Friday night arrived just like any other Friday night. Yixing sat on the couch with Chanyeol, and the two of them were discussing the basketball game on the television. Chanyeol was dressed in a pair of jeans and a new dress shirt that he bought especially for the party. He wore a dark-colored jacket over that, and his hair was combed. Nickhun sat next to Chanyeol on the couch, looking equally as handsome if not even more so.

Yixing looked between the two men with a light smirk. He was wondering why all his friends were handsome, girl-catching young men except for him. Chanyeol had a bright personality that easily won over many girls’ hearts, while Nickhun, with his wide eyes and Adonis-like good looks, turned heads everywhere he went. At times, Yixing wondered if the contrast between him and his friends was ever as blatantly obvious to everyone else as it was to him. Unlike Chanyeol and Nickhun, Yixing hadn’t had the best experiences when it came to girls.

“Are you going back North after this week?” Chanyeol asked Nickhun, but the older boy smiled as he shook his head.

“That was the original plan,” Nickhun said. “But I think I’m going to stay and work a few more overtime shifts. I’m saving up to help my mom with her medical bills.”

“Medical bills?” Yixing asked, leaning forward. He had heard from Victoria once that Nickhun’s mother was in the hospital, but the most recent bit of news was that she was released. Was she back in? Nickhun met Yixing’s concerned eyes and shrugged.

“Yeah, her cancer came back,” Nickhun answered calmly. By this time, he’d grown accustomed to telling people about his mother’s condition. Nowadays, he could do it without getting too choked up. Chanyeol and Yixing still noticed the bits of sadness that flooded his eyes whenever he talked about it though.

“How is she?” Chanyeol asked, putting their sports conversation on hold for a while.”

Nickhun smiled. “She’s doing fine for now,” he answered. “Thanks.”

“Hey, well, if there’s anything we can do,” Yixing offered. “Let us know.”

Nickhun looked up at the younger boys and gave them an appreciative smile. With the heavy stuff out of the way, they were able to focus on the game for a little longer. After another fifteen minutes, Chanyeol sighed and checked his watch. It was 8:30 already. He leaned his head back against the couch and yelled out:

“Victoria! Are you guys ready yet?”

There was a slight crashing noise from Mei’s bedroom, and another second later, Mei burst out. Yixing looked over at his sister and raised an eyebrow. Was she wearing… makeup? Yixing scoffed a little, knowing that their father wouldn’t be too pleased if he caught Mei with even the slightest bit of cosmetics on her face. Victoria came out after Mei.

The older girl stepped out in a sleeveless white mini dress. Her long, sleek black hair fell over her shoulders as she bent over to fix the straps on her heeled shoes. Nickhun immediately stood and walked over to stand by her side. Chanyeol stood up as well in anticipation of Jinyu, and even though there was no date waiting for him, Yixing felt compelled to stand as well.

“You look beautiful,” Nickhun said to Victoria. She laughed a bit and lightly punched his chest, warning him not to turn too greasy. Victoria then reached back into Mei’s room and pulled Jinyu out into the living room by the wrist.

Yixing widened his eyes as caught sight of her. Having no time to go out shop, Chanyeol had advised Jinyu to borrow Victoria’s clothes instead. Up until now, Jinyu had been wearing Mei’s oversized t-shirts or Victoria’s old clothes. And those were fine, of course, but none of Mei or Victoria’s t-shirts complimented Jinyu’s appearance so much as the outfit she wore now.

The girls had put the mermaid in a tight-fitting black skirt and an equally tight-fitting blue bustier top that showed off just a slight bit of midriff. Unable to wear high heels, Jinyu had a pair of sandals on her feet instead.

Jinyu looked down at her exposed legs and didn’t know how to feel about the amount of skin she was showing off. Sure, she had worn less before, but the tightness of the clothes felt restricting and she didn’t feel like her normal self. She shyly looked up at Victoria and then at Chanyeol. Her date for tonight smiled big and was giving her two thumbs up, complimenting her beauty and thanking Victoria for her help. But when Jinyu looked over at Yixing to see what his opinion was, his expression was blank and unreadable.

Yixing sloshed his tongue around inside his mouth, wondering why it felt dry so suddenly. He clenched his fists inside his hooded sweater’s pockets and pressed his arms against the sides of his body as though the added pressure would keep him from going everywhere all at once. On one hand, she looked incredibly pretty. On the other, he was wondering how well the outfit would work for her or against her in terms of the guys she would attract and how cold the weather would be.

“Stand up straight,” Victoria said, putting her hands on Jinyu’s shoulders and straightening out her posture. Jinyu followed Victoria’s directions. The Older girl looked up and down and wiped a little lipstick from her cheek. Finally satisfied, Victoria pinched Jinyu’s cheek a little.

“You’re so cute!” Victoria said. “Now, give us a smile.”

Jinyu smiled at Victoria’s command and then looked over to Chanyeol. Chanyeol put a hand on her shoulder and pat her back.

“You look great!” Chanyeol said.

“Thank you,” Jinyu replied shyly. Chanyeol looked her up and down and suddenly frowned as he stared her exposed shoulders.

“Are you sure you won’t get cold though?” he asked.

“Me?” Jinyu answered.

Yixing looked over at Jinyu and took note of her exposed shoulders as well. Thinking fast, he began to his own sweater. It was already off and he was about to hand it to her when he noticed that Chanyeol had already beaten him to it and was draping his own jacket over Jinyu and showing her how to zip it up. Shrugging, and feeling incredibly silly, Yixing dropped his sweater back onto the couch.

Yixing’s mother later walked out of the kitchen and joined in on the commotion. His father came by shortly as well and immediately noticed Mei wearing a light shade of lipstick. Yixing laughed as their father made Mei wash it off in the bathroom. The two couples took a few pictures. Yixing watched Jinyu posing silently for the cameras, and when everything was prepared they got on their way.

Chanyeol offered his arm to Jinyu, and although she was confused at first, Chanyeol eventually explained to her how to slip her hand through the crook of his arm. Chanyeol turned and waved goodbye to Yixing, promising to have her back by an hour after midnight or he’d let her stay over at Victoria’s.

“Alright, whatever,” Yixing said, giggling lightly. “Don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do.”

Yixing stood at the door watching them get into Nickhun’s car. Jinyu turned back to Yixing one more time. She still couldn’t understand why he was so adamant not to accompany them. She’d been watching him these past few months and aside from the occasional grocery shopping and errand-running, he never stepped out of the house very much. She couldn’t push away the thought that he looked slightly sad to see them going away. Jinyu gave him a weak smile and waved goodbye.

Yixing smiled, waved back, and closed the door.

An hour passed. Mei returned from the restroom fresh-faced. Meanwhile, his parents sat around the couch watching TV while his mother mended a tear in her wet-suit. Mei brought out a thick novel she had been meaning to read and sat at the couch as well. Yixing slumped down in his usual place on the sofa, between his father and Mei. The dialogue on TV faded into one hazy blur as he mindlessly set his eyes to the screen. He didn’t know what the movie was about.

Yixing had only been to a handful of parties in his life, and he never really stayed for very long. Mostly because he was the type of person who preferred small intimate gatherings to big, chaotic events. He found them exhausting and dull because everyone who showed up was too drunk or too high for coherent conversation, and the venues were usually too crowded for proper dancing. The music was usually so loud that he couldn’t even hear the song. He went once, in high school, when Sa Rang was still his girlfriend. But she’s gotten lost somewhere in the party, and since he couldn’t find her, he wasn’t in the mood for much of anything.

Jinyu and Chanyeol would have reached the venue by now, he thought as he glanced up at the clock above the TV. He wondered if Chanyeol was keeping a good eye on her. Of course he was, but Yixing still couldn’t help but wonder. He thought about Victoria; she’d be too distracted by her boyfriend to help Chanyeol watch out for Jinyu. By now, Jinyu would have seen the drinks and the bar. By now, at least one or two other boys would have noticed her. By now, she’d have taken Chanyeol’s jacket off. In one hour… a lot can happen in one hour.

Yixing tapped his fingers against the arm rest. He leaned against his other arm. He watched the minute hand tick across the clock face without blinking. His breath was hot against his own fist. An anxious sort of energy suddenly shot through him. He could sit still no longer. Mei looked at him with an annoyed expression.

“Could you stop?” she asked. “I’m trying to read!”

Yixing stood up all of a sudden and grabbed his sweater.

“You know what?” he said loudly, causing both his parents to jump up in surprise. “I just remembered something. I told Miss Wong from the bottom of the hill that I would run some errands for her since she got her hip replaced, and I totally forgot, so, uh, I’m just going to go and do that right now, just to get it over with.”

“Right now?” his father asked. “It’s almost 10 PM.”

“Yeah, but I’d rather just do it now so I won’t have to worry about it later or tomorrow, you know,” Yixing said, his voice sounding slightly breathless. He patted down his pockets in search of the car keys, and he finally swiped them off a hook on the wall.

“Uh, this might take a while, don’t worry about me, and don’t wait up, I, umm… I – uhh, I just gotta go.” Yixing slipped his shoes back on in a frantic hurry. He slammed his shoulder into the doorway on the way out and hobbled over to the car, leaving his family slightly stunned. With the door closed and the room silent once more, everyone returned to their business. Another second later, his mother blinked and looked up from her mending.

“But,” she said in wonderment. “Didn’t Miss Wong pass away last year?”

She and her husband stared at one another before looking over to Mei. Sensing their questioning looks, Mei sighed and set her book aside.

“Mom,” she said, summoning up all her pre-teen attitude. “He’s not really running errands for Miss Wong.”

“How do you feel?” Chanyeol asked, taking Jinyu’s hand as he guided her along the street toward the entrance of the venue. Jinyu was momentarily distracted by the size of the buildings on either side of them for a while, but when she heard Chanyeol’s voice, she looked at him with a smile.

“I am fine,” she answered. Chanyeol smiled in return.

“That’s good,” he said. “So, I’m sure Yixing probably already told you about the safety precautions for these kinds of things, right?”

“Right,” she answered. “Do not leave your drink, do not accept drinks, things like that.”

“Perfect,” Chanyeol said. “Do you like dancing?”

Jinyu scratched at her elbow nervously. “I would like to,” she said. “But… I’m afraid I do not know how?”

“How to dance?” Chanyeol asked. He laughed a little. “That’s fine. I’m sure that no one in this whole place really knows how to dance. Hell, even I’m absolutely at it. But that’s okay, that’s not the point, and nobody came to see you dance anyway.”

“So, should we not dance?” she asked.

“What?” Chanyeol asked. “No, we definitely still should! It’s fun! I’ll teach you! And it’s going to be fine; I’ll be right here the whole time, anyway.”

They finally arrived at the entrance, and after confirming their RSVP, Chanyeol and Jinyu stepped inside. From the outer room, Jinyu could already hear and feel the loud music and the squeals of people from inside. Her heart began thudding in her chest. She could already see that human celebrations were not going to be anything like mermaid celebrations. She held onto Chanyeol’s hand tightly as her nerves got to her. They stepped through the doors.

Chanyeol was right; no one here knew how to dance.

As they walked further in, Jinyu lifted a hand to one of her ears. The music was so loud, it was ear-splitting. She wasn’t even sure if it was actually music that was playing. Chanyeol moved slowly into the crowd. He was trying to find a calm spot where he could let Jinyu get used to her surroundings before they got started with dancing or anything else. A few humans were shoved into her as they walked through the dense crowds. Jinyu felt that she couldn’t even hear her own thoughts. Someone stepped on her foot, and Chanyeol shoved them away. Someone else nearly spilled their drink onto Chanyeol’s shoulder. They finally reached a section of the party that was near the bar.

“You okay?” Chanyeol said, but when he realized she couldn’t hear him, he repeated the question, raising his voice a bit. Jinyu smiled back at him and gave him a thumbs -up. Satisfied, Chanyeol then asked if she was thirsty and offered to buy a bottled water for her.

“I know it seems messy!” Chanyeol said to her, raising his voice over the noise. “And it’s really loud and crowded and it gets hot, but, uh – hey, are you sure you’re going to be okay in this?”

Jinyu laughed, but the bubbly sound of it was swallowed up by the noise. She nodded, and Chanyeol smiled.

“Alright,” he said. Victoria found them. Nickhun followed behind her. After ensuring that Jinyu would be fine in this new, and potentially dangerous, environment, they took her out onto the floor to dance.

Jinyu watched Victoria dance with Nickhun for a bit. She admired the older girl’s luscious curves and the way she could move them so fluidly in a way that was interestingly both sensuous and sophisticated. Jinyu stood still in the middle of the floor for a while, feeling incredibly ridiculous for being the only still person in the crowd. Chanyeol took her by the hand suddenly.

“There’s nothing to it!” he whispered in her ear. “Just… move your body and follow the music!”

Chanyeol took her other hand and outstretched her arms. Jinyu clenched her eyes shut and mentally cursed herself for being so awkward and stiff. But Chanyeol took a few steps back and began to sway her arms back and forth in time with the music. She laughed at how preposterous he looked, attempting to dance to this god-awful ruckus. But when he got the timing right, the swaying of her arms really did match up to the music.

The loudness of it swept into the floor and the walls and pretty soon, it started to feel like…like playing the piano, and how the vibrations spread, not only through the wood, but also through her body and she, too, became the origin of that sound. Jinyu nodded her head to the music and tried to follow Chanyeol and Victoria. She felt that she was embarrassing herself. But as she fell into a rhythm, she no longer cared. Chanyeol spun her around, making her laugh at how chaotic the dance seemed to be. They were probably the only ones doing a proper partner dance, and the two of them laughed at the fact.

Pretty soon, Jinyu was also dancing with Victoria. She was trying to teach the younger girl to be more fluid with her dance moves, and was barking out instructions as they danced:

“Put your arms in the air!”

“Smile!”

“Move your hips a little more!”

“You have to think about how you’re moving…”

“But don’t think about it too much!”

Everything was going smoothly thus far. Jinyu might even have said that she was actually enjoying it. With their own little spot in the middle of the dance floor, Jinyu felt swept up into the rhythm of the dance and the heartbeat of the whole party. It felt like being caught in the eye of maelstrom or letting storm waves carry her away. She laughed so hard that hurt, and even though she wore flats, she felt she would wake up the next morning with blisters.

Yixing arrived on the scene not too soon after that. He had spent some time arguing with the security guards that he was indeed old enough to be in the party. Yixing flinched a little hearing everything. He’d forgotten how loud and dysfunctional these parties were. The lights were all red and pink and blinding. The venue was huge. He had no idea where to start looking. He began to walk slowly along the side wall of the party. He eventually found himself by the bar. A few people were sitting there, but Jinyu and Chanyeol were nowhere in sight. He sat on a stool that was a little too tall for him. But with the added height, he could see above people’s heads much better.

He looked across the sea of people, trying to fish out anyone that seemed familiar. He felt anxious and slightly panicked the longer his search went without any success. He even entertained the idea that maybe Chanyeol had taken Jinyu and just left the party. His worries were getting to him; he wanted to find the two of them fast.

Finally, after scanning the center of the floor, he found the top of Nickhun’s heads. And, as he had hoped, Victoria was in his arms. And beside them, Chanyeol and Jinyu danced and laughed in such a ridiculous way that he felt embarrassed for them, even sitting halfway across the whole venue. Jinyu had indeed taken Chanyeol’s jacket off. But he supposed that it was hot in the middle of that crowd. Chanyeol was handling her well, he noticed. His anguished nerves began to settle down.

There was a large, idiotic smile plastered across her face. Yixing smiled. She seemed to be enjoying herself. Chanyeol was a terrible dancer, and he was no doubt passing on his terrible dancing skills to poor, unaware Jinyu. Yixing sighed as he settled onto the stool. It seemed that he had come all this way to settle his nerves, which were upset for no reason. But he supposed that while he was here, a few extra precautions wouldn’t hurt anyone.

Jinyu danced until it was starting to hurt her feet, and she still felt the need to go on. She hadn’t had this much fun in all her life. She couldn’t ever remember laughing so much or moving in such a way. In the furthest recesses of her mind, she wishes that Yixing had agreed to come with them. She was sure that if he did, he would have enjoyed himself as well. The song reached its and she Jinyu danced, someone bumped into her, causing her shaky knees to give out and she fell to the floor with a yelp.

“You okay?” Chanyeol asked, grabbing a hold of her and pulling her back up to stand. Her knees shook a bit, but Jinyu laughed at her own clumsiness.

“You wanna sit down somewhere?” Chanyeol whispered and Jinyu, deciding to give up for now, nodded her reply. Chanyeol draped his arm protectively over her shoulder and guided her to a section of the venue that had a few low couches to rest on. Chanyeol let her drop onto one of those and he stood and stretched for a bit. Chanyeol fanned himself with his hands.

“It’s tiring, isn’t it?” he asked, and Jinyu laughed in reply. “Do you want that water, now?” he asked.

“That would be nice,” she replied.

“Okay,” Chanyeol said. He looked around to make sure she would be fine just sitting here. “Wait here for me, okay?” he said. “I’ll just take a minute, and I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere, okay?”

Jinyu nodded, and after making sure she was fine, Chanyeol scurried off to buy two bottles of water for the both of them. Jinyu pulled her knees closer together and straightened. Without Chanyeol to distract her, she decided to look around and take in the scene. The music was so loud that she had to clap her hands over her ears when she first came in. But 2 or 3 hours had passed since then, and even though the music was still too loud, she could withstand it better. Jinyu reached into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out the slim, flat device once more. It lit up again at her touched, flashing the number 2-7-3 at her. She was too distracted to notice someone taking the seat next to her.

“Hey,” said a voice. Jinyu looked up and met the eyes of a boy she didn’t know. She looked around to see if he was really talking to her. He laughed a little. “Yes, you,” he said.

“H-Hello,” she answered. He was a tall boy, though not as tall as Chanyeol. He was handsome, too. The boy scooted a little closer to her.

“You know, I’ve lived in this city all my life,” he said. “But I don’t think I recognize you.”

Jinyu shrugged. “No, I do not think you would.”

“So, what are you doing here all alone?” the boy said, placing a hand on her bare knee. Jinyu’s skin flared up where his hand met her flesh. She pushed his hand away. “Did you boyfriend leave you?”

“My what?” she said. The boy laughed again, getting closer still. Jinyu tried to scoot away, growing more uncomfortable. Jinyu wondered if this was what Yixing meant about other boys being “aggressive”. She didn’t think he was being aggressive however; in fact, he was rather polite, but in such a way that unsettled her.

The boy scoffed. “So, I’m guessing he wasn’t really your boyfriend, then?” he scooted closer. “I could keep you company, if you like.”

It was at this precise moment that a familiar figure walked by, right behind the boy’s head. Jinyu’s eyes locked onto him and followed his path right to the outer part of the building.

“Luhan?” she whispered to herself. Jinyu squinted her eyes, and found that it was indeed Luhan. The young prince was dressed in semi-formal attire and was busy chatting away on his phone as he tried to escape the loud music by rushing outside. Jinyu stood up suddenly and made up her mind to follow him. The boy made a move to hold onto her wrist, but Jinyu snatched it away from him and immediately ran in the direction where she saw the prince scurry away.

Luhan shoved open the glass doors that led to small, second story balcony overlooking the city. He plugged one ear as he strained to listen to the voice on the other end of the line.

“Hello?” he screamed into his cell phone speaker. The voice on the other end spoke up, louder now. Luhan listened as intently as he could.

“That’s not what I said, though!” Luhan answered, raising his voice for better communication. “What I meant is that since the search hasn’t yielded any results, I want to slow down on the funding payments!”

He paused and listened. Luhan pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I don’t want to lose any time or money either but – No, I’m not calling it off! Are you kidding me? Not this far along! Just… quicken the pace! Yes, I still want to find her – Okay just wait a bit! Now’s not really the best time… Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll call again in the morning.”

Luhan hung up the phone and took a long sigh. He leaned against the railing and closed his eyes against the passing breeze. The city breeze wasn’t like the breeze by his ocean-side home. He couldn’t feel calm here. All he could feel was the chaos of the room behind him. He wasn’t sure why he agreed to come tonight, anyway. Before this party, he had planned to just stay up in his room and rest for a bit.

He wondered how long it had been, now, that he’d been searching for his tsunami savior. Day and night he was consumed by thoughts about her and her haunting, inhuman singing voice. He was plagued by the glimpse he caught of her tail. He tried to pull the memories back and make them as vivid as before. But the longer this search took, the more those memories receded; they were like ocean waves being back into the sea after a mere moment upon the sand. He was absolutely sure that the mermaids were somewhere out there, and no matter how crazy anyone thought he was, he was determined not to stop.

There was another thought that was always on his mind, however: say, he did find the mermaid girl. Well, what then? It was unlikely that anything would come of his finally finding the mermaid, except perhaps finally showing all the skeptics how right he had been and in turn, how wrong they were.

And then he thought about Jinyu.

A smile spread over his face. He’d never met a girl as quietly charming and oddly unique as her. He had only seen her and talked with her a handful of times, but he was addicted. Luhan couldn’t quite put his finger on it, what it was about her that attracted him so much to her. Sure, she was pretty, but more than that, she seemed to have such a grand capacity to understand things that no one else could understand about him. Luhan wondered if she would understand if he told her about the mermaid search he was funding. Luhan scoffed; she’d probably laugh.

Jinyu pressed her hand against the glass window. She could see Luhan outside, leaning against the railing and staring off into the night. Her heart sped up again; even just the sight of him was enough to give her goosebumps. She walked slowly toward the door, her heart soaring at the thought of being next to him again. She pushed the door open and prepared to walk out and stand beside him.

But before even one foot was out the door, another girl appeared beside him, and Jinyu pulled herself back into the building, determined not to be seen. Jinyu watched them intently. Luhan seemed surprised to see the girl. The girl looked surprised as well. They talked a while, but Jinyu couldn’t hear their conversation. She couldn’t see Luhan’s face anymore, as he turned away from her. The girl talked some more, her expressions becoming more desperate and impassioned. Jinyu longed to know what they were discussing.

And then the girl kissed him.

The ear-splitting music suddenly died, and all Jinyu could hear in her hand was one long, muffled ringing. Her eye grew wide when she saw Luhan and that girl suddenly kissing. She felt her lungs seizing up. It felt like her stomach was going to push itself upward and throw itself up. Jinyu suddenly had visions of her own body dissolving into sea foam and her heart shattering like a glass vase.

Jinyu forced herself to look away from the kissing pair. She turned around and tried to walk away gracefully, but ended up knocking over a table and causing it to bang against the window. Jinyu turned and caught Luhan’s eye one last time before she ran off.

Out on the balcony, Luhan the girl with an angry look.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Sa Rang?” Luhan demanded.

“I told you, I’m sorry!” Sa Rang said, on the brink of tears. “I was stupid; I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“No, you definitely weren’t,” Luhan said without an ounce of sympathy for her. “Think about what you did, for a minute. Something like that doesn’t just go away. You ruined so much. And I’m not letting you ruin anything else.”

Luhan looked back at the window. He thought he’d seen Jinyu but he couldn’t be sure. Forgetting Sa Rang, he walked toward the door and back into the chaotic party. Jinyu was nowhere to be found.

Jinyu pushed past the huge crowd on the dance floor, ignoring her aching feet and weak knees. There were tears stinging her eyes already. She wasn’t sure what to do anymore. She wanted to get out of this place. She wanted to be far away from people and this party and far away from humans in general. The strobe lights blinded her and he wasn’t sure if she was crying or not and how hysterically. She was in the middle of the floor when a pair of arms caught her.

“Woah, there!” It was the boy from earlier. “You again! I’m not sure where our relationship stands after you ditched me back there.”

“Please step aside,” she whispered too low for him to hear. The boy put a hand to her face and lifted her chin up to see her better.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Some guy hurt you? Let’s step aside for a minute. Or what do you say we get out of here, someplace we can be alone?”

“No,” Jinyu mouthed. “I want to leave.” Jinyu tried to push past him, but his grip on her arm was strong.

“Hey, beautiful, where do you think you’re going?” the boy said, his grip becoming tighter.

“Let go of me, please!” Jinyu said.

“You’re not leaving, are you?” the boy stepped closer to her. His breath stank like nothing she’d ever smelled before. “Stay a while! We’ve only just met.”

“Let go!”

“Hey,” said another voice, and when Jinyu turned around there was another boy she didn’t know, whose breath also stank, but in a different way than the other boy’s.

 “Is this guy bothering you?” the boy asked the other.

“No, we were just leaving,” he answered.

“I don’t want to go with you!” Jinyu said.

“You heard her.”

Yixing sat on the bar stool playing a game on his cell phone. No one had approached him or bothered him and he was sure that Chanyeol was taking care of Jinyu. But when he suddenly felt a strong urge to turn around, he ended the game on his phone and spun around in the stool. He squinted his eyes against the strobe lights and looked over the crowd. He spotted Jinyu in the middle. Only this time, she didn’t seem to be enjoying herself. In fact, he could have sworn that she was… crying?

Yixing put his phone back into his pocket and stood up. The boys with her weren’t anyone he knew. One of them had a firm grip on her wrist. With a surge of adrenaline, Yixing entered the dance floor. He tried to memorize where they were on the floor, and he pushed past people and couples trying to get to that spot. He was determined to get to Jinyu and get those boys away from her.

But when he finally he reached the spot, Jinyu was nowhere in sight. There were, however, two boys crouched in pain on the floor, holding their balls and groaning. Yixing leaned over one boy and grabbed his collar.

“Where is she?” Yixing demanded over the music. He followed the boy’s gaze and found a slip of long black hair and a blue shirt pushing past the crowd and running out the exit. Without thinking twice, Yixing took off after her.

Jinyu rushed outside, blinking against the sudden brightness of streetlights and cars. She looked around frantically, and without any sense of direction or purpose, she just took off running, sprinting down the street. Her bones burned every time she struck the ground with her heels. The leather straps of her sandals were cutting her skin at the tight places where they strained against her. Her muscles were fired up, they were desperate for rest. But Jinyu’s heart just wanted to run and run away from everything. She wanted to find the edge of the earth and then jump off of it. She wanted to fling herself back into the ocean and surrender to the sea witch and face the consequences for being foolish enough to think that she could be human. Her heart was starting to hurt. It was racing faster than she could run and the tears were blurring her vision. She couldn’t see where she was going and she didn’t care.

She only returned to her sense when she was startled by the sound of a horn, loud and clear and dangerously close. When her vision cleared, the only thing she saw in front of her were two bright blinding lights, and they were racing towards her. Jinyu thought to close her eyes and everything would be over soon.

But in the split second before any impact could be made, something hard and heavy slammed into her body and she was on the floor, away from the path of the passing, blaring truck. Another sob escaped . She could suddenly feel the sting of a wound behind her elbow. It was probably bleeding from being scraped on the asphalt.

“Jinyu, get off of me,” Yixing wheezed from under her form. Jinyu, coming to her senses, realized that she was crushing Yixing. She rolled off of him at the same time Yixing pushed her away. Yixing sat up and then groaned as he gripped the side of his body. He let out sharp, shallow breaths. He rolled up his sleeve to inspect a nasty gash on both his forearms. His blood was bright red.

Yixing sighed and then noticed that Jinyu’s knees were bleeding as well. He narrowed his eyes at her.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing running into traffic like that? Are you out of your mind? You could have gotten yourself killed!”

Jinyu was shocked. You couldn’t even cry properly anymore. There was dirt and gravel smeared on both their clothes and faces.

“I – ” she started to say. “I’m sorry.”

Yixing stared at Jinyu for a long time as they sat on that sidewalk. He officially had no idea what he was going to do with her now. Yixing pulled his sleeves back down. He checked the time and it was already midnight. He knew the idea of this kind of party going well was too good to be true. Everything was fine, but of course all that had to end by midnight. He thought about the fastest route back to his house. He thought about how he could get back in without disturbing anyone.

Jinyu sobbed again beside him. Yixing looked pitifully at her and sighed once more. Then, he stood up and offered to help her stand again.

“Come on,” he said gently. “Let’s go home.”