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It is said that once a person stood on this certain shore, a soothing hum could be heard from afar, lulling oneself to follow their urge to seek after this sound in the mysterious sea. This particular fable caused thousands of human beings to visit this place, disappearing once they laid their feet on this forsaken ground.
However, one person was able to come back alive and sound, which turned out to be the loved-by-all Crown Prince of the Yoo Kingdom, Yoo Joonghyuk. What the public didn’t know was that the Crown Prince had found his life and death companion and the story behind their faithful meeting.
“Hyuk-ah…” a bored merman called out, splashing ocean water on the taller man that idly sat near him. Kim Dokja was lazily leaning against a small boulder, demanding for his companion’s attention.
By only one glance, oneself would he stunned by the merman’s breath taking appearance – snowy white skin and pearly fish tail, short thick raven hair and long eyelashes adorning starry eyes that twinkled along with a playful smirk the merman wore. With such blessed looks, it was easy for the merman to lure people in and offer them to the Lord of the Sea in exchange for his guaranteed safety, considering that he was the last remaining of his kind.
But for some reasons, when the merman met the young Crown Prince a decade ago – even before the Crown Prince mastered the Art of Swordsmanship – he hesitated to take that child to the Lord of the Sea. The merman would usually be merciless and take that foolish human, but that day, he decided to let him go and take an innocent fisherman’s life instead.
Upon remembering that faithful day, the Crown Prince smiled, completely ignoring the merman’s annoying squelches. Ah, it’s been a decade since him and Kim Dokja knew each other. Because after Kim Dokja released him, Yoo Joonghyuk would’ve sneak out to visit him daily with no fail – the merman eventually gave up and accepted the fact that this foolish human being wouldn’t leave him alone.
It's not like Kim Dokja disliked it anyway, or that’s what Yoo Joonghyuk thought.
“Hyuk-ah!!!” Kim Dokja screamed, slapping him with his tail. “Are you deaf? I was asking you whether you’d like some sea urchin!”
“Huh? Ah, sure.” Yoo Joonghyuk muttered, getting lost in his memories as he raised his hand to ruffle the merman’s damp hair.
“Geez.” Kim Dokja huffed, slapping the Crown Prince’s hand away.
“I’ve always been wondering,” Yoo Joonghyuk unconsciously spoke out loud, prompting Kim Dokja to look his way. “Why did you let me go that day? Why didn’t you feed me to the Lord of the Sea instead?”
The merman went silent, not expecting Yoo Joonghyuk to ask such a question. His original intention was to completely avoid answering him, but seeing his companion’s expression, he quickly dismissed the original plan.
“Truth to be told, asides from protection, the Lord of the Sea promised me another thing.” Kim Dokja chose his words cautiously, not allowing any mistakes. “I took a peek into my future, and your presence there.” He scratched the back of his head, a silly smile creeping up his face. “I guess I was curious about you, haha.”
Upon hearing Kim Dokja’s response, Yoo Joonghyuk had realized that he worded out his thoughts. Knowing that it was too late, he sighed, turning his head to face his companion.
“And what did you expect?” Yoo Joonghyuk breathed out, closing the distance between him and Kim Dokja. “What did you see?”
“I-I’m not sure. It was blurry.” Kim Dokja stuttered as he noticed that him and the Crown Prince were too close, inching away.
“Don’t go.” Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t even bother to hide his clinginess, wrapping his arms around the merman’s waist. “I want to create a future with you.”
“What?” Kim Dokja’s expression turned blank, staring directly into his soul. “I could literally be your grandfather.”
“We’re both adults, where’s the problem?”
“I’m a murderous merman, you’re the Crown Prince of the Yoo Kingdom. There’d be a huge controversy among your people.”
“I can give up on the throne and give it to Mia-yah.”
“You’d still need heirs. I’m a male.”
“A close friend of mine is a witch.”
“That witch’s spells don’t work on the Lord of the Sea’s subordinates!”
Yoo Joonghyuk’s frown deepened with each excuse that Kim Dokja had managed to cook up, the merman’s face turning redder by each second. It was obvious that Kim Dokja wanted him too, so why he kept going further from him?
“Kim Dokja.” The Crown Prince emphasized on each syllable of the merman’s name, cupping his face to bring him even closer. Kim Dokja’s breath hitched, his body freezing as he was waiting for Yoo Joonghyuk’s husky voice to tingle his ears once more.
“You have 10 seconds to say no. If you say no, I’ll leave this place forever, but if you say yes, I’m bringing you with me to turn you into my wife.” Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes glistened, giving Kim Dokja a moment of silence before he started to count slowly.
“Ten,”
Several memories flooded Kim Dokja’s head, from meeting the young Crown Prince at the shore to rescuing the drowning adult from the depth of the Lord of the Sea’s territory.
“Nine,”
Remembering how small Yoo Joonghyuk’s smile was absolutely brightening to barely seeing him smile nowadays.
“Eight,”
Recalling the warm hands that touched his cold-blooded body when winter was approaching, and the waters were freezing, causing Kim Dokja to swim with great difficulty.
“Seven,”
A sense of nostalgia washed over him as a picture of teenager Yoo Joonghyuk jumped into the water to kill that one fish that Kim Dokja pointed out for its amount of fat out of boredom.
“Six,”
The big, round eyes that desired to see the entire world began to only look at one particular person, who seemed to be so sharp minded yet so oblivious.
“Five,”
All the ancient scrolls, fairytales from the Crown Prince’s childhood and books from the Royal library that he sneaked out for the merman once he found out about his passion for stories.
“Four,”
The delicious food that Yoo Joonghyuk always brought with him whenever he was meeting the killing merman after his hunt, savoring each bite that was made with passion and care.
“Three,”
A young adult that cut his long, beautiful hair once the immortal merman admitted that he liked the Crown Prince’s shorter hair more.
“Two,”
The amount of time that they spent together, each hour feeling like a millisecond, not wanting to say goodbye.
“On-“
Before Yoo Joonghyuk could finish counting, Kim Dokja’s gaze became blurry as he dashed out of the salty water to seal their lips together, holding onto him tightly as his heart pounded vigorously, feeling finally free.
“Yes.” Kim Dokja’s voice became as serene as a fleeting dream, full of affection and earning, “Yes, Yoo Joonghyuk. Take me home with you and make me your wife.”