Chapter Text
Jeno wasn’t supposed to be this close to shore. He knew it was dangerous but… the human cities were so beautiful. If he swam close enough to shore he could see the building lights; Jeno thought they looked a bit like clustered stars.
Jeno was careful though; he made sure to only go close at night, and he never stayed long.. There were enough scary stories about what happened to the merpeople who were caught by fishermen..
Jeno had never even seen a human before but then… one night he got too reckless, got too close to the usually abandoned coastline… and he saw someone.
+++
Renjun wasn’t supposed to be out this late at night but… it was a full moon and he knew the light from it would make the coast look beautiful.
So here he was just past midnight, sitting just out of reach of the surf, flashlight tucked under his chin and sketchpad and pencil clutched tightly in either hand
He was focused on shading, trying to catch how the light from the moon was illuminating the jagged faces of the rocky coastline, and he notice Jeno until the boy was almost close enough to reach.
Renjun screamed, scrambled up from his seat, flashlight dropping and rolling towards the sea.
Jeno sunk back, frightened by the sudden loud noise, so that only his eyes and hair were visible above the water.
Renjun thought he should probably be running, but something about how nervous Jeno seemed made him sit back down and collect his sketchbook again.
“I’m sorry I screamed. You startled me.” Renjun reaches to put his sketchbook and pencil back in his lap.
The boy doesn’t come any closer, watching Renjun silently.
“What’s your name? Mine’s Renjun.”
Renjun is met with more silence.
He reaches down, feeling along the rocks for his flashlight.
“Jeno”
Renjun starts, dropping the flashlight for a second time.
“Jeno, that’s your name?” Renjun asks.
Jeno gives a shy nod.
Renjun smiles. “I like it.”
Jeno gives a small smile in return.
“Why are you in the water? It’s the middle of the night, aren’t you worried about getting lost?”
Jeno shakes his head.
“I stay in the water.”
“You.. stay in the- what does that mean?”
Jeno holds up a hand out of the water and… there’s webbing between his fingers.
“Holy shit.” Renjun breathes.
Jeno closes his hand again, shy.
“That’s so cool!” Renjun shouts, apologizing again when Jeno sinks lower into the water in surprise.
“You think?” Jeno asks, head tilted to the side.
Renjun nods assuredly. “The coolest.”
Jeno smiles softly again.
“So you’re not like, human? What does that make you? Where do you live?”
“I’m not… supposed to say. It’s secret… it’s dangerous if I tell people.”
“Why’s it dangerous?”
“Humans aren’t nice to us.”
“Oh.” Renjun frowns. “I’m sorry.”
Jeno shrugs, rippling the water around his shoulders, but then suddenly stiffens. “I need to go now. I stayed too long.”
“Oh, um, okay. Will you come back? I mean,” Renjun pauses, feeling awkward suddenly, “Will I get to see you again?”
Jeno hesitates for a long moment, but nods.
He disappears almost immediately after, sinking below the surface and becoming invisible to Renjun. Renjun watches the ocean for a long while after Jeno disappears, wondering if any of that had even been real.
+++
Renjun finds himself no longer wanting to draw the moonlit coast, but instead the ocean waves, and the mysterious boy he had met. He hopes Jeno was telling the truth, that he would be back again.