“Are you alright?” Haebin set her chopsticks down and looked at Sehun.

The merman simply nodded and leaned back in his seat. “Just a little shocked, that’s all.” He seemed to be a bit disturbed by the huge tanks of fish and crabs. “They didn’t look comfortable all cooped up in there.”

She pressed her lips into a firm line and folded her hands. There was nothing she could do about the reality. “That’s just how things are up here. I hope you get used to it soon.”

“Cheong told me about it on my way here, she said that many things will be shocking but it’ll all seem normal with time.” He began stacking the plates together- something he’s seen her do plenty of times. “I’ll do the dishes.”

“By yourself?”

Sehun nodded. “Mhm,” He cleared the table. “Can we still go for a swim?”

“Of course,”

***

“Are you going to swim in those?” Sehun pointed at Haebin’s shorts. “That’s not what the ladies wore on TV…”

Haebin ped her thin jacket slightly. “I have a bikini on under here but unfortunately I can’t walk around with bikini bottoms- I’d look like a public indecency!”

He his chin and squinted his eyes as if he was deep in thought. “Hm, why is that something Chanyeol and Baekhyun would do?”

Haebin laughed. “Oh my God, you’re right; those idiots would totally do something like that. You should see them drink; you haven’t seen them in action yet. Watching Chanyeol go from sober to drunk is a -show in itself!”

“Can I drink?”

Can you? “Uh…Let’s figure that out some other time.”

The two walked out of Haebin’s apartment and strolled down the streets in the dark.

“We can only go for swims when it’s night time,”

“Why?”

Haebin let go of his hand and walked a few steps away. “Can you see me?”

“Not really?”

“See? That’s my point!” She whispered. “I can’t hide a sparkly green tale in broad daylight!”

“I see.”

When they set foot in the sand, Sehun’s shoulders tensed up with excitement as he enjoyed the ocean breeze. “The ocean!” He exclaimed.

Haebin held him back for a moment. “Freeze!” She looked both ways and as expected there was no one here. “Well, yeah, why would anyone be out here at 1 in the morning…am I right?”

Sehun stomped his feet in the sand and enthusiastically waved his arms towards the water. “Can I go?”

She gave him a little shove. “Have fun,”

“What about you?”

Haebin crossed her arms and shook her head. “I…can’t swim.”

“It’s okay! You can hold onto me, don’t you want to see the ocean?”

“I can see the ocean?”

“Mhm,”

“How?”

Sehun reached his hand out. “Trust me,”

“What if I drown?”

“You won’t. I’ll never let that happen.”

Haebin raised an eyebrow skeptically. “B-But…I… I’m human? I can’t do whatever you’re about to do?”

“But you’re with me and I’m a merman, remember?”

She tapped her fingers on her forearm as she gave it a thought. “I’ve always wanted to play in the water,” She confessed quietly.

Sehun grinned. “You can!”

The merman ran into the water and within seconds, he was standing on his tail a few feet in. The moonlight illuminated the water around him and seemed to light up his upper body. Sehun had his arms open. “Come on Haebin!”

She took her jacket off and slowly approached him. Haebin felt shivers run down her spine when the cold water hit her ribcage. “I really can’t swim!”

“It’s alright!” Sehun held her hand reassuringly. “You’re going to love the ocean!” He beamed. Then he wrapped an arm around her waist. “Ready?”

“Mhm,”

He pulled her under the water with him and gave her a few seconds to adjust.

“Holy I can breathe-“ Haebin gawked. “I can ing talk? Under the water? What?!” She looked around. “What the!?”

Sehun laughed and tucked a flowing lock of hair out of the way. “You can as long as you hold my hand.”

“They don’t show this in the dramas!”

“Stay woke.”

She snorted and curled up into a ball laughing. “W-Where did you learn how to say that?!”

“I think I heard Baekhyun say it once.”

Haebin rolled her eyes. “It’s always one of them,” She held onto his hand tightly. “Show me around please!”

They swam around for hours. Sehun showed Haebin all the sea life there was- the corals, the seaweed, the fishes, the hermit crabs that waddled around on the sea floor- all of it!

It was truly a sight to see, everything was so beautiful that Haebin couldn’t understand why he wanted to leave.

“Sehun! This is all so cool! I would never want to leave if I were you!”

Sehun turned to look at her. “It gets boring after a while… all I can do is swim, rest, and eat. There’s also the stress of not getting caught by any fishermen.” He shuddered. “How scary!”

“That’s true…”

“And besides, if I stayed here, I would’ve never met you.” Sehun smiled. “I would’ve never met someone as kind and pretty as you.” He leaned over. “It turns out, there’s not that many fish in the sea.”

Haebin laughed. “Really? Aren’t mermaids pretty and breathtaking too?”

He shrugged. “They all look the same to me.” Sehun nudged her and even winked.

“O-Oh?” Haebin gasped. “Look at you! Ah, this is what happens when you spent one too many days with Chanbaek.”

Sehun winked again, unabashed. Then he looked up towards the surface. “We should go back…the sun is going to rise in about an hour.”

Haebin looked up and wrinkled her nose. “Huh? How can you tell?”

He shrugged it off casually. “Just merman senses.”

“Sure…”

Sehun swam towards the surface and lifted her up. He pointed. “See? The sun is peeking through the horizon.”

Haebin slung an arm around his shoulders. “Where?”

He lifted her up again and propped her up on a rock. “See that bit of orange? We can watch the sunrise!”

She couldn’t help but smile. “I’d like that.”

Sehun took the spot next to her dried off his tail. “Let’s go back when we’re both completely dry.” He suggested whilst running a hand through his wet hair.

Haebin dipped her legs into the water. “That was fun.”

“Can we do it again?” He asked. “Every weekend maybe?”

“Call!”

“Call?”

“That means deal.”

“Call!”

[a/n]: my apologies for being MIA! I unintentionally went on a mini hiatus for a bit. Senior year of HS is slowly coming to an end and I had to get my life together for college lol

College didn't even start for me but my school wants me to do so many things! x.x

anyway, enjoy this chapter! I hope you guys like it! And I'm sorry for any mistakes lol

comments are much appreciated!