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The 79th Floor. Known for being a generally peaceful place, despite the more vicious Shinheuh on the Floor. This was mostly due to the Floor Ruler being from the Lo Po Bia Family, and he subdued most of the aggressive Shinheuh. But because he was Lo Po Bia, their team had been very cautious when they arrived at the Floor. Ever since the Nest Battle, their notoriety had skyrocketed, and the last thing any of them wanted to do was cause another battle and drag all the Regulars around them into it. Which led to…
“Pffft—Bam, I will never get used to your hair,” Isu cackled. Since Bam’s appearance was pretty much common knowledge at this point, disguises became essential. The others generally stayed out of sight during fights, but Bam was always at the forefront of the battle, and consequently, so was Khun. Khun could pretty much just dye his hair any color he wanted, since his natural color was pale blue, but Bam’s dark brown hair was much harder to cover. And it was no longer as short as it was before, so wigs would be much more of a hassle. It took them a few days of sneaking around the floor to find a hairdresser that wouldn’t reveal their secret and could properly dye Bam’s hair.
And Bam decided to dye his hair the same pale blue as Khun because “I really like Khun’s hair color.”
“Bam, everyone in my family has blue hair,” Khun deadpanned. “We all look the same.”
“No you don’t!” Bam protested. “On the Hidden Floor, Asensio’s hair was dark blue—”
“He’s an anomaly.”
“—and Maschenny’s was a little more silvery than yours. Ran’s was a bit desaturated.”
“You pay attention to our hair color?” Khun raised an eyebrow curiously.
Isu slung an arm over his shoulder, ignoring the boy’s displeased grunt. “Of course, he has to be able to tell his boyfriend apart from his family—”
“If you don’t get off in three seconds you’re dead.”
“So cold…” But Isu quickly propelled himself a good distance away.
So now Bam had light blue hair, and just to reciprocate the gesture, Khun dyed his hair dark brown. The tests here seemed considerably more laid back—or, as laid back as tests could be. When they registered, there was a month of waiting before the next one, so they rented a house and decided to relax as much as they could. They split up after settling into their house, and Khun and Bam were currently wandering through the Middle Area of the Tower, exploring the Floor. The entire floor was actually pretty beautiful, with exceptionally large Shinsu waterfalls. Many buildings were designed to accommodate them, wrapping around the dense Shinsu. Some taller ones even had the water flowing out from inside the building.
“This Floor is famous for its aquariums,” Khun commented as they wandered through the shops. “Maybe we could check it out sometime.”
“What’s an aquarium?”
That question stopped Khun in his tracks. He knew Bam had grown up in a cave, yes. He knew the Irregular entered the Tower completely clueless about everything. But after all these years… “You don’t know what an aquarium is?”
Bam just shrugged helplessly. “No? I mean…Ra—no one ever told me about them?”
“You never passed by one?”
“I mean—I’m assuming an aquarium is a place—FUG wasn’t really into sightseeing, and my master mostly just took me to karaoke bars and stuff?”
“Karaoke bars?” Khun chose to ignore that for now. “Well, anyways, yeah—aquariums usually contain Shinheuh that live in high Shinsu density. They live in giant tanks, and people can come and look at the creatures,” Khun explained. “I’m surprised you’ve never come across one, though, there’s usually a few on each floor. Most of them just contain more passive creatures, like Net Dolphins, but since this Floor has a lot more Shinheuh than most, their aquariums have a lot of interesting ones—barracudas, killer whales, white steel eels…” he listed a few from memory.
“White steel eels? I think I fought one on the First Floor,” Bam mused to himself, twirling a strand of blue hair around his finger. Khun would have admired how beautiful he looked, if not for the words he just said. Instead, he froze and gaped at Bam. The brunet just looked at him curiously. “What?”
“You fought a white steel eel…on the First Floor of the Tower?!” Khun couldn’t help the incredulous tone in his voice. Bam never said much about the First Floor, and Khun never thought to ask. All he knew was that Bam met Yuri there.
“Yeah, did I never mention it? Headon gave me a test on the First Floor because I was an Irregular, and I think he called it the ‘Ball Test’? I think the goal was to pop—”
“I know what the Ball Test is,” Khun interrupted. If he remembered correctly, the time they entered the Second Floor was around the eel’s breeding season too… “Bam, did you know that that test is a Twentieth Floor and up test? Even some Rankers have a hard time moving through the Shinsu those eels live in.” Heck, he’s not even sure if he could walk through that high of a density with no support and survive.
“They do?” Bam paused. “Oh. Strange, I wonder why that was Headon’s test, then.” Khun resisted the urge to sigh. Sometimes, it was hard to remember that this Irregular, the one destined to kill Jahad himself, a Slayer of FUG, was completely oblivious to the fact that white steel eels were some of the most dangerous Shinheuh in the Tower.
“I guess it’s an Irregular thing, then,” Khun concluded. “How did you defeat it, anyways?”
“I jumped into its mouth and stabbed it.”
“Wha—of course you did, why am I even surprised now…you know what? Whatever. We’re going to an aquarium.” He searched up the biggest one in the Middle Area, and a few seconds later, they had tickets. “Come on.” He grabbed Bam’s hand and headed off in the direction of the building. It was only a couple minutes away, and pretty hard to miss—it stood at the top of the largest waterfall, a rounded structure made of glass. Khun flashed their tickets at the entrance, and they were in.
“Whoa…” Bam breathed, looking around. Just at the entrance, there were tanks everywhere, with various species of Shinheuh in each. Khun had seen most of these—some he even caught before back when he used to fish in his childhood—but Bam’s face was alive with wonder. He ran to the tanks, staring at the creatures inside, watching them swim around in the Shinsu. Khun could’ve mistaken him for a hyperactive child, if not for the fact that Bam was a good few centimeters taller than him. He watched Bam gape at the fish, dashing from tank to tank. It was amazing how happy Bam was, just being able to look at fish. Khun smiled, making a mental note to bring Bam to a zoo at some point. But for now, he’ll let Bam enjoy the fish.
After fifteen minutes, he walked up behind Bam, tapping him on the shoulder. “Want to go see the bigger Shinheuh?”
“There’s bigger ones?” Bam gawked at him, and Khun smiled in amusement.
“You didn’t think this was it, did you?” He noted the underwater tunnel up ahead. Oh, Bam’s gonna love this. “Come on.” He tugged the brunet towards the tunnel. “These are—Bam?”
Bam was frozen at the entrance, staring up at the water surrounding them. If Khun didn’t know any better, he would’ve assumed Bam was just shocked, but he saw the subtle tremble in the Irregular’s hands, he heard the quick breaths, and suddenly he realized.
This was exactly what Bam saw when he was pushed on the Second Floor. The Shinsu surrounding him, the fish swimming around him as he fell into darkness.
Khun’s an idiot.
“Bam?” he asked quietly. When Bam turned to face him, Khun saw the fear reflected in golden eyes. Khun wanted to stab himself with his ice spear. How did he forget about all of Bam’s trauma on the Second Floor? How could he forget something so pivotal? Of course Bam would be scared of Shinsu surrounding him like this. Khun gently clasped Bam’s hand, squeezing it lightly. “I’m sorry. We’ll leave—”
“No.” Bam interrupted him. His hand squeezed back tightly, and Khun was almost afraid his bones would crack, but whatever. If it was Bam, it was worth it. The brunet took a shaky breath. “I—I know this isn’t the same. There’s no reason for me to be scared. Just—hold my hand, please?”
Khun wanted to step back, this was his fault, he was a terrible person, making Bam relive those memories, but the brunet was already stepping into the tunnel, so Khun followed. They walked slowly, silently, and the fish swam around them. Khun saw a sea turtle swim over them, and before he could think about it, he blurted, “You know, some turtles can live up to a thousand years old.”
“Really?” Bam’s voice was faint, but there was genuine curiosity.
“Yeah,” Khun kept speaking. “They travel a lot, too. Some even go between Floors, depending on if the Shinsu is dense enough for them to swim through.” He continued rambling facts off the top of his head, to the point where he wasn’t even sure if his words were even true, but Bam was nodding along, and his grip on Khun wasn’t as bone-crushing as before, so it must have helped.
By the time they reached the end of the tunnel, Bam was smiling, his hold on Khun gentle and calm again. “Thank you.” Golden eyes shine earnestly, and even if his hair wasn’t the dark brown Khun was used to, Khun would always be able to read Bam. They’ve been together too long.
But his brain was still half trying to punch itself and half digging through its database of Shinheuh, so all that came out was, “Don’t you mean, ‘tank you’?”
Bam stared at him.
Khun wanted to die on the spot.
Then Bam burst out laughing, clutching his stomach, literally sinking against Khun for support. It was a way over-the-top reaction for something as stupid as a pun, but Bam is smiling again, and that was what mattered.
“Tank you, Khun,” Bam grinned, lightly pressing a kiss to his cheek. Khun flushed, averting his gaze—they’ve dated for a while now, but they haven’t kissed all that much—it still embarrassed him every time Bam did that.
“You’re welcome,” he murmured.
Bam smiled softly, before he took his hand and started running off in the direction of more tanks. This area had some sharks, and Bam stopped to watch them in awe. Khun simply watched Bam, admiring the way the blue Shinsu illuminated the Irregular. He knew Bam was blessed by Shinsu, but for Shinsu to make him prettier too…blue suited him.
“Hey, Khun?” Bam’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “What’s that fish?”
“Which fish? These are sharks, Bam.”
“No, right there,” Bam pointed. And indeed, on the underbelly of the shark he was pointing at, was a fish.
“Oh! That’s a remora,” Khun explained. “They attach to sharks with a suction on their head, and they hitch a ride with the shark. They get to eat the scraps food as the shark eats, and they also eat the parasites on the shark. So both of them benefit.”
Bam made a small “hm” sound, staring intently at the two Shinheuh.
“What’s on your mind, Bam?” Khun teased, he saw the thinking look in his eyes.
“Evan once said you were like a minnow trying to keep up with a shark, right?” Bam said suddenly.
Khun winced at the reminder. He told Bam about it some time ago, when nightmares and insomnia kept him worrying late into the night. It was one of the few times he let himself be vulnerable, allowing Bam to hug him tightly and whisper words of comfort. But still, he knew Evan had a point. “Yeah?”
“I don’t think you’re a minnow at all,” Bam stated bluntly. “You’re more like a remora. You’ve helped me in so many ways. And I refuse to let you go.”
“Sharks can live without remoras,” Khun pointed out.
“But they wouldn’t be as happy,” Bam countered. “I won’t let you fall behind. And…” he faltered, not knowing what to say next. After a moment’s hesitation, he continues blatantly, “I know Evan’s a Guide, but I think he’s stupid.”
Khun whipped around to stare at him. “What?”
“Why do we have to be compared to the Shinheuh? Minnow and shark, remora and shark, does it matter? We’re Bam and Khun, and that should be all that defines us.”
Khun was silent for a moment, pondering over the words. They sound kind of familiar, and oh— “That sounds like something I told you before.”
“It…may have been inspired by you…” Bam trailed off sheepishly.
“Bam and Khun. Khun and Bam.” Khun tested the phrases on his tongue. “You know what? I agree. Screw Guides.”
“I’ve always made my own path, anyways,” Bam grinned.
“That you have.” Khun stood up, smiling. “Now let’s go see the rest of this aquarium, shall we?”
“Yeah!”