Wave (Sanhwa)

Chapter 5

Soon fall turned into winter which meant colder weather, harsh winds, and snow. Seonghwa was upset since his dad had left to work a couple of weeks after the males eighth birthday meaning another christmas he would have to spend without the male. Seonghwa's disappointment continued to grow when he found out that he wouldn't be able to see San the whole season, the mermaid having informed him a few weeks ago that him and his pod migrate to warmer waters to spend their winters returning sometime during the spring. So, Seonghwa spent his winters like he always did, alone and bored. When spring finally arrived and San had come back the boys caught each other up on the things they missed in each others lives. San telling Seonghwa about the cool things he saw, and Seonghwa showing San some of his christmas gifts he had gotten, and eating oranges the second thing the mermaid missed while he was away besides Seonghwa.

As the years passed and the boys grew older, so did their friendship. Seonghwa and San were for the most part inseparable, spending countless days together making many fun memories as they did. Even though San's dad still was suspicious of who exactly Seonghwa was, San continued to make up excuses as to why his friend never came over to visit his pod or meet San's family. While Seonghwa's parents continued to keep the secret they knew about their son's mythical friend a secret among them, just happy to see that their son finally had a friend that made him happy. The boys were now both twelve, although Seonghwa would be turning thirteen in a few days, which the boy was excited for despite his dad not being there for it since the male was gone for work. San was currently swimming around, looking for something that he could gift to Seonghwa wanting this gift to be extra special since the human informed him that turning thirteen was a big deal since he would officially be a teenager. San was swimming close to the seafloor, his golden eyes scanning the sand for anything that seemed interesting.

When San spotted a pretty blue seashell, he rushed over to it picking it up out of the sand causing the water to become a bit cloudy. San ran his fingers over the seashell, it was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand and it was a pretty deep blue color. As San looked at the seashell he got an idea, a smile forming on his face. He knew exactly what he was going to give Seonghwa. San spent the rest of his day searching for various types of seashells all varying in color, he placed each shell that he liked into the pouch tied on his waist. As he was swimming he noticed the area around him get dark, the mermaid looked up gasping at what he saw, quickly hiding in a small cave that he was near, peeking out to look. Above San was a fishing boat, as the boat moved forward a huge net was dragged behind it deep below the water's surface. San's father has warned him about those types of boats and how unlucky merfolk have gotten caught in them never to be seen again. Once the boat and net were a ways away, San slowly swam out of his hiding spot. He decided that it would be better if he returned him, flicking his tail quickly as he rushed home.

Seonghwa was sitting on the sand as he waited for San to show up. Seonghwa had a pretty good birthday, his mom made him cupcakes this time and he had eaten about three of them before his mom told him he couldn't have any more. He also got a letter from his dad, wishing him happy birthday and that made Seonghwa beyond happy. Seonghwa was drawing things in the sand with a stick, watching as the water washed them away before he frew something else. "Hi!" San giggled as he popped his head out the water swimming closer to the shore. Seonghwa looked up smiling at his friend, "hey Sannie!" he giggled back putting the stick down. San rested his elbows on the sand keeping most of his body in the water. "How does it feel being a teenager now?" San asked, his voice a bit teasing. Seonghwa rolled his eyes at his friends tone, "it's actually quite fun, my mom gave me twenty dollars for my birthday and she even changed my bedtime to ten instead of eight" the boy bragged proudly. San giggled, "that is really cool" San spoke, before reaching his hand in his bag pulling out something wrapped in seaweed, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY HWA!!!!" the mermaid shouted as he handed the gift to the human.