"Why are we here?" Baekhyun asked the taller and reached across the table for a small dish of kimchi. 

Chanyeol shrugged. "Bro, I have no idea." He whispered.

"Why are you whispering?"

"I don't know!" Chanyeol whispered again. He looked around. "Because it's dark outside and we're in an empty restaurant? This is how serial killers get away with murder!"

Haebin stared at the two from her side of the table and convinced herself to stay calm. Don't smack them. Don't smack them. Don't smack them. 

"We're not alone..." Sehun looked at the boys. "Mrs. Lee is making food for us!"

"Sehun," She shook her head. "Don't even, these two are hopeless."

"So have you guys done anything yet? We're in chapter 20 already, don't most stories end?"

"Huh?" Haebin raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Baekhyun elbowed Chanyeol. "We're going for the extra long, extra cute soap opera you don't ruin it for them!" He gritted his head. "Nothing Haebin, you go on and pick on your side dishes-"

"Aigoo!" Mrs. Lee's loud voice echoed through the abnormally empty space as she came out of the kitchen with a steaming pot of gamgjatang. "I know you love potato stew and never have the patience to make it, Haebin." She set it on the table and took her seat. "I added extra pork bones and potatoes!"

Sehun gasped. "Whoa!" He stared at the bubbling pot. "I've never had this before!"

Haebin scooped him a bowl first. "Because I don't have the time to make this! It's so much work,"

Baekhyun and Chanyeol watched with their mouths drooling, their appetites were on fire to begin with and watching her ladle the stew didn't help.

Mrs. Lee wiggled her eyebrows at the boys. What's going on?

Baekhyun eyed the merman. What does it look like?

Mrs. Lee gasped silently. Oh?

Chanyeol grinned cheekily and a bit creepily. They're totally into each other!

Baekhyun furrowed his brows. I know they're cute but does Creep-Chan have to make an appearance-

"Here!"

Baekhyun nearly lost his mind when Haebin handed him his bowl. He had been so busy telepathically talking with her aunt and Chanyeol that he didn't even notice his bowl was missing. He dug into his steaming hot soup without a qualm. "Holy crap!"

Mrs. Lee chuckled. "Is it that good?" She asked indifferently. 

Haebin her teeth. "Esh, you know it's good!"

Mrs. Lee looked at the man beside her niece. "So, Sehun, is it?"

Sehun nodded his head and reached across the table to shake her hand whilst bowing his head down. "Hello, I'm Oh Sehun and I'm-"

"From Jeju Island," Haebin gently pinched his sides. "He's from Jeju,"

Sehun gawked as he nearly spilled his biggest secret. "Y-Yes, I'm from Jeju Island."

Mrs. Lee casually ate her meal and proceeded with the questions. "What's it like being a merman on land?"

Haebin nearly choked on her food when she heard it. 

Sehun was inbetween patting Haebin's back and stammaring when he tried to answer Auntie Lee's question. "U-Um, what?! I, I'm, I'm not...I'm..."

Mrs. Lee laughed. "Child! It's alright, I know." She said. "I know what you are, don't be scared to tell me. Don't hide it from me either, I've known for a while now." 

"How?"

"Haebin called me before and I wasn't able to answer," Mrs. Lee explained. "She was drunk, let me tell you that, and accidently left a voicemail."

Sehun tensed up. "W-What did she say?"

"She said something about having a new roommate who was a merman from the sea." Mrs. Lee said. "She said that this so-called roommate was a merman who was adapting to life on land who didn't know how to do anything. Apparently you collected your pearls in a little jar and was all sorts of cute." She chuckled. "I didn't realize she was serious about your existence until today,"

"How did you..." Haebin scratched her head. "I didn't leave any clues...?" 

Mrs. Lee nodded. "Yes you did!" She put her hands together. "I was taking the empty tupperware out of your bag earlier and I saw the little glass jar," She smiled. "It was filled a third of the way with pearls," Then she pretended to think. "I knew it didn't belong to you- why would you carry something so valuable around like it was nothing? And it certainly didn't belong to Baekhyun or Chanyeol,"

Chanyeol crossed his arms. "How would you know?!"

"The only thing you'd probably carry around is a travel sized bottle of soju," Mrs. Lee said. "Like the one you have sticking out of your pocket!"

Chanyeol sheepishly tucked away his mini bottle. "You win," He mumbled.

"Anyway," Mrs. Lee looked at Sehun. "I thought it had to be yours," She said. "Mermaids and mermen drop pearls here and there, you must collect them and keep them safe. Do you make Haebin carry your pearls for you when you're on the go? That's adorable."

Haebin couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're not weirded out or anything?"

Sehun glanced at Mrs. Lee. "Will you report me to the authorities?" He asked with a small voice.

The middle aged woman laughed. "Oh heavens no! Of course not!" Mrs. Lee shook her head. "It doesn't bother me and more so, it's none of my buisness who you are and what you, Haebin, have to do with him." 

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. "The hell? I don't know who's the crazy one on this table but for someone who just discovered that her niece is living with a merman, you seem pretty relaxed."

"I've met one before, Baekhyun." Mrs. Lee leaned back in her chair. "He came to my restaurant two years ago. Apparently being on land wasn't for him, he didn't like it here." She sighed. "He was a reoccuring customer though, he had been coming for nearly a month straight before revealing that he was a merman."

"What happened?" Chanyeol asked.

"I was closing up shop and he was the last one here," Mrs. Lee remembered. "He never told me his real name, he just told me to call him "hyung"," She scoffed. "I don't think he ever understood how to use "hyung" or "noona". But on his last visit, he confessed that he hated being on land and that he missed his home dearly." 

Sehun leaned forward a bit as his curiousity peaked. "Then?"

"I thought he was just a drunk and playfully shooed him out of my restuarant." Mrs. Lee said. "We walked in the same direction on the way home, I was half a block behind him and thought he was too drunk to get anywhere. Then we reached the beach and he began to run towards the water. I freaked out! I thought he was going to drown or get hurt!" She exclaimed. "Then I saw it- he jumped into the water and I saw his magnificient blue tail. It glistened under the moonlight and I saw him swim away, that was the last time I saw him."

Haebin listened to her aunt's story and felt as if it fate was doing something on her end. She turned to Sehun. "Ya know, I always wondered why you ended up on my doorstep," She looked around. "I mean, think about it! Out of all the doorsteps in Seoul, you ended up on mine. I always wondered why we ended up meeting but it might be fate." She wrinkled her nose at her aunt. "Turns out I'm not the only one in my family to encounter a merman...how come you never told me?!"

"Would you have believed me if I told you about it two years ago?"

"Point taken." 

Mrs. Lee held up her glass of soda. "Now! Enough with the merman talk!" She said. "Sorry hun, today's not your day!"

Sehun smiled and held up his glass too. "I know, we're here for Haebin!"

"Here's to Haebin getting an internship!"

[a/n]: don't you wish you had an auntie as chill as Haebin's? i wish i did!

comments are much appreciated!