Hate the Crime, but the Mermaid Is Cute (1)
Driving Eunseo home in the truck was the easy part. Whether Hana and Hayeon would actually welcome her with smiles was another question entirely. Of course, if I put my foot down, they'd go along with it whether they liked it or not—but that wasn't how I wanted to do this.
I was turning all of this over on the drive home when it suddenly hit me that I'd overlooked the most important thing of all.
Where the hell was I supposed to put her?
I'd gotten suckered in by Eunseo's sparkling eyes and Inspector Park palming the whole thing off on me, and I'd said I'd take her—but I had nowhere for the kid to actually sleep. According to Inspector Park, she could transform her tail into human legs, but she was still a child, and doing it too often could interfere with her growth. Better to avoid it if possible.
Which meant I would have to haul that enormous tank into the house. And if she stayed any length of time, the water would need to keep circulating. This was going to be a headache in more ways than one.
"Haa... I really am a crazy woman."
The sigh escaped on its own. But what could I do? I'd already said I would. If I hadn't been holding the steering wheel, I genuinely would have smacked myself in the head.
Over the quiet country road washed in moonlight, only my deep sighs and the rumble of the old truck's engine echoed into the emptiness.
It was late by the time I finally pulled up in front of the yard. Through the window, I could see Hana and Hayeon coming out in their pajamas. They looked dazed, like they'd just woken up, staring at the truck as if they figured I'd simply gotten home late from work.
I hopped down, took one deep breath, and opened my mouth.
"So... listen. There's a kid I need to look after for a bit..."
"Huuuh...?"
"Look after?"
Hana and Hayeon still weren't fully awake; they didn't seem to be processing a word I was saying.
"Ah, forget it. A mermaid! I brought a mermaid home! Her name's Eunseo."
That did it. Their minds snapped into focus. Hana's puppy ears and Hayeon's rabbit ears both shot straight up at the same time.
"What? A mermaid?"
"Didn't you say you couldn't bring her?"
"Well... circumstances changed, so I decided I'd look after her for a while. She's right over there."
I pointed at the truck bed, and right on cue, Eunseo poked her head out of the tank and looked at us. Bathed in moonlight, she gave a shy little wave—it looked like a scene straight out of a fairy tale. Hana and Hayeon stared, completely transfixed.
"Her name's Eunseo. And as you can see, she's a mermaid."
Still caught in that fairy-tale first meeting, Hana and Hayeon cheerfully demolished my worry that they might be shy around a stranger. Without a moment's hesitation, they climbed up onto the truck and started introducing themselves. Eunseo, for her part, seemed fascinated by the dog ears and rabbit ears I'd told her about, staring at them with wide, curious eyes and smiling.
How is that a juvenile delinquent... she just looks like an exchange student from overseas.
I left the three of them to their introductions and started scouting for a place to put this headache of a tank.
I walked through the house a few times, but there was nowhere suitable. The bathroom was too small, and with the washing machine in there, there was no room for a tank. Putting it in one of the other rooms would be a nightmare of splashing water and filter noise. The easiest option was the shed... and even if she wasn't in a position to be picky about good spots versus bad ones, I couldn't accept that.
That left the middle of the living room. There was a TV, it'd be convenient for hanging out with Hana and Hayeon, and if I arranged things right, the tank might just fit.
When I stepped back outside, true to the famously sociable natures of a dog and a rabbit, the two of them were already cackling and chatting away with Eunseo. I climbed up onto the truck, and all three pairs of eyes swung toward me at once.
"So, where are you going to sleep?"
"The bed?"
"The bed? How were you planning to get up there?"
"Ah... right. Hehe..."
She'd only just realized this wasn't her house, and the sheepish little laugh that followed was pretty adorable. But never mind the fins—I'd be the one stuck wringing out a soaking-wet mattress.
"I can at least move the tank into the living room."
"Ah! That'd be great! I sleep just fine in the water anyway!"
It's not that you sleep fine in there, it's that you have to sleep in there... whatever. Never mind.
"Alright, we need to move the tank, so wait in the bathroom while I drain the water. Nu— Hana, Hayeon. Can you carry Eunseo to the bathroom?"
"Yes!"
"Okay, Unnie!"
Hana and Hayeon scooped Eunseo up from either side and lowered her down from the truck. She was even smaller than the two of them, who were still growing themselves, and the sight of it looked either like a little sister horsing around with her older sisters... or like they were hauling a freshly caught trophy fish into the kitchen.
I shook my head, trying to dislodge that bizarre feeling, and started draining the tank so we could move it. Once it was empty, I glanced toward the house and could just barely hear their laughter.
"Hana! Come help me move the tank!"
The words had barely left my mouth before Hana came bounding out of the house, tail wagging.
"Yes, Unnie! I'll help!"
"Good. Let's start by lowering it down slowly."
"Okay!"
The tank looked heavy enough that you'd need at least four young men to budge it, but with me as a Semi-Awakened and Hana as a demi-human, we lifted it like we were moving a table. It was a slightly strange sight, but luckily there was no one around to comment.
Together, Hana and I carefully lowered the tank and carried it into the living room. The living room had already been cramped, and shoving a giant tank in there left barely enough space for people to squeeze past. We set it down, and I started filling it with a rubber hose I'd dragged over from the workshop. Hana's ears perked as she stared, transfixed, at the water rising in the tank.
"It's well water, so it should be fine for a mermaid's body."
"That's a relief!"
Tap water, seawater, well water—it was all pretty much the same, honestly... but from Hana's perspective, she just wanted her new friend to have the best environment possible.
Once the tank was full, I laid out plenty of towels from the bathroom around it, just in case Eunseo decided to come out of the water.
"Alright, let's go get Eunseo."
"Okay!"
Hana dashed off to the bathroom, tail wagging with excitement. Juvenile delinquent or not, making a friend her own age was a good thing.
A moment later, Eunseo came in, carried in Hana and Hayeon's arms, and carefully slipped into the tank. She did a quick lap underwater, then popped her head back out.
"The water's amazing!"
"It's well water. But isn't seawater and tap water all pretty much the same?"
"No way! Tap water makes my skin all rough~"
"...Well, that's good then. Anyway, everyone get some rest tonight, and we'll figure out tomorrow when tomorrow comes. I've been wrestling with you all day, and I'm starting to hit a wall."
That seemed to remind her of the day's chaos; she ducked back underwater with an awkward look on her face. But she was still grinning from ear to ear.
A kid this fond of people ran away from home? I just don't get it...
"You two can hang out with Eunseo, but don't stay up too late, okay?"
"Yes, Unnie!"
"Don't worry~"
Only after extracting a promise I knew they wouldn't keep did I head to the bathroom to wash up.
The next morning, I woke not to a blaring alarm but to sunlight pouring through the window onto my eyelids. I'd washed my exhausted body in hot water the night before and collapsed straight into bed.
Hana and Hayeon didn't stay up all night, did they? And... what does Eunseo even eat?
The fact that they were the first thing on my mind the moment I opened my eyes... I really was turning into a mom.
I stretched, headed out of the bedroom, and found a peaceful scene waiting in the living room. Eunseo was sunk to the bottom of the tank, fast asleep, and Hana and Hayeon were curled up together on the sofa beside it, sharing a single towel as a blanket. They'd probably talked themselves out all night and fallen asleep right there.
As I approached, Hana's and Hayeon's ears twitched at the same time, and they sat up rubbing their eyes.
"Did you stay up all night playing and then fall asleep here?"
"Yeah... Eunseo told us so many interesting stories."
"She did... the place where mermaids live is incredible."
"Yeah? But... what does she eat?"
"I eat pretty much anything. Meat, vegetables~"
Eunseo, who'd woken up at some point, poked her head out of the tank and looked at me.
"Fish?"
"That's... a little..."
"Well, that's a relief. I figured you lived off seaweed and stuff."
"What do you take us for, primitives!?"
"That's not what I meant... to people like us, mermaids are, how do I put it... like princesses or fairies from a storybook."
"So are you going to treat me like a fairy or a princess from now on?"
"In the old stories, they're also monsters who lure sailors in and eat them."
"...I'll just stay quiet."
At that, she immediately tucked her fins in and sank into the water with just the top of her head poking out. I left her there and headed for the kitchen.
A mermaid who didn't like fish but ate everything else. It was a morning that thoroughly demolished every mermaid fantasy I'd ever had.
Hana usually handled most of the housework, but we had a guest who wasn't quite a guest today, so I felt like making breakfast myself for the first time in a while. There was plenty of leftover stew and side dishes from yesterday, but we still hadn't finished the meat from the water deer I'd bagged last time, so a hearty breakfast seemed like a good idea.
I pulled meat and eggs from the fridge, split them between two frying pans with practiced ease, and started cooking. Around the time the sizzle filled the kitchen and a rich, savory smell started spreading, I felt a burning gaze on my back and glanced around.
Eunseo with her chin resting on the edge of the tank, Hana on the sofa, and Hayeon sitting right beside her. All three of them were staring at me with glittering eyes.
"Enjoying the show?"
"Nooo~"
"It's been so long since Unnie cooked for us!"
"You're making salad too, right, Unnie?"
Watching Eunseo jump into the conversation as if she'd always been part of it, I couldn't help but let out a wry laugh. She was a troublemaker who'd, in a fit of teenage recklessness, released every fish in an aquaculture farm... but maybe this was the real Eunseo. A mermaid who still didn't know how the world worked—untainted and pure.
Well. This isn't so bad.
I gave the frying pan a shake, and a smile crept onto my face before I even noticed it.