─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

when jeongguk woke up the next day he didn't feel the warmth all over him anymore. he shot up and looked around him to search for taehyung in case he had moved in his sleep, but he wasn't there.

his mind was going crazy as he had no idea where he was, maybe he had to leave and didn't get the time to wake him up. what if someone had seen them and kidnapped the merman or even killed him?

jeongguk walked to the entrance of the crook and searched for a pink shape in the sea but he didn't see anything.

he screamed his name a couple of times with a frightened tone. his round eyes were wide and his senses were all in work.

he was about to shout his name again when he was pulled in the water. he tried to get out of the unknown grip by instinct, he was kicking in all the ways possible but immediately stopped when he felt a warm pair of lips on his jaw.

he was lacking oxygen so he swam back to the surface, followed close by a panicked taehyung.

"what's wrong koo what happened?" he asked as soon as he was out of the water.

"i-i when i woke up y-you were a-and i couldn't find y-you i thought t-that-"

"shhh.. calm down, i'm right here and all fine. i'm so sorry i scared you." taehyung took him in his arms and hugged him tightly to help him calm down.

when he had recovered an even breathing jeongguk pulled away slightly and frowned at the merman, who was watching him with the softest look.

he punched his chest and whined "don't do that again i thought you got killed or kidnapped!" the merman chuckled and pecked his nose.

"i'm sorry i won't do it again. but i heard your stomach growl so i went to search for some food you could eat just when you wake up.." he murmured and moved them towards a big rock, where some colored stuff stood.

jeongguk felt horrible for getting slightly mad at the merman since he just wanted to be sweet. he sat on the rock next to the supposed food and gripped taehyung to put him on his lap once again.

"thank you so much" he whispered near his ear, his breath fanning his sensitive gills and drawing a whimper out of his mouth.

the blushing merman looked away and took a small blue ball in his hand to bring it to jeongguk's lips. "i don't know if you will like it.. i tried to pick up my favorites." he explained quietly.

the boy smiled and took the blue ball in his mouth carefully. he crushed it and hummed in satisfaction as a sweet taste took over his mouth. his eyes widened and he immediately opened his mouth wide to have more.

taehyung kept feeding him all types of food he liked, sometimes the boy gagged at a weird taste but he liked most of them.

he thanked taehyung for picking all of those and lied down on the rock, keeping him on his chest and playing with his hair.

"how come you always wake up before me?" he asked quietly.

"we don't need much sleep, i think humans need quite a lot. or you're just really really lazy." he joked as he started to draw shapes on jeongguk's chest.

"how... how do humans... show affection to each other?" he asked shyly and immediately buried his face in the boy's neck.

"what kind of affection? there are a lot.." he replied as he didn't know exactly what to say.

taehyung hid his face more in his neck but he could still see the bright blush. "l-like lovers.." he whispered. it was almost inaudible but jeongguk still caught it.

he smiled and started to explain. "people hug, and kiss most of the time. they hold hands, they... play with each other's hair.. they call each other pet names, and compliment each other."

there was a small pause and taehyung asked "i-is pretty one of them?" the boy smiled and hummed in his hair before kissing it.

"they also touch each other's butt." he laughed out and taehyung wanted to disappear in embarrassment. he shuffled on his spot to hide his face but jeongguk cupped his cheeks to make him look up.

he didn't dare meeting his gaze first and regretted when he did, because all he saw was amusement, with a glimpse of adoration. it was his time to ask questions.

"c-can mermaids.. be with humans? a-as in lovers?" it was his time to look away and blush, he wanted to pretend it was just a random question but it was obvious it wasn't. 

"it's rare. i think it quite never happened since we are supposed to be afraid of humans. but.. my people keep saying that it's possible and it would be a kind of miracle, it's like a myth." he replied thoughtfully.

"so are you only talking to me to be the miracle?" the boy teased which earned him a punch on the chest, only to get a small peck where he hit.

"and w-were both boys.." jeongguk continued worriedly, but he just received a confused look.

"are your people fine with that?" he asked more precisely, but taehyung was still as confused.

"why wouldn't they? we can be with whoever we want." there was a small pause and taehyung propped himself up to look at jeongguk's face.

"can't humans be with whoever they want?" he asked with wide eyes and they widened even more when jeongguk shook his head.

"boys dating boys and girls dating girls are still... not really accepted. a-and i'm gay as shit i can't date a girl which sucks. my parents kicked me out when i was still a teen because of this. now only my closest friends know." he explained quietly, his hand naturally brushing pink locks.

it was silent, they could only hear the waves crashing at their feet. but then jeongguk heard sniffling, and taehyung moved out of his grasp to go hide in the water.

the boy tried to stop him but it was too late, and he disappeared in the water so he couldn't follow him. he sighed and swam back to the crook to wait for him.

he reappeared after few minutes, jeongguk immediately noticed his red eyes. he immediately hugged him tightly and whispered 'why did you leave? why are you crying?'

"it's just that.. we're so close a-and i thought that.. that you liked me b-back but n-now i-"

"i don't give a single fuck about people's acceptance. i dont care about what they think and hey you're a merman you being a boy is the least of the problem." he chuckled and pulled the sniffing boy in his arms again.

"and yes i do like you back." he added and taehyung had to go back underwater, but this time to hide his blushy cheeks and his wide smile.

"we should go back it's getting late." he said once he was out of the water again. jeongguk hummed and checked the view one last time before getting inside of the water.

they swam together like the previous day, with jeongguk resting on top of taehyung to go faster.

"take a breath." taehyung said out of the blue and jeongguk listened, so he was soon underwater with a huge group of colored fishes.

he tried hard to keep his eyes opened but it sting too much so he had to close them after some seconds. taehyung noticed so he put his hands on his sides to guide him back to the surface without hitting anything.

he put him on his chest again and wiped the water off his eyes gently with his thumbs. they smiled fondly to each other and jeongguk turned around to face the sky.

taehyung wrapped his arms around his waist and he intertwined their fingers. they stayed in silent, they were just appreciating the other's warmth and the beautiful view.

jeongguk recognized the familiar cliff and his beach after a while and he let go of taehyung to swim the last meters by himself.

he stopped when his toes touched the sand to hug taehyung one last time before going home. the merman kept his smaller frame close to him as he was appreciating the small pecks jeongguk was pressing on his shoulder.

"thank you so much for all of this. it was wonderful, really, thank you." the boy mumbled and pressed a bigger kiss on his cheek.

"you're welcome beautiful." taehyung replied with flushed cheeks. he watched jeongguk swim away and then run to his house.

he smiled to himself and dived back in the sea with the biggest smile on his lips.

"he said he likes me back.."

hello babeeees
i have so so so many aus i have to write oml but i can't find enough time let me cry