Deep at the bottom of the ocean, in a dark crevice carved into the seafloor, a civilisation unknown to humans thrives in the dark. Their society, built into the stone walls of the ravine in a tangling maze of caverns and tunnels and lit up by bioluminescent algae, has been kept secret from the land walkers for millennia.

Their home is far enough from the edge of land that no humans dare to swim there, but near enough that merfolk can reach the edges of the reef, if they so desire. Reef-swimming is a popular idea amongst the younger merfolk, if only as a source of rumours: the youngsters are always closely guarded by the elder merfolk, and doted upon. Usually it is all they could ever wish for but sometimes… It gets to be a little too much.

“Hwangsoo said there'd be a storm later on, though. Are you sure?”

“Trust me!” The smaller of the two whispers, pulling the other along, one of his tentacles loosely wrapped around the other’s. The bigger merboy frowned, still not convinced.

“C’mon, Jongin! Don't you want to explore a little? The reef is out there- just waiting for us!” The smaller one gestures towards the top of the ravine, to the edge of sure safety. The deep blue of the open water does look inviting, but he knows as well as any merfolk child that beauty can be deceiving down here, at the bottom of the ocean.

“But we aren't allowed to leave the colony! We’re not old enough, Kyungsoo.” He insists. The smaller one rolls his eyes, pouting. Only adults are allowed to go that far away from the colony, and he and Kyungsoo won’t become of age until they mate.

“I just want to spend some time with you without any of the elders butting in, is that so wrong? We don't have to go far if you're scared.” He reasons. The elders of their community like to have a lot of input into how the children are being raised, and it can be stifling. Everyone wants to make sure that the younglings are safe and cared for, but that level of overprotectiveness can be difficult to bear. Especially for someone with an adventurous streak like Kyungsoo. He’s been caught trying to sneak away on multiple occasions, but not enough times for him to stop. He's managed to get away a few times, though he never made it all the way to the reef without turning back, in fear of being spotted. It's not as though Jongin has never had thoughts of sneaking away, but he's not like Kyungsoo who has dreams of the air every time he falls asleep.

“Just to the top, we don't even have to go as far as the reef if you don't want to.”

“Kyungsoo…” Jongin looks around, halfway persuaded but not wanting anyone to catch them swimming off. To feel the sun on his skin? He’s heard that it feels so good that the people who leave don’t want to come back home. That it’s so good it makes you go crazy. Jongin doesn’t believe those silly rumours, but he does want to know what makes everyone so mad about it.

“Alright. I'll go. But not for too long.” He finally concedes, happy when Kyungsoo grins brightly.

“Great! Now we just have to get past these two.” Kyungsoo urges, linking more tentacles together to keep them joined. It slows them both down, but neither of them mind. It's a pleasant feeling, being this close.

It turns out not to be too difficult to sneak past the two elders, who are just floating and talking, their hair swirling behind them. Neither of them are expecting anyone to try and escape, so they aren't looking when Kyungsoo and Jongin sneak past. Jongin flinches when one of them- Sooyoung- turns around at the last second, his grip on Kyungsoo tightening for just a moment. Jongin's mind blanks as he thinks of what they're going to say if they get caught, but her eyes skitter over their hiding spot.

“It's ok.” Kyungsoo whispers, encouragingly, “we just have to get past them and we'll be fine. We can be back before anyone even notices, I promise.”

“I'm holding you to that promise.” Jongin hisses, trailing after the older boy as he drifts off. He's only about two days older: their clutches hatched at about the same time, but Kyungsoo came out sooner that Jongin did.

As soon as they're away from the two guards, the feeling of guilt and the nerves starts to fade a little, and as they ascend the face of the ravine, zigzagging to make them harder to see, he smiles. This is pretty thrilling, he'll give Kyungsoo that much. He tightens his grip on Kyungsoo, tentacles locking together. He likes the way the colours of their skin look next to each other, intertwined together as they are. Jongin is tawny brown, mottled with lighter patches, and Kyungsoo has more of a yellowish tint to him.

He can't wait for them to be finally mated, at the new year celebrations, when the sun is so bright that it can be seen from their home. It's always faint, like a mirage, and Jongin is excited to see it closer up.

“Not much further now.” Kyungsoo informs him, looking upwards. The water does seem to be getting clearer. Anticipation bubbles up inside of him.

Finally, the reach the top, crawling over the lip of the rock and out of sight. They huddle together, giggling at what they've accomplished.

“I can see Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo points out, and sure enough, there he is, drifting merrily around the mouth of the main cave entrance. He wonders what he's doing out there, and decides he'll have to ask him later.

There are six ways into the cave system that they call home, but only two or three of them are regularly used. In order to escape, they had sneaked out of one of the smaller, less busy exits, and it's a good thing they did, because the main entrance looks quite busy today. It's not easy to see from a distance, since the only source of lighting is the algae that sticks to the inner cave walls, but Jongin thinks there must be some kind of event today.

“What do you think is going on?” Jongin asks, leaning over the edge as if that will help him see. Kyungsoo yanks him back again, before he's seen.

“It's the return of a hunt, look-” he points at a mountain of spears, and nets full of fish, “I didn't know Chanyeol was a hunter now, though.” He shrugs, humming. “We should get going if we want to see anything good.” Kyungsoo announces, swirling around and causing his lower half to fan out with the momentum. Kyungsoo has really nice tentacles, Jongin notices, not for the first time. He gulps, quickly chasing after his soon-to-be-mate before he can leave him behind. When he's caught up, he begins to take in the scenery. It's mostly just rocks and dirt, with clumps of tubeworms every few metres.

“There's not much here.” Jongin comments, a little disappointed. They have all this stuff at the bottom of the ravine as well

“The good stuff doesn't start until we're a bit further out.” Kyungsoo nods. “Trust me.”

“Alright.” Jongin pouts. “But I thought you said you never got as far as the reef?” He asks, suspicious. Kyungsoo looks away, embarrassed.

“Well, no.” He admits, “but there's other cool stuff too see besides the reef.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Like… Like huge shoals of fish!” Kyungsoo draws a giant circle with his arms to demonstrate just how big they are. “They swim in never ending spirals, it's really cool. And-and weird, big… Thingies. I don't know how to explain it. I think they must come from the land walkers.”

“Oh?” Jongin is intrigued now.

“There's one not too far from here actually, I could show you if you like?”

“Yes please.” Jongin grins, his former doubts now gone. Kyungsoo has never really told him much about his excursions out here, and it felt like he was being excluded from something, but now he's part of the big secret.

“How far is it to the reef, do you think?” Jongin asks.

“I'm not sure, but I don't think we'll have time to see both that and the weird thingy before we need to go home. Which would you rather see?”

“Uhm.” He considers the question. The reef is something that he'll definitely be able to see again in the future, without risking punishment from the elders. But at the same time he's heard such wonderful things about it…. But the ‘weird thing’ has piqued Jongin's curiosity now, and he's itching to see that too. He hums.

“I'm not asking you to hug a jelly, dummy.” Kyungsoo jokes, when Jongin takes too long to pick something. “I'll take you to the weird thing, ok? We were already going in that direction anyway.”

“Alright then.” Jongin agrees, glad that the decision has been taken out of his hands. He follows after Kyungsoo as he leads him away, his excitement causing his skin to flicker and change colour. Kyungsoo notices, and laughs at him for it.

It takes surprisingly little time to get to the ‘thingy’, as Kyungsoo called it, or maybe it just felt like that because they had so much fun together, dancing around rocks and hiding from each other. The silt kicks up in languid dust clouds whenever either of them change direction too fast in their game of chase, until soon it becomes impossible for even them to see what's going on. They decide to stop playing chase when Kyungsoo points out that they should really figure out which way they're going. Jongin nods eagerly, not wanting to get lost, and clings into Kyungsoo again, looping their tentacles around one another for safety.

Every so often after that, Jongin will pick up something interesting, like a rock of a different colour, or a jagged item, the material of which he doesn't recognise. Kyungsoo tells him that it's probably made of the same thing the weird thing is made of, and that the humans dropped it down here.

“They're terrible.” Jongin complains. “If they don't want it that doesn't mean we do.”

“I don't think it's always on purpose, but yeah they keep doing that.” Kyungsoo agrees. “But we're getting close now, see?” He uses a tentacle to point to the looming dark blob in the near distance. Jongin had spotted it earlier, but thought nothing of it: they had passed similarly sized rocks already.

“That's it?” Jongin asks, squinting to get a better look. It doesn't look very impressive.

“Yes that's it. Wait to we get closer before passing judgement.”

“Alright.” Jongin says, but he still isn't convinced. He should have picked the coral reef instead, but at least he's out here with Kyungsoo.

True to Kyungsoo's word, it does look way cooler up close. Jongin's mouth falls open as he takes in the sight. Whatever it is, it looks like it's broken into two parts, its jagged edges jutting up into the water like knives. He's never seen anything like this before. He looks over to see Kyungsoo watching him smugly, and quickly schools his expression into one of detached boredom but it's too late.

“I told you so.” Kyungsoo smirks. “Do you wanna go inside?”

“What?” Jongin is taken aback. Inside ? There's an inside part to this monstrosity? He tilts his head this way and that, trying to see. The broken part of the thingy is full of cavities, all dark and all with a thick coating of undisturbed dirt. No one's been here for a very long time.

“Have you been inside before?” Jongin wonders out loud, imagining Kyungsoo forging a path through the dust by himself, searching for anything that take his fancy.

“Well, uh. Not exactly.” Kyungsoo confesses, suddenly not quite so smug anymore. “I've been all the way around it but I've never actually been inside.” He sounds a little nervous.

“No?” Jongin mumbles, so staring at the wreckage. Well, he assumes it's wreckage. For all he knows, it's supposed to look like this.

“No.” Kyungsoo says. “Shall we have a look around?”

“Are you sure it won't be dangerous?” Jongin wrinkles his nose.

“Uh-huh.” Kyungsoo nods, eyes sparkling as he examines the strange thingy. Jongin doesn't fully believe him, but what's the worst that could happen? He dithers for just a few seconds as Kyungsoo tugs on tentacles, dragging him closer to the nearest opening. He makes a show of his reluctance, but he's really just as curious as Kyungsoo is.

“C’mon, c’monn !” Kyungsoo whines with each pull. By the time they reach a circular hole in the side, Jongin can't help but laugh; Kyungsoo's excitement is contagious.

“You're going first.” Jongin says, gesturing to the hole. Kyungsoo hesitates just long enough for him to figure out how he's going to do that, but as soon as he does he glides towards it, arms stretched out in front of him. It's a tight fit but as soon as his shoulders fit through the rest of him follows easily enough.

Jongin feels strangely alone once he's gone from view. Kyungsoo is quiet for a few minutes, leaving Jongin wondering if he’s ok.

“Kyungsoo? What's it like in there?” He shifts nervously in the still waters.

“Come in and find out.” Comes Kyungsoo's muffled response. Jongin nods to himself.

“Alright, Jongin, you can do this.” He mutters to himself, before trying to squeeze through the same gap.

Jongin is just slightly bigger than Kyungsoo, and he almost gets stuck. Thankfully, Kyungsoo grabs his hands and pulls him through, and he comes loose with pop and a flurry of dust.

He lands in Kyungsoo's arms, the momentum having carried them across the small space and into the opposite wall. Jongin smiles sheepishly, and works to untangle his body from Kyungsoo's, flustered. It's actually nice to be this close to him; without an audience, that is. The elders have an annoying habit of watching them every time they so much as hug, since they're going to be mated. Jongin isn't sure if it's to stop them doing anything indecent, or if it's because they want them to do something indecent. Needless to say, Kyungsoo and Jongin never felt like doing anything under such scrutiny, never having gone further than chaste kisses.

“Are you ok?” Kyungsoo asks, dragging his fingers over Jongin's upper arms, and the curve of his shoulder. His touch is soothing. Jongin nods. The fit through had scraped his skin a little bit, but it doesn't hurt much. And it's worth it if it means Kyungsoo will touch him like this.

It's very dark in here, and Jongin can’t even see Kyungsoo’s face. A little bit of light seeps in from the window, but it's barely distinguishable from the inky blackness everywhere else.

“Now what.” Jongin deadpans, heart rates picking up a little. It's kinda scary in here.

“I don't know. I thought that there'd be a way further inside. Maybe we just can't see it? Let's have a look around.”

By ‘look around’, Kyungsoo had really meant ‘feel around’ since neither of them could really see anything.

“If we ever come back here, we should bring some light algae.” Kyungsoo gripes. Jongin agrees, glad that Kyungsoo seems to take it for granted that they'll be going on more trips together after this.

They use their arms, rather than their tentacles, to feel around, as they're sturdier and not as squishy. Neither of them want to leave here missing a tentacle. There’s a few objects in the room that neither of them quite understand- most of them are very boxy, and one of them contains a whole lot of disintegrated swathes of woven fabric.

“It’s all really dirty.” Jongin complains, running his hand through the fabric, feeling the drag of the water that makes them drift to the side in its wake.

“Well, yeah.” Kyungsoo says, scorn evident in his voice. “It’s all been here a really long time.”

“I know.” Jongin snaps back. “It’s just gross.”

“Look for a way out of here then.” Kyungsoo says, pulling open a cavity of another of the box-like furnishings. It’s empty.

“Fine.” Jongin grumbles, doing just that. This place isn’t nearly as exciting as he’d thought it would be. It doesn't take long until Jongin finds a promising bit of the wall, where something sticks out. He pulls it, and pushes it backwards and forwards but nothing happens. Frowning, he tries up then down, then turns the knob until finally there's a click and something gives way.

“You found something?!” Kyungsoo gasps, gliding over to him. Jongin hums in affirmation, linking arms with Kyungsoo. “How did you do that?” Kyungsoo asks, holding onto the handle and swinging the door to and fro.

“Like this.” Jongin pushes Kyungsoo out of the way to demonstrate, twisting the rounded protrusion.

“Aaahh.” Kyungsoo nods like he understands what just happened, and tries it himself. “Alright then, let's keep going.” Kyungsoo announces, his voice echoing as he moves away. Jongin is quick to follow after him, not wanting to get lost.

It’s even darker in this part- Kyungsoo was definitely right about bringing light algae with them. They would only be able to carry a little, and even if it wouldn’t completely illuminate the darkness, it would at least make shapes slightly more visible to them.

Kyungsoo manages to open another room, this one just as dark as the others. With a strange confidence that Jongin doesn’t have, he floats inside, arms out to see what he can find. Jongin hangs back in the doorway, tentacles bracing him against the opening, watching. Or rather, listening. Every so often he hears a mumbled ‘ouch’, which means that Kyungsoo has stuck his hand out into something hard.

“Are you looking for something in particular?” Jongin laughs, after the third muttered cry of pain.

“Uh, no?”

“Oh.” Jongin, hums. “Well maybe we should go back out and try looking in one of the better lit areas?”

“Well, I just thought that if there was anything left to find, then it would be in a darker spot. I don't know if someone has come by here before.” He explains. Jongin shrugs, and leaves him to it, heading to a different cavity in the construction instead. It doesn’t take him very long to find somewhere else to poke around in, another doorway falling open with ease for him to enter. A little nervously, Jongin creeps inside. Like the rest of this place, the water in here is stale and tastes like the dust that coats the floor and walls, but there's a small source of light seeping in from the outside that makes some shapes just slightly visible. With a bit more confidence, Jongin moves inside, and brushes past a pile of broken junk.

A thin shadow bursts out if the junk pile, crossing in front of Jongin and making him shout in alarm, heart suddenly racing.

“What the was that?!” He says, mostly to himself, as he recovers from the fright. He's lucky he isn't related in any way to squid, otherwise the water would now be even blacker than before.

“Jongin?” Kyungsoo calls out just before entering, “are you ok?”

“Oh, yeah. Uh. I'm not sure what happened.” He explains, glad for Kyungsoo as he curls himself around Jongin's body, calming and steady.

“Well I felt something swim past me in my way here. Maybe you disturbed an eel?”

“Maybe.” Jongin agrees, leaning his head on Kyungsoo's shoulder. “Can we get out of here? It's not that fun anyway.” Jongin pouts, not really even caring that he probably sounds like a baby. Kyungsoo can't even see his face anyway in this light, so what does it matter?

“Yeah, we can. Let's go, then.” Kyungsoo's starts dragging Jongin back out of the room and down the corridor to where they came in. Jongin follows him a little startled at how easily Kyungsoo had agreed to leave; he had honestly expected more of a fight to persuade him to go. Well, he's not going to complain.

“I'll go first through the hole so I can pull you through again, ok?” Kyungsoo informs him, his arms already outside. He interprets Jongin's silence as disapproval. “unless you want me to push you from behind?”

“No, this way is fine.”

“Ok.” Kyungsoo shrugs, swimming outside and making it look depressingly easy. Once Kyungsoo is outside, Jongin stretches his arms and winces- this time will probably hurt more than the last.

“You ready?” Kyungsoo calls back, taking hold of Jongin's hands firmly. Jongin braces himself.

“Yeah.” He shouts back.

With a sharp tug, Jongin is pulled almost all the way through. It takes a second tug for him to pop out the other side, his arms burning like a jellyfish sting.

“Owww.” Jongin complains, his hand hovering above his wound but not touching it in case that makes it hurt more.

“Is it bad?” Kyungsoo sounds guilty. Jongin quickly shakes his head to dispel his fears. It really isn't that bad, just a bit uncomfortable, but Kyungsoo doesn't believe him. “How about we swim up.” He suggests, fingers circling Jongin's wrist.

“Up?”

“Up. To see the sunlight.” Jongin bites his lip.

They're not supposed to go up, but then again, they aren't supposed to go outside the ravine, let alone inside this thingy. Jongin supposes that seeing some sunshine wouldn't hurt, after all this.

“I mean, yeah. Sure. That would be cool.” He floats up to meet Kyungsoo face to face, pulling his hand out of Kyungsoo's grip to lace their fingers together instead.

“Yeah? Let’s go then.” Kyungsoo laughs softly, propelling himself upwards and bringing Jongin with him.

The currents cause then to twirl in their ascent, hands linked so they don't get separated. The weird thingy shrinks beneath them until they can no longer see it, and all around then is just open, empty waters. Kyungsoo pulls him closer until their bodies are pressed together, and it feels nice. It's just… Nice to spend time with Kyungsoo. When he voices his thoughts, Kyungsoo laughs and squeezes his waist.

“See? Told you it was a good idea to come out here with me.”

“Yeah, yeah, ok. You were right. How long will it take until we reach the surface?”

“Of course I was right.” Kyungsoo shrugs. “I don't know, I've never done it before. Not too long-it's already getting a bit lighter, see?” Jongin looks around, noticing that he's right. It is in fact getting lighter, and the water seems to be changing colour, too, to a rich and vibrant shade of blue. He looks up and has to squint because of the brightness, but he knows this isn't even half of the full strength of the sun.

Kyungsoo is different in this atmosphere. Now that Jongin can see him better he notices just how handsome he really is. His eyes seem to glow, and the way he's looking at him makes him feel warm.

It's then that he notices something around Kyungsoo's wrist.

“What's that?” He asks, nodding his head towards it.

“Oh.” Kyungsoo detaches his arm from Jongin, and holds it up. “I'm not sure. I found it in the broken thing. It's pretty right?” He says, inspecting it closely. There's no way he could have been able to see it when he picked it up; it has to just be luck that he's found the most interesting artefact that Jongin has ever seen. It's made of pearls, that much is clear; Jongin has seen pearls before, though they are uncommon. What's so fascinating about this piece is the arrangement: it's a tangled web of pearls and other small jewels. There's so many threads and trails of them that it's hard to tell what goes where or how to wear it. If that's even what it's for . It’s beautiful.

“Wow.” Jongin breathes.

“I was planning on giving it to you. I didn't know what it was at the time and I still...don’t really know, but I'm definitely sure I want to give it to you. Do you want it?” He seems a little bashful now.

“Do I?” Jongin grins, “it's wonderful, yes. I want it.”

Kyungsoo laughs, pleased. Jongin can’t help himself: he leans forwards and plants a kiss on Kyungsoo’s lips. The other boy is taken by surprise, but reciprocates in an instant, eyes closing as he melds their mouths together.

It's so sweet, the kisses they've shared before don't even come close. Kyungsoo's tentacles swirl around them both, linking together and softly caressing Jongin's. He isn't sure if he's doing that part on purpose of not, but it feels good so he doesn't care.

The light behind his eyelids is warm, and so is Kyungsoo's body against his own. He makes an internal promise to do this again some time in the future, at a time when they're old enough to leave the crevice without being punished for it. With Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo hums softly, his lower lip brushing against Jongin's as they hold each other closer. It's wonderful, just being able to spend time alone together like this. Jongin will always appreciate the beauty of solitude, but when it is spent with just one other person, a person that he treasures, that time becomes even more precious.

Jongin doesn't even notice that they're sinking until the darkness starts to filter through his closed lids, and he breaks the kiss in surprise. Of course they had begun to sink without Kyungsoo pulling them up. He pulls away, bashful now all of a sudden, and laughs breathlessly. Kyungsoo's eyes flutter open, and for once he seems speechless, no snarky comment to make.

"We got a little distracted, huh?" Jongin jokes, as Kyungsoo does his best to reorient himself, slowing down their sinking momentum by spreading his tentacles out in a fan shape.

"Hah, yeah I guess we did." Kyungsoo agrees. He looks around, and up, determining how far they've fallen. "Shall we get back to it?" He tilts his head up to the surface, where there is still a bit of light filtering through from above, dust mote floating idly by. Jongin beams at him, nodding. This time, Jongin helps to lift them up, using the webbed skin between his tentacles to propel them upwards.

It becomes a race, somehow, as all things do. Jongin can't recall quite how it happened, only that one moment they were cradling each other in their arms, and the next they were sprinting top-wise and pushing the other down to get ahead, giggling hysterically as the sunlight becomes more tangible. They wrestle playfully, appendages tangling together, pulling and tugging to stop the other from getting too far ahead.

"I win." Jongin pants, his hands on Kyungsoo's shoulders to prevent him from eking out the win.

"What? The hell you do, cheater!" Kyungsoo argues. Jongin just winks. He's got a reputation for cheating at games, and everyone knows it but he isn't even ashamed. Kyungsoo says it's a wonder anyone even lets him play with them at all, but then he takes one look at Jongin's face and understands why it's always so easy to let it go. His cute eyes and mouth are always a surefire way to get people to forgive him, especially if he wrinkles his nose. Kyungsoo knows that it's his secret technique, but it still works on him anyway, even if he resists with all his might. Jongin is a devious little crab and he knows it.

"I win, and there's nothing you can do about it." Jongin smirks. Kyungsoo narrows his eyes at him, pushing his arms down and away so that he can get one last burst of speed, leaving Jongin lagging behind for just a moment.

"Now I win." Kyungsoo laughs, looking down at Jongin. Frowning, Jongin tugs one of Kyungsoo's tentacles, just a little too hard. "Ow!" Kyungsoo complains, coiling the tentacle around Jongin's hand.

"Sorry!" He exclaims, covering his mouth, "I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"It's ok. Maybe we should stop now." Kyungsoo says, wisely. Jongin sighs in relief, nodding. "As long as we both agree that I won." Kyungsoo amends.

"Kyungsoo."

"Ok, ok, fine. It was a draw. We never decided where the finish was, so neither of us could have won anyway."

"Good point." Jongin laughs, pushing a little more to be level with Kyungsoo.

Out of breath, they slow down to a gentle skyward drift, barely moving at all. They link their bodies together again.

The closer they get to the surface, the warmer the water becomes. Anywhere would be warmer than the bottom of the ocean, though, Jongin supposes ruefully. They still aren't high enough to see the sky yet, but the water is so clear that it's a marvel in and of itself.

"It's so nice out here." Jongin comments, now that his breathing is steadier. Kyungsoo nods, basking in it. He takes to warmer climates much better than Jongin does, and can often be found in the chamber of their home where hot vents of water flow through, making their way from the centre of the earth. Jongin avoids those rooms when he can, but if it's where Kyungsoo prefers to spend his time then he will brave the hot waters for him.

The smaller of the two darts forwards, quick as a cuttlefish, and leaves a short burst of a kiss on Jongin's lips.

"Sorry." he says, "I couldn't help it." Jongin is blindsided for a moment.

"You couldn't help it?" He laughs incredulously. That had been the same reason he kissed Kyungsoo earlier.

"You're just too irresistible." Kyungsoo teases. "you should stop it, for your own good."

"Look at who's talking." Jongin shakes his head, trying not to let on how touched he is by his future mate's compliments.

"Even if he's a wimpy, cheating pebble, I still love my mate." Kyungsoo says, sounding confident but not able to actually meet Jongin's eye when he says it. Jongin's hearts jolt, and he can't help the smile from spreading across his face. It was a backhanded compliment, but Kyungsoo said that he loves him! It's not the first time, but it's a rare occurrence. Jongin feels blessed every time he says it.

"I love my mate too, even if he's annoying, bossy and also a cheater."

"Shut up." Kyungsoo says, "I'm not bossy."

"You made me go inside that thingy." Jongin protests.

"You wanted to go in!" Kyungsoo cries, indignant. "I didn't force you."

"I'm teasing! But it was scary in there."

"You're just a wimp." Kyungsoo sticks his tongue out at him, before saying quietly. "I'm sorry if you were scared, though."

"I'll live." He reassures him. It was only an eel, after all.

Jongin looks up, having to squint his eyes. It hurts to see light this bright. How much further until they reach top? Will they even be able to see anything at all? Their eyes aren't made for environments like this.

The currents are a little different up here, too. At the bottom of the ocean, it’s mostly still and silent, except for larger, strong currents that carve a path through their surroundings. Here, there are so many little currents that push them backwards and forwards, Jongin hardly knows what to do with himself. It's difficult to keep track of where he's drifting, and what he should do to counter the little movements.

"Is it just me or is it getting worse?" Jongin asks, noticing that the waters around them are rougher than they had been just a few minutes ago.

"I think it's just you." Kyungsoo frowns, but he doesn't sound convinced. Maybe he's just lying to himself; Jongin is definitely 100% sure that the currents are getting more and more blustery, buffeting them and sending them this way and that. Kyungsoo, however, seems determined for them to reach the surface, seemingly out of the misguided idea that Jongin really wants to see the sky.

He does but not at the expense of either one of their health. Continuing to pull them upwards, using all his willpower, Kyungsoo drags Jongin upwards with him, overcoming the strong currents that force them off-path.

Jongin looks up again, squinting into the distance. Something looks different up there, like a webbing, warping and rising, twisting and turning. Is that...could it be?

"Jongin, I think that's it, we're here!" Kyungsoo shouts, jubilant. They've reached the surface! Jongin's heart rates pick up, and his stomach, already tied in knots, churns.

Kyungsoo is still ploughing ahead, swimming so powerfully that Jongin is left looking up at him, his head level with Kyungsoo's stomach. He makes sure that they are tightly linked together; the last thing he wants is for them to get separated, and for one of them to be sent careening out of control by themselves. The currents are so strong now, Jongin's thick hair swishes in front of his face, partially blinding him. He wants to go home.

"Kyungsoo!" Jongin calls out, trying to grab his attention. "Kyungsoo! Is it worth it? We could try again another time!" He suggests, offering up the possibility. Of course, he means that they could return with some of the other adults when they come of age. Then, they won't be by themselves anymore, and it won't be a quiet romantic rendezvous for them to enjoy privately.

Kyungsoo seems to be ignoring him, a little bit, but Jongin knows that he hears him. Gritting his teeth, Jongin pushes himself so that he catches up to Kyungsoo, almost climbing up his body, and looping a few tentacles around his waist and arms, obstructing his movement. They keep going, one hand stretched out until they hang just under the turbulent surface of the water. It's different than Jongin had imagined; he had always pictured a still, unmoving ocean top, not this living, breathing barrier. It swirls around them, ushering them closer to the air. Bravely, Kyungsoo breaches the surface, one hand sticking out and touching the outside world, the world where the walkers live.

Suddenly, Jongin is blinded. A light brighter than any he's seen before tears through his eyelids, burning his retinas. A terrifying sound ricochets through the water, surrounding them and making their bones rattle. Almost immediately, they are swept to the side, swirling around uncontrollably. Jongin panics, not having realised just how strong a swimmer Kyungsoo is, keeping them swimming in an almost straight line until he was caught off guard.

"Jongin!" Kyungsoo cries out, clinging to his future mate in lieu of trying to right them both. Hearts pounding, Jongin wraps his tentacles around Kyungsoo, clutching at him like a lifeline.

This must be the storm that they had been warned about. How stupid they were not to listen.

"Kyungsoo!" Jongin yells, moving beyond panic now- what if they get swept away, so far that no one ever finds them again? What if they are brought the the walking world, where people might capture them, and put them in a tank? "This is all your fault!" Jongin exclaims, recalling that this whole excursion was Kyungsoo's idea, originally. It's something he will probably regret later, but he means it now, in this moment.

Kyungsoo doesn't respond, and only holds onto him tighter. All they can do at this point is make sure they stay closely linked, arms linked and tentacles laced together, holding on as tightly as possible.

The deafening sounds from above make Jongin flinch, his nails digging into Kyungsoo's back as he clutches at him.

Spinning, tumbling, spiralling- It's so dizzying, Jongin thinks he's going to be sick from the swirling, let alone the terror building in his stomach. He keeps his eyes shut, knowing that he will definitely suffer if he keeps them open. He buries his face into Kyungsoo's neck, and can feel Kyungsoo doing the same to him, his nose pressing up against his skin. Jongin tries to ignore the swaying, motion sickness of being thrown about, choosing instead to concentrate on the feeling of Kyungsoo's body so close against his own.

Neither of them make any move to try and control the direction of their movement. Their paths are being decided by fate, and it's all they can do to not lose each other at this point.

"What if we never get back to the colony?!" Jongin cries out, not sure if Kyungsoo can hear him over the roaring of the wild ocean.What if they are carried so far away from home that they never find their way home? What if they die out here? What if a human finds them? He doesn't want to think about it but he can't help it.

At this rate he'll never be mated with Kyungsoo, and neither of them will ever see their friends either again. The waves crash over them, tossing them into the open air, only to be shattered by millions of tiny needles of water for just a moment

"Jongin, it's ok." Kyungsoo shouts, lips brushing Jongin's ear. "It's going to be ok!" He repeats, over and over and over. Jongin mouths along with what he's saying, giving himself something else to focus on other than the growing hysteria in the pit of his stomach.

"Just keep holding on. Trust me!" Kyungsoo promises, his grip on Jongin's waist a lifeline. Jongin does trust him. Kyungsoo got them into this mess, the least he could do is get them out of it. Or keep them together long enough for this storm to end.

The storm rages for so long that Jongin almost gets used to being tossed around like a fish before the mouth, with his eyes shut tight and his arms and tentacles locked into place around kyungsoo's, he can almost pretend that he's back in the caves, playing with the other merfolk and somersaulting through the currents in the lower caverns like when he was just a hatchling.

"Don't let go of me!" Jongin shouts, cringing into Kyungsoo's chest when another ripple of thunder shakes them.

Eventually the turbulent waters slow down, and the whirlpool of crashing waves is gentle enough for them to swim. Their tentacles are stiff, and their entire bodies sore from holding on to each other for so long, but the storm is on it's way to ending now, and the water isn't as violent with them anymore. They still don't let go of each other's hands, shaken up and afraid as they are. The adrenaline buzzing in Jongin's veins has seeped away, and left in it's place a drained exhaustion.

"S-should we head back now?" Jongin whispers, noticing that they're sinking anyway, now that the angry waters are calming down.

"Yeah. Let's get out of here." Kyungsoo nods, tilting his body downwards to propel them away from the danger zone. He sounds as tired as Jongin feels.

"Are you ok?" Jongin asks, concerned. He squeezes Jongin's hand, nodding.

"Yeah. Just a bit tired. You?"

"Me too." Jongin nods.

The sky is still dark, and not at all like the stories they have heard from the older merfolk, and as much as they wish they could see the sun, Jongin thinks both of them want nothing more than to just go home, to bask in the shelter of the cave system they live in. Jongin doesn't even care if they are accosted by the elders on their return, if anything, he can't wait for that. They've probably been worried sick about them, the amount of time they've been missing. Jongin actually doesn't know for sure how long they've been gone- it could have been days, for all he knows. The storm dragged on for so long, but it blurred together into nothing. Maybe it just seemed longer than it really was?

Jongin leads the journey home, hoping that he's heading the right direction. He wants to be there for Kyungsoo; after doing so much for both of them during their ordeal, he wants to take care of him, to let Kyungsoo lean on him for once. He doesn't try to keep a conversation going, not minding that Kyungsoo seems quiet. Kyungsoo sometimes falls into silences, and it just means that he's thinking about something or another.

After a long time swimming through the emptiness of the open ocean, with only the occasional fish swimming past, the residual dizziness abates and Jongin feels a bit more clear headed, although still tired.

"I'm not sure if I ever want to try that again." Kyungsoo mumbles.

"Really?" Jongin frowns. "Why not?"

"Well, it was a huge disaster. That's why. You got hurt on the weird thingy, we got caught in the storm, and we haven't even seen the coral reef." He complains. It's not like him to dwell on the negatives. Has he been sulking all this time? Jongin resists the urge to laugh.

"It wasn't a total disaster. I had fun to start with, we were just a bit ambitious, that's all. You gave me this cool sparkly thing!" he raises his arm, showing off the tangle of glittery stones wound around his wrist and arm. "Maybe next time, we pick a day to go see the surface when the elder hasn't predicted a storm." Jongin reassures him, slowing to a stop to make sure Kyungsoo can see the genuineness in his expression. Kyungsoo won't meet his eyes, however, pouting just slightly. Jongin almost never gets to see this side of the brash, adventurous boy, not any more at least. When they were younger, Kyungsoo would get like this when he got caught, after doing something naughty, or wrong. "Kyungsoo." Jongin lifts his face up, so he can look into his eyes. He blinks, once with each set of eyelids.

"What?" Kyungsoo asks, still sulking over their terrible date.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you earlier. I mean, it was your idea to come out here, but it wasn't your fault there was a storm. That's not something merfolk can control, that's just natural."

"It's still on me, though." Kyungsoo mutters, unhappy.

"Well, now we can tell everyone we survived a storm. That's pretty cool, right?" Jongin nudges him, smirking. Jongin will embellish the story a little, add in a bit more peril and make it sound like they did more than just hold onto each other for the entire duration of the event. Kyungsoo shakes his head, but there's just a hint of a smile playing at the corner of his lips.

"I'll tell everyone you cried." Kyungsoo teases.

"You will not!" Jongin squawks. "I didn't cry." He insists. If he did, it was only a little.

"I'm kidding!" Kyungsoo soothes, "but I'm glad you aren't pissed off at me about this."

"I'm too tired to be pissed off at the moment, but I won't be letting this go." Jongin warns. "you won't be hearing the end of this for a long time. 'remember when you dragged me into a storm?' is what you'll be hearing unless you do something else I can mock you with."

"Oh, yeah? Well in that case I'm definitely telling everyone you cried."

"Noo~" Jongin complains, "whatever. I never cry, so they'll never believe you anyway." Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow.

"Jongin, just yesterday you were crying about eels." He points out.

"...They don't have any arms!" He defends. Kyungsoo shakes his head fondly, leaning into the head-stream to encourage them to carry on going.

"Let's just get going home, shall we?"

"Alright, alright." Jongin laughs, rushing to keep up with Kyungsoo again, now that he's perked up a bit.

He reaches out, fingers straining to hold onto Kyungsoo's hand again. Kyungsoo slows down a few increments, allowing Jongin to catch up with him, fingers interlocking as they swim home in tandem.