one of my classmates wrote an amazing flash fiction story, which inspired me to write this uwu.
3,200 words
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"Who are you?" a voice squeaked from the end of the dock. Sungchan's parents decided to move halfway across the country and buy a lakehouse. Instead of helping them move in, Sungchan had run off to the dock behind their home. He held a book tightly in his hand, running onto the dock and sitting on it. The rotting wood on the dock was warm from the sun and the water softly brushed against its bottom.
"H-hm?" Sungchan looked up from his book, scanning the area,
"I asked, who are you?" The voice said again. Sungchan stuck his bookmark, a deer surrounded by lavender, into the book, shutting it and placing it on the dock. He crawled over to the edge, looking around.
"H-Hello?" He spoke quietly, thinking he was just hearing things. Maybe this is why you shouldn't be so interested in books, it's not like everything just becomes a living fairy tale.
"Hi!" A boy said, emerging from the water, which startled Sungchan, making him fly backward. The boy pouted and tilted his head to the right, "What's wrong?"
"Wh-who are you?" Sungchan shrieked, grabbing his book and holding it in front of him as if it was a shield. He knew it wouldn't work well, but at least it was something.
"I asked that first. No fair." The boy crossed his arms.
"M-my names Sungchan... Jung Sungchan..." Sungchan lowered the book.
"I'm Shotaro! Nice to meet you!" He smiled brightly. Sungchan put the book down and crawled over to Shotaro.
"W-where do you live, Shotaro?"
"Here!"
"Where?"
"Here, in the lake!" Shotaro smiled. "Where do you live?"
"I-I'm gonna live here!" Sungchan smiled, pointing to the blue house in front of the dock.
"Woah... so cool!" Shotaro gasped.
"How do you live in the lake?" Sungchan asked, taking off his gym shoes and socks. He swung his legs over and let them hang over the dock, his toes barely touching the water.
"I don't know." Shotaro shrugged, jumping on the dock to sit like Sungchan was.
Shotaro had dirty blond hair. The tips of his hair were wet from the water and his bangs fell right over his eyebrows. He wore a neon green mesh long-sleeved shirt that fell over his waist. It looked a little large on him. He had a silver tail, the fins looked translucent in the sunlight. Sungchan could see scales over the boy's chest and arms. He assumed they were the same ones on his tail because of their silver color.
Sungchan stared in awe at the boy, how pretty he was. "A-are you a mermaid?"
"A mermaid? I'm not a maid." Shotaro pouted.
"Then what are you?"
"I'm... I'm... a- I'm a merboy." Shotaro smiled, putting his hands on his hips and puffing his chest proudly.
"Mermaid, merboy same thing." Sungchan scoffed, still admiring the boy.
"And you're a human!"
"Yeah... I am."
"What's that brick you have?" Shotaro asked, pointing at the book.
"This is a book I've been reading." Sungchan picked up the book, showing it to the boy.
"Woahhhh... What's a book?"
"O-oh they have stories! And... and.. you read them and make pictures in your mind!"
"Will you read me a story, Sungchan?" Shotaro asked, resting his head on Sungchan's shoulder.
"I will." Sungchan smiled. He heard his parents calling for him in the distance and stood up, startling the merboy. "I need to go, my parents are calling me! I'll be back soon and I'll read to you!" Shotaro waved goodbye, diving back into the lake. Sungchan grabbed his things, running over to his dad.
-
The next day was hot and humid. Sungchan decided to go swim, grabbing a book of fairytales and changing into his swimming trunks. He shouted to his parents and ran to the dock.
"Shotaro!!" He called, cupping his hands on the sides of his mouth, "Shotaro!!!" but there was no reply, no boy swimming over to him. Sungchan sighed and sat at the edge of the dock. The water was higher today, reaching up to his ankles. It was cold and splashed against the shore and dock every few seconds. Sungchan took out the book of fairytales, admiring its pink cover with little gold squiggles. He wasn't sure what they were. His Dad had bought it for him the first time they moved. Sungchan opened the book, flipping to his favorite story, Rapunzel. He loved her dress, the prince, he had even watched the movie. He wouldn't stop singing the songs, and sometimes he still sings them. He ran his fingers over the paper and began to read.
"What are you doing?" Shotaro asked, startling him.
"You're here!" Sungchan smiled, shutting the book.
"Were you waiting for me?" Sungchan nodded.
"It's really hot out, so I hope we can play in the water a little." He held up the book, "I can even read to you!" Shotaro's face lit up and he nodded. Sungchan laughed, placing the book on the dock.
"Let's go swimming!!" He cheered, grabbing the human boy's wrist and pulling him into the water.
Sungchan and Shotaro swam for hours, the merboy carrying the taller on his back and then throwing water at each other. After swimming, they sat on the dock. Sungchan read Shotaro stories while Shotaro played with his hair. When Sungchan finished the book, the laid on their backs, Sungchan's arm around the merboy.
"How old are you?" He asked, staring at the passing clouds.
"I'm thirteen. How old are you?"
"I'm twelve, but I turn thirteen soon."
"Do you think we can grow old together?"
"How would we do that? I'm a human and you're a mermaid."
"We can just live near each other! And then live until we're 999!!"
"Shotaro, humans don't live that long," Sungchan said, facing the boy.
"You don't?" He frowned, "My grandma is 932 right now."
"Humans only live until they're 80 or so."
"Oh."
"I'm sorry Shotaro. I'll stay with you as long as I live, though!"
"Really?" Shotaro smiled, Sungchan nodded.
They hung out every day, somehow never getting tired from it. Then it was time for Sungchan to start school.
"What do you mean we can't swim anymore?" Shotaro pouted, tilting his head to the side.
"I have to go to school most of the day! But on weekends we can swim!"
"What are weekends?"
"They're Saturday and Sunday. Just wait five days. Those are the two days I can do whatever I want!"
"Even swim with me?"
"Even swim with you!" The two boys cheered. Shotaro started counting. After five days, he scanned the dock, waiting next to it for Sungchan to come out. He waited all day but saw nothing but some ducks. The sky had begun to turn orange, the fireflies appearing with their flickering lights.
"Taro!" Sungchan waved, running out of his home.
"Sungchan!" Shotaro perked up at the sight of the boy.
"I'm sorry I was late! I had to visit my family!" Sungchan apologized, sitting down on the dock.
"You don't live with your entire family?"
"Nope! That's too many people. Do you live with your entire family?"
"Uh-huh." Shotaro nodded, he began to count on his fingers, "It's me, my brother, our parents, our grandparents, our aunts, our uncles, our great grandparents, my brother's boyfriend, my brother's boyfriend's family, my cousins, my great great grandparents, and our pet fish Jackson."
"That's so many people! It's just me and my parents in my house. I don't think we could fit our entire family." Sungchan giggled.
"What story are you gonna read me today?"
"The little mermaid!" Sungchan smiled, laying on his stomach and turning on a flashlight so he could read the story to the merboy.
"A mermaid?" Shotaro gasped, "So cool!!"
That was the way it was, two boys swimming and telling stories to each other. Sungchan sometimes taught Shotaro how to read simple sentences. Then, Sungchan started highschool. Shotaro saw him less and less, sometimes he brought boys home with him. They would sit in the backyard and sometimes on the dock, but Sungchan never invited Shotaro over to them. One day, Shotaro watched Sungchan sit on the dock and hug his knees to his chest.
"What are you doing?" Shotaro asked, swimming over to him.
"Thinking," Sungchan mumbled.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I want to be a singer. And I auditioned for this company but... I don't know if I'll get in."
"What happens if you get in?"
"I go to Seoul. I'll become a singer."
"Where's Seoul?"
"It's across the country, a biiiig city."
"Does that mean we won't swim anymore?" Shotaro pouted.
"I don't have time to swim with you anymore, Taro. I have soccer practice, piano lessons, and dance lessons. Plus I have new friends at my school and I hang out with them."
"Why don't you wanna hang out with me anymore?"
"I do... I just don't have time."
"I hope you'll make time to soon. You should read me stories again." Shotaro suggested. Sungchan sighed.
"I can't. We read all the stories in the book."
"Let's write our own then!"
"That's actually a good idea!" Sungchan sat up, smiling brightly.
"What will we write about?"
"A superstar and a mermaid!" Sungchan smiled.
"Just like us!"
"I'm not a superstar yet Shotaro." Sungchan giggled
"You're my superstar," Shotaro replied, making the human boy blush. He pulled himself onto the dock, laying down on it. Sungchan copied him, laying down beside and putting his arm around the merboy's shoulder.
"You're my best friend, Taro."
-
Shotaro didn't see Sungchan after that day for 14 days. He even counted, scraping a seashell against a rock in small tallies. He peeked onto the shore, watching Sungchan hug his parents excitedly. They cheered, then climbing into their fancy box and driving off. Shotaro pouted, wondering if Sungchan would ever tell him why he's so excited. He ran his fingers through the algae in the lake, swimming around as he waited for Sungchan to come back.
"Shotaro!!"
"Shotaro!!" Sungchan shouted as he ran to the lake and over the creaky dock floor.
"Shotarooooo!!!"
"You're here!" Shotaro cheered, jumping out of the water and flipping in the air.
"I got in!! I'm gonna be a star!!" Sungchan jumped around the dock. Shotaro's face fell. If Sungchan became a star, that meant they would never see each other again. "Don't look so sad! I'll only train during the summer!"
"Okay, as long as we can still swim together. Good job Sungchannie!" Shotaro cheered.
Shotaro didn't see Sungchan as much. Every few weeks they'd sit and read together and work on a story they made up (they decided on a comic book). Two boys, a mermaid and a superhero, would meet and team up together and fight monsters and aliens. They only had one villain so far- Lee SooMan, who was a pink glob monster that gobbled up people's hopes and dreams. The weather became colder, thankfully where they lived it never snowed, but Shotaro saw less and less of Sungchan. It became summer, and Sungchan told Shotaro he would be gone for 90 days. Shotaro kept track and waited patiently. He tried to make friends with the new kids that moved in next door, but they ran away. Shotaro frowned, no one talked to him like Sungchan did.
"You're back!" Shotaro cheered as Sungchan walked onto the dock. He was taller now, his hair was longer and he looked more muscular, despite the grey bags under his eyes.
"Hey, Taro." Sungchan smiled, sitting next to him.
"So are you a star yet?"
"No," Sungchan shook his head, he sat up straight and cracked his knuckles, "After this year I'm gonna go train for a long time."
"What do you mean?"
"I start high school next year, so I'll go to a high school and train at the same time."
"You're moving?" Shotaro frowned, feeling his heart squeeze.
"No, my parents still live here, I just live with other people and we train together."
"Oh. I won't see you anymore?"
"Sorry, Shotaro." Sungchan patted the merboy's shoulder and went back to his home. Shotaro swam away, sitting on a rock away from the homes and crying. Why was Sungchan leaving him? They were supposed to be friends forever.
The day came quicker than Shotaro wanted. He watched as Sungchan used a fancy tool to drill a box onto the dock.
"What's in there?"
"I'm gonna put our things in here. Our books, our comic characters. That way you still have something to remember me by since you don't have a phone." Sungchan stood up, dusting himself off and placing the books and pencils into the box. He put the lid on. "See this little lever thing?" He pointed to the latch, "When you pull this down the box will open. Now you try." Shotaro nodded, lifting the metal latch and then opening the box. He gasped, looking inside to see everything that had worked on for the past two years inside a small metal box.
"This is so cool Sungchannie!"
"i'm gonna miss you a lot, Taro." Sungchan sniffled, crouching back down. Shotaro hoisted himself onto the dock, taking the younger male into his arms as they both cried.
"You're my best friend Sungchannie." Shotaro cried, burying his face into Sungchan's chest.
Sungchan left the hug as his parents called him to the moving box thing. He said his final goodbye running off the dock and to the said vehicle (car). Shotaro went back into the water, watching Sungchan and his family drive off into the orange sky. He wiped his tears, telling himself that Sungchan would come back.
He didn't.
Shotaro kept track of the days, 1,095 to be exact. He waited anyways, checking the house only to see Sungchan's parents go in and out of the house; no little boy with hazel hair and a big smile; no Sungchan. Shotaro missed him, he wondered if he was a superstar yet. He wondered if the Lee Sooman monster had eaten him.
One day, as Shotaro laid in the water letting his skin soak up the sunlight, he heard cheering.
"Welcome home Sungchan!!" Shotaro's eyes widened, he swam near his best friend's house. There were Sungchan's parents, six boys with brightly colored hair, two other people, one had a camera. Shotaro gasped as he laid eyes on who he assumed was none other than Sungchan, his best friend. Sungchan was tall, way taller than before, his hair color was the same, and Shotaro could see the human's muscles as he hugged his parents.
Shotaro smiled, deciding he didn't want to draw attention, and instead went underwater to find a rock. He learned his lesson the hard way; not all humans are as friendly and willing to be his friend as Sungchan was. He found a purple-reddish rock with small black lines on it. Shotaro swam back up to the surface and saw Sungchan holding a camera (he didn't know it's called a camera). He talked to it, glancing at the other human beside him who had mint green hair. Shotaro aimed the rock, then threw it and watched as it hit Sungchan's kneecap.
"Ow!" He exclaimed, grabbing his knee.
"What was that?" The boy with mint green hair asked, looking around the lake. Shotaro held back a giggle as he watched from under the dock. Sungchan looked around the area as well, then recognizing the metal box he had put and gasped.
"I think I know what it is." He said, handing the camera to the other male and walking onto the dock. Sungchan crouched beside the metal box, opening its rusted latch. He reached inside and pulled out the fairytale book, his notebook, and a pencil. He opened the notebook and saw Shotaro's sloppy handwriting.
"What is it hyung?" The boy with green hair asked from the grass.
"Shotaro," Sungchan whispered. Shotaro held his breath as he watched Sungchan look between the wooden planks. Sungchan smiled softly and whispered, "So you are real."
Shotaro waited for hours by the dock, watching small fireflies appear and flicker around him. He wished Sungchan would just magically appear in front of him.
"Sh-Shotaro?" He heard Sungchan call out. Shotaro peeked his head out from behind the dock to see the younger standing there.
Sungchan smiled, kneeling to see the merboy.
"Y-you came back!" Shotaro exclaimed, smiling brightly at the younger.
"I-I did... you still look the same." Mermaids didn't age as quickly as humans. Shotaro noticed that Sungchan's face was smaller, his cheeks were skinnier and looked almost empty. He looked tired, as if he couldn't go on but had a small glimmer in his eyes anyway. There were bags under his eyes as well.
"Why do you look so different?" Shotaro pouted, reaching his hand out of the water to hold Sungchan's face. Sungchan shrugged.
"Being a superstar isn't that great, but I try to see the best in it."
"Did the Lee Sooman monster get you?" Sungchan smiled sadly and nodded, tears flooding his eyes.
"Yeah... Yeah, he did."
-
Shotaro saw Sungchan only five more times after that.
The first time was two years after, he was even skinnier, his eyebags were larger and he held a cup of coffee in his hand the entire time.
The second time he swam with Shotaro, who had started to age. Shotaro's tail slowly started to turn black, though he still carried Sungchan on his back as they swam in the lake. Sungchan talked about a girl he liked and how he was done being a superstar.
The time after that he had a ring on his finger, he cried as well. Sungchan apologized, saying they had to sell the house since his parents died.
The next time he brought a little boy with him and said his name was Soobin (i'm fully aware soobin is a txt member stfu i needed a name). Soobin had Sungchan's eyes and chubby cheeks. Shotaro loved Soobin and loved seeing Sungchan so happy.
The last time he saw Sungchan, he had wrinkles. Shotaro looked like he was in his mid-twenties. Sungchan sat at the dock with the older beside him.
"Taro, I think this is the end." He said, closing his eyes and relaxing his body. Sungchan had wrinkles on his face and small grey hairs. He wore glasses with thick frames. Shotaro said nothing, and he rested his head on Sungchan's shoulder.
-
It was quiet. Shotaro peeked his head out of the water, seeing no one around, and decided to sit on the dock. He opened the metal box, struggling due to the rusted hinges. Once he opened it, he took the notebook out, flipping through it and scanning the images he and Sungchan had created. Something felt off that day, but Shotaro wasn't sure what it was. He sighed, putting the notebook back in the metal box. He noticed small water lilies growing around the dock and picked one up. He dried the flower with his hand, then put it in the metal box. He shut the lid and jumped back into the water. As he swam off, he remembered all his memories with Sungchan and wondered if the human was doing well.
-the end-
what did you think c: ?