After Yibo left the hospital, he was escorted home by Wenjun, not his father. Yibo has completely rejected any help his father has offered him in recent days. Yibo again became cold and distant towards his father.

As soon as Yibo left the hospital door, he said a cold goodbye to his father. To Yibo's cold demeanor, Mr. Wang only responded with silence. But when Wenjun stepped up next to him to say goodbye, Mr. Wang seized the small opportunity and stopped the young boy to talk to him for a while. Mr. Wang only asked that Wenjun keep an eye on Yibo and that if anything went wrong or happened unusually, Wenjun should call him immediately. After they finished talking, Wenjun walked over to his car. Yibo was already in the car and waiting impatiently for him.

In the few days that passed, while Yibo was resting at home, he read many books. He searched for answers and took notes. But besides these, he even made drawings of what he remembered about the merfolk. He drew everything he remembered about that night and what he had seen in his dreams about the merfolk.

Since the merfolk rescued him from the water, Yibo has dreamed of him every night. In his dreams;

At first, he just stood on the beach and did nothing but watch the merfolk swim in the water close to the beach. The merfolk stopped swimming and waited for Yibo to reach him as he walked into the water. But every time Yibo was waist-deep in waves, the merfolk suddenly fell underwater, as if something had simply dragged him down into the abyss.

Even before Yibo could do anything, his dream always ended there, and he woke up. Yibo could see the merfolk's face, but after always waking up, he remembered nothing but his sparkling blue eyes. After each dream, Yibo yearned to see the merfolk again in real life. 

... His wish was granted quickly.

----------------

One day ...

The sun shone brightly, with only one or two large clouds trying to block the sun's rays. As usual, Yibo was on the beach, sitting on the sand, listening to the waves of the sea and enjoying the calm, until his mobile phone rang. He took his mobile phone out of his pocket and answered the call.

"Hello, Yibo!" - Wenjun spoke first. - "How are you feeling today? Everything okay?"

"Yeah. .. The situation is the same. I read the books, but I thought I'd take a break, so I came down to the beach and took a walk." said Yibo simply.

"And did you see the mermaid? ... Or is someone else in the water waiting for you?" Wenjun tried to make jokes, but he had no idea that Yibo was not in a good mood.

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny." - Yibo said boredly. -"Is that the only reason you called me?"

"Not really. I thought maybe we could take a break from this whole "investigation into mermaids" thing today and go somewhere to relax. After all, it's always better to go on adventures with a friend." said Wenjun brightly.

Hearing his friend's depressed voice, Wenjun thought to scout his friend a little and take his mind off the mermaids and the fact that they might be waiting for a creature that probably won't appear again.

"Well, I'm not sure, ... I'm not really in the mood for that right now." Yibo admitted reluctantly.

"Oh, don't do that Yibo. It would only be a day, not a week." - Wenjun tried to convince his friend, although he was already beginning to guess what Yibo's answer would be.

"Sorry Wenjun, .. but I'd rather do it another time. Now I just want to stay at home."

"Okay, as you wish." - Wenjun answered and sighed sadly and resignedly. - "However, if you change your mind, call me."

"Yeah, .. it will be. . . Bye."

"Bye Yibo."

Yibo put away his cell phone and then stood up. He was about to go to his house when an unusual feeling seized him. He felt as if someone was watching him. Yibo slowly looked around. However, he did not see anyone near him, neither in the water nor on the beach. Yibo was not really relieved by this. He decided to listen to his instincts and started towards the slightly rockier part of the beach. He felt a kind of attraction to go there. As he neared the place, Yibo's heartbeat sped up a bit. At first, he didn't understand why he had such an unusual feeling, but when he reached one of the larger rocks, everything became clear to him.

Among the small pieces of rock, he saw a lying figure covered with seaweed and kelp. Yibo first glimpsed part of the figure's bare back, then half of a larger fin. Yibo just stood there staring for a while, trying to grasp the fact that what he saw was no longer a dream but reality and that indeed, a real merfolk was lying in front of him. Yibo carefully approached the merfolk and first removed the sea plants from the fin. But when Yibo removed a larger piece of seaweed, he was horrified to notice that there were several cuts on the fin. Yibo stood up and stepped next to Zhan.

Zhan's long, raven-black hair was still wetly clinging to his back. However, even that couldn't cover his larger injury, that he was still bleeding. Yibo pulled aside Zhan's wet hair so he could see his face.

Zhan was unconscious, and although his face was slightly white, he was still as perfect as a statue.

"You .. you're the one who saved me! You're the one I see in my dreams!" Yibo shouted in his mind.

"I can't believe it,... I finally find you." Yibo exclaimed, staring at Zhan in disbelief. But then his gaze focused on the fins. - "I've been waiting for this moment to come true, but not that way ..."

The sight of the merfolk's damaged fin and body caused Yibo great pain. He stared at the sea with angry eyes. That was the moment when Yibo first felt anger toward what he had loved so much before. Yibo looked at the Zhan again, and after a short thought, he took off his shirt and started to wrap it around the merfolk's injured fin. He tried to hide it as much as possible. After that, he carefully turned Zhan onto his back, then took Zhan in his arms and lifted him up. Zhan's head fell weakly on his shoulder. Yibo slowly stood up, then holding Zhan in his arms in bridal style, Yibo left the rocky part of the beach with deliberate steps.

Once his feet were in the soft sand again instead of the prickly and wet stones, Yibo's steps quickened. He tried to leave the beach as quickly as possible. He didn't want anyone to see who he was holding in his arms. He held Zhan tightly as if he were afraid that at any moment they might take Zhan from him, or that Zhan would disappear if he let him go.

"You saved my life once. Now it's time for me to protect you, too." said Yibo quietly to the unconscious Zhan as he walked.

-----------------------------

Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it! 💙✨