Eunhyuk was awoken the next morning by loud, continuous pounding to the front door. The blonde groaned as he walked to the door and opened it up. He found Heechul standing there with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face. “Hey, what are you doing here so early?” Eunhyuk asked as he yawned.

          “What’s this I hear about you taking another guy out for coffee?” Heechul demanded as he stormed inside and plopped down on the couch.

          “What are you talking about?” Eunhyuk inquired as he walked over to his boyfriend.

          “Henry texted me yesterday and asked if you and I had broken up, because he saw you in a coffee house with another guy; laughing and talking,” Heechul informed. “So who is he Eunhyuk?”

          “He’s just a friend Heechul, there’s no need to be concerned,” Eunhyuk promised.

          “What’s his name, and why are you taking him out for coffee when you told me you were gonna be busy all day?” Heechul questioned.

          “Okay first of all, his name is Donghae, and second of all, what does it matter what I do with my own time?” Eunhyuk wondered as he placed his hands on his hips.

          “It matters because I am your boyfriend and no other guy is supposed to come before me. When did you meet this Donghae fellow?” Heechul asked.

          “I met him the other night at the freak show I attended,” Eunhyuk informed as he walked into his kitchen and prepare a kettle of water.

          “So you’ve only known this guy for like a few days, and you’re already taking him out for coffee? , it took you at least three months to ask me out for something like that,” Heechul muttered as he walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter.

          Eunhyuk slammed the kettle down on the stove before turning to his boyfriend. “What do you want me to say Heechul?”

          “I wanna know what makes him so special; what’s so awesome about him that my boyfriend would lie to me just to spend time with him?” Heechul growled as he walked closer to Eunhyuk.

          “You need to calm down and stop acting like a ing diva,” Eunhyuk spat before turning back to the steaming kettle.

          Heechul dropped his mouth open before stomping over to the bathroom as Eunhyuk prepared tea. Opening the door, Heechul saw Donghae sitting in the bathtub and widened his eyes as he gasped. “Hi,” Donghae said with a smile as he waved at the young man.

          “A . . . a m-merman?” Heechul stammered as he pointed a shaky finger at Donghae.

          “Hi, I’m Donghae,” the merman introduced before he watched Heechul slam the door shut and begin to pant rapidly before running back into the kitchen.

          “Eunhyuk!” Heechul yelled as he hid behind his boyfriend.

          “What, what’s wrong?” the blonde wondered.

          “There’s, there’s a fish dude in your bathtub,” Heechul whispered.

          “What, no there’s not,” Eunhyuk denied.

          “C’mon,” Heechul requested as he took Eunhyuk’s hand and led him to the bathroom. Opening the door back up, Heechul pointed with his hand. “See?”

          Only now, when Eunhyuk and Heechul turned to face Donghae, he was sitting on the side of the tub with his legs dangling off, and had just slipped on some boxers. “Hi,” Donghae repeated as he waved at the two.

          Eunhyuk crossed his arms and looked at Heechul. “But, but I saw a merman, he had a blue tail and –” Heechul started. “Eunhyuk I swear I’m not crazy.”

          “Heechul, did you forget to take your medicine today?” Eunhyuk joked.

          “But, but there was a –” Heechul replied as he looked at Donghae.

          “Come on, you need to sit down; you’re seeing things,” Eunhyuk suggested as he gently coaxed Heechul into the living room before turning back to Donghae. “You okay? Did he scare you?”

          “No, he was more scared of me than I was of him,” Donghae replied as Eunhyuk laughed and helped him up.

          “Wanna come in here and have some tea?” Eunhyuk offered.

          “Okay,” Donghae agreed as he slowly walked into the living room and sat down in a chair across from the couch where Heechul was currently sitting.

          While Eunhyuk fixed tea, Heechul leaned forward and continued to look at Donghae and then at his legs. “So you’re the guy who had coffee with my boyfriend?” Heechul inquired.

          “You mean Eunhyuk?” Donghae asked.

          “Yes dummy, of course I mean Eunhyuk,” Heechul confirmed. “Why did you have coffee with him and what are you doing in his apartment?”

          “He offered to buy me some, and Eunhyuk has been nice enough to let me stay with him,” Donghae responded.

          “You’re living here?” Heechul wondered. Donghae nodded as Eunhyuk reentered the living room holding a tray with a teapot, teacups, cream, and sugar on it. “Eunhyuk, what’s this about you letting this guy live here?”

          “Donghae needed a place to stay for a few days so I let him crash here,” Eunhyuk lied as he handed Heechul a cup of plain tea.

          Heechul watched as Eunhyuk turned to Donghae and asked quietly “So a little bit of cream and three sugar cubes, right?”

          “Yeah,” Donghae agreed as Eunhyuk mixed the ingredients together.

          “How come you know what he likes in his, and you don’t know what I like in mine?” Heechul demanded.

          “Well, we just had coffee and tea yesterday, so it’s still fresh on my mind,” Eunhyuk responded before handing the cup to Donghae.

          “Okay, I can’t take this anymore,” Heechul stated as he set the cup down and stood up.

          “Heechul, where are you going?” Eunhyuk asked, while the dark haired man headed for the front door.

          “I’m leaving, you obviously want someone else, considering want to spend so much more time with him,” Heechul huffed as he opened the front door.

          “Now don’t be like that,” Eunhyuk responded. “We’re just friends.”

          “Then how is it you know more about your ‘friend’ in just a few days of being acquainted with him, than with your own boyfriend of two years?” Heechul questioned. When Eunhyuk remained silent Heechul added “That’s what I thought.” He slammed the door shut, leaving Eunhyuk standing there.

          “Eunhyuk?” Donghae said quietly as he stood up and stumbled over to the blonde. “I’m sorry; I should’ve never showed myself to him, then he wouldn’t have gotten mad at you.” The merman lowered his head and looked at the floor.

          Eunhyuk turned to Donghae and raised his face to his. “Don’t apologize Donghae, you did nothing wrong. Heechul is just a diva who needs to calm down,” he whispered. Gently, he pressed his forehead against Donghae’s. “You don’t ever have to apologize for someone else.”

          Pulling away, the blonde sat down at the kitchen table before Donghae sat down across from him. “Heechul said you are his boyfriend,” he informed.

          “Was his boyfriend,” Eunhyuk corrected.

          “What does that mean, boyfriend?” Donghae wondered.

          “A boyfriend is a guy who you spend lots of time with, eat meals with, go out on the town with, talk with, laugh with, connect with pretty much,” Eunhyuk explained.

          “You and I seem to do a lot of that,” Donghae muttered. “Are we boyfriends?”

          Eunhyuk smirked before touching the merman’s shoulder. “No Donghae, you and I have a special kind of relationship,” he responded before helping Donghae stand up and walk towards the bathroom. “Do you wanna try a bubble bath?”

          “Bubble bath?” Donghae asked as he stripped and sat down in the bathtub.

          “Yeah, watch this,” Eunhyuk requested as he ran warm water in the bathtub and poured liquid soap into the running water. Donghae watched bubbles form around his sapphire blue tail as he splashed around.

          “Wow, that’s cool,” Donghae admitted before he picked up some of the bubbles. Curiously, the merman ate some of the bubbles, as the soapy taste touched his tongue. Donghae clenched his face and spit out the soap before wiping his tongue off as Eunhyuk laughed.

          “You’re not supposed to eat the bubbles, silly,” Eunhyuk said as he smiled at the merman. The blonde took a washcloth and began to wash Donghae’s back gently. “You’ve got really soft skin Donghae,” he whispered as he scrubbed the brunette’s back.

          “Thank you, and thank you for helping me wash my body, I can’t really reach my back well,” Donghae replied. As Eunhyuk continued to scrub his body carefully, Donghae quietly began to start to sing again.

          Eunhyuk recognized that this was the same song Donghae had been singing the other night. “That’s a beautiful song,” Eunhyuk complimented.

          “It’s a song I heard in my dreams all the time as a child,” Donghae informed.

          “You learned a song from your dreams?” Eunhyuk asked. “That’s impressive, and listening to it is making me sleepy.”

          “You can go take a nap if you want, I can finish up by myself,” Donghae insisted.

          “Are you sure?” Eunhyuk wondered. The merman nodded before the blonde stood up and walked into his room and lie down on his bed. Closing his eyes, Eunhyuk listened to Donghae continue to sing softly as he was put to sleep.

          Donghae smiled to himself as he rubbed bubbles over his body. “I hope my song will help Eunhyuk sleep. He takes such good care of me,” the brunette muttered to himself. “I wish I could one day be good enough to be his, what humans call, boyfriend, like Heechul was. But I’m a merman, and he’s a human, I’m not supposed to have feelings for him; our friendship is already forbidden enough as it is.”

          Rinsing the bubbles off himself, Donghae heaved himself out of the bathtub, dried off, and slipped into some boxers before slowly walking into Eunhyuk’s bedroom. He found the blonde lying asleep in bed, breathing in and out peacefully. Donghae pulled himself up onto Eunhyuk’s bed and lie next to him, before gently running his fingers over the blonde’s hair, and down to his shoulder. “Stop it Eunhyuk,” he whispered softly. “Please stop causing these feelings to develop.”