Chapter 1

The Beginning

Taeyeon shivered under the rough waves of the ocean, quiet tears streaming down her face. The ocean was shaking; it was hurting, like she was. The storm was hard on her scales as she pounded her flipper through the water, desperately trying to propel herself to the surface. To the surface, to freedom, to hope; she needed to escape.

She sniffed as the moonlight shone brighter and brighter through the waves ahead. Just a little bit more, and she'd be out. She'd be done with this stupid life.

Taeyeon couldn't take life as a siren anymore; she died inside every time she sang her melody and dragged a man under. She cried for the poor soul she had doomed, and prayed for his safe travels to that better place people told her about. Her heart clenched as she watched her friends and family devour his lifeless body. She couldn't do it anymore; despite having the most enticing, beautiful voice of all the sirens, she couldn't sing anymore. She just couldn't take having to kill more innocent people; so instead, she was running. Running from her heritage, running from the death, running from her own life.

Going to the surface was a sin; the Queen Siren Boa – her mentor – had told her terrible tales of unfortunate sirens that had gone to the surface. Eaten, sold, put in a small tank and experimented on, showcased as a freak of nature for all the humans to poke fun at; but she could handle all that. Anything would be better than having the guilty conscious of human blood on her hands.

She could see the rippling waves of the surface now; she clutched the sea-shell necklace her friends had made her and closed her eyes, giving one last kick of her fin.

Her head broke the surface, and a sweet wonderful taste entered her mouth; oxygen. The feeling was wonderful as it filtered into her lungs, and she took deep greedy breaths. The waves of the storm continued to pound over her head and submerge her, but it was child's play for her to return to the surface. Once she was certain she had her full of the wonderful oxygen, she gently propelled her fin towards a wondrous thing she'd only ever heard of; land.

It was amazing, and no description could properly give it justice; the sand was white here, not a murky dark brown. small cawing creatures were everywhere, and some took to the skies; what were they? Beyond the sand was a black rock like surface with yellow lines on it. And as far as she could see, tall green trees; trees! She'd never seen one before. Wanting to get a closer look, she pushed herself closer to the shore.

"I know, right?"

She froze in the waves and ducked under for a second, leaving her eyes over the surface. How could she miss the group of men sitting around that orange flickering light? She moved in closer and hid behind a tall rock, listening in on their conversation.

"It's so stupid. He actually believes in mermaids! That Onew."

"I know, it's so idiotic. I believe in mermaids just as much as I believe in vampires."

"Please, at least vampires are somewhat realistic."

Taeyeon listened to their weird chatter; was this the language humans spoke? It sounded so complicated. So unlike the clicks and chirps of the Siren language. She quickly became bored listening to the conversation she couldn't understand and decided to find some shelter for the night before Queen Boa sent a search party out for her. She hugged the rocks tightly and decided to follow them around the men and their orange light.

A little ways away, her eyes picked up a dark opening in the rock; a…cave, was it? Yes, a cave. She smiled to herself and released her wall, quickly pushing herself to the formation and hoisting herself into the sand.

The area was desolate, and she couldn't find any footprints, which told her that she was pretty safe from humans. Pulling herself across the rocks proved difficult, however; the sharp points scratched at her scales, and she knew that a few fell off; when she looked down, her blood stained the floor. Sighing, she grit her teeth and pushed forward, pulling herself into the safety of the cave.

After ten agonizing minutes of dragging, she finally propped herself onto the wall, under a small beam of moonlight in a crack above; her scales were bent, and she was coated in her own blood; she flinched at the sight and set a gentle hand on her wounds, smoothening her scales out.

A breeze passed through the cave; a shiver rippled down her spine. Why was it so cold above surface? The ocean was so much warmer and gentler than this horrid wind. Maybe this was what Queen Boa warned her about; the pain of the surface. She sighed and decided to endure the cold, mentally convincing herself that her life would get better if she lived on the surface. She dragged herself over to a pile of dried up abandoned seaweed that was brought in with the tide and tied it together, making a nice dress. Pleased with her work, she draped it over her head. It was a little better now. The cold wasn't so bad, and her scales were drying up; she yawned. The whole experience – swimming for hours to the surface, dragging herself over the painful rocks, weaving the seaweed dress – had exhausted her. With the left over seaweed, she made a makeshift bed and laid down, closing her eyes.

Tomorrow would be the start of her new life on land.

Onew woke up early; he just couldn't bring himself to fall asleep. With a sigh, he got up and changed into some board shorts and a sweater; maybe a quick walk could clear his mind.

He exited the small apartment he lived in for college and took a deep breath of the salty sea air. After the night's storm, the waves were calm, gently crashing along the shore, making a sweet noise that was pleasant to his ears. He crossed the street in a giant leap and arrived at the sandy beach, discarding his shoes and squeezing the sand between his toes. The wind hugged his face as he stepped closer to the water; it felt amazing. He smiled and closed his eyes, enjoying the calmness of it all.

"Achoo!"

The quiet sneeze gathered his attention and his eyes snapped open, turning towards the rock wall on the far side of the beach. There was no one around, but he had definitely heard the sneeze; it was human. But there was no owner; shrugging, he played it off as his imagination and turned around, ready to go back to his apartment.

"Achoo!"

That time, he was positive he heard it. He changed his course path to the rock wall, his brows furrowing in confusion. Was someone hiding? He had just reached the formation when another sneeze reverberated from the wall. It was coming from behind it. But there was no way to get back there except to swim; who was sneezing, and how did that person get back there?

"Achoo!"

He bent down, looking around the wall for some sign of an opening. Just in the corner, he found a pile of small rocks stacked up on top of each other; with a gentle push, the rocks gave way to a small opening, just big enough for him to crawl through. He hesitated, but when another sneeze echoed off the formation, he settled his resolve and bent down, crawling through the small gap.

The sneezes were louder as he came to the other side; a strip of undisturbed beach lay waiting for him, leading into a huge cave. The sneezes seemed to be coming from inside. Curiously, he crept his way towards the mouth of the cave.

A trail of blood caked the rocks, and he instantly started to worry about whoever was inside. His pace quickened as he stepped into the cave, using a hand on the wall as a guide. Another sneeze echoed off the walls, and as his eyes adjusted, he finally found the owner.

A beautiful young woman was sitting in a small patch of sunlight, wrapped tightly in a bundle of seaweed and hugging herself. Her hair was long but silky in the sun, a dark brown color with light waves. Her legs – which stuck out awkwardly underneath the seaweed – were scabbed over with many scratches; which explains the blood. she looked up to him in alarm as he stepped forward.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked her, stepping closer. The girl made a clicking noise with her tongue and shook her head fearfully, scooting backwards awkwardly. He paused and held his hands up above his head in surrender.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he murmured gently, crouching down and extending a hand towards her, like he was calling a puppy. The girl didn't seem like she knew what she was doing; her looks were strange, and her actions were awkward; everything about her intrigued Onew. She was wearing seaweed, sitting in a cave with scrapes all over her legs. Why wasn't she calling for help?

"Come on, I can help you," he said with a gentler voice, curling his fingers in an attempt to call her forward. She hesitated, then turned towards him.

The girl timidly dragged herself closer to him using her hands; her legs didn't seem to work. He sat patiently as she slid herself across the cave. Questions exploded in his mind, but he kept them at bay and focused on the task at hand. This girl needed serious help.

Tentatively, about a foot away, the girl lifted a hand and slowly placed it against his outstretched one. In response, he gently curled his hands around her fingers; they were freezing.

"What's your name?" he asked her, rubbing her hand to put warmth in it. She sighed delightfully, but ignored him.

"What's your name?" he repeated, a little bit louder. She looked at him and frowned, shaking her head.

She didn't understand what he was saying? What was this girl? Onew was stumped. He had just discovered a drop-dead gorgeous brunette in a cave, injured – possibly paralyzed – with a speech impediment. What were the odds?

He took her other hand and scooted a bit closer, rubbing warmth into it. The girl sighed contently.

"Ok…where are you from?" he asked in English. The girl shook her head again. Onew tried all the languages he knew; she didn't speak anything. With a quiet groan, he sat back and studied her.

"Well, what am I supposed to do with you? You don't speak Korean, you can't walk…" he grumbled, stripping off his sweater and handing it to her. She stared at the clothing in confusion. "…And you don't even know what clothes are, apparently."

He helped her slide the hoodie over her head and pulled her arms through. In response, she made a cheerful dolphin like squeal, clapping her hands; Onew couldn't help but chuckle. The girl was cute, he's say that much.

"What are you?" he asked, more to himself. The girl stopped clapping and smiled brightly, grabbing his hand. She made another clicking sound with her tongue. He chuckled and looked at her legs again.

"I need to get her cuts cleaned before she gets an infection…" he mumbled to himself, standing up. Her eyes followed him, cautious again.

"Don't worry, I just need to take you out there," he said slowly, pointing to the mouth of the cave. The sun streamed through the opening, warm and inviting. "And clean these." He said, gently grazing the cuts on her legs. She flinched, but nodded, understanding.

He made sure to move slowly, so as not to scare her as he bent down and wrapped his arms around her, carrying her bridal style. The girl yelped and clung onto him tightly in response burrowing her head into his chest. He laughed.

When he stepped out into the sunlight, she came out of her little ball and stared up at the sky, surprised. Had she never seen the sun before either? This girl was full of surprises.

He gently set her down on a rock and watched her legs fall helplessly. She really didn't have control over them. "Can you walk?" he asked her, trying to emphasize the movement by pacing in front of her. She seemed to understand because she frowned and shook her head sadly.

"Ok…well, anyway, my name," he said, pointing to himself, "Is Onew. Onew."

The girl wrapped her mind around the name. "O…new."

When he nodded, she broke out into a huge smile and wrapped her arms around him. He chuckled and hugged her back just to amuse her. When the girl pulled away, however, she did the most unexpected thing.

She kissed him.

Square on the mouth, just a quick, gentle lip-lock. Onew stumbled back, flabbergasted, as the girl threw her arms into the air. His whole body tingled after the kiss, and he felt something strange in his chest; it was a strange feeling. He also felt suddenly strong, like his energy suddenly became unlimited.

"Onew!" She shouted joyously, pointing at him. Then she moved her hand to point to herself. "Taeyeon!"

He shook the kiss from his mind, calling it just a figment of his imagination. "Your name is Taeyeon?"

"Taeyeon! Onew!"

"Ok, Taeyeon. Let's get you home."

Sorry about this...it's kind of just a filler chapter. It's just here to describe their past, how they met. this chapter sucks, but I promise that everything else will be amazing! :)