Tails and Toes • Jikook Mermaid AU

Chapter Eighteen

When the two came back from the beach, Jungkook put Jimin to bed again. He noticed that Jimin flinched whenever he moved his feet, so the best option was to not use them and for Jimin to lay down. Maybe get some sleep too. When Jimin was finally peacefully sleeping, Jungkook softly closed the door and walked downstairs while taking his phone out of his pocket. Can I come over? It's important, Jungkook texted to his best friend and impatiently waited for a response. Yeah sure, I'll tell Yoongi to leave, so then it's just us, responded Taehyung. Jungkook sighed heavily and made sure he left silently, so he wouldn't wake up Jimin. As fast as he could, he sat down in the car seat and closed the door. He started the vechile and drove down the street, on his way to his best friend.

...

''What's wrong?'' Taehyung asked who stood in the doorway and saw Jungkook coming out of his messily parked car. Jungkook walked past Taehyung into the house and the purple-haired male closed the door with a sigh. ''It's about Jimin.'' Jungkook said while he sat down on the couch in the living room. ''Ofcourse, I didn't expect anything different.'' Taehyung answered with a faint grin on his face and sat down on his grey chair. He had never seen his best friend act like this before, so he was actually kind of concerned about him. ''What did Jimin do?'' Taehyung asked, furrowing his brows. ''N-nothing.'' Jungkook shook his head. ''It's just.. Ah, I can't explain it that well without crying like a fool.'' The black-haired boy nervously shifted on the couch and avoided the piercing dark eyes of his best friend that were focused on him. ''This boy really messed up your feelings, I could tell when I first met him.'' Taehyung said to Jungkook. ''You are head over heels in love with him. Have you finally confessed it to Jimin?'' Jungkook nodded with his head and Taehyung's eyes went big for a few seconds. ''You did?'' The younger boy nodded again, his eyes focused on the carpet under his feet because he was too embarassed to face his friend. ''And what did he say?'' Taehyung curiously asked, his elbow was on one of his knees and his head was balancing on his hand while he looked really intrigued at this best friend. ''He loved me too, he always had. After that, we kissed.'' Jungkook wasn't that good in describing the situation in details, because he wanted to keep it to himself. ''Cute.'' Taehyung said with a smile and his eyes sparkled with happiness for his best friend. ''How was your first kiss?'' The purple-haired male asked with all seriousness. ''Sweet.'' Jungkook immediatly answered. ''Just like Jimin.'' He finally looked at Taehyung and immediatly noticed that his best friend loved the fact Jungkook finally had found someone he loved with his whole heart. ''Y'all are such cute boyfriends.'' Taehyung chuckled softly and it reminded Jungkook a bit of Jimin. ''Who would've thought that a human and a mermaid could fall in-'' . ''He is horribly sick, Tae.'' Jungkook interrupted the purple-haired male whose smile faded from his face and a confused expression replaced it. ''What do you mean?'' Taehyung asked and he furrowed his brows. ''I mean that Jimin is sick. Deadly sick.'' It hurted Jungkook to say those words out loud. ''Deadly?'' Taehyung repeated the word and it escaped his lips slowly, like he said the word for the first time and wondered how the combination of letters sounded from his lips. ''When a mermaid stays too long on land, side effects start to appear and develop which weaken their health. It's a cycle. One night, Jimin woke me up because he had a mental breakdown about leaving and returning to the sea. That was the start of the cycle. Every day, Jimin got weaker and weaker by the side effects of the cycle. It happened to Seokjin, one of his mermaid friends, too. And now the cycle is almost done. If Jimin doesn't return to the ocean before the cycle ends and the last side effects have taken it's toll, Jimin will die.'' Jungkook explained to Taehyung who looked shocked. ''But that's impossible, he's so young and what about-'' . ''He'll die if we don't return him to the sea, Tae, that's what I'm worried about!'' The black-haired boy yelled with rage. ''But Jungkook, he's a fish. They don't belong on land-'' . ''Don't talk about Jimin like that!'' The younger boy stood up from the couch, both offended and mad. Taehyung jumped up from his chair and grabbed Jungkook by his shoulders to calm him down. ''Hey! Look at me, it's gonna be okay! Calm down!'' The purple-haired male snapped his fingers in front of Jungkook's face and the black-haired boy calmed down for a bit. ''Don't make fun of Jimin!'' Jungkook said loudly and Taehyung sighed heavily. ''Kook, I didn't. But you need to admit it, if you want it or not. It's the truth, you've said it yourself. Jimin isn't of our species, so we don't know what his pain feels like or what he has gone through to come on land, just for you. So sit down and accept the fact that Jimin isn't staying with you.'' Taehyung managed to calm his friend down, but now Jungkook didn't say anything. His eyes were empty and dazed off. ''You know he can't stay. He can't ignore the last stage of the cycle, that poor boy has already been through so much pain'' . ''You think I don't care, do you? I love that fucking mermaid more than anything in my miserable life and he's the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm not a dumbfounded person, Tae.'' Jungkook was still offended, but he had sympathy for the purple-haired male who looked very frustrated, but also worried. ''Jungkook..'' Taehyung started and softly shook his head, while he closed his eyes for a few seconds. ''It's over, you got to let him go.'' That's when Jungkook's limit was reached and he felt his heart break for the hundredth time. With salty tears leaking from his eyes, Jungkook stood up from the couch and stormed out of the house, scaring Kkanji who sat on the mat for the front door. Taehyung didn't stop Jungkook and heard his friends car driving away with screeching tires.

...

Even though Jungkook was emotionally frustrated and had been crying in the car the whole ride back to his house, he still managed to sneak in silent, remembering Jimin who slept upstairs. The black-haired boy laid his car keys on the table and walked upstairs. His breath was shaky and so were his hands. He went to the bathroom and splashed some water in his face so that Jimin didn't notice that Jungkook had been crying. Then, he went to check up on Jimin who had been in the same position as he fell asleep in. His face was nuzzled into the pillow and his fragile body was all curled up under the soft and comfy blankets. Jungkook sat down on the side of the bed and stroked his fingers carefully over Jimin's cheek like he did yesterday night. But now, his cheek felt cold. The touch of Jungkook's fingers made Jimin slowly open his eyes and smile up at the human boy. ''Hi, sleepyhead.'' Jungkook greeted the tired mermaid and bowed down to kiss his forehead. ''I should get up, I need to eat something. I'm hungry, thirsty too.'' Jimin said to Jungkook and sat right up in the bed. He looked like he wanted to move, but something wasn't right. Something was wrong. Jimin's eyes went big and he started to pant heavily while he grabbed the blanket with his fists. ''My legs! I can't feel my legs! Jungkook, why can't I move them!?'' Jimin yelled panicked and he was so scared that he started crying. He did everything he could, but he couldn't feel anything from below his waist. He could move his upperbody, but his legs and feet wouldn't coöperate. ''No. No. No.'' Jungkook repeated over and over again while he shook his head. Was it time? Jungkook thought. Was it time for Jimin to go? ''I ca-can't f-feel my legs.'' Jimin cried, he was helpless. Was this the last side effect? The end of the cycle?