ambrosia [NCT DREAM]

23. I Hate Boats, Renjun Hates Me

The group found themselves in a sleepy town with fishing docks and a few small boats docked on the shore. It was evening and if you asked Jaemin, he'd say that the quest was going pretty fuckin' badly. Already, they had to flee the country that they were told to go to and still Jaemin had no idea what they were even looking for! The sun was still missing and no one had any idea why. And it was only the first day! It was a mess, for sure.

So, they decided to take a break here in this town while Mark attempted to ask the fishermen about their boats and try to haggle a voyage out of them. So far, though, everyone had turned him away.

So they waited. Chenle threw a dead fish at Yangyang, who screamed until he realized that it passed straight through him. Donghyuck stood near Jaemin as they walked up and down the nearby pier together and didn't notice Renjun's sour expression at all. Jeno looked on too, pouting and messing with the fidget cube that Donghyuck let him borrow. Neither Jeno, not Renjun looked too amused and Jaemin wondered if they felt left out and that's why they both stared him down so intensely.

Eventually Mark came back and motioned for them all to follow him, excited about a conversation he'd just had with one rugged man who looked to maybe be in his forties. The fisherman wore a captain's hat and was hauling a few containers off of his boat, glancing at Mark and the group every so often.

"Won't it take, like, days to get to the other side of the ocean? Weeks?" Jeno asked, tilting his head in confusion at Mark.

"Jeno, hush. I got this." Mark said coolly, waving Jeno off as Jaemin and Donghyuck came back from their walk (and somehow Donghyuck ended up drenched in saltwater; Mark hadn't even seen them get into the ocean).

The man said something in Japanese that Jaemin didn't understand but Mark stepped in to speak with the guy. The oldest demigod's Japanese was very broken and he used his hands a lot to convey what he was saying, but the fisherman seemed to catch the gist of it. Mark nodded and pointed to the man's fishing boat and the man grunted a response, looking Mark up and down and turning towards his ship again.

It was a rather small boat -a single cabin inside and a small deck with nets and a bucket of bait onboard. A standard, small kind of boat that Jaemin remembers seeing in the U.S, upper-middle class families bragging about taking a weekend on the water together.

He couldn't exactly relate (not that he'd want to anyways, he'd rather be anywhere else but the sea).

The fisherman gestured for the boys to board the boat and get going soon if they wanted a ride, hoisting a few boxes and a cooler onboard. The hamster squeaked nervously, but Jaemin only petted it's head through his shorts and whispered that everything would be okay -which made Donghyuck look at him like he was insane.

They boarded with all of their belongings and within a half an hour, they were off. The sky grew darker and the ocean was calm as the motor propelled them farther and farther from the shore.

The boat lurched forwards every so often, making Jaemin sick. He tried to act like nothing was wrong since they'd just started their journey, but really his insides are NOT built for the ocean.

Chenle smirked, holding his hands out towards the water mischievously. Within seconds, the water under them bubbled violently and the boat lurched forwards again, making Jaemin jump up in shock. The fisherman laughed heartily, smacking Jaemin on his back. Donghyuck, Chenle, and Jeno giggled along, imitating Jaemin by jumping up and gasping dramatically.

Jaemin didn't find it too funny, though. His stomach lurched with the boat and he groaned, leaning over the boat's edge with a huff. "Ugh..." Jaemin grimaced, holding his stomach. "I think I'm gonna be sick".

• • ⚡️ • •

The moon stood high in the sky now. None of them had any idea where they were, floating along in the Pacific Ocean with only the lights of their boat to guide them. It was unnerving, the silence of the sea and the darkness along with it.

Renjun got bored of sitting in the cabin, bored of hearing Daegal bark and hearing Donghyuck sing along to Bruno Mars. So he found his way to the deck, leaning on the railing to look up at the stars.

He hadn't noticed Jaemin there doing the same thing but when he did, he felt a weird feeling in his stomach -and he was sure it wasn't because of the moonlit darkness.

A soft smile pulled the corners of his mouth. "Hey." Renjun stood next to Jaemin and leaned over the railing, not looking at the other boy. Jaemin didn't respond, apprehensive about why Renjun was approaching him like this.

But the son of Ares only sighed and looked out into the sea. "You okay?"

"Doing just fine." Jaemin's voice was uninterested and Renjun narrowed his eyes, annoyed by his behavior. But he tried again;

"That's good. The... uh, sunset would have been really beautiful if the sun wasn't gone, huh?" Renjun joked, nudging Jaemin.

The son of Zeus stepped back defensively and Jaemin twisted up his nose. "What do you want from me?"

"Can I not just have a conversation with you? I don't want anything, I just wanna make sure you're not gonna puke like last time, idiot." Renjun scoffed, still looking at the ocean absentmindedly.

"Not really. Last time we talked, you tried to kill me." Jaemin pointed out, folding his arms. "Just now, you called me an idiot! Will it kill you to be nice to me?"

"I'm trying to, you fuckin'-" Something in Renjun's stomach twisted at that. He bit back his retort and looked at Jaemin, tugging at his long hair in frustration. "You smell funny anyways, I don't wanna talk to you."

Jaemin threw his hands in the air and turned his back. "See? Can't be nice for five seconds! Like I said!"

"I'm trying to! See, I didn't even-" Renjun snapped, before hearing a sound that made his blood run cold. The most beautiful, soothing sound he'd ever heard resonated through the air and he looked up to see Jaemin, confused. It sounded like three voices at once, but all of them sounded unmistakably like Jaemin.

But Jaemin hadn't opened his mouth at all after getting annoyed. And that was what scared Renjun into holding Jaemin's arm tightly.

The night became silent again and Renjun swallowed a lump in his throat. "Did you hear that?" Renjun's voice was barely a whisper but Jaemin heard it. Jaemin threw Renjun's arm off of him and was about to ask what was going on when Renjun covered his mouth.

The voices started again. Jaemin's eyes glassed over at the sound. However, he didn't hear what Renjun heard. Instead, he heard his mother's voice, beckoning him towards the sea. Slowly, he started to trudge forwards. leaning dangerously on the railing.

Renjun gasped and threw Jaemin down with all of his strength. The younger demigod tried to writhe out of Renjun's grasp, squirming in his hold. But Renjun held Jaemin down with his legs, holding his wrists with wide eyes. He looked at Jaemin, then to the deck with panic when he heard footsteps.

Small, rhythmic paces. The fisherman walked silently towards the singing, walking to the edge of the boat and leaning against the railing. The man climbed above it eagerly with the same glassy eyes, throwing his entire body overboard without hesitation before Renjun could even process it.

Renjun paled, looking inside of the boat's cabin where each boy was deadly still, apart from Yangyang and Chenle. Daegal was barking in fear because nobody was moving and everyone's eyes were glassed over, unmoving.

He heard Jaemin's voice tell him something faint. But when looked down at the boy who squirmed underneath him, he realized that Jaemin hadn't said a word.

And then he looked out, far into the ocean to see rocky waters to see large figures in the distance, only illuminated by the moon.

Renjun screamed.