Focus, Mi-young. Don't think about it. This is a day for you and you deserve to be happy, the mermaid told herself as she stood in line to receive her ticket to enter the massive aquarium. The feelings she had been holding in all morning threatened to burst out of the dam she had built in her mind. Slowly, she managed to rebuild that wall that had been momentarily damaged, and by the time she received her admittance and joined the boys in the hall she was all smiles again. Today is going to be a good day, she insisted as she glanced hesitantly at Baekhyun, who was also acting if their moment at the mural had never even occurred.

Even if I act like it never happened, believe this… I’ll never forget, his voice rang in her head, making her heart constrict for a brief moment. She managed to keep her composure as Kai dashed over and grabbed her by the hand to pull her down the hall.

“Come on, Mi-young! We're gonna start with the tropical exhibit!” he told her breathlessly with an elated smile, and the mermaid tried to give him one that matched. Just forget about your feelings and have fun, she told herself once more. Abruptly the hallway fell away, and Mi-young was too astounded to focus on her depression. They had landed in a massive circular room with floor-to-ceiling tanks on either side, filled with crystal clear water bursting with colorful corals and equally impressive fishes. agape as she stared at the miraculous marvel, she just shuffled along as Kai pulled her to one of the glass walls and smiled at her, positively elated that she was so impressed.

It was the most gorgeous reef that Mi-young had ever seen; it looks just like the atolls in the ocean that she had been blessed to visit a few times in her life. Hard corals served as the base structure, muted yellows and browns that stretched their thorny branches towards the surface, or small round corals that anchored themselves on the rocks. Fan corals swayed in the false current, richer purples and red that spread their delicate webs wide. Anemones wiggled their deadly tentacles as little clown fish flitted about, never straying far from their stinging homes lest they be devoured. A spiny lobster the size of a small dog peeked out of a rock; an impressive red-and-white striped fellow, his massive claws clicked experimentally as his antennae slipped across the algae-coated rock. When a large wrasse slowly seam by, it vanished back into its retreat with haste. Schools of butterflyfish and tangs arced through the water, barely in one place for a moment before shooting off deeper into the tank. A few starfish scooted across the sand, and urchins with their rigid spines warned any adventurous fish against taking a bite. A sea turtle glided through the water, its shell dappled with the false sunlight above.

“Oh, my,” she breathed as her sea-blue eyes absorbed the rich color. Her breath fogged up the glass as she gazed into the beautiful depths. Suddenly, she smiled as a memory tugged at the corners of her mind.

“What are you thinking about, Mi-young?” Chanyeol inquired politely.

“My brothers,” she answered. “The last time we visited a reef, I was ten. They were all older, in their teens, and they took me out to see it now that I was old enough to really appreciate it. The city had passed close to a large atoll off the coast of South America,” she explained. “They picked up a conch shell and started tossing it around, and got a nasty surprise when the hermit crab inside decided to let them know he was not pleased he was being used as a ball,” she laughed. “My eldest brother… He found a piece of pretty blue coral for me. My mother made a necklace out of it for me,” she recalled fondly.

“You must have been close to your brothers,” Tao mused.

“Yes, I was… I bet they’re so worried about me,” she frowned. “I left without saying a word, and never came back… They would search to the end of the oceans to find me,” she sighed guiltily.

“Well, you’ll get to see them soon, right?” Lay grinned weakly and threw an arm around her shoulders, smiling weakly. Ugh. I’m making everyone uncomfortable by being all gloomy, she thought in disgust and quickly shook her head to clear away the bad thoughts.

“So, what do merpeople build their houses out of?” Suho asked, regarding her with curiosity.

“Rocks mined from the ocean floor, mostly,” she answered, glancing back at the gorgeous reef. “Sometimes we use wood and iron from old shipwrecks, too. Merpeople tend to live most of their lives outside, so our houses are quite simple in structure- one or two rooms, with large outdoor spaces that are seagrass beds. The small buildings are made of common stone- limestone, mostly. Large buildings like palaces and gathering places are usually made of shale, basalt, or granite that is mined from the depths of the ocean. As you can imagine, that would make merfolk cities a bit drab in terms of color, so many cities actually grow coral reefs. We literally have corals and anemones on our buildings,” she explained.

“How can that be? Corals have very specific growth requirements,” Baekhyun frowned deeply at her.

“We simulate their growth requirements. You see, to prevent from being discovered and any large animals accidentally running amok, merfolk cities are surrounded by a sort of a dome, a barrier, if you will. Within this barrier the environment can be modified as the maker wishes. Sunlight, temperature, salinity- even at the very bottom of the ocean floor, these parameters can be modified to seem like it's a mere ten feet below the surface,” she explained, and the boys were looking at her in awe. “Mermaids have been around for thousands of years- did you think we were primitive?” she joked.

“I just didn’t think you were so technologically advanced,” D.O. frowned.

“It's not so much technology as it is magic,” she admitted with a laugh, then raised her eyebrows as twelve mouths fell open in unison.

“You have magic, Mi-young?” Xiumin gasped.

“Oh, yes. Some merfolk are more gifted with it than others. All mermaids have magic in their singing voice- that is where the legends of sirens came from. Mermaids can enchant people with their voice. Men, for some reason, are more prone to it than women. Some mermaids are so powerful that they can bewitch an individual with a single word. Mermen are gifted with enhanced strength and endurance. But some merpeople can perform genuine magic, manipulating the elements around them. They can create fire and ice underwater, cause plants and corals to grow instantaneously, move rocks with only their minds- the power varies from person to person. My mother has the power to manipulate memories and emotions. She can make you feel happy if you’re sad, or ease your mind when you are afraid. Most importantly, she can erase memories.”

“Erase memories?” Chanyeol swallowed.

“Yes. It is a large reason Atlantis has remained hidden for thousands of years- any human who does see it doesn’t remember,” she explained grimly. The boys looked extremely afraid, and she laughed heartily. “Don't worry. My mother isn’t bound to come up here and erase all your memories of me,” she teased. “She only uses it in the case of a catastrophic incident where our entire race is threatened with discovery- say, if I were to be captured and broadcasted to the world,” she mused.

“Phew. That's a relief. I would hate to forget,” Chen frowned deeply as he held a hand over his heart and looked at her. Yes. Me too, she thought. The boys had run out of questions for the time being, and so they decided to continue on their way. They visited a deep-ocean exhibit, where peculiar creatures capable of bioluminescence glowed in a room devoid of light, protecting their sensitive eyes. Squids swam in the dark, as well as fish twenty feet long sporting long, thin fins that pulsed with lights and glowing jellyfish. Mi-young explained that the merfolk who lived in the trenches often painted their buildings with the glowing bacteria, causing their buildings to glow with runes and symbols rather than flourish with corals. They were a secretive sort, more savage like the ancient merpeople who ripped sailors from their boats to drown them and devour them. Mi-young assured the frightened boys that merfolk didn’t practice such things anymore.

Next they ventured into a deepwater. The star of the show was a massive great white, who glided about in a massive tank populated with gigantic grouper and tuna and other large, deeper-dwelling fish. There were also marlins, mako sharks, and schools of silvery fish that Mi-young could spot as they strolled through the gargantuan tanks that held the impressive specimens. Seeing the shark prompted her to tell the curious land-dwellers about the merfolk's risky sport, shark-wrestling, and they were absolutely appalled to learn that the beautiful girl had tangled with a hammerhead or two in her years below the sea.

“What other sports do merfolk have?” Sehun asked her curiously.

“Oh, quite a few. Chariot racing is quite popular- it never died out from the Greek age. Our chariots are pulled by hippocampi. They’re a rare creature, half-fish and half-horse. They were hunted to extinction in the wild by humans, so they are bred and domesticated by merfolk,” she explained. Baekhyun looked dumbfounded at the prospect that an undiscovered sea creature like that existed, and she wondered if she would ever get the chance to show him one someday. “Racing hippocampi is also popular, and the betting on those races is a huge source of entertainment. We also have variations of the ball sports humans have, but some modifications are necessary for playing under the water, of course,” she explained. “Naturally, each merfolk city has their own customs and culture, so hundreds of smaller games and sports exist. Those are just the ones across the boards that merfolk gather to compete in every year. It's our own version of the Olympics, styled after the Greeks. Of all humans, mermaids interacted with the Greeks the most, and much of what we are comes from them. It wasn’t until the age of the Mediterranean pirates that accompanied great sea travel that merfolk really came back into the lore and we interacted more with them.”

“That's so cool,” Suho whispered, almost in tears at the descriptions of the mythical beings and their culture.

By this time, they had made an entire circuit of the aquarium, and it had been several hours. As they walked out into the lobby, Mi-young had to admit that she felt a lot better. It felt good, talking about her home world, and it had honestly taken her mind off brooding about her feelings. She felt like a large weight had been lifted off her shoulders as she skipped down the steps outside the building, facing the parking lot. At the bottom, she turned around and smiled brightly at the twelve boys. “I had a lot of fun today! It was so nice seeing all the ocean creatures, and talking about home. I really feel a lot better,” she told them gratefully. It was clear that she hadn’t forgotten her home after all, and that greatly reassured her. That means I won't forget the world above either, provided that I have something to remind me of it, she thought.

“Hey, Mi-young! I just thought of something. Why don’t we go to the gift shop?” Kai suggested suddenly, pointing at a door in the side of the building adjacent to the lobby. “It's nit every day you get to visit an aquarium, after all,” he mused. Mi-young nodded eagerly and entered the little store with the twelve boys, and they split up among the aisles to inspect the wares. Mi-young was amazed at the sheer amount of novelty items the store possessed; there were coffee mugs printed with various logos and cute saying, stuffed animals of different cuddly sea creatures, knick-knacky plastic toys, and clothes embroidered with various sayings. Mi-young searched around, looking for something that she could possibly take with her, and gasped when she suddenly felt fingers brushing over her neck and a weight flop down against her chest. She looked down to see a chain around her neck with a metal charm in the effigy of a starfish.

“Like it?” Baekhyun crooned in her ear, making all the hair on her body stand on end. She whipped around to face him, putting some distance between herself and him. She looked down at the necklace again. It's cute. “I thought about the day we met,” he smiled wistfully as he gazed at the starfish charm.

“Oh, right… You wanted the starfish out of my hair,” she recalled with a small laugh. It seemed like so long ago, and times seemed so much simpler then.

“They told me the metal won't tarnish in salt water. You can take it with you,” he murmured as he reached out and ran a finger over the smooth metal. For a moment, his fingers migrated to her skin, making her breath catch in ; hastily, he pulled back. “If you like it, of course,” he finished with a strained smile.

“Yes. I do,” she sighed, but she wasn’t quite sure if it was the necklace she was referring to.

After the crew of thirteen young adults had paid for their souvenirs, they piled into the car after once again arguing who had the honor of being Mi-young's throne. As she sat on Kai's lap, gazing out of the window, she could feel the ocean beyond calling her name. She could almost hear the beating of the waves, the coolness of the water, the taste of the salt. Where had that call been all this time? She had been ignoring it, it seemed. Why was it much stronger now? Perhaps because my reason to stay is fading, she thought with a sidelong glance at Baekhyun, who had his back to her as he gazed in the other direction.

The night proceeded as normal, but as Mi-young lay in her bed, she tossed and turned, ill at ease. Frustrated, she threw the covers off of herself and stomped out of the bedroom, walking out through the backyard and into the night. Arms crossed, she stood out in the moonlight, trying to sort out her mind.

I’m confused, she thought miserably. I know that I must go home, but… Why does it seem so frightening? She was glad to have remembered her life in the blue ocean, but part of her wanted them to remain memories. She didn’t miss her mother, she didn’t miss her brothers, she didn’t miss her lofty room in the palace, being waited on hand and foot, she didn’t miss the buildings blooming with corals and the streets filled with songs and the blue, blue ocean around her.

She missed Baekhyun. He was right there, but still, she missed him. Every waking moment that she knew she could not ever have him, that he would never hold her through the long nights, that he would never be able to love her without the fear of her being discovered, she missed him more terribly that she thought possible. A sob escaped out of her as she sank down onto the concrete, and she put a hand over as she cried as quietly as possible. The raging river she had been attempting to hold back flowed out of her with a fury, and she could not still it as the sadness, the pain, the longing washed over her like a tidal wave. I wish I was human, she thought. She had thought it many, many times before, but this was the first time in her life that she had truly meant it.

“Mi-young?” asked a quiet voice. The despondent mermaid didn’t turn around as she miserably wiped her eyes, attempting to compose herself as soft footsteps approached. She kept her eyes trained on the concrete ground as someone crouched in front of her, until a hand slid under her chin and forced her to look at him.

“Baekhyun,” she croaked pathetically. Even looking at him made her heart scream and wail in agony, that perfect face, those caring eyes, that loving smile. Still, as much as it pained her, she could not tear her gaze away as he looked at her in concern and guilt.

“Mi-young,” he sighed again, reaching up with a thumb to wipe her lingering tears away. Anticipating a long conversation, he sat cross-legged in front of her, still gently holding her face. He stared at her for a long time, attempting to find some words to console the crying girl, but could find none. With a sigh, he pulled her into a hug, burying his face into her thick black hair. “I’m sorry. I did this to you… It was my stupid, selfish actions that got you all messed up in the head,” he murmured as he reassuringly rubbed her back. Mi-young squeezed her eyes shut, grabbing onto him tightly, afraid of him ever letting go. She just wanted to stay there in his arms for all time.

That, however, was just not meant to be.

“It just hurts so much,” she breathed. It felt like every word was an effort, she was in so much pain. “Baekhyun, I just… Oh, God, I think of being without you and I-"

“Don’t say it,” he interrupted firmly. His grip tightened around her. “Don't say it. If you say it, it will just make this harder.”

“How can this be any harder?” she cried as she jerked away from him, standing up to stomp a few paces away. She ran her hands through her hair angrily, pulling out strands of the black thread. “Baekhyun, I can't do this,” she sobbed as she wrapped her arms around herself. “I’ve been trying so hard to go back, to go back to the way we were, to leave on a good note, but I… I’m in so much pain all the time. I feel like I’m sinking into an abyss, and there's no way out, and I’m drowning,” she whispered and held a hand to her chest. “It's like I can't breathe, the pressure is so intense. It's dark, and… I’m alone. I'm completely and utterly alone,” she said miserably and looked back at him. He was standing now, his expression unreadable, and he looked so beautiful in the moonlight. “Baekhyun. I love you.”

“That's why you have to go.” Her eyes widened as the cold feeling of confusion and fear seeped into her. His expression was hard, like iron, and he had never been more serious. She knew in her heart that they were the words she needed to hear, but they were far, far from what she wanted. She stared at him dumbly, the tears glistening on her cheeks as he turned his back on her and walked to the back door. He paused in the doorframe, and she thought for a moment that he would turn back, but he didn’t. He left her there, alone in the dark, and Mi-young knew for the first time what true heartbreak was like.

It was the most painful, most agonizing, most terrifying feeling she had ever experienced.