Scales on the Scale

Love Doesn't Discriminate

"Hi Jimin! Do you want to swim with me later today? We can visit the coral outside the barrier!"

"No! Come with me Jiminie - Oppa! We can enjoy the sunset together!"

"Jimin, I know you want this. Please join me instead!"

"Noooooo!"

"Jimin!"

Hoseok sighed as he witnessed Jimin being crowded by attractive mermaids, each of them offering different things to get Jimin's attention. No one really cared about the orange haired mermaid, he was always cast aside for his more handsome and talented friends.

Face it, he didn't have the confidence, the handsome face, or the charisma the other two possessed.

"I'm never gonna be the cool one," Hoseok whimpered as tears started to flow out from his pretty eyes and join the sea water, "I'm more the one who's left out. Out of all the characters at school, I am not the one who the story's about."

Hoseok started to swim away from Jimin and head to his favorite place in the entire ocean. As Hoseok swam away, he failed to hear Jimin call out his name.

"Hobi! Hobi!" Jimin screamed, but his voice was drowned out by the screams of the other mermaids who encircled him. "Get away, vixens! I have to get somewhere!"

Jimin pushed all the other mermaids aside as he tried to swim towards his love, but he was already gone.

"Damn it." Jimin said through gritted teeth.

Meanwhile, Hoseok has finally reached it, his favorite spot. The coral was shiny and soft and the small fish were lively and calm as they swam around in circles. The coral formed a sort of semi circle wall that allows the sunlight to hit the sea floor.

Sand was visible on the sea floor and looked as fine as it could be. There was a large, smooth rock in the middle of the coral walls, making it seem like it was some sort of throne.

Hoseok wiped away his tears as he gently swam to the rock. He laid his body on top of the warm rock, loving the feeling of the sunlight bouncing off his face. The mermaid closed his eyes and slowly, but surely, fell into a deep sleep.

Jimin was panting, desperate for oxygen in his gills. He had spent hours searching for him, but he hasn't seen him anywhere. Now, desperate times come for desperate measures, Jimin though to himself as he tapped on Taehyung's shoulder.

Taehyung turned around, his face fell as soon as he caught sight of Jimin.

"What does the psychic want?" Taehyung huffed.

"Tell me where Hoseok is." Jimin said with a deadly tone, poison lacing his voice.

Taehyung threw his head back and started to laugh, before saying to Jimin.

"And why should I tell you? Last time I did, he almost got sold into a life of solitude and possibly, sex slavery."

The black haired mermaid shook his head to the side, too embarrassed to look at Taehyung's eyes. His hands grew cold and he swore he could almost hear his heartbeat quickening in his chest. Jimin swallowed a heavy lump in his throat as unwanted memories started to flood back into his mind.

A few years ago, Jimin was wandering out among the fish next to the blue "Wishing Tree".

For context, The Wishing Tree is a large rare type of seaweed that grew three types of berries: the dream berry, the medicine berry, and the love berry.

The dream berries were white, the medicine berries were orange, and the love berries were bright yellow. Legends say that the Wishing Tree grows hundreds of berries, but there are only a few berries that will truly grant a wish of their category.

For example, if a mermaid falls ill, the village with collect all the medicine berries and feed as much as possible to the ill mermaid. Hopefully, one berry will grant the mermaid with the wish of life and health.

As Jimin was playing, a certain timid orange mermaid slowly swam out from behind a reef. Jimin's eye widened as he took in the natural beauty that is this mermaid. The short orange hair was messy, but beautiful, and the pink scales were so much shinier than his own.

As soon as the other mermaid realized Jimin knew of his existence, he swam away quickly, leaving Jimin in his wake.

It was from then that Jimin would stalk him, trying to learn as much about that mermaid as possible. He learned that his name is Jung Hoseok and that his best friend is Kim Taehyung. He also knew that Hoseok was shy and loved eating the love berries from the Wishing Tree that grew near his reef.

To be totally truthful, Jimin would secretly wish it was him in Taehyung's place instead, holding Hoseok's hand, touching his cheeks, and holding his fragile body while he cried. All of it, he wanted to be the one around him constantly, and maybe even give him kisses and back hugs whenever he wanted to.

So Jimin would sneak out every night and eat as many love berries from the Wishing trees around the area as possible. The sweet nectar would pour down his throat and almost gag him as he forced himself to continue. The face of Hoseok in his mind helping him bare through the handfuls of berries he tried to swallow.

Of course, actions like this didn't go unnoticed, Jimin's father found out and shouted at his son for doing such a foolish thing. His father wanted Jimin to marry a pretty female mermaid, not a puny male mermaid. Jimin would scream at his father, saying that Hoseok was the only one for him and that they were getting married whether he liked it or not. Jimin's father couldn't stand to here this, so he left for three days to collect his thoughts at the temple.

While Jimin's father hated even the thought of Hoseok, his mother loved it, finally happy that her son had chosen someone to love and care for. So while her husband was away, she allowed Jimin to roam freely and meet up with Hoseok to confess his undying love. Jimin was so happy, he thought he would combust into pink sea foam on the spot.

Without skipping a beat, Jimin swam as fast as he could go find the elder. He found him by asking Taehyung, who reluctantly told him that he was under the Wishing Tree near his home. Jimin picked up the pace, dying to see his love, but was suddenly knocked out by a blunt blow to the head.

Once he woke up, he saw the red face of his father. Turns out, his father forget some of his items and went back home to retrieve them, only to hear his son ran off to confess his love. Infuriated, Jimin's father ordered Hoseok to be captured and brought to the temple to be announced that he will be banished to a household outside the barrier.

Once the news spread, Jimin couldn't believe his ears and rebelled furiously. His father wouldn't be swayed until Taehyung hit him in the face and screamed about his love for Hoseok and how this would affect his family. Taehyung has somehow persuaded Jimin's father to simply free the confused and troubled Hoseok from the temple.

The orange haired mermaid told Taehyung how scared he was and cried in his embrace and the other cried onto Hoseok's head, blaming himself.

From then on, Taehyung swore to never help Park Jimin again, even his name made him sick to his stomach.

After having that flashback, the present Park Jimin had turned to look at Taehyung and shouted.

"Because, I love him more than you can and will ever know."