Chapter Text
Seokjin knew it was so wrong to be above the surface but he could never help himself. The brightness of the sky with the birds and the joyful sounds above the surface always lured him to break the rules.
It wasn't really his fault fully though. He couldn't help that there was nobody to actually stop him from breaking the rules even though he should have known better since he was already so many tides old that he was pretty sure from how human years worked that he would be around 30 which was very young for a merman. If he still belonged to a pod he wouldn't even have lived on his own until he was atleast 60 or 70 in human years. By his age now he would be settling into a work to help the pod or he would have been fighting for independence and searched for a new pod unless he would have moved in a cave by himself while being judged by the other merfolf.
Good thing fate made a choice for him to have independence
It was still so strange how fast the non-tail walkers aged so quickly with some not even reaching 90 or 100 but he guessed it was normal since when comparing his species with other fish his life span was much, much longer. The longer he observed the vibrant and filled with life humans he yearned company again.
All he ever truly saw was their interactions from a distance and strange creatures that walked on the land with them like the short four legged creatures that made awfully loud sounds but at the same time looked so soft and beautiful. Some were small while others were big and even louder but they all had features of belonging to the same species. A few years ago he figured that those strange creatures were dogs and dogs were pets to them like some fish were to him. They were pets like the small fishes were to him that lacked nutrition to eat and had more purpose being friends that couldn't talk or understand.
So that was the one thing he figured out by himself and after years of being alone he was proud of how much he learned from being at a distance. He still wasn't sure what the humans ate but it sure did smell delicious from afar and those weird mating dances they did with so many people with music still made him wonder the difference between them.
Humans were strange...and did some did awful mating dances
Perhaps he would have cared about the dangers so much if he had someone to be scared for but he was a lone merman with a lonely cave. Merfolk were social beings and needed to be around others but unfortunately for him he got seperated from his pod when he was growing into his new colour of scales that turned golden and silver with age which looked majestic combined with his blonde hair yet he got pulled away from his pod when they shifted their home to new waters. It all happened so fast when they got attacked by a group of merfolk from another pod but he got to safety swimming back to the only place he knew but his family and friends all got seperated.
He did try to search for them in the end when he got older but after years he figured it was pointless and they had most likely traveled to different places again believing he was speared by the group of merfolk when they attacked. It was sad but he adapted fast and even though he was lonely he liked living on the edge with rules still in the back of his mind.
Seokjin sighed as he rested his chin on his arms where he was lying down on the rock where he could see a group of humans walking on the sand. There were about 10 humans gathered in one spot as they laughed and had on strange clothing. Nothing looked similar to the things merfolk wore like the golden pearls and shells on vines wrapped around his torso.
It was fun to see the difference and even the difference with how he had gills at the sides of his neck surrounded by golden scales with silver tips on the side of his neck with golden specs littered over his body and scales making him look like a beautiful treasure but humans simply had none of these unique markings that merpeople had to match the colour of their tails or hair. Their unwebbed fingers were cool though but very strange to swim with if he had to think of it. They had their own unique things on their skin that made them enchanting to him especially the little specs on some humans faces as well as the inked patterns on some of their arms or legs and even backs.
So their clothing choices were strange mostly and some looked more understandable when they were near water but he just loved the ones closest to the water who wanted to enter the water because he could look at them closely and love the differences in humans more.
He broke out of his thoughts when he heard one of the humans scream and his ears perked up with his eyes wide scanning the area for the danger but he quickly calmed down when he saw two male humans jump up and start moving fast and instead of screaming the one was now laughing.
Oh....
Seokjin's tail sadly splashed a bit of water as he deflated at the sight of the humans playing. It looked like so much fun and he watched wide sad eyes as the one human picked the other up and ran to the water to throw him inside while the one now soaking wet screamed before he laughed again.
A pang of longing hit him and for the first time in a while he let his thoughts wander of to a life he could have had if he was born a human. He could have moved and had fun like them instead of being stuck in the water with lack of music, lack of people and lack of warmth.
"Maybe one day I won't be so alone" He sighed as he slipped off the rock and gave one last glance before dissapearing from the surface swimming back to the safe side of the water for him.
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"Are those new people?" The merman tilted his head as he swam closer with only his head peaking out of the water while he watched a group of male humans carrying strange objects towards the house on the edge of the beach.
The house stood empty for about 130 tides and Seokjin almost grew sad at the thought of not seeing anyone at the beautiful place given that the last human family that stayed there didn't stay for long and the little ones were a bit too destructive with all the sea life he just hoped nicer humans would live there again.
He observed the 6 humans and startled slightly when a large dog followed behind the last human that had inked patterns on his arms. From the close distance he could make out the features and differences in each human with the short-haired creature that made a deep and loud noise before the one with inked patterns said something to it which made it quiet before it wagged it's tail moving inside the house.
"Huh...seems like these new humans are going to stay for a while?" He narrowed his eyes as he took in the things they were carrying inside with how all of them had either one or two and from what he judged previously with other people he knew it was something humans took with to stay at a place.
"Do you think that it would be good humans this time Tuny?" Seokjin looked down at the wide eyed fish that swam around him in circles no care about what he said only caring about the sound of the name it was called, or so Seokjin believed since the large tuna fish somehow gave him dirty looks each time he tried to name it which was a horrible since fish couldn't blink the same way he could. It was like a death stare every time he gave the tuna a bad name.
Sure fish had the same extra layer of protection of their eyes that looked like blinking but it still looked terrifying for a tuna fish to show attitude about a name change. It was actually the reason why the merman loved his pet tuna so much because Tuny actually felt like company and after the last time he felt so lonely he wondered if he could try and adapt some habits humans had to his own life like keeping his pet tuna more around him.
"You know if you were a...a dog like their pet you would have probably been great friends. You could have also given us a chance us to talk to each other if we met on accident" Seokjin sighed and just watched longingly while all the humans entered the house shutting the door behind them until a few minutes later one human with mint green hair went out to the balcony that overviewed the waters.
For Seokjin it was probably the most practical thing humans made since it looked so easy to just leap into the waters that was a great spot for deep diving since the sand surface was clean of any dangerous rocks and other things that could cut a fin or rail and in the humans case a leg or actually any part of their body. The certainly got hurt much more easier than mermay with how fleshy their skins were unlike how his upper body looked alot like theirs but his skin was much more sturdier to damage than they were if he could count on what his parents always said and from what he saw.
Seokjin ducked his head under water again and swam slowly to reach under the balcony where he stuck his head out to look up closer at the pretty human. His skin was pale covered with dark clothing as he leaned against the railing.
"Okay I can slightly see the appeal of this place now. It really has a beautiful view" Seokjin was pleasantly surprised at the voice of the human. His voice sounded so soothing and more on a deeper tone yet it wasn't unfittingly deeper for the human's features. The sound from up closer sounded much better and cleared to hear the human's words and Seokjin would use this place to listen in more often if they left the door open or visited the balcony.
"Oh so the 'this beach vacation would just make us smell dirty fish water all day long' Min Yoongi is actually complimenting the view within the first minutes or arriving here?" A lighter and airy voice came from a person with blonde hair just like him before the human laughed. Seokjin heard the mint haired human, Yoongi, huff as the blonde haired human threw his arm around his shoulder.
"Well Jimin, In my defense the place still smells like dirty fish water since fish do die, pee and do all unspeakable things in sea water just like some questionable people do, so I'm not changing my opinion. All I'm saying is that it is a great view so whenever you all go to swim in the germ infested waters I will stay on the sand watching the dirty waters" Seokjin was appalled by the human's words and clicked his tongue releasing angry trills.
Sure what he said was partially true but the waters was much cleaner than the land above that looked so dry and sad. Seokjin felt deeply offended at the words of his home and he heard the other pretty human deny his words defending the beauty of the sea and water which made him instantly like that human much more.
Perhaps he would 'accidently' splash Yoongi if he ever came close to the water where Seokjin was concealed. He could smell the so called dirty fish water from up close if he wanted to and he was sure the blonde human would find it amusing too.
"Sooner or later you will get in the water with me and the others. Jungkook and Taehyung would not hesitate to pick you up and throw you into the water if they heard you. Not even Namjoon or Hoseok would defend you since they probably love the water and sea life more than us" Jimin the blonde human gave him a pointed look before he smiled showing blunt white teeth with eyes forming cresents from smiling.
If Seokjin didn't know better he would say the human shared similarities in his beauty with merfolk which was a big compliment to a human. The biggest difference was obviously the lack of tail, scales, matching eye color and sharper teeth. It was a shame the human was not a merman because he would definitely have had pretty scales and he would have loved to be friends with someone that defended the sea so quickly.
Seokjin sighed and jutted out his bottom lip as he watched the humans talk before they both left the balcony and went inside closing the door leaving him in silence again. He swam a bit further away and stretched his neck out to try and seen more of the humans but sighed in dissapointment when he couldn't see them at all.
He softly trilled and his face dropped in sadness but he got quickly distracted by light brushes against his tail and he saw Tuny brush against him to comfort him. He smiled softly and reached a hand down to run a webbed hand over Tuny's scales.
"Yeah maybe I got a bit too enthralled by the humans communicating to freely. I've spent far too much time on the surface so it's time to go home now" He gave one last glance to the house before he dived back into the water flicking his tail once in the water letting gold and silver reflect and shine in the sun before he was fully covered in water again swimming back to his cave with Tuny following close by.
Perhaps he would visit the house more regularly...just to see the interactions more