Work Text:
Jeongguk has never thought of himself as a jealous person, even when dozens of eyes are on his ethereal boyfriend. He always loved to know that people are amazed and entranced with Jimin, and felt rather happy every time his boyfriend got attention.
But that only applies to humans. Not damn fishes. Like this damn baby leopard shark that is stealing all of Jimin’s attention exactly when Jeongguk is trying to show him off, as if knowing what’s about to happen and wants to stop it.
Now you see, Jeongguk is an aquarium guide. So this is basically his job — to show off the aquatic life and tell people about it, trying to teach them something so they’ll leave the aquarium a little bit smarter.
Jimin is an aquarium keeper, given the convenient circumstances. Sirens are not a myth, or a wonder anymore. They were found about a few good years ago, and till now, people have grown to accept them, somehow.
Jeongguk met Jimin when applying for his job. The siren was the one who interviewed him and gave the final decision based on Jeongguk’s knowledge, which was vaster than Jimin had expected.
The human knew almost everything there was about the underwater life, and the siren was amazed by it. Not even he knew as many things as Jeongguk did, which was a shock at first.
He gave his answer right after Jeongguk’s interview, not even wanting to hear anyone else. He knew that the human was perfect for this job.
On Jeongguk’s side… he was thrilled when he got the job. He has to admit, he found Jimin quite intimidating the first time he saw him, and has messed up the answers a little, but the man didn’t seem to mind. He was entranced with him from the first sight, and Jeongguk was happy to know that.
He really tried his best to impress the beautiful man. But imagine the shock on his face when on his first day, while passing by the shark's tanks, the pretty interviewer was waving at him from beside a shark, a gorgeous, long white sparkly tail now where he previously had legs.
No wonder Jimin asked him what he knew about sirens. Jimin is one — of course he wanted to know what Jeongguk knew and will tell about him.
The poor boy had to take a second look, and even made Jimin follow him around the tank back and forth till he understood that the siren was in fact, real. He watched the man with wide, sparkly eyes and open mouth, barely even breathing. He couldn’t miss a second . His eyes darted everywhere on Jimin’s body, from his sea blue hair, to his webbed hands covered in white scales, and his perfectly white and sparkly tail, that was at least twice Jeongguk’s size.
God damn, that’s a long tail. He wondered how heavy it was — it seemed pretty heavy, even though Jimin swam around like it was nothing.
After their first encounter, Jeongguk started to seek out the siren so he could learn more about his species, just so he can make sure that what he’s saying is correct.
That’s how he found himself around the siren for another two or so months, before he mustered the courage to ask Jimin out, who of course agreed in the blink of a second.
And they went on a date, two dates, three… And soon after a few months, they were celebrating their 100 days of being in a relationship, going on a picnic date. Jeongguk has three pages of his album filled with polaroids from that day.
And today, after three beautiful years of relationship, time in which they also moved together, Jeongguk finds himself getting jealous for the first time.
It all started fifteen minutes ago, when he entered the long hallway along with the group he was guiding. It was the special hallway that everyone was excited to see, because of the beautiful Siren.
Jeongguk walked a little bit further from the group, before turning around to face the 10 people that were excitedly looking around in hopes to see the Siren. The human clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention, and a wide smile curled on his lips.
“Okay everyone, here we are! Before we get started, I’d like to tell you a little bit about this specific hallway. As you all know, the aquarium’s attraction, Siren Jimin, is here.” he starts, arms open to point around him at the tanks that go around them, from the right, up around and down to their left.
There are fishes of every species swimming around, of every color and shape, a few smaller sharks swimming around as well. Jimin is nowhere to be seen yet, as Jeongguk knows that his boyfriend absolutely loves grand entrances, so the Siren is most probably hidden somewhere behind the huge rocks in the tanks.
The boy continues after a few seconds, “Park Jimin is the main attraction of this aquarium, and also my boyfriend. He’s a Moonlight Siren, which is why his tail, as well as his scales and fins are white. The color sometimes reflects blue, or sea green under the flashlight, but it depends on the angles. The blue hair is also because of this fact, so to answer most of your questions, no, he’s not repeatedly dying his hair. It’s natural.”
The human explains the basics first, already answering most of the not yet asked questions, because he already knows they’re coming, so he’d rather answer them now and focus on the other important facts later.
The group of people are quiet till now, only small “ahh”’s and “ooh”’s leaving their mouths. The guide repeatedly told them not to be loud once they enter this hallway, since Jimin’s hearing is extremely sensitive, especially inside the tank, and doesn’t want to disturb the Siren.
The boy moves backwards while still facing the group, showing around with his hands. “Here you’ll see numerous species of unusual fishes, that you don’t always see in other aquariums, or even in real life. All of them are rescues that Jimin has saved and brought to us to make sure they’re taken care of. As you might expect, they’re all very fond of our Siren, so please do not worry in case you see a big fish, or a shark, approach him.”
After his brief explanation, the group of people can already sense that the Siren will appear sometime soon, so they’re already pulling out their phones and opening their cameras, ready to catch the Siren on their phones. Which brings Jeongguk to the next warning.
“I must mention before we start, something that’s extremely important. Our Siren, Jimin, will have his minutes when he’ll pose for pics. Other than that, he’ll move around and be playful. Please be mindful and don’t use the flash when you’re photographing his whole body, or face, as his eyes are extremely sensitive to the flash and it will hurt him.” he explains, voice dropped down a few considerable octaves, but still loud enough to be perfectly understood.
“You are only allowed to use the flash when photographing his tail, which he’ll stay still for and protect his eyes. Other than that, the flash is absolutely not allowed, and you will be kicked out and banned from the aquarium if you’re using it. So please do double check before.” Jeongguk warned, voice not faltering a second, tone absolutely serious.
He is very serious and careful about his boyfriend’s needs and health, so he shows no mercy when someone breaks the rules. After all, they’re meant to be followed, not broken.
Once he’s made sure that everyone is set and everything is all good to go, the boy brings his index finger up to his mouth, as if shushing the group of people, and then knocks once on the tank’s glass.
It’s all he needs to do, for Jimin to do his grand entrance. He bolts from behind the rocks he was hiding, and zooms right above past them, leaving behind nothing but bubbles and fuzzy water. The fishes take this as a competition and rush to swim alongside the Siren, making it a colorful and fun thing to watch.
The Siren takes his time entertaining the group of people who are filming him, and swims around, doing all kinds of tricks for a good, long time.
Once he’s finished, he comes down at Jeongguk’s right, and waves at his boyfriend happily. Jeongguk waves back before placing his hand on the thick glass, fingers spread, where Jimin hurries to press back. It’s their way of saying ‘I love you’ silently.
The people hurry close to the glass, watching in awe the stunning Siren, whose hair is beautifully floating around his head, the deep blue so beautiful and mesmerizing.
“Jimin will stay now for pictures, so remember to keep your flash off. I will let you know when you can turn it on,” Jeongguk announces, before stepping back and letting the people take pictures of his boyfriend, and lets himself enjoy the sight.
Jimin absolutely adores being the center of attention, and basks in it for as long as he can. He poses for a long time, turning around and doing cool poses with his tail and being sure to show his webbed hands and long, pointy nails. He puts on his beautiful smile, and from time to time he pulls a kissy face, or a serious one.
Jeongguk’s amazing boyfriend loves being photographed. The human thinks it’s shocking that Jimin has not ended up as a model, because of how beautiful and photogenic he is. The camera simply loves him, and Jeongguk is sure that there are no bad photos of Jimin in anyone’s phone.
A baby leopard shark comes around Jimin, but the Siren waves him off quickly, with only just a few clicks. When he first witnessed it, Jeongguk was confused — but he later understood that it’s how they communicate. That’s their language — clicking.
Once the Siren is done, he waves his hands to beckon Jeongguk towards him, and the human goes willingly. Jimin simply points at his tail once Jeongguk is in front of him, and the boy nods quickly. Seems like it’s tail time.
“Okay everyone, now you can take up close pictures of his tail. The flash is allowed, since it’s the only way you’ll be able to see the colorful hue. Please make sure to only photograph the tail, to keep your phone downwards, and don’t forget to turn it off after,” Jeongguk says loudly, and everyone scrambles to turn on their flash and squeeze in a small semi-circle so they can get good shots of the tail.
Jimin covers his eyes with his hands and turns his head to the side when Jeongguk makes a spinning motion with his finger, and they’re all good to go.
From there on, time passes quickly. Jeongguk tells short stories about every fish there is, as well about the sharks, and keeps everyone entertained when Jimin is by his side, presenting every fish slowly and gently. Thank god for Jimin that the fishes adore.
He’s sometimes disturbed by the baby shark, but nothing too bad. The poor baby only wants some time alone with his favorite Siren, and tries his best to at least get some pets from him, which kind of makes Jeongguk pout, but that’s besides the point.
At some point along the way, the baby disappears and stays hidden, till Jeongguk starts talking about the leopard shark, and when Jimin starts looking around for it, said animal appears from nowhere and swims right into Jimin’s arms, taking the Siren by surprise.
The humans gasp, and Jeongguk sports a lopsided grin. Seems like the little baby still wants to play. And Jeongguk’s absolutely not jealous that more than half of Jimin’s attention is on the shark.
The shark falls somehow limp in Jimin’s hands, letting the Siren pet him gently and rub his belly as he stays belly up. The baby shark is the last creature Jimin rescued this month, and he took a bit of liking towards the Siren. He follows him around everywhere and absolutely adores whenever Jimin gives him attention and pets him.
“Our baby leopard shark, as you can see, is completely entranced by Jimin. He saved him from dying just a few weeks ago, and he grew quite attached to our Siren. Right now, you can see how the baby is silently asking for attention and pets, as he loves any form of affection,” Jeongguk explains, stepping to the side so the humans can film this unusual moment.
It’s not always you see a baby shark being petted by a Siren.
Jimin also makes the baby do amusing tricks, such as spinning, turning belly up, booping his head in Jimin’s palm, or high fiving with their tails. The humans are completely bewitched with the animal, and keep their eyes on him till they’re made to exit the hallway. The Siren makes the shark wave with his tail bye-bye, and smooches his slippery head happily.
But by the time Jeongguk is done, changed and ready to leave, the shark has not parted from Jimin yet, and the human is already growing quite annoyed . It has been well over one hour since he wrapped up today’s tour, and the damn shark is still stealing his boyfriend away, cuddling in a corner of the tank.
Jeongguk is sitting in said corner, just outside the tank, watching all of his boyfriend’s attention being stolen away from him by a damn baby shark, and there’s nothing he can do about it because he knows that Jimin loves his tiny aquatic friends.
The human also knows that he shouldn’t be jealous of a damn fish , but he can’t help it, when by now he should’ve already been on his way home with Jimin, ready for a night full of cuddles and crappy movies.
Jeongguk knocks on the glass slowly, sparkly eyes looking at his boyfriend pleading. The Siren smiles knowingly, but tilts his head towards the sleeping shark in his arms, and Jeongguk pouts.
A full on pout, cheeks puffed and lips turned downwards, eyebrows furrowed slightly. Jimin gives him a small smile, and signs ‘five more minutes’ .
They decided to use sign language to communicate while Jimin is inside the tank because of lack of better options, plus they already knew sign language since a colleague of theirs is deaf, and they had to learn it. Now, they’re finding it quite useful.
The human doesn’t sign anything back, and resorts to only nodding slowly. The Siren notices that his boyfriend is definitely sulking now, and swallows down a giggle.
His little baby love is always so easy to please, but also easy to upset, and there’s no wonder he’s sulking now. After all, Jimin’s attention is not on him, when it should be. The Siren thinks that it’s rather entertaining to watch his boyfriend sulk and pout as he sits cross-legged in the corner of the hallway, waiting patiently for Jimin to finish cuddling the baby shark.
Jeongguk doesn’t say it out loud, but he really really wants to go home and spend his free time with his boyfriend, rather than in the corner of the aquarium outside of his working hours.
Jimin pets the shark’s tail and slowly coaxes the baby away, talking to him in *clicks and slowly explains the situation, a wide smile on his face when the baby moves from on top of him, next to him.
Now Jimin is free to get up and swim away, knocking on the glass to catch Jeongguk’s attention.
The human inhales sharply and looks up quickly, eyes shining happily when he sees his boyfriend pointing up to him. Finally !
Jeongguk stands up quickly and doesn’t even give Jimin time to understand what’s happening before he sprints towards the exit, smiling happily. The Siren laughs, bubbles erupting from his mouth, and he bolts up where his exit is, hurrying to get dry and dressed before going out in the parking lot.
The human is already waiting for him in the car, both hands on the well and ready to drive off as soon as Jimin gets inside.
“Hi there bun,” Jimin says with a smile, rushing to put his seat belt on, because Jeongguk wastes no time in driving away.
“Hi hyung,” Jeongguk replies with a smile, but his hands are gripping the wheel tightly, till his knuckles are turning white, so Jimin knows that he’s still sulking internally.
The Siren scrunches his nose and places his webbed hand on Jeongguk’s thigh, rubbing it gently up and down and slightly scratching the skin with his nails, eliciting a gasp from the human, followed by a pitiful whine.
“Hyung…” the boy huffs, putting his right hand on top of Jimin’s cold one. “We have five more minutes, wait a little,” he mumbles, concentrating on the empty road in front of them.
His right leg presses the gas pedal even more, doing everything he can to get home faster, so he can finally have his time alone with his boyfriend. He knows that once they get back, Jimin will spoil him in love, affection and kisses, and Jeongguk can’t wait to be doted on.
Jeongguk hurries to park the car in front of their apartment complex, and gets down quickly, immediately followed by Jimin. The Siren rushes to Jeongguk’s side, taking the human’s warm hand in his and giving it a light squeeze, as they’re waiting for the elevator.
“My pouty baby,” Jimin coos, tip-toeing to press a kiss on Jeongguk’s cheek. The human scrunches his nose like he always does when he’s happy, but besides that he doesn’t react to the Siren’s kiss, which only amuses Jimin even more.
His lovely boyfriend is purposely ignoring his kisses, because he knows that Jimin is absolutely smitten for him and will kiss him even more, but the Siren doesn’t say anything.
Jimin keeps pressing small kisses all over Jeongguk’s face even when they’re in the elevator, and he even cups the human’s chin gently, turning his head to make him look Jimin in the eyes, while he coos at him in a gentle tone, “My precious baby, so sulky and pouty,” Jimin murmurs, before pecking his lips. “Were you jealous of the baby shark, petal?”
And Jeongguk doesn’t admit it, of course, but he slumps down on the elevator’s wall and drops his head on Jimin’s shoulder, letting the Siren wrap his hands around his shoulders loosely. Jimin giggles amused at the boy’s action, but kisses the top of his head softly.
They wait in silence till the elevator reaches the sixth floor, and then exit it in the same silence, only focusing on getting inside their apartment quicker.
Once they’re inside, and both their bags and jackets are on the floor, Jimin pulls Jeongguk on the couch, where he sits him down in his lap.
“There now, sweetheart. You have all of my attention, hm?” the Siren murmured, hands wrapped around Jeongguk’s tiny waist, the human’s chest pressed flush against Jimin’s.
The boy slouched down in Jimin’s arms, his limbs going limp, head falling on the Siren’s shoulder. He’s straddling Jimin’s legs and lets the boy hold him securely against his chest, quietly enjoying the cold hand that’s rubbing at his back.
Jimin’s other hand is in his hair, massaging his scalp with his long nails, helping the boy relax under his touch.
“My jealous bun,” Jimin whispers softly, “I love you so much, baby. So so much, and you know you have all of my attention, all the time, right? There’s no one else as enchanting as you, dearheart,” he murmurs, just to make sure that Jeongguk doesn’t forget it.
His boyfriend has a bad habit of getting lost in his head and getting insecure every now and then, sometimes questioning whether he really deserves Jimin or not, so the Siren has made it an almost daily thing to remind Jeongguk how much he loves and treasures him, and how happy and lucky he is to have met him.
The human merely hums, sound muffled by Jimin’s shoulder, and the Siren lets out a long sigh. “My baby…” he breathes out. “My absolutely perfect, smart and beautiful baby.”
Jeongguk whines out a small “Hyung,” the middle of the word drawn out, and nuzzles his nose in Jimin’s neck. The Siren smells divine, even after staying for numerous hours inside the tank water, around fishes. The boy noses at the Siren’s cold neck, shivers going up his spine, and he shudders under Jimin’s touch.
“Love you, hyung,” Jeongguk murmurs softly. “Love you so much, so much,” he adds, words coming out a little slurred, but full of love. Jimin broke into a wide smile, heart swelling, full of love. He could practically feel the love in Jeongguk’s words, because the younger one got so stuttery and whiny, not even knowing exactly how to express his deep feelings.
“I love you the most, treasure. Even more than the baby shark,” the Siren jokes, eyes crinkling in a smile when Jeongguk pulls back abruptly and slaps his chest while whining.
“Shut,” Jeongguk huffs. “That damn shark took away a very important hour of our Jiminie and Jeonggukie time! It’s absolutely unacceptable !”
Jimin threw his head back with a loud laugh, hands squeezing at Jeongguk’s sides playfully. The human shrieked and tried to wiggle away from the playful hands, who were doing nothing more but tickling him and erupting loud laughs from him.
Jeongguk tried his best to keep the upset façade up, but he failed miserably once Jimin also started blowing raspberries on his neck while still tickling him.
“Okay okay! It’s enough, stoop!” the youth whined, laughing loudly and breathing heavily. Thankfully, the Siren stopped at his words and is not simply watching him with a big smile, eyes filled with love and adoration.
“I promise that a baby shark will never take away from our time,” Jimin breathes out, holding up his pinky. “Unless it’s absolutely urgent. Other than that, never again.”
Jeongguk smiled triumphant, and linked their pinky fingers, “Never again.” he nodded, then leaned forward to seal the promise with a kiss.
And made a mental note that, if getting jealous over a shark will get him so many cuddles and kisses, then maybe he should get jealous a little bit more often. Just a little.