Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Min-Gi thought that receiving a large salary and working remotely was an okay compromise to having a job he hated.

Sure, he still had to do phone calls with clients and his boss but at least he was not facing them.

And even if he didn't enjoy his job, he was good at it. Because he had worked hard to remember every definition, every formula and now, he answered questions and typed on his keyboard in a soothing routine he refused to call boring.

He was not bored. He had gotten a very good accountant job that had allowed him to save money fast and be able to move by the sea, in a little home in a calm town.

One wall of his living room was made of glass doors, from where you could see the ocean! There was a lovely wooden patio connected to them where Min-Gi enjoyed sitting on!

He went into town if he needed groceries or needed to see people and went on walks on the beach if he wanted to be alone and outside of his house!

It was a perfect stable life for a young man like him!

And right now…

He was on the beach, alone.

He had received a phone call from his parents.

…

They were fine but they weren't happy Min-Gi hadn't called them recently.

…

The sight of the ocean wasn't soothing enough today. So he closed his eyes and listened.

Every noise around him was completely different than the ones from his hometown. Even the wind sounded different, rougher with the crashing of the waves. No rustling of leaves was heard.

The smells were the total opposite of what he grew up with.

Salty, it was an obvious thing when standing right in front of the sea.

Even if they weren't dried up on the sand, seaweed made the air pungent with what Min-Gi would describe as a fish smell despite seaweed not being fish.

It was always a sharp contrast to what he was used to. He didn't regret moving away.

A sound he had never heard before pulled Min-Gi from his thoughts.

He frowned as he opened his eyes, it sounded like-

Min-Gi spotted movements in the corner of his eye.

He saw a shape twitch behind one of the large rocks a few meters away from where he was standing.

Grunting noises were heard again accompanied with the distinct sound of something being moved on the sand.

Min-Gi was ready to walk away, not interested in whatever was happening over there, but the possibility of someone being wounded or needing assistance made him stop before he even lifted his foot.

‘It could be just some kid playing.’ He tried to argue but the constantly worried part of him was loud and hard to ignore.

He turned his whole body toward the noises and started to walk, loud enough to be noticed.

It seemed to work as the movements and sounds stopped completely.

“ Hey uh… You should be careful, there is a lot of sharp stuff around- “

He didn't finish his warning as he finally laid eyes on who was behind the rock.

What was behind the rock?

His attention had been immediately captured by the large fish tail, red scales changing to orange when going on the underside of the body, with white stripes of varying width and length mostly on the back all over the appendage.

The fins on the back looked like spikes while the ones on the sides and end were In a fan shape, more delicate looking.

Min-Gi wondered in the back of his mind if the back’s fins were venomous. He followed them with his eyes, as they were on the entire length of the tail and continued on the very human torso that was connected to the fish tail.

Min-Gi had found a mermaid.

He lifted his eyes. The mermaid was already staring at him.

Shock and fear clear on her face.

The mermaid was tense. Her hands held the fishing net that was tangled on rocks firmly.

Somehow that was what made Min-Gi speak again.

“ Uh- “

In one swift movement, the mermaid had managed to turn fully on herself and throw her body in the ocean.

It was so fast Min-Gi only heard the loud splash and when he looked at the water, all he saw was the ripples left from the powerful dive.

And so Min-Gi was left, standing on a little beach in a little quiet town. No one was around beside him and he had witnessed the first mermaid sighting in decades.

He stood there a bit longer until he realized there was nothing else to do. He went back to his little house, quickly understood he would not be productive for the rest of the afternoon, so he cleaned around until evening fell.

His thoughts had been blissfully empty as he focused on cleaning. It was tidying the place up but it made Min-Gi able to not think about the encounter.

It made sense that his mind would go back to the mermaid when he decided there was nothing else to clean or tidy up.

As he sat on his couch in the living room, facing the ocean view, he remembered more details.

The mermaid had longish brown hair, still a bit wet but dried enough that she had been on land for a moment.

She had been in the process of… ripping the fishing net from where it had tangled all over a rock?

She clearly hasn't been tangled in it with the ease she had jumped back into the ocean.

Min-Gi paused, the memory of the frightened dark eyes of the mermaid flashing in his mind.

She had clearly expected him to hurt her.

Not that Min-Gi blamed her. Mermaids have been hunted by humans to extinction.

But they hadn't.

He saw a mermaid today, alive and strong.

Not only they had survived but they had managed to stay hidden so well that humanity believed them fully gone.

And one has been spotted by a human today.

That human was him, Min-Gi.

He swallowed.

What should he do? Contact someone? Who should he even contact? What would he even say? He had no proof but his memory. No one would believe that .

Fearful eyes appeared again, shaking his jumbled thoughts away.

With a deep sigh, the young man decided that keeping the mermaid a secret would be for the best.

But he still felt bad to have scared the poor mermaid. She had ended up fleeing before she could finish whatever business she had on land.

Grabbing the pocket knife he kept in a drawer, he walked back outside.

He had made sure to get one when he moved here, he knew animals could end up tangled in fishing nets or trash, and it felt right to be ready to help when he lived next to the sea.

No animal was tangled in the fishing net, Min-Gi was thankful for that.

Whatever the mermaid needed it for, it felt right to help her get it.

Maybe she just wanted to clean the place and would just put it in the trash.

He wasn't even sure she would come back, especially after she encountered a human…

The job was quickly done, thanks to the pocket knife. Min-Gi had put a little stack of rocks on top of the now folded fishing net.

He had done his best to keep the fishing net in one piece as much as possible and he hoped it would be satisfying to the mermaid.

‘If she even comes back.’ His guilty conscience whispered to him.

His mind wasn't at peace, but his body needed rest. He walked back home for the second time today.

Chapter Text

A new day meant the usual routine started over. Min-Gi knew he should follow that routine. Which meant that after waking up, having breakfast and getting dressed, he needed to open his laptop and do his job.

But his eyes were glassing over as he checked his email. His hands hovered over the keyboard and stayed there instead of typing the key words to review any new financial records.

He wasn't productive and a large part of him wanted to shrug at that.

These daily reviews often brought nothing new to work on, it was just Min-Gi preferring to finish any work given as soon as possible. That nonchalant part of him commented.

Min-Gi felt weird when he agreed it was a task he could delay for a bit.

The anxious part of him chimed in, loud and bringing a jittery feeling the young man knew so well.

Yes, but what if today he REALLY should review the daily record. What if something big happened at the company ?

That was a possibility, Min-Gi couldn't deny it…

And what if? If the company needs Min-Gi, they will contact him. They are adults, they shouldn't be babysat for the job they SHOULD BE qualified to do.They are old enough to realize if something is wrong. They don't need to have someone daily checking to see if they have messed up or not.

Min-Gi, again, thought it was a good argument but the sneering tone made him uneasy…

They should be qualified but are they?

The matching contempt from his anxious side made him shudder.

We all know they got these high positions in the company, but will make mistakes only a beginner would make.

Not only that, but they will get no repercussions for messing up. It will always be someone's else fau-

Min-Gi forcibly stopped the inside argument.

That was not part of his routine. This was not how his thoughts usually worked.

This nonchalant side of him was not new, but never was loud enough to be able to go face to face with his always present anxiety.

He didn't like how his mind has been so hateful toward his higher ups.

He didn't disagree with the points they made but the way they were said made me slightly nauseated.

It was so… venomous. It was vicious. It was not what Min-Gi wanted to be. Or should be.

He needed a distraction.

But all his usually calming chores were done.

He had no need for a grocery run, he didn't feel like seeing anyone right now and he had cleaned his house just yesterday.

Yesterday…

Min-Gi wanted to check if the fishing net had been touched, but had planned to check later today.

It seemed better to give the mermaid as much time as possible for her to confirm the beach was clear of any humans, so she could finish her business.

A quick check couldn't hurt… Or it could. Seeing him patrol the beach would not make her feel safe.

But he had spent the night away from the beach, she could have come back while he was asleep?

His thoughts were going in circles again. The young man quickly stopped them before he could end up in a weird mental battle like earlier.

But doing so left him with no idea what to do next, nothing to proceed with.

A deep sigh left Min-Gi. It was still morning and he was already feeling tired.

He closed his laptop, he noticed with a frown it had gone into sleep mode with how long he was lost in thought, and got up.

Maybe if he saw the net had been touched or not, it would make him able to work. Now that he thought about it, there was the possibility the sea had made the little pile of rocks move. It was a good idea to make sure the net was still secure.

The weather was slightly colder than yesterday, the morning hour probably helped make the breeze feel sharper. It woke Min-Gi up from the sleepy spell he got put under from his previous overthinking, so the biting feeling on his face was welcomed.

He walked toward the rocks where the encounter had happened, making sure to never end up in a jog or a fast walk. The whole thing was to calm his mind down but he couldn't stop the anticipation simmering in his chest.

The rocks were getting closer and the human didn't spot any movements behind them. He tempered his disappointment and continued to make his way where he had left the fishing net.

The fishing net was not under the rocks anymore and the pile of rocks had moved too. But to form a circle.

Surprise took over any disappointment or anticipation he had felt just seconds ago.

He moved to observe the circle under different angles.

It would have been impossible for the sea to move the rocks in such a perfect shape. It was clearly man-made. Or mermaid made?

The possibility of someone from town being the culprit was very probable. But Min-Gi didn't feel like it was the work of one of the town's people. Kids were all at school at that time of the day. Not only that but kids also didn't play on that part of the surrounding beach, there was a tiny playground close to the school right next to the beach where kids would meet there after class.

And the older folk in town would always repeat to not move the rocks as it would disturb the local fauna.

A sound different from the lulling waves was heard and when the pondering young man turned toward it, he saw ripples similar to what the mermaid had left when diving underwater.

Could it be…?

Min-Gi felt his eyes blink. Heavy as he took in the prospect that the mermaid watching him inspect her work.

It had to be her work then, yes?

A bubbly feeling in his chest made him unable to hold back a wobbly smile. It felt like he had been blessed. To be trusted by something… a creature that was believed to be extinct because of his people? It seemed correct to call it a blessing.

It was only when he stepped back home and took his coat off that Min-Gi noticed a heavy weight had left his shoulders. His mind was lighter, maybe he could start his usual work routine now.

Min-Gi still disliked his job but it was the easiest it has been in months to open his laptop, and answer emails and calls.

Chapter Text

Work went by swiftly after this. Clients still struggled with issues they should be qualified to solve by themselves, but Min-Gi just shrugged and settled into the easy routine of work.

The day went on in that fashion until it was over and night fell.

The agreeable feeling continued the next morning.

When lunch time came, Min-Gi’s brain felt a bit numb from work but stretching his body, preparing food, eating and finally going on a post lunch walk woke up the young man again.

He didn't go to the side of the beach where he had found the mermaid, instead, he went to a more populated part. It was closer to town but still far away enough that little to no kids were there. 

Min-Gi had nothing against kids, but their playful screams were too high pitched to relax next to…

The older folk who enjoyed that part of the beach maybe shared a similar mindset, they were strolling calmly before observing the ocean for an hour or two and then going back home.

Min-Gi let out an embarrassed chuckle at being so similar to older people.

The post lunch break had done its job, Min-Gi felt like he could go back to his house and schedule the rest of his day.

The rocks where the mermaid encounters had happened were getting into view; Min-Gi was musing about potential work related tasks to finish when he spotted something unusual in the ocean.

He slowed down his walk and brought his hand to his forehead to keep the sun away from his vision, squinting at the small dark shape that was poking out of the water.

This… This looked like a person. With brown hair, long enough to have some of it float on the water.

Memories of similar brown hair came back to Min-Gi. 

Yes. The mermaid HAD brown hair. It had dried when they had been face to face and ended up a bit under her shoulders but it was still-

The mermaid was looking at the rocks, ‘where they had first met!’ his mind supplied excitedly but still uselessly.

The human had stopped walking by now, he could see the mermaid moving as if searching for something. Someone?

She didn't seem to be finding it as she lifted more of her body out of the water. When only her head had been showing, now most of her torso too.

It was brave. Or stupid. Min-Gi couldn't decide but the mermaid was determined to find what she was looking for, if she dared to leave the protection of the ocean and be easier to spot.

She brought a hand to her forehead, the gesture identical to what Min-Gi was still doing. It brought a strange feeling to the young man, like something was being pinched in his chest.

It was such a… human motion…

The mermaid turned to a wider angle than before and froze when her gaze landed on Min-Gi.

It was quite comical but Min-Gi couldn't bring himself to laugh.

They stood there, one on land, one in the sea, staring at each other.

The moment went on until the mermaid dove underwater. It had lasted either hours or seconds, Min-Gi had no idea.

In a daze he went back home, dusted his clothes and shoes from sand, and sat down on his couch.

From his seat, he saw the ocean. He had arranged his living room so the couch was facing the glass doors, it was a beautiful view.

The mermaid had come back.

And she had been looking for something.

‘Or someone.’ the earlier thought was back, more certain this time.

But then, it made no sense. Why did the mermaid come back to the beach where a human had spotted her? And to do what? Look for said human?

It made no sense and Min-Gi hated it.

He left the beautiful view and went to his laptop. He didn't know how to formulate his question so he just typed ‘Mermaid’ in the browser.

The first two links were for the definition of the word and a… ‘mermaid appreciation’ website?

The third link looked more reliable in providing answers.

The online encyclopedia not only gave the definition of the word but a lot more information around the subject.

He skimmed through the first paragraphs that introduced what a mermaid was. Min-Gi and everybody else knew what a mermaid was. He needed to find specific information.

His scrolling came to a stop when a picture appeared on screen.

It was a black and white photograph. The lack of colors, the quality of the resolution and the outfits of the subjects showed that it had been taken decades ago.

In the pictures, three white men were standing in front of a large aquarium.

None of them were smiling, typical in old photographs. Their suits were probably of high quality, showing their wealth.

Their postures made them stand tall, calm and proud.

In the aquarium behind them, its inhabitant didn't match with the poses of the men.

Her mouth was slightly open, in a curious ‘o’ shape. Her long hair was floating around her. Her head was tilted to the side, maybe in confusion at the object taking their picture or maybe she was looking around just before the picture was taken.

The fish tail where legs would have been for a human was slightly blurry, its constant movement to keep its owner at a certain height had been a difficult subject to capture neatly for the camera. 

The black and white of the picture made it impossible to know what colors her tail was, but it was possible to understand the underside of it was very light, possibly white, and the back had color with darker stripes. Her fins were very short.

Under the photograph was the following text: ‘ Siren in her enclosure during the Manhattan Hidden World's Wonders temporary exhibition in 1879’

Min-Gi's body went cold.

It was not something he didn't know. It had been part of public schools History classes and even had the time, it had felt wrong.

He remembered some of his classmates voicing their outrages on how this could have happened.

The teacher had explained that just like people of color, mermaids were not seen as ‘Civilized people’ at the time, some countries like in Europe even called mermaids ‘animals’,  ‘looking human but not, similar to great apes.’.

One classmate had asked if mermaids were humans or not.

The teacher answered that in recent years, scientists had declared mermaids to be on a different branch on the human evolution tree.

She had chuckled, sheepishly acknowledging it was not her field of study and it was the end of her knowledge on mermaids.

One classmate then had asked if mermaids and humans could have been in relationships, and the teacher had to calm the class down and quickly move the discussion back to the lesson.

Min-Gi didn't remember the rest of the lesson, too sick in the stomach to pay attention. He hadn't been able to look away from a picture in his textbook. four men holding a mermaid, the text under it adding context to it.

‘ Four fishermen, proudly showing their catch. Mermaid hunting had been a popular if risky job. Non mermaid hunters would participate given the occasion as mermaids could be sold for great amounts of money, even when dead.’

Min-Gi took a shaky breath in. He refused to think about that specific memory, not after witnessing a mermaid coming close to humans.

The mermaid in the online encyclopedia’s photograph, Siren, had a link on her name to another article. Most likely about this specific mermaid.

The young man clicked on it and started reading the page dedicated to Siren, the last mermaid recorded in Human History.

Siren had been captured alive in 1877 by fishermen in the waters of the french Atlantic coast, she had been caught in their fishing net among normal fish.

Min-Gi was torn between crying and laughing when he compared it to how he met the mermaid on the beach.

The article noted that she had been unconscious when the fishermen had lifted the fishing net back on their boat, helping with her capture immensely.

The fishermen brought the mermaid back to town, where she was put in a large aquarium of the town's fishing market.

Discussions on what to do with the mermaid had followed and a consensus on selling it to the largest bidder was reached.

Said bidder has been the director of a zoo in Germany. The zoo would show plants and animals from countries outside of Europe, and a live mermaid had made the already successful zoo even more popular.

The director had been the one to name her Siren.

Photographs showing the zoo enclosure were part of the article.

The enclosure had an underground section where spectators could see the mermaid when she was underwater.

Some small trees and bushes were on what little land the enclosure had. Min-Gi noted no decoration beside painted walls depicting mermaids swimming among fish, were in the underwater section.

There had been large smooth rocks here and there, where the water was shallow. One picture showed the mermaid lying on one of said rocks.

Her expression was neutral, her head was in her crossed arms with her eyes closed, possibly asleep.

It showed no sadness or happiness.

The article continued, now describing her looks and personality. Min-Gi felt his interest pique.

Her hair had been a light brown. Her skin had been slightly tan on capture but as years went, it became white, ‘as she stopped sunbathing progressively’ .

Min-Gi sensed where it was going but didn't stop his reading.

Her eyes were black ‘making many visitors believe she had no iris, which she did have.’ . The young man didn't manage to hold back a snort at the quote.

Her fishtail resembled one of a mackerel. Which explained the strangely short fins, mused Min-Gi.

Her sex had been identified as female. The lack of breasts had been recorded in mermaids with tails similar to non mammal aquatic animals.

Min-Gi blushed slightly at the information, he knew it was nothing to be flustered about but he had immediately wondered about the mermaid he had spotted, and that was something he didn't want to think about.

Reports of her enclosure staff described her personality as ‘shy but curious’ .

Finally, the part Min-Gi was the most interested in.

The article continued, explaining said reports.

Siren was easily scared by noises and movements ("Obviously…” Min-Gi muttered.) but showed multiple times clear interest in the world around her.

Many said instances had her observe what humans were doing around her, and had her try to mimic them.

When she showed interest in human clothes and hairstyles, she was offered hair accessories. It was noted some confused her while others were used as intended.

This information showed proof of similar behavior and tools between humans and mermaids.

The young man felt his hands twitch as he continued his reading.

Some of the staff had noted down that Siren had started answering back to her handlers greetings in the following year after being brought to Germany.

Min-Gi’s breath hitched.

The handlers were told to not start or continue any conversations with her.

He couldn't continue.

He closed the tab and got up.

He was pacing around his living room, his head hurted and his eyes stung.

He knew stuff about mermaids, everybody learned about them at school.

He remembered why he had hated learning about mermaids.

He was aware that times had changed. Today’s society mourned mermaids. People understood now that what had been done to them was horrifying.

They clearly had been human, in some ways, in so many ways.

The distraught young man grabbed his hair and pulled. He tried desperately to hold back his tears but it was impossible.

Why did he try to read the personal story of one specific mermaid?!

Hearing about mermaids in general made him feel awful. It was a stupid thing to do but he knew it was also fascinating to learn about them. About Siren.

It was now closer to evening and Min-Gi didn't want to stay at his house, alone with his thoughts.

He didn't want to face his laptop again either.

So he went to grab his coat and shoes, put them on and headed to town.

Chapter Text

It was a school night so most families were at home. Not a problem for Min. He was very happy to be done with school, not only had it sucked to go to school in general but to end up studying stuff he hated? 

Man. He was glad to be done with it.

The people in town who were still up were older folks with kids old enough to stay by themselves at home, kids that had already left town, or no kids.

Min-Gi was the youngest in the bar but he didn't mind. It was quite calm, some of the clients laughed loudly but it was more people comfortably hanging out than partying.

Perfectly what Min-Gi needed right now.

He recognized everyone in the little group, he didn't think he would call them friends but they didn't seem to mind his company either.

He had sat by a little two people table near the counter, where everybody else was. He had ordered a drink and had received a bit of taramasalata and bread with it. 

Tonight seemed to be a hangout with food. Again, Min didn't mind. The food was good and he always ended up discovering a dish he hadn't known existed. 

There was always fish in the meals, which wasn't surprising from a town living right next to the sea.

The other patrons enjoyed taramasalata as well, and an assortment of other dishes too. 

Min closed his eyes as he soaked in the energy of the establishment. Here, he enjoyed nice warm food he didn't have to prepare, and the conversations around were able to muffle the bad thoughts from earlier.

A large hand slapped him on the back, making him cough in surprise.

“ My boy! Don't fall asleep so early! You can't be young and already on an old man's schedule!”

Laughter rang across the room, as one voice yelled about the owner of the hand being the old man he was talking about.

Min-Gi cleared his throat after getting his breath back and rolled his eyes at the two older patrons arguing over who is the oldest.

“ I wasn't sleeping, sir. Just resting my eyes. I had a long day and felt so relaxed being around you all.”

He held back a cringe at the cooing following his answer.

The cheery old man who had slapped him awake clicked his tongue instead, “This is no good. You cannot be so stressed already. What kind of job do you do to find these drunkyards relaxing?” His warm hand was still on Min-Gi’s shoulder, as he used his other one to point at the rest of the group behind him. Said group answered with more friendly screaming and rude gesturing.

Min-Gi chuckled awkwardly. “Still in finance, sir.”

A yelp escaped him when he got shaken from side to side.

“No good! No good! Finance will ruin your back with all that sitting, and it will ruin your mind with all these sad people in suits you work with! You should join us on the fishing boats! You will get exercise and a beautiful tan! Look at mine!”

Loud whistles and jeers followed the statement. The poor ruffled young man didn't even get to answer it as the older man quickly went back to the bar, ready for another round of playful banter.

Min-Gi took a few seconds to get his outfit and hair in order. He looked up when someone sat in front of him.

“Are you okay, dear? That old bear never understood his own strength.”

Min-Gi recognized her as the lady owning the bar. Her voice was deep, most likely from years of smoking but had a distinct warmth in it that held nothing but genuine kindness.

He quickly nodded and gave her a smile. “I'm fine. I'm getting used to it.” 

She chuckled fondly before getting up and taking his empty glass with her. “That's good, dear. We would be sad to see such a nice young man like you leave.“

He finished his food and paid for his drink. He tried to pay for the food too but was waved off not only by the owner, but by the patrons too.

He left with a reminder to eat more food at home. Min huffed a laugh, when he heard them start a song before the door had closed behind him.

On his way home, he found himself humming the song under his breath.

Humming changed to actual singing and he had to stop and look around him to see if anyone had noticed.

No one was there, only him on the little sidewalk by the sand. His house was further away, and in between the town and his house were sheds and nature.

A giddy feeling started dancing in his chest. Maybe he could sing, loud and clear.

Maybe it was the exhaustion of the panic earlier that day or the relaxed state he had ended up in tonight, maybe both, that made him start singing loudly. The song was about a fisherman coming back home to his family, happy to see them and with plenty of food for everyone.

It was a jolly song with simple lyrics so it had been easy to remember, especially when it was often sung at parties and hangouts in town.

He even did a little twirl at the chorus, singing about how everybody danced because they were happy to be together again. How everybody was eating so well. How their hearts and stomachs were full.

His own voice and the sounds of his steps on the sidewalk as he danced almost drowned the whistling that had started accompanying him mid song.

He righted himself up clumsily as he finished the song and bowed in the direction of the whistling.

He was drunk on happy energy, he can't remember the last time he was in that state but it was so nice. He couldn't feel the usual embarrassment at having been witnessed dancing and singing in a silly way.

“ Thank you for your duet! I hope you enjoyed the show!”

A loud trill answered his farewell speech.

He lifted his head from his bow.

His little show had brought him near his home, near the rocks on the beach.

And on the highest rock, was the mermaid, her eyes squinting down at Min-Gi. Her delighted wide smile showed her teeth.

And once more, Min-Gi couldn't move.

His mind became blank. No anxiety, no happy feeling.

There were no street lamps built that far from town. Min-Gi didn't mind it, he didn't stay up late outside his house often, and he had a flashlight in his coat in case the moon wasn't bright enough to help him walk back home.

The moon had been bright enough tonight, the ocean reflecting its shine almost if it wanted to help too.

Min-Gi could see the mermaid perfectly.

She held his stare. Her smile dimmed to a confused frown.

‘Is she actually confused?! Maybe it means something different in mermaid?! Do mermaids have a body language?! ’ Min-Gi thought hysterically.

Another loud trill made him jump. It had been so sudden and loud, his heart was trying to beat out of his chest.

The mermaid had made the trill and the one before. She was observing Min-Gi again, her eyes wide open in anticipation. When the human just continued to stare at her, mouth agape, the mermaid squinted again and tilted her body slightly forward. 

It reminded Min-Gi of someone who didn't have their glasses on and was trying to read the menu behind the cashier.

A nervous giggle left him before he could stop it.

The sound made the mermaid blink and smile again.

And she started singing. Her voice was deeper than Min-Gi had expected but it was nice. Beautiful, even.

For a second, Min-Gi thought she was singing in her own language before realizing it was the song he had performed just minutes ago.

She didn't know the lyrics but had managed to remember the sounds enough to be recognizable. The rhythm was correct too.

It was like someone singing in a language they didn't know, they had listened to the song enough that they could mimic sounds close to the actual lyrics. But a native speaker would immediately hear that it wasn't the correct lyrics at all.

She didn't do the entire song and when she stopped she looked at Min-Gi again with big eyes, shining with mirth.

She was waiting for something from him.

He blurted the first idea he got of what the mermaid could want from him.

“D-Do you want to sing again? Together?”

Her smile got even bigger. She let out another loud trill, even louder than before.

Seems he had been correct and she indeed wanted to duet again.

…

“WAIT! DID YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I SAID?!”

She was still smiling when she tilted her head at his question.

“ Right… Uh… I need to go home and uh- sleep?” He pointed to his house.

The mermaid looked at his hand, followed the direction of his finger and back to him. She abruptly lifted her head as if she had figured something and pointed at the ocean.

“ Perfect then! See you soon!” He felt hysterical, and stupid but what did you want him to do when he was having what seemed to be a conversation with a mermaid?!

Said mermaid then casually dealt the finishing blow. 

“SEE SYU!”

And with her final words, she did an impressive jump in the waters. An incredible show of the strength stored in her body.

And Min-Gi did an incredible show of his last shred of sanity leaving his body.

“ YOU CAN TALK TOO?!”

Chapter Text

He said he needed to go home and sleep, and he had gone back home.

Sleep was another story.

He had maybe managed… three hours of sleep? He couldn't be certain. Last time he had been in such a situation was during college. Hadn't he said yesterday he was out of school and glad to be done with it?

Technically, he wasn't losing sleep because of the intense urge to drop finance and do something he actually enjoyed, even if it meant betraying his family’s wishes.

…

Meeting and establishing contact with a real life mermaid was kind of a league of its own, Min-Gi mused.

He mused for maybe ten seconds before a sharp pain in his eyes reminded him how little he had slept.

Taking a nap helped get rid of these headaches, but it was impossible for him to nap until the afternoon. He groaned when he visualized how much of his schedule needed last minute adjustments.

The mermaid had talked to him. In English.

It sounded like English at least. Min-Gi was 99% sure she had echoed his goodbyes, and her pronunciation had been almost perfect.

He hissed at the sharp pain reminding him, again, that thinking was not allowed.

After he had had breakfast while keeping most of his curtains closed, he was allowed to think again. Just a bit.

Good thing he could turn his brain off for breakfast preparation, but now he was faced with the fact that looking at a screen was not a possibility in his state.

He could have pushed against the pain but… he didn't want to be in pain?

Was that so wrong of him?

The nonchalant part of him was fully on board with no work right now.

When no anxious thoughts made themselves known, Min-Gi guessed that he was too tired to feel anxiety.

There were some positive parts to his current situation.

He still dressed himself in day clothes, being in pain didn't mean he would lounge around in his pajamas all day. He still planned to work today, the past few days have shown he didn't need to be at his desk as soon as he was done with breakfast.

‘Isn't it why I opted for remote work…?’

That made him pause mid buttoning his shirt.

It's true. He was aware that while it was a good paying job, he had gone with the option to have as much free time as possible. 

He was able to just relax and not wait at his desk for his next task…

He grabbed his phone, put it on the couch, opened the glass doors and went to his bookshelf.

Most of the books in it were related to finance. ‘For someone who made sure to have as few reminders of his job in his life, it really looks like I failed doing so…’

He grimaced as he continued to look for the few non finance novels he knew he had in there.

Indeed, there was, and chose a fantasy novel about a group of bards traveling across the land, helping people and solving mysteries with the magic of music.

Before he sat down on the couch, he paused and went to grab a notepad and a pen.

Now surrounded by what will help him pass time until his headache left, Min-Gi quickly checked one last time he would hear his phone if anyone contacted him and started reading.

He remembered the storyline pretty well but it had been long enough since his last read that he had forgotten a lot of details. And just like he had thought, it inspired him. His notepad slowly filled with ideas and short drafts for lyrics and melodies, he didn't plan to finish any of them and it was fine by him.

It was a pleasant way to pass time, and it was to stay just that.

Lunch break came and Min-Gi didn't notice. An hour later, his empty stomach had let itself known and brought its owner back to the present.

He was usually on break as soon as it started so he didn't use an alarm to notify him. Min-Gi worried he had also missed important calls or messages, but his phone had no notifications beside daily unimportant emails that were muted because of their lack of importance.

Uh. And his headache had reduced too.

He hummed and rested his hand over his chest, where a strange emotion was surfacing. It seemed to fluctuate between being… weirded out and being content at how much work he didn't have to do.

In the end, hunger won and Min-Gi thanked its stomach for not letting him get lost in thoughts about what he was feeling and which emotions to choose.

The breeze that entered via the open glass doors made the young man decide for a last minute picnic. Sandwiches were easy and fast to prepare and assemble, and a tasty meal. Especially with how hungry Min-Gi felt. He didn't often branch out from his schedule, his body had been well trained to receive sustenance at a specific time.

Min-Gi chuckled under his breath at the memory of one of the town's children, stomping the ground and loudly complaining to their mother about how she was taking too long chatting up with a friend in the middle of what had seemed like a grocery trip, came back to him.

The comparison between his hungry stomach and the kid’s tantrum felt quite accurate.

He finished packing his sandwiches with an apple for dessert and a water bottle. An easy to transport lunch. Perfect for an impromptu picnic.

And the finishing touch, a large cloth he used only to sit on the sand. Though he had to fold it so it could fit in between the rocks he had chosen as location, it still had a real picnic feel.

It wasn't windy but the gentle breeze still could bring sand to his food, so using the rocks as sand protection lessened his chance to a surprise unpleasant crunch.

It also let him observe the stone circle the mermaid had left behind too.

The young man was chewing his second sandwich, mindlessly gazing upon said circle when splashing noises were heard.

Min-Gi almost choked on his food when he lifted his head and saw the mermaid making her way from the sea to him in the most ungraceful crawl Min-Gi had ever witnessed.

She didn't seem to struggle pushing her weight across the sand with only her arms strength. She also seemed uncaring of how the ocean water made her hair cling and stuck to her face and shoulders, from the beaming smile she was throwing at Min-Gi.

The young man unconsciously shuffled a bit away, some basic instincts were telling him to stay apart from the powerful soaking wet body waddling determinedly toward him.

The mermaid flopped next to him, completely at ease with drenching a picnic blanket that didn't belong to her with salty sea water.

Now that she was so close to him, Min-Gi took in the details of her face.

He hadn't noticed at all that some scales seemed to be scattered here and there on the upper human part of her body. Specks of the same red as her tail adorned the temples as well as the underside of the mermaid's eyes.

Speaking of eyes, they were dark and.. wide open… as she stared… At Min-Gi…

“ I- Uh… Hi?” 

Min-Gi knew it was a very awkward conversation starter but the mermaid didn't seem to mind, quite the contrary as she bared her teeth in a wide grin.

The human felt it wasn't a show of aggression, but still had a shiver go down his spine at the slightly more pointy than humans' teeth he now could notice.

They were not as sharp as a shark's but there were still a bit more fangs than a human had…

He scolded himself inwardly for his reaction, even if he had no control over it. The mermaid’s happiness seemed so genuine, he had to try again.

“ You can understand English, yeah? You can understand me?”

The mermaid expression fell and she scrambled to answer “ Yes! Hi! Hi Hi Hi! “

Her flustered state would have been quite funny if the sheer volume of her voice didn't make Min-Gi flinch back in pain and surprise. How was she so loud?!

Min-Gi's obvious discomfort had the mermaid slap both of her hands over her mouth. A beat passed before Min-Gi let himself relax again, the mermaid slowly removed her hands and gave him an apologetic look.

“ Sosry… I will be careful… Promiss.”

Her speech was now closer to a normal human volume. While she hadn't struggled at all to yell so loudly that Min-Gi had felt disoriented earlier, she seemed to now make an effort in keeping her volume low.

“ It's… Well. Thank you. For being careful, I mean.” He couldn't say it was okay when it had hurted his ears, but he appreciated her efforts.

With a small smile in her direction, he brought his almost finished sandwich back to his mouth.

The mermaid observed his actions with renewed fascination, making Min-Gi self conscious again.

He almost told her to look away before a thought popped in his head.

“ Do you want some? There's one left, hold on.”

He turned around to grab the bag he had used to transport his lunch and pulled the last remaining sandwich from it. He handed the wrapped goods to his guest.

“ Here. You can use the napkin around it too.”

The mermaid brought her face close to the offered item and squinted. Her nose twitched once, quickly followed by eager sniffing, her eyes open wide again in clear interest. 

Min-Gi suddenly worried she would bite the sandwich from his hand, but she lifted one of her hands to grab it instead.

One of her hands that had sand clinging to the still wet with ocean water skin.

‘Maybe it would have been better if she had taken it with her mouth…’ He grimaced as he observed the napkin being dirtied with one single touch.

It was made for that very purpose but still…

His guest happily dropped the napkin and took a bite from the side of the sandwich. She chewed for a bit until her eyebrows went up and observed the sandwich with a pensive coo.

“ What'ss in it?”

The human noted that she seemed to have a lisp for certain sounds but didn't voice it outloud, focusing on her question.

“ Eggs, Ham and cheese. And toasted bread… And sauces.” He had no idea how much detail she wanted or if she already knew some of the ingredients.

“ Do you have that underwater?”

She was about to take another bite but stopped, considering his inquiry.

“ That… We have egg- “

Her gaze turned fearful, “ What are those eggsss from… ?”

The sudden shift in mood was extremely confusing to Min-Gi but he answered her still, “ Chickens? One of the people in town's chickens more precisely. Is it okay for you to eat eggs?”

Now he was worried he had accidentally fed something the mermaid wasn't supposed to eat. How stupid could he be to not have checked before offering her something?!

She deflated in relief but let out unhappy clicks as well. She took a large bite of the sandwich and explained while chewing.

“ Everybody ssay that humanss eat our eggss. I knew it wass just to sk- scare… hm… little oness.”

“WHAT?!” 

She snickered, “ I knew it wass weird they would tell uss that when no one left their eggss near humanss.” 

Her tail flapped softly on the sand as she continued to cheerfully eat her food.

Meanwhile, Min-Gi couldn't continue eating his own sandwich when the mermaid had just given him incredible information about her culture.

He had so many questions. He wanted to ask them all but also worried it would weird her out or he would ask something extremely offensive for her species…

He felt almost dizzy with how many hypotheses about her lifestyle he could make from just a simple sentence.

He needed to ask her something, he had to get an answer from the mermaid.

…

Min-Gi knew what question he needed to ask.

“ What's your name?”

The mermaid had finished her sandwich and was licking her fingers clean, she looked up at him from under her eyelashes and Min-Gi hoped his face wasn't showing how embarrassed he was.

She didn't point it out or how rude Min-Gi had been, instead she put her hand back down and leaned on both elbows again.

“ Ryan! “

Uh.

“ Is Ryan a mermaid name?”

When Min-Gi was only met with a blank look, he quickly elaborated.

“ Because, for us humans, Ryan is mostly a masculine name. And- Well, I only met guys with that name but it's fine if you are a girl named Ryan! I mean- I don't know how mermaid culture works so maybe it's a girl name for your people and it's okay!”

Maybe ‘made a possible social blunder’ was more accurate than ‘elaborated’.

He definitely could feel his face was on fire, there was no way he wasn't blushing right now.

The mermaid, Ryan, now looked perplexed at the scene in front of her.

“ … Ryan is a merman name for us too.”

Her lisp was gone as she pronounced the words slowly.

It was Min-Gi's turn to be confused.

“Merman?”

Ryan nodded, slowly.

“Ah- There are mermen too? Mermen and mermaids?”

Ryan nodded again.

“And you are a…” Min-Gi wasn't sure if he wanted to know.

“A merman.” 

Said merman was observing the human like he was a particularly interesting if extremely confusing puzzle.

“Oh.”

Min-Gi had never heard of mermen in his entire life. He had never questioned how when he had looked into the subject, only mermaids had been captured or recorded.

They were already stuff of legends, and some animal species only had female individuals so why not mermaids too?

Min-Gi was not only the first person to see a mermaid in decades, but also the only person who knew mermen were a thing.

And all he could think of was how stupid he must look right now.

Chapter Text

At some point, Ryan, the merman, had let out a small coo. It seemed like a noise of concern and the expression on his face confirmed he was worried about why the human had been sitting with his face in his hands, not saying anything for a few minutes.

“I'm fine. Sorry, I was lost in thoughts.” Min-Gi quickly reassured. It wasn't exactly the truthBu but it worked in making the merman smile again.

“ You were lesss ssad yesstersay. Did ssomething happened?”

While the sentiment was appreciated, Min-Gi couldn't tell his guest that it was his fault he wasn't feeling okay.

“I… I had a good time hanging out in town last night. And I didn't sleep well tonight.”

As if it was summoned, the headache from this morning made his eyeballs sting in renewed strength. He couldn't hold back the hiss of pain in time, and lifted his free hand to his face.

The merman's face was almost touching his in the next second, “Are you hurt?”

The human moved to put space in between them once more. Thankfully, the merman didn't follow, but squinted.

“I get headaches when I don't sleep well. I'm gonna take a nap and I will be much better after.” He explained as lightly as possible, but his tone was still a bit sharp from the pain.

Another worried coo left the merman’s mouth. He perked up quite fast and reached a hand toward Min-Gi's shoulder.

Without thinking, the human dodged it. A flash of hurt appeared on Ryan’s face before changing to resolve.

“ Can you lie down? I will not touch you. Promiss.”

Min-Gi was embarrassed to be treated carefully but he did dodge the other's touch so it was fair. He still wanted to know Ryan's intentions.

“Why?”

“I will ssing for you. It alwayss helped me and my family when we are in pain.”

On one hand, it would be an incredible experience but on the other hand, tales of mermaids charming sailors to their doom came to his mind.

Another part of him wondered if it would even work on humans.

Anxious thoughts warned him it could be a trap to hurt him. They were quickly shut down by his rational side, pointing out that if Ryan wanted him hurt, he wouldn't have looked so worried for him not once but twice.

And that the merman had plenty of opportunities to do so.

With a sigh, Min-Gi carefully lowered his body to be on his back on the blanket, trying not to cringe at possible sand in his hair.

The merman looked like he was barely able to hold back his glee, which didn't help quel the young man's anxiety.

Ryan shuffled a bit in place, making himself more comfortable and cleared his throat.

Slits on the sides of his neck and ribs opened a bit with the noise and shut again. Min-Gi mused about closing his eyes but he knew he had seen them, and didn't know what to feel about them.

His eyes did end up closing as a calm humming flowed through the air around them. He was able to spare a look toward the merman before he couldn't anymore.

Ryan’s mouth was open just a bit but no words came out. His eyes were closed, relaxed and focused on his melody.

It was as if a warm blanket had been laid on him. He felt comforted and secure.

He couldn't worry about being so vulnerable when sleep was taking over his mind and body.

He woke up, feeling rested but a bit disoriented. He grimaced when he rubbed his face and found drool on his fingers. He had slept like a rock.

He turned his head to look at the merman. Ryan was still here and had occupied himself when Min-Gi had been unconscious.

He spotted his bag not only now next to the merman but with most of the items out of it too.

The merman was currently making little noises under his breath as he piled rocks and shells on top of each other. Another pile had some of the napkins from Min-Gi’s bag in it.

“ Don't litter… ”

His voice cracked from the dry feeling in his mouth.

Ryan turned toward him in surprise before letting out happy chattering and trilling noises.

Min-Gi grumbled at the loud noises, “What?”

The merman stopped for a few seconds and then started speaking English again. “Did you ssleep well?”

“How long…”

Ryan lifted his head toward the sky, “ … You don't need to ssleep again.”

That was a very unhelpful answer. The merman seemed to think the same as he looked away with a pout.

He decided to not say anything about it and moved his hand from his stomach to his coat with a groan. His body ached a bit. And the wrist watch in his coat pocket showed why.

He had slept for two hours.

He cursed under his breath and quickly got on his feet. Ryan startled at the sudden movements and helpfully gave room to Min-Gi.

“I have to go! I was already late on my lunch break and now, I'm more than late for work!”

He quickly grabbed his belongings and stuffed them into his bag. He pushed aside the screeching thought about bringing sand inside as he picked up the napkins Ryan had used for his art, making the pile stumble.

“Sorry! But you shouldn't let that in the sand! It's bad for the planet!”

The merman was too stunned to speak, and just blinked at Min-Gi.

Min-Gi now had his bag on his back and the picnic blanket rolled under his arm. After one last sweep of the eyes where he had stayed, he awkwardly waved at his lunch companion.

“ Well. Goodbye?”

Ryan's expression fell, disappointed. The human panicked and added, “ I see you tomorrow? Same time, same place?”

It worked and Ryan smiled again. “ See syu !”

He didn't move from where he was lying on his stomach, so Min-Gi nodded and quickly walked back home.

He had quickly dusted his coat and clothes, removed his shoes and left them in the entrance with his bag. The picnic blanket had stayed outside, unfolded and left on a vertical piece of wood outside his front door that Min-Gi had no idea what it was for.

When he finally checked his phone, his stressed state got worse. He hadn't brought his phone to not stress himself during his lunch break.

And to not upset his headache with artificial light.

But he had overslept and clients needed his help and had even sent multiple emails asking where he was.

He never was late to go back to work. His nap had been as sudden as it had been long.

Anger toward the merman flared in his chest. Why did he not wake him up? Why did he not-

He put a lid on his emotions, he knew it wasn't Ryan's fault. How could he have known Min-Gi couldn't sleep for hours. That he had work to do.

Sufficiently reprimanded, Min-Gi sat at his desk, and started working.

There was something he wondered everyday, and today was not any different.

How did people manage to not follow very simple instructions?!

You told them to not touch that one thing and next thing you knew, they called you because they clicked on it and now nothing worked.

That kind of moment was another reason why Min-Gi was glad to do remote work.

No one could see you were clenching your teeth in frustration if no one was here with you.

Being tense was bad for headaches but the whole day had been bad for his headache.

Min-Gi had taken painkillers at some point and it felt like it was the only reason he managed to finish all of his work.

He was now sprawled at his desk, looking at the ceiling. 

It was finally done.

It was dark outside, he was hungry again and he still had to clean himself and what he had taken to the beach with him today but he was done.

He didn't want to move but thinking of how better he would sleep with everything cleaned made him go through the motions automatically.

When he cleaned his bag, he noticed that no apple was there. Ryan had made himself at home so it wouldn't be surprising if the merman had eaten his dessert, but he couldn't remember seeing an apple core before he had left…

That reminded him of his worry over feeding something he shouldn't to the other. His own dinner was frozen vegetables. He had some frozen food for days like this, he would just keep watch and wait for them to cook.

He grabbed his phone and went back to rest his hip on the counter, near the stove.

It maybe wasn't a good idea to look up mermaids information, but he needed to be sure he hadn't fed anything that wasn't part of the merman’s diet.

Despite the lack of recent mermaids live studies, technology and updated methods still managed to bring new theories.

The diet studies had not been changed in major ways, for centuries people had been aware that mermaids would eat an omnivorous diet because of their human side with a great amount of what the aquatic side required.

Orca mermaids were seen and recorded to hunt seals and other marine mammals while also eating wild plants and fruits.

Parrotfish mermaids would eat mostly algae and coral, but went for fish now and then.

So Min-Gi was most likely fine. He did think that Ryan would know his own diet better, but remembering that the merman had questioned what had been in the sandwich made Min-Gi rethink. 

The eager and curious energy the merman had showed cemented the possibility that Ryan wouldn't be afraid to try unknown food…

It would help if he knew what fish Ryan was part of. There were a lot of red fish, the human concluded after looking up online, but he couldn't find any with similar markings as the merman.

His own food was done, research could wait.

He continued his parents’ teaching of ‘no phone at the table’ but his mind wandered still.

From how Ryan’s teeth looked, his diet would have a lot more meat than the common human diet.

Raw meat according to what Min-Gi had read, but now he wondered if mermaids had ways to cook food. 

Making a fire underwater was impossible but humans did eat raw food. Beef carpaccio or sashimi had raw meat and fish, respectively, in them for example. It was prepared carefully so it could be eaten in a safe manner, but it was still raw food.

Questions around mermaids’ diets continued as he ate dinner, finished cleaning for the night and prepared himself for bed.

The thoughts quieted down as he lied in bed, exhausted from today's events.

And yet, sleep eluded him.

Sometimes, it felt like life refused to let him rest. Literally here.

Min-Gi was grieving another good night of sleep when echoes of Ryan’s song came back to him.

Maybe it was because he was so tired, but the memory of it was enough to lull Min-Gi’s body and mind.

He had wondered so much about what the merman could eat that he hadn't questioned that ability of his.

It was a worry for Min-Gi of tomorrow as the young man was asleep before he knew it for the second time today.

Chapter Text

Min-Gi was at what seemed to have been agreed by all parties as their meeting spot.

He had done his usual morning chores and work with an impatient determination. He had checked all the clients he had worked with yesterday, some had been a bit unsure at what to do with how even more straightforward Min-Gi had been, to the point of being almost blunt.

The accountant didn't care, he wanted to have a talk with a certain merman.

Said merman waddled from the ocean, the waves that would easily sway a human were completely ignored by the sea dweller.

Min-Gi noted Ryan was dragging a kind of satchel with him. The soaked material must have made the bag heavy, combined with the obvious cargo it was transporting, bulging at odd spots, but again the merman body held surprising strength.

Ryan's expression had brightened seeing the human and had accelerated his crawl.

Min-Gi kept his arms crossed and a neutral face.

When the merman got close, Min-Gi realized he couldn't keep this position. He crouched down so he was more eye to eye with Ryan. It felt less awkward but the  staring was still a lot to handle.

“ We need to talk.” He tried to change the atmosphere to a more serious one, which went above the merman head who just nodded excitedly.

“ No- I mean- I'm not happy with what you did to me yesterday!”

It had come out way more harshly than intended as Ryan's smile changed to an unsure frown.

“ What I did…?”

Ryan’s eyes kept moving between Min-Gi and the ground. His posture shifted so he could run away or defend himself.

Min-Gi wanted to scream in his hands.

“ I'm not mad! Maybe!”

The merman gave a quick look toward the ocean.

“ No no! Please, don't leave! I just want to know what you did to me with your voice yesterday.”

Ryan was surprised but didn't seem to want to run away again. He observed the human from head to toes before tilting his head to the side.

“ Did my voiss hurt you?”

Min-Gi twisted his mouth and looked around, embarrassed at the answer he was about to say, “ Not at all. It's just… I fell asleep?!”

The other was once again at ease and lowered his chest to the sand, putting his still tilted face in one hand and grinned.

“ It can do that! You were very tired!” He chuckled, radiating pride. The sound was very human if not for the clicking noises mixed in it that humans couldn't do.

“I didn't know it could do that!”

When the merman didn't say anything and just observed Min-Gi with an open expression, he explained.

“ We, humans, can't make people fall asleep by singing. Well- Not like you did.”

It wasn't a good explanation, but it was enough for the merman's eyebrows to lift to his hairline in shock. “ Really ?! But what do you do when ss- ssomeone izz not well?!”

The human shrugged sheepishly, “ I guess you can sing to them but it will not knock them out like you did to me. We can only hope it will calm them down enough to rest. But we usually only sing like that to children…”

Who would have known how hard it would be to explain known facts about human society…

Maybe because it was so obvious to humans that no one wondered about that.

The merman looked dejected. “ That iss very ssad…”

It was quite sweet of the merman to be sad that humans couldn't make someone rest with just their voice, but Min-Gi still wanted specific answers.

“ And it is very distressing to know you can easily make us fall asleep, making us very vulnerable. “

Ryan had lied down on the sand from unhappiness, but quickly lifted himself to stare at the human in raw distress.

“ I DIDN'T KNOW!! I'M SSORRY!! ”

“ You cannot do stuff like that without making sure I'm aware of what you're doing.”

Hold on. He shouldn't tell him it is okay to do if he knows what's gonna happen .

“ Not that you should do anything without me agreeing to it too.”

The other nodded pathetically.

“ Yessss…”

Min-Gi had meant to make the other understand it wasn't something to do but he felt his heart twice in his chest at how regretful Ryan looked. He cleared his throat and successfully kept his voice firm.

“How does your singing work? Can every… mermaids? Do that too?”

Ryan was still morose but still answered “ I put my feelingss in my ssong and if I do it well enough, it does sstuff. And you need to train to be able to do that.”

That was the most boring way to explain what seemed to be magic, and the human told the merman so.

“What iss magic?”

That wasn't what Min-Gi had expected to be asked.

“ It's… like… Being able to make stuff happen when it shouldn't be possible?”

“But I made it happen?”

“Yeah… I guess you did… Magic is… not possible, at least for humans. We use sledge of hand and tricks and call it magic, but actual magic is not real.”

“... My feelingss are real.”

The merman seemed to pout, and Min-Gi made sure to not giggle.

“You did say you put your feelings in your song. How does it work? What did you do last time? “

“I wass thinking… You were ssad and tired, and then you were hurt and I wanted it to sstop so I wished for you to get better and resst, and you did!”

As the merman explained what he had done the previous day, his pout morphed to an excited expression. He even did a little happy wiggle when he was done.

Min-Gi turned the information over in his head. Ryan has been worried about Min-Gi's health and did something that was done in his culture to help others.

This made Min-Gi feel bad. Again. He kept thinking the worst about the sea dweller when he has been nothing but open, curious and kind to Min-Gi.

Hasn't he been thinking just a few days ago how trusting Ryan was over a human?

Ryan should be the one thinking of what horror Min-Gi could possibly do to him. His earlier reaction at Min-Gi's shouting was deserved…

As he sighed heavily, he titled his body backward to sit down. He ignored the feeling of sitting on sand without his usual blanket, and smiled tiredly at his oceanic companion.

“ Well… That was very nice of you to want to help me. I did sleep very well, thank you. You have a beautiful voice.”

The human curiously observed as Ryan froze, did a weird little rumble and his face turned red.

He started chattering and chirping not unlike yesterday when Min-Gi had woken up from his surprise nap.

“I don't understand Mermaid speech, sorry.” He ignored the curious reaction, he had scrutinized the other enough, and offered an apologetic smile. 

Ryan got redder but switched to English once more. “ I- I mean- SSorry! I thank you, yess I thank you!”

“ Don't be sorry. Speaking two languages is hard. I'm amazed at how well you speak English.”

His words didn't make the merman calm down from whatever state he was in. His gills opened and shook, before closing again. It wasn't just the one on the side of his neck, but also the ones on his ribs that did that.

The sight was just as disturbing as it was yesterday, but Min-Gi again didn't point them out.

“It'sss ssuper easy to learn! Humanss are very loud so we learn ssuper fasst!”

“Humans are loud? And all mermaids speak English?”

“Yes! We need to go above the water to hear you on land but you sstarted going under water in… ssunbathin’? Sso we hear you everywhere! Oh and you keep going on boatss too! “

He was speaking so excitedly. It was kinda cute if you asked Min-Gi. Not that he would tell you that. 

“‘Sunbathing’? Do you mean ‘submarine’ ?”

Ryan let out a loud chirping noise. 

“ Yess! That! And we all have to learn the human language of where we sstay. I wass born in theess waterss but otherss have to learn again if they move waterss.”

“Why do you have to learn human languages?” Min-Gi frowned. This seemed like a lot of work when no mermaids interacted with humans.

Ryan didn't answer for a second. When he did, it was in a subdued voice.

“ We need to know what humanss want to do. Where they go. Sso we can hide if they get too close to uss or…”

He didn't finish but it wasn't needed.

‘Or worse.’

Mermaids had to learn human languages to keep themselves safe.

They both went silent.

Min-Gi could have said he was sorry or something similar, but he wasn't sure it was a good thing to say.

It was Ryan who talked first.

He reached for his satchel and dragged it so it was in front of him, in between him and Min-Gi.

“I brought you a gift.” 

Min-Gi accepted the satchel that was pushed toward him.

“A gift? Why?”

“You gave me your food so I give you mine!”

He had no idea what expression he made when he opened the satchel and found an entire fish in it. It was impressive that Ryan had managed to fit an entire fish in the satchel, and it explained the weird shape of it.

The poor fish had been almost folded in half, it was a flat fish and Min-Gi wondered for a second if it helped with the folding. He was very glad the fish was dead.

But now, he had to find what to do with a whole fish.

“ I- I don't have anything to transport it with…”

The blank look he received from the merman made him blush in embarrassment.

The following stare at his hands made him blush with annoyance.

“We don't really hold fish with our bare hands…”

The unimpressed look he received told him they both had witnessed fishermen handling fish with bare hands.

“You can use my bag. You give it back tomorrow.”

The merman was still observing him with the same energy that told Min-Gi he was judging him.

‘It's easy for him to judge me! I'm not a fisherman or even part fish!’

He held back from saying any of that out loud as a new concern came to mind.

“I will need to put it in the fridge. Somewhere cold. To keep it fresh and good.”

He also had to find how he would cook the fish. 

And someone to debone the fish. 

He had no idea how to do that, he always got fish that was already ready for cooking!

Ryan seemed to consider his words. 

The human could feel his patience thinning, ‘I don’t want to be judged by someone who don’t know how to use a stove!’

But the merman only nodded, smiling again.

“You do that! I have to go anyway.”

Min-Gi got up and awkwardly followed the merman back to the water. It made Min-Gi remember how surreal the whole situation was.

Ryan went back into the sea, and re-emerged. 

“ Don't forget my bag tomorrow!”

It was a loud farewell, but the human appreciated the gesture as the ocean, the waves and the wind made a lot of noise.

It made him huff a laugh. He waved at the merman who waved back and dove back underwater a second time but final time, for today.

He grabbed the satchel, he grimaced at the feeling of dried seawater, and made his way back home.

Later when looking up what kind of fish Ryan had gifted him, two thoughts came to him.

It was the first time Ryan was the first one to announce he had to leave.

And that Min-Gi had no idea what Ryan did and where he went in between their meetings.

Which made a third thought appear and Min-Gi laughed,albeit a bit hysterically.

‘I have regular scheduled meetings with a merman!’

Chapter Text

“I still don't believe you lad but I will let it slide.”

Min-Gi internally agreed with Old Man Jasper. ‘Someone gave it to me.’ was the truth, but without more explanation it was a flimsy truth.

Despite that, Old Man Jasper was happily deboning the fish for Min-Gi.

The younger one had gone back to the bar and found the old man there. Min-Gi was vaguely aware of how the fishermen schedule worked, mostly thanks to Old Man Jasper who loved talking and talking over people.

Old Man Jasper had welcomed him with his usual shout and a strong arm around his shoulders, he had asked for typical pleasantries without waiting for an answer from Min-Gi.

Instead, he had dragged the young man to where he had been sitting at the bar and ordered today's snack.

“You need to eat more at your age.”

Min-Gi had no idea what that meant but accepted the coconut shrimps that were 

placed in front of him by the bar owner. 

She had rolled her eyes and smirked, tired fondness at the friendly old man who had the habit of ordering for others.

The first time Min-Gi had ended up with food he hadn't ordered, she had explained she put that kind of order on Old Man Jasper's receipt.

‘He orders, he pays.’ She had shrugged with a mischievous smile.

How Old Man Jasper hadn't noticed was a wonder. Or maybe he was fully aware. Min-Gi was fine not knowing, as long as he didn't pay for food he hadn't ordered.

She had allowed them to debone the fish in her kitchen, and let Min-Gi take his plate of food with him as long as he didn't touch anything there.

The cook had rolled his eyes when Old Man Jasper had entered, shouting about how they were allowed back there by ‘The Boss’ but had turned back to his own work without any comments.

Min-Gi was munching on his snack as Old Man Jasper made quick work on the fish.

“ That's a beautiful catch you got there, son! And it's fresh! Caught today even with such a fragrant smell and nice shine!”

Min-Gi shrugged as he went for another coconut shrimp.

The knife cut smoothly through the fish skin, then flesh.

“ Good colour. You have been very thorough with the bleeding!”

Min-Gi swallowed his food before talking.

“I didn't catch it. What do you mean by bleeding?”

Old Man Jasper raised both eyebrows at Min-Gi in surprise.

“Oh. You really didn't catch it?”

Even if Min-Gi had wanted to remind the older man he had said multiple times he wasn't the one to catch it, the other had already moved on.

“Yeah you need to bleed and gut the fish. You can see it was done well from the colour of the flesh.”

He stopped his cutting to show the filets. Min-Gi politely looked slightly to the left of the fish and nodded.

“You can stun it before doing the bleeding, but you need to bleed it.”

He was about to return to his cutting when the old man stopped with a small curious noise.

“Is something wrong?” Min-Gi inquired.

“ No no… Just wondering what you used for the bleeding. Oh yeah, you didn't do it! Do you know what the guy who gifted it to you used?”

The younger man frowned. “No. Why?”

“ It seems too big to have been done by a knife and it looks more like it was ripped than cut…”

Old Man Jasper was quieter as he observed the gills arches of the halibut, oblivious to Min-Gi’s paling face.

Memories of Ryan's sharper than human teeth came back to him. He swallowed again, now just saliva, and put the last coconut shrimp in his mouth.

Thankfully, Old Man Jasper was not only a master at ignoring people but awkward moments too.

“Well! As long as it is done well, who am I to judge another sea man's work!”

With a booming laugh, he finished cutting the filets.

Min-Gi couldn't totally relax even if the fisherman had moved on.

He jumped as Old Man Jasper called for the cook, and asked for recipe ideas.

Said cook was cleaning the countertops and threw a glare at Old Man Jasper. Min-Gi tried to quickly decide if he should drag the friendly but rude older man away when the cook walked toward them and observed the cutted filets with a critical eye.

“Baked.” was the short answer they got before the cook grabbed a towel, dried his hands and fetched a notepad and pen.

“You have an oven at home?”

Min-Gi nodded.

The cook wrote down something and handed it to Min-Gi.

“Take what you want. I will keep the rest.”

The cook turned back to his countertops and that was the end of the exchange.

That's how Min-Gi came back home with one cleaned halibut filet. The cook had grunted what Min-Gi thought was a thanks when he had left the kitchen. 

Old Man Jasper has been ordered to stay and clean his workplace, which Min-Gi was thankful for. He didn't feel like he could have handled more of that old man.

He was friendly, maybe too friendly. And loud.

The cook had given him a recipe for his filet, the steps were short but clear and to the point like the man’s answers.

But he had already planned what to eat today and tomorrow…

He had to cook the fish as soon as possible or it would go bad, even if he kept it in the fridge…

‘What a bothersome gift…’

He was staring at the wrapped fish when the thought gave me an idea.

‘I could make it Ryan's tomorrow meal!’

Proud of himself and relieved to have found a use for the gift, Min-Gi put the fish in the fridge. It was able to withstand a night in the fridge at least.

Now he had the rest of the afternoon for himself.

The satchel has been shaken and left to dry outside. It seemed okay to put in the washing machine.

Worry made him pause.

‘Was it okay to wash it and give it back?’

It was okay for humans, but what about mermaids…

After a minute of intense thinking he decided that he could always say it was a thing humans did to show respect and care for the borrowed item.

He really hoped he wasn't making an unalterable mistake as he threw the satchel in the washing machine.

He sensed that the worry would stay until Ryan's reaction tomorrow.

His laptop sat on his desk, the urge to find answers earlier than the estimated time arose in the young man.

He found the same online encyclopedia’s article he had a few days earlier and looked through the list of content.

‘Ecology and behavior’

It seemed like a good place to look into, Min-Gi clicked on it.

He scrolled past the ‘reproduction’ part, he knew it would talk about how non male mermaids had been seen, captured or killed. It felt weird to read it again when Ryan existed.

‘Feeding and diet’ made him stop and quickly read through it for any interesting words.

He found out that despite many tales about mermaids consuming human flesh, none was found in the stomachs of any studied specimens.

Multiple attacks via biting have been recorded, and in the last century have been speculated to be done not from the need to consume human flesh but, instead, to try and escape capture.

Damages to fishing nets were recorded to have been done by mermaid teeth at times.

A memory of the ripped out gill arches of the halibut came back. Min-Gi focused on the article again.

Most successful mermaid escapes from fishing nets had been done using tools.

Min-Gi remembers as a kid being amazed at the information and sharing it to other kids when the topic of mermaids was brought up.

There was rarely another kid who already knew it and looking back on it, Min-Gi was quite puzzled but also tired.

Of course they would use tools, they were smart.

The young man sighed and looked at the ocean from where he sat at his desk.

His mind was empty but still feeling like too many thoughts were happening at once.

Thankfully, one of the many thoughts was able to appear clearly among the tangled muted yarn in his mind.

Details from their first encounter. Ryan had pulled on a fishing net with his bare hands. The same fishing net had disappeared from where Min-Gi had stored it.

What use could the merman get from a fishing net?

Fishing? 

The article mentioned that some mermaids have been recorded using sharp tools to fish but no fishing net…

He remembered reading about hair accessories but again, nothing in the article was about fishing nets as hair accessories.

And now he thought about it, Ryan hadn't worn any accessories or jewelry…

Feeling stumped, Min-Gi scrolled down until the word ‘Singing’ jumped out.

That part of the article was about the behavior noticed among all types of mermaids recorded.

Legends and stories around mermaids were in great part around that behavior.

Sailors lured to their doom by the beautiful singing.

A malicious hunting tactic to get human meat.

Min-Gi gulped, he had thought about it when Ryan had offered to sing for him.

‘I let my guard down and only lightly scolded him?! ’

His mind reminded him that Ryan had  seemed genuinely regretful and only wanted to help.

He decided to continue his reading.

The article explained that because of the lack of human flesh in studied mermaids’ stomachs and the lack of proof beside stories and legends, mermaids luring sailors to eat them was now believed to be a myth by the scientific community until proven otherwise.

Many people still believed it as true despite lack of scientific evidence.

Mermaids in captivity have been recorded to sing, some people were reported feeling hypnotizedª from it but most of the witnesses commented just hearing a beautiful song.

Studies around mermaids’ singing  are still being held but because of the lack of audio or video records and live specimens, research was done around the organs mermaids used for singing rather than the reason and importance of the behavior for the mermaids.

Min-Gi finished reading and felt unhappy. No recent studies could be done to answer his questions. So much of the article was about Human's fear and myths of mermaids.

He scrolled up again, annoyed, in hope that somehow more infos would appear when he noticed the little ‘ª’ next to ‘hypnotized’ that linked to the Notes section of the article.

He clicked on it before he could think about it.

Most reports of hypnosis have been argued to have been exaggerated.

However, the death of a German zoo director in 1881 was still used as a counterpoint against the hypothesis of mermaid’ singing being harmless.

Despite the lack of reliable first hand evidence, the death of the German zoo director case was still used to this day in discussions over the abilities, nature and instincts of mermaids.

A link had been integrated in the text. When Min-Gi had shakily hovered his mouse over it, his fears were confirmed when it showed it was a link for the Siren page.

He had felt a chill down his spine reading the notes. it had seemed familiar and he had been correct.

He wanted to click on it and know.

Could he, though?

He has repeated many times that research around mermaids only brought him sorrow.

He could ask Ryan a happy, childish part of him exclaimed.

But again, could he?

Nothing was clear. The modern lens on two centuries old research barely helped.

He could always search for other websites or even physical books to see a wider range of answers but he felt drained.

He closed the website and his laptop.

He turned the TV he barely used on and settled on a documentary about delivery roads still used by people in remote locations.

When the documentary proved to not hold his attention fully, he got up and opened a drawer he hasn't touched in months.

Afternoon shifted to evening with the sound of a stylophone playing.

Chapter Text

His apathetic mood continued the next day. He didn't remember having dreamed, and his morning routine had been done on auto pilot.

Even when he cooked the fish filet to be Ryan's meal, his mind was quiet.

The tiredness in his head wasn't pleasing to exist with but a part of him did enjoy the lack of almost constant thoughts, despite how draining it felt.

Something about choosing between two evils.

Min-Gi made an unimpressed hum, it seemed a bit too dramatic to use this expression for his current situation.

His phone ringing as he put the cooked fish in a tupperware made him jolt and almost drop the lid.

He was mumbling under his breath when he picked up his phone, and swore when he saw who was calling him.

He couldn't ignore that call.

“Hi mom.”

“ ‘Hi’? That's the greeting I get when you didn't call us again?”

Oh, she was in a mood today.

He moved the phone away to sigh.

“Sorry mom, I-”

“ Did you sigh at me?!”

She still had managed to hear it…

“Unbelievable! I call because I'm worried about you and you sigh at me?! If it wasn't for these calls, I would have no idea if you're dead or alive!”

“You're worrying too much…”

“If you called more often, I wouldn't get so worried about your well being to the point I mess up my part in the neighborhood get together!”

Oh, that's why she was in such a mood.

“What were you making?”

A scoff rang through the speaker. “So now you care about how I'm doing?”

Min-Gi grip on the cooking pan tightened as he held back from answering.

“I'm making chicken right now.” He said instead.

His mom hummed as she sensed he was moving away from the subject, but still asked him how he was cooking his food and gave him tips to improve his skills.

Min-Gi knew it was how she showed she cared when she was annoyed or upset.

She wasn't even actually angry, he knew his parents experienced anxiety like him. They were expressing it differently, that's all.

He half listened to her, making noises here and there when deemed appropriate.

He could hear her relax and even start a new batch of food for her get together. The first one will be eaten by her and dad.

Her words became less sharp at Min-Gi's way of living as the call went on, she was now sharing the latest news and gossip she heard from her friends, and neighbors.

“Are there any young ladies in your town?”

Min-Gi held back the sigh this time.

“None my age.”

“When you visit, I will introduce you to very nice young girls. Margaret’s granddaughter is single and a very nice girl. She is your age. You were born two weeks apart!”

“ That's nice mom, but-”

She continued, cutting him.

“Everyone keeps telling me how handsome you are, and now that you have that nice job I have so many invitations from women who want to meet you! I think it would be a good idea-”

Min-Gi was getting way too flustered. 

He knew it was most likely the mothers, aunts and grandmothers of these women who offered for them to meet, but still.

He was tired and embarrassed. He didn't want to hear about any matchmaking now. Or later.

“Hmhm! Yes I will see when I can visit, sure! I promise to call you soon. No need to worry, there is nothing crazy going on in this town!”

They continued to talk for a bit longer before his mom had to hang up when her oven beeped, announcing the food cooking was done.

Min-Gi's food was cold and he had to reheat it so he could finally eat his lunch.

If his mother had known he was eating lunch a bit later than usual, he could have said work took longer to finish.

Better than saying he didn't feel hungry or he had cooked food for… someone.

He had no idea if he would have been able to say they were friends. And just saying ‘someone’ would have opened a flood of questions he didn't want to face.

There was also absolutely no way he would have said Ryan was a merman he had randomly met and now was spending time everyday with. That was obvious.

He managed to eat a bit but decided to leave the rest for dinner.

It seemed his appetite today would be a small one. He didn't like waking up the next day feeling ravenous, but he couldn't force himself to eat. It would just upset his stomach and he was already very tired as it is.

It both made and didn't make sense how the stomach was so connected to moods and emotions.

He mused about it as he put away his lunch and cleaned after himself.

It was the kind of thinking he could enjoy in his current state, just comparing different facts about the subject and not expecting to find an explanation.

The smell of the ocean hit his nose when he realised he had, without noticing, readied himself and was out of his house, most likely to go to the meeting spot.

He paused, wondering if he should go today. He was really out of it, as mindlessly putting on his coat and pocketing his keys was proof of it, maybe he could skip today's meeting. 

But Ryan would have no idea why he didn't show up…

Remembering the merman's satchel and meal made him sigh, turn around and fetch them along with a fork.

No appetite but lots of sighing today.

The bag was dry and clean. He felt and ignored another spike of worry at the merman's response.

He was giving it back and, if needed, would explain it is a human thing to do and a polite one at that.

He would give it back with the boxed meal and leave. Today was feeling much too long and socialization, with mermen or not, was the last thing the young man wanted.

Min-Gi determinedly walked toward the meeting spot, satchel in hand.

Ryan was waiting for him this time around. He was resting his head in his arms, using a smaller rock to put his top half on a higher spot.

His bored expression switched to a happy welcoming one when he spotted Min-Gi. The merman even raised an arm to wave at Min-Gi, as if the human wasn't already looking at him.

The merman had waited for him and was still so excited to see him. Min-Gi felt a pang of guilt at having to leave right away.

He handed the satchel back to its owner.

“Here. As promised.”

Ryan stared at the bag before remembering what Min-Gi was talking about. He took it back, opening his mouth to thank the other when he noticed the state of his satchel.

The merman brought it to his nose so fast Min-Gi had expected Ryan to hit himself.

He sniffed at the item rapidly, turning it around to see if the new smell was also here too.

Min-Gi forced himself not to fidget, even when the merman looked up at him after his inspection.

“Whas thass ssmell?”

Ryan's expression showed nothing that could help Min-Gi gauge the other's mood.

“I washed it. It's what humans do to be polite. With other people's stuff.”

Even if he hid his restlessness well, his butchered answer was a dead give away on his current emotional state. It didn't matter if he had rehearsed it, his nerves took over.

The merman only let out a thoughtful croon as he gazed at his freshly human cleaned bag in his hands.

Finally, he settled it aside and went back to looking at Min-Gi.

Min-Gi had no idea how to give the tupperware now. This is not how he had imagined he would go.

Ryan, again, ignored the atmosphere and let out a noise someone who just remembered something would do and excitedly reached behind him.

What he pulled out resembled a musical instrument.

Min-Gi's attention was immediately on it.

Ryan let out a small chirping laugh, very pleased at the intense curiosity coming from the human.

“I finished it lass night!”

He set down the item on the rock he was using earlier to lay his head as Min-Gi crouched down in front of it.

The instrument looked like a viola but also not. This was very puzzling, Min-Gi would look at one part and see a viola but then looked at another part of the instrument and it was not a viola anymore.

He noticed Ryan shuffling in his peripheral vision.

The merman seemed to be waiting for something but Min-Gi had no idea what so instead, he asked “ You made that by yourself?” 

This was a good thing to say as the merman lightened up and excitedly explained.

“Yess! Look, you can ssee it here!”

Min-Gi followed where he was pointing at and saw a carving on the instrument.

It had been done with a surprisingly stable hand. A bird with wide open wings, a puffy round cloud above its head and thunderbolts on each side of the bird.

At least, Min-Gi hoped he was understanding the drawing correctly. 

The merman was showing it to him as if it would prove the instrument had been made by Ryan’s hand so maybe…

 “Is that your signature?”

Ryan made a confused noise. He put his tongue against his top teeth and mouthed a sound before scrunching his nose.

“What izz…”

“Signature?”

A nod.

“It's… your name. You put it on stuff you created to show others you made it.”

“Ooh! Hmm… It iz not my name. But it is… me. So everybody knows I did it.”

At Min-Gi's frown, he tried to explain.

“We do it when we put our… hm… stuff together? When we… cook and people know it iz your food.”

“When you cook? Like… You all cook together?”

The merman nodded energetically. “Yess! Yess! And when it iz done, you know which is yourss!”

Communal cooking… This was incredible information about mermaid's culture! His grip on the tupperware went a bit tighter as he held back the sparkling energy building in his chest. He didn't even know how to formulate his questions, it was better to hold back from babbling .

Ryan was showing something, it would be rude to suddenly take over the conversation…

“And you put it on… this too?” He nodded at the instrument.

“Yess!”

“Can you play it?”

Ryan's cheerful demeanor changed to hesitance. Min-Gi wondered for a second if he had asked something he shouldn't have when Ryan spoke again, embarrassment coloring his words.

“Not… really… It doesn't ssound like what I want…”

He was looking down at his hands like he had been caught doing something he shouldn't.

“I… I wanted to show it to you after you helped me with the sstring…”

Min-Gi stared in silence at the merman, trying to make sense of what he heard.

‘The string?’

He observed the instrument once more, now focusing fully on the cords.

It took him long seconds before it all connected in his head.

The cords were a strange color now he looked closer. A blue color he remembered seeing on…

“The fishing net?!”

He hadn't meant to say it in a strangled voice but he was getting a lot of his questions answered at once, so he forgave himself in the back of his mind for the embarrassing display.

Ryan gave him a little smile.

“I can re- reyu- use them again if this one doezn't work. Thanks you a lot!”

The human stared in wonder at the instrument. Even if it didn't work it was still something crafted by the merman in front of him. Ryan even said he could reuse the components to build a new one.

And he had helped the merman. Without meaning to but still!

Ryan was proudly bathing in the way Min-Gi's eyes were shining at his creation when he blinked and pointed at the tupperware now held against Min-Gi's chest.

“ what’ss that?”

It took a second for Min-Gi to realise what Ryan was talking about.

“Oh!”

He fumbled a bit with the box before handing it to the other.

“Uh yeah! It's for you! It's the fish you gifted me yesterday!”

The squinting the merman did at the box would have been funny if it wasn't accompanied by a confused and unhappy twist of his mouth.

“You gave me a lot so I cooked some for you!” The human quickly added and opened the lid, as if he was trying to prove his innocence. Innocence of what crime? Min-Gi had no idea.

The merman squinted at the inside of the box now but his face lightened with genuine curiosity.

Holding the tupperware with one hand, he fetched the fork from his coat pocket and handed both to Ryan.

“Here. Try it. If you want.”

He apparently had no idea how to formulate anything. Questions or simple sentences, he needed to get a grip. Merman or not, this was getting just pathetic.

The merman hesitated before grabbing the fork and tupperware in each hand. His hold on the cutlery was unsure, clearly from never or rarely having held a fork in his life, but he still poked the food with it.

He seemed fascinated by how the baked fish reacted to the fork. His eyes followed the fish being lifted from where it had been stabbed, and he let out a surprised hoot when the meat finally broke and fell back in the box.

The rest of the fish still on the fork went in his mouth. Min-Gi was quite amazed at the level of trust the merman showed to eat food given to him by a human.

Ryan's eyes suddenly opened wide as he made a muffled noise around the fork.

He chewed as he moved his gaze repeatedly between Min-gi and the food still in the box, a small blush forming on his rounded cheeks. Min-Gi had been worried he had put too little sauce or too much herbs but it seemed the baked fish was a resounding success.

The merman finished the meal, put the box and fork back in Min-Gi hands before flopping on the sand with a content sigh.

A small purr-like sound was mixed with the sigh and Min-Gi allowed himself to believe it was done from happiness.

Min-Gi stared amused at his companion. He couldn't help the pride in his chest seeing his food being enjoyed that much.

Ryan's eyes were closed, a soft smile resting on his face as he bathed in the afterglow of nice food and the sun rays.

Min-Gi felt himself relax upon the perfect picture of satisfaction until he remembered he had planned to leave as soon as he could.

The merman lazily opened one eye as the human stumbled back to his feet.

“I- Uh… I need to go back to my place. Work to do.”

Food seemed to be a powerful tool to make mermaids happy because Ryan didn't pout or look disappointed hearing his farewell. He hummed before doing a full body stretch.

Min-Gi observed how it looked with a fish tail instead of human legs, which was pretty much the same but it was a fish tail instead of legs.

Ryan settled himself more comfortably, crossing his arms and lying his head in them as he twisted his body to lie on his stomach, his back fin straightening as if stretching before relaxing once more.

He didn't open his eyes again when he mumbled.

“Mrrkay thankyu for the food. See syu tomorrow…”

Maybe Min-Gi should talk to Ryan about being more careful around people. Being so unguarded around a human of all things? The young man truly hoped the ocean dweller knew to not trust anyone who was nice to him…

He gave the other another goodbye and walked back home.

As he cleaned the tupperware and fork, he suddenly let out a laugh.

His mind had suddenly conjured the similarities between the baked fish he had cooked to the merman sunning himself in the sand after eating his meal.

He shouldn't laugh. ‘It wasn't that funny’ He scolded himself.

It still felt nice to laugh. His mind and body felt less tired now. He wondered if it was because he had left the house or because of the time spent with Ryan today.

He was in too good of a mood to care so he just huffed through his nose with a final chuckle and set the box and cutlery to dry by the sink.

Chapter Text

He did woke up the next day with his stomach twisting in hunger. Even if he knew it was coming, it doesn't make the experience any easier or more pleasing to go through.

Despite his good mood yesterday, his appetite had barely improved and he had finished the lunch leftovers for his last meal of the day.

As he prepared his breakfast, he thought back on the previous day's meeting with the merman.

He had been so worried for the bag and not at all about how gifting the food Ryan had gifted him would be taken.

He had frowned when Min-Gi had told him it was the fish he had been gifted but calmed down when he had explained the situation.

Well, partially explained. Which seemed to have been a good thing. If he had told the sea dweller he had left most of the fish at the bar and didn't try it for himself…

He had no idea how Ryan would have reacted but thinking more about it, he wouldn't have been very happy to hear the meal he had gifted someone had been given away to someone else…

Oh no, Min-Gi had been so rude and it had taken him so long to realise…

He couldn't have eaten the whole fish by himself but he could have tried to eat some, at least…

It didn't feel good to eat breakfast. He felt guilty.

He didn't know if Ryan had hunted the fish himself but if he had, it would make the situation even worse.

‘Next time, I will make sure to try a bit of it.’

He snorted. What next time? There was no certainty Ryan would get him more fish.

But the thought still gave him an idea.

He checked his schedule and indeed, today was one of his ‘I have to take a break’ days.

On these days, there was no need for his usual work routine. He would still check some things quickly but otherwise, he had to do something  that wasn't work related.

He cleaned after himself and prepared himself to go outside.

His phone told him no important emails were waiting for him and with that, he left to go into town.

He was greeted by some town people on his way and greeted them back. He pushed the door or his destination, the bell above the door announcing his arrival.

“Good morning, Min-Gi. If you are looking for Jasper, you will need to come back tonight. He will be busy all day today.”

“Thank you for telling me ma'am, but I'm not looking for him.

The bar owner leaned her elbow on the counter, a teasing smirk gracing her face. The wrinkles around her mouth getting deeper as she did so, proof of a lifetime full of smiles.

“Don't tell him that or you will break his heart, and I told you to call me Josie. I'm not that old.”

She was old enough to be called ma'am by Min-Gi but he didn't say that outloud.

“ Of course you're not old, Josie.”

He smiled kindly at her in return.

“Tsk. You don't need to butter me up. I said I am not that old, I am aware I am still old. But enough about that, what can I do for you?”

He sat up at one of the bar chairs, one right in front of the older woman and put his elbows on the counter between them.

“I was wondering if you had anything left from the fish I brought last time? I was thinking of trying it for myself.”

Josie raised an eyebrow at Min-Gi.

“Sorry dear, but there is nothing of it left. Clients loved it though.”

Min-Gi sighed and was about to say it was fine when the older woman spoke again.

“You took a piece of it with you, yes? I had expected you to cook and eat it. Have you not?”

“Oh. Uh! Yeah! I mean- I did take a piece with me and cook it but I… “

Josie waited for the rest of his answer calmly. Min-Gi appreciated that about her but…

Well, better just say it.

“I cooked it for the person who gave me the fish.”

Both eyebrows raised as she made a small noise at his answer. She was surprised but something about it made Min-Gi feel uneasy.

She stayed silent for a bit, as if considering his words.

Min-Gi felt like he had been spotted when trying to sneak around.

“Who is that person? None of the fishermen said anything about giving you a fish.”

She laughed softly, apologetic, at Min-Gi's clear discomfort from the questioning.

“Jasper boasted about it to the other fishermen that night. We had served the fish and you know how the old bear is. Friendly but will talk about anything to anyone.”

Min-Gi grimaced. He should have known Old Man Jasper would tell everyone about the fish. That old man had too much time on his hands…

“No one could remember gifting you or seeing someone give you the fish. Half of them believe you caught it yourself and tried to be modest. You should be careful next time you visit the harbor, they want to fish with you now and will not hesitate to use force to bring you on their boats.”

He groaned imagining it. He could imagine it very well. They were all very kind people but all had a stubborn streak. If they wanted something, they did their very best to get it…

Josie didn't even try to hide her delight at his misery. She laughed loudly, it was raspy and sounded like she would end up in a coughing fit by the end of it.

She didn't cough but she did clear her throat when she was finally done.

“That's how they show they like you. But I will do my best to keep them from jumping you.”

He gave her an unsure thank, her wording was… interesting.

“Do you know where that person is from?”

The young man hesitated a bit.

“I… would say they're from around there.”

She seemed to take his answer seriously, thinking once more to herself.

“You haven't been here for as long as I have been so I would not be surprised if it was someone from a village more inland. They sometimes visit our town. Did they give you a name?”

He had no idea if he should tell her. What if it was enough to put Ryan in trouble? But Ryan was a name used by humans so it should be okay….

“He said he was called Ryan.”

Min-Gi felt his palms sweat as the older woman tried to find anyone by that name in the mental list of people she knew.

“Ryan… Ryan… Nope. I can't remember knowing a Ryan. At least, none alive.”

Her smile at the last part was lighthearted. It was the truth and she was simply stating a fact.

Min-Gi did his best to smile back at her.

“He is probably someone who moved in one of the villages more inland. Or maybe a tourist, but he’s not staying here or someone in town would have noticed him and I would have heard of it.”

There was something about small towns like that one. Everyone knew each other and gossipping was a hobby practiced by everyone.

Min-Gi hoped the gossip around him was few, but if gossip about Ryan were to happen it could be very dangerous for the merman.

If bringing a fish to debone was enough for Min-Gi to end up questioned… He shuddered at what could happen if Ryan's existence was known.

He awkwardly moved to a different topic, praying that it would be enough to make the older woman not bring it tonight when the fishermen would eventually end up at her bar.

It was lunch time when he left the bar. Josie had to make the bar ready for the lunch clients and Min-Gi had to leave before the lunch clients arrived.

He didn't know who would be there, even if Josie had said Old Man Jasper would not be visiting until tonight he did have to go.

He hadn't been able to taste the fish Ryan had gifted him but he still needed to see the merman.

He didn't have to see the merman everyday but some kind of schedule had been made. He would have to warn the other if he couldn't or didn't want to visit…

He walked back home, listing possible reasons that would make him cancel their daily meeting, when he saw movements in the ocean by their meeting spot.

Frowning, the human slowed down to a full stop. The water was moving strangely, it wasn't because of the waves as they continued to roll by.

‘It could be something about warm and cold sea water… Or maybe one of those flat fish, it's pretty close to the shore-’

A white striped red tail bursting out of the water and falling back with a loud slap cut all theories in his mind.

There was one person- merman who would come so close to shore with that type of tail.

It didn't seem like he was okay. It looked like he was fighting something.

Before he thought of it Min-Gi was already running through sand, to where the commotion was happening.

As he got closer, he was able to see a bit more of what Ryan was struggling with.

There was another long, colourful, shape in the water.

The shape with a bit of orange was most likely Ryan, the other shape was fully red, almost black and invisible in the scuffle if not for the bright white stripes both tails adorned.

They moved in similar ways, turning and rolling around each other. Sometimes a hand or brown hair appeared out of the agitated waters, but it was only when a fish tail that wasn't Ryan's breached through that Min-Gi could confirm what was battling the merman.

Another mermaid.

Min-Gi had been so worried about humans finding out Ryan's existence he hadn't spared a thought of how other mermaids would react to one of them visiting the land so often.

But that gave him an idea.

Breathing in as deeply as he could in his panicked state, he stocked air in his lungs before letting out what was probably the loudest yell he had ever done in his life:

“HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

He hadn't thought about what to say, he just hoped that a human screaming would scare the other mermaid away.

It did work in stopping the fight, but Min-Gi hadn't expected to see a face pop out of the water.

He barely had the time to take in what was happening when two hands shot from the waters and tried to drag the other under again.

It wasn't something the one above appreciated based on the hissing and clicking growls coming from them.

Strangely enough, Min-Gi realised that the one who was being manhandled wasn't Ryan.

They had a similar look, with long brown hair and similar skin tones, but it wasn't Ryan's voice.

While Ryan could make some high-pitched sounds, these were not the same.

Somehow, the not Ryan mermaid emerged victorious. The winning move must have happened underwater because Min-Gi didn't see it.

He did however saw said victorious mermaid approach him at high speed.

With a yelp, he fell backward to dodge the mermaid who had arrived so fast they slided on the sand.

The mermaid let out a loud whoop before turning around and snarling smugly at the ocean.

“Nice try! But you need to train more if you want to win against me!”

The taunt was effective as the one still in the water jumped out with a growl.

Min-Gi had never seen such a vicious expression on Ryan.

He had thought the sight of his sharp teeth when he smiled was scary at times, but it was nothing when Ryan showed them without joy or laughter.

He landed near them with a heavy thud and, in a move right from a horror movie, immediately crawled toward the other mermaid using his arms and tail.

Min-Gi must have made a noise because Ryan stopped abruptly and snapped his head to the human.

Ryan's lips lowered and hid his fangs as colour drained from his face.

His mouth opened and closed as if he was trying to say something, but was interrupted before he could.

“You're scaring your human.”

Both Ryan and Min-Gi turned to the voice.

The mermaid who had spoken up looked very similar to Ryan. Not only the human part but also the fish tail.

They were most likely the same species but the newcomer had different shades of red on their tail. Min-Gi had been correct when he had observed the fight from above.

Speaking of the fight, they had scratches on their cheeks, and shoulders. Probably when Ryan had tried dragging them down again…

They were staring amusedly at Min-Gi. The scales on their face were only on their cheekbones, he absently noticed.

“Wow! He just met me but is already mesmerized by my beauty!”

Min-Gi sputtered while Ryan pushed them, quite violently, making the new mermaid roll on their back with a loud cackle.

“SHUT UP!”

Ryan snapped before turning once more toward the human and spoke in a small voice.

“I'm ssorry! I noticed too late he was following me, pleazz don't be sscared!”

“Yeah don't be scared! I love humans! I would never hurt you!”

The uninvited mermai- merman reassurances didn't appease anyone present.

Ryan looked ready to pounce on him again, but Min-Gi managed to speak again.

“I- Who are you? And why were you fighting Ryan?”

Anger tainted the second question when he remembered the fight he had stumbled upon.

The new merman didn't react at the sharp tone, instead he turned toward Ryan with both eyebrows raised.

“You told him your first name ?”

There was a kind of wonder in his voice and Min-Gi had no idea if it was a positive or negative one.

Ryan tried to say something but was again talked over.

“Well, if we're on first name basis, call me Lucas!”

Min-Gi mumbled a bewildered “Okay?” at the same time Ryan screamed “ LUCAS! ”

The human jumped as his ears rang from the booming yell done so close to his face.

He could hear the two argue about something but he couldn't make sense of their words in his current state.

When the ringing finally subsided, he lifted his hands he had uselessly slapped on his ears and lifted his head.

Something had happened between them because the Lucas merman was cackling once more while Ryan was groaning and hiding his face in his hands.

Lucas was, obviously, the first one to spot Min-Gi coming back in the conversation and grinned at him.

“To answer your second question, we were just wrestling because of a small disagreement. I wanted to meet you and Ryan wanted to hog you all for himself.”

Ryan lifted his face from his hands and clicked rapidly and angrily at Lucas, to which Lucas rolled his eyes at.

“Not cool. You know your human don't understand that, right?”

He gave Min-Gi a pleasant closed mouth smile.

“Don't worry, I'm the best English speaker in our family. I can translate if needed.”

The red burning on Ryan's face didn't look healthy but he didn't make any sound. He was glaring at the other merman, observing Lucas’ every movement with obvious hostility.

At Ryan's furious silence, Min-Gi awkwardly asked.

“Your family?”

Lucas closed his eyes and brightly smiled, all his sharp teeth showing without a hint of aggressiveness.

“Our family, our pod. Whatever you prefer! I'm one of Ryan's younger brothers and obviously the best one!”

Chapter Text

The waves hitting the shore were a common soothing sound. Right now, they helped fill the silence that fell over the group.

Usually Ryan was the one ignoring the awkward atmosphere. He technically was ignoring it but it was because he was busy squinting a nasty glare at his brother.

‘His brother. Who was speaking to me. And said he wanted to meet me.’

That's- Min-Gi hadn't planned a lot of things that were happening to him. Like meeting a merman and having daily chats with said merman.

Maybe he shouldn't be surprised that he was meeting the merman's peers.

But he was.

“You wanted to meet me?”

Ryan let out an annoyed growl as Lucas nodded excitedly.

“Yes! I told you I love humans! So when I found out Ryan was visiting one everyday, well… I had to meet that human!”

He said it like it was obvious. Min-Gi had worried a lot about Ryan’s seemingly too trusting nature toward humans but his brother seemed to be worse…

Another part of his answer made Min-Gi even more worried.

“What do you mean you ‘found out Ryan was visiting a human’?”

“He kept coming back smelling weird! At first, I ignored it but yesterday he came back and his bag smelled like nothing I had smelled before and I knew it was something related to you humans! So I followed him today.”

Ryan looked like he was about to pass out from horror, Min-Gi could understand the feeling. This wasn't good, not at all.

The panicked merman turned toward his brother and chattered quickly. The other answered with a much calmer chirp.

“He was worried that our parents or someone else noticed it too, but I'm the only one who did and who followed him.”

Lucas translated to Min-Gi with so much pride. 

“Cuzz you love what izz not your buz’ness…” Ryan mumbled under his breath but the two others still heard him.

“Be happy it is me who found your little secret out, you would have been in big trouble if it had been anyone else.”

Lucas snapped back in a calm tone and with how Ryan only clicked his tongue in return, Min-Gi would bet his words held truth.

“Well… Uh… Thank you? For not telling others?”

Lucas did a strange thing at Min-Gi thanks. He tilted his head, showing the neck gill and lifted his tail to have it curl toward the human.

“You're very welcom-”

He let out a strangled yelp as an orange and red tail slapped him in the shoulder, sending him rolling a bit away from where he was just now.

Min-Gi felt his mind blank at the violent show of strength a mermaid tail apparently held.

Ryan's face was completely flushed and it wasn't fully from anger this time.

“DON'T DO THAT!”

Seagulls flew off in the distance from the sheer volume of Ryan's shriek.

His brother was back on his stomach and seemed to be done ignoring the other’s outbursts. Lucas growled something back in their own language, not translating for Min-Gi this time.

The two were hissing and snarling at each other, getting closer for another fight and Min-Gi refused to witness that.

A loud whistle cut through the air and furious tension between the two mermen who froze and turned to stare in shocked confusion at Min-Gi who was now standing up and pulling his fingers out of his mouth.

“I don't know what is happening between you two but I don't want to be part of it! If you two cannot behave, I will leave and go back to my house!”

“He started it!”

“He izz the one being weird!”

“I don't care who started it and what the other did! You both want to see me, correct?”

Both nodded.

“If you want me to stay then you two will not fight, verbally or physically. Am I clear?”

Both nodded again, looking at the ground instead of the unhappy human.

Min-Gi observed them for a few seconds with his arms crossed and a raised eyebrow before sighing and lowering himself to sit on the sand once more.

He couldn't care less about bringing sand back home.

“Let's start again. My name is Min-Gi Park, you can call me Min-Gi. Pleased to meet you.”

He would have offered his hand but didn't want to test his luck and see how the two would react to the gesture, so instead he extended his hand to show it was Lucas's turn to speak.

He understood what he meant right away.

“My name is Lucas, of the Akagi. You can call me Lucas. I'm very happy to meet you, Min-Gi.”

Ryan was mouthing Min-Gi's name, but quickly focused back on the current topic.

“I'm Ryan! From the- uh…”

“Of the Akagi.” Lucas helpfully whispered to his brother.

“Of the Akagi! You call me Ryan and I'm v’ry happy to know you, Min-Gi!”

The difference in their English levels was quite obvious, but the human appreciated the effort they both did so they could all discuss together.

“Now that presentations are done, I still have questions about our current situation.”

Lucas opened his mouth to say something but decided it was best to close it and simply nod. Min-Gi approved this decision.

“Do you two know that humans could hurt you so you need to be wary of them?”

Both mermen frowned.

“But you're a human and you don't want to hurt us.” Lucas commented.

“And not every human will be like me! You're lucky I don't want to bring you any kind of harm!”

“I didn't truss’ you when I met you.”

“And that's good, Ryan!”

Ryan preened at Min-Gi's approval.

“But I did spot you and I could have spread the word around about seeing a mermaid.”

Ryan deflated.

“Why would you two… come and find me if you know it is dangerous?”

The brothers took a moment to think about his question, maybe because they needed to translate it in their head first or find a way to formulate their answers, maybe both.

“I wanted the sstringz sso I came back later and ssaw them cut in a pile and knew you did it.” Ryan pointed at Min-Gi “Sso I obzerved you from… afar to ssee if you were nice. And you're nice sso I talked to you.”

Min-Gi thought about these days, he had sensed someone around him and even…

“I remember seeing you looking for me one time!”

Lucas started laughing abruptly and fell on his side, he gasped for breath “ YOU- YOU'RE SO BAD AT BEING SNEAKY HAHAHA!”

The gills on his neck and sides opened and closed as his body tried to regulate the intense laughter.

Min-Gi worried Ryan was gonna attack his brother again but he only angrily clicked at the other.

If it had meant to shut Lucas up, it didn't work as the merman started laughing even harder.

Ryan scouted toward Min-Gi as he glared at his brother who was now badly coughing. 

‘He probably inhaled sand through his gills when he was rolling around laughing’ Min-Gi cringed at the thought.

After long seconds, the wheezing merman calmed down and looked up with tears in his eyes.

“Min- Cough Min-Gi, do you know why you spotted him?”

The human shook his head.

“It's because his eyesight gets super bad above water! He can't see anything!” Lucas’ wobbly smile turned to full blown laughter once more.

Min-Gi turned, shocked, toward Ryan.

The merman was avoiding eye contact, red creeped down his nape.

This was… It made a lot of sense now he thought about it. Multiple times Ryan had squinted at Min-Gi, as if to check it was indeed the human in front of him.

Lucas hadn't squinted once since he met him, meaning Lucas didn't have the same issue.

It would also be assumed Ryan's eyesight was perfect, or at least better, underwater.

The human could understand why Lucas found it so funny, but he didn't feel like laughing alongside.

“Is there any way to make his vision better above water?”

Lucas stopped laughing instantly when he heard the question. Both him and Ryan were looking at Min-Gi.

Lucas stumbled over his words, doing his best to recover from the abrupt mood change.

“I- I don't… I don't think so? We don't need to be above water for important stuff so a tool like that was never really needed?”

He seemed unsure.

Ryan nodded. “A- Uh… I waz told to not go above water when I assked about it.”

Lucas turned to his brother with a frown.

Min-Gi felt sad and angry for Ryan. He clearly needed to go on land sometimes, even if it wasn't for ‘important stuff’ to someone else it was still something Ryan needed to do to work on his project.

How many times had Ryan gone on land and not only had to be careful for humans but had to look for what he needed with a blurry vision.

And when Ryan had asked for help, he had been told to just not go on land?

Both were frowning at Ryan in silence and their unhappiness got stronger seeing the merman having to squint to see their expressions.

“Humans have a tool called ‘Glasses’ that help us see. I don't need them but I know plenty of people who don't see well and wear them to correct their vision."

Seeing both mermen turn to him in surprise made his anger simmer down.

Both of them made little cooing noises as they considered what he had said.

“I can see if I can bring you a pair.” The words were already out of his mouth before he could think of it.

And he couldn't take them back at the shy hopeful look Ryan was giving him.

“Really?”

“It is worth a try.” 

This was not untrue, he could always try and if it didn't work, blame it on whatever he can think of then.

Ryan seemed excited to try, a small smile gracing his lips at the possibility to see above water.

Lucas had observed the exchange in silence and glanced at Min-Gi from the corner of his eyes, considering the human.

He blinked when said human turned toward him and asked, “Back on the previous topic, why would you come find me if you know humans are dangerous.”

Lucas smiled proudly once more “I thought if Ryan was still fine and even got food out of it, I definitely have to meet that human!”

The gentle mood changed to one of disbelief.

Min-Gi and Ryan stared at Lucas with a mix of vague horror, and bafflement.

The memory of being told to not feed an animal unless you wanted more to come popped in Min-Gi's mind, and he couldn't feel bad about it when he was staring at the little raccoon of a merman in front of him.

“I'm hungry.” The mer-raccoon unashamedly added, staring at the human with shining eyes. 

Min-Gi was amazed at how long mermaids went unseen as he didn't stop Ryan from slapping his brother's shoulder.

Chapter Text

He remembered as a kid being told to not feed bread to the fish and ducks at the park.

He didn't remember who told him that, probably someone enjoying the park and the pond, and had explained to a kid why he shouldn't feed the animals bread.

He had been inconsolable when he had learned he had been hurting the animals when he just wanted to bring them joy with food.

His mother had cursed that stranger for weeks, as Min-Gi would burst into tears anytime he remembered what he had been told.

Now an adult, Min-Gi wondered if consuming bread while being half fish could be dangerous as he observed the mermen devour the croque-monsieurs he had quickly prepared for lunch.

The two brothers seemed to have behaved pretty well when he had excused himself to cook lunch, no new bruises had appeared in his absence but Min-Gi sensed a small scuffle had happened and they were hiding it from him.

Call it intuition, or how they both looked more… sandy.

He didn't ask them to clean up, he was working on a hypothesis that mermaids don't care about sand in their food.

Lucas didn't sniff or pick apart the food he had been handed like Ryan had done before, instead he bit into it greedily and carelessly as if it was a meal he had eaten thousands of times in the past.

Min-Gi did wonder if it was the case for a second before Lucas asked around a mouthful what he was eating.

Min-Gi listed the ingredients and Ryan exclaimed he had eaten ham before which the human confirmed, to the younger one envious amazement at it being Ryan's second time eating the delicious slices of meat.

It was pretty amusing to see both mermen be so intense about ham, but Min-Gi had to ask:

“I know you said Ryan had been fine, but is it truly okay for you guys to eat human food?”

Lucas was trying to steal the ham of Ryan’s second croque-monsieur but both mermen paused to focus fully on the human.

Something in Min-Gi warmed up seeing how the two of them seemed to respect him and his words enough to keep stopping what they were doing to listen to him.

“I think so, yes. I don't remember anyone getting sick from human food.”

Ryan closed his eyes and hummed, agreeing with his brother as he quickly chewed the rest of his meal.

Min-Gi felt his eyebrows lift before lowering again in a frown, “Are there other humans feeding mermaids?”

“No" Both brothers answered together.

“No humanss are giving uss food like you do.” Ryan continued.

“Or we would have heard about it.” Lucas finished.

They looked at each other and grimaced, imagining another warning beaten into their skull from a young age.

Min-Gi couldn't hold back a snort followed by a full blown laugh.

Their synchronized answer and reaction was so comical, it would be easy to believe it was rehearsed.

The human started an apology but stopped when he noticed both merman were staring at him.

Ryan was squinting while Lucas’ eyes were wide open, but both had a similar expression Min-Gi couldn't decipher.

The brothers suddenly jumped, turned around at the same time, looked at their tails and started arguing with each other in what Min-Gi believed was ‘mermaid language’.

The human sighed and started cleaning around as he couldn't understand what the two others were saying.

He let out a loud “Hey!” when the brothers were fighting a bit too hard for his tastes, and was pleased to see that they, again, stopped what they were doing to listen to him.

They were both red in the face and tried to put the blame on the other, Min-Gi ignored them as he finished gathering tupperwares and napkins in the bag they came from.

He cut them off to ask if they wanted apples, which they happily accepted. 

It reminded Min-Gi of watching over his younger cousins and how loud they were playing, but would be calm and silent when they ate their afternoon snacks.

He waited a bit before asking,

“Have you eaten human food before?”

Lucas’ eyes shone with excitement, making quick hums of agreement as he chewed faster so he could speak.

“Yes! Stuff like that-” He raised the half eaten apple in his hands “But nothing like the yummy stuff before!”

“But how did you manage to eat human food?”

“Take it when the humans aren't looking.”

Was Lucas blunt answer. No shame or mischief in his voice, he was just stating a fact.

Ryan swallowed his mouthful. “On boatss or the uh… wood thingz on the water.”

He was most likely talking about docks and piers, Min-Gi thought.

“You… You shouldn't do that. It could be dangerous.”

Lucas finished his apple, eating the core in two bites to Min-Gi's disgust and amazement.

“Okay! You're feeding us tasty food so it's fine by me.”

Min-Gi stared in shock at the shameless merman.

“I'm not feeding you! I'm not some kind of restaurant for you two!”

His outrage was only met with two tilted heads. The synchronized action was not as funny right now.

“But you're giving us food?”

“What'ss a resst- ressrant?”

The human felt his face heat up.

Nevermind meeting two live mermen and learning about their culture, these two had no manners or understanding of what was polite and rude to humans!

“A restaurant is a place where humans go to eat food! It is a full-time job, and it is not my job! I can't do it for free everyday and- STOP SAYING ‘JOB’!”

Both mermen had taken an interest in the word 'job’ and had started repeating it to each other, testing the pronunciation.

Min-Gi felt dizzy from anger and embarrassment. These two were insufferable together!

“I refuse to spend my free day with you two if this is how you will act.”

Twin cries for him to stay and how they were sorry rang throughout the place as Min-Gi turned around to leave.

‘What is my life…?’ He mentally asked himself as he looked above his shoulder to the pathetic sight of two (presumably) grown adult mermen begging for his forgiveness.

Gathering all the goodness and patience in his heart, the human faced the brothers once more.

“I can't feed both of you everytime we meet.”

“Why not?” Lucas questioned. Confusion clear on the mermen faces, as they frowned at Min-Gi.

“I…”

Well, he didn't really have a reason to say no. He had enough money to prepare two more meals without hurting his budget.

But it felt wrong to make sure to have food ready everyday for them.

“It's not something humans do outside of a restaurant. We don't do that.”

That made the two brothers pause, considering the human’s words. They didn’t look at each other as they reached a shared agreement.

“ Alright. I still want to learn about human stuff after all. “

Ryan hummed positively, “I like being with you more z- zan your food. But your food iss very niss.”

Min-Gi offered the merman a smile and a thank you, touched by his words. Ryan beamed back at the human, sharp teeth in full display. Min-Gi felt no fear at the sight.

Relief and contentment was short lived as Lucas chimed once more, loudly: “I also want to spend time with you, Min-Gi! We’re friends too, right?”

Ryan had already turned to glare at his brother, Min-Gi managed to answer before any punches and growls were thrown between the two of them.

“We just met. It is a bit early to be called friends.”

He gave an apologetic smile to the now flushed red merman. He hadn’t lied but he still felt bad to have to calm down the other’s eagerness so he added, “But I don’t mind knowing you better. I’m curious about mermaid culture.”

Ryan who had been smiling smugly at Lucas, whirling around to give the human a look of pure betrayal.

Lucas let out a joyful hiss and did a full body wiggle at Min-Gi's offer.

And Min-Gi wondered if two mermen in his life were too many mermen in his life.

Chapter Text

Ryan and Lucas left shortly after. The younger of the two had lifted his head up at the sky, had announced it was getting late and they needed to go.

Min-Gi hadn’t tried to make them stay any longer, grateful to get some quiet after such an exhausting meeting.

That made him think. Mermaids were recounted as either effortlessly elegant or dangerous beings that hunted humans.

Now with two examples of mer…men, neither were like this.

Ryan was very eager but in a more manageable way than Lucas.

Min-Gi paused, finger hovering above the dishwasher On/Off button.

The two mermen together had been either fighting or in sync. It wasn't impossible to believe that Lucas could behave better without Ryan with him.

The noises of plates and cutlery being washed was a nice background noise as the human mused about what he had gathered from meeting the two brothers.

The one thought that kept coming back wasn't mermaid related. It was how they indeed acted like brothers.

Min-Gi was a single child, but he had grown up around kids who weren't. Be it kids at school or even family members.

He had seen different relationships between siblings, some were the typical ‘one second: fighting like rabid animals, the next: best friends’, some cohabited perfectly fine, others had one sibling bullying another, etc etc…

You also had to put into the mix how age differences affected the dynamic, step siblings, was your sibling born after your parent found a new partner or is your sibling already there and coming with said new partner?

How did mermaids' families work?

Lucas had mentioned a term to refer to their family, what was it?...

‘Pod’? Like fish pods?

These questions could be answered with an internet search. Hopefully…

Lying on his couch, Min-Gi opened the browser on his phone and typed ‘mermaid family structure’.

The online encyclopedia link was back. He will need to crosscheck what he learned there to be sure he hadn't learned something wrong…

He tapped on the link and realised his answer will probably be in the ‘reproduction' section.

With a grimace, he started reading.

Again, the article informed the reader that it was difficult to do research for the lack of living or preserved specimens. Hypothesis had been formulated based on tales from fishermen, mermaid hunters and humans living with mermaids.

…

What.

Wait wait wait. What was that?!

Min-Gi stared at the last part.

What do you mean ‘Humans living with mermaids’?!

Since when?!

The young man started frantically scrolling up and down to find more on the subject, until he used the search tool to find anything using the same words.

Although it started with reminding the reader that it was based on tales and no physical proof had been found, a part of the article described the lives of humans who lived alongside mermaids.

Someone could have broken into his house and Min-Gi would have noticed none of it for how intensely focused he was on the information before him.

People across History and the world had been saying they had been in regular contact with mermaids. Some described them as neighbors, others had seen them as family.

The article explained that Human History had always been tied close to mermaids, other groups of people would see them as gods or deities, other hunted them for different reasons, such as: hunting a mermaid as a proof of adulthood, from fear of having their communities attacked by them or to protect their food supplies.

But some humans had lived at peace with them. Seeing them as kin.

Descendants of these communities only had tales to share, with no ‘tangible proof’ or any contact with mermaids anymore; only the memory of their ancestors with their water dwellers siblings remained. It was mentioned many of these descendants were actively working to have these stories heard and shared, and demanded for more accurate knowledge on mermaids, and for any remains of mermaids that had been taken from them or were from their mer kin to be given back to their community.

It was a good thing Min-Gi was already lying down as he felt dizzy from the information.

A map of the world showed the different recording of communities living alongside mermaids. 

There were more of them than Min-Gi had expected.

“ What… ” a whisper escaped him.

A few organizations working for spreading accurate information, as well as gathering knowledge about mermaids were named. One was located on the pacific coast.

Looking up ‘Understanding Mermaids Non-Profit Organization ’ gave him a link to their official website.

They were situated in Vancouver, and a summary let Min-Gi know that it also offered visits to see displays of mermaid culture and research.

That made Min-Gi pause.

He had agreed to discuss human culture with Lucas and Ryan, and have them share their own culture. Would it be wasteful to go visit this organization?

He lifted his eyes to the ceiling, considering the pros and cons.

He could get information from someone who was a literal merman , but he wasn't sure how many questions he could ask and if he were to cross a boundary.

The organization would be understanding, hopefully, and not mind his questions. However, there was the possibility the organization held incorrect facts about mermaids and Min-Gi wouldn't know unless he shared them with the brothers.

That made him blink and stop his musings.

He could tell the two mermen about that organization and offer to go check it out to see how their species is depicted. Then they would tell Min-Gi what is true or false!

The young man hasn't felt that giddy since he was a kid and a school trip had been planned.

He was already preparing what he would bring with him as he opened the calendar application on his phone. 

*

Ryan was swimming back to the commune, his brother Lucas a bit ahead of him.

None of them were talking, leaving the human’s company seemed to subdue their excitement and wrestling urges which Ryan was partially grateful for.

The nerve of this sardine to force his way into Ryan's private business and decide he wants to have a part in it.

And the blatant flirting display-

“I can feel you glaring at me.”

Lucas didn't even turn back to say that, he just continued to swim as if Ryan's annoyance was as unremarkable as salt in the sea.

Ryan felt his face heat up in anger and accelerated to be face to face with his brother, forcing the two to stop.

“And now I can see you glaring at me. What do you want?”

“Oh! Now you're interested in what I want?! What about earlier when I told you to stop following me and you ignored it?!”

“Don't yell,” Lucas reflexively reminded, they were still too far from the commune to speak so loudly. “And as if I would let you go when you had human scents on you! I had to check in case you were putting the colony in danger.”

A loud growling snap resonated around them, Ryan had not been able to hold back the sardonic laugh and snarl mix when hearing the other but still, lowered his voice when he spoke once more.

“Really? You didn't seem to be distrustful of Min-Gi back there.”

The human's name rolled strangely underwater in the middle of the clicks and chirps of their native language.

Lucas crossed his arms, raising one eyebrow in unimpressed defiance at his older brother's aggressive noises and words.

“You think I went into it without thinking about it first? Unlike you, I considered the situation and was able to spy on the human without him noticing me.”

A chill spread in Ryan's torso.

The shock he felt must have been obvious on his face as his brother showed his sharp teeth in a mocking smile.

Lucas moved his upper body closer, his face uncomfortably close to Ryan's.

“And you didn't notice me either, until I let you know I was there.”

The younger one swam back to a more civil distance, not that Ryan could appreciate it after hearing someone from the pod knew of his secret and of the human.

“You didn't- Tell me you didn't-”

“I wasn't lying up there. I didn't tell anyone and I will not tell anyone.” Lucas quickly cut through Ryan's anxious stammering.

“When you came back without your bag, I thought that maybe you left it somewhere hidden but the next day, you had it back and it reeked of human!”

Lucas was now loudly whispering, his gaze rapidly moved from his brother to everywhere around them, looking for any danger. His hands flexed on his crossed arms as if he was holding himself back.

“It is already bad enough you casually meet up with a human but to have him take something of yours?! It could have been used to lure you away and catch you!”

“ Min-Gi wouldn't do that.” Ryan scolded.

“Now I know that for sure! At the time, I still had doubts about his intentions but you somehow found a human who looks ill at the mere idea of hurting us!”

His younger brother sighed, bubbles leaving the gills on his neck. Both hands flexing one last time before going to rest flat against his face.

“For the Moon’s sake, do you know how reckless what you did was? You can't see well above water and you decided to go and befriend a human… I almost told mom so many times…”

Ryan flinched slightly at the reminder of his poor vision, then stared at his brother in horror imagining how their mom would have reacted hearing about his meetings on land.

He swam closer to his younger brother and rested his forehead where the other's forehead was, hidden behind hands.

He tilted his head a bit to the side, his neck gills exposed, to show how regretful he was.

“Thank you for not telling mom.”

He wanted to apologize for making Lucas worry too but the words were stuck in his throat, they hadn't had such a vulnerable moment in… probably ever.

Lucas seemed to understand the unspoken apology as he gave Ryan a small smile, making the oldest breath easier.

“I was also telling the truth when I said I found humans interesting. I didn't do all that just because I wanted you to have your little dates with the human.”

Ryan jerked away, sputtering loudly about how ‘it is not dates!’. Lucas’ annoying cackles made the oldest want to pounce at him once more, but he let him go without more scratches.

He could allow his little brother to spend time with Min-Gi after how much he had helped Ryan.

Chapter Text

“You're quite lucky to live in a fishing town. You're getting nice fresh fish.”

Min-Gi stopped in the middle of his bedroom, holding a folded shirt in one hand, to look confusedly at his phone in his other hand.

“Dad, you also live by the water. You can get good fish too.”

“It’s not the same.”

The young man rolled his eyes and resumed packing his luggage.

“We have the same kind of fish here as back home. And it's coho salmon, it's not like I'm bringing king salmon.”

“Mi-young loves coho salmon. She will be ecstatic.”

Min-Gi grabbed his phone charger to bring it next to his luggage.

“I'm still bringing her a fruit basket as well.”

“Good. Hm?” Noises Min-Gi recognized as his mother's voice were heard on his father's side of the call, “Your mother wants you to call when you arrive.”

He had called her first before she had handed the phone to his father, but it didn't seem enough for her. He didn't want to argue when he was about to leave, so he accepted quickly. “Fine. Will do.”

The conversation continued for a bit before Min-Gi's luggage was ready and triple checked for any missing items. He wasn't leaving for long but he would hate to forget something on the way to or the way back.

He said his goodbyes to his parents, ended the call, grabbed his bags, closed his house and walked to his car.

He didn't use it often, which he was fine with as he prefered walking, but it was good to drive it around now and then.

And this trip is a perfect moment to do so.

Because of his house being so close to the beach and having no garage attached to it, Min-Gi had to park his car in town.

Town people waved at Min-Gi as he passed by, some commenting on the ice box he had in one hand. With a quick explanation of visiting a family member out of town, they wished him a good trip.

The fruit basket was already in the car in the passenger seat, having been bought an hour or two ago. He settled his luggage and the ice box in the trunk and when everything was closed and secure, he went to the driver seat and started the four hours drive to Vancouver.

The calm piano music playlist he had selected played over the sound system of the car, a background noise as he remembered his last encounter with Ryan.

After having selected and put down a date for his trip with his workplace, he had informed the merman the next day.

Lucas had not been there, something about being selected as part of the hunting group. Min-Gi had listened with rapt attention as Ryan did his best to explain that while mermaids could catch food alone, hunting groups were put in place to gather food for mermaids who couldn't hunt like elders and young children, sick or wounded ones, or some who were more skilled in other areas.

When Min-Gi had asked if Ryan had been in hunting groups before, the merman had made a face and grumbled about being selected sometimes. Min-Gi didn't push for more at the merman's obvious unhappiness at his question.

He had hoped changing the subject would help, but upon hearing about Min-Gi's leave the merman had frowned even harder.

He had perked a bit when learning about Min-Gi's idea of bringing the information he would collect at the organization to an actual merman, and fact checking the accuracy.

Ryan had looked disappointed that their meetings had to stop for a bit, which made Min-Gi feel both happy that he would be missed, and also guilty at being happy for such a reason and being the cause of the merman's sad expression.

Maybe he could bring back souvenirs to cheer him up?

But what?

And he would have to get something for Lucas too!

He had planned to bring back something to thank Old Man Jasper for selling him fresh fish, and he had more ideas of what he could gift the old man than what to gift the two mermen…

Ryan and Lucas seemed to be around his age but they both lived underwater so the souvenir would have to be able to handle water, and they had vastly different lives and upbringing than him!

The song that started playing was louder than the previous tracks, and made Min-Gi jump out of his thoughts.

He lowered the volume and an idea struck him.

Ryan had showed him some sort of musical instrument! He could find something related to music!

A pleased grin appeared on his face, his fingers tapped on the wheel with the upbeat tempo of the song as the young man got closer and closer to his destination.

Mi-young was his aunt on his father's side. She lived in Vancouver and had accepted to let Min-Gi stay at her place for a few days.

‘Accepted’ was maybe not the best word to use; when Min-Gi had contacted her about going to visit Vancouver, she had immediately offered him her guest bedroom before he could ask her about hotels he could stay at.

Despite being much shorter than Min-Gi, her energy made her presence impossible to miss.

“Min-Gi! You have become so handsome! Do you have a girlfriend or a boyfriend?!”

The young man let his aunt drag him in a tight hug, with a pained smile unrelated to said hug. “Thank you, 고모... No, nothing like that.”

His aunt had the perfect place to stay for Min-Gi. The building was near public transportation and had its own underground garage, Min-Gi didn't need to pay for parking, or stress about his car being vandalized or stolen.

He could deal with another round of questioning about his love life.

He also enjoyed her company! While she still questioned him about partners, she didn't take his lackluster answers to heart; easily moving to a different subject.

She had, indeed, been ecstatic about his gifts, but Min-Gi couldn't remember a time he had seen her unhappy to receive a present or souvenir.

She had proudly shown a little box with his name on it, where she kept all the little items he had given to her growing up - he had been a bit embarrassed to see little seashells and even a pasta necklace in it, but her genuine fondness over the memories made him appreciate them a bit more.

As they cleaned their plates after lunch, he remembered to call his mother.

He got comments on how he had called hours after arriving and not when he had arrived, but his mom understood he was at someone else's place and let him go faster than usual.

When he turned back, Mi-young had a smile that meant she knew what had happened, and was done washing the dishes. Min-Gi quickly went back to rinsing them. 

She started puttering around as he cleaned, telling him some information about his stay over.

“I still have to go to work, I hope you don't mind, but I will be there in the mornings so we can spend some time together.”

Min-Gi smiled fondly at how she had made sure to have free time for him, and that free time wasn't to be refused. It was fine by him. He wasn't staying long and…

“I had planned to only go out to see an exhibition so if you wanna do something, I wouldn't mind going with you in the mornings.”

That made Mi-young look interested as she handed him a post-lunch cup of tea.

“An exhibition? I thought you were here for work?”

“No? I'm taking a small break from work to see that exhibition.”

He raised a confused eyebrow while taking a sip of the cinnamon flavored beverage.

Mi-young hummed in thought, mouth against her own mug of tea, before shrugging. “Oh well. Your parents always comment on how much you work, it's good to take a break. What kind of exhibition is it?”

The thought of his parents saying he works too much made him hide his frowning lips behind his mug.

“It's about mermaids. About their culture and recent research on them.”

“Mermaids?!”

The exclamation had Min-Gi jump. His aunt was sporting a wide delighted smile. “You're still interested in mermaids?”

Feeling a bit flustered, he cleared his throat before answering. “I never really stopped being interested… I just got busy with my studies and then work. I randomly found this organization and thought it was a good opportunity to take a break from work and visit you as well.”

The older woman leaned back in her chair, expression pensive.

“I thought you lost interest when you got older. I guess I should have known better when you would make intricate plans on befriending one.”

Bad time to take another sip. Min-Gi coughed, trying to recover from the information. “I- I what ?!”

Mi-young at least wasn't laughing at his sputtering, but her surprised expression didn't help the embarrassed feeling in his chest. 

“You don't remember? You would make these big presentations with drawings, pictures and text about how we should act if mermaids came back, so we could be friends.”

That brought back a memory, but it wasn't matching perfectly.

“It was about helping and protecting mermaids so they don't go extinct… It wasn't… to make friends or whatever…”

His aunt made a soft, perplexed noise, but didn't look apologetic.

“I really thought it was to befriend a mermaid. You had that whole song too, it was very cute.”

Min-Gi's face still felt hot, but that last part had him intrigued. “A song?”

The older woman hummed as she drank more of her tea. “Yes. You said that mermaids sing to communicate so you had made a song to talk to them. I think you even said you had recorded yourself so you could play it on a boat one day. You were such an organized kid, it was so cute.”

A part of Min-Gi was touched by how much his aunt remembered of these mermaid presentations he would do as a kid. It wasn't fully accurate, but it soothed something in him to know someone had paid such close attention to what he said as a kid.

He cringed a bit at how obnoxious he must have been. Despite having been a calm and quiet kid, it seemed he always had these moments where he got way too into something and lived and breathed by said interest until he calmed down once more.

He listened to his aunt share more childhood stories, not related to his mermaid interest this time, as he turned an idea over in his head.

If he had indeed recorded the song, it would be at his parents' place. Hopefully, they hadn't thrown it away or recorded over it.

His aunt had to leave for work, he wished her a good day and went to unpack his luggage in the guest bedroom.

As he put his clothes away, he realised he didn't know if the recording was in audio form or in video form.

Mi-young's comment about him wanting to play it in a boat would mean it was an audio recording, but the woman had shown she didn't remember everything correctly and may even create a memory that hadn't happened, so it would be best to look for an audio and a video version to be sure.

It would mean not only going to his parents’ place but also scheduling another break… He didn't want to take too much time away from Ryan who had already been disa-

He paused his task. What was that thought?

It's true he didn't want the merman to wait longer but he had expected to worry more about work…

With an unsure shrug, he decided to just finish putting his luggage away and that he wanted to at least check the organization before it closed today.

After a quick metro trip and some walking, Min-Gi was standing in front of the building where the organization had settled. A sign outside informed him that his phone had given him the correct directions.

The organization was on the ground floor, another sign inside pointed to an open door. The old wooden floor creaking under his feet made the young man look down and away from the decorations and part of the exhibition that were visible from the entrance.

A bright voice made his head snap up.

“Hey! Welcome to our humble non-profit organization here to help you understand mermaids! First time?”

A young woman with silver dyed short hair, piercings on her lips and an amused look that seemed too close to a smirk was observing Min-Gi from behind the front desk.

“Uuuh… Yeah. Yeah actually, It's… my first time. Here.”

The woman leaned back and crossed her arms. “Yeeeah. I could tell, you had that look of ‘oh wow, I have stepped into a totally new world!’ on your face. Don't worry, Kez is here to guide you and help you with any questions you have. And also to make sure you pay the entry fee, to keep the place clean and all that.”

A quick glance at the badge on the woman's chest informed Min-Gi that ‘Kez’ was said woman.

“Well, I had planned to just check the place a bit before coming back tomor-”

“You still gotta pay the entry fee even if you ‘just wanna check around.’”

She didn't say it with a mean tone or expression, but her blunt reminder and cutting Min-Gi off made his left eye twitch.

“ Of course .”

His strained smile didn't seem to bother her as she happily thanked him for his support before handing him a large wooden coin with a mermaid engraved on it.

“You have to give it back when you leave, and it's made from bamboo. Eco friendly, baby. ” She informed him with a wink.

Min-Gi could appreciate the effort with helping the planet so he would ignore whatever flirting or selling tactic his guide has decided to pull on him.

“If it is not too much trouble, I would like to see a bit of the exhibit and have some questions answered?”

Kez was a few feet away already and stopped abruptly at the reminder.

“Oh yeah! Sure sure, it's my job after all!”

“Are there jobs around mermaids or teaching about mermaids?” He asked as she walked back to his side.

It wasn't part of his prepared list of questions but her phrasing had him curious.

“I guess you could work at a museum if you don't wanna work in a place like this.” She lifted both her arms to take all of the entrance the two were still standing in. “Otherwise, there's like studies around extinction or! You could be an educator on the Internet about merfolk stuff! With a degree in marine life or archeology maybe… Maybe both!”

Min-Gi hummed as he considered the information he was given. Mermaids were considered extinct so the field was more restricted.

He blinked.

“‘Merfolk'?”

His guide lighted up at the question, before frowning a bit.

“Oh yah. I always forget it is not common information buuuut… There has been new data showing that mermaids weren't an only-female species! Parthenogenesis would have been cool, of course, but science is about finding new information and updating previous knowledge so that's also super cool!”

By the end of her explanation, Kez was back to being excited. Min-Gi didn't really understand what had made her frown earlier, and he was also already aware of mermen so he gave his best surprised expression to the young woman.

“So ‘Mermaids’ is inaccurate and outdated. Should I use ‘Merfolk’ then?” 

She nodded energically. 

“Yes! You can also say ‘Merpeople’ too! It had been proven that Merfolk were our closest relatives! There's still debates around their classification, it took centuries to have them move to the Hominidae family! Can you believe it?! And now, it's about if they go to the sub-family Homininae or if they are their own sub-family! Look at this!”

Min-Gi must have seemed genuinely surprised because Kez was unstoppable. Pushed by a receptive audience, the young woman had started using terms Min-Gi had no idea what they meant, and had been pacing around before finally stopping and pointing at something on a wall.

The young man followed Kez’s finger to see an old piece of art in a frame. 

Upon closer inspection, the ‘art’ was actually a cladogram on yellowed paper.

“It is from, like, 1885! It has ‘cartilaginous fishes’, ‘bony fishes’ and ‘aquatic mammals’. And look over here! ‘Cartilaginous Mermaids ’ and ‘ Bony Mermaids' ! They mostly focused on the tail part, completely ignoring the human upper part, but yeah merfolk used to be over there.”

With each word she read off the old scientific work she pointed at it, and ended with a vague hand gesture toward the entire framed picture.

Min-Gi stood there as he absorbed what he just learned at a rapid pace. 

His eyes took in the now centuries old framed scientific work, slowly they moved to observe the many items around them, more arts and framed works were hung on walls, reproductions of a dolphin skeleton and a merperson skeleton hung on the ceiling as if swimming side by side.

All kinds of trinkets were under glass and some big enough to be left to the open air with warnings to not touch them. 

Old books were on shelves, some open on specific pages, a lot closed. 

A massive spear made of wood, seashells and coral with intricate designs along the handle, almost the same height as the room, stood in a corner.

All of these were related to merfolk.

“It's an impressive collection. How did you get so many of them?”

He almost didn't notice he was asking a question, too enraptured in the amount of items all linked to an old and renewed passion.

Kez, who had been silently looking around with Min-Gi, took a second before answering.

“Oh yeah thanks! It's a long passion project of the founder, she had been collecting, buying and even commissioning some of the reconstructions for years now. If you're lucky, you could see her tomorrow! She answers people's questions when she visits.”

Min-Gi liked that idea.

“What's her name?”

“Amelia Hughes.”

Chapter Text

Min-Gi had made dinner to thank his aunt for letting him stay over. He had chosen to cook the fish he had gifted her.

When she came back home, she quickly thanked and scolded Min-Gi for preparing dinner. He was a guest and should enjoy his stay. He didn't agree with it but chose to not share that opinion and just take the scolding calmly.

It wasn't as if she was harsh, it seemed more like she was pouting than actually angry.

The food made her fully forget why she had been upset. Min-Gi laughed under his breath at the older woman's enthusiasm at his dish.

“I'm going back to the exhibition tomorrow. The founder will probably visit too, I think it could be fun if we went together?”

He could go alone if his aunt didn't want to, also the founder maybe wouldn't be there but if that happened, Kez had enough energy to entertain two people.

Mi-young finished chewing, and swallowed before answering “I would love to! But it has to be in the morning.”

Min-Gi nodded.

“I remember. The association opens at 9am, the way there is pretty short and the place is easy to find. I didn't have any trouble navigating today.”

“Perfect! I could even have lunch with you if I can go to work easily from there!” 

Her beaming smile showed the wrinkles on each side of her mouth that had appeared from aging, but also from how often she smiled. “Show me on your phone where it is.”

He obliged her, letting her grab it, and went back to finish his plate as she mumbled about possible routes to go to work from the organization.

Dinner had ended with a nephew-aunt hangout scheduled and the two of them in their respective beds, both excited for the next day.

*

“Oh, this is so charming! It is in one of the older buildings in town!”

His aunt was admiring the entrance while Min-Gi let go of the door he had held open for her, her enthusiasm made Min-Gi more and more giddy to be able to share this moment with her.

“There's another sign over there. It's where the association is.” 

Mi-young followed his finger and didn't wait for him before walking to where he was pointing.

When he stepped in, Kez was already conversing with Mi-young.

“Yeah, most of the aesthetic hasn't been changed, only restored and renovated to be up to code. The floorboards creak like crazy, but the acoustics are awesome! You should scream over there, you will see what I'm talking about, or hear it haha!”

His aunt looked where the young woman was gesturing, and chuckled softly, “Thank you but not today. Do you often scream in here?”

“Oh, now and then. When there's no visitors, because it ‘makes them uncomfortable’ or something. Hey! I remember you from yesterday! Welcome back!”

Kez had noticed Min-Gi and seemed to be genuinely pleased to see him again.

She took note of Min-Gi walking to stand next to Mi-young, “You should have told me you were bringing your sister today! I would have worn my best outfit!”

Min-Gi raised an eyebrow, and Mi-young giggled, giving a playful dismissive wave at the younger woman.

“You're a charmer! I'm his aunt, he invited me to visit your museum for a little family outing.”

Kez responded with an exaggerated gasp, hands on her chest in ‘shock’.

“I really thought you were the same age! It is a pleasure to meet you, I'm lucky your nephew brought you with him in our humble association.” The energetic guide finished with a bow, as if she was facing royalty.

His aunt giggled some more, and Min-Gi was trying to decide if the woman was genuinely flirting with his aunt or it was all a marketing tactic.

Kez was the one to put the conversation back on the correct tracks, “So you're both here to see our exhibition? Well, it's usually what people come here for and I work here so let me get you your tickets.”

She handed them two bamboo coins, telling Mi-young the same explanations as yesterday: ‘Eco friendly’ and ‘Giving them back when they leave’.

His aunt made little noises and nodded at every other word from the guide while Min-Gi paid. Her interest spurred Kez to start the tour immediately, stepping from behind her desk to stand in the entrance like she did with Min-Gi previously.

“I don't know how much your nephew told you, but I will still do my introduction speech if you don't mind.”

“Oh, please do so. I would not want to disturb your work, even if I already knew what you're going to say. Which I don't.” Mi-young gently smiled at the younger woman.

‘I don't remember an introduction speech…’ Min-Gi thought but didn't voice, crossing his arms to comfortably watch their guide.

Kez cleared her throat and put her hands behind her back, standing straighter as if giving an official speech to the nation.

“Welcome to Understanding Mermaids, a non-profit organization working to teach the public about mermaids, their story and culture, and recent updates from the academic world. 

Every item you will see has been gathered and collected in an ethical manner, none are stolen from their rightful owners or lands. 

Some are gifts to help us teach the public, most have been sold to the founder and have been confirmed to not be stolen goods, a few are from the founder's familial heritage and most are reconstructions.

Part of our organisation's goals is to make sure stolen mermaid artifacts are brought back to their rightful owners and lands!”

‘There was definitely no introduction speech last time…’ Min-Gi frowned, but couldn't hide the pleased surprise he felt hearing this.

His aunt shared his appreciation for the work done by the organisation. 

“This is a wonderful thing to do! I had no idea you also did that!”

Min-Gi nodded in agreement.

Their guide chuckled awkwardly, “Well… it's Ms.Hughes who does that… She travels all around the globe, and will visit now and then to see how the organisation is doing. Ms.Hugues is the founder, by the way.”

Mi-young was kind enough to ignore their guide anxiously looking to the side from having to correct herself after such a grand speech.

“Min-Gi told me a bit about your founder, he said she may be here today.”

“Yah yah! It's possible she may have to cancel, it happened before, but if you're lucky you may be able to ask her stuff.” Kez bounced back, her previous energy was once again in her voice and movements but she still seemed a bit… slower than before.

Min-Gi tilted his head slightly as he observed their guide, but decided he probably was imagining things, he didn't know her after all, and followed after the two women.

Kez showed them what Min-Gi had already seen, and more. 

Kez would go into an energetic commentary every time, but would have to stop and explain some words to Mi-young.

The older woman didn't know what ‘subfamilies’, ‘Parthenogenesis’ or ‘Hominidae’ meant. With Min-Gi's help, who knew how to make the answer easier to understand for his aunt, their guide was able to show and explain a lot of the artefacts.

“I'm sorry for interrupting you so often, science was never my forte.” His aunt apologized at some point.

“No no! It's my job to be able to explain scientific terms to people! I understand they are not words used in everyday situations. Your nephew didn't ask about them yesterday, so I keep thinking you're the same…”

‘Don't put the blame on me?!’ Min-Gi glared at the younger woman from behind his aunt.

Mi-young was blissfully unaware of her nephew getting attacked, and smiled at their guide.

“You overestimate me. Mermaids have been a special interest of Min-Gi since he was a kid. I did my best to learn but mermaid science is still not part of my curriculum. Oh, I should say ‘Merpeople’ right?”

Kez smiled brightly and nodded. The lights of the room they were in, and coming from outside, reflected on the young woman's star shaped earrings making her look like she sparkled from joy.

“Yup exactly! Or ‘Merfolk’ if you prefer!”

Mi-young was about to speak again when a voice cut through the relaxed atmosphere.

“Miss Kez. I thought I had told you to refrain from confusing the visitors with pointless corrections.”

“AH! Ms.Hugues! I'm sorry! Of course I remember, hahaha ha!”

Kez had jumped at the cold voice of her higher up, and was fidgeting under the woman's unimpressed stare.

The woman had somehow gone unnoticed by the three of them despite her heels echoing as she slowly advanced toward their group. 

Her hair was a light brown, a shade saying it was getting close to grey, braided and resting on her shoulder.

She wore black plants with a belt of the same colour, and a grey turtleneck tucked in. While Min-Gi and Kez also wore monochrome clothes, this lady's outfit seemed to absorb some of the colours around.

No. Not her outfit. Her entire being brought the temperature of the room down a few notches.

She gave Kez a short hum, the meaning of it unknown to Min-Gi, and turned toward the two visitors.

“Hello. I'm Amelia Hughes, founder of this association. Please excuse my staff member, while her enthusiasm is greatly appreciated she tends to let her personal beliefs bleed in her work.”

She held her hand and Mi-young shook it. Both Park eyed Kez. The guide had made room for the newcomer, and was looking down at the ground with darkened cheeks. Her hands were not fidgeting anymore, but twitched now and then from where they were on each side of her body.

Aunt and nephew turned back to Ms.Hughes when she spoke once more.

“The term ‘mermaid’ has been used for centuries, and is a well known word to refer to them. While it is true that discussions about changing it are happening and that mermaids have been proven to not be an only female species, it is still a topic the scientific community is the least concerned about right now.”

The sound of people softly chattering was heard coming from the association's entrance.

“Miss Kez. Could you, please, go and welcome these visitors? And make sure to keep any personal opinions to yourself.”

Kez mumbled a quick “Yes, ma'am.” and rushed to her desk where a group of four was waiting.

“My apologies. While our staff are all trained and educated in their line of work, some of them tend to let their… passion take over professionalism.”

The founder squinted at Kez, as if trying to see from afar if the young lady was sharing more of her “personal beliefs”.

Min-Gi's aunt quickly shook her head at that. “No, no! Her passion is admirable! It is wonderful to have a guide with obvious love for her work. After all, my nephew here is also very interested in merpe- mermaids!”

She quickly grabbed him and dragged him to her side. ‘What is it today and people pushing me under the bus?!’ He thought hysterically as he gave an awkward chuckle to the strict woman in front of them.

Said woman raised an eyebrow at that.

“Really?”

Her tone hadn't been judging like she had been with Kez, but carefully curious instead.

Her aunt took that change of tone as a positive and continued, much to Min-Gi rising nervousness.

“Yes! Since he was a kid, he had been fascinated by mermaids! Talking about how to meet one and all! He's very smart, you know!”

Amelia hummed again, this time with interest. “Would you mind telling me more about ‘how to meet a mermaid’?”

Before Min-Gi could formulate any type of answer, her aunt had pushed him toward the organization's founder.

“I will go back with Miss Kez and let you two mermaid scientists talk, okay?”

It was said as a question, but it wasn't one. She had already jogged back to the group Kez was guiding and easily joined them.

Min-Gi could only stare at his backstabbing aunt, who he's sure did that with only pure intentions in mind.

“I didn't get your name, my apologies.”

The young man jolted back to his assigned conversation partner. He gulped, but answered anyway.

“Park Min-Gi. And my aunt is Park Mi-young. It's uh- It's a pleasure to meet you as well.”

They shook hands. Her grip held strength he would not have expected from her.

“Do you work in the field of mermaid studies?” Ms.Hugues asked, her gaze on him was sharp and analyzing.

The young man felt sweat building on the nape of his neck.

“A-Ah haha! I'm afraid not. I'm just a simple accountant with a renewed interest in mermaids!”

“Renewed?”

“I-”

What was he supposed to say…! 

“Well! You see! I started living on my own, and right by the sea! I take little walks everyday on the beach, and I just… think, you know? It reminded me of how much I was interested in mermaids as a kid and rekindled that passion! It's good to have a hobby besides work!”

He was panicking, slightly, but he wasn't lying.

He was fine. He would not put Ryan in danger.

Thankfully, her gaze lessened in intensity. She was still observing like she was able to read through him, but it was better.

“It's true…” She acknowledged, “I am an engineer myself. Mermaids have never been part of my studies, it came later in life when I was already done with college.”

The surprise at Amelia's confession muted his previous anxiety about her a bit more.

“Really? This is quite a passion project. From the amount of work done and you're still doing, I thought you were in the field yourself. Not that I'm thinking less of the work you put in this place!”

The older woman gave him a tiny smile he almost didn't notice. “No need to apologize. I understand that I put much more work in a ‘passion project’ than  most people would. I just tend… to give myself completely to what I work for.”

The last part had been said in almost a whisper, a soft longing accompanying the words.

They stayed silent for a second before Amelia, again, restarted the conversation.

“So really, I understand. I would love to hear about your own passion for these fascinating beings.”

Somehow, the tension from earlier had dissipated, making him wonder why he had been so afraid, and the young man ended up sharing his childhood dream of meeting a mermaid and how he had planned to do so. 

Amelia nodded along his story, and let him finish before commenting:

“While singing wasn't their only way of communication, the singing would have been the most effective for a wider range. There's also reports of mermaid singing having abilities that humans singing doesn't have. It is possible that if we managed to mimic their singing somehow, we could have communicated with them above water. So your idea of singing is a very good one, and to have been formulated as a child nonetheless is quite impressive.”

There was something that made himself stand tall and proud at seeing her not only listen to him intently, but also hearing her comment on how impressive it was for a kid to think of such ideas.

“You're overestimating me. I didn't know that their singing had any special properties, I believed that singing would be enough to make them come to me. Even without the fact they're extinct, it would have been something of a fairytale if it had worked.” 

His blushing didn't help with him trying to politely refuse Ms.Hughes compliments.

“Maybe it seems impossible but it is by questioning what is possible and what is not that research advances.”

She lifted her closed hand and held her index finger up.

“You learned that mermaids sang a lot, that it is how they communicated, and you asked yourself: ‘Could I establish contact with a mermaid by singing?’”

Her middle finger joined the first one.

“What you were doing is called ‘the scientific method’. A set of principles that for centuries, across many domains and fields of the academic world, has helped us find answers for our naturally curious minds, to better understand the Universe we live in.”

She opened her hand fully, all of her fingers stretched out.

“There is more to do before a conclusion can be put down. The procedure will vary depending of the field of research, and is flexible in what needs to be done but it is still a method that has led us to incredible discoveries.”

The smirk she gave him made his heart beat faster in anticipation.

“And you could be the one to show us our next great discovery, Mr.Park.”

*

The other group joined them soon after, and Ms.Hughes took over as a guide. Min-Gi spent the rest of the morning busy asking questions and taking notes of the tour.

His aunt seemed to have befriended the group of four, and joked along with them about being part of the ‘uncultured’ as Min-Gi and Ms.Hughes discussed the different pieces of the exhibition.

The teasing made the young man blush, but he was enjoying himself too much to truly care. 

As the visit ended he reviewed the large amount of notes and doodles he took, thinking of Ryan's possible reactions and comments about them.

“My. I was flattered to see you take so many notes, but now I see that smile I believe you're planning to share them with someone?”

Ms.Hughes had again gone unnoticed and was standing a bit behind him, gazing at the notebook’s page he had stopped at.

“Ah! I'm sorry I didn't see you there! And uhm… Yes. I want to show them to someone, that's part of the reason I wanted to see your collection.”

“Another fan of mermaids?”

“You could say that, yes…” Min-Gi chuckled awkwardly.

Ms.Hughes looked up at him with a slight frown.

“They couldn't join us today?”

“They… couldn't travel with me. Sadly.” His eyes darted to a random piece of the exhibition, unable to look her in the eye in fear of what she would see in them.

There was a short pause before a gasp came from the older woman.

“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed. I hope this person can enjoy the exhibition despite having been unable to join.”

A small touch on his hand made him stare at it before lifting his eyes to hers.

A small but kind smile was on her lips, her expression soft and understanding.

“I have been planning on doing a virtual tour on our website for some time now. I'm staying in the city for a few days as a break from all the traveling I do. It would be a mistake to not take this opportunity offered to me, and have more people be able to see how wonderful mermaids are with their own eyes.”

Her words connected in Min-Gi's head and he nodded, first slowly but quickly gaining in speed.

“Yes! This would be great!”

He was saying the truth that a virtual visit was a good idea, but he was also relieved she had given him an excuse on a silver plate.

Amelia gave him another small smile, and reached for his notepad. At the question in his eyes, she explained, “I would like to discuss more about mermaids with you if you wouldn't mind. It has been a long time since I met someone sharing a similar passion, and a young bright mind like yours would offer me a new point of view on the topic, I believe.”

That's how he ended up gaining the email and personal phone number of the founder. She had warned him she may not answer as she can get suddenly busy, and timezones can slow down a conversation.

He had given his own contact information back, and told her that he also could get busy with work.

The two family members were now sitting at a small cafe not far from the metro station, enjoying the nice weather and lunch before Mi-young had to go to work.

As they were cleaning their table, she grabbed her phone and quickly opened it.

“That young lady, Kez, left when her boss took over but I managed to get her number before she did so!”

He hadn't noticed Kez leaving. He felt a bit guilty at not having realised even when they had given the wooden coins back to Ms.Hughes.

“That's great.” He said, genuinely happy she was making new friends.

“Give me your phone.”

“...What?”

“Give me your phone so I can enter her number. I think you two would have a great time talking some more! She's around your age, full of energy and loves mermaids like you! It would be good for you to have someone like that around!”

Min-Gi could feel his energy being drained the more his aunt talked.

“It's fine… You really don't have to-”

“It doesn't have to be romantic! You two can be just friends! No worries!”

It is why he accepted Kez’s phone number. At least his aunt wasn't forcing marriage candidates on him, but it still was very embarrassing to have someone older try to ‘help’ him with his social life.

He waved his aunt goodbye and wished her a good afternoon at work.

Now alone, he stood there for a few seconds before turning around and going back to where he saw a store that had caught his eye.

Gift shopping would be a good way to spend his afternoon in town.