Somewhere in the ocean.

 

The king slammed his hand on the rock, body trembling as he turnturneds to face his son.
"How could you just be telling me this? Do you have any idea what you've done?" Luhan lowered his head. "I am sorry father, I tried to reason with him but Sehun wouldn't just listen. You know how stubborn he can be." "Should've told me sooner, I would've had done something to stop him from his meaningless infatuation for the ground-walker, do you have any idea what those creatures would do to my son if they find out about what he really is? Do you think they'd accept him" he groaned, pacing the throne room, a hand resting on his temple. "Sehun is my baby boy, he's still a baby, he can't even fend for himself inside the kingdom and how in the name of seas is he going take care of himself out there?" He paused rounding to face Luhan once again. "My love!" The queen slowly swam to her husband, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I don't like this either but Sehun chose this, he wants to discover and experience love for himself–" "No grace, you don't understand, I want my son to be happy but I am scared for what the ground walkers would do to him, have you forgotten what happened to your brother? How they tore him from limb to limb all in the name of their so called experiment?" The king said with an indignant huff, blowing out a flurry of small bubbles. The queen sighed, eyes closing at the horrible memory of her beloved brother, being cut into pieces, she shook her head to clear those horrid images out of her mind."How can I forget," she shook her head once again. "That is why i am sending the fighters to get him back–" "No father, that wouldn't be necessary, Sehun isn't in danger." Luhan quickly cut off. "How can you be so sure?" "We'll feel it if he is, through our bond and I am certain he'll call for help–" "What if he couldn't, what if he was taken somewhere far away that we couldn't feel him through our bond when he's in trouble?" Luhan swam up a little higher, swishing his fins in front of father's as he took the Kings hand in his. "I Know you love Sehun and we all love him too, but sending the fighters out there isn't the solution." He squeezed his father's hand. "I have a better idea. Why not send Jimin.?" "Jimin? From the Park house?"The king asked  raising his brows.  Luhan nodded. "That's right. Father." "But he's not a fighter, he can barely protect himself how is he going protect my boy?" "We're not sending him to fight, we're sending him to bring the prince back home." The king looked skeptic, glancing at his wife, who smiled lovingly at him with a nod. "It's a brilliant idea. My king, Jimin is Sehun's best friend, he knows Sehun more than any of us here, he can convince our son to come home. And Jimin knows the ground-walkers way more than any other mer in this kingdom." His wife told him swishing back and forth like she was waiting for something. The king relaxed, taking a deep breath before he nodded. "Alright, send words to the Parks and call for Jimin presence in the palace, let's try it your way but if he fails I am doing it my way." Luhan beamed and nodded, he turned slightly and caught the sight of his betrothed. Kris had a grim expression on his face, but Luhan knew why it's there, his lifebond to be wasn't very fond of the ground walkers but that didn't mean they should treat them with hatred. "Yifan, go get the park boy" the king ordered. Kris bowed deeply. "At once your majesty" he said, turning to send a glare Luhan's way before swimming out of the throne room. Luhan only smiled at that, shaking his head slightly. **** Sehun startled slightly and looked up, eyes widening upon realizing that Kai was also in the room. Kai's eyes immediately lock onto Sehun's, who was… doing his best to hide In the open pool. By keeping himself as still as possible, submerged underwater in the farthest corner. Right within direct line of sight. He stayed hidden for a while but after a moment Sehun finally emerged, but just enough for his face so that when he speak, his voice wasn't muffled. "K-kai" he choked out. There was a heavy silence. Both of them froze up as if an ice bomb was dropped onto their shoulders. Every little sound was amplified in Kai's ears, their breathing, the soft splashing of water, a distant squeaking of a fowl and lastly his own accelerated heartbeat. Sehun held his eyes the whole while, and for the first time, the merman’s expression was unreadable. Kai was straining to stay still; the palpable tension made his skin crawl. When Kai didn’t as much as move a muscle, Sehun took it as an invitation to swim even closer, albeit cautiously. There was hesitance in the way his body moved and his eyes flickered between Kai's face and his right hand that was still gripping the books. Sehun was even more beautiful and elegant underwater, his fins like silvery wisps as he moved. Kai on the other hand, wanted to bolt and never ever come back - even if it meant he had to leave his house for good. But then he took one good look at Sehun's face and he knew he was a goner. , Sehun looked really beautiful. The most stunning creature Kai had ever set eyes onto. He never had a preference for any color before, but if asked now he would have boldly said it’s grey mixed with a hint of blue - the same color that Sehun was scales and enchanting eyes possessed. And those eyes were blown open, fright and full of wonder, which was ironic really - out of the two of them the wonderful one definitely wasn’t Kai. Kai had to force himself to breathe. Sehun looked so human beneath all that beauty. Kai ignored the twist in his heart as much as he could. Sehun with his boyish features, pink lips and flawless pale skin looked like one of those precious muses the artists and authors went crazy for. Kai knew nothing of how to create art but he recognized one when he saw one; and this being in front of him was the finest of the finest he had ever seen. In any other situation he would have scoffed at how sappy that sounded, but now he kept silent because it was the truth. Starting from the juncture of the merman’s neck and all the way down his shoulders, tiny and soft scales littered the wet skin.The back of Sehun hand was plastered with scales as tiny as peas, which twinkled just as beautifully as the bigger ones on his shoulders. The scales became bigger at the crown of his shoulders - around the size of his nails - that run down his upper arms and lower that the water shielded from his eyes.They twinkled like teal and mint in the sunlight. Kai gulped harshly. He’d be convinced he’s in front of a normal human man if not for the apparent gills protruding on either side of Sehun's neck that flex with each hard exhale, his wet strands of silvery hair was pushed back. Never mind the inhuman like allure that was clinging to Sehun's skin, to where each second in his presence caused Kai to want to come closer. Between his fingers stretched an opaque webbing that looked thin enough to tear from the smallest of strain. Kai wondered how he didn't notice any of this the night Sehun saved him. His fingers twitched, wanting to gather those hand into his palm and carefully run his fingers across the sparkling scales. Kai's breath was still stuck in his throat, jaw hanging low. And legs rooted unable to take a step forward as he took in the sight in front of him. "Kai?" Sehun called again, this time distress evident in his tone. Kai inhaled sharply before hastily tearing his eyes away from Sehun's hands that were now griping the edge of the pool. This gave Kai a pause to breathe. An unseen breeze stirred the air between them, quick and quiet, and light bleeding through the roof, beating warmth down onto the scene. Kai observed Sehun for a moment, taking in the way he kept his gaze averted, fidgety like he wanted to sink back underneath the water and hide. "Sehun" Kai finally spoke. "I am right here." Sehun's distress completely melted away then, as he threw his head back, taking a deep breath. Kai just watched him. He knew it was probably very unhealthy for his heart to be skipping a beat this often but it wasn’t like he had a ing control over it or anything. Heaven knows he was trying though. Sehun rose further out of the water to lean on his arms - giving a great view of his torso and his scale-covered hips. Now Kai could see it clearly, how the skin was attached to the fin. The flesh integrated with the siver scales just above his waist, it’s bizarre, it’s alluring. Then there's the tail. From what Kai could manage to see it’s nothing how he’d imagined size wise. It’s long, and seemingly packed with muscle beneath the gorgeous, almost luminous silvery scales dotting over it, with a wide fluke at the bottom and a series of spike shaped fins curving just above it, moving forward and backward. Kai found himself relaxing a bit. Sehun seemed harmless, really. And he’s quite cute, for something that was not supposed to exist. If Kai was indeed having a hallucination right now, at least it was a cute one. Sehun lifted his body, climbing on the hard floor to seat on it, some part of his tail still inside the pool. Kai stared in awe, completely speechless, as Sehun waved his tail about, sunlight reflecting off water droplets clinging to the scales and making them glitter especially bright. “Wow,” he breathed out once his brain had caught up. “It’s beautiful.” Sehun giggled. Because apparently mermaids not only existed, but they also giggle and have vibrant grey eyes and beautiful soft looking lips and It was all a bit overwhelming. Kai carefully dropped the books he's holding and finally moved closer and crouched down next to Sehun. Unconsciously, his hand reached to touch from his human like skin, to the wonderful scales. It’s cool to the touch at first, water still trickling off in small streams, but underneath the chill of the water there’s warmth. It felt solid and alive, practically vibrating beneath his touch. Sehun's scales were so smooth and cool to the touch. Kai had initially thought that it’d feel a lot like touching a fish, but the sensation was definitely different. A lot more pleasant.  They were slippery, kind of squishy. He kept pressing his digits. When his fingers came in touch with the wet, warm skin of Sehun's tail(just right where his thighs should be) the merman gasped, with a full-bodied shiver running through his body. Kai withdrew his hand so fast as if he got burnt, eyes widening in surprise. Sehun's were wide open too, but there was no sign of pain or fear in them. Kai couldn’t put a name on those emotions