“What are we going to do?” Kibum groaned into his hands that rested on his tail. Kibum and Jonghyun had gotten Taemin to bed and were now in their room sitting on the edge of their grand bed.

“There isn’t much to do.” Jonghyun murmured.

“There has to be something! I refuse to allow my only child to marry another prince for the rest of his life knowing that he will never be happy!”

“Do you think I want that either?! Of course I don’t! But we have no wiggle room. Sehun is a devious and manipulative little bastard.” Jonghyun growled.

“How did he end up with such a sweet hearted merman like Luhan?” Kibum rested his head against Jonghyun’s shoulder.

“Luck? You know he was running out of options.”

“Poor Luhan.”

“Yeah,  now it’s ‘poor Taemin’....”

“WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!” Kibum groaned loudly

A sudden knock at the door interrupted Kibum’s rant.

“Come in?” Kibum called.

Slowly the door opened and in walked none other than King Luhan and Onew.

“Your highness,” Jonghyun bowed from where he and Kibum were seated. “Onew.”

“Hyungs.” Onew gave his award winning smile, Luhan just bowing respectfully.

“What is this about?” Kibum asked.

“Well, I ran into Luhan here…” Onew began.

“His highness  Luhan.” Jonghyun gently corrected Onew like he had corrected Taemin when he was little.

“Yeah, yeah.” Onew waved him off. “And we got to talking and you’ll never guess what I discovered!”

“What?! Spit it out boy!” Jonghyun stood up excitedly. Maybe Onew would find a way to help them.

“Well, do you remember my cousin?” Luhan asked in his kind and gentle voice.

“Which one?” Kibum asked interested. “You have many.”

“The one that runs the only In-Between kingdom.”

“Ah, yes.” Jonghyun nodded. How could he forget him? “What about him.”

“Well, I was shopping for a grievance gift-tomorrow is the anniversary of his wife and son’s death- and when I came back I was startled with what I saw.”

“What is that?” Jonghyun asked.

“You know that my cousin’s family has a very distinct tail shape, correct?”

“Yes,”

“Well, I ran into a boy with the same tail shape as my beloved cousin.”

“Didn’t you tell me and Minfrog that only royalty like Taemin can marry other royalty?” Onew asked.

“Yes, that is true.” Kibum replied. “But, why would you ask?”

“Well, I think that we may have just found the solution to your problem.” Onew smiled wider.

“Oh no, he is not marrying that old man from the In-Between kingdom!” Jonghyun pointed accusingly at Luhan and Onew.

“No! That’s not even remotely what we meant!” Onew’s eyes grew wide in surprise.

“We have found the ‘dead’ son of the king. If Taemin were to marry said son, my mate would not be able to declare war on your country because the In-Between kingdom could overrule the declaration of war!” Luhan said excitedly.

“So, wait. If we can convince this presumed dead son to marry our Taemin, then he won’t have to marry Prince Tao, correct?” Jonghyun verified. “But my son would still be in the same position as before: marrying a man he doesn’t love in exchange for peace!”

“Not exactly….” Onew said.

“How would we even be able to convince this mysterious prince to marry our son in the first place?” Kibum added.

“Oh, I don’t think it will take much convincing….” Onew’s huge smile just got bigger.

********************************************

“Tae?” Minho had been knocking on the prince’s door for over an hour. “Please just let me in.”

“NO!” Taemin shouted from the other side.

“I’m really really sorry okay?” Minho said for the nth time.

“I don’t believe you!”

“Of course you don’t” Minho groaned, sliding down so his back was against the wall. “Why don’t you believe me?”

“Because...because...Because you’re a meany face!” Taemin shouted.

“I’m ‘a meany face’? Really, Tae. That’s the best you got?”

“Shut up, you frog faced bastard!” Taemin shouted, more irritated.

“Better.” Minho chuckled. “What can I do to make you believe me?”

“Nothing!”

“There has to be something!” Minho was out of ideas; nothing was going to convince this stubborn prince at this rate.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

“What if I sang you a song?” Minho asked.

“What, the mating song of a frog?” Taemin retorted.

“No,” Minho snorted. “A real human song.”

“Whatever.”

Minho began humming the tune to the song that he and Onew were working on together for their music class. The song was far from done, they needed more inspiration as Onew liked to put it. Minho just thought they needed more people to sing the song with.

Finally, when it was it his turn he sang the lyrics with his whole heart.

Just hit me instead of being mad at me

At least this way, I hope you can feel better

Arguing and growing from them is what love is about (Girl)

Hit me as much as I had hurt your feelings

Just hit me that much instead

The song continued this way until he reached the last chorus where he purposefully made his voice softer in order to draw Taemin closer to the door. He even sang the parts that had cords that were far too out of his vocal range.

I want to hold you in my arms (Oh no)

I’m wanting you (Yeah)

I kept saying words that weren’t in my heart

Forgive me for causing you pain

Talk to me, talk to me when the time is right for you

Talk to me, talk to me when the time is right for you

Talk to me, talk to me when the time is right for you

Talk to me, talk to me when the time is right for you

Finally, he finished the song. He held his breath waiting for Taemin’s reaction.

After what felt like years, the door finally creaked open.

“Do you really mean that?” Taemin asked in  a weak voice that almost sounded like he was crying.

“Yes, I do.” Minho swam closer to Taemin, eventually taking Taemin’s face into his palm. “I’m sorry. I overreacted.”

“Yeah, you did.” Taemin leaned his head into Minho’s large hand.

“So am I forgiven?” Minho looked at Taemin with hopeful eyes.

“Yes,” Taemin sighed, closing his eyes.

“I’m glad.” Minho pulled Taemin into a tight embrace.

“You’re still a frog faced bastard though.”  

*******************************************************************************************************************

A/N:

Faster update! Woot woot! So, how do we like this chapter? Much better than the last one, huh?! So as you can tell, this is going to start to wind down soon! So we're already thinking of a new story!!! But Bre did tell me that she may be a little slower updating for the next week or so. She is currently chilling in the basement due to a tornado that just touched down in her area. She'll keep us updated on our Facebook (click!) on how she's doing though. So no picta spam because she finds all those for you. Sowwi :(