"donghyuck! move your lazy ass!" renjun yelled at his best friend who was once again procrastinating.

"leave. me. alone."

"you need to go! think of it like that, the quicker you go, the quicker you're back." renjun tried to cheer him up.

"i don't want to go. so, i won't go."

"every boy has to. if you don't, they'll come and force you."

"i don't care." donghyuck grumbled in response.

donghyuck had, as every young merman, to go to the surface for a whole month.

it was a rule that had been settled centuries ago, when people from the surface had stolen the trident, symbol of royalty for mermaids. since then, every male mermaid teenager had to leave the sea and to spend one month above the surface to look for the trident. nobody had actually found it.

the merman who would find the trident and bring it back underwater would be crowned king and have all powers. this person will be the master of the sea.

a lot of people had tried bringing a fake trident, to become the king, but these people had always been punished for this act. the real trident was special. very tall, golden, shining bright when it is near a mermaid and giving to its owner all powers.

every merman wanted to go to the surface and search it. deep inside, everybody wants to be a king and rule a whole world. but it wasn't donghyuck's case.

donghyuck despised the surface and the people living there. he had no intentions of going there, nor finding this trident to become the king. he would rather stay under the sea with his best friend, having fun and not caring about the surface.

"donghyuck, you need to go. i swear it's not as horrible as you think." renjun sighed.

he had gotten one month above the surface already. he went to south africa, next to the cape of good hope. he had searched for the trident and had gotten back after a whole month because he hadn't found it, but his stay hadn't been bad. he could be used to having legs instead of his beautiful green tail. it was quite pleasant.

"but i don't want to meet those monsters on legs. they're horrible. i hate them."

"donghyuck, you don't need to be with them. i spend my whole month alone, rarely speaking to them. it's not a big deal. just go. you'll be back in 30 days."

donghyuck pouted even more. "i'm starting to hate you as well."

"lee donghyuck, your mission for a whole month will be to find the stolen trident. are you willing to abandon your tail for 30 days in order to help your own people find the symbol of royalty?"

"yes i am." donghyuck sighed barely glancing at the pastel blue-haired mermaid.

this merman was the one in charge of sending young mermen above the surface. her name was riley. she was the only link between above and under the surface. since the trident's robbery, she had been the only mermaid able to send young mermen above the surface. every trip to the surface was her doing. she had a perfect knowledge of the human world, and at the same time, a very important role in the underwater world. she was the one who decided whether you'll be back or not. that's why you should respect every single thing she said.

"great. you'll arrive above the surface thanks to a storm. there, you will have the ability to have legs. however, each time your body will touch any kind of liquid, you'll transform back into your mermaid form. to become human once again, you'll just have to dry your body." riley explained as donghyuck nodded. "you need to be back here after 30 days to make your report, and, if you found it, bring the trident back. if you don't come back on your 30thday, the passage from above to under the surface will be blocked, meaning you'll be stuck up there for the rest of your life. the same thing happens if you come down here before the 30thwithout the trident." donghyuck nodded once again. if he had to stay there 30 days, he was sure he won't want to stay there one hour more...

"finally, there's only one rule that you should respect, no matter what: the humans can't know we exist, and if i get to know that you were discovered by them, you'll be banished from this world and condemned to live with them forever. have you got any questions?" she ended her speech with a bright smile.

donghyuck shook his head, gulping at her last words, and then looked towards renjun who was smiling.

"then, enjoy your ride. and don't forget your main goal. the underwater world counts on you." she added opening what seemed like an underwater vortex with a hand movement.

donghyuck gave a last glance to renjun who swam towards him to engulf him in a hug.

"don't forget me." he said, passing a necklace on which was tied a shell. "i put a photo of both of us in it so that you won't feel too lonely."

donghyuck smiled. "thank you so much. i'll miss you."

"i'll miss you too. don't forget to send me a flying fish when you get there!" renjun said before donghyuck took a deep breath and stepped inside the bubble vortex, blacking out instantly.

ψ

"after the occurrence of the huge storm yesterday night, people living on the western coast of south korea were invited to stay home and be sure to lock any door or window to prevent water from flooding in. we are happy to announce the storm has ended and that the activities can restart normally. mother nature always manages to surprise us! thank you for- "

the tv that was playing the news channel was switched off by lee yongsu who couldn't bear the stupid voice of the journalist anymore.

"thank god this thing came to an end." he sighed, staging up from his comfortable armchair. "mark! come down!" he yelled in direction of the staircase.

"what is it?" mark asked going down the stairs.

"my friends are coming this afternoon, i need to clean the house a bit. can you clean the pool for me?"

mark nodded. he hadn't anything else to do after all.

the boy lived with his uncle, lee yongsu, in a villa in incheon. they had, a two-floor house with a pool in their backyard 10 minutes away from the beach. mark didn't really care, he wasn't that interested in water or swimming, but for his uncle it was necessary.

yongsu is a mermaid chaser. him and his group of friends are persuaded they saw mermaids in the sea, and since this day, they have been trying to find ways to study them. that's why being close to the sea was necessary for him. he needed to find one. why? he hadn't really told mark, but judging by the way he talked about it, it should be nothing good. everybody thought of yongso as a mad man. everybody knew mermaids didn't exist, and mark as well. however, mark didn't really care about what his uncle was doing. even if he thought it was ridiculous, the man had a goal in his live, and this was something important. mark hadn't found a goal to achieve yet.

mark let out a heavy sigh when he arrived in front of the pool. "i had almost forgotten about this storm..." it was full of leaves and branches to the point you couldn't even see the bottom of the pool. he passed a hand in his jet-black hair before taking the huge landing net and plunging it in the middle of the pool.

he had taken out a good amount of leaves out of the pool when something laying at the bottom of the pool caught his eye.

mark crouched on the edge of the pool to identify what was under the water. from his point of view, it looked like a big red fish.

mark pushed the remaining leaves away to see the whole fish, and what he saw made him drop the object he had in his hand and almost fall in the pool.

if the thing looked like a fish from a point of view, now mark could clearly see that it was a young boy.

"what the hell...?"