Nothing in his life had ever compared to the horror San felt when he saw the robotic arm pulling Wooyoung from the water. As confused as he was with everything he had just seen, he knew Wooyoung was in danger.

The first thing he did was reach for his walkie talkie, then he remembered it had shattered. He had no idea who it was he would have called anyway.

So he pulled out his cell phone and tried to call Jongho, but the room he was in had no service. He was so panicked right now that he didn't think about all the water and glass messing with the signal.

San glanced at the tank one more time before running down the tunnel and heading back to the employee break room.

He was just about there when another door opened and the aquarium director stepped out and San slid to a stop. "Ah! Choi San, I was just about to come find you. We have some things to go over."

San opened his mouth to try and protest, but this was only the third time his boss had sought him out since starting here, and despite what he just saw, part of him still wanted to make a good impression. He pressed his lips together in a thin line and nodded. "Of course, Sir, what is it?"

"I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here so late." The older man flashed a teasing smile that made his face light up. His statement was true, he was hardly ever here while San was on duty.

The aquarium director, Mr. Choi, as ironic as that had been for both San and Jongho, seemed to be a nice man. He was wildly successful, all because of the aquarium, and was now one of the most well known men in their city. For being in his mid forties, he was very in-tune with every generation and had done a good job making sure his aquarium would be loved by everyone.

It hadn't come without it's stress though. His black hair was already peppered with white flecks and there were several wrinkles on his forehead. But the man always managed to have a smile on his face.

"I'm here," Mr. Choi continued, "to go over the new expectations with you. As you know, we've been setting up an exhibit that is going to be huge. Some of my men found something that is going to change the world as we know it. And," he placed both hands on San's shoulders to make sure they could face each other square on, "I'm counting on you to help me keep it safe. This is going to be your number one priority now, do you understand?"

San tried to swallow the lump of dread in his throat, but when he wouldn't move, he settled for just nodding his head.

"Good boy. I still expect you to do your rounds, but when you're not, you are either to be in the security room watching the cameras or by our new exhibit. I've set up an entire new system so someone breaking in through the back will be near impossible, but we can never be too careful. Come, let me show you."

The pair made their way back to the new exhibit built to contain Wooyoung. San's eyes immediately flicked to the open space where he last saw the boy, but there was no sign of him. San didn't know if he should be relieved or not...

"This is the main exhibit. I'm going to hire some extra guards during the day to help with the rest of the aquarium and make this Jongho's main station since he's my most senior guard. I may hire another one to help you at night too, but we will play that one by ear. But, as you can see, it's now the largest tank we have. Come." Mr. Choi motioned for San to follow and they went to the small door cut into the side of the tank.

San could feel his heart racing and it was getting harder and harder for him to keep calm. Sweat was starting to gather on his forehead and he could feel his fingers twitching at his side.

"Back here is an area I want you to patrol but not linger. We don't need you getting in the way. This is where all our scientists will work gathering information on the new specimen, and we are going to need to gather as much of it as possible so that we know how to better take care of it." Mr. Choi stopped and took a deep breath while puffing out his chest. "You know I've never been in this for the money, but... this is going to be our ticket to bigger and better things, my boy. I'll finally be able to upgrade my other tanks, get better filtering systems, higher quality food... You're going to help me, right?" Mr. Choi had the most hopeful and sincere look in his eyes that had San wanting to help him.

He had been treated so well since he had started working here. Everyone who worked at the aquarium was welcoming and truly loved working there.

But now he knew that all of this was to imprison Wooyoung, which San was still having a hard time processing exactly what he had seen earlier.

"San?"

"S-Sorry. It's just..." San rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's a lot to take in, I get it." Mr. Choi said as they continued to walk through the stark white back rooms of the aquarium. "But this is very important, San, and with the added responsibility you will also get a pay raise, a substantial one." He turned and looked back once more. "Can I count on you?"

San hesitated for a moment, but he nodded. "Yes, Sir." It nearly killed him to say it, but he figured if he could s gay on the inside then maybe he'd have an easier time figuring out what was going on.

"Thank you." Mr. Choi gave a kind smile and started walking again. "So as you know, this area has been used for all our testing and research, but we are going to work on upgrading our equipment back here too. If the specimen isn't in the tank then it will be back here. Those are the only two places in the entire aquarium so if it's missing an alarm will sound and shut down he entire building. Which is all controlled here." He motioned to a large, new control box located in one of the back hallways.

They spent the next almost hour going over all the control and different alarms that had been installed, and each new fact drove a knife deeper into San's heart. Dozens of new cameras had been added to the building and surrounding parking lots and alleys. Every entrance was given a new scanner for keycards and also required a retinal scan to get in. There were also several more locked doors which used a keypad and thumbprint to unlock.

San's head spun with all the new information, but thankfully he was given a small packet with all the information that he could review and memorize, along with his new keys, pins, and... his eyes widened when he saw what his new pay would be.

It was nearly doubled.

He instantly looked up at Mr. Choi and only received a wink in return before he was taken to the machine that would take his retinal scan.

When it was all over, San knew there was no way he was going to catch Jongho and he would feel awful for waking the younger up.

With the knowledge that he was now in charge of the entire nighttime security, San stopped by the security office to take a look at all the new cameras that had been installed. He really had a view of everything now.

There was Mr. Choi walking to his car. And on another screen was one of the nighttime feeders taking a bucket of fish to Tika and the other mammals they had. And there...

San gasped and covered his mouth with both hands.

The aquarium's scientists had Wooyoung in a smaller tank and were circling him like vultures. It looked like there were several machines hooked up to him as well.

And all San could do was stand there and watch.

How... How was this even possible? Wooyoung... a merman? There had to be some kind of mistake here. Mermaids weren't real. They were... stories and myths and...

There was one right in front of him on the camera.

Now that San thought about it, this did explain just how different Wooyoung had been the whole summer... How full of life and curious he was about everything, and how he still had an air of mystery around him.

Wooyoung was a merman.

And now he was being held prisoner by the aquarium San worked for.

What was he supposed to do now?

Part of San hoped that when he woke up tomorrow, he'd realize this was all just some super, crazy, elaborate dream.

But deep down, San knew this was real.

Hours passed with San either watching that one camera or pacing back and forth in the security room.

A couple of hours before opening, the scientists finally made their move. San watched from camera to camera as they moved Wooyoung, in a blanket or something similar attached to poles, back to the main tank to dump him inside.

San ran out of the room as soon as the scientists were gone.

When he reached the main tank, San slide to a stop right by the glass and started looking around for any sign of his friend.

A flash of purple caught his attention. San turned to see Wooyoung peeking out at him from behind a rock.

He looked terrified.

"Youngie." San stepped forward and placed his hand against the glass. "Oh, Youngie." He whispered.

It took a couple of minutes, but Wooyoung eventually swam forward and hovered in place so he could place his hand over San's.

It was all so surreal. But the one thing that San couldn't stop thinking about was how gorgeous Wooyoung was. Even with how scared he looked, there was some sort of inner beautify that radiated from him, to the point where it almost looked like he was glowing.

"How?" San said, his voice still in a low whisper.

Wooyoung looked away in shame. His tail moved gracefully below him, keeping him level while stirring up some of the sand beneath him.

San tapped on the glass to get his attention again. "Are you ok?" He asked, keeping his words slow.

The merman's shoulders rose and fell in a sigh, then he lowered himself to the tank floor. A cloud of sand billowed around him, which he let settle before writing in the sand.

I'm scared.

"I am too. How is this possible?"

Long story.

San pressed his lips together and let his forehead rest against the glass. Then he slid to the floor to be at eye level again with the boy who had captured his heart. "I missed you."

Wooyoung's lower lip trembled a little and he pressed himself as close to the glass as he could. His lips moved to form the words, "I missed you too," and San felt tears come to his eyes.

After a wonderful summer, full of so many happy memories and... a boy that changed San's life forever, he was so mad that they were separated by a wall of glass. San realized that, even though he still didn't fully believe it, he didn't care that Wooyoung was some mythical creature that wasn't supposed to exist.

He was still Wooyoung. The funny, adorable, charming, wondrous Wooyoung that he had missed so much.

That he loved.

As San stared into the beautiful honeyed eyes in front of him, he knew... he knew it was all true.

He loved Wooyoung. One summer, and he was head over heels for someone he now knew he didn't know anything about.

Slowly, San pressed his hand to the glass again. When Wooyoung was looking at him straight on, San's face hardened. "I'm going to get you out of here."