A/N: Big chapter ahead.

While Luhan’s mother looked delicate with her slender figure and long dark hair, she had no problem speaking her mind and ordering around the other boys. “Yixing, put away the toilet paper and then tell Luhan to come cut up vegetables. Oh, there he is. Ah, you must be the other guest! Come sit down, Luhan said you were here!” She was chatting away as she swept around the kitchen, putting ingredients away and taking out pots. “I’m sorry I haven’t greeted you properly but Yixing told me you haven’t eaten since this morning so I’ll get this jjigae on quick so we can talk while it cooks, okay? Luhan, have him sit down and get our guests something to drink!” The last part was shouted in Mandarin which therefore took priority over everything else, so Luhan sat him down opposite of Joonmyeon at the table and went into the kitchen to grab the water jug. He poured them both water and then went to help Yixing who was cutting the ingredients.

“Sehun-ah,” Joonmyeon was staring into Sehun’s eyes and then flipped to the cup of water in front of him.

“Oh.” Sehun just realized how unusual this must be for the older. Mermaids lived in water, so why would they ever need to drink it? Sehun quickly took a drink of his water, saying. “Mm, refreshing. Hyung, drink up. Water keeps you hydrated.”

Joonmyeon immediately widened his eyes, took his glass and drank it all quickly.

“Slowly hyung, it’s not a race.”  He glanced over and saw that the three hosts were occupied. “We won’t dry out, but humans need liquid to keep up some bodily functions. If you ever feel like your throat is dry or scratchy, have a glass of water. Luhan told me his body lets him know when he needs it. Same with urinating.”

Joonmyeon nodded. “But what do we do about urinating?”

“You remember that thing in Luhan’s bathroom that you sat on? It’s called a toilet and you do your business there. There’s a lever on the side that will get rid of everything when you’re done and you wash your hands afterwards. I’ll show you after dinner.” Joonmyeon nodded, looking a little more relieved.

Dinner was made surprisingly quickly since Luhan’s eomma had made the broth that morning so they all sat down to eat twenty minutes later. Yixing passed around utensils and Luhan set down the rice bowls and then they both sat down. Luhan’s eomma sat at the head of the table while Luhan sat to her right and Sehun sat next to him. Yixing sat opposite of Luhan and Joonmyeon sat opposite of Sehun. Immediately Sehun was grateful that he was opposite of his hyung because he was obviously lost at what he was supposed to do. “Alright! Let’s eat,” Their hostess said, placing the jjigae on the burner in the center of the table. She dished up everyone’s bowl and then sat down.

Sehun jiggled his spoon in Joonmyeon’s direction and indicated for him to pick it up. Luckily, Joonmyeon had always been good with simple instructions so he picked up the spoon and held it exactly like Sehun. He dipped it into the bowl, scooped out some rice, and put it in his mouth. Joonmyeon attempted to do the same, but his grip wasn’t strong enough on the spoon and it fell with a clatter onto the table. All eyes were on him for a second and he immediately bowed his head in apology before picking up his spoon again. The second time he tried, he misjudged the texture of the rice and when he lifted it up, the portion on his spoon fell to the table. Joonmyeon bit his lip and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Sehun had momentarily taken his eyes off of him to blow on his soup, Luhan was telling his mom about his shift at the hospital, and Yixing…

Yixing was staring at him curiously from the corner of his eye. Joonmyeon immediately broke the stare and returned his attention back to his rice (which hadn’t floated away or been eaten by any fish). He picked up the rice chunk with his fingers and put it back in the bowl, determined to try again. He was about to try to tackle that same rice chunk when he saw two metal sticks (he would later find out they were called chopsticks) followed by a hand. The two sticks deftly squeezed the chunk of rice and then it was lifted into the air and hovered towards his lips. His eyes followed the hand back and saw Yixing was holding it out for him. His eyes returned to the food when he felt it gently being pressed against his lips. He tentatively opened his mouth and accepted the food with a bow of his head.

“Aigoo, look at Xiao Xing feeding our new guest, that’s sweet of you.”

“We both had a hard trip today,” Sehun said, covering for Joonmyeon’s embarrassment as Yixing offered him more rice. “The road was awful and there was um…construction near the railroad.”

While he said this, Yixing leaned over to Joonmyeon to speak into his ear as he chewed on his second mouthful. “Don’t worry about it. Tonight I’ll feed you and Sehun will have time to show you tomorrow.” Joonmyeon nodded, folding his hands in his lap. Yixing reached for some kimchi next. “Here, kimchi,” he said. “Careful, it may be a bit spicy.”  Joonmyeon accepted the kimchi and was immediately blown away by the sour and spicy taste of it. It was new but not unpleasant. “Good?” He nodded. “I’ll give you some jjigae next.”

“So tell me about yourselves,” Luhan’s ma said, ignoring the two boys on her left for the time being. “How did you come across my hostel?”

“Oh, uh…I came here four years ago for vacation and met Luhan. We decided to keep in touch and we’ve been pen pals. He probably hasn’t mentioned me though, I’m sort of a boring person.”

Luhan scoffed. “Yeah, I’ll say.”

Ya, be quiet our guest…sorry dear, I never caught your name.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m Oh Sehun and this is my cousin Kim Joonmyeon.”

“Ah, how old are you two boys?”

“I’m 18 and Hyung is 21.”

“Ah, so he’s Yixing’s age! Did you just graduate high school?”

“Yes.”

“What part of Seoul are you two from?”

“Uhh…Sinchon.”

“Oh! That’s surprising. And what do your parents do?”

“We don’t have any.” These were Joonmyeon’s first words for the entire meal and they made everyone go silent (their hostess was silent in shock, the rest were in awe of his on the spot lie). “Sehun-ah’s parents as well as my own died in an…accident.” Phew, nice hyung that’s ambiguous enough to work! “We grew up in a church.”

“Oh…I’m so sorry I asked,” Luhan’s mother now looked like she wanted to cry, especially since Joonmyeon (as was his habit) did not meet her eyes.

“But we’re okay! W-we liked it pretty well there!”

“So what brings you to Busan? School?”

“Uh, no. Joonmyeon is here for his health and I’m here to help him.”

“Oh I’m so sorry to hear that…is it very bad? How long will you be staying?” Her question was directed at Joonmyeon who glanced at her. He angled his body towards her, but his eyes remained lowered.

“My back is defor-um…misshapen. We’ll be here for six months.”

“Ah, I see. Well there is paperwork you two will have to do. Right now it’s only Yixing staying in the rooms, so you both can have your pick.”

“Ma, they told me earlier they wanted to stay together in one room to cut down on rent,” Luhan said. “We can do that right? They can just pay the fees for two for food and such…?”

“I think that’ll be fine. Have you found a job down here,” she asked, facing Sehun again.

Sehun relaxed knowing they could be close together and could cut down on costs. “Um…I’ll thank you for your generosity first. Er…no. Luhan-hyung is helping me search for a job…the move was very sudden since he uh-has a doctor’s appointment soon and we wanted to get us both settled.”

“Ah, I see. Well, it’s a monthly rent, heating/cooling, electricity, water, and internet will be included in the bill for the room. I cook breakfast and dinner which is a separate fee for each of you and you’ll be on your own for lunch.”

“I understand.” Thank gods I actually do. He bowed his head deeply. “Thank you so much for your generosity, it means a lot to us both.”

“That’s alright, it was beginning to get a little quiet around here. Speaking of quiet, I almost forgot the house rules! Your guests can’t spend the night in your room. If there happens to be a free room they are welcome to use it for a fee for one night. NO female guests upstairs, this is a male only hostel seeing as we only have a limited number of restrooms. Please keep the noise level quiet after 10 p.m. and before 6 a.m. everyday. The boys here work at the hospital and they come home at odd hours to rest so please be mindful of that. You can drink up in your rooms, but clean up your own messes. No brawling, no downstairs, I am a lady after all, and anything else you can just ask me. Do those all sound reasonable?”

“That sounds fine, Luhan told me most of this over the phone before we came here,” Sehun said with a smile. Dear gods that’s a lot of rules.

“That’s excellent. Well you all seem to get along well with Luhan and Yixing, oh and there’s one more thing. I hate to be called ahjumma, or landlady. Please call me Xi-eomma, I think it sounds so much more likeable.”

Sehun nodded. I like her. “Yes, Xi-eomma.”

She smiled and then turned to Luhan. “He’s so polite and cute! I already think I’ll like him.”

“I sincerely hope so, Xi-ma. Ge, will you pass me the water bottle?” Xi-eomma’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Luhan laughed at the surprised look on his mother and Yixing’s faces.

“You didn’t tell me your friend spoke Mandarin!”

“I’m not very good, but I’m practicing.”

She smiled, pleased. “I like you already. And your cousin too.” Joonmyeon looked up, surprised. “You’re on the quiet side, but I hope you’ll open up to us soon. You seem like a sweet boy.” Joonmyeon’s lips parted in surprise and Yixing slipped in another mouthful of kimchi. He bobbed his head in thanks and chewed. His ears were red. “Oh, he’s cute! Ah, speaking of cute things, you said you were 21 right? Who is older, you or Yixing?”

Yixing offered him more soup and wiped his mouth carefully. “I was born in October, what month are you?”

He quickly swallowed. “May.”

“Ah. Can I call you Hyung?”

“If you like.”

Xi-eomma smiled endearingly at the interaction between the two. She filled the rest of dinner with her own chatter and left Yixing and Luhan to do the dishes. “Everyone takes turns doing the dishes in the house, but I cook and clean the main floor and bathrooms,” she said, leading them to the stairs and hurrying up them. “I think the…” she trailed off, not sure why the two boys were not following her. Her answer came as she saw the younger with his hands wrapped around the older, helping him slowly walk to the stairs. She felt her eyes get a little wet as she saw the older hold onto the wall and lean all his weight on the younger to make it up the stairs. He was biting his lip, and when they reached the top of the stairs, she noticed his limp. These poor boys. She began leading them. “The second floor is shaped like an L, Luhan and Yixing have these two rooms here,” she said, pointing to the room on the right and the one directly in front of the staircase. “The bathroom is the second door on my left, the first one is a linen closet that you two can use for towels and extra blankets if you need them. It’s just us for now so we have plenty of toothbrushes and toothpastes that you can use. And your room will be here,” she said, sliding open the door next to Yixing’s room. It was diagonal from the bathroom and they could see two more doors down the hallway off the first.

The room itself was a decent size with a twin size bed against the right wall, a window in the wall across from the door, and a desk, chair, and lamp beneath the window. There was also a closet on the left wall and there was a light on the ceiling. “I’ll bring you some blankets so one of you can sleep on the floor since the bed will be a bit tight. The extra toothbrushes and toothpaste will be under the sink. It looks like Luhan already leant you some old clothes of his…I have a couple boxes of his old clothes that I forgot to get rid of, so you can use those for now. You two were really unlucky.”

“Yeah, but you’re already making us feel better, Xi-eomma,” Sehun said with a grin. Xi-eomma smiled and patted both of their heads fondly. “You both are darling. Well, get some sleep I’m sure you’re both tired.” She disappeared for a second and came back with a futon, a blanket, and a pillow. Sehun quickly took them from her and she smiled. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” they both replied with a bow. Sehun put the stuff in his arms down on the floor and slid the door closed. Then they both let out a sigh of relief and Joonmyeon collapsed onto the bed with a groan. “Phew. That was…exhausting.”

“I agree. Although I do like her; she seems very kind.”

“What did you think about the food?”

Joonmyeon’s eyes grew large with excitement. “It was good! I was nervous at first because I couldn’t use those pointy utensils properly but they were really delicious!”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to show you that earlier, the two pointy utensils are chopsticks and the one with a wide deep end is called a spoon. I’ll show you how to use them tomorrow when no one is around so you can practice a lot.”

He immediately nodded. “I agree. I realize how simple our lifestyle is compared to humans, everything seems more complicated but convenient.”

“That’s very accurate,” both boys jumped in surprise since Luhan had slid open the door and shuffled inside with Yixing. He carried an armful of journals with him. “Joonmyeon, these notebooks should be useful for you. These are the notes Sehun took about human life, so I think this’ll be a good read.” Joonmyeon nodded in thanks and accepted a stack of seven or eight journals. “I just came in to write down any other fake facts we have that we mentioned over dinner.”

“Actually Lu-ge, will you discuss those with Joonmyeon-hyung for a second? I have an important question to ask Sehun.” Luhan nodded and sat on the bed next to Joonmyeon who began reading over his shoulder. Yixing sat down next to Sehun, observing him curiously. “What’s up? What’s your important question,” Sehun asked.

“So, how much do you know about humans, can you explain how much you know…?”

“Oh, right. For explanations and stuff? I know Korea’s basic history back until Goreyo…I know the geography well enough in Korea, I can read a world map…”

“I kinda meant something more useful in everyday situations…like things that would involve you interacting with other people.”

“Oh, well that’s different. Um…I can work a smart phone, I know how to make phone calls, send e-mails, I can use the internet, I think I can work a TV, Luhan has told me about that…I can work a laptop pretty well, I can type on it and make those power point presentations…um…I know how Luhan is a nurse so I know basic human anatomy-” Yixing looked bewildered. “It’s a lot more different than mermaid anatomy, we did a comparison once. I can work a DVD player, I know the theory of working a dishwasher and doing laundry…I know how to turn on and off lights and how to flip a breaker, how to use the sink, toilet, and shower including shampoo and body wash, um…I’ve heard of stoves and ovens, but I’ve only used the gas one once to make ramen. I like chocolate bubble tea and I know about grocery stores, convenience stores, laundromats, bars, and I’ve heard of recreational drugs and alcohol. Oh and I recognize the bus lines that take us from here to your college and to the hospital. And I know about taxis, cars, and trains. Kind of.” Now Yixing looked concerned. What on Earth did they NOT talk about? “Oh, I also know about what you guys eat. I know about basic Korean and Chinese dishes and I’ve had a hamburger once. Speaking of that, I know a little English, I know the Romanized alphabet and I swear a lot.”

“Wow…that’s actually a lot.”

“Yup.”

“So I have another question.”

“Sure.”

“Have you seen ‘The Little Mermaid’?”

“…Yes…”

“Really?! What did you think?”

“They got the overbearing father-figure correct. But sea witches are supposed to be incredibly attractive and no one breaks into song like that. And we can’t talk with fish.”

“You can’t?” Yixing sounded disappointed.

“It’s like if you were to try to talk to a duck or cow.”

“…oh.”

“And I know how to use a fork. And as you could probably guess from dinner, we do eat all sorts of seafood.”

“Okay…so did your dad know that you were going to the surface to visit a human?”

“No. It’s kind of forbidden…unless you’re a Royal Astronomer and then you go up at night to chart stars so we can keep time and stuff. We’re all really good at telling the time just by the position of the sun and moon, but I can work a clock.”

“That’ll be useful when you get a job.”

“Yeah…but unfortunately I have no marketable skills…”

“All done,” Luhan said. “What were we talking about?”

“Marketable skills for job hunting,” Sehun said. He leaned his head back against the bed, leaning on Luhan’s knee. Immediately his hyung’s hand came up to his hair.

“I think you’ll be fine. In the meantime I came up with some things you two need to learn to keep my mom on your side.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“Cleaning the dishes, doing laundry, sweeping, dusting, vacuuming, and household stuff. She’s gone until 1 pm every day since she works part-time as a massage therapist. Tomorrow I have a late class so I can show you how to do those things and it will help you guys practice walking.” The other two nodded. “Great. That’s all I have, so you two should get some sleep. Breakfast is served at 7 since ma has to be at work at 8. I’ll come and wake you up if you want since I’ll be up for a run.”

Joonmyeon’s eyes were wide. “You run for fun?”

Luhan shook his head and pouted. “No, I run for exercise. The one thing I was jealous about was that mermaids never had to exercise because they’re swimming constantly.”

Yixing pondered that statement. “I never thought of that.”

“It’s true, Sehun has a nice body, look!” Without any pretense he reached down and pulled up Sehun’s shirt up to reveal his abs, which were now more defined because of his squirming.

“Hyung! That tickles!” He pulled down his shirt, quickly covering his body. His ears were red and Yixing and Luhan were laughing at his pouty expression. Joonmyeon watched this interaction with interest.

“I have a question,” Joonmyeon said. “Is this amount of touching…common in humans?”

“Sort of and it’s called ‘skinship’. It’s um…my way of showing affection. I’ve known Yixing and Sehun a lot, so I joke around with them with skinship.”

Joonmyeon nodded. “So does that mean your mother likes me if she patted my head?”

Everyone’s hearts in the room melted a bit at this. Yixing was the first to reply. “Yes hyung, she patted your head because she likes you.”

“But she just met me.”

“Hey, I like you and I just met you.” Joonmyeon blushed and lowered his head. “I mean, you’re polite and respectful and surprisingly funny. Plus I’m pretty sure Xi-ma thinks you’re cute. Based on all these individual facts, we can accurately determine that you are quite likeable.” Speaking logically like that made it very easy for Joonmyeon to understand why, but the feeling was new…being liked.

“Well I think we should get to bed, I still have to show Joonmyeon how a bathroom works and you guys have work tomorrow.”

“Alright, goodnight Sehun-ah, Joonmyeon.” Luhan back-hugged Sehun from where he was and was about to give Joonmyeon a hug too when he backed up in shock. Luhan paused, then patted his head. “Baby steps, I get it. You’ll like hugs though, when you’re comfortable enough.”

Yixing stood up and patted their shoulders a little bit. “I’m not as affectionate as Lu-ge, I’ll hug you in a week or so,” he said showing his dimples. Joonmyeon smiled at this and Sehun laughed. With that the two humans exited the room, leaving Sehun to briefly teach Joonmyeon about furniture. Half an hour later, Sehun had successfully gotten his hyung to brush his teeth without swallowing the toothpaste, use the toilet, and was now arguing with him over who should take the bed.

“Sehun-ah don’t worry about me, you have the bed.”

“I don’t need the bed, besides you’re older and if anyone came in I would be considered a bad dongsaeng to let my hyung take the floor.” Joonmyeon paused, then nodded and got on the bed. Sehun tucked him in and switched off the light.

“Sehun-ah?”

“Yes?”

“I’m still scared.”

“I know. Me too.”

“But you’re used to this aren’t you?”

“No. Most of the stuff here I’ve only heard about. But we just need to try our best. We’re really lucky, you know. I didn’t expect Luhan-hyung to take us in.”

“It’s very kind of him that he did.”

“Yeah…”

Sehun drifted off soon after that, comfortably tucked into the futon.

Joonmyeon couldn’t get comfortable. He tried shifted onto his side, then back onto his back, then he sprawled onto his stomach, then he sat back up. His body was sore, particularly his back. He wasn’t used to wearing the human clothes and his arms felt confined in the hoodie. He paused, his hand on the hem of the sweatshirt. Would he be more comfortable if he tied it around him like a cloak? Was he allowed to sleep without it on? Would anyone care? Sehun was snoring a little bit so he doubted he would mind. He took off the hoodie and tied it around him like a cape. It felt better, but it didn’t offer the same coverage that his cloak did. In the moonlight he could see his stomach, which funny enough had the same muscular ridges that Sehun did. That’s new…well maybe not, I haven’t looked at my stomach much since I started wearing the cloak…He laid back down, sitting up hurt his hips. He tossed and turned for hours. His entire torso was sore in whatever position he tried.

After several hours of tossing and turning he grabbed the first journal on the floor next to the bed and flipped it open. He fluffed his pillow and sat back to read it. Luckily, mermaids were accustomed to less light filtered from the moon, so he could read Sehun’s tiny writing very easily. He started with the sentence ‘Korean humans also eat seaweed in their food’. He read until his eyes closed and he drifted into a fitful sleep.

A/N: I know I interchange hyung and Hyung a lot. Hyung is for when someone is addressing someone else directly hyung (in lower case) is for when it's just in general. I hope you like it!