“For the last time, I only went in there because she got shampoo in her eyes!” Baekhyun groaned as he leaned his head back against the couch. Once he and Chanyeol had hastily vacated the bathroom, they had stumbled right into the mob of their housemates, who had been attracted by the mermaid’s pained cries. Somehow, he and his best friend had managed to calm them down enough to keep them from storming into the bathroom themselves, but they were still holding a grudge. “I didn’t see anything! Chanyeol is the one who just barged in!”

“It was an accident!” the aforementioned boy whined in his own defense, pouting under the intense interrogation.

“Mhmm,” D.O. tutted doubtfully, shaking a finger at the pair of boys like a mother scolding her young children. “Mi-young was probably perfectly capable of getting it out of her eyes, and you shouldn’t have left the door unlocked, Baekhyun. I think this is an elaborate plot to catch a glimpse of an innocent girl who doesn’t know any better. Shame on you.” A murmur of agreement passed through the group, and Baekhyun threw up his arms in exasperation.

“No! She wasn’t! She has severe amnesia! She didn’t even know what a shampoo bottle looked like, let alone how to use one!” Baekhyun persisted as he crossed his arms with an angry huff. “I left the door unlocked in case something like that happened!” A muffled mutter went across the group of boys as they deliberated on the new evidence, and after a minute, Xiumin shrugged.

“He does have a point,” he relented. Baekhyun sighed in relief, glad that the ordeal was over for him, and stood up from the couch. As Chanyeol went to stand, however, Suho and Sehun sprang on him.

“Oh, no, you’re not going anywhere. You’re still guilty!” Sehun beamed, and Chanyeol yelped as Suho put him in a headlock and began ruffling his hair roughly.

“Baekhyun! Help!” he wailed as he disappeared under the mob of boys, and Baekhyun quickly clasped his hands together in a prayer for his fallen comrade.

“You’re on your own, bud. I’m going to check on Mi-young!” he called with a slight smirk, and only got a pained squeal in response. Though their excessiveness was a bit annoying at times, he was glad that his housemates had bonded so quickly to the mermaid, as it made it much, much easier to keep her around. He stopped by his bedroom to retrieve the outfit that he had picked out for her, then walked across the hall to knock on the bathroom door. “Mi-young? Are you done? I have some clothes for you,” he called. He heard a loud splash as the mermaid flopped herself out of the tub and onto the bathroom floor, and a few cries as she attempted to stand up on the slippery floor. I guess I have to clean that up, he thought. When he heard her footsteps approaching, he hastily added, “Wrap a towel around yourself, okay?” There was a pause, and then the footsteps resumed. Finally, the door popped open to reveal Mi-young, her black hair hanging in dripping wet, limp strands and her bright blue eyes sparkling up at him.

“Thank you!” she cried as she plucked the clothes out of his hands and closed the door behind her. At least she’s finally gotten a sense of privacy, he thought, leaning against the hallway wall as he waited patiently for her to finish. “Okay! I’m dressed!” she called, and Baekhyun carefully entered the bathroom, treading lightly to avoid slipping. He grabbed a few towels and laid them out on the floor, mopping up the spilled water with his feet. “I’m sorry that I made such a mess,” Mi-young blushed sheepishly, and he merely shrugged in response.

“It’s fine. I kind of expected it,” he admitted and glanced up at her. A blush immediately rose to his cheeks. She looked impossibly cute, standing there in a simple button-up top and a pair of short shorts, twirling her wet hair around her finger while she watched him work. He coughed uncomfortably and tossed the wet towels into the corner before dipping his hand into the lukewarm tub water to pull the plug. “Ahem. Now, let’s get that hair brushed, hmm?” he smiled weakly, walking over to gently grab her by the shoulders and turn her around to face the mirror. As he did so, the scent of her hair wafted up, and he almost fainted. God, she smells good, he thought, then shook his head to clear away the lecherous thoughts that were creeping into his mind. Focus! He scolded himself as he plucked a brush from the medicine cabinet and began drawing in through her long, thick hair. She immediately jumped and wrenched away.

“Ow! That hurts!” she whined, pouting at him through the mirror.

“I’m sorry. I’ve never brushed a girl’s hair before,” he sighed, applying the brush more gently this time. She wriggled around a bit and occasionally voiced more opposition, but she remained obediently in place until he was finished. Running a hand through her now-smooth hair, she nodded in approval. She then plucked Chanyeol’s discarded toothbrush from the floor, looking at it in wonder.

“Chanyeol was using this strange thing. What is it?” she inquired.

“It’s a toothbrush. You use it to clean your teeth,” he answered as he slid it out of her fingers and placed it in the small cup overflowing with the rest of his housemates’ toothbrushes. He squatted down to open the cabinet beneath the sink, Mi-young hair falling in his face as she leaned down to see what he was doing, and retrieved an unopened toothbrush from the wooden cabinet. He ripped the plastic open and handed her the brush, smiling. “This one is yours.”

“How do I use it?” she asked as he tossed the empty plastic case in the trash. He grabbed a bottle of toothpaste and gestured for her to hold out the brush, then squeezed a small amount of the thick paste onto the bristles.

“Now, like this,” he instructed as he gently took her hand and guided it up to . He moved it back and forth in a brushing motion until she seemed to get the hang of it, and then let go. She smiled slightly after a minute, enjoying the sensation of the foamy bubbles between her teeth, before flipping on the water and rinsing out .

“It tastes so minty!” she cried, beaming up at him with clean white teeth. He laughed and added her brush to the cup before steering her out of the bathroom. When they arrived to the living room, Chanyeol was sitting glumly on the floor with his hands handcuffed with a pair of Xiumin’s magic cuffs and a dunce cap on his head, while the rest of the boys were piled around the television watching some morning cartoons. Mi-young beelined for the strange machine, plopping down right between Lay and Chen as she stared hard at the contraption.

“Ah, did you enjoy your bath, Mi-young?” Lay asked quietly. She nodded robotically in response, too absorbed by the colorful figures racing back and forth across the screen.

“What is it?” she whispered, pointing at the screen.

“That?” Chen asked. “It’s a television, Mi-young.”

“Why are those tiny animals chasing each other? Why are they trapped in that box?” she asked, looking between the two boys in confusion. The frowned, pondering for a moment how to answer the clueless girl.

“They aren’t real, Mi-young,” Lay attempted to explain. “They’re just drawings.”

“Drawings can’t move!” she cried. Chen got up for a moment to scrounge for a notepad and pencil, and then returned to scribble on a few of the pads. While Mi-young peered curiously over his shoulder, he began flipping the pages very fast, making the doodles of a ball he had drawn seem to bounce.

“If you draw a bunch of closely related drawings in a sequence and then do this, it makes them move,” he explained simply. The mermaid nodded in understanding, then turned back to the television when an advertisement came on.

“Look there! Those are real people!” she cried, pointing emphatically at the television. Once again, the pair of boys were stumped as they attempted to explain the innerworkings of film and television to the girl.

“Mi-young, come here,” Kris suddenly called from his perch on the floor, and the mermaid obediently crawled down to his spot. He had a strange device out, like a miniature television, and he gestured for her to sit next to him. “Those people are recorded doing what they’re doing, and then played back.”

“Recorded?” she frowned.

“Think of it like capturing the moment so it can be viewed over and over again,” he explained, fiddling with the strange device until the screen suddenly turned clear, allowing Mi-young to see what was beyond the device. Kris held up the device so that Chanyeol was captured in the screen. He pressed a button on the screen, making it turn red, and asked, “Now, Chanyeol, are you sorry for what you did?” he asked.

“I didn’t do anything!” the redhead whined, attempting to wriggle free of the handcuffs.

“Then you’ll stay in time-out,” Kris mused and pressed the button once more. “Now, the recording is saved, and we can watch it,” he explained, pressing another button. To Mi-young’s amazement, the scene that she had just witnessed was played back in the tiny television. “The television is a receiver for these recordings far, far away, so a lot of people can see them at one time. Get it?”

“Yes, I think I do!” she cried, looking at the television with new understanding. Humans are amazing! They can create such wonderful things! “Thank you, Kris! You’re so smart,” she praised, and the boy blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck. Suddenly, she caught a whiff of a delicious smell, and she climbed back onto the couch to peek over the back. While the boys had been explanation the television to her, Baekhyun had wandered into the kitchen to make himself a quick bite to eat, having gotten impossibly hungry after dealing with the near-fiasco that morning. She hopped off of the couch and followed the delicious smell, right up to where Baekhyun was standing over another strange machine.

“Hungry already?” he mused as he stirred a pot of a strange, creamy substance. She nodded absently and poked at the strange machine, jumping when Baekhyun suddenly grabbed her wrist. “Be careful, Mi-young. This is called a stove, and it gets very, very hot; if you touch the top, it might burn you,” he warned.

“Humans use this to heat up their food?” she asked as she timidly removed her hand from the vicinity of the machine, and Baekhyun nodded and stirred the pot once more. “What are you making?” she inquired.

“It’s called mac n’ cheese,” he answered as he reached up to a cabinet above the heating machine to grab a pair of small bowls. He flipped a few dials on the stove, and she felt the heat begin to dissipate. Her blue eyes followed his movements as he spooned a scoop of the thick food into a bowl and held it out for her, accompanied by a strange utensil with a three-pronged end.

“It looks like a mini trident!” she laughed, admiring the cute thing. She watched as Baekhyun began to eat with it, and hastily copied his actions. She immediately sighed with happiness, savoring the rich flavor of the strange mix of sauce and spongy curved shapes. “This is delicious,” she beamed as she began eating more rapidly.

“Glad you like it,” he smiled warmly, then pursed his lips when he spotted the gaggle of boys, even Chanyeol in his dunce cap, staring daggers at him as they peered around the edge of the kitchen wall. “What? What can I possibly be doing wrong?” he complained, pointing the cheese-covered spoon at the boys accusingly. After staring at it strongly for a moment, Mi-young plucked it out of his hand and began the sauce off of the end. While his housemates proceeded to die from the cuteness overload, Baekhyun rolled his eyes and cleaned up his mess, muttering under his breath at the ridiculousness of his friends. After they had recovered, Kai suddenly hopped into the kitchen.

“Well, Baekhyun, we were just discussing what a shame it was that a beautiful girl like Mi-young is dressed in such rags,” he announced. Mi-young looked down at herself, blinking as she surveyed the clothes.

“I like them. Baekhyun got them for me,” she frowned. Kai sidled up at her with a magnanimous sigh, sliding his arms around her shoulders.

“My dear, it’s because you don’t know any better. Baekhyun knows next to nothing about women, let alone women’s fashion,” he tutted, and Baekhyun frowned disapprovingly at him. “I mean, what he got you isn’t bad; it’s just that it doesn’t accent your beauty enough! You deserve to be adorned in pearls and diamonds!”

“Kai, I don’t have money for pearls and diamonds,” Baekhyun muttered.

“Well, the least you can do is take her to the mall,” Kai sighed, then beamed. “Yes, that’s it! We’ll take a trip to the mall and buy new clothes for you! How does that sound, Mi-young?” he asked, looking down excitedly at the girl. She nodded eagerly.

“That sounds fantastic!” she cried happily. “What is a mall?” she then inquired as she continued to the spoon.

“It’s a collection of shops where you can buy all sorts of things,” Kai explained, taking the spoon from her and tossing it in the sink. “There, we’ll get you all dolled up, and any man who comes near you will be bowing at your feet!” Mi-young frowned slightly, not sure that she fancied the idea of a horde of human men bowing at her feet, but Kai had seemingly made up his mind. The boys took off to get ready to leave, all chatting excitedly about their upcoming adventure at the mall, and Mi-young turned to look at Baekhyun happily.

“Don’t look so mopey, Baekhyun! This is going to be so much fun!” she beamed as she took both his hands in hers and jumped up and down a little. “Oh, I can see all the kinds of things that humans make and enjoy!” she continued, her eyes sparkling as visions of strange inventions danced before her eyes. Baekhyun could not resist a smile from forming on his lips, as the mermaid’s happiness was infectious. Though, he did have his misgivings; if anything were to happen to somehow give Mi-young away, there would be countless witnesses, and that unnerved him greatly. I’ll have to keep a very close eye on her, he decided as Mi-young pulled him out of the kitchen and into the living room. Kai hovered around Mi-young, listing off countless clothing items that he wanted to try, and all Baekhyun could do was sigh.

Well, there goes my next paycheck.