jaemin, jeno, chenle and jisung were currently standing in the doorframe of mark's uncle's room, eyes glued on the unknown red-haired boy who was hiding behind mark on the bed.

"g-guys?" mark stuttered looking from one boy to the other.

"who is this?" chenle asked.

"hum..." mark turned his head towards donghyuck who was shaking in fear. "this is donghyuck."

"has he been here since we came?" jisung inquired.

"actually, he was there before you came." mark rubbed his nape.

"why didn't you tell us? he has been locked in this room for five days?!" jeno pointed out.

"well, donghyuck didn't really want you to know he was there." mark explained, earning a little punch from the mermaid.

"who is him to you?" jaemin asked approaching donghyuck who was pulling mark's shirt more and more to hide.

"don't approach him too much. you'll scare him." mark stopped jaemin.

the boy raised a brow. "is he your boyfriend?"

"w-what? n-no..." mark responded, taken aback by the question.

"who is he then? why are you protecting him?"

"he... he is..." mark looked at his four friends.

he needed to find something really quick, otherwise it was going to be a disaster.

"he is?" chenle asked standing next to jaemin.

"he's an orphan my uncle found on the beach two weeks ago."

all the boys widened his eyes looking at donghyuck who started shaking even more.

"why didn't you bring him to the police?" jeno spoke.

"h-he... he doesn't want." mark quickly said.

jisung sighed. "you know mark, perhaps that someone is looking for him. did you ask him where he came from and everything?"

mark thought for a second, trying to find a plausible answer to that.

"yongsu found him almost drowned in the sea. when he woke up, he didn't remember much." mark told.

"poor boy..." jaemin looked at donghyuck with teary eyes.

"hi donghyuck! i'm chenle!" chenle suddenly introduced himself. "this is jaemin, the cutie over here is jisung, and this is jeno. we're mark's friends."

donghyuck lifted his head a bit, making eye contact with the four boys for the first time. he shyly raised his hand and waved at the new people.

"aww, this boy is so cute..." jaemin cooed looking at donghyuck.

"guys, i'm very sorry to disturb this 'get to know each other'," jisung spoke. "but, can't we do this tomorrow? because, right now, i really want to sleep."

"you, whiney baby." chenle sighed.

"then we'll go to sleep and we'll talk about this tomorrow. okay?" jaemin asked, earning a nod from his friends. "great." he added, heading to the door.

"you don't come with us mark?" jisung questioned.

"i think i'll sleep with him here tonight." mark looked at donghyuck and ruffled his hair.

"as you want. goodnight dudes!" chenle exclaimed.

the last words mark and donghyuck heard before the door was completely closed was jaemin and jeno's bickering.

"see, i told you it was interesting. i'm glad i won't sleep on the floor tonight."

"shut up!"

after that, the room was silent again and donghyuck eventually let go mark's shirt to sit properly on the bed.

"so... yeah. they know." mark stated awkwardly, making the mermaid chuckle.

"they would have found out any way..."

"yeah. i was scared you would be mad at me."

donghyuck sat closer to mark. "why would i be mad at you? you're basically protecting me. i can't be mad at you!"

mark smiled at this comment.

"but, please..." donghyuck and mark locked eyes. "don't let them know i am a mermaid. you already know and it is a mistake. nobody should know we exist." donghyuck spoke very low.

"don't worry. your secret is safe." mark caressed donghyuck's head.

donghyuck leaned into mark's touch, the feeling of mark's hand against his crane being a very pleasant one.

"we can sleep then. since they know you are here, we can have fun tomorrow." mark continued.

donghyuck nodded before raising to his feet to walk to the bathroom. however, mark caught his wrist before he could approach the bathroom.

"you... shouldn't sleep into the bath tub since... you know?" mark rubbed his nape.

donghyuck nodded and approached the bed again, lying on his back next to mark.

"goodnight." he said, turning around showing his back to mark.

mark smiled. "goodnight donghyuck..."

the next morning, once jeno, jaemin, chenle and jisung had woken up, they sprawled out on the various couches to wait for mark and donghyuck to wake up.

the four boys talked for an hour about donghyuck, mark and the news they had learned the night prior.

as mark and donghyuck weren't waking up, chenle and jaemin decided to go and see by themselves while jeno and jisung played on their phones.

chenle and jaemin approached yongsu's room silently and opened the door laughing loudly at the sight before them.

donghyuck was taking all the available place on the bed, sleeping on his stomach with arms and legs outstretched and mark was sleeping on the very edge of the bed, almost falling on the floor.

the older boy woke up because of his friend's laughs.

"what's so funny?" he asked, voice hoarse and eyes half-opened.

"look at you two." chenle told.

mark tuned around to look at donghyuck and smiled.

"we'll let you wake him up. i'll ask jeno to prepare breakfast since he's the only one who knows how to prepare eggs well in this household." jaemin told before closing the door, leaving mark and donghyuck all alone again.

mark shook donghyuck awake, making the merman stretch and yawn cutely.

donghyuck finally opened his eyes and let his eyes adjust to the sudden brightness.

"you slept well?" mark asked donghyuck.

the merman nodded smiling. "you?"

"of course, i did." mark told. "want to have breakfast? jeno's cooking eggs."

donghyuck widened his eyes. "you eat the eggs?! but there are people inside!" he panicked. "what if... what if you ate me?!"

mark chuckled. "we eat chicken eggs, not mermaid eggs."

"chicken?" donghyuck raised a brow.

"it's an animal. it has- you know what? i'll ask the others to go to the zoo one day. this way i'll show you animals from here."

donghyuck smiled. "cool!"

mark rose to his feet, ready to go have his breakfast. however, before exiting the room, he let out a laugh, confusing donghyuck.

"you know, for a mermaid, you look like a beautiful starfish when you sleep."