Though the way back to Chaeyoung’s aunt’s house from the beach was a short one, it took Dahyun a lot longer than usual to get there.

 As it turned out, walking hand in hand with nearly girl in the streets caught a lot of not so positive attention. The fact that Sana was barefoot and didn’t seem the slightest bit bothered by it definitely didn’t help the situation. More than one man had whistled at the sight of the foreigner, and Dahyun had made sure to keep Sana as close as possible and squeeze her hand – it felt like a good idea until the moment Sana mirrored the gesture and squeezed her hand in return.

 Note to self: mermaids are ing strong.

 And that strength really worked against Dahyun. Whenever something caught Sana’s attention, she stopped walking and just stood there to stare at it, whatever it was – dogs, cats, food stands – and no matter how hard Dahyun tried, Sana didn’t budge until she decided to. At least she was compliant and didn’t try to go where Dahyun didn’t want to go. But every time Sana stopped, Dahyun tried to teach her the Korean name of whatever she had noticed.

 To avoid the too instant stares of men and the judgmental looks of the ahjummas, Dahyun had chosen the smaller streets, the ones that had the smallest shops and family restaurants. People still stared and judged, but there were a lot less people.

 “Dahyun-ah!”

 The voice belonged to an ahjumma who lived close to Chaeyong’s aunt. She had a tiny restaurant with her son, and Dahyun and Chaeyoung loved the place – the food was cheap and amazing – and they went every time they visited Chaeyoung’s aunt. The lady was kind and always welcomed them with a warm smile.

 “Good evening,” Dahyun said as she bowed her head at the lady standing outside the small restaurant. To her amusement, Sana bowed as well.

 “Isn’t your new friend cold?”

 Oh no. What to do. Dahyun had no idea what to tell the ahjumma. The lady knew everyone around, and she knew Chaeyoung’s aunt well. Whatever Dahyun told her would likely be repeated around the whole neighborhood within a few days. It was bad. Really bad.

 “She has enough alcohol in her system to keep her warm. But I’m taking her home with me to make sure she’ll be okay.”

 “Drunk at this hour? You should be more careful about who you befriend, Dahyun-a.”

 It was barely seven. Great. Now the whole neighborhood would think that Sana was an exhibitionist and a drunk. Dahyun really needed better lies. What could be a good lie to explain whatever was going on with Sana? It wasn’t like she could tell the ahjumma that Sana was a freaking mermaid!

 “Ah! She’s Japanese, she ran into those high school punks who have been roaming the streets and drinking at the beach since last week, she had no idea what she was getting herself into, her Korean really isn’t good.”

 “I see, I see,” the ahjumma nodded her head. “Those kids cause a lot of trouble. Keep an eye on your friend, Dahyun-ah, make sure she stays safe.”

 “I will, promise!”

 The lady looked Sana up and down, but there was no judgement, no disgust. Just the same caring expression she always had on. Dahyun was surprised to hear her speak Japanese all of a sudden, there was a small smile on Sana’s lips, which broadened as something else caught her attention – the girl really had the attention span of a puppy. The ahjumma’s dog had walked out of the restaurant to sit by the woman’s feet.

 “Dog,” Sana said, staring at the pet.

 The Korean word surprised both Dahyun and the ahjumma.

 “We should get going now, before Sana catches a cold. I’ll try to come back with Chaeyoung for dinner soon!”

 “Please do, Dahyun-ah, and bring Sana with you, too!” the ahjumma smiled brightly.

 Dahyun nodded along, even if she wasn’t sure bringing Sana back would be a good idea, “Say hello to your son for me! Goodbye, ahjumma!” she exclaimed joyfully, waving at the old woman before tugging at the sleeve of Sana’s hoodie – well, her hoodie – and walking away.

 It had been a particularly weird encounter. Awkward. Dahyun hated lying, but she didn’t have a choice. Telling the truth about having found a mermaid on the beach would not be a good idea. She couldn’t pretend it was childhood innocence anymore. She didn’t want to hear people calling her crazy for believing mermaids were real.
 

 Getting Sana inside the house was another adventure of its own. The steps leading to the front door were apparently a confusing thing for a mermaid. At least it was only three steps, and Sana didn’t fall. So Dahyun could consider it a success.

 How could a mermaid speak Japanese but not know about stairs?

 Dahyun had so many questions. So many questions that she couldn’t ask because she didn’t speak Japanese well enough to hold a proper conversation with Sana. Things were, without a doubt, going to be really complicated and confusing for the two of them. And probably for Dahyun’s friends as well.

 Sana’s eyes were full of wonder as Dahyun opened the door to let her inside the house.

 Dahyun winced at the sight of the dirty footprints left by Sana on the white tiles. Chaeyoung would kill her if she saw that. She would really need to clean that up before Chaeng came back from dropping her aunt at the train station.

 “We really need to get you cleaned up,” Dahyun mumbled, more to herself than anything, but it still caught Sana’s attention.

 The girl was staring at her, head tilted to the side. Sea puppy. It was the first thought that came to her mind. Sana was an adorable confused puppy of the sea. Confused. Everything must have been so confusing for her. From life under water, surrounded by nothing but the sea to the hell of land and the city. All the noises, all the people. Pavement under bare feet. Dahyun couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must been like for Sana.

 Was it really Sana’s first time on land? There was no way it wasn’t. The girl was confused about dogs. But then, how cou