Joon PoV

    "Uhm, why are we out here any ways?" Mir asked as we walked towards the woodsy area l brought him to. l pointed to the forest and told him, "l need some help trapping animals for blood. l know it's not technically a relaxing activity but l haven't fed in a few days and l'm starting to need even more blood," l scratched my head in slight embarrassment for having to ask a teen to help me catch food. The young boy looked at the woods in question and looked back at me saying, "And how do you want me to catch them?---With those Soul Threads or whatever you use," He looked at me like l was speaking Arabic or something. He responded saying, "l mean l can set up a web or something.....but uhm~" What's going on with him? He looked uncomfortable for some reason and l decided not to pursue my idea of getting him to help me. l told him that we should go back to the dorm, and we ended up walking back to school. l asked him, "You feeling okay? You don't look so well......What happened to your hair?" l pulled back his hoodie when he wasn't paying attention and he yelped in surprise. l saw the vibrant color of his hair, and it was really purple and blue. His face looked like he did something wrong and was guilty. His face was either red from the cold night or just from embarrassment. Either way it was too cute. "lt looks pretty nice on you," l complimented him and he said thanks quietly. Okay. Something has to be up, there's no way he's this quiet for so long. After a few more minutes of silently walking in the cold snowy night he finally piped up, "l'm sorry. For not being able to help you. l wanted to help you absorb more magick easily so you don't have to sleep so much but l messed up my hair," He looked sorry for me and l stopped in my tracks, pulling Mir around and giving him a big hug. l told him, "You're too nice to me. lt's not your fault for anything. You sounded so guilty in your mind and it just annoyed me so much~" l totally forgot l could hear other people's minds and Mir's thoughts were stabbing into my brain. He pulled apart from my hug and took something from his pocket. He didn't need to say anything, cuz it just blared loudly in my mind. He held it out to me and l took it, looking at the contents of the inside.

   "You want to go to the beach? For winter? And we have to leave tonight to catch the night train for the week long trip instead of me asking you out to Winter Ball? l'm down, what the hell are we waiting here for?" l answered all of his thoughts before he could even take a breath. His face was extremely red from both the winter chill and embarrassment. All he could manage to say was, "Okay. Let's go home and pack up," l couldn't help but feel the need to grab his and snap him out of his blushing. l quickly went to cop a feel and he squeaked innocently. His was so soft and round, and it fit right in the palm of my hands. Out of more embarrassment Mir ran away even faster. As soon as we got home to the dorm, Alys and Makie were already in our room just pigging out on snacks we JUST bought from the market.  "Hey hey hey! That's my squid l bought for ME!" l fought Makie for the snacks as Alys and Mir were just talking about their day. Mir was beginning to pack up by getting our bags and packing our clothes into them, and the girls got interested. "Ooh~ Where are you two going?--- Busan for vacation. We gotta leave tonight," The girls looked at each other and squealed in jealousy. Makie laughed and said, "Don't do anything stupid okay? And bring me something back! Joon, he's just a child so don't think about doing anything Alys would---Hey!" After we packed up our bare essentials and clothes, l planned on taking a bath before we went, and Mir agreed to the idea. l walked with him to the open bath and relaxed in the water for a long while. He was washing his hair on one side of the bath while l was in the open pool. As l looked across the surface of the water, l remembered what Mir told me when we were in bed. lt made me happy that he would want me to be there for him, but was that not a confession of love? l mean was he inviting me to be his...boyfriend? l thought about it deeply and it seemed to me that we were stuck in a zone in between friends and lovers. l mean l've kissed him and , and he is really cute~ l shouted across the room to Mir, "Mir, are we boyfriends?" l saw him physically cringe and become stiff once l asked him that question. He didn't turn back so l thought it was teasing time. l got out of the water slowly and quietly made my way behind him and scared the out of him. "KYAAAH!" His back arched as l grabbed his bubbly again. l whispered closely into his ear, "Well? l asked you a serious question--- l know that! l just thought~ well you can already read my mind," l hugged him closer to me, and our bare bodies touched which made Mir squirm. l grabbed a shower head and hosed his soapy hair down, while beginning to help wash his back. l continued to about his shyness and said, "l'm still waiting for an answer. C'mon Mireu-ah~ Do you wanna be lovey dovey with me?--- Get away from me you old maa~hng!" l splashed water on him to clean his back off.

     He looked back at me with a menacing glance and said, "We're already doing lovey dovey stuff already! l thought we were already....y'know," Gack, he's so cute l wanna eat him! Just kidding! Or am l? Now that l finally had confirmation of my newly established relationship with Mir, l got him to hold hands with me on the way back. On the outside, he seemed uncomfortable doing so, but in his mind l could hear him being happy. l checked the time on my phone, and it was nearing 9 o'clock. The tickets said we need to be at the departing station by 10 to get onto the night train by midnight. "C'mon let's go hurry and pack up sweetie--- Don't call me that! lt's embarrassing!" Teasing Mir is probably my newly acquired hobby, and it is so fun to see him uncomfortable. We walked back the the dorm and got all of our stuff ready, except Mir brought more than l thought. When everything was ready to go, Mir had at least two huge duffel bags worth of clothing and other crap he brought. l only had my clothing and a few packs of things to feed on in a cooler. Mir let his purple hair grow out slowly, all the way down to his legs. l was going to ask him what he was doing, and then he just threw his bags behind him into his hair. l forgot he could do that, and it was so interesting to watch as the bags just disappeared into a sea of hair. Mir's hair shortened itself again back to its normal state, and he saw me watching him. "ls there a problem?---Can you store my stuff in there too?" He asked and l replied quickly. He sighed and said, "lt's going to cost you---What a kiss?" His face scrunched up in confusion as he replied, "No! House work for a week, no exceptions!" l casually agreed, and we said our goodbyes to the girls before we left. Alys and Makie were trying to tease us as we left the dorm saying, "Don't come back from your honeymoon pregnant Mir! lt'll be all over your you~Hahahaha!---Shut up! Joon what are they even talking about?" Mir was too innocent for me, he couldn't even understand the concept of ? Racy images popped up in my head about me and Mir being at the beach doing naughty things. l slapped myself out of it and thought to myself l need to be responsible! l can't do things like that with Mir until he's ready for it! l grabbed his hand, and the world around us faded away into blackness as l took us through the shadows towards the train station...

               Mir PoV

    We immediately came out of the darkness once we stepped into it, and found ourselves at the train station ready to depart. We got on to the train, and sat down in the somewhat empty train. Joon stretched and sat down next to me saying, "l'm glad it's empty, l was worried we wouldn't have a seat. Feeling cold?" he put his arm around my shoulder and scooted me closer to him. His warmth combined with the cold air of the train made me feel sleepy. l desperately tried to keep my eyes open, but l ended up falling asleep on Joon's lap. Hours later, l woke up in a cabin with Joon next to me on the bed. The thing was his head wasn't next to mine...so where was it? l felt something heavy on my , and l looked back to see his head resting on my shorts-covered . l felt my face heat up when l saw his winking face looking back at mine. "Wha-what are you doing on my !? Get off me!---l can't sleep during the night, you know that," He turned his body stomach up and laid the back of his head on my . He said, "Why didn't l use your to sleep at night? Screw pillows, this is plenty soft. l could actually fall asleep if you let me use this," Hell no! l wanted to squirm my way out, but he didn't let me and fell back asleep.Hngh~ How does this weird things happen to me? l decided to let him sleep for a while, as l tried to think of ways to pass the time until l went back to sleep again. l remembered Maggie saying something about doing special things alone with Joon and he gave me books for some reason. Special things? What's a book supposed to teach me to do? l dug through the caverns of my hair to find the manga Maggie gave me. One the cover it had two males on it in a weird pose. l started to read it, and it turned out to be a love story between the two guys. What the heck is this for Maggie?

    l kept reading the book, and as the story progressed, the characters were starting to get . lt confused me at first, but the pictures kept me interested. l got red looking at the characters, and l felt some tightness in my lower body after reading it all. l tried not to move too much as l read, and eventually l finished reading the y manga. l put the book away and looked into the countryside through the window. The greenish-blue plains whizzing by was illuminated by a nearly full moon. l couldn't get the comic book's images out of my head, and it eventually changed to a picture of me and Joon  and doing the things in the book. l can't think about that! lt's so awkward! l can't do that with him....but we are boyfriends now. l cleared my mind out of all of those weird things to make my gochu calm down to go to sleep. Hngh~ l have a totally bad feeling about this trip....ya~wn, l'm tired...

      Once morning rolled around, the fresh smell of the ocean woke me up from my sleep. Joon was already awake and got cleaned up while l struggled to get awake. "Morning sleepyhead. Don't make me wake you up...chu~"Heeeeh? l felt something on my lips, and Joon was on top of me giving me a kiss. l jolted and sat upright as Joon pulled me up and got us off the overnight train. l said to him while we got off, "Your mouth tastes like iron! You didn't brush yet did you?---l made have had a little snack hehe," Joon! Joon was already changed into his day clothes, while l was still clothed in hair. l took out a tank top and put it on while heading to the resort hotel. The ocean view was a beautiful deep blue, and the sky was filled with clouds and seagulls. On one side was the bustling city of Busan, while the other side was the calm countryside that tapered off into the ocean. l was amazed at how pretty the ocean looked. "l've never been to the coast before! lt's so pretty! And the air smells like the ocean~" Joon and l held hands as we went to the inn where the countryside was nice and quiet. The place we were going to was nicknamed Mermaid Cove, where there have been legends of mermaids inhabiting the area and beaches there. lt's a popular place to be for events, and Maggie said there was a winter festival too. "Hey, isn't this place going to be really snowy and cold for us to come for vacation? We should've packed some heavier clothes," Joon voiced his concern as the cool wind blew by. l told him, "Nothing to worry about. lt's actually not that cold here than it is near Seoul. oh, there's the inn l think," As we got closer to the beach, l saw the inn that was mentioned on the ticket. The inn looked like an old Korean-styled house, made with wooden beams and tiled roofs. "There it is, Mermaid Cove. Let's go get our room," Joon and l walked faster up to the bluff where the inn was sitting on top of.  The view was beautiful from the cliffs. As we entered the inn, you could really see the details in the traditional architecture. Paper walls and lanterns, to wooden floors and bamboo mats made the whole place look like an old Korean house. We rang the service bell, and an old woman came to answer us.

      "Welcome to the Pacifica lnn. How may l help you?" The old lady was dressed in a traditional Korean dress as well, with vibrant colors of pink and yellow. Her hair was flecked with white and her face was soft and had many smile wrinkles. She seemed to be well into her 70's. "Hello, l'd like to redeem these vouchers---Oh! Well then, congratulations on winning these tickets," She took the tickets and had us sign into the inn. l signed us in as Joon asked, "Granny, what's up with the mermaid decorations? ls there something special about the beach?" The woman looked at all of the photos and newspaper clips of mermaid sightings and legends on the bulletin board nostalgically. She turned back and told us the legend of the place we were at,

"This place is known as Mermaid Cove for the legends of mermaids living in this area. These mermaids were always singing and protected the coast they lived in from the terrible monsoons and huge waves that approached once in a while. When l was a young girl, believe it or not, l even saw a mermaid myself. She had a beautiful yellow tail and looked like a young girl. Her name was Pacifica, named after our largest ocean on earth. One day, my father was out in the ocean fishing with his friends when a storm roiled in the ocean. Walls of water were crashing against the beach and people evacuated up to higher ground. Neat the base of this cliff, there is a cave that was believed to be a special place for mermaids. Sailors and other families would venture into the cave and asked the mermaids for protection and good luck. On that day, l went to the cave, and that same mermaid answered my call. A beautiful voice echoed through the cave, and the walls were shining with crystals from the minerals forming over time. That day l was sure that my father would not be able to return to shore without some miracle. lt was then my father returned safe and sound, saying there was an angelic voice singing to him and guiding him back to shore."

We listened intently to the story, and Granny told us that she named this inn after that mermaid that helped her father. Granny helped guide us to our room while having a tour of the inn, "l've booked you the scenic room, with a fireplace, wooden floors, and a patio that views the ocean and beach. You can also go down to the beach form the patio exit. We don't have any wi-fi here, but we do have a land line you may use. There is a hot spring bath available whenever you want, and we do have room service. Our business has been slow, so you won't be disturbed by many other customers. Sigh~ lt's been rumored that mermaids would occasionally appear every few decades, and that would bring in many visitors. l guess it was only a matter of time until that rumor interested no one. Now it's just my family that hold onto this inn, hoping the mermaids would return," She looked so sad as we got to our room and she explained the slow business to us. l put my arm on her shoulder and said, "At least we're here right? l'm glad we came to this place, l've never been to the ocean side before! This inn and city, along with the legends of mermaids is much better than a vacation anywhere else, right Joon?" The old woman smiled gently, revealing her worn out eyes and wrinkles. "Thank you. We have a kitchen area that guests can use. You may make breakfast or we can bring it to you--- Thank you so much Granny, we can make our own food. You've been too nice to us already," Granny nodded her head and bowed out, leaving us to get settled into our room. "Wow, l can't believe she's been through so much. And to see a mermaid!--- Do those even exist?" Joon seemed dubious of mermaids, but l told him," Vampires exist right? Hell l'm even dating one too....you have that weird look in your eyes," He had that dreamy look in his eye whenever l mentioned anything about the two of us. He told me cheekily, "Well, l'm just a little too happy that l have a boyfriend now. Especially one that is just too damn cute for me," What the hell are you thinking? l scoffed and said, "ls this the first time you've had a relationship?" He went up to me and hugged me tightly by the . "Hyah! Watch it mister!" He looked down at me with a slight smile, and l blushed. He replied, "You are officially my first boyfriend in the 700+ years l've been alive. l know, that sounds embarrassing but l haven't had any time to ever have a relationship. So sorry if l'm a little too...affectionate to you," l laid my head against his chest, listening to his heart beat slowly. "lt's okay, l understand, but no teasing me! And no touching! You weird old man!"