Byulyi was in a skiff in the late afternoon, gathering more kelp samples with a long fishing net.  In the fall, the kelp beds were lush with different marine animals swimming around.  Especially seals.

 

She saw one floating by with lazy , nosing along her small boat with twitching whiskers.  Its eyes were large and moist, a gentle brown that made her think of a friendly Labrador retriever she’d seen at the park the other day.  Even though she was a marine biologist and seals were ridiculously common in her line of work, she never could hide her amusement at how doglike they were.

 

“Hello there, little guy,” she said with a smile.

 

The seal cocked its head at her in greeting, blinking slowly like it was processing the statement.

 

“You enjoying your day?”

 

A braying bark was her reply.

 

She giggled, her nose wrinkling as she turned to dump the kelp in a sterilized jar at her feet.  When she glanced up, the seal was still there, mouth open in what could be called a smile.

 

“I can’t feed you, you know.  Part of my job as a marine biologist is to not disturb the natural fauna.”

 

The seal seemed to pout a little at that, its rotund face puckering in distaste.  Byulyi just shrugged helplessly and pulled at the motor of her boat, letting the engine rev slowly so as to not startle the creature.  It whined as it began to swim away, but not before raising its flipper in what had to be a wave.  

 

Byulyi’s mouth dropped a little and she squinted at the rippling water where the seal had disappeared.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

“Wheein-ah, do seals wave at people?”

 

 

Wheein blinked owlishly at Byulyi who was in the middle of tugging off her thigh high rubber boots in the locker room.

 

“What?”

 

Byulyi felt her face warm at the incredulous glance she was receiving so she buried her head in her locker.  She the yellowing magazine clipping of Krystal posing onstage front in center with smoky eyes and pouting lips. 

 

“It’s just uh, I was collecting some samples out in the bay today and I thought I saw a seal wave at me.”

 

“Unnie… I think you’ve been staying up playing too many games.”

 

“You’re probably right. Sleep deprivation makes more sense than a seal… waving at me.”

 

When Byulyi shut her locker she was startled to see Wheein leaning close with almost pitying eyes.  

 

“Unnie, if you’re lonely you could ask and I’d wave at you.”

 

Byulyi rolled her eyes and shoved away the giggling girl with a groan.  Obviously she was just being silly. Seals waving at her.  Preposterous.

 

 

---

 

 

 

It was a week since the waving incident and Byulyi felt a little crazy as she sat at the beach of Gwanganli at night with a can of beer and a popsicle in hand.  Early fall nights in Busan were pleasant compared to home at Bucheon.  Her eyes fluttered a little as she sipped contentedly at her beer, smelling the salty tang of sea water with the savory scents of various street food stalls.

 

“Hello.”

 

Byulyi blinked slowly before turning to see a girl in an over-sized fishing jumper and dirty jeans that were so long they were rolled several times at the ankles.  Her long dark hair was wavy and she kept pushing it out of her eyes with an irritated hand.  

 

“If you’re a cult member trying to convert me, I’m not interested in religion.”

 

The girl tilted her head in confusion, squinting her large brown eyes like she barely understood half the words Byulyi said.

 

“Can I sit next to you?”

 

“Uh, sure.  You’re not going to convert me right? Or drug me to take a kidney?”

 

“What are you… humans are so weird.  I mean we, humans, are very strange. Yes.”

 

Byulyi blinked slowly as she tried to process the sentence and the girl took the silence as an invitation to plop down right next to her.

 

“Are you going to finish that?”

 

“What?”

 

The girl pointed to the melting popsicle that was leaving a trail of cream down her thumb.

 

“Uh no.  You want it?”

 

The girl’s eyes lit up and her face pulled into a huge smile and wow she sure was pretty. For someone who was probably a cult member.  

 

“I would want nothing more than to eat that delicious looking substance.”

 

“You mean a popsicle?”

 

“Yes.  I want that. Popsicle.”

 

Byulyi wordlessly handed it to her and watched as the girl immediately bit at the top of the ice cream, eyes squeezing shut in bliss.

 

“This is so wonderful!” she practically moaned, wiggling her shoulders in a barely contained dance.

 

“Yeah, ice cream is pretty amazing.”

 

“I thought you said this was a … popsicle.”

 

“I mean they’re kind of the same thing.  It’s made with ice cream.  I guess you could call it both interchangeably.”

 

The girl frowned, pouting a little and Byulyi was struck by a strange sense of deja vu.

 

“Have I met you before?”

 

“Yes.  I don’t approach humans that I do not know.”

 

“Where did I meet you then? I think I’d remember someone as pretty as-”  Byulyi choked on her words, trying to stop herself from completely putting her foot in and hitting on a stranger.

 

But the girl seemed oddly pleased at the statement, grinning with a mouthful of the last of the ice cream.  It was simultaneously extremely gross but also strangely endearing.

 

“You think I’m pretty? I suppose this form is rather aesthetically pleasing.  When I was trying to find you I had many humans approach me.”

 

Byulyi sighed.  Pretty and vain, what a killer combination.  

 

“Anyway, where did I meet you?”

 

“We’ve met a few times.  I always see you on that boat picking at the seaweed.  I actually wanted to ask you why you go out there for that stuff when it doesn’t even taste very good.”

 

Byulyi paused as she watched the girl sadly examine her popsicle stick before gnaw on it experimentally.  

 

“Wait, that’s impossible.  I only meet seals out there.”

 

Instantly the girl’s face went slack, like she’d been caught.  

 

“Um… seals? I’m not a seal! I don’t know what you’re talking about, you’re so strange!”

 

Byulyi squinted in confusion as the girl quickly handed her the gnawed on popsicle stick before standing.

 

“Well I must be off to attend to… human things? Anyway, I’ll see you around!”

 

She waved one hand with a bright smile before walking off, fading into the crowd of people walking down the board walk in a few seconds.

 

Byulyi frowned as she realized that she had just found out the answer to her question.  Seals could wave after all.  

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

Byulyi sat on the shore, chewing on the last of her lunch thoughtfully.  It’d been nearly a month since she had last seen that weird girl on the beach.  Not to mention she hadn’t seen the usual friendly seal since her last encounter.  Byulyi hated what the signs were telling her because her degree in science was probably bursting into flames as she entertained the possibility that a girl could turn into a seal. And vice versa.

 

“Are you going to finish that?”

 

Byulyi startled, throwing her hands up in the air and flinging the last bite of her food somewhere behind her.  She heard it thud into a pile of sand.  Turning in annoyance she paused at the sight of the same girl in the over-sized fishing jumper and too long jeans.  Her hair was wet, barely drying in the afternoon warmth as it clung to her shoulders.

 

“Hello, again.”

 

The girl ignored her as she walked toward the discarded morsel of food, nose twitching.

 

“Oh god, don’t eat that!”

 

“But it smells good.”

 

Byulyi sighed as she stood and followed the girl over to where she was squatting, sadly staring at the blob of rice and meat that was now dappled with flecks of sand and dirt.

 

“Seals aren’t scavengers.”

 

The girl glanced up at her, eyes widening for a second before she dropped her gaze.

 

“I’m not a seal.  I-I’m a human.”

 

“I don’t really care what you are.  No living thing should be eating something from sand.”

 

“But sand crabs are delicious!”

 

Byulyi gave the girl a look.  So not helping her whole ‘I’m not a seal’ defense.

 

“Well, regardless, let me buy you something to eat.”

 

“Buy?”

 

“Yeah. At the convenience store.  My lunch was super cheap anyway.  I could get you a rice ball or something.”

 

The girl blinked slowly at her as she processed the words, as if this was the most someone had spoken to her in awhile.  Maybe it had been.

 

The girl ducked her head as she stared at the sandy morsel of food, long hair brushing the knees of Byulyi’s pants.  If she reached out a little, she could wrap a wet curl around her finger.  Would it be soft or coarse, she wondered absently.

 

“I can’t leave the sea shore.  I have to watch something important.”

 

“What? Are you guarding a horde of food somewhere?”

 

The girl shook her head as she stuck out a finger and carefully tapped at the rice.

 

“Something like that.”

 

“Well, I can still go and get you something if you wait here.  The convenience store is literally a block away.  If you want, I could take you back to sea after you finish eating."

 

The girl wrinkled her nose as she looked up at her, as if what she was saying didn’t make sense.

 

“You’d take me back to sea? You wouldn’t force me to stay here with you?”

 

“How would I even get you to do that in the first place?” Byulyi asked with a frown.  “I don’t think I have enough popsicles in the world for that.”

 

“Ice cream popsicles.  My friend told me that’s probably what you fed me the other time.”

 

“You have a friend? Is he like a seagull or something?”

 

The girl barked out a laugh and Byulyi’s eyes widened as she saw just the faintest glimpse of sharpened canines peeking out from .

 

“No, no.  He’s the person who lent me these clothes.  An old fisherman who I see in the mornings sometimes when I come to land.”

 

Byulyi hummed as she rose to her feet.

 

“Well, stay here and I’ll be right back with something tasty.  Do you… do you want a popsicle too?”

 

The girl’s eyes widened into saucers at the mere thought.

 

With a sigh, Byulyi walked away, the spare change she had left for the seal girl.

 

 

 

_______________________ 

 

 

 

 

“You ate it, didn’t you?”

 

The girl said nothing as she walked up to Byulyi eagerly from her spot on the sand, mouth bared in a sharp smile.

 

“It’s wasteful to not eat everything.  Plus the sand is very clean.”

 

“Oh god, please tell me someone didn’t see you.”

 

The girl frowned as she took a step too close, practically bringing the two of them chest to chest.  Her nose twitched and she sniffed loudly at Byulyi’s collarbone.  Immediately, she gagged.

 

“Is that why you were taking so long?  Were you smoking?”

 

Byulyi let out a groan as she pulled the rice ball with kimchi and pork filling from her pocket, hoping it would prove a distraction.

 

“Here, have it.  I don’t think I can handle another headache from someone criticizing my lifestyle choices.”

 

Effectively distracted, the girl eagerly tore at the plastic wrapping, taking a huge bite that made her cheeks swell with food.  Byulyi sighed and gently grabbed the girl’s wrist, pulling her to one of the benches right off the beach.

 

“I don’t think I could handle the looks we’d get if you ate that squatting in the middle of the sand.”

 

“It’s how I normally eat, though.”

 

“As a cute girl in over-sized fishermen clothing?”

 

“You think I’m cute?”

 

Byulyi groaned and tugged her down to sit on the bench.  It was a wasted effort though, because she was already practically done with the meal.

 

“Delicious!”

 

“I’m glad.”

 

Byulyi stared straight ahead, watching the waves lazily move back and forth against the horizon.  The weather was rather mild today with barely a cloud in the sky and a handful of people walking along the beach.  A weekday in the middle of fall was the opposite of tourist season in Busan.

 

“Do you only come to shore to mooch food off people?” Byulyi asked casually.

 

“No.  I come here when I feel tired of the sea.”

 

“Does that happen often?”

 

The girl turned and there was something a little sad in her eyes as she smiled.

 

“It comes and goes.”

 

They lapsed into silence at that, watching the tide ebb and flow with the steady hum of waves lapping at the shore.

 

“You don’t have to avoid me out there, you know.  I won’t capture you or whatever.  I may be a scientist but I know when to leave something alone.”

 

The girl bit her lip at the comment, looking off into the distance.

 

“Well, hypothetically… if you were to suddenly start to see a particular seal again… when you do whatever it is you do on your boat.  Could you bring snacks?”

 

Byulyi laughed, tipping her head back at the shamelessness of this seal girl.

 

“And if I did? How would I know which seal to feed?”

 

“You can’t tell me apart from the other seals?” she asked, offended by the question.

 

Byulyi felt a little triumphant that she was finally no longer denying that the waving seal and this constantly hungry girl were one in the same.

 

“I mean you’re all sort of just big and brown.”

 

“I’ve been told I have beautiful eyes.  And a very nice coat. It’s very shiny and I take special care of it.”

 

“I suppose next time I’ll pay better attention.”

 

The girl sighed as she glanced at Byulyi, seeming to prepare herself for something.

 

“Yongsun.”

 

“What?”

 

“If you call out to the seals and say that name you’ll know which one to feed.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because that’s my name.”

 

Byulyi eyebrows arched in curiosity as Yongsun looked at her, face slightly flushed.

 

“Well even if I call out that name what will the seal do? Come to me?”

 

“That’s exactly what it would do.  But only if you have snacks.”

 

Byulyi chuckled and Yongsun returned the smile.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

Wheein squinted at Byulyi as she gripped her soju glass.

 

“You think you have a crush on a seal?”

 

“Kind of,” Byulyi slurred, pouring herself another shot. 

 

“Well I’m disappointed but I can’t exactly say I’m completely surprised.”

 

“Whatever.  Don’t you have to go call your girlfriend?”

 

“She’s not my girlfriend, she’s my best friend from home!”

 

Byulyi hummed into her drink, wincing at the slight burn from the alcohol.

 

“It must be nice to have her so close by.  Bucheon is so far away by bus.”

 

Wheein nodded slowly as she poured them another set of shots.  It was a Friday evening and they had finished work a little early after examining and cataloging samples in a frenzy.  Usually Byulyi would be home alone on a Friday evening, watching a movie or taking an evening walk by herself.  But Wheein had insisted on a drink since they hadn’t been able to have a one on one since the initial welcoming party for Byulyi’s arrival to the Aquaculture Research Institute a few months ago.

 

“Unnie, do you ever get lonely being here by yourself?  You don’t have any family or friends close by right?”

 

“I have that seal,” Byulyi said with a giggle, ignoring the way her stomach churned at the word ‘lonely.’  It had been a big move although a necessary one.  Doing research in marine biology in Busan was a major career upgrade but the lack of friendship outside of Wheein and Yongsun made things a bit hard.  Her passion for the work she was doing kept her engaged but it was hard coming home from her job to no one.  She could send a few texts to friends back in Bucheon and Seoul but it wasn’t quite the same as an in person conversation. 

 

“Sure.  A seal.  Did you name her?”

 

“Yongsun.” 

 

Wheein gave her that squinting skeptical look again before taking another shot.

 

“Well this Yongsun… what’s she like? When I get samples, the seals in general seem pretty friendly.”

 

“She eats too much but she’s cute.  She has really nice eyes but if I told her that she’d get more vain than she already is.”

 

“I can’t think of a single person or thing who doesn’t appreciate a compliment, though.”

 

Byulyi hummed as she rose.

 

“I’m gonna smoke a cigarette.  Do you want to come with?”

 

Wheein shrugged and they left their seats, leaving the awning of the outdoor food stand to enter a narrow alleyway littered with cigarette butts and discarded fish entrails.

 

Byulyi stuck a cigarette in and lit the end, offering Wheein her lighter.  Inhaling, she tipped her head back as she let the smoke fill her lungs for one brief moment before exhaling a stream of lazy ashy smoke.

 

“Isn’t this the same pack you had last week?”

 

“Yeah.  I’ve been cutting back.  I only smoke when I drink now.”

 

“Huh.  I remember in the beginning you seemed to be taking a smoke break every hour at work.”

 

Byulyi’s mouth twitched as she remembered one time she had tried smoking out on the skiff as Yongsun had wolfed down a microwavable hamburger, wet hair dripping onto the moldy wood.  As soon as she had taken one puff, the other girl was fixing her with a wordless growl with sharp teeth bared.  To Byulyi it was the scariest look she had ever received from someone eating a hamburger. 

 

“The seal inspired me, I guess.”

 

“It isn’t good for you,” Wheein agreed, reaching for another stick in the pack.

 

“Speak for yourself.”

 

“Hey, it’s a good stress reliever.  I learned it from my dad.  Along with all my other bad habits.”

 

Byulyi chuckled as she dropped her cigarette to the ground, crushing it underneath her heel.

 

“Regardless of how ridiculous the whole seal thing sounds, it is good to see you smiling more, Unnie.  I was a bit worried about you but getting this dinner made me feel better.  Maybe next time when Hyejin comes into town, we could all get a meat together?”

 

Byulyi turned and nodded.

 

“Maybe I could introduce you to my seal friend sometime, too.”

 

“Sure, unnie.  I’ll be sure to bring some mackerel to keep her happy.”

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

Byulyi was writing in a yellowed notebook, pencil softly scratching against the damp page.  Yongsun was lounging against the other end of the boat, head resting in her arms and eyes slowly blinking open and closed.

 

“It’ll get very cold soon,” she observed, her voice a little scratchy from her nap.

 

“It’s been cold for the past month.  Have you seen the layers I’ve had to put on?  I look like a marshmallow.”

 

Yongsun looked over her shoulder, squinting at Byulyi’s form.

 

“I do not know what that is but I have a feeling I would want to eat it.”

 

“Sure, I can try to grab something like that for you next week when I come out here.”

 

“Next week…”  Yongsun mused, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

 

There was something melancholy about the other woman today, Byulyi observed as she watched the way her eyes would flicker aimlessly out toward the sea.  Her back was taut as if at any moment she’d jump into the water and swim very far away.

 

“Yongsun-ah?”

 

“I’ve stayed here for longer than I normally do,” she confessed quietly, eyes still focused on the sloshing of the waves.  “Seals migrate during the winter, as you know.  I think these past few months have been the longest I’ve stayed in one place in awhile.” 

 

Byulyi hummed thoughtfully as she glanced down at Yongsun’s pelt, gleaming like it had been polished with oil, next to her feet.  Over the last few months she had learned to trust that Byulyi would not try to steal her skin from her to keep her trapped on land.  Apparently, it had happened once before, but that was all she had been able to get out of Yongsun before her eyes had darkened to an almost murderous gleam that had only gone away with two ice cream popsicles. 

 

“Will you go soon then? To the south?”

 

“I plan on it,” Yongsun replied quietly, tilting her head so that she was finally meeting Byulyi’s gaze.  Her eyes were big and brown as always but they seemed a little wetter than usual. 

 

“Why’d you stay for so long anyway?  It’s not really a good idea for a seal to stay out in such cold waters for winter.”

 

“Because of you.”

 

Byulyi startled and Yongsun’s eyes held her still, soft and edged with a little of the usual sadness. 

 

“W-why?” she choked out, hating how her heart beat faster as the other girl crawled closer, carefully putting her pelt next to the sample box by the engine.  Suddenly Yongsun was right in front of her, small hands resting on Byulyi’s thighs with a heat that was stifling. 

 

“It has been so long since I met a human like you,” she whispered, her face very close to Byulyi’s and eyelashes long enough that they brushed Byulyi’s cheeks like butterfly wings.

 

“A human like me?”

 

“All you wanted from me was my company.  You didn’t want my body or my powers or my skin.  All you wanted was someone to talk to while you worked or someone to eat with.”

 

“More like someone who ate my things while I watched.”

 

“That too.”

 

They smiled at each other and Byulyi tentatively raised her hand, cupping the other girl’s soft cheek.  Yongsun’s eyes fluttered closed at the contact and she leaned into her touch, nuzzling into her palm.

 

“Will I… will I see you again?”

 

Yongsun hummed a little as she raised her own hand and rested it over Byulyi’s.  She turned her face into the palm and left a wet kiss.

 

“If you’d want to see me again.”

 

Byulyi sighed.  There was something intoxicating about Yongsun, a little wild and naïve and soft that made the thought of stealing her skin understandable. 

 

As if Yongsun could read her thoughts, she glanced at her skin once before running a free hand along Byulyi’s outer thigh.

 

“You thought of trapping me, didn’t you? Making me stay here as your little fish wife?”

 

“Even if the thought crossed my mind, I would never do that to you.”

 

“Why? Aren’t I just some thing to be tamed and domesticated like everything else you humans see?”

 

Byulyi shook her head a little and leaned forward so that their foreheads were touching.

 

“Every living thing deserves to be free.”

 

Yongsun’s eyes widened and Byulyi watched tears trickle down her eyes before everything blurred away, the overcast skies, the dark green waves, as the other girl pushed forward and kissed her on the mouth.  Hot with breath and sharp with teeth, Yongsun into Byulyi’s mouth with the force of a wild thing. But Byulyi just gasped and clutched onto her jaw like they were in a storm and Yongsun was her life line.

 

And then suddenly Byulyi was holding air and there was a splash behind her.  She turned sharply and there was a seal, shaking its big head of the ocean spray.  It smiled at Byulyi and gave a wave before swimming off, its dark form cutting through the ocean water for a few seconds before disappearing entirely beneath the surf. 

 

Byulyi smiled sadly as she watched the ocean for a few more minutes before crawling over to her engine and revving the old machine.  With a tentative hand she brushed her fingertips over the place where Yongsun had left her skin earlier, still a little wet and oily from the pelt. 

 

When she got back to the Institute, no one seemed to notice anything except Wheein who mentioned that Byulyi’s smile seemed a little lonely again.   

 

 

---

 

 

forward 

 

Hyejin rolled her eyes as Wheein pulled on a pair of jeans.  It was a bit too warm of a Spring day to warrant such a length but then again Hyejin was the kind of person who’d wear a short dress in rain, snow, or shine.

 

“You look like you’re twelve with that on.”

 

“But I still look cute.”

 

“Yeah but you’re always cute.”

 

Wheein grinned at the grudging compliment, tossing her short hair.

 

“Thank you for your kind words, Madame Hyejin.”

 

“God stop it, I told you I’m not into that role play stuff, especially when you do that dumb voice.”

 

Wheein stuck her tongue out at her before turning to check her phone.

 

“Did Byulyi-unnie send you the address? Busan is like a thousand alleyways.”

 

“That’s just because you get lost easy.  If you don’t have your tractor to guide you, I think you’d have gotten lost long ago in Jeonju.”

 

“Wheein-ah, please be nice, I took time off my promotions for my album to come visit you and your seals.”

 

“Is Loco-oppa doing well?”

 

Hyejin rolled her eyes at the tone, slightly petulant.

 

“He’s doing very well and told me to have a great time with my most important person.”

 

Wheein’s shoulders sagged a little and Hyejin didn’t even have to see her face to be able to tell that she was smiling.

 

“Anyway, it’s nearly six so we should get going.  This is sort of a big deal since this is the first time I’m meeting Byulyi's girlfriend, too.”

 

“What do you know about her?”

 

“They’ve been doing long distance for quite a few months and she apparently really likes eating.”

 

“Is that why you’re bringing the mackerel? Byulyi-unnie better have picked a place that will prepare it fresh for us.  I can’t stand for food to go bad.”

 

Wheein shrugged with a playful grin as they walked to the entryway to put on their shoes.

 

“Honestly Byulyi-unnie seemed so happy that I don’t think it matters.”