PROMPT: I saw H2o just add water, so I had to...

The water bubbled like it boiled, but Bae Joohyun knew damn well that ocean water, even in a pond like this one, should not boil like this. Her dearly beloved’s legs, so fast when dancing, so smooth to the touch, were no longer there waving beneath the clear waters, replaced instead by a… tail. It was a tail alright, big and heavy looking, with scales and fins, quintessential of a fish. And yet, from the hops and above there was a human woman with worried puppy eyes and pouty lips, a look that begged Bae Joohyun to stay despite the odd circumstances that surround the two of them.

In a world like theirs, a world you would only be able to view in hues of gray and dark, an era lost to time, Kang Seulgi had to hide her secret at all cost for it would have severe consequences.

But tonight, under the pale light of the crescent moon, Seulgi risked it all to show her best friend in the world, her lover, this important secret.

“I’m sorry, Joohyun,” Seulgi said softly, a soft mumble atop the quieting water and the echoes of the wind creeping through the holes of the cave. “I’m sorry I kept this secret from you.”

Bae Joohyun slowly squatted down the rocky edge of the pond, staring with awe, concern and adulation to her dearly beloved whose entire secret laid bare beneath the ripples for her to witness.  And yet, she couldn’t believe it, stunned into total silence.

But…

Suddenly it all made sense, how in summer Seulgi could not stand close to water, how being splashed by water always made Seulgi panic, how during rainy days she did her best to stay under the roof. The fear, the look of pure fear whenever water splashed her in the presence of her lover.

“I understand if… this is overwhelming,” Seulgi said with quivering lips. “But please, please keep my secret, I’m begging you–.”

Joohyun’s mouth and brain couldn’t process it, but her body clamored and moved, dictated by her heart, holding Seulgi’s wet hand tightly and shaking her head. When Seulgi stopped begging, her eyes watering with tears, Joohyun finally could speak. “We’re in this together, okay?”

“Joohyun…?” Seulgi looked at her, unable to process it as well. The lack of disgust, the lack of fear in her lover’s eyes, stunned her. The love emanating from the tightness of her grip, the adulation oozing from her voice comforted her in a way she did not expect.

“Seulgi, I’m by your side, land or sea,” Joohyun spoke firmly and concisely. 

“Unnie,” Seulgi’s voice was small, tender like one of a dongsaeng finally being understood. That was hard to come by in their town, especially as special as they both were.

To Seulgi it meant the world that the first woman that let her embrace her true self was also the first woman to embrace all of Seulgi. Tail, fins, scales included.