Bargaining with Mermen

Chapter 1

     "HURRY UP I DONT HAVE ALL NIGHT THE SUN IS GOING DOWN!!" Taehyun was yelling at SOOBIN to hurry up. "IM SORRY I DONT WANT TO DROWN OK!!?" Soobin now met Taehyun and Beomgyu at the backdoor, with a lifevest on. "It really took you that long to put on a lifevest?" Beomgyu looked unimpressed but the topic was dropped when Taehyun raced down the porch onto the sand. He went into the water to look for any tiny crabs. He needed them for a project his dad wanted him to do. "While you need out were going to swim ok?" Beomgyu left his shoes next to Taehyun and jumped in the water. Soobin followed behind cautiously. Beomgyu was blowing up the beachball for soobin and himself but before he finished he screamed. "BEOMGYU?! ARE YOU ALRIGHT??!" soobin rushed over to beomgyu, who was pointing at two heads drifting towards the shore. "I THINK THOSE PEOPLE NEED HELP OH MY GOD THERES BLOOD ON ONE!!!" Beomgyu was already swimming out. Soobin couldn't swim, so, he frantically called for Taehyun. Taehyun was irked they had disturbed his study time but quickly followed beomgyu when he spotted blood. Soobin waited at the shore for them, but beomgyu let out another scream. "OH MY GOD ARE THEY DEAD??!!" soobin paced and covered his face worried. He didn't expect a beaming Taehyun to smile and reply with," HYUNG THEY HAVE TAILS!!" Soobin was dumbfounded. Beomgyu didn't come to the same conclusion until the reached the shore and saw their clearly fishlike features. "WHAT THE HELL TAEHYUN WE HAVE TO CALL THE COPS IF WE FOUND WHATEVER-" he stopped to dramatically gesture to the mermen-"THOSE ARE!!" Soobin and Beomgyu were extremely shocked but Taehyun acted as if he had seen merpeople before. "Oh calm down, ones hurt we can't be rude can we? Besides these are a WAY bigger discovery than some crabs." Taehyun hauled the yellow and green failed one from the water. "Thank ..you" it said.  "YAHHHFJG- IT TALKED!!"Soobin screeched and hid behind beomgyu. "Youre going to scare it stop screaming damn you two." Taehyun knew to the creature. "I'm Taehyun, this is beomgyu and Soobin what's your name?" Taehyung stretched out his hand for a friendly greeting." "YAH! YOU CANT SERIOUSLY BE TELLING A FISHPERSON OUR NAMES RIGHT??!" Beomgyu exclaimed. Taehyun hushed them once again so the creature could speak. "My name is Hueningkai, and I'm not a fishperson I'm a male human." He wasn't amused. "Look Hueningkai, no offense and all but-" soobin didn't continue and just repeatedly gestured to the giant tail that he was sporting.
        "Look, I know you're very shocked and I promise to explain, but can you please help yeonjun, he got a bit hurt on the way here." Hueningkai begged now displaying his unconscious friends bleeding chest. "Of course of course, beomgyu could you get the first aid please it's on the dock." Beomgyu nodded at Taehyun while soobin was still eyeing the tails, gathering his brain. The fish people, now known as 'Yeonjun' and 'Hueningkai' looked exhausted. Taehyun gave soobin a pleading look. "They're hurt and tired, does it matter that they have tails right now? Could you get some food from the kitchen?" Taehyun gave him a more reasoning look. He was right. Soobin nodded and went to make some food. No matter what they are, it's obvious they need some help.
     Beomgyu grabbed his spare clothes he brought for after swimming and set them under Yeonjuns head while he cleaned the wounds. Taehyun was about to blow up Hueningkai with all the questions he wanted to ask but Hueningkai interrupted. " Please....I'll answer anything ...if you just let me rest for a few more minutes.." it was obvious the merman was still out of breathe.
  Soobin came back just a few minutes after with some ramen. "It's not the best but it's quick..." Soobin set the bowls down on a spread out towel." Hueningkai went to the food and ate it like he was starving, he didn't seem to mind the junk food. "Thank you!!" He beamed at Soobin. Soobin rubbed his neck, embarrassed. " I;its nothing just some quick ramen.." They we're all startled when Yeonjun sat up fast, grabbing beomgyus wrist to the sand tightly in his grasp. He was barring some sharp looking teeth about to attack him. "YEONJUN THEY'RE FRIENDLY!!!STOP!!" Hueningkai had squirmed over and pulled them apart. Beomgyu held his wrist in pain. " OH HELL NO TAEHYUN- DID YOU SEE- THEY HAVE SHARP ASS TEETH HOW CAN WE NOT CALL THE AUTHORITIES THEY COULD BE DANGEROUS!!!" Soobin was now feet away with his ramen. "No!no I'm sorry he's just- there are lots of predators in the sea please don't call anyone!!" Hueningkai begged. Yeonjun quickly caught on and saw his chest bandaged. He looked at what he'd done to the blonde big and hurriedly apologized. "IM SO SORRY DONT CALL!!" yeonjun rushed. Taehyun seemed unfazed and went to check the pointy teeth. Yeonjun took this as him seeing if he was a threat and retracted his teeth. "Fascinating.." Taehyun said and offered yeonjun a bowl of ramen. " It's alright we're all friends here everyone sit back down." He took a seat next to Hueningkai with his own ramen. Yeonjun looked sorry. He didn't mean to hurt the first person he's been able to talk to damn it. He gently lifted beomgyus wrist. "I'm sorry." Beomgyu accepted the apology and took a ramen bowl. Yeonjun smiled, these could be good friends if he plays his cards right. "Soobin, come on they can't even stand, it's alright." Taehyun sighed. Soobin reluctantly sat and finished his ramen. The humans were gawking at the scales dissapearing on the mermens newly formed legs. Yeonjun noticed hueningkai get flustered beside him. "It's uh- it's rude to stare you know." "It's also rude to hurt someone who's bandaging you." Taehyun slurped a long noodle with a smartass look, yeonjun knew he had a point. "So, now that we've bandaged you and fed you I think we deserve some information here." Taehyun set his now empty bowl down.
     Hueningkai and yeonjun exchanged looks and yeonjun sighed. " We aren't fish. We're humans." The humans all have a simultanious look of doubt. " Look, we don't know the full details either all we know is that we drowned. Woke up as half fish. Remembered being humans before. Swam a long ass way to find land. Hoping we could get answers and help. We can't exactly speak underwater and there are a shit ton of predators so its a bit lonely and sucky to be this way." He finished his ramen. "And we cant be out of sea water for more than three days or we die." Hueningkai added. The humans have baffled looks, clearly processing. "So...if I can somehow help you guys, would you let me study you in return?" Taehyun questioned. Yeonjun and Hueningkai exchanged glances but saw nothing wrong with it. " If you help us, yes." They said at the same time. Taehyung smiled. "Good then it's settled, well help you and you'll help me over the summer. You can stay on this beach, it's my dad's private beach, only for marine life. So it's safe." Taehyun explains to the now surprised mermen. "You have legs, would you sleep in the house?" Beomgyu asked. "We can." Yeonjun smiled. " Soobin and Beomgyu can stay over too then.ill go set up a sleeping space and call their parents." Taehyun stated and was already up the hill and in the house. "Since you can't walk, will you bite me if I carry you?" Beomgyu asked yeonjun. "Only if you want me to." He smiled back. Beomgyu rolled his eyes and lifted him. "Wow! You're strong beomgyu, and warm and you smell-" yeonjun was pressing his face to beomgyus neck. "Sorry, we haven't seen humans in a very very long time." Hueningkai said. Beomgyu was red. "Ya-Yah! You can't just sniff people!" Yeonjun kept examining beomgyu the entire way he was carried to the house. "You won't bite me right?no freaky teeth thing?" Soobin asked. Hueningkai hated that he was so freaky looking to the human boy, he was embarrassed. He decided to try to stand on his own but fell. Soobin saw the helpless Hueningkai and his fear was slightly relieved. He lifted Hueningkai and started towards the house. Now Hueningkai understood Yeonjuns actions, humans were-very warm it felt so nice. A long forgotten feeling from the cold sea. He couldn't help but at least sink into soobins chest for more of the heat. He could hear soobins heart racing, probably from fear, he should stop. They made it into the house where Taehyun, Beomgyu, and Yeonjun were all in sleeping bags that Taehyun set up in the living room. "My parents arent here it's alright." They all laid down in their sleeping bags. The room was very silent. Everyone was lost in thought. Probably thinking over everything that had happened in the course of two hours. The silence was broken when a half asleep Taehyun said, " If I wake up tommorow and this was a dream. I'll be pissed." Beomgyu had laughed at that, he thought it was a dream too. But he found it hard to fall asleep with a merman spooning him and breathing against his neck. Everytime he moved away the merman just came closer.
   Soobin still couldn't believe what happened, there's not way, definetly a dream. He stared at an asleep Hueningkai s face across from him. He was pretty, in books, mermaids are always beautiful. He could believe he might be a merman. He had fallen asleep fast too, he really had traveled far to be that tired. Soobin felt safer seeing a peaceful sleeping mermaid and fell asleep.