Note: Thanks to the lovely people at the ssminibang for giving me suggestions when I was stuck on describing Nephrite being upset. Thanks to VenusUnchained for helping me with a plot detail.

Lín tilted her head and straightened it again as she saw her lover approach. "What were you and Kǎi talking about my love?"

Ruǎn yù held up a finger next to his mouth "That's a secret my love, it's a man-to-man talk."

Lín playfully turned her head away as she said "Hmph, you males and your secrets."

Ruǎn yù put his hands over Lín's shoulders. "Well, I can tell you one thing I told him."

Lín raised her brow as she looked at him with eyes that showed interest. "Oh? And what is that?"

Ruǎn yù leaned in close to her ear so that what he said to her would only be for her ears alone. "I said that even if you were from another world, I'd go up on land just to be with you."

Lín's face blushed then she pushed him away "You flatterer!"

Ruǎn yù looked dumbstruck for a moment before protesting "But I meant it!"

Lín chuckled before swimming away and Ruǎn yù yelled "Hey!"

She knew he meant his words and it was part of why she loved him so much. It was why she was in a courtship with him. And by now, she felt that there was no one else she would rather be with and that one day, she would love to be married to Ruǎn yù.

Meanwhile, Kǎi looked lost in thought and Ai didn't want to bother him but she couldn't help leaning her head towards him as she moved around him and stopped at different angles. She couldn't help but wonder how someone could be quiet and think for that long?

Kǎi couldn't help but notice a very inquisitive aura circling him then finally, he spoke "Yes, Ai?"

Ai sweated as she bent an arm behind her head "Eh heh heh heh. You can see me staring at you even with your eyes closed?"

"I didn't need to see you; I could feel you staring at me."

Ai's face blushed as she asked "Um, h-how?"

"Your aura. It was very curious."

"Oh…" She tilted her head downward. "I couldn't help but wonder what you were thinking about and how you could be quiet for so long is all."

Kǎi closed his eyes for a bit before reopening it and saying. "It's none of your concern, break time is over."

Ai was taken aback but at the same time, this kind of behavior from Kǎi wasn't entirely new on his end. The angel felt guilty but at the same time, he was stubborn, and he wasn't really ready to admit how he felt about Ai just yet.

Kǎi called out. "Break is over!"

Ruǎn yù couldn't help but notice that Ai looked a bit down. It made him wonder what exactly did Kǎi do and exactly what was he thinking? He wanted the angel to confess to Ai! Not get her down!

Ruǎn yù wasn't the only one who noticed, Yìngyù did too and he looked over to Ruǎn yù. The brunette merman shook his head to indicate that it wasn't exactly the time to talk now.

However, when the merpeople lined up to join their water manipulation abilities together, Yìngyù purposely stood next to Ruǎn yù instead of Mei. The raven-haired priestess certainly noticed the fact the blond stood next to his friend instead of her and it made her upset for some strange reason. She shook her head as she tried to shake off that strange feeling of not having her temple guard near her and tried to tell herself that Yìngyù could stand next to anyone he liked. It wasn't like she cared or anything like that!

As they joined their powers together to create a current that gathered another quantity of human corpses towards their area, Ruǎn yù looked angrily at Yìngyù as he hissed. "Can't you take a hint? It's not really a good time to talk about it right now.

"I know what you meant but I can't wait. Ai's upset and I get the feeling you know something about it."

Ruǎn yù huffed as he turned his head, making his wavy hair swish in the water. "Why do you care so much? It's not like you're her brother or anything like that."

"But she's a good friend to me just like you are to me. And even if I can't feel much of her emotions, I can still sense a bit of hurt and disappointment from her aura."

Ruǎn yù was taken aback but it was true that although Yìngyù wasn't as powerful as Mei when it came to psychic abilities, he still had some pretty decent ones. He frowned while he looked at the blonde merman from the corner of his eye. "I don't know exactly what happened to Ai, but I get the feeling it involves Kǎi. If he's a real gentleman, he'll make up with her later."

"I see." replied Yìngyù with an unreadable expression before looking forward.

~Later~

Kǎi had just announced that it was time for a break and Ai immediately swam towards Mei. Ai looped her arm over Mei's.

"What's the matter with you?" asked the priestess.

"Can we go somewhere more private first before I tell you?" Ai gave her a pleading look.

"Of course. There's a kelp forest over there. We can head there." Mei pointed.

Ai nodded then the two held hands and swam away.

Even if Kǎi wanted to apologize, it seemed that he lost his chance to do so right away Yìngyù thought as he observed the two mermaids swimming towards the direction of the kelp forest.

Mei put her hands on her sides then asked "So… What's going on with you?"

Ai pouted. "Well… I was just wondering what was going on Kǎi's mind and why he was quiet for so long." She crossed her arms, and her eyes got a bit teary. She whined, "He told me it was none of my concern."

Mei sighed as she had her eyes closed and facepalmed. "That's all? And here I thought it was something more serious."

"But… he was mean to me..." Ai pouted.

Mei sighed. "I can see how Kǎi's tone would come off as rude though, but he is right, whatever is concerning him concerns him only. And you were probably staring at him the whole time, right?"

That remark made Ai's face turn completely red.

"He's no fool so I wouldn't be surprised if he knows you all observe him often. How do you think he feels? I would be annoyed if I felt like I couldn't get true privacy, and someone was butting into my business."

Ai was quiet as she sheepishly looked down at the sand before conceding. "I guess you're right about that…"