"Spit it out.." Jeongguk said, his arms crossed over each other as he stood there waiting.
A sigh erupted from Jimin, he looked down. "I don't know where to start.." He mumbled, guilty.
Jeongguk rolled his eyes, "From the beginning, perhaps?" The merman looked up and with a small blush on his cheeks, he cleared his throat.
"Alright.. Well, you see, in our world, strictly only mates touch each other. This can be anywhere. The tail, fins or you know.. the gills, for example."
The human raised his brows. "So what you're saying is I just violated you, and your fin automatically came up as a self-defense or what?" But that doesn't make any sense, considering the sounds he made.
"What! No, no, no!" Jimin quickly denied, eyes wide with a slightly hammering heart.
"Then what just happened, Jimin? If it's unlikely for others to touch your tail or gills, then that means I just did something forbidden."
"Me, here, talking to you is forbidden, Jeongguk."
The younger sighed, "Jimin."
He really wanted an answer.
"Fine, fine.." The merman began. "So, touching of the sensitive parts between mates, is a way to bond directly. It makes us feel certain things.."
It was at this moment the boys had a staring contest. Jimin only grew redder as time passed and after a few seconds the younger breathed out,
"Then why would you give me permission to do something like that? And you still haven't explained to me why your fin nearly—"
Jimin turned his head towards the ocean, his cheeks felt like they were on fire.
"U─uh, right.. Honestly, I just wanted to experience what it felt like to have someone caress your gills. When you stroked my tail it felt good, so I was wondering what it would feel like if you'd touch my most sensitive part."
Jeongguk bit his lip, slowly walking back to Jimin beginning to feel a little bad because of his dramatic reaction.
"And about the fin, that was just an automatic reaction to the touch. I promise you, I would never hurt you."
Jimin was so embarrassed. He is never like this. He never feels so insecure. Yet, there he was, stuttering and blushing like an idiot and it was all because of the human Jeongguk.
"I see.." Jeongguk exhaled loudly whilst he sat down, turning to look at Jimin who stared at the ocean sadly.
"I'm sorry.. I shouldn't have made you do that. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, and I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore. Actually, I fully understand if you dont want to see me ever again. I'll l─leave, sorry again." The silver haired began rambling, already pushing himself a little back into the direction of the water.
The human now felt really bad. He quickly reached out, grabbing Jimin by his arm to prevent him from leaving.
He had his tail draped in the water, while he sat up straight. He slowly looked back up, into the eyes of the younger feeling his cheeks heat up even more.
Silently, Jeongguk raised his hand and without a word he traced Jimin's gills, making him gasp.
"I'm not mad at you, Minnie. I reacted too quick and way too dramatically, I'm the one who should apologise. However, I kind of would've appreciated knowing all of that in advance."
Jimin wanted to say something back, he really did. But when Jeongguk put more pressure which made him feel like heaven, his body went limp and he fell against the other, head on his shoulder.
Jeongguk didn't fail to notice that Jimin's left fin was spread wide again.
Figuring that the male hadn't lied, he mentally noted to himself that he just had to adapt to Jimin's personality. He simply was the total opposite of Taehyung, and he blamed it on himself for not knowing how to deal with it.
Stopping his actions because he couldn't reach Jimin's gills like this and knowing the sad tension from him dissipated, he only chuckled since the merman didn't even move.
"You good there?"
"Never been better."
Laughing loudly, the younger threw his head back.
"So are we on good terms?" Jimin asked to make sure, heart pumping in his throat.
"Yeah, we're good."
Breathing out in relief, Jimin giggled.
"Jeongguk-ssi, I really need to go home now. I've been here for far too long.."
"Alright, get home safely then. I'll see you soon."
Jimin nodded, pushing himself back into the water. Before leaving, he looked back once more.
"See you next time! I hope you'll touch my gills again." His face flushed pink once he realised he said the last sentence out loud, which wasn't supposed to happen.
"Hmm, no."
Jeongguk bit his lip at the face Jimin made, feeling bad. He looked downright devastated.
"I'm just kidding, chill! Sure, I guess? We're friends, after all."
Jimin showed off his pearly whites one last time before ducking back under water, disappearing out of sight.
With that, the human stood up and slowly began walking back to his apartment. However, he couldn't get his mind wrapped around a few things.
Deciding to just leave it be, his next thought was all about Taehyung, and how much he missed him.
────🐚────
Sipping his tea rather loudly, Seokjin looked at his best friend who seemed to be rather busy.
"What are you even thinking about? You look like your brain is about to burst."
Jeongguk turned to look at his best friend's face, his caring eyes now kind of hurting him inside. After all, Seokjin has done so much for him, yet, Jeongguk's keeping all kinds of secrets from him 'since he mustn't trust anyone with this kind of information.'
He feels terrible for thinking Seokjin wouldn't be able to keep it to himself. Of course he could, he knows that.
But with Taehyung in the back of his mind..
Sighing, he put down his coffee and he bit his tongue.
"What would you do if you have a secret you really want to tell someone, but it isn't yours to share?"
Seokjin was surprised at the sudden question. His brows furrowed and he sunk back into his wooden chair.
"Do you have a secret you want to tell someone?" Jeongguk stared at Seokjin, shrugging at his words.
"Well.." The elder spoke up again, "Who is it you want to tell the secret to? How well do you know the person?"
The younger grinned, "I know him really, really well."
Seokjin smiled in assumption, "Do you trust the person? Are you guys close?"
He smiled back, "I trust the person more than anything. We're really close, he cares a lot for me. He protected me when it was needed."
Seokjin then added, "How does it feel to keep the secret? I guess you want to tell this person because it's hard to keep for yourself. Do you trust the person enough to know that he wouldn't spill it to someone else?"
Jeongguk thought about it. Yes, he really, really wanted to tell someone. This secret was indeed hard to bare alone, especially since he gets reminded of it daily. For the well-being of Taehyung, he keeps his mouth shut. But he could trust Seokjin with his life. He could already imagine how great it would be to conversate about the matter.
"I trust him with my whole heart. I really want to tell him since it's a secret that's hard to keep for myself. But it isn't exactly my secret. It isn't my story to tell, but I do trust the person enough to know that he wouldn't tell someone else."
"So you think that the person who originally owns the secret minds you telling it to him?"
Jeongguk sighed, also sinking back in his chair.
"I don't know. He trusts me, I know that, but I don't know if he'd trust a person that isn't me."
Seokjin softly got a hold of Jeongguk's hand on the table, squeezing it gently.
"It's me, right? The person you want to tell it to?"
The younger nodded, turning his gaze to the table.
"Why don't I just meet the person? See if he likes me?"
Eyes widened at that, he quickly shook his head. "I don't think that's such a good idea, hyung. You see, he doesn't really like─ uh, people, that much.."
"I promise you, I won't tell anyone. You can trust me, Jeonggukkie. You know that."
The younger stared back into the elder's reassuring, caring eyes. Gathering courage, his heart palpitated in his chest.
He squeezed Seokjin's hand back and whispered out,
"Mermen exist."