Breakfast was pretty weird. Baekhyun and Chanyeol noticed it all- there was something off about Sehun.

For the love of God someone please give this man a fork. Chanyeol cringed at the merman’s lack of chopstick skills.

Baekhyun was just as confused. He eats so slowly. Is he still drunk? It’s been a day! Haebin, give him a tonic, he’s stoned for sure!

The boys were sure that something was up after getting kicked out of the apartment. “She forced us out without making us do the dishes?” Baekhyun clutched his heart and shook his head. “This isn’t right!”

Chanyeol nodded furiously. “Sebum brainwashed her!”

“His name is Sehun!” Baekhyun huffed and puffed whilst his invisible beard. “And she said to call before coming?” He laughed. “How ridiculous! Why would we? We’re her best friends, her only friends it seems since Ivy can’t afford to add more characters.”

Chanyeol agreed. “That’s too much work, two friends is more than enough compared to those poor main characters in the dramas that only have one. But honestly now when have we ever had to call before going to her house?”

“Never!”

“Exactly!”

***

“Haebin, how come you keep on kicking your friends out? They wanted to stay for a movie, didn’t you hear?”

She turned around and leaned against the counter with her rubber gloves dripping with soap. “What if they find out that you’re a mermaid?”

“Merman,”

“Merman, my bad, what if they find out? Baekhyun’s a lunatic and Chanyeol’s mouth is never shut.”

Sehun scratched his head and folded his arms. “Can we just tell them?"

She shrugged and grabbed the dish soap. “Maybe later, they’re not used to having you around yet. I need to come up with a reason why you’re here first. Let’s make up some to shut them up, yeah?”

“We’re going to lie?”

“Sehun, sometimes, lying is good,” Haebin said. “Okay?”

“S-Sure,” Sehun leaned over her shoulder and stared into the murky water. “What are you doing?”

“I’m washing the dishes,” Haebin pointed to the plates on the table. “We can’t leave it like that, after we eat, we clean up.”

“Ah…” Sehun reached his arm out. “Can I help-“

“PAUSE,”

“Huh?”

Haebin took the rubber gloves off and looked down at the floor. “Your t-“ She chuckled and lost it at the sight of Sehun wearing a pair of cat stuffed slippers. “Where…did you get those?”

Sehun shuffled to the shoe closet. “I saw Chanyeol and Baekhyun do it too! They took their shoes off and put on slippers. These are called house slippers, right? I found these in the closet.”

She sighed and picked up the rest of the dishes. “Wow, Sehun, you’re something else.”

“Can I help?”

“What about your tail? Wouldn’t you turn into a merman upon touching water?”

Sehun furrowed his brows. “I actually don’t know…”

She pulled the gloves off again and put her hands on his waist. “I’ll hold you in case it happens, go and dip your hand in the water.”

The merman grazed the surface and picked up a blob of bubbles. “Oh?” He stuck both arms into the water and gasped. “Haebin, I think it’s only my legs! I turn into a merman when my legs get wet!” He beamed. “I can do the dishes!”

Haebin handed him a pair of gloves. “Only you would get excited about that,” She grabbed a sponge. “Follow me,”

Soon enough the two of them were doing the dishes side by side, Haebin found it insanely mind-blowing, how could anyone find joy in doing house chores?

***

“What’s a job?” Sehun turned the faucet off and wiped his hands dry with a towel. “Why do you want one?”

“Money,” She rubbed her index finger and her thumb together. “Everything here costs money, Sehun. I need a job to make money,”

“Then how did you get this home?”

“I had a job!” Haebin shook her head and let out a huge breath of exhaustion. “I worked my off for eight summers straight. I lived with my aunt then and even as a student I knew that one day I would have to be on my own as an adult.”

“Had?”

“Summer jobs aren’t permanent; I worked multiple jobs every summer and put all my money away. I met my landlady a year ago but…” Haebin sighed. “I’m really running out of money, it . I got lucky with this apartment, rent and service bills are cover together for one price!”

Sehun dug into his pocket and pulled out a tiny pearl. “Haebin, doesn’t this count as money too?”

She gawked at the sight of the pearl. IT’S A ING PEARL, I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THAT-  “S-Sehun,”

“Cheong said that these are worth a lot here, right? She gave me one before she left,” He dropped the golden pearl in her palm. “Take it Haebin!”

She shook her head. “Yo! That’s crazy! How could I? These are worth so much money!” Haebin looked at him. “How do these- Crying! Do you cry pearls? Is it true? Mermaid tears become pearls?”

Sehun looked around the flat. “No, that’s not true. In the sea, pearls appear in the presence of mermaids and mermen. They grow in oysters too! I guess here on land, it’s like crying. Humans know when they’ve cried just like how I know when I have a pearl on me. I’ll probably leave them in odd places from here and there but I’ll try my best to keep them all in one place!”

Haebin stared at the pearl in her palm. “Does that mean you’re sad when a pearl appears?”

“For me, white means neutral, pink means happy, and a dark pearl means I’m sad. Cheong is a mermaid from another sea; her golden pearls must mean something else.”

“Ah…”

“Are you going to exchange this for money?” Sehun asked. “You should! Then we can get many nice things!”

The next day, Haebin was greeted with a pleasant surprise at the jewelry shop. A very pleasant surprise…

She stood with Sehun in front of a group of executives from one of the biggest jewelry companies in Seoul.

“What’s happening?”

Haebin tilted her body towards his. “They’re discussing how much the pearl is worth,”

“Also can we get shrimp chips after this?”

“I’m sure we can get a thousand bags of those after this,”

He almost jumped in joy. “Really?!”

“Miss. Kim, we’ve come to a conclusion. Seoul Diamonds is the biggest jewelry company in all of South Korea and we know that if any other incorporation knows about this, they will fight for it. We are offering a starting price of 35,000,000 won.”

Silence

Sehun nudged her sides. “H-Haebin, they said something.”

“Miss?”

To which Haebin almost crumbled to the ground. “SEHUN,”

“Y-Yes?”

“I THINK I LOVE YOU.”

“I want shrimp chips…”

[a/n]: what would you do with 35,000,000 won? (Which is about 31,000 USD)

<--- lol can u imagine sehun in those (how cute!)