Shin Hye hated how the soap bubbles disappear longer than the bubbles from their magical sands. She needed to rinse herself over and over again just to get the soapy feel off her skin and her tail.

"Is this how their soap feels?" she asked.

Then, she shuddered at the thought.

"If I get hostaged here for a period of time, I might as well get used to the sticky soapy feel," she cringed. "Yuck!"

She suddenly remembered her coral sword and frowned.

"I wonder where my coral sword is..." she thought.

*****

It took Yong Hwa some time to realize that Shin Hye might have been through bathing herself, so he knocked at the door of the bathroom and waited. As no one answered, he gently opened the door and peeked--only to see her sleeping. He silently got in the bathroom and walked up to her.

Shin Hye leaned her head on the tub, and had her arms crossed. Her face was too stiff to be a lady's, but she was still beautiful, nonetheless. Yong Hwa felt his cheeks heating up as he stared at her full and red lips. Do mermaids wear lipstick too?

He stretched out his hand, which landed on her hair. As he the black part of her mane, he wondered if she had any boyfriend or a lover at all.

"I will be sad if she is taken," he thought.

She was weird, at least to human standards, but his encounter with her had imprinted into his system. Only she had captured his interest and his embarrassment like this--and for that, he had fallen for her.

He touched her soft and fair face, first with a finger. As she did not stir up, he rested all of his fingers to her face and began caressing it. So fair and so soft.... that was what it was to him.

... Then his hand landed on her lips. Her lips were just so soft that it looked like it was made for kissing.

"May I kiss you, my Sleeping Beauty?" he asked.

He bent forward slowly, slowly, until their faces were only an inch apart. He liked the sleeping countenance of the mermaid that he leaned even more and planted...

A soft kiss on her lips.

After a few seconds or so, he stopped kissing her and leaned back. Shin Hye still did not stir, so he gave out a smirk.

"I'm sorry... well, I'm not... But you may think I am too fast..." he gently told her. "But... I can't help it if I have fallen for you."

He bent down and kissed her between her lips and her cheeks....

And he let go and leaned back.

"Good night, Sleeping Beauty," he thought.

He walked away from the tub and turned off the light before going out of the bathroom.

~~~~