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Jimin loves summer sun on his skin. He loves the soft burn and the comfortable cooldown that comes after it sets. Fairy magic awakens in the summer, as if the sun recharges their wing glow and their charms. Jimin’s wings are lighter than ever as he soars over the top leaves of his forest. He twists and spins in the air, his arms outstretched, palms open to feel the windflow. Jimin giggles when a breeze knocks him around, like a friend saying hello. Summer is an easier month for the fairies; the elven blooms in the east glen don’t need any extra help and the forest maintains its own cool environment, a haven for the creatures susceptible to heat. So Jimin is free to flutter around on his own whims, and those whims float him to the beach today.
The solstice brought high tides last night, a reverent refresh of sand and air. Jimin can smell the salt in the water the closer he gets. When he lands, he takes a deep breath, letting the purity fill his lungs. The sand seems brighter this morning, fluffier. Jimin dips his bare toes into it and watches the sun grace over the calm flows of the water.
The horizon is clear until a head pops above the surface. Jimin blinks and the head is gone. He rubs his eyes. Maybe it was just the sun glare. The head pops up again with Jimin’s next blink, close enough now that Jimin can make out wide, curious eyes and thick, pink lips. Jimin’s walk down the beach is slow and careful. The head doesn’t move again, staying away from the edge of the beach. When Jimin’s toes touch the water, the man’s features are clearer. He’s not human, not with his light, seafoam green skin. And definitely not with the purple fin that pops out of the water behind the man.
Jimin gasps. “You’re a merman!”
The merman’s head tilts and he swims a bit closer. If Jimin waded into the water, he’d be able to reach out to him, but he won’t. The merman still seems wary of Jimin, so he keeps himself still and smiles at the merman, waving his open hands to show he has nothing to hide.
“What’s your name?” Jimin asks. The merman furrows his eyebrows, watching Jimin’s mouth with intrigue. “Can you understand me?”
The merman bites his lip, seemingly contemplating something, and disappears back under the surface. Jimin tries not to let himself feel disappointed. He’s wary around strangers, too. It must be worse for a sea creature, so unexposed to the land. Jimin wonders if the merman has ever seen a fairy before. Jimin’s wings may have confused him, too. He sighs, sitting on the sand and pushing his feet deeper into the water. There’s a drop off beneath him, where the sand gives way to rock and ocean. Jimin swings his feet under the water, humming to himself. Maybe the merman will come back one day. Jimin has a few friends around the forest who would love to meet him.
Jimin screams when something tugs at his foot.
His wings launch him into the air, where he hovers as the merman’s head appears near where he was sitting a few seconds before. The merman frowns up at Jimin and beckons him back down. Jimin lowers himself carefully and keeps himself just above the merman’s reach. He’s got long arms, Jimin can tell from his overview.
“How do I know you’re not trying to eat me, huh?” Jimin calls. The merman’s lips twist, unimpressed or unamused. “So you can understand me!”
The merman wiggles his hand, shrugging.
“Only a little?” Jimin asks, pinching his fingers to illustrate.
The merman nods, a breathtakingly bright smile pulling his lips up. Jimin’s heart skips. The merman waves for Jimin to descend further and taps his throat, trying to communicate… something. When Jimin hesitates, the merman shakes his head, his bangs falling back to reveal a pretty string of shells over his forehead, a sparkling pearl in the middle. It’s as alluring as the rest of the merman, and Jimin can’t help but let himself fall into the pull. He lowers himself back to the sand, crouching before the merman.
“Okay, I’m here. What do you need?”
The merman smiles, tapping his finger against his lips.
“A kiss?”
The merman nods, leaning his arms on the sandy surface to lift himself up and licking his lips.
Jimin laughs. “I don’t know how things are done underwater, but it usually takes longer to move onto kissing up here.”
The merman stumbles as he strains for Jimin’s lips. Jimin catches his chin before it can hit the surface. “Careful!”
The merman smiles, a soft trill bubbling out of his throat like a laugh. Jimin giggles. “That was cute. Okay, I’ll kiss you, but you have to promise not to drown me after, okay?”
The merman stares back at Jimin, still smiling. Jimin shrugs and carefully kisses the merman. His lips are soft and salty. Jimin’s tongue flecks out shyly to get a better taste. The merman trills again, opens his lips to let Jimin in. They pull apart, grinning at each other.
“Thank you.”
Jimin gasps. “You can speak!”
“I can now,” the merman says. “Merpeople exchange language this way.”
“Through kisses?”
“Yup.” The merman’s eyes glitter. “Thankfully the first land creature I met is so beautiful.”
Jimin blushes, covering his cheeks behind his hands. “You’re beautiful, too.”
“I know.” The merman flicks his hand over his shoulder, grinning proudly. “See this?” He points at his forehead band. “It means I’m the prettiest in my pod. That’s why I can travel on my own and come here to meet... What’s your name?”
“Jimin.”
“That’s why I can come here to meet Jiminie. Isn’t that cool?” The merman’s tail wags, waiting for a response.
“That’s very cool. What’s your name?”
“I’m Seokjin!” More tail wagging.
Jimin can’t help his coo. “Nice to meet you, Seokjin-ssi. Are you just here to visit?”
“I was hunting and I followed the fish here,” Seokjin says. “There’s lots of yummy fish in this cove. I’d like to stay here for the warm seasons.”
“What about your pod?”
Seokjin shakes his head. “Merpeople with this,” he points at the forehead band again, “can live wherever we want. We can make more pretty merpeople that way. Some of us travel all the time, but I wanted to find my own waters to live in .”
“As long as you just eat fish, I guess that’s okay. Me and my friends like to swim here when it’s warm enough.” Jimin turns back to the forest, as if they would appear at his mention, but the treeline remains still.
“Is your hair sunlight?” Seokjin asks.
“What?” Jimin laughs, trailing his fingers through his blonde bangs. It’s gotten longer lately. Jimin keeps some of it tied back in a little bun so it won’t fall into his eyes when he flies. “No, it’s just lighter than yours.”
“Do all surface creatures have light hair?” Seokjin leans over his arms with the same curious air as a child.
Jimin shakes his head. “Some of my friends have dark hair like yours and some have light hair like me. Do all merpeople have dark hair?”
“Of course! That way the fish don’t notice us.”
“What about your tails, then?” Seokjin’s tail twitches at Jimin’s mention. “They’re easy to notice.”
“We hide behind rocks.” Seokjin rolls his eyes like this should be obvious to Jimin. “Does Jiminie hunt?”
“No. I’m a fairy, we just eat nuts and berries.”
“Is that why you have those... Those things?” Seokjin mimes Jimin’s wings by flapping his hands. His fingers hit water, splashing Jimin.
He giggles, wiping the salt water off his cheeks. “Wings, yeah.” He swipes them though the air, the way he knows will catch the light.
“Wow.” Seokjin claps with delight. “You’re magic!”
Jimin’s blush burns his skin more than the sun over his freckled shoulders. He knows he’s magic, this whole forest is magic, but hearing it from someone he’s just met— someone he just kissed — quickens his heartbeat.
“Are your friends magic, too?” Seokjin asks.
“Yep! There’s Taehyungie, who’s an imp. That means he’s kind of like me but... different. Taehyungie said he made a new dragon friend the other day, but I haven’t met them yet. If Taehyung likes them, I’m sure I will, too. Jungkookie’s a werewolf! He’s a big puppy though, you shouldn’t be afraid.”
“I’m not afraid,” Seokjin says as he dips back down under the water until just his wide eyes are above the surface.
Jimin laughs. “Don’t worry. He’ll only want to swim with you. Then there’s Namjoon-hyung and Hoseok-hyung. Namjoon’s a tree.”
“A tree?”
“Like those.” Jimin points to the treeline behind him. Seokjin hums his understanding. “Namjoon was born from one of the trees in the forest. It’s this big, pretty oak tree. Namjoon takes care of all the other trees in the forest, too. When the weather changes, he helps them grow or go to sleep. And Hobi-hyung does the same, but for all the flowers in the eastern glen. He’s an elf, so he knows when each flower is ready to bloom.”
“What does Jiminie do?” Seokjin’s hand brushes out of the water and circles around Jimin’s wrist. His gaze is solid and serious, like he’s holding onto Jimin’s every word.
“I...” Jimin coughs away the flustered break of his voice. “Fairies help where we’re needed. Sometimes I help the elves or speak to the trees with Namjoon-hyung. I play with Jungkookie and Taehyungie on other days.”
“Will you play with me, too?” Seokjin asks, pulling Jimin’s hand into the water.
“Yes, I’ll— You’re not trying to eat me, right?” Jimin remembers hearing humans talk about sirens once before. He doesn’t believe human’s stories for the most part, too reliant on half truths and exaggeration, but the handsome merman seems too good to be true.
“I don’t eat land creatures,” Seokjin laughs, “Only fish.”
“You promise?”
Seokjin nods, intertwining his pinkie with Jimin’s. “May the oceans dry away if I lie.”
“That’s a big promise.” Jimin gulps.
“I want to live here. I don’t think eating anyone would help me stay.”
Jimin laughs. “That’s very true! It may help if you meet some of my friends, too. What do you think? Is that too much for your first day?”
Seokjin shakes his head. “I wanna meet Jiminie’s friends.”
“Great!” Jimin slides his hand out of the water and flutters up into the air. “I’ll find whoever’s not busy and be right back, okay? Don’t go anywhere!”
“I will wait!” Seokjin calls back.
🐡☀️🐡
Jimin finds Hoseok and Namjoon by Namjoon’s tree. Hoseok sits on one of the thick lower branches, swinging his legs in the air and humming to himself while Namjoon tends to a few of the nearby trees. Jimin can tell by the calm daze in Namjoon’s eyes that Hoseok has been here for a while. Singing for the trees is his favorite pastime while with Namjoon, although Jimin knows Hoseok’s singing is more for Namjoon than the trees themselves. Namjoon is a busy dryad, responsible for their whole forest, and Hoseok tries to give him peace of mind with his small concerts.
“Jimine!” Hoseok chirps when Jimin pushes out of the foliage around Namjoon’s clearing. “What are you up to today? You’re lucky you fairies have the summer off.”
“You know I can help with the blooms if you need me to,” Jimin says.
“You should enjoy your off season, Jimin-ah,” Namjoon says, removing his palm from the bark of a tree. His smile is warm, enchanting. Jimin finds himself getting lost in it too often.
“I am! I found someone new today.”
“Someone new?” Namjoon frowns. As the dryad of the forest, new arrivals usually seek him out first when they enter the trees. Anything else is a breach of manners.
“At the beach,” Jimin assures him, “He just got here today.”
“A sea creature?” Hoseok’s eyes glitter with interest.
Jimin nods. “Seokjin-ssi’s a merman. He wants to meet you.”
“A merman! I’ve never met a merman before. Let’s go, Namjoon! This is so exciting.” Hoseok jumps from his branch and pushes Namjoon away from the trees with a wide smile.
“Are you sure he’s safe?” Namjoon asks, worry between his brows.
“The seas will dry up if he eats me,” Jimin says. At Hoseok and Namjoon’s startled silence, he elaborates, “That’s what Seokjin promised, anyway.”
“That’s...”
“...intense.” Hoseok finishes, but he smiles brightly and keeps pushing Namjoon on. “At least we know he’s trustworthy!”
“Because of that?” Namjoon still looks unconvinced. He reaches out to take Jimin’s hand, scanning him carefully. Jimin feels a new blush bloom under his cheeks. He can’t decide which side of luck he lands on, to have this many gorgeous men around him, but Jimin is still too flustered from Seokjin’s attentions to fully withstand Namjoon’s attractive concern. He drops his gaze to the forest floor bashfully.
“He didn’t hurt you, did he, Jimin-ah?” Hoseok asks calmly.
Jimin isn’t too surprised to find the same sincere care in Hoseok’s eyes as Namjoon’s. But Hoseok is always more open with his feelings than the dryad, which makes his gaze easier for Jimin to take on.
“He didn’t. He just wants some new friends, that’s all.”
Namjoon smiles. “Well, we can help with that, can’t we?”
Jimin beams, skipping the rest of the way through the forest. His heart feels lighter knowing his friends will accept Seokjin, too. He’s only known the merman for a few hours, but Jimin is a creature of magic; he runs on the natural flow of his feelings. And meeting Seokjin felt just like meeting his other friends in the forest. Natural and easy with a touch of destiny. Jimin hasn’t met Taehyung’s dragon yet, but he’s sure it will be the same, a natural draw to tie them all together. He doesn’t know what’s on the end of it yet, but when it comes, he knows he’ll be happier than he’s ever been before.
“Seokjin-ssi!” Jimin calls as they break the treeline. Seokjin’s head pops out of the water. Jimin tracks the bounce of his dark eyes as he looks over Namjoon and Hoseok.
“These are Jiminie’s friends?” Seokjin asks when they reach the edge of the beach. He’s sunk down into the water again, nervous. Jimin wants to dive in and hold his hand.
“Hi! I’m Hoseok, but you can call me Hobi.” Hoseok doesn’t hesitate to drop down and offer his hand.
Seokjin stares at it and glances at Jimin, confused. “Does he want me to bring him into the water? I don’t have a claim over it. I just live here now. He doesn’t need to ask to come in.”
Hoseok laughs, sharp and joyful. “You have to shake it. It’s a surface thing, I guess.”
“I see.” Seokjin draws one of his hands out of the water and shakes it in the air. “Like this?”
Jimin hums. “That’s almost a wave, so... I think it counts?”
“It’s fine,” Hoseok says, waving back and winking at Seokjin. “We’ll work on it.”
“And this is...?” Seokjin nods at Namjoon, his eyes trailing up his long, tall body and to the branches that grow out of his head. “The tree.”
Jimin laughs. “Yeah, this is Namjoon.”
“His hair is brighter than yours, Jiminie,” Seokjin says, awed.
“I told you. And Hoseok-hyung’s is dark.” Jimin nudges Hoseok’s shoulder. “Show him. All mermaids have dark hair, apparently. Seokjin-ssi was surprised by my hair.”
“It’s like a blowfish.”
“ What? ” Jimin screeches over Hoseok and Namjoon’s laughter. “That’s not what you said before!”
Seokjin looks confused. “Blowfish are shaped like the sun. Mermaids hold blowfish in high regard because of that. Your hair is colored like the sun, it’s beautiful.”
“Oh...” Jimin breathes, a little ashamed of his outburst. “That’s actually kind of sweet.”
“You’re right,” Namjoon says, his fingers trailing up to caress at the fine hairs on the nape of Jimin’s neck. “His hair is like sunlight.”
Jimin flushes, shivering under Namjoon’s touch. Seokjin’s eyes sharpen, a graceful smile drawing up his cheeks.
“You’re all in love,” Seokjin says.
Namjoon freezes. “I— No, I... I love Jimin-ah, of course. And everyone else! It’s just not... It’s not, um... It’s not that I couldn’t but I...”
“It’s okay Namjoon the tree,” Seokjin says, patting the drop off in front of him until Namjoon takes a seat, the water lapping at his tan pants, “feelings take time.”
“Yeah,” Namjoon scoffs, “They do.”
Jimin isn’t sure of the feelings burning through his chest, the quiver that spreads to his fingertips as he watches Namjoon relax into Seokjin’s presence. But he thinks— as Namjoon grows a flower out of his palm to show Seokjin surface plants and Hoseok takes off his cap to let Seokjin run a hand through his short, dark hair— it’s not unlike the summer sun, comfortably warm and bright and full of promise.