Jonghyun wandered down the darkening beach, gazing down at the pale sand, noticing the last of the sun's light slowly disappearing into the darkness. He was hours early and he knew it, but he wanted to be. He always believed that maybe, one day, the younger male might arrive early too. It never seemed to happen though.

He crawled under the wire fence separating the visitors spot from the nature reserve, and continued to walk. It was illegal, but Jonghyun didn't care. Secrecy was of the utmost importance, and the law didn't matter when it came to seeing Kibum.

When Jonghyun arrived at their usual meeting spot, he fell back onto the sand, praying there weren't any rocks below him. When there wasn't, he sighed, trying to get comfortable in his little spot at the edge of the beach, a few paces away from the large rock covered in coral. Kibum said they should meet directly on the rock, but Jonghyun didn't want his Kibum, or himself, getting hurt. Coral is quite sharp, you know.

The hours ticked by. The moon rose high, and the stars revealed themselves, but Jonghyun didn't make a wish. That was for later. Jonghyun fell deep in thought, the zen of the ocean pulling in and out, in and out, luring Jonghyun into an almost dream like state.

"Yah, Jonghyun, wake up! I'm here," a voice said, pulling Jonghyun away from his thoughts. He quickly sat up, and grinned impossibly wide when he saw the form in front of him: Kibum. His bare chest was glistening with droplets of water, and his scaly tail shined in the moonlight. "Beautiful," Jonghyun said to Kibum.

"You say that every night," Kibum responded.

"Well, I mean it every night," Jonghyun said. Kibum just sighed happily, and pulled himself next to Jonghyun, careful to keep his tail still slightly in the water. After a few moments, he rested his head on Jonghyun's shoulder, his dark hair dripping water onto Jonghyun's t-shirt.

"So, how's life?" Kibum asked.

"Meh. And you?" Jonghyun responded. Kibum chuckled.

"Meh is pretty accurate," Kibum said. Jonghyun nodded, then turned his eyes back to the sea.

~~~~~~~~~~

They had first met one night about a year before. Jonghyun was a struggling songwriter, dealing with writer's block and being broke. He had snuck past the fence, thinking that maybe, possibly, the beach might give him some inspiration. And, oh, it did.

As Jonghyun strummed on his guitar that very first night, he swore he could feel a pair of eyes on him. He kept looking around, but no one appeared from the shadows in the night. Eventually, Jonghyun stood up and began to look around, as he was starting to get creeped out. He was about to sit down when he looked directly into the water, and saw a pair of deep brown eyes staring up at him.

"Ah!" Jonghyun yelled, jumping away from the water. Something splashed, and Jonghyun assumed that whatever was watching him was surprised as well. He still stood, too afraid to sit back down. But suddenly, something splashed again, and the eyes returned, except they were attached to a face. The most wonderful face Jonghyun had ever seen.

"I'm sorry if I frightened you. I was just curious. What is that thing you were holding?" the face asked. Jonghyun thought he had died and gone to heaven.

"It's a guitar," Jonghyun said, picking it up again and gesturing for the creature to come closer. It moved toward Jonghyun, and smiled at him. Jonghyun was dazzled.

"It's so cool," the being said, looking at the guitar for a few moments before looking back up at Jonghyun.

"I'm Kibum," it said, and held out its hand. As Jonghyun shook it, he looked around at Kibum's back, and saw what he swore was a tail. A scaly fish tail. Attached to a human upper body. "I guess I really am dead," Jonghyun thought.

"And you're a mermaid?" Jonghyun asked, his voice a pitch higher than usual.

"Merman," Kibum clarified forcefully, "And you're human?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jonghyun responded, nodding his head, "And my name is Jonghyun."

~~~~~~~~~~

Every night since that fateful hour, Jonghyun has returned to that spot where he first met the merman named Kibum. Although he's still a struggling songwriter, he doesn't have writer's block anymore, and now that he has something to write about he's not as broke as he used to be. 

"What color is your tail? I can never really tell because it's so dark," Jonghyun asked after the long yet comfortable silence.

"My tail? Oh. It's pink. A very pale pink, almost white," Kibum said thoughtfully. At that moment, Jonghyun decided that pale pink was his new favorite color.

"I wish I could see it," Jonghyun spoke wistfully. Kibum sighed.

"Me too. More than anything," Kibum replied.

"Tell me, Kibum, what do you see?" Jonghyun asked.

"What do you mean?" Kibum questioned.

"I don't know, what do you see? Under the ocean, up here........what do you see in me?" Jonghyun clarified.

"Well........under the water, I see the animals, the plants, the other mermaids and mermen.....just sort of everyday things for me, nothing too important. Up here, I see everything darkened, but to me it's filled with wonder. To me, the land is filled with things I need to discover, an unlimited place of fun and hope. Maybe it's just because it's always shrouded in darkness when I'm above the sea. And you......what I see in you," Kibum said, turning towards Jonghyun and staring directly into his eyes, "What I see in you is everything," he spoke, seriously and sincerely. Jonghyun smiled softly, a slight blush dusting his cheeks. Kibum leaned closer, falling together so their foreheads touched. And then, Jonghyun kissed Kibum.

The kiss was soft and slow, the two boys pretending that they had forever, when really all they had was a few more hours. It was sweet, chaste, and they didn't stop, not for a long time. Finally, after many, many minutes, they broke away.

"Kibum, I'm so in love with you," Jonghyun said desperately.

"Me too, Jonghyun. I can't this life anymore," Kibum answered. Jonghyun pulled away.

"There's nothing we can do," he said sadly, looking down at the sand. Kibum nodded and sighed, falling onto the sand. Jonghyun followed, intertwining their fingers together.

"At least we have midnight," Kibum said. The silence raged on, but not in a bad way. It was a sweet, safe silence, the kind only soulmates can experience, a gentle speaking without words. They laid like that for many hours, until the first hints of daylight began to peek into the darkness. Kibum slowly sat up.

"I have to go now," he said.

"I know," Jonghyun said, kissing Kibum's forehead and watching as he dived back into the water.

He looked back up at the sky, staring hopefully at the first star he saw.

"Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight," Jonghyun muttered. Then, he wished, repeating the same thing he wished for every night since the first night they'd met.

"Let me have Kibum, even if it's just for midnight."