Wooyoung felt himself starting to panic when the boy in front of him wouldn't wake up.

He looked around the beach and bit his lip. He didn't see any other people around... Maybe he would be more help if he could change.

It was something he had never done before, but he had read about it several times.

Wooyoung closed his eyes and let his mind open. He reached for the magic deep within him, calling on it and willing it to come forward.

He could feel his scales starting to heat up as a result of it. They almost itched and he had to fight the urge to claw at them.

Focus. He needed to focus.

The magic pressed against him, asking him what it was he wanted.

Wooyoung envisioned his tail turning into two human legs, making sure to add in a layer of what they called clothes, and asked the magic to grant his wish.

Suddenly, Wooyoung was levitating above the sand and his scales were glowing even brighter while purple streams of light swirled around his legs.

It was strange... The magic seemed to numb everything. He didn't feel his tail splitting in half and shrinking down to the legs he was sporting as soon as the magic had finished.

His mouth opened when he noticed the thin layer of cloth covering his legs and he spent a few seconds wiggling his toes.

Then he turned back to the boy next to him and moved to a kneeling position.

It was SO much easier moving around now! Wooyoung had to contain his excitement to focus on the task at hand.

He pressed down on the boy's chest several times. "Wake up. I need you to wake up."

After one particularly hard push, the boy suddenly spit up several mouthfuls of water. He rolled onto his side and clutched his stomach.

"It's ok. You're ok." Wooyoung said. It just now dawned on him that he was speaking in a human tongue. It must be another gift from the magic.

The boy took another moment to collect himself, then sat up so he could hang his head between his knees. His breathing was still ragged and shaking, but he seemed to be ok.

Wooyoung sat back, patiently waiting. He took the time to study the other's lean frame. From what he could see, the boy was fit and incredibly handsome.

"Thank you." He finally said, ruffling his wet, blonde hair. His words scraped against his throat and Wooyoung saw him flinch.

"It's ok. I'm glad I could help."

The boy slowly lifted his head and turned to glance at the merman. Wooyoung felt his gut flip the instantly he locked eyes with the beautiful, golden brown irises in front of him.

Everything seemed to stop. Wooyoung felt his mouth fall open a little and his heart started to pound, almost as if it was just starting for the first time. Even the sound of the ocean grew distant.

He was... stunning.

"You didn't get hurt at all, did you?" The boy asked, taking a look over Wooyoung. "I don't remember seeing you on the ship. Did everyone make it out ok?"

Wooyoung rubbed the back of his neck and looked down. He still felt like he was under a spell but looking away seemed to help. "I don't know. I wasn't on it; I just saw you go under the water."

"You... risked your own life... for mine?"

The merman peeked up at the boy and felt his cheeks heat up a little. "Well, yeah. I couldn't just let you die."

Wooyoung started to count the breaths that filled the silence between them. He found his hand drifting over to the part of his neck where his gills used to be. His fingers drifted back and forth in an obsessive fashion and he couldn't stop shifting his legs.

"My name is San, by the way." The boy said, his voice adopting a shy tone to it.

"San." Wooyoung breathed. It rolled off his tongue in a way that made him want to say it over and over. "I'm Wooyoung."

"Thank you again, Wooyoung. I feel like we should probably try to find our way back, I'm sure my friends are worried about me."

The merman nodded in agreement and pushed himself off the ground with ease. It was odd, when he thought about it Wooyoung felt like things shouldn't be this easy for him. But then again, magic worked in strange ways, so he decided not to question it.

San, however, was a little shaky, so Wooyoung ducked under the blonde's arm while wrapping an arm around his waist. "I've got you. Just take it slow."

The pair of them walked slowly along the beach. It was hard for Wooyoung to not ask a million questions, like what had happened to the boat, or what the thing floating in the water did, or what the strange creature sitting on the boulder was.

His wide eyes took in everything that he could of this new world. From some of his studying, he knew that there were things that soared through the air like he could swim in the water. He thought they were called birds, but he couldn't quite remember.

Wooyoung also had to make sure to pace himself. Every so often San would make a noise of discomfort and wince a little while holding his side.

"Are you ok?"

San nodded. "I think so. I might have bruised a rib or something, though." He sighed, then mumbled, "Just my luck..."

They walked around a little bend and the sound of a crowd assaulted Wooyoung's ears.

There were humans everywhere. Many were waving their arms franticly or trying to push their way through the group and all of them were talking as loud as possible.

Wooyoung suddenly felt very overwhelmed and he paused. He was not used to gatherings being this big unless there was an important royal announcement. And even then, he was able to stay off to the side since he was so close with Mingi.

"Come on," San grunted and started to walk again. "I'm sure there's a check-in somewhere."

Hesitantly, Wooyoung let San guide him forward now while doing his best to still support the human. His eyes flicked in all directions and his head started to pound.

Several people were panicking, pleading with other humans to help them find their loved ones that had been on the boat. Others were just shouting names.

"SAN!"

The couple paused and looked around.

"SAN! San please answer me!"

San groaned and straightened up, craning his neck to see over the crowd. "Sangie!" He shouted back.

"S-San..." Wooyoung whimpered. Other humans kept shoving him and pushing him around. He started to feel very small and enclosed and he didn't like it.

The human next to him didn't hear him, though, and Wooyoung turned to press his head into San's shoulder.

"SAN!"

"Sangie! I'm over here!" The blonde shouted. "Oh, this is pointless. Come on, let's try and get to the edge." San said, finally turning to force their way out of the crowd.

Wooyoung now found himself clinging to the human. He felt so out of control. It was a feeling he didn't like. At this moment, Wooyoung wanted nothing more than to run back for the ocean and lose himself in the comforting sways of the water he called home.

When they reached the edge, Wooyoung took a deep breath and tried to get himself under control. He let San pull him back to the edge of the beach and the sand between his toes soothed him a little.

Then it did more than that. Wooyoung couldn't fight the grin that crossed his face as he stared down at and wiggled his toes.

He had toes! And although he didn't really have any standards to compare them to, he though his feet were pretty darn cute.

"San! Oh my god, San! You're ok!" The voice that had been shouting from before came from in front of them. Wooyoung's head snapped up and he saw a boy with slightly wavy brown hair running at them at full speed.

The merman managed to get out of the way just as the newcomer threw himself at San.

"S-Sangie, I'm fi—Ow! Oh ow, ow, ow." San winched and his friend immediately stepped back.

"You're hurt. Let me see if I can find a medic."

"No, it's not that bad. Are you ok?" San grabbed his friend's wrist to stop him. "Is everyone else ok?"

The brunette nodded and shifted his hand to hold San's.

Wooyoung pressed his lips together and looked down at the sand, suddenly feeling like he didn't belong here...

"Yes, after the explosion I don't remember much. It was kind of a mad house. Everyone was trying to do what they could to get to shore. I sent everyone home, from what I could see the others just got a few bumps and bruises." His friend paused and took a deep breath. "And when you weren't w-with us... San I was so scared. Where have you been? What happened to you?"

"I don't remember a whole lot either but," San turned to glance at Wooyoung. "Wooyoung here saved me."

At the mention of his name, Wooyoung lifted his head a little. He knew he had to look pathetic right now, shifting uncomfortably in place, but he didn't know what else to do. It was too dangerous to transfer with this many people around.

The next thing that happened shocked him, though.

San's friend rushed forward and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, thank you so much. You're a hero."

Behind him, San rolled his eyes and shook his head. "There's no need for melodramatics. It's not like I wa—"

"It's not a problem. He probably wouldn't have made it if I didn't help, it was only the right thing to do." Wooyoung said, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

"What?!"

"Yeosang, calm down. I'm fine!" San grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away when he was Wooyoung flinch. "I just swallowed some water. I'll be fi—"

"Don't you dare say it Choi San. We are going back to the beach house right now so you can rest." Yeosang glared at San, then turned back to Wooyoung, "And you're coming with us so we can thank you properly."

Wooyoung was about to protest, but Yeosang grabbed his hand and started to pull him forward while still scolding San for being reckless and not valuing his own life.

An adorable pout crossed the blonde's face and Wooyoung found himself unable to look away. Every line, every curve... San was addicting to him already. All regard for his own safety was washed away at the prospect of getting to spend more time with San.

He was surprised when they started walking along the beach again. Wooyoung had been expecting to have to go through the loud mass of people so he was thankful that he didn't need to deal with that again.

What he wasn't prepared for, however, was the group of boys that came running out of two houses to greet them once they were in sight.

Once more, they were all talking at once as they tried to figure out what had happened to San.

The only thing that comforted him was the fact that San looked just as uncomfortable as he did.

"Guys, guys, please!" Yeosang said, holding up his hands. "We can talk about it later, let me get him inside."

One other boy came forward and ducked under San's arm. "Here, let me help you up the stairs."

"Thanks, Jongho." Yeosang smiled and turned back to Wooyoung. "Come on. I'll get you something to drink while we make sure San is ok. We don't bite." He added with a small chuckle.

Wooyoung blushed and looked down, embarrassed that Yeosang could probably see how scared he was.

One curious look from San hand him tossing caution to the wind, though, and he eagerly followed the humans into their home, leaving the sea forgotten behind him.