"Momo!"

 The mermaid froze at the sound of the booming voice, but she did not let go of Dahyun's jaw as she glanced above her shoulder. It was painful and scary. Having no idea what was going on was the worst part. There was someone angry enough to stop a murderous mermaid from doing what she wanted to do. Maybe they would kill the mermaid and then Dahyun. Coming to the beach had been one of her worst ideas ever – coming out to her parents really didn't seem all that scary anymore.

 Dying before she had the opportunity to come out to her family and get rejected because of it didn't seem all that bad, though.

 A soft voice rose. It sounded different from the one that had yelled. There was a third one? Dahyun couldn't understand what she was saying. No matter how hard she had worked on her Japanese in hope that it would be useful when Sana would be back, Dahyun hadn't made enough progress to figure out what was happening.

 For a second, the black-haired mermaid tightened her grip on Dahyun's jaw before pushing her away, sending her to the sand. There was nothing she could do to break the fall. Her elbows hit the sand first, the back of her head following suit. The ground wasn't hard, the fall wasn't quite as painful as expected, but Dahyun still struggled to catch her breath. Why did mermaids have to be so damn strong? They were making it hard for Dahyun to survive adulthood.

 Dahyun rubbed at her temples and her eyes as she sat up. She could have never expected the sight in front of her. 

 Three mermaids. There really was three mermaids on the beach. Only one of them was paying attention to Dahyun as the other two were bickering. Black hair, kind eyes and a small, awkward smile on her lips. A loud growl coming from one of the other mermaids caught Dahyun's attention. The angry voice. She knew it. She knew that voice. She had never heard that anger before, but Dahyun knew who it was. There was no mistaking that body for anyone else's.

 "Sana..."

 Silence fell on the beach.

 Sana was right there. In front of her, staring at her. It was finally happening. After months without a sign that she was still alive, Sana was back in Dahyun's life. But for how long? Dahyun wouldn't be able to handle it if Sana were to leave again. Was she even here, or was Dahyun imagining it all because she was so desperate to see her again?

 Did it matter if it was nothing more than an illusion?

 Dahyun closed her eyes and took deep breaths. She was scared to open her eyes again.

 Before she could decide what to do, Dahyun felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her shoulders, and the weight of a whole body pressed against her, heavy and warm. Sana. Dahyun's back hit the sand again. She had almost forgotten that Sana was a lot heavier than she looked. She wasn't sure how she could forget anything about Sana when the mermaid occupied most of her thoughts, day after day. Dahyun rested her hands on Sana's hips, thumbs brushing against the wet sand sticking to her skin. She could feel herself blushing at the contact, but she refused to move her hands away from Sana – it was the only way she had to make sure that Sana wasn't going anywhere again.

 She wanted to stay right there forever, as long as Sana was with her.

 Sana sat up, still holding Dahyun in her arms. Dahyun put her hands down on the sand and rested her weight on her arms, observing Sana sitting between her legs. She hadn't had time to notice the angry scars on Sana's arms until now; long, pink and puffy, like deep claw marks marring Sana's soft skin. There were several other smaller scars on her chest and shoulders. What had happened to her in the water? Who had hurt her?

 Dahyun ran her hands up Sana's arms. A shiver ran up her spine as her fingertips brushed over the scars. She felt Sana tremble under her touch.

 "Are you okay?" she asked, hands resting on Sana's shoulders.

 "Sana is okay."

 The mermaid gave her a bright smile and Dahyun forgot about everything else around them. The other mermaids simply disappeared from her mind, and so did the months spent worrying about whether or not Sana was still alive. Sana's smile was all that mattered to her.

 The moment was however ruined by her phone ringing. Dahyun looked around to find where she had dropped it and reached for it. From the corner of the eye, she noticed the two other mermaids, staring in confusion at the sound – the murderous one would have almost looked cute if she hadn't tried to kill Dahyun twice already, the other one was cute, awkwardly standing on her feet.

 "You're still alive?" Chaeyoung questioned as soon as Dahyun picked up the call.

 "No, you're talking to her murderer right now, and you're next on the list."

 Dahyun heard her friend make an exasperated noise and she knew that she was rolling her eyes at her.

 "All I see on my side is a dead shark. Tell me you've had more luck than me. This thing smells gross, seriously."

 "It depends on what you call luck, I guess," Dahyun started, unable to stop herself from smiling as she looked back up at Sana. "Hypothetically, would we have enough clothes in our bags to dress three mermaids?"

 "What?! What do you mean by 'three mermaids'?!"

 Sana tried to grab her phone, so Dahyun took her hand instead and intertwined their fingers. She hadn't expected it to distract the mermaid long enough, but it worked out a lot better than she thought. Sana just sat there in silence, giving Dahyun's hand light squeezes. It felt nice. Comfortable and familiar.

 "Just get here. You can't miss us."

 "Us?"

 "Stop asking questions and get your here, Chaeng."

 Dahyun hung up before Chaeyoung coud try to ask another question.

 The other two mermaids started to talk, making Sana turn around to look at them. All Dahyun could catch was the murderous one using words like 'dumb' and 'stupid', most likely directed at Sana. Mermaids seemed to have a sense of friendship similar to humans – insulting each other and every decision taken sounded an awful lot like Dahyun's own group of friends.

 Sana shifted closer to Dahyun as the conversation went on. Her back was now almost pressed against Dahyun's front and one of her hands was resting on Dahyun's thigh; the gesture seemed protective, even possessive. Sana gave her thigh a harsh squeeze. Dahyun had to bite her lower lip at the touch, but she could not prevent the blush that tinted her cheeks. Why was she blushing? She had already kissed Sana, a simple touch shouldn't have made her blush like that.

 "What's happ- Holy !"

 Chaeyoung was finally there to witness the mess.

 "You really weren't kidding when you said three mermaids, were you?"

 Sana leaned her weight on Dahyun's legs to help herself get back on her feet and rushed to give Chaeyoung a bone-crushing hug. Dahyun chuckled as she realized that Chaeyoung's hands hovered over Sana's without touching an inch of skin. Now Chaeyoung would know how awkward it felt to be hugged by a mermaid without any sort of warning.

 Dahyun rubbed at her numb thighs as she stood up and glanced back at the other two mermaids. She still had no idea who they were or why they were there. But if Sana trusted them, should she really be worried about them? Did Sana actually trust them, though? This was a lot more complicated than it ought to be. A few months ago, Dahyun's biggest worries were her studies and ignoring her own uality. Now, her life was all about mermaids and potentially getting killed by one or two of those sea creatures. 

 "Dubu!"

 Sana's voice shook Dahyun out of her thoughts. A glance at Sana was enough to remind her that there was three women on the beach at the moment. . Getting Sana dressed wouldn't be too complicated, but how would they manage to deal with the other two? This would not go well. Unless Sana got her weird friends dressed herself. That could work. Maybe.

 Dahyun clenched her fists, trying to gather her courage. She took her bag off her shoulder and put it down on the sand. Everything would be fine. She took out the clothes that she had brought for Sana, slowly, getting herself mentally ready to face a very and attractive mermaid again. She had done it so many times, and still, she remained unsure of her ability to pull through. Sana made her feel powerless, defenseless. It was ridiculous.

 Sana whined. Dahyun looked up at her, confused. She was staring at the small pile of clothes as if it was insulting her. 

 "Chaeng, keep an eye on the mermaids while I help Sana get dressed."

 Chaeyoung looked back at her with an expression that said ' you, unnie'.

 "And what am I supposed to do if they decide to go rogue? Sacrifice myself and die first?" Chaeyoung scoffed.

 "Just tell me if they do anything weird."

 "They're just standing there and it looks suspic