---

It was raining again, Tao was sitting by the windowsill, and he was sulking. He doesn't like the rain. He doesn't like anything to do with water except for showering. He hates the sea, he hates the lake, he hates the aquarium, and he hates the pool. To be honest, he has a phobia towards deep waters, he doesn't admit that but yes, he is scared of deep waters. This is all because that the sea that he used to love, have taken away both his parents. They have died while scuba diving and the oxygen tanks went faulty, causing them to drown in the middle of the deep, deep sea.

"Hay Tao!" He heard Luhan's voice. He turned and saw Luhan, Kai, Chen and Chanyeol was staring at him. All having wide smiles on their face.

"What?" He asked, his face expressionless. He used to be someone cheerful, someone who would smile when he was with his friends, but after his parents died, he is just like a piece of log. He has no feelings, and no expressions.

"Guess what we have?"Chen asked.

"What?" Tao asked, he was getting annoyed. Don't get him wrong, he still loves his friends but sometimes Chen just gets on his nerves.

"Free tickets to the.... Drum roll please." Kai said and Chanyeol starts to mimic the noise of drum rolls.

"Newly opened aquarium!" Chanyeol said. "Luhan got it from his cousin who was working there and it's free! Whoohoo!" He said and stared jumping around.

"Whatever." Tao said, turning back to look outside the windows.

"Tao~ Come on let's go together. We have never gone to an aquarium together before." Chen said, showing his aegyo towards Tao.

"You guys know that I hate aquariums." Tao said, not looking away from the window.

"Oh please! Just this one time, please?" Kai said.

"Please please please! Tao come on! You know we all love you too much to go without you!" Chen said.

"Fine but just this once." Tao said, rolling his eyes.

"Yay!" The four of them cheered and started jumping around.

Tao couldn't help but to smile at his four friends. Sure they are annoying at times, but they are his best friends and they are quite cute too. He knows that he might regret it but hey, at least it’s free.

And yeah, he did regret it. It was an underwater aquarium and while Luhan, Kai, Chen and Chanyeol were having fun, running around and pointing at every fish they see, Tao was just walking, his hands in his pockets and he was frowning. What’s so great about looking at fish swimming anyway?

He walked into the tunnel and was looking at the fishes and stingrays swimming around when suddenly he spotted something, a human figure, what is he doing there? He was feeding the sharks and stingrays, and he looks like he was enjoying doing whatever he was doing, his hand slide across one of the stingray that happened to swim across him. How could someone love those ferocious creatures?

Tao didn’t know form how long was he staring but the guy looked up and saw Tao staring. He waved and Tao and Tao blinked. He was feeling a little embarrassed because he was caught staring at him. The guy inside the aquarium pointed at the end of the tunnel and Tao just nodded. Tao continued to walk to the end of the tunnel and he saw Suho, he was already changed out of his diving suit and is in his casual attire.

“Hi!” Suho said to Tao and he smiled.

“Hi.” Tao replied.

“I saw you were staring at me feeding the sharks and stingrays. Are you interested in the sea creatures too?” Suho asked and Tao shook his head.

“I don’t like them, I’m just curious that how can you love something that is so ferocious? They seems like they would hurt you anytime.” Tao said, his face expressionless.

Suho laughed. He was fascinated by this kid in front of him. One moment he could be smiling and the other he would look like he would want to kill you with some martial arts or something.

“They are not ferocious, sharks don’t attack people unless they felt threatened.” Suho explained but Tao still looks unsure. “You don’t believe me? Come on, I’ll show you something.” Suho said and pulled Tao with him.

He bought Tao to one of the shark nurseries and showed him some of the workers are feeding the sharks. Tao was confused.

“If you said that they are tame and not ferocious, then why do they attack people?” He asked.

“Sharks usually don’t attack people if they were not provoked. In other words, there are only four types of shark that will attack people unprovoked are the great white, oceanic whitetip, tiger and bull sharks.” Suho said and Tao just nods his head. He was actually impressed by how much Suho knows about sharks.

“Hey umm… I didn’t actually catch your name.” Suho said and Tao looked at him.

“Tao. My name is Tao.” Tao said and Suho extended his hand.

“Tao, that’s a nice name. I’m Joonmyun but people call me Suho.” Suho said and smiled.

“Why do they call you Suho?” Tao asked and shook Suho’s hand.

“Well, they say that I am the guardian of these sea creatures. I’m actually an oceanologist and I came here to study more about the sea creatures. As time went by, I began coming here as one of the volunteer to help out taking care the animals.” Suho said.

“Wow, you really love the sea huh.” Tao said.

“Uh huh. Hey, I’m on my break now, why don’t you come have coffee with me?” Suho asked and Tao nodded. He have nothing else to do so why not follow Suho?

They went to the nearest coffee shop located just outside the aquarium. Suho odered cappuccino while Tao ordered Americano.

“You said you don’t like the sea creatures, then why are you here?” Suho asked, suddenly remembering the conversation they had before.

“My friends begged me to come with them and I just have to agree.” Tao said.

“Well, why do you dislike the sea creatures then?” Suho asked again.

“My parents were just like you. They were oceanologist too. There was once they were working and their oxygen tanks went faulty, they drown and… they left me with nothing but a house full of information about the sea, and the creatures. I don’t only dislike the sea creatures. I hate the sea.” Tao said. He was already close to tears.

“Tao… I didn’t know. I’m sorry…” Suho said, he didn’t know what to say, he didn’t know what to do.

“I haven’t told anyone about this and you’re probably going to be the first person I’ve talk to about but I’m scared of deep waters.” Tao said. He didn’t know why he told Suho that but he just felt like it.

Suho smiled and Tao looked at him, curious of what is he thinking about now.

“I’ll show you something.” Suho said, standing up.

“What?” Tao asked.

“Just follow me.” Suho said and he walked out of the coffee shop with Tao following him.

Suho brings him back to the aquarium, this time to the one room that is located at the back of the aquarium. He went in and Tao followed, looking around and wondering why are there no visitors here.

“Tao, look.” Suho said and Tao looked at where Suho was pointing at.

He saw a dolphin in the tank inside the room. Its size was smaller compared to the other average dolphins and it was alone there, swimming in the tank. But when it saw Suho coming closer, it seems to be excited and swam towards Suho.

“Hey. I’m here to see you again.” Suho said to the dolphin and Tao look at him. He wonders why is Suho talking to the dolphin and he walked closer.

“Why is this dolphin doing here alone?” Tao asked.

“He’s sick and we can’t put him with the other dolphins. We don’t want him to infect the others you know.” Suho said and the dolphin.

Tao looked at him and then back at the dolphin.

“We found him lost in the ocean and then later we realize that his mother was killed by some illegal whale poachers. They mistook his mother as one of the whale and killed her. He is still a baby so we decided to bring him back here, take care of him and let him have a new home.” Suho said.

Tao did not answer and continues staring at the dolphin.

“Why don’t you name it?” Suho said and Tao’s eyes widen.

“Me? Can I really?” Tao asked.

“Yeah sure. Go on, think of a name for him and it shall be his new name.” Suho said and smiled.

Tao stopped and thinks for a while. He didn’t know what name he should give to that dolphin. He had never named animals before, he had never had pets before so he wasn’t really sure what kind of name would suit the dolphin. He looks at the smiling Suho and back at the dolphin.

“Pao pao （泡泡）.” Tao said.

“Huh?” Suho looked at Tao.

“It means Bubbles in Chinese. I’ll name him Bubbles.” Tao said and smile.

“Bubbles, that’s a cute name!” Suho said and continue playing with Bubbles.

Tao looked at Suho, fascinated. He was talking to Bubbles like he could understand Suho and Bubbles, he really do seems like he understand Suho.

Suho and Tao exchanged their contact numbers and Tao promised to visit Bubbles every day, if he can make it. Suho said that he will be waiting for Tao so that they can always visit Bubbles together and Bubbles can have a new friend.

“Where have you been?” Kai asked when Tao met them at the entrance of the aquarium.

“Yeah, we’ve been looking for you like crazy!” Chanyeol said, his eyes wide open.

“Chill guys. I just got distracted by the fishes.” Tao lied.

“Really?” Chen asked and moves his face closer towards Tao’s face.

“Yes. By jellyfish. How do they move?” He said and pushes Chen’s face away, face palming him at the same time.

They then dragged Tao with them to the dessert shop that they usually go to. They ordered bubble tea and pudding and patbingsu and a whole lot of stuff that Tao didn’t even know they existed. He sat there and watches his friends indulging themselves and his phone notification ringtone rang. He checked and saw that Suho sent him a text.

He smiled and replies the text Suho sent him. He likes Suho, he thinks that he is nice and a very on-going person. He replied and they were having a conversation about jellyfishes and dolphins when suddenly Kai came peeking at his phone. He was getting curious, who is Tao texting that can make him smile so happily? He reaches out and pulled Tao’s phone away from Tao.

“Hey!” Tao shouted at him.

“Who is Suho? Your boyfriend?” Kai asked, reading their conversation.

“Shut up.” Tao said and grabs his phone back.

“Ooohhh Tao got himself a boyfriend!” Luhan teased and Tao ignored him.

“Tao, aren’t you going to introduce us to him?” Kai asked.

“Go away, all of you.” He said and continues texting Suho.

His friends stare at him and smiled.

“It’s been a while now I’ve seen Tao smiling so happily.” Chen said.

“Maybe it’s a good thing for him to have a boyfriend.” Chanyeol said and smiled.

Tao would now visit the aquarium every day to check on Bubbles. Well, to be exact, he wanted to see Suho too. He had been crushing on that kind guy since he saw how well he is with the sea creatures.

“Tao! Just in time, I was just about to go swimming with Bubbles. Want to tag along?” Suho asked as soon as he sees Tao walking in.

“Swimming? But I…” He said and stopped. “I’m scared.” He said softly.

“There’s nothing to be scared of. I’m here with you.” Suho said and smiled, making Tao skipped a heartbeat.

He nodded and Suho helped him changed into the diving suit they were supposed to wear. Suho went into the tank first and slowly helped Tao get in. Bubbles seem to have realized that both Suho and Tao are here to spend time with him in the tank and he was getting more excited than usual. He keeps on poking Tao and Tao flinched every time Bubbles do that.

Tao wasn’t sure that he wanted to continue but Suho held onto his hand and keeps on telling him is okay. Suho dived in and Tao followed. He knows how to swim but he’s just scared. He grans on Suho’s hands and follows him wherever he goes.

Everything went well and when they surfaced, Tao was feeling happy. He felt that he had conquered his fear and it’s all thanks to Suho.

“So, how do you feel?” Suho asked while they were walking towards the changing room.

“I feel great! I mean, it really isn’t that scary.” Tao said and smiled.

Suho nodded and smile back. “Bubbles is happy too.” He said.

“Suho, it’s all thanks to you.” Tao said and blushed.

“I did nothing, you’re brave enough yourself Tao.” Suho said.

“No, without you, I might not be able to do this.”

They reached the changing room and went in. There was no one there as it is already near to lunch time. Everyone has gone for their lunch break and Suho and Tao were the only ones there.

“Hey Suho…” Tao called him and Suho looked at him. “I was thinking… Do you have a girlfriend?” He asked.

Suho chuckled and shook his head. “Nope, to be honest, I’m not interested with girls.” He said and looked at Tao.

Tao looked at him with a surprised expression. “That means you’re…”

“Yeah, I’m gay. You’re not freaking out now are you?” He asked and Tao shook his head.

“No! Not at all!” He said immediately and Suho smiled. “So, does that mean I can do this?” He asked and without waiting for Suho’s response, he pulled Suho in and kissed him on the lips. He was surprised that Suho did not push him away but instead he kissed him back.

Tao pinned Suho on the wall and they continue kissing until they were both out of breathe. Suho pulled away and stared into Tao’s eyes.

“So now Bubbles have another father huh?” He asked and Tao chuckled.

“You have always treat Bubbles as your own son?” He asked and Suho nodded.

“Yeah, I guess he has another father now.” Tao said and lean in for another kiss.

The two of them started dating and Tao was getting happier and less sulky every day. His friends realize this and keep on bothering him, wanting him to introduce Suho to them.

“Come on Tao, we want to see who made our sulky panda to a smiling panda.” Chanyeol said and Tao rolled his eyes.

“Yeah! You guys have been together for three weeks now and we, your best friends, didn’t even seen him before.” Luhan whined.

“Okay, okay. I’ll give him a call to see if he’s free.” He said and called Suho.

“Hey, what’s up?” Suho answered his phone and Tao smiled.

“My friends wanted to meet you, are you free now?” He asked.

“Hmmm… Let’s see… Not now but I’m free an hour later. Want to have dinner together?” Suho replied.

“Okay, I’ll tell them that.” He said. “Tell Bubbles I’m sorry for not visiting him today.” Tao added.

“He’s upset about that you know.” Suho said and Tao chuckled.

“I’ll go tomorrow, I promised.” He said.

“There, you’ve promised. I’ll see you later, got to go.” He said.

“Okay, see you later.” He said and hesitated for a while. “I love you.” He said.

“Love you too.” Suho smiled at his boyfriend’s statement. “Bye.” He said and hung up.

“Who’s Bubbles?” Luhan asked.

“My son.” Tao said and the others stared at him. “It’s a dolphin me and Suho decided to adopt.” He added after seeing his friends’ expression.

“Dolphin? Adopt? You guys just adopt a dolphin as your son?” Chen asked and Tao laughed.

“He’s just a dolphin that got lost in the sea and Suho saved him.” Tao explained and told them everything he knew about Suho.

After dinner, Suho drove Tao back to his apartment. It’s the first time Tao had been to his apartment and he was surprised at how tidy it was. He expected it to be filled with papers and documents since Suho is an oceanologist and he has a lot of important stuffs.

“Suho, I’m impressed. It’s nice and cozy and it’s tidy.” Tao said and Suho laughed.

“Of course, I’m Suho, the cleanest guy on Earth.” Suho said and Tao poked his cheeks.

“Uh huh… Now let’s get comfy.” He said and back hugged Suho, kissing his neck and biting his ears.

Suho smiled and bought Tao into his room. They cuddled together and talked about plans in the future, planning to go Singapore to visit their underwater aquarium.

……….

“Happy one year anniversary baby!” Tao said over the phone to Suho.

“Awww you remembered!” Suho said.

“Of course! Aren’t I the best boyfriend?” Tao asked and Suho chuckled.

“Of course you are!” He said.

“So, want to go on a romantic dinner date and later go have long walks on the beach?” Tao asked.

“Okay, I’ll pick you up after work.” Suho said. “Oops, emergency meeting now baby, see you later.” He said.

“Okay, love you. See you later!” He said and hung up.

They had been dating for a year now and Bubbles was getting better and better. Suho said that in a few weeks’ time, he can be transferred to the normal tanks like the other dolphins.

“Hey baby.” Suho said as soon as Tao gets in the car.

“Hey.” Tao said and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Now which restaurant?” Suho asked.

“The one you like.” Tao said and Suho looked at him.

“You sure? I thought you said you didn’t quite like the place?” Suho asked.

“Anything for my boyfriend! Besides, it’s just beside the beach, we can go there after dinner.” Tao said.

After dinner, they strolled down the beach, Suho holding on Tao’s hand.

“There’s something I need to tell you.” Suho said and Tao looked at him.

“Yeah?”

“My company wanted me to go to America for a week. They want me to check on the waters there.” Suho said.

“A week? Oh come on… Can I go with you?” Tao asked.

“I’m afraid not baby, we’ll be travelling and I won’t be able to spend time with you.” Suho said and Tao pouted.

“I’ll miss you like crazy.” Tao said and Suho smiled.

“I’ll video call you every day okay?” He said and stoked Tao’s hair.

“Yeah… Don’t forget what you promised!” Tao said and Suho chuckled at how cute his boyfriend is.

“When are you going?” Tao asked.

“Next week, Tuesday.” Suho said and Tao pouted more.

“Awww and today is already Frinday!” Tao said and hugged Suho.

“It’s just a week baby. I’ll be home before you even know.” Suho said and patted Tao’s head.

Tuesday came fast and before they even knew it, Tao was already sending Suho off at the airport.

“I’ll be back as soon as possible.” He said and winked.

“Take care baby.” Tao said and kissed Suho.

“I will.” He said and kisses Tao back.

Tao watches as Suho walked through the security check and waves to him. Suho saw and waves back. He misses him already.

Two days passed and everyday Suho would call Tao and they would chat for a long time, telling how much they miss each other and how much they love each other.

Suho’s work was pilling up too, so he usually stays up late, writing and checking the reports and researching the papers he have.

“Suho, I guess you should rest now. It’s getting late.” Suho’s friend, Sehun said.

“A little longer Sehun. I’ll be done in a little while.” Suho said and Sehun sighed.

“We need to go down to the sea tomorrow Suho, you need rest.” Sehun said, dragging Suho back to his room and pushed him towards the bed. “Now sleep.” Sehun said and turned off the light and walked out of Suho’s room.

Suho chuckled, Sehun is always bossing him around even though he is 3 years younger than him. He changed out of his clothes and flopped onto his bed. Sehun’s right, he needed sleep.

 Suho woke up the next morning, excited that today they’ll be going down to the sea. He called Tao and Tao answered on the first few rings.

“Hello?” He heard Tao’s sleepy voice.

“Hey baby.” Suho said.

“Suho?” Tao asked and Suho smacked his own forehead. He had forgotten the time difference between Korea and America.

“I’m sorry baby, I’ll call you back later.” He said.

“No, no! What is it?” Tao asked.

“Nothing, just wanted to tell you that today we’re going to the sea!” Suho said with an excited tone.

“Oh god, Suho be careful! Check every single equipment before you go down!” Tao said, he didn’t want the same thing that happened to his parents happen on Suho too.

“Don’t worry Tao, I will. It’s already day three, four more days and I’ll be back!” He said, trying to cheer Tao up.

“Yeah… I hope time would go faster.” Tao said.

“It will. Now, go back to sleep baby, you have to work too tomorrow morning.” He said.

“I love you.” Tao said.

“Yeah, and I love you too.” He said. “Now go.” He added and hung up.

“Let’s go Suho.” Sehun called and Suho grabbed his bag and ran out of his room.

It’s good to be out of the room after three days. Suho took a deep breath and smiled, the smell of the sea. They went to the middle of the sea with a boat and he did double check every single equipment they had.

“Ready to go?” Sehun asked and Suho nodded.

The two of them dived into the water and separated to cover more space. Suho was feeling excited and he wish that Tao was here with him to look at the magnificent view. He went deeper and saw beautiful corals and fishes. He was stunned by the beauty of the sea.

……….

“Hello?” Tao immediately answers the phone when he saw it was from Suho.

But it’s not Suho that was speaking.

“Tao?” Sehun asked.

“Yes, where’s Suho?” Tao asked.

Tao paused for Sehun’s answer and he froze. He dropped his phone and break down into tears. Suho, his boyfriend, the guy he loved the most, is dead.

Sehun said that he died of Barotrauma, his lungs were damaged and he couldn’t breathe. It has nothing to do with the equipment, it was all nature’s work. Tao cried, he cried hard. He couldn’t accept the fact that last night, just last night, eight hours ago, Suho just called him, telling him how excited he was to go to the sea and now, he is no longer with him.

“Tao, I’m sorry…” Sehun said. “His last words for you are ‘Tell Tao I love him, tell him to live on his life and don’t be afraid of the oceans. Tell him to take care of Bubbles, look after him after I’m gone. Don’t cry, because I will still live on, in his heart. Don’t be too sad over me because it hurts me more to know he cried, take care Tao. I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you till the end but I want you to know that, I will always love you.’”

Tao cried even harder when he heard Suho’s last words. He hates the world, he hates God for treating him like this, he hates the sea, and he hates everything. He hates Suho the most for leaving him just like this. He called Luhan and told him everything while sobbing his heart out. He didn’t know what to do now without Suho.

Luhan and the others burst through his door a few minutes later, afraid that he might do something stupid like ending his life. But he didn’t, he sat in a corner, holding on the dolphin plushy Suho got him. He was crying. It hurts his friends’ heart to see him like this. They went over to him and hugged him, telling him they’re sorry and telling him it’s okay.

Suho’s body was bought back the next day. Tao went to Suho’s mother’s house and knocked on the door. His mother opened the door and immediately hugged Tao when she saw it was him. She patted and his head, telling him she knows that it hurts. Tao cried, Suho’s family cried too.

It was raining, and Tao hates the rain.

It was Suho’s funeral and it was raining. Tao was no longer smiling anymore. He was holding the umbrella, he stood there expressionless. Suho’s belongings were sent back home and Tao saw something, a small box. He opened it and tears rolled down uncontrollably. It was a wedding ring. Suho had planned to propose to Tao when he got back from America, he wanted to spend his life with Tao.

A few weeks had passed after Suho’s death, Tao was back to his daily life. Everything changes after Suho’s death. Everything changes to how things were even before Tao met Suho, his sulky expression was back, and his mood is as bad as ever.

His phone rang and he answered it. It was from the aquarium that Suho used to work at.

“Hello.” He answered with a cold tone.

“Is this Tao? The dolphin that you and Suho adopted is fine now and he is able to be moved to the tanks with the other dolphins. Do you want to come over?”

“Do whatever you want to the dolphin. It has nothing to do with me now.” He said and hung up.

He sips on his coffee slowly and he suddenly remembered he memories he and Suho had before with Bubbles. No, Bubbles is his and Suho’s. Suho wanted him to take care of Bubbles. He stood up and grabbed his coat, hailed a taxi and went to the aquarium.

“Tao! I thought you said…” Sehun was shocked to see Tao.

“Forget what I said, is Bubbles still here?” He asked and Sehun nodded.

He followed Sehun and saw that they were already moving Bubbles. Bubbles was happy to see Tao and he started flipping, splashing water everywhere. Tao smiled. The workers then put Bubbles into the tank and Tao was looking at him.

Once Bubbles get into the tank, he swims towards Tao and he bumped into the glass wall. Tao chuckled and went closer towards the glass wall.

“You’re just as silly as Suho aren’t you?” He said and smiled.

 

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You guys probably hate me now for this

It's my first time writing angst and to be honest, I hate angst

Any mistakes just please bear with me hehe

So... How is it?

Should I write another alternate fluff ending for this? If you guys want the fluff ending, just tell me and I'll write it. 

^.^