Nolite Flere

Lady Sea Foam

He must have fallen asleep because he jolted awake.

Sungjae was on a sunny beach, his head resting on the lap of a merperson, and his eyes caught the glint of the sunlight on sparkling turquoise scales. He shot up.

"Sooyoung?!"

He came eye to eye with a mermaid. She had blonde hair and blue eyes that looked like sapphires dropped from Seulgi's eyes.

"Hello," she said, her voice smooth as silk.

Sungjae flinched backward. "You're the sea foam."

"Yes."

"Am I dreaming?"

"Yes. I put you to sleep. You wanted to talk to me." She smiled coolly at him, and for a moment Sungjae couldn't believe it. "You want to know why. I took your dear mermaid from you." She sighed, pulling him down so his head was back on her lap.

She stroked her fingers through his hair, the same way Sooyoung used to. He quickly sat up, shoving her away. She laughed, and the sound chilled his spine.

"The girl is such a sweet fool. Thought I'd take care of her. But alas, I just needed someone to share the same doom I did. You weren't supposed to love her this much, of course. But it works. She won't feel betrayed, but she's in enough pain. And you'll feel just as hurt as I did. Just as helpless as I did, when you realize that there's nothing you can do."

Sungjae watched in horror as the beach they were sitting on suddenly turned into waves of sticky gold, staining his pants as the waves lapped at his knees.

The lady laughed again. "I waited so long for this. I couldn't do it sooner since the sea king is stronger than I am. But now he's getting old and weak, and the eldest daughter is still too untrained in what her powers could be to stop me. And you." She snickered, leaning over to pat his face. "You're just a human. A filthy, dirty thing."

Smacking her hand away, "I wouldn't underestimate Irene," he spat, standing up. The gold around them smelled like salt water. "Or Sooyoung. Or me." He watched her face contort. "I'll get her back. And I'm going to protect her. You just try and stop me."

Riled by his words, she released a piercing screech and dove for him, but he sidestepped her, splashing the golden blood at the lady's face in order to twist away from her. Once freed, he lunged towards her. Sungjae swiftly plucked the knife that he had kept strapped on his belt and shoved it into her shoulder blade.

She screamed and he flinched back as she turned, gripping his arm and pulling him under the surface. He kicked out from her grasp; however, she kept her weight firmly on top of him.

Until suddenly it was gone.

"What?! Sea foam?"

Rubbing the gold liquid from his face, Sungjae watched in disbelief as white sea foam crowded the lady away.

His pocket burned hot and he plucked a silver blue scale from it. His eyes stretched wide. He knew exactly who it belonged to.

"Sooyoung."

As soon as he said the name, the beach and the gold ocean disappeared, leaving him in the dark wading in ankle-deep water. He was still covered in golden goo that he tried to brush off. A small piece of foam clung to his ankle and he paused.

"How do I wake up?"

All of a sudden, the foam detached itself from his ankle and floated away. He then followed it. He already knew what would be waiting for him when the foam disappeared, and he still stood, his throat seizing.