The Mermaid Scale

Hoseok walked down the beach, leaving a trail of sand and pebbles behind him. The gulls flew overhead, their calls echoing in his ear, but they couldn't drown out the crashing waves of the ocean.

He despised the ocean.

The water engulfing him and battering his body, making it impossible to see what was up or down, reminded him of a memory he wanted to forget.

He shook his head, attempting to push those dark memories away. He knew it was a ridiculous idea, being the son of the local lord who was terrified of the sea. The ocean could be seen from most of the windows in their manor. The Jung family was well-known for their seafaring abilities, and it was said that they had one foot in the sea and one foot on land. Everyone else in the family except him.

Hoseok was only walking on the beach because his brother, Jihoon, had returned from his latest sea voyage. Hoseok had no fond memories of the man who had tormented him throughout his childhood and early adolescence, and he avoided any interaction with Jihoon when he was at home whenever possible. Ironically, the private beach was the ideal place for Hoseok to hide because it would be the last place anyone looked for him.

He was musing when he heard a loud splash in front of him and noticed a figure half in the water. The figure's movements were frantic and panicked, splashing up water.

Odd.

He approached, and the closer he got, the more details he could make out of the figure. He quickly realized it was a girl. Her hair was purple and cascaded down her back. Surprisingly, she did not dress to conceal herself, but despite Hoseok's usual urge to stare, he had more pressing concerns. In the sunlight, the girl's skin shimmered unnaturally, almost rainbow-like. Her lower half was a tail, just below her stomach. A long dark purple tail glistened in fish scales and ended in a broad fin.

He'd heard the stories. Of half-human, half-fish beings who lived in the sea. Some were said to have the ability to summon sailors to their deaths, while others claimed that eating their flesh made a person immortal.

A mermaid.

On his family's private beach, there was a mermaid with a fishnet wrapped tightly around her tail.

Her blue eyes widened as she looked in his direction.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly, showing her his palms as he drew closer to her. From this close, he could see that her blue eyes were not a solid colour, but rather a rainbow of hues. The smell of brine and the sea seemed to emanate from her, almost overwhelming him as he kneeled next to her.

He noticed how, aside from the shimmer, her hands could be mistaken for human, her fingers long and delicate, but her nails looked sharp. She could easily gouge out his eye if he wasn't careful. He looked down at the net and saw her tail was severely tangled through it, some of it so tightly that it was digging into her, causing blue blood to leak from those areas.

"You got yourself really tangled up there. I'm going to have to cut you out." He kept his voice soft and low, but he wasn't sure if she understood what he was saying.

She looked at him with wide eyes, then down at her tail, then back up at him.

Hoseok moved slowly and deliberately as he reached into his pocket and took out his pocketknife. The mermaid stiffened as he drew the blade.

"It's all right," he said quickly. "All I have to do now is cut the net. I won't be able to do it with my bare hands." He motioned with his hand to the net and then to the knife in his hand.