Burned water [completed]

6 - Mermaid fetish

No, you calm down...

I am calm...

NO...

Yes...

This is a stupid idea...

This is an excellent idea...

We should leave her...

In this mess?...

You will make bigger...

I don't know about you, but I can take care of her...

While waking up, I heard voices arguing in whispers. Consciousness slowly returned to me as I lay wrapped in the blanket like a cocoon. I must have drifted off for a long time because the room got dark and the little lamp on my table was on. I wanted to continue pretending to be asleep and hear the rest of the argument, but someone addressed me directly.

"You're already up" It's the handsome, dark-eyed guy. He was sitting on my window sill, one leg hanging loosely and the other resting on the radiator.

"Everything's all right?" Martinus' voice was much gentler.

Rather a stupid question, I thought in my head. Two guys are in my house, another one tried to make me his slave, I'm short of money...

"Of course it's okay" dark-eyed again. "We saved her."

Martinus and I looked at him with disapproval. My situation was far from "fine" and he did nothing but stand in the right place at the right time. He shouldn't judge and downplay other people's problems so easily.

"Thanks to this, I'll be on the street in a week." I replied tartly and I knew I wasn't fair. He knew it too, because he said it.

"Hmmm, show you what would happen to you if it weren't for us?"

I turned red in the face with embarrassment at "what would be waiting for me", at having juxtaposed "what would have been waiting for me" with this muscular guy, and at the fact that he was right and I should show some gratitude.

I looked at him again. No wonder Martinus always grimaced at the thought of him. He had audacity and malice written all over his face. Playful sparks in the eyes. I wondered why for a moment that morning I felt like I could hide safely behind his back. He looked like someone who always did what he wanted and was unreliable.

"If that's not enough, we're going to save you on one more thing", the dark-eyed man continued. "You don't have to worry about rent because we're moving in with you. We'll throw in a little extra."

He said in a very pleased tone. It was as if he had pulled a gold bar out of his backpack, as if he had handed me a front-row ticket to a BTS concert, as if my new Lamborghini had honked on the sidewalk. I glanced at Martinus in disbelief, but he avoided my gaze. He couldn't rebel against the other one.

I started listing every possible counter-argument I could think of, but he dismissed every single one of them. They will give me money, they will be gone when I get up and they will come back late because they have a lot of work (here is a smile and a significant look towards Martinus). They will buy two mattresses and won't bother me at all. He also started something about how I would still miss them, but he became silent when I looked at him.

"Okay", I finally announced, and three people lived in my tiny room. I didn't know if I was doing the right thing, but I didn't think it would have any consequences for me. I often wonder if I would have answered the same if I had known the future back then.

"Martinus... what do you think" I asked him, because that talker didn't let him say a word for the whole hour.

"Um... yhm... ekum..." he slurred and groaned, and we, with the dark-eyed man, waited in suspense until he finally uttered a word.

"It's already two o'clock" came out of his mouth.

The handsome boy with the ebony hair was deepest in thought since I'd seen him and was trying to decipher these enigmatic words. I looked at Martinus in disbelief that he wanted to publicly ridicule me.

"Your series". He revealed my deep secret.

"Series? What series?" The other one immediately picked up on it.

I tried to hide my love for H2O and turned off all my alarms yesterday. Unfortunately, today I was going to be embarrassed in front of another good looking boy.

It wasn't long before we were sitting, squeezed together on my small couch. Dark-eyed on one side of me, Martinus on the other. While I was breathing heavily and closing my eyes, not wanting to see any of them in my moment of disgrace, I heard the sound of a familiar headlamp.

"Martinus!" The dark-eyed man exclaimed, jumping to his feet and pointing at the TV in disbelief. "They have mermaids here!"

"Nwxeqwixw..." I didn't understand what the called person replied.

"I see!" The other one wallowed in triumph. "That's why you mentioned this series. You know, Martinus has a special feeling for mermaids..."

"I've never heard of a mermaid fetish..." I said, genuinely interested. I glanced at the burning boy, too embarrassed to be able to defend himself.

"JUNGKOOK!" an angry roar escaped his lips.

At this stage I was too tired to be surprised by another name that I couldn't find in the calendar. So that's what the dark-eyed one is called. Maybe these are some nicknames? There's no way my tenants' names are Jungkook and Martinus.

We watched reruns for the rest of the evening. First, those on TV, with Martinus sadly silent in one corner of the couch and Jungkook commenting every now and then on events and the beauty of women. Then the other one wanted me to play the previous episodes on my laptop ("Martinus is embarrassed to ask...", "Jungkook!").

I felt very happy. I talked and giggled more than I had in the last few years. I felt very safe too. Again, that strange feeling that with them, nothing bad is going to happen to me, that none of them will let anything happen to me. And these are not just empty words, but they are both strong enough to truly be my shield.