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Beomgyu blocks out the overwhelming sounds of the generators and water filters around him as he gives his tail one final check – can’t have any accidents and get the aquarium sued for indecent exposure. He’s not nervous anymore as he heaves a deep breath and pushes off from the ledge.
In an instant the sounds of the aquarium are all gone, replaced by the familiar echoes of the water and the drowned out sounds of clapping from the other side of the glass. He knows his routine by heart now, swimming down to the bottom of the tank to wave to the children through the glass and blow air bubbles at them with a smile on his face. For a few moments, he’s one with the fish around him, flipping his tail and letting his hair flow with each roll of his upper body. It’s almost like time slows down underneath the water, his pressing need for oxygen the only reminder that he is a mere mortal who actually has to breathe every few minutes.
Like this, he’s beautiful, he’s graceful, he’s…. a twenty-two year old man doing flips in a purple silicone tail while children point and laugh at his exposed chest.
Granted, it’s hard to see much through the water and the glass, but over the few months he’s done this job, he’s gotten pretty good at making out the expressions of the children who crowd the glass to get a better look at the real mermaids that the aquarium is famous for. And today, in the front row, he makes out a clear image of a young boy pointing right at his nipples and laughing hysterically. Great. Nothing like the candid reaction of an eight year old to instantly crush his self confidence.
If it were just an initial reaction, Beomgyu could forgive it. It’s not like people often walk around shirtless in Seoul, so maybe nipples are novel for this kid. It’s the fact that the kid doesn’t stop – his reaction evolving from giggles to full blown hands over his eyes and screeching by the third time Beomgyu approaches the glass – that has the small ping of annoyance inside Beomgyu growing with each passing minute.
It gets worse because soon the kid has roped a few of his friends into the spectacle that is shirtless Beomgyu, the small pack of them jeering each time he passes by. He has to remember not to glare – he’s paid to be beautiful and tranquil and not have one sided rivalries with children – as he rounds out his twenty-five minute routine.
He overcompensates with a few final confident flaps of his tail and hair flips that he knows generally pull reactions of awe until he’s once again out of breath. He waves a final goodbye to the children through the glass before he’s leaving nipple boy and his buddies behind to rejoin the chaos of the aquarium at the surface.
Soobin was the one who suggested that Beomgyu apply for a job at the aquarium, and he made it sound so easy. But Soobin gets to feed the otters, fully clothed, while the manager had taken one look at Beomgyu, asked ”Can you swim?”, and he’s stuck making a fool of himself while Soobin gets to stay dry and use the cute otters as leverage to flirt with Yeonjun.
Life isn’t fair sometimes.
“I should have never told him I can swim.” Beomgyu laments to himself as he surfaces.
Beomgyu’s done the math though, and compared to other part time jobs, he’s putting in minimal work for much higher rewards. If he really thinks about it, he could be clocking in an eight hour graveyard shift at a convenience store for half the pay. So, while his ego occasionally takes a beating, his wallet is very content with this situation. He gets regular exercise, children tell him he’s pretty, and when it’s his off hour between shows, Beomgyu gets to lounge around the staff room and play on his phone on the clock. So yeah, being a fake merman isn’t half bad at all.
There’s another perk to his job, perhaps his favorite one: Kang Taehyun, the marine biology intern who monitors the tank water after each show on the weekends.
While Taehyun is busy checking on the fish, Beomgyu has made a routine of checking out Taehyun. He doesn’t know what it is, but something about the cargo shorts on his skinny legs and the polo shirt of the uniform just does things to Beomgyu.
And just on time, Kang Taehyun approaches the platform Beomgyu is resting at with his kit.
“Ah, my favorite pool boy.” Beomgyu says with his brightest smile.
Adding on to the appeal of the geek-chic uniform is Taehyun’s nearly perfect face. With his huge brown eyes and unflappable demeanor, it’s safe to say Beomgyu harbors more than a little crush. One he isn’t shy about expressing, either. In fact, the highlight of most of his weekend shifts is flirting with Taehyun in the hopes of someday pulling a reaction out of him.
“We’ve been over this.” Taehyun sighs. “The fact that you swim in the tank does not make it a pool.”
Taehyun’s right, of course. But Beomgyu likes the little quirk of Taehyun’s lips he’s started to pick up each time Beomgyu refers to him as his pool boy. He’s not about to drop the nickname.
“What are you up to?” Beomgyu rests his head on his arms as he watches Taehyun dig through his supply bag. He’s doing his best dreamy-merman pose, one he probably picked up from watching the Little Mermaid one too many times when he first got hired, and he doesn’t miss the quick glance Taehyun throws at him before leaning down to collect water samples a meter from where he’s resting.
“Checking the pH.”
“You’re welcome to check my pH any time.” He says it with a lazy flip of his tail. Too bad Taehyun is distracted by actually doing his job and doesn’t catch it.
Taehyun rolls his eyes. “I don’t think that means what you think it does.”
It probably doesn’t, but it earned him a small laugh, so that’s a victory in Beomgyu’s book.
While his tail may be very effective for maneuvering under water, it’s not so practical for life outside of the tank. It weighs a ton and renders him pretty much immobile from the waist down, meaning he needs help getting out of the tank. Generally, Kai – the other intern – is his designated handler, but he left early for some family event today, leaving Beomgyu stuck in the water with few options of a graceful exit. He’s not about to let Taehyun witness him flopping around like an actual fish with his non-existent upper body strength, so, he does the only thing he can think of once he observes that Taehyun has collected all his necessary samples.
“Help me out, Taehyun-ah?” Beomgyu asks with his sweetest tone.
It takes a minute for Taehyun to catch on, but once he does, he doesn’t hesitate in taking Beomgyu’s proffered hand and pulling him out of the tank with minimal effort and dragging him to rest on the metal floor of the tank room.
“Where’s Kai?” Taehyun asks, looking from where Beomgyu is sitting on the floor and around the tank edges. Usually Kai would have appeared by now, effectively ending his daily flirting with Taehyun session and carrying him off like the catch of the day towards the locker rooms.
“Out for the rest of the day.” Beomgyu sighs.
“So then how are you going to…?” Taehyun’s brows furrow as his eyes trail towards the exit.
“I have two options: I can take off the tail here and make a beeline for the locker room in only my speedo…” Beomgyu cringes just thinking about that. One rule of his job is that he can’t break the magic for the children, and seeing the merman not only suddenly develop legs but also running around in his underwear is very likely to do just that. The kids were already laughing at his nipples, imagine them seeing nearly everything else. “Or… you could carry me?”
He’s seen enough glimpses of Taehyun’s biceps to know that the dude works out, so carrying Beomgyu a few dozen meters really shouldn’t be too much of a challenge. All Beomgyu needs is for Taehyun to be up for it.
“Carry you?” Taehyun gives an incredulous raise of his eyebrow.
“Either that or I lay here like a beached whale until someone else decides to come rescue me. My next show isn’t until five.” Beomgyu makes a show of falling back against the cool floor and heaving a heavy sigh. “Please don’t force me to go streaking through the aquarium, Taehyun-ah.”
It takes Taehyun a minute, Beomgyu doing his best pout all the while and adding a wiggle of his shoulders for effect, but eventually the younger agrees with a sigh.
“Fine.”
It’s not that Beomgyu likes feeling helpless. He’s a full grown man who is more than capable of taking care of himself, and in any normal situation he wouldn’t need to be carried bridal style around his workplace. But Beomgyu’s job isn’t normal, Taehyun is hot, and being hoisted up off the ground and into his arms is kind of like a dream come true for Beomgyu. One that has him letting out a dreamy sigh because he was right – Taehyun has no issues lifting him. He’d like to see what else Taehyun’s arms are capable of, though preferably not when he’s wearing a purple tail.
Nonetheless, Beomgyu decides to make the most of this opportunity he’s been given. He lets his arms wrap easily around Taehyun’s neck – for balance of course – and does his best not to smile too big as Taehyun avoids eye contact and begins to walk towards the locker room.
“Thank you, my prince.”
“You do know you’re not a real mermaid right?”
“Merman,” Beomgyu corrects quickly. “And thank god I’m not. Have you ever wondered how merpeople pee?”
“I’ve always been more confused about how they breed.” Of course, the science boy would use the word breed as if imaginary creatures are real aquatic life to be studied. “Like, if they’re half fish, do they lay eggs?”
“You seem to have thought a lot about this.”
“I spend half my day watching you and Arin noona flipping around in the tank, it’s bound to happen.” Taehyun’s voice feels deeper this close, vibrating through his chest and against Beomgyu’s bare skin.
“Aww, you watch me?” Beomgyu can’t say he doesn’t notice the touch of pink that appears on Taehyun’s cheeks – one of the perks of being so close.
Nonetheless, Taehyun’s voice comes out as unaffected as ever. “I keep an eye on the fish.”
“And those fish include me?”
“You’re the biggest thing in the tank, so yes.”
They’re almost to the locker room now, meaning Beomgyu’s fairytale moment is about to end. Despite the very welcomed distraction of Kang Taehyun, the discussion of his performance has Beomgyu’s brain wandering back to his last show and the boy in the front row.
“Taehyun-ah,” Beomgyu waits for the man carrying him to let out a small grunt to indicate that he’s listening. “Do I have weird nipples?”
Taehyun stumbles against the locker room door, nearly sending them both crashing to the floor before he regains his balance.
“Excuse me?”
“The kids today, they were laughing and pointing at them and it got me thinking, maybe I have strange nipples or something.”
“That’s where your brain went and not to the fact that kids are sometimes assholes?” Taehyun asks as he places Beomgyu gingerly on the bench. Beomgyu doesn’t want to let go just yet.
“Be honest with me, Taehyun-ah.” Beomgyu sticks out his chest and looks down before looking back up to Taehyun. “Are they weird?”
Still refusing to take a proper look, Taehyun runs his hands through his hair. “You’re the weird one.”
“Come on.” Beomgyu drags out the last syllable for effect. Taehyun tends to give into his whining, even if he pretends to be so unaffected. And it works, Taehyun’s eyes flicking down to look at Beomgyu’s chest for a fraction of a second before his gaze moves back to Beomgyu’s face.
“You have normal nipples. Okay?”
Satisfied enough with Taehyun’s answer, Beomgyu finally gets to work on sliding out of his tail. He has to be careful to not accidentally pull down his speedo with it because Taehyun might tolerate Beomgyu’s ranting about his own nipples, but he’s not about to flash the dude. He wants to take things slowly, naturally. Well, as naturally as he can for being a performer who dresses like a merman for twelve hours each weekend.
“I’m gonna need to compare them to someone…” Beomgyu mumbles to himself, still not quite ready to let it go. Just as his tail lands on the floor and he’s left in his speedo, an idea hits him. “Ooh! I can ask Yeonjun to show me his when he has his break.”
Taehyun is about halfway to the locker room door when he stops in his tracks to look back at Beomgyu. “You’re going to ask Yeonjun hyung to show you his nipples?”
“Yes?” Yeonjun has no shame, so it’s not an odd request to be made between friends.
“Can’t you just… google it?”
“And let that kind of information be picked up by the google algorithm? Imagine the targeted ads I’d get. I don’t want to be scrolling my phone on the subway and have nipple piercing pictures passing by every few posts.”
He already is embarrassed at the sheer amount of mermaid stuff google seems to think he’d be interested in – chalk it up to dedication to his job. He doesn’t need strangers to not only think he’s some mermaid obsessed guy, but a nipple fetishist.
“Okay, you have a point there.”
“But wait, what if Yeonjun doesn’t have normal nipples either?” Nothing about Yeonjun’s body is ordinary; his legs alone account for two thirds of his height. He might not be the best test subject. But it’s not like Soobin would be willing, he’s self conscious about his shoulders, so asking to see anything more is out of the question. Plus, Yeonjun would kill Beomgyu if he saw Soobin shirtless first. “I guess I could ask Kai next week…”
Beomgyu moves to look at himself in the mirror. Generally speaking, he’s confident in his body – he has to be to have a job like this – but even he can fall victim to lapses in self-confidence. He knows he has nice hair that is long enough to brush his shoulders, a handsome face, and pretty decent thighs that he doesn't get to show off enough. There's a reason the manager immediately assigned him mermaid duty and sent him to swimming classes -- but maybe he's been missing some critical flaw this whole time.
Soon a movement in his peripheral vision has him looking away from the mirror, and he’s not quite ready for what he sees.
There, right in front of him, is Kang Taehyun pulling his polo shirt over his head in one swift motion and discarding it on the bench.
“What are you doing?”
Don’t get him wrong, he’s delighted to see Taehyun shirtless. But why the younger having his Ryan Gosling moment in the middle of the locker room is more than a little perplexing.
“Quick.” Instead of answering his question, Taehyun moves to stand next to Beomgyu in front of the mirror. “Get your comparison.”
Beomgyu turns to beam at him. “You really are my prince, you know that?”
“Hurry up.”
They stand next to each other and look at the mirror, Beomgyu still in his speedo and Taehyun in just his uniform cargo shorts. Beomgyu wants to giggle, but his eyes are too busy tracing the lines of Taehyun’s chest. Yes, he definitely works out, and Beomgyu would like permission to touch someday. For now, he’ll just take what he is given and appreciate that Taehyun does in fact have nice, normal nipples, much like his own but brown and against much more defined pecs than Beomgyu expected. He can’t help the smile that stretches across his face as he takes it all in.
“See, hyung?” Taehyun finally speaks up, his voice confident as always. “You’re normal. It’s just kids being kids, nothing is wrong with you.”
“You’re right.” Beomgyu nods, making eye contact with Taehyun in the mirror. “I’m a great merman. Wonderful swimmer. And I have impeccable breath control.” He says the last part with a wink.
“Mhmm.” Taehyun’s lips quirk as more self-affirmations spill from Beomgyu’s mouth.
“Kids love to watch me because I’m good at what I do and I look good doing it!”
“Right.”
“I’m majestic!”
“You are.”
And oh, that agreement came out a little too earnestly for Beomgyu to not turn to look at Taehyun with his eyes blown wide.
“Wait, you think I’m majestic?”
Taehyun’s mouth moves with no words coming out, and Beomgyu has never seen him at a loss for a comeback before. Another success for the day.
Finally Taehyun settles on, “I think you’re good at your job.”
“Kang Taehyun, are you blushing?”
“No…” Taehyun's voice comes out too soft for either of them to believe him.
Unfortunately, their moment -- and Beomgyu's opportunity to tease further -- is cut short by an unsubtle cough from behind them, causing them both to jump in place before they turn around and find Soobin standing frozen in the doorway.
“Um? Taehyun?”
Most people at the aquarium have seen Beomgyu in all states of undress, so it’s easy enough for Soobin to overlook Beomgyu’s semi-nudity. Taehyun, on the other hand, is generally fully clothed, which must be the reason for the scandalized expression on Soobin’s face as he looks between them and waits for an explanation.
“We were comparing nipples,” Taehyun finally stutters out while looking like a deer caught in the headlights.
Beomgyu bumps their shoulders. “Taehyunnie thinks I’m majestic.”
“Right….I’m just gonna go… find Yeonjun hyung.”
“Tell him I need to see him about something!” Beomgyu shouts at Soobin’s back.
And once again, it’s just them, half-naked and alone, in the locker room.
“So…” Feeling emboldened by both the flush of Taehyun’s cheeks and his little speech in front of the mirror, Beomgyu decides to test his luck. “You finish your shift at six, right?”
Taehyun nods. He’s still shirtless, and Beomgyu does his best to maintain eye contact.
“Do you wanna grab coffee or something? It’s the least I can do to reward you for carrying me and showing me your chest… and calling me majestic.”
“Will you wear actual clothes?” Taehyun immediately counters.
“Only for you.” Beomgyu reaches out to bop Taehyun’s nose, earning him a real smile. It’s perhaps the first one he’s ever had the privilege to see up close, and his heart swells because it’s all for him.
“That really doesn’t mean what you think it does.”