“Good morning, Baekhyun!” called a cheerful voice from the hall, and Baekhyun turned to see Mi-young standing happily in the hallway, with her face scrunched up as she stretched her arms high above her head. When she was finished, her bright blue eyes opened to fall on him, and she smiled brightly. “Did you sleep well? I was a little scared of the thunder at first, but after a while it was actually quite soothing! It was magnificent to see a thunderstorm up close. On the sea, it’s quite dangerous with all the lightning strikes and really big waves,” she chattered as she walked across the living room floor to sit beside him on the couch. She then frowned, instantly noticing the bags underneath his eyes. “Oh, Baekhyun, you look tired,” she fretted.

“I’m all right, Mi-young,” he smiled in return, trying not to blush as he recounted the vivid dream from the night before. “The rain kept me up for a good while, but I can manage.” He reached up to pat the girl reassuringly on the head before standing up and folding his blanket, setting it neatly on the back of the couch. Noises came from the hall as the rest of the house’s occupants stirred and exited their rooms to follow their morning routines of fighting over the bathroom and wandering into the kitchen for breakfast. None of them made it very far, however, once they caught sight of the mermaid.

“Oh, Mi-young, I’m so glad that you’re still here!” Kai sighed happily as he hugged her from behind the couch. “I was afraid that it had all been a dream!”

“If you want to talk about dreams, let me tell you about the one I had last night,” Tao snickered from the hallway with a wink at Mi-young. While a confused look fell over the mermaid’s expression, Baekhyun felt an intense rage flare up in his belly, and for once he was grateful that D.O. appeared to slap Tao in the back of the head.

“Not in front of the lady!” he snapped while Tao slunk off into the kitchen, rubbing his head tenderly. Baekhyun then blushed, for he was no better; he had certainly dreamed of the mermaid the night before, and if his alarm hadn’t gone off at that moment, he wasn’t sure where it could have led.

“I’m glad I’m still here, too. It’s fun being around all of you!” Mi-young giggled happily, leaving the boys swooning. Baekhyun rolled his eyes at their ridiculous behavior and walked into the kitchen to fix himself some breakfast; curious as to what he was doing, Mi-young followed after him, peering around him as he prepared himself some toast to eat. He couldn’t stop the smile from forming on his lips as she tottered after him, wide blue eyes taking in his every action. Her endless wonder was undeniably cute, like that of a puppy desperate to be around its new owner every waking moment.

“Mi-young, are you hungry?” he asked when he had finished, holding out the plate to her. Anticipating her answer, he had prepared some for her as well; she nodded gratefully and took a piece of the toasted bread in her hands, looking at it for a moment before sinking her teeth into the food. Lacking all coordination, she smeared butter all over her cheeks and hands.

“It’s messy,” she commented as Baekhyun ripped a paper towel off the roll on the counter and cleaned her face.

“Yes, very,” he laughed in response, and the two continued to chat idly as they finished off their breakfast, assaulted by jealous stares from the other boys all the while. Baekhyun was just thankful that she had seemingly forgotten about “the birds and the bees.”

After the pair had finished their breakfast, Mi-young ran her hand through her hair and instantly frowned as her hand refused to come away easily, her fingers caught in the knots of her hair despite the greasy feeling of the strands. She also was becoming aware of how dirty she felt, uncomfortable with the grains of sand still stuck to her skin and the overall lack of cleanliness. Noticing her mild distress, Baekhyun chuckled and steered her out of the kitchen and back down the hallway. “I suppose it’s time you get a bath, huh?” he mused.

“A bath?” she echoed, looking up at him. Naturally, the rest of the household followed, hoping to catch a glance of a positively Mi-young. Baekhyun promptly sent them packing with a few choice words, mumbling under his breath as he brought the clueless mermaid into the hallway bathroom and shut the door behind him. While spying on an innocent girl was bad enough, he was extremely worried that one of his housemates would discover Mi-young’s secret. She seemed entirely unperturbed, however, as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror, entranced by its properties. She jumped when Baekhyun began running the bathwater, and wandered over to the clean white bathtub to watch it fill up.

“All right, Mi-young, listen carefully,” he instructed once he had switched the faucets off. “This is soap,” he started, holding up a white bar of soap for emphasis. “You use it to clean yourself off with. This is shampoo, and this is conditioner,” he continued, holding up both of the large bottles for her to see. “These, you use in your hair, one after the other. Be very careful. If you get any of these in your eyes, it will be very painful.” Mi-young nodded along with his explanation, absorbing every word.

“You won’t stay in here with me? What if I accidentally get these strange liquids in my eyes?” she fretted as Baekhyun went to walk out of the small bathroom. He blushed profusely, struggling to explain the situation to the mermaid.

“Mi-young, I can’t be in here with you. You know, when people take baths, they don’t wear clothes, and it’s… It’s just inappropriate for me, as a guy, to be in here with you when you have on no clothes, okay?” he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Disappointed, Mi-young frowned, but she nodded obediently. “Now, I’m going to leave this door unlocked. If you need anything, just yell for me, all right?” he added before exiting the small room. Mi-young looked uneasily at the slightly steaming water before clapping her hands determinedly and wrenching off the nightgown and her underwear and stepping into the water.

She gasped as her legs immediately morphed back into her giant mermaid tail, causing her to slip and fall into the water with a crash. Water surged over the side, spilling over the tile floor and leaving her with very little bathwater left. She frowned guiltily, having forgotten what would happen when she stepped into the water, and glanced at the door. It’s inappropriate, Baekhyun’s words echoed in her mind, and so she resisted the urge to call him in and turned instead to look at the strange knobs. She reached forward, hesitantly turning the middle one, and frowned in confusion when nothing happened. She turned the one on the left and cried out as the large faucet-like contraption anchored in the wall above her head suddenly sprang to life, dousing her with a rain of sprinkling water that added to the flood already creeping across the bathroom floor. She hurriedly turned off both the knobs, staring intensely at the puzzle before her. She turned the left knob again, smiling when the water came from the faucet and landed neatly in the tub. Heat began spreading through the water, and before she realized it the water began to burn. She hastily turned the last knob on the right, and the heat lessened into a comfortable warmth. She sighed heavily and sank down into the water, enjoying the gentle heat and proud of her own cleverness.

When the water was high enough, she turned off the knobs and turned back to the task at hand. She took the bar of soap, turning it over in her hands and gasping when bubbles began to form on her skin. After she had gotten a rich lather she happily ran it over herself, covering herself in the silky bubbles. She tried washing her tail with the bar, but her scales dug into the wax and ripped away chunks of the soap, much to her disappointment. She dunked herself under the water to clean herself off before popping her head back above the surface and turning her attention to the pair of bottles. She took the one labeled “shampoo,” staring at it with confusion as she pondered how to open it. Her fingers found the indention on the top, and to her delight she discovered that the top could be flipped open. She tipped the bottle upside-down on her head, squeezing a large amount of the substance into her hair. She shivered, as it was quite cold, and returned the bottle to its resting place. Humming happily, the smeared the viscous liquid throughout her black hair, creating thick bubbles that reminded her of seafoam. The shampoo had a delightful smell, like the ocean breeze on the coastline, that made her think of her home.

The mermaid jumped as the door suddenly burst open and Chanyeol waltzed into the bathroom, taking no notice of the startled mermaid as he stood at the sink and went about his business. The mermaid made no sound, hoping that the boy would fail to notice her altogether and complete his business and leave her in peace. She watched with mild wonder as he took a small stick-like object, brightly colored with bristle attachments on the end, and squeezed a white paste out of a tube onto the end. He then busied himself smearing the paste all over his teeth, humming a catchy tune all the while. Mi-young sunk down into the water as his gaze traveled the mirror, but unfortunately, she could not prevent him from catching sight of her reflection. He made a choking sound and whipped around, gripping the sink tightly as the strange stick fell from his mouth.

“Mi-young!” he cried, his voice thick with the strange bubbly paste. He suddenly spat the paste out in the sink and flushed out his mouth before turning to address the girl. This time, his eyes fell on her brilliant mermaid tail, glistening with water and so large that it hung over the back of the tub. As Mi-young looked on nervously, his mouth open and shut a few times, struggling to process what he was seeing. Because she was so shocked by the sudden appearance of the boy, Mi-young had neglected to pay attention to the thick lather of shampoo still in her hair, and had allowed it to run down her forehead. As soon as the thick bubbles reached her eyes, she let out a shill scream as pain blossomed beneath her eyelids, and her hands slapped over her eyes in an attempt to appease it. However, the soapy substance had done its damage, and she wailed in agony as the stinging continued.

While Mi-young had been bathing herself, Baekhyun had walked to his room across the hall to get Mi-young an outfit for the day. That didn’t take him much time at all, and afterward he had simply paced his room with his hands clasped behind his back, and stared uninterested into the large fish tank, and flopped onto his bed to gaze at the ceiling. It was actually quite boring without the mermaid around, even for that short period of time; though she had been in his life for only a day, he had already become accustomed to her presence and the endless shenanigans that came with it. While he pondered the strange notion, he was alarmed to hear Mi-young erupt into screaming across the hall. He leaped off the bed and barged into the bathroom, slipping on the large pool of water that had accumulated on the floor. He landed roughly on his back, and while he groaned, he hurriedly closed the door and locked it so no one else could come in. Immediately he heard shouting from behind the door as the other boys came to investigate, knocking loudly and demanding to be let in.

“Baekhyun! It burns!” Mi-young wailed in the bathtub, while Chanyeol crouched down beside her and was attempted to soothe the screeching girl. Baekhyun crawled across the bathroom floor, soaking wet, after snatching a cup from the cabinet underneath the sink.

“Mi-young, listen to me,” he said soothingly. The girl managed to stifle her screams, sniffling as tears leaked out from underneath her hands. Baekhyun pulled them away, revealing her soap-covered eyes, squeezed shut. “Tilt your head back,” he instructed, and the mermaid did as he said, whimpering. He flipped on the cold water and filled up the cup, slowly pouring the liquid into her eyes to flush out the soap. He did several rounds of this, holding the mermaid’s hand all the while. Mi-young sniffled as the stinging sensation ebbed away, numbed by the coldness of the water, to the point that she could finally open her eyes. She blinked a few times before Baekhyun placed a damp rag on her head, washing the rest of the shampoo from her hair and using the rag to absorb the backsplash.

“I’m sorry. I tried to do it myself, but Chanyeol surprised me,” she sniffled sadly, disappointed that she had been unable to manage the task without Baekhyun’s help.

“Well, I’m sorry, how else am I supposed to react to a mer-“ Before the red-haired boy could finish, Baekhyun hastily slapped a hand over his mouth, afraid that the others would overhear.

“Quiet! Do you want the whole house to know?” he snapped.

“You knew?” Chanyeol hissed when his friend dropped his hand, and stared accusingly at him.

“Of course I knew! That whole story about her hitting her head was a lie! I found her in the tide pools and was going to put her back where she belongs, but you just happened to show up, so I made up a story! When I left last night, we were going to the beach, but the fishing boats were already out! I had no choice but to bring her back here,” Baekhyun explained quietly.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. I’m your best friend,” Chanyeol mumbled.

“I don’t want it getting out! If there’s just one slip-up, then bam!- Mi-young ends up in a zoo! You wouldn’t want that, would you?” Baekhyun sighed.

“No,” the other boy admitted after a minute, looking at Mi-young sadly, as if he were imagining her displayed in a glass tank.

“Promise that you’ll keep it a secret. No one else can know,” Baekhyun told him firmly. Chanyeol nodded obediently.

“Um, now that this is all settled, can I finish my bath?” Mi-young asked politely. The two boys whipped around to look at her with red faces, as they had completely forgotten that Mi-young was completely . Spluttering nonsense, they scrambled over each other in an effort to reach the door, slipping and sliding in the water. As they finally reached the exit and slammed the door shut behind them, Mi-young giggled and grabbed the bottle of conditioner.

It's so fun being in the human world, she thought giddily. Meanwhile, poor Chanyeol and Baekhyun had to face the clamoring mob of angry boys outside.