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“Yoongi! Taehyung-ah, Yoongi’s back!”
Next to Seokjin, Taehyung’s measured, wave-regulated sways starkly contrast Seokjin’s more animated wiggles.
“Where have you been all day?” Seokjin demands to know. “Did you finally manage to swim to the other end of the lake? I told you you could do it. Didn’t I?” He turns to Taehyung. “Taehyung-ah, didn’t I tell Yoongi he could swim all the way to the other end of the lake?”
Yoongi doesn’t think that would be possible. Their lake is very big, and he is very small. He would be tired just swimming a tenth of its length. Maybe a hundredth of it. Maybe even two-hundredths of it. Namjoon can swim pretty far. He doesn’t have legs like Yoongi does, and he likes to travel. Yoongi bets he’ll know how long it takes to get to the other end and back.
Yoongi mostly keeps close to the lake’s mossy base, because it feels good on his skin. He likes staying in his little nook, where the water is cool—safely away from the sun, and easy for his friends to find if they need him. And for the ones that can’t, he’s close enough to find them himself. He can’t do that if he’s off gallivanting, can he?
“How did you know?” Yoongi asks, wading over to his favourite hiding spot between Seokjin’s long stipes. Seokjin’s blades dance like they always do, but the ones nearest to Yoongi settle over him, calm as an old friend. “It was a long journey, and I am very tired now, but I saw so many things. You wouldn’t believe half of them if I told you.”
That gets Seokjin twisting and squirming with glee. Even the blades wrapped around Yoongi have started to flutter helplessly against him. Tell me, tell me, tell me, they seem to sing.
Not willing to wait even a second longer, Seokjin starts with his interrogation. “Taehyung says there are mermaids there, with tails that sparkle. Didn’t you Taehyung-ah?”
Next to him, Taehyung sways.
Yoongi doesn’t know what mermaids are supposed to be, or if they can be found on the other side of the lake. He’ll have to ask Namjoon.
“Well? Did you see them? The mermaids?” He is all impatience. Even the blades at the furthest tips of him have curled close to Yoongi now, and are shivering with anticipation.
Looking up at Seokjin like this is nice. It’s a sunny day, and while Yoongi’s not a fan of all that bright light, he thinks it’s a good look on Seokjin. They light parts of him up in shades of shimmery green so breathtaking, and shroud the rest of him further in haunting darkness. He is very beautiful.
The same light hits Yoongi across his eyes, just for one uncomfortable moment, before Seokjin moves to block it. Cool washes over him like a touch.
“I did,” Yoongi confirms. “And they were very sparkly. The green mermaids were my favourite. They were the silliest of the bunch and liked to laugh the most. Even their laugh sparkled.”
Seokjin laughs, delighted by this, then turns to Taehyung to exclaim, “Green mermaids!”
Taehyung sways back. He does seem pretty excited about the green mermaids.
“Yoongi, next time we should go together. Don’t you think we would have so much fun?” It’s the same joke Seokjin makes every time. It’s funny because Seokjin’s never left this spot, but it’s also sad for the same reason.
“Of course. So much fun. You can hold on to me. Between your drifting and my swimming, we’ll reach in half the time.” Yoongi feels a blade kiss the flat top of his head. He knows Seokjin’s grateful he goes along with his jokes even when they are half funny and half sad. “But I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere for a while,” he admits. “I still like it here best.”