Hello! I've gotten more view on this and I'm very happy its rising! Please vote and comment, its much appreciated! ;)
ALSO I forgot this does not take place near or in an ocean, but at a beach. So if you're curious to know about the title, its a song I liked and realized it doesnt relate too much to the story itself. My bad ^^; Excuse the title - whatevs haha!
~+~+~+~+~+~+~
It's a full week when you appear with one day with a fuzzy towel thrown casually over your shoulders and in a bathing suit. Luckily, the water had started to warm up. Hoseok enjoyed the different temperature, it reminded him of your own heat. Not entirely close, but enough. Your warmth was unique to him, he chastely found himself wanting to swim in that more than the lake.
Hoseok drifts up to the shoreline and lays his arms out on the sand. "Missed you." He says, that's how he wants to greet you from now on.
"Ditto. I've been gone too long" You beam, eyeing Hoseok out of the corner of your vision as you laid the towel down at your feet. He even noticed a newly placed necklace, resting on your collarbone. It was a sun symbol. "The week was such a drag."
"The water's fine." He comments, slowly flapping his tail.
"I guessed." You respond attentively. The shiver that crawled up your spin spewed out the odd tone you projected to him. You wondered why you were somewhat nervous for no reason at all.
"Hold on, I thought we concluded that I'm not a siren nor will I drown you?" Hoseok chuckles, a little hurt by your reaction, but was fancying the sand between his fingers to overthink it.
"Of course we did." You said, sighing your tension away, then walking over to perch yourself next to Hoseok. Distracted for a moment by him, you wondered what his hair would look like if it was fully dry. Would it by shiny, fluffy, or still smell like pond water? "To be honest, every time I follow you in deeper you never want me to get out." Your heart is fluttering. Agitation contouring your emotions from within your eyes that he couldn't see.
"I allow you to leave." Hoseok retorts, diving back into the pond to flush his gills out. He tried not to show how embarrassed he was that you realized it since the last time you two spent time together. "I swear to keep you safe."
"You sure you're up for that?" You ask, doodling in the sand next to his arm. Secretly, you wanted to see if you could get close to touching his damp arm.
Hoseok rolls his eyes. "I'm strong, I was basically born to be in the water."
"You weren't born here,"
"Whatever, you know what I mean."
Hoseok lightly tugs at your hands. "Can't let you waste a good swimsuit." For a second, you could've sworn he was drawing circles at the back of your hand with his thumb.
"In reality, I just got sick of wet shorts and underwear filled with sand." You threw out there and frowned, allowing Hoseok to take you into the water.
"Alright, not too bad?" Hoseok assures, circling around your legs, your mind recalled it the same gesture when you both first met.
"Sure. Although, I've already been out this far." Your voice cross, you eventually walked in further, keeping your eyes on his figure.
"Don't be such a meanie," Hoseok says, swimming out farther and pointing his fingers comically in your direction.
"I'm here. Sorta cold. Still going in," You remind him, the water up was now up to your chest.
"I promise it's better if your whole body is submerged." Hoseok quips, floating over to clasp your hands again. His chest pleasingly clutches. He knows that he's strangely fixed with how you feel, your skin hot. Not that it isn't new information.
"I have to go at it all the way. Great." You worry. Only stopping your attitude as Hoseok childishly swings both your hands back and forth underwater.
"How about, if we both go under you can touch my tail?" Hoseok suggests, swimming up close to you so you had to look up to meet his eyes.
You hesitate an answer for a moment, then let out a distressful sigh. Everything about him had to be tempting. The shallow theory of him being a siren becoming more believable by the second. "Shit I do for you." You lightly mumble, then dipping your head underwater. Hoseok goes under too, smiling. Hypothetically, Hoseok wants to press a kiss to your lips underwater, to keep all the air bubbles inside, but he decides against such an action.
You head to the surface for air and Hoseok follows, smiling again at the way your hair is wet with pond water and how your lips are glistening.
"Do I look like a mermaid?"
Hoseok shakes his head. "Wait," He lets go of your hands, swimming out into the mess of weeds. "For your hair." He says, reaching up to wrap damp flowers around your hair.
"Did you just make me a partial flower crown?" You giggle, reaching up to touch the messy headpiece.
Hoseok nods and marvels at his choice of flowers, it really complimented you.
"This is amazing. I like it." You praise, so genuine it makes the water a little warmer, and tugs at Hoseok heart. Then, he laughs it off.
"Still wanna touch my tail?"
You nodded, watching Hoseok with a gentle grin. You bit back a break out smile, full and for him. It reminded when you met, when he gathered the minnows for you. "Duh, bring it here."
Hoseok hovers up close to you, pressing his blue tail to the surface. You couldn't keep your eyes off it, indefinite hands hovering over his scales. "Slimy, but nice. Tougher than regular fish."
Hoseok trails his hand over the area where his human skin melds with the scales, just below his navel. Your hands felt remarkable running across his tail, and he longed to be touched more, rather than being swayed by anything other than the plants and fish. It was driving him crazy, you were all he could revolve his thoughts around.
"Would I be stupid to admit I want a tail?" You hum absentmindedly, running your fingertips along the scales closest to his fins.
Hoseok thinks he could drown you if he desired so, drag you immediately under the water, having your human lungs overflow with water and your legs would evolve a tail. That way, you could be together.
Hoseok catches your daydreaming eyes with his hardened expression. He was fighting between keeping you all for himself. But, he wasn't selfish enough to kill you just to have you. Yet, the potential flicker was burning for it. "Yes, stupid. No mermaid tail for you."
"How come?" You seem to whine, resting your palm over his swishing tail, keeping you two secured.
"I like you human." Hoseok answers, threading his cold fingers around your wrist. An impulse arises from him to inch forward and weave them in between your fingers, probably keeping you intimately together. His eyes look unimpressed down at his cowardice hands.
You don't think about detaching out of Hoseok grip, also joining him by looking down at your hands, entranced with the way his thumb and index fingers rest on your skin. "Fine. Whatever you say."
Hoseok lets himself sink down, observing you through a layers of ripples and doesn't answer.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Drying yourself off, you notice Hoseok eyeing your sun necklace, swinging by its chain in mid air as your dry off your calves.
"What are you thinking about?" You said to him, a little smug at the way his eyes quickly snapped from its trance state. Waiting for his response, you plucked the flowers from your hair and into your bag pocket.
"Thought your necklace looked nice." It's different to see a symbol of the sun when he always watched the sunrise and sunset. Of course he's seen his fair share of sun symbols, but yours was simple and pretty. Lately, Hoseok has been comparing you to the infamous sun. You always had this certain shine and perfectly hued aura. Plus, you were just as warm. He couldn't describe entirely what he meant, but it suited you.
"Do you want it?"
Hoseok nodded "No. It's yours." He watched as you moved closer and against his better will - and his temptation to keep you longer, even if for mere minutes - he swam to the shore line to meet you.
"Mermaids need accessories, right?" You smiled, peeling the necklace from around your neck and place it down gently into Hoseok palms. You've always wondered if mermaid movies were wrong about them liking shiny, pretty things. Looking at Hoseok now, it seemed comically accurate. "Promise me you'll keep it safe?"
"Yeah." He promises while retreating to the water to flush out his gills and you stand there, watching him place it around his neck.
Now, he'll have a piece of warmth with him. It was close to everything he wanted.