Agnes just stared into space, her face and eyes showing no sign of life, only sadness and loneliness. She had been like this ever since she chased Islaw away. It had been over three days, and her suspicion was right—Islaw did not return after what she did. She could not blame the merman.
Even she, if she were pushed away and hurt, would choose to leave. She had experienced being hurt and rejected by people many times, so she deeply felt the pain she had caused Islaw.
If she were to ask herself, she would admit that she deeply regretted the unkind thing she did to the gentle merman. He did not deserve it.
Now she regretted it so much. To be honest, aside from Cholo, Islaw was all she had left. Those two were the only ones she felt truly cared for her. But what did she do? She wasted Islaw, who was always there to be sweet to her, to make her feel like she was not alone, and who always showed his love for her. Now, because of what she did, she lost her companion.
She did not think it would hurt this much.
"Big sis?" Cholo approached her with a pout.
"Oh, it is you, Cholo."
"Big sis, you look so sad. Since big brother disappeared, you rarely smile," he said, which made her sigh.
"I am fine, do not worry about me," she smiled gently before ruffling his hair.
But doing that only made her remember Islaw more. She used to always mess with and stroke his hair, which made Islaw happy. She sighed as she took her hand off Cholo's head.
No matter how hard she tried to be happy, she simply could not, and no matter how hard she tried to make someone stay, fate seemed to take them away from her. The world is unfair!
"Eat now. I snuck some fish from our fridge. I brought four fish and they are big ones," Cholo said, raising and lowering his eyebrows as he showed the bag he brought.
"Thank you very much, Cholo, but don't do that again next time. What you did was stealing."
"Yes, Big sis."
Agnes smiled at him and took the fish he gave her to the kitchen. She finally had food for tonight; she had been eating only rice and salt for several days. After cleaning the fish, she immediately fried one and ate. Cholo had already gone home because it was getting very dark. She was eating alone, so she felt her loneliness deeply.
While chewing, she could not help but lose her appetite. She was hungry, but she did not feel like eating because the merman, Islaw, kept entering her mind.
She did not know if what was happening to her was normal—if it was normal for that man to always be in her thoughts and if it was normal to feel something for him. It seemed like she had some kind of feelings for the merman.
"Maybe I am just so alone that all sorts of things are entering my mind," she whispered to herself.
When she finished eating, she immediately washed the dishes. As she expected, sleep did not come easily, so she got up from her bed. She briefly wrapped her body in a thin blanket and went outside to get some fresh air.
She was just staring at the dark ocean when she suddenly heard the familiar sound that she often heard the merman, Islaw, make.
"I-Islaw?" she immediately looked toward the large rocks in the water.
"I-Islaw, is that you?"
Agnes's eyes began to tear up at the thought that Islaw had come back to her. She took off her slippers and immediately waded into the water. When she peered behind the rock, she saw Islaw looking at her too.
She had not seen him for days, and she admitted she missed him so much. She smiled and walked toward Islaw, about to give him a tight hug, but she could not because he hurriedly swam away as if he were afraid of what she might do.
"Islaw." Her shoulders slumped emotionally.
She stared sadly at the part of the sea where Islaw had submerged. What else could she expect? She should not be surprised if he wanted to avoid her, since she had chased him away and even threw stones at him.
Her chest felt tight because of what happened, but she did not give up. She waited a while longer where she stood, hoping Islaw would come back.
But it seemed he was not coming back.
She turned around and took a step back toward the shore, but before she could get out of the water, a rough, cold, and wet hand held her hand. Her heart immediately pounded fast, and she excitedly turned to the creature holding her hand. She looked down and saw Islaw lying flat while looking up at her.
"Islaw!" She knelt and immediately hugged him.
"Hmm?" He tilted his head with a smile.
"I thought you would not come back!" She wailed because of the intense emotion.
"Sorry, Islaw, I should not have pushed you away. I should not have said painful words to you, I should not have hurt you. My only intention was to keep you away from people, and I was wrong to be so harsh to you. S-sorry, Islaw."
She just kept crying while the merman just stared at her. But she stopped when his hand touched her cheek, which was soaked with tears. Their sad eyes met, and as they stared at each other, it was as if their eyes were talking. Islaw raised a hand, and she raised hers too, and they both clasped their hands together. What happened next was unexpected.
Islaw kissed her on the lips.
It was wrong—that was what her mind was screaming—but her heart was beating differently. Islaw's lips moved gently while he also gently tilted his head. She remained quiet and still because her mind and heart seemed to be arguing.
Agnes did not know if she should return the kiss or not. The female mermaid she thought was his girlfriend suddenly entered her mind. Furthermore, while Islaw might think they were married, it was not real for someone like her. Added to that was the fact that they were not of the same kind. She was human, and he was a merman.
But why was it like this? Why was her heart beating so loud and fast? Why did it seem like her heart wanted to tell her she liked his kiss? Why did she feel like kissing him back? She did not know what was happening to her, but she felt something deep inside that she had felt before when she and Erick were in love. It was like there were butterflies playing in her stomach. What was this?
What they were doing was unacceptable.
"I-Islaw." She quickly distanced herself from him.
"Hmm?" He leaned forward again as if to kiss her, but she quickly stopped him by pushing his chest.
Her palm rested on his firm chest.
"Islaw, I am happy to see you again. But maybe we need to go home." She stood up, which made him frown.
She could only sigh when she saw his frowning face. She was about to speak to explain when her eyes suddenly caught a small light from somewhere.
She hurriedly pushed Islaw away. He managed to leave before Cholo's mother, who was holding a flashlight, reached her. She gave a faint smile to the woman, who looked curious as to why she was still out.
"Agnes, it is you."
"G-good evening, Auntie."
"To you as well. Why are you still outside? It is late at night, Agnes."
"Y-yes. I am going inside the house now, I just stepped out for some fresh air."
"Agnes, I know it is your habit to get fresh air outside at night when you cannot sleep or when you have problems, but stay away from the sea. You know there are many rumors about merfolk spreading now, right?" she said, which made Agnes's ears burn.
"W-why are the merfolk being mentioned?"
"Child, maybe you do not know the news that merfolk are taking victims? They drown their victims in the sea and eat them afterward."
Agnes winced slightly because of the unrealistic news the woman was telling her.
She could prove that the fake news was not true. In fact, between the two of them, she was the one who brought the merman to land instead of Islaw bringing her to the sea. And in the weeks she had been with Islaw, it never happened that he drowned her in any water, nor did he try to eat her.
"T-thanks for the information." She forced a smile.
"Go on, go back to your house. I just noticed something near the house so I came out to check. It was just you." The woman turned and left.
Agnes let out a breath when the woman finally disappeared from sight. She came out of the water and just carried her slippers so sand would not stick to them. Before she went back to her house, she looked back at the sea, and in the middle of the ocean lit by the half-moon, she could clearly see Islaw's figure looking toward her. Even though she wanted to be with him and talk to him again, she chose to turn away.
It would not be good for Islaw to come to land.
She carried that heavy thought back into her house, the silence of the room feeling even more suffocating than before. Exhausted by the emotional weight of the night, she eventually drifted into a restless sleep right there in the bed.
After a long night, morning came.
Agnes woke up and sat up after falling to the floor; she had suddenly fallen when she heard loud, successive knocks from whoever was outside. Before she could even recover from the sudden waking, she quickly opened the door for the person outside who was knocking as if they could not wait.
It was just Cholo.
"Cholo, really? You made me worry!" she complained and started rubbing her eyes.
"Big sis! Big sis!" He was stomping his feet excitedly as if he had something important to say.
"What is it, Cholo?"
"Islaw— big brother, he came back!'
Agnes suddenly stopped what she was doing.
"Y-you saw him?"
"Yes. He is at the end of the shore, I brought him there so no one else would see him, especially since it is morning now."
"Well done, Cholo."
"Big sis, he has been looking for you. He will not leave until he sees you, so come with me."
"I-I will go to him."
Agnes turned away from Cholo for a moment and went to her room to fix herself up briefly. She did not even know why she thought of making herself look good, considering she was just going to face Islaw, whom she had talked to and been with last night.
When she finished fixing herself, she went to the kitchen and took the remaining raw fish that Cholo had given her last night. Islaw must be hungry.
"Big sis, you are taking so long! You probably even made yourself look good for him," Cholo said, scratching his head.
"I am sorry, I just grabbed this fish for Islaw."
The boy did not answer and instead held one of her hands and pulled her, running, away from her house. They ran fast to quickly reach where Islaw was. But when they passed some fishermen and some people gossiping, they slowed their pace and walked as if they were casually strolling in a park.
They did not want anyone to suspect her and Cholo.
"Big brother!" Cholo stopped with a smile in front of the merman, who was lying flat.
"Hmm!" Islaw's gaze turned toward her.
He smiled, so she smiled too.
"I wish that were me. It seems like you are the only one he wants to see." Cholo pouted, which only made her giggle.
"How are you, Islaw?" She knelt on the sand so they could be at the same level.
Islaw did not answer, and after a while, she heard the faint sound of his stomach; it seemed he had not eaten yet.
Agnes immediately remembered she had brought fish for him. She handed the food to him, and he grabbed it immediately. He looked like a person who had not eaten for days. She was not surprised because of the frequent use of dynamite in the water, which destroyed sea plants and killed fish.
She felt sorry for Islaw.
Agnes had only just realized that merfolk were really in a dangerous situation now. They could not live on land because people would surely catch them to play with, experiment on, or sell.
And with what people were doing now, it seemed they could not stay in the ocean either because of dynamite and because many fishermen were trying hard to catch mermaids. She did not know if there was any safe place left for them to hide.
"Big sis, what about you? You will not have anything to eat later again," Cholo whispered to her.
"Do not worry about me, Cholo. What matters is that Islaw is okay and full," she smiled sweetly while watching Islaw, who was busy eating.
"You seem happy whenever you see him in good condition, huh?" the kid teased.
She looked at Cholo and noticed his smile had a meaning.
"O-of course, Islaw is my responsibility."
"It seems this merman is slowly finding a place there in your heart, Big sis," he said, which made her cheeks turn red.
"W-what are you t-talking about, Cholo?"
Agnes looked away from the kid's searching eyes and turned her gaze back to Islaw, who had finished eating.
They stayed there for more than half an hour because they missed Islaw so much, but when some children started arriving to play on the shore, she and Cholo left, and a pouting Islaw was forced to return under the sea.
"Big sis, it seems big brother really wants to come back here to the house," Cholo pouted as he busied himself closing the windows; it was almost evening.
"I noticed that too, but you know it is dangerous for him to return here to land."
"We will hide him."
"Hiding him does not mean no one will see him."
"We can hide him from people. No one has seen him since he lived here."
"But he was almost seen by people and we were almost caught, Cholo." Her voice was rising slightly, and so was his.
"Big sis, please! Let us bring him back here."
"Cholo, I want to grant your request, but it is not possible. What you want is dangerous for the three of us. Just think of his welfare and even our welfare."
"Why? Do you think he is safe there in the sea too? Do you not care about him anymore?" he asked with his head down, making her sigh.
"Hey kiddo, Islaw will return here if fate allows it."
Those were the only words Agnes said that silenced and made the kid give up. She briefly walked him to his parents' house before returning to her own house, carrying some apples given to her by Cholo's mother. That would probably be all she would eat tonight, since she had fed all the fish to Islaw earlier.
When she finished washing and peeling the apple, she sat in the chair and was about to eat, but she stopped when someone knocked on the door—two soft knocks, but enough for her to hear.
Her brow furrowed when she opened the front door of the house, and it furrowed even more when no one was there. She closed the door again, but there was another knock.
"Is someone there?" She looked around.
"Hmm—hmm." Suddenly, someone pulled the hem of her long skirt.
She quickly looked down at her feet and her eyes widened when a smiling Islaw, showing his gums, greeted her. He was lying flat on the ground while looking up at her. She felt her ears get hot and her cheeks flush when Islaw tilted his head and innocently peeked under her skirt.
She was not wearing shorts.
"Hmm?" Islaw pouted and narrowed his eyes to see better under her skirt. She was standing with her legs slightly apart.
She quickly distanced herself from the perverted merman.
"I-Islaw, do you know it is bad to peek at women?!" she lectured him with furrowed brows.
"A man should not be perverted toward defenseless and fragile women. We are like fragile glasses that should be taken care of; peeking is wrong!" she added, which only made him frown more.
"Why are you here?" she asked with a sigh.
As she expected, he did not answer. How long would it take for her to get used to these scenes with Islaw, where she was always the one speaking and Islaw could only respond by tilting his head, frowning, pouting, and smiling?
It seemed they would always be like this; it seemed unlikely they would ever understand each other, and they would not be able to know each other's feelings unless they both studied each other's language.
That seemed too impossible.
"Come inside." Agnes pulled Islaw in before closing and locking the door.
She made him sit on the chair facing the table.
"Islaw, what was going through your mind that you came here?" she asked, though he would not answer.
Instead, he raised his hand again; he wanted to clasp their palms together again. This man was getting bold. To her, holding hands was nothing, but to Islaw, it was a big deal; what he knew was that they both accepted their love for each other, which to her was nonsense.
She did not want to give Islaw false hope, so she did not take his hand.
It was not a big deal to Islaw because his attention shifted away from her when he saw the apple on top of the table. While watching Islaw, she noticed him swallow hard, and he seemed to be drooling while staring intently at the apple she was about to eat. She suddenly wondered if he had eaten tonight.
"Have you eaten yet, Islaw?" she asked the merman, which made him tilt his head again.
"Are you hungry?" she asked again.
Islaw did not even look at her and kept his attention on the apple. Agnes slightly pulled the plate the fruit was on away so Islaw could not reach it, while she stood up to look for something to eat. She searched the entire kitchen but could not find anything she could feed Islaw, so she briefly told him she was going out.
She was lucky enough to pick up some moss that the sea had probably washed toward the shore. She hurried back to her house, but she stopped when she entered the kitchen and saw Islaw already biting the apple she had peeled. From the look of the apple, it seemed he had eaten a lot of it. She watched Islaw, who was giggling at her as she walked toward him.
"A-are you okay, Islaw?"
He just smiled at her before putting down the apple. He seemed full. She breathed a sigh of relief because it seemed like eating their human food had no bad effect on Islaw. l
She was about to sit in the chair across from him, but her chest was filled with dread when Islaw's body suddenly stiffened in his seat and he suddenly fell to the floor.
Agnes was frantic as she went to him. She did not know what to do but cry while gently shaking him and constantly calling Islaw's name. She had no one else to ask for help because only she knew there was a merman in this house; even if she went to Cholo, nothing would happen because he also would not know what to do.
But Aunt Nita—maybe she could help her.
"Islaw, I will be back for you."
Agnes quickly stood up and turned away, but before she could take a step out of the kitchen, she heard a strange noise created by Islaw as if he were in great pain. She looked back at him and gasped at what was happening to Islaw's body. She could not help but cover her mouth with her palm in shock.
Islaw was lying flat and she could clearly see the thick fins on his back slowly sinking in, the shape of his ears slowly changing, the gills behind his ears slowly disappearing as if it were a wound that healed quickly. Even his shimmering scales were peeling off his skin and tail on their own. And what made her eyes grow even wider was when his tail slowly split into two.
What was once his tail became legs.
Her whole body was shaking as she watched all of Islaw from head to toe. Islaw's ears, which were pointed just a moment ago, became normal, the gills behind his ears completely closed, and there were no more fins on any part of his body. She bit her lip when her gaze moved to his firm buttocks down to his strong, muscular legs and down to his toes.
Was this real?
Agnes was about to approach him, but she stopped when Islaw suddenly turned to her. He rolled onto his back, so she clearly saw his monster-sized thing in between his legs.
Feeling her cheeks heat up, she immediately turned away so as not to see his nakedness again. She did not know what to do; she could not even perform the simple task of getting some cloth to cover his naked body because it seemed her confused mind could not process anything.
She only knew one thing—Islaw now had legs.