Ocean's Descent ||| Woosan (Ateez)

13

Wooyoung couldn't stop smiling as he twirled in circles through the dark blue water. He couldn't get his tail to stop, so he let it control his body and found himself dancing and swaying with whatever tide he was caught in.

Never before had he felt this way.

His heart felt like it was going to pop with how hard it was still pounding.

Whatever it was that he had shared with San, he absolutely loved every second of it, even if it was a foreign feeling.

He always made sure to keep going in the direction of home, but he also indulged himself by stopping by some coral beds and watching the fish swim lazily in circles.

The little seahorses he had rescued earlier flitted over to him and nuzzled against his hand when he held it out, making the merman giggle. "It's good to see you too! Are you guys staying out of trouble?" They blew a small stream of bubbles at him before swimming down to wrap their tails around a cluster of coral.

Wooyoung wiggled his fingers in farewell before swimming the rest of the way home. A couple of manta rays came to joint him and he reached down to touch their smooth skin, then watched as they majestically turned to glide away.

Even at night the ocean was truly beautiful, and right now everything seemed to have that extra shine to it.

As he swam down the main paths of his home, a few of his fellow merfolk gave him inquiring looks. It wasn't unusual to see Wooyoung swimming among them, but seeing him this happy this late at night was a first.

A few of the children who were old enough to still be awake started to follow after him, giggling and calling out for him to slow down.

Wooyoung spun around so he was swimming with his back to the seafloor and flicked his tail in just the right was to cause a cloud of bubbles. "Sorry kids! I've got to go!"

He watched them all bob in place with sad looks, but they gave in swam back to their parents. Wooyoung would make it up to them later by sneaking them sweets from the castle. He enjoyed spending time with the kids, so he did feel bad about not being able to play.

The first place he went was his room. He wanted some time to think and process everything that had happened. Humans were so different from merfolk, and he had read that they expressed their feelings in different ways, but he had no idea it would feel so good.

It was like the high he had experienced was still there.

Then an idea came to him.

Wooyoung wanted to do something really special for San, something that was a merfolk tradition. But he had to be careful not to do anything that would give his secret away. Not yet, at least. Maybe he would tell San eventually, but that was something he tried not to think about right now.

He had no idea how San would react to learning that Wooyoung was a creature that humans considered to be a myth. From what other merfolk had said in the past, usually it wasn't pretty. The humans turned either violent and called them monsters, or would lure them in and sell them at a high price.

Either route usually resulted in death or serious injuries.

That was part of the reason why Mingi was so protective of Wooyoung, and he knew that. The idea of anyone being lost or hurt when he was next in line to be kind was not something the Prince wanted.

At the thought of his friend, Wooyoung suddenly remembered the shark attack.

Even though Mingi wasn't speaking to him right now, he needed to know about this, so Wooyoung hurried from his room and started searching the palace for his prince.