Chapter 27 - Hand mirror

Late at night, a soft knock pulled Kui out of his depressed state. With a soft sigh, he trudged to the door and opened it. Chao stood out there with a deep pout on his face. "Here," he shoved a small golden thing to him.

"What's this?" he took it from him. It looked like a hand mirror of some sort, but the reflective surface was covered in algae. "Oh my god, it's a mirror."

Ever since he had come to this world, he did not have the opportunity to get a good look at 'Kui's' face. He had been so preoccupied with blending in that he completely forgot about that fact. "Tsk, I thought you said you didn't like her," Chao grumbled under his breath.

The woman that Chao mentioned was likely that mermaid. Kui patted his shoulders. "Of course, I don't like her."

"Then why do you look so happy to get her gift?"

"Her gift?" he froze up. When they were fishing, he did remember that young mermaid tossing something into their canoe, but he was too preoccupied by the huge dead shark carcass to remember this small detail. "Accepting a mermaid's gift is like indirectly accepting the mating call."

"Shit, I don't want this then," he hurriedly handed it to Chao.

Chuckling, Chao gave it back to him. "That's when they offer it to you in person. You didn't touch this at all, so it's okay. Just take it. It looks like it's made of gold."

"Even more reason not to hold it," Kui mumbled with his eyes wide open. Having such a huge treasure at his humble home would only end up in danger. Chao scoffed. "Take it," he shoved it at his chest. "Mum told me to give it to you. Sell it tomorrow and get some money. You can use it when you have a family of your own."

What this guy said made sense. Kui reluctantly accepted it. "Thank you so much."

"No big deal," waving at him, Chao ran to the hut opposite to his. From here, he was able to see the inside. It was a humble home with only a small area. Unlike his small broken-down hut, their hut was lit up with a small candle. The family of three were seen chatting and laughing. Kui smiled. 'They look close...' he closed the door not wanting to intrude on their private moments.

Once again, he was plunged into the familiar darkness. He sat on the bed, scratching the dried-up algae off the mirror. 'I need to learn things quickly. If I had accidentally picked it up or even touched it then that mermaid would have thought I was accepting her courtship...' he shivered in fear. "That's too dangerous."

The next morning, Kui woke up early as a tradition. After waking up, he tried to write down his wish to return with his broken brush. But as usual, nothing happened. Sighing, he continued with his day doing his morning deeds in the small pot and cleaning up after himself.

The mirror caught his gaze. He picked it up curiously. One side of the reflective side was scratched clean by him last night. He was able to see half his face. His almond-shaped eyes reflected his surprise.

'Kui…' he touched his face, 'he looks just like me.... but prettier…' But with slightly longer hair. Unlike the villagers, Kui did not have long hair. It looked like it was bluntly cut to his shoulders. The brownish-red hair was slightly curly at the end framing his small face.

'God, I know why that mermaid chose me.' He looked super gorgeous. 'Ah, what's the use of being pretty! I have to leave this world soon. I need to find a way…' He had a plan. He wanted to earn a bit of money to repair his brush. That had a fifty percent chance of working. But he was still unsure if it would work or not.

Kui quickly wore light clothes apt for swimming. "Chao will be here any time..." He ran to the huge box and picked out his spear and hemp rope. "Today I'm going to catch a bountiful haul of fish," he mumbled with a smile.

Even though his desire to leave was ever so strong, he still had to live his day-to-day life. This was a small village. Others can't afford to cook meals and help him out financially for a long time. He realized that early on which is why he was very stroked to learn fishing skills as fast as possible. 'They are going to the market tomorrow… wonder how it will be?' He walked out of the house running into an excited Chao.

"Whoa buddy, slow down," he grabbed him by his shoulders and made him pause. The young man was jumping around like a kid on candy. "You okay?'

"Yeah, I'm wonderful," Kui raised a brow. "What's got you so excited?"

Chao looked at him with a confused glare. "You said you'll introduce the mermaid to me! Did you forget about that?" He raked over his hair, taming the flyaway. "How do I look today? Do I look presentable? Will she like me?"

"I bet she will," he patted his muscular shoulders. "Hey, today, in exchange for introducing her to you, you must teach me how to swim up and down."

"Definitely~" Chao excitedly smirked. They quickly climbed down the cliff. This time Kui did not hold that irrational fear in his heart. He slowly followed them into the canoe and into the water. Plunging into the beautiful blue waters, he frowned slightly. 'Weird, where are the yellow fishes...' It looked weirdly empty. The fishes were missing.