A Thief!

2K 140 6
                                    

On that windy evening, Wang Yibo had nothing to do so he decided to take a walk along the sea side. He liked the feel of the cool breeze on his face. Everyone had retired into their homes for the day and Yibo could finally walk around without having to face his neighbors. He didn't like the pitiful look they gave him. Yibo grew up here with his parents in a small village close to the sea. The people here were primarily fishermen and Yibo had learnt the job from a tender age.

He was the only child of his parents and they spent a lot to put him through school. Yibo was grateful to them and promised himself to take good care of them when he became capable, something he ended up failing at. Not that he didn't want to, he simply got distracted along the way.

Yibo thought back to his time in K country. He spent a total of 6years there. He left his parents when he was barely 17 to school abroad. During his break, he didn't come home. He took the opportunity to intern in various companies, trying to gather experience that he might need to succeed in the labour market. Also, he wanted to make some money to help himself, relieving his parents of the burden of sending him almost everything they had just to make his life easier in a foreign country.

As he walked, he remembered his teenage days. He loved to be by the sea. Even after the day's work, he was sure he went back just to spend time around the water. This was what he missed the most when he left home. He felt a certain emptiness in his heart he couldn't explain, he only knew he would give anything just to stroll casually along the shore as he did years ago. Finally, he was back here but to his dismay, it didn't make that emptiness go away. Instead, the feeling had become more and more intense.

Yibo noticed a boat belonging to his father, not too far from him swaying, as if something big was making it move. There had been a few cases of boats being destroyed by large sea animals so he strolled over to take a look. Starting the engine was enough to scare away whatever was around it.

To Yibo's greatest surprise, it was no animal but... a person. He was squatted, struggling with a fish net cast not too far from the boat. Perhaps he was trying to steal someone's catch as everyone had gone in for the day. Yibo wanted to yell and scare the person away but he found himself drawn to the person like two unlike poles of a magnet. From his back, Yibo could tell he was a man even though he had extremely long hair. His skin looked shiny, almost as if it was made of glass. Yibo wondered how it would feel to touch it, he guessed it must feel silky.

Unable to undo the net, the person stood up in frustration. He picked up a knife and started to jab at it. Yibo could tell he wasn't from around there. He could undo a net as early as when he was 5 years old. The thing Yibo found the most striking was that this person was... naked. He had nothing on. Yibo didn't notice at first as his hair was spread over his back, covering most of the view.

Yibo took a few steps closer and the person finally noticed he had company. He turned around and his eyes met with Yibo's. Everything around them seemed to stand still, Yibo found himself unable to move. He thought this person had beautiful blue eyes. He could tell this person was almost the same age as he was, maybe younger. He had a slim figure and a perfect set of abs and a tiny waist. His legs were so long, they accounted for most of his height. Yibo didn't know why but he found this naked stranger captivating.

"What are you doing?", his words finally brought the... thief out of his daze. Without saying a word, this young man turned around and started to run farther into the sea. Yibo was a good swimmer, he gave chase. He was curious about that person, he also wanted to know why this person was destroying the nets. Most of all, this person made his heart beat faster. Seeing such a strange person, the smart thing would be to not make a move alone but he felt different. He felt this person could cause no real harm.

Soon, the person started to swim and Yibo lost sight of him. His initial curiosity turned to apprehension. What was he running for? Was he trying to get himself killed? Yibo stopped where he was. He could no longer see the person, he knew he was swimming below the water surface. Yibo waited for the person to come out to take a breath but more than 3 minutes later, the person still didn't come out. He was probably hiding and Yibo decided the best thing to do was to leave hoping the person would feel safe enough to come out. He couldn't bear to have that person drown on his behalf.

Yibo turned around and moved back towards the shore, when he got to the boat to inspect the level of damage, he found 4 pieces of pearls lying on the boat. It was common to see pearls occasionally when fishing but having 4 of them just lying around, Yibo thought they were ordinary costumes. He had come across a lot of them back in k country and it was difficult to tell them apart from the real ones. He took them with him just to be sure. He left, this time, walking back home in the opposite direction from where he came. As he ended his evening walk, he turned around a few times to stare at the sea and hoped the strange boy was safe.

..........................................

Not too far from the sea, the young man sat. Heart beating so loudly that he felt it was going to jump out of his chest. He had come here for days but never did he imagine he was going to come across a person today. As Yibo walked away, this young man stared at his back, deep in thoughts. Only when Yibo was totally out of sight did he turn to leave, totally forgetting what he came for in the first place.

Do you believe in mer people COMPLETE Where stories live. Discover now