It was summer break and as it had been a long time ritual for the family to do, they were now headed up to the family's lake house and would be staying from June to August. It was a ritual Elliya had been dreading for the past few years now especially after her grandfather, who's cabin they were staying at, had died the previous year leaving the grandchildren the place in his will. When the next planned trip to go up happened she wanted to decline, even tried to, but her older brother Jaehwan and younger brother Hyuk had guilt tripped her, the middle child, into going along with them in the end. Elliya didn't understand why they kept wanting to drag along when they knew how she felt about the water and she couldn't even swim. What fun could possible be had when that was all there really was to do up there was swimming in the lake.

She felt like an outsider sitting in the passenger seat, staring out at the passing scenery. Jaehwan was driving the car, Hyuk was squished in the backseat with his best friend Hongbin and two other girls one of whom was her friend Tori who invited another friend Aerin, who Elliya knew her older brother had a crush on and was going to attempt to woo her on this trip. Still even with the people she felt closest to she couldn't help but feel like the odd man out in this little group. She was the only of them that couldn't swim despite being twenty-one years old.

Long ago she had tried to learn when she was a kid but it had almost been her end. When she four or five years old she had wandered off on her own down to the dock although she had been lectured not to without someone with her. Elliya had done so anyway and regretted it when she ended up falling into the water after dropping a toy for which she had been trying to retrieve. She didn't remember much of what happened only the coldness of the water, struggling to breath as cold water burned down and choked her, flailing her arms and legs while coughing when she managed to reach the surface for a few seconds before going under again, screaming and crying for her brother or anybody really to help her before finally going under for what she feared would be the final time as the darkness surrounded her. The next memory she had was waking up in the hospital with her family there looking relieved that she was alive, surprisingly no anger just relief. Jaehwan had been the one to jump into the lake and pulled her from the water in time.

Elliya never went near the water ever again after that.

There was something nudging at her arm and she grumpily tried to shake them off before realizing she had fallen asleep. She opened her eyes to come face to face with Jaehwan's face as he stood against the open passenger door.

“Wake up sleepy head we're here.” he teased.

Elliya rolled her eyes with a groan, tempted to also just roll out of the car but instead allowed his outstretched hand to help her sleepy out of the car. Following behind him as they went to get their bags from the trunk before joining the others on the short hike the rest of the way up to the cabin.

“Glad to see sleeping beauty join us.” Hyuk teased grinning.

She bent down to pick up a pebble and threw it at her bratty younger brother who let out a shout and ran away laughing. Hongbin followed after him with a chuckle. Jaehwan grinned slinging his arm around her shoulders to drag her along with him as they followed the others “little siblings are such a pain, don't you think Ell?”

She side eyed him “I know you're not comparing your little sister to that brat. There are plenty of bigger rocks around here, perfect size for throwing at older annoying brothers.”

He laughed out loud and quickly untangled his arm from around her “of course I wasn't comparing you two, not at all. Little sisters are better then little brothers.”

“That's what I thought I heard.”

The cabin was more than big enough for their small group with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. A basement that could be used for a large party of people but it was relegated for movie nights as they'd each make themselves comfy on the sectional sofa that expanded around the basement, a big screen television hanging in the front. Movies and video games were scattered about whether stacked on top of each other in rows or splayed out on the table. If they couldn't find anything they wanted to watch or play, it would surprise her. Elliya had always preferred just to sleep down there as opposed to a bed because it was so much more comfier then one.

There were two bedrooms with two beds for which one would be shared by Hyuk and Hongbin and the other would be share by Aerin and Tori. Jaehwan and Elliya would get their own rooms but she knew she would rather sleep in the basement still she placed her bags in the room anyway. The room would just be used for when she had to change clothes. Her friends had made her get a new bathing suit though she didn't understand why when they knew she wouldn't be going anywhere near the water. Not really understanding the point of it but since they volunteered to pay for it, 'just in case you change your mind Elli', she decided to humor them and allow it. Right now she was debating on whether or not to wear it underneath her tank top and shorts for when she was undoubtedly dragged along down to the dock later and decided to make an effort to at least seem like she would entertain the notion of finally learning to swim. The expectations of this happening were not high.

It was in the late afternoon after they had finally gotten themselves settled in did everyone, with the exception of Elliya of course, decide to go to the dock and take a dip in the lake. Jaehwan was busy chatting up a storm with Aerin as they walked down the hill. He appeared to be trying his best to flirt with her, it was pretty entertaining. Hyuk and Hongbin were teasing each other as usual while they walked in front of her and Tori. There was a nudge her side from said girl thus getting her attention towards her.

“So, do you think your brother has a chance with Aerin?” she asked.

“Who knows but it's fun to watch him try and even funnier if he fails.” Elliya replied with a evil grin.

“I don't know I think they'd be kinda cute together.”

“You brought her on purpose didn't you?”

“Maybe...” she feigned innocence at the accusation. Then she leaned closer to Elliya cupping a hand in front of as she whispered into the other girl's ear. “I hear Hongbin's single too.” Tori quickly backed away from her friend so as to not get hit when Elliya's face slightly got red and her eyes almost appeared to bug out of her head in shock.

“One, he's my brother's friend and he's walking right in front of us so shut the hell up! And two, I don't want you trying to play match maker for me.” she whispered back, glancing at said boy to make sure he couldn't hear their conversation otherwise she feared she'd die of embarrassment right there on the spot. Not to mention the non-stop teasing she'd probably receive from Hyuk if he even thought Elliya had a crush on Hongbin though she didn't like him in that way. That wasn't to say that she didn't find Hongbin extremely attractive but she had no plans on being more then just friends with him.

“Come on! You two would make a cute couple!” she whined.

Elliya rolled her eyes and pushed the girl in front of her “yeah, yeah, keep moving cupid.”

Tori gave a pout, barely keeping herself from stumbling into said subject of their conversation. “You're no fun Elli!”

“What are you talking about? I'm loads of fun.” she responded, deadpanned.

It was Tori's turn to roll her eyes but otherwise didn't say anything further on the matter. While the others chose their spots to place their things on the dock Elliya chose to stop just short of the dock. Instead she covered a large rock with her towel before finding a comfortable seat on it and took out a book to read while the others swam. Although from an outsider's point of view looking in at their group it might appear as though she was missing out on what others were doing but Elliya didn't see it that way. She was perfectly content with staying out of the water and reading provided her with enough entertainment.

She did watch them every now and then when she took a break from reading once to see Hyuk and Hongbin struggling to throw each other into the water; they both ended up falling in at the same time. Ken picked up an unsuspecting Aerin and jumped into the lake with her screaming as she hit the water. Tori laughed at the happenings before jumping into the water on her own, whether it was to avoid getting thrown in or not Elliya couldn't tell but laughed at the scene all the same. In all the chaos it was easy to miss that they weren't alone.

“I can' believe I let you drag me here just to watch some humans invade our territory.” A boy with blue hair griped wondering if he should just turn around and leave right at that moment.

“Why not? I think humans are interesting.” the boy with silver hair answered secretly wondering how much closer he could get without being seen.

“Interesting? What's so interesting about a bunch of murderers Hakyeon?” he glared distastefully at the group further down from them unbeknownst that they were being watched.

“These humans aren't the same as those ones Wonshik” Hakyeon glared back at his younger brother.

They're all the same to me.”

“Then go back if you want. I'm staying.” Hakyeon was about to make a move to get closer when a hand that was not Wonshik's gripped his shoulder tightly. The unexpected intruder caused them to shift unintentionally out of fear. Revealing their glowing electric yellow eyes, grew fin-like skin on their arms and in between their fingers and toes. Gills grew on the sides of their necks already making panicked squeaking sounds. They'd been caught having shifted and hoped the person wasn't one of the humans they had been spying on. He heard Wonshik let out a surprised chirp caused by air passing through his gills as they turned in unison to see their other brother Taekwoon's almost always serious looking expression glaring down at them.

“What are you two doing here?” Leo asked though the answer was pretty much obvious if he looked towards the dock down below.

“We just wanted to see the humans.” Hakyeon said after shifting back with Wonshik following suit.

“You know you're not suppose to be here.” he reminded Hakyeon before turning his attention to Wonshik “and I didn't think you would let him go, let alone tag along.” Taekwoon didn't allow either of them to give any more excuses as he was already pulling them away with a grip on them that was hard to break, not that that would stop Hakyeon from trying, “doesn't matter let's go before you get in even more trouble should dad find out.”

“I don't want to go back just yet.”

“You know the rules Hakyeon. No interacting with the humans more then necessary. And what would have you done looking as you were if it hadn't been me?”

He kept silent knowing they didn't have a valid answer for what they would have done because the thought had never crossed his mind. Not that Taekwoon gave him a chance to even reply as he turned his attention to Wonshik immediately for his turn to be lectured, “and you know better then to indulge him by going along with him. You have a bad temper when it comes to the humans which puts us at risk Wonshik so why would you willingly put yourself in a position that could turn out badly?” Wonshik was just as silent and tried to cover up the guilty look on his face at knowing that he was just as right about him as he had been about Hakyeon.

Taekwoon sighed and shook his head at the idiocy of his two brothers, one who was supposed to be the oldest yet made Taekwoon feel like he was the oldest instead and the other who was younger then him and tended to act like a little bother that needed to be watched just as much. Combined they both made him feel like he was older then he really was.

“Let's go. We need to get back before Dad starts wondering where you two are.” he said a little more gently then before. Though disappointed Hakyeon had no choice but to listen still, it didn't stop him from taking one last glimpse at the humans below, his gaze settling on the brunette girl who had stayed far behind the others. He wanted to know the reason she hadn't seemed to want to join them in the water. He couldn't imagine not wanting to go swimming whenever he could. Instead of getting an answer he followed his brothers back the way they had come through the forest.

A few days went by quickly with Elliya opting to stay back at the cabin while Hongbin, Hyuk, and Tori went out on a food run. Jaehwan had conferred with her that he was going to take Aerin out for a walk before the others got back. She tried her best to give him some advice on how to ask her out along with some sisterly teasingly before they left.

“Do you think I have a chance with her? I mean how could she not like me when I'm so cute and funny.” Jaehwan said.

Elliya rolled her eyes and bopped him on the head with her book “you have a less than zero percent chance with her. You also forgot to mention you're also annoying and loud” she teased.

“Yah! What kind of sister are you?” he quickly grabbed the book from her hands and ran away with it.

She chased after him “give it back Jaehwan or I'll tell Aerin every one of her your embarrassing childhood stories. You'll never get a date with her.”

He laughed while dangling the book over her head “okay, okay, I give up.”

Elliya took the book back from sending a glare at her brother while she tried to find the page she had been on previously. Instead of going back to reading once she had found the page she instead bookmarked the book.

“Don't worry Jaehwan. Why do you think Tori invited her along? She had a crush on you just as you have a crush on her.” she told him.

“Thanks Ell and if things work out I'll be sure to thank that nosy matchmaker too.” he chuckled and hugged his sister.

They heard some footsteps approaching them which could only belong to Aerin. She smiled at them though it was mostly directed towards Jaehwan as she asked, “you ready to go?”

He nodded with one last thankful glance at his sister “yeah, let's go. We'll be back when there's food.”

Elliya smiled and nodded, she watched them head out the front door and down a path. After they had disappeared from sight, her eyes drifted over to the dock. She put on some shoes before leaving to travel the dirt path down to the dock. Unsure of why she wanted to venture anywhere near the water when she had such a fear of it. It was a nice day to go for a walk and if she had any courage she would at least sit at the end of the dock with her exposed legs in the water but as she got closer to the dock that courage became slowly slipped away the closer she got.

Elliya stood at the beginning of the dock unable to go any further than that. She knew that she wasn't going to be able to attempt going into the water but she at least hoped she would gather enough courage to at least be able to join the others on the dock if not in the water. Still she couldn't quite make her feet move past where she stood. Just as she was about to give up and call it a day Elliya heard a rustling sound and spotted someone hiding behind some trees but was unable to recognize the person. When the figure realized they had been spotted they ran off.
 

“Hey, wait!” Elliya shouted taking off after them.

The girl tried her best to catch up to whomever it was that had been spying on her but they were faster then she initially thought. It was becoming too difficult to catch up to the stranger when they entered the forest and she wasn't sure if she could find her way back before nightfall. So she slowed down to catch her breath having lost sight of her target anyway. Looking around to see she was surrounded by nothing but large trees after having gotten turned all around and unable to find her way back the way she had come. She could hear the running stream of a river nearby. Though she really didn't want to go any further Elliya knew she had a better chance of finding her way back if she could get out of the forest first and being honest with herself that following the sound of the water would be her better option at the moment.

Once she could breath a little more calmly she began moving forward again. But Elliya made the mistake of not paying enough attention to where she was walking not realizing that the river was below a steep hill. That misstep had cost her dearly as she went tumbling down the hill barely getting enough time to yell out before harshly hitting the cold and fast moving water current. Almost immediately water began to choke her making the girl to become unable to push herself up to the surface to get air instead sinking deeper and deeper, down by the current. Limbs flailing wildly in hopes of magically learning how to swim to the surface or at least grab onto something that could be used to pull her out onto solid ground but to no avail. Elliya could feel herself tiring out and she was running out of what little breathe she had left to hold. Her arms and legs began to cease their movement, her eyes began to close unable to stave off the blackness any longer; her body had finally given up the fight.

But she was saved at the last moment.

There was a repeated pressure against her chest and she felt her body be forced on her side to cough up the water. Through the coughing and gasping and overall panicking Elliya forced her eyes open, albeit blurry and disoriented, she did manage to catch a glimpse of her savior before exhaustion once again took over. The last thing she remembered before falling back into unconsciousness was looking up at the human like creature and see glowing yellow eyes as well as the matching yellow iridescence along the edges of what appeared be gills on each side of his neck. It was male that much she could tell and he seemed to be looking down at her with such concern for her well being but his head looked up at sound of voices approaching, possibly her brothers and friends, and he quickly fled. By then Elliya was barely holding onto to consciousness but when she heard Jaehwan's voice she deemed it ok to close her eyes again.

Whether what she had seen was real or something brought on by panicked hallucinations she knew she had to find him again. Even if it was just so she could at least thank him for saving her.