A cloudy overcast had covered Seoul, and Eunhyuk had decided to walk along the shoreline again. There was a slight chill in the air that morning with the wind blowing rather roughly. The blonde brushed his feet through the cold waves that washed up against the shore, looking out at the ocean, watching whitecaps break every few seconds just off the beach. After walking for a few minutes, Eunhyuk noticed something a little ways down lying on the coastline. Taking a few steps closer, Eunhyuk dropped his jaw when he saw it was Donghae. The blonde rushed over to the merman, but noticed Donghae wasn’t moving. Eunhyuk turned Donghae onto his back and saw he had been bleeding profusely from his side, from what looked like a large bite. “No, Donghae, no,” Eunhyuk muttered as he quickly ped his jacket and draped it over the merman’s , freezing, unconscious body.

          He picked up Donghae and hurried him to the apartment as quickly as he could. “Donghae, c’mon please, please hold on,” Eunhyuk begged as tears welled in his eyes. The blonde ran water in the bathtub before sitting down in the tub, pulling Donghae in with him. He rapidly pressed several washcloths against his wound to help the bleeding stop, but more blood kept pouring out, and Donghae was beginning to lose his color and pulse. “Donghae, wake up, please,” Eunhyuk whispered as he brushed his hand through Donghae’s hair and cried into his neck. “Please Donghae, don’t leave me. I can’t lose you, please wake up. I love you.” Eunhyuk pressed a kiss against the merman’s head and squeezed his eyes shut.

          The blonde opened his eyes with a gasp, and discovered he was lying in bed still. Eunhyuk sat up and panted, looking around to try and make sense of things. “It was a dream, it was only a dream,” he muttered to himself as he brushed his fingers over the fish charm necklace that dangled from his neck. Eunhyuk lay back down, but started to recollect the dream and felt tears drip from his eyes onto the pillow as he whispered “Donghae, please come home.”

          Donghae had been following the dolphin for several days, only stopping to rest at night for a few hours every night and to occasionally eat. The aquatic creature had led Donghae to an enormous coral reef, squealing as it stopped. “Over there?” Donghae asked. The dolphin nodded. “Is that where merpeople are?” After the dolphin nodded again, Donghae slowly swam over to the rainbow colored reef and looked around. “Hello?” he asked nervously.

          Suddenly, a mermaid’s head popped up from inside one of the corals startling Donghae and causing him to jump back. She dropped her jaw upon looking at Donghae and echoed “Hello.” The mermaid swam completely out of the coral to reveal her aqua colored tail.

          “You’re a mermaid,” Donghae stated.

          “You’re a merman,” she said. “What’s your name?”

          “Donghae, what’s your name?” the merman wondered.

          “My name is Desiree, and I’m thirteen years old,” she proudly informed. “How old are you?”

          “Twenty six,” Donghae replied. Desiree gasped as she covered . “What, what is it, what’s wrong?”

          “Come with me,” Desiree requested as she took Donghae’s hand and led him through the massive coral reef. Donghae looked around and was in awe at the coral around him; the reef was so big that the insides were big enough to make small rooms for other merpeople who lived there. When Desiree led him to the largest room, she announced “Mom, dad, I found a new merman swimming outside the reef.”

          “Outside of the reef, how strange,” the larger mermaid said. She looked over at Donghae and gazed at the sapphire blue tail before quietly gasping as her eyes widened. “Oh my goodness,” she whispered before turning to her husband. “Honey, look at his tail.”

          The larger merman too looked at Donghae’s tail and then at Donghae’s face before asking “How old are you, my boy?”

          “Twenty six,” Donghae nervously repeated. “My name is Donghae.”

          The larger mermaid looked back at her husband. “Our son has finally come home,” she stated before standing up and swimming over to Donghae, hugging him gently. “I’m your mother, that is your father, and Desiree over there is your little sister.”

          “I have a mom, a dad, and a sister?” Donghae asked slowly.

          “Yes sweetheart, we’re your family,” the mermaid confirmed.

          Donghae smiled before hugging his mother tightly. Desiree swam up and hugged both Donghae and her mother. “I finally get to meet my brother,” she muttered.

          “Mother, I have a question; how did I get separated from you all?” Donghae wondered.

          He noticed his parents get sad looks on their faces before his mother explained “When you were just a year old, we took you up near the shore so you could play in the shallow water and learn how to swim on your own better, and you loved shallow water because you could collect little shells that you always gave me. Well, the high tide was coming in, and your father knew that the humans in that area loved coming out at that time, so he suggested we leave soon, but you were having so much fun that I opted for us to stay a little longer. While your father and I argued about when we should leave, you disappeared. I thought that you had swam a little ways down the shoreline, and your father thought a tidal wave had pulled you back into the water, but we couldn’t see you anywhere. We searched for you near that beach for weeks, but we could never find you.”

          “We suspected the worst had happened after a month of looking with no results. I had other merpeople help us, and they had come up empty handed as well,” his father added. “What did happen to you Donghae? Where have you been for the past twenty six years?”

          “I was held in captivity by a very cruel human who said that he found me washed up on the beach somewhere. I was part of a freak show he owned, and he exploited me as a prize for other humans to see. I was his prized possession, and he treated me as such. He denied me food when I was hungry, gave me only a cramped bathtub to stay in, and hurt me when I misbehaved,” Donghae explained.

          “Hurt you in what ways?” his father asked.

          “When he found out that my tail vanishes when I’m out of water, and legs take their place, he knew I could walk on them, because I never learned how. He would beat me, touch me in a hurtful way, and not even care; but I never cried because I remembered that merpeople tears were sacred. I hated humans, every last one of them, I never trusted any of them, they always laughed and stared when they saw me,” Donghae informed.

          “Oh my poor baby,” his mother said as she hugged her son again.

          “How did you manage to get away from this human?” his father questioned.

          “A miracle happened; I was rescued by this other human. This very sweet, loving human,” Donghae replied with a smile growing on his face. “I’ve been staying with him for several months, and he is amazing. He takes care of me, gives me anything I want, he even taught me how to walk on my legs.”

          “You actually trust him?” his father asked.

          “Yes, I love him,” Donghae stated.

          “You what?” his father demanded as his mother dropped her jaw.

          “You’re in love with a human?” she inquired.

          “I’ve chosen him as my soul mate, and he’s chosen me. We lay in the same bed together many nights, and he kisses me, touches me lovingly, and whispers that he loves me and will protect me. I love him more than anything in the world,” Donghae explained. “He encouraged me to look for my family to see if I was in fact the last living merman, and now I found you all.”

          “So what are you going to choose Donghae; a life with your human, or a life with your own kind?” his father wondered.

          “I want to live with my family, I’ve spent my whole life wondering if you were out here or not, but at the same time, I made a commitment to my human, and I want to be with him,” Donghae responded.

          “Just leave the human, what’s the worst that could happen?” his father asked. “You said that you hated humans.”

          “Not this one, not Eunhyuk. If I don’t return to him, he could die of a broken heart, and I don’t want to lose him; I love him so much,” Donghae said.

          “What’s the human world like Donghae?” Desiree wondered.

          “It’s filled with many interesting things, lots of strange food, and very unique celebrations. Eunhyuk and I celebrated a holiday called Christmas together,” Donghae explained. “You put up this large bright tree and place gifts underneath it, and then when the day comes, you give them to the person you got it for.”

          “Wow, that sounds exciting,” Desiree replied.

          “When Christmas comes back, I’ll return here and show you what to do,” Donghae suggested.

          “Donghae, you must know, that if you choose to live in the human world permanently with your human, then you cannot return here,” his father informed.

          “Why is that?” Donghae questioned.

          “You’re choosing to live on land, and not being true to your merman self,” his father said.

          “He will always be our merman son,” his mother scolded.

          “Who chose a human over us,” his father reminded.

          “If he’s in love, and he’s chosen his soul mate, we can’t keep them apart,” his mother replied. She swam over to Donghae and placed her hands on his face. “Sweetheart, no matter what life you choose, we will always love you and be your family. We want you to be happy, and if you’re happy with your human, then go be with him. If you want to stay here, then stay here; but we will love you regardless. I’m just so happy that you’re still alive.”

          “Thank you mother,” Donghae responded with a smile before he swam over to his father. “Father, are you going to be upset with me choosing Eunhyuk?”

          Donghae’s father was quiet for a moment before replying “It’s not the path I would’ve wanted you to take, but I’m agreeing with your mother in that I want you to be happy, and am just grateful to know you’re alive. We will love you no matter what.”

          “That means a lot to me,” Donghae said as he looked at both of his parents.

          “Donghae, can I come see the human world with you?” Desiree asked.

          “No Desiree, not now, I don’t think you’d fully be able to understand the human world at your age,” Donghae replied.

          “What about when I’m older?” she wondered.

          “Yeah, when you’re older you should come up and check it out,” Donghae suggested.

          “No,” Donghae’s father stated. “Desiree will not be going to the human world, ever. I’m not risking losing another child of mine.”

          “That’s not fair, I want to see what’s out there,” Desiree pouted. “I wanna go see the human world with my brother.”

          “Desiree, we are not discussing this anymore,” the father stated firmly.

          “Donghae, when are you planning on returning to land?” Donghae’s mother wondered.

          “After I rest and eat,” Donghae informed.

          “Alright, well we insist you stay here tonight and tomorrow you can begin your travels,” his mother offered.

          “I’d like that, thank you,” Donghae agreed.

          Early the next morning, Eunhyuk dragged himself out of bed again. He slipped on his shoes and walked down to the beach. It had become a daily routine of his to walk along the shoreline in the mornings, just hoping that he’d see Donghae. The blonde sat down on the sand and gazed at the waves, when he spotted something splashing along the horizon. As it grew closer, Eunhyuk saw the familiar sapphire blue tail of Donghae coming near him. Eunhyuk stood up and forced his shoes, socks, jacket, and shirt off quickly before running into the water.

          The water got deeper, but Eunhyuk didn’t care, he kept going, wanting to reach Donghae. “Donghae!” he shouted.

          The merman popped up out of the water and responded “Eunhyuk!” He saw his human trying to get to him, and knew that the blonde couldn’t swim.

          Rapidly, Donghae swam up to Eunhyuk in waist deep water and jumped up, wrapping his arms around Eunhyuk’s neck as the human hugged his body tightly. Eunhyuk kissed Donghae’s lips roughly, holding him close, never wanting to let him go again. “My Donghae, my beautiful Donghae,” he whispered, running a hand through the brunette’s wet hair.

          “I told you I’d come back to you,” the merman reminded with a smile. Donghae kissed him again before they started to head for land. Once on shore, Eunhyuk gave Donghae his shirt and jacket to wear until they got back to Eunhyuk’s apartment.

          Once inside the apartment, Eunhyuk asked “Did you find your family?”

          “Yes I did,” Donghae confirmed.

          “What were they like?” Eunhyuk wondered.

          “I’ll tell you later, right now I just really wanna be with you,” Donghae muttered as he wrapped his arms around Eunhyuk and kissed him again.

          The blonde picked up Donghae and carried him into the bedroom, closing the door and then pressing Donghae back against it as he stripped him of the jacket and shirt. Eunhyuk removed the rest of his clothing quickly before carrying Donghae over to the bed and lying him down on the mattress, as he began kissing at the merman’s neck and chest. “I missed you so much,” Eunhyuk whispered as he ran his fingers down Donghae’s torso.

          “I missed you too,” Donghae echoed as he kissed Eunhyuk’s lips again and entangled his fingers in the blonde’s hair.

          Eunhyuk kissed up and down Donghae’s neck as he entered his body gently over and over. Donghae moaned quietly as he felt his human lover inside him once more. The blonde brushed his lips over Donghae’s as he said with tears rolling down his face “I love you.”

          “I love you too,” Donghae responded as he kissed Eunhyuk again and dug his fingers into Eunhyuk’s shoulder blades.

          “I’m never letting you go again,” Eunhyuk whispered as he wrapped his arms around Donghae’s body.

          “I never want to leave you again,” Donghae stated, burying his face in Eunhyuk’s neck and pulling his human as close to him as he possibly could.