Taeyang and Youngbin refused to go home.

They chose to stay with the dumb stranger, the devastated Juho, and the troubled Chanhee. Just like in all those alien movies, when people flocked the crashing spot that’s pretty much the same with the curious jerks who were staring at the stranger like he was a chicken-headed alien. Well, they had reason and I couldn’t find a demurral to totally disagree with their uncivil treatment.

The stranger was skillfully sitting down mermaid way. And that was one good bombshell at night, just like his magical appearance from inside Juho’s closet.

Taeyang and Youngbin found the humor in the extreme happening and in between their confusion as well. The man with his eccentric sitting position that they couldn’t help to wonder: 1) What’s happening inside his head ? 2) How big was his thing that he didn’t feel bothered at all ? Second was how Chanhee behaved the whole day explained all problem here and how cute it was when he was extra nervous. And last, they had to be away with the fairies for quite a long time that they believed a mermaid-man appeared from inside a closet. If it’s not for Juho’s ready-to-assail-everyone vibe, they would already laugh their off, swearing at each other’s face about how mathematic had ruined their head and suggesting an anti-depressant. Taeyang banged his head to the room’s door thinking that he would wake up but the door was as real as the mermaid-man and Juho’s judging look.

The small rented house was unusually silent, mainly because of the pressure from Juho’s upset sighs kind of afflicted his besties but mostly our poor Chanhee who just hugged his knees in the corner. Juho was seated right across the stranger and the whole thirty minutes were wasted just by sighing loudly, showing his mixed feelings of confusion and irritation and contemplating whether to dropkick him to the center of the earth or abolish him from the family card. He looked up once only to meet the stranger’s confused and slightly scared expression and wow.

How triggered he was.

The silence was killing Taeyang faster than anyone it brought back words to his throat.

“Hey Youngbin, you gotta do something. The mermaid-man is real as real as Shim Chung noona,” whispered him to the brown haired. Youngbin was known for his leadership and maturity (excluding his hobby to irk other gangs) so Taeyang smoothly passed the fireball to the latter. Youngbin only rolled his eyes in annoyance, knowing that Taeyang’s basically just wishing him death.

“So, yeah, first I see that Juho is devastated and this stranger doesn’t seem like he understand us and also Chanhee is blending very well with the shadow. And we all know that communication is pretty much an important factor in problem-solving session. Well, let me read the situation here, um, I don’t wanna die young and I can’t stand crying Chani so let’s start from this strange male.” He began. Youngbin approached the stranger, crouching to equal the eye level with the lad. He smiled nervously before saying, “H-hey. Do you, do you probably understand us ?” He cocked his head to the side. The stranger said nothing and he assumed that that’s a “no”. So he tried his best looking up for other languages.

“You- you speak, speak English ? You understand ?” Said him with the I-try-my-best English. And still no respond.

“Konichiwa ? Tu t’apelles comment ? Amigos ?” He tried again. “Uh, Wie heißen sie ???” Taeyang added after opening Google translate.

The stranger blinked twice before replying, “What are you talking about ?” in perfect Korean. Both boys exhaled in relief. Language was the only barrier that they hardly broke unlike the school’s rules. Youngbin made the Sign of the Cross, thanking God for the very first problem-solving and Taeyang sang a praise to God. Weirdos.

“Okay back to the topic. So, how do you get here ? Why were you in Juho’s closet all the time ? Are you his stalker ? Or Chanhee’s stalker ?? Or do you probably like… men ?” Youngbin let out his curiosity, but a bit uncontrolled. He threw questions like the baseball machine that it hurt the stranger’s brain.

“Stal- what ?”

“Stalker.”

“Stal-ker ? What is…. a stalker ? And who are Juho and Chanhee ? Do I like men… um… I lays out most of my lifetime with my wicked stepmother therefore I think men will be better than women.”

Taeyang yelled out “Juho’s religion” (plus a very extra hoola-hoola dance) and Youngbin spoke in a low voice to the stranger that Juho wouldn’t kill him.

“If you are here to worsen my headache I advise you to use the door.” Juho warned with a death glare. That automatically shut Taeyang as he silently leaned on the wall once again and acted cool with folded arms and I-am-thinking-hard expression.

“What’s your name ? Where do you come from ?” Youngbin continued.

“Could you tell me who Juho and Chanhee are first ?” The stranger replied. Both men were taken aback with the reply but Taeyang smirked.

“I like him already. He is sassy,” said him.

“Okay, if you want to know Chanhee and Juho that bad. The one who blends with the shadow-” Youngbin pointed at Chanhee who gave a slight smile to them. The stranger smiled back and somehow a little amount of Chanhee’s worry faded away. “Is Chanhee.” Then, Youngbin pivoted to look at the still devastated Juho who hid his face inside his palms. The stranger peered from behind Youngbin’s crouching figure to look at Juho who had displayed his assassin face with his extra sharp jawline and gaze. I will remind myself not to touch his jaw, said the stranger silently.

“That gangster is Juho. He is the worst badass so… be careful.” The stranger gasped. “I apologize that I cannot infer the term ‘gangster’ and ‘badass’ but I suppose it means an evil thing. How wicked is he ? Did he do something really evil ?” Youn