Chapter Text
There's sunlight shining through every window of the Toyota Camry, basking the passengers in a nice, golden light. Jeon Jungkook, youngest of the bunch, curls his fingers into a fist where they're resting on the window sill, pushing down his excitement. The serenity inside the car, the light radio music and tense anticipation leads to a cocktail of chaos that eventually unfolds over sandwiches of all things.
“Namjoon did you forget the sandwiches?”
“No, uh-”
“They’re in the glovebox Hyung.”
“The glOvEBOX? THEY’RE PROBABLY SWEATY, NAMJOON-”
Jungkook can’t bring himself to even attempt to get involved with the conversation, and only yelps when the car starts to swerve dangerously as Seokjin twists to accuse Namjoon again. He clings onto his seatbelt and the car door desperately, fingers sliding over the interfacing with a squeal.
“Hyung the road!”
“I spent hours making those sandwiches-”
“The road!”
Jungkook sighs, closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against the window. The vibrating of the glass rings in his ears, and he waits until the car stops swerving dangerously - Namjoon sitting next to him in the back looking guilty, Hoseok clinging onto the dashboard like his life depends on it, and Jin fuming in the driver’s seat, both hands now back on the wheel.
There’s a lull in the air, tension crackling, before a quiet-
“Are we almost there-”
“Don't you dare Namjoon-”
“The ocean!” Jungkook exclaims loudly, pressing his nose and hands to the window in excitement. The bickering instantly quietens, and Hoseok rolls down his front window, sticking his head out to breathe in deeply. Even Seokjin seems happier, allowing Namjoon to slump back in his seat without any more arguments.
“I can smell salt!”
Jungkook giggles in excitement, rolling down his window quickly and inhaling. Salt engulfs him, his every sense, and Jungkook feels a thrill rolling down his spine.
He hasn’t been back to the ocean in around five years, having journeyed into deeper Korea to attend university. It had been hard, leaving the place that he had grown up in - the long days spent on the sand, underneath the sun getting sunburnt, and the thrill that surfboarding bought him. Hard leaving all the people he had once known, all to start alone and scared in a big, lonely city.
But now, finally, he’s coming back. Back to the beaches that he’d grown up on, back to the gushing waves.
“We’ll be arriving at the house we’re staying in, in fifteen minutes,” Seokjin says, and Jungkook can’t help it, he starts laughing, hair flipping madly as his head sticks half out of the window, eyes dripping closed as he breathes it all in.
He’s finally home.
The house they’re staying at isn’t one Jungkook has seen before, further from the ocean than he’d like - and by that, he means it isn't on the beach. The house he'd grown up in had been a literally step off of the beach - filling the early mornings and late nights with easy, accessible swims.
Helping to unpack the car, his eyes drift down the small front garden. There’s the stiff, creaky front gate, and then to the left of it, leading into the undergrowth is a man-made path leading through the thick brush.
It’s the path down to the beach, the shoreline being maybe a ten-minute walk away. He can see remnants of the sand mixed in between the dirt.
Jungkook swallows down his nerves and carries one of their suitcases inside.
The inside of the house is nice, fresh, with simple “beach-house decor” - a few boat, and shell paintings hanging on the wall, multiple large mirrors and many, loose wood shelves holding an assortment of books and beach-y trinkets.
Jungkook watches as Seokjin unpacks the cooler, hearing the distant sound of Hoseok and Namjoon debating over what room they want. For some strange reason, he feels at ease here. It's nice to get away from the city, especially surrounded by his favourite people. He feels like a kid, listening to his parents bicker playfully.
“There’s a queen bed, and then two singles in the same room,” Hoseok calls as he darts into the kitchen to grab his ivory suitcase, “I want a single bed.”
“Me too,” Jungkook cuts in quickly, and sees how Seokjin rolls his eyes, but accepts sharing a bed. He goes back to the fridge with a snort and a mumble that oddly sounds like "Great."
The room itself is also nice, Jungkook realizes, as he pushes his suitcase under his bed. Two single beds, pressed tight against cream walls, with a window in the centre. It’s small, with a collection of shells on the white window sill, and a small mermaid sculpture.
He can feel his heart jump into his throat, and he’s suddenly tunnel-visioning in on this small statue. The curve of its tail, the slight gloss on it’s scales. It's beautifully elegant, but also he knows it's not accurate. Not at all, but the notion is nice. His eyes gloss a little.
“You alright, Kook-ah?” Hoseok asks gently as he folds his pyjamas, placing them by his pillow. Jungkook rips his gaze away from the statue, swallowing thickly as he gives a small smile. It’s like swallowing glue.
“Yeah.”
They eat (fresh) sandwiches for lunch, gathered around the light, wooden table, chattering lightly among themselves. The tablecloth is white, with shells decorating the seams, and the sandwiches are delicious but Jungkook can’t help himself - trying to swallow it down as quickly as he can, eyes glued to where his towel and swim trunks sit on the back of one of the couches.
“-down, Jungkook-ah.”
“Hmm?” He tears his eyes away, and Namjoon frowns at him a little, repeating - “Slow down. You’re going to choke.”
“Oh.” Jungkook makes sure to chew before he swallows another bite. “Sorry, Hyung.”
“What’s got you so excited?” Hoseok asks curiously, wiping his hands on a napkin. Jungkook spots how he exchanges looks with the others at the table, as if they all know what's coming.
“The beach-” Jungkook begins, and Seokjin suddenly chuckles, a wide smile drawing across his face.
“Did you guys forget?” He starts, voice teasing, “Jungkook’s boyfriend is a merman!”
“Hyung!” Jungkook groans as Jin starts laughing. Namjoon’s eyebrows have knitted together, and Hoseok is looking at him with a sympathetic look on his face.
“Jungkook-ah, we’d,” Hoseok glares at Seokjin, “Love to meet him.”
“He doesn’t exist.” Namjoon gets elbowed hard by Hoseok, and Jungkook scowls.
“He does. I’ve told you a million times. I’m not making things up.”
“I believe you,” Hoseok says whole-heartedly, looking earnest, but Jin is cutting in again with a light snicker.
“Yeah, yeah, you met him whilst he was stuck in fishing line, and you were almost drowning in a storm.”
“It was a net!”
“And then while you were almost dying, you saved him, and in turn he saved you. Blah, blah, romance.”
“Yes!” Jungkook pouts, pouts hard, crossing his arms. He shoves the last piece of his sandwich into his mouth and bounds up from his seat.
“I’m going down to the beach!”
“Swallow!” Namjoon scolds, Seokjin calling out to remind him to put on sunscreen.
As he’s racing out the door, towel over his arm and face sticky with cream, he hears Hoseok call to him - “But he won’t be out right now, right? Because it’s daytime, and people are-”
“It’s fine!” Jungkook hollers back, slipping on his sandals, “I just want to get back into the waves!”
And he’s gone, bounding down the dirt path.
Jungkook can't exactly blame his hyungs for struggling to believe him. He’s sure Hoseok only entertains his ideas out of sympathy, but he’s not lying.
But, it does sound a bit unbelievable.
Jungkook had met his merman at thirteen. He had snuck out of his house late at night, unknowing of the stormy weather on the horizon, had picked the lock to the surf house, and had been out on the water before you could say “mermaids eat people.”
Then the storm had hit. Aggressive, murderous waves, trying to drag him under. And, as he was trying to stay alive, Jungkook had been swept into some rocks. And there, he had met him.
His mermaid, the creature that he’d fallen in love with. The term “boyfriend” doesn’t cut it, Jimin, his merman, is his life partner, a calling in his heart, a weight in his mind.
The creature had been trapped in a net, torn free from whatever boat it had originated from, twisting and trapping the merman against the rocks. It had been rough, and terrifying, but Jungkook had managed to free him, tearing the net away and freeing his tail, trying to keep above water as the elegant creature had leapt into the water and swam away.
And, fifteen minutes later, with water filling his lungs and death looming, the merman had returned - dragging him from the depths and back onto the mainland, Jungkook heaving water.
They’d had a connection, and out of pure luck, Jungkook had found the one.
They’d played together for many years, Jungkook visiting almost every night to swim with him until the day Jungkook turned nineteen - and had broken the news to the merman that he was leaving to university.
It had broken his heart, both of theirs. Jungkook can’t sleep without thinking of him, can’t spend a second without feeling his cool touch on his skin.
And now, now, five years later, he’s stepping onto the sand of that beach again.
It’s scorching, burning at his toes, and Jungkook hisses, hobbling through the loose sand. The beach is packed, filled with tourists - people in colourful bathing suits, wrapped in towels with spinning umbrellas poking up every few feet from the sand.
Jungkook holds his sandals in one hand and walks through the shallows, the water splashing soothingly over his ankles.
He wonders if Jimin knows he’s back. Can sense his presence.
Jungkook eventually settles on a rock, a few metres out to sea, with light waves casting over the side. He can hear children yelling, the sound of surfers shouting in the distance as they ride the waves.
Jungkook takes a deep breath in, and closes his eyes, reveling in the coolness of the ocean against his ankles.
He hopes to see Jimin soon.
Jungkook doesn’t.
It’s been over a week since they’ve arrived, and nothing.
They’ve gone to the beach almost every day - among relaxing in beach chairs on their house balcony, venturing into town to investigate the different shops, eating multiple ice creams from the icecream truck in the beach carpark.
And they’ve been to the beach - surfed, built sandcastles, Namjoon has searched for crabs, and Seokjin has fished.
But.
Nothing.
Jungkook has gone down to the beach every night - sat on the edge of the pier, feet in the water, and waited. Called out for Jimin softly, knowing that the merman would eventually hear it. Maybe not physically, but somewhere inside him, a tug in his heart or a fire in his mind.
Nothing.
Hoseok had accompanied him some nights, sitting quietly until Jungkook’s wilted like a dying flower, teeth chattering from the cool night air.
And, after the seventh night of nothing, no sign at all, the next day, Jungkook feels empty.
Nothing, nothing has managed to cheer him up, until Namjoon insisted that the lot of them went out for dinner. To a nice, colourful restaurant a few minutes away from the beach - with lit lanterns, swirling paintings and an abundance of fresh-caught seafood.
Namjoon hates seafood, but Jungkook knows he chose the restaurant because Jungkook likes it.
He pokes at his calamari with a pouting lip, everything thick and cardboard tasting in his mouth. He just, just doesn't understand.
He had promised to come back, and Jimin had promised that he’d been here, waiting. And now, it’s just nothing. There’s a sharp sting in Jungkook’s heart, a heaviness in his heart that he’s never felt before, despite being apart from the man for so long.
He doesn’t want to think of it, but… is Jimin just… not here anymore? Migrated somewhere else? Somewhere with warmer waters, and more fish? Or, he thinks bitterly, with bile rising in his throat, was he attacked?
Jimin didn’t have a pod, didn’t hunt with any other mermaids, and lived alone. Did a new pod of mermaids move into the area, and hunt him down, or drive him out? Is he dead? How much pain did he feel? Did he think of Jungkook as he went?
Jungkook’s eyes are growing damp and hot, and he wipes his face roughly on his sleeves, shoving a piece of calamari into his mouth.
“Cheer up!” Hoseok tells him gently with a sympathetic smile, pushing some more seafood onto his plate, “I’m sure he’s just caught up somewhere.”
Jungkook sniffles, and pops a prawn into his mouth, chewing slowly.
Seokjin and Namjoon sigh from over the table, and Hoseok glares at them warningly.
“Don’t.”
They ignore him, Namjoon starting softly.
“Jungkook.. I’m glad that this.. Thing makes you happy but… don’t let something like this ruin your holiday, okay?”
“What he means to say,” Seokjin says a bit more harshly, “Is that merpeople don’t exist.” He softens a little, adding, “Don't get too upset over it.”
Jungkook scowls, sitting up a bit straighter. “Hyung! They do exist, and I’ve told you. I’m allowed to get upset, I’ve spent years waiting for him-”
“We know, Jungkook-ah,” Hoseok says patiently, glaring sharply at the others over the table, and Namjoon bites his lip and sits back, but Seokjin doesn’t stop.
He sighs, raking a hand over his face, and says roughly - “Kook-ah, we’ve tried to entertain your little fantasy, but you have to get it into your head. Merpeople don't exist. It’s something you made up to cope with being lonely.”
Jungkook’s bottom lip trembles.
“Accept it, and move on.”
There’s heat bursting behind Jungkook’s eyes, and he stands roughly, shoving his chair back from the table. He excuses himself with a trembling voice, and stalks away, ignoring Hoseok’s soft calls after him.
“Hyung, that was insensitive-” Jungkook can hear Hoseok say sternly, but he still doesn’t stop, tears pricking hot in his eyes as he stumbles down the colourful stairs to the restaurant.
The night has just gotten colder, and he walks, hands deep in his pocket, blinking furiously to try and stop the tears from dripping down his cheeks.
Why hasn’t Jimin come back? Sure, it’s been quite a while, but the mermaid has been living here for years. Why would he just leave? Leave, when he knew Jungkook would be coming back for him?
Jungkook sniffles, and wipes his nose on the back of his hand, blinking quickly.
He’s walked to the beach, the waves gently licking at the dull sand. There’s barely any light, just a faint glow of where the moonlight is reflecting off of the dark waters.
Instantly, Jungkook slips off his shoes, and, holding them in one hand, steps onto the sand. It’s comforting - the cool crunch between his toes as he walks, eyes scanning the beach for shells. He ends up walking in the shallows, making ripples with his feet and he walks slowly, thinking deeply.
Maybe.. Maybe he has to start moving on.
He was so, so excited to come back and see Jimin, see his mermaid, but… if he’s just not here anymore, there’s nothing Jungkook can do.
His shoes sit abandoned on the sand, darkening and growing smaller as Jungkook paddles out to sea.
He wasn’t really thinking, not at first, all he knew was he longed for the comfort, for the days that he spent out at sea with Jimin, swimming with the fish. So, he’d unlocked his surfboard from where it had been locked in the beach locker, and allowed himself to wade out into the waves.
Jungkook paddles deeper into the sea, feeling the dark water licking at the edges of the surfboard. It’s deeper, colder the more he goes, but he doesn’t stop, doesn’t stop until his heart has settled in his chest, until the tears that had started to drip down his cheeks had dried.
And then, then he sits up, feet dangling deep into the pitch dark ocean, moonlight shimmering off the tips of an occasional ripple.
The beach is so far away, Jungkook realizes with a frown, a palm splayed firm against the centre of his board. It’s just a darkened, shadow strip in the distance. Nevermind. He’s a strong swimmer, always has been, and there’s no sign of a storm, of any wild waters.
So, he’ll sit here, on his board in the middle of the ocean, under the dark, dark sky, and allows himself to feel.
And he does. Jungkook isn’t sure how long he’s been out here, listening to the way the water moves, but his emotions have stopped their rapid boil, now only simmering under his skin. His calves and feet, still submerged in the water, have gone completely numb.
He shivers, drawing his right hand from out of the ocean - his fingers, from where he’d been unconsciously swirling them in the water, are also growing numb. He thinks they look grey, but he can’t really tell, not in the lack of light.
Jungkook shivers, his shoulders squeezing in on his frame, and he runs his hands up and down his arms, trying to calm his goosebumps.
He should start heading back, before his teeth start to chatter.
Jungkook sighs, deep in his chest, and takes a deep breath in. Lets it out slowly, and shifts his legs to start paddling back to shore.
The board spins sluggishly, Jungkook’s eyes brushing over the dark ripples nearby as he starts to lower himself down, to press his chest to the board so he can paddle with his hands-
What was that?
Jungkook blinks quickly, eyes still trained on the very distant shoreline. He blinks again, almost in disbelief, and slowly pushes himself back to sit up, head clicking and very, very stiffly rotating to look to his left.
….
Eyes stare back at him.
Jungkook can’t breath for a moment, completely frozen. The board suddenly feels a lot less firm beneath him, reminding him that he’s simply floating, that if he ends up losing his board and plunging into the darkness below, he’s gone.
He manages to suck a breath in, fingers curling into his palm as he watches the creature nearby cautiously.
There isn’t enough light, not really, he’s squinting and can barely make out any colours, only the shapes.
The merman’s eyes stare at him with no emotion.
Jungkook bites back a whimper, fingernails digging into his skin as the merman smoothly glides, his entire head bobbing above the surface now.
It’s not Jimin.
He can see those familiar, predatory slitted eyes, the scales that sit in tight clumps down the sides of his face, and the pointy slicked back ears that stay close to the merperson's head. He has long hair, longer than his mermaid, the strands disappearing into the water.
Mermaids eat people.
Yes.
Jungkook doesn’t dare draw his eyes away, watching as the mermaid shifts a little, bobbing.
I am people.
Jungkook draws in a deep, deep breath, and slowly draws his legs out of the water. He’s afraid to overbalance, the board wobbling dangerously, but he manages to draw both his legs out of the ocean, folding them underneath them.
He's freezing, his legs are entirely numb.
His eyes are locked onto the creatures, not daring to break eye contact. He can’t act afraid, Jungkook knows that, fighting with his chest so as to not start hyperventilating.
It’s going to eat me.
He can’t paddle to shore, definitely can’t outswim a fucking mermaid, and doesn’t dare put any of his extremities back into the water.
He’s stuck, trapped in the cycle of staring in horror.
Time passes. Jungkook isn’t sure how long, minutes, hours, as he’s stuck in terror, the mermaid’s eyes boring into his own.
I’m going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die.
The heat that he had spent so long fighting, the tears that he had managed to dry, are building again, heavy and thick in the corner of his eyes.
Die die die die die die.
The tense, but still air is broken when the mermaid moves, Jungkook gasping in terror and clinging tightly against the board, his fingers clawing desperately at the material as if it will save him.
It’s too fast, too cold, but Jungkook screams as something hits the board with such strength that it sends him flying off. For a moment, there’s just peace, and then the freezing temperature of the water hits him as he breaches the surface.
There’s salt everywhere, filling his nose, his eyes, his lungs, as Jungkook desperately tries to strike out for the surface. He can’t see anything, only the daring shimmers of silver somewhere above him, the strange dilution of the ocean’s surface.
He manages to break it, gasp in a strangled breath, before he’s going back under again, legs kicking out as he tries to tread water.
There’s movement, so much movement around him, Jungkook yelping in pain as something slices his forearm. The coldness numbs the wound almost instantly, but it doesn't stop the bubbles that trail out of Jungkook’s mouth as he cries out, clutching at his arm.
He’s striking out, kicking out in every direction, trying in a hopeless nature to defend himself, to chase this terrifying creature away.
But his movements are getting sluggish, and his lungs are starting to burn.
Jungkook realizes he’s crying, tears dripping out into the darkness as he tries for the surface again. His lungs are on fire, the movement around him making the water twirl so violently that he can’t swim, he’s sinking, he’s sinking, pain, pain in his forehead, and he screams out into the abyss-
It’s cold, so so cold that Jungkook is trembling violently, teeth almost shaking out of his mouth. But he can breathe, he can breathe, and he sucks in a shuddering breath.
Whatever he’s pressed up against is wet, very much so, with a slightly slimy texture, and he forces his eyes open to see what his chest is pressed against.
There’s another one.
Jungkook breathes in again, feeling seawater rattling in his chest as his fingers tightly grip the merman's shoulders.
He’s on the merman' s back, both webbed hands tight on his hips and thighs, keeping him flush.
Jungkook can feel the the frills, the upturned, small wing-like ones that produce from a mermaid’s shoulder blades, flattened under his chest, pressed tightly against his skin. They’re stiff, but flexible enough to fold down against him, with a slimy texture. The mermaids spine frill, something much more gentle, is pressing firmly down the centre of his chest.
The mermaid hisses, keeping them both afloat easily.
Jungkook’s fingers are curled into his shoulders, and he coughs loudly, almost whimpering as he sees the opposing, attacking mermaid slowly emerge from the depth, head breaking the dark surface.
The mermaid holding him hisses, gliding them backward a little, ears stand straight and stiff. He’s snarling, chittering defensively, moving them through the water at a slow, elegant sway.
Jungkook is fucking terrified.
He doesn't know this mermaid, it’s not Jimin, he can barely see anything, his limbs are growing colder, colder, more numb by the second.
He’s crying, crying in huge, chest sobs as his fingers dig into this strange mermaid. His arm is heavy, and there’s something warm and thick dripping down his forehead, obscuring his vision.
But he can see his surfboard, broken yet still bobbing on the top of the waves.
The mermaid is still chittering, hands holding and shielding him away from the other mermaid.
They seem to be arguing, chittering and clicking growing louder, more aggressive, and Jungkook shudders.
The mermaid who has him cradled to his back, gills fluttering in the fresh air, suddenly hisses much, much louder, and Jungkook trembles as frills, frills hidden under his hair, pop out and stand stiffly.
Jungkook pushes away from the mermaid, striking out for his board.
The water churns violently, and he doesn’t know what has happened, but there’s so much movement, the loud sound of thrashing water. He can barely hold onto his board, clinging onto it for his dear life.
Jungkook can’t stop crying, he can’t, he’s trying, but his body isn’t responding to him anymore.
His fingers are slipping, he can’t hold on, can’t keep himself afloat.
Faintly, in the darkness, he can see fins, fins, and the flick of tails as the mermaids fight violently. But it’s so, so dark, just a terrifying sound of water, an occasional hiss as the mermaids breach the surface.
I'm going to die.
His fingers slip from the board, and he can’t even suck in air before he’s going under.
It’s cold.
So, so cold.
Jungkook’s eyes start to glaze over as his lungs give up, he can’t feel anything anymore, not even the rapid movement of the ocean.
It’s just.. Calm.
Cold.
Cold.
He closes his eyes.
Oxygen surges into Jungkook’s lungs, and he retches, water spilling out from his mouth. He whimpers, mouth tightening as his nostrils flare. He’s not dead. He’s not dead.
Jungkook is hyperventilating, fingers curling tightly into whatever is holding him, and he gasps, trying to calm himself. He’s so cold, so cold, he can’t breathe properly, can’t see, his forehead is on fire.
He feels something cool caressing his face in a distressed manner, smoothing over his cheeks and down his neck. His ears finally stop ringing, and he can hear it. The chittering, the clicks as a webbed hand cups his face, the arm around his waist, hoisting him higher and tucking him tightly against his chest.
Jungkook bursts into tears of relief and buries his face into Jimin’s neck.
The mermaid is chittering, chittering, and clicking so quickly, running his hand frantically down Jungkook’s back, trying to nose into his face, urge him out of his neck. Jungkook just cries against his throat, scales rough against his cheeks.
Jimin holds him tightly, and a weird sense of calm, of serenity settles over Jungkook. He stops wheezing, stops spluttering water, and just gives little sobs, little hiccups, held tightly in the merman's arms.
There’s a sound of something else breaking the surface, and Jimin’s hand, which had been pressed tightly to the side of his throat, moves to encircle his back, looping around him.
Jungkook stiffens, breathing shallow as he hears Jimin snarl, clicking in a way that Jungkook has never heard before. Low, extremely aggressively, his throat pulsing. He growls somewhere in his chest, hiking Jungook higher as they sway in the water.
There’s just silence in return.
Jimin’s webbed fingers are brushing over his shoulders, caressing his hair in an urgent manner, trailing down to press his palm firmly against the side of Jungkook’s neck.
The man just sobs, curling his arms tighter around Jimin’s shoulders, and the mermaid chitters to him gently, stroking his back.
Then, it’s just cold again as Jimin dives, after tapping Jungkook’s lower spine twice. A familiar signal for him to take a breath.
Jungkook holds on, whimpering in his throat as they shoot through the water. His limbs are almost completely numb,
Sand scrapes under his legs, and he can hear the grind of it against the mermaid’s scales as Jimin heaves them further up the beach. They’re in the shallows now, and Jungkook blinks through his tears, and manages to struggle out of the creature’s tight embrace just in time.
He lands on his hands and knees, retching, the acid stinging at his throat. He throws up once, twice, sobbing as drool drips past his lips.
Jimin is next to him, clicking and chirping so gently, a hand smoothing his lower spine, the other massaging the top of his chest, near his throat, trying to comfort him, but it’s not working.
Jungkook feels terrified - afraid, scared for his life, horrified of the water that laps at his feet. His mind goes blank, scarily dark, and numb.
He stumbles to his feet and runs.
Fuck mermaids, fuck merpeople, fuck the ocean, fuckfuckufkcufkcukfukck-
He runs up the beach, feet sinking into the dry sand, stumbling after every step. He can hear Jimin’s distressed calls - loud and urgent - the mermaid crying out after him, the grinding of sand as he tries to pull himself up the beach.
Jungkook doesn’t stop, sobbing as his feet hit the grass. The calling doesn’t stop, getting louder, clicking, chirps, chattering as Jimin howls after him.
It breaks his heart.
But he doesn’t stop.
“Jungkook, where have you been-”
“Kook-ah, I’m sor-”
“What the fuck happened to you?”
“Hobe-ah, the first aid kit-”
“Jungkook, what happened to your forehead?!”
“Jungkook-ah,” Seokjin sits down on the edge of the bed lightly, running his hand through Jungkook’s hair. He opens his eyes and squints up at his Hyung tiredly. Jin, in return, gives him a small smile, thumb brushing over the edge of the bandage on his head.
Luckily, it hadn’t needed stitches.
Somewhere, in Jungkook’s mess of a mind, he hopes that his thrashing around actually did something, that that’s the reason why it wasn’t so bad.
He’s also incredibly lucky that Namjoon is a nurse. The slash on his arm had been worse and had needed a couple of stitches to help sew his skin back together. Wrapped up with bandages, he’d been kept in bed for a few days by the three of them, pampered and fed.
“Do you want to get up and do something today?” Jin tries lightly, Jungkook’s eyes fluttering closed as the man strokes his hair, “Maybe go to the beach-”
“Not the beach,” Jungkook whispers snappishly, bristling, pupils blown as he tastes that horrible, horrible salt in his mouth.
“Ok,” Jin soothes, smiling at him, “Want to go into town? Just do some light shopping? Joon-ah and Hoseok-ah have gone to the next town over to get a cake from that bakery you like.”
Jungkook grumbles a little, but eventually agrees, dragging himself out of bed. Jin convinces him to shower while he heats up some leftover kimchi rice and fried chicken from the night before, so Jungkook collects a new set of clothes and journeys into the bathroom.
He strips down quickly but catches sight of himself in the mirror before he can climb into the shower.
He’s pale, very much so, with his eyes slightly sunken. The bandages sit heavy and white on his forehead, arm, and lower legs - which he had discovered had been cut after he’d woken up from passing out in fear. His hands have little scratches, and movement burn marks from where he’d scrabbled at the broken board.
But, he looks better than he feels.
Whenever he closes his eyes, he just hears Jimin’s wails after him, the crunching of the sand against scales, the devastating heartbreak that Jimin’s chittering had rung out.
He shakes his head firmly and climbs into the shower.
They do end up getting to the main street - and they spend the day browsing between the shops, Jin constantly bullying Jungkook into trying on strange, and colourful pieces of clothing.
It’s a good day, at the end of the day, going home and being greeted by Namjoon and Hoseok - holding bakery goods, and a steaming hot bag of assorted Korean food that they’d managed to find.
He goes to bed that night, his heart a little less heavy.
But Jungkook still hears it.
Jimin.