You've Really Turned Into a Mermaid
It was a little past four in the afternoon by the time I got home.
The moment I opened the front door and stepped inside, I set both shopping bags down on the living room floor.
"Ugh, I'm exhausted. Why does buying a few clothes take so long?"
"Anyone would think we'd been out all day."
"Whose fault is it that I had to keep changing outfits?"
Yu Seongun snorted and moved one of the bags aside.
I went straight into my room and peeled off the dress I was wearing. No matter how I thought about it, I just couldn't get used to wandering around in clothes like that.
After changing into a comfy short-sleeve tee and shorts, I returned to the living room to find Yu Seongun sprawled on the sofa, scrolling through his phone.
"Hey, order me some dakgalbi."
"Sure. Want fried rice too?"
"Yeah, let's get that as well."
Pulling up the delivery app, he asked, "How many servings?"
"Shouldn't it be at least three?"
"You really think you can eat all that?"
"Yep. I'm starving, so hurry up and order. You did say you'd buy me whatever I wanted."
"Fine, fine."
With the order placed, we spent the time sorting through the clothes we'd bought. Before long, the doorbell rang, and he went out to collect the delivery.
We unwrapped the packages and spread the food across the table. The moment the lids came off, a spicy aroma filled the living room.
"Ooh, smells great."
"Doesn't it? Weren't you starving? Eat up."
We sat across from each other at the table and dug into the dakgalbi first, then moved on to the fried rice we'd ordered alongside it. In the end, we polished off all three servings plus the rice before I finally set my chopsticks down.
"Ugh, I'm stuffed. Maybe three servings was overkill."
"Now who was it that insisted on three servings?"
"Hey, we finished it, didn't we?"
Leaning back in my chair, I felt my eyelids slowly growing heavy. The fatigue from being out and about all day seemed to be catching up with me all at once. Eventually I got up and stretched.
"Thanks for the food. I'm going to catch some sleep."
"Yeah, rest well."
I headed straight to my room and collapsed onto the bed. The moment I closed my eyes, my consciousness began to fade—probably thanks to a full stomach and sheer exhaustion.
***
How much time had passed?
"Hey. Wake up. It's already past eight."
The voice, cutting abruptly through my sleep, pried my eyes open. Light from the living room spilled in through the open door, and it stung. On top of that, I'd apparently rolled onto my side, and my position felt terribly awkward.
I pushed myself upright and looked at the guy.
"What...? Do you need something?"
"You need to eat dinner."
"We just ate a while ago. What, again?"
"Doesn't matter, get up. Come on, slowly—huh? Wait, you..."
The guy, who'd been walking toward the bed, suddenly stopped in his tracks. Then he stared fixedly at the lower half of my body.
"Are you a pervert or something? Why are you staring at my legs like that?"
"You've really turned into a mermaid."
"Huh? What are you..."
I stopped mid-sentence and looked down. The instant I did, whatever drowsiness remained in me evaporated completely.
As I sat there frozen, he spoke up.
"Whoa... a mermaid on a bed. That's so surreal."
"Yeah... it really is. I've only seen it underwater, so seeing it on top of the blankets feels bizarre."
"I mean, it's pretty though? All those vivid colors."
Yu Seongun came closer to the bed and examined my tail from every angle. Come to think of it, the pants I'd been wearing seemed to have vanished in the transformation into a mermaid tail—there wasn't a trace of them anywhere.
"Yu Seongun, let's head out to the living room for now."
"Can you even move like that?"
"Of course I—"
I planted both hands on the edge of the bed and tried to swing myself down, but the long tail came along for the ride and left me in a hopeless tangle. If I forced myself down in this state, I'd end up face-planting on the floor.
"This is way more inconvenient than I expected. How am I supposed to get down?"
"I'll carry you."
"Carry me how, exactly?"
"How do you think? In my arms."
"Wait, hey—!"
I didn't have a chance to stop him. Yu Seongun wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me clean off the bed.
The sudden sensation of my body leaving the ground made me grab onto his neck by pure reflex. Hanging off him like that, embarrassment washed over me and my face went hot.
"What's with the blushing?"
"Wh-when did I blush?! And you're too close! This position is weird!"
Panic made my voice come out louder than intended, and the guy snickered.
"Fine, then I'll carry you properly."
"Either way it's the same—!"
"Shh. Quiet."
With a sly grin, he stretched out one arm and slid it under my drooping tail to support it. As my body rose again, I ended up naturally cradled against his chest—which brought us to eye level and put his face all that much closer to mine.
"Hey, this is a bit—"
I tried to say more, but without bothering to respond, he carried me out of the room. Only when we reached the living room did he gently set me down on the sofa.
I adjusted myself into a sitting position, letting the long tail drape down off the edge of the sofa. An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment before Yu Seongun broke it first.
"Want to grab a beer? Loosen things up a little?"
"Sounds good. Hand one over."
Without a word, he pulled two cans of beer from the fridge and came over to hand me one. When I opened the tab, a soft hiss escaped and a little foam rose up. After taking a sip, I leaned back against the sofa's armrest and spoke.
"The more I think about it, the more problems I see."
"What problems?"
"For starters, I need to find a job. I can't go back to my old one now that I've turned into... this."
"That's true."
"And that's not all. My face and body have changed into a woman's, but my ID still says male."
I let out a sigh and took another swig of beer. Yu Seongun, lost in thought for a moment, looked at my tail and opened his mouth.
"Then how about trying something like a mermaid show?"
"A mermaid show? That came completely out of left field. Where would you even find work like that?"
"Actually, I think I know a way. One of our salon regulars works in that kind of performance industry."
"Huh? Seriously?"
My eyes went wide at the unexpected statement.
"Yeah. I overheard them talking about aquarium performances while doing my hair. We exchanged numbers, so I could just reach out and ask if they're looking for people."
"Wow, what is with your connections, Yu Seongun? Look at you, Mr. Well-Connected."
"Cut the crap. Nothing ventured, nothing gained—if it works out, great; if not, I'll just help you find something else."
Now that I thought about it, it did sound plausible. If the connection actually came through, it seemed like a pretty solid option for my current situation. Other performers would need to wear costumes, but I could breathe comfortably underwater and had a genuine tail to boot—when it came to playing a mermaid, I figured I could do the job better than anyone.
"Ask them about it tomorrow. If it's possible, I'd like to give it a shot."
"Got it. I'll call them tomorrow."
Having even a narrow path open up through my murky job situation lifted my mood considerably. The ID problem still remained, though. As I mulled over what to do about it, the bracelet I'd received along with the potion suddenly came to mind.
"I'll ask the Dragon King about the ID later. He did tell me to come find him once I'd used up all ten bottles of the potion."
"Come to think of it, you do have to see that Dragon King guy again, huh."
"Yeah. I'll ask him then—he'll probably tell me what to do. There's no point agonizing over it now."
I decided to shelve the problems I couldn't solve at the moment. Yu Seongun seemed to accept that too, nodding and taking a swig of his beer.
Then his gaze drifted back to my tail.
"By the way—if you're going to do a mermaid show, you'll have to swim. Can you actually manage that?"
"Not yet, but I figure I'll get the hang of it with practice."
"Fair enough."
"Then I guess practice comes first. Not that I can exactly use a public swimming pool."
"We'll just go somewhere with no people. Let's rent a pool villa with an indoor pool."
"Ooh, that's a good idea."
I nodded right away.
"Then let's make it two nights and three days. I don't think I can get it down properly in just a session or two."
"Sounds good. I'll look for a decent place."
Yu Seongun immediately pulled out his phone and started searching for pool villas. I leaned over to look at his screen alongside him.
Everything—my ID, the job hunt—was still a tangled mess, but at least I felt like I was gradually sorting out what to do next.
Glancing down, I gave my drooping tail a single flick and chuckled to myself.
"What a life I'm living. Who would've thought I'd end up planning to make money as a mermaid?"
"Right? It might even turn out to be your true calling. I mean, where else are you going to find a real, living mermaid?"
"You sound secretly excited about this."
"Must be your imagination."
He answered without a trace of guilt and dropped his gaze back to his phone. I was lost in thought for a moment when the bracelet from yesterday suddenly came to mind.
"Yu Seongun. There's a small bag in my room—go bring it here, will you?"
"A bag? Out of nowhere?"
"I want to put on the bracelet. Figured I might as well do it now while I'm thinking of it."
"Ah, that thing you mentioned yesterday?"
"Yeah."
"Got it."
Yu Seongun got up and went into my room. A moment later he came back carrying the small bag and handed it over.
"Here you go."
"Thanks."
I took the bracelet out of the bag and fastened it around my wrist on the spot. Meanwhile, Yu Seongun had found a promising pool villa.
We settled on the dates and booked it right away for two nights and three days. It was a trip decided on pure impulse, but somehow I found myself looking forward to it.
After that, we chatted away for a while and watched a movie, and before I knew it, it was early morning. Since I couldn't make it to my room on my own, I once again had to rely on Yu Seongun's help to get back to bed.
"Good night."
"Yeah, you too."
Only after confirming that he'd closed the door and left did I pull the covers over myself and close my eyes.