Archive of Our Own ^beta

1

Jungkook’s mother exchanged her voice for legs and ran away with a human.

That’s what Jungkook was told, at least. It’s not like he remembers what his mother was like. She left when he was two months old, the elders said.

Jungkook doesn’t have a problem with that, even though the elders often look upon him with pity in their eyes. Why would he miss someone he’s never known? He had a great childhood anyway. His favorite hyungs, Yoongi-hyung and Jimin-hyung, practically raised him. The elders look upon them with pity in their eyes too. Yoongi-hyung and Jimin-hyung are not like other mermaids. Instead of colorful tails with shiny scales, they have tentacles. They’re part octopi.

Jungkook doesn’t have a problem with that either. Tentacles are beautiful. And Yoongi and Jimin each have eight of them plus two arms and that’s useful if you want to hold ten things at once. Back when Jungkook had long hair, they always braided his hair for him mighty quickly. And then the elders cut his hair because they said he looked too much like his mother with it.

Jungkook doesn’t see how that would be an issue. Why shouldn’t he look like his mother? It’s normal, they’re related. Unlike Yoongi and Jimin, who are not related despite both being part octopi. The elders always say they look identical, but they’ve just never taken the time to study their faces closely. Or maybe they’ve just never been allowed the privilege of getting close enough? Jungkook is the only one they ever hang out with.

They say it’s the other way around, Yoongi and Jimin. They say Jungkook is the only one who hangs out with them. Jungkook thinks that’s nonsense. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with his cool awesome hyungs? They’ve always been there for him when no one else was. They brought him on countless little excursions and taught him to be adventurous. And even though they’ve been dating since forever, they never made Jungkook feel like a third wheel.

But the elders don’t seem to like them much. They don’t like talking about them, some even prefer not to think of them as part of the clan. Just like how they don’t like talking about Jungkook’s mom. They don’t say it in front of Jungkook, but Jungkook knows they call her a traitor. A traitor who gave up her voice to join humankind.

Jungkook doesn’t really see the problem with humankind either. Like, yes, some of them probably suck. But some mermaids suck too. Surely there are some nice humans out there, just like how there are nice mermaids. Humans come in all shapes and sizes, and the elders would know if they had come with Jungkook to visit the shore sometimes, to observe the humans from a safe distance.

Jungkook does that a lot. It never gets old. There’s a huge variety of different humans out there. Small, squealing humans, tottering around on their tiny legs. Large humans with bellies that could fit an entire Jungkook. Stationary humans who never move from their place under the sun. Jungkook’s seen all sorts of humans.

But this is the first time he’s seen one so beautiful.

Jungkook is exploring a new area that day, a beach a little bit further from home than what he’s used to. He wanted to try something new, to swim out of his comfort zone, like Yoongi-hyung and Jimin-hyung often do.

He hangs back a small distance away from the shoreline, the excitement and newness of the situation making his heart go pit-a-pat. Perhaps it’s him being biased, but the sun seems brighter here, the waters a more vivid blue. He lets the current carry him, soaking in the atmosphere, until a sharp whistle sound shatters the peace.

He looks up to see a purple-haired man flailing in the water, not far away from him. He’s not drowning, that much Jungkook can tell. He learned about humans and drowning from his hyungs long ago. Personally he thinks it’s pretty silly for humans to want to be inside water despite not being able to breathe in it, but also pretty bold in a way. Jungkook likes that. He wants to be bold too.

But this human isn’t drowning, Jungkook can tell easily from his expression. He’s flailing, but he’s just excited. In one hand he has a crab that’s aggressively brandishing its pincers, but the human doesn’t seem to mind one bit.

“I’ve never seen this kind of crab before!” He exclaims to anyone who would listen. Probably not Jungkook. He probably hasn’t seen Jungkook. Jungkook knows better than to let humans notice him, so he ducked underwater right after he heard the whistle blow.

He kind of wish he could be there with the man, though, share his joy from finding a new crab. The man looks friendly. He’s got dimples and a kind face. But the elders have told Jungkook countless times that he must never show himself to a human, so he swims underwater until he finds a rock to hide behind, and then he comes up and peeks out.

That’s how he first sees the beautiful human. He’s swimming towards the purple-haired crab-lover with rapid strokes, towing a board behind him. He appears swiftly and suddenly, taking the poor purple-haired guy completely by surprise as he pulls him close from the back and wraps his arms around his body in support.

“W-what are you doing?” The purple-haired guy screeches in horror.

“Saving your life, what do you think? Aren’t you drowning?”

“I’m not! I just found a really nice crab! Look!”

The beautiful man looks. Jungkook looks too. Not at the crab, but at the beautiful man with the whistle hanging off his neck and a board trailing behind him. He’s breathless, bare shoulders heaving, eyes droopy yet gaze intense. His nose is sloped in just the perfect shape, and he runs a hand through his wet bangs, revealing an also wet but also very perfect forehead.

He stares at the purple-haired man and his crab sternly, a fiery gaze that sends an excited shiver down Jungkook’s back, and then his face suddenly relaxes into a lop-sided smile. Dainty lips and pretty teeth, tiny dimples peeking out. For only a brief second he tilts his head back and laughs, and Jungkook watches, mesmerized, as the sun lights up the glorious, wet silhouette from forehead to nose to chin to neck.

“Dude, you gave me quite a scare,” the man with the board tells the man with the crab, and they begin swimming off towards the shore.

Don’t go, don’t go, Jungkook chants inside his head. Don’t go… at least tell me your name.

It’s like Poseidon had heard his wish. From the distance, another man with a board and whistle shouts at the two. Is he okay, Hoseok?

“He’s fine, hyung! Wasn’t even drowning. Just found a cool crab,” Hoseok yells back. His voice, too, reminds Jungkook of sunshine, crisp yet tender sunshine piercing the surface of the water and forming pretty dots of brightness on Jungkook’s skin.

Hoseok. That’s his name. Hoseok.

Jungkook wishes he could see him again.

**

Jungkook will definitely see Hoseok again, Yoongi and Jimin tell him. People wearing whistles and towing boards are called lifeguards. It’s their job to stay close to the water and save lives. Since it’s their job, they must do it often, so as long as Jungkook visits the beach a lot, he’s bound to see Hoseok sometime or another.

“You can even pretend to drown,” Jimin suggests. “And he’ll come save you. Then you can talk to him.”

“He can’t do that,” Yoongi chides. “That way lifeguard boy will see Jungkookie’s tail, and that won’t end well.”

“Maybe he wouldn’t mind. You know, just like how Tae—” Jimin begins, but is cut off by Yoongi covering his mouth with three tentacles. See, tentacles are so useful. Jungkook can never understand why the elders don’t like them.

“A better thing to do would be, you know, luring unsuspecting swimmers to you and trying to drown them, that way lifeguard boy will come save them and then you get to see him up close,” Yoongi suggests, face completely straight. Jungkook is about to exclaim, aghast, hyung how could you say such a thing? when Yoongi laughs and says he’s just kidding.

“But I’m sure you’ll get to see him anyway, sooner or later,” Jimin says, a comforting tentacle wrapped around Jungkook’s wrist and another around his waist. “Besides, you can talk to him even when no one’s drowning! All you have to do is swim as close to the shore as possible without revealing your lower body.”

Jungkook supposes they’re right. He must have hope. Yes, he must have hope. He’ll just go to the beach a lot. Maybe at evenings, when there are much fewer random people around. Maybe he’ll make cute little ornaments with the colorful plastic he picked up from the bottom of the ocean and gift them to Hoseok. Jungkook loves making ornaments, and Hoseok deserves pretty ornaments.

And so Jungkook returns to the beach the next day.

2

The sun is setting, and Hoseok is spent. It’s been a long day, with only he and Taehyung keeping watch over this strip of the beach. Usually Jin-hyung would be with them, but he asked for a day off due to undisclosed reasons.

Hoseok and Taehyung know perfectly well what the undisclosed reason is—Namjoon. Ever since that day they “saved” the crab enthusiast, Jin-hyung had been totally smitten. Jin-hyung doesn’t even like crabs, except for eating, but love doth change one in mysterious ways, Hoseok supposes. At least that’s what others say. Hoseok isn’t quite sure since he’s never been “in love”. Dates, yes. Flings, sometimes. Platonic love? Sure. But romantic love? That tender feeling so prevalent in poems and songs and art? Hmm. Hoseok isn’t sure if he’s ever experienced that before.

So he kind of envies Jin-hyung in a way. Because he gets to have what he claims to be “love at first sight” with crab enthusiast Namjoon. Because he came over to help Hoseok that day, and then his gaze met Namjoon’s and Namjoon started enthusiastically telling him about this crab he’s found and his eyes were sparkling and he was dripping wet and so happy and cooing at the tiny crab in his hands and Jin-hyung felt this weird tug at his heart, like cupid just lassoed it like a cowboy.

The very next day Taehyung, who’s Jin-hyung’s little brother and shares his beachside bungalow, came in to report to Hoseok that Jin-hyung and Namjoon-hyung had a rowdy night at their place and tracked sand everywhere, which wouldn’t be that bad except their cat, Caesar, really likes to eat sand, and is that okay? Hobi-hyung I have no idea if cats should eat sand, what do you think?

Hoseok kind of envies that. To have love so powerful, to have chemistry so instant, to have romance take over your life just like that, changing everything overnight. Jin-hyung looks so bright these days, his skin is healthier, his laughs freer, and Hoseok envies that. Why is Jin-hyung capable of welcoming love into his life so easily? And his brother too. Taehyung has two boyfriends at once, he’s heard—and Hoseok can’t even find one!

Not that he’s looking or anything, he supposes. It’s just that, you know, his two best friends—his only friends, in fact, after he ditched his hometown to start anew—are both happily in love, and he hates feeling left out. Maybe he doesn’t even want to be in love, he thinks. Maybe he just wants to belong, and being in love will help him with that.

Weird, this thing called life.

The sun is setting, and Hoseok sets off on his usual jog by the waterline. The beach is off-limits at this time of the day, so he wouldn’t have to worry about needing to save anyone. Jin-hyung is on a date. Taehyung is… somewhere that’s not here. He can enjoy his solitude—

But wait, what’s that in the water?

The beach should be off-limits. There shouldn’t be anyone in the water. But there is! And the person… and the person…

The person has a plastic jar stuck on his head.

Hoseok’s heart tightens in horror. This can’t end well for the person no matter how he looks at it. Depending on how hard he’s struggling, he’ll soon end up with more water than air in the jar, and—

And wait, how is he not struggling? In fact, he seems remarkably calm for someone with a plastic jar on his head. Just kinda floating near the shoreline, moving along slowly, attempting to tug at the jar once in a while but stopping mid-action right after. It probably hurts to tug at it.

“Hey!” Hoseok shouts. The person isn’t that far out, so he decides not to waste time by going back to grab his equipment. He begins to wade in, water lapping at his toes, then ankles, then calves, thighs.

Instead of looking glad that help’s coming, the boy—for that must be a boy he’s seeing—seems mortified and begins shirking away. He’ll most definitely drown that way, and Hoseok isn’t going to let that happen. Not on his watch!

“Don’t move! I’m just gonna help you get that thing off your head. You should come back to the lifeguard’s hut with me, I’m sure I can find a boxcutter somewhere.”

The boy regards him with huge, round eyes. Suspicious, panicked, but… but there’s also something else. Hoseok can’t decipher it. Too dark, he supposes.

A violent shiver runs down his body. It’s getting cold. This seems to prompt the boy back into action.

“Um, I… I can’t go back to the shore with you, but… but if you could help me get this thing off it’d be nice…”

His voice is soft, melodic. Somehow very fitting for his pretty face, pretty eyes. Hoseok doesn’t think he’s ever seen a face like this. He’s got hot best friends, yes, but… but this is different. This is the face an evening star would have, if stars had faces.

Hoseok reaches forward hesitantly. “I could try, but tell me if it hurts you.”

The boy lets out a small squeak, as if Hoseok’s sudden proximity unnerves him even more than the fact that there’s a jar on his head. How strange. The jar could very well kill him, yet the boy doesn’t seem bothered by it. Like it wasn’t even the first time he got his head stuck in a jar.

Hoseok runs his fingers around the jar’s opening, wondering how in the world the boy even got his head inside it. The material is flimsy though. If only he had something sharp to cut it with, he could get it off in a second.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come back with me? A boxcutter will get the job done real soon.”

The boy shakes his head vehemently and smiles a little. A tiny smile. A toothy smile. Very endearing. Like he’s eager to please.

“Okay then,” Hoseok murmurs. “If you don’t want to. Consent is important. That’s right. I gotta find something sharp. That’s right. Something sharp.”

He feels a bit silly, rambling like that. But the boy is cute and he’s kind of flustered. And it’s cold. And the situation is odd, surreal. He has every right to ramble, if only to use the familiarity of his own voice to keep himself sane.

His toe scrapes against something hard. He takes a deep breath and dives down, finding the offending item—a shell with a sharp tip. Perfect.

He comes up, shaking water droplets out of his hair, and uses the shell to poke a hole in the jar and rips it open from that point. The boy looks relieved to finally get rid of this ridiculous choice of headwear, but…

But is he not coming back to the shore? Why?

“I’m a lifeguard here. I’m not on duty now, but this beach is off-limits at night, you know. I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to come back onshore.” Hoseok extends a hand, but the boy moves back, as if shocked.

“I… I live around here,” he whispers, quickly regaining composure. “I swam over here from my home. So… so I’ll just swim back.”

Hoseok hmms. This isn’t too far-fetched, he supposes. There are many houses dotting the shoreline, and it’s often easier to get to them by water than by taking the roads, which are really inconvenient due to poor planning or something. Hoseok knows this because Jin-hyung and Taehyung’s bungalow is like that. Jin-hyung has a car, but the fastest way to get there from the beach is actually by jet ski. Taehyung rides it to work a lot.

“You sure you’ll be safe?” Hoseok asks. The boy quickly nods.

“I’ve swum this same route thousands of times.”

He’s lying, Hoseok thinks. He would have seen him if he really had swum here often. His lifeguard instincts tell him to force the boy to come back to shore anyway, get him a cup of hot chocolate, drive him home. But his… his human instincts say it’s fine. He’ll be okay! This is a child of the water! His instincts say.

What? What’s a child of the water? What’s that supposed to mean? Hoseok thinks. He gets no answer.

“Be careful, then,” he tells the boy, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. “Don’t get your head stuck in jars again.”

The kid nods meekly. He seems a bit shy.

“I’ll be going back to the shore, then,” Hoseok says. He shivers again. The sun has set completely, and the first stars are coming out.

The boy lifts his hand and waves, a timid smile on his lips. So cute. Hoseok wants to pinch his cheeks, but of course he doesn’t do that.

“See you around,” he says, turns around and starts wading towards the shore. He looks back after taking a few steps.

There is nothing. The boy seems to have vanished into thin air. The water is placid, dark.

Hoseok’s lifeguard instincts tell him to rush back and dive in immediately. His human instincts say it’s fine, child of the water, remember?

When the next day rolls around, then the next, then the next, and still no missing person report has been filed, Hoseok supposes that his human instincts are correct. The boy made it home just fine. He must be a really good swimmer. After all, only a great swimmer would be able to remain so calm while having a jar stuck on his head when in the water, right?

3

“You’re lucky it was dark,” Yoongi chides. “You said he dove into the water to get a shell, right? Imagine if it was daytime. He’d see that you didn’t have legs.”

“He’d see your tail,” Jimin adds, just to rub it in. Jungkook buries his face in his hands.

“I know, I know! It’s not my fault I got my head stuck in a jar, okay?”

“We could’ve helped you get it off if you came back to us,” Yoongi points out.

Jungkook pouts. “I didn’t want the elders to see. They’d know I was digging around for cool ornaments again.”

“Those are not cool ornaments, how many times do we have to tell you?” Yoongi shakes his head fondly. “It’s trash. All trash.”

“Some of it is pretty,” Jungkook protests. He has a bracelet on his wrist made entirely out of the plastic he picked up off the ocean floor. It’s so lovely. Could that really be called trash?

“Besides,” he adds as an afterthought, “some humans pick those up too. I saw a lifeguard with blue hair doing that the other day, so they clearly think they’re pretty.”

Yoongi and Jimin exchange a glance. Why do they look oddly nervous?

Yoongi finally speaks, eyes strangely not meeting Jungkook’s. “They do that because they want to help protect the ocean. Trash is not good for the ocean. The elders don’t tell you that because they’re fucking scared, but yeah. Not good for the ocean.”

“Then I’ll make more bracelets. To save the ocean,” Jungkook suggests. He’s relieved when Yoongi and Jimin beam at him, the previous awkwardness dissipating.

“We should do that too, hmm? We have so many arms. We can wear many bracelets,” Yoongi nudges Jimin, and they smile at each other. Jungkook likes it when the two act like an old married couple. They’ve been like that for so many years that Jungkook’s stopped teasing them about it.

Will I find someone like that? Jungkook’s always wondered. Someone who loves me like Yoongi-hyung and Jimin-hyung love each other, someone to act like an old couple with?

It seems like a fleeting dream, somehow. The elders may refuse to admit it, but it’s obvious to Jungkook that he’s not very well-liked in the clan. Because his mother was a “traitor”. It’s a bit unfair, he thinks, that she’s probably out there somewhere with her true love while he’s stuck here as an outcast, but the outcast life gave him Yoongi and Jimin, and Jungkook could never ask for anything better. His hyungs are the best.

He wonders what it means when Hoseok’s smiling face pops up in his head when he thinks will I find someone like that?

Because that’s what happens. He sees Hoseok’s smiling face. And his concerned face. And his focused face as he helped Jungkook out of that stupid jar. And his tired, relieved face as he said See you around.

See you around. Hoseok wants to see Jungkook around. His heart leaps just thinking about it.

So he returns to the beach.

It’s earlier in the day this time. The sun has not yet set, but the beach is almost empty. It’s because it’s a weekday, Jungkook knows. Jimin explained the concept of weekdays and weekends to him not long ago. He’s been bombarding Jungkook with human facts recently, which makes Jungkook wonder where he learned all that from. Has he made a human friend? Jungkook wants to ask him about it, how to make a human friend without revealing his legs, or lack thereof.

It’s a weekday, and the only ones visible to Jungkook in the surf are the purple-haired crab-loving guy with the cute dimples and a lifeguard, the one whom Hoseok called “hyung” the day Jungkook first saw them. The two are enjoying themselves in the shallow water, splashing each other and giggling. Their joy is contagious, and Jungkook soon finds himself beaming too.

On the shore, Hoseok is there, keeping tabs on the two with a watchful eye. The water may be shallow and one of the two is a lifeguard, but the ocean is unpredictable and anything can happen. And then he notices Jungkook and comes striding over, a big, warm smile on his face. Jungkook’s heart skips a beat. There he comes, closer, closer, and all of a sudden he stops, as if something just occurred to him.

“Wait here for me, let me go get something,” he says and jogs off. Jungkook watches, heartbeats slamming in his rib cage, admiring the way the afternoon sun bounces off Hoseok’s soft-looking golden skin.

It takes only a few minutes before Hoseok returns, a strange green item in each hand. He moves close to where Jungkook is lounging—shallow enough so that he could be close to the shore, but deep enough to hide his tail easily as the sun blooms red and the water darkens—and hands one of the green things to Jungkook.

Jungkook hesitates, then takes it gingerly. But what does he do with it? He looks up at Hoseok timidly, hoping for a hint, and is glad to see Hoseok give the greenish, cold, melty part a lick.

“Trust me, it’s good,” Hoseok says. Jungkook trusts him, of course he does, so he licks too.

It is good. Refreshingly chill, almost brain-numbingly so. Jungkook doesn’t think he’s ever tasted something like it before.

“Mint chocolate chip ice cream is great. Those heathens don’t get it.” Hoseok points conspiratorially at the pair still splashing in the distance. “They say it tastes like toothpaste. They’re wrong.”

Mint chocolate chip ice cream, Jungkook thinks, desperately memorizing the phrase. He takes another lick. The sheer iciness offends his teeth, sends chills down his spine, but the taste is wonderful. Or maybe it’s the Hoseok effect. He seems to really enjoy his mint chocolate chip ice cream, and the joy that is radiating off him lights up everything in Jungkook’s view in a delightful glow. Jungkook licks, then sucks, then bites, and finally gulps down everything that’s left. He feels Hoseok’s eyes on him, which makes him very self-conscious.

Is this not how I’m supposed to eat ice cream? He thinks, panicking inside, but Hoseok is still smiling big, so it’s probably fine. He hopes.

“Someone’s hungry, huh,” Hoseok remarks, taking dainty bites from his cone. “You don’t get to have ice cream much?”

Jungkook nods, not knowing how to reply.

“Strict parents?” Hoseok asks. Jungkook swallows, nods again. He doesn’t even have parents, but Hoseok doesn’t need to know that.

“I figured,” Hoseok continues. “Never seen you around the area, so they probably don’t allow you to come out much, huh?”

Jungkook doesn’t know what to say to that, so he nods again, and hates himself for doing it. Sunshine man is talking to him right here, right now, and all he does is nod! Very uncool, Jeon Jungkook!

“I… kind of know how that feels. I guess they just want the best for you, but still… kinda sucks,” Hoseok goes on, finally finishing his ice cream. He turns to Jungkook with a soft grin that practically takes his breath away.

Jungkook frantically searches for something to say. “So… your parents are strict too?”

Not the coolest thing to say, and his voice is wobbling, but at least it’s something. Jungkook congratulates himself inside.

Hoseok looks away, but not in an upset sort of way, not in a way that’d make Jungkook think shit maybe I shouldn’t have said that. After a pause, he replies, “I don’t live with them anymore.”

That’s what he says, but the undertone implies that he not only doesn’t live with them—he probably doesn’t talk to them anymore either.

Jungkook catches the hidden meaning and instinctively puts a hand on Hoseok’s arm. He isn’t sure what he’s trying to do himself, it’s just that Jimin always puts a tentacle on his arm when he’s upset, so he figures he’d do this too despite not having tentacles. Hoseok’s skin is warm and as soft as it looks.

Noticing this action, Hoseok laughs. “Hey, it’s fine. It’s better this way. I’m happy now.”

He doesn’t sound 100% honest, but Jungkook doesn’t think it’d be wise to push the question. He searches his brain for something else to say, because come on Jeon Jungkook your hot crush is voluntarily hanging out with you can’t you stop being pathetic and just say something to show him you’re not a boring person or whatever, but he’s saved from the potential awkwardness by Hoseok suddenly lifting his whistle to his lips and blowing sharply.

The next thing he knows, Hoseok is swimming off with quick strokes, and Jungkook immediately follows, tail easily propelling him along. He soon realizes that the pair of happy lovers playing near the shore have drifted off to deeper waters, and the purple-haired man is spluttering, coughing, and—

And laughing. The man is laughing. His very pretty lifeguard friend, the one whom Hoseok called hyung, is laughing too as Hoseok stops beside them, treading water, looking comically angry.

“You guys? Seriously?” He says, shaking water out of his hair like a wet puppy. “Jin-hyung, you’re a lifeguard. Stop trying to drown our patrons.”

The purple-haired man is still coughing, and Jin-hyung strokes his cheek adoringly. “I wasn’t trying to drown him. All I did was say I love you, and then Namjoonie here started choking on water and flailing like a madman.”

“Y-you can’t just… just say that outta nowhere!” ‘Namjoonie’ complains indignantly. “That’s u-unfair!”

Hoseok rolls his eyes and is about to retort something when he notices Jungkook lurking behind them and waves him over.

“Let me introduce you,” he says, gesturing around. “This is Jin-hyung. He’s also a lifeguard. And this is his boyfriend Namjoon.”

“I’m J-Jungkook,” Jungkook stammers, cursing himself for his trembling voice. But it’s scary—this Jin-hyung guy is intimidatingly beautiful, and Namjoon is gazing at him with friendly eyes, full of wisdom and understanding, as if he knows that Jungkook is hiding something.

Jungkook thanks his stars that the waters are darkening rapidly and no one would see his tail. Surely Namjoon wouldn’t know what he is, right? How would he? Jungkook has been extra careful and everything.

“I met Jungkook a couple days ago. He’s clearly much cooler than you guys because he likes mint chocolate chip ice cream,” Hoseok says, patting Jungkook on the shoulder good-naturedly. “He’s a good swimmer. I’ve never even seen him outside of the water! It’s like he practically lives in it.”

Jungkook really wishes Hoseok hadn’t brought up that part. Because it makes him sound so suspicious! What if the lovers figure out that he’s a—

“Mermaid,” Namjoon says, and Jungkook’s heart nearly leaps out of his throat. His fight-or-flight instincts kick in, but Hoseok’s hand is still on his shoulder, a warm and comforting weight, and—

“What?” Jin-hyung says, rich lips quirked in amusement.

“Mermaid challenge, it’s viral on tiktok right now,” Namjoon says, flashing Jungkook a dimpled smile. “There’s this trend where kids only show the top half of their bodies in videos and cover the lower part with water effects. Jungkook here probably really likes the aesthetics so he’s practicing in real life too.”

Hoseok bursts out laughing. “Why’d you practice something like that?” He whacks Jungkook on the back lightly, all in good humor, and Jungkook laughs along nervously too. He has no idea what Namjoon’s even talking about, but still.

“I have no idea what you’re even talking about,” Jin-hyung says.

“That’s because you’re old and out of the loop,” Namjoon replies, and Jin-hyung shoves him backwards. Namjoon goes under and comes up spluttering.

“I swear you guys are trying to drown each other on purpose just to make me worry,” Hoseok mutters.

“Nah, it’s because you look cool and professional when you’re doing your job,” Namjoon retorts. “We think mermaids would appreciate the view very much.”

Hoseok rolls his eyes and splashes Namjoon, who splashes right back.

The lovers soon head back to shore, arguing loudly about dinner, but Jungkook doesn’t miss it when Namjoon turns around, meets his eyes, and gives him a small wink.

4

It soon becomes a routine for Hoseok to meet up with Jungkook at around sunset each day. Hoseok often wonders why Jungkook doesn’t show up at other times, join the other swimmers in the bright sunlight, but then he most likely has school or work in the daytime.

But he’s always there, in the water, waiting, red sunset spilled over his luscious locks, big doe eyes wide and excited. Sometimes Hoseok brings ice cream, sometimes his little radio. Jungkook likes the music he plays. He’d sing along, sometimes, after he gets used to the tune and figures out the words. His voice is heavenly. Hoseok knows that he has a nice voice himself, but Jungkook’s is nice in a completely different direction. Hoseok sings like skateboarding down the graffiti-filled street on a sunny morning to meet your friends at the billiards place. Jungkook sings like watching the city lights alone on a crisp, starlit winter night.

Hoseok thinks it’s beautiful.

They become friends, bit by bit, which is surprising because neither is sharing much about their lives with the other. Hoseok doesn’t know anything about Jungkook’s family life, school life, his other friends. He doesn’t even know his exact age, only that he looks slightly younger than Hoseok. Innocent enough to still be called “kid”, but mature enough for Hoseok to think that it’s unfair for his parents to be so strict on him. The kid doesn’t even get pocket money (this Hoseok deduced from how he always seems so delighted to see ice cream), and his parents probably restricted his internet use too (this Hoseok deduced from how he doesn’t seem to know any of the hottest songs).

Hoseok doesn’t know much about Jungkook’s life. But he knows that he likes crafts, because sometimes they’d sit together and make bracelets. He knows that he likes music because harmonizing comes naturally to him, and they’d sing the evenings away, letting their voices carry. And he knows that he longs to see all the beautiful sights the world has to offer.

This, Hoseok supposes, is quite understandable, since it doesn’t seem that Jungkook has seen much of the world as it currently is. And he doesn’t even have the power of the internet. That sucks, Hoseok thinks. Those dreamy eyes of Jungkook’s deserve to see beautiful things and beautiful things only. The beach town they’re in is charming in its own right, but it’s just one location. There are tons of locations around the world that can charm in different ways, and it’s sad that Jungkook hasn’t had the chance to see them.

“Someday we’ll go see the world together,” Hoseok has promised Jungkook many times. Except he has no idea when someday will come. Perhaps it will never come. Perhaps Jungkook’s parents will never let him go.

Hoseok’s didn’t either, that’s true, yet Hoseok still chose to leave. But just because it worked out for Hoseok, kind of, he can’t guarantee that it would work for Jungkook too. It’s never that straightforward. Hoseok doesn’t even know what Jungkook’s parents are like, besides being strict.

They don’t talk about parents. But they both like art and music and creating colorful things, and that alone gives them so much to chat about already. They’d laugh and banter and shove each other in the waves as the sun goes down, and in those fleeting moments when they touch—for they rarely touch, Jungkook seems determined to keep a distance—Hoseok yearns, and he wonders if he’s falling too hard, too fast, for someone whose background he barely knows, for someone whom he’s never even seen dressed, outside of water.

Perhaps he’s just craving that human connection. Because the sad truth is Hoseok is very much a people person, and the small town isn’t offering him as many people as he would’ve liked. Not people his age, at least.

The Kim brothers, his only friends, aren’t around much these days. It’s understandable, though. Jin-hyung is smitten with Namjoon and spends most of his nights at his place now, and Taehyung too seems to be distant. He said he got another part-time job in town besides the lifeguarding, and despite Hoseok practically living in the brothers’ bungalow, he rarely sees them anymore.

Yes, life happens, people fall in love, get new jobs. Hoseok understands, but… but it’s lonely.

He doesn’t regret leaving his life behind, all the friends he’s made. It was either choose his parents and cut his sister out of his life, or follow his sister’s footsteps and leave. To Hoseok, it was obvious what his choice would be.

He doesn’t regret leaving his life behind, but he hates being lonely. And Jungkook fills up that void wonderfully. That’s why he’s falling so hard, so fast, Hoseok tells himself, but he knows that it isn’t the real reason.

The real reason is Jungkook. It’s Jungkook, Jungkook, Jungkook, whom Hoseok longs to just… touch, to make sure he isn’t just a product of his fever dreams, but can’t. There must be a reason Jungkook’s always maintaining a respectful distance. Perhaps if Hoseok gets too close Jungkook will burst like the foamy bubbles creeping up the shore with each wave, and all the hope and dreams and soft melodies and starlight and pureness held inside of him will come pouring out, gliding away into the night sky while twinkling like fireflies.

So Hoseok keeps his distance too. He laughs and sings and makes bracelets and yearns, but he keeps his distance.

He’s on his way home after waving bye to Jungkook one night, two bracelets in his hands, lightness in his steps. He doesn’t expect to see someone in the ocean, someone who’s not Jungkook. It’s dark, the beach should be off-limits. But that’s clearly a person bobbing up and down in the water, and as Hoseok throws himself into the water and swims desperately in the direction, he realizes that it’s Taehyung.

Taehyung, struggling in the waves, barely staying afloat as something keeps dragging him down. Toying with him. As Hoseok draws closer, he manages to catch a glimpse of that something. Some things. The odd shape, the suckers, the unmistakable texture glinting under the moonlight.

Are they… are they tentacles?

Hoseok’s body acts by instinct before his mind can even catch up. He keeps his eyes trained upon Taehyung, for fear that he will slip under once and for all and Hoseok will never find him again. The ocean is deadly. It happens. People have died under Hoseok’s watch and he will never forget those bone-chilling moments as long as he lives.

He doesn’t have time to go back and grab his board. It’s not wise to strike out into open waters without it, Hoseok knows, but it isn’t a long swim out anyway. And besides, Hoseok’s foremost concern should be dealing with the tentacles… right? It’s not like his trusty board would be of any help in this department.

But what would? Hoseok wonders. How do you even deal with big, thick tentacles?

Hoseok’s mind draws a blank. It’s not something he was taught in training courses. He’ll have to rely on his reflexes. He can’t back away, he thinks, not now, not when Taehyung needs him. Taehyung, who’s pretty much his sibling by now. Taehyung’s brother is practically Hoseok’s brother. Taehyung’s bungalow is practically Hoseok’s bungalow. Taehyung’s bed is practically Hoseok’s bed. Taehyung has two boyfriends and is happily in love. Taehyung got a second part-time job because he said he wants to buy a boat and travel around with his boyfriends. Taehyung is just a nice ordinary guy doing his best living his life, and Hoseok won’t let them take him.

Yes, Hoseok won’t let them take Taehyung, whoever they are, even if the tentacles look ten times more menacing under the pale moon, curling over Taehyung’s forehead, under his chin.

Taehyung. Hoseok chooses to focus on his helpless friend instead of the tentacles. He trains his eyes on the silhouette as his arms propel him closer, closer. Tries not to think about how horrifyingly slimy the tentacles would feel on his skin, tries to empty his brain and think about Taehyung and Taehyung only.

Because Hoseok is terrified. It never gets any easier, being a lifeguard. Saving lives feels like bargaining with the deities in some way, and Hoseok is just an ordinary human—surely he isn’t in the position to do any kind bargaining with deities. Right? Add tentacles into the mix and the fact that this is Hoseok’s best friend he’s trying to rescue, and it just becomes twice more horrifying.

Hoseok can almost cry in relief when he reaches Taehyung, touches him, touches the tentacles. Considering that these are pretty big tentacles he’s dealing with, Taehyung seems to have put up a remarkably good fight. Hoseok would even say that he looks much less panicked than Hoseok himself feels.

“Let go of him! Let go!” Hoseok shouts, valiantly swatting at the tentacles, which are as slippery and icky as he had imagined. Violent tremors run down his arms as goosebumps rise. But he continues fighting, because Taehyung doesn’t seem to be strong enough to. He’s barely flailing anymore, his struggles have ceased. It’s clear that he no longer has the strength to keep himself afloat—a huge problem for Hoseok as he’d have to support Taehyung and slap the tentacles away at the same time, and he only has two arms!

The tentacles are strangely persistent. They keep snaking their way back up around Taehyung’s torso, curling around his neck, and it’s not like Hoseok can muster up much strength to hit them, not when he’s in water, where everything’s weightless. But he fights. He thinks of Taehyung and he fights, because he’ll never let the seas claim his friend, he fights even when he feels the tentacles moving around his waist, feels the tightness, the pressure—

And then he sees him. Jungkook. Shouldn’t he have gone home? He’s there, not far ahead of Hoseok, eyes wide. Hoseok wants to warn him to stay back. Needs to warn him. But he can’t, he can barely keep himself and Taehyung afloat, and to scream in warning he needs to have oxygen in his lungs first but he doesn’t, so he can only hope against hope that Jungkook will realize that this is a dangerous situation and leave.

“Stop! Let him go!” Jungkook’s shouting, and Hoseok wants to laugh. At Jungkook’s foolishness, at his own foolishness, because come on when has octopi—who else would have tentacles, right?—ever listened to humans? Surely they don’t speak Korean!

But the tentacles slide away, much to Hoseok’s surprise. The pressure around his waist is gone. And then the tentacles withdraw, disappear into the depths of the ocean, just like that. The choppy waters calm down, and all of a sudden it’s just Hoseok and Taehyung, who’s barely floating, spluttering and gulping water.

Hoseok calls out to Jungkook, to thank him, to ask him how he managed what he just did, to tell him to follow him and get out of the water because who knows when the tentacles will attack again? But Jungkook isn’t there.

Hoseok would have rubbed his eyes if he had spare hands. How is this possible? How could he be there one moment and just gone the next? Is he really that desperate to not show his body to Hoseok? Tiktok aesthetics? Really?

The sound of Taehyung coughing and gasping snaps Hoseok back to his senses. He thanks the heavens that the shore isn’t too far away, for he’s exhausted and Taehyung doesn’t seem to have the strength to swim on his own. Hoseok gently turns him on his back, allowing the breathless boy to lean against him, and the two make their way back to the beach together.

Stars are peeking out in the evening sky as they finally crawl back to safety, palms and knees covered with sand, and slump onto the ground one after the other, catching their breaths. Taehyung rolls around and starts vomiting, and Hoseok coos and coaxes and rubs his back.

They zip into the hospital for a quick checkup, leave Jin-hyung a message on the phone, and then it’s back to the Kim brothers’ bungalow, where Taehyung sinks into bed after a quick shower, breathing still shallow. He smiles up at Hoseok, though, before drifting off. The doctors say he’ll be fine. He probably should be, he’s always been a better swimmer than Hoseok.

But Hoseok doesn’t go to sleep yet. He sits on the bed, keeping watch over Taehyung and his breathing pattern. The warm breeze coming in from the wooden shutters lifts the faded yellow veil over the French windows occasionally, and Hoseok catches glimpses of the peaceful ocean outside.

He smooths a stray strand of hair out of Taehyung’s face. Taehyung is precious to him, always has been ever since the day he claimed Hoseok as his new best friend in the beachside tavern, even though he does tend to get into odd situations a lot. Being attacked by tentacles just might be the strangest of them all!

Hoseok chuckles to himself. It’s been a crazy day indeed.

Outside the French windows, a soft voice sings a haunting melody. But Hoseok chalks it up to his imagination. Why would someone be out there in the sea at this time of the night, right?

He checks Taehyung’s soft, rhythmic breathing one last time before letting sleep claim him.

**

“Hyung, I’ve got something to… to tell you.”

They’re sitting on the bamboo chairs around the breakfast table. The morning breeze carries in the salty smell of the ocean. It’s pleasant.

But Taehyung sounds too nervous to enjoy the breeze, or the fried eggs Hoseok so painstakingly prepared. He plays with them with his fork, avoiding eye-contact.

“It’s okay.” Hoseok puts on his brightest smile. “You can tell me.”

Taehyung swallows, licks his lips, drums his fingers against the wooden table. His eyes flick towards the orange flowers in the tabletop vase, the shimmery curtains, the candles by the couch. Anywhere but at Hoseok.

“You must promise to, um, believe me?” He says. It sounds more like a question.

Hoseok chuckles. “When have I ever not believed you?”

“This is different,” Taehyung whispers, staring at his plate. Hoseok ruffles his turquoise hair fondly. Taehyung is holding his bangs back with a bandana today and looks unfairly distracting.

“I’m really good at believing in unbelievable things. I was voted the easiest to dupe in high school. So… I’ll believe you for sure. Lay it on me.”

Taehyung gazes at Hoseok, eyes searching, as if desperately trying to determine the truthfulness of his statement. And then he heaves a tiny sigh.

“I’ll just get straight to the point. The tentacles you saw yesterday… they’re my boyfriends.”

Hoseok chokes on his eggs. Whatever he’s been expecting, it’s not this.

“You’re boyfriends with some tentacles?”

“N-no, like, they aren’t tentacles, they have tentacles. They’re like… merpeople, you know those, right? Like in the stories. Little Mermaid. But instead of a fishtail it’s tentacles.”

Hoseok scrutinizes Taehyung’s face for any signs of mirth. Twitching lips, laugh lines, anything. But there is nothing. Tears gather in Taehyung’s big eyes.

“You don’t believe me, do you.” His lips begin to wobble, but he forces a smile upon his face. “It’s… it’s fine, heh. I guess that indeed sounds a bit far-fetched.”

And then he stands up and walks out, movements shaky, but Hoseok can tell he’s trying to retain composure. He cracks when he reaches the door, though, and Hoseok hears a clear, sniffling sob as Taehyung walks away.

On the table, the eggs are still hot.

5

Hoseok tells himself that he has every right to be at the beach late in the night. He’s a lifeguard, he’s just doing his duties. But inside he knows that he’s here because he’s hoping… just hoping that Jungkook will show up. Even though he probably won’t because his parents are strict. But Hoseok really wants him to show up. Needs him to show up.

Because he thinks he’ll go crazy if he doesn’t talk to someone. Obviously talking to Taehyung is out of the question, not Seokjin-hyung either because he’s Taehyung’s brother, and not Namjoon because he’s Taehyung’s brother’s boyfriend. Hoseok doesn’t have anyone else he can call a friend in the area, besides maybe the seagulls. And he can’t exactly go online and post his problems on reddit like My Friend [M25] Won’t Talk to Me [M26] Because I Didn’t Believe His Boyfriends Had Tentacles, Am I the Asshole?

So he wanders the beach. It’s tranquil and beautiful at night, one of Hoseok’s favorite things about it, but it’s so… so…

Lonely.

There are people who can live happily all alone. Go to restaurants alone. Museums. Movies. They’d even go get surgery done alone. Hoseok has become fairly well-acquainted with Namjoon these days and knows that he’s such a person.

But Hoseok isn’t. He needs people. It’s not his fault, he tells himself, it’s just how it is.

He’s about to give up and just pour his woes out to the moon or something when Jungkook pops up in the waves and comes swimming towards him. Hoseok still jumps three feet high and puts a hand on his chest despite this being exactly what he’s been wishing for.

“What are you doing out here this late?” He scolds. “You nearly gave me a heart attack! What would your parents say?”

“They’re… uh, asleep,” Jungkook replies, and the mere sound of his voice is comforting. Hoseok sits down by the edge of the water, lets the shallow waves lick his toes. Jungkook still maintains his usual distance, but his eyes are gentle, attentive, as if he could tell just by a glance that Hoseok isn’t feeling great. Maybe it’s because I forgot to shave today, Hoseok tells himself.

“I wish you could come closer,” Hoseok murmurs but quickly adds, “you don’t have to if you don’t want to. It’s fine.”

Jungkook doesn’t acknowledge his comment. “You’re sad,” he simply says.

“I had a fight with a good friend,” Hoseok says. He squints, thinking it over. “Hmm, not exactly a fight, it was just… he said something and… and I didn’t… I didn’t believe him. And it’s apparently something important to him, so he just left.”

“Why not?” Jungkook asks, voice soft. “Why didn’t you believe him?”

“What he told me was just too crazy, you know?” Hoseok tries to chuckle, but even his chuckle sounds sad to himself. “Like… it was… out of this world.”

“But he expected you to believe him?”

Hoseok thinks about it. The way Taehyung fidgeted, his nervous, eager eyes. “He did. And… and I would have believed him, you know? I really would have, I never questioned anything he said during the entirety of our friendship… I always took him seriously. It’s just… it’s just…”

Jungkook nods. “It’s just that it was something really incredible. You weren’t trying to be a bad friend.”

“I wasn’t.” Hoseok feels his own jaw clench. He knows that Taehyung wasn’t deliberately pranking him, that Taehyung wholeheartedly thought that he had two boyfriends with tentacles. The problem is… why would he think that? What had those two boyfriends done to Taehyung? Taehyung may have a great imagination but he’s also very practical and level-headed. Had his boyfriends been drugging him? Come to think of it, Hoseok had never met the boyfriends. Hmm. Shady.

“Maybe you should talk to him again,” Jungkook suggests. “I’ve known you for long enough to know that you’re a wonderful person and would never hurt anyone on purpose. Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding.”

As subpar as Hoseok is feeling right now, he can’t help the smile that creeps onto his face at Jungkook calling him wonderful. “Thanks,” he says, a little bit shyly. “Thanks for calling me wonderful.”

“You are wonderful,” Jungkook exclaims, sounding almost offended. “You’re so… warm, like the sun. And you’re so… good. When I see you I want to be a better person.”

“You’re already an awesome person,” Hoseok says with a big grin. His chest is bubbling over with emotions, but he tries to keep it lighthearted. However, his grin is apparently really enchanting or something because Jungkook suddenly looks… flustered.

Or maybe it’s the moonlight. The caress of the waves. The swaying palm trees. The setting probably made this whole scene more romantic than it really is. It’s not like a star like Jungkook would feel a spark for him, right? Hoseok thinks. It’s just the setting. The intoxicating beach night setting, perfect for a kiss—

Jungkook leans in, closer, but they don’t kiss. The distance is still too large, there might as well be a gulf between them. Can’t touch. So close, but can’t touch. Like that time Hoseok’s family cat had fleas and they weren’t allowed to touch her for a week. So soft and purry, just lying there, but can’t touch.

Hoseok hates this. Hates it that Jungkook just won’t come onshore. Hates his Tiktok aesthetics, if that really is what it is.

Jungkook clears his throat, a bit awkwardly. When he smiles up at Hoseok, it’s all platonic and innocent.

“You should talk to your friend again, yeah. Maybe you’ll change your mind and believe what he’s telling you. Who knows? We gotta keep an open mind, right?” He tells Hoseok. His smile is warm, his eyes are warm, and Hoseok can’t help but smile back, feeling much lighter now, as if a burden has been lifted off his chest. For the first time in the day, he’s in the mood to joke around.

“Yeah. Maybe I’ll change my mind. Or maybe he’ll tell me it was all a prank after all and we can go back to being our usual selves. Like, he told me his boyfriends had tentacles. Could you believe that? People like that don’t exist.” Hoseok laughs. “And even if they did, why’d he date them? Humans and sea creatures aren’t supposed to be in love.”

He chuckles softly, but notices Jungkook’s content smile disappearing from his face almost immediately. He forces it to come back, little by little, a tiny, unsure smile, but it no longer reaches his—suspiciously shiny—eyes.

“Yeah, I guess. Goodnight, hyung.”

And with that, Jungkook turns and disappears into the dark waters.

**

Jungkook doesn’t come back. It’s been five days, Hoseok always shows up dutifully at the beach in evenings, but Jungkook never came. Perhaps his parents caught him slipping out late at night and banned him from coming to the beach once and for all? Or perhaps he’s only here for the summer and has gone back home to get ready for school now that August is winding to an end. He doesn’t seem very familiar with the town, so it makes sense.

But surely he would’ve come over and said goodbye if it were the case? Hoseok thinks. But it’s been five days and he’s slowly and surely giving up. Jungkook really isn’t going to come back. And… and the sooner Hoseok forgets about this summer fling which wasn’t even a fling, the better.

But he can’t forget. The red sunset on the shimmering waves reminds him of Jungkook. The misty moonlight in the eerie nights reminds him of Jungkook. He still has many of Jungkook’s colorful bracelets, the only proof that he really existed.

He can’t forget. He feels empty.

The good news is that Seokjin doesn’t seem to even realize that there’s tension between Hoseok and Taehyung and still insists on inviting them both over to Namjoon’s place for dinner. Namjoon’s place is all woodsy and natural tones and plants everywhere, very different from the Kim brothers’ bright and colorful bungalow. There’s a sun deck at the rear that leads right into the water, and on it two beach lounge chairs side by side.

That’s where Hoseok finds himself after a rather lively dinner in which Seokjin monopolized most of the conversation (which Hoseok—and most likely Taehyung—are very grateful for). The happy couple is doing the dishes, leaving Hoseok alone with his thoughts.

And then Taehyung joins him, silently taking the other lounge chair. His hair is blonde now, Hoseok notices.

Talk to him again and keep an open mind, Jungkook’s voice says inside his brain.

If he can’t see Jungkook again, following his advice is the least he can do. Hoseok turns over to face Taehyung, who’s resolutely refusing eye contact, just staring into the orange skies.

“Tae,” Hoseok says, gently. Taehyung doesn’t budge. Hoseok feels a lump forming in his throat for some reason. It’s strange. He’s normally not a crier. It’s like Taehyung’s pain has become tangible and Hoseok’s body is soaking it up.

“Taetae,” he says, choking on his words. “Tell me all about it. I’ll believe you this time, no matter what you say. I promise.”

Taehyung is still staring into the skies, but his hands are shaking. Hoseok doesn’t want them to shake. He reaches over, squeezes one of Taehyung’s hands.

“I promise. No matter what you say.”

Taehyung lets out a strangled sob and wraps his arms around Hoseok. Then the story comes tumbling out.

Taehyung was on his usual self-appointed mission to pick up any garbage he found in the ocean that day. He was a good breathholder and he wasn’t planning on going too far in, so he didn’t bring scuba gear. Just kind of swimming around. And then he got caught in a riptide all of a sudden.

As lifeguards, they all know what to do when it comes to riptides. But sometimes the riptide just doesn’t want to let you go. After what felt like hours of alternating between swimming and treading water, Taehyung realized that he had drifted quite far out from the shore and he was really, really exhausted.

Hoseok knows how it feels—the ocean is like that, one second you feel completely safe in it, and the next you’re like oops I guess that’s it for me. He had that experience once, early on in his career. He made it, but the little girl he was trying to rescue didn’t. He still remembers lying in the hospital bed, shirt wet and sticking uncomfortably to his body, sand getting all over the bedsheets which was super disgusting, and the white curtain between his bed and the next. Beyond the curtain, he could hear the little girl’s father crying. He’s never heard someone cry like that.

It was impossible to forget. Even now, in his sleep, he still hears it sometimes.

For Taehyung, it was that kind of moment, that oops I guess that’s it for me kind of moment. He didn’t really have the time or energy to panic, but he didn’t consciously give up and let the ocean claim him either. He just… didn’t do anything, just kind of existed.

And then the tentacles came.

They wrapped themselves supportively around him, keeping him afloat, tipping his chin above water. Taehyung didn’t scream, he didn’t have the strength to. In fact, he was so dazed and just really relieved to not be dying that he reached out to pet the tentacles and said “tentacles nice”.

The nice tentacles brought him to the shore, but a secluded part of the beach a mile away from where Taehyung patrolled. He’d find his way back easily anyway since the big road was close and there were buses, but Taehyung knew he had to properly thank his savior before leaving.

“Turned out he had, like, a human upper body and a human face and everything. He had soft cat eyes and freckles and pale skin and his name was Yoongi and he could speak Korean and I was like, oh shit, love at first sight, and Yoongi-hyung was like nah you’re just high on adrenaline, but… but yeah. We agreed to meet up again. And then Yoongi-hyung brought his boyfriend Jiminie who also had tentacles, and he was so cute too and he had the perfect pillow lips and he kisses me all the time, much more than Yoongi-hyung does, like, Yoongi hyung doesn’t kiss or hug either of us much because he doesn’t like PDA but he’s really caring and sweet and now when I’m doing my trash-collecting duties he always watches over me so I won’t get caught in riptides again, and sometimes I like to play with their tentacles, and… and… well, you know the rest.”

At some point during his monologue, Taehyung had dried his tears, and now he speaks with such eagerness and confidence that Hoseok simply can’t see his story as false anymore. Taehyung can lie, he’s always wanted to be an actor, but Hoseok knows he can’t be lying when he’s talking like this, animated, in his element. Taehyung doesn’t like talking that much, so if he looks 100% comfortable, what he’s saying must be real.

Hoseok doesn’t believe in tentacled mermaids… yet, but he believes in Taehyung.

Okay, guess that means he believes in tentacled mermaids now.

“So… that day… you guys were just… playing? Looks rather kinky to me,” Hoseok finally says.

“Is that the part you’re skeptical about? Like… you’re not questioning the part where tentacle-mermaids exist anymore?” Taehyung exclaims, laughing. Hoseok smiles down at him, fond.

“If you say they do, I guess they do.”

“And um, we were just… like, I let them put their tentacles around me, and… and…” Taehyung suddenly looks down, face scarlet from both heavy blushing and the crimson sun. “And I like the feeling where… where I let someone have complete control over me, like I could put my full trust in someone…”

Hoseok tuts. “It’s fine to have whatever kink you have, but it could be dangerous, you know? That day when I saw you guys, you were practically drowning.”

Taehyung continues staring at the ground with a furious blush on his face. “Um… they… they usually keep me safe, so if I got too tired from the… our activities, they’d use their tentacles to bring me back to safety.”

“It didn’t look safe to me,” Hoseok says, but then he realizes. “Wait, so on that day your boyfriends wouldn’t let go of you because they knew you were fucked-out and couldn’t swim in that state? And I was trying to get them to let go while they were trying to keep you safe? So I was the one who almost drowned you?”

“Did… did you have to say ‘fucked-out’ so loudly, hyung?” Taehyung whines. Hoseok thinks he’s adorable.

“I’m sorry, then. For almost causing you to drown,” he says. But wait—

Hoseok wasn’t the one who got the tentacles to finally let go.

It was Jungkook.

Why did the tentacle-merpeople listen to Jungkook?

Did Jungkook’s commands convince them that oh hey guys, this Hoseok dude is a lifeguard, Taehyung is in safe hands, you can let go of him now? Because Taehyung’s loving boyfriends wouldn’t let go unless they’re completely sure he’d be safe… right?

Why do Jungkook’s words hold so much weight for the tentacle-merpeople?

Why?

What is Jungkook?

A sudden shiver runs down Hoseok’s spine. Because now that he’s somehow learned that merpeople exist and come in different shapes and forms, it all makes sense now.

Why the tentacle-merpeople listened to Jungkook.

Why Jungkook never showed his lower body and always kept a distance.

Why Jungkook never told Hoseok about his past. Why he seemed unfamiliar with the town. With currently trending songs.

Is he one of them?

Hoseok trembles, not because of the sudden realization that he might have fallen for a mermaid. Surprisingly enough, he doesn’t care. Jungkook is Jungkook. Whatever constitutes his lower body doesn’t cancel out the shining stars in his eyes, the loving and bright and energetic personality.

Hoseok doesn’t care.

But he trembles, because he remembers now, remembers what he said to Jungkook on the last night he saw him.

He said humans and sea creatures could never be.

**

Hoseok tells Taehyung about Jungkook that night, in the Kim brother’s bungalow. They have total privacy as Seokjin is spending the night at Namjoon’s place, but Hoseok doesn’t think he’d mind if Seokjin and Namjoon heard. They seem like the type of people who’d take anything in stride. Namjoon might even eagerly try to seek out merpeople with large crab pincers.

Taehyung is very sympathetic, as he usually is, and says he’ll talk to his boyfriends and see if they can locate Jungkook. According to him, this “Yoongi-hyung” and “Jiminie” often talked about the rare few friends they have in the sea world, but never mentioned their names. Perhaps one of them will be Jungkook?

Taehyung promises to talk to his boyfriends about this soon, and Hoseok feels immense relief as he sinks into bed that night, under Taehyung’s bright marine-paletted blanket. Like there’s still hope. Like he could still make this right. He sleeps soundly for the first time in days—perhaps all the surprising information on the species in the world that he’s received today has been a bit overwhelming after all.

But Taehyung doesn’t get to talk to his boyfriends the next day, nor the day after that. A typhoon has arrived, and there’s no way anyone’s going into the water like that.

Except… except there is.

Hoseok doesn’t understand what that old man even wants. Maybe he’s drunk. Maybe he’s mad. Who knows.

But as soon as he spots the figure being swallowed by the white waves of destruction through Taehyung’s shuttered French windows, he grabs his board, yells at Taehyung to get back up, and jogs in. He’s a lifeguard. It’s his job. Yearning for Jungkook can wait.

The sound of the little girl’s father bawling in the hospital replays in his head. He won’t let it happen again.

So Hoseok jogs in. And the waves devour him.

+1

“He said sea creatures like us and humans are never meant to be.”

Jungkook hates how whiny he’s being. Like, it’s been days since he’s been, well, rejected, and he thinks he really should have gotten over it by now, but he just really can’t help it. Yoongi-hyung and Jimin-hyung have their tentacles wrapped around him in a comforting embrace, and that alone makes him want to cry. Jungkook loves being loved, but his tear ducts have never been great at dealing with it.

“He doesn’t mean it,” Yoongi says, voice soft and encouraging. “He said it because he wholeheartedly believed that people like you and I don’t exist. Because his world never taught him otherwise. Because he doesn’t know any better. If he knew, he’d change his mind for sure. You’re beautiful, Kook. He’ll love you. Love your tail. Love every single part of you.”

Jungkook sobs louder. “B-but… but what if he’s right? M-my mom… everyone said… everyone said she shouldn’t have fallen in love with a human…”

“They’re just jealous,” Jimin huffs, “because your mom found someone she loved enough to give up her voice for, and they didn’t.”

“But what if—”

“They’re wrong.” Jimin glares at the stone walls as if they were the ones making stupid comments. “Taehyungie is a human and he loves us just fine and those idiots probably wish they could be with someone as hot as him but they’ll never—”

And then he stops, eyes widening comically, because Yoongi stuck a tentacle into his mouth.

“Who’s Taehyungie?” Jungkook asks, amused. It’s not like he hadn’t already guessed, considering how he literally witnessed his hyungs playing in the water with the blue-haired lifeguard the other day and his hyungs definitely saw him, but they are stubbornly refusing to talk about it, which makes Jungkook want to tease them even more.

“Come on, who’s Taehyungie?” He asks again.

Yoongi hems and haws and finally says “Fine, that’s our human boyfriend.”

“You know, the guy you mentioned seeing, picking up trash in the ocean? The one with blue hair,” Jimin adds. “He dyed it blonde, though.”

And he’s probably rocking the color, Jungkook thinks, judging from the little heart shapes in Jimin’s eyes.

He coughs. Tries his best not to sound accusing. “Why didn’t you guys tell me?”

A pained look flits past Yoongi’s face, and Jungkook knows that it probably hurt them as well to have to keep it from him.

“We wanted to… we really wanted to tell you. You know we tell you everything,” Yoongi says, voice a bit hoarse. “But we discussed it and… and thought… well, remember how you used to cry and tell us never to fall in love with a human and leave you, like your mom did?”

“I was six,” Jungkook mumbles.

“More like twelve,” Jimin counters, a shrewd grin on his face.

“So yeah, we thought you’d be worried that we’d leave you if you heard that we’re dating a human, so we foolishly decided to keep it a secret for a while,” Yoongi continued. He strokes Jungkook’s chin with the tip of a tentacle, softly. “But you know we’ll never leave you, right?”

“I told hyung we should’ve told you. Like, you’re in love with a human yourself, right?” Jimin giggles. Jungkook cups his cheeks, embarrassed. Yes, he told his hyungs all about Hoseok. They discussed it all the time. They used the words hot lifeguard crush, whipped, smitten. Never in love. It makes everything sound so serious somehow, in love.

But he is, right? In love. He can feel it in his bones, his tail. In love.

In love.

“You should go back up there and talk to him,” Yoongi suggests. “Maybe even show him your tail. Communication is the key.”

Yoongi’s words are always so inspiring, so encouraging. Jungkook can’t help feeling, well, inspired. Encouraged.

In fact, he’s so encouraged that he decides he might as well act now. Before it’s too late, right?

Jungkook wriggles out of his hyungs’ embrace and swims off, though not before shouting a quick I’ll be right back! at them.

Yoongi and Jimin, being the dutiful hyungs they are, follow along, of course, yelling things like stop, wait until tomorrow, there’s a goddamn storm up there, are you kidding me?

Jungkook only barely registers their shouts as he propels his way up, up, towards the grey skies and churning waters, dark and menacing even though it’s not even quite nighttime yet.

Oh. There’s a storm, he finally realizes when he reaches the surface. No wonder the current is much, much stronger, making it so much harder to swim. Inconvenient. Still, he’s muscled and a skilled swimmer and can breathe easily underwater, so at least he’s not in danger of dying or anything. The same can’t be said for a human, of course, so—

Wait.

Jungkook notices the blonde man trying to swim out the same time Yoongi and Jimin, who have popped up behind him, do. Wrong direction, Jungkook thinks. Why is he not trying to get back to shore? Why is he coming towards us?

“Taehyungie!” Jimin screams, voice piercingly sharp above the roaring winds. “What are you doing out here, for Poseidon’s sake?”

“I told you to not do stupid things, dammit, I told you hyung can’t always be there to save your life,” Yoongi grumbles, as he gently lifts the struggling Taehyung to the surface and keeps him afloat, blocking the smashing waves from him with his body.

Taehyung shakes his wet locks out of his eyes frantically. “No, not… not me, you need to save… you need to…”

“Breathe, baby, it’s okay, we got you,” Jimin murmurs soothingly, but Taehyung refuses to be soothed.

“A drunk dude…” he coughs. “My hyung saved him… but he was too tired to bring him back to shore… and then I arrived so he said, swim this guy back to safety for me, I’ll be right behind you, and… and so I brought the drunk guy back to shore, and I turned around and… and…”

“And your hyung wasn’t behind you,” Jimin finishes for him.

“Yeah.” Taehyung lets out a terrified sob. “He… he lost his board too… He could die… My Hoseok-hyung…”

Jungkook takes off towards the deep waters before Taehyung even finishes the sentence. The drunk dude is safe, Taehyung brought him back to the shore. Taehyung is safe too, Yoongi and Jimin will take care of him. But Hoseok—

It’s times like these that Jungkook is grateful how well he can see in the ocean water, even on a day like this where everything’s murky and dark. He sweeps his gaze in all directions as he swims, carefully calculating the directions of the currents despite his racing heart and panicking brain. He needs to put his knowledge of the ocean to good use now, because Hoseok needs him.

Hoseok needs him.

Jungkook can’t let him go, not before he tells him. That he’s in love.

So he swims. He swims, he can’t tell if his hyungs are following him or if they’ve both gone back to the shore with Taehyung to make sure if the drunk dude is actually okay, but it doesn’t matter now. His hyungs are slower, anyway. They don’t have tails. If Hoseok can be saved, Jungkook must be the one to do it.

And then he sees him. The familiar figure, the man made of sunshine, not moving, letting the tumultuous waves throw him around like a limp ragdoll. Jungkook arrives at Hoseok’s side at record speed, wraps his arms under Hoseok’s armpits and pulls him towards the surface.

What do I do next? He asks himself, horror overtaking his mind. According to what he observed the lifeguards doing while on duty, they have to place their lips on the victim’s and breathe for them… or something. But how exactly is it done? And Hoseok told Jungkook once that CPR doesn’t always work. He looked like he was about to cry when he said that. Jungkook remembers that moment in particular because he hates seeing tears in Hoseok’s eyes. He just wants him to be happy, forever.

So… should Jungkook put his lips upon Hoseok’s? But what does he do once that’s done? And… and he’d hate for it to be like that, to dream about kissing the beautiful lifeguard on the lips for so long, only for the first time to be in circumstances such as this.

But it’s now or never. There’s not enough time to wait until they get back to shore, and Jungkook thinks he’s capable of supporting Hoseok’s weight and doing CPR at the same time, except he doesn’t even have any idea how to do it, Hoseok said he could just look it up on the internet but Jungkook didn’t have internet, and—

To his surprise and immense relief, Hoseok suddenly lets out a weird, inhuman noise, water spilling out of blue lips, gasps shrilly and begins retching into Jungkook’s face.

Jungkook holds him tight as he trembles, eyes wide and confused. “You’re okay now,” he whispers. “I love you. You’re okay now.”

Hoseok stares, coughs, stares a little more, coughs a little more. “…Jungkook?”

Jungkook manages a wan smile, even though all he feels like is bawling his eyes out. “The one and only.”

Hoseok blinks. “I must be dreaming.”

“I’m right here,” Jungkook mumbles, chokes on his words. “Let’s get you back to shore and all warmed up.”

Hoseok replies by coughing violently. Jungkook smiles and smooths his hair out of his eyes. Hoseok seems very preoccupied with catching his breath, so Jungkook finally lets his tears fall. There’s rain, so it probably won’t be obvious that he’s crying, right?

“You’re crying,” Hoseok says.

“I’m in love with you, hyung,” Jungkook sobs out. A wave slams into them. He holds Hoseok tighter, tighter, like he was never able to before, no longer caring that Hoseok can definitely feel his—

“Fishtail?” Hoseok murmurs, sounding tiredly intrigued.

Jungkook giggles. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“I thought it’d be tentacles.”

“You’re thinking of my hyungs.” Jungkook laughs and points at the shore, which they’re rapidly nearing. Five figures are waving at them—apparently at some point the pretty lifeguard called Seokjin and his boyfriend Namjoon have also shown up. The drunk dude is nowhere in sight, but as no one seems to be too distressed, he’s probably fine and just gone home.

“How are you, Hobi?” Seokjin demands. He’s brought a first-aid kit, though at a quick glance Hoseok doesn’t seem to be hurt anywhere.

“J-just… tired. And c-cold,” Hoseok slurs, attempting to fight off a sobbing Taehyung who had draped himself all over him, but to no avail.

Namjoon hands over a towel, though it doesn’t really make things any better, considering that it’s pouring. “We should get back to the bungalow to dry up.”

Going to the bungalow to dry up means… means that they’ll be driving away. Namjoon, Seokjin, Taehyung, and… and Hoseok. They’ll be driving away to their home where there’s no seawater. Where Jungkook can’t be. It’s already uncomfortable enough as it is, in a half-beached position, with his torso on the sand and tail dipping in the shallows.

But Jungkook wants to be there. Wants to hold Hoseok a little bit longer. He’s never got to hold him, barely ever touched him unless he was sure the waters were dark enough and he could get close without his tail being seen.

Just a little longer—

“We can go too,” Jimin says, patting Jungkook on the back. “Taetae’s bungalow is that one.” He points at a splotch of orange light shining softly in the greyness.

“They’ve got this rear patio-thing that leads straight into the water, so we visit him sometimes,” Yoongi explains. “We can just swim there, it’s not far.”

Jungkook’s heart cheers, and Hoseok flashes him a tired, tired smile.

Jungkook knows he won’t get to hold Hoseok even if he follows him to the bungalow, of course. Hoseok needs to be dry right now and Jungkook can’t be dry. But… but surely… another day, when Hoseok can come into the water safely. He’d hold him then. Hug him tight and just… just bask in the moment, instead of panicking, instead of worrying that Hoseok would be gone, claimed by the ocean just like that.

Another day, yes. The three of them still swim to the bungalow and watch from a safe distance until Hoseok emerges from a door, looking all steamy and warm, wrapped in an oversized pink bathrobe. He looks cozy and happy and his lips have regained color as he lies down on the big bed and waves at the guys once more before Seokjin settles down beside him and turns off the lights.

Taehyung and Namjoon come out to the edge of the patio to chat with Jungkook and his hyungs. Jungkook can’t help noticing in amusement that Yoongi and Jimin were on the verge of reprimanding Taehyung like why are you standing in the rain? For Poseidon’s sake go take a shower and go to bed! Aren’t you supposed to be tired? How much water did you swallow? But instead remained shy and quiet because Namjoon is there too, with his big dimples and knowing eyes.

Jungkook wonders if he’s always known. Perhaps he has. There’s just this something in his eyes that’s so understanding.

“You guys know that Taehyungie here is saving up to buy a boat, right? So that instead of you guys coming to meet him, he can go meet you.” Namjoon sits, settles down and lets his long legs dangle off the edge. It’s pouring. Namjoon doesn’t seem to mind.

Jungkook didn’t know that, the boat thing, but his hyungs apparently do. They exchange flustered glances.

“We know, yeah… but we’re also kind of worried because like, Taehyungie’s brother wouldn’t like it if he just… sails away, right? Since they’re really close and they don’t have any other family left,” Yoongi says, and Jungkook thinks it’s adorable because… because it’s so rare to see his hyung interacting with a human. It’s like he’s more careful, more dignified, trying harder to keep his tentacles from doing their own thing.

“Yeah. Hyung’s my only family as far as I know,” Taehyung says, head down, a little bit sad.

“Which is why we’ve decided to pool our finances and get a bigger boat,” Namjoon says triumphantly. “We talked about it, Jinnie-hyung and I. We’ve always wanted to get a sailboat and see the world. Hyung freelances anyway, he only needs the internet like once a month to upload his files, so this lifestyle should suit him well.”

Taehyung turns to stare, jaw dropping. Namjoon laughs.

“What? Don’t want your nosey brother and his boyfriend monitoring your happy sex life with two octopi hybrids?”

Taehyung continues staring. “No, it’s just… just… are you guys sure you want to, like, invest in this? Because, like, if it’s just me and my money it’s gonna take ages to save up, but… but if hyung pitches in, then…”

“Yeah, Jin-hyung’s kinda loaded,” Namjoon says fondly, as if “kinda loaded” is something to be fond of. Perhaps everything about Namjoon’s boyfriend makes him fond. “We’d be able to get a nice boat. And you guys… you said you’d follow Taehyungie anywhere, right?”

“The idea was that we’d swim near the boat and he’d sail slowly so we won’t tire out,” Jimin replies demurely, which Jungkook also finds adorable because his hyung is anything but demure. Except… except wait, does this mean that his hyungs really are going to leave him for the human they love? Didn’t they literally just promise they’ll never leave him?

“Hoseok said he wouldn’t mind coming either if we get a big enough boat so he won’t be seasick.” Namjoon turns to Jungkook. “So?”

“So… what?” Jungkook stares, dumbly.

“So are you joining us on our crazy journey around the world? Hoseok will be there.”

Jungkook feels dizzy all of a sudden. Or maybe it’s the strong typhoon winds and the fact that it’s getting dark and everything’s so misty.

“So… like… you guys… all four of you, on a boat… and we’ll be swimming along… and we see the world together?”

Just like Hoseok promised. One day we’ll see the world together.

And… and maybe I’ll find my mother on the way.

“Actually that’d be a bit exhausting for you guys,” Namjoon says, ponderingly. “What do you guys think about getting legs so that you can sit on the boat instead of swimming?”

Jungkook shakes his head. Swimming isn’t that exhausting to him anyway, most of the time he just glides. “I don’t want to lose my voice.”

“I actually like my tentacles a lot, thank you very much,” Yoongi says, and Jimin adds so does Taehyungie and Taehyung blushes really hard, so Yoongi wraps a tentacle around Jimin’s lips in annoyance.

“I don’t mean permanently, just… sometimes, when you’re tired of swimming,” Namjoon elaborates. “And you won’t need to give up your voice or anything if it’s just temporary. Besides, sea witches and land witches have different methods, and—”

“You know a land witch?” Yoongi asks.

“You are a land witch?” Jimin asks at the same time.

Oh. It makes sense to Jungkook now. Why Namjoon just somehow seems to know everything. Why he seems to love nature so much.

Namjoon holds a finger up to his plush lips and smiles at Jungkook. “So, you in?”

**

They sit down behind the bungalow and have The Talk once Hoseok is well-rested and back to his lively self. Hoseok doesn’t see why they have to “talk” like this, it only makes him unnecessarily nervous, but maybe Jungkook’s hyungs just really enjoy seeing him suffer.

They’re making him suffer right now, tentacles crossed in front of their chests, looking comically threatening.

“Do you guys have to do this?” Jungkook whines at the two, looking mortified.

“See, we’re practically your parents. If we don’t intimidate your future partner, he’ll think our family is weak and easy to take advantage of. Therefore, it’s important to show him that we’re a force to be reckoned with,” Jimin explains sweetly. His bright grin sends a chill down Hoseok’s spine.

“It’s not like we’re getting married now or anything—” Jungkook protests, sending Hoseok a look of apology, which Hoseok acknowledges with what he hopes is a reassuring smile.

“You’ll thank us later, Jungkookie,” Yoongi adds. “Gotta let them know that we have your back, always. If Hoseok messes with you, he messes with us.”

Hoseok gulps. He really has no intention of messing with Yoongi and Jimin. Seeming to notice his discomfort, Jimin simply smiles brighter and turns to face him.

“So, Hoseok-ssi? Will you promise to be the best boyfriend ever to our Jungkookie, to never break his heart, to always support him and love him and take care of him? I’m sure you know very well what will happen if you fail to do so.” He brandishes his tentacles. Beside him, Yoongi does the same.

Despite being terrified, Hoseok still tries his best to meet the eyes of the two scary hyungs, so that he can assure them that he’s trustworthy, that he’ll do everything he can to be a good boyfriend.

“I promise,” he says. Simple words, spoken in a soft voice, but he knows that the tentacled hyungs can hear the conviction in them because they both slowly lower their raised tentacles.

“Good,” Jimin says. His smile reaches his eyes. “You’ll be so happy together.”

“Isn’t it good to talk it out?” Yoongi says. He’s smiling too. “It’s nice to know that we’re on the same page.”

“You didn’t have to threaten him,” Jungkook murmurs from the side, looking very embarrassed. Hoseok squeezes his hand reassuringly.

Behind Hoseok comes the sound of throat-clearing. He turns around to see Seokjin, Namjoon in tow. Yoongi and Jimin shrink backward at the cutlery in Seokjin’s hand, suddenly looking as uncomfortable as Hoseok had been feeling.

“You’re right, it’s good to talk it out. I guess it’s time for us to have this talk too,” Seokjin says. He sits down, letting his legs dangle above the water. He’s still holding cutlery… and is that a book on ways to cook octopi in his other hand?

“As I’ve heard, you two are dating my little brother. It’s important for you guys to know that we have our ways as well. If you dare hurt Taehyung in any form, we’ll find out. And we’ll find you.”

Yoongi and Jimin exchange nervous glances, then Yoongi speaks up. “Um, we promise… we assure you that we care very much about Taehyungie’s well-being and we will always treat him like a Prince because it’s what he deserves.”

Seokjin nods and turns to face Jimin with a rather… menacing smile. “And you, kid?”

Jimin swallows and whispers, “Same. I promise I’ll love Taehyungie with my whole being and I’ll never hurt him ever.”

Seokjin hmms, satisfied. Beside him, Namjoon is just sitting, smiling, not saying a word, but his presence itself lends a sort of solemnity to the situation.

“I’m glad we’ve achieved an understanding,” Seokjin finally says. “It’s great that we had this talk.”

As he stands up with Namjoon and the two of them return indoors, Hoseok turns to Jungkook, Yoongi and Jimin, who are all in the water, mouths agape.

“See why you shouldn’t have threatened Hoseokie-hyung? You made him uncomfortable. Just like the tall hyungs made you guys uncomfortable,” Jungkook complains, playfully splashing Yoongi and Jimin.

“We weren’t exactly threatening him. Just having The Talk like every good hyung does,” Yoongi says, grumpily, and for some reason Hoseok finds him much less intimidating and much more relatable now.

Jimin seems to have something else entirely in mind. “Does tentacle-fucking Taetae count as hurting him? What if they find out?” He whispers to Yoongi anxiously. Hoseok chokes on his spit and erupts into a coughing fit.

“He likes it and it makes him happy, so it doesn’t count,” Yoongi says, though he doesn’t sound too confident in that. “Anyway, let’s just make sure they don’t find out.”

“From now on, we only do it in our secret cave,” Jimin says, massaging his temples with his tentacles in distress. Hoseok watches, hopelessly intrigued.

“What secret cave?” Jungkook asks.

“You don’t need to know, brat,” Yoongi says, voice fond.

“What secret cave?” Jungkook demands.

“It’s called ‘secret’ for a reason,” Yoongi reminds him gently.

“What secret cave? What secret cave? What secret cave?”

Jimin starts splashing Jungkook, who splashes right back while repeating the same question. Hoseok laughs, looking on, not minding that some of the water is getting onto his clothes.

It’s nice, seeing Jungkook with his good friends. There’s this bratty side that he never showed Hoseok. When it was only the two of them, there’s less joking and pushing around, more gentle musings, cozy moments, warm and trusting. And now that Jungkook is with the hyungs he grew up with, he’s displaying a mischievous side, a boyish charm that Hoseok didn’t get to see before.

Hoseok can’t wait to see what other sides Jungkook has to offer.

**

Jungkook’s hyungs, being the doting big brothers they are, end up telling Jungkook how to get to the secret cave anyway and also give Jungkook and Hoseok permission to spend the night there.

“I was wondering where Taehyungie was when he said he spent the nights with his boyfriends. Like, I assumed that it was in their home, but then I got confused when I learned that his boyfriends were your hyungs because wouldn’t Taehyungie catch a cold if he spends the night in the ocean? So where was he? Turns out they have a secret cave,” Hoseok rambles to Jungkook as they swim together at a leisurely pace towards the rocks Yoongi and Jimin had pointed out to them.

He’s nervous, not going to lie. It’s always been shy glances, polite distances, dreamy words and dreamy songs. And after they finally got together, there was always someone else around. Now, for the first time, it’s just the two of them, free to touch, ready to spend the night together in a cave. Of course he’s gonna be nervous.

The fact that the cave is apparently a setting where the threesome have their bedroom adventures from time to time only makes him even more nervous. But… but not today, probably, he tells himself. Nothing sexual will happen today. Hoseok isn’t even sure how it would go if it did, considering he still knows way too little about Jungkook’s anatomy. They’ll take it slow, learn about each other’s bodies bit by bit. Not today.

Like, they haven’t even had their first kiss yet.

“We’ll have to swim underwater for a bit to reach the cave. Yoongi-hyung says humans can’t hold their breaths for such a long way, so they pass air to Taehyungie-hyung when they take him there. They say it’s… uh… more fun than just using scuba gear,” Jungkook says, wetting his lips a bit anxiously. “So… would you be okay to… uh…”

His lips look rosy and dewy. Hoseok tries not to stare too hard. “I suppose. Yeah.”

“You need to be absolutely sure,” Jungkook continues, “because even though I can pass air to you well enough, if you panic and struggle halfway and breathe in water, I still won’t be able to save you in time if we’re too far from an air pocket. So you need to like… trust me completely. Would… would that be okay?”

Hoseok gazes into Jungkook’s big eyes, swimming with worry.

“I trust you,” he says. Because he does. And… and Jungkook passing air to him would mean kissing him on the lips. Many, many times.

Hoseok gets giddy just thinking about it.

“Okay then, so uh… on the count of three? One, two—”

Hoseok takes a deep breath and dives in.

It’s a weird feeling, to head a little bit deeper down without scuba gear, with no plans of surfacing anytime soon. It’s weird, but also delightfully liberating. Light and casual, as if he’s become one with the water.

And then, before he can begin to get uncomfortable from the lack of oxygen, he feels Jungkook’s lips on his. Gentle, callused hands cupping his cheeks, guiding his mouth to the correct spot. He breathes in, and it feels very natural.

Jungkook has one arm around his waist now, guiding him along now that they can’t exchange words. They swim, press their lips together to breathe every once in a while, and it works surprisingly well, like a dream. Hoseok knows the ocean and its dangers. He hadn’t expected it to go so smoothly. But maybe it’s because he trusts Jungkook so much. Because Jungkook is so gentle and thoughtful, so good at this, so at-home in the water that Hoseok automatically feels at-home too.

His only regret is that he can’t kiss Jungkook properly. Jungkook’s delicate lips feel great on Hoseok’s, but he can’t enjoy the feeling with his whole heart because, well, he’s underwater, where humans aren’t supposed to be, so even though it feels natural, he still needs to dedicate parts of his brain to trying to not die.

But he will kiss him properly when they reach their destination, Hoseok tells himself.

And he does. They surface at a rocky opening, surrounded by cave walls on all sides. There’s an opening on the top, however, letting in sunlight and fresh air. The place is barely decorated, only a makeshift bed and what looks like a place to make a fire. Perhaps the threesome had swum the blankets here and then dried them over the fire for future use? Who knows. And Hoseok doesn’t care right now.

Hoseok doesn’t care right now, because Jungkook is gazing at him, in concern, in awe, in excitement, and for a second it’s like they were still underwater, unable to speak and only able to communicate with actions. Direct, immediate actions.

And so they fly into each other’s arms, and this time they kiss for real.

**

One good thing about traveling around the world on a nice boat is that Jungkook doesn’t have to see the people in his clan again. Only after he left them did he realize how suffocating it was there.

Not that all humans are fun, of course, Jungkook supposes. Just the ones he’s hanging out with. Humans come in all shapes and sizes. There are fun humans and unfun humans, just like how there are fun mermaids and unfun mermaids. His clan just happens to be the unfun kind. Hoseok talks to him about his parents, and they’re the unfun kind too.

Another thing Jungkook really likes is all the places he gets to see. They’d stop by colorful ports and yell at the seagulls for stealing their ice cream and watch the dock workers doing their thing. Sometimes they’d stay on land in buildings when the weather is not good for sailing. Namjoon is strangely adept at predicting the weather, but then he’s a land witch and it’s only to be expected. He gives Jungkook and his hyungs fresh green potions so that they’d have legs and not worry about drying up when they’re staying on land. It’s nice.

Jungkook also loves the company. He gets to explore the world with his favorite people ever. His two tentacled hyungs, true to their promise, never left him, and Jungkook can’t ask for anything better. Namjoon tells great stories and adores crabs and teaches Jungkook to make potions. Taehyung likes collecting shiny treasure on the seafloor and making art out of it, just like Jungkook, and they’d happily do it together all day. Seokjinnie-hyung is hilarious but also so kind and sweet, the one whom Jungkook would always come to for a hug on a stormy day and practice boxing with on sunny ones.

They also have a family cat called Caesar, a weird, wee little thing who seems to think Jungkook is yucky, so Jungkook kisses him on his little pink nose. So far, Jungkook hasn’t found his mother yet, but he supposes that can wait.

And then there’s his favorite part about his current life—Hoseok, his beautiful boyfriend, who sometimes seems unsure about this sailing thing but always ends up enjoying it, who laughs so brightly and so infectiously, who’s devastatingly hot even when he’s not trying to be.

Jungkook would wake up every morning wondering how he got so lucky. Because sometimes he’d wake up in a big bed, crisp sheets caressing his skin, and Hoseok would be next to him, warm and cozy, features softened with sleep. He’d smile, eyes droopy, lips heart-shaped, and mumble a cute, sing-song little good morning, like bringing Jungkook joy is the sole purpose he was born, and Jungkook would scream inside his head no, no, don’t you know you’re so much more?

Sometimes he’d wake up in the water, in his natural element, next to his tentacled best friends and sometimes even Taehyung, who’d ask Namjoon for a temporary mermaid potion so that he could sprout a tail and sleep on the ocean surface too. And then Hoseok would peer out from the shutters, shouting for everyone to come over for breakfast, and Jungkook would swim over and Hoseok would hand him a plate and they’d eat together, side by side, because no longer does Jungkook have to be afraid of being too close, afraid of touching.

Hoseok hasn’t tried the mermaid potion yet because he thinks it looks icky, but he still swims around with Jungkook lots. Jungkook loves it because Hoseok is great enough a swimmer that Jungkook doesn’t need to worry about him, but still not as good as Jungkook due to his human limitations, so Jungkook gets to carry him on his back from time to time. Sometimes he’d agreeably let Jungkook hold him while they float together on the water, watching the sunset, pointing at the stars that are coming out one by one.

Sometimes they’d drift a bit far from the boat, just the two of them, in total privacy. It’s not a problem because Jungkook can always find the way back easily, and he knows that his hyungs and Taehyung do this often too. And then they’d kiss, like they’re making up for lost time, making up for all the times back at the beach under the red evening sun, when they could have kissed and tasted the mint chocolate chip ice cream on each other’s lips but didn’t.

They’d kiss, urgent, breathless kisses because Hoseok is a human and can’t swim so far without needing to catch his breath, they’d kiss until Hoseok laughs and pauses to gasp for air, and Jungkook would continue trailing little kisses down his cheek, his neck. And Jungkook would tell Hoseok that he’s always wondered what it’s like to have someone to be that person, the way his tentacled hyungs were for each other, and now that he’s finally found him. And Hoseok would tell Jungkook that he’s always longed for that human connection, and that Jungkook made him feel so much love, love for a family member, for a friend, and for a romantic partner all at once. And that he really likes people so Jungkook had better not leave him, or else he’d pout.

As cute as a pouting Hoseok would be, Jungkook knows that he certainly doesn’t plan to leave him, ever.