eyes widened at the thought, he had never thought of asking Minseok-hyung to show Suho around the campus. It made sense for someone who had just moved to Jasper Cove not that long ago to show a fellow newbie around the campus, at least then Suho wouldn't be with someone who he would feel completely uncomfortable with. "Hyung I could kiss you and your big fat brain" Sehun shrieked his hands meeting together in a soft excited clap. Chanyeol watched him slightly disgusted however after the obviously unbothered look his best friend sent him, Chanyeol could tell no matter what facial expression he pulled Sehun still wouldn't give a .

"So I'll see you at lunch then yeah?" the taller out of the two wondered, tightening his grip on his satchel strap.

"Yep, oh and have you heard about the college party later? It's going to be amazing are you com-"

"Goodbye Sehun!" Chanyeol shouted having already put large enough gaps between himself and the blonde. To add fuel to Sehun's fire Chanyeol sent him a small smile and wave to tick the latter off more.

"I'm so going to get you back for ignoring me!" the younger screamed after the now running giant, who laughed wholeheartedly at the small speck his best friend had turned into after having run up the easy accessible hill in the centre of the village.

Chanyeol sent the speck one last wave, he had to squint his eyes in order to see the very obvious middle finger the latter was sending him back. Chuckling quietly to himself Chanyeol his heel and proceeded into the campus grounds, the air was slightly more thinner than that of down the hill but Chanyeol liked the thought of being closer to the sky this way. The best part however was that his homeroom class overlooked the entire ocean that surrounded the island he was currently harboured in.

Slipping into his chair Chanyeol's eyes instantly found the deep blue that had always seemed to notice his stares. Whenever the student's gaze drifted for a moment something would spring from the water to try and get his attention once again, whether it was a fish, a dolphin and even a whale, no matter what surprise leaped from the blue waves Chanyeol would often always find himself longing to glance back to the ocean.

Chanyeol was more than excited when he was finally able to focus solely on his music, his computer having been powering up while Ms Choi ran through the homework she had assigned for the night before. Although this particular part of the class was always the nosiest due to the people who were unable to hold their thoughts to themselves.

"Hey Ms Choi is it true about what AJ was talking about yesterday?" A female student wondered, her hand raised so Ms Choi would know exactly which student she needed to explain things to. Chanyeol continued on with his work however he turned down the volume of the music coming through his headphones, curiosity taking over. He wasn't entirely sure as to what the girl with auburn hair was referring to, but figured it would eventually be explained to him by his teacher.

"About the mermaids that used to live in our waters?" Ms Choi begun, her perfectly sculptured eyebrows furrowing together in the centre of her head. It was clear that she didn't actually know what part of the speech that AJ had delivered her student was curious about, however when she had guessed correctly Chanyeol noticed the slight tension the woman had in her shoulders. "Why that's only a legend!" she cried yet her words weren't accepted. The students groaned and shook their heads, obviously upset about the outcome.

"Tell us more about them Ms! You're mother is the eldest person in Jasper Cove surely she would have told you about the 1940 sightings!" Another student shouted, Chanyeol rolled his eyes at his classmates stupidity, surely there was no such thing as mermaids. The legend was simply that; a legend. For centuries it spread like wildfire beginning in their town before polluting the outside world, Chanyeol knew nearly all of the sightings had been debunked as mistaken identities from other sea animals like mannites and Jasper Cove had a lot of those swimming around in the waters.

"Well everyone knows about the sightings that happened off the coast of our island, Yuki Yeon was a tradesman often selling his materials to the mainland and the other islands surrounding our own. He was a very nice man who always put other's before himself, which would ultimately be the cause of his suffering"

Chanyeol was somehow fascinated in the story that was beginning to unfold before his very ears, he took off his headphones and focused his full attention on his teacher who had sat herself down at the front of her desk. Her long black curled hair cascaded down her pale skin like waves, her blue eyes piercing like the ocean itself, making it obvious that she was a very attractive woman.

"On a day like no other Yuki Yeon went out on his boat with the idea of heading towards Crystal Cove our neighbouring island, he was planning on selling some of the lobsters and other fishes that he had caught earlier that morning when all of a sudden he heard this beautiful song drifting through the air. Obviously he would have been confused about where the song was coming from after having been so far out from any of the shorelines, yet legend says he couldn't help but want to follow it.

"His boat took him a majority of the way around our island until he landed at the bottom of Mountain Peak, everyone nowadays knows about the cave located at the base and how we advice everyone to stay away from it due to the dangerous rocks and unstable ground, yet back then it was just simply another cave. The song was said be coming from inside, so without much consideration Yuki entered and what he laid his eyes on, is said to have been a horrible sight"

"But Ms I thought mermaids are supposed to be beautiful with blonde hair, sea green eyes and large s" A guy from the back row interrupted, both of his arms were outstretched while his hands were cupped facing his body indicting just how big he thought their s to be. Ms Choi let out a obvious disappointed sigh, for a college student she expected a little more maturity.

"That is what the outside world thought, mermaids at Jasper Cove are not beautiful nor do they have large s Ha Yoon. Their skin is said to be wrinkly and grey with greenish hair, their eyes are a deep ocean blue colour-"

"What about their tails? I heard they are like a sharks!"

"Well I wouldn't know about their tails now, the legend only states that Yuki seen a mermaid with grey skin, blue eyes, green hair and obviously had the lower body of a fish. The creature was surrounded with human bones from vanishing sailors or missing people from cases that had run cold all too quickly, Yuki was never the same after the encounter, he made sure to make himself scare the moment the creature looked up from the water within the cave. He raced back to his boat in order to find people to share his story with"

Chanyeol raised his hand curiosity getting the better of him once more. "Ms, what happened to Yuki after the encounter?"

Ms Choi seemed to have difficulty coming up with a reasonable answer to offer to her awaiting students, after a couple moments of silence she breathed a breath before facing Chanyeol completely. "The village people locked him up in the dungeon under the temple, they thought that he had simply gone crazy by the creatures magic, that's if she even had any.. yet when more people began to disappear in our waters, a group of brave men were sent out to see if Yuki's words were in fact true, each one came back with a different story yet all of them had the exact same ending, they had driven the monster away watching with their torches and knifes as the creature escaped back into the ocean on the far side of the cliff. When news spread that we had encountered a mermaid thousands of people from all over the world came to visit the once sacred place, yet eventually the tourists stopped coming and the cave fell back into nature's ways, crumbling under the weight of the mountain above it

"Yuki was released from his prison and escorted home to his wife and children however when they awoke at dawn Yuki was gone, but his boat was still in the marina. Everyone eventually believed that he had been taken away once again by the mermaids song that lured him just far enough so she could fall through with her revenge"

"Why was she so revengeful?" The girl that started this whole story time asked. Chanyeol looked up to his teacher expecting her to delay her answer like she had done so far with the others. Yet this question had an easy solution.

"Yuki had found her home, he was the cause of her having to leave it.. if he hadn't have found her then she would have been able to remain there for a lot longer than anyone now could guess, I mean imagine a group of men arriving at your home in the middle of the night giving you two options; either leave the home you have built for yourself or die. I don't think that the creature deserved something so cruel, no one could prove that she had been the one to kill the humans whose bones Yuki discovered but she was still accused"

"Just like the Salem witch trials too am I right?"

Ms Choi chuckled shaking her head before standing onto her feet once more. "Now now Ha Yoon, witches are a completely different topic of conversation"

Chanyeol nodded, witches were indeed a different topic of conversation, one that he would be ignoring if his fellow peers decided to start discussing them.