It was almost morning.
Jin knew he had to leave the tub soon.
He had to cook breakfast.
But the medicine he needed hadn't come yet.
It wasn't their fault. The situation had caught everyone off-guard.
At least his superiors were understanding.
Jin thought back to the day he had first volunteered to do this. To audition as an actor. How strict everybody had seemed.
Now he knew it had all been set up to test him, make sure he wouldn't reveal their secret.
The physical preparations building up to make sure he was physically fit for the disguise that he was forced to fuse into his body had been rigorous. Learning to use archaic technology to fit in had taken getting used to, although the way food was prepared hadn't ended up being all that different from his hobby. Maybe he had been made fun of before, but in the end it had been a deciding factor in his acceptance to this role.
And now this. It was a miracle he had been able to hide the mark on his neck when he had called for the replacement.
Thankfully they had attributed the strange position he held his head in to the pain he was feeling.
It was partly true. There was a strange sense of relief emanating from that area even as it cramped, the stabbing pain slightly fading.
Examining his webbed hands and flipper feet, running his fingers along the scales that had been hidden beneath his skin for so long, he felt pangs of sadness yet again realizing yet again that he would someday be forced to leave this place he had grown attached to. The people he had come to love better than his own family.
Despite it being his own body that would force him to return, his head cleared when he sank underwater and breathed through his gills.
He could breathe in air and water both naturally. But the water had always brought him a unique sense of relief.
The chemicals in the water burned slightly, but even that served only to clear his head.
Rolling onto his stomach again, he shook out his luminescent scaled backfins and allowed them to flex, then shook them as humans would shake their limbs to relieve numbness or a foggy mind.
If the universe had seen fit to give one of his kind a soulmate, surely he could trust that she would be the one for him.
Maybe that cheesy book was rubbing off on him but there was nothing to tell him that it wouldn't be that way.
A slight smell of burning came to him and he rose above the water to watch the metal circlets solidify and separate, revealing a new bottle of the very pills that he had discovered eaten away the night before.
Wasting no time, he opened them and took the appropriate dosage to hide his... abnormal features.
The pain was worse than when they had re-emerged.
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Y/N groaned as a horrible wave of pain rolled over her body and finally caved, heading to the kitchen to take some Benadryl.
Her hands shook as she opened the bottle and she accidentally shook out twice the amount prescribed on the bottle.
After a brief hesitation, she threw back her head and downed it with some water.
Her doctor had told her she was fine to do so when the pain was bad enough anyways. This certainly counted.
Once she'd successfully swallowed it she sank to the floor, every part of her racked with pain.
The sides of her neck, along the upper half of her spine, her hands, her feet, and strange patterns up her arms and legs burned while the rest of her felt strangely cool and clammy.
In the book, the soulmates had only received a portion of the others pain...
How much did he hurt? What was he going through that could cause so much pain?
She wept to think he hurt more than this.
When it finally faded as the sun appeared in the sky, she forced herself up and dashed away her tears.
It wouldn't do to have anyone thinking she was soft.
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Jin plastered a smile on his face and served breakfast.
The slowly fading aches were leaving faster than he had expected from past experiences.
He didn't question it. Relief from the pain was welcome, whatever the reason.
"Hyung? What's that?"
Yoongi had appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, and it was at that moment Jin realized he had forgotten to put makeup over his mark.
His hand flew to his neck and he met Yoongi's eyes fearfully.
Yoongi's brow knit slightly in confusion, then a strange light of understanding dawned.
"You... you found yours huh? Know who it is?"
He came over almost casually.
Almost.
Jin could see curiosity in his eyes as well as... Something else.
szhszhszhszh
Tearing his eyes away from the younger he flipped another serving out of the pan before it overcooked.
shlp
It slipped neatly onto the plate despite the numbness entering Jin's body.
SCHFFZZZZ
Another serving sizzled into the pan and Jin reminded himself to breathe.
"No. I don't."
Yoongi simply nodded. "Are you planning to cover that up?
Jin nodded, and Yoongi held his hand out, palm up, and gestured for the handle of the pan. "Go on. I'll finish this up."
Jin nodded gratefully and slipped back to the bathroom to cover it.
He felt a pang of guilt hiding it from the others, but he couldn't risk his superiors discovering this. They may not be so strict as he had once believed them. But he still could not predict how they would react to this situation. Not when he still didn't know how to react.
Getting back to the kitchen he smiled to see that everyone was served and waiting for him.
Yoongi calmly met his gaze, not even winking to show that there was anything abnormal.
He was discreet like that.
And Jin had never loved him for it more than he did now.
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Y/N groaned. It would've been convenient if it were her day off.
But no. It had to be tomorrow.
At least she would get to see Flipper and relax her muscles in the salt water of the aquarium at feeding time.
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Hello readers! I disappeared again didn't I? Ooof sorry. But I've joined an online cover band, and we're working on our first song. I'm so excited! Please follow our socials UwU! Link will be below and youtube channel coming soon~
More updates will be posted as I have them ready. Thank you for being patient with me!
Band Instagram~
https://www.instagram.com/goldenbandofficial/
We also have a Tik Tok but I couldn't figure out how to link the account oop
Our user is: goldenbandofficial6