Mi-young stared into the mirror as she ran the hairbrush through her thick black hair, pulling out the tangles with much effort. She pursed her lips as she tugged at the knotted locks, slightly irritated. The only bad thing about living above the surface is this, she thought with a slight snort. Once she had brushed out the knots to an acceptable degree, she set the brush down on the bathroom counter and slipped her nightgown over her head, pulling her hair out and shaking her head so that it rolled over her back and shoulders in midnight waves. She turned side to side with a small smile, checking out her reflection in the mirror. It always amazed her how utterly human she looked. But I’m not human, she thought bitterly. Otherwise, I could be with Baekhyun…

She quickly slapped her cheeks to banish such depressing thoughts and whirled around, the skirt of her nightgown swishing as she exited the bathroom, walking out of Baekhyun's bedroom to join the rest of the household in the living room. Her eyes caught Baekhyun's for a moment, and it pained her when he smiled at her like always, as if the passionate kiss the night before had never even occurred. She shuddered as she felt the phantoms of his lips brushing over her neck, and some of the boys looked at her funny as she swatted at her neck, as if batting away a bug. She blushed and tried to act natural, settling down on the carpeted floor with her legs tucked beneath her. The boys had gathered around to watch a television program, all lounging about in their pajamas, and the flickering screen immediately caught the interest of the curious mermaid.

“Why are they hitting each other with pillows?” she cried in alarm as she watched the scene. It was a group of human girls, running around in their pajamas and screaming in apparent delight as they whacked each other with fluffy pillows, strewing feathers about the room. Though they seemed to be enjoying the strange fight, Mi-young had never seen such a display before, and she looked in confusion at the boys for an explanation.

“It's a slumber party, Mi-young,” Xiumin explained with a chuckle, and she cocked her head to the side slightly as she blinked slowly, attempting to process the strange human custom.

“’Slumber… Party?’” she repeated the foreign phrase with a frown, glancing back at the television. “What is that?” The boys seemed more hard-pressed to answer this question, as the occurrence was seemingly commonplace.

“Well, it's just like it sounds, Mi-young. It's a kind of party where a bunch of people get together, have a good time, and then all crash together to go to sleep. It's popular during birthdays, especially among teenagers,” D.O. explained matter-of-factly after a minute of thought, and Mi-young's eyes immediately lit up in elation. She hopped to her feet, standing up in front of the television to wave her arms excitedly.

“Ooh! Let's do one! Let's do one!” she shouted, bouncing up and down and pointing at the television screen in insistence.

“Mi-young, a slumber party is kinda pointless between people who all live together,” Kris laughed and waved a hand dismissively at her, and she immediately put on her best pair of puppy-dog eyes. She clasped her hands in front of her body and leaned over slightly, blinking repeatedly to accentuate her long lashes and wide, blue eyes.

“Pleeeeeeeease?” she whined loudly, beseeching the young idols to honor her request. “I wanna know what it's like!” she begged, and a ripple of unease spread across the idols. Hehehe! They’re breaking! “Come on. Don't you want me to have as much fun as I can while I’m here?” she pressed. That did it.

“A slumber party it is!” Chanyeol crowed as he hopped to his feet, and Mi-young squealed in delight and jumped up and down, clapping her hands. Her melancholy was all but forgotten at the notion of the fun, new experience. The boys all scrambled to their feet at Chanyeol's announcement, quite ready to appease the mermaid. Ooh! I’m so excited! She thought with glee.

“What first? What first?” she gasped as she looked at the gaggle of boys with a face pink with excitement.

“Um… Let's build a pillow fort!” Lay suggested, and though Mi-young had no idea what a pillow for would entail, she agreed heartily. The boys took off down the hall to retrieve every pillow and sheet that they owned, while Mi-young assisted Baekhyun in pulling up the couch cushions. Following his instructions, she helped him stack them like a crude doorway, and then they even dragged in the kitchen table to serve as another roofing for their massive fort of sheets and pillows. Mi-young giggled as Suho and Sehun hopped onto the skeleton of the couch to toss a sheet over her, and she squealed as she became wrapped in the thin fabric. She twirled in a circle, but only worsened her condition as she became hopelessly entangled in the sheet.

“Eeek! I’m trapped!” she cried with a laugh, her arms pinned to her sides from being wrapped up in the sheet. She heard someone laughing before stepping over, and as someone pulled the sheet from around her head, she popped her head through the gap and beamed. The smile faltered for a moment when she realized that it was Baekhyun who had disentangled her from the sheet. He seemed unperturbed as he smiled at her and pulled the thin blanket from her body, but the mermaid was acutely aware of the feeling of his hands moving over her, sending her nerves haywire. By the time she was free, she felt hot and breathless. “Thank you,” she huffed, trying to seem nonchalant. She failed at that endeavor when he reached up to gently brush a strand of her hair from her face.

“You are just a magnet for trouble,” he mused softly, and all she could do was stare at him mutely, unable to respond. Before anything else could occur between them, the rest of the boys stormed into the room, tossing the menagerie of sheets over the couch and table and television to make a tent-like structure. They lined the floor with plush blankets and pillows, too. When Baekhyun stepped away from her, Mi-young was too enthralled by the entire display to feel sad, and when she crawled inside the tent she flopped onto the plush blankets with a cry of delight. She hugged one of the pillows as the rest of the boys clambered inside, and it the ample space afforded plenty of room for the twelve idols and their mermaid companion.

“What now?” she asked as she sat up, clutching the pillow to her chest as she beamed at them.

“Why don't we watch a movie?” Tao offered.

“Ooh! Let's make popcorn!” Mi-young cried, recalling that it was the appropriate snack for a feature film, and she crawled out of the pillow fort to run into the kitchen and rifle through the pantry until she found the box of the salty snack. She pulled one of the packages out and attempted to pull off the plastic, but the thick bandage on her burned hand made her fumble clumsily with it. She gritted her teeth as she struggled with the package, and then gasped when the popcorn was abruptly pulled from her hands. immediately tightened uncomfortably. Baekhyun… she thought as he effortlessly opened the package and popped it into the microwave.

“You’re gonna need a lot more than one package for those gluttons,” he chuckled as he retrieved several more packages of popcorn from the pantry. How can he act like nothing happened? She thought miserably as he smiled at her, that same smile he always gave her. Had the kiss been less important for him? No, that can’t be it, she thought with a small sigh, but it could not be heard over the popping of the kernels in the paper bag of popcorn. He's just trying to make me feel better, she concluded. If anything, his attempt to disregard the situation just made her more upset than she would be. As he turned his back, she slapped her cheeks again. Cheer up, Mi-young! There's no use getting all depressed over something you can't help. Tonight it gonna be fun! She told herself firmly.

Once they had several steaming bowls of popcorn, they climbed back into the pillow fort to settle down and watch a movie. They all snuggled in tightly around the television, and Luhan selected an action film. Mi-young was entranced by the exceptionally violent movie, jumping every time there was an explosion or rapid peppering of gunshots. It was a riveting film, though she understood little of what was actually going on, but the mermaid was thoroughly entertained for the entire runtime of the film. The guys reacted similarly, their eyes glued to the screen as the shoveled popcorn into their mouths, and at the end of the film, Tao grinned and flopped down onto a pillow.

“Man! What a movie!” he exclaimed. “Can't get better than the classics!”

“What did you think, Mi-young?” Kai asked her as he lay on his belly, kicking his feet slowly back and forth as he regarded the pretty mermaid.

“It was very exciting!” she answered. “I’m not sure exactly what it was about, but the big booms were cool!” she exclaimed with a large grin, throwing her hands in the air. A chorus of laughter rang out among the group of boys.

“You’re too cute, you know? You’re amused by anything!” Suho laughed as he rolled onto his back, nudging her in the ribs with his toe. Mi-young squirmed and swatted at his foot at the tickling sensation. She screamed as he abruptly jerked up and began tickling her, causing the mermaid to writhe and laugh uncontrollably.

“No! No! Stop! Ahhhh!” she giggled as she managed to disentangled herself from him and crawled across the padded bottom of the tent to hide behind Sehun. “Sehun! Protect me!” she wailed as Suho wiggled his fingers threateningly at her, and Sehun snatched up a pillow and brandished it threateningly.

“I’ll defend you, my princess!” he howled and sprang across the small space to whack Suho in the face with the fluffy weapon. The boy cried out in alarm and fell roughly on his back from the blow. As Sehun stood triumphantly over him, Suho snatched up one of the pillows and hit his friend in the stomach, causing his aggressor to hastily back off. Suho immediately went on the counterattack, flinging the pillows at each other in a feverish fight. Mi-young jumped back with a laugh as they abandoned the pillows altogether and began wrestling on the floor.

“Look at them. All over a woman,” D.O. laughed as the two wrestled on the floor, but his eyebrows shot up his forehead as the pair abruptly ceased their squabble and whipped around to look at him.

“How dare you refer to Mi-young as just a woman!” Suho huffed and looked up at Sehun. “Truce?”

“Truce. Get him!” Sehun shrieked and grabbed his pillow to spring on the defenseless D.O. The boy screeched in alarm as he was pummeled by pillows.

“Get offa my man!” Kris yelled and leaped into the fray to aid his fallen comrade, whacking the pair of boys until they relinquished hold of D.O. “Chaaaaarge!” he crowed as his friend grabbed a weapon, and the two paid of boys sprang at one another. In their feverish battle, stray blows flesh everywhere. Chanyeol got hit in the head and immediately grabbed two pillows to get in on the pillow fight, only to be knocked aside and land in Xiumin's lap. He immediately knocked the shocked boy in the side of the head, and they began embroiled in a heated struggle. Kai and Tao began fighting as well, and one of them swung so hard that the pillow ripped and sent feathers flying through the air. Mi-young laughed in delight as the light, fluffy feathers rained down around her, then shrieked as she caught sight of Baekhyun with a mischievous smile on his face and a pillow in his hands.

“Noooooo!” she wailed and attempted to crawl out of the pillow fort, but her path was blocked by the squabbling boys. She began giggling as she was hit with the fluffy projectile, ducking down to cover head with one hand, while her other d around for a pillow to defend herself. She finally found one just as Baekhyun grabbed her to flip her onto her back, and she held it up to shield herself as he brought the pillow down on her. “No! Leave me alone!” she shrieked as she giggled uncontrollably, batting at him with her pillow in an attempt to fight him off. She squealed as he pulled the pillow from her hands and tossed it aside, leaving her defenseless. As she tried to take the pillow from him, he grabbed her by the wrists and pinned them to her sides, leaning down over her. They were both breathing hard from the exertion, their flashes flushed and smiles on their faces. Mi-young realized after a moment of staring up at him, she realized how close he was, and swallowed nervously.

“Oooooh! Look at the lovebirds!” Kai suddenly crowed crudely, and Baekhyun hurriedly released his grip on her hands and sat straight up, snatching up the pillow to throw it at Kai. That got the intense pillow fight going again, and Mi-young hastily rolled on her belly to wriggle out of the tent lest she be dragged back into the carnage. She sat outside the tent for a long while, smiling as she listened to the elated laughter and battle cries, until it gradually ceased. Once she had determined that the pillow fight had ceased, she lifted the sheet covering the entrance of the pillow fort and poked her head inside. She smiled softly.

The boys had apparently exhausted themselves and collapsed in various spots on the padded floor, and were all snoring softly. Feathers were strewn about as well as pillows, some still clutched in the boy's hands. They were still sweaty from exertion, but Mi-young crawled into the space nonetheless, eager to share in the experience. She picked her way through the spread-eagled bodies of the idols, not wanting to wake them as she crawled over arms and legs to find a suitable spot for her to curl up. When she reached a sizable open space in the fort, she grabbed one of the spare sheets and snuggled into it, curling up in the padded blankets with a smile. As she closed her eyes, preparing to sleep, then gasped as she felt someone abruptly roll over and press close to her, his arm draping over her middle.

Really, she should have expected it as her eyes shot open and she glanced up.

“Mi-young,” Baekhyun murmured, his eyes unfocused as he bordered between asleep and awake. Mi-young lay completely still as he tightened his grip around her, and the heat radiating from his chest pressed against her back didn’t compete with the heat rising inside of her. She gulped nervously as he brushed a few strands of hair from her face. “Did you have fun?” he asked her, his voice low so as not to wake his sleeping housemates.

“Very much,” she whispered back, and a sleepy smile spread across his face.

“Good,” he yawned, and she stiffened slightly as his hand moved up her stomach, and she was acutely aware of her nightgown shifting to expose much of her upper thighs. She prayed the sheet would be enough to protect her modesty as Baekhyun absently rubbed the fabric of her nightgown between his thumb and forefinger. “So… Are you going to tell me why you’ve been acting funny all day?” he mumbled in her ear, and she felt her blood run cold. He noticed…! “It wouldn’t have anything to do with what happened last night… Would it?” She swallowed slightly in guilt.

“I just… I don't understand how you can act like it never happened,” she whispered. She reached down to place her hands over his, squeezing them tightly. “I can't stop thinking about it… I know that what's between us could never be… But it doesn’t stop me from wanting it.” After her quite confession, Baekhyun sighed gently and buried his face into her long, black hair.

“I know. I feel the same way… I'm just a better actor,” he mused quietly, but she could feel the longing in his voice that mirrored hers. “Even if I act like it never happened, believe this… I’ll never forget,” he whispered. That was enough to ease the young mermaid, and she pressed back against him, squeezing her eyes shut as she savored every moment of being held by the man she loved most in the world.

The man she could never have.