"Sehun," Haebin stood in the middle of the street with his strong arms around her. "I'm fine," She whispered. Her ears were a nice shade of pink and her cheeks were catching up. Is this? Butterflies? Is this what it feels like to have butterflies in your stomach? She pulled away and smoothed out her locks. "Sehun, nothing happened to me, see? I'm okay!" She reassured him. 

The merman picked up her shopping bags and grabbed her hand. "I was just so startled by the news," He took a deep breath and began walking back home. "Gosh Haebin, I almost had a panic attack. I was so worried!"

"Wait!"

"Huh?" He turned around. "What's wrong?"

"Are you alright?" Haebin reached for the shopping bags and took them out of his hands. "You couldn't even get out of bed this morning, and you ran out here?"

Sehun held up a trembling hand. "I guess I forgot about the soreness," He looked at her. "You being in danger scared me out of the house." He said sheepishly. 

***

Back at home, Haebin was sitting in the livingroom preparing for her interview when she noticed the merman fast asleep on the couch. She propped her head up against her palm and sighed. I've never had someone do that for me before, nothing was confirmed, you didn't even know if I was hurt or not but you dropped everything to find me. "Do I dare?" She put her head down. "Can I like you?" 

The next day

Haebin walked out of her room with a pencil skirt and a blazer on. She slicked her hair back into a tidy ponytail and stuffed her feet into uncomfortable heels. "H-How do I look? Do I look professional?"

"What's professional?"

"Like," She gave it some thought. "Do I look like I could be an editor? Do I look fit for a job?"

"Of course!" Sehun smiled. "You look awesome Haebin!"

"Alright, I have to leave real soon." She reached into a cupboard and pulled out a folder of takeout menus. "Remember when Baekhyun taught you how to order black bean noodles? Well, you can order whatever food you want using his method-"

"Haebin," Sehun stood up and grabbed his keys and wallet off a coffee table. He put his belongings in his jean pockets and pulled his t-shirt off. "Let's go together!" He said as he put on a gray buttondown. 

"It's far," Haebin said. "What if it rains?"

Sehun grabbed her shoulders and spun her around. "Don't worry about me!" He led them towards the door. "Let's go!"

The walk to the bus stop and the bus ride itself seemed to past by faster than usual. Haebin clutched the strap of her bag and stood in front of the building, intimidated. "We're already here?" She gasped in disbelief. "How..." 

Sehun leaned over her shoulder and poked his face in front of hers. "Aren't you excited? This is what you wanted!" He chirped. "You're going to do so great!"

Haebin checked the time on her watch and shook her head. "I'm ten minutes early, I can wait out here-"

"No! You shouldn't! You should go in there and make sure you get to your appointment on time. What if you get lost and end up being a few minutes tardy?"

Haebin frowned. He's right. She looked at him with a skeptical expression. "Should I?" She mumbled. 

Sehun held his arms out. "Don't be worried! You know what you're expecting.You know a lot about the field you're trying to get into and you even went to school for it. You will be fine. Come here, I'll give you a hug! I can hug all your feelings away!"

She stepped into his arms and felt her heart pound but this time, Haebin wasn't sure if the interview was the only thing that was making her heart race. "D-Don't wait for me and go home, it'll take a while." 

"Mmm,"

"Do you remember the route home?" She asked. "Remember to take the bus in the opposite direction-"

"Got it," Sehun turned her around. "Good luck!"

A few hours later

The interview was absolutely brutal. Haebin stared into space on her way down to the first floor, the elevator was dead silent and full of hopefuls who were no longer hopeful. 

"I didn't know how to answer any of those questions!"

"I lost. I'm screwed. If they don't take me in, I don't know what I'm going to do!"

"No amount of experience can prepare me for such a conversation!"

"They didn't even care about my master's degree!"

"I studied abroad too!"

Haebin listened in the corner quietly as the interviewees in front of her complained. She sighed. What is going to happen to me? She wondered. 

She walked out of the building with a cloud over her head grimly. Then a rainbow came shooting through, destroying the solemn mood.

"Haebin!"

She looked up. "Huh?" That rainbow was Sehun.

The merman sat on a bench in front of the building and waved one of his hands before running over. "Why so glum, chum?"

She laughed and shook her head. "I don't know," Haebin admitted. "I can't tell if I did well or not, everyone walked in with a confident smile and left with a devastated-"

"Do you think you did horrible?"

"Well..."

He smiled and nudged her side. "That means you did a decent job!"

"No! I don't think so! It was a hard interview!"

Sehun shook his head. "Out of all the ladies and gents that walked out of the building, you looked the least horrified. Everyone else looked like they stole something and got caught!"

She chuckled, feeling a little reassured. "Really?"

"Really!"

"Maybe there's hope for me..."

Sehun linked arms with her and walked down the street. "I know my Haebin did great! There's no doubt!"

My Haebin? 

[a/n]: comments are much appreciated!