MY MERBOY || TK

CHAPTER 4: A Friendly Gesture?

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"What...do you call yourself?" after a while, the merboy asked in a tiny voice while fumbling with his fingers. The human child scratched his head. "My name is Jeon Jeongguk if that's what you're asking for" he replied.

"Oh, I see..so humans call it  n a m e." he excitedly said, like he had just learned a new word. 

Jeongguk just smiled. "Then my 'name' is Taehyung!!" he said. He closed his eyes with a smile, and went closer to gguk's face. The said human panicked, their faces were so close. Their noses were so close, they could boop! The human child shut his eyes.

He felt his forehead being rubbed. He peeked with one eye, and saw that Taehyung was rubbing their foreheads together. He froze. Our Taehyung pulled away and opened his eyes. The sight in front of him widened his eyes, and it terrified him.

"Jeongguk!! You're even more red than before!! Would you like me to soak you with water??!!" he panicked. He flailed his hands around, clearly panicking. Water slowly gathered on his hands. Forming a small ball floating above his palm. 

Jeongguk seemed to have been brought back to reality. But before he could say anything, the merboy splashed that ball onto the others' face.

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"Pfft-"

"HAHHAHHAHAAHAA"

Taehyung's laughed echoed in the cave. Jeongguk doesn't know why, but he wanted to hear it more. He also giggled.

After the merboy's laughter died down, they started talking more about themselves. The human child had found out that the merboy was four years older than him, meaning Taehyung was ten years old. They conversed for a while.

(Note: merfolk & humans mature at the same speed. But they live longer than humans, often reaching over one hundred years)

Taehyung giggled, but then he noticed the sky through the collapsed roof. It was a mix of many colors. The sky was captivating because of the colors of red and orange, which are combined with different shades of yellow, green, and light blue to create an outstanding sight.

"Wah.." he exclaimed softly. "The sky is even more magnificent looking from the surface!" Taehyung clapped his hands, his eyes gleaming with stars. Jeongguk hummed, looking at Teahyung in a daze. He was comfortable with him. He was quite introverted, and didn't have any friends. But with him, they just clicked.

But at one point, moments like these doesn't last long. "JEONGGUK!!" someone called out in the distance. Both boys turned their heads towards the direction of the voice, leading to one of the entrances of the cave.

A voice that made Jeongguk stand up in a haste. It was his mother. He turned his head to Taehyung. "It's my mother, she's calling for me.." he mumbled sadly. Taehyung just tilted his head at the statement.

"Mother..?" he curiously asked. 

But before he could speak further, the voice started to sound louder and panicked. Which made Jeongguk panic too. "I have to go, my mother's looking for me." He said in a hushed rush. He turned around. A tiny hand caught Jeongguk's wrist before he can take a step further. He turned to look down at him. To the merboy.

"You'll be back..right?" Taehyung hesitantly asked. It was his first time up in the surface, and he made his first human friend. The question made the human child grin, displaying his bunny teeth. The sight made the merboy grin too. "Of course I will, I'll be back again tomorrow." He informed. What followed next shocked them both.

With Taehyung's hand still attached to Jeongguk's wrist, the human child moved his hand to under Tae's hand, and did the same with the other hand. A tender peck was placed on the merboy's knuckles. The child looking into his eyes the whole time. Im bad at describing, as YOU CAN SEE-

The merboy's eyes were wide. He doesn't know what the human child just did, but it erupted strange feelings within his entire body. Jeongguk pulled away from his hands, and quickly dashed outta there. He saw his mom a bit further away. "Gguk..!!" she called out once her sight caught the boy.

He ran to her as fast as he can. He hugged his mother's waist so tight, burying his head onto her stomach. The woman grunted at this action.

"What happened Gguk?" she asked him worriedly. But the boy kept silent. The woman sighed, this boy kept worrying her, but then again, the kid's tough, he could carry her in just a jiffy.

She eyed the boy still hugging her waist. She noticed something out of the blue. The boy's ears and nape were bright red. She raised her brow at this. But seeing her boy wasn't injured, or in a panicked or sickened state, she just let him be.

They quickly left, Jeongguk reluctantly glanced back at the cave before continuing to walk out of the beach. What did I just do?! he internally cried and slapped himself. When Jeongguk left the cave, he left the poor merboy alone, with his heart beating uncontrollably. Taehyung placed his hand right above his heart, he felt weird.

Biting his lips, he crawled to the water and swam until he was out of the cave and was behind a boulder near the shore. He held on tight to the boulder and tilted his head. He saw his new friend hugging another human, this time it was a female, and full-grown too. He just stared at them. Whenever Jeongguk glanced towards the cave, he squeaked and hid.

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