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Yunho is behind a rock yet again, watching the shoreline from where he feels safe. A giggle bubbles up and out of his throat when he remembers this is how he first met Mingi, watching him from his rocky hiding place all those moons ago. The laughter sounds odd above water, resonating strangely in the air rather than reaching his ears through the comforting thickness of water that usually surrounds him.
The sun feels nice on his skin, though, bathing him in its warmth as it slowly starts to set behind him.
Since he came to stay with Mingi for good, at least four full moon cycles have passed, the first of which they spent in Mingi's cave and the surrounding waters. But soon, it became clear that Yunho was unable to get past the fear of potentially running into another mermaid from his clan, despite the decent distance between them and his new home. Mingi saw it in him, too—the way Yunho's heartrate occasionally picked up more than normal when they were out foraging, the way he woke in the night sometimes and could only be settled by Mingi tightening the hold of his tentacles around the mermaid. The decision to travel was easy to make. The ocean was full of caves, full of areas they could be far away from Yunho's past and closer to their future together.
So they moved further south, swimming from morning to night for many days until they reached consistently warmer waters and bright sunlight high above them.
In their new cave is where Mingi now waits, probably done gathering plants for them to eat and waiting for Yunho to return from gathering shellfish from the shallows. He's probably lounging while he talks to their little jellyfish friend until Yunho returns. Mingi can't venture this high up—definitely can't come up for air like Yunho is now—because his body will protest the lack of pressure and the brighter sunlight.
Yunho, however, has always known his kind are able to go up, and can even breathe air briefly if needed, so he's taken it upon himself to get shellfish for them from up high on occasion. Now that he knows they're too far to ever see one of Yunho's old clan, he feels comfortable traveling farther on his own, because Mingi will always be waiting for him back home.
On the shoreline now, there are two humans watching the sunset, the taller one of the two behind the other as they stand on some sort of wooden structure. It's like a long pathway of some kind that they balance on top of on their odd lower halves. They lean against the side of it, like the sides of sunken ships Yunho has seen, so he assumes it's for them to rest against without falling into the water below.
The shorter one has their hands resting on the other's, wrapped around their middle. They look at peace, the sunlight reflecting in their eyes warmly.
Yunho has never seen humans from this close before. He feels safely hidden from behind his rock, certain only his eyes are visible from where he peeks over the top of it, and he's nearly positive that humans have less sensitive ears and noses. Surely they can't hear his heartbeat or his breathing the way Mingi can.
His clan always spoke of the humans and their polluting ways, their greed, with such disdain. He's come to understand that the elders were often too extreme, oversimplifying things in their hatred of outsiders. Yunho knows, now, that the humans as a whole have hurt their oceans, but he imagines there are far too many of them on land for them all to be as horrible as his elders described them. Many of them likely just live their lives day to day, the same way he and Mingi try to.
The two he watches now don't look like they're doing much more than enjoying each other's company, looking out upon the vast ocean that he calls home.
Something on their hands glints in the sunlight washing over them, drawing Yunho's curious eyes away from what he can see of their odd lower bodies through the gaps in the wood. They look so relaxed in one another's arms as they watch the sun go down, and Yunho knows with certainty that they're in love. A few minutes pass like that, Yunho secretly intruding on their moment together, the only sounds in the air the waves crashing rhythmically and the occasional piercing cry of the creatures that glide through the air as if it were water.
Yunho isn't as fond of them as he is of humans. They're too shrill, too… sharp looking in some places. He's happy to ignore them.
As he watches the humans a bit longer, he realizes the sun will fully set soon, and he needs to leave to get back to Mingi. The monster is surely waiting, hungry and eager to curl up for bed soon. He checks over his collection of clams and oysters, making sure they're secure in his basket to head down. But when he looks at the human couple one last time, he suddenly stops in his movements to leave.
The humans are kissing now, like he and Mingi do so often. A large part of him feels like he's intruding, but he's so fascinated in seeing that they really behave the same as the seafolk do in some ways. It's oddly sweet to see that they express their love the same way, to see another piece of tangible proof that his kind, and all the other seafolk too, descend from these humans and their landlocked lives.
It's a brief kiss, the taller one pulling away to instead press their lips to that shining bit of metal on the other's hand. Yunho can just barely hear the way it makes the other giggle, and he smiles fondly as he watches them do the same, pulling the taller's hand to their lips. He realizes it must be jewelry—like his necklace—that rests on their fingers, the shining metal a clear symbol of their relationship.
They finally turn to leave after another gentle kiss, so Yunho, too, finally leaves to make his own way home. Diving under the surface, he takes in a much more comfortable breath, feeling the water rush through his body as he begins the journey home. The whole way down, he thinks about shining metal and dainty fingers, about bonds and the meaning of forever.
₊𖦹˚⊹ 𓇼 ⊹˚𖦹₊
"What's got you so distracted?"
Mingi's voice makes the tip of his tail jerk in surprise, the words belatedly registering in his mind a moment later. He realizes that he truly has been distracted since returning home from the surface, even as he handed over what he had gathered and let Mingi deal with the hassle of cracking the shells open so they could get at the meat inside for a quick meal.
"I saw some humans today," he murmurs after another few seconds of thinking, curling further into Mingi's side where they rest on their bed of kelp and algae, their dinner finished quite a bit ago. The sun has now fully set, all the while Yunho was distracted thinking of the people above. "Up on the land."
"Oh? I've never seen them before," Mingi says, wrapping a tentacle more firmly around Yunho's waist. "What were they like?"
"Kind of odd," he says softly, almost like a question. "They're so much smaller than we are, I think." When Mingi makes a confused noise, Yunho adds, "They have these two… things in place of tails, and they're a lot shorter than even my tail."
"So my little mermaid is distracted thinking about even littler humans, hm?"
Mingi's voice gives away just how endeared he is, not a hint of mockery in his tone as he asks. He pulls Yunho down to fully lie back on the bed at the same time, curling multiple tentacles around the mermaid while he rests upon his chest. As always, Yunho tucks his face against Mingi's neck where he feels safest.
Giggling, Yunho nods, his nose rubbing against the monster's skin as he does so. "Yeah…" he says quietly, voice trailing off. He decides not to mention the jewelry he saw and what he thinks they might mean. Instead, he presses a kiss to Mingi's neck and relaxes further into his hold as he starts to get sleepy. "They looked so in love, too," he whispers.
Mingi smiles, though Yunho can't see it from where he's tucked in close. "How could you tell?" he asks quietly.
Humming quietly as he thinks, Yunho recalls the way the two humans held each other, the way they looked so at peace in each other's arms, and he realizes just why it was so clear to him. Pulling away from Mingi's neck, he reaches a hand up to cup the monster's cheek as he guides their faces closer together. Just before he pulls him in all the way, he answers Mingi's question, whispering against his lips, "They looked at each other the way you look at me."
Yunho gets a glimpse of how Mingi seems to melt at his words before they kiss, a deep, contented sigh bubbling out of the monster and tickling against his lips. It shocks another little giggle out of him, but he quickly calms it down, falling into the kiss as Mingi pulls him in even closer.
Mingi's tentacles fully wrap around the mermaid's body, just like he knows Yunho likes—all six of them touching whatever part of him they can reach. Two wrap firmly around his waist while two more stroke random whirls and swirls along his back, the last pair of tentacles just resting steady on his hip and chest. Yunho only wishes he had just as many hands to touch Mingi, but instead he has to settle for letting his two measly hands roam freely over the monster's body. He can't stop them, either, running from Mingi's hair down his neck and to his chest, touching his waist and the base of his tentacles where they meet his tail.
His fingertips trail over their slick warmth, following along one in particular until he feels Mingi let go of his hip, the full length his tentacle quickly sliding over his hand until it can wrap around Yunho's wrist gently. Yunho giggles again as the suckers start to leave light, ticklish little kisses along his skin, and he can't effectively kiss Mingi anymore, though the monster doesn't let him pull away regardless.
"I love you," Mingi whispers against his mouth, not wanting to pull farther back than absolutely necessary to speak.
Yunho's lips spread into an easy smile, a current of warmth rippling over his body the way it always does when he's reminded just how deep their feelings run for each other. When he's reminded of how lucky he was to find Mingi. "I know," he says quietly, pressing one last kiss to Mingi's lips before he settles back down against his chest.
The cave is fully dark around them now, nearly pitch black, and Yunho can feel himself being pulled down into sleep, while Mingi's heart beating against his ear slows down as he starts to drift away, too.
₊𖦹˚⊹ 𓇼 ⊹˚𖦹₊
Over the next couple weeks, Yunho quietly searches for the perfect sea garbage to make new jewelry for them. He wears Mingi's necklace every day, but he wants them to have something new, something they both have that matches, that he made. But he needs the right material.
The material in the braid of his necklace is sturdy, but not too thick, and strong enough to withstand day-to-day life under the sea. Still, Yunho fears something similar would be hard to braid small and tightly enough to fit around their fingers, and it might be too stiff to be comfortable. In the past, he remembers seeing more flexible garbage, still strong and resistant to saltwater, but more bendy and hopefully more comfortable, so he keeps an eye out for it whenever he and Mingi are out and about.
Finally, he spots some. What looks like a large woven bag of some kind, used to carry food on ships, he thinks. He mentally catalogues the spot, returning to it later when he's out swimming on his own to hide the material at the bottom of his basket. Thankfully, he was smart enough to bring one of their bone knives with him, because the bag is far too large for him to take all of it home sneakily. He cuts off a large section that should give him more than enough for two simple braided rings, even if he's never tried to make something so small and delicate before.
In the end, it takes him a few tries to figure out just how to braid it in a way he likes, lying on their bed while Mingi is out hunting for fish. He said he wanted to get something special, something extra nice to celebrate the start of another moon cycle together, and Yunho wants nothing more than to make sure his gift is ready before the monster comes back. After a few tries, braiding and unbraiding the thin, string-like bits of plastic, he settles on a braid that reminds him of dolphin tails, making tiny little v-shaped checks. The braids are so tight, so tiny, it's barely visible, but he still likes how it looks and how sturdy it feels when he pulls on the cord as a test.
Once he figures out what he wants, it takes no time at all to braid two lengths of cord, each one as long as his hand from his wrist to the end of his middle finger—plenty long enough to tie around their fingers. He starts to feel giddy as he finishes up the final knot on the second one, bubbly joy in his stomach and chest as he imagines how Mingi will react.
At the thought of his monster, he quickly pushes up and off the bed, sitting himself up to wait for Mingi to return instead of lying on his stomach. Hiding the braids behind his back, he knows Mingi will notice he's hiding something immediately, but he doesn't care, can't stop the eager smile from lifing the edges of his lips.
He doesn't have to wait long, spotting Mingi's large form approaching the cave with something big in his arms. As he grows closer, Yunho realizes it's two long ribbonfish, and his smile only grows wider. They're harder to catch, not something they can eat that often, but Mingi clearly put in effort for a special meal. Watching him swim up to the cave entrance, Yunho feels his heart stutter in his chest, his hands tightening around the braided garbage hidden behind his back. The ribbonfish was just another sign of the countless ways Mingi shows his love, and he can only hope his gift can do the same.
"You're hiding something," Mingi calls to him as he swims within earshot, his voice tilting in a teasing melody carried into the cave by the gentle currents.
Mingi sounds excited at the prospect, not accusatory in the slightest, and it pulls an easy laugh out of the mermaid. "Not really," he calls back, "I knew you'd be able to tell as soon as you got home."
"Should I be worried about what's behind your back?" At the mouth of their cave now, Mingi waits, holding their dinner with a cocked eyebrow and a goofy grin that Yunho loves.
"Put dinner down for now," Yunho says. "I'm excited to eat, but first, I have a gift."
The face Mingi makes can only be described as the embodiment of eagerness, and even his tentacles seem to flutter in excitement as he darts inside the cave to set down his catch. He settles beside Yunho on the bed, watching him with both eyebrows raised and his lips rolled inwards in silent plea for an explanation.
Despite the way Mingi looks near identical to an overeager pup, Yunho still feels a tinge of sheepishness worm its way through his gut, the tiniest bit of fear that his gift will be disappointing.
"When I saw those humans a few weeks ago, they had these metal rings on their fingers, matching ones," he starts, eyes turned towards his lap. "I saw them kiss each other's rings, so I thought maybe they mean something…" Looking up at Mingi now, he sees that the monster's excitement has only grown, his mouth split in a broad grin as he waits for the rest of Yunho's explanation. "I just really wanted to make something for the both of us."
"Rings?" He asks, clearly even more excited. "What?"
Taking a deep breath, Yunho pulls his hands out from behind his back. "I braided these, for us to wear," he says quietly, hands unfurling to reveal the long, thin strips of white cord. "I thought I could tie yours… and you could…" he says, gesturing towards Mingi's hand with one of the braids.
Mingi's voice is all but a whisper, but the awe in it is still loud as can be. "Precious, you're…" He's quiet for a moment longer, at a loss for words, before he scoots closer on the bed. Taking Yunho's hand, he pulls it and the two braids up to his face. "Come here, let me see them up close."
He looks at them a moment longer, turning Yunho's hand this way and that with a light touch as he whispers, "They're beautiful." Meeting the mermaid's eye again, he asks, "Will you put mine on me?"
Yunho watches the reaction, his fear that the gift won't be enough quickly dissipating at the clear wonder the braided cord has inspired in Mingi. He nods quickly, taking the monster's hand to loop his handmade ring around his fourth finger, looking up at Mingi with a raised eyebrow as he ties it tentatively—tight enough to stay on but not so tight as to hurt his finger.
"That's perfect, precious, thank you," Mingi whispers, letting him pull the loose knot tight and cut off the extra length with one of their knives. He only looks at it on his finger for a moment before he takes the other cord and Yunho's hand, tying it in much the same way. "How does that feel?"
Yunho, on the other hand, can't look away from the thin loop of white cord around his finger, eyes wide as Mingi cuts off the excess like he had a moment ago.
"Perfect…" he finally murmurs, still staring at the matching rings on their hands. In a split second decision, he twines their fingers together, letting their rings press together as he pulls their clasped hands up to his lips. He kisses Mingi's ring just like he had seen the humans do.
As soon as he pulls his lips just a hair's breadth away, Yunho feels his hand being tugged away. Mingi presses his own kiss to Yunho's ring, pulling him into a tender hug immediately after.
There they sit, wrapped around each other as the sun begins to set. Its golden glow sweeps over them just like it had the humans Yunho saw weeks ago, seemingly always there to pass its warmth along to those in love.
"I'll never take it off," Mingi says softly, kissing the crown of Yunho's head.
To them, the rings are still a symbol of their bond and a promise of the future, even if they have no idea what the rings mean up on land. It doesn't matter, in the end, as long as they know what it means for them.
Forever.