Yunho sat on the jagged rocks of the shoreline, the turquoise waters of the ocean gently splashing against the tip of his toes as he kicked his legs back and forth. 

His light brown hair ruffled in the wind and he took in a deep breath of the salty air. 

Oh how he longed to go back to the castle to do things he liked doing but alas, here he was sitting several miles away from home wasting time.

"Maybe Uncle will be busy," Yunho whispered, trying to convince himself that it would be okay to go back to his home and relax.

He slowly walked to an awaiting horse he had tied on a post and swung himself up. He wasn't excited to go back to his home nor did he even want to be there but he prayed to whichever deity that would listen to him to protect him from the cruel and disgusting hands of his Uncle who became King of Gwangju after his parents passed in a horrible sea storm. 

As the only child of the past monarchs, and the oldest relative of the current king, Yunho was crown Prince and that meant next in line to the throne. 

And even though he was supposed to be prepared for the throne, it never happened and probably never would. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come down to him ruling poorly and he would instead rule with a justified fist.

His stallion walked slowly along the road back to the castle and the people of the Kingdom all bowed once he passed. Yunho didn't pay attention to them and simply focused on the fact that he didn't want to be in the same building as his Uncle.

Who knows what could potentially happen in the dark rooms of the extravagant building.

The Prince quietly snuck back into the Castle after he placed his horse in the stables and tiptoed as quickly as possible to his room. He ran his delicate fingertips over the wall along the way to his room as he guided himself. It felt cool against the stone of the building and he hummed in content.

He had nearly arrived to his safe haven when he was yanked by the shirt and he felt his insides go cold.

"Hello Uncle," Yunho greeted, bowing in respect with a huge mix of fear once he turned to face the man.

"Shut up and do your job."

Yunho felt like crying but the situation would worsen if he would start to cry right then and so he followed behind the King to wherever he was being taken.

Once they entered a large dark room located in the more remote area of the Castle, was when the male felt real panic set in. He wanted to get out and he wanted to get out FAST.

"Get on your knees."

With shaky breaths and wobbly knees, Yunho sank to the ground. The position he was now in displayed full submission and the male felt like a ragdoll being used however pleased in the situation. 

"Open your mouth."

Yunho didn't want to open his mouth and held his jaw tightly in place. He didn't want it. He didn't want to be there. He would much rather die than to be treated as such.

A sudden hit on his jaw made him whimper and he slowly opened his mouth with a tear running down his face, he felt disgusted. 

His uncle pulled out his manhood and before he knew it, the shaft was being pushed down his throat. 

Yunho cried.

He cried hard while his throat was being abused. 

He cried while he was thrown onto a bed and taken advantage of. 

He cried when he felt himself bleed. 

He cried when he was thrown into the Castle hall cold and naked.

He cried when one of the maids brought a towel and wrapped him in it and helped him to his room while he limped.

He cried when he showered and changed into comfortable clothes and climbed into his giant bed.

He just wanted to die.

He didn't want to suffer anymore.

What good was it to have such a lavish life filled with wealth but live miserably and full of pain? It didn't work like that and Yunho just wished someone would slay him or at least carry him away and make him feel wanted.

But no.

The universe refused to give him such a life and so he suffered every day because of it. 

He fell asleep with tears running down his face that night and decided he would have to do something about his situation sometime soon.

._._.

Yunho managed to sneak out of the castle with the help of the maids the next morning without a single problem. He saddled up his horse and headed to the ocean where he felt safest besides his bedroom. No one was ever there and he appreciated that.

The townsfolk all believed that pirates would appear from across the horizon and decapitate them if they wandered along the shoreline but Yunho called nonsense.

What kind of beliefs were those?

The tall male sat on a rock and dipped his toes into the water. A tingly feeling went through them and he giggled as he watched his toes transform and appear webbed. 

Slowly, he dipped his feet lower and lower and watched as they began combining to form as one. 

It was strange. He didn't know why he was born the way he was but he didn't mind. At least there was something to keep his mind occupied from the cruel world.

He removed his shirt and stripped off his pants to only stand on the rock with his boxer briefs on. With a deep breath, he plunged himself into the cool, salty water and held his breath as he waited for his legs to fully combine and form as one silvery, long tail. 

Once they managed to fully form, he took in a breath knowing that the water wouldn’t affect him anymore since he was also gifted with gill-like lungs. And so he began swimming.

He headed to the coral reefs and watched the marine life go around him. It was beautiful. He enjoyed looking at all the colourful fishes and the occasional pod of dolphins swim by.

The life in the waters was much more enjoyable than that on land but he couldn’t stay down there forever. Land was where he was born and land was where he belonged. 

Besides, he really didn't want death by a shark. It just didn't seem like a satisfying death.

He wanted death by something much more thrilling. Mayhaps a magical dragon could appear and turn him to a crisp or mayhaps he could die heroically by saving one of the townsfolk from a wild horse and get trampled by it instead. 

Or even die by the legends and get decapitated by a pirate.

He decided he would go exploring more than usual since no one cared about his whereabouts anyway. The Prince began swimming into the deep. He swum and swum and swum for a solid two hours until he noticed the bottom of a giant ship.

A sudden idea sprung within him and he flicked his tail out of the water for a second before speeding off. All he wanted was to see if anyone noticed and would try capturing him. 

As he expected, he saw the nets fall into the water less than a foot away from him and he laughed when he saw nothing go up into the ships. That was much more fun than he expected and he decided he would follow the ship to see if it would take him to a new place where he could survive with no problem.

A stupid idea really but he didn’t care at all at that moment.

It seemed as if an internal compass was implanted in his brain when he was in mermaid form and he was thankful he had at least some sense of direction in his magical state.

He swam close to the ship once he was certain they gave up on looking for him and he grabbed onto a giant paddle that dangled in the water to pull him along instead of using his power to follow behind. 

A sudden sense of dread bloomed in his gut but he pushed it away. He wasn't sure what it was supposed to mean but he ignored it and continued holding onto the paddle. He could hardly make out who all was on the ship from through the blurry water but all he could say was that most of them were extremely handsome.

He could make out several women aboard as well but his main focus was on a particular tall male who had unnatural looking red hair. He was a bit puzzled.

Where were these people from to have such wild hair colours? Or was the mysterious male like him and had some sort of curse? 

Yunho who had the ability to form a tail and the mysterious male who had wild red hair. 

He liked it. 

He thought it was cool to be different in a way. 

"LAND AHEAD!" a muffled voice yelled from the ship and Yunho got closer to the ship so he could stick his head out of the water and listen clearly to what they were saying. 

"Good, good. Listen up lassies, seadogs, and wenches, we have arrived to the country of Gwangju and me, as your Captain, need to confirm some things," a deep voice spoke and even though the voice made butterflies erupt in Yunho's stomach, he couldn’t stop to appreciate the voice once he realized they were at his home country.

Mayhaps his sense of direction wasn't as great as he thought.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," Yunho whispered, unsure of what he was supposed to do now. “They’re pirates!”

They weren’t on land yet but nearly there and soon enough, the pirates would get off and start destroying his home country. 

They got nearer and nearer and Yunho did nothing but stay latched onto the side of the ship. The evening sun was still bright as it hadn’t gone down yet but it would in several hours. 

It was quite bold of them to attack in broad daylight and Yunho could admit they were brave.

All he could do now was wait and see what would become of his home country. The country he was supposed to rule. The country his Uncle never watched over and laughed at the poverty while he swam in the money from the heavy taxes. 

The country that would soon be overrun by people that had no business there.

A sudden explosion sounded from above the waters and Yunho stuck his head out slightly to see what was going on.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" a loud voice roared, followed by another explosion-like sound. 

Yunho held his breath and followed the canon balls path with his eyes. 

He wanted to scream.

He wanted to do something about what was about to happen but there was nothing he could possibly do. He watched as the cannonball descended, and rapidly, it got closer to his horse.

And even though they were less than a quarter-mile away, Yunho could clearly see the way the canon ball hit his horse with full impact. 

One last whinny erupted from the horse’s mouth before it was crushed. Blood, intestines, bones, saddles pieces, and everything belonging to the horse flew in all directions. 

Yunho wanted to cry. The one animal he had watched over for years was now dead and in millions of pieces. 

He was angry as well. 

Loud laughter echoed down to the waters and the male couldn’t believe the people aboard had the audacity to laugh at such a thing. 

"And soon enough, all the people on this island will resemble that horse," the same deep voice spoke.

And instead of liking the way it sounded as before, a deep hate settled within Yunho and he wished to rip the male apart with his own hands. 

He would make it his personal goal to destroy whatever plans they were about to carry out.