Your thoughts were swirling around in your head like a whirlpool of frustration as you swam under the dozens of first time surfers.
You were being reckless, swimming so close to shore, but you didn't pay any attention since you were too overwhelmed with everything else.
You almost didn't see the hotel surf instructor, his body floating limp in the water, being pulled away from shore by a rip tide.
Your eyes snapped to fix on the man, instinct overtaking you like it had done with Taehyung. You darted over to him, your tail pushing you forward faster and faster until you had reached him.
You hooked your arm around his body and pulled him with you, swimming as fast as you could towards a part of the shore you thought would be the safest.
You pushed him up onto the sand in front of you, quickly jumping into action.
Within seconds of you starting CPR the man had spit out a mouthful of water, gasping to get his breath back. You quickly started backing into the sea, turning around and diving under the tide as fast as you could manage.
The adrenaline was still coursing through your veins, you instinctively started swimming home instead of to the shop. Deciding to call in sick instead of trying to explain to your boss why you looked so shell-shocked after a simple delivery.
Once you had reached your home you had typed a quick message to her, telling her you were too sick to come back in today, before collapsing into the sofa and promptly passing out.
You awoke sometime later, opening your eyes to complete darkness. You sat up and felt around the couch area, looking for your bag. Once you found it you pulled out your phone and switched it on.
12 missed messages
4 missed calls
Most of the messages were from Jimin, a couple from your mother asking how you were. None of them from your souvenir shop boss, which didn't surprise you since the woman barely knew how to use a phone.
But there was one from an unknown number, you tapped the screen to open the message.
[11:27] Y/N? It's Namjoon, I got your number from Jimin. I was wondering if you knew what was up with Taehyung? He's been upset since he came back to the room after he went out to talk to you. Thanks.
You let out a sigh, the memories of earlier today flooding back to you like a tidal wave.
You felt guilty. You didn't want him to feel hurt but you couldn't let him get too close to your secret either.
As you were replying to the other messages something suddenly hit you.
You gasped, letting your phone fall into your lap.
That man I saved, I didn't feel anything. I didn't feel a connection.
What could that mean? How come you connected with Taehyung and not the surfer?
At this point you had all but forgotten about the pit-in-your-stomach feelings you kept getting at the presence and absence of Taehyung. Mostly because the other emotions you were feeling were distracting you. But there was no denying the fact it was there.
You leaned back onto the couch, pushing your phone off your lap and bringing your legs up so your arms could wrap around your knees.
You stayed like that for the next hour, when the sun started to rise. The orange rays of the sun pouring into the living room and forcing you out of your half sleepy half confused trance.
You stood up and walked over to the kitchen, phone in hand, to make a cup of coffee. You turned on the machine and went upstairs to get ready.
-----------
Once you arrived at the souvenir shop and got set up for the day, Soon-ja came out of the staff room.
Silent at first, she walked straight past you to the shelf of brochures, fiddling with them and rearranging them.
You watched her without a word, a little tense from her coldness. You've never known her to not greet you when you got into work. She was a feisty woman but she values respect and manners.
Just as you were about to say something, the chimes on the door rang loudly, it was the daily delivery of newspapers.
"Good morning Ajumma!" said the young teen cheerfully, as he stacked the newspapers neatly on their designated table, "Beautiful day today isn't it!"
Soon-ja looked up from where she was still messing around with the brochures.
"Why yes it is Sung-min," she said brightly, "what's the news today? Anything good?"
Wonder where that smile was when I came in, you thought. Annoyed at her sudden cheerfulness.
"Actually yeah! Yesterday, over at the Grand Oceanic Hotel, there was a mermaid spotted!", he said, excitement practically pouring out of him, "How exciting is that!"
You eyes nearly fell out of your head.
A mermaid?
"Is that so" Soon-ja said calmly, walking over to grab one of the newspapers off the stand, "lets have a look."
You watched them from where you stood behind the counter, heart pounding out of your chest.
Did someone see me after I saved that surf instructor yesterday? I don't remember seeing any one nearby..... but then again I didn't look. Damn it, I should have looked. What if they have a picture of my face? What if my secret gets out and I get locked up in a science testing facility being experimented on for the rest of my life?!
You mind was clouded with thoughts, the longer you watched them peering down at the paper, the more your heart threatened to beat straight out of your chest.
"The picture looks fake," Soon-ja said suddenly, "don't believe everything you hear Sung-min"
And with that she rolled up the paper and walked back towards the staff room.
After Sung-min had left, you breathed a sigh of relief. Being thankful for the bit of alone time you were getting to process this.
You were about to walk over to check out the newspaper for yourself when you felt something hard crack down on your head.
"OW WHAT THE HELL" you yelled out in pain, looking around to see what had hit you.
Soon-ja was standing behind you, rolled up newspaper in hand, arm raised like she was about to hit you again.
Her arm snatched back and you winced away from the incoming blow.
"Why are you hitting me!?" you yelled quickly, crouching down and bringing up your hands in defense.
She threw the newspaper at you, and didn't even flinch when it fell apart and made a mess of the floor.
"You know damn well what you did Y/N," she shouted at you, pointing to the newspaper scattered on the floor, "how could you be so reckless!"
You stared at her in shock. What the hell is she talking about?
"I don't understand Ajumma," you started, trying to calm her down, "I didn't do anything!"
"Oh really?" she asked sarcastically, bending down to pick up a piece of the newspaper off the floor, "tell me this isn't your tail in full view in this photograph!"
She was pointing directly to a picture, pushing it almost right into your face.
There was a man in it, sitting on the beach clutching his chest, who you recognized as the surf instructor you saved yesterday. Sure enough, in the background of the image, your blue and green opal colored tail was clearly visible flipping into the ocean.
You could have sworn your heart stopped in your chest then.
"T-that's a fish Ajumma," you started, tripping over your words, "I have legs, I don't have a tail, see!"
You motioned down at your legs as proof, trying to gain control of the situation.
"I've said it before Y/N and I'll say it again, don't you dare lie to me." she narrowed her eyes at you accusingly, "I am not some senile old woman. There's a reason I took you in without question when you walked into my shop looking for a job that day."
You didn't say a word, you just stared at her, eyes wide with shock.
"I can't believe you would be so reckless!," she yelled, throwing her arms in the air in defeat, "Don't you understand what you've done Y/N? You've not only put yourself at risk, but our whole species as well!"
She brought her hands to her head, rubbing her temples in frustration.
"Our species?" you asked, barely above a whisper.
She looked up at you, eyes like daggers that showed just how angry she really was.
"Don't play dumb," she spat at you, "I've known you were a mermaid since the second you arrived on this island."
Your jaw dropped, mouth hanging open and gawking at Soon-ja. Not a single syllable of a word able to form.
"You really don't think much of me do you Y/N," she sighed, "I was a mermaid once too you know."
Once?
You shook your head back and forth, trying to regain some control of your mind.
You spoke but the words came out shaky, "H-how did you know?" you asked.
"Old merfolk like me have the sense, the intuition, when one of our kind are nearby." she started, her voice calming slightly as she started her story, "I used to get it every once in a while when I was down by the beach or up at the hotel, but never long-term. Not like it was when you moved to the island."
She had started walking into her office, motioning you to follow her as she stepped inside. You went in and slumped down into the chair opposite her desk, eyeing her as she hobbled around to sit in the office chair.
"I've been keeping an eye on you, making sure you weren't getting into any trouble." She leaned back her chair and looked up at the ceiling, "I took you in as my own hoping that I could subtly guide you in the right direction. But it seems my efforts were in vain."
You thought back to all the times she would give you strange advice while you were working in the shop. Saying things like "The tide will be high tonight so don't go down to the beach" and "The beach is extra busy today so don't go for a swim". Back then it just seemed like protective old woman advice but now.... now it makes sense. She was warning you.
"I-I'm sorry.... I didn't realize" you said, clasping your hands in your lap.
"Of course you didn't, you're newly turned" she paused, thinking for a moment, "About two years if my senses aren't failing me."
Your eyes shot up to her, How the hell does she know that?
"I can sense many things Y/N, the older you get the more you'll understand." she said matter-of-factly, opening a drawer and picking up a notebook.
"When you've earned my trust back I'll let you read this," she said, holding the book up for you to see, "It'll tell you everything I know about mermaids. Our origin and our abilities."
She put the book back into the drawer and closed it.
"Lets just hope your little mistake didn't ruin our species' chances at survival, since everyone on this damn island is going to be searching for the Jeju mermaid now"
"What was I suppose to do Ajumma?!" you shouted, getting offended by how much blame she was placing on you, "He was drowning! Was I suppose to let him die!?"
Your sat up straighter, waiting for her reply.
"Now I didn't say th-"
"You might as well have!" You threw up your arms and leaned back into the chair in frustration, "What did you want me to do Ajumma? Please, tell me. Because I've been alone in this for two years thinking there was no one else like me in the world."
Your words seem to change the emotion in Soon-ja, as she went from angry to guilt-ridden in seconds.
"You don't know anyone else?" she said quietly, studying your face.
"No, I don't know anyone else." you sighed, brushing your hair back from your face, "I turned in a cave under the moon two years ago and that's the extent of my knowledge. Everything else I learned by myself, trial and error."
The woman hummed as a response, seemingly lost in thought about what you had confessed to her.
"I'm sorry Y/N," she said after a few moments of silence,"I'm sorry you've been alone in this. But you have me now and you need to listen to me."
You nodded, waiting for her to continue.
"You need to stay away from the ocean for a while, do you understand me?" she said sternly, locking your gaze, "People will be out looking for you and you can't let them get another picture."
She stood up, stalking over to her glass case of artifacts that were most likely found on the sea floor.
"It will be difficult, every fiber of your being will be telling you to go for a swim but you can't. You need to wait until the craziness dies down."
She bent down to the bottom shelf, moving some shells aside to pull out a bottle of what looked like plain old water.
"If you feel like you can't go on you can put a few drops of this into a bath to calm you down, its water from the original moon pool."
"Original moon pool?" you asked curiously, taking the bottle from her hands when she offered it.
"I'll tell you about that another day, for now just do as I say." she closed the glass cabinet and walked towards the door of the staff room, standing in front of it.
"And one more thing," she started, narrowing her eyes again, "Whatever you do, do NOT tell your secret to that boy."
You scoffed, "What boy, Ajumma"
She shook her head in exasperation, "Underestimating me again I see."
She motioned for you to leave her office, so you complied and made your way over.
"I mean it Y/N, do not let him find out."
You nodded and walked past her, out into the shop.
"You can head home, I think you have a lot to think about and today will be a slow day." she started to close the door but hesitated, "But don't you go thinking that this will be a regular occurrence."
And with that she slammed the door on you, making you laugh.
"Thanks Ajumma!" you shouted, picking up your bag and heading out the door.
You came back to the house to get ready for the festival, slightly shaken up but feeling slightly relieved at finally knowing another mermaid.
I have so many questions I want to ask her, you thought to yourself as you walked over to your closet. You had chosen a breezy dusty pink dress that fell off your shoulders, held up by thin straps.
After a quick hair wash (avoiding putting your legs in the shower as per usual), you went with simple makeup and beach curls to finish off the look.
You weren't really excited about the festival tonight, seeing as you were bound to run into Taehyung. After the encounter you had yesterday you doubt it will be a pleasant one.
You grabbed a small bag from the closet and made your way out to get into the black car waiting outside.
Jimin had arranged a ride for you today. While you were texting back and forth today he had discovered the amount of money you've had to spend on taxis in the last few days and he felt guilty. You had insisted on just taking your bike but he wouldn't take no for an answer.
The ride to the hotel was actually pretty relaxing, the leather seats inside the car were incredibly comfortable and the driver had opened the sunroof so that the cool island breeze could come in. You were almost sad when you had arrived at the hotel, but after catching a glimpse of Jimin jumping up and down and waving in your direction, you had changed your mind.
You climbed out of the car and stepped almost directly into Jimin, who was getting way too close with his crazy puppy energy.
You smiled at him, reaching out to ruffle his hair, an action that seemed to annoy him slightly.
"Come on Y/N!" Jimin said, grabbing your wrist and dragging you towards the hotel, "We reserved a cabana and all the guys are already there!"
As you stepped into the lobby Jimin paused to greet some fans that were in the waiting area near the desk.
You glanced around, pacing in front of the hotel desk when you overheard tourists passing by.
"Did you see the newspaper this morning?" a short dark haired woman asked, excitement clear in her voice.
"About the mermaid sighting yesterday? Yeah I did!" said another woman, who seemed like the other one's friend, "The hotel is holding a contest for anyone that can get another picture of the Jeju mermaid!"
Your heart stopped in your chest.
You were hoping people would just think its fake, and now you hear Ursula has gone and started a damn contest over it.
"I'm going to rent a boat tomorrow to go searching for it!" another tourist exclaimed, approaching the other two.
You couldn't believe your ears, you walked away from the chatting tourists towards the stack of newspapers on top of the front desk. Grabbing one off the top and flipping through it until you came to an article about the hotel, wanting to see the picture, since you didn't get a proper look at it before.
Just then footsteps approached behind you, "Hey Y/N, ready to go?"
Jimin's voice startling you slightly as you quickly threw the newspaper back onto the desk.
Jimin noticed you put it down, making him reach around you to pick it back up.
"Oh neat," he said, though sounding uninterested, "looks like a weird colored dolphin to me. People will believe anything these days."
He put the newspaper back where you had left it, "Best not tell Tae, don't need him getting worked up again" Jimin joked, nudging you playfully before grabbing your wrist again.
You followed Jimin closely all the way to the beach. The music was loud and there were tiki torches nearly everywhere. The bar had a line up almost down to the water and the make-shift dance floor around the bonfire was packed with people dancing and having fun.
You couldn't help but start to feel a little excited by the scene surrounding you, almost making you forget about the article.
Jimin pulled you over to the area where the cabanas were, spotting the one he had reserved and breaking into a jog towards it. You struggled to catch up, giggling slightly at his constant over-enthusiasm.
You sat down on the edge of the cabana's over-sized lounge mattress, taking the spot next to Hoseok, who beamed at you with his signature sunshine smile.
"Y/N! You came!" he said brightly, "Here, I got a drink ready for you!"
As Hoseok passed you the open glass you instinctively jerked away from it, the condensation that was dripping off the bottom getting dangerously close to your legs.
He stared at you in confusion, furrowing his brows, "Do you not drink alcohol?"
You pulled one of the pillows piled in the middle of the boys onto your lap and quickly took the drink, missing the way Taehyung had been studying your every move.
"I drink!" you said, smiling at him and taking a long sip of the beverage.
Long Island Iced Tea.
Are these boys trying to get me drunk? Or do they not know how much alcohol is in these cocktails?
An hour passed by quickly, you and the boys were drinking and chatting. Making all your worries dissipate.
They told you about their meeting and about the new episode of BTS Run they filmed today while they were zip-lining.
You were told that Jin was too scared to go on because he had overheard another tourist talk about how the ropes aren't strong. Apparently it took an hour of convincing and a long group hug to get him to go on the zip line.
You laughed at the stories they told, enjoying every minute you were around them. It was so refreshing to have the boys, you didn't want to think about when they would inevitably have to leave and return to Seoul.
Just as you had started a drinking game with them, a cold hand slapped down onto your shoulder.
You turned around to see Ursula glaring down at you before turning her head to the boys and plastering her face with a huge fake smile.
"Hello boys, are we enjoying the festival this evening?" she asked, her voice going up a few octaves higher than it usually is.
They all nodded and smiled at her.
"I see one of my staff is keeping you company, I hope she's treating you well and getting you everything you need"
Your cheeks burned, and you looked down. Of course she would humiliate you like this.
"Actually, Y/N is our friend!" came the cheerful voice of Jimin, and you heard the others make sounds of agreement.
As you looked up at the boys you felt nails dig into your shoulder, making you wince in pain.
"Is that so." she said, venom clear in her voice, "Well boys, I'm sorry to interrupt but I will need to take Y/N away from you for a bit."
She patted your shoulder, making you turn around to meet her gaze, but she was still smiling at the boys.
"I need her to cover the bar-tending shift for a while, so if you'll excuse her"
She grabbed your wrist then, ignoring the protests from the boys and dragged you away from the cabana.
You had almost reached the bar when she stopped and turned around to face you, leaning in so her mouth was next to your ear.
"If I ever see you with those boys again you can say goodbye to your house and your job," she hissed, "Are we clear?"
You swallowed the lump in your throat, you knew that you needed her help to survive here. There was no way you could afford another house and there was definitely no way you could find another job. Ursula ran this part of the island, the extra work you did for her and the discount on your house being the only way you could afford to be here.
Her grip on your wrist tightened and she yanked you closer to her, "I said are we clear Y/N." The words coming out with more venom than you could have ever thought possible.
"Yes Mam." you replied, a tear falling down your cheek.
She threw your wrist out of her grasp and walked off into the festival.
Bitch.
You wiped your eyes with the back of your hand before making your way behind the bar.