"They say that consuming a human heart– only one that is purer and more innocent than snow– can heal any ailment."

The orange haired mermaid sat in front of her mother, flicking her long tail back and forth in distaste as she continued to listen to the old woman ramble on.

“Ye Seul! Are you listening to me?!” her mother hissed with a glare.

Ye Seul gave a nod of feigned interest, her lips pressed into an uninterested frown. Her eyes bore into the rock wall behind her mom as she twirled a long, silky strand of orange around her finger.

“I’m saying that there’s a cure for your sickness.”

Ye Seul curled her nose in disgust and jutted out her lower jaw. “Mom, it’s just a rumor. There’s no such thing.”

Her mom shook her head indignantly, slamming her tail against the rock that sat behind her in a sudden bout of anger.

“It is not a rumor! You have three months left to live and you keep on playing around! Is your life really a joke to you?!”

“Mom. If I die, I die. That’s the end of the story. It’s really not—”

“LEE YE SEUL!”

“ALRIGHT! All I have to do is kill a pure, lovely human and rip out his heart right?! And then I’ll be cured?!” Ye Seul threw her hands above her head sarcastically before swimming out of the room.

--

Ye Seul sighed in frustration as she swam in front of her large mirror. She looked at her reflection in silence, her brows knitting in discontent as she did so. Her face was gaunt and a deathly hue of white, her lips a chalky shade of light pink. She ran her long, thin bony fingers through her wavy hair, causing several loose locks of orange to sink to the floor. She observed her tail as it batted back and forth behind her. The scales were now a dull, lackluster shade of turquoise, a startling contrast to the glimmer it had proudly shown off only months before.

She knew that she was dying. Perhaps the reason she was so calm was that it had not hit her yet—the realization that in only three months’ time, she would turn to foam and finally become one with the sea. It had not hit her that her life would simply cease to exist. She did know one thing though—that she wasn’t scared.

Lee Ye Seul had known she would die from the day she was born. The mermaid had been born with only half of a heart. In truth, Ye Seul was not supposed to live this long, to the age of 19. She was supposed to have been born as a stillborn. Perhaps that was the reason she had lived such a basic, boring, and simplistic life for the past 19 years—she simply saw no point in living a life that would eventually come to an end so soon. She didn’t go to school—she figured that it was a waste of time and that she was too dumb for that. She had spent most of her years helping around the house, running strange errands and doing whatever she could do to raise her family out of the pits of poverty. Ultimately, to this day, she had never truly succeeded. Sometimes she wondered if she should have died earlier, so her family would at least have one less mouth to feed.

With a deep frown captivating her features, she swam towards her desk and grabbed a thin piece of slate and a sharp metallic instrument the shape of a pencil. She perched herself on the huge rock that sat in the corner of her room and began to carve something into the rock. Drawing was the only thing that took her mind away from reality—the only thing that made her feel alive. It allowed her to submerge herself into a dream like world, filled with nothing but peace and bliss. She continued to carve, a small smile lingering among her lips as she did so. Then she came to an abrupt stop, giggled, and outstretched her arms, raising the picture before her. The handsome outline of a face looked back at her—her non-existent dream man.

--

Hoseok inhaled sharply as he rose out of the water. He took a few generous gulps of air to calm the burning sensation that plagued his dry throat. He had failed, once again, to hold his breath under the water for over five minutes. He sighed, slammed a fist into the water out of pure frustration, and shook his head like a wet dog.

Five minutes…

He took another deep breath and rolled his shoulder muscles back and forth, relaxing them. Then he slowly leaned back until he was fully afloat on his back. He looked up at the white ceiling of the university’s indoor pool with a sigh as he continued to drift along the water.

He wondered if he would be captain of the swim team this year. Then he dipped back into the water and swam to the end of the pool.

--

She lied down upon the soft bedding composed of kelp, her eyelids growing heavier with each passing second. A soft sigh rose from her lips as she absentmindedly traced circles into the water with the tip of her finger.

Maybe… Maybe I will… try to live.

The thought had hit her suddenly one day as she was finishing one of her drawings. And since that day, she had failed to remove the thought from her mind. She had reasoned with herself that perhaps she would continue to live, to see what the whole point in it was... to see why others treasured their lives so direly. If there was a way to live, then she might as well, right?

Huh… whatever.

She rolled onto her side and shut her eyes, drifting off into a peaceful slumber. She would worry about it another day.

--

“Hyung!” the brown haired boy called as he rushed over, the soft drink on his tray swaying back and forth in an unstable manner. Jungkook immediately seized the seat next to Hoseok, grinning widely before he took a sip of his drink.

Hoseok welcomed the younger one with a nod, his lips pulling into an amiable smile. A pair of cute dimples adorned his face.  

“How’s it going?” Hoseok asked, waving his hand theatrically, motioning towards the rest of the cafeteria. He lifted his nose into the air in an exaggerated manner, causing his short, black bangs to dramatically fly before landing back on his forehead. “Your first day?”

The eighteen year old, grinning ear to ear, gave an impressed nod before grandly biting into his burger.  He chewed quickly—he was starving—and swallowed, before enthusiastically replying.

“Awesome!” Another bite. “I’m going to join the martial arts team.”

Hoseok raised a brow questioningly. “The martial arts team? Why?”

Jungkook scrunched his nose and bobbed his head up and down, a sly smile appearing on his lips.

“This really pretty noona is the captain of the team. I just—you know—love martial arts.” He threw a punch into the air.

Hoseok stifled a laugh as he continued to watch Jungkook eat his meal. It was a shame that he was graduating this year.

After a few minutes, Jungkook spoke again, this time his voiced quipped with curiosity. 

“Say, hyung, do you—” Another sip of his drink. “Believe in mermaids?” He raised his left hand into the air and mimicked the motions of a swimming tail.

Hoseok almost spat out his drink. He blinked in absolute disbelief, a light laugh escaping from his lips. “Who still believes in mermaids?”

Jungkook frowned at his reply. “I’m serious, hyung.”

“And I’m serious too,” Hoseok sniggered, leaning in to give the younger one a flick on the forehead. “Concentrate on your studies instead of listening to such gibberish.”

Jungkook sighed and leaned back into his chair, defeated. “You’re right. Mermaids don’t exist.”

“Were you watching that one movie again?” Hoseok paused as he furrowed his brows in immense concentration, trying to remember the name of the film. “Aquamarine, was it?”

Jungkook laughed nervously as he dismissed the accusation with a wave. “Ah, hyung—”

Hoseok burst out into laughter. “Really?!”

“Hyyyyunnnnngg,” Jungkook groaned.

--

Ye Seul’s eyes slowly flitted open to the muffled sound of distant sobbing. She voiced a low groan as she rolled off her bed and clumsily landed on a layer of flat rock beneath her. She briefly frowned as she rubbed her back to relieve the ache. Then she began to swim towards the sound. To her surprise, it was coming from her mother’s room.

She peeked through an opening in the seaweed curtains, her lips pursed in silence. Her father quietly consoled her weeping mother, who was weakly collapsed into a chair. He nodded understandingly as he gently patted her shoulder.

“That girl is so stubborn… How can she…” There was a hitch in her voice as she swallowed hard, fighting back a sob. “How can she talk about dying so easily like that? In front of her mother?”

“Ye Seul…” Her father sighed deeply as he shook his head sadly.

“I shouldn’t have bought this damned thing,” her mother said bitterly.

“Let’s talk to her again… convince her somehow…”

Ye Seul’s eyes widened as they settled upon the small bottle that sat gingerly in her mother’s palm. A concoction the color of wisteria purple embellished with strands of silver swirled within the glowing glass bottle. She began to fill with a sense of dread. She knew exactly what that was. And exactly how expensive it was.

When she had been younger, she had gone to the sea witch to see how much it would cost to become a human. The amount of money that it cost had made her stomach churn back then, and now it made her want to vomit. Her mother surely had sold everything she had in her possession to buy that potion.

She bit her lower lip as she raised her hand above her heart. Her heart pulsated ever so faintly beneath her touch. She raised her hand towards the curtain and hesitated.

She sighed as she pushed the curtains aside, entering the room.

There was no turning back now.

--

A/N: wow.. the godly image of shirtless hoseok as the captain of the swim team... shooketh 

let me know what you guys think of the first chapter~!