Donald Na X Gravy [And Other Short Stories]

The (Not So) Little Mermaid Part I

Once upon a time, there lived a prince named Hyunjin Cha, who was the younger brother of King Sangman. Their kingdom was located near the sea.

At night, Hyunjin often snuck out at night to go to a cliff. He would play his bass and sing, thinking that nobody was listening. It was one of Hyunjin's favorite past times. The reason he snuck out was because he knew Sangman would order guards to go with him, and Hyunjin did not want the guards to listen to his music.

One night, as Hyunjin was nearing the cliff's edge, he heard someone singing. At first, Hyunjin was annoyed and angered that someone had stolen his secret spot. But after a couple seconds, Hyunjin realized that the singing was beautiful. 

"Hello?" Hyunjin called. "Who's there?"

Immediately, the singing ceased, followed by a loud splash. 

Hyunjin walked closer to the cliff's edge, but saw no one present except him. "Hey, you're a pretty good singer,"

There was another splash, followed by a meek voice asking, "Really?"

"Yeah," Hyunjin looked around, but still could not find the owner of the voice. "Where are you? There's a cave beneath this cliff. Are you there?"

"Yes..."

"Should I come down there so we can properly introduce ourselves?" Hyunjin looked around for a way to get down quickly.

"No! Stay away!"

'He must be shy,' Hyunjin thought. "Okay, I won't go to the cave," He sat down on the edge like he always had. "I'm Hyunjin Cha," He instantly regretted revealing his name. 'He'll probably try to suck up to me since I'm the prince,'

"I'm Gerard Jin. I'm sixteen years old. You?"

'He doesn't know my age?' Hyunjin noted. 'If he knew I was the prince, he should've known my age. Is he a foreigner?' "I'm also sixteen. Do you live nearby?"

There was a brief pause. "I live...around here,"

'He sounds like he's lying,' Hyunjin was not convinced at all. "So why are you in the cave down there?"

"I wanted to rest,"

"Aren't you cold?" Hyunjin asked. "I can bring you a jacket,"

"I'm fine,"

There was a brief silence between the two boys. "Wanna hear a song?" Hyunjin picked up his bass and began to play while singing. Since he had overheard Gerard singing, then it's only fair that he sings for him, right?

Once Hyunjin was done, he heard Gerard clapping loud enough for Hyunjin to hear. "You're really good at singing too,"

"Yeah," Hyunjin blushed slightly, not being used to his music being complimented. I mean, besides Sangman, Gerard was the only person who heard him sing. "I wrote and composed the song myself. I play the bass. Do you play any instruments?"

"No," There was a few more splashes. "Shit, I need to get going,"

"Wait!" Hyunjin called out. "Do you wanna meet here again tomorrow? Same time?"

Gerard didn't immediately answer, as if he were very hesitant and reluctant. "Okay," There was then several loud splashes.

Hyunjin could tell that Gerard was gone. 'He's swimming at this hour?'

XXX

Prince Gerard Jin of Do-Eui Kingdom happily swam back home. He had made a new friend! Sure, it was a human and merfolk were never supposed to interact with humans but...what Gerard's older brother, King Jinwoo, didn't know won't hurt him.