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^{_{Jongup swam through the dark ocean and enjoyed the view of the open ocean. Himchan didn’t like it that he swims out in the open in the middle of the ocean. Jongup didn’t really understand, seeing as how nobody ever swims out here. Like, ever. Plus it gives Jongup some exercise on his fins and tail. He looked around and saw the different fishes swimming by, and the occasional shark but they usually leave him alone. He waved at the local mershark and continued swimming around.

To be honest, Jongup didn’t really see the ship coming.

It was giant and huge and it looked like it was made of steel. Jongup was about to swim up to the large ship, but was pulled down immediately.

“And just what in Neptune’s name are you doing?” a familiar voice asked.

Jongup turned around and saw Himchan grabbing onto his arm.

“Can’t I be curious? I just want to see what it is,” Jongup explained.

“Those are the things I have warned you to stay away from. They are made by human hands. I don’t want you to venture further towards them,” Himchan told him.

Jongup pouted and looked at the large ship again that seems to be passing them by, blocking out the light of the moon.

“If you value your life, I would advise you to stay away from them. You don’t know what or where they are from and for all I know, you could get hurt by them,” Himchan said.

Jongup sighed and nodded his head. It’s no use trying to talk Himchan out of this. He might as well do as his elder said and followed him back towards their underwater city. Jongup turned his head and saw the ship leaving towards shore. Oh how Jongup wishes to follow the ship, but Himchan held onto his wrist tightly and swam towards their city.

-----

Yongguk took a swig of the alcohol and leaned forward over the railings, viewing the water from the top of the ship.

“I thought I’d find you here?” a familiar voice said.

Yongguk turned his head and saw Youngjae walking up to him. Yongguk greeted him with a small wave and stood up straight.

“How could you possibly know where to find me?” Yongguk asked.

“Because I know you. I’ve been your friend since we were young,” Youngjae said.

Yongguk only chuckled and finished off the rest of the alcohol. He looked forward and saw the shoreline from a couple of feet away. At least they were almost home.

“What do you wish to do once we land?” Youngjae asked, leaning over the rails.

“I plan to find a place to live and find a job. Something to keep myself stable,” Yongguk answered.

“You’re a prince. You have a home and you don’t need a job,” he said.

“Yes, but I would rather live with the other people instead of dealing with my parents and siblings. Besides, what’s the point of living in a castle when you don’t feel at home?” he asked, downing the rest of his alcohol.

They heard a large crack breaking through the sky, a soft rumble of thunder following close behind. Yongguk and Youngjae stared as the waves began to grow larger in front of them.

“Everybody get to a lifeboat!” the captain shouted.

Yongguk and Youngjae wasted no time and ran towards an open available lifeboat. The lightening cracked onto one of the larger posts and fire began to spread. Yongguk barely missed the landing of the post by a few inches and dove onto one of the available lifeboats.

“Lower the boat!” one of the men shouted.

Meanwhile, Jongup looked up and saw the ship burning and sinking. Himchan grabbed hold of his wrist and glared at him.

“You can’t go to them. They’re shark food now,” Himchan told him, indicating the different sharks circling around the boat, waiting for lifeless bodies to drop and for them to feed.

“I have to help them,” Jongup said, pulling free from Himchan’s wrist and swam with all his might towards the sinking ship.

Yongguk helped Youngjae get on the boat and let everybody else board as well. As the boats were being lowered, many of the men jumped off the edge of the boat and tried to land on the boats. Some missed and met their doom in the water while others succeeded. The boat began to lower faster as more men began to succeed into getting into the boat. Yongguk, however, was at the edge of the lifeboat and was flung out from it when the lifeboat landed on the water hard. He heard Youngjae’s voice screaming his name, and then darkness.

-----

Jongup tried to get to the fallen men, but the sharks beat him to it and began to eat them. He saw one getting flung out of the smaller boats and swam towards the man before any of the sharks got to him. The small boat began to row away from the sinking ship, leaving the sinking men to their doom. Jongup grabbed one of them and hoisted him up into the air.

“Jongup, this is insane!” Himchan yelled at him.

“To you it is. I’m trying to save someone’s life,” Jongup told him, breaking the surface of the water and breathing in the crisp cool night air, the heavy rain falling down on the water and the loud crack of lightening and the deep roar of thunder.

Himchan looked down and saw the sharks inching closer to the sinking ship as it began to hit the bottom of the ocean. He looked back up and saw Jongup swimming towards shore with a human draped on top of him.

“Jongup stop! You don’t know what that human is capable of,” Himchan called out.

Jongup ignored him and kept swimming to shore, the unconscious man on top of him and out of the water.

-----

The rain began to cease. Jongup laid the man on top of the sand. He bit his lip and traced the shape of his face gently with his fingertips. He barely realized that the man was so handsome, with his jetblack hair wet and shiny, his tanned skin shinning from the morning light, and his slender fingers resting against the sand. Jongup smiled softly and rested one of his hands on top of his chest, his heart thumping loudly against his hand. At least Jongup knew he was alive.

“Jongup!” Himchan hissed at him.

Jongup ignored him and paid more attention to the man in front of him. He gently pushed a stray of his ebony locks and kept staring at him. Did it make him a creep for staring? Yes. Did he care? No. The man coughed up some water and stood in an upright position, trying to get the water out of his lungs. Jongup hesitated when he held his hand up, but he gently rubbed the man’s back in comfort. The man jumped and turned around, quickly inching away from him.

“Who are you? Where am I?” the man asked.

Jongup noticed that the man’s voice was deep, almost a baritone voice.

“I’m Jongup. I saved you from drowning,” Jongup answered.

The man stared at him, and had his mouth open when he noticed that Jongup didn’t have legs, but a fish tail. He flicked his eyes back to Jongup’s face and stared.

“What are you?” the man asked.

“Well…,” Jongup answered, staring at his tail, flicking back and forth occasionally.

“No, you can’t be real. You’re just stories in a book,” the man said, staring at him.

“But I am real. I saved you. If I wasn’t real, then how could I have saved you?” Jongup asked, inching closer to him.

“No, stay back! For all I know, you could be playing a trick on me,” the man said.

Jongup tilted his head back. He stood up straight and showed his gills on the side of his body, which were breathing in and out. He then showed his gills that were on his neck for further proof.

“Trust me, I am very real. I told you my name, so what’s yours?” Jongup asked, smiling softly at the man.

The man narrowed his eyes at him. “My name is Yongguk. How… how do you not know me?” he asked.

“Am I supposed to know you?” Jongup asked, looking at the man named Yongguk.

Yongguk was about to open his mouth to explain, until he heard someone calling his name. Jongup panicked and began to inch closer to the ocean.

“Wait, I have so many questions,” Yongguk said, holding onto the young man’s wrist.

“I’m sorry, but it’s bad enough that you know. I need to go,” Jongup said, yanking his hand away and diving into the water.

Yongguk was about to call out to him when he saw his friend and the ship’s crew in plain sight just around the corner.

“There you are! We were afraid that you were shark’s food,” Youngjae said.

Yongguk said nothing and stared at the ocean, hoping for Jongup to come back. He stood from his spot on the sand and was about to walk towards the ocean, until Youngjae stopped him.

“Yongguk, are you okay?” Youngjae asked.

“I’m fine. I best be heading inside, right? I feel sticky,” Yongguk said as Youngjae motioned for him to follow him back into the castle.

-----

Jongup watched as the shorter man lead Yongguk back towards the gates and disappear behind the corner.

“You’ve done it now. I warned you to stay away from him,” Himchan hissed.

“I couldn’t help it. You should’ve seen his face, though. He has lovely brown eyes, dark ebony hair, and his voice. His voice is something I can’t describe,” Jongup said as he leaned against the rock and biting his lip, staring at the spot that Yongguk had once preoccupied.

“Well that’s great. Now we need to get home and explain ourselves why we were out so late. If anybody asks, you were not near those… things on land,” Himchan said, tugging the boy back into the water.

Jongup sighed and dove back into the water and swam back home.

-----

Yongguk changed into his usual clothes, which consisted of jeans, a dark shirt, and his Jordan shoes. He fixed his jacket and walked out of the room, jumping slightly when he saw Youngjae sitting next to his door.

“How long have you been sitting there?” Yongguk asked him.

“Not long. Now let’s go. The queen wishes to see you,” Youngjae told him as he stood up from his spot on the floor.

“I wish you would stop calling my sister that. She hates it when close friends call her that,” Yongguk told him.

“She knows I do it out of endearment,” Youngjae said as they began their walk down the corridor.

“Yes, but she would still kick your if she heard you calling her that. Not even her own husband calls her that,” Yongguk said as he held a smile between one of his hand.

Youngjae was about to say something, until they reached the doors to the throne room, where Yongguk’s sister was.

“Welp, good luck and I hope you survive this,” Youngjae said, resting his hand on his friend’s shoulder and walking off to god knows where. Probably to fool around with the king’s knights. Daehyun he thinks his name was. He shook the thoughts away and entered the throne room.

He walked in and saw his sister inside along with her husband. She wore a beautifully elegant gown in a dark red color with her usual cloak tied across her shoulders, a beautiful gold crown fit for a queen rested on top of her head. Her husband was dressed in a similar style, except for the red cloak. His color was more of a dark blue color.

“Your highness,” Yongguk joked, bowing down towards her to add to the effect.

Natasha rolled her eyes and stood up from her throne.

“Yongguk, I heard you had a bit of an… accident while arriving here,” Natasha said formally. Yongguk knew that she was far from formal.

“Something like that. Apparently the weather hates me and didn’t want me to arrive here,” he told her.

“Well I’m just glad you’re safe. Yongnam is waiting for you down at the knight’s quarters, but I would advise you to stay away from there for right now. Your brother is having a bit of a gathering that I don’t want you to be a part of,” Natasha said.

Yongguk flinched. He hated it when his older twin brother was throwing parties so extravagant that Natasha has to name him brother to deal with him.

“Now tell me, how did you survive the ocean? Youngjae told me that you were flung off from the lifeboat when it landed in the water,” Natasha said, her husband leaning forward to hear of this tale.

Yongguk was torn in to telling her about the mysterious man that they were once told as children or to lie to her and tell her nothing.

“I don’t know. One minute I was in the water, struggling to reach the surface, and the next I was washed ashore on the beach,” Yongguk said.

Natasha narrowed her eyes at him, but decided to believe his story. “Well, maybe the gods decided to spare you to live for a little while longer. Lord knows that you’re needed around here once our parents decide to come visit the kingdom to see how everything is.”

Yongguk let out a sigh of relief when Natasha shooed him away, indicating to let him go. He took his leave and decided to walk towards the edge of the ocean to see if his savior is out there.

-----

Jongup sung a small song to himself and began to swim around the city. He was such in a joyous mood, but he was unsure as to why. He just felt extremely happy.

“You’re in a chipper mood,” Himchan noted, swimming up to him.

“I just feel… happy all of a sudden. I don’t know why,” Jongup said, refusing to erase the smile from his face.

“Well I hope you’re feeling happy today because we’re going to meet the king today to meet potential suitors. You know how he’s trying to wed his children off to any potential mate that can handle those brats,” Himchan said.

“But Himchan, aren’t you with one of the king’s sons?” Jongup asked.

“That is neither here nor there. Now come along. If we get there early, we can leave soon enough,” Himchan said.

“I don’t want to go, though. I wanna go swim around a bit more,” Jongup said.

“Oh no you don’t. You’re coming with me and that’s final. I do not want to deal with this by myself,” Himchan said.

“Yes you can. I bet the king would like it that it’s you instead of someone else dating his son. I’m sure Junhong would be happy to see you alone instead of seeing me there. You know how he’s prone to jealousy when he sees you with someone else. I swear I thought he was going to kill that poor man on the street for talking to you,” Jongup said.

Himchan was about to open his mouth to protest, but soon closed it and realized that he was right, but he still didn’t want his only friend to venture off into the unknown without his supervision. Before Himchan could say anything, though, Jongup was already off and began to swim towards the open ocean, towards where the humans were.

-----

Yongguk sat on one of the rocks and stared at the beautiful ocean water, hearing the soft crashes the water would make when it hit the rocks farther down. Why can’t he stop thinking about his savior? Maybe it has to deal with the fact that his savior has a fish tail instead of human legs.

But the real question is why he didn’t tell his sister the truth?

Because she would think he was lying and would send him to a mental hospital first thing.

He groaned and leaned his body against the rock. Why is he so frustrated? It isn’t like he’s in love with the strange boy named Jongup.

Right?

He’s sure of that.

“What are you doing?” a voice asked.

Yongguk jumped and looked towards where the voice was, which was in the water. He spotted a pair of brown eyes in front of him with a mole right on top of his nose.

“Wondering whether or not everything I was ever told as a child is either fantasy or real,” Yongguk confessed, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands.

“Well, that depends. What were you told as a child?” Jongup asked, lifting himself up and sitting on top of one of the rocks, his tail currently visible in the water.

“Well, for starters, we were always told that mermaids didn’t quite exist. Yet here you are in the flesh,” Yongguk explained, motioning towards his tail.

Jongup looked at his gleaming tail, which was the color of emerald green, and looked back up at Yongguk.

“Well, we just hide very easily. Plus, the ocean is really huge. How could the human race possibly know what the ocean has if the human race hasn’t explored all of it yet?” Jongup asked.

Yongguk stared at the ocean and sighed softly to himself. “Why did you rescue me?” he asked him.

“You were the only one not being fed by sharks. Why? Did you not want to be saved?” Jongup asked him.

“It’s not that. It’s just… there were other men who needed to be saved. Some lost their lives because of the sea. I just don’t understand why my life was saved. I haven’t done anything significant,” Yongguk confessed.

“Maybe Neptune had a plan for you. Maybe I was destined to save you. No one knows why they are put on this planet or why their lives are spared. We usually just move on from there and take life for what it’s worth,” Jongup said.

Yongguk stared at the boy and only nodded his head.

“Well, since you’re here, we may as well converse with each other. There are so many questions I wish to know about your kind,” Yongguk said.

“As do I. Is it true that you have things that can get you to places quicker?” Jongup asked.

The two spent their time conversing. Some were idiotic questions that made the two laugh very loudly, while other questions had them in deep conversation. Before they know it, the sun was setting and a deep orange color was settling on the dark ocean.

“I need to go. I’ll see you tomorrow?” Yongguk asked.

Jongup smiled and nodded his head. He waved goodbye to his friend and dove back into the water and began his swim towards home. Yongguk stood up from his spot on the rocks and began his walk home.

-----

Yongnam pulled his brother aside and towards an empty corridor.

“No, it’s fine. I’m having a lovely day, by the way,” Yongguk said sarcastically, glaring at his twin brother.

“Shut it. Where were you all day yesterday? Natasha told me that you were going for a walk near the ocean and I didn’t see you there,” Yongnam demanded, looking at his twin brother.

“I wasn’t walking around the beach. I stayed in once specific spot in which I am not telling you,” Yongguk said. “Anyway, why did you need to see me?”

“Mom and dad are coming over, and they’re bringing guests,” Yongnam said, emphasizing on the word guest.

“What kind of guests?” Yongguk asked, narrowing his eyes at him.

“I mean potential suitors. And when I say suitors, I mean ones from the female spectrum, so you’re screwed,” Yongnam told him.

Yongguk groaned. He remembered, ever so faintly, telling his parents at the age of fifteen that he preferred people with a flatter chest and muscles and a . His parents didn’t really take it so well, so they mostly ignored his coming out speech and told him that no, he does not like men and that he just hasn’t found the right girl. To be honest, he just wants to leave the castle when his parents come over and never come back, but they always find him somehow and it scares him how they keep finding him.

“I don’t want to, though. I’m the youngest. I should be last on getting married or finding a potential suitor. Can’t you talk to them about this?” Yongguk whined, staring at his twin brother.

“They know that I can’t get married because I took a celibacy pact for the code of the knights, so you’re up next in the marriage possibility. Besides, if you’re lucky enough, the girls wouldn’t mind you ing their brother from time to time,” Yongnam said, patting his shoulder affectionately.

Yongguk glared at him and slapped him upside the head. “If you need me, I’ll be locked in my room, trying to figure out your assassination.”

The last thing he heard was his brother laughing at him as he began his walk towards his room.

-----

Jongup played around with one of the flowers and began to pluck it. He smiled widely and bit his lip, laying down on one of the flatter rocks and continued plucking the flower.

“You look happier,” Himchan said when he saw his friend smiling at the flower.

Jongup looked up at him. “You wouldn’t believe the man I just talked to. You remember the man I saved from the ship? Well, he’s so kind and smart and handsome. I don’t know, but he makes me feel happy.”

Himchan bit his lip and watched as Jongup plucked the last petal from the flower.

“Jongup, did I ever talk to you about mates?” Himchan asked him.

“You said something briefly. Why?” Jongup asked, looking up at him.

“Well, when a mermaid or merman becomes of age, they find their potential mates. It would take hundreds and hundreds of years trying to find them. Some find them even sooner depending on where the person is. What you’re feeling right now is possibly the start of finding your mate,” he explained.

Jongup sat back upright and stared at him. He’s heard about mates and how they work. Kind of. Actually, no one explained it very well, so he kind of guessed how they worked. Well, it explains Himchan and Junhong’s relationship and how that worked out.

“So, you’re saying that my potential mate is a human?” Jongup asked.

“I mean, it’s not rare, but it is uncommon for a merman to fall in love with a male human. Usually it’s either merman with female human or mermaid with male human. I think there was once a mermaid with a female human, but that was ages ago. Anyway, your situation isn’t rare, but it does cause a bit of a problem,” Himchan explained.

Jongup already knew that problem. Well, two. One of them is that he’s a merman, forced to live the life of a fish and swim around, while Yongguk is human, destined to live his life on land with two legs. Another problem is that he’s unsure whether or not Yongguk is in love with him or not.

“Well, we can always fix the whole leg thing. The sea witch can help you with that,” Himchan said.

“But… not yet, okay. I don’t want to get my heart broken over something that’s not meant to be. I don’t even know if he likes me back. Until then, please don’t consider the sea witch until I’m absolutely sure,” Jongup said.

Himchan sighed, but agreed to his request.

“So how did it go yesterday? With Junhong, I mean,” Jongup asked, trying to change the subject.

The blush painted on Himchan’s cheeks was enough for Jongup to start teasing him.

-----

The next day, Yongguk sat down on the rocks again, but this time had a bit of food for Jongup the merman. He’s unsure if he even likes seafood or meat, but he has a lot of food for him, so he’ll get to choose. He heard the water splash and saw Jongup coming up and sitting down on one of the smoother rocks, running his fingers through his wet hair.

“Why do you have so much food?” Jongup asked, eyeing the different foods that Yongguk held.

“They’re sample platters. I thought that you would like some of them,” Yongguk explained, holding a piece of meat for him to try.

Jongup took the meat with his finger and thumb and tried it. It wasn’t that bad, but it just tasted funny.

“What kind of food was it?” Jongup asked.

“Steak. Made from Mexico apparently. I’m not a fan of the meat, but it doesn’t taste that bad. It’s just the spice I’m not too fond of,” he explained.

Jongup and Yongguk began to taste the different foods that Yongguk brought out while he began to explain the different foods from where they’re from to how they’re prepared. Jongup laughed at some of the words being spoken, and looked confused with other words.

Jongup needs to find a way to get over his crush.

-----

Months passed by and Yongguk and Jongup’s friendship began to grow even stronger. So strong that Yongguk sometimes thinks twice about their relationship. He’s been up all night on some nights trying to figure out why he’s feeling so nervous for the young merman, and why he keeps getting flutters. It wasn’t until his brother stopped by at the corridors to warn him.

“Our parents are here. They brought people,” Yongnam warned.

“How do I even know which one is the right person for me?” Yongguk asked.

“Well, since our parents are going to be here for a while, I’ll explain it to you. You’ll know when you’ve met the right one when you can’t stop thinking about them, when you start feeling flutters in both your heart and stomach. You’ll know when their laugh and voice is the first and last thing you hear when you’re in bed. Does that help?” Yongnam asked him.

“How do you know all of this?” Yongguk asked him.

“You think I’ve never been in love? I have. Just… very poor timing,” Yongnam explained.

Well, Yongguk was screwed. He was already in love, but they weren’t human.

Yongguk walked towards the rocks where he usually met Jongup and sat down, watching the waves slowly move back and forth. He heard the usual splash of water and saw Jongup sitting down next to him.

“Hey, Yongguk,” Jongup greeted, smiling brightly at him. Yongguk’s stomach did flips.

“Hey, Jonguppie. How’s the ocean today?” Yongguk asked, looking at him.

“Same as usual. Himchan got married today to one of the king’s sons. So that was exciting,” Jongup answered.

“Jongup, have you ever been in love?” Yongguk blurted out, biting his lip when the words sprang out. That was not the conversation he wanted things to go.

“Well, once. But I’m not sure whether or not they feel the same way. Our terms of relationships are different from yours. We have mates instead of just one person after another,” Jongup explained.

Yongguk wasn’t sure whether or not he should be happy or terrified. How is he supposed to know whether or not Jongup even likes him? Well…?

Yongguk wasn’t sure where this was going. All he remembered was placing one of his hands on Jongup’s cheek and leaned in, placing his lips softly on top of Jongup’s lip and kissed him softly. Jongup’s lips tasted like salt from the water, but they were warm, and wet. Yongguk soon broke the kiss and looked into Jongup’s bright brown eyes.

“Yongguk! Are you out there?” a voice called out.

Yongguk’s face dropped and knew exactly who it was. He turned his head, but already saw Jongup diving back into the water and swimming towards home.

“Yongguk! There you are. I was looking everywhere for you,” his mother greeted, walking up to him with his father walking right behind her.

“Hi mom,” Yongguk greeted, forcing a smile on his face and walked up to her.

-----

Jongup squealed slightly to himself and swam around, making little circles and clutching onto himself tightly. His first kiss. His first kiss and it was with someone he actually likes.

“Why are you so happy?” Himchan asked him.

Himchan decided to stop by and pay a little visit to him to see how he was doing. Apparently he seemed fine.

“Himchan, if I see the sea witch now, what do you think he’ll ask for?” Jongup asked him.

“I don’t know. I’ve never paid the sea witch a visit before. Probably not something big. Just go and see what happens. Why? What happened when you decided to go there?” Himchan asked him.

Jongup bit his lip to suppress his smile, but soon broke it and told him everything that happened. It took Himchan three tries to calm Jongup down and explain everything again and each time Jongup kept talking faster and faster, which gave Himchan a headache.

“…so then he kissed me and then someone was calling him and I panicked, so I dove back into the water and swam back home, but Himchan it means that he likes me and I mean he really like me,” Jongup rushed, squealing at the last part and had his hands together and smiled.

“So you think talking to the sea witch will help you gain your legs?” Himchan asked.

“Well, he’s helped before, hasn’t he? I’m sure he doesn’t mind helping me,” Jongup said, biting his lip nervously.

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to try. Come on, let’s go now before Junhong decides to send out a search party looking for me,” Himchan said, swimming out of Jongup’s small home and swimming towards the sea witch’s lair.

-----

Jongup didn’t remember a lot. He just remembered meeting the sea witch, whom was actually really kind and only asked for a small payment from them, and granted his wish. However, since Jongup is in the ocean, he didn’t realize that humans have lungs and can’t breathe underwater. He remembered Himchan lifting him up and Jongup gasped the cool night air and breathed heavily. He coughed up some water that was in his throat and, with the help of Himchan, began his swim towards shore.

Meanwhile, Yongguk was busy entertaining guests as his parents kept introducing girl after girl from different kingdoms, who either seemed bored or didn’t really want to be here. He didn’t blame them. He didn’t want to be here, either.

“Yongguk, you must pick one,” his father told him.

“Girls are not prizes to be won, father. Besides, you know my feelings with the female gender,” Yongguk told him, walking away from his father and out towards the crisp night air.

Yongguk took a deep sigh and leaned his body against the castle wall. He didn’t see Jongup today, or the day before that, or the day before that. He was afraid that he scared him away with that kiss. Yongguk placed his fingers on top of his lips and groaned, looking up at the night sky and seeing the twinkling lights up in above of him. He heard a loud splash coming from in front of him. He furrowed his eyebrows and saw two figures emerging from the water. Yongguk walked over towards the figures and saw Jongup and another merman lying on the sand.

“Are you Yongguk?” the merman asked.

Yongguk nodded his head and placed Jongup’s head on his lap. It took him a minute to realize that Jongup didn’t have a tail anymore, but two beautiful legs. It also occurred to him that he’s and that he needs clothes.

“Take care of him. If I hear that you’ve hurt him in any way possible, I will come over and I will slit your throat,” the merman threatened, inching his way closer to the water.

“Wait, but who are you?” Yongguk asked him.

The merman said nothing and made his way back into the ocean. Yongguk looked back at Jongup and took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around the shivering boy.

“Y-Yongguk,” Jongup whimpered, looking up at him.

“Shh, it’s okay. I got you,” Yongguk cooed, lifting him up bridal style and carrying him inside the castle.

“Everything hurts. I can’t feel my tail,” Jongup told him.

“Hey, it’s okay. We’ll figure this out in the morning, okay. I got you,” Yongguk told him, placing a kiss on top of his forehead.

Jongup snuggled closer to Yongguk’s chest and closed his eyes again. He wanted to sleep some more.

-----

Jongup woke up to a soft, almost plush bed with dark comforters wrapped around his body. He snuggled more into the comforters, smelling something that seemed to belong to Yongguk. Speaking of, Yongguk entered the bedroom and sat down at the edge of the bed, pushing a lock of Jongup’s hair out of his face.

“Yongguk?” Jongup squeaked out.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m right here,” Yongguk said.

Jongup sat up and felt a sort of pain down his lower body and gritted his teeth. He looked under the covers and saw that he no longer had a tail, but two legs. He gasped lightly at how tanned they were. He also noticed something else that he’s never seen.

“Yongguk, what’s that?” Jongup asked, lifting the covers for Yongguk to see.

He peaked over and saw what Jongup was referring to. “We’re gonna need to teach you how to use that. But first, I brought some clothes over for you to wear. These were my old clothes from when I was growing up. I don’t know if they’ll fit you, but they will have to do. After you’re done changing, we can work on your walk.”

Jongup only nodded his head and looked at the materials in front of him. The fabric was so soft and so foreign to his fingertips. He picked up the underwear that was on top first and placed it over his legs. He pulled them up and picked at the material.

“Well, you got the underwear right. Do you need help?” Yongguk asked him.

Jongup nodded his head, picking at one of the materials.

After successfully dressing Jongup, Yongguk helped Jongup stand from the bed. Jongup placed his new feet on top of the surface and gasped at how cold the floor was.

“Yeah, it gets a little chilly in here sometimes. You’ll get used to the temperature,” Yongguk said.

“My legs hurt,” Jongup said, gritting his teeth, trying to place one foot in front of the other.

“It just takes practice. Right now we’ll work on baby steps. Can you stand?” Yongguk asked, holding Jongup up.

Jongup gritted his teeth and tried to stand on his own, but his legs feel like knives stabbing him and he collapsed on the floor. Yongguk was quick and held the young man in his arms.

“Like I said, baby steps. Before you know it, you’ll be a natural at this,” Yongguk said.

A few weeks later, Jongup was in the dance hall with Yongguk, smiling and laughing and dancing with him while everybody watched them with smiles on their faces. Yongguk smiled widely, pecking his lips gently as they continued to dance to the sound of the music in the background.

“So you two finally accepted their relationship?” Yongnam asked his parents, who were watching the two dancing on the dance floor.

“Well, we can’t stop him, now, can we? Besides, if Natasha approves of their future marriage, who am I to stand in their way?” their mother asked, taking a sip of her wine.

Natasha and her husband joined in with the two and everybody began to join in. Jongup smiled widely and pressed his face against Yongguk’s chest, who ran his fingers through his hair.

“See. You’re a natural already,” Yongguk whispered into his ear, taking him away from the dance floor.

“My legs still hurt, but the pain is starting to dull away now. It still feels weird having legs instead of a tail,” Jongup confessed as he sat on his lap and placed the back of his head on Yongguk’s chest. Yongguk wrapped his arms around his waist and kissed his forehead.

“You’ll get used to it,” Yongguk said as he watched everybody dancing on the dance floor.

It wasn’t a fairytale, but it sure did feel like one.}}