Jiyong was glad that he had the ability to go down to the small cove alone. Sure, he had to sneak out after he was finally able to convince Seungri to leave him be, but it was a small price to pay for the peace of mind that going down to the cove alone offered him.

He was having trouble sleeping, and focusing, but he was certain that if only he could sleep then he would be more able to focus. It wasn’t that he couldn’t fall asleep, it was that once he was asleep, the dreams would start; a haunting flow of images racing across his brain. All he could see was the face of the man from the cove, bobbing into his view before disappearing beneath the water and out of sight. Sometimes it was just images, and other times he would move closer, trying to see more of the face. No matter how close he got, the image never got clearer and the man would always dip below the surface before he could really get a good view.

Jiyong would wake up from these dreams drenched in a cold sweat, and left with feelings of loss, confusion, and need. He didn’t know exactly what he needed, he didn’t know what was happening to him. All that he knew was that he couldn’t get the man’s face out of his head, and he needed to see him again, be sure that the man was real and not some tortuous figment of his imagination.

The path wasn’t completely dark, as the sun had yet to fully go down as he made his way along it. He carried a lamp anyway, knowing that he wouldn’t be making his way back until much later. He had started coming down earlier and earlier as the week wore on. It had started with him coming down in the middle of the night and rowing out a short way before just lying there and waiting, hoping to either fall asleep or feel different. By now, a full week later, he was going down before the sun had even had a chance to set. It was a rather rapid progression, but his mind was too full to be set at ease in any other way. Seungri didn’t understand and no one else in the court was what you would consider the ‘talk about your feelings’ sort.

He lets out a soft sigh as he makes his way down the sloping hill that ended in the sandy beach of the cove. His boat was sitting just where he left it, and he smiles to himself as he walks slowly onto the rickety dock and lets his fingers run over the rough wood. He takes a deep breath and gathers the oars, slowly settling himself down into the boat. He smiles to himself again as he dips the oars into the water and slowly gets the boat into motion.

Jiyong liked to imagine, while he was sitting in his boat on the water, that the man was somewhere nearby; that the mysterious man was just as affected as him and came back to try and see him. It probably wasn’t a healthy thought, but he couldn’t help it, and he wasn’t about to stop entertaining it as it made him feel better about his slight obsession.

He shakes his head and chuckles lightly to himself, making his hair fall into his face. It was just long enough that when it fell into his face it covered his eyes. He shakes his head again, moving the hair out of his eyes, and turns to look out over the cove. The water was calm around the rocks, but Jiyong knew that there were many rocks that were hiding just beneath the surface that he wouldn’t be able to see as it grew dark. He normally just rowed out to a clear space and sat there, patiently waiting for something to happen.

Jiyong looks out toward one of the towering rocks closest to him. He could have sworn that he had just heard a noise from that direction. He sits up straighter and squints, trying to make out if there was anything over there in the darkening shadows. He sees movement, and suddenly his eyes catch on a pair of bright eyes. He scrambles forward, trying to get a better look, but they’re gone.

He sits down, suddenly very disappointed, and puts his hand over his chest where he can feel his heart beating at an incredible rate. Before he can calm himself down, he hears something in the water next to him, and he turns his head slowly; almost afraid of what he might see. There, in the water next to him, was the face that had been haunting his dreams both while awake and asleep. He starts to reach forward, but stops himself when the man moves slowly backward.

“I’m sorry.” Jiyong says, his voice coming out far more softly than he had intended. The man hesitates briefly before coming closer; and even in the fading light Jiyong can see that though his eyes are mainly a deep brown in color, they seem to also reflect light. The man moves forward once more, coming to a stop at an angle where both are able to see each other properly, and Jiyong drinks in his features, filling in the places that his mental image was missing.

“Do you live in the village?” Jiyong asks, wanting desperately to hear the man’s voice. Instead of replying, he just shakes his head ‘no’, and Jiyong finds himself more confused and slightly frustrated.

He gets distracted however, as the man lifts a hand out of the water and points toward a group of shorter rocks just a short distance away. The man nods to him, and then dips below the surface, reappearing at the group of rocks a few short seconds later. He maneuvers the boat over toward the rocks, and watches entranced, as the man nods at him and turns away. He assumes that the man must have found a rock that he could sit on, as suddenly Jiyong is able to see the man’s full upper body.

He takes a moment to just stare; broad shouldered with muscular arms and a well-defined stomach (what he could see of it anyway as part was still under water). The man was very attractive, with his rows of braided hair, each braid ending in a different shell. The man’s face turns red and Jiyong realizes that he’s been staring. A slow smile crosses his face and he stops the boat close so that he can see him as the sunlight fades and the only light left is the moon and the weak glow from his lamp.

Jiyong decides to try again, “Where are you from?” His voice still has the whispery quality to it that it had held before, he wishes that he could talk normally. He watches the man take a deep breath before looking down at his fingers.

He hesitates briefly before pointing to the water and looking back up. “Here.” the man says slowly, as if uncertain about his voice. Jiyong is immediately captivated, though confused by the statement. The man’s voice was rich and full, and Jiyong just wanted to hear him say more.

“In the ocean?” Jiyong asks, confusion coloring his voice as he looks around him for a suitable place that the man could live. The man just nods, and Jiyong shifts a little closer in the hopes of maybe figuring out how that could work by just being nearer. “What’s your name?” Jiyong asks, and though he’s starting to get frustrated with having to ask all of the questions, he can’t stop himself from asking because he’s so curious.

“Youngbae.” The man says, looking down for a moment afterward, making Jiyong fear that the man won’t say anything else.

“Youngbae,” Jiyong repeats quietly, looking off into the distance for a moment before directing his attention back. Youngbae’s face was a little red again and he was fiddling with his fingers.

“What is your name?” Youngbae asks, and it’s in the same measured and slow tone that he had used previously; making Jiyong long to hear how Youngbae would say his name, and wonder if speaking is difficult for him.

“Jiyong.” He says simply, wanting to get past the introductions so that he can learn more about the mysterious Youngbae.

But Youngbae seems to be in less of a rush. He nods, a slow smile forming across his face and causing Jiyong to feel a little faint --It’s not fair for his smile to be so captivating.-- Jiyong thinks as he remembers the smiles of other people that he knew.

“Jiyong.” Youngbae says, a small smile tilting up the corners of his mouth. Jiyong’s mouth sets into a slight pout.

“Is my name funny?” He asks, knowing that he’s probably more offended than he needs to be.

Youngbae’s eyes go wide and he shakes his head, making the shells on his braids clatter against his back and neck. “No, no!” He says, and Jiyong notes that his speaking is becoming more fluid, more normal sounding. “No, I like it.” Youngbae says, his face turning red again.

“Aren’t you cold?” Jiyong asks, and Youngbae tilts his head to the side in silent question. Jiyong gestures toward his shirtless body, “You’re in the water with no shirt on, aren’t you cold?” Youngbae shakes his head.

“Why would I be cold? The water is warm.” Jiyong can’t argue with his logic, so he changes his angle.

“Why are you still in the water? You can come up into the boat, it will be easier to talk...” He sees Youngbae hesitate, his fingers twitching and fiddling just above the water.

“I like the water.” Youngbae says after a couple of seconds, looking down at the water as he speaks. Jiyong nods and watches as Youngbae fidgets, pushing his hands back under the water and against what Jiyong assumes must be the rock that he is sitting on.

Youngbae pushes himself up very slowly, keeping his eyes trained on his stomach as he lifts himself just a little bit further out of the water. Jiyong watches with fascination as more of Youngbae’s skin emerges from the water. Youngbae moved just high enough that his full stomach was out of the water, but paused, before continuing, looking up and into Jiyong’s curious face.

“I...don’t think that I can.” He says, and Jiyong tilts his head to the side.

“Why not? Are you afraid?” Jiyong asks, and Youngbae shakes his head. He seems to fight with himself for a couple of seconds before he drops back into the water, only his head stays above, and swims around to the other side of the boat.

“A little.” He says, pulling himself up and folding his arms on the side of the boat before resting his head on them.

“Of what?” Jiyong asks, “I just want to talk to you.”

“Aren’t I close enough now?” Youngbae asks, and Jiyong swears that Youngbae’s eyes glow with amusement.

Jiyong crosses his arms over his chest. “No, not near enough!” Jiyong says, forcing a haughty look onto his face as Youngbae just grins up at him, silently refusing to move. “As Prince of this land, I demand that you come up out of the water immediately.” Youngbae’s smile falters for only a second at the demanding and authoritative tone that Jiyong’s voice picks up. The smile turns more daring, and Youngbae raises an eyebrow and tilts his head to the side.

“Are you sure?” He asks, and his voice is a whisper, so delicate and promising a challenge, that Jiyong can’t help but to move closer.

“Yes.” He says simply, and Youngbae nods moving back from the boat and beckoning for Jiyong to pay attention. Jiyong takes a deep breath and holds it, wondering what Youngbae plans to do.

“This is why I’m afraid to get out of the water.” He says, before beckoning Jiyong even closer.

Jiyong moves to the edge of the boat and grasps the side. Youngbae had moved so that he had one arm holding himself up against the side of the boat, while the other hand was moving lazily in the water. He looks at Youngbae’s face expectantly, only to have his gaze redirected down to the water. Jiyong is confused for a moment, but then he sees something shimmering beneath the surface. He grabs his lamp and holds it over the edge, the rising moon not giving off enough light for him to see properly. He looks down again and is shocked to see that what he thought had just been something shimmering, was in fact scales. He looks quickly up to Youngbae’s face and then follows Youngbae’s body down to where it met the water; at that junction, with the lamp held over it, Jiyong could see Youngbae’s skin go from just the plain golden tan to being flecked with shimmering green and orange scales. Then it turned from just being flecked with scales into just being scales as instead of legs, Jiyong realizes that Youngbae has a fin.

He looks up at Youngbae, trying to register what he just saw. Youngbae has his head cocked to the side, and he was just watching Jiyong, as if he were trying to gauge Jiyong’s reaction.

“I’m surprised.” Jiyong says, and then immediately feels stupid for saying it. No one actually says that, and especially not in the very monotone way that he just had. He stops feeling stupid when he sees a small and uncertain smile cross Youngbae’s face.

“I’m sorry.” He says, and Jiyong wants to know what Youngbae is sorry for.

Before he can ask the question however, Youngbae reaches forward with his free hand and touches the side of Jiyong’s face. His fingers are warm but a little wet, and Jiyong is too shocked by the sudden contact to react. Youngbae smiles a little nervously and quickly leans forward, placing a kiss to Jiyong’s cheek before letting go and backing away.

“Wait!” Jiyong says, reaching forward. Youngbae stops and tilts his head to the side. “Tomorrow afternoon. Come here, I want to see you...” He’s not sure how to finish the sentence, but he doesn’t need to. Youngbae nods once before quickly diving below the surface, completely gone from view.

Jiyong doesn’t wonder at Youngbae’s sudden decision to leave for long; seconds later he hears  a shout from the direction of the dock. “Sire! Sire you should come back!” Seungri’s voice travels out over the cove making Jiyong roll his eyes. He situates himself back in the boat and slowly starts to steer himself to shore.

Youngbae was a mermaid. He doubted he would sleep that night.