"No.... I didn't get hurt." Baekho quickly shuffled towards his bed to block Seungkwan's line of sight from the somewhat human shaped figure underneath the blanket.

"Hmmm.... then what exactly are you hiding, Baekho?" Seungkwan asked, squinting at his best friend. Baekho chuckled nervously and shrugged, looking around.

"Nothing. I told you," he replied but Seungkwan didn't believe him one bit. He walked over to Baekho and stared him in the eyes. "You don't trust me?"

"No. Not right now. You're a terrible liar after all." Seungkwan tried to look behind Baekho but the other instinctively move to block him, making the already suspicious boy even more suspicious. "What's on your bed?"

"Nothing. Kwan, please. We don't have to do this," Baekho said, trying to stop the other from looking at his bed. He accidentally kicked the aquarium and stiffened.

"What was that? Why did you move your aquarium here? Are you thinking of keeping fish again?" Seungkwan asked and Baekho nervously nodded his head without a second thought.

"Y-yeah. I mean, why not."

"Because you'll be going back in another 4 days time? And there will be no one to care for your fish then? That's why you set them free in the first place. Kang Dongho, just tell me what's going on." At this point, Baekho couldn't bring himself to lie anymore. He held Seungkwan by his shoulders and pushed him all the way back until his back touched the wall. 

"Wait a moment. Just let me think," Baekho said as he let him go. He shut and locked his room door and repeated the same action with the window and curtain. Seungkwan looked at his best friend with a bewildered expression. 

"You're scaring me, Baekho," Seungkwan said as the male came back to his side. 

"I'm scared less myself too but please, promise me. No matter what you see today or hear, don't tell anyone. At any costs," Baekho said sternly and Seungkwan could only nod. Baekho knew the other could keep promises but he did have somewhat of potty mouth too. "If you tell anyone, I'll have to disappear from the face of the earth."

"What? What the hell did you do?" 

"This... I did this." Baekho walked over to the lump on his bed and motioned towards it. 

"And what's.... that?" Seungkwan raised a brow, half thinking Baekho had grown crazy until he noticed the movements under the blanket. "Is that... what I think it is?"

"Yes, Seungkwan. It's exactly... I think most likely what you think it is," Baekho replied. "He might be hostile towards you though so... if you would just..  stand there and let me ask him if it's okay.... just wait, alright?" Baekho carefully reached for his blanket and held it.

"Him? Kang Dongho, did you sleep with a dude? That's what you're hiding from me?"

"What the hell, Kwan?! I did not! It's- it's- just hold on. Minhyun? It's me, okay?" He carefully lifted it and peeked under the blanket. Purple scared eyes stared back at him. Baekho smiled and bent down to his eye level. "Um... my friend wants to see you. Is that okay?" Minhyun shook his head. Baekho pursed his lips and turned to Seungkwan who was staring at him like he was crazy. "He doesn't want you to see him."

"Why not? I'm not going to hurt him," Seungkwan replied and put his arms against his hips. Baekho turned back to Minhyun who shook his head again, slowly grabbing hold of the blanket to pull down. 

"I don't know. He just refuses to see you," Baekho replied and let go of the blanket. Seungkwan watched as the blanket shrunk as something clawed at it. 

"Oh god. It's the merman thing, isn't it?"

"Yeah. What did you think I was saying?"

"Like I said. A girl! Or guy! I thought you were hiding some one night stand from me. But no, this is worse. It's actually a guy and possibly a fish person. And he has a name too." A thump from under the blanket made both humans flinch. Baekho could tell Minhyun probably slammed his tail in annoyance and he chuckled at his friend's shocked expression.

"You probably ticked him off."

"He understands you?"

"No, idiot. He understands us. He knows what we are saying," Baekho said while sighing. 

"Oh. I am so sorry....? Also, how did... Minhyun... ended up in your room? The last I recalled we couldn't summon him at the beach."

"Some fishermen caught him and I overheard them when they were celebrating... and I saved him. Which is why this can never ever go public," Baekho said quickly. 

"Why not just throw him back into the sea?"

"You don't think I tried? They hurt him and now he has a freaking gaping hole in his stomach. He can't swim so I had no choice but to bring him back." Baekho ruffled his own hair in annoyance.

"Well, that ..."

"It does..." An awkward silence fell onto the two humans until Seungkwan decided to move. He grabbed the blanket and lifted it up, practically ripping it away from Minhyun. Minhyun was startled by the sudden exposure and tried to make yelping noises that wouldn't come out. He covered his face with one hand and his chest with the other, his tail painfully curling up for no reason. Baekho panicked and snatched the blanket from Seungkwan to cover Minhyun again.

"What the hell was that for?!" Baekho angrily whispered at Seungkwan who stepped back with an agaped mouth. 

"You weren't joking," he said. Minhyun hissed silently at Seungkwan as he hid under the blanket again. 

"No! Of course I'm not," Baekho snapped. "Minhyun, calm down. You'll open your wound if you curl yourself up like that." Baekho tried to make Minhyun relax by reaching for his tail but the merman snapped his fangs at Baekho too. The human male flinched and kept his hands to himself before the merman shot an apologetic look for doing so. He slowly uncurl his tail and hid with shame.  

"Did he just try to bite you? Isn't he clearly dangerous? And why does he have cuffs on??" Seungkwan asked in loud whispers. Baekho glared at his friend.

"Minhyun is a sweet... merman. You just startled him and those are from when he was chained to a glass box. I haven't figured out how to remove them yet," Baekho said with a frown.

"Oh gee. I rather side with a merman than my own best friend who I've known for more than 10 years compared to a merman who you've known for what?? Two days? And might I remind you that that.... that... merman could very well be the one that tried to drown you?" Seungkwan spoke with such sarcasm that Baekho sighed. He guessed he did partially deserve that.

"He admitted that he almost drowned me but it was because of you anyways. You made me sing in the middle of the sea and he wanted to hear more and pulled me in."

"So I'm to blame for your mess now? Also why isn't he saying anything if he can understand us? You clearly told me that he sang before too."

"Cause his throat is hurt. Those... those man hurt him and now he can't talk."

"Gosh, how convenient is that."

"Seungkwan... just stop. Why did I even think for a second you were going to help me with this?" Baekho sighed and knelt down again, feeling tired.

"I am trying to help," Seungkwan squeaked. "But what can I even do? I don't know anything about merman either and I was definitely not expecting you to bring him back to your room!"

After they fell silent again, Minhyun peeked out from under the blanket. He looked between the two males and then took Baekho's sleeve to tug on. Baekho looked up at him and sighed softly. 

"Yes?" He pointed to his opened mouth sheepishly. "Are you hungry?" Minhyun nodded and Seungkwan watched the two interacted. How was Baekho even understanding that creature, he didn't know but they seemed to have a weird connection between them that Seungkwan couldn't quite put his finger around. "What do you even eat?" Minhyun frowned a little and pursed his lips. He didn't know how to gesture at the other for him to understand. He made a wriggling motion with his hand. "Uh... fish?" Minhyun gave him a horrified expression and shook his head. He turned to Seungkwan and back at Baekho. He pointed a finger at Seungkwan, making both boys alarmed. "What? You want to eat my friend?"

"Hell nah! I'm not letting a fish human eat me!" Minhyun panicked at their panicking and shook his head vigorously. He pointed at Seungkwan again and then tugged at Baekho's shirt, pointing onto it. Baekho turned to look at what his friend was wearing. It was some kind of green squiggly patterned shirt and it just made Baekho confused. He had a guess though. 

"Uh... seaweed?" Minhyun's eyes sparkled and he nodded. He even showed a smile. "You don't eat fish? Only seaweed?" Minhyun nodded. "Do you have other things you eat?" Minhyun nodded but it's not like he could tell Baekho what they are and he had very limited knowledge on how to write. "Okay. I'll go and get some seaweed for you. Do you prefer them... raw?" Minhyun seemed confused by the question and just nodded.

"I don't think he has ever tried it any other way before, Baekho," Seungkwan mumbled and Baekho almost facepalmed himself from his moment of stupidity. 

"Right... merman. I'll see if I can buy some."

"You know what? I've looked at your merman enough for today so what about I go and buy the seaweed for you? As an apology for startling you earlier," Seungkwan offered. "Plus I don't think you want to leave him at your home alone. Your family might barge in any time."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Trust me. My lips are zipped." Baekho sighed in relief and nodded. He gave Seungkwan some money even though the other rejected it at first. Then the younger male dashed off to get some seaweed. Baekho locked his room door again and sat on the floor. Minhyun stared at him and flicked his tail to get his attention. 

"What's wrong? Do you need something?" Baekho asked as he leaned on his arms at the edge of the bed. Minhyun smiled and tried to push himself up with difficulty but Baekho quickly helped him. Once he was upright, he peeled the once damp towels off his tail, showing a distasteful expression at how dull his tail looked. It was almost like his whole body was turning into a monotonous color. "Uh... I wasn't sure if you needed water or something... do you need seawater to survive?" Minhyun thought for awhile before shrugging. He really didn't know after all. He had never been this far from shore before. Or this long out of it. He had sunbathed before but he could always just slide into the water again whenever he felt like it.

"Should I wet the towels again?" Baekho asked, just wanting Minhyun to be comfortable and most importantly, alive and well. Minhyun thought for awhile before nodding. "Do you need salt?" Minhyun blinked and tilted his head, giving him a confused look. "Uh... how do I explain this...? You know, the thing in the sea which has a high concentration of?" Minhyun shook his head, not understanding what Baekho was trying to tell him. "Great. Nevermind. Just wait here." He collected the towels and brought them to his toilet to wash before bringing them out and handing them to Minhyun. He stared at the other's tail for awhile and his rather sizeable aquarium. 

"Hold on," he told Minhyun and started filling the aquarium with water instead. Minhyun watched Baekho walk back and forth in his room just to fill up the aquarium. He looked amused as the water level rose. Once it was filled just enough, Baekho carefully took Minhyun's tail in his hands. The merman was confused but trusted Baekho enough to let him be. He slowly dunk Minhyun's tail into the water and the other twitched. "It's okay. It's just water." His tail was slowly submerged into the water and Baekho covered the rest of the exposed part with the wet towels. "Does this feel better?"

Minhyun grinned and nodded, swishing his tail gently in the aquarium. His fangs showed themselves proudly but made Baekho question why he would need fangs if he wasn't even a carnivore.