A scale for love.

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A long time ago, centuries ago, the Nekos were known for seeking anything of value that did not belong to them. Their greed was their pride, their envy knew no end. They sought treasures, any kind of jewelry, coins, stones of value, sometimes it was creatures. Or, to be precise, what the creature possessed or made. After hearing numerous stories and rumors about the Merpeople's scales, their greed took hold of their corrupted hearts yet again. They went as far as holding a Mer captive to get as much scales as possible until death. Some Nekos, those who still believed in the old ways, were proud of it.
Nowadays most families tried to bury the ancient history and try to rebuild a somewhat civil relationship with the Merpeople. They quickly understood that even if they did bury it, the Merpeople were not going to forget and forgive that easily. Especially when they knew that some families who caused their families grief were still alive and still followed the old ways. Or at least the parents and grandparents did, the children not so much. It was the case of the Kangjun family, the children were known for their kindness whereas their parents were known for their ugly pride.

There was something wrong with the Kangjun family and everyone knew it. The couple had their first child, thinking of him as the perfect heir yet they found him "defective". They tried to tell him that the small injured bird was nothing but a nuisance and that poor people were below them. Yet no matter how many time they tried, the boy was still helping injured animals and other Nekos less fortunate than them. That was Hyeong, the oldest child. Easily recognizable with his bright red hair and green eyes.
Seeing the failure that had became their son, they tried for another child. Unfortunately, or rather fortunately as many Nekos thought, they were never able to conceive again. That was until, three years later, they found a baby on their porch. They thought that this time they would get a perfect heir, much like they did with Hyeong. And again, they were wrong. No matter how harsh they were, the child never listened to them instead the child was always seeking guidance from Hyeong. There was times when the older child was not in the house so they tried again and again to find the young child, often found under his bed doodling or hidden in the library reading fairytales. That was the youngest Chanhyun.

The village never knew how the Kangjun family had found the child so they talked. After all the youngest did not look like the parents at all. The Kangjun were known for their bright red fur and sun-kissed skin, it did not make sense that the child's was pale and had silver fur. Many rumors about it were told, from stealing the child from another family to cheating. The rumors never reached the ears of the parents yet they sure did reached the children's.
Though they never commented on the subject. It was also known that the children were often going to the shore when the Merpeople were up bathing in the sun, they knew the children were not into the old ways like their parents did. Most of the village was friendly towards the Merpeople who came up to their village, whatever their reason may be, and never mentioned that it was unnecessary for them to hide themselves but they understood. The Nekos knew they were scared of those who were seeking the scales of Merpeople. They did not blame them for that.

There was something the Kangjun family tried to hide, at least the parents tried. Hyeong told that story to the children he worked with, in a way it also was used as a warning for them, to tell them not to follow the old ways. When Hyeong was younger and still an only child, he was friend with a Merman. The young Neko spent most of his nights with said Merman, away from his parents. They grew up together until Hyeong's parents found out. No one truly know what happened that night, only that the son bore a scar on his leg afterwards.
Hyeong did know and told the reason he now had a scar on his leg, he did not really care if his parents knew. He wanted it to be known, yet another way to prove the children of the Kangjun family were different. At the time, when he was still a child, all he wanted was protect his friend. His only friend. Hyeong usually avoided the gory details that came with the creation of the scar but he told how his own parents injured him because of their greed. People never spoke around the parents of this but the whispers that followed them told the tale.

Since then Hyeong was never able to find his childhood friend again, he even went to the shore with Chanhyun whenever he thought of his old friend. He wanted his younger brother to meet his dear friend yet he never saw him again. The brothers found themselves asking Merpeople when they were up about said friend. They, luckily, knew who it was but also knew that he was not getting up the shore again which saddened the older Neko.
Hyeong was also known to be a big romantic soul, always taking romance novels at the local bookstore and writing cheesy stories about love for the children to listen to for their nap time. The children never complained, they also dreamed of finding their beloved in a magical way. Imagine their surprise when their teacher came in on day, all red in the face, babbling about a beauty he accidentally bumped into. Curious as they were, the young Nekos asked more details. A forbidden love, was how Hyeong described it after all he did notice the scales coming up the beauty's neck. He also said it was the first time he felt so flustered about someone which lead the children to tease him endlessly.

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Hi, hello, heya.

Sorry, I got a little stuck in the middle of the chapter, hopefully it didn't show too much.

Anyway hope you liked it and see y'all next update 🐍