I decide to get onboard with the latest trend by custom-ordering a merfolk meant to serve me from AquaGene Corp.

On the day Lance arrives at the company, the engineer tells me, "It's highly recommended that you be there in person, Ms. Ross. That way, you'll be able to form the initial bond with him."

So, I spend one day standing before the eco-tank.

As soon as Lance opens his eyes, he doesn't show any signs of wanting to get close to me. Instead, he merely scrutinizes me coldly before turning his back on me.

I comfort myself, thinking that Lance is just shy. But one week later, I realize how wrong I truly am.

I pay money because I want to buy a partner who can keep me company forever. Turns out I buy myself the biggest trouble of the century instead.

I rested my arm on the edge of the tank. On the plate in my hand lay the finest cuts of the freshest fish.

But as time passed, my arm started to go numb and sore, while the figure in the tank remained motionless.

Just when I thought he was going to ignore me again, Lance suddenly moved.

He swam down beneath my arm. I calmly watched as he flicked his tail, aiming a sharp swipe at my hand.

But I let go just before the strike. The carefully prepared fish slipped into the water.

Surprised, Lance glanced at me, then caught the fish and backed away, as if his earlier malice had never existed.

Moonlight poured through the viewing window, casting a glow on his blue shimmering scales.

As I watched him swim away, I shakily pulled out my phone.

"How do you handle the returned merfolk?" I typed.

"Ma'am, merfolk that are sold don't get resold. They're usually broken down into ocean fertilizer."

I looked at the monitor where Lance was elegantly playing with a smart water polo ball.

My fingers typed steadily. "I want a replacement. Right now."

No reply came, but the typing indicator flickered incessantly.

I stared in a daze at the same question I'd asked long ago.

Lance was a custom-ordered merman I got from AquaGene Corp. But since he arrived, he had refused all closeness.

I tried to check him out, but he hid in the reef crevices for two days straight. I played the sound waves merfolk supposedly liked, and he just turned off the receiver.

When I held out food, he waited until my arm was numb before finally gracing me with his presence. But he wouldn't just take it. Instead, he'd lash his tail against my arm, knocking the fish loose just so he could catch it as it fell.

But I wasn't discouraged. The merfolk guide said they liked gentle touches on their cheeks to build trust.

However, the moment my fingers reached his face, he slammed his tail hard on the water's surface.

A huge splash soaked me.

His ear fins flared wide, and his eyes burned with a mix of anger and fear. Those were signs that a merfolk was extremely upset or scared.

"I don't like being touched," he said coldly through the communicator.

That night, I opened the customer service chat again.

"How do you handle the returned merfolk?"

"Ma'am, merfolk that are sold don't get resold. They're usually broken down into ocean fertilizer."

Watching the monitor, I saw Lance swimming elegantly. He was playing with a ball, looking perfectly content.

But that happiness had absolutely nothing to do with me.

"Never mind. I'll observe for a while longer," I replied.

The agent sent a smiling emoji. "Okay. Merfolk's emotional bonding takes patience. Sometimes they just need the right moment."

At the time, I didn't understand.

For three months, I endured his cold rejections every time I tried to win him over. Then, in the middle of the night, I saw something on the monitor that made my blood run cold.

Just past midnight, Lance didn't go to sleep. He hovered in the center of the tank, waiting for something.

Soon, the side door opened. My adoptive sister, Vivian Ross, slipped in like she belonged.

She walked to the main viewing window, and Lance immediately swam over. He pressed his forehead against the glass where Vivian's palm rested. That was the highest sign of trust and intimacy for merfolk.

That face that always turned cold on me now bloomed with a warm, bright smile I'd never seen before.

Vivian whispered something, and Lance listened carefully, nodding now and then.

Then, he turned and carefully pulled from the coral a deep-sea black pearl bracelet I'd specially ordered for him last week. The design alone had cost 50 thousand dollars.

Vivian took the bracelet and skillfully angled the pearls against the faint light to judge their quality. After a quick appraisal, she squeezed them tight in her palm with a sweet smile.

She said something else, and Lance's ear fins flushed faint pink.

As I watched all this, I felt like I was plunged into an icy sea.

This scene was like a jagged blade, thrusting straight into my heart and tearing through every last shred of my hope and love.

I'd never understood why Lance hated me so much. I thought if I tried hard enough, he'd warm up.

Now that I thought about it, his loathing was blindingly obvious. He played me but never outright rejected me simply because I was the perfect shield for him to stay here and meet her.

I shut off the monitor with trembling hands.

It must have been tough for him to put up with me all this time just for Vivian's sake.

Just then, my phone buzzed with a message.

The customer service reply came faster than I expected.

"Ms. Ross, Lance is one of only 100 limited-edition merfolk worldwide. Returning him for gene recycling would be a huge loss."

Reading that message, I paused and suddenly had a new idea. I made my request.

After a moment of silence, the agent replied, "Request approved. A new merman will be delivered within three hours."

I ended the chat and walked over to the eco-tank.

Lance was resting in the shallow end, his scales glowing with a cold light. He looked so beautiful, like a dream I could never reach.

Actually, over these three months, I hadn't been blind to what was going on.

Vivian's visits to my place had increased from twice a month to four times a week, sometimes even more. She always claimed she was just passing by or "wanted to see my new friend".

At first, I thought she was just curious.

Until one day, I came home early from a business trip and saw Vivian standing by the tank. Her palm was pressed against the glass, and Lance's hand mirrored hers on the other side.

She whispered, 'You poor thing, trapped in this place… Wait for me. I'll take you away."

I made a noise on purpose.

Vivian immediately spun around with a flawless smile. "Isabel! I was just talking to Lance. I think he understands me!"

Lance quickly swam away, leaving a trail of guilty bubbles behind.

Looking back now, that wasn't just chatting. It was taming.

"Lance." I activated the underwater communicator.

He immediately opened his eyes and looked at me warily.

"The company found you a roommate," I said calmly. "And starting tomorrow night, everything you do in this tank will be livestreamed."

That was right—livestreamed.

My request to AquaGene Corp was a live competition.

They'd deliver a new merman, and Lance would share the tank with him for a 30-day livestreamed evaluation. At the end, I'd choose the one I preferred, and the other would be gene recycled. The company would cover all expenses.

It could promote the new merman while serving as an advertisement for their brand. It was a win-win for them.

Lance froze.

"Perform well," I said, turning away. "After all, the loser will turn into ocean fertilizer."

I didn't look back, but the water temperature monitor showed a drop of nine degrees Fahrenheit in just ten seconds.

That was a unique physiological reaction when a merfolk's emotions spike.

The new merfolk arrived on schedule the next day.

"Hello, master. I'm Sylas," the clear, gentle voice said. "From today, I pledge to serve you loyally. I will never cause you any trouble."

Sylas had silver hair and pale golden eyes. He was taller than Lance, less aggressive but more elegant.

He swam up to the glass and pressed his head against it right in front of me. That was exactly the gesture Lance never made for me but always showed Vivian.

I instinctively glanced toward Lance.

The blue merman hovered in the distant seaweed, his dorsal fin fully flared and lips drawn tight into a thin line. His eyes were locked on Sylas in a deadly stare.

"That's Lance. He came here before you," I said casually. "You'll share this space for the next 30 days."

Sylas turned to Lance, his tail flicking in a friendly arc. "Lance, nice to meet you. I will do my best to serve our master."

Lance didn't respond. He turned and slammed his tail hard on the water surface, splashing water on the viewing window. Without turning around, he swam away into the deepest cave in the tank.

"He might need time to adjust," Sylas said softly, his eyes on me. "Master, your heart rate shows fatigue. Would you like me to sing? My sound waves help with relaxation."

I froze for a moment. Then, a soothing, ethereal singing voice filled the room through the speakers.

My headache from days of restlessness and sleepless nights began to ease.

I looked at the tank. Sylas was watching me attentively, his pale golden eyes shining bright. In the distance, in the cave's dark entrance, a pair of blue eyes glowed faintly.

That night, AquaGene Corp's livestream platform went online on time.

Within five minutes, the number of viewers shot to number one, and the chat exploded.

"Holy crap! Two mermen! That's some serious money!"

"Wake up. This is a survival contest. The loser's life is on the line."

"Sylas is so gentle. He's always watching his master."

I shut off the live stream and watched the two mermen, worth ten million dollars in total, sleeping in the tank via the monitor.

I'd spent ten million dollars on this whole online circus.

Well, if I was going to make a scene, I might as well go big.

On the first day of observation, the war broke out at breakfast.

I didn't prepare any premium fresh fish. Just a standard merfolk meal.

Unlike the first time, there was no tension or anticipation. My movements were calm, almost casual.

The moment I stepped up to the glass, Lance swam over. He hovered at just the right distance from my arm, his eyes locked onto me and the plate in my hand.

He probably thought this was another moment to perform. Maybe he was even expecting that long-lost special treatment, meant only for him.

However, I didn't look at him. I simply extended my hand.

A silver-white figure adjusted his position without hesitation, settling at exactly the right height.

I picked up a piece of fish and offered it to Sylas.

He didn't reach for it with his hands. Instead, he took the food directly from my fingertips with his mouth. His posture was relaxed and seemingly full of trust.

Then, he flashed me a warm and sincere smile. "Thank you, master."

The chat exploded.

"Ah! He's so sweet. That's my dream merman partner!"

"What's wrong with the other one? He's just standing there. Aren't merfolk supposed to be smart?"

"Dumbass, it's simply the difference between a merman that's too proud to love you and a merman that knows exactly how to make you love them."

I blinked at Sylas. There was no arm-numbing wait, no cautious testing, and certainly no resistance or aggression.

For the first time, I received a genuine response. Without realizing it, my expression softened, and I smiled.

Lance froze completely.

He watched the treatment he once looked down on get taken by Sylas. Worse, I even smiled at the other merman. A tide of unspeakable fury surged through him.

I kept feeding at the same level. I didn't call Lance over or save anything for him.

When Sylas finished eating, I turned and left without sparing a glance at Lance, who was hovering at the corner.

He stared at my retreating back, disbelief written all over his face.

He couldn't understand how the woman who once air-freighted deep-sea fish from across the world just to satisfy him had suddenly become so cold.

That day, Lance didn't touch any of the food dropped from the automatic feeder. He wandered alone in waters far from the feeding zone, his back stiff and distant.

…

On the afternoon of the third day, Vivian came again.

I was in a meeting at the company when the livestream system sent an alert. "Unauthorized biological signal detected in the merfolk care zone."

I pulled up the feed.

Vivian stood by the viewing window in a white dress, waving happily with a bright smile.

Lance appeared instantly, faster than he ever did when he came to me. He swam up to the glass, lowered his head slightly, and smiled at her.

I had fed him for three months, yet he had never smiled at me like that. But the moment Vivian appeared, that smile never left his face.

Vivian happily pressed both palms against the glass, mimicking a hug. Lance hesitated for a second, then moved closer and pressed himself against the glass, completing the "hug".

The chat went completely insane.

"Who is this woman? Why is Lance so gentle with her? He's never treated his master like this!"

"Is this some wife-versus-mistress drama? @AquaGeneOfficial does this count as a violation?"