Seabound-SKZ

Chapter Twenty-Three

The rest of the week was mostly uneventful for Chan, Sunhi, the royal Kim family's oldest daughter, had told him to avoid her brother, who knew of their parent's plans for Chan to marry one of the girls, and who she said was 'overly protective of me and our siblings' before the princess spotted Charlotte and Ada playing tag with Violetta in the gardens, their fathers watching disapprovingly while the girls giggled and ran through the bushes, their casual dresses getting dirty, Suhi patted his shoulder in a friendly manner and rushed to join them, Violetta attempting to take cover behind Chan briefly before Ada scooped the girl into her arms, laughing loudly.

He watched them play for a while, wistfully, he wished he had could join in but the stares from the governors and duke watching him were too much, and he headed back inside, where he saw his mother deep in conversation with Sunhi's parents, the three of them flashing him a quick smile, his mother's not quite reaching her eyes, he nodded back to them and continued his walk up to his room, spotting Renata sitting and reading quietly in a windowsill, she looked peaceful that Chan felt bad for how his footsteps echoed in the hall, the girl looking up as he passed her and offered a tiny smile and head dip, he returned the smile and continued up the stairs, pushing through the door to his room.   

The day of the ball was so near, two days to be exact, Chan could feel how excited his mother was, she had always loved balls and galas and elegant parties. She had pulled him aside earlier in the day to speak to him, "You haven't been speaking to the girls as much as I would like you to be, one of them will be your future bride." He frowned, he hated the thought of marrying one of them, he liked them, but as nothing more than friends. She kept looking at him expectantly, tapping her foot impatiently while she waited for him to reply, "What if I don't agree to the marriage?" He blurted out, she looked shocked for a moment before regaining herself "You don't have a say in it, Chan. You would do well to remember who is in charge here." She said it calmly, but Chan could sense a warning behind the words, he could agree or he could leave. He curled his lip up in a snarl and snapped out a "Fine." before he turned and left, walking with his head up until he was out of her view before breaking into a run. 

He ended up on the beach again, turning on his heel when he saw Namjoon and his bodyguards on the dock, pushing each other around on the end, several of them already dripping wet from, he assumed, being pushed in off the end. Namjoon spotted him and offered a wave, which Chan returned before leaving, now he wasn't sure where he was going but kept walking toward the cliff where Seungmin had kissed him, he assumed no one would be there today, everyone in the villages closer to the palace were busy due to the upcoming ball. He reached the edge, deciding to walk down the path to the water. 

The water was soothing, the waves hitting against the rocks rhythmically. He sat on the rock, taking his shoes off and letting his feet dangle in the water.  He gazed out over the sea, the light reflecting back into his eyes, making them water. He was so focused on the waves that he didn't realize Seungmin had pulled himself onto the rock next to him until the Mer waved his hand in Chan's face, making the prince blink hard and look at the other, smiling when he saw who it was, "Hey," Chan said warmly and Seungmin smiled back "Hi!" he chirped, flipping his tail in the water. 

Seungmin had slipped back into the water after a bit of sitting together and started messing around with a couple of rocks, attempting to build a tower, but every time he got close to finishing Chan would knock it down, just to see the younger pout up at him and try again. Chan eventually gave in to Seungmin pestering him to get in the water and took off his shirt, the fabric easily ruined by salt-water, and joined the Mer, yelping softly at the temperature, Seungmin giggling "Cute," the Mer ducked under when the prince whipped a handful of seaweed at him, the two getting into a play-fight and throwing around the seaweed and splashing each-other, Seungmin laughing when Chan got hit by a wave and pushed under, coming up coughing and giggling, pushing Seungmin gently away from him. 

The boys had started racing back and forth in the water, Seungmin winning over and over, eventually, Chan giving up and reaching out to shake Seungmin's hand in defeat, the younger accepting with a proud smirk, gasping slightly when Chan pulled him in closer, the prince laughing at the stunned expression on the Mer's face, their chest's pressed against each-other, Chan gazing into Seungmin's eyes, the younger blushing softly, Chan was about to lean in, wanting to kiss the boy, but the two soon broke apart when a blur of red scales crashed into them, Jeongin immediately rushing away, Seungmin hot on his tail while Chan watched them with a fond smile. 

Seungmin caught Jeongin easily, snatching the youngest in his arms and dragging him back to Chan, laughing. the three boys' pulled back up on the ledge that Chan had been sitting on before Seungmin joined him, Jeongin hugging Chan to say hello, all still sporting smiles. 

Chan couldn't help but be a little upset when Jeongin had crashed into them, he loved -too soon for that, Chan- He thought, shaking his head, he liked the boy, but god did he want to kiss Seungmin or any of them, he supposed, but he was too afraid of the other Merboys' reactions. 

One day, he hoped, one day he would be able to love the Mers' the way he wanted.