Jungkook let out a sigh as he stared off at the window from the living room. Yesterday, he had barely gotten back in time before the others, the manager, and the dance instructor had become nervous of his whereabouts. He had managed to slip into his room and changed out of his swim trunks, successfully changing into some sweatpants. He had wanted to take a shower before the dance practice, but he knew very well that he didn't leave himself any time to do that, so he waited until after his dance practice.
After arriving back at the dorms, he had to hide his wet swim trunks away from the others and had left them drying on the window sill. Unfortunately, the wind had picked up over the course of the day and by the time he had gotten back to his room, his swim trunks were nowhere to be seen. He had looked outside and saw them dangling on a branch of a tree nearby, so he had to jump out of his window to grab them before they disappeared for good.
It was unfortunate though that when he climbed back into his room, his hyungs were all standing there and staring at him with suspicious and confused expressions across their faces. Plus, when they saw him holding his still wet swim trunks in his hand, they became even more confused. He had a hard time trying to come up with an excuse and eventually ended up admitting to the fact that he had gone out earlier to the beach.
The members were surprised, but were also disappointed in him for going out without telling anybody and for going out with any kind of protection. They were less upset about him going out, but more upset about him not telling them and if something had happened to him then they would have no way of knowing.
He had apologized to them for worrying them and promised that he wouldn't go out again without telling them. They forgave him, of course, but still kept a close eye on him after that. He wasn't able to go out and see Y/N again last night and he hasn't been able to go out and see her yet today. The members were all keeping a close eye on him and were suspicious of his trip to the beach. He had told them that he went to the beach for a walk. While some believed his white lie others still had suspicions that he wasn't telling the truth.
He twiddled his thumbs in boredom and nervousness. He could see out of the corner of his eyes, his hyungs kept glancing at him as if worrying that he was just going to go and disappear on them. It was annoying to him and he was finding it difficult to focus on anything with eyes on him.
"Jungkook," Jimin said in a gentle voice as he slid into the seat next to the younger one and slightly nudged at the younger one's arm. Jungkook glanced at his hyung with a questioning look. "Why did you go out on your own like that when you know that it's dangerous?"
Jungkook didn't know how to respond to his hyung. Sure, he knew that it was dangerous for him to go out alone, but he couldn't very well say his real reason. Besides, when he told Taehyung about it he just laughed in his face. If Taehyung out of all of his hyungs, who was just as believing as he was about strange things then Jimin wouldn't believe a word of it either.
"I know and I'm sorry," he only managed to say as he sighed a bit. Jimin sighed as well as he watched the younger one with a worried expression.
"So, what possessed you to go out there, especially since we were told to stay in the dorms? What was so important that made you go out to the beach?" Jimin asked as he waited for Jungkook to answer. The younger one was silent for a moment, debating whether or not to tell the truth or to keep the truth hidden. When he made his decision, he looked at his hyung and shrugged.
"What can I say? The sun was out, the beach wasn't crowded, and the water was calling to me," he voiced in a carefree tone, trying to ease his hyung's mind. Jimin seemed to have bought it and laughed a bit at the choices of words that the younger one used.
"Oh! You said that you did some video editing yesterday, can I see what it is?" Jimin asked curiously as he stared at the younger one. He raised his eyebrow when he noticed Jungkook stiffen at the question. A suspicious feeling began to rise inside of him. Jungkook bit his lip nervously. He mentally cursed at himself for saying that he was going to video edit when he really wasn't. He had to think of something quick before his hyung got any more suspicious.
"Sorry hyung, but you can't see it right now. I'm still not done editing. I still need to ask special effects and adjust the colour- I just have lots left to do," Jungkook insisted with hopeful eyes that his hyung would understand and buy another lie.
"That's ok, I can just see what you have so far and maybe even give you things to add or to change," Jimin suggested with a warm smile.
"Hyung, please understand that I want to finish it first before letting anyone see it!" Jungkook said in a louder tone than he expected and wanted. His hyung looked at him in surprise. He was even surprised by the loudness of his voice. By now, the others were also looking at him in alarm. He hadn't even noticed that he had stood up from sitting. Awkwardness took over and he cleared his throat, sitting back down. "Sorry..."
He sat back down and sighed heavily, looking away from his hyung. Jimin gazed at him with a perplexed expression written on his face. He understood the younger one not wanting him to look at the video edit until it was finished, but what he couldn't understand was why the younger one seemed so annoyed. Still, not wanting to further anger or annoy the younger one, he let it go and didn't say anything else regarding the subject. He only patted the younger one's shoulder before standing up and walking over to the couch where the others were all gathered.
Jungkook sighed, feeling guilty for yelling at his hyung like that. He wanted to apologize, but he only found himself walking towards his bedroom. He closed the door gently and flopped on his bed. He groaned into his pillow and pouted slightly. He turned onto his side and faced his window.
He wanted to tell his hyungs about Y/N and he wanted to go see her, but having to keep her a secret and having his hyungs suspicious about him going to the sea, he didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to handle this. It was inevitable that he would blab or inevitable that he would go to the beach and his hyungs would follow him to see where he was going. It was a 50/50 thing. He both wanted his hyungs to find out the truth and also didn't want his hyungs to find out the truth.
Though, he knew that if he didn't want his hyungs finding out then he would have to find a way to go visit Y/N at a time where his hyungs wouldn't be looking for him. The only time would be at night time, but he also wasn't too keen on going out at night. Still, if it made it safer to go see Y/N without any suspicion then that was what he would have to do.
Thankfully, the members had another day off tomorrow, so it would be fine if he got to sleep late tonight. He nodded, agreeing with his plan as he decided to get out his sketchbook. He opened it to the page that had a not very detailed sketch of Y/N on it and began adding more details, shading and highlighting here and there with colouring pencils. He coloured and sketched throughout the whole afternoon while listening to music through his headphones, not even noticing when his hyungs would sneakily peek into his room to see what he was doing.
When nighttime arrived, he had dinner with his hyungs and hung out with them for a while, so that they wouldn't be suspicious of anything. He even apologized to Jimin for yelling at him. When they were done with dinner, he helped them wash and dry all of the dishes. He waited for each of his hyungs to say goodnight and go back to their rooms before going into his own room. He closed the door and leaned his ear against the door. He could hear footsteps passing by his door.
"Goodnight Jungkook," Jimin's voice came from the other side of the door.
"Goodnight hyung," Jungkook answered back quickly as he listened to the sound of Jimin's footsteps departing down the hallway. He sighed in relief when he could no longer hear his hyung's footsteps. He placed pillows underneath the blankets then got ready to go to the beach. He took out the bikini top that he had been forgetting each time. This time, he wasn't going to forget even though it didn't matter too much since it was going to be dark. He stuffed his phone in its waterproof case before placing it in his pocket.
Making his way over to the window, he did his best to open his window without making too much noise. It made a creaking sound, making him tense up, hoping that none of his hyungs heard it. He waited, frozen in spot, but thankfully didn't hear anything from his hyungs. He breathed a sigh of relief and continued to open the window. He successfully opened the window and sat on the window sill. He glanced back at his room, specifically the door, before sliding out the window.
He walked to the beach, being careful to not be seen and approached the spot that he had been meeting Y/N and waited. He had no trouble getting there as he had the glowing scale in his locket necklace to guide his way. He thought he would have to wait long like he usually did, but to his surprise she was already there. He spotted here near the large rock. She was lying down in the water and holding a hermit crab in her hand. Her glowing tail was lifted up above the water. It was fascinating. Even the water that dripped from her tail was glowing and then gradually stopped glowing after it hit the water.
He approached slowly and stood over her. She noticed his shadow and jolted backwards in alarm. A panicked expression had taken over her face before she relaxed realizing that it was him. He chuckled in amusement at that.
"Not funny Naked- I mean Jungkook! You scared me!" Y/N protested as she glared at him and flicked her tail, splashing water at him. He laughed as he moved out of the way to avoid being hit by the water.
"Heh, sorry Y/N," he apologized giggling a little bit more before sitting down in front of her. She rolled her eyes at that, but gave a small smile before approaching him slowly. "So, what are you doing?"
"I am playing with a hermit crab," she stated as she picked up the hermit crab that had walked off a little ways and brought it back over to them, "Want to hold him?"
"I- I don't know if that's such a good idea. The last time came into contact with a hermit crab it pinched me and made me draw blood," he said unsure and worried. She giggled at that, remembering that day before placing the hermit crab by Jungkook's foot. The hermit crab's little legs brushed against the bottom of his foot making him stifle a laugh. "H-Hey! Stop that tickles!"
She laughed at that as she let the hermit crab tickle Jungkook's foot for a little while longer before placing the hermit crab back on the sand and watching it scurry away. She then turned her attention back to Jungkook and smiled at him gently.
"So, did you have another one of your concerts today?" She asked curiously as she laid down in front of him, gently waving her tail around in the water behind her. He raised an eyebrow in confusion before shaking his head. "Oh, then why did you come so late?"
"Oh that.. um, my hyungs have been getting a bit suspicious about my whereabouts, so I have to come at a time when they won't be suspicious," he explained briefly. She nodded back in response before staring at him straight in the eye. "What?"
"You haven't told them, have you?" She asked worriedly. Jungkook bit his lip at that. He did tell Taehyung, but he didn't believe him, so does that even count as telling? He wasn't sure, still it was probably best if he didn't tell her that. He only shook his head in response, earning a small sigh of relief from her. "That's good. I can't have anybody else knowing about me. It's already a bit of a risk that you know about me."
"I know, that's why I haven't told anybody," he responded with a nod of understanding.
"But as long as we keep it between us then we can continue to see each other. It'll be our little secret~," she hummed, smiling coyly and sending him a small wink. She placed her finger over her lips and let out a small hushed breath. He smiled back at that. They looked at each other for a moment before Y/N's eyes glanced down to Jungkook's chest. Her eyes widened when she noticed the glow coming from the locket necklace. "That's a really pretty necklace."
"Oh, thank you. One of my hyungs gave it to me," he mentioned as he clutched the locket in his hand. He wasn't sure if he should tell her that one of her scales was in the locket necklace, but something told him that she had already figured out the moment that she laid her eyes on it. "I... I hope you don't mind, but that day when you left me lying on the beach, I found one of your scales kind of buried in the sand next to me, so I thought I'd put it in the locket necklace for safe keeping."
"That's fine. I'm glad that it was you who found the scale and not somebody else. I should be more careful," she uttered with a concerned look before shaking it off and smiling at him, "As long as you don't let others see it then it's alright for you to keep it. It will help you to see in the dark and in the night."
"Yeah, it's been helpful for that. I managed to get here fast with it," he agreed with a nod as he placed it back into his shirt, "Oh, by the way, I got you something." Y/N's eyes widened a bit at that and her ears perked up as Jungkook reached into his pocket. He took out the bikini top and handed it to her.
"You brought me a shell!" She exclaimed in surprise and awe as she took the bikini top and held it up to examine it. She looked it up and down before raising an eyebrow. "This shell has a weird material."
"You mean compared to my shirt?" Jungkook asked with uncertainty. Y/N nodded in response as she rubbed the bikini top all over her face, sniffing at it here and there. Jungkook raised an eyebrow and a weird expression took over his face. "Y/N, what are you doing?" Y/N glanced at him and stared at him for a moment before shrugging. "Do you... do you need help putting it on?"
"Putting it on? Oh, no, I'm going to put it with all of my other shells in my collection," she stated with an excited twinkle in her eye.
"Aish, Y/N, I gave it to you, so that you can wear it. Not store it some place where it's going to collect dust," Jungkook retorted as he face-palmed and sighed in exasperation.
"First of all, I live in the ocean, so there's no such thing as dust. Second of all, I don't collect shells to wear them, I collect them as souvenirs," Y/N mentioned, her voice suddenly turning cute. Jungkook stared at her for a moment before letting out a sigh. Y/N heard him sigh and looked back at him. She could sense that he wanted her to wear the bikini top instead of storing it away, so she shrugged. "Ok, but can you help me put it on? I've never worn a shell, especially not one like this."
"Sure," he responded with a nod as scooched forward, "Um... could you do me a favour and turn around and lift up your hair?" Y/N nodded as she turned around and lifted up her hair. "Now, can you hold onto this while I tie it up?" Jungkook placed the top over Y/N's chest just as she nodded and held it to her chest. He tied the knot around her neck and the other around her back. "Ok, all done."
At his words, Y/N let her hair go and it cascaded down her back. It slightly touched Jungkook's hand and he gently glided his hand along her hair. It was smooth, almost like was completely covered in hair conditioner. He wondered how it could be so smooth even though Y/N spent most of her time in sea water. He stopped fiddling with her hair when she turned around.
"H-How do I look?" She asked shyly moved her hair out of the way.
"It looks good. You look pretty," he commented with a nervous smile. She smiled back at that and looked down at it.
"I really like the colour of it, thank you Jungkook," she thanked him as she continued to admire it before she gasped, startling him a little bit, "I didn't bring you anything."
"Oh, that's ok. I wasn't expecting you to," he replied with a small chuckle. This earned a small pout from Y/N. "Uh... well, you healed me twice, so I figured that I should repay you."
"Hm, alright, but next time you visit then I'll bring you something," she announced, smiling widely. Jungkook chuckled again and gave a small nod. He wondered what she would bring him. She probably would bring him a piece of seaweed or a pile of mud. He chortled at the thought.
"Y/N... where are you from? Like, I mean, where are you from originally?" He asked curiously. Y/N seemed taken aback by his sudden question and went silent. "Were you born here?"
"No, I was born in Busan..," she mumbled quietly, but it was still loud enough for him to pick up on. His eyes widened at that. It was then that he recalled a memory that he had back when he was younger. When he was 10 years old, it was the day after his mother and father had arrived back from their cruise ship vacation. He had been hanging out at the beach with his mother and on the way back to the car he had seen something in the distance, a head and tail that disappeared before his mother could get an eye-full. He bit his lip, wondering and hoping that maybe just maybe it was actually Y/N that he had seen out in the distance.
"I was born in Busan too," he murmured with an anticipated smile. Her eyes widened at that and she stared him directly in the eyes. "I think I saw you too back when I was 10 years old." Her eyes widened even bigger this time. "I was on the beach with my mom and I saw a head and a tail in the distance."
"I don't think that was me though," she said shaking her head.
"Well, I saw something that resembled that of a mermaid, so if it wasn't you then who or what was it?" He asked in wonder, raising an eyebrow curiously.
"It was probably another pod member," she said unknowingly. As soon as she said this, her eyes widened and she clapped her hands over her mouth. Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and curiosity.
"Pod member?" He asked as a puzzled look spread across his face. He watched as Y/N's expression became somewhat frantic. "Wait... by pod member... do you mean there's more than- hey!" She quickly splashed water at him with her tail, cutting him off from asking his question. This time, he hadn't seen the water coming, so he didn't move out of the way and got completely drenched.
"Just... forget I even mentioned it...!" She said hesitantly as she turned away from him, "I have to go now. You should go now and go sleep. I'll see you tomorrow and I promise that I'll bring something for you." With that, she gave him one last quick glance before turning away again and diving down under the water.
"Wha-? Wait Y/N!" He called out after her, but she was already under the water and swimming away. He let out a sigh at that and watched her bright tail disappear from his sight. He wondered why she got all frantic about mentioning the words 'pod member' and he questioned why she stopped him from asking his question. He had a strong feeling that his question was right on the dot, which made him wonder if there really were more mermaids out there besides her.
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Hey everyone!
So, here is another chapter! I hope you all liked it!
Anyways, please vote and comment if you liked this.
Stay tuned for the next chapter coming out soon! :)