The ferry is fascinating. Humans have created something so big that will float on the very top of the water and not sink. Jongdae has seen them from afar, of course, but looking at the underside is not the same as riding one. Joonmyeon told him that it's only a little ship, for a fairly short journey back to Korea, but it looks plenty big to him. The rocking sensation of the boat is strange, since he isn't immersed in water right now.

"When do we leave?" Jongdae asks, peering over the edge of the railings to the horizon, where their destination lies, a thin grey smudge in the distance. Joonmyeon rests his hands on his hips.

"Jongdae, it's been less than five minutes since you asked me that the last time,"

"I know, but-"

"Soon, ok?" Joonmyeon cuts him off to reassure him. Then he looks up at a shout from further down the moore,

"Take care!" Sooyoung calls out, hands cupped around to make her words travel farther. Her mother and father stand either side of her, waving. Jongdae leans forward as far as he is able to wave back, going so far as to almost fall out of his wheelchair. Joonmyeon rights him, and he carries on bidding his friends farewell. He's going to miss them, even though they only knew each other for a short time.

"Goodbye!" Jongdae calls out across the bay, salty tears trickling over his cheeks despite his huge smile. It is bittersweet to leave here, the place he was reborn.

The ferry sets off, and Sooyoung, Hobong and Junga fade into tiny dots.

 

"There's nothing to worry about, my mum will love you." Joonmyeon promises, as they alight from the ferry, drizzle starting to dampen their hair and skin. How he could tell Jongdae was worrying about that is beyond him, but his sureness relieves some of the anxiety. Not all, but enough for him to smile weakly. He takes his hand for a moment, and squeezes it, before tilting his head towards what looks like the way out. Joonmyeon catches on quickly, and pushes him over there. Jongdae is getting more and more used to his lower half not responding to him, but it's still frustrating sometimes, that he can't get to places like everyone else can.

The journey to Joonmyeon's mum's house should not have been long, but the wheelchair complicates things. Bumps in the road mean it's slow going, and people barge past them on the street. The first bus drives past them, full of people, and the on the second one the stares put Jongdae on edge, making the ride feel longer than it is really.

"For god's sake," Joonmyeon complains, as he tries to force the wheels over the slight bump between the floor of the corridor and the elevator of the apartment block his mother lives in-  they all live in the same building? And none of them know each other? They aren't family?- and Jongdae winces at his tone. The peice of equipment is annoying him as well. Maybe when they get inside, they can fold it up, and Jongdae can just sit on the sofa, out of the way, and stop being a burden.

Once Joonmyeon presses the button on the wall- the doorbell, he's learned- his heart stops for a moment.

But the door opens a few seconds later, and a short, curly haired woman darts forwards to hug his boyfriend, taking his breath away.

"Oh, Joonmyeon, I thought you would never return home!" She cries, clutching her son in an iron grip. Joonmyeon wraps his arms around her, eyes tearing up too, and buries his face in the crook of her neck even though he has to crouch a little to do it.

"I missed you too mum, so much," he mumbles, voice strangled with emotion. Jongdae watches on in a mixture of fondness and awe. She looks so like him, it's almost like someone took her face, changed the jawline a little, and put it on Joonmyeon. They hold onto each other for a while, until Jongdae feels a little uncomfortable, just sitting outside in the hallway. He doesn't want to be rude, and interrupt their reunion, but he's in the way, if anyone wants to get by. He reaches out and lightly brushes Joonmyeon's side. He jerks,

"Ah, yeah. Sorry, mum, this is Jongdae."

"You mentioned him on the phone. Hello there. It's nice to meet you." She bows her head, and Jongdae does too, respectfully. Joonmyeon seems to understand that he's uncomfortable.

"Shall we head inside, now?" He suggests, stepping around to push Jongdae through the front door.

"Oh, yes, of course!" His mother exclaims, "D-do either of you want anything to drink?" 

"I could do with some tea. Jongdae?"

"Yes please, Tea would be lovely,"

"Come in, come in," she bustles, and heads inside, leaving them to follow her. Joonmyeon's has a little difficulty getting the wheelchair through the door, but manages eventually, and takes him straight to what seems to be a sitting room, with a green sofa and a tv. Joonmyeon helps him onto it, and then folds up his chair to put aside, before heading off to the kitchen to help his mum, and catch up. Jongdae can hear them talking and laughing, but not exactly what they're saying. Waiting for them both to come back, he rearranges his legs so he's more comfortable.

When they return, after a few minutes of allowing Jongdae to stare around the room (are those photos of Joonmyeon when he was younger? He was so cute!) Joonmyeon hands him a warm mug,

"Jongdae, your tea," he announces with a flourish, and sits next to him heavily, making the cushions bounce up and down. 

"It's lovely to meet any friend of my son's. I hope you have a nice time while you're here." Joonmyeon's mother says, sipping her drink delicately. 

"It's nice to meet you too." Jongae smiles meekly, half hiding behind his cup. He very much wants to make a good impression on her, but doesn't know how. 

"Any friend of Joonmyeon's is a friend of mine. I understand you need a place to stay, is that right?"

"Yes," 

"Well, you're welcome to stay here until you find somewhere better, ok? I don't have a spare room now that Joonmyeon is back, but you could take the sofa, or share the room with him, if you'd like."

"Thank you. I'd like to share with Joonmyeon, please." Jongdae requests, still trying to be as polite as he can. The slight shocked expression on the woman's face disappears in an instant, but she quickly nods,

"Of course, of course." 

"We had to share the bed back at my old place, so it's not uncomfortable," Joonmyeon explains. He had explained that his mother wasn't particularly approving of their kind of relationship before they arrived. Joonmyeon had to go over the word 'homophobia' several times before Jongdae caught on, and even then, he didn't understand. It doesn't make any sense, that only certain people can be allowed to be together.

"Oh, I understand." She nods, but Jongdae is sure she doesn't understand at all. But instead of bringing it up and risking getting into an argument about it- Joonmyeon said she didn't like to talk about it- he stays quiet and listens as the two of them catch up with each other.

Joonmyeon's mother tells him all about everything he's missed out on they years he's been gone, people getting married, starting businesses, having children. Apparently he has some new cousins, and absolutely must visit her friend's boutique that she opened all by herself. She's so animanted and Jongdae quickly forgets that she might not like him if she knew about how he feels about her son. He'd hate to see all that energy channeled into anger.

"I'll be sure to visit them, when I have free time, I promise," Joonmyeon chuckles, and puts his empty mug down.

"Good, good. You'll need to get a job, too, won't you? I'll see if I can set you up somewhere, if you like. I'll ask around, ok? In the meantime, please, tell me about how you met Jongdae." She urges, uncrossing her legs and leaning back against the sofa. Jongdae smiles and looks to Joonmyeon to tell the story. He's so much more eloquent than he is, and he loves listening to him speak.

"He's an overseas friend," He starts, pulling him closer to his side, and almost knocking the mug out of his hands, "Ooops. Anyway, he struggles a little with his korean still, and needed somewhere to stay for a while. I said I wouldn't mind having him around for a bit, if he didn't mind living in my tiny house. Very straightforward." He lies. Jongdae resists the urge to snort at this made up tale, and bites his lip to stop it from bursting out. Straightforward? Never.

"Aw, aren't you just an angel," his mother teases, seeing no reason to suspect anything, "always putting yourself out there for the good of others."

"Yep. That's me," He agrees, pretending he didn't live on the opposite side of the island to the rest of the residents there. Jongdae pinches him. "Ow! Hey, I pushed you up and over that mountain in searing hot weather, don't you be rude!"

"Ok, I know. I know." Jongdae laughs, covering his mouth. "but an angel? Only your voice is angel- like," and his face, and his body. And his personality too, if he's honest, he's just trying to .

"Hey!" 

"I'm kidding!" Jongdae snorts, trying to breathe as Joonmyeon constricts his waist. Joonmyeon's mother watches on fondly.

"I'm glad that you made friends while you were away," she sighs, "would you like another drink?"

"Oh, no thank you," Jongdae declines, not having finished his last one. Joonmyeon accepts, and she takes his mug and goes off to the kitchen. Jongdae releases some of the tension in his shoulders, not having even noticed that he was so nervous. She is very nice, but measuring his actions to make sure they don't give off the wrong impression is getting tiring already and they haven't been there that long. Hopefully staying here won't be too difficult for either of them. Maybe they will have to be close only when she isn't looking.

Jongdae doesn't move much all afternoon, but he enjoys watching the other two bustle around. At one point, Joonmyeon seizes upon an old looking device which plays music, and sets the thing blaring before taking his mother and dancing with her. She laughs, batting futilely at him to make him stop, but nothing works. Watching them sets trickles of jealousy dripping inside of him, and he wishes he could dance like that with him.

When night falls, after they've all eaten Joonmyeon's mother's homecooking, they set about preparing bedding for both of the guests. Joonmyeon gets his old room, and Jongdae delights in looking around where he grew up, even though there isn't any of his belongings left in there. The bed looks just a tiny bit bigger than the one he had in that tiny shack he used to call home, and Jongdae thinks that it would be just about ideal for both of them to fit into comfortably. Too bad they can't without being looked down upon. Not for the first time, Jongdae wonders why humans have to be so darn complicated.

"I'll miss you." he whispers as Joonmyeon helps him into his makeshift bed on the sofa, cautious to not let the woman of the house hear his words. Joonmyeon casts a quick glance to check that she isn't in the room, before kissing his forehead,

"Me too," he confesses. "Sleep well. See you in the morning,"

"You too," Jongdae murmurs. It feels lonely sleeping here by himself, in an unknown place with strange lights painting the walls from outside and shadows in the corners. The sounds are wrong too- no more whispering of the ocean, only the roaring of cars whizzing by outside. He doesn't get much sleep that night.

 

It takes a week for Joonmyeon to get a job in one of his mother's friend's places, acting as a salesperson and learning more about clothes than he ever wanted to know. Jongdae slowly settles in, and finds that Joonmyeon's mother- her name is Hyunsook- is a very bubbly character, always busy doing something, or chatting away happily. When her friends come over to visit, they tell him that she's much happier than she's been for a long time, and that it must be because her son came back. Jongdae is glad that she's happier. Joonmyeon makes him feel happy too, so he understands at least a little bit.

"I think it's time I fullfilled one of my promises to you," Joonmyeon announces, when payday finally comes around. Jongdae frowns. 

"What?"

"We could go visit an amusement park. We can go to Lotte world if you like. It's not too far from here, and we get a discount if you have a wheelchair." He grins, like this is great news. Not quite understanding what the word 'discount' means, Jongdae smiles back anyway.

"Oh, come now Joonmyeon, there's no need for such dramatics," She sighs, placing the tray of little cakes on the coffee table and sitting down too. 

"You're not upset?" He asks, voice shaking slightly. Jongdae guesses that all mothers can be scary, even if not in the same way.

"Well, yes, but you're still my son. To tell the truth, I had been suspecting this since you came home with him. But I know Jongdae well now, and he's a lovely man, so I'm not unhappy with it." Even though she says this, she looks at them both gravely, eyes darting between them both.  

"You're ok with us being....like this?" 

"It will take a while for me to get used to not having grandchildren from you, but. Yes." She smiles wanly, folding her hands in her lap primly.

"T-thank you." Joonmyeon stammers.

"No need to thank me," she says. "Help yourself to a few," she gestures to the cakes, then makes sharp eye contact with Joonmyeon, "only a few. I'm watching you, Joonie."

"No more than eight then, got it," he rubs his hands together, and reaches out as if he's going to grab as many as he can fit in one hand. Hyunsook smacks his hand, expression stern, but that only lasts for a second. Turning to Jongdae, she purses her lips.

"Jongdae, keep an eye on this one for me, ok?"

"Ok," he agrees, grinning brightly. She accepted them, even though Joonmyeon was scared that she wouldn't! His hearts are singing, and even when Joonmyeon starts jokingly complaining about preferential treatment the feeling doesn't fade.

 

 

"Guess what?" Joonmyeon surprises Jongdae one day, hugging him from behind as he leans against the kitchen counter to reach something. 

"What?" He gasps in shock, trying not to fall or lean too much on his lover. Joonmyeon carefully lowers him back into his chair and hands him the knife he was reaching for, so he can go back to preparing dinner with his mother.

"I got us two tickets to lotte world!" He exclaims, waving two small slips of paper in his face. 

"Lotte World?" Jongdae frowns, going slightly cross-eyed trying to get a good look.

"An amusement park! We promised that we would go together, remember?" 

"Oh! Yes!" Jongdae dropps the onion on the table and wheels around, "When can we go- can we go now? I want to go," 

"Whoa, hey, we can't drop everything and go right now; it's too late. We can go tomorrow, or this weekend. We have to go for the whole day, too."

"That's not fair, getting my hopes up like that." Jongdae sulkily picked up the knife, and the onion from where it had rolled to on the table, and carries on chopping it up.

"Tomorrow then, since you're so excited." Joonmyeon kisses his cheek and he almost glows.

 

-

 

"We can go on whatever you want, ok?" Joonmyeon promises, pushing him ever closer as the queue decreases.

When they reach the ticket booth, Joonmyeon hands over the tickets and waits for the girl there to verify them. When she does, handing them both a map, Jongdae has to try even harder to contain himself- they're so close now! The darkness just beyond the entrance beckons, and he hopes to make a lot of great memories. Joonmyeon is here to share this time with him, and that makes everything special. They go through the widest gate so Jongdae can get trhough, and scan their tickets, officially marking their entrance inside.

"Here, have a look at this," Joonmyeon designates him official keeper of the map, so he pores over it . Theres several different sections and floors they can go to, all with a different theme. There's a castle! And a big boat!

"I want to go here!" He exclaims, pointing to the boat, then the castle as Joonmyeon wheels him through the glass doors. Jongdae's mouth falls open. The ceiling is comprised of a giant domed window, through which he can see the sky, and laid out in front of him is a world filled with people and magic. To his right, on the other side of the huge room, is what looks like a cliff face with a waterfall, and all around him are ornate and prettily coloured buildings. 

"We can go everywhere, we have all day." 

"Well I want to go there first then," Jongdae says, looking around eagerly. There are so many people in here, more so than were on the streets outside even, and these people look a lot happier. Everywhere he looks there are smiles and happiness, it's contagious. Bouncing slightly, Jongdae leans over the side to get a better view at the line of shops. There's so many people here it makes him a little nervous, but then Joonmyeon rests his hand on his arm and everything is ok again. He feels grounded.

"What's that over there?" He asks, pointing to a window filled with what looks like fluffy ears.

"Souvenir shops. Do you want to get something? We can if you want," they go a little closer, and a pair of green sequined ear headbands catches Jongdae's eyes.

"I want one of those. Can I?"

"Yes, the green one? Let's go try it on, ok?" Joonmyeon wheels him inside, apologising to people around them to get by, and places the green ear headbands on Jongdae. They're fluffy on the back and have sequins on the inside that sparkle in the orange lighting.

"You need to have one too!" The merman decides, reaching out for a pair of blue rabbit ears for him. Joonmyeon puts them on mock-reluctantly and poses cutely for him. Jongdae loves him so much, "Yes, these ones are good. We can get these?"

"Yeah, give me yours and I'll just go pay, ok?" Jongdae hands over his and waits patiently as Joonmyeon pays for them. 

They exit the shop wearing their purchases, commplimenting each other and planning where to go first. Luckily the line for the swinging boat isn't too long, so they join on the end and Jongdae marvels at how high it swings.

"We won't fall off?"

"No, of course not. Everything is tested to make sure it's safe, no need to worry." Joonmyeon promises, smiling at him ruefully. His smiles drops from his face when he looks up, however, and Jongdae turns quickly to find out why: a bunch of high school age kids all look away quickly when he spots them, giggling. It's not a nice kind of laughter, and for some reason, heat spreads on his cheeks. Why do they have to make him feel bad?

"Don't pay them any attention," Joonmyeon instructs, glaring at them. Sadly, that's not the only time people stare or pointedly look away from him. When the staff help him get into the rides, half of them seem to be inwardly rolling their eyes. It makes Jongdae feel like a burden. 

If Joonmyeon wasn't there then he would probably have run away, like he did when his sisters and brothers mocked him back in the palace. But Joonmyeon gives him courage just by being there with him, so he holds his head up high and does his best to smile throughout the day.

 

Once they've eaten- food that Joonmyeon says is typical of a theme park, a little disdainfully- they head towards Magic Island. The pathway there is adorned with giant leaves on the ceiling, and Jongdae wishes he could reach up and touch. But then the castle comes into view, and the leaves are forgotten. Sure he's seen the big buildings outside, touching the clouds and reflecting the sunlight, and yes, they're amazing in their way. But this- the castle is something special.

"It's beautiful," he breathes, craning his neck to see better around the crowd of visitors in front of him. 

"I know," Joonmyeon agrees, but when when he turns around, he isn't looking at the castle. He covers his face to hide the hint of redness thats blooming on his cheeks. 

"Alright, what do you want to do first?"

 

It's getting close to seven in the evening, and Jongdae is tiring out. There's just so much to do here and they havent even done an eighth of what's available. The sky is darkening too, and the atmosphere is so humid that Jongdae is pink and sweaty. They took photos with Hyunsook's camera of each other by all the optical illusions- one like a prison but the bars were flexible to make them look strong- and lots and lots of statues.

Without them really realising it, the lights have all . Everything looks like a glowing wonderland, orange lamps and fairy lights illuminating the scenery. It takes Jongdae's breath away.

"Hey, one thing we haven't been on is the carousel. Do you want to try that?"

"Yes!" Jongdae replies, with only slightly less enthusiasm than when they first arrived. One last thing before they leave, Jongdae resolves. There's a bit of a crowd surrounding the camelot carousel, mostly people waving at the people riding, and taking pictures as they pass by. The pair of them wait patiently for the current round to finish, watching slack jawed as the opulent horses prance by to the music. 

It's finally their turn, and Joonmyeon rushes forward to secure them both a spot. Although it takes a little while to get Jongdae up onto the horse- making the other people have to wait a bit longer- they finally make it. Seated on horses adjacent to one another, there's a clunk, and then the machine is moving. Its taking Jongdae away.

The world is spinning and Jongdae is giddy but not in a bad way. He doesn't want to be sick, he just wants to be close to Joonmyeon now. The crowd around them flies past until they're just a blur in the background and all he can see is Joonmyeon's face. There's no way he will ever regret coming here, choosing to spend his life with this human. He knows this deep inside of him, he made the right decision. Joonmyeon takes his hand, expression soft, and squeezes his fingers. Jongdae's breath catches.

As Joonmyeon is helping him down from the horse, he sneaks a kiss when he thinks no one is looking. 

"Shall we go home now?" Joonmyeon breathes, crouching down next to him. His eyes glisten, and not just because of the lights. Jongdae leans closer, until they're so close their ears are tangling up together. Laughing wryly, Jongdae agrees. Tonight has one of the best in his memory, but he hopes that he'll still be making memories with Joonmyeon forever.

 

-

 

It's early morning. Jongdae can tell this because the light coming in from the curtains is minimal. Joonmyeon shifts in his sleep, bare skin sliding against bare skin. Jongdae hums, and curls up closer against his chest. He feels fully rested and relaxed. Ever since they moved into their new home, it's been so much easier to sleep at night. It's not a big house, and definitely isn't very fancy, but Jongdae still thinks it's wonderful. Definitely better than the shack that they used to live in, back on the island where they met, just over two years ago.

"Mm...Jongdae?" Joonmyeon stirs beneath him, and his deep gravelly morning voice does something to him. He bites his lip. Despite knowing that Joonmyeon has work in an hour, he pushes himself up and layers himself over his lover. It's nice to live alone for this reason too, he thinks, kissing Joonmyeon languidly. He reciprocates, rolling them both over so that Jongdae is lying underneath him.

"Good morning," he sighs, dipping down to kiss him again. "I can't kiss you if you're smiling," Joonmyeon complains lightly, sitting back and watching Jongdae try to compose himself. It's not working too well for him.

"I can't help it. I just always want to smile with you here." He whines.

"You're such a natural charmer," Joonmyeon shakes his head, "I've got the day off today, so we can do whatever you want to do."

"Anything?" Jongdae his lips, eyes trailing down Joonmyeon's chest. 

"Anything," he confirms, voice sultry as he crawls forward to the side table to reach for an essential item. It's raspberry flavoured.

 

Lying on the bed, just over an hour later and still pleasantly buzzing from their earlier activities, Jongdae watches his lover get dressed with some regret. In a minute, he'll get dressed himself, but in the meantime he wants to comit his body to memory one more time. Not realising that he has an audience, Joonmyeon stares at his reflection in the mirror, pulling at his eyes and stretching his face. 

"What are you doing?" Jongdae laughs, making him jumps. To his surprise, Joonmmyeon looks embarrassed,

"I have wrinkles." He mumbles, looking away, "It's a sign of getting older,"

"I know that. I don't see any on you."

"Well, I can see them. I don't see any on you, though. I guess merfolk live longer, huh?"

"Yeah," Jongdae sighs, mood dampened at the idea of the future, so uncertain. "but I will still love you when you're old, so you don't have to be sad. There is lots of time for us to share." Jongdae edges his way towards the end of the bed, and reaches out for Joonmyeon to come closer. Circling his arms around his waist, Jongdae squeezes with all his might, as if somehow his love will make him feel better this way.

"I know," Joonmyeon looks down at him, tenderness in his eyes. "I'll love you forever too."

 

 

---

i remember when the idea for this was first conceived it feels like forever ago..... i was on a beach in france.......haaa

also there is a scene i wanted to write where jongdae gives joonmyeon a bj while hes a merman but it never felt right because this is such a fluffy fic?? idk its just not that romantic or whatever

THERE WILL BE AN EPILOGUE so stay tuned for that ok

otherwise please comment :) share ur emotions with me~

im sorry if this got boring