#hippo cryptid

It started when you moved into a new apartment a at the beginning of the year. Rent was cheap and the housing market was the bane of your existence. It didn’t matter that someone was murdered there 10+ years ago in the heat of passion. Or that the previous owners felt like they were being watched. Which was weird because the unit was on the third floor.

And so what if you heard footsteps outside of your bedroom at like three in the morning? Who cares that all your cabinet doors were left open after you’d left for work more than once. And that chill in the air in the middle of the night? Let’s just say that the money you saved during the summer was enough to make you turn a blind eye to everything. Especially now that it was October and the autumn air was settling in.

But the one thing you’d never thought about? It never even came to mind as a possibility of happening.

A ghost getting fed up with your bullshit, so much so that he decided to APPEAR in front of you while you were crying on your couch because of your ex. And just to be clear, you were not crying because he dumped you (you dumped him). You were just so relieved that he was out of your life that the tears just wouldn’t stop coming after that.

“Are you seriously crying over that piece of shit?” An exasperated voice chastised you.

“W-what?” You hiccupped while looking up. Before you stood a transparent being. Sharp eyes that just screamed that they were judging you, and reasonably fashionable for a ghost.

“I’ve watched you day in and day out suffering at being tied down to that absolute shitshow of a guy. And now that you’ve finally gotten rid of him, I find you crying over him! Make it make sense.”

“I’m not crying over him!”

He gave you what could only be the ghost equivalent of a “Sure Jan” look.

“I’m not!”

“What are you crying for?”

The silence in the room was deafening until it wasn’t.

“OH MY-!”

“PLEASE! I SWEAR!!”

What was your life right now? Arguing with your resident ghost over you ex? A ghost that doesn’t even help you pay reeeeent to make matters worse!

“Why am I being attacked right now!?” you cried out pitifully.

“Y/N, you don’t need him in your life. Get a grip…”

“I know that! I don’t know how many times I keep telling you that I’m not crying over him.”

“Then…why are you crying?”

“I don’t…cause I’m relieved? I don’t know, I just know that it feels like a weight is off my shoulders now that he’s gone. I don’t have to walk on eggshells whenever he’s near anymore. I can finally breathe again.”

You could feel yourself relaxing into your couch now, now that this pressure was gone. You blinked and the ghost was gone from in front of you. Though from the noises coming from the kitchen behind you, you knew he didn’t go far.

From your peripheral, you could see him coming to you slowly.

‘What are you doing?” you asked with no intentions of turning to look.

“Shush, this takes a lot of concentration…”

Narrowing your eyes at his words, that did make you want to see what he was doing. “Wha…?”

“Shh…!”

“Now, hold on—”

“Wait!”

The comedic series of events was astounding. You finally decided to turn to you ghost man. Only for him to, you guess, loose concentration. And the ending result? The mug of water he was apparently bringing to you just fell out of his grip and landed all over you and the floor below you. Cue your ghost standing there like he was about to call his mom and tell her he just frew up.

Neither of you said anything as you stared down at the wet mess. At least it was water and not something hot you supposed.

“Damn Y/N, you’re so clumsy.”

You couldn’t say anything coherent, just squawked, flabbergasted at his audacity to try to put the blame on you. Then the laughing started. Laughing at the entire ordeal. Not just the water but actually meeting the ghost that haunted your apartment and not running for the hills immediately.

From the small smile on your ghost’s face, you guessed he was just trying to get you to do something other than cry your eyes out that night. Even if your clothes where caught in the crossfire.

“So, you know my name. What’s yours?” You sighed while standing to go grab something to clean up the mess.

“…Why should I tell you?”

“You literally just threw water at me. You owe me that much.”

His lips puckered knowing you had him there. After a few beats he said, “It’s Jeongin.”

“Jeongin?”

“…Yeah.”

You were too busy cleaning the floor to notice how misty eyed a ghost could get; but you were able to catch the change in his demeanor.

“What’s wrong?” You briefly glanced up at him from your crouched position as you mopped up the water with a used towel. He chewed on his bottom lip before answering.

“…It’s just been a long time since someone’s said my name out loud.”

You felt a pang in your heart at his words. Nodding, you went back to cleaning.

“Then I’ll be sure to call for you every day, Jeongin.”

“…Ok.”

And if it sounded like he was gonna cry, well you weren’t going to bring any attention to it.

This in no way reflects the actual persons involved/based in this fic, nor their actual character. This is purely fiction.

Your shop was pretty well known in the area. Along with regular treats, you also offered food with minor…tweaks. You were only 1/3 of a witch yourself from your father’s side. Unfortunately, there was a cap to how much magic a halfa (part magical creature, part human) could produce. But you weren’t complaining. You wouldn’t even know what to do with all that power should you have had it.

No, what you could do now was just enough in your opinion. Ever wanted to have a conversation with the family pet, try the strawberry acorn animal scone. Or how about easing the aches and pains of the daily grind with a Get Better Blondie? Perhaps even just blessing your breath with regular garlic butter dinner rolls to get rid of unwanted mothers-in-law’s? If you could think it, Leviathan’s Crest could bake it.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

It was on a random Tuesday morning that you had realized a mistake.

Last week you were supposed to reorder ingredients for the next two weeks. Sadly, you’d been distracted by a wedding cake order for a gorgon party. A three tiered marble cake with a rock solid base. You had a fun time delivering the finished product; they even gave you a mini statue of the bride and bride as a wedding favor.

Regardless of the good time, you’d shirked your obligations and now present you was suffering for it. It was too late to order for the recipes now but you’d still need to order it for the next day. Your lavender lotus loaves were one of your hot ticket items and they needed to be made for the day. With your meager powers, each loaf was able to make the customer feel a serenity that’d put the CBD shoppe to shame. And not to brag or anything but they were fucking delicious.

It was as you were about to run out of your shop to Kochi’s Bazaar, the germakochi owned spice bazaar that was home to the most pungent spices, Turkish delights, caviar, dried nuts, and more, that you ran into something, or rather, someone instead.

“Oh!” A deep voice yelled in surprise.

“Oh my god!” you exclaimed.

There before you stood the man of your fantasies. You were absolutely gobsmacked. This man was absolutely STUNNING, with a capital STUN.

‘Daaaaamn, he looks better up close.’

“You alright?”

‘And an accent???’ Your internal monologue was just going haywire.

“Uh…yeah,” you said, trying to pull yourself together. “No yeah, I’m…I’m ok. Sorry for running into you.”

He smiled brightly at your flustered form, grinning from ear to ear. “It’s fine. No harm done.”

You both stood in front of your bakery waiting for the other to speak.

“You’re not closing up early are you? The day hasn’t even started,” He asked, finally breaking the silence while glancing from you to the bakery.

“Sort of? For now anyways.”

He gave you a questioning look that made you want to elaborate immediately.

“I ran out of one the key ingredients that I needed to make one of my specialty loaves. I was gonna head on over to Kochi’s to see if he had anything in stock.”

“Oh no! …I think I heard my mom saying that Kochi’s not here right now,” he said with an apologetic look.

“What!?” You hadn’t heard anything about Kochi leaving.

“Yeah! He, uh, went back to Turkey for a family emergency or…something.”

“Crap, what am I gonna do now?” you mumbled to yourself.

“You know, I was heading to the forest just now, I could see if I can find whatever it is you need.”

“Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly trouble you…”

You never got his name…

“Felix,” He answered with a crooked smile.

“Felix,” you repeated softly, his smile turning into a grin once again.

“It’s no trouble at all Y/N. Just tell me what you need.”

Is your brain short circuiting? Did he just check you out? No right?

“L-Lavender..?”

“Lavender?”

Clearing you throat, you nodded.

“Alright, I’ll keep an eye out. I know a spot that should have some, be back in an hour. Hope that’s ok.”

“Yeah that’s fine, I’ll prepare something else in the meantime. As a thank you, I’ll give you one of whatever you want and a drink of your choice for free.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” he said while walking away, grin still plastered on his face.

You stared after him for a few moments before realizing what you were doing. Face flushing in embarrassment, you ran inside your bakery to get started on a different treat to put out.

But it was when you were mixing in the some wolfsbane to a muffin mixture that you realized, you’d never given Felix your name before, so how did he…?

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Felix didn’t know if Kochi was really out of town or not as he walked down his usual path towards the forest. The route was actually out of the way from his mother’s place but he had his reasons for coming this way.

What he did know was that he finally got the chance to talk to the cute baker he’d been crushing on for the past who knows how long. He couldn’t keep the smile off his face even if he tried.

Something stirred in the air as he walked, and it wasn’t the magic that thrummed in his veins.

This in no way reflects the actual persons involved/based in this fic, nor their actual character. This is purely fiction.

But you would give them credit for one thing. They can sing. And sometimes it was the most beautiful sound to ever hit your ear fins.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

There was one ‘ship’ that you found yourself captivated by. The Wandering Youngsters, it was a cargo ship that sailed around the Asias. You weren’t aware of what they carried, just that they were on the seas for months on end.

It was one fine night that you’d caught a glimpse of…him.

One of the sailors, with delicate features yet not so delicate physique. You were captivated by his beauty at first. Long obsidian hair that blew in the wind. Mole that sat just below his left eye. You’d only managed to see the speckled dot by pure chance when you’d swam closer than usual.

It was that same night that you’d heard him sing for the first time. He was alone on the deck as he did his tasks when a sweet melody filled the air. Light and full of passion with every note. As you swam on your back along with the ship staring up at the stars, it was a night you would no sooner forget.

Despite what others thought, mermaids couldn’t sing. Mouth sounds just don’t travel well under water. The best they could do is an echolocation type of screech that they’d adapted from dolphins. Evil little beings that they were, they were smart. And outside of the water? Perhaps a whistle, but even still they could barely carry a tune.

So to be able to listen to something other than ‘eek eek’,  how could you not fall for him. You were mesmerized immediately.

There were others that would join his singing every now and then, too. They were all good in their own ways. Some of them were fast and made your head spin by how hard they hit their notes. Others also kept to a beautiful melody, and yet nothing beat your sailor’s voice. It was your favorite thing in the entire sea.

And you suspected it would always be.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

On this particular night, you weren’t feeling too well. You’d been attacked while making the scouting rounds around the undertow city perimeter. As a member of the royal guard, it was your job to keep an eye out for anything that could threaten your people.

Today’s threat? Shark.

Usually, you’d have a buddy with you to help in such cases. And you did, but they were a new recruit and got scared as soon as the beast showed up. It managed to do a number on you before you were able to escape to the nearest check point where others were stationed. It was there that they were able to dispatch guards to your previous location and finish off what you couldn’t by yourself.

The captain would definitely have some words for the newbie.

The regenerative powers of the merfolk would kick in in a few hours, so for now, you’d have to deal with a chewed up tail and scarred shoulder. It just made swimming in the water more difficult. Trying to keep up with your precious cargo ship, you were a lot slower today. Lagging just a bit more behind, your tailed kicked out more water than normal. Struggling as you went, you just wanted to hear him, to be comforted after a shitty day with the music he made.

“You’re loud today,” a dulcet voice said from somewhere above you. Caught off guard, you stopped swimming long enough to look up and meet the eyes of one you longed to hear. There your sailor was, leaning against the edge of the ship railing.

“Most of the time, you’re really quiet. I almost thought I’d made you up and was just going crazy,” he continued. “Hey, keep up!”

The distance between you and the ship had grown longer. Snapping out of it, you struggled forward again. Once he deemed it a reasonable distance, he picked up the conversation from where it left off.

“Older sailors always warned about unknown creatures living in the sea, but we never really thought they were telling the truth. We just thought it was an old wives tale, something to share over a drink or something.”

Shocked that he was actually talking to you, you were still silent. His brows furrowing in confusion.

“Can you talk? Or even understand what I’m saying?”

“…I-I can!” You said, quickly trying to answer him. The responding smile was one that will stay in your dreams for years to come.

“This is insane,” he said more to himself than to you. “So why are you making more noise tonight than you usually do?”

“I got chomped on by a shark. It is difficult to swim.”

“What!? Are you ok?” He looked around frantically, searching the surrounding darkened ocean. “Is the shark still around?”

You giggled at his movements. Humans were so funny sometimes.

“Yes, I’m alright, it was by my home, a long distance away from here. There is no need to worry.”

He seemed to relax at your reassurance, though keeping a wary eye out.

“Long distance huh, so you come to the ship every night?”

“Just about.”

“Why?”

“To hear you sing,” you admitted easily, slowing down in your swimming. You were getting tired now.

“Me?” He asked incredulously.

You nodded with a smile. “Yes, you. You have such a beautiful voice.”

“Don’t mermaids, you are a mermaid right?, don’t you all sing too?”

“Yes, I am a mermaid. No, we cannot sing and I’m afraid I can no longer swim.”

He watched as you stopped moving in the water. The distance once again getting longer between you both. He moved frantically again, quick enough to slip and fall over onto the floor which made you giggle into the water. He disappeared quickly to a point you couldn’t see and then it was quiet besides the roaring of the ship breaking the sea waves.

Just as you were about to give up waiting and make the trek back home, an object was being thrown over the railing. It was circular with a hole in the middle, on one side, it was tied with a rope that connected to the ship.

“Get in there! The ship will pull you along!”

With a big push you made it to the object and tried to make yourself as comfortable as possible. Glancing up at the ship, the sailor smiled down at you.

“What’s your name?” you asked, noticing how your tail was beginning to close its wound. Massaging the regenerating scales, you looked upward.

“Hyunjin, what’s yours?”

“Y/N.”

“Is there any song in particular you wanted to hear tonight?”

“Anything you sing is beautiful.”

At least he had the sense to blush before clearing his throat and looking away.

“Ok.”

This in no way reflects the actual persons involved/based in this fic, nor their actual character. This is purely fiction.