Jongsuk’s POV

“Woah~ so many humans.” All this time I felt so scared seeing other people but it’s okay. No one knows that I was a mermen. They just see me as a normal human. Everyone was talking to each other. Some were some people walking together in groups and others were running around. I saw Woobin from inside the house and he was talking with some people.

‘Is that Woobin’s friends?’ I wondered. I decided to get out of the car since outside seemed nice.

“Lock.” I said and clicked the button. I held onto the key tightly before walking away from the car.  I walked over to the classroom window that Woobin was and looked through. There I saw him sitting staring at me.

“Oh!” I was happy to see him. He waved to me and so I waved back shyly.

‘Woah~ there’s a lot of people in there.’ I said as I stared inside.  Those people are learning the same thing Woobin is learning. A few people looked over to me so I got nervous. Woobin continued listening to the teacher so I decided to go somewhere else so I wouldn’t bother him. I walked over to a bench where no one was sitting at and sat down. Even though Woobin wasn’t next to me he was still there watching me so I wasn’t scared.

‘Sounds of people talking… It’s quite noisy.’ I giggled to myself.

‘Grass… Trees… People… This place is pretty’ I said in my head. I sat there and looked around to this new place.

“Bird!” A bird flew down in front of me. I’ve never seen this kind of bird up close before. The bird then wobbled away making me smile since it looked funny. Over in the grass are was another animal.

‘What animal is that? A dog?’ I wondered. It was running around and playing with it’s human.

“So fluffy~” I said amazed by it’s nice fluffy fur. Just then a lady came over to me.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” she asked me.

‘Sit here?’ I thought about it.

“Mmhm~” I nodded and scooted over so that she could sit down on the other side of the bench.

“Thank you.” She smiled. She was holding a lot of books and papers just like what Woobin usually have. She then started working just like Woobin when he’s on his laptop. I was curious as to what she was doing to I glanced at her once in a while. She had a stack of paper in her hand and was reading it.

‘Humans seem to enjoy studying and reading a lot more than merfolks. Most of the merfolks I know are so lazy unlike me. I like reading all sorts of things. I’ll be a great human then!’ I said in my head proudly. She spotted me and so I turned away embarrassed.

“It's a huge paper isn’t it?” She said. I didn’t know what to say plus Woobin said to not get close to other people.

“The professor is just too much. He expects us to write a 20 page paper within three weeks.” She said to me.

‘??? 20 pages… 3 weeks.’ Woobin said something similar before but I wasn’t sure what she was talking about.

‘She must be saying she has to type all the way to 20 pages and finish it in 3 weeks.’ I broke it down in my head.

“I-Is it hard?” I asked her since she seemed tired.

“Yeah kind of but I’m use to it since I’m a Paychology major.” She said

‘Chemistry major… Woobin said something similar to that too.’ I said in my head

“Are you on break now? When’s your next class?” She asked me.

“I-I don’t have class.” I said back

“Oh… Are you perhaps waiting for someone then?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. I then just sat there quietly. Once in a while I would glance over to Woobin’s classroom.

“Would you like some gum?” The lady asked me and held something over to me.

‘What’s gum? What’s that?’ I wondered.

“Oh...” I reached over for it and took it. It was small flat and was shiny.

‘It looks so pretty.’ I stared at it but I wasn’t sure what it was or what it is for.

“Thank you…” I said even though I didn’t know what it was. I then watched her as he took one out for herself.  She peeled open the shiny paper and then ate the thing inside.

‘Oh? It’s food?’ I was surprised. She then glanced at me and so I did the same thing she did.

‘Open it and then eat it’ I said in my head. I first smelled it and it had a sweet scent. I then bit on it and pulled it out from the shiny paper. She had put the whole thing in so I did the same. I got all of it in my mouth and chewed it.

“Ohh!” I was surprised by the taste.

‘What is this? It’s sweet and flavorful. First it was hard and now it was soft. The more I chew it the chewier it gets.’ I was fascinated by it.

“You like the flavor?” She asked me.

“What is it?” I asked her.

“It’s one of my favorite gums. It’s this one. Green apple flavor.” She showed the package.

“Gum? Green apple flavor?” I tried to understand.

‘This is gum but what’s does green apple flavor mean? Is it the taste? Does gum have different tastes then?’ I wondered. After a bit I saw Woobin walking over to me.

“Oh!” I smiled when I saw him.

 “Class ended. Did you wait long?” Woobin asked me.

“No~” I shook my head and got up.

“Hello~” The lady greeted Woobin.

“Oh, hello.”

“We had a class together last semester. It was a math class” She said to him.

“Yes, I remember you. How’s everything?” Woobin asked her

“Just lots of papers. Is your friend new here? I’ve never seen him here before.” She was talking about me.

“Oh, he’s not a student here. He’s here because I had a lecture to attend so he was just waiting.” Woobin said.

“Ah~ he’s so introverted.” She said.

‘In… Intro-what? What did she say?’ I wondered.

“Yeah. He’s not much of a talker.” Woobin said and glanced at me.

 “Well have a good day then.” Woobin said to her.

“You too. Bye.” She waved to us.

“Good bye.” I bid her goodbye and bowed. I just heard he chuckling before glancing over to Woobin.

“You don’t have to do it that far.” Woobin said as we walked away.

“What do you mean?” I asked him confused.

“To other people that’s around the same age as you, you don’t have to bow. Just al ittle wave is fine.” Woobin explained.

“Ahh~ When do I bow?” I asked him.

“To older people. Even so you don’t have to bow that much. Just a small nod is polite enough.” He explained.

“So how do you like my university?” Woobin asked me.

“I like it. It’s very pretty.” I said happily.

“Want to walk around for a bit?” He asked me.

“Mmhm~ For a bit longer.” I said excited.

“Were you scared being all alone earlier?” He asked me.

“No” I said but then I started hiccupping.

*hic *

“Haha~” Woobin started laughing at me.

“Maybe a bit.” I admitted.

“You’re so cute when you lie.” He laughed.

“Ayy~” I pouted

“Oh, Woobin-ah. What did she call me earlier?” I asked him.

“Call you? She said you were introverted.” Woobin said.

“Yes that! What does it mean?” I asked.

“It means you shy and quiet. Which is true isn’t it?”

“Yes~” I nodded as I chewed on the gum.

“Are you eating gum?” Woobin asked me.

“Ah! Yeah! She gave me this to eat. It’s called gum and it’s green apple flavor. Uhhh~ I’m not so sure what it means but it’s really good.”

“Oh? You’re not suppose to accept candy from strangers.” He said to me.

“… Oh.. Should I spit it out?” I asked as I was getting ready to take it out of my mouth.

“No, it’s okay now. But I trust that you know which people are bad right? You shouldn’t eat things that strange people give. You might get hurt” He said to me

“Yes~” I nodded. I’ve been chewing it for a while but it’s not breaking apart so I wasn’t sure how I was suppose to swallow it. I just gulped it  down since Woobin wasn’t happy about it.

“Oh yah! Open your mouth.” He said frantic.

“Hmm? Ahh~” I opened my mouth for him. He looked

“You swallowed the gum?!” He seemed surprised.

“Yes…” I nodded.

“You’re not suppose to swallow gum!” He said surprising me.

“Huh? Really? I swallowed it… What should I do? Is it bad?  Will I die?”

“It’s not that serious… You’ll be okay. It’s just gum isn’t meant for swallowing.” He said.

“Why?” I asked him since I was confused.

‘Why would you put something that you shouldn’t swallow in your mouth?’ I wondered.

“I’m not really sure. People just made it like that. Maybe just to keep your mouth busy and smell nice.” Woobin explained.

“Ahh…~ So you can’t swallow gum” I said to myself.

“Woobin!” Someone shouted Woobin’s name. I turned and saw some people walking towards us.

“They’re my friends.” Woobin said to me.

“F-friends?” I was a bit scared.

“Don’t worry I’ll do all the talking.” He said and so I just tried to calm down.

Woobin’s POV

“Hey who was this?” They all stared at Jongsuk.

“This is Jongsuk. A friend of mine.” I said to them.

“Jongsuk? What’s his family name?”  Seunggi asked.

“Last name?” I didn’t remember what it was since I never say his last name.

“Lee” Jongsuk spoke up.

“Yeah, it’s Lee Jongsuk.” I said embarrassed for forgetting.

“I’m a Lee too. Lee Seunggi.” He said and held out his hand.

‘Does he know how to shake hands?’ I wondered.

“Hello, I’m Lee Jong Suk” He said carefully clearly. He then reached over and shook his hand.

‘Ohh~ you’re doing great’ I smiled.

“I’m Anh Jaehyun.”

“And I’m Kim Jisoo” They all greeted each other.

“What year are you?” Jisoo asked him.

“Year?” Jongsuk seemed stuck.

“He doesn’t go here. He was just here waiting for me.” I said.

“Oh, are you going somewhere?” Jaehyun asked.

“Not really…” I didn’t know what to say.

“Good, let’s go eat then.” Seunggi smacked my arm.

“Yeah, let’s go! You’ve been deserting us lately!” They complained. I just looked over to Jongsuk to see how he was doing. He was a bit timid but at least he’s not running away or hiding.

“Maybe not today.” I said to them

“Again?!”

“Did you find yourself a girlfriend?” They asked me

“No…” I denied.

‘He is kind of like a girlfriend though… or like a pet.’ I said in my head

“Come on. Jongsuk can come with us.” Seunggi said. We all glanced over to Jongsuk to see what his answer was.

“I can go too?” He asked innocently.

“Of course!” They all seemed happy.

“Only if you want to.” I said since I didn’t want to force him to come along.

“Mmhm. I… want to go too. If.. that’s okay.” He said timidly as he stared at me

“Then that’s settled! Let’s go!” Jaehyun shouted

“Hyung, I didn’t bring my car. Mind if I hitch a ride with you since Jaehyun hyung’s car is a two-seater?” Jisoo asked me.

“Sure but I have some stuff in the back.” I said.

“It’s only a short ride. I won’t die.” He smiled.

“Okay then. Let’s go.” I said glancing over to Jongsuk. He seemed really happy. On our way there it went quite smoothly. Jongsuk didn’t panic and he answered Jisoo questions naturally.

“Oh so how old are you?” Jisoo asked him.

“Him and I are the same age. I’m like 2 months older though.” I said proudly.

“Ahh… so you’re a hyung too.” Jisoo sighed.

“Why? Is being the maknae hard?” I chuckled.

“Well I want someone to order around too.” He said making me laugh.

“You have Joohyuk don’t you?” I asked him.

“Yeah but I barely see him around.” He complained. When we got to the chinese restaurant I parked the car and we all went inside.

“Woah~” Jongsuk was easily amazed.

‘This is his first time in a restaurant. How cute~’ I smiled as if I was a proud happy father.

“Hey, what’s with him?” Seunggi whispered to me

“Uhh… He’s from the countryside. You know outside of Seoul so it’s like a whole new world for him.”  I whispered back. Jongsuk then stared at us.

‘He probably heard us.’ I smiled.

“Ahh~ No wonder he’s like a kid.” He said but it didn’t seem like he meant it in a bad way.

“It’s okay.” I said to Jongsuk softly.

“Mmmhm~” He nodded and just followed me. We then sat down at a table. Jongsuk’s head kept on turn as he tried looking around. He stared at the walls, the ceiling, the workers, the customers and of course the foods.

“What should we eat? Jjamppong?” Jaehyun asked

“Jjamppong for me!” Seunggi decided already.

“What would you like to eat?” I asked as I showed him the menu.

“This one is dry and has black bean sauce and this one is a spicy noodle with soup.” I explained to him as I pointed to the pictures.

“What?! Has he never ate these before?!” Jaehyun was shocked.

“No… He hasn’t..” I said awkwardly.

“Where did you live your entire life?!” He asked Jongsuk shocked.

 “Outside of Seoul” Jongsuk answered surprising me.

‘He learns pretty quick. Good thing it’s not a lie though.’ I smiled.

“Well this is something you have to eat. As a Korean you will need to try these two Chinese Korean cuisine! That is the law!” Jaehyun said to him.

“Yes~” Jongsuk chuckled.

“I want to try this.” He pointed to jjajangmyeon.

“Okay. We’ll both get Jjajangmyeon and tangsuyuk.” I said.

‘Oh wait Jongsuk can’t eat meat.’ I just remembered.  When the waitress came by to take our order I waited to ask her.

“Do you have vegetarian jajangmyeon?” I asked her.

“Yes we do.” She answered.

“Then, one vegetarian jjajangmyeon, sweet and sour ake mushroom, and one original Jjajangmyeon.” I ordered.

“Yes, I’ll be back with your meal.” She said and lef.t

“Who’s vegetarian?” Jisoo asked.

“Jongsuk. He can’t really eat meat.” I answered.

“Ahh~! You are seriously missing out on life!” Jaehyun said frustrated.

“Jongsuk hyung, are you usually this quiet?” Jisoo asked him.

“Y-yes… Sorry.” He apologized out of no where.

“Why are you apologizing?” Jisoo was surprised.

“So where do you live now?” Seunggi asked him

“He’s currently staying with me.” I answered for him

“Hey, where are you staying right now? You suddenly disappeared from your place. I stopped by and they told me that you already moved out.” Jaehyun said madly.

“Ah… I’m just staying in a house my family own.” I said

“Let us drop by and party someday then.” Seunggi said surprising me.

‘Party? I don’t think so.’ I said worried about Jongsuk. I don’t want him to be stressed out from them. We just talked a bit and whenever they asked me to hang out I would just carefully reject their offer or just say maybe since I wanted to spend my time with Jongsuk more. Maybe in the future once he’s all comfortable with others. When the food came out Jongsuk had a blast. He said it was delicious and ate everything. I even ordered more food for us and he finished quite a lot of it as well.

“Woah~ for a skinny guy you eat a lot.” Jisoo said  to Jongsuk.

“It’s really good.” Jongsuk giggled.

“If it’s that good then we’ll eat this more often.” I said to him as I grabbed a napkin to wipe the black bean sauce off the corner of his lips.

“Why are you so nice to him?” Seunggi stared at me.

“Jealous?” I said back since I didn’t know what else to say.

“No, I’m totally fine! In fact you two stop acting like a couple!” He said trying to act all tough.

“Tsk~ whatever!” I said back.

“Well now that we’re all full let’s go run it off. How about some soccer?” Jaehyun suggested.

“Soccer with this stomach?” Jisoo said. In the end we went to paly soccer for a bit. Jongsuk was okay with it and even played along. He was really cute on the field. He wasn’t able to kick the ball since he was so slow and was so uncoordinated.

“Jongsuk!” I shouted and kicked the ball over to his direction.

“I got!” He ran to get the ball but only to trip over his own foot.

“Oh! Are you okay?” I rushed over to him.

“I’m okay.” He said cleaning his hands. I then scanned his arms and legs to see if he got any injury.

“I’m okay. I just fell.” He said getting up.

“Are you sure? Are you hurt anywhere?” I asked worried.

“What’s going on?”

“Is Jongsuk okay?” The others came over.

“Do you want to sit down?” I asked him.

“Ayy~ Stop being a worrywart. He seems fine~” Seunggi said.

“Ah…” I realized that I might have overreacted a bit but I’m just worried about Jongsuk.

“Let’s continue playing” Jongsuk said happily. After a few more minutes it got dark and so we all split up and headed home. When we got into the car he forgot to put his seat belt on so I reached over and did it for him. Our face got really close and so I just stared at him for a bit. He just stared  at me shyly with a smile.

“Kiss.” I said. He stuck his lips out and gave me a peck on the lips. I smiled satisfied.

‘I have to stop this’ I said in my head since it was becoming too frequent.

“Was it fun today?” I asked him as I drove us home.

“Mmhm~ We did so many new things. It was so much fun!” He chuckled.

“Your friends are really nice and fun.” He said.

“Well they’re your friends now too.” I said back.

“My friends? Really? Uhh… Do you think they want to be my friends?” He asked me making me laugh.

“Of course, why wouldn’t they?’ I said. I glanced over to him and saw him smiling happily.

“You’re that happy?” I asked him.

“Mmhm~ Friends~” He said happily.

“So who’s your best friend?” I asked him.

‘Would he say me?’ I wondered.

“Best friend?” He then thought about it.

“I like Jisoo.”  He said surprising me.

“Jisoo? Mmhm… What about me?” I asked him.

“Ah! Woobin is number 1! Woobin is… uuhhh more than a friend.” He said smiling.

“More than a friend?” I smiled.

‘Well I won’t question you so that you won’t have a hard time.’ I smiled.

“You’re my number 1 too.” I said back.

“Ah, you were limping earlier. You injured your leg didn’t you?” I asked him.

“It just hurts a tiny bit.” He said.

 “Still… I’ll check on it when we get home.” I said. When we got back I took a look at his knee. He sat there in his underwear as I disinfected his scrapped knee. He seemed comfortable but I wasn’t. With his crotch right in my face…

“Go take a shower and then I’ll put a bandaid on it.” I said to him.

“Yes~ Woobin.” He smiled.

“Thank you.” He said wiggling his toes.

“Mmhm~ because next time.” I said. Once we both washed up and I tended his wound. I made him wear shorts since I didn’t want to feel all awkward again. When his wound was all wrapped up  I had to go finish a project. I had to present it in tomorrow’s class so I had to finish it tonight. We both spent the rest of the evening in my study room. I was on my laptop and Jongsuk was just reading or looking though my books. When I was done I glanced over to Jongsuk. It was already dark out so we should be going to sleep. I was so tired and he seemed tired too. When our eyes met we just exchanged smiles.

“I want to hug you.” I said to him.

“Okay.” Jongsuk waited with his arms open.

“I’m too tired to get up.” I pouted. Because I said that he got up and walked over to me instead. He hugged me the best he could but it was a bit awkward since I was sitting down.

 “Sit down.” I said patting my lap.

“I’m heavy. Plus you said you were tired.” He said

“No, it’s okay. I want to hug you.” I said. I let him sit on my lap with his back towards me. I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested against him back. The next moment I just woke up abruptly.

 ‘Oh! I fell asleep without even knowing!’ I was shocked. I checked on Jongsuk and he was all still.

‘Is he asleep?’ I wondered. I check on the time and realized that we’ve been like this for 30 minutes.

‘Ahh~ I even made him sleep here with me like this’ I felt bad. I carefully moved trying to not wake him up but that was impossible. I wanted to carry him to our room but my legs were numb.

“Hmmh~!” Jongsuk jerked up and turned around.

“You’re awake?” He asked me.

“Uh... Yeah. Sorry I fell asleep. You should have woken me up.” I said to him.

“It’s okay. I didn’t want to bother Woobin.” He said as he got up tiredly. I wanted to get up but my legs were still numb.

“Ah, sorry. Did I hurt your legs? I said I was heavy.” Jongsuk said worried.

“It’s okay. It was my fault for falling asleep.” I said so that he wouldn’t feel bad. He then helped me up and to into the bathroom. We brushed our teeth together and climbed onto the bed together as well.

 “Good night.” I said to him.

“Good night Woobin.” He said and gave me a kiss. I smiled widely for the good night present.

“You’re so cute.” I said hugging him.

‘Shower me with your kisses every single day forever.’ I said in my head greedy.