Dongwoo had managed to acquire security tapes from one of the biggest clubs in the area, while the other three were at the mall.

“How’d he even get these?” Sunggyu asked.

“Its probably better that we don’t know.” Sungjong told him, as the four of them were preparing for the mission.

“One of us should stay and review the tapes to see if they can spot anything suspicious.” Woohyun suggested.

“Yeah.” Sunggyu agreed. “I also think we should have someone wait out at the beach to see if the mermaid appears there.”

“I’ll do beach patrol.” Dongwoo offered.

“Ok then Sunggyu hyung can stay here and review the tapes.” Woohyun said.

Sunggyu turned to Woohyun and frowned. “No, I’m coming with you.”

“But hyung—.”

“Besides why did I just waste all that money on these clothes if I’m not going to use them?” Sunggyu pointed out. “Sungjong can stay and review the tapes.”

“What? Aw seriously?” Sungjong pouted, clearly disappointed about not getting to go clubbing.

♦♦♦

Sunggyu watched Woohyun almost immediately charm a table full of girls, who were reduced to giggling, flirty, messes. They had just entered one of the most popular bars near Atargatis Beach, and Woohyun had immediately got to work. This didn’t surprise Sunggyu who had experienced Woohyun’s greasy side before first hand.

Sunggyu, unlike Woohyun, decided to take a subtle approach, and hung out by the bar, scoping out the scene. He noticed the bartender glance at him.

“Hey…” Sunggyu greeted him.

“Hey yourself.” The bartender, a twenty something with wavy brown hair, smiled, charmingly at Sunggyu.

“Did you happen to see a girl and a guy who seemed to be really into each other?”

The bartender chuckled. “Yeah I see that a lot actually.”

“Oh right…” Sunggyu nodded dumbly as the bartender turned away to serve another customer. Sunggyu sighed to himself, deep in thought, when he noticed someone sit beside him.

It was a girl, about his age with long blonde hair and a blue low cut top. Sunggyu tried his best to subtly check the back of her neck for a tattoo, but the blonde noticed him looking and stared at him. He quickly looked away, trying not to come off as a creep.

“Hey…you.” She said. Sunggyu turned to face her.

“Who me?”

“If you’re interested, just say so.” She grinned. “Or at least don’t be so obvious.”

“Oh…” Sunggyu nodded with a slight smile. “Right, sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She leaned forward, in a flirtatious manner, when suddenly Woohyun came up behind them and squeezed himself between them.

“Hi hyung.” He grinned at Sunggyu, then turned to the girl and his smile faded slightly, “Oh hi. Who’re you?”

The girl smiled awkwardly. “Uh actually your friend and I were in the middle of something...” She told Woohyun, and tried to look past him at Sunggyu.

“With hyung?” Woohyun put an arm around Sunggyu, then turned back to the girl. “What were you in the middle of?”

“Woohyun we were just talking.” Sunggyu sighed and removed Woohyun’s arm from his shoulder. “So why don’t you go and talk to those girls over there?” Sunggyu gave Woohyun a threatening look with his eyes.

“But I don’t want to. I want to talk with hyung~” Woohyun smiled at Sunggyu, and the blonde just sat there, feeling very much like she was being ignored.

Sunggyu leaned in and whispered into Woohyun’s ear, “Are you really doing this right now Woohyun? We’re on a mission.”

“I know hyung, but it’s bothering me.” Woohyun whispered back.

Sunggyu was going to ask what he meant when he noticed the blonde getting up to leave.

“Wait where’re you going?” He asked.

“Well it seems like I’m getting in the way of the two of you so—.”

“Ok bye!” Woohyun turned towards the bartender to order a drink, already erasing the blonde girl from his life.

“No wait!” Sunggyu stopped her. “I’ll be right back ok? Just wait here. Please?”

She frowned. “Fine…fifteen minutes.” Sunggyu nodded gratefully and dragged Woohyun to a less crowded little pocket of the bar.

“What’re you doing?” He asked. Woohyun just blinked at him, implying he couldn’t hear him over the chattering of people and blasting music. Sunggyu groaned and leaned in to Woohyun’s ear and repeated his question. He looked at Woohyun, waiting for an answer, but Woohyun just gazed into his eyes. “Woohyun!” He leaned in and shouted. “Can you hear—?”

He was cut off when Woohyun grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer.

“Hyung…” Sunggyu could feel Woohyun’s breath on his lips.

Sunggyu noticed the needy look in Woohyun’s eyes. “W-what are you doing?” He blushed and averted his eyes.

“Look at me hyung.”

“N-No!” Sunggyu shoved him away, but Woohyun grabbed onto him pressing him against the wall. “C-cut it out Woohyun! We have a mission to—.”

“I know hyung.” Woohyun said, his lips on Sunggyu’s ear, “But I hate it…hyung belongs to me. No one else is allowed to look at you like that…”

Sunggyu met Woohyun’s gaze. “…L-like what?” Woohyun just gave him a hurt look. Sunggyu sighed as Woohyun backed off slightly. “Look its just for the mission…so can you hold on until this is over?” Woohyun looked down and pouted. “I don’t care about that girl ok? Or any other person here…” Sunggyu blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “E-Except you…ok?” Woohyun looked up with wide eyes.

“H-Hyung!” Woohyun blushed, “R-really?”

“Y-yeah whatever now get back to work!” Sunggyu commanded and left Woohyun standing there. “I can’t believe I told him that…” Sunggyu thought to himself, too embarrassed to look back at Woohyun. “Why did I even say that? And shouldn’t I be telling him that I don’t belong to him?!”

When he got back to the bar, the blonde girl was gone. “Damn it…” He cursed.

Sunggyu and Woohyun spent the rest of the night, attempting to find the mermaid with the blue tattoo on the back of her neck with no success.

The bar closed down, with the sun going to rise soon.

They had failed.

“This is all my fault.” Woohyun sighed. “If I hadn’t…”

“Its ok.” Sunggyu patted him on the back, as they walked back to the hotel, exhausted. “Maybe Sungjong or Dongwoo found something.”

“Hyung…”

“Hm?”

“Did you really mean what you said in there?” Woohyun asked. “That you didn’t care about anyone else in the bar except for me?”

Sunggyu looked away and coughed lightly. “W-well…shouldn’t that be obvious? I mean its not like I knew anyone else in there, so why would I care about them? And you…”

“Yeah?” Woohyun looked at him expectantly.

“I mean we’re friends right? Of course I care about my friends.”

“Oh...” Woohyun nodded, not quite understanding why he felt slightly disappointed by Sunggyu’s answer.

♦♦♦

Myungsoo dug around in his pockets for his house key, but couldn’t find it anywhere.

He was standing at his front door, after reluctantly leaving Sungyeol’s house. Sungyeol had given in, and let them watch “The Notebook.”

Myungsoo smiled inwardly, thinking of the choding, and the fun they always had together. Myungsoo felt like he could always be himself when he was with Sungyeol, a feeling he had never felt before, especially with his strict upbringing.

Naturally, Myungsoo was an awkward, clumsy kind of person. Unfortunately, that kind of personality was looked down upon by his father so he had learned to put up a cold front. Learned to lie to everyone about what kind of person he really is.

But it was different with Sungyeol.

It’s not like it was an instant connection though. In the beginning, Myungsoo had been cold towards Sungyeol just like how he had treated everyone else. But after Sungyeol saw him sneaking into a romance movie, and revealed that he was going to see the same movie, it was like something sparked in Myungsoo. He felt like he was being given a chance. A chance to finally have a connection with someone.

“You’re late.” Myungsoo was snapped out of his thoughts, when he saw his father standing in front of him. His arms were folded, and he had that same hardened bitter expression on his face, that Myungsoo had known since he was born.

“Sorry sir…” Myungsoo muttered, and walked past his father into the house.

“Where were you?” Mr. Kim asked. “You missed dinner with the hunters.”

“Sorry—.” Myungsoo was cut off, by a hard cold slap across the face.

“I’m not asking for your weak apologies!” Mr. Kim shouted. Myungsoo just stood there, eyes downcast. He didn’t dare look his father in the face, because he knew that would just make Mr. Kim angrier. “Are you deaf?! Why aren’t you saying anything?!”

“I…” Myungsoo swallowed.

“Forget it.” Mr. Kim shook his head. “Just quit the hunters and go do some fruity like making clothes or baking!”

“Sir…” Myungsoo pleaded.

“Get lost. I don’t want to see your face anymore.” Mr. Kim spat, and headed for the living room.

Myungsoo slowly wandered into his room, trying to be as quiet as possible as to not enrage his father any further. He shut the door and sunk to the floor, clutching his chest, his cheek still red from where he had been slapped. “Don’t cry…” He told himself. “Don’t be weak…”

♦♦♦

Sungjong opened the door with a tired expression. Oh you’re back hyungs…”

“Were you watching the security tapes the whole night?” Sunggyu asked, as he and Woohyun walked into Sungjong and Dongwoo’s hotel room.

Sungjong sank onto his bed. “Yes hyung…yes I was.”

“And? Did you find anything?” Woohyun asked.

“Well I managed to single out all the bar’s regulars, and put them through the SC’s facial recognition records, to see if any of them showed up.”

“Ok…and?”

“Nothing…the few that weren’t human, were something else. A couple of vampires and a werewolf I think.”

“Why are vampires and a werewolf regulars at a bar?” Sunggyu asked.

“Not the point hyung.” Sungjong sighed. “Oh and also I got a call from Dongwoo hyung saying he didn’t see anything the whole night.”

“Seriously? Nothing at all?” Sunggyu sighed.

“Maybe the mermaid took a night off?” Sungjong suggested. “She just decided she didn’t feel like drowning anyone tonight?”

“Damn it! We still have nothing!” Woohyun suddenly punched the wall. Sungjong stared at him bewildered, while Sunggyu didn’t seem affected in the least.

“I think you need to rest. Let’s go back to our room.” Sunggyu told Woohyun, and then turned to Sungjong. “Can I borrow your laptop Sungjong?”

“Uh sure hyung. I don’t think you’ll find anything but…”

“Thanks Sungjong.”

♦♦♦

“I’m sorry hyung, but it’s just…” Woohyun paced around their hotel room, his hands shaking angrily, and his eyes darting to and fro.

Sunggyu put his hands on Woohyun’s shoulders and sat him down on his bed.

“Just what?”

“We haven’t found the mermaid yet! What if we don’t find her and she kills someone else and…and!” Woohyun clenched his fists and looked down.

“It’s just the first day. We’re going to find her.”

Woohyun looked up at Sunggyu. “I know…” He nodded. “It’s just…I’m used to fighting someone and getting it over with. There’s not all this waiting around. It’s so frustrating.”

Sunggyu put an arm over Woohyun’s shoulder. Woohyun leaned in, resting his head on Sunggyu and wrapping his arms around Sunggyu’s waist. They stayed like that for a few seconds, until Sunggyu cleared his throat.

“You should get some rest.” He said, and tried to pull away from Woohyun, who had his eyes closed and was still holding onto Sunggyu’s waist. “Woohyun…”

“Hyung…” Woohyun mumbled into Sunggyu’s shirt. “Let’s stay like this longer…”

“No.” Sunggyu said and had to peel Woohyun off him. “Now sleep.” Woohyun frowned slightly, but eventually did as he was told and crawled into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

Meanwhile Sunggyu had Sungjong’s laptop and was reviewing the security tapes again. He didn’t know what exactly he was looking to find, but he continued searching.

♦♦♦

The next day, Woohyun woke up, to see Sunggyu asleep in front of the laptop, his face smashed on the keyboard. Woohyun grinned, and lifted Sunggyu’s head slightly and removed the laptop, and put it on the table. He tucked the sleeping hamster in, and then noticed the keyboard’s pattern imprinted slightly on Sunggyu’s cheek.

“Gyu hyung…what happened to your adorable cheeks?” Woohyun smiled and rubbed Sunggyu’s cheek gingerly, when Sunggyu’s eyes suddenly opened. Woohyun immediately retracted his hand. “Oh? You’re awake?”

“The computer!” Sunggyu shot up and felt around for Sungjong’s laptop.

“I put it on the table.” Woohyun said. “Hyung you should get some sleep—.”

“No!” Sunggyu grabbed Woohyun’s arms. “I found it! I found the mermaid! Bring the laptop!”

“Really?!” Woohyun snatched the laptop off the table and handed it to the older male. Sunggyu rewinded the tape and then paused it and pointed eagerly at something. “What is it? I don’t see anything…” Woohyun said.

“Right here!” Sunggyu pointed to the corner of the frame.

“…The bartender?” Woohyun blinked.

“See! If you zoom in you can see that there’s a blue tattoo on the back of his neck isn’t it?”

“So the bartender…was the mermaid?”

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HamsterGyu the detective~Who saw that coming about the bartender? Probably everyone did, since I made it too obvious >_<"

And now you know more about Myungsoo's story...to be honest it was kind of hard to write for personal reasons...but anyways, the mermaid case is wrapping up soon^^

And finally thanks for the comments! I love reading them and they make me so happy <3