Youngbae wasn’t a royal, he wasn’t allowed the one night of surfacing; but oh how he wanted it. He awaited every royal’s fifteenth birthday with baited breath, and he never missed watching one. The fifteenth birthday was important for the royals for vague and mysterious reasons; tradition that was so old that there was no reason for it anymore. So on their fifteenth birthday the royal would be taken to a cove and allowed to surface, to see the dry world.
 

Youngbae thought that it was unfair that the little 15-year-old royals were allowed this chance when they were so young and didn’t fully appreciate the chance that they were given. Really, in the grand scheme of things, since merpeople lived to be around 300 years old, it seemed rather random to allow a bunch of babies the chance to surface when others were never allowed the chance.

Another successful fifteenth birthday surfacing was finished, and Youngbae was floating a short distance off from the main crowd.

“Why don’t you just look?” Seunghyun suggests, flipping upside down and making a face at him before flipping back to being right side up.

Youngbae just scowls at him and turns away.

“Ah, what is it? No need to be so angry. You’re just always so unhappy about it.” Seunghyun refrains from voicing how stupid he thinks surfacing is; they’ve had that fight before. Youngbae lets out a sigh and crosses his arms over his chest, turning to face Seunghyun again.

“I know, I just...I want to see it, but it’s not allowed. Just once, you know? It will probably be a disappointment but...” Seunghyun laughs.

“Been talking to Daesung again?”

Youngbae makes a slightly sour face, “He said not to get my hopes up...it might not live up to my expectations.”

Seunghyun flips upside down again before propelling himself toward Youngbae. “Sounds to me like he’s encouraging you to try. And besides! Who’s going to see you anyway?”

Youngbae makes a face, thinking. “Will you come with me?”

Seunghyun’s face falls into a devilish smirk and he rights himself so that he can look Youngbae in the eye. “Of course! There is nothing that I enjoy more than a good covert mission!”

Youngbae just gives him a look and rolls his eyes. “We can go tomorrow, early...”

“Meet you in the kelp fields!” Seunghyun sing-songs brightly before winking and swimming away. Youngbae wonders briefly what he’s gotten himself into, but decides that it’s a good thing that they are going so early as that doesn’t give him enough time to back out.

The sea had barely started to brighten as Youngbae and Seunghyun made their way from the kelp fields to the nearest cove. Seunghyun thought that a cove would be best because then there would be actual dry-land for Youngbae to see, and not just the vast and empty ocean.

Youngbae was nervous; being so close to shore was dangerous as it made it more likely that a human would be able to see him. When he voiced this fear, which he regretted instantly as Seunghyun just laughed and  reminded him of how early it was, saying that the humans were probably not even awake yet.

Youngbae kept reminding himself of that fact as it made him feel better, and so it became a small chant inside his head; keeping him company as he and Seunghyun made their way closer to the cove.

Youngbae could see the water getting shallower ahead of them and stopped, looking around him for a moment. Seunghyun stops just a little ahead of him and turns around, cocking his head to side and raising an eyebrow in question.

“It gets shallow up ahead, like a beach. I don’t know where I should go...” Seunghyun nods slowly, understanding dawning across his face.

“Over this way!” He says, pointing to the left, “There are rocks over there and it doesn’t get any shallower.”

“How do you know this?” Youngbae says, shaking his head and frowning at his friend.

“Just because I’ve never cared about surfacing, doesn’t mean I don’t know basic features of the land near where I live.” Seunghyun says, puffing his chest out proudly. Youngbae rolls his eyes and swims past Seunghyun in the direction that he had suggested. “Hey! Wait for me!!” Seunghyun calls after him, frowning and swiftly trying to catch up.

It takes only a few moments for them to reach the rocky area that Seunghyun had been talking about. There were giant rocks towering from the ocean floor. Some were so tall that they broke the surface, while others waited just below. Youngbae could see that there were small, crude-looking wooden structures that jutted out from the dry land. Seunghyun grabs his arm and they stop.

“Alright, you ready?” Seunghyun asks, tilting his head to the side. Youngbae nods mutely, his eyes already looking twice their normal size. “Aish, you’re afraid! Just calm down, everything will be fine.” Seunghyun says, and Youngbae decides to believe him, even though he kind of looks uncertain and scared as well.

“Alright.”

“Right, so I will be at the bottom of this rock, waiting for you. You can go and have your look, and then come back down and we can go chase puffer fish or something.” Youngbae smiles despite his nerves, and nods. Seunghyun lets go of his arm, and Youngbae floats for a couple of seconds, his nerves causing him to hesitate.

He nods again for emphasis, and Seunghyun gives him an encouraging smile. Without waiting a second longer, he propels himself upward slowly, grabbing onto the rock in front of him as he goes. It feels like it takes a lifetime for him to get to the top, but once he does, he hesitates for only a moment before pushing his head up and into the dry air.  

The water running down his face obscures his view for only a moment as his eyes adjust to the waterless view in front of him. He brings both of his hands up and grips on the rock with one and runs the other over his braided hair. Everything felt different up in the dry air, the rock under his hand was different in texture, and his hair felt coarser; he was surprised as he wasn’t even dry yet.

Youngbae shakes his head and looks around. The rocks were scattered about, jutting out of the ocean and looking like they were just floating; the view was intoxicating. The water looked blue and the rocks were a dry grey as well as a wet black. He could just see the shore from where he was floating, and he desperately wanted to touch the tan sand that he could see; wondering how different it would feel. Attached to the beach was the wooden structure that he had seen while underwater. It wasn’t well-kept, and looked rather old, but he could make out a little boat lashed to one side of it. He turns around to look out over the ocean and is amazed by how vast and calm it looked; enormous and flat, it glistened in the rising sun.

He was so taken by the scene before him, that he missed the commotion on the beach behind him. He didn’t hear the two people talking until they had made their way onto the small boat. Youngbae’s eyes go wide as the noise registers in his head and he whips around, the ends of his braids flying around and away from his neck; the shell pieces attached to the ends hitting his back and neck as they came to a stop. He watches with alarm as the small boat and its two occupants move away from the shore, and ducks down low so that only his eyes and the top of his head are above the water.

As the boat gets closer, Youngbae is better able to both see them and make out their voices. He could see two men in the boat; one wore plain silver and white clothing and had unruly black hair, while the other was wearing colorful clothing and had longer brown hair that Youngbae was certain would be soft to the touch. He inches back slowly, trying to make as few ripples in the water as possible as the boat came closer. The colorful man had a slightly nasally voice, and though Youngbae couldn’t understand what he was saying, it sounded like he was complaining. Youngbae could tell, however, that when the colorful man wasn’t complaining, his voice had a rich sound to it that he suddenly and desperately wanted to hear.

Before he could stop himself he had moved closer to the boat. It had come to a stop at a rock near him but there was still a considerable expanse of open water between them. Youngbae catches himself before getting more than three feet from the rock, jerking back in surprise at his own actions and causing a much bigger splash than intended. He ducks completely under, moving back until his back touches the rock. He waits for a couple of moments, catching his breath, before he dares to stick his head back up. His eyes widen in alarm as he sees a small animal paddling toward him from the boat. His reaction must have alerted it to his presence, but he didn’t remember seeing it, nor was he certain what it was. He knows that it must be the colorful man’s animal as he can hear the man yelling and can see him directing the other man to move the boat in order to chase after it.

When the animal reaches Youngbae, it swims around in front of him, unable to stay still for fear of drowning. Youngbae finds himself attracted to the animal, and he reaches a hand out to touch it. It moves it’s tan head under his hand and Youngbae is surprised by how soft it is. He looks up and sees the boat getting nearer, so he turns the animal around and pushes it lightly toward the boat. He keeps his eyes on the animal for a little while longer, forgetting his fear of being seen by the humans. He comes back to his senses suddenly, looking up at the nearing boat as the dog reaches it and is pulled in by the plainly dressed man. Without meaning to, his eyes catch those of the colorful man and they remain locked on the man for several seconds.

The man’s eyes go wide and he leans forward as if getting ready to either say something or point, and Youngbae snaps out of his stare and dips quickly back below the surface. He swims quickly to the bottom where he finds Seunghyun, his fin wrapped securely around a part of the rock, fast asleep. Youngbae grabs his arm and tugs, waking Seunghyun up sharply.

“Let’s get out of here!” He says, his eyes still wide and his voice reverberating with urgency. Seunghyun just nods, too jarred and sleepy to actually comprehend what was going on.