Splash of Love | j.hs au

Chapter 1

As the surface of the water came closer, your heart thumped with excitement. Ever so slowly, you broke the surface and made sure that it wasn't hasty like the few times you had done so. This time it was perfect! Only the top of your head and eyes were visible. The ocean was quiet tonight, gently lapping at the beach. There seemed to be a few humans tonight.

Slowly, you swam forward and were careful of not making too much noise. You caught sight of the humans sitting by a fire and others walking around. Look how free they were! You watched as some of them jumped into the ocean. Going between land and ocean looked like fun! It was a few minutes when you felt something tug on your tail. Huffing, you sunk back into the water and saw the culprit.

"Mother told us not to go near the surface or land!" Jihyo, one of your older sisters, scolded you.

"I just wanted to see." You replied.

Jihyo sighed. "You're not allowed to go near. We've told you this countless times! When are you going to learn, huh, Y/N?"

You rolled your eyes. "I was watching from a safe distance and besides it's night! Stop lecturing me." You began to swim away from her.

"Don't swim away when I'm talking to you!" Jihyo snapped and went after you. "Humans are dangerous. You obviously need to be lectured."

So overbearing. "Stop. Not all of them, Jihyo!" You retaliated and then stopped as Jihyo swam in front of you.

She narrowed her eyes. "And if you get caught by a bad one? Looks like you'll end up in some science lab or be killed. Don't you think of the consequences or are you dense?"

You knew she had a point but you weren't backing down. "I know the consequences and I'm willing to accept them unlike you."

Before Jihyo could answer, a new voice interrupted. "Stop it you two." you turned to see your other older sister, Irene. "Mother wants you two back home." Her eyes glanced between you. "Let's go." She left without another word. Both you and Jihyo swam after her.

In parts of the deeper oceans resided homes for mermaids. Most of them are built with coral and rocks with a few seaweed here and there. Although, they looked more haphazardly placed to create hiding spots from larger predators. The three of you continued past most of them until you reached yours. You slipped in to see your mother along with your younger brother and sister.

Your mother looked up from brushing your sister's hair. "Welcome home. It's almost dinner time." She set down the coral brush and stood up from the rock stool. While she went to the pile of food, your younger sister Jimin swam up to you and hugged your waist.

"Can we play later?" She asked, eyes bright.

You smiled, unable to resist her charms. "Of course!"

Your younger brother perked up. "Playing with swords?"

"Sure!" You smiled. In the corner of your eye, you could see Jihyo roll her eyes. Ugh. Of course she would deem leaving the sword fighting to the guys. Probably because she wasn't able to properly fight with a sword.

Just in time, your father and older brother swam in. In their hands were their swords and some fish. "We brought back dinner!" Your father announced. Everyone let out small cheers. You watched as the guys set down the seaweed net containing the fish on the ground. Your mom passed out everyone's fish.

You took a big bite out of the fish, enjoying the taste. At least this was a new species of fish and not the same ones you've been eating. So there was a difference in flavor. Nothing eventful happened throughout dinner, besides your thoughts were focused on the humans.

The ocean was a bit scary at night. During the day, sunlight barely managed to touch the homes for mermaids but when it was night, it was almost pitch-black. Sitting up from your rock, you looked to see your other family members still sleeping. You couldn't sleep at all. Setting the seaweed blanket aside, you swam as quietly as you could. Once outside your home, you swam away.

Thankfully, mermaids were equipped with sonic waves. You continued swimming through the dark ocean, occasionally hearing the nocturnal sea creatures every once in a while. At last you returned to the spot you were earlier. You barely broke the surface of the water and your eyes caught sight of humans again!

This time, there was a strange orange glow on the beach. Humans were gathered around it. Out of the corner of your peripheral vision, you could see more humans climbing a rock. You furrowed your eyebrows, wondering why they were doing that. From here, you could hear muffled voices and then all of a sudden, they jumped into the water one by one. Cheers emitted from them every time someone jumped. Then another person jumped but they never resurfaced.

You could hear the panic in their voices. Without thinking of consequences, you slipped back underneath the water and swam towards the destination. Using echolocation, you finally found the human. Grabbing their arms, you began pulling them towards the shore. Thankfully, there were clumps of rocks gathered here so you were hidden from view of the other humans. You dragged them onto the shore and stopped so you could make a quick escape.

Your eyes caught onto the human. And he was gorgeous. A perfect jawline, a sharp nose with thin lips and smooth skin. Like you were entranced, you pushed back some of the brown hair away from his face and you were stunned once more. Wow, he's beautiful.

Then all of a sudden, his eyes were starting to flutter open. You caught the brown eyes looking at you for a second. Voices then started getting near. Panicking, you rushed back towards the ocean and went underwater.

Your heart was pounding loudly against your chest. It seemed to be the only thing you could hear. Good thing, you swam quite aways and it allowed you to peek again. The person you rescued sat up in a daze and from this distance, you couldn't hear what they were saying. You bit your lip as he looked out towards the ocean. Slowly, you slipped underneath the water and headed home so you wouldn't face your family scolding you again.