Chapter 191

Yoon Taehee, who had brought the mermaid and Jaegyeom home last night, was in a very good mood from the morning.

"Did you sleep well..?"

In just one night, flowers had bloomed all over Yoon Taehee's once barren territory. While successfully capturing the mermaid as planned played a part in bringing spring to the desolate and frozen land, it was mostly thanks to the benevolent master.

Thanks to this master of the heart, who was more merciful than anyone else but sometimes more ruthless than anyone, the frozen territory had gently thawed. Yoon Taehee felt an indescribably full emotion just from seeing Jaegyeom lying in his house, in his room, in his bed. He had been gazing endlessly at him sleeping with his face buried in the pillow, and when he dozed off for a moment, the day had already dawned.

"Huh? Uh..."

However, Jaegyeom, whose memory was cut off from the middle, was just confused by this situation.

"How's your stomach?"

"It's... it's fine."

"And your head?"

"My... my head doesn't hurt either."

After their argument in front of the house a few days ago, Yoon Taehee hadn't contacted him at all. Even when he barged into the bar yesterday, he had acted cold and pretended not to know him. But now, Yoon Taehee was being very affectionate as usual, as if nothing had happened.

"..."

Jaegyeom gently pushed away Yoon Taehee, who was nuzzling his forehead against his shoulder, and unconsciously glanced at Shin Jihye. Yesterday at the bar, Yoon Taehee and Shin Jihye had seemed like a very intimate couple. But for some reason, Shin Jihye wasn't paying any attention to Yoon Taehee now. As if she didn't care what he was doing, Shin Jihye, who had been organizing the hair dryer, was now picking up fallen hair from the floor.

He had many questions - why that person was here, what those scaly legs were, and what had happened yesterday. After staring at her for a moment, Jaegyeom awkwardly whispered to Yoon Taehee while tugging at the hem of his t-shirt.

"Hey, that person's legs are weird."

When Jaegeom whispered in a serious voice, Yoon Taehee briefly glanced at Shin Jihye.

"That person is a mermaid."

At this quiet answer, Jaegyeom's eyes widened. Even he who had lived for many years, was seeing a mermaid for the first time. At that moment, as if the whisper had leaked out, Shin Jihye frowned.

"What, you really didn't know?"

To this, she quietly cursed, muttering, "Ah, shit. I thought... I thought he had put you here to watch me.

If I had known you didn't know, I would have run away..."

Jaegyeom lowered his voice even more and asked.

"Why is there a mermaid here?"

Yoon Taehee stared at Jaegyeom with an expressionless face.

"..."

After a moment of silence, Yoon Taehee gently cupped Jaegyeom's cheek.

"To break your curse."

At this whispered answer, Jaegyeom's eyes slowly widened.

"..What?"

"Your curse might be related to mermaids."

Yoon Taehee briefly explained to Jaegyeom what had happened over the past few days. He had been tracking a mermaid, and by chance, he had come to know Shin Jihye, who was suspected to be a mermaid.

To gather concrete evidence, he had infiltrated Shin Jihye's side for several days.

"..."

Learning about the circumstances, Jaegyeom was at a loss for words. His mind was in a whirl. Not only had he never thought that the curse of immortality might be related to mermaids, but he also hadn't known that Yoon Taehee was really searching for a way to break the curse of immortality. Those words to postpone death were truly sincere.

I didn't want to like you either!'

It was only a few days ago that he had gotten angry at the words to postpone death. But Yoon Taehee had been running around trying to make those words a reality.

"..."

Jaegyeom felt annoyed at Yoon Taehee for searching for a way to break the curse without any regard for his wishes, but at the same time, he felt an indescribable emotion. His heart was strangely fluttering, and something hot was welling up in his chest.

Feeling choked up without knowing why, Jaegyeom blurted out.

"You're always like this. You should have told me beforehand. I thought you weren't answering my calls and ignoring me, so I was about to give up on revenge and everything, thinking that you know..."

As Jaegyeom stopped mid-sentence after snapping, Yoon Taehee raised one eyebrow and asked, "That I now what?" Jaegyeom unconsciously lowered his gaze.

"..."

I thought you were trying not to like me anymore...

Jaegyeom was flustered by the words he had almost blurted out without thinking. Suddenly, his mind was in chaos. Even to himself, the words that were about to follow seemed very strange.

Because it would sound like he wanted Yoon Taehee to keep liking him...

"Well, uh... I mean..."

As Jaegyeom was fumbling with his words while fiddling with the brim of the hat he was wearing, Shin Jihye cut in with a sharp voice towards Jaegyeom and Yoon Taehee.

"Hey, am I just a wallflower to you two?"

Shin Jihye, who had been sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed, grumbled as if annoyed.

"What are you two whispering about in front of me since earlier?"

Thanks to her naturally intervening, Jaegyeom, who had been unable to find the right words to say, quickly

changed the subject.

"Did you buy something outside?"

Jaegyeom pretended to be nonchalant as he rummaged through the paper bag. Fortunately, Yoon Taehee didn't probe further and suggested they eat first before talking more. The food he had brought from outside was porridge. Worried that Jaegyeom, who had been completely drunk yesterday, might suffer from a hangover, he had deliberately chosen porridge to be easy on the stomach. However, despite drinking such strong alcohol repeatedly yesterday, Jaegyeom looked perfectly fine.

"What kind of porridge is this?"

Shin Jihye, who had come to the dining table, poked her head out slightly and asked.

"Abalone porridge."

Shin Jihye, who had said she doesn't eat breakfast had somehow naturally taken a seat at one end of the dining table. Because Jaegyeom felt uncomfortable with Shin Jihye, he went to sit next to Yoon Taehee.

"Oh, you bought something expensive."

As she nodded and picked up her spoon, Yoon Taehee said.

"Is it okay for a mermaid to eat seafood?"

At the playful voice, Shin Jihye glared at Yoon Taehee.

"It doesn't matter. I'm only half-mermaid anyway."

"What?"

Yoon Taehee, who had been resting his chin on his hand, paused and stared at Shin Jihye.

"Why are you so surprised?"

Shin Jihye calmly lifted her spoon.

"What do you mean by half-mermaid?"

"I'm half-mermaid because I was born between a human and a mermaid." 

She added casually as she took a spoonful of porridge.

"My mom is a mermaid, and my dad is human."

"When I was young, I didn't know I was a mermaid. My parents didn't tell me. Our family was very ordinary.

But I found out I was different from others when I was

ten years old.

One summer, we went to a valley with our paternal relatives, and I had a diving contest with my cousins to see who could stay underwater the longest. But underwater, I could breathe naturally. I was so amazed that I immediately went to tell my mom. But then my mom said,

Jihye, you're actually a mermaid.

Mom was originally a mermaid living in the sea, but she fell in love with Dad, who was a sailor. Dad proposed by offering his own gallbladder. Mom ate Dad's gallbladder and became an ordinary person.

That's when I realized I was different from others.

Come to think of it, our family had never gone to the beach. That's because Mom really hated the sea. But actually, it was because they deliberately prevented me from going to the sea, afraid I might notice I was different from others if I entered the water. They thought the valley would be okay since it wasn't the sea. Anyway, at first I couldn't believe it, but later I just accepted it.

Nothing changed. They told me not to tell anyone, so l just kept it to myself. Several years passed like that, and when I was nineteen, one morning I woke up and suddenly there were scales on my legs. I was so shocked that I immediately went to tell my mom. But mom didn't know the reason either. So even though it was midsummer, I wore black stockings to school that day.

That's a different story. Anyway, mom asked around and brought me human gallbladder the next day.

Mom thought if I ate the gallbladder, I would return to normal. I thought so too at the time. So that was the first time I ate human gallbladder. I really didn't want to eat it, but they said I could live like before, so even though it was disgusting, I forced myself to eat it. After eating it, the scales on my legs really disappeared completely and I returned to normal. I thought it was such a relief. But that wasn't the end.

After a few days, scales started to appear on my legs again.

That's when I realized. I was a body that could never escape this shackle..."

Shin Jihye, who had been speaking coldly, suddenly closed her mouth.

"Ugh, I'm so pissed. Really."

Tears started to well up in her eyes. Suddenly, she started crying. Jaegyeom flinched and looked at Shin Jihye, then glanced at Yoon Taehee. Yoon Taehee moved the box of tissues that was on one side of the table in front of Shin Jihye. Neither Jaegyeom nor Yoon Taehee asked why she was crying.

"Anyway, so..."

Shin Jihye pulled out a few tissues, blew her nose loudly, and continued speaking.

"...l had dreamed of being a model since I was young. I started modeling when I was seventeen, but when scales appeared on my legs, it felt like the sky was falling. At first, I thought I could manage somehow and ate every gallbladder I could get, but it was useless. A few days after eating the gallbladder, scales would appear again.

The time I can live with normal legs is about three days, and after three days, scales start to appear from my feet, then gradually move up to my shins, knees, thighs. After a week, when my legs are completely covered in scales, that's when both legs fuse together and change into a mermaid's tail.

In other words, if I don't eat a gallbladder once a week, I eventually can't walk on two feet. My lower body becomes completely fish-like. I quit modeling after a few years. Because to prevent scales from appearing on my legs, I need to eat a gallbladder every three days, which is realistically impossible. When my only dream disappeared, I ended up living like a good-for-nothing, drinking alcohol every day."

"You who were born with normal legs probably don't understand how I feel."

Shin Jihye bowed her head, with tissue bits stuck all over her eyes.

"I wanted to live normally too..."