It was after two weeks that I finally had the courage to try and say something other than repeat what he said. I had waited for him this time, because after a while, he was waiting for me. He came walking an hour before we usually met, and was surprised to see me already waiting for him. I waved to him and he waved back before coming over in what is called, running.

“You’re here ear-,” I had to stop him. I held a finger up and took a deep breath, still unsure.

“My name is…Daniel.” I never removed my eyes from him, so I saw how his eyes widened and how his eyes sparkled. I saw how he almost seemed to fall as he took a seat, and I just couldn’t help but laugh, but I couldn’t help but to think, “You…never told me your name.” He just stayed in shock for a moment more before he laughed as well.

“My name is Jonghyun, but please call me Changjo.” I nodded as I softly said his name. I liked how it sounded, almost like magic. “How long have you known my language?” I snapped by head up and let the question sink in. I really haven’t “known” it for long, it’s just that I really wanted to talk to him. I have always been told that I was a slow learner, but it was just harder to learn things I didn’t find use in.  After he started to teach me words, I swam around the “island” as he calls it, and found out there were others like him. None were as beautiful as him, but they all spoke the same way. I listened and observed them from afar. My brother even showed me a place at hidden far from the kingdom. It was a large area, but inside were things from above. Most of the things had disintegrated, but I found so many engravings that have yet to disappear. I even found something left by the dock. I noticed that it started to destroy in the water, so I kept it at a cave. I found out it was a book.

When I asked my pink haired friend about it, he knew what it was. He knew the tongue. He had lived by them before and learned it to trick travelers that got too close to his old home. He helped me learn the symbols and the sounds, and I did the rest myself. I couldn’t burden him too much.

“Daniel?” I came out of the memories and was met with a soft touch from Changjo. His eyes were still curious.

“I was trying to learn, and my friend helped me.” Something flashed in his eyes, but I can’t tell what it is. “I wanted to talk to you.” He seemed to relax at my words, and he laced his fingers through my hair once more. It felt nice. It always did.

“Will you sing for me again?” I nodded and thought back to all the music I found. It’s funny how we learn music the same way.

“Every breathless day frantically passes,” I start. I cried once my red headed friend helped me understand it, but I found it so beautiful. “At some point, meeting you became a precious bond.” He laced his fingers deeper into my hair, and I closed my eyes as I relaxed. “All of the universe appeared beautiful. I came to like what you liked.” I heard him hesitate, but he joined me.

“Within our perfectly stable days…sharing our innermost feelings,” we sang. I opened my eyes a little, and found that we were so close. He was just a breath away. So close.

“Master Choi!” I pulled back, but he held me in place.

“Please,” he said. I looked behind him, and saw a man running up behind him. I panicked and splashed the water. He was taken aback, so he let go, and I took his momentary blindness to dive under and swim away. “Daniel!” I heard him yell, but I didn’t look back. I heard the stories of my people being captured and mounted to ships as trophies, and I don’t want to be that. I trust Changjo, but he doesn’t know what I am. He doesn’t know I have a tail and live in the water and that I can never be with him.

I hid behind my boulder and watched as the man dragged Changjo away, and how he kept looking back. He was looking for me, but I can’t. I ducked down and swam back home.

One would think that my father would constantly keep tabs on me, but with so many sons and daughters, he lets me roam free. Maybe he just doesn’t care, as long as he has one heir. Then again, he’s not going to lose power anytime soon. It’s legend that he is the creator of the sea, and my eldest sister is 2500 years old.  Many of his sons and daughters have left and created kingdoms in other parts of the sea, and we are all his children, but he keeps some of close as his true children. I’m not the youngest, since I’m only nineteen. The youngest was just born three months ago, and when I think of us all, I can’t help but to wonder if my father would miss me if I just left.  It would be nice if he cared, but I wouldn’t mind if he didn’t care.

After that day, I decided to stay away from him. I stayed in a cave and hid away. I would always cry, simply because I know that no matter what I do, I would never be with him. I can never meet him anywhere away from the water; I can’t even be his friend. I didn’t even know that we could cry until I did.

I went back to the surface a week later, simply because I had a nagging feeling in the back of my chest. I broke the surface, but it wasn’t warm. It was dark and cold.  I didn’t see him where we would usually meet. Maybe he gave up. That thought hurts me for some reason. I swam around but no one is outside. The wind blew harshly and my hair whipped around, but I just keep swimming.  I come to the other end of the island, and I see fleets of ships. They were coming in from the see, but I was relieved to see that there weren’t any of us on them.

“Where’s master Choi?” That name. That’s what Changjo is always called.

“He’s on the last ship!” I turned and saw that there were about three more ships out. They were still pretty far, and the sea was getting upset. I swam out towards the last one and hid underneath. A little towards the back, and I peeked out just until I could hear.

“Tie it down and be careful!” I heard his voice, and when I looked up, I saw him. He was shirtless and wet. He was holding onto a rope as he swung around before he stopped at the edge. I don’t know why I was worried. He’s okay. I dipped down, but something caught my eye.

A man was behind him, and I saw a shine from behind him. All the other men were out of my sight, so they must be inside the giant ship, but why is he still up there. Changjo was smiling as he was tying down his rope, but as he stood, the man rushed at him with the object. Changjo collapsed and grabbed onto him. I gasped as I watched the scene unfold before me, unable to do anything about it. They were struggling over the object, a dagger. The man was so much taller than him, but Changjo was stronger.

“Die!” Yelled the man. “For the crown!” He threw himself and the dagger further, both him and Changjo falling over the rail.

“Master Choi!” The sound of footsteps resounded, signaling that the men were coming out. I paid them no attention as I dove under as soon as Changjo hit the water. The man and he were still struggling, but Changjo’s movements were weaker. I moved forward and pulled the man off of him, throwing him against the ship. He was still attached to Changjo and the dagger. He stared me in the eye, but I refused to back down. I bit down on him, and he let him go. I grabbed Changjo and quickly swam away so the sharks would not come after us. He was limp in my embrace, too weak from blood loss. I remembered what my red haired friend’s words.

“Those beings cannot breathe under water. If they stay too long under, they die.”

It sent me into a state of panic as I swam the fastest I ever have before. I surfaced to the surface with him as I made my way to our spot. It was farther than with the ships, but I needed him to be safe. I needed to heal him. I got us to the land, and it was so hard for I didn’t have limbs like his. He was bleeding so much, and I didn’t know what to do. My heart started racing, it was getting hard to breathe, and I started to tremble.

“Daniel.” I snapped my head towards the sea. I know that voice. “Daniel.” It’s my sister. She rose from the water, her beautiful blue hair cascading down her pale skin as she looked at me with deep brown eyes. “Leave him,” she said. I shook my head. “If they find you here, they’ll kill you.” I shook my head once more and held him close. I don’t want him to die. I felt the tears fall, and I heard her breath catch. “You can cry.” I didn’t care what she said, I just wanted him alive, I heard his heart slow down, and it only broke me further. “You love him.” I heard her come closer, but I just held him tighter. I refused to let him go.  “I’ll help you.” My eyes snapped open in attention. “But I’ll need to take something away. To save him, I have to take something from you in order to even it out.”

I nodded profusely. I don’t care what it is; I just don’t want Changjo to die. I don’t even care if I never see him ever again, as long as I know he’s safe.

“Please,” I said. “Just save him.” She nodded before she blew something at me. She nodded with a smile.

“Just place your lips to his, and his wound will heal, and what he loves most about you will be sealed away in my pendent.” I nodded and did as I was told immediately. I kept my hand on his wound, and felt it close. I felt his chest rise and his hand on mine. I felt his other in my hair, and I had to pull back.

“Daniel,” he said through hooded eyes. I looked around and saw that my sister had disappeared.

Arf. Arf.

It was his dog. He was getting up, but his eyes were closed, so I made my escape. I dove back into the water and hid behind my boulder. I watched as he sat up and looked around. I watched as men came running towards him in a rush. I saw them checking him, and I saw him looking out into the sea. I turned my head and dove back under. He’s safe, so I’m happy.

I had reached back to our kingdom, but I kept to myself. My redheaded friend found me soon after in the cave that I had been hiding all week in.

“Where have you been Daniel?” I didn’t answer. I just tucked myself in and sighed. “You aren’t going to talk to me?” It isn’t that I didn’t want to talk to him, but that I couldn’t. I don’t even need to try to know that my voice was taken. I felt my throat constrict, and I felt it leave me. It’s weird how Changjo loved my voce so much when so many make fun of it. “Daniel?” I shook my head, and he left.

After four days of not speaking, he finally pulled me away. He dragged me through the coral, past the fish, and made it back to my cave. He threw me against the wall in anger, but I remained silent despite the pain.

“What the hell Daniel?” He was angry, I know he is. His bright pink and yellow tail swished violently as he came closer. “You’ve been completely silent for days now. What happened up there?!” I didn’t respond. I don’t know how to. I can’t speak, so I how can I even start? “Daniel,” he said. He is trying to restrain himself, I can tell. He grabbed my wrist painfully, but I couldn’t make a sound. He stared at me for a moment before snatching back, as if in shock, and stared at me with eyes so large, I wonder how he’s not an actual fish.

“Your voice,” he said. “Your voice is gone.” I would wonder how he knew, but he has an odd ability. He can read one’s mind, but only if it’s open. That, and in a select few of us, he can’t read us. I am one of those few.  He’s a prized soldier, but he never tries to do it by force on anyone. I didn’t try to hide it, but when he grabbed me, I yelled out to him. It seems like he heard me, and it scared him as well.  

“How?” He asked. I shrugged. I don’t know how, but I grabbed onto his wrist and mentally screamed at him again. I closed my eyes and tried to scream everything I could, but I’m not sure if it’s in vain or not. I watched him as he closed his eyes and bent over, as if trying desperately to hear me. I yelled it all repeatedly, and only stopped when he raised a hand in the air.

“A human? You gave up your voice for a human?” So they are called humans. I nodded my head and waited for the smack to come, but it never did. I opened my eyes to see him frown, but that’s it. “I’ll take you to a friend; he’ll help you learn how to sign.” I nodded as he left. I’m alone again.

His friend was tall. Very tall. We learned together, and after two weeks, I was able to communicate. We signed all the time, but I never told him that I would go back to the surface every other day to check on Changjo. He would always be atop the boulder. He would always be looking out at the sea. I want to believe that he’s looking for me, but I always try to shoot myself down. Why should I have hopes?

A month later, my sister came to me again. It was rare for any of us to see her, for she’s always on the move. Her name is Minzy, and I heard that even the humans have their own legend of her. They call her Ness. She stopped by my cave and greeted me with a smile.

“I have a proposition for you.” I looked over to her in curiosity. “I saw how much you love that human, and seeing as he did have something he loved about you, I want to give you a chance.” I came closer to her, and I realized that she has my voice around her neck. She held it in between her fingertips and smiled. “I’ll give a chance to regain your voice, and a chance for love.” I wanted to ask her, but she held a hand up. “Will you take my proposition? It’s an immediate answer.” I nodded my head without hesitation. She smiled at me and blew something towards me again. I was engulfed in black.