Seabound-SKZ

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Jeongin had gone searching for anyone to cuddle up with, they were all at his house for the night, but all of his friends already had a buddy, each bed already occupied by two boys. He couldn't find Seungmin or Hyunjin, but the two occasionally disappeared together on long night swims, which unfortunately left the youngest alone, not wanting to disturb any of his sleeping friends. He ended up just laying flat on his back in the living room, staring blankly at the ceiling as he waited for the two missing boys to return. 

The youngest was still there when Felix rolled out of bed, untangling himself from Changbin to get something to eat, the freckled boy furrowing his brow in concern for Jeongin, "Innie?" He swam over to him, surfacing in the air pocket Jeongin lay in, "Are you okay?" He pulled himself up next to him, becoming even more worried when the youngest cuddled into him immediately, "No," he pulled Felix to lay down beside him, "I couldn't stop thinking and no one was awake to cuddle and then my head started hurting so then I lay down and I don't wanna move-" Felix pressed a finger over his lips to hush him, "You know you could've woken us up, right? We're always here for you." He ruffled Jeongin's hair gently, the baby groaning out a "Stop it~" and swatting at his hands, no real bite behind the words. 

Felix watched the boy in amusement, Jeongin not letting go of him, keeping the older locked in his grasp, the red-scaled Mer eventually fell asleep like that, poor Felix laying there still hungry, but always happy to be of comfort for any of his friends, however hungry he was. 

After a while the youngest stirred, muttering "No," and "Mom," under his breath, heartbeat speeding up, shoulders shaking, Felix, who had just been drifting off to sleep blinked his eyes open, "Jeonginnie?" he asked, the younger shaking his head, words no longer coherent as he panicked, still very much asleep. "Hey, hey, Innie wake up," Felix shook the boy awake, he bolted upright, trembling and still murmuring quietly, "Jeongin?" Felix sat up to hug the boy again, "Baby, what happened?" the nickname slipped out so easily Felix didn't even realize he had said it, Jeongin nuzzled back into his chest, "I just keep seeing that day," He sniffed "over and over again...I can't sleep anymore, Lixie." his voice cracked, Felix petting his hair softly. 

Changbin eventually came looking for his cuddle buddy, missing Felix's warmth next to him, he swam into the living room and saw the two boys cuddling, his joke about Jeongin stealing his snuggles died in his throat when he saw the younger shaking "Woah, what happened, Lix?" he quickly joined them, Jeongin instinctually reaching out an arm to pull him in closer, Felix mouthing 'nightmares' to Changbin over his head and Bin nodded, quickly understanding what had happened. 

Jisung was the next to join them, having heard the commotion, he was quickly followed by Minho, who was complaining loudly about how late it was and how he needed his beauty rest, but he quickly shut up when he saw Jeongin, who reached toward the oldest immediately, wishing for the comfort the boy brought him. "Where are the other two?" Jisung realized they weren't there as he looked around the room, taking notice of how close Felix and Jeongin were pressed together and frowned slightly, feeling kind of jealous and left out as the other three surrounded the youngest, pressing kisses to his forehead and murmuring reassurances that he was okay, that he was safe. He realized that he was kind of stupid, that the younger boy needed this right now, but he couldn't help but feel lonely, that was until Felix noticed how he was awkwardly hovering and pulled him in close, now the freckled boy had Jisung on his side and Jeongin pressed to his chest, and he couldn't be happier about that. 

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Back on the dock, Chan was still holding Seungmin, stopping the boy from falling into the water and Hyunjin giggling as he watched Chan struggle, making no move to help the prince from letting the other Mer fall into the sea, Chan pouting at him, "Hyunjinnie~" he whined as Seungmin fell into his lap completely, Hyunjin simply shaking his head at him, "Sorry, you're on your own, I deal with this every day." He smiled, Chan groaning dramatically "My legs are falling asleep, Jinnie," Hyunjin's eyes widened "That can happen?" he asked, Chan tilting his head at the question, "Yes?" He squinted at the Mer, unsure if he was joking or not. Hyunjin shrank under his gaze, "Oh...I didn't know that was a thing," He glanced down at Chan's legs, they looked the same to him, not at all sleeping,  "What does it mean?" he asked, hoping Chan wouldn't make fun of him, "Can that not happen to Mers'?" Chan questioned and Hyunjin shook his head, "No..." He rubbed the back of his neck, "It's like when your legs go numb and then they get all tingly when you try to move, sometimes it hurts," Chan explained, Hyunjin nodding slowly while he listened. 

Chan caught Hyunjin staring at his legs a few times after that, each time Jin blushed and looked away quickly, he still didn't understand how humans functioned with legs, his friends were all so clumsy and they just had a tail, he had to assume they were easier to move with since humans had to learn to walk and control two legs. He was so fascinated by the way humans lived their lives, so different from his normal. Chan giggled shyly, "Is there something interesting, Jin?" he asked, Hyunjin shaking his head, realizing he had been staring directly at Chan for the past few minutes, "I-sorry, I was just thinking," He apologized quickly and Chan smiled "About what?" He asked, "Just about how different Humans and Merfolk are." Hyunjin smiled at the prince, who nodded "Ah, It is interesting to think about how different species live their lives," Chan responded, Hyunjin felt the relief that he wasn't the only one who thought about this, he eventually laid down on the dock, Chan following suit, pulling Seungmins sleeping figure down with him. 

"I probably have to go inside before someone realizes I left." Chan said and Hyunjin pouted at him, "Okay, but...be safe, okay? try to avoid your mother?" Chan flinched at the reminder, "Yeah, I'll try." He smiled weakly at the Mer, sitting up slowly as to not accidentally throw Seungmin off the dock, "We should wake him up," Hyunjin said "I really don't feel like hauling him home," Chan chuckled, "Sure," He shook Seungmin slightly, Hyunjin shook his head, "You gotta wake him up like this," He took ahold of poor Seungmin's shoulders, shaking his violently, frowning when he still didn't wake up and then throwing him into the sea, the younger coming back up spluttering, "What the fuck?!" he pulled himself back up onto the dock, Hyunjin scolding him for his language, even though he definitely had a worse mouth then the younger. "We've gotta go now, Minnie." He giggled at the younger who spat out a piece of seaweed, Chan watching the scene in amusement, "B-but," Seungmin looked at the prince sadly, "I barely got to talk to Channie," Chan smiled at the cute boy, "I'll still be here another time, Minnie." he said, petting the boy's hair gently. 

Both Mers' slipped into the water, Chan leaning over the edge to say goodbye, "I'll see you two soon, don't worry about me, alright?" he smiled at the two boys' looking up at him, Seungmin nodding worriedly at him. Hyunjin hesitated in the water for a moment, transmitting to Seungmin as he did "Are you gonna be mad if I kiss him now?" he asked carefully, this was a very new thing for him and he wasn't even sure if they were together yet, they had edged around the topic for the rest of the night, for the reason that they wanted to talk with the rest of the boys first, "Not at all, but you should ask him first," Seungmin responded and Hyunjin looked back toward Chan, who was looking between the two in confusion, "C-can I kiss you?" Hyunjin suddenly felt shy under the older man's gaze, Chan blushed and nodded quickly, Hyunjin immediately pushing up and pecking his lips quickly, Chan reaching for Seungmin, who blushed and did the same, placing a short kiss on the prince's lips, both giggling shyly after before Chan finally stood, "I'll see you two soon." He said firmly, "You better." Seungmin responded before they both turned in the water and sped away, transmitting back and forth about the confessions, both still shocked that the three of them felt the same way.