Chapter 3

Himchan watched as the mysterious land creature looked over his stings. The two had grown silent after introducing themselves. The land creature quickly turned away and stared at his stings after Himchan had smiled at him. Himchan tilted his head to the side when he noticed the land creature's face grow red. The creature was quite interesting to look at. For the most part the land creature was like Himchan; arms, torso and head. But there were a few things that Himchan didn't understand. Why didn't the creature have a tail and what were those strange markings on his body?

The land creature was interesting.

With the exception of saving Yongguk, this was the first time Himchan was so close to a land creature. He never once had dared to get so close to one. He had seen how cruel land creatures were with the ones in the sea. The hunting and killing of his follow sea creatures scared him. He didn't want to die at the hands of one of these land creatures. He had spent all of his life avoiding those creatures.

Himchan's heart raced just thinking of it. He didn't know what possessed him to save Yongguk the first time he was drowning and he didn't know why he had saved him again and brought him to this cave. He didn't know why he was still sitting next to the land creature. He should have left the moment he gave him the plant for his stings. The land creature could take him and kill him now. He should leave before it was too late.

“Why did you save me?”

Yongguk's voice cause the merman to jump. He was too busy in his own head that he didn't expect for Yongguk to speak. Himchan looked back at Yongguk, his eyes widened in shock.

“Huh?” The merman said.

It was Yongguk's turn to look up from where he had been staring. He noticed the surprised look on the merman's face. He lightly chuckled at the cute expression on the merman's face. “I asked, why did you save me? I would imagine that you would live your life in secret, away from the land and people.”

Himchan tilted his head to the side. “People?”

“Oh. You probably don't know the word people.” Yongguk paused. He furrowed his eyebrows and pouted lightly has he tried to figure out how to explain the work to the merman. “People is a group persons.” Himchan continued to stare at him with confusion. “Right...a person is...me.” He pointed to himself. “I am a person. It's another word for human being.”

“Oh,” Himchan blinked a couple of times, letting the new information settle in his head. “So people are a group of creatures like you.”

Yongguk nodded. “Yes.”

“Okay.” Himchan responded, understanding what Yongguk had said.

“So,” Yongguk shifted awkwardly where he sat. “Why did you save me?”

Himchan looked down at the water. He watched the end of his tail move slightly underneath the water. “I don't know.” He said softly; his heart felt like it was beating out of his chest.

“Oh.” Yongguk said. “Thank you for saving me. Both times.”

Awkward silence fell between both of them again. Neither knowing what to say to one another. Yongguk knew that he should head back home to properly treat his stings but he didn't want to leave. He didn't know if he'd ever get another opportunity again to spend with the merman. He didn't want to waste this opportunity.

Himchan was angry with himself for still sitting next to Yongguk and not swimming away to safety. It was like he was frozen in place from horror of what could happen to him. His body slightly shook in fear.

Yongguk noticed and reached out to touch the merman. “Hey, you okay?”

Himchan shrieked when he felt fingers graze his shoulder and jumped back into the water. In a blink of an eye, the merman disappeared.

Yongguk stumbled to his feet to search for the beautiful creature. His heart dropped when he realized that the merman was gone. He hung his head low and sighed. He didn't know what he did to make the merman so frightened of him. They were talking and then silence. Yongguk was worried because he saw the merman shaking. Maybe he was out of the water for too long?

Or was it because Yongguk had touched him?

“Idiot!” Yongguk facepalmed realizing that the reason Himchan had left was because Yongguk had touched him. Himchan didn't like it when Yongguk had touched him without permission the first couple of times. He had told the merman that he wouldn't touch him without permission. Yongguk groaned at how much of idiot he was to forget something that he had said he wouldn't do not too long ago.

Yongguk sighed and lifted his head. He looked around the cave and said, “Now how do I get out of here?”

******

Yongguk fell face first onto the living room couch, immediately screaming in pain when his stings and sunburns touched the fabric. He rolled off the couch and landed on his , letting out a whiny groan. It had taken him what seemed like forever to figure out how to get out of the cave. He could have jumped back into the water but his stings wouldn't allow him to swim properly and he didn't want to risk drowning again.

He had carefully walked along side the rocky edge of the cave, wincing every now and then when his bare feet stepped on a rock. He had slipped a couple of times but fortunately he was able to pull himself back up onto the ledge. He had made it to the end of the cave hoping that there would be some kind of ledge for him to walk on. Fortunately for him, the shore wasn't too far from the cave's entrance. He jumped into the calm water and doggy paddled his way to the shore.

Once he was on shore, he realize that he was nowhere near his cove let alone his house. He walked up the beach and out to the road. He almost screamed when he realized that he was actually on the other side of the island. He didn't know how long he walked until someone was generous enough to drive him back to the cove so that he could retrieve his belongings that he had left on the beach. His entire body ached. He had a pretty nice sunburn on his chest and shoulders from walking under the hot sun. He needed to treat his jellyfish stings and his sunburn but he was too physically exhausted to get up off of the floor.

Yongguk leaned back and laid on the floor, not caring how long it had been since the floor was last cleaned. He blankly stared at the ceiling and sighed. He was drained both physically and mentally. He didn't know how long he stayed like that until he drifted off to sleep. The ringing of his phone woke him from his slumber.

“Hello?” He said, his voice groggy with sleep.

“Were you asleep?” The voice of his little brother came through the speaker. Yongguk grunted at the question. “Good, I'm glad you're resting. That's what you went there for. But don't tell me that you've been asleep all day.”

“No. I just fell asleep...I think.” Yongguk said still laying on the floor with his eyes closed. “I was swimming earlier and got a nice sunburn and couple of lovely jellyfish stings.” 'Oh and I also met a merman who breathtakingly beautiful and who I scared off and will probably never ever see again in my life.' Yongguk thought the last part.

Youngjae clicked his tongue. “You sound like a tourist who has never been to an island before. I can let the jellyfish sting pass cause those things can come out of nowhere sometimes but how did you forget your sunscreen? I know you're tan and don't burn as fast as I do, but still.”

“I wasn't really thinking about that.” Yongguk said. The only thing that was on his mind that morning was getting to see the merman once again. He didn't care about anything else. He still doesn't care about anything else. He wants to see Himchan again. He wants to apologize to the merman and tell him that there is no reason for him to be scared of him.

“Hey Jae, do you believe that mermaids exist?” Yongguk asked his brother.

“Yeah just like Bigfoot is real.” Youngjae said sarcastically. “I actually saw Bigfoot last night.”

“Don't talk about me that way to your hyung. He'll kill me.” Daehyun could be heard in the background.

“So you're calling yourself Bigfoot?” Youngjae asked his boyfriend.

“You know what they say about guys with big feet.” The Busan boy teased, not knowing that Yongguk could hear him.

“You two are gross. I can't listen to this anymore.” Yongguk said. “I'm gonna go treat my stings and burns. Bye Jae.” He hung up without caring if his brother had something else to tell him. He wasn't in the mood to get nagged more.

He groaned when he pulled himself off of the floor. He looked out the window noticing that the sun was starting to set. He could only guess just how long he had been asleep. It seemed like he was out for a couple of hours, but he couldn't blame himself for it. Today had been a very eventful day. He almost drowned for the second day in a row and had to get from one end of the island to the other. But it was all worth it because he had met a merman.

Yongguk would do it all over again just to meet Himchan again.

Would the third time be a charm if Yongguk drowned again tomorrow? He wasn't crazy enough to find out. Not yet at least. He'd rather not try his luck again.

Yongguk slowly shuffled to the kitchen, groaning as his body ached with every step he made. He rummaged through the cabinets for vinegar or baking soda paste for his stings. When he found the vinegar he grabbed a bottle of water and shuffled to the bathroom. He opened the cabinet and pulled out pain killers and popped two into his mouth, downing it with water. He closed the lid of the toilet and sat on down of it.

Yongguk looked over his stings. He no longer had the tentacles stuck to him thanks to Himchan's help. Yongguk smile d when he thought of the merman, not only was the merman beautiful but the faces he made were some of the cutest faces Yongguk had seen. He shook the memories of the merman out of his head when he got back up on his feet. He looked into the mirror to inspect his sunburns. He was relieved to see that his burns weren't too severe; his tan skin was just red and irritated from the sun's rays. He was pretty sure that his tattoo wasn't spared from being burned; he just couldn't see it because of the black ink.

Yongguk moved to the shower, stripping off his clothes. He entered the shower with the bottle of vinegar in his hands. He rinsed the jellyfish stings a few minutes with the vinegar before placing the bottle on the floor outside of the shower. He turned the faucet and let the cold water hit him. He knew that he should use cold packs for the stings but a cold shower is the next best thing. The cold shower help soothed both this stings and sunburns.

He closed his eyes as he stood underneath the shower head. He let his mind drifted to Himchan. Yongguk had never seen anything more beautiful in his life. He still couldn't believe that something so beautiful existed. No one was supposed to know that Himchan existed but Yongguk was fortunate enough to meet such a creature. Yongguk should have been dead but for whatever reason the merman decided to make himself known by rescuing Yongguk. He was forever grateful to the merman.

He just wished that he could have another chance to tell the merman just how grateful he was. He should have known that the merman would have been afraid of him. It was also his first time ever being so close to a human. It would make sense for Himchan to be afraid. Being introduced to something new can be frightening especially if you're experiencing with someone you didn't know.

Yongguk didn't know how or when he would be able to see Himchan again. If he had to, he would wait for the merman on the shore all day, not moving until the sunset. He was determined to see Himchan again to apologize.

Hey guys~  Hoped you liked this chapter more than I do.  (Not gonna lie, not too happy with this chapter.)  

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