“Love is like war. Very easy to begin but very hard to stop.”

H. L. Mencken

I let myself sink down to the bottom of the tank when the ringmaster was gone. My whole body still tingled and it hurt to move around so I just laid my body down on the floor as I looked through the glass. I saw the tamer walk away but the ringmaster never followed him.

That was kind of strange… where did the ringmaster go? I decided not to worry about such a petty thing and just wait for Hyukjae to arrive.

I woke up from something that splashed upon the water’s surface. It was dark and there were just two lights that illuminated the tank. I looked up and saw someone walking away while something sank down to the bottom of the tank. I swam towards it and held my hand out to grab what was sinking. A smooth but a bit slimy thing laid in my hand. I held it a bit up against the light and noticed that I had a fish in my hands.

I stuck my tongue out in distaste. For as long as I was here, they fed us fish. I did like to eat fish occasionally but to eat fish every day and a raw one at that was a bit too much for me. But I knew that I wouldn’t get anything else so with a clean move of my long and sharp nails, I cut the head of the fish off. His white blank eye stared creepily at me as it continued its way sinking down the tank.

I averted my gaze from the fish head and looked outside. There was still no sign of Hyukjae… Maybe he was busy? Maybe he would come tomorrow? I thought about all the possibilities while gulping the body of the fish down without looking at it. That was actually Jessica’s tip. She said that you shouldn’t look at the fish because it would make you sick if you weren’t used to it.

I swam to the bottom of the tank again and sat down against the glass. I tried to keep looking outside but the fish head freaked me out. So I grabbed the head, swam up and with a big move, I threw it out of the tank. I heard a soft thud when it landed in the grass. I swam a bit down and saw that it had landed just a few meters away from the entrance of the tank cabin. Good, then the next tamer who would come would have a heart attack.

I was about to swim back to my spot when I realized… My heart banged loudly against my ribcage. Hyukjae would be the next one to enter the tank. So it would be Hyukjae who would see the fish head. I bit my lip in embarrassment. It wasn’t my intention to scare Hyukjae off, I wanted to talk to him! What should I do now?

A sudden light caught my eye. I turned towards the direction of the snakes’ and birds’ cages and saw a black figure walking to my tank. My heart banged louder and I would’ve had sweaty palms if I hadn’t been in the water.

After what seemed eternity, I could recognize the person. It was Hyukjae. There was a flame on his right hand but it didn’t seem to burn the flesh. He was still dressed in his black pants but the drawings on his body were different than last time, which confirmed my suspicions about it not being a tattoo but paint.

He took a key out of his black pants and I knew that he had to be close to the fish head. But I heard no scream or yell or even a surprised sound but just the opening of the door. I was so dumbfounded that I just stayed still on the same spot and didn’t came up.

Suddenly, I heard two splashes into the water and I looked up. There were two feet dangling in the water while the rest of the body was still on the platform. There was another splash and something sank down in the water. I followed it with my eyes and recognized the same fish head from before.

Before I had even thought my idea through, I swam towards it and grabbed the head then I swam up and because I had used so much strength, my body came almost entirely out the water. Within that movement, I threw the head away and it landed even further than last time, somewhere in the bushes. I managed to come down into the water with a minimum splash and then I swam down again.

I hit my own cheeks to bring down the redness of it. I had seen Hyukjae’s gaze on me, I had seen that grin of amusement but I didn’t want to go up. I didn’t want to show my face to him and even if I didn’t really want to admit it, I knew that it was because I feared that he would reject me. He had already done that by looking at me disgusted so I knew that he was but I was afraid that he would say it which would make it more real.

I began to draw circles on the glass and after a few minutes I heard the two feet leave the water. I sighed in relief but at the same time in disappointment and I closed my eyes for a second. When I opened them I stared right into two dark and angry eyes. I stared right into the eyes of a certain Lee Hyukjae. He