Jongdae swam straight to Kyungsoo, tears threatened to spill but he willed them away. He didn't even hesitate at the entrance of the cave like he normally would and swam straight into Minseok.

Minseok caught the boy using one of his many tentacles. "Are you ok Jongdae?" Jongdae nodded, not trusting himself to speak. "Are you here to see Kyungsoo?" Another nod followed the question.

"Minseok." Kyungsoo said as he came up behind them. "You can let the boy down." Minseok slowly unwrapped his tentacle from Jondgae's being. "Poor thing's had quite the few weeks. Aren't I right Jongdae?"

Jongdae didn't even know how Kyungsoo knew that and nor did he want to know. "I just came by to return the necklace you gave me." Jongdae went to take his necklace off when Kyungsoo stopped him.

"That's yours now Jongdae, please keep it."

"Oh ok." Jongdae shuffled awkwardly.

"So what have you been up to these last few weeks?" Kyungsoo asked nonchalantly.

"I umm I er..." Jongdae debated whether or not he should tell Kyungsoo the truth.

"The surface is a strange place, is it not?" Kyungsoo asked with a sly smile. Jongdae's eyes widened. "Don't worry Jongdae, I won't be telling the authorities that you almost exposed us all because of some human."

Jongdae looked at the floor in guilt. "You won't have to worry about that anymore because I don't plan on going anywhere near the surface again."

Kyungsoo brow arched. "Is that so? Did the humans treat you terribly? Do you want me to do something about them?"

"No no no." Jongdae said hastily. "He was very warm and welcoming."

Kyungsoo quirked his head to the side. "He?"

"I mean they." He correctly quickly.

"The same 'he' you saved."

"Yes." Jongdae didn't see a point in lying anymore especially as Kyungsoo already seemed to know everything.

Kyungsoo's eyes pierced into Jongdae before asking the next question. "Are you in love with him?"

"I don't know what love is." Jongdae said sincerely.

"I'm pretty sure love is saving someone you don't even know from sirens even at the expense of your own life." Minseok quipped from somewhere in the cave.  "Even when that someone's friends kidnap you and threaten to expose your entire species."

"Minseok!" Kyungsoo reprimanded. He then turned to Jongdae with an apologetic look on his face. "Ignore him."

Jongdae smiled sadly at him. "He might be right."

"Do you want to be human?" Kyungsoo asked suddenly.

Jongdae was flustered, he had never thought to be anything but a merperson. "I don't know." Then Yixing popped into his mind. "I wouldn't mind."

Kyungsoo smiled a cunning smile. "I see. Well be careful what you wish for."

Jongdae gave him a strange look before swimming away.

It had been a few weeks since Jongdae had returned to the sea and much had changed since then. When he had tried to go home, his father had kicked him out saying as he had 'runaway' for two weeks, there was little point in him returning to his family. Joonmyun and his family had been kind enough to take him in but he felt like he was a burden to them and was trying desperately to find somewhere else to stay.

Jongdae had began a habit of going to the place where Yixing had dropped him off. He daren't break the surface for fear of repeating history, instead, he chose to just look up at the other world from the ocean floor. Some days a boat would be there blocking his view and Jongdae just knew that it was Yixing's boat. They were mirror images of each other, one looking up at the other and the other looking down. It was strange and it was comforting.

Jongdae was glancing up at the boat on one such day when he began to feel a strange sensation. He glanced at his arm and saw that the usually alice blue was melting away and leaving in its place a warm beige. Panic began to fill him as he watched the webs between his fingers completely disappear along with the fins on his arms and back. Jongdae clawed at his throat when he felt like he couldn't breathe and realised that his gills were missing. Jongdae thrashed desperately around as he tried to get to the surface as quickly as possible.

As he broke the surface, a strong pair of arms caught him and hauled him up to the boat. The person helped Jongdae into a position that would make it easier for him to breath and wrapped his body in a blanket.

When Jongdae had managed to calm down, the person spoke. "Are you alright sir?"

Jongdae knew that voice, he looked up to see Yixing staring at him. "Yes I'm fine." He said automatically before the realisation set in that he could finally understand and speak to Yixing.

Yixing raised a hand and caressed Jongdae's cheekbones before swiftly retracting his hand once he became aware of his actions. "Sorry, you remind me of someone I know."

Jongdae smiled shyly at him. "Do I remind you of Chen?"

Yixing's eyes flashed with something and before Jongdae knew what was going on, he was pinned down on the floor by Yixing. "How do you know about Chen?!" Yixing growled.

"Because I am Chen." Jongdae explained but Yixing's eyes narrowed in disbelief and he gripped Jongdae's wrists tighter. Jongdae winced and spoke rapidly. "Or rather, my name is Jongdae but you called me Chen."

Yixing was less than convinced so Jongdae proceeded to recount the tale of saving Yixing's life, getting kidnapped by his friends, living in his aquarium and then returning to sea. When he finished, Yixing pulled him up and hugged him close to his body before apologising.

"How is this, I mean, how did you, I mean-" Yixing spluttered.

Jongdae shrugged as he tried to get used to his new legs. "I don't know."

Yixing shook his head and grinned at him. "It doesn't matter. Come, I'll take you home with me."