Thus began Jimin's chase for the merman.
He always liked the chase. It was exciting because he knew he'd wind up getting what he wanted in the end. So the difficulty of the process didn't matter. It only made the chase more thrilling.
He went down to the beach shore every morning. And every morning, he caught at least a glimpse of the merman. If nothing else, the merman's curiosity kept him coming back. Jimin made sure of that by bringing different kinds of bait down to the beach with him each day. Sometimes it was technology, sometimes it was food. Whatever it was, it always worked. The merman would lurk nearby and watch Jimin with wide-eyed curiosity as he blasted music from his cell phone or flew a kite or brought his cat down to the water. That last idea hadn't worked very well. It had ended with his cat hissing at the merman which caused the merman to hiss right back and splash water onto the furry animal, sending it running off. Jimin had spent the rest of that day searching for his disgruntled pet.
They hadn't talked since that first day. Not that Jimin wasn't trying. The merman simply deigned not to grace any of Jimin's questions with responses.
It had been a week and Jimin still hadn't given up. He walked down to the beach as usual. He was happy to see that the merman was already there waiting for him. Of course, the stubborn creature would never admit that though. He was leisurely swimming back and forth near the shore and when Jimin rounded the cove of rocks, he slowed and watched the other man carefully. His eyes were already wide with interest.
“Good morning,” Jimin greeted.
The merman didn't respond. Jimin smirked. “Fine,” he said. He took the hem of his t-shirt in his hands and pulled it over his head. His bare chest welcomed the cool air of the morning as he deposited his shirt next to him on the sand. He then pushed his pants down to reveal a pair of tight black swimming trunks that left his muscled thighs exposed. He watched the merman appraise him curiously. “Since you won't come to me...I'll come to you.”
Jimin stepped into the ocean and began to swim out to the still-watching merman.
When he understood what Jimin was doing, the merman's gaze sparked. He swished his tail and then sank beneath the waves only to come right back up with a smile on his face. He was excited.
Seeing the smile on the merman's face almost distracted Jimin enough to forget the fact that he hated the water. Especially water that hadn't previously been warmed to accommodate his comfort. “You handsome bastard.” He cursed the merman for causing his actions. “If I get pneumonia, I'm blaming you,” he promised.
When Jimin drew close enough to the merman, he reached out to touch him but the merman evaded his hand. Jimin moved forward for another attempt and, again, the merman drew back. A teasing glint lit his eyes. Jimin narrowed his eyes. “You're enjoying this, aren't you?”
As if to answer his question, a chittering laugh came from the merman's throat and his shoulders shook with mirth.
Jimin didn't laugh along. He was too mesmerized. The merman's smile lit up his entire face. Jimin was struck by his ethereal nature. “I can't believe mermaids exist,” he found himself murmuring. “I can't believe you exist.”
The merman sank beneath the surface and all he felt was a brush against his legs before he was resurfacing again, farther away – more than a few feet. “You're fast,” Jimin said. He stared at the waiting merman and shot a glance back over his shoulder at the shore that was too far away for his liking. He looked back at the merman who was still waiting and watching him expectantly. “I can't go out that far,” Jimin shouted to him. “I don't want to.” The merman stared at him. “So you...come back here.”
The merman didn't move or respond in any way. If it wasn't for the fact that the merman had spoken to him on the first day they met, he would have assumed the merman didn't understand him. But he knew that wasn't the truth. He was just being an asshole.
“Okay...” Jimin said through gritted teeth. “Just a little farther.”
He swam farther out to meet the merman but before he could feel proud of himself or any sort of satisfaction, the merman was moving away from him again – out of arm's reach.
Jimin huffed a sigh of frustration when he started laughing again.
“Stop it,” Jimin said from between gritted teeth, growing more frustrated by the second. Because, sure, he liked the chase. But he didn't like being laughed at or not taken seriously. “I'm trying to do this the easy way, but I can do it the hard way if you keep this up.” The merman did another quick, careless flip in the water as if he didn't notice the change in Jimin's voice or the underlying threat in his tone.
“I have a lot of money,” Jimin continued. “I can build a cage. Capture you in it.” His gaze glittered with intent. “Take you back home with me and keep you locked up in an indoor pool.” The merman finally stopped moving around, his gaze ensnared by Jimin's. “I've actually thought about that. But I'm trying to be nice. So why don't you just get over here now?”
The merman finally began to move towards Jimin, causing a victorious smirk to lift his lips.
His brow furrowed in confusion when the merman circled his wrist with his hand. Jimin noticed how much larger the merman's hand was in comparison to his own, how easy it was for him to ensnare his wrist in a tight grip. Before he could say anything, the merman spoke – his first words in a while. “Is it true that humans can't hold their breath for very long?”
The merman's eyes darkened, and Jimin felt a spark of fear shoot through him right before he realized why he should. He was out in the middle of the water, far away from land or anyone who could hear him scream, with a creature he knew nothing about. A sinister smile stretched across the merman's face and, for the first time, Jimin realized how sharp his canines were. “No-” he said.
But it was too late.
The merman was dragging him under. Under. Away from sunlight and air – his very source of life.
* * *
Jimin coughed and sputtered as he was thrown back onto dry land. Salt water burned his throat as it came back up. He glared at the merman who looked much too pleased with himself. “You son of a bitch,” he coughed. “You...” He gasped for air, grateful to have it back in his lungs. It was true he thought of death every other day, but he would very much like to have fair warning before it happened. And, even better, he would like to have some kind of control over it. “You tried to kill me.”
The merman assumed “to kill” meant take away his life or cause him to stop existing in this context. So he responded. “I didn't try to kill you. If I did, you would no longer be here.”
Jimin glared at him again.
“I just wanted to show you who had more power, human. I don't know everything you said earlier, but I didn't like the way you said it.”
Jimin continued to cough and rolled his eyes. When he finally got himself under control, he stood up and snatched his clothes from the ground. “Whatever, fish boy.”
When Jimin stormed away and stayed away for a full sunrise and sunset cycle, the merman wondered if he had taken things too far but then the pretty human showed up again. He tried not to show his excitement too clearly, but he watched intently as the man sat on the beach and began to unwrap something.
A dark brown substance was revealed and then the man was putting it into his mouth. Chewing. The merman swam back and forth, curiously. It was some kind of food.
Jimin moaned around the melting chocolate in his mouth. “This is so good,” he proclaimed loudly.
The merman watched him suspiciously, but when Jimin reached out and offered a piece to him, the merman took it. He was curious. He brought the food close to his nose and sniffed. It smelled...nice. He poked his tongue out to lick it.
Jimin watched the merman with a small smile on his face. He knew it wasn't the sanest thing to be out here with someone who had almost drowned him a day or so ago, but he never claimed to be the sanest person anyway. Once he wanted something, he didn't let anything stop him from getting it.
Satisfied that the piece of candy wasn't anything harmful or weird, the merman put it into his mouth and chewed. His eyes immediately grew bigger and he smacked his lips together happily, enjoying the taste on his tongue.
“Good, right?” Jimin simpered, happy that he had finally found something to ensnare the merman's interest. “Do you want another piece?”
The merman nodded eagerly.
Jimin gave him another piece. But when the merman continued to hunger for more, Jimin chose then to start bargaining. He offered the merman the entire bar if he would climb up onto the shore and sit beside him. The merman hesitated for only a moment before he complied.
It was then that Jimin finally got a good look at the merman in all of his glory. And, boy, was he impressed.
As the merman tore through the bars of chocolate Jimin had brought down, Jimin stared at the creature's built torso. A large chest tapered off into a thin waist filled with abs. And the merman's biceps bulged with each movement of his arms. But his tail...his tail was something else altogether. It was splendid.
Each scale held the shiny shimmer of onyx blending off into the gradient of a bright green. It gave his tail the illusion of constant movement and of a shimmering glow. The ends of his tail slapped against the sand of the beach, presumably from contentment of eating the chocolate Jimin had gifted him.
Jimin wanted to touch it.
He licked his lips and glanced at the other man's face to see that he was still wholly distracted by the candy in his hands. Gathering his courage, and potentially risking being drowned again, Jimin reached out and touched the merman's tail. It was smooth and cold to the touch.
The merman's fin stopped moving as he watched Jimin touch his tail.
Jimin held his breath but when it seemed that the merman was allowing his touch, he continued on. It was beautiful. And he could feel the power of it beneath his hand, thrumming through his arm. He swallowed thickly and felt his body start to react.
'What the fuck?' he thought. He was a little freaked out by the fact that he was growing aroused at the sight of the merman's tail. He always knew he was a little off-center but this was a whole different level of weird. Right?
He glanced up at the merman's face, who was staring at him with dark pupils. He hurriedly pulled his hand back. He was about to focus on casting off all thoughts about how he found a scaly fish tail sexy when the merman's voice interrupted him.
“What's that?”
Jimin looked over to see the merman pointing down at his crotch where there was a prominent protrusion underneath the fabric of his pants. Jimin's mouth fell open in shock and embarrassment and he turned away from the merman. “Yah! You're not supposed to look! That's rude!”
The merman stared at him in confusion.
“Wait,” Jimin said, a thought striking him. He turned back to look at the merman's tail, pointedly staring at where his genitals should be. “Do you not have-, do mermaids not-, wait. How do you have sex?!”
The merman blinked. “What's sex?”
Jimin's mouth fell open. “Wow! Oh my God!” He looked back at the merman in shock, needing to get to the bottom of this. “How do you fish people reproduce?” he asked. “You know, give birth.” He demonstrated crudely with his hands. “How do you make that happen?”
Realization dawned on the merman's face. “Oh. We release our sperm and eggs into the sea. It mixes together and then sometimes offspring comes of that. Why? What do humans do?”
Jimin's mouth hung open. “So there's no sex? Where's the fun in that?!”
The merman stared at him in confusion before shrugging and bringing the chocolate back to his mouth.
While he was distracted with eating, Jimin linked a diamond bracelet around the merman's wrist. When the handsome creature turned to face him with a question in his eyes, Jimin stated, “This means you're mine.” The merman blinked with wide eyes at the loop of shiny stones around his wrist. Jimin smiled and ruffled his hair. “My pretty virgin mermaid.”
The merman contemplated the bracelet for a moment longer before allowing it to remain on his wrist. He took the final bite of his chocolate. “Man,” he finally said.
“What?” Jimin asked.
“You keep calling me a mermaid. As far as I know, in your language, a maid is a woman. I'm a male.”
Jimin chuckled, growing more enamored with the merman by the second. He reached out and gently pinched his chin. “Oh. Merman.”
The merman's fin began to slap the sand again, content. Their gazes locked and Jimin smiled gently. “Do you have a name?” he asked.
“Name?”
“Something I can call you. For example, you're a merman. But I don't want to call you 'merman'. That's weird. Just like I'm a human, and I don't want you to call me 'human'. My name is Jimin. What about you?”
The merman thought for a moment. He shook his head. “I don't have one.”
“Well, we'll have to fix that,” Jimin said. He picked up a stick and began to scratch a name in the sand. The surname came from his first nanny – the first person he remembered being kind to him – and the other name came from a historical book he remembered reading about a brave warrior he looked up to. “Jeon Jungkook,” he said. “How is that?”
The merman looked at the name scratched in the sand, and he felt somehow touched. He didn't grasp the full meaning of a name, but from what Jimin had told him, he understood that it must be something important to humans. And he was being given one. “Jeon Jungkook,” he repeated. “My name is Jeon Jungkook.”
Jimin fought back a smile that would have been much too bright, embarrassingly bright, if he had let it loose. He nodded. “Good. That's what you'll tell people when they ask who you are from now on.”
Jungkook nodded and controlled his glow so that it wouldn't shine through.
He looked down at the bracelet on his wrist again. “The good sweet. The name. And this...” he said. “Is this how humans bond? They give each other things?”
Jimin pursed his lips. “Well...That's one way. And 'the good sweet' is called chocolate, by the way.”
“Chocolate,” Jungkook repeated. “Can you teach me more?” he asked.
“About chocolate?”
“About human bonds. Teach me more ways to do it.”
Jungkook was looking at Jimin with wide eyes and a curious expression. 'Cute,' Jimin thought. “Okay,” he said. “If it's bonding, I'll teach you something very important. Ready?”
Jungkook nodded.
And before he knew it, Jimin's lips were pressed against his. Soft and warm. His eyes widened and he blinked wildly as Jimin began to move his mouth softly against him. He wasn't sure what the proper response was in this situation, so he just sat there.
He felt the pretty human smile against his lips and chuckle before pulling away. “That's called a kiss,” Jimin said. “It's the second most important way humans show they care about each other.”
Jungkook licked his tongue out to wet his lips, still curious about what had just happened. It felt pleasant, though, so he didn't mind it. “What's the first most important way?”
A mischievous glint lit in Jimin's eyes as he leaned back in and whispered, “Sex.”
“Oh...” Jungkook said. If that was the most important, then... “Teach me sex.”
Jimin spluttered and fought to form words. “Yah. You can't ask for it directly like that.”
“Then what?” Jungkook asked. “I want to know everything.”
Jimin stared at Jungkook with a mixture of amusement and shock. His bow lips were pushed into a cute pout. Jimin scoffed and sighed, frustrated with himself. “It's so tempting,” he said. “But I can't do it. You're like a little kid who doesn't know anything.” He met Jungkook's eyes. “I won't teach you about sex yet,” he said. “Think of that as an advanced course. We'll start with the basics.”
Jungkook drew back, affronted. His chest expanded. “I'm an advanced being.”
Amused, Jimin held back a chuckle. “I don't doubt it,” he said. “But let's just start with the basics anyway, okay? For my sake.”
Jungkook pressed his lips together, obviously displeased but he deflated. “Okay.” He laid onto his back underneath the sun. “What are the basics? More kissing?”
Jimin fought the devil on his shoulder for only a second before Jungkook's prostrated muscles called and beckoned him. Kissing was innocent enough, right? “Yes,” he said. “More kissing.” He leaned over Jungkook's supine form and began the lessons with fervor.
* * *
Three days and 40 chocolate bars later, Jungkook was a kissing expert.
He controlled the kiss, his tongue languidly tracing the interior of the pretty human's mouth that he had come to know so well in the past days. As he lost himself in the feeling of the kiss as he had been taught to do, he heard Jimin moan from beneath him. He began to lift away from the kiss to check if the human was having trouble breathing or something – he knew humans had primitive and fragile airway systems – but Jimin's arms locked around his neck, holding him in place. “Don't stop,” the human whispered, locking his lips against the merman's once again.
The warmth of the sun beat down on Jungkook's back as he pressed harder against the human's lips, maneuvering his head with more passion.
Jimin began to squirm under him as he was sometimes wont to do. Jungkook held his waist in an iron grip, holding him steady. This caused another moan to break from Jimin's throat. “Oh God,” Jimin whispered against his lips. “I want you to wreck me.”
Jungkook pulled back and looked at Jimin in confusion. “What does that mean?”
“Don't worry about it,” Jimin said impatiently, pulling him back down. “Keep kissing me.”
Jungkook felt a hardness press against his stomach. He looked down to see that it was the curious protrusion in the human's pants again. Sometimes it was there; sometimes it wasn't. He reached down to touch it and Jimin's muscles tensed and a hiss escaped his lips upon the contact. “God,” he grunted. “Don't touch that.”
Jungkook hurriedly pulled his hand back. “Why? Does it hurt?”
“No. It feels good. Just...I don't think you should touch it before you really know what you're doing.”
A flash of that damned pride that Jimin had come to realize was a core part of the merman's being sparked in his eyes. “I know what I'm doing,” he stated defensively. “I've become an expert at kissing.”
Jimin chuckled and gently stroked Jungkook's cheek to calm him. “Yes, you have. But instead of continuing...Do you want more chocolate?”
Jungkook's eyes sparked, and Jimin knew he had managed to successfully distract the merman.
As Jungkook ate his latest bar of chocolate, Jimin finally voiced something he had been curious about. “Why do you want to learn how to connect with people anyway? Do you talk to other humans?” He tried to keep the bitterness that came with that thought out of his voice.
Jungkook shook his head and pointed at the ocean. “I want to bond better with my people. We don't practice things like friendship, relationships, family...some of the things you've been telling me about. I want to change that.”
Jimin stared at the merman's profile and, for the first time, began to wonder about his life in the sea. It must be lonely... He licked his lips. “You're by yourself down there?”
Jungkook nodded, much too casual about that admittance as he continued to scarf down the rest of his chocolate bar and Jimin's heart squeezed with pity. Before he knew it, he was reaching out to take Jungkook's hand in his own.
He understood loneliness. He felt it all the time. Even though he was surrounded by people, he never truly felt understood. His mom was always off taking long vacations, his dad worked too much, and he wasn't sure his friends would even be his friends if it weren't for the fact that his father was their fathers' boss.
He met Jungkook's eyes. “Well, you're not by yourself anymore,” he said. He lifted Jungkook's wrist and pointed at the bracelet. “Remember what this means. We belong to each other. Even when we're apart.”
The merman stared at Jimin's eyes. There was a glow and intensity there that supported the truthfulness of his words. The word Jungkook didn't have for the emotion he was seeing was sincerity, but he felt it. He had the strangest urge to start kissing again. So he leaned forward to do so.
Jimin's lips welcomed him, soft and inviting.
Jungkook felt The Glow starting to warm his body again. It was becoming harder and harder to control it these days, and it was happening more frequently. But he kept the otherworldly light tamped down.
He was getting lost in the kiss until Jimin broke it suddenly.
“Wait,” the other man said. He stared at Jungkook with narrowed eyes. “Have you been putting my lessons into practice?” He pointed accusingly at the ocean. “Down there? Have you been kissing other fish people?”
Jungkook shook his head. “No,” he said. “Not yet.” He eagerly rushed to explain in case Jimin misunderstood, thinking he didn't find value in his lessons. “But I'm going to! I figured I'd wait till I was better at kissing. But now that I'm an expert, I'll start doing it. And hopefully it will help me bond with them.” Jungkook smiled happily.
“No!” Jimin said quickly, horrified. He glared. “You are not to kiss other people – fish people or otherwise, you got that?” He held Jungkook's arm up again. “This bracelet means you're mine! And that means you can't kiss other people! If you do...” he stuttered, searching for a way to explain it to the merman that made sense. “If you do, you break the bond that we have. Understand?”
Jungkook blinked at him, obviously confused. “But...you said kissing was the second most important...” Jungkook muttered.
“Yeah, I know what I said,” Jimin said, hating his past self. “But kissing is only done with someone who's special, okay? You only choose one person you want to kiss, and that's the only person you kiss for the rest of your life.”
Jungkook gasped, his hand going to his lips, as he was shocked by the news. “So...because I've kissed you...I can't kiss anyone else?”
Jimin nodded, his expression unapologetic. He knew there was a lot he was leaving out of his lessons on relationships, but all Jungkook needed to know was the simplified version for now. “That's right,” he said.
“What happens if I do?” Jungkook asked, his eyes curious. There was also the slight hint of a challenge in them and Jimin remembered that the merman didn't like being told what to do.
“Then...” Jimin's eyes landed on the discarded chocolate wrapper next to Jungkook. “No more chocolate,” he said. Jungkook's mouth fell open in a shocked 'o'. “And no more bracelet,” Jimin said, pointing to the bracelet adorning the merman's wrist. “And no more of me coming down to talk to you every day. And no more kissing between us. And definitely no sex.”
The whole list of things he would lose was unnecessary. Jimin had convinced him of how sacred a kiss was with the threat of no more chocolate. Jungkook nodded. “I understand. I won't kiss anyone except you.”
The tension Jimin hadn't realized had come into his body exited. His lips lifted with satisfaction. “Good.”
“But then...how do I bond with others? Humans bond with more than one person, right?”
Jimin faced Jungkook. “Okay,” he said. He took up a rock and began to scratch stick figures into the sand. “There are lots and lots of humans, right? Just like I'm sure there are lots and lots of you fish people.” He drew a bunch of stick figures in one spot. Jungkook watched with full attention. “Here's you.” He drew a stick figure with something resembling a tail, separate from the other people. “And then here's me.” He drew a stick figure a space away from the fish-man stick figure. “Like I said, humans choose one special person that they kiss and have sex with. For you, that person is me.” Jimin drew a heart between their two bodies.
“What is that?” Jungkook asked, pointing it out.
“Don't worry about it,” Jimin said. He continued with his lesson. “Just like you can choose the one person you want to make your special person...You can also choose a few more people...These people are called 'friends'. Let's say...they're one step below your special person.” He drew a group of stick figures below the stick figure representing himself. “These people you create bonds with by talking together, laughing together, eating and drinking together.” Jimin drew a smile on stick figure Jungkook's mouth and dusted his hands off when he was finished. “And that's how it's done.”
Jungkook frowned.
“Talking?” he asked, an unimpressed frown on his face.
Jimin nodded.
“That's it?” Jungkook asked. “It can't be. I talk with other merpeople sometimes. They still leave.”
“Well, do you invite them back?” Jungkook blinked. “Do you go to check up on them whenever you can?”
“Well...no...Just...if we come across each other, then...”
“See!” Jimin tutted and shook his finger at the merman. “In order to get people to care about you, you have to care about them. Meet them regularly, see how they're doing. Actively seek them out.”
Jungkook pouted, thinking back to his long-haired acquaintance. “I asked him to stay once.”
“Who?” Jimin asked.
“...A friend.”
“One of them?” Jimin asked, nodding toward the ocean.
“Yeah.”
“And he didn't?”
“No.”
Jimin felt pity tug at his heart due to Jungkook's forlorn expression. “Well...” he said. “That's because it was your first meeting in a while, right? How long had it been?”
“Umm...” Jungkook considered the question. Merpeople didn't tend to measure time. They just drifted in the deep stretch of the ocean. “I was about...” He held his hands about four feet apart. “This big.”
Jimin's mouth fell open. If he understood what Jungkook was saying to him, it had been years since the merman had seen this friend he was talking about. “Yah~” Jimin exclaimed in disbelief. “No wonder he didn't take you up on your offer. That's like asking someone for a commitment after just saying 'hi'.” Jimin shook his head. “No. This won't do. I have to teach you how to socialize.”
He drifted off from speaking as he studied Jungkook's profile.
“What is it?” Jungkook asked.
Jimin twisted his lips. “Trying to think of how I can smuggle you back to Seoul.”
Jungkook's brows furrowed in confusion. “Seoul?” he asked.
“It's a city,” Jimin responded. “It's where I live. It's a few hours away from here. Well...depending on how you travel.”
Jungkook stared at Jimin. “It's a different place?” he asked to confirm.
Jimin nodded.
“And you live there?” Jungkook asked.
Jimin nodded again.
Realization settled on Jungkook's face. “So you're leaving?”
Jimin sighed. “Yeah,” he said. “I have to go back to school. Act like I care, you know? Even though I don't.”
Jimin didn't notice the storm cloud that had suddenly settled over Jungkook's shoulders.
“But you're a human,” he said.
Jimin looked at him, slightly confused. “Yeah?”
“You're not supposed to leave.”
Understanding finally settled on Jimin's features.
“And I have this,” Jungkook said, holding out his wrist which was adorned with Jimin's bracelet. “And we kissed.”
Jimin stared at Jungkook's wide-eyed and imploring gaze. 'He wants me to stay', he realized. He fought a smile that began to pull at his lips.
“I'm not leaving forever,” Jimin said. “I'll come back every weekend. Remember what I told you. I'm rich. So traveling out here will be no problem for me at all. I'll be back before you can even blink.” He reached out and stroked a hand through Jungkook's hair. “You're the one who didn't want me to steal you from the water, so this is the best we can do.”
His words didn't seem to pacify the frowning merman. He tilted his head before speaking again, “Take me to the water,” he requested.
Jimin scowled. “Yah. Are you really going to sulk about this?”
“Take me to the water,” Jungkook repeated, ignoring Jimin's question.
Jimin sighed and picked the merman up bridal style, taking him into the water and then slowly releasing him. Jungkook descended beneath the shallow waves for a moment before coming back up to face Jimin. “Wait here,” he instructed. “Don't leave.”
It was a command.
Jimin shrugged with mock nonchalance causing the merman to narrow his eyes at him suspiciously, but he dipped beneath the water nonetheless, trusting that the human would stay where he left him.
Jimin tried to distract himself by seeing how far he would sink into the sand as each layer was taken away with the incoming tide, but he started to become impatient when it seemed at least half an hour had passed since Jungkook had swam away. “Where is he?” Jimin muttered, wondering if the merman was taking revenge on him by just leaving him to wait like a fool while never really intending to come back until maybe the next morning.
He continued to wait, hoping that wasn't the case.
After Jimin's legs got tired and he sat down on the beach with the tide still coming up to touch his toes, Jungkook finally made a reappearance.
“Took you long enough,” Jimin griped. “I don't like waiting. In fact, I don't think I've ever waited in my life-”
He stopped talking in surprise, when Jungkook grabbed his arm and pulled him forward.
“Yah,” he spluttered when water splashed into his mouth due to the unattractive and blunt way that Jungkook pulled him forward, causing him to fall forward into the shallow waves hitting the edge of the beach. He hurriedly re-situated himself by moving closer to sit nearer to the merman, paying no mind to the waves now coming up to hit his chest. But his face was flushed red with anger. “You fish bastard,” he cursed. He had never been treated so carelessly in his life. It caused his tongue to loosen. “If you weren't so handsome, I would teach you a lesson! Yah. You don't know who I am, do you? That's the only reason I'm holding back. Of course you don't know who I am. You live under the water so you think you can just yank me around and make me do this and that but you-”
He stopped mid-rant when Jungkook pushed his arm back toward him. He hadn't even been aware that his wrist was still caught in the merman's grasp until Jungkook was releasing him. He looked down at the glinting object that was now circling his pale skin.
It was a bracelet. A bracelet made of pearls.
“What is this?” he asked, touching the bracelet gently with his fingertips.
“You gave me something to bond me to you,” Jungkook said. “But I realized I hadn't given you anything to bond you to me. Now you have to come back. You're mine.”
Jimin's mouth opened and closed as he came up at a loss for what to say. He felt...touched. Someone genuinely wanted him to be around. He cleared his throat. “Yah,” he said, keeping his face a practiced mask of nonchalance. “I don't belong to anyone. Got it?”
Before Jungkook could respond, Jimin got up and stalked off.
That night, he couldn't get to sleep. The pearl bracelet and the strange warm feeling in his heart kept him awake.
* * *
Jungkook was satisfied the next morning when Jimin arrived still wearing the pearl bracelet.
While Jimin was surprised to find that Jungkook was already lounging on the sand of the beach, using a large, stray stone as a pillow.
He was surprised, but he took advantage.
Dressed in his long, silk pajamas, he wasted no time in straddling either side of Jungkook's scaly tail and taking a seat.
“Guess what?” Jimin said. Jungkook cocked his eyebrow in question. “I got you something.” Jimin produced a sleek-looking rectangular object in a plastic ziploc bag. He dropped it onto Jungkook's abdomen where Jungkook picked it up and began to study it with confusion. “This is a cell phone. Like mine.” Jimin pulled out his own cell phone and Jungkook's features smoothed into an expression of recognition. “Using this, you can talk to me no matter how far away I am. Just make sure never to let it touch water. Or else you'll damage it and you won't be able to use it again.”
Jungkook opened the bag the cell phone was in and pulled it out. But he didn't know what to do from there. He glanced at Jimin for help.
Jimin smiled. “Here...Let me show you.”
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