Jung Shin and Jiyeon fic, requested by Bunny CNBlue-Lee-Jungshin.

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What would you give up to be with the one you love?

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Jung Shin is a mermaid prince who was destined to become king of the sea. His brother, Dong Wook, was first in line, but because he was sickly, it was a given that Jung Shin would ascend.

The merpeople were immortals, just like the Olympian gods and goddesses. And even if they knew pain and suffering, they only knew it by brain, not by heart. For they thought they had not felt it.

One day, Jung Shin swam to the shore to spend some more free days before he gets to be crowned. He was about to doze off when he heard a girl's voice sounding so happy.

"Boram-eonni, our clothes are clean already," she told another girl.

Jung Shin swam behind a rock for fear of being seen. He noticed the girl with long and soft wavy hair smiling at the shorter girl with short hair. His eyes were fixed on the one with long hair.

She was chicken-eyed. But she was extremely pretty.

Jung Shin felt as if his heart was being stirred for the first time, and he wanted to have the girl for a bride.

"Jiyeon-ah, I am going to Soo Young's house, so you better bring all these clothes," Boram said while holding a hamper full of wet clothes.

Jiyeon nodded her head and watched as Boram walked away. Unlike in some districts where people use fresh water of the river to wash the clothes clean, the seawater in their place was known for its cleaning properties, with clothes coming out white and fresh and clean after being laundered.

"Annyeonghaseyo?" a mild male voice called out to Jiyeon.

She turned around in fright, only to see a lean person with long hair smiling back at her.

She looked at the anatomy to find the chest bare. Obviously, a male.

"You must be one of the sailors who were caught up in the storm the other night," Jiyeon asked in worry as she got near him.

As she got near, she saw blue fish tail connecting from Jung Shin's waist. She was horrified, so she shouted at the top of her voice. In his fright, Jung Shin slipped back into the water. Boram heard the shout, so she ran back to the sea.

"What is it?"

"I.... I saw a merman!" Jiyeon said in fright.

There were rumors about them, but Boram was rational not to believe immediately. But Jiyeon insisted.

"You think those merpeople took advantage of the storm the other night and drowned sailors?" Boram asked.

"Mo...molla..." Jiyeon said in fright.

Boram shook her head and called Jiyeon as foolish, so she left. Jiyeon looked around, hoping that the merman would disappear. Meanwhile, Jung Shin, who was hiding behind the rock, was panting heavily. He did not know humans were this violent.

Jiyeon gathered some courage as she grabbed a rock to protect herself should the merman harass her. She walked gingerly, and looked behind the rock. She saw the merman, rubbing his arms as if feeling cold. Her fear suddenly disappeared when she saw that Jung Shin looked so helpless.

"J...jeogiyo..." Jiyeon said.

Jung Shin looked at her, and when he saw the rock, he crossed his arms.

"Please don't hurt me..." he begged.

She noticed that he was handsome, so she brought down the rock.

"Joesonghamnida," she said. "I was...just scared..."

"Ah...ne..." Jung Shin said.

He waved his hand in front of her.

"Can you see two me's?" he asked.

"Mworaguyo????" Jiyeon asked, insulted. "Ya, just because I am chicken-eyed, it does not mean that my vision is impaired!"

"Ch...chicken-eyed?" Jung Shin asked. He did not know it was the term for Jiyeon's eyes. "Mianhamnida..."

Jiyeon waded through the water and held out her hand. He looked at her in confusion and shyly held his hand. He was shocked when she took it.

"Park Jiyeon-imnida."

"Ah...Lee Jung Shin-imnida, bangawoyo," he said.

She smiled at him and pinched his cheek. He was startled because no one in the kingdom approached him so casually like that. She sat next to him and looked around, hoping that nobody sees them together. By now, it was sunset, so there were less fishermen. And Boram would have to deal with the clothes tomorrow.

Jiyeon told him about the sailors. He understood why she spoke to him as such, and he understood why Boram was not a believer of folklore. Later on, Jiyeon told him that since it was sunset, she needed to go back home. The two of them promised to meet the same time and place the next day.

And so it came to pass that Jiyeon and Jung Shin became good friends, until time came that they fell in love with each other. Boram, however, was suspicious why her friend would often ditch girly walks to be at the seashore. And finally, she caught sight of Jiyeon and Jung Shin sweetly kissing each other.

She saw the tail, and was shocked to learn that the secret boyfriend Jiyeon had been telling her was actually a merman.

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Boram confronted Jiyeon about it, but as the younger lady explained, Boram could not do anything because Jiyeon was so in love with the merman prince. Jiyeon begged Boram to keep the secret a secret, and Boram agreed.

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The sea king learned that Jung Shin had a human lover, but instead of getting angry, the old king was worried. The human lover would die, while Jung Shin would not.

"Abeonim, I will move heaven and sea just to be with Jiyeon," Jung Shin said.

The king was not able to do a thing as the younger merman swam away.

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Jung Shin went to the coral hut of a general of the army, who was also the sea wizard. The coral hut was not spooky,unlike the realms of those who practice magic. He saw the general playing with his pet sponge and pet starfish.

"General Jung, Annyeonghaseyo?" Jung Shin greeted.

The general, Jung Yong Hwa, stood up bowed politely.

"Annyeonghashimnikka, Your Royal Highness?" Yong Hwa greeted.

Yong Hwa let the prince come in and offered him some miyeok tea. Jung Shin gladly took some before telling the general of his purpose.

"Eotteokhajyo?" Jung Shin asked. "I want to be with Jiyeon, but I don't know how... Tell me, what can I do?"

Yong Hwa looked at the prince solemnly.

"Your Highness will know the meaning of sacrifice if he will get what he asks for," Yong Hwa said.

"What is sacrifice?"

Yong Hwa explained to the prince what it was about.

"Your Highness, a soldier knows what sacrifice is because his heart is in the battlefield. Unlike the regular merpeople, the soldier, once he receives the sword from the fang of a shark, will become mortal. He will know what pain and suffering is, and he will know death. If he chooses to suffer for the good of many, or to suffer for a cause, that is sacrifice. I myself have received the sword, and though I am also a wizard, I will come to know death when it comes to me. She will take the form of a beautiful mermaid with white hair, white skin, and solemn face."

(A/N: The white mermaid is kinda patterned after the Norse Valkyrie)

"What...sacrifice would it take?" Jung Shin asked.

"If you make Jiyeon into one of us, I will have to pluck her heart till life goes away. She will be a mermaid and an immortal, but she will be dead. Crazy as it seems, immortal and yet dead. Your Highness will have to deal with loving someone who is going to sleep forever, while you live forever..."

Jung Shin wept.

"Geureomyeon, I will have to live with it... Or watch her from afar and watch her grow old and marry somebody...andwae... I cannot bear to see her marry someone else..."

"There is another one, but it is Your Highness who has to sacrifice," Yong Hwa said. "He will give up his being a merman, and he can live with Jiyeon-ssi. But he will be mortal who will die one day."

Jung Shin knew he had been around for long, around seven centuries already. He wanted to experience Jiyeon's life.

"But of course, human life is hard. One has to toil and earn money, burn in the sun..."

"I will do it... I will do it...for Jiyeon..." Jung Shin said.

"Your Highness also need some alibi as to how he could explain his origin," Yong Hwa said. "They have this term called 'amnesia', where you forget everything. Just pretend that you do... or I can train you the life of the soldier."

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The king was angry when he saw the general slaving the prince, but Jung Shin did not complain. He suffered under Yong Hwa, who was wise enough to make the prince learn what he has to learn. 

He had trained for six months, much to Jiyeon's heartache.

She knew he would be gone for quite a while, but she was missing him a lot.

And finally, one sunset, she saw a man in the sea, hiding behind the rock. She cried for joy when she saw that it was her Jung Shin. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a full kiss on the mouth, which he reciprocated.

"Oppa... I am so happy to see you..."

She saw his feet and got worried.

"I gave up my royalty and immortalilty just to be with you..."

It made Jiyeon cry.

"The kingdom?"

"My stepbrother, Jun Ki-wangjanim, takes the throne, as my blood-related hyung, Dong Woo-wangjanim cannot."

Jiyeon lit up a smile.

"How about if I were mermaid? I can be your gongjunim!" she mused

(A/N: prince is wangja, princess is gongju)

Jung Shin explained soberly why Jiyeon cannot be a mermaid. Jiyeon could not even live with the thought of being dead for eternity, while he lives on.

"I will take you to my parents' house, and I will introduce you to them..."

She gave him clothes to put on, and she took them to her parents. Boram, who was also there, was shocked to see Jung Shin standing tall. Jiyeon's parents were amazed at his eloquence and liked him for a son-in-law.

And about his origin, Jung Shin had to lie like Yong Hwa had suggested.

And despite the difficulties, he was able to patiently bear it for Jiyeon. And soon, the two of them got married and lived life as married couple with kids of their own.

For Jiyeon, her strange love life earned her happiness.

For Jung Shin, mortality earned him happiness.

And they were willing to share the pains and joys of being together for as long as they live.

~~~~END~~~~

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!

To all my chingus, I will temporarily stop making the one-shots. I will not end this yet, but I will stop for the meantime. I will not be accepting requests first. I have some projects to do with my other fics, and I am getting kinda busy as of late... So, mianhae...

Please wait for the my one-shot requests to open again... Gamsahamnida.

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