Chapter Text
Sunday, 12:48 PM
Jaemin’s house was warm and familiar, a welcome contrast to the terrifying events that had happened on the island. The smell of fresh sheets and the soft glow of the morning sun filtering through the curtains made everything feel almost normal. But even as they stepped inside, the weight of what had happened clung to them like stubborn salt on their skin. The feeling of being ripped out of the unknown and thrown back into the safety of a cozy house felt, somehow, unreal.
Doyoung and Joohyun made them sit down, checking for any signs of injury before deciding they needed a proper breakfast.
“Stay here and don’t move,” Joohyun ordered, ruffling Jaemin’s salt-messed hair before grabbing her bag. “We’re just going to the bakery on the corner. We’ll be back soon.”
“Please don’t do anything stupid. Try to rest a bit. We won’t take long, I promise.” Doyoung kissed Jaemin’s forehead, following his older sister out of the house.
Jaemin closed his eyes, too exhausted to argue. As soon as the front door shut behind them, silence settled over the three boys.
What had happened the night before still haunted their thoughts. Donghyuck stared at the ceiling, trying not to think about how he would explain the situation to his mom. Jisung seemed lost within himself, his mind blank, his legs tingling and his arms trembling. And Jaemin… somehow, he had an inexplicable feeling that something bad was going to happen.
“We should take a shower and change our clothes. O feel disgusting. You guys can go first,” Jaemin finally said, disappearing down the hallway. He came back minutes later with three clean towels and some clothes borrowed from Doyoung’s wardrobe for Jisung and Donghyuck. “You can use the bathroom in my room. More privacy. Just go upstairs, third door on the left.”
Jisung took the towel and clothes with a quiet sigh, still thinking about the island. “Yeah… I feel gross. Thanks, hyung.”
Donghyuck stretched with a lazy grin. “I’ll go first.” He grabbed a set of clothes and practically skipped toward the bathroom, shouting over his shoulder, “Try not to miss me too much.”
Jaemin rolled his eyes and dropped onto the couch in the corner of the living room, while Jisung sighed, shaking his head. The youngest plopped down beside him, throwing his head back against the cushions.
“Everything still feels… weird,” Jisung murmured, fingers twisting the towel on his lap as he felt his arms tingle more. “Like… what happened there? That wasn’t normal, right?”
Jaemin stared at the ceiling, flashes of the island running through his mind - the glowing lake, the way the water bubbled, the strange force that surrounded them. His hands tightened slightly around the towel on his lap. “No,” he admitted. “It wasn’t.”
🦀🐚🧜🏻♀️
Inside the bathroom, Donghyuck let out a satisfied sigh as he turned on the shower, stepping under the hot stream of water. The heat instantly eased his tired muscles, washing away the stiffness from his time on the island. He tilted his head back, letting the water run through his honey-colored hair, enjoying the feeling.
For a few blessed moments, everything felt normal. But only for a few seconds.
He looked down frowning as a strange sensation began to spread through his legs. At first, it was just a light tingling, like when you sit in the same position for too long. But then it got stronger. Hotter. Electric.
He shifted his weight, but the moment he moved, the sensation intensified. His legs went numb, his body freezing in place. His breath hitched.
A sudden pull grabbed his legs, and before he could react, his knees gave out.
He barely had time to let out a cry before collapsing onto the wet tiles, his back hitting the cold surface with a loud sound. Panic flooded him as he tried to push himself up - but something was wrong.
His legs were gone.
In their place, a long golden-orange tail shimmered under the bathroom light, its scales softly gleaming. The translucent, glossy fin at the end moved slightly, responding to his panic as if it were an extension of his own body.
Donghyuck’s chest rose and fell in rapid breaths. His hands clutched the glass shower door like he wanted to shatter it, his mind desperately trying to understand what he was seeing.
His legs. His feet. Gone.
“What the f...” he gasped, running his fingers over the scales, the slippery texture both strange and oddly natural. His stomach twisted, nausea rising up his throat.
A loud knock on the door made him flinch.
“Donghyuck?” Jaemin’s voice came from the other side, laced with concern. “What’s going on? Are you okay? We heard a loud noise downstairs.”
“Uh…” his mind was spinning. “N-no. I mean, yes. Wait… actually, definitely not!”
Jisung groaned in frustration, rubbing his hand through his saltwater-sticky hair. “What does that even mean, hyung?”
Jaemin, already impatient, reached for the doorknob. “We’re coming in.”
“No, no, no, no, wait, don’t...” he awkwardly moved, rolling out of the shower to grab the towel.
Well… a bit too late. The door opened, and Jaemin and Jisung froze in place.
Donghyuck was sprawled on the bathroom floor, his tail stretched out in front of him, shimmering under the dim light. His hair now held thin colorful strands mixed with his natural hair. Water pooled around him, soaking the floor, his clothes abandoned on the sink. His expression was pure distress, his mouth slightly open as if he had been interrupted mid-scream.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Jisung’s eyes were wide. “What the...”
Jaemin blinked. “Oh.”
Donghyuck swallowed hard. “So, funny story, I, uh...”
Jaemin instinctively took a step back, his eyes moving from Donghyuck’s face to the tail on his bathroom floor. His heart pounded, his mind trying to process what he was seeing.
This wasn’t normal. It wasn’t possible. And yet, it was happening.
His breath hitched when Donghyuck, in panic, accidentally flicked his tail, sending water splashing in his and Jisung's direction.
Instinct kicked in.
Without thinking, he raised his hands in front of his face, as if to shield himself.
And then… the water stopped in midair.
Jaemin’s eyes widened while Jisung gasped - maybe he screamed, but the older's mind was no longer functioning properly. The droplets hovered, suspended in front of him, as if time had frozen. They shimmered under the bathroom light like diamonds, slowly spinning, waiting. He could feel them, the way they pulsed, how they responded to him.
Slowly, he lowered his hands, and the droplets fell to the floor without making a sound.
Silence.
Jisung, still trying to understand what was happening in that room, was the first to try to speak. Keyword: try. “You… the water? But… Donghyuck hyung…? And it is orange?”
“Did you just stop the water?”
Jaemin’s eyes moved from the small puddle on the floor in front of him to Donghyuck. The boy was still sprawled on his floor, tail moving slowly, mouth hanging open.
He looked down at his own hands, his heart racing. He didn’t know what was happening. He didn’t know how he had done that. It felt like they had just walked out of a nightmare.
And maybe, they really had.