Children of the Ocean (DongJunFF)

Chapter 1

Junhee

One of the first things Jun had learned as a child was to not interfere in human lives and he should have followed that rule. However back then, when it had happened, on a cold, stormy winter day, he had still been a child; naive and unable to stand seeing the human boy, who couldn't have been much older than he himself, drown after he had fallen out of one of the boats that had tried to conquer the huge waves.

Before thinking about it twice, Jun had grabbed the unconscious boy's arms and with all strength, he had been able to summon up, he had dragged him through the uneasy water and into safety, consisting of a small lagoon, hidden between some huge rocks. It hardly ever got discovered by humans and therefore Jun went there often, when he wanted to feel the full heat of the sun on his skin, the fact that he was really sensitive towards UV radiation for which reason he got sunburns easily, not stopping him.

It took the boy some time to regain consciousness and show any signs of live at all, but Jun had no doubt that he would eventually wake up again. He had saved him fast enough or at least he hoped so. While he waited, Jun couldn't take his eyes of the boy's face for even a second. Mermaids did look similar to humans, just like his parents had told him, but while Jun's and his swarm's faces were sharp, the child in front of him had a big round face, with soft, puffy cheeks and big pouty lips. It was so different to what Jun had known till now and he thought that it looked beautiful. Out of curiosity he slowly stretched out a hand to carefully poke the boy's cheek, followed by him quickly pulling it away again with a happy squeal. The skin had felt so soft under his fingertips, just like the body of an octopus.

"What... happened?" A hoarse voice suddenly spoke up and Jun startled looked at the boy who was blinking into the slowly fading light, while staring back at him.

Jun wanted to answer him, he really did, but the only sounds he could get out outside of water were squeaks similar to the one he had made some seconds ago and therefore he stayed silent and stared at the human with huge, curious eyes. This was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him, except the one time his father had taken him to see one of the big cities further in the east of their ocean.

"What happened to my parents? Are they...are they okay?" This time the voice of the boy sounded different. More uneasy? Jun wasn't sure. He had never heard someone speak in this way, but it was obvious that the thought of his parents being in danger made the human unhappy, so Jun just smiled reassuringly and nodded. He hadn't seen any other, older humans in the water so they should be on a boat somewhere. At least he hoped so...once again.

The boy immediately relaxed and sighed in relief, before a sudden frown grew on his face and his eyes slowly trailed down Jun's body, from his naked chest to the magnificent, blue-green gleaming tail fin which was the compensation for his missing legs and was currently half covered by the water behind him so that Jun wouldn't dry out because that could happen way too quickly.

The eyes of the boy widened and he could see a mix between fear and curiosity in them.

"What...are you a mermaid?" He asked and Jun smiled again as confirmation.

"Wow...I always wanted to meet one..."

In that moment quiet voices sounded from behind Jun, shouting something over the water. The boy looked up, relive flashing over his face once more.

"That are my parents! They are searching for me!" He exclaimed happily, before he shakily got up and started waving like crazy.

"Mum! Dad! I'm here! I'm here!" He yelled back, while Jun observed his behavior interested. Humans were so much more emotional than mermaids but he liked it.