─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

jeongguk couldn't wait to go back to his home and then spend the evening at the beach with the merman.

he had spent the whole night thinking about him, about how unreal he was. he thought he couldn't be a male, with everything in pink, it was surreal, but it also fitted him so well.

he kept smiling goofily when he thought how quick he blushed, and also how perfect his voice sounded.

he's perfect. he can't be real.

was what jeongguk kept thinking all night and all day long. he couldn't believe it. but even if he couldn't believe it, he still wanted to see him and spend time with him.

after he was done with his photoshoot, he did as usual, rush out of his work place, go back to his house and then rush to the beach.

he saw the familiar pink tail sway from side to side as the merman had his back resting on a rock just above the surface.

jeongguk approached him slowly and greeted him before being too close, so he couldn't get scared.

"hello, pretty human." the merman greeted back with a boxy smile. jeongguk smiled back and laid on his stomach on his rock like he always did.

the merman swam smoothly towards him until he reached a rock facing jeongguk's. he managed to climb a tiny bit onto it to lay facing the boy, at a small distance.

"why do you always come here when the sun goes down.." the merman asked quietly while playing with the water underneath him.

"i have work all day long, i come here the moment i'm free." he replied softly. his voice was always soft whenever he spoke to the merman.

the other's features showed a small surprise and he talked again. "i heard humans do the same thing all their life to get paid and be able to live properly. is this true?" he asked and made jeongguk chuckle.

"it is.. the way you describe it sounds way more boring than it actually is though, does it not work like that for you where you live?" he asked again, full of curiosity.

"where i live, people have specialities, but all we do is create what we want. some create jewels, some weapons, some create new receipts so we can eat better food, but i don't like that. that's why i'm always in the human's world." he explained the boy calmly, his tail floating at the surface, sparkling from time to time.

"what do you do then? i mean to live. a.. job? right?" he asked before jeongguk could talk. the boy felt really happy to have a conversation with the merman, and it seemed like he was genuinely interested in him and his human life, he couldn't ask for better.

"i'm a photographer." he just said and waited for the other's reaction.

"a.. photographer? so you take pictures.. to earn money..?" he said slowly which made jeongguk laugh. the merman smiled back but frowned when the boy nodded.

"what do you take pictures of?" he asked and tilted his head to the side.

"people most of the time. i'm famous for my portraits. but i also like to take pictures of whatsoever i find pretty. i love to take pics of sunsets here."

"why do you take pictures of people?"

"because they're beautiful."

the merman frowned again and tilted his head on the other side.

"so why are you the one taking the pictures and not the one they take pictures of..?" he asked, like if it was the biggest mystery he had ever solved.

jeongguk chuckled at his question, he truly didn't know a lot about some human's beauty.

"because i'm not pretty enough. there are many people who are way prettier than me you know." he explained calmly, a smile never leaving his lips.

the merman jumped from his rock and dived in the ocean, only to reappear few seconds after just in front of jeongguk.

he watched the boys's features and quietly said "i don't believe you. humans are known to be hideous where i live, so you must be the most beautiful human who ever existed, because you're really pretty, you should be a merman too."

the boy watched him talk with a fond look, they were coming from opposite worlds, but jeongguk felt better around this merman than around most of humans.

"humans aren't hideous! i'll bring you one of my book so you'll see. are all the mermaids and mermen as pretty as you?" the two were really close to each other, jeongguk could see all the glitters in the merman's eyes, his freckles.. all of his pretty details.

"people from my kingdom say i'm the prettiest who ever existed, this is why i have that many jewels, not that i don't like it, i've always loved wearing jewels." he explained while showing jeongguk all of the beautiful pieces he had around his thin and delicate wrists, and some around his neck.

"i'm not even surprised. you're.. literal art. i still can't believe you're real." he smiled and showed a bit of his bunny teeth while talking.

the merman smiled back and extended his hand so it was opened in front of jeongguk's one.

the boy hesitated at first, he wasn't sure it was what the creature wanted, but he slowly extended his hand too until their finger tips touched.

the merman's skin was so smooth, the boy couldn't help but also connect their palms lightly. they kept eye contact while doing so, their eyes smile showing like never.

"i promise i'm real." the pink creature said, not backing away from jeongguk's soft touch.

"do you have a name?" the boy almost whispered, he had no idea if they had names or not, he didn't want to cross a line either.

"my name is taehyung."

hi loves! i had a bit of free time to post today hehe

my school trip is going sooo well like all of my teachers are so caring because they know i have anxiety and they keep asking if i'm alright and if i need anything etc :(( bless them

i hope you had an amazing day and thank you for 1k reads!!