She watched the blonde boy from afar. Her heart squeezing tightly within her chest as he sighed and turned to head back up the beach to the large castle walls. Miyoung kept her eyes on his broad back as he walked slowly back up the sandy path way and to the stone walls. It wasn't until he disappeared through the wooden door that she blew her bangs and splashed back into the water.

                "Miyoung!" Luhan snapped at her as soon as she reached the usual meeting place.

                "What?" She sighed and tried not to look disappointed even though she felt it.

                "You went to spy on that human again, didn't you?" He reached out gently and brushed a stray strand behind her ear. She bit her bottom lip and her cheeks turned pink, but she kept her lips sealed. Luhan felt a strike of jealous hit him and leaned in, cupping her face gently into his hands as he pulled her in softly to plant a kiss upon her lips. Though, sensing his intentions by his actions, Miyoung swiftly pulled back.

                "Luhan, please. I've never seen you as anything, but a brother." Her cheeks grew redder in embarrassment and Luhan clenched his jaw before sighing, "Your father wouldn't be too happy if he found out you always sneaking off like this, you know?" Miyoung looked back to him with wide eyes filled with hurt, "You wouldn't." He felt a tightness in his chest when she looked at him like that, but refused to falter as he answered as strongly as he could, "I will."

                "No. You wouldn't. I know you wouldn't." The hurt in her eyes quickly changed to confidence as she swam up to him and stood her ground, "If you ever had in you, you would've told my father from the moment you saw me save that man a month ago." Luhan backed away slightly and clamped his mouth shut, because she was right. As much as he wanted to keep her away from the human, he loved her too much to ever let her suffer. But he also knew that the longer he let this continue, the longer the distance grew between the two of them.

                "If it means keeping you, I am going to do it." He turned and began to head back to their underwater city. Miyoung gasped in shock and swiftly swam after him. She barely caught onto him and grasped onto his arm tightly before pulling him back around to face her.

                "Luhan, you're not serious--are you?" The confidence within her eyes dispersed as he pulled his arm away from her hold roughly. Luhan didn't say a single word, instead, he only turned away from her and swam as fast as he could. Miyoung chased after him, her heart racing and her eyes hot as she realized that this time he was serious. She knew that she wouldn't be able to beat him back in time though and the thought of never being able to reach the surface again made her eyes burn even more.

                Miyoung stopped chasing after bubbles and immediately turned the opposite direction. Her heart grew heavy as she headed towards the deep end, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to let Luhan and her father keep her under water forever. She hated it. She wanted to be like them. She wanted to be human. She wanted to live like them, walk like them, dance like them. She wanted to be a part of it all. And if Luhan was going to try and take that all away from her, then she was going to make sure she got it before he could take it away.

                She swam and swam and never looked back, because she knew that if she did, she'd change her mind and then she'd never be able to meet the prince that she had saved from drowning. She still remembered that night. She saw their ship and surfaced to try and sneak a peek at the humans on board when she was supposed to be home, preparing for a rehearsal for her father's birthday. When he found that she wasn't home, he threw a fit a rage and caused an unexpected storm. The ship was caught in it and many humans fell to their deaths, drowning in her father's anger. She was going to swim away in fear, but she remembered his bright blonde hair and how it shined in the moonlight water. Then before she knew it, he was in her arms and she was dragging him to shore.

                He wasn't breathing when they finally made it to shore and she didn't know what else to do, so she the water from his lips. It wasn't until he coughed and gasped for air that she finally took a good look at his face. She remembered vividly the way that his eyes fluttered open tiredly and how he turned his head the slightest, his dark brown eyes catching hers before he fell unconscious again. She stayed with him until she heard voices approaching and then she left. And ever since that night, she knew that by the way he had looked at her...she had been shot by cupid's arrow and her heart no longer belonged to herself, but to him.

                Miyoung swam passed the endless bodies of dead fish and deeper into the dark abyss. She continued following the winding and lonely path until she saw the murky green light up ahead. Her heart leapt in her chest and she immediately picked up her pace, swimming as fast as she could until she reached the Sea Witch's dark and chilly lair.

                "I know why you are here, Princess." The beautiful woman whispered as soon as Miyoung arrived, "And I can grant that wish, but you know that it comes with a price, don't you?" The witch chuckled darkly and then smirked, "But we'll talk about the price later. For now, I'll grant you your wish." Miyoung was about to ask how when she felt a sudden pain in her coral colored tail. The witch laughed lightly, "My dear, start swimming for the surface. Or else you'll die before your wish is granted." Miyoung's eyes widened and she began to thrash around crazily. She was able to get herself outside of the witches lair and into the open water, but by the time she escaped the enclosed darkness, her tail was already gone and all she had were two flimsy legs that barely had any strength in them.

                She stared at them in awe and her heart fluttered. She gasped, about to laugh, when instead she swallowed a mouthful of sea water. Shock hit her as she realized that she could no longer breath underwater  and she began to panic. Miyoung headed upwards, but no matter how hard and fast she kicked, her legs were nowhere as good as her fish tail and she found herself getting dizzy and light headed. Her lungs started to burn and her vision blurred as her legs slowly gave out on her. She reached out sunrays shining down through the water and felt her eyes get hot again. The lights began to disappear and she felt her body slowly sink back down towards the black abyss. The last thought she remembered thinking was: She was so close...so close...

this is a short first chapter, but don't worry, next will definitely be longer ;)

사랑합니다, 은애