Guilin watched by the poolside, waiting for Kui to come up. He really wanted to have a talk, but the mer did not move at all. It looked like he was curled up and had fallen asleep.
"Kui... should I come down... are you okay?"
Another huge hissing sound was heard.
The young mer, who was by another corner, screeched and swam up.
Guilin quickly shielded his ears. "God, you've got quite a voice..." Grimacing, he peered at the young mer, who was panting and holding onto the edge of the pool. "I'm guessing you hate this lord?"
"You! You enrage me! I'll make you feel the wrath of a thousand seas if you don't leave us alone! I swear!"
If it had been a tall, robust man saying those words, it might have sounded threatening, but coming from a three-foot kid, it did not evoke any kind of fear in him.
Guilin simply smirked. "Aww, you're protective of him. That's so cute. It's good that he has someone to protect him from danger."
"From you! I will protect him from you!" the young mer hissed.
"But I never once hurt him. Even tonight, I never touched him inappropriately. Never once." Guilin raised his hand in surrender. His playfulness was long gone. He seriously peered at the mer. "I will not hurt him."
"Why?" the mer glared back.
"Because... because he is too precious to me."
Strangely, hearing the human say this made Mi Aok even more enraged. He let out a loud hiss, slapping the water's surface. "He! Is! Not! Human!"
"I know... I know..." Guilin gave him a small smile. "I... I've never liked anyone like this before... it's scary how much I care." He unknowingly patted his chest.
Mi Aok watched all this with a deep glare. 'I... I want to kill him! Kui is... Kui will never like him! He... he will not.'
Gritting his teeth, he growled, "A human is not what he needs. You can never protect him. Never! Not from your kind."
Saying so, he dove back into the depths.
Guilin sat there, sighing. "I... I know." He sat back down on the cold ground, gazing up at the open sky. The moon was high, casting a beautiful light inside. He was not able to look away.
Melancholy filled his being.
The feelings he had for Kui were... intense.
Some days he had even wondered if it was some kind of sorcery that had changed him into this simpering fool.
But tonight, he knew one thing for sure.
He loved Kui.
He loved a mer.