Wooyoung felt his strength fading the closer he got to shore. Time was running up on his immobilization spell and so the tiger shark would catch up to him. As long as something else didn't catch him first.

He did his best to keep an eye on his surroundings so that nothing surprised him as he started to use his arms to help pull him through the water.

The sea floor started to slope upwards and Wooyoung also started to pay attention to the surface. From what he could see, there were no humans in the immediate area.

This was his chance.

Wooyoung flicked his tail harder, wincing at the pain coming from the bite that had managed to pierce his scales.

When the water was shallow enough, Wooyoung did his best to call upon his magic once more so that he could transform. He made sure to envision a different outfit this time, remembering San's confusion when he had shown up wearing the same thing two days in a row.

This time was a pair of jean shorts and a white sleeveless shirt.

A scream erupted from his throat the moment Wooyoung broke the surface. He flailed his arms to help move his heavy body forward and immediately noticed he only had the use of one leg.

After a few more agonizing minutes, the merman was able to drag himself up on the beach without any further attacks. He took that as one positive, but his heart instantly sank when he took in the fact that the bottom half of his right leg had the very obvious half moon bite mark on both the top and the bottom.

Thankfully the shark hadn't had a chance to lock on hard enough to rip away a chunk of his fin, otherwise Wooyoung had no idea what shape he'd be in right now.

Several whimpers escaped him while he pulled himself further up on the beach using just his arms. He couldn't even wiggle his toes on his right leg...

"Bursting bubbles..." Wooyoung muttered. He bit his lip and slowly leaned forward and touched the bloody skin on his leg. There was no way this was going to heal, not with the amount of blood that was staining the sand below him.

It would be easy for him to heal himself... incredibly easy... but immobilizing the shark and transforming had already used so much magic, if he were to use more he risked wearing himself out to the point where he could put himself in danger. Or worse, it could start to drain his very life force.

But there was no way he was going to survive this wound either.

So Wooyoung took a deep breath and started to run his hands up and down his wounded leg. It stung, but once his hands started glowing blue, the magic instantly soothed the pain and he started to patch his delicate human skin back together.

The seconds ticked by, and as each one passed, he could feel his eyelids drooping a little bit more. Wooyoung did his best to keep them open so he could watch the progress. He didn't think he'd have enough energy to heal it entirely, but he needed to at least get the bleeding to stop.

It took several more minutes, but once all that was left was some scarring Wooyoung released the magic and collapsed back onto the sand.

Breathing was a struggle for him while he tried to regain control over his body.

Mingi was not going to be happy about this once he found out. If a tiger shark was hungry enough to attack him then their food source could be in trouble. They would have to send out some scouts to monitor their population and check on the other breeds around the area.

It was rare that a great white was seen around Aquatis, but it would be the only thing that could give the female tiger shark any competition.

Wooyoung groaned and let his left arm drape over his eyes to block out the sun. This isn't what he needed right now. If Aquatis was going to start having a shark issue then he could see one of two things happening. Either Mingi would start sending him out on patrols and expect updates, or he would keep Wooyoung contained to the palace walls with a guard detail to make sure he didn't wander off and get hurt since Mingi knew he was such a free spirit.

Both of which would limit his time with San.

The merman started to pout when his head throbbed.

Why did everything have to be so complicated?

His thoughts of San drove him to work on pushing himself off the ground. Both his arms and legs shook from the strain, but the natural magic coursing through his blood would help with the fatigue as long as he didn't use anymore magic. He'd need to be extra careful today.

Once he felt steady, Wooyoung walked along the beach in the direction he knew the public beach was. The shark chase had put him further south than he'd like, but the walking was nice. It helped get his blood pumping through his body, which in turned kept the magic flowing too.

Wooyoung looked down at his feet and smiled at the shoes that San had bought him. It was odd having his toes constricted and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. He paused for just a moment to slip them off and pick them up.

The feeling of sand between his toes was even weirder, but Wooyoung just added it to the list of fascinating things about humans.

About thirty minutes later, Wooyoung could hear the chaos of humans on the beach. He walked through a large group of kids building sand castles and parents lounging on large towels underneath large round objects on a stick that blocked the sun.

He watched as they would pull out food from containers and pass it between them. It was then that he realized just how hungry he was, and it was amplified even more by the use of so much magic.

With this thought on his mind, Wooyoung started walking faster until he found the house San was staying in.

He walked up the back stairs, then paused. He wasn't used to doors blocking entrances and he wasn't sure how to proceed.

Thankfully he didn't need to figure it out because someone opened the door and paused with surprise. "Oh! Hello." He was a shorter man with light blonde hair and round eyes. "Can I help you?"

"Um, yes... Is San here?"

"You're Wooyoung, aren't you?" The boy flashed a wide smile. "We haven't met yet! I'm Hwanwoong. I'm in class with Yeosang."

"Babe, who are you talking to?" A taller boy came up behind Hwanwoong and placed hand on his shoulder. He had a kind smile. "Hello."

"This is Wooyoung! He's here for San." Hwanwoong wiggled his eyebrows and stuck his tongue out the corner of his mouth. "He's in his room, I'm pretty sure he's still sleeping. You'll be a nice wake up surprise for him."

The taller boy shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Excuse him. But he's right, San is just in his room. Everyone else has left for the day. I'm Youngjo, by the way. Our number is on a note in the kitchen, just call us if you need anything!" Youngjo took Hwanwoong's hand, not noticing the look of utter confusion on Wooyoung's face.

He watched them run down the beach, still holding hands, until they dove under the surface of the water. His first instinct was to run after them and tell them about the shark, but then he remembered that in this area Mingi had a patrol in place to help protect the humans and herd sharks toward natural feeding areas.

So he turned around and walked further into the house and let the door close behind him. Once he got to San's room, he stepped inside and smiled when he saw San sprawled out on his bed, shirtless, with one arm wrapped around something large and brown. It looked really soft, like the moss he used to cover his bed.

Wooyoung walked over to the bed and gently moved to lay down next to San. The human's left arm was hanging off the side, so Wooyoung let his head rest gently on his shoulder and wiggled in a little closer. Then he just watched San sleep.

The human would move his slips occasionally, pushing them out a little then smacking them together while rocking his head back and forth.

Carefully, Wooyoung lifted a hand to start tracing the lines of San's chest. He would make one attractive merman. Wooyoung started to wonder what color San's tail would be and how amazing it would be to swim through the colorful coral reefs together.

Why did he have to grow so attached to a human? There was no way they were going to make this work... How could they?

An overwhelming sense of despair started to fill him, and Wooyoung was just about to slip out of bed and leave when San stirred and lifted his arm up to wrap it around him. "Hey." He said with a voice still heavy and husky from sleep.

Wooyoung was dragged back in instantly and he knew he wouldn't have the strength to leave. "Hi."

"How long have you been here?"

"Not long. I met Hwanwoong and Youngjo, they let me in." Wooyoung glanced up and San and saw him watching his finger still moving along his chest. He was tempted to stop, but San didn't seem to mind so he kept going.

"Well this was a wonderful surprise." San smiled and rolled into his side. "So what would you like to do today?"

"Anything." They locked eyes and Wooyoung had to work really hard not to let his eyes wander down to San's lips.

"That could be a dangerous statement, Wooyoungie." San whispered.

Confused, the merman was about to ask why when San extended his neck and pressed their lips together. It was slow and sensual and had Wooyoung feeling all warm and tingly. He let out a small whimper and pressed his body closer to San's wanting to feel more of him.

He could feel the warmth of the human's body against his and then shivered when San threaded his fingers through the back of his hair.

"How about we just stay in today?" San whispered after a few minutes of the slow kissing. "We can make some snacks and watch a movie?"

Wooyoung's mind was in too much of a haze to realize he had no idea what San was talking about. He found himself nodding along and knew he would agree with anything San wanted him to do.

The couple moved off the bed and Wooyoung shadowed San while going into the kitchen and watched while he pulled out several packages that Wooyoung assumed had food in them. Then he pulled Wooyoung over to an object he had heard them call a couch and they sat on it after San laid out everything on the table in front of them.

"What kind of movie do you like?" San asked. He bent forward and picked up a small but long object.

"Um, a-anything really." Wooyoung started to play with the hem of his shirt as his nerves rose.

"Well we can see what we have." San just shrugged and pointed the object in front of him.

Wooyoung jumped with a box on the other side of the room flashed and then he watched with an open mouth when tiny people inside it started to move. It was baffling. Were they trapped in the box? He leaned forward and watched as a man passed a ball to a young boy, then then it changed to two small animals running through something Wooyoung knew was called grass.

Then words appeared and started to move on the tv that Wooyoung didn't understand. A yellow box moved with them and San started mumbling things under his breath.

He could hear voices coming from the box too, and Wooyoung felt the urge to run forward and try to open it to free the voices. It was obvious that they were human, but did humans really get that small?

"Oh! This is a good one!" San san. He set the thing in his hand down and then pulled Wooyoung into his side while settling into the couch. "Have you seen this one before?"

Wooyoung felt the blush creeping onto his face as he looked at the box and watched several colorful fish swimming around. They didn't look like real fish, they were an odd texture and their eyes were wrong... that and they were talking like humans. He had also never seen a clownfish and regal tang interact like this. It was unsettling and Wooyoung didn't know what to think about it, so he just shook his head.

"Huh, it was pretty popular when we were growing up. I'm surprised. It's the time of day that all the kid shows are on, the better movies will happen later today." San started rubbing his hand up and down Wooyoung's arm.

The motion was comforting and Wooyoung could feel himself relaxing. He focused on the sensation of San's fingers and that allowed himself to enjoy whatever was happening on the box in front of him. The regal tang said a few funny things and there were some other colorful characters that Wooyoung enjoyed seeing.

At one point, San pulled the table closer and then pushed on Wooyoung's shoulder to guide him so that he was laying down. His head hit something soft that San had placed over his legs and San's fingers were instantly in his hair.

It was one of the most pleasant feeling he had ever experienced. Wooyoung hummed gratefully and nuzzled against the soft object.

San chuckled and wrapped his other arm around the merman's stomach. "This is nice."

Wooyoung turned to lie on his back and smiled up at the human. "Yeah it is."

"You'll stay all day?"

"Yes."

"Good." San smirked and glanced up again to watch the movie.

Wooyoung spent a long time looking up at him before he turned his head. If this was what humans did together, he knew he was missing out on so much. Merfolk never laid together except at night to sleep. There was always something that needed to be done.

Mingi and Yunho were always checking on things for the kingdom and Wooyoung usually had some kind of assignment to do too, unless he was exploring. Other merfolk would harvest food and tend to the variety of gardens they had, including clams, mussels, and oysters. The kelp forests needed a lot of care too.

Wooyoung felt his thoughts drifting when he wondered if there was a way he could stay with San. Or if he could just stay human. There was so much to experience in this world and Wooyoung wanted to know everything.