Sea Me - BTS mermaid

Chapter 5

Hey y'all! Bit of a short chapter today... Love ya!

The next morning, Jungkook awoke with a headache, having fallen asleep on the hardwood dining table while thinking through all his emotions. Ever since he had started to lose his sight a month ago, the boy's feelings had gotten all confusing and spontaneous.

He felt disgusting. Although his swim trunks had dried on the walk back home, he could feel sand and salt everywhere. Kookie rose from his seat, neatly pushing in his chair before following the walls to his bathroom.

He sighed when he went to the cabinet to pick out a fresh towel, finding nothing but the wooden interior and a few extra bottles of soap.

"Dad? We're out of towels! Are there any in the dryer?" He yelled, hoping Jin would hear him somewhere in the large house. "Dad?"

There was no reply. He sighed as he went to search the kitchen and other rooms, but his father was gone. Then he remembered: his Dad had recently installed a message recorder by the front door to leave messages for Jungkook whenever he left.

Jungkook had originally thought the idea was stupid, but it turned out to be somewhat useful as he listened to a distorted recording of Jin.

"Hi, son! Just going out to buy new eggs! I used the last of them in the pie." Kookie chuckled softly; his father was always so cheery around him. It was comforting to have someone to distract him from his loss of vision, but at the same time, it reminded him of the fact more so.

Jungkook went to the laundry room, stripping out of his sandy clothes before finding a fresh towel in the laundry. He felt his way back to the bathroom, trying to ignore this new dependency on his hands.

As Jungkook let hot water run through his tousled brown hair, he felt a sudden jitteriness as Taehyung entered his mind. The whimsical boy had promised an explanation today, and Kook had many questions prepared.

The betrayal and confusion from last night washed away with the sand, for now, and all Jungkook felt was jubilant and jumpy.

What would follow the thing that had almost happened yesterday? Should he bring a few snacks and a beach mat to sit on? Was Tae thinking about this, too?

Remembering he was alone, he felt no embarrassment as he gave a little squeal and laughed. Somehow this summer wasn't going to be as terrible as he'd imagined.

After his shower, Kookie spent almost half an hour trying to remember the looks of his different swim trunks so he could match them with a nice shirt. Jin had spent hours organizing his clothing drawers and closet by color, but Jungkook had been too preoccupied and careless to keep up with the system.

Following his lengthy clothing decision, the boy tried his best to style his hair how he used to: fashionably tousled with a wave to the side. As his hair reached what he felt was the right look, he brushed his teeth for the second time that morning and headed out with a full bag: poky sticks, a bubble tea and straws, and two apples in one hand with his walking cane in the other.

As he sauntered along the side of his house to the private path leading to his hidden beach, he wondered how and why Taehyung had found it. Was there an alternate hidden path? Jungkook puzzled over this, knowing he had never located another trail.

The beach was not private, but it somewhat bothered Jungkook to know there were others who came there. He decided he would ask how many others Tae had met at their secretive meeting spot.

About ten minutes later, Jungkook began to smell the strong, salty aroma of a comforting place he had come to for many weeks. His steps quickened, and he tripped over a rock, skinning his knees as he landed on the sandy ground.

Reprimanding himself for his clumsiness, the boy spent the last five minutes of his walk paying careful attention to his cane. He reached the sand and took off his flip flops.

Jungkook paused as he went to find a comfortable place to set down his things. I forgot the beach mat! He sighed, sure he wouldn't have time to grab one before an eager Taehyung bounded up to him.

After playing with the sand in the warm sun for almost 15 minutes, Jungkook decided he would make Tae wait while he went back for a beach mat. He did the best he could to scribble the words "grab towel+mat" in the sand and hurried off.

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"I think I should bring him a present," Tae thought out loud while he watched Jimin catch breakfast. The daydreaming mer was sitting on a stone and braiding colorful starfish and shells into a kelp crown.

Jimin glanced at Taehyung with a smirk, stuffing yet another fish into the weaved satchel Tae had made him a while back. Mischief was written all over Chim's face.

"Ugh, stop looking at me like that! This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you about it all," Taehyung joked. He rolled over to his back and dramatically sprawled out on his seat, tail swaying with the rustling water.

Jimin shrugged his shoulders to stifle a laugh, then made a heart with his hands and peered at Taehyung through the hole. Looking at his friend upside down, Tae swished into action. He raced towards his taunting friend, immediately reaching for his ticklish spots.

The two played among the reef until a beautiful smooth shell caught Tae's attention, and he hugged Jimin goodbye before stuffing the kelp crown into the shell and making his way to the beach.

Watching his friend swim away, Jimin tucked down jealousy as he smiled at Taehyung's excitement. He missed having the prince's attention all too himself; he missed how it took hours to pry Tae off him when they needed to attend serious matters at court.

Most of all, he missed how easy everything was before his and Taehyung's tails began maturing, and before the High King had announced the human-mer union.

Jimin loved Taehyung (a brotherly love, not love love), and he hated the harsh ocean full of grown up stuff the two now had to face. He wanted them to stay young, careless playmates forever.

His shimmering yellow tail slowly dragged him back home, and he cried as he ate the hard-won fish Taehyung had forgotten about. Jimin spent the rest of the day in his private cave, sobbing in the giant rock pocket and exploring the huge maze of tunnels that seemed to go on for miles.

Jimin's sadness eventually faded as he admired the bio-luminescent algae that drew patterns all over the tunnels' walls.