for the following days, the relationship between mark and his uncle had been strange.

both men were kind of distant. mark didn't know what to think about what yongsu had told him.

mermaids had killed his aunt, and his family was, since decades, a mermaid chaser one.

but did this essentially mean mark would have to become one as well?

mark was surely the first person of their family encountering a mermaid and having a friendly relationship with him. and this certain mermaid was rather friendly and not dangerous. mark was, in fact, fond of him.

for example, right now, donghyuck was laying in his merman form on an inflatable pizza-shaped buoy that was floating around in the pool. he had his eyes closed and mouth opened, drinking the water droplets that fell from the dark clouds above them. mark was looking at him with heart eyes from the window of his room. that's actually all he had been doing for the past 3 days. donghyuck had been here for 6 days only, and mark was already attached to the merman.

could this being ever hurt somebody? mark was sure it was impossible.

mark got out of his room, heading towards the pool, making sure to grab an umbrella before going out. he sat on the edge of the pool, dipping his feet in the cool water, and looking at donghyuck.

the merman noticed he had a visitor, so, he smiled brightly and waved his hand at mark, but the older didn't seem to notice him. with a hand motion, donghyuck made the equivalent of a bucket of water fall on the umbrella, catching mark off-guard and waking him up from his trance.

"mark?" donghyuck asked gently. "are you okay?"

mark nodded, looking at donghyuck.

with another hand gesture, donghyuck made the buoy float towards mark. "are you sure? you look sad." donghyuck pouted.

"i have a lot on my mind." mark answered, looking elsewhere.

"is it because of me?" donghyuck asked worried. "if it is, i'm very sorry. i can leave if you want. there's no prob- "

mark cut him in his words. "no donghyuck. it's not because of you, don't worry."

"oh... then, can i help you in any way?" donghyuck asked with a smile.

"i... do have some questions for you. and i need answers." mark sighed.

donghyuck nodded. "ask me then."

mark thought for a second. "last time, you told me you were supposed to stay here for one month. can you please tell me why you are here?"

donghyuck gulped. "i can, but you need to promise me you won't tell it to anybody."

mark nodded.

"pinkie promise?" donghyuck asked with a smile, making mark smile as well and do as donghyuck had requested.

"so... where should i start...?" donghyuck questioned himself.

mark looked at the boy's golden orbs.

"years ago... well, decades actually... no- centuries ago, people from the surface stole a trident. nobody really knows how, but humans found our world and stole our symbol of royalty. since then, we don't have a king as a leader anymore. we need to find the trident and bring it back underwater. that's why a law had been set in place. every teenage merman has to spend a whole month above the surface to look for this trident. if ever a merman comes back with it, he will be crowned king immediately. that's why i'm here." donghyuck explained.

mark nodded.

"but, why aren't you looking for it?"

"well..." donghyuck started again. "i never wanted to come here. i would have preferred staying underwater, but i couldn't. i don't care about fining it or not."

mark raised a brow. "you didn't want to come?"

"no. i was scared of people living above the surface. well, i still am..."

mark chuckled. "you're scared of me?" he asked.

"hum... i was at first. but you take good care of me, so, i'm not scared of you anymore."

mark smiled at his comment.

"but humans are dangerous. if they ever discover we exist, they'll haunt us, and probably kill us. if riley learns that you know i am a mermaid, i'll be banished from the underwater world."

mark widened his eyes. "really?"

"yes. riley has the power to make mermaids pass from one world to another, meaning she has the ability to block us above or under the surface as well."

"but every human being won't kill you! look at me. i've been helping you for 6 days, and i don't intend to kill you. i want to protect you." mark said.

"i know. but this law was set in place years ago. riley accidentally killed a human that had discovered she existed. apparently, she only wanted to destroy a proof of us existing, but she ended up killing the human." donghyuck explained. "actually, the fact that people see us isn't that problematic, because when they'll tell everybody that they saw a mermaid, they'll be considered as liars. but if they have a proof, then, we're screwed."

mark nodded, agreeing with donghyuck's sayings.

"anyway, long story short, that's why i'm scared of humans." donghyuck said, lighting up the mood again.

mark smiled at the merman. "so, you won't look for this trident?"

"nope. i'd rather have fun with you." donghyuck smiled. "now, come and play with me in the pool." he added pushing the umbrella away and pulling mark towards him, making the human fall in the pool dressed.

"let's play the blind shark game!" donghyuck exclaimed.

"what is that?" mark asked.

"one of us plays the blind shark, and the other the fish! the blind shark closes his eyes and has to catch the fish. the fish has to avoid being caught. and when the fish is caught, he become a shark and the shark a fish."

mark smiled. "oh, it's basically a blind tag."

"tag?" donghyuck raised a brow.

"that's how we call it here." mark explained. "so, who's the shark and who's the fish?"

donghyuck raised his hand like a kid. "i'll be the shark."

donghyuck closed his eyes and span on himself before searching for mark.

after swimming around the pool for a minute, he caught mark's foot and opened his eyes smiling.

"found ya!" he giggled. "your turn to close your eyes."

mark did as he was told and closed his eyes.

he swam around looking for donghyuck but didn't seem to find him.

after minutes of searching, mark heard a splashing noise at the end of the pool. he swam towards it. donghyuck, who was waiting for mark here jumped over mark like a dolphin when he got too close, making mark open his eyes.

"it's not fair!" mark whined, looking at donghyuck. "you can breathe underwater and do things i can't do!"

donghyuck laughed. "too bad."

they were interrupted in their laughing session by mark's uncle entering the property.

"hide donghyuck!" mark whisper-yelled, swimming to an edge of the pool. donghyuck settled between mark's body and the pool's wall, hugging mark's chest tightly, all his body underwater. this action made mark blush slightly.

"why is there an umbrella flying around in the garden?" yongsu asked mark. "and why are you in the pool with your clothes on?" he added.

"well... i was walking around the pool with the umbrella because it's raining and i fell?" he said. "i hadn't time to close the umbrella and, yeah... i stayed in the pool because the water was pleasant." mark added, using one of his hands to caress donghyuck's nape underwater because the boy was shaking.

mark's uncle nodded, oblivious of what was swimming inside his pool.

"tomorrow morning, i'm leaving for... you know? stuff." yongsu said not looking at mark.

mark sighed. of course, he knew. yongsu often left mark alone to go search for mermaids with his friends.

"i'll be away for two weeks. this way, you'll have some time to think about everything i told you yesterday, okay?"

mark nodded, avoiding to make eye contact with his uncle.