ATEEZ Imagines

Jongho ✦ Fish Out Of Water | Merman AU

Published: February 17, 2021
Rewritten: May 20, 2023

Word count: 4,228

DO NOT read or interact if you're under 14

The sound of your front door opening grabbed your attention, pulling it away from the setup before you.
"I'm here and I brought the snacks you asked for. What do you need?" Jongho's voice called out from the front entrance.
He had received a text from you and hour prior telling him to meet you at your place, the request accompanied by a list of snacks.
You came barreling around the corner towards him, clearly startling him as you grabbed hold of his hand.
"Follow me." You instructed.
"For what?"
"Jongho, just come on." You pulled him forward... or tried to at least. Him and his stupid muscles were too strong for you. He was resisting, holding himself in place.
"Quit that." You scolded.
"What is it that's got you so excited?" He huffed, his feet dragging along the wooden floors of your small home as he finally allowed you to tug him forward.
"You'll see in just a second."
Though Jongho rolled his eyes, he admitted there was a tinge of curiosity as to what it was that was fueling your enthusiasm.
"Ta-da!" You held your arms out, gesturing to the fort you had spent so long setting up in your bedroom floor.
He chuckled. "What is this?"
"It's exactly what you think it is."
"We haven't made a fort since we were in middle school." He commented.
"Exactly! I thought it would be fun if we did something we hadn't done in a while. You know, for old times' sake."
"Ah. That's why you requested I get specific snacks."
"It is. This'll be fun, don't you think?"
"Yeah." A grin pulled at his soft lips. "Where should we start?"
"We could play some board games or card games." You suggested.
"Fine with me. I hope you're ready to get your butt kicked."
"You wish." You scoffed.

Minutes later, the two of you were sitting inside the fort going head-to-head in an intense game of Uno.
"Your turn." Jongho looked at you expectantly.
You quirked a brow, glancing down at your arsenal of cards, index finger hovering over them for a few seconds before pulling one out.
"Draw four." You announced, setting the card onto the stack. "Also I change the color to green."
"Are you kidding me?" He groaned, pushing his red hair back with a sigh.
"Face it, Choi, you won't win this one."
He let out a huff begrudgingly drawing four cards, a sour look plastered on his face. He glanced down at the stack and placed a green card with the number two on it on top.
In turn, you set down a number two card on the stack, but this time it was a red card. Jongho chewed his lip as he peered at the cards in his hand. Grabbing one of them, he tossed it on the unruly stack. You went back and forth for a while until you had one card left.
"Uno!" You exclaimed.
"Nooo." Jongho groaned. "I don't want you to win."
"Too bad because I'm about to." You teased, unable to stop the triumphant grin that tugged at the edges of your lips. Victory was so close you could almost taste it.
He dropped his head, letting out a sigh as he placed a card onto the stack, looking deflated. It was only when he pulled his hand back that you saw what he had put down.
"Draw four." He announced, looking up at you with a sly smirk.
"You're sneaky." You shook your head, reluctantly drawing four cards.
After a few more tense minutes, Jongho had managed to get the upper hand and win the game, flipping the tables completely.
"Yes! I am the Uno champion!" He cheered, his fists held high in victory, well, as high as the blanket ceiling would allow.
You watched him with a straight face waiting for him to finish. Just when you thought he was done, he stepped out of the blanket fort and started doing a celebratory dance, wiggling his butt and sticking his tongue out at you.
"Real mature." You rolled your eyes, suppressing a grin.
This only egged him on and made him rub his win in your face even more.
"I'll beat you next time. That's a promise." You pointed.
"Yeah, yeah." He waved his hand dismissively, crawling back into the fort before grabbing a few potato chips from the open bag of snacks and popping them into his mouth.
"Let's play another game." You suggested.
"Like what?"
"How about Clue?"
"Oh, Y/n." He frowned. "You know your deductive skills suck."
"They do not!" You defended, lightly smacking his arm.
"Last time we played Clue you lost." He pointed out.
"Fine. No Clue."
Jongho turned to the convenience store bag that had been discarded on a pile of pillows scattered about the floor of the blanket fort.
"You want some snacks?" He asked reaching for the bag.
"Sure. I was so caught up in that intense Uno game, I forgot all about the snacks. Hand me the (favorite snack)."
"Think fast." Jongho tossed it over to you.
"Thank you." You sang happily, ripping the package open. "So, any ideas on what activity to do next?"
"We could play video games? Or maybe we can play spin the bottle?"
"Spin the bottle?" You echoed with a snort.
"Yeah." He shrugged. "Why not?"
"I have a better idea. Let's look up a truth or dare generator. It's gotta have really really good dares on it."
"Alright." Jongho grinned, accepting the challenge. "Let's hope you don't chicken out when you get a dare that's too intense."
"Please." You rolled your eyes. "That won't be happening."