"Didn't I forget you?"
So even if everything else is lost, even if every effort disappears into the past, I will still return.
To Winsor, that was the most sincere declaration of love.
Even Lansi didn't realize how powerful those words were.
Winsor stared at him, dazed. After a long silence, he seemed to come back to his senses. His eyes grew soft as he looked at Lansi.
"You came back because of me?"
"Correct."
Lansi, nervous to the point of trembling, didn't realize he had just teased Winsor without meaning to. He gently nudged Winsor toward a pile of pearls and whispered, "I dug through the soil underneath. We can get out from there."
Winsor stared at the small tunnel, his expression unreadable. "You want me to squeeze through that?"
Lansi tilted his head, glanced at Winsor's figure, and suddenly realized something. "The hole is a bit small. Wait, I'll dig a little more."
Without waiting, he flicked his tail to push Winsor aside, then slipped into the hole like an eager fish and began expanding the tunnel.
Winsor blinked.
He watched the little white tail fin sticking out of the hole, caught somewhere between irritation and amusement.
It was irritating how stubborn Lansi always was.
But it was funny too. The little fish had clearly escaped, yet came all the way back.
Winsor sighed.
In that moment, a quiet understanding settled in.
His original feelings for Lansi had not been pure. He wanted to trap him, to keep every smile and every glance for himself. But after spending so many days together, he realized that he might be the one who had been captured instead.
His soul had already clung to Lansi so tightly that in the end, it no longer mattered who held whom.
A quiet smile rose in Winsor's eyes. With a flick of thought, he made the barrier of tentacles vanish.
Still, as a bit of petty revenge, he didn't say anything to Lansi. Instead, he leaned lazily against a sea anemone and watched the hole where the white tail fin kept fluttering.
Half an hour later, Lansi emerged in disgrace.
His hands were covered in black mud, and the white scales on his abdomen were smudged and dirty. But he no longer cared. His face was lit with excitement.
"I'm done. Let's go quickly."
Winsor reached out and slowly wiped the mud from Lansi's cheeks. Then he carefully cleaned the grime from Lansi's hands. Only then did he ask the critical question.
"What about the tentacles outside?"
Lansi froze.
If earlier he had been able to draw the tentacles away using jellyfish, what could he do now?
His excitement quickly deflated.
Winsor smiled to himself.
He had said it on purpose, just to keep his little fish from getting too full of himself.
"I'll be the bait," Lansi said after a pause. He figured that whether it was the sea monster or the tentacles, they all seemed more interested in him. If he swam out first, the tentacles might follow him, giving Winsor a chance to escape.
Winsor was stunned. "What about you?"
Lansi frowned slightly. "I think… I'll be fine."
Why was he always so selfless?
Why was his little fish always this good?
Winsor felt a warmth spreading through his chest. He had never believed in fate before, but now he was starting to think their meeting had been destined.
His long-stilled heart finally stirred. He felt grateful that he had made the right decision back then.
"You really are a gift from the gods."
He held Lansi's face in both hands, whispered those words, then leaned forward and kissed him softly.
Lansi's eyes widened. "You... what are you doing?"
Winsor stroked Lansi's head and gave a small sigh.
His little fish was too shy. If he acted too directly, he would scare him off.
So he played innocent.
"Just showing my gratitude."
"Mermaids show gratitude like this?" Lansi was skeptical.
"Correct."
Winsor lied without a trace of shame.
There was no way to prove otherwise, after all.
Lansi touched his lips and took a small step back. His ear fins were trembling. "Don't do that again. You can't kiss me whenever you want."
"Alright."
Winsor agreed without argument, his tone indulgent.
After that brief distraction, Lansi's mood turned serious again. He lowered his head and said, "Winsor, I'll be the bait. After you get out, swim as far as you can and don't come back."
The pink atmosphere vanished in an instant.
Winsor interrupted before he could continue. Calmly, he pointed above them and said, "The tentacles are already gone."
"What?" Lansi frowned. "That's not possible."
Still, Winsor would never lie to him.
After hesitating for a moment, Lansi swam around the coral bones and discovered that the tentacles had indeed disappeared.
Stunned for a second, he turned back and said, "I'm going out to check."
Winsor assumed Lansi would swim over the coral bones to look around. Instead, Lansi slipped right in front of him and dove back into the narrow tunnel he had dug earlier, moving cautiously through it like a loach.
Winsor was speechless.
How could Lansi be so soft and flexible? That tiny hole, and he just squirmed right through it.
Lansi checked the surroundings carefully. After confirming that nothing was lurking nearby, he dug out the tunnel a little more and returned.
He looked serious. "There are really no tentacles left. Let's go."
He turned, ready to dive back into the hole.
Winsor had finally had enough. He sighed and stopped him.
Under Lansi's confused gaze, Winsor pointed upward. "Can't we just swim out the top?"
Lansi froze.
He had completely forgotten.
"You follow me," he instructed. "Let me go first. I'll check again, and if it's safe, then you come out."
Winsor chuckled. "Alright, alright."
Lansi slowly swam upward. He passed through the school of fish above the coral bones and lay on top, scanning the surroundings.
Just as he turned back to report, he found Winsor already beside him.
"When did you follow me?" Lansi gasped.
Winsor gently stroked his head. "I've been with you the whole time."
He paused, eyes darkening. "Don't think I'm weak. I should be the one protecting you."
Lansi raised his tail and nodded.
It was a very human thought, really. Lansi had always considered himself human on the inside, and thought humans were smarter than any creature in the sea. So he assumed Winsor needed his help.
But in the natural world, humans were fragile. Without weapons or tools, they were defenseless.
Lansi remembered that it was Winsor who had taught him to swim and to use sound waves. A strange emotion stirred in him, something that felt like guilt and sorrow.
He said nothing, only followed Winsor away from the coral bones, leaving behind the place where it all began.
For the first time, the deep sea revealed itself.
A dark seafloor stretched below. Strange little fish drifted by, glowing softly like stars.
Lansi was full of curiosity.
"What's that? Can we eat it?"
He spotted a flickering blue light in the distance. His stomach growled, and he instinctively swam toward it.
The blue light was much bigger than the tiny fish near the coral. Lansi assumed it must be a large fish, perfect for a meal.
Recalling the sweet taste of the fruit-like fish fillets from before, his mouth watered. Without thinking, he darted toward it while Winsor wasn't watching.
"Lansi!" Winsor's shout made him pause.
The flickering blue light was only half a meter away when Winsor caught up and grabbed his tail. "Don't go!"
Lansi could now see clearly. The blue light came from a massive octopus with glowing rings.
A blue-ringed octopus? In the deep sea?
He hesitated, puzzled.
He had no idea how close he had come to death.
The mutated blue-ringed octopus had been ready to strike. But a wave of pressure swept in from Winsor's direction, and the creature panicked. It squirted ink and fled into the dark.
Winsor dragged Lansi back, frowning. "Don't touch things at random. Do you want to die?"
Lansi shrank a little. "I thought it was food."
Winsor let out a helpless laugh.
Had he accidentally raised a silly, sweet little fish?
With no better option, he caught a few safer fish and fed them to Lansi to settle his stomach.
After that, Lansi behaved better. He swam in the middle of the current with Winsor and asked, "Can we go to the shallow sea?"
"Is the deep sea so bad?" Winsor asked.
"It's cold and dark," Lansi replied honestly. "I like the shallow sea. It's warm there."
He hesitated, then added, "Can we go to Sunset Bay? I heard the jellyfish talking about it, and I want to see it."
He didn't dare tell Winsor the real reason. He was afraid the truth would make Winsor abandon him.
Winsor fell silent. Even here in the deep, his long black hair drifted like a ghost in the water. After a long pause, he nodded.
"Thank you," Lansi said softly.
He swam closer, brushing Winsor's tail with his own before darting ahead with a flick of his fins.
"Why are you so slow, Winsor? Are you old?"
Winsor didn't respond.
He just stared at Lansi swimming proudly ahead.
When Lansi was almost out of sight, Winsor calmly called out, "You're going the wrong way."
Lansi froze mid-swim and turned around with a glare.
Winsor pointed in the opposite direction. "This way."
Speed was meaningless if you didn't know where you were going.
And here, Winsor was in charge.
Lansi could only turn back and swim to Winsor's side again.
After that, the thrill of their escape faded. Tiredness caught up with him, and he silently followed along, head bowed and tail swaying gently.
Seeing Lansi so obedient made Winsor's rare smile deepen.
He reached out and patted Lansi's head.
Lansi: "..."