A/N: Hey everyone thanks for reviewing the last chapter. I’m thinking to end this fic by 10 but I’ll see. Please enjoy this chapter

 

Yerim moves out of Joy’s embrace much to the disappointment of the witch and she looks absolutely murderous. Her eyes dark red and fangs barred as she prepares to lunge forward.

 

“I’m killing the fish now!”

 

“No!” Joy waves her hand over the vampire to stop her in place. The blonde groans in annoyance as she realizes Joy has frozen her in a time spell and she can’t move until the redhead releases her.

 

“Let me go, Joy!”

 

“You have to calm down first. Seungwan is our friend. We can’t go attacking our friends, right?”

 

Yerim rolls her eyes. She doesn’t want to hear that friend crap right now. Joy is looking at her all seriously and she hates when Joy is disappointed in her. The vampire sighs and eyes turn back to her normal brown color.

 

“Fine, I won’t attack her.”

 

“Good, vampy!” The witch beams and pats her face. She releases her spell and Yerim ends up back in her seat like nothing happened. Seungwan simply beams.

 

“Hi everyone. It’s been such a long time since I’ve been outside of that dark and cold cave. I figured I would come out to see you all. Aww, you’re so adorable, Seul!” She shouts and grabs the small bear to her.

 

“Wait, ! Are you trying to kill her!” Joy grabs Seulgi away from the mermaid before she can bring her fully into the water. The bear frantically moves around from the touch of the cold water and Joohyun immediately takes her into her arms.

 

“Are you okay, Seul?”

 

“Yes.” Seulgi nods and breathes a sigh of relief.

 

“I’m sorry.” Seungwan laughs nervously. “I forgot about the water.”

 

Yerim rolls her eyes. She doesn’t even know what the mermaid is here for if she’s not going to do anything useful.

 

“Hang on a second.” Joy says and snaps her fingers for a round tub to appear. She tells the mermaid to sit inside as it will be safer than having some massive water bubble.

 

“Oh, thank you, Joy. I appreciate your concern.”

 

“It’s not concern for you! It’s concern for my house! Do you think I want to deal with water damage. I’m not made out of money, you know!”

 

“Yes, you are.” Yerim reminds her that she is very rich. Joy rolls her eyes.

 

“Well, I don’t want to pay for water damage. Especially some that wouldn’t be my fault, now Seungwan what the actual hell are you doing here?”

 

Everyone sits now that the dark-haired mermaid is safe in her tub of water and no more magical freaky bubble. Joohyun sits with Seulgi sitting in her lap and they wait for Seungwan to talk.

 

“Oh, yes. I’m here to help!”

 

The volume of her voice however has the room and everyone in it spinning.

 

“Use your inside voice already!” Yerim complains while releasing her ears. She has no idea why it’s so difficult for the mermaid to use her inside voice.

 

“How can you help? The other day you had Seul unconscious.”

 

“Oh no!” Seungwan looks horrified. “I didn’t mean to hurt you or anything.”

 

“I know, Wannie. I’m fine now.”

 

“Oh, good. As long as you’re not seriously injured. I’m here to help and find out why Seulgi is stuck in her baby bear form. Have you tried again to transform into something else?”

 

“No, not in awhile.”

 

Joohyun isn’t sure she’s quite ready to see something else. Although, she knows Seulgi can indeed transform into other animals.

 

“Maybe not something too scary.” Joohyun whispers to her girlfriend who nods. She appreciates that Joohyun isn’t scared of her anymore. But Seulgi isn’t going to just try to show her the other forms she can shift into. The small bear jumps up from the raven’s lap and onto the kitchen floor. She closes her eyes and tries to focus on shifting into a bird. Seulgi tries to remember the feeling of wings, sharp eyes of the bird, and the heart of the animal. She usually doesn’t have any problem shifting when she focuses on key elements of the animal she wishes to become.

 

“Well….” Joy wonders. “Are you feeling anything?”

 

“No.” Seulgi shakes her head. “I still can’t.”

 

“Don’t worry, Seul. We will surely get to the bottom of things!” Seungwan nods.

 

Yerim grabs Joy and pulls her out into the living room area for them to be able to talk. Joy is smiling from ear to ear as Yerim hasn’t let go of her yet.

 

“Oh, did you want to get me all alone.” She tries to kiss the vampire who turns away from her lips just in time.

 

“I don’t trust the fish.” Yerim tells her. “There is something very fishy about that fish, and I think she’s up to something.”

 

There is no one that Joy trusts more. She has known Yerim a long time and she can trust the vampire with anything. Still, Seungwan is their friend and she has been their friend for years.

 

“Okay, look. We’ll keep an eye on her.”

 

The blonde looks surprised. She hadn’t expected for Joy to just simply agree that fast.

 

“You believe me?”

 

“I trust you most, Yerimie.”

 

The way Joy sounds so sure makes the vampire touched. She nods in thanks and they head back into the kitchen to see Seungwan in conversation with Seulgi. The bear doesn’t seem bothered by any suspicions and is talking to the mermaid like it’s a regular day.

 

“Do you really think I’ve been cursed?”

 

“I do,” Seungwan nods. “Nothing else makes sense but you being under the effects of a curse.”

 

“It could be.” The redhead nods. As really what else could this be but a curse. However, who would put such a curse on Seulgi. The girl is kind, sweet, and has no enemies. Joy doesn’t know anyone who would try to curse Seulgi.

 

“Why would anyone want to hurt Seul?” Joohyun asks as she can’t believe anyone would truly want to bring harm to her girlfriend. She is the sweetest person.

 

“You don’t have any enemies right, Seul?” The vampire questions just to be on the safe side.

 

“I don’t.” Seulgi sighs.

 

“No one would hurt her. Look at how small and precious she is!” Seungwan grabs her up into a tight hug that has the poor bear gasping for air.

 

“Alright, please settle down before you accidentally kill Seul.” Joy sighs and grabs Seulgi out of that insane hug. Seulgi looks like she is going to pass out.

 

“I’m really sorry.” The mermaid says sincerely. “It’s just been so long since I’ve seen you guys.”

 

“Gee, I wonder why that is.” Yerim says and looks annoyed. Joy simply pushes her blonde locks out of her face.

 

“Settle down, sweetie.”

 

Joohyun eyes the mermaid with an odd lock. Is she unintentionally trying to kill her girlfriend. The human takes Seulgi into her arms and looks her over.

 

“Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

 

“I’m not hurt, Hyunnie.” Seulgi assures with a nod and gives a thumbs up with her paw.

 

“Well if you’re going to help. We should talk curses and spells.” The witch tells Seungwan, as she knows a thing or two about spells and curses. The mermaid nods and smiles.

 

“We should! Don’t worry, Seul. We will find out what’s going on soon enough.”

 

While Joy and Seungwan talk for awhile about possible curses, spells, and maybe even cures or potions that can be attempted in order to repair what’s going on. Seulgi takes Joohyun by the hand and leads the way outside to the backyard. She kind of just wants to spend some time alone with her girlfriend. The vampire said she was going to sit in a dark corner and think about not killing the fish.

 

“Thanks, Yerimie! I know you don’t want to actually kill me.”

 

“Yeah, right. I would end your…” Joy waves her hands over Yerim’s mouth to silence her from saying anything more. The blonde vampire turns into a bat and leaves. She hopes Joy will be able to talk to the mermaid and find out anything. Something is certainly up with her. Joohyun wonders to where is Seulgi taking her.

 

“Where are we going, Seul?”

 

Seulgi stops when they get to an outside garden area. There are so many flowers, trees, and a pretty lake that’s lit up in all sorts of crystallized colors.

 

“I come here when I want to relax, and maybe you would like to relax here too?” Seulgi gestures to the gazebo and Joohyun gets it.

 

“It looks like a nice place to relax.”

 

Seulgi nods and runs over first. It’s adorable to see her waving over for Joohyun to join. The human comes over and sits in the gazebo. Seulgi takes off running after a bit and returns with flowers in her paws.

 

“Aw, for me?” Joohyun laughs and takes the purple lilies from the bear. Seulgi climbs up then to sit too and they enjoy the quiet and nature around them. Joohyun can see why Seulgi would come out here.

 

“I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt you for real. Couldn’t it have been an accident?”

 

“Maybe.” Seulgi growls out. She hopes it’s just an accident and she can return to normal soon. She thinks with both Joy and Seungwan on the job she will definitely be helped.

 

“Your friends really want to help you, and I’m with you too, Seul. We’re going to find out why soon.”

 

“Thank you, Hyunnie.” The bear nods and touches her hand some. Seulgi hopes it will be all over soon. Inside Joy has been talking with Seungwan and the mermaid seems fine and like herself. However, she doesn’t think Yerim is wrong either. There is something off with the siren and Joy can’t yet figure it out. She can’t just directly confront Seungwan and risk something bad happening. The witch observes her for now.

 

“What’s wrong?” Seungwan blinks.

 

“What?”

 

“You’re staring at me all weird?”

 

“Your tail is extra sparkly today.” Joy says randomly and that makes the mermaid look at her blue tail that is sparkling extra.

 

“Oh yes! I’ve been experimenting. Do you like it?”

 

“Yeah.” The redhead nods. “Looks uh, sparkly. Well I guess together we could try to brew some sort of potion to try and help Seul.”

 

“Yes! Let’s try.”

 

Joy snaps her fingers and a small cauldron appears. They mix ingredients together and Joy still observes Seungwan. Yerim is right that something is off.

 

“Say, Wan. Have you been feeling okay lately?”

 

“Of course. I’m completely fine. Why do you ask?”

 

“No, reason. Just making sure you’re okay. It has been a long time and everything.”

 

“I know.” The mermaid sighs. “You, Yerim, and Seulgi live in the human world mostly. I can’t go there so we don’t see each other as much.”

 

The dark-haired woman adds a splash of something pink into the mixture and Joy pretends to spill the cauldron.

 

“Oh, I’m so clumsy. Please excuse me.”

 

Joy dumps the cauldron and then runs off for the room Yerim likes to stay in. The vampire is lazily lying in bed with music on.

 

“Babe, wake up!” Joy smacks her face.

 

“What are you doing?” Yerim sits up. She looks warily at the witch.

 

“She’s definitely up to something. You’re right, sweetie. Something is off with her too, like her aura isn’t right.”

 

Yerim doesn’t care about auras all she knows is the fish has to go.

 

“Well, are we killing her or what?”

 

Joy sighs and sits down with the blonde. She takes the vampire’s face and gently massages to calm Yerim down.

 

“We can’t kill her. She’s still our friend, and maybe something can be done. Once I figure out what’s wrong.”

 

“Can’t you cast a spell?”

 

“Not without her seeing it coming. Unless we can catch her off guard or….ah I know what to do.” Joy grabs Yerim by the hand and leads her out the side exit to where Joohyun and Seulgi are. The couple look up when they see the pair.

 

“Okay, guys.” Joy smiles. “Don’t be alarmed, but…”

 

“What’s wrong?” Joohyun questions.

 

“We think our friend has possibly gone rouge and turned evil, and now we all could be in some serious danger and…”

 

“What?” Seulgi stands up. “You think Wannie has gone evil. Why would she? She’s our friend.”

 

“Something is off, Seul.”

 

Yerim nods in agreement. “The fish isn’t right, Seul. Come on use your animal instincts. She’s definitely off.”

 

Joohyun looks worriedly at Seulgi who isn’t saying anything but looking serious. The bear sighs and scratches her head.

 

“Well, what are you guys planning? She’s still our friend.”

 

“I have an idea. Seulgi should talk to her.”

 

“Seulgi should?” The human repeats.

 

“Yes “Seulgi” should.” Joy uses air quotes and conjures up someone who looks exactly like Seulgi. Everything from the monolid eyes, round shaped ears, height. The bear is so shocked that she falls out.

 

“Oh, cool.” Yerim nods. “Looks just like Seul. Can it talk?” The vampire knocks her upside the head.

 

“Hey, don’t hurt the art. She’s just a decoy. Hey, Joohyun if Seul gets stuck as a bear. You can just have this. Looks like the real thing.”

 

“Hey!” Seulgi complains and tries to jump on Joy who simply grabs the small bear into her arms.

 

“Relax, buddy. The decoy is just meant to get Seungwan to confess.”

 

“Confess to what?”

 

“I think she did this to you.” Joy admits. “Probably not intentionally, but I think she’s the reason why you’re like this.”

 

The couple react to this the most. Yerim doesn’t even look surprised. Seulgi falls down to the ground in disbelief. Joohyun is at a loss for words and it’s also creepy seeing the decoy too. The decoy who looks exactly like her girlfriend.

 

“But why?” Seulgi wonders, as she can't imagine what for.

 

“It’s what we’re about to find out. Hey, Seul.” The witch speaks to the decoy.

 

“Yes, Joy.”

 

“Ah!” The bear jumps. “It sounds like me too.”

 

It’s actually very weird for Joohyun to be looking at something that looks so much like her girlfriend when her actual girlfriend is a small bear besides her feet.

 

“Go and talk to Seungwan for us. Get some answers if you can.”

 

“Okay, I’ll go talk to her.” The decoy walks off towards the house and Joy presents a orb that shows everyone what’s currently happening.

 

“We got to kill her after this.” Yeri tells Joy.

 

“Honey, we can’t kill our friend.”

 

They watch as the decoy enters the house and so it begins. The decoy walks inside and calls Seungwan.

 

“Wan?”

 

“It really sounds too much like you, baby.” Joohyun tells the bear who is clutching onto the raven. It’s too scary for Seulgi seeing this clone of herself.

 

“Seulgi?” The mermaid says in surprise. “You changed back.”

 

“Yes, Joy helped me. Why do you sound so surprised?”

 

“Oh, no reason.”

 

“Completely guilty.” Yerim speaks.

 

The decoy sits down across from the mermaid who looks nervous.

 

“We’re friends, right?”

 

“Yes, of course we are.”

 

“Sometimes friends make mistakes, right Wan. It’s okay if you made a mistake.”

 

“I don’t know….” The dark-haired mermaid stops. “Okay, I’m sorry. I accidentally cursed you, or rather the real Seungwan cursed you.”

 

“Say what!” Joy screams and takes off for the house first. Yerim, Seulgi and Joohyun follow too. The witch grabs the mermaid by the shoulders.

 

“What do you mean the real Seungwan, is that why you’re so off?”

 

“Sorry.” The mermaid nods. “I’m a clone of a spell gone wrong. Seungwan didn’t mean to actually curse you, Seulgi.”

 

“Either way you’re dead!” Yerim snarls and lunges forward with fangs barred. She is going to sink her teeth into this fake fish. Only Joy gets in the way and gets bitten instead.

 

“Oh, no…” Joohyun shouts and Seulgi tries to run forward to capture Joy. Yerim’s eyes turn brown again and she realizes what happened.

 

“Joy!” Yerim grabs her. “What did you get in the way for? You’re trying to save it!”

 

The redhead places her hand to the bite wound and heals herself. She feels a bit dizzy and Yerim picks her up and leads her over to the chair.

 

“You don’t get it, do you?” The redhead whispers and touches her face. Yerim doesn’t understand.

 

“She’s not even a real thing.”

 

“It’s not why…” Joy says sleepily. “I didn’t want you to do something you’d regret. I don’t want you losing yourself….” The redhead passes out then and for the first time Joohyun and Seulgi see the vampire in anguish. She picks Joy up and walks off.

 

“She needs to rest. Get that thing out of here.” Yerim says and leaves. Seulgi turns back to look at the mermaid.

 

“Did she send you instead?”

 

“Sort of. She wanted to find a way to reverse the curse.”

 

“Why would she curse Seul!” Joohyun loses her composure. She is angry and wants answers.

 

“It wasn’t intentional. I think she just wanted to find a way to be like Seulgi. She wanted to be a shapeshifter too, so she didn’t have to be stuck in that cave forever.”

 

“She tried to be like me?” The bear speaks. “It’s impossible to do that. If you’re not born a shapeshifter then it’s not going to matter. What if I’m stuck like this. How is that fair to me and Hyunnie too!”

 

“Seul?” Joohyun doesn’t know what she’s saying. But she knows she’s not okay. She tries to hug the bear who looks angry.

 

“I’m really sorry.” The clone says. “She will find a way to reverse the spell, don’t worry.”

 

The decoy Joy created clears and that makes everyone look at her.

 

“My time is running out. Joy created me for one purpose and that was to find out what’s happening. I think a mistake has been made, Seulgi. But it doesn’t sound like it was ill intended. You have to find a way to forgive.”

 

“Now I got this thing talking to me with my face. I have to go.”

 

Seulgi runs off then and Joohyun worriedly tries to go after her.

 

“Seul, wait!”

 

“Let her go.” The decoy tells Joohyun. “She needs time.”

 

Joohyun looks at the decoy with her girlfriend’s face and it’s too much. She’s reminded again of how Seulgi might be stuck this way, and she pushes her away.

 

“Please don’t...you look like my girlfriend and she’s really struggling right now.”

 

“I apologize. I can’t….” The decoy stops talking and fades away into nothing. Joohyun heard her say she didn’t have much time but to see her disappear was definitely freaky.

 

“Um, are you going to do that too?”

 

The mermaid shakes her head. “I will return to the cave and wait for Seungwan. She will return and apologize herself.”

 

“She’d better because this is all one hug mess.” The human turns to look in the direction to where Seulgi ran off. God is she worried about her girlfriend now. She hasn’t seen her that upset and maybe everything is fully hitting her now.

 

“Please be okay, Seul.”

 

Yerim took Joy to her bedroom and kept checking the bite wound. It’s healed mostly but she is angry at herself for losing control.

 

“Please be okay.” The blonde whispers and lays her head down by the witch’s arm. She holds onto the area where Joy was accidentally bitten and hopes that she will be fine when she awakes. Joohyun ends up not being able to sit by and do nothing. She grabs her jacket and heads outside. It’s dark now but the backyard area is full of lights.

 

“Seul!” She calls out for her girlfriend. She keeps walking further into the garden not aware of how deep it actually goes.

 

“Seul! Where are you? You shouldn’t be alone right now.”

 

The human pauses because she sees something, and it’s definitely not Seulgi.

 

“Wolf.”

 

The wolf lunges for her and Joohyun closes her eyes in anticipation of the bite. Seulgi runs forward then in her small form and throws herself at the wolf.

 

“Seul, no!” Joohyun screams. “You will be hurt!”

 

“I will do anything for you, Joohyun.” She growls out in the direction of her girlfriend and proceeds to try to hold the wolf off. It’s not a friendly one and something wild. She can’t even communicate with it even if she wanted. Joohyun wants to help but she doesn’t know how. The small bear manages to swipe a few times at the eyes of the wolf and it grabs the bear in its mouth and flings Seulgi away like some rag doll.

 

“No!” Joohyun screams so loud that it alerts Yeri who flies down in bat form. She appears to see the wolf and eyes go red before lunging at it.

 

“Yerim?”

 

“Go, I got this. Where’s Seulgi?”

 

Joohyun looks into the direction of where she was flung, and takes off running. She doesn’t want to leave Yeri to this wolf but the vampire doesn’t look in anyway bothered.

 

“I needed something to kill anyway.” She smiles and pulls out her blade. She slices through the wolf in one swift and sharp motion. The blonde goes to where she can hear crying and pleas. Joohyun has Seulgi in her arms and the little bear is banged up. She is hurt badly with visible bite marks in her flesh and barely breathing.

 

“Baby….” Joohyun begs. “Open your eyes.”

 

Yerim looks on at the desperate way Joohyun is begging for Seulgi to wake up.

 

“She’s dying.” The vampire can hear her slowing heartbeats.

 

“No!” The human screams. “She’s not dying. Baby, please open your eyes. I love you so much. I don’t care if you’re stuck like this. I just want to be with you.” She sobs as she holds the small bear in her arms. Yerim turns when she feels the presence of Joy. The redhead isn’t looking 100 percent but she does look better.

 

“Joy?”

 

“I leave you guys for a few minutes and… oh .” The witch walks over when she sees Seulgi lying so still.

 

“She was trying to protect me.”

 

Joy feels for a pulse but it’s so faint. “Hey, little buddy. Can you wake up?”

 

“Open your eyes, Seul. I love you. Please open your eyes.”

 

“Joohyun?”

 

“No, don’t say she’s dying. She’s going to wake up. She loves me too, and I don’t care that you’re a shapeshifter. You’re mine, Kang Seulgi.” She takes one of the bear’s paws and places it to her chest. “You’re mine and I’m yours, always.” She leans down to kiss the top of the bear’s forehead. Her tears dripping down on Seulgi’s face. Joy and Yeri both look on with solemn faces and the witch is crying silently. She never thought it would end this way. The redhead feels Yerim wrapping her arms around her from behind. The vampire can’t physically cry but this is her way of letting Joy know she’s here for her, and the redhead gently squeezes her hand in thanks.

 

Joohyun holds Seulgi to her and sobs. She doesn’t feel right away what’s happening. But the witch and vampire see. They stand with mouths wide open as the bear is no longer a bear. She’s turning back to herself and Seulgi is in human form again. The monolid woman weakly touches the side of Joohyun’s face. The raven feels hands instead of paws and opens her eyes to see monolid eyes of her girlfriend staring at her.

 

“Why are you c-crying?”

 

“Seul?” Joohyun blinks away her tears to make sure she's really looking at Seulgi. There she is ten fingers, ten toes, brown hair, beautiful monolid eyes, round shaped ears, and button nose.

 

“Yes. Do you see me?”

 

“I see you.” Joohyun nods and hugs her. “You’re back.”

 

“We can all see you.” Joy gestures to the very state of the newly turned back to human Seulgi. She conjures up a shirt and pants to better suit the brunette’s body. Seulgi mouths her thanks and tries to sit up but can’t.

 

“You almost died,” Yeri tells her. “Let Joy heal you.”

 

Joy bends down to heal her enough for the monolid woman to be able to stand and walk. Joohyun barely wants to let her go. She can actually hold her girlfriend and feel her hands again.

 

“I think your love broke this curse.” Joy says. “You accepted Seulgi for all she is, and you’re not scared of her. It was simple all along. Acceptance and unconditional love.”

 

Joohyun nods and leans up to kiss her girl. “I promised the first thing I was going to do is kiss you. Hello, baby.” She smiles.

 

“It’s really good to feel your lips again, Hyunnie.”

 

“Ah, okay lovebirds. Let’s get inside. We’re going to have to figure out what to do about Seungwan, um the real one.”

 

“I know.” Seulgi agrees. “She did this to me even if she didn’t mean to, and I….” the brunette feels lightheaded and so Joohyun grabs her gently.

 

“We can talk about this in the morning after we’ve gotten some rest. Come on, Seul.” The human leads the way back toward the house. Joy turns to Yerim who immediately hugs her.

 

“Hey, what’s this?” Joy laughs. “You’re not high again. Are you?”

 

“Silly.” Yeri sighs. “I’m just glad you’re not really hurt. I’m sorry, Joy.”

 

The witch knows it was an accident. “Hey, don’t worry. It’s not like you meant to bite me. I did jump in the way but that was for you.”

 

Yeri understands now. Joy was simply trying to save her from making some choice she might have regretted. She understands a lot more things now in that one moment.

 

“Let’s go. We should talk back inside.”

 

“Yes, we should.” Joy agrees and follows the blonde. There is a lot that should be discussed. But seeing Seulgi back to her human form and holding hands with Joohyun. It’s a welcoming sight and the witch is relieved.

 

“At least something good turned out from this day.”

 

A/n: okay so what are they going to do about seungwan accidentally cursing Seulgi. And the mermaid they met in the cave was the real one, the one who showed up today was a spell she created to buy herself some time to fix her mistake but I’ll get into that, and hopefully you all liked this chapter.