It had been a few days since Jungkook had last seen Y/N. Ever since that night he went swimming with Y/N at night and almost got eaten by a shark and had seen that scary face on Y/N, Jungkook had been almost afraid to go down to the beach. Not really because he was afraid of her, but mostly because he just didn't know what to say to her and it was hard for him to not think about the scary face whenever he thought of her. Plus, he didn't see Y/N come to the beach. He assumed that she was in a similar predicament that he was in.
Ever since that night, he did more research into mermaids, going deeper into his research. The only thing he had come across were movies of mermaids, but they seemed all horror genre related. That wasn't what he was looking for though. He needed actual information, but out of the many encounters with mermaids, all of the information was fake. He knew that from the last time he had searched up about mermaids.
The only way he was going to get real answers was from Y/N, but if she wasn't going to give them to him then he wasn't going to have to go on without knowing. It bothered him though that all these questions built up and yet he had no answers to any of them. Despite him promising not to ask anymore questions about her, he needed to know to cure his curiosity and to maybe even get a better understanding of her.
He huffed as he minimized the browser on his computer. He stared at his blank screen computer with an irritated look. He had been staring at his computer screen all day, he was feeling a bit lightheaded. Plus, the fact that he hadn't eaten much and the fact that he hadn't been sleeping well these past few days made it worse. He was certain that his health wasn't in good shape.
He had been having nightmares. Not so much of Y/N's scary face, but of being trapped between the corals and having a shark stalking him nearby. His nightmares would always end up the shark opening its big jaws at him and then he would wake up.
He regretted leaving Y/N's side that night. If he hadn't left her side then he wouldn't have cut his leg and she wouldn't have had to scare off that shark. What happened that night, he knew that it was his fault and he knew that eventually he would have to apologize to her.
"Jungkook, come have some food," Namjoon said in a gentle voice as he walked into Jungkook's studio. The younger one glanced up at him with a somewhat tired and questioning look.
"Oh, hey hyung," Jungkook responded, his voice sounding strained as he rubbed at his face. His hyung walked over to him and sat down in the chair beside him.
"What's going on? You've been all jumpy one minute and then solemn the next minute. Did something happen?" Namjoon asked curiously and worriedly as he placed his hand on the younger one's knee, "We've all been worried about you."
"Sorry hyung. I'm fine, it's really nothing. I just have a lot on my mind right now," Jungkook responded with a weak smile as he stretched his arms out before standing up slowly, "Let's go eat now." He started walking towards the door while his hyung remained seated. His hyung glanced at the computer screen and noticed that there was a browser still opened, but it had just been minimized. Curious, he maximized the browser. His eyes widened when he saw that it was all research on mermaids and mermaid folklore. "Hyung! Are you coming?!"
"Yeah, I'm coming," Namjoon replied quickly to the younger one who was waiting outside of the studio for him. The elder one furrowed his eyebrows perplexed at the younger one's choice of research. Taking out his phone, he took a picture of the research before minimizing the browser then leaving the studio. Once he was out of the studio, Jungkook closed the door and locked it.
"So what are we having?" He asked curiously and hungrily as his stomach growled.
"Beef and vegetables with a side of noodles," his hyung answered with a small smile. He nodded in response as he followed his hyung into the kitchen where the others were all setting things up. When they saw him come in, they all smiled at him. He smiled back, but they automatically knew that it was a forced smile. It didn't have its usual pleasantness to it. Still, they decided not to push too much. They figured that when he was comfortable then he would tell them.
They all sat at the table, chattering while talking. Jungkook sat in silence, picking at his food and stealing glances towards the window that overlooked the ocean. His eyebrows were furrowed and his expression was uneasy. Namjoon noticed and looked at the younger one with a concerned expression. His thoughts went to the research that was on the younger one's computer. He was unsure about how to depict his behaviour to that of the research, but he knew that it had something to do with that.
"I'm going to head to bed now," Jungkook announced as he stood up and took his plate with him just as Namjoon was going to say something. The others all looked at him with surprised looks.
"But it's just 6:00 PM," Jimin stated as he glanced at his phone then back at Jungkook.
"I know. I'm tired though, so I'm heading to bed early. After all, we have early morning practice tomorrow morning," he mentioned as he walked to the kitchen and placed his dish in the sink before heading down the hallway towards his room. The others all remained seated and glanced at each other in confusion and worry.
"What's with him?" Yoongi asked as he took his last bite of food.
"Who knows. He's become so secretive these days," Seokjin commented with a shrug as he stuffed some food in his mouth. The others nodded in agreement to that. Namjoon only stared at down the hallway where Jungkook had disappeared from for a bit before turning his attention back to the others. When they were all done, he walked down the hallway and stopped in front of the younger one's bedroom door. He knocked on the closed door, but got no answer, so he slowly opened the door only to find Jungkook asleep in his bed. He smiled softly before closing the door and walking back down the hallway.
Once Namjoon had left the room, Jungkook opened his eyes and carefully sat up in his bed. He got ready to head down to the beach and as quietly as he could, opened his window and slipped out. He walked down to the beach with his shining necklace as his guide until he reached the spot.
He sighed when he didn't see Y/N anywhere in sight. He peered behind the rocks, but she was nowhere to be seen. Plopping himself down on the sand, he stared off into the distance and waited, hoping that she would eventually come, but the longer he waited the more his doubt rose.
"Am I ever going to see you again?" He asked lightly as a wave rolled over his foot, tickling the skin. There was no response to his question, only the sound of waves rolling into the shore could be heard and the sound of cars on the road. He pouted in disappointment as he picked up a few, small rocks beside him and started skipping them along the surface of the water.
"Ow! Again with the rocks?!" The sound of a familiar voice asked in an frustrated tone. His eyes widened when he recognized the voice and within a few moments after, Y/N's head popped out from the water.
"Y/N!" He exclaimed happily as he smiled at her. She rubbed her forehead and glared at him in response.
"You really need to stop doing that. You're going to hurt someone, namely me!" She yelled as she pointed at herself, "I swear I have more than 10 bumps on my head from you throwing rocks into the water."
"But don't you heal like automatically?" Jungkook asked in confusion as he tilted his head, earning a scoff from Y/N.
"What made you think that? Just because I have the ability to heal others that doesn't necessarily mean that I have the ability to heal myself," she stated as she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, but you're a supernatural/mythical creature. In all the tv shows and movies that I've seen, they always have the ability to heal themselves," Jungkook argued with a shrug. Y/N sighed at that and shook her head disapproving.
"Then you watch too many of those," she pointed out with a neutral expression, "Look, I can't heal myself, so stop throwing rocks."
"Ah, ok, I'm sorry, I'll stop," he apologized sincerely with an awkward look as he scratched the back of his head. Y/N simply nodded in response. It was silent for a moment. Neither really knew what to say.
"Jungkook / Y/N...," they both said at the same time causing them to look at each other in surprise before looking away slightly.
"You first," Jungkook insisted as he bit his lip nervously. Y/N sighed as she approached him. She took his hands and brought them closer to her. She dug through his small bag and placed a few things in his hands. She then closed his hands and turned away from him. He opened his hands to reveal a handful of treasures: a few gold coins and a few small shells with pearls in them. "Y/N?"
"I've been thinking a lot after what happened the other day and I've come to decision that I think it's better if we don't see each other anymore," she voiced with sadness laced in her voice. When she said this, Jungkook's eyes widened at that and he automatically began shaking his head vigorously.
"What?! Rosal-!" He started to protest, but Y/N cut him off.
"I'm sorry, but this is better for the both of us," she said cutting him off as she started getting further away from him, "Those are parting gifts to you. I just want you to know that I enjoyed our time together truly, but it's time for this to end between us."
"No!" He simply yelled as he placed the treasures beside him before rushing into the water. Y/N whipped around quickly in surprise to see him rushing towards her. "You can't just leave like that! I'm not letting you leave!"
"Jungkook...," she murmured in surprise as he grabbed hold of her hands and held them firmly in his. She tried to take her hands out of his grip, but he wouldn't let go. "Jungkook, please let me go."
"No!" He yelled stubbornly with a serious look on his face. Y/N stared at him in disbelief for a moment before lowering her head and letting out a heavy sigh.
"I can't go through that again," she whispered gently, but solemnly. Jungkook was silent as he stared at her, but he brought her hands closer to him and rested them on his chest while his hands remained wrapped around hers. "When you let go of my hand and started swimming down out of my sight and when I couldn't find you, I was so worried that something bad happened to you." Jungkook said nothing as he listened to her, but he smiled slightly knowing that she had been worried about him that night. "You don't know how relieved I was when I saw you, but when I saw that there was a shark hanging around I had to do something to scare it away and I knew that you would end up seeing."
"That face...," Jungkook started, but then trailed off when Y/N nodded, "Y/N, is that your real face? Is that what you really look like?" Y/N looked up at him and stared at him for a moment before nodding her head.
"I knew that once you saw that face that you wouldn't want to come see me anymore, but you were bleeding. I had to do something and I knew that that face was the only thing that could scare off the shark. I just had to get you out of there before you bled out and attracted any more sharks to where we were and when you went unconscious I was panicking so much because I thought that I was losing you. Then when I managed to bring you to the surface, I tried to heal you and it was taking so much longer than it usually does and you weren't waking up. And then when your wound fully healed, you weren't waking up, so I thought that I was too late and- and-!" Y/N rambled on in a loud, but fearful tone as her expression became pained and tears began to form in her eyes.
Jungkook noticed this and his eyes became concerned as he quickly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. He hugged her firmly, but gently so not to hurt her. He could tell that she was already hurting mentally, he didn't need to hurt her physically too. Y/N grew quiet when he hugged her and she rested her head against his broad chest. They remained there, hugging for a few moments or at least until Y/N calmed down. Finally, after a few moments, they pulled apart. Jungkook kept one arm around her waist while the other lifted up and caressed her cheek softly.
"You saved my life Y/N. I wouldn't be here right now if you hadn't come find me and besides, I should be apologizing and feeling bad. After all, I was the one who let go of your hand and took off on my own. I'm sorry Y/N. I don't know what I was thinking," he murmured as an apologetic expression crossed his face. Y/N sighed heavily as she placed her hand over top of his.
"I'm not mad at you for that Jungkook. I know that you were curious," she uttered as she sent him a pained smile, "But you could have died down there if I hadn't found you or worse you could have been eaten by a shark. I don't know if I would have been able to live with myself if you had died and it was partly my fault. If I hadn't suggested it then we wouldn't have even been down there to begin with."
Jungkook sighed as he listened to her. He could tell that she was clearly feeling guilty for the ordeal they were in and seemed perfectly ready to take the blame for it despite it not being her fault whatsoever. He didn't know how to make her feel any better or make her stop blaming herself.
Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. He smiled at her as he pulled her into his chest again and softly began to sing a song. His voice was gentle, but light with a mixture of depth. He hoped that his singing would calm her down and it seemingly did. Her body was much less tense than before and she rested her head against his chest once again. She closed her eyes and smiled, letting the sound of his voice consume her. He sighed in relief knowing that he had found a way to calm her down. They stayed like that for a little bit longer before pulling apart.
"Y/N, I have 2 things to say. 1) You are not leaving me like this. 2) Stop blaming yourself," he instructed with a serious look and as Y/N was about to protest he stopped her, "And if you even think about not coming to the beach anymore to visit me then I'm taking you back to the dorm with me and you're going to be hanging out in the bathtub until you agree not to leave." Y/N's eyes widened at that, earning an amused laugh from Jungkook.
"And what if I can't stop blaming myself?" She asked worried, but curiously. Jungkook thought for a moment before smirking.
"If you don't stop blaming yourself then I'm going to have to kiss you~," he claimed with a teasing grin. Y/N's eyes widened even more at that before she looked away slightly flustered making Jungkook's grin deepen.
"Aish, fine," she mumbled with a sigh of defeat. A triumphant smile appeared on Jungkook's face as he reached up and pinched her cheek gently. "Hey! Stop it Naked!" Normally, Jungkook would argue about her calling him that, but he was happy that she was agreeing to continue seeing him and not blame herself, so he decided to let it go just this once. "But if I continue seeing you then you have to stop throwing rocks and when we're under the water, you can't let go of my hand unless if I say so. Oh! And you have to bring me those sweet poop balls!"
"Chocolate balls, but deal!" Jungkook replied with a nod. Y/N smiled at that as she stared at him for a brief moment before sighing again. "What's wrong?"
"Besides it putting both of us in danger, the reason I wasn't telling you about me is because I didn't fully trust you," she stated with an uncomfortable look. Jungkook's eyes widened at that in surprise. "I just... last time I told a human about me it didn't end well..." He raised an eyebrow. He was curious, but at the same time he didn't want to know. "But I've gotten to know you for a while now and I feel I can trust you with the information."
"Does that mean...?" Jungkook started to ask, but then trailed off when Y/N nodded slowly.
"Yes, I'm going to entrust you with information about me, so please don't break my trust and tell anybody," she pleaded with pleading eyes. Jungkook nodded in response to that. She smiled back as she took a deep breath. "I guess I'll start from the beginning. So, to start off, I'm not just a mermaid." He cocked his head to the side in confusion. "You've heard of sirens right?" He nodded in response. "Well, I'm actually a siren and there is a whole pod of sirens, lots of sirens. More than you'd expect. Anyways, I was apart of that pod for a long time."
"How long?" He asked in wonder. She responded with a nervous laugh.
"I'm more than 100 years old," she replied awkwardly as his eyes widened in shock, "Yeah, I know. I'm quite old, haha. But, I was banished from the pod about 50 years ago."
"Banished? Why?" He asked scratching his head in confusion.
"Because... I trusted and fell in love with a human," she declared as she stared straight into his eyes. His eyes widened a bit by that and he understood why she would have a hard time trusting him. "And if you have already guessed it, he betrayed me. He told me that he loved me and that he would always keep my secret, but then came one day and when he came to visit me, he had a whole camera crew with him. He managed to take a picture of me before I swam away as fast I could and went right to my pod. He and his camera crew followed me right to where the pod was. They got so much footage of us and we had to fight them off. Eventually, it got to the point where we had to threaten them delete all the footage, but they didn't. They kept filming and even laughed at us for trying to threaten them, so we did the only thing we could..."
"Which is what?" Jungkook asked in worry as he looked at Y/N, who bit her lip nervously.
"Do you know what sirens are most famous for doing?" She asked as a serious expression took over. Jungkook didn't respond, not really knowing. "I'll give you a hint. Why do you think that in all of the time we spent together, I never sang once?" With that clue, he realized and nodded in understanding. "We sang... we sang until eventually they all went into the water and drowned, but...." Her voice broke as tears began to spill from her eyes. Jungkook bit his lip and went to hug her, but she stopped him. "I couldn't sing him to his death, I just couldn't. I loved him. I couldn't kill someone that I loved even though he had betrayed me, I couldn't."
"So what happened to him then?" He asked trying to choose his words and questions carefully since she was already struggling to tell her story.
"He had plugged his ears so that he wouldn't be enchanted by the voices, so my sisters they did the only thing left... they... they took away his memories of everything. Then once he had gone back to the shore and left, the pod leader had banished me because I put the pod in danger and I put our very existence in danger. I've spent the last 50 years, wandering the ocean alone and having to carry the weight of the deaths from that day and it could have all been avoided if I had just stayed away from him," Y/N explained without stopping and finally when she came to a halt, she looked at Jungkook to see his reaction, expecting to see horror or even disgust. His only reaction surprised her. All that was on his face was pain. "You must think that I'm a monster now..."
"No, I don't think that Y/N because you're not a monster. I don't agree with how your... sisters handled what happened because they didn't deserve to die, but you and your pod were in danger," he said, his voice filled with understanding and calmness. Y/N smiled gratefully that he was willing to understand her side of the situation.
"But can you see now why it's dangerous for you to know about me?" She asked with a wary look. He nodded in understanding. "I mean, I haven't seen my sisters or pod in 50 years, so I doubt they know that I've gotten this close to a human again, but still I don't want the same thing to happen." Jungkook nodded again as he took her hands and held them in his gently while gazing into her eyes.
"I know you probably don't fully trust me, but I promise that I'm going to prove to you that you can trust me," he promised with a cute smile. Y/N stared at him wide-eyed for a moment before smiling gently. "Thank you for entrusting me with your past. I will take it to my grave."
"Hey! Don't say that!" She protested as she smacked his arm playfully, earning a lighthearted chuckle from him, "But alright, I'll hold you to that and thank you for listening to my story. It's not something that's necessarily easy to tell." Jungkook nodded in understanding to that. "Anyways, it's getting late. You should probably head back and get some sleep. You look like a zombie." Jungkook chuckled at that as he nodded in agreement.
"I probably should. I'll see you next time," he voiced as he flashed her a smile before walking out of the water. He glanced at her and waved at her before departing down the beach. As he walked farther and farther away, he recalled her story, not even realizing that he hadn't gotten the full story.
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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! :)