"You're absolutely sure about this?" the seawitch asked him, just to be certain. As if he really could turn back at any moment. As if he could forget about his love for the human prince, or forget about the past few hours he had spent making good on his deal with that woman. As if there was any other course of action for him to follow now.

His thoughts were still arguing. The pit in his stomach was still there. As happy as he was to be getting what he wanted, he was afraid. Afraid like he hadn't been before. But he shoved that all aside. He only focused on the happiness he was about to gain.

"I'm ready," he told her confidently.

Yoori smiled as she twisted the cap of the black bottle she had brought with her to that wide open plain at the bottom of the sea. "Remember, you have to start for the surface the moment I cast the spell. You won't be able to breathe under water once you've changed."

He nodded. "I'm ready."

"Alright, Taemin," she said, popping the lid from the bottle, "I honestly hope you find your happiness on the shore. Thanks to you, I think I've finally found mine."

If only he could be happy for her.

The gold dust flowed from the open bottle, glowing in the darkness of the depths. Taemin had never witnessed magic at work before, so he was amazed.

He couldn't fathom how something as simple as that bright dust could transform him, how it could know the desires of his heart, how it could be manipulated and controlled to do exactly what the seawitch wanted it to.

He wasn't likely to ever find out how it worked.

In a few minutes, he wouldn't even care.

All on its own, the magic sought him out. The gold dust attached itself to his body, covering his chest first, right over his heart. Immediately, he felt its warmth spread throughout his scales and sink into his flesh. The next second, everything started tingling, before it started burning.

"Go!" she ordered.

He didn't hesitate. He sped upward as quickly as possible, pushing through the cold depths of the sea to the warmer waters near the surface. He worked his muscles as hard as he could, despite the fact that they were burning. He screamed when he felt something tear. A different, sharper pain ran up his tail.

Panicked, he stopped. He flailed about, only a few meters from the surface, thrashing as the pain traveled throughout every part of his body. His scales felt like they were moving, crawling off his body, disappearing into the dust that was still slathered on his chest.

He went suddenly rigid when the pain shot up his spine. At that moment, his tail split in two. Both halves worked independently, kicking at the water. Despite the pain that overwhelmed his senses, he watched as the tail he had known all his life transformed into the pair of legs. His scales were falling away from his body, leaving behind the smooth tan skin. He took it all in, amazed.

Before he choked. Everything burned as his nose took in the water, as the gills in his neck were sealed. He thrashed and struggled till he broke through the surface of the sea that suddenly terrified him. He gasped and took in a gulp of the fresh salty air, hardly able to do so before he sank back under again.

He didn't know how to keep himself afloat. He didn't know how those legs and the web-less fingers were supposed to swim in the depths. He didn't know what to do with his new body.

He was drowning. He would be dead before he even had a chance to live.

Jonghyun pulled himself up onto the tall boulder and stared out into the rocky sea, in the direction of his favorite little island - the little island that was empty yet again.

It had been empty for weeks now.

Every night that he could get away, he went up there. He snuck away to find his friend, only to find he wasn't there waiting for him. He whispered into the shell like he had done before, but there was nothing. No reply ever came.

Taemin was gone. He didn't want to believe it, but he didn't know how much longer he could keep coming out there. He didn't know how much longer he could stare at the empty island, wishing for a friend who would not be there.

A noise there on the beach broke Jonghyun's heavy train of thought. Startled, he turned about, surprised to find he had a visitor there among those rocks and boulders. And it wasn't Jinki come to take him back home. It wasn't his guards or any of his attendants. It was Meeyon.

The young woman smiled awkwardly as he stared at her, still alarmed and little bothered. Even though his secret wasn't there to be discovered, he felt her presence was an intrusion on his own little sanctuary.

It was bad enough she had already intruded on his life.

"Good morning, your highness," the young priestess said politely, offering him a formal bow, "I didn't mean to startle you. I'm sorry."

Seeing her distress, Jonghyun forced himself to soften his expression. "It's fine," he answered. He sat down on the boulder, facing her but with his attention back out to the sea, and the empty island.

"So this is where you run off to all the time," his fiancée commented, looking around the place curiously, as if trying to figure out what was so alluring about it.

"Yep," he answered, wondering if his little secret was ruined forever.

The young woman was smiling again, like she found the place suddenly amusing. Despite being out of place among all the rocks, the young woman was a pleasant sight among all of them. Jonghyun hadn't seen her much recently, despite the fact that she now lived in his home and the two of them were caught up in all the details of their impending wedding. He had been avoiding her, as if he could avoid the wedding by doing so. If only it were that simple.

"I'm sorry," Jonghyun said, forcing the words out of his mouth.

The young woman turned to him, confused. "What for?"

"For being so rude to you these past few weeks," he explained, "It's not fair to you. I've just been dealing with a lot." His gaze once again went out to the sea.

Much to his surprise, the young woman approached his boulder, and despite the long dress she was wearing, managed to pull herself up onto it. He took her hand to keep her from falling, and helped her find a seat beside him. Finally in place, she sighed contentedly, before staring out into the sea like he had been doing. She was still smiling.

"I understand, you know," she said, "A marriage is a big deal. It's been hard on me as well."

Jonghyun turned to her, surprised. "Really?"

"Of course. You think I'm eager to marry someone I don't really know?"

He hadn't thought much about how she felt. He just assumed she would be happy about it, that she had so much to gain from the appointment, and not much to lose.

"Not every young woman dreams of marrying a prince, your highness," she explained, "My dreams were simpler. I wanted to stay in the temple. I wanted to raise my children there."

Her words had him silent, and left him thinking about his own dreams - dreams that were simple and would have been easy to obtain, if he were anything but a prince. Just when he thought one of these dreams - simple contentment - might be within his reach, it was snatched away from him. And he didn't know why. Taemin just quit showing up.

"I nearly died not long ago, you know," Jonghyun said, thinking back to that fateful night while absently the ridges of his seashell necklace, "I was drowning and I didn't really care. But someone saved my life and brought me up on that island right over there."

Meeyon stared out where he was pointing.

"His name was Taemin. We would meet back out on that island almost every night. We wouldn't do much, but we would talk and have fun just being together."

She listened to him intently, and even after he was done speaking, she waited to make sure he didn't say more. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know," he said, lifting his pendant to look it. "He just never came back."

"Have you tried looking for him? You're the prince, have your men look into it."

He smiled at her ignorance. "It's not that simple."

"How come?"

He waited a moment before answering, before deciding to throw caution to the wind. He was about to be married to that woman; he figured he could at least let her in on one secret. "He's a merman," he said.

She wasn't shocked at all. Not even a little alarmed.

"He was a prince in his world, like I am here," he explained further, "It felt nice to be understood by someone. We would both find a little escape from our problems out there, under the stars."

"That sounds nice."

"It was." His eyes fell to his hands as his emotions nearly got the better of him. He hadn't cried over Taemin yet, but he knew the time was coming. One day soon, the fear and the loss would be too much to hold in.

"If he was a prince, maybe he had obligations like you do," she suggested, trying to be positive, "Maybe that's why he quit showing up. Maybe he...got married."

He chuckled softly. "Mermaids don't marry."

"I wouldn't know. But maybe it's not a bad thing. Maybe he found something under the sea to make him happy?"

He turned to her, staring at her bright eyes and her soft smile. He realized at that moment that he didn't know the girl sitting beside him, that he had never given himself the chance to know her. He hadn't wanted to know her. Now he regretted that, because in that quiet moment, he discovered she was a nice person.

He didn't love her - there was no way he could love her after such a short time - but he could at least befriend her. She seemed nice. She seemed like she could be a good reprieve at the end of the day. She seemed like she could be a solid person to rely on when everything went sour. Sure, he didn't know her, but he felt that at that moment, she showed him the most honest side of herself - a side that was kind, positive, and encouraging.

Those were all good traits for a spouse to have.

And maybe what Taemin said would come true. Maybe marrying her would create a bond between them. Maybe he would grow to love her.

If he let himself.

"I hope so," he said, in reference to her question, "I hope he's happy. And I hope he's safe."

No matter what, one thing was certain: he wouldn't be coming to that island today.

Jonghyun took in a deep breath, deciding to purge his pain and anxiety out with it. He then spun around and leaped from the boulder, landing on his feet in the sand. He extended his hand to his fiancée to help her down.

"Shall we go home?"