Chapter 40

●●●

Taehyung stared at the town's lights. They were still just ugly as they had been when he'd first come here. Overbearing and ugly. Taking space where nature should have been... and yet he found himself not completely hating them. He remembered the view from the ferris wheel Jungkook had taken him to when they had gone to the fair. It had been late back then as well and, to some extent, he got what Jungkook liked about them now.

An ocean of lights stretching out in front of him. Taehyung still didn't exactly like them but he no longer only felt negative emotions towards them. He'd made some good memories as well. There was no denying that. Living on land had been... odd to say the least. But it wasn't the same as being in the ocean.

Every time he had to climb out of the water and shift back to his human form... it was harder. Because he missed the real depths of the ocean. He missed the familiar pressure of the water above him. He missed hunting bigger predators. He missed the fight.

But yet he found himself pushing back the day he was planning to leave every time... because Jungkook hadn't even told him whether he could come back yet. There was a good chance that this would be the last time they would see each other. And so he forced himself to breathe in and lift his body out of the water every time. Even when he could feel it stab at his heart and he knew the bathtub couldn't recreate this feeling whatsoever.

Once Jungkook was healthy again... Taehyung was really going to leave. He knew that it was time, but part of him wanted to stay longer. Extend his stay just a little longer.

Taehyung might not have liked the lights, but he ended up returning to them every time. Because of Jungkook.

But for now, he had to hunt. He hadn't had the chance to over the last week and he knew he was eating too little. It took him a while to get away from Jungkook's town... he knew that it could cause serious problems if he stayed in the same place too much. People were likely to become more careful and make hunting harder for him, so he made sure to change the area he hunted in a lot.

He was roughly an hour away from their beach when he heard something by the rocks. It wasn't too loud but his hearing picked it up easily. A boy in swimming trunks was sitting on a relatively small rock... eating something. Taehyung couldn't help a small smile at the thought of what Jungkook had said.

"No normal human swims in the ocean at this time of the year." Seemed like he had been wrong. Maybe he was just too weak to take it.

Slowly he moved closer to the area, while still keeping enough distance for the boy not to see him. From what Taehyung could tell he had to be probably around Jungkook's age. Young and clearly fit judging from his muscles and the fact that he was sitting by the beach at night. Maybe he liked going for a midnight swim, but that just made things easier for Taehyung.

Once he was close enough he opened his mouth and started singing. He could have hunted differently too. The boy was sitting on a rock... and Taehyung could have easily pulled him off, but he was too tired. Even in the ocean he no longer felt as energetic as he used to... he really had to leave soon. Just as soon as Jungkook was healthy again... then Taehyung would leave.

He could tell the exact moment his voice started affecting the boy. He dropped the box with whatever he had been eating and moved closer to the edge of the boulder. Taehyung did too. Once the boy was in the water Taehyung was going to pull him under...

The boy slipped underwater and Taehyung could see him snap out of it, but it was too late. Before he even had a chance to react he grabbed the boy's arm and pulled him further away from the rocks, out into the ocean. The boy struggled, trying to pull his arm out of Taehyung's grip, clearly confused and panicked but not completely terrified yet. That would come once Taehyung pulled him underwater.

"What..." The boy spluttered when he got water into his mouth. "What are you doing?" He must have seen Taehyung. Probably barely registered that they were moving at a much higher speed than should have been humanly possible in the water. Taehyung didn't plan on answering any questions, so instead he decided that they were out far enough before diving down deep. He could tell the boy realized how serious the situation actually was, by how much he started thrashing around.

But it was too late. Not that he would have had a chance if he had realized earlier. Once they were deep enough Taehyung coiled his tail around the boy like a snake to limit his movement. Even then he still tried to move and actually tried to bite Taehyung. The siren just grabbed his hair and yanked his head back to stop him.

He could feel the human's muscles straining in his hold and couldn't help but realize how similar the boy's body felt to Jungkook's. They were built almost the same, the same muscles and proportions overall. And for a second that scared Taehyung. Because he felt like he was hurting Jungkook... again. But when he stared at the boy's face it wasn't Jungkook's eyes looking back at him in horror.

And Taehyung felt relieved... he knew that Jungkook couldn't have been out here. Taehyung was quicker in the water than Jungkook could have been by car and yet he found himself anxious at the thought of accidentally hurting Jungkook like this. Not realizing it was him he was drowning.

But it wasn't. The boy quivering and twitching in his arms wasn't Jungkook. Taehyung brought his hand up to the guy's jaw... he remembered Jungkook talking about the sensation of drowning. Maybe he should end this quickly.

In one swift move he snapped the boy's neck and the body went limp in his arms.

When Taehyung heaved himself out of the water he could feel that burning again. He didn't want to go back on land. He wanted to stay in the water and just be there for a while, but he knew he couldn't just leave like that.

He had to properly say goodbye to Jungkook... and he had to find out whether Jungkook even wanted him to come back once he'd grown back to power again.

The fact that Jungkook wasn't even waiting for him by the rocks like he usually was didn't make it easier. There were no harmless jabs and comments. No complaining. No talking. No one handed Taehyung his towel and clothes... instead Taehyung just slipped into them all by himself and stared at the spot where Jungkook would usually sit.

It was probably going to be a while until he would get that again... Jungkook welcoming him back like that. Why did he actually feel sad at that thought?

A/N

The promised chapter since we made it to 100K🥺💜

I can't believe we have gotten so far... both regarding the story but also just when it comes to all the sweet readers😖

For example the ones that were joking about rereading predator just to get it to 100K quicker skdbskdns

Seriously thank you all😖💜

Since we're now in a point that at least for me is a bit of a turning point in the story... what do you guys think of the story so far?

About the development from the first couple of chapters to now?

The characters and just the direction things seem to be moving now. Do you guys have any guesses what we will see happen in the future?

I already have everything planned but I'd love to hear your expectations and imaginations!