Daehyun drapes himself over Cherry’s bowsprit, dangling his limbs over the sides, where he’s low enough that if he reached down, his arms would be submerged up to his elbows in the water. It splashes the tips of his fingers as he skims them along the surface, and even though there’s not enough wave movement where they are yet for him to feel the sea spray on his face, he can still smell it. The platform is just long enough for him to lay down on with his legs bent or resting on the body of the boat behind him, and wide enough that it could fit two of him, so he has some space to stretch out. He settles comfortably on his front, closing his eyes as the boat glides through the smooth water, a knife cutting through its calm. He’s supposed to be doing something to get ready. Yongguk told him to… what was it? Something having to do with the bow. And that’s where he is, so. A job well done.

They got this fishing boat second-hand, after Yongguk’s old one took a hard slam to the hull along a reef and then proceeded to drift away in a tropical storm early the very morning it was scheduled for repairs. This one came with a name, Apricot, and Daehyun actually liked it, thought it was charming, really––, but he was outvoted, and Junhong––whom Yongguk had given the honor to––chose to really branch out and rename the boat after a different fruit: cherries. In his defense, though, a good amount of the boat was painted red.

The previous owner was having trouble selling it, so they managed a good deal. Not without Daehyun’s unopposable charisma, of course. They learned later that Apricot––Cherry, now––had an odd reputation among the local sailors and fishermen. The boat is well-aged; has seen its fair share of days on the water, the seller said.

The first time they took it out on the water, they got looks. Daehyun had no idea why at first, of course, but that afternoon, the woman who occupied the stall next to theirs in the market approached Yongguk. Daehyun didn’t know her name.

“Your boat,” she said, her voice a loud whisper. It was obvious she was only addressing Yongguk, but Daehyun could understand her words clear as day, and he leaned back against a wooden box to listen inconspicuously.

“You should be careful with it out there, you know,” the woman warned.

Yongguk just grunted in response. It was how he usually engaged in conversation in public. The woman ignored his apparent disinterest, and continued.

“I knew the previous owner,” she said. “He passed away years ago. Went out in the morning with his crew and fell overboard. They never saw him again––never even a trace of his body washed up on the beach. A couple went out looking for him for days, but he was gone.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Yongguk said. “Accidents happen.”

Daehyun turned his head slightly so he could just see them from his peripheral vision. The woman put a hand on Yongguk’s arm, shaking her head.

“A member of his crew saw him go over. I’m sure you’ll never believe what she said happened.”

Yongguk hummed and folded his arms across his chest.

“Said she saw a mermaid pull him under.” Her voice lowered. “I know you younger folks don’t care much for the lore, but I promise you I’ve seen those monsters myself. Heartless beasts, I tell you.” She jabbed a finger at Yongguk’s chest.

“Mhm.”

“I know that you’re not from around here,” the woman went on. “It only seemed fair that I warn you.”

“We appreciate your concern,” Yongguk replied.

“People around here are superstitious, you know.”

Yongguk raised his eyebrows. “I suppose it makes sense, then, that I’m not from around here.”

Daehyun suppressed a snort. Of course the woman didn’t know that Yongguk himself had encountered those creatures in the past.

 

Daehyun tries not to get his hopes up when they go out in the early morning, but they go out in the early morning every day. Have been for as long as he can remember; just him and Junhong ever since he was old enough to steer a boat, and then later Yongguk, spending the hours just before sunrise trying to net as many fish as they can, then heading down to the market. On specific days that they know will have the place heavy in foot traffic, they send one person ahead to set up the stall early. (Usually Junhong.)

It’s routine, and Daehyun can’t imagine doing anything else. B eing anything else. Besides, there are plenty of things on his fisherman-bucket list that he hasn’t been able to cross off yet. Namely one that’s been on his mind constantly as of late (his whole life.)

Yongguk has told them about the time he saw a merperson. It was just before he moved to live on the island, back when he was a teenager. It took years of pestering from Daehyun to get him to actually tell even just the skeleton of the story, and to this day he refuses to indulge him with any details. All he knows is that Yongguk swam with them, and it only makes Daehyun want to know more. What did they look like? Were they truly as human as the stories made them out to be? Could they speak? Sing? Use magic? Maybe someday he’ll annoy some more answers out of Yongguk that aren’t just wordless grunts or tired “I dunno”s.

Daehyun used to believe the tales about the merpeople being cold, heartless monsters who lived for blood, but that was before he knew Yongguk, who told him about his experience-based philosophy that it was all bull.

He thinks about it everyday on their way out to sea; he spends his time imagining what he would do if he ever actually gets to see a mer. He hears that people used to talk about them more, before the species nearly got wiped out by a decade-long hunting spree long before Daehyun was born. There are drawings––depictions of them, but each one Daehyun sees is different. Maybe each merperson is different. Maybe humans are just consistently bad at drawing.

And when Daehyun asks, Yongguk refuses to say anything more than “beautiful” as he stares off into the sunset, reminiscing or whatever.

 

Daehyun sighs and drops his head tiredly onto the wood with a hollow thunk, and then groans as a dull ache takes over his temple. It’s a Tuesday, by far the slowest day of the week at the market, so he’s not super worried about slacking off a little bit. There's nothing special about today, no bad weather, no unusually lucky catches this week, absolutely nothing noteworthy. maybe he’ll just take a quick nap…

He jolts up when a thunk sounds from the hull of the boat. It was quiet enough that Daehyun decides it's safe to assume he must have imagined it so that he can return to his proposed nap, but then it happens again, and a third time. Eyebrows drawing together, he looks back at the bow, but nothing seems off. Yongguk and Junhong are still at the opposite end of the boat, getting their equipment ready. It could be one of the reef sharks they see around sometimes. There's not way it could be the actual reef, which is too far beneath them to reach the hull.

But Daehyun can’t see any sign of movement under the water around them. He crawls around in a circle on his hands and knees, scanning each direction. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, and he shrugs to himself, about to return to his lazing when a horrid, bone-crushing crunch sounds from below and has him freezing in place, a shiver vibrating up his spine. Slowly, he peers over the side of the bowsprit, and immediately goes silent with shock when sharp, narrow eyes evenly meet his own.

He must have hit his head harder than he thought, or suddenly somehow convinced luck to take his side for once, because in the water just a foot below him is a man. Except, he’s not… a man, unless he and some giant, sparkly green fish teamed up to trick him. Unlikely, but is it any more or less unlikely than seeing a merperson? Daehyun makes up his mind when the man ducks with a light splash and spins around under the water so that he’s on his back, staring right at him, tail propelling him at the same speed that Cherry is going. His face is blurred by the water racing past them, but Daehyun can make out enough.

A pair of fan-like fins lay flat against the sides of his head right where his ears should be. They flap back and forth a tiny bit with the flow of the water, sharp-looking and nearly translucent, and Daehyun leans forward a little bit to get a closer look. He’s also got four sets of large gills. Two on both sides of his neck––below his ear-fin things, and two on his torso––just under his ribs––rising and falling like flower petals in the wind as he moves. The merman, or whatever he is if he’s not one, suddenly breaks the surface so quickly that Daehyun doesn’t even have time to lean back, and hisses, fins flaring out––reminding Daehyun a bit of a lion fish somewhere in the back of his mind––as he bares his teeth at him. And––oh, they're pointy.

Daehyun squeaks and scrambles backwards, suddenly fearing for his life, and then he hears a splash and some strange clicking sounds, similar to the noises that a dolphin would make. He leans over again, slower this time, to find the merman shaking, his head thrown back in what looks like laughter and with a sharp-toothed grin on his face, and Daehyun realizes that he's being played with. He watches, stupefied, as the merman ducks under the water smoothly, rolling a couple of times before emerging again with a small splash in Daehyun's direction and more soft clicking sounds. He can't tell where exactly the sounds are coming from––he knows it's the merman, but his throat doesn't seem to be moving at all.

His hands glide in scooping motions in front of him, keeping him in place as he floats leisurely. His fingers are webbed with material identical to that of the fins on his head, thin and translucent green. His skin, however, is tanned, something that Daehyun finds strange. Does this merman spend a lot of time in the sun, at the surface? He doesn’t seem at all hesitant about being near humans. Well, near Daehyun. Who is a human.

The merman suddenly dives under the boat, and for a minute Daehyun thinks he's left, but then he pops up again with a barnacle in hand that Daehyun barely gets a glimpse of before it’s tossed, whole, into his mouth and crushed between the teeth of a powerful jaw. What a jaw it is… and now he knows where the crunching sound he heard before came from; dear Lord .

"Holy ," Daehyun mutters. He does not want to get his hand caught in that, no matter how beautiful it may be.

"How––" Daehyun swallows thickly "––how did you get that off ?" As far as he knows, barnacles are stubborn as can be stuck to the hull of a ship, and this guy doesn't seem like he has any tools on him to remove them with.

Daehyun doesn’t get a reply, just more crunching. The merman lifts his other hand from the water, and Daehyun stares as clear drops of water roll down his fingers and over his nails… nails ? They’re long and thick and pointed and very sharp-looking, just like his teeth. They're a lighter shade of green than his tail, and most certainly do not look like they're made of the same stuff that a human’s fingernails are. Unconsciously, Daehyun moves backwards, and the merman pouts, dropping his hand back in the water. He’s finished his snack. He points one sharp nail at himself, then at Daehyun with a scratching motion, and he shakes his head and rolls his eyes, looking somewhat annoyed. Daehyun stares blankly, then blinks at him. "I-I don't… think you’re going to hurt me?" Daehyun lies, voice wobbly. Is that even what he meant? Can he even understand what Daehyun is saying?

The merman furrows his eyebrows, and then rolls his eyes with a sigh and another weird click and glides onto his back, propelling himself in wide, slow circles around the front of the boat. Daehyun wonders how merpeople are capable of making dolphin sounds.

The merman’s tail sparkles every time the sunlight hits it, and Daehyun can't look away. It’s a deep, emerald green where the scales meet the skin of his torso––which he also tries not to stare at too openly––, and fades downward into a lighter shade. The end, rather than being shaped like a normal fish or porpoise’s tail, is more like a wide, round fan, long and gossamer at the edges. It looks delicate and similar to a flower petal, a lot like the fins on the side of his head.

The merman pops back up in front of him, and Daehyun startles again.

"Huh?" Daehyun shakes his head as he realizes that the merman has stopped swimming in circles, and is now leaning up toward where Daehyun is looking over the side of the bowsprit. Daehyun lets out a yelp at the sudden proximity and reels back, falling on his again.

The merman laughs, another pattern of clicks that, despite its porpoise-like nature, somehow mixes with a very human sound. Daehyun wonders how the hell this is happening to him. Years and years of him hopelessly hoping to see a merperson, and it happens casually, on a Tuesday for 's sake.

Daehyun sits up and just shakes his head. The merman reaches up to grasp the edge of the bowstrip, and then lifts himself to rest his elbows on the surface as he looks at Daehyun, leaning even closer. He clicks softly at him, almost like he’s cooing. Oh, no; he thinks Daehyun falling on his is cute––is he giving him sympathy clicks? Is he going to attack him? Is Daehyun about to be yanked over the side of the boat and brought to his untimely demise?

But, no, now Daehyun is just staring at the merman's smile, because, wow, it’s really nice. His eyes trail down to his throat, which is surprisingly smooth and flat, no ridges or anything to indicate a voice box or something like Daehyun has. And now he can’t stop staring at those gills. They flutter every second or so, contracting in the air as if there’s still water flowing through them. But the merman’s chest is rising and falling, so he obviously has lungs, too, though Daehyun wonders how strong they are and if he uses them as much as his gills.

The merman gestures to himself. “Jongup,” he says. It’s slightly accented and a little slurred, but smooth. His eyes, pretty and narrow, look curious but not at all shy, and Daehyun once again can’t seem to do anything but stare back at him. He can speak. Daehyun glances back down at the merman’s smooth throat. How?

His eyes drift back down his body, watching as his tail drags smoothly through the water, now being propelled by the boat.

The merman tilts his head and pouts when Daehyun continues not to respond, and he sinks back down into the water silently, ducking beneath the hull only to emerge on the other side. He grabs the opposite side of the wood this time, and lifts himself just enough so that Daehyun can see his eyes again, still narrowed but sparkling.  The merman squints at him, and Daehyun squints right back, paralyzed as the images of sharp teeth and the sound of that hiss and the crunch of the barnacle replay in his head. He decides to try diffusing the situation that could lead to him ending up in the water.

He points at the merman. “J-Jongup… ?” That must be his name. That’s a very human name. Then again, why did Daehyun assume that merpeople must all have names made up of dolphin clicks and squeaks? Does that count as a prejudice? Should he feel bad now?

Jongup grins widely at him, flashing those bright, sharp teeth, and nods his head before pointing to himself and saying his name again. He drops down and swims around in a couple of little circles happily, seeming excited about their communication. He stops abruptly and turns back around, one finger pointing at Daehyun as he swims back up to him. He jabs in the direction of his chest, ignoring the baffled look on his face.

“Me?” Daehyun points his finger to his chest. “I’m Daehyun,” he says slowly. “Daehyun.”

Jongup scrunches his nose up and squints––he’s starting to remind Daehyun of a puppy––, then tries to put his name together, quietly sounding it out slowly a few times before he gets the hang of it, a smooth, accented “Daehyun.” His voice sounds like water, like the two syllables are a waterfall slipping from between his lips.

When Daehyun nods, Jongup propels himself up with a short series of happy clicks, and then falls back into the water with a splash, vaguely resembling a breaching whale.

Daehyun shakes his head, marveling at the way Jongup moves, twisting his way through the reef below them as the boat continues to glide through the water. They definitely don't speak the same language, which , because Daehyun has so many questions now.

Jongup returns and smiles at him crookedly, then he drops onto his back in the water again and swims in another circle before breaking the surface, startling Daehyun. This time, he manages not to fall in surprise, but he does wince as a shower of cold droplets hits him in the face in little sprinkles.

Jongup continues to swim around as the boat speeds on, periodically sending small splashes at Daehyun and weaving around the dwindling reefs below him as they approach the drop-off. The water is green-tinted and crystal clear here, so Daehyun can see perfectly as the merman flits around. He's beautiful, moving through the water with a kind of grace and agility that Daehyun has never seen before and can barely even dream of achieving. Occasionally, Jongup unfolds a large dorsal fin on his back and uncurls other fins that Daehyun didn't notice tucked to his side, and he can't help but stare. He's never seen something so gorgeous. The short, thin tendrils at the edges of Jongup’s fins where they narrow down flutter and twirl behind him like ribbons.

The boat is beginning to slow down when the merman comes back up to the surface to linger around again, and Daehyun’s attention can’t be dragged away from the fins. Mesmerized by the luminescent shine, Daehyun leans forward and dips his hand in the water, letting his fingertips glide lightly over the middle of the merman's tail as he floats past again. He doesn't seem to notice the touch, so the next time he comes around, Daehyun puts his whole hand over the scales, and the merman stops swimming immediately. He flinches back with a series of angry clicks, shooting Daehyun a near-scandalized look as his cheeks flush deeply.

"Oh, s-sorry," Daehyun stutters, yanking his hand back from the water. Maybe it’s taboo among merfolk to touch another’s tail? He wishes he could ask Jongup. He wonders how it feels to have a one, if it's sensitive or not, heavy or light. He supposes all things are lighter in water than on land, and wonders how heavy the merman's tail would be if Daehyun tried to hold it.

The merman recovers from his embarrassment quickly, a crooked grin replacing the blush as he flicks his tail at Daehyun again to splash him.

Jongup just smiles at him, and then copies: "Sorry. Daehyun.”

The air around them seems to go silent for a long time, as if Daehyun and Jongup are the only two beings on earth while they stare at each other. Daehyun forgets about Yongguk and Junhong behind him on the boat, and keeps pondering how Jongup’s vocalizations work. He can click like a dolphin. How? And h e can also speak just like him.  Double how?

Jongup is pretty. Daehyun has observed this several times already, and he’s trying to remind himself of just how powerful and capable Jongup’s jaw is, of how sharp his nails and teeth are, and how strong his tail must be. Not to mention the muscle he sees packed into his abdomen and arms.

But his presence is relaxing, and Daehyun can't look away from the merman's eyes, the endlessly deep, sparkling brown-green. He wants to reach out to his face and touch again. He wants to hold Jongup’s face in his hands, cup his palms around his cheeks and turn his head from side to side to make sure he’s not imagining him. He kind of… wants to…

Daehyun doesn't realize how close they've gotten to each other––or how far he's leaned over the side of the boat; Jongup doesn't even seem to have moved––until Jongup tilts his head up and presses his lips against Daehyun’s. Daehyun doesn't move away, only blinking widely and cross-eyed at the face right in front of his. The face touching his. He still doesn't move when Jongup slowly slides his lips down his neck and across his throat. Daehyun can feel the grin that spreads over his mouth against his chest, and his heart is racing so fast he’s sure Jongup must be able to feel it, half out of fear as he recalls those teeth again and half out of excitement because, well, his lips are cool and they feel nice, and then suddenly arms are around him, and a loud, muted splash fills his ears. He doesn't realize that the splash was from him being pulled into the water until his body registers the sudden quiet cold, and then he's struggling against the arms that have slid around his waist, pulling him back against the merman's chest as he pulls him deeper underwater. The boat must have reached the drop-off, and now Daehyun is being dragged down into the open ocean, mind too slow to catch up with what’s happening. Jongup’s skin is the same temperature as the water––cold against Daehyun's back. He can feel one of his webbed hands on the side of his thigh for a moment. Daehyun opens his eyes and blinks a few times, but the salt water burns and keeps his sight nothing more than blurs of blue. Or maybe that’s just the only thing around him. He can hold his breath for a long time, but he knows not long enough, and he reaches his arms up, grasping at the trail of bubbles that rushes to the surface above him, floating farther and farther away.

 

 

 

Junhong startles when he hears a loud splash from the front of the boat, bumping his forehead on the top of the supplies cubby he’s stocking with rope. He hisses and then groans as he rubs at the spot where he knows a bump will swell in a few minutes, and stands up from his crouch. This is far from the first time his head has been acquainted with the surfaces on this boat. Shading his eyes from the sun with one hand, Junhong turns left and right before rushing to the side of the deck and peering over the railing. He squints at the clusters of bubbles rushing up from below.

"Um, Yongguk?" he calls over his shoulder.

There's a quiet grunt of acknowledgement.

"Did something fall overboard?"

There's a beat of surprised silence. "No?" Yongguk sounds unsure. "I don't… think so."

Junhong hears slow footsteps and then Yongguk is behind him, looking over his shoulder. "What is it?"

"I thought I heard a splash," Junhong says, leaning back and ruffling his hair a bit with a huff and a shrug.

"Probably just a fish or a bird or something," Yongguk says, brushing it off and returning to his station. That happens… sometimes.

Junhong turns away from the railing. "Hey, Daehyun," he calls, leaning around the side of the cabin to see the front end of the boat, where Daehyun is supposed to be working on the tangled deck lines over the bow. "Did you––uh, Daehyun?"

Junhong steps over piles of rope and a couple life jackets to get to the bow, only tripping a couple of times on his way up the deck. "Daehyun?" he calls again, looking around.

"Hey, Yongguk, did Daehyun finish with the lines?"

Yongguk pops up from the cluster of nets he’s returned to preparing. "Huh? No, he's right… oh." Yongguk's eyes narrow. "Okay, well, he was right there."

Junhong's face pales. "Oh God, Daehyun fell off the boat."

Yongguk rolls his eyes. "I’m sure he didn't fall off the boat, Junhong. He probably just… went into the cabin, or something."

The boat is very small, and Junhong can see the cabin from where he stands. He looks; it’s empty. Okay, now he’s worried, because there’s no sign of any other movement in the water around the boat, and they just passed over the drop-off at the edge of the reef.

Junhong bites his lip. Yongguk ducks into the cabin and then back out again, finding nothing, and now Junhong is near a full-out panic, because he’s known Daehyun his whole entire life; Daehyun is the one who kept him alive when he was eight years old and had pneumonia but no money for a doctor, and Daehyun is the one who took him into his home and taught him how to fish, and if he loses him ––suddenly, there's another splash and a very loud, choked gasp for breath, startling Junhong out of his anxiety.

He and Yongguk freeze for a second, eyes locked, and then they're both moving, stumbling to the side of the boat the noise came from and grabbing the railing to lean over the edge.

Sure enough, Daehyun is in the water, practically coughing up his lungs as he tries to catch his breath and paddling rapidly, like he thinks he’s still underwater.

"D-Daehyun!" Junhong gets on his knees and slides his torso under the railing, immediately reaching out for him. Daehyun gives another hacking, watery cough, and he reaches for Junhong's hand, grip cold and shaky, but firm.

Yongguk helps him pull Daehyun back onto the deck, where he scrambles to roll over onto his front with a wet smack. He props himself up on his elbows until his coughing fit dies down and there’s been a good amount of water dripping from him; enough to form a small pool.

Junhong reaches out to tug a few strands of seaweed free from Daehyun’s hair, and he launches them over the side of the boat like he’s throwing a frisbee.

"Um––are you okay?" Yongguk asks dumbly, not really sure what to say. This is the first time any of them have ever actually fallen overboard.

Daehyun is shivering, rubbing at the quickly-rising goosebumps on his arms. He nods, and gives a shaky “yeah.”

“Let me grab you a towel.” Yongguk heads back to the cubbies by the cabin, flipping the top open on one and digging around.

Junhong turns back to Daehyun and grabs his hand. “What happened?”

Daehyun shrugs, but the movement is jerky and is executed more in the style of a shiver. “I don’t know,” he says between slow breaths. He inhales deeply and holds for a few seconds before letting it back out. “Fell off the boat, I guess.”

Yongguk returns with a ratty old towel in hand, and helps Daehyun dry off a bit. They warm sun should finish the job when it finishes rising in about an hour or so, anyway.

“I was just on the bowsprit,” he says, allowing Yongguk to ruffle his hair with the towel. “A-and then I was in the water!” He shivers again and stretches his legs out, leaning back onto his palms and heaving a sigh. “I must’ve… I don’t know, dozed off or something, and just…” he trails off.

“Rolled off of the damn boat?” Yongguk fills in for him.

Daehyun takes the towel from him and pats at his face with it, frowning. “Yeah, must’ve been something like that.”

 

 

 

Back at home that afternoon, fully recovered from his surprise dip in the ocean and happy with their catch and sell of the morning, Daehyun peels off his clothes, which are gross and stiff with salt. He tosses his shirt and pants on his bed carelessly––the shirt doesn’t quite make it, sliding helplessly to the floor, instead––, and streaks down the hall of their shared place , into the bathroom, where he leaps under the shower head, having been craving this moment ever since Junhong and Yongguk pulled him back onto the boat. The hot water is so ing nice. He groans and hunches over, just standing under the spray for a few minutes, rotating between facing it and not every thirty seconds, before actually getting around to rinsing his crunchy hair and washing himself.

When he finally drags himself out of the glorious steam almost an hour later, Daehyun is ready for a nap. He slips on a large t-shirt and drops the towel around his waist, not bothering to return it to the rack in the bathroom. His gross cargo shorts from earlier are still on his comforter, and he grimaces at them for a moment before shoving them off and climbing onto the bed in their place. What he doesn’t expect is the light tinkling sound that meets his ears the same time his pants meet the floor. He looks over the side of the bed and squints at them. Did he leave money in his pockets by accident? With a groan he reaches down and swipes them up, cringing at the crinkly, kind-of-feeling-like-a-dried-out-carcass fabric. There are six pockets on this pair total, and he starts at the top, rifling through the first two and finding them empty.

The two thigh pockets go have little flaps that snap over the top, and he pops the first one off to reach inside, and then pauses. From the right-side pocket of his stiff, salty cargo shorts, he pulls something shiny, about a quarter of the size of his palm. It's thick but flexible, and a shimmering, deep green color that seems to almost give off its own holographic glow as he turns it over in his hands. It's a scale.

---

I don't know anything about boats or fishing or marine biology I'm sorry

I actually wrote this a while ago––like, months ago––, but I'm always nervous to post my writing and I put it off and then kind of forgot about it, only to stumble back upon it recently. I'm not even sure where this prompt came from, but I hope somebody out there enjoys it.
It's been a while; I hope you're all doing well! <3