Chapter Text
The sea gods bride. The one said to be able to break the curse that has been set upon us. The myths of my people say only a true bride of the sea god can bring an end to our suffering.
When the clouds turn a hauntingly dark grey and the otherworldly storms roll in from the east, a bride is chosen and given away to the sea god. Or sacrificed depending on how you look at it.
When the storms start up every year and lightning breaks through the clouds as pelting rain falls from the sky, a bride is brought to the edge of the sea. I can't help but wonder how Boo Seungkwan feels right now. I wonder if he believes in the myth and stories of the sea gods bride. If maybe he'll find comfort in it before the end. I'd hope so.
There's no actual proof or evidence of any of the brides surviving. And yet, many have been given to the sea regardless.
Maybe he'll see it as a beginning, who knows. A new path perhaps. But this really doesn't seem like a beginning for me at the moment. The path I'm on at the moment is a bit different. It's more of a literal path before me as I run through the waterlogged rice fields. I'm running through mud as the rain mixes with the dirt path. If I keep following this path, it will lead me to the beach, but if I turn back, it will lead me back to the village.
My breath flows out of my mouth quickly before I'm sucking it in again. I could turn back, it's not too late. This isn't my destiny, and I'm really not sure what the hell I'm even going to do when I reach the beach. I'm not sure what the hell I'm doing right now either but I keep running anyway.
This isn't my fate really, this doesn't have to do with me, but I will make my own decision and join the fight anyway. A large part of me longs for the safety of home—where I should be right now—but the pull of my heart is infinitely more strong as it pulls me towards the sea and down this muddy path.
Towards the one person I love beyond destiny.
My brother Hansol.
My heart beats fast as I keep running through the heavy rain, lightning strikes and not a second later a clap of thunder shakes the rice fields. The path ends where the dirt meets the sand of the beach and I don't waste any time as I shake off my wet sandals.
Through the thick rain, I see a boat rocking upon the waves as it tosses and turns. It's just a small boat, only one mast meant to carry a handful of men—and one sea gods bride. It's already a far distance from the shore and it's only getting further away.
Without thinking, I lift my soaked hanfu and sprint towards the raging sea. I hear a loud yell right when I hit the water, the waves taking me under immediately. The freezing water steals my breath.
I'm held down, the water weighing heavy on my thin body as I fight to reach the surface. I'm spun violently from left to right as I tumble beneath the waves. The waves keep me down even as I keep fighting. I'm not a strong swimmer, nor am I weak but even as I fight and push, it's very hard. I wish it didn't hurt this much. The sea. The harsh temperature and saltwater rains down on me but I'm still trying, just trying to reach the boat and live. But it might not be enough.
"Minghao!" Rough hands wrap around my arms as I'm hauled up from the water. I'm plopped down onto the deck and held up by strong hands. My brother stands before me, familiar face scrunching up into a scowl.
"What we're you thinking?!" Hansol shouts over the howling wind. "What if you had drowned? You almost did!"
A massive wave crashes into the boat, knocking me off balance. Hansol grabs my wrist to keep me from tumbling overboard. I stand up to Hansol, holding onto his shoulders "I followed you! How could I not?! You shouldn't be here Hansol, warriors aren't supposed to accompany the sea gods bride."
Looking at my brother now, wet hair plastered to his forehead and water running down his face with a defiant expression, I want to collapse into tears. I want to drag him to shore and never look back. It's almost too much. Almost.
"If the god should know of your presence, you'll be killed!"
Hansol winces, eyes wondering to the front of the boat, eyes focused on a figure standing there, their hair whipping around in the strong wind.
"You don't understand, Minghao. I couldn't.. I couldn't just let him go through this alone." He says, voice breaking.
My suspicions were true. My eyes stare at him with profound sadness. I had almost hoped it wasn't true. Hansol doesn't notice my expression, his entire being focused on the lonely figure.
The elders say that Boo Seungkwan was created personally by the goddess of creation herself to be the final sea gods bride. The one to end it all. The one to bring forth a new era, one of peace.
His skin forged from only the purest of pearls and hair stitched from the deepest night. His lips coloured by the blood of men. This last detail may very well be more out of bitterness than of the truth.
I remember the first time I saw Seungkwan, I was standing beside the river with Hansol in our village. It was the night of the paper boat festival, five summers ago, when I was thirteen and Hansol was fourteen.
It's an old tradition in the seaside villages to write wishes onto paper before folding it into a paper boat and letting it flow down the river. The belief is that the boats will float down the river and be carried on into the spirit realm for our dead ancestors, where they can bargain with lesser gods to fulfill our dream and desires.
"Boo Seungkwan may be the most beautiful boy in the village, but that face is a curse."
I looked up at Hansol, and after hearing his words I followed his gaze to the bridge spanning the river. There, Seungkwan stood in the middle of the bridge, with a boat of his own.
With his face lit by the moonlight, Seungkwan seemed more like a god than a boy. As I watched him drop the boat into the river, I wondered what someone so beautiful could possibly wish for.
I hadn't known then that Seungkwan was already destined to be the sea gods bride.
Now as I stand on the boat, I observe the other men and how they keep their distance away from him as if he had already been sacrificed, his otherworldly beauty separating him from the rest of us. He belongs to the sea god. The village has always know so, ever since he became of age.
I wonder if it happens in a day, for your fate to change. Or if it takes longer for your life to be stolen from you.
I wonder if Hansol had sensed this loneliness in him. Since Seungkwan was twelve, he belonged to the sea god. And while everyone else in the village had always seen Boo Seungkwan as someone who would one day leave, Hansol was the only one who wanted him to stay.
"Minghao." Hansol pulls on my arm. "You must hide. Now."
Even as Hansol has broken one of the three sea gods rules,—he looks around the deck searching for somewhere I can hide—he worries for me.
The rules are simple: No warriors, no villagers beside the sea gods bride and the sailors and no weapons. Vernon broke the first rule, I broke the second.
And the third. My hand stays wrapped around the knife hidden in a chest pocket on the inside of my hanfu. The blade that once belonged to my great-great-grandfather.
The boat must have reached the middle of the storm, as the wind stops screeching, the waves stop flooding the deck and the rain dies down. It's almost pitch black out, the dark clouds obscuring the moonlight. I move over to the edge of the boat and look into the water as lightning flashes. And it's there, in the brightness that I see it. The men see it too, their screams swallowed by the night.
Beneath the boat moves a massive silver and blue dragon. It's big snakelike body swarms the boat, it's scales poking out of the water. The blinding flash is gone and black once again covers the sea and sky.
This could be the end for us all.
The boat rocks as the dragon scrapes against the side of it. What is the purpose of this? What was the sea god thinking when he sent this horrifying beast? Is he testing the courage of his bride? As I come back from my thoughts, I realize my anger has rid me of most of my fear.
I scan the boat, seeing Seungkwan still standing at the front, but he's no longer alone.
"Hansol!" I yell, my heart quickly sinking in my chest. He whips his head to me, abruptly dropping Seungkwan's hand.
Just behind them, the dragon rises silently out of the water, it's body extending into the sky. Seawater drips off of its scales, splattering onto the deck. It's black eyes stare at Boo Seungkwan.
This is it. This is the moment.
I have no idea what's supposed to happen but this is the moment we've all been waiting for. The moment Boo Seungkwan has been waiting for since the day he learned that he was too beautiful to live.
This is the moment when he loses it all. Most devastatingly, the boy he loves.
And in this very moment, he hesitates. Eyes moving from the dragons, to Hansol's.
He looks at him with such deep emotion. Emotion full of fear, despair, agony and such desperate longing it breaks my heart in two.
Hansol let's a choked sound fall from his lips as he takes a step towards the bride, and another, until he's standing in front of him. Empty hands spread wide in front of Seungkwan in an act of protection.
And with this action, my brother's fate is sealed. The dragon will never let him go, not after this act of defiance. And as if to prove my point, the dragon lets out a loud screaming roar, bringing all the remaining men standing to their knees.
Except for my dear brother, Hansol. My stubborn fool of a brother who thinks he can protect his love from the God of the Sea.
My skin prickles with an unbearable anger. The gods have chosen to not grant our wishes. To not grant us the things we wish for everyday, our wishes for peace, for fertility, for love.
The gods have abandoned us.
They take and take from the people who love them the most and they never give.
The gods might not grant our wishes. But I could. For Hansol. Just this once—i could grant his wish.
I run to the front of the boat, right up to the dragon. "Take me instead!" I whip out my knife and make a deep slash across my open palm and hold it above my head for the dragon to see.
"I will be the sea gods bride! I pledge my life to him!"
The dragon doesn't move. I immediately doubt everything. Why would the sea god take me? Me instead of Boo Seungkwan? I haven't his beauty nor his elegance. All I have is my stubborn will, the one that my grandmother says will be the end of me.
But, just then, the dragon lowers it's head and turns to the side so I can look straight into one of its black eyes. It's as deep and endless as the sea.
"Please.." I whisper.
In this moment, I don't feel beautiful nor do I feel very brave, my hands shaking. But there's a warmth in my chest that no one or thing can take away from me. This is the strength I call upon now, because even though I'm scared, this is what I've chosen. I am the maker of my own destiny.
"Minghao!" Hansol shouts. "No!"
The dragon lifts it's body out of the water, dropping down between me and my brother, separating us. In the quietness, I ask myself what I've just done. I get an answer. It's for him. It's all for my brother. And while I'm completely surrounded by the dragon, I hesitate for just a moment before lifting my chin up, staring up at the dragon. It moves it's body away from the boat, revealing a swirling opening in the water and without looking back, I jump into the sea.