San was only eight years old when he met the strange boy for the first time.

And honestly when he met him, he thought it was just some weird dream. You see, since San was a toddler his parents had been divorced, and usually his summers were spent with his father, who lived in a beach house running a surf shop that he sometimes liked to hang around him. But most of the time he usually liked to be out on the beach playing in the water while his father worked, which usually he never minded since San was always in his sights. Well, the shop got busy, and San got curious while searching for seashells. His mother always told him to bring some home with him when he returned for the school year! So he always made sure to find the biggest and prettiest one he could find.

With him walking down the shoreline, picking up any shell he deemed worthy enough to bring back he'd place them into his pocket. Having been so busy on his hunt he didn't notice just how far he walked down the beach. By the time he took notice, his father's shop was nowhere in sight, and this caused San to panic. Wanting to see if he could find his shop, San would run to some shoreline rocks and climb up them. They were surely slippery, San had to make sure not to slip as he hurried. Getting towards the top, he would even stand on his tiptoes looking down the beach. But unfortunately nothing. Actually he strayed so far down there weren't many people that could help.

San was all alone. And that made him break. He sat on the rock letting out little wails, pulling his knees to his chest in hopes that his father would eventually realize his son was missing and close up shop early to search for him.

He cried and cried, hands covering his teary, snotty face as he waited for what seemed like hours. Actually it may have been. The sun was setting lower and lower the more he sat there. Did his father not realize he left? Or what if he just didn't care? His cries worsened. But he had quieted himself when he heard a noise coming from below. Lifting his head up. He looked down, seeing what looked like a big mess of netting, and inside of it a person! More specifically a kid his own age. With a gasp, San was already crawling off the rock so he could hurry and help. But when spotted, the stranger's distressed noises only gotten worse. So San stopped where he was so he wouldn't cause him to cry. "Hey.. are you okay?" San tried to ask but the only response he got was sounds of clicking coming from him.

That's... odd. He eyed the strange boy and saw where his legs were supposed to be, yet they weren't. Instead was a fish tail, quite a large one at that. The scales were a light lavender color, it honestly matched the boy's hair spot on.

"Whoa." Was the only thing San was able to reply with. He remembered the bedtime stories his mom read to him when he was young about mermaids. But when he asked if they were real unfortunately his mother was not the kind to give into her son's fantasies so he was told no. But now look! "Hey, I want to help you okay?" San would take a small step forward, the merboy would let out more clicking like sounds, and even begin to struggle more and more inside of the fisherman's net. Witb the way he was struggling, the ner would just dig harder and harder into him, hell it even was starting to cause him damage to his arms and tail.

"I won't hurt you. I promise." San tried again, taking small steps to him until he was close enough to place his hands on the net. This made the boy freak, even hissing and made San just hurry. The net was strong, of course it would be. These were the types of nets that could carry hundreds of fish at once. But San was able to rip away at the net, eventually freeing the boy. With the merboy being freed from his restraints, he wiggled right out, not even sparing a glance to San, and had disappeared into the water, leaving San yet again completely alone.

Was he sad? Yeah a little, he wanted to get a closer look at the strange boy! He dropped the net and as he was getting ready to climb back up the rock he could hear very faintly.

"..San! Where did you go?!"

He knew that was his father's voice, he could recognize it anywhere! Now crying again, this time tears of joy he would run towards the voice, leading him right to his worried father, who came running to him when he spotted the boy. "Oh thank god." His arms wrapped around San in a protective hug. "I was looking for you for hours! I nearly called the cops! Don't ever walk out of my sight again." Being lectured as he was guided back home, San took a glance back where he had came from, the strange boy lingering in his mind.

He didn't see him again for the rest of that summer.

Actually, San didn't meet the strange boy again until the following year, now nine years old, he had been having a little bit of trouble sleeping that night, so he remained awake on his bed, sat up and eyes gazing out his window, which had a pretty clear view of the ocean side. He swore he thought he was seeing things when seeing a head pop up from the water. Actually at first he thought it was a dolphin, at least until he grabbed the binoculars that laid on his nightstand to get a closer look.

And surely enough, that was no dolphin, it was that boy! A faint gasp came from him as he tossed the binoculars to the side. He was throwing on his favorite slippers and hurrying out of his room, but quietly down the stairs upon realizing that his father was actually still awake, and watching television. Not wanting to get caught, he actually ended up taking off his slippers, proceeding to hold them in his hands while slowly making his way to the back door. Sliding the glass door open as slowly as he could, San stepped out, and shut the door behind him. With the coast clear, San sighed out, before he was running down to hurry to the water, seeming to startle the strange boy, who even started to hurry back in the water. "Wait!" San dropped his slippers, stepping into the water.

"It's just me. Do you remember me?" He was panting as he spoke, San had never been a runner type but he wanted to get to the boy as close as he could, but he had made sure to remain cautious, not wanting to spooke the other and risk him swimming away again. In order to gain his trust, San sat down on the soggy sand. The feeling of his pajama pants getting wet as the waves washed over his legs had a chill running up and down his spine, but him sitting there remaining put seemed to work.

The boy would swim, and eventually crawl up to get closer to San, this making a dimpled smile on his face. "What's your name?" San was the one to start a conversation, hut rather than a response, the other boy just stayed quiet, eyeing San up and down with curious eyes, especially eyeing at his legs, like he had never seen such things before. "Hello?" He waved a hand in the boy's face. "Can you understand me?" More silence. Not even a nod of his head to answer San's question. Did he not know English at all? Well. Surely this would be a difficult task. He would point to himself. "My name is San." He said.

"San." He repeated his own name slowly, even doing it a couple of times in order for the strange boy to start understanding him. "San." He again repeated his name, but this time just a bit faster.

"S..Sa.." San was practically on the edge of his seat as the boy was attempting to repeat his name.

"Sa..n... Sa..n... San..." He was already clapping his hands, a big smile on his face. The excitement that radiated off of San must of been enough to affect the other boy, because he was soon smiling himself, repeating San's movements and clapping his webbed hands together. "That's right! San! That's me!" He would nod. "And from now on, I'll help you learn more words okay?"

More clicking noises came from the boy rather than a verbal response.

San took that as a yes.

So every day, after his father would go to bed, San tiptoed out of his room to prevent from making the floorboards from squeaking underneath his feet with each step, and for hours he'd sit outside at his little meet up with his new friend, teaching him basically English words, such as 'Hello' and 'Thank you!', he definitely seemed to catch on quickly. Guess with being nonhuman, he seemed to catch on easier than San ever could.

"I'm friend?" The merboy would ask San one night, who he had been sitting and drawing little circles into the wet San, him smiling and nodding his head. "Mhmm! You're a friend." He would respond.

"Okay.. you San, me friend. Okay! I'm friend." San would stare at the merboy before he let out a giggle. "Oh! No silly, that's not your name, you're my friend. Do you have a name?" He would only tilt his head, confused. "Hmm." San tapped his chin, before snapping his fingers. "Wooyoung." He would suddenly say, and pointed to him. "Your name will be Wooyoung from now on."

"Oo-Yun?" San giggled, reaching over he would pat his shoulder. "Close enough." He would say. 'Wooyoung' would let out little happy chirps, before San was being pushed down into the sand, Wooyoung on top of him. He was nuzzling his face into San's cheek, more of those same noises coming from him. The gesture was short and simple, mainly because Wooyoung had thrown himself back at the new voice coming from behind him.

"San Choi!" Uh oh. He was in trouble now. He didn't even have to warn Wooyoung, the boy was already hurrying back under the water before he could be spotted. San had quickly stood, hands behind his back as he stared up at his father, who was glaring at his son. "Why are you out here in the middle of the night? Get in. And god, you're soaking wet! Are you insane?!"

He was pulled back to his house. And unfortunately, San wasn't able to say goodbye to his friend because that very morning, San was being driven back home with his mother to start up the new school year.

San was ten when he saw Wooyoung again, the merboy seemed excited when San had finally came to their usual spot. "You gone long!" Wooyoung pointed out as San took his usual spot in the sand, his face getting pressed into his cheek yet again. Guess this was their way of showing affection? "Sorry." He said. "I only come here in the summer to stay with my dad. I normally stay with my mom back in the city." San would explain, yet another confused look was on Wooyoung's face.

"Dad? Mom?" He would question, making San raise a brow. "Yeah, you know. Your parents. Don't you have any?" Wooyoung shook his head.

"I alone all time." He would respond. The idea of Wooyoung being on his own did sound sad, making him frown. "That must be scary on your own huh?" He would question. "Where are they?" A shrug came from Wooyoung in response to San's question. "Don't know." That just made him feel more guilty for leaving him for months. Slowly reaching over, San would place a hand on his shoulder. "Well, there are going to be times where I will be away for a while, but I'll come back every summer okay? And during the summer you and I can spend a lot of time together, I promise!" San even would lean over, and nuzzle his face into Wooyoung's cheek as a way to show he was serious.

And he was! That summer, and the one after that, and the one after that, San always came back, he made sure to keep his promise with Wooyoung to come and spend as much time as he could with him, helping Wooyoung with bettering his own English.

At least.. until his father had died during the middle of seventh grade. A heart attack was what his mom had told him while picking San up from school. He was devastated, tears falling down his face as he was driven home. Sure.. he and his father had never had the closest relationship, but he still loved him and loved visiting every summer. But what now? As his funeral had come around, San was stuck staying with his mother as summer came around. Majority of it was spent in his room, curled up in his room.

Honestly, the memory of Wooyoung now seemed like just a distant dream. San grew up, and he nearly forgot about the boy he had grown close to during his late childhood years. Now being twenty three, he had long since finished school, and after a long talk with his mom, he decided he and his best friend Mingi would move out of the city, and together would open his old father's surf shop. Hell, they even moved into his old house. Carrying boxes of his belongings inside, San couldn't help but laugh at the excitement of his best friend as he went running for the glass door.

"Oh my god!" Mingi yelled, hands pressed on the glass. "This is going to be amazing!" San fondly rolled his eyes. "Yeah? Come help me bring the rest of our stuff in and we can go surfing." He knew Mingi was a city boy all the way, having never been to the coast before so to see the beach for the first time, he was like a child all over again. And the comment from San had him barreling his way back outside to the moving truck. "Holy shit Mingi!"

Mingi ran in and out of the house, carrying not only his own boxes into the house but even helped with San's, and before he knew it, he was getting dragged out of the house by Mingi, a laugh coming from him and had to stop them just so he could get back inside of the house, and to the garage so he could retrieve some old surfboards. The sight did bring back some old memories, remembering when he was being taught how to surf, now he got the chance to teach Mingi. With the taller's help, he was carrying the boards outside. It wasn't the brightest day, but San did mind. This just meant not many people would get to witness him get wiped out since he was pretty rusty when it came to surfing.

Well. He was better than Mingi, San was telling himself. Poor guy couldn't even get the chance to stand on his board and was being flipped over. Mingi actually ended up giving up about half way through the lesson. "I'll just watch you, mr. Worldwide surfer champ." It was an obvious joke, but San laughed anyway while Mingi was getting himself nice and comforting his spot on the dry sand, San hopped up on his board when he noticed an oncoming wave approaching him. A grin on his face, he laid on his chest and would spin himself around and move with the wave. With ease, San was already getting on his feet to ride it, from a distance he could hear Mingi's cheers and yells. For someone who hadn't done this since he was twelve, he'd have to say he was doing good!

Well. He thought he was. He felt something grab onto his ankle, making him look down and gasp. With the distraction, he easily lost his balance and just like that, into the water he went. Thrashing and waving his limbs around to attempt to resurface, he kept his eyes squeezed shut to keep the salt water from getting in them. He assumed maybe Mingi came back in the water to help him, because hands were placed under his arms and was being lifted up. Once he was emerged from the water, San gasped and choked, coughing up water he managed to swallow.

"San!"

That... was definitely not Mingi's voice. But it sounded so familiar... wiping ag his eyes, he would open them and the person who helped him was not who he was expecting. "Wooyoung?!"

There he was, the boy who he had assumed he had just dreamt up years back due to lack of friends was right in front of him, a smile on his face.

Besides obviously growing up, Wooyoung did not change one bit. His hair was the same, and although with how dark the water was he could assume his tail was the same as well, besides maybe bigger than he last saw him. "I- Wh..-"

"Where go? You gone so long!" Wooyoung was wrapping his arms around him, and like he had always showed his affection, he was nuzzling his face into San's cheek, the human was left stunned.

"I- Wow. Wooyoung I'm sorry, let me explain-"

"San!" His head snapped over to Mingi, who was hurrying into the water to most likely check on him. Out of panic, San was pushing Wooyoung away, the merman grew sad to be pushed away. "I'll talk tonight okay?" San said, pretty much pushing Wooyoung into the water so that Mingi wouldn't see him. He felt guilty, especially when he felt Wooyoung no longer in his grasp but what was he supposed to do? Tell Mingi he had a magical friend from when he was little? No way! He would swim to the shore to meet up with Mingi.

"Dude, you alright? That was a pretty big wipe out." Mingi said, an obvious look of concern on the tall man's face, San would just wave his concern away. "Yeah uh- I'm fine." San grabbed Mingi's arm. "Let's go back in. I've had enough beach time, we still have to pck and make plans on dinner." Not giving Mingi the time to respond, he was pulling him with to go back inside.

Wooyoung didn't leave his mind that night, even after they had packed their stuff into their new rooms, both sitting on the couch, a box of pizza sitting on the coffee table, his mind just wouldn't let go of the thought of Wooyoung, guilt was running through him. Did Wooyoung wait for him every summer? Oh god.

Left in his thoughts, he almost didn't realize he heard banging on the back door. Only snapping back to reality when Mingi paused their movie and would be the one to answer it, a look of annoyance on his face, but seeing the person on the other side of the glass he was quickly shutting the curtain. "Oh my god-" San turned to Mingi, standing up from the couch. "What?"

"There's a naked guy outside! Should we call the cops?" Mingi was panicking, already grabbing his phone so he could dial the number, meanwhile San was stepping up to the glass door, opening the curtains just to get a quick peak, and the person on the other end had his eyes widening. "Mingi hang up." San reached over and grabbed his phone actually to do it for him. "What? Dude, there's a crazy naked guy standing on the back patio, we need to call someone!" Mingi and even San averted their gazes when San pulled the curtain, and even opened the glass door.

"San!" Wooyoung practically jumped onto him, arms and even new legs wrapping around him as he stumbled back. Managing to keep himself up right, he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Wooyoung, what are you doing?"

"Want see you! Miss you!"

"You know him?!" Mingi was shocked to say the least, San, with a red face had nodded his head. "Yeah- uh. Wooyoung, let's get you upstairs to get you some clothes okay?"

"What clothes?"

He was gonna kill San. Oh mh god. Before Mingi could queif he was on drugs, San excused them both upstairs, pretty much carrying Wooyoung up the stairs and in his room, and shut the door behind him. He had Wooyoung sit on his bed, and kept his gaze on anywhere but him while he was searching in his closet. "Wooyoung, what the hell? How the hell do you have legs right now? How are you human?" He was grabbing at a pair of underwear as well, knowing Wooyoung would need it, and as he was going back to the other, he finally took a glance at him while handing him his clothes, making sure to keep his eyes from... wandering.

"Magic." Wooyoung simply answered like it was the most obvious. He took the clothes from San, but rather than putting them on, he simply tossed them to the side, and was standing to cling to San again, who grew a little bit stiff but kept calm. Clearing his throat, he would wrap his arms around Wooyoung. "Missed you!" He would sag to San. The corners of San's lips tugged up into a smile, him patting Wooyoung's bare back. "Yeah, I missed you too Wooyoung. I guess I have a lot to explain huh?"

"Yes!" Wooyoung would reply, and pulled back and sat on the bed again, he looked down in between his own legs, curious he was grabbing at the new appendage that was in between his legs. "What this?"

Oh my god. Wooyoung really was going to kill him. He had no shame huh?

After a brief explanation, he was pretty much helping Wooyoung with dressing into the clothes given to him, the merman was definitely against the feeling of clothes against his body. "Itchy!" He complained while San was zipping up the jeans he put on him. "Sorry Woo, it's not really appropriate to walk around with no clothes on." San was saying while taking Wooyoung's hand and helping him up, and took him down the stairs where Mingi was, the man on the couch and quickly looked to their sudden guest. "Mingi, this is Wooyoung." San would introduce him. "He's.. a childhood friend of mine." When San had said the word friend, it had the brightest smile on his face. "Yes! I'm friend!" He exclaimed, being guided to the couch and sat down, Wooyoung stared down at Mingi's hand when it was extended to him.

"Well, then I guess it's nice to meet you then Wooyoung! I'm San's best friend and now roommate, hopefully from this point on though you just don't come banging on oht back door naked."

Wooyoung didn't respond, he just had his stare down at Mingi's hand, the air getting awkward, and it just got worse when San had to fake Wooyoung's hand, manually wrapping it around Mingi's so they could shake hands. "Well." Mingi dropped his hand after the awkward introduction. "Since you're here, want some food? You can stay and finish our movie with us." He even tapped at the pizza box that was still in front of the three of them, the last few slices of pizza remaining inside and growing colder and colder by the minute. Like with the handshake, Wooyoung just.. stared at it, unsure of what it was or what he should do.

Clearing his throat, San reached cor one of the slices and took it. With Wooyoung watching him, he was taking a bite of the slice to eat. Wooyoung seemed to catch on, ao he grabbed one of the other slices. He repeated San's movements, lifting the piece to his lips, he opened them and took a pretty large bite out of it. As he chewed, his eyes glowed, obviously enjoying it and was taking another bite, and then another, and another! Hell as he finished that piece he was grabbing another, and another, and was finishing up the remainder of the pizza on his own.

"That so good!" Wooyoung grabbed Mingi's arm from pure excitement, shaking it. "What that?! I need know so can tell everyone at pod!" Mingi seemed completely confused and even a little concerned over how excited Wooyoung was over pizza, gently nudging his hands off of him, he would let out a nervous laugh. "Uh... pizza?"

"Pizza! Oh! Fun word!" Wooyoung proceeded to repeat the word pizza over and over again, San would see Mingi growing uncomfortable, so to make it less awkward he would grab the remote. "Well, let's continue our movie yeah?" Pressing the play button, he would have started to relax, but when their movie started back up, Wooyoung was anything but relaxed. A loud gasp cane from him, him crawling over the coffee table his hands were pressed against the flat screen. "Humans stuck!" He would start to bang his fist against the tv. "I'll help!" San panicked, in fear of breaking their tv that they had bought not that ling ago he was pulling Wooyoung away before he could crack the glass.

"Relax! It's just a movie. They're not stuck, don't worry!" He was trying to calm the merman, especially because he knew for a fact he was weirding Mingi out. "Not stuck?" Wooyoung repeated while he was looking up to San, who nodded. "Right. Not stuck. Here." He would slowly pull Wooyoung so be was back on the couch, and even leaning into San's side, his arm wrapped around his shoulders, mainly to keep Wooyoung in place ao he wasn't trying to break their tv again to 'save the little humans'. Wooyoung would eventually calm down and even found himself enjoying the movie, even if he had no idea what things were, he wouldn't seem to care if Mingi was giving him looks, he whod ask San what certain things were or what the humans were doing, and San gladly explained it to him.

But besides that, things were now calm. Towards the end of the movie though, Mingi had managed to pass outnext to the two of them, Wooyoung remaining wide awake, and when he watched the two on the screen kissing, he looked to San. "What's that?" He asked, pointing at the screen.

"Mm? Oh. They're kissing." San explained, rubbing his eyes since he himself was getting sleepy, but he didn't want to fall asleep before Wooyoung. "Kissing?" He repeated.

"Mhmm." San yawned. "It's what people who love and care for each other do." His eyes were on the tv, so he didn't see Wooyoung being lost in thought as he was thinking about it. "Oh." He would say. Wooyoung seemed to have an idea, so as the credits of the movie were starting to roll, he grabbed San's face, pulling him to face Wooyoung he was leaning over and smashing his lips against San's.

It obviously wasn't a good kiss, it wouldn't even be considered a real one since Wooyoung's lips were just pressed to San's, not even moving in sync with each other. With a small 'mwah!' coming from Wooyoung he pulled back with a smile, San on the other hand was internally panicking, his whole face was red. "Woo what was that for?"

"Love you!" San's heart raced when Wooyoung so boldly stated he loved him. His yelling even made Mingi stir from where he was, the tallest stretching and standing to go to bed when seeing the movie was over. With it now being the two of them, Wooyoung seemed to grow sleepy himself, so he would lay back down on the couch and shut his eyes.

San watched Wooyoung as he fell asleep, and now on his own, he sighed, rubbing his face and shutting off the tv and getting up from his spot, he would start to head up the stairs.

Holy shit. What a day today was, who knows what tomorrow had in store for him?

"...San?"

Nothing.

"Sannn." He still didn't budge, not wanting to wake up at all. Who would so early in the morning? He didn't. But he still felt something smack the side of his head. Most likely a pillow. It surely worked because San was sitting up quickly, finding Mingi by his bedside with a pillow he stole from him.

"God I always forget how hard it is to wake you up. Come on! We have to start the day today, besides your friend is awake and is crying because you aren't there with him." Mingi was explaining. "Man, I won't lie your friend seems really strange. He eats pizza like he's never had it before. Honestly with the way he reacted he might not have-"

Mingi's complaining pretty much fell on dead ears, San still being in the process of waking himself up he would simply wave Mingi off before he was getting up from the bed. Stretching, he rubbed his eyes before leaving his room with Mingi in tow. As he went downstairs he did hear the small cries coming from Wooyoung, and that alerted the human. Now more awake he was hurrying, hell he nearly tripped down the last few stairs and going to the side of the couch. "Hey, hey. Wooie, it's okay." The nickname came so naturally out of him he didn't even notice.

He reached, running his fingers through the merman's light lavender locks, in a way to comfort him. Wooyoung had lifted his gaze to San, before throwing himself into the human's arms, San stumbling but managed to catch himself. "Scared you left!" He would cry out. Due to Wooyoung's panic, he would tear up, them even falling down his cheek and at the feeling alone seemed to freak him out. "Something's wrong!" He yelled while San pulled away, Wooyoung wiping a hand on his cheek to wipe his tears away, San only chuckling. "No, nothing is wrong. You're just crying, Wooyoung."

"Crying?" San nodded, even cupping his cheek, and swiped a few tears away with his thumb. "Mhmm. Crying, it's a normal human emotion." San spoke calmly. With how his voice was calm, Wooyoung would start calming himself. "Do you want something to eat?" San would move on, pulling his hand away he would go to the kitchen, fully knowing Wooyoung was following behind him. "Pizza?" He would ask, San giggling while shaking his head. "No. How about waffles? We don't have the ingredients at the moment for pancakes, but we have some frozen waffles." San was already digging in his freezer to grab the box and pop some in the toaster.

Wooyoung watched intently at the toaster, even putting a hand over the two slots, eyes widening when he felt just how hot the toaster was gettinf, and quite literally jumped out of his skin when the waffles popped out, earning a laugh from both San and Mingi. With Wooyoung already running and hiding behind of San, he would turn his head, looking to the merman from over his shoulder. "Relax, it don't bite." San spoke clearly joking.

He grabbed a plate, and with ease tossed the now fully cooked waffles onto it and set them on the table, motioning Wooyoung for him to sit and would go to the fridge to grab some syrup and set it next to the plate. While Wooyoung was figuring out what the hell to do with whatever it was given to him by San, the human in question had started making a pot of coffee for himself and Mingi, who by then left and probably went up to shower to start his own day. "So how does it feel having legs?" He would ask once he was sure it was safe and Mingi wasn't able to hear them.

"Fun! Like it lots. Land has many fun things!" Wooyoung was responding once he figured out how to uncap the syrup bottle, a smile on San's face while he grabbed a couple of coffee mugs. With his back turned he would fail to see the.. well the mess Wooyoung was surely making, tilting the bottle, he would watch the thick liquid slowly ooze from the top, and drip onto his waffles.

Wooyoung tilted his head. This seemed thicker than water, and looked way different. What could this stuff be? He ended up taking a hand, and with a finger out put it under the bottle and let the syrup now drip onto his finger. He first sniffed it and.. it smelled weird. Nothing he ever smelled before. With his tongue out he stuck his finger in his mouth, and almost instantly his entire face was lighting up. The biggest gasp came from Wooyoung, and already he was squeezing more and more of the syrup onto hsi waffles until they were practically swimming. Damn, the syrup was even starting to overflow the plate. Getting an idea, Wooyoung was lifting up the bottle and pretty much squeezing syrup on his mouth.

He was like a child. San was pouring some coffee into the mugs he had grabbed from before, hell he was even pouring some coffee for Wooyoung, curious if he would even like it or not and as he turned around with both mugs, he was taken aback at the sight.

"Wooyoung!" He ran over, setting the mugs down, he was taking the bottle away and closing it. His yelling seemed to scare the Mean, swallowing the mouthful of syrup he had he looked up to him. "What?" He genuinely had no clue what he did was bad. San sighed, putting the bottle to the side he looked down at Wooyoung's torso. A long sigh came from him, he was sticky all along his chest and lap from the syrup dripping from the table. But honestly he shouldn't get annoyed. He should have just pouted it for him. "Let's skip breakfast for now, you should shower." He would take Wooyoung's arm, motioning him to follow.

"Mingi takes quick showers, so he should be done, I'll help start the water but your on your own with learning how to wash yourself." With Wooyoung being tugged along, he was heading upstairs. As he got up there, Mingi was leaving the bathroom, freshly showered. "Mingi, when you go back down can you clean the table?" San asked, stepping past Mingi and pulling Wooyoung to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind them both before Mingi could even ask what had happened.

Pushing Wooyoung to sit on the toilet seat, he bent down and would turn the water back on. Thankfully with Mingi having gotten out not long ago, the water was still pretty warm. He turned to Wooyoung, who had his gaze on the running shower head. "Water from ocean is coming from it!" He was pointing at it, and honestly San had to bite back a laugh, pulling Wooyoung to his feet and helped him take his sticky clothes off, making sure to keep his gaze anywhere but down. "It's not ocean water Woo, it's coming from the pipes that are connected in the house." He explained as simply as he could, nudging the merman to the thb. "This," He pointed at the shampoo bottle. "Is for your hair, and this," San pointed to the body wash, "Is for your body. It's easy to figure it out. Holler of your need me okay?" Once he was certain Wooyoung would be fine, San was leaving the bathroom, keeping the door cracked just slightly before going downstairs.

"You know, your friend is really weird." Mingi started off while finishing up with cleaning the table, and even tossed the soggy waffles away knowing they weren't any good. "He comes here butt ass naked, barely knows English and every thing he eats or watches is like the first time he's ever seen or done them. Is he okay?" San looked to Mingi who had genuine concern. As much as he wanted Mingi to know, he wasn't able to seem like some lunatic, so instead he was waving off his worries.

"Yeah. He's just.. special. I guess. But you have to admit, the way he reacts to certain things is cute." Like the memory of how excited he was to be eating pizza. It was enough to make San smile which Mingi quickly caught on. "Hm? Oh, I see." Chuckling, Mingi took the coffee that was originally meant for Wooyoung, both seeming to agree Wooyoung didn't need the caffeine. Both men sat in silence nos, San listening to the running shower upstairs. Maybe he should check on him, it had been a while-

Thump.

A cry was let out, and San was already running upstairs, nearly spilling his coffee as he ran in the bathroom. Wooyoung now laid in the tub, holding his head with both arms and quickly San went to his aid. "Woo, what happened?"

"Fell! Slippery!" To show San, Wooyoung was rubbing his feet up and down the tub. Guess he should have mentioned shampoo and body wash tended to make the bathtub slippery during a shower, he would slowly pull his arms from his head, turning off the water. "Aw, I'm sorry. I should've warned ypu how slippery it gets. Are you done for now?" A nod came from Wooyoung, so San helped him out, and guided him to his room before going downstairs when Wooyoung was dressed.

Rather than making a new breakfast for Wooyoung and risk more of their already few groceries, he would finish up his coffee and would tug Wooyoung along and put on shoes for himself, and thankfully with Wooyoung seeming to be the same shoe size as him let him borrow a pair. "I'll head to the shop and start getting ready to open up, I'll see you later!" He was already pulling Wooyoung out of the house and shut the door behind them.

He remembered the shop wasn't that far from his house, he remembered the walk like the back of his own hand so it wasn't a surprise they got there in no time. With the keys he had grabbed before leaving, he unlocked the door and went in, shutting the door once Wooyoung was in. "Unfortunately I can't really spend time with you today." He saw the frown on Wooyoung's face, and chuckled. Cute.

"But you can hang around the shop, look around too! My dad used to own this place, but once he died the place went to my mom, who shut it down until I was old enough to decide if I wanted to take over or not." As he explained, San was already beginning to dust the area off, with the dust particles in the air it was enough to make him sneeze, guess it made Wooyoung sneeze too.

Mingi would arrive and with him, the two humans went to work, San didn't mind Wooyoung pretty much following him but once the shop was officially opened for people to come and rent a board, he would have him sit in the back instead. The same old couch he used to hang out on was there if he wasn't out on the beach. With a quick little cleaning he told Wooyoung he could wait there while they worked, and he'd come by later to check on him.

And San was sure to keep his promise. During the day, if he wasn't busy with a customer he would make sure Wooyoung was alright. Hell even during his little break he was sitting in the back with Wooyoung, talking to him, telling him about the city.

"What's city?"

"It's like a big town, full of tall buildings and full of humans. It's where I'm from." San explained simply since he wasn't really sure how to explain what a city was, since he wasn't sure the type of living spaces Wooyoung was used to. "And then during the summertime I came here to see my dad, at least until he died." That last part had San frowning.

Wooyoung seemed to take notice of the sudden sadness from San, ao he was scooting ro him, and like he had always done and nuzzled his face into his cheek, even kissing it, wanting to include how humans express affection. "Miss him?" He asked, San nodded. "Lots. He died so suddenly so it took a while to accept."

"Is okay." Wooyoung kissed San's cheek again. "Watching you always!" The attempted comfort coming from Wooyoung did make him smile. "Thanks, I know he is." He turned to Wooyoung. "At least I was able to see you again. I really did start to think all our interactions were imaginary since it's been so long." Now it was San's turn to nuzzle his nose to Wooyoung's cheek. The gesture made happy little chirping noises come from the Merman. "And best part, since I'm here permanently we can spend as much time together!" Wooyoung nearly threw his hands up in excitement. But as much as he'd love to stay with him, he would have to return home eventually. San noticed the frown on his face, but before he could ask, Mingi was knocking on the door.

"San, your break is up, get out here so I can take mine!" Mingi was complaining, San had half a mind to flip him off but decided against it. Sighing, he stood. "I'll be back when we close up okay?" Giving Wooyoung a smile, he left the Merman alone so that he could return to work and let Mingi take his braak he apparently oh so needed.

By the time that dusk was upon them, San was read to head home. Once he had switched the sign in the window, he and Mingi both would start preparing to lock up the shop for the night. While the taller was wiping down the counter, San would go into the back room so that he could check on Wooyoung. He hadn't seen him in a good few hours and hadn't heard a peep from the merman. Opening the door, San peaked his head in. Spotting Wooyoung on the couch, curled into a ball and fast asleep. That had San smiling. Rather than waking him, with ease he was lifting Wooyoung up, carrying him bridal style as he brought him out from the back room, and with Mingi helping with opening the door he was carrying Wooyoung all the way back home.

Instead of the couch upon arriving, remembering the ordeal that morning, he wouldn't want another repeat the following morning so bidding Mingi a simple goodnight, San was carrying Wooyoung into his room, and laying him on his bed. Thankfully it was a queen, so at least they both were able to sleep on it rather than San sleeping on the floor, remembering he had done that a few times during sleepovers at Mingi's during high school and it was the worst thing ever. Crawling in next to Wooyoung after tossing off his shoes, San was getting himself comfortable, but wasn't quite tired yet. Instead San turned to his side, gazing at Wooyoung's side profile.

Wooyoung was gorgeous. There was absolutely no denying that, not a flaw in sight on his features. The mole under his left eye is what San loved the most, he found it adorable. Lips tugging into a smile, he reached a hand over, caressing his cheek, thumb brushing over the mole before his eyes landed onto Wooyoung's lips. Just like the rest of him; perfect in every way.

He wantwd to kiss them so badly. Technically he has before, but be wanted to properly kiss them. With the idea in mind, San was slowly lifting up his head. Eyes shutting, he was leaning closer and closer to Wooyoung, he could feel his own heart pounding deep in his chest it was close to jumping right out his rib cage. He could just barely feel Wooyoung's lip brushing against his-

Wooyoung's eyes shot open. And San remained frozen like a deer in headlights, eyes snapping open he and Wooyoung both jusg stared ag one another in pure awkward silence. But San was first to take action. Clearing his throat he pulled his hand and body away, quickly moving until his back was facing Wooyoung as he was sitting up. "San?"

"Sorry. I shouldn't try to kiss you while you're sleeping, it's inappropriate." He was saying quickly, whole face being dusted over a bright red he was pulling the blanket over his head. God San! You're such an idiot!

He felt the blanket getting pulled from his grip and suddenly his head was turned to look up at Wooyoung. No words were spoken from each other. He couldn't say anything, because he felt Wooyoung's lips pressing to his own. Well, at least this time things were different. He would kiss him back, moving his hand to caress his cheek.

Their lips moved in perfect sync, like they were molded perfectly for each other. He didn't want to overwhelm both himself and Wooyoung, so San gently pushed Wooyoung away, and was sitting up himself, but his hand didn't move from Wooyoung's cheek, and quite frankly Wooyoung didn't want it to leave, the feeling of San caressing his face made him happy. He leaned into the touch, a smile on his lips. "Want to stay." Wooyoung was saying. "With you forever."

"You can." San said, leaning back over, rather than kissing his lips, San kissed his forehead. "Can't." The response made him frown. "Have friends back at pod. But promise to come back always." Wooyoung knew he couldn't stay forever, and honestly San felt a bit selfish for feeling upset that he couldn't stay on land. Of course he couldn't, Wooyoung had a life at sea, friends that were probably worrying over him for being gone for so long. But he frowned anyway.

"Promise you'll come back soon?" San asked, and Wooyoung quickly nodded, and rested his cheek against San's shoulder. "Yes, promise." San sighed. With only a nod, he slowly laid back down. This timw, his arms wrapped around Wooyoung and held him close as the Merman would fall back asleep, he himself staying up longer before he was falling asleep himself.

When San woke up, Wooyoung was gone. With their conversation from before he should have expected it, but he wanted to at least say bye to him. He came downstairs to see Mingi was making breakfast for what he assumed would have been the three of them. When he saw San coming down alone though he raised a brow. "Where's Wooyoung?"

"He went home last night." San mumbled while he was sitting at the table, shoulders slumped and all. He could assume Mingi could sense he was sad, ao he didn't question it. "Ah. More bacon for me now!" Mingi tried to lighten San's mood. It wasn't working.

After breakfast, they took their walk to work like normal, and when the shop had opened for the day, San would busy himself with customers, hell he even skipped out on his break to keep his mind busy so he wouldn't be so gloomy. But that proved to be a bad idea on his end, due to how exhausted he was as they closed shop for the night.

The next day came around, it was the same. As was the day after that, and the day after that. He hadn't seen Wooyoung since that night, and call him selfish but he really did want Wooyoung to come back as soon as he could. After dinner, and a quick shower San was laying in his bed wide awake. He couldn't sleep. It had been nearly two weeks by then since he had last seen Wooyoung, every time he shut his eyes, he thought of Wooyoung. Growing frustrated, he dropped the idea of sleep and trudges downstairs. He slid the glass door open and went outside instead to sit on their back porch, eyes gazing across the ocean. Honestly, the ocean during the night seemed mysterious, with how dark it looked.

His cheek rested against the wooden railing. He wondered what exactly Wooyoung was doing. Probably sleeping most likely. He wondered how merfolk slept. So they just.. sleep on a rock? How comfortable would that be for them? There was a lot of things he was curious of about Wooyoung's kind. Maybe if he came back San could ask him, he did tell him quite a bit on how humans lived, yet never thought about asking anything about Wooyoung.

Another sigh came from him. He was restless, maybe a walk could tire him out? Standing, he was walking down the beach and once close enough to the water San would start his walk. At least now with being so up close to the water the sounds were able to distract him as well, his gaze down at his feet as he took each step, squishing the wet sand below him. Honestly ended up zoning out, so he really didn't realize jusg how long he had been walking. He could assume it must have been a lot, because when he lifted up his head, San found himself in front of those same rocks he met Wooyoung at when he was just a child. The memory faint in his head, San would start to climb the slippery rocks and instead sit on them to take a little break before he would go back home. He looked down where the water splashed up against them, the sound almost soothing for him, he almost didn't hear the faint voice calling his name.

Maybe Mingi woke up and noticed he was gone? He turned his head down where he had came from but nope, no Mingi. Maybe it was his imagination?

He heard it again. Yeah no, that surely wasn't Mingi but...

San looked beyond the shoreline, sure enough there he was. Wooyoung. Heart pounding in his chest, he was standing in the rocks. "Wooyoung!" He hollered. Even if he was in his pajamas, San didn't care. He jumped off the rocks and ran right into the water, and began to swim, Wooyoung seemed to head to him, so it wasn't long until they had met half way, and San was holding onto him tightly. "Wooyoung holy shit. I missed you." He was saying, grip almost deadly tight, but Wooyoung returned the hug nonetheless. "Sorry." Wooyoung started, face burying into San's neck. "Got in trouble. Forbidden." San pulled back to look at Wooyoung. "Forbidden?" He repeated, making Wooyoung nod. "Not supposed to be here. Forbidden." Even with his limited vocabulary, San got an idea on what he meant.

"You're not supposed to be at the surface?" Wooyoung nodded. "Always snuck away to see you." He would say. "Lied to them always. Found out when I return. Can't see you anymore." San was silent for a long time. What..? "Huh? No. Wooyoung you- that's not fair." As he spoke, he was slowly swimming back to the shore since constantly kicking his legs back and forth was tiring. "I know." Wooyoung looked down at the water, he himself felt guilty.

"But I can't lose you Woo." San was fighting back tears by that point, sitting in the sand once he was in shallow enough water, and Wooyoung sat next to him. From here, he could faintly see the outline of his tail in the water. He still thought it was one if the most beautiful things he had ever seen. "Don't want to lose you." Wooyoung said, him reaching with his webbed hand and grabbed San's hand, holding in with both of his own and squeezing tight. "Maybe someday." He leaned over, kissing San's cheek. He'd come to prefer kissing rather than his traditional way of showing affection.

"Hopefully not goodbye. Okay. But can't come for a while." Wooyoung was tsaring up as well, shoulders shaking he curled up into San's side. "Promise." His voice was shaking while he spoke.

San wasn't saying anything, but he weapped his arms around Wooyoung, holding him tightly. "Okay." He said softly. They both sat there for god knows how long, attempting to comfort each other even if neither were speaking. Though San would pull away, he reached behind himself, and would untie the necklace he had. It was a beaded necklace, one he had for a while but he would reach, and instead tie it around Wooyoung's neck. "I want you to have this okay?" San said. "To remember me until we can hopefully see each ofher again." Wooyoung reached to his own neck, to feel the necklace and god, he wanted to cry again from that alone. He didn't have anything to give him! He looked down at his own tail, San seeing Wooyoung deep in thought before he was reaching, and grasped onto one of his scales.

With a pained expression, he was yanking the scale off, forcing back a whimper that wanted to escape him and placed it into San's hand. San stared at Wooyoung, and then to the scale. "I- Wooyoung. You didn't.. you didn't have to hurt yourself just for this.. I could never forget you." San felt bad, he could only assume that doing that must of hurt a lot but as he spoke, Wooyoung was only shaking his head. "Have no idea when we'll see each other." He closed San's hand for him. "Will be okay." To even reassure San, Wooyoung smiled. He bit his lip, before sighing. With a nod, he held his hand close to his chest. "I love you." He suddenly said, making even himself surprised. He watched Wooyoung as he stared back with wide eyes, but a big smile tugged at his lips, and suddenly his arms were thrown around San. "Love you too!" He exclaimed, honestly they both had fallen back against the wet sand, but San didn't care. He let out a laugh, and held him tightly. This time it was his turn to kiss first. Before he could be beaten, he leaned over, and pressed his lips to Wooyoung's.

The kiss the sweet, simple, and salty. But he didn't care because it was Wooyoung. He could kiss him forever and he'd love it. Unfortunately Wooyoung was the one to pull away. "Have to go. They're waiting." San wanted nothing more than to just beg Wooyoung to come back home with him, but instead he nodded. He planted one last kiss to his cheek, before letting him go.

His heart was hurt, he watched as Wooyoung was slowly crawling back into the water, and with one last look to San with a longing gaze, he disappeared down into the water, and out of San's sight.

Now alone, his shoulders slumped while he looked to his hand. Slowly opening it, his eyes admired the scale that Wooyoung had given him. It was bright, just like his hair. It made him smile sadly. Maybe he'd turn it into a necklace, he thought. Getting up on his feet, San took a glance back into the sea for the last time, before he made the uncomfortable journey back home, hoping that one day maybe Wooyoung could eventually return to him.