The first time the sun rises in the Antarctic after a long period of darkness is always accompanied by a celebration.

Hyunjin likes to take pictures of the sea, so instead of just hanging out on the balcony of their base in heavy coats and scarves, they all agree to go for a walk. It'll be good to have a change of scenery that isn't the weather webcams they've got set up.

Chan rolls his eyes at his friends. Jeongin can't find his coat, Jisung doesn't know where his boots are, Seungmin and Hyunjin are at the door, sighing and checking the time. Changbin offers Jeongin his coat, but now he doesn't have one.

Minho meets Chan's eyes and nods towards Seungmin and Hyunjin. "Go ahead, hyung. Let's meet by the sea."

Chan smiles and leaves Minho to deal with the chaos. Seungmin and Hyunjin are quiet, comfortable with the sound of the wind and the scrunch of snow and rocks beneath their feet.

Chan takes a moment to just breathe. The sun's not out yet, but the daylight has been around for some time now. The sky turns lighter every hour. Hyunjin drags Seungmin along as they skip along the path toward the sea, and when Chan reaches them, they're on the snowy coast, looking out at the water.

It's a good day. The waves are small, the wind isn't too strong, the air is warmer.

Hyunjin smiles, his sharp teeth glinting. "I love this."

"Yeah," Seungmin agrees. "We can go swim as a group again soon."

Chan shivers. "I wish we could get a neoprene suit like humans, but breathing wouldn't be any fun."

Hyunjin laughs, the sound carrying in the crystal air. "The Australian in you is showing. A bit of cold isn't gonna hurt you."

Chan laughs with him, agreeing even though they all know that's not true. Merpeople were at home in warm waters, it was only when the humans learned of their existence that some of them had to relocate. Hyunjin was born north of Siberia and had spent much of his life on the coasts of Alaska. Not many of his group had survived over the years, and not all of their deaths were caused by humans.

In the past years the UN had made real progress to protect what was left of them, but by the time that came into effect, Hyunjin was the last of his group alive. And instead of living in a sanctuary in warm waters, protected and cared for, he'd joined Chan in Antarctica.

Chan shook off those thoughts. He would be forever grateful that Hyunjin decided to be with them, brightening the long darkness and monotony. They study the weather, the melting ice, the seal, penguin and bird population, the stars, and in summer they try to pick up as much trash as they can. Minho, Jisung and Changbin are human with actual real university certificates, and the UN makes sure they're supplied with everything they need.

Seungmin throws a handful of snow into Hyunjin's face and takes off running, laughing at Hyunjin's offended screech.

The sun is peeking over the horizon, so bright Chan turns his eyes away and follows his younger friends with a smile.

It's when Seungmin stops as if the soles of his feet have taken roots and Hyunjin runs into him, nearly bringing them both to fall that Chan notices something is wrong. He picks up his pace.

"Hyung," Seungmin says, eyes fixed on something ahead. Hyunjin is next to him, the smile wiped from his face.

Chan follows Seungmin's eyes.

There, not that far away, half on land and half in the water, is a person. Chan can't see if they're wearing something, just that if they are, it's not a lot. They're also not moving.

He curses and runs toward the person.

It's a merman, he sees, a naked one, with a tail in shimmering blues and rainbows, pretty despite the missing scales and open cuts. His face is framed by dark, shoulder length hair, though it's cut unevenly. His skin, despite being a natural light brown, is ashen, his lips even greyer. He's freezing, obviously, in the snow. The icy water laps at his tail.

Chan falls to his knees beside him, reaching out with steady hands, feeling for a pulse on his neck. The merman's eyes are half closed, but he seems to attempt to open his eyes wider. This close, Chan can hear him breathe, brokenly, like there's still water in his lungs.

"You'll be okay," Chan tells him, but gets no reaction. His pulse is there, faintly, but it's the breathing that gives Chan hope. "I'm with you."

He's out of his warm winter coat in no time, spreading it out between him and the merman. His hoodie is next, then his shirt, and he puts the hoodie back on and carefully twists his shirt around the merman's wet hair.

"I'll move you now," he tells him and smiles down at him, "you're safe with me."

Seungmin and Hyunjin reach him, and with their help he drags the merman onto his coat and fully out of the sea. The merman sighs when his skin meets the fabric, dry and warm from Chan's body heat. Seungmin hands him his shirt and they do their best to quickly dry the merman. Hyunjin volunteers his fuzzy sweater, and by the time the merman is in the sweater and Chan has zipped the coat closed around him like a fishy burrito, the merman has lost consciousness.

"The... tail?" Seungmin asks. The flipper isn't fully covered by the coat, but there's not much they can do out here.

"He's not going to get legs until he's fully dry and warm," Chan tells them, keeping his voice from wavering. He's cold, but it's okay. "Call Minho and tell him we'll be right back."

Seungmin is dialing before Chan has finished speaking, and with Hyunjin's help, Chan lifts the merman in his arms. "You'll be okay", he tells him.

The wind bites at his skin, the hoodie does nothing to keep him warm. Chan clenches his jaw and walks faster.

Minho opens the door for them. The bubbly and excited for the sun mood from earlier is gone, replaced with concern and focus.

"Was he the only one?" Changbin asks, feeling the temperature of the merman's forehead.

"We didn't see anyone else," Chan replies, "but go looking. Please."

"I will," Changbin says, "Jisung is driving to the surrounding bays, Jeongin is checking the webcams and calling the UN. Get him warm, hyung."

Minho leads them to their communal living room, where the sofa is covered with towels and blankets and all their electrical heaters are standing around the room, turned up as hot as possible. Chan gently lies the merman down, stepping away to give his aching arms a pause and catch his breath.

Minho, Seungmin and Hyunjin waste no time removing Chan's damp coat, the cold and wet shirt in his hair, and they pry him out of Hyunjin's sweater to thoroughly dry him with a soft towel.

Chan goes to kick off his shoes and when he comes back, Minho has Felix in an oversized black hoodie that would reach his knees when his tail turns into legs, and Hyunjin is placing heating packs into the pockets of the hoodie and into the merman's hands.

Together, they turn him to his side and wrap him in warm blankets. Chan sits down next to the merman's head, gently towel drying his hair. Seungmin hands him a blow dryer, so Chan sets it to its lowest settings and prepares to sit there for half an hour. The others settle around him, anxious. They can only hope the merman recovers now, and hope Changbin and Jisung don't find anyone dead.

The merman's breathing, at least, sounds better now. A trail of water runs out of his mouth, which means more room for air in his lungs.

When the merman's hair is dry, they're all sweating where they sit. The room has become too warm for them, but they only shed their hoodies and Minho hands Chan a t-shirt. Minho turns some of the heaters to a lower setting, and the whirring quiets to a soft hum.

The merman starts shivering not much later, his tail twitching and turning into legs. This prompts Chan to get him a pair of the fluffiest socks he owns. His feet are still cold, his skin soft despite the quite concerning scrapes that transferred from his tail to his legs. His upper body and back haven't looked much better, but the wounds have closed enough that there really isn't much they can do. When the merman recovers from hypothermia, they'll put him into the bathtub and he'll heal by himself.

"Water," Chan says then. The others turn to look at him. Chan continues, "and food? For when he wakes up?"

"Oh," Minho nods. "Unsalted water, I presume? He must have swallowed a lot of salt. What would he like?"

"Uh," Chan stops. "Any fish is good?"

Hyunjin rolls his eyes. "Of course he'll want fish. But he'll also enjoy some mussels and seaweed. We don't know how long it's been since he ate, so we may want to start small."

"Can I cook the mussels, at least," Minho grumbles as he leaves for the kitchen.

"Why would you cook perfectly fine mussels?" Hyunjin asks and follows him to get a snack for himself as well.

Seungmin grimaces. "I like my mussels cooked, thanks."

Chan chuckles. "I know. Humans do some weird things to their food, but sometimes they have great ideas. The sauces alone are amazing. Can't have sauces underwater."

"Back in the waters of South Korea, I used to go on land only to get some cooked mussels," Seungmin sighs. "My parents thought it was adorable." And then an oil transport sunk in our territory and our group was forced to relocate to mer sanctuaries, having to split up because of logistics.

"You are adorable," Chan agrees.

The sleeping merman whimpers.

Chan kneels down next to the sofa, so he's on eye level with the merman. He puts his palm on his shoulder, gently shaking him. "You're safe here."

The merman stirs, slowly opening his eyes. Chan smiles at him.