The peaceful—almost mesmerizing—lullaby of the waves crashing gently against the delicate shore was interrupted by a distorted screech, which was shortly followed by a desperate, shrill gasp for air.

Ye Seul sputtered as she broke through the surface of the water, desperately clinging onto the body of a smooth boulder that was lodged into a pathetic piece of land.

Goddamn.

She cursed loudly as she wheezed violently, trying to breathe. She now understood why they had told her to take the potion near the surface. Because mermaids weren’t used to swimming the “human” way. For god’s sake, she almost drowned. How hilarious that would have been.

Okay, this is not how it’s supposed to be.

She mustered the strength to “swim” a few more painful feet before she completely reached the shore of the beach. She struggled to raise herself to her feet before losing balance. She collided into the sand, face first. She planted a hand into the hot sand as she made another attempt. This time she stood—just long enough to utter a few more curses.

Why—

She spat out a mouthful of bitter sand and clawed at her face in an attempt to remove the wet hair that wrapped around her features like seaweed.

Is this so hard­—

She gave up and laid down on the sand, a defeated sigh drifting from her parched throat. She lifted her legs into the air and stared at her feet for a long moment. The pale pair of feet that sprouted from her legs were unfamiliar at the least. Then her eyes wandered astray, towards the unfamiliar sky that stretched effortlessly and endlessly above. It was the first time she was actually looking at the sky, in all its raw beauty. It was a breathtaking masterpiece of melancholic gray and white, as if it had been drained of all its color.

Isn’t it supposed to be… blue?

She furrowed her brows in brief confusion as she continued to gaze. Something about it made her heart ache. It was so… strange… yet immensely sad. Then she felt a droplet of water fall upon her cheek. She wiped it away immediately, her confusion spiraling even deeper. Then a couple more droplets, all at the same time. Seconds later, sheets of rain emerged from the clouds and began to beat mercilessly into the sands of the beach.  

She screamed and bolted up, scrambling to her feet. She instinctively raised her arms above her head in an attempt to shelter herself from the foreign onslaught of water. She proceeded to stumble and slam into the sands multiple times. Ten painful minutes later, she finally got the hang of it as she ran forward, every step causing her body to rock precariously. The rain itself wasn’t that bad—it simply slipped off of her skin—but the storm was what terrified her. Bouts of lightning lit up the gray rain clouds, shortly followed by outrageous, ear splitting sounds of thunder that succeeded in harvesting a new blood-curdling scream from Ye Seul every time. She continued to blindly run, her hands desperately pressed over her ears.

What the bloody hell is this?! I’m going to die!!!

Perhaps her family had sent her to the human world knowing of the terrors that reigned the lands. Maybe there was no cure; they had planned her doom from the start. But still, this was too much.

After what seemed like an excruciatingly long hour, she found shelter under the eerie flickering lights of a public restroom. Completely scatterbrained, she reached into her purse with trembling fingers to pull out the piece of paper that her mother had given her before her departure. Upon it was written the address of her now human aunt, who owned a hotel specifically for mermaids that sought life above the waters.

She read the address and almost burst into laughter. However, what escaped her lips was an ugly, whiny cry of desperation. She was a mermaid—a dumb one at that—and now a human with a pea for a brain. How was she supposed to find her way? Did her parents expect her to grab onto a sea turtle and ask for a ride?

It was already unnervingly dark, far darker than she had imagined the human version of night to be. It spooked her to a degree, and the fact that the storm was clearly far from stopping didn’t help. Then, amidst the blurred vision that her bitter tears provided, she saw the faint outline of another light floating in the distance. She squinted even harder. Maybe a human lived there.

Then, as she continued to drag her feet across the muddy, wet ground, she bumped into something. She managed to stifle her scream, but almost fainted from the sudden shock that shot up her spine. It was the body of a man, scrunched up into a ball under a large blanket. His chest heaved faintly as he dozed off, unhindered by the loud storm. She stared at him, her eyes bulging out of her sockets. It was her first encounter with a human. After gawking for another five minutes, she frowned. He rolled back and forth, a low murmur bleeding from his lips as he gripped his blanket dearly.

He looked hot.

She seized the blanket from him in one swift movement and wrapped it around her freezing body. A small smile appeared on her face as she did so.  

Mm, toasty.

She looked back towards the light that beckoned to her and began to walk again.

--

Hoseok stifled a yawn as he sauntered towards his room. He pushed the door open with ease and yawned again, causing a batch of fresh tears to well at his eyes. He was exhausted from the events of the day—the first swimming competition of the semester and the classes that never seemed to dull in terms of treachery. His muscles ached as he pulled his shirt over his head. He ruffled his short, black hair for a brief moment in front of the mirror. He raised his eyebrows and gave a nod of approval towards his reflection as he observed his fit figure. Then he fell on top of his bed and out.

It was two in the morning when he woke up. He rolled over onto his stomach for a brief moment, blissfully burying his face into his pillow when he heard it again. At first, he thought it had been the sound of thunder that woke him up, but now he knew that it was something else. He heard a heavy knock bang against the door repeatedly. He frowned as he slowly sat up. For a split second, he was frozen with fear. Convincing himself that ghosts weren’t real, he managed to raise himself to his feet. He struggled into a loose white shirt and headed towards the door. He peeked cautiously through the peephole. He was greeted back by a bundle of orange. He swallowed hard before hesitantly opening the door before the figure could knock again.

“Y-Yes?” he muttered, flinching as droplets of the vicious rain landed on his face. He stared at the girl.

She was a drenched frazzle of orange and brown. Her hair sprouted from her head in strange angles, as if she had been struck by lightning. A brown blanket lined with holes and rips was wrapped tightly around her body, disfiguring her into a huge lump. Her chocolate colored eyes were huge and round, her nose sharp yet round, and her lips pink and sweet. Her skin was shockingly pale. She was awfully… pretty.

“Uh… I... I got caught up in the …” she paused and motioned towards the sky with a pale hand. “Crying sky?”

Hoseok blinked at her, knitted his brows in confusion, and opened his mouth for a brief second before giving a friendly laugh.  

“Hahaha! The storm, right?” He raised his eyebrows in an awkward manner, his lips ajar in a half smile.  

She stared at him and began to bob her head in a slow nod. “Do… you think I… can sleep here? Just for one night?”

Hoseok’s eyes shot open as his jaw unhinged. “S-S-Sleep here?” His heart immediately began to pound loudly—to the point he was scared she would hear it.  

She continued to gawk at him and nod, as if trying to understand him. “Y-Yes…?”

“U-Uh… Sure?” He mentally faceplanted—why did he just say yes?

Her face lit up as she flashed him a bright smile. “Thank you!”

She bounded right past him and entered his room. She cocked her head to the side in a curious manner as she looked at his bed. It looked completely different from the one she had back home.

Hoseok followed her in silence, completely mind blown by the situation. His head was spinning in circles. It was two in the morning and a girl—a pretty one—he had never seen before in his entire life wanted to sleep at his place for the night. And now… she was in his room. Then his eyes opened even wider, this time with shock, as she screamed.

“W-What’s wrong? Are you okay?!” Hoseok asked, immediately rushing to her side, concerned.

She gaped at him as if she had seen a ghost. Then she sneezed. And screamed again. The process repeated for the next three sneezes.

“W-W-W-What’s w-w-wrong with me?!” she stuttered, all traces of color absent from her face.  

“What?” Hoseok asked in pure disbelief. “Have you… never sneezed before?”

She gaped at him as if he were insane. “Sneeze?”

Hoseok closed his eyes, a silly smile plastered on his lips. When he opened them, he expected the girl to be gone and himself to be in bed. He opened his eyes. He wanted to cry. He seized the female, who was an entire head shorter than him, by the shoulders and steered her towards the living room. He motioned towards the sofa, told her to wait with a weary finger, and came back with a huge bundle of blankets.

She cautiously crawled onto the sofa and drew her legs up to her chin, positioning herself into a ball. Hoseok frowned at her but didn’t question it.

“Are you going to shower?”

“Shower?” she repeated.

Hoseok gave a pained smile as he handed her the blankets.

“Like—” he broke into a sigh as his shoulders dropped in utter defeat. “Goodnight, then.” He turned and headed back towards his room.

“Wait!” she called, outstretching her hand. She wanted to express her gratitude.

“Yeah…?”

“You have very nice legs,” she said with a bright smile. She looked almost proud of herself.

Hoseok stared at her with the same expression of disbelief, slowly nodded, and went into his room.

Yeah… she’s pretty. Pretty…crazy.

He laid on top of his bed and bore his eyes into the ceiling for the next ten minutes. All traces of sleep had escaped him long ago. Then he got up once again, entered the kitchen from the door that connected to his room, and began to squeeze a dollop of honey into a cute blue mug. He poured piping hot water into the mug and stirred. He waited for a few minutes for the drink to cool down before walking quietly into the living room. He held the mug gingerly by the handle and gazed at the girl.

She had fallen asleep with the lights on. Her eyes were fluttered shut, and her small body rhythmically heaved with each shallow breath. The thick blanket hung loosely from around her waist. He set the mug down on the coffee table and switched the lamp off. He gently pulled the blanket up to her shoulders and looked at her for a brief moment, a faint trace of a smile lingering upon his lips, before heading back into his room.