It's been a week and a half since Jongdae turned into a human and Yixing took him back to the castle. Yixing had let Jongdae himself explain everything to Yifan and Luhan before they all came up with the story that Jongdae was a distant cousin of Luhan's that had come to visit him so that he could stay in the castle.

Being human wasn't so bad. Jongdae had gotten used to walking on land with his legs and wearing clothes, people even said that he dressed nicely. However, he'd still wake up from sleep in panic everyday when he notices that his skin and hair are different colours, that his tail is missing and that he isn't underwater anymore. Thankfully, he was given a room near Yixing's, so whenever the prince heard his screams, he would rush to Jongdae's side immediately and comfort the boy. Yixing had initially wanted to share one room with the boy but was advised against it for fear of gossip.

The prince had unfortunately managed to spread gossip anyway as he stuck close to Jongdae for the past week and a half, neglecting his duties as he solely focused on the boy. The prince was neglecting his duties again today as he decided to accompany Jongdae on a walk around the gardens instead of going to his battle training. They were walking arm in arm, oblivious to the stares they were receiving.

"The plants here are much more different than the ones in the sea." Jongdae commented as he viewed the variety of vegetation in the garden.

"Are they nicer?" Yixing asked in curiosity.

Jongdae stopped to admire a white rose. "Both are equally as nice and both are equally different from each other." he said in wistfulness.

"Do you miss the sea?" Yixing asked in concern.

Jongdae bent down to smell the rose. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it a little bit but I'm happy here with you."

Yixing plucked the flower and tucked it behind Jongdae's ear. "I'll take you out on to the waters later today then."

Jongdae smiled up at him. "You're so good to me."

Yixing cupped Jongdae's face with his right hand and s his left around his waist. He pulled him so their chests were flushed against each others before leaning down to capture Jongdae's lips in a slow kiss. They were lost in their own world unfortunately, and failed to notice that they were in an open space full of guards and servants.

Yixing had been summoned to have an audience with the king and queen an hour before his and Jongdae's boat trip.

"Can we make this quick?" Yixing requested after he bowed to both the king and the queen. "Jongdae and I are planning to go sailing."

The king and queen both shared a concerned look before they turned to address their first born.

"Yixing," his mother started off softly. "You do remember that you're the crown prince?"

Yixing frowned at his mother. "Of course I do, what kind of a question is that?"

"Then start acting like it!" his father thundered.

"Your Majesty!" scolded the queen.

"I'm sorry my dear but I've had enough of our son." The king glared at Yixing. "What do you think you're doing kissing some boy in front of all the guards and servants?! Have you forgotten your duty to your Kingdom. You're already betrothed Yixing and you're a prince, you can't just be flouncing around with some floozy who's probably just interested in you for the money."

"Jongdae's not like that!" yelled Yixing. "You don't know anything about him!"

The queen cut in before the king could do more damage. "Sweetheart, I know you love him, I can see it in your eyes. It breaks my heart to say that you are not allowed to be. You have been burdened with the position of crown prince which means that you will need to marry a neighbouring princess and produce legitimate heirs. You can't escape this fate no matter how much you might want to because it is tradition. If Jongdae was a princess of any kind, we wouldn't be making a fuss, but he isn't. I suggest you break this off  now to spare both of you heartbreak later."

Yixing stormed out of the room, not bothering to spare his parents another glance.

Luhan was tasked with escorting Jongdae to the beach  and keeping him company until Yixing arrived.

"I love coming to the beach." Luhan said to Jongdae. "I like taking my shoes off and feeling the sand between my toes as the sea washes over them."

"I want to try that." Jongdae said excitedly.

They both rushed to take their shoes off before running towards the sea. As soon as the water touched Jongdae's toes, his feet began to change. He screamed in horror causing Luhan to look over in alarm and see that Jongdae's legs were beginning to stick together. Realising what was happening, he unsheathed his sword and cut Jongdae's clothes off his body to allow a smoother transformation. Once Jongdae had changed completely, Luhan took off his coat, bundled Jongdae in it and carried him towards the boat he and Yixing was going to use for sailing. He sailed as fast as he could to the spot where they had originally found Jongdae before depositing the merman in the waters.

"Stay here." Luhan said to Jongdae not sure if the merman was understanding him or not but praying that he did. "I'll get Yixing, just stay here."

Jongdae watched as he sailed away and hoped that he was going to get Yixing. Now that he wasn't human anymore, he couldn't understand them and they couldn't understand him either. Jongdae chose to submerge himself in the sea and wait.

Luhan got back to the shore in time to see Yixing heading his way.

"Where's Jongdae?" Yixing asked him.

"Jongdae transformed back into a merman as soon as the water touched him." Luhan explained as he dragged Yixing to the boat.

"What do you mean he transformed?!" Yixing stopped in his tracks and stared at Luhan.

Luhan sighed. "Shut up and get on the damn boat. This past hour has been an emotional rollercoaster and I'm tired so just come with me."

Jongdae saw a boat approaching from the underneath the waters but waited until he was sure it was Yixing's before surfacing. Yixing gasped when Jongdae surfaced as he saw that Luhan's words were true.

Yixing cupped his face with one hand as tears streamed down his face. "You can't understand me anymore, can you?"

Jongdae didn't reply, he wasn't sure what Yixing was saying but he knew that Yixing was sad. He brought a hand up to brush away the tears from his cheeks. They were back to where they started and they could do nothing about it. Jongdae cursed himself for wanting to dip his toes in the sea otherwise he wouldn't be in this mess. He couldn't bear to see the prince this upset, so he pecked his cheek lightly before swimming away in guilt.