Notes From The Sea ✓

4

"Taehyung-ssi! Where have you been? Three hours have passed since you left! I thought you said you'd come to watch the baby seahorses with me!"

Hoseok, Taehyung's best friend, only pouted while swimming towards the blue haired male. After a quick hug, he released him and kept waiting for an answer.

"I've been─ out." Hoseok raised an eyebrow. "You seem sketchy. What have you been up to?" He glanced Taehyung up and down, noticing how he tried to hide something behind his back.

"Whatcha got there? Let me see!" The red tailed, overexcited merman reached for the thing in Taehyung's hand curiously, only to get pushed away.

"Nothing. Really, it's nothing.." Taehyung mumbled, nervously digging his nails in the things he was hiding. He backed off a little, making Hoseok frown.

"Obviously, it's not 'nothing.' Seriously, Tae, what is it?" Hoseok pushed further, once again swimming closer to Taehyung to reach for whatever was behind his back. Since when did they keep things from one another?

"Hoseok, stop, please─"
"─No, I wanna know!"

"I said stop!" Taehyung spread his side fins, causing Hoseok to back off immediately. The blue tailed sighed, definitely not liking the fact that he raised his voice at his best friend.

"Look, I'm sorry. But this is something I don't want to share with anyone, okay? If you want to know where I've been, I was searching for those sea sponges you asked for, but I couldn't find them anywhere so I had to go a little further than normal, to avail."

Hoseok nodded in shame, looking down a bit. Bubbles floated upwards at the action. "Sorry for being so curious. I understand." Taehyung smiled uneasily, feeling bad for disappointing him and ruining the mood.

"You know, I really envy your fins. I'd seriously kill for them." Taehyung giggled at the compliment, his other hand reaching for one of his fins to stroke it. They were unbelievably long and really soft.

Fins are like a jewel; they are very cherished in the merfolk. The well liked mermen have a lot of power. They can get any mermaid they'd like. The longer the fins, the more popular you are and the more intimidating you can seem.

"I'll see you later, Hoseok. I need to do a few things." Taehyung bid his goodbye before hurriedly swimming off, heading towards his secret hideout.

There was an amazing cave hidden between seaweed, where he kept things he found. Or, when he just felt like being alone, he'd go there. No one knows about the spot, not even Hoseok.

It was situated at the very edge of their 'world,' far too deep for humans to reach and nearly impossible for other mer-people to find since no one dared to go so far, so desolated from everyone.

Taehyung once found this place on accident. He wanted to discover the deeper, unknown waters, since he's very curious and loves to learn about new things. That was when he caught a glimpse of something, and soon enough he stumbled across it.

Reaching the spot, he looked around making sure no one was in sight before swimming through the seaweed, into the cave.

He smiled while leaning on a rock, his beautiful long tail floating behind him.

He inspected the things in his hands closely. It seemed like messages. He found it rather funny how humans had those wierd things. If needed, mer-people would engrave shells to leave a message behind.

Taehyung's smile grew wider as he grabbed the very first thing he found. He held that one and the other one he came across today, next to each other, inspecting them.

'Hi! I'm Jeongguk.'

'Heard you've spooked the hell out of someone today. Are you actually out there? I hope you are.'

Taehyung giggled happily, assuming to know what the note meant.

He accidentally came way too close to the human world. He can't tell anyone about it, since it's strictly forbidden. He would get punished if they found out about his adventures and curious mind.

The blue haired male came to the conclusion that news spreads fast in the human world. But that made him frown, his smile faltering.

Does that mean that they were now aware of their existence?

Anxiety creeped up in him, his eyes widening in horror at his next thought.

Did he bring all of the other merfolk in danger? Will the humans come look for them?

He shook his head, his hair floating in front of his eyes by doing so. He attempted on trying to comfort himself in some way.

No, that couldn't be, right? Otherwise the human wouldn't have wondered if they were real. And, he was sure, he wasn't the only merman who accidentally got too dragged away and showed himself much to his own horror.

Taehyung has a secret. He sometimes exits the hidden mer-world to take a look at the human world, just observing them from a far distance. He tried to keep his  curious mind satisfied by feeding it in that way.

He never comes too close, he wouldn't dare to. He just quietly peeks at them from a far enough distance, hiding himself away.

Until now, that is. Even though it was an accident, he was utterly disappointed in himself for not paying more attention.
No one can ever find out about this, otherwise he will be doomed.

But it's just so tempting to him for some reason. He simply can't help himself. Oddly, there is just something that pulls him in, like there is someone watching him from there, someone who understands him.

It didn't matter that he's one of the most popular mermen because of his very long fins and bubbly personality. No matter how stunning his tail is, his life isn't that perfect, either.

There are rules in the merfolk. If you break one, you'll get punished. Depending on how important the rule is, the council decides how severe the punishment is going to be.

The most important rules are simple.

Don't get in any contact with the humans.

Don't exit the mer-world.

Apart from those, there are basic rules.
One of them for example, is that mermen and mermaids are all strictly straight. No same gender relationship is allowed, otherwise you're different and you will be powerless.

Unfortunately, if someone finds out about Taehyung's true sexuality, or gets to know about what he's been up to, he could get one of his fins torn off or he may even get executed.

Fins are dignity. If one committed a true crime and their fin is torn off, they turn into a nobody. No mermaid wants you, you cannot show yourself without being stared at. Every move, eyes will follow. When that happens, one lives in the darkest parts of the ocean along with the scary, giant king crabs.

Taehyung shuddered at the mere thought of it.

It's simply how it works, nothing and no one can ever change that.

He already broke the two most important rules, a third one following right after. He doesn't want to think about what would happen to him if anyone finds out.

Stroking the letters on the small note, Taehyung's curiosity was almost killing him. He had thousands of questions roaming around in his head.

They varied from wondering what the person who wrote the notes looks like, to wondering how humans manage to get around on those wierd things they have.

Those two bothered him the most right now. Especially the first one.

Shaking his head to try and get rid of the raging thoughts for now, he made sure to hide the notes before he swam out of the cave. He headed back towards Hoseok, since he promised to go and see the baby seahorses with him.

All he has to do, is keep his secrets hidden very well. Nothing could possibly go wrong when he does that.

Or, that's what he thinks.