“Hey, are you alright?” Yoochun asked in concern. The other man blatantly ignored him as he ran around the counter and went to Jaejoong's side almost breathless. Yoochun knew that expression; he had seen something similar the previous day, when Jaejoong had emerged from the bathroom and found Yunho in front of him. The merman prince didn’t seem to notice the commotion, too absorbed in the mouth-watering sight of those different pastries while he was trying to assert which one could be the best to try. He even thought about asking Yoochun how many he was allowed to eat so that he could choose more comfortably.

“Joongie?” A breathy voice whispered.

Jaejoong’s eyes widened in recognition as he slowly looked at his left and noticed a flash of pastel, pink hair next of him. Immediately, his hands started to tremble and his eyes flooded with tears. In a moment, he found himself wrapped around a shaky embrace, the tears of the other man were wetting his shirt right above his shoulder. 

“Su-Suie?” Jaejoong asked in confirmation silently crying as, in turn, he wrapped his arms around his long lost best friend.

It was a mess of broken sobs and somehow Yoochun suddenly felt like crying too. He didn’t know what the story was yet, but he knew he was witnessing an important, emotional moment. 

The two trembling forms fell on their knees, never breaking the hug as if there was the possibility of the other to disappear under their own eyes.

“It’s me, Joongie. I’m so sorry-” 

“I thought I would have never seen you again!” Jae interrupted while grabbing Junsu’s shirt. “I’m the one who is sorry. Everything was my fault!” 

Junsu finally broke the hug and cupped Jaejoong’s face with his soft hands. 

“You have nothing to be sorry about. I would make the same choice over and over again if it meant that I was able to protect you.” He said sternly, wiping a tear from his friend’s cheek. Junsu then helped Jaejoong to stand up and led him towards a chair. 

“We have a lot of catch up to do! I’ll be back soon.” The merwizard said. For the first time, his attention went to Yoochun, a hint of suspicion and confusion in his eyes. 

“I’m sorry, who are you? I think I’ve seen you here before.” The pink haired boy asked him. 

Yoochun’s ego was once again painfully stabbed as he apparently had to reconsider his own popularity. For ’s sake, he was one of Korea’s most popular actors and he had millions of fans!

“I…” 

“He’s a friend, Su.” Jaejoong explained, “He helped me a lot yesterday when I suddenly found myself here. I don’t know what I would have done without him.”

“I’m Park Yoochun, nice to meet you.” He introduced himself with a charming smile. Jaejoong’s words gave him the time to recover his confidence in front of those scrutinizing eyes.

Junsu seemed to relax at the explanation and offered Yoochun to sit next to Jae while he was going to get something to eat and drink for them. Then, with a single wave of his right hand he locked the door of the bakery, the external white sign turning from “open” to “closed”. Another snap of his fingers and white, long curtains covered the width of the windows so that no one could look inside.

Yoochun’s mouth fell open and his breath caught; this was a whole new level of shock to him. 

He remembered Jae telling him that his best friend was the merwizard that assured Yunho’s reincarnation, but he probably had missed the part in which the other had told him Junsu owned a bakery shop in the middle of Seoul. His head started to hurt once again. 

“He… Junsu was banished from the Sea because of me the same night Yunho died.” Jaejoong explained shortly as he noticed Yoochun's flabbergasted expression, his head lowered in shame. “I had no idea of his whereabouts and I thought I had lost him forever too. You know, it’s funny how you saw me crying two days in a row. You must be thinking that I’m a crybaby while I actually spent the past 200 years without even shedding a single tear.” He chuckled without any humor with a bittersweet expression on his face.

“I don’t think you’re a crybaby, Jae. I can’t even imagine what you’ve been going through. You seem quite a strong person to me.” Yoochun smiled reassuringly. 

At that moment, Junsu came back with a tray full of mini desserts and three beverages. Yoochun motioned to grab his wallet but Junsu stopped him. 

“This is on the house. Thank you for taking care of Joongie.” His smile was dazzling, and Yoochun’s heart skipped a beat. He wondered if melodious voices and breathtaking smiles were mermen’ characteristics or if he had simply been lucky to meet two of the most beautiful creatures out there. 

Junsu sat in front of them, his look suddenly serious and worried.

“Wow, you made these, Su? They’re so pretty!” Jaejoong said in complete amazement. Junsu knew his friend was trying to delay the conversation; he could see how his eyes and fingers were fidgeting, so he decided to indulge him for a bit. 

“In all these years I’ve travelled the world and witnessed the changes it went through, but somehow I’ve always found my way back here. From the Joseon Era to now I’ve been a lot of things, but I’ve tried to never draw too much attention to myself since someone could notice that I didn’t age. Even though it was a hassle to mess with people’s memories and it’s something I don’t enjoy, I had to do it more than once to protect myself and keep on living without any troubles. I’ve immersed myself deeply in knowledge and learned everything there was to learn: different languages, different cultures… I’ve tried a good amount of professions and in the end I found my true passion and decided to settle down and open this bakery not too long ago.” He narrated. 

Yoochun listened to the story attentively and he had at least a hundred questions, but he didn’t want to seem too curious since he had just learned that Junsu could modify his memories if he wanted to. He wondered if it was something he could do because of his wizard powers or if it was a merman ability. And in that case if Jaejoong was able to do the same thing.

“I’m so happy you were able to make the most of these years, Su. And I’m so-” 

“Stop it, I don’t want to hear you saying that you’re sorry ever again.” He glared at him. “If anything, I’m so sorry I left you all alone. But you were in my thoughts through it all, always.” and Yoochun could actually feel how strong they felt for each other. There was nothing romantic about it, it was just as if they were closer than family. The long separation hadn’t done anything to weaken their bond, and the actor thought it was beautiful. 

“How did you come here, Joongie? What happened?” Junsu sighed. 

The prince gave him a small smile as he looked down at his hands. He wasn’t sure about telling Junsu everything because he knew that once mentioned the curse, he was going to be even more worried. Also, he hadn’t told Yoochun everything about the implications of the curse, he had lied to him that very morning. 

When he looked back at Junsu, he shivered under the intensity of his gaze. It was as the other could see right through him and read everything he was thinking about. He found himself wondering if he could actually read his mind. 

“Let me see it.” Junsu said in a tone that didn't really leave him any chance to debate, and Jaejoong’s eyes widened in shock. 

“What… What are you talking about?” He tried to play dumb because how could he know? But that only earned himself another glare from Junsu.

“Your wound: the one that the curse left on your body.” 

Jaejoong was frozen in place and Yoochun at his side was just as astonished as he was. 

“How did you-” 

“I’m your best friend, or at least I once was. And I’m also a fairly good wizard; I’ve polished my powers a lot during the time we weren’t together. I can feel and see them, the ominous waves coming from your body.” He explained with trembling hands. “I guess only that evil snake of your sister could do something this awful to you.”

Jaejoong closed his slightly-agape mouth, lifted his hands in defeat and chuckled. 

“I could never hide anything from you. And you’re still my best friend.” Jaejoong stood from his chair and with a fluid, almost elegant movement, he turned around and took his shirt off. Yoochun looked away for a moment even if it was nothing he hadn’t already seen. But somehow the situation seemed awfully intimate.

“, , .” Junsu gasped as he approached Jaejoong to inspect the wound closer. 

“It’s okay, Su…” 

“It’s not okay, Jae! You know very well what this means!” 

“Su, I saw Yunho yesterday.” Jaejoong turned towards his friend again, putting back the shirt on and starting to button it.

“Yunho??” 

“Yes, he’s Yoochun’s friend apparently. He… He reincarnated or something thanks to your spell, but he didn’t recognize me. He was completely different from the Yunho I knew.” The merman dropped again on the chair and Junsu sighed before doing the same thing, all the fight had left him.

“We have too many things to discuss and figure out.” 

“Ehm ehm,” Yoochun cleared his throat, earning the attention of both the mermen. “Jae told me-“ 

“Jae? How can you call His Majesty with this familiarity while you’ve been knowing him for a day??” He asked outraged. 

“Su, don’t be like that. I specifically told him not to call me with such formal tones, don’t make him uncomfortable now that he was f