Chapter 3

“Hey, girl. How's it going—OH MY GOD! What the hell happened to you?" Chisa exclaimed in disbelief the moment she stepped into the kitchen.

Jurin was seated at the kitchen island, sipping coffee from her mug. Her hair was dishevelled, bags were under her eyes, and her face showed exhaustion and fatigue. 

"You mean aside from playing nursemaid for the moody siren prince we found yesterday?" she mumbled, running a hand through her unruly locks.

Chisa arched an eyebrow as she settled into the seat at the kitchen island. “You sure you’re not the moody one? You look like shit.”

“I feel like shit.”

“Clearly. What the hell happened?”

Jurin sighed, setting her mug down and rubbing her temples. “Long story short, I spent the whole night moving Riven from point A to point B since he can’t walk by himself. So I ordered a walker this morning.”

Chisa's eyes widened. Then she burst out laughing. "You WHAT?!"

"It was either that, or dealing with his annoying demands keeping me up all night while he crawled—or slithered—around the house like a goldfish out of its bowl."

Chisa snorted, wiping a tear from her eye. "Oh, come on, Ju-chan. He's a siren. Of course he's gonna be fresh out of the water. You can't expect him to know how to walk right away."

“You’re the worst.”

“Girl, don’t be a hater. You mad you ain’t got a superior sense of humour like mine.”

Jurin finally lifted her head, fixing Chisa with a flat stare. "I have a superior sense of humour. I'm just too tired to deploy it."

"Land walker! What strange white object is this?” Riven’s voice called from the bathroom, snapping Jurin out of her thoughts.

Jurin rolled her eyes and called back, "It’s called soap."

A pause. Then, muffled but still audible: "It smells... aggressive."

Chisa lost it, cackling into her hand. "He's never even seen soap, and he already has opinions about it."

Jurin dropped her head back onto the counter. "This is my life now."

"Honestly?" Chisa grinned, reaching over to pat her head. "Best entertainment I've had in months. I swear, this guy is like a fish out of water."

Jurin groaned, massaging her temples. "Don’t even start with the fish puns."

"Bleugh! This soap tastes atrocious!" Riven exclaimed.

Chisa and Jurin exchanged confused looks. 

"Did you just eat the soap?" Jurin asked.

A silence followed before Riven admitted in a slightly embarrassed tone, "Yes."

Chisa burst out laughing, slapping her hand on the table. 

Jurin face-palmed. "Why the hell would you eat the soap, you idiot?!"

Another pause. Then, quieter: "It looked like food."

"It's shaped like a rectangle," 

"Do not raise your voice at me, peasant!"

Chisa was fully crying now, wheezing into her palm. "I can't breathe. I can't—he's never seen soap, he doesn't know what food looks like, and now his mouth probably tastes like chemicals and regret."

Jurin stared at the ceiling like it might offer her salvation. It did not.

"I'm going to need so much more coffee," she muttered.

Chisa wiped her eyes and stood up. "And, I'm getting this on video."

"Chisa, no."

"Chisa, yes."

"Is that the pink-haired land walker from the previous day?" Riven asked in a demanding tone.

"Yes. She just got here, and her name is Chisa," Jurin called back before turning her attention to Chisa. "Could you stop laughing?"

Chisa tried—she really did—but a snort escaped anyway. "I'm sorry, this is just too hilarious."

Before Jurin could respond, the kitchen door slammed open with a bang that rattled the utensils on the counter.

Both women jumped.

In the doorway stood Amy, breathless and wide-eyed like she'd just sprinted a marathon. Morning light spilt in behind her, catching the flyaway hairs escaping her messy ponytail. A grin stretched across her face—the kind that meant trouble.

"Where’s he?" she asked, a grin on her face.

"Where’s who?" Jurin asked back.

"The fish man you found yesterday, obviously," Amy replied, rolling her eyes.

"How did you—" Jurin's gaze snapped to Chisa

Chisa held up her hands, a sheepish grin on her face. "I might have mentioned it to her via text. On our way here. After we found him."

"Oh, my God! You have a loose mouth," Jurin snapped, irritation evident in her tone.

"What?! She believes in aliens!" Chisa gestured at Amy as if this were a perfectly logical defence. "Best if we ask the alien geek for advice on how to handle this. 'Cause sending him to the hospital and explaining how we found him—and why he was speaking whatever 'sirenic' language he was speaking before he kissed you—was out of the question."

Amy gasped. Her head whipped toward Jurin, eyes wide as saucers. "He kissed you?! So he could speak our language?!"

Jurin pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's a long story."