Feeling water being poured on his head, Donghae opened his eyes before squirming in the lukewarm water he was being kept in. Looking up, he saw his owner, Kim Youngmin standing over him. “Wakey, wakey my little ocean jewel,” Youngmin said in a singsong voice.

          Donghae panted quietly as he looked at Youngmin with his scared eyes. His owner ran his fingers over the merman’s shoulders, laughing as he watched Donghae’s body tremble. He kicked his tail and tried to lower himself down further into the clawed-foot bathtub he called his bed. Youngmin grabbed Donghae’s shoulders and pulled him up. “No, no, we don’t hide Donghae,” Youngmin muttered as he the back of the merman’s neck.

          The brunette flinched as he pushed Youngmin away. “No!” he yelled as he punched Youngmin’s mouth.

          His owner wiped the blood the dripped from his lip before glaring daggers at the merman. Donghae felt his heart begin to pound as Youngmin angrily lifted and pushed the bathtub over on its side; dumping the water along with Donghae out of the bathtub. The merman slid onto the dirty floor, and gasped as his tail began to vanish, as two slimy, weak legs replaced it. He hated being out of water and being on his legs. They weren’t strong like his tail, and he barely knew how to walk on them.

          Youngmin picked up the weak, male by his arms and dragged him into the back room. “You should know your place by now you freak. Guess I need to remind you again,” Youngmin growled as he pressed Donghae down onto his bed, pinned his arms down, and forced his legs apart.

          Donghae was so weak now, that he couldn’t fight his owner, so he lay there and cried “No, please, no.”

          Youngmin slapped the merman, gripped his throat, and spat “Shut up, you don’t own me, I own you, and I tell you what to do. Now shut up.” The brunette squeezed his eyes shut as his owner had his way with him. When he was finished, Youngmin stood up and walked into the main room. He tipped the bathtub back upright and refilled it with warm water. Youngmin reentered his back room and picked up the quivering merman before tossing him into the bathtub. Donghae gasped and submerged his body in the water as his tail reformed where the legs were. “Now you be on your best behavior today. We have three shows tonight in Seoul, and tomorrow we’re traveling to Busan for four shows before we head for Japan,” Youngmin demanded as he picked up a bucket filled with fresh fish and held one just out of Donghae’s grasp.

          The merman reached out for the food, not having eaten anything in three days. “Please,” Donghae begged as he looked up at his owner with sad, brown eyes.

          “If you do a good performance tonight, you may eat, but until then, you get nothing,” Youngmin replied as he dropped the fish back in the bucket and pushed it away from the hungry brunette.

          Meanwhile, in an apartment in the city of Seoul, professional author Eunhyuk; was getting ready to go out for the evening. He had bought a ticket for the local freak show that was in town for a few days, and was fortunate enough to get a ticket on the premiere night. His boyfriend, Heechul, wanted to go with him, but had to work, so Eunhyuk was forced to go alone. Eunhyuk drove over to the park where the tent was set up. The blonde approached the entrance and noticed the place had a steampunk feel to it.

          Eunhyuk sat down on one of the chairs and looked around at some of the displays that Youngmin had set out as a preshow. The blonde was entranced by the talent in front of him; people who could contort their bodies in strange ways, girls who grew beards and looked like men, a person who swallowed swords and fire, and even conjoined twins who were synchronized in everything they did.

          The lights soon dimmed and soft music began to play as Kim Youngmin stepped out to the front of the tent. “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, to my freak show. As you’ve seen so far, we have incredible things to entertain you with, but now, I want to surprise you with something that will delight you, shock you, and entrance you,” Youngmin announced before he ran back to another room and wheeled in Donghae, who was still in his bathtub.

          People began to murmur, gasp, and point at Donghae, while Eunhyuk dropped his jaw slightly and gazed at the creature with awe. “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a creature so rare, that he is the only one known of that still exists; the Asian Merman,” Youngmin said as Donghae splashed his tail in the bathtub and looked at the people.

          Eunhyuk noticed that Donghae didn’t look happy the least bit. In fact, the merman looked terrified. “Is he dangerous?” someone in the crowd wondered.

          “Not at all, he’s very calm, and he loves to eat,” Youngmin responded before he grabbed the bucket filled with fish. Donghae sat up straighter in the bathtub as he looked at the food dangling in front of him. “Speak merman,” Youngmin demanded.

          “Please, please food,” Donghae whispered as he reached for the fish.

          Smirking, Youngmin dropped the fish into the bathtub, and the audience watched the hungry merman begin to devour the fish harshly. Eunhyuk covered his mouth and could tell that the creature hadn’t eaten in a long time. Donghae bared his sharp teeth and growled as he tore the flesh and meat off the bones and chewed loudly, relieved to finally have some food in his body. The audience applauded as Donghae ate, while others turned their faces in disgust.

          When he was finished, Donghae lay back in the bathtub and looked at the audience again, this time right at Eunhyuk. The blonde gazed back at him as their eyes locked before Youngmin held up another fish for Donghae. With hope in his eyes, the brunette reached for it, before Youngmin threw it back into the bucket. “You know the rules,” he muttered to the creature. “This stupid thing doesn’t understand when he’s had enough.” The crowd laughed at Donghae, while the merman lowered his head in embarrassment. He then reached up and roughly pushed Youngmin down onto the ground as the fish landed on him. Now it was Donghae’s turn to laugh at his owner.

          Silence filled the tent as Youngmin stood up and glared at Donghae. The audience remained still and quiet as Youngmin began to hit the merman. Eunhyuk listened to Donghae wail out in pain with aquatic, fish like sounds. “You think it’s funny to hurt your owner?!” Youngmin demanded as he pulled out his knife and sliced at Donghae’s chest. “Wait until everyone leaves, then you’ll know what real pain feels like, you little freak.”

          Eunhyuk covered his mouth again as Donghae cried. The merman suddenly turned violent, grabbed the knife, and stabbed Youngmin repeatedly in the heart. “No, no, not again!” Donghae screamed as he drove the knife deeper into his owner.

          Audience members screamed in fear as they grabbed their children and began to flee, all except for Eunhyuk. Donghae let the knife fall to the ground, along with his owner, before he curled up in the bathtub and cried, placing his hand over the slash mark on his wound. Eunhyuk slowly approached Donghae and saw the bathtub was filling up with water and covering his sapphire blue tail. “Hey,” Eunhyuk quietly said to the merman.

          Donghae whipped his head around and looked at the blonde as he gently reached for him. “No, don’t touch, don’t touch!” Donghae yelled as he splashed the bloody water at Eunhyuk.

          “Hey, hey, it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you, I wanna help you,” Eunhyuk quietly replied.

          The merman squirmed around so much that he accidentally knocked the bathtub over, allowing the water and himself to spill out onto the floor. Eunhyuk watched in amazement as Donghae’s sapphire tail transformed into two feeble legs. The blonde quickly fetched a blanket and wrapped it around the quivering brunette’s body as Donghae continued to quietly cry. “It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you,” Eunhyuk shushed. “C’mon, let me take you home with me.”

          Donghae turned his head to face Eunhyuk before pleading “Please, please don’t hurt me.”

          “I won’t, I promise,” Eunhyuk whispered. He moved to help Donghae get to his feet, but the brunette tried to take one step with his semi paralyzed legs and stumbled to the ground.

          “Ow, ow,” Donghae groaned in pain.

          Eunhyuk said nothing, but knelt down and picked up Donghae bridal style before carrying him out to his car. He set the wet brunette down in the passenger seat before quickly driving back to his apartment. The whole ride home, Donghae shivered and panted as his wound continued to bleed.

          When they reached Eunhyuk’s apartment building, the blonde carried Donghae into the lobby, rode up the elevator to the fifth floor, and into his place. Quickly, Eunhyuk took Donghae into his bathroom and sat him down in the bathtub before filling up the tub with warm water. Donghae began to breathe calmer as legs joined together and formed his tail, making him much more relaxed.

          The blonde reached into his medicine cabinet and pulled out some Neosporin and gauze. He knelt down next to the merman and squeezed some medicine onto his fingers before reaching over to place it on his chest. Donghae grabbed Eunhyuk’s wrist, stopping him. “Please, I’m not going to harm you, I promise,” Eunhyuk softly said as he looked in Donghae’s eyes. Hesitantly, the merman released Eunhyuk’s wrist and allowed him to rub the medicine gently over his wound before wrapping medical gauze around him. “There see, much better. Do you want anything?”

          “Leave,” Donghae requested as he pushed Eunhyuk away.

          Eunhyuk stood up and backed away. “Alright, alright I’ll leave you alone for the evening, so you can sleep if you want. I’ll check on you in the morning,” he responded before exiting his bathroom. Donghae submerged his whole body in the large bathtub and lay underneath the water, closing his eyes, and hoping he made a smart choice trusting this Eunhyuk guy.

          Meanwhile, the blonde lay down in his bed across the hall from the bathroom. “There’s a merman in my bathtub; there’s an actual merman in my bathtub, and a very attractive one at that,” Eunhyuk smirked to himself. “This is so crazy.” Gasping, Eunhyuk sat up and reached for his laptop. “This will be great for my blog.”