Since the first born of merkind, there have always been three simple rules that the kind had learnt to live by. These rules were enforced to protect the living creatures of the sea. If these rules were ever broken, it would lead to the worst of punishments. Only those completely idiotic, or who didn't value their own and kind's wellbeing would ever dare to break the rules.

The three golden rules were as follows:

1. Don't venture to the surface.

2. Don't step foot on the land.

3. Never talk to the tailless creatures known as "humans".

To the merkind, humans were anything but friendly. Despite having the top-half of the human species, the merfolk would never associate themselves with such savage and disgusting beings. Thanks to the human race, most of the tropical and crystal blue seas that the merkind called their home were now a dark teal mess, swarming pollution. On top of ruining their once beautiful oceans, the humans would dump harmful things into the sea. Unknown chemicals had killed coral and plants, strange black floating liquid had suffocated various fish and mammals, and other items such as nets and plastics had harmed, and killed the merfolk themselves. But the worst of it was when humans caught the precious fish for their food, that really made the merfolk sick. As far as the merkind knew, humans were selfish beings, and it was just a blessing that the human kind hadn't succeeded in finding any proof of the underwater species, otherwise it would be a disaster.

"What is rule number one?" The King swam towards the front of the stage, eyeing his followers of the kingdom. Tails decorated by colours of every kind caught the sun's rays, lighting up the grand ocean palace as hundreds of mermen and mermaids stood in the grand hall for the King's regular meeting. The King was very protective of his followers, and would protect them at all costs, providing they followed the rules. He was as strict, but caring Monarch.

"Don't venture out to the surface." The large crowd of merfolk replied to him, earning a smile and nod of approval from the ruler.

"That's correct. Swimming to the surface only increases your chances of being spotted by a human, one of our enemies!" The King spoke up, swimming to the other side of the palace's stage, folding his arms at the crowd in seriousness. "What is the second rule?"

"Don't step foot on land." The hall filled up with the voices of the crowd again, earning another approving nod from the King, who slowly swam to the other side of the stage.

"We may be able to gain the bottom half of the human species, but it's a curse! We don't transform, we don't go on the shore! Remember this rule well. The final rule?" The King ordered the crowd for the final time.

"Never talk to the humans." The crowd replied, giving the final rule, and a reason for their King to relax.

"Very good. That is all for this month's meeting. We shall meet up once again at the start of the next month." The King waved away the merfolk, swimming to his throne for a well earned rest. Quiet chatter filled the large pearl hall as the large crowd swam to the doors.

Taemin took a sigh of relief, finally glad that another speech was over with. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the rules that his kind lived by, he was just fed up of  having to repeat the rules once a month. To him, it was pointless. He wasn't a child anymore, he just pasted his coming of age, the date when the merfolk finally get the ability to change their tails into legs. The young adult pushed his long chocolate brown hair behind his ear, smiling as he finally saw the pale pearl pink doors out of the grand room. Taemin flicked his sapphire blue tail, trying to push his way out with the large crowd. "How could humans be that bad anyway?"

The palace suddenly became still as two guards yelled out in anger, clashing their shelled spears in the doorway, effectively blocking Taemin's exit. The merfolk quickly swam out of the way, allowing more guards to surround the offending merman. "How dare you ask such a ridiculous question?! The King has told you himself to stay away from them! You don't have the rights to question your King!" The guard yelled fiercely at the merman, pointing his weapon at Taemin, who held his hands up and slowly swam backwards.

"I'm not questioning the King, I just don't see why we should stay away from something that we don't completely know is our enemy." Taemin blurted out his feelings, regretting it when he felt two guards grasp him by his arms, dragging him towards the stage where the King was sat on his throne. The young merman felt a gasp catch in the back of his throat as he was spun around, and thrown to the floor. His stomach screamed in pain as it came in contact with the marbled floor, making him groan in pain.

Before he could even think of his next response, Taemin's eyes caught sight of a golden glow, reflected from the floor. Only one tail in the whole Kingdom was that colour, and it belonged to the King. "You dare question me? You question the rules that we live by?" Taemin kept his head low, pushing himself up to kneel on his tail. "Do you not value the rules? Humans are the worst kind of creature to roam the land, and you question them?!" The King's voice roared through the hall, making the crowd flinch.

"I would never question you, and I do value the rules, your Majesty. I just... If we haven't even tried to communicate with the humans~" Taemin quickly held his tongue as the King pulled him up by the hair, biting back the urge to yell and fight back as some of his hair was ripped from his scalp.

"Listen to me boy..." The King took a moment, looking at Taemin's slim figure before scoffing. "What a poor excuse for a male. No muscle, long hair, shelled necklace... Pathetic." Taemin whimpered as the King let go of his hair, swimming circles around him. "Who's in charge of this one? I want him out of my sight before I lose my temper." The crowd broke into mutters, looking around for someone to claim reasonability of the young merman. Taemin fiddled with his necklace, biting his lip in fear that the person he needed had already left. "If his family doesn't claim him now, I'll send him away into the~"

"He's my younger brother!" The crowd suddenly parted, allowing for a blonde merman to dart towards the stage. The crowd started to mumble again, this time about the merman's shiny hot pink tail. It was common for males to have tail colours as such, but this tail was very impressive compared to the rest.

The King sighed, pushing Taemin towards the other merman. "So you're his family? Your name is?"

"Key. My name is Key, your Majesty." The merman bowed, before grabbing Taemin by the arm, pulling his younger brother behind him. "Please excuse Taemin, he's too curious for his own good."

"Keep him out of trouble, or else I'll be having you, and your little brother spend time in the palace dungeon. Maybe it will teach both of you to be responsible." The King pointed at the door, demanding that the pair left the room, which they gladly obeyed.

Key shook his head as he pulled his younger sibling out of the palace, his tight grip around his wrist in slight anger. "Aish Taemin... Why do you always get me into trouble?"

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you could have gotten us into? Key complained as he swam beside his younger brother, who wasn't paying much attention to his ranting sibling. "We have rules to live by Taemin, and you questioned them in front of our very own King! Have you let the air bubbles go to your head or something?" Key looked at his younger brother, who was lazily swimming next to him, his head low as his hands fiddled about with his shell necklace. "You were just lucky that I was there! What if he had thrown you~"

"Hyung..." Taemin bit his lip, feeling Key's gaze fall upon him. "Do you think... A-Am I really a poor excuse for a merman?" Key blinked a few times, taken back by what the merman had said. The elder swam closer to Taemin, watching him as he continued to look at his necklace. "I mean, my hair is really long, and I don't exactly have an impressive body, and I'm not strong~"

"Does that make you any less of a merman than the others?" Key smiled as he swam in front of his younger brother, stopping him from swimming further. "It doesn't matter how strong your body is, or what colour tail you've got. It's what's on the inside that counts. You know this."

Taemin bit his lip again, looking at his brother's bright tail. He knew that Key used to have a problem with his tail colour, because it attracted the wrong sort of attention. Key was often teased and picked on as a merchild about how girly this tail looked. As crazy as it sounds, Key was once convinced that he was meant to be born as a girl, and that he was just nothing more than a mixed up freak. But as time passed, Key grew up and was proud of his tail. It was different than the other mermen's, and it made Key feel unquie, like his true self.

"Taemin, aren't you happy with who you are?" Key watched as his younger brother slowly shrugged his shoulders, making his heart fall slightly. Taemin continued to play with the shells on his necklace, fighting himself to make a decision.

"I thought I was... But now I'm not so sure." Taemin sighed as he let go of the necklace, letting it fall and hitting his bare chest a few times. "The King says I'm pathetic, and I can't even argure with him. I just don't feel right here anymore, like I don't even belong here." Taemin sighed, flicking his tail and swiming past his older brother, who quickly swan behind him. "Sometimes I just want to disapear ."

Key quickly swam behind Taemin, putting his arm around him in a comforting hug. The younger stopped still, allowing his brother to spin him around and looks at him in the eyes. "That's not true. He can say what he wants, but it won't change the fact that you're who you are. If he doesn't like that, then it's his problem." Key gently held the peal pink shell on Taemin's necklace, holding up for his brother to see. "You were born and belong in the water, it's in your blood Taemin. You are right were you belong."

"But if I don't want to be here? What if I want to venture our somewhere, find somewhere new to live?" Taemin pushed his brother away, folding his arms at the pointless words. "I'm not meant to be a merman, I feel it in my scales." Taemin quickly started to swim away, with his older brother following him closely. "I just... I don't belong here."

"Well then, where do you belong?" Key asked, his hands now on his hips in his sassy mode. Despite his gender, Key was known well for often having his diva moments. 

Taemin took a moment to think, staring up towards the surface. "Hyung, what if I was meant to live up there, out of the water?"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" Key almost forgot to breathe, putting his hand to his chest in a dramatic fashion to show his chock. "Rule number 1; "Don't venture to the surface." Did you totally forget what the King has taught us?" The elder swam to the nearest rock, sitting on it to help steady his breathing. "If the King found out you went to the surface, he'd lock both of us up without a second thought! I may not be anything special, but I don't want to live the rest of my life in a dungeon, thank you very much!"

Taemin rolled his eyes at his brother's reaction, not that he was surprised. Key had the tenancy to be a little over-the-top dramatically. "I'm not crazy hyung, I'm just curious. The King tells us to stay away from the surface, but what harm has ever come to the merfolk? None, because~"

"Because no one has ever been stupid enough to even think about going to the surface! Taemin, as your brother, I'm starting to worry about you." Key laid down on the rock, heavily breathing as he watched his brother pout. "Do you realise how much trouble you'd be in if you actually broke the rules? Honestly Taemin, you need help."

"Ani, I just need to settle my curiosity~"

Key threw his head back, rolling his eyes before closing them in frustration as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Your damn curiosity will have to stay unsatisfied. I'm not letting you go up to the surface, do you hear me?" Key paused, waiting for his brother's response, which he didn't get. "Yah Taemin, I asked if you heard me. Give me a response!" Failing to hear anything, Key sat up in anger, his eyes blazing with annoyance. "I ASKED YOU FOR A... Taemin?" Key looked around, his brother nowhere in sight. Key felt his heart almost escape his ribcage as he frantically swam up, trying to think up a logical explanation as to why Taemin suddenly took off.As much as he wanted to think of a different reason, he knew the exact reason and whereabouts of his younger sibling. "He's out of his mind..."

Taemin swam as fast as he could, his heart pumping faster with every flick of his tail. Part of him was scared about what he was doing, but it was nothing compared to his excitement. His tail was beginning to ache from the rapid motions, but if he gave up now, his efforts would have been a waste. "Aish... I never realised how far down we lived..." Taemin sighed as he sat on an edge that out of the tall rocky reef. He looked down into the dark abyss that hid his kingdom from human view. The only light that he had was from the few jellyfish that swam around, there were very few compared to how many lived in the kingdom. "I can't be far now..."

Sure enough, the first ray of sunlight soon came into view, sending Taemin's heart racing faster than he could swim to the surface. "Finally..." Without a second to waste, Taemin continued to swim upwards, increasing his speed as he felt the waters suddenly become warmer. He could feel the current become stronger, the sunlight made his tail sparkle, and a smile quickly grew on his face. Finally he was there, so close to the surface, so close to freedom...

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?"

So, what do you all think? Sorry if it's not brilliant, I'm very tried right now.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped me with the plot. I'm not saying what the definite plot is, but it will be interesting to read! :)

~Heather X