"Do you have to follow me?" Sehun laughed as he nudged his friend aside.

                "Shh. They'll hear us. Just keep pretending." Suhee muttered under her breath as she reached over and grabbed his hands. He rolled his eyes and let her entwine her fingers with his. Then he glanced back over his shoulder with her and they both waved at their parents before hurrying down the sandy pathway as the adults headed back inside through the wooden door. They both did a double take to make sure that their parents were gone and then quickly pulled away from each other in disgust.

                "Ewwww. Your hands are so sweaty, Sehun." Suhee laughed as she playfully wiped her palms onto Sehun's sleeve. He laughed while shoving her hands away, "Gross. It was your hand! Not mine!" The two friends laughed some more and walked along the sandy hillside when Suhee glanced out at the sea and sighed, "Why do you always come out here? You still haven't told me, you know?" Sehun only shrugged and shook his head with a small smile when she looked back to him with an arched brow.

                "What? You're going to have to tell me sooner or later. Because, remember, we are getting married!" Suhee giggled super loud and struck a cute pose before rolling her eyes in disbelief and pretending to gag. She shook her head and took lighter hopping steps down the pathway, ahead of Sehun as she grunted, "Our parents are so stupid for setting this marriage up. You agree with me, don't you? I can't even look at you as a man. And you've got your heart set on someone that you won't even tell me. Who am I? I thought that I was a friend. I thought I was your best friend at the least." She blabbed on while Sehun stopped in his tracks in surprise.

                "Who told you that?" He blurted, causing Suhee to stop walking as well.

                "Told me, what?" She frowned while turning to look back up at him.

                "That I have my eyes on someone else." He tried not to look nervous, but his palms were already getting sweaty. Suhee laughed out loud and slapped her knees, "Honestly, Sehun. I know that I never shut up, but that doesn't mean I'm a complete fool. I've known you ever since we were eight years old! You don't just have your eyes set on someone else. Your heart has completely been stolen. And don't worry, I mean, I get the reason why you can't tell anyone about it—because our idiotic and pompous parents are showcasing our engagement to the whole town—but still! All these lonesome walks to the beach and depressing stares that you give the sea, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're chasing after fantasies, right?" He parted his lips, but realized that she was right and so he sealed them again and only nodded with a small grunt.

                "Well, I'll be heading over there to skip some rocks. You think about it for a couple more minutes and come on over when you figure out whether you want to tell me or not." Suhee huffed and then gave him a small smile. She turned to head down the beach shore when Sehun stopped her again.

                "Wait..." He hesitated when she turned her attention back to him.

                "What?" Suhee raised a questioning brow.

                "Promise...you won't laugh..." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and eyed her.

                "Cross my heart." She made an X-mark over her chest before he sighed heavily, "Okay...well...remember when you all found me by the beach shore after the storm came through?" Suhee nodded, listening intently as Sehun continued slowly, "Well...I remember...I remember seeing a girl...I think she saved me. I'm pretty sure she was the one that saved me. And I keep dreaming about her. I keep dreaming about that night over and over again. I fell off the deck and into the water. It was dark and then someone grabbed me...whoever it was, they were a fast swimmer. Much faster than...a human."

                "Wait! Stop right there!" Suhee interrupted and Sehun's cheeks turned pink as she burst, "Are you trying to say that a mermaid saved you?" Her eyes got big and she looked like she was about to laugh. Sehun tried to glare while she straightened out her face and cleared , "Well, what did she look like?"

                "Rosy cheeks. Long black hair. And really brown eyes." He stated shortly, not caring anymore.

                "Hmm. Sounds like every girl around here." Suhee smiled when he blushed again.

                "You know what? Forget it. Just pretend that I never said anything." Sehun sighed while Suhee continued walking. She only nodded and shrugged back at him, "Hey, I didn't laugh, did I?" She glanced back at Sehun, but he only shook his head and looked away. She then rolled her eyes and left, heading down to the beach and over the sand hill towards where the rocks were.

                Honestly, how was she going to do this? As much as she loved Sehun as a friend, she knew that she was going to go nuts when they actually marry. If it wasn't for that storm and Sehun washing up onto the shore a month ago, their parents would have never arranged such a silly marriage. Sehun had left to go do some sailing with friends and he even invited her, but she was too afraid to board, so they left without her. No one knew that there was going to be such a dangerous storm and barely anyone came back alive. Sehun was one of the lucky few and when they found him, his parents began to weep about their only child and immediately asked for her hand in marriage. Suhee denied it, but her parents accepted and it didn't matter that Sehun and she didn't want it. It only mattered that the parents needed the marriage to continue their lineage.

                She hated it. She hated how she had no say in what she wanted. She wanted to get away from here. She wanted to be free. She wanted to marry someone that she loved, not her friend. Suhee huffed softly to herself and looked up when she reached the usual area where she came to skip rocks. Her eyes widened and she immediately stopped walking as her eyes landed upon the scene before her.

                The merman with the dirty blonde hair must have sensed her presence, because he instantly jerked away from the human girl to glare at her. Suhee only stared back, wide eyed, completely mesmerized by his beauty when he parted his lips and surprised her even more with his melodic voice.

                Luhan felt anger boil within him as he looked back to the disgusting human girl, "What do you want?"

                "I—" Suhee took a step back, surprised by the harshness of his words, "Nothing—I just—what are you going to do to her?" She looked back to the unconscious girl. Luhan's anger seemed to vanish when he looked back to the girl before he leaned in and kissed her lips. Suhee felt her cheeks heat up, but quickly realized that he was the water from the girl's lips.

                "Is—Is she all right? What happened?" Suhee cautiously took a step forward when the girl suddenly coughed and gasped for air. Luhan pulled back and sighed in relief before caressing the side of Miyoung's face gently. He had almost been too late. It was a good thing that he turned back after her when he did or else, she would have been gone by now. He brushed her wet hair back and shifted so that the warmth of the sunrays could land on her beautiful face when he remembered that the stupid human girl was still there with them.

                "You—You're in love with her, aren't you? You've fallen for a human." Suhee asked softly when Luhan whipped his attention back to her.

                "Don't group her with your disgusting race. She's not human. She's a mermaid!" He snapped angrily, causing Suhee to step back in shock again. Suhee only blinked silently in reply and bit her bottom lip. She couldn't understand why her heart was racing so quickly even though the merman was speaking so harshly to her. Usually, she would have snapped back, but she didn't understand why her tongue had become so tied. Her chest felt hot when she looked back into his beautiful eyes.

                "She only wished for this...but knowing that stupid Sea Witch...this deal won't last long." Luhan glanced back at the sea, seemingly talking more to himself than to Suhee. Miyoung shifted gently under him, barely conscious, and he grunted in what sounded like irritation and frustration before he looked back to Suhee and commanded angrily, "Watch over her until I return. If you let anything happen to her before then, I will hunt you down and kill you." Then without another word, with a powerful swing of his blood colored tail, he disappeared back into the sea waters with a splash just before Suhee heard Sehun's voice, "Suhee, I think we need to talk...about the marriage."

                "Sehun, take off your shirt!" Suhee turned around and hurriedly ran over to him.

                "What—What are you doing?!" He gasped out loud and tried to push her away when she grabbed onto his shirt and roughly ripped it open, breaking the buttons from their clasps. Sehun's cheeks instantly turned red as he tried to shove her away from him, blurting, "What the hell are you doing, Suhee?! We can't do this—I don't want to—You can't make me!"

                "Shut up! I'm not going to do anything to you, you little brat!" Suhee only snapped back while ripping his shirt off of him before turning back around and rushing back to where the other girl was. Miyoung had awoken and slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position when the human girl appeared out of nowhere and suddenly wrapped a piece of human cloth around her body. Miyoung gasped in shock, but quickly realized that the girl meant no harm when she realized how gentle the human wrapped the clothing around her.

                "Are you all right?" Suhee asked softly and Miyoung parted her lips, about to answer when they both heard Sehun.

                "Suhee, what the—" Sehun stopped abruptly when his eyes landed upon the second girl and his eyes widened as the memories and his dreams came flooding back to him. Miyoung's eyes also widened as she stared back at the handsome prince that she had so desperately wanted to meet herself. Her chest swelled up with joy.

                "Sehun, this is...uh..." Suhee glanced back at the nameless girl and then back at Sehun, but the two of them seemed to be in their own little world as they stared back at each other in awe. And as much as Suhee didn't want to interrupt them, her curiosity got the better of her and she broke their trance by gently touching the girl's shoulder, asking, "My name is Suhee and that's Sehun. How about you?" Miyoung stared at her and then glanced back at Sehun with a small and shy smile as her cheeks flushed a cute pink, "Sehun...your name is Sehun."

                "I...I'm Sehun." Sehun nodded slowly as his heart skipped a beat at the beauty before him.

                "I'm Miyoung." She giggled softly before he felt a smile play onto his lips as he replied, "Hello, Miyoung."

Sehun had to carry her back into his castle since she wasn't able to walk on her own. Yet, it seemed that the two humans had no suspicion of her and her inability to walk. She surely felt blessed and lucky when Sehun picked her up so easily as if she weighed nothing more than a seashell. He even joked with her and said that she was light in comparison to Suhee.

                "Suhee weighs as much as a cow," he said and even though she didn't know what a cow was, she laughed with him. Because his laughter was charming and warming and when he smiled, she felt a warmth wash over her that she couldn't explain.

                None of the other humans seemed to question her or how she got there. It was probably due to the fact that Sehun had stated to everyone that they were to treat her like royalty when he brought her back. Then after that, he took her to a beautiful room where he left her with Suhee. Other human girls came in as well and they cleaned her up. Before she knew it, she looked like one of them.

                "Wow~" She giggled when she stood wobbly in front of the large golden framed mirror.

                "You look beautiful!" One of the younger girls gasped and Miyoung turned to look at the girl when her feet gave out on her and she tumbled onto the floor. All the girls in the room immediately began whispering and chattering with each other quietly. She looked up, unsure how to respond when Suhee came to her rescue. Suhee rushed over and instantly picked Miyoung up, surprising everyone as she instructed, "You all may leave now. Keep your mouth shut and don't gossip or else."

                All the girls silenced instantly and hurriedly left the room while Suhee carried Miyoung over to the bed and sat her down. Miyoung stared at Suhee with wide eyes, "You are as strong as Sehun..." Suhee sat down beside Miyoung and then laughed lightly, "I'm stronger than Sehun." Then she sighed and took a deep breath before asking cautiously, "Are your legs okay?" Miyoung stiffened, but tried to play it off, innocently, "Of course they're okay. Why do you ask?"

                "Miyoung-ah," Suhee smiled gently, "It's all right for you to tell me. The merman asked me to look after you. He said that you're a mermaid and that you've asked to become human." Miyoung's eyes widened and she stared at Suhee for a moment and then looked away with a small sigh, "Luhan..."

                "So...his name is Luhan?" Suhee's heart skipped a beat.

                "Yes...he must have saved me." Miyoung nodded slowly and then looked back to Suhee, asking softly, "Did he say anything else? Was he angry?"

                "He wasn't angry. At least, not with you." Suhee smiled back in an assuring manner, "He said something about the deal and the sea witch. How the deal isn't going to last long...he seemed very worried about you. Is he your brother?" Suhee tried not to sound too excited as she asked Miyoung. She cleared and straightened up while Miyoung shook her head sadly, murmuring, "I wish he was."

                "You don't sound very happy." Suhee frowned when Miyoung looked back to her with a small smile, "Maybe if Luhan was my brother, he wouldn't try so hard to pursue me." Suhee's eyes widened and she felt her hopes get crushed as she chuckled, "Oh."

                "I don't see him that way though. He's always been like an older brother to me. I hate to see him hurting because I cannot return the same feelings...but no matter what I say or do, he seems to always be a step behind me."

                "Ah..." Suhee nodded slowly, "That's exactly how Sehun and I feel."

                "What?" Miyoung's heart flopped as she looked back to Suhee with wide eyes.

                "We have no affection towards each other whatsoever, and yet..." Suhee sighed heavily and crossed her arms. Miyoung's heart pounded in her chest as she waited patiently, curious to hear what Suhee was going to say. Suhee laughed softly before looking back to Miyoung, "Sehun and I are getting married." And just like that, Miyoung's hope and dreams were crushed.

                Her sacrifice had been for nothing.

I had originally planned this for only 2-3 chapters, but idk it i'll be able to fit the whole story . I guess we'll see? Hahaha, sorry for the year long wait! I've moved this story out of MiAe11 to CFdorks, so hopefully I can work on multiple stories at once and finish this one up. <3

사랑합니다, 은애