“What’s going on?!” Changjo came running into the room after he heard the crash. He looked over and saw the man lying on the ground with wood from the other door about him. I shrunk back into the sheets and kept my eyes on him. He was looking at me with pure anger. He stood and made his way towards me, but Changjo stood before him.

“Don’t touch him,” he said. The man looked at him, and then at me. What looked like pure hatred radiated from him and it terrified me. It terrified me to the very core of my being. “Minsoo,” he said. “Leave us alone and I’ll explain later.” The man, Minsoo, didn’t budge. “That’s an order.” Minsoo huffed as he tore himself away from Changjo, but his eyes never left me and the scowl never left his face. That man terrifies me. It’s not just the fact that I don’t know him, but there’s something that tells me to be very careful around him.

“Daniel, are you okay?” Changjo lightly grabbed my arms, and I flinched as I felt pain again. He pulled my arm, and I saw a large purple stain on my arm. I heard Changjo gasp, and when I looked up, he was on the bed next to me. I touched the stain, and it stung. He had reached over and grabbed a white thing. He turned the wheel and put it to his ear. I didn’t pay attention to what he was saying; I just kept touching the purple spot.

Touch and sting. Touch and sting. Touch.

Changjo grabbed my wrist and pulled it away from the purple spot. He had something in his hand; a bag I believe. He brought it up to the spot and it was cold. It was so cold and so sudden that I couldn’t help but to flinch.

He mumbled a small sorry before he slowly put it back. It was so cold, but it seemed to fade away as I stared at him. His eyes were knit together in what seemed like concern, and he was biting his lip as he barely increased the pressure. I sighed as the coolness washed over my skin with a numbing chill.

“Would you like anything else, Master Choi?” Daniel looked up at the sudden voice and was met with the small face of a man. He was not much older than him, and his hair was a light, almost ashen brown. His eyes were large as were his teeth, but he contained a sort of beauty that only seemed fit in fairytales.

“That’s all Chunji. Thank you.” The man, Chunji, nodded before looking at me. He smiled at me before winking and walking away. That man seems strange, but there’s a comforting air about him. I guess Changjo noticed.

“That’s my friend, Chunji.” I looked at him, and I couldn’t help but to wonder why the man spoke so formally if they were friends. “We grew up together, but his family lost everything during a storm a few years back. I gave him and his family a place to stay. But they refused to take it for free, so they help around. He acts like a butler, and after a while I gave in, but I told him it’s only from nine to five and he has the weekends off.” Changjo is a really nice man. He had a soft smile splayed across his lips, and he just looked so at peace.  We sat in a peaceful silence for a while.  As time went on, we came closer and Changjo ended up having his head on my chest.

I reached my free hand up and laced my fingers into his dark hair and marveled at how soft it was. I know my hair isn’t this soft; it’s probably flaky from all the algae and salt in the water. I know a few others who have pretty hair, but that’s because they always stay towards the fresh water near the humans, but they are tiny beings really. They’re like my red headed friend, just as small but strong and sly. They like to play tricks on the humans, but they are always kept safe. I turned a little, but something is scratching me. I shake my head and sand falls from my hair and onto the bed. Changjo looks up to me before laughing and sitting up.

I didn’t want to make him get up. I wanted to hold him against me and play with his hair some more. I wanted to fall asleep with him in my arms and to wake up with him next to me. I wanted to just be with him, but it was of no use, for he had already risen. He went through the other the now bare opening where the door once stood. I heard a strange sound. It sounds like water, but I don’t think that there’s a stream in this castle.

“I should have probably done this first before getting you dressed.” His voice echoed from the room he was in, and as he came out, steam entered. “But that’s just me being stupid.” I wanted to hit him. No one is stupid, and he should not call himself stupid, but all I could do was shake my head. He smiled at me before coming closer. He put a knee onto the bed, and I couldn’t help but lightly slide closer to him as the bed dipped. He smiled as he grabbed me, but he held me gently. I was confused. His smile had a quirk to it, a cross between mischievous and taunting.

What was he doing? I wouldn’t know. I laid back, my hands by my shoulders as I stared up at him. I felt his hands move up and down my sides; a shiver encased my body, and I couldn’t help but shake at the sensation. When I looked back up to him, a smirk had replaced his smile, and the look in his eyes only made me nervous. I tried to concentrate on anything but the feeling washing over me, but I guess he wouldn’t have that. He grabbed my chin and moved my face back towards him; I didn’t even notice that I had looked away. His hands were so cool against my skin.

“Daniel.” His lips were by my ear, and I can hear the amusement in his voice as his warm breath sent a shiver down my body. His hands came under the shirt I was in, and I could feel myself becoming warmer, but I don’t know why. In the sea, I never experienced these strange sensations. “You’re going to have to get again.” ? What does mean? I remember him saying that when he found me at the beach. I felt his hands come up my sides again, and this time, the shirt he had put me in was coming up with him as well. Did he mean that I had to remove the clothes? Clothes are so strange. No one in the kingdom ever wore “clothes”. Some would get coral and pebbles and adorn themselves with it, but we never wore clothing. Such things would hinder and endanger us greatly.

My eyes darted towards him. I could only see his neck, but even that entranced me.

I was caught in shock as my vision was engulfed in darkness for a moment before I felt Changjo pull back and feel the shorts being pulled away. It was so quick his movements, for I could barely open my eyes before I felt myself being lifted into his arms once more and being placed in some water. I snapped my eyes open wide when I realized that I was indeed in water, but how is there water inside this castle? As I moved, I felt something hard around me, encasing me and the water in place.

“And Minsoo said I needed a big bathtub,” he scoffed.  I looked up at Changjo as he walked out of the room before reentering with some containers. He poured one of the liquids into the “bathtub”, as he calls it, and I watched as foam started to form. “I hope you like bubbles,” he said. I couldn’t help but to touch and play with them, just as I had done when I was younger. Memories of when I was still a small child flashed through my mind. It was a time when I actually had contact from my father, when he always smiled and laughed and played with me, but it’s all a distant memory now. I never knew exactly why he stopped coming out of his palace, but his absence made him out to be only a myth many of us, for they were too young to remember him, but I remember him.

I felt skin against me. Strong calloused hands were around me and I felt myself being lifted and shifted forward.

“It’s going to be a tight fit, but that’s perfect.” I looked behind me as Changjo slid in behind me before he gently released me and positioned me upon his legs. It felt odd; the feeling of being on top of another person, his skin upon my back with the contrasting feeling of wet and dry. The fact that the water felt so warm also had me in a daze.

I suddenly felt water being poured on me, making my hair wet and running down my face. I sighed at the feeling before I felt something else a top my head followed by his hands.

“Keep your eyes closed,” he said. “I don’t want the shampoo to get in your eyes.” I nod, even though he has a strange name for these suds. The sensation of his fingers massaging my scalp is soothing, and I can’t help but to lean back onto him.  Can feel the vibrations of his chuckle, but I don’t mind. The bass of his voice is relaxing. “I’m going to rinse it out now, so keep your eyes closed.” His words are soon followed by the water falling atop me again. It isn’t just once like before, but now he’s pouring it over me and massaging my head various times. I’ve never felt this before. It feels so warm.

“Open your eyes.” The sensation of his whisper in my ear made me snap my eyes open from the tickling sensation. I silently laugh as I grabbed onto my ear and sat up. I looked back at him, smile still evident on my face, but he’s just staring at me. What’s wrong? Did I do something? My smile drops and I look at him in confusion, hoping that maybe he will understand me. He leans closer to me, and for some reason, I lean away. His face comes to me, his lips at my ear once more, and I feel that warm sensation run through me again. He’s silent, but his breath keeps hitting against me and that just makes the sensation grow. My face gets hotter and he finally speaks.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           “You have a nice smile,” he whispers. I smile, but he still hasn’t moved. He’s still so close to me, so I blow against his ear, and he jerks back, hand clutching his ear like how I did. His face is red, and he looked so cute. I couldn’t help but smile before turning back around feeling proud of myself. After being in that position for so long, I felt stiff. I reached up at my neck and started pressing at it before moving towards the muscle between my shoulder and my neck. I never learned what they were called, though my red headed friend would repeatedly tell me every time I start complaining about it. 

“Let me finish cleaning you.” His hands came to where mine was and pressure was added in a way that I just had to close my eyes from how nice it felt. “I’ll rub that that after I get you dressed.” Just as quickly as his hands left me, something else came in its place. I knew the feeling of it, but as I tried to remember, my mind came up blank. I felt it go from my neck down my back in a circular motion as Changjo seemed to hold me in place with his other hand. The feeling was pleasant, but I still could not place the feeling. Whatever it was, it made its way back up towards my shoulders. I turned my head to see what it was.

It was a sponge. How could I not have figured that out before? We would always use the sponges and some of the coral to remove excess residue or to get rid of any algae that was growing on our tails. I wouldn’t have thought that humans use our sponges in the same way.  I watched as Changjo moved the sponge from my shoulders down my arms and across my chest to my abdomen. He lifted my arms and rubbed under my arm, and I couldn’t help but jerk. It felt weird. He looked at me in confusion before trying again, but I just jerked again. He chuckled before nodding and just moving onward. He was gentle the entire time.

“Now it’s your turn.” I turned towards him, not understanding what he meant. He handed me the sponge and I looked at it for a moment before he spoke again. “Your turn.” I think I understood. I nodded as I tried to twist my body to turn around. Once I thought I was in an okay position, I leaned forward and mimicked his motions.

He laughed. I ignored him and continued, but then he grabbed my wrist.

“I didn’t mean like that.” If he didn’t mean it like that, then what did he mean? He reached out of the bathtub and grabbed another sponge. He rubbed a strange bar on it and more foamed appeared. He then placed it on himself and started the same motions. “I meant you wash the rest of yourself.” He then leaned over and pulled on my leg. I had to hold onto the sides of the bathtub so that I wouldn’t fall over. “I already washed your upper body, so now you have to wash your legs and bum.” He lifted my leg up into the air before lifting his out into the air too. He put the sponge to his own and continued with the motion, and I mimicked it on myself.

“Exactly,” he whispered.

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I'm sorry OTL