Surf

*~Sixth Wish~*

The mer went back home after the human left. He swam to their underwater castle and into his own room.

As he quietly swam inside, someone's hand made its way into his shoulder, which startled him.

"AAAAAHHHH!" he shouted and turned around at lightning speed. Oh, it was just his brother.

"Jin hyung, you startled me!" he said which made his brother chuckle at him.

"Ah, Taehyung. You haven't changed a bit." his Jin hyung said which earned him a huff from the younger.

"Yes I did, hyung! I grew bigger now, look at me!" He said proudly.

Jin sighed and ruffled his hair. "Alright. You changed." he said between giggles which made the younger giggle too.

"Anyway, I was about to ask, where have you been?" he asked his brother.

Taehyung looked at his brother and said, "I went to the beach, Jin hyung."

At the mention of the beach, Jin's eyes widened with astonishment and fear.

"You did what?!" he asked loudly which made the younger visibly flinch.

Taehyung felt afraid. His brother has never been this angry at him before. He repeated what he said.

"I went to the beach, hyung. I left my necklace there.."

Jin felt even more scared. His brother didn't know what kind of danger he's getting himself into.

"Did- did a human see you?" he asked hesitantly.

Taehyung took a breath to calm himself down.

"No, hyung. But I saw him." he told his hyung which made him lose his temper.

He never loses his temper.

"You saw a human! A real human and you didn't even think about it?!" he said to the younger, angrily.

Taehyung's eyes welled up with tears. He has never seen his brother this angry at him before. He can feel the anger rushing through his hyung.

"How can you explain yourself, huh, Taehyung?" Jin looked at him, anger evident on his face.

His brother's anger towards him didn't help him think of a reasonable answer. So he chose to tell him the truth.

"Hyung, I.. uhm", he hesitated.

"I left my necklace there and he- the human- found it."

He looked at his hyung's face again. It didn't show anger anymore, but worry.

"Why are you doing this, Taehyung?" he asked his brother quietly.

Taehyung knew that what he did was wrong. It wasn't prohibited by the law, but it's common knowledge to every mer that it's too dangerous. He was courageous, yes, but his young mind didn't know the danger just yet. It only occurred to him when he saw his hyung's eyes welling up with tears.

He approached his brother and hugged him. Soon, they were both in tears as the older of the two hugged his brother back.

"I don't kn-know what came into me.. hyung, I- I felt something.. he- the human, I felt a bond between us, hyung." he explained between sobs.

Wait...

A bond?

Jin understands now. He has heard of this, his mother had told him about this.

Maybe this was the bond she was talking about.

His mother has told him this in case his brother gets in trouble. As he is older, he is in charge of his brother's safety.

He pulled himself away from Taehyung's embrace and held his face.

"I understand it now. You felt a bond, right?" he asked the younger, to make sure.

"Yes, I did.. hyung." Taehyung replied.

Jin went silent for a while. He thought about the bond and about everything he needs to do with this newfound knowledge.

Taehyung's outer appearance though..

Wait.

Now that he thinks about it, it is truly strange that only Taehyung had a different appearance when they are siblings by blood. If it was a normal occurrence, he should have looked the same as his brother, but why didn't he?

Was it..

Was it because of the bond?