He shouldn’t have seen the other that day. Had he never laid his beautiful brown doe-like eyes on the other’s tall, handsome form that day, nothing would have changed. But on that day, the young male mermaid fell in love.

From that day, day after day, the mermaid of only fifteen years old would escape from the disapproving eyes of others in order to see the only thing that filled his mind – his human love. But watching was all that he could do. His human, though always near the water, never came close enough. And as a mermaid, he was unable to walk onto the land and to his love.

What if I never meet him?

What if he loves someone other than me?

These questions drew the now eighteen year old mermaid to the brink of insanity. But didn’t he just want his human to be happy? There was no room for selfishness – no room for dreams that would never come true. Watching from the safety of the ocean for three long years was enough for the male mermaid…



Wasn’t it?



The storm that night was different than all of the other storms that had occurred in the mermaid’s lifetime. Waves were crashing more ferociously, the wind was becoming much rougher, lightning flooded the sky while thunder flooded his ears – telling him things like no, you’re not supposed to be here. But the mermaid just ignored it, only concerned for his human love.

What he saw that day changed everything.

His human, struggling to keep his head above the angry waves. His human, fighting for air – fighting for life.

And that day started it all.

The mermaid did what others had countlessly warned him not to do over all of these years.

He swam to his human. No… he swam to his love.

It took all the strength the little mermaid had in order to drag his human from the venomous ocean and onto the much safer shore. After pushing all of his human onto the soft sandy area, he dragged his own body up and onto the sand as far as he could. But his arms were weak and his eyes were tired. He could only collapse next to the man, watching the slow rise and fall of the other’s chest, assuring the mermaid that his human was alive.

And his eyelids fell closed, a small smile gracing his lips.

His human was saved that day – awakened that day to the most beautiful voice that he had ever heard singing a heartbreaking melody. The mermaid had been sure to move out of the other’s eyesight before he awoke, and the boy couldn’t help but sing as tears stained his cheeks.

Before he had fallen asleep, he had done something absolutely unforgivable.

Before he had fallen asleep, he had stolen something from his human.

His lips . . .

And now the mermaid boy could only sing of the heartache he now felt. He knew he was being selfish… Those lips would never be his to claim, yet all he craved for now was more of that delicious taste he received when their lips had met, even if it had been just for a brief moment. It was wrong… It was wrong and he knew it, but he just couldn’t help himself.



He never sang after that day – he never finished his song for it was too much for him to bear that day, causing him to abruptly swim away in the middle of his heart clenching words. All of his brothers and sisters and his mother and father were devastated by the sudden lack of something so beautiful, and they tried to urge him to let his voice flow freely, but the mermaid just shook his head no.

He still watched the man, though never daring to go as close as he had before. His human was slowly changing, coming to the shore less and less, but the mermaid still made sure to come every day.

It wasn’t until the day his raven-haired human arrived at the shore with someone else, hand in hand, did the mermaid come to a realization. His human could never truly be his, so long as he was still a mermaid.

And then he decided.




Please drink this. Once this liquid glided down your smooth throat, I will know that you’ve made your decision and will appear before you, ready to take what’s mine, and give you what’s yours.

Watching his human’s face covered with the most beautiful smile that he had ever seen, the mermaid drew a slow, unsteady breath.

The smile left the human’s face as the voice faded away.



The pain was excruciating – his lower body felt as if it was being torn in two while his upper body felt as if it was being engulfed by the flames of Hades themselves. He could only clench his eyes shut as tightly as he could as his piercing screams slowly faded to nothing more than pathetic whimpers. The mermaid boy’s body was dropped to the sand where he stayed, unmoving. The witch smiled.

What’s yours is yours and what’s mine is mine.



His human had found him that night, curled up on the sand, breath uneven. Oh how lucky the young mermaid boy was, having the one he had loved for three whole years taking him back to his own home, laying his body down on his own bed. It took a long while for the mermaid to finally awaken, but when he did, he was shocked.

He wasn’t a mermaid anymore.

For the next month he stayed in the human’s home, now a human too. They both had quickly learned that he was unable to speak, the mermaid realizing that this must have been the witch’s price for what had been done to him. He was immensely depressed – his voice was the only thing he had ever truly loved about himself. The man never bothered to ask why the frail boy’s voice was gone, since getting answers would be pretty hard without words.

They spent every day and every night together over more time, becoming closer than the mermaid could ever have dreamed. During this time the mermaid slowly realized something. All that he had been wanting, needing, craving was now finally within his reach. He was a mermaid no longer – he stood on his own two feet, just as his human did. They were no longer worlds apart – he was finally becoming part of his world.


Until the day that ruined everything.




One day, his human had arrived home from work. But what was different was the fact that he wasn’t alone. The mermaid had seen the blond-framed face before, and his heart was shattered once again as his human introduced the other as his true love.


This couldn’t be right . . .

The man was the mermaid’s true love, so this couldn’t be.


But then their lips met later that night, when they believed the mermaid boy was not around, and he broke.



That night, while the human and his true love were asleep in each other’s warm arms, the mermaid forced his tired, bleeding feet to take him to the shore where everything had begun, and where he wanted everything to end.

Staring out at the wide, blue ocean, tears escaped his eyes yet he remained silent. He wanted so badly to be back in the water with all of his family, singing happily until his throat was soar. But he knew it wasn’t possible, not anymore.

Slowly dragging his now blood covered feet barely into the tide, he felt something abnormal against his skin. The mermaid reached down and gripped the item, eyes wide when a small silver dagger emerged from the water.

I can only give you back what I’ve taken if you give me something new in return. Carve out his heart and bring it to me – he doesn’t deserve it. Look at what it has done to you. You can come back here only if you bring that to me.

And now here the mermaid boy was, standing over the sleeping forms of the one he had loved for so long, and the one who held the heart which he was now meant to gouge out, in order to gain back some of his happiness.


He was there, he was ready, he was raising the dagger above his head. But as he looked down and thought about the fact that this would be the last time he would be able to see the one he loved with all of his being, tears poured from his eyes, never running dry. The clank of the dagger hitting the floor and the thud of his knees giving out from under him were followed by a jarring shriek and the rustling of blankets moving quickly. The mermaid’s tears didn’t stop.

His human and his love could only watch with wide eyes from across the room as he stood himself up on unsteady legs, dagger in hand. As he brought it to his chest, right about where his heart would be if he had had one, he smiled.


He pushed the dagger in.


The mermaid was unsure if it was his heart that he had felt being pierced by the sharp piece of metal, because ever since the first time he had sinned and realized how horrible he was, he had doubted he even had a heart. Those with hearts would be told what was right and wrong. Those with hearts would always choose the path that God approved.

But he had sinned. He had betrayed God’s faith in him by falling in love with one he could never truly have.

His body never made contact with the ground, for his human had rushed to his side as soon as the dagger had been taken in by his body. His human’s eyes were wide and he was also crying, causing the mermaid’s smile to grow.


Why do you cry for me?

I never wanted to make you sad . . .


And as his body began to foam and his being slowly started to fade away, the mermaid looked into his human’s eyes and opened his eyes for the first time since he had become human.


“I love you . . . Junhyung.”


As everything else was gone, his smile lingered behind slightly before bubbling into foam like the rest of his being.

Junhyung’s head fell.


“Your voice was always so beautiful . . .”