Young Sehun sits patiently on the ground along with the other kids of his age, hands hovering over the fire to keep them warm as they listen to the elders tell the story of the creature who has been keeping their small town safe from danger.

It was a merman, they say. Their town is near the ocean, and they say that it was him who keeps the town safe from the ocean itself. Sehun has heard this story countless of times as the storytelling have said to be an ancient tradition that shall be passed from families to families, generations to generations.

Sehun had nothing against it. However, he didn’t understand why it has to be the same story again and again.

As he grows older, Sehun began to ask questions. Why was it a tradition? Why is it just one story again and again?

It was to repay the creature for protecting their town from harm. That was what his father has told him the night they went home from fishing. Legends die when their stories are not told; forgotten from the memory of the people they hold dear. The merman helps them live long, the people should help him live long as well. Sehun was convinced.

It was when he reached his teenage years when Sehun wasn’t convinced again. He has lived long enough. Doesn’t the merman want to rest? The people have changed; isn’t it tiring to protect a town that is being destroyed by its people themselves?

The merman has to find the purpose of his life for him to be born again, was what his mother answered. He has to meet the person he will give his heart to who has yet to be born in their town. He has to hear their name from their mouth.

“Will he die if he isn’t loved back?”

“No, but a human’s heart hardens when they fall in love with a merfolk.”

“Is there any other way?”

“Maybe if the human forgets the merfolk.”

“Really? But how?”

“With their kiss.”

If it was supposed to be a children’s tale, then Sehun is traumatized for life having to hear that story until the day he dies. He doesn’t want to believe it was true, but the sudden unexplainable presence of pearls and fishes scattered on the shore makes him do otherwise.

“The merman has found his person!”

The elders have shouted as the whole town rejoiced in the blessings they believe were given by the merman. Sehun couldn’t find the heart to join them because then…

It was the start of a tragic fate.

Sehun was staring at the night sky when he first met a man that’s not from their town. The man looks ethereal; his hair seems as soft as a feather and his skin was like that of a porcelain doll.

He was glowing under the moonlight. The beauty in front of him makes Sehun want to cry.

Friendship was quickly built between them as days and months pass by, despite the man refusing to tell him his name. They have exchanged stories of their past, from the most valuable to the most painful. Sehun didn’t mind not knowing the man’s name at first. But as he gets to know the man more, his chest started hurting.

Sehun realizes that he really wasn’t from their town. He wasn’t a villager either.  The man lives nearer to his place than he had thought.

The constant chest pains should’ve been an indication.

He was the merman’s person.

Sehun pleaded the man to tell him his name so that he can be reborn in his next life. In his next life, he wishes for the man to be born as a human so he wouldn’t have to be so lonely. He pleaded the man to tell him his name so that he can love him properly until his heart stops. Sehun knew it was inevitable, but as he stares at the man who is the reason he was born—the purpose of his life, he knows that he regrets nothing.

The man knew what was happening as it has happened before. The fate of his past continues on his present. His person is bound to be in love with him in his past life, in this life, and the next.

Only this time, the merman knows better than to tell him his name so his love can be finally free.

Sehun knew he was running out of time and so he pleads the man to tell him his name and the almighty to let them be together in their next lives.

If he were to be born again, he will still choose to be the merman’s person.

He hopes for the merman to be his as well.

Sehun knew it was their last when he embraced the man so tight as if he will disappear into sea foam. He tries to cling onto their memories and bring it with him to his grave. He was told that you cannot fully love a man you just met without knowing their name, but Sehun knew it was real. The pain in his chest was real.

He will love the merman until his last breath.

Yet until his last breath, the merman kisses him and Sehun closes his eyes, hoping for the feeling to be engraved on his soul.

“Junmyeon.”

Sehun covers his eyes from the sun staring down at him as he tries to remember what happened last night. His memories were a blur. His head is throbbing and there is a heavy feeling on his chest. What was he doing here? Why does it seem like he has forgotten something?

He stands up and brushes the sand off his body. He’s late for the elders’ storytelling about something he couldn’t really pinpoint. Maybe he’ll remember everything on the way there.

Sehun fails to see the tiny pearl lying near the spot where he fell asleep.

“My name is Junmyeon.”