[Side Story]: Underwater Tryst — The Human and the Mermaid Prince

*This work is a reconfiguration for note
of a short story series that was born
from participating in the X project "#WednesdayUnderwaterWorld".

A small underwater tale born from Wednesday Underwater World

This is a short story about a human youth, Maya,
and a mermaid prince, Touki.

It began with a single underwater illustration,
was posted little by little every Wednesday at 15:03,
and concluded in 10 parts.

Rather than a novel, this is
an underwater record that I submerged
through images and short text.

Part 1 | The Prince of the Deep Sea Notices a Foreign Object

The deep sea was always filled with the same silence.

The one who broke that equilibrium was
a human who had no business being in this sea.

"...Who are you?"

While staring at the black shape sinking down,
the prince reaches out his hand.

He hasn't touched him yet.
But he no longer intended to look the other way.

Love, perhaps, doesn't begin the moment you save someone,
but when you no longer understand
the reason you reached out your hand.

Part 2 | The Arms That Save

Before he could sink completely, the prince's arms caught his body.

"I don't intend to let you die."

As if to declare that,
the prince holds the human close.
Underwater,
even a single touch offers no escape.

The arms pulling up the unconscious human
should be a salvation,
so why do they look so feverish?

He doesn't even know his name yet.
Even so, they were no longer at a stranger's distance.

Part 3 | Waking Up in the Deep Sea Palace

What he saw when he opened his eyes
was not light, but eyes deeper than the sea.

"...Where am I?"

No words returned to the question.
Instead, the prince was there, as if telling him not to run away.

Before feeling the relief of being saved, Maya thought:

—I have been found by something this beautiful.

Chapter 4 | Wordless Exchange

Names, origins, nothing could be communicated.
Even so, their gazes met again and again.

Without knowing how to get closer,
the two of them, through only hand movements and distance,
gradually learned that the other meant no harm.

The prince did not rush him.
Whenever Maya was bewildered by the weight of the water,
he would reach out a hand at a distance that barely touched him.
Each time, Maya also
learned not to refuse.

Even without words, the warmth was conveyed.
Every time the touch of his fingertips lingered quietly,
he felt as if something had already begun.

Perhaps that was,
looking back later, the most troublesome,
and the most irresistible beginning.

Chapter 5 | Showing the Prince's Sea

What the prince showed him was the King's sea.

The swaying of the light shining from above,
the trajectory of the schooling fish,
and even the shadows sinking into the ruined palace,
all held a stillness unique to this place.

Maya could say nothing for a while.

Just staring at the scenery spreading out before him,
he thought, as if finally exhaling,
that the sea could be this beautiful
and cruel.

"...It's beautiful."

That one short phrase was enough.
Because the prince was not looking at the sea,
but at Maya's profile as he looked at the scenery.

From the moment he found a place he wanted to show him,
his heart was no longer his own.

That is probably how feelings begin.

Chapter 6 | Leading by the Hand

Until then, the contact had been for the sake of protection.
To support him in dangerous places,
To stop him when he was lost,
It was a way of touching meant only to keep him alive.

But for the first time now,
The prince took Maya's hand with clear intent.
Not to save him,
But to take him to the world where he belonged.

Maya's eyes widened for just a moment.
If he had wanted to pull away, he probably could have.

Yet he did not,
Because more than the strength of the hand pulling him,
There was no hesitation in it.

As he moved along, led by the prince,
Maya finally began to realize.

That what was being captured was not his body first,
But perhaps his heart.

Episode 7 | Before the Vow

If he got any closer, he would surely never be able to return.
Knowing that distance,
Both of them had already forgotten how to let go.

Just by calling his name, deep within his chest,
Even the places that shouldn't be touched were shaken.

Their gazes met.
Their fingertips overlapped.
That simple act alone
Felt terribly decisive.

The prince's hand is gentle.
Though gentle, it is craftily strong.
It was a touch that knew it was not being rejected.

The reason the time before being bound is the most beautiful
Is not because it hasn't been broken yet.

It is because it is the moment when you reach out your hand,
Even while knowing somewhere that a future of breaking awaits.

Episode 8 | The Quiet Depths of Happiness

Even at the bottom of the sea,
There are such peaceful times.
Times without words, without reasons to rush,
Just being side by side in the same stillness.

Knowing that
Was the cruelest thing of all.

If only we could stay like this.
Such a wish
Becomes fragile the moment it is spoken.
And so, both of them,
Thinking the same thing, said nothing.

The more natural the distance between them became,
The deeper the pain of losing it would be.
Happiness is not precious because it lasts a long time.
It stings because it is beautiful even while knowing it will end.

This quiet time,
With its gentle face,
Was already more than cruel enough.

Episode 9 | The Sea Does Not Keep People

There are worlds you cannot live in just because they are beautiful.
No matter how much you wish for it,
The sea will not make a human its own.

That was beginning to take the shape of reality, little by little.

Maya's breathing became shallow, and the prince's eyes could no longer pretend not to see it.

No matter how beautiful this sea may be, this is not a place that can keep him alive.

“...Don't push yourself anymore.”

To that voice that finally fell, the prince could return nothing. Instead of answering, he wrapped his fingers around the hand that was about to pull away, just one more time.

He wants to protect him, but he cannot make him stay. Even though he is a prince, he is helpless. That is the cruel part of the sea, even while it remains beautiful.

Episode 10 | Parting at the Water's Surface

What was closest at the end was not their lips, but their hands.

They were within reach, yet it was a distance where they could no longer be together. Only the warmth barely remained.

No words could be heard. Even so, the prince's eyes were surely telling him.

Go back, and
live.

It is precisely because he cares for him that he must let him go.

Maya cannot return anything, and simply cannot let go of that hand.

However, the world does not allow for that hesitation. The light pushes him upward, and the sea anchors the prince to the depths.

As if spilling from his fingertips, the final connection unravels. The feelings left at the bottom of the sea will never surface again.

That is precisely why they remain submerged, beautiful forever.

At first, it was just a single piece for a project participation. But the moment I had the human youth and the mermaid prince face each other, there was already the presence of 'two people who had met'.

They cannot understand each other's words. Their worlds are different. Even so, their gazes met, their hands remained, and in the end, they were separated by the difference in the places where they live.

Because it was a form of repeating short posts every week, I feel I was able to leave the silence intact without over-explaining.

To those who read it, and to those who watched over it, thank you.