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the wind and the water have always been friends, as they carry messages to all parts of the world. news of trade, confessions of love, and the sighs of pining canals waiting for their brave ships to return from war commercial transport.
call him old-fashioned, but jungkook believes he belongs at the port, floating his ship , making his ship’s journey smooth, getting the waters ready for anchoring after his ship’s long and arduous travels. that doesn’t mean he is not a canalist, he is just in love.
(and seokjin’s hull is massive, but that’s besides the point.)
so when the winds and the waves bring him news of Evergiven’s imminent arrival, jungkook is overjoyed. he has just enough time to make sure his water sparkling clean and pretty, and his banks smooth and welcoming. he knows seokjin doesn’t care for shallow appearances, but jungkook still wants to look his best for their reunion.
so imagine his surprise when a ship, which is definitely Not seokjin, crashes into his waters and gets stuck in the shallows the very next day, barely hours before seokjin’s scheduled arrival.
“excuse me, are you lost?” he asks, and this new ship gives him an absolutely salacious spin of his propeller and says -
“lost in your waves, babycanal.”
jungkook bubbles in confusion.
“um -” he sneaks a glance at the ship’s name, “Coral Crystal, was it?”
Coral Crystal disengages its bow thrusters as the people on board start shouting in urgent tones.
“right you are, cutie. but you can call me jimin.”
“hello jimin… i don’t think you should be stopping here.”
“and a sweet little thing like you shouldn’t be all alone on such a sunny day,” jimin says, as the people onboard start to sound increasingly distressed.
“oh, i’m quite alright, thank you though Coral Crystal hyung. i’m actually expecting a friend to stop by soon.”
“hmm ‘friend’ you say,” jimin muses, angling his rudder in a skeptical move, making a passenger yelp in surprise. “surely you can have more than one ‘friend’, can’t you jungkook?”
jungkook swirls a current thoughtfully. “that is true, but -”
“two can float in the same waters,” jimin says, “unless ofcourse, it’s not simply a ‘friend’ you’re referring to.”
jungkook feels his banks heat up. “something like that.”
“oh? and he left you all alone on a beautiful day like this? poor thing,” jimin tuts.
“i’m sure he’ll be back soon,” jungkook mumbles, pensively bothering the tiny pebbles on his shore. seokjin would be back, right?
“ah, these careless ships that sail through international waters. they say they’ll call but they never do,” jimin sighs. “if you wanna blow off some steam tho, i’m great at one-night-swims.”
“you know what they say,” jimin continues, “it’s not the size of the hull that matters, it how you use-”
“ah no thank you!” jungkook interrupts, waters rippling in panic. “i’m sorry, i wasnt’ truthful. my friend… he’s not just a one-night-swim… i have feelings for him.”jungkook sighs. “your body is very streamlined! and i’m sure your thrusters are very powerful! i’m just…”
“relax sweetheart, every ship and their sailor knows about you and your ‘friend’,” jimin smiles, letting jungkook’s currents brush him softly. “seokjin never shuts up about you, so i just had to see for myself if this ‘cutest canal in the world’ returned the depth of his feelings.”
“you know seokjin?! he speaks about me?”
“oh, all the time!i’m sick of seeing his lovesick navigation lights,” jimin says. “he may appear all big and mighty, but his engine room is very warm and sensitive. i had to make sure that whoever had popped on his radar deserves his love.”
jungkook’s insides feel like a whirlpool.
“L-love?”
“that’s not something for me to answer,” jimin says, cryptically angling his rudder back into position. “it was nice meeting you jungkook.”
“wait! you’re leaving? and seokjin… do you know when he’s coming?”
“he has been waiting to dock for about half an hour now,” jimin laughs, starting his engines back up again. the humans onboard raise a shout of pure relief. “good luck with everything.”
“thank you! safe travels! and i really would like to be friends with you, if the offer’s still open,” jungkook says. “just friends, though!”
jimin exhales a puff of amused smoke from his chimney. “no offence, darling, but you’re not my type. in fact, i’m an anchored ship myself. there’s a lovely cruise liner currently docked in daegu i’ve already brushed hulls with,” he winks. “i’d love to be your friend, though. complain about seokjin to me whenever you want.”
jungkook raises his waters in gratitude, and the Coral Crystal slowly makes its way out of his territory.
in the distance, the wind brings him the sound of Evergiven’s horn, signalling seokjin’s arrival, and jungkook let’s go of a wave he didn’t realise he had been holding.
seokjin, when he finally arrives, is in a less than pleasant mood.
“what’s the matter?” jungkook asks, letting his water lap gently against the ship’s strong metal body.
“i thought we had something special, jungkook. i thought i was the only one you’d allow to cause a worldwide economic crisis in your waters,” seokjin replies, and jungkook ripples in amusement around him.
“are you jealous?”
seokjin sends a flurry of bubbles up in indignation. “jealous? huh! jealous of some young little streamlined ship grounded in you? of course not! float, flirt, and ferry, that’s my motto.”
“mhm, it was only 15 mins, honey. and i thought about you the entire time. i swear it didn’t mean anything.”
“you’re teasing me,” seokjin huffs. “maybe i should run aground here for 5 days again”
“haha and then what? you’re gonna mess up my seabed real bad, huh? create some real strong currents with your bulbous bow?”
seokjin’s sides heat up so fast that jungkook can feel the temperature change in his water. “oh god, it was jimin wasn’t it? only he could’ve taught you to flirt like that!”
jungkook twirls a current cutely. “that’s not the only thing he told me. about you. and us.”
“jungkook, i -”
“it’s okay, i know you’re a busy ship and you don’t have time to get anchored right now. but i just wanted you to know that i feel the same.”
seokjin pulls him close. “you mean it? really?”
“really. i love you, in stillness and in motion. in the deep and in the shallows. buoyantly, and completely, in every god-honouring way that a canal can love a ship, and more.”
“jungkook…” seokjin lists to a side, overwhelmed. loads of untied cargo go sliding on his deck. “i am not sure i can top that speech.”
“just kiss me you fool,” jungkook laughs. “and then love me in the most god-dishonouring way. show me what you can do with that big hull of yours.”
“that’s not very canalist of you.”
“and you love me, right?”
“from bow to rudder, my love.”