You and Namjoon headed back to the beach house together, chatting along the way. You both eventually got back to the beach house and you went to the back door.
“I’ll go find Jungkook and tell him you’re back. Stay here.”
“Ok.” You sat down on the stairs as Namjoon set off to you find Jungkook. You let your feet rest in the water as you waited.
As you waited your thoughts started to wonder. You get that Jungkook was friends with this other mermaid, but why was he so drawn to you? You didn’t show that you could do anything. Maybe you should ask him when he gets here.
“(Y/N)!” Speak of the devil. You looked in the direction the voice came from to see Namjoon and Jungkook swimming toward you. Namjoon said something to Jungkook before swimming back farther into the ocean, letting Jungkook come you himself.
You smiled at him as he came closer. He sat next to you on the stairs. “I missed you. I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Yeah, it has been a few days.”
“Yeah.” He stated blankly.
He fidgeted with his hands for a moment, not making eye contact.
“So, um, I heard that the rest have told you their backstories.”
“Yeah, all except Jimin. But I’m meeting him tonight so he can tell me.”
He nodded.
“If it makes it any easier, I know that you were turned into a mermaid when you were a kid.”
He sighed. “Yeah. I met this mermaid when I was a kid. We played together, not really know right from wrong and not knowing how different we were. And somehow, we kissed. She turned me into a mermaid. At first, it was cool and different, but I didn’t realize there was no reverse. I yelled at her and I went to try and find my parents. I kept screaming for them. I couldn’t find them-”
His voice was breaking. It broke your heart to see him like this. You placed your hand on top of his. He took a breath and held your small hand gently in his, stroking his thumb over the top of yours.
“I broke down and cried for a long time. For a few days, I kept checking the beach to see if they would come looking for me, but I never found them. Eventually, she came back and started apologizing over and over again. I didn’t forgive her at first and I tried to fend for myself alone, but I didn’t know how to survive like that so I did find and forgive her. Then everything wasn’t so bad. We got along together nicely and we got older together. But even if we had each other, it was still lonely. She agreed and decided to find other people who wanted to be mermaids. And that’s when she found the others. But I didn’t realize she didn’t tell them what happens when you kiss them, so they all didn’t like it at first, but they had to get used to it. Eventually, we became like family. And then, not too long ago…” He trailed off.
“Ateez kidnapped her.” You finished for him.
He looked away sadly. You gave his hand a squeeze.
“I’m sorry.” Was all you could say.
“It’s ok. You had nothing to do with it.”
“Yeah. Speaking of which, how do I remind you of her?”
He looked straight into your eyes, his face coming closer to yours. You blushed out of instinct but still stared back. And for a moment, there seemed to be stars in his eyes.
“You look just like her.”
You paused. Did you really look like her? Your blush darkened. You looked away startled. You didn’t know how to respond to that.
“That reminds me, I have something for you.” He changed the subject, but not before you saw a light pink dusting his cheeks. He lifted up his wrist, which you didn’t notice he had two bracelets on, and pulled one off.
“Here.” He lifted up your hand and tied the bracelet around your wrist. Your blush remained as you looked at the bracelet. It had a small blue stone wrapped around it.
“Thanks.” You smiled at him. He smiled with the same adorable smile as he had the first time you met him. Without thinking, you leaned in and hugged him. He was a little startled but still hugged you back.
“I better go then. Promise me you’ll stay safe?”
“I promise.”
He smiled again before swimming back.