#astco

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At six-years-old Yechan attended a yacht party with his parents. It wasn’t uncommon for his parent’s to attend extravagant parties like this, but it was Yechan’s first one he was in attendance of. His mother just received a huge promotion at work and there was a large company party to celebrate, and expenses were the last thing they worried about. 

Yechan, his mother, and father dressed in their nicest attire arrived at the harbor at 3:55pm, 5 minutes before the yacht was suppose to leave. They each handed their tickets to the Captain and boarded. A round of cheers erupted as Yechan’s mother was spotted by company employees and the party began in full swing. Alcohol was shared and food had just arrived at the buffet tables.

Other kids were at the party, but they were much older than Yechan. The next youngest was 11-years-old, and they paid no mind to Yechan. He was too young to play ‘big kid’ games according to them. Instead Yechan explored the yacht with his parent’s permission. Yechan had even found the Captain's room with the large wheel. 

“It’s just like a pirate ship!” Yechan exclaimed from the open door. The Captain jumped from the sudden noise and turned to find little Yechan pointing to the wheel of the ship. The Captain laughed.

“Come in and steer it if you want,” the Captain pulled over a tall chair. Yechan walked over to the chair and the Captain pulled him up to sit in it. The Captain stood behind the chair and showed Yechan how to steer the boat and even explained some of the other gadgets in the room.

The two watched the sunset through the dark clouds that were moving in fast over the water. The Captain frowned.

“Alright Skipper, return to your parents and head indoors. We need to head back to the mainland before this storm hits,” The Captain ordered and he took Yechan out of the seat. 

Yechan left the room and ran down a hallway. He stopped when he couldn’t remember which way he had come from. He looked around trying to find any of the markers he saw earlier but it was too dark.

“Good Evening folks, this is your Captain speaking,” the intercom called out in the silence, “we unfortunately are heading back to mainland there is a storm quickly approaching. I ask that everyone move themselves inside.”

Yechan, in full panic, ran down a hallway trying to find his way back to his parents and the party.

At the party, Yechan’s parents frantically looked for him. Some of the other employees calmed them and stated he’s probably with the other children in the arcade room. The entire party finally moved inside.

Yechan, unaware he had found himself on the main deck, started to feel the yacht sway. He looked up towards the skin, the brown clouds took over the stars and dark blue sky. He continued to run. He rounded a corner when a violent wave knocked the yacht. Yechan fell to the floor and slid on the tiles. He reached for something to grab. Another wave hit the bottom of the boat and Yechan fell off the edge of the main deck and onto the stern. But it was too late. Rough violent waves were washing over the swimming platform and quickly pulled Yechan into the black waters. 

The water was ice cold on impact and Yechan flapped his arms and kicked his legs around to stay above the water. The temperature of the water quickly faded and felt normal against his clothes and skin, but Yechan was too panicked to feel that. He watched, when the waves were low enough for a moment, as the yacht moved further and further away from him. 

Then the rain started. It hurt as it pelted down on his head. It quickly became harder and harder for Yechan to stay above the surface. The waves were moving too ferociously and his limbs lost strength. Slowly his body stopped fighting the waves and he fell beneath the surface, waiting for death to take him.

His lungs burned for oxygen, and Yechan knew this would be it. He inhaled… but no pain followed. No rush of water to his lungs. He held his breath again. Then his lungs burned to exhale and inhale again. Once more… no pain. Maybe death wasn’t suppose to be painful?

Yechan opened his eyes and everything looked and felt so clear underwater. It was dark, but he could still make out the fish swimming around him. He was well beneath the surface now. With his eyes open this time he inhaled again and exhaled- quickly. He proceeded to do it several times in a row. Why wasn’t he dying? Human’s can’t breathe water. He remembered hearing about one of his distant relatives drowning last summer. 

Suddenly something large swam in the corner of Yechan’s eyes. He turned but it’s too dark to have seen what it was. Then it swam by again, this time slowly. A large silver shark. Yechan’s heart pounds. Now he knew he wasn’t dead, and he was far from it… well at least until this shark attack. Instead of attacking him, the shark just swam in circles around him. Again and again and again.

After a while the Shark began to swim underneath him, occasionally bumping into him which caused Yechan to swim a little higher. Yechan’s eyes never left the shark, he watched as it swam around him. 

Then his head broke the surface. Yechan inhaled oxygen, and it didn’t burn his lungs. 

How long had he been underwater? The storm had passed, but it was still dark. His eyesight was unbothered by the saltwater in them, he just blinked a couple times to flush it out and his vision was perfect again.

Another bump scared Yechan. He poked his head under the water, and the shark was gone. Instead a dolphin swam quickly next to him. The dolphin bumped the side of his body again.

Yechan understood and slowly began to swim. The dolphin stayed by his side and pushed him when he started swimming the wrong way.

It felt like forever that Yechan continued to swim. His body ached, but every time he stopped the dolphin would bump into him. But eventually the bumping stopped entirely, and when Yechan noticed he looked around for the dolphin, and it was nowhere to be found. That’s when he saw it. A bright light casted down onto him from a large coast guard boat. Several people jumped into the water and swam towards the Yechan. 

He was brought into the boat, wrapped in more towels than he thought was possible and paramedics checked every part of his body. That’s where he learned he had been in the ocean for 13 hours… missing for 13 hours.

When the coast guard boat docked in the harbor, Yechan’s parents were waiting with the police. Yechan walked off the ship and his mother wailed and ran to him holding on to him. His father quickly joined. Yechan’s mother checked her son despite having paramedics with him.

“You won’t believe his story,” one of the male paramedics told his parents, “he’s alive from a miracle and will power.”

Yechan was taken to a hospital, his parents in the back of the ambulance with them. He was overseen by doctors, nurses, and psychiatrists. Just as the paramedic said, nobody believed Yechan’s story. But the doctors and nurses couldn’t understand how the boy did not have hypothermia or even water in his lungs. He looked like he just went for a swim in his own pool at home. The psychiatrists didn’t understand how his brain scan looked normal. No signs of trauma or damage from water in his lungs if there were to begin with. 

Yechan was considered a blessed miracle. But Yechan knew that nobody believed what he witnessed and went through. He knew he didn’t hallucinate. He was then discharged after a couple days of observation, and he finally went home. He never told his story again, at least not his version. He told a bland version thought to have actually happened according to what everyone else thought. 

A few months later Yechan actually asked his parents if he could sign up for swimming lessons. His parents were wary of the idea. Losing him in the ocean had permanently traumatized them, but Yechan persisted and explained why it could be beneficial. After a few weeks his parents gave in and signed Yechan up for swim lessons right as the summer season sprung into action. 

During his lesson Yechan tested out his ability to breathe underwater more and more. He used it to his advantage and became what he liked to call ‘The Ultimate Swimmer’. He could hold his breath the longest out of his entire team, but of course didn’t just sit under the water for 10 minutes. His record in his first year of swim lessons was 1 minute, and that was impressive to the other seven-year-olds on his team. 

Over the years Yechan improved his stamina, physique, heart rate, and his technique. He was the star swimmer of every team. By the time he was only 12-years-old he had college recruiters hunting him down offering deals if he continued on his journey of swimming. Yechan held onto these offers, paying them no mind. While he loved swimming and winning all his medals the fun was having the excuse to play with his ability of breathing underwater. There were so many things Yechan had done. Swimming was just an excuse to have his parents not freak out about him being near water… well it was also an excuse to improve his ability to swim.

Now at 22-years-old Yechan is still deciding where he wants to go next. He tried out some colleges, but nothing seemed to satisfy him anymore. He hadn’t felt any improvement since he left his highschool team. 

Yechan sits in his room, looking over the possibility of attending a college in the States to swim. He knows his parents want him to stay here, but he feels limited now.

“Yechan!” His mother called as she enters the home. Yechan stands up from his chair and exits his room to meet his mother in the living room. 

His mother wildly waves around an envelope in her hands. She excitedly shoves it into Yechans hands.

“They finally got back to you! Open it! Open it!” His mother cheers. Yechan’s father hurries into the room hearing his wife’s news.

Yechan looks at the emblem of the university imprinted on the envelope. His eyes widened. He rips open the letter and pulls out the folded paper. He unfolds it and reads the following:

“Dear Shin Yechan. It would be our pleasure to inform you of your acceptance as well as the offer of a full-ride scholarship for the upcoming fall semester-”

Yechan’s parents yell in excitement. Yechan smiles and laughs. He had waited a long time for this moment. The one university he had his eyes set on since he was younger finally reached back to him. Applying for the university for three years in a row. Getting accepted was extremely difficult but Yechan had hoped and prayed that he would be accepted. Now he is.

“We’ll have to take a day off of work to tour the school,” Yechan’s mother tells his father. She looks over to Yechan, “hopefully it’s everything you’ve wanted.” She then hugs Yechan.

Yechan retreats back to his room after dinner. He drops the letter on his desk and lays on his bed. He chuckles to himself. He finally got in. After years of applying. 

Yechan walks over to his computer again and searches the university. Acceptance rate: 9.8%. Yechan laughed again. He picked up to read the acceptance letter once more but frowned when he saw something different.

Dear Yechan,

I’m sorry for misleading you about the acceptance letter. With you being in the spotlight it was hard for me to reach out to you. I have tried on several occasions, but all have failed. I do hope you and your parents decide to make the trip out to visit the university because I am located across the street.  You see, I am aware of your ability to breathe underwater, Shin Yechan.

Yechan caught his breath. He hasn’t told a soul since that day. Who wrote this letter?

Would you believe me if I said you were able to do more? There is more than just breathing underwater. I’ll be more than happy to teach and show you. You can find me in the library across the street. I hope to meet you soon.

Poaegi

“Poaegi? What kind of name is that?” Yechan stares at the name. He flipped through the rest of the papers to have found them blank. Nothing of the university was on any other page. How did they do that? 

Yechan stares at the paper a few more minutes before crumbling the paper and throwing it away. He paces a couple times back and forth. He hadn’t told a soul that day. He also clearly remembers no other kid on that yacht having such a weird name like that.

Yechan stops pacing and takes a deep breath. Somebody is just messing with him, right? He currently holds the country's record of holding their breath underwater. Yechan nods his head, they have to be messing with him.

-

Yechan exits the taxi and closes the door behind him. He stands behind his parents. His parents still dragged him to visit the university despite his pleas not to. They didn’t understand why he suddenly didn’t want to go.

“It’s marvelous,” his mother smiles. Yechan quietly agrees, but looks over his shoulder across the street, no library in sight… weird… that’s where they said it would be.

“Let’s go,” Yechan’s father calls out and the three of them walk towards the administration building. A tour guide happily shows them around the campus. Yechan couldn’t believe his eyes, everything really is marvelous… if only he had been accepted. The feeling in his chest felt bitter sweet. Maybe there was still something he could do.

The tour concluded with the guide dropping them off at the campus store and handing them a map.

“Feel free to continue to look over the school and if you have any questions just head back to the administration building and someone will be more than happy to help you,” then the tour guide had left. 

“What do you want to do, Yechan?” His mother asks, and Yechan laughs.

“Well by the looks of it you two want to buy every piece of parent merchandise you can get your hands on,” Yechan jokes. His parents both nod their heads which causes Yechan to realize they are serious.

“I think I want to look around a little bit more. We can all meet back here,” Yechan tells them. His mother hands off the map and her and his father hurry into the campus store excited. Yechan sadly smiles. Maybe this was the time he could see if there was any way he could get into the school, with them distracted.

Yechan looked down at the map, figuring out where he was and where the administration building was. That’s when he spots it, a small little building across the street on the map. Ethereal Trove Library…. And it’s right across the street from the campus store. Yechan looks up from the map and behind him.

Across the road a beautiful ancient-looking building sits across the street. It stands out from all the modern architecture surrounding it. Yechan stares it down, and thinks back to the letter. Would you believe me if I said you were able to do more? Yechan looks back at the store, barely spotting his parents holding up matching shirts they just found, showing each other, and then looks back to the library.

-

The door creaks open and the light fills the dimly lit front room. Yechan enters, and the door slowly closes behind him.

“Hello?” Yechan calls as he slowly approaches the large circular front desk. A head pops out from one of the shelves off to the side. Followed by a small gasp.

Yechan’s eyes follow the noise, and that’s when they see them.

“Shin Yechan?” They quietly ask.

“Poaegi?” Yechan cautiously says, afraid to pronounce it wrong. Poaegi’s eyes light up.

“Oh, it’s really you! You actually came!” They exclaim walking over to Yechan.

“Honestly, I’m not really sure what I’m doing here,” Yechan explains. Poaegi smiles.

“You felt drawn the moment you layed your eyes on here, didn’t you?” They ask, “you want to know more. Or how I know about your ability to breathe underwater.”

Yechan takes a step back, a little alarmed, “more so the how you know.”

“There is a lot that I know. We’re connected you see. What you can do, I can do as well,” Poaegi explains. The hair on the back of Yechan’s neck stands up.

“That’s not terrifying to say to someone you just met,” Yechan tells them, back up towards the door. He turns and runs towards the door.

Poaegi pulls something off their bracelet and it grows in size and a vibrant ombre of purple and blue covers the scales on the mask. They place the mask on their face and swipe their hand in front of them.

Before Yechan can reach the door a wave of water rushes before him, blocking the exit. Yechan stops staring in horror then turns back around to Poaegi.

“I’m sorry,” Poaegi apologizes, “I just want a chance to explain before I lose the chance forever. Getting to you has been the hardest out of all the others.”

“Others?” Yechan asks, “are there others like me?”

Poaegi tilts their head left and right a couple of times, “eh, kind of? They have abilities. Not water, but other abilities.”

“Other abilities?” Yechan repeats.

“Now will you hear me out?” Poaegi asks.

“I guess,” Yechan slowly relaxes himself. The water retreats from the door and Poaegi takes off the half scaled skull mask from their face.

“You, Shin Yechan, are a creation of the universe,” Poaegi begins.

“Whoa whoa,” Yechan stops them, “I don’t need an explanation of how my parents did that.”

Poaegi laughs, “Each response to that line has been amazing. But that’s not what I’m talking about. There is something greater than humans and gods out there. They blessed 12 people with elemental abilities, and they would awaken in the blood line when needed. You have the ability of water. There is also fire, earth, air, light, darkness, healing, mind, electricity, life, and death-”

“That was only 11,” Yechan counters.

Poaegi huffs, “nothing is going to get past you, is it?” Yechan shakes his head. “The 12th is protecting. My ability. But you have the element water. If you can put two and two together, you would figure out that you have the ability to manipulate water just as I did a moment ago-”

“If your ability is to protect, how did you manipulate water?” Yechan asks.

“You know, for someone who isn’t interested and wants to leave, you ask a lot of questions,” Poaegi counters, “The protector has the ability to use all the elements but to a certain degree. I can’t do everything you are able to do.”

“Why do you need me then if you can do what I can do?” Yechan asks. He quickly ducks from a flying book Poaegi threw.

“Really, you ask a lot of questions,” Poaegi tells him, “let me get to everything.” Yechan motions that he’s going to zip his lips and waits for Poaegi to continue. “The protector cannot use the abilities of said element if the being with the elemental power is not near me. So if you go back home I am not able to use the water element. You enhance and give me power to use you element too. We need you to complete the team Yechan. Something is coming. I don’t know what but your powers would have not awakened if they weren’t needed. You and the others. I need to train you on your abilities and give you your relics. We have to be ready for whatever is coming.”

Yechan raises his hand.

“What?”

“Did you always have your ability then if you say ours have just awakened?” Yechan asks.

“My family has always know about it’s abilities, they have been awakened once before and since then everything has been taught and passed down so the next time we are prepared,” Poaegi explains, “so I’m sorry that I tricked your parents and you into thinking you got into your dream school. But that’s how badly we need you, Yechan.” Poaegi pulls out a card and hands it to Yechan.

“I know this is a lot to think about, but please do think about it,” Poaegi begs, “I can get fake forms and have you ‘all set up’ for school so your parents don’t know.” Yechan looks over the card. Poaegi +82 XX XXXX YYYY . “You can do so many things Yechan, you have just scratched the surface.”

Yechan awkwardly smiles at them and nods his head and hesitates a moment.

“You can go now. No more water wall,” Poaegi motions. Yechan tightly smiles before walking out of the library.

He meets his parents at the coffee shop next door to the campus store. His mother has one bag while his father carries three more.

“You really went all out,” Yechan awkwardly laughs.

“Why wouldn’t we? This is your dream school. Your next steps,” his father smiles. 

-

Yechan walks into his room, a university sweatshirt and Poaegi’s card in his hand. He sits on his bed. He looks down at the sweatshirt and sighs. There is nothing more that he wants than to attend the university. Would Poaegi actually be able to get him in if he asked? Something in exchange for his help? Yechan starred at the card. He sighed again before tossing the card onto his nightstand and the shirt onto his desk across the room. He could just sleep on it for the night.