drown for you | jjk

23

You'll be leaving early on Tuesday morning next week, and the rest of the day–Wednesday D-6–is mostly spent like that: goofing around with the siren. As the hours tick by, more of your colleagues trickle in, knocking on the door to the siren's room to let you know how glad and relieved they are that you're alright.

Of course, it feels good to know that they all care about you, but you do notice that none of them really asks how Jeongguk is doing. Because he's part animal? Or part man?

Hoseok, being the angel that he is, offers to let you stay with him at his place, at least until you leave for the trip.

At first, you want to accept; it felt good to fall asleep knowing Namjoon was just a room away, but now? You miss your own bed, and besides, you don't want to risk becoming dependent on your friends like that.

Besides, playing around with Jeongguk, in that same pool of water, feels like therapy in a way, and whatever worries remain are slowly being washed away. Sure, they might return the moment you leave the room and the water dries from your body, but they're nowhere near as heavy for you to carry.

D-5, Thursday is when your previous career as a competitive swimmer and diver finally comes into play, and Jeongguk, who's deemed you utterly useless in the water, is thoroughly surprised to see you demonstrate the few tricks you still remember how to do.

Your shoulder doesn't argue with you anymore, so you feel a lot more comfortable starting to swim in the tank. Not enough to race him or anything, but enough to play around just a bit.

It's priceless, seeing his wide eyes and open mouth as you do a somewhat ugly back flip into the cold water. Re-emerging, you push your hair from your face and giggle. Finally, it's his turn to be amazed, and when he excitedly asks you to do it again and again, you do, talking through it and explaining every little step.

You'd never be able to deny him, not when you get to see his dark eyes turn every reflection into stars for you.

D-5. Friday. After eating with him, raw fish long forgotten and traded for pizza, Jeongguk begs you to watch him show off his powers, more specifically, the power contained in his tail.

These days, the water in the tank is pretty much clear, having been filtered as soon as Jeongguk felt comfortable enough. But the tarp was left covering the back, creating a dark backdrop and giving him the option to hide in the shadows.

And although the huge tank is still far too small for Jeongguk to truly gain speed in, it doesn't stop him from trying or you from watching, absolutely mesmerized, from the bottom of the tank.

With the lights in the room brighter than usual, you're able to discern much more than you're used to, and it's so... enchanting. At first, Jeongguk shows off as much as the tank allows him to. Spins, turns, and speed–he does it all. Then, he just... swims.

You have no words, barely even any thoughts in your head as you admire him in silent awe. He moves smoothly, gliding through the water, sometimes with his face down and other times toward the surface.

Most of the time, he keeps to the front of the tank where you can see him, and although he doesn't look at you, you know he moves for your eyes only.

And you can't stop watching. Jeongguk's tail is so dark, and so big, but the movements aren't necessarily. The end of it moves up and down slowly, propelling him forward and letting him glide effortlessly through the water.

The same water colors his pale skin blueish, and when he passes you once more–this time sideways and so close you feel like you could reach through the glass and touch–you see every little dip and bulge of his muscled torso.