Yunho was completely exhausted as he sank to the floor of his bedroom. It was the first night he'd been home in nearly a week...

All o this time had been spent looking for their missing pod members. The need to find Wooyoung drove him forward and pushed him to his limits. But he would never stop...

He had barely settled into the sand before Mingi rushed into their room in a flurry of bubbles. "Yunho! I saw the guards! You're back. Are you ok? Are you hurt? What did you find?"

His prince sank down in front of him and took his hands. Yunho couldn't help but smile. "Deep breath, Mingi. I'm ok."

The silence that feel over them was all the answer needed for Mingi's last question.

It made Yunho feel like such a failure... He as supposed to protect this pod, it was his sworn duty. And more than anything, he had promised to always protect Wooyoung.

At that thought, Yunho pulled his hands free to cover his face right before he started to sob.

Mingi quickly pulled him close and gently shushed him. "You need to rest, you are doing too much."

"No!" Yunho shook his head and pushed Mingi away. "I'm not doing enough! I should have answers by now!" He could feel his anger rising. "They couldn't have just vanished!"

None of this made any sense. Normally if a merman or mermaid disappeared a scale at the very least could be found to bring home to the families.

But now... there was nothing.

"So we will send another group out to keep looking, but you need to rest."

"I ca-"

"Don't make me order you." Mingi said, taking on the harsh tone he needed to be a leader, and one he had never truly had to use on his chosen mate.

Yunho paused, then bowed his head. "I just..."

"I know, I do too." The prince whispered.

After a few minutes, Mingi helped Yunho off the sea floor and over to the bed so he could lay down. The soft moss cradled his weary body, pulling him into the slumber it desired, all while Mingi hummed gently in his ear.

The next time San and Yeosang went to visit Wooyoung, they very proudly handed over the materials the merman had asked for to try and contact his home.

"Oh! Thank you so much." Wooyoung bounced in place a little, never taking his eyes off San. "I hope I haven't caused you too much trouble."

"It's fine, really." San crouched next to the trough and reached out to cup Wooyoung's cheek. "How are you doing?"

"Alright."

"What can we do for you?" San glanced at Jongho and saw a sad look in his eyes.

"I'm fine for now, although I am hungry!" Wooyoung pushed himself up on the wooden plank to try and get closer to San.

"I've taken care of that already." Jongho stood up straighter and puffed his chest out a little when Yeosang's eyes widened in surprise. "It'll be ready in a little bit."

Wooyoung beamed and continued to try and lift himself out of the water.

Catching the hint, Yeosang stepped out of the room with Jongho and closed the door behind them.

San chuckled and ran his fingers through Wooyoung's fluffy, purple hair before closing the distance between them.

Their lips molded together and San loved that he got the slight taste of salt from running his tongue across Wooyoung's lips.

It was something he knew he would have found strange before, but Wooyoung had changed the way he viewed so many things.

As they slowly pulled away from the kiss, San glanced down at the merman's tail. "It's looking better today." He said, leaning over the side of the trough to study it.

This encouraged Wooyoung to throw his arms around the human's neck and hang off him while giggling brightly. "A little, yeah!" Wooyoung nuzzled into San's neck. "I want out of here, Sannie." He added with a slight whine.

"I know, baby. I wish there was something we could do to make this go faster."

"I don't care about that. I just want out." The small whine continued as he spoke and San felt his heart break.

If he could, San would give Wooyoung anything he asked for. The past few days had given him a lot of time to think, and he was ready to sacrifice everything for the precious creature hanging off him.

Suddenly an idea hit him that sent his heart racing. It would be risky, but maybe there was something they could do to help Wooyoung feel better.

He quickly urged Wooyoung to let go and promised to return shortly before running from the room. "Sangie!"

San ran to Jongho's kitchen and took a deep breath to start speaking, then exhaled sharply and hid behind the corner, only to peer around it and watch the scene in front of him.

Yeosang was leaning against the counter with his arms crossed in front of his chest. His eyes were trained on where Jongho was thinly slicing pieces of raw fish. San didn't miss the adoration there, and it made him wish the two of them would stop dancing around each other.

When nothing happened for the next couple minutes, San rolled his eyes, then walked in as if he hadn't just been a creep. "Sangie!"

"What is it?" Yeosang dropped his arms and rushed over. "Is everything alright?"

"Do you remember that lake we used to go to?" The one high up in the mountains?"

"Yes... why?"

"What if we took Wooyoung there?" San bounced in place a little, already in love with the idea. "It's only about an hour's drive, and your car can go off-road."

"Wouldn't that be too risky?" Jongho asked as he set down his knife. "What if there are people there?"

"That's the thing, the water is freezing so it's not a place a lot of people visit." San looked between his two friends. "Plus it's really not the easiest place to get to."

Yeosang's eyes flitted back and forth as he thought about San's idea. San knew he was trying to think of every little thing that could go wrong and how they could get around them.

San took the older's hands in his own and squeezed. "Please? I can't do it by myself. I need your help."

"Can he be out of the water for that long?" Jongho walked over to join them.

"We can ask, but I wanted to talk to you two about it first. I just want to get his hopes up. We could always bring a bucket of water and towels to put over his tail." San felt his heart pounding in his chest. He wanted to do this for Wooyoung more than anything else right now.

And maybe he was being selfish, but he wanted to spend as much time with Wooyoung as he possibly could.

"When should we do this?" Yeosang asked, a wide, bright smile crossing his face.

San couldn't help but let out a high pitched cheer of happiness and pulled Yeosang into a bone crushing hug.

"How about this weekend?" Jongho suggested. "You can sleep a little when you get off on Saturday while Yeosang and I get everything together. In fact... What if we turned it into a camping trip? I can borrow some things from my parents."

"That sounds wonderful! I've been itching to get away again." Yeosang lifted a hand up to hold the back of San's head. "My only concern is the aquarium. What if they try to get ahold of you?"

Jongho pursed his lips and started tapping his fingers against the counter. "I think we will be ok. The police don't have a solid story and I can tell they don't believe Wooyoung can turn into a human. Things have been calmer the last couple of days."

The three of them exchanged contemplating looks before deciding to talk to Wooyoung so they could make a final decision.

San hurried back to the bedroom and froze when he saw Wooyoung curled over his own tail whimpering softly. He instantly picked out the new holes in the tail. Blood dribbled out of them, only to disperse in the water.

"Youngie..." San slowly walked forward and fell to his knees next to the trough.

The merman sniffed a couple of times and lifted a hand up to rub his red nose. "It's f-fine. It needed to h-happen." He sniffed again and ran his hands over his tail. "I used to be known for having one of the most beautiful tails in our p-pod. I w-would be a disgrace now."

"No, baby, no." San leaned over the trough to make Wooyoung turn his head so they could make eye contact. "Don't you ever think that about yourself."

Wooyoung's tail flicked a little and he shook his head. "I b-b-betrayed them all... W-We aren't supposed to let ourselves be taken by humans... I already broke s-so many rules by coming to see you. M-M-Mingi prob-bably wouldn't take m-me back anyway." Wooyoung was crying so hard by the end that San could barely understand him.

That didn't stop him from pulling the merman as close to him as possible, though. He pressed his lips to the top of Wooyoung's head and ran his nails gently up and down Wooyoung's arm. "Shh. It's ok. Everything is going to be ok."

When he noticed movement in the corner of his eye, San tilted his head to see Yeosang standing in the doorway with a hand over his heart and Jongho right behind him.

Yeosang met his eyes and the two of them held an entire conversation without speaking once.

San knew his friend was worried about Wooyoung and his safety, but he was more worried about San and what all of this would do to him.

Which was something San couldn't blame him for. Everything was filled with risk and was so up in the air... and the biggest concern was something that had yet to be said out loud.

What was going to happen to San when they returned Wooyoung to the ocean?

It was something San didn't want to have to think about right now. If he let himself slip even a little, he knew it would lead him down a path of self loathing and pity. And that was a person San didn't want to be anymore.

"Woo?" Jongho's voice was hesitant as he leaned around Yeosang's shoulder.

"H-Hey." Wooyoung quickly wiped his eyes and hid his pain behind a smile. "What is that?" He sat up a little straighter and fixated on the tray in Jongho's hands with wide eyes.

San chuckled and motioned for the others to join them. Jongho got himself situated on Wooyoung's other side and flashed a shy smile. "I made you sushi."

"Sushi?" Wooyoung shifted over to hang of the side closest to Jongho. The end of his tail twitched back and forth, almost like a dog. "What is sushi?"

"I think you'll like it. I did a few preparations, but they all have rice, some kind of fish, and seaweed."

Wooyoung trilled with excitement and held his hand out politely to ask for a piece.

San could see the attachment Jongho had formed with the merman by the way his eyes lit up at Wooyoung's reaction. "Eat it in one bite if you can. That way you get all the flavors."

When Wooyoung accepted the piece of sushi, he brought it back to cradle in both hands. "Thank you. It's so pretty, I almost don't want to eat it." He said in a tiny voice.

"Oh, s-stop." Jongho rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at Yeosang.

A bright giggle came from the merman before he placed the roll of food in his mouth.

"Oh!" He brought a hand up to cover his mouth and his eyes grew even wider if that was possible. Everyone watched as he quickly chewed, bobbing his head happily. "It's delicious!"

Jongho beamed in response and held out the tray, which sparked Wooyoung into taking five more for himself.

The four of them sat and enjoyed their food for the next several minutes, then San cleared his throat to get Wooyoung's attention. "Youngie?"

The merman looked at him while sucking the leftover flavor off one of his fingers. It was so cute, San had to fight to hide his smile.

"How long do you think you could stay out of water in this form?"

Wooyoung tilted his head to the side and stared at the ceiling. "Um... I'm not sure, but definitely not long enough to get back to the ocean if it's really as far away as you say."

"No we aren't going there yet, but I had an idea that may help you." San took Wooyoung's other hand. "It'll be a surprise, but we are going to go somewhere this weekend."

"We are?!" Wooyoung turned quickly, sloshing water as a result, and pulled himself out of the trough so he could lean close to San.

"Yeah." He whispered.

Then Wooyoung surprised him by giving him a quick peck on the lips. "You make me so happy, Sannie."

A blush instantly came to San's cheeks and his eyes flicked to where Yeosang and Jongho were very obviously studying their nails.

Since they were being considerate, San took advantage of the moment to rub his nose against Wooyoung's. "You make me happy too, Woo." He whispered. "So very happy."