A/N: Hey and Happy Joyri day, this was planned for so long, and finally I’m writing it, this is based off the iconic Joyri moment in level up where Joy asks Yeri who’s prince she is, and Yerim says she’s hers, and Joy’s reaction was the cutest most adorable thing ever, so this is inspired by that with a bit of a “little mermaid-esque twist” since I am weak for redhead Joy, and she also just sang Part of your world so beautifully, okay enough rambling, enjoy!

Sooyoung was not like the other mermaids, something she was reminded of on a regular basis, not just from her friends, family, or the sea creatures she happened to make friends with, but from her own self, how she felt about the human world was more than a simple fascination. She collected whatever she said from up above, items that always looked interesting and she would carry them off to her underwater hideaway, far away from her mother in particular who would never approve of her love for such things.

“You’re not like other mermaids, child.” Sooyoung can still hear the voice of her mother in her head, but then again, when your mother is queen of the oceans, how can anything she says be ignored.

Today, the mermaid decided to take a trip above, or as close as she could get to the human world without being spotted, it was fine from up top, she looked like any human woman, red hair, clear bright eyes, pretty smile that could calm any wild ocean, or at least that’s what Sooyoung has been told, but that’s where it had to stop. For if anyone saw her crimson red tail, they would no doubt be alarmed, and possibly harm her. Sooyoung may be fascinated by the human world, things they have, their music, their ability to walk on land. But the young mermaid is no fool, she knows the brutality of humankind, most of them, not all. How they can pollute and harm her ocean home, the air, even their own beloved land they live in. Sooyoung sighs, trying to think of more positive thoughts. When she saw no immediate signs of any human, Sooyoung moved up onto the rock to sunbathe, she enjoyed the sun, the air, the gorgeous sky that could be the brightest of blues, mixes of purple-orange hues, or various dark colors that lit up with the gorgeous full moon. 

“It’s such a beautiful day.” The redhead sighs, inhaling that welcoming seabreeze, a part of her wanting to swim a bit closer to land, but knows she shouldn’t disobey her mother too much, who has already told her that she should stay away from the surface, and worst the humans who live up there. It was too tempting, and as Sooyoung was debating a splash of water interrupted her thoughts and her name was being called.

“Sooyoung!” A dark-haired mermaid with warm brown eyes waves. “I knew I would find you here.”

“Joohyun?” She is surprised her friend would swim so far up just to track her down. Joohyun is her oldest and dearest friend since they were young merchildren. Joohyun who is known to be the most beautiful amongst all their same-aged friends, and Sooyoung will admit she is rather pretty, everyone fawns over her, but Joohyun never seems interested in anyone. Not that Sooyoung doesn’t have her own fair share of admirers, she does, but most of the time the redhead fears it’s because she is the queen’s daughter, and whoever she would eventually marry would become her consort, and member of the royal family. Still, Sooyoung, similar to her friend, hasn't any interest in any of the mermaids or mermen either for that matter. She feels like there’s something, or perhaps someone out there just for her, only Sooyoung has to find them first. 

“Your mother wants you back, pretty much right now.” 

“Ugh, but I was enjoying my sea breeze!”

Joohyun chuckles, brown eyes disappearing into crescent shapes. “Enjoy your seabreeze later, I can’t show up without the queen’s daughter, so come on.”

Sooyoung wouldn’t want to get Joohyun in trouble, and also, she knows it wasn’t particularly easy for her friend to swim up to the surface. Joohyun used to swim up here often, years ago, however something happened that either frightened or upset her so much that she will rarely come up now, unless it’s to locate her. Sooyoung has always wondered what did take place, only her friend would never say. The redhead takes one more longing look towards land, specifically the shore that is leading up to a castle, and she wishes she could go too. Kings and queens live there, she knows because she has found paintings of fancily dressed people, with crowns on their heads, just for once she wishes she could be amongst them too.

“Okay, let’s go before my mother sends out a dolphin search party.”

Sooyoung dives into the water after Joohyun, and makes her way back home, still longing for the surface world at the same time. It’ll have to wait, because when the queen calls you don’t disappoint or ignore her, especially if you are said, queen’s child. 

Someone else, knows a thing or two about what Sooyoung deals with, but unlike the princess of the sea, Yerim is a princess of the land, and only child of her very overprotective, well meaning parents, who tend to watch her like a hawk, and it can be difficult just to go outside without one of them sending royal guard along too. But Yerim is a crafty one, and always finds a way to get out, the brown-haired princess stood on the sand looking out to see, it’s been a long time since she was able to go out on one of her father’s ships and just sail. Maybe, she can convince the captain to allow her to take one of them out soon. Yerim sighs, and sits down on one of the nearby rocks, thankful that these are not any of her good dress pants, or her mother would let her have it for not acting very royal-like. Yerim is at least grateful that neither of her parents mind that she prefers tailored suits, pants, waistcoats, compared to more frilly types of dresses. They often joke with her that she is like the son they never had. 

“I just need one day away from royal life, to breathe.”

Being a princess has its perks, the wealth, the adoration of the people, cool crown, but there’s also the downsides too. Like, having your parents arrange fancy balls so you can find your future spouse, even though no one has caught your eye no matter how beautiful the other princesses are. Yerim would just want to find the person she’s meant for, on her own, without her parents' influence. 

“Princess Yerim!” A blonde, monolid woman dressed in a black and gray commander officer’s attire, runs over to her at full speed. “There you are, I’ve been looking all over…”

“Seulgi.” Yerim shakes her head at her best friend. “When are you going to stop calling me princess, when you’re one too!”

Seulgi laughs, eyes disappearing into crescents. “It’s Commander Seulgi to you, you brat.”

The two of them stare at each other then laugh. Seulgi is her best friend, even though she is from a neighboring kingdom, and doesn’t officially go by her title, liking to blend in as much as possible. Yerim enjoys Seulgi’s company and hopes that she’ll come along if she takes the sailing trip.

“Fine, Commander.” The sarcasm is dripping from the brunette’s voice. “I hope my parents didn’t send you to look for me.”

“Yes, they requested your presence, so if you’re done staring at the sea, can I please you back.”

“Yes, alright, let’s go before my mother sends out the royal guard.”

The shorter woman takes one look back towards the sea, and her longing for another sailing adventure. She has to put those thoughts to the side for now, because as a princess, you just can’t keep either of your parents waiting. She’ll discuss with Seulgi later if she would be up for a quick sailing adventure. For now, her mother and father were waiting. 

One red-haired mermaid waited too, she waited at the palace, specifically the royal court, for her mother to appear. Sooyoung was annoyed to say the least, what was the point of being dragged down to the ocean to have an audience with her mother, who wasn’t even here to talk to her. She huffed slightly, Joohyun beside her, trying not to laugh at her disgruntled face.

“Cheer up, that’s no face for a princess to have.”

“Well, maybe you should be princess, I’ll give you my coral crown after this.”

Joohyun frowns a bit, but it disappears with an amused laugh. “Your coral crown is too big to fit on my head.”

“Oh, yeah, well say that to my face you little shrimp!”

“Shrimp!”

They don’t have time to argue further, not when there are hushed whispers, the trumpeters playing the music that always announces her majesty, and Sooyoung sees her, the most elegant mermaid of them all, in her opinion, with her white flowing hair, piercing blue eyes, eyes she shares with her mother, and dark red tail, with air of elegance that can only be achieved from someone who has ruled for a long time, everyone waits until she is seated at the throne, and bow in respect. Sooyoung wonders will this be a private audience with her mother or will everyone be allowed to hear this. She hates to admit this, but as her mother gave her address. Sooyoung zoned out thinking of when she can next go to her hideaway full of human treasures she had collected over the years, portraits, silver, gold pieces, lockets, anything interesting that she never saw before and hauled it back to her getaway. The only person who knows anything about it is Joohyun, who is sworn to secrecy.

“Everyone please leave the hall, I’d like to talk with my daughter, alone.” Is the only thing Sooyoung hears, and sees the crowds dispersing, Joohyun gives her a nod and is swimming off too, they’ll catch up again later. Soon enough there is no one but the young mermaid and her mother, the queen looks at her with a stern expression that softens right away.

“Mother?”

“I am glad that Joohyun was able to locate you. I worry that your strange love of the human world will get your hurt, or take you away.”

And here it comes, the same talk over and over again. Her mother has never understood her, not when it comes to this. Sooyoung doesn’t wish to hurt or disappoint her mother, as she loves her. Sooyoung loves her very much, she just wishes her mom could understand even a little, how her soul yearns for the land, there’s something out there for her. The young mermaid knows it.

“Mother, can we not fight about this right now? I promised you I would swim up there less, is that not enough for you?”
 

“Have you been sticking to that promise, though?” The queen wonders knowingly, she has eyes and ears all over the oceans, all sorts of reports come in about Sooyoung being seen heading for the surface, and each time the queen fears the worst, like finding out her daughter has become some trophy for a human, decorating their ship’s hull, or kept even as some fascinating discovery. 

“Mother...I…” what can she say, she already knows her mother is aware of everything in her oceans. She can’t possibly lie her way out of this one, and so Sooyoung chooses not to. “I just don’t think all humans are as bad as you think.”

“Perhaps not, but as a mother, I am only concerned for my adventurous daughter’s life, promise me you will stay away from the surface as much as possible?”

Sooyoung had no choice, she had to lie, and so she promised her mother the trips to the surface would lessen. The young mermaid dismissed herself from the court, and swam away before her mother could even call her back. The conversation was over, they both knew that. Even Joohyun, who was waiting for her just outside the main hall, didn’t even try to stop her, because she saw the look on her best friend’s face. What Sooyoung needed the most right now was space. 

The redhead could only go to her secret hideaway, it’s where she found the most comfort, and when she arrived there she swam around her treasures, smiling at the portraits of royalty, giving them a bow as if they were real people.

“Human’s bow, yes?” Sooyoung reminds herself, especially when it’s someone of royal stature. She grabs the lyre she found one day at a ship wreckage and begins playing.

“Can I play you a song, your majesty?”

Sooyoung would like it very much if she could play for real for a royal, that would be a dream come true. Sometimes, Sooyoung feels like a young human girl, hopelessly waiting for love, or someone charming, and dashing to sweep her off of her feet, er well fin, in her case. Her person was out there, she just knew it, she would find them, and hoped her mother would understand. Her song comes to an end, she bows to the portrait, and sits down on the giant seashell made into a bed. Sooyoung was going to go back up there tomorrow, she knew it.

The following afternoon, Yerim walked out of the castle, not afraid of being caught by anyone, dressed in her black official royal jacket, with gold embroidery, and red sash, black dress pants, and boots. She looked incredible, if she did say so herself, or rather she had to pose for photos with her mother and father a few hours ago, and rather than wait to change, she stayed as she was.

“Why don’t you look dashing.” Seulgi teases from beside her.

“Shut up, Seul.” she laughs and pushes her friend. “I’m glad you could walk with me, I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh, what about? If this is about that princess who was flirting with you, I would pay no mind to it. She flirts with everyone.”

“No, it’s not about her, who cares about her. I wanted to ask if you would like to go with me on a sailing trip, it wouldn’t be anything more than a day.”

“A day at sea?” Seulgi looks alarmed for a moment, Yerim figures it’s because she doesn’t want to worry her parents, but then there’s a thoughtful look on her face as she leans against one of the rocks down by the beach. “Well, I could join you, maybe I’ll find her again.”

“Her?” The brunette wonders. This is the first Yerim is hearing about anyone special, and judging by how Seulgi looks and sounds as if she’s missing someone important, Yerim finds herself being all ears for this story.

“Yeah, the most beautiful woman I ever met, and I need to find her. I don’t care if it takes me looking through all the oceans.”

“Um all the oceans?”

“Yeah, because…” The blonde pauses, and looks down at her silver pocket watch. “Oh, no, I’m late. I have to supervise the drill practice for the guard today.”

“Hey, but…” Yerim wants her to finish her story, that was such a weird statement to make about searching the oceans, unless Seulgi meant sailing the oceans, Yerim is confused to say the least. “Kang Seulgi, you better explain yourself when I get back up to the castle.”
 

“Yes, sure!” Seulgi can be heard in the distance. “We can discuss your sailing trip you want to take too.”
 

“Alright, I’ll meet you later.”

With a final wave, Yerim walks off down toward the water, something about the ocean has always had a calming effect on her, at first Yerim thought maybe it was the vast blueness that seemed to stretch on forever, or possibly the waves and how they gently swayed back and forth, sometimes now Yerim thinks the sea itself calls to her, since she always liked sailing, and being out there. She is determined to have a sailing adventure, even if she must go alone. The brunette sighs and looks down into the water, was there something there? Something red and flashy? No, probably not, she might have just imagined it. Only there was something there, or rather someone there, Sooyoung had been swimming in the distance when she noticed the human standing on the beach a while ago, and so captivated by the human was she, that Sooyoung swam closer, but hid out of sight so she wouldn’t be seen. Now, Sooyoung had to swim away to admire her from a glance, because she didn’t want to scare the human. But something about the way she saw the royal standing there, it was clear to the mermaid that the human was royal from her clothing alone, even if she wasn’t wearing a crown. It made Sooyoung’s heart skip so many beats that she thought for a moment she was dying, only it was that, it was love.

“My prince!” Sooyoung shouted out excitedly when she was further away. “It’s my prince, it has to be. Wow…” The redhead puts her hand over her chest to feel how fast her heart is beating. If this isn’t that love at first sight thing she has heard about then what it is! Sooyoung swims out a bit so she can look at her gorgeous prince, and is relieved to see that she is still standing there, but she looks so troubled that all Sooyoung wants to do is swim up to her and try to comfort her. The pull to swim closer was strong and even when she tried, a hand reached out and grabbed her back.

“Hey, what’s the big….Joohyun!” She screams at her friend, who is looking distressed, distressed in ways that she hasn’t seen in a long time, so it makes her stop and look at her with concern. “Hey, are you okay?”

“No, what are you doing trying to get closer to the human! Didn’t you promise your mother you would swim up here less.”

Sooyoung knows this is only coming from a place of concern, however, at the same time it’s not fully Joohyun’s business what she does.

“I did, but…” The redhead looks back to where she last saw her prince and she is gone. The disappointment is clear on her face and now she’s upset. “You made me miss my chance! I found my person and now she’s gone.”

“W-What…” Now, Joohyun has heard too much, she would have to tell Sooyoung’s mother about this, no? That would mean betraying her best friend, and that part isn’t okay with the raven-haired mermaid either. “Listen, Sooyoung, it’s not worth it to love a human, please don’t endanger yourself by seeking her out.”

“It’s not worth it to love a human…” Now, how come that sounds like Joohyun is talking from personal experience? It would make a lot of sense why Joohyun is uncomfortable coming up to the surface, something must have happened with a human, and Sooyoung is surprised she didn’t recognize it sooner, especially because Joohyun does actually carry a ring around with her, it’s put on a seashell chain, but it’s a human ring, with some sort of royal insignia, but Joohyun never talked about it even when Sooyoung asked.

“Joohyun did you love a human once,” She asks and notices the way her friend tenses up. That’s really all she needed to know. “Joohyun, do you still love your human?” 

The raven looks like she will cry and Sooyoung feels bad for pushing, she just had to know, and then Joohyun touches the ring to her chest like she probably does still love her human.

“I don’t want to talk about it, but just believe me, Sooyoung. Loving a human isn’t worth it and I don’t want you to be hurt, okay. Let’s go back, forget about the human.”

Sooyoung chooses not to upset her friend and goes with her back to the palace, but she knows she can’t forget about the human she saw, her prince. She’ll have to find her again, somehow, she’s sorry to hear about what has happened to Joohyun, but that doesn’t mean it will happen to her. When they return back to the palace, Joohyun is unsure if she should leave her or not, since Sooyoung could very well attempt to go back up there. She herself knows what it’s like to want to see someone who is special too, and so she hopes Sooyoung heard her. 

“I’m going to my room.” The princess tells her. “You don’t have to worry, Joohyun, I won’t go back there.”

She won’t go back there right now, anyway. Her friend looks at her with a wary look, like she isn’t sure she can believe her, ultimately Joohyun lets her go. 

“Sooyoung, just be careful, okay?”

“I will, and Joohyun, I’m sorry about whatever happened between you and your human. Maybe, it’s not too late?”

The dark-haired mermaid says nothing to that, only gives a nod in understanding. She swims off then, leaving Sooyoung to go up to her own room. How could today go so terribly? All she wanted to do was introduce herself to her prince, and yet, she couldn't even do that. The redhead lays down on her bed and sighs, thoughts of the gorgeous human in her mind, and how dashing she looked standing on the beach, like she was ready to take off on some sort of adventure. 

“We’d have some wonderful adventures together, my prince and I.” Forgetting for a moment she is a mermaid who can’t walk onto the land like humans, and picturing herself beside the human of her dreams, it has to be a reality right? Somehow, there must be a way for them to be together, well, she has to meet her properly first.

“Don’t worry, my prince. I’ll find a way to you soon, I won’t let anyone stop me.” Not her mother, not Joohyun, not even all of her mother’s royal guard could stop Sooyoung from finding her prince again. 

Said prince of Sooyoung’s dreams was sitting in the garden area of the castle when she fell out of the bench and onto the ground.

“Mermaids!” The brunette shouted out after Seulgi finished telling her about this woman she needed to find. Seulgi nodded, helped her up, and was about to go get the doctor, only Yerim grabbed her by the arm.

“Yes, a mermaid, why are you acting so surprised.”

“Um, I am acting surprised since mermaids don’t exist!”

Now, Yerim appreciates her friend’s creative mind as much as the next person. There’s just no way the mythological sea creature could really exist, there’s no way.

“They do exist, just because you haven’t seen something doesn’t make it less true.” Her serious tone makes Yerim calm down and listen to what the woman has to say. 

“I was shipwrecked when I met her, the most beautiful woman, uh, mermaid I ever saw. Like a goddess really, and she saved me from drowning.”

“When did all this happen?” Yerim has known Seulgi for years, and never had she mentioned anything about meeting a mermaid or being shipwrecked.

“It was back in my own kingdom, when I was away for military service. I probably shouldn’t have sailed alone, but I was trying to prove myself, that I could handle anything. And that’s when my mermaid goddess found me, dragged me to the shore before I could die, we spen