The Prince of Orion

c.21

Dara had found herself crouching in one big rock with some figs grown on its massive presence. Jiyong was behind her and eased her from coldness with his own body heat.

In front of them was a a waterfalls which supplied a wide lake underneath it. She had no idea that the untouched forest in the community had such beauty hidden behind the woodlands.

Jiyong caressed her shoulders and had his head to her left shoulder while he directed his eyes to their front. Dara slightly turned to the side of his face and let a smile seeing he really looked handsome upclose. Before she realized it, she leaned over the side of his face and planted a kiss to her cheek. Jiyong stiffened at such brief contact while he turned to the woman who was grinning to him now.

"Don't temp me, smidgen." he said while biting his own lips.

"You're so handsome, you grouch." she said while he only shook his head.

Jiyong was about to reply to that when movement in the lake caught his attention that he looked up before he smiled. He then turned to Dara this time and urged her to look up.

"Don't make any noise." he said.

Dara did so as she followed where he was looking.

In the opposite bank of the lake, there she saw a mermaid, lying flat to her tummy while she played over a certain white flowers grown in the side of the body of waters. Then the air was filled with a hum sound coming from a singing mermaid in ocean blue tails.

To say Dara was shock was understatement when she literally can't move any muscles in much disbelief. Noticing her reaction, Jiyong only eased her through his encouraging massages on her shoulders every now and then.

"Apparently, this lake is interconnected to an ocean nearby with unchartered underwater caves underneath it. That mermaid had been coming here every dawn, picking that white petaled flowers while she sing in return." he said.

All her life, she thought mermaids are fictional characters in books and in fairytales that what was happening before her now almost like a daydream. Her knees gave out and was about to collapse to her butt if not for Jiyong's immediate response and had her sit to his lap.

"Too much?" he asked her while he still saw her still regarding the mermaid in wonderment. "Should we leave, agi-ah?" he asked.

Dara shook her head before a slow smile appeared to her lips. "Amazing..."

Then a pair of water nymphs caught Dara's attention that she abruptly turned to Jiyong this time.

"Are those..."

"Nymphs." he answered. "You can actually determine them according to their colors. But you can only do that when you're upclose. Those are the water nymphs and behind us were the forest's."

"Behind us?" Dara said before she looked around and caught those little flying creatures into their hiding when she noticed them.

"Careful with the green ones since they tend to be very playful." Jiyong warned.

"By playful you mean?"

"You gotta get lost in the woods for many days." he said making her pressed herself against him.

"I don't want that to happen." she said while she peeked on those little creatures who did the same.

Jiyong only smiled at her as they both continued to look at the mermaid now who stopped singing now as she listened to the things those water nymphs said to her ears before she looked behind her and directed her eyes to where Dara and Jiyong was hiding.