The Little Mermaid ; Taekook AU [ discontinued ]

CHAPTER 1 ;

It had been five months since Taehyung had been up to the surface.

'I don't think we should be up at the surface around this time,' Jimin had told him. 'It would be wintertime, and the waters will be colder, so it'd be better to stay in the kingdom for now. We need to prepare for the New Year's celebration, too.'

The redhead knew that he had an important job every New Year's celebration; he was a young and talented vocalist, and King Seokjin, who was his legal guardian, often asked him to participate in concerts for the subjects of the kingdom. King Seokjin was the ruler of the empire, the youngest yet. He was a lean mermaid, and his burnt umber hair swept past his eyebrows, generally carrying his gold trident and wearing a crown decorated with jewels and pearls. Oddly, he was born with a salmon colored tail, and was often nicknamed "Princess Jin", but the young mermaid did not mind. He stated that pink was his favorite color, and no one seemed to object the fact. Taehyung had seen many different things about the King, during the 12 years he has been taking care of him.

The teal tailed mermaid gently knocked on the stone wall, asking for permission to enter King Seokjin's chamber. 'Come in.' A gentle voice travelled into Taehyung ears, and he swam into the rectangular hole, touching the flimsy beaded curtain that was decorated with seaweed and shells. 'King Seokjin...‒' the younger mermaid started a sentence but couldn't quite continue it, distracted by the sight of his guardian sprawled over the bedspread with an empty glass bottle that was broken, along with his golden trident.

The brunette looked to his side to see his favorite mermaid in the world, and his once glum face instantly lit up. 'Tae!' he plopped the broken glass object on his bed and swam towards Taehyung, with his arms wide open. 'How have you been? Did you have lunch yet?' King Seokjin was quite a motherly figure to his young mermaid, often cooking and tendering for him. 'And there's no need to address me so formally. We're alone.'

The shorter simply shrugged, but threw his arms over the pink tailed mermaid. 'Okay then, Jin. Please make me some food later.' He could feel the older mermaid have a wide grin on his face, patting him gently on the back, playfully trailing a finger up his spine that always made Taehyung jump.

'Ah! Stop doing that.' The redhead pouted and ruffled his hair, making it even messier. Seokjin floated back on top of his bed, ignoring the clear bottle beside him. 'Will you be going up to the surface again with Jimin?' he asked. Taehyung's ears pricked up as if he was a land mammal. 'Oh, how did you know about that?' the teal tailed mermaid mentally stuck his tongue out, wondering if either Jin was watching them, or Jimin had reported back to him. 'Jimin told me.' a simple reply. 'But you could tell already, couldn't you?' Seokjin flashed the cutest smile that struck Taehyung's heart, but not as much as that young man's smile and laugh from the surface did. 'You did a lot of work for the New Year and spring festival, so go up and have as much fun up there as you like. Just watch out for the humans and any boats.' The younger mermaid nodded, but he knew this already; as if it was an unspoken rule amongst the mermaids.

'Oh, Taehyung!' The orange and yellow colored fish dash-swam towards his best friend. 'I've been looking for you. What do you want to do now?' Jimin rested on the redhead's shoulder, snuggling his face, playing a little with the black string with a small shell attached that hung over his neck. 'I want to go up to feel the sunlight.' And with that, Taehyung started to swim slowly towards the surface, passing past the kingdom structures and coral and some curious residents of the empire.

As the teal tailed mermaid reached the surface, Jimin darted towards the rocks, as he knew his friend was bound to come over here. Taehyung gave him a box smile, wading towards him. He peered through the rocks, but he did not catch sight of the handsome man from prior months ago. Slightly disappointed, but at the same time relieved, he let a soft sigh escape his mouth. Jimin nudged him by the arm, attempting to distract him from his current thoughts. 'Hey, don't let it bug you. There are always other days. Do you want to sing to feel calmer?' The fish and the mermaid enjoyed to sing together. Like his mermaid friend, the older was also a vocalist, and enjoyed singing as much as he did; he was popular for his imposing falsettos, while Taehyung was popular for his captivating deep voice.