Mi-young sat despondently at the kitchen table, miserably swirling her spoon through an unusually unappetizing bowl of macaroni and cheese. It had been a week since the incident at the dance studio, and she was spending more time by herself than ever before as the boy’s prepared vigorously for their upcoming concert. Mi-young knew how important their music was to them, and so she had tried her best to be supportive, obediently staying in the home and occupying herself while they pulled long hours practicing. However, she was beginning to grow increasingly lonely. The boys would leave the house early in the morning, cheerfully saying their good-byes to the mermaid, and not return until late in the night, and collapse almost immediately into bed. She had hardly exchanged more than a sentence with any of them all week, and she missed them immensely. However, she could not bring herself to express her feelings to Baekhyun.

I don’t want to be a bother, she thought with a sigh as she stood up and poured her half-eaten bowl of cheesy pasta down the garbage disposal. While the boys had been away, she had become more self-sufficient, and could now operate a majority of the household appliances. Much of the novelty of the human machines had worn off, and she mostly just moped around the house, bored and lonely. I wonder if Grandma Lee is home, she wondered suddenly, glancing out of the window to the small, squat house the old woman resided in. Deciding to pay the charming old lady a visit, she threw herself into some clothes and briskly exited the house, suddenly excited at the change in daily routine. She crosses the yard, walking over the paved pathway that led up to Grandma Lee's wooden porch. Despite her old age, the woman kept her yard in almost pristine shape.

The yard had been recently cut, and glistening with leftover water from a morning sprinkler run. The porch was lined with colorful flowers, blooming brightly in the springtime sunlight. Wind chimes whistled and rang in the slight breeze, and Mi-young paused on the wooden steps to enjoy the tinkling music, smiling. On one side of the porch, a porch swing lined with cushions swung back and forth in the wind, creaking slightly. Mi-young found the quiet charm of the house easing to her sad mood, and as she knocked lightly on the painted door, she felt happier than she had in days. She jumped as loud barking erupted in the house, and as the door swung open, a little furry shape shot out of the gap and began running around her legs.

“Oh!” she explained in surprise as the happy dog, tail wagging with excitement, hopped up and pawed at her legs. “Hello, there!” she laughed as she crouched down to pay its head, and the dog nuzzled her affectionately, little pink tongue lolling.

“Ah, Mi-young, how nice to see you,” the old woman beamed as she hobbled into the doorway, sniffing at the excited dog. “I see you’ve been introduced to Peanut. He likes visitors, a little too much. For my taste,” she sighed. Mi-young did not share the sentiment, as she was lying on her side on the wood as the dog attacked her face with a rain of doggy-kisses.

“I love him!” she giggled under the barrage of . The dog’s fluffy fur made her sneeze, startling him for a moment, and he darted between Grandma Lee's legs to disappear into the house. He returned a moment later to resume showering Mi-young in affection, much to the mermaid’s delight.

“Mm. What brings you here today, my dear?” the old woman asked as she closed the door behind her and shuffled over to a rocking chair, slowly lowering herself into it with a satisfied sigh. Mi-young sat up, crossing her legs, and the friendly dog immediately crawled into her lap and curled up. As she rhythmically his fur, she sighed deeply.

“I’ve been lonely,” she admitted sadly. As she explained the situation, the old lady nodded along, offering no comment. When she finished, the old woman clicked her tongue in disappointment.

“I see. What a shame,” she tutted, shaking her head. “I was afraid this would happen,” She sighed, and began rocking back and forth in the chair. “It seems you have begun to grow apart. It might be best that you regain your memory and return to where you came from sooner rather than later. It will save you a lot of pain, my dear,” she murmured, looking at her sympathetically. Though the woman thought she was most likely being helpful, but that was the last thing the insecure mermaid wanted to hear. Mi-young's shoulders drooped as she considered the advice.

Maybe it’s best… If I leave? She thought miserably. It was true that she had given Baekhyun and the others quite a lot of grief since her arrival, and perhaps the situation had come to the point that Baekhyun no longer wanted her around to spare himself further headache. It was certainly plausible- much too plausible for her comfort. As her bottom lip quivered slightly and she squeezed her hands together, she tried to hold herself together. The old woman leaned forward slightly to pay her reassuringly on the head. “There, there, dear. Perhaps it’s not that bad. You shouldn’t listen to the ramblings of an old woman,” she frowned.

“What should I do?” the young girl sniffled miserably, glancing up at Grandma Lee.

“Well, you have to show them what they have to lose if they don’t appreciate you!” she responded with a cackle. “Men are very simple creatures, honey. They lose sight of things very easily, and so every so often you have to give them a nudge in the right direction,” she explained. “I’m sure if you do a little something for them to remind them how much you appreciate them, then they will do the same in turn. They take things for granted, and sometimes that can get a little hurtful, hmm?” She chuckled as she trash-talked her young neighbors. Mi-young mulled over the woman's advice, feeling slightly more hopeful.

“Okay! I’ll do something for them!” She grinned, hopping to her feet. In her excitement, she dislodged the little dog and sent him scampering across the porch, yipping in disappointment. Bidding the grandmother farewell, she hopped down the porch steps and ran back to the house. An idea was all hatching in her mind, and she descended into the kitchen with gusto, grabbing a cookbook off of the shelf to rifle through the pages. Surely there was something simple she could find, something even she could do with her limited knowledge of human cooking and appliances. She landed on one of the richly decorated pages, a recipe for simple noodles with beef. As she read through the directions, it seemed easy enough, and she began retrieving the necessary ingredients from throughout the kitchen.

However, when she began to prepare the meal, she found it to be a little more challenging than she had anticipated. Though she had primitive knowledge of the strange machines, they were still complex to operate, and she had to struggle for several minutes to get the stove at the right setting. After she finally got the machine working, she had to fumble to cook the ingredients correctly. The noodles were overcooked and practically falling apart, and when she was added seasoning, it came out far faster than expected and she poured too much; when she was slicing the beef, she continuously sliced her fingers, but she pressed on, determined to finish the meal for the boys, who had given her so much and provided for her during her stay. By the time she finished and had all the plates arranged on the table, she was positively exhausted but elated.

She sat patiently on the couch, staring at the door as she waited for the boys to arrive home. It seemed agonizingly long, and she twiddled her thumbs as impatience began mounting inside of her. Please come home… I miss you, she prayed silently. It wasn’t long before the doorknob jiggled and the door swung open, and twelve tired, sweaty boys camp traipsing into the house with a chorus of yawns and greetings. She jumped to her feet, running over to meet them with a broad smile.

“Hello, everyone! I made you dinner!” she cried happily. She received a bunch of confused blinks and mutters in response, and as the awkward silence aded the air, she felt her happiness rapidly slipping away. What is It? What’s wrong? She thought with rising panic.

“Ah, Mi-young, we already ate,” Kai frowned as he rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. “I guess that was nice and everything, but I really wish you wouldn’t have wasted to food…” Mi-young felt the smile fall from her face, and she shuffled a few steps back in shame.

“O-oh… I’m sorry… I’ll go… Clean it up, then… You can eat it tomorrow…” she mumbled sadly, retreating back to the kitchen and loading all of her hard work into some Tupperwares for the boys to enjoy at a later time. She fought back tears as she piled the dishes into the sink, and then shuffled over to Chanyeol sheepishly. “Um… Chanyeol?” She asked quietly. “Could you do the dishes for me?”

“Eh? Why?” the tall boy asked with an annoyed look, and the mermaid cringed.

“The water…” She explained, her voice barely more than a whisper. C hanyeol grabbed Xiumin under the arm to drag him to the sink to assist him, and Mi-young felt even worse as she heard his dark-haired companion mumble, “Why can’t she do her own dishes?”

After, when the boys had all piled into bed, she went from room to room telling them good night, which she had made a habit of since they had been largely absent. Hearing their voices made her slightly happier, but oddly enough, tonight it did little to comfort her. Despondent, she wandered down to Chanyeol’s bedroom, where Baekhyun had been staying as of late, and raised her hand to knock on the door. She paused when she heard irritated voices inside.

“I just wish I could have my room back, you know?” She heard Baekhyun mumble. “I mean, it’s great that she’s here, but that couch was killing my back. Now I gotta cram in here…” Mi-young retreated from the door, slowly lowering her hand as she shuffled sadly back down the hallway and into Baekhyun's room. She closed the door behind her, sat down on the edge of the bed, and began to cry. As the tears streamed down her cheeks, she found all the negative emotions from the past week boiling over, reaching a breaking point.

I’m nothing but a burden on them, she thought as she wiped away her tears with the back of her hands. Grandma Lee was right. I just can’t stay here any longer… All I do is make trouble for Baekhyun. I know he said that I was the best thing that ever happened to him, but nothing has changed… I’m still clumsy, and mess up everything… Maybe it is best I leave… Baekhyun will be able to go back to his normal life, being successful… All of the boys can…

But… Baekhyun would be sad if I left, she thought as she rose from the edge of the bed, peering out of the bedroom door down the darkened hallway towards Chanyeol’s room. The words exchanged that night echoed in her mind, and she felt a fresh wave of tears flow down her cheeks. He'll be far happier when I’m gone. Even if he’s sad at first, he'll soon forget about me…

He already has.

Mi-young her heel, marched out of the house, and did not look back. She walked determinedly down the sidewalk, pushing herself to go through with her plan before second thoughts arose. It’s for the best. For all of us, she kept reminding herself as the doubts began to whisper in the back of her mind. Illuminated by moonlight and the occasional pair of headlights, she made her way towards the beach. She didn’t remember the way, exactly, but was trusting her own intuition; like birds were drawn to their breeding grounds, migrating south for the winter and then back in the spring, mermaids always knew where the water was, no matter how far away they were.

As she stepped off of the wooden boardwalk and into the soft, white sand, she felt at home. She paused, closing her eyes to feel the salty spray against her skin. Yes. This is for the best, she told herself as she kicked off her shoes, burying her toes into the sand. Calmly, she walked to the surf, stopping to stand just out of reach of the crashing waves. She stared out at the sea for a long time, watching the water pull in and out, in and out, guided by the force of the moon hanging in the black night sky. The horizon glittered with the reflection of starlight, and also the harsh neon lights of the boats trawling the water, drawing their wide nets for fish.

You can do this. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the water. Instantly her legs gave out from under her, and her legs flashed with bright light as they gave way to her shimmering tail. Propping herself up on her arms, she pulled herself out into the surf until she had dragged herself far enough out into the shallows to begin swimming. As the cool water streamed over her skin, and she could feel her tail churning the water behind her, her heart sung. I’m home.

Yet, there was hesitation. Something was wrong; she was not enjoying it like she used to. The deeper water was not calling her, but the shore, and what lay beyond it- more specifically, who lay beyond it. Baekhyun… She paused, turning in the water to stare at the receding shallows. No. No, no, you can’t! It’s for the best; it’s for the best… Yet she lingered there, staring, wrestling with herself. Hesitantly, she reached a hand out towards the shore, then screamed as something landed on her and she dank straight down to the sandy bottom.

Mi-young rolled over onto her back, frightened as she searched the water for her attacker. It was not an attacker at all, but instead a net; it dominated her vision, a latticework of white mesh weighted with heavy metal spheres. She thrashed as she felt herself being dragged across the sandy bottom. She managed to wrest and arm free and tried jerking at the material, but it was tough, much to tough for her to break by hand. The surface began to appear above her, and she could see the shadow of a fisherman drawing the net. Oh no! If he sees me, it’ll all be over! She began thrashing harder, bubbles spiraling to the top of the water as she struggled to get free. The shadow begun to slip as she pulled the net, and finally she felt the pressure ease and she was swimming rapidly through the water, the net still wrapped around her. It was hard, weighed down by the weights, but she managed well enough to spirit herself out into the deeper water.

However, not paying attention to where she was going, she fled right underneath a fishing boat who had lines out for bait fish. She crashed into the lines, and wailed in pain as the hooks dug into her skin. Blood ran red in the water, pooling around her. She felt the strings tighten, and she screamed in agony as the hooks dug deeper and she began to be dragged to the surface.

“Nooooo!” she sobbed as she whipped around, and blood ran from her wounds as the hooks dug deeper into her, making lacerations across her arms, stomach, and tail. It hurts… So much… she thought weakly as she fought desperately against the lines. All she could feel was pain, and all she could see was blood as she turned and twisted in the water. One by one, the lines snapped, and after an agonizing ten minutes, Mi-young was free and shooting towards the shore, wound in the line and net. Somehow, she made it, and dragged herself sobbing and panting onto the sand. Her arms wobbled as the last of her strength have out, and she flopped down onto the beach, half of her body still into the water.

Everything hurts… I can’t move anymore… she thought as she stared at the road through half-lidded eyes. Even now, I’m causing trouble… Oh, Baekhyun… I’m so sorry…

Baekhyun…

I need you…