finding yunho ❀ yunwoo

❝ four.

Two days had passed when Wooyoung decided he wanted to go back to the beach and see Yunho. Without even considering the mermaid might not be there, Wooyoung woke up very early, a little before sunrise, and went to the beach.

It wasn’t like he could expect anything but he still got disappointed that Yunho wasn’t there. “What was I even thinking,” he mumbled out under his nose quietly and plopped down on the sand. He wasn’t sulking. Or at least he wished he wasn’t.

As he looked around, he saw his old pile of pebbles that he had been collecting on the day when he met Yunho. But what surprised him was that it was now much bigger. He quickly got up and went over to the pile, looking at all the new pebbles. He took one of them in hands, gasping how smooth it felt against his touch.

“Do you like it?” He heard Yunho’s voice from the near distance and he immediately looked up only to see the mermaid in the water. “Come here, I’ve collected more."

There was completely no need for Wooyoung to think twice. He took his shirt and shoes off, leaving them on the sand along with his phone and everything else that was in his pockets. Then, he jumped into the water, swimming to Yunho to see that his hands were full of small and beautiful pebbles.

“Why are you collecting them?” Wooyoung asked as he took a part of the pebbles from Yunho’s hands while trying to keep himself above the surface at the same time.

“I saw you doing it and it seemed fun, so I thought I could try, too. But I guess, I’m not as good at picking out the best ones like you.”

Wooyoung giggled and stuffed the little rocks in the pockets of his shorts before taking the rest from Yunho’s hands, both of them careful to not drop any of them. “Let’s go on the shore to check them out.” Yunho nodded with a wide smile.

They made their way to the sand, sitting where the waves could barely reach. Wooyoung took out all the pebbles from his pockets. He tried picking out the good ones but the problem was that every single one was good and so smooth.

“Yours are not like the ones I’ve collected.” The human boy pouted and crossed his legs, looking over at Yunho who was collecting tiny shells from the sand and arranging them on his lap, a smile tugging at the edges of his lips.

“It’s because I collect them from deeper in the sea where they’ve been staying for longer," the mermaid responded, not looking up. “You can come diving with me some time. I mean, if you’re able to dive that deep, of course.”

“With pleasure.”

Wooyoung sighed and lied down on his back. He didn’t really know what to talk about. Sure, there were many things that he wanted to ask. He wanted to say many things, too. Yet he didn’t want to annoy Yunho or to invade his personal space. They really haven’t known each other for long enough for him to just start asking things without knowing if the other would get uncomfortable.

His curiosity was stronger than him, though. He wanted to know much more about mermaids, wanted to know about their life. And along with all that, he wanted to know more about Yunho too. But then again, for Yunho he would only seem as if he was interested just because he was a mermaid.

“I told my best friend about you,” Yunho broke the silence between them, glancing at Wooyoung for a second before focusing his attention back on the spiral of shells that he had made on his tail. He continued talking before Wooyoung had the chance to form a proper sentence. “But he’s a little skeptical about you. Said humans are no good and there’s no point in even trying to be friends with you because we won’t even see each other that much. I don’t think the same way, though. For the first time I meet a human who isn’t scared of me and doesn't want to hunt me down and kill me.”

“You’ve met other humans?” Wooyoung tilted his head up to look at the other.

“Well, not personally. When I was little I’d go to docks and beaches quite often but didn’t really know I should hide from humans.” Yunho decided that he could spare the details of his experiences but somehow Wooyoung managed to figure it all out.

“I was really scared of you when I saw you for the first time,” he added. “The second time, too, I guess.”

Wooyoung rested his head on the sand again and looked up at the sky. He placed his hands on his stomach, nervously playing with his fingers. “I tried telling my best friend about you, too. There was no possible way I could tell him you’re a mermaid, though. For obvious reasons."

“I understand."

Even though Yunho had apparently lived through so many unpleasant experiences with humans, he actually didn’t understand. And couldn’t. He didn’t see anything wrong in himself but since humans were like that, he couldn’t help but feel insecure. He didn’t doubt that Wooyoung wasn’t ashamed to tell others that he had met a mermaid. Which made him wonder if everyone was so negative about mermaids, why was Wooyoung not like them.

Maybe he was still a little scared of the boy but he didn’t want to admit it. It was probably going to offend him because so far Wooyoung hadn’t showed him anything but kindness. He also didn’t run away or even get scared of him when they met.

When he got too bored of placing shells, he brushed them off of his tail and dumped them down on the sand. He also lied down and covered his face with his hands, rubbing his eyes while trying to gather his thoughts.

“Did you lie about understanding? You seem upset.” Wooyoung turned to lie on his side, leaning against his elbow.

“I am but it’s not about your friend.”

“Then what?”

“Why are you so nice to me, Wooyoung?” Yunho moved his hands away from his face. “Or why is no one like you?”

Wooyoung shook his head lightly, letting out a quiet sigh. “No idea, honestly. I’m nice with you because you’re also nice with me and I don’t see why I shouldn’t be?” He shrugged. “I really don’t care if you’re different or if you’re not even human, it doesn’t change the fact you’re nice. For example, cats and dogs can’t speak, they’re not human, they don’t even have rational thoughts but we still love them. Then I don’t see a problem to be friends with you.”

“That’s really nice but…” The mermaid got slightly embarrassed that he suddenly had to change the subject without responding properly to what Wooyoung had just said. “I’m drying out and I might turn into a raisin soon, so would you help me go back to the water?"

Why does a mermaid know what a raisin is, Wooyoung thought but didn't ask out loud. He got up and leaned above Yunho, placing his hands under his arms and dragging him back into the water. After that, he sat down where the water was more shallow. Yunho was just kind of floating around him, not necessarily trying to stay in one place but still held onto Wooyoung's hands so he wouldn't float too far away.

“Thank you for being my friend,” Yunho said while looking up at Wooyoung and smiling brightly. “Now that I know how you feel about all this, I feel safe around you.”

“There’s no need to thank me.” Wooyoung smiled back, lightly patting Yunho on the shoulder.