Short but sweet

Julie gently checked Marik’s teeth, amused by the way he let her examine them while gazing at her curiously.
As she looked closer, she noticed something strange. Both of his arms were covered with unusual tattoos in a beautiful sky-blue color. They shimmered faintly, almost as if they were glowing beneath his skin.
Finally, Julie began to believe that Marik really was a mermaid.
Yet, she treated him no differently from any of her other friends.
Marik seemed to like that.
“I’m Marik. What’s your name?” he asked.
“I’m Julie,” she replied.
Marik studied her face for a moment.
“Were you upset?”
Julie blinked.
Even a mermaid can read human emotions?
Marik simply gave her a sideways glance, as though he already knew what she was thinking.
“I believe that even though we’re mermaids and humans, we still share the same emotions,” he said quietly.
Julie smiled faintly.
“I had a quarrel with my dad…”
She didn't tell him everything, but she told him enough for him to understand.
“Ah… Dad,” Marik murmured. “I get it. I have one too. But at the end of the day, I still have to go back to him.”
He paused before continuing.
“You seem pretty strong about what you want. You don't need my advice. Just give him some time. Then tell him what's on your mind.”
Julie felt strangely comforted by his words.
As they continued talking, her eyes slowly became heavy.
Before she realized it, she had fallen asleep.
---
The next morning, Julie awoke to the sound of her phone ringing.
She opened her eyes and looked around.
It was early morning.
Then she realized something that made her sit up immediately.
She had slept on the rock.
Her eyes searched the water.
Where did Marik go?
For a moment, she wondered if everything that had happened the previous night had only been a dream.
Then she noticed something else.
Her beaded bracelet was missing.
Julie remembered that Marik had asked her about it the night before—whether it belonged to her or someone else.
She frowned.
Did he steal it?
“What a strange mermaid…”
She quickly returned home.
Her father was waiting anxiously at the entrance.
The moment Julie arrived, he rushed toward her.
“I called your friends, but you weren't with them. Where did you spend the night? Even though this town is safe, you can't just disappear like that. You grew up here with these people. You're not a little kid anymore.”
Julie lowered her eyes.
“I was at the beach.”
Her father stared at her.
“I wasn't alone,” she added. “I was with a mermaid friend.”
Her father simply stared at her in disbelief.
He didn't believe a word of it.
---
At the same time, just as Julie had suspected, Marik had her bracelet.
He held it carefully in his hand, staring at it with curiosity.
Yash approached and glanced at the strange object.
“We don't have bracelets like that in the mermaid world,” he said.
He looked at Marik suspiciously.
“Where did you get it?”
“It’s Julie’s.”
Yash's eyes widened.
“You stole it?”
Marik nodded casually.
Yash stared at him in disbelief.
“The way you're holding it isn't exactly strange… but your behavior certainly is.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“Don't tell me you like her.”
Marik only glanced at him.
That look was enough.
Yash sighed.
“You do…”
He shook his head.
“Marik, it won't work.”
Marik said nothing.
“Don't you know humans are monsters?” Yash continued. “They hunt sea creatures. They torture mermaids for their own benefit. We've lost so many of our people because of them.”
His voice became bitter.
“They're evil. Have you forgotten what they did to us? Especially you—you should never forgive them.”
Marik looked down at Julie's bracelet.
“I think Julie is different from them.”
Yash didn't know how to respond.
---
That night, Marik waited on the beach rock.
Yash stood nearby, watching him with concern.
“Julie won't come today,” Yash said. “And what if she comes with more humans to capture you? If something happens to you, how am I supposed to answer your father?”
Marik didn't respond.
His eyes remained fixed on the shore.
He was waiting.
Eagerly.
---
At Julie's house, her father stayed awake for a long time.
Because of that, Julie decided she wouldn't go to the beach that night.
But eventually, her father went to sleep.
Julie sat alone in her room.
She tried to convince herself to stay.
She couldn't.
For the first time, she couldn't hold herself back.
Quietly, she slipped out of the house and made her way toward the beach.
Meanwhile, Marik had just decided to leave.
Then a familiar voice echoed behind him.
“Hey, Marik!”
He turned around.
His eyes widened.
It was Julie.
For a moment, he simply stared at her.
He felt an overwhelming happiness rush through him.
Before Julie could reach him, Marik turned toward Yash.
“Leave.”
Yash hesitated.
But when he saw that Julie had come alone, he reluctantly left.
Julie climbed onto the rock.
Marik looked at her.
“I thought you wouldn't come.”
Julie smiled.
“I thought I wouldn't either. But for the first time, I actually managed to control myself.”
Marik's expression brightened.
“I'm happy you came.”
He paused.
“Did you tell anyone about me?”
“Yes,” Julie answered. “My dad. But he probably doesn't believe me when I say I met a mermaid.”
She glanced toward the houses.
“I sneaked out. I have to go back before my dad finds out, or I'll get scolded.”
Marik smiled.
“I'm happy now.”
Then his expression suddenly became excited.
“I want to show you something.”
He climbed down from the rock and entered the water.
Then he closed his eyes.
The tattoos on his arms began to glow.
Brighter.
Brighter.
Until the sky-blue light illuminated the water around him.
Within seconds, living creatures began appearing around him.
Starfish.
Small fish.
Jellyfish.
And countless other creatures from beneath the sea.
Julie stared in amazement.
It was beautiful.
Marik sat beside her and watched the happiness spread across her face.
Then, with a simple snap of his finger, the fish leaped out of the water.
They soared into the air before falling back into the sea, splashing around them as if they were playing.
Julie couldn't believe what she was seeing.
She didn't even have the words to describe it.
Water splashed across her face.
She laughed.
Her entire face was filled with joy.
Marik watched her.
He couldn't help smiling.
After the creatures disappeared into the water, Julie suddenly remembered the time.
“Oh!”
She quickly stood.
“It’s so late. I have to go back.”
She looked toward the houses.
Marik immediately understood.
It was time for her to leave.
Julie stepped toward him.
Before leaving, she stretched out her hand.
“Friends?”
Marik froze.
He stared at her hand, surprised.
For a moment, he forgot how to respond.
Julie thought he didn't want to accept.
Then Marik gently took her hand.
“Yes.”
Julie smiled.
“We shake hands when we become friends.”
Marik nodded and shook her hand.
Julie left soon afterward.
That night, she fell asleep thinking about everything that had happened.
Marik was happy too.
It was his first time truly interacting with a human.
Especially a girl he had already begun to like.
---
Julie began painting pictures of Marik.
She painted him sitting beside the sea.
She painted the glowing tattoos on his arms.
She painted the magical moment when the fish danced around him.
And she painted the happiness she had felt that night.
They continued meeting on the following nights.
They talked.
They laughed.
They slowly learned more about each other.
And without realizing it, their bond became stronger.
At first, Marik had planned to meet his father after completing a few more days of cultivation.
But as the days passed, he kept delaying his return.
Because of Julie.
He wanted to stay.
Yash was caught between Marik and his father.
He didn't know how to handle the situation.
He couldn't reveal the truth.
And he couldn't stop Marik either.
As Marik and Julie's bond grew deeper, Yash began to understand their feelings even before either of them realized or confessed them.
That frightened him.
Because he knew that, in reality, their relationship could end painfully for Marik.
---
One evening, Julie brought ice cream for Marik.
“Try it,” she said.
Marik hesitated before tasting it.
His eyes widened.
He liked it.
But it wasn't only the ice cream he enjoyed.
He liked the moment.
The moment he was sharing with her.
While Julie was distracted, Marik lowered one finger into the seawater.
A silver-blue magic circle appeared beneath the surface.
A wave of magic spread outward from it.
Across the beach.
Beyond the shore.
Into the vast ocean.
Wherever the wave passed, everything seemed to awaken.
Plants became healthier.
Sea creatures became more energetic.
The entire ocean seemed to come alive.
Yash suddenly felt the magical energy.
His eyes widened.
“Where is Marik?”
He could feel the power spreading.
Then he understood.
“He must have made Marina that strong…”
A small smile appeared on his face.
“Then he must be happy now.”
Far away, deep within the ocean, the sea creatures sensed the magical wave.
They looked at one another.
“The Marina wave…”
“It has reached the ocean entrance from somewhere else.” They morelikely guessed who could it be... felt delighted. 
“We should inform him.”
And somewhere beneath the endless sea, something—or someone—began to awaken.