Becoming the Keeper of an Alluring Merfolk - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: First Kiss, Touching the Mating Scale

“I said, even with Xiao Mi, you are still the most important person to me.”

Song Xiu’s heart felt gently lapped by a wave, sending ripples through her. She leaned in instinctively, her forehead lightly touching Shui Se’s forehead, reciprocating the merman’s gesture of thanks.

She liked this action; it was even more intimate than a hug. In human society, aside from childhood, only couples seemed to do this.

Shui Se’s ear fins immediately turned crimson due to Song Xiu’s action.

“Do you want to go out and take a look?” Song Xiu asked, barely containing her excitement.

“Now?” Shui Se blinked in surprise. “Can we really?”

Song Xiu nodded, pointing to her fair legs, “But you have to turn back into a tail. We can’t let the bad guys find out, right?”

“Right! We definitely can’t let that Jian Xu find out,” Shui Se straightforwardly named the “bad guy” in Song Xiu’s mind.

The night was as dark as ink, with sparse stars twinkling.

Song Xiu quietly slipped out of the dorm, carrying Shui Se in her arms. The merman’s beautiful turquoise tail hung low, and she was clutching a pile of snacks and beer that Song Xiu had bought.

They arrived at the cliff behind the research institute. Waves violently crashed against the rocks, and the spray dampened the hems of their clothes. Song Xiu carefully placed Shui Se on a flat rock and opened a can of beer for herself.

Shui Se’s tail gently slapped the rock: “The ocean is angry.”

Song Xiu, charmed by her comment, couldn’t help but curve her lips: “Yes, the ocean used to be much gentler than it is now.”

The sea breeze brushed her cheeks, and she drank the beer, can after can.

The alcohol made her thoughts drift. Her gaze unconsciously settled on Shui Se, whose pink long hair fluttered in the wind, beautiful like a dream.

Is this really real?

She highly suspected that the asteroid hadn’t hit the Moon but Earth, and that everything now was just an illusion. Since that day, her life had become more fantastical and exciting with each passing day.

She had been digging for dinosaur bones in the desert not long ago, so how did she suddenly end up here, meeting these legendary creatures, becoming their keeper, getting close to them, and even sitting together, drinking and sharing confidences?

“Shui Se, what do you think of me?”

“I think you are very kind to me,” Shui Se blinked her clear eyes and repeated.

Song Xiu’s heart felt gently nudged by the waves, a little painful, and a little sweet. She tilted her head and chugged the last sip of beer. The cold liquid couldn’t extinguish the inexplicable heat in her chest.

Song Xiu finally mustered the courage, though her voice trembled severely: “What if I said that my liking for you is… a different kind of liking?”

The sea breeze suddenly paused for a moment. Shui Se’s ear fins fully spread out. She tilted her head, her tail unconsciously slapping the rock: “Different?”

Song Xiu took a deep breath and looked directly into the merman’s eyes, which were deeper than the sea: “A liking like the Moon and the tide.”

Shui Se’s eyes suddenly widened. She abruptly grabbed Song Xiu’s wrist: “What did you say?”

“I said I…”

“Whoosh—!”

A giant wave suddenly crashed onto the cliff. Cold seawater splashed out. Song Xiu couldn’t cover herself in time, and water droplets clung to the hair on her forehead.

“Song Xiu! Look. It’s so beautiful.” Shui Se excitedly pointed at the sea surface.

In the distance, countless fluorescent blue algae converged to form a glowing path, extending from the shore to the horizon.

Another giant wave struck. Shui Se immediately lunged into Song Xiu’s arms to shield her from the seawater, her icy scales pressing tightly against Song Xiu’s exposed calves.

The sound of the waves was deafening, but it couldn’t drown out Song Xiu’s thundering heartbeat. Driven by the alcohol, she was suddenly possessed. She cupped Shui Se’s face and, witnessed by the fluorescent sea, gently kissed the merman’s lips.

In the salty sea breeze, the kiss carried the taste of beer. Shui Se awkwardly responded, her fingernails unconsciously digging into Song Xiu’s shoulder.

The crescent moon in the night sky silently watched the embracing figures, while in the room behind them, Xiao Mi slept soundly, clutching peanuts in one paw and melon seeds in the other.

Song Xiu seemed addicted to the kiss. One arm wrapped around Shui Se’s waist, and the other cupped the back of her neck, taking from her with unusual force.

Shui Se couldn’t push her away and could only close her eyes and cooperate. She was starting to get a little scared.

When they finally broke apart, Song Xiu was still largely intoxicated. Ignoring Shui Se’s questions, she scooped her up by the waist and carried her back to the dorm.

She leaned against the door, put Shui Se down, and held her by the waist, preventing her from leaving.

“What is wrong with you, Song Xiu?” Shui Se didn’t understand being drunk. She only knew Song Xiu seemed different from usual.

“May I?”

“Wh-What?”

Song Xiu pressed her forehead against hers: “May I touch your mating scale?”

“No, you can’t.” Shui Se instinctively shook her head. Since she was little, the elders in her clan had taught her that the mating scale should never be casually touched by others.

“Why not? Do you have someone you like? Didn’t you say you like me a lot? Why can’t I?”

“But you are human, and I am a merman. This isn’t right.”

“How will we know if it’s right or not until we try?”

Song Xiu forced her hand down Shui Se’s soft waist and touched the scale beneath her lumbar dimple. The person in her arms instantly trembled violently, twisting her body to try to escape.

Having reached this point, Song Xiu naturally wouldn’t let her escape. She continued with a cold expression. The merman’s ear fins instantly turned from pink to a vivid crimson.

“Song Xiu… you can’t…” Shui Se felt desperate. The more Song Xiu touched her, the weaker she became.

Song Xiu kissed her lips, silencing her plea, and her hand tentatively explored the scale.

“Tell me, please, Shui Se, how can I…”

“…” Shui Se bit her lower lip, refusing to say anything.

“Tell me.” Song Xiu kissed her ear fin, her eyes hazy. “If you don’t tell me, I won’t want you anymore. I’ll let another keeper take care of you.”

“No, you can’t not want me. I still need to ask you for a favor.”

Song Xiu slowly moved her left hand to the front of Shui Se’s body, her right hand still on the mating scale.

Her fingertips slowly descended along the merman’s smooth abdomen, touching an unusually soft scale. Unlike the hard scales of her tail, this scale was as thin as a cicada’s wing, gently fluttering with Shui Se’s rapid breathing.

“Is it here?” Song Xiu’s fingertip gently brushed the scale.

Shui Se suddenly arched her back, her mind a blank: “Please… I beg you, Song Xiu…”

“Be a good girl, Shui Se.” Song Xiu narrowed her eyes. After confirming the location, she immediately placed Shui Se on the bed.

The alcohol left her with very little rationality, and instinct drove her to repeat the immoral act of taking advantage of the situation.

Shui Se’s tail instantly straightened, her fingernails scratching marks into the bedsheet.

“Song Xiu…” She couldn’t help but call her name. Hearing her own strange voice, she buried her face in the pillow in shame.

“How can we continue? Huh? Tell me, Shui Se.” Song Xiu asked, sounding impatient.

“We can’t… if we continue, I will have pseudo-ovulation every month afterward. Please, Song Xiu, we really can’t. That process is very painful.”

Seeing Shui Se so terrified, Song Xiu didn’t insist on that area, instead starting to kiss her thoroughly again until both were exhausted.

They were so tired that Shui Se didn’t have the strength to return to the bathtub. She transformed her legs and curled up in Song Xiu’s arms.

When Song Xiu woke up again, she was roused by her wristband, but she found Shui Se had disappeared from her arms.

She wasn’t in the bathroom, and she was nowhere to be found in the Merman Enclosure.

Helpless, she could only go to the surveillance room. She had to find her. She truly regretted how she had treated her last night.

She didn’t know what had come over her.

“Shui Se, I want to apologize to you in person.” She turned on the microphone in the surveillance room, hoping Shui Se would hear her.