Qing couldn't help but wonder could Zhihao hear the rapid beating of her heart while he also wondered if she could hear his heart as well? He had never actually thought of confessing his true feelings to her since for a long time, although they had exchanged words from time to time, since prior to the flooding, they were not able to meet as often as they did now, he had assumed that he was little more than an acquaintance but since he noticed that his remarks caused her to adorably blush and that they had locked eyes in that magical moment, he had made up his mind to confess his feelings to her tomorrow.

Zhihao said "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow, talented lady?"

Qing blushed as she said "Yes, see you tomorrow." As he swam off, a new and exciting thought came to her mind that she fancied him as well. But what was she to do with these new feelings? She had read tales of romance before and of course, it seemed that she would have to admit the truth to him should she wish to act on these new feelings and the possibility of a new relationship between them, but the man typically declared his feelings of love first. So, she'd wait, and she couldn't help but eagerly wait for Zhihao's confession of love.

But her exciting feelings were suddenly stopped by a frightening thought. What if she had the chance to love, only to ultimately lose it? Her father was forced to leave her family as an enlisted soldier in a war between the merpeople and the water demons, only to be one of the multiple casualties. Qing had seen her mother's heart break and although she recovered, it took a long time. Heartache as she had seen and read about was something devastating and the possibility that she would lose Zhihao's love if she were to gain it terrified her. Perhaps she should stop wishing for his confession of love after all…

~Later~

Qing laid in her seashell bed thinking about how to avoid getting her heart broken, she came to a conclusion that after she followed through with her promise to teach Zhihao how to create bubbles the way she did, she would give him the cold shoulder afterwards. Her heart sank a bit because she didn't want to hurt him, but she was more afraid of getting herself hurt should she run the risk of allowing herself to fall in love with Zhihao.

The blue mermaid somehow forced herself to push the issue to the back of her mind as she could feel exhaustion from the day take over. She closed her eyes and was thankful she didn't dream of anything.

~The Next Day~

As the group began heading out, the Queen's absence was immediately felt. But they understood that going into seclusion to recover her powers was important for Queen Ning and for their task as well. Zhihao swam next to Qing and smiled at her as he said, "Good morning."

Qing replied, "Good morning." But soon after, she averted her glance from Zhihao right away which the merman found to be off-putting. What happened to Qing for her to act like this?

Ai couldn't help but raise a brow when she saw how Qing treated Zhihao earlier. Hadn't the two of them been getting along swimmingly well as of late? She was also aware of Zhihao's crush towards Qing and couldn't help but secretly excited for both as well. She swam next to Zhihao, and he gave her a confused look and she replied, "Don't worry, I'll talk to her later."

Zhihao exhaled as he said "Ok, then. I'll leave it to you."

Ai beamed with her eyes closed "When it comes to matters of love, you can leave it to Ai!"

Zhihao couldn't help but laugh which made Ai angrily ask, "What's so funny?"

"Well, one thing I know about you is that you easily fall in love but your infatuations on mermen typically don't seem to work out."

While Zhihao may have had a point, Ai was personally enraged as she yelled "Zhihao!"

Ruǎn yù chuckled. "Looks like you need to swim away from Ai this time and fast."

Zhihao scoffed. "I don't need you to tell me that." With a smirk, he soon swam fast, leaving a stream of bubbles.

Ai yelled "COME BACK HERE!"

Ruǎn yù smiled "You better move after him quick if you want to get back at him."

Ai scoffed with a sardonic smile on her face. "You didn't need to tell me that. You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"Well… It's not everyday someone else goes through the pains that I do." Ruǎn yù's smile quickly changed into one into realization. "Hurry up otherwise you'll really lose him!"

"Okay! I get it! He's a pain in the butt!" Ai yelled as she sped through the halls.

Ruǎn yù couldn't help but laugh which made Lín laugh too. Qing couldn't bring herself to laugh especially since her rudeness towards him earlier still stung her heart. She tried to remind herself that this pain would be better than the pain of losing him.

Lín couldn't help but notice Qing's silence then asked her "Qing, are you alright? You don't seem to be in good spirits right now."

"I…" She shook her head. "I simply don't have any humor in me right now I'm afraid."

Lín frowned. "That means you're not feeling well."

Qing, who was getting a bit annoyed, replied "I'm not ill."

Lín replied in a firm tone. "You're not emotionally alright."

Jade eyes locked onto those of blue in a battle of wills. Even Ruǎn yù couldn't help but feel chills even though he was a bystander in this situation.

Lín softened as she said "Please Qing, I'm your friend. I care about you. I know you. Sometimes, you bottle things up and that's not good for you. Would you please tell me what's on your mind?"

Perhaps Lín would know the right thing to do as she was in a relationship.

Qing relented "Later."

"Alright then, but just remember, you promised." Lín winked which made Qing smile a bit.

Note: Well, I guess I didn't expect the update to come this soon but please be patient, life is unpredictable as it is.