Taemin felt his breathing quicken as the realization dawned on him. Whether his mate came or not, he was already doomed to the pit of the sea. There was no future for him living for a mate who would never see him the same way, let alone as an equal. There was no hope, and yet, he couldn’t tear his gaze away from the merman before him that was given the misfortune of fate as well. Neither merman nor mermaid would even bother themselves with being in the presence of a creature they were taught to hate so much.

Jonghyun’s hand on his shoulder did nothing to soothe his tension. The merman before him was handsome, with blue eyes as deep as the ocean itself. How he wished he could do something to stop his heart from beating so quickly just at the sight of the forbidden fruit. This was most certainly his damnation. He was being pulled towards what could only lead him towards a self-destruction like no other.

“Taeminnie,” Jonghyun called to him. It took every ounce of energy in his cells to leave the merman’s gaze and turn towards his friend, who stared worriedly at him. With the loss of eye contact that he held with his mate, came a wave of depression that crashed over him relentlessly. Each crash was throwing his limp mentality against the cliff until it was far too broken to even attempt to swim up once more. He stared into his friend’s eyes, knowing Jonghyun would be able to see whatever it was he was feeling, even though he knew it was beyond the other’s capabilities to fix it this time.

“You should’ve let me sleep until it was my time,” he said softly. Jonghyun sighed and pulled him into a hug. He felt the eyes of their aquatic companions on them, but he couldn’t bring himself to look towards them again. The gaze of the green-eyed one only made him feel like a demon in their presence, and the blue-eyed one brought him both a sense of happiness and utter depression.

“You know I couldn’t do that Taemin. I know this isn’t what you hoped for, but you don’t have to live with your mate, you know? You and I could just live together, and we’ll just tell everyone that our mates were humans who didn’t feel the same way,” Jonghyun reasoned. Taemin nodded stiffly with his head buried into the other’s neck. Jonghyun’s larger hands were through his hair, trailing down to rub soothing circles on his back.

“So you two will be mates then?” he heard one of the mermen ask. He hadn’t hear either of their voices, so he wasn’t sure who it was that spoke.

“No,” Jonghyun responded. “We wouldn’t be mates; but living together is much better than living alone.” He gently motioned for Taemin to get off him. Taemin didn’t want to do that. He definitely didn’t want to look back at the blue-eyed merman. However, he could tell that Jonghyun was definitely not in a comfortable position on the rock, and he supposed he’d have to let him fix himself.

He detached himself and turned back around, his eyes never leaving the ocean water beneath him. He could see the tails of the mermen glimmering under the water, one blue and the other green. He supposed that the blue one belonged to his mate, judging by his eye color.

“Yah, don’t you think it’s a little rude to just ignore us like this? At least look at us when we’re talking.” The voice came in the direction of the green-eyed one, accompanied by a scoff. As much as Taemin wanted to look up, he also wanted to spare himself from the rush of conflicting emotions it would cause.

“Kibummie, could you at least try to be nice? He’s just scared,” he heard Jonghyun defend him. He looked towards his friend, confused as to how he knew the merman’s name, before tossing his gaze back towards the ocean.

“Scared of what? I’m not the one with the red eyes and the claws,” Kibum retorted. Jonghyun sighed beside him.

“How would you feel if you just found that you could never be with the person you were fated the supposedly spend the rest of your life with? You think it’s easy. I may seem like I don’t care, but it isn’t a good feeling. It practically kills us inside. We don’t have the freedom to fall in love like you do. It happens to us forcefully,” Jonghyun argued back. Taemin felt himself slip deeper and deeper into the clutches of despondency.

“Can I say something?” he heard a deeper voice say. His heart rate sped up once more and he had no doubt that this was the voice of his mate. The low tone sent pleasurable shivers down his spine, which both terrified and excited him all at once. His voice was deep and soothing, like the calmest of waves the ocean could ever bring. The forbidden fruit only seemed so much more enticing now that it had begun calling out to him. It’s arms were open wide, asking him to embrace the perdition that awaited him.

“By all means,” Jonghyun said, giving him the green light to speak his thoughts. He looked through the water as the blue-eyed merman shifted a bit closer, and Taemin instinctively moved a bit further.

“I’m still confused about the whole mate thing,” the merman said. Jonghyun moved to sit so that his feet were dipped into the water, wetting the tips of his pants. Taemin remained squatted, knees covering his bare chest.

“Why are you even curious about it? Can’t we just leave already? He already said that they’d live together from now on,” Kibum whined. The other merman paid him no mind and continued to move closer. Taemin was at a dead end, and could only watch as the tail of his mate moved towards him.

“What happens if he calls again, and I don’t make it in time,” the merman asked.

“It’d be the same consequences. Depression would take over and we’d kill ourselves,” Jonghyun replied solemnly.

Before could focus his gaze elsewhere, his red eyes caught sight of the blue once more. The merman had moved to lean in front of him on the rock he was perched on, forcing his way into his vision. As if it were happening all over again, Taemin could feel his heart skip a few beats in it’s rapid pace. The merman peered up at him curiously, as if searching for more answers from him.

“What’s your name?” the merman asked. Taemin felt his throat go dry. He wanted to reply, he needed to. He forced his lips open, trying to pull the words from his trachea.

“T-Taemin,” he responded, his voice barely above a whisper. The merman smiled at him a new wave crashed over him; a wave of bliss. He’d made his mate smile, just by giving him his name. Oh, how wonderful it felt to see the other smile.

“Nice to meet you Taemin. My name is Minho.”

Minho.

Minho.

Minho.

Minho.

The name had ingrained itself into every crevice of his being. His mate has a name. His name is Minho. That’s his mate’s name. It swirled around in his head, forcing him to memorize the five-letter combination. There was no immediate remedy for the onslaught of thoughts that burst into his mind. Every possible way to say the merman’s name was projecting itself into his brain; from a whisper to a scream; from a pleasured moan to a whimpered plea; the name was everywhere.

“I’d like to learn more about you,” Minho said to him. Kibum gasped behind him and pulled the larger merman back.

“Have you lost your mind? What happened to just seeing them and leaving?”

“Well considering you lied to me about how Sirens really are, I think I’m allowed to stay a little longer than planned. Think about Kibum; are you really okay with just judging them without really knowing them?” Minho asked. Taemin felt his heart melt at his mate’s kind words. If only his mate were a Siren, he’d have no problem letting the man do whatever he wanted with him. He could be forced to spend the rest of his life in a basement and he’d have no problem so long as he had his mate.

“Yes! Look at them Minho; they have deadly claws! Do you know what those claws are capable of?” Kibum retorted. Minho scoffed and turned away from his best friend and back to his supposed mate.

“Then by all means, go on. I’m staying here though. I’m tired of being lied to and being left in the dark and I refuse to keep living that way,” Minho responded. Taemin heard Jonghyun chuckle beside him and almost laughed himself at Kibum’s exasperated expression. The green-eyed merman huffed and crossed his arms, but he didn’t move from his spot. Minho smiled towards him. “I knew you wouldn’t leave me here.”

“I’m really tired of getting in trouble because of you,” Kibum whined. Minho laughed at him before turning back towards Taemin and leaning against the rock once more. His expression shifted from playful to sympathetic and Taemin couldn’t help but feel as if he had done something wrong.

“I’m really sorry things turned out this way for you, and that I can’t return your feelings, but I’d like to at least try and be friends if you’d let me,” Minho said. Taemin wanted to say that he felt a piece of him break, because he’d be lying if he didn’t, but another part of him felt that he could live with this. Minho wasn’t rejecting him all together. He simply rejected the romance.

He could live with that. Minho wanted to be his friend; that was already so much more than he’d ever expected from the merman. It was more than he could’ve asked for. It still left a mark on his heart that his mate couldn’t love him back, but at least knowing that he wasn’t completely abandoned gave him a small bit of relief. It was something to soothe over the painful ache he felt. He and Minho could be friends. He’d still be able to see his merman.

“You aren’t bothered by the red eyes and claws?” Taemin asked hesitantly. Minho shook his head with a smile.

“There are Merpeople with red eyes. Our eye color is the same color as that of our tails; so if you see one of us with a red tail, they have red eyes too, though yours are definitely brighter than any I’ve ever seen,” Minho replied, pushing himself out of the water to get a better look at the Siren’s eyes. Taemin leaned back a bit, feeling suffocated in the presence of his mate and his closeness. “Hey, I thought Sirens had talons.”

“W-We do. We just hide them. They aren’t exactly the prettiest things to look at. We only use them when we go hunting,” Taemin answered. Minho hummed, taking in the new information.

“Can I see them?” he asked. Taemin nodded hesitantly and let his feet shift to take on their true appearance. He felt the bones in his feet shift to accommodate the change. He looked on as Minho watched in awe has his feet shifted from their normal appearance to the talons that looked like a larger version of an eagle’s. Minho carefully moved a hand to touch the newly formed talons. The claws were much sharper than those of his hands, much longer and certainly more deadly. Taemin hated how they looked, because it only reminded him that he was a bird of prey.

“I’m assuming Jonghyun-ssi’s look the same?” Minho inquired. Taemin nodded and spared a quick glace at Jonghyun, who was trying to gain Kibum’s attention, before looking back.

“Not every Siren does though. We are all half bird yes, but we are all half of a specific type of bird. Some Sirens take on the appearance of a hawk, while others of a simple pigeon. Of course it’s also possible to have a mix. Jonghyun and I are breeds of eagle though. Similar breeds tend to form their own villages, though it all gets mixed up since our mate isn’t always of the same breed,” Taemin explained. Minho appeared to be so fascinated by the new information, probably having believed that all Sirens were the same. True that they all had the red eyes and claws, but not all had the talons that characterized them as birds of prey.

“Aren’t eagles the birds that eat the most fish?” Minho asked.

Taemin sighed and nodded. “While it is true that eagles do typically eat fish, we aren’t exactly complete birds. Since we’re bigger and stronger then an actual eagle, we can eat bigger things, which is why we’ve taken to eating animals like cows instead.”

Minho nodded in understanding. “Listen, I don’t know how long I can stay, but I’d like to come see you again,” he said. Taemin’s heart skipped a beat at the idea of seeing his mate once more. “Maybe somewhere else though? Somewhere I can get on land? I’ve never gotten to see what my legs would look like, and I really want to.”

Taemin pointed in the direction behind them, towards the side of the cliff. “There’s a little beach over that way. We can meet there next time,” he said. Minho nodded happily to him.

“One more thing; don’t call for me. I think it’ll be safer if I just come to see you. Is there any way I can let you know I’m here?” Minho asked. Taemin thought for a moment, not knowing what could possibly work, before Jonghyun was back at his side, looking excitedly at Minho.

“A rhythm, or some kind of tune. We don’t have the best hearing, but we’re really good when it comes to hearing specific tunes. Come up with something distinct, and make sure the pitch is always the same, and we’ll be able to find you in even the most crowded of areas,” Jonghyun explained to him. Kibum swam over beside Minho and scoffed at him.

“That’s creepy,” he said. Jonghyun smiled at him.

“It’s convenient. Like, what if you get separated from your kid? If you set a tune like that, the parent will always be able to find their kid, and vice versa.”

“A tune,” Minho said. He wasn’t able to start singing, especially not in front of two Sirens of all creatures. “What if I tap a rock against the cliff in a certain way, kind of like…” He trailed off as he searched for a smaller stone, smiling when he found one. He tapped it against the larger rock in a made up rhythm. Jonghyun and Taemin nodded as they heard it, smiling at each other as soon as Minho was done.

“That’s perfect. Just copy that when you come back, and I’ll fly over as soon as I can,” Taemin assured him.

A few minutes later, he watched as Minho and Kibum disappeared beneath the ocean’s surface to return to their homes. He and Jonghyun were just about ready to do the same as they few back onto the cliff and walked towards their homes. There was one thing Taemin hadn’t forgotten about though.

“Hyung, how did you know Kibum-ssi?” he asked. Jonghyun laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

“He’s my mate,” he responded. Taemin looked at him incredulously before his gaze softened into one of sympathy.

“We’re a pair of unlucky guys aren’t we hyung?”

Jonghyun laughed and nodded. “The unluckiest. But I wasn’t kidding before Tae. Why don’t you move in with me? I’m sure your parents wouldn’t mind. Plus, its much more convenient if we ever want to sneak Kibum and Minho in.”

It could work. The majority of their village was eagles, and none had a very strong sense of smell. Had they been vultures, there would be no chance of getting Minho and Kibum in. But with the way they were, if they transformed, they could pass as humans to the rest of the villagers.

“That sounds good hyung. I’ll talk to umma and appa about it tonight,” Taemin replied. Jonghyun nodded before sighing.

“Are you going to be okay with all of this Taemin-ah?” he asked. Taemin shrugged. Truthfully, he had no idea how he was going to deal with everything. It all seemed so unrealistic. Part of him wanted to try his call again, to see if he could possibly get a new mate, one that would accept him, but he knew the chances of that happening were non existent.

“I really don’t know hyung. It hurts that he doesn’t feel the same way, but I can’t say I’m completely upset, considering he’s at least willing to be friends,” Taemin answered. Jonghyun understood him, though Kibum was a bit more difficult to handle. He only wished Kibum was as open-minded as Minho.

“Are you going to at least try to make him fall for you?”

Taemin paused at the question.

He could do that. He could very well take the time to try and make Minho fall for him. However, the idea only had one possible outcome in his mind, and it wasn’t one he liked. He shook his head towards Jonghyun, who gave him a sad look.

“I don’t see the point in trying. Even if he’s willing to be my friend, there’s no way he’d ever consider me as anything but that.”

They walked back to their homes, choosing to end the topic at that. Taemin knew Jonghyun was struggling just as much as he was. The older had been dealing with this for much longer. He admired his hyung’s determination to get Kibum’s favor. However, Taemin knew that he wasn’t going to be able to do the same. He didn’t have the confidence to even attempt to do so, and Minho’s mere presence already had his mind deteriorating.

He greeted his parents quietly before moving towards his room until he was called down to dinner. He knew his parents would no doubt question him. He’d tell them that his mate was a human who was already in love with someone else. He’d ask them if he could live with Jonghyun, since the elder was in the same predicament. He’d tell them he wasn’t in the mood to go into details.

He had honestly considered the idea of plunging himself into the ocean, just to avoid the possibility of ever seeing Minho with someone else.

For now though, he’d live with the fact that he even had a chance to be friends with his mate.

I am literally posting this while in my calculus class. #badass

I was going to wait, but I really wanted to post this, so I'm making this author's note short.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll try and update again soon. 

Please comment and let me know what you think! 

Bye bye~