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The strong smell of salty and fishy water invaded his nostrils. His feet were sank deep into the cold and damp sand. His body was suddenly weird. Kihyun’s forehead was glistening with sweat and a few particles of sand from his dirty hands. The golden brown wavy hair was sticky with all the sweat. His breathing was ragged and head was pounding.
He did not know how to swim properly. He never knew. He didn’t even like and didn’t care that much about the sea or water generally. It have always been there. Nothing special other than fish and waves. However, that day was very different from normal.
The water seemed bubblier that night, but a lot murky. He normally would not dare to go in, especially in those deep murky waters. However, that night was different. Something or someone was calling him desperately and the voice was so sweet and hypnotic. He would even dare to say that he was the only one that could hear that melodic voice. It called his name, the tender and clear “Yoo Kihyun” coming from the ocean.
The boy sank his feet in the sand even more, feeling the weird tingle of the cold water against his hot reddish skin.
“Who are you?” his soft tone asked. The water became bubblier at every second that went by and the waves got stronger. The strong scent of humidity and salt grew bigger.
“You cannot understand what I am,” the voice answered back “You can’t even imagine where I am from.”
His breathing kept failing and his throat felt a little sore. The sea was still pretty rough and weird. Kihyun would not believe it if he wasn’t seeing with his own eyes.
“You can try to explain,” He said softly “Or maybe you can show yourself?”
The soft laughter echoed through the nightly air. Kihyun got goosebumps because of the cold breeze and his teeth begun to chatter. He hugged himself hoping to get warmer, but the effect was the opposite. The lad felt his fingertips getting numb and his skin burned from the cold. Slowly his breathe became more and more white, revealing the decreasing degree. At first, he didn’t notice, but his arms and legs were shaking and he honestly did not know if it was because of the sudden cold weather or anxiety.
“You would be able to stay sane while seeing me?” the velvety voice echoed again, “I am not what you humans would call normal. You could be startled.”
Kihyun’s breath hitched.
“So you’re a monster,” that wasn’t a question. Kihyun rather knew that. What kind of creature would be afraid of showing itself? Only monsters would be hiding in the shadows of the ocean at night. Only powerful bad creatures could cause that effect on him.
“I guess you could call me that, yes” the monster laughed, “But I am not that kind of monster. Not that dumb shit that humans insist to say.”
“Then show yourself,” Kihyun’s voice was broken. He was very cold, a little dizzy and tired. The boy would not be patient to talk that much with the so-called monster.
It only took a few seconds before he could catch a sight of a shiny human being emerging from the rough waves. He was completely naked, skin wet and dripping with salty water. Under the moonlight, his skin seemed to shine more than a huge diamond. The man walked towards Kihyun in a steady pace being careful not to scare the human. Yoo observed the naked body only to notice that the monster was actually a handsome man.
The so-called monster stood in front of the short man, looking at him as if he was dazed. The creature’s delicate yet very manly features amazed Kihyun. He wanted to touch the man’s skin so bad that his fingers hurt. The monster’s eyes sparkled in yellow and Yoo bit his bottom lip. How could the man be naked, wet and exposed to that cold wind?
“You’re a human too. Not a monster”, the human man said. That sentence made the creature laugh subtly.
“You know nothing, naïve human,” the man smiled “Never heard about the Brazilian myths? Some water creatures can seduce and deceive human beings.”
“Water creatures?” Kihyun asked, still dumbfounded by the man’s beauty.
“I’m a merman. I’ve got a fish tail with blue scales.”
That scared Yoo a little bit. A fish tail? However, he could see completely fine that the man had legs and feet, not a fish tail or whatsoever. He would not lie; everything in the situation was so damn confusing. All of it seemed like a bad movie, a horrible plot. He even considered pinching himself to know if it was true.
He laughed weirdly e shook his head.
“No. You’re a fucking human,” said Kihyun a little shaken, “You’re not a big fish.”
That made the creature laugh.
“I am a merman, dear.”
“I don’t believe you. I don’t even know your name.”
“You should. And I don’t have a name that the humans can understand or pronounce.”
Kihyun smirked.
“Liar. Tell me your name.”
The creature laughed again.
“You can call me Hyunwoo. It’s the closer to my actual name.”
“Hyunwoo?”
The man approached Kihyun even more, face to face with the human man. His lips were so close to Yoo’s, that both could feel each other’s breath. They could feel the warmth of their mouths touching, like a slightly peck.
“Come with me if you don’t believe anything that I said. I will prove you.”
Kihyun was out of his mind. Completely. In addition, a little bit dizzy. He just grabbed that stranger’s hand and then walked towards the ocean, ignoring the cold, the burning sensation on his skin and even the dizziness. They just walked on the humid sand towards the clashing waves. He was very willing, and honestly did not know if it was himself thinking or the creature’s spell around him.
The strong and salty waves engulfed them. Kihyun felt the low temperature of the water clash against his itchy skin. He gasped at first, but then he got used to the cold water. When his feet could no longer touch the sandy soil, the creature held Kihyun by his waist. Little by little, they submerged and the human held his breath and closed his eyes. The only thing that he could not imagine was that when they went underwater, that would be a giant air bubble around them, keeping the oxygen flowing through Yoo’s lungs.
He heard Hyunwoo laugh hard and opened his eyes. The other man looked amused and Kihyun got a little shy. Then he looked down and widened his eyes at the sight of a blue fish tail. It was amazingly beautiful and shiny underwater.
“Surprised?”
“You’re a merman indeed,” Kihyun said astonished.
“I told you so, but you didn’t believe.”
The man kept quiet, but then Hyunwoo lifted his chin softly with his fingertips. They looked at each other for a brief moment, gazes locked. Yoo stared at Hyunwoo’s soft pink lips that he wanted to kiss desperately. In a matter of seconds, the creature had already warmly joined its lips to the human’s. Suddenly, Kihyun never felt so warm and complete before. His insides were twisting and he sure felt like butterflies were flying like crazy inside his stomach.
However, this sensation changed all of a sudden. He started to run out of air and his lungs hurt too much, as if he was drowning. Kihyun opened his eyelids and then everything suddenly went black.
He woke up panting, sweating and breathless. He was not inside the cold and rough ocean, but in his bed, completely safe and warm. The man slowly sat on the mattress, running his fingers through the sweat sticky hair. Slowly his breath became normal and he could assimilate that everything was only a dream. Yoo was in his bedroom in his parents’ beach house. Moonlight entered the room through the open window and curtain, illuminating the dark room.
It was dawn and he could perfectly smell the sea despite the smell of sweat. Maybe it had influenced his perceptions while sleeping. Maybe he was going crazy. Maybe he needed to return to the city as soon as possible but everything felt so real. The kiss, the touch and even the sensations… Everything seemed so legitimate that he suddenly felt sad. All that happened was a lie and he wanted that to be real, even though it seemed so unreal.
Kihyun got up from the bed and went closed the windows, followed by the white curtains. As if, that would also make him forget Hyunwoo.