SECOND LIFE ; [윤정한 x 최승철]

5 : Help

Seungcheol smiled and offered his hand to the young merman, "My name is Seungcheol. You were the one who saved me from drowning before, right?"

Jeonghan's eyes widened, surprised that the young prince remembered him. "You remember me?"

"Of course! You saved my life. I owe you my life." Seungcheol said, smiling. However, remembering how his kingdom is suffering right now, he couldn't help but feel sad.

"Hey, why do you seem gloomy all of a sudden?" The young merman couldn't help but ask. Seungcheol then heaved a sigh, "Well, your father had put a curse on our kingdom. He casted a spell wherein we won't be able to experience rain for the next ten years, and that we were given only a very small portion of the sea. Most of it, we are already banned from entering. That also explains the invisible barrier I couldn't cross." Seungcheol explained.

Jeonghan's face seemed to drop, and Seungcheol immediately assured him, "It's not your father's fault though! I promise. I don't hold any grudges to your father. My father was at fault for this. Your father was just protecting what should be protected." Seungcheol said, having a full understanding of the current situation.

"Still, I am sorry if my father have put your whole kingdom at stake for your father's mistake alone." Jeonghan said. Suddenly, an idea popped in his head.

"How about this? I will help you supply your needs until the ten-year curse is over. I'll make sure my father won't know." Seungcheol was surprised with the idea. "Think of this as a payback for saving my sister."

Seungcheol was about to refuse when Jeonghan prevented him from doing so, "I don't accept refusals nor declines."

Seungcheol sighed in defeat. Little did they know that this friendship of theirs will bloom into something more than they could ever think of.

-

Seungcheol asked his mother to ask few of their servants to place a dam and a dozen of baskets near the shore. This will help Jeonghan to fill in their dam on a regular basis easier.

Confused, but Seung complied with her son's request and have some of their servants place a dam and a dozen of baskets near the shore.

Once placed, the servants then left according to Seungcheol's order. He promised to keep Jeonghan and his help confidential to himself only.

Jeonghan, using his powers, filled the dam with water. He then also summoned edible fishes and placed them slowly on the baskets filled with water. This will sustain the whole kingdom's food supply.

"You don't really have to do this..." Seungcheol said as soon as Jeonghan is done with what he was doing.

"I don't have to, but I want to." Jeonghan smiled at Seungcheol. They locked eyes, but then their eye contact broke when they heard a voice from a distance.

Jeonghan immediately swam back to the water and Seungcheol stood there, looking innocent. As if he didn't do anything.

Seungcheol sighed in relief when he saw that the person owning that voice which startled both him and Jeonghan was just his mother, Seung.

"Seungcheol-ah! There you are, I've been looking for you---" Seung wasn't able to continue what she was saying when she saw the dam filled with water and the dozen of baskets filled with seafoods.

"Seungcheol-ah...where did all of this come from?" Seung asked her son.

Seungcheol looked at Jeonghan's direction, asking through his eyes if he can tell his mother. Jeonghan nodded as a response.

"It was from the boy who saved me from drowning two years ago. The brother of the young mermaid I freed." Seungcheol answered softly so that no one could hear him except for his mother.

Seungcheol once again looked at Jeonghan's direction, which Seung followed. There, she saw the blonde young merman which slightly bowed his head before swimming back into the water.

Seung felt moved with the young merman's kindness towards their kingdom, more specifically, to her som.

Later that day, Seung asked several servants to distribute the food and water they just obtained from the young merman. Seung and Seungcheol made a promise to keep this a secret.

Seungcheol is worried that he might put Jeonghan's life at risk if he will reveal how they got all of these foods.

-

Months have gone by and Jeonghan never missed a single day to help the kingdom of Lirei to overcome the crisis created by his own father.

Seungcheol is sitting on a rock near the shore but far from the kingdom, below him, almost beside him, is the young merman Jeonghan.

"Thank you so much for helping our kingdom." Seungcheol sincerely expressed his gratitude towards Jeonghan.

"Your father's mistake is his alone. Your kingdom must not suffer for his wrongdoings." Jeonghan said and smiled. He started to play with the water using his tail.

Seungcheol smiled, "Your tail is sparkly and beautiful." He said, complimenting Jeonghan's tail.

"Thanks. Only the ones from the royal family can have a sparkly tail like mine." Jeonghan smiled, sharing his personal life with the young human prince.

"That's a nice distinction between royals and normal mermaids." Seungcheol said. He then lowered himself a bit, "Can I touch it?" He asked for Jeonghan's permission.

"Sure." Jeonghan then flapped his tail lightly so that Seungcheol could touch it easier.

Seungcheol smiled a little, "This seems so unreal to me." He said and chuckled.

"It's actually amusing how our existence seems unreal for humans, while it's almost the same for us when we found out the existence of humans." Jeonghan said and stared into the sea.

It's almost sunset.

After a few moments, Seungcheol grabbed Jeonghan's hand. "You're the most precious friend that I have right now, Jeonghan. I am more than thankful that I crossed paths with you."

"Likewise, Seungcheol. Likewise."