Chapter Text
“You’re a mermaid…” Kim Dokja gasped, dropping his bag on the sand without thought.
He took the murderous glare thrown his way in stride, slowly stepping forward.
“You’re not real…?”
“...are you stupid?”
Dokja watched in wonder as the merman silently picked at his tail with a frown. He was obviously making an effort to ignore the intruder, turning so his back was to him.
“What are you doing? Do you want my help? How’d you get in this cave? Do you live here?” With each question, the merman seemed to flinch and his bare shoulders started to shake.
“Will you shut up?” he shouted.
Dokja’s mouth made a pop as he closed it quickly.
“So noisy…” he grumbled, going back to a particular patch on his tail. He hissed as he tried to pull a scale that refused to come out.
Dokja quietly reached over slowly, so as not to startle. When his hand came in view, the merman stilled, watching intently. Dokja’s fingers grasped the shiny golden scale, it was larger than his thumbnail and thinner than a sheet of paper. The merman’s tail twitched as soon as the scale came out, but not even a noise left his mouth.
“...thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” Dokja looked at the scale in his hand, smoothing his thumb over it. It was like holding iridescent glass. Silence resumed, the boy watching intently over the fantastical creature doing a menial task.
“If you don’t mind, can I talk again? I’m bored.” Dokja couldn’t help the slight whine in his voice, sighing when he looked at the other’s sour expression.
“Who asked you to stay here? Go away if you’re bored.”
“But I don’t wanna go away…” he scooted closer to the merman, earning him a glare in his direction. Somehow, it felt less aggressive the second time.
“Then don’t!” His webbed hand swept thru his hair, pushing the long wavy locks back. The salt water had made it stiff and tangled, and his short claws got stuck for a moment. He grunted, pulling it out with a strong jerk of his wrist.
“I can comb your hair if you want.”
“What?” This time, Dokja thought his face was priceless. ‘Surprise’ looked good on him, his pretty eyes grew wide and his tanned cheeks flushed with color. Dokja giggled, but then moved even closer. He sat on a rock directly behind the merman before placing his hand over his head.
“Okay?”
The merman meekly nodded, shoulders slightly hunched in submission. Dokja patted his head before starting to comb his fingers through the lower portions. He felt the merman shiver when his thumb accidentally stroked his nape.
“I’m Kim Dokja, like only-child. What’s your name?”
Silence, then, “Junghyuk.”
Dokja hummed, “What a cool name! By the way, how do you know Korean? Can you speak to fish?”
Junghyuk offered no answer this time, going back to picking at his tail.
“Gosh, maybe you don’t know Korean all that well. You probably don’t understand half the things I’m saying then, huh?” Dokja threw away a small shell knotted into Junghyuk’s hair. If he used hair products, the hair would probably look amazing, like a model. Honestly, Junghyuk already looked like a model. He was huge, probably bigger than most people he’d met, and his face was so pretty, and his voice was nice too. He seemed like someone’s daydream come true.
“...I understand you. You ask too much.”
“Eh? Then, hmmm,” he thought about what he could ask, momentarily letting go of the merman’s hair before sinking his fingers back in, “can I ask how old you are?”
Dokja dragged his blunt nails down the back of Junghyuk’s scalp, making him lean back into his hand. The grouch wasn’t even trying to hide his enjoyment. He wondered what his face looked like at the moment. Dokja smiled to himself.
“We don’t count, so I don’t know.”
“We?” Dokja gasped at the slipped bit of information, “So there’s more of you?”
“...” His silence drew a groan from Dokja, who had started mindlessly braiding strips of hair.
“Well, don’t tell me then. I’m 17 by the way, I’ll be 18 soon, in my last year of high school. I don’t know if I should do enlistment first or what but,” he sighed, “not that it matters much. Anyway, let’s just say I’m older than you.” Junghyuk turned slightly just to let him see his glare again, but Dokja knew by this point it was more playful than angry.
A sudden wave broke through the large rocks strewn about the large entrance of the cave they were in, splashing them both in the face. Dokja spat out seawater while Junghyuk shifted in place, stretching out his arms.
“The tide is back.”
“Ah, is that how you got stuck here?”
The cave entrance wasn’t too far from shore, but during low tide it was several meters away, and completely covered in sharp rocks that someone without a pair of legs would have trouble getting through. He must have swam into the cave during high tide.
“The storm last night was strong. I woke up here.”
On closer inspection, Junghyuk was covered in small bruises and cuts, even one under his left eye. He must’ve suffered a lot the previous night. The waves had not been kind.
“Will you be okay?”
“Yes.” Junghyuk looked confused by the question, still watching as the waves got closer and closer to the end of his tail. The shallow tide pool he was sitting in started to fill back up. His tail smacked the surface of the water in anticipation.
“Um, listen, will you be here tomorrow?” He stood up, looking around for his bag and sandals that he’d discarded earlier.
“Tomorrow?” He sounded uncertain, like he wasn’t sure what the boy wanted. Dokja brightened as he found his linen bag full of sea shells he’d been collecting today. He shoved his hand inside and found what he was looking for. Turning back around, he waded through the tide pool and grabbed Junghyuk’s left wrist, bringing it up so he could tie the watch to it.
“This is a watch. It tells time.”
“....time.” Junghyuk remained silent while Dokja fiddled with the leather band of the watch. His wrist was a lot thicker than expected. The watch was probably a woman’s. He’d found it half buried in the sand and for some reason decided to pick it out. Now he was thankful for that.
“This line here, they move in a circle like this. When this line touches this number the second time, I’ll be here, okay?” He pointed at the number six at the bottom of the watch.
“...Six?” Junghyuk pressed his thumb against the six, glancing up at Dokja with curious eyes. Dokja nodded, smiling shyly.
“Meet me again at six tomorrow okay?”
Junghyuk looked down, then out at the sea, and finally back to Dokja.
“The water will rise. Leave or you’ll get hurt.”
Dokja shoved his feet into his sandals, the sand rubbing against his skin painfully.
“I’ll see you tomorrow!” He shouted, turning away as more water crashed into the cave.
Dokja scrambled out of the opening, crawling over large rocks that’d become wet from the waves. He risked one last look behind him, finding Junghyuk already watching him with an unreadable expression. Dokja waved, then ran back to the main shoreline, heart beating fast against his chest.