Siren || Kim Taehyung

(Day 8-10)

Miara and Taehyung continued meeting up the following evenings.

Though the friendship was unusual, it was awfully refreshing for the pair.

Taehyung was Miara's first and only friend, and Miara was Taehyung's first female friend and closest friend second to Jimin.

During their meetings, Miara became slightly bolder by coming up before sunset. It was a miracle that no one had spotted her yet.

In the light of the fading sun, Taehyung could distantly tell that Miara's fair skin was taking on an unnaturally pale color.

The brilliant twinkles in her eyes and smile were disappearing like the sun behind her.

Despite not wanting to accept it, Taehyung knew the truth. Due to his presence, she wasn't able to feed on any deaths from the boat. To put it simply, Miara was dying because of him.

But he chose to not to acknowledge it, and moments later, a normal conversation struck up between the pair.

~

"Ahhhhh!" I screamed, clutching onto my stomach in the water.

It had been a week now since I killed anyone, since I met one human who didn't hesitate to look past my species and treat me like an equal.

I exchanged my health for this friendship, one that wouldn't last long anyway. No one could stay out at sea forever.

My body's starting to turn on me, agonizing pain shooting through every vein due to sheer hunger.

I'm losing control over my voice too, whenever I open my mouth to speak, my song fights to tumble out and lure an army of men to a watery grave.

My logical side starting failing as my siren instincts took over. Turning my head towards the right, I remembered, there was a massive iceberg there...

~

Miara didn't turn up the next evening.

Terrible news did instead.

Whoever was working night shift piloting the boat guided it slightly off-path, and it was now approaching a massive chunk of ice.

When questioned, he said he didn't remember anything besides listen to some sort of music.

It didn't take another second for Taehyung to guess the culprit.

"Crap," he whispered, eyes widening in guilt. His interference with Miara's work had set thousands of lives in danger.

The captain announced over the intercom system for no one to worry, as the ship they were standing on was meant to be unsinkable.

Disaster struck 2 hours later.

-

"Jimin, run! I'm right behind you," shouted Taehyung. He and Jimin were dashing down the halls of the sinking ship as they made their way to the stairwell.

Looking down, they could tell that water was already getting in, stirring even more panic.

Thankfully they got to the lifeboat loading area quickly. Jimin climbed into the lifeboat, with Taehyung standing behind him.

He sighed in relief, happy that they were finally safe. But when he turned around, Taehyung wasn't in the lifeboat.

"TAEHYUNG!" Shouted Jimin, spotting his best friend still standing on the boat.

Taehyung smiled, making a giant heart above his head. "Make sure to live a happy life for me!"

Tears started streaming down Jimin's face as he quickly sprung to stop the people rowing away.

"Please, my friend's still on that boat."

They shook him off.

"So is another thousand, we can't save everyone. Nor can we risk the lives of those already here."

And that was it.

That was the very last time Jimin ever saw Taehyung again.

-

Once having spotted Jimin at a safe distance, Taehyung forwards to the bow of the ship. "Miara!"

It didn't take long for her to appear. "I'm sorry, I couldn't control myself any longer. I think there's still one more lifeboat loading, go and save yourself."

"No, it's too late. All of this was my fault anyways," he replied, stepping forward with a half-hearted smile.

Miara seemed to notice the familiar look in his eyes, one that matched hers.

He had fallen for her.

"You're going to die here," she whispered. Not giving him the time to react, she turned around and dove back into the water to prompt him to take his leave too.

But what happened next was unexpected.

Taehyung dove into the water after her.

The ship was almost completely underneath the water by now, so the jump wasn't far.

The icy water slowly started freezing up his body, but he paid no mind to it, as reached out to grab onto Miara's wrist. She whipped her head around and stared at him shocked.

No human could survive the temperature of the water for long, but Taehyung still jumped in despite knowing that.

With one swift moment, he tugged Miara forward and placed one hand onto her check once she was close enough.

Leaning forward, he kissed her...

And the moment their lips touched...

Taehyung burst into a cloud of sea foam.

{The end}