About 30 minutes after setting sail, Yoon Taehee became noticeably quieter.
"Hey, are you okay?" Jaegyeom asked, noticing Taehee's poor complexion.
"I think he's getting seasick," Shin Jihye remarked.
Yoon Taehee nodded. Despite being fine on long car rides, he started feeling seasick less than 30 minutes after boarding the ship. Jaegyeom was secretly concerned. He wondered how someone so sensitive, picky, and frail could survive in this harsh world.
Yoon Taehee said he needed to rest in the cabin for a bit. Jaegyeom followed him closely. Yoon Taehee scratched Jaegyeom's palm lightly and said quietly, just as he had at the rest stop:
"I'm fine, go enjoy the ocean view. 'll just take a quick nap."
Despite the considerate words, Jaegyeom still trailed after him into the cabin.
Yoon Taehee sat down in an empty seat, folded his hands neatly on his stomach, and closed his eyes.
Jaegyeom sat in the seat next to him, gazing intently at the other's face with closed eyes. As he looked at his neat facial features, Jaegyeom grabbed a nearby blanket and gently draped it over him.
At that, Yoon Taehee tilted his head back and slowly blinked his eyes open, staring directly at Jaegyeom. As they looked into each other's eyes, Jaegyeom's palms started to tingle for some reason. He awkwardly stood up.
"Call me if you feel like throwing up. I'll pat your back."
Since he couldn't leave Shin Jihye alone outside, Jaegyeom went back out of the cabin.
***
Back on deck, he saw Shin Jihye sitting in her wheelchair, gazing out at the distant sea. A flock of seagulls circled overhead, squawking. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"My heart is racing. I want to jump into the water."
Not sure how to respond, Jaegyeom fidgeted with his fingers and changed the subject.
"Uh... is, is gallbladder edible?"
Shin Jihye rolled her eyes as if to say "What kind of question is that?"
"Are you crazy? It's disgustingly bitter."
Jaegyeom awkwardly scratched his forehead.
"It was all so difficult. Finding the gallbladder, eating the revolting thing, having to constantly hide my legs - all of it. I even considered just living as a mermaid."
Though she had once been chased away when visiting her hometown, there was still a chance she might be accepted someday if she kept trying. Even though she was treated like an ugly duckling and ostracized by the other merfolk, as long as her mermaid mother was there, the possibility remained.
"But I can't do that."
"Why not?"
After a moment of silence, she said with a somewhat lonely expression:
"Because I have someone I love."
What? She had someone she loved? Jaegyeom's eyes widened. Didn't Shin Jihye say she hated human men and had never fallen in love before...?
Could it be...
"Is it perhaps Yoon Taehee..?"
As Jaegyeom hesitantly broached the subject,
"What are you talking about? I'm not interested," Shin Jihye cut him off immediately, her expression serious.
"Then why do you call Yoon Taehee 'sweetheart?"
"I call everyone 'sweetheart.' I'm only going to hang out for a week before ditching them, so it's too bothersome to remember names."
"..."
"Anyway, don't worry. I'm not interested. I know you two have that thing going on."
"Wha... what thing?"
Shin Jihye raised her hand with a bored expression, crossing her index and middle fingers.
"You two have the hots for each other."
Caught off guard by the unexpected response, Jaegyeom was momentarily flustered. He suddenly felt heat rushing to his ears. While it was true that Yoon Taehee liked him, he needed to set the record straight.
"No, that's just him."
He desperately denied it, looking uncomfortable.
"I'm... I'm not a sodomite like he is..."
Shin Jihye snickered at his excuses. Having seen Yoon Taehee for a few days, she had long noticed the strange atmosphere between the two of them.
It was like sparks flying. Something that could never be felt in a one-sided relationship. At the very least, it was clear that Jaegyeom was also conscious of Yoon Taehee.
Over the past few days, Yoon Taehee had been very affectionate towards her, but it was completely different from how he acted around the boy in front of her. In front of the boy, he was desperate, urgent, and somehow vulnerable.
Shin Jihye stretched and drawled:
"Sure, whatever you say."
"..."
Jaegyeom scratched his head awkwardly and changed the subject, stammering:
"S-so... does the person you like not know you're a mermaid?"
"Of course not. How could I possibly tell them?"
Jihye shrugged nonchalantly and added:
"It's unrequited love. I'm secretly in love with them on my own. This love can never be realized anyway. So for now, I'm satisfied just being by their side."
"Why can't it be realized?"
"Because we're both women."
What? Jaegyeom stared at her with wide eyes.
"You saw her the other day. Eunkyung."
Eunkyung? Who's Eunkyung? As Jaegyeom looked confused,
"The girl with the bob haircut," Shin Jihye clarified.
"Ah..."
It was the person who had readily given up her seat to Jaegyeom when he rudely joined their drinking party that day.
"I first met Eunkyung in 7th grade. She's been my closest friend since then. We've been through so much together for so long. I can't imagine life without her now."
As she said this, Shin Jihye gazed out at the distant sea.
"I'll stay by Eunkyung's side until she meets a good man and gets married."
Jaegyeom listened silently to her words.
"I've never thought about trying to be with Eunkyung.
That would be selfish of me. But I can't be without her.
That's why I'll keep eating human gallbladders."
By now, her voice was trembling slightly, and her eyes were rimmed with red.
"Because I'm Eunkyung's best friend. So when she eventually meets a good man and gets married, I want to walk on two legs to catch her bouquet..."
Finally, Shin Jihye lowered her head and wiped away her tears. Jaegyeom was extremely flustered when she suddenly started crying. Not knowing how to react, he stood frozen in place.
Just then, Shin Jihye sniffled and said:
"As expected, lowly human men don't even know to offer a tissue when someone's crying right in front of them. This is why I hate human men."
"..."
Snapping out of his frozen state, Jaegyeom frantically searched his pants and shirt pockets for something to wipe away tears. But he had nothing. In the moment, his mind went blank and he didn't think to go into the
cabin to get tissues.
At a loss for what to do, he suddenly took off the shirt he was wearing.
"Here, use this to wipe your tears."
Now in just a white t-shirt, Jaegyeom held out his wadded-up shirt to Shin Jihye. Looking at the balled-up shirt being offered to her, her eyes widened before she burst out laughing.
"pfft, what the heck. What if I blow my nose on your shirt?"
Shin Jihye took the shirt and wiped her nose with the back of her hand, speaking playfully. Her tears had already disappeared. After watching her reaction for a moment, Jaegyeom cautiously asked:
"So... you haven't told that person you like her?"
"Of course not. Or rather, I can't. How could I possibly say that?"
"Why can't you?"
"It's only natural to feel uncomfortable if someone of the same gender confesses to you."
That was true. Even he had felt very shocked and awkward when he first learned of Yoon Taehee's feelings. To Jaegyeom, Shin Jihye seemed very mature for considering the other person's perspective first.
In contrast, Yoon Taehee was the complete opposite of her. Compared to her who was considerate of the other person's feelings, he was utterly shameless. He confessed without hesitation, often putting people in difficult situations.
But couldn't that Eunkyung person possibly like Shin
Jihye too?
After all, even people of the same gender could like each other, Jaegyeom suddenly thought. Without realizing it, his way of thinking was gradually changing.
"Besides, love isn't eternal. Even if I confessed and Eunkyung felt the same way and we started dating, that wouldn't be the end of it. Since it's a relationship with an end, we could break up and part ways at any time. I don't want to lose Eunkyung. So I have no intention of confessing."
"But what if that person likes you too? If she accepts your feelings and give you her gallbladder, you could live like a normal person from now on... And even if she doesn't love you, since you've been close friends for so long, she might give you her gallbladder."
So why not at least try saying something, what's there to lose, Jaegyeom carefully added. Shin Jihye sniffled and chuckled, shrugging her shoulders.
"You're funny."
"Wh-what is..."
The boy was encouraging someone else's love while being stingy with his own.
"Anyway, it's fine. I wasn't really looking for advice, but thanks. But you can say that so easily because it's not your situation. If you think about it the other way around, aren't you the same?"
At that, Jaegyeom hesitated and looked at Shin Jihye.
"You're right. If Eunkyung liked me back and accepted my feelings and gave me her gallbladder, everything would be solved. But isn't it the same for you and sweet-l mean, Taehee?"
She had heard the general story from Yoon Taehee.
When she asked about the circumstances of needing to break the curse and if there were other ways to end immortality, he said there were ways to end life without breaking the curse, but he wanted to break the curse so the boy could live a normal life.
"I heard about it. You've already found a way to die whether or not you break the curse, right? Then you don't need to break the curse - you could just accept Taehee's feelings, live together, and die later."
"..."
Jaegyeom was momentarily speechless. The effect of putting himself in the other's shoes was powerful.
"See, it's not as simple as you make it sound."
the person named Eunkyung accepted Shin Jihye's feelings, everything would be solved. However, the same applied to Jaegyeom and Yoon Taehee. As Jihye said, if Jaegyeom accepted Yoon Taehee's feelings and they became a couple who liked each other and decided to spend their future together, if they decided not to die, everything would be solved.
"B-but... you and I are in different situations."
"Of course our situations are different. But the important thing is that both Taehee and I want the person we like to choose us. You and Taehee are in the same situation as me and Eunkyung. The most important thing is whether or not the person you like feels the same way about you."
Shin Jihye crossed her arms and looked up at Jaegyeom.
"Put yourself in the other person's shoes. It's contradictory for you to not accept Taehee's feelings even though you know them, while saying everything would be solved if Eunkyung accepted my feelings.
Don't you think?"
"..."
"What I'm afraid of is this: If I tell Eunkyung l like her, Eunkyung and I might not be able to be like we were before. On top of that, revealing that I'm a mermaid?
Maybe she'd give me her gallbladder like you said. But that's a huge gamble."
"..."
"She'd either give me her gallbladder, or leave me. It would be one of those two. I'm so scared of Eunkyung leaving me and never seeing her again. It's the same for Taehee. He's scared you'll leave. It's only natural to want to be with the person you like for a long time."
"But I don't know exactly what Yoon Taehee wants from me. He originally said he didn't want anything from me. Then suddenly he told me to break the curse on me and die later. That's all for now, and he hasn't said what he wants to do going forward."
Yoon Taehee was truly an unpredictable person.
Sometimes he'd say he didn't want anything and just wanted to eat meals and drink tea together, then other times he'd say not to die in two months but to live normally and die later...
Jaegyeom found it difficult to keep up with his feelings.
"What does it matter what Taehee wants from you?
What's important is your own feelings."
Just then, Shin Jihye shook her head and continued speaking.
"Instead of worrying about other people's feelings, you need to think about how you feel. What do I want from that person, what do I want to do with that person in the future, what do I think of that person?"
Shin Jihye, having stopped speaking, looked up at Jaegyeom with clear eyes.
"So, what is Taehee to you?"
Jaegyeom froze, taken aback by the straightforward question that flew at him.
"Do you like Taehee?" She asked again, in a more certain tone.
"I-I don't dislike him. But I..."
"What kind of answer is that? No need for further explanation."
Shin Jihye frowned and said firmly. "You decide between liking and not liking. That's it."
He was speechless at the strict either-or choice.
"..."
After hesitating for a moment, he moved his lips slightly.
"How am I supposed to know if I like him or not?"
"How are you supposed to know? You just know."
"Actually, I don't really know what it means to like someone."
Jaegyeom muttered quietly, then lowered his gaze and added.
"'ve never liked or loved anyone before."
Shin Jihye stared silently at the boy's short hair fluttering in the sea breeze.
"You've lived much longer than me, but you're the same underneath."
"What does that mean?"
"It means you're still young."
She, smiling as she gazed at the distant horizon, quietly opened her mouth.
"It's okay, you can still be confused and uncertain for now. But be prepared."
Her unwavering, clear eyes looked up at Jaegyeom.
"Because someday, there will definitely be a moment when you're not confused."