Archive of Our Own

 Jimin smoothed the sheets of his bed with the palm of his hands to get rid of any wrinkles and straightened his back, sighing.

He still had an hour to spare before the first class of the day started at the other side of the old building. It was enough time for him to grab something to eat from the dining hall and walk there without having to rush. He didn’t like the porridge the nuns served during breakfast so an apple or any other fruit he could find suited him better.

He did just that, nodding his head with a smile to the nun by the open twin doors of the room, who only smiled back as she was already used to Jimin’s breakfast habits. They had given up on telling him to eat the porridge a long time ago. His clean record, free of mischief, and high grades helped them turn a blind eye to Jimin’s few transgressions.

He walked through the empty corridors of the orphanage and watched the sky through the large windows as he took bites of his apple.

Jimin had been living in the orphanage since someone had left him on its doorstep, alone and without memories. He had been eight years old and had no one else in the world. Father Hill had once told him the doctors said his amnesia was probably the result of trauma as Jimin had had no physical wound that could have explained it. Jimin, however, still didn’t remember anything that could have explained it, so he had just stopped thinking about it, about the past he had no memories of.

The orphanage was all he had ever known; the gray stone walls were all he had ever seen. But now he was a few months short of his eighteenth birthday and he’d have to look for somewhere else to live and a job to pay for a roof over his head.

He was extremely scared. Jimin wasn’t lazy by any means and would be open to any kind of job but the world wasn’t kind to people like him, the forgotten ones. The building used to be a monastery before having been turned into an orphanage and it was built on a distant island, away from society. The only time Jimin had seen anything close to a big city had been during the visits organized by the nuns to give the orphans a good time. But he could count on a single hand the times he had left the orphanage.

Jimin was used to the quietness of the place. To the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks near the orphanage, by the sea. He loved how he could watch the slow movement of the waters through the window of his room and he didn’t know how he’d live in a busy city, where everything was overwhelming. The noise; the smell; how crowded it was.

Jimin sighed and shook his head, not wanting to think about it at the moment. The notion haunted him enough every night before he fell asleep.

A few hours later, Jimin was sitting at his desk, taking advantage of the empty dormitory to finish some of his homework. The other boys were enjoying their free time in the building’s backyard, the younger ones surely playing with a ball, so Jimin frowned when he heard the knock. He straightened his back without looking away from the wooden surface of the door.

He stood up to answer, knowing it probably wasn’t any of the others orphans as they never knocked and just barged in. He was proven right when he came face to face with one of the few priests that lived in the orphanage. He had a small smile on his lips but Jimin was aware he worked in the administration and knew nothing good could come out of this visit.

“Father Hill.” Jimin greeted with a nod of his head and took a step to the side, gesturing for him to enter the room. Father Hill did so with a nod, stopping in the middle of the room and lacing his fingers together in front of his body.

“Mr. Park.” He finally greeted back, clearing his throat before talking again. It was obvious he was preparing himself to discuss something difficult and Jimin’s shoulders tensed in alarm. He closed the door before looking at the priest again, the frown never leaving his face. “Please sit down, I have something to talk to you.”

Jimin did as he was told, walking to his own bed and sitting at the end of it. Father Hill sat in front of him, facing Jimin. He took a deep breath and didn’t seem to know how to start the conversation so Jimin did it for him.

“Is this about my stay in here?” The priest looked up from his knees with wide eyes but soon his gaze softened and he smiled sadly, nodding his head slowly. Jimin took a deep breath and looked at the ground. “I know I need to leave in two months.”

“You can stay here until two weeks after your birthday” the man’s words were gentle as if he didn’t want to hurt Jimin more than necessary. “but no more than that.”

Jimin nodded without looking up.

“The new boy will arrive, right?”

“Yes. And he’ll need the bed.” The room was silent for what seemed to be a whole minute before the priest sighed audibly and patted Jimin’s knees. “You’re a good boy, Park. This is never easy.”

Jimin licked his lips and glanced up at Father Hill.

“Can’t I stay?” His voice sounded pathetic to his own ears and he knew by the priest’s face that he thought the same. “I can tutor the boys. You know I’m good at math.”

The man shook his head slowly.

“I’m so sorry.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “If I could, I’d want you to stay. But we’re packed and I can’t deny a young orphan when you are old enough to live your own life.” Jimin bit his lower lip and nodded his head, looking at the floor again as he tried to calm himself down so he wouldn’t start crying in front of the priest, who looked out of the window, over Jimin’s desk, and mumbled: “This never gets easier.”

Jimin took a deep breath before looking into the priest’s eyes.

“I understand, Father.”

The man smiled sadly and took one of Jimin’s hands.

“We’ll give you an amazing recommendation letter. You’ll find a job in no time. I know you’ll do great, Mr. Park.”

Jimin nodded, wishing he was as sure about it as Father Hill.

Jimin hugged himself in an attempt to protect himself against the cold wind, regretting not bringing a jacket with him. He looked over at the orphanage and wondered if he should go back but the memory of the boys’ laughter made him give up on that idea. Jimin shook his head and walked closer to the rocks by the sea. He wasn’t in the right mood to watch them play and laugh, not when Jimin couldn’t even stretch his lips in a genuine smile. He was feeling exhausted after pretending to be okay the whole day. He needed a moment to himself, to allow himself to look as bad as he felt.

He had a little less than a month left to stay in the orphanage and then he’d have to leave. Go to the closest city and try to live by himself.

Jimin carefully stepped on the slippery rock, paying attention to his footing as he didn’t want to fall into the waters. Especially given how wild they were that day. He knew it was dangerous and the nuns would freak out if they ever knew he liked to spend his free time there but Jimin loved it.

He loved to sit on one of the rocks closest to the sea and feel the wind and the small droplets of salty water against his skin. It cleared his head and made him feel better.

There was something about the sea that calmed Jimin down. It brought him peace.

He sat at the edge of a higher rock, feeling the tide wasn’t high enough for him to be close to the water, dangling his feet without worrying about getting them wet. He watched the waves moving closer to the rock wall under his feet and tried to free his mind of any thoughts. He took a deep breath, feeling the salt of the sea on his tongue every time he opened his mouth.

He tilted his head up and sighed at the way the wind brushed his hair back, making it messy for sure. He could feel his body trembling slightly with the cold and Jimin knew he couldn’t stay there for long if he didn’t want to get sick. But he needed this. He needed the proximity to the sea. And even if it should have been too cold for him, his body felt alive. He felt alive and happy for the first time in months.

He opened his eyes and watched the waves moving back and forth. He would miss this the most. The proximity to the sea, the comfort he found there and that he knew he’d never find in the city. He took a deep breath, wondering if he should go back to the building before anyone noticed he was gone, when he looked to his right side, to the closest rock to the water, and widened his eyes.

He leaned in its direction, holding tight onto the surface he was sitting on to avoid falling down to his certain death, and his breath got caught in his throat.

Because he thought he had seen someone there.

He saw a flash of pale skin against that rock in his peripheral vision but now that Jimin was focusing all his attention on that point, there was nothing more than the gray rocks and turbulent water hitting them.

He frowned, not averting his eyes from that point for two whole minutes. Maybe he had imagined it? The empty sea often made people see things that didn’t exist, Jimin was aware of that.

He shook his head, deciding he must have imagined whatever that was, and stood up, getting ready to go back and finish his homework.

While he could still be called a student, he thought bitterly.

Despite trying to brush what had happened on the rocks away from his mind, Jimin couldn’t stop thinking about it. He couldn’t concentrate on his work and his mind traveled far away during classes.

He knew some cities had problems with merpeople. They were dangerous and vile, and Jimin should tell someone if he saw one of them. But he wasn’t even sure of what he had seen and he didn’t want to alarm anyone without being sure if there was indeed something - or someone - close to that rock.

Humans didn’t have big problems with most supernatural beings, who usually tended to mind their own business and didn’t hurt anyone. It was a smooth coexistence. Even vampires, who humans feared since the beginning of time, had accepted an agreement not to hurt humans and since then the attacks had been few and far between.

Merpeople, however, were a real headache. People always said that they were violent creatures who were responsible for the wreck of boats and ships, and liked to paint the ocean a vivid red.

Jimin had seen many drawings and photographs of what they were supposed to look like and their long claws and pointed teeth had been enough to make a younger Jimin have nightmares for days.

Jimin put his pencil down and looked out his window to the sea. If it had really been a mermaid, it would have attacked Jimin that day, wouldn’t it? It must have been a reflection of the sun against the water or something like that. He was safe there, close to the sea, wasn’t he?

He smiled, feeling more confident of what he saw now. There was no known case of merpeople being sighted close to the island so there was no reason for Jimin to stop going down to the rocks.

He was safe.

Jimin nodded his head with an even bigger smile and decided that if he saw something again he’d tell Father Hill, who would do something about it if he deemed it necessary.

He observed how the sea was behaving that day. The temperature was still harsh as winter was slowly arriving but the waters weren’t as wild as they had been last time Jimin sat on the rocks. He looked down at his notebook, thinking he wouldn’t need more than an hour to finish his homework. It was as good a day to sit by the sea as any other.

Jimin smiled, feeling almost happy at the prospect of being close to the sea, and focused again on the formulas written in his notebook.

The sun was still out when he finished, the sky clear and beautiful despite the cold weather. Jimin took a jacket from the chest in front of the bed and put it on with a small smile on his face. Just knowing he’d be close to the sea was enough to lift his mood and make him want to smile. He sneaked around the building, careful not to be seen by the nuns or by Father Hill, who liked to walk around the corridors in case there was someone where they shouldn’t be.

Jimin could count on one hand all the times he had been caught wandering around. He had lived there long enough to know every corner of the orphanage. He knew where to turn to avoid being caught and so it was fairly easy for Jimin to get out during the right time and spend a couple of hours out of the building.

He walked down the small stairs that connected the orphanage’s stone floor to the grass that lead Jimin to the rocky shore. He shivered when a cold wind caressed his face and brushed his hair back, zipping up his jacket and sticking his hands in its front pockets to keep them warm. He was happy he had decided to wear fluffy socks and pants made of a thick material. He wouldn’t have to leave within a few seconds if he was dressed warmly. And his intention was to spend at least an hour in the sea’s company.

He walked on the rocks, watching where he was placing his feet and going slow so as not to slip, and glanced down at the sea when he got to the edge. The water wasn’t as wild as the last time he had been there. Still too dangerous to swim but not enough to keep Jimin as distant from the sea as he had been. He smiled and turned to the path on his right side which would allow him to get to a lower rock, where he could taste the salt and feel the inviting scent of the sea.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and walked slowly to the spot he was aiming for. He was low enough for some drops of water to reach the rock’s surface and make it slippery. And Jimin knew that the rubber soles of his sneakers wouldn’t have been enough to keep him from falling. And if there was something Jimin had learned observing the sea, it was how dangerous it could be.

He smiled when he reached the spot he wanted and slowly lowered himself down, resting a palm against the smooth surface of the rock, making a face at how cold and humid it was, and sitting down on it. He crossed his legs and shifted slightly, getting comfortable.

Jimin smiled when he was finally satisfied with his position and turned his attention to the sea in front of him.

The waves were crashing against the rocks just like they had done the last time but now he was way closer to it and he could feel more than just a few drops of it landing on his pants and his arms. A few more reached his head and nose. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the salty scent of the sea. When he breathed out, it was like all the tension he accumulated during the week, all his worries about the future, became insignificant.

Jimin knew that, logically, the water was freezing cold but the drops that fell onto his skin were like a long distance friend he was finally seeing again. It was like the comforting hug of someone dear to him. It felt like cold fingers lovingly caressing his skin and making him feel like he belonged there.

His place was there, feeling the salt against his skin.

He opened his eyes again and watched the water coming closer to him and meeting the rock. Jimin could almost hear the lullaby it was singing to him. The same song it sang ever since the first time he had sat there, so close the sea. He had always tried to understand what it was trying to say and sometimes he focused hard on it before remembering it was just the natural movement of the waters. It wasn’t singing him anything.

But sometimes, when everything was quiet and there wasn’t even a single bird flying in the sky, Jimin was certain there was a message hidden in the sound of the waves. As melodious as the chorus of voices after Sunday’s mass. More beautiful than the love songs Jimin heard during the few times he had gone to the city.

And it felt like it was something for only him to hear.

Jimin closed his eyes when he noticed how silent it was and tried to hear it again. Wondering, like he did every time he tried this, if it was only his vivid imagination creating things that weren’t really there, just like the pale flesh he thought he had seen the last time.

But sure enough, after a couple of minutes of Jimin’s slow breathing being the only sound besides the water meeting the rocks, he heard it.

It was low, like the hum of a sweet song. Tender and fond.

The water drops on his skin felt even less cold and more comfortable as if each spot touched by the water was being lit up, slowly making his whole body thrum in time with the gentle hum of the sea that only Jimin could hear.

He felt a warm sensation sparking in his chest and slowly spreading through his body, reaching all his limbs until he felt it in the tip of his fingers and toes. It was like the blood in his veins was following the cadence of the sea’s heartbeat, if it had one.

It made Jimin feel alive.

Jimin slowly started moving his head from one side to the other, with the rhythm of the waves crashing against the shore. He was relaxed, feeling better than he had all week, smiling contently.

He opened his eyes slowly, wanting to see the movement of the waves, and his eyes fell upon a figure on the water. He watched it for half a second before his brain understood what he was seeing and Jimin widened his eyes.

He blinked and, unlike the first time, when he opened his eyes again they were still there. Because there was no mistaking them now.

There was someone in the freezing and almost violent waters. Jimin could see the paleness of their skin and the contrasting darkness of their hair with it. Their torso was naked and they moved up and down with the waves. They weren’t struggling, weren’t waving around or trying to call for help. They weren't floating like dead weight either. They were just frozen in place in the middle of the sea and looking right back at Jimin.

He couldn’t see their face, they were too far away for Jimin to detect their expression and when Jimin closed his eyes for a few seconds and opened them again, they were nowhere in sight.

It was as if they had never been there.

Jimin looked both ways, trying to see them again. His heart was beating so quickly Jimin feared it would jump out of his mouth and his mind was working so fast his own thoughts didn’t make sense.

But one thing Jimin knew: it must have been a mermaid.

There was no way a human would be able to stand in place like this one had, in the middle of wild waters. And the only logical explanation for them to have vanished as fast as they had was to have dived in.

Jimin gulped and ran a hand through his hair, pulling at the strands as his eyes ran over the surface of the sea, frantic.

It had been a mermaid.

Jimin got onto his knees, holding himself in place with a hand on the rock’s surface but not really focusing on it as his body moved almost on autopilot. He crawled to the wet edge of the rock and looked down, watching the water hitting the stone wall for a couple of seconds before moving his gaze to the side.

The mermaid had to be near. There was no way they’d be able to swim too far in the few seconds they had disappeared, it must still be near. And if it was the same one Jimin had seen last time, because now he was sure that it hadn’t just been his imagination, they were staying somewhere nearby.

Jimin moved a little closer to the edge, trying to see further, and his palm slipped on the wet rock.

He let out a scream that was quickly muffled when his body hit the water, and what once felt tender and fond was now like a thousand knives slicing his body in different places simultaneously.

He moved his arms and legs to try and stay afloat as it slowly dawned on him how cold the water actually was, his clothes making his movements difficult and slowing him down. He tried to swim to a rock he knew was nearby and would allow him to pull himself out of the water but the waves were too strong and his limbs seemed to be getting weaker by the second.

Jimin was thrown underwater due to a stronger wave and he inhaled on instinct, his lungs filling with water, his eyes widening and burning because of the salt. He kicked his legs and moved his arms until he managed to break the surface and take a ragged breath before he sunk again.

How ironic would it have been if Jimin died in the sea he loved so much? So close to the shore and in the waters he knew so well?

He felt a sharp pain in his left calf after kicking his feet desperately, the cramp making him scream silently, his mouth filling with water. He broke the surface again but the waves threw him down before he could take another breath.

No one was going to notice his absence for at least another hour so Jimin knew the chances of someone seeing him drowning was close to none. If only he hadn’t been so careless, getting so close to the edge of the rock. What had he been thinking?

The flail of Jimin’s limbs slowed down, his muscles feeling so very tired already. He looked up, trying to keep his eyes open despite the burning sensation and saw the weak light of the setting sun still hitting the sea. The sight made Jimin want to cry because he was so close to the surface but he just couldn’t reach it.

His lungs were full of water and Jimin felt as if he was an anchor, slowly sinking down. He felt heavy and cold. Oh lord, it was just so cold, it felt like a thousand tiny needles were slowly entering his skin. His clothes felt like a rock, knotted to his body and pulling him down.

His eyelids felt heavy and he couldn’t see the surface as clearly as he did before but he still saw the pale flesh right in front of him, felt the touch of cold fingers grabbing him and pulling him closer to a cold body, gentler than his dizzy brain expected.

He saw dark eyes looking straight at him and wondered if the hallucination was a sign that he was dying.

He was freezing.

The icy cold wind made Jimin pull his legs closer to his body in an attempt to stay warm, which failed miserably. His movements were slow and his chest hurt with each breath. His throat was dry and it hurt to swallow. Jimin let out a ragged breath and opened his eyes, his eyelids fluttering pathetically before he managed to raise them. His vision was blurred. Jimin could barely see what was in front of him, a mix of dark gray and something lighter. He shifted from his side to his back with a moan, his whole body protesting against the movement.

He stared at the sky until his eyes finally adjusted to the lack of light. He blinked and frowned at the darkness. He could still distinguish the clouds from the sky so it couldn’t be more than a few hours after sunset. It was still too late for him to be outside and the chances of someone finding out he was disobeying the orders that were directly given to him, because of how often he broke the rules just to be close to the shore, were too high.

But he couldn’t focus on that because, after he looked around, still lying down as he was too weak to sit, he understood where he was. He was on the beach right beside the rocks he liked to sit on. He could feel the freezing water hit his feet when it washed over the sand and the small rocks under and all around him. He didn’t know how he had gotten there.

He remembered falling down and drowning; the fear of not being able to breathe and the realization that he was about to die. But he had no clue as to how he had swum from the rocks to the beach. It wasn’t far but the sea was too wild for him to even stay afloat, how could he have reached the beach?

And then he remembered the feeling of cold arms holding onto him and a just as cold body being close to his. His eyes widened, the reason why he fell from the rock in the first place coming to mind. He took a deep breath and shifted his arms, making a face as he slowly sat down. His wet clothes made it difficult to move.

He waited for a few seconds after finally sitting up, breathing in and out with his eyes closed. He was so incredibly exhausted.

After a couple of minutes, he opened his eyes and ran them over the shore, looking for pale skin and dark hair. His breath caught in his throat when he found it.

It was hard to see now that the sun wasn’t illuminating the beach anymore but they were close enough. There was someone leaning against a large rock to Jimin’s right, shoulders deep into the water, only the beginning of his collarbones and head visible. It was too far for Jimin to be able to tell if it was a male or a female but their skin was pale and their hair was as dark as the night, just like the person Jimin had seen before.

They were clearly watching Jimin from the distance and they didn’t avert their eyes as he struggled to stand on his feet, panting and biting his lips to keep quiet. They only moved when Jimin started walking in their direction.

They raised a hand from the water with its palm facing Jimin, in an obvious request for him to stop. Jimin did so, not really knowing why he was obeying the stranger in the sea. Maybe because they were the reason Jimin was alive? He didn’t know if he was seeing right or if it was only an illusion but the being in the water slowly shook their head and as they slowly disappeared into the water, Jimin could swear he heard a voice that seemed to come from within the sea and his own mind at the same time:

Too soon.

Jimin’s chest moved up and down due to his overwhelming feelings and the exhaustion weighing on his body.

It was too soon to know who they were. Too soon to understand what was happening. Jimin closed his eyes and nodded once before starting to walk in the orphanage’s direction.

Jimin had always respected the sea and he wasn’t going to stop now.

Jimin let out a sigh and smiled sheepishly when one of the younger boys raised his head to look at him. He waved for him to get back to his homework and pressed his lips into a thin line when the boy did so, before looking at the closest window, which was closed, and feeling his irritation growing. Since he came back to the orphanage way later than he should have, and dripping wet, the nuns were keeping a close eye on him to make sure he wouldn’t sneak out again.

It wasn’t really that hard to think of a better explanation for what happened and everyone believed Jimin’s story of watching the sea from the beach and tripping on the rocks, as the shore was always wet and the waves were big enough to cover Jimin’s body if he was close enough. They still weren’t happy. The beach wasn’t a place the orphans had free access to and Jimin wasn’t an exception, no matter how old he was.

Honestly, after what happened to him Jimin didn’t really blame them for not wanting one of the boys close to the sea. He rested his elbow on the table top and put his chin on his palm, wondering if the administration was aware of the merpeople living that close to the shore. He believed they weren’t, or his punishment would be far worse than just being forced to give tutoring sessions during his free time.

It had been a week since the accident and Jimin hadn’t stepped outside of the building. He was getting restless from always being stuck inside but he couldn’t risk going out because Father Hill was keeping a close eye on him, following him anywhere he went. Jimin knew he was just worried but it was starting to make his blood boil in a way he hardly ever felt. His time on the island was quickly coming to an end and he couldn’t leave without visiting the sea again, especially after he saw the visitor in the water.

The weekend had arrived already and Jimin was doing his best to not look through the window as often as he usually did, not wanting to alarm anyone due to what he was intending on doing once it was night time. It was easier to go to the shore if everyone else was sleeping.

When the time finally came and the building was sleeping, Jimin got up from his bed, put on a warm coat over his sleeping clothes and grabbed a lantern before leaving his room. He knew it would be practically useless and the chances of him slipping on the wet rocks and being severely injured were really high due to how dark it was but there was no way he’d be able to leave the building during any other time and in Jimin’s head it was a risk worth taking.

He zipped up the coat and ignored the harsh wind blowing against his legs, only covered by the thin cloth of his pajama pants. Changing clothes before leaving would have been too risking and refusing to put on his pajamas would have made people suspicious.

His biggest worry was visibility. He really wished he was able to see at least a little as he really didn’t want to fall into the water again, not after last time. He was still having nightmares in which he was drowning, it was something he didn’t want to happen again.

He turned the lantern on when he walked through the building’s entrance and prayed that nobody would look out the window and see a yellow point moving in the dark. He was already in trouble as it was. Jimin reached the rocks and looked around, frowning. It was almost midnight and the place was supposed to be pitch dark but he could still see it, somehow?

He looked down at the lantern and turned it off before raising his gaze.

It wasn’t as clear as it was during daytime but Jimin could identify everything easily, could clearly tell when a rock ended and another began. The colors weren’t as bright, it was like he was looking through a filter that decreased the saturation of the landscape. Jimin never had trouble walking in the dark and his vision was perfect but this was almost ridiculous. He looked up to the sky and observed the moon for a couple of seconds. It was a full moon and even with the clouds in the sky and the bad weather. Jimin could still see it without a problem, and he wondered if the light of the moon was the reason the visibility was so good.

Whatever it was that was allowing Jimin to see, he was grateful for it because he didn’t need to turn his lantern on and so it would have been nearly impossible for someone to see him if they looked out of a window. He was safe this way.

He smiled and walked to the lowest rock without sitting on it. He was prepared and wouldn’t be caught off guard like last time. He looked at the place he had seen the mermaid the last time and his shoulders dropped when he didn’t see them watching him back this time around. Knowing how dangerous merpeople were, Jimin should be happy about not seeing them again, but the only thing he felt was a disappointment so big it constricted his heart. He breathed out and decided to stay outside for a couple of minutes before giving up as it would actually have been weird if the mermaid was still waiting for him in the same place.

He walked to the beach where he had woken up after drowning and sat down away from the water, enjoying the movement of the waves washing over the sand. He was determined to stay at least one hour and if he didn’t see anything, he wouldn’t be sad about it, because it felt amazing to be so close to the sea after so long.

But his trip to the beach wasn't in vain, After a couple of minutes he saw a weird movement from the corner of his eyes and when he looked in its direction he finally saw them.

Just like the last time, they were shoulders deep into the water and close to the rocks as they watched Jimin. He stood up from the sand but didn’t walk closer, not knowing if he should. They watched Jimin for a while before moving their head in the direction of the lowest rock and disappearing completely into the water and out of Jimin’s sight.

He bit his lower lip. That had been an invitation, hadn’t it? Jimin hesitated before walking to the rock he was sure the mermaid had pointed to. He climbed onto it, forcing himself to calm down so his heart wouldn’t beat too fast, not wanting to have another accident. He walked to the edge, crouched down and looking around. Waiting.

He only had to wait thirty seconds before he noticed a movement under the water surface right in front of him. He watched as someone appeared in front of him, only their head surfacing over the water. The sea wasn’t calm but they had no problem staying in the same place, looking back at Jimin with dark, feline-like eyes.

Their hair was dark and their skin pale in an incredible contrast. Jimin could see a chain down the curve of their neck gently shifting with their movements in the water. They had delicate but cold features. Their face was impassive as they seemed to analyze Jimin, who couldn’t even move because of the presence of a being that so many humans feared.

They were at least one meter away from Jimin but when they parted their lips and spoke, Jimin was able to hear it with daunting clarity.

“Finally.”

Their voice was rough, low and sounded male. When the creature moved up a little Jimin saw a strong jaw and wide shoulders that made him understand that it was a merman, indeed. His voice dazed Jimin as it seemed to come from him, all the way down from the sea and a little muffled by the wind, but at the same time, Jimin also heard it inside his mind as if it was part of his own thoughts.

It was scary, strange and oddly comforting, flooding Jimin with so many feelings he was quickly becoming overwhelmed.

He gulped and breathed in and out a couple of times before speaking, his own voice sounding low and shaky.

“Finally… what?”

The merman watched him attentively and cocked his head to the side, a small frown appearing in between his eyebrows.

“You look so very human.”

Jimin blinked and leaned down a little, something deep inside telling him the merman wouldn’t attack him.

“I am human.” He couldn’t see the male from shoulders down and he needed confirmation so he gathered his courage and tightened his grip on the edge of the rock, his lantern long forgotten behind him.He didn’t even remember when he had let go of it. “And you’re a merman, right?”

The man on the sea nodded once.

“Indeed.” He moved closer to the rock and touched it, his head looking up at Jimin, who could see him more clearly now. “But you. You’re not what you believe.”

Jimin frowned and leaned even closer to the water, eyes fixated on the merman’s.

“What…”

Something flickered through the merman’s eyes and he moved a few centimeters back, his torso being visible long enough for Jimin to see it wasn’t a necklace he had but a delicate body chain that went from his neck to around his waist. He couldn’t identify what it was made of because he soon hid his chest back into the water.

“It’s dangerous.” Jimin was about to voice his confusion again when the merman raised his hand from the water and pointed at Jimin. Only then did he notice that he was way too close to the water just like he had been the time he drowned. Jimin straightened his back and moved back a little until he was at a safe distance from the edge. This seemed to satisfy the merman, who blinked at Jimin before speaking again. “Come in three days time. The sea won’t be so restless then.”

Jimin opened his mouth to answer but the merman turned around and dived in, the tip of a dark fin appearing over the water surface before disappearing again.

Jimin didn’t move for a couple of minutes, processing everything that happened. The merman was real and he not only appeared but also talked to Jimin. And the way his voice seemed to sound inside  Jimin’s head, the way Jimin felt oddly safe with him was only now catching up to him and making him even more confused.

When he went back to the orphanage building and lied down on his warm mattress, he could only think about what the merman told him.

You’re not what you believe.

Jimin had never been the most patient child. He had always been one of the first to get restless when they had to stay quiet during  Sunday mass or during boring classes. He got bored easily and had a need to always been doing something, which was one of the reasons he tutored some of the younger boys.

However, after living without strong emotions for years, enduring identical days that seemed to crawl, curling into an infinity loop,,  a routine that made Jimin wonder when something would change, it was refreshing to have something to look forward to. It had been over a year since the last time Jimin had felt this excited about something and it felt amazing.

He was enjoying his daily life more with the thought that he’d be seeing the merman again in a couple of days. He was smiling easier and his mood was visibly better, which made Father Hill relax his supervision, which in turn gave Jimin more space to breathe and walk around.

It was impossible to keep the merman out of his thoughts. He kept remembering how pale he was and the way the water dripped from his fringe onto his cheek; the body chain that wrapped around his waist; the subtle flick of his fin when he dived into the water. Jimin thought about it all in a constant loop, wondering why he was so interested in him to the point of asking Jimin to come back, of setting a date for it. Jimin didn't even know merpeople had the same notion of time as humans.

He couldn’t get rid of the merman’s image during his dreams either because ever since they first talked, Jimin had been having dreams every night. They were not long and Jimin usually woke up during the middle of the night with a warm and comforting sensation in his whole body, small fragments of memories the only remnants of those dreams.

He remembered what he assumed to be the curve of the merman’s neck with the sun in the background; he remembered the sound of laughter; the feeling of someone warm and a scent so good Jimin could still smell it after waking up.

None of it made any real sense to Jimin but he couldn’t shake away the sensation that his meeting with the merman was the cause of it all. It wasn’t as if it bothered him, not really. It was intriguing and confusing but it made him feel at peace with himself in a way only the proximity to the sea had managed to do before.

When Jimin woke up in the morning of the day they were meant to meet again, he only had a little over two weeks on the island before he had to leave, his own birthday only a few days away (which Jimin had never cared enough about to celebrate, as it was a random date chosen by the people who received him in the orphanage).

He pushed the thought to the back of his mind easily, too excited about the prospect of seeing the merman to worry about something unavoidable. It happened to be a day of free activities, so Jimin grabbed one of his book and his bag and walked confidently through the hallways, smiling at the nuns he met and saying he was going to study outside.

He walked out of the building easily and when he arrived at the same low rock from last time, he placed his book and bag away from the water and sat down on the edge, watching the soft movement of the waves as he waited.

The sea was calm, just like the merman said it would be. The temperature was still low but it wasn’t uncomfortable. The waves hit the rocks much more gently than the last time Jimin saw them and it looked almost as if the sea was happy.

He smiled at that. I’m happy too, he thought. He didn’t think he’d feel that good when he was so close to moving to a city he hated but it was hard to think of how his future was going to be horrible when he was sitting there, listening to the sound of the water washing over the shore and waiting for something he never thought he’d see.

No. Jimin corrected himself. For someone.

It was at that moment, as if attracted by Jimin’s thoughts of him, that the merman finally made his presence known, his head breaking the surface of the water. Jimin felt the anxiety of seeing a supernatural creature grow inside of him but he took a deep breath and smiled. Gentle but genuine. He seemed to have done the right thing, for the merman finally showed his whole face and part of his upper body.

“Hi.” Jimin uttered, not knowing what more he could say.

The mermaid blinked at him before nodding his head and swimming closer. He got to the base of the rock and Jimin was about to lean down to see him better when the merman raised his hands from the water.Jimin watched, in a mix of wonder and mortification, as they grew into sharp claws.

Before Jimin could react in any way, he moved his hands and sank his claws into the rock as if it was made of feathers. Jimin watched, this time completely fascinated, as he climbed up the stone using his strong nails to hike his body up. As he moved, his whole body was gradually getting out of the water and Jimin could see, although not very well because of his position, the shining of the sunlight reflecting on the merman’s scales.

Jimin’s eyes widened when he noticed how close to the edge of the rock he was and his legs flailed for a heartbeat before he crawled back and away from the merman, whose head was finally visible. Jimin watched, his chest moving up and down with his quick breath, as the merman splayed his palms on the rock and used it as support to pull his body up, his tail curling over the rock’s surface gracefully before he shifted to a comfortable position and finally turned his attention back to Jimin’s face.

Jimin stared. It was impossible not to. There was a merman sitting in front of him, at the edge of the rock he always sat on to watch the sea. His long, longer than Jimin thought it would be, tail was slightly bent so it wouldn’t hang uncomfortably from the place he was sitting on. Jimin moved his eyes to the end of his torso and blinked at how smooth the transition from skin to scale was. It started with a few stray scales here and there on his stomach and it increased in number the closer it got to where his hips would have been if he was human.

The beginning of his tail wasn’t as thick as a shark’s but it looked strong. It got thinner as it got closer to the fins, long enough to remind Jimin of a water dragon he once saw painted in one of his history books. It was a deep blue color, reflecting purple hues where the sunlight touched. His fins were of a darker color, almost black, but as he moved it seemed to shimmer silver.

The body chain he wore from neck to waist was a delicate combination of small shining seashells and a silver chain. The shells cast a rainbow pattern on his skin as he moved.

He was breathtaking.

Jimin was bound to get awed as he had never seen a supernatural creature that close. He knew the city had many of them but there were only humans on the island. So the way the merman could expand his nails into claws at will and how his tail had a similar glimmer to the shells around his upper body was enough to make Jimin’s breath get stuck in his throat.

But there was more to it; more than the vision of his strong tail, of his cat-like eyes, which were so attentive that Jimin could almost feel them burning his skin. There was something that went deeper than the mere physical aspect. He was ethereal, yes, but the way Jimin’s heart beat faster in his chest couldn’t be just due to his beauty, could it?

He was considered a monster by most humans but Jimin was convinced he wouldn’t hurt him, not after all the chances he had and hadn’t made use of. Jimin had seen his claws, which had been strong enough to support his full weight during a hike, and knew they were dangerous and would easily break his skin but the merman had retracted them and now Jimin could only see the small and rounded human-looking nails on the tips of his fingers. His posture was relaxed and it was obvious, at least to Jimin, that he had no intention of attacking him, not with the way he watched Jimin intently as he flicked his fins absentmindedly. It wasn’t fear that was making Jimin’s heartbeat increase, not when he was feeling curious rather than terrified.

It was something else that made Jimin’s chest tighter the longer he looked in the merman’s direction as if there was still something wrong, something out of place that he needed to get right. But Jimin was oblivious to what that could be, so he tried to push that unusual feeling to the back of his mind, not wanting to get distracted from the fact that there was an actual merman in front of him and apparently one friendly enough to indulge Jimin’s desire to talk.

Jimin took a deep breath and shifted onto his knees, moving a few centimeters close to the merman before sitting on his feet. He didn’t react to his approach, only blinking as he seemed to wait for Jimin to do something. But Jimin was still too caught up in the merman’s appearance to start talking, running his eyes from his dark and dripping wet hair to the rest of his body.

Something shone on his neck and Jimin focused his gaze there, eyes widening slightly when he saw small and delicate scales that continued in the direction of his nape. They were of a light color, a few shades darker than his skin, and were as reflective as the scales of his tail, shining in a rainbow of colors with the merman’s movements. His chain was comfortably resting on them as they continued down to the beginning of the merman’s shoulders, where they turned scarce until there was only smooth skin.

Jimin finally found his voice when his curiosity grew too big to be contained.

“T-this,” he pointed awkwardly at the merman’s neck. “That- your scales. D-do you have them on your back?”

The merman blinked before nodding his head slowly. Jimin startled when he spoke, the same sensation from before assaulting his body, the merman’s voice coming both from his own mouth and from inside Jimin’s head.

“Yes. They go down to my tail.”

Jimin nodded a little dumbly.

“Why d-don’t you have them on your chest?”

The merman arched an eyebrow before shrugging his left shoulder.

“Why do you have two arms and not three?” Jimin blinked at the question, not knowing what to say. This was apparently the reaction the merman wanted because he cocked his head to the side and kept talking. “That’s just the way we are.”

Jimin nodded his head, accepting the answer and moving his eyes down his body until they stopped at the sight of the parallel lines on the side of the merman’s body. They were a few shades darker than his skin and Jimin almost thought it was some kind of scar before it dawned on him what they were. He liked his lips and pointed at them, just like he did to the merman’s scales.

“Are those gills?”

The merman looked down to where Jimin was pointing before answering.

“Yes.”

Jimin frowned slightly.

“I thought they were slits. Like a fish’s gills.”

The sound of a low chuckled made Jimin look up just in time to see the merman’s shoulders shaking gently. He looked up and his mouth opened slightly because of the small smile on the merman’s face. It softened his expression in a way that made Jimin’s chest fill with something he couldn’t identify.

“I don’t need them now because I’m breathing air.” Jimin kept quiet for more than just a couple of seconds and the merman arched an eyebrow. “You know what the gills are for, don’t you?”

Jimin’s eyes widened, finally understanding what the merman was trying to say. He felt his face burn with shame at having taken so long to get something so simple.

“So they close when you’re out of the water?”

The merman nodded and lifted his arm, presenting the side of his torso for Jimin to see the lines.

“I don’t have an operculum like fishes do,” He looked at Jimin’s face and arched an eyebrow, making Jimin wonder if he was being made fun of. “I mean the gill cover.” Jimin nodded, not even trying to look offended as the merman was right. He didn’t know what an operculum was. “So my gills shut close when they come in contact with the atmosphere.” He lowered his arm and shifted, his tail curling closer to his body. “I don’t control it, so I can’t show you how they look open.”

Jimin pressed his lips together. He knew he wasn’t being discreet with the way he was looking at the merman’s body but to hear from the merman’s mouth that he was aware of it still made him embarrassed. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm down. When he opened them again, the merman was watching him with a small, almost imperceptible, smile.

Jimin looked down, nodding in answer to his last sentence. He licked his lips out of habit as he looked at the sides of the body chains crossed over each other in the middle of the merman’s chest and wrapped around his waist. Jimin guessed the sides were knotted together at his back.

“What is that?”

Before Jimin could point at the chain, Yoongi was touching and lifting it, looking down at it.

“It’s my mating cord.” Jimin blinked at this information, his mouth forming a small o.

“Oh, Y-you.” He cleared his throat. “Are you married? Or, I mean. Mated?”

The merman raised his gaze to Jimin’s eyes and was silent for a couple of seconds, just watching him with an expression Jimin couldn’t decipher before he closed his eyes with a sigh. He smiled, small and weak, and shook his head.

“No. I’m not.”

Jimin was curious and confused but he believed it would be better not to pry as it was obviously a sensitive subject for the merman. So he shifted to sit down on the rock and crossed his legs.

“How should I call you?” The merman blinked and it was as if Jimin had woken him up from a dream. His eyes focused again on Jimin’s face. “My name’s Jimin.”

The merman moved his tail and the big fins hit the rock’s surface with a loud noise.

“Yoongi. That’s how you should call me.”

Jimin smiled widely for the first time since he started talking to the merman.

The weather on the island had always been unstable. It was as if the seasons didn’t exist, making it look like the orphanage was located in another universe where the climate was always cold and the sky was gray most days of the year. Jimin was glad they were going through the few days of clear sky and tranquil waters they got per year because it allowed him to meet with Yoongi almost every day.

The good weather also seemed to make Father Hill at ease as he wasn’t monitoring his whereabouts anymore, which worked just fine for Jimin because he didn’t have as much trouble sneaking out of the building.

And there he was again. They had moved their meeting place from the rock to the beach per Yoongi’s request, who liked to be in the water rather than on a dried rock. And Jimin didn’t mind the freezing cold washing over his legs as he sat in one of the many small rocks the beach had. The water in the spot they made their own almost touched Jimin’s knees but it was barely deep enough to cover Yoongi’s tail and the thicker part of it was just half submerged, the scales shining with the afternoon sunlight. He lifted his fins from time to time, splashing water around when he dived it back in and Jimin would be hypnotized by the movement if he wasn’t so caught up in everything Yoongi said.

Jimin was looking down at him, being at a higher level because of the size of the rock he was sitting on, and he almost got distracted sometimes because of how his body chain sparkled softly with his movements. It was such a beautiful but exotic piece of jewelry and Jimin couldn’t imagine anyone else wearing it. It was as if it was made for Yoongi. Which was indeed the case, Jimin thought, being reminded of Yoongi saying it was his mating cord.

He moved his gaze away from the chain and focused on Yoongi’s face.

“...the city I’m from is a small one by our standards. It also isn’t that close to any human city so it’s a good place to live, fairly safe.”

Jimin frowned at that.

“Is it dangerous to live close to humans?”

Yoongi nodded his head, glancing up to look into Jimin’s eyes.

“Humans are always attacking our cities and blaming us for being the dangerous ones.” Jimin didn’t answer him, feeling like his tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth. “What was the impression you had of merpeople before you met me?” Jimin gulped and licked his lips, not knowing how to say that the pictures they have of merpeople is of bloody claws and pointed teeth. But he didn’t have to voice a thing as the corner of Yoongi’s mouth lifted in a small smile. “Humans see us as monsters but we’re only defending our space. How can we live if humans destroy our cities?”

Jimin shook his head, averting his eyes to the water.

“I’m sorry, Yoongi.”

He heard a sigh and then Yoongi’s voice.

“Not your fault.”

Jimin looked at him and saw Yoongi already watching him. He didn’t seem to have any kind of animosity toward Jimin. He didn’t fear or hate him and Jimin was a human just like the ones he was talking about. The same species.

“Why did you talk to me?” Yoongi frowned and cocked his head to the side, his tail splashing the water as if it trying to make it clear he was confused by the question. “Why didn’t you hide from me when I saw you for the first time?”

Yoongi kept quiet and just looked at him, not moving even his tail. Jimin shifted on the rock, starting to feel restless at the attention Yoongi was paying him.

“What are you?”

Jimin blinked at the question, a little caught off guard because wasn’t it obvious?

“I’m human.”

The corner of Yoongi’s lips turned upside down and Jimin had the nagging feeling that he had given him the wrong answer despite knowing he didn’t lie. Yoongi took a deep breath and started moving forward, in the direction of deeper waters.

“I think it’s better for you to go back.” He glanced in his direction. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Jimin just nodded, knowing that was his goodbye, and watched as Yoongi moved with the help of his arms until he was deep enough to swim. The last thing he saw was the tip of his fin breaking the water’s surface before he disappeared completely.

Yoongi seemed to be avoiding any serious topic when they met again the next day, right before sunset. Jimin didn’t sit down this time but kept himself busy kicking water around in an imitation of what Yoongi’s tail did and it seemed to amuse the merman immensely.

Jimin looked in his direction when he stopped listening to Yoongi’s voice and saw him watching him with a smile on his lips.Jimin didn’t really know why but he felt his face burn as he blushed.

“What?”

Yoongi shook his head and pulled his tail close to his body, crossing his arms over the point it bent, just like a human would do with their knees. He kicked a few droplets of water in Jimin’s direction with his fin before speaking.

“You remind me of a baby merman.”

Jimin blinked at that, interested.

“Why’s that?”

Yoongi nodded and made a vague gesture with his hand.

“Our children like to splash water around when they go to the surface for the first time. They like to feel the drops falling down.” He nodded his head in Jimin’s direction. “Just like you’re doing.”

Jimin walked closer to him, watching for a couple of seconds the way the sun bathed Yoongi’s scales before talking.

“I didn’t know you went to the surface.”

Yoongi hummed.

“We like to feel the sun so we try to take the kids up at least once a month. But some cities don’t do it anymore. Too dangerous.”

Jimin nodded. It would have been too dangerous to take children to the surface if they lived close to humans. Jimin watched the way Yoongi let his head fall back and enjoyed the sun with his eyes closed, and felt sad that many young merpeople couldn’t have that anymore.

He pushed the negative thoughts to the back of his mind and regarded the way the scales of Yoongi’s neck and back shone under the sun. It was still breathtaking no matter how many times he had seen them.

Jimin must have looked at the merman for longer than he should have because his gaze was strong enough to be noticed by Yoongi, whose eyelids fluttered before he turned his head in Jimin’s direction and opened his eyes, arching an eyebrow in question. Jimin felt his face burn at being caught staring even if he knew that, logically, there was no reason for him to be embarrassed when Yoongi himself didn’t seem to be bothered by the attention, just curious.

Jimin gulped and licked his lips before scratching the back of his neck. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves, and the smell of the sea, which was so strong that Jimin could almost feel the salt in his tongue, invaded his nostrils and relaxed him just like it always did. When he opened his eyes and saw Yoongi in front of him, waiting for him to answer while he splashed the water with the up and down movements of his tail, Jimin didn’t know if the scent was this strong because he was standing in the water or because it was coming from Yoongi.

He pushed this thought aside to focus on what he wanted to say, now not as nervous as he had been only a couple of minutes before.

“Your scales,” He started, looking at Yoongi’s shoulder and missing the small smile that appeared on the merman’s face. “they’re just beautiful.”

Yoongi made an understanding noise and shifted on the water, curving his tail and moving it to the side, which made the holographic glimmer of his scales visible.

“If you had lived underwater in one of our cities you’d know there’s nothing special about my scales.” Yoongi still had the smile on his lips though. “But I’m glad you think so.” Jimin nodded with his own small smile before averting his gaze to the water’s surface and watching the way it rippled with the now gentle shift of Yoongi’s fins. “Do you wanna watch it closer?”

Jimin wasn’t expecting him to speak further so the sound of his voice echoing inside of his mind and around him, which Jimin still wasn’t used to, together with the offer made him look up at Yoongi with wide eyes. The merman chuckled and raised his hand to wave him closer with the lazy movements of his fingers. Jimin breathed a couple of times before walking in his direction hesitantly. He stopped when his toes were a few centimeters away from Yoongi’s tail.Between him standing up and Yoongi sitting in the shallow waters, Jimin couldn’t really see as close as he wanted to. So he looked into Yoongi’s eyes and slowly leaned his upper body down, making sure he was okay with his proximity.

He relaxed when Yoongi’s only reaction was to cock his head to the side to give him more space.

This up-close Jimin was able to see each small scale individually instead of the shining and holographic coating over his skin that he had been seeing from afar. They were smaller than his tail’s, as Jimin had already assumed the first time he saw them, and looked extremely smooth and delicate to the touch. Yoongi’s skin was humid and Jimin could see droplets of water still running down the scales, the result of how Yoongi wet himself with the sea water from time to time.

“You can touch it if you want to.”

Jimin didn’t jump at his voice this time but he was surprised by his words.

“Are you sure?”

Yoongi hummed in agreement and moved his shoulder up and down as if he was trying to invite Jimin with the movement and Jimin felt almost silly because it was working.

“I won’t hurt you. It’s okay.”

Jimin nodded, not really noticing how soft Yoongi’s voice sounded and the murmured words of I’d never hurt you that he let out, too focused on the merman’s body to pay attention to it.

Jimin raised his right hand and gingerly touched the scales with his fingertips, his eyes widening slightly at the feeling of them against his skin. The scales were smooth individually, just like he had predicted, but they were small enough for Jimin to feel the scratchy sensation of all of them together easier than the smoothness of only one. They weren’t as delicate as Jimin thought, however. Just by touching them with the tip of his fingers Jimin could tell they were hard and strong.

Jimin ran his fingers to the edge of the patch of scales, gently touching the merman’s skin and opening his mouth slightly at how soft it felt compared to the scales.

“It’s like you have natural armor.”

Yoongi chuckled and his shoulders shook with it, making Jimin press his fingers a little closer to his soft skin.

“You’re not entirely wrong.” Jimin looked at his face with an alarmed expression and Yoongi smiled, shaking his head gently. “Why are you surprised? I live underwater and we face some problems. These,” he pointed at the scales on his shoulder and down his back. “really help me. Especially since we started being hunted. We’re not immune to spears but it does help.”

Jimin lowered his gaze, knowing full well humans in the open sea tried to take down the mermaids with long spears when they appeared near the surface.

“Does it happen often?”

Yoongi understood Jimin’s question without him having to be clearer, answering without any kind of apprehension.

“Only close to known cities. Most of our cities are still out of human’s maps so most of us are safe but the ones already mapped…” Yoongi pressed his lips together in a thin line and Jimin watched as his chest went up and down with a slow and deep breath. “Humans have floating bases and anchored ships all around those, always waiting for one of us to go to the surface.” Yoongi’s face was serious and there was a boiling anger that he was doing his best not to show but it was still visible to Jimin. “They can’t go down so they just wait. And we can live underwater all of our lives without ever going to the surface but we like the sun. We crave it.” Jimin remembered how content Yoongi looked while sunbathing and nodded his head. “So someone always goes to the surface, especially the youngest ones. They usually manage to come back but sometimes…”

Yoongi didn’t finish his sentence and Jimin didn’t ask him to, already knowing what he was trying to say. All the mermaid bodies that were driven to universities and shown on national television. They were the young mermaids Yoongi was talking about, who just wanted to feel a little bit of sunlight on their skin.

There was a nagging feeling in the back of Jimin’s mind and he couldn’t help but ask:

“Yoongi,” The mermaid looked at him and waited for him to speak. “Your city… is it on the map?”

Yoongi shook his head, smiling gently, and Jimin breathed out in relief.

“I live far away from here, somewhere with no land in sight. We don’t have a place like this to sit under the sun.” He gestured around them, to the beach and the rocks. “But we can go to the surface safely unless there’s a ship passing by. So we’re pretty lucky.”

Jimin nodded and looked back to his shoulder, sliding his fingers up the length of his neck, right at the point where skin turned into scales. When he glanced at Yoongi, his eyes were closed and he seemed to be enjoying Jimin’s touch, which made him blush.

“Why, then?” Yoongi opened his eyes and looked at Jimin with a slightly confused expression. “Why are you here with me? Why have you told me all of this if I’m a human? And why are you so far away from home?”

Yoongi watched him intently for a couple of seconds before he gestured for Jimin to get closer to him. Jimin crouched down, not caring about how he was wetting his pants due to being that close to the water because he was also closer to Yoongi, his face on the same level as his and if Yoongi’s tail had been straighten, stretching out in front of him instead of its current curled position, Jimin would have had straddled it. Jimin took a deep breath and came to the conclusion that Yoongi indeed smelled like the sea, but stronger. It still had the same effect on Jimin as he felt his tensed muscles relaxing and an almost overwhelmed feeling of peace and home flooding his chest.

Yoongi raised a hand and touched the side of Jimin’s face. It was the first time he did it and Jimin’s breath caught in his throat. He moved his fingertips in a gentle caress on his cheek and despite knowing Yoongi had powerful claws that could have cut him into shreds if only he wanted to, Jimin felt safe there, so close to the merman and feeling his wet hand getting his face humid.

“What are you, Jimin?”

Jimin opened his eyes, which he didn’t even remember having closed, and blinked at the question before frowning.

“I’m human.”

Something flicked through Yoongi’s eyes but it was gone before Jimin could identify it.

“Do you like it?” Jimin must have looked confused because Yoongi spoke again. “The land. Is it your home?”

Jimin opened his mouth to agree but the last word uttered by Yoongi made him stop. Home. Jimin knew that the city to where he would be moving in a few days, wouldn’t be his home. The only place where he felt at home was there. Not at the Orphanage or at the island. But by the rocks, near the sea.

So Jimin said nothing because he didn’t know what to say and he couldn’t lie to Yoongi.

His lack of answer seemed to make Yoongi satisfied, however, because he smiled at him before letting go of his face. Jimin thought he was going to ask him to move away and Jimin was getting ready to stand up when he felt Yoongi hugging his waist with both arms and pulling him down against his own chest.

Jimin didn’t react to the action, caught by surprise by the sudden touch, and so Yoongi easily flipped him over until Jimin felt the back of his clothes getting wet, the freezing water of the sea moving by the sides of his face.

He was lying on his back on the shallow waters, blinking up and almost being blinded by the sunlight, despite it not being that bright due to the cloudy weather. Before he could move and try to cover his eyes or stand up, Yoongi covered the sun with his own upper body, hovering over Jimin with a playful smirk on his face.

Jimin blinked and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yoongi!” He exclaimed, grabbing the merman’s arms before he could think better of it. “I’m soaking wet now!”

“Don’t you like it?” Jimin frowned at that and Yoongi’s smile grew even more. “The feeling of the water on your skin. Don’t you like it?”

Jimin kept quiet, feeling the movement of the water around them as the sea washed over the beach. It was cold but it didn’t bother Jimin, just like the drops of it on his skin never bothered him before. He would surely be freezing cold when he had to stand up and the chilly wind hit him but for now, while he was there, half in the water and with Yoongi’s body close to his, Jimin was comfortable.

And it was ridiculous because Yoongi’s body was as cold as the water, but it was true. Jimin was comfortable and yes, he did like it.

He focused on Yoongi’s face again, ready to say how he was feeling good in the water, but the words died in his throat at the way Yoongi was looking at him. With a small hint of a smile and with eyes so full of fondness that Jimin felt his own chest fill with something warm. His hair was in the process of drying and it fell messily over his forehead, and Jimin raised a hand to brush his dark strands back (feeling comfortable enough to touch him freely after being thrown into the water by the merman), rubbing them in between his fingers and feeling how coarse they were.

Jimin ran his eyes over his face. His thin lips; small and dark eyes; the small scales that went up to his neck and framed the side of his face, so delicately Jimin hadn’t noticed them before because they reflect the light. The body chain was hanging loosely around Yoongi’s frame and touching Jimin’s own body because of how close they were. Jimin moved his other hand to it, caressing one of the shells knotted to it.

Jimin raised his eyes to Yoongi’s face in time to see his smile fading and his happy expression being replaced to something sadder.

“Why don’t you remember?”

Yoongi spoke slowly but it was still loud enough for Jimin to hear it. He answered him in a similar tone, feeling as if he couldn’t speak louder than that even if he wanted to.

“Remember what?”

His voice seemed to have awakened Yoongi from his deep thoughts because he blinked, looking a little caught off guard, before he smiled again and leaned down.

Jimin’s heart beat faster and he sucked in a loud breath when Yoongi placed his lips on the side of his face. He lingered there for a couple of seconds, his cold lips feeling softer than they should have against Jimin’s skin.

When he pulled back the playful smile was back on his face.

“Now that you’re already wet,” he started and Jimin snorted because he knew Yoongi was aware that Jimin’s current situation was completely his fault. “Don’t you want to swim with me?”

Jimin sobered up at that and when Yoongi pulled himself away from him and sat down on the sand, Jimin did the same, looking at him with wide eyes.

“Swim with you?” He looked at the water as he bit his lower lip. Jimin knew how to swim but even if the waters were calmer now he wasn’t sure if he would have been able to swim against them. And he really didn’t want a repeat of his last experience.

“I won’t let you drown.” Jimin looked back at Yoongi at that. “You can meet me near the rock and I’ll get you into the water.”

Jimin chewed a little more on his lower lip, feeling unsure. He knew this was probably a bad idea but he knew Yoongi was speaking the truth. And the idea of swimming with him was too tempting, tempting enough to cloud Jimin’s reasonable side a little. But the memory of the time he had drowned was still too fresh in his mind for him to follow the merman blindly.

“I really don’t know, Yoongi.”

Yoongi frowned a little and changed the position of his tail to lean forward and closer to Jimin.

“What are you afraid of?”

Jimin watched his face for a couple of seconds, noticing how Yoongi’s eyes ran all over his face as if he didn’t want to miss any shift of Jimin’s expression. He blinked before licking his lips, thinking about Yoongi’s question.

“I’m afraid of drowning.” He spoke in a low tone, flashes of the time it had happened coming into his mind. “I know you said you won’t let me drown but I’m afraid of it.” He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds as he tried to focus on anything that wasn’t the memory of how he had felt underwater that night. He listened to the faraway sound of the waves hitting the rocks but it was the sound of Yoongi’s breathing that helped him calm down.

“I’m afraid of the cold.” He opened his eyes and saw Yoongi still watching him with a serious expression. “And I’ll probably catch a cold from this,” he gestured to himself, sitting in the water and completely wet. “But it’s deeper in there.” He gestured in the direction of the rocks, where Yoongi wanted to swim. “It’s colder too. I’m afraid of getting sick.”

Yoongi watched him for a couple more seconds, waiting to see if he wanted to say anything else. Just when Jimin smiled, small and apologetic, he spoke again.

“Is the water cold now?” Jimin stared back at him, a little surprised by the question, and looked down, moving his hand in the water before nodding. “Is it bothering you?”

Jimin frowned and shook his head. He had already concluded that the cold beach water didn’t feel bad on his skin but the deep water would certainly be different.

“No. But Yoongi, it’s colder there.”

The merman nodded.

“I know. But do you think it will bother you?”

Jimin watched him in confusion.

“Yes?” It was clear how unsure he was by the way his answer sounded like a question. “It was awful that time, why wouldn’t it be now?”

“The water’s not so cold today.” Yoongi started, moving closer. “I wouldn’t have let you get in the water that night, it was too cold for your skin.” He bit his lower lip before continuing. “I was so worried when you fell. I swam as fast as I could but I was afraid it wouldn’t be enough.” He breathed out and looked in Jimin’s direction with a small smile. His gaze looked incredibly gentle, making Jimin’s heart beat faster and his cheeks grow warmer. “I’m glad I reached you in time.”

There was a fluttering feeling in Jimin’s chest that made him feel giddy in a way he never felt before. It was almost overwhelming because of how new it was, so different from everything Jimin had ever felt. He averted his gaze from Yoongi’s face in an attempt to make his heartbeat slow down to no avail. He opened and closed his mouth twice before he managed to say something.

“I knew it was you but I never thanked you.” He took a deep breath before looking back up at Yoongi. “Thank you for saving me. I’d be dead if it wasn’t for you.”

Yoongi’s smile stayed the same but something shone in his eyes, the same thing Jimin had seen before. He still couldn’t identify it but it made something inside his own chest flutter. Yoongi leaned even closer and Jimin’s breath hitched at the proximity. He could smell his natural scent, which reminded him of salt and something else that he had smelled before and couldn’t identify, but it was good enough for Jimin to have to fight the urge to close his eyes and breathe it in deeper. When he focused on Yoongi’s face again, he looked almost dazed as if he was feeling what Jimin had felt at their close proximity.

“I’d never let you die, starfish.”

Jimin felt his whole body thrum happily at the nickname, which was spoken in such a tender voice. It sounded familiar to Jimin, like he had heard it before, even if he knew for a fact that no one had ever called him that.

Yoongi raised one of his hands from the water and brushed Jimin’s right cheek with his wet knuckles. His touch cold but making Jimin’s whole body warm.

“Yoongi,”

He didn’t say anything more, closing his eyes when the merman moved his fingers to his black hair, the palm of his hand touching the side of Jimin’s face.

“I will never let you get hurt. I just want,” Yoongi stopped talking, his eyebrows furrowed, and Jimin couldn’t help the way he felt. What he desired at the moment. Yoongi took a deep breath and tried again. “I just want to have you a little bit closer.”

Jimin wouldn’t have been able to look away from Yoongi even if he wanted to. Yoongi always looked beautiful in his eyes but now there was something more. More than his handsome features, there was now a myriad of emotions that the merman was showing without the least bit of shame. More than the fondness Jimin had always seen in the merman’s eyes, there was so much longing in the way he looked at him, in the way he touched him.

And with Yoongi’s touch lighting his skin on fire, Jimin felt as if he could dive in in the darkest waters and still feel at home if Yoongi was there with him.

He made his decision without having even noticed it. His heart was beating fast in his chest while all of his senses were focused on Yoongi.

“Okay.” Yoongi smiled when Jimin accepted his offer, an open and beautiful smile that made Jimin’s breath catch in his throat, almost making it impossible for him to say what he wanted. “Take me to swim with you.”

Jimin had wanted to swim in those waters before. During all the times he sat on the rocks he had wished, had desired with his whole being, that he could jump into the water to feel closer to the sea. It was a well-known longing that was washing over him thrice as strong now that he was about to finally do it, out of own volition and not because of an accident that almost had cost him his life.

But the desire to feel the merman close; the urgent need to kiss him was something entirely new, something he had never felt for anyone else before.

It wasn’t unwelcome, he thought as Yoongi caressed his cheek one more time before letting go, staying frozen in place instead of preparing himself to swim to the rocks where he’d meet Jimin again.

It felt as familiar as coming home.

And the thought made Jimin overwhelmed by his feelings - good ones, confusing ones - because he had only ever felt at home when he was close to the sea. He pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind, not wanting to worry about the meaning of it.

“Listen.” Jimin turned to Yoongi’s direction at the sound of his voice, a curious expression on his face. “Instead of jumping from the rocks, let’s just go deeper.” He pointed at a point far away from the beach. “I think you’ll be more comfortable like that and it’s easier for you.”

Jimin nodded and watched as Yoongi moved away, using his arms and tail to move through the shallow waters until he could swim freely. He dived in and was out of Jimin’s sight for a couple of seconds before he appeared again a few meters away. Jimin walked in his direction, the water getting deeper and deeper as he went. When he stopped a few centimeters in front of Yoongi, the water reached his shoulders and it was a little hard to keep his feet in the sand because of the waves.

Before Jimin could voice his worries, he felt Yoongi’s arm gently snaking around his middle and pulling him closer. Jimin let out a small sigh when their chests touched and he rested both his hands on the merman’s shoulders, feeling the hard scales against his palm. Jimin pressed his fingers down and blinked in surprised at how the scale-covered skin gave in under his touch. Yoongi chuckled and Jimin knew it was because of the surprised expression on his face.

“I thought it’d be harder.”

Yoongi hummed at his whispered words and brushed his thumb on over the cloth covering Jimin’s skin.

“It’s still skin underneath.”

Jimin nodded a little dumbly and stared at the glimmering scales for a little while before looking into Yoongi’s eyes.

“How will we do this?” Jimin remembered an old fairy tale he had found in the orphanage’s old library and felt his face get warmer. “Will you…” He pressed his lips together, embarrassed. Yoongi blinked in curiosity and cocked his head to the side. Jimin felt something moving next to his foot and he knew it was Yoongi’s tail, which should be curved against the sand, as the place where they stood was still too shallow for him to keep it straight. “Will you, I mean.” Jimin took a deep breath. “Will you kiss me?”

Jimin was aware that many of the things humans were used to doing were also a part of merpeople’s habits and kissing apparently was one of them. Yoongi’s eyes grew wider but instead of the feelings Jimin expected to see on his face - surprise or embarrassment -, Yoongi looked like he was holding back so much excitement that his whole body shivered with it: his arm around Jimin, his tail underwater and his chest that went up and down with the hitch in his breath, pressing against Jimin’s.

“Do you want it?” His voice was a whisper between them but it sounded loud and clear in Jimin’s mind. “Do you want me to kiss you?”

Jimin felt his cheeks grow even hotter and he averted his gaze from Yoongi’s eyes to the chain touching his neck, focusing on a small seashell hanging from it.

“I read in a book that merpeople could, huh, lend their powers to someone else.” He licked his lips, feeling silly as he spoke. “So they could breathe underwater and… Yeah.” Yoongi was silent after that and when the merman’s shoulders dropped Jimin finally gathered the courage to look back at his face. He saw the enthusiasm had faded a little and he looked slightly dejected. “Yoongi?”

The merman blinked and smiled, shaking his head.

“I can't do it. They’re not powers, they’re just part of me.” Yoongi raised his free hand and touched Jimin’s jaw with his fingertips, brushing them up his skin until they were close to his ear, only to trail back again. “It’s just my body.”

Jimin nodded in understanding, already having guessed he shouldn’t have believed in a children’s tale.

“It’s because you’re a merman.”

Yoongi’s tail moved against his leg again and Jimin felt them starting to move deeper into the sea, his feet soon not touching the sand anymore, which made him hug his right arm underneath Yoongi’s left one to feel safer. He felt it when the merman could finally swim freely because the movement of his tail was strong enough for Jimin to feel and Yoongi gently moved them until he was lying down, like the water was a mattress underneath him. Jimin’s body resting over his while his legs moved to a half straddling position, framing the beginning of Yoongi’s tail close to where his hips would be, had he been human.

The merman was solid, his chest firm under Jimin’s palms. It didn’t take long for him to release the remaining tension from his body and relax over him, the grip of his thighs around the merman slacking a little.

“It’s because I’m part of the sea.” Yoongi told him. “I’m one of its children and my body carries its essence.” He quieted down for a while as he seemed to wonder if he should really say what he wanted to. “What’s your essence, Jimin?”

Jimin was caught off guard by the question, shifting his head to see Yoongi’s face. The first thing that came to his mind was the homely feeling that washed over him every time he was close to the sea but that would be the wrong answer, right?

He took too long to answer, apparently, because Yoongi smiled and tightened his hold around Jimin’s middle.

“Look around, starfish.”

Jimin did as told and widened his eyes when he saw how far from the shore they were. The waves moved them up and down and the water was cold against his skin just like he had predicted.

But there was no trace of fear inside of him. Only enthusiasm, too big to be contained, escaping him through the happy curve of his eyes and his open smile as he looked around, feeling so completely free.

The cold didn’t bother him at all and Yoongi’s body under him felt even more comfortable than the water around his calves, a thought that made him blush. He licked his lips, knowing full well his face was flushed because of how hot it felt, and focused on the view around him. It was a completely different experience to see the sea that up close, and not by the shore. It was breathtaking.

When Jimin looked down, Yoongi was watching him with a small smile on his lips, his hands holding Jimin’s thighs to make sure he would stay secure in his position, as his tail lazily flickered to keep them afloat and moving. Jimin smiled back, not really feeling shy at the attention because it felt right to have Yoongi’s eyes on him.

“It’s so beautiful here.”

Jimin’s voice was full of wonder as he appreciated the calmness of being so far away from the rocks, the clouds looking so close that Jimin felt like he’d be able to touch them if he just reached out, even if he knew it was impossible.

Yoongi hummed in agreement.

“Yeah, but it’s even prettier underwater.” Jimin turned his attention to him, eyes wide with interest. “In my city, we have a garden of algae and corals and they’re so pretty, it’s-”

“-so colorful.” Jimin finished in a small voice and it made Yoongi wide his eyes and watch Jimin’s face closely.

“What?”

Jimin frowned, not really sure why he said what he did. Yeah, he could say he assumed it was a colorful place because he knew corals could be of many colors but he said it automatically, as if it was something he knew. Which was impossible.

“I’m sorry, I just…” Jimin brushed his hair back from his forehand, not knowing how to explain himself. “Is it colorful? The garden?”

Yoongi observed him for a couple of seconds before smiling again and nodding his head slowly.

“It is. It’s really pretty. You’d love it.”

Jimin smiled before leaning forward, crossing his arms over Yoongi’s chest and speaking in a lower tone now that their faces weren’t as far from each other as before.

“Is this what you meant by swimming with me?”

“Not really.” Yoongi admitted with a shake of his head. “I just thought this would be more comfortable for you. It’d make you feel safer.”

Jimin averted his gaze from Yoongi’s eyes to his mating cord, smiling softly and feeling his heart beating faster inside of his chest. He wondered if Yoongi was able to feel it too with the way their chests were so close.

“You won’t let me drown, right?”

Yoongi took his hand off of where it was resting on Jimin’s left thigh and brushed his fingers through his hair, tracing Jimin’s eyebrow tenderly.

“Never.”

Jimin leaned into his touch, closing his eyes and completely trusting Yoongi to not let him fall into the water. It was ridiculous how much he trusted the merman after knowing him for such a small amount of time, but it was like something deep inside Jimin was telling him that he should, that Yoongi was safe. And it was stronger than Jimin, the desire to let go when he was with Yoongi, it felt right and made him finally feel at peace.

Jimin continued to touch the chain resting on Yoongi’s chest, playing with it absentmindedly.

“Then swim with me, the way you really want to.” He opened his eyes and looked up at Yoongi again, smiling brightly at him. “I trust you, Yoongi.”

Yoongi’s smile mirrored his and he brushed his thumb over Jimin’s cheekbone one last time before circling his arm around Jimin’s middle, holding their bodies closer together.

And then they were moving. Without ever letting go of Jimin, Yoongi slowly shifted their position until they were shoulders down in the water. Jimin hugged the merman around the neck and took a deep breath as he looked down, trying to see something under the water’s surface. He could barely see the blur that was Yoongi’s tail moving but that was because of how turbid the water was, not giving him much visibility.

When Jimin looked up again, Yoongi looked completely content, eyes bright and a happy smile on his face. Jimin couldn’t help but smile too, shyly moving his legs underwater and letting out a high pitched giggle when his naked foot brushed Yoongi’s tail.

“Are you feeling good?”

Jimin nodded with a smile before hiding his face in between his own arm and Yoongi’s neck, burying his nose against his skin and feeling both its softness and the hard scales. Yoongi tightened his own grip around his waist.

“I could stay like this forever.”

Yoongi leaned his head against Jimin’s and took a deep breath, letting it out as a sigh. He said something under his breath but it was too low for Jimin to understand, which made him let out a curious noise.

Yoongi chuckled softly and shook his head.

“Me too, starfish. Me too.”

Jimin bit his lower lip when he heard the nickname he was quickly getting used to, feeling giddy. He rubbed the tip of his nose on Yoongi’s neck as the merman moved them around, and the feeling of Yoongi’s body against his in the cold water was amazing. Jimin wished he never had to go back to the orphanage.

Of course, staying with Yoongi for longer than a couple of hours was an impossible wish, merely wishful thinking. The merman had swum with Jimin to the rocks and had helped him up onto the lowest one because it was closer to the orphanage building than the beach and Jimin could feel how cold it actually was as soon as he was out of the water. Yoongi had hesitated before finally letting Jimin go, caressing his cheek before releasing him, and Jimin believed that the feeling of his touch was what truly kept him warm enough not to fall sick on his way to the orphanage, no matter how silly the thought was.

Jimin was careful not to be seen before he changed clothes. He knew he had been out past curfew and he had no doubt that Father Hill had noticed his absence but Jimin would rather be scolded for breaking curfew than being found soaking wet. He didn’t think Father Hill would be as lenient as he had been the first time and Jimin would spend his last few days on the island locked inside his room if he found out that Jimin fell into the sea again.

Jimin lay down on his bed as soon as the priest had finished scolding him. He wouldn’t receive a punishment because he would be leaving in a couple of days but he made it pretty clear how disappointed he was with Jimin’s behavior. It was enough to ruin Jimin’s good mood. Not only because he really didn’t like letting down someone who helped raise him but also because their talk reminded Jimin that he was leaving in only a couple of days.

He only had a few days before he would be moving to the city. Soon he wouldn’t be able to see Yoongi again.

Jimin sighed and threw an arm over his eyes. He had been so happy, so comfortable, just a few hours ago while he had been in Yoongi’s presence. But now everything was rushing back to him: the fear of moving to a place Jimin was sure he’d hate, to somewhere he was sure he wouldn’t ever see as his home.

Where it would be impossible to meet Yoongi.

The notion of never seeing Yoongi again made Jimin almost nauseous. He didn’t know the merman for that long but he couldn’t see himself without him anymore. He thought about Yoongi during every single waking hour that he was away from him and he dreamed of him when he closed his eyes. He only stopped thinking about the merman when they were together and that was because his feelings for him were so strong he could barely think.

Jimin wasn’t even sure if it was healthy to fall for someone as fast and hard as he had but there was no denying what he was feeling. Yoongi filled all the empty spaces in Jimin’s life with nothing but happiness and tenderness and Jimin had never felt as elated as he did between Yoongi’s arms.

Everything about him was beautiful. His eyes; his long and strong tail; the scales along his shoulders and back, shining with his movements; his smile and the way he laughed; everything made Jimin’s heart beat faster, made him want to smile. Made him want to live.

The prospect of having to say goodbye was breaking Jimin’s heart into pieces so tiny he feared he wouldn’t be able to repair it. If only they could coexist in the same place; if only Jimin didn’t belong to the land.

Jimin frowned, taking his arm away from his eyes and looking at the ceiling, his own thoughts sounding so completely wrong it made something deep inside Jimin cry out in denial.

He moved to lie on his side, trying to ignore the bad thoughts at least long enough to fall asleep. And even if it would hurt more later on, Jimin thought of Yoongi instead.

Two days before Jimin had to leave, everything came crashing down.

Jimin had prepared himself the night before to say goodbye to Yoongi. He knew the merman was fond of him, he was aware that the merman’s feelings were probably stronger than simple friendship as there was no way to mistake the way he looked at Jimin or how gentle he was. Jimin had been trying to ignore his own feelings, believing it would hurt less when he had to leave if Yoongi wasn’t aware of them. Jimin knew they couldn’t have a future together, being from completely different words, but it still hurt. It had hurt to see Yoongi’s smile and not say how happy it made him. It had hurt not to act on his feeling when he knew he wouldn’t have been rejected. And he was unsure if he was happy or disappointed at Yoongi’s own lack of advances.

And now it was time to say goodbye. Jimin wouldn’t be able to see Yoongi the day before the trip because he was going to help Father Hill sort out the last of his documents that still needed to be collected and even if Jimin didn’t believe that there were many left, he wasn’t naive enough to think Father Hill would leave him alone long enough for him to go see the merman.

Jimin stepped outside of the orphanage’s grounds and took a deep breath, slowing down his steps to enjoy the chilly evening breeze. Every time he breathed in he could feel the salt from the sea, his muscles relaxing without him even having to think about it as his body reacted on instinct, just like always. He was about to set his foot on the rocky surface to walk to the shore when he heard his name being called.

“Jimin!” He frowned and turned back, confused not only by his first name being called instead of his last one but also because Father Hill was running in his direction. The man looked breathless and Jimin watched as he opened the first few buttons of his shirt, pulling his clerical collar off, probably to breathe better as it wasn’t the best clothes to be running in. “Jimin, wait!”

Jimin did as told, wishing Yoongi had also heard the priest’s voice and was keeping himself hidden.

“Father? Is there something wrong?” Jimin walked closer when he noticed the way the man was panting. “I was just gonna see the sea a little before g-”

Father Hill cut him off with a movement of his hands between them before grabbing Jimin’s shoulders with both hands. He leaned his head down and breathed deep before looking up at Jimin, a worried expression on his face that made Jimin’s shoulders tense underneath his palms.

“You can’t go there today. Please, go back inside.” Jimin's frown deepened and he opened his mouth to protest but he never got to say anything as the priest was talking again, speaking quickly and so differently from his usual way. “I was looking out of the window this morning, Jimin. And I’m sure of what I saw.” He stopped and closed his eyes, tightening his grip on Jimin as he whispered the last words again under his breath. “I’m sure of what I saw.” Jimin’s eyes were wide and he felt his heart beating faster with alarm and pure fear of what Father Hill was about to say. He raised his hands and curled his fingers around the priest’s forearms as he waited for him to finish. Father Hill opened his eyes and gulped once before finally speaking. “I saw a mermaid, Jimin. So close to the shore. You can’t go there, my child. You can’t. Please go back inside, it’s dangerous here. It’s dangerous and I don’t know what this monster is capable of, I’m-”

Jimin shook his head, feeling cold and heart-stopping dread coiling in his stomach and going up his esophagus, making him nauseous. Yoongi had been seen. He wasn’t safe there.

“Father. Please, Father, calm down.” Jimin asked in a soothing tone, trying to calm the man down, sensing he was way too close to being hysterical. “You need to listen to me. We’re not in danger.”

The priest’s eyes widened even more and Jimin knew at that moment that he wouldn’t be able to make him understand.

“Of course we are. There’s a monster in the sea, Jimin. And so close to land!” Jimin pressed his lips in a thin line, his whole body protesting against the way Hill had called Yoongi a monster. “Let’s get inside, please. I already called WCC and they’re already trying to catch it but please, let’s go back inside.”

Jimin’s whole body froze and he watched the priest trying to make him walk back as his brain processed the words he had just heard. Father Hill had called WCC. He had called the Wild Creatures Control and Jimin was well aware of how they dealt with those calls.

Jimin spun his body around with a little difficulty, the priest still clawing at his arms and shoulders and trying to make him go back inside. He looked at the sea and ran his eyes over its surface, his whole being focused on Yoongi and how he was in danger. His mind was reeling, too many thoughts for him to process them all, and his whole body thrummed in an overwhelming need to go look for Yoongi and make sure he was safe.

Jimin’s heart beat even faster, almost hurting his ribcage, when everything around him seemed to stop. Father Hill was still pulling at his limbs and clothes but Jimin barely felt him... or anything else. Even the sea seemed to have become quiet at the moment. Because inside his head, Jimin could hear him .

Jimin!

It was fainter than what he was used to but there was no doubt that it was Yoongi’s voice. Without the vibration of the sound waves in the atmosphere to create the physical echo of his voice that Jimin was used to, it sounded thinner but completely clear.

Please, Jimin. Please hear me. Please remember.

Jimin pulled his arms free from Father Hill’s grip and moved on instinct, walking closer to the edge of the rocks, pushing the priest’s hands away every time they got near him. He was still talking but Jimin neither understood nor cared about what he was saying. The man eventually stopped trying to take Jimin back with him as he got too close to the edge of the rock. He was still near, screaming Jimin’s name as the younger looked down at the sea and let his instincts act.

Starfish. Please, I don’t want to be taken.

There was a weird sensation around Jimin, like a heavy pressure against the side of his body that pushed him to follow the path to his right. Jimin didn’t think twice before obeying it, spinning around and running in the direction it wanted him to go. He ran faster than he had ever ran, ignoring Father Hill’s calls and the slippery surface. He almost fell once but he straightened his back without stopping because he somehow knew it was leading him to Yoongi.

Whatever that urge was, that strong pressure around and inside  Jimin that made him act on pure instinct and the desire to see the merman again, Jimin knew it was leading him to Yoongi.

And so he ran.

Jimin ran until he could barely feel his legs because they were getting numb; he ran until he broke into a sweat; he ran and he prayed; he prayed that Yoongi could feel he was coming for him.

I’m coming. I’m coming, Yoongi.

Jimin stopped and looked around, panting. He breathed in long and deep, trying to force oxygen into his lungs after having run the way he did. He looked around again and noticed he was right where the beach started, a few meters away from the place he met Yoongi the last time. And then he saw it.

In the beach, close to the rocky wall where Jimin had been a few minutes before, there were four men covered in a heavy white attire. They were in shallow waters, trying to pull something in the direction of the dry sand. The upper part of their vests looked like the old bulletproof jackets Jimin saw more than one in history books and they were covered from head to toe, even their hands were covered in thick white leather gloves. Jimin walked closer, confident that they were too focused on their task to see him and when one of them moved to the side, Jimin saw him.

Yoongi.

He looked completely different from how Jimin had seen him during all their moments together. His claws were visible and his fingers were spread out, which gave his hands a monstrous appearance. His tail was trashing strongly and it was clear the WCC men were avoiding it, which meant Yoongi would be able to hurt one of them really badly if he managed to hit them.

But what made Jimin freeze in place was his face. Yoongi’s face was contorted in a terrifying grimace, his mouth open wider than it should have been physically possible and making his teeth visible. All of Yoongi’s teeth had grown and were too big for his mouth now, making a loud and bone-chilling sound that Jimin could hear from the distance when they snapped together. The gap didn’t close completely when Yoongi closed his mouth in his current form and so even when his mouth was as close as it could get, Jimin could still see his tongue curling around the long fangs. His lips were curled up with how open his mouth was, making his guns visible.

And even then, while seeing Yoongi in his most offensive form and ready to attack, looking every bit like the monsters Jimin had seen in books and illustrations, everything Jimin could see was his eyes and how much fear and pain sparkled in them. Yoongi was completely terrified and it broke Jimin’s heart, making his heartbeat increase again, the pressure around him and inside his body getting stronger and forcing him to walk again, only for him to stop once again at the sight of what was around Yoongi’s neck.

The man closest to Yoongi was holding a long object that resembled a spear, but instead of an arrow, there was an iron collar on the end, which was tightly locked around Yoongi’s neck and restraining his movement. Jimin watched in horror as the man clicked on a button and the weapon released an electric discharge so strong Yoongi let out a blood draining scream and trashed in the shallow water, his tail spasming without his consent.

And, as Jimin watched the way Yoongi’s spine bent in pain, lifting so high and almost to the point of breaking, he remembered it all.

How those electric discharges had felt coursing through his body and making him want to claw at his own skin, to tear it apart to see if it would make it at least a little bit more bearable;

The feeling of strong slaps against his face every time he cried and a water tank so small he felt claustrophobic;

Men with lab coats and clipboards watching, always watching him and taking notes through the glass;

He remembered how he had asked, how he had begged for them to stop, how he had begged to be shown some mercy, even the smallest of it;

Images of him being forced to change forms came into his mind, of how he received an electric discharge every time he took too long, every time he refused to leave the water;

The face of their leader, the man responsible for the research they were doing on Jimin’s body, and how cold his eyes were as he analyzed Jimin, who was still a child back then, young and so, so scared;

He remembered the moment when his mother had told him, as they swam closer and closer to the human city, about how he was going to meet his father; the memory of having seen that very same man, who his mother promised would love him, killing her as soon as he had his arms around Jimin, made Jimin’s breathe faster, his heart beating impossibly quick;

He remembered his father and the scientist who experimented on him being the same person and how he had been so scared of being hurt that his body eventually refused to change, making him useless;

He remembered an even older memory of the feeling of seawater brushing all around him as he swam and how good it felt to move his orange tail faster and faster;

Jimin gasped when his knees hit the sand, all his forgotten memories rushing back to him. Being triggered by the sight of the weapon that had been used against him so many times when he had been nothing more than a scared child. His eyes overflowed with tears, which spilled down his cheeks as he remembered his mother. The gentle, beautiful and always smiling mermaid who had raised him until his 5th birthday.

The mermaid who had always told him the story of how she had searched for the sea witch to get a potion that would allow her to be together with the human she had met, who was charming and said so many beautiful things. The mermaid who gave birth to Jimin: half merman, half human. A trait that grabbed the attention of his human scientist father. Jimin remembered the way his father’s eyes had shone when his mother told him Jimin’s ability to change forms, how he had pulled out a gun a few minutes later and killed the mermaid who had once loved him. Jimin’s mother.

Jimin lifted his head, not caring about the tears streaming down his face, and looked at Yoongi. He still hadn’t been noticed by the WCC men but Yoongi’s eyes were glued to his and as Jimin saw the raw fear, the pain and worried in his eyes, memories of Yoongi rushed back into Jimin’s mind.

A child version of the strong merman Jimin knew. Memories of his blue tail, which had been small back then, moving in front of Jimin before he had stopped to let the younger catch up to him. He had smiled and grabbed Jimin’s tiny hand before starting swimming again, using the pet name Jimin’s mother had given to her son:

“C’mon, Starfish! You need to see how pretty the baby shark is! You’ll love it!”

Yoongi. His childhood friend; the first merman of his age to talk to him; his soulmate, their lifelong bond having been just discovered at the time of that memory.

Jimin breathed faster as new and old memories mixed in his mind, almost making his head hurt with the sudden influx of new information falling into place and filling the gaps. Child and adult Yoongi smiling at him; his mother scolding him for doing something bad; Yoongi’s own mother receiving Jimin with a smile and a playful slap of her fins on his small tail; Yoongi holding his face close while they had sawm together; his mother brushing his hair with her fingers; Yoongi’s childish hands clasped around his; his strong and adult hand holding their bodies close together.

Despite it seeming like hours to Jimin, not a lot of time had passed when his mind started to clear. He wasn’t so overwhelmed anymore, he could finally think straight and examine his own feelings.

Jimin took a deep breath and stood up, looking at Yoongi who was struggling to get free of the collar, now trying even harder than before at the sight of Jimin’s form getting closer.

Starfish , Jimin heard his voice inside of his mind. Please. Please.

Jimin might still be confused but if there was something he was confident about, it was that he belonged to the sea. He was part of it as much as Yoongi was, and he was going to go back to it with his soulmate by his side, just like it was meant to be.

Jimin kicked his shoes and socks off before he felt the cold water washing over his feet and filling his body with a burst of adrenaline so strong he didn’t think before acting. He wanted to save Yoongi, to take the men down and run away with him. He felt a strong electric current going down his arm and when the closest man sensed Jimin’s proximity, it was too late and Jimin had a clawed hand closed around his neck.

Jimin pulled him back with all his strength, making the man fly back and fall into the water. Jimin didn’t look where he fell before focusing on the other two. They were frozen into place, looking at Jimin, clearly caught off guard. Jimin acted before they could recover and grabbed the one closest to him by his collar, throwing him away in a similar way he had done with the first one, displaying a strength he never knew he possessed. He watched as the man fell on the floor, his weight forcing his head down against the sand with a low crack before he stopped moving entirely.

Jimin turned to the last one, his heart pumping his blood faster and making his breathing slightly uneven, adrenaline still running through his body. However, before he could approach, Yoongi took advantage of the surprised state of the man and clasped his hands around the barrel attached to the collar.

Jimin watched, wide-eyed, at how Yoongi pulled the weapon away from the man’s hands and spun his body around, hitting him strongly with his tail. His fins cut into the man’s clothes, piercing his chest as Yoongi threw him off, away from him. When Yoongi lowered his tail to the water, Jimin could see how it was tinted red

Yoongi panted, one hand on the sandy ground, water reaching the middle of his arm, and the other still holding onto the weapon. He lifted his face and looked at Jimin, his fangs nowhere in sight, only the face Jimin knew looking at him, his eyes sparkling.

“Starfish…”

Jimin snapped out of his startled state at the sound of Yoongi’s voice, once again mixed with the one in his mind, and he blinked before running and falling on his knees in front of him, his hands hovering over Yoongi’s face, shoulders, and chest, not knowing where to touch, if he should touch.

Jimin was about to touch the collar when he noticed the claws in his hand had retreated, only his human hand in sight. He looked up at Yoongi with his mouth hanging open and a frown between his eyes, without a clue as to how to free the merman from the collar.

When Yoongi saw his face, he chuckled weakly in between his pants, still trying to catch his breath. Jimin saw the way his tail spasmed from time to time, and he knew it was the aftermath of so many electric discharges.

“Just…” Yoongi gulped and leaned his head down for Jimin to reach around. “There should be a-a clasp in the b-back.” He breathed out before filling his lungs with oxygen again, slowly. “T-try to open it.” He moved his torso closer and touched the top of his head against Jimin’s chest. When he talked again, he sounded completely vulnerable and so incredibly exhausted. “Please, take this off of me.”

Jimin nodded despite knowing Yoongi couldn’t see and leaned over him to look for what the merman thought was a clasp, breathing out in relief when he saw that there was indeed one. Jimin remembered how the clasp was there so it could be manually taken off by the scientists and he shivered at the thought of Yoongi being taken to a lab. He unclasped it and gently took the collar off Yoongi, prying his claws away from the barrel and throwing it into the water to be taken by the sea.

Jimin looked around and watched the men lying on the sand. They were motionless but Jimin couldn’t say for sure if they were all dead, only feeling sure about the one whose neck had been broken. He looked down at Yoongi again and touched his lips to the back of his head, whispering against his wet hair.

“We need to get out of here. Someone will come, Father Hill knows I’m here.”

Yoongi didn’t react at first but he eventually nodded his head. Jimin helped him straighten his back until they could look each in the eyes. Jimin analyzed his face and pressed his lips in a thin line to suppress the urge to cry. He closed his eyes when Yoongi raised a hand to his face.

“You… you remember.”

Jimin nodded as a single tear slid down his cheek. He kept his eyes closed for a few seconds before gathering the courage to open them. He blinked when he saw Yoongi’s face stained with his own tears.

“I do.” He said in a low tone before cupping Yoongi’s face with both hands, who hiccuped a small chuckle, smiling between his tears. Jimin touched their foreheads together. “I remember everything.”

Yoongi took in a ragged breath and brushed their noses together, his free hand tightening around the cloth of Jimin’s shirt.

“I dreamed of this for so long, Jimin.” Yoongi voice was just above a whisper but Jimin didn’t need him to speak louder when he could hear him perfectly fine in his mind. “My Starfish.”

Jimin smiled at the pet name, the familiarity of it washing over him warmly. He closed his eyes again and licked his lips, letting everything crash over him. The water around them; Yoongi’s body so close to him; his breath hitting his skin and the feeling of his hand on his face; his scent of the sea that Jimin felt so strongly every time he breathed in.

This was what had always been missing and Jimin didn’t know how he had taken so long to understand.

Yoongi was half of him and they were both parts of the sea.

The warm feeling in Jimin’s chest grew in intensity until it made Jimin gasp. Yoongi shifted but didn’t let go of him, just moved his hands from Jimin’s shirt to wrap them around his middle. Jimin lowered his hands from Yoongi’s face to the sides of his neck and closed his eyes tighter, the burning sensation moving up to his head and down to his legs.

Yoongi grunted as he laid Jimin on the water, his own body falling next to him with a pained noise. Jimin wanted to look at him but couldn’t make himself open his eyes, not when the feeling was starting to bother him, the water around him seeming to be getting hotter with his own body’s temperature, bubbling around him. Yoongi’s arm was still wrapped around his waist and Jimin didn’t know if it ever left.

It was hot, so incredibly hot. Jimin gasped and took one of his hands to his chest, clawing at his own clothes. He couldn’t stand the sensation of the cloth against his burning skin and his desire to get rid of it was strong enough for his nails to harden and grown, ripping his shirt in the middle with a single movement of his hand. Yoongi was the one who pulled the torn shirt away from him, Jimin being too out of it to do more than spasm against the sand, the water hitting him but not really soothing his discomfort.

The rougher cloth of Jimin’s pants almost hurt against his skin but Yoongi was moving to remove it before Jimin could try to voice it, ripping it to shreds and pulling it off Jimin body, leaving him naked, completely vulnerable to the night sky and sea water.

Then, the burning intensified throughout Jimin’s body, making him yell out in surprise. It didn’t hurt, not really, but it wasn’t a good feeling. It brought back too many memories Jimin would be happy to rid himself off, even if he had just remembered them. But he gritted his teeth and tried to empty his mind of the negative thoughts. Because while the change during his childhood only meant pain and sadness, the change he was going through at the moment, during his adult life, meant that he would finally be able to go back home. To go back to the place he shouldn’t have left in the first place.

And as Jimin felt the physical transformation, his whole body shivering and spasming, he thought that he wouldn't mind if he was never able to change back into a human again because he had no intention of leaving Yoongi’s side.

Jimin opened his eyes after a while and blinked at the sight of Yoongi’s face hovering over his. His brows were furrowed and he was clearly worried but the moment Jimin’s breathing finally went back to normal, Yoongi’s whole body seemed to relax. Jimin was still able to see his relieved smile before he lowered his upper body, resting his forehead against Jimin’s bare chest.

“You’re okay.” It was clear Yoongi was still exhausted just from his voice. He rubbed his forehead against Jimin’s skin, his breath warm against him. “I knew you’d be, but still.” He let out a small chuckle and Jimin couldn’t help but smile.

He lifted his hand from the water to rest it on the back of Yoongi’s head.

“How long?”

Jimin frowned and tried to clear his throat, his voice sounding so hoarse he could barely hear it.

“Hm?”

“How l-long did it take?”

Yoongi raised his head to look at Jimin’s face, the little frown between his eyebrows showing he was thinking about the answer.

“It was fast. Probably faster than it seemed for you.”

Jimin accepted it with a nod and shifted in place. He blinked when instead of the feeling of his legs moving, he felt something different. His heart beat a little faster and Yoongi probably felt it because he smiled wider and pulled away from Jimin, who slowly sat down and looked at his lower body, his eyes widening.

Jimin remembered his own orange tail but it was completely different from how it looked right now, a full grown merman tail and not an infant’s anymore. It was as long as Yoongi’s, a little bit thicker right under his navel, where his skin turned into scales. His fins were a gradient, orange smoothly turning into a bright yellow. He gulped and licked his lips before trying to move it. It responded to his will as easily as his arms and Jimin really shouldn’t feel as surprised as he did but it was stronger than him. He let out an airy chuckled as he hit his fins against the water’s surface, splashing it around.

He lifted his eyes to his own upper body after a few seconds and his breath caught in his throat. He could see the small scales Yoongi had on his shoulders but they were a little darker than the other merman’s. He lifted his right arm and watched the light yellow scales shining and casting a barely there shimmer against the water. It contrasted against his skin while Yoongi’s blended in but Jimin couldn’t say he was disappointed about his scales. He could honestly spend hours watching the way they reflected the light as he moved his arm.

Yoongi shifted next to him and Jimin blinked before looking at him. Yoongi watched him with a fond smile. He gestured at the deeper waters with his head when he noticed he had Jimin’s attention.

“We need to go.” Yoongi looked somewhere behind Jimin, who did the same and saw the bodies of the men they had knocked out earlier. “They’re probably dead but I’m sure there’s more coming and I don’t want them to see you here.” Jimin cocked his head to the side at that and his tail shifted, the tip of his fins moving up and down almost absentmindedly. Yoongi leaned forward and nudged Jimin’s temple with the tip of his nose. “They think there’s only one mermaid here, and I want to keep it that way.”

Jimin nodded.

“Okay.” He took a deep breath and averted his eyes from Yoongi’s face to his own tail, watching it for a couple of seconds before moving it a little. He looked back at Yoongi and pointed at his tail, a little sheepish. “H-how do I…?”

Yoongi smiled brightly, albeit tiredly, and started to crawl deeper into the sea slowly, showing Jimin the way he pushed his body forward with the help of his arms and tail. Jimin licked his lips and nodded before doing the same. He was a little clumsy at first but he was soon moving his tail easily, muscle memory working even after all the years Jimin had gone without taking this form.

When the water was deep enough for them to swim, Yoongi turned to Jimin and offered his hand, his lips stretching into a beautiful smile when Jimin took it and interlaced their fingers together.

“Ready?”

Jimin took a deep breath and nodded. Yoongi dived in and gently pulled him along, Jimin let himself be guided until he was completely underwater.

All the changes were automatic, his body acting before he could even think about it. The gills at the sides of his body opened and when he breathed in to fill his lungs with oxygen, the water was filtered through them, nothing getting into his nostrils.He opened his eyes, which he didn’t remember having closed, and blinked them at how clear his sight was underwater. He looked around and he was able to see as well as when he was on the surface. He heard Yoongi’s laughter and looked at him with wide eyes.

“Feeling good?”

For the first time, Jimin hadn’t heard Yoongi’s voice echoing in his mind, only around him. It sounded loud and clear in a way it never had when traveling through the air.

“Y-your voice.” Yoongi pulled him gently and Jimin kicked his tail a little bit too strongly, making him swim past Yoongi and let go of his hand. Jimin stopped and looked back at him with a shy smile, reaching his hand out for him to take again, which Yoongi did with an amused smile. “I can’t hear it in my mind anymore.”

Yoongi hummed.

“Merpeople’s vocal cords don’t work as good on the surface as they do underwater, as you must have noticed earlier.” Jimin let out a small oh and nodded his head. So that was why he sounded so hoarse right after the change. “And you could hear it in your mind because.” Jimin watched as Yoongi licked his lips before continuing. “Well, because you’re half of me.”

Jimin smiled at that, thinking it was a good definition of what he had previously called being soulmates. He averted his gaze from Yoongi’s form and looked around, noticing that they were almost reaching the open sea, swimming faster than Jimin had assumed was possible with the moderate pace they were using.

Yoongi pulled Jimin to a stop after what seemed to be over two hours and when he looked at him, Yoongi was panting.

“Yoongi, are you okay?”

The older merman nodded with a small smile.

“I’m just so tired.” Jimin swam closer and touched the side of his face, his tail automatically curling around Yoongi’s, who leaned into his touch and hugged his middle loosely, thumbing at the tiny scales on Jimin’s back. “I’m a little sore and I need to sleep for a couple of hours.”

Jimin nodded and looked around, to the bottom of the sea. He remembered sleeping with his tail strongly curled around his mother’s (sometimes around Yoongi’s own short one, which didn’t always work that well), but he didn’t remember how exactly she had avoided drifting off with the current. But he guessed Yoongi would be showing it to him soon enough.

Jimin lowered his hand and thumbed at the spot of Yoongi’s neck that was a little wounded, a small bruise on his soft skin, where the collar had hurt him.

“I was so worried.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe you had to go through this for me to remember, I’m so sorry, Yoongi.”

He shook his head and pulled Jimin a little closer, touching their cheeks together in a demonstration of affection Jimin had never received before but that he liked immensely, a content smile appearing on his lips despite himself.

“I feared you’d never remember me.” He spoke in a low tone, close to Jimin’s ear. Their hair moved with the water and Yoongi’s strands brushed against Jimin’s skin. “I feared you’d never remember where you belong. I’d go through everything a thousand times over if it meant having you here, with me.”

Jimin sighed, his chest so full of warmth it was about to burst. He closed his eyes and just felt. Felt the water around him; Yoongi against him. He was finally feeling utterly and completely at peace. As if he was, just like Yoongi had said, finally where he belonged:

In the sea and in Yoongi’s arms.

“I didn’t want you to be hurt. B-but.” He pushed Yoongi away to be able to see his face. “But I’m happy to be here now.” Jimin took a deep breath and tightened the grip his tail had around Yoongi’s, pressing their bodies even closer. “I never understood why I could only be happy when I was near the sea. Truly happy. And now I understand it and...” He cut himself off, letting his eyes run over Yoongi’s features. “Is it possible to miss someone you had forgotten for years? Because, Yoongi, I missed you so, so much.”

Yoongi pressed his lips into a thin line and frowned as if holding back his emotions, which didn’t work that well because Jimin could see them right through the façade Yoongi was trying to create. He cupped Jimin’s face and pulled him close, gently. The meeting of their lips was soft but full of feelings and it should have felt weird, to kiss underwater, but it was as natural as breathing; as natural as swimming with his tail had been, as if Jimin had been born to do it.

Jimin hugged Yoongi’s middle and deepened the kiss shyly, his tongue sheepishly brushing Yoongi’s lower lip, who let his mouth fall open with a sigh.

They kissed slowly and languidly, and Jimin felt as if he wouldn’t have been able to let go of Yoongi even if he wanted to, every fiber of his being screaming at him to get even closer, to touch, to feel. When Yoongi ended the kiss without pulling back, their mouths still touching, Jimin moved his head just enough for their noses to brush together and make Yoongi smile against his mouth.

“I love you, Starfish.” Yoongi whispered, caressing Jimin’s cheeks with his thumbs, his eyes so full of the feeling that had always been there, ever since they first talked by the rocks close to the orphanage; full of love. “I have always loved you and I would have never stopped looking for you.” Yoongi closed his eyes and sighed. “I knew I’d see you again. I knew you’d come back to me.”

Jimin might have been underwater but he still felt his mouth drying up with Yoongi’s words. He buried his face into the curve of Yoongi’s neck, noticing that the tiny scales didn’t feel as rigid as they did when he was in his human form. He kissed every patch of Yoongi’s skin he could reach, making Yoongi let out a breathy chuckle and shift his tail, moving it up and down Jimin’s in a caress.

“I love you too, Yoongi.” He smiled. “I fell in love with you when I couldn’t even remember you.” He chuckled. “I fell in love with you twice.” He pulled back and kissed Yoongi’s lips, tenderly and chastely. “I think it was meant to be. Me falling in love with you.”

Yoongi laughed and, despite being clearly tired, he sounded and looked so amazingly happy.

“I’m sure it was.” He pulled away so there was space between their chests. Jimin frowned, about to complain, when Yoongi started to take his body chain off: first, the part wrapped around his neck,  then pulling it from his waist and up over his head, holding it between them. He glanced up at Jimin and, with a smile on his face but without looking down, he moved it until he found two clasps and opened them both.

Jimin’s eyes widened

“Yoongi!” He watched as Yoongi held half of the body chain in each hand, the single thing now separated into two chains, feeling completely lost. “What?”

“Do you remember when I told you this was my mating cord?” Jimin nodded, still confused. Yoongi brushed one of the small shells with his index finger. “My mother gave me this five years after you had been gone. Half of it is mine and half belongs to my love, was what she said. And now I’m giving you your half.” He moved his hands to Jimin’s nape and brought the loose ends of the chain to the front of his neck, locking it together before letting go of it. It floated in the water for a second before resting against Jimin’s chest.

Jimin touched the chain with his fingertips before looking at Yoongi and seeing him holding the other half for him to take. Jimin smiled and accepted it, putting it around Yoongi’s neck just like he had done for him.

Yoongi held onto his waist and touched his forehead to Jimin’s temple.

“We’re going back home, Starfish.” Jimin placed his hands on Yoongi’s shoulders and closed his eyes. “I love you and we’re going back home.”

Jimin nodded with a smile.

“I love you too, Yoongi. So much. Please, take me home.”

Jimin learned many things he had forgotten in the next few weeks.

He learned that they needed to make sure they wouldn’t drift during their sleep, usually wrapping their tails around something, as they were strong enough not to loosen up their grip during their sleep; he learned the gardens in his and Yoongi’s city were even more beautiful than Yoongi had let on; he learned that he hadn’t forgotten about the merpeople’s customs completely, everything coming back to him easily.

He also learned how easy it was to fall deeper and deeper in love with Yoongi.

How they were two halves of a whole.