Wooyoung could still feel San's lips on his as he started the long swim home. He kept lifting his hand up to run his fingers over them and the memory would flash in his mind.

He was almost thankful things ended when they did. As much as he had wanted it to continue, his skin had been starting to itch and he knew he had been running out of time.

It had taken longer for it to happen though, so he hoped that maybe he could stay in his human for longer if he got used to it and practiced.

The thing that was the most puzzling, though, was just the action as a whole. He didn't know what it is called, but it was something that merpeople had never done.

Wooyoung knew that it was his human body that liked the sensation, but even now he felt like he would like it if San did it again.

The merman smiled and gave a few hard flicks of his tail to speed up. It was getting late and he knew that Yunho was probably waiting for him again at the edge of the city. But Wooyoung didn't think even they could dampen his mood right now.

He and San had had a moment together! Something special that was shared with just the two of them. Plus, he had learned so much about the human world.  Bathrooms were still odd and Wooyoung's mind strayed back to his discovery about human anatomy, but it just gave him motivation to do more research when he could.

Besides San, Wooyoung also loved that he had learned so much about human food. There were so many different flavors and textures available, it was incredible.

Wooyoung twisted his tail so he could spin in a tight spiral and started humming to himself, and he didn't stop, even when he saw a familiar shape sitting on a rock outside the city.

Yunho straightened up as soon as he saw Wooyoung.

The younger braced himself for another scolding. He slowed himself to a stop and saw that Yunho looked distressed. Surprisingly, the blue-tailed merman just let out a long sigh and shook his head before turning around and swimming back inside.

Wooyoung paused for a moment and then hung his head. He was definitely in trouble if Yunho wasn't even going to speak to him.

Which meant Mingi was going to unleash a different kind of furry.

He swam forward and followed the blue tail through the carved corridors and disappear through the seaweed in front of the room he shared with Mingi.

For a moment, Wooyoung debated going the other way and pretending he had never seen Yunho, but he wouldn't be able to get away with it. So he swam forward slowly and stopped right outside the arch. "Mingi?" He asked, his voice small and pathetic. Wooyoung closed his eyes and started playing with his own fingers.

Guilt was an awful thing...

The seaweed in front of him fluttered for a moment before it was drawn aside and Mingi appeared. His face was blank as he stared down at Wooyoung. The silence was deafening.

Wooyoung found his gaze drifting to the sand below him. "Mingi, I—"

"Just don't. It's obvious you don't care about our feelings, so do what you want. We aren't going to wait for you forever. If avoiding us is your way of giving us your answer then so be it." Mingi's throat bobbed as he swallowed. There was no anger or pain in his eyes. They were just dull.

Which hurt Wooyoung even more. He didn't want to hurt his friends like this...

"Good night, Wooyoung."

The dismissal was clear, although Wooyoung stayed in place for several minutes just watching the seaweed sway back and forth. He didn't want his friends to hate him but...

Slowly, he turned and swam back down the long hallways. He didn't feel like sleeping now. His mind was too active with worry, so he went back to his corner of the library and started pulling out his scrolls again.

The hours passed by slowly, and yet so fast at the same time. Before he knew it, Wooyoung could hear the workers of the palace rising for the morning to clean and prepare meals.

He let out a long yawn and pulled out another scroll. It would still be too early to return to the surface, so he would stay here for a little while longer and then sneak away. There was no point in going to talk to the others.

A few words on the scroll in front of him captured Wooyoung's attention. He readjusted himself, sending a small cloud of sand billowing in all directions, so he could lean a little closer. "A Study of Human Life. OH!" In his excitement he lifted himself off the sea floor a little and waited to settle back down before scanning the scroll.

A mermaid from several years ago had spent time as a human. She documented everything that she had observed. Wooyoung was guessing the scroll had been confiscated as soon as it was discovered, or once she was discovered, but merfolk believed in sharing knowledge so destroying something like this would almost be considered a crime.

Over the next several minutes, Wooyoung learned a lot more about what an average day looks like for a human. Three meals a day, clothes for weather, bathrooms, there was even observations on human relationships.

The mermaid had been fascinated by the way humans showed affection compared to merfolk. The biggest thing being kissing.

Wooyoung touched his lips when he realized that was what San had done last night.

Merfolk didn't do anything close to this. When a small pod of mates was formed, like Mingi and Yunho, they often created some form of matching jewelry to show they were spoken for. They would often connect foreheads while placing their hands on the back of the other's head and they would occasionally hold hands.

But overall, even though they had the upper body of a human, they were more closely related to the fish. The emotions Wooyoung had been feeling the past couple of days with San were something he was unfamiliar with.

Wooyoung jumped when something tiny brushed against his elbow.

He let out a small giggle when he saw two little, orange seahorses look up at him with their round eyes. Their tails twisted together for a second before they rose up to Wooyoung's eye level.

"Hi friends." He held up a finger and they both rubbed against it. "How did you get in here? Are you lost?"

They kept close to the merman as he rolled up the scroll and tucked it away. Then he held out his hands to form a little bowl to protect them. "Come on, let's get you back to the reef."

The small creatures shook with excitement and nuzzled against Wooyoung's fingers as he small out of the library. He held them close to his chest and nodded at anyone he passed. It was odd, he half expected someone to tell him where to find Mingi or Yunho, but no one mentioned it.

It had him chewing on his lower lip, but he had already told himself he wasn't going to worry about it today. If anything, he was almost contemplating just going to bed so he could get some sleep, but that would mean taking time away from San.

And he definitely wanted to see San again.

The seahorses peeked over his fingers when they started heading to the edge of the city. A large coral reef was situated there that the merpeople cherished and protected at all costs so that sea life could continue to thrive.

"Here you go, try not to wander off again, ok?" Wooyoung sank down and held his hands out so the seahorses could wrap their tails around some of the fan coral growing. They looked at him and extended their bodies to touch their noses to his fingers in a thank you.

It made the merman smile and he flipped over in a large circle to move away from the reef. A small school of yellow tangs swirled around him and he turned with them so he could watch them swim away.

Nearby, a large manta ray glided past while several smaller rays skimmed the bottom of the ocean.

It truly was a beautiful place to be, and Wooyoung loved it so much.

In his moment of distraction, Wooyoung found himself swimming to join the rays, reaching out to rub their slippery skin. He could feel a shiver of appreciation coming from them and a few even came up and rubbed against his tail.

Then in a flash, they were gone.

Wooyoung could feel the change in energy and stopped so he could turn in a slow circle.

There was only one reason why the fish would disperse like they did.

A shark, or sharks, was nearby.

It wasn't something Wooyoung was necessarily scared about. Sharks were a vital part of the echo system and they were just predators that needed to eat. But they were known to occasionally get lost in their hunger and had attacked merpeople before. 

He saw it a few moments later swimming over the coral reef.

It was a tiger shark, and a female, which meant it was even larger.

Wooyoung estimated that it had to be at least four meters long. He eyed it nervously, knowing he needed to stay calm but also be ready to swim away at a moments notice. The one curious thing he saw was an object floating by the shark's dorsal fin. It bobbed up and down in the water next to him.

The shark twisted to look at him and it flicked it's tail.

"Hi there. I'm going to just swim away now." Wooyoung gently moved his tail back and forth so he could start swimming for the surface.

That was the wrong move.

The shark darted forward and opened his jaws wide.

Wooyoung sucked in a breath and used his powerful tail to rocket forward. If this was going to turn into one of these moments, then he knew he needed to focus and get away as fast as he could. Tiger sharks were one of the few sharks that could actually catch him if he let his concentration slip.

His heart started to race as he tried to think of a spell he could use to help him, but there was no way he could pull on the magic now. He needed to be able to stop and focus on it and that just wasn't possible.

The shark tailed him closely, matching each twist and turn.

And it was herding him away from the city too, so there was no way Wooyoung could call for help.

In a moment of panic, the only thing he could think of was getting to the surface. If he could get into shallow water and pull himself up on the beach then he should be safe.

When he got closer to familiar waters, Wooyoung tried to put on another burst of speed. He was surprised the shark was still tailing him. Usually they would have dropped off by now. She must be having a hard time getting enough to eat...

Wooyoung noticed a few humans in the water ahead of him and turned sharply to the side to find an area along the beach where he wouldn't be seen.

Then a searing pain shot through his tail and Wooyoung screamed. He twisted around and pulled his tail to the side when the shark tried to readjust his grip. Blood filled the water, sending the shark into a crazed frenzy.

In a matter of seconds, Wooyoung found himself trying to twist around the shark to avoid its jaws. He managed to swim underneath her and held onto her sides. The confusion coming from the tiger shark was what he needed as she tried to figure out how to get to him.

Wooyoung muttered a few words under his breath and drew from the magic within him to immobilize the shark. It wouldn't last for long, and he didn't want it to because he didn't want to kill her, but it gave him just enough time to start swimming toward the surface and an empty stretch of beach while praying he didn't attract anything else with the trail of blood behind him...