Sea Me - BTS mermaid

Chapter 10

TRIGGER WARNING: LOTS OF SMUT AND ROMANCE. You have been warned! Love ya!

It was mid afternoon, and Taehyung had been watching the waves as he waited for Jungkook for almost an hour. He glanced up excitedly as he heard his new friend wading through the waves.

"You brought bubble tea again!" cheered Taehyung, excitedly watching Jungkook wade through the water with two drinks in his hand. The boy was moving his feet slowly through the sand to avoid tripping over something and dropping the cups into the shallow waves.

Both boys beamed from the joy of seeing each other again. As Taehyung carefully crept his tail away from Jungkook, Kookie plopped down into the cool, salty waves. He held out one of the cups in the wrong direction, and Taehyung had to reach quite a bit away to take it from Jungkook. Tae had already grown used to these small kinds of calibration errors Kookie made. It's kinda cute, he remarked to himself.

The two had been hanging out with each other all day, every day for a little more than a week. Not much action had happened since The Kiss, aside from small pecks whenever Jungkook left to head home.

This was not to say they didn't want action. They simply were nervous, trying their best to understand how they felt but not expressing it well. It was all super awkward (and they knew it), but it was also super awesome at the same time.

Tae sighed in frustration, knowing his tail was part of the problem. He desperately wanted to get close to Jungkook; he wanted to tell the boy how he felt. His frown became a surprised look when he felt something find and latch onto his hand.

He looked up at Jungkook, who was trying to nonchalantly sip his tea through grinning lips. The land boy's fingers were gentle as his thumb stroked the top of Taehyung's hand. Tae blushed immensely.

The boy swallowed his drink before speaking. "I think we should go somewhere together," Jungkook suggested, his expression begging for a yes to his date proposal. Taehyung sighed once again, knowing the conversation couldn't lead anywhere good.

"I-I can't," he stuttered. He watched as Jungkook's heart dropped to the bottom of the ocean. "It's just... it's hard to explain... I wish I could, but I can't."

"... Does it have something to do with Jimin?... you're 'cousin'?" Jungkook asked sadly, wondering if he was nothing but a side fling for Tae. Now that he thought about it, Taehyung had always turned down Jungkook's indirect hints at dating. I should've known he would do this, Kookie told himself.

"Ew! No way! That's gross, he's my family," exclaimed Taehyung with pure honesty. The mer was too naive to understand that Jungkook didn't mean Jimin was his literal cousin. Dating family must be a human thing, he assumed.

"Umm... I'mscaredofgowingonland," Taehyung blurted, trying to find something to say other than 'I have a tail'. Jungkook tilted his head and frowned. "I'm afraid of the land. It's why I live on a boat," Taehyung repeated. He scolded himself for lying to such an angel.

"Are you being serious?" Jungkook asked with genuine concern. Taehyung shyly hummed a yes. The silence foughed Tae's brain. Jungkook slowly nodded to himself.

"I believe you," said Kookie quietly. He turned his eyes in Taehyung's general direction and gave a weak smile. Taehyung hated this. He hated letting Jungkook believe a lie.

Kookie frowned, moving his hand within Tae's grip. "You're fingers aren't pruned. I thought you've been out here awhile," Jungkook wondered aloud. Taehyung tensed.

It was almost as if Jungkook was hinting at Tae's secret. I can't do this anymore! I have to tell him if I want any chance of us becoming closer! Tae's lips parted, wanting to speak but not knowing how. Then he had a thought.