"You shine like the stars, you light up my heart."

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"You are not going to cross this line."

"I won't let you." Minghao warns, his own eyes burning with some sort of emotion that was unknown to the eyes of the girl. Anger? Frustration? Gaeul doesn't know. Perhaps a little bit of hesitance in his voice if she were to be correct. Minghao was furious, and it showed from the veins that popped as he gripped onto the rope so tightly; so tight that you'd think he was about to fall off the bridge.

The wind did not make her waver. In fact, Minghao thought, that the way her hair blew in the wind and her eyes that gleamed with determination reminded him of his own mother, a long time ago. And he knows well enough that his mother doesn't back off very easily. Especially not in an argument.

So does this girl.

"You're going to fall." Minghao says warily, eyes darting from Gaeul's feet to the continuously swaying bridge. "Don't do it. Don't you dare."

"So what if I do?" Gaeul takes a bold step forward, and Minghao almost loses everything; he almost steps forward to rescue her, almost rushes to push her back to safety.

"You think I'd let you leave on your own? You even skipped jam duty! Twice!  What the hell is going on here?" Gaeul almost yells at him, and though they weren't too far apart from each other, her voice echoed through the dark. It tore the silence like the swift movement of a blade, slicing through the air.

"Oh screw that; why did you follow me here?" Minghao is outraged as to how the girl had managed to walk through the forest with a pair of the castle slippers, eventually losing them midway and transitioning to walk barefoot.

Gaeul takes another step forward. She would run if she could. If only the bridge wasn't so on edge.

"Because I knew you were up to something shady!" Gaeul answers. "You just- you just sort of left!  Without telling me! And the Prince's coronation isn't even a big deal at this point! I'm worried about where you've been disappearing into the night and appearing in the morning like nothing ever happened."

"Yeah well, I clearly don't wanna talk about it." Minghao rolls his eyes, sure that Gaeul couldn't hear his response from that far. The baker is slightly ticked off at Gaeul for doing things she wasn't supposed to do, or be involved in the things that she had no idea what would get her into. Minghao had lost enough loved ones. He couldn't risk another close friend.

"Listen. Please, just go home, Gaeul. I can't have you scuttling around after me."

"Why won't you tell me where you're going?"

"Because I've told you — it's dangerous!"

"That's for me to decide!"

"Working with Hook is dangerous! There — I said it!"

The silence takes Minghao by surprise; for someone who had yelled at him for disappearing into nothingness several days ago, he didn't expect Gaeul to remain quiet at all. All he could hear was the sound of his voice echoing, followed by the flap of a bird's wings from a nearby distance, fleeing from the sudden noise. Somehow, it just slipped out of his mouth out of frustration.

Gaeul, on the other hand looked surprisingly calm. Minghao was sure this wasn't her first time hearing this news. Those damn castle maids and their gossipy habits.

Minghao sighs, and turns around to walk away, in hopes that the silence from the girl would finally make her come to her senses and realize what she would get into if she were to be involved with Minghao. Some things just can't be avoided, and that was the case for Minghao, if it meant saving the ones he loved.

A loud snapping sound made Minghao jump, and as he turned around, all he could see was the motion of a figure that had leapt up and tackled him down before he could even bat an eye, both now in pain on the earthy ground. When Minghao finally clears his vision, Gaeul was right next to him; and the sight behind her, the hanging bridge was gone.

He scrambled to look over the edge of the cliff where the ropes had just been tied to the pole. The hanging bridge had completely disappeared down the cliff and into the abyss where he could not see anymore, the only remains being its rope. Minghao turned to face the girl and looked at her if she was crazy.

"You haven't told me about your family," Gaeul gets off the ground and attempts to brush away the smudges on her clothes. She walks up to him and crouches down in front of Minghao.

"Listen. I'm sure you've got your own reasons to work with Hook. If anything, I just want to get you out of his hands. It's suffocating, that's what I know at least." Gaeul says, finding the eyes of the other boy which were only lit by the small lantern he was holding. "I genuinely think you're not a bad person, and that if anything, you'd be the last person who would agree to work with Hook."

Minghao looked a little nervous, or that could just be Gaeul's imagination.

"It's my dad." Minghao lets out a long sigh, and Gaeul feels a weight lifted off her shoulders once he says that. "He's forced to work on the ship. If I want to bail him out, I'd have to pay Hook with gold."

"And how long have you been at this?"

"Four Neverlandic years."

Gaeul doesn't say anything, but helps the boy up in response. She walks in front of Minghao, and the boy only follows quietly from behind, the dim lantern of his father's (the last memento he owns of him) in hand. They eventually ended up by the beach, where the Mermaid Cove was located nearby.

The beach was absolutely gorgeous even under the moonlight. The gentle crash of the waves on the shore was strangely soothing. Gaeul hadn't heard such sounds in a while; not ever since she had been busy for Junhui's coronation day in the castle. It had been absolutely hectic; what more when Minghao just tends to disappear whenever night falls. She finds herself staring at the waves a little too long, discovering Minghao had left her behind.

"Listen, Gaeul. I really don't think this is a good idea. Please, just go back to the castle and get some sleep." Minghao pleads, for the first time, where she could just feel his sincerity in that question. Gaeul didn't feel like leaving him alone, felt like she would spy on him for a few more hours before actually returning, just to see where he was heading.

"Look. I appreciate your concern towards me; I really do. But this is just not the business that I want you to be involved with. We live separate lives, Gaeul. You are a mere human from the real world, and I remain here forever. Even though we're right next to each other, or even friends -- perhaps -- there are boundaries I don't want you to overstep-"

"Minghao?"

A voice had cut off his words. Minghao turned in order to find the familiar voice that called for him.

"What are both of you doing here?" Jeonghan asks. The boy who worked in the kitchen, was also the Prince of the Mermaid Cove. well, not literally a prince--just nicknamed one after his good looks. But honestly, if he were to admit that he actually was one, Gaeul would not be surprised.

Minghao breaks into a smile at the sight of Jeonghan. They were not as close, but they've seen each other several times in the palace before as they work in the kitchen. Minghao knew of Jeonghan's transformation as night falls; where his two legs merge together to form a magnificent tail; one with scales that reflected the sunlight and shifted into a different colour with every move.

"Oh Jeonghan. I'm so thankful you're here. Listen, I need you to take her back to the castle." Jeonghan's eyes landed on the petite girl next to Minghao, who looked rather as if she had strongly disagreed with the boy's statement. "Please take her back quickly, it's dangerous here at night."

"I told you I'm coming with you." Gaeul refuses.

"By any chance, Minghao, do you still happen to be working with Hook?"

Minghao's facial expression changed. It darkened, to be more specific, and Gaeul felt a sense of fear tingling inside of her.

"I wish it were a choice, alright. Now that you know, you might as well get out of here, will you? Take her as well." Minghao grabs the girl's arm and shoves it into one of Jeonghan's palms, leaving them in a very awkward and uncomfortable situation.

"Now please, get out of here. I don't want any of you fools disrupting my plan."

Gaeul opened her mouth to say something. Her lips parted, her words ready to come out to fight for her own opinion; for her to tell him that neither she nor Jeonghan were damn fools, for her to stand next to Minghao ready to risk it all if she had to save his life, or his father's life, or anybody that he loved. It was the first time she had felt so strongly for helping someone, especially a friend, since Minghao has helped her throughout her stay into the castle. Besides, Gaeul felt sorry that an intruder like her had broken into Minghao's kitchen; the man who had worked so hard to work in the palace by entering countless of bake-offs in the village.

But Jeonghan had gently closed her mouth for her before she could say anything, pushing her chin upwards as a motion to close. He looks at her and back at Minghao, then gently motions for her to walk along with him.

"Come along now," He says, taking Gaeul by the wrist. "I'm sure Minghao means no harm. He is only worried for you."

"But it pains me to see him having to face that alone and not having anyone to share it with."

Jeonghan throws his head back and laughs. Gaeul us a little dumbfounded, what a strange person, she had thought, but realized that Jeonghan was indeed charming all at once. No wonder he was the most prized treasure of the Mermaid Cove.

They stopped in front of the crashing waves, where Gaeul had allowed the foams of the waves to clean the soil underneath her feet, a result of walking barefoot through the forest. It feels refreshing, and it reminded her of the time where she and Chan had the time of their lives during the trip they had went with their family during the summer they were still children.

"I don't think it is safe to walk back to the castle at this time." Jeonghan says and his eyes trail further, where the Mermaid Cove was located. "I think it is best if you come with me."

"Where to?"

"My home."

"Isn't that place only for mermaids?"

Once again, Jeonghan breaks into laughter. "You're quite the amusing one, you know that? Don't worry. We'll only camp out in one of the many coves in the area. Now come along." Jeonghan leads the way, where he brought Gaeul further from the many grains of sand and onto slippery and solid rocks, where the sea seemed to turn into a different shade of emerald. It was a truly magical sight to Gaeul, who has not seen such color of the sea before. Their feet sank into the water once again as they entered a large cove; its rock as if made out of glass, translucent but dense like an iceberg. Gaeul was sure none of these existed in real life, and it was truly a breathtaking sight to see.

"Come, come sit with me." jeonghan patted the seat next to him; another one of those glassy rocks that seemed to be smaller in size and flatter in terms of surface. Gaeul was a little hesitant, as sitting on them might cause them to break, although she knew well that they were not as fragile as they ought to look.

The moment Gaeul sat down, the cove shook.

It was not the type of movement that was similar to that of an earthquake, but it was eerily subtle. When Gaeul had met eyes with Jeonghan, she knew well that it was not just her imagination. Then it happened again, and this time -- harder. It happened again, and again, and again, until it had caused both Jeonghan and Gaeul to topple over each other, limbs all over the place, losing their balance with the repetitive shaking.

"What's going on?" Gaeul asks as they scrambled to a smaller space behind the very few rocks that acted as a wall. Jeonghan's face became stern and full of hatred, as if extremely offended from the one that had caused such a commotion.

"They're here," he finally whispered after a while. "The pirates."

And he was right. Gaeul could hear them -- she could hear them well. The men howled and cheered and whistled to no end; disrupting the usual peaceful and serene atmosphere that the Mermaid Cove held. It seemed like it was never going to end, those jerks that were causing a ruckus from up above the cove that both of them were in.

"Seems like they're using my land as a parking spot for their stupid ship, is it?" Jeonghan says through gritted teeth, and Gaeul doesn't know how to respond. The question that keeps replaying into her mind is what the hell Minghao was doing up there, along with the other awfully noisy men.

Just when Gaeul thought they were going to do nothing but stay put until dawn arrives and the pirates leave, Jeonghan had brought out some sort of dagger -- one that had a blade that resembled the glass stone of the cove they resided. She felt her pulse quicken when Jeonghan had shielded her from something, signaling that she stand behind him.

"They're nearby. They come for the pearls. Our pearls." Jeonghan says, peering through the small gaps between the rocks where they hid quietly. Gaeul could not grasp what he said until she actually catches a glimpse of several movements from a few figures in front of her. The two men who were stealthily trying to enter the cove from another entrance that was different than the one Jeonghan had brought her through.

"They've been trying to get them for years, those pearls. They're not supposed to know where we mermen hide them. But they seem to have found out the correct cove." Jeonghan raises a finger and points towards the rocks that were situated opposite of where they hid, "see those? The pearls are hidden in some of those rocks. They'll get them if I don't stop them."

Gaeul gives Jeonghan a look.

"Oh no, please no. first Minghao, and now you-"

"If they call me the prince of the Mermaid Cove, then I should at least live up to it, aren't I right?" Jeonghan offers her a sheepish smile. "Honestly. What the hell is the royal family doing? The security around this area is extremely faulty."

Gaeul completely ignored his statement and grabbed him tightly by the arm, "Are you really going to leave?"

Jeonghan thinks Gaeul reminds him of his little sister, in many ways more than one. He doesn't really like to reminisce about it, though; the moment when his sister had thrown all her loyalty towards her kingdom away, solely for one mere human. Pah, a human! Beings that never learn to put an end to their greed -- so very similar to these pirates in a way. How could his sister sacrifice her tail forever for a mere human who never loved her back?

Jeonghan wanted to tell Gaeul that he wished he didn't have to. "Well, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

Gaeul's eyebrows furrowed. "Then a woman's gotta do what she has to do as well -- fight alongside the men. Don't leave me here. I hate being useless, especially when your life is on the line."

Jeonghan sighed. Alright.

He brings out something from the inside of his shirt and rips it off from his neck - a seashell that was tied to a string.  The necklace his father had gifted him when he was born, charmed with the spell of his mother. He places it on top of Gaeul's hand.

"Send a message about me and throw this shell into the sea. They'll find me sooner or later." Jeonghan smiled, and before Gaeul was able to stop him any further, he had left quietly for the two men, hiding behind the tall rocks as he approached closer. Gaeul stared at the seashell, in an attempt to figure out who the hell he meant when he referred to they.

"Jeonghan's in trouble, pirates are out to get him. Please! Please come soon, Jeonghan is in trouble!" Gaeul half-whispers, eyes darting back and forth towards the gap between the rocks, where she could clearly see him fighting off the men who were laying their hands on one of the stones that held the pearl. Gaeul then hesitantly, lets the seashell sink down into the water, deeper, until she could no longer see it anymore.

The moment she raised her head to look if Jeonghan had shooed them away, he was gone.

The next moment she turned around, a large, unfamiliar man; with an iron hook for a hand; was staring down at her, baring all his teeth at her to what seemed like a grin.

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it's been AGES

happy birthday joshua stay thicc

There will be joshua content soon i promise