Short Stories

Swan Song🦢

Pairing: Park Chanyeol × Lee Ilgun
Genre: Fantasy | Angst | Romance | Tragic Love
Inspired by: Swan Lake

Long ago, in a kingdom surrounded by silver forests and crystal lakes, a dark sorceress cursed a young man named Lee Ilgun. By day, he was a swan, bound to the misty waters of Lake Aranell. By night, beneath the full moon, he returned to human form - but only until dawn.

The curse could only be broken if someone swore eternal love and loyalty to him-knowing what he truly was. But no one ever stayed long enough to love both the man and the swan.

Until Prince Park Chanyeol.

Prince Chanyeol was known across the realm for his power and kindness, though many called him too bold, too reckless with his emotions.

One day, while hunting deep in the forest, he chased a strange white swan through a thick mist. The swan glowed under the moonlight, its eyes oddly human, its wings trembling as if afraid.

He lost it near a still lake-mirror-like and glowing under the moon. And there, standing at the shore, was a man.

Barefoot, hair damp, and clothed in torn silks that clung to his pale frame.

"Who are you?" Chanyeol asked, sword lowered in awe.

The man looked startled. "No one," he said. "You shouldn't be here."

But Chanyeol was drawn to him - this fragile stranger with eyes like twilight. "I chased a swan," he said. "And found you."

The man laughed softly. "Then perhaps you've caught both."

"My name is Ilgun," he finally said. "And I am cursed."

Night after night, Chanyeol returned. Each evening, he found Ilgun waiting at the lake's edge. They talked, laughed, and sometimes sat in silence, shoulder to shoulder. And slowly, they fell - hopelessly, achingly - in love.

Chanyeol swore he'd find a way to break the curse. "Tell me what I must do," he begged.

Ilgun only shook his head. "It's not just love," he whispered. "It must be true. It must endure. Even through fear. Even through my darkest self."

But Chanyeol didn't fear the swan, nor the curse. "Then I vow it," he said. "My heart, my soul - they are yours."

Ilgun wept that night in his arms, believing-for the first time-that love might be enough.

The sorceress who cursed Ilgun appeared in court days later, disguised as a noblewoman with black feathers in her hair.

She conjured a false illusion: a man who looked like Ilgun but who spoke cruelly, seductively - and who was fully human.

At a masquerade, she presented this illusion to Chanyeol.

"This is Ilgun," she lied. "He is free."

Confused, heart breaking, Chanyeol hesitated.

And Ilgun, watching from afar as a swan at the window, saw the prince kiss the imposter.

The magic shattered.

Ilgun let out a scream no human could hear, feathers falling like ash into the wind.

When Chanyeol rushed back to the lake, Ilgun was waiting-but already fading, already becoming light.

"I saw you," Ilgun whispered, voice hollow. "You chose someone else."

"No-I was tricked! I never stopped loving you."

"But doubt broke the vow," Ilgun said, eyes glistening with tears. "And the curse feeds on heartbreak."

"Please," Chanyeol begged, clutching him. "I didn't know. I'll make it right."

Ilgun smiled-softly, sadly-as moonlight washed over his skin. "It's too late."

Feathers began to bloom from his arms. His legs dissolved into mist. Chanyeol screamed, holding him tighter.

"I loved you," Ilgun whispered, his voice a final breath, "and for a moment, I believed you loved me too."

Then he was gone. Nothing left but white feathers in Chanyeol's hands and ripples in the lake.

Years passed.

The forest grew thicker. The lake grew still.

And some say, if you go to Lake Aranell at twilight, you'll see a tall man standing by the shore - eyes hollow, voice hoarse from calling out a name that never answers.

They say he talks to the swans.

Especially the one with twilight eyes.

And when the moon is full, it watches him.

And he waits.

Always waits.