From a young age he was locked in by his mother, after his father went back to the sea and died his mother had locked him and his older brother in, when his brother came of age he also left to the sea and never returned.
"Taekjoo you're all I have left" His mother said with sadness in her voice, gripping Taekjoo's hand.
From that day on Taekjoo Kwon never went to the sea, never turned into a siren and stayed with his human mother on land.
He grew up not knowing why the sea was dangerous as he was too young to understand, but when he was ten he went to the beach.
—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One bright sunny day, Taekjoo finally comes to the sea, his little feet crunching on the sand as he walks to the edge of the water, as he crouches down he puts his hand on the cold salty water of the sea but slowly orange fins appeared between his fingers, making his hands webbed, he put his hand up and the sun, the sun shined putting a orange glow on his face, he balls his hands into a fist and opens it again, he looks at his other hand it was normal, just his dark coloured fingers with no orange in the middle of his fingers, he puts that hand in the sea and once again slowly orange fins appear in between his fingers.
He messes with the water, swooshing it back and further, squinting his eyes so the water doesn't get in his purple and orange eyes, his dark brown hair now getting damp as the water flies up, his clothes now a little damp, his half shell bracelet dangling in the water as he splashes around water dripping from the tip of the shell.
He stops once he hears screams and panicked voices and people pointing to the sea, they see red in the water, Taekjoo didn't understand why the red was important, this being his first time actually being at the beach, he hears rushed steps and then arms wrap around his waist pulling him away from the water, he sees his brothers panicked face.
"Taekjoo you are to never go near the water ever again!" his brother's voice was rushed and panicked, he didn't understand what was so scary about the sea, it was very fun to him playing and messing with the water, his brother looks at the sea once more and roughly takes Taekjoo's hand rushing back to the house where his panicked mother is waiting, neither of them have noticed his webbed hands until his mother takes his hands in hers, her gasp scared Taekjoo.
"How did this happen!" she said gripping his hands, her own hands were sweating.
There were small tears threatening to fall from Taekjoo's eyes, hearing his mothers own panicked voice has slowly panicked him as well. Ten year old Taekjoo didn't understand what was happening, or why his brother and mother were so angry at him for being in the sea, or his webbed hands.
—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three years later, Taekjoo is now thirteen years old, his brother leaves to the sea, that day when he was ten still is still stuck in his head, the red water, the coldness of the water and the dampness of his hair and shirt still stick with him the panicked gasps of people on the beach, his mothers eyes looking at his now webbed hands that never disappeared, no one could find out why his hands stayed webbed his mother panicked after that and took him out of school, she didn't let him outside, his whole world became that house, he forgot what it felt like to be outside, he forgot what it felt like to be in the sun, but that day always stuck with him.
That was the last day he ever went outside.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was Taekjoo's 19th birthday he finally becomes an adult, he thought today he might be able to ask his mother to go outside at least for an hour, the one thing he wanted to do was see that beach again, feel the cold water on his hands, the wind blowing in his hair, that's all he wanted to feel.
He slowly walked to the kitchen where his mother was washing dishes. "Mum" he called out from the doorway to the hallway, stopping there.
"Yes dear" his mother answered him, turning around and looking at him.
"As I'm an adult today… could I maybe go outside?" Taekjoo asks slowly like he's stepping on something fragile.
"No! Aboustly not! It's too dangerous!" She slowly walked close to Taekjoo as she yelled at him, gripping his shoulders.
That upset him, he had planned to run from a young age but today the plan would actually go through, he is actually going to run away. He went back into his room, grabbing a small bag and packing the things he'll need, clothes, shoes, little foods and drinks.
Quietly opening his window, the window cracks as he opens it he grits his teeth needing to be quiet but failing with how loud this damn window was, he finally gets it open and runs, he sprints from the small house, the house growing small as he runs closer into a big city that was near his house, all he was looking for was the beach he needed to go back to the beach.
He walks around for what feels like hours, he finds the beach 'finally!' Taekjoo thinks to himself, he runs to the beach, the sand crunching under his shoes as he walks closer to the water, he kneels down plopping the bag next to him and putting his hands back into the water, his webbed hands staying the same, he looks at his dark fingers, the webbing still there, that made him a bit grumpy but he quickly ignored it as it was just normal for him to have the webbs in his hands now.
His mind was still child-like, having grown up in one house with his mother he didn't learn how to be an adult, he didn't have a job, he didn't know how to drive, he didn't know how to communicate with others, he wasn't doing too well with this mental health either. But he just chose to mess with the water of the sea, splashing once again, getting his dark hair and clothes wet.
After an hour at the beach he went to find a job, he could at least find something to do to get some easy money, slowly after sometime he gave up, sitting down near a tall company building, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding relaxing back stretching his legs out from having to walk all day, he wanted to cry, he was so very lost, he didn't have anywhere to go to sleep anymore, he's lost everything after leaving his mother, small tears rolled down his cheeks, quiet sobs coming from his body, small sniffles, he was lost.
—
He didn't know how long it had been but he woke up to two guys dressed in all black, picking him up bridle style and carrying him inside the company building, putting him in a small dimly lit room with one table and two chairs on either side of the table, his bag was placed next to him on the floor, Taekjoo's head hurt but he didn't have long to focus on that because the men started talking.
"Join us, become a spy for us, we'll give you a place to live, a weekly income and driving lessons" one of the men explained to him.
"Wait.. how do you know I don't have those things" Taekjoo asks, one of the guys looked pleased he was asking questions smirking at every question Taekjoo was asking.
"We've looked into you, Taekjoo Kwon," one of the men calmly said.
'Well that's scary' Taekjoo thought to himself, lowkey scared for his future if these guys were watching him. Taekjoo shook his head "I can't, I'm sorry" Taekjoo started to get up from the chair but then one of the men put him back into the chair and made sure he didn't get up.
"You don't have a choice" the man still sitting said, he felt the warm hands on the other man on his shoulders, it felt like he weighted so much with the man's hands on his shoulders, he felt uncomfortable, Taekjoo bit his lip and looked down, he didn't have a choice "Fine" Taekjoo finally said.
He was put into another room, it was small and bright everything was white, a small bed was in the left, top corner, a table on the other side of the room and a small area for a toilet, it had everything, except for food, that Taekjoo would need, he placed his bag down on the table and he sat down on the bed, taking his shoes off and laying down, his eyes slowly growing heavy and end up closing them going to sleep for the rest of the day.
—
He woke up, but this time he woke up by himself and not by someone else, he sat up and rubbed his eyes getting all the sleep out of them, he groaned not wanting to be awake someone knocks on the door and he allows them to come in, it's one of the men from before.
"We have a house not far from here set up and someone who can drive you here when we need you, but that is only until you get your own licence" the man explained, Taekjoo nodded and then got up, putting his shoes on and grabbing his bag, walking out with the guy and soon getting into a black SUV, the man got into the back seat with Taekjoo as someone else drove him.
"Would you need schooling? Or an education?" the man then asked, startling Taekjoo as it was so quiet for so long.
"Um, yeah my mum took me out when I was te- wait! How do you not know that but know everything else?" Taekjoo asked suspicious of this guy.
"It was hard to find info on you as you were ripped from society at such a young age" the guy rubbed his temples explaining that to Taekjoo, showing how frustrated he was with the situation.
Taekjoo kinda just became quiet after that, getting his answer he was happy with, he is now looking out the window to outside, the outside was moving quickly as it was a hundred zone on the road.
The car started to slow down and the driver soon pulled into a drive way and handed Taekjoo some keys.
"What's this for?" Taekjoo asks.
"So you can open the door to the house"
"You're not coming with me?"
"You're on your own now"
Taekjoo got out the car and walked up to the house, unlocking the door and walking in, the house was fully furnished, he slowly walked into the kitchen and looked around, the lounge room and kitchen was in the same room, he looked at the kitchen counter and saw about four hundred won on the kitchen counter.
He left the money, plopping his bag down on the floor and immediately going to the fridge, finding it full to the brim with food.
"Fuck yeah!" Taekjoo happily said, grabbing a bunch of food and plopping down on the couch, searching around the TV remote, aggressively grabbing it and turning on the TV, as he turned the TV on he figured out it was a smart TV it had things like Nettyflix, Yuritube and a couple other things on there, he went onto Nettyflix and it seemed the company was already paying for a Nettyflix account for him, he created a profile on the account and soon started watching a random show falling asleep within the first hour of the show.
Taekjoo wakes up to the night sky and the TV asking if he was still watching, he turns the TV off and gets up walking to the hallway, he stops remembering he doesn't know where the bedroom or anything is.
For about an hour he walked around the house, figuring out where everything was, he found two bedrooms, one toilet, a laundry and a study and obviously the kitchen and lounge room.
He chose the easiest to get to and the biggest bedroom that also had a toilet connected to it, then there was one of the whole house which he most likely won't use later in the future, the house was big yes but maybe to big for just one person but he had to deal with it from now on.
He jumped into bed and quickly fell asleep, dozing off.
"Taekjoo" he heard, groggily waking up to an older man at the door of his bedroom.
"Hello?" Taekjoo said, rubbing his eyes slowly waking up from sleeping, he opens one eye and looks at the older man, a orange eye meets bright blue eyes staring back at him, the man continues to study Taekjoo, he has now opened both his eyes, the pale orange and the dark purple looking at bright sapphire blue eyes.
"Your eyes are unique" the man comments walking closer to Taekjoo and taking Taekjoo's chin in his hand, pulling his face up so the younger is now looking him in the eyes.
"Um, thank you?" Taekjoo was unsure on how to respond to that, his eyes have never struck him as different, people had all sorts of coloured eyes, his was nothing different to the normal… oh so he thought.
"I'm taking you to the company, as you're a new recruit we need to train you with guns, knives and bombs" this man explained, he still hasn't told him who he is.
'who the fuck are you!?' Taekjoo thinks to himself, ripping his face from the older man's grasp, he glares at the older man in front of him, he slips off the bed and has to stop walking and hold his knee as the pain quickly shoots through his body.
"Are you alright young one?" the older man asked him, walking closer and placing a hand on Taekjoo's back, stabling him as he was about to fall down.
"Mhm, just my knee hurts since I went to the beach" Taekjoo comments, he then notices his webbed hands again, no one had commented nor noticed them, maybe because they were barely visible when the sun was shining through them.
"Mmm, alright well get ready, I'll be waiting in the lounge room" the older man leaves, walking to the lounge room, Taekjoo stretches his knee out and walks on it for a bit, going into the bathroom that is connected to his bedroom and fixing his rats nest of hair, he combs his fingers through his hair and unknots it.
He walks into the lounge room and the older man is quietly waiting, limping to the couch and sitting down.
"First I'll introduce myself, I'm Chief Ims of the National Intelligence Service or as most people call us the NIS" the older man finally explained to him.
Taekjoo just nodded, the Chief Ims got up off the couch and started walking out, heading toward the front door, Taekjoo followed him, thinking they must be going to the company building now.
The same back SUV was in the driveway again, the same man driving it as well, the older man opens the door for Taekjoo and he gets in, Chief Ims then gets into the other side.
The drive it quiet, almost too quiet "Put the damn radio on! It's too quiet!" Taekjoo says loudly, the driver actually does, putting on the radio to fill in the quietness of the car, Taekjoo goes back to looking out the window, listening to the music.
They arrive at the company, the older man gripping Taekjoo's arm and keeping him close other new recruits came at them, quickly rushing up to them, Taekjoo was quickly overwhelmed he was also ready to smack this girl that got way too close to him, but Chief Ims keeps Taekjoo close to him.
Slowly walking up to the Chief's office he sits Taekjoo down, basically pushing him into the chair.
"I'm sorry about that, Taekjoo," Chief said.
"It's fine" Taekjoo's eyes looked behind Chief and saw the beautiful sea, the blue waves crashing into the sand of the beach, making an amazing sound.
"So many people have died in the sea, it's a dangerous place, some people go down there and never come back" Chief explained, noticing how Taekjoo was looking at the sea.
Taekjoo's face snapped to Chief's face "Died, never came back?" he said with panic in his voice, he knew why his mother didn't want him near the water, but that had also frightened him, he chose that day he'd never go near the water again, it was too dangerous for him to go there.
"Okay, follow me to the training grounds" Chief said, getting up from his chair and making him follow, grabbing his upper arm and pulling him along.
Walking into the hallways there was a lot of people, in the end Taekjoo's webbed hand was in Chief Ims' walking to the training area, there were people in the training area and Chief simply said 'out' and everyone left, leaving Taekjoo and Chief Ims in the training room.
The chief let go of Taekjoo and went to grab a gun, handing it to Taekjoo and pointing to the shooting range. All Taekjoo was doing was looking at the gun, studying it with wide eyes. He's never seen a real gun before so he was amazed by it.
As the Chief was looking at the gun in his hand he saw the webbed hands, the almost not-there orange colour in between Taekjoo's hands "What's this?" the Chief said, grabbing Taekjoo's other hand, letting the child hold the gun still.
"No idea, I randomly got the webs when touching the sea water, it didn't happen when I touched other water," Taekjoo explained.
Chief Ims then looked at Taekjoo's knee, it was a lighter colour, almost an orange colour compared to his dark skin tone, Taekjoo's eyes now made much more sense, he was a siren, but it was a myth that siren lived among humans, it was unheard off.
"What are you?" Chief then asked Taekjoo, eyeing his hands, eyes and knee.
"H-human what else would I be?" Taekjoo stuttered his words as he spoke.
"No you're not, explain this!" Chief held up Taekjoo's hand "no normal human would have webbed hands like a fish or orange and purple eyes, nor a knee which has scales on it!" Chief loudly pointed out, explaining to Taekjoo how he could not be human. Taekjoo was at a lose of words, he didn't know what to say, his whole life he thought he was a human but apparently he wasn't.
Chief then noticed the shell bracelet on his wrist and said "You are never to show anyone that Taekjoo"
Taekjoo stammered back, getting his hand out of Chief's hand "O-okay" he stuttered again. The Chef's grip was tight and it actually hurt Taekjoo a big, a red mark had made itself present on his hand.
The Chef carefully grabbing Taekjoo's wrist this time around, guiding him to a black car once more and taking him back home, the car was silent, almost to silent, once home Taekjoo quickly got out the car and ran inside, not even waiting to see if the Chef would say something, he slams the door shut and quickly heads to his bedroom, falling onto the bed and just laying there like a star fish, after a couple minutes his eyes start getting heavy and he falls asleep.