ATEEZ Imagines

Seonghwa ✦ Seashells By The Seashore | Merman AU

Published: September 9, 2020
Rewritten: May 20, 2023

Word count: 4,014

DO NOT read or interact if you're under 14

You found yourself swimming in the ocean, unsure of how you had gotten there. You could breathe just fine and see clearly, no foggy film obscuring your vision. It was strange. You weren't freaking out. In fact, you felt so at peace, swimming languidly through the water without a care or worry in the world. With your eyes focused on what was front of you, you took notice of a small, dark blur in the distance. The closer it got, the more you started to notice a shape—it was a man. He had dark hair that flowed with the current as he swam through the deep cerulean water. A large tail flicked back and forth behind him, pushing him forward.
You blinked a few times as he got closer, stopping just a couple feet away. He stared at you, tilting his head to the side as he watched you, observing you.
"Who are you?" You asked, voice coming out clearly despite being underwater.
He only smiled, not giving an answer.
You watched as he reached his hand out, bringing it up to your face. His fingertips gently caressed your cheek, tracing down your jawline sending a shockwave through your body.

You shot up in bed breathing heavily, the all-too-familiar dream still on your mind. You'd had the same recurring dream every night for a week straight. The same merman. The same ocean. The same question.

Who are you?

Pushing yourself out of bed you pulled your sketchbook out, a rough draft scribbled on the paper from a previous attempt at drawing the mysterious merman. You took a seat at the desk and started sketching more detailed features you recalled from the dream. You remembered his eyes and sharp brows perfectly as if looking at a reference photo. Everything else, however, was a little blurry and more difficult to remember. Nevertheless, you roughly sketched his nose, lips, and other features, changing it a few times until you felt it looked like him, or as close as possible. Maybe tomorrow night you'd be able to make some alterations and finish it accurately.
You pushed yourself out of your desk chair and laid back down in bed, giving a brief glance at the digital clock on the nightstand. 5:27 AM.
Pulling the covers up over yourself, you closed your eyes, hoping to return to your dream. The fleeting glimpse you got of the man every night seemed to fade away the longer you were awake, so you thought it best to get back to sleep as quickly as possible.

To your disappointment, you never returned to that dream. The remainder of your night was filled with dreams completely unrelated to the man in your sketchbook.
You stared at your ceiling letting out a sigh, frustrated that you couldn't get one, last look at the mystery merman. Why did you even keep having this dream? Does it mean something? The curiosity was gnawing at you, plaguing your mind.
Am I supposed to find him or something? You wondered.
Actually laughing out loud, you shook your head, amused at the absurdity of the thought. There's no way you were going into the ocean to find a man who probably—no, scratch that—definitely, doesn't exist.