It was completely silent as I sped down the peopleless street towards the bright, orange horizon.

 

A paining feeling tugged at my gut as I recalled the scene back with Jiwon.

"But... Can you atleast make time right now? Or do you have plans already..?"

"I'm sorry, I really am. But... Uh... I have this paper to finish. I'll call you at night when I'm free... Hopefully."

I had been downright stupid.

"Oh, alright then... You must be really busy..."

"Sorry... I got an unlucky class.. And the guys back at the dorm are taking up my time too."

Jiwon had smiled.

"I understand. You should have fun with your friends too. I'm your girlfriend. I'm always here for you. So go and have fun!"

 

So with the lame, but successful attempt of supporting my lies using the 'friends' excuse....

Here I was, still driving to the beach in this situation. With guilt choking my throat continuously.

 

What was even worse was how everything seemed to brighten up when I caught sight of Yoosol.

"Yooso--"

I froze. Immediately, my cheeks turned a light shade of red.

Yoosol was sitting at the same spot as usual, but.... a towel was all that was wrapped around her legs.

I cleared my throat. She gasped, turned around, and finally noticed me. Quickly, she crouched down and hid herself behind the rock.

 

"S-Sehun! What are you... I thought you weren't going to come today!" Her face was red as a tomato.

I rubbed the back of my neck and swallowed.

"S-Sorry... I'm just late..."

Yoosol muttered to herself something along the lines of 'God this is so embarrasing'. She quickly crawled to the left and reached her hand out. With her hand came a pair of shorts.

I craned my neck to see where she had just taken the pair of shorts. There was a pile of clothing in the place, looking a bit old but still usable.

 

"It's my 'emergency human clothing pile'." Yoosol explained. Then she suddenly looked up at me, looking as if she was waiting for me to do something.

When I finally realized what she was wanting, I became even redder.

"Oh."

I quickly turned around and waited for her to change into her shorts, taking deep breaths to calm myself.

 

"I forgot to tell you.. When mermaids form legs out of the water... They kind of... Come out unclothed."

".. Oh..." So that explained how she was the first day I saw her.

 

"Then what happens to the clothes you were wearing before you go into the water?"

"They disappear somewhere else in water. That white shirt I was wearing yesterday, it's probably floating around somewhere in the middle of the Han River."

I laughed.

"Is that even possible?"

"Sure it is. I mean, mermaids exist. What can be impossible?"

She suddenly gave a little tap on my shoulder.

"I'm done. You can turn around now."

I did, and sat down on the sand right next to her.

 

"So why were you late?"

I felt the guilt tug at me again.

"Oh... I bumped into somebody I knew along the way."

And I lied to my girlfriend that I was going to meet some friends when really I was going to a beach to hang around with a gorgeous mermaid.

 

I almost gasped when I realized how strange that sounded.

Was I a bad guy now?

... No.... Yoosol was a friend. Being friends with a mermaid wasn't a sin.

Jiwon would understand. She was cool. She wouldn't say anything about who my friends were... Especially if it was a mermaid. She would even come along with me to the beach.

I frowned.

No. I wouldn't want her to come along with me. I wanted to come here by myself. And only myself.

 

I didn't want to tell Jiwon about Yoosol. I didn't want to tell anyone about Yoosol. She was a secret that only I knew.

I wanted Yoosol all to myself.

 

Wait, what, no, that sounds so cree--

"Hey, Sehun?" Yoosol suddenly spoke up.

"Yeah?" I said, brought out of my thoughts.

"Look over there.." She pointed to the boardwalk above us on the beach. There was a couple holding hands, looking out to the horizon and drinks in their hands.

I felt a hint of anguish, remembering the day Jiwon and I had done the same thing.

 

Yoosol sighed, almost dreamily.

"I'm so jealous of them...."

I blinked a few times, surprised that she was a romantic type of girl.

".... Really?"

"Of course! Who wouldn't be?"

I looked up at the couple again. They were staring into each other's eyes by now. It didn't take a genius to see that they were closing in to kiss.

When they did, Yoosol gasped. I looked at her, just to see that she was sticking her tongue out in disgust.

"Eww.... Why'd they have to do that?!"

I raised an eyebrow.

"But I thought that you were jealous of how they were romantic."

She looked at me with disbelief, as if I had just said that pigs could fly.

"I'm jealous of their drinks. I want a smoothie to drink out of just like them.. Not their gooey hugs or whatever..."

I almost laughed. Of course.

 

With a clear of throat, I suddenly stood up. Yoosol looked at me with question.

"Do you want to go get a smoothie, then?"

She widened her eyes, brightening up.

"R-Really?! I can do that?!"

"Of course. If you have the money, you can." I pulled out my wallet. "And we do."

 

For the first time in her life, Yoosol walked up the stairs to the boardwalk, where only humans were. She was obviously nervous, but those signs all went away when she caught sight of the many shops along the sidewalk.

Thankfully, this beach wasn't that popular, so there wasn't anyone who could see Yoosol run around like a little four-year-old.

"Oh my GOD! LOOK, SEHUN!" She squeezed her face against the window of a clothing store. "It's where all those human girls go to everyday!"

I quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her away before the store owner could freak out. Nevertheless, I laughed, amused at how she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey, look! It's a bookstore! Or was it called bokestore..."

"Hey, hey, Sehun! Look! Those round floaty things on strings that sounds scary when they pop!"

"WOOAHH~ Did you just SEE that man?! He wasn't moving! How's that even possible?! And why is he standing there like that in the middle of the street..."

"OH MY GOD IT'S THE SMOOTHIE SHOP!"

 

I grinned at her stopping straight when she caught sight of the shop with a drawing of a smoothie on its sign. The same shop where I had taken Jiwon.

Yoosol timidly looked inside, for once looking like a pretty, young, lady who was definitely not a mermaid.

But all that went away when I took her inside, introducing to her what a real shop looked like in the inside.

 

She marveled at the chairs and tables lined up around the empty shop. A soft background music was playing, and the cashier quickly stood up from his chair when he saw that he had customers.

"Welcome~ Are you ready to order?"

I tapped my chin, wondering what Yoosol would like.

Hmmm.... strawberry? She said before that she liked strawberries as fruits.

 

"Can I have two straw---"

I stopped and froze when I saw the cashier checking Yoosol out. That's when I realized how Yoosol would appear to the rest of the world: hot.

I suddenly grew conscious of her, and cleared my throat to alert the cashier. He blinked a few times and looked back to me.

Without hestitation, I gave him one of my signature 'I'm seriously annoyed with you' looks.

"Two strawberries." I said curtly.

"Um... Alright. That would be six fifty, sir."

 

I quickly grabbed the smoothies and dragged Yoosol out of there as fast as I could.

 

"Wah~ So this is how they look like up close..." She observed the smoothie in her hands.

I smiled once again, feeling satisfied just by looking at her like this.

"Go ahead and drink from it." I told her.

She nodded, and took a sip from the straw. Immediately, she widened her eyes and broke into a bright grin.

 

"This is HEAVEN!"

I laughed, watching her drink from it again.

"Is it good?"

"YES. It tastes like strawberries!"

"Next time, I'll get you one that tastes like mangos."

"Sehun, you can CONTROL the taste of smoothies?!"

I smiled warmly.

"Of course I can. I'm the smoothie god."

 

With her finished drink in her hands, Yoosol skipped back to the cove.

I walked after her, watching her every move while smiling.

-------------------------------------------------

Jiwon was waiitng for me the following day.

And I had expected it.

 

"Sehun-ah!"

I turned around and saw her make her way through the crowd, happily bouncing over to me.

I smiled and gave her a little pat in the head.

"How was your day?"

"It was fine~ The same as always.."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Then why are you so happy?"

Jiwon gave a sheepish smile.

"Because... You didn't seem too busy today... Which means that you can spend time with me, right?"

I forced myself to keep the constant smile on.

"Of course."

 

She was my girlfriend. I had to spend time with her. Of course I had to.

And... I wanted to... Right?

 

Jiwon gave a silent cheer.

"Then let's go!"

"To where?"

"What do you mean, 'to where'? To the movies!~"

And just like that, for the first time in many weeks, I drove to someplace other than Yoosol's beach.

Which felt downright weird.

 

I gently took Jiwon's hand, aiming to bring my entire mind onto this date and only this date.

"What do you want to watch?"

"Hmmm...... How about 'Secretly Greatly'? I heard it's really good... And Kim Soohyun comes out!~" She gave a mini-squeal.

I gave a small pout.

"Is Kim Soohyun better-looking or am I better-looking?"

Jiwon giggled at my face expression.

"You, of course. You're Oh Sehun."

As usual, we both got a large bucket of popcorn and drinks before heading on over to the theater.

 

This was going well.

So far.

 

The movie began in an instant, with its scenes flying by along with huge reactions from the audience. Jiwon laughed when something funny came out and gasped when something shocking did.

On the other hand, I couldn't even pay attention to the huge screen in front of me. I was positive the movie itself was fun, but...

Maybe watching this wasn't as fun as listening to Yoosol talk. Maybe muching on popcorn with Jiwon wasn't as delightful as drinking smoothies with Yoosol.

 

Maybe I would rather be at the beach with Yoosol than here with Jiwon.

 

It only saddened myself to think that. Not only because I couldn't go to the beach anyway right now, but because I knew this was wrong.

A girlfriend was someone you loved. A person you loved was someone that you wanted to be with all the time, staying right beside her and listening to her talk.

 

But right now, I wasn't thinking of Jiwon like that.

Which was wrong.

 

I sighed in the middle of the movie.

It might be temporary. It must be a bad condition or something.

Besides, everything in the world was becoming weird for me these days. I mean, mermaids exist.

 

All of a sudden, everyone started to cheer and clap. Dazed, I looked around with wide eyes and started clapping too.

Huh. So the movie ended.

Jiwon looked at me with the brightest smile.

"Wasn't that the BEST?! I loved it! Such a great movie... I cried.... Especially at the part when Kim Soohyun--"

I drowned out her voice as we walked out of the theater, people crowding around us and all different kinds of conversations speaking over each other.

Everything was loud, noisy, and full of ruckus. To think I had been living here all my life, in the middle of Seoul....

 

When just five minutes away I could be in a beautiful beach, feeling pure happiness.

 

The day ended quick, with me walking Jiwon to her doorstep, bidding goodbyes.

Like what a boyfriend was supposed to do, I embraced her in my arms for a long time before letting her go inside.

 

"Bye, Sehun!"

"G'night.."

With that, I walked back to my car and drove home, still harboring the pain of being torn between two things.