With the whole 'pants' fiasco still fresh in your mind, the both of you had slowly made your way over to Soon-Ja's place, after having gotten a, for lack of a better term, demanding call from her.
"Hello?" You answered, knowing full well who was on the other end of the line.
"Y/N. What are your plans for today?" She grumbled out, not even bothering to say hello first.
"Um... Well, Tae and I were going t-"
"Great, I'll see you at my house at 12:00 sharp."
*click*
Did she just hang up on me?
Not that this was abnormal behavior by any means, but you certainly weren't expecting her to insist on your presence during your official 'time-off-because-you-almost-died' holiday.
Walking down the gravel path to her house you suddenly squeezed Taehyung's hand.
It was the best you could do for an apology since the woman in question was watching you from where she stood in the doorway.
"You're late" She sneered, motioning for you to step into the house.
"Its 12:02, Ajumma" You whined back, rolling your eyes in annoyance.
"Hi Ajumma!!" Taehyung beamed out from beside you, accompanied by one of his adorable rectangle smiles.
"Ah, there's my boy! Come inside and out of the blazing heat! Quick quick!"
Well, I can see he's obviously the favorite.
...
Not that I blame her.
Once settled in her living room Soon-ja wattled out of the kitchen with a tray full of cookies and cups of piping hot tea.
"Now Taehyung dear, eat as much as you'd like, I have a whole extra box for you to take back to your handsome friends." She cooed, holding the tray out for him to take some.
Without even a glance in your direction, Soon-ja set the tray down on the coffee table, situating a coaster for Taehyung to place his tea on.
As you went to reach for a cookie you felt the stare of the grouchy old woman on you.
"You take one and only one Y/N, I didn't make these for you!" She sneered, pointing a finger at you just like your grandma used to do when you were being naughty.
You huffed, holding your single cookie protectively close to your chest in case she tried to snatch it back from you.
"Rude..." You mumbled under your breath.
Even the playful kiss on the cheek from a laughing Taehyung couldn't wipe the grumpy look off your face.
"I called you both here to talk to you about mine and Y/N's little secret" she started, plopping a lump of sugar into her cup before continuing, "There are many things Y/N doesn't know, and since you two are attached at the hip I imagined having the both of you over was the only way to do this."
Lacing your fingers through Taehyung's you listened intently as your Ajumma spoke.
She started by going over her own history, something of which you were completely taken aback by.
When Soon-ja was only 9 years old she was turned into a mermaid, a moon pool that once existed on this very island was the source of her first transformation.
Not only hers but also her mother, and her mother before her.
Soon-ja came from a long line of women that had adopted the cave and it's magic as a 'coming-of-age' or 'right-of-passage for their family.
It wasn't until Soon-ja was 18 that mass-construction began on the island, new tourist spots and hotels destroying the surrounding forest and the protruding rocks that held the special pool.
Even though you could still get into the small body of water from under the sea, the magic had seemingly been lost forever.
The feeling of home that she and the matriarchs of her family once felt was no longer present in the wake of the destroyed cave structure.
On her 50th birthday, Soon-ja's mother told her that she was starting to lose her powers, something all merfolk apparently did once they reached a certain age.
I guess the magic can only last so long...
Soon-ja told you with tears in her eyes about the day she finally lost her own.
One morning she stepped into the tide, intending to swim out to her favorite part of the reef, only to be met with the heart-shattering absence of the tingling in her feet.
Left only with a heightened sense of intuition and the warm feeling in her heart from living close to the sea she once swam in, she was forced to say goodbye to the tail that had been apart of her life for so long.
You shuddered at the thought of being unable to feel the water whip past you as you glided effortlessly through the tide or the feeling of an afternoon nap on the seafloor.
"Um... Ajumma?" Taehyung interrupted, startling you out of your deep thoughts.
"Yes, dear?" She cooed at him.
"So if Y/N and I were to have children someday, they wouldn't be mermaids?"
You nearly choked on your tea, some of it making its way into your nose as you frantically grabbed for the nearest napkin.
WHAT!?
"Well, not in my family. But it isn't unheard of for a child to be born with the magic of their mother or father."
You could feel your face flush bright red with the intensity of the conversation.
This is not a topic you thought would be brought up for a very long time.
"Do you know many others?" You whispered out, hoping to change the course of conversation before you died of embarrassment.
"I know many. Most of my best friends were merfolk when I was growing up. There were many families on the island that had the same traditions as I did, some even including the males, although those were few and far between."
You watched as the sad look from before fell across her face.
"Were... as in past tense? What happened...?" You asked shyly, worried about hurting her feelings for prying so deep.
Soon-ja sighed, setting her cup of tea down before readjusting the blanket draped over her lap.
"Well you see, without the moon pool the magic was gone, and the merfolk genes ceased to be passed down afterwards. As far as I know, you are the only one left on this island."
You pondered for a moment, imagining what it would be like to have a group of people like you, to have mermaid friends and family that you didn't have to hide your secret from.
It must have been so nice...
No wonder you were so drawn to this place, the magic runs deep here for a least a century.
"My powers... are they normal? My glowing eyes, the connection with the water and its sea life.."
Soon-ja smiled, nodding her head at you as she watched you stutter out what you'd been afraid of mentioning.
"Very normal dear, although I don't recall having much of it. The most I could do was create a few ripples in the water."
Your heart began to pick up speed as your mind flashed back to the intense power you felt in your palms that fateful night with the divers cornering you.
You thought about mentioning this to her, but before you could get a word out Taehyung was answering the phone ringing loudly in his pocket.
"Hello?" He boomed into the phone.
...
"Yes, I'm-... Why?"
...
"I understand that Hyung, but I'm asking wh-"
...
"Okay... Okay fine."
...
"I heard you the first time. Bye"
With a slightly aggressive slam on the touch screen of his phone, Taehyung hung up.
You rested your hand softly on his knee, furrowing your brows at the boy who looked incredibly frustrated.
"You okay?" You asked quietly.
Taehyung shook his head, groaning slightly before crossing his arms and slumping down into the couch.
"I have to go back to the hotel tonight and they won't tell me why."
You smiled, squeezing the boy's knee in comfort.
"It's okay, I'm sure we can survive one night without each other" You cooed at him.
Taehyung smiled back at your reassurance, sighing as he sat up straight again.
"I doubt that" He mumbled back to you.
"Alright then you two, off you go!" Soon-ja piped up suddenly, standing up before she began trying to shoo you out of her living room.
"But Ajumm-"
"Shush, you! Do as you're told! Taehyung needs to get home to those lovely friends of his." She grumbled at you, shuffling over to a side table where she had left a neatly wrapped Tupperware container, "Taehyung dear please take these with you!"
Okay, this favouritism thing is getting out of hand...
"Thanks, Ajumma! See you next time!"
As you were rushed out of the door Taehyung swung an arm over your shoulders, pulling you into his side as you made your way down the path from Soon-Ja's house.
On the walk back home you both stayed mostly silent, enjoying the moment together before you inevitably had to part ways tonight.
Something that both of you were evidently not so fond of.
The warmth you had from being so close to him and the cool breeze of the early afternoon made you feel so at peace.
It never got cold on the island but you could definitely tell summer was coming to a close with the way the sun started to set much earlier than it had the last couple months.
As you finally reached the path towards your house you sighed deeply, fretting the night ahead that you would inevitably be spending alone.
Even though you hadn't known each other long you couldn't bear to think of your life without Taehyung.
His boxy smile, the glimmer in his eyes whenever he looked at you, the overwhelming sense of warmth in your chest at his presence.
You couldn't deny it anymore.
You were completely in love with him.
Stopped in front of the door Taehyung enveloped you in his arms, squeezing you tightly before pressing a soft kiss to the nape of your neck.
"D-Don't go yet..." You involuntarily mumbled into his hair.
"I have t-"
"P-Please..." You whimpered quietly.
Overwhelmed with desperation you tugged at the waistband of his jeans, his body pressing up against yours.
Without words, Taehyung's eyes found yours, half-lidded and full of an emotion you couldn't quite put your finger on.
Before you knew it, the two of you were backing through the door to your house, your lips smashed together, stumbling slightly as you both attempted to kick your shoes off without having to break your kiss.
Taehyung scooped you up into his arms, making you squeal as he nuzzled into your neck and excitedly carried you up the stairs.
Setting you down on the bed he crawled over you, hovering over your body as he stared lovingly into your eyes.
Biting your lip at the mere sight of him, his silver hair disheveled already and panting slightly.
You grabbed the collar of his shirt, slamming him down on top of you as you hooked your legs up around his hips.
He peppered greedy kisses along your jaw, dipping down so he could trace his tongue along the sensitive part of your neck.
"Taehyung" You breathed out, grabbing desperately at his waist to create more friction between you both.
Pausing for a moment, the boy brought his lips to your ear, his whispers making shivers run down your spine.
"Are you sure, Jagiya?"
Lost for words all you could do was nod your head, moaning slightly as you captured his lips once more.
Pulling his shirt up and over his head you let yourself melt into him, losing yourself in the magic and bliss that was being this close with Taehyung.
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing in your life, not even your first night as a mermaid, was more magical than this moment felt.
The overwhelming feelings you felt didn't diminish even as you rested your head on his chest, drifting off to sleep as you chanted in your mind what you wanted to say aloud.
I love you Taehyung, I love you so much.
---
//A/N//: Hey beautiful people! How are you guys? How's work/school??
I'm seriously starting to fall back in love with writing and can't wait to share with you all my vision for the last leg of the book.
Anyone have any predictions?? ;)
Love you all!!
Sisi