Hello, all! I hope you're all having lovely Mondays :-)

So, this is super random. I found myself re-reading my original version of 'Sirena' and decided to share the extended version I created with original characters for my publishing company *throws confetti I brought myself*

To be honest, my writing muse has left me high and dry lately. I haven't had any energy to write anything awesome or remotely good :-/ So, I figured I'd cheer myself up by posting this extended Seulrene version of 'Sirena' for all of you. It has waaaayyy more details about mermaid lore and legend (some of which I created too, lol), more character descriptions, more dialogue between Seulrene and more commentary from Wendy, their loyal friend and lesbian side-kick ;-)

Enjoy!

---

“Then you say, ‘Swim to me. Swim to me, let me enfold you’.”

~ Tim Buckley, ‘Song of the Siren’

 

For most people, there are certain elements of the supernatural world that cannot possibly exist. Like vampires, werewolves, even witches.

 

It is certainly no different when it comes to the mysterious case of mermaids.

 

Half woman, half fish?

 

Impossible.

 

And yet, there are things in our Universe that cannot be explained away by Science and Logic. This was certainly the case when Bae Juhyun (whom her friends fondly called Irene) had her very first encounter with the realms of the supernatural and still lived to tell the tale afterwards.  

 

It was a balmy, summer’s night in Gangneung and Irene was drunk off her head. She stumbled as if on stilts across the white sands of Gangmun Beach, a half-consumed bottle of soju clutched possessively in her right hand.

 

She’d been at a house party near Gyeongpo Pavilion just 20 minutes before. She’d also turned away abruptly in the middle of a spirited game of beer pong when she’d witnessed her ex-girlfriend making out with her new bae right in front of her.

 

They’d broken up months ago and Irene had moved on since then. So, it really shouldn’t have mattered who her ex was kissing now. And yet, the sight of the two women locking lips in a public place had caused Irene’s insides to twist with unexpected agony and sudden loneliness.

 

She’d quit the party soon after, walking several haphazard metres along Sotdae Bridge towards the waterfront. The pier was eerily quiet after dark without hordes of tourists bumping shoulders at every turn; Irene was the only person roaming the wooden platform at this late hour. She’d initially wanted to go for a night’s swim like in days of old, but there were some lines that even Irene couldn’t make herself cross, especially when she was inebriated.

 

Instead, she gazed at the starry night overhead, taking regular swigs from the bottle of pineapple-flavoured soju she’d swiped from the party. The water lolled and rolled in a lazy stupor, which numbed Irene’s senses even further.

 

She sighed, running a hand through the silken strands of her raven-black hair, gazing abstractly at the full moon - a bright, elusive ball emanating its own romantic mystery.

 

“Oh moon,” Irene whispered, her vision slipping in and out of focus while she tried her best to concentrate. “My life is so boring. I need something…magical to happen.”

 

A white cloud enveloped the moon, banishing it completely. And with that came the soft plop of water shifting in close proximity to Irene. The drunken girl turned her attention towards the source of the noise and gave a start.

 

There was something moving in the water.

 

Irene placed her half-empty bottle of liquor at her feet and squinted her eyes. She caught sight of a large scaly tail glittering and rising above the dark surface of the water.

 

At first, Irene thought that fishy tail was a whale. They were common enough at Gangmun Beach, making it an attractive location for scuba diving enthusiasts.

 

And yet, the figure in silhouette wasn’t large or bulky enough to be a whale. If anything, it’s slow and deliberate movements had a human quality to them.

 

What could it be?

 

Just when Irene thought her night couldn’t get any stranger, the fish tail disappeared beneath the waves and the face and shoulders of a slender woman emerged from the depths of the sea in its place.

 

“What the hell?”  

 

In her abstraction, Irene moved forward, and her foot got caught on a rotten wooden plank. Part of the platform gave way beneath her, and she fell through a massive hole in the pier into the cold, briny sea.

 

The water claimed her in an instant. If Irene had been sober, she could’ve kicked out her legs and swam back to the shore in a matter of minutes. But because of the alcohol flowing through her veins and her confusion over what she’d just seen, her feeble feet moved like heavy steel through the seaweed shrouding her body. It clawed at her clothes and pale skin, refusing to let her go as saltwater engulfed her lungs and dragged her further down. 

 

Irene had swum so often in the ocean over time that she’d forgotten the elusive dangers of that swift, blue tyrant. But as the water filled up every orifice of her body and the faint glimmer of the woeful moon above was the only thing she could see above her, Irene realised with overwhelming terror that she was about to die.

 

Her body went limp, her brown, topaz eyes closing as she moved swiftly to the depths to meet her Fate…

…

…

…

…

 

The water shook and tiny fish in the near vicinity scattered in fright as a figure dove and swam towards Irene’s descending body. Two strong, sinewy arms reached forward and wrapped around the young woman’s limp figure and pulled her up again. The seaweed fell away from Irene’s feet like ribbons, and it wasn’t long before her head broke through the water’s surface. Her savior moved like silk through the seawater, dipping and diving through the scrabbling waves as they brought Irene to safety.

 

Irene’s body fell with a soft thud onto the wet sand and tanned hands moved over her chest to dislodge water which had made a home in her lungs. With one final push, the drunk woman was roused from unconsciousness with raspy breaths rattling through her chest. Every cough exiting her body scratched painfully at her scarred throat, but she was miraculously alive.

 

As Irene’s eyes opened and adjusted to the darkness, she took in the sight of a figure standing directly above her. She gave a start when she realised that it was a young woman, and she was stark .

 

Irene was struck by the woman’s hair, a shimmering coppery curtain which hung just below her shoulders. She stared at Irene with an unfathomable expression on her face, which looked as if it had been carved out of marble. Her eyes were a mesmerizing coral green. Irene couldn’t take her eyes off of this strange creature who had just saved her life.

 

“Who…what?” Irene struggled to focus on the woman in front of her. Her eyes closed and she lapsed into unconsciousness once more.

 

When she awoke hours later, the sun had risen and her best friend, Wendy Son, was kneeling over her and shaking her shoulders.

 

Wendy was a short woman with a fiery personality; her face was round and child-like, which often made people think she was younger than her actual age, which was 22. Her slanted brown eyes were wide and fearful.

 

“Irene, are you ok?! Oh my God, what were you thinking swimming in the sea when you were drunk?! Have you completely lost your mind?!”

 

Another man knelt in the sand beside Wendy; he checked Irene’s pulse on her left wrist which had a white birthmark on it shaped like a blobby seahorse. He was dressed in dark swimming trunks with some official-looking white insignia stitched across the fabric. Irene’s befuddled mind asserted that he must be a lifeguard.

 

“Ma’am, how many fingers am I holding up?” the man asked in a brisk tone.

 

Irene tried to sit up. “My body may be waterlogged, but I’m not an idiot. You’re holding up four fingers.”

 

“You are an idiot, Bae Irene. You could’ve been brain dead!” Wendy’s hands swept over her friend’s face to check that she was really ok.

 

Wendy’s stomach was knotted with guilt. She and Irene had attended the same party the night before, but she had passed out in an errant bedroom after drinking too much soju. By the time she’d recovered, Irene had vanished without a trace from the house. Irene had always been a sensitive soul when it came to her heart; Wendy should’ve known how upset her friend would be to see her ex at a party after breaking up months ago. It had taken her inebriated brain an insane amount of time to finally figure out where Irene liked to go when she wanted to be alone.

 

“I’m fine, Wendy, stop fussing.” Irene’s chest felt like it had been kicked repeatedly by a kangaroo with a grudge. “I accidentally fell in, but it was ok because someone-”

 

Irene stopped short, Wendy and the life guard waiting patiently for her to continue. But try as she might, Irene couldn’t remember what she was about to say. Flashes of coral green eyes swam through her memory, the only thing attaching itself to her befuddled cognitive processes. The rest of her recollection was a miserable, blurry mass of incoherence.

 

“Someone? Who?” Wendy stared in alarm at her best friend. 

 

Irene clutched the side of her face, feeling dizzy.

 

“I don’t know,” she finally whispered.

---

A few nights later, Irene tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. The sound of the wind whistling outside shrieked like angry birds. Dull waves crashed in doldrums, creating their own mantra of monotony in the cold, listless night.

 

Irene finally had enough and got out of bed to use the toilet. When that was complete, she ventured into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. Her home was a nondescript affair, a tiny 2-bedroom bungalow packed like a sardine amongst many other wealthier holiday houses in Gangmun. She and Wendy rented it together, having remained steadfast friends since they were in primary school.

 

Irene had always loved the sea; it reminded her of days long gone when she and her parents would leave their suburban home on the weekends and picnic at Gyeongpo beach. She was an only child, the product of a dangerous and trying pregnancy which had made her parents dote on her even more as the years progressed. They often worried about their daughter’s enigmatic pull towards the ocean, but they never once tried to stop her when she’d first begun her swimming lessons in that vast blue of mystery. They eventually grew proud of the many trophies and medals Irene brought home from the swimming competitions she entered and won at school.

 

Now she was all grown up and still drawn to the sea. Even more so now after she nearly drowned and still couldn’t remember who had rescued her. It frustrated Irene, especially since she’d always prided herself on being able to remember the minutest details of life’s nostalgic banalities. Like the time Wendy lost her white gold seahorse-shaped earring and Irene recalled that her friend had been baking that afternoon and leaning too far over the mixing bowl filled with flour. She even remembered the first book (‘The Little Mermaid’) that her mother had given to her as a young child.

 

So why couldn’t she remember what happened the other night?

 

Wendy being an overprotective mother hen, had phoned the police and the coast guard when Irene had disappeared from the party. Irene wished she could’ve dug a hole in the sand and buried herself when she was forced to answer the police’s surly questions about nearly drowning. Like with Wendy and the lifeguard, Irene couldn’t tell the police much about what had happened to her, which was mortifying and vexing in equal measures.  

 

There was nothing worse than everyone around you thinking that you were so single it hurt, and you were depressed enough to drown yourself over it.

 

 

Irene downed the contents of her glass and set it down in the kitchen sink with a soft clink. Then she raced back to her bedroom and got dressed in the first items of clothes she could find. She couldn’t stay in the house anymore; she needed some air.

 

 

She tiptoed past Wendy’s bedroom, being careful not to step on any of the squeaky wooden floorboards. Wendy had an early shift at the local gym where she worked, and Irene didn’t want to disturb her peaceful sleep. She glanced over her shoulder with a weary sigh before shutting the front door behind her.

 

Irene found herself standing on Gangmun Beach a few minutes later, gazing wistfully at the black sea, illuminated in silvery streams by a full moon overhead. The wind and its heady scent of pine trees had picked up speed, encircling Irene’s body in a grotesque caricature of a lover; it rippled through the sleeves of her hoodie as it tried to pull her closer to the water.

 

Irene still wasn’t sure why she had come here; only that she needed answers to the questions piling up inside her head.

 

She squatted on her haunches and scooped up a handful of wet sand, letting the mushy grains dance over her fingers. As it had for days on end, her mind drifted back to coral green eyes which haunted every thought and shrieking nightmare, a starfish stuck to her senses.

 

Irene let the wet sand drop back onto the ground and stood up, wiping her dirty hands off on her cut off denim shorts. As she rose to her full height, she jumped back in fright when she realised she wasn’t alone.

 

A figure stood before her, conjured up as if out of thin air. Upon closer scrutiny, Irene realised that it was a woman. A young woman with an athletic yet curvaceous build; tanned skin; long, coppery brown hair.

 

And coral green eyes.

 

Based on how much of her skin was visible, Irene surmised that the woman was .

 

Irene’s heart jumped in her chest as the woman continued staring at her, seemingly in no hurry to break the impregnable silence surrounding them.

 

Finally, Irene couldn’t take it anymore.

 

She stepped forward and the woman retreated at the same pace.

 

Irene’s cheeks flushed crimson, realising too late that her actions might be viewed as threatening. She reached forward, her palms flat and open in a gesture of supplication.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Please…I’m not going to hurt you. I just need to know something: did you save me from drowning five nights ago?” Irene practically whispered.

 

The woman stared at her, and Irene feared that nothing would come of her question. Finally, the mysterious woman gave an imperceptible nod. Just when Irene heaved a sigh of relief and smiled encouragingly, the woman turned away.

 

“Wait!” Irene called just as the woman waded through the shallow waves. “What is your name?”

 

The woman tilted her head to the side, surveying the human girl and seemingly weighing out her options. Then she emitted what sounded like a weary sigh before her lips moved:

 

“My name is Seulgi.”

 

“Seulgi.” Irene said, curving inwards while sounding out the name. “I’m Irene, nice to meet-”

 

Seulgi didn’t wait to hear the end of her sentence. Irene gaped in astonishment as the mysterious woman turned her away and dove through the waves. As her upper body rose momentarily in perfect imitation of a dolphin spiral, Irene’s eyes bugged out of their sockets. Seulgi’s human legs had disappeared, replaced instead with a tail and a scaly lower body like that of a large fish.

 

Half woman.

 

Half fish.

 

A mermaid. 

 

Impossible. Irene whispered those four syllables to herself as she watched that strange figure disappear beneath the waves, vanishing completely.

---

Like before, Irene would’ve forgotten all about that second strange encounter if she hadn’t been walking on Gangmun Beach after hours yet again. It had become a habit of hers in recent times to stroll around there late at night, to Wendy’s intense horror. Irene had never been afraid of the sea. She’d never understood it, except that it was an elusive bond which grew in its fascination and intensity over time.

 

If she had any extra reason to fear the magnificent ocean, particularly in light of recent events, Irene couldn’t remember. All she had now were faint images of coral green eyes and a large fish tail which entered her mind at the strangest hours. Wendy was wrapped up in her own world of work and saving money to travel abroad on holiday to take Irene’s recent abstraction too much to heart.

 

After that, life went on as per usual for Irene. She waited tables at a seafood restaurant in Gyeongpo Pavilion and jogged on the beach every morning. And on nights like this, she sat down on a smooth boulder near the water’s edge at Gangmun Beach, listening to music on her smartphone for hours. Tonight, the moon was full, but an opaque silver glowing faintly in contrast to other nights before this. Irene didn’t notice the difference though, her only concern being to shut out the rest of the world and drift away into her own pensive thoughts.

 

Just as she slipped in her earbuds and was about to choose a song from a playlist, she heard a strange, muffled sound. Irene frowned and took out her earbuds again, depositing them and her smartphone back into her shorts. She got up from the boulder and stepped cautiously through the sand, seawater gurgling and tickling her toes at regular intervals. The sound she’d initially heard became louder and louder the longer she climbed over sprawling sand dunes further away from the water. The more she listened, the more Irene realised that they were moans and whimpers coming from somewhere close by.

 

It sounded like an animal that was hurt.

 

It was darker on this part of the beach with the pine trees throwing patches of ominous black shade onto the sand, making Irene very afraid. The sounds grew closer in their intensity, matched only by the hard pounding of Irene’s heart as she struggled to keep her breathing even. The moon twinkled with renewed vitality and a beam fell over a figure sprawled in the sand.

 

Irene gasped when she saw the thin ropes intricately woven around the figure, cutting painfully deep into a pair of tanned womanly legs.

 

“No!”

 

With a sharpened clarity, Irene suddenly remembered a young woman with the lower body of a fish rescuing her when she nearly drowned two weeks ago. The memory returned to her seamlessly, as if it had never abandoned her to begin with.

 

“Seulgi!”

 

Irene knelt beside the young woman and examined her. Seulgi was still conscious and struggling against the fish net she’d unwittingly gotten caught in. But her coral green eyes were dilated, infused with shock and terror. Her whole body was clammy and limp, exactly like a fish that had been out of water for too long.

 

“Oh my God.”

 

Irene searched haphazardly for any kind of blade in her pockets. Aside from her smartphone and earphones, all she could find was a stale pack of chewing gum and stray lint. She finally got on her hands and knees, searching for anything sharp to use in the near vicinity. Her eyes fell upon a rock shard that had washed up onto the shore. She grabbed it and started hacking away at the ropes which kept Seulgi bound and trapped.

 

Several tense minutes ensued, and Irene soon had Seulgi freed. But even with her liberty handed to her, Seulgi couldn’t move. Try as she might, her human legs kept shaking and sending her sprawling forward. Irene became even more afraid when Seulgi collapsed onto her knees at one point, hitting her chest with her hand as she wheezed and gasped for air.

 

“What’s wrong with you?” Irene knelt beside Seulgi and patted her back comfortingly.

 

“Weak. Need…water.”

 

Irene stared out at the ocean and understood. She ran back and forth to the water’s edge, returning each time with handfuls of seawater. She poured the salty liquid over every inch of Seulgi’s body, doing her best to massage it into her skin.

 

The mermaid’s breathing gradually normalised, but she was still too fatigued to move. She needed to return to the water.

 

Irene was about to help Seulgi onto her feet when she remembered something.

 

“Your legs – will they change back to your tail when you go in again?”

 

Seulgi nodded rapidly, clutching her chest as if she was in pain.

 

“Can you swim back to where you came from?”

 

Seulgi nodded again, but with less conviction, which worried Irene even more.

 

“You can’t do it on your own, you’re still too weak.”

 

“I’ll be fine.”

 

“Seulgi, you can’t.”

 

“I don’t have a choice!” The mermaid growled. “I can’t stay here,” she added more calmly a few seconds later.

 

Irene racked her brain for a way to help Seulgi without abandoning her to the elements. Luckily, a solution was forthcoming.

 

“Wendy, my friend, works at a gym near here. It has a swimming pool-”

 

“I can’t be in regular water either!”

 

Irene was the picture of patience. “It has sea water in it. Prospective divers use it to help them acclimatize before they go into the ocean.”

 

Seulgi fixed the human girl with a look of deep uncertainty and distrust. But the longer she stared, the more sincerity she saw in her topaz brown eyes. They spoke volumes about a woman who had never hurt so much as stepped on a snail or pointed a magnifying glass at ants under the hot rays of the sun.

 

In that millisecond, Seulgi trusted that Irene wouldn’t hurt her.

 

“Fine.”

 

Irene smiled encouragingly at her and took out her smartphone. “We’ll need some help.”

---

Wendy came sprinting onto the beach nearly 10 minutes later, carrying a bundle in her arms. During that time, Irene had continued gathering seawater and lathering it in a salty salve over Seulgi’s skin.

Wendy had dressed in a rush, having slipped on a pair of black yoga pants, a ratty blue exercise shirt with Bart Simpson’s face on it that said ‘Eat my dust, not my shorts’ and her favourite pair of lime-green Sketchers. Her short, Joker green hair was hastily tied into a small ponytail that stuck out on the sides from too much static electricity. Her slanted brown eyes were reduced to mere slits from sheer annoyance due to Irene’s unexpected phone call in the middle of the night.

 

“Jesus, Irene, what was so damn urgent that you couldn’t tell me all the details over the phone? Why do you need extra clothes?”

 

Wendy stopped short in her tracks and fixed her eyes on a strange sight. Her best friend was kneeling beside a young woman she didn’t recognise. And the stranger was .

 

Wendy blushed profusely and averted her gaze, a million questions flooding her head at that precise moment.

 

“Irene, what’s going on? Who is this?”

 

“This is…my friend, Seulgi. She’s uh…not feeling well. I need you to help me take her to your gym.”

 

“Why does she need to go to the gym if she’s sick? Shouldn’t she go to a doctor?” Wendy asked in a quizzical tone.

 

“It’s complicated, Wendy. She needs to immerse herself in salt water.”

 

“There’s plenty of salt water out here!”

 

“I can’t leave her alone in the water, she’s too weak and the current’s unpredictable.” Irene said firmly. “I know I’m not making any sense, but I need you to trust me and not ask any questions right now.”

 

“Fine, but I want an explanation later.”

 

Irene frowned when Wendy didn’t step forward immediately, her gaze purposely avoiding both her or Seulgi.

 

“For God’s sake, would you come over here and help me?!”

 

“I’m uncomfortable being around people, Irene! Or have you already forgotten ‘The P.E Locker Room Incident of ‘2012’?”

 

“Stop being such a wuss and get over here!”

 

Wendy threw Irene a withering look and knelt on the sand beside Seulgi.

 

“I brought an old sweater and shorts of yours.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“I forgot about underwear.”

 

“It’s fine.”

 

“How did your friend end up anyway?”

 

Irene resisted the urge to slap a palm to her forehead. So much for Wendy promising not to ask her any questions. She settled for rolling her eyes before coming up with a lie. “She likes skinny dipping. You work the top, I’ll do the bottom.”

 

Seulgi stared in weary confusion between the two humans bickering loudly with each other while helping her into some clothes.

 

“Help me pick her up,” Irene urged when she was finished with pulling the shorts up and over Seulgi’s waist.

 

“Are you serious???”

 

“Why would I ask if I wasn’t serious?”

 

“Why can’t your friend walk on her own?”

 

Irene plastered a saccharine smile on her face. “What do you ing think, Wendy? Because it’s so much more fun when people carry you around ‘bridal style’? She can’t walk at all right now!”

 

Wendy sniffed indignantly, taking hold of Seulgi’s sweater-clad arms. “There’s no need for rudeness, Bae Irene.”

 

“Ok, I’m sorry. Just help me please!” Irene’s eyes darted nervously around her, fearing that someone would spot the three of them in this awkward position.

 

“You owe me so big for this,” Wendy grumbled when she and Irene coordinated walking with Seulgi in their arms.

 

It took some doing, but they made it to the gym without being spotted by anyone in the neighbouring houses. By the time they got inside, both Wendy and Irene were sweaty and exhausted from carrying Seulgi into the vicinity of the indoor swimming pool. With some manoeuvring, Wendy managed to switch on the lights.

 

A multitude of fluorescent illuminated the vast room and the massive swimming pool.

 

“Switch on the pool pump to get the sea salt moving through the water.” Irene instructed.

 

Wendy helped Irene set Seulgi down onto the cold tiled floor at the pool’s edge, then jogged to the circuit board located on the far wall. Irene reached down and scooped a handful of pool water; she knelt beside Seulgi and rubbed more water over her clammy skin.

 

“Hang in there, you’ll be fine soon,” she whispered reassuringly.

 

Wendy came sprinting back just as the pool pump roared to life in the distance. The water, which had been still just moments before, rolled in a lackadaisical motion, just like miniature waves.

 

“Help me take off her clothes.”

 

“What?! Why does this rando have to get again?!” Wendy screeched in horror.

 

“Just do it!”

 

Wendy emitted several choice curse words and acquiesced. She averted her eyes when Seulgi was and Irene had helped her to lie on her side.

 

“What are you doing now?” Wendy asked wearily.

 

“She needs to go into the water somehow.” Irene muttered. “Seulgi, I’m going to roll you into the water. I’ll be right here if anything goes wrong.”

 

Irene said a silent prayer and pushed Seulgi’s body with all her might. After several shoves, Seulgi toppled into the pool with a loud splash. She disappeared beneath the water’s surface and it was difficult to pinpoint her location for several tense seconds. Both Irene and Wendy knelt over the pool’s edge to see where Seulgi had gone.

 

Wendy shook her head and stood up again.

 

“Irene, you need to tell me what the hell is going on!” she fumed, hands on her hips with her back to the pool.

A massive wall of water rose and crashed violently behind Wendy. Both she and Irene stared in consternation at Seulgi suspended in the air, an emerald green fish tail flapping wildly beneath her before she dove gracefully back into the watery depths.

 

Wendy staggered backwards and pointed frantically at the pool.

 

“W-w-what the hell was that? Did you see that?!” She rounded on Irene, who was just as shell-shocked by Seulgi’s astonishing transformation.

 

Wendy’s heart pounded erratically in her chest as she tried to understand what was happening. “Your friend…she…a fish tail…human body…M-m-m-mer, mer-”

 

Her eyes rolled into her skull and she fainted. Irene recalibrated just in time to catch her friend before she hit the hard ground. She held onto Wendy’s head while gazing in amazement at Seulgi swimming happily around the length of the swimming pool.

 

“You were right, Irene. This water’s fine! Can you see how well I’m swimming?” Seulgi beamed with happiness at her progress.

 

Irene smiled weakly at the mermaid before staring in bewilderment down at her unconscious friend.

 

This was turning into one hell of a night…

---

Luckily, Wendy came to a few minutes after that, and she and Irene took turns in keeping an eye on Seulgi swimming in the pool. From this vantage point, Irene could see the colour coming back into Seulgi’s skin, a very different picture from the pitiable figure she’d been just hours before. She swam exuberantly through the water, diving in and out at every turn, looking like she could go on in that manner for eternity.

Irene wasn’t sure when she finally dozed off from exhaustion. But she woke up close to 4am, rubbing her smarting neck. She found herself sitting up on a wooden bench a few paces away from the swimming pool. The last thing she remembered was dangling her porcelain legs over the pool’s edge in the water and watching Seulgi do the mermaid equivalent of swimming laps.

 

Even more astounding than this was that a towel had been rolled up and placed exactly where her head had been resting before. She looked around in a panic, not seeing either Seulgi or Wendy anywhere in sight.

 

Where did they go?

 

Just when she was about get hysterical, Seulgi appeared from the shadows and walked towards her.

 

On her human legs.

 

Irene really shouldn’t have been surprised that the mermaid was yet again.

 

“Seulgi! You’re ok!” Irene exclaimed, getting to her feet.

 

She cleared awkwardly and averted her gaze from Seulgi’s tanned skin, which seemed to glow with an unnatural light of perfection.

 

“Of course I’m alright. Salt water is good for me. It keeps me healthy and strong.”

 

“Then what happened last night? Why were you so weak?” Curiosity overrode Irene’s every nerve-ending.

 

Seulgi sighed and pursed her hands together. “I was careless. I have a bad habit of leaving the water and wandering on the beach when I’m not supposed to. Mermaids get their strength from the moon, especially when it is full. But even that full moon was not strong enough to sustain me and I stayed out of the water for too long. I stumbled on my human legs and got trapped in that fish net you found me in. if you hadn’t come when you did, I don’t know what would’ve happened. Thank you.”

 

Irene ducked her head, embarrassment and elation coursing through her bones. “You’re welcome. I couldn’t just leave you like that.”

 

“You are very kind, Irene. Humans often aren’t.”

 

“Have you met many humans before?”

 

“Enough to make me keep my distance.”

 

That statement stung more than Irene cared to admit, but she rallied nonetheless. “I never got a chance to thank you for saving my life two weeks go. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been there.”

 

Unlike Irene’s response to being paid a compliment, Seulgi simply tilted her head in confusion at the human girl’s words. “It was natural to save you. There’s still too much life in you for it to be wasted out there.” She gestured with her hand towards the exit.

 

Irene noted that Seulgi had a strange way of phrasing things. And yet, she’d never felt more comfortable in anyone else’s presence like she did with the mermaid, and that included the company of her best friend.

 

“Then I should be more careful when I go swimming.”

 

Seulgi stared again in the direction of the ocean. “I’ve been gone too long; I should get back.”

 

“Right!” Irene exclaimed. “I guess ‘home’ for you is in the water. But…you can’t leave here without putting something on first.” When Seulgi continued looking confused, Irene elaborated. “Clothes.”

 

“Those are the things that humans wear to cover their ness?” Seulgi asked.

 

“Yes,” Irene answered. “Gotta cover up them privates so they stay…private.” She flushed bright red when Seulgi frowned quizzically at her words. “Anyway, you can use the clothes my friend Wendy brought you last night.”

 

Seulgi waved her hands in protest. “I really shouldn’t, they will get ruined.”

“Then maybe just…take this towel?” Irene held up her makeshift pillow and tried hard not to look at the mermaid’s voluptuous body.

 

As a rule, Irene didn’t like labels when it came to her ual orientation. All she knew was that she’d been attracted to girls ever since she was a teenager and first watched a drama with Jun Jihyun. She wasn’t a terrific actress by any means, but she was stunningly beautiful and could also speak English fluently in interviews.

 

However, Irene felt something far stronger than lustful thoughts for an errant Korean actress when she’d first laid eyes on Seulgi.

 

Granted, she’d been disoriented after Seulgi rescued her. And yet, she’d realised then and there that the mermaid was one of the most gorgeous creatures (pun intended) she’d ever laid eyes on. The supernatural being was unlike anyone or anything that Irene had ever encountered before. Seulgi terrified and intrigued her all at once.

 

“I can’t take your… towel either.” Seulgi wore a puzzled frown, as if she had never heard the word ‘towel’ before. “I put it down for you to rest your head on – what will you use instead?” Seulgi questioned innocently.

 

“Wait…you put that towel down for me?”

 

“Of course. You were tired after tending to me; I wanted to repay the favour by carrying you away from the water and letting you rest.”

 

Irene remembered moments when her father used to carry her to bed as a young child and times when Wendy would cover her with a blanket after she’d fallen asleep in front of the TV. But here was a stranger, a supernatural creature, caring for her in similar fashion to that of her loved ones.

 

It was an overwhelming and perplexing kindness.

 

“Thank you, Seulgi. But I insist you take the towel. You can leave it on the sand when you go back in, and I’ll grab it later.”

 

Seulgi relented. “Very well, I accept your offer.”

 

Irene let the towel unravel and handed it to Seulgi. As the mermaid grasped at the soft fabric, their fingers brushed, sending a sharp voltage of pleasure-pain coursing over Irene’s skin. The action was reminiscent of the time she got stung by a jellyfish when she was 10 years old; but unlike that scorching pain, this sting was more persistent, an inviting agony.

 

Seulgi arched her eyebrows while studying Irene’s inexplicable expression. “There’s something wrong with your face.”

 

Irene’s cheeks, which were hot from her close proximity to the enigmatic mermaid, now turned a delicate shade of pink. “What do you mean? This is how my face always looks.”

 

“You seem ill at ease. Are you all right, Miss Irene?”

 

“Only baristas call me ‘Miss Irene’ – just call me ‘Irene’, ok? We’re friends now.”

 

“Friends?” Now Seulgi was more confused than ever. It had been a long time since somebody had called her that. The sentiment was nice, albeit a perplexing one for mermaids who usually avoided contact with humans.

 

“Of course, we’re friends.” Irene repeated the sentiment as naturally as breathing. “You’ve never been friends with a human before?”

 

This time, Seulgi’s cheeks coloured with chagrin. “Of course, I’ve had human friends before. It’s just that...it’s been a while. I’m a little out of practice with typical human behaviour.”

 

Two tiny dimples appeared on Irene’s cheeks, and she smiled in understanding. “What else do you know about humans?”

 

Seulgi scrunched her nose in concentration, which Irene thought was adorable. “Just a few things. Humans like swimming almost as much as mermaids. When you’re not swimming, you journey in things called motorcars. You like being in groups. And you seem to like playing ‘mouth to mouth’ a lot.”

 

Irene had been following Seulgi’s train of thought until that last part. “Mouth to mouth? Like when someone’s drowning?”

 

“Yes. But on these occasions, no one is drowning or in danger. Although there is some thrashing involved when their lips touch.”

 

Irene finally understood what Seulgi was getting at. “Wait...you‘ve never seen people ‘kissing’ before?”

 

Seulgi frowned quizzically. “Does ‘kissing’ save lives?”

 

Irene couldn’t take it anymore and laughed loudly. “Not exactly.”

 

“Then why do humans do it?”

 

Irene bit her bottom lip, thinking it over. “Well...some humans kiss each other to show that they like each other.”

 

Seulgi’s angular face morphed into one of curiosity. “We like each other. Does that mean we should ‘kiss’ too?”

 

Irene’s cheeks turned pink again, but she kept her composure. “Well, you and I are friends, so it’s a little different.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Human friends show they like each other with hugging. But when ordinary humans are in love, they kiss each other as a sign of affection.”

 

“Oh. Well, is kissing...pleasant?” Seulgi ventured.

 

Irene blushed again, but for a different reason this time. “Definitely. Um...how do mermaids show that they like each other?”

 

“Well, we don’t kiss each other on the mouth.” Seulgi affirmed. “But...we touch each other’s chests with our hands.”

 

“What, like copping a feel?”

 

“Cupping a seal?”

 

Irene’s bottom lip trembled with the urge to start laughing again. “N-n-nevermind. Actually, human friends can kiss each other. But it’s ‘cheek-to-cheek’, not ‘mouth-to-mouth’.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Do you want me to show you? You’ll know what to do when you make another human friend next time. Then you can show me your ‘mermaid thing’.”

 

Irene felt incredibly nervous and stupid all of a sudden. What was she doing?

 

“Ok,” Seulgi agreed swiftly.

 

Irene goggled at the mermaid, who gazed innocently back at her. Maybe she was overthinking things ― they were friends after all.

 

The raven-haired girl stepped closer. Seulgi resisted the urge to retreat, even though she was inexplicably afraid. And yet, she knew deep down that Irene wouldn’t hurt her. Despite generations of animosity between their species, Seulgi trusted the human girl.

 

Irene leant forward and brushed her lips softly over Seulgi’s right cheek. The mermaid’s skin was surprisingly supple and tasted like saltwater.

 

It was over just as quickly as it started and when Irene moved away again, Seulgi felt a sudden sense of loss.

 

“That felt...nice,” the mermaid offered finally.

 

“Thanks. Your turn.”

 

Irene’s breath quickened in her chest when Seulgi gazed intently at her. “Mermaids have powers. So, when we touch each other, there’s a kind of...spark which travels through our bodies.”

 

“Like electricity?” Irene ventured.

 

“Electricity?”

 

“Yeah, it’s really strong and makes ‘motorcars’ move. It shines bright too.” Irene refrained from covering her face in shame from her absurd definition of ‘electricity’.

 

The mermaid nodded, seemingly unaware of Irene’s inner turmoil. “Exactly, it shines very bright. When mermaids like or love each other a lot, the spark is very strong. So, if you feel something when I touch you, please don’t be alarmed.”

 

“Right, no big deal. Just your run-of-the-mill mermaid magic.” Irene muttered nervously.

 

“I won’t touch you the way lovers do. I’m only going to touch your hand, like a friend. Don’t be afraid, Irene.”

 

The mermaid lifted her right hand. Her eyes glowed a terrifying shade of emerald, which made Irene idly wish she had a harpoon at the ready. But the human girl’s fear morphed into wonder when the mermaid clasped her pale hand, interlacing their fingers together.

 

Irene expected to feel a simple spark. Instead, a sharp voltage of pleasure shot down her spine and through her nerve endings. Her body was cold and hot at the same time, making her feel weightless.

 

Before she could fully surrender herself to the overwhelming sensation, Seulgi released her with reluctance.

 

“Whoa! You could charge a smartphone with your hand!”

 

Seulgi’s eyes were back to their normal shade of coral green. “Thank you. I don’t know what a smartphone is.”

 

“Son of a , why are you always when I’m around?”

 

Irene moved guiltily away from Seulgi when she caught Wendy glowering at the mermaid all the way from the exit.

 

“ness isn’t wrong.”

 

“Tell that to my scarred eyeballs.”

 

“Wendy, where have you been? I was so worried!”

 

Wendy eyed the two women, who looked far too cosy standing together to be considered platonic. “Yes, I could tell. Relax, I just went home to take a shower and change into my work clothes. My shift starts in an hour and your mermaid needs to swim a lap in ‘her own pool’ before someone sees her.”

 

Irene was surprised that Wendy was already coming to terms with what she had witnessed a few hours ago, albeit in an obnoxious and sarcastic manner.

 

“Right. I’ll go with Seulgi and make sure the coast is clear.”

 

“Wendy.” Seulgi looked so serious that it worried Irene. “Thank you for helping me last night. I hope to repay the favour one day soon.”

 

“O-kay…” Wendy was mostly embarrassed and just a little pleased. “Send me a postcard the next time you’re in the neighbourhood.”

 

“I will,” Seulgi answered right away, which startled both Wendy and Irene even more.

 

Like a smartphone, Irene wasn’t sure that Seulgi knew what a postcard was either.

---

As the weeks progressed and Irene spent more time with Seulgi, the more she remembered about her encounters with the mermaid. There were still some frustrating gaps in her memory which often overlapped, but she was too happy to notice.

 

All the time she spent with Seulgi felt like an adventure. Irene often slipped out at night now to meet the mysterious mermaid. Whether it was swimming in the ocean or waiting for Seulgi to emerge from the water on her human legs and walk with her along the beach, they enjoyed each other’s company immensely.

 

To Irene’s intense embarrassment, Seulgi seemed to find her stories about her mundane life more fascinating than her own supernatural existence.

 

Despite her youthful looks, Seulgi had been alive for at least five decades already; that was decidedly more years than Irene’s meagre 23 years on the planet. Mermaids didn’t understand the concept of ‘birthdays’ in human terms, so Seulgi wasn’t certain what her exact age was.

 

Knowing that the mermaid was at least double her age made Irene uncomfortable. The mermaid had lived so much already and unearthed incredible mysteries deep within the vast ocean; these were miraculous feats that scientists would never discover in this lifetime or the next. And yet, Seulgi never once belittled Irene for her lack of life experience. She took her multitude of queries about ocean life in her stride and showed the utmost patience throughout.

 

The mermaid told Irene that she wasn’t the only one of her kind; there was a small group of them living in a secret dwelling underwater. Seulgi never said where her home was and Irene was wise enough not to ask. She knew how much Seulgi’s clan meant to her and giving up their location to a human was the highest form of treason which all sea creatures acknowledged. If it meant she could stay in her life without any harm coming to her, Irene was content with keeping her new friend’s secrets.

 

Irene came home from work one evening, her head in a happy daze. She was surprised to find Wendy sitting at the living room table, poring over what looked like a calendar and an assortment of papers. After her long shifts at the gym, Wendy was usually too tired for anything but vegging out on the couch and watching reality shows.

 

“Wendy? What are you doing?” Irene had always thought her best friend was allergic to reading in any form.

 

Wendy reluctantly stopped focusing on the page she’d been reading. Her mahogany brown eyes had purple rings under them from staring at the papers before her for several hours.

 

 

As a rule, Wendy loathed looking up things. Whenever she and Irene had partnered up for projects during their school days, Wendy had let (read: begged) her best friend do what she deemed as boring and unnecessary research on the topics while she honed her public speaking skills, which were exemplary in comparison to her introverted friend.

 

 

But after weeks of observing Irene’s abnormal behaviour, Wendy had no choice but to get answers to questions she hadn’t wanted to ask in the first place.

 

 

“Thank God you’re home, we need to talk!”

 

 

“Can it wait till later? I’m meeting Seulgi in a little while.”

 

 

Wendy frowned deeply, looking more serious than usual. It was exactly as she had feared all along. “That’s exactly why we need to talk now. Bae...I think you need to be careful about all the time you’re spending with Seulgi.”

 

 

Irene’s happy mood deflated, and her smile vanished. “Why would you say that?”

 

 

“Remember how you initially couldn’t remember Seulgi, even after she saved your life and the time after that when you saw her on Gangmun Beach?”

 

 

Irene chuckled at those memories. “Yeah. I guess my brain got soaked with too much seawater after all.”

 

 

Wendy shook her head vehemently in response. “No, I don’t think so, Irene. Seulgi’s a mermaid ― her powers and strength come from the moon, right?”

 

 

“Right.”

 

 

“I think something about Seulgi, her very existence maybe, is messing with your memory.”

 

 

“What makes you think that?” Irene unwittingly took a seat beside Wendy at the table. She stared in awe at the papers her friend had printed from numerous websites; some were articles that weren’t even in Korean or English. “Dee, what the ?”

 

 

“I’ve been researching mermaids on the internet for days now: folklore, mythology, real accounts...”

 

 

“Why would you―”

 

 

“And I found this.” Wendy pushed a piece of paper towards Irene.

 

 

Irene studied the contents silently. The more she read, the blacker her expression became. She glared stonily at Wendy. “‘Dee, what is all of this?”

 

 

Wendy drummed her fingertips ominously on top of the paper. “They’re documented cases of sailors, divers and other people who nearly drowned at sea and miraculously survived. But none of these people could say exactly how they were all rescued.

 

 

“A professional swimmer named Jennifer Brooke from San Diego in America couldn’t explain why she ended up taking a swim late at night in the ocean three months ago; she routinely trained during the day in the indoor swimming pool at her gym before that incident. After Jennifer Brooke was rescued, she told the coast guard and police officers that she was somehow ‘drawn to something which resembled a large fish.’ Brooke claimed that whatever it was compelled her to swim to it.”

 

 

Instead of being creeped out like Wendy hoped, Irene laughed outright. “Maybe Jennifer was compelled by a craving for tuna.”

 

 

Wendy slammed her fist onto the table, which stopped Irene’s silly attempts at humour. “This isn’t a joke! There are similar stories to Jennifer Brooke’s, ones that make even less sense than hers. A man named Marco Aquino from Tivoli in Italy was found in a fugue state by life guards on a beach in Ostia a year ago. Ostia is a seaside community and nearly 40 miles away from Tivoli. Aquino has a phobia about the ocean and beaches in general, so why would he go there in the first place? All he could tell the police afterwards was that ‘a beautiful Sirena told him to meet her in Ostia and promised him wonderful adventures if he came swimming with her.”

 

 

“That doesn’t prove anything, Dee. Maybe this Marco dude was just mad for this Serena chick―”

 

 

“Not ‘Serena’, Irene. He was talking about a ‘sirena’, the Italian word for ‘siren’. Or...mermaid.”

 

 

Irene chuckled again, but it was more forced this time as she tried to fight down her growing alarm. “I still think you’re reaching, Wendy. Maybe Jennifer Brooke and Marco Aquino had nervous breakdowns or histories of mental health problems before those incidents that the authorities didn’t know about.”

 

 

“Irene, even the names of the victims all have something to do with water in one form or another! ‘Brooke’ comes from the word ‘brok’, which means ‘small stream’. ‘Aquino’ is derived from the Latin word ‘aqua’, which means ‘water’. I don’t know if mermaids always lure people to them with water-related names, but the stories are too similar to be coincidences. Mermaids are also referred to as ‘sirens’; so many urban legends are about them luring innocent sailors to their secret coves. You’ve encountered a mermaid for the first time in your life and even your name is related to water in some form.”

 

 

“No, it’s not, Wendy! ‘Juhyun’ means ‘jewel’ or ‘pearl’ ‘My English name means ‘peace’ or some crap!” Irene snapped impatiently.

 

 

The shorter girl was stumped for a moment but rallied quickly. “Ah-ha! And where do ‘pearls’ come from? The ocean! Just like Seulgi, Irene!”

 

 

Irene palmed her forehead in exasperation. “Idiot.”

 

 

“You know I’m onto something!”

 

 

“Not really! My mom loved reading biblical stories to her baby bump when she was pregnant with me! She also liked reading me stories about King Arthur – got a theory for that too, Wendy?!”

 

 

Wendy wasn’t offended in the slightest by Irene’s outburst. If anything, her expression became graver. “Which one?”

 

 

“What?”

 

 

“Which King Arthur story did your mother read to you?”

 

 

Irene racked her brain. “I don’t know, all of them? I always asked her to read the one about the Sword of Excalibur to help me sleep.”

 

 

“Excalibur…” Wendy drummed the tabletop with a lone finger. Then Irene watched as she tossed numerous pages in the air, sifting frantically through the ones that fell onto the kitchen floor.

 

 

“Wendy, are you having a mental breakdown right now??? Who should I call?!”

 

 

Wendy rose to her feet, clutching a lone page triumphantly in her hand.  

 

 

“King Arthur got Excalibur from a fairy queen named Elaine ― who’s also known as ‘Nimue’ or... ‘The Lady of the Lake’.”

 

 

“Ok…”

 

 

“The name ‘Elaine’ means ‘shining light’ in English. What does Seulgi’s name mean?”

 

 

Irene wasn’t fooled at all by Wendy’s seemingly innocent tone. After all, her best friend had seen her look up the meaning of Seulgi’s name on her smartphone weeks ago.

 

 

“It means ‘wisdom’ or… ‘brightness’.”

 

 

“Same as the Lady of the Lake, who lived in water and thought it was awesome! Just like Seulgi, Irene!”

 

 

Irene forced herself to look disdainful, even though her heart was palpitating in her chest. She remembered the stories her mother had told her as a child about Elaine, the nymph-like creature who rose from the waters beneath Avalon to give King Arthur the mighty sword Excalibur that would vanquish his enemies and set him on the path to his true destiny.

 

 

Irene had always loved that story, until now. Not when it seemed like the only life she’d known was crumbling down all around her.

 

 

“So that’s your theory, ‘Dee? That I’m somehow being ‘lured away’ like Jennifer Brooke and Marco Aquino were? Even if Seulgi’s name has something to do with ‘shining lights’ or some other weird , I trust her. She wouldn’t hurt me. Ever.”

 

 

Wendy shook her head and Irene saw true remorse in her friend’s eyes. “I don’t think Seulgi did anything intentional. Don’t you get it, Bae? It’s like she said all along – mermaids generally don’t interact with humans except in extreme cases. Like when she saved your life. Seulgi’s never even shown you where she lives because she’s afraid someone will hurt her and her family. Maybe mermaids have the power to distort a human’s memory: like a built-in defence mechanism that prevents humans who come into contact with them from seeking them out afterwards.”

 

 

Irene thought over her friend’s words for close to 10 seconds before something else occurred to her. “Even if that’s true, then why can I remember Seulgi now after all those other times?”

 

 

“It’s true, you do remember Seulgi better than the first time. But aren’t there still gaps in your memory wherever she’s concerned? You couldn’t remember meeting her last week for a late-night swim.”

 

 

Irene scoffed complacently “I was really tired that night! Do you always remember every single boring detail of your life?”

 

 

“Of course not, but I don’t care about that nearly as much as you obviously care about Seulgi. Surely you’d remember more about someone you care about, Irene.”

 

 

Irene was angry, and it was confusing the hell out of her. She stood up, her hands trembling at her sides. “You’re wrong about all of this, Wendy! I remember seeing Seulgi a few nights ago – what do you think of that?!”

 

 

This time, Wendy grinned at her friend’s challenging demeanour. “Really? And what did you two crazy kids do together?”

 

 

“What we always do together, we-” Irene’s cheeks, which had been hot with rage before, suddenly paled. Wendy grew concerned when her friend put a hand to her forehead as if she was in pain. “I...I can’t remember. B-b-but that doesn’t prove anything! Seulgi and I probably just went swimming; that isn’t creepy or dangerous!”

 

 

Wendy shook her head and pointed her finger at the calendar she’d been studying when Irene first came home; she’d marked certain days with red circles. “I made notes of all the times you’ve spent with Seulgi, including the night you nearly drowned. And they all fell on nights which had full moons. Seulgi’s mystical powers, like the ability to change from a mermaid to a human, are at their strongest on those nights.”

 

 

“It could just be a coincidence.” Irene murmured, believing her own logic less and less.

 

 

“I don’t think so. Directly or indirectly, the stories all fit! You’ve always had this pull towards the ocean – maybe Seulgi has been the reason why all this time. She’s been alive for almost 50 years and probably lived in Gangneun’s waters all her life. Maybe she’s been watching you from afar this whole time. I’m worried about your friendship with her. Bae, you’re losing yourself.” Wendy’s eyes swam with unshed tears.

 

 

Irene started crying too, but her expression was resolute nonetheless. “That’s not true, I’m not lost. I’ve never felt more happy and complete till now because… Seulgi found me. She’s amazing, Wendy. When I’m with her, everything in the universe feels right. So don’t patronise me by saying I can’t think for myself in this respect or make my connection to Seulgi confusing or creepy. No amount of magic in the world could make me feel something this strongly, something I’ve never felt for anyone else before.”

 

 

It was the first time Irene was saying these things out loud. And Wendy saw the truth of it reflecting in her topaz eyes. “Oh my God. You’re in love with her.”

 

 

Irene gasped in amazement, the statement clearing up so many more cobwebs in her mind. She’d never felt more free and chained all at once by her own heart. “So what if I am? Don’t tell me you found that in your ‘research’ too?” Irene sneered at her best friend, her heart pounding loudly in her own ears.

 

 

Wendy pulled her green hair in exasperation. “Irene, you can’t be in love with Seulgi. She’s not even the same species as you!”

 

 

Irene laughed derisively at this and grabbed her house keys. “Thanks for giving me your blessing. Seulgi’s probably wondering where I am, I have to go.”

 

 

Despite her exhaustion and frustration, Wendy found enough energy to run after Irene. She sidestepped her best friend and deliberately got in her way so she couldn’t leave. “Irene, wait! What if you lose all your memories from getting too close to Seulgi? Please don’t do this, I’m begging you.”

 

 

Irene wanted to stay and comfort her friend because she was so obviously distressed. But her desire to see Seulgi more won out in the end. “I’m sorry, Dee.”

 

 

With tears running down her cheeks, Wendy realised that her best friend was being sincere. But it was too little too late when Irene got past her somehow and closed the front door, shutting her out completely.

---

Irene was out of breath after jogging the whole way to Gangmun Beach. As she predicted, Seulgi was already waiting for her in the sea, her coppery brown hair wet and slicked back against her scalp. She smiled and waved animatedly at Irene, who could only grin stupidly back in return.

 

“I thought you weren’t going to come!” Seulgi called out.

 

Irene’s heart melted at the vulnerability in Seulgi’s tone. How could she ever think of leaving her? Seulgi had become the very life blood in her veins.

 

“Are you kidding? There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” Irene said with the utmost sincerity. Seulgi smiled radiantly and Irene thought that it was in all honesty the loveliest thing she’d ever seen. “So, what are we doing tonight?”

 

“Come into the water. I want to show you something.” Seulgi’s tone held an enigmatic allure.

 

Irene’s pulse points thrummed erratically as she summed up the courage to strip in front of Irene. The mermaid had seen her before when they’d gone swimming together; but something about Wendy knowing about her romantic feelings for the mermaid now made this night all the more poignant and terrifying.

 

 

The mermaid’s eyes followed the pattern of undress as it revealed more of Irene’s porcelain skin and her sensual curves. Even though she had already seen Irene’s body before, Seulgi still traced a delicate line over the girl’s body with her wandering coral eyes.

 

 

Irene was shorter than her and impossibly thin with typically broad shoulders and thighs like that of a professional swimmer. Her long black hair was plaited into intricate braids tied around her head in wreath-like fashion. Irene had slanted eyes similar to Wendy’s, a softly sculpted nose and arched cheekbones that bespoke of regal genes in her ancestry. And then there was those mesmerising brown eyes of hers the colour of topaz, containing more hypnotic allure than the most priceless gem, or the most powerful siren.

 

 

Even though there were technically male and female mermaids, their species had no particular preference when it came to choosing mates for carnal pleasures or amour. As for enticing human prey with their siren powers, mermaids often lured as many of them away as they could, and purely for their own twisted, deadly amusement.

 

 

With her unearthly good looks, Irene would’ve been an easy target for any hot-blooded predator. With a guilty squirm, Seulgi realised that she might be the only predator for miles who could possibly harm the human girl. Under normal circumstances, Seulgi wouldn’t have hesitated in fixing Irene with her compelling gaze and persuading her to join her in the sea. With that said, the mermaid had never felt a stronger inkling to protect another human the way she did with Bae Irene. Her insides boiled with want when the human girl grinned devilishly at her and dove into the water.

 

 

Soon, Irene stood beside the mermaid and together they gazed reverently at the full moon, the water coming up to their necks.

 

 

“Where are we going?” Irene asked with mild curiosity.

 

“It’s a surprise. Do you trust me?” Seulgi questioned with sudden nervousness.

 

Irene turned to her and smiled, the ghost of Wendy’s words of warning echoing through her mind. “Of course. You have saved my life before, remember?”

 

Seulgi grinned at this and took Irene’s slender hand in her own. “Try to breathe as evenly as possible.”

 

Before Irene could decipher what that meant, Seulgi yanked her downwards and they soon sped off through the depths of the sea. At first, the salt stung her weak eyes, making visibility blurry and bewildering. But soon, Irene’s eyes adjusted, and she marveled at the colourful schools of fish they swam in-between. They seemed to dance through seaweed groves and smooth rocks littering the ocean floor. Irene’s eyes gazed fearfully at a shark zooming towards them, its sharp teeth bared and poised to attack. But Seulgi’s firm hand gripped hers tightly again and pulled her to safety behind a wall of coral, that same shark swimming dumbly past their hiding spot.

 

Irene had trained herself a long time ago to breathe underwater for long intervals and it had never benefitted her more than when she was here with Seulgi, witnessing incredible sights with her earthly eyes and imperfect existence. Seulgi seemed to come alive in her presence, literally swimming circles around her, flashing teasing smiles at her which promised the unveiling of many more enticing secrets.

 

She was exquisite in her natural habitat.

 

And just when Irene thought she would pass out from sheer delight, Seulgi tugged her hand and pulled her back through the water. Irene’s head broke the surface minutes later and she coughed and spluttered, gratefully inhaling copious amounts of oxygen which soon filled her lungs. Seulgi swam slowly around her, checking every inch of her for any signs of illness or damage.

 

“Are you alright?” the mermaid asked in concern.

 

“I…” Irene got lost in the unexpected warmth of Seulgi’s coral green eyes. “This has been the best night of my life. Why did we come back so soon though?”

 

Seulgi smiled, albeit a sad one. “Your body isn’t made for long voyages in the water. Besides, I only went down there tonight so I could give you this.”

 

She handed Irene a smooth object. Irene turned it over and realised that it was an oyster. It was unlike any oyster she’d ever seen before; this one in particular was as big as a dinner plate.

 

“Thanks, but I already ate.”

 

Seulgi chuckled at Irene’s humour. Let’s go back to shore and open it properly.”

 

After Irene went back to her clothes to find a handy Swiss knife, Seulgi joined her a minute later on human legs. Seulgi took the knife and oyster from Irene and began prying the black shell carefully apart. It finally opened like the shutters on a music box and all Irene could see at first was the soft, peach-coloured flesh inside. But after Seulgi hacked it away with precise cutting, Irene gaped in awe at the tiny silver ball at the bottom.

 

“Is that…?”

 

Irene was painfully reminded of her earlier conversation with Wendy and the sudden gravity behind the meaning of certain names.

 

Seulgi nodded, her face shining with excitement. “It’s a pearl oyster, the largest kind in its species. We collect them for our diet, but I also like collecting the pearls for myself. They’re like little moons, only smaller and prettier. They remind me of you.” She cast her eyes downward, looking adorably flustered.

 

Irene held the natural jewel between her two fingers, transfixed by the sight. It was soft and bright, just like Seulgi. Another bittersweet fragment of Wendy’s recent research. “No one’s ever given me so much as a diamond ring before. It’s beautiful – thank you, Seulgi.”

 

Seulgi looked up again and saw a burning, hungry look in Irene’s eyes. It made her both uneasy and strangely elated somehow. Irene gingerly put the pearl back inside the oyster before beginning a new topic of discussion.

 

“What does ‘Seulgi’ mean by the way? I’ve never asked you before.”

 

Seulgi looked extremely self-conscious. “It’s nothing special, just a common name.”

 

Irene giggle in response. “It’s a pretty uncommon name for humans who aren’t Korean.”

 

“Common for mermaids, then.”

 

“What makes a mermaid’s name so special?”

 

 

Seulgi tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Most of the time, our names are chosen to represent that we belong to the water. But in your human tongue, my name simply means ‘wisdom’ or ‘brightness’.

 

 

The mermaid seemed strangely annoyed by this fact.

 

 

“Well, I think your name suits you well.” Irene declared with sincerity. “Your parents must’ve had a good reason for choosing it.”

 

 

“I wouldn’t know, I never knew them. When I came into existence, they were already gone from this world.”

 

 

Irene’s eyes crinkled sympathetically. “I’m so sorry, Seulgi. That must’ve been...difficult.”

 

 

Seulgi’s eyes, which had been misty with emotion before, cleared suddenly and she smiled lightly at her human friend. “It is alright, Irene. I may not know exactly where I come from, but I still have my grandmother to pass on stories of my family. She once told me that my mother and father loved swimming to the surface and gazing at that silver pearl in the sky. Perhaps that is why I am called ‘Seulgi’: to show that I belong to the moon. This is also important to mermaids.”

 

 

“That makes sense. My name seems so boring in comparison.”

 

“I doubt that very much. Does your name have a special meaning?”

 

 

“It has different meanings depending on who you ask. It means ‘peace’, ‘wisdom’, ‘jewel’, ‘pearl’.” Irene giggled at that last name.

 

 

Seulgi smiled warmly. Irene’s skin tingled all over when the mermaid took her hand. “Then it’s good that I gave you a pearl – it suits you perfectly. Even though your name does not have a connection to the water or the moon, you still have a strong affinity with both. You would’ve been a remarkable mermaid.”

 

 

Her hand closed over Irene’s, locking the shimmering pearl between her pale fingers.

 

 

Under normal circumstances, Irene would’ve been terrified that Seulgi intrinsically sensed so much about her, especially after what Wendy had told her before. If anything, her feelings for the mermaid grew all the more in that precious moment. Whatever Seulgi’s true intentions were, Irene felt comforted that there was a true connection between them: something which went far beyond mere coincidence.

 

 

Her cheeks turned rose pink at the thought.

 

“Seulgi, can I ask you something?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“Mermaids…besides being able to change into human form, can they do other things too? Like change a human’s memories?”

 

Seulgi’s heart jumped in her chest at Irene’s words. How could she possibly know?

 

“Why would you ask me that?”

 

“Because lately…I can’t seem to remember little things and big things too. Things mostly to do with you and…it scares me.” Irene admitted.

 

Seulgi’s apprehension disappeared when she saw how unhappy Irene looked.

 

“I’m sorry, I should’ve told you sooner. Memory loss is a by-product of a human’s encounter with a mermaid. We use it to protect our secrets so that humans cannot hunt us.”

 

“I understand why it might happen with other humans. But why me? I would never do anything to hurt you.” Irene said with the utmost sincerity.

 

Seulgi’s heart leapt with joy at this, but she remained steadfast in her rationality as she tried to explain the situation. “I know that, and I trust you completely. But ancient mermaid magic doesn’t differentiate between good humans and bad humans. Don’t be afraid, the memory loss isn’t harmful to you.”

“But it’s only temporary, right? I won’t keep forgetting things about you, will I?” Irene asked in a hopeful tone.

 

When Seulgi looked away, her heart grew very weary.

 

“I’m sorry, Irene. The memory loss will continue until you forget me completely. It happened once with another human friend of mine named Kai. He was a surfer that I rescued during a particularly bad storm many years ago. We used to swim together all the time till one day when he didn’t come into the water at all. He only stood on the shore and stared back at me with blank eyes; that’s when I knew that what my grandmother had told me about friendships with humans was true. They’re only meant to be temporary. But with you…I hoped that things would be…different.”

 

Irene’s shoulders shook with anguish as she cried her heart out. “I don’t want to ever forget you, Seulgi. I’ve never met someone like you before. Isn’t there a way for my memories to stay with me?”

 

Even while Seulgi shook her head, she remembered something else her grandmother had once told her. However, she’d never known whether there was any truth to it.

 

“It hasn’t happened in centuries. But there is one way…”

 

Seulgi had told her as best as she could without making her own troubled feelings known just yet. But Irene was maniacal in her eagerness.

 

“But this is good, Seulgi! There’s a way for us to stay together!”

 

“You don’t know what you’re saying, Irene. It could be dangerous. It might not even work.” Seulgi mumbled, feeling disheartened.

 

“I don’t care, I want to try. Seulgi, I have to be with you because…I love you.”

 

Seulgi was stunned into silence at Irene’s words. She didn’t dare to believe it; and yet, her apprehension died, and she felt buoyant with happiness.

 

“Irene, I love you too.”

 

That was all it took for Irene to wrap her arms around Seulgi and meld their lips together. Even though Seulgi was uncertain of what to do at first, Irene guided her with the sweet patience of her desire, peppering with scalding kisses which made Seulgi dizzy with anguished desire. She never knew that something so intoxicating as kissing had ever existed till this moment.

 

She never imagined how right it would feel to have this beautiful human girl in her arms, drowning her senses and dragging her down till both her artificial legs and her real tail felt like they were separated from the rest of her body. Irene was a skilled kisser and taught Seulgi that secret art form till the mermaid trembled and moaned incomprehensible syllables of delight into the night air.

 

Seulgi pulled away so abruptly after a while that Irene feared she’d done something wrong. But the look in the mermaid’s coral green eyes reassured her a moment later. Her gaze was filled with nothing but love, which set the human girl’s senses on fire.

 

Seulgi breathed heavily, her whole body trembling with anticipation. “Irene...I want to show you how mermaids touch each other when they love one another. Do you trust me?”

 

Irene was nervous, but she steadied her emotions. “Seulgi, I trust you with my life.”

 

The raven-haired woman in a breath when the mermaid raised her tanned hand. It moved through the air and made contact with her chest. From this vantage point, she could feel Irene’s heart pounding against her rib cage.

 

 

Irene was too afraid to move in case it broke the spell. Her breath came out in soft gasps when Seulgi’s fingers trailed painstakingly over her skin. The spark had returned, far stronger than anything the human girl had ever felt before in her life.

 

 

This was more far more intense than when Seulgi had only touched her with their hands clasped together by the swimming pool at Wendy’s gym. Electricity swam through Irene’s skin, threatening to bring her to her knees.

 

 

“Irene...are you alright?”

 

 

Irene was struck anew by the alluring green of Seulgi’s eyes. The colour shone as brightly as the electricity her magical fingers channelled through her in the heat of the moment.

 

 

“Kiss me again, Seulgi.”

 

 

The mermaid didn’t need any further encouragement. She cupped Irene’s cheeks with her hands, sending more sensual sensations coursing through their skin as their lips met in a feverish sonata over and over again. Irene closed her eyes and wrapped her arms tightly around Seulgi’s neck, revelling in their desire igniting and scorching across their wet skin.

 

Irene’s body burned wherever it came into contact with Seulgi’s skin, like ice sticking to her pores and imprinting its way into her thoughts with scalding clarity. The moon enveloped their trembling bodies and followed their descent as they sank deeper into the sand.

 

 

Irene took the lead as she laid Seulgi down and hovered above her, kissing every inch of the mermaid, the taste of coarse salt spreading over her tongue. Her stomach rippled with pleasure when Seulgi wrapped her hands around her back, pressing their chests together. The mermaid fixed her coral green eyes on her lady love, reaching forward with her lips and her heart. Her fingers traced over the subtle ridges of Irene’s shoulders, sending undercurrents of ecstasy flowing through the human girl’s whole body.

 

 

It was like she was swimming, only sweeter and far more dangerous. Because she was travelling into the unknown now and had no way of knowing which way the tide would eventually turn. But Irene didn’t care as she gave herself completely over to that perplexing siren of destiny.

 

 

Mermaid and human were Ying and Yang now: black and white symbols intermingled in a seamless lover’s embrace. Their bodies slotted perfectly together and with hands interlocked, the ordinary and the supernatural collided and merged into one.

---

Irene came home close to dawn with a definite spring in her step. Wendy was waiting for her at the front door, tapping her foot impatiently with anger dancing in her mahogany eyes.

 

“I was worried sick, Irene! I called the police, but they can only do something when a person’s been missing for 24 hours. Where the hell have you been all night long?!”

 

“I was at the beach,” Irene explained, her head still spinning with a mesh of happiness and desire.

 

“Doing what???”

 

“I was with Seulgi. Wendy, I know you’re worried about how close we are, but we had an amazing night together. We went diving, I saw the most incredible sea creatures down there. Seulgi brought me an oyster with a real pearl in it from the ocean floor and she told me…she told me she loved me. Wendy, Seulgi loves me back! I feel so wonderful right now, because I finally have someone special that I want to spend the rest of my earthly life with.  I’m in love with Seulgi, a mermaid.”

 

The minute she said her love’s name and what she was, a curious change came over Irene and Wendy. She went from being ecstatic and in love to someone completely different. Her gaze changed and with it, her beautiful memories, tearing at the seams and slipping away from her grasp entirely. Wendy too stopped being angry quite abruptly and became placidly curious about where Irene had been all night long.

 

“I’m sorry…” Wendy began slowly, feeling puzzled with her demeanour. “Where did you say you went again, Irene?”

 

“I was at the beach all night…by myself.” Irene said slowly. She believed what she was saying, but felt strangely unhappy with her answer.

 

“Oh, that’s a relief. But you should be careful going there so often by yourself.” Wendy warned, turning away to turn on the kettle in the kitchen.

 

“Sure, I’ll remember next time.” Irene murmured, her head buzzing with nothingness. It felt soothing, but oh so lonely at the same time.

 

And just like that, both Irene and Wendy forgot all about the mermaid named Seulgi. Life went on as per usual with bills to pay and the occasional fun in-between. Irene went on a few dates, but not with any real fervour. There was a terrible void in her chest, but she couldn’t remember why.

 

Irene still felt an indescribable pull towards the sea, so she snuck away at night as often as she could. But whatever she hoped to find at Gangmun Beach wasn’t there, and it left her with a gnawing sensation of dismay and heartache. She ignored those feelings as best as she could and before she could blink, a whole year slid painfully by.

 

By some unforeseen coincidence, Wendy and Irene decided to have seafood for lunch one day. So, they went to a restaurant ats Gyeongpo Pavilion; the table they choose was outside on the quay with an excellent view of the sapphire ocean.

 

Both girls paid very little attention to their meals that afternoon, each lost in their own enigmatic thoughts. Finally, Wendy stopped stabbing moodily at her rubbery calamari and looked across at her best friend.

 

“Bae?”

 

“Hmm?” Irene asked, her eyes trained on the waves lulling lazily in the distance.

 

“Do you ever feel like our lives are just going nowhere slowly? Like…something’s missing?”

 

Irene met her friend’s eyes and smiled sadly. “All the time.”

 

“Maybe we’re just…sick of Gangneung. Maybe it’s time for a change.” Wendy said with sudden determination.

 

“Maybe you’re right,” Irene agreed.

 

She didn’t want to leave; it still felt like something was tying her to this place, to the sea. But with frustrating agony, she couldn’t remember just what. She’d long since given up trying to guess.

 

“Where do you think we should go?” Wendy mused in a dreamy voice.

 

“I don’t know. Maybe Seoul-” Irene stopped short when a beam of light hit her directly in the eyes, blinding her momentarily.

 

“Irene, are you alright?” Wendy asked in concern.

 

Irene saw streams of orange and red hitting her eyeballs like razor sharp knives. She opened her eyes with difficulty, holding her hand up to protect her face. “I’m alright, someone beamed a light in my face or something.”

 

“Where did it come from?” Wendy questioned, gazing wildly around their table.

 

“Over there,” Irene said, pointing in the direction of the ocean.

 

The light was still there, dancing off the waves, growing brighter and brighter till it enveloped Irene in a burning halo of anticipation. She found herself rising from her chair and walking slowly in the direction of the pier towards that scorching light.

 

“Irene, where are you going?” Wendy called out after her friend.

 

Irene paid no attention to Wendy or anyone else at the restaurant staring after her. Her mind had gone deliriously blank as she followed the light to its point of origin, a glowing figure waiting in the water for her.

 

At first, it was just a head she could see, with coppery brown hair slicked back against the scalp. But the closer Irene walked to the edge of the pier, the more she could see of the smooth, tanned skin humming with vivacity and a pair of eyes which seemed to burn through her very soul. 

 

Those same coral green eyes she’d dreamt about on many a night, not remembering who they’d belonged to for the longest time. She’d forgotten that those eyes had once sought out the vapid void in her chest and cauterised it with acceptance and the newness of first love.

 

Then Irene remembered everything to do with her mermaid Seulgi.

 

Irene’s shoulders shook with anguish as she cried her heart out. “I don’t want to ever forget you, Seulgi. I’ve never met someone like you before. Isn’t there a way for my memories to stay with me?”

 

Even while Seulgi shook her head, she remembered something else her grandmother had once told her. However, she’d never known whether there was any truth to it.

 

“It hasn’t happened in centuries. But there is one way…” Seulgi squared her shoulders and continued. “My grandmother is a very powerful mermaid; she has the ability to heal sickness and…transform beings. It is not often that mermaids and humans fall in love, but in extreme cases where both parties don’t wish to be separated, my grandmother once said that a spell could be done upon the human to change them into our kind. But it takes time and effort. In the meanwhile, the mermaid must leave his or her prospective human mate and return to their clan. The human will forget the mermaid’s existence temporarily, but when the mermaid comes back-”

 

“Yes?” Irene asked eagerly.

 

Seulgi sighed and looked her dead in the eye. “The mermaid will call to their one true love and they will come.”

 

Seulgi had told her as best as she could without making her own troubled feelings known just yet. But Irene was maniacal in her eagerness.

 

“But this is good, Seulgi! There’s a way for us to stay together!”

 

“You don’t know what you’re saying, Irene. It could be dangerous. It might not even work.” Seulgi mumbled, feeling disheartened.

 

“I don’t care, I want to try. Seulgi, I have to be with you because…I love you.”

 

Seulgi was stunned into silence at Irene’s words. She didn’t dare to believe it; and yet, her apprehension died and she felt buoyant with happiness.

 

“Irene, I love you too.”

 

“Seulgi…” Irene whispered, her cheeks stained with tears falling rapidly from her eyes as she stared out at the water.

 

Seulgi said nothing from her vantage point, but smiled enigmatically instead, sending a thrill of pleasure that Irene had forgotten she’d ever known before. Her feet teetered dangerously over the edge of the pier, that same wooden platform she had once crashed through late one night a year ago when she was inebriated with alcohol and oppressive loneliness.

 

Seulgi fixed Irene, her one true love, with an intoxicating gaze that many of her ancestors had used on unsuspecting sailors to lure them to their secret coves. But unlike those previous enchantments which only sought to create a temporary enticement, Seulgi’s gaze held the promise of feathered dreams and dazzling adventures still to come.

 

“Bae Juhyun,” Seulgi said, her voice filled with serene devotion. “It is time, my love. Come to me.”

 

At first, Irene couldn’t move from sheer astonishment and a stab of panic. But Seulgi held her gaze, stretching her hands out towards her in a gesture of welcome supplication.

 

“I am waiting for you. Come to me, Irene.”

 

Wendy and the rest of the restaurant goers watched in astonishment as Irene jumped from the pier into the water with her clothes on.

 

“Irene!” Wendy screamed, watching in horror as her friend swam with full towards the strange woman in the sea. It was as if a thin veil had dropped from her eyes when she finally realised who Seulgi was, remembering all her old fears about mermaids and their captivating powers.

 

Irene swam with all her might through the waves, not looking back once. All she could see ahead of her was Seulgi and the beautiful expectation of being with her again. It was as if she had been swimming in the ocean for years to fulfill just one purpose: to be reunited with her supernatural love.

 

“Stay right there, Seulgi! I’m coming!” she cried happily, blinking salt out of her eyes. Her clothes and her raven black hair were soaking wet as she swam through the water.

 

As soon as she got close enough to Seulgi, her trembling hand reached forward. It moved with assurance and determination, tracing a fiery pattern over her lady love’s bare chest. The action shot a bolt of electricity over the mermaid’s skin, pulsing with electric blue through her veins.

 

 

Seulgi marvelled at the fact that Irene could infuse so much energy into her touches, as if she held a secret magic of her own. In her eyes, the human girl with her ordinary name was the most incredible being in the universe.

 

 

And she was all hers.

 

 

Seulgi’s coral green eyes filled with tears of happiness when Irene smiled lovingly at her and cupped her cheek with her hand. This was a new touch for both of them: a merging of both a human and mermaid’s expressions of intimacy and devotion.

 

 

Seulgi now knew without a shadow of a doubt that Bae Irene, a human, was her one true love. The only way she could convey her feelings was to do it through the lens of a human. She wrapped her arms possessively around Irene’s back and kissed her with a fervour that was sure to make waves in the tranquil ocean. She had waited hundreds of days to finally have the black-haired beauty in her arms again. She’d be damned before she ever let her go again.

 

When they finally pulled apart, Seulgi caressed Irene’s cheek, her eyes shining with elation. “Are you ready, my darling?” she asked quietly.

 

“Yes,” Irene said in a flash.

 

Seulgi nodded and moved her hand to the back of Irene’s head, holding it in a tight grasp. Wendy screamed her lungs out when Seulgi disappeared beneath the waves, pulling Irene down with her.

 

“IRENE!!!”

 

The water rippled like a squirming leaf for several tense seconds before it became ominously still again. In the midst of the commotion of restaurant goers shouting for someone to call the police and the coast guard, Wendy ran to the pier’s edge and knelt down, weeping softly for the loss of her best friend.

 

And that was the last that anyone ever saw of the human girl named Bae Irene.

---

Irene’s disappearance was officially classified as a ‘shark attack’ which had happened in broad daylight. This was because Detective Kong Chin Hae, who was in charge of the police investigation, didn’t believe that a host of people had actually seen a mermaid in the waters of Gangneun. As the months slid by, most of those witnesses soon forgot what they had seen. But the memory stayed with Wendy Son.

 

 

She wasn’t exactly sure why; perhaps it was because her own connection to Seulgi had been strong enough to sustain her memories of the enigmatic mermaid. Or maybe Seulgi had used her powers to allow her to keep her memories. Either way, it ignited a desire in Wendy to find out as much as she could about what had happened to her best friend.

 

 

Even though Irene couldn’t be declared dead, the police investigation was officially closed and her parents still held a funeral six months after their daughter went missing. The casket was empty (Irene’s body was never found) and the funeral was a small, sombre affair consisting only of Irene’s relatives and a few select friends from Irene’s schooling days.

 

After the funeral, Wendy changed drastically. She stopped dying her hair Joker green; it reverted to its original black and she let it grow long just like Irene’s. She worked less shifts at the gym and focused all of her energy on solving her best friend’s mysterious disappearance. When she wasn’t at the police station harassing Detective Kong with new theories to assist him with the case he’d already closed, Wendy spent most of her nights reading books about mermaid lore and researching articles on the internet about what happened when a mermaid and a human fell in love.

 

 

The fire had gone out of Wendy’s system, leaving a soulless husk in its wake. She’d even stopped saving money to travel abroad like she originally planned. Wendy was adamant about continuing to live in Gangneun and in the bungalow she and Irene had once shared, despite her friends’ protests and concerns.

 

 

Only one strong emotion remained for Wendy now. It was obsession.

 

 

While the police labelled her as a ‘nuisance’, Wendy’s family told her emphatically over time that her best friend was most likely dead. Irene’s parents, while empathetic, also urged Wendy to stop looking for Irene; as heartbroken as they were, they reasoned that their only child wouldn’t have wanted her best friend to dwell on her untimely passing.

But Wendy couldn’t let it go. Seulgi had taken her best friend away from her and she needed to know why.

 

 

Finally, when her foolish quest for answers had run its course, Wendy did something insane and incredibly dangerous. She purposely hired a speed boat with a driver and took it out into the marina late one afternoon as sunset approached. She had never been a strong swimmer, not like Irene. But she used that to her advantage when the driver was sufficiently distracted with steering the boat and purposely flung herself overboard.

 

She heard the cries of the driver gurgling through her ears as she sank like a lead ball through the water. She moved her arms helplessly in a bid to swim, but it was no use. Perhaps she had already given up on some level when it came to living a life without her one true friend.

 

Water engulfed Wendy’s lungs and she closed her eyes as she said one last prayer to her Creator.

 

A moment later, something knocked into her forcefully, bruising her side. Wendy opened her eyes wildly and saw a flash of colours dancing around her as something or someone grabbed her waist and sped forward. Whatever held her was firm, but gentle. That touch was both foreign and familiar to Wendy as she struggled to see what was happening.

 

They soon broke through the water’s surface with a crash. Wendy spluttered haphazardly for several seconds, her lungs dispelling the water which had temporarily held her captive. She had been deposited into shallow water just a few paces away from the shore. But it wasn’t a shore she recognized; based on her minimal knowledge of Geography, Wendy guessed that she was probably not that far away from Gyeongpo Beach. Whoever brought her here had travelled several miles from Gangmun Beach ― and in a matter of seconds.

 

But why had she been brought here? And by whom?

 

Suddenly, she caught sight of a figure observing her from the water. Wendy blinked furiously as she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. This couldn’t possibly be real. From the waist up, it was a young woman with raven black hair, porcelain skin and a white, blobby seahorse-shaped birthmark on the inside of her left wrist. But her eyes were no longer a topaz shade of brown; they were pale amber with flecks of gold in them.

 

 

But that face, oh that face...

 

 

Wendy broke down instantly, staring longingly at Irene. “Bae...”

 

 

Her best friend gazed lovingly at her, tears streaming down her face that mingled instantly with the water encircling her. At first, her smile was morose, reflecting all of the misery and guilt she felt at leaving her best friend behind. But soon, it transformed into a smile which was quiet and serene, assuring Wendy that she was ok now.

 

 

Wendy gave a start when another figure swam up behind Irene, accompanied by two dolphins shrieking in delight as they skipped alongside through the shallow waves. It was Seulgi, looking as beautiful and mysterious as ever. Wendy wanted to hate the mermaid for taking her best friend away from her. But when she saw those coral green eyes beseeching her silently as she laid a protective hand on Irene’s bare shoulder, she saw so much love and tenderness in that one action.

 

 

Wendy cried even more, but nodded at both Irene and Seulgi, telling them with her smile that she understood.

 

 

Irene smiled radiantly at her best friend, her amber eyes dancing with untold mischief. Wendy’s eyes bugged out when the raven-haired beauty leapt gracefully into the air and dove back down into the water.

 

 

The shorter woman couldn’t help noticing that Irene no longer had human legs. Where legs should have been were amber-coloured scales and a fish-like tail matching her new eyes.

 

 

“Son of a .” For the first time in months, Wendy laughed heartily, revelling in this strange twist of fate.

 

 

Seulgi smirked at Wendy’s reaction. She leapt backwards and disappeared beneath the waves, giving Irene and Wendy a private moment to say goodbye, even if it was only a temporary farewell. Just like her own actions once upon a time, Seulgi shrewdly guessed that her lady love would do everything in her power to stay close to her best friend from now on.

 

 

Irene was still very stubborn, even as a mermaid.

---

I hope you all enjoyed this extended version of 'Sirena'. I really enjoyed giving more details about Seulgi's background :'-) I'll post a link of the PDF copy of this version when I'm finished editing it, hopefully in a few days' time.

I hope the name etymology made sense in the story for Seulgi and Irene. It was tricky trying to fit King Arthur into the mix, it probably didn't work as well as I hoped. It makes more sense in my version with original characters and more water-meaning names :-S Kong Chin Hae, the police detective who investigated Irene's disappearance, also had a specially chosen name. In Korean, his full name means 'lost' and 'depth of the ocean'. Quite indicting for a police officer seeking the truth, but I hope you all like the symbolism ;-)

Even if I never get published and become an award-winning, world-famous, multi-millionaire author, I will always be thankful for the way all of you supported my stories, especially this one. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you again :'-D

Alright, time to amuse my gay by watching more of 'Gentleman Jack'. Picture this: it's the 19th century in Halifax England and an upper-class woman has inherited an estate from her deceased uncle. Now, she's trying to increase her fortunes, renovate her family home, and woo another upper-class woman who's just as rich as she is. Daebak :-DDD

Take care and stay safe <3