mark panicked when the information got up to his brain.

a young boy was laying at the bottom of his pool, surely dead by the amount of time he had been there.

mark didn't hesitate a second, he took his shirt off, leaving him only in his swimming trunks, and dived in the pool. the water was pleasantly warm, it was summer after all, but mark didn't really care; the water could be freezing, he would have still gotten in to save the boy under the water.

mark passed an arm under the boy's figure and lifted him to the surface.

he took him out of the water with difficulty and freaked out at what he was seeing.

his face looked like a normal boy's, there was no doubt about it, but when his eyes got down, to look at his whole body, he widened his eyes when he noticed his waist was full of little red scales. looking at his legs, mark almost fainted when he realised that they were replaced by a red scaly fish tail.

mark hesitantly put his hand on the tail, touching the rough material. this simple action made the strange boy wake up and sit.

mark looked at the boy's face, meeting two golden orbs.

"hum... hello?" mark said hesitantly.

the boy let out a loud piercing shriek before jumping back in the water and swimming fast in the pool. he hit his head on the pool's walls many times before going to a corner of the pool and curling, eyes on mark who was still out of the basin.

"d-don't be scared." mark spoke gently, not sure if the thing inside the pool could hear him. "i won't hurt you." mark added, sitting on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water. he was a bit scared. the other seemed scared as well, but that was nothing compared to mark. the canadian knew that the best way to reassure somebody was to act friendly and comprehensive. that's what he was trying to do.

the mysterious creature inside the pool approached mark cautiously.

"can you hear me?" mark asked earning a nod from the boy underwater. "my name is mark. c-can i ask you what you are?"

the boy approached mark again, leaving enough space between them to prevent him from being touched by mark. this time, he put his head out of the water. "i-i'm a merman. my name is donghyuck."

mark looked at the creature strangely. "a merman?"

he thought about his uncle. so, they did really exist? this meant that his uncle wasn't lying.

"w-where am i?" the mermaid asked, startling mark.

"in the pool of my villa, in incheon."

donghyuck lowered his head. "it's near which sea?"

mark thought for a second. "the yellow sea. in the pacific ocean." he said after a while making donghyuck nod.

"mark! the leaves won't go away on their own!" his uncle yelled from the house, causing donghyuck to dive into the water again.

"i'm on it!" mark yelled back. "donghyuck!" he whispered, making the mermaid swim towards him again. "i can't leave you here. he will eventually see you." that is actually the worst that could happen. mark wasn't sure about his uncle's intentions if he ever found a mermaid, but mark hadn't the best feeling. his uncle wasn't someone you could call 'nature's best friend', far from that actually. and seeing the frightened creature trembling at the bottom of his pool, mark knew he shouldn't let his uncle know about it. the fact that the mermaid's eyes widened even more at the mention of someone else definitely convinced mark to keep the secret to himself.

"no, no! don't be scared." he tried reassuring the other boy. "i'll... let you be in the pool while i finish cleaning it, and after... we'll find a way, okay?" mark told the boy.

donghyuck nodded before going back to the bottom of the pool while mark took all the remaining leaves out of the basin.

ψ

"how long can you stay out of water?" mark asked coming out of the bathroom that was attached to his room. the mermaid looked at him, shrugging.

mark's room was occupying the entire first floor of the house, and right now, he was very thankful of his uncle to have given him this part of the house. the staircase leads to a small corridor with toilets on a side and mark's bedroom and attached bathroom on the other side.

after having taken out all the dead leaves from the pool, mark had assured his uncle was occupied before carrying the merman up to his room with some difficulties. the merman was currently laying on towels mark had displayed on his bed while he was filling his huge bathtub with water.

mark carried the boy bridal style again and gently sat him into his bathtub, smiling when the younger giggled unconsciously at the touch of water.

mark pulled a tool next to the bathtub to sit with the younger, careful to lock the door before.

he admired the creature that was caressing gently its red tail, the fins at the end of it splashing water around every time it moved.

mark still couldn't believe he was currently watching something half fish, half human that he had found in his pool. everything seemed so surreal, but the blend between tanned skin and red scales on his thin waist proved that this was real.

but why? why would a mermaid be here? in his pool? weren't they supposed to live in the sea? well, weren't they supposed to be only imaginary?

"why are you here?" mark asked, scaring the mermaid who had forgotten that he was with a human. "sorry." mark mumbled guiltily. "i didn't mean to scare you."

"i-it's okay." donghyuck mumbled. "b-but, i d-don't know... w-we don't know each other..."

"oh, yes, right. you don't need to tell me, if you don't want."

donghyuck lowered his head in shyness. what was he doing right now? the guy in front of him was a human. a freaking HUMAN. and he is a mermaid. a MERMAID. that's not compatible.

"do you need me to take you back to the sea? or where you are from?" mark broke the silence.

"hum n-no." donghyuck said. "actually, i can't."

"you can't? have you been like banished from your people?" mark widened his eyes. "oh my god, i'm sorry i brought this up. you- you... don't worry, i can help you find a place to go or any-"

he was cut by a chuckle from the mermaid. "i wasn't banished. not yet."

"oh." mark calmed down. "why can't you go back there then?"

"i-i am above the surface for a whole month. i can't to back under the sea till then. it's something every merman does once in his life. it's an obligation. actually-" donghyuck stopped talking abruptly and widened his eyes, putting his hand in front of his open mouth. "i shouldn't have told you that!" he panicked, splashing water everywhere because of his sudden agitation.

"oh no- no. don't worry. i'll keep my mouth shut." mark said quickly. "i don't really know how people could react knowing that you exist, but i don't want them to discover you."

donghyuck looked at him dead serious. "you have to promise me you won't tell anybody about it."

"i promise donghyuck." mark smiled. "pinkie promise?"

donghyuck raised an eyebrow, eying strangely mark's pinkie that was raised.

"oh. you don't know?"

donghyuck shook his head.

"it's what friends do to seal a promise. you interwind your pinkies and seal the promise touching your thumbs together." mark explained showing donghyuck the gesture with his own hands. "want to try?"

donghyuck hesitantly nodded, holding out his hand very carefully, still a bit scared about having a contact with a different kind from his.

eventually, he straightened his pinkie, letting mark entangle his own around donghyuck's, and then let his thumb press against the other, hand shaking a bit.

"good." mark smiled when their hands untangled.

none of them spoke a word after that, and both boys jumped at the sudden yell that disturbed their peaceful moment.

"MARK! COME DOWN SAY HELLO!" his uncle screamed from the ground floor.

mark rose to his feet.

"i'll let you here, i'm coming back soon. i'll lock the door so that no one can come up and see you, is it okay for you?"

donghyuck nodded.

mark flashed him a last smile before he left the room to go downstairs.

donghyuck let his body relax. the bathtub was big, but still too small for his huge tail. anyway, that wasn't what mattered right now.

riley had given him one simple rule. one, only. and donghyuck had, on his very first day above the surface done the total opposite of what that rule said.