MinJi's Merman

03

Hansol had decided to accompany his father on a business trip he was taking to New York. His father had been commissioned to work on a mural. His mother wanted to go, but had to stay behind for her work. Plus she didn't want to leave his younger sister Sofia alone for too long. Sofia had school to attend to so she could not come with. Hansol told his mother his sister was old enough to take care of herself for the week they would be gone and that she would be able to get the week off if she really wanted to come. But his mother didn't want Sofia to be lonely so she stayed. He accepted her choice to not go.

Together the pair boarded their flight to New York City. The flight would be making only one stop and the total flight hours were about fifteen hours. Hansol read a book for most of the time and slept the rest. His father doodled in a notebook and watched a movie on the small television in front of him. For the most part, it was a peaceful flight. At one point a child started to cry about something. The parent quickly settled their child down. Hansol didn't mind the crying. While it did disturb his sleep, he knew these things were to be expected on such long flights.

The plan arrived safely at the airport without a hitch. The duo hailed a cab and made their way to their hotel. They were staying in one room with two twin beds. They set about getting comfortable for the week. Afterwards they sat down together and ordered room service for dinner. They began to plan their week properly while eating.

His father would be working throughout most of the day everyday except for Saturday while they were there. They planned to go do things once Hansol's father was done for the day. Most of the days were going to be winged plans. They knew for certain that they wanted to watch a movie the next day and go shopping on Friday. Saturday the two were planning on going to an escape room before taking a painting class together. His father didn't need the class, but it sounded like a fun thing they could do together.

During the day while his father was working, Hansol would be able to go exploring by himself. So he pulled up a list of places he could visit. There were various museums and several shows or tours he could attend. Nothing in particular really caught his eye. It all seemed like any other major city attractions. He went to the next page on Google. He wanted to find something slightly unique.

His eyes landed on a link that read, "MinJi's World of Wonders: Come See the Magnificent Merman!" It wasn't too intriguing. Hansol had seen a fair share of 'real' merpeople at various places. The attempts humans made were cute. They just weren't always realistic. All the merfolk he had ever met always complained about how fake the actors pretending to be them were. They appreciated the effort and were flattered by it, but found it cheesy. It was too bad Sciltroans had to hide or real merpeople who take over entertainment in his opinion.

Despite his stance on the whole situation, Hansol decided to go check it out. He was wondering how they attempt it this time. With his mind made up, he changed into pajamas and got ready for bed. He told his father a quick good night before falling asleep.
His dad was gone by the time he woke up. The sun rays shone brightly through the window. Hansol set about getting ready for the day at a slow pace. There was no need to rush. He stopped by Starbucks on the way for a cup of coffee and breakfast.

MinJi's World of Wonder was a medium sized building on the corner of a street. It took up at least half of the block and appeared to be three stories tall. Hansol paid when he entered and grabbed a map. He glanced over it seeing what all there was. The first area had various wax figures scattered about it. The area next to it was full of mini replicas of various landmarks and world wonders. There were some believe it or not rooms adjacent to one side of the mini replicas room. On the other side was optical illusion rooms.

Hansol nearly snorted upon reading a brief summary of the illusion rooms. Technically speaking, his face could be considered an optical illusion. He was half changeling. His father was human while his mother was a changeling. The officially unofficial term used for half changelings was glamour shapeshifters because that was basically all they could do. His mother could completely morph herself into another person. Height, weight, gender, skin and hair tone didn't matter. She could look like whatever she pleased. Sofia and Hansol, on the other hand, had limitations. They couldn't change their height, weight, gender or skin tone like their mother. They could change their hair and eye color and their facial structures however they pleased though. Hair length could also be changed which occasional made for a good joke.

The second floor of the building was a mini aquarium and the third floor was dedicated to space themed rooms. He decided to forego the first floor completely. He made his way to the elevator and pushed the second floor button. Hansol stepped out of the elevator once the doors opened. He almost made a beeline for the merman exhibit, but chose to look around for a bit instead.

There was a variety of different types of fish in all the tanks. A majority of them were of the smaller sized species due to the limited space. Yet there was a larger sized tank near the merman room. The larger tank contained a couple of small sized sharks. They swam around with the other fish in there tank calmly. There was an empty tank where an octopus used to be, but according to the sign, the octopus had somehow managed to escape into the drain pipes.

Hansol began to approach the room dedicated to this so-called merman. He stopped once he saw a male standing just outside the doorway. He tentatively watched the man who stared into the room. Hansol looked him up and down. The man had brunette hair swept up slightly. His golden eyes framed by circle glasses focused on something in the room unblinking. He wore a dark turtleneck and a light overcoat. His lips were drawn in a small frown. Something felt off about the man, but it was oddly familiar.

He shook the feeling off as he began to move forward. Once he was a few feet away, the man stirred. He blinked and cast a glance at Hansol. The two smiled awkwardly at one another. The odd male bowed his head before walking off. Hansol watched him for a second. He shook his head and stepped into the open room.