"Looking over your fan mail?" The sudden voice surprised Sehun who jumped a little.

 

"Yeah," Sehun glanced up.

 

"Get anything good?"

 

"Lots of really nice letters," Sehun replied, setting his stack of fan mail down.

 

"What do you want, Baekhyun hyung?" Sehun inquired.

 

"What?? You think I'm here for something?" Baekhyun feigned innocence, overdramatic in every sense.

 

"Yes." Sehun deadpanned, giving his hyung an unamused look.

 

"Okay, fine, you got me." Baekhyun sighed melodramatically.

 

"What is it?" Sehun inquired, unable to keep the impatience from his tone.

 

Baekhyun scrunched his nose up at the other before responding slowly, wanting to annoy the other some more.

 

"Junmyeon hyung told me to tell you," Baekhyun started, taking a small pause just to see what Sehun's reaction would be.

 

"Told you what?" The other questioned, a little annoyed already.

 

"That the manager cancelled your scheduled appointment.. so you have the day off." Baekhyun finished, reveling in Sehun's annoyed face.

 

Sehun pursed his lips before nodding. "Alright." He stared at the other, expecting him to leave.

 

"Oh, okay. Sorry, your highness." Baekhyun mocked a bow, chuckling as he left.

 

Sehun frowned, watching his hyung leave with a huff.

 

Whatever. The blonde returned to his letters, happily reading through them.

 

He even got a package! It was one of those bath bombs.

 

"Interesting..." Sehun commented to himself, staring at the mesmerizing blue ball of soap.

 

Sehun gathered all his mail into a large stack, setting them aside on his bedside table before leaving his shared room.

 

"Baekhyun hyung?" Sehun inquired, wandering into the living room.

 

Said hyung was sprawled out on the couch, casually staring at his phone.

 

"Yes, Sehunnie?"

 

The blonde grimaced at the nickname. "Where's everyone else?"

 

"Oh, it's just you and me," the brunet sweetly replied.

 

Sehun made a face. "Okay, well, I'm going to take a bath."

 

"Want me to join?" Baekhyun teased, glancing up from his phone, a lazy smirk on his lips.

 

Sehun's face soured. "No. I'm not a little child. Nor am I Tao." And with that said, the sassy blond left the living room, presumably heading to his shared room.

 

Baekhyun laughed when the other left, returning to his phone.

 

 

Sehun grabbed the bath bomb, staring at it curiously before heading to the shared bathroom down the hall from his dorm room.

 

He shut the door behind him, quickly stripping down. He tossed his clothes into the hamper they kept in there.

 

The blonde turned the knob, patiently waiting for the water to heat up.

 

He turned around to stare at himself in the mirror, silently judging himself.

 

He glanced down at the bath bomb in his hand, curiosity written on his features.

 

Once the tub was filled, he shut off the faucet, dropping the bath bomb into the warm water.

 

A saccharine scent came drifting up from the collision.

 

Sehun made a slight face before getting into the tub, laying back so his head was leaning back against the wall.

 

He slid his eyes shut, quietly relaxing as he breathed in the sweet scent. It sort of reminded him of the beach. Salty sea air reached his nose, making him truly believe he was at the beach.

 

The blonde opened his eyes curiously only to almost scream at the sight that greeted him.

 

Instead of two feet sticking out of the surface of the water, there was a bright blue fish tail greeting him.

 

Sehun took in deep breaths, trying to calm his erratically beating heart.

 

He experimentally tried to move the tail, making a loud noise of surprise when the tail twitched.

 

"Oh fish.... how am I going to explain this to management?" Sehun whined.

 

A sudden knock on the bathroom door jarred Sehun to reality.

 

"Sehun?" Baekhyun's annoyingly sweet voice called out. "Are you okay? I heard a... shout?"

 

"I'm fine, hyung!" Sehun replied.

 

There must've been an edge of panic to his tone because Baekhyun disregarded his reply and came barging in, momentarily shocked at the sight.

 

"Kkaebsong..." Baekhyun uttered out, brown eyes captivated by the blue tail.

 

Sehun watched Baekhyun approach, making a small noise when Baekhyun suddenly touched the tail, it slowly, fascination all over his face.

 

"Oh man, what happened?" Baekhyun questioned, not at all freaked out by this sudden addition to a fellow member.

 

"I don't know...? I was relaxing in the tub when this happened.." Sehun grouchily replied, trying to not to show how much Baekhyun's was affecting him.

 

Baekhyun, thank the fishy lord, stopped him, opting to just stand next to the other.

 

"Can you think of any reason why this happened?" Baekhyun tried to sound logical, but he was trying to be more like Junmyeon in this situation, knowing Sehun may be freaking out even if his RBF* was activated. The brunet was resisting the urge to touch Sehun's tail again.

 

What an odd sentence to say.

 

Sehun's tail twitched again, the tip flopping down against the water, showering Baekhyun with tiny droplets of water.

 

"Yah!" Baekhyun exclaimed, a small smile on his lips. "Bad merboy," he huffed.

 

"My bad." Sehun sounded the least apologetic. "And I think it was the bath bomb I received in the mail."

 

"Are you a pabo?? Why use something you got in the mail? You have no idea who this person was! They could've tried to kill you." Baekhyun lectured.

 

Sehun rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm not dead," he retorted. "So, we're all good in that department."

 

"Yeah, but you're half fish!" Baekhyun exclaimed, pointing his index finger at the scaly tail.

 

"Maybe it'll wear off," Sehun shrugged, relaxing back into the tub.

 

Baekhyun ran his fingers through his hair, slowly getting agitated with Sehun's careless attitude.

 

"Fine. Whatever, fish boy. I'm going back to the living room, scream if something happens." Baekhyun huffed, leaving the maknae by himself.

 

Sehun watched the other go with narrowed eyes, shrugging once more before settling back, staring up at the ceiling as he relaxed in the tub.

 

A small part of Sehun was freaking out, but there was a larger part of him that thought this was cool.

 

He sat up a bit more in the bathtub, wanting to ogle at his tail a bit more.

 

As he stared at it for a longer period of time, he started noticing the details such as scattered scales that were darker in color. Not an exact pattern, like the scales were randomly placed.

 

The longer Sehun ogled himself, the more worried Baekhyun became, not having heard any noise come out of the maknae occupied bathroom.

 

"Sehunnie?" Baekhyun called out, glancing back at the door to the bathroom.

 

Sehun opted to ignore the other, thinking Baekhyun wanted some attention.

 

"Junmyeon hyung is going to kill me if he finds out about Sehun..." Baekhyun grumbled, getting up off the couch.

 

"Sehun!" Baekhyun tried again, this time standing next to the bathroom door.

 

Sehun let out an annoyed sigh, eyes darting over to the door. "What?"

 

Baekhyun ignored the informality in the other's voice. "What's going on? Do you still have the tail?"

 

"Yeah... this is so cool!"

 

"Not cool! Hyung's gonna kill me when he comes home and finds his precious maknae with a fish tail." Baekhyun whined.

 

"Hyung won't kill you, he'll probably just fry you." Sehun snickered.

 

"Yah! What's with that bad joke? This is not a funny matter, my life's on the line." Overdramatic Baekhyun at it again.

 

Sehun sighed. "You'll be fine, hyung."

 

Baekhyun muttered something under his breath.

 

"So.. to be clear," Baekhyun started, "you still have the fish tail?"

 

"Yes, hyung." Sehun called back.

 

There was a pause before Baekhyun spoke up again.

 

"Can I see it again?"

 

"What?"

 

"Can I see your tail again?"

 

"Uhh," Sehun shrugged before remembering that Baekhyun couldn't see through doors. "Yeah, I guess so."

 

The door clicked, signaling that someone had turned the handle. It opened with a slight squeak, light footsteps creaked against the floorboards.

 

Baekhyun approached the bathtub, eyes focused on the end of Sehun's tail.

 

Sehun shifted, feeling the weight of Baekhyun's gaze.

 

"Can I touch it again?" Baekhyun questioned, standing right next to the tub.

 

Sehun pursed his lips before nodding slowly.

 

Baekhyun slowly stretched out a hand, gently one side of the caudal fin.

 

Sehun's back arched a little, surprised at how good it felt.

 

When Baekhyun stopped his tail fin, Sehun pouted, but he didn't say anything.

 

"Very pretty," Baekhyun murmured, stepping back.

 

There was a strange atmosphere around them, a tinge of intimacy to it.

 

Baekhyun's lips opened as if he were to say something, but ultimately decided against it.

 

"Are you okay?" Baekhyun inquired, remembering the other's panic earlier.

 

"I'm okay," Sehun shrugged. "Like I said, it'll probably wear off, why not enjoy it now?"

 

"It's not like you can go anywhere..." Baekhyun muttered. "You're stuck in a tub."

 

"I know... but I can pretend, can't I?"

 

"I guess," Baekhyun shrugged, watching the younger.

 

"Does it feel weird?" The brunet inquired.

 

"It did at first, but I'm used to it now." Sehun's tail gently slapped against the water, flinging droplets of water everywhere.

 

Baekhyun didn't move, fascinated.

 

"It looks awesome," Baekhyun commented, fingers acting on their own accord, slowly sliding along the edge of the caudal fin, following it down to where the water met the scales.

 

Sehun couldn't help but let out a noise at the sensation.

 

Baekhyun's fingers didn't falter, continuing their journey along the other's scales.

 

Sehun slowly relaxed his tail back into the water so only the tip of the caudal fin was visible.

 

Baekhyun pouted.

 

"I kinda hope this doesn't wear off."

 

Sehun glanced over at the brunet, curiosity plain on his features.

 

"It's not everyday a friend of yours grows a fish tail."

 

"True... but I still don't want this for ever.."

 

Baekhyun nodded. "We-"

 

He was cut off by the sound of the front doors opening, chit chat loud enough to hear from the bathroom.

 

"Oh..." Baekhyun's eyes widened in something akin to horror. He's imagining Suho walking in and promptly strangling him because he would blame it on him.

 

Sehun shifted so his lower half was hidden beneath the water.

 

Baekhyun hurried out into the hall, glancing around before his eyes locked with Suho's, who was standing a foot away.

 

"Hi, hyung...."

 

"Baekhyun... what's wrong?" Suho's motherly instincts started tingling.

 

"Nothing, hyung." Baekhyun's voice sounded a bit higher than usual.

 

Suho's eyes narrowed and he moved past Baekhyun and into the bathroom.

 

When Baekhyun didn't hear a scream, he turned around and hurried into the bathroom.

 

Sehun was standing next to the tub, towel wrapped around his hips, wonderfully long legs peeking out from beneath the towel.

 

Baekhyun breathed out a sigh of relief, though he took a step back when Suho whirled around to face Baekhyun, eyes narrowed at the brunet.

 

"Um... I told you nothing was wrong...?" Baekhyun held up his hands in a sort of surrender.

 

Suho pursed his lips, shaking his head.

 

"I know what's going on... it's been evident in the looks you've been giving him." Suho muttered, shaking his head, misunderstanding the situation.

 

Baekhyun heard him, his cheeks flushing a light pink.

 

Sehun heard Suho too, his own cheeks a matching pink.

 

Suho left the two by themselves, muttering something to himself.

 

Sehun glanced over at Baekhyun, obviously wanting an explanation.

 

"What did Suho hyung mean?"

 

"N- nothing..."

 

Sehun watched Baekhyun leave the bathroom in a hurry, cocking his head curiously.

 

There was something fishy about this.

 

But Sehun will figure it out another day, right now, he has to finish the rest of his letters.