~Above Our Deep Blue Sea~

            From the moment that all mermaids are brought into existence they are taught extensively the rules of the sea. The most important one being to never go to the surface world where all the creatures called humans reside. Humans are cruel creatures that will show no mercy to any of their aquatic kind, it's best to keep peace by staying out of their way and sight.

            Yujeong was always a mermaid who was cautious especially when she made decisions. She abided by all the rules no matter how small or insignificant they may have seemed. She was a by the book type of person. So, surely it was nothing but a shock when she found herself falling in love with her best friend, Solbin, a mermaid who always attracted plenty of trouble wherever the other went. But after being with the other for so long maybe it shouldn't have even been a surprise for Yujeong.

            "Solbin… Didn't I tell you that Poseidon's rule specifically ordered all merpeople to avoid those dangerous fishing nets at all costs and that if we were to see any we immediately should swim away from them and not into them numerous times?" Yujeong looks at the younger with a highly displeased expression as Solbin continues with her punishment of clearing the coral reefs of any trash or debris.

            "You did, I know," mumbles Solbin dejectedly, she wasn't really in the mood for another nagging lecture but she knew Yujeong always meant well. They were together through thick and thin, they knew each other inside and out or at least they think that they do.

            "Do you have any idea how disastrous it would have become if you got stuck in that net?" Yujeong narrows her eyes at Solbin, "You'd have been dragged to the surface world where those human things live." Yujeong shivered at the prospect, those nets were a death wish to all sea creatures.

            "Aw Yujeong it's not that bad. The surface world has some cool stuff too," interrupts a familiar voice from behind Yujeong.

            Solbin looks up in glee while Yujeong frowns at being refuted. Yulhee was seen swimming straight for them along with their other friends, Haein, Soyeon, and ZN.

            "That's not the point though Yulhee, it's still dangerous," replies Yujeong when the other is close enough, "Besides all those cool things you heard about the surface world are just rumors, no one who has gone to the surface world has ever returned."

            "That doesn’t necessarily mean that something bad happened to them you know." Yulhee takes a seat next to Yujeong on the reef's edge along with Soyeon while Haein and ZN attempt to lend a hand to Solbin with her punishment.

            "What else could have happened to them?"

            Yulhee shrugs and Soyeon answers with a giggle, "Maybe they found a prince, got married, and lived happily ever after."

            "Of all things I highly doubt that happened." Yujeong sighs while stretching out her pretty tail fin admiring the way the scales glittered with the water, "I'd prefer to just stay away from humans as much as possible, being in the sea is the safest place for us. We were born and raised here, this is where we belong."

            "The safest for us, yes, but Solbin is an adventure seeker. She broke so many rules and got into so much trouble already it's like her destiny to eventually break the greatest taboo too," notes Soyeon as she points towards the mentioned mermaid who was now playing with some clown fish swimming around her.

            Yujeong sighs as she turns to Soyeon, "You know, I can almost see that happening."

            "See what happening?"

            Yujeong jolts up in surprise at hearing Solbin's voice so close by her, turning her head she sees Solbin much closer and looking at the three of them with curiosity.

            Soyeon attempts to brush it off with a breathy laugh, "Oh nothing much just that no one in their right minds would want to go to the surface world."

            Solbin tilts her head, "Really? How come?"

            Yujeong presses her lips together thinly afraid where Solbin's curiosity could lead to, "Solbin, you do know that it's the biggest rule we're never supposed to break right? All the adults had repeated it to us since we were young."

            "Of course, but I never really understand why, no one ever gave us a reason for it they just told us not to go up there. Don't the other merpeople also wonder what's it like up there with the humans? Don't we at the least look somewhat like them?"

            "Ah, Solbin is right on that," Haein joins in on the conversation, "Apparently the supposed rumor is that they look just like us but without any fins, they have these things called legs that they use to walk with. Strange isn't it? Although legend says that we have the ability to 'walk' the moment we touch surface land but if we stay too long above then we lose our tail fins forever. It's a pretty big gamble."

            "Humans do tend to drop interesting items in the sea though. I was swimming by the sea caves once and found this really pretty golden chain with a shiny pendent at the end," ZN added on.

            Yulhee gasped, "That necklace you showed us before was from the surface world? I thought you bought that when you traveled to the Southern Sea."

            ZN shook her head, "Nope, I don't think anyone in the sea could possibly make something like that."

            Solbin remembers the necklace well, it's bright gold and vibrant pink pendant at the end. If it came from the surface world then it only peaked her interest even further. "Has anyone ever gone to the surface world before or tried it? How long does it take before we can never return to the sea again?"

            "There's only rumors and legends but supposedly we have a full twenty four hours before we're stuck with legs forever," answers Soyeon, "But if you're caught then who knows what Poseidon will do to you."

            "Which is why we shouldn't do anything so ridiculous right? Solbin?" questioned Yujeong with particular emphasis on the word 'ridiculous' as she sent a warning look at Solbin.

            The younger seemed to not even catch even the slightest notice to Yujeong's tense mood. But luckily Solbin answered with just the right words that Yujeong wanted to hear, "No, we shouldn't."

            Being appeased with the answer Yujeong visibly relaxed, feeling relieved that for once Solbin wasn't swimming head first into danger like usual.

            "That's good to hear," grins Yulhee, "I thought you'd be ready to swim above any second after that excited look on your face from listening to everything. Why don't we all go get something to eat after Solbin finishes up her cleaning punishment? I heard there's a new seaweed wrap available at the 7 Seas Café."

            "Oh, no need to wait up for me. You guys go order first and I'll catch up with you later, I'm almost done anyways." Solbin smiles innocently as her friends make their decision.

            "I'll stick with Solbin too so she won't take too long," volunteered Yujeong, unknowingly playing right into Solbin's plan.

            "Alright, if you say so, we'll save you a seat then," replies Soyeon before the four of them swim away.

            When the four were out of sight, Solbin spun Yujeong around so they were face to face. Solbin knows very well that Yujeong is the type to follow the rules down to the very last circumstance but she doesn’t want to do this alone so she'll take the risk and plead with Yujeong on this outrageous request.

            Yujeong didn't like the sudden sparkle that lit up in Solbin's eyes, it always meant trouble and true to her thoughts Solbin's next sentence brought all the trouble she could have never hoped for.

            "Let's go to the surface world."

WwW

            Rules are put in place to be followed, it's meant to keep order and peace in place. Without rules things would go to chaos.

            So why is it that Yujeong, a person who follows the rules to avoid being thrown in to a mess, is now floating near the border between the sea and the surface world.

            "Solbin, this is absolutely the worst idea that you have ever come up with!" stresses Yujeong, her heart is thudding against her chest with anxiety and she thinks she might start hyperventilating soon, "We should forget this ever happened and go back home!"

            "But we're already so close! It took us almost an entire three weeks before we finally found an opening for us to come here unnoticed," Solbin faced Yujeong with another pleading look, "Aren't you the least bit curious about what awaits us up there?"

            Yujeong vehemently shakes her head in denial, "We're breaking the worst rule possible Solbin. What about the consequences we'll have to face if we're caught!?"

            "Then you can place all the blame on me," replies Solbin seriously, "You can tell them that it was all my idea and I dragged you with me against your will. I'll take any punishment twice if I have to, I just don't want to see the surface world without you, Yujeong. Please?"

            Solbin extends her hand towards Yujeong, a gentle smile on her lips, "Please? I promise you won't regret it."

            Yujeong feels the anxiety that was building up in her chest dissipate into a new calming feeling because she believes every word Solbin is telling her. When the other is like this, pure and outright honest, there's no way that Yujeong could deny Solbin anything that she wanted to do even if it was against her principles.

            "Stupid," Yujeong looks away from Solbin's surprised look but takes her hand tightly, "If you go down, I'm going down with you; that's how it always is I'm not letting you take all the blame. What kind of person do you take me for? You just better be sure I won't regret this…"

            Yujeong doesn't need to look to know that Solbin is practically grinning from ear to ear in delight now. "You won't!"

            Solbin pulls on Yujeong's hand, the both of them swimming closer and closer to shallow water, closer and closer to the surface world.

            When they reach as far as they can swim without touching the surface sand, Solbin is the first to reach her free hand out and break through the water to touch air for the first time in her life and Yujeong follows right after. It's not immediate, at first they're still just grinning at one another but then slowly they realize that it's becoming difficult to breathe.

            Yujeong opens to say something but no sound comes out, she realizes that she also can't hear anymore either. Solbin seems to be struggling too as she mouths things at her pointing towards the bottom. Looking down Yujeong finally fits all the pieces together. Their beautifully scaled tail fins were now replaced with those things humans called feet.

            They're human now.

            Although Yujeong would normally be freaking out excessively over the loss of her pretty scales, right now really wasn't the time because the both of them are more or less drowning. Having legs didn't make it so difficult to swim though since swimming was practically built in their bodies like an instinct, however it was the new sensation of needing to breathe that caused them to flail about in the water. Without hesitation Yujeong pulls Solbin with her to the surface, breaking through with coughs and gasps of much needed air as they scramble on to the sandy shore.

            It's only when the both of them get used to the feeling of having air fill their lungs and expel it out do they manage to take in their surroundings. It's a secluded spot without any people around since a high bridge blocks the view from anyone.

            Solbin, of course, being the first to recover quickly. "Yujeong! These are so weird!" Solbin stretches out her toes and touches them carefully, "They're like hands, but uglier… And this clothing is weird too…"

            "It's called a bikini," Yujeong replies as she recalls the information she gathered on humans, "People in the surface world wear them to places with large bodies of water. I guess our scales turned into clothing."

            "Ah, I see," Solbin nods and gets up on her new feet, ready to test them out. It's a bit difficult and wobbly with the first few steps she makes but Solbin gets the hang of it quite quickly. "So, this is walking huh? Swimming seems to be easier to be honest."

            Yujeong just watches Solbin, making no attempt to try out walking herself because it was more amusing to observe the younger. Well, that was until Solbin unexpectedly stops before her and grabs her hands. The younger has a bright encouraging smile on her face and only says, "Yujeong walk with me!" before pulling Yujeong up with her.

            Squeaking with surprise, Yujeong unsteadily tries to regain her sense of balance as Solbin makes extra care not to let her friend fall.

            "No worries, I got you." True to her words, Solbin doesn't let Yujeong go.

            Yujeong has been close to Solbin before, she's used to it, every contact she's had with the younger has always been platonic on Solbin's part while she keeps her assumed one sided feelings at bay. But there was just something about the way they stood alone here on this sandy beach, hands wrapped with each other's that made this more intimate because here in this surface world they only had each other.

            It made Yujeong unexpectedly flustered but Solbin doesn't seem to notice.

            Solbin slowly releases Yujeong once she sees the other has her balance again and begins to take a few steps back so that there's a few feet of distance between them. Yujeong watches in confusion, she doesn't like the distance between the two of them and before she realizes it herself her feet begin to move and she takes a few small wobbly steps.

            Solbin is simply grinning the entire time and when the younger seems satisfied with their distance she opens her arms widely, standing there facing Yujeong expectantly. Yujeong almost wants to roll her eyes because clearly, without words, Solbin is saying, "I'm waiting for you but come at your own pace."

            Yujeong isn't as used to walking as Solbin is, so it's a given that she's more unsteady in the beginning however she has more patience with it and never stumbles once. With each step she gets better and stronger, with each step