The sounds of seagulls and crashing waves continuously hit my ears as I sit here on my laptop and type, and honestly, I love it. We never got to hear sounds like this back in the city, but now that we’ve moved, it’s a luxury we get to enjoy every day. I will never regret my decision to uproot our lives in the city and move closer to the ocean; I searched for months for the perfect secluded location for us, and finally found this lighthouse. It was a little rundown, but we fixed it up nicely and made ourselves a home, with which we have been content with for almost two years. To be clear, we don’t live inside the lighthouse, but instead in a house connected to it.

Even though we left our lives in the city, I still continue to write novels and email them to my publisher back in Seoul. The merman novel I created based on my experience received massive acclaim from readers and reviewers, and as a result of that, I wrote several sequels, all of which received similar praise. But no one will ever know that the merman they are reading about is real, how my merman was the inspiration.

After I finish typing my latest chapter, I close my laptop and stand to look out the window at the ocean. The vast blue mystery stretches beyond the horizon and its color calms me. Our home has two unique beaches on either side of the hill that our home and lighthouse sits on; on one side, the beach is filled with large, jagged rocks that waves constantly collide into, and the other side has fine, white sand and is perfect for walking on at any time of day. I exit our house and walk down the hill to the sandy beach side and allow the foam of the collapsing waves to graze my feet before wading into the water up to my ankles. Almost as if he senses it, I see Donghae breach from several feet away before he smiles and swims towards me.

My Donghae, he’s the reason why I decided to move us here. I still felt guilt for being the reason why he gave up being a permanent merman with his family, so I brought him here where he could swim every day and be safe from anyone who wouldn’t understand him or try to hurt him. Donghae swims for hours every day while I write, and he never seems to tire from his routine. After swimming up to me, he playfully tackles me down onto the shoreline as I slip my arms around my merman and gaze up into his eyes before kissing him, feeling the waves wash past us as we lie there together in a passionate embrace on the sand. His lips are drenched and I can taste the ocean in his kisses; I sit up after a few moments before wrapping a towel around his , now-human form. Usually if the weather is pleasant, we walk around the sandy beach for a few hours, but today, the weather is growing dark early as storm clouds loom eerily in the distance, so we must return indoors to get ready for impending downpour.

Once inside, Donghae redresses himself while I change out of my wet clothes and head to the lighthouse through a covered walkway that connects the tower to our house. I climb the spiral staircase to the top and do what I have to, to get the lighthouse light for passing vessels on the horizon. After the light is secure, and the generators are on in case of power outage, I retreat back to our home just as a loud clap of thunder cascades through the air. Donghae is curled up on the couch under a blanket calling for me; he’s never been a fan of thunderstorms. I smile at him and gently pull the blanket back before placing a kiss on his lips. “Don’t be scared, I’m here now,” I whisper before settling on the couch next to him, protectively wrapping an arm around him as he turns on our TV.

While he watches TV, I watch him. He is still just as beautiful as the day I rescued him and brought him home to live in my bathtub. Donghae has grown in muscle and intelligence in the time we’ve been together, but he still latches onto me when he is afraid, and looks at me, with that innocence in his eyes, for reassurance that everything will be alright. I run my fingertips over his damp brunette hair, before lightly kissing his temple. “I love you,” he says to me as I kiss him.

“I love you too,” I echo, leaning my face against his neck and inhaling his scent. The thunder booms loudly outside as lightning flashes across the sky, and I feel my lover’s body tense up in my arms and begin to tremble. I shush him softly and kiss the back of his neck as I comfort him. “It’s okay, it can’t hurt you in here.”

After his body relaxes some, I kiss his cheek before maneuvering my way off of the couch and into the kitchen to prepare dinner. One of the most challenging things was experimenting to see what Donghae would eat, but after two years, his palette hasn’t changed much, only a little. He still enjoys fish more than anything, raw or cooked, but he grew to also love a few other things as well. I make us some fish and white rice before calling Donghae into the kitchen to eat. We mostly eat in silence while listening to the rain pound against the house and thunder rumble every now and again. I watch as he shovels food into his mouth and smile to myself, recalling the first time I ever taught Donghae how to use silverware; it still amazes me how far he’s come in the past couple of years.

When we finish eating and I clean up everything in the kitchen, I return into the living room to see Donghae lie down on the couch and yawn. “Hey,” I whisper, kneeling down next to him and his brunette hair. “If you’re tired we can go to bed.” Donghae nods and closes his eyes as I pick him up bridal style and carry him upstairs to our bedroom. Lying Donghae down on our bed, he immediately curves into the fetal position and sinks into the mattress as I cover him up with the blanket. While he sleeps, I take the opportunity to shower, before retiring to the bed next to my lover.

I’m not in bed for a minute before Donghae starts shifting closer to me. Rolling over onto my side, I face him to see he’s opened his eyes. “Eunhyuk,” he whispers.

“Yes?” I reply, slowly running my thumb across his lower lip.

“Do you ever regret moving away from the city to live here all by ourselves?” Donghae asks. “I mean we’re miles away from anybody, I took you far away from everyone you knew, and sometimes I just think, if you had a choice to do everything over, would you –”

I cut him off by kissing him and taking his face in my hands. “Yes, in a heartbeat yes, if I had a choice to meet you and fall for you all over again, I would. I love you Donghae, and if given a million chances, I would choose you million times, and love you more than anyone else; you never have to question that. You chose me as your mate and I will always be thankful for that,” I whisper, Donghae’s face gently.

Donghae leaned forward and kissed me, sliding his arms around me to pull my body into his embrace before muttering “I couldn’t have chosen a more amazing human to have as my soulmate.”

I smile and press my forehead to his before rolling over on top of Donghae. Kissing his lips once more, I run my hands down his chest, before slipping them underneath his shirt, letting my fingers feel his toned muscles as I pull up his shirt and toss it off the side of our bed. Donghae grabs my own shirt and raises it over my head, throwing it down next to his. I feel his hands glide up my back as I begin kissing Donghae’s neck. A quiet moan vibrates in his throat, and I allow my lips to travel down to my lover’s torso. His skin tastes like a tantalizing fusion of the natural saltiness of the ocean and the coarse, damp sand of the beach, and each new kiss that is carefully placed is like a loving wave on his body. After kissing my merman’s body, I move to lie down next to him again before Donghae rolls onto his stomach and looks at me. Sitting up, I gaze at his back and begin to trace my fingertips over the permanent scars that plague his figure. They serve as a constant reminder of the hell he went through during his captivity, and will more than likely haunt him for the rest of his life. I lean down to lightly graze my lips over the ailments, listening to Donghae moan quietly again as my mouth airily dances around his skin. Ceasing my actions, I lie back down as Donghae slips his arm around my waist and rests his head on my chest while falling back asleep. I lay there in the quietness of our bedroom and listen to the rainfall and thunder outside, and feel the softness of Donghae’s skin under my touch as I trail my fingers up and down his spine gently. “I love you so much,” I whisper to the sleeping merman, pressing a kiss to his brunette hair, before joining him in the bliss of sleep for the night.

The next morning, the sound of seagulls greet me as I awaken. Glancing downwards, I see Donghae hasn’t moved from my chest all night. As I begin to run my fingers through his hair, Donghae moans quietly and raises his head to look at me. His beautiful eyes meet mine as he smiles and says “Good morning Eunhyuk.”

Sitting up, I pull him closer to me and kiss his lips before pressing my forehead to his, echoing “Good morning my Donghae. Did you sleep well?”

“I always sleep well when I’m with you,” Donghae replies. He kisses me once more before asking “Is it okay if I go down and swim for a bit?”

Placing my hands on his face, I respond “Of course you can, you can do whatever you want.”

“Do you wanna come to the beach with me?” Donghae wonders.

“I will in a bit, I have some things to do in here first,” I promise. “You go swim, and I’ll do what I need to here and then we’ll have lunch on the beach, does that sound okay?”

“It sounds perfect,” Donghae agrees, kissing me again.

I watch him get up and exit our bedroom before I stand as well and make up our bed. Going downstairs, I head over to the lighthouse to turn off the light; afterwards, return to the house to make coffee. Silently, I return upstairs with my cup to our bedroom and sit down at my desk. Looking out the large window in front of me, I glance downwards to the shoreline and see Donghae strip down before diving into the ocean. I smile as he swims around, and begin to work on my computer. I pause for a moment and watch the waves erode the sand on the beach, the place where land and water embrace. As I sit here and write, I think about how my life has come to this; choosing to devote myself to a creature I never knew existed until a few years ago, loving him and protecting him. I was truthful when I told Donghae that I’d choose him again and again, and that will always be true. “A million times Donghae,” I whisper, gazing out of the window at the swimming merman. “A million times.”