Scales on the Scale

Jimin and Taehyung

"Hobi! Were you hanging out with Taehyung again?!" Jimin said angrily as his tail waved in the water.

Hoseok shyly nodded his head, blush growing on his cheeks. He wasn't totally used to being around Jimin all that often, he was a normal mermaid in the presence of the king. He could feel the stares of his fellow friends, especially the searing glare of Taehyung, who was burning holes into the two of them.

Jimin was a special type of mermaid. He was part of the town's psychics, meaning that if he went to the temple and prayed, he could see parts of the future or the present. It was a special type of gift that can be only inherited. Thus, Jimin's entire family has been branded so they can be easily distinguished from the other mermaids. The special brand was a large blue and purple circle on Jimin's shoulder and back with two large dark stripes across both their forearms.

Those few symbols made Jimin basically the king among the mermaid youth that populated the town. He was the popular kid, the god of the school, an unreachable golden apple, and everyone wanted a piece of him. No one was able to even touch him, everyone except his Hobi.

This mermaid was special to Jimin, something about his cute face and charming personality made him almost irresistible.

Jimin ran his hand through his black hair before pulling Hoseok into his arms, ignoring the stares he got from Taehyung. He could feel the warm cheeks of the orange haired mermaid against his chest as he snuggled into his hair.

"Ji- Jimin.... w- what are you doing?" Hoseok stuttered in his hold, his heart was beating was too fast to be normal. He wondered if Jimin could hear the pounding of his chest too.

"Hobi...." The other whispered seductively. "I- I....."

Suddenly, much to Jimin's dismay, Hoseok was pulled into Taehyung's chest instead. Taehyung pressed Hoseok's body onto his own, feeling the other mermaid's heartbeat. He stared at the black haired mermaid with angry and jealousy in his eyes as he started to swim away, Hoseok still in his embrace.

After a few minutes, Hoseok was released from the blonde mermaid's arms. The orange haired mermaid turned to look at his friend with confusion etched onto his face.

"What was that all about? Is Jimin okay? I have never seen him so worried before." Hoseok muttered.

Taehyung scoffed. "How could he not? You haven't been home for almost an entire day! Hell, I was worried sick even though we were only separated for an hour! Imagine how Jiminie must have felt when you just left with me for no reason all day yesterday!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Hoseok twiddled his thumbs as he pouted, making Taehyung swoon in the process. The latter swam up and gave Hoseok a tight hug, with one arm around his neck and the other around his scaly waist.

As the younger held him in his embrace, the pink tailed mermaid suddenly noticed the stares towards his best friend. The female mermaids were eyeing Taehyung like he was a piece of sugar cane and shooting the elder some disgusted glares.

While Taehyung didn't seem to notice the looks, Hoseok did and started to gently push away from the younger's embrace. The elder hated the attention they were getting from the other mermaids, it made him feel self conscious and ugly.

Compared to his friends, Hoseok felt so ugly. Taehyung had a nice built body and handsome locks of blonde and pink hair. His tail was a gorgeous shade of aquamarine and indigo and his eyes had a sort of dark blue and green shade to them. There was no doubt that he was handsome, and any mermaid who ended up with him would very lucky.

Same goes for Jimin, his black hair always sways in the ocean in a way that drove females crazy. His bright seaweed green tail always had an elegant shine to them, no matter where he was.

"Baby...." Taehyung muttered into Hoseok's ear, his voice was smooth and husky. "Why are you moving away, hm? Let your Tae Tae indulge in you just a tiny bit longer." The younger snuggled his head into the other's hair, breathing in the calming scent of the sea breeze and sea foam that he emitted. The scent alone was enough to drive Taehyung crazy.

"But... but... everyone's staring at us.. it's embarrassing." Hoseok whispered into the younger's chest, blushing madly.

The blonde haired mermaid scoffed, he hated how he drew so much attention from the other mermaids. The only one who he wanted to look at him like at, is the one in his embrace, cutely staring up at him.

His rosy cheeks only got redder when Taehyung leaned in and gave him a peck on the forehead before letting him go. Hoseok felt cold without Taehyung's arms around him, and stupidly, swam back into his arms. He clutched the other's muscular waist as he choked out.

"Actually, I like it like this... can you at least take me home?"

Hoseok couldn't believe what he just said, his heart was pounding against his rib cage like it did when he was with Jimin. His stomach was bubbling in a almost pleasant way as Taehyung wrapped his arms around his slender frame once more. This time, Taehyung held him tighter as he started to swim to Hoseok's reef. Hoseok purred as he felt the cold seawater rush past his hair and ruffled it up, his tail was moving in sync with Taehyung's, making them go twice as fast.

After a few minutes of swimming, they reached a beautiful reef, decorated with seaweed and conch shells. The reef was surrounded with angel fish, brightly colored eels, sea urchins, and much more. The place felt alive and warm, in contrast to the cold sea water that enveloped the pair.

"Well, we're here," Taehyung said, "see you later?"

Hoseok quickly planted a kiss onto his friend's lips before swimming quickly into the reefs, blushing,

Taehyung stood there in shock and pressed his fingers over his lips. Hoseok's lips were just as soft as he thought they would be. He never knew that he could fall in love even more, but somehow, Hoseok made it happen.

Hoseok, with his adorable heart shaped smile and messy orange hair, was the one to capture his heart. Sadly, he seems to have captured the heart of Jimin as well.

"But I'll be the one to get him in the end!" Taehyung said confidently, swimming away.