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Hyemi’s character is adorable. She’s a high school student who has a crush on a boy in her class, but he’s oblivious.

I laugh when she kicks the magical conch shell in frustration only to stub her toe, jumping around on one foot.

“She’s good!” Ajumma says.

She’s reminiscent of a young Jung So Min. She delivers each of her lines with charisma. In fact, I’m fairly certain the scriptwriter added extra lines after realizing Hyemi had talent.

The episode continues with an aerial shot of a rocky beach. Fog rolls over the tidepools as a sonorous voice narrates the scene.The Sea King’s messenger has arrived from the glittering depths of the court to deliver a message to the Sea Prince.A tail appears on screen, then the camera slowly pans upward.

Ajumma gasps. “Sori-yah. You’rebeautiful.” She takes out her phone and starts recording the screen.

I’m impressed with what the editors managed to do in only a short few days. My tail is a stunning blend of violet and aquamarine, matched perfectly to my corseted top. My damp hair hangs over my bare shoulders, strung with jewels and pearls. The narrator’s low baritone intones.But mermaids cannot speak above the water. How will she deliver the Sea King’s message?

If I remember correctly from the script, my next—and final—scene isn’t until the end of the episode, which is a relief, because I can actually enjoy the story. It continues with Sun and the heroine going on a date. This is the episode where they truly start to acknowledge their feelings for each other, but because of the conch shell, which will restore the Sea Prince’s memories, they’re torn apart.

I’m so caught up in the story that another forty minutes seem to fly by—the episode is an hour, since it’s on EBC, not tvN—and suddenly the setting cuts to the bathhouse.

I grab a pillow off the couch and bring it to my chest. Nathaniel walks onto the set in his shower slippers and sheep’s head towel.

He has lines as well, and though his delivery is a bit stilted, unlike Sun and Hyemi, his natural humor lends itself to his character. He’s upset because he sees a light on in the bathhouse after hours and think it’s one of the old women sneaking in.

His eyes catch on something in the water, a glittering tail. Kneeling on the ground, he moves toward the edge to peer over the lip of the pool. The camera angles to catch my slow emergence, the water cascading off my jeweled hair. I remember how uncomfortable I’d felt trying not to blink, and I’m glad that I hadn’t, because the effect is quite lovely. A second camera shows a close-up of Nathaniel’s expression. I know whatIwas thinking—I’d been freaking out that he hadn’t delivered his line yet—but he appears arrested, his eyes roving over my face. I expect the director to have cut the scene, but he kept the long pause. Nathaniel and I stare at each other, as if struck by one another.

Then the moment comes. Lifting myself out of the water, I bring my lips to his.

Then I fall back into the water and the scene ends.

“Omona!” Ajumma shouts.

There’s ten more minutes left in the episode but my phone floods with messages.

MIN SORI, Angela texts. At the same time, Gi Taek messages,I’m scandalized.Then, in a separate text,That outfit was out of this world.

Jenny texts a hundred !!!s.

I stare at my phone, hoping for the chirp signaling another message, this one from Nathaniel. But it doesn’t come. Maybe he didn’t watch the episode?

“Sori-yah,” Ajumma says, pointing at the TV, “you’re missing the rest.”

The episode ends with Hyemi’s character giving the conch to Sun’s character in the marketplace. He regains his memories, including the fact that it washisstorm, brought about by a petty tantrum, which destroyed the heroine’s family’s business, leading to all their misfortunes.

After the episode ends, I read the comments on EBC’s homepage.

I think the screenwriter is a MinLee fan.

Their chemistry is so convincing!

Isn’t this too far for a cameo?

I can admit that Woo Hyemi knows how to act.

Min Sori is blessed.

They look like they’re in love.

As I’m readying for bed, my phone pings with a new message, forwarded from Secretary Park.

To the management of talent, Min Sori,