Myungsoo was sitting on the sea surface like one would sit on the solid floor, cross legged, head up, staring at the full moon in the sky, the reflection of it made the sea sparkle. A sight that never failed to fascinate him.
Myungsoo loved this place, he loved the expanse of dark water stretched in every direction to the horizon, with no land in sight.
He felt like the sight belonged to him only.
The moon hung up in the sky, so round, so bright in the darkness surrounding him. He couldn't think of anything that was more beautiful than the full moon.
Myungsoo was startled when the quietness of the night broke by someone singing. Myungsoo knew that only one creature could be singing at this place and this time.
Merpeople, they mated every full moon, and the mating started by mermen singing beautiful songs to the mermaids. A sound that no other creature can hear except the merpeople and Myungsoo.
The first time he sat on the ocean to watch the full moon, he was surprised when he heard them, so Myungsoo never went to that place again. He tried to avoid them, and to stay as far away from them as possible but sometimes he could hear their faint voices. Merpeople were violent creatures, they had so much pride, and they wouldn't be happy if they knew someone else could hear their singing. And Myungsoo wasn't ready to start fighting them, he wanted to live in peace for once. Furthermore he felt that that moment was too intimate and he had no right to listen to them.
Except this time the singing was clear and close to him, and it was different, it was sad, mournful. The song wasn't cheerful or romantic like the other songs. It felt like someone was grieving while singing. The voice was so pure and clear that Myungsoo couldn't help but dive under the water and swim downward, deeper and deeper until the moonlight barely reached and the water grew cold, to see who was singing that way.
There between the rocks as if trying to hide from the whole world sat a creature singing alone. Myungsoo wasn't sure, it looked like a merman but at the same time he looked different from the others, he was thin and small, his hair swam around him as he moved his head slightly, and to put it simply, he was good looking, which was weird because although mermaids were beautiful and enchanting. Mermen were plain and ugly, but fit, big and strong. And instead of beauty, they were blessed by the most beautiful, melodic voices.
If it wasn't for the other's silver tail flickering lazily while he sang Myungsoo would have thought that he just discovered a new creature.
The merman' s voice was so capturing, Myungsoo couldn't move away. However, what captured him the most was how the merman was starring into the distance with a look of melancholy.
For the first time he thought that maybe in this universe, there is a creature who is more lonely and sad than him.
~*~*~*~*~
Myungsoo spent most of his life as a soldier then a general for the resistance army, in the deep mountains. Until the new Emperor took the throne. And when the Emperor offered a peace treaty, the soldiers finally decided to put down their weapons, and to live under the Emperor in peace.
And now for the first time in his life he was free to do what he wanted. Myungsoo thought that he was going to enjoy his freedom. But he spent his days idly, he surprisingly didn't feel like doing anything. His life was empty without his daily routine; Waking up, training, eating breakfast, giving orders to the soldiers of what they should do for the day, sword training, strategizing for the next move. He didn't miss any of it. But he was raised by his adoptive father as a soldier, he only knew how to fight, he didn't know how to do anything else. So he spent his days wandering aimlessly and his nights stargazing.

The next full moon Myungsoo heard the same singing voice with the melancholic sound, he dove into the deep sea again, even though he was planning to ignore it, but he felt like the voice was pulling him down, he stayed hidden from the other and listened to the song, and when he was swimming back up, the other saw him, he stopped singing immediately and yelled. "Wait!"
When Myungsoo turned around, the merman was so startled, he swished his tail and swam away from the other, without turning around and looking scared. "You can hear me?" He asked in disbelief.
Myungsoo held his hand up as if surrounding, trying to show the merman that he was not going to hurt him. "Yes, I can...sorry I scared you."
The merman was staring at him as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "How? It's not possible, you're not a merman."
Myungsoo shrugged. "I don't know why I can hear you, I can hear all the sounds in the ocean." He really didn't know, he suspected that the reason he could hear all the sounds in the oceans was because he was also a powerful sea creature, and he had nine heads that made him sensitive to everything around him.
It was one of the mysteries of the universe that he couldn't resolve.
"Who are you?"
"Er...Myungsoo?"
The other shook his head. "What are you? You're not human."
"No i'm not, I'm a sea demon."
"Sea demon? the nine headed demon?" The merman asked, voice growing louder.
Of course he would know who he is, everybody knew who he is, except that only few knew how he really looked like.
"Yes. Look don't worry, I'm going now."
"Oh!"
Myungsoo was confused by the other's reaction, he thought the merman would be swimming away already. "What does that mean?"
"Well I was expecting the nine headed demon to be a big scary man when he's in his human form," He looked him up and down "But you're not." He concluded, Woohyun sounded more confident than he felt, and wondered if he should run away while he still can or was it too late? So he asked instead. "Are you going to eat me?"
Myungsoo looked at him and smiled, a tight lipped smile, "Of course not."
The merman wasn't sure if he should continue talking with him, or trust the other's words, but for some reason he couldn't turn around and run. " Why are you not going to eat me?"
"I don't eat merpeople or any other creatures when Iam in my human form." Myungsoo answered truthfully, he felt guilty so he decided to answer all his questions, and even though he was curious about the other, he didn't ask, he felt that he had intruded enough.
"And when you're in your demon form, will you eat me?"
Myungsoo didn't like his demon form and never shifted if he could help it. Shifting to his demon form hurt, besides it made him feel more like the monster that he already was, but he wasn't going to explain more to the stranger who still eyed him with fear in his eyes.
The merman didn't know why, but he believed him, he saw the sincerity in the other's dark eyes.
Or maybe he was just desperate to talk to someone.
For a moment they both stood there in the darkness, staring at one another, then Myungsoo asked. "What's your name?"
"Woohyun...Nam Woohyun."
They talked more. neither of them knowing why they were really having a conversation.
~*~*~*~*~
The next day Myungsoo was wandering in the ocean, secretly looking for the merman, but he wasn't going to admit that even to himself. "Hi!" He heard a voice behind him, when he turned around he found Woohyun behind him, smiling at him, his eyes disappearing into crescent moons.
Myungsoo couldn't help but smile, exposing the dimple at his right cheek. "Hi." He said with a little wave.
Myungsoo was really surprised that Woohyun was still talking to him, he thought that when the merman went to sleep he'd realize what a great mistake he had made by talking to the demon, and he would do everything to avoid him.
"So what do you do everyday? " Woohyun asked.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Yea, I just wander around, I spend my day in the ocean or on the island."
"What do you do on the island?"
"I just walk around or sit on the sand, do you want to come?"
Woohyun's expression suddenly darkened, at first Myungsoo thought that the other didn't trust him, but his expression was more of worry, sadness than mistrust. After a few moments of silence, Woohyun replied. "I don't want to go there." And after hearing the sternness in his voice, Myungsoo realized that the other wasn't going to explain more or change his mind, so he asked him if he wanted to just swim around.

Just like that, they started wandering around the ocean together. The ocean was vast and deep, with an outstanding variety of colorful creatures. They both belonged to the ocean, one a sea demon, the other a merman.They loved it, and understood its beauty and danger. They found joy in silently gliding through the water past the different kind of creatures, and enjoyed how the water felt silky smooth on their skin when they sped up. They never tired of swimming in the ocean and discovering its amazing wonders.
And they talked, the conversations flowed easily between them, but it wasn't deep or personal. They were both cautious around each other. Their circumstances taught them not to trust easily. But they both had no one to talk too, they both needed company.
Myungsoo was lonely, so was Woohyun.
~*~*~*~*~
The next full moon Myungsoo asked Woohyun if he wanted to be left alone or stay with him on the sea surface to show him something. Woohyun decided to accept the other's invitation instead of spending it all alone, wallowing in his misery.
Woohyun lost all his fear from the other, the demon never did anything to indicate that he was dangerous. When Woohyun met the demon, he looked intimidating with his black robe, black hair, dark intense eyes, even his face looked like it was carved in the darkness surrounding him, but when they met again, in the daylight and he smiled, his eyes losing the intensity. His face didn't look so flawless, he looked young and harmless, nothing like a demon or a monster.
So Woohyun found himself lying by Myungsoo's side looking up at the full moon. His silver grey tail glinted like diamonds in the moonlight.
He asked while trying to trace the moon by his finger. "Is that what you wanted to show me?"
"Yea, it's beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yes it is, do you do this every full moon?"
"Yep. I love sitting here staring at the moon, and stars."
And from how Myungsoo's eyes shone brightly, Woohyun knew that the other loved it so much. Woohyun loved the view too, and the quietness. Watching the beautiful moon and the stars beside Myungsoo made him forget the meaning of this day and how he felt every full moon. He was happy for the first time in a long time. However, that happiness didn't last long. When Woohyun heard the faint sound of the merpeople singing, his body tensed up and he stopped talking.
Myungsoo did the first thing that came to his mind and grabbed the other's hand. "What's wrong? Do you want to talk about it?"
Woohyun tried to slip his hand out of Myungsoo's, and was going to duck his head under the water. But Myungsoo tightened his grip and said, "I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me, just don't go."
Myungsoo wasn't going to pressure him to talk, but he wasn't going to let him be miserable by himself.

They sat in silence for a while until the singing stopped, which meant the merpeople were mating. Woohyun felt the tears welling up but he forced them back down and breaking the silence he said. "My mother was a mermaid, but my father was human." his voice was a mere whisper but myungsoo heard it clearly in the silence surrounding them.
Woohyun looked at him intently, waiting for his reaction. It was probably the end of the very short lived friendship, was it even friendship? Did Myungsoo consider him a friend? Woohyun didn't know, they never talked about it. Myungsoo turned his whole body towards Woohyun, face blank, then he slowly blinked , and Woohyun could see how he was taking in what he had said, then his mouth fell open into a silent "Ah!" as if that explained everything.
"What does that mean?"
Myungsoo's hand tightened around Woohyun and he smiled warmly at him, "It means now I understand why you look so different."
"And you're ok with it?"
Myungsoo shrugged. "Of course, why is that a problem?"
Woohyun sighed. Was it a problem? Of course it was, it was the beginning of all his problems, it was the reason he was left all alone in this world.
Myungsoo still holding his hand, said. "You can tell me, I'm listening."
Can he really? Will Myungsoo stay with him if he heard his whole story? He probably will, Woohyun thought.
Woohyun didn't know from where to start, so he started from the beginning since Myungsoo was willing to listen to him, and the night was long, and for the first time Woohyun felt that he could talk about his mother without breaking down, and if he did Myungsoo was there for him. The warmth of the other's hand was reassuring. Somehow Woohyun felt that Myungsoo will not disappoint him.

Woohyun was young when he lost his mother, and even younger when he lost his father. He could barely remember his face, his only memories of his father was the two of them running after a ball on the sand, and what his mother had told him.
In fact his mother never stopped talking about his father, that Woohyun didn't feel his absence, she loved him that much but Woohyun couldn't say the same.
When Woohyun was young he loved hearing the story of how his parents met, it was his favorite bedtime story; his mom had met his father when she was wandering around the ocean, she had loved to swim further away and watch the fish swimming by, but then once she saw his father swimming, the moment she was going to turn around the other turned, he saw her and they both froze. According to his mother her father fell for her at first sight, and Woohyun had no doubt that it was the truth, his mother was so pretty.
And that's how his mother gave up her family; who couldn't accept her relationship with a human "You're a disgrace." they had called her, and then when his father proposed to his mother "The most romantic proposal" his mother had said; his father took her to the island they first met, went on his knee and sang for her like merpeople did, under the full moon. And even his voice wasn't as beautiful as mermen, to her it was the most beautiful voice. And slid a beautiful ring in her finger that he had made personally; she gave up her life in the ocean then, she drank a magical potion to turn her tail into legs, but in return her life span was reduced to the same life span of humans. His parents lived happily in their small home in the island, but that happiness was short lived and it disappeared when his father passed away.
Woohyun and his mother lived few years in that island, his mom did her best to teach Woohyun everything he needed to know, but her health had been decreasing since the death of his father.
Eventually, when his mother felt that she wouldn't last long, she did the last thing she wanted to do. She took Woohyun to her parents, thinking that if they saw how small her child was, they'd pity him and take him in.
It was the day Woohyun's world started shattering.
When woohyun met his grandfather, he was scared, the man wasn't only big and green, he had seaweed for hair and sharp teeth. But what was scarier was the snarl on his face and his booming guttural voice when he opened his mouth to chase his mother and her "filthy" son out of his house and territory.
The nightmares of scary green shark with huge sharp teeth, going to eat him never left Woohyun.
That was the day Woohyun learned that he wasn't special like his mother had told him, him being half human, half merman meant he was a monster, his mom did her best to shield him from them but Woohyun still heard the insults.....towards him, they called him filthy, monster, disgusting and worst.
Woohyun still heard the same insults everytime he coincidentally met merpeople.

The day his mother passed away, was the day Woohyun lost his entire world, he had been torn apart with grief. Everything changed without her around, everything was different. He was different, Woohyun who was a cheerful person, who did silly things just to make his mother smile, who couldn't stay quiet for a long time had changed into a somber person.
Woohyun felt that his mother took half of him with her, she took the cheerful Woohyun, and left the empty shell Woohyun.
Woohyun refused to leave the ocean again, and go back to the island, to his home, he refused to go to a home where his mother wasn't there to welcome him with her pretty smiles and her kisses, to cook for him, to sing for him, to play with him.
Woohyun felt restless after that, he swam for days and days far away from that island, and far away from the merpeople who called him a monster.
And as he swan and thought about how his life would have been if his father wasn't a human, how he could still have his mother around, he grew to resent his father because he was human and weak, therefore he died earlier than most merpeople. And he resented him because his mother gave up everything for him and in return she lost her health and died earlier as well.
At the same time Woohyun hated himself for resenting his father, especially when he remembered the stories his mother told him about how great his father was, about how happy he was when Woohyun came to this life. And that she never regretted her decision to marry him, and how her voice and eyes went soft when she talked about his father.
As the years went by, Woohyun learned to talk with the fish around him, the plants, the rocks, even if they never responded, he talked to them about everything, except his mother, the thought of his mother made him sob, and when he tried to talk about her he started crying until he was hyperventilating.
Through all this years Woohyun never stopped thinking of her, he woke up thinking of her and went to sleep thinking of her.
The pain never of losing her never vanished but Woohyun learned to live with it, and kept his mother alive in his heart.
~*~*~*~*~
When Woohyun finished talking, Myungsoo couldn't say a word, he was stunned into silence while Woohyun was telling him his story. It was beyond what he was expecting.
After quite a while has passed in silence, Woohyun picked at him, to find him starring with his eyes wide in shock at the sky above them.
"I thought you fell asleep." Woohyun said, in a small voice. He had started losing his confidence when Myungsoo stayed quiet. He hasn't said a word since Woohyun started talking, even when they changed their position, they stretched down on their backs, side by side on the ocean's surface (Because Woohyun felt embarrassed to tell his story while Myungsoo stared right back at him.)
"I didn't fall asleep." Myungsoo replied while sitting up. Myungsoo knew how it felt like to live feeling rejected by everyone very well, but he didn't know the feeling of having parents then losing them. Myungsoo couldn't help but feel sad when his adoptive father, who had never gave him affection or treat him like a son died.It must be terrible for Woohyun who had wonderful parents to loose them. Myungsoo thought. He could hear the break in Woohyun's voice everytime he said "mom" or how he cried silently next to him when he talked about his mother's death. So Myungsoo knew that no words could comfort him. But Woohyun trusted him and opened his heart to him. He had to say something, except he didn't know what he should say, comforting others is something he had never needed to do or to learn, no one had ever sought him for comfort, and he was never comforted by others.
"I'm sorry you lost your parents," he started, "And I'm sorry the merpeople have been terrible to you, believe me I know how it feels to be rejected. But you're not what they said about you, you should trust your mother's words, she was better than those terrible people, and when she said you're special, it means you're special." He smiled at Woohyun who was just staring at him and added. "Besides I'm the monster here not you. How dare they use it as an insult?"
Woohyun flipped himself over and ducked his head under the water, he flicked his shimmering tail above the surface, splashing Myungsoo with water. And when he resurfaced, he was grinning.
Myungsoo almost whooped after seeing Woohyun's smile, it lighted up his entire face.

The next morning Myungsoo decided that he wanted to get something for Woohyun, he was still overwhelmed that the other trusted him and told him his story. After thinking all morning about it, Myungsoo came to the conclusion that probably what Woohyun missed the most while living in the ocean was food, food cooked by humans. So Myungsoo decided that he'd go to town and buy them some food. Food cooked by humans was his favorite as well. And just the thought of eating it soon made him happy.
Myungsoo was walking in the market looking at food stalls, his mouth watering from all the delicious food in front of him and the aromatic smell hitting his nose, when he heard it before he saw it, the 'woosh' sound the arrows make, he was too late to dodge it and he felt it digging into his chest, a piercing pain ran through his body, but he ignored it. He had to flee.
So Myungsoo run as fast as he could until he saw a tree, he climbed it and leapt from tree branch to another. And instead of going to the ocean, he went deeper into the woods in order to distract them, the last thing he wanted was for them to know where he lived. So he ran and ran until the town disappeared and saw no one was following him. He ran towards home, he heaved himself into the ocean and swam with all the strength he had left, which wasn't much, considering how much blood he has been losing. He only needed to reach his home. After swimming for what felt like ages, Myungsoo saw Woohyun swimming towards him, and what was he saying? Myungsoo couldn't hear a word for the buzzing in his ears, and why did Woohyun look scared? Or was it angry? Myungsoo couldn't tell. His vision dimmed and he lost consciousness.