Can't Believe it's a Human

Only option

“What do you mean you called it off? Since when?” Sunghoon thought that from all the possible reactions his parents could have had, confusion was a reasonable one. So far, it wasn’t that bad, even if admittedly, he hadn’t told them the more shocking part yet.

“And more importantly, why? Is Minjeong okay with this?” All understandable questions, really, nothing so far had been out of the standard. Sunghoon wished they’d stray once they got to the bit about Heeseung being human.

“Yes, Minjeong is okay with it,” Sunghoon focused on the easier questions to answer first. “I talked with her about it, and she really doesn’t mind.”

“Ay, you should have told us as soon as you made the decision, we’ve been preparing for months…” his mother lamented.

“We don’t know, maybe he’ll need it anyway, just not for Minjeong,” his father was hopeful, if a little too confident. “He hasn’t told us why he called it off yet, or for who.” The wink, and Sunghoon had to hold back a physical reaction to move far away from his father, was overkill. 

“Right, so… I don’t think… I’ll be mating anyone any time soon,” Sunghoon prepared himself for the backlash.

“Why not?” His parents asked in unison.

“You don’t just call off a mating arrangement without someone else in mind, what were you thinking?” His father seemed severely upset with him, but Sunghoon remained calm.

Sunghoon had to really think carefully about his next words. He had known since before getting into the conversation that he would have to tell them about Heeseung and the fact that he’s human. However, that didn’t mean he could speak without thinking. There had to be a way he could ease his parents into the fact that Heeseung was human, and that he was choosing a human over one of their own. A great deal of effort was being put by Sunghoon into not thinking negatively; he was trying to convince himself that if he thought everything would be fine, then it would happen like that.

“Well… the truth is that there is someone else, but…” Sunghoon made a pause, mostly to check if his parents would just let him speak freely or if they’d pressure for answers. “He’s… he’s not from here, and they do things… a little differently.” Sunghoon believed that was a good enough introduction, he’d deal with giving out more details once they came to accept this part first.

“Oh, that’s understandable, not all communities work the same,” his father nodded along.

“But still, couldn’t he make an effort for you?” His mother questioned apprehensively.

“It’s not that easy,” Sunghoon tried to excuse himself. “And also, I don’t want to mate him yet.” This wasn’t completely true, Sunghoon knew for certain that if Heeseung had been a merman, he would mate him on the spot. Unfortunately, their circumstances didn’t make this as easy for them. Besides, from what he’d learnt, humans took longer before making that kind of commitment. 

“It’s always so complicated with today’s youth…” his mother dramatically exclaimed. “If it’s not one thing, it’s the other; if he’s willing, why wouldn’t you mate him?”

“Mum, first… I don’t know if he’s willing,” which is again a lie, Heeseung seemed very willing, but as they were it was too complicated. “And it doesn’t matter, because I want to wait for a little longer,” he refocused the conversation.

“How much longer? A month? Two?” His father sounded like he was bargaining. Maybe he was trying to convince him.

“I don’t know, until I feel ready,” Sunghoon was starting to feel trapped. Cornered into answering things he didn’t know how or didn’t want to answer yet.