Warning: Long fic ahead!!!! Seriously this turned out to be 9,026 words long so... enjoy reading??? I'll just wait here until you guys get done... it could take a while. Hope you enjoy it!!!! (leejaehwa7, this is for you dear!)

He laid on the beach, soaking up the sun’s rays. The water was long dried from his skin and scales. A small smile played upon his full lips while his fin softly swayed with the current.

After what felt like hours, the young merman lifted his head from the sand to check his fin. He rubbed his hand along the sea foam green, emerald, turquoise, sapphire, and opal colored scales checking for dryness. Deciding that they were too dry and close to discomfort, he pushed himself to slide back into the pool to moisturize and rehydrate the scales again.

When he reached the deepest part of the pool he realized something: it wasn’t as deep as when he swam up. He looked around the area that once was a decent sized lagoon and noticed it was now only a small pool of water only big enough for him to swim around it slightly, and deep enough to barely cover his head from fin-tip to crown.

He sat on the bottom of the pool grasping the sand and shells trying to keep himself from panicking. There were only minimal fish around and nothing smart enough to hold a decent conversation with, much less ask how he could get out of the pool. While he was basking in the sun he must not have noticed the tide slowly ebbing away creating the sandy tide pool that now held him captive.

The young merman took a deep calming breath for  his nerves. He swam to the surface and went to the place where he could hear the waves of the distant ocean that called his name for him to return home. He pulled himself slightly out of the water to look along the beach. The ocean waves were too far away for him to jump or even pull himself along. Normally, if it was a short distance, he would risk dragging himself, but sadly the waves were more than a few yards away.

He resigned himself to wait in his pool until high tide again and he could go back home. Oh, his parents were going to spear him. Maybe he could convince Kris to lie to them when he got back? Too bad there wasn’t a dolphin nearby; he would send it off to Kris to see if he could help. The merman perched himself on the sand drawing aimlessly to pass the time. A crab scuttled by mocking him in his high pitched voice as he headed out to the waves, “Caught by the tide huh? Serves you right! Rotten merfolk. Grandpap always said they were too stupid to be worth anything…” As it entered the sea, the merman could only sigh in defeat.

He to his back to stare at the clouds that drifted by. He slowly drifted off to sleep to the sound of the gulls cawing and the sea singing her blissful lullaby.

A new sound had the merman waking with a start; sitting up to see what the sound was. He heard the singing of something, not one of his kind since it was too soft and less alluring with the magic that his species held. From around a clump of palm trees a human walked along the beach. A strange device in his hand that connected to his ears, some kind of gray shell, but not one that he had ever seen before. The red bottom and black fins caused the young merman to his head in puzzlement. What is all of that?

His eyes widened in fear when the human turned in his direction. For a brief moment they made eye contact. The human smiled and waved walking towards the other. He pulled the shells out of his ear and put the big one in his red fin. The merman scrambled to get into the pool, fear pulsing through his veins. He kept his head above the water until the human was at the edge of the pool, he opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out. He was looking directly at the fin hidden beneath the water, mouth hanging slack and eyes popping out.

The merman dove under the water and huddled at the bottom of the pool, with nowhere to swim. He grasped onto a rock trying to shield himself from the eyes of the human that could clearly see him in the crystal clear water.

The human perched on the edge of the pool, staring down into the water at the cowering shape on the bottom. He tilted his head from side to side in bewilderment. Slowly, he reached out to the water as if to touch the creature, who only cowered further behind the small rock. He pulled his hand back out of the water, raising them in surrender.

“It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. See? I don’t have anything. Please, come up. I promise I won’t hurt you. Are you stuck? Do you need help? You must be scared. Please, come up and talk to me. I only want to help you,” he moved further away from the edge, giving the frightened creature more room.

Ever so slowly, the merman crept from behind the rock. He rose to the surface, and only from his lips up were visible, ready to dive at the first sign of hostility. He was further away from the human, but slowly swam forward when no look of harm passed over the human’s eyes, only glee.

“It’s okay. I won’t hurt you. I promise I won’t move. Do you want me to move back more?” he looked at the merman in anticipation.

Hesitantly, the merman shook his head, not fully understanding why he didn’t mind the closeness that they had. This was the closest he had ever seen a human before; strangely he didn’t seem too threatening.

With a new sense of courage he swam forward to just on the side of the human an arm’s length apart. He cocked his head when the human made no movement. He only smiled wider.

“See. Not so bad. I promise I won’t hurt you. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need help?”

“Do all humans ask so many questions?” the merman finally spoke, head still cocked.

The human’s eyes widened at the melodic voice of the merman, almost like the soft sound of waves inside of a seashell, “Yes?”

“Is that a question or a statement?” again the merman kept his head cocked.

“I don’t know,” the human only managed to get out.

The merman chuckled. He looked closer at the human, noticing the dimples that would appear when the other smiled, the dark brown hair that was swept to one side and the deep brown eyes that held joy and wonder in their depths. “What’s your name?” he was pulled out of his observation by the human’s question.

“I don’t think I should tell you that,” he quietly replied, afraid of what he could do with his name.

“Please? How about we trade? I’ll tell you my name and you tell me yours. I’m Yixing but my friends call me Lay. And you?” he stuck out his hand to the merman.

“J-joonmyun. My friends call me Suho. What are you doing?” he stared at the hand baffled.

“You shake it.”

“Why…?” he stared even harder at the hand as if it were an eel with three heads.

“It’s the way you say hello to a new person and that you are happy to meet them. Don’t you do this?”

He quickly shook his head, “No, we do not. We are more civilized than that, that’s too personal,” he looked affronted.

“Well then what do you do?” Lay asked dropping his hand back into his lap.

“Well… we rub fins when we meet someone new. I guess it’s similar?”

“I guess… So, Joonmyun… I wasn’t expecting you to have such a… well, such a human name,” he looked down to his lap, embarrassed.

“What did you expect?” Joonmyun cocked his head to the other side, eyebrows raised.

“I don’t know. Something with more clicks and whistles in it I guess.”

Joonmyun snorted and fell onto the sand laughing hysterically, “Where would you get an idea like that?”

Lay blushed, “Well, isn’t that how all dolphins and fish sound?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

Joonmyun sat on the sand, fin still partially in the water. He looked to the human again and leaned closer to inspect his red fin. He reached out and it softly only to jerk back in shock, “Your fin is too dry! Doesn’t it hurt?”

Lay looked puzzled, “My what?”

“Your fin! Doesn’t it hurt?”

“I don’t know… Oh, you mean my trunks? No, they don’t hurt. It’s not part of me, they are only clothes.”

“Clothes?” Joonmyun tentatively reached out to touch them again.

“Uh-huh. I don’t have a fin. I have two legs. These things that I use to walk. They are covered in the same skin that you have, only all over. We cover up with clothes to protect our modesty. These particular ones are used for swimming. And these are shoes. They protect my feet from getting hurt when I walk,” Lay pointed out every individual thing to Joonmyun so he could see them himself.

“It sounds dangerous to be a human. You seem like you get hurt easily,” Joonmyun stared at Lay as he demonstrated walking.

“Yeah, we are pretty sensitive,” he sat back down and looked at the fin that was swaying in the small current. “May I?” he held his hand up to indicate what he wanted, not moving any closer.

Joonmyun looked from the hand to his fin and then back, with a nod of his head he pulled it the rest of the way out of the water.

Lay looked on in wonder at the smooth almost leathery texture of the fin beneath his fingers. He started at the tip feeling the long thick fins that pushed the merman and gave him direction, up to the smaller scales that covered from his hips down. When he reached the juncture of skin and scale he ran his fingers back and forth across the non-existent seam, “How is this possible?”

Through the whole ordeal Joonmyun sat and basked in the feeling of someone his fin. He always loved when others touched his fin or helped to pick off the dead scales. Lay’s hands smoothed over his hips where the scales and skin met, gliding back and forth. Joonmyun tried not to let a moan slip past his lips, it felt so good. When he heard Lay’s question he was shocked, “Why can’t it be possible?”

“Well, I mean obviously it is. It’s just… you’re a myth to us, something to be found in stories, yet here you are sitting right under my hand. I am touching you.”

Joonmyun didn’t know what to say to that. He moved away slightly from the hand that was still along his waist. He cleared his throat, “What was that shell that you had earlier?”

Lay only looked slightly hurt, for some reason, “Shell? What shell?”

“The gray one that was in your ears and a bigger one in your hand. When you were singing,” Joonmyun searched around Lay’s trunks trying to find it.

“Oh you mean this?” he pulled out the device, “It’s not a shell. It’s called an iPod. It’s a device that I can listen to music on. I put these in my ears to hear it. Wanna see?”

Joonmyun nodded vigorously, intrigued by the device. Lay took the ear buds and placed them within Joonmyun’s ears. He turned it on and pushed play. Joonmyun jumped, looking around for the source of the music, but then realized it was coming from the iPod. He looked at it in wonder. Lay pulled the ear buds out of his ears and turned it back off.

“Wow. Humans are smarter than I thought.”

Lay chuckled, “Yeah, we do come up with some really neat things. So, Suho, why are you here?”

“I was sun bathing. What about you?”

“Oh, well, I wanted to go for a walk. I’m staying here for a few months on vacation. Me and some of my friends all rented out a beach house and we live not too far from here,” he pointed in the general direction of the house.

“There are more of you?” Joonmyun looked genuinely intrigued.

“Yes, there are six of us staying there. It was cheaper that way. Myself and two exchange students, and three of the other native students. Their names are Luhan, Tao, Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, and Xiumin.”

“Exchange? Students? Cheaper?” Joonmyun was once again puzzled, “You humans are so complicated.”

Lay laughed and shook his head, “It’s okay. How did you get stuck here?”

Joonmyun looked away, blushing, “I was napping and the tide pulled out without me noticing. I have to wait until high tide to go back. My parents are gonna spear me and feed me to the sharks!”

“It’s okay. I’ll help you. I already said I would. Well, what would be the easiest way to do this?” Lay looked around for something that could help, “I got it. Wait here for a moment.”

Joonmyun watched as Lay walked off into the palm trees and returned shortly with two branches, leaves, and some vine. He put them down and began to work. Some minutes later and minimal help from Joonmyun and he presented his final creation, “It’s a liter. You lay on this part, and I drag you to the ocean. That should work.”

“Okay. Hold on though, I need to wet my scales, they’re starting to itch.”

Joonmyun looked over to the sand where a small crab scuttled towards the water, “Stupid merman, of course they are itching. That’s what you get for sitting out in the sun. Idiot.”

“Oh, shut up.” Joonmyun replied.

“I didn’t say anything,” Lay looked to Joonmyun with hurt in his eyes.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“Who were you talking to?” Lay looked around for the invisible person.

Joonmyun just nodded in the crabs direction, “Him,” he stated plainly.

“Who?” Lay asked slightly annoyed.

“Him,” Joonmyun replied just as annoyed and pointed at the crab.

Lay looked all around then down to where the merman was pointing, “You were talking to the crab?!” he asked completely shocked.

Joonmyun stared back at him in bewilderment, “Of course, don’t you talk to crabs?”

Lay quickly shook his head, “No, no we humans only talk to other humans.”

“Why would you do that? That sounds so… boring.”

Lay looked lost for words momentarily, “Humans can’t talk to anything other than humans, and well now merfolk too it appears. Well, that’s not true, humans can talk to other things but they don’t answer back.”

Joonmyun shook his head, “How very odd.”

“You can say that again. Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

Lay brought the liter down to Joonmyun and helped him position himself so that he could easily drag him to the waves that were crashing in the distance. Joonmyun watched as the human struggled slightly to drag him to the water. When he was close enough he jumped off and pulled himself the rest of the way into the water.

He looked back to see Lay standing on the beach smiling at the freedom that the merman now had. Joonmyun swam back to the edge and beckoned Lay to lean forward. He placed a gentle kiss on Lay’s cheek and said, “Thank you, Lay. I am very grateful to you.”

“Will I see you again?”

He looked to the open ocean then back to the human, “Meet me here tomorrow about the same time. I’ll meet you by this rock if the coast is clear. Don’t tell anyone about this.”

Lay shook his head, “Who would ever believe me? Remember, you and your kind are only a story to us. But I’m sure you shouldn’t mention anything about me either, not sure how much they would trust your word.”

Joonmyun giggled, “Oh, they would believe that I saw a human, but not that you didn’t want to kill me or something. Your kind being nice to us is a myth in my culture,” with one final giggle Joonmyun pushed himself into the deeper water, turning one last time to wave and shout a farewell before his blue-green tail disappeared into the crystalline water.

Lay lowered his hand from waving good bye and turned back to the liter at his feet. He noticed the tail marks in the sand and used the liter to dust them away. He didn’t want there to be any questions in case one of his friends took a walk and noticed the fin impressions in the sand. He discarded the liter into the jungle then made his trek back to the summer home where all of his friends were huddled around the youngest of the group.

“What’s wrong, Tao? What happened?” Lay rushed over when he saw the bandages that wrapped around Tao’s arms, legs, and torso.

“He was attacked by a shark,” stated the beautiful blonde.

“What?!” Lay yelled, “Shouldn’t he be at the hospital?!”

“Relax Lay-ge. I wasn’t bitten. It nudged me and was about to bite me when something scared it away. I think it was a dolphin. Whatever it was it helped me get back to shore. I saw its flipper when it dove back in the water,” the young man said as he gently sat up from the couch.

“Didn’t you see it when you were in the water? And if you didn’t get bitten then what is with the bandages?!” Lay began to panic.

“Relax. I was trying to stay afloat so I didn’t see what it was until it left. At least… I think that’s what it was. I got these from the sand when I washed up. It’s only minor cuts. They will be fine in a few days. Don’t worry.”

“If you didn’t see what the thing was, then how do you know it was a dolphin?”

“I… I don’t.”

“Suho! Where were you yesterday?!” the older blonde merman asked when he saw his friend swimming past him.

Suho turned back towards his friend, “I was somewhere.”

Kris sighed, “I know that! But where were you? I looked everywhere and even your parents didn’t know where you were. I asked all the guys and none of them knew where you were at either. What were you doing?”

Suho sheepishly watched a jelly fish float by, “I was sun bathing. And I stayed out all day.”

“I looked in all your usual spots but I didn’t see you. Did you find a new spot?”

Suho looked up to the sun, gaging the time, “Yeah. The tide leaves faster though so it’s not that great of a spot. I almost got stuck. Kris, I’m sorry to say this but I need to go. My parents have me doing something. I’ll see you later. Bye.” He swam off with a wave towards the rock where he said he would meet Lay.

Kris watched him leave and heaved a great sigh. He swam away slightly dejected.

Lay was just able to escape from the mayhem that was the beach house. All five of the boys were taking care of the youngest, Tao. He wanted to go and sit in the surf but no one wanted to let him for fear of another shark attack. Just because he was lucky the first time doesn’t mean he will be the next.

When Lay made it to the spot that he and Suho agreed to meet at, he waded out into the surf and perched on the rock with a backpack holding a few supplies. He was probably early but that was okay, he enjoyed watching the waves.

It was only a few minutes before Lay noticed a dark red/brown head emerge from the water tentatively and look around before going back under. A few seconds later, Suho surfaced right at Lay’s feet with a large smile. Lay returned the smile before jumping into the water and left the pack on the rock. He waded out until he was at eye level with Suho.

“Did you get in trouble yesterday?” he asked tentatively?

Suho shook his head, “No, thanks to you I made it home before curfew. I was just questioned by one of my friends earlier.”

“Yeah, speaking of, do you know of anyone who rescued a human yesterday? My friend, Tao, was about to be attacked by a shark when something saved him. He said it was a dolphin but something in his eyes says he doesn’t even fully believe that,” Lay looked slightly puzzled.

Another shake of his head, “No… I haven’t heard anything. Trust me that’s really big. If one of my kind were to save a human willingly first… that’s unheard of.”

Lay hummed in understanding before perking back up, “So what do you want to do?”

A smirk played on Suho’s lips, “I have an idea. Do you want to see the world that I live in?”

Lay nodded quickly and began to walk out of the water to grab his pack and take it to shore. He hid it in the tree line after he opened it and brought out a pair of goggles that he had stowed inside. He then went back to Suho and waded deeper into the water. Suho swam up beside him, “Grab on to my shoulders. I’ll pull you along. When you need air tap on one of them and I’ll take you back up, okay?”

Lay nodded again and moved behind the merman to grasp onto his shoulders. He felt Suho begin to swim just below the surface to allow Lay to stay above the surf. Lay could feel the powerful tail propelling them through the water further out into the ocean. He took a deep breath of air and one handedly placed the goggles over his eyes and adjusted them. He came back up to take one more breath and submerged back under.

The beauty of the coral below astounded the human. He had seen it only in pictures and on television, but to actually see it in person was breathtaking. The blues, greens, pinks, purples, whites, and blacks that made up the city for fish completely blew his mind away. The inhabitants didn’t cease to amaze him. All the different shapes and sizes; some he could recognize and some he couldn’t. He was beginning to run out of air, so he lightly tapped Suho’s shoulder to have him rise a bit. He didn’t realize how far they went until they broke the surface and could barely see the shore.

Suho smiled to Lay, the human’s amazement amused him, “Hold on, I’m gonna show you one of my favorite places,” he grinned as he turned back to the front and sinking back into the water.

Lay had enough time to take a deep breath and hold on before they sped off to the right of the island and a bit deeper. It only took a few moments for them to reach the point that Suho had mentioned. They stopped at what appeared to be pillars of coral and archways underneath the surface of the water. They were at least ten feet tall and several feet around. Lay stared in wonder as Suho dived deeper. He swam threw a few of the arches and Lay saw a few eels and octopus hiding within the crevices. There were thousands of colorful fish swimming around. Lay didn’t know which way to look. A few rays floated by and stopped briefly in front of Suho; Lay assumed that they were talking about something. He let go of Suho’s shoulders to swim around a bit.

Suho turned to see what happened to Lay and smiled when he saw the other turning in wonder at the different sights. He watched the human swim around a bit and was amazed that he didn’t look too awkward as he turned in different directions.

Lay was startled when a dark shape swam behind him casting a shadow on the coral pillar. He spun, heart in his throat, pounding in his ears, and stared in terror thinking that a shark had come up behind him. He saw Suho laughing and swimming around a dolphin that had come to them. They twirled and tumbled together. Swimming this way and that, playing tag, Lay breathed a sigh of relief and began to smile. He swam over and watched for a second before the burn in his lungs became too much; he rose to the surface to get a few breaths of air.

The merman followed him to the surface. He watched as Lay took in a few fast gulps of air, “You held your breath for quite a while. I’m impressed.”

Lay chuckled, “I’m on the school swim team so I can hold my breath for almost three minutes. I’m training to hold it longer. Where did that dolphin come from?”

At that moment, said dolphin jumped out of the water, spun, and then dived back in. Suho laughed and clapped, “I called him. He’s one of my friends. I have known him since he was a calf and I often come here to play with him. You want to meet him?” he asked hopefully.

“Of course.”

Suho smiled brightly; he dived down to the dolphin. Lay watched as the merman swam over and spoke to the dolphin for a moment. He grasped on to the dolphin’s dorsal fin as he swam by. The merman held onto the dolphin until they surfaced just beside Lay. He rubbed the dolphin’s beak affectionately, “This is Yixing he’s my friend. He won’t hurt you. You’ve seen his kind before right? He’s one of the nice ones. Come say hi to him,” the merman beckoned the creature closer to the human.

The dolphin swam closer, clicking and whistling. Lay gently stretched out his hand to place on the animal’s beak. He smiled as he pet the dolphin, “He’s so… rubbery. Soft, but firm.”

“Well of course, he’s a dolphin. What did you expect? Fur?” the merman giggled lightly as he too began petting the animal in front of them, who had rolled over for his stomach to be rubbed.

“Well, no not fur… I don’t know what I expected…” Lay rubbed the gray skin beneath his hand. He looked over to Suho to see him smiling as he did the same. “This is a really cool place. Do you come here often?”

Suho nodded, “Yes, I normally come here when I want to get away from my parents. They don’t come this close to the island.”

“Where do you live at? I mean, if it’s not too far away I’m surprised humans haven’t discovered you yet.”

“I live in a cave with my parents. Most of us find shelter in caves and large outcroppings of coral or kelp. We can stay hidden when we desire. We have better hearing than humans so we can leave if we feel threatened. Hiding in the ocean isn’t actually that hard to do believe it or not. Plus, we are extremely fast swimmers,” Suho explained as he finished rubbing the dolphin.

 “I see. I guess that makes sense. So what do you want to do?”

 The merman smiled, “You want to play with us?”

 “Sure,” Lay chuckled as he saw the wide smile on the other’s face.

They spent the rest of the time swimming and playing with the dolphin. At one point a few more joined from the same pod. Lay had never had so much fun in his life; he enjoyed playing tag with dolphins even if they were faster than he was. They didn’t even mind when he had to take frequent trips to the surface for air. They would play on top of the surface until he was ready to go back under.

After a few hours of playing, Suho it was time to head back since Lay was getting too tired to really swim anymore. He swam the back to the same spot as before. Lay climbed onto the sand to dry off. He was breathing heavily from the workout his muscles went through.

Lay sat up once he caught his breath to see Suho smiling at him from inside the surf. Lay smiled back, “Thank you. That was the most fun I have ever had.”

“You’re welcome. I’m glad you had fun.”

Lay looked off to the sun setting, “I should get back soon. The others will start to worry about me…”

Suho sighed, “Me too. My parents will be mad if I’m late again.”

“Can we meet again tomorrow? This time I’ll show you stuff from my world.”

The merman nodded vigorously. He was really interested in human things since Lay showed him the device that played music, “Same time and place?”

Lay nodded back. He leaned forward just as Suho was sliding back into the water and placed a gentle kiss on the other’s temple, “Thank you, Joonmyun, for showing me something spectacular.”

The later blushed and nodded. He slid back into the water and waved before swimming away.

Lay waved back before standing up to retrieve his bag. He slowly made his way back to the beach house and his friends who were sitting out on the beach with a bon fire. They were cooking various vegetables, fish, and marshmallows. They were laughing and joking when he walked up.

“Lay, where have you been? We looked for you but couldn’t find you,” Luhan questioned.

Lay sat on one of the chairs by the fire, “Sorry guys, I was swimming and some dolphins came up. I didn’t want to leave since they were really friendly and didn’t bother me. Sorry I’m late guys.”

“Dolphins? That’s awesome! Maybe they will come out this way. It’s summer vacation, don’t worry about the time. Just be careful. Want some fish and vegetables? Tao, Chanyeol, and Xiumin caught the fish. Luhan and I cleaned them,” a boy with short black hair and large eyes asked.

“Sure, Kyungsoo. That sounds great. You guys did a good job on these,” Lay said as he bit into the fish. He watched the others continue talking and laughing. Once it got too cold outside they all went back in to go to bed. As Lay laid awake he thought of the different things he would show Suho tomorrow. He fell asleep imagining the look of wonder that would pass over the merman’s face as well as his bright smile.

In the following weeks, Lay and Suho spent every day together. Lay brought as many human things as he could to show Suho without drawing suspicion from the others. Suho likewise found ways to avoid his friends since each began to avoid him as well. The two spent as much time as they could together talking and having fun exploring.

It was a couple of weeks before Lay would be leaving the island when he realized something; he was falling in love with Suho. For days he would contemplate his feelings and if he should tell the other. He didn’t understand how he fell in love with someone who wasn’t even human, lived in a completely different world from him, had a different culture and rules, and was the same gender as he was. Yet, he couldn’t help but stare at the other and marvel at the brilliant smile that Suho had. Every time they were together Lay was the happiest he had ever been, and when they weren’t he couldn’t wait until they did see each other again. Everything about the other captivated him and he couldn’t help but fall for Suho more and more each day.

One day when Suho and Lay were in one of the inner lagoons on the island that connected to the ocean, Lay decided he would say something about his recent discovery. They were just lying on the sand, letting the sun warm their skin (and scales). Lay sat up and looked at the other who was still lying down. He slid his hand over to rub at the drying scales along his hip and what would be his outer thigh if he had one.

Suho smiled at the calming feeling coming from Lay’s fingers rubbing over his scales. He turned his head to Lay and watched him rub his fin.

“Joonmyun, if I were to tell you something… would you listen?”

Suho raised an eyebrow, “Of course I would silly. Don’t I always?” he leaned up on his elbows.

Lay removed his hand. He turned to stare at the lagoon, “I… I think I like you, Joonmyun.”

Suho fully sat up, smiling, “I like you too, Yixing.”

“Not like that. I mean really like you. In a romantic way,” Lay shyly looked out of the corner of his eyes to the other.

The merman just sat there in shock staring at Lay. His mouth was hanging slightly open. For what felt like hours to Lay, Suho only blinked and attempted to form words before giving up completely. He turned back to the lagoon in utter shock.

“Please, say something.”

“I-I… can’t. I can’t love you. We’re too different. You’re human… I’m a merman. I live underwater, you live above it. It can’t work. I can’t love you,” by the end Suho was sobbing with tears rolling down his cheeks to land on the sand. He sounded as if he had to convince himself and not just Lay. He looked back to the human, “I’m sorry,” he said before diving into the lagoon and speeding away.

Lay stood from his spot, shocked at the quickness that Suho exhibited to get away. He stared at the last place he saw Suho’s shadow. It took him a few minutes to realize he was kneeling on the sand, fists clenched in the sand, crying as if his heart had been ripped out. To Lay, it had been. When Suho swam off he took Lay’s heart with him, but Lay was willing to bet his life that Suho didn’t know that.

The human stayed in that position crying for a long time, how long he didn’t know or care. He knew he was in pain and he had caused the one he loved pain as well, and it tore him to pieces.

After staying there for a few hours he began his trek back to the house, not wanting to really deal with his friends.

When he reached the house his friends were in the living room watching a movie. He walked right past them and went to his and Luhan’s room. He closed the door behind, completely ignoring the others questions full of concern. Lay fell on the bed falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Suho swam as fast as he could. He cried the whole way back to his home. Like Lay, he completely ignored most of his friends who saw him. They tried to question him but couldn’t even voice the first syllable before he was already out of sight.

He had rounded the shelf where the caves were located when he saw a familiar fin. He swam straight to it, hitting the merman head on. The other gasped in pain, but he quickly recovered when he noticed the crying bundle in his arms.

“Suho? What’s wrong? Why are you crying? What happened? Did those meres make fun of your fin again? Want me to talk to them?” Kris tried his hardest to find out why his best friend was sobbing so hard in his arms. Suho wouldn’t answer any of his questions except with a shake of the head. He continued to sob hysterically, effectively gaining the attention of his parents.

When the two adults swam out of the cave worried something detrimental had happened, Suho shot off into the cave screaming for them not to bother him. His parents tried to question Kris, but the young merman had no answers as to why their son was so distraught. They thanked Kris for his honesty and turned back into the cave. Knowing there was nothing they could currently do for their son, they left him alone to calm down and eventually tell them what was wrong.

For three full days Suho never left his spot on the cave floor. He lied there crying or sleeping. He didn’t even eat any of the food his mother brought for him. He could eat knowing that he was in love with someone that wasn’t a merman, lived in a different world as him, had totally different rules and culture, and was essentially the same gender as him He was becoming even more depressed as his parents began to really worry about him. They decided that if he didn’t move the next day they would call the Shaman to divine what was wrong with their son.

Upon hearing his parents plan, Suho gained the strength to eat a bit and leave before the Shaman could be called. She was practically all-knowing and would be able to figure out what was wrong with Suho, if she didn’t already know.

He left the cave without so much as speaking to his parents. His father looked to his mother and made a quick decision. He went to the front of the cave where a ray was gently gliding by. He asked if the ray would mind following their son and making sure he would be okay. The ray, being the nice helpful creature that she was, agreed to help. She quickly followed the merman who was close to being out of her sight.

Suho swam with a small purpose in mind. He decided last night to go back to his and Lay’s meeting place and wait for the human to talk to him. He swam without really looking where he was going and failed to notice the schools of fish going in the opposite direction. When he finally paid attention it was too late. He kept swimming until he swam directly into a large fishing net. He struggled to swim back but only succeeded in making himself caught even worse. He fought with the net as best as he could by grasping at the net trying to pry it away, yelling at the top of his lungs.

The net began to rise to the surface when pure dread filled Suho. He began to panic more as the net was lifted out of the water and the occupants of the boat took a good look at their catch.

“Oh, my God. Is that… a mermaid?” one of the fisherman asked.

Another answered, “No, that’s not a mermaid. It’s a merman. Quick, pull it in so we can take it back.”

The two crew members listened to their captain’s orders and began to pull Suho into the boat, who continued to struggle. As he hit the deck of the boat, he froze when a spear was placed directly between his eyes.

“Don’t struggle. It will only be worse if you do,” the captain ordered.

Suho nodded, tears rolling down his cheeks, frightened that he wouldn’t see his friends or family again. Frightened that he didn’t tell Lay how he truly felt. Suho lowered his head dejectedly; accepting his fate.

Lay finally left the bedroom after three days. His friends were scared to death for him. Only Luhan was able to get into the room, but he couldn’t find out what was wrong with his roommate and best friend.

When Lay emerged from the room, he went to shower before going into the kitchen to eat a bowl of cereal. The others just stared at him in shock. They were about to question him when he walked out of the house and down to the dock that was out to the front of the house.

He stood at the end of the pier and watched the water, allowing a few silent tears to escape from the corners of his eyes.

Off in the distance he watched a fishing boat pull in its morning catch. He continued to watch it off in the distance when a large mass in the net caught his attention. Quickly, he reached for the binoculars that were laying on the end of the pier just beside the speed boat that was docked.

Once Lay had brought them to his eyes, his heart quickly sank to the bottom of the ocean. He noticed a merman in the net, struggling with all of his might. It was almost too hard for Lay to make out, but the color of the fin and hair was too similar to Suho’s to be a coincidence. He tossed the binoculars to the dock. With fumbling fingers he untied the boat and started it; thankful that the keys were left in the ignition.

With a loud roar, the boat sped off in the direction of the fisherman and the struggling merman. Lay could hear his heart in his ears and feel it in his throat. He couldn’t lose Suho like this, he wouldn’t allow it. If Suho didn’t want to be with him, that was one thing, but he wouldn’t let Suho be taken from him by some greedy fishermen.

Moments later, Lay reached the other boat. Without even thinking he climbed over the low railing onto the deck of the fishing vessel after pulling alongside it and turning off the speed boat. He froze when he saw Suho laying on the deck, head bowed with a spear pointed right at him.

The only thought Lay had as he rushed rushed over to the shocked captain and pushed him with all of his might away from the merman was to save Suho. The other crew members were too shocked to do anything.

Lay rushed back to Suho and helped to lift him to the edge of the railing. Suho quickly grasped onto the railing to pull himself over back into the ocean. Lay pushed Suho completely over when the fishermen began to run towards him.

The captain reached Lay first. Lay grasped the wrist that was closest to him and used the man’s weight against him to throw him over the edge of the boat. One of the crew members rushed over to Lay. Again, Lay used the same technique on the fisherman as he did on the captain, with the same results. The last crew member was more cautious about approaching the young man. He pulled out a knife from his belt and raised it. With a yell, the man charged and swung the knife at Lay. He was just barely able to dodge the blow. He spun on his heel too face the fisherman. The other began to swing at him again. This time Lay kicked him right in the gut, forcing him back against the railing. Lay brought his foot up higher in a kick that Tao would be proud of, and kicked him in the upper chest, forcing him over the railing as well.

Lay sat on the deck of the ship for a moment to catch his breath and slow his heartbeat. He stood, rushed to the edge, and leaned over. He saw the three crew members in the water, but they were face down floating in the waves.

With fear in his eyes, Lay turned from side to side looking for Suho. He spotted the merman a ways off, closer to the shore. Lay raced over to the speed boat, jumped the railing into his boat. He turned it on as fast as he could, speeding off to the other.

He stopped the boat close to Suho and dived right into the ocean. A few powerful brought him right up to the merman. When he reached him he pulled Suho into his arms and embraced him as tightly as he could. Tears freely flowed down his cheeks as he hugged the man he loved.

“I saw you. I saw you and I panicked. I’m so sorry. I should have been there sooner. Were you hurt? Are you okay? I’m so sorry, Joonmyun. If I hadn’t of said anything a few days ago, none of this would have happened to you. I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault, I won’t blame you if you hate me and never want to see me again. I’m sorry, I’m so-” Lay didn’t finish when he felt lips against his own. He blinked to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. When he deduced he was indeed being kissed by Suho, he began to kiss the other back.

Suho pulled away, crying as well, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left like that. I’m sorry. I love you. I didn’t realize it until you said something, but I do, I love you, Yixing. I’m sorry you had to come save me. If I had been paying attention I would have noticed the net. It’s not your fault. I love you. It’s not your fault,” he grasped onto Suho’s wet shirt and cried into his chest.

“It’s okay, love. It’s okay now. But… what happened to the fishermen?”

“We drowned them.”

Lay spun in the water, “Who are-”

“Father, Mother. I don’t understand,” Suho cut off Lay.

The merman looked on sternly at his child, “I had a ray follow you. When you were about to get caught in the net she came back to tell us what happened. We arrived just as the second human landed in the water. We drowned all three of them for what they did. Now, son, move away from him.”

Suho shook his head rapidly, he pulled himself in front of Lay, effectively shielding him with his body, “No! You can’t kill him! Father, please!”

“Joonmyun! I will not repeat myself. Now, move!”

Suho held onto Lay tighter, “Mother, please! You can’t! Please, I love him!” he sobbed loudly.

Lay turned Suho in his arms and turned him away from his parents. He gently smiled and ran his thumb across the other’s cheek, wiping away the tears. He shook his head gently, leaned down and placed a soft kiss to Joonmyun’s lips. He turned to the two merfolk with a sad smile on his lips. He nodded once, telling them to go ahead.

The merman stared at the human in front of him, “You would willingly let us kill you. Why?”

Lay smiled and looked over his shoulder to the still crying Suho, “Because I love your son. And if this has to be done to keep him safe… then so be it. Just please… don’t let him see it.”

The merman stared in wonder; shocked at the human’s words. His wife placed her hand on his arm staying him from moving, “Dear,” is all she said, a soft smile playing on her lips.

With a great sigh the merman nodded his head, “Alright, you’re right. Go ahead. I won’t stop you.”

The mermaid smiled to her husband. She slowly swam up to the human. As she reached him, she lifted her hand from the water bringing it out for the other to grasp.

“Mother, please, you can’t! Kill me! Kill me instead, just please, don’t hurt him,” Suho begged with even more tears flowing down his already tear-stained cheeks.

At his words, the mermaid stayed her hand and smiled widely, “I was waiting for you to say that. Son, I’m not going to kill him. And I certainly won’t kill you,” she smiled to her son and turned to the human. “Young man, there is something that you don’t know about our kind, and I don’t even think Joonmyun knows this. When you save a merman, you are given good fortune. When you save a mermaid, you are given a wish. However, all mermaids possess the ability to gift a wish to a human if they do something she deems worthy of the gift. Since you saved our son and willingly gave your life for his safety; I think you are more than worth of a wish. Anything, just name it. But be warned, how you word the wish is very important. I will give you a few moments to think about it, and even discuss it with my son. If you should decide on what I think you will, you have mine and my husband’s blessing, just take care of our baby,” she patted him on the shoulder and swam off to a further distance from the two to give them some privacy.

Lay turned back to Suho to see his eyes wide in shock. He went back to the merman and kissed him again, this time with more passion.

Suho responded and laughed when the parted. He held onto the hands that were cupping his face, “I didn’t know about that. So, what are you going to wish for?”

Lay smiled when they pulled away from each other, “Well that depends. What do you want? Do you want me to become a merman? Or do you want to become human? It’s your decision.”

Suho blankly stared at Lay, shocked. He thought about the other’s question, mulling it over in his head. He wanted to show Lay everything about the sea, travel it with him, but he also wanted to see the human world as well. He didn’t want to leave his parents or friends, and he didn’t want Lay to leave his or his life back home. Suho was torn between the decision laid before him. He was about to voice his concern when his mother spoke again, “Remember, how you word your wish is very important.”

Suho questioningly stared at her. She smiled back at him knowingly. He contemplated her words for a few more minutes when he realized what she meant. He smiled brightly at her then to Lay, “I want both.”

Lay looked at him puzzled, “How would that work?”

“If you word it correctly, we can have both. I can be human when I want, and you can be a merman when you want.”

Nodding in understanding, Lay pulled away from Suho to swim back to the other merfolk. The met him halfway when he spoke, “I’m ready.”

The mermaid nodded, “What is it you wish for human?”

Lay took a deep breath, “I wish that Joonmyun and I had the choice to choose between being either human or mermen whenever we desire and to be together forever.”

With an approving smile the mermaid nodded and began to sing. A melodious voice rose around the human and young merman; a voice softer than Suho’s, but deeper than the waves crashing on the rocks. As her voice became louder, a golden glow surrounded the two, completely enveloping them.

It swirled around them to the point where they thought they would be sick, but it stopped just as suddenly as it had started. Suho’s mother smiled at the pair. She swam forward and embraced her son, soft tears shining in her eyes, “I love you, son. Take care. Come and visit us as often as you like. Human… take care of him?”

Lay nodded.

The merman who had been silent through the whole ordeal swam up as well to hug his only child, “I will miss you, son. Please come visit as often as you can. We love you,” he turned to Lay, “You better take care of him, human. If you don’t… the wish can always be broken.”

With a firm nod of his head, Lay agreed with Suho’s father.

“Oh, and one more thing; you may not have noticed it, but the way that you worded your wish… you now have a merfolk’s life span… eternity. I expect you to be together for that amount of time,” Suho’s mother stated as she and her husband swam further out to see, giggling at the new information.

Lay turned to Suho, bringing his lips in for a hurried and passionate kiss. When he pulled away he laughed happily, pulling the other to the beach.

Once they were out of the water, Suho only briefly thought of being human and his fin began to shift and change into the rest of a male human body. He sat on the sand, astounded at his new feet. He wiggled his toes to get the feel of them. Lay too looked on in amazement, when a thought crossed his mind.

In a flash, Lay fell to the sand, legs replaced by a silver, opal, gunmetal grey, and black fin. His mouth opened in shock as it swayed in the current. Suho stared as well; he reached over and gently placed his hand on the fin. It was real.

Lay thought of being human again and his legs reappeared as well as his trunks, “Well, it’s nice to know that our clothes will still be on us when we change back.”

Suho only nodded, still staring at his new legs.

Lay chuckled. He stood and bent to help Suho stand. The slightly shorter male wobbled as he put weight on his feet and legs. Lay held him by the elbows to help steady him. With one arm wrapped around the other’s waist, he began to help Suho slowly learn to walk, “When we get closer to the house I will rush in and bring you out some clothes… if nothing else, you need underwear,” he murmured the last part with a slight blush rising on his cheeks.

“What is underwear?” Suho asked confused.

The other sighed heavily, “This is gonna take forever; there’s so much that you have to learn.”

Suho smirked as he stopped and pulled Lay’s face closer to his, “Good thing we will be together so you can teach me. And we have eternity, there’s no rush,” he whispered as he brought the other’s lips closer to his, sweetly kissing him.

Lay chuckled when they broke for air, “Sounds perfect. Let’s get started on it.”

AN:

So what did we think? Like it? Hate it? Indifferent? Drop me a comment about what you think, feel, like, hate. It's up to you guys. Love you!!!

---raven