"Lulu, you're going to be late again if you don't get up!"

"Go away mom!"

The next thing I felt was a slap on my head. Mom was never going to let me sleep in.

"Luhan, up. Now."

I opened my eyes to see her above me. I yawned and then got up. I didn't want to go to school today, but mom insisted I go. There's no point, really. It's not like we could get jobs like humans. I sighed as I swam away from home. I planned on skipping school again with my friends anyway.

"Luhan, over here!"

Behind a large rock, my best friends Kai and Kyungsoo were waving me over. They liked each other a lot. It wasn't "normal" in most communities for homoual couples, yet it still happened every once in a while. Some found it extremely peculiar, while others envied their relationship.

"Let’s go up to the reef." Kyungsoo suggested.

We all liked the idea. I followed behind the two as they held hands. I was one of those that envied them. I wished I could find someone. We had a long way to swim still, so we stopped to get a bite to eat. Despite human belief, we do not talk to other sea creatures; therefore, we do eat them.

After our snack, we headed up to the reef to watch the humans. We talked about how we wished we had appendages that allowed us to walk on the land and all the things we'd do. The humans looked so happy; happier than we were.

"Luhan, look!" Kai said as he pointed.

I followed his finger toward a group of male humans gathered on the beach. I didn't understand what he wanted me to look at specifically.

"What?" I asked.

"Look at that guy. He's cute for you, right?" Kai giggled.

I splashed him with water. Not only is it forbidden to date humans, but we also can't talk to them or reveal our true identities. I wasn't attracted to males anyway, though Kai seemed to think otherwise.

"Very funny, Kai." I glared.

"I thought it was." He held his hands up in defense.

"Maybe we should go do something else?" Kyungsoo asked nervously.

"But we just got here!" Kai cried.

"Just stop fighting then." Kyungsoo pouted.

Kai whispered a faint "ok" and kissed his boyfriend. I turned away and made a funny face to show how disgusting they were being. A second later, Kai jumped onto my back, pushing me under the water.

"I said stop fighting..." Kyungsoo said when we came back up.

"Sorry." Kai smiled.

"What are you guys doing here?"

We turned to the voice and noticed Krystal with a sly smile on her face. From the corner of my eye, I saw Kyungsoo moving behind Kai in fear of her. To be honest, we were all afraid of her.

She thought that just because her dad was leader of our community, she could do anything. Technically she could. If she said anything to anyone about us being here, we'd be in big trouble. Our parents would be furious.

"So?" She prodded.

"We were just...hanging out." Kai said.

"Just hanging out." She repeated. "Does anyone know you're here?"

"Krystal, what do you want? Can't you just leave us alone?" I asked.

I, and I'm sure everyone else, was sick of her games. I just wanted her to leave.

"Well, you technically aren't supposed to be up here..."

"Neither are you." Kai interrupted.

She shot him a look and continued.

"I'll make you a one-time-only deal." She said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She swam closer, speaking directly to me.

"Go out with me, and I won't tell anyone you came here." She smiled.

"You really think he's going to fall for that?" Kai asked.

"Shut up, . I wasn't asking you!" She screamed.

I weighed the options. If I said yes, we'd get off the hook, but I'd have to be with her, and I don't like her; nobody does. If I said no, who knows who she'd go to and what she'd say. I had no choice. I had to go out with her.

"Fine, I'll go out with you." I sighed.

She squealed and clapped her hands.

"Okay! Come get me later!" She said before swimming away.

"You're seriously going to go out with her." Kai said.

"What other choice did I have?" I asked.

Kai sighed and Kyungsoo patted his back.

"Thanks." He said to me.

"No big deal." I said, waving it off. "Let’s go to the rocks now, okay? I want to lay in the sun for a bit."

We swam to the rock pile a few meters away from where we already were. The area was a bit more secluded, so no humans could see us unless they came looking. I flopped on a rock and let the sunlight warm my back. It was a wonderfully nice day up here.