“Ajumma!” Hoseok called as he ran across the street towards the old woman. “Let me help you carry these.”

The lady smiled grandly at him, her eyes crinkling with gratitude. “What a sweet young man you are. Thank you!”

Hoseok grinned as he seized a handful of the heavy grocery bags. “Anytime!”

--

[May 16^th, 2017]

“Hey, hey, hey! You’re not busy today, are you? Come have lunch with us!” Jungkook said in a singsong voice as he linked arms with Ye Seul. “It’s to celebrate the end of the first week of exams.”

“Y-Yeah!” Ye Seul agreed with a smile. “Is Hoseok coming too?”

“Of course, hyung is coming! It’s his favorite place.”

“Favorite place? What kind of food is it?”

Jungkook frowned as he tried to recall the name. “I don’t remember but it’s nearby. Let’s go, noona.”

An hour later, the eight of them shuffled into the small, homey restaurant together, seating themselves into the booth, four on each side. Ye Seul turned her head side to side, marveling at the inside of the restaurant—there were dozens of miniature pictures lining the walls that depicted the sea.

“Ye Seul?”

“Ye Seullll?”

“H-Huh?” She blinked as she ripped her gaze away from one picture. It was a picture of a mermaid with a blue tail.

“What are you going to order?” Hoseok whispered with a light laugh, pointing towards the untouched menu that sat in front of her.

“What should I… order?” she murmured in reply. Frankly, it was her first time at a restaurant above the waters.

He motioned towards one item on the menu. “This seafood soup is the best one in the city. It’s my favorite.”

“Seafood soup?”

Like food for people from under the sea?

The waitress gazed at her curiously.

“I’ll take the seafood soup special…?”

The waitress nodded promptly and went back towards the kitchen.

After a good fifteen minutes of friendly chatter between the eight, the food finally arrived.

She took a cautious sip of the creamy broth. The broth was seasoned perfectly—it was a masterpiece that wasn’t too sweet, nor too salty—it was just right. It was heavily scented with the aroma of basil. Then she held her spoon for an awkward moment before plunging it into the soup and lifting it to . She chewed on the substance for a long moment, her brows knitting together in both confusion and concentration.

Hoseok watched her curiously as he cooled off his own soup with the wave of his hand.

“You don’t like shrimp?”

Taehyung narrowed his eyes and shook his head ever so slightly as he watched her continue to chew.

Her eyes shot open in alarm as she spat the shrimp ball into a napkin. She was petrified. She began to cough violently, gagging at the same time. Hot tears sprang to her eyes as she began to choke.

S-S-S-SHRIMP?!

“H-Hey are you okay?!”

She shook her head furiously and darted towards the bathroom, her hand tightly pressed against .  

Namjoon frowned.

“Is she a vegetarian?”

Hoseok gave a shaky laugh. “No way.” He then got up from his seat and headed towards the restroom.

--

There was a knock on the door of the restroom stall.

“Ye Seul? Are you okay?”

It had been an hour since the incident—the others had already left due to classes. Two bowls of cold soup sat idly on the table.

The toilet flushed and she stumbled out, her eyes heavy with exhaustion.

“You’re still here…”

Hoseok tried to smile.

“Of course, I’m here,” he started, patting her softly on the back. “Do you want to go to the hospital?”

She shook her head weakly and pressed a hand against the tiled wall in an attempt to balance herself. Her hand slipped and before she could completely fall, Hoseok caught her. Then he crouched onto the ground and urged her to climb onto his back.

“You’re going to miss your c-class…”

“Hey, that’s not important right now. Let’s get you to a hospital. I think you have food poisoning.”

She shook her head again, more firmly this time.

“I can’t go to the hospital… I’ll be okay.”

She had no legitimate form of identification.

“Are you sure?”

“Y-Yeah… Hoseok?”

“Yeah?”

“I…”

“Ye Seul?”

“I’m a vegetarian,” her voice was hoarse—barely above a whisper.

Hoseok gave a shaky laugh of slight relief.

“Dummy.”

“What…?”

“Ye Seul, you dummy.”

“Hey…”

“Let’s get you home, then.”

--

[May 20^th, 2017]

She threw herself onto her bed with a sigh and raised her legs into the air. She stared at her legs for a long moment before flipping onto her stomach. She buried her face into the old pillow and squirmed like a fish out of water, trying to get into a comfortable position to sleep. With a defeated sigh, she flipped onto her back once again and looked up at the ceiling this time. She ran a hand through her hair absent-mindedly and was mildly surprised to find that a clump of orange hair hung from her grasp.

For the past few weeks, she had been living like a normal… person. Hoseok made her happy. The other friends that she made at school—Jungkook, Taehyung, Yoongi, Jimin, Seokjin, and Namjoon—made her happy as well. And the more time she spent with them, the more she laughed and smiled, the more memories she made… she found herself wanting to live. More and more…

She sighed again—a shaky breath that shuddered from her lips as a tear crawled down her cheek. She blinked back the onslaught of tears as she continued to stare at the blankness of the ceiling.

Ye Seul… Why are you like this?

Then she turned her gaze to the calendar that hung on her wall. The month of May was almost over. Soon it would be the month of her birth, June.

It’s almost my birthday… June 21^st.

This year, the first day of summer would fall on the 21^st.

--

[May 20^th, 2017]

Hoseok jumped onto his bed and rolled onto his stomach, his legs rocking excitedly behind him. He couldn’t help but smile as he looked at the new contact on his phone—Lee Ye Seul. After finding out that the girl didn’t even have a phone, he had offered to take her to the mall to look at the new models. After almost a full hour of marveling and questioning, she had decided to pick out a cheap and ancient model—a white flip phone.

He erased his text message for what was the twentieth time. He sighed and to his side.

[HOSEOK]: Are you free tomorrow?

He squinted as he reread the message. His finger hovered over the send button.

“Hey! Quiet down,” he muttered out loud, scolding his heart that was beating faster than a bullet train.

[HOSEOK]: I like you, Ye Seul.

He almost choked when he reread the message.

Backspace, backspace, backspace. You’re insane, Jung Hoseok.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a brief moment, collecting his nerves.

He read the “normal sounding” message once more.

[HOSEOK]: Are you free tomorrow?

He stared at his trembling fingers in disbelief. Jung Hoseok, the great captain of the swim team, the perfect man with an amazing sense of humor, couldn’t even send a text message. He threw his phone to the side and buried his face into the pillow.

He would try another day.

And after a few minutes, the boy fell into a deep slumber.

--

The first time he had snuck out of the house to go to the deserted beach at the age of ten was a foretelling of the many times to come. He had found comfort in the mellow melodies that drifted into the air from the waters. And in a strange way, it was as if the waters were crying with him.

The small boy trudged along the shore, his feet digging further and further into the hot sand with every step. He carried a ragged backpack that dangled from one shoulder. He rashly wiped the relentless tears that trailed down his cheeks with the sleeve of his worn out shirt. He hiccupped and fought back a sob as memories of the previous night rampaged throughout his mind.

His non-biological father had been on the phone with a friend of his.

“Hoseok? That boy? Yeah…”

His father chuckled darkly and ran his hand through his sleek black hair. He leaned against the counter and crossed his ankles, tapping his left foot in a relaxed manner.

“Yeah. I don’t know why he’s so cheerful… Always smiling and trying to make others laugh. It’s—”

A pause, followed by a murmur of agreement.

“Stupid. Yeah. At first, I wondered why his mother abandoned him and threw him into an orphanage.”

“…But I get it now. He’s such a handful. A nuisance, really.”

Another pause as he nodded.

“Abandon him? I couldn’t do that. I’ll… just keep him around for a few more years.”

A sharp, low laugh.

“Yeah. Wish me luck.”

His knees buckled before he could take another step. His backpack slid off of his shoulder as he collapsed onto the sand. He sat up and pulled his knees into his chest as yet another tear climbed down his cheek. He gazed at the waters with a heavy, burdened heart.

The horizon was painted a breathtaking hue of summery orange as the sun began to descend from its throne in the sky. The aura of the setting sun embellished the calm waters with the same hue, stretching across the surface in an affectionate manner as the star continued to sink into the sea. Each time the water came up to meet the shore, it kissed it ever so lightly before parting again.

The boy sighed as he continued to gaze out at the sea, his eyes heavy and still abrim with tears. There was something undeniably beautiful about the scene that unfolded before him—it was like a painting had come to life.

I’ll run away… And find my own way through this life…

Hoseok sat on the beach for what seemed like an eternity, compelled into a trance by the enthralling beauty of the sea. And then he realized that he was no longer crying, no longer sad to the point where it physically suffocated him. The waters had comforted him, wiped the sorrow filled tears from his eyes.

Jung Hoseok… You’ll be okay.

He raised himself to his feet and grabbed hold of the backpack again. The stunning sun was only a sliver of magic now, its flames almost completely doused by the cool embrace of the water. And then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something.

To his far left, atop a huge rock, he saw a shimmering mixture of burning orange and startling turquoise. There was something about the figure that seemed… immensely sad.

Then she was gone in the blink of an eye.

--

He awoke with a low, lethargic groan as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Why did I dream about those days…

He rubbed the nape of his neck and sat up, his head bobbing up and down as he squinted towards the digital alarm clock. It was 4 in the morning.

He sighed and lied down again, throwing the covers back over his body.

Mermaids...aren’t real.