"I told you it was a good idea to come here."

A young man with shaggy brown hair glanced over to see his lover with a satisfied smile gracing his lips. "Okay, okay. You were right. I'm glad I let you chose the vacation spot." They walked along the shore hand in hand, the warm water lapping at their bare feet.

"It's not crowded at all. Not like any other beach I’ve been to,” the younger man commented, glancing around the almost empty beach.

“Well, it is a small village. I don’t think many people know about it.” The taller man tugged at the younger’s hand, stopping him in his tracks and turning him around. “You made a great choice. We’ll have a nice time here,” he said, lifting his hand to run his fingers through the younger’s black hair. He had recently dyed it back to its original color after an experiment with blond, and the older man couldn’t help but appreciate the contrast of his pale skin against the dark hair.

The younger man lifted himself onto his toes to place a chaste kiss on the taller one’s lips, “I know,” he said with a sly smile. “I’m a genius.” His hand slipped away, and he went running down the beach, obviously urging the other to follow. The older man followed after him, laughing softly as he watched his lover almost slip in sand.

The older man caught up with the younger just as they reached a cluster of rocks at the edge of the beach. He tackled him at the waist, both of them falling into the sand in a fit of laughter.
"Shouldn't have run after teasing me like that, genius," the older smiled as he stared down at the smaller boy under him.
The younger man gave a soft laugh as he wrapped his arms around the elder, and pulled him down to connect their lips in a heated kiss. Lips soft but eager, and tongues teasing the slightest bit.
When they pulled away from each other, the older man let his head rest on the younger's chest, listening to his fluttering heartbeat with a peaceful smile, while the younger tangled thin fingers in his hair. The only other sounds to be heard were the crashing waves and a faded voices in the distance.

"What's that?" The younger asked curiously, breaking the silence.

The elder lifted his head and followed the smaller boy's gaze to an opening in the rocks. "I don't know," he said with a furrowed brow. The sunlight was peeking through the opening, causing the view of anything beyond it to be difficult to see. He lifted himself from the ground, taking the younger's hand and pulling him up also. They made their way through the opening together, and glanced around the area. It was empty of anything but rocks and sand, but with shore right in front of them and the perfect view of the sunlight, it felt pleasant and peaceful. "This is nice," the older man commented, "It’s like a little sanctuary away from the rest of the beach."

The younger boy lowered himself into the sand, pulling the taller boy with him and sitting side by side. "Yeah, it's really beautiful." The smaller boy rested his head on the elder's shoulder, his hair blowing in the wind and tickling the elder's face. "Hey, did the locals tell you about the famous urban myth in this village yet?"
"No," he chuckled, knowing the younger boy had always been intrigued by legends and urban myths, and he would probably end up reciting the story word for word.

"They say, about a century ago, one of the teenagers in the village discovered a merboy, and they fell in love. When people found out, they were both killed, and they died in the sea together. Tourists had reported seeing their ghosts on the beach a lot, but no one has seen them in the last few decades."

"Such a sad story…," he murmured, taking the younger man's hand and lacing their fingers. "Do you believe it's true?"

"I don't know," the younger gave a slight shrug. "Do you believe merpeople are real?"

"I think it's possible. With so much of the ocean undiscovered, who are we to say they're not?"

The younger boy stretched his legs out, allowing the water to lap at his toes. "I think I believe it's true. It is very sad but...they were together in the end weren't they?"

"Yeah, they were, I suppose." He felt a slight shiver from the boy next to him as a breeze disturbed the air, "We should go back, Taemin. It's getting cold. We'll come back here tomorrow."

Taemin nodded, lifting himself from the sand and following after the older man. "We should stop by that little gift shop we saw earlier, Minho. I really liked those beaded bracelets."

"Sure," Minho agreed, looking back at him with a soft smile.

They walked out of the sanctuary together, and out into the open beach, hand in hand.