Chapter 1: A Different Kind

                                    

                                          


Walking away from the crowd, Kongpob finds himself by the shore. The seniors, led by their head hazer, Knot, are almost done giving them their gears, symbolizing their acceptance as the seniors' juniors. When Kongpob got his own, he immediately walked away from the gathering. He's not really interested in the hazing activities. Maybe if the head hazer was someone of his type, Kongpob could have paid attention.
                          
He tried to find M, which he found with May. Knowing how his best friend might have mustered all his courage to spend time and talk with May, Kongpob decided to leave them alone. That's why he's now alone in this part of the beach. 
                          
The wind is quite strong. They even thought their trip would be postponed because of the weather, but the hazers pushed it, so here they are. 
                          
He picks a spot and decides to take a rest. He takes his gear from his pocket and ties it around his wrist. Now that the hazing activities are over, he can be a regular student with more time in his hands. 
                          
But just when Kongpob thinks he'll start living a normal life from here on, he hears a noise coming from behind the large log on the beach. Being the busybody that he is, he stands up and approaches the log. Somebody might need his help, he thinks. 
                          
When he finally finds the source of all the noise, Kongpob stops in his tracks. Nothing could have prepared him for actually seeing it.
                          
It appears to be an actual living mermaid, with a scaly tail and all!
                          
Kongpob and his friends have been told that the waters of the place they're going to are inhabited by mermaids. No one believed it, of course. They've been told that the mermaids are graceful, beautiful creatures with flowing hair and voices like angels singing from heaven above. But if that's true, then what the hell is this half-fish, half-man thing caught in a fishing net flopping around and spitting out profanities?
                          
Kongpob finally manages to ignore the part of his brain that is freaking out over the mystical being to offer his assistance. 
                          
He carefully approaches the creature, hoping to not spook him too badly. It doesn't seem like he has to worry about that because the merman is too busy spitting out curses and other bad words to even acknowledge Kongpob's presence. Some are words he recognizes, but the others are obviously in a language he has never heard before.
                          
Since he now knows that the merman speaks the language he understands, he takes the last few steps to get as close as possible. However, because of the cold wind, without any warning, Kongpob lets out a sneeze. 
                          
The creature instantly freezes once he realizes he's no longer alone and stares at Kongpob with his blue eyes.
                          
Those eyes are absolutely terrifying yet so beautiful, and Kongpob feels himself drowning in them. Their little staring contest ends with the merman splashing his turquoise colored tail, getting Kongpob soaked, who sputters in shock.
                          
"What the—"
                          
"That's what I should be saying," the being says, rolling his eyes. "Are you just going to keep staring there, or are you going to help?"
                          
"Help?" The ever-so-helpful Kongpob replies, not really expecting this kind of attitude from a merperson of all things. Aren't they supposed to be gentle and sweet creatures?
                          
The merman groans. "Can we just skip the part wherein you freak out over my existence and move on to the part wherein you get me out of this motherfucking net?"
                          
Kongpob slowly nods. He feels like he's having an out-of-body experience.
                          
"Any minute now, human," the merman says, flapping his tail. This time there isn't a huge splash, but it does snap Kongpob into action. Kongpob tries to find a sharp object that could help him cut the net, but he couldn't find any. 
                          
"Wait a minute. Don't go anywhere," Kongpob tells the merman.
                          
The creature rolls his blue eyes. "Do you really think I could go anywhere?" He says, raising and shaking his arms inside the net.
                          
Kongpob scratches his head. Suddenly, everything that's happening makes him feel stupid. "J-just wait," he tells before storming off towards the resort.
                          
He comes back after a few minutes with a utility knife in his hand. 
                          
"I thought I would be found by a damn hungry human and would be fried for his breakfast," the merman says, obviously annoyed that he had to wait.
                          
Kongpob just gives him an awkward look and begins cutting into the nylon net, carefully avoiding the tail. 
                          
"Wait!" says the merman. "Are you a hungry human?" Horror is in his eyes. 
                          
Kongpob shakes his head. "I mean... I'm currently hungry, but I won't eat you, okay?"
                          
"Good. Just so you know... I can hurt you," the merman responds, then shows his fangs to Kongpob, attempting to scare him.
                          
But those fangs don't scare the other because they're quite cute.
                          
Kongpob tries not to think too much about what's happening, attempting to compartmentalize his panic in the back of his mind as he continues with his task. He's so preoccupied with his thoughts that he accidentally lets the knife slip, leaving the merman with a small cut to his tail.
                          
"Fucking shit! Pay attention, dumbass!"
                          
"Sorry," Kongpob replies, feeling intimidated by the merman's glare.
                          
He quickly gets back to work. This time, Kongpob manages to cut the net without any slip-ups. He expects the merman to swim away now that he's free. However, the merman stays put, frowning down at his tail.
                          
"My tail..."
                          
Kongpob looks at the tail, specifically at the spot he accidentally cut. It's starting to bleed. "Oh no." He doesn't know what to do, but he comes closer to it, unaware of the other's plan. 
                          
Kongpob doesn't know
that merpeople that go after shiny human objects don't only exist in films, especially those with names that start with "A." 
                          
The merman grabs his wrist and snatches his gear that is tied to it. "Dumbass!" he says. In a very quick move, the merman flops around and splashes his tail, making it hard for Kongpob to see him. 
                          
When Kongpob's view clears out, the merman is already far from him, but he's not swimming away. The merman sticks his tongue out to make fun of Kongpob and mouths "idiot" from afar. Even though he's far, Kongpob can see the merman's cute fangs as he laughs at him. 
                          
Kongpob doesn't know how to react. What kind of rude creature did he just help? 
                          
Feeling it naked, he touches his wrist. The merman notices this, but he cannot give back the new addition to his treasures. Instead, he swims down under and obtains a blue-green stone from somewhere. He throws the stone towards Kongpob, which he fails to catch. 
                          
My god. He's really stupid.
                          
Kongpob crouches to reach the stone. While he's not looking, he hears the merman shouting:
                          
"Thank you, human!"
                          
But when Kongpob glances back, the merman isn't there anymore. 
                          
He's now swimming away, to his home, with Kongpob's gear with him, the gear he doesn't know the meaning of.