Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kim Seungmin was a bright and handsome young man. He worked as a marine biologist for a big company in his coastal city, and he loved the freedom that his job gave him, being able to take his small motorboat out to sea every day to do research on the field.

As a child, he was always fascinated by the ocean and the strange and wonderful forms of life that where hidden underneath its surface. It then wasn’t a big surprise for his family when Seungmin worked extra hard in school to be able to skip two years and enter university early, obtaining his master’s degree in marine biology while at the same time being offered a job in one of the biggest companies of the country.

He was one of the youngest people working there, and as such he didn’t have that many colleagues he was close to. But Seungmin was never a boy that had that many friends to start with, preferring to stay in his own world of research and discovery rather than having to go out and have social interactions with others.

One of the people he truly did like though was his boss. Mina was a gentle soul and she always encouraged his different projects, allowing him to go out every day to work directly in the ocean instead of confining him to the labs, and for that he was infinitely grateful to her.

Another thing that Seungmin liked, apart from his work and his boss, was his style. He always put extra care in keeping up with his “dandy boy” image, pulling off a clean and elegant look effortlessly, even after a full day of diving.

That’s why he was currently putting away his clothes carefully into the storage compartment of his company-rented motorboat. He folded his white shorts and light pink polo, not wanting them to get soaked and crusted in salt water. He slipped into his neoprene diving suit, having chosen the one that stopped mid-thigh and went down to his elbows for today, since his diving site was not that deep, and the water was relatively warm on this summer day.

He had gotten the approval the day before from his boss for his newest project: diving to the famous fishing boat shipwreck that laid about 5km from shore.

Every local person knew about this wreck, as it was not that far away from a well-known beach and lots of curious adventurers had taken their chance to discover some hidden treasure in the wreck, or just wanted to visit the place to take cool underwater pictures.

A few years ago, the government had forbidden anyone from approaching the wreck within a 2km radius and had completely banned any diving from taking place inside of it, as the boat was slowly but surely wasting away, becoming unstable and dangerous. Coast guards patrolled the area often and a high fine was sent to anyone who dared to defy the government decree.

However, Seungmin managed to get a special access to the wreck, with the help of his boss and the company of course. He wanted to study the impact of the degradation of the ship on the surrounding environment, living and otherwise. His research, once completed, would serve as a base for the officials to decide if they need to take action into dismantling and removing the wreck, or if it was better to let nature run its course.

That’s why he was there today, having anchored his own boat a mere 20m away from the wreck and looking down at the looming shadow of the quite impressive fishing boat underneath the water. It was one of the bigger models, and there were many nooks and crannies which Seungmin had no doubt hosted all kinds of marine organism.

Since he had to be extra careful during his dives to not make the decaying structure of the boat even more unstable, he knew this project would probably take him at least all summer. He was fine with this though, as it gave him a concrete task to do on the field, and there was nothing that he liked more than spending his whole day under the water.

The pink-haired boy made sure his anchor was properly fixed and set up his diver flag, which would indicate to anyone passing by that he was underwater. Shouldering his dive tank after having checked all of his equipment, Seungmin made sure to also grab his camera before sitting on the side of his boat and letting himself fall overboard, straight into the inviting water.

As he hit the surface and then slowly sank lower, he relished in the silence that always accompanied his dives. Seungmin was a very accomplished diver, and as soon as he deemed himself skillful enough, he had quickly taken to do solo dives, preferring those to the buddy-system that is usually implemented. Solo dives just allowed him to properly focus on his environment, and it was much easier to take pictures of the fauna if there was no other bumbling divers swimming clumsily around and making all the fishes swim away.

A touch of color caught his attention as the bubbles around him dissipated, and he realized that he had forgotten to take off the bandana that he usually tied around his neck. It went with his whole dandy aesthetic, and he wore it so often that he didn’t even feel it anymore, hence now diving with the pink handkerchief still wrapped around his throat.

With a shrug, he decided that it would be too much trouble to get back to the boat and remove it. Anyways, it was already wet now, so he would just look more dapper than normal for this dive.

Letting himself sink farther down, he flipped around to be facing the wreck, and swam lazily up to the deck, his flippers propelling him easily forward.  The highest part of the ship was at around 15m deep, while the bottom of the hull rested on a sandbank some 30m below. Seungmin made sure to take a picture of the entire wreck before going closer, swimming around the hull and deck to see what kind of life forms had settled there.

With no big surprises, he found mostly clams, mussels and algae. Some small fishes were happily eating around at the moss-covered iron railings, and a school of butterflyfishes swam through an opening in the deck, disappearing in a few flicks of their tails.

Smiling at the peaceful scenery in front of him, Seungmin took some notes into his waterproof notebook, accompanying them with a few more photos. He was here today to scope out the wreck, observe everything he could and then make a plan for the rest of his research, depending on his findings.  

Making his way carefully over the deck, Seungmin eyed the hole through which the butterflyfishes just came out, judging its size. Deciding that it was big enough for him to fit through, the boy swam inside slowly, taking extra precautions to not let his flippers accidentally bang on the metal structure now surrounding him. It felt a bit claustrophobic inside, but the light from the torch fixed to his wrist helped Seungmin to relax slightly.

There was a lot of movements down there; fishes passing him left and right and algae moving in the gentle current, creating a whole new ecosystem hidden inside of the metal giant, and the scientist in him was absolutely ecstatic about the chance to study all of it.

Keeping his movements slow and cautious, Seungmin toured around the ship’s hold, identifying at least four different rooms in which he took quick pictures and notes for future references. However, a sudden rattling made him look up from his notebook, turning around to look down the hallway he was currently into. There was a high chance that something had shifted because of the current, or that a fish had bumped into something, but it still was a quite loud noise.

Deciding to investigate, Seungmin pointed his flashlight straight in front of him and took his dive knife firmly in hand, just in case. There was always the possibility that there was another diver around, but the chances were pretty slim since he had seen no other ship on his way over. Furthermore, the coast guards usually did a pretty good job at keeping curious bystanders away from this place.

Making his way to the end of the hall completely, he saw another room that he hadn’t mapped out yet. The big metal door was halfway open, just enough for him to squeeze through with his dive tank. Something did seem to keep it blocked from opening wider though, and it wasn’t just rusty hinges. Peeking inside the room, Seungmin saw what looked like a massive metal shelf having fallen over and lodged behind the door, making it impossible to open said door fully.

This was obviously what had caused the noise just now, as a cloud of sediment and murky water was floating in the room, a testament to the disturbance that had taken place. The biologist couldn’t however figure for the life of him what had happened to make the shelf fall like this, as it would require a hefty push to move it around.

His answer came in the form of a big scaly tail. From his position, Seungmin could only see the wide and wispy caudal fin, colored a soft cream and peach, and the start of the actual tail, where the scales turned a brighter orange the higher up they got, some of them glinting like molten gold in the light pouring from Seungmin’s torch.  

Of course, the diver’s first instinct was to back off, because even if he couldn’t see much of the animal, the size of that fin told him just how big it actually was. Still, he couldn’t deny his natural inner curiosity. Seungmin was a researcher for a reason, and that was because he loved to discover new things. And he could confidently say that whatever kind of fish was behind that door, it was absolutely going to be one of his greatest discoveries. In all of his years studying, both in books and on the field, he had never encountered such a weird combination of size, color and type of caudal fin. There was just no fish he could remember that fit all of those criteria perfectly. So, either he was going to discover a new species altogether, or he was going to document a mutation that has occurred in the local marine life, possibly due to the presence of the shipwreck.

No matter how he looked at it, Seungmin could only see a win-win situation here. With his new-found determination, he swam again towards the room, this time slipping inside of it. It took him some time to get situated, since he had to do some pretty acrobatic twisting around to not get his tank or flippers stuck anywhere in the crowded space. It also didn’t help that the fish had seen him approaching and was now furiously flapping his tail around, sending murky, sediment-filled clouds all over the place.

Seungmin got scared for a moment that in the confusion, the fish would be able to escape through the door without him having the time to take a proper picture of it. However, that theory quickly dissolved as he noticed that the trashing tail was in fact trapped under the metal shelving.

Understanding that now would be his best shot at getting that priceless photo, Seungmin swam over the shelf, camera in hand, waiting for the water to settle down. It did after a few more seconds, the fish having apparently stopped struggling. Except that this was no fish that appeared in front of the biologist, as the sediment clouds settled back down to the floor.

Seungmin gasped so hard he actually choked a bit and had to regulate his breathing again, not wanting to run out of air at this precise moment.

In front of him, curled up behind the rusty old door and with its tail trapped under the shelf, was a boy. Well, since he had a tail attached to his lower body, it couldn’t really be a boy, but he sure looked like one. His honey brown hair, tan skin, deep brown eyes and general upper torso looked entirely normal, if you excluded some anomalies such as the three deep slices on each side of his torso and the orange scales that were littered around his navel, collarbones, shoulders and cheekbones. As soon as you passed the pelvis and hips though, the fiery orange scales started and formed an elegantly long but still powerful-looking tail, the muscles obviously rippling through the whole appendage as it shifted minutely to try and dislodge itself from its stuck position. The caudal fin looked delicate enough to be easily ripped, but Seungmin had a feeling that it was actually sturdier than it seemed, just like the dorsal fin that started at the boy’s lower back and went down to about halfway of his tail.

Now, all of those observations were instinctively and strategically taken in by the diver’s scientific side of the brain, being used to having to classify different types of marine lifeforms in the blink of an eye. But his conscious mind was a whole other deal, as it tried to grasp onto what it was actually seeing.

A merboy.

At least, that’s what he thought he could call it?

What he couldn’t figure out (not taking into account how the merboy’s existence was possible and what repercussions his discovery would have), was just why the boy looked so… frightened.

He was curled up as far as his trapped tail would allow, arms around his chest as he looked at Seungmin with big black eyes filled with terror, his shoulders shaking almost as if he was sobbing.

Frowning, the biologist looked down at himself and realized that not only was he shining his light directly at the youngster and pointing his camera at him, he also still had his knife in his hand. Kicking himself internally, Seungmin put his knife and camera away, and turned his lamp so it wouldn’t shine directly into the boy’s eyes anymore. The human knew he had probably no chance at communicating with the distressed merboy, as even if they happened to speak the same language, Seungmin couldn’t exactly talk underwater. He also didn’t expect the boy to know how to read, so his notebook was also useless.

Resorting to using some general hand signs instead, he approached the cornered creature slowly, his hands up with the palms facing outwards, wanting to appear non-threatening. It didn’t exactly work out though, since as soon as he got a bit too close, the boy started hissing at him. Except that, while his sharp teeth were bared and his nose was scrunched, just like how a cat would look like while on the defensive, the noise that rumbled out of the merboy’s chest sounded more like a low trill than anything else.

Seungmin frowned, understanding that there was no way he would get closer to the boy. He decided instead on fixing the problem in front of him, since he was always good at that, and it would hopefully help his mind process the situation better if he was doing something helpful and logic.

He turned his back to the creature – which was admittedly not his best idea ever – and put his hands on the metal shelf, while placing his feet against the nearby wall. Then, with as much strength as he could muster, he pushed against the furniture, making it move slowly but surely. He heard a whimper behind him, but the merboy seemed to have found some strength back, wriggling his tail once more to slip it out from under the metal. With a few more effort on both boys’ parts, the younger one managed to finally get free.

If Seungmin had managed to smile around the regulator in his mouth, he would have. He turned back to check on the merboy behind him, only to have concern grow inside of him once more. The brown-haired youngster had only curled up more onto himself, tail now firmly tucked in between his arms as he was nursing what seemed to be a nasty cut right at the base of it. At least he wasn’t growling angrily at the diver anymore, but he still didn’t look like he could just go back from where he came in this state.

Remembering the handkerchief still tied around his neck, Seungmin knew just what he had to do. Untying the bandana, he approached the injured boy carefully, presenting the piece of cloth to him. When all he got in return was a confused face paired with scared eyes, the biologist allowed himself to lay almost completely down, letting the weight of his equipment sink him to the floor.

From that position, he brought his hands closer to the boy’s tail, feeling more than hearing him produce a scared high-pitched noise, but he didn’t pay it any mind. Dragging this longer would only serve to agitate the poor creature more, so he took his bandana and, with deft fingers, managed to tie it around the cut, hopefully helping to stem the flow of blood.

Lifting his head to see if he had maybe tied it too tight and hurt the youngster, he was met with wide surprised black eyes. The merboy reached down for his tail, fingers touching the material of the handkerchief curiously. He didn’t seem as frightened now, guarded sure, but not terrified like before.

He let out a curious sounding noise, tilting his head while looking at Seungmin. The diver couldn’t really respond but decided to do the diving sign for “ok”, by forming a circle with his index touching his thumb. The boy adorably followed his lead, replicating the sign with his own fingers. The human internally cooed at such cuteness, unable to deny that despite the situation and the fact that the boy in front of him should logically not exist, he was simply adorable.

The brown-haired boy suddenly jerked to the side, head tilting as if he was listening to something. He then sent what seemed to be a sad look towards Seungmin, but mere seconds later he was pushing himself off the floor with muscular arms and swam away so fast that the biologist didn’t even manage to turn in time to see him twist over the metal shelf and turn sharply to exit out of the room.

Seungmin stayed there for a few more moments, brain still scrambling with everything that had just happened. He was definitely in shock of his discovery and realized too late that he never managed to take a picture of the boy. Maybe it was for the best though?

Knowing that his oxygen reserves were running low by now, Seungmin forced himself to make his way out of the wreck and back to his boat, scanning the water around him all the while to try and spot the merboy one more time. He had no such luck however and, as he let himself float at the surface next to his boat, the only proof he had that what just happened was real, was the missing weight of the handkerchief that was normally tied around his neck. 

Chapter Text

Seungmin had started his day in a rush. He couldn’t help it; he was just so excited to go back to the wreck!

The day before, right after his encounter with… cute boy^TM (he needed a name for him, and Seungmin was not the most creative person), he had gone back home, typed a half-finished report of his findings to his boss and sent it in. It’s only after the mail was sent that he snapped out of his trance-like state, having done all the work with both his mind and body on autopilot. He released a relieved sigh when he reread his statement and confirmed that he had indeed not mentioned anything about the half-human half-fish creature.

For some selfish reason, he didn’t want to share his discovery just yet. Maybe later, he told himself. Maybe if he could get a second sighting to confirm what he saw. Maybe if he could get a picture as proof. Maybe if he could make sure that the creature was actually fine and had not died due to him bleeding and attracting predators. Maybe…

So many “maybes” were spinning in the biologist’s usually clear and logic mind. Uncertainty was not something he delt with nicely, and it had kept him awake all night, tossing and turning in bed. It did however contribute to him having an early start of the day. He decided to see it as a good thing, as he chugged his coffee down and headed out to the harbor.

Getting to his boat and then to the shipwreck seemed like it took just a second, but also an eternity. Seungmin was so lost in his thoughts, and he couldn’t deny all the butterflies that were aggressively flying in his belly, making him jittery to the point of almost faceplanting as he rushed to put on his neoprene suit.

He still took the time to check all of his equipment, knowing that his safety was more important than chasing after a mythical creature. He wasn’t that stupid. He also made sure to take off his bandana this time, not wanting to lose another one to some injured marine creature. The pink one had been one of his favorites, but it was probably serving a greater purpose wherever it was with its new owner right now.

With his camera looped around his neck and his waterproof notepad in his utility belt, Seungmin let himself fall off the side of his boat once more, enjoying the refreshing feel of the early morning currents on his skin. He kicked off slowly in the direction of the wreck, having decided to start his work on the upper deck of the sunken ship.

Although he knew his job was the priority, the scientist couldn’t stop himself from swimming around the boat first, scanning around for any signs of a beautiful orange tail, or some honey brown hair and tan skin. The feeling of disappointment that overwhelmed him as he saw nothing of the sort left him almost breathless; his brain trying to understand just how he could have become obsessed with something – or someone – in such a short time.

Shaking his head in the hopes of getting his thoughts straight, Seungmin forced himself to focus on his mission of the day; cataloging the algae and moss types that covered the outside of the wreck. If he had a clear goal and an objective to work towards, it would keep him from getting distracted by nonsensical figments of his imagination. What happened yesterday might be hard to explain from a scientific point of view, but it was in the past now and shouldn’t be hindering Seungmin from actually getting things done.

So, that’s how he passed his first hour underwater: actively taking photos and writing down notes for his report, seeking solace in the familiar actions that he so often did during his dives.

He was so focused on his work that he only noticed the presence of a large animal behind him as it brushed against his heel. It disappeared under the hull, leaving behind a strong current and a trail of bubbles.

Seungmin twisted his neck to try and get a glimpse of the creature, but whatever it was, it was very fast. A seal or some particularly playful dolphins could be good candidates for the culprit, but somehow, Seungmin’s heart got filled with unexpected hope that there was a third possibility.

Whatever was there with him was hiding though, and the biologist didn’t want to frighten it. Actively chasing after marine fauna was one of his biggest pet peeves. If the creatures wanted to show themselves, they would show themselves in plain sight. If not, Seungmin could always take a picture of them another day.

So, with this motto in mind, the diver went back to taking notes, keeping a more alert eye on his surroundings though to make sure he would catch whatever it was that was hiding when they decided to come out.

It only took a few minutes of him looking at plants and scribbling away before he spotted a peach-colored flowy fin from the corner of his eyes. A grin stretched his lips without his consent as his heart rate picked up in excitement. Yet, he was still scared of frightening his visitor, so he kept on his work, albeit being now exponentially less focused.

When a head of brown hair peaked from behind the railing in front of him, with wide curious dark eyes staring straight at him, Seungmin couldn’t even fake working anymore. He lowered his notepad, putting it back securely in his belt and looked up at the cute merboy.

He was actually back! That meant that he was not a figment of his imagination – thank god he wasn’t crazy– and also that Seungmin could hopefully learn more about him and maybe even get a few pictures.

So, he raised his hand up, gently waving it at the boy. The brown hair disappeared for a second, as the merboy flinched away from view, but bobbed right back up after a few seconds. After some consideration, he mimicked the gesture, waving a webbed hand at Seungmin, head tilting to the side like a curious baby seal.

The scientist made sure to keep himself as still as possible, not wanting to frighten the other. However, this wouldn’t be a problem, as he saw the young boy swim closer to him adventurously. His movements were so graceful; he looked like he was gliding more than swimming and he showed a great display of flexibility by twisting himself upside down and then back around a few times without any visible effort.

If they had been on land, Seungmin would have compared the boy to a fox, slinking around in the shadows to observe a shiny object curiously. Except he was the shiny object in this situation, and this water fox had some very sharp nails and a powerful tail that could knock him down any time.

Strangely, the human didn’t feel scared at all despite the situation. He actually couldn’t help but let his heart melt as he took notice of his pink bandana, still tied around the end of the merboy’s tail. It was covering what looked like a bunch of crushed algae that had been shoved inside the cut, and Seungmin couldn’t help but wonder if the boy had done this himself or if someone else – another mer maybe – had done this for him.

Before his mind could be swept away with the possibilities, the young boy approached him with a smile, pointing excitedly at the bandana and touching it reverently. Seungmin could only nod at him, being filled with a warm feeling of pride at the merboy wearing something of his. The boy surprised him even more as he placed himself in right in front of the diver, and with meticulous focus, replicated the diving sign for “okay” that Seungmin had done the day before. It looked slightly more intimidating, as his curled fingers accentuated his sharp nails, but it was obviously done in earnest.

The human was taken aback by the gesture, impressed, as he also did the sign, showing it to the boy while nodding. The brown-haired one let out a quick series of trills that sounded eerily like a laugh underwater and did a few excited backflips before settling down next to the railing, curiously examining the scientist.

Seungmin guessed that he was probably wondering about what exactly the human was, just like how Seungmin was wondering what the boy was. Deciding to play along, the pink-haired biologist extended one leg in front of him, flipper pointing to the tailed-boy in an obvious offering. The excited glint in the boy’s eyes could not have been imagined as he swam around Seungmin a few times before settling in front of him, gaze focused on the flipper. He cautiously poked it, seeming to find a great amusement in the plastic texture of the contraption.

The human let him play around with it for a bit longer before he extended his hand towards the boy’s tail; it was a question, a request, but not an obligation. He made sure to keep a respectful distance – he based himself on human social interactions for that, because no one had the good idea to teach him about merpeople’s personal space – and kept his hand open, palm up and his gaze locked on the boy.

His message seemed to have passed through, since the brown-haired cutie hesitantly brought his tail closer, his caudal fin just in reach. However, Seungmin prided himself on being a patient man, and he made no move to grasp at it. After a few more seconds of intense eye-contact, a switch seemed to have been turned as the boy nodded, like Seungmin had just passed a test or something. He relaxed his posture, shoulders dropping as he laid his fin in the palm of the biologist’s hand.

It was obviously way too big to fit, overflowing all over the place and their positions were definitely awkward since the boy had to hold himself up with his hands on the deck of the wreck to compensate his lack of swimming. Still, they made it work as they both laid on the deck, Seungmin reverently touching the fin that had haunted him all night, observing the thin webbed skin and the bony spines that made up the structure of the limb, allowing it both flexibility and power.

The peach color was absolutely delightful, and Seungmin could have spent all day looking at it. An idea sparked in his mind, and he looked up at the merboy who was just curiously observing him. With purposely slow movements, he retrieved his notebook and pen, opening it to a new page.

He knew that a picture would render more justice to the beauty of evolution in front of him, but it would also probably scare him. So, a drawing was going to have to do the trick for now.

He spent a good ten minutes on his sketch, at first only drawing the tail but unable to resist adding the rest of the boy’s body. The mer had been confused at first, pushing himself closer cautiously to peer at what Seungmin was doing. Once he caught a glimpse of his portrait though, his eyes widened in excitement and he did one more backflip, before returning at his side, showing off his fins, tail, and weirdly also his elbows to Seungmin so he could draw them properly.

The human had good-naturedly accepted the posing from his model, making sure to capture multiple angles in as many drawings as he could manage to scribble out. The clock on his wrist grew heavier with each minute passing by however, the biologist knowing that he would have to get back up to his boat soon, his air-tank sadly not being unlimited.

When he felt like he pushed the limits as much as he could allow, he sighed in a flurry of bubbles and put his notebook back securely in his belt, looking up at the merboy. The younger had stopped showing off when he saw Seungmin put his things away, a little frown marring his otherwise unmarked face. Hoping to get his message through, Seungmin pointed to the surface and then to himself. The boy’s frown deepened but he seemed to realize that he wouldn’t be spending more time with the human for today, as he touched the bandana still tied around his tail, looking sad. His expression shifted rapidly to one a little more hopeful as he looked straight at Seungmin, showing him the “okay” sign once more, his head tilted in an obvious questioning manner.

Now, the pink-haired dandy boy might have been a marine biologist, but he certainly hadn’t been trained to read merpeople’s body language. The symbol, in this context, could mean a lot of things; are you okay? Are we good together? Will you come back? It could also simply be some mimicking behavior, who knew at this point. But Seungmin took it as a good thing and replicated the sign back to the merboy with a slow nod of his head. That seemed to have been the right answer as the orange-tailed cutie nodded back and, with a little flip of his fin and a grin in Seungmin’s direction, swam away from the wreck, quickly disappearing from view just like he had done the day before.

And just like the day before, Seungmin let himself float back to the surface, mind reeling with this second encounter and all the possibilities that were now offered to him. He clambered back onto his boat a bit less gracefully than usual, but he could care less about that as he took out his notebook, opening it back to the sketches that he had just made to prove to himself that this wasn’t in fact an elaborate dream.

As he caressed the paper, where a sketch of the boy grinning was etched, he could only wonder just how deep his heart was actually going to lead him this time. 

This same weird ritual took place over the next four days. Seungmin would leave early for his dives and meet up with cute boy^TM at the wreck. They would spend as much time together as possible in the morning, exploring the wreck and even the reef surrounding it. Then, when Seungmin’s tank would border on empty, they parted as the merboy swam back to wherever he came from and Seungmin went back up to his boat, to eat lunch and grab a second tank to dive in the afternoon and actually do the work that he was supposed to do.

It was definitely taking a toll on Seungmin’s work efficiency, but he could care less about handing his report a few weeks later when in exchange he could get to swim with a mythical creature. The boy had even started to trust him enough to check up on his wound, where the bandana was still firmly wrapped. When the biologist had checked the cut however, the green poultice that seemed to have been applied on it under the handkerchief had disappeared, and nothing was left behind except a pale scar which would quickly be covered by the new scales that were growing over the area.

As soon as he was done with his checkup, the merboy had insisted on him tying the bandana around his tail once more, seeming very intent on keeping it. Seungmin could only smile and comply in front of those sweet black eyes.

Of course, the scientist took note of as much information about the boy as he could. Still, he did his best to never be intrusive about it. He had managed to take a couple actual pictures of the merboy, and he had so many sketches that he decided to bring a separate notebook that would be entirely dedicated to the brown-haired youngster. He studied his movements in the water, the way he used his fins to propel himself in such sharp and yet fluid turns, the way the gills worked when he was out of breath after a race in the reef…

However, despite all of that new knowledge, and the burning desire to share it with someone who could gush about it with him, he refrained from going public with his incredible discovery. Even his trusted boss Mina had no idea, and Seungmin wasn’t quite sure of why he was still hiding the merboy’s existence from everybody.

A hand waving in his face made him snap back to reality, seeing the one who had invaded all of his thoughts for the past few days smiling at him while pointing at his wrist. Checking down on his watch, Seungmin realized that he was actually on his last reserves of air and had to get back up. 

Usually, this would be the harder moment of their encounter. The orange-tailed boy would always get that incredibly sad look on his face and swam away almost like a kicked puppy. Today though, he was simply staring at Seungmin, waiting for him to move.

Frowning, Seungmin did the “okay” sign – something they now regularly used in between each other to mean all sorts of things – and kicked his flippers to bring himself closer to the surface. His gaze stayed locked on the merboy though, and to his great surprise, the boy’s tail kicked upwards too, bringing him also closer to the surface.

With wide eyes, the human kept swimming upwards, watching in fascination as the merboy followed him, still smiling. It would be an understatement to say that Seungmin was floored, and a bit lost as to what to do once they both breached the surface. He decided to stay calm about it however, and simply managed to climb back on board to get rid of most of his equipment.

The boy had gotten closer to his boat, actually leaning his arms over the low-rise deck at the back, next to the engine. He was looking inside curiously, eyes lingering over all the new objects that were presented to him.

Seungmin managed to put away his tank, mask, flippers and utility belt in a record time, and opened the zipper on his neoprene suit rolling it down to his waist to let his torso dry and warm up a little. He snagged a towel on the way back, aggressively toweling his hair before sitting cross-legged in front of the boy with just as much curiosity in his eyes.

“Well, hello there. I didn’t think you would follow me all the way up here”.

A resounding gasp echoed from the younger’s lips as he stared in awe at the human, who was now wondering what the hell he could have done to offense a mer person so badly.

“You can talk?! Why did you never do it before? I thought humans couldn’t talk at all!” the boy exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, clinging harder to the boat.

“I uhm… I can talk yes, but only on the surface. I can’t talk underwater. But you can talk? Can you talk also when you’re in the water? I only ever heard you make clicking and trilling sounds before!” 

The boy laughed, throwing his head back and revealing his sharper-than-normal canines.

“This is a mess. How about we start back from the beginning? Hello human, my name is Jeongin and it’s really nice to meet you”, the boy presented himself with a teasing smirk, settling himself more comfortably on the edge of the boat.

“Well…. hello Jeongin! My name’s Seungmin, and I have SO many questions to ask you” Seungmin answered right back, eyes sparkling with this new opportunity that offered itself to him. Seriously, he must have saved a country or something in his previous life to be awarded such luck in this life.

The two boys were so excited to get to properly know each other, they spent hours asking each other questions about their worlds, both just as curious to learn as much as they could. At some point, Jeongin had dragged himself fully on the deck, only leaving his fin in the water. Seungmin had been surprised that the younger was so at ease with him that he put himself in such a vulnerable position, but he didn’t mention it and offered half of his lunch to Jeongin, who had made a delighted high-pitched noise in the back of his throat at the prospect of tasting new food.

There was a little lull in their twenty questions game as the midday sun and their full bellies made them drowsy. Seungmin was also partly still on cloud nine, just thinking about all the new things he got to learn with the help of his new friend.

“Thanks for healing me” Jeongin suddenly spoke up from where he was sunbathing on the deck. It had stressed the biologist at first to see the part-fish boy dry up so quickly. However, Jeongin had reassured him with a laugh that he could spend quite some time in the sun before it got too bad for his scales and he had to go for a dip again.

Seungmin made a curious noise in the back of his throat, looking back at the brown-haired boy.

“When we first met” Jeongin clarified. “You wrapped that … thing around my cut. You didn’t have to do that. At first, I honestly thought you would just… cut my fin off or something” he chuckled awkwardly, pushing some hair out of his face. “But no, you helped me out despite me being a stranger and potentially dangerous”.

“Potentially dangerous?” Seungmin snorted. “Please, even a baby seal looks scarier than you did at that time!”

“Hey!”

“Plus, I like that you keep my bandana around your tail, pink suits you” the human added with a wink.

“Banana?”

“No, ban-da-na! Bananas are something else, I’ll bring you one someday if you want” he smiled at the younger’s cute demeanor.

Jeongin clapped happily at the prospect, but the glee disappeared from his face quickly as he looked down at the handkerchief, and then at the water.

“I… actually I should go. I spent too much time here”.

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“It… could be, yes. But you will come back when the sun comes up again, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there every day for quite some time” Seungmin nodded, brushing his now dry hair to the side.

“That’s good! I’ll see you then!” Jeongin’s eyes crinkled so much they disappeared when he smiled, and Seungmin couldn’t find it in himself to be sad at his friend’s departure, not when he made such a cute face.

“Alright, see you tomorrow Innie!”

The merboy spluttered, taken aback and…. was he blushing? But before Seungmin could wonder about this new discovery on merpeople, Jeongin pushed himself off of the deck and dove gracefully back in the water without as much as a splash.

With a sigh, the human forced himself to get back on his feet and put his gear back on, knowing that he’d have some more diving to do to complete his notes for the day’s report.

His afternoon dives without Jeongin always felt much lonelier, much colder, something he had never experienced before while doing his hobby. However, it was also much calmer and easier to focus on the tasks at hand. Today though, for some weird reasons, Seungmin felt a chill go down his spine when he reached the wreck again. It felt almost as if something was watching him intently, following him… tracking him. Turning around, he couldn’t spot anything in the water, and he knew for a fact that Jeongin had gone; he never stayed during the afternoons. Trying to forget the feeling, Seungmin went back to his work, taking pictures of the mussels growing on the rusty metal of the railings.

The dread never left him however, following him all day until he went back on his boat and back home.

Chapter Text

Seungmin was sitting in front of Mina’s desk, his leg shaking nervously as he played distractedly with one of his bracelets.

“Hmm… that’s some very good work, as usual Seungmin-ah. Your research seems to be going very well…” his boss commented, putting down the files he had brought her. “…but you seem nervous for some reason. Is there something happening? You know you can talk to me, right?” she encouraged him with a smile.

“I… well there is indeed… something” Seungmin gulped.

Not for the first time since he came back from his dive that day, the pink-haired boy asked himself if he was doing the right thing. He had had the most wonderful encounter with the merboy as of yet, having discovered the boy’s name was Jeongin and he could actually talk. Not only that, but he had so many things to say and was willing to share with a human that he had barely met.

After Jeongin left, and despite feeling watched for the rest of his dive that day, Seungmin still hadn’t been able to focus on anything else than his plan. That’s how he ended up at his boss’s desk at 6h30 PM, with words burning at the tip of his tongue.

Deciding to get this over with as soon as possible, Seungmin went straight for it.

 “I need some more material for my dives”

“Oh, yes of course! You got me worried for a second there, I thought something was really wrong” Mina smiled, relieved. “What kind of material?”

“Mostly a longer lasting oxygen tank. And I’d also like a full-face dive mask, the ones that allow you to speak through a radio system? I want to start doing logs underwater, it’ll speed up my note-taking process instead of having to tediously write in my waterproof notebook. Plus, the grease pencil works wonderfully underwater but it’s not the best to draw the algae with as much detail as I would like. So, I thought working with pictures and a verbal log might be worth exploring as an alternative”.

“Hmm… well let me see” Mina opened some tabs on her computer, seemingly looking for something.

“Yeahhhh… that’s what I thought” she sighed disappointedly. “The monthly budget for research has been maxed out already. It’s because of the Deep-Sea Research Team and their big ‘secret project’”. She rolled her eyes, looking exasperated. “Not only do they act like superior assholes, but they also ordered so much equipment already that the budget is dry!”

Seungmin nodded wordlessly, unable to stop the disappointment from filling him up.

“But… I might have a second option for you? If you’re okay with it, though there’s no pressure” Mina proposed carefully.

“What is it?” the pink-haired boy’s interest was piqued once more.

“Well, if you have the personal funds, you could either rent or buy whatever you need. And I personally engage myself to have the company reimburse you in the next two to three weeks. What do you say?”

Seungmin thought about it for a while. He could afford that spending, especially knowing the purpose that it would actually serve. So, he nodded firmly at Mina, with a determined spark in his eyes.

“Alright, I’ll do that. I’ll go get the equipment tomorrow morning and I’ll send you the bill as soon as I can”.

“Perfect! Hopefully that will help you out with your research. Not that I’m complaining, your work is already as flawless as usual, but I can’t wait to see what you can do with even better equipment” she winked at him.

The ball of stress in his belly flared up at having to hide his true purpose to the one person that he always could count on. But he simply smiled and thanked her for the compliment.

“Oh, and Seungmin-ah, I assume you’ve checked the weather reports for the next few days? With the storm that’s gonna hit us sometimes tomorrow night or the day after that, I expect you to stay safe and delay your dives if it’s not secure for you to be out there, right?”

“Of course Mina, don’t worry about me, I’m always safe” Seungmin nodded, pushing away the fact that he was already diving with a creature that was probably deadlier than any storm.

The next morning, Seungmin was running slightly late at his usual rendez-vous with Jeongin, since he went to pick up his new gear at the local diving shop. He couldn’t wait to test it out and hoped that Jeongin had waited for him despite his unusual delay.

He stopped his motorboat at its usual place, watching overboard for any signs of Jeongin coming up to greet him while he put on his equipment. He saw no sign of an orange tail but didn’t get too worried about it, since they’ve always met at the wreck before.

Quickly diving down, Seungmin gave himself a few minutes to get used to his new mask. It now covered his whole face from his forehead to under his chin, liberating his mouth from the usual regulator. He could now talk freely, and through a system of mic and radio, his voice would be heard… Well, normally, it would be heard by other divers sharing the same radio wavelength through their own masks. Except that, in Seungmin’s case, he managed to tweak the radio so it would act as a loudspeaker to project the sounds outwards, hopefully so he could communicate better with Jeongin.

Once he was certain that he had mastered his gear as best he could, he started his descent to the wreck, scanning the now familiar metal skeleton for signs of his friend. He didn’t seem to be waiting at his usual spot near the half-disintegrating cabin, which

surprised Seungmin.  Maybe he had made him wait too long and he couldn’t stay? The merboy had mentioned the day before that staying around for a long time could be a bad thing, although he had stayed vague about the reasons why. And there was also that watchful presence that he had felt all afternoon the day before. Maybe Seungmin should actually start worrying for his friend? When he put all of the puzzle pieces together, they did form a bleak picture…

Before he could spiral deeper into anxiousness, a flash appeared on his right and he turned to see Jeongin swimming in a mad dash for him. He looked definitely out of breath, but the strangest thing was that he was holding the pink bandana in his hand instead of having it tied down around his tail like usual.

The merboy went straight for him, barely stopping in time to avoid a collision with the diver. His smile was as big as ever, if not a little strained.

“Hi Seungmin!” he greeted the diver enthusiastically.

Seungmin had spent a part of the prior afternoon explaining to Jeongin how he couldn’t talk in the water, since he had normally had the regulator in his mouth delivering oxygen to his lungs, but also because his vocal cords needed air to function and didn’t work as well underwater. Jeongin had then proceeded to tell him that mers could talk as well underwater as on the surface, allowing the scientist to confirm two facts: mer language didn’t only consist of trills and growls but also included a spoken language, and there were enough mers around to be considered a population, Jeongin not being the only specimen that existed. That notion thrilled Seungmin of course, but when he tried to know more about that subject, the younger had flopped his tail on the deck and changed the subject quite awkwardly, signifying his reluctance to divulge more. It was fine for Seungmin, as he would never force information out of anyone unwillingly, no matter his curiosity.

“Hi Jeongin”, the diver activated his radio to be able to talk, the sound echoing surprisingly clear under the water, though a little bit louder than Seungmin thought it would.

Jeongin gasped, taken aback, before swimming excitedly around Seungmin, his attention fixed on his new mask.

“I thought you couldn’t talk underwater? How did you do that?”

“I bought some special equipment to be able to breath underwater longer and to talk to you” he smiled. “That’s why I was a bit late today actually. Though you were just as late as me?” he laughed at the statement, but the question behind it was clear.

“Oh… yeah…”

Jeongin’s face crumbled into something almost guilty as he looked at the pink handkerchief in his hand.

“Is the reason you were late linked to the fact that you’re not wearing the bandana today?” Seungmin prompted gently, approaching slowly with a kick of his flippers to put his already pruning hand on Jeongin’s soft one.

“It is” the younger breathed out in a flurry of bubble. “Actually… it might be better if I tell you about it. The truth is, every time I left the wreck after our meetings, I would go in the reef and hide the banad... the badan... your gift, under some corals. And then I would go grab it and tie it back on before meeting you back here in the mornings. I just can’t be seen back home with something from the human world on me.”

Seungmin suddenly shivered, the same feeling of being watched that he had felt the day before coming back in full force, making him sweat in his suit and forcing a chill down all the way down his spine. He really had the impression of being a prey, hunted by something much more dangerous than him. However, he forced himself to focus on Jeongin, since the younger was saying something important and he would definitely already be alert if something truly dangerous was around them; his instincts were much sharper than the human’s after all. So, he forced himself to relax, listening intently to Jeongin.

“If I came back to the cave with your gift… the others would definitely scold me for being stupid and reckless. They would keep me inside and I would never be able to come back to see you. You see… my pod can be a bit overprotective someti-“

The merboy was abruptly interrupted as something strong and heavy slammed into Seungmin from the side. It sent the diver flying through the water at a terrifying speed for a few seconds, before slamming him bodily on the sandy bottom. The human gasped in pain as his tank was pushed mercilessly into his back from the force of the impact, his head flying back and hitting the ground with a resounding thud.

Seungmin’s world became blurry, his ears ringing loudly. He had completely lost his bearings, unsure of which way was up or down, or even where the danger was located right now. However, that question quickly got resolved as he felt a heavy mass laying over his body and something sharp press painfully in the skin of his neck, right under his jaw. The diver’s breathing quickened by reflex, his body shaking in confusion and pain.

He could vaguely hear some shouting in the back, but the most prominent sound besides his still-ringing ears was the threatening growls and hiss leaving the creature that had him currently pinned down. Focusing his gaze back with some difficulty, he stared at the face of a boy above him, distorted by anger and maybe also a bit of panic. He looked young, at least as young as Seungmin, and his light brown hair were floating in a halo around his face, his golden eyes looking murderous as he pressed what seemed to be a knife made of bones into the human’s fragile throat.

“JISUNG STOP”

Jeongin’s yell helped the biologist to snap back to reality, and he was conscious enough to witness his new friend barreling into the mer that had just been threatening him. There was a scuffle, during which Seungmin managed to push himself off of the sandy floor, trying to get his bearings back and stop his head from spinning. He was not reassured however, when he saw two other merboys hovering close.

Before anyone could make another move, Jeongin swam right back to Seungmin, putting himself in between the diver and the others and hissed at them dangerously. At that moment, Seungmin couldn’t be happier to discover this new protective side from the younger.

“Back off!”

“Jeongin! He’s a human” spat the one that had attacked Seungmin in a disgusted way.

“Yes, and he’s my human. No one will harm him!”

“Well, I think it’s a bit late for that. Your human looks like he’s not doing so well…” commented another one of the mers, this one sporting a beautiful turquoise tail with black tips on his forked caudal fin. He shook his blond bangs out of his green eyes, pointing to Seungmin.

Jeongin turned around swiftly, examining the human critically. With a wince at the human’s dazed state, he made a quick decision.

“I’m bringing him back to his boat”.

“WHAT? You’re going near that thing?” exclaimed the one that had attacked him. Upon further inspection, Seungmin’s fuzzy brain identified his tail as one very similar to a sand shark’s, with its light brown coloring and thick skin instead of scales.

The boy sporting the tail had a tan skin, almost matching his tail color, and his golden eyes shone with fury. A sash made out of woven kelp crossed his lean chest, a hole inside of it obviously meant to hold the knife that he was now holding in his hand. He also had a bracelet of kelp around his right bicep, outlining his still impressive musculature despite his svelte frame.

“Yes Jisung, I am going near that thing and you better not try and stop me” Jeongin spat back angrily.

Seungmin had never seen the younger this aggressive, and he had to admit he was happy about it, because Jeongin looked terrifying with his sharp nails, glinting fangs and trashing tail. However, his demeanor changed radically when he turned to the diver, wrapping his arms around his waist, careful of his air tank. Then, with a powerful flick of his tail, he started their ascent, his eyes firmly locked on the boat above them, pressing the human securely against his chest.

By now, Seungmin’s dizziness and blurry vision had passed, his head still hurting but at a manageable level. He also knew he would have a good couple of bruises on his back, and possibly red marks under his neck but overall, he was getting out of this pretty unharmed. However, if him being hurt made Jeongin hold him like this, he didn’t mind playing the victim for a little longer. He let his body slump in the younger’s hold, knowing he was definitely strong enough to pull both of them up, and let his head loll on the side.

From the left corner of his eye, he could see three shadows following them closely, and from the right corner, he saw the sun light approaching faster as they made their way to the surface. What took up all of his focus however was what was in his direct line of sight, how Jeongin was frowning and biting his lip hard enough to pierce it with his sharp canine. How his gills were fluttering quicker than usual, and how the few cream-colored scales that were splattered on his collarbones and temples were shining under the sunlight.

Faster than he would’ve liked, they breached the surface and Jeongin nudged him up so he would climb onto the deck. The human executed himself, less gracefully than usual but at least without giving himself any more bruises.  He quickly took off all of his gear, being way more careless than usual as he just let it lay around the deck, his focus staying on Jeongin and on the three heads that were barely peaking over the water.

Jeongin looked back at them too, hissing in their direction before hauling himself entirely up on the boat, getting close to Seungmin’s prone body. The human was half-sitting half-laying, his back supported by the railing; he had long since abandoned trying to reach for his flippers to take them off. The movement pulled too much on his aching back and his head didn’t appreciate him bending down this fast after being hit.

With gentle hands, the orange-tailed boy took off the diver’s flippers and tucked them away, looking up at him with a concerned expression.

“Are you okay? Do you need help?”

“I’m… not sure. What exactly happened back there?” Seungmin brought his hand up to his throat, the lingering feeling of something sharp pressing on his neck still present.

Jeongin’s eyes darkened as he sent a murderous glare to the other mers, who by now had decided to approach the boat carefully.  

“Jisung was just being an overprotective idiot and attacked you.”

“You were in front of a human, not moving or doing anything to defend yourself or hide! What else was I supposed to do? Let him hurt you first?”

The shark mer was apparently more hot-headed than careful, and he didn’t hesitate to put his hands on the lower railing at the back of the boat, pushing himself up to see them better. His earlier reluctance to even approach the man-made contraption seemed completely gone, now that one of his own was inside of it.

“Seungmin wasn’t hurting me! We were just talking! You didn’t even give him a chance before barreling into him like a beached whale!”

“Jeongin, we were worried. We still are. What are you doing hanging around a human?”

The person who spoke next was the one mer that Seungmin hadn’t been able to see properly yet. Now that he could focus better though, he had to do a double take to make sure he didn’t receive a concussion during the earlier scuffle.

The boy was very fair, with long pale blond hair and striking icy blue eyes. He was undeniably handsome, by all human standards, and the mole under his left eye gave him a charming look. As he pulled himself to sit onto the lower part of the back deck, Seungmin could see that he had a three-layered belt made of seashells hanging loosely around his hips, adding to his handsomeness.

His tail, that was idly trading water from where it hanged off the boat, was a bit wider and rounder than the other two, of a dark grey color spotted with white on the underbelly. It also wasn’t made of scales, but what looked more like a soft, glistening skin. All in all, the tail of that boy completely matched the description of a narwhal, and that was probably the reason why he was sporting a horn in the middle of his forehead.

As Seungmin leaned closer to have a better view, he saw how the horn – or was it a tusk? – was not that long, maybe about 30cm, but it was definitely sharp and twisted. It looked exactly like how kids pictured the horn of a unicorn, except for its light grey color, and – oh my god Seungmin should really stop staring right now because he must look like a creep.

Snapping out of his daze, he saw that the boy was staring back at him unimpressed, with one sharp eyebrow raised in a challenge. Coughing to push away the slight shameful feeling invading him, the biologist decided to address the other mers for the first time. It might be a very foolish plan when he was just attacked by one of them, but if he had the opportunity to interact with more unknown oceanic creatures, he would seize it!

“I only met Jeongin a few days ago, back in the wreck. He was injured…”

“What? You mean the cut? The one you said you got while exploring the canyons near the kelp forest?” the horned mer stared at Jeongin, his icy eyes unnerving.

“I couldn’t tell you the truth Hyunjin! You would’ve all freaked out, just like you’re doing right now, when there’s absolutely nothing to worry about” Jeongin pouted, crossing his arms over his chest, his fin flopping wetly against the deck. That image greatly contrasted with how aggressive and protective he had been not even five minutes ago and gave the biologist a mental whiplash.

“I got trapped in the wreck but Seungmin found me and helped me out. And then he used this to heal me!”

The youngest proudly showed off the pink bandana to his friends that he had kept in his hand through the whole ordeal, before tying it once more at the bottom of his tail. Seungmin wanted to protest that he really didn’t do that much, he only tried to stop the bleeding as much as possible but arguing against an argument in his favor would not be the smartest idea ever.

“I had to hide it though, because I knew that if I came back with a cut and a human bana…badan… thing, then you would all freak out. So, I hid it in an alcove in the reef, and I would take it back every morning before meeting with Minnie!”

Seungmin blushed at the nickname, smiling happily at Jeongin. However, his nervousness came back when he saw the critical look that the horned one – Hyunjin – gave him. He still seemed untrusting, but at least he was not openly hostile, and he even looked a bit curious. The blond slipped back in the water gracefully, now that he had made sure that their youngest was not in any danger while he stayed on the boat next to the human. Hyunjin was obviously more at ease in his natural element, and while he stayed close to the boat’s railings, most of his body stayed resolutely under the water.

The shark mer however – that was Jisung right? –, was still decidedly completely against Seungmin.

“No humans would ever help us willingly! I’m sure he did that because he wanted something else from you” he spat angrily. “So, speak the truth now human, what did you really want from Jeongin?”

“Nothing! I swear I didn’t want anything from him! I was just curious and wanted to know more about him, that’s all” Seungmin hastily defended himself, sweating under the morning sun as he thought back to all those moments when he hesitated to put his discovery of Jeongin into his daily reports. They definitely didn’t have to know about that.

“Sungie, calm down” the third mer boy, the one with the turquoise and black tail spoke up finally.

And oh boy was Seungmin not ready for that voice to come out of him. He was also very fair looking, with blond hair just a bit shorter than Hyunjin’s and shiny green eyes. He had a couple of what looked like shiny freckles all over his face which, upon closer inspection, revealed themselves to be a myriad of very small silver scales catching the sunlight whenever he moved. It was all very charming and, if he didn’t have a tail, Seungmin would’ve no doubt believed that he was a fairy or an angel, with such an ethereal look. The wreath made out of colorful coral that adorned his hair also helped a lot with the whole esthetic.

Except that his voice was as deep as the Mariana’s trench, rich and low like a whale’s song. Seungmin was fascinated as he kept listening to the boy, his brain going into overdrive trying to imagine just how his voice sounded underwater, how the frequencies changed and how far it could carry.

“Felix, you can’t ask me to calm down when our youngest puts himself in danger by fraternizing with humans!”  

The newly named Felix sighed, approaching the deck as well, now all three mers leaning over the low railing to stabilize themselves and get closer to Jeongin and Seungmin.

“I have to agree with Innie, you attacked him unprovoked. We have to trust that Innie knows what he’s doing and that he can look after himself. He knows to be careful around humans and wouldn’t have let one approach him if they meant to hurt him.”

His wise words seemed to reach his friend, who still looked angry but at least there was no murderous intent burning into his golden eyes anymore. Then, surprising everyone, Felix turned to Seungmin.

“Are you okay? Jisung slammed into you pretty hard and you seemed to have banged your head really harshly. I can check you over if you want?”

Jeongin nudged the biologist towards his mer friend, nodding reassuringly at him.

“Lix is the one that put the salve on my cut to make it close faster. He’s our healer, and one of the best of the surrounding pods!”

Felix blushed at the compliment, but Seungmin couldn’t focus on that as he sat stiffly against the railing, his back facing the freckled boy. He was definitely scared of putting himself in such a defenseless position but having seen how Jeongin protected him earlier eased his worries slightly. To distract himself, he did what he always loved doing: ask questions.

“Pods? You referred to that as well earlier” he asked Jeongin. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Oh, well we live in groups?  And those groups are called pods. We meet sometimes, to exchange news and tips on the best hunting grounds but usually each pod has a set territory that no one else can cross” Jeongin said proudly, loving to share his way of life with his human friend.

While Seungmin assimilated that new knowledge, he felt Felix’s prodding fingers on his scalp, lightly pushing around the growing bump at the back of his head. He also felt his hair being pushed around, the mer seemingly looking for any cuts or other abnormalities. He was pleasantly surprised to not feel the boy’s sharp claws at all, despite having seen how impressive they looked from afar.

“Jeongin!” hissed Jisung, tail trashing violently in the water. “Don’t share information with the enemy!”

“Will you stop with that, you two-headed shrimp? Seungmin is NOT the enemy!”

“You gotta understand us Innie. I’m willing to trust your judgment if you said that this human helped you and that he is good, but Chan always taught us to be careful. Speaking of which, the elders are coming”.

Seungmin’s heart rate picked up at that, and it didn’t help when Felix’s cavernous voice resonated right into his ear, telling him he was done checking him and that nothing seemed too bad.  

Turning back to face them, Seungmin gulped. “The elders?”

He couldn’t help but imagine a counsel of old mers with long flowy white hair and tridents, judging him and cursing him to drown in some ancient bloody ritual.

“Oh yeah, that’s what we call the three other members of our pod, since they're older than us and we like to tease them” Jeongin smiled at him. “They’re not that old, but they’re a bit too responsible sometimes, it’s not fun” he pouted.

“Yeah, well with how much trouble we tend to cause, it’s a good thing that we have at least a few members with a rational head! Though I have no idea how rational they’re going to be when they learn about Innie’s new friend” Hyunjin smacked his lips, raising a brow at their youngest.

“Do we really have to tell them? Come on, it could be our secret!”

“Sorry Innie, but we really can’t. Hunjin called them as soon as Jisung attacked your human. They were hunting at the border today, so they were quite far but they should arrive any minute now” Felix shrugged helplessly, before leaning over the railing to take a curious look at what was inside the boat.

“Hyunjin called them? How…” wondered the biologist, looking confused and a bit scared to have to meet those older mers.

“Whistling” the said blond simply replied, more preoccupied on holding onto Felix’s tail so he wouldn’t slip and slide inside of the boat.

The scientist’s mind was muddled with all of this new information, and possibly also because of the hit he received. He knew that dolphins could communicate with clicks and whistles over a couple dozens of kilometers, even a hundred for some whales, and that their frequencies were often too high for human ears to detect. He had no idea about narwhals, but he assumed the same could be said for them.

So Hyunjin had whistled, and called his other pod members that were who knows how far away and that were by now making their way to his boat to… Meet him? Scream at him? Drown him? Honestly, all of those answers sounded possible.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when a big wet slap resounded next to him, finding Felix laying on his belly on the deck, his tail folded all the way over his head, looking very confused. Behind him, Hyunjin slipped back under the water with a splutter, before emerging with a scowl.

“Felix! Get back here right now!”

“No, I wanna explore!”

“You’re impossible, you know that?”

Contrary to what he was saying however, Hyunjin hoisted himself up and over the railing as well, rolling onto the deck next to a newly situated Felix who was digging inside Seungmin’s clothes chest. The poor human could only let them do their thing, looking confusedly at Jeongin. The younger smiled at him, holding his hand reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, they’re curious but they won’t do any damage. And the fact that they trust you enough to get on the boat is a really good thing”.

Still in the water, Jisung scowled at his friends.

“Really? You’re getting on the human’s torture contraption? What’s wrong with you guys? He could make it move at any time and take you away!”

“Oh, relax Sungie, you’re really too uptight” Felix grumbled, pulling out a yellow bandana from the chest with a curious noise, eyes wide.

“On the contrary, I think Jisung is very sensible and that you all have lost your mind” a commanding voice echoed from under the waves, making everyone freeze in fear and apprehension, Seungmin squeezing Jeongin’s hand tightly.

The youngest looked worried, but he shuffled closer to the diver, curling his tail up underneath him like a spring, ready to act quickly if needed. The smooth and cold surface of his scales brushing against Seungmin’s neoprene-clad legs was reassuring enough for the human to take in a deep breath and push away the faint feeling that overwhelmed him.

From the starboard side of the boat, where the voice came from, emerged three new figures, dark and foreboding. The human couldn’t help the shiver that went down his spine, making his body shake ever-so-slightly. Since when was he such a magnet for danger?

Chapter Text

The man at the front of the group, the one that had just talked, was very obviously the leader. He had an intimidating aura, that wasn’t helped by the smoldering look that he was sending everyone on the boat. He was very pale, and his curly hair was so light that it looked more white than blond. The inky black tattoos swirling up his arms, shoulders and pecs were a big contrast in color, making him look like a black and white drawing of some water prince.

His tail kept the same pattern of black and white, since he was sporting an orca tail, muscled, slick and powerful. A plethora of scars – new and old – crossed his body, showing that he was a fighter. The size of his biceps, shoulders and abs also helped Seungmin make that assumption, as he couldn’t help but admire the man. The last striking trait that completed the picture of this powerful creature was his eyes: he had a striking case of heterochromia, making his left eye a veiled light blue (almost white) color, while his right eye was so dark that it seemed black.

A very big weapon was hanging by his hip menacingly. It had the shape of a sword but was made out of what seemed to be tachylyte – underwater volcanic glass – instead of metal. The dark-blue glassy surface was wrapped in kelp at the base, to form a comfortable handle. The sides were sharp, the care put into the maintenance of the weapon being more than obvious.

The pink-haired biologist gulped, imagining just how easily that blade would pierce through his body. His earlier encounter with Jisung’s knife played back in his mind, one hand going subconsciously to rub his neck.

To distract himself from the death glare that was currently pinning his body on the spot, he decided to observe the other two newcomers, wanting to evaluate just who exactly he was up against.

The boy on the right side of the leader was bulky. His scaly tail was a beautiful iridescent dark-purple color. It shined prettily in the sunlight and was just as muscular and impressive as his enormous biceps. To complete his look, he had intimidating half-lidded purple eyes, that never left the human.

The glare that he was sending from under his black fringe was downright terrifying, and Seungmin shivered, ill-at-ease. Another obvious sign that was screaming at any onlooker to not trifle with that man was the necklace resting on the merboy’s well-defined chest, made up of a couple of shark teeth. The biologist had no question that those teeth served as trophies, showing off the boy’s hunting abilities.

On the left side of the leader stood a slightly leaner boy, although he was just as fit as the others. His features were sharp, with a pointy nose and slender almond shaped brown eyes, hiding under half-pushed back auburn hair. If this boy was on land, he would’ve easily have been a model, with that slightly haughty look and those smirking pink lips. Except that, when you combined that look with the golden scaled tail that moved purposefully to keep him afloat, and especially with its blood red-tipped fins, the haughtiness quickly changed into something much more predatory. Even the haphazardly cut fishing net that was draped around his right hip completed the murderous aesthetic that the mer had going on.

With a gulp, Seungmin realized that if those new mers did not like him, there was nothing stopping them from turning him into crab food.

“Boys, I think you have some explaining to do” hissed the leader, eyes never leaving Seungmin.

“Why even bother explaining? This human saw us, we have to drown him now” the golden-tailed one said nonchalantly, his tongue darting over his pointy fangs in an unnerving way.

“No! There will be no drowning today Minho” Jeongin said firmly, one hand holding the biologist’s leg possessively.

Through all of this terrifying encounter, the only thing that Seungmin’s brain could register was the fact that the younger didn’t use any honorifics when addressing his elders. It might have been because their hierarchical system didn’t need them; and this very useless reflection from Seungmin’s logic side might have existed because he needed a distraction from the fact that he had a very real chance of being eaten – or drowned –in the next few minutes.

“Are you protecting a human, Jeongin?” the leader asked coldly, arms crossed over his chest menacingly. “You know our rules, we must stay hidden. This human knows too much already, we have to take care of him”.

“Chan, please listen to me. We have no reason to fear Seungmin, I met him days ago now and he hasn’t hurt me once or alerted other humans of my existence. He helped me Chan. I know that you’re against trusting anyone, but at least trust my judgment.” Jeongin took a breath after his fervent defense of the human, his eyes widening and lips shaking, making him look like the saddest seal pup ever. “I would never put the pod in danger, you know that, right?”

The leader, Chan, faltered for a moment, his fierce expression changing into something more uncertain. However, the purple-tailed one was less easily swayed.

“We cannot. These are the rules that we abide by: we hide from humans, and when hiding is impossible, we do whatever it takes so our existence remains secret. We’re going to have to drown your pretty little human today Jeongin. There’s no exception, not even for you.”

“NO! I said there would be no drowning today Changbin!” Jeongin yelled this time, baring his teeth at his elders.

This reaction was obviously not common, as all of the mers present took in a sharp breath or gasped in astonishment.

“Why are you so dead set on saving him Jeongin? He’s no one, he doesn’t matter compared to the survival of the pod” the golden-tailed one asked, swimming next to Jisung, his sharp claws gripping the back deck of the boat.

“Because Minho, he saved me! I was hurt and he healed me. Not only that but he fed me, and gave me a place to rest…”

Seungmin’s memories flashed before his eyes: his meeting with Jeongin, when he had tended to the cut on his tail; him giving the boy parts of his lunch so he could try out human food; him helping Jeongin up on the deck of his boat to lay in the sun lazily while they talked for hours…

These simple actions seemed to mean something else to the mers though, if their dumbfounded expressions were to be trusted.

“And… he also gave me my -”

 At that moment, Seungmin’s ears almost popped with the series of clicks and shrill whistles that the younger let out. The term that the younger wanted to use apparently had no human translation.

It must have been something very important though, since right after Jeongin finished talking, everybody collectively lost their shit.

“WHAT?”

“You cannot be serious.”

“Did I really just hear that?”

“Jeongin that is unacceptable!”

“Wait why didn’t you tell me? I thought we didn’t keep secrets from each other!”

“But what even is it? It’s not like he gave you lots of things, did he?”

Seungmin was utterly confused, and looked at Hyunjin and Felix, still on the deck, whining and tugging at Jeongin’s arms, demanding explanations. In the water, Jisung was slowly swimming away from a screaming Minho and Changbin was fuming while Chan had gone deathly pale (which was a feat, since he already was as white as a paper sheet).

The poor human looked at Jeongin, trying to get some explanations. The brown-haired boy only smiled apologetically, brandishing the end of his tail with the pink bandana tied around it. At his movement, the whole boat went scarily silent as everybody examined the piece of clothing, and then turned to look at Seungmin.

The diver gulped nervously, wondering if his friend’s attempt at saving him would only end with an earlier death than planned for Seungmin.

“Jeongin… you cannot.”

“And why can’t I, Chan?”

“Because it’s supposed to come from the pod, not some random human.”

The leader was talking in a calm voice, but for some reason, it made it even more terrifying. Taking his courage in both hands, Seungmin cleared his throat gently.

“Uhm… what are we talking about exactly?”

“Your gift” Jeongin simply said, pointing to the bandana. “I decided to take it as my…” The orange-tailed boy frowned for a moment, obviously looking for an adequate translation, and settled after a few seconds. “… symbol.”

“Your symbol?” Seungmin understood that that word probably did not encompass a third of the meaning that it had for the mers, but it would suffice for now, until he actually understood what it stood for.

“Yes. All of us have symbols” Jeongin pointed at his friends, showing the kelp wrapped around Jisung’s torso and arm, Hyunjin’s belt of shells and Felix’s crown of corals. For the elders, he nodded towards Minho’s fishing net, Changbin’s teeth necklace, and since he seemed to point to Chan in general, Seungmin assumed that his symbol were his tattoos.

“And those symbols… what do they mean exactly?”

It was Minho who answered him this time, the mer still looking like the one with the most murderous intents of the whole group. And that was saying something when he was swimming right next to Jisung.

“They are a coming-of-age sign, you stupid human. We earn them after going through something difficult and coming out of it victorious. That hardship shapes us and allows us to become full adults. But they are supposed to be given and recognized by a pod, not by you” he spat the last word out venomously.

“It’s true Jeongin, how can we accept that human object as your symbol?” asked the leader. He however seemed genuinely curious about the answer, wanting to know what his youngest would say.

“Isn’t Minho’s symbol technically a human object?” Hyunjin whispered snarkily to Felix. The freckled boy shushed the narwhal with a hand over his mouth, wanting to follow the conversation.

“If you would listen to me, you would see how much sense it makes! Getting stuck and injured in that wreck was my trial. I was lost and scared and then, of course, with my luck, a human had to find me. But I managed to get over that hardship and actually befriend Seungmin, to tell him more about us and bring our two worlds closer together. It’s only fitting that my symbol should be a human object, and also the thing that Seungmin used to heal me.”

The scientist looked at his friend with a weirdly warm feeling inside of his chest. Seeing him getting so protective was really doing stuff to Seungmin’s heart, and he wasn’t sure that he fully understood it yet.

“Wait, what did you say? You got trapped and injured in the wreck? Not in the caverns?” Minho’s glare turned from murderous to anxious in an instant, looking at Jeongin carefully.

“That’s not what you were supposed to get out of that speech” Jeongin mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

Despite the still very tense situation, Seungmin’s mind couldn’t help but focus on the younger’s tail wrapped next to his legs. The scaly limb was drying way too fast for his liking, and he didn’t know how long this discussion was going to last. He looked around the deck and spotted one of the towels he had stored on the boat, laying on the floor, now soaked in seawater from when Hyunjin and Felix had fallen inside the boat.

He knew that moving would put the attention back on him, which could potentially be dangerous, but his worry took over. He reached for the towel, noticing how all the elders tensed, Chan’s hand going to his sword. He simply retrieved the soaked piece of clothing, and placed it over Jeongin’s lap, trying to cover the biggest surface possible.

Raising his head back up, he was met with Jeongin’s blinding smile and soft nod of appreciation, and some snickering from Felix and Hyunjin. Minho was frowning, claws digging harder into the deck while Jisung, Changbin and Chan looked mostly surprised, like this was the most unexpected thing they’ve seen all day.

“Innie” Minho’s voice snapped them all back to the matters at hand. “Where and how exactly did you get hurt?”

“I just wanted to explore the wreck… And I had scoped the place in advance, like you taught me too! I came here for weeks and I saw no humans at all!”. Which made sense, since the wreck was in a protected area.

“So, I decided to finally go inside, and explore, and then I knocked one of those heavy things that are inside, and it fell on me. And before I could call out for you guys, I heard weird noises and I got scared and panicked and cut myself… and that’s how Seungmin found me. But he was really nice, and he got me unstuck, and then helped me with the cut. He didn’t even try to get me back to his boat, he just… he let me go. So, I got curious and came back the day after and he was here too and he was still just as nice and gentle. We got to talk and know each other better, I showed him around the reef, he… invited me on his boat and gave me food.” At that part, the young merman blushed heavily while Hyunjin let out a wolf-whistle, which utterly confused Seungmin.

“In short, he healed you, fed you, sheltered you, and now you’re wearing his gift as a –”, Jisung’s voice turned into the weird combination of ear-popping shrill whistles. “What’s next, is he going to find you a neat little cave to sleep in?” His voice was sarcastic as he lifted a dubious eyebrow at the human.

“Well actually…” Seungmin coughed out awkwardly, nervously toying with the corner of Jeongin’s towel.

“It speaks again” Minho snarked out, clearly trying to intimidate the biologist. But a hiss from Jeongin made him slump back under the waves, with just his glaring eyes visible above the waterline.

With an encouraging squeeze on the biceps from his younger friend, Seungmin tried again. “Well… I don’t know if you can feel these things, but there’s a storm coming, probably tonight or early tomorrow”.

“We know” deadpanned Changbin, the purple-eyed boy looking at the human like he was stupid.

“Uhm... yeah… okay… But uhm… experts say that this storm will be a massive one for the season, and that it will cause a major change in the undercurrents. It’s going to get a lot colder around here and the usual rips and currents of the area will be completely turned around. I just… wanted to warn you guys, so you don’t get caught in it. I don’t want to tell you what to do, of course, but if you’re looking for a place to spend the duration of the storm, there’s a cave system in the bottom of the cliffs on the north-west side of the wreck. You could probably stay there a few days; no humans will be reckless enough to go dive in such bad weather.”

This time, the whole pod looked at him with open mouths, looking almost offended, or at least deeply troubled. And once again, Seungmin had to ask himself why he was born with the useless talent of offending mythical creatures very easily.

“Wait” Jeongin was the first to snap out of it. “No humans will dive? That includes you?”

 “Yeah, sorry Innie. It’s going to be too dangerous for me out there for at least a few days.”

The orange-tailed boy crossed his arms over his chest, pouting. The rest however were still frowning, until Chan spoke up.

“Did you just offer all of us a safe shelter for the storm?” he raised an eyebrow, making Seungmin consider his answer carefully, even though it wasn’t that complicated in the first place. 

“Yes? I mean, it’s just a suggestion in case you need a place. I figured I would propose it to Jeongin today but since you’re all here well… yeah, there’s definitely enough space for everyone in there, I’ve dived in those caves a couple of times.”

Changbin approached Chan to whisper-click furiously in his ear, while Hyunjin made a curious noise in the back of his throat from his position on the deck.

“I don’t think he understands” the narwhal enigmatically said, tilting his head to the side.

“Obviously” sighed Jisung, looking over at their youngest. “Jeongin?”

“It’s okay” the younger blushed. “I’m okay with this”.

“In any case, it means that there will be no drowning today” Felix smiled playfully towards Minho, who only grumbled under the water, making a flurry of bubble appear around him.

The pink-haired diver was very aware that there was something here that he was missing by at least 20 000 miles, but if it meant that he wouldn’t die today, he was fine with staying in the dark.

“At least we won’t have to see his face for the next few days” scoffed Jisung, even though his posture was much more relaxed than it had been previously.

Hyunjin quickly ruined that by dragging himself to the edge of the deck and diving straight on top of Jisung, making them both flail and disappear under the water with a series of undignified screams.

Felix was slightly more mannered, turning to Seungmin with a smile and a little twinkle in his eyes. “Well, I think we’re done here for today. Goodbye human. It was very nice to meet you, I can see now why Jeongin likes you so much… Make sure to get your head checked out by your healer” he added as an afterthought, his deep voice soothing to Seungmin’s ears. He then dragged his turquoise tail off the side of the boat, diving a little more gracefully than the other two.

Seungmin had completely forgotten about his bumped head and bruised back until then, but the mere mention of it brought back an uncomfortable soreness in his body, making him actually glad to have a reason to stay home for the next few days.

“We will talk again, human.” Chan’s commanding tone cut through his thoughts, looking straight at him with a promise in his gaze. Though Seungmin hadn’t been able to decipher if it was a good or a bad thing.

“Come on Jeongin, we need to go.” Changbin signaled the younger, before pulling a disgruntled Minho away from the deck and diving under. The golden-tailed mer hadn’t said anything, but he had left deep imprints of his claws in the boat’s deck, and Seungmin didn’t know if it was to put his mark on it or if it was a threat.

He shivered and turned to Jeongin, wanting to keep his thoughts positive. The brown-haired boy was smiling at him sadly, playing with the towel on his lap distractingly.

“It’s going to be weird not seeing you tomorrow.”

“It’s only for a few days” reassured the scientist, smiling at the younger’s cuteness.

“I know… I’ll be waiting for you here as soon as the storm passes though.”

“And I will come to meet you here as soon as I can” Seungmin promised in a soft reassurance.

Jeongin nodded, seeming more at ease, and took the time to take the towel off and lay it flat on the ground, smoothing out any wrinkles as best as he could. Once that was done, he offered Seungmin one last smile and shimmied his way to the edge of the deck, slipping under the water without as much as a splash.

The young biologist sighed, a mix of adrenaline and tension leaving his body, making him aware of how exhausted he was, as he passed a hand through his now dry hair, crusty from the salt. As he looked back into the water, he startled as he realized that he wasn’t alone just yet, Chan still swimming a few meters away. He was fixing the human intensely, biting his lip, seeming to be deep in thoughts. Not knowing what else to do, Seungmin waved awkwardly.

“Uhm… stay safe during the storm” he called out, hoping it was the right thing to say.

Chan’s frown deepened, but he seemed more taken aback than angry. With a light nod of his head, he dove after his pod, his black and white tail slapping the surface powerfully before disappearing in the depths.

Seungmin sighed tiredly, this time certain that he was alone. And he would be for the next few days. It might be a good thing though, because he definitely had enough thinking material to last him for the next 25 years.

Chapter Text

Seungmin was currently revisiting every single one of his life choices. He was lying shirtless on his couch, pink hair still wet from his earlier shower. There was an icepack wrapped in an old shirt in between his shoulder blades to alleviate the bruising there, and a soft pillow under his head to not put too much pressure on his bump.

He was toying with a small voice recorder, eyes glazed behind his metal framed glasses. After his earlier encounter with the pod, he had gone back home and texted Mina to tell her he had knocked his head quite badly during his dive and would take a few days off, at least for the duration of the storm. She had – of course – accepted and wished him a prompt recovery.

He had then hopped into the shower automatically, rinsing off all the salt from his skin and hair. That’s when he was able to take a proper look at the scratches he had received during the scuffle with Jisung. His back wasn’t that bad, just bruised, and his neck had a thin red line decorating it, but it wasn’t any worse than a cat scratch.

After that, he had grabbed his recorder from the coffee table and flopped on his couch, wet hair dripping over the furniture, and had taken a long inquisitive look on his life. He had met not one, but seven mythological creatures. On top of that, despite at least two of them attempting to murder him, he had survived and hopefully would be able to see them again.

He didn’t want to stop seeing Jeongin, for sure. He had gotten attached to the little cutie, and not only for a scientific observation purpose. The chance to get to see a whole pod interact together was something else though; somehow, it felt like it was something even more magical.

The scientist adjusted his glasses over his nose, knowing that thinking about this was not going to be productive unless he talked about it. He tended to lose himself in his thoughts, but talking out loud was a much surer way to organize his mind.

Raising the recorder to his lips, he pressed the button.

“So… there’s seven of them. A pod, they called it.” He sighs, shifting so the icepack in his back didn’t stick to his skin.

“Four of them are the ‘youngers’, including Jeongin, and the three others are the ‘elders’. The names I heard today included Jisung, Hyunjin, Felix, Minho, Chan and… Changbin I think. For the tails, I identified an Orcinus Orca, a Monodon Monoceros, a Carcharias Taurus and 4 unidentified scaly ones. Their colorings are very unique.”

The scientist extended one hand to reach his coffee table, taking a cracker from the open packet that was laying there. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to recall his earlier encounter properly.

“They were all very protective of Subject 1–“ the word tasted weird on his tongue, so he quickly corrected himself “Jeongin. The Sand Shark one attacked me when he thought Jeongin was in danger, although I suspect he could have been much more aggressive than what I experienced if he wanted to. The two other younger ones seemed trusting enough, mostly curious, though one of them had no problem initiating physical contact to check my wounds. As for the elder ones, they are all very untrusting. All three have suggested at least once the need to kill me.”

He took some time to bite into the cracker, deep in thought.

“I am actually unsure of the reason why they spared me. They seemed pretty set on not letting go of any human witnessing their existence, but as soon as Jeongin shared a few of the activities we did together, they changed their mind. Actually… it was more like they didn’t have a chance but to change their decision, like they actively could not kill me anymore.”

The pink-haired boy toyed with the baby blue bandana that was currently tied around his neck.

“The fact that Jeongin chose my bandana as his ‘symbol’ seemed to be a big factor in that change of attitude. I have to dig deeper on that subject, since it seems very important and possibly a complex aspect of their social lives. For now, however, I’m more intrigued by the reactions I received from the pod when they learned that I was friendly towards Jeongin. I have to make sure to stay unthreatening and open during our next meeting, to prove… my good faith.”

The words of the scientist got choked in his throat and he quickly stopped the recording, taking a deep breath. He knew why those words were so hard to get out. How could he be talking about good faith when just a few days ago, he was still contemplating sharing Jeongin’s existence with the world?

There was still a part of his brain that wanted to share his discoveries, maybe without naming names and places, and without any pictures. However, not only would that be pointless since no one would believe him without any tangible proof, but he would also be breaking the mers’ inherent trust by revealing their secret.

The last hesitations that he had mostly revolved around him sharing his newfound knowledge with a few trusted people, mainly Mina. As he took some time to actually study that possibility, he came to an unequivocal answer: he couldn’t.

He couldn’t break the trust that seven mythological beings put in him, especially not if their lives hung in the balance. Not only because he could already imagine the disaster that would happen if the world knew about mers, but also because ethically, it’s very different to put a new species of fish on display into an aquarium versus a group of boys who have the same amount of logical, linguistical and emotional intelligence as a human. And that was only thinking about the best-case scenario. In the worst case, those boys would be hunted down like animals by every ill-intentioned person wanting to make a good price on their heads.

No matter what he did, he could not tell anyone about the mers. That meant being extra careful whenever her went to meet them, and keeping his notes about them in a safe place, away from the rest of his work.

“I need to make a plan” Seungmin grumbled, sitting up and grabbing his trusty notebook. He quickly wrote a few lines, nodding in satisfaction. It was nothing overly complicated or thought out, but it was a start. He could always devise the rest of his approach depending on how his next meeting with them went.

His plan went as such:

• Not get killed
• Be as nice as possible to get accepted
• Observe how the mers act and interact
• Investigate the symbols (also why they freak out so much if I feed/shelter/heal them)

He made a few other notes, such as how their protective instincts and aggressiveness could stem from their fear of humans. He also could not help himself but write down a hypothesis for which kind of fish Minho in particular actually was. With his incredible golden tail and red-tipped fins, the color pattern could be associated with either goldfishes or bettas… But the scientist’s reasoning for those association might’ve been a bit more biased than just a color pattern. After all, goldfishes had the (unjust) reputation of being dumb and bettas were (very accurately) known for being jackasses…

So maybe Seungmin wasn’t as unbiased as he wanted to all the time, but the merboy had scared him so much with his threats and creepy smiles that he was certain he was going to have nightmares about it for the next few days. After all, Minho had looked way too happy with himself when he suggested drowning the poor human!

Rolling his shoulders to relax the kinks, Seungmin stared back down at his notebook. It had been a while since he had last doodled, and a little visual representation of the pod couldn’t hurt no one, right?

And that’s how Seungmin found himself doodling chibi versions of each of the very lethal mers he encountered that day, while eating crackers on his couch at 10 P.M. It was a definitely better alternative than reevaluating all of his life choices…

Three days later, once the storm had finally calmed down, Seungmin found himself inside of Mina’s office in the early hours of the morning. He startled as the door to the office opened, Mina stepping in, looking tired. She sat down at her desk in front of him, offering him a tiny smile.

“Hey there! Sorry for the delay, I tried to make it as quick as possible, but the Deep-Sea Research team-leader is such an asshole” she breathed out, replacing some straying strands of hair back in her bun. “I just could not get him to tell me why exactly they borrowed more than half of our diving equipment without even asking first! They took it three days ago and I was just made aware of it” she shakes her head. 

The pink-haired boy frowned, sending her a dubious look. “They took diving equipment three days ago? During the storm?”

“Yes, that’s the reason why I didn’t know about it before. He knew I wouldn’t be monitoring the stocks since no one on our team was allowed to dive during the storm, so he just took whatever he wanted, like a spoiled child choosing his toys!”

Seungmin had never seen Mina so agitated before, and even less voice her outright disgust about someone like that. That man must have been one hell of a jerk for Mina to hate him.

“But we’re not here to discuss about that” Mina sat back straighter, looking at her protégé. “I asked you here this morning because I wanted to make sure that you were fit to start back on your dives.”

“I am, I assure you” Seungmin offered her a reassuring smile. “I wouldn’t put myself in danger recklessly. What happened the day before the storm was an accident, and I’m completely fine now” he resisted the urge to rub the back of his head, where the bump had been. “I’ll make sure to be more careful this time around, and I also plan on diving less deep for a few days, to get myself back in the game.”

“Dive less deep?”

“Yeah, I actually plan on exploring the reef around the wreck for the next few days, to see if I can observe any visible effect of the degradation of the wreck on the environment.”

That was a lie. He planned on spending the foreseeable future with the pod, or at least with Jeongin, getting to know more about those boys. He had to give his boss a reasonable explanation for him not diving inside of the wreck anymore though, and that was the best he could come up with. He felt incredibly bad, continuously lying to someone that he respected so much, but he didn’t have any other choice.

“Alright, that sounds like a plan. Just make sure you don’t push yourself too hard, alright Seungmin? I know you’re a driven individual, but from what I read from your report, it’s going really well. Taking it slow for a few days won’t kill you” she winked at him.

He nodded with a smile, knowing she just wanted what was best for him.

“I promise I’ll be careful. I know that if I’m not, you’d be able to get out there and bring me back in the lab by yourself” he chuckled.

“Absolutely! I gotta keep my best worker in top shape, don’t I?”

“Well, your best worker is going to go start his day, so don’t worry about me too much!” he teased her, getting up from the chair and grabbing his bag. He couldn’t wait any longer to go meet the boys for the first time since the storm.

“Alright, run along and let me deal with all of this paperwork on my own, traitor” she sighed dramatically, looking at the piles of files that were invading her desk.

Seungmin only laughed at her and slipped outside of her office with a smile on his face and a spring in his step.

As soon as the scientist anchored his boat at his usual spot over the wreck, he knew that something was wrong. No matter how excited or thrilled he felt about possibly seeing the pod once more, he couldn’t push away the eerie feeling of pure wrongness that crept over him.

The ocean was calm, the sky blue, and no bird cries were breaking the silence. Usually, such stillness happened before a storm, not after it. Seungmin had actually expected to see a school of fish or two, feasting on all the sediments that had been kicked up from the ocean floor. He also expected lots of birds hunting for said fishes to replenish their energy after a few days of being unable to fly, and even a seal or two enjoying a snack in the reef. To say that this silence was unsettling him was an underestimation.

The biologist frowned, taking off his shirt, only wearing his dark blue swimming trunks, and sat on the back deck of his boat, feet dangling in the water. He didn’t know if he was supposed to wait for Jeongin to pop up, or if he had to get down to the wreck. He had actually been truthful to Mina when he said that he didn’t intend on going back to the wreck right away. He did have his scuba gear, but he hadn’t planned on wearing it today, unless Jeongin or the pod preferred to stay underwater for their meeting.

His pondering was abruptly stopped when all of his nerves screamed danger at him. There was a brief moment, in which he saw a dark shape appearing right underneath his feet, coming towards him at a staggering speed. Then, a form breached the water, making an arch high up in the air, droplets falling all over the pink-haired boy.

Seungmin only had the time to look up, discovering the face of a snarling Jisung above him, his claws dangerously extended towards him and his tail blocking the light of the sun for a brief moment. Then, the shark boy fell on him with all of the strength of his weight and momentum combined. Seungmin was pinned down on the deck, his breath taken away by the crushing form of the boy above him in a very similar fashion to their first meeting. The only difference was that this time, instead of a knife under his throat, Seungmin ended up with sharp claws in his shoulders, making sure he stayed down.

The human could only gasp in shock and pain, trying to understand what was happening, cowering at the growling noises that escaped the other boy’s mouth.

“You bastard! I knew you were lying. We should have killed you a long time ago, and I won’t wait one minute more!”

Seungmin saw one of the clawed hands raised above his face, his eyes widening in terror and confusion. As much as he wanted to do something, push Jisung off or even ask what was happening, his brain was still trying to simply compute the current situation and was working way too slow for his taste right now.

“JISUNG DON’T”

A wet slap resounded next to them and another body hurled itself at Jisung, pushing him off Seungmin and rolling the shark boy farther up the deck.

The scientist scrambled to push himself up on his forearms, looking at where the two bodies were flopping about, fins slapping and shrill hisses echoing. Amongst the weird pile of half-fish half-human parts, Seungmin managed to get a glimpse of a coral crown and realized that it was Felix who had pulled Jisung away from him.

“LET ME GO! LET ME KILL HIM! It’s because of him that Minho got hurt!”

“Jisung!” Felix’s voice was quieter than the shark boy’s, but the depth of his tone made it impossible to ignore. “We don’t even know if it was actually him.”

“It HAS to be! How else would they have known, uh? And don’t tell me it was a coincidence, that’s –”

The word that followed was replaced by a series of clicks, but Seungmin could easily translate that one to something akin to “bullshit”.

“Jisung…” Another stern voice called out, and Seungmin almost gave himself whiplash with how fast his head turned to look back at the water. There, holding himself steady on the edge of the deck, Chan had appeared without a noise despite is imposing stature. He was currently sending a very cold glare towards both the human and the shark boy, making the two youngsters shrink back on themselves from his intimidating aura.

Behind him, the rest of the pod emerged slowly. First, it was a panicked Jeongin, who tried to rush towards the boat but was held back firmly by an uncertain looking Changbin. No matter how much the younger trashed, he stood no chance at escaping the grip of the much more muscular merboy. Next to them emerged Hyunjin, supporting what seemed to be an injured Minho, if the algae bandages wrapped around his right bicep was any indication. The long-haired narwhal seemed very anxious, but Minho… The one that had been so threatening, the one that Seungmin truly feared the most… He looked scared. Somehow, that broke something deep inside the human, and he put himself in a kneeling position, facing Chan with his hands towards the ground and palms opened up, wanting to look as unthreatening as possible.

He wasn’t scared that Jisung would try to jump on him from behind after seeing how Felix had somehow managed to back him under the bench on the port side of the deck and was keeping him trapped there.

“Please… can you tell me what’s happening?” Seungmin sounded worried, but he wasn’t sure that all of that worry was only for his own safety. There was something with these boys that made him almost weirdly over-caring.

“That’s what we have to sort out with you right now. And from your answer depends your fate, so chose your next words carefully human.”

Chan’s cold voice made the diver’s blood almost freeze in his veins, and he sent a desperate look towards Jeongin, wanting to finally understand what was going on. Jeongin was looking back at him just as desperately, eyes a bit red, but he didn’t say anything, biting his lips to the point of making them bleed, fingers digging painfully in the arms of Changbin that were wrapped around him.

Seungmin refocused on Chan, taking a deep breath and letting his calm and rational side take over, knowing that would be his best bet to not screw this up.

“Alright, I will answer whatever question you have for me. Please just explain to me what happened that made Jisung jump at me and why Minho is injured?”

“As if you don’t already know! Bastard!” Jisung yelled from behind him, and more wet slapping noises echoed as Felix had to lay more heavily on the shark boy to keep him immobilized.

“During the storm, we went to the caves that you told us about. We stayed there, trusting your word that we would be safe. Yesterday, divers appeared inside of the caves.”

Chan had laid the facts down very rationally, simply saying what had happened. However, it sent a chill down Seungmin’s spine as his brain started heating up from trying to take in all of that information. They had really listened to him and actually went to the caves? They had chosen to take his advice for their survival? And they had encountered divers in that place? Who in the world would be crazy enough to go dive in that particularly dangerous place in the middle of a storm?

“They were clearly looking for something… or someone. They didn’t see us, but Minho got caught in some of their… things. It cut him deep.”

Seungmin guessed the golden-tailed boy had gotten caught in some pieces of equipment. If the cut was as deep as it looked from here, the scientist could only hope that the equipment that caused it was at least minimally clean, and not some sort of old moldy and rusted motor propeller.

“So. Seungmin. Did you tell anyone about our location, knowing that we would be inside of the caves?”

Chan looked deep inside of his eyes, freezing the boy in place. That unvoluntary freeze might have looked very suspicious from the outside, but it wasn’t an admission of guilt on the diver’s part. Seungmin was still trying to make sense of what he just heard. Divers, near the cliffs, during the storm? And on top of that, they were actively looking for something in the caves? Who could it be? Only experts with very expensive equipment could pull that off. Well, Mina did tell him that their diving equipment had been borrowed by… No, it couldn’t be…

“Seungmin!” a sharp call made him focus back on his reality, looking up to see Jeongin looking at him desperately, begging him to speak.

“I told no one” The human assured the pod’s leader, looking straight at him to convey his honesty. “I truly thought the caves would be a safe spot for you, and no one was supposed to be there. I am really sorry that those divers almost found you guys out, but I would never ever willingly put you in danger. I saved Jeongin, it wasn’t to simply send him in the middle of a trap a week later.”

Chan took a minute to examine the human in front of him, a minute that seemed to last an eternity in Seungmin’s eyes. He knew that if the half-orca didn’t believe him, he was as good as fish food. Surprisingly, Chan turned his head a fraction, in the direction of where Hyunjin, Minho, Changbin and Jeongin were.

“Minho?”

Seungmin frowned, directing his gaze at the injured boy. Minho was looking straight back at him, looking less frightened than before, although still very obviously uncomfortable. Although if that was from the presence of a human or from the pain of his injury was uncertain.

“I cannot hear any lies” the golden-tailed boy sighed after a few more seconds, tilting his head at Chan.

That completely blew Seungmin’s mind. Had he actually been accurate in his guess? Was Minho actually part goldfish? It was the only rational explanation his brain could supply, since goldfishes were known to be some of the fishes with the best hearing. That could explain why the pod was relying on him as the “lie-detector” of the group. If his hearing was sensitive enough, he might be able to detect the slight tremors in the voice of a liar.

“Are you sure?” Jisung called from the back, pushing himself on his forearms to check his pod-mate.

“Certain” Minho nodded, now looking more tired than anything else.

Felix shuffled off of Jisung’s body, knowing that the elder’s assurance would finally stop the shark boy from trying to skewer the human. With a grumble of displeasure, he started dragging himself back to the water, his turquoise tail heavy behind him.

“Why did you even come up to the surface Min? You’re too injured for this, you should go lay back down in the kelp nest.”

“Wait!” Seungmin grabbed Felix’s arm on an impulse before the freckled boy had a chance to dive back in the water. The blond looked at him quizzically, head tilting to the side. “I… uhm maybe I could help. With the cut I mean.”

He tried hard to will himself not to blush, sensing the whole pod’s curious and shocked attention flitting back to him.

“What do you mean?” Changbin asked, finally releasing Jeongin from his death grip.

The youngest one happily swam all the way to the boat, half beaching himself on the deck so that he could grab one of Seungmin’s ankles and hold it. It was probably done to reassure himself that his human friend was not going anywhere and that he was not at risk of being attacked either.

Changbin’s expression however was far from Jeongin’s happy face. The purple-eyed boy was squinting at Seungmin, still seeming entirely untrusting. He placed himself on Minho’s other side, helping Hyunjin to prop him up above the water and spoke once more.

“How could you help him more than what Felix already did for him? And why should we trust you with our injured one? You might’ve not been lying earlier, but you haven’t proven that you’re entirely trustful yet.”

“I understand that perfectly, of course. But maybe if I could help Minho, it would prove my best intentions? And I just can’t let someone injured go if I can do something for them.”

Seungmin explained, getting up despite Jeongin’s whine at having to let go of his ankle and carefully stepping around Jisung to reach the cockpit and the first aid kit that was inside. Once he had grabbed that and a towel and water bottle, he went back to the deck, surprised at seeing Minho sitting awkwardly at the edge of it and Jisung staying right next to his side.

He looked towards Jeongin for an explanation and the younger flipped his caudal fin cheekily, pointing to Felix who was now back in the water and hanging off Chan’s arm. The blond seemed to be acting as a natural calming agent, seeing as the tense leader kept himself in control despite seeing his injured member on a human boat.

“Felix convinced Minho to accept the help. He used his big seal pup eyes, and no one can refuse him anything when he does that. He trusts that you can help Minho and…” lowering his voice, he whispered the rest of his statement. “ I think he feels bad for not being able to help Minho more despite being the healer of the pod, so this is like an apology for him.”

Seungmin nodded, his curiosity immensely piqued at hearing all of those new pod dynamics but needing to concentrate on his task. First, he managed to evade a not-so-subtle attempt from Jisung’s part to trip him with his tail, and then lowered himself next to Minho at the edge of the deck, Jeongin coming to sit behind his favorite human.

“Alright… I’m not exactly sure how much I’ll be able to help, I have to assess the wound first. But trust me when I say that I’ll help as much as I can, and if I hurt you or if you feel uncomfortable, you just tell me to stop.”

Minho tssked and mumbled something about definitively not being comfortable right now but didn’t push the human away when he carefully peeled the algae bandage off and dried the area with the towel. Seungmin bit the inside of his cheek once he saw the damage, frowning in displeasure. The cut was definitely deep, but more than that, it was wide. That meant it would take time to heal and although he had no idea what the pod did during the day, Seungmin didn’t think that they stayed in a perfectly sterile and safe environment.

The only option he was currently seeing, to his utmost despair, was stitching the cut. He knew he could do it, since his first aid kit was proficiently equipped, but it wasn’t something that he ever thought he would need to do, even less on someone that wasn’t human.

Examining Minho’s arm closer, he could see a myriad of small skin-colored scales scattered all over the limb. The texture of the actual skin also seemed thicker and slimier. In any case, it was not going to be easy.

“Alright… I think I can help you out but… you might not exactly like it” Seungmin gathered the courage to look up at Minho to explain his plan. “I have some thread that I can put inside of your skin to close it together and help the cut heal faster. But… I’m going to need to pierce your skin to pull the thread inside of it.”

Just saying it out loud made Seungmin turn a little bit green. However, the injured merboy didn’t seem that bothered by it.

“Is it like when a fishing hook pierces your skin?”

The diver was taken aback, but nods. “I guess? I never got caught by a fishhook or anything, but it’s the same concept. Though the needle won’t go that deep, so it’s not supposed to make you bleed.”

Looking around, Seungmin realized that during his talk with Minho, Felix had approached and was now swimming right in front of his injured friend, holding onto the golden tail to steady himself and observe all that was happening. Since he was the medic of the pod, it made sense that he was curious about what was happening.

Jisung was still on the deck on Minho’s other side, holding onto his good arm and using his slanted caudal fin to pour some water on both of their lower bodies, now and again. His worry for his friend seemed to have won over his distrust of the human, and Seungmin was not about to complain!

Jeongin was still sitting behind Seungmin on the deck, leaning over him like personal space was not a concept that he was very familiar with and holding onto the algae bandages that previously covered the wound.

Hyunjin, still in the water, had sneakily made his way to Jeongin and had managed to snatch the first aid kit box. Realizing that, Seungmin had a mini heart attack since the narwhal seemed intent on opening the metal box but he was also careful to keep it above the water, and the latches seemed to give him much more trouble than it should.

“Hyunjin, don’t play with that. Human things are not made to go in the water” Felix spoke up, making the diver sigh in relief when the horned boy pouted and gave the box back to Jeongin, who put it safely on the deck, far from the edge.

Lastly, Chan and Changbin emerged right in front of them. Seungmin hadn’t even realized that they were gone, frowning when he realized that the leader had left one of his injured pod-member alone with him. Was that finally a sign of trust?

“We checked the perimeter, we’re safe for now” Chan reported, getting closer to the boat. “How long do you reckon it will take you to help him?”

Seungmin turned back to Minho, who was examining his arm, long claws tracing the edges of the cut. “Hopefully not too long. I don’t want to drag this on. Although there will be some aftercare that we need to discuss. Also… it should be clarified that what I’m going to do normally works on humans, but I have no idea what’s gonna happen in this case, so let’s cross our fingers for that one” he added as an afterthought, opening the med kit and getting some disinfecting wipes out.

“Cross our fingers? Why should we do that?” Hyunjin asked, awkwardly trying to cross his digits together.

“Oh it’s… it’s just a saying, don’t worry about it” Seungmin chuckled, amused. “Alright Minho, I’ll start by rubbing this over the cut and then I’ll get the thread and needle out and start stitching, okay?”

“I don’t really have a choice here, just do your work human” the boy said, seeming much more tired and leaning his head on Jisung’s shoulder.

“If you hurt him, I swear that I’ll drown you” said shark-boy threatened once more for good measure, baring his teeth at the diver.

“Oh, stop it already!” Felix chided him, slapping one of Jisung’s fins.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let any of them hurt you!” Jeongin’s whispered in his ear, arms sneaking around Seungmin’s waist to hug him from behind.

The human shivered and blushed heavily, unsure of what was happening. Surely this closeness didn’t mean anything for mer people, right? It was probably something they did way more often and in a more casual manner than humans… That had to be it…

A whistling in front of him made him snap back to reality, realizing he was simply holding the disinfecting wipe over Minho’s arm, not moving. Berating himself silently, he focused on his task, cleaning the area and taking the time to observe the difference in texture between the scales and the skin, taking mental notes to write down later.

Once that was done, he took the stitching gear, prepping the needle like the guide inside of the med kit explained. Looking up, his eyes met Minho’s brown orbs.

“Are you ready?”

After receiving a nod of confirmation, Seungmin took a deep breath and forced himself to not think too much about what he was doing, settling into a slow but repetitive movement of stitching the skin.

To distract both himself and Minho, as well as Hyunjin who looked a bit green right now, he did what he did best: ask questions.

“So, when you asked me if it was like a fishing hook piercing, is that because it happened to you before?”

Minho’s teeth were gritted a bit too hard to answer, so Jisung took it upon himself to do so.

“We all learn at a young age how to take out a hook from any part of your body. The number of times someone was snatched by a stray hook while swimming around is ridiculous. So, all pods make sure to teach their youngsters how to deal with a badly placed hook.”

“Some pods also use them for aesthetic purposes” Chan added, pointing to his, Minho’s and Changbin’s ears.

Seungmin had never been close enough before to see clearly, but examining Minho’s ears, he saw that they were pierced in numerous places. He guessed that it was done with fishing hooks, though only Changbin seemed to have some kind of oblong shell inside his right ear. Minho’s holes were all closed, only scars remaining.

The pink-haired boy had so many questions to ask, but he didn’t want to interrupt this moment. He was already blown away by the leader’s willingness to share things about the pod, like some invisible step had been crossed and trust was something that was now actually reachable.

“Pods don’t have the same meaning for fishhooks piercings” sighed Minho, hissing as Seungmin tied the first stitch into a knot. The distraction seemed to help him though, so he kept talking. “For deep sea pods like Chan’s and Changbin’s, human objects are rare, so they are gifted to someone when they do something important, like hunt their first prey or take the mantle of leadership. For the pods of the shallows though…”

Seungmin looked away from threading his needle, discovering a few sad expressions on Jisung, Jeongin and Felix’s faces.

“The pods of the shallows see human objects as something bad that is encroaching on our territory. So, they use them to punish members who did something they didn’t like.”  Minho’s voice sounded bitter, and it was easy to see that he had some experience with the subject.

Seungmin felt weirdly guilty, knowing that it was human technology that was used in such an abusive way. Even if, logically, he had nothing to do with this, he still felt that odd stress ball forming inside of his stomach.

“I’m sorry” he whispered; head bent to start his second stitch.

The pod fell silent, and he could somehow feel all of their eyes on him. Hopefully he could busy himself enough with the stitching that he wouldn’t be blushing. 

“So, what exactly is it that you’re doing?”

Bless Felix and his godsent interruption, the blond boy moving to swim right in front of Seungmin, one hand on the scientist’s foot as he tried to peer up to see Minho’s wound better.

Seungmin smiled down at him and started explaining what he was doing, and the importance of keeping the wound covered and as clean as possible for the next few days. He also slipped in a word about Minho not doing anything strenuous with that arm, even though he wasn’t sure that the boy was going to listen to him. Felix asked a lot of questions, truly interested, and Seungmin was happy to provide him with as much knowledge as he could, even letting the boy take a peek inside of the med kit to see its content.

The others all kind of grouped around them, the boys easily fitting into each other, everybody touching someone else. Their closeness was very endearing, but Seungmin refused to read into it too much. As a scientist, he should always consider at least a bunch of possible theories; their closeness could for example be explained as a way to share heat in the cold waters. It could also be a silent mean of communication, or some survival instinct to always seek the pod and never be alone in the wild.

“Alright, I’m done!” he exclaimed happily after finishing his last stitch and covering the wound with the algae bandages once more. After all, it was probably more water and tear resistant than the gauze he had in his med kit.  “I’ll need to take them out in about a week, and in the meantime, it should be able to close and scar much more easily.”

Minho looked down at his arm, one clawed hand ghosting over the bandages.

“Thank you.”

The words were so surprising that Seungmin had to look around for a bit, before realizing that it was Jisung who had said them. The boy was looking at him straight on, something in his expression shifting.

“Thank you for healing Minho. And I’m sorry for attacking you earlier. I was certain that you were the one that caused this but… apparently, you’re not. So, I’m sorry.”

Some movement in the corner of Seungmin’s eyes attracted his attention and he saw as Changbin’s fin trashed underwater uneasily, his expression laser-focused on the human’s face, untrusting. Something was definitely going on there, but the biologist decided to focus on the positive for now.

“You’re welcome. Don’t hesitate to ask me for help, especially if your problem is caused by something man-made. It feels only right that I’m the one undoing those damages.”

Minho had a slight panicking head movement, looking over Seungmin’s shoulder to where Jeongin was still back hugging him. The human could only feel his younger friend nod against his back, his fin lazily dipping in the water, bandana still attached as always. The silent conversation was intriguing, but it seemed to put Minho enough at ease that he allowed himself to smile a little at Seungmin.

“We have to go for today, it’s not good to stay in one place for long.” Chan interrupted the moment, which was probably a good thing for Seungmin’s fluttering heart.

“Yes of course.”

“Will you be here tomorrow as well?” Jeongin asked, hugging him tighter, voice lazy as if he was going to take a nap.

“I plan to, yeah. And if you want to, we could go diving this time? I love when you show me around the reef.”

His proposition was met with an adorable giggle from the youngest and an approving noise.

“Thank you again Seungmin.” It was Chan’s turn this time to thank him. “For healing Minho, and Jeongin before that…”

The leader let his sentence hang awkwardly in the air, and the biologist understood that this must’ve been something hard for him to say, so he offered them his best smile.

“It’s not a problem. I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Yes, tomorrow.”

Chan’s answer comforted Seungmin in the fact that he wasn’t going swimming with only Jeongin, but possibly the whole pod, and that made butterflies vibrate in his belly.

Seeing Felix and Hyunjin help Minho down from the deck, everyone started getting ready to leave. Jisung surprisingly offered Seungmin a grateful nod of his head, and Jeongin waved at him sweetly, before following the others. Chan sent him one more grateful look, diving silently right after his pod-mates, his giant tail not making a splash.

However, Changbin stayed back, judging Seungmin with his head titled to the side, black fringe falling over his analyzing face.

“You’re hiding something, human, and I’ll find out what it is. I just hope for you that that secret is nothing that will put the pod in danger.” He raised a knowing brow.

The diver’s blood froze as cold sweat dripped down his back, and he could only nod silently, throat tight. Satisfied that his warning had been taken seriously, Changbin dove after the others, the pod disappearing in a matter of seconds.

Seungmin let out a stressed sigh, ruffling his hair. “I hope so too…” 

Chapter Text

Seungmin was going to get to the bottom of this story. He had too. The safety of the pod and his own integrity both depended on it. He had to figure out exactly who the divers from the caves were, and why they were at that specific spot during the storm.

Putting on his neoprene suit and his new full-face diving mask, he looked at the dark water underneath him, shivering in advance. Of course, he knew that when he chose to go dive at 5 AM, the water would not exactly be warm. However, the boys from the pod had told him the day before that the divers had intruded the caves in the early morning, around dawn.

That’s why he was here right now, on his boat, observing the sun rise as the waves crashed noisily on the cliffside in front of him. He had anchored his ship far enough to not be swept in the currents and crash against the sharp rocks littering the area. It was also conveniently hidden behind a giant boulder, making it impossible to spot by someone coming in straight from the sea and going towards the cliff. That way, if the divers from last time came back, they wouldn’t suspect that someone was already there.

Seungmin turned on the flashlight integrated into his mask, anticipating the darkness that would meet him once underwater, and seized his speargun firmly. It was very unusual for him, but he did replace his trusted camera with a weapon for the day. Seungmin might love the ocean and protect its inhabitants, he wasn’t foolish enough to go in a cave system in the dark and unarmed. Lots of creatures could be hiding in there, and he was also at risk of finding the divers the pod talked about, and that these people would be less than friendly. Seungmin preferred to be ready than sorry.

Taking one last look at the pale sky and the shyly rising sun, the pink-haired boy dropped down into the water. He took some time to adjust himself, both to his new surroundings and to the freezing temperature. Once he knew his up from his down again, Seungmin kicked his flippers lazily, knowing the currents would naturally push him towards the caves.

His goal for the day was to either find the divers and spy on them – which was unlikely for the moment, since no other boats were present near the cliffs – or explore the caves and gather every hint he could find as to why the divers would’ve come there in the first place and see if they left anything behind them. Another little part of him was also curious to see if he could spot clues of the mers occupation of the place, so he was also going to keep an eye out for that eventually.   

The caves were not that low under the water level, but they were wide and deep, and most of all, multiple. They created a maze of small and big underwater alcoves connected by small passageways, which could become very confusing very fast. To eliminate the possibility of getting lost, Seungmin had tied a lifeline to his boat, the rope trailing behind him and allowing him to backtrack whenever he needed to, without losing his way.

Once inside the caves, it was just as dark as he had anticipated. Nothing stood out of the ordinary, however. There was no piece of equipment left by the previous diving team, not even a hint that they came inside the place. As for the mers’ occupation of the caves, the only hint he could spot were a few floating pieces of algae. Seungmin remembered their previous discussions, when Felix had mentioned a kelp nest. It was apparently the place where they slept, and it made sense to find randomly ripped pieces of vegetation in the cave if the boys had used it to make themselves some kind of beds.

Sighing in disappointment, Seungmin decided to head back out. He wasn’t learning anything interesting, and the darkness and enclosed space was starting to seriously give him the creeps.

Retracing his steps with the help of the lifeline, the diver took his time to look around him, having only rarely explored the waters around the cliffs. It definitely was a dangerous spot, due to the strong currents and sharp rocks, making the risk of getting slammed into a stonewall very likely. However, the flora and fauna of this area were positively thriving. The kelp was very healthy, the anemones were flourishing with fishes of all kinds, small octopuses hiding in the rock formations and seahorses hanging onto the coral branches. Shoals of seaweed clung to the underwater cliffsides, making it look like big, soft and colorful pillows. Those wonderful sceneries never missed to remind Seungmin exactly why he had fallen in love with the ocean in the first place.

His heart almost skipped a beat when, just a little farther in front of him, in the murky water, he spotted a rare sight. An Acipenser sinensis, also known as the Chinese sturgeon, right there, in front of him, scavenging on the sandy bottom to find some larvae to eat. Those fishes were part of the list of the top 10 most endangered fish species in the world, and mostly stayed in the Yangtze River in China, where measures were put in place to protect them. To observe a specimen here, so far away from the Chinese coast, was incredible!

Seungmin’s nerdy heart couldn’t stop freaking out over this happy discovery, so much so that he almost missed the subtle movement coming in from his right side. Quickly turning his head, his flashlight illuminated a long, dark form in the water. Easily 2 meters long, and moving swiftly, that creature was a predator for sure. And seeing how it was turning around the Chinese sturgeon, it had apparently decided what his next prey was going to be.

A flash of white reflected back to Seungmin when his light shone on the creature at the perfect angle, allowing him to see sharp glistening teeth and black markings on grey scales. This was a Sphyraena barracuda, the biggest type of barracuda that existed. Of course, that was the one that Seungmin had to encounter today. Those giants were scavengers but tended to also be very much blind, and sometimes mistook shiny things and swimmers for some prey that they could take a bite out of.

The pink-haired boy deduced that he would be safe for now, since the big predator had already spotted another, more appetizing prey. However, Seungmin’s consciousness (and mostly his eco-consciousness) could not let the barracuda eat the Chinese sturgeon, not when they were so rare and that one of them had managed to find his way into Korean waters. It might have been a sign of repopulation, and that would be wonderful for the whole species! Plus, Sphyraena barracudas were not particularly in any danger, being very common and thriving all-over the oceans.

His decision was made. Seungmin brought his speargun up, taking some time to stabilize his aim and waiting for the opportune moment. As soon as the barracuda slowed down and that Seungmin had a nice, clear shot, he pulled the trigger. However, he hadn’t taken into account the strong currents that pulled him to the side slightly, making him miss his shot. The harpoon only managed to graze the big fish, making him turn back around, snapping its jaw angrily. At least, the sturgeon got alerted by all of this ruckus and swam away at the speed of light, disappearing in the murky water quickly.

However, Seungmin was now stuck with an angry barracuda that stood in between him and his ship, and the scavenger had apparently just spotted the shining reflection of his flashlight, zoning in on him quickly.

Now, the thing with spearguns was that they only had one “shot”. You simply had one harpoon, attached to the speargun through a line. The idea was to shoot a fish, reel it in using the line of the harpoon and then reload the gun with that same harpoon.

For all the good that did in theory, Seungmin’s harpoon was now just slowly sinking down to the sandy bottom, and there was no way he could reel it back and load it in time to shoot the barracuda a second time. Thinking fast (having a giant fish with its teeth bared swimming straight at you helped in that department), the pink-haired diver got his diving knife out, the one that was always strapped to his thigh, and put it in front of his flashlight, reflecting the light on the blade.

The sudden shiny distraction made the barracuda diverge his course slightly, now going towards Seungmin’s right side instead of straight at him. Using that to his advantage, the biologist twisted his body completely out of the way and stuck his blade right under the barracuda as it passed by him, effectively cutting its belly open and wounding it fatally. With a few more trashing from the predator’s part, it finally slumped, staying still, dead.

Seungmin took some time to let his wildly beating heart calm down, not having expected such a quick escalation of the situation. When he couldn’t feel the blood thrumming inside of his ears anymore, he reeled in his harpoon, reloading it in the speargun. He then made his way over to the sinking corpse of the barracuda. He could’ve left it there, allowing other scavengers to take care of the body. However, now that he had some time to think clearly, he could see a second option offering itself.

With a grunt, he took the barracuda’s tail and heaved it over his shoulder as much as he could, given the circumstances. He then made his way over to his boat, a bit faster than before, not wanting nearby predators to sense the blood and come after him again.

Once he breached the surface next to his ship, he slid his gun over the deck, and then sat himself on the edge, hands still wrapped around his prize’s tail. With a mighty grunt, he heaved the fish up, throwing his body back to help with the momentum and get the barracuda onto the deck. He had to do it at least twice more, and then shuffle it some more to have it fit entirely inside of his boat, but, with a proud smile, he finally managed to do it, patting himself on the back for his hard work. He was panting and exhausted, but hopefully, all of these efforts would bear some great results. Now, he could only pray that the next part of his plan would go smoothly.

When he anchored his boat for the second time that morning, it was back at his usual place, right over the shipwreck. Due to his little detour and unexpected adventure of the morning, he had arrived slightly later than usual, but not by much.

Still, he barely had time to cut off the motor that a head popped out of the water, and then Jeongin was climbing onto the back deck, a frown on his face. Seungmin quickly joined him, stepping over the barracuda’s carcass to get to his friend. As soon as he crouched down to get to Jeongin’s level, the younger grabbed his wrist, pouting.

“Seungminnie! You’re late! Are you okay? Did something happen? Why do you have a –” a series of low whistles left the boy’s lips “– on your boat?”

“You mean the barracuda? I went for a swim this morning, I thought I would have the time for a few laps before coming to see you guys” Seungmin explained, hating to lie to his friend but not wanting to alarm him with his visit to the caves. “Except that I ended up meeting this one on my way back.” He pointed at the fish. “I had to harpoon it, but I thought I could bring it back to you guys instead of just leaving it out there. Do you… do you like barracuda meat?”

Jeongin’s eyes brightened up with a special twinkle, the one that made him look like a little kid on Christmas morning, just full of pure joy and excitement.

“You hunted the ba…rrracoudaa on your own?” He asked, struggling a little with the human term. “The pod won’t believe it…” A huge grin spread his lips and his trademark sweet giggle made Seungmin’s heart flutter. “Come on, you have to show them! They’re waiting for you under! You can put on your breathing things today, right?” 

The scientist quickly nodded, already having his neoprene suit on. “Yeah, just let me grab my tank, flippers and mask, and I’ll be right there!”

Jeongin stayed perched on the back deck, his orange tail lazily flicking in and out of the water as he observed the human getting ready. Seungmin blushed a little under the scrutinizing glance, but he knew it was simple curiosity, so he hurried to make all of the necessary checks before finally putting on his mask and testing the radio to make sure Jeongin could hear him properly.

“Alright, I’m all set. It’s always a bit awkward for me to dive off the boat with all that gear though, so could you grab the barracuda for me?”

To his relief, his voice sounded loud and clear through the mask, and Jeongin nodded with a grin, one clawed hand grabbing the carcass’ tail, yanking it off the deck with one strong pull. Seungmin gulped at the involuntary demonstration of strength, which was such a contrast to the merboy’s sweet character. Knowing just how long it had taken him to get that damned fish on his boat, all the struggles and heaving he had gone through, for Jeongin to just swipe it back in the water in one pull… it was a lot to think about.

Blinking, he realized the merboy was hovering right beside the boat, still holding onto the barracuda, with his head tilted on the side, watching him curiously.

“Minnie, are you coming? The others can’t wait to see you again! And we haven’t swam together in so long!”

There it was again, that cute pout. The duality of that boy was going to be Seungmin’s downfall, for sure. Sighing, he snapped himself out of his clouded mind and made his way to the edge of the ship, letting himself fall overboard with a resounding splash.

It was in those moments that he realized just how impressive it was that the pod always seemed to sneak on him with those giant tails of theirs, when he couldn’t so much as kick one flipper without making a huge tornado of bubbles behind him.

Once he got his bearings back, he smiled at Jeongin and gave him his little “okay” sign, for old times sakes. It didn’t matter that “old times” referred to barely over a week ago, Seungmin had the right to feel nostalgic okay?

Jeongin mirrored the sign excitedly and swam closer, holding up the barracuda’s tail for Seungmin to take.

“Here, it’s your catch, you should be the one showing it off to the others”.

The grin that accompanied the orange-tailed boy was a bit suspicious, but Seungmin couldn’t see anything wrong with presenting his gift to the boys himself so he took the fish, grunting a bit at the sudden weight that dragged him down. That barracuda must’ve weight at least 45kg. Seungmin looked around, searching for the pod but not spotting any of them.

“They’re waiting a bit farther, where the reef meets the deep end” Jeongin explained, wrapping his hands around the diver’s waist to prevent him from sinking down entirely to the bottom due to the added weight. He kicked them forward with a powerful stroke of his tail, bringing them away from the wreck and farther into the reef, down south where the corals and boulders got sparser and the seabed turned into a mix of sand and rocky outcrops.

It took the biologist a few seconds, but he finally spotted the other merboys. They were expertly blending in their environment, so much so that Seungmin had to do a double take at a few of them to make sure it really was a mer and not a rock.

The brightly or pale colored ones – namely Felix, Minho and Jisung – were staying inside of the reef. Minho and Jisung’s golden and sandy colored tails blended perfectly with the orange-ish tones of the corals surrounding them, while Felix stayed closer to the surface, swimming above all of them so that when you looked up towards him, his turquoise tail seemed to be one with the sky.

The dark colored ones – Hyunjin, Chan and Changbin – preferred to stay near the drop off, where the shallows turned into a deeper and rocky seabed. The shadows of the rock formations made it easier for them to not be spotted, playing with the light and darkness surrounding them. They were truly adapted to their environment, and Seungmin could only gape at them as his scientific ass fangirled quite embarrassingly in a corner of his brain.

“I brought him!” shouted Jeongin, snapping the pink-haired human out of his trance as his friend waved his pod-mates over to them. Jeongin didn’t let go of his waist though, which Seungmin strangely appreciated.

There was a flurry of bubbles and, suddenly, the human found himself surrounded by merboys on all sides.

“That thing around his head… is it making him able to breath underwater?” Chan asked first, examining Seungmin’s gear suspiciously.

“Yes, and he can even talk to us with it!” Jeongin explained excitedly.

“A human talking underwater? Really?” Jisung scoffed, unbelieving.

“It is a quite new technology, but we managed to make it happen, yes” Seungmin said, watching with a certain satisfaction as the shark boy’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Well, you’re certainly resourceful” Chan laughed, patting Jisung’s shoulder to get him to stop gaping.

“Ooouh what is this? A snack?” Hyunjin asked, noisy as always, curiously swimming closer to the barracuda that Seungmin was still valiantly holding by the tail.

“Actually yes. I hunted it this morning, and I thought you guys would maybe like it?” Seungmin offered the narwhal a small smile.

A squeak echoed on his left, making him turn around and observe a blushing Changbin. “You hunted that alone?” The flustered boy tried to regain some dignity by standing straighter, but his cracking voice didn’t help him.

“Uhm… yeah. It was a bit of a hassle, but I managed” Seungmin smiled. “I hope you’ll like it.” The human extended the barracuda towards Changbin with some difficulty, inviting him to dig in.

However, instead of taking it as the human expected, the purple-tailed boy swam away, quickly ducking under a giant coral inside of the reef. Seungmin’s eyes widened in incomprehension, his brain once again complaining about his talent to offend mythical creatures. By now, he probably held the Guinness World Record for the most involuntarily offensive person on earth and underwater.

Laughter coming from around him made him rethink this however, as he observed Felix holding his belly in laughter and Minho leaning against Hyunjin in a vain effort to stay up straight, giggles escaping their lips.

“Uh… was it something I said?” 

“Yes” Chan smiled, coming closer to him and taking the barracuda from Seungmin’s weak and tired arms. “You offered Changbin a prey that you hunted alone and specifically for us. Jeongin, was that…?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’m the one that told him to bring it here and offer it to you guys” Jeongin smiled brightly at his leader, and something in Chan’s expression seemed to relax as he ruffled the youngest’s hair.

“And… you’re offering your catch to the whole pod?” the leader clarified, this time turning to Seungmin, who nodded in affirmation. Something weirdly soft passed in the orca boy’s gaze, before he let out a loud whistle, calling the others back to attention. “Alright boys, let’s dive in and finish this before someone else smells it and decides to steal our snack!”

At his words, all the boys rushed to Chan, ravenously eating out of the carcass, their claws taking out chunks of flesh and their sharp teeth doing quick work of reducing it all to nothing in barely a few bites.

The pink-haired boy watched in fascination, observing how, despite their frenzied pace, they still made sure that everyone had an equally big portion, exchanging some parts to fit their preferences. Apparently, Minho quite enjoyed the fins while Felix was feasting on the barracuda’s head.

This scene quickly reminded the diver just how lethal these creatures truly were, and how unconscious he was to be freely swimming with them. But Seungmin had always been a bit unconscious when it came to the things he loved, so this was no exception.

He did startle when Chan came to his side, with a big smile showing off his fangs. He was holding what seemed to be the tail of the barracuda and offered it to Seungmin.

“Oh… no thanks, I can’t really eat this underwater” the diver apologized, hoping he wouldn’t offend the leader.

Chan just laughed at him, pushing the piece of fish into Seungmin’s hands.

“It’s not for you, silly, it’s for Changbin. He’s still hiding under that coral; you better go and give this to him, or he’ll grumble all day that we ate it all without saving him anything.”

“But… but I thought he didn’t like this? I mean, I’m not sure if it’s me that he doesn’t like, or if it’s the fact that I hunted something and offered it to you guys, or if he just doesn’t want to eat it with me here… But he certainly looked like something in this whole situation didn’t please him.”

“You really are clueless, uh? I guess we can’t exactly blame you for it” sighed Chan. “Just… trust me and go give this to him, he’ll appreciate it.”

He shoved the tail in Seungmin’s arms this time, before swimming back to the rest of the pod who was enjoying the last of their feast. The poor human was feeling really lost, but Jeongin caught his gaze. The younger smiled brightly at him and gave him an encouraging nod, pointing towards the big coral cluster where Changbin’s dark tail was peeking out.

Choosing to trust his friend, as well as Chan – surprisingly – the scientist made his way to Changbin’s hiding place slowly, not wanting to spook him.

“Hey” he called out once he was in front of the boy, extending his offering in front of him. “I got you something, since you didn’t wanna eat with the others. Do you want it?”

Changbin’s angular face popped up from between the corals, a suspicious look on his face although his ears were still very red.

“Why?”

“Why what? Why did I bring you food?”

“Hmm”

“Well… Chan said you’re grumpy when you don’t eat. And I also didn’t want you to miss out on something that all the others got to have” the diver admitted softly. “I know that you don’t particularly like or trust me. I just…”

Changbin cut him off by finally leaving his hiding place, carefully approaching him. His slow pace made something in Seungmin’s chest flutter, and his heart beat faster. It wasn’t fear, but he couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was.

Finally, the merboy extended his hand and took the tail from Seungmin’s grasp, bringing it to his lips and gnawing at it distractedly. After a moment, he seemed to gather his thoughts enough to look at the human with a little frown.

“In the depths… hunting is considered a really important task. Especially if you hunt not only for yourself but for the whole pod as well. The bigger the catch, the bigger the prestige. And… you hunt it alone, too… It’s just… surprising. I didn’t expect that from you” he managed to explain after a bit. “You had no reason to do this for us and yet, you did. I’m trying to understand why?”

“Honestly? I wasn’t really hunting that barracuda, it was more like he came straight at me, jaws open and at full speed. So… it was more of a self-defense type of situation” Seungmin explained with a little wince. “But once I killed it… well I just thought you guys could enjoy a snack, so why should I waste it, you know? It wasn’t really thought out, it was more of a spur of the moment thing.”

“You’re a weird human, Seungmin” Changbin stated, looking at the diver as he bit into the tail, chewing a big chunk of it. “You do weird things; things that you don’t realize just how much they mean to others. But Minho told us that you were sincere in everything you told us up till now and… you don’t seem like you want anything bad from us. So, for now… I’ll enjoy the food” he grumbled, cheeks reddening, leaving the true meaning of his words unsaid. For now, I’ll trust you.

But Seungmin understood what the reserved boy was trying to tell him and smiled happily. “Thanks! It means a lot if… you can enjoy the food” he chuckled. “Now how about you guys show me around the reef, hm? It’s what you promised me yesterday after all.”

“Yes, let’s go on a swim!” yelled Jeongin, zooming towards Changbin and Minho with a bright smile on his face.

With a start, the human realized that with their super good hearing, the other members of the pod had probably heard all of his conversation with Changbin. However, they still gave them a semblance of privacy and Seungmin appreciated the gesture.

“Ouh! Can we show him the mossy spot near the kelp forest?” Hyunjin asked excitedly, shaking his head to push his hair out of his face and almost nicking Jisung’s undertail with his horn at the same time.

“Hey! Watch out!”

No one paid the shark boy any attention as Felix swam under Jeongin and Seungmin, peering up at them.

“Yes, we should bring him to our nesting spot! There’s also the big starfish colony right next to it that is so pretty to watch, we have to bring Minnie there!”

Seungmin blushed at the nickname. Apparently, Jeongin had spread it to the rest of the pod, and the diver found that he didn’t mind it that much.

“Yah! Let’s go slow okay, he’s still human!” Minho scolded the youngers, approaching Seungmin tentatively and tapping one clawed finger onto the scientist’s air tank. “Jeongin told us this is what you use to breath. And I’m guessing it’s not going to last forever, right?”

“Yeah, I have around 2 hours of air with that gear. So, as long as your spot is not too far, I can definitely swim there, spend some time looking around and then swim back.” Seungmin explained, touched that Minho cared enough about him to think about his very human needs.

“The place the kids want to show you is not too far, but if you ever need to go back up, you just tell us” Chan said from behind them, offering the diver a reassuring smile.

“Anyways, I’ll stay right by your side and if you need help you can just lean on me” Jeongin smiled sweetly, wrapping his arms around Seungmin’s waist like he had done earlier.

“Can we stop chit-chatting and go to the nesting spot already? My belly’s so full, I need a nap” grumbled Jisung, tugging Changbin with him to swim towards what the human supposed was their nesting place.

The others didn’t need any more prompting and started swimming after them. It was at that moment that Seungmin was very glad that Jeongin was holding onto him and helping him keep up the pace, because their muscular tails definitely moved faster and propelled them farther than his two puny little flippers ever could. He wrapped one arm around Jeongin’s neck to help stabilize him and pretty much let himself be dragged around, loving the feeling of gliding through the water at such a speed.

On his left, Minho swam closer to them, relaxed. However, Seungmin’s gaze was drawn to the algae bandage adorning his arm.

“How are the stitches holding up?” He asked, not too loud but hopefully loud enough for the golden-tailed boy to hear.

He did, since he turned a questioning face towards the human, and then to his arm.

“For the cut, you mean? It’s pretty effective. It’s holding the wound closed and mostly clean, though it tugs whenever I try to move my arm around.”

“Which is why you’re not supposed to move your arm around” Seungmin deadpanned, making Jeongin giggle.

“Minho is pretty stubborn; he never lets an injury stop him from doing anything.”

“Tchh, it’s not like a little cut will stop me anyways. And with you and Felix taking care of it, it’ll be gone in no time. You… did a good job with it” he added as an afterthought, in a soft voice, looking everywhere but at the human.

“Still, make sure to not use that arm too much for the next few days, okay? I’d hate to see all my hard work go to waste” Seungmin frowned, scolding the older boy lightly.

Minho grumbled but didn’t answer back, which the diver took as a win. They were soon joined by Felix, who swam right underneath them, smiling brightly up at the human.

“You’re special you know? Managing to tame both Minho and Changbin like that, one right after the other? I think it’s a feat that only Chan managed to accomplish before you!”

“Yah! Shut your mouth, fish face!” threatened Minho, sending a menacing glare to the freckled merboy.

From in front of them, the little group could hear Changbin yelling something that sounded like “what was that about taming? I’m not tamed! No one can tame me!”, which was quickly interrupted by Jisung taunting him and swimming faster, forcing Changbin to pick up his pace to keep arguing with him.

“Boys, play nice!” a worried Chan sped after the two in the front, going to check on them.

“He sounds like a father…” Seungmin spewed out without really thinking, observing how the orca boy was checking over his protégés.

“Well… not really a father, but he’s definitely over-protective” Hyunjin commented, coming in from Jeongin’s right side. “After all, he personally brought each of us to join his pod, so he has a tendency to look over us a little too closely.”

“Don’t say you don’t appreciate it when you do something stupid and that Chan comes to your rescue” Minho deadpanned from the left.

Hyunjin let out a series of clicks that apparently had been at least a little bit offending, if Minho’s expression was anything to go by. Right before the older could snap back though, Seungmin decided to ask what had been on his mind ever since he had met the pod.

“Actually… I was curious about that. About how you guys all got together. You talked about being from different pods before this, right? And you also seem to be from… uhm… different populations?” Seungmin hoped his question wasn’t too awkward, unsure of how he should formulate it to be politically correct. However, with his luck, he knew he was going to offend at least one person so it’s not like it mattered that much anyways.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Jeongin asked curiously, tightening his hold on Seungmin’s waist while keeping them going at a steady pace through the water. “I mean we all look so different, I thought it would be evident to guess that we don’t come from the same place.”

“Maybe it’s different on land?” offered Felix, perking up at the opportunity to learn more about humans. “Do you have different looking people living together?”

“Yeah… we do. Let’s say it’s kind of a more recent development in our history, but now we do tend to mix together. You guys don’t?”

“Pods are very conservative, you know?” This time it was Hyunjin that answered, a somber look passing over his face. “Mers of the same pod should always stick together, and the different populations hate to mingle. Lots of leaders still think that, in order to fit well with the pod, you must look and behave like all of the other pod members.”

“But Chan doesn’t think that way.” For once, Seungmin wasn’t asking a question, he was stating a fact.

“Chan doesn’t” confirmed Felix, swimming upwards to fit himself right next to Hyunjin, lacing their arms together and matching their tail strokes so they were moving in perfect synchronization.

Felix gave a friendly head butt to Hyunjin’s shoulder, which had the wanted effect of making the narwhal smile a bit, before the deep-voiced mer explained what he meant to Seungmin.

“Like Jinnie said, pods tend to stick together, and species rarely mingle together. However, our pod is different. Chan found us all, one by one, and took us in, simply because we were lost and needed a home. He didn’t care who we were, or where we were from. If you have a good heart, and you need a home, Chan will take you in. It’s pretty much instinctive for him” he chuckles, looking forward to where their leader was playfully chasing a squealing Changbin, with Jisung hanging off of his broad shoulders, laughing loudly. 

“That’s really nice of him” smiled Seungmin, a newfound respect blooming in his chest for the orca boy. He understood better now why all the others regarded Chan’s opinion with so much reverence. He was the one that gave them a home and a family when they had most needed it.

“Alright, let’s stop with the mushy stuff, we’re here!” Minho loudly declared, making all of them startle. He turned a predatory stare towards the human, who found himself once more fearing for his life and not understanding what exactly he could’ve done this time to warrant such a quick change of emotion. However, Minho’s mood revealed itself to be more playful than dangerous when he snatched Seungmin’s waist from Jeongin’s hold and made a mad dash for a mossy bed of kelp on the floor right under them, hidden under some high corals and rocky formations. The human let out a fear-filled yell, holding desperately onto Minho and feeling the older boy chuckle against him, while the younger boys protested loudly behind them.

Seungmin kept gripping tightly onto the mer, heart beating wildly in his chest, although being careful to not touch Minho’s injured arm. He was a bit disoriented by being passed from arms to arms like that, but soon found himself sat in the middle of a huge pile of kelp and moss. He could only stare at the golden-tailed mer in front of him, as he seemed to want to tuck him in bed by putting long kelp strands around Seungmin’s lap like a blanket. The nest was hidden by a rocky outcrop, so the sunrays didn’t fall directly in it, even though it was built at a relatively shallow depth. It was also decorated with some shells purposefully strung around on the rocks and the sand around them, as a little homely touch. Behind them, the youngsters had been intercepted by a playful Chan, and they had started something that looked like a game of catch with a crab shell.

“Minho… can I ask you a question?”

“You already did” Minho snarked back, but not meanly.

“It’s just… I have a hard time understanding how fast you changed your opinion of me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m much happier now that you don’t want to drown me anymore…” Seungmin paused for a second, squinting at the elder. “You don’t want to drown me anymore, right?”

Minho chuckled and shrugged one shoulder teasingly, signaling for the human to keep talking.

“Well… the fact that when we met you insisted on making me disappear and that now you’re… acting like this with me… It’s a bit confusing, you know? I expected you to be much more distrustful for quite some time.”

“You expected that, despite not knowing me at all?” Minho lifted a sharp eyebrow, properly admonishing the pink-haired scientist. “There’s still a lot that you don’t know about me, about all of us. However… let’s just say that your actions allowed me to trust you much faster than anyone thought possible. Aaand the fact that you’re linked to Jeongin because of his symbol also helps a lot.”

“So that has to do with something! I knew it!”

Minho scoffed, settling next to Seungmin and coiling his tail under him, looking at the others crazily swimming around.

“I would offer you to play catch with the boys, but knowing their crazy energy, one of them is bound to whack you in the face with his fin at one point or another. So let’s stay here until they finish, and then we’ll show you the starfish colony like Felix wanted” he hummed softly, looking fondly towards his pod-mates.

“You know what Minho? You’re not that bad for a scary merman” declared the human, smiling as he laid back against the rocks behind them.

“You know what Seungmin? You’re not that bad for a bumbling human” Minho sassed back, smirking.

Chapter Text

Seungmin was lazily dipping his feet in the water, watching birds fly in the early morning sky. It was at those moments, when most people were still waking up, that nature was at its prettiest. No sounds could be heard, except the soft lapping of the waves against the hull of his boat and the calls of the seagulls, hunting for their breakfast. The wind swept his pink locks out of his eyes as the sky gradually lost its yellowish tint, becoming bluer by the minute.

This bubble of peace that formed and wrapped itself around Seungmin made him feel as if he was floating, out of space and time, in a place just for him. Subconsciously, a small hum left his lips. Upon realizing how good it felt to exteriorize his inner happiness, he let the sounds tumble out of his lips, louder this time, words forming at the tip of his tongue.

He ended up singing an old song that his mom used to listen to a lot when he was little. She would take him to the beach and lay down on the sand, her little radio standing next to her with that song on repeat. It was some kind of old folk song, remixed with a few synths and bass to make it trendier. However, Seungmin had always preferred the simpler version, the one with the trot feel. His voice jumped from a high pitch to a low register, trembling with vibratos and extending the syllables. Everyone had always told him that he was a naturally talented singer, and that if he had wanted to, he could’ve become an idol. However, Seungmin had always scoffed at those comments and devoted himself further to his studies, knowing exactly what he wanted to do later on.

Still, his love of science never stopped him from singing from time to time, mostly to himself in his kitchen at night, or during a long drive down the coast. It was never something planned, like a karaoke or anything like that. Singing always came subconsciously to him, whenever he felt that the moment and atmosphere were right. Today, the perfect conditions were reunited and so, his voice echoed, clear and light over the waves, the wind stealing the notes and making them drift over the ocean as the currents rocked his ship slowly.

Closing his eyes to appreciate this little “me time” better, the dandy-boy let his muscles relax under the sea breeze, his yellow bandana and the collar of his white polo flapping around his throat. The pant legs of his black trousers were bunched up around his knees, since he hadn't taken the time to change himself into his swimming suit just yet. Afterall, he had a little surprise for the merboys and that required for them to hang around the boat for a bit.

The melody kept flowing from his lips while his mind drifted to memories of yesterday, when he had gotten to visit the pod’s nesting place. Once the boys had finished their game of “catch the crab shell”, they’d given Seungmin a tour of the reef around their nest. There had been a bushy kelp forest, where Jeongin had shown him the herds of seahorses that inhabited it. Seeing the younger be almost submerged by the small animals, trying to attach themselves to his fingers and hair, had forced Seungmin to hold in all sorts of cooing and other soft noises. He had just melted at the sweet picture.

Right after, Hyunjin had taken him by the hand and had dragged him to a rockier spot behind the algae bed, where Felix and Changbin had been laying on the sand, talking to a colony of colorful starfishes. Seeing the human arrive, Felix had waved him over enthusiastically and very seriously started presenting the different starfishes to Seungmin, with their names and some commentaries on their personalities and different diets. The scientist had been fascinated seeing how the echinoderms responded to the freckled mer’s touch, lifting their arms and crawling ever so slowly towards him. A few of them had even started climbing over Felix’s arms, which he had helped them do faster with a small push and a giggle. 

A very attentive Seungmin had noticed how Changbin looked at Felix in that moment, like a boy desperately in love, and had started questioning what types of relations existed in the pod. However, before he’d been able to truly ponder on the question, Chan had sneaked up behind him, prodding his leg with his giant black tail, making Seungmin jump up and screech quite unflatteringly. Receiving a few laughs from the others and an apology from the leader, Chan had then told him that it was time for him to go since they didn’t know how much longer he would be able to breath underwater. Checking his air tank level, Seungmin had had to agree to put an end to the dive if he wanted to have enough oxygen to make it back to his boat.

All in all, it had been a really nice day, with him managing to get closer to Minho and – maybe? – Changbin as well. Seungmin had went back home happy, almost forgetting to send his quickly made report on the reef’s flora to Mina. The only negative point of the whole day had been when he had read a message left by Mina, explaining how the Deep-Sea Research Team were taking an interest in the shipwreck that he was supposed to still be exploring, and that they’d like for him to be their guide for a dive there, sooner rather than later. He’d answered that he was a bit too busy for now, but that he’d see if he could schedule this sometime, although he had no intention of ever doing so. After that, he’d resolved himself to forgot all about this message and went to sleep, his dreams filled with colorful reefs, starfishes and cute mermen.

When he had woken up the next morning, he’d felt so excited, butterflies flying in his stomach and his legs antsy to get him out of the door early and to get on his boat, which is exactly what he’d done, and the reason why he was currently sitting on his back deck, singing softly in the breeze, waiting for the boys to meet him.

Opening his eyes to see the position of the sun in the sky and hopefully determinate what time it was, Seungmin gasped as he realized that he wasn’t alone.

Right in front of him, two piercing icy blue eyes met his gaze. Above them, a horn spiraled up towards the sky and long flowy blond hair surrounded the handsome face, that was otherwise half-hidden under the water. A brown and white fin undulated under the surface, barely causing any ripples. All in all, this was the perfect image of the predator stalking its prey.

“Hyunjin?” he asked uncertainly, preparing himself to have the boy jump up at him. It seemed to be a recurrent fashion for the mers to greet him this way, although usually it was Jisung who was the one to attack him by surprise.

Said mer approached the boat slowly, finally raising his whole face out of the water and putting his arms on each side of Seungmin’s thighs, his chin landing on the human’s knee. Hyunjin was careful not to scratch him with his horn, although he still came as close as possible, slotting his body in between Seungmin’s legs. He looked up at the scientist with something primal in his gaze, something predatory, almost… seductive. The fact that his sharp claws were gently tapping some unknown rhythm right beside Seungmin’s thigh did not help the human relax in any way.

“You sing well for a human” he finally said, with a mysterious grin, revealing pearly white fangs.

“Oh… thanks. I didn’t think you would hear me.”

“Your song was almost like a call, floating under the waves… irresistible.”

Hyunjin licked his plump red lips, eyes still fixed on the diver. It was such a different attitude than what Seungmin was used to, the normally goofy and dramatic boy now being scarily seductive. It was all very new and thrilling to be honest. However, another detail caught Seungmin’s attention.

“Wait, my song is… irresistible? Like a call?” He couldn’t help but sound unbelieving, laughing softly.

“Is that not a good thing to say?” Hyunjin seemed confused at the scientist’s reaction.

“It’s… no, no it’s fine! It’s just… kind of ironic” Seungmin shrugged, though he was distracted by Hyunjin’s slender hand going to toy with his pant pocket. He gulped as he saw the claws come in close proximity to a place where he would most definitely not want them.

“Ironic? Why? It’s a real compliment” the merboy insisted, trying to wrap his head around the human’s confusing words.

Snapping his focus back on the creature, and gazing deep into Hyunjin’s hypnotizing blue eyes, Seungmin forced himself to explain.

“Well… it’s just that, back on land, we have some stories about… well mer people, like you. Even though everyone thinks that you don’t really exist, which is a good thing honestly, we still have stories and myths and in most of them, it’s you guys who have the enchanting voices. Luring sailors with your songs, singing about all of men’s deepest desires and putting a spell on anyone that comes close enough to hear you… So, it’s kind of ironic that our roles are reversed today” he snorted, leaning down so his elbows rested on his knees to be closer to Hyunjin.

The blonde’s eyes widened in surprise at that new information.

“Really? You have tales about our singing?” Then, with a knowing look and a careful tilt of his head, he asked: “Do your tales usually involve being close to the coastline, near places with sharp rocks?”

Seungmin’s eyebrows shot up, intrigued.

“Well, since the stories often talk about sailors crashing their ships into rocks and then sinking to the bottom of the ocean, I’m gonna say yes. How did you guess?”

Hyunjin smirked, leaning on his elbows as well and resting his head on his palms, leaving only a very small gap between the two boy’s faces.

“I might have an idea of what inspired your stories… And it might be partially our fault.”

Once again, he licked his plump lips and that distracted Seungmin enough that he almost forgot to ask the questions burning on his tongue. Keyword being almost, since Seungmin’s curious brain was currently screaming at him to get to the bottom of this.

“What do you mean?”

Regrettably, Hyunjin pushed himself from the edge of the boat and slunk back in the water, fully submerging himself, out of view of the scientist. Seungmin was already berating himself for having offended the boy and made him flee, groaning in despair as his hands had reflexively gone after the narwhal, trying to catch him before he disappeared. However, a strange sound made him stop, hands still floating in front of him, holding his breath to hear better.

The sound seemed to come from all around him and it rose and fell along with the waves. It was as high as the seagull cries, but somehow still made something vibrate in Seungmin’s chest, like that time when he went to a concert and could feel the bass vibrating through his whole body. His blood felt like it was thrumming inside his veins, and his ears were filled with cotton candy, obstructing most of the sounds to a dull amalgam of noises in the background while the singing only got clearer.

Because that was what it was: singing. Hyunjin was singing, Seungmin realized. Right there, under his feet; he was singing and his pitch was making the water around Seungmin’s legs ripple and his body shake from the inside.

It wasn’t something definite, like a human song could be, with words and a melody. It was something so much rawer, something that felt completely natural while also sounding like it belonged to another planet. The sounds followed each other in a whimsical order, never twice the same, and despite the lack of clear direction or even articulation, it still sounded right.

The biologist realized that the singing had stopped only when Hyunjin popped back to the surface, smoothing his hair out of his face with a smirk.

“I believe this is what the sailors in your stories heard.”

And damn it, did his voice always sound that smooth and rich?

“Uh… what?” was the only intelligible answer Seungmin could give, which seemed to greatly amuse Hyunjin since he started laughing heartily.

“Our navigating songs. The ones the pods of the shallows use to warn each other about different terrains, currents and changes in the coastline. They’re an important part of our communication system and allow us to map our territory more easily.”

“Oh… oh!” Seungmin snapped himself back to reality, tearing his gaze away from Hyunjin’s lips and blinking hastily. “So, you pass messages through the songs? Is it just something the… shallow pods use? The ones living deeper don’t need it?”

Hyunjin shrugged. “That’s what I learned from the other boys, and from my own travels before I came into Chan’s pod. Him and Changbin don’t seem to know those songs, but Jeongin, Minho, Jisung and…. Felix… they use it all the time.”

Seungmin wasn’t stupid, he had heard the pause that Hyunjin had made at Felix’s name:  there was a story there. However, it most likely wasn’t Hyunjin’s place to tell it, so he would be patient and wait until he could ask it about it later.

“How about you though? You don’t seem to belong in either of those groups?” the dandy boy decided to ask instead, looking carefully at Hyunjin, as if that could help him resolve this mystery better.

“Me? I’m… different. I’m not from one place only. My species travels all the time, we did not settle in just one place. We roam the oceans, hunting our food and going from the ice coast to the deep waters.”

By ice coast, Seungmin guessed the narwhal was probably referring to the North Pole since that’s where most populations of narwhals stayed for the winter. However, they were known to be a migrating species, leaving the icy coasts of the Arctic to spend the summer in deeper waters. What Hyunjin explained then made a lot of sense, that he didn’t belong to the two “main groups” of pods since narwhals were technically nomads.

“But if you’re not from the coast pods, how do you know the songs?”

“Since we travel a lot, we have connections to different pods. One old mer from the shallows taught us about the singing one day”, Hyunjin smiled at the memory. “I was fascinated and started using it when we went back to the ice coast. It helped a lot, since the coastline changes a lot in the north, with the ice moving around every day. With the help of the singing, we avoided several incidents of swimming straight into floating ice at night or during a storm.”

“…woah.”

That was all that Seungmin could get out. His brain was scrambling to try and make sense of all of that new information. He was especially surprised since he didn’t think that Hyunjin would be the one willing to share this much about mers’ customs.

“Are you okay little human? You seem very confused” the narwhal chuckled, grinning smugly.

“I just… yeah I’m fine. It’s just really fascinating! I have so many questions though… Like your pod right now, Chan’s pod I mean, are you guys settled permanently in the shallows, where you brought me the other day? Even with you being a nomad and Chan and Changbin being from the deep?”

“No, we’re not settled actually… We’re nomads, for now. We roam around, trying to find the perfect place for us. The place we showed you is just a temporary settlement while we’re in the area; we might like you a lot, but not enough to bring you to our –” he made a series of clicks, followed by a low whistle “– even if we had one. Those places are very precious, they’re at the center of the pod’s life. Our safe haven. None other than the pod members can know its location. Anyways, we don’t have one right now, we’re still looking for it.”

That was very interesting. They weren’t necessarily nomads at heart, and their instincts told them to settle somewhere, but they were looking for a particular place to do so; a safe haven, maybe some kind of permanent settlement, like the human concept of home perhaps? Seungmin had a feeling that their unconventional living arrangements were at least partially due to the fact that Chan’s pod seemed to be highly unorthodox, even for mythical beings who weren’t supposed to exist in the first place.

“Thank you for sharing all of this with me, Hyunjin. It really means a lot to me that you trust me with all of this, and I love getting to know more about all of you guys.”

The mer smiled up at him knowingly, his claws lazily tracing patterns on Seungmin’s thigh.

“You are a very curious human. I can see it in your eyes when you want to ask us something. I know you’ve been dying to get to know us for a while now, so I’m just making sure you get it all out of your system, before you end up as swollen as a pufferfish with all the questions stuck in your head.”

“Well… it’s funny that you’re talking about this because… I have one more question for you!” At Seungmin’s eagerness, Hyunjin could only laugh fondly and tilt his head in curiosity. “Why are you the only one here this morning? Especially if… well, you said that my song was like a call, wouldn’t the others hear it too?”

“The kids and Changbin are still sleeping, and Chan and Minho went to patrol the south and west portion of our territory. I was assigned this area for my shift. Though there’s no doubt that Minho heard you and that him and Chan are on their way here. Jeongin probably also heard you, he’s a light sleeper, so he’ll gather the rest of the pod.” He tilted his head on the side, blond hair fanning over his shoulders. “I never thought this would happen one day… That we would all be gathering around a human… but you’re nice so it’s fine” he smiled, his earlier seductive behavior now completely gone, leaving his usual goofy and childish personality shine. “Sing some more for me, I want to hear your voice again” he pouted, settling himself back in between Seungmin’s legs with his head on Seungmin’s lap.

The scientist gulped, realizing that Hyunjin simply needed to shift his head slightly to skewer him with his horn, straight through the stomach. The boy was a predator, and he was deadly, but he was also extremely friendly and accepting, and Seungmin still couldn’t believe how lucky he was to get to be in this precious position of trust and friendship with such creatures.

So, he did the only thing he could do in that moment. Picking up where he had left off, he started with humming the melody, before the words came back to his lips and he let them out, floating in the breeze and over the waves once more. Beneath him, Hyunjin’s tail was swaying to the gentle rhythm, his face nuzzling Seungmin’s knee while his own hums soon accompanied Seungmin’s voice. It sounded a bit awkward, like the mer’s vocal cords weren’t used to move in that way, but he still made it work, creating some soft harmonies in the higher pitch, letting Seungmin guide him through the song.

Next to them, a head popped out of the water, soon followed by another, and another. The “kids” had apparently woken up, Jeongin and Jisung’s faces still looking a little puffy with sleep while Felix was listening with his mouth wide open and Changbin helped Jisung to stay above the surface, the boy still being too sleepy to keep himself afloat. As the song finally ended, Minho and Chan also appeared next to the boat.

“You were the one singing?” Minho asked, his face betraying his shock.

“Hyungs!” Seungmin happily greeted them with a little wave. “Yeah, I was singing, but Hyunjin helped me out with the ending.”

“Hyung?” Chan asked, frowning as he came closer, taking Hyunjin into his arms and away from Seungmin. The scientist would’ve been disappointed except that the blond had started nodding off as soon as he had finished singing, and his horn had been resting dangerously close to Seungmin’s stomach, poking into his side awkwardly. So instead, he offered a smile and an explanation to the leader.

“Hyung yeah it’s… I’m sorry, that came out on its own. It’s a term that we use where I come from, to refer to someone that’s older than us and that we… uhm that we respect and appreciate. I don’t even know if you’re older than me or not, you just look… reliable” the human admitted.

He couldn’t quite stop the blush that spread on his cheeks. However, it couldn’t beat the flaming red color that now adorned the tip of Chan’s ears, the orca’s mouth having fallen wide open.

“Re…reliable?” the leader squeaked out, in a way that was much too charming to fit with his tough-tattooed-guy look.

“I’m sorry, I won’t say it again if it bothers you!”

Indeed, the poor orca looked completely flustered; his mouth was opening and closing around nothing, his breathing picking up and his tail curling under him. Seungmin didn’t know if he should be concerned or endeared at the display.

Changbin laughed heartily while still holding Jisung up with one arm. He smacked Chan’s shoulder teasingly, making both the orca and the narwhal in his arms lurch forward in the water, and then winked at Seungmin.

“Trust me, you shouldn’t stop calling him that. He enjoys it very much.”

“Changbin!” the leader spluttered, while Hyunjin grumbled his dissatisfaction at being pushed around, deciding to climb on the back deck next to Seungmin to find some peace.

“Really? Are you sure you’re okay with me calling you hyung?” the scientist frowned, not wanting to push some invisible boundaries.

“Respect and reliability are very important and… valued qualities for the deep-sea pods” Minho interjected, pushing himself up to lean over the railing of the starboard side. “You wanna be a polite little human, right? So keep on calling Channie like that, it’s perfect”.

Was Seungmin going crazy or was that a very open flirting attempt on Minho’s part? But was he flirting for himself or on Chan’s behalf? Or was he and Chan both supposed to be flirting with him? Or with each other?

Both the poor human’s brain and his heart were going to explode if they kept up being this attractively confusing. The fact that they were also all ripped thank you very much and that Seungmin was a simple man who liked pretty things did not help with this at all.

Thankfully, Hyunjin saved him from blabbering nonsensically by exclaiming joyfully from the cabin of the ship, which he had managed to crawl into.

“Is that food!?” 

A few heads turned hastily towards Hyunjin’s voice, with hope in their eyes. Jeongin glided closer to his scientist, smirking knowingly.

“You learned the lesson well, feeding us like that all the time” he winked, which despite his youthful expression still somehow looked flirty. They definitely had to stop giving him those looks if they wanted him to not die of a heart attack at a too young age.

“It-it’s just human food, I thought you might like to try it” he awkwardly stumbled over his words, forcing himself to stop looking at Jeongin like a kid with a crush and stood up to go to the cabin and retrieve what he had brought.

For that, he had to step over Hyunjin who was splayed lazily inside the cabin, his hands grabbing and toying with everything that was in his reach. That unfortunately meant that Seungmin’s sneakers, as well as his compass, one of his flippers and of course the food baskets, were being hoarded inside the lanky merboy’s long arms while he examined the objects.

“Hyunjin, I’ll need those” he pointed to the baskets.

“I smell food in there. Weird but good food. I want some!” the long-haired boy pouted, looking up at the human, his hands wrapped around the items.

“You’ll get some, don’t worry. That food’s for you guys” Seungmin smiled, finding the other one cute.

“Minnie, I’m hungry! Bring the foooooood!” Jisung whined from outside, and the biologist could only huff.

“Let’s go Jinnie, before all seven of you try to cram into this tiny cabin!” The nickname escaped Seungmin’s lips naturally, but it didn’t seem to bother Hyunjin. On the contrary, the boy preened, his tail slapping contently on the ground before he handed the baskets back to Seungmin.

With a small “thank you”, the pink-haired boy exited the cabin with all three of the baskets he had brought, only to find the whole pod sitting on the back deck of his boat with the exception of Chan whose lower half was still in the water. That might’ve been because there wasn’t enough space to accommodate another giant tail onboard, the poor ship already lilting heavily towards the back, or it might be because of Chan’s protective tendencies and his need to make sure the area was safe at all times. No matter the leader’s reasons, they still currently all looked like a bunch of beached dolphins, with the determination of a flock of seagulls looking for their next meal. Seungmin couldn’t stop himself from laughing as their eager gazes fixed themselves on the baskets in his arms.

“Alright, let’s calm down, there’s gonna be enough for everyone… I hope.”

That got him another round of exclamations and he could only laugh more at that, putting the food down in the middle of the sort of circles that the boys had placed themselves in.

A loud whistle made him startle and wince, his ears ringing at the high pitch, and he turned to see who the culprit was. Back at the cabin’s entrance was a pouting Hyunjin, his arms crossed, and his tail awkwardly splayed on the pilot’s bench.

“I’m stuck” was all he managed to say, looking like a five-year-old throwing a tantrum in a supermarket.

The other pod-members didn’t hide their glee at Hyunjin’s infortune, laughing at him as he let out a series of clicks that could probably translate to some very colorful words. Taking pity on the boy, Seungmin went back to him and managed to lift his tail and maneuver it away from the bench.  The narwhal’s tail was much heavier than the scientist thought however, and it did give his biceps a long overdue work out that he hadn’t exactly planned. Nonetheless, now that Hyunjin’s tail was on the ground again, they came to another problem. The boy was still stuck halfway in the cabin and halfway out on the deck, and it would require some more moving to get him to join the others.

Sighing in resignation, Seungmin got to work, pulling and pushing around, making sure to not hurt Hyunjin while still applying enough force to make him sweat and pant. Between this and dragging the barracuda the day before, his arms were definitely bound to be sore that night. Maybe it would be time for the scientist to invest in a gym membership, just in case.

Once he’d managed to drag Hyunjin back to the deck, with lots of complaints and whining from said boy, he sat down, panting. “That was enough sport to last me for the whole month” he mumbled, getting some confused hums from the rest of the pods.

Looking back up towards them, he had expected the food baskets to already be empty and the boys to be (hopefully) licking their fingers after a good meal. However, the baskets were still untouched in the middle of the circle, and the boys were looking at him expectantly.

“Oh… uhm… right, you can dig in and try whatever looks good I guess” he shrugged, slightly intimidated but mostly surprised at the amount of weight that his opinion held for the pod.

As soon as the words had left his lips, the boys were diving for the food, picking stuff up and sniffing it curiously, tasting some of it, looking at a few items distrustfully and making pleased sounds quite a few times.

“This is SO good, what is it? How can something this good exist without us knowing about it?” Jisung exclaimed, eyes round and cheeks full of food.

“That’s called cheese” Seungmin chuckled. “Cream cheese to be exact. It comes from a land animal so it’s kind of normal that you don’t know about it.”

“Urgh, what is THAT? Is it poisonous?” Chan growled, making an offended face at the food that was in front of him. “It’s making my mouth tingle like a jellyfish sting!”

“That’s…. kimchi. It’s actually a really popular dish where I’m from, but it is spicy” Seungmin winced, not having thought to warn the boys about that beforehand.

“Your mouth tingles if you eat this? I wanna try it!” Minho excitedly shouted, reaching over and managing to snag the kimchi container.

The rest of the meal devolved into chaos, but that was honestly expected. Nonetheless, the boys seemed to enjoy this experience and kept fighting over which food was the tastiest. The omelets and the chocolate mousse were two of the highest contenders for now.

Seungmin leaned back as he enjoyed watching the boys, grabbing himself a ham sandwich and some carrot and kale salad. On his right, Jeongin had draped himself over the biologist’s shoulder and kept asking him questions about all the different types of food and why cooked fish tasted so different from raw one. However, the youngest quickly pushed himself closer to Changbin, the two of them arguing about the lack of salt in the strawberry cake and fighting over pouring sea water on the pastry to flavor it. Seungmin simply chuckled, leaving them to their antics.

Turning to his left, he observed as Felix – who was sitting right next to him – ate a dumpling almost reverently. It was quite different from seeing him devour the barracuda’s head, and the scientist could only wonder at this behavioral change.

“Felix? Are you okay? Here, eat some more” Seungmin ripped a bit of his ham sandwich and put it in Felix’s free hand.

The blue-tailed boy looked up to him with something akin to awe in his eyes, and then blushed heavily while he ate the sandwich.

“Hey, talk to me. What’s up?” Seungmin was getting more worried, not understanding the boy’s attitude.

Felix gulped, looking around for any other distraction but the rest of the boys were either still arguing about what food was the best, or swimming around the boat to help them digest.

“It’s not really… well I mean not for you but… for me, or us…”

“Take a breath, it’s okay. No need to rush. Just tell me what’s going on. Does it have anything to do with me singing with Hyunjin earlier? He explained it a bit to me, but maybe I did it wrong?” Seungmin tilted his head to the side, offering the freckled boy a cherry tomato.

For some reason, the food offering made Felix blush even more, although he still ate it gratefully, humming low in his throat as the juicy tomato popped into his mouth. Then, with a sigh, he seemed to find his resolve to talk.

“No, the singing isn’t a problem. I actually really enjoyed it, your voice is so pretty” the freckled boy complimented, looking enviously at the diver.

“Thank you, that’s really sweet of you, but I’m sure you’re also an incredible singer! With your deep tone and soothing voice, it must sound so nice underwater…”

Seungmin knew he was pushing the issue. He knew from his earlier conversation with Hyunjin that there was something about Felix’s voice, and he knew some people might find it wrong to try and get the information that way. But damn everybody else, Seungmin was a scientist and being curious was literally in his job description. 

“That’s not… I don’t really sound nice, no.”

Felix got interrupted by Jisung, who slapped his shoulder with a disgruntled look.

“Lix, we talked about this before!”

The normally very boisterous shark boy was however keeping his voice down for once, making it even more obvious that this subject was, if not private, at least sensitive.

“I know, I know, sorry. I was just trying to tell Minnie about it.”

“What’s the matter? What were you trying to tell me Lix?” Seungmin hoped using the boy’s nickname would make him open up some more.

Felix’s shoulders sagged from their previously tensed position, and Jisung and him leaned in closer to Seungmin, wanting to keep this discussion on the downlow.

“You probably heard how deep my voice is, right?”

“Of course, it’s really unique and soothing, I’ve loved it ever since the first time I heard it.” The genuine compliment made Felix’s eyes sparkle and a little smile crossed his lips.

“Well, it’s very unusual for mers of the shallows to sound like that. Our clicks and whistles and singing are usually very high-pitched; that’s because we hear high-pitched sounds better underwater. For me… well whenever I try to sing, or whistle on a long distance, my voice cannot get high enough, and it just kind of gets lost. I can’t communicate properly with everyone else, unless I’m close to them and talking. My first pod hated me because of that, they thought I was useless and a threat to the group’s survival…”

Felix’s whole persona exuded sadness and regret, his usually bubbly personality now completely drowned in sorrow. The boy looked so disheartened by all of this that Seungmin just wanted to hug him and protect him from the rest of the world. Jisung beat him to it unfortunately, wrapping his arms around his pod member and resting his head on Felix’s delicate shoulder, rocking them both gently. Whispers of “it’s okay now, you’re with us” escaped his lips in a comforting mantra, before the blond spoke up again.

“Chan told me a story about a whale once. One who’s voice is much higher than the others, so high that no other whale can hear him singing and calling out to them. I feel like that sometimes. Maybe we should try and find that whale, so we can switch our voices” Felix huffed out, a sad smile etched on his angelic face.

“I may not know a lot about mer singing, or about whale voices, but I do know one thing Felix” the human stated, turning so he could face the boy properly and put a – hopefully – comforting hand on his shoulder. “Your voice is really nice to listen to. It’s soft and cheerful and so so so soothing! It could sound scary, or harsh, but no. You use it in such a beautiful way, and that’s your gift. So never stop using that voice Lix, and I’d be delighted if one day you would sing for me!”

The boy’s face morphed completely, going from dejected to delighted in a millisecond. The genuine compliment and the way Seungmin said it made the mer preen under the attention, his fins undulating in a weird but adorable way, almost like they were shivering but from happiness. 

Jisung chuckled at seeing this and pet Felix’s dorsal fin carefully. He smirked at the scientist while talking directly in Felix’s ear.

“Do you hear that precious? Even the human says your voice is pretty, so no more talk about you not being able to sing, okay?”

Felix only hummed, but if it was from content or in agreement, no one could tell. Seungmin took note of the two boys closeness and put it away in a corner of his head, to compare it later on with the closeness he’d already observed between Felix and Changbin the day before. Their relationships were truly an interesting mystery to unravel.

“Is that why you were so shy when we started eating? Because of the singing?” Seungmin asked, just to make sure he had actually solved the mystery of Felix’s shifty behavior.

Apparently, it wasn’t the case since the blond boy’s eyes snapped wide open and his whole face flushed. Jisung only laughed at this reaction and unstuck himself from his pod mate, going back to eating from the food baskets and making not so subtle signs to the others to listen in on Felix and Seungmin’s conversation. That could only presage trouble.

“Uhm… no. I wasn’t like that because of the singing” the green-eyed boy shook his head, his damp hair almost brushing the top of his shoulders. “It was because of… well because of the food actually.”

“Why? You don’t like it? You don’t have to, you know? I just brought it because I thought I could help you guys learn more about humans and all that” Seungmin shrugged, not wanting the sweet boy to feel bad about rejecting the food.

“No, no, that’s not it at all! You don’t understand, it’s…” Felix sighed, looking resigned at having to explain his behavior. Finally, he looked straight at Seungmin, squaring his shoulders and lifting his chin slightly.

“Alright, look. I know that… a lot of things that you do, you do them without knowing their signification. Because you’re human, so of course you don’t see things in the same way that we do.” He started quite awkwardly.

The scientist took the mer’s small hands in his, squeezing them encouragingly, Felix’s deep green eyes traveling up to meet Seungmin’s warm gaze.

“You see… the pods of the shallows eat differently than the ones from the deep. Yesterday, when you hunt and brought your prey to us, that proved to Chan, Changbin and Hyunjin that you can do your share of the work and feed the pod properly. It’s important for them, because food is scarce in the deep, and hunting alone or as a pod is a necessary survival skill. In the shallows however, food is everywhere. There are swarms of fishes living in the reefs and rocky outcrops, so we learn from a very young age to be independent and go find our own food. Feeding is something individual, we don’t share or do it with the rest of the pod members. There is one exception to that though. If we… uhm if we decide to hunt some food and then offer it to someone else, it means that we’re… we’re courting them.”

After his explanation, Felix kept looking at Seungmin with an almost apprehensive look, like Seungmin was a rabbit that was going to run away at the slightest movement. Behind them, conversations had quieted down and the boys now all seemed to be paying close attention to the human and the blue-tailed boy.

“Oh” was all Seungmin managed to get out.

“Seungmin?” Jeongin asked, sounding worried. The youngest leaned in from Seungmin’s right side, putting a delicate hand on his forearm. “Are you okay”?

“I… yeah sorry. I just… yeah, I didn’t know about that whole courting thing. I mean it’s just food, right?” he chuckled awkwardly, shrugging his shoulders.

“Yes of course… just food” Felix quickly agreed, although the disappointment clouding his face was pretty impossible to miss.

The rest of the boys slowly resumed their conversation, in a much more muted and calm way than before, the atmosphere strangely charged with an energy that the scientist just could not name.

As soon as he arrived back home, Seungmin jumped in the shower. He needed to think, and he needed some cold water to clear his mind while he went over his day.

Turning on the shower head, Seungmin methodically undressed and folded his clothes on the counter while going through the events of the day chronologically. First, he had sang and somehow managed to call Hyunjin over. The narwhal had then shared a lot of things about the importance of singing, in a… seductive way? There had definitely been looks and flirty touches exchanged.

Stepping in the shower, he let the cold water fall over his skin, making him shiver, and kept on reviewing his day.

Once all the pod members had arrived, he had mistakenly called Chan “hyung”, which had apparently been a good thing to do to flatter the leader’s ego and make him blush. It was a good tip to use if he wanted to keep himself on the orca’s good side. It was also very flattering to know that he could make the tough boy’s ears turn crimson.

Squeezing shampoo into his palm, Seungmin let his hands massage his scalp for a moment, as if he could physically reach inside his head and rearrange his thoughts manually.

After the ordeal with Chan, he’d had to extract Hyunjin from the cabin, and had distributed the food to the boys in an effort to share some info about humans and make their exchange of knowledge fairer. They all had seemed to appreciate the gifts, except Felix. Although he had pegged it on the wrong issue at first, that had allowed the scientist to learn more about the turquoise-tailed boy and his deep voice. And then…

Seungmin took his bar of soap and rubbed it vigorously on his skin, his hands being just as agitated as his brain.

When Felix had told him what gifting food meant to mers of the shallows, he’d only managed to swallow the information dumbly and try and keep going as if nothing happened. However, something had definitely happened. His intentions towards the pod could now be interpreted in a whole new light, and Seungmin didn’t know if he liked that. One false move and he could lose their trust forever or do something horrible with even knowing about it. He had no idea about the codes that existed in the mer society but… Well Felix hadn’t seemed disgusted or scared at the prospect of Seungmin courting him. And Seungmin… he realized that he also didn’t feel repulsed by it. On the contrary, when he had seen the blond being so sad while telling him his story, he had only wanted to comfort and protect him. If those feelings could develop into something more, he had no idea, but there was something simmering under the surface, something that didn’t only concern Felix or him, and he just could not grasp it. It was making him turn crazy, and he finished his shower hurriedly, grinding his teeth in annoyance.

If he felt protective over Felix, he had to admit that he was completely enamored with Jeongin. The boy was just adorable and so pure, and he definitely made Seungmin’s heart beat faster. Although the scientist also wasn’t immune to Hyunjin and Chan’s handsomeness, to Minho’s tsundere attitude or to Changbin’s though act and sweet personality. Even Jisung’s wit was starting to make him a little bit fond of the shark boy.

Dropping on his couch, his pink hair dripping everywhere, the biologist could only sigh and massage his temple in an effort to calm his overworking brain.

He didn’t know how the mers felt, or if they even had the same range of feelings as humans did. He also didn’t know what his own feelings were right now, and this confusion was rapidly becoming his greatest enemy. He had to figure out what exactly was happening between the pod and him, had to make sense of everything that was not said, had to find his balance once more. If he didn’t sort this all out quickly, he was going to lose his sanity.

Chapter Text

The sound of the air conditioning was loud in the baren office. Seungmin looked around nervously, noticing the slick desk, where a few files were neatly piled up. Right next to them stood a high-tech computer that their company could definitely not have afforded, even for someone as high up in the hierarchy as the leader of the Deep-Sea Research Team. On the front of the desk, a gold plate was engraved with the name: “Director Park”.

Seungmin was absentmindedly playing with the tip of his white bandana as he waited for the director. He had been called in early this morning, and the message he’d received didn’t give him a choice to refuse or postpone this meeting. It was honestly a problem, since Seungmin’s mind hadn’t really been focused on work these last few days, but especially since last night.

After learning from Felix that his innocent act of sharing food with the pod could be seen as courting, he had begun to rethink all of his interactions with them. Like that time when Jeongin and him had both realized they could talk to each other, and that he had offered him part of his lunch. Or when he had “hunted” the barracuda and gifted it to the whole pod as a gesture of good faith. Had these also been interpreted as courting by the merboys? What about all of the times when they acted taken aback by his offers to help in general? Like when he offered them to stay and hide from the storm in the cliff caves, or when he stitched up Minho’s wound? Were all of those acts also something that had a romantic connotation for merfolk, or was he thinking too hard about this and seeing things where they didn’t exist? Then again, there had been a few times when the boys had been hesitant to accept his help and/or gifts, and they had turned to Jeongin to ask him if he was okay with the situation. But… did that mean that they saw Jeongin as his main love interest? Wait.. WAS Jeongin his love interest? Was he being courted without his knowledge by the younger? Or… was he courting Jeongin without his knowledge?

This was giving Seungmin a giant headache, and no matter the amount of thinking he did on the question, no easy answer appeared. He didn’t know if his relationship with the pod was only friendly anymore, or if it ever was. He felt like he’d been brought along on this weird sentimental trip without his consent, but he wasn’t sure if it was a positive or a negative thing. On one hand, consent and understanding was a pretty fundamental part of a relationship, but on the other, he couldn’t say that he was entirely repulsed with the idea of those boys… liking him.

That last thought made Seungmin blush heavily and he slapped his cheeks lightly to snap himself back to reality. He knew that he had to have a serious discussion with the pod to clarify all of that situation, even though he had avoided it the day before like a coward. He couldn’t take the uncertainty that weighed heavily on his heart anymore, and he wanted to know the boys’ position on the matter, and what they saw him as. Once that was cleared up, he could then look at his own feelings and make better sense of the jumbled mess that made up his current emotional state.

Deciding, with a final nod, that this was the best course of action, Seungmin sighed resolutely and untensed his shoulders, ready to get through this meeting and then go through the whole situation with the boys. At least, his mind would finally be clear again, and he would be free from the ball of stress that had been living in his belly rent-free for too long now.

The door to the office opened abruptly, making the marine biologist jump in his chair.

“Ah, Seungmin-shi, what a delight to finally meet you.”

A middle-aged man with slicked-back salt-and-pepper hair and dressed in a black turtleneck, cargo pants and a white lab coat strode all the way to Seungmin, seizing his hand and shaking it vigorously. The pink-haired boy looked up at the man, noticing his calculating gaze and the scar that crossed his left cheek all the way down to his upper lip, lifting it in a permanent sneer.

“Director Park” Seungmin said meekly, bowing his head.

The man finally let go of his hand, and the biologist rubbed it discreetly, wincing at the unnecessary force that was used.

“You are a quite elusive young man, I’m happy to finally be able to talk to you face to face!”

The man’s words were pretty innocent, but his tone sounded somewhat like a warning, while his eyes were pinning Seungmin to the chair.

“I have a tight schedule to maintain if I want to finish my research in time” the biologist simply explained, not feeling like justifying his actions to this man.

“Well, I still hope you took my request in consideration… You know, for the dive around the wreck?”

Once again, it wasn’t the man’s words but his attitude that made Seungmin hesitate before answering. The director exuded a charismatic and powerful aura as he sat himself on the edge of his desk, looking down at Seungmin.

“I did receive your message… however, I don’t think I’ll have enough time to give you or your team a tour of the wreck. If you are so interested in it, you can simply read the daily reports that I submit to Mina. They are very detailed and should answer whatever questions you have concerning the wreck. Unless you want to tell me directly why you are so interested in that particular spot?” Seungmin challenged the director.

He knew it wasn’t his brightest idea ever, but this man was seriously becoming insufferable with his aura of superiority. Plus, he did actually want to know why the Deep-Sea Research Team would be interested in a shipwreck that was located in a pretty shallow spot, right next to the reef.

“Let’s say that I have a… hunch, about this place. I think it hides some secrets that I would be very interested in discovering.”

Seungmin’s blood ran cold in his veins, drops of sweat dripping down his back as he fought hard against himself to keep his face neutral and not betray his inner panic. That man knew nothing, he couldn’t know anything. He was a prominent figure in this company, working with renowned scientists; he couldn’t be looking for mythical creatures coming from children’s fairytales. Even if he was, he had no proof of anything and was probably testing the waters, bullying Seungmin to see if he could get a lead out of him. Well, Seungmin wouldn’t give anything away.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. This wreck is far from your usual areas of research, and the only thing mildly interesting that you will find there are the mutated moss species that are colonizing the boat and feeding on the rust. It is quite a feat of nature, to adapt in such a way to a new environment, but I wouldn’t expect someone who is not involved in Life Sciences to find it remotely captivating. I cannot think of anything that would be of interest to you down there, especially since your team doesn’t work with any biologist, if I remember well? That means that whatever you are looking for in your expeditions, it cannot be a living organism, or else you would have already asked for our help to analyze some samples or identify some species.”

Seungmin made sure to keep his tone as neutral as possible. Still, he couldn’t hide the point of mistrust that flared out as he called the director on his bullshit. Everyone knew that the Deep-Sea Research team was working on highly classified projects, and that in itself was fine. Still, the members of said team where what made the other workers of the company tick; they were mostly mercenaries, ex-military and gang members alike, people with rigorous training in following orders and who were familiar with violence, but not so much with science and underwater research.

“Careful boy… You’re walking on some dangerous ground there” the director warned him, his eyes cold as ice and his jaw ticking, although the rest of his body stayed relaxed in his half-seated position against the desk. “I want to share something with you. Something very classified, and I hope I can trust you with this information” his scarred sneer turned into a smirk, as if he was laughing at some inside joke. “My team and I are searching for something very particular, and very rare. I think that you might have encountered said thing, and if you did, I wouldn’t blame you on wanting to keep it for yourself. However, we have finally found a lead, which brought us all the way to the shipwreck, and we won’t let it go until we have what we came for. So, if you know anything, you might as well share it with me right now, because sooner or later, I’ll get my hands on that thing.”

The way he spat the last word made Seungmin shiver, and his suspicions increase. Could this man truly be aware of the existence of merfolk? If he did, and if he managed to catch one, what would he do with them? That last thought filled Seungmin with dread, and his desire to protect the pod only grew stronger.

“I really don’t know what you are looking for,” the boy answered, “but if you interfere in my research, I will have to notify my superiors and the city about it, since my project is pretty important to the government. I hope our paths won’t cross accidentally again; it would be a shame to have such infighting in our company.”

Director Park fixed his calculating gaze on Seungmin as the pink-haired boy stood up to walk out of the office. In a soft tone and with a tilt of his head, he uttered a few words that made the biologist freeze where he was standing.

“Of course. And I hope your parents are having a nice vacation in Greece.”

Seungmin could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest. Was that man threatening his family? How did he know that his parents were away? What was he trying to achieve by bringing them in this story?

Deciding that ignoring those words and play it off as if they hadn’t affected him was the safest bet, Seungmin resumed his walk out of the office, only with a tenser posture and a sudden urge to call his parents.  

Stepping out on the docks, Seungmin got off his phone, having just texted his parents briefly to make sure they were fine. The time-difference hadn’t allowed them to actually call each other, but by some stroke of luck, his father had still been awake and had answered his message, saying that everything was perfect and that they were having a good time on their trip.

The scientist felt like a weight was lifted off his shoulders at the knowledge that his family was safe and far from the man that had just threatened them. He breathed a little easier as he made his way to his ship. There was still some fear lingering in the back of his mind however, and the only thing he could focus on right now was to find the pod and tell the boys to be extra-careful during the foreseeable future. He might even have to stop seeing them for a bit, just in case Director Park tried to have him followed or anything.

Looking around to make sure that wasn’t actually the case, Seungmin was relieved to see that the docks were deserted. It was too early to have any tourists or passersby around, but still too late to encounter any fishermen, all of the fishing boats having left before the sun was even up over the horizon.

He was about to set his foot on his own embarkation when he got rudely called out.

“Hey! Pink hair! Over here!”

Turning around, Seungmin was faced with three men, all dressed in black cargo pants and shirts. One of them looked like a foreigner and had brass knuckles, the second was wearing a black beanie and held a metal pipe while the third – the one that had called him out – was bald and carried a baseball bat. All in all, it wasn’t the type of people that anyone would like to encounter at 7 A.M. on a deserted dock.

Seungmin gulped and squared his shoulders, trying to hide his fear as best as he could.

“Who are you? What do you guys want?”

“You don’t need to know who we are” the bald man said, smirking lazily as he twirled his bat in the air casually. “However, we are here to deliver a message.”

“A message? From whom? I don’t think you and I hang around the same crowd, so you might have the wrong person here.”

“Naaaah, the boss was very specific in his description; this message is for you.” The man approached closer from Seungmin, who resisted the urge to back away, not wanting to look even more scared than he felt. “He said that you’d better start working with him and tell him everything you know. Or else…”

“Or else what?” Seungmin’s voice wavered, but his posture stayed straight, and his eyes were fixed on the man who seemed to be the leader of the little group. He was not going to back down in front of a threat, no matter his odds of walking out of there on his own two feet. 

The men laughed at his question and the leader smiled almost fondly.

“Oh, I think you know exactly what. But just in case you need a little sample of what’s going to happen if you don’t collaborate… Boys, he’s all yours.” The bald man turned away from Seungmin and walked lazily down the dock while the two other men loomed threateningly over the poor scientist.

Seungmin only had the time to cover his head before they started assaulting him.

The foreigner delivered two quick uppercuts with his brass knuckles straight in his stomach, making the pink-haired boy gasp and fold in half as all the air left his body. His arms wrapped around his middle and he heaved harshly, trying to get his lungs to inflate again despite their unwillingness to cooperate. He felt himself becoming red as the blood rushed to his head, his body trying to get oxygen to his brain.

However, before he could properly gain his breath back, the man with the beanie swung his metal pipe right into the back of Seungmin’s knees, making him collapse on the wooden dock. The biologist barely managed to break his fall by sticking his hands out, feeling as shards got embedded in his palms. He could only grunt in pain as he lay on his belly, his cheek smushed against the rough wood under him. Still, that was the least of his problems as his entire body was now shaking in both pain and shock at the brutal attack.

“Wait… please, what are you –”

He didn’t even manage to finish his sentence before Beanie guy kicked his torso, the mighty swing dealing even more damage when combined with his steel-toed boots. Seungmin swore he could feel his ribs creaking upon the impact, and he rolled on his side as best as he could, hacking coughs shaking his whole frame. He could feel something wet on both his cheeks and his lips, but his brain was too far gone with the pain and the need to breath for him to truly understand what was happening.

It was ironic really. Here he was, one of the best divers around, used to holding his breath underwater for a long time and trained to stay calm in an oxygen-deprived environment. However, that training seemed to go out the window as soon as he was on land since he was currently flopping like a fish out of water, begging for his lungs to finally start working properly again.

The leader, the one with the baseball bat, came back towards Seungmin, crouching in front of the boy. He examined the tears that were now staining Seungmin’s cheeks, and the blood that was dripping from his lips.

“What a shame, really. You know, when someone higher up gives you an order, you should follow it without asking questions. It’s truly in your best interest. I guess you’ll have learned that lesson once we’re finished with you”, the man tutted, head tilting to the side in fake sympathy. 

He then rose back up, towering over a dazed Seungmin, who could do nothing but watch as the man stomped his boot-clad foot over his hand. Seungmin’s normally sweet and warm voice echoed out in a pain-filled scream as he felt and heard the fingers on his left hand get crushed.

The good news was that this new shock apparently managed to kick-start his lungs back into action. The bad news was that his brain was now receiving enough oxygen to be fully aware of the pain that was racking his body, and high-pitched whines were escaping Seungmin’s lips, in between hiccups and sobs.

“S – st – op…”

Seungmin, proud, independent and snarky Seungmin, actually begged. He just wanted this pain to stop, and he couldn’t entirely understand why he was attacked in the first place. It had to do with Director Park, of that he was certain. However, he just couldn’t see exactly what the man wanted from him. His cooperation? For what exactly? It’s not like he was going to tell the man about the pod or help him search the wreck. Director Park might’ve been a self-absorbed man, he still must have understood that by their little exchange earlier. So, what other kind of collaboration was he expecting from Seungmin?

“You want us to stop? You still think you’re in control here little boy? We’ll stop when I say that you’ve had enough. And clearly, you haven’t had enough yet! We’ve barely just started with you” the bald man spat at Seungmin, twisting his foot over the scientist’s broken fingers.

Seungmin let out a pitiful cry, more tears flowing down his cheeks. As soon as the man’s boot left his hand, he cradled the injured limb against his torso and curled up in a ball to try and make himself as small as possible.

He had stopped paying attention to his surroundings, which resulted in him being taken completely by surprise when a heavy blow landed on his right ankle, making him scream out in pain once more. His throat was raw from all the yelling and hiccupping, and his vision was swimming, dark spots appearing in front of his eyes. Was that really how he was gonna end up? Beaten into unconsciousness – and maybe more – by a bunch of low-lives thugs, on a deserted dock, with no one around to help him? He still had so many things to discover, so many things to do and see… That couldn’t just be it, right? 

“Careful. The boss said he wanted him messed up, not damaged forever” a low voice said over him, and Seungmin let out a small whine as he tried to force his eyes open.

“He pissed me off, he shouldn’t have! Now I’m gonna have some fun and neither of you are gonna stop me, or you’ll be next.”

Well, that sounded ominous. Seungmin finally managed to open his eyes, focusing on the face of the leader right above him, his baseball bat looming over his frail body.

“You’re still awake? Still think you’re the one giving the orders little boy?”. The sentence was followed by a maniacal laugh that made Seungmin’s whole body shiver and then wince in pain as his injuries were jolted.

Another voice, very loud although sounding farther away, interrupted the leader’s little speech.

“HEY YOU! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING? GET OFF OF HIM!”

Seungmin’s eyes closed once more, as he didn’t have the strength to keep them open anymore. He simply laid there and hoped that the person who shouted would be able to help him.

“What? Fuck… no one was supposed to be here! What do we do?”. That sounded like the foreigner with the brass knuckles.

“Let’s leave him, we’ll report to the boss… come on, no time to lose!”

“YEAH, YOU BETTER RUN AWAY, YOU COWARDS!” the voice was still yelling at the top of its lungs, and it sounded much closer now.

A weird grumbling noise echoed over Seungmin’s prone form, and then, pain.

This time, it exploded over his head, making everything disappear except from the feeling of having his skull splitting in two, spots of light appearing behind his closed eyelids and all of his nerve endings flashing alight with pain signals. However, instead of the pain reducing slowly like for his other injuries, this one just kept getting more and more intense. It felt as if pressure was building up inside Seungmin’s head and the only way it would finally be released was by exploding out of his body.  

A constant shrill sound was now plaguing the biologist’s hearing, and it was almost loud enough to cover up the new voices of the people that were, without a doubt, hunched over his body.

“Fuck, they did a number on him!”

“Come on Wooyoung, we have to get him to a hospital before…”

The rest of the conversation was lost as Seungmin’s body finally gave up, accepting the sweet relief of unconsciousness, letting everything around him turn to nothingness and finally making the pain go away.

A steady but annoying beep made Seungmin frown, pulling him out of his comfortable sleep. His bed was stiffer than usual, and his blanket not as soft, but he definitely had the best sleep he’d ever had in his life, his body feeling relaxed and sort of… floaty? More ambient sounds reached his ears as he woke up; a news broadcast on a TV, some people talking on his right, the sounds of ambulance sirens, someone shuffling on his left…

Opening his eyes with a soft groan, he realized just how thirsty he was. As if someone had read his mind, a straw was pressed against his chapped lips and he greedily sucked the water that was offered to him. However, it went away as soon as it came and                                          Seungmin couldn’t stop a whine from escaping him as the precious liquid was taken away.

“It’s okay, you can have some more later. The nurse said not to make you drink too fast or you’ll be sick.”

The slightly familiar voice made the pink-hair boy startle, and his eyes followed the arm holding the water cup all the way up to the face of a young man. He must’ve been around the same age as Seungmin, with wide round eyes, black hair with blond strands, a mole under his left eye that reminded him of Hyunjin’s beauty mark, and a big smile.

“Hello, I’m Wooyoung” the stranger kindly introduced himself. “My friend and I were the ones that found you on the dock three days ago.”

That news shoked Seungmin enough to have him sit up straight away.

“Three days!?”

Despite feeling floaty at the moment, his body was still in bad condition and his attempt at sitting up quickly ended with a wince and him falling back on the pillow, with a coughing fit on top of it due to his throat being raw.

“Woah, slow down there, you were really injured. You gotta take things slow” Wooyoung interjected, moving his chair closer to Seungmin’s bedside and putting a steady hand on his shoulder.

“I was… I was out for three days?” Seungmin tried again once his coughing subsided, voice sounding rough but at least he could talk. He passed his right hand over his face, feeling the stubble of his growing beard. Was what Wooyoung said actually true?

“Yeah, I mean those guys beat you pretty bad! From what I heard, you got a few broken fingers, cracked ribs, a sprained ankle and even a small concussion! I can definitely believe that last one, we saw him hit you straight in the head with that baseball bat and honestly, you were lucky it didn’t do more damage…” Wooyoung winced at the memory.

As his injuries were listed, Seungmin was taking stock of his physical state. Three fingers on his left hand were wrapped up in a splint that was fixed around his wrist for stability; they were definitely broken, the imprint of the shoe that crushed them still visible on the back of his hand. His ribs obviously felt sore, but he didn’t have any bandages around it, so it was probably mostly bruises. He couldn’t know without lifting the ugly hospital gown he was wearing, and he wasn’t about to do that in front of the man that rescued him. His right ankle was immobilized under the blanket but not heavy, so he hopefully didn’t have a cast and only had a splint there too. Finally, a bandage was wrapped all around his head, and as he lifted his hand to it gingerly, he felt the big bump that was left at the back of his skull. Funnily enough, it was almost at the exact same place where he had bumped his head during his first encounter with Jisung. He couldn’t deny that he felt dizzy and that his skull felt like it had been crushed by an elephant, but hopefully he would survive. Especially since he seemed to be on the good stuff for now, the pain medicine keeping him mostly disconnected from his body.  

“My friend Hongjoong tried to follow the guys that did this to you, but they got away. Hopefully you can identify the bastards, so the police can arrest them?” Wooyoung asked him, a determined gleam shining in his brown eyes.

“I… I’m not sure.”

Seungmin could definitely recognize those men if he crossed their paths again, but he knew that the real person that was behind the attack was Director Park. He had no idea of how to prove it though, and involving the police in a matter that could potentially lead back to the pod was out of the question.

“Well… Hongjoong and I saw their faces pretty clearly, so if we ever see them again, we’ll make sure that they don’t do this to anyone else ever again!”

Seungmin lifted his gaze to him, curious.

“Thank you. For saving me, and for taking my side on this fight. But… how do you know that I wasn’t the bad guy in that scenario?”

“I just know it” Wooyoung said with a strange smile. “Plus, no one deserves to get beaten 3 against 1, so it was a pretty safe bet that you were the one in need of rescuing there” he snorted, raising an eyebrow at the injured scientist.

“Well… thank you again” Seungmin said, a little awkwardly but truly grateful to his rescuers. “I hope you can pass the message to your friend as well.”

“Of course” Wooyoung nodded. “Hongjoong had to meet some people so he couldn’t stay, but they’ll b– he’ll be delighted to know that you woke up” he quickly caught himself, coughing at the end of his sentence.

That boy was definitely hiding something, but Seungmin’s brain was on too many painkillers right now to even try to attempt a guess.

“How long did the doctor say I should stay here for?” he asked instead, looking around to try and spot some medical staff.

“Oh euhm… well they said that you were lucky. Most of your big injuries are already treated with the help of the splints, and the rest are internal injuries that should heal on their own if you take it slow for a bit.” Wooyoung helped Seungmin to sit up, wedging a few pillows behind his back to support him better. “They decided to keep you here mainly to check on your concussion, but you know… I personally believe a lot in homemade remedies. Some warm soup, a good night of rest and the fresh air of the ocean… those are all good things that help a lot more with healing than the stuff they have you hooked onto right now.” He nodded towards the drip that was connected to Seungmin’s arm, probably giving him a mix of some kind of low-grade morphine for the pain and nutrients for his starving body. He hadn’t been able to eat in three days after all.

“Oh… well I’m definitely going to take it slow for a while.”

Seungmin couldn’t lie, upon learning about how long he had been out for, he had immediately thought of the boys. They must’ve been worried when they didn’t see him coming back. Still, they were smart and even with the Director Park looking for them, Chan must’ve made sure that they stayed safe and hidden. They had successfully concealed their existence for thousands of years, they should be safe for a bit longer, right?

While Seungmin was lost in his thoughts, Wooyoung quickly turned his body towards the TV that was in front of the scientist’s bed. He seized the remote control, turning up the volume, gaze unwavering from the screen.

“And now, back to our daily report on the strange singing that has been continuously heard for the past three days. It started on Monday morning and hasn’t stopped since then, being heard by many inhabitants on the coast. However, no one knows where it comes from despite the local police scanning the area by car and helicopter. Many noise complaints were submitted to the city council, and the mayor promised this morning during his press conference that the ones responsible for the disturbance would be heftily fined. We will keep you updated as soon as the situation changes. For the weather this week, we can expect…”

Seungmin’s gaze was just as focused as Wooyoung on the TV now, and his right hand clenched and unclenched nervously around his blanket. Those were his boys. His pod. They were singing for him, weren’t they? They were risking being found just to call him back to them, despite their last meeting ending on an uncertain and awkward note…

A wave of love swelled up in Seungmin’s heart, like he’d never felt before. He knew right then that he had to get back to them, had to make sure they were safe, had to do all he could so they didn’t get hurt. If they got caught because they were out in the open, singing for him, and attracted the director’s attention, Seungmin would never forgive himself.  

So, with a determined grunt, he threw the blankets off of him and shifted his legs out of the bed, socked feet touching the cold ground. He expected Wooyoung to stop him, to call a nurse and tell him to rest, but he only looked at him with a mysterious glint in his eyes.

“Your clothes are in that bag; you should change before leaving. Do you need help?”

Seungmin shook his head. “I’ll be fine, thank you for all that you did for me. I’ll manage to find my way.”

“Alright, well I’ll let the receptionist know that you’re leaving against medical advice. You focus on getting to where you need to be right now.”

Wooyoung looked far more serious than he had been up till now, and that shift in his demeanor made Seungmin question him once again. Who exactly was that young man, who had been at the right place at the right time, and who seemed to know exactly what Seungmin needed at that moment?

However, his need to get to the pod was stronger, and the biologist limped to the closest bathroom he could find with his clothes in hand. It took him longer than he would’ve liked to admit to get dressed, his concussion making him very dizzy and unstable, and his whole torso protesting in pain at each movement. As he put on his shirt, Seungmin saw that his entire left side was riddled with black and purple bruises, and the slightest touch to that area made him hiss in pain, but he managed to get his polo approximately properly over his chest, buttoning his shorts quickly and not bothering to lace his sneakers.

Once he was out of the bathroom, he peaked in the room he had been in before, and then towards the nurse station, trying to spot Wooyoung and thank him one last time. He couldn’t manage to find him anywhere though, and that made him feel weird. Wooyoung’s appearance almost felt like a dream, or a ghost, and he wasn’t sure that if he mentioned him to the medical staff, they wouldn’t simply say that he was a figment of his imagination.

Focusing back on the more important matters at hand, Seungmin exited the hospital on unsteady feet and hailed the first cab he saw. The woman looked at him suspiciously, and the biologist couldn’t blame her. He was as pale as a sheet and the mirror in the bathroom had allowed him to see that he was covered in scratches over most of his body from his fall on the dock. He’d taken off the bandage around his head but the splint on his hand was still there and the one on his ankle made him walk in a very robotic fashion. His face was also more emaciated than usual, from the lack of a real intake of food and water in the past three days. All in all, he looked like he still belonged in a hospital, and shouldn’t be coming out of it, but his mission was more important.

“The docks, please.”

He winced at how rough his voice sounded but took the ride as a good moment to settle himself and plan his next moves. He didn’t know exactly where the boys were, and he hoped that he could simply follow the singing straight to them. However, other people had apparently tried to do that for three days and had been unsuccessful. His other option was to go around to the places he knew the boys spent time in (the nesting place, the wreck, the reef) but that was a quite large perimeter, and he didn’t want to be seen navigating all-over the area, just in case Director Park was still on his tracks. He doubted that was the case, since he did make a pretty quick and unnoticed exit from the hospital, but you never knew what that man could be capable off. He kept looking back through the rear windshield of the cab, checking to see if they were being followed. It might’ve seemed paranoid and it was definitely freaking his driver, but it was putting Seungmin’s mind at ease, so he kept doing it all the way to the port.  

Once he arrived, he quickly paid for his ride with his wallet that was luckily still in the pocket of his shorts, and then limped his way to the dock were his boat was still waiting for him, as if nothing had changed in the past three days. The pink-haired scientist had to take a little break once inside, slumping down on a bench and holding his head in his hands, hoping the dizziness that submerged him would pass. His ankle was also hurting something fierce, and it felt like it was trying to swell up despite the tight splint over it. His bruised ribs made it hard to take in a full breath, but as long as he wasn’t running, that shouldn’t be too problematic.  

As soon as he got his bearings back, Seungmin went to the helm and started his boat, eyes focused on the horizon and ears wide open. He tried to catch any hint of singing he could over the loud noise of the engine and the waves and wind. He almost collided into a small yacht in his haste to get out of the harbor but managed to reach the open sea unarmed. Once he was on the water though, he realized that it was around noon as the glare of the sun reflected harshly on the waves and straight to his eyes, his concussion reminding him angrily that he should be resting in a dark room right now. He gripped the dashboard harshly with his good hand, the other one laying limp on the wheel as he fought the headache and dizziness to make his way towards where he remembered the nest to be.

As he got closer, a song floated through the wind, echoing like a haunted lullaby over the water. Seungmin immediately knew that this was the lead he was looking for and angled his boat in that new direction. It sounded like it was coming from the cliff side of the coast, where the ocean floor abruptly descended into a dark abyss. Keeping his eyes trained on the water, Seungmin stopped the boat’s engine and listened to the song for a minute. It sounded sad, eerie, desperate… He wondered which one of the boys was producing such a sad melody. He took in a deep breath before harmonizing with the high notes. His voice was lower, partly because he couldn’t reach the mers’ high register and partly because his throat was still irritated, but he made sure to match the intonations and the feelings of the song. He hoped his voice would act like a beacon, like last time with Hyunjin. He made sure that his melody not only sounded sad and desperate, but also like a call for the others to find him, for them all to be reunited. He had so many things to tell them, so many things to clarify, but most of all, he just wanted to make sure that they were safe for the time being.

He leaned against the railing on the starboard side of his ship, bending over slightly to look down in the dark water. He never stopped singing, and soon, he was harmonizing with not one but multiple voices, as the melody echoed from all around him. It was enchanting, and dizzying, and completely overwhelming. Seungmin’s throat was dry, not just from the heat of the midday sun but also from the sheer anticipation of seeing the boys again, of making sure the pod was alright. He was leaning more and more over the side of the railing, desperately hoping to catch sight of a tail or a face. His singing got louder as he got more anguished, simply wishing to see one of them, any one of them. In return, the voices singing from under the sea got more frenzied, feeling all connected to each other, like they were responding to his feelings.  

Finally, he saw it. A breach in the water in front of him, a bright orange tail leaving a trail of white bubbles behind it as it approached the boat at an amazing speed, Jeongin’s concerned face appearing in between the waves.

“Jeongin… JEONGIN!”

Seungmin couldn’t stop himself from yelling his friend’s name, waving his arm in the air as if Jeongin wasn’t already swimming straight for him. Relief made the biologist’s body sag, his trembling legs now barely holding the weight of his tired body.

“You’re here… you’re okay…” Seungmin whispered, voice lost to the wind as he looked down at Jeongin with a smile. The younger was only a few paces away now, swimming so fast that he looked like he was about to ram straight into the boat. That didn’t matter to Seungmin however, just knowing that Jeongin was here and that he was safe was enough for him. And through the voices harmonizing and creating that beautiful song that still echoed under the waves, he also somehow knew that all of the other members of the pod were safe.

Understanding this, Seungmin’s body stopped cooperating with him, letting itself fall with the knowledge that his most precious friends were out of harm’s way at the moment. Almost in slow motion, the pink-haired boy’s eyes closed, a smile stretching his lips as the mermen’s song got louder with each passing moment, getting lost in the hypnotizing melody. His head tilted forward, then his shoulders, and with the small lurch of a wave against his boat’s hull, Seungmin’s weak frame was sent overboard. His head hit the water first, the rest of his body following in a loud splash, and the only thing he could think about as he sank in the cold ocean was that the song sounded so much more beautiful underwater.

Chapter Text

Cold. Water. Suffocating.

Pain. Heavy. Tired.

So, so tired.

Then, lips on top of his. Not a kiss of love, no, but one of life. Air entering his lungs, his body jerking reflexively towards its only chance of survival.

Cold, hard scales. Soft skin. Plump lips.

Darkness. Warmth. Safety.

Seungmin’s senses came back to him, one by one. First, he felt the cold. It wasn’t the same cold that he’d felt previously. This one was sharper, almost biting. The human was shivering and drenched. He could feel the sun shining on his body, but there was also a cold breeze that gave him goosebumps all over. The sun rays and cold wind, as well as the wave sounds, and seagull cries made him realize that he must be outside. Probably on his boat too, if the rocking motion was any indication; although the speed at which the ship seemed to be breaking through the waves was kind of worrying. However, Seungmin’s tired brain put that concern away for later. The next thing he felt was a warm hand in his, another one on his chest and a third one on his forehead. Some muffled voices above him indicated that he was surrounded by people. He couldn’t tell who exactly, but the voices were soothing enough to not trigger any panic in him. 

Although, said panic was still creeping inside of him subconsciously, as he became aware of the pain that was throbbing through his whole body. The one that was the most intense however, came from his right leg. His entire calf felt like it was on fire, the pain pulsating more intensely with every beat of his heart. It was suffocating him, the rest of his body also pulsing in sync with soreness and discomfort, and he tightened his grasp on the hand that was holding his.

Then, with a gasp, he opened his eyes and took in a deep breath, coughs erupting out of him like a volcano finally exploding after sleeping for a millennium. His lungs pumped the sweet oxygen into his body with trepidation, and Seungmin vaguely thought that he must’ve looked like a fish out of water, gasping with his mouth wide open.

A head quickly popped into his line of sight, and he blearily recognized Jeongin. Sweet, soft, lovely Jeongin, that was apparently trying to tell him something; his lips were moving, but Seungmin couldn’t hear anything over the sound of the wind and waves. However, that didn’t deter him from talking back, needing to say what was resting so heavily on his heart.

“Innie… You’re safe! You have to forgive me, I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to stay away, I couldn’t… I… The director! He’s after you guys, you have to be careful! You have to stop singing and hide somewhere. Please you HAVE to! You hear me Innie? Please go and hide, you can’t stay here it’s dangerous” he rasped out, throat aching.

However, all he got for his passionate speech was an even more worried looking Jeongin caressing the back of his hand sweetly, and Felix coming into his line of sight from the other side, one hand pressing the human’s chest firmly on the ground. His deep voice pierced through whatever amount of water that was stuck in Seungmin’s ear drums as he sternly looked down at the pink-haired boy.

“Shhhh, calm down. Everyone is okay, I’m taking care of you and Innie won’t leave you. Just rest Minnie, let us watch over you.”

A small part of Seungmin’s brain knew this wasn’t fine. It knew that no one from the pod was truly safe, not with that man being out there and looking for them. Still, the larger part of his brain kept telling him how nice it would be to sleep a little bit longer. How the pain would fade again, and the panic would stop, and maybe he’d even feel warm again.

It didn’t help when Jeongin laid down next to him, wrapping an arm around his torso and sharing his body heat. Even though it might’ve not truly have been safe, he definitely felt protected here, being surrounded by Jeongin and taken care of by Felix. With a defeated sigh and not much of a choice, Seungmin let himself go once more, his body slumping and eyes closing as darkness surrounded him again.

When Seungmin woke up again, things had changed. He was lying on something warm and coarse – sand? – and he wasn’t as cold anymore. Voices talked over him, and this time, he managed to listen to the high whistles and multitudes of clicks. Relief washed over him as he recognized the sounds of his pod, and he groaned softly at the blinding light that greeted him once he opened his eyes. 

“Shhhh shhh don’t try to move” a deep voice soothed him, as a hand appeared over his face to protect it from the sun rays, casting a shadow over his eyes.

“Guys he’s awake!” The clicks had turned into actual words as Seungmin heard shuffling all around him.

“How is he doing?”

“I’m still checking him over, but I think Innie got to him in time.”

“Are you sure? I think he swallowed water before I managed to bring him up… Isn’t that dangerous for humans?”

“He coughed it all up on the boat, he should be fine now.”

Seungmin took stock of his injuries as he lay there, letting his eyes get used to the bright light. His breathing was a bit wheezy, and his whole torso felt like it was on fire – both from his bruised ribs and from hacking his lungs out earlier – but all in all, he felt like he’d gotten out of this relatively unscathed. It could’ve been much worse, and knowing his luck, he was surprised that it didn’t turn out worse. The pod must be his lucky charm then.

“G-guys?” he asked meekly as he tried to sit up.

“We’re here. Everyone’s here” Jeongin hurriedly hushed him, sliding behind the human to support him. Seungmin let the younger carry most of his weight as they sat, his back to Jeongin’s chest.

This new angle allowed the scientist to figure out his surroundings better. They were in what appeared to be a hidden cove, with a beach of white sand and water as turquoise as Felix’s tail. The rocky formations surrounding them not only made the beach only accessible by water, but it also sheltered them from the wind. His boat was anchored in the bay, a few meters away from the shore.

Seungmin was sitting on the dry hot sand, the only traces of how he got there being the deep furrows coming from the edge of the water to his position. On his right, Felix was doing something on his leg, looking deeply focused. Minho and Hyunjin were sitting on the beach, a few meters in front of him, both leaning over each other and looking worriedly at him. Chan was laying on the edge of the shore, his tail idly undulating in the water while he leaned on his elbows to watch over them. Changbin was next to him, sitting on the foreshore, his black tail absorbing almost all of the light around it, creating a hypnotizing black hole effect. He was fidgeting nervously, playing with the shell that he used as an earring. Last but not least, Jisung was plopped right behind Felix, looking over the healer’s shoulder and handing him some tools when asked.

The other thing that immediately jumped to Seungmin’s eyes was the fact that they all were armed. The weapons he’d seen them bearing on their first meeting were all tucked away in algae belts or laying close to their owners. Chan’s tachylyte’s sword in particular was glistening in the sunlight, but Jisung’s daggers looked just as sharp, and if the human wasn’t mistaken, Hyunjin’s hand was wrapped around what looked like a spear in the sand in front of him.

Seungmin took in a deep breath, regretting it immediately as it reminded him that his ribs were definitely bruised. “Where are we? Why are… Why are you guys all here?” He tried to turn to look at Jeongin, but with one single look from Felix, the youngest merboy wrapped his arms around Seungmin’s belly and kept him firmly in place. The skin-to-skin contact made the biologist realize that he was shirtless, and he tried not to get too self-conscious about that fact.

“Please don’t move, I’m trying my best to fix you up” Felix’s deep voice echoed as he was still bent over Seungmin’s right leg, wrapping some seaweed bandages over his calf.

“No… you don’t understand. You cannot stay here; you have to leave! Like… as far away as you can, maybe up in the Arctic with Hyunjin, or back in the depths –”

“Look Minnie… I’m sorry. We’re all sorry. We didn’t think that we would scare you away like that, it wasn’t our intention… Please, just give us a chance to explain” Jeongin pleaded in his ear, his voice thin and desperate.

“Wh-what?” The scientist was now utterly confused. Couldn’t they see in how much danger they all were? They couldn’t waste their time on him like that!

“What Innie is trying to say” Jisung interrupted, leaning over Felix “is that we shouldn’t have told you about the courting. It was dumb of us to expect a human to understand our ways, you just did things out of the pure kindness of your heart and you didn’t have any ulterior motives. We should’ve realized that when you healed Jeongin, and then when you offered us the caves to stay out of the storm, and even more when you healed Minho! But then you had to hunt for us, and share your food with us on top of it, and we should’ve just seen it as it was, which was you being friendly and wanting to help us understand the land-dwellers world so how about we just forget about all that we told you and we can just become friends again? Because I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty cool to have a human friend and you’re actually not that bad and you helped us out a lot already and I know the rest of the boys really like you and they don’t want to lose your friendship, and frankly neither do I because –”

“Jisung stop.” Chan’s calm voice broke through the boy’s frantic rambling and made the shark boy curl on himself in embarrassment. “Seungmin… what happened to you?” the leader asked, trying to understand why their human came back in such a bad state.

Seungmin winced when Felix took his left hand to examine his broken fingers. “I… I wanted to come back sooner, I swear! Jisung… it’s not because you guys scared me that I stayed away” he looked at the shark boy, wanting to convince him. “I was held back… some people beat me up, and then I was brought to a place where they healed me, but I was asleep for a while and –”

A chorus of hisses and growls cut him off abruptly, as he saw the pod get riled up. Minho’s tail fanned out like a frilled lizard trying to intimidate its opponent, while Felix’s one shivered like a rattlesnake’s, the scales clinking and gritting together. Hyunjin’s claws seemed to extend further and, beneath him, Seungmin could feel a deep vibration coming from Jeongin’s torso. On the shore, Chan and Changbin were both growling, gills flaring angrily on the sides of their torsos.

“You were WHAT?” Changbin exclaimed, dragging himself further up the beach to be closer to the human.

“I was beaten up, but that’s not the important part –”

“Are you kidding? What else can be more important than this?” the purple-eyed boy retorted, looking way too intimidating for Seungmin’s poor heart to handle.

When he reflexively tried to shield himself from the shouting mer, Jeongin tightened his grip around him and hushed him softly.

“Who hurt you? Tell us who they are, and we’ll take care of them” Minho hissed, eyes promising murder.

In fact, they all looked slightly murderous. The news of their human being hurt was not taken well, and the boys all had reflexively brought a hand to their weapons and leaned towards the pink-haired scientist. Their protective instincts were screaming to either take care of the injured boy or to kill the ones that had hurt him. It was really sweet, but it was not what Seungmin wanted them to focus on at the moment.

“Please, listen! You’re all in danger, because of me!” he shouted, and that had the desired effect of making all the boys shut up and focus on him.

With a trembling breath, Seungmin kept going. “One of the men who works at the same place as me… He told me he had some suspicions. He thinks I found something during my dives in the shipwreck, and well… he’s not wrong. He wanted me to tell him what I’d found, and to guide him and his team through the wreck. I refused, and that’s when he sent his men after me to… well to convince me to help. It didn’t work of course, I’m never gonna tell him anything, but I’m still really worried that he’s going to find you guys. He might’ve put a tracker on my boat, or had some people follow me, I’m not sure. I just rushed to you guys as soon as I woke up and learned you’d been singing for three days! I had to warn you about that man. But now… you guys should go. Please you have to get away from here!”

Seungmin stopped to take a breath and look at the boys, feeling their incredulous eyes on him.

“So… you didn’t disappear because we freaked you out?” Jeongin asked softly.

“Of course not! I’d never just disappear on you guys like that!” Seungmin was affronted that they could even think that, and he turned around in the younger’s arms to make his point clear. “Innie, you guys are so… so important to me” he gulped as he said it out loud, realizing how true that statement was. “No matter what you do or say, you’re not going to scare me away. I mean, I literally came back to see you even though Jisung jumped at me twice and Minho threatened to drown me. It’s not some… some courting that’s gonna frighten me.”

That was a lie, since the courting definitely freaked him out, but the pod didn’t need to know that he was more afraid of his feelings than of death-threats. 

Felix tutted at his patient for moving around so much and straightened him so he was laying back against Jeongin’s chest once more, facing the others. His small hands ran along Seungmin’s torso, who shivered as the freckled boy delicately applied some strange ointment onto his ribs. The biologist tried hard not to blush, and kept on with his speech, directed towards the rest of the pod this time as he tried to convey his desperation to them.

“The thought of you being in danger because of me? Because I might’ve slipped and acted suspiciously in front of that man, or because you guys went out of hiding to sing me back to you? That’s the worst thing that could ever happen. So, you have to promise me that you’ll go back into hiding, that you’ll go somewhere safe, please” he begged them, desperate.

“Not before we make sure that you are safe” Hyunjin interjected, pushing himself off from Minho’s shoulder. The shells around his waist clinked together as he leaned towards the human.

Seungmin was about to protest, but Chan cut him off. “Hyunjin is right. This place is well hidden, and we made sure no one was following us when we pushed the boat in the cove. We’ll keep watch, but for now everyone is safe. And you’re hurt” Chan’s jaw ticked as he gritted his teeth, apparently still angry over that fact. “You need to rest and let Felix take care of you.”

“I’m pretty much done over here” said mer explained calmly, as he finished applying the ointment on Seungmin. “The hardest part was your leg, but I used the same thing you did on Minho... They’re called stitches, right?”

“Wait… my leg was cut? How? I only sprained my ankle, there’s not supposed to be a cut…” Seungmin just now consciously acknowledged the algae bandage that was wrapped around his entire right calf. “What happened?”

“When you fell… I didn’t arrive on time, I’m sorry” Jeongin’s sorrowful voice resounded from behind him, and the arms around his waist tightened.

“Innie, stop this” Minho scolded him. “You couldn’t have done anything against it, it wasn’t your fault.”

Seungmin only made a confused noise, his hand squeezing Jeongin’s wrist comfortingly.

“When you fell, your leg got caught on the thing at the back of your boat, and it got cut pretty deeply” Felix explained, pointing at Seungmin’s calf. “Since it was a cut like Minho’s, I used the wipes to clean it like you did, and then the thread to close it up” he then pointed at the boat’s medical kit, which was now laying on the beach next to them.

The propeller. He had hit the boat’s propeller on his way down. That definitely explained the burning pain in his leg. Hopefully his tetanus shots were up to date.

“I’m sure you did great Lixie, thank you” Seungmin smiled up at the boy. “And thank you for saving me Innie… Without you I would’ve drowned. I owe you my life” he added, wanting the younger to feel his gratitude.

His hand sneaked down to pet Jeongin’s tail, but the scaly appendage didn’t feel the same as usual, and Seungmin startled when he realized why. “Uh? Innie… your tail is dry! You have to get back in the water” he fussed over the boy.

“I told you already, I can get dry. It’s not the most comfortable, but it won’t kill me. And I don’t wanna let you go” the youngest pouted cutely.

“Seungmin is right, you should get back in the water Innie. Anyways we’ll take turns to stay by his side for the next few days” Chan interjected, patting the water next to him to get his youngest pod-member to dive back in.

“Wait… the next few days?” Seungmin’s eyes went wide.

“You’re going to need a lot of rest, and I never let my patients out of my sight until they’re fully healed.” Felix’s tone gave no place for arguing.

“But I can’t stay here” Seungmin frowned. I have no food, or water, or even just a blanket to sleep. And I’d have to call in to work to let them know why I disappeared off the face of the earth for three days…”

“You can’t go back on land, it’s too dangerous” argued Chan, his protective instincts flaring up. “If that man finds you again, we don’t know what he’ll do next.”

“You’re right that I don’t ever want to meet Director Park again, but… what if I went somewhere I knew that he wouldn’t be? There’s a lot of small towns all over the coast, I could stop in one of them and get myself some supplies, and a phone too… Yeah it could work” Seungmin mused out loud, lost in his thoughts.

Jeongin giggled behind him and nuzzled his neck sweetly. “Stop thinking so hard, you’ll get lost in there” the merboy ruffled Seungmin’s hair playfully. “And while I would never doubt your skills, you’re pretty injured right now. Are you sure you’re not too hurt to be on your boat?”

“We won’t let him go alone” Hyunjin said it like it was an evidence. “We’ll push his boat all the way to that place if we need to, just like we brought him here. And we’ll stay close just in case he needs us while he’s on land.”

“What? No, you can’t. It’s too dangerous! You could get spotted by someone…” Seungmin immediately argued, his right hand holding onto Jeongin’s arm possessively.

Chan sighed, but nodded resolutely. “If you do need to gather supplies, we’ll accompany you and stay close to the shore” he accepted. “We better do it at night, so we lower our chances of being seen. And don’t worry too much for the food, we can bring you things to eat. It’s what a pod does after all: we take care of all of our members.”

His dimpled smile and his words made the biologist forget how to breath for a moment. He was a part of the pod? He was accepted as a member? This was huge! Had it even ever happened before, that a human got adopted by a pod? He didn’t know, but he couldn’t be more excited at the prospect; his heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest, and butterflies swarmed in his stomach, making him giddy.

Felix took advantage of his temporary shut-down to get him out of Jeongin’s lap so the other boy could get back in the water like their leader had asked. The freckled boy manhandled Seungmin easily despite his smaller frame, letting him lean against his torso and freeing Jeongin so the orange-tailed boy could crawl back to the sea, where Chan wrapped him in a hug.

“Am I dreaming?” Seungmin breathed out, once he was relocated and could see all of the other boys properly.

“Nuh-uh. We all talked about it, and we all agreed pretty easily. We’d love to have you in this pod, even though you can’t exactly live with us all the time. That is… only if you want to be a part of it, of course” Chan quickly amended, still holding onto Jeongin tightly.

The whole pod seemed to wait nervously for his answer, though some of them showed that anxiousness more than others. Jeongin was giving him the biggest puppy eyes ever, while Hyunjin was twisting a lock of his long hair over and over again. Minho looked detached but the antsy way he kept flicking his fin up and down gave him away. Changbin was the same as Chan, they were both openly gazing at him with a questioning look. Jisung was biting at his nails with very sharp teeth, while Felix gently wrapped the human in his arms, expressing his desire to keep him close.

“Are you kidding? Of course, I’d love to be part of the pod! That’s… it’s such an honor, thank you!” Seungmin’s words failed him, and he felt like he could’ve been much more eloquent in expressing just how much it meant to him. However, he trusted that the others could understand and see it in his face, as he smiled brightly at them all, laughing happily.

The boys whopped and cheered at the good news, laughing along with him and tackling each other on the ground in celebration. Hyunjin had tried to engulf Seungmin in a bear hug as well but Felix had quickly hissed at him, reminding him that the human was injured and in no condition to be holding a heavy merman right now.

Jeongin had bragged out loud about how he knew from the first day that he met Seungmin that the human was special. He then reminded them all how great of an idea he had had by accepting Seungmin’s bandana as his “symbol”, earning some groans from a few of them and a splash of water in his face, courtesy of Chan.

Seungmin basked in the happiness, feeling extremely good right now despite the previous stressful events that he’d been through. Something still felt a bit odd though, and he turned around to look for the source of this weird feeling. His eyes met with golden ones, and immediately he knew he’d found where the uneasiness came from.

Jisung was still sitting behind Felix, looking over the blond’ shoulder towards the human and biting his lip, like he wasn’t sure if he could say what was on his mind or not. Finally, he couldn’t hold it in anymore.

“So, do you like us?”

A heavy silence fell over the cove.

“Jisung!” Minho then yelled, frowning at the smaller boy. “You can’t just ask something like that!”

“Why can’t he, I’m also curious about Seungmin’s answer” Changbin nonchalantly argued, although his gaze pinned the human down, almost challengingly.

Hyunjin came to his rescue, making his way on Seungmin’s left side and putting his clawed hand on Seungmin’s good leg. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. We dumped this whole courtship thing on you just a few days ago and so many things happened since then. You can just ignore them and let us take care of you for now, okay?”

“Jisung, you better stop stressing my patient like that or I’m going to have to remove you from the nest” Felix threatened, glaring at his pod-mate.

Seungmin’s brain short-circuited once more, not only at the question but also at the realization that the boys considered this little alcove and the beach as a nest. He blinked a few times to snap out of his awed-state, gaze settling over each boy individually.

“I… like you. All of you” he said honestly. “I don’t know how much yet? I think it’s more than I’m ready to fully understand right now, but I do know that I do like you a lot, and that you’re all precious to me.” He smiled.

“My heart is going to explode” Hyunjin stage-whispered next to him, holding his chest dramatically. “He’s too sweet I want to eat him!”

“Please don’t!” Seungmin jokingly panicked, leaning further into Felix’s hold. “I already got a concussion and way too many bruises, I don’t need a missing limb!”

“Concussion?” questioned Felix, ever the observant one.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry” Seungmin reassured quickly. He wasn’t about to try to explain neuroscience to the pod, not when he felt like he was about to fall asleep at any moment. After all, his day had definitely been high in emotions.

He shivered a bit, the tiredness, injuries and afternoon breeze all contributing to making him colder. Felix gently rubbed his arms, humming sweetly. “How about you take a nap? We’re safe here, you can rest. And Jinnie, Sungie and me could cuddle you? You seem a bit cold.”

“Hey, what about me?” Minho frowned, pouting.

“And me! I wanna cuddle Minnie too!” Jeongin crossed his arms, tail loudly slapping the water.

Felix laughed deep in his chest. “I’m sorry Innie, you’re too wet for that, you’ll only make him colder. But Minho can cuddle with us too. Though if one of you manage to roll over Seungmin or hurt him further, I’ll cut off your fins and feed them to the crabs, you hear me?”

The freckled boy took his role as a healer very seriously, and the rest apparently didn’t want to feel his wrath, because they all quickly agreed to be extra careful. Seungmin appreciated the attention and the care. He was used to be pretty much alone, apart from his family, and this was all new to him. He soaked it all in, as Felix carefully laid him down on the sand, feeling the boy then curl around his right side, elevating his injured leg by sliding it over his tail. Hyunjin was quickly glued to his left, not bothered that the ointment on Seungmin’s ribs was now rubbing off against him. Jisung seemed to hesitate for a moment, before spooning Felix, his hand wrapping over the blond boy to hold Seungmin’s waist, while Minho had settled for sitting by Seungmin’s head, massaging his scalp soothingly. If the scientist had been a cat, he’d be purring all over the place by now.

He let his eyes close, catching a small conversation between Jeongin, Chan and Changbin about checking out the perimeter and setting turns to guard the cove, but it all quickly was lost to him as he let himself fall asleep. For once, despite literally being stranded in an unknown place with a lunatic possibly being after him and putting his family and pod in danger, he felt at peace. So, he let that peace wrap around him in a warm cocoon and fell asleep contentedly.

Before they’d gone on their quest to find some supplies for Seungmin, Felix had wrapped another seaweed bandage over the biologist’s torso, saying it would help with the bruising and pain. It wasn’t as slimy as Seungmin had expected it to be and his shirt covered it nicely, so he didn’t protest and had let the healer and Jisung wrap him up like a mummy. The splint on his ankle was another story, as it was quickly covered in sand and created more irritation than anything on his injured joint, so he’d asked Hyunjin to help him take it off. He would’ve put it back to get in town, since it did help give him some support despite being uncomfortable, but he ultimately didn’t need to. Chan had disappeared for a few minutes, pretexting a patrol of the area, and had come back with a long strip of leather in his hand. He’d given it to Felix with a blush, before going back in the water and playing with some crabs shyly. Seugmin had been utterly confused at the exchange, but Felix had smiled and explained that this was seal leather, and that it would make a perfect replacement for his splint. They had a stash that they used occasionally, since leather was hard work to produce, and Chan had just gifted him one piece of it. It was a valuable present and Seungmin could only look on with fondness at the blushing leader in the water.

The town that they’d chosen to let Seungmin get some supplies had been a few kilometers away, just a small fishing town with almost no visitors and only a few local shops. With the night falling, and the town only having a few lights on in a couple of houses and a few stores, the starry sky showed itself in all its beauty, the Milky Way even being visible from their spot in the harbor.

The boys had decided to push the boat once again, both so Seungmin didn’t have to worry about actually navigating but also to make sure that it had some fuel left in case of an emergency. They would stay in the water, under the ship so as to not get spotted but still be within earshot – mostly for Minho – to help out Seungmin in case something happened.

The pink-haired boy had found a sort of sleeping bag in the compartment that held the medical kit, so his priorities for the night were to find some food, water and a phone. The later would be a bit of a problem given the late hour, but he’d do his best to find what he needed.

Stepping out on the docks, Seungmin looked in the water to make sure his boys were properly concealed before limping towards the 24/7 mart that stood on the main road, right at the exit of the harbor. The seal leather strap was doing a good job of stabilizing his ankle, but his calf was still painful. By some stroke of luck, the mart he went to not only had food but also a drug-store alley, in which he decided to restock his med kit, and also take some painkillers. He then had grabbed some fruits, bread and a few packs of easy-to-eat stuff like kimbaps and cereal bars. He packed his groceries as quickly as his recovering body allowed him, not wanting to spend too much time in this unknown place, before asking the cashier if they had any idea where he could either find a payphone or buy a phone. They’d looked at him weirdly, before saying that there was an old payphone on the boardwalk bordering the shore. Thanking them, Seungmin went on a quest to find said payphone, in the dark and without any real indications on its location.

He managed to find it after five minutes of walking, which was a blessing since his ankle and stitched calf were definitely screaming at him to stop and just sit down in the middle of the street. Taking the few loose coins that he had left in his wallet, he popped them in the payphone and dialed Mina’s number, only to realize that the call wasn’t going through. The machine was apparently too old, and it didn’t even have a dial tone anymore. Sighing in despair, Seungmin hung up and thumped his forehead against the cold metal box.

“Well… you look like you need help” a smooth voice giggled next to him, making him jump.

Turning quickly, Seungmin’s eyes widened as he saw a young man approach him. He had broad shoulders, a sharp jawline and a piercing gaze, yet he still managed to ooze out kindness. His slicked back hair and sleeveless shirt made him a bit trendier than Seungmin would’ve expected for a resident of such a small town, but who was he to judge?

“Yeah, I guess I’m pretty desperate” he awkwardly nodded at the stranger. “I’m just… looking to make a call, and the payphone doesn’t work of course, and I don’t know where else I could find one.”

“Why don’t you use mine?” the stranger offered kindly, dimples appearing along with his smile, reminding the scientist of Chan.

“Really? That would be amazing if I could!” Seungmin almost jumped in excitement, stopping himself at the last minute when Felix’s threats to rest came back to him.

“Of course, I don’t mind. Here.”

Seungmin thanked him again profusely and quickly made a call to Mina. Since it was late, his boss didn’t answer her phone, but he left her a brief message, explaining that he’d been at the hospital and that he had to leave for a family emergency, but that she should keep an eye on Director Park because he was definitely up to no good. He didn’t want to give any more details in front of the stranger, nor in a voicemail, so he left it pretty vague, hoping that Mina would have the bright idea to investigate the director and find some dirt on him.

He then left a quick message to his parents, saying that he was going to be swamped with work for a while so he wouldn’t be able to check in on them quite as often but that he hoped their trip was going well and that they stayed safe.

Finally giving back the phone to the young man, he bowed in gratitude.

“Thank you so much for this, it was such a great help! I couldn’t ever thank you enough….?”

“San. My name’s San” the stranger smiled, what looked like a knowing glint illuminating his eyes for a moment. But Seungmin was tired, and probably imagining it, so he simply bowed his head again.

“Thank you so much San, it was really kind of you.”

“No problem. You seem pretty frazzled, I hope things settle down for you soon” San said in a soothing, almost entrancing voice.

Seungmin could only nod dumbly as he felt that voice enter his ear and worm its way to his brain, wrapping his tired and emotional mind in a cotton-candy cloud. With a knowing chuckle and one last smile, San wished him a good night, before disappearing in the dark streets once again.

Seungmin’s legs worked on autopilot as they brought him to the docks once more, where he made his way to his boat. He only snapped out of his weird trance as the boys popped up to the surface, asking him if he was alright and if he’d found everything he needed. He smiled at them while brandishing his grocery bag triumphantly. They quickly made their way back to the cove, Seungmin taking the time to eat a late dinner while he was still on the boat.

As soon as they’d made it back to their safe spot, he put the sleeping bag down on the beach, along with a blanket, and wasn’t surprised at all as at least three merboys came to cuddle with him and keep him warm in the cold night. He knew the rest of them were in the water, guarding the cove and making sure they were safe, and that made his mind feel at ease again. This little place felt like a bubble out of time, a real spot of paradise where he could let his guard down and just enjoy the moment. So, without any hesitation, he laid down and went back to sleep, nuzzling the closest person that was wrapped around him and enjoying the warmth of the many arms that encased him safely.

Chapter Text

When Seungmin woke up, it was to a slightly suffocating heat and a weird mix of textures rubbing against his skin. Opening his eyes with a groan, he saw the sun barely rising over the horizon, showing how early it was. Turning his head, he realized that he was laying in the middle of a gigantic cuddle pile, that mixed skin, scales and sand. It was also a little humid, but not as much as he would’ve expected while being surrounded by 5 merboys.

Sitting up slowly, he let the sleeping bag fall down to his waist and shook off the sand that was stuck in his hair. He heard some groans as the people around him rearranged themselves and gasped in surprise when he ended up with a tailfin straight in his lap. He chuckled and followed it all the way up to Jisung’s face, seeing the shark boy cutely frown in his sleep.

A hand wrapping around his waist tightly surprised him, the scientist turning sharply to his right. He was met with a glare from Changbin, who held him tighter and burrowed his black tail under Seungmin’s sleeping bag.

“’s too early… g’back to sleep...”

Seungmin had to say, he was not expecting to have Changbin be the one pod member that cuddled him like this in his sleep. But neither was he expecting Jisung to be sprawled all over him, so his half-asleep brain was understandably confused. Looking behind Changbin, he managed to see Felix cuddling the mer’s broad back and Hyunjin right behind the freckled boy, snoring lightly, his horn thankfully pointing far away from the group.

On his left, behind Jisung, he wasn’t surprised to see Jeongin breathing calmly with a small smile on his face. The youngest’s arm sneaked under Jisung’s head and his hand reached up to where Seungmin would’ve been laying down, giving him a comfortable pillow all night long.

A wave of unconditional adoration submerged the pink-haired human, at how easily those boys had let him in their pod, and in their little bubble of love and safety. Not only had they accepted him, but they were willing to make some sacrifices for him. Just thinking about them not hesitating to come out of hiding and sing for him to get back to them still pulled something deep inside of Seungmin’s chest. Those sacrifices didn’t even need to be very big to move him though; just the fact that they’d all willingly spent the night with him, on the beach, despite their drying scales and the obvious discomfort it must’ve brought, already meant a lot to him.

Stretching his arms up to the sky, Seungmin took stock of his own body and how he felt and was surprised when he discovered that he was still sore, but definitely less hurting than he thought he’d be after the day he’d had. His eyes scanned the little cove for a moment, trying to spot the two missing merboys and allowing himself some time to wake up properly. The cove, with its white sand and clear water, was definitely a little corner of paradise. From his spot, he could actually see the rising sun framed by the two tall cliffs that protected them from the wind, allowing only a gentle breeze to pass through and ruffle the biologist’s hair softly. The cove wasn’t that big, but it fit his boat comfortably and still allowed space for the boys to swim around, which was probably why they knew about this spot in the first place.

His eyes landed on a lone figure sitting in the water, watching him. With a smile, he disentangled himself from the cuddle pile, leaving behind a disgruntled Changbin who quickly latched onto Jisung instead. After carefully stretching his limbs some more, he walked down to the shore, sitting next to the figure that had crawled out of the waves to settle on the wet sand.

“Hello Minho hyung” he smiled at the older, admiring the way Minho’s golden scales were glistening under the sun rays, almost like melting gold.

 “Good morning little human” the merman smiled back at him, one of his hands going to caress Seungmin’s cheek. “Did I just hear you call me by the same title you gave Chan?” his voice sounded teasing, but there was no denying that his cheekbones were colored the same red as the tips of his fins.

“Yeah… is that okay with you?”

“More than okay” Minho breathed out, leaning forward with a look in his eyes.

Seungmin’s heart halted for a moment, thinking that the mer was going to kiss him, but instead, Minho tilted his head to the side, baring his throat while gazing at Seungmin with a mix of love and uncertainty. When the human didn’t respond, unsure of what was happening, the mer leaned even more forward, this time nuzzling his head in the crook of Seungmin’s neck, his nose and lips tickling the sensitive skin delicately.

The scientist could only shiver at the sensation, biting his lips to not let out a gasp when Minho spoke against his neck. “What about this? Is this… okay with you?”

“It’s ticklish, but it’s definitely okay” Seungmin chuckled, his arm wrapping reflexively around Minho’s shoulders. “Can I ask if it means something special, hyung? I’ve seen you guys do this to each other a few times before. Is it like a hug?”

Minho groaned in his shoulder and pushed himself off of the human, going back to caress Seungmin’s cheek with his slender fingers. “You’re too innocent for your own good, little human. This… action, of both baring your throat and kissing the neck of your partner it’s… it’s something kind of… intimate. Something that people courting each other, and life-mates do together. It’s all about showing your vulnerability and proving to your partner that you would never hurt them, even if they’re allowing you access to the most fragile part of their body” he explained, biting his bottom lip in between sharp teeth. “Is it still something you would be… interested in doing? With me?”

Minho had never looked this insecure in front of Seungmin before, and the human took it as a form of great trust; the merboy had lowered his guard enough to allow him to see those insecurities. He put his hand over Minho’s, on his cheek, and smiled, hopefully reassuringly.

“I would be honored to do this again with you hyung. Thank you for telling me about this” he hoped his honesty was coming across in his voice. “Can I show you how we do this on land?”

Minho let out a curious noise from the back of his throat, tilting his head like a puppy. “Sure, is it very different from what we do?”

“It kind of is, yeah. Just… let me guide you? And if something feels wrong, you can totally pull back, I won’t take it badly!”

“You’re intriguing me little one” Minho’s tail slapped in the water, betraying his interest. “How exactly do you show your love to your partner?” 

Seungmin blushed but decided that there was no backing away from this now. He looked Minho straight in the eyes, cupping his handsome face, making sure that the splint on his left hand wasn’t pressing uncomfortably on the merboy’s marble skin. His gaze dropped down to the deliciously pink cupid’s bow of his hyung’s lips, admiring how enticing it looked. Then, closing his eyes – both to appreciate the moment and to shield himself in case Minho actually had a bad reaction – he leaned in and kissed the golden-tailed boy.

It was barely anything, just a few pecks on Minho’s pliant lips, nothing heavy or needy or forced. Simply a few soft kisses, that still managed to get Seungmin vibrating in his skin, feeling like he was flying on a cloud. Forcing himself back on earth, the scientist backed off slowly, opening his eyes to judge Minho’s reaction. The normally snarky and intimidating boy was just standing there, with his eyes wide open, cheeks and ears red and his tailfin curled up straight out of the water. His mouth opened and closed, a bit like a fish out of water – Seungmin internally laughed at his own joke, his brain a nervous wreck and trying to distract itself with silly humor. 

“Are you… are you okay? Was that okay? Was it too much?” the scientist stressed, shaking his leg nervously out of habit. He quickly stopped however when his right leg reminded him that it was still sporting both a sprain and a cut.

“What was that?” Minho asked, still flabbergasted.

“That… was a kiss? It’s what we usually do between lov – partners, between partners” he quickly coughed.

“I liked it. I want another kiss” Minho blinked, an excited spark glinting in his eyes, his tail flapping behind him.

Seungmin laughed but indulged, leaning forward to press another kiss on the boy’s lips. He had to give it to the merboy, he was a quick learner! Although it wasn’t like Seungmin had that much experience in kissing people, apart from that one girl he had dated during his last year of high school.

Putting his hand on Minho’s bicep to support himself better, Seungmin’s fingers ran along a mysterious texture on the merboy’s skin. Pulling away with a gasp, the biologist remembered exactly what it was that he was touching.

“Oh my god your stitches! How are they holding on, are you healing properly?”

Minho whined at being interrupted in the middle of a kiss, but did answer the question, not wanting his little human to worry for nothing. “It’s healing just fine; my cut is completely closed up by now. The only reason the stitches are still there is because we haven’t figured a way to get it out yet. The thread is thin but strong, so it’s tricky to cut it without reopening the wound. Can we keep kissing now?”

Seungmin ignored his request, fretting over the boy’s fresh scar.

“Oh no, you shouldn’t take stitches out without the proper tools! I’ve got what we need back on the boat, I can go get it and I’ll take care of it for you” Seungmin explained, mentally preparing himself to go in the cold water. However, a firm hand on his shoulder forced him to sit back down, not allowing him to move anywhere.

“You’re not going anywhere unless we can help it” a groggy voice spoke right in his ear, making him squeak in surprise. One of these days, those boys were going to give him a heart attack.

Turning around, he discovered Changbin, with his eyes still half-closed and cheeks slightly puffy from sleep. “Min, go get the box, it’s the shiny one that Hyunjin was playing with last time.”

Minho nodded and slinked back in the water, leaving a flustered Seungmin on the shore with Changbin.

“You didn’t have to, I could’ve gone. Minho hyung’s gonna have a hard time climbing on board” the scientist worried.

“Nonsense. He managed to climb up an entire cliff once, when Jisung dared him to. He’ll have no problem getting on the boat. And you need to stay put, you’re still injured” Changbin made Seungmin turn towards him, holding his injured hand to prove his point.

“I actually feel much better!” the pink-haired human happily reported, his free hand sliding under his shirt, where his ribs felt a lot less sore under their algae bandage. “I don’t know exactly what Felix did, but it’s working really fast!”

A glimmer of pride shone in Changbin’s eyes. “He is the best at what he’s doing. He’ll get you back on track in no time” his raspy voice was very soothing, and Seungmin let himself enjoy this rare moment between the two of them. “Also… I heard you explain to Minho just now what a kiss was, and I’d like to get one from you” the merboy added, a little mischievous smile pulling at his lips.

Seungmin choked on air, looking at the boy with wide eyes. “You… when… what?”

“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to. I just thought it might be nice to reciprocate the courting back to you with some human gestures” Changbin nonchalantly explained, laying down more comfortably on his belly and looking up at the diver.

“Really? You don’t… I mean, you’re okay with this? You’d like me to kiss you as well?” Seungmin bit his bottom lip anxiously, not wanting to push the boy but also really wishing he could kiss him.

Changbin rose up on his elbows, his thumb pressing on Seungmin’s lip to free it from his teeth. “I do want it. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have asked” he gently assured.

Seungmin nodded, comforted by the words, and leaned down to give a soft peck on Changbin’s lips. He was about to lean back, wanting to check the merboy’s reaction, but a hand at the back of his neck forced him to stay in place.

“You know, as one of the eldest of the pod, I do observe humans to understand their behavior and better avoid them and their traps.” Changbin mumbled, the hot air of his breath blowing over Seungmin’s cheek. “Meaning, I have seen humans kiss before. And it looked something more like this…”

With no further warning, Changbin opened his mouth and truly kissed him. It was passionate, borderline aggressive, leaving Seungmin flustered until Changbin’s tongue poked his lower lip, tentatively asking for permission. The diver didn’t hesitate anymore and followed Changbin in the open-mouthed kiss, both boys taking their time to enjoy the experience. The merboy’s hand didn’t leave Seungmin’s nape, guiding him in tilting his head on the side to deepen their kiss. The human let himself fall forward, resting more of his weight on the muscular body in front of him. It was such a weird feeling, to completely trust those boys despite having barely known them for a few weeks. Not only was he trusting them, but also falling for them one by one, and he absolutely loved it.

The kiss was abruptly interrupted when Minho cleared his throat right next to them. The two boys separated, flushed but smiling. Seungmin sat back up properly, embarrassed at being caught in the middle of a full make-out session.

“It felt really nice” Changbin commented, reassuring the human on his kissing abilities; “but your teeth are so blunt?”

Seungmin could only laugh at the mer’s dumbfounded expression. “And yours are very sharp!”

“Wait, there were teeth involved? Why didn’t I get the teeth?” Minho pouted, pushing the medical kit towards them.

“It’s actually better if there’s not too much teeth involved” Seungmin winced. “Thank you for getting this for me! You’re a sweetheart” he complimented Minho, both to see him preen and to distract him from the matters of kissing. “I’m going to get your stitches out, and then I’ll check on mines.”

The diver looked down at the bandage on his leg, and his eyes fell on the seal-leather still securely wrapping his ankle. Something clicked in his brain at that visual reminder, and he interrogated the boys about it as he got the scissors and tweezers from the med-kit.

“By the way, where’s Chan hyung? He’s the only one missing.”

“Chan went… to see some people. He had a few questions to ask them and he also wanted to get out there and see if there was anyone on the water looking for you” Changbin answered, obviously keeping some information for himself.

Seungmin was fine with that though; he understood that there were probably a lot of things they weren’t comfortable in sharing with him, and he’d just have to work harder to gain their trust.

“Chan is worrying too much and wants to keep his pod safe. You’re a part of it now, so knowing that you’re in danger makes him go crazy. He’ll calm down soon enough and come back here, don’t worry” Minho smiled knowingly, winking at the human.

Seungmin couldn’t help the pleased shiver that ran down his spine at hearing those words and had to steady his hands before snipping away at each one of Minho’s stitches, removing them from the skin carefully but swiftly with the tweezers. The golden-tailed boy took it all in stride, letting the human work on his arm while he sunbathed on the sand. Changbin looked at it all from over Seungmin’s shoulder, obviously a bit more squeamish but intrigued by what was happening.

“I guess I’ll have to thank him for looking out for me when he comes back then. Oh, and I actually also wanted to thank you guys, for spending the night with me.”

Seungmin rubbed a disinfecting wipe over Minho’s cut, that was now all properly scarred, only a thin pink line left as an aftermath. While he did so, he could feel the two elder’s gazes on him, so he explained himself.

“I know that it must’ve not been a really great night, being on land and dry all this time. You didn’t have to do it, but you still cuddled me all night long. So, thank you” he looked at them both gratefully, deeply touched by their actions.

“Don’t mention it” Changbin waved him off. “Plus, we actually weren’t dry all night. We took turns, between cuddling you and going back in the water, and we always made sure that only the driest ones of us were the ones directly cuddling you. Humans are so fragile when it comes to water, I don’t understand how you managed to invent so many tools to swim around if you fear getting wet that much.”

“We’re not that fragile” Seungmin frowned, crossing his arms. He didn’t want the pod to see him as a delicate little thing that they needed to protect all the time.

“Don’t worry, we know you’re tough. Especially after all you went through to protect our secret” Minho reassured him, holding up Seungmin’s left hand, mindful of the broken fingers, and kissing his palm. The gesture was so intimate that it made Seungmin’s whole body shiver in delight.

“Our brave little human” Changbin praised him as an apology for his words, while Minho undid the bandage on the diver’s calf with deft fingers, revealing the stitched-up cut.

“Is it healing properly?” a low voice asked, making Seungmin jump out of his skin. Damn those boys, moving around so silently despite their giant fish tails!

Turning around, he found himself face-to-face with Felix, his blond hair full of sand but looking wide-awake already. Behind him, the rest of the boys were starting to rouse, groaning and rolling around to extricate themselves from the cuddle pile.

“It is” Minho confirmed, looking at Seungmin’s wound carefully. “It’s already scarring nicely.”

Surprised, the human looked back at his leg, not believing for a moment that the deep nasty cut he’d gained yesterday was already scarring. Upon closer inspection, his mouth fell wide open: under the stitches, and the weird ointment Felix had applied over it, the cut was already closed and taking on a healthy pink color. The biologist could only gape at it, his brain furiously racking through his knowledge to find a rational explanation for this.

Seemingly reading his thoughts, Felix explained calmly: “The ointment doesn’t work that well on sprains and broken bones, but it does wonder on cuts and bruises.” The freckled boy tilted Seungmin’s chin up and caressed the side of his jaw, where the diver knew he had bad scratches and splinters embedded deep in the skin. However, Felix’s fingers only encountered smooth skin, and no pain flared up at his touch. The healer let out an approving hum. “I reapplied some during the night, since it works best under the moonlight. That’s why it did such a quick job on most of your cuts.”

“Wait… are you telling me that you’re like a sea-witch or something? Is it like witchcraft, with potions and stuff? Can you do magic?” Seungmin blustered out, his mind not able to wrap around the facts that he was observing. That couldn’t be right, magic couldn’t really exist, right? For sure, humanoid creatures could have evolved and gained fishtails, to adapt themselves to their environment. But straight up magic potions to heal wounds? It couldn’t be right. There had to be a logical, reasonable explanation for this. Actually, there was that study on the regenerative powers found in the green algae cells… Maybe that was what was happening here?

“Magic?” Felix tilted his head. “That might be the human word for it, I’m not sure. The ointment was made by –” a sharp whistle followed by two clicks escaped the mer’s lips. “They are very respected members of the mer society, and they’re powerful. Everything they make becomes filled with that power, a bit like a blessing? They gave us that ointment when Chan hyung got badly hurt, during a fight with another pod. Since they care so much about him, they wanted to make sure he would heal properly. I kept some of the ointment just in case, and seeing what happened to Minho and to you, it was a good call” he deadpanned, rewrapping the bandage around Seungmin’s calf to protect it from the sand.  

“Are you talking about –?” The same sharp whistle and two clicks tumbled out of Jeongin’s lips as he slid into the conversation – literally slid, as he pulled himself across the wet sand, heavy tail trailing behind him, and laid his head in Seungmin’s lap. “Chan went to see them, right? To ask about –”

Minho slapped his hand over Jeongin’s mouth, muffling his next words. “Chan should come back soon; we were just checking on how Seungminnie was healing in the meantime.”

The attempt to silence the youngest was not the subtlest, but Seungmin’s mind was still reeling about the conversation on magic healing to do anything about this.

“Can I check your ribs, Minnie? I want to make sure everything is still in the right place” Felix asked gently, ever the sweetheart.

Seungmin only nodded, his good hand threading itself in Jeongin’s hair to help anchor himself back to reality. He had to stop freaking out like this whenever he found out about the existence of more supernatural things around him, but he just couldn’t help it; his brain was too cartesian for this shit.

“Oh, can we help? We could check if the seal-leather worked on the swelling of his… hum… not-tail thingie” Jisung asked eagerly, Hyunjin nodding right next to him.

“It’s called an ankle” Changbin deadpanned.

“And how do you know that, Seaweed Brain?” Hyunjin skeptically asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I… might’ve gone to see (that same whistle and clicks) as well, after our first meeting with Minnie. I wanted to know everything I could about humans” the black-tailed boy looked sheepish at his admission.

“It’s okay hyung, you wanted to make sure I wasn’t a threat; I understand that” Seungmin assured him, snapping out of his trance. He stopped petting Jeongin’s hair in order to put a reassuring hand on Changbin’s arm, gaining a disappointed whine from the youngest.

“Wait, you called him hyung?” Jisung gasped. “I want to be called hyung too!”

“Pfft, that’s not all that you missed. Minnie here even gave us a kiss” Minho teased.

“A what? What’s that? Can I have one too?” Jeongin asked innocently from Seungmin’s lap, looking way too excited.

“Uhm… let’s… talk about this first guys” Seungmin gulped, seeing the other boys also very interested in receiving whatever the hell they thought a kiss was.

Changbin spoke up from Seungmin’s left side, whistling and clicking sharply for a few long seconds. As soon as he was done, a look of understanding dawned on the rest of the boys’ faces, Minho snickering on the side. Feeling a tug on his arm, Seungmin looked down on his lap at Jeongin, who was pouting cutely.

“Can I get a kiss, Minnie? After all, I was the one who met you first, it’s only fair that I get to court you back after all you did for me.” The sweet boy lifted his tail in the air and shook it cutely, making the pink bandana around his fin wiggle. As if Seungmin really needed any convincing argument to kiss him, really.

With a fond huff, the human bent down for a kiss. He kept it to a few pecks, just like he did with Minho, although he did sneak in a little bit of tongue to tease the boy. As his ribs protested at the awkward position, he leaned back up with a wince, deeming the pain worth it when he saw the glazed look in Innie’s eyes.

“Well… looks like I won’t need to check on your ribs. Apparently, you feel good enough to fold yourself in half for our youngest” Felix raised an eyebrow teasingly. Minho laughed loudly while Seungmin blushed.

“I’m not gonna lie, it did hurt a little, but it was worth it” the pink-haired human mumbled.

Jeongin still had a silly smile on his face, when Hyunjin approached. The blond signaled for Jisung to move down towards Seungmin’s feet, accompanied by a few short whistling notes. Jisung seemed to understand what he meant as he quickly made his way to where Hyunjin had directed him, while the narwhal seductively eyed the diver.

“I think it’s my turn to receive a kiss now… What do you say Minnie, think I could get one?”

The scientist could only blink as he saw the long-haired boy approach him, and then take the lead and smash their lips together. It was definitely a bit awkward, the merboy not knowing exactly what he was supposed to do, but still stubbornly wanting to stay in charge. There was a little too much teeth involved, and Seungmin couldn’t deny that the presence of Hyunjin’s horn so close to his face was intimidating. However, the boy’s lips where plump and soft, and the hands cradling his face were oh so delicate.

The human only understood that this was, in fact, a distraction, when he felt a sharp pain ran up his leg from where Jisung had started unwrapping his ankle. Hyunjin expertly diverted his attention again, tugging the scientist’s pink hair lightly and keeping him engaged in the very intense kiss.

When they parted, they were both panting and Jisung had finished taking the whole wrap off.

“Are you sure that was your first time kissing, Hyunjin?” Changbin asked suspiciously, squinting at the narwhal.

The long-haired boy giggled. “It was my first time kissing, but not my first time distracting someone” he winked, slinking back to join Jisung next to Seungmin’s ankle, both boys examining it curiously.

“I think I need a break from all the kissing” Seungmin breathed out, dazed.

“Really? Even if it comes from me?” Felix asked from behind Seungmin, encircling his arms around the boy’s torso. “It looked so fun when Hyunjinnie did it…” he pouted.

And really, who was Seungmin to deny a pouting Felix? When the merboy leaned over his shoulder, the diver could only turn his head to meet him in a much softer kiss than the one before. It was all plump lips and soft pecks, with a touch of nuzzling that made it all so sweet that Seungmin swore he got cavities. The turquoise-tailed boy’s hands made the rating go slightly up though, as they roamed all over the biologist’s torso, even going as far as slipping under his shirt. He wouldn’t have expected that from the sweet boy, but he certainly wasn’t complaining.

However, when Felix pulled away with a knowing smile, Seungmin knew something was up.

“Alright, I checked your ribs and they’re all good!”

“You… what? You did this just to feel my ribs? You didn’t really wanna kiss me?” This time, it was the human’s turn to pout sadly.

“Oh no no, don’t think that Minnie! I really enjoyed the kiss; I hope we can do that a lot more often! But I still gotta make sure that you’re actually healing properly, you can’t blame me for doing my job, right?” he answered cutely, making Seungmin lean back on him to wrap him in a proper back hug. The human only let out an annoyed huff, looking away from Felix.

He wasn’t truly angry or anything, but the soft cooing noises and apologizing pets he got from the freckled boy encouraged him to keep up the act just a little longer.

“So… I would ask you if you can move it correctly, but I don’t even know how it’s supposed to move” Jisung interrupted the moment, poking Seungmin’s ankle with one finger.

“Isn’t it the thing that turns in a circle? Honestly, it’s so small, I don’t understand how it’s supposed to hold the whole body up” Hyunjin looked at the joint suspiciously.

“Well, here’s your first lesson in human anatomy… None of our body parts are supposed to be blue or swollen” Seungmin winced as he tried to move his ankle, to the fascination of the shark and narwhal. “Though the swelling is actually not that bad, it was definitely worse yesterday. Now there’s just a bump and a bad bruise. I’m not a doctor, but I think it means its healing. I’ll just keep it wrapped to have it stabilized and try not to run a marathon in the next few days” his snarky side popped out at the mild annoyance of a reduced mobility.

“What’s a marathon?” a new voice asked from the shore, making all of the boys turn around at once.

“Chan! You’re back!” Jisung happily called out, shuffling to make some space for their leader.

The orca shuffled until he was sat in between Jisung and Minho, the pod now forming a little circle on the sand. Chan shook his head to dry out his hair, looking like a very cute wet dog with his curls falling in his face. His tattoos were glinting under the sunlight and a happy little smile was clinging to his lips.

“What’s happening over here? When I left you were all still sleeping on top of each other like a bunch of seals sunbathing.”

“Seal piles are the best way to fall asleep” Minho argued, slapping Chan’s arm.

Seal piles… Yeah, that must’ve been the natural equivalent to dog piles for those boys, but Seungmin couldn’t help but squeal at the cute image that popped in his mind.

“Don’t make us wait any longer Chan… Did you find Them? Did They answer your questions?”

“I did find Them. I got a lot of advices, but even They didn’t have all the answers I was looking for” Chan looked down, visibly perturbed.

“Can I… know what all of this is about?” the biologist hesitantly asked. He hated to be out of the loop, but he didn’t want to forcefully push the matter and intrude on something that didn’t concern him.

“It’s nothing that should worry you” Chan immediately reassured. “What were you guys doing while I was away? Oh, you unwrapped your ankle… did it help?” he blushed as he spotted his gift laying on the sand next to Seungmin.

Accepting the change of subject, the diver nodded. “It actually did help with the swelling a lot, thank you so much for lending me the leather hyung.”

Seungmin would never get tired of the way Chan’s ears turned a shade of crimson whenever he heard the title. It seemed as if even the tips of his tailfin turned red.

“Oh yeah, you will never guess what happened! You’re not the only hyung here anymore” Changbin said smugly. “He called me and Minho like that earlier” he teased the leader, making the fully grown man-orca sulk like a five-years-old.

“He also gave us kisses” Jeongin happily recounted from his spot in Seungmin’s lap. He blindly tapped around until his hand found Seungmin’s unbroken one and he interlocked their fingers together.

“He gave you what?” Chan questioned.

“The kiss! I DIDN’T GET MINE YET!” Jisung shrieked, making all of them jump at how loud he was.

“It’s good, that way you can get yours and show Chan what it is at the same time” Hyunjin smirked. “Though it seems to be a bit different every time someone new does it? But I won’t complain, I think mine was definitely the best” he said nonchalantly, examining his claws with an unbothered look.

That quickly devolved into an entire argument in between him, Jeongin, Minho and Changbin while Felix only sighed from behind the diver, still back hugging him. Sneakily, Jisung managed to coax Chan into moving to sit right next to Seungmin and Felix, letting the others turn their verbal quarrel into a physical one, the four mers rolling into the waves, tickling and fin-slapping each other to try and get the upper hand.

“Alright Channie, take my place behind Minnie, I’m gonna rewrap his ankle” Felix patiently instructed, knowing his leader was a bit overwhelmed with the quick change of events.

To his credit, the orca listened immediately and placed himself behind Seungmin, allowing the diver to lean back on his broad chest while Felix slipped away, going to Seungmin’s leg. The scientist stopped the freckled boy, grasping his wrist.

“Thank you so much Lixie. You keep taking care of me even though you don’t have to… You’re a real angel.”

“I don’t know what an angel is, but I’m going to take it as a compliment” the boy smiled as bright as the sun itself. “Plus, you’re a part of the pod now, so I definitely have to take good care of you. It’s what we do as pod-members. Now, please kiss Sungie and Channie, they look as nervous as a bunch of newly born baby turtles” he giggled.

While the turquoise-tailed cutie focused back on wrapping Seungmin’s ankle, the human turned to look at Jisung, who was right next to him. The shark boy opened a mouth full of sharp teeth, which made the scientist gulp.

“Alright let’s just… take this slow, okay? I’ll lead, and you just try to not bite my tongue off, alright?”

“Bite your tongue off? Why would he…” Chan’s interrogation were cut short as he watched the two youngers boys in front of him lean forward, their lips meeting a bit awkwardly. Their desire made up for it however, as they kept kissing, moving in sync with each other. Jisung was sweetly careful, not wanting to hurt the human, and managed to contain his passion in order to enjoy the soft pace that Seungmin set.

After a few long seconds, the human broke their embrace with a smile. “You’re a natural at this, hyung. You did a good job” he praised, which made Jisung preen with pride.

“See Chan? I did it well! Now it’s your turn, go on!” the shark boy encouraged his leader.

Chan’s mouth was agape, starring at Seungmin who turned in his hold to face him better. “Is that… a human courting gesture? Are you allowing us to court you back?” he asked, shocked.

The biologist hadn’t seen it like this, but the orca’s words rang true. “I guess I am, yeah. I mean, only if you want to, of course! No one is forced to do anything!” he hurriedly clarified.

“I want to, little one. I really want to. I just didn’t expect that I would do it with a human tradition, though it makes sense” Chan smiled down at him. “And I’m not gonna lie, it did look enjoyable, even if a bit weird” he chuckled. “So, I just… push my mouth on yours, right?”

Seungmin was about to explain how a kiss was slightly more complex than that but didn’t have time as the leader’s lips and nose bumped into his own awkwardly. Seungmin giggled in the “kiss” and tilted his head to the side, allowing them to fit more comfortably together. There, he started moving his lips, coaxing Chan to do the same, teaching him how to properly do this. Out of the whole pod, he was the most tentative, his whole body feeling rigid, obviously scared of making a mistake. Seungmin took it upon himself to relax him by massaging his biceps, letting the man become putty in his hands. He felt the shiver that spread through Chan’s tail, taking it as a good sign, and smiled into the kiss.

“Hey, why is it much longer when you do it with Chan?” Jisung whined from the side, his tail thumping angrily on the sand.

Seungmin broke the kiss after a few more seconds, laughing as he saw Chan lean forward, trying to pursue his lips for just a bit longer.

“I take it you liked the experience?” the scientist cockily asked, appreciating the way both Chan and Jisung were looking at him right now. He could feel how his mouth was slightly swollen and probably red from all of the kissing he just did, and allowed himself to fully feel the self-confidence that came with that knowledge.

Chan coughed, snapping himself out of his daze and nodded furiously. “Yeah, I definitely liked that. I never thought it was something you could do but… it feels nice” he smiled fondly.

“Come on Jisung, I’m done with the wrap and you’re done with kissing for today. Let’s join the other and see what Minho has caught for breakfast!” Felix interrupted the moment, pulling onto Jisung’s arm bluntly. The shark boy complained loudly but did end up following the healer back in the water, jumping on top of Changbin just to annoy him.

“Thank you” Seungmin breathed out, his words obviously meant for Chan, despite his gaze being fixed on the water and the rambunctious boys playing in the waves.

“Hmm?” Chan’s arms wrapped themselves more securely around his waist.

“For everything you’re doing for me out there. I’m not exactly sure where you went, or who you saw, but I know that you did it for me. It’s not my style to pry into things, so I’m not going to ask question, but I wanted to thank you for doing all of that.”

Chan didn’t answer at those words, letting silence fall around them once more, but his hands squeezed Seungmin’s hips to tell him that the message had been well received, and was appreciated.

“I’d like to try something as well” Chan asked Seungmin after a few more moments of silence, the human turning his attention back to the orca. “It’s… our equivalent of a kiss I guess.”

“Oh, is it the throat baring and neck nuzzling?” the diver asked. “Minho showed it to me earlier.”

“Yeah, that’s it. I’d like to… do it with you, if you allow me to. I want to show you that now that you’re a part of this pod, I’ll always protect you, and that you can trust me with your life. It’s really important for me that all of my pod-members feel safe and protected” he explained sheepishly, tugging on his ear lobe in a nervous tic.

“I’d love to do this with you” Seungmin assured with a smile, endeared at the leader’s fierce protectiveness.

Chan smiled at his words and gasped as he saw the diver make the first move by baring his throat. A few weeks ago, Seungmin would’ve felt like the biggest fool, showing one of his most vital points like that to a predator of Chan’s size and strength. However, today, he simply felt trust and love fill his chest.

Chan leaned forward at an endearing slow pace, making sure every few seconds that Seungmin wasn’t scared or freaked out. When all he was met with was a raised eyebrow, the leader went in for real, nuzzling the side of the human’s throat and leaving a slight press of his lips on the soft skin.

“Thank you for trusting me” he whispered, making Seungmin shiver, before he pulled back with a gummy smile.

The pink-haired boy laughed at his goofiness, although that laugh quickly died down as he saw Chan tilt his head to the side, now baring his own throat to the human. With wide eyes, Seungmin looked at the orca’s face, making sure he was properly reading the situation. When he received a nod and an encouraging smile, he pulled himself closer, letting his head fall in the crook of Chan’s neck, and nuzzled the space there a bit awkwardly. Sue him, it was the first time a handsome man had agreed to have him squish his face in their neck, okay?

After a few seconds of this strange cuddle session, Seungmin whispered back, lips right over one of Chan’s tattoos: “Thank you for trusting me.”

He pulled back to check the mer’s reactions, seeing him with half-lidded eyes and a small smirk, almost like a purring cat who got the pets he wanted.

“You proved yourself trustworthy little human, of course I’d trust you. You’re a part of the family now, and nothing will ever change that.”

And those words made something settle deep inside of Seungmin, like he’d finally found his purpose, the place he was supposed to fit in. It was right here, with those boys, and he’d make sure that nothing would get in the way of him being with his pod forever. There was still one thing that worried him though.

“You know I’ll have to go back on land soon, right? I can’t… live here forever, no matter how much I want to” Seungmin sighed.

Chan tightened his hold on him, humming in his hair. “Yes. But not now. Today, you stay with us. Tomorrow, we’ll see. And even if you do have to get back on land, we’ll still find a way to be there for you. That’s how a pod works.”

And with that promise, Seungmin felt most of his worries melting away like snow in the sun, leaving behind only love and contentedness.

Chapter Text

The day had been well spent by the boys, playing around and enjoying the nice weather. After all the kissing that had happened that morning, the pod had decided to eat breakfast, Minho presenting some dead shrimps to Seungmin triumphantly. The human had to explain to him why he couldn’t eat raw shrimps, while trying to not offend the boy as he turned down the food. Instead, he’d settled for the few fruits and bottled water he’d bought in the fishing town. Seeing his already meagre food reserves dwindling rapidly settled his resolve to go back on land the following day. He had to go back to the lab, warn Mina of all that had happened. He had to talk to the police, and make sure that his parents were fine. He had to stop Director Park before he managed to find a way to get to the pod.

The merboys had been very vocal in their disagreement with that plan, but after a bit of talking through it, had understood that there was no other option for Seungmin. Once that less than happy conversation had taken place, they’d decided to swim around to stretch their aching muscles, most of the boys not being used to staying cooped up on dry land for so long.

Seungmin jumped on the occasion to join them. After all, he’d been unconscious in the hospital for a few days and then spent the last twenty-four hours on the beach; who knew when was the last time he’d had a proper shower. He had sand in places he didn’t think were possible and his shorts and shirt were definitely getting crusty because of the salt. Even his hair had gotten damaged at this point. Usually, given his line of work and his love for extravagant hair color, he made sure to apply products regularly to help the dye pigmentation stay for as long as possible, and to hydrate his hair to reduce the damage made my repetitive dive in salt water. However, that hadn’t been his first priority recently, with everything that happened, and he could already feel the split ends forming. He was certain his hair was also at least 2 shades lighter than it was just a week ago.

With a bit of convincing and a lot of puppy eyes, Seungmin managed to convince the boys to let him in the water. He’d had to agree to keep his ankle as still as possible and to stay next to a pod-member at all times, but those were conditions to which he was most happy to oblige. He’d been surprised when Jisung had volunteered to stay with him, having thought the shark boy would’ve preferred to participate in the race that was taking place between Chan and Hyunjin. However, the honey-eyed boy simply made sure that Seungmin’s arms were wrapped around his neck before swimming lazily in a big circle around the cove, chatting with Minho who accompanied them.

After a few laps and a water fight from the boys (Chan had decided that Hyunjin had been cheating during the race despite the narwhal’s very vocal protests), Minho had tugged on Jisung’s arm, signaling him that it was time to bring their human back to shore. Seungmin had just been resting lazily up till now, enjoying the sunrays on his face while lying on his back, floating around with the help of Jisung’s hand under his lower back to keep him steady. With his ears in the water, all the sounds were muffled in a nice, relaxing way that made him able to forget his problems for a minute. It was a very welcomed peace that he was in no haste to leave, meaning that he kept on floating on his back and let Jisung tug him gently until he was on the shore and had to actually sit up if he didn’t want to bump his head into the sand.

The enjoyable moment was shattered as soon as his head left the water however, a screech filling his ears and making him wince.

“SEUNGMIN! YOUR HEAD!”

Jisung frantically hovered over the human, his hands resting on the biologist’s shoulders, looking at his head like it was about to disappear.

“Wha-?”

“Minnie! Why didn’t you tell us you hurt your head? When did you even do that? It’s bleeding so much!” Minho, who hadn’t left their side for the whole afternoon, also looked distraught, and Seungmin couldn’t understand for the life of him what they were talking about.

“FELIX! COME HERE RIGHT NOW! Oh no, head wounds are always really serious, aren’t they? He’s going to die, isn’t he? Seungminnie’s going to die!” Jisung was shaking by now, his hands traveling up to hold Seungmin’s jaw, tilting his head from side to side to examine it.

The tears in his eyes were undoubtedly real and the human wanted nothing more than to make them stop, but he still had no idea what was happening. His head didn’t feel hurt in anyway, on the contrary; his concussion seemed better today than it was the day before, and there weren’t supposed to have been a cut there, so he was at a loss.  

Felix popped up next to them, almost beaching himself with how fast he was swimming. “What happened? Where did Seungmin hurt himself? Why is there so much blood?” The healer also looked panicked, demanding answers.

The rest of the boys flocked to them, all gasping in shock when they saw the human. Deciding to see the situation for himself, Seungmin lifted a hand to his head and passed his fingers through his hair. He only felt the way it was starting to brittle, but no traces of blood or viscous liquid anywhere. Pulling his hand away and looking down at it, he saw that it was now tinted in a light pink color, reminiscent of the shade of blood diluted in water.

“Oh… ooooh… That’s not blood guys, I’m fine!” he hurriedly explained, wiping his stained hand on the sand. “It’s just my hair dye that’s washing off because of the saltwater!”

“Hair die? Your hair is dying?” Hyunjin looked both worried and confused, his head tilting on the side.

“No… well the bleach is not helping it to stay healthy but… Hair dye is a color that we put in our hair to change our looks. Not everyone does it, but I like pink a lot, so I wanted to put it in my hair. Because I wasn’t able to care for it properly and I was diving a lot, the color got damaged because of the salt, so it’s washing away. It’s really nothing serious, all it means is that my hair will become lighter, maybe a bit more orange-ish too. But it’s not blood, you don’t have to worry about me” he explained, holding Jisung’s hand kindly.

The poor shark boy was still shaking and didn’t protest when Seungmin pulled him in for a hug. He latched onto the human tightly, not caring if the dye stained his skin.

“So, it’s… color? It’s nothing bad?” Jeongin, who was holding onto Seungmin’s leg, wanted to make sure that their newest pod member was definitely safe.

“It is just color” the biologist smiled.

“Then that means that your hair is not really pink? So, you don’t actually match with my badanana?” the youngest pouted, still struggling with the human word but flicking his tail to show off the pink handkerchief.

“Awww, Innie, I’m sorry about that. But I actually really love having pink hair, so I’ll probably put some more color on it once I’m back on land, so we can match again” the scientist cooed, reaching forward to pinch the youngest’s cheek.

“I knew I’d never seen a human with pink hair before, I was wondering about it” Changbin wondered out loud, crossing his arms over his chest.

Chan chuckled, glancing at the black-tailed boy. “Ah, yes. Changbin, our resident human-expert, back at it again with his extensive knowledge on the subject.”

“Yah! At least I know some things!” Changbin yelled out, sulking for good measure.

“I know Binnie, I was just teasing” Chan easily placated him, hanging onto the muscular boy’s arm and tugging it playfully.

“Still, even if it’s just color, it looks like you’re bleeding, and I don’t like it. I’m gonna clean you up” Minho grumbled from Seungmin’s left side, cupping some water in his hands and pouring it over the human’s shoulder, hoping it would help make the dye fade away.

Seungmin winced when it only made him cold and allowed the chemical to stain his shirt permanently. With a resigned sigh, he untangled himself from Jisung and took off his polo, handing it to Minho. “Here, use this to wipe it up if you want; it’s pretty much ruined anyways. What I wouldn’t give to have a fresh change of clothes right now…” the dandy boy breathed out, thinking back to his full wardrobe and every clean piece of clothing he owned.

He was still a bit self-conscious about being shirtless in front of the pod, mainly because his body wasn’t as defined as the other boys, but he knew he had no reason to be. Those were just his insecurities talking, and the best way to get rid of them was to get out of his comfort zone.

Minho took the shirt and cleaned Seungmin’s shoulders and nape carefully, wanting to erase every drop of the red liquid from the human’s skin. Meanwhile, Jisung had shifted so he was hugging Seungmin’s middle, his head resting over Seungmin’s bicep, not ready to let him go just yet. The scientist took it all in stride and allowed to be both cleaned and cuddled while he offered smiles to the others to make the last of their worries disappear.

Spotting Jeongin still gnawing on his lip nervously, Seungmin prompted him gently, with a nudge of his foot. “Innie? You okay?”

“I… It’s just… It’s dumb. Seeing you with all that red dripping down just reminded me of… of when Chan was hurt and…”

A silence fell over the boys as they all seemed to relive some old memories, frowns marring each of their faces. Now, Seungmin wasn’t one to pry, but this seemed important enough to at least ask about.

“Can I know about it? About what happened? Felix mentioned it earlier… Did it happen a long time ago?”

“It happened right after I received my symbol, didn’t it?” Minho casually asked, although he’d stopped cleaning Seungmin up and was now staring down at his lap. “When my old pod tried to get me back”.

Everyone seemed uncomfortable thinking back about those times, and Seungmin suddenly felt very bad about asking.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to! I know I’m sometimes too curious for my own good… But if you do want to share, I’ll be more than happy to listen.”

“I want to tell him” Minho said resolutely, looking at the rest of the pod. “Minnie has shared with us a little how life on land is, and I want to reciprocate. I want to tell him how I got in the pod.”

His gaze was lit by a fierce determination, that only burned stronger when Chan nodded in agreement. “I think we could all share how we joined the pod” the orca added, looking towards the others for approval.

“Maybe we could tell him about the symbols as well? How you guys got yours? So that he understands better what it means?” Jeongin asked them, with big seal puppy eyes. He made his way next to the human, leaning his head against Seungmin’s shoulder. The biologist now had Jisung on his right and Innie on his left, the two boys cuddling him, which he definitely wasn’t protesting against.

“I’m okay with sharing” Felix nodded. “He’s a part of the pod now, it’s important that we share this.”

“I think we got unanimity on this one. Chan, do you want to do the honors? After all, you were the start of it all” Changbin nudged his leader with his elbow while everyone else got comfortable on the sand to listen to the story.

“Well, I guess it started with me and Changbin actually” Chan revealed, looking at the black-tailed boy fondly. “As you know by now, we’re all originally from different pods” the leader turned back to glance at Seungmin, making sure the boy was following. “Still, Changbin’s pod and mine lived relatively close, in the trenches of the deep. We kind of grew up together, always sneaking away from our pods to meet up and play or practice or hunting skills” Chan laughed, remembering what seemed to be very good moments.

On his side, Changbin was also smiling widely. He poked Chan’s arm, blowing a raspberry at the oldest. “I was always the better hunter!”

Chan looked ready to argue but, instead, his eyes landed on Changbin’s teeth necklace, and he could only nod. “Well considering what happened after, you do deserve the title of best hunter. But we’re not there yet, let’s not skip any parts of the story or else Minnie will get confused!”

The scientist hummed in appreciation, letting his head fall on top of Jeongin, his eyes still fixed on the leader.

“As I was saying, we were always sneaking away to play together, and we would spend all of our free time hanging out with each other. That’s when Hyunjin arrived” the orca glanced towards the long-haired boy, who was listening to him intently. “He’s actually the primary reason as to why this pod got created in the first place.”

Hearing those words made the narwhal blush and hide himself in Felix’s arms, while the healer cooed at him gently.

“Hyunjin had decided to leave his own pod to explore the world, to see what was out there.”

“I was tired of always following the same migrating path” Hyunjin spoke up from his hiding place, his face peeking out from Felix’s arms. “I knew how beautiful the ice sea was, and how pretty the shallows were. I wanted to keep exploring and see other places. My pod didn’t agree with it, but I still went, even if it was the first time that I was travelling on my own.”

“And then he came to us” Chan smirked. “I’ll never forget the day he stumbled on me and Changbin playing around. Binnie thought he was dreaming because he’d never seen a narwhal before, and he thought Jinnie’s horn was fake” Chan laughed.

“Yeah, he pulled on it really hard to make sure it was real” Hyunjin grumbled, rubbing his forehead at the phantom pain that the memory sparked up.

“Sorry” Changbin sheepishly apologized. “It was just so new for me at the time…”

Hyunjin accepted the apology by nudging his tailfin against Changbin’s, the black scales and gray pelt nicely complementing against each other.

“Hyunjin actually wanted to find a new pod to spend the warm season with. When he found Binnie and me, he asked if he could stay with us” Chan resumed his storytelling. “We were both more than happy to bring him into one of our pods and get to know him, but when we went and asked our leaders, they refused. They had that conservative view that every pod should stick with its own members, and that no crossing should ever be done in between different mer populations, especially if they didn’t live in the same environment. After that wonderful discussion happened, they banned me from leaving our territory again, because they knew that I was seeing Changbin when I sneaked out and they wanted to put a stop to it.”

Chan seemed to still be holding onto some resentment, as anger made him lock his jaw and tighten his fist. A simple caress from Changbin made him settle down however, and he took a deep breath to calm himself.

“That same night, I swam away. I left my pod for good and went to see Changbin at our usual meeting place. He was already there with Hyunjin, and the three of us didn’t even have to talk about what would happen next; we kind of just… formed our own pod, there and then.”

Looking back up at the human, the orca clarified: “It’s unusual for young mers to go away and form their own pod when they haven’t received their symbol yet. Usually, you need it to prove that you’ve now entered the adult life and that you’re ready to take on bigger challenges.”

“Well, Binnie and Chan didn’t have theirs yet, but I actually did” Hyunjin reported, a tad smug about that fact.

“That’s true, you were the first one of us to have your symbol” Felix praised the narwhal, headbutting him playfully.

“Can I ask how you got it?” Seungmin wondered, watching as Hyunjin played distractedly with the belt of seashells that were wrapped around his waist.

“I earned it back when I was with my birth pod. The elders gave it to me when I mastered the art of the navigation songs. Like I told you before, those songs are normally only used by pods of the shallows, not by the nomads or the deep-sea pods. When I learned it from that old mermaid during our migration to the warm waters, and then taught it to my pod so we could navigate better around the ice sea, the elders awarded me with the seashells as a symbol of my mastering the art of the coastal pods.”

All of that new knowledge floated around in Seungmin’s head for a bit, the scientist desperately craving his notebook right now so he could at least take some notes on all of those facts. He was literally discovering the ways of life of a whole new specie, one that was highly complex and organized, and he was dying inside at not being able to write an essay on all of his new findings. However, he reasoned that he could always take some notes later on, and even ask the boys about more details sometimes in the future. For now, he would listen religiously and try and commit everything to memory.

“So, Hyunjinnie had his symbol but not me nor Changbin. Despite that, we still began swimming around, trying to find a little place where we could settle and also find some more possible pod-members. However, the farther we swam, the less pods we encountered. We found ourselves in a dead zone: a place where no one lives, and no animal goes. By the time we realized it, we were already starving from not having eaten in a while. No matter the direction we chose, it seemed like we were stuck in that dead zone. I really thought for a while that we would not make it out, and I kept apologizing to the boys for dragging them into this. That was until Changbin became our savior by hunting and killing a shark.”

Chan pointed at Changbin’s necklace, where the sharp teeth where glistening under the sunlight.

“He not only proved his worth to the pod, but he also saved us from a certain death. It’s because of him that we’re all here together today, and I wanted to make sure he always remembered that. So, I made that necklace for him, and we all agreed that it was definitely worth becoming his symbol.”

Seungmin hummed in agreement, watching Changbin. “I agree, it’s definitely a good reminder. And a very impressive one at that” he added, enjoying the way it made Changbin blush furiously. Minho chuckled and poked the blushing mer’s cheek, enjoying the complaining whines he got out of him.

“Well, it’s a bit misleading really. It makes you think that Binnie is really tough and intimidating when he’s actually as soft as a starfish and as clingy as a seahorse” Jisung teased, laughing at the furious clicks and whistles that he received in return from Changbin.

“So, Chan hyung, Hyunjin hyung and Changbin hyung were the first three members of the pod. What about the rest of you? Who came after that?” the human asked, still intrigued by this whole origin story.

“It was me!” Jisung explained proudly, raising his hand.

“As soon as we got our strength back, we decided to swim for the shallows. We thought we’d have more chance of finding food and shelter there” Chan went on, his hand interlacing with Changbin’s affectionately. “It’s there that we found Jisungie. He was living alone, like most shark mers do, and he’d made his little home in a nice sandy place full of fishes.”

“It was the most perfect place; I wish you could’ve seen it” the shark pouted towards Seungmin. “Maybe I could bring you one day, I still remember how to go there!”

“I hope you do, since you were so intent on never ever leaving it while you were alive” Hyunjin stuck his tongue out at Jisung, before quickly hiding back in Felix’s protective embrace to escape the sand that came flying his way.

“Jinnie, we went over this already, don’t make fun of Sungie for that” Chan lightly scolded the narwhal. “He’s the one that showed us around when we arrived in the shallows, he even shared his food willingly with us, even though we were complete strangers.”

“Sungie is a very clingy person, despite most mer-sharks being solitary. He’s kind of an anomaly for his species, but he does give the best hugs” Minho leaned over to share his knowledge with the human.

Seungmin’s eyes sparkled with all these new discoveries, although he could definitely agree with Minho on the hug part, as the way Jisung was wrapped into his side right now felt quite cozy. Leaning forward, he looked at Chan with curiosity. “So, what happened next? After you found Jisung?”

“Well, as lovely as Jisung’s nest was, it wasn’t fit to properly shelter and feed four mers. We decided to keep on our journey to try and find a better place to settle down and asked him if he wanted to join. He actually begged us not to leave him alone, he didn’t like the solitary lifestyle at all.”

At those words, Jisung only tightened his hold on Seungmin. The human realized that, despite their first two encounters being quite hectic (read: completely catastrophic), the boy was simply protective over his pod-members. Now that Seungmin was part of that group of people, it hopefully meant that the shark would deem him worthy of his trust and also feel the need to be close to him. Being separated from the scientist during those few days while he was at the hospital, without any news or ways of contacting him, must’ve been hell on the poor boy. Since the pink-haired biologist now knew what to look for, he could see that Jisung actually showed a lot of signs of anxiety, and his heart broke thinking about how his disappearance could’ve affected Jisung’s mental health.

“I was tired of having no one to talk to. At least when I’m around you guys, I can play pranks on you” Jisung snarked out, pulling Seungmin out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, well it still took a lot of convincing to get you to cross that kelp forest” Hyunjin sassed back, making Jisung growl against Seungmin’s chest. “You didn’t want to set a fin in that seaweed cluster cause you thought it was full of monsters!”

“Is that why your symbol are those kelp bracelet and sash?” the diver asked, one finger gently caressing the braided band of kelp that adorned Jisung’s right bicep.

The shark quickly stopped growling and nodded in agreement.

“He woke up one night, while we were all asleep in his nest” Chan’s voice attracted everyone’s attention back on him. “A human boat was making its way to where we were, and with how shallow the sand bank was, they would’ve spotted us for sure. Despite all of his fears, Jisung managed to wake us all and dragged us in the kelp forest to hide from the humans. We spent the rest of the night there, and then only managed to exit it thanks to Jisung’s good sense of orientation” Chan praised the boy, adding a soft whistling note at the end of his sentence, which was well received if Jisung’s smile was anything to go by.

“The most surprising thing was that when he pulled us out of that maze, he hadn’t brought us back to his nest” Changbin interjected. “He’d made us cross the entire patch, and exit on the other side, right into the reef part of the shallows.”

“I wasn’t about to guide you straight back in a place that humans had invaded!” Jisung protested loudly, though he quickly turned towards Seungmin with wide eyes. “Not that humans are all invaders or anything, of course…”

“It’s okay, I get what you mean” Seungmin shrugged, actually agreeing with the shark’s vision of humans. They did have the tendency to encroach on territory that wasn’t theirs.

“Right before we left the kelp forest, Chan stopped and gathered a few strands of algae that he painstakingly braided together” Hyunjin teased. “Of course, I lent him a hand or else it would’ve been disastrous, but then he went all leader-like and gave the braids to Jisung, telling him it was his symbol of courage for braving his fears and saving us.”

“What can I say, all of my boys are so brave” Chan wasn’t even bothered by Hyunjin’s joking, easily admitting how soft he was for his pod.

“And by leading us to the reef, Jisung allowed us to meet Jeonginnie” Changbin nodded at the youngest, who was silently listening to the story while burrowed under Seungmin’s left arm.

“My story’s kind of boring, I didn’t even get my symbol until I met you” the boy pouted, obviously shy about his lack of heroic deeds.

“Well, I’m still very interested in hearing it. Care to tell me?” Seungmin nudged him, sending him an encouraging smile.

“Hmm… well I guess I should start by saying that I was the son of my pod’s leader. There were a lot of expectations for me. I had to be perfect all the time, or else it would reflect badly on my family. I had to be the best hunter, the best look-out, the best singer, the best fighter… And of course, I wasn’t any of that” he looked down sadly, his tail anxiously tapping on the ground.

“But you were the best at hiding” Chan reminded him sweetly, winking at him.

“Oh right! I was actually hiding from my pod cause I needed some time alone, when I met the others. I scared the water out of their gills” he laughed, earning a pinch on his side from Jisung. “I got to spend some time with them, and it was just… so much fun! I was finally free to do everything I wanted and Channie and the others were ready to teach me things without expecting me to be the best at it. It was really great.”

The boy took a breath before continuing with his tale. “I loved being with them, but I never thought that I could, since I had so many responsibilities towards my pod. But one day, my father came to me and told me he had chosen my life-mate for me” Jeongin gulped, visibly uneasy. “It was the son of his friend, and the most famous hunter in all of the shallows. He was mean and cold, and I hated him, but my father never cared about my feelings. When I understood that I wouldn’t be able to make him change his mind, I just took off. I swam as fast as I could in the middle of the night, and I ended up finding Channie’s pod again. I basically begged them to join their group, because I realized that I should live my life for me and not for my pod or my father.”

Seungmin was taken aback by the young man’s surprising introspection. The youngest one sounded so mature and determined, as if he had his life completely figured out and that he knew exactly the path to take to make his dreams come true. The human couldn’t help but fall a little deeper in love with Jeongin, and he didn’t hesitate to tell him.

“You were so brave, getting away like that.  You made the best choice for yourself, even though it must’ve been very hard to do, and I’m really happy that you did.”

Jeongin smiled brightly and Chan added on to the boy’s story. “I offered to get him a symbol to celebrate him leaving his pod to find his own way in life, but Innie thought he hadn’t earned his symbol just yet. So, he waited until he found you before getting it.”

Seungmin couldn’t hide his joy at knowing this, now understanding a little bit more the importance that was accorded to his bandana, still tied firmly on Jeongin’s tail.

“Innie had a lot of fun during those first few days with us, acting like a hatchling and swimming all over the place” Chan recounted, fondly. “But he learned to be much more careful the day that he and Jisung were playing in the reef. They somehow both ended up in the middle of an anemone patch, and they got badly burned by their poison.”

Raising an eyebrow, Seungmin’s brain did a quick search in his database. He knew about only three species of anemones that could actually do severe damage to humans: the Stichodactylidae, the Actinodendron Arboreum and the Phillodiscus. Now, there were no reports of any deaths attributed to those anemones, but at the same time he doubted any human had been rolling around in the middle of a patch of it.

“That’s when we met Lixie for the first time!” Jeongin pipped up happily. “He helped us out and used one of his ointment to treat us. It worked like a charm!”

“Well, you weren’t the first ones I was helping with this particular problem” Felix gently explained, rejecting the praise.

“Yeah, but no one ever developed a medicine so potent before you” Chan insisted. “Though when I went to look for you to thank you for helping out my boys, you’d just disappeared” the orca sulked, like it was a personal offense against him.

Felix didn’t have time to answer back that already, Hyunjin was interrupting.

“He helped me next! I was stuck in some caves and he helped me find my way out again!”

“Now, the story won’t be complete if we don’t tell every detail to Seungmin” Minho chastised Hyunjin playfully. “Why don’t you tell our little human why exactly you were stuck in that cave, hm?”

Hyunjin started to protest, but seeing Seungmin’s wide curious eyes, he couldn’t resist the cute human.

“The cave was very narrow and my… my horn got stuck to the rock wall when I tried to turn around and make my way back out” he grumbled sheepishly.

Felix cooed at him and pushed Hyunjin’s hair out of his face so he couldn’t hide under it. “And when I found you and managed to get you unstuck, I gave you some numbing cream for your forehead because you’d really put a lot of strain on it from trying to get out.”

Seungmin chuckled at the mental image.

“But once again, you disappeared right after you helped him” Chan called out.

The biologist was starting to sense a pattern there. “Let me guess, he helped you a third time and ran away too?”

“Kind of” Chan hummed. “The third time, he helped Binnie get out of a pile of human debris in which he’d gotten caught. Although this time, I was also there and managed to follow him back to his pod.” Chan’s voice got a little darker. “I saw how everyone treated him badly, how they kept calling him useless all the time, taunting him because of his voice. It didn’t matter to them that he was literally the most talented healer this side of the coast, they kept mocking and degrading him.”

Seungmin’s heart throbbed at hearing this, turning towards the freckled mer with a worried look. Felix, however, seemed stoic in the face of those revelations, features carefully blank.

“Knowing all that he did for my pod, and then seeing him be treated like that… I couldn’t help myself. I swam up to him the next time he left the pod’s cove and asked him if he wanted to join us. Just like for Jisung, it did take a little bit of convincing…”

“It was the peak of the birthing season, I wanted the hatchlings to have a proper healer to help them get into this world” Felix justified, which earned him a few enamored clicks from Minho.

“But he did join us after that, and I finally found someone who loves hugging as much as I do!” Jisung chirped happily.

“And I never regretted leaving my old pod to come with you guys” the turquoise-tailed boy smiled. “Especially when you presented me my symbol” he touched his crown of coral reverently, all of the round little spikes seemingly blending in with his hair.

“Can I ask what it means? The crown?” Seungmin questioned.

“I wanted to show Felix that all that his old pod said had been lies, and I also wanted to recompense him for helping us out so much without ever asking anything in return. So I crowned him as the best healer and the most…” Chan hesitated on his words, visibly struggling with the translation. “Useful mer of the reef? It doesn’t sound exactly right, but I wanted him to know that we saw and acknowledged all the hard work he did for others, and that we would always be grateful for it.”

“As soon as he received his crown, our little Lixie’s self-confidence went up to the sky and it was such a great thing to see” Minho laughed.

“It is a very beautiful crown, and you are definitely a great healer” Seungmin easily agreed, sending the boy a smile. He then turned towards Minho, tilting his head to the side. “I take it you were the last one to join then?”

The golden-tailed boy nodded, and a heavy silence quickly fell upon the group, the previous good mood forgotten.

“Minho’s story… showed us the worst aspects of both humans and merfolk” Chan tentatively started, looking at Seungmin cautiously.

“It’s okay, I’d like to hear it, if you’re willing to share” the biologist looked straight at Minho to show him that it was entirely his choice.

The boy took a breath, before starting his tale. “I was always envied by the people of my pod. Mers of the shallows have brightly colored tails” he pointed to Felix’s and Jeongin’s, “but rarely as bright as mine.”

Seungmin took the time to admire once more the golden scales, and the red-tipped fins that looked like melted gold and rubies shining under the sun. It truly was a mesmerizing sight and there was no denying that, as fascinating and beautiful as the others’ tails were, Minho’s was a special kind of beautiful.

“Everyone was always jealous of it, inventing excuses to hate me more. They said my scales were so flashy they would attract the attention of every human living around, and that the fins were so red that sharks would think I was bleeding and would attack me. They always made me do the hardest chores and when I couldn’t complete them, they’d take pleasure in reminding me how much they hated me.”

Minho caressed his ear, where all of the faint scars from fishhooks remained, and it reminded Seungmin of the conversation they had a long time ago, when he’d been stitching up Minho’s arm.

“Pods don’t have the same meaning for fishhooks piercings” the mer had explained, while sitting on Seungmin’s boat. “For deep sea pods like Chan’s and Changbin’s, human objects are rare, so they are gifted to someone when they do something important, like hunt their first prey or take the mantle of leadership. For the pods of the shallows though…The pods of the shallows see human objects as something bad that is encroaching on our territory. So, they use them to punish members who did something they didn’t like.”

Seungmin now had a pretty good idea of what had happened to Minho and how exactly he got punished for not completing his chores.

“Then, one day, our elders had a bright idea” the mer continued, mouth turned into a snarl. “They thought that there were too many humans encroaching into our territory. So, they decided to use me as bait to lure and kill them.”

The scientist couldn’t stop the little gasp that escaped him, his arms tightening around Jisung and Jeongin, holding them closer to him.

“They tied me up in a net and left me in a place where a lot of humans came to fish. I tried to free myself, but I couldn’t do it in time, and soon a boat found me. They tried to lift me on board and that’s when the rest of my pod attacked them. They didn’t care about me, they just wanted to kill as many humans as possible… It was a bloodbath” Minho shivered, and it made Seungmin uneasy to know that this fierce and strong predator was still scarred by what he’d seen that day.

“That’s when we found him” Chan took over, seeing how Minho was too caught up in his memories to properly recount the rest of the tale. “We heard the battle cries and smelled the blood in the water, so we hurried over. Minho’s pod had turned completely feral, and the humans had no chance of escape. I was feeling a bit of pity for them, but then I saw Minho being hauled away on a boat and I lost it. Everyone knows that it’s better to die than to get caught by humans. So, I jumped on the boat, and managed to free him. I tossed him overboard, knowing my boys would take care of him…”

“And then you killed all the humans on the boat” Seungmin finished for Chan, knowing the mer was reluctant to say it out loud, but also knowing it was important to acknowledge what had happened.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you about this before asking you to be a part of the pod. I’d understand if you were to change your mind…”

“I’m not changing my mind. You did what you had to do, both to protect your secret and to save Minho. I’m not saying that I condone killing humans, or anyone for that matter, but you did what you had to do at that time” Seungmin calmly stated the facts, before nodding at Chan. “I understand, and I do not wish to leave the pod because of this.”

The orca let out a breath of relief and a little trill. “You’re too good for us, little human.”

The scientist decided to skip over that statement and turned back to Minho.

“What happened after the boys saved you? I see that you still have the net around your waist…”

“Oh, yeah, that’s my symbol now. It’s pretty much a given in any pods to give a symbol to a mer for surviving a human attack. Mine was the net, and it was given to me by Chan at the same time as he asked me to join their group. I honestly had no reason to refuse, after all that I’d went through with my other pod, so I ended up with them, and that’s how we all got together.”

Seungmin took a breath and shifted around a little, his bottom becoming numb from sitting for so long. “Well, that was a really interesting story. And I think I understand better the importance of all of your symbols now. Thank you for sharing all of this with me” he smiled at them gratefully.

“Well, if we’re being truthful and telling the whole tale, we shouldn’t leave out Chan’s attack” Felix reminded them, to which they all nodded.

The scientist made a questioning noise, turning towards the orca.

“It happened because of me” Minho confessed, and although that statement gained a lot of protests, a simple wave of his hand made them all settle back down.

“My old pod got a taste for human blood on the day that Chan found me. They decided that I was definitely the best human bait and that they needed me back to hunt more land-people. They tracked us down for a long time before they finally managed to ambush Chan during one of his patrols. They wanted to get rid of the boys one by one, until there was only me left, so they could take me back with them. However, Chan managed to fight them off. He was alone against I don’t know how many mers, and still managed to fight his way through this and to make them retreat.”

“He was in a very bad shape when we found him” Felix picked up on the story. “I feared that even with my knowledge I wouldn’t be able to save him, but he told us to bring him to Them… The Whales.”

The air seemed to almost shiver at the mention of that name, and Seungmin realized that Felix had managed to both pronounce the human words, while also saying the name in the mers’ language: the whistle followed by two clicks. It was like two voices overlapped and it gave even more power to the name.

“Every whale is highly respected by us merfolks. They are the guardians of our past, the first ones that came to life and the protectors of the seas. When Chan told us that he knew one group of whales personally, we couldn’t believe it. As it turned out, it was true and Jaebum’s pod of humpback whales took us in and helped to heal Chan, with the cream that I used on your cuts. We took some time to breath, while we were under the protection of Jaebum’s pod, and after that, we decided that we’d all had enough excitement for a lifetime. We went in search of our permanent place of nesting, hoping to settle down properly… until Innie found you” the freckled boy explained with a little smirk.

“That’s… fascinating! So there are also mer-whales? And they’re on top of the social hierarchy? I have to study those inter-species relations and the behavioral changes brought by the DNA mutations when compared to the original populations but…” Seungmin quickly stopped his rant when he saw the lost look on the mers faces. “Sorry! I just… I really love learning about all of this! It’s a whole new world for me, and I’m so grateful that you’re willing to explain it to me!” he said instead, leaving a chaste kiss on both Jeongin’s and Jisung’s cheeks since they were the closest.

“Well, there’s still one symbol you don’t know about” Jisung spoke up, caressing the spot that Seungmin had kissed.

“Really?”

“Hmm… do you think we would really let our leader not have any symbol of his own after all he did for us?” Jisung teased.

“Oh, right!” Seungmin felt dumb for forgetting about Chan, although he didn’t have any particular object on him that would serve as a symbol. There was the sword, but he didn’t wear it constantly on him. There were also his tattoos, but they looked quite extensive and some of them had definitely been done a long time ago.

“You’re on the right track” Changbin encouraged him, seeing Seungmin eye Chan’s tattoos. “The orcas are known for their markings, they do them with squid ink and sea urchins’ spines.”

The biologist gaped at that news, now reeling about the fact that underwater tattooing existed and he definitely wanted to see how it was done!

“The markings all mean something different” Chan indulged the human, seeing his thirst for knowledge. “But the most special one is this one.”

The orca showed them the image that sprawled from his left pec to his shoulder. It was a very stylized circle, with seven different motifs inside.

“The boys wanted to give me my symbol as a leader, and the one who’d brought the whole pod together. At that time, we thought we wouldn’t be welcoming anyone knew members in our family” he smiled at the human. “So, they each tattooed their marks on me, and the circle represents our pod as one.”

“It’s… beautiful. Truly” Seungmin breathed out, observing the design reverently.

“You’ll have to add your mark in the circle now” Minho observed.

“I… really? You’d want me to?”

“Of course!” assured Chan. “Like I said, you’re part of the pod now, you’re our little human. It’s only fair you get to add your mark as well” he smiled.

Seungmin felt a little choked up as the emotions swelled inside him. “I would be honored” he managed to get out, sniffling a little, making the boys coo at his adorableness.

Seungmin was swimming as fast as he could, dragged along by Jeongin, Jisung opening the way and Changbin close behind them. He knew it was a bad idea. He should’ve waited longer in the cove; it was too soon to get back to land. Of course Director Park still had men patrolling the waters in search of him, and of course they would spot is boat before he was able to make it to the coast. He’d had to abandon his precious ship and dive in the water with Jisung, Jeongin and Changbin as an escort, while the rest of the boys stayed behind and pushed his boat in another direction, in hopes of creating a good enough distraction while he got somewhere safe.

That morning, they’d only managed to make it a few nautical miles away from the cove in direction of the port, when they’d noticed something was wrong. As soon as Hyunjin had spotted the three motorboats following them, they’d quickly devised the plan to bring Seungmin to the shipwreck where he could hide with Jeongin while Jisung and Changbin made sure the way to the harbor was clear. In the meantime, the rest of the pod would push his boat around to make it seem as if he was still in it and force Director Park’s men to give chase.

The biologist had only managed to put on his full-face diving mask and strap his air tank to his back before jumping overboard and into Jeongin’s arms. Now, they were going as fast as the mers could swim (which was much faster than Seungmin’s stomach could handle at that moment), and he could only pray for the safety of the other boys. He wasn’t too worried however, as they were in their element and they had the obvious advantage over those military goons.

The shipwreck that he’d spent so much time studying was soon into view, and he allowed himself to relax a little. Jisung barged in the metal ruins through the hole in the deck and Jeongin was quick to bring Seungmin inside through the same way, while Changbin secured the perimeter. They’d barely made their way inside the metal giant when vicious snarls and growls echoed, followed by a grunt and pained whimper.

Both boys hurried their way into the cargo bay to find an unconscious Jisung, stuck in a net and surrounded by four divers with stun batons and harpoons. Jeongin’s audible gasp made the men turn towards them and, before Seungmin or Jeongin could even think about turning around to escape, a net wrapped itself around the youngest from behind, trapping him in place.

“JEONGIN!” Seungmin screamed as they got separated, two divers holding his arms behind his back. He was only able to watch as the orange-tailed boy trashed around helplessly, letting out shrill trills and whistles. Despite his valiant struggles, the young mer got dragged out of the wreck and up to the surface, along with Jisung and Seungmin. The nets restraining the two mers were attached to a pulley system, allowing the men on board to pull them up to the deck, while Seungmin was pushed up aggressively, sliding onto the wet metal. He bumped onto something which stopped his course, and his dive mask was removed, allowing him to look up at the shadow that was looming over his body.

A snarl twisted his lips when he recognized Director Park himself, still in his black turtleneck and cargo pants, but without the lab coat this time, having swapped it for a bullet-proof vest instead. The man crouched to be at Seungmin’s level, tugging on the scientist’s pink hair sharply and bringing his lips to the younger’s ear.

“I’ll deal with you shortly. For now, observe and learn.”

Standing back up, he walked to the edge of the boat, where Jisung and Jeongin had just been hauled up and spoke loud and clear over the waves.

“Come on out, I know you’re there; our sonars have picked up your heat signature. I’m sure you want to come and be with your friends, right? You wouldn’t want to leave them behind… I’m sure you must be protective of these two, and you’re probably dying to kill me right now. You’ll have a much greater chance of doing it from up here, so why don’t you make it easier on everyone and join us, uh?”

Seungmin frowned, not knowing what the man was doing, before a snarling Changbin literally jumped out of the water, landing on the deck with a heavy thud and biting and clawing at everything that came close enough. His appearance caused quite a commotion, but the Director didn’t seem phased, drawing a pistol from the holster on his thigh and pointing it straight at the growling mer.

“NO!” Seungmin shouted, hitting the Director’s leg in the hopes of making him miss his shot but the man wasn’t even phased, the bullet whizzing straight to its target.

“CHANGBIN!” Seungmin’s cry echoed Jeongin’s whimpers and the black-tailed boy’s eyes widened, his hand coming up to touch his neck, where he’d been shot. With a sigh of relief, Seungmin discovered that it wasn’t an actual bullet but a sleeping dart instead, which was quickly confirmed as Changbin’s eyes began to close, the boy fighting heavily to stay conscious.

“There we go. Three mers, at my feet, ready for me to pluck. I have to thank you for this one Seungmin-shi, you really helped out a lot. Without you, I don’t think I could’ve ever accomplished this feat” the man smiled down at Seungmin, petting his hair as if he was a simple dog.

The scientist’s brain was in complete disarray, confusion and fear mixing together, trying to understand what the Director was implying. It hit home when he looked at Changbin and saw the disappointment and disgust painted in his face right before he passed out. On the other side of the deck, Jeongin whimpered once more, looking at Seungmin while one of the sailors went up to him with another dart-loaded gun.

“Is it true? Did you really do this?”  he whispered in a broken voice, breaking Seungmin’s heart with the amount of betrayal that was bleeding from his eyes.

Before the biologist even had a chance to answer, Jeongin was shot as well and fell back heavily, passed out.

Chapter Text

Seungmin waited for a minute, in silence, sitting stiffly on something that seemed to be a chair. When he was sure that he was alone, he lifted his hands to his face, pulling down the blindfold that was tied around his eyes. Blinking, he took the time to analyze his surroundings, his brain picking up every little detail.

He was in a small room with grey walls, a high ceiling and some ventilation grills near the floor. In front of him, there was an army-style cot with a thin blanket. To his left there was a barren desk with a lamp, and the wooden chair he was sat on probably belonged to the small workplace setting. On the wall to his right, there was a slightly ajar door that led to what seemed to be a bathroom, judging by the sink he could see through the opening. Turning around, the scientist saw the metal door that stood behind him, which was also where he’d came in the room, and the only exit out of this place. At least, there didn’t seem to be any cameras in the room.

Now, Seungmin wasn’t dumb. This was obviously a prison. However, a few of the objects that were in the room left him perplexed as to the true reason of his stay. On the desk, he could spot his glasses, next to a case of contact lenses that perfectly fit his prescription. At the foot of the bed, a rudimentary clothing rack contained his second lab coat, as well as a few of his clothes and even his favorite pair of sneakers (which his currently naked feet were very grateful for).

Those few items were so… personal. That meant that whatever Director Park’s plan was, he planned on keeping Seungmin in this place for a while. Granted, Seungmin already suspected that “this place” was actually the brand-new research facility that had recently been built by the company to house all of their “Research and Development” branch, or R&D. Not a lot of people had access to this new building, that stood on the cliff side of the coast on a restricted property, and none of Seungmin’s colleagues had been able to say exactly who worked in the R&D or what they did there.

The pink-haired boy took a breath to calm himself and stop his nervous fidgeting when he realized that he’d been picking at the splint on his left hand. Tightening the wrappings around his broken fingers, Seungmin decided to change out of his three-days-old clothes. He deserved to feel clean, and it’s not like he had anything else to do in the meantime. He didn’t even need to try the door to know that it was locked.

Getting in the shower in the adjoining room had been an experience, as it was a very small space and he’d barely managed to get dressed without knocking his shins in the sink or the toilet. He’d managed to check himself out while putting on some new clothes, taking stock of his condition.

Obviously, the fingers on his left hand were still broken and his right ankle was still sore, the mad swim he’d been forced to do to the shipwreck not having helped his sprain. However, his ribs looked almost fully healed, only a slight bruise left behind on his torso and the cut on his calf was now completely closed and scarred, looking as if it was at least a month old already. He’d definitely have to get his hands on Felix’s magic ointment to study it, the results were absolutely fascinating! That was… if he ever was able to meet with the pod again.

Sighing deeply, Seungmin passed his hands through his wet faded-pink strands and stared at himself in the small mirror above the sink. Everything was so screwed up right now. Jisung, Jeongin and Changbin were definitely in danger, he had no idea where the rest of the pod was or how they were faring, and he was stuck in this place until someone deemed it worth their while to come and speak to him.

The sound of the door opening back in the main room made him jump in surprise, hurrying out of the bathroom. Standing in the doorway, Director Park looked down at the boy, a sneer on his face. Seungmin tried to reign in his emotions, but just seeing that man standing there was making his blood boil. After all, he was the cause of everything that went wrong in Seungmin’s life recently.

“Seungmin-shi” the man greeted him, almost warmly.

“Park” the biologist answered coldly, deciding then and there that this man didn’t deserve any respect or title-recognition, so he would stick with only his last name.

“Once again, I have to congratulate you on helping us with this catch. It was quite an impressive one, and you did all the work for us” the director smiled belittlingly.

Seungmin tilted his head to the side to peak around the man, noticing that the door leading outside of his prison was open. However, two buff guards stood at the entrance, quickly dousing his hopes of escaping.

“And how exactly did I help you catch anything?” the scientist snapped back at the director, anger still boiling in his veins. “I don’t recall ever working either with or for you.”

“Oh, it was very simple. With this.”

The man took out something from his pocket, and Seungmin’s face went livid. In the director’s hand was his notebook, the one he’d used to jolt down everything he found out after each of his encounters with the pod. He’d left it back in his apartment, in a locker, to which he’d hidden the key in one of his potted plants. He’d thought it was well-enough hidden at the time, but apparently not.

“How did you get your hands on that?” he whispered, visibly troubled.

“Well, let’s just say that during your little hospital stay, my boys had a look around your place. That’s how they found this invaluable notebook, filled with everything I need to know about the pod that lives around here”, the man’s smug smile was now permanently etched on his disgusting face. “I have to say, your sketches are really good” he praised the biologist.

“YOU BASTARD!”

Seungmin lunged for the man, but the director quickly caught his arms and swung him around. He winced as his broken hand was squeezed painfully, making him falter in his attack and giving Director Park the chance to retaliate. Seungmin ended up stuck with his back flush against the director’s chest, and his arms pinned to his sides by the older man’s vice grip. He shivered in disgust as he felt the director’s breath against his ear.

“Now, let’s not do anything rash. There’s a reason why you’re still here, and not drowned at the bottom of the ocean right now. I have a deal for you, and I think it’s in your interest to hear me out before you try to punch anyone.”

“Let me go, you snake!” He spat out angrily, chest heaving in anger and distress.

“Only if you promise to behave. Be a good boy and we can have a civil conversation.”

Seungmin hated being treated like a helpless little kid, but he had no other choice in this situation. Slowly, he allowed his muscles to relax, his posture untensing to show that he was willing to listen – at least for now.

“Good” the director praised him, letting him go and forcing him to sit back on the chair that he was in when he’d first arrived in the cell. “So, I have a job offer for you.”

“Are you crazy? After everything you did, after beating me up, breaking and entering in my apartment, stealing my things and then kidnapping my friends and I… You want me to work for you? Are you a complete lunatic or just the biggest asshole on this planet?”

The director brushed off the insults. “You have a great potential, and you already started studying those beasts. Your knowledge and your relationship with them are precious. It can help us learn more about them and their kind. Hopefully, it will also help us to find where other mers are hiding.”

“No way. I’m not doing it. Find yourself another marine biologist.”

Seungmin crossed his arms over his chest, offended that the director could even think of asking his cooperation.

“Well, I can do that. But you know, the less people know about this project, the better it is. So, instead of involving someone else, I could simply try a little harder to convince you.”

The man’s smile was nothing if not foreboding, and Seungmin found that he was truly scared of what the director’s next words would be.

“I have a number of options: I could, let’s say… ruin your whole career, by saying that you stole equipment from the company. Of course, that would all be backed up with video evidence and documents. I could also pay a little visit to your parents. They’re coming back from their trip next Saturday, am I right? Or how about making sure that dear Mina has an accident next time she comes in to work? And of course, I can’t forget about the mers themselves. You guys seem pretty close, right? I’m sure you don’t want anything bad to happen to them…”

“You’re… threatening me?” Seungmin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What for? What more could you want from me that you haven’t already taken by force?”

“I need your collaboration Seungmin-ah. Your fully consenting cooperation. I am going to ask you to study the monsters, to do tests on them and then to report your findings to me. As you’ve probably seen already, my team is more centered around catching monsters, and not studying them. I will assemble as many scientific experts as I can find, but right now, you’re the star player. If you do your job properly, then no one has to suffer any consequences. You’ll stay in these quarters and live in the facility until your work here is done. Then, you’ll go back to your normal life without ever telling what happened in here. If you refuse to do what I ask you, or if you try to go tattling to someone that shouldn’t be involved, then you will deeply regret the consequences.”

Seungmin was appalled. This man wanted him to work for him ,after all that he did. And on top of that, he wanted Seungmin to study the mers as if they were simple animals to be tested on and observed. That thought made the biologist’s skin crawl with disgust. However, if he did not comply with the crazy man’s wishes, the consequences could be dire. There was not only him involved in this crazy story; he would also be putting the lives of those he loved at risk…

A sudden clamor from the door pulled Seungmin away from his dilemma. Both him and the director turned to see what the commotion was about, and they were greeted with a very strange vision. At the door, the two guards that had previously been shouting some kind of warning now looked very confused. Their hands were on their weapons, but they didn’t seem to know what else to do except look at the intruder who was smiling happily as he strutted his way in between them.

“Good day director!” he happily saluted the man.

“Mister Park” the director sighed, seemingly used to the man’s weird behavior.

“Please director, I already told you to just call me Seonghwa.”

The newcomer was tall and very lean, with godlike visuals. His features reminded Seungmin of Minho’s face, sculpted in marble, but with a touch more softness. He had big round eyes and an easy smile that made his good looks and tall frame look more demure than intimidating. He still carried himself with confidence though, and it was with self-assuredness that he stepped into the room, stopping in front of the two men and flipping his dark bangs out of his face.  

“Hello, I’m Park Seonghwa, the animal exhibits contractor” he introduced himself to Seungmin. He had a weird gleam in his eyes that made the pink-haired boy pay closer attention to his demeanor and less to his words.

The man turned toward to the director with the perfect customer-service-smile plastered on his face: “I just wanted to come and tell you the good news in person sir: the tanks are finished! We just filled them up with water, so they are ready to use.”

“Thank you for this Seonghwa-shi. My accountant will settle the payment with you, if you want to take an appointment with him” Director Park shooed the man out, visibly annoyed at the intrusion.

Not seeing the obvious attempt at getting rid of him, or simply not caring, Park Seonghwa turned to Seungmin.  “I believe you are the new marine biologist that was hired for this project? Director Park has been very secretive about all of it, so I don’t even know what kind of creatures will be in the tanks, which – undoubtedly – made it a little bit harder than usual to create the exhibits. But, just by the size of the aquariums, it must truly be something incredible that will swim in there! You are very lucky to be able to be a part of this” Seonghwa blabbered on excitedly to Seungmin.

However, something struck the biologist as odd. Managing to maintain eye contact with this stranger, despite the intensity of Seonghwa’s gaze, a rush of adrenalin went through his body. The man’s eyes were changing color, right there, in front of him. It was quite subtle, but the blue shifted to a green, and then to a light gray, as seamlessly as a wave would form and roll down on a sandy beach.

A flash shook Seungmin’s mind as fuzzy memories fought their way back to his consciousness. Wooyoung’s hazel eyes shifting to gold as he listened to the TV in his hospital room. San’s sparkling brown eyes turning grey right after he handed him his phone. His voice, that wormed itself in Seungmin’s brain and left a happy fog in his mind for a few hours after their encounter. The guards standing at the door of his cell, who had looked completely lost and hadn’t even tried to stop Seonghwa from entering, even though it was obvious that no one else but the Director was allowed inside.

These three boys…. they definitely weren’t human. And Seungmin had an inkling that they might all be related in some way. In any case, they’d always helped him in the past, and Seonghwa – no matter who he was supposed to be – was definitely more reliable than the director. So, the scientist took the hint.

“The creatures we’ll be observing are definitely incredible… I can’t lie, I have to admit I am definitely excited to start working on this project with Director Park.” Those last words were addressed to the man in question, to show him that Seungmin had accepted his proposition. However, from the corner of his eye, the biologist observed as Seonghwa’s lips widened in an approving smile, and he knew then and there that he’d made the right choice. 

“Well, sadly this is my last day working at the facility, since we’re done with the construction” the contractor sighed, a very convincing sad expression taking over his face. “It was a real pleasure to get to work in this place though, I was able to learn so much. I hope one day I’ll have the chance of working with you as well, Seungmin-shi” Seonghwa’s easy smile brightened his features again as he winked at the biologist.

With a start, Seungmin realized he’d never introduced himself to the man, nor given him his name.

“Well, thank you for dropping by to give me the news yourself, Seonghwa-shi. Now if you’ll excuse us, I have some business to settle with Seungmin” the director urged once more, sending glares at his still disoriented bodyguards who stood helplessly at the door.

With one last smile and a little wave, Seonghwa made his way out, leaving Seungmin alone with Director Park once more.

“I am happy that you agreed to take my offer. I have no doubt that it will be beneficial for everyone” the man focused back on the biologist, and Seungmin shivered under his predatory gaze but stood his ground.

“I have no doubt it will” he agreed simply.

Seungmin was first tasked with transcribing all of his notes into the electronic database of the facility. For that, he had access to a computer in one of the offices of the base, but he was under heavy surveillance while doing so. After all, they didn’t want him communicating with the outside world, at least not until they were certain to have his loyalty and/or blackmail material on him. The security of the place was definitely no joke, and on top of the many guards that patrolled the area, lots of places in the building required access codes, keycards as well as fingerprint pads just to enter them.

While he was familiarizing himself with the building, some more of his personal belongings had been brought to his “room”, allowing him more materials to work with. He had a typewriter, since he couldn’t have a personal computer, as well as pretty much all of his books on marine biology and even a white board with markers. The director had explained to him that a letter had been sent to Mina, explaining Seungmin’s resignation and relocation to the Deep-Sea Research Team instead.  The biologist had barely restrained himself from snorting at that, knowing that his boss would never believe that bullshit for even one second. However, it offered him a good hope for the future, since he didn’t doubt that Mina would be launching her investigation on his mysterious disappearance and relocation, especially after the voicemail he’d left her from San’s phone. Hopefully, she would be the key to get him out of this mess.

In the meantime, he was anxiously waiting for the moment until he could see the boys once more. He’d spent the whole of the first day writing his notes and exploring the place, but when night came and he’d been sent back to his room without even seeing a glimpse of either Jeongin, Changbin or Jisung, he’d been extremely disappointed. He worried that Director Park wanted him to prove his loyalty before being allowed to see the mers.

His doubts were put to rest no sooner than the next day, when a guard came into his room with a breakfast tray.

“Eat quickly, the boss wants you to start working with the creatures today.”

Seungmin had never inhaled his breakfast that fast before. He almost choked a few times before running to grab his lab coat and something to take notes with, and following the guard.

He made it to the basement of the facility, in a circular room that housed one huge tank of water, at least 5 meters high and 20 meters wide. A smaller one right across from it was obviously meant for studying the boys individually. And, lined on the side of the far wall were three capsule-looking tanks, much smaller, barely big enough to fit each mer and their tails. These were probably the transportation tanks that were used to get them from the boat to the base. Seungmin hadn’t seen it since he had been blindfolded and put in a car as soon as they made it to land, but he could bet that it hadn’t been a comfortable ride for the boys.

His gaze went back to the big tank, seeing how barren it was. Apart from a bit of sand at the bottom, there was nothing but open water, the filtration system, and the mers. As soon as he spotted them, Seungmin froze in place. The guard behind him rudely pushed him forward and lead him to a table in front of the tank where he could presumably take his notes and work, but Seungmin’s eyes never left the three boys in the water.

Changbin was obviously on high alert, teeth bared and claws dangerously curved at his side, ready to slash anyone that came close. His tail fin was flared open wide, the blackness of it looking like a hypnotic wormhole as it swayed from side to side, keeping him floating in the middle of the tank, forcing Seungmin to lift his head to see him properly. At his side, Jisung was looking down at Seungmin distrustfully, a mix of fear and anger in his eyes. His teeth were also bared and his hands kept nervously going to his bicep, where his knife was usually strapped. Of course, it had been confiscated by the director’s men, but Jisung was obviously trying to not show how antsy he was without his weapon. Hiding behind them was Jeongin. Poor, sweet Jeongin, who was looking at Seungmin with so much confusion. He’d made a move to swim closer to the edge of the tank when he’d seen the scientist, but the two eldest had held him back. He was the only one not displaying any form of animosity, and it filled Seungmin with adoration that despite everything that had happened to him, Jeongin was still just as innocent and pure, and willing to give people a chance.

Raising a shaky hand, Seungmin made their now well-practiced “ok” sign, trying to communicate with Jeongin that he’d do everything to get them out of there safe and sound. A sad little smile graced the youngest boy’s features as he replicated the sign, and something inside Seungmin broke. Jeongin was truly willing to give him a second chance. Of course, he’d done nothing wrong, but the mers didn’t know that, and they had every right to hate him and to never trust any human again. But Jeongin… he was sticking by his side, despite the appearances, despite the bad position he was in, despite the lies that he’d been fed on Seungmin’s involvement in their capture… and that meant so much to Seungmin.

“I see you’ve started your work already. However, there’s a few rules that we need to talk about first” the director’s low voice echoed in the room, and Seungmin turned around, hearing more than seeing the merboys furiously hissing at the man.

The biologist stayed quiet, observing as a team of military men and what seemed to be a few scientists gathered behind the director. Even a few janitors could be seen peeking in the room, wanting to see what the commotion was about.

“This will be your team from now on. You will work with them, and they will be present for every one of your interactions with the creatures. Since you’re the one that is most likely to not get killed by them, you’ll be the main overseer during the tests” Director Park chuckled. “Let’s say my men’s zeal got tempered when they saw three of the transportation crew guys get maimed to death.”

Seungmin inwardly congratulated his boys on getting their revenge on at least some of those men.

“Today, we’ll see if they accept you in the tank. Tomorrow, we’ll start the real research. I’ve heard you’re very good at freediving; I hope for you it’s true, because you’re going to need a great pair of lungs once you’re inside this tank. Suit up!”

Seungmin quickly found himself in a neoprene suite, not very different from the one he owned, and equipped with goggles and flippers. He stood at the bottom of the metallic staircase that would bring him to the top of the tank, where he could open a door in the lid and slide in the water.

The director slid up next to him, putting a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“Now remember, you must get them to cooperate. If they don’t, I’ll simply shoot them with sedatives and keep them in a permanent drugged state, but that will highly decrease their selling price. Having them cooperate in the tests will be better for me, for them and for you… don’t forget that I do have a good list of people I can go after if you don’t give me the results I expect.”

The words sent a chill down Seungmin’s spine, but he refused to acknowledge how scared he was of Director Park. Instead, he shrugged the hand off his shoulder and climbed the stairs, making his way to the platform at the top.

Once on the platform, he was greeted by another soldier that stood guard next to the lid. Seungmin decided to ignore the man and took the time to take a deep breath while putting on his flippers and goggles. Peeking inside the tank, he could see Changbin and Jisung still hovering at the director’s height, claws extended, and teeth bared, but Jeongin was looking back up at him. The lack of obvious disgust or betrayal in the younger mer’s eyes gave Seungmin the confidence he needed, and he opened the lid, slipping in the cold salty water and letting himself sink slowly.

The disturbance in the water from his dive made both Changbin and Jisung snap their focus on him, but before Seungmin could see their reactions, Jeongin made his way to him. The boy’s usually brightly shining tail now seemed dull, and there were quite a few patches off scales missing, as well as some scratches in his caudal fin. The pink-haired scientist wanted to cry at the thought that he’d unwillingly been the cause of these injuries, but crying underwater didn’t exactly work, so instead, he extended his hand towards Jeongin. The boy looked at him for a moment, head tilted, seeming to decide of his next course of action. But Jeongin had always been so sweet, so forgiving, and he only hesitated a few seconds before taking Seungmin’s hand and squeezing it delicately.

“Seungmin… I’m so lost… what’s happening? Why are we here?”

Sadly, Jeongin’s words seemed to set off the other two mers in the aquarium.

“Jeongin! Get away from him, he betrayed us!” Jisung came barreling at them, wrapping his arms around Jeongin’s waist and tugging the youngest away from the human.

Changbin stood protectively in between all of them, his eyes cold. “Did you come to gloat, human? Did you want to celebrate being able to trick a whole pod into making them think you actually cared about them?”

Seungmin frantically shook his head. He so desperately wanted to scream at them that it was not true, that he didn’t break their trust, that this was his fault, but it never had been intentional. He longed to tell them how much he loved them, and how he was going to do everything in his power to get them out of there as soon as possible. But just like crying, talking underwater was pretty complicated. He knew he couldn’t go back to the surface to explain it to them, the director wouldn’t allow the boys to emerge. He’d seen the cattle prods that were propped up next to the lid of the tank, and he knew there was probably someone assigned with shocking the mers if they even popped their heads out of the water. The words he wanted to say to Jisung, Changbin and Jeongin were also very personal and even if he could speak freely, he would never do it while being observed by Director Park and his merry band of buffoons.  

So, he settled for the next best thing and mouthed the words he so longed to tell them: “I’m sorry.”

Changbin’s eyes narrowed and he backed away from the human. “Sorry won’t cut it” he gritted through his teeth. “I knew you were hiding something. I should’ve trusted my instincts” he growled. Then, in the fraction of a second, Changbin swung his muscular arm towards Seungmin, claws out and ready for the strike. The human closed his eyes, mind blanking out, heart calm. After all, he deserved this, didn’t he?

Twin gasps echoed in the water from the other two mers and Seungmin simply regretted that they would have to see the gruesome sight. However, the only thing he felt from Changbin’s attack was something sharp pressing right under his chin, just above his throat. Opening his eyes, the scientist found the mer’s face inches away from his own.

“If anything happens to the boys, I will hold you responsible forever.”

A hissed “Changbin” coming from Jisung seemed to snap the muscular mer back to reality, and he snapped his teeth menacingly at Seungmin, before retracting his claws from the human’s neck. He then turned back to Jisung and Jeongin and wrapped them both in a protective embrace, swimming all of them to the farthest corner of the tank, away from all the people watching them.

Seungmin’s heart bled at seeing the boys swim away from him, but he kicked himself back to the surface, the need for air slowly building up in his body. As soon as he emerged, a smiling Director Park applauded him from the platform, looming over the scientist in the water.

“What a great asset you will be. You not only managed to swim with them and get out alive, but you also initiated contact! A truly remarkable feat. I think this whole research project will go much more smoothly than I first thought. And hopefully, the intel we’ll gather from them will sell at as high a price as their bodies...” The man cackled to himself. “Dry yourself up, you’ll need to prep the labs for the start of our tests tomorrow” he clapped his hands in satisfaction, strutting down the stairs like a gloating peacock.

Seungmin was shaking with anger, sadness and desperation at this point. He heaved himself out of the tank, kicking his flippers and goggles off and watched the man and his minions talk animatedly amongst themselves.

He would make them pay for all of this. He would win the boys trust again, get them out of here, and then bring Director Park and this whole facility down to its knees, before burning it to the ground. It was a solemn promise he made to himself, and he would do whatever it took to keep his word.

Chapter Text

When Seungmin woke up that morning, it was with a sick feeling in his stomach. Today was the day he was supposed to start testing on the boys, as ordered by Director Park. Just that notion made him shiver with disgust. However, he had no other choice; if he didn’t obey the director’s orders, either the boys or his family would be the ones suffering the consequences. All he wished was that the tests wouldn’t be anything painful for the boys, and that it bought him some time to come up with an escape plan.

He barely touched his breakfast when the guard came to give it to him, playing with the food. He took his time to get dressed in some red pants, white shirt and his trusty lab coat, trying to delay the start of his day as much as possible. However, the guard assigned to him quickly came to hurry him up, almost dragging him out of the room and all the way back to the basement, where the tanks were still ominously standing. The pink-haired scientist frowned at the thought that the mers had to sleep all night in this cold and desolated environment. As he’d had the chance to see before, they were used to soft, fluffy and comfortable places to sleep, made out of moss and algae. The pitifully thin sand layer at the bottom of the aquarium could definitely not compare to that.

On top of that, they were constantly being watched by guards and workers of the facility. Even the cleaning team seemed to always find an excuse to be in the aquarium room and gaze at the mers in awe.

As soon as he stepped closer to the tanks, the little team of “scientists” that the director had managed to assemble swarmed around Seungmin. A girl with short black hair and a clipboard in her arms stepped forward.

“Good morning Kim-shi. Here’s the list of things that Director Park want you to do this week. You have to make sure that all your test results are transcribed in the computer system, but you can keep your own personal notes to work after hours if you want.”

She handed him the clipboard, which had a pen, a bunch of draft papers and a list on the top. Height, weight, scale extraction, tooth extraction, nail extraction, full body x-ray, DNA swab, understanding of the reproductive system, language analysis, questioning session, assessment of vitality/dangerousness level, assessment of risks of self-harming for selling purposes…

Reading the list made Seungmin gag. The atrocities committed by Director Park knew no bounds, and the acts he wanted him to perform just to get to his goal of selling the mers were monstruous. The director kept calling the boys monsters simply because they didn’t have legs, but there was no doubt in Seungmin’s heart who the real monster was.

“My name is Choi Ae Ri. I'll be your first assistant. Now, please hurry along, we need to get started on those tests. I would hate to inconvenience Director Park because of our tardiness.”

The short haired girl fixed Seungmin with an authoritative gaze, and the biologist could see in her eyes that she didn't like being his subordinate. However, it was the case, so Seungmin decided to take advantage of it, just to spite her. 

“Well, if you're in such a hurry to start, why don't you transfer one of the mers into the small aquarium? I'm sure you should be able to handle that task, right?” 

He lifted an eyebrow and looked meanly at the girl. Surely the girl was all talk and no bite, and she would never dare to approach any of the mers from that close up. It was petty, yes, but it was his only safe way of exteriorizing his anger. He felt like an emo teenager acting rebelliously in front of his parents, but he didn’t care, as long as it got his point across. He was not a willing participant in their little games, and he wanted to make it clear to everyone; especially to Jisung, Changbin and Jeongin. Hopefully, it would show them that he was on their side and that he didn’t want to hurt them.

Unfortunately, Choi Ae Ri seemed to be a very stubborn and confident girl. She strode straight to the main tank, to the dismay of all of her colleagues, and reached the control panel that stood in front of the exhibit. She pushed some buttons, allowing a stretcher made out of a net and some steel beams to mechanically slide down from the ceiling, right inside the opening of the lid. Once it was a few inches under the water, she loudly tapped on the glass: “One of you get in the stretcher, now” she ordered.

In response, the boys reacted like any other fish would when someone taps on the aquarium: they curled up on themselves, hands over their ears and swam as quickly away from the girl as possible, slamming themselves blindly into the other side of the tank. The three of them looked in pain, dazed and disoriented, and the only intelligent thing Ae Ri managed was: “What the hell?”

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!? GET AWAY FROM THERE!” Seungmin shouted furiously, aggressively yanking her away from the aquarium.

Immediately, the guards behind them pointed their firearms on him menacingly. Another member of the scientist team, a small girl with long brown hair and glasses, stepped up to Seungmin, looking much too innocent for the work that she was supposed to do.

“What is happening? Why are they reacting like that?”

“Why are they…. What the hell, people? Do none of you guys have one ounce of knowledge on marine biology? On fishes? Or at least, like, a little bit of common sense?”

They all looked at each other sheepishly, and that’s when Seungmin noted that they were all pretty young. Probably a bunch of students, doing some shady jobs to help pay for their education then.

Seungmin turned to the tank, making sure that the boys were doing okay. They all looked pretty dazed still, but at least not in pain anymore. Jisung was swimming in a drunken pattern, until he reached Jeongin and held onto the younger as an anchor. Changbin looked almost nauseous but was standing guard in front of the other two, as he’d done ever since they’d arrived at the facility.

Reassured with their state for the moment, Seungmin turned back towards the students and sighed. They really were out of their depth right now and explaining everything to them would be a real pain in the ass. He rubbed his forehead, trying to push his glasses up his nose out of habit before remembering that he’d put on his lenses that day.

“Fishes have extraordinarily good hearing. On top of that, sound travels around five times faster in water than in air and fishes and marine mammals are sensitive to vibrations. By tapping on that glass, it’s as if you were forcing them to stand under a fighter jet while it’s engines are running at full speed and while there’s an earthquake happening!”

At least some of the scientists looked properly ashamed, and Seungmin counted that as a victory. However, Choi Ae Ri apparently hadn’t appreciated being scolded as a child, and she dusted off her coat while glaring at the marine biologist.

“Who cares? It’s just a little noise, they’ll survive. We have to start those tests as soon as possible or else we’re going to be late and throw off Director Park’s schedule!”

Seungmin wanted to scream at her to shove the schedule somewhere frankly inappropriate, but the guards behind them were still on edge, despite having lowered their weapons. He settled for the cold, snarky comebacks he was well-known for.

“I’m pretty sure the director wouldn’t appreciate you messing with the test subjects and incapacitating them, would he? If you treat them badly, you’re going to corrupt the results of any kind of test that we’ll do, so act like a proper scientist for once and take this seriously” he snapped.

Ae Ri gritted her teeth but stepped away, letting Seungmin finally take charge. With a sigh, he climbed up the stairs to the platform at the top of the aquarium, leaning into the open hole of the lid.

“Hey guys” he gently called out. “I’m sorry about that. I know it was scary, and painful, but I swear I won’t let it happen again. Though I need one of you to come up here with me please.”

He infused his voice with as much sincerity as possible and was rewarded by Changbin haltingly swimming up to him.

“Hi” Seungmin greeted him.

Changbin looked up warily at the guard that stood behind Seungmin, next to the cattle prods. The pink haired boy quickly dismissed the man, who thankfully enough listened to him and went back downstairs, allowing the black tailed mer to emerge.

“What is happening? What was that noise?”

“It was one of the girls working for Director Park… She tapped on the glass, but I won’t allow anyone to do it again, you have my word. You do have to come with me to the smaller aquarium tho, the one that’s just there.” The human pointed at the 2 by 4 meters tank that stood right across from the big aquarium. “I need to… do some tests, to satisfy the director’s curiosity while I find a way to get you guys out of here” he whispered the last part, leaning even more towards Changbin.

The mer looked at him skeptically and flashed his teeth in warning.

“Why would you help us? That man said it’s because of you that we’re here! You’re even working with those people that put us in this trap. How can we trust you again?”

“I am so sorry about everything that happened, and about the fact that you guys are here now, but Park saying that I was the one who helped catch you is the biggest lie ever. I never helped him with anything, and I do not want you to be in here. The only reason I am here too and not dead is because the director needs my help to learn more about you, and I only agreed to do this because it allows me to make sure you guys are okay and to find a way to smuggle you out of this place. I…I know you have no reason to trust me right now, and everything is telling you that I’m the bad guy… But at the end of the day, all I want is for you to be free and safe, back with the pod… Right now, the director wants me to do some tests on you and if I don’t listen, or if you don’t work with me on this, I’m scared he’s going to hurt you guys. But if you just help me out with this, I’ll be able to make sure that you stay safe, that none of you gets hurt and it’ll give me some more time to think of an escape plan.”

Changbin looked at him carefully, his purple eyes seeming to pierce right through Seungmin and search his very soul. If Minho was there, he could’ve easily told them that the human wasn’t lying, but their elder wasn’t here so the mers had to rely on their instincts. Changbin opened his mouth, ready to answer when another loud tap resonated against the glass, making Changbin’s words turn into a high-pitched screech. The dark haired mer dove with a slap of his tail, splashing everything around him and creating a big wave that crashed outside of the tank, completely drenching Ae Ri in the process.

Seungmin rushed to the edge of the platform to glare at the girl. “What the hell are you doing? I just told you not to do this! If you keep going, I’ll have you removed from this team, you understand!?”

The biologist had no idea if he had the authority to do such a thing, but he didn’t care at the moment. If Director Park wanted him to work with the boys, he was going to do it with a team of people that were not trying to hurt the mers every two seconds.

The girl spluttered for a moment, obviously not having expected the impromptu cold and salty shower, but she was tugged off to the side by some of the other workers while the cleaning team rushed over to mop up the floor and prevent any slipping accident.

Seungmin turned his focus back on the three mers, seeing them once again agitated and swimming erratically in circles, probably trying to find a way to hide if ever someone else had the bright idea to tap on the glass. However, their tank was truly empty, and they could do nothing but swim around, their bodies tense with the anticipation of another wave of noise and pain.

The pink haired biologist was resolving himself to dive in the aquarium to try and calm them down when he saw that Jisung, Jeongin and Changbin were slowly relaxing on their own, their erratic movements slowing down while they focused on something right outside of their tank.

Looking back down at the ground, Seungmin was perplexed to find that the mers were intently gazing at the cleaning team, made up of two young boys. The first one was very tall with dark red hair, broad shoulders and a wide gummy smile, while the second boy was more slender, with blond hair, almond eyes and delicate features. The tall one was loudly speaking to his colleague, sounding almost as if he wanted everyone in the building to hear him.

“…crazy right? I mean those reports sounded like something right out of a sci-fi novel! A lost motorboat found anchored right outside of the harbour with no one on it. It had diving equipment for one person and a chest filled with clothes and bandanas for some reason, but it was abandoned without a scratch on it. And then, later on the same day, the coast patrol found another boat drifting a few miles out at sea, also empty but ripped in half! But the best is that on that one, they actually found deep gouges all over the hull and some blood! They think a few divers were on that boat and that it got stuck on a reef and then they were attacked by sharks. But honestly Yeosang, we both know that a reef and sharks wouldn’t be able to rip a boat in half!”

The young janitor looked way too happy while relying this news to his colleague – Yeosang was it? – but it made Seungmin’s heart leap inside his chest. The pod had survived the attack! Not only had they survived, but they probably completely destroyed Director Park’s men. Had they eaten them, or simply drowned them? Honestly, it was all the same to Seungmin. Everyone knew those men were criminals who constantly evaded the police only because the director payed a few corrupted officials to get them off his back. They had also tried to hurt his family, and for that, they more than deserved what they got.

“Mmmh, those news stories are a bit too sensational for me, Yunho. I prefer the happier articles, like the one this morning that said that an orca and a narwhal were spotted swimming close to the coast. These are the kind of news that make me want to get up in the morning, you know?” the fair janitor said in a soothing voice.

Those were more hints that the pod had indeed made it out of the confrontation in one piece, and Seungmin had never been this happy before for gossiping coworkers. However, he wasn’t the only one interested by the news. Jisung, Changbin and Jeongin all seemed highly focused on the cleaning team, although their body language was now completely relaxed and way more open than it had been ever since their arrival at the facility. A small discussion seemed to take place in between the three mers, a few clicking sounds echoing back to him from the tank, before Changbin made his way back up to him.

“I will go with you. I will do the tests, but I will be the only one doing them. Jisung and Jeongin are staying together, and they won’t be touched by those filthy humans.” The mer looked determined as he pushed himself up on the net, bringing himself closer to Seungmin.  

“Of course,” the biologist quickly nodded. “I will be the only one doing the tests, and if I can, I’ll try to make the others stay as far away from you as possible… Thank you for trusting me on this one” he let out a little smile.

“I don’t trust you. Not fully, not yet” the mer bluntly answered. “But I trust them.” With a nod of his head, he indicated the two janitors that had finished mopping the floor around the tank and were now wiping the glass while making silly faces to Jisung and Jeongin, making the young mers giggle.

Seungmin’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline, not understanding where that sudden trust in two random humans came from. However, when the blond janitor lifted his head and sent him a wink, the swirling colors inside his irises left no place to doubt: these two were somehow linked to all the other weird benefactors that had helped Seungmin since his attack.

“Damn… how many of them are there?” he whispered to himself.

“Eight” Changbin surprisingly answered him. “They look after us when there’s trouble brewing, and they’ll stay by our side. They seem to want to help you too, for some reason, and that makes me think that there must be a good reason for that. I still don’t fully trust you, but I acknowledge that my vision might be limited and that I do not have a complete understanding of the situation. So, for now, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and allow you to try to gain my trust once again. You will, however, stay away from Jeongin and Jisung as much as possible, and you will not involve them in anything that happens in this place. If the humans need to approach us, it will only be me that they get to deal with.”

Changbin’s aura oozed with protective instincts and raw conviction that he had to shoulder every obstacle and tests the facility would throw at them. It was remarkable, if a bit idealistic, and Seungmin solemnly nodded.

“I understand, and I will make sure that you guys can escape this place and find the rest of the pod as soon as possible.”

Seungmin had to admit he also felt a bit better knowing that at least two people in this building were his potential allies, and were probably going to help him bust the boys out. Now he just needed a way to speak with them privately to come up with a plan…

The biologist laid on his bed, back in his cell, staring at the barren ceiling while holding his throbbing jaw. The rest of his day had been quite eventful, and thinking back on it gave Seungmin a massive headache on top of his bruising cheek.

Changbin’s transfer into the smaller tank had gone well since they’d had the mer’s full cooperation. Jisung had been hesitant, reaching out to his hyung but Jeongin’s warm embrace and Changbin’s comforting smile had allowed him to tentatively let the older one go.

The black-tailed mer had seemed almost seasick when the mechanical pulley system had lifted the stretcher over to the other tank, but it could’ve also been because of the sheer height at which Changbin had been transported, the mer not used to the gravity on land and the possibility of falling and smashing to the ground. He’d managed to dive off the stretcher and into the aquarium quite gracefully despite the lack of space; the test tank didn’t allow him to swim around at all, only twist his body this way and that to accommodate whatever demands where on the list that Park provided.

As soon as the « tests » had started, said man had graced them with his presence. The director had first circled Changbin’s tank predatorily, like a shark smelling blood on a wounded prey, and the mer had answered by lifting his caudal fin out of the water, effectively splashing the man and discouraging anyone apart from Seungmin to come any closer.

“He’s pretty wild. Maybe we should tie him down for this” Director Park had offhandedly commented while drying himself with a towel that Choi Ae Ri had hurriedly handed to him.

“There’s no need for restraints” Seungmin had practically growled back. “I can do this if no one interrupts my work or gets in my way.”

And, just as promised, Changbin had willingly cooperated and let Seungmin perform the tests on him. He’d stayed still for the height and weight measurements, and even peeled off one of his scales himself to hand to the biologist, despite the hiss of pain the action caused. He’d let Seungmin wipe a swab of cotton inside his cheek to collect some DNA and clip off the tip of one of his nails as well as a lock of his hair.

Through it all, the room had been almost deadly silent. Director Park had found a chair to sit in to observe the show with an unhealthy interest, while the rest of the group of “scientists” had been furiously taking notes of every little interactions on their notepads (that behavior reaffirmed Seungmin’s belief that they were students and he’d realized with disgusting clarity that he was there to teach them how to do those tests and analyse the results, so they would be able to reproduce it with the next mers that Park would capture).

Jisung and Jeongin were intently observing from their aquarium, both pressed up against the glass, tails swaying in a nervous pattern. Right in front of them, leaning on the other side of the glass, the two janitors were whispering amongst each other, sometimes seeming to include the two mers whenever they were certain that no one was watching.

When Seungmin picked up the list of tests again and seen that the next task was the tooth extraction, he’d paled and rebuked it vehemently.

“There’s a few tests on this list I cannot perform” he’d sternly explained to the director, who’d still been sat comfortably in his chair. “The tooth extraction is one of those tests. I won’t put pliers in their mouths and yank a tooth loose, no way.”

“You don’t have a choice, Seungmin-shi. Remember what happens if you don’t listen to me?” Park had stayed still, simply lifting an eyebrow, but it was enough to douse the whole room in a glacial atmosphere. Behind him, his men had put their hands on their weapons threateningly.

But Seungmin was nothing if not stubborn. “I won’t do it. Good luck finding someone else who will.”

He’d known no one here in their right mind would risk sticking their hand in one of the mers’ mouth. He’d also been counting on the fact that Park didn’t want to drug the boys, to not risk damaging their “value”, so he’d be hesitant to simply put one of them to sleep. However, what Seungmin had not taken into account was the director’s manipulating ways and the mers deep compassion.

“You do not defy me in my own lab, you worthless piece of shit!” Park had hissed menacingly while striding over to the pink haired biologist. Then, he’d violently struck him across the face.

The punch had echoed through the room, everyone freezing in front of this public demonstration of violence. Seungmin had barely been able to hold in a pained whimper whilst protectively cradling his throbbing jaw in his hand. He’d ended up sprawled on the floor at the man’s feet, and the vulnerable position more than the hit made the biologist angry as he fiercely glared up at the director. He’d opened his mouth to hiss out some snarky comeback when two voices cut him off.

“Don’t hit him!”

“Stop! I’ll give you one of my teeth!”

Both exclamations were shouted at the same time, drawing everyone’s attention to the big aquarium, where Jisung and Jeongin were both peeking through the lid, holding their upper bodies out of the water.

Seungmin had stared at them in shock, watching as Jisung had literally yanked one of his front teeth out of his mouth, blood almost immediately dribbling down his lip and chin. The smirk that’d graced Park’s face after that had made the biologist sick, realizing that the man had somehow planned for this whole situation to happen. Just how, he wasn’t sure just yet, but he’d looked way too satisfied for this to not be part of one of his schemes.

After that, one of the scientists had hurriedly collected the tooth, which Jisung had flung down at them, and Seungmin had barely had any time to see the concerned faces of the mers watching him before he’d been ushered out of the basement and back into his cell. He’d tried to resist, not wanting to leave while Changbin was still stuck in the individual tank and with Jisung bleeding like this, but his struggles had only been met with one of the guards squeezing his broken hand painfully and forcing him in an armlock to drag him back to his “apartment”.

Which is how he’d ended up laying on his bed, his good hand still cradling his aching jaw as he felt the bone throb and the skin bruise under his fingers. That was the last of his current worries however, as he’d been much more focused on playing the day over and over in his head.

He couldn’t stop thinking about how distressed Jeongin had sounded when he’d begged the director to stop hitting him, or how concerned for him Changbin had looked despite being himself in an unenviable position, stuck in his little tank with no room to move and away from his podmates. Even the two janitors, who’d been standing near the big aquarium had looked uncomfortable with the situation, as if they were restraining themselves from acting up. Yet, last but not least, he’d been most surprised by how Jisung had willingly offered to literally pull one of his teeth out to stop the director from hurting him any further. The shark boy had seemed so angry at him ever since they were trapped in the facility, and for justifiable reasons. He’d acted protectively over Jeongin and Changbin and had always made sure to keep his distance from Seungmin. So, seeing him speak up like that to defend the biologist, going as far as offering the director exactly what he wanted, was a move that had completely blindsided Seungmin.

He’d discovered, through his time with the pod, that Jisung looked like someone very rash and blunt at first, but that it all steamed from his intense desire to protect his loved ones and make sure that no outside threat could hurt them. The way he’d acted today made Seungmin hope that maybe, the shark still somehow saw him as a member of the pod, as someone worth fighting for…

His train of thoughts were rudely interrupted by the door to his cell opening with a creak, the director striding inside smugly. He looked down upon the pink haired boy, who hadn’t deigned rising up from his position on the bed, simply glaring at the man.

“Well, I once again find myself with the need to thank you for all of your hard work Seungmin-shi. You truly are invaluable to this team.”

“What lies are you spinning this time, you bastard? It’s almost as if you haven’t understood yet that I don’t want to work for you and that I only do it because I am forced to…”

“Oh, don’t worry. I am quite good at reading people’s inner feelings, and I know just how much you despise me. Still, the bond that you share with these boys is marvelous, and it is exactly what I was missing during all those years, on my quest to hunt mers. And it is definitely the biggest asset that I’ll ever have the privilege of owning” he smiled.

“Let me explain a few things to you. I combed through your notebook for hours, you know? Analyzing each page, memorizing each drawing, reading in between the lines as much as I could. You are very good at what you do; the whole book is filled with simple, factual information. You did not let your emotions for them transcribe too much in your writing, apart in your first notes about a certain creature named Minho? That one seemed to intimidate you a lot at first” the director chuckled.

Seungmin shivered at hearing how the man had gone through his notes, picking them apart and drawing some really accurate conclusions on things that he should have no knowledge off…

“I had an inkling that the bond that united you and that pod was deep, but I wasn’t sure just how much so. That was before I saw you interacting with them here, in the lab. You swim with them, talk to them, and they let you approach them despite knowing the fact that you’re affiliated with me.” Park’s grin turned slightly psychotic and Seungmin sat up on his bed, glancing at the closed door behind the man, hating to be trapped with such a deranged human being. “I guess I wanted to see just how far that bond between you went, and I also wanted to test your loyalties and breaking point. Now, thanks to your little outburst out there, I have a better understanding over all of this… These monsters truly care about you; isn’t it just fascinating? I mean, one of them literally pulled his own tooth out for you! By the way, I have to apologize for that little outburst out there. I didn’t intend to strike you that hard, but I needed something sensational enough to see how the monsters would react.” The director leaned over Seungmin, his hand coming to caress the boy’s bruising cheek in an almost tender way. It was so soft, Park treating him almost as if he was a prized possession, and it made Seungmin’s whole body freeze, the shock not allowing him to react in any other way. “I cannot wait to see the last bits of trust and hope fade from their eyes when I sell them away and they understand that you’re not going to help them.…” he whispered.

Seungmin’s good hand bunched up the blanket in his fist to stop himself from jumping at the man right then and there. He had to bide his time and make a proper plan if he ever wanted to get the boys and himself out of here.

“I have bigger plans for you now, Seungmin-ah. But I guess I should tell you a few things first, so you understand better” the director suddenly explained, walking over to the small desk in the corner of the cell and dragging the chair out to sit on it, leaning forward to pin Seungmin in place with his piercing gaze. “At first, I simply wanted to catch a bunch of those creatures and kill them for my personal revenge. They killed my dad when I was just thirteen, while we were both out on a fishing trip. I only made it out alive because they started fighting over my father’s corpse, giving me time to row away to safety while seeing these monsters tear into his cadaver. Since that day, I swore that I would hunt them until none were left.”

The biologist shuddered at the maniac gleam that took over Park’s face. He’d learned that mers could definitely be ruthless, and they were very dangerous predators. However, that didn’t excuse the director’s actions. Capturing innocent mers and treating them as lab rats before selling them away was not a solution to his grief.

“I spent so much money developing my team and our equipment to track mers all around the globe, but they always eluded me. I was almost resigned to let it all go when I heard of some sightings in the area. Then, I learned about a lone little marine biologist that spent his days out at sea, and who’d made requests to his higher ups for some gear that allowed him to talk underwater, despite him always diving alone and… well honestly, it was not very hard to put two and two together. The nervous wreck that you were when we met in my office that first time simply helped me confirm my theory, and from then on, I only had to follow you to find the monsters.”

Seungmin cursed himself inwardly for his lack of subtlety, despite the fact that he hadn’t known back then that someone was possibly after the boys. He should’ve taken every precaution possible, and his lax ways were what got not only him but three of the boys in this shithole today.

“I was so happy to finally be able to kill some mers! And then I thought about it… I thought about interrogating them, to know where others lived, to make the rest of my hunt easier. I thought about studying them to know them better and understand where they were hiding. I thought about selling them, to get some more money to pursue my life goal. And then… I thought that, with you by my side, I could do all three of those things. So, you see, Seungmin-ah… you truly are the key to this whole thing, and nothing would’ve been possible without your help in this case” the grin that spread on the man’s face was nothing if not predatorial.

Seungmin felt sick to his stomach, all of his previous anger and rage towards the man being replaced by fear and a healthy dose of self-deprecation.

“And now…. now I have so many great plans for you my boy. You will not only help me with these creatures, but with all the others that I’ll capture. And you’re going to do it willingly, because if you do… I promise that I won’t sell the little orange cutie.”

A low growl escaped from Seungmin’s throat at having this monster of a man talk about Jeongin that way. “What the hell are you saying?”

“Oh please, don’t play dumb with me. I told you I was good at reading people’s feelings. I’ve seen the way you look at him. If you stop defying me, and that you finally work properly for me, I’ll build a little tank for him here, and you’ll get to spend time with him every day. I won’t sell him out, it’ll be your reward for all of your hard work.”  The man stood up from the chair, crossing the room and putting a hand on the doorknob. “Think about it carefully, Seungmin-shi. You won’t be able to save them all, and if you try, you’ll die in the process. But if you work with me, you could at least save him.”

The director had the guts to wink at him. “It’s your choice.”

The creak of the door opening and closing, and the clang of the lock falling back into place felt like a death sentence to Seungmin.

Chapter Text

That night, Seungmin barely managed to go to sleep. His brain was a jumbled mess of thoughts, fear and stress. He couldn’t help but shiver in disgust every time the memory of the director offering him Jeongin as a bribe crossed his mind. The way he’d called him “the little orange cutie”, the sick smile that’d crossed his face while promising that he wouldn’t sell him away if Seungmin cooperated.

This situation was becoming more dire every day and, no matter how hard he thought about it, Seungmin couldn’t find any plan to break out of here that had above of a 40% chance of working.

First of all, he could only try and escape during the day. As much as he loved watching James Bond movies, he still couldn’t pick a lock, so he needed to be out of his cell to even try to do anything. Then, there was the problem of getting the boys out of their tank. With their heavy tails, it wouldn’t be easy – nor subtle – to haul them around the facility and all the way out to the water. On top of that, most doors were locked using key cards and codes, so the chances of them making it out of here were… Seungmin hated to admit it, but they were infinitesimal.

That’s why, no matter what, he needed to work with those strange boys that the mers seemed to trust so much. The ones that had helped him on the pier, and in the little fishing town, but also the ones that he’d met here, disguised as janitors and as an aquarium builder. Working with them didn’t bother him that much, since they’d pretty much all proven themselves to be trustworthy in some way or another in the past. However, it still irked him to not know exactly what they were. They definitely weren’t humans, that much was obvious. Yet, they also didn’t seem to be mers. After all, they had legs, and if his pod had the ability to suddenly sprout legs, he imagined that they would’ve told him by now. So, the mystery surrounding what these new boys were was very much intact, and it bugged Seungmin’s detective spirit. In any case, it was a much nicer subject to ponder on than the mers imminent downfall at the hands of the crazy director…

Everything was so messy and complicated right now. Seungmin longed to be back on his boat, when all he had to worry about was if the weather was good enough to go dive that day. He longed to be back with the rest of the pod, to make sure that they were all doing alright, especially since the attack by Park’s men. With the help of the two “janitors”, he’d been at least reassured that they’d all made it out of the scuffle relatively okay – at least in a better shape than the director’s men. However, it didn’t completely alleviate his worries. The boys could still be hurt physically, and they were almost certainly hurt emotionally by the disappearance of three of their pod members – Seungmin didn’t want to indulge in the wishful thinking that they could also miss him…

It’s with a heavy mind and an even heavier heart that the pink-haired boy managed to fall asleep after a few more hours of overthinking, his night plagued with nightmares and restlessness.

When he was woken up the next morning by a guard shaking him brutally, he blamed his slow brain on his lack of sleep. It took him at least a few more shakes and the guard yelling almost directly in his face before the boy finally managed to understand what was said to him.

“Come on, get up! They need you at the lab, he’s going to die!”

Seungmin’s blood froze in his veins as the words finally made their way to his brain. Someone was dying? One of his boys was dying?  

The who’s and what’s and why’s didn’t even matter to him right now. The only thing that was remotely important was that he needed to be by their sides and to make sure they were all going to be fine and to protect them from any more harm that could befall them.

The guard shaking his shoulders violently once more was all the motivation Seungmin needed to jump out of bed and run through the open door. He hadn’t even bothered changing out of the large white shirt and grey sweatpants that served as his pajama, only grabbing his glasses on the way out to be able to see something. His socks slid on the cold ground as he shoved workers, guards and scientists aside to run to the basement, almost gliding his way to the bottom of the huge tank that housed the two mers.

Wait… two mers? Someone was missing. And the someone that was missing was obviously the one that was in danger. It was the one that needed him and Seungmin couldn’t manage to focus his brain enough to figure out what he needed to do. All he could do was stand there like a dumbass, his hands sweating, his heart beating erratically, his breath labored, his thoughts spinning… The uncomfortable crushing feeling of an oncoming anxiety attack was making his limbs shake and was preventing him to be productive and he needed to be productive, he needed to help his boys goddammit!  

Then, like a god send, Jeongin appeared right in front of him, floating in the tank at Seungmin’s eye level. The boy looked visibly panicked, but his eyes were soft when he put his hand on the glass, forcing Seungmin to focus on him. As soon as the human’s eyes were locked on the youngest, Jeongin pointed to Seungmin’s right, towards the test tank, mouthing a quick “help him”.

As he turned to the side, towards the test tank, everything became clearer. His thoughts – which up till that point had felt like they were running wild through his mind and stretching his sanity thin – snapped back in place like a tension-filled elastic that was suddenly released.

In the small aquarium was Jisung, restrained by leather cuffs that connected his wrists behind his back, and the bottom part of his tail to the tank floor. The most worrying thing, however, was the ball gag in his mouth and the blood that was tainting the water red all around his face.

The shark’s eyes were opened wide with panic as he trashed around in the tank, his chest heaving dangerously fast; and if Seungmin looked closely, it looked like Jisung’s lips were turning an unhealthy shade of blue. His movements, although still filled with the power of desperation, were slowed down and it was painfully obvious how much he was trying to whistle and trill out for help despite the gag swallowing any sounds that tried to leave his throat.

Seungmin turned sharp cold eyes towards the two scientists that were hesitantly hovering above the small aquarium, one with a notepad in hand and the other with bloody pliers. They both looked completely lost and the pink-haired biologist stormed his way to them, yanking on the collar of the one with the pliers to both gain access to Jisung’s tank and to get some answers from them.

“What the fuck did you do?” he growled menacingly, shaking the guy in his grip violently.

“We just wanted to test out the speed of growth of his teeth, that’s all!” stuttered the boy, looking like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “We came in this morning and saw that the tooth he pulled out yesterday had grown back, so Ae Ri asked us to test out his tissue regenerative abilities… We put him in the test tank and gagged him to pull out a few of his teeth but he kept trashing around, and he managed to splash water on the control panel of the aquarium. It shut down all the systems, including the lock, so he basically got himself stuck in there and we’re waiting for a team to help us sort this out. He didn’t look happy at first, but his trashing has become increasingly bad and he kind of looks worse for wear, though we don’t know why…”

Seungmin’s mind immediately understood the problem, and he swore loudly.

“We need to get him out of here, now!”

“Why is it so urgent? Is he claustrophobic?” Choi Ae Ri asked in a mocking tone from where she was casually standing in front of Jisung, recording the poor boy’s plight on a camera. “He’s just locked in, he’ll survive. He’s being a drama queen right now.”

“He’s not being a drama queen, he’s SUFFOCATING!” Seungmin yelled, making everyone in the room jump in surprise at the loudness of his voice.

“How can a fish suffocate in water?” Ae Ri lifted an eyebrow, unbelieving.

“Make way, the electrical team’s here!” a rushed voice cut off whatever curses Seungmin was going to yell at Ae Ri, and two boys came in running through the basement, making their way to the test tank.

A simple glance towards them told Seungmin what he needed to know: these boys were also part of the team of non-human creatures with shifting eye colors that watched over his pod. They hopefully would once more be their saving grace; Seungmin definitely needed to find a way to repay those boys as soon as possible for all they did for them.

The pure focus in the two boys’ eyes told him that they were taking this case seriously, and it alleviated a bit of the panic that was plaguing his mind. With little hesitation, he pointed them to where the control panel stood, hoping that they actually knew what they were doing with this one. Being an electrician took a slightly longer training than being a janitor, although if Seonghwa had managed to build entire aquariums for the boys, the newcomers would hopefully be able to figure out how to fix said aquarium.

As soon as Jisung saw the two boys, he pretty much begged them for help with his wide panicked eyes, and the tallest of the two electricians took a second to mouth out something to the scared mer – probably some comforting words – while examining the tank. His partner went straight to the control panel, almost ripping out the metal cover hiding the wires in an impressive show of strength.

Despite the arrival of the “experts”, Seungmin was still jittery with stress and the need to get in there and help Jisung out himself. The fact that he was also very aware of Changbin and Jeongin, watching the whole scene from their tank with unwavering focus on their struggling friend did not make him want to stop monitoring Jisung’s state for even one second.

Still, he took a cursory look towards the two other mers to make sure that they were holding on as best as they could. What he saw was the black-tailed mer holding the youngest in his arms, visibly trying to comfort a distraught Jeongin. It was a bittersweet sight, truly; the boys shouldn’t have been in this situation at all in the first place, but they were taking care of each other so well through it all…

The one major thing that ruined the scene, however, was Director Park.

The man was lurking near the big tank, his eyes fixed on the two boys floating inside of it despite the commotion that was happening around Jisung. Seungmin was starting to know the director and his patterns, and he knew he was plotting something evil in that sinister brain of his, but he didn’t have time to spare as to guess what it was.

Suddenly, a mechanical purring noise vibrated through the glass of the test tank, and pulled Seungmin’s focus back on Jisung, the little sound making the biologist’s whole body finally relax. It was the sweet, sweet noise of the pumps in the test tank restarting, allowing the water to move around in small currents and, as a result, passing through Jisung’s gills despite his immobility. Seungmin made sure to silently praise the gods for the stocky boy at the control panel that had managed that small miracle. Said boy was still deeply focused on all the wires in front of him, since the lid was still locked after all, but at least he’d done a great job of giving them more time to save the shark mer.

“Hey, fish lover, you didn’t answer me” Ae Ri snapped her fingers rudely at Seungmin, startling him back to focus on her. “You said he was suffocating. How can a fish suffocate in water?”

Now that he was certain that Jisung was not actually going to die in the next few minutes, Seungmin felt relaxed enough to answer Ae Ri and her band of goons, praying that another one of his cold sermons and a reminder of their stupidity might make those incompetents quit the agency once and for all.

“Jisung is a Carcharias Taurus.” Hearing the resounding silence, Seungmin rolled his eyes and dumbed his explanation down a little. “…a Sand Tiger Shark.”

A few “aaaah”s of understanding echoed in the room. Seriously? Were these people really scientists?

“That means” he continued “that he’s got two air intake mechanisms, and you just fucked both of them” he pointed at the still struggling mer, who’s frantic gills movements were now plain for everyone to see. “The first requires that he’s got enough space to swim around so that water passes through his gills naturally with the movement and filters the oxygen out of it – but as you can see there isn’t enough space for him to move in this tin can, and the pumps that usually help with that were down as well! So, normally, as a back-up breathing technique, he would be using his mouth to inhale the water and pass it through his gills – but since you gagged him, he can’t do that properly either! So long story short, he’s lacking oxygen right now and if you need him to survive until the end of the day, you’ll let me get in there and take his gag off” Seungmin finished his quick lesson with a glare directed towards anyone that dared to protest.

Thankfully, everyone seemed to understand that this was the best course of action if they didn’t want to lose one of their specimens and, at that same time, a resounding beep echoed, signaling that the electrical circuits were back in action. Immediately, the lanky electrician pressed a button that unlocked the lid of the tank, finally giving Seungmin access to Jisung.

“Now fuck off out of here and let me handle this. No one is to come close to any of them until I sort this out, or I swear I’ll let them bite your head off” the biologist threatened Director Park’s team once more for good measure, before dropping his glasses carelessly on the nearest countertop and kicking his socks off, diving straight into the tank with Jisung.

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes in the water was red, that he now knew was the blood pouring out of Jisung’s mouth. He felt the shark’s trashing tail under his feet and their torso pushed flush together, the size of the tank not allowing a lot of wriggle room. Jisung’s eyes were the most striking though, the golden irises swirling with fear and desperation, and Seungmin wanted to stop the whole world for this boy and to take all of his hurts away right at this moment.

Quickly taking matters into his own hands, his fingers found the buckle holding the gag in place behind Jisung’s head and, after a few awkward tugs, managed to untie the offending object. Immediately, the shark took in a big gulp of water, his gills filtering the oxygen frantically.

Not for the first time, Seungmin cursed his inability to talk underwater, but he was still very much determined on soothing the poor boy. He let his arms circle the mer’s torso, smushing them even closer together and rubbed Jisung’s back in what he hoped were comforting circles.

Now, this could’ve gone in two very different ways, truly. Either Jisung accepted his help and then Seungmin would be more then honored, as well as making sure that no one would touch the poor shark ever again until he managed to get him out of here. Or, Jisung would still be holding a grudge against the biologist on top of being disoriented and scared by the pain inflicted onto him by the other humans, in which case he could very easily headbutt Seungmin into oblivion, chew one of his ears off and/or keep him in the tank until he drowned. And if he was honest, Seungmin wouldn’t even hold it against the mer. After all he’d went through, it would be a very logical reaction.

Thankfully, after a few tense seconds, Jisung simply sighed loudly, bubbles escaping through his lips, before letting his head fall forward, his forehead nestled comfortably on Seungmin’s shoulder. His whole body slumped tiredly against the bindings while he took the time to catch his breath again, little exhausted trills escaping his throat from time to time.

Seungmin let him stay there for as long as he could, enjoying this peaceful moment and the opportunity to comfort one of the boys for once. There, in the water, holding Jisung close to him, he could almost forget where they were and what he was forced to do every day. Here, everything was just calm, almost lulling his mind to a false sense of safety. However, his still very much human body reminded him that he did indeed need air to survive, and as delicately as possible, he detached himself from Jisung to go to the surface and breath.

He didn’t stay very long above water since the anguished cries the mer let out at being alone again tugged too harshly on the strings of his heart. Seungmin simply took one big inhale and dove right back in the tank, this time set on freeing Jisung from the rest of his restraints.

It was awkward, and definitely took more time than he’d wanted since he had to reach around the shark’s body and fumble blindly at the cuffs, the aquarium not allowing him or Jisung the space to turn around. At last, when he managed to get them off, the first thing the mer did was to hug him back tightly and whisper in his ears.

“Please don’t let me go, please don’t leave me alone, not again! I can’t do this again, I can’t…”

Seungmin let Jisung hold him tightly and managed to get the both of them in a curled-up position at the bottom of the tank. He kept his broken hand in Jisung’s hair, petting it in the hopes of calming the poor boy down while his other hand fumbled around until the ties on Jisung’s tail came off, allowing the shark to curl up properly on Seungmin’s lap. Now, don’t get him wrong; the biologist was more than honored that Jisung managed to find some comfort in his presence despite the hardships they went through. Still, he didn't expect the boy to latch onto him that way; however, trauma had a way of pushing people to act in different ways and Seungmin was determined to help Jisung get through this. If hugging and clinging was the way to get Jisung to feel better, it’s what they were going to do.

His hold on the boy tightened as he felt the familiar burn in his lungs, telling him he'd need to resurface soon. He hated to have to part with Jisung again, even for just a few seconds, unfortunately, he didn't really have a choice. The shark boy however seemed to think otherwise. As soon as Seungmin tapped his shoulder and pointed upwards to signal him his need to breath, the boy lunged forward, kissing him desperately. Seungmin opened his eyes wide in shock as the blood still pouring out of Jisung's mouth hit his tongue, making him frown at the taste of iron. When oxygen entered his lungs though, he understood what Jisung was trying to achieve and he relaxed in the kiss, letting the shark help him rebuild his air supply. 

Once he felt his lungs full again, Seungmin parted from Jisung who once more curled himself on his lap, his arms wrapped tightly around the biologist. They stayed in that position for a while longer, kissing a few more times; Seungmin wanted to give Jisung as much time as he needed to get his breathing back under control. Transferring air to the human in a rhythmic pattern seemed to help regulate his own breath, so who was Seungmin to deny him that?

Looking out of the tank after a few minutes of this back and forth, the pink-haired human spotted the director eyeing them. Seungmin flipped him off petulantly, but the man pointed towards the surface insistently. The biologist has no desire to listen to him, but he knew that he needed to bring Jisung back in the big tank and he also wanted to check the damages done to his teeth. So, with a roll of his eyes towards the director and a gentle nudge in Jisung’s side, he brought the two of them up to the surface - that was a lie, Jisung was the one doing all the heavy lifting, but a man can dream. 

Jisung was still letting out some small, distressed whizzes, so Seungmin made sure to keep his arms firmly wrapped around the boy to assure him he wasn’t going anywhere. 

“Shhhh, you’re gonna be okay Sungie, I’m not leaving you” Seungmin’s first words once he was on the surface were for the distressed boy, of course, and his first insult was for the director - all in a good day’s work. “What do you want, asshole?”

“You broke the rules. You interrupted an ongoing test” the man calmly explained, his hands folded behind his back. 

“I don’t care about that; you were killing him! I refuse to do any more tests today; I need to take care of Jisung.”

“Alright.” 

Uh. Seungmin really didn’t expect that would work. 

“On one condition.” 

Ah. There we go. 

“You will write a message to that pesky boss of yours. Mina, right? She’s been on my case ever since receiving the letter of your transfer to my team. She apparently doesn’t believe it’s true and is digging in places where I don’t want her. So, you’re going to convince her that you did in fact transfer and to drop the whole thing. I don’t care how you do it, just get her off our trail. Once that is done, I will allow you to spend time with the mers.”

“I’ll do it.”

There was no hesitation in Seungmin’s voice. If all he had to do to be able to take care of his boys was to write a letter, he’d do it in a heartbeat. The fact that he could also try and conceal a hidden SOS in his message to Mina was a non-negligeable bonus, but his first focus was on Jisung, Jeongin and Changbin.

Seungmin put down the pen and handed the hand-written letter to Director Park. The man had insisted on an actual letter instead of an email, to make sure that Mina believed it was Seungmin who wrote it. The words were not his however, they’d been dictated to him by some old man working as an advisor for Park. The biologist’s lip had curled up in disdain, and he’d jolted down the pre-written message word for word. It was better this way; Mina had read enough of his reports to know he would never write like that, so this was bound to only make her look even more into Park’s dirty little secrets.

As soon as that was done, he’d shed his pajama and slipped into his neoprene suit, rushing back to the basement and to the big tank that was now once more housing the three mers. Jisung had been transferred back with the help of the stretcher, although it had taken a long time and lots of comforting words from Seungmin before the shark had allowed the scientist to place him on the moving net. It had taken an even longer time to explain to him that no, Seungmin could not climb on it with him because the net was only made for one person and the weight of Jisung’s tail was already bordering on the limit of what it could hold. In the end, Changbin and Jeongin were the ones that managed to coax him out onto it by singing out to him, calling him to their sides.

That had been quite an experience, since as soon as the first notes left the mers lips, everyone in the lab had covered their ears and flinched, looking as if they were expecting to be hit. Seungmin hadn’t understood at first, until Ae Ri had pushed her way to him and yelled out: “Cover your ears idiot! Or else they’re going to enchant you!”  

The biologist had just stared in confusion. Yes, the boys singing was really pleasant to hear, but it was in no way magic. It wasn’t like in those old sailor’s stories who claimed that hearing the mers voices turned you into a living zombie that would jump in the water and drown… But honestly, Seungmin had no reason to correct these people and if they covered their ears every time one of the boys sang, well he’d just enjoy the show.

Snapping out of his thoughts, the pink-haired boy climbed the stairs that led him to the lid of the big aquarium and slipped in the cold water, not caring about thermal shock. As soon as he was submerged, he felt a hand grasping his ankle and pulling him down. He held in his scream of surprise and let himself be manhandled, ending up in a very familiar position: on the bottom of the tank, with Jisung curled around him. Except this time, Jeongin was also draped over his shoulders and Changbin was floating in front of them, hiding them as best as he could from the outside world. He looked pissed, but not at Seungmin, which was a small relief.

The biologist just let the boys surround him, feeling at peace for the first time in a long while. Jeongin and Changbin had apparently really been watching Jisung and Seungmin while they were in the test tank, since as soon as the human started shifting around uncomfortably due to the lack of oxygen, Jeongin’s lips were pressed on his and air filled his lungs once more. They did that a few times until they got in a comfortable rhythm. It was mainly Jeongin that kissed him, but sometimes Jisung liked to do it as well, and it wasn’t always for breathing purposes. If kissing helped him relax after his trauma though, Seungmin was definitely down to help.

However, the shark didn’t just suffer mental trauma. There was a physical aspect to it, and the human soon found himself tapping Jisung’s chin gently, hoping his question would come across despite his lack of words.

“His teeth are gonna be fine, if that’s what you’re asking” Changbin gruffly answered. “They grow back pretty fast, but usually he only loses one or two at a time. Those shrimp heads removed at least eight at once! Sungie’s mouth is gonna be sore for a while, but tomorrow it should be healed up.”

The black-tailed mer fluffed Jisung’s hair affectionately, the shark nuzzling back against his hand. Seungmin then tapped Changbin’s wrist and pointed at him, tilting his head.

“Me? I… I’m fine, there’s nothing wrong with me.”

“Binnie hasn’t been sleeping at all. He’s constantly worried about us and he almost bit off a girl’s hand when they got Jisung out of here to go in the smaller pond” Jeongin corrected, wrapping his arms more tightly around Seungmin’s shoulders.

Changbin huffed and crossed his arms but didn’t deny the statement.

“How are you doing?” Jeongin asked, this time towards Seungmin.

The scientist took a moment to think it over. Physically, he wasn’t too bad. The splint holding his broken fingers was annoying, but it did its job, and any other trace of his attack back at the pier was pretty much gone. Mentally, he was a mess. He was constantly worried about the boys, and about how to both not go directly against Director Park’s orders while still not obeying him. On top of that, his escape plan was still not coming along and… He shook his head and simply did the “ok” sign, not wanting to worry the boys.

“I don’t believe you’re fine” Changbin called out his bluff “but we shouldn’t have too long to wait now until we get out of here. Ateez are definitely up to something, it’s only a matter of waiting it out.”

At the look of confusion on Seungmin’s face, Jeongin explained. “Ateez is the name of the group of boys that have been helping us out.”

“Yes, we’ve been good friends with them for a long while. They’re good at what they do, we just have to trust them” Changbin reassured the younger ones. He looked at Seungmin in a strange way, wiggling in his spot and clearing his throat awkwardly.

“Oh, come on, stop looking like a stuck-up seahorse and say it!” Jeongin sighed exasperatedly, before giving Seungmin another breath of air.  

“I… I’m glad you’re doing good” Changbin finally admitted to Seungmin, scratching the back of his head shyly.

Seungmin preened silently, happy that Changbin apparently still cared for him.

“I wanna apologize…” a meek voice suddenly spoke up and they all turned to Jisung, who was still clinging to Seungmin. His head was in Seungmin’s lap and his arms circled the human’s waist, weighing him down to keep them at the bottom of the tank. His tail was curled up underneath him, his caudal fin swaying from side to side in a self-comforting motion.

Seungmin couldn’t help a curious hum from leaving his throat, the noise muffled in the water. Still, Jisung seemed to have heard him since he lifted his head to look up at the biologist. Of course, you couldn’t see tears underwater, but his eyes were definitely red and puffy. Seungmin’s heart broke at the sight and, very carefully, he brought his hand to Jisung’s cheek, letting the boy nuzzle his palm.  

“I… I heard them talking. When they moved me to the little pond, the humans were laughing, saying how… how you were weird for wanting to help us… How they couldn’t believe a si…a see… a sientiss as smart as you could get caught and trapped here so easily. They said the only reason you’re still here is because we’re here and… I want to apologize. Because now I really believe that it’s not your fault that we’re here, and you’re helping us every chance you’ve got even though we were unfair to you and pushed you away…”

Jisung was definitely rambling now, the poor boy being a nervous wreck, so Seungmin did the one thing he knew would shut him up; he kissed him. The fact that he needed some more air was just a secondary bonus.

“You know we could actually talk with Minnie if we just brought him to the surface, right?” Jeongin deadpanned from behind them, although his hold on Seungmin’s shoulder never wavered.

“No way we’re getting him close to those bastards any sooner than we have to” Changbin refused, settling down properly in front of the other three and keeping a watchful eye over his pod members.

Seungmin was shivering in his bed, his skin all pruney from his extended stay in the water. Still, he didn’t regret it since he’d managed to spend a good few hours with the boys, ensuring that they were doing okay and that none of those assholes of guards or scientists touched them. He’d had to leave the tank sometime in the afternoon and then was given the wonderful task of analyzing the teeth that were pulled out of Jisung’s mouth, but after that, he’d been escorted back to his room.

He was now laying under his blankets, his body tired but his mind not wanting to shut down for the night. The need to escape the facility was becoming more urging every day, and Seungmin hated that he hadn’t found a way out of there yet.

His train of thoughts was interrupted when the silence in his room got broken by a very unexpected sound: the chirping of a bird. Rolling out of his cot, Seungmin looked around, confused. How could a bird get in the facility, especially in the lower levels? His first instinct was to check the airduct, since he had a ventilation grill on the bottom of one of the walls of his cell. Crouching, he managed to part the slats enough to peak through the grill and let out a surprised yell while falling on his ass.

“What the hell???”

A tapping noise was heard for a few seconds, before the head of a little bird slipped through the grill, its body following right after. The small animal managed to squeeze his way inside the room and looked at the boy with a critical gaze. As if in a daze, Seungmin carefully extended his hand out to try and touch the bird, wanting to make sure it was not a hallucination. However, as soon as he got too close, it let out a loud whistle and flew away, perching itself on Seungmin’s desk.

“I’m dreaming. I have to be dreaming. What in the heavens is happening right now? You… you’re not simply a bird, are you?”

The biologist felt dumb, asking that question to what was obviously a bird, but he had a sneaking suspicion that this encounter fell more on the supernatural spectrum of things. And, as if to reward his good guess, the brightly colored red and black bird started to change right in front of him.

It grew bigger, taller, its feathers retreating under skin and clothes and its beak disappearing, leaving behind a man. He was smaller than Seungmin, with tan skin and slicked-back hair that was as bright red as his feathers had been. He was wearing an all-black outfit made up of a large sweater and some leather pants, and a lot of silver jewelry, including what looked like a bird skull on a ring. What stood out the most however were the black feathered shoulder pads, that made him look much more intimidating, almost as if he was puffing out his chest to scare off an enemy.

“Hello Seungmin.”

His voice was so smooth, a little bit on the low side and so, so relaxing to listen to. The stranger chuckled and snapped his fingers in front of Seungmin’s face.

“Hey, hey now, none of that. You need to stay focused. We have a breakout to plan.”

“Uh, what? What… what just happened? You were… you are… who are you?”

“The name’s Hongjoong” he smiled. “I was the one that helped Wooyoung save you on the pier that day…” he trailed off, pointing at Seungmin’s splinted hand. “I’m the leader of Ateez. The bunch of boys that have been randomly helping you out ever since you met the mers? Yeah, that’s us. And now, our friends are in trouble and we need to help them.”

“Okay… yeah… that’s great… But what are you? You were literally a bird just now?” Seungmin scrambled to pull his brain together, feeling as if his mind was floating in cotton candy.

“Oh yeah, that! Well, we’re sirens, that’s why we can shapeshift and also why my voice made you go all woozy for a moment” Hongjoong snapped his fingers once more and Seungmin felt his thoughts clearing up some more.

“Alright… that might sound really natural to you, but I’m gonna need an explanation here. You are sirens? Aren’t you supposed to be half fish then? Not… a bird?”

The red-haired man sighed disappointedly. “And here I had hopes for you. I thought you were really smart, but apparently it doesn’t apply to every subject. Sirens are bird shifters. We are the ones that the Greek mythology talks about, the ones whose voices can enchant people and make them do whatever we want. Back in the time, they had no idea how to represent our shifting in between two forms, so they went the easy way and drew a bunch of birds with human heads. Those paintings are actually really creepy to look at. In reality, we’re either humans or we’re birds, not a weird mix of the two. On that note, me and my guys are pitohuis, so do not touch us while we’re in bird form.”

The stranger looked dead serious while giving out his warning, and Seungmin quickly realized that this was one man he did not want to cross.

“Alright. I got it. No touching the birds. But… what’s a pitohui?”

Hongjoong opened and closed his mouth for a moment, flustered. “You don’t know… you’ve never heard… ugh! Pitohuis are like, one of the few species of birds on earth that are toxic! Our skins and feathers are coated with toxins that you do not want to touch, trust me!”

“Toxic birds… Jeez… I think that’s actually even more surprising than the whole siren thing” Seungmin rubbed his forehead in confusion. “So… you guys are here to help me get Jisung, Jeongin and Changbin out, right? That’s why you’ve infiltrated the place, taken jobs in the facility?”

“Yes, exactly. We try to be on the field as much as possible before a mission, so we have all the advantages that we can.”

“Mission? You do this regularly then?”

“It’s our job, little human. We are protectors of the supernatural community. If someone is in danger because of humans, we go and save them. Just like we’re going to do with your pod.”

“Alright… alright… That’s a lot to take in but I am so glad to have you helping me out on this one! I’ve been trying to think of a way to get them out of here for so long and I couldn’t come up with anything! But… with your voices, you can probably charm the whole place, right? It’s going to be so easy; we can walk out of here right now!”

Seungmin jumped a little in his excitement, feeling his chest lighter than it had ever been since he was imprisoned by the Director.

“Hold your horses there, human. We cannot simply charm everyone that’s here. There’s too many people, and the place is too big” Hongjoong quickly squashed Seungmin’s hopes, and the biologist felt his shoulders drop in disappointment. “That doesn’t mean we don’t have a plan though. I wouldn’t be here talking to you if I had nothing to offer. As you saw, we infiltrated the place. We got some good positions, which should allow us to create a big enough diversion to cover up our escape.”

Seungmin perked up once more, intently focused on the man – bird, siren, whatever he was.

“Seonghwa was the one that designed the tanks, with a little help from San. They created the transportation tanks so that they are light and easy to move around, even if they were to be filled with water and containing a mer. That’s what we’re going to use to get the boys out. My guys on the janitor team will start a fire on the other side of the building, and our two electricians will loop the cameras, so the alert isn’t given straight away. Wooyoung is in charge of finding every key, code and access card needed to clear our way out to the hangar, and I’ll be responsible to come here and let you out as soon as the breakout starts. Do you think you’ve got all that down?” Hongjoong lifted an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side at an angle that would be possible for a bird but was unnerving to see on a human.

“I… Yeah I think I’ve got that. Fire, diversion, camera on loop, you come and get me, and we put the guys in the transportation tanks and get out through the hangar… That sounds great to me. I just have one question. These men are armed. If we cross paths with one of them, how will we fight back?”

“Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head about that; just leave it to me” Hongjoong smiled, uncovering two pointy fangs.

“O-okay. I trust you. Well, the boys trust you, so I trust you by default. I just want them out of here as soon as possible” Seungmin pleaded.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get them out and back with the rest of the pod. They’ve been asking about you, by the way.”

“What!?”

“Yeah, we keep them updated on the situation here regularly. They know that we’re getting you out tomorrow and can’t wait to see you guys again. All of you” he said in a knowing voice, looking straight at Seungmin.

“Do they… do they think that this all happened because of me?”

“No, they don’t. I made sure to make it pretty clear that the only one responsible here is that bastard of a director. We’ve actually been on his ass for a few months now, and this is finally our chance of stopping him! So, don’t worry, the pod is not mad at you in any ways, they just want you guys back. And it’s my job to make sure that you’ll see them again as soon as possible.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much for all of this! We’ll be in your debt forever…”

“Wait until you’re out before you say that” Hongjoong wisely advised. “Now, I know it’ll be hard but try to get through tomorrow as normally as possible. We’ll break you guys out at night, but we don’t want to raise suspicions before that, so be careful. And… try and sleep early, you’ll need the rest” he finished in a slightly paternal tone, winking at Seungmin before shifting back into a bird and squeezing his way back out of the cell.

The pink-haired human found himself flabbergasted, looking dumbly at the ventilation grill for a few moments. This had really happened, and they were finally going to get out. His boys would be out and back with the pod again!

No matter how wise Hongjoong’s advise to sleep was, Seungmin had no idea how he could rest with all the adrenalin and hope that was pumping through his veins. He was buzzing with excitement, and his mind, just like earlier, appeared to have no intention of shutting down for the night. A faraway sound caught his attention however, and without him even realizing it, his muscles relaxed as he listened to the beautiful bird song that came through the vents. It put a smile to his face and wrapped his brain in a cozy blanket, all thoughts of fighting off sleep going out through the window as he laid down in his bed. He yawned, allowing himself to think about the next day with trepidation for once, and then let himself fall prey to the song of the siren and the comfort of sleep.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Seungmin woke up feeling hopeful for once. First of all, he’d just had the best night of sleep ever thanks to Hongjoong’s song, and he was finally properly rested to start his day. And, of course, their escape plan was supposed to happen that night, meaning that in just a few hours he would finally be able to reunite the pod with their missing members. That simple thought put a strut to his step as he made his way back to the lab, planning on doing some bogus experiment to waste the day away and keep the scientists far away from the boys.

He took some time to school his face into something more neutral before the usual guard came to give him his breakfast and then lead him to the lab for the day. Seungmin had taken the time to put on his lenses that morning, since they would be much more useful than glasses in an emergency situation, and he’d decided to wear the only pair of pants that was given to him, since he expected to do more running than swimming that day. He even took the time to eat his breakfast at a decent pace to not give anything away to the guard, letting out his nervous energy through some deep breaths and the slight shaking of his right leg.

He was led down to the basement, as usual, and met up with the team of other scientists, as usual, but then, two guards grabbed his arms and led him to a different room while the rest of the scientists went to the lab. That was unusual. Seungmin tried to question them but they simply pushed him until he found himself in what seemed to be a control room; it contained a few pieces of high-tech equipment, a cabinet files, a table and barren cement walls, except the one in front of him that was actually a giant window. Through that window, Seungmin had a very clear view of the boys’ aquarium and the test tank, as well as to the whole set-up that had been prepared right in front of it.

Lying helplessly trapped to a metal table, right in front of the big aquarium, Jeongin was turning his head around wildly, trying to bite anyone that came too close to him. His heavy tail had been constrained with both leather restraints and chains, while his wrists, waist and shoulders were encased in leather straps. Tears were falling down the young mer’s cheeks, and when he wasn’t hissing and trashing around angrily, he was twisting his neck in every direction to try and have a visual on his older podmates. His position didn’t allow it however, and he was left all alone with the humans surrounding him menacingly. He couldn’t see how Jisung and Changbin were both clicking and whistling in distress, all sounds from the aquarium being cut off by the heavy lid that had been pulled shut. He couldn’t see Seungmin’s horrified expression through the tinted glass of the observation room. He was all alone.

“No… No, what’s happening? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

Seungmin made a dash for the door but was quickly held back by the guards holding his arms, as they twisted the limbs painfully in their tight grip.

“Now, now, now… At least let me explain what is happening before you get all riled up again, Seungminnie” Director Park tutted in disapproval as he entered the room, holding a stun baton in his hand.

“You…” Words actually fell Seungmin that time, the mind-numbing fear that seized his body at seeing Jeongin in such a defenseless position rendering him speechless.

“Mmmh… Cat got your tongue? Or should I say catfish” the director smiled smugly. “In that case, let me tell you what’s happening here. Do you remember the deal I offered you two days ago? The one stipulating that, in exchange of your full collaboration, I would keep the little orange one safe and build him a nice tank so you can spend as much time with him as you want? Well, you never answered me. I am not a patient man, Seungmin-shi, and seeing how you acted yesterday, I felt like I had to remind you exactly who’s in charge here. So, to encourage you to give your answer faster, I’ve decided that it was more than time to pull off a little interrogation session with our dear fish boys. The little cutie… Jeongin, was it? He just looked to be the perfect one for that. So, here’s how it’s going to go. I will ask him questions, and depending on his answer, I might need to use some… persuasion methods” the man smirked, caressing the stun gun with a delicate finger. “You will watch from this room, as you decide what your next choice will be. You either keep trying to help the three of them, in which case your little orange lover will be sold at the end of this experiment along with the other two; or you become reasonable and actually do all the tests I tell you to do, in exchange of which you’ll get to keep your pet safe. Once again, it is entirely your choice. Think about it carefully Seungmin-shi; I know you are a smart man” the director sent him one last condescending look, before exiting the room and closing the heavy iron door with a resonating clang.

Seungmin was now alone in the room, with two guards and a front-row seat of his friend getting tortured. How the hell did this situation keep getting worse? The moment he thought they’d hit their lowest point, Director Park came in with one of his sadistic plans and turned everything up on its head.

“Hey, fish fucker, pay attention!” one of the guards scuffed him on the back of his head, pointing towards the glass. “You don’t want to miss what’s coming next” the second one snickered.

Reluctantly, Seungmin turned his attention back on Jeongin, who now was eyeing the director suspiciously as the man circled the table on which he was trapped.

“Hello there, I don’t think we had that much of a chance to meet yet. The others are always all over you like a bunch of mother hens; it makes me think that you’re either the youngest, the weakest or the slutty little one that wasn’t satisfied with just one partner” the director leaned over Jeongin, speaking in a disgustingly patronizing tone.

Jeongin didn't say a word, but a low growl echoed from deep within his chest, rattling the metal table under him. 

"Now, now, none of that with me, little one. I know you can talk, and I know you have some sort of bond with the others. It was painfully obvious to see ever since you arrived here. But there are still a lot of things that I need to learn about all of you, so I am going to ask you some questions and you better answer me or there will be consequences. Am I understood?" 

Jeongin simply snapped his sharp teeth at the director as he leaned over him, forcing the man to take a step back. 

"Hmpf. You want to act like a beast? I'll treat you like one then" he muttered under his breath before turning on the stun gun and jabbing it in Jeongin's ribs. 

The electric shock coursed through the young mer's body, making him screech painfully loud and trash even harder against his bonds. The chains wrapped around his tail dug harshly into the few spots where scales were missing, blood quickly dripping from those tender spots. The brilliant red mixed with the shiny orange of Jeongin's scales in a horrifyingly mesmerizing pattern, one that had Seungmin yell loudly in protest and the other two mers swimming anxiously in circles, all of them helpless to protect their youngest. 

The scientists that were surrounding Jeongin all dropped whatever they were holding and plugged their ears in pain, the mer's screech echoing so high that it gave the impression of piercing your eardrums. The director, however, barely flinched, and simply kept the stun gun against Jeongin’s side for a few more agonizing seconds before turning it off. Immediately, the mer’s body slumped down on the table as he panted, looking exhausted.

“Now tell me, boy. Where is the rest of your pod?”

Hearing that question was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Seungmin, and he twisted himself harshly in the guards’ grip.

“Let me go, you assholes! Just let me GO!”  he roared, doing his best to run at his friend’s side. The rational part of his brain knew he had no chance to fight against those two men, and even if he did, the door leading outside was locked. It still didn’t tamper his fury or his need to help the sweet mer that was so obviously in pain right now. As expected, the guards quickly caught him once more and dragged him in front of the window, one of them tugging on his hair harshly to force him to look at the scene in front of him.

On the table, Jeongin looked up hazily at the director.

“Come on, I know there are more of you” the man spat. “Your little human friend told me all about you guys; you have an orca, right? There’s also one with a horn, and another with a tail so beautiful it glistens like melting gold under the sun” he continued, and each new description made Jeongin turn paler and paler.

That also took Seungmin by surprise, when he realized the director was quoting his journal. “What? No, I didn’t tell-”

He was abruptly cut off by the tallest of the two guards punching him straight in the stomach, making him loose his breath and immediately crumple on the floor, kneeling.

“Shut up, fish lover! Just enjoy the show, will you? You’re ruining it for us with all your babbling” the second one jeered, stomping his leather boot right in the middle of Seungmin’s back, forcing the biologist to flatten himself to the floor.

A soft voice reached him through the pain and fear coursing through his body, one that made him laser-focus back on what was happening on the other side of the window.

“No. Minnie wouldn’t do that. He didn’t tell you anything” Jeongin squeaked out, his voice ragged because of his earlier screeching but it didn’t take away any of the confidence he had in his statement.

“Oh really? You think your human is so nice and perfect, don’t you? Well, here’s a little secret for you, pretty boy. That human is just like all the rest of us: a liar. He sold you out and now he’s helping us find the rest of your little band! But, if you tell me exactly where they are right now, I promise that I won’t hurt them.”

The director took on his sweetest, most sympathizing tone and looked at Jeongin with an almost father-like gaze. The boy simply hissed at him, pure disgust painting his face.

“I might not be as good as Minho, but I can still hear a lie when it is said straight in my face, human.” Both the gills on the side of Jeongin’s torso and his caudal fin flickered dangerously, like a frilled-neck lizard making himself bigger to scare off his enemies.

Seungmin managed to shake off the guard's foot and kneeled up on the ground to have a better look at his Jeongin, although heavy hands on his shoulders forced him to stay in that position, not allowing him to stand back up. 

"Hmm... So one of you is called Minho, eh?" Park smiled smugly. 

Jeongin's eyes widened in horror at realizing that the information had slipped so easily out of his mouth. The Director paced around the table, a look of wonder on his face. 

"I think I remember Seungmin talking about him. He was the scary one, with the gorgeous tail, right?" He leaned forward, right into Jeongin's face, and sneered. "Tell me, pretty boy. What do you think will happen to your friend once some fishermen find him swimming off the coast, looking for you? They'll skin him alive probably, sell his scales off one by one and make a fortune out of it, and then eat his tail since those idiots most likely will think it holds some magic properties. And that will be all your fault, because we both know that he's definitely out there looking for you right now, exposing himself to humans." 

Jeongin didn't react outwardly, but his hands clenched into fists as he tried not to let the words affect him. Seungmin seethed at how manipulative the man could be. How dared he insinuate that Jeongin had any part to play in all of this shit show? 

"But you could save him, pretty boy" the director added, tipping Jeongin's chin up with his fingers. "If you just tell me where he is, where the rest of them are, I can bring them here to be with you. Don't you want to see your brothers again? To know that they're safe here, with you? That they're not hunted by bad humans outside?" 

"The last thing I want is to put my podmates through this nightmare" Jeongin hissed, before biting the fingers that were holding his chin.

Park let out a pained scream, holding his hand against his chest as blood seeped down his arm, the tip of his index finger now missing. Jeongin spat the blob of flesh out and offered a dangerous smile to the director, his sharp teeth reddened with blood. 

"You little shit!" Park swore, before taking his stun gun and ramming it into Jeongin's neck this time, right under his jaw. 

Seeing the youngest trash uncontrollably on the table, not even screaming anymore under the intensity of the electric shock just broke Seungmin's heart. He tried to get up again, to bang on the window and beg the director to stop this; anything would be better than having to watch Jeongin be tortured like that without being able to help. However, a hand sneaked into his hair and yanked his head back painfully, forcing him to both stay kneeling and to look at the horrible scene while another hand held both his wrists in a vicious grip behind his back.

"Nuh-uh. Where do you think you're going? Better stay here or you'll miss the best part!" The guard behind him sneered, taking a much too great pleasure in doing his job. 

Seungmin frowned as his brain told him that this voice was strangely familiar, and that's when it finally tilted. This man was one of the assholes that had beat the living hell out of him back on the docks, before the siren boys had rescued him. That theory was confirmed with the man's next words: "You know, we never got to finish our lovely heart-to-heart last time. Think we have time for this right now?"

The biologist gulped and stayed very still in the man's hold, not wanting to anger him further. Seungmin knew what he was capable of, and he simply could not afford to be put out of commission right now; not so close to their escape. So, he simply grunted in pain and let himself stay pliant in the man's hands, no matter how disgusting that made him feel. He realized now that he truly didn’t liked to be touched, in any way, shape or form, by other people. Even with his family, he was pretty conservative with his displays of affection; a hug here, a kiss on the cheek there, but never too much and never for too long. With strangers, it was even worse; it took Mina two years of working with him before he allowed her to pat his arm in a friendly gesture or adjust his equipment during a dive. With the pod though... It all felt so natural, so simple. Almost like breathing, which was truly ironic considering that they spent most of their time underwater. But it was just so easy to be dragged in a hug by Felix, or to be held above the surface by Hyunjin, or to simply let himself float in Minho's arms. That realization shot through Seungmin's body like electricity through his veins, and his brain finally came to a conclusive answer about a question that had been spinning in his mind for way too long now; he was in love with those boys. He wanted to stay with them, and protect them, and do everything in his power to make sure they were safe and happy; and no matter what life would throw at them, it would seem like barely a challenge if he knew they were by his side. Seungmin felt a tear roll down his cheek as he truly understood the depth of his feelings, and how helpless he was right now to save and protect those boys, despite his ardent desire to do so. 

"Oh no, is the little one sad right now?" the second guard mocked him, coming over and crouching in front of him. "Don't you like seeing your fish friend like this? I'm sure you've thought about it before, haven't you? Tying him up and doing whatever you wanted with him. Taming the wild beast..." 

Both guards laughed like the bunch of greasy, macho, disgusting human beings that they were, while Seungmin's body trembled uncontrollably with rage and sadness. Staying in control and not lashing out was just so hard right now. But he had to do it, for the sake of their escape plan. 

From the corner of his eye, he could see how Changbin and Jisung were both ramming themselves against the aquarium walls, not caring about the reverberations that were probably making their heads feel like they were about to explode. Their despair to get to their youngest was so plain to see, and it helped Seungmin steel his resolve to stick this out and finally, finally get these boys out of this nightmarish place.

The banging on the glass got so strong that it made the director pause and turn around, the stun gun thankfully leaving Jeongin's body and allowing the youngest to take in raspy, shallow breaths. 

"What do you two want?" He asked imperiously, lifting an unimpressed brow at the two older mers. 

Changbin pointed to the lid of the aquarium, fixing Park with an unfaltering gaze. The man tilted his head curiously, before looking back down at Jeongin. "Seems like your friends want to tell me something. Maybe they'll be more reasonable than you." 

With a nod, he told one of his men to open up the aquarium lid and Changbin popped his head to the surface almost immediately. 

"Stop hurting him and I'll answer all of your questions." 

That statement was said with such certainty that it even took Seungmin off-guard. If the following shrill whistling and furious clicks were anything to go by, Jeongin was also not expecting this and was definitely against it. 

"Gag him" the director gestured to the orange-tailed boy, unbothered, and three scientists hurriedly wrapped a thick piece of cloth around Jeongin's lower face, tapping it afterwards to make sure it stayed on. 

Seungmin observed as Jisung, who'd stayed underwater, made some sort of hand signs to someone that was out of view of the biologist. He only hoped the two boys knew what they were doing. 

"Now, what was it you were saying? You're going to answer all of my questions?" the director repeated unbelievingly. 

"Yes, you just have to ask. But please, just let Jeongin go..." 

"I think he's doing just fine where he is right now. Why don't you tell me what you know first, and then I'll hand him back" the human taunted, the tip of his stun gun lightly grazing one of Jeongin's side fins and making him jerk weakly in protest. 

"Alright, alright!" Changbin hurriedly answered, hands wrapped firmly against the side of the aquarium. "I can tell you where the others are hiding right now... There are some caves, hidden underneath the cliffs not far from here, to the north-west side of the wreck where you first caught us. That's where the pod settled down."

"We searched those caves already, they were empty. Don't play with me boy" the director warned as he pushed the stun gun directly on Jeongin's gills this time, making the youngest seize immediately; his whole body locking in place as his chest refused to move to take in a breath anymore.

 "JEONGIN!" Seungmin's yell was lost in between the thick walls of his prison, the only answer he got being the laughs of the two guards who threw some more insults his way. It all went over his head though, his full focus being on Jeongin. 

"I'M NOT LYING!" Changbin also yelled, leaning half of his torso out of the aquarium in his desperation to convince the man. "Please I swear I'm not lying! We settled there the day before you caught us, they're still going to be in there waiting for us! Please stop hurting him! I'm telling the truth!" 

Of course, he was lying, he wouldn’t sell the rest of his pod like this; but if it managed to buy them some more time and stopped Jeongin from being tortured, then Changbin would say anything he had to in order to convince the man. Director Park looked at him suspiciously, before lowering the stun gun. 

"Is that so? Then I'm sure you-" 

He was abruptly caught off as all the lights in the complex turned off, all the electric apparels powering off as well, leaving everyone in the dark. A few workers yelled in fright, and the only thing that Seungmin could truly see in the darkness was the red glowing exit sign over the door. Said door suddenly opened, revealing two shadowy silhouettes who rushed in and ushered the guards and the biologist out.

“Everyone needs to exit the laboratory please, for safety reasons” one of the two newcomers urged them, and Seungmin recognized it in a flash since it had been ingrained in his head ever since the day that he went to that small fishing village in search of a phone.

“San…” he whispered, and a warm hand squeezed his bicep.

Seeing how tall the second figure was, he guessed that it was either Yunho or Mingi. Seungmin quickly followed them out, the guards not even asking questions or holding onto him, the unexpected power cut rattling them out of their training. Indeed, in such a new and technologically advanced building, such a massive power cut lasting for more than a few seconds shouldn’t be happening. The back-up generators should’ve kicked in by now, and it was obvious that something was wrong by all the hushed whispers that now filled the dark basement.

"What is this?" The director roared, making everyone fall silent immediately.  

"I just came from the video surveillance room sir; I was finishing up cleaning that space when everything shut down! The electricians are in there right now, trying to fix it. I think they mentioned an overload or something like that" the taller Atez member next to Seungmin spoke up, revealing himself to indeed be Yunho. 

Park grunted in acknowledgment at the janitor, before turning to where the team of scientists should still be, next to Jeongin's table. "Keep an eye on this one, I'm going to see what the problem is. Don't do anything until I come back." 

There were a few rushed agreements, most workers getting their phones out to use their flashlights while the director stormed off to the stairs leading one floor up. 

"What should we do with this one?"  one of the guards who'd been keeping Seungmin in check asked. "Mister Park hasn't said anything about him." 

"Actually, Mister Park has given you new orders" San coyly said, one of his hands resting on the guard's bicep. 

"Uh?" 

"Yes, you have to follow the voice, don't you remember?" Yunho prompted, tugging Seungmin closer to him. 

"The voice? What vo-" 

At that moment, the most enchanting song rose from seemingly nowhere, the empty basement allowing the voice to echo and bounce around the barren walls, entrancing anyone who heard it. Seungmin felt it inside him, a deep pull that pushed him towards the staircase, despite his brain feeling almost too fuzzy to walk straight. However, big strong arms held him back while two small hands covered his ears. San's face appeared right in front of him, eyes swirling in a multitude of colors as he spoke.

"Not you. You stay here with us. Your pod needs you."

That managed to snap Seungmin out of his trance-like state, and he observed as the basement around him slowly emptied itself of people, everyone following the beautiful voice that was sounding farther and farther away. 

"We needed a distraction to stop this whole thing" San graciously explained to Seungmin, seeing how lost the biologist looked. "We couldn't let Park hurt Jeongin like that, so Mingi and Jongho fried the whole electrical system and Yeosang is the one singing right now. We decided to not wait until tonight to put the escape plan in place, and we needed a big diversion, so we sent our strongest player out" he winked. 

"He won't be able to hold them forever though, so we better hurry up with this" a new voice spoke up, as Seonghwa strode in purposefully, Hongjoong and Wooyoung on his heels. "Woo and I will ready the transport pods, you guys get Binnie and Sungie out of the tank" he quickly dispatched everyone on their tasks, and without needing any instructions, Seungmin rushed to Jeongin's side. 

"Jeongin! Hey, Innie, can you hear me baby?" He asked gently, carefully unwrapping the gag from around the younger's face. 

The poor boy was out of it, his face tilting slowly to the side to be able to look at the human. 

"Hey there, I've got you sweetie. I'm here now, and I'm going to get you back to the pod, okay? You're going home Innie'' he said in his most reassuring voice, untying Jeongin's restraints as quickly as possible.

He kept on blabbering gentle praises and soothing words to the mer as he took great care to unwrap the chains from his tail, stopping at every wince from the boy. From the corner of his eye, he could see how the sirens were getting Changbin and Jisung out of the tank and making them slide down the stairs on their butts, and he would've found it hilarious if they were in any other situation. For now though, his sole purpose was to free them all before the director inevitably came back to check on them. 

He cradled Jeongin’s head in his hands, pushing the mer’s half-dry hair out of his face and smiling down at him shakily. “Hi sweetie. Are you back with me? Can you talk to me?”

It seemed to take a great effort out of the boy, but Jeongin finally found his voice back, eyes never leaving Seungmin’s face. “Minnie… You’re here…”

“Hmm, I’m here. I’ll always be by your side Innie, whenever you need me. And I’ve got some good news: we’re going to see the rest of the pod very soon! I’m gonna bring you back to them” he whispered, his thumb caressing Jeongin’s cheek.

The mer closed his eyes in contentment, the soft touch feeling like heaven after all the pain he’d just endured, and left himself go limp against Seungmin’s hold, trusting the human completely.

“You were so brave out there Innie. You can rest now, hyung will take care of everything” the pink-haired diver assured both his friend – and himself – as Jeongin nodded tiredly.

"Good job, you've managed to get him free" Wooyoung came to Seungmin’s side, smiling and petting his arm. "I'll take care of the rest, why don't you take a minute to sit down, eh?" The siren pushed Seungmin on a nearby stool, the scientist not even protesting as he felt how his hands and legs were shaking from the adrenaline and fear. 

He observed as Wooyoung and Seonghwa carried Jeongin into the transport tank, barely breaking a sweat despite lifting a creature that weighed almost twice as much as them. They were very careful with the boy, making sure to adjust him as comfortably as possible in the tank, Jeongin curling over himself protectively to hide most of his upper body under the shield of his scales.

San approached Seungmin with an excited glint in his eyes. “Seonghwa and I created the pods to be light and easily moveable. We didn’t need to add water in them since the boys can go without for a while, but it’ll make them more comfortable and act as a sort of secure bubble for them while we move them around. You don’t need to worry anymore, we’ve got this from here on out! It’ll be as easy as stealing candy from a child…” he cackled, energy almost vibrating out of his body with his level of excitement. Seungmin was glad for it; it was exactly what he needed to boost his moral up.

Changbin and Jisung were both already in their own transport pods, worriedly looking towards their youngest, and Seungmin realized it was finally time for them to leave. However, there was one last thing he needed to do before that. Getting up shakily, he made his way to a table at the far side of the basement, ignoring the questions thrown at him from the others. As soon as he set his eyes on his goal, he picked up his pace, taking three plastic containers and ripping them open carelessly. Inside the first one, he grabbed Changbin's teeth necklace, putting it around his own neck for safekeeping. Jisung's knife and algae bands went into his pockets and, last but not least, he tied Jeongin's handkerchief tightly around his wrist to not lose it. 

As soon as he was done however, a hand grabbed his shoulder harshly, turning him around and making him end up face-to-face with Choi Ae Ri. The girl was practically snarling as he spat in his face.

"What the heck did you do? This is all your fault, isn't it? You better bring those monsters back in their tank RIGHT NOW or else..." 

"Oh, let me deal with that bitch!" A growl rippled from behind Seungmin, and before he even had time to register what was happening, Wooyoung pushed his way in between the two scientists, eyeing down Ae Ri condescendingly. "You... You're the one that fucked with the boys so badly. You're the one that almost drowned Sungie, and the one who kept hitting the glass and making the boys hurt so bad. You're the one that would kill them without any remorse if it meant that your precious director looked at you for more than half-a-second. Well, you know what? I've got something special in store for you..." 

And in a flourish, Wooyoung turned into a magnificent black and orange bird right in front of Ae Ri. He managed to hover in front of a face, a bit like a hummingbird would, and started emitting a series of chirps that quickly evolved into a sweet song. Seungmin watched in awe as Ae Ri's eyes became glassy and unfocused, the girls not even having time to question what had just happened as the song washed over her, her mouth opening slightly and her arm lifting up, hand extending towards the bird. Wooyoung didn't hesitate before perching himself on her finger, and that's when Hongjoong's words came back to the biologist. 

“Pitohuis are like, one of the few species of birds on earth that are toxic! Our skins and feathers are coated with toxins that you do not want to touch, trust me!”

Now, he knew why that warning had been so strongly reinforced to him, as he watched Ae Ri's finger start to blister right in front of him. The skin turned an angry red, and then a sickly white as pockets of fluids developed at an impossible rate. The pain must've been immense, as it managed to wrench Ae Ri out of the siren's lure, making her scream in pain and shake her hand around. Wooyoung wasn't done with her however, and he flew all around her, making sure to rub his feathers against every part of her skin he had access to. The poor girl - wait, was Seungmin actually feeling pity for her? - had blisters all over her face, hands, neck and even her scalp looked to be damaged. One particularly gruesome blister ended up covering the whole right side of her face, making her look as if she had the plague, as she kept on screaming in pain. Seungmin watched as she ran to the test tank, promptly diving inside the water, probably in an attempt to alleviate the deep burning sensation that was now coursing through her body. 

"She won't be a problem anymore" Seonghwa calmly stated, as he made his way to Seungmin while Wooyoung shifted back to his human form. "But we need to go, now. Yeosangie's lure won't hold for much longer and we still have to make our way to the docks." 

So, with one last look at the girl weeping in the test tank, Seugmin followed the two sirens back towards his podmates, offering them all a tired but relieved smile. 

"It's finally over. We'll get you guys back home" he sighed, putting one hand against Changbin's transportation tank. 

Said mer popped his head up at the surface, the lids being open to allow better communication. "And you're coming home with us, Seungmin. We're not leaving you behind." 

Changbin's words, and the certainty with which he spoke them, made Seungmin tear up a little, and he forced himself to walk on and keep the emotions at bay for the real reunion with the rest of the pod. 

They made their way out of the basement, Seonghwa, San and Yunho pushing the tanks that had wheels under them, thanks to Seonghwa’s great planning skills. In front of them, Wooyoung was swiping keys and access cards in every door they encountered, managing to override any security protocols that stood in their way. Bringing up the rear of their little group, Hongjoong was keeping an eye out for anyone that might’ve followed them whilst also waiting for their other friends to join them. From what Seungmin understood, Mingi and Jongho would be making their way down from the surveillance room on the upper floors and Yeosang would keep on singing and distracting as many people as possible before joining them.

The next danger didn’t come from behind however, but from the front. As Wooyoung opened yet another locked door, the group found themselves face-to-face with the one person they did not want to meet: Director Park. He had his gun trained straight on them, aim unfaltering as he scanned them from head to toe.

“So, you’re the ones that have been causing problems around here… I should’ve known. Do you want to steal the monsters to sell them yourselves? Or is it because you’re also… different?” He titled his head to the side, locking eyes with Hongjoong, who’d came to stand straight in front of the group as soon as he’d seen the human. “I guess there’s just one way to find out, right?”

With a cold look, Park fired at the leader of the sirens, forcing the boy to fling himself to the side to dodge the bullet. It still made an impact however, straight in Jisung’s tank, who screeched at the loud noise and the hole that had appeared in the glass in front of him, making water leak everywhere.

“My next shot won’t miss, so you better turn around and bring them back where you found them” the director warned them in a gruff voice, his gun pointed alternatively on each of the boys in front of him.

As Seungmin closed his eyes, expecting a second shot to come, he was met with a loud dull sound instead of the deafening roar of a firearm. Opening his eyes back in surprise, he found the most unexpected of scenes unfolding right in front of him: the director, crumpled on the floor, out cold. Behind him stood Mina, her hair pulled up in a haphazard ponytail, eyes a little manic and holding a metallic pipe.

A heavy silence ensued, where everyone looked at each other, at a loss of what to do. However, the leak from Jisung’s tank was becoming more of a problem and time was still ticking fast; they had to make it to the dock soon.

“Mina…”

“I don’t wanna hear it, this is none of my business” Seungmin’s boss – and one of his only friends – cut him off abruptly. “I’ve called the police on Park, for a possible hostage situation: I basically told them they were holding you against your will. They’re busting the whole place down as we speak. You need to exit through the back, I’ll keep them off your trail for as long as I can” she nodded to where she just came from, hurrying them along.  

“Thank you” Seungmin breathed out gratefully as he passed by her, putting a hand on her shoulder in appreciation.

“I knew you were hiding something from me” she lifted a brow at him as he winced. He hand’t been as slick as he’d thought, apparently. “I never imagined it could be something as… big as this, but I understand why you didn’t want to share” she assured him with a smile. She was definitely the most understanding person that Seungmin had ever met, after all, so this reaction was simply to be expected. “You have people to look after, so you go do that. I’ll make up something for the police as to why they couldn’t find you anywhere” she smiled at him. “Oh and… I don’t wanna know the details, but I hope you know I’m going to be internally fangirling my ass about them, right?” she pointed at the transportation tanks. “I always knew you would end up discovering the next big thing for marine biology. Good job Seungmo” she winked at him, before pushing him back to join the others.

His cheeks warmed at the praise and his steps became lighter, knowing that with Mina backing them up, they would finally be out of trouble in no time. He joined the rest of the group that was still making its way through the corridors, noticing San trying to plug the hole in Jisung’s tank with his fingers as best he could, though it wasn’t very successful, especially with Jisung telling him to leave it before he managed to cut his finger on the glass. The biologist let the small banter and the smiles on the Ateez members faces lull him into a well-earned sense of safety.

Changbin was still visibly on edge, his head peaking from the top of his tank and swiveling left and right in search of a threat, and Jeongin looked half-asleep from all the emotions of the past hour, but hopefully, they would feel better as soon as they reunited with the rest of the pod.

“We told Chan about our plan earlier. Since the escape was supposed to happen tonight, the pod won’t be waiting for you at the docks, but you can steal one of the boats from there and go find them, they should be near the bay where you stayed right before Park brought you here” Hongjoong told Seungmin as they fell in step together. “Are you fit to drive? If not, I can let one of my boys come with you to help” he proposed, watching over Seungmin with a gentle gaze.

The biologist truly didn’t understand where all those good intentions came from. He was definitely thankful for it, of course, but after learning who they truly were, he thought that Hongjoong and the rest of Ateez would act more coldly towards humans. After all, they were the prime reason as to why Ateez needed to get out there and rescue mythological creatures – and who knew exactly what that entailed – from the grasp of greedy people. He really thought that, despite his relationship with the pod, the sirens would still be wary of him, or at least keep their distance. However, ever since he met them, they’d only been caring, and thoughtful, and they truly helped him out as much as they helped the boys. Maybe Seungmin should reconsider his self-given title. Maybe, instead of being the-one-with-the-useless-talent-of-offending-mythical-creatures, he should be known as the-one-who-manages-to-only-meet-nice-and-handsome-mythological-creatures.  

“Thank you, Hongjoong-shi, but I’ll be fine” he smiled back at the leader. “How are you guys going to get out of here though? Are you also going to steal a boat?” he asked, concerned for their saviors.

“Why would we need a boat when we can fly?” Hongjoong laughed, making Seungmin blush as he realized how tired he must’ve been to not see that possibility. “Don’t worry about us little human, just make sure you all get back to your pod safely.”

At that moment, Wooyoung opened the last set of doors, allowing them to finally feel the warmth of the sun rays on their skin after all those days trapped in the lab. Seungmin and Jisung sighed in pleasure, Changbin’s form finally relaxing as the stress bled out of his tense body and even Jeongin peaked his nose out of the tight coil of his tail, enjoying the natural light falling on his glittering scales. The transport pods became a tad harder to maneuver, since they were now rolling on a wooden promenade leading to the docks, but that problem got solved quickly when three birds flew in front of them, quickly turning into Mingi, Jongho and Yeosang. The three sirens rushed in to help with the pods, ensuring that the mers would arrive to their destination safely and not tumble down on the floor 50 meters away from their freedom.

“Guys, how did everything go?” Hongjoong asked, smiling brightly now that all of his boys were back safe and sound.

“We got out of there as soon as the police arrived, and we made sure to erase any data that concerned Jisung, Changbin and Jeongin! Although, we did leave a very conveniently placed USB key with every proof we could collect on the center’s abusive practices on the animals they used for their tests, as well as all the blackmailing that was going on with the employees, and the illegal deals that were happening between the center and some other corporations.” Jongho cheekily answered.

“And we grabbed Sangie on our way out, since his lure was starting to fade. He was trying to keep control over twenty or more people!” Mingi exclaimed, looking at their blond friend with awe.

“Sangie! I told you to not overdo it!” Seonghwa immediately fretted over the boy.

“What Seonghwa means is that we’re proud of you, you did a really good job” Hongjoong corrected.

“I am really grateful to you too, Yeosang-shi” Seungmin shyly complimented the ex-janitor, taking the boy by surprise. “If you weren’t there, we wouldn’t have managed to escape. Thank you, all of you” he spoke to the whole group this time, earning endeared coos from San and Wooyoung, a wink from Yunho and a smile from everyone else.

“You found a good human Binnie, you better keep him” Wooyoung teased Changbin, the mer looking tenderly at the scientist.

“Yeah, I know, we plan on keep him for a long time…”

By now, they’d made it to the edge of the docks, in between two boats, where there was enough space to allow the three mers to dive back in the water. Everything seemed so much louder, the sound of the waves crashing on the hulls of the boats, the cries of the seagulls, even the wind blowing around them and messing their hair. Seungmin had never been so happy in his life to be outside than right at this moment.

“Alright, time to get you back home!” Wooyoung happily clapped his hands, going to tilt Changbin’s aquarium to get him out.

“No wait! Jisung should go first!”

No one questioned the mer and, following his instructions, Jisung was taken out of his pod first. It was easier to tilt his pod and allow him to slide out since half of the water had leaked out of his tank by now, making it much lighter, and the shark happily dove in the water, spinning around in glee at his newfound freedom. Next was Jeongin, who’s tank was also tilted on the side but this time, Seungmin and Seonghwa were there to catch him and guide him carefully to the edge, lowering him down into Jisung’s awaiting arms. The orange-tailed mer didn’t complain about it, letting them manhandle him around until he was safely nestled in Jisung’s embrace, his face tucked into Jisung’s neck. Last but not least, Changbin was also helped out of his tank. He happily splashed in the water but stayed above the surface, catching Seungmin’s wrist in his hand.

“You’re following us, right?”

“Of course! I’ll jump start a boat and I’ll be right on your tail” the scientist grinned at his own pun, happy to see that his bad sense of humor was finally back. “Actually, I have something for you boys before we go back to the pod” he remembered, slipping his hand out of Changbin’s hold and taking off the teeth necklace that he’d been wearing, offering it to the black-tailed mer. “I managed to get them back right before we left” he said with a knowing smile, seeing how Changbin’s face turned from shock, to gratitude, to… tenderness? As much as it made Seungmin blush, he found no other way to describe the look Changbin was giving him right now. “I… I’ve got Sungie’s and Innie’s too” he stuttered, wrenching his gaze away from the handsome mer’s face.

He dug in his pockets, taking out Jisung’s algae bracelets carefully as to not rip them and handed them as well as the knife back to the shark boy that had surface next to them, still with Jeongin in his arms. “Minnie! You… you really got it back for us?” he sounded choked-up, as he let Changbin tie his bracelets back around his arm and torso.

They hadn’t been able to talk about it at all, but Seungmin knew how much their symbols really meant to the boys and how hard it must’ve been for them to suddenly be deprived of them. The pink-haired diver was glad he managed to get the irreplaceable items back before leaving.

“Here, I’ve got Innie’s bandana too” he untied it from his wrist. “Innie sweetie, can I put this back on you?” he asked, wanting to rouse the boy a bit to make sure he was faring well.

Jeongin lifted his face from Jisung’s neck, looking exhausted but a smile illuminated his face when he saw his handkerchief.

“Minnie… you’re the best!”

Then, with what looked to be a tremendous effort, he managed to lift his tail out of the water, leaning on Jisung for support as his caudal fin rested on the wooden dock. Knowing this position ought to be uncomfortable, Seungmin hurriedly tied the bandana around the end of the boy’s tail, making sure that it wasn’t too tight but would still hold on properly. He then helped to slide the appendage back into the water, leaning further forward to fluff Jeongin’s wet hair.

“There you go, you’re all good now, just like before. And in just a few moments we’ll be able to see the rest pod again! I can’t wait to-“

POW

Seungmin’s words were abruptly cut off as his world tilted to the side. It took him a moment to realize that he’d actually fallen onto the dock, laying on his left side as Jeongin and Jisung reeled back, a look of pure horror on their faces. Distantly, he heard cries of shock and anger, calls of his name too, maybe? The only thing he could truly focus on however, was Changbin who’d surged right in front of him, holding his face in between his wet hands, and the roar of the waves in his ears. Unless it was the sound of his blood rushing in his ears?

He wasn’t certain of anything anymore. The whole world was going fuzzy, his mind desperately yelling at him to black out right now. He knew he’d been shot. He knew he was on an adrenaline high, but that the moment it faded away, he’d feel the horrible pain of having a hole pierced through his body. He didn’t know if he could take that amount of suffering right now. After all, his heart was already bleeding out – metaphorically, of course – from having been thwarted from his goal while he was so close to it. A few more minutes, he’d just been a few more minutes away from reuniting with the whole pod, seeing the boys get back together, seeing all of them be finally happy again… And now, here he was, laying limply on the dock as Changbin cradled his face, speaking over him despite Seungmin’s brain not registering one word that he was saying.

It was all truly unfair, wasn’t it? He’d been so close to touching happiness; it was at the tip of his fingers. He guessed he was never supposed to grab it, never supposed to have a shot at it, at least not in this lifetime. He just hoped that it wouldn’t affect the others too badly, that they could go back to how they were before him. They’d got a good life going for them. They’d found each other, despite all of their previous hardships, and they deserved to live the rest of their life peacefully. He hoped his death wouldn’t get in the way of that.

He was happy with what he’d gotten, even if it was just a teaser of what a perfect life could be. He’d at least gotten to live through that, and he’d take those memories with him as a comfort. He had so many things he wanted to tell the boys, so many things left unsaid. But his time was limited, so with what little clarity he had left, he smiled up at Changbin, knowing the elder would pass on his last words to the rest of his boys.

“Thank you… I love you.”

The last thing he saw was the crying face of the mer above him, but it didn’t matter, because it meant he wasn’t alone; and that allowed him to surrender himself peacefully to what awaited him next.

Chapter Text

Seungmin was faintly aware of a distant humming in the background, as his mind floated in the depth of this beautiful, dark bliss. He’d been there for a while now, in what felt like this impenetrable bubble. Nothing came to disturb him here. No pain, no troubles, nobody… Just him, and his good thoughts. He’d been thinking a lot about the boys. If this was the afterlife, the purgatory or whatever people called it these days, he was fine with it. Being able to swim in a warm emptiness while thinking of his boys was an excellent way to spend eternity, after all.

He’d found himself remembering all of the moments he’d spent with the pod, ever since their first meeting. He loved thinking about the slow trust that Jeongin and him built, and that made their bond just so special. He enjoyed thinking back on how badly his relationship with Jisung and Minho started, and how it took a turn for the best. He adored remembering all the little things the mers did for him, back when he had no idea how much they actually meant for them. And, of course, he was always thrilled whenever he thought back about all the inadvertent flirting he did with them, and how flustered he managed to make them without even knowing it.

The only thing that he would change, in this paradise of blissful memories and oblivion, was the fact that there was one negative emotion that followed him relentlessly: guilt. He always felt that twinge of it, in the back of his mind, in the pit of his stomach, tainting some of his fondest memories with the idea that he left the boys. He left them to deal with the aftermath of everything. What that everything was, he wasn’t actually certain. Most of his bad or mundane memories didn’t follow him in his warm protective bubble, but he did feel like he left them behind and that, because of it, they would feel sad. He didn’t ever want them to be sad, especially not because of him. If there was something, anything he could do to remedy to that, he would in a heartbeat. However, whenever those moments happened where he felt like he had to do something in order to make sure his boys weren’t sad, the bubble surrounding him grew tighter, making him feel trapped. No matter how hard he tried to fight it, to get out of that place, the bubble would turn into a sort of sticky goo that entrapped him, making him feel heavy and slow. After a few tries, he’d stopped fighting altogether but lately, something was igniting that spark inside him once again.

It was the humming. Previously, nothing other than his memories could reach him, but that humming was becoming more and more present, a little bit louder every time. And it gave him the will to fight once more, to reach out of the bubble, to make sure his boys were fine, and safe. It was calling out to him so deeply, making every part of him throb with the need to see, to touch, to feel, to know. So, with one strong and heavy push, Seungmin gathered every ounce of power he had and managed to break the bubble, feeling himself free-falling in the darkness that now felt much, much colder.

He held on bravely though, only thinking about seeing Chan’s dimpled smile, Minho’s smirk, Changbin’s loving expression, Hyunjin’s smoldering gaze, Felix’s sparkling eyes, Jisung’s toothy-grin and Jeongin’s eye-smile.

With a loud gasp, he felt himself fall back into his body, his eyes opening wide as his chest expanded so hard that he felt his shoulders lift from the ground. Around him, he heard other gasps, one in particular being louder than the others. Then, a cacophony of voices, all shouting his name, made him dizzy. As he blinked, his gaze travelling around, he realized how white everything was. The one colored blotch he could make out approached him until his eyes could adjust themselves, making out Mina’s form, watching him with careful eyes.

“Seungminnie… Oh my god Seungmin, don’t you ever pull something like this again, do you hear me?” She seemed on the verge of crying as she carefully wrapped him in a one-armed hug.

Seungmin allowed himself a few more seconds to come back to his senses fully. His fingers brushing on the starchy bed covers and the soft pillows under his head told him he was in a bed. The bright lights coming from the window allowed him to guess that it was the middle of the day, and the faint bustling and beeping he heard around him let him know he was in a hospital.

His throat was parched as he tried to greet Mina back, and she must’ve understood that, as a glass of water was tipped in front of his lips, allowing him to hydrate himself. Once he didn’t feel like a withered potato anymore, he blinked up at his friend.

“You’re here? I’m here? I’m not dead?”

“You’re not, but it was pretty close” Mina lifted an unimpressed eyebrow. She looked down at her phone, frowning as an error message appeared. “I bet they dropped it in the water…” she mumbled under her breath.

“What?”

“Nothing! Let’s talk about you, mister!” Mina claps, making Seungmin groan at the loud noise. “Since when do you play the knight in shining armor, uh?”

“I... I don’t even know what happened. I honestly thought I was dead” Seungmin’s voice tapered off as he looked up at her, his eyes shaking as his mind struggled to conciliate what was reality from what was a comatose dream.

Mina visibly softened, holding the pink-haired boy’s hand to help ground him.

“You were shot Minnie. Park shot you from behind while you were… helping you friends get back home. The bullet went straight through, near your lower right side.”

Seungmin wiggled around gently to locate the wound and stopped as the throbbing immediately made itself known, a sort of deep soreness and burning waking up in his right flank.

“One of your friends with legs… I think his name was Seonghwa? He came to get me, so we could bring you to a hospital. When I arrived, you were laying on the deck, and everyone was trying their best to make sure you wouldn’t bleed out, but they were all very obviously panicking.” She took a deep breath, squeezing Seungmin’s hand in hers to reassure herself that he was here now. “I managed to convince them to let you go, so I could get you to a hospital. They went back in the water just as the police officers made their way to the docks. I explained to them that you were indeed held hostage in the facility, and that, with the commotion that happened when the authorities raided the place, you managed to escape to the docks to try and get on a boat and escape, but that you were shot by the Director before you managed to. The officers were the ones who administered first aid while we waited for an ambulance. I might be able to help a turtle recover from a hook injurie, but I have zero experience in stopping a friend from bleeding out because of a gunshot wound!”

Her tone was bright, and it was obvious that she was trying to lighten the atmosphere, but the tears in her eyes showed her real feelings.

“While we were waiting, they made another pretty gruesome discovery” she sniffled, rubbing her nose. “The… uhm, Park was found, floating in the harbor, in between two boats. The cause of death was attributed to the deep gouges that covered his entire body. They assumed that he was trying to get to a boat to escape after shooting you, but that he tripped and fell in between two boats while the motor was on and just… ended up being shredded by the propellers.” She looked at him seriously, lowering her voice. “But we both know that’s not what truly happened, right?”

Seungmin couldn’t confirm or deny anything, since he’d long been passed out when the director’s death happened, but it was so easy to picture it; to imagine Changbin dragging the man in the water, as Jisung clawed him to death. Flashes of a bloody-mouthed Jeongin spitting back the tip of Director Park’s finger came to the forefront of Seungmin’s mind, and he could most definitely assure that Park’s death had not been caused by a simple propeller. He kept his mouth shut however, refusing to incriminate his friends in any way in front of Mina. She simply smiled at him, leaning back in her chair.

“It’s okay, I understand. I’m just glad they did what they did” she nodded after a second. “He deserved it…”

“Mina… Do you know what happened to the boys?” Now that Seungmin’s mind understood a bit more what it had missed, he needed to know about his pod. “Are they safe? Did anyone see them on the docks?”

The woman shook her head, her long brown hair falling over her shoulders. “No, no one saw anything. Even your other friends, the ones with the weird eyes? They disappeared into thin air! One moment they were all behind me, saying that they had worked at the facility and that they could give information to the police and the next, I turned around and they’d all just vanished!”

Seungmin smirked, relaxing back against his pillows.

“The only thing that was left where they were standing were a voice recorder and a journal.”

Seungmin tensed again, looking at Mina with wide eyes.

“Don’t worry, I flipped through the journal and then burned it as soon as I got home. It kind of impressed me how dumb you were to think that was a good idea! Imagine if the police had found it… Anyways, it’s ashes now, and the voice recorder was wiped clean and then conveniently dropped in my dishwasher, to fry it just in case” she shrugged, like the unbothered queen she was. It made Seungmin hold in a chuckle, his side still too sore to allow a full laugh.

“But your weird magic friends that disappeared into thin air? They came back a few hours later, straight to my house this time.”

Seungmin’s mouth dropped wide open in shock.

“The hospital had sent me back home, saying you were gonna be in surgery for a long while and that you wouldn’t be allowed visitor for some time after that; so, I went back to try and make sense of that crazy day. When I opened my door, two of them where chilling on my couch, playing with one of my baseball card deck! Can you imagine the audacity?”

Mina’s baseball card decks were her most prized possession, and there was no doubt that whoever came to visit her received the scolding of their life for even daring to look at it.

“Anyways, they came over to give me a phone, saying that some special guests would like to do videocalls with you while you were in the hospital, and that if ever I betrayed their trust or their secret, I would live through literal hell on earth… They look sweet, but damn can they be intimidating” she shivered.

“Yeah… They can be like that. Let’s say it’s better to have them as friends than enemies.”

Mina nodded, looking pensively to the side. “I guessed that the special guests that would be calling were your fishy friends, but what I didn’t know is that there were so many of them!” she gives him a pointed look, making Seungmin shrink back in his bed. “They called a lot during the two days that you were asleep after your surgery. Whenever I was at the hospital at that moment, I answered and let them check over you; it was really cute actually! Today, they decided to “sing” for you, I believe is what they said. It’s… their voices didn’t sound like anything I’ve heard before… And apparently it worked since not long after they started, you decided to finally wake up! Though… I believe that in their excitement, they dropped their phone in the water because there’s no signal anymore” she looked down at her phone, who failed to connect to the user that she was trying to call. There was no name, but a string of emojis including a whale tail, the water droplets and a flower for some reason. 

“They… they called? They had a phone? How?”

“I think the other boys were with them whenever there was a call. They looked like they were in a bay of some sort? I didn’t ask for any details, because I know it’s not my place, even though I wanted to ask them so many questions” she whined, and Seungmin chuckled at seeing her like this.

It felt good to have her make light of the situation in such a way, and he was infinitely grateful for it.

“I’ll ask them one day, if they want to meet you” he winked at his friend. “Hopefully you’ll be able to get to know them, but I’m not making any promises!”

“Of course you aren’t, especially not in the state you’re in” she fussed over him, adjusting his blankets. “Are you hungry? Thirsty? In pain anywhere? Oh, wait, I should probably be calling a nurse to tell them you’re awake!”  

Seungmin grinned, letting her handle everything. He knew he was safe here, with her, and if he had any say in it, he would soon be reuniting with his boys. For real this time! Nothing would stop him anymore, not even a bullet…

“Thanks Mina… for everything” Seungmin grabbed her wrist, stopping her fretting. “For looking into my disappearance even after receiving the letter from Park, for getting the police to bust the place down, and for not telling anyone about my boys… It means more than you can imagine.”

“Hmm… as long as you don’t boast in my face about having a bunch of really hot fish friends, then there’s nothing to thank me for” she winked at him, ruffling his hair and making him laugh.

During the four days that followed Seungmin’s awakening, he’d had to stay in the hospital for monitoring. He’d still been able to talk with his boys since, despite some protests on Wooyoung’s side, the pod had been allowed to use the siren’s phone to do videocalls.

Seungmin learned that the first phone they’d used had been a spare one, so it didn’t matter that it ended up chilling with the fishes at the bottom of the ocean, but Wooyoung – the one member of Ateez who spent most of his free time with the pod, and, as such, the best one to be the middleman between the mers and the hospital – was very attached to his phone. It’d taken a lot of pleading and some puppy eyes from Felix, but the siren had finally relented and allowed the boys to use it. It had been worth it, even if just to hear their gleeful clicks and excited screams when a tired but happy Seungmin had appeared on the screen.

The poor human had been wearing earbuds, so his eardrums had been shattered but it didn’t stop him from smiling like a goof at seeing his boys all rush to the phone to see him closer, Wooyoung holding onto his prized possession for dear life while trying to get everyone on camera. It had taken a long time for everybody to calm down enough to actually be able to talk, but they then all had a lovely heart-to-heart, only disturbed by Wooyoung’s occasional fake gagging at all the cuteness.

Seungmin had learned that Jeongin, Changbin and Jisung had depicted him as a self-sacrificing hero who was the sole reason as to why they were all still alive. The biologist had vehemently protested, but Mina – who was in the room since it was her phone he was using to call the boys – had pinned him with an unimpressed look and reminded him that he was in the hospital because he literally took a bullet for the mers. Jisung had been quick to jump on the love-Seungmin-wagon, explaining how, without the diver’s help, he would’ve suffocated to death in the small test tank. Changbin also approved, saying how Seungmin had managed to stop Park from doing the more invasive and inhumane tests on him. The biologist grumbled that all the tests were inhumane, but he still took the compliments, blushing furiously when Minho crooned about what a good mate he was.

Wooyoung had put a stop to it, telling them to keep the flirting for when they would reunite in person. After that, the boys had called at least once a day, two if the siren was in a good enough mood to fly to the bay in the mornings and afternoons, and they helped Seungmin’s days fly faster until his release from the hospital. Contrarily to the last time, Mina hadn’t allowed the pink-haired boy to get released against medical advice. It was a good thing in a way, no matter how much he yearned to be back with the pod, since it truly gave his body time to rest. His old injuries had been checked up on as well, and his broken fingers were on the mend, which was very good news. The doctors had been baffled by how fast his leg and ribs had healed, given that during his last visit, approximately a week ago, he’d looked like death warmed up; but he’d gave them a shit-eating grin and blamed it on his good immunity system.

Mina had almost snorted the water she was drinking through her nose but had regained enough composure to listen to the doctor’s advice about Seungmin’s wound care. Since he hadn’t wanted to alarm his parents, the biologist had asked Mina to tell them he’d been sent on a job in another city for a while, just so they didn’t worry about him being in a hospital and being abducted and all that. His case was anyways pretty buried under all the atrocities that were coming out about the Research and Development Center, since a News channel had managed to put their hands on the USB key that Mingi and Jongho had left out for the police. Although two detectives still came to talk to Seungmin at the hospital, to take in his deposition for the abduction case. He’d recounted it with as much detail, while omitting the biggest part of the story, which was the mers. He’d managed to twist it around, saying that Park had discovered a couple of rare sea mammals and that he’d required Seungmin’s expertise to examine them before selling them off to the black market. The detectives had looked dubious that someone would be willing to kidnap him just for his “specific knowledge”, but Mina had hurriedly backed him up, saying he was one of the best in the field, and that if they were talking about rare animals, he was the expert that everyone would want to see. When the question of where those animals were came up, Seungmin simply shrugged and said that he saw a worker wheel them out of the basement right before the police arrived. Those “animals” could now be anywhere from a black market to being back in the wild.

Apparently, all the workers that had been arrested at the facility during the raid had refused to say anything other than the fact that they were doing research on a confidential project, and that they didn’t have the right to share about it, due to company policy – Seungmin suspected that in the case of the real workers, it was because they were scared of retribution, and in the case of Park’s men, it was in their best interest to hide the black market they were involved with, no one wanting the police to be snooping around there.

There had been a few more questions after that, but Seungmin’s tired state and Mina’s quiet glare had made the detectives wrap it all up pretty quickly, allowing a doctor to come in next to tell Seungmin that he’d be free to leave the following day, as long as he followed the proper care routine for his wounds.

The biologist’s excitement had been tampered down by the pensive look on Mina’s face. She’d turned to him after a while, finally sharing what was on her mind.

“Do you want to come back to work?”

Seungmin had frowned, taken aback.

“I… haven’t really thought about it yet. Why?”

“Well… As much as I love you, and getting to work with you, and even though I know it wasn’t our department that went to shit and that our company is mostly pretty nice… I would still understand if you had some trauma attached with work now. Actually, I would be pretty freaked out if you didn’t have trauma linked to it in some ways or other. So, I was just… wondering, scouring the options, you know? I…”

She’d hesitated, and Seungmin could see in her face that she almost didn’t want to speak her next words, but she still did because she cared for him.

“I have a friend, in Australia. He teaches at the Macquarie University, in Sydney, and he just told me that every year, they’re desperately looking for assistant teachers and researchers for the marine biology department. I thought that… Well, if you want to take a break and put some distance between yourself and the place that hurt you, I can set you up somewhere, if that’s what you wish.”

Her offer was more than generous and Seungmin had been truly caught unaware by it.

“I… don’t know yet. Like I said, I haven’t really taken the time to think about this issue, but thank you so much for having thought of me! I’ll mull it over and come to you with my answer in a few days?” he’d tentatively proposed, biting his lip nervously.

“Of course Minnie, you don’t have to stress about this. For now, you rest and relax, and you make sure to heal fast so you can go see your boys” she’d winked at him, ruffling his hair up.

Hongjoong waited for him at the harbor, leaning against a bench, sporting his usual black and orange attire. A light smile spread his lips when he saw the human approach, and he waved Seungmin over, his numerous rings clinking together.  

“Little human, how are you feeling?”

“You know I’m good Hongjoong. I saw you guys checking up on me from the tree right next to my room’s window” the biologist called the siren out.

Hongjoong didn’t seem phased by it, simply shrugging. “I had to make sure you were treated well. If I didn’t have eyes on you to be able to report to Chan, he would’ve dragged his scaly ass all the way there himself.”

Seungmin laughed, extending his hand to the siren and accepting the careful hug that was given instead of a handshake. “Thank you” he breathed out. “For watching over me, and for bringing the boys to safety. Oh, and please let Wooyoung know I’m really grateful he let the pod use his phone for the videocalls” he chuckled.

“Oh boy, that whole thing was a mess! But you deserved to get to see your boys after everything that happened” Hongjoong nodded. “You deserve happiness, especially because of all you did for your boys. You’re a good human, Kim Seungmin. It’s not often that I say that, so I hope you realize your worth because I truly mean it.”

The siren had taken a very solemn tone, driving his message even further home that his words were not to be taken lightly. Seungmin gulped but still accepted the compliment with a grateful bow of his head.

“Alright, enough of the chit chat. Get on the boat, you have a personal driver today” Hongjoong’s voice turned cheeky as he spun the boat’s keys around his finger. “And don’t you even think about protesting! You need someone with legs to be able to watch over you. As much as the pod adores you, they won’t be able to bring you back on land in case of an emergency” he deadpanned.

Seungmin didn’t even think of fighting the pitohui on this matter, and simply made his way on board, slouching gratefully on the bench of the deck. He noticed with a pinch of nostalgia that Hongjoong had rented the same boat he usually took out on his dives, and it made him smile as he slid his fingers along the familiar railings. He was gonna miss it…

His arrival at the bay was celebrated by a loud cacophony of whistles and clicks, and it was everything he had been expecting. With a smile, he slid on the floor, opening his arms wide. Almost immediately, three mers filled the empty space, slamming him down on the deck as he greeted them with laughter and a warm embrace. Felix and Hyunjin had both glued themselves to his sides, holding onto his arms as if he was going to disappear if they didn’t hold him down, while Minho laid on top of Seungmin, hovering over his torso. The eldest mer’s face went through so many emotions at once: excitement, joy, worry, longing. Then, it settled on what he wanted to convey the most: love. Minho didn’t hesitate any further and practically smashed his head in Seungmin’s neck, nuzzling it for dear life and marking the delicate skin there with quick and gentle bites, littering the human’s whole throat, jaw and collarbones.

"Seungmin! We missed you so much!" Hyunjin breathed out in the human's ear, making him shiver. 

"We were so scared we would never get to see you again” Felix's sobs were heart wrenching, and Seungmin wiggled around as best he could to wrap his arm around the freckled boy and offer a comforting embrace. 

"You don't have to worry anymore, I'm here" he soothed them, rubbing his hand up and down Felix's spine. He bent his head to drop kisses over each one of Felix’s freckles, delighted when he managed to pull a wet laugh from the blond boy.

"Stop moving, you're hurt" Minho growled, literally growled against the human's throat, making Seungmin freeze at his sharp tone and at the vibrations that reverberated inside his chest. 

"Your friend, Mina. She told us how badly hurt you were..." Hyunjin told him. "And Changbin also told us how... how much blood you lost and... and how scared he was that you died..." The boy cut himself off, choked up. 

That's when the human realized that, indeed, none of their arms were wrapped around his torso, neither from the front nor the back. Mina had probably told them that he'd been hurt there and that's why they were handling him so carefully instead of crushing him in breath-halting hugs. Seungmin didn't know what to say to make his boys feel better. He knew how scared they must've been to lose him. Hell, the one thing that pushed him to fight off the blissful nothingness of his comatose state was his fear of never seeing the pod again, so he definitely understood their feelings. 

"I'm so sorry for worrying you like this" he whispered. "I never wanted to do that, but now I'm safe, and I'm back with you. I'm here, and I'm not going away for a long time" he promised, kissing the top of Hyunjin's head and embracing Felix closer. 

Minho gave him one more soft bite, right in the juncture between his neck and collarbone, before pushing himself up. "There, that way, everyone will know you belong to us, and no one will dare take you away again!" 

Seungmin blushed, both turned on and fondly annoyed by the elder's possessiveness. He didn’t hesitate to replicate the affection however, and leaned up to kiss Minho properly, feeling the mer’s sharp fangs brush against his lips. Despite his earlier aggressive love, the golden-tailed boy’s kiss was as delicate as the touch of a butterfly, making Seungmin’s heart threaten to beat out of his chest at the tenderness behind it all.

"Come on, get off of him, it's our turn now!" a voice whined behind them, and Seungmin barely had the time to register Felix, Hyunjin and Minho's bodies leaving his side that three new people were swarming him. 

The boat tilted dangerously as the boys shifted around, their weight making the poor ship rock from side to side. Hongjong squawked in surprise, shifting into his bird form and perching himself on top of the cabin, at a safe distance from the trudging mers. As Seungmin sat up on the deck, his sides were once more carefully engulfed by Jeongin and Jisung this time, Changbin being the one that wormed his way in between Seungmin's legs to hold his face in between his hands. 

"Little one... you're alive" the black-tailed mer breathed out. 

At that moment, everyone could see the tension bleed out of Changbin's shoulders, and the biologist realized how hard it must've been for him in the past few days. After all, Changbin had been the one holding Seungmin in his arms, pressing on his wound to stop him from bleeding out on the spot. And, despite the frequent videocalls, it was also understandable that the mers preferred to see with their own eyes that their human was safe instead of trusting an image on a phone, seeing how unfamiliar they were with human technology. 

"I'm alive. I'm here, and I'm not going away" Seungmin repeated, knowing his boys needed to hear those words over and over again, until they truly believed it. He let Changbin nuzzle his hair, taking comfort in the strong presence of his hyung. 

Turning to look at both Jeongin and Jisung, still nestled in his arms, he spotted the marks that were also littering the three boys' necks. It was no doubt Minho's work, the mer probably needing to assert to the whole world that these boys were his, and that no one would take them away from him ever again.

"Minnie... I missed you so much" Jeongin’s eyes were all teary, and Seungmin didn't hesitate to lean in and kiss him gently on the mouth. 

"I missed you too, Innie. How are you feeling baby? Are you okay? The bad men didn't hurt you too much?"

Calling them "bad men" might've been childish, and definitely not what those bastards deserved to be called, but the biologist didn't want to stir up bad memories or strong emotions right now. 

"I'm fine. Lixie healed me really fast, I feel much better now. Especially because you're back with us" Jeongin leaned in for another kiss, which Seungmin was more than glad to give. 

He then turned his focus on his left, to Jisung. " And you, love, how are you? Are all of your teeth back? Does anything hurt anywhere?"

"No I... I'm all fine" Jisung sniffled, his lower lip trembling. It was evident that the boy was on the verge of tears, but was trying his hardest to stay strong in front of the others. "I just... I wanted to tell you... I'm so sorry Minnie. We're all so sorry" he whispered, hiding his face in Seungmin's shoulders. 

The diver let out an inquisitive noise, not understanding what the shark boy meant. 

"We're sorry for not believing in you from the start" Changbin completed for him. "For... for doubting you, and for ever thinking that you could be working with that monster."

"Oh... It's... It's okay, don't worry about that. It made sense after all, with all the lies that Park was telling you. You had every reason to believe him, and I don't blame you for that at all." 

"No! Listen to them Minnie, please!” Jeongin interrupted, his eyes glowing fiercely. “I made sure Changbin and Jisung would apologize, though they didn't need a lot of convincing. You deserve those apologies, because you did nothing wrong and you helped us through it all, and despite, that they still pushed you away. " Jeongin had never sounded as determined as he was right now, as he tilted Seungmin's chin towards him. 

"The baby shrimp is right, we do owe you a big apology, and it would be totally understandable if you ignored us for a while too, until you feel like you can forgive us..." Changbin murmured, his brow creased in worry as Jisung let out a small whimper, holding onto Seungmin's arm tighter. 

"Ignore you?" the biologist squawked, distressed. 

"It's the ultimate form of punishment in a pod," Jeongin explained. "When a member does something wrong, they are shunned and ignored by the others for a certain amount of time, until they have reflected on their wrongdoings. The pod is everything to a mer; not just a survival means, but also your family, friends and partners... It's a painful but just punishment to cast someone away temporarily, until they understand how much they hurt the pod by their actions." 

Seungmin looked at Changbin and Jisung with wide eyes. Those boys would voluntarily go through this for him, cast themselves away until they felt that they deserved to come back, because they had faltered in their trust in him... In that moment, it felt as if the scientist's whole world revolved around those boys; fuck gravity, they were the one thing that held him whole and their faith in him was absolutely ground shattering. 

He leaned forward, kissing both boys square on the mouth, a bit more forcefully than he would’ve liked to admit, but he needed them to understand just how much he loved them right at this instant.

"I would never, ever force you away from the pod." It was Seungmin's turn to growl this time, almost rivaling Minho's. "You did the best you could in that situation, and I never ever want to be apart from you, for any reason whatsoever. So, you better forgive yourselves, because I never held any of this against you, and I just want us all to finally be together and be happy for once!" He pleaded with them, his voice tampering down to a whisper as he held Jisung closer and caressed Changbin's cheek. 

They both offered him radiant, although teary smiles, and Jeongin broke the moment with a mumbled "I knew you were a big softie" that made them all laugh. 

Seungmin was relieved to see his boys smiling again, despite everything they’d lived through. However, there was still one uncomfortable question he wanted an answer to.

“Can you tell me which one of you killed him?”

Jisung’s hold on his arm tightened and Changbin frowned, but it was Jeongin who answered calmly.

“I did. He got what he deserved.”

“He did indeed… Honestly, I feel better knowing that he’s gone for good; it feels like you guys will finally be safe” Seungmin approved. “Still, I kind of wanted to do it myself” he mumbled.

Jeongin was quick to tilt his head towards him. “No, you’re not a killer. It is not in your nature to take a life, especially from someone from your own species. But it’s okay, because I will be there to do it for you if we ever need it.”

“Well then, let’s hope we never need it again” Seungmin breathed out, before leaning in for a soft kiss with Jeongin, the youngest’s plush lips being simply irresistible.

After that, the whole situation seemed much lighter, the realization that they were truly together again hitting everyone. The other members of the pod had given those four their private moment, understanding that some words needed to be said between those who had lived through this shared trauma, but now that it was over, they all slid back in the wet-boys pile to give Seungmin as much affection as possible. Hyunjin and Minho made themselves comfortable behind him, alternatingly hugging him to their chest while being mindful of the still-closing wound on his lower back, while Jisung and Jeongin took up his arms. Changbin slinked off to Jisung's side, leaning against Seungmin's shoulder and rubbing his cheek on the human's collarbone from time to time, while Felix splayed himself on the ground next to Jeongin, laying his face on the diver's hip, emitting a low vibration that sounded like a purr.

The one thing that intrigued the biologist, however, was that they left the space in between his legs completely free. He would've thought by now that someone would've jumped at the opportunity to koala-hug him, but no one moved to do so. There was also one person that was suspiciously missing, and Seungmin found himself scanning the waters to see if he could spot any black fins. 

It didn't take long for a head of silver curls to pop up, one black and one white eye locking onto Seungmin, making him shiver at the predatory gaze. Everyone turned their attention to the newcomer as well, the voices and whistles hushed with anticipation. 

With one big heave, Chan pushed himself onto the boat, eyes still locked on Seungmin. It was the first time ever, since meeting the human, that the leader had fully left the water. Before that, he'd always let his tail hang off the side of the deck idly, or sat in the surf zone when they were on the beach, always somehow staying in contact with the water. Now though, he was fully on the deck, making his way straight to Seungmin. His eyes slipped down to the human's throat, seeing it all marked up already, and he let out a low rumble. From behind him, Seungmin heard Minho's huff of pride and Chan took in a deep breath, apparently needing to calm himself down. 

"Seungmin... you're back" he breathed out. His voice sounded normal, if a little strained, but his eyes, dark with fatigue, anxiousness and something more, something wild, told the scientist that there was something going on with the pod's leader.  

“I’m back… Sorry for worrying you… How are you doing?”

Seungmin was definitely concerned for the orca, and the others must’ve picked up on it since Jeongin and Jisung let go of his arms, allowing him to open them wider and offer Chan a hug. The mer visibly recoiled, almost as if physically injured, and Seungmin’s frown deepened.

“Chan, what’s happening?” he leaned forward, subconsciously wanting to be closer to the eldest.

“This… is getting hard…” the boy breathed out, his claws embedding themselves in the deck.

“Chan, breath and talk it through” Felix piped up from the side, sending his leader a look.

The orca nodded, taking a moment to compose himself. “I… I’m so glad you’re back, Minnie. The boys and I were so worried for you all when you disappeared… And then when Jisung, Jeongin and Changbin came back, but without you… we all thought the worst. And I… I’m really ashamed about it” he chuckled awkwardly, “but my brain is really not taking this whole thing well, even if I know that you guys are all safe now. There’s a thing that comes with being a pod leader, that makes us – well, me – want to make sure everyone is safe; and if something happens that is out of my control, and that makes me unable to check on all of our podmates, I tend to turn slightly-“

Chan couldn’t finish his sentence, six other voices cutting him off.

“Crazy”

“Possessive”

“Wild”

“Unbearable”

“Obsessed”

“Angry”

Chan blinked owlishly at the rest of the pod as they all gave him shit-eating grins.

“But we still love you” Hyunjin added, his voice dripping in sweetness and honey, with just a hint of sass.

Chan lifted an eyebrow, before looking back at Seungmin, who was biting his lip in a desperate attempt to hold in a laugh.

“Anyways… My instincts are just screaming at me right now to hold you and bring you to a nest and never let you go. To claim you as mine, as ours, and to never let anyone touch you or even get close to you anymore” he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, shy now that he was sharing his feelings.

“Well why don’t you do it?” Seungmin taunted him with an easy smile.

“Uh?”

A couple of catcalls echoed around the boat. Jeongin giggled as he nuzzled Seungmin’s neck, and the human felt proud of him for having made Chan lose his composure.

“I want the same thing as you right now hyung. I want to stay with you guys forever and never leave you again” he offered his hand to the leader, beckoning him closer.

Chan hesitantly slid forward until he was slotted in between Seungmin’s legs, allowing the biologist to hold his hand. “You don’t understand little one. I… If I follow my inner desires, I will never let you go again. But I can’t do that; you’re a human, you belong on land, no matter how much I hate to admit it.”

“And what if I told you I had a solution for that?”

That got everyone to quieten instantly, all eyes turned on the human.

“Minnie?” Felix asked, eyes wide as he lifted his head from Seungmin’s lap with hope written all across his face.

“I’ve never truly belonged on land” Seungmin shrugged. “And after everything that happened, I also want to take a break from other humans. I actually have found another job, that would allow me to go live in some warmer waters, and spend most of my days diving freely and research whatever I want to research… And I’d like you all to come with me, if you’re okay with that. I want to buy a boat, make it into my permanent home; we could all share it if you want, and I could follow you around much more easily while you look for your nest…” he trailed off, knowing he was rambling.

Chan was still standing in front of him, eyes wide, mouth open in shock. Seungmin flinched, fearing that he’d gone too far. After all, why would those wonderfully free creatures choose to anchor themselves to a human, even less move around the globe because of him.

“Yes” Chan breathed out, making Seungmin snap his eyes back on him.

“Wh-what?”

“I said yes, little one” the orca smiled. “If the pod agrees to it, I would be honored to do this with you. We can figure out a way for us all to live together; I know nothing could make me happier than that.”

“WE’RE GOING TO LIVE WITH MINNIE!” Jeongin was the first one to react, yelling and throwing his arms around Seungmin’s neck happily, peppering his face in happy kisses and letting out some adorable little trills.

The others weren’t far behind, and everyone enthusiastically shared how much they wanted this; how badly they wanted to share their everyday lives with Seungmin. The biologist couldn’t stop a few tears from escaping him, but they were all quickly kissed away by Changbin.

“Well, that is an unexpected happy turn of events” a voice echoed behind them, as the bird that was perched on the cabin during this whole time turned back into Hongjoong. He leaned against the railing with a smile gracing the corner of his lips. “May I ask where you would be settling, then?”

“Australia” Seungmin sniffled, letting Hyunjin wipe the remaining of his tears away. “I’d be an assistant researcher and teacher for a university there. I mailed them and they already agreed to me giving the classes online, since I’d most likely be on my boat most of the time, hundreds of miles from shore…”

Hongjoong nodded approvingly. “It would be a good life for you. I can see how much you like the ocean… And the perks of being with the pod would probably also make it worth it. Just be sure to send us a text from time to time, so we know that you’re all faring well.”

“Of course, and you could come visit any time you wanted” Seungmin assured him with a grateful nod.

Hongjoong smiled. “I will give you guys the rest of the day to spend together, but I’ll be here at sunset to bring Seungmin back on land. He still needs rest and proper care, if he wants that wound to heal, and I do not want to be dealing with an angry Mina” he warned them, before quickly taking flight, giving the boys their privacy.

Turning back to his boys, Seungmin was startled by a heavy weight suddenly engulfing him as Chan hugged him tightly, all the while still being careful of his lower back and abdomen.

“Thank you Seungmin… Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to be with you” he breathed out, nuzzling Seungmin’s neck possessively. The biologist could feel the orca relaxing against him, his embrace turning less desperate and more comforting, protective, as if he was a fragile trinket that needed to be wrapped up in bubble wrap. That was until he felt a sharp prick in his neck though, the leader apparently taking a page out of Minho’s book and needing to prove his love by leaving the indent of his teeth in Seungmin’s skin.

“I should be the one thanking you guys” the human reciprocated the hug, closing his eyes contentedly. He caressed Chan’s curls, playing with them lazily. “I just asked you to move away from this place and follow me into the unknown, and you’ve all accepted so easily!”

“We have nothing holding us here, little one. You do; you have a family, friends, a place to stay… You’re going to uproot yourself, to live in a boat, far away from land and from other humans, to be able to stay with us… By the ocean spirits, you don’t even know how much it means that you’re making this sacrifice for the pod” Chan sighed fondly, slowly letting go of Seungmin. The biologist made sure to kiss his lips sweetly before the orca was out of reach though, enjoying the blush that spread over Chan’s alabaster skin.

“But we will make sure that you won’t give up your old life in vain. I have something for you, little human. I have talked about this extensively with the whales, and Jaebum and his pod agreed to give us their blessings for it.”

“Oh, is it time? Is he going to give it now?” Jisung excitedly whispered, being dramatically hushed by everyone else.

Chan laughed at his pod’s antic, and then looked straight at the pink-haired human that was still sprawled on the deck, surrounded by all of his boys, every single one of them holding or touching him in some way. “Seungmin, of the human tribe, explorer of the ocean and researcher of the mysteries of the deep; if you will do us the great honor of accepting this symbol, we would love to formally take you in as a podmate, and a life partner.”

The orca untied a sturdy piece of string from his wrist, unwinding it to reveal that the two ends were tied together, forming a necklace with a shiny black pearl hanging from it. Under the sun rays, the pearl took on an iridescent tint of dark purples, blues and greys, the light reflecting off of its perfectly polished sides. Seungmin’s mouth fell open as his brain picked up what was happening.

“We, as a pod, want to gift you this necklace as your symbol, for you are just as rare, beautiful and precious as this black pearl. You truly are one in a million, and we are immensely lucky to have found you. You also have faced countless dangers and got over them all while keeping the safety of this pod as your first priority. You more than deserve a place by our side, and we wish to acknowledge and celebrate your bravery through this necklace. Will you accept this symbol, as well as our proposal to be ours for life?”

Everyone was waiting for the human’s answer with bated breath, no one making a move. Even the water seemed to hush itself, the waves not nearly as loud against the hull of the boat, the birds staying silent and the wind dropping to a gentle breeze.

Seungmin took the necklace in his hands, turning it over with the outmost care. He caressed the pearl with the tip of his finger, the jewel shining even more brightly as a tear escaped the human’s eye and landed right on top of it.

“What kind of question is that?” he finally answered, looking back up at Chan, with watery eyes and a huge smile. “Of course, I accept… Thank you so much” he sobbed, throwing himself onto Chan and hiccupping in the leader’s shoulder. He felt warm hands pet his back and hair comfortingly, a low voice crooning in his ear about how wonderful he was, and how excited they all were to have him as theirs from now on.

And Seungmin could only stay there, holding onto Chan for dear life as he felt himself engulfed by the pod’s pure, blissful love. He was finally reunited with his boys, and this time, truly nothing could ever separate them again, because they were meant to be together, and no one, not even fate, could deny it.

Also, explorer-of-the-ocean-and-researcher-of-the-mysteries-of-the-deep was such a cool title and he was definitely going to use it to introduce himself from now on!

Seungmin sighed tiredly as he racked his fingers through his hair, messing them up even more than they already were. His flat was in disarray, with half-packed boxes everywhere. Moving to a country that’s a 12h flight away from Korea and deciding to settle on a boat once he arrives does not make for the easiest planning, no matter how organized he may be. Buying his own ship was definitely exciting, but it was hard work since he had a lot of odd requirements that not a lot of boat models could meet. It wasn’t like he could simply explain to the vendors that he was expecting seven half-human half-fish creatures to crash in his cabin most of the time, meaning that he had to make sure they had an easy access point from the water to the boat, and vice versa. He also could not tell them that, since his impromptu roommates didn’t have legs, he had to ensure that the sets of stairs in the ship were user-friendly for people that crawled around on their hands and tails. It was frankly starting to give him a headache, but he resolved himself to be patient. In any case, he would wait until he was in Australia to make the definitive purchase, so he technically didn’t have to find his boat right now; he could keep looking for it once in Sydney. It would be a small setback for his boys, but they could wait a few more days for him if it meant he got to find the perfect floating house.

At least, his parents had accepted his move pretty easily, saying that it would be good for him to travel and to meet new people, get some new friends. They didn’t know that Seungmin didn’t plan on staying on land long enough to make new friends, although with his luck at encountering mythical creatures, who knew really; he might find himself with a trollop of unexpected new friends.

The boy looked at his couch lifelessly, pondering on if he had the time to take a quick nap before being forced to start over again with packing up, when his phone rang. Quickly taking it out, a large smile illuminated his face as soon as he saw that it was a videocall request from “The Squad”. The name was surrounded by a whale and a water droplet emoji, which had taken far too long to settle on. When the boys realized that not all types of fish were available on the app, they all had settled for the whale, saying that at least that way no one would be jealous. Seungmin had simply watched them have a whole serious discussion about emojis, and it reminded just how badly he loved them all. Ever since he’d came back to the pod, he’d decided to buy a phone and leave it on their little private beach, with a solar portable charger, just so they could join him if they ever needed it. They’d then taken the habit of calling him every night, before he went to bed, just to tell him good night. It was adorable, and Seungmin gladly indulged them just so he could see their faces right before sleep.

This time though, when he saw that his boys were calling him in the middle of the afternoon, he knew it was something unusual. He was still half-expecting it though, since they had all been acting kind of fishy in the past few days. Seungmin sighed at his own pun, deciding that his brain was now officially too tired to keep on packing, and answered the videocall instead.

“Hey boys!” He greeted as the call connected, slumping back on his couch heavily.

“Seungminnie! You have to come; we have a surprise for you!” Jisung yelled in the phone, making the biologist wince at the loudness.  

The camera shifted wildly for a moment, while whistles of protests echoed in the background, before a much more collected Hyunjin appeared on screen.

“Hello love” he crooned. “Could you come join us? We have something for you, and it really cannot wait” he batted his eyelashes, knowing Seungmin couldn’t refuse him anything when he did that.

“I’m coming right away!” the human grinned. “I needed an excuse to stop packing, so thanks for that!”

Hyunjin chuckled and sent him a flying kiss, like the scientist had taught them to do a few days ago. “Alright, hurry little one, we can’t wait to see you!”

Seungmin made sure to send a kiss back, before disconnecting the call. It was with a much more energic pep in his steps that he made his way down to the harbor, his usual boat waiting for him to go to the oh-so-familiar bay. He could drive there with his eyes closed now, since he’d made the trip so many times. Still, he enjoyed the cruise, feeling the sun tanning the back of his neck, and the wind ruffle the navy-blue bandana around his throat.

When the familiar cliffs came into view, he cut off the engine, letting himself drift closer to the entrance of the secluded bay. Moments later, his boat picked up speed again, and Seungmin looked overboard with a smile, picking up two glinting turquoise and golden tails. He let Minho and Felix bring him closer to the beach, allowing them to moor his boat to some big rocks while he jumped in the water, being easily caught in Jeongin’s strong arms. The youngest nuzzled his nose on Seungmin’s cheek with an airy giggle that made the diver’s heart melt, and he couldn’t resist kissing the youngest briefly while Minho and Felix joined them.

“Hello loves” he greeted them, receiving a kiss back from all three boys.

They were definitely excited about something, if their giants grins and chirpy greetings were any indications, and Seungmin found himself sharing their excitement as he let Jeongin’s powerful tail pull them to shore.

It’s only when his feet touched the sand that he looked around, spotting for the first time the set up that had been installed on the beach. Chan was sitting on the dry sand – which was very unusual for him, the orca normally preferring to stay wet at all times – and was surrounded by a big conch, an urchin and one of Jisung’s knives. Seungmin stared in confusion at the scene in front of him.

“Go on, it’s nothing bad, I swear!” Jeongin encouraged him, pushing Seungmin forward.

Both boys made their way to Chan until they were sitting right in front of him, the rest of their podmates not too far behind. As soon as everyone was comfortably settled, the leader spoke up.

“Hi Minnie… Sorry if we called you in such a hurry but… we’ve been trying to make this work for a few days now, and we finally managed to catch and milk a squid today, so we had to get you here before the ink dried up!”

Seungmin leaned forward, confirming that, yes, there was indeed ink inside of the conch, the shell acting as a makeshift bowl.

“Alright? And that has something to do with me because…?” he tilted his head to the side, still as confused as ever.

“Because it’s your turn to complete my symbol today, Seungmin” Chan smiled at him as his fingers went up to his left pec, where a stylized circle surrounding seven different motifs was artfully tattooed.

Seungmin’s mouth fell wide open, and Minho clipped his chin teasingly. “You look like a pufferfish, little one.”

“I just… What? You want me to tattoo you? Like right now? With an urchin and a knife?” Seungmin couldn’t lie, he was slightly panicking.

“Don’t worry, I’ll guide you through it” Chan assured him, holding his hand comfortingly.

“But I don’t even know what I would tattoo?”

“The tattoo doesn’t have to be anything in particular. Just having you leave a mark on my skin is what is important” Chan smiled, pointing at his symbol once more. “Look here; Changbin was the first to do it, and I wasn’t used to explain to others how to tattoo properly, so he left this little mark here.”

Right above Chan’s finger stood a squiggly double triangle, that almost looked like an hourglass tipped on its side. It was relatively small, and the lines were very obviously not straight.

“No matter how it looks, or the artistic talent of the one who did it” Chan winked at Changbin when the mer protested weakly at being called out like that, “I still cherish it all the same. It was a mark given to me by one of my podmates, by one of my life partners, and to my eyes, it is perfect.”

That was it. Seungmin was now convinced that Chan was the most humble and precious person both on land and in the water. How could he say something like that so casually and not expect the biologist to fall even deeper in love with him?  Examining Chan’s symbol a little bit closer, he managed to spot the others’ artworks. The orca watched him knowingly and told him the name of the artist as soon as Seungmin pointed to it. There were three undulating lines, maybe representing the ocean – Hyunjin. Then, there was a cute turtle, made up of graceful round lines – Felix. The spiral that curved like a fish hook had been a curtesy of Minho, the sharp triangle from Jisung was probably supposed to be a shark tooth, and Jeongin had opted to draw little circles all around the canvas, like air bubbles.

Seeing this, Seungmin squared his shoulders. He did want to leave his mark next to the others, he wanted Chan to wear it proudly on his chest.

“Alright. How do I do this?”

So, the rest of the afternoon was spent with Chan patiently guiding Seungmin on how to sharpen one of the urchin’s needles and then to dip it in the squid ink to coat it properly. The mer then laid down on his back, letting the human straddle his hips to have a proper access to his chest. The process of applying it to the skin in short bursts by tapping against the bottom of the needle with the handle of the knife was slightly harder for Seungmin to grasp, since he was scared of hurting his hyung, but after a lot of reassurance from the orca and countless praises from the rest of the pod, the human started his artwork.

It took him longer than he expected, as he put his entire focus on the task, wanting this to be as perfect as possible. The others respected his space, no one peeking over his shoulder to see what his design would be. Instead, they simply hung around Chan and Seungmin, either lazily napping in the sun or talking about how exciting their upcoming move to Australia was. The human made sure, despite his intense focus on his design, to take some breaks to check that Chan was doing okay. The orca always smiled up at him, telling him that it didn’t hurt at all, and that the human was in fact very delicate. Looking down at the red and irritated skin under the needle, Seungmin could only lift an unbelieving eyebrow at his hyung, but Chan simply chuckled and settled his hand on the human’s hip, his thumb rubbing right above the hem of Seungmin’s shorts in a comforting gesture. 

The diver had to take several breaks throughout the session, his fingers cramping in uncomfortable position but, after a long while, he finally sat up. He wiped the sweat from his forehead tiredly but with a content smile on his lips.

“I’m done!”

Chan was the first to look down at his chest, examining the new mark that graced his skin. His eyes crinkled in little crescents as he saw the tattoo. On the top right side of Chan’s pec was a sun, its beams shining down on the other boy’s marks. On the opposite corner, a moon surrounded by stars seemed to glow dimly on Chan’s marble skin. 

“It’s so pretty Seungminnie! You did so well! But can I ask why you chose this design?” he shot a curious look at the human, taking the diver’s hand in his and kissing his knuckles in gratitude.

Seungmin blushed at the sweet gesture, clearing his throat while the other boys rushed in to see his motif. “I chose the sun and moon, because it’s what we’ll always have in common. No matter if I’m on land and you’re in the ocean, or if we’re separated by thousands of miles; we’ll always be under the same sun, and look up at the same moon, and to me it’s enough to know that I’m living in the same world as you guys to make me happy” he shrugged, trying to wave off his sudden shyness.

Chan cooed at him while Hyunjin left a resounding smack on Seungmin’s cheek, calling him cute. The pink-haired diver giggled, looking at the orca.

“I hope you like it hyung?”

“You know I do Minnie. How could I not?” Chan assured, engulfing Seungmin in a one-armed hug on his non-newly-tattooed side. “You’re the best” he nuzzled Seungmin’s hair, making the boy bite his lip to stop a whine from escaping him. “And I can’t wait to move to this new place so that we can start our new life all together, finally.”

The orca’s words echoed around Seungmin, and he couldn’t agree more with this. They deserved this new start, and he just knew somehow that they were going to make the best of it.