Mermaid AU Merman Taek and Human Bin

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10 years since then and not one moment has the boy forgotten about Taekwoon. On his 18th birthday, Hongbin was at the beach, staring at the waters that swallowed the sun slowly, shades of orange and blue painting the sky like a canvas. He wished he brought his camera to capture this beauty before him. And then he appeared. With his shirt damped because of the water and allowing Hongbin to see the defined lines of a sculpted chest and abs, the man approached the shore. Hongbin blushed.

 

When the male’s feet was in contact with the sand, Hongbin ran towards him, calling “Taekwoon” happily. The male flinched a little before showing a blank face.

 

“Taekwoon-hyung?”

 

“I am Leo. You must have mistaken me for someone else.”

 

But Hongbin was persistent, he kept bothering the male, telling him things they did when they were younger but Leo denied everything.

 

“I am telling you that it's him! Taekwoon-hyung!”

 

“Yeah and what makes you so sure?”

 

“He has the scent of the sea!”

 

Wonshik facepalmed himself, flicking the forehead of his friend next. “Hongbin, you do realised that you meet him at the beach, right?”

 

“No but! He still smells like that even now.”

 

“Hongbin!” His friend cried in exasperation but the younger of the two pouted in reply. “So if he is who you think he is, why is he denying it?” Wonshik tried to be logical and then Hongbin turned sulky.

 

“I don't know,” he answered, tears threatening to fall from his large and pretty eyes. “Does he hate me?” The boy asked with an innocent face.

 

Dealing with his adorable best friend is really not Wonshik’s forte.

 

“Can you stop looking like you are about to kill his best friend?” Sanghyuk commented, feeling irritated. “And don't say you're not. Have you seen yourself in the mirror? You look ready to murder anyone going near him, hyung.”

 

“Well, I can't help it.”

 

“I don't understand why you have to complicate things… just tell him you are the same guy from 10 years and it will be done.”

 

“He’s not ready yet.”

 

“He’s already 18. By merfolk rules, he is officially an adult.”

 

“But he might just be confused. I can't ruin his life forever.”

 

“Yeah, a confused boy will recognise the person he knew from 10 years ago and have flushed cheeks whenever he looks at that person. I am amazed.” Sanghyuk said flatly.

 

“You don't understand.” Leo replied with a glare and his brother sighed.

 

It is true that Sanghyuk understood nothing. His partner, Jaehwan, is a merman. Everything is much easier if your other half is a merfolk. If Hongbin is really willing to be with him and love him, he has to leave everything behind. His life on land will need to be abandoned. Taekwoon can't be selfish and make the younger sacrifice so much for him. Not to mention that the merman is also the chief-to-be in their clan and honestly, convincing a person who has been leading a perfectly happy life to grow a tail and breathe in water seems like a really bad idea.

 

Hence, he denied his identity. He wanted to observe more before he make his decision and eventually tell Hongbin about everything. If the boy rejects his proposal, he will wipe all Hongbin’s memories of him. If he does accept, which Taekwoon hopes for, he is not certain what might happen in the future. Moreover, his parents have been bugging him to marry since he came of age. The list of prospective partners they came out with seems to lengthen with every passing day. Taekwoon only managed to escape from it when he explained that he was going to find his partner from elsewhere.

Honestly, he really has no idea what he was trying to achieve when he came ashore.

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