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Usually, in Hongjoong’s life, things didn’t really go according to his wishes.
However, even though he ended up here as the captain of Ghost ship, he thinks it couldn’t have been all bad. He’s got a good crew, a good ship, and days upon days of freedom and time sailing the open waters, his most recent treasures locked away in his quarters.
But of course.
Things can never go to plan.
Waking up wet and cold, with the ocean tide lapping at his legs where he lay on a dirtied beach, when he should have woken up either in his bed aboard the Ghost or with his cheek pressed to his desk, was not at all what he had in mind.
He squinted his eyes open, or tried to, wincing as he could just barely open his right eye, his left seemingly a lost cause. The captain lifted a weary hand to his face to try cleaning off the sand that has set on him, giving a small hiss of pain as the grains rubbed uncomfortably over his skin.
He laid there a few more moments in a grumpy sort of despair before forcing himself to sit up, leering at the ocean that seemed to be laughing at him and all his misfortune. How the fuck did he end up here.
In a huff of frustration, he looked around glumly at the island. Although Hongjoong has travelled for years, seeing sights no ordinary man could dream of, he had no recognition of where he was and so he sighed and resolved himself to having to wait for the night sky and hope the stars would give him a clue of guidance.
The young captain sat there for many more minutes as he took in his situation before angrily standing up and stripping off his waterlogged clothes in hope they’d dry in the heat of the sun.
He saw no sign of his ship or crew, ruling out a shipwreck from a storm and he couldn’t help the angry shout of frustration. His crew were good men, they wouldn’t just dump him and leave him behind, so how the hell did he get here?
And just as he was about to sit back down on the sand, in nothing but a loose pair of cotton shorts, he caught a glimpse of curious eyes peering at him from over the rocks.
He scowled and turned towards it, but the.. the thing, he couldn’t quite tell what it was, suddenly leaned up and hissed at him, a sharp and unpleasant noise while showing off large and sharp teeth, and suddenly Hongjoong wasn’t feeling as brave anymore and planted his ass back down on the beach, watching the creature as it slunk back down and continued to stare from his perch.
Hongjoong sighed and leaned back on the sand, staring out at the horizon as the wispy golden light of the sun setting began to turn the sea and sky a glorious orange and pink.
He was no stranger to the wild folk, and whatever this one was just seemed more curious than anything else.
He was content to let the thing stare as he gathered himself.
As the sun disappeared into the ocean, Hongjoong noted his clothes were still wet but dry enough he could put them on and get moving to do something. What, he wasn’t exactly sure, but something was better than nothing he supposed.
He looked back towards the rocks as he moved to leave, disappointed but not entirely surprised to see the creature had disappeared.
He too left.
Around three days had passed, and the stars were absolutely no help to Hongjoong whatsoever. He had no clue where he was, no clue where his ship was, and this fucking thing was always fucking watching him whenever he was near the ocean.
Thankfully, the island had a variety of fruits and various locations of freshwater so he wouldn’t starve or dehydrate during his visit, and he was able to tear off part of his shirt to wrap around his head to cover his left eye. He wasn’t sure exactly what was up with it, but it hurt, and he felt keeping it covered would be the best course of action.
But alas, he could see the storm clouds rolling in.
And the one thing he had not been able to find or successfully create, was shelter.
He had hoped he wouldn’t have to, but the clouds were dangerously close, and this was his last option, so he swiftly made his way to the rocks where he first met the creature in hopes of a safe cave in the mount to wait out the impending storm.
The creature was there, to no surprise, chewing on what looked to be seaweed? Hongjoong wasn’t really sure, but he pressed on anyway, climbing up the rocks and cautiously giving the creature a wide berth.
It called out to him, a soft inquisitive noise, and Hongjoong looked towards it before continuing on.
It called again, and the captain startled when he felt a soft almost touch graze his ankle. He looked down, it was much closer than he expected, sitting peacefully on the rocks with a long silver-like tail spread out beginning from the small of his waist and stretched at least 2 meters across the rocks, a shy webbed hand gently grasping at Hongjoong’s trousers. Hongjoong looked closer, noting how his hands, pointed ears and his shoulders were tinged a deep blue that faded out into a more normal looking pale skin tone.
The thing cooed at him again and tugged, offering up a sample of his seaweed snack.
“Um,” said Hongjoong impressively. “Thanks.. I think.”
He took the seaweed, and after a moment of deliberation ate it as to not upset the beautiful siren like creature below him.
It cooed happily at him and tugged him down to sit next to it, Hongjoong looked anxiously at the quickly greying sky, but was distracted easily yet again as the creature pressed more seaweed to his lips with curious fingers. Hongjoong stared deeply at the mer-creature, accepting each press of food it gave him.
Once the mer had run out of the admittedly quite disgusting snack, it busied itself by pressing curious fingers at Hongjoong’s body, trilling softly as it tugged at the cloth over his eye.
Hongjoong grumbled and leaned away from it, but it gave a small hiss of displeasure and tugged his head back into place, trilling soothingly again as it pulled the cloth away.
The next few moments of silence were deafening for Hongjoong as he forced himself to remain still as the creature peered curiously at his injured eye. It was swollen and sore, most likely red with infection too. The creature cooed comfortingly at him, reaching a clumsy hand up to pet at the captains hair, and after a few tense moments the captain sighed and dropped his head to the siren’s shoulder, allowing the mercreature to fuss and pet over him.
“Can you speak?” asked Hongjoong quietly, and the mer only hummed in response.
“A storm’s coming.. Is there shelter here?”
The mer hummed again and continued to nuzzle at the pirate. Hongjoong sighed, he was confused as shit and the incoming storm lit his nerves on fire.
“Listen, um.. I don’ know yer name, treasure. But I hav’ to get inside somewhere.”
The mer stroked a soothing hand through Hongjoong’s hair and partly down his spine until a loud boom of thunder made it jump and hiss in surprise. It looked to the sky and scowled, and quickly slithered off back into the ocean, leaving Hongjoong alone.
The captain grunted again in displeasure but stood, thankfully spying a cave he could settle in not too far from where he stood.
After tying the cloth back around his sore eye, he continued on and pushed all thoughts of the alluring siren to the side.
Hongjoong tread carefully into the thin cave, grateful at the sturdy walls. It would truly suck if it were to collapse and either crush him or trap him inside.
After a fair bit of walking, he came across a widened area with a few holes at the roof of it, enough to bring in light from the sun which allowed Hongjoong to see the pool of water that filled the rest of the cave like a wide pond. He sighed, he feels he’s sighed more in the last three days than he ever has before in his life, and sits down at the edge of the pool of water.
Time passes slowly.
The sun set, the storm had begun howling outside, and only a few slithers of moonlight lit up the cave from the outside. Hongjoong leaned back on the cold, hard floor with his arms bent under his head to be more comfortable, hoping to settle for even a few hours of sleep.
But of course, it’s never that easy.
A soft splash sounds from the water, and Hongjoong has one guess of what, or who, it could be.
“That you, treasure?”
The mer trilled at him, and suddenly there was a heavy weight pressing down on Hongjoong’s chest, cooing and fawning over him.
The captain grunted out his complaint, shoving the mer off him and too the side, but nonetheless allowing it to cuddle and press itself into Hongjoong’s side.
“You’re a needy one aye?” he huffed, moving one of his arms to rest his hand over the siren’s head to try coax it to settle so he could sleep. “Hush now, precious. Settle.”
The siren hums wistfully, and Hongjoong thinks what a weird fucking turn of events his life has experienced in the last few days.
Though he can’t complain too much he thinks as he looks down at the mer on his chest, settled contently and already snoozing away. What a beautiful and sweet thing he is, despite the sharp claws and teeth.
Hongjoong, oddly enough, has never felt more at peace than now, cradling his now most precious jewel in his arms as they lay together on the hard floor, the tip of the mer’s tail dipped into the ocean water.
“Pretty thing, hm?” He stroked the siren’s hair gently and closed his eyes so he too could rest.
He was sure the lovely creature would still be with him when the storm passed and morning came.