“Wooyoung, I'm taking a break,” Yeosang announced as he bent under the bar counter to get out, already heading towards the exit of the club but walking slowly backwards, waiting to receive some kind of response from his friend.
“Already?” Wooyoung raised his eyebrows up.
Yeosang only shrugged and gestured to the other bartender to remind Wooyoung that he wasn't leaving him all alone. Then, he turned around and finally walked outside.
It was a rather peaceful Saturday night with not as much work as there usually was during the weekends. There were still a lot of people but that time it was mostly regulars instead of tourists on a vacation.
Wooyoung didn’t complain when he had a little less work to do. He even saw it as something good because he wasn’t going to be as tired when he went back home and he wouldn’t need a lot of sleep. Nothing changed the fact that time passed by painfully slowly, though. And if there wasn’t anything to distract Wooyoung, he was bored out of his mind. Usually the thing that distracted him was Yeosang but during the whole night he had been taking breaks way too often and disappearing off to somewhere even at the point they got a little busier at the bar. Wooyoung didn’t question him about that.
The warmth and softness of his own bed made Wooyoung let out a sigh of relief as soon as he lied down a little after he got home from work. He sleepily set an alarm for noon, then fell asleep almost immediately.
Although he slept only for a few hours, he was having some weird and quite detailed dreams such as drowning as he was being pulled deeper into the water but Yunho saving him.
He woke up minutes before his alarm. He couldn’t go back to sleep so he spent the rest of the time staring at the ceiling, thinking about the dreams he had. Maybe it was a sign and a warning about Yunho’s best friend. But it was going to be rude if he didn’t show up although he really was a little scared.
And he couldn’t really tell if the fact he even started dreaming of Yunho was good or bad. The mermaid was occupying such a great part of his thoughts already.
He had become way too dependent on Yunho and his presence. It was probably a little ridiculous. He did realize that there was no possible way he could be at the beach all the time just to be with Yunho. And, on the other hand, Yunho couldn’t be there all the time either.
The alarm finally going off distracted Wooyoung. He turned it off and got up to get ready and go outside. It was one of those days when it was so hot and humid that he could barely breathe. His skin was boiling underneath his clothes even though he was wearing just a T-shirt and shorts.
He was nervously fidgeting with his fingers on his way to the beach, wondering what to do. He didn’t meet mermaids every day and with Yunho it was probably a different case than it would be with anyone else. Was he supposed to be in the water with them? Were they supposed to go out of water to him? No. That was going to be a little too awkward. Was he supposed to stay out of the water while they were in? That also sounded like an awkward option. And a rude one, too. He really hoped Yunho had something figured out.
The mermaid was already waiting for him at the beach, leaning against a rock and calmly waving his tail around in the water. He greeted Wooyoung with a warm smile as the latter approached him. Wooyoung crouched down, leaning over the rock to cup Yunho's cheeks and give him a small peck on the lips.
“Is this how you greet me now?” Yunho giggled after he pecked back. Wooyoung nodded, a wide smile spreading over his face. “Are you nervous?” Yunho wrapped his hands around Wooyoung's wrists, holding onto them gently.
“Kind of.” Wooyoung nodded again, slowly brushing his thumbs against Yunho's cheeks. “But I feel a little calmer now.”
Yunho pulled away and moved backwards into the water, gesturing at Wooyoung to go over to him. Without hesitation or taking too long, Wooyoung took only his shoes off and sat on the rock before carefully going into the water. He moved closer to Yunho and held onto his shoulders.
“I promise he’s not bad,” Yunho assured, wrapping his arms around Wooyoung's waist loosely and holding him close. “He’s just protective. And, in fact, he’s actually really nice and fun to be around.”
“Nothing changes the fact that he hates my guts just because I'm a human.” Wooyoung pouted and leaned closer, nuzzling against Yunho's cheek but scrunching his nose up almost right after. “You’re wet.” He pulled back with a frown.
“You have three guesses to figure out why.”
Wooyoung hummed and squinted as he put a hand over his mouth. “You’ve been crying?” Yunho shook his head, giggling quietly. “Hmm… Maybe… Sweat?”
“You have one more try.” Yunho shook his head again.
“Oh, I know! I know! You’re a mermaid! Did I guess right?” After receiving a small nod from the mint haired boy, Wooyoung got really excited, splashing in the water happily like a small child. “What do I get for guessing?”
“Well, you had the chance to get the grand prize if you guessed it from the first try, but…” Yunho pulled Wooyoung closer, giving him a quick kiss. “Third place wins this.”
“Just that?” Wooyoung pouted.
Before either of them could say anything, they were startled by the sound of a third person clearing their throat nearby. They turned their heads and saw two other mermaids – one of them with bright green, kind of messy hair and the other with vibrant red hair with beautiful pearls of different colors in it.
Yunho quickly got his hands off of Wooyoung and moved slightly away from him, getting a little embarrassed. “Wooyoung, these are my friends Mingi and Hongjoong,” Yunho introduced.
Wooyoung went closer to the other two, shaking hands with them. He immediately figured out which one was Yunho's best friend. The green haired mermaid, Mingi, was staring at him while they were shaking hands and he felt such a negative energy from him that he suddenly started feeling even more awkward and anxious about what was going to happen.
Meanwhile Hongjoong had such a wide and welcoming smile. At first Wooyoung had panicked a little on the inside that there was two of them, but considering how warm Hongjoong was, he felt more at ease.
After the awkward introduction part, Hongjoong was all over Wooyoung, asking him countless of questions about humans and about him, seeming so excited that he was meeting a human. Wooyoung, who was mildly overwhelmed, tried answering everything but his thoughts were a giant mess and at times he needed a little more time to form a sentence that made sense.
Yunho and Mingi were just kind of floating beside them.
“So…” Mingi glanced at Yunho with the corner of his eye, noticing how the latter barely dared to look back at him. “You two?”
“Yeah. I mean, not exactly yet but, yeah.”
Mingi only let out a quiet sigh before patting Yunho on the shoulder and went to the other two as Wooyoung already seemed comfortable enough while talking with Hongjoong. He joined their conversation, not doing anything to purposefully intimidate Wooyoung.
Not long after that, Yunho joined in, too, pushing himself inbetween Wooyoung and Mingi and wrapping his arms around their shoulders.
He wanted to stay positive about all that, to believe that his best friend was eventually going to change his mind about Wooyoung when he gets to know him better. Although he was well aware Mingi was never going to be able to know Wooyoung as well as he did, he at least hoped that it was obvious how kind-hearted the boy was.