Baekhyun sat across from Chanyeol at the breakfast table the following morning, his body trembling in excitement as the photographer shared everything the others had missed the previous night. The merman, having stayed up long enough to welcome Chanyeol home, had already heard the material firsthand before both of them retreated to their allocated sleeping spots for the night.

Now, as Chanyeol conversed with his family and friends, Baekhyun was left to his own devices. He had indulged in one of the best breakfasts he had ever experienced and had the rare opportunity to try a strangely bitter beverage, one that had been explained to be orange juice. It instantly made its way onto Baekhyun's list of favourite things about the surface.

"Forgive me for not completely following along," Jongin announced through a heavy sigh. "I'm just finding it so difficult to wrap my head around! I mean-" he heaved, not even allowing his lungs to fill before speaking again. "For years I've been fascinated by Greek mythology, so much so that I wrote all about it in senior year! You can't honestly expect me to simply accept that everything that is happening around me is natural, not when the King of the Olympian Gods almost made you into a barbecued skewer last night!"

"And you said that I was the dramatic one in the family." Chanyeol scoffed, gesturing to Sehun who had taken a seat right next to him at the table.

Sehun choked back a chuckle while Jongin merely rolled his eyes, piling extra croissants onto his plate. Baekhyun's lips pulled up into a faint smile that displayed two different meanings. To the outsiders Baekhyun appeared to find humor in the situation currently unfolding before his very eyes, while to himself and Chanyeol, Baekhyun's smile meant something a little more personal. The piling croissants reminded him of when Chanyeol made it his own personal mission to showcase the difference between them and the macaron treats.

"Is there anything else that I can get for you Baekhyun?" Mrs. Park's voice was soft, her lips curled upwards in what could only be described as a typical motherly smile. Her gentle, nimble fingers pressed against the curve of his shoulder as she bent down slightly to listen as he whispered his response.

"No thank you ma'am, in fact I think I better get going..."

"Sweetheart," the woman gasped, Baekhyun's exaggerated cough covering her surprise. "Don't worry about what everyone outside is thinking about you. Just because they look at you with hatred doesn't mean that you've done anything to deserve it. You don't have to go anywhere if you don't want to."

"I have duties back home-"

"I've heard that before." The woman giggled, slipping into the vacant seat by the merman's side. "Chanyeol's Father often said it when he found himself overthinking a lot."

"He did?"

"At least once or twice a day." Mrs. Park explained, pouring more orange juice into Baekhyun's glass. "I mean this in no offence to you my dear, as your anxiety is completely valid, but my husband's was rooted in his entire kingdom. Though I can't understand your anxiety, I can understand that if it's even a fraction of my husband's, your feelings are completely valid. I won't offend you by saying that your responsibilities aren't important, I can only begin to understand just how much. But I do think that the situation you're currently living in, shouldn't be thrusted on the shoulders of someone so young. In fact it was one of the reasons Chanyeol's father agreed to return to his former position, he found out that the citizens of the ocean were turning on each other and leaving their inexperienced and young children to pick up whatever was left. I heard that peace was restored shortly after he returned but.." her sweet voice trailed off as her eyes became glued to the basket of fruit in the centre of the table. "Now that he's gone and Zeus claims the ocean is falling, I'm not even sure what to do. My responsibility was to always protect my child, but now the entire pantheon of Gods are begging him to enter a fight I never prepared him for. Our responsibilities shift and change overtime Baekhyun, I've long since accepted that it's just one of the many consequences of the Fates."

"How did he manage to live like that?" Baekhyun's voice was quiet, not wanting to interrupt the larger conversation happening around them. "Chanyeol's Dad, how could he get through the anxiety? He stayed here for years before he returned and that was only at the demand of his brother."

"He just kept looking in his eyes." Mrs. Park explained, gently swiping a napkin against the curve of her bottom lip. "For some reason, whenever my husband would look into our son's gaze he would be rendered speechless, as if the entire world around him didn't exist and it was just the two of them. He'd talk to him about different things, make him laugh and do things that I never would have allowed." She paused to giggle, happy when reminiscing on the memories. "After that it would be like he was a brand new person, like the light had returned to his eyes and he could finally breathe again. I never understood it, but I knew that it was necessary for it to happen. Afterall it was what kept him grounded and home, where I needed him."

Baekhyun's gaze naturally fell across the table to the man sitting directly across from him, the same man who has been plaguing his mind every hour of every day that he has been on the surface. Of course he didn't want to leave, but Baekhyun was desperate. He couldn't allow the potential consequences of his actions coming back to haunt him and take away everything that he had suddenly held so close to his own heart. He couldn't risk it, he wasn't going to risk it. Chanyeol and the rest would go looking for Aphrodite while he set his sights on the inevitable marriage that awaited him beneath the waves, at least everyone on the surface would be safe.

"You really cherish my son, don't you Baekhyun?" Mrs. Park whispered, her hand clasping his and moving it beneath the table. "You have only known each other for a few days and yet you care very deeply about him, don't you?"

He hadn't noticed that his eyes were filled with tears until he turned his gaze back to her, Mrs. Park offered him her kindest smile, her fingers tightening against his beneath the table. He offered her a small smile of his own, praying that the tears won't fall for everyone to see. The universe seemingly planned against him as a tear traced the curve of his cheek, gravity shifting as he was pulled into an embrace. Baekhyun huffed a gentle breath against her neck as her fingers gently traced spirals into his scalp, keeping him calm long enough to ensure that his whimpers wouldn't be heard by the rest of the table.

Eventually it got too much too soon, Baekhyun's overwhelming emotions pulling him away from her embrace to rise from the table and turn from those he had grown to cherish. On his way out of the house did Baekhyun finally have the ability to breathe, the air getting clearer as he made his way towards the docks. He had no idea where his legs were carrying him until his eyes fell on a familiar boat, the very one that Chanyeol had taken him on their first date. Without thinking, Baekhyun threw his leg over the side and heaved himself onto the stern.

From there he made a direct beeline to the front of the boat that overlooked the others in the harbour. Just beyond the view of the other sails, Baekhyun could get a slight glimpse of the horizon. The tranquil blue meeting the deep ocean current was a sight that he had always wished to witness when he lived beneath the waves. The tears continued to flood his face as he let out a humorless laugh. It was so cruel that fate would allow him to see a view so beautiful, so inviting, and not allow him to view it for the rest of his life. Oh, how cruel was his life?

"I know that you're not thinking about jumping," a familiar voice spoke out from behind him, sending goosebumps down his arms. "We had a deal."

"The deal is off." Baekhyun swallowed the building lump in his throat, his eyes turning up to the heavens. "I realised after listening to you all chat about your joint journey to find Aphrodite that I wouldn't be able to join you, despite how much I wish I could."

"I didn't expect you to want to join." Chanyeol admitted, joining Baekhyun by his side. The two of them stood side-by-side on the bow of Chanyeol's father's boat, their eyes searching the glimpses of the horizon they could get through the obscuring sails of the other boats in the marina. "I thought that you would simply wish us well on our journey and head back home, after all" he turned to him, but Baekhyun couldn't meet his gaze. "our deal would have been over then."

"I don't want our deal to be off." Baekhyun admitted through a sigh, allowing himself to close his eyes and wallow in the gentle breeze blowing against him. "I want to come with you all-"

"Then come." Chanyeol whispered, his fingers gently trailing down Baekhyun's left arm. The merman choked back his sobs, his heart aching in his chest as it was forced between two conflicting situations. "Come with us and help us save your kingdom."

He allowed his eyes to close and his head to fall back into its usual position. He turned his body towards Chanyeol, though he never allowed his eyes to reopen. Afraid that if he did, he would burst into tears all over again. He took a deep breath, focusing all of his senses on the man standing in front of him. His gentle caresses, his strong scent unlike anything he had ever smelt before, his pleasant figure and handsome face, and of course the sweetness of his lips against his. Baekhyun will be forced to remember this moment repeatedly for the rest of his life, as he tends to his husband and children in a life he didn't love.

"You know," he began, his voice cracking. "I never wanted my kingdom. I've grown up knowing that my duty as son of the chief meant that my life would never be my own, my future was already set out for me. I never wished for the throne and for a while it was almost impossible that I would even have the opportunity to complete a merman's right of transitioning into a mortal. Thankfully the Elders spoke in my favour as they claimed that my Father would be breaking a long standing tradition that must be done at least once in a merfolk's life. If I didn't complete it they assumed that your Father would curse us for breaking a rule he himself had enforced not that long ago."

"My Father allowed you to choose what you wanted from your life?" Chanyeol wondered, sounding surprised by Baekhyun's information.

"Of course." Baekhyun agreed, finally gathering enough strength to open his eyes. The sight that he witnessed upon his initial glance was breathtaking, a young handsome demigod who captured Baekhyun's eye from the first moment he laid eyes on him. "Your Dad was very big on allowing merfolk the opportunities to choose if they wanted a life on land or beneath the surface. It was seen as a revolutionary scheme, one that would completely wipe out the former laws of the land put in place by Poseidon's uncle Oceanus."

"But I overheard you speaking with your kidnapper yesterday, you said that your Father had granted you a week to come to land. Surely that offer still stands?"

"Yeah," Baekhyun blinked, eyes sensitive to the light. "Why?"

"Can't we use the rest of your time here to find Aphrodite? I can escort you back to the ocean myself-"

"You want to travel to Rome and find the Goddess of Love in three days?" Baekhyun let out a scoff, his head shaking from side to side. "Chanyeol what you're talking about is both impossible and unrealistic, I mean think about it... if we somehow manage to stretch out these three days and find Aphrodite, what's to say that we would be able to leave each other then? We're just pushing off the inevitable for a few more weeks."

"And is that such a bad thing?" Chanyeol chuckles though there was no humor in his voice. "Pushing off the inevitable so that we can create new memories together?"

"The more memories I have of you, the harder it will be to leave!" Baekhyun didn't mean to raise his voice, but hearing Chanyeol sound so carefree about their situation didn't sit right with him.

A silence so deafening fell upon them, the gentle ebbing of the waves against the edge of the boat being the only thing to disturb it. Baekhyun's gaze fell from the taller, his sight falling on the shallow water below. He could still feel Chanyeol's stare bore holes into his cheek, his skin rising with goosebumps as his heart thundered in his chest.

There were so many things that they could say, so many feelings that needed to be talked about, addressed, spoken of. And, not one word could form on his lips. He couldn't use words to express the intimate and dangerous feelings that he now possessed for a man from land. It was frustrating, not having the ability to speak when he desperately needed to. He was finally like that story his father taught him about when he was younger, a little merman who fell in love with a human and lost his voice when he needed it the most.

"Well," Chanyeol spoke, his voice hardening. "If that's what you want." Baekhyun closed his eyes, his hands tightening into fists. "I won't fight you on it."

His heart ached, his throat tightening making it difficult to breathe. Wasn't it such a heart-wrenching thing? To fall in love with someone who had no clue about your feelings? To become completely enamoured with a person, only for them to dismiss you so easily, without even trying to fight for you.

"Can I at least ask that I accompany you back home?" Chanyeol's voice was hopeful, his fingers tightening against Baekhyun's wrist.

"You want to escort me back to the ocean?"

"I want to spend at least a few more minutes with you, and I don't want it to be on my Father's boat."

"You brought me here on our first date."

"I don't want our last one to be the same." Chanyeol explained, a deep chuckle rising through Baekhyun's eardrums. "I don't want to say goodbye to you where our first memories of each other are. You came to my world, I think it would only be fair that you take me to yours."

Despite knowing better than to accept Chanyeol's plea, Baekhyun couldn't help but wish for just a couple more minutes. There were consequences for taking someone from land into the heart of his pod, a lot of consequences. There were rules, meetings that needed to be organized and attended, confirmations and then planned visitation hours with an escort with a planned route. Chanyeol couldn't just show up unannounced, the elders and his Father would go crazy.

"Chanyeol-"

A kiss was something that Baekhyun had only ever heard about through the stories the other merfolk would tell him when they returned to the ocean after their transition. While it was only supposed to be a way to ensure that humans would be able to breathe beneath the surface, Baekhyun never knew how pleasurable it could be. Chanyeol often kissed him breathless, but this particular kiss left Baekhyun's mind completely melted. The weight of the photographer's arms against his hips, drove Baekhyun's beating heart a couple beats quicker.

"If I said that I demanded an assize?" Chanyeol spoke against his lips, his eyes searching Baekhyun's.

The merman's breath caught in his throat, how could Chanyeol know exactly what to say? How did Chanyeol know that if he evoked such a rule, no one in the pod would be able to oppose, not even the elders or the King himself.

"How-"

"It doesn't matter." Chanyeol shut him up with another kiss. "I demand an assize, so please let me take you home."

"Okay.." Baekhyun whispered, nodding his head against Chanyeol's forehead. "I'll take you home."