Sunlight filtered in, bathing Kyungsoo’s sleeping body in a golden yellow hue. “Kyungsoo-ah~” His older brother whispered into his ears. “Kyungsoo, wake up, you overslept today.” When the word “overslept” reached his ears and processed in his brain, Kyungsoo immediately shot up and glanced around.

“What? Huh? How?!” He gripped the grey bed sheets and looked at the clock. “How did I manage to sleep an extra hour!? I thought I set up my alarm clock last night!” Kyungsoo groaned in frustration as he recalled that he actually didn’t.

“You probably were too tired from the dinner we had with Prince Chanyeol and his family last night.” Baekhyun murmured while his eyes glazed up, drifting off into the memories of last night. “Yah, don’t you think that Chanyeol is so handsome?”  Kyungsoo grunted as a reply and slipped off his shirt.

“Get off my bed and tell father that I will be 10 minutes late today.” Kyungsoo managed to say while hopping off his bed and walking into his bathroom.

“Kyungsoo, how are you going to get ready in 10 minutes? Your day is already off by an hour.” Baekhyun chuckled to himself and quietly whispered, “This is amazing, he never messes up his schedule.”  

“Hurry up and go tell father!” He shouted while slipping into the shower. Baekhyun laughs as he leaves Kyungsoo’s room and closes the door shut.

“Father, Kyungsoo will be a little late for this morning’s meeting.” Baekhyun bowed and waited for his father to answer.

“Well then, I won’t be here waiting for him. We have important matters to discuss with King Wu Fan and his son Chanyeol.” Suho said. Baekhyun’s eyes lit up when his father mentioned Chanyeol’s name.

“And what is the meeting about?”

“You’ll see.” Suho mysteriously replied and left the room.

Kyungsoo ran through his schedule in his head as he slipped on a pair of jeans. “Meeting with father, lunch with Chanyeol’s family, dinner rehearsal at 5 pm, dinner with family at 6pm, Chinese language lesson at 8pm, then bed time at 10pm.” He murmured to himself and buttoned the last button on his shirt. Slipping on a black sweater, he walked out of his room and entered his father’s office. “Father?” He meekly asked and knocked on the door. Kyungsoo looked around and stopped a maid to ask, “Excuse me, where is King Suho?”

“He already left with your brother to go see King Wu Fan and won’t be back until the dinner rehersal.” She answered and continued cleaning.

Kyungsoo’s eyes grew wide and he ran through his schedule once more in his head. “If I counted correctly, that means I have 7 hours to do whatever I want.” He whispered to himself and frowned. “What am I suppose to do for 7 whole hours? Aish, my day isn’t going as I planned.” He rubbed the temple of his head and took a deep breath. “Maybe a walk by the ocean will help me find a suitable answer.” Kyungsoo nodded in determination and headed out doors.

The ocean breeze softly blew Kyungsoo’s silky black hair as he strolled along the beach with his hands inside of his pockets. “7 hours…” He kept repeating to himself and felt the sun’s hot rays on the nape of his neck. “Aish, why does it have to be so hot?” He looked around and checked for any workers before taking off his sweater and ing a few buttons on his shirt. Much better. A smile played on the edges of his lips as the water neared his shoes. I wonder what it feels like to have my toes touch the water? Will it be cold or warm? He debated whether it was a smart idea to let the salty ocean water touch his toes. I assume that the water is safe and it will only be for 5 minutes. Kyungsoo slipped off his shoes and laughed when the water tickled his toes.

“Wow, this feels amazing!” He chuckled and wiped the sweat that formed on his forehead. “Yah!”

 The black sweater he held in his hands slipped from his grasp and fell into the ocean. “YAH!” He yelled once more and hesitated to dive into the water after it. A frown was plastered on his face when a strong wave swallowed it up. Kyungsoo sighed and removed himself from the water. “I liked that sweater a lot…” He sighed once more and slipped back on his shoes. Kyungsoo mentally made a plan to return to his room and wait there patiently for his father to comeback. Before he knew it, Kyungsoo had walked up some rocks and was now heading towards a secluded area where there were dozens of tide pools. His foot slipped on the rocks and bumped his head on the hard ground, making him black out.

Jongin was racing a couple of friends underwater until his path was blocked by a black object. “What is this?” He halted to a stop and fearlessly reached out to grab it. “A shirt?” He wasn’t too sure on what it really was and decided to bring it back to his special collection place.

“Jongin, where are you going?” His friend Luhan called out after him.

“Uh- to throw this away..” He tried to hurry up before Luhan could follow him to his secret place.

“Jongin, you know that you’re not suppose to touch stuff that belongs to humans.”

Jongin rolled his eyes. “Quit nagging me and go play with Sehun.” Luhan pouted and stuck out his tongue in a playful manner.

“Fine, but don’t say that I didn’t warn you.”

Once Luhan left, Jongin rapidly swam to his secret spot, the tide pools. The tide was getting high and all Jongin had to do was reach up and pull himself onto the ledge and place his findings there. But unlike other times, when he reached up his hands made contact with something warm. “Ahh!” He yelped and pulled his hands back. “What was that?” He poked his head out and took a quick glance at it.

“A human.” Jongin swam away in surprise but slowed to a stop. “I-I just touched a h-human!” Water easily glided pass his shiny green and blue scales as he swam back to investigate.

The water had risen and was now slowly drowning Kyungsoo as he breathed it in. Jongin took notice and was torn on watching to see how humans die or whether to save him. He sighed and pulled himself up, muscles bulging as water cascaded down his tanned skin. Jongin dragged Kyungsoo’s limp body over to the sandy area and laid him on his back. What am I supposed to do now?! His body had turned a light shade of blue. Oh! Human’s need air! Jongin pulled open Kyungsoo’s mouth and waited for a few seconds. It’s not working! There’s air here and he still doesn’t look how a human should look! Jongin hesitated and then a light bulb in his head. They have lungs and lungs need air in them with the help of their breathing techniques! He smiled and gulped a big breath of air and pressed his lips to Kyungsoo’s blue ones. Jongin pushed the air into his lungs and did this until Kyungsoo began to cough up water. He quickly backed away from Kyungsoo and tried to hide behind a rock. Kyungsoo sat up and coughed up the rest of the salty water. He rubbed his eyes and looked around, not sure on where he was and what was going on. “H-hey! You!” He lifted a finger and pointed it right at Jongin. “Tell me exactly what happened here! I need all the details and such.” Jongin built up the courage to finally look the human in the eye. Making that choice was a mistake. For the next 5 minutes, Jongin continued to stare at Kyungsoo, fascinated by his huge sparkling eyes and full lips.

“Yah- I’m talking here!”

A frightened Kyungsoo wobbled over to Jongin and fell, landing on his tail. “Wh-what?” His eyes grew wide and he tried to back away, but was only successful in falling off the rock and landing in the ocean. “H-help!” He managed to let out a strangled call for assistance. Jongin snapped out of his trance and dived after Kyungsoo who was flailing in the water. Strong arms wrapped around his waist as he was pulled back on the rocks. Spitting out water, Kyungsoo looked at Jongin and bowed his head. “Thank you.” He coughed and spat out more salty water. He looked up again and saw that Jongin had climbed up and was now closer than before.

“S-stay there!” Kyungsoo held out his hand, trying to stop him. Jongin cocked his head and flashed him a dazzling smile. Kyungsoo felt butterflies erupt in his stomach and his knees felt like jelly. “W-what are you exactly?” He tried to analyze the person in front of him. Top half is a boy, a really good looking boy, with a really good looking body… His thoughts drifted off a bit but he quickly got back on track. But his bottom half is like a fish’s, maybe like a dolphin/dragon? “A mermaid?” He guessed and mentally patted himself on his back. “Yes, you’re a mermaid. Am I right?” Jongin rolled his eyes and pretended to cup his “s” and made an ‘X’ with his forearms while shaking his head no. “A merman?” he guessed again. Jongin nodded this time and smile once more.

“Why aren’t you speaking?”

Jongin pointed to his throat and motioned to the surrounding land around them and shook his head. He then  pointed to the water and then to his throat and nodded a yes.

“Oh, so you can’t speak up here on land but only in water?”

He nodded a yes and came closer. “Yah, stay where you are!” Kyungsoo was backed up into a rock and couldn’t move anywhere. Jongin reached out and Kyungsoo closed his eyes shut, afraid that he was going to die. Cold wet fingers lightly brushed against his cheek and Kyungsoo felt shivers go down his spine. He’s so perfect. Jongin thought to himself as lifted off his fingers and smiled. Kyungsoo opened his eyes and blushed madly as Jongin stared back at him. Jongin waved and turned around and dived back into the ocean.

“W-wait!” Kyungsoo shouted after him and leaned over the edge of the rock. “When will I see you again?” He said as the wind rushed by him and carried his words off into the world.

Kyungsoo was violently shivering as he entered the house while holding his sweater he had found lying on the rocks. “Kyungsoo?!” Baekhyun ran towards him and embraced him tightly. “Everyone has been worried about you! Father is mad that you missed dinner rehearsal.” He nodded and continued to walk to his room, still fazed by actually meeting a real merman.

“Kyungsoo? Are you alright?”

He nodded once more and opened the door to his room. “Today was one of the weirdest days of my life. Maybe I shouldn’t follow my schedule anymore.” Kyungsoo mumbled and closed the door shut on Baekhyun. It all started when woke up late. Should I not set my alarm clock again? He took one glance and couldn’t help it. Impulsively, he his alarm clock and got ready for bed. I don’t need to meet this merman again. He is just going to ruin my plans and my set schedules. But Jongin’s face lingered in Kyungsoo’s mind as he fell asleep to the sound of waves breaking the shore. 

word count: 1,941

A/N: I hope the first part is alright... I'm trying my best :c and I was wondering if anyone is willing to make me a pretty poster for this story? I'm not good with photoshop ... so please and thank you ! c: