donghyuck and renjun pulled themselves on the seashore near mark's house. it was a bit late, so, the beach was empty.

drying themselves with the sand under them, the two mermaids slowly morphed into their human form and ran to mark's villa. donghyuck remembered the way to his boyfriend's house.

arriving into mark's porch, both boys caught their breath and donghyuck finally pressed the doorbell multiple times because of his cheerful mood.

they heard shuffling inside the house and then, the door opened revealing a sleepy mark.

before the human could identify the person, who had rung, donghyuck jumped on his boyfriend, circling his arms around mark's neck.

the human immediately recognized his lover scent and hugged him tight. renjun coughed loudly, making the two boys part.

"what are you two doing here?" mark asked.

"i missed you..." donghyuck pouted.

"i missed you too princess." mark smiled and pecked his boyfriend's lips.

"and i missed jaemin and jeno, but they're not here." renjun said stamping his foot and making his two friends' lips detach.

"jaemin and jeno?" mark raised a brow as renjun blushed.

"yeah." donghyuck smirked. "i guess renjun had a tiny crush on the couple."

"both of them?!"

renjun kept his head low to prevent his cheeks to be seen by his friends.

"renjun had always been different, you know." donghyuck smiled.

"shut up!" renjun whined.

mark chuckled at the two best friends.

"i know what we can do." mark declared before heading back in and coming back seconds after. "let's pay them a visit." he said, shaking the car keys in front of renjun's face, making him blush again.

the three boys took place in the car, mark driving, donghyuck on the passenger seat and renjun on the back seat. after a dozen of minutes, the three boys were in front of jaemin's front door. mark told the two mermaids to hide before he knocked on the door.

it opened after a minute, revealing a messy haired jaemin next to a panting jeno.

"mark?" jaemin furrowed his brows. "what are you doing here?"

"i-i... did i interrupt something?" mark asked. "i didn't know jeno was here as well."

"well..." jeno rubbed his nape.

"yes, you did interrupt something, so what you have to tell me better be something interesting." jaemin sternly said.

mark smiled shyly. "i hope you'll be happy then... gyus, come out."

the two mermaids came out of their hiding spot, donghyuck pushing renjun in front. as soon as jeno and jaemin saw who mark was reffering to, they smiled brightly, forgetting that they were angry at mark for interrupting them.

"renjunnie!" jaemin happily squeaked pulling the boy into a warm embrace. jeno back hugged renjun at the same time, sandwiching renjun between the two boyfriends.

"we missed you." jeno said, caressing his waist.

"i missed both of you too." renjun added cuddling more into the boys' touch.

"are we going to stay under your porch or will you invite us to enter?" mark coughed.

"hum..." jaemin looked at mark and donghyuck who were awkwardly standing in front of them. "yeah, come in."

the five boys entered the house and got to jaemin's room.

"how long are you staying?" jaemin asked jumping on his messy bed.

"how long do you want us to stay?" renjun responded with a question.

"forever." jeno answered next to renjun's ear.

"can you really stay?" mars asked his boyfriend.

"of course. i'm the king now. i make the rules." donghyuck smiled showing his crown to his friends. "and junnie here, with his pretty tiara, is a prince."

"so beautiful..." jaemin and jeno sighed looking at renjun with heart eyes.

"i didn't come here to see you three flirting with each other." mark declared.

"well, i did." donghyuck added. "so, go on."

renjun flushed red at what his best friend had just said, making jaemin and jeno coo.

"just date already! can't you see you three are head over heels for each other." mark rolled his eyes.

"you..." jaemin pointed at mark, "i don't want to see you in my room. get out. you'll sleep in the guest bedroom tonight."

"what a way to treat your best friend." mark scoffed.

"you're making our junnie uncomfortable. so, get out." jeno joined the conversation.

"our junnie?" renjun mumbled turning even redder.

"you're no fun guys..." mark rolled his eyes before heading to the door. "come on princess, we'll go to our room."

donghyuck nodded and jogged behind his boyfriend.

once the two boys had left the room, jeno and jaemin turned back to renjun.

"we're sorry about mark." jeno said.

"he's awkward..." jaemin added.

"oh, don't worry. donghyuck is the same..."

jaemin chuckled. "they fit each other. it's cute. they are a cute couple."

"well, i think you two are cuter..." renjun mumbled, hoping nobody had heard him, but to his dismay, the two boys hear it perfectly.

"what? you think jeno and i are cuter?"

renjun nodded, cheeks red because of his shyness.

"well, i don't agree..." jeno declared causing jaemin to glare at him.

"you don't?"

"no. us two don't look cute enough. we need renjun for that."

jaemin's features softened immediately. "oh, yeah, of course!"

renjun looked at both of them with widened eyes.

"w-what does that mean?" he stuttered.

"it means that we want you as our boyfriend." jaemin clarified.

"b-but... we barely know each other." renjun shook his head.

he badly wanted to be with them.

he had never felt this attracted to someone before. and here, it wasn't one person, but two. plus, the fact that they both seemed to reciprocate his feelings were driving him crazy.

"we know when we find a rare pearl." jeno smiled.

"and you, renjun, are our rare pearl." jaemin finished.

renjun was currently a blushing mess. seated on the edge of the bed between the two boys he liked, he couldn't think straight. also, the fact that both boys planted a kiss on his cheeks at the same time didn't help him to get his shit together.

"take your time junnie, you don't have to give us an answer right now." jeno put his hand on renjun's thigh.

"just know that jeno and i feel different around you. a good different. we really want to keep you for us. so, if you accept our feelings, will you be the one to transform our circle of love into a love triangle by accepting to be our boyfriend?" jaemin asked.

renjun's heart stopped beating.

was this real. were these two boys already asking him to be their boyfriend?

even if the mermaid seemed paralyzed on the outside, his insides were actually a mess, his heat beat so hard that he thought it would come out of his chest.

he was overjoyed to the point tears were threatening to fall from his eyes.

"junnie, don't cry. we're sorry, you don't have to accept our confession. please, don't cry." jeno hurriedly said, exchanging a worried look with jaemin.

"i-i... i like both of you so much..." renjun confessed, wrapping his arms around the boys' necks.

the couple sighed in relief before wrapping their arms around renjun's tiny figure.

"i'd love to be your boyfriend." renjun finished, his first tear falling from his eye, making him transform in a beautiful green-tailed merman.

the three boys lied in the bed, the merman between the two humans, and big smiles on their faces.

ψ

"do you think they're having sex?" donghyuck asked abruptly making mark choke on his saliva. they were both laying under the covers of jaemin's guest room, legs entangled and bodies stuck together.

"there's not enough noise." he simply answered.

"having sex makes noise?"

mark brushed off the unholy thoughts he had. "hum... yeah."

"why can't you tell me what it is? or show me?" donghyuck asked innocently, looking at mark deep in the eye.

mark broke their eye contact. "w-why don't you ask renjun to tell you what it is?"

"because he doesn't know either. i asked him."

mark sighed. "jaemin and jeno will teach him."

"are they going to teach me too if i ask them?" donghyuck smiled brightly.

"what?! no! never! only me. no one else." mark furrowed his brows and tightened his grip on his boyfriend's waist. "but i'll teach you at the right time. when we'll be alone at my house." mark added with a wink.

"okay." donghyuck answered cutely. "i love you. goodnight."

"i love you too princess." mark said before planting a kiss on the mermaid's lips and closing his eyes.

ψ

in the end, those two worlds, even though they are completely different, can live together. mark, donghyuck, jaemin, jeno and renjun are the proof of it.

under and above the surface are both on the same planet. so, basically, they are the same world...

that was the last chapter of 'above the surface'

thank you so much for all the support you gave on that book 

it truly means a lot to me

you can't know how happy i am

<3<3<3<3<3