SUMMARY:

Hyunjin dreamed of owning a bed and breakfast, so he turned his inherited house into one. Nothing's working the way he planned and he's afraid it'll fail before it starts. His friends Chan an Felix are arriving today, his first guests, one who's suffering from empty nest syndrome and needs this to work as much as he does. Their happiness comes first, so he dives headfirst into making them happy. Will his efforts pay off or will his dream of running the Undine Bed and Breakfast flop before it's begun?

31 Days Of Halloween (Stray Kids):  October 2023
Story Twenty-Nine:
Undine Bed and Breakfast

-

  Hyunjin took a calming breath.
  There were leaky faucets, the other half of the food hadn't arrived yet, the A.C. was spotty at best and the repairmen kept rescheduling.  He suspected it was because they were afraid to work in a Bed and Breakfast underwater.  It wasn't like the inside was filled with water-
  "Whatever," he said, gesturing as he cut his mental rambling irritation off.  "Progress not perfection.  My first clients- customers- whatever... are my friends.  I've explained the situation.  They'll understand.  It's fine.  It'll all be fine."

-

  It wasn't going to all be fine.  A week and a half later, the only thing solved was the other half of the food had arrived.  Not to mention, one of his friends, Felix, an evolutionized sentient plant-human hybrid was suffering from empty nest syndrome.
  A.K.A.:  He was crying a lot and needed an abundance of affection and distractions to get him through the grieving process.  No one had died, but his child, as their kind did, had reached maturity at three and had flown off into space to start his own life.

-

  "It's too soon," Felix tearily when he greeted him on land at the loading dock.  "It seems like just yesterday his spawn spores left my body and formed his physical being right in front of me.  He was my little baby."  His voice cracked at "little".  A fresh wave of tears came and Chan, his partner, Hyunjin's other friend hugged him through it.
  "It's too soon."  His voice was muffled in his shirt.
  "I know, sweety.  I know."

-

  The submarine docked a ten-minute swim from the Bed and Breakfast.  Everyone here had to be Dive Certified, for safety reasons.  As they put their gear on, Hyunjin removed his shoes and let the webbing form between his toes and fingers.  It was an advantage he had because he was an Undine (an underwater species-human hybrid and a descendant of an actual water sprite).
  When they submerged, his gills opened on the sides of his neck and gasped their thanks.  He may be able to walk on land and had made and retired from a modeling career there, but he was meant to be in the water.

-

  The first night Felix napped in the Day Room with the light off and the fireplace on.
  Chan had offered Hyunjin "the good stuff-"  Code for his favorite type of expensive alcohol.  He was sensitive to alcohol and it easily dehydrated him, so he limited himself to sipping a shot... slowly.
  They sat at the tiny wet bar behind the couch Felix was napping on.
  Chan took a shot and breathed out like it had been spicy.
  Hyunjin giggled.  "Why do you drink that if it hurts going down?"
  "It burns so good."
  He snorted.  "So... do you want to talk about it?"
  He made a deprecating sound.  "He's really broken up about it.  I thought about proposing the idea of adopting a human child, so he'd have the usual eighteen years to raise and spoil them.  Before they too inevitably leave the nest.  Did you know it takes a hundred years to be able to collect enough nutrients and energy to Spawn a child like him?" 
  "A- A- A... hundred?  Felix is a hundred years old?"
  "Older.  He's almost two hundred.  Like I said.  It takes that long just to make the way to Spawn at all.  He first had to grow up and mature to the point of wanting one.  Then they matured and left after three years."
  "Geez.  I'll help in any way I can."
  Chan put his shot glass down.  "He needs hobbies.  A hobby?  Something.  Lots of somethings."  He fake cried.  "I just want him to be happy again."
  The wood in the fireplace popped.
  "I have this virtual goggle thing that has different activities in it.  It was a gift from... an ex."  He felt his cheeks heating up and looked at the carpet.
  Chan made a bemused mixed with a bashful noise.  "Now I'm curious."
  "I mean-," he said quickly.  "-there's a few... kink things, but nothing ual.  And actual games.  Game games and like virtual activities like gardening and escape rooms.  Other things.  I have a user's manual for it and it can be added to and edited to your preferences."

-

   Chan smiled at the crumbs on Felix's mouth as he read the user's manual.  He'd eaten toast for breakfast.  "You're so cute."
  He did a doubletake.  "What?"
  "You look so small and cute in my sweater and you have crumbs on your mouth, and you're just so cute.  I love you."  He glomped him.
  Felix giggled and said, "Did you know they have age regression activities in virtual goggles?  It says they have a playroom setting and you can order the actual things to get the texture... like the paci's?"
  "I... did not know that."
  "Me either.  This thing is extensive.  It's going to take me forever to decide what I want to do."

-

  "Hyunjinnie, help me."
  Hyunjin looked up from organizing the magazine rack and huffed at how adorable Felix looked.  The virtual goggles swallowed his head and he was flailing a hand over the sensor sticks for the terrarium game.  "What's up?"
  "I think the settings are messed up 'cuz I can't grab the algae stuff.  I'm making a ghostie underwater hotel."
  "That sounds so freaking cute," he mumbled.
  "Huh?"
  "I mean... let me check the battery.  It might need the cord plugged in.  "He went to him and yep the light was yellow instead of blue.  "You can still play while it charges.  I'm connecting it to a charging bank, so no electricity.
  "Smart.  Thank you, Hyunjinnie.  That's so nice."
  His brow creased because he thought he heard sniffles.  Uh oh.

-

  "I'm just glad you had actual paci's," Chan said.  Felix had cried himself to sleep
 and needed the mouth sensory comfort.
  "I remember he uses them so I bought some just in case."
  He patted his arm.  "if you get to know your renters like this your Bed and Breakfast is going to take off."
  He groaned.  "I still can't get the repairmen here, so I don't know about that, but thank you though."
  He considered him for a few seconds.  "I know some people.  They work as a group and they're good at their job."
  "I'll take all the help I can get.  Are they afraid to go to an underwater Bed and Breakfast?"

-

  "You look great," Hyunjin said to Felix four months later, when they came for their second visit.
  "Thank you.  My baby came to visit... a lot.  He wasn't as ready for the big bad world as fast as he thought he was and..."  His whole face lit up.  "Channie proposed.  We're getting married, and we've picked a surrogate to have a non-spawn baby.  I can't wait.  I'm so excited.  Now we just have to choose the genes for them."
  "Is that what this visit is all about?"
  "Besides visiting you, silly."  He smacked his chest which made him giggle.
  Everything worked out better than expected and in a few days, a new group would be filming for their YouTube channel there.  Word was bound to get out and his Bed and Breakfast would start booming.

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Demitria_Teague (Author ;)

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