“And seriously, the effects could have been way better,” Mei said as Yixing walked between her and Jinyu back toward the window of his room, which was still open and untouched. His hands were in his pockets, and his eyes were heavy.

“Yeah, well then maybe next time we can watch a movie that you directed,” Yixing replied.

“I’m just saying,” Mei said. “For a 60s film, the effects were way behind.”

“You’re kidding, right?” he said. “Night of the Living Dead? That was like the most caught-up movie of its time in terms of effects! It’s a classic!”

“It’s just not my type of movie,” Mei said. “I was expecting something with a little more drama.”

“People getting their brains eaten, that’s not dramatic to you?” Yixing asked with a light laugh. “There’s no pleasing you. Alright here we are. Mei, you go first.”

When they reached the window, Yixing leaned against the wall, giving a lift to Mei first and then Jinyu. When they were both up in the room, he stepped back to get a running start and then pulled himself into the room after them. After a light thud, they froze, waiting to see if their parents had awakened. Once the coast was clear, Yixing dismissed the girls back to their respective sleeping areas and began dressing for bed himself.

Jinyu stood out in the dark halls by herself for a while, keeping her arms tightly crossed. She took a tentative step toward the living room, towards the couch where she slept with an extra blanket and pillow. But a creaking noise caused her to stop and gasp.

There was no one else in the house except the family she lived with, so she tried to convince herself that there was nothing to be afraid of. But in the back of her mind, the terrifying human horror stories of her childhood melded into the terrifying images she’d seen that night. The blankness in the eyes of the zombies, the ferocity, the horror, the inhumanity.

She laid her head down on the pillow and prayed for sleep to come. Instead, what came were nightmares, hallucinations, shadows and sounds that kept her up. Her heart pounded in her chest and her breathing became panicked. Flashes of the terrifying scenes from the movie rushed back to her. They clouded her eyes and tainted her mind.

She sat up, pressing her palms to her heart, trying to steady it. Jinyu clenched her eyes but she couldn’t stop it; she couldn’t stop the hallucinations, the dreams, the madness of her fear. Unable to bear it any longer, she finally kicked the blankets off herself and ran back to the hall.

By now, she’d memorized the layout of the human dwelling. The first door to her left was the bathroom, and the one across from it was Mei’s room. The second door on the right was a guest room, and the one across from that was the bedroom that belonged to the oldest son, Yixing. Stepping slowly, she stood in front of it.

Jinyu wasn’t sure what to do; but she knew that she wouldn’t last the night forced to sleep alone. She had never been accustomed to sleeping alone until she became a human. Mermaids slept in swarms, their closeness providing warmth, safety, and comfort. It drove her insane how humans could stand to be so alone all the time, for hours on end.

He laid her hand flat against the door of Yixing’s room. A part of her was unwilling to be alone, and another part didn’t want to disturb him. She bit down on her lip, wishing there were a way to talk to him without bothering him. She was in the middle of her dilemma when the knob turned and the door opened.

Yixing’s hair was only slightly disheveled. He wore a grey t-shirt and a pair of black basketball shorts. He looked at her through eyes narrowed by sleep. Jinyu swallowed.

“I am sorry, I – ” she said and then bit her lip. “How did – ?”

“I can hear you breathing from inside the room,” he whispered. He waited for her to explain, but when she didn’t he just shrugged. “Yes?” he asked.

Jinyu stood there silently, wishing she wouldn’t have to explain. She tried to slowly make her way inside the room, feeling uncomfortable standing out in the hall. But Yixing grabbed onto her forearm and kept her from slipping past him.

“Nonono,” he said. “It’s late, you can’t go in my room.”

I don’t want to be alone, she said, passing her voice to him through his grip on her arm. Jinyu then looked up at him, her eyes appearing to shiver in their sockets. Yixing watched her for a long time, turning her words over in his head before their meaning finally reached him, and his face flushed.

“No,” he said, making her stand out in the hall again. “You can’t,” he said.

“But – ” she protested, but Yixing shushed her with a finger to his lips.

“No, Jinyu,” he whispered. “You can’t sleep in my room! That’s… that’s not appropriate!”

Jinyu furrowed her brows at the word appropriate and Yixing rolled his eyes. He supposed in mermaidland it was perfectly acceptable for anyone to walk up to anyone else and ask to sleep in their bedrooms, even if they were opposing genders. There were a lot of things he’d taken to doing for Jinyu, but this would not be one of them.

“Go back to the couch,” he whispered. “It’s just a movie! There’s nothing to be afraid of!” He suddenly regretted ever asking her to accompany them to the movie night. He thought he was being nice, but he didn’t foresee a request such as this.

He looked back at Jinyu, but she hadn’t made any move to return to the couch. She looked back at her lonely sleeping area and then back at Yixing. Her eyes were wide and desperate, her lips turned out into a pout. She swallowed, and he watched the way moved as she did, like she was trying her hardest not to cry. Suddenly, his willpower gave out, and he sighed as he opened the door wider. Jinyu smiled slightly as she made her way inside.

“Only until you fall asleep!” he said, closing the door behind her. “Then, I’m moving to the couch.” He moved over to the bedside table and switched on the lamp. The dim lighting cast shadows across the room, but with Yixing within vicinity, Jinyu felt a little braver. Yixing’s room was small and was, by no means, what one would call neat. But it wasn’t messy either. Every corner of the room gave testimony to his existence; there wasn’t a spot in the room that wasn’t completely and utterly him. No room better embodied its occupant, Jinyu thought.

“You got scared of the movie?” Yixing asked. Jinyu turned to him and nodded as she lowered herself onto the bed and sat Indian-style next to his pillow. She wasn’t sure how to explain herself. Fear was an accepted emotion in her home, but she wasn’t sure how it would be received by humans.

“Is it true?” Jinyu asked.

“What is?” Yixing asked, seating himself on the bed next to her and arranging a pillow behind his back for better support.

“That movie,” she asked. “The thing about the zombies? What are they, anyway?”

Yixing smirked. “No, it’s not real,” he said. “Movies are rarely ever real. They blow things way out of proportion in order to make money. Zombies aren’t real. Although some people think that they could be real, and that they’ll bring about the apocalypse, the end of the world and civilization.”

Jinyu widened his eyes at him.

“How?” she asked. Yixing shrugged.

“Uh, well some people say that it could be a viral disease or something that turns people into zombies,” he says. “Or some people think it could be some kind of world-wide voodoo spell or something.”

“A spell?” Jinyu asked. “But who would cast such a spell?”

“Some weirdo, I guess.”

“Like a witch?”

“Yeah, like a witch,” he answered. “But that theory is the most far-fetched, in my opinion.”

Jinyu shifted her seating position and brought her knees to her chest. “Then what is your opinion?” she asked. Yixing shrugged. He’d never given it much thought, and no one had ever bothered to ask him how he thought a zombie apocalypse would come about.

“I guess you can count me in that group of people who think it’d be some form of disease,” he said. “That seems the most plausible.”

“Like the diseases that Victoria studies?” Jinyu asked.

“Yeah, like that.”

Jinyu thought about the syringes and various bacteria that Victoria often injected into her bloodstream and a thought occurred to her.

“Would Victoria try to turn me into a zombie?”

Yixing looked at Jinyu and burst out laughing. “What?’ he asked. “Of course not! Remember, this zombie stuff is really fake, there’s no zombie disease going on. You’re fine. You should see your face; you’re really taking all of this seriously, aren’t you?”

“Well, why I should I not?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “You said so yourself that it is possible.”

“Possible, but not likely,” he answered. “There’s a difference. I’m just saying that, theoretically speaking, if there was a zombie apocalypse, it’d probably be because of some disease.”

“But then would there not be a cure?”

Yixing shrugged. “I guess,” he said. “But think about it! Even if there were a surviving number of humans, it’d still be inevitable that the humans would continue feeding the zombie population. So they’d still be growing and we’d be decreasing, right? And the rate of curing them would be too slow. Get it?”

Jinyu entertained the thought.

“Ah, I see,” she said. “So, the movie that the humans make about zombies entertains the thought of an outbreak.”

“Exactly,” he said.

“To examine what would happen and what one would do if it ever happened.”

“Yupp,” he said.

“What would you do?”

“Me?” Yixing pursed his lips and thought about it. “I guess it also depends on how much time I have. I think for a little while, I’d just barricade myself here in the house. And if that doesn’t work out… Luhan’s house has a tight security system and lots of hiding places. That’d be the best place to go. What about you?”

“Me?” Jinyu asked, and Yixing smirked.

“Well, yeah, you and me are the only ones in here, so I would be talking to you.”

“Oh,” she said. Zombie apocalypses were something that had never entertained in her mind before. She wasn’t suyre what she would do. “I do not know what I would do,” she answered. “I suppose… realistically, the first I would do is run and scream. And… try to save my loved ones.”

Yixing nodded. “I think your loved ones would be pretty safe, though,” he said. “Well, safer than us here on land. Unless zombies learn how to swim. Do you guys have zombie horror stories under the sea?”

Jinyu thought about it. There were none, to be honest. But the stories she heard about sea witches and sea monsters were probably close enough. The ones about humans hit pretty close to home as well.

“What kind of scary stories do you have under the sea?” he asked, realizing that despite the two months Jinyu spent in his house, he really didn’t know anything about her life as a mermaid. Jinyu laughed a little.

“All of our horror stories are about you,” he said.

“Me?”

“Humans.”

“Oh,” Yixing said, finding the idea amusing. “What kind of things do mermaids think about humans?”

“That you cook and eat animals over a fire,” she said with a mischievous smile. “But that one is apparently true.”

“Well, eating raw stuff will give you a disease,” Yixing said. “Turn you into a zombie, it will,” he added, jokingly.

“You know, humans think that mermaids use their singing to lure people to their deaths,” he said. “But that’s apparently true, too, isn’t it?”

Jinyu shrugged. “Not for me,” she said. “I haven’t killed any humans.”

Yixing nodded. “Well, let’s hope you never have to,” he said. “You know, I just remembered the other thing people say about the zombie contagion: mutation.”

“Huh?”

“People think it could also happen because of mutation,” he explained. “Like, some chemical or other will make humans cannibalistic and crazy. It’s not as far-fetched as the magic one, but not as plausible as the disease one.”

“I think the magic theory is plausible,” Jinyu said, and Yixing smirked.

“You’re serious?” he asked. “Somehow I don’t think magic could turn someone into a mindless, killing machine.”

Jinyu shrugged. “Magic turned me human,” she pointed out. Yixing bit his lip.

“Yeah, but you’re not a mindless, killing machine,” he said. “And you’re not going to bring about the end of the world.”

Jinyu laughed a little and Yixing joined in. They discussed the methods of treatment for zombies a little, and then moved onto other common horror stories like vampires. The conversation slowed down until both  were left with nothing else to say. But Yixing didn’t feel the need to say anything more, and Jinyu was too unaware of normal human social behavior to feel any discomfort at the sudden silence. Jinyu looked around the room at the various posters while Yixing found himself staring at her.

It was liberating, Yixing thought, to sit with a girl and not feel the obligation to say anything or do anything to impress her. Although he guessed that pretty much everything was impressive to Jinyu. Maybe it was because she hadn’t had normal contact with humans in years or because she was just an odd girl in general.  Still, he liked it. It was a refreshing change from his previous relationships with girls.

So they sat side-by-side on the bed, staring at nothing in particular, and very highly aware of each other’s presence. Yixing was listening to her breathing, noting how his own sighs were beginning to match the pace of hers. At that moment, he felt exceptionally close to her, closer than he felt to any of his other friends; and all because they happened to discuss zombies and the fate of the universe.

But Yixing guessed that perhaps that was why; no matter how many friends he had, no matter how many girlfriends he’d know, he didn’t know anybody else who would sit with him at 3 AM and discuss the undead and share in each other’s terror. He suddenly felt that he was able to talk to her about things that he could never have discussed with Luhan or Mei or Sa Rang. And yet Jinyu seemed the perfect candidate for it, and it put her in a category apart from everyone else he knew.

His thoughts were interrupted when Jinyu let out a yawn. Yixing chuckled and stood from the bed.

“Sleepy?” he asked, and she nodded shyly. He sighed, giving in. “Fine. You can sleep on the bed.” He grabbed a pillow from one end of the bed and then got an extra blanket from the closet, laying it out on the ground.

“I’ll be just fine here on the floor,” he said, laying on his makeshift bed and trying to fall asleep. “Goodnight, Jinyu,” he said before closing his eyes. He tried to push their conversation out of mind as exhaustion returned to him. He was already half asleep when he felt something nudge his back. Opening his eyes and turning, he saw Jinyu laying on the floor next to him, turned away.

Yixing sat up in a hurry. “No,” he said, prompting her to sit up and stare back at him. “Jinyu, no! You can’t!”

“Why not?” she asked. Yixing blushed.

“You and I cannot sleep together!” he said. “Go back on the bed! Now, or else I’m moving to the couch.”

Jinyu blinked back at him. “I just do not see why – ”

Yixing squeezed the bridge of his nose trying to contain his flustered emotions and frustration at her ignorance of common human practices. “It’s just – ” he said. “Okay, I realize you don’t know much about humans and stuff, but here’s something you should know: humans, if they’re a boy and a girl, don’t sleep together unless they’re married. It’s not appropriate; it’s not socially acceptable. No matter how many nightmares you have! Okay? Now get back on the bed!”

“You know, under the sea, we are more accepting of this practice – ”

“Jinyu,” he said, his face turning pinker by the second. “Please.”

Jinyu stared hard at him with her pleading eyes once more. But Yixing held firm, forcing himself not to give into her pouting face. So with a sigh, she collected her pillow and returned to the top of the bed. Yixing watched her a while, making sure she wouldn’t come back down to the floor. But when his heavy eyes finally got the best of him, he turned away and drifted back to sleep.

The events of the days played out before his eyes, making sense of the happenings and registering every thought. He let go of himself and slipped slowly into the world of dreams. For a long time, Yixing felt and thought about nothing. It was comforting place to go, where no worries or troubles existed. He could forget everything for a little bit while he slept. But not one hour later, he felt a familiar nudge against his back and he let out a frustrated sigh.

“Jinyu,” he grumbled, not bothering to turn around or open his eyes. “Back on the bed. Now.”

At this point, he was too tired to argue anymore with her. If she wasn’t going to move back to the bed, then he’d rather move out to the couch to avoid any misunderstandings in the morning. So, pushing his sleepiness aside for one final moment, he prepared himself to turn around and argue one last time.

Yixing turned until he was on his back and he turned his neck to look over at Jinyu. But before he could start arguing, he realized that she was already fast asleep, and that she must have fallen off the bed rather than move to the floor of her own accord. He laughed to himself at the thought of her rolling off the bed.

But there was something else that struck him suddenly as he turned around, some emotion that didn’t quite have a name yet. But it felt like the air in the room grew thicker and the entire room turned quiet. And just like that, he felt the entire earth collapsing around him in this single moment of peace; it was the coming of the apocalypse, the end of the world as knew it, all in the few breaths and moments that he spent watching her eyes move beneath her eyelids.

She was dreaming, he thought, and he entertained the possibility that perhaps he was dreaming, too. Jinyu’s sleeping form was curled in on itself, and she slept so deeply that it seemed that she’d go on sleeping forever; and if it happened that way, he felt he could watch her sleep forever.

Yixing moved his hand and placed it over his chest, feeling that he’d explode or float away if he didn’t have some sort of weight on himself. Beneath his palms, his heart beat was loud yet calm. It was a familiar feeling, and yet strange and new all at the same time. He thought, in the moment, that he’d do anything for her, that he’d do anything to make her happy.

Jinyu fidgeted in her sleep and turned away from him. He stared at her shoulder blades a while before catching himself. Giving up on his endeavor to make her sleep on the bed, he put some distance between himself and Jinyu and then turned away to sleep.

Perhaps this was all just some mid-night delusions, and the morning sun would bring, along with the dawn, some renewed sense. For now, he just wanted to sleep. 

Author's Commentary: Fun fact - this was my favorite chapter to write.