Sunday morning and the sun was back, slowly rising over the blue sky of today.

 

After a quite good night sleep and a full breakfast, the boys were back outside trying to figure out what to do next. In the end they decided to go to the Bay Garden to enjoy a little quiet time by walking around the area without having any goals to fulfill for the day.

 

The ground was still wet from last night’s storm but it didn’t bother the boys as they were simply enjoying each other’s company by hanging out and joking around like they would normally do together, letting any worries or trouble behind.

 

As they were walking around the Garden, they found themselves stepping into some kind of green forest but barely paid any attention to their surroundings until they found themselves over a small bridge looking down at the river beneath them. A little bit further away, something caught their attention the moment they all looked up.

 

For G.O, he could feel the beating of his heart accelerate the moment he squinted his eyes to look at what was lying by the river. He left the others as he ran back down the bridge and made his way to the center of attention. As he got closer, he could feel himself getting nervous but also felt a slight tingle in the pit of his stomach.

 

He was only a few feet away with the rest of the boys right behind him when they all gasped in shock at what they were looking at.

 

Right in front of them, Syrena was lying on her back with her tail barely in the water while the rest of her body was covered in mud on the ground. With her hands by her body, she was tightly gripping the grass making her hands turn into fists while she was letting out short breaths. She was trembling from the cold but also from the pain that was running through her entire body.

 

What made it worse for the boys wasn’t the sight of a mythical creature but seeing that blood was practically covering the body.

 

Her tail got injured from the deep bite of the shark from yesterday, but because of the storm that brought her here, along the way some rough metallic and torn fishnets got stuck all around her, creating scratches on her tail but also on her arms and stomach and this adding to the bleeding of her forehead.

 

She was falling in and out of consciousness ever since she hit her head and knowing that she could be exposed only added to her stress.

 

As for the boys, they haven’t moved from their spot as they were so in shock at what they were seeing; everything around them was completely left out and blocked from their minds. G.O was the only one that snapped out of his daze when he heard a faint cry coming from her. He started taking slow steps towards her, trying not to scare her but the moment he stepped on a branch and it broke, it quickly made her head turn around.

 

She gasped as her eyes were wide open and tried to move back into the water but as she did, she cried out making her go numb. She was slowly starting to cry from the pain and was quietly asking for someone to end her life, not able to hold up any longer.

 

G.O left the others behind and hurried his steps until he was next to her and crouched down on his knees.

 

The moment he locked eyes with her, he knew who she was making his heart skip a beat despite the conditions they were finally meeting in. For now, he was ignoring this fact as all that mattered was to save her and make sure that she wouldn’t die.

 

“Shush, it’s okay; we’ll help you.”

 

She looked at him and shook her head while clenching her jaw. “J-just kill m-me, please. Make i-it stop; it h-hurts so much-”

 

Tears were rolling down her cheeks, breaking his heart but it didn’t make him back away. He turned his head around to face the others and asked them to hurry up for help. They all ran to him, still not erasing the surprised expression on their faces.

 

“W-what is that?”

 

“A mermaid, what do you think? Now help me or she’ll die -”

 

The determination in his voice made the others act as they all surrounded the little mermaid putting aside any kind of shock they just had to help their friend. “What do you want us to do?”

 

“Help me get her out of those fishnets but do it carefully, some spike have gotten in her skin…” He went to crouch behind her where he gently took her head and placed it on his lap while the others were doing as he told. As for Syrena, all she could think about was the pain and how unbearable it was feeling. She kept on crying as she repeated over and over again how she was in pain and to make it stop.

 

“It’s okay, don’t worry; it will be over soon, I promise.” He was softly her arms until she grabbed onto his hands and squeezed them tight, the same way she did with the grass, just seconds ago. He wasn’t denying that it was hurting but for now, he didn’t care.

 

Looking down at her tail, he noticed a deep biting mark and it made him think about what he saw yesterday with the shark following her.

 

“Yah, Cheolyong, can you look at that bite mark on her tail, please?”

 

The young one did as he was told and as he was examining the wound, he picked out a tooth that was stuck making her hiss in the process. “S-sorry…”

 

“What is it?”

 

“A tooth.”

 

“It’s probably from the shark…”

 

“What shark?”

 

“Nothing…”

 

He suddenly felt her grip loosened bit by bit making him look down to see that she had her eyes closed along with her breath getting slower. “. She’s not going to make it.”

 

“We’re done with the fishnets, what do you want to do now?” Hearing Seungho’s voice, G.O looked up at his friend feeling a sudden panic coming through. He looked back down on the mermaid and gripped tighter onto her hands.

 

“She needs help, I don’t want to leave her here and especially not like this.”

 

“Then we’ll go get help-”

 

“No. Not that… I-I’ll do it.”

 

“And how? She’s not even human!”

 

“Still, healing someone like her must go the same way as healing a human, j-just go find something, some kind of medication, I don’t know, j-just go!”

 

No wanting to pick an argument with their friend, all of them got back up on their feet and ran out, leaving G.O behind as he tried to heat up the mermaid’s body by strongly rubbing his hands along her arms. “Please, wake up, come on; don’t die on me; not when I finally found you…”

 

From behind, he sat on the ground by her side and took her in his arms with her head resting on his shoulders while his arms were tightly wrapped around her, sticking her close to him with the rest of her body placed across his lap.

 

Moving some strands of hair away, he placed a small kiss on the top of her forehead and swiped the blood that was trailing down. He could feel her heart beating and it reassured him since it was proof that she was still alive but it didn’t erase the fear that was roaming around inside of him, afraid to lose her as strange as it may seem.

 

He started humming their familiar tune, trying to keep himself calm about the situation even though he was much more nervous than he appeared to be.

 

The sound of his voice made her eyes flutter open only to find herself brought up against his chest without really comprehending how she got there. She couldn’t help but let a small smile appear at his soothing voice, making the pain go away only to feel something warm float inside of her.

 

Out of the blue, she started to hum the same tune, harmonizing with his voice in the process. He looked down on her and stopped only to have her look up at him as they locked eyes, letting the song go mute with the silence embracing them.

 

Those purple eyes were back to staring at him and once again, he felt his heart skip a beat. He doesn’t remember looking at something so beautiful and it took him by surprise. “H-hi…”

 

She fluttered her eyes, a little bit shocked and suddenly felt her cheeks warm up at his gaze. She was about to greet him back when a sudden pain struck along her tail making her gasp as she grabbed onto his chest, her hand through his shirt and shut her eyes tight.

 

“My friends are coming back, don’t worry; we’ll help you heal…”

 

He hugged her closer against him and placed another kiss on her forehead, taking her by surprise as she got her breath stuck in , leaving her completely stunned at the sudden action.

 

She looked back up at him and whispered a soft ‘thank you’ making him smile in the process.

 

Even though she was reluctant for a human to help her, she was in desperate need of treatment especially since her father didn’t know about what happened to her, making the matter worse if he was to ever find out.

 

“Do you still feel the pain?”

 

“Mhmm...”

 

A tear slipped out as she let it slid down her cheek until it disappeared onto her stained body. She slowly scooted herself closer to him where she nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck and closed her eyes. The strong scent that traveled through her nose made her heart beat faster, as she was once again taken off guard but couldn’t help but feel a sense of comfort coming from it.

 

A few more minutes passed and they boys were finally rushing back towards them with endless supplies bag from the nearest pharmacy they could get too.

 

Once they were on the ground, back around G.O and the mermaid, the boy looked back at his friends, proposing to find a spot to hide in case someone finds them.

 

“How about under the bridge?”

 

“Perfect.” He lifted her up in his arms making her grasp onto him and quickly made his way to the location, which luckily wasn’t that far. Once they were there, he sat back down with his back against the wall while the others were emptying the back on the ground.

 

For Syrena, she watched the four boys with a curious look on her face, trying to comprehend what they were trying to accomplish until she saw one of them pour something on another object.

 

Unconsciously, she brought herself closer to G.O while Seungho was preparing to put the ointment they bought on her wound so it wouldn’t get infected.

 

The moment he touched her tail, she wagged it in front of him, making him fall back and landing straight in the water. The glare he was giving her made her hide her face against G.O’s chest while the others were laughing at their leader, founding the situation amusing despite the circumstances.

 

She turned back to Seungho and apologized, telling him that it stung.

 

“I’ll be more gentle, sorry.”

 

She bit her bottom lip while the others were doing the same process as they poured some ointment and gently tapped it along the wounds of her body.

 

She was taking deep breaths while she let them do their magic but couldn’t deny the stinging sensation it was creating making tears appear at the corners of her eyes.

 

“S-stop it, pl-please. It h-hurts.”

 

She lightly wagged her tail once again making the others understand that what they were doing wasn’t helping.

 

Looking down at her, G.O tried to reassure her that it was better for her but the sight of the tears in her eyes, broke his heart. “We need to treat your wounds or they’ll get infected and you’ll fall sick -”

 

“But it hurts.” Once again, she hid her face in the crook of his neck while the others were trying to find another solution to their problem.

 

“What about some salt?”

 

“Salt?”

 

“Mhmm, maybe it could help? I mean… she does technically live in salty water…” The boys all looked at Cheondung who gave away the proposition. They didn’t know if it was a good idea but looking at the situation, they didn’t really have a choice, so they all agreed.

 

“Make it quick, please.”

 

“Mhmm.” A quick nod and two of them left.

 

A slight cough caught the rest of the three’s attention as they all turned their heads towards the mermaid. Her body was back to trembling while her body’s temperature was starting to rise.

 

G.O took notice of this and started to panic the moment he felt that something was wrong. He placed her body back on the ground and tossed some strands of hair out of her face.

 

She coughed once again, making it sound more alarming as she turned her body the other way while gripping onto the mud from the ground. She was lying on her side and was starting to feel like she was drying up, which wasn’t something good.

 

“W-water, p-please -”

 

She barely finished her sentence, she had G.O roughly grabbing onto a bottle of water, opened the cap and brought it to her lips where she gulped it down only to spit it out as she coughed one again.

 

‘Damn it!’ Cursing at himself, G.O got a towel thrown at him while the bottle he was holding go snatched away. Taking a hold of the towel, he tightly wrapped it around Syrena while the bottle was being filled with the water from the river, hoping it would give better result this time around.

 

 Once she took a sip, she quickly shook her head and spit it back out letting the boys sigh in defeat.

 

“Give me the towel.” The stern look on Seungho’s face made G.O act quickly as he gave the towel back to see his friend damp it in the water of the river and came back while twisting it, emptying it all over the mermaid’s body.

 

“How does it feel?”

 

“A l-little bit b-better.”

 

“Do it again.”

 

A quick nod and Seungho repeated the same process a couple of times until the shaking of her body diminished, letting G.O relieved at the result.

 

“You’ll get better, I promise… Don’t quit on me, please.” He was gently rubbing her arm as he had leaned closer and softly whispered in her ear making her feel at ease with his words. She could only nod since she was still feeling to weak to do anything else.

 

Despite the water she was receiving, she could still feel herself burn up and it started to affect the way her heart was beating, making it grow weak from time to time.

 

He heard her whimper as she had brought her hand to her chest tightly gripping on her skin with her breathing becoming difficult by the second as it turned into short and jolted breaths.

 

“It looks like she can’t breathe, what do we do?”

 

Without a second thought, G.O took her back into his arms and walked straight into the water where he sat on the pebbles and let her body rest against his with her tail in the water. He used his hands to pour water over her arms and her hair as well as on her back and around her neck. “Wake up, please; I don’t want to lose you.”

 

She slowly lifted her head up to look at him and showed him a small smile. Just then, Cheondung and Joon were back with a full bottle of sea salt as they rushed back to the water.

 

“How do we do this now? Do we just pour it on her?”

 

“Maybe, give me the bottle.” G.O poured a pinch of salt on his palm and swiped it over one of the wounds that was staining her stomach. “S-sea weed- I need sea w-eed.“ She breathed out her words and in just that seconds, all of the boys rushed towards the beach or any place that kept what they needed, leaving G.O still holding onto Syrena.

 

He leaned his back against the bridge wall behind him and closed his eyes while taking in a deep breath. It caught her attention as she looked back up at him and started to admire him despite her weak state.

 

‘Such a beautiful human he is…’

 

She reached her hand out and softly touched his cheek making him open his eyes as he turned his head back down at her. As delicate as he could be, he placed his hand over hers and a sudden spark was felt through his nervous system while she felt her heart heat up at the sudden contact.

 

“Aren’t you afraid of a monster like me?” Her soft words didn’t go unnoticed as all he could do was smile while lightly shaking his head. “You’re to beautiful to be a monster.”

 

Words got stuck in at his sudden gentleness and did nothing but stare at him until their moment got interrupted with rushed steps from the boys as they came back with bags full of sea weeds.

 

“Where the hell did you get all of those?”

 

“The beach; is it going to be enough?”

 

She nodded at Seungho’s question and all of them got started.

 

To make it more easier to treat her wounds, G.O slowly pulled her away and rearranged his position so she could have her back against his chest while he had his arms by hers, holding onto her hands while the others started the process of applying the salt on her wounds and place a piece of sea weed above it.

 

From time to time he could feel her stiffen and all he did was reassure her with soft words whispered to her ears as he would place his chin above her shoulder, making it seem as if he was back hugging her.

 

In just a few minutes, progress was starting to show as the wounds that were displayed on her upper body were quickly healing, leaving practically no trace at all. All that was left was her tail, which wasn’t an easy task.

 

“We’ll fix you, okay? Don’t worry about anything… I’ll fix you…”

 

Though he tried to reassure her that she would heal, he was more trying to convince himself that she would be okay in the end.

 

 

The day passed by and just like that, night came with the moon shining over.

 

G.O, along with Syrena, were still where they found each other as the others left by G.O’s request, though they were reluctant about it.

 

By now, Syrena was sleeping while he was looking out for her. From there, that’s where he started to notice the way she looked. The hair, the lips the body, the tail; every detail that was forming her has been gazed upon by his tired eyes.

 

The way her black hair were resting past her shoulders and gently accentuating her cleavage to which her s were covered by some golden shells down to her eye lashes that were long and perfect; the small nose and then her lips; tempting him to kiss her. His eyes kept moving until they landed on her golden tail, still going through the healing process as pieces of sea weeds were placed over her wounds as they were covering the salt that they poured.

 

He had his back leaned against the brick wall of the bridge, over the river while Syrena was peacefully sleeping on a pile of grass and leaves that the boys created for her comfort with the wet towel covering her to keep her from drying up just in case things got worse again.

 

We could say that she is sleeping but the fact was that she simply had her eyes closed; she wasn’t capable of sleeping and it wasn’t because of the slight pain that still lingered in her tail but it was for the fact that the human boy she was in love with was still there and right behind her, making her heart beat at a fast pace. She smiled to herself somehow content to see that he was a caring human, but a hidden part of her couldn’t stop but to think about the horrors she had heard from other mermaids about them.

 

She lightly bit the corner of her bottom lip while debating whether she should stay or leave. She remembers the way they all looked at her the first time they laid eyes on her but at the same time, she still thought about how sweet and gentle G.O was through out the day, making her believe that the stories she heard weren’t true.

 

Nevertheless, she had to leave; she didn’t really had much of a choice in the end.

 

She turned her head around to see that G.O had fallen asleep and from there, she quietly sat up and slowly took off the sea weeds one by one trying to restrain herself from hissing the best she could. Once she was done, she scooted herself closer to the edge of the river and jumped in, creating a big splash that woke the boy up from his light sleep.

 

Looking around, he saw that the spot next to him was empty making him panic only to see that the mermaid was in the water and ready to leave. “Wait!”

 

Getting her head out of the water, she turned around to look at him while he made his way towards the edge. “Where are you going?”

 

“My father must be waiting for me; I have to go…”

 

“Just stay a little longer, please!”

 

“I can’t, I’m sorry.”

 

She could see the pain in his eyes and it broke her heart. She swam back towards him and placed her hands on the rock to lift herself up so she could be facing him while he was on his knees. “Thank you, for everything; I don’t know why you did it but it meant the world to me. Thank you.” She placed a kiss on his lips and dived back into the river’s water leaving G.O in a complete daze for just a moment before he got back up on his feet.

 

“What’s your name?”

 

She turned around and smiled at him. “Syrena; what’s yours, human?”

 

“Byunghee…”

 

“As a token of my gratitude for saving my life…” She unbuckled the tiny small pearl necklace that was hanging as a crown around her head and gave it a last look before throwing it to G.O. “… I give you this crown. I want you to keep it and cherish it -”

 

“Am I ever going to see you again?”

 

“Maybe… If Fate allows us to meet again, then so be it.”

 

Before giving him the time to respond, she quickly dove back and swam away leaving G.O to stand and look at her disappear into the water with a slight sting in his heart. In his hands, he was holding onto his gift and stared at it, searching for determination that he will eventually find her, once again.

 

“I’ll make it so… I promise.”