The hardest thing San had ever done, besides leaving Wooyoung behind on the beach, was leaving Wooyoung behind when he had to finish his job for the night.

He left promising to be back soon and only received a solemn nod in return, which made him feel even worse, but he needed to avoid raising any kind of suspicion.

It was difficult for San to attempt to finish his job for the night anyway. He kept constantly checking his phone, counting down the minutes until he could run out of there to talk to Yeosang.

When his shift was almost over, the morning security guard greeted him and was immediately pulled aside by Mr. Choi to debrief him. San stood rooted to the spot for along moment just staring at the door they had vanished through.

There was no stopping this now...

The moment he could finally clock out, San bolted out the front door and ran straight to where he knew Yeosang kept the car parked. He slammed into the side of it, bracing himself with his arms, and knocked on the window, which Yeosang rolled down.

"What are you doing?"

"No... time..." San tried to inhale but he was breathing too hard from running. "Park... hurry..."

Yeosang hesitated for a moment, but then pulled away and drove the main parking lot. He jogged over to where San was doubled over and still trying to catch his breath. "Are you ok? What's going on?"

San didn't waste any time answering him. He grabbed Yeosang's hand and yanked him forward as he ran back toward the aquarium.

"San!" Yeosang gasped but didn't put up any kind of a fight.

The younger flashed his badge at the door, foregoing the need for either of them to purchase a ticket to get in because the doors had opened mere moments ago.

He wove through the people filling in, ignoring the sounds of protest from anyone who had to step aside, and kept dragging Yeosang behind him until they got to the entrance of the new shark tunnel, which was where he slid to a stop.

The tunnel seemed to zoom out and get longer the more he stood there, but he suddenly didn't quite know what to say.

Yeosang squeezed his hand and leaned forward to catch his eye. "San? What's going on? You're scaring me."

"You don't even know the half of it." He mumbled. "Sangie... What you're about to see..." He choked on his words and shook his head. "I can't...

"San, whatever it is, I'm sure it's going to be ok."

The younger started shaking his head. "N-No... It's not." He placed a hand over his heart and gripped Wooyoung's scale. "S-Sangie..."

"Ok, take a deep breath. What is going on?"

"It's better just to show you... Hurry, before this place is swarming with people." San swallowed the lump in his throat and the pair of them started walking down the tunnel.

He kept his eyes peeled and noticed a flash of purple near the end of the tunnel. It made his heart skip a beat and he started to walk faster. When the area opened up into the large dome, he quickly scanned the area and was happy to see that no one had made their way here yet before running to the side and scanning the tank.

"Wow, so this is the new exhibit? What's in here?" Yeosang turned in a slow circle to take in the entire area.

But San only had eyes for the merman swimming toward him.

Wooyoung glanced around with a worried look before settling down in front of San while placing his hands on the glass.

"Oh my god!" Yeosang gasped behind him and clapped a hand over his mouth. "San?! What the fuck?"

San turned around the same time Wooyoung backed away from the glass and bit his lip. "I told you. Sangie, you have to help me get him out of here." He pleaded.

"Am I dreaming? Did I get in a car accident on the way here? San, what the fuck is this?!" Yeosang started shaking his head and backing away.

"Yeosang, please calm down. I don't have all the answers either. But, it's..."

"Wooyoung." Yeosang breathed. He stepped forward slowly and gazed at the merman through the glass with tears in his eyes. "What have they done to you?"

It took a moment, but Wooyoung slowly swam forward to hover before both of them. He glanced between them before finally settling on San.

They both moved toward each other and closed their eyes while pressing their foreheads to the glass.

San couldn't explain it, but it was almost like he could feel the connection again. When he opened his eyes, Wooyoung was biting his lip and studying him without blinking.

"What can we do?" Yeosang stepped forward and placed a hand on the glass as well. Wooyoung moved his hand over to match in while his cheeks turned a shade of pink. "San, I don't understand..."

"I don't either. I don't know if he can't talk in this form or what, so I don't know what happened. But I do know that my boss made it sound like they are going to study him. There was one point yesterday that he was literally dragged out of here by a giant claw. We need to get him out of here."

"How is this even possible?" Yeosang breathed.

"We can't get into that now. We need to talk to Jongho and get working on this." San looked back at Wooyoung and wished he could hold him. He looked so frightened and confused. "We are going to get you out, Woo."

The younger moved closer to the glass and looked at San with pleading eyes. His tail moved slowly beneath him, stirring some of the sand on the floor, while hundreds of fish swam behind him.

If it wasn't for the situation, San would think that it was a truly beautiful sight. It was so colorful and vibrant, and Wooyoung... he was stunning. Now that he was showing who he truly was, it was like San was seeing him in a whole new light.

Voices echoing down the shark tunnel pulled San's attention away from the boy he loved and he glanced over his shoulder. "Crap..."

Yeosang placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a tight lipped smile. "We will come back."

San nodded and gave Wooyoung one final look before letting his friend pull him from the tank.

.

.

.

.

Wooyoung watched San until he couldn't see him anymore. He debated following him down the shark tunnel too, but he changed his mind as soon as the first little girl ran into the main room.

The merman immediately spun around and dove behind the nearest rock to hide.

He could sense more and more people gathering in the dome. The sound of their talking was like a dull roar, muffled by the glass and the water.

This answered his question as to why he was placed in an area like this... he was now on display for the subject to come and gawk at when he wasn't being experimented on.

What was he supposed to do now?

Was he just supposed to hide like this forever, waiting for the next time he would be taken?

His chest tightened when he wished San would come back. He was so scared of everything...

A splash came from overhead and Wooyoung looked up to see a couple of humans in heavy suits slowly swimming down from the surface with long, sharp looking poles. They slowly swam over to him and jerked their heads to the side.

He knew they wanted him to move, but he could also hear people pounding on the glass and he was terrified to leave his safe place.

But when he didn't move, one of them jabbed at his tail. Thankfully he didn't get a good angle and the pole just glanced off it, but Wooyoung got the message.

He swam away from them and out into open water.

Silence fell over the crowd of people for several minutes while Wooyoung stared at them with wide eyes. Some of the kids started waving shyly while the adults leaned over and started whispering at each other.

Then they pulled out their phones and the flashing started.

Wooyoung shook his head and swam away from the glass wanting to hide again, only to be blocked by the humans in the tank with him.

He was stuck and all he wanted now was San...

This went on for several hours. Hundreds of new humans came to gawk and take photos of him while the ones in the tank rotated out to make sure he stayed visible.

Eventually Wooyoung gave up and found a rock to settle on where he could still be seen, but he was still a good distance away from the glass. The humans didn't seem to mind either.

The merman did his best not to spiral down a path of self pity, but it was hard for him to stay positive. He had been hoping to see San again sometime over the course of the day, but he also realized that San would need to rest at some point if he had spent all night at this strange place.

At one point, he let himself get distracted when a school of yellow tang came close to him. He reached out and made some soft chirping sounds. They swam close and brushed against his fingers in welcome.

It warmed his heart a little that even these caged animals could still find a connection with him.

The school started to swim closer, almost like they wanted to protect him, and that invited other fish to get closer to him too.

While watching the new world around him, Wooyoung also noticed one other thing.

There was someone who hadn't moved for a long time even as all the families came and went.

Wooyoung lowered his hand and stared back at the human. He looked tall, with a square face and shark jawline. Black, square glasses were perched on the end of his now and he was causally stroking his chin with a hand he had propped up by his other arm, which was wrapped around his stomach.

And if that wasn't intimidating enough, then the smirk he was giving Wooyoung was enough to make the merman shiver.

He didn't like the man, at all. There was something off about him...

The only thing that drew Wooyoung's attention was when Jongho stepped up to the glass, trying to act casual.

Wooyoung started to move, but Jongho held up a hand in front of his waist and shook it back and forth. He got the message and stayed where he was at. San must have talked to him because he was acting surprisingly calm, especially when he tapped his wrist and mouthed, 'later'.

The merman settled back onto the rock and looked down, once again feeling the weight of his situation wearing down on him.

There was a small spark of hope though. With Jongho, Yeosang, and San working to get him out, then maybe there was a chance they could free him and help him get home.

If only he could talk to San. That would make him feel so much better. He could almost remember what the human's voice sounded like, but with everything going on, that was slipping away.

And if not San... then Mingi and Yunho. He knew his friends had no idea what happened to him or the rest of the group and there would be no reason to worry about their whereabouts for a long time to come.

Wooyoung sniffed and picked at some of the algae on the rock below him, then started to scan the tank to figure out where he would sleep for the night.

If he even got to sleep... 

He knew there was a chance the humans would pull him out again, but he would deal with that when it happened.

Something shifted in the corner of his vision and Wooyoung glanced back at the space for the humans.

The man had moved closer. He tilted his head back, then turned it just slightly to the side when another man walked up to him and started talking.

The first said nothing, just listened, but then his mouth twisted up in a grin and he nodded, making the second man's eyebrows rise in surprise.

They shook hands, all while the man never once looked away from Wooyoung.

Whatever had just happened... Wooyoung knew it wasn't going to be good.

He prayed San would hurry and get him out of here soon.