Genre: Fantasy, Fluff, Romance

Summary: In which Yujin tries to defy her fear of the sea until a mystical creature comes to her aid and helps her defy not one, but more of her odds instead. Including finding her own peace.

Word Count: 11601

Hashtag: #JinjooFiestaS2_OceanEyes

(Into the abyss of those) Ocean Eyes

"Are you sure this would be safe, unnie?" 

"Yes! My dad always rides this boat. Besides, we won't go that far from the shore." Yujin smiles as she reach out for the paddle by the ledge, her arms and legs trying to find balance in the buoyant structure but the two of her friends, Yena and Wonyoung, were still reluctant if they were to join the naughty one as they see her struggle to even settle on the craft.

"Hey! As far as we could remember, you're thalassophobic, right?" Yena reprimands.

"And aquaphobic, I might add." Wonyoung who was beside Yena agrees but Yujin just dismisses the both of them and just shrugged.

At the age of 12, there was one incident where Yujin barely even survived the sea when she playfully frolicked down the foot of the seashore without her parents' guidance. The next thing she knew she was dragged to the depth ocean by the gigantic wave, into the sea, 10 feet away from the shore which was already far for a child like her.

Unfortunately, getting dragged to the sea is still instilled clearly in her memory, thus the trigger of her thalassophobia which only prevented her from hanging around by the shore near the sea, while she watches Yena and Wonyoung engage in a banter on who found the better conch shell by the waters.

What was peculiar is that, after Yujin's near-death feeling and experience of getting dragged by the strong waves, she doesn't remember anything that succeeded in that unfortunate event. All she remembered was her, all in her drenched clothes, finally waking up while she felt the warm sand beneath her, and she was all alone, the sea already calm as the sun already sinks in it, until her mother and father found her dazed and confused but also terrified.

What happened at the shore was still clear to Yujin, up to this day, but never the moment that happened before she even woke up to the comfort of the land.

Now, at the age of 18, Yujin grew taller as she now towers over Yena who was now the adult age of 22, along with the young Wonyoung who was now at the age of 17, and they grew beautifully as she did.

"It's okay, unnie. I can do it. Come on! You've been too busy with college to play with Wonyoung and I." Yujin smiles reassuringly at them after she settles peacefully and gently by the farthest seat on the boat.

This was what Yujin wanted to do ever since her phobias were triggered. She is somehow a person who can do anything, from being an athlete to being a great daughter and friend but her fears were just enough to stop Yujin from being perfect.

Yujin was almost too perfect, if it wasn't for the fear she despises the most. The fear of the sea, the fear of water.

So now she pulls Yena and Wonyoung along with her, the company of the two being the saving grace from her anxiety when she gets near the sea. She was now 18, and she sure does want to finally defy the odds she always faces.

"I promise, before sunset we'll already be back!" Yujin smiles at them wider than before, making it look more persuasive than a while ago.

"Fine." Yena and Wonyoung says in unison then they finally board the boat, the three of them finally feeling the motion of the water beneath their soles.

Yena does the honor of paddling (Yujin volunteered at first but Yena insisted since she was the 'big sister'), until they were finally far from the shore, as far as Yujin could see if she sticks out a finger to measure the view of the palm trees near the sea, it would measure her ring finger by now.

Yena stops, afraid that they were already too far and she sees Yujin, a smile still plastered on her face.

"This is so fun!" Wonyoung clapped her hands, imitating a seal that waddled the boat out of balance which caught Yujin by surprise as she hung along the sides of the boat.

"Wonyoungie, don't move too much!" Yena laughs nervously but the younger ones just laughs, their laughter enveloping the moderate splashes of waves 

The three spend this opportunity by talking about the sea and how vast it is, containing almost every creature on Earth, discovered or not. Yena and Wonyoung cautiously look over the water surface, seeing the darkness of the sea beneath them and they discuss everything to Yujin, who was now getting to know the sea after avoiding it for years because of the fear she was now slowly overcoming.

Their long discussions and never-ending laughter was interrupted by the sudden gloom of the sky, as the sun was finally setting and it was now getting darker, like a blanket finally draped over the Earth and it wasn't a pleasant moment for Yujin.

"Yujin-unnie, are you okay?" Wonyoung asks the panicked person across her as Yujin's grip on the side of the boat tightens.

"Hey, Yujin calm down. We're here." Yena tries to alleviate the situation but couldn't when Yujin's sense of hearing can't even function properly at this time.

Yujin suddenly struggles to breathe and her vision suddenly darkens around her as she feels the cold breeze hit her skin and then suddenly, a strong gust of wind hits their boat, making Yujin panic and just as they feared, Yujin mistakenly leans back, then falls to the water, back first.

"Yujin, no!"

"Yujin-unnie!"

Yujin was now enveloped by the darkness of the depths of the sea. The area they were currently cruising on was deep, much to Yujin's horror. Not being able to know how to swim, Yujin struggles to pull herself up but fails as she braces herself for her now possible death. 

The last thing she sees is her hand reaching out in the water, in hopes of reaching the safety of the surface, but was grabbed by something— someone unknown in the depths of the sea whole she was already sinking deep, until everything goes black.

----------------------------------------------------

Yujin suddenly feels scratch as she coughs for air while residues of the water from the sea bursts out of . She abruptly sits, getting surprised that she was already sitting by the sand on an unfamiliar isolated island.

Yujin looks around the beach, the sun nearly sinking and gloomy and she remembers, she was to return with Wonyoung and Yena before sunset, just as she promised but now she fails to do so. Yujin then shivers as she feels the air hit her and her drenched clothes but just as she does, a pebble hits her by the arm.

"Huh? Who's there?" Yujin asks, trying to adjust her vision from the darkness of the sea from a while ago and she just let her eyes scan through her surroundings. Then again, another pebble hits her arm, but now Yujin was looking at where it came from, behind the boulder.

Yujin walks cautiously to the boulder and sees a girl's head peek a little bit but suddenly shy away when it sees Yujin looking at her direction.

"Hey..." Yujin trails off as she approaches the boulder carefully.

"Hey... Are you... Are you the one that saved me?" Yujin asks but then she sees the girl's eyes appear from behind the bolder, looking at her own, and the girl nods.

In deep gratitude and happiness, Yujin smiles softly at the girl, letting the awkward tension between them ease. It was at least something she could do to the girl who is currently hiding behind the boulder.

"Why are you hiding? It's okay come out. I won't hurt you." Yujin gestures to the girl to come out but much to her dismay, the girl shies away again from her.

Yujin, the persistent one she is, suddenly finds herself walking towards the boulder and now she sees the girl.

Yujin's lying when she says she didn't feel surprised,

Yujin's lying when she says her jaw didn't dropped because of every aspect she was currently feeling,

and Yujin definitely lies when she says she's not seeing the mystical embodiment of the once fictional creature from every fantasy she has ever heard, right then and there.

"You're a... mermaid?" 

Yujin tries to put on a calm face, feeling the fear of getting snatched by a mermaid, the scary creatures they are, right before her very eyes just as she heard or watched from fictional movies growing up.

However, Yujin was in fact wronged by this particular creature before her.

Yujin sees the mermaid's face, fear drawn across her face and it was unlike Yujin, who hid the fear beneath her calm facade. Both of them were scared but it seems like the mermaid is even more scared, a fact Yujin suddenly understands, being the human between them.

Yujin does know humans could be much cruel however, she's not similar to those people who don't even think twice in harming such creatures (If ever they do see one really exists). The last thing that Yujin wanted is to spread hatred and anguish to the world, even though her phobia for the sea itself gives her a lot of reason to do so.

She doesn't even blame her for bringing her to a mysterious island, possibly because of the fact the bringing her back to the familiar shore will endanger  its life, maybe a human or two would've seen her so maybe this mermaid 

Yujin finally notices the mermaid's features. It was indeed like what they describe them. The prettiest creatures to ever swim in the sea and Yujin wasn't even exaggerating but this mermaid's features were really surreal. 

A light tint of pink on her cheeks while her hair's drenched perfectly, a necklace with a pearl hanging on it was around her neck, also long enough to cover her bare torso, and her tail colored in different colors that will surely stand out beneath the sun's sinking rays.

Yujin stares in awe until the creature almost crawls away from her, going back to the sea but Yujin was quick to intercept,

"Wait! No!" Yujin approaches her carefully, her steps now a bit lighter than it was a while ago to calm the panicked mermaid.

Yujin puts her hand up near enough the mermaid, trying to make it trust her by sending a look of assurance and finally, the mermaid gives in and reaches out to touch Yujin's palm gently, brushing her soft fingers against it.

"I won't hurt you, I promise." Yujin smiles gently and the mermaid does as well, suddenly flashing the prettiest smile Yujin had ever seen.

Yujin took her time and took her place in front of the mystical creature, cautiously sitting across it with a safe distance fit for the both of them.

"Th-Thank you for saving me..." Yujin mutters while she fiddles with her hands through the sand whole looking at the mermaid who just nodded.

"What's your name?" She asks, and the mermaid just looks at her, not giving out any sound ever since Yujin started talking to her a while ago.

"You can't speak?" The mermaid nods.

"But you can understand me?" The mermaid nods once again.

But then, Yujin shivers again from the cold wind of the coming night. Her clothes are now almost dried but she still does feel very cold. She thinks maybe she should start a fire already, to bring her comfort while the day gets colder.

"Hold on. I'm getting cold. I'll be right back." Yujin got up from where she was sitting and started to gather stray twigs and barks on the island and also some coconut husks and rocks.

Yujin arrives, all hands full from the materials she just gathered but when she looked for the companion she was with a while ago, it was suddenly nowhere to be found.

"Hello? M-Mermaid-ssi?" Yujin looks around while she places the contents on her hand on the sand. She suddenly feels so lonely without her companion but she just shrugs it off, understanding that the mermaid may have other places to be.

Yujin starts up a fire using her resourcefulness (Yujin mentally pats herself on the back for paying attention during her girl scout survival training) and now that the fire was going, she stayed near it and warmed herself up, including her eyes that were wrapped around in darkness a while ago.

Just as Yujin was starting to get used to being alone, the mermaid appeared before her, emerging from the surface of the water and she just hung by the shore while looking at Yujin, who was just near enough the water.

"Hey... you're back, mermaid-ssi." Yujin smiles at the thought of now having company on this lonely island. Yujin doesn't mind that it was a mermaid because at least having someone to hear her out sure won't make her lose her mind while stranded.

"What name should I call you? I find it weird to call you 'mermaid-ssi.'" Yujin chuckles and she hums in thought, staring long and hard at the mermaid whose eyes were focused on her, now full of curiosity and wonder. 

"Is it okay to give you a name?" The mermaid nods gently at her while she stares with her twinkling eyes. Yujin blushes at the sight of the beautiful mermaid just staring back at her in awe and by then, she finally came up with a name.

She's no good with names, she even named her own dog 'Bbokki' (after the food that she loves, 'Tteokbokki') just because she can't think of a name that would fit her. Of course, she can't just name this mermaid something food related. Even though this mystical creature lacks knowledge about the human world, being named by a human after a food is the last thing she surely would want.

Yujin came up with a brilliant name, nevertheless.

"Minjoo. You look like a Minjoo." Yujin sees the mermaid, now named Minjoo, smile shyly as she nods in agreement on Yujin's suggested name. Yujin loves how it rolls down . It was the perfect name indeed.

"I wonder what time it is. Do you always wander off this late?" Yujin asks but earns a shake of head from Minjoo.

"Right, I'm sorry. I guess you have a family to go home to, in the sea." Yujin then sees Minjoo lower her head down with a faint smile plastered on her face suddenly, then she shakes her head.

"What do you mean? You're... alone?" Minjoo nods.

"Oh..." Yujin trails off then, an awkward silence envelops the both of them as Yujin bites her lip in embarrassment. This is the first time she'll encounter a creature like Minjoo but her awkward self just spoils it for her.

To think of it, Yujin never experienced being alone. With her mother and father still with her and when she's without them, there's Yena and Wonyoung to accompany her. This is actually the first time she's ever been the lone person in this certain situation. Yujin wonders what it feels like for Minjoo to be alone, maybe all her life.

"I-I have friends..." Yujin starts which earned a confused look from Minjoo, who was maybe wondering why Yujin would tell her that information in the first place.

"When we go back, my friends can be your friends too!" Yujin cheerfully declares with a wide smile which lit up Minjoo's once gloomy face. 

"They won't hurt you, I promise." Yujin puts up a pinky finger near Minjoo but she just stood there confused and suddenly guarded by the sudden movement.

Yujin then, carefully reaches out for Minjoo's hand, then she felt her soft fingers against hers which felt really comforting, then wrapped her pinky around her own, locking it into a pinky promise. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment and Yujin felt suddenly giddy from the amazing stare.

Is this really how fast one likes a mermaid? So the fairy tales are true?

But then, Yujin's stomach rumbles which broke their contact because Minjoo got startled with the peculiar noise coming from her stomach.

"That's my stomach." Yujin lays a hand on her stomach and she smiles at Minjoo, who was again confused by the antics of this 18-year old girl. Yujin suddenly comes up with a bright idea to feed the little monster called her appetite.

"I think it's asking for food. Would you mind helping me fish, Minjoo?" Yujin asks and Minjoo nods in agreement, maybe being the obedient one she is.

After sharpening up a branch she got from a while ago with a rock, (Thank god she was really a girl scout) Yujin watched Minjoo dive in the water first, reluctant on whether to go in the water that had her nearly killed if it weren't for Minjoo saving her from drowning. 

But then she remembers why she went to the water with Yena and Wonyoung. It's because of her insistence to overcome the phobias she is currently dealing with.

Yujin steps on the water, feeling the sand beneath her sink and it was cold, but then she gazes out, seeing Minjoo's reassuring face flashed before her eyes and she was suddenly comforted by it. 

She took more steps closer until her lower body was fully submerged beneath the water, her eyes still fixated on Minjoo who was now swimming around in front of her.

"Okay. Now, I fish." 

Yujin started to look for fish in the water and the sun's light that is almost dim doesn't really help her but Minjoo was there to guide her. Minjoo points from time to time the direction where her D.I.Y spear was to be stabbed but to no avail, she gets no fish.

"I'm bad at this." Yujin almost gave up and loosen her grip on the spear but Minjoo splashes water on her face with her tail, her face now pulling an annoyed one on Yujin. Yujin playfully splashes water on Minjoo's face as well, eager to wear off the annoyed one's.

"What?" Yujin crossed her arms. Minjoo gestures around again, to stab right in front of her, like telling her to keep on trying but Yujin was already growing tired.

"Maybe I'll just feed off the coconuts on the beach. There's no other choice because you simply can't harm fishes. I've read it...somewhere." Yujin puts the spear down but then Minjoo gestures to her to give it to her.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Yujin knitted her eyebrows together but Minjoo again splashed water on her face. But this time, Minjoo was nowhere to be found, seemingly dived in the water already and the sunlight was still enough to make her colorful tail still visible.

"Minjoo? Where'd you go?"

Then, Minjoo emerges from the water, holding a fish on its tail then handing it to Yujin immediately while droplets trickle down her face, she smiles widely and proudly.

Yujin was indeed caught in surprise when Minjoo suddenly became fierce like she is right now. It seems like she was getting as comfortable as Yujin was which is a good thing, considering the both of them accompanying just each other for the rest of the night.

"Th-Thanks." Yujin shyly mutters as she fish shakes from her strong grip. Yujin took a moment again to admire Minjoo's ethereal features and she realized Minjoo was indeed the true embodiment of a mermaid. The stories were half true. (Most of the stories she read depict mermaids as 'men kidnappers', sadly.) 

However, her short reverie was interrupted when Minjoo splashed water to her face yet again, which she just laughed off because she just realized by then that she was staring at the mermaid, nearly losing the fish Minjoo caught for her.

Yujin heads back to the shore with Minjoo who crawls to the surface near the water for a while to accompany Yujin in eating. Yujin makes the fire burn some more, then eventually cooking the fish on it.

Yujin struggles a little bit in eating her dinner. Minjoo was being very curious about the fire because she just saw it maybe the first time in her life (Yujin did watch Jungle Book where orangutans get obsessed with fire, except Minjoo wasn't an orangutan). So she tries to touch it every now and then, her hand getting swatted off by Yujin herself while she savors her dinner.

"No! It's not something to touch, Minjoo-yah!" Yujin repeatedly shouts, which was still disregarded by Minjoo, until she finally touched the raging fire.

Yujin's eyes widened in horror as she saw Minjoo flinch in pain, now holding her hand close to her. Yujin dropped the fish she was devouring and snatched Minjoo's hand from her.

"I told you to not touch it. Look what happened." Yujin sighs as she caresses the red blemishes now painted at Minjoo's fingertips. Minjoo was already tearing up in pain, the pain being a new experience to her. 

Eager to relieve the pain, Yujin blew on Minjoo's fingertips, hoping the cool air could help aid the burn. Yujin blew gently as Minjoo watched in awe, her tears that were welled up, now gone. 

As Yujin blew gently, her lips suddenly brushed against the tip of Minjoo's finger which petrified the both of them for a moment, until Yujin awkwardly continued to blow on it again, now half intending to make the situation less awkward.

"Th-There. Does it still hurt?" Yujin asks and now, Minjoo shakes her head in disapproval, much to her relief.

Yujin then takes notice of the sun now at the brink of sinking down the sea. The color of the sun being the beautiful one it is, and it was something Yujin really likes to see whenever she hangs around with her bestfriends.

Right, she was to go back with them before sunset but due to her persistence, the sea which she was currently looking at almost brought her, her untimely death. 

However, if it wasn't for that, she wouldn't have met the mermaid beside her, observing the sunset along with her. Minjoo, who suddenly gave her the courage to overcome her fear of the sea. 

So she savors the moment, wondering when she can go back home but then, just as she was, she notices her grip never left Minjoo's hand. 

Yujin was still holding Minjoo's hand in hers.

Yujin wanted to let go but she saw Minjoo stare at the sun sink in the sea, her eyes glimmering like it was her first time seeing one. 

So Yujin does not interrupt. She, instead, let her hand rest on Minjoo a little bit longer but her eyes that were looking out to the sea were now on Minjoo, admiring the beautiful one before her.

Not until Minjoo's tail suddenly becomes gloomy, the colors slowly fading into a gray color. They both got startled then Minjoo pointed at the sea in a hurrying manner, which was immediately understood by Yujin.

"You need to go to the water?" Minjoo nods in an aggressive manner.

Understanding the depth of the situation, Yujin pulls Minjoo closer to her, putting Minjoo's arms around her nape, then her hands beneath her waist and gloomy tail respectively.

"Hold on." Yujin whispers under her breath before carrying Minjoo with all her might, then hurriedly heads to the water. 

Then, Yujin places Minjoo down on the water gently just as the latter loosens her grip on Yujin's nape. Yujin watches Minjoo drench herself with the cold water, then sees Minjoo's tail be colored again like the colorful one it was.

"Are you not allowed to stay on land for a long time?" Yujin asks which Minjoo just nods on like she always does.

"Oh... Well, then, go have a swim." 

Minjoo points at Yujin with worried eyes now on Yujin's unfazed ones.

"It's okay. I won't go anywhere. I'm kind of... scared of the water." Yujin smiles reassuringly which signals Minjoo to go back to the sea for a bit. So Minjoo looks back for the last time before submerging to the now, moonlit sea.

"You can always come back to me." Yujin whispers.

It suddenly dawned on Yujin. She was feeling really smitten a while ago and it felt so right but considering that Minjoo was a mystical creature, she shouldn't even feel that way. Minjoo belongs to the sea, Yujin belongs to the land. Minjoo cannot even stay on land for that long and Yujin was just as scared to stay on water. 

With that, Yujin shakes her blooming feelings off, thinking maybe it's just like in those fairy tales where mermaids make someone smitten that quick.

She lies down in the sand, looking at the stars twinkle on the night sky.

She can't wait to go home, but she doesn't want this moment of serenity to end too.

----------------------------------------------------

Returning from the swim she just had, Minjoo stares at Yujin lying on the sand from a far, afraid to interrupt the peaceful moment she looks like she was having. 

Today, for the first time in her life, Minjoo has gathered millions of things she wanted to say. Like how she finds Yujin gentle and kind-hearted, like how she wanted to praise Yujin for being far more different from the cruel humans, like how she finds Yujin admirable.

But it has been this way since the existence of mermaids came to be, they cannot speak to humans, they can only speak to their own kind.

Minjoo really didn't mind about that, not being able to speak, that is, until this day came, the day she met Yujin again.

The young mermaid groans as she pulls the girl to the safety of the sand. Carrie was just wandering around the sea until she saw a girl floating unconscious at the deep and it was a human. Humans don't belong to the sea. 

Carrie can remember her elders telling her not to interact with humans for they just bring wrath to their kind but now, she can't help but pity the first human she has encountered. The girl who was lying helpless at the sea, where she could be possibly killed.

So Carrie saves this girl's life which brought her to the situation she was currently in.

Luckily, the beach doesn't have any sign of human life in it except for this girl in front of her. Carrie cannot speak to her, so she kept mum and waited for the girl to wake.

Finally, the girl stirs until she lurches up while coughing out water that was in her body for a while. Carrie didn't even bother hiding, Carrie knows this girl is too weak to harm her and the girl looked like she was around her age, so it was alright.

Carrie waited for the girl to notice her, until she finally did. At first, the girl was horrified which shocked her too but the girl calmed down when she saw Minjoo doing nothing but watch her.

"A-Are you the one that saved me?" The girl asks. Carrie opened to speak but failed, so she just nodded in agreement but she still avoided the girl's stare, afraid that the girl may spit something terrible.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you." The girl smiled reassuringly, easing Carrie's tense muscles.

"Thank you." The girl smiles at her and from there, Carrie became friends with a human albeit she wasn't supposed to be.

Eager to calm the girl down while waiting for someone to come for her, the girl and her talked for a while (Well, the girl did the talking, she just listens), and Carrie finally learns that the girl's name was Yujin, a 12-year old