Splash of Love | j.hs au

Chapter 2

A sigh your left lips as you watched your older brother and younger brother play fight with the swords. Your little sister had been whisked away to play with her other friends but she had asked to handle the swords later. You couldn't say no to her and off she went. So, here you were stuck watching your brothers fight with their swords. At least it gave you some time to think about what happened last night.

You just couldn't believe that you rescued him! Agh, and his face had been occupying your mind! You shook your head, trying to get rid of the thought. But you couldn't help it. It was your first time getting near a human and you wanted to see him again. Now you were feeling like a lovesick seal.

"You suck, Wonho." Your little brother commented.

Wonho was highly offended. "B-But I won against you like three times!"

"And I won four." Your little brother shot back. He turned to you with huge eyes. "Wanna go next, Y/N?"

You were brought out of your thoughts. Thankfully, you were quick-witted so they wouldn't suspect a thing. "Sure!" You grabbed a sword - they were made out of the horns on narwhals or tusks when the animal lost them. Wonho sulked to the spot where you were as you and your sibling began to fight.

He had gotten better but with your experience you managed to defeat him. Your little brother grinned, eyes looking up at you in admiration despite him being pinned to the sandy ground. "I want to be like Y/N!"

A bright smile appeared on your face. "Good choice! Don't want to be like Wonho, huh?" You teased and helped your little brother get up.

"Don't be mean!" Wonho cried out, once again being belittled by his younger siblings. "Shush your mouth, brat!" He grabbed your little brother and started spinning in circles. Laughter escaped from the three of you.

"Y/N." A voice interrupted the joyous moment. You froze seeing your father swimming towards you. A sigh came from him. "Sword fighting is not for-"

"Mermaids." You finished, dropping the sword to the ground. "It's a stupid tradition." You said.

Your father just stared at you not wanting to argue with you once again. But your brothers did. "Y/N is better at sword fighting than you, dad!" Your little brother shouted, an angry look crossed his face.

Wonho agreed. "You need to bring it up to the council so we can let anyone fight. Y/N is better than everyone there." He commented. Your heart swelled at the caring nature of your brothers.

"I keep trying." Your father sounded defeated as he picked up the sword you dropped. "I know my girl can defeat everyone."

You kept silent, knowing your dad was trying his best to convince the council but alas it all ended up in failures. Especially since some of the mermaids were against the idea and wanted to keep the tradition and the stubborn minds of the council. Last time that happened, you spoke about it to the council and you were humiliated. Mockings of you and your family tried to stop all the teasing except Jihyo who stayed quiet, gaze averted. That started one of the many fights with your sister. Your family looked at you in concern as you began swimming away. Wonho was about to go after you when their father suggested they give you space for now.

Mindlessly, you swam without a destination in mind. Next thing you knew, you were at the same beach last night. There were only a few people here and there walking on the beach or playing with a white ball. Then you noticed him. He was here again! Your lips parted in surprise as he walked along the shore of the beach walking some land creature. The land creature was happily wagging that long limb from its butt and it was oddly shiny like a fish.

You ducked underneath the water once more and swam a little closer to the shore. Now you were closer to the rocks and you watched as the guy sat down on the sand. He petted the land creature who let out a noise. You hid behind a rock and stared at him. He laughed, making your heart do crazy things.

"I'm crazy, huh, Sunny?" He asked the land creature. But the animal simply tilted their head with the limb wagging back and forth. He sat there for a few more moments. "I thought I would see the person who saved me last night here..."

He was talking about you! You gasped. He really did remember you!

Some noise interrupted the atmosphere as he pulled a strange box out of his pocket. "Oh whoops. I better get you back home to your owner or else I won't get paid." He stood up, brushing off some of the sand from his shorts. Then he started walking away, the land creature following behind.

You let out a sigh and dipped back into the water. You wanted to explore the land! Experience the land and wonder what life was like. Maybe even become friends with that mystery guy! "I wish I could..."

A pretty fish then swam right in front of you. You rolled your eyes at the fish that kept getting in your way. A bit irritated, you tried shooing away the pretty black and white fish. "C'mon. I want to go." You said to the fish. It wasn't listening. And the fish practically slapped your face with its fins.

"What is wrong with you?" You once again tried to shoo away the fish but now it was swimming in circles. The behavior of this fish was strange... "Did you want me to follow you...?" You asked and the fish took off in a direction. Well, you didn't want to go home so soon anyways. So, you took off after the fish. It led you above some of the vibrant coral reefs passing a few other sea creatures. At last, it ducked into a sea cave. You were at the entrance of the cave, barely picking up any light in there.

"Welcome!" A voice called out from the cave making you flinch.

"H-Hello?" Slowly, you swam a little into the cave.

"Come in! I assume you have a problem or that you want something?" The voice asked.

You continued into the cave and found yourself face to face with another mermaid. "How would you know?" You asked.

She smiled, flashing sharp teeth. Wait... Your eyes glanced towards her tail. Yep, she was a shark mermaid. Some mermaids had octopus tentacles, shark tails, whale tails, the list could go on. You were a simple mermaid with the tail of a fish. "Because my friend," She gestured to the little fish that you followed. "Heard you saying 'I wish'. What do you wish for?"

You were a bit suspicious of her. "Well, I don't need it."

"Hm..." Her eyes narrowed and then she closed them. "You want to go on land and find a human?"

Your mouth dropped in surprise. "W-What?"

She opened her eyes again. "That is what I heard in your inner desires. I don't understand why you would want to go on land. The ocean is much better."

"You've been on land?"

"Yeah. I was human before I got turned into a mermaid. I was a psychic and couldn't deal with life anymore. So, here I am!" She opened her arms and spun once.

"Then can you help me?" Hope was laced in your tone now.

"Oh? Now you want my help?" She then swam towards the back of the cave, her little fish friend following her.

Just like you. "Y-Yes! Can you give me legs?"

Now you entered a spacious area. On the rock walls were small bottles of colored liquids, small trinkets you've never seen before and in the middle was a rock formation which looked like a bowl.

"I have just the thing." She started. Hope lit up in your eyes. "But I need payment."

"What do you need?" You asked quickly.

She hummed in thought. "Are you familiar with the council?" You nodded. "Well, they are afraid of me since I practice magic and they took a few of my things. They stole my necklace which I treasure very much. I want you to take it back for me. I might have not liked the land that much but that necklace is special to me. Can you take it back?"

"Yes! What does it look like?"

"It's a gold necklace with a pretty red stone on it." A smile formed on her lips from some distant memory she seemed to remember.

"Alright got it!" You said and then realization hit you. "What's a necklace?"

"Oh dear."