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Yeonjun hummed as he walked along the shorelines, the feeling of warm sand under his feet and the sound of crashing waves echoing in his ears. He had just finished a report regarding the new design he decided to submit to his manager. He might be working as a lifeguard now but he still occasionally submits some designs to the clothing brand he used to work with before moving to the beach. It’s more like a pastime hobby compared to actual work since he still enjoys fashion to some extent. Now, with his muscles tight and fingers sore, he allows himself to breathe in some fresh air. As he walks across the shoreline, Yeonjun watches as the sun slowly sets and paints the sky in a splash of orange and red hue. Back in the city, of course he sees the same sky that he’s seeing right now but back then, he never took the time to actually 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 at it the way he now does every single day.
His routines have changed drastically. From waking up at early hours and getting ready to go to work, to breathing in vehicle smoke that would probably cause him insane lung infections every single day. The same routine that he repeats daily, waking up just to go back to sleep after his work of the day was done. His friends would occasionally ring him up for a meal or two but that’s just it. However, now he finds himself much more relaxed than he ever gave himself the chance to actually imagine. Now he wakes up early in the morning to open his windows to breathe in the salty ocean breeze, enjoying the sound of soft crashing waves whenever the tide lowers during the morning. He’d briefly wash his face and make himself a cup of coffee before sitting at his balcony, waiting for his usual morning kisses.
Yeonjun chuckles to himself as he blushes lightly. Oh Soobin, his lovely specimen of a 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯. The lifeguard continues to walk along the shoreline back to his beach house, enjoying how the waters are now reaching up to his ankles compared to a few minutes ago. The tides are just getting higher as usual as the sun slowly falls into a nap during the night. He enjoys as the sand under his feet starts to cool down and melt away with the waves, enjoying what was left for the day before returning to his little cabin that he now calls home. However, just as he was about to call it a day and head straight back to his door, Yeonjun flinched, feeling something hitting his back softly. He immediately turned around, hands instinctively moving to clutch his back in fear of whatever possible unknown threat. His eyes were on alert as they wandered along the beach, brows pulled in confusion when he indeed saw nobody behind him.
But then, he heard a giggle.
Instantly, an amused scoff slipped from his lips as his wandering orbs turned to the ocean without any hesitation. He knows these giggles all too well. As expected, his pair of eyes landed on a certain figure peeking behind a nearby rock, big enough to shield the male from beachview and possible wandering eyes. Yeonjun chuckled as he crossed his arm in mock annoyance, walking straight to the waters where he knows that it’s still shallow enough for him to reach the giggling male. The moment he was close enough, his arms rushed to wrap around the waist of the culprit that threw something to his back, snatching up the giggling merman into his arms easily. If there’s one advantage from being with his darling boyfriend so constantly, it is probably strength and quite a lot of muscle mass. He no longer feels the strain when scooping up his heavy boyfriend up, the added weight from his large and long tail now becoming his occasional work out routine whenever Soobin demands to be carried.
“Oh, you little brat. Had fun throwing seashells at me again?”, Yeonjun playfully flicked his boyfriend’s forehead, not even enough to hurt. But still, as always with his dramatic antiques, Soobin faked a pained expression as he clutched his head. The cheeky merman then intentionally let all of his body weight rest, making his heavy body all droopy in his human boyfriend’s arms. Yeonjun yelped slightly before hoisting the merman up higher in his hold, glaring at the now giggling boyfriend of his. 𝘚𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘴, he can’t even scold the pretty fish because he’s too weak for him. So Yeonjun just rolled his eyes and slowly and gently placed his boyfriend back into the water, letting his body re-submerge under the surface like before. But before he could even properly let him go, Soobin lisped at him with a pout, brows pulled into a frown. This time, Yeonjun just chuckled as he pretended as if he didn’t understand what the merman was requesting him, simply tilting his head with a poorly concealed smile.
“What? I’m just letting you back down in the water again, aren’t I?”, Yeonjun shrugged, as if Soobin wasn’t pointedly glaring at him with an annoyed pout. The merman lisped again, reaching a webbed hand out to tug at Yeonjun’s drenched tank top, switching his glare into the best puppy-doe eyes he could manage. But Yeonjun just continued to feign his innocence, acting as if he doesn’t know what the merman already wants all too well. Soobin continues to lisp again, tugging at the lifeguard’s tank top harder. This time, the human chuckled before taking the merman’s webbed hands in his, gently running the pad of his thumbs over the other’s wet knuckles, humming when he could feel the scales aligning the other’s skin. So rough yet so soft at the edges, a texture that he had learned to love and adore so much over the past few months.
“Come on baby, what did I say last time? We have to ask for something if we want it, don’t we? Go on honey, try asking politely for me and I promise I’ll give it to you”, Yeonjun softly coaxed the merman to speak, wanting to test his beloved boyfriend with the few human words that he had taught him as of recently. Soobin who understood what Yeonjun was telling him to do immediately started to blush, shy to test out the new vocabulary that he had learnt. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, it’s just that he feels weird hearing himself actually 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 the language he had found fascinating in so long. Well, at least that’s what Yeonjun interprets based on the many times his lovely merman had shied away from him when he was asked to speak human language. Sensing how the merman was obviously hesitating, Yeonjun took a step further and gently wrapped one of his arms around the merman’s waist, the other hand cupping his cheek softly.
“Do it for me baby? Come on baby, I know you can do it. Try asking me properly okay?”, Yeonjun’s voice was gentle, so gentle as he whispered. Words that are meant only for his boyfriend to hear. Soobin took a deep breath and nodded shyly, gulping nervously before his lips slowly parted. His tongue started to curl as he tried to pronounce a few words.
“C-Car… C-Carry... P-Puh… P-Please?”, if Yeonjun could physically feel his heart melting in his ribcage, please don’t mind him. He could feel his heartbeats stutter and skip a few beats as he bit back an endeared smile hearing his lovely boyfriend bravely speaking up even when it’s just a few words. Soobin immediately curled up into his arms, hiding his face in his neck with his red blossoming on his cheeks. Yeonjun just giggled, pressing a tender kiss to the merman’s wet temples before reaching both of his arms to wrap around his boyfriend, scooping him up easily into a bridal hold. The merman yelped, arms shooting out to wrap around the human’s neck. His large teal coloured tail dangles in the air slightly, the tail fin at the end still submerged due to how long his tail was. A delighted lisp of victory immediately slipped from Soobin’s lips, happy to finally be carried by his human boyfriend again as per his request.
“You did so good love, you’re getting better at this! Now let’s get you home huh?”, Yeonjun pressed another kiss, now to the merman’s lips as he started to walk back towards his cabin. Usually nobody comes to the beach this time around anymore so he could just carry Soobin back to his home, but still in a hurried manner so his darling boyfriend doesn’t dry up too fast.
As usual, Soobin helped to turn the doorknob after fumbling with the keys (his webbed fingers struggling to hold them but of course Yeonjun finds his annoyed lisps cute). Yeonjun hummed as he closed the door shut with his heel before walking straight to his bathroom. With practiced ease, he gently lowers his boyfriend into the tub. Soobin sighs as he finally settles down on the slippery surface, half of his tail literally dangling out but that’s okay. He’s already used to Yeonjun’s cramped tub and still wouldn’t dare trade it for the world. This was the only way he could stay a bit longer with his human lover. What would a few hours in a cramped tub possibly compare to getting more time to spend with Yeonjun? The human easily turned on the tap and set a particularly warm temperature for his darling, knowing how much the merman actually loves steamy tubs. He still remembers the first time he introduced the thermostatic tap to the curious merman, how those deep blue eyes twinkled and stared at the knob in awe.
Since then, Soobin would always request warm water rather than cold water whenever he spent time in his tub. At first, Yeonjun felt bad that the merman had to sit in a literal small tub that was meant for humans, not for merpeople whose tails are longer than their torso. The merman’s teal tail is quite literally half dangling out of the tub, with his tail fin occasionally flicking once in a while. He knows that they’ll part in a few, with him carrying his merman to the balcony and letting him return to the salty ocean water. But for now he’ll enjoy the wet kisses and soft caresses from his boyfriend, simply enjoying their time together for a few hours.
Plus, it’s not like Soobin wouldn’t come to kiss him good morning the first thing tomorrow anyways.