English/German | verb

♦ to bury something, to hide; to roll or surge over something; to cover something

 

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That day, after Jeongguk for the first time pulled Taehyung into the sea without warning, something changes.

And Taehyung doesn't mean the part where the mer is so very open to try out anything he can teach him about the human body and its most sensitive part. Because, yes, that is a thing too now, much to his endless delight.

But it's not what he is on about right now. What Taehyung means with "change," is an altered reality, and not in the good sense.

What he means is, that Jeongguk does not bring him to the pier that day. Rather, the mer lifts the two of them up the steep cliff a fair distance away from Nakseongdae and floats them through the forest without uttering a word until he lets Taehyung out of their bubble to walk the rest home, and flings himself over the edge with a plunge that would have killed any human from that height, promising Taehyung to never be far away until he reaches his home safely. 

What he means is, that once he reaches Nakseongdae in the waning daylight that's more a suffocating steel grey than anything else at this point, there is a tension lingering in the entire village so strong he can almost taste it in the air. And it has nothing to do with the looming thunderstorm painting the horizon black - yet everything with the way people are hurrying through the streets with burning torches and harpoons, gaze hard and mouth pressed into grim, silent lines.

It is bizarre, to day the least.

And deeply unsettling.

Even more so when he turns the handle of his landlords' entrance door and gets greeted by a harpoon mere breaths away from his neck, followed by a stunned silence in which Jimin stares at him as if he'd grown a second head and then shouts, with something like mortification written all over his face, 

"YOU ARE ALIVE?! HOW?!"

Taehyung makes a point to push the harpoon away from his throat with a gentle yet determined finger. "Uhm, breathing, generally?"

"No, no that's not-"

The fisherman drags a hand - the one not holding a sharp weapon - through his hair. He looks stressed enough to punch a hole in the wall.

"This is wrong."

"How is me breathing wrong? You rather want me dead?"

"Wh- that's not even close to- no, no, you don't understand!"  Jimin brandishes his harpoon furiously, Taehyung struggling to dodge it.

The idol rolls his eyes. "There we go again," he mutters. Of course I don't understand if you never tell me .

The fisherman scowls at him, then pushes past Taehyung through the door and races down the path to the heart of the village. Yoongi stays behind, an ancient and rusty sword in his lap that he puts away the minute Jimin is gone. He gives Taehyung a piercing look and shakes his head.

"You are being reckless."

Taehyung freezes. "What do you mean?"

The older gives him a joyless little smile. "We both know what and whom I mean. I just hope it doesn't come biting you in the ."

Taehyung hurries up the stairs without another word. He doesn't know what to make of everything. Only that somehow, things have gone severely wrong.

He listens for following footsteps up the stairs, but when there are none - just a quiet little hobble as the small black cat fights its way up the steep wooden stairs - he sneaks into the bathroom. Aside from the landlords' bedchamber, it is the only room where one can see a bit from the bay. He crouches down in front of the window and peers out. Watches the torch lights flickering out one after another where they are gathered close to the sea, until Nakseongdae is shrouded into darkness except for some lone points of light wandering through the streets.

How very, very odd indeed.

With a heavy feeling of dread in his stomach, he goes to bed and takes a long time to fall asleep that night.

 

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"What do you mean, he is back?!" Jimin's cousin Wooyoung stomps his harpoon onto the ground, the loud clinking resounding in the narrow street. He looks furious, lips curled back into a sneer and hand tightly wrapped around the weapon. A fighter ready for bloodshed.

Jimin shushes him with an annoyed wave of his empty hand. Stealthiness has never been a big strength of his younger cousin.

"It's just as I said," he explains. And then raises his voice a bit more, so the other villagers can hear him. "Taehyung has come back without noticeable harm."

"What does that mean? Did he escape," one of the elders asks.

Jimin shakes his head. He furrows his brows and gnaws on his lip. "I don't think so. He didn't look like he ran away from something. Just confused. Besides," he grins, "he is the kind of person who can't keep his mouth shut for long. If he were in trouble, he'd surely told me on the spot."

Wooyoung snorts. "Yeah, right, because you are such good friends and he tells you everything."

Jimin pulls out one of the daggers he's had tugged under his belt all day and points it at his cousin, daring him to keep talking like that. "Yah, you better watch your mouth, kid!"

The younger blows out his cheeks and huffs. "Who are you calling a kid, huh? What are four years anyway?"

That's enough," one of the older fishermen snaps. "We didn't come here to listen to some childish squabbles, but to protect our home. If you have nothing important to say, shut your mouth." Then he turns to Jimin. "Are you sure he's been with the monster?"

Jimin nods, face turning grim once more. "Yes. He must've been abducted by that creature."

"Then how come he's still alive and well, hm?"

"Maybe..." Jimin purses his lips. Clamps a hand over his cousin's mouth before he can say something stupid again. Sometimes he misses the time when Wooyoung used to admire him like a star. "Maybe it likes to play with its prey. Make humans think they are safe and then slowly break their spirit. Like poison."

The gruff sea dog scratches his beard. "Sounds like a load of horse to me."

Some of the other men, however, seem to be more convinced. They start muttering amongst themselves. Quietly first, then louder.

"What should we do now?"

"What do we do, how do we proceed?"

"A human who survived the sea? That's never happened before. We needa be cautious."

Jimin nods at that. "That's right, gotta be cautious. If the monster is playing with one of us, we should do the same. Put up a trap for that thing and lure it in."

Around him, people nod.

"That's good, we'll do that."

"Yeah, serves it right!"

"True, true... but we shoulda be careful. Mustn't have the thing know we're up to stuff."

"Yeah, right."

They keep discussing some more, until it gets too dark, too dangerous to stay outside that close to the scornful sea. Some decisions are made, others postponed. Backbones of plans get hatched and a few tasks distributed. Jimin, for now, gets told not to reveal anything to Taehyung and keep a very close eye on him. Spy on him to the best of his abilities and gather information about the demon haunting this bay once anew.

 

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Taehyung frowns at his chipper landlord, who just - well - refuses to leave him alone.

"Don't you have to be at the trawler or something?"

"Nope!" The fisherman grins. "I was allowed to take a few days off. So now I have loads of free time we can spend together. Isn't that great?"

"Super great," Taehyung mutters under his breath. How is he supposed to reach Jeongguk when Jimin sticks to him like a leech?

Short answer: Not at all.

The long answer to the problem at hand is, that Taehyung finds out just how determined his landlord and self-proclaimed 'new best friend' is the hard way. And how agile, and fast, and Not Stupid. Because try as he might, Taehyung fails with every trick from the book against Jimin. Somehow, whenever he takes a sharp turn, vanishes through an almost hidden door and whatnot, five seconds later Jimin's head pops up from around a corner, followed by crinkling eyes, a big grin and a loud "Gotcha!"

Seems like his landlord thinks they are playing an intense impromptu round of hide and seek. Which, uh, is not exactly what Taehyung has been going for. But if that means, Jimin doesn't notice how majorly rude he is being with trying his hardest to ditch him, then, well. He won't complain. 

Except about the fact, that Jimin always wins their non-existent game. Which ultimately means Taehyung has zero chances to sneak away and meet up with Jeongguk. And boi, does he try. To the point that he's exhausted and really, really needs a good long nap after Jimin invited him for lunch in a grimy diner.

Honestly, that establishment doesn't deserve the title at all. It's barely more than a small room with two big grills where the freshly caught fish, mussels, some sad-looking veggies and bread gets put on, while noise seeps in from the bigger room behind, where the fishermen's women cut open the rest of the fish and box it or whatever. There are also no seats inside, except for three bar stools right in front of the grills which are always standing in a dark cloud of smoke. Jimin already makes for one of those greasy stools but Taehyung pulls him away, towards one of the ramshackle wooden benches in front of the house instead.

The grilled fish, although dripping with fat, tastes surprisingly good. Taehyung says as much with his mouth still full from the first bite - because, honestly, the fact that he didn't have to spew out the bite comes quite as a shock to him - and earns himself a -eating grin from his landlord.

"Told ya," Jimin crows, delighted. "Trust the locals, little greenhorn, we know what's good here."

Taehyung scowls at him. "Call me greenhorn one more time, and Imma hog your kitty for the rest of the week."

Jimin shrieks and flings a dead fish eye at him.

 

What Jimin does not know, is that Taehyung's midday nap (after being hit by the fish eye, he dramatically collapsed onto the bench and simply stayed like that for the next two hours) had a double purpose. He didn't just restore energy from their hunt straight through Nakseongdae, but also saved up some more for the night. Because after the, like, twentieth failed attempt to get away from Jimin, he came to the conclusion that the only way to get past him, would be at night when everyone was asleep. 

So he waits. Sets a quiet alarm for midnight, and gets to bed under the pretence of being dead tired, to get in a few more hours of sleep before his night out.

It is freezing outside when he manages to get down the creaky stairs without any of his landlords bolting out of their room. Figures. Don't they have November by now? Seriously, ever since he's been off schedule, Taehyung has lost all sense of time. Anyway, it's late autumn now, almost winter. And especially at night one can feel it. 

After an entire five minutes of weighing the risk, Taehyung begrudgingly makes his way back up to fetch some warmer clothes, two extra jackets and a scarf. Then he is off, flashlight app on his phone switched on as he makes his way down the empty streets of Nakseongdae at night. Not a sound can be heard - safe for the constant splashing of waves. Everybody is asleep, all the lights turned off. Taehyung feels like a ghost or a burglar. As if he is doing something severely forbidden. Chills creep up his spine.

He quickens the pace then, walking faster towards the shore, towards the pier that lays dark and foreboding in the black sea under an equally dark, moonless sky. The rotting huts at the end of the pier loom over the pier like crooked teeth of a monster's maw. The wooden planks of the pier seem especially slippery tonight, or maybe it's just Taehyung's nerves getting the better out of him. And as he crouches down onto the pier, in that secluded corner where he can't be seen behind the huts from the villagers of Nakseongdae, he feels as if multiple eyes are staring holes into his back. Feels vulnerable in an unsettling way.

With shaky hands he gets one foot out of its shoe and sock, then dips his big toe in the icy water.

And then... then Taehyung waits.

It's no long before there is a familiar teasing nip at his toe - or, no, not quite. Instead of the barely-there sharpness of teeth, all Taehyung feels this time are plush lips pressing against his skin in a soft, lingering kiss. His smile feels a bit wobbly around the edges when Jeongguk pulls back and pops his head out of the water at last. This guy, really. He never gives Taehyung's poor heart a break. Or maybe Taehyung has just become weak, with how such a small gesture is enough to  melt him away.

He pulls his foot back and shifts until his legs are resting on damp wood and he can lean down with his upper body instead. Instantly, the mer's hands dart out to span his face, thumbs lovingly over his cheekbones while Jeongguk rises up so he can press their foreheads together, the tips of their noses touching.

"Taehyung," he whispers with a richness to his voice that makes the adoration and worry lacing it almost tangible. "Taehyung, my Taehyung, my sweet, sweet pearl, my dearest star. What took you so long? I already feared they locked you away, or worse." His voice breaks at the last word in a way that grates on Taehyung's heart.

"I am sorry," Taehyung breathes. Slips his hands between his own cheeks and Jeongguk's palms to weave his fingers in the spaces between the mer's. "Jimin kept following me all day. I couldn't get past him until just now." As he says it, he pulls away and casts a glance over his shoulder. Gnaws at his lip, then turns back around and flips his legs over the edge before sliding into the mer's strong grasp and the now warm water. Plants a wet kiss onto where he thinks Jeongguk's mouth must be, then tightens his grip around him. "We should probably get going."

Nothing else is said. Jeongguk waits the extra second for him to in a deep breath. The next moment, Taehyung feels the mer's lips back on his, more sure this time, followed by the teasing swipe of a tongue. The all-enveloping wetness of the ocean crashing together over his head doesn't register in Taehyung's head when he feels Jeongguk's tongue plunging deep and hungry into his mouth. One of his hands loosens its death grip on the mer's side to come up and bury itself in Jeongguk's hair instead. He trusts that Jeongguk will keep him close despite Taehyung's own weakened hold on him and the break-neck speed they are cutting through the dark nightly sea with.

There is not a single light down here. Everything is pitch-black, so dark Taehyung couldn't see his own hand in front of his eyes if he tried. No glowing deep-sea fish, no moonlight, not a single star guiding them through this eternal blackness that's pressing in from all sides. And with his faraway siblings covered up by a thick blanket of clouds, Jeongguk himself blends into the dark sea as well. 

Taehyung begins to grow dizzy from disorientation. It is strange, to keep his eyes open against the salty sea and be unable to tell where is up and down. He feels blind, and also trapped, can't see a single thing. All he knows is Jeongguk's touch and taste.

On top of that, he can feel himself running out of air. Despite the oxygen the mer keeps pumping into him relentlessly, a steady stream of bubbles tickling past Taehyung's cheeks, there is barely any left in his lungs. He pinches Jeongguk's side where his other hand is still clutching at him, then draws an upward line on his skin in an urgent manner.

Jeongguk understands immediately.

There is a shift in the direction they are going, followed by the vague sense of slowing down. Moments later, their heads break through the water surface and Taehyung pulls away with a loud gasp.

Except, Jeongguk doesn't let him go far. Gives him only time to in a few breaths before his mouth is already covering Taehyung's once more, their lips moulding together, one of the mer's fingers curled under Taehyung's chin as his other hand wraps around his neck.

Taehyung gasps into the mer's open mouth. Pulls away for fresh air shortly before diving right back in for more. Greed has begun to in his stomach, has him heating up more with every flick of Jeongguk's tongue, every sharp nip at his lip, every harsh , every sweet moan pooling right into his mouth. He digs his fingers into Jeongguk's shoulder as he kisses him back with just as much fervour. Begins to shift his hips in slow circles where he's straddling the mer's tail. The mer's large fins lazily shift behind him with soft splashes to keep them afloat. A guttural groan drips from Jeongguk's lips down Taehyung's throat.

Then the darkness shifts and turns wet again as the mer drags them back under without breaking the kiss. He is relentless with his passion. By the time they seem to have reached the cave mansion, Taehyung's lips are numb. And he wonders if he tasted a hint of desperation from Jeongguk. It's not a thought he wants to entertain for long. He'd hate to be the reason for a negative emotion of any kind tainting that precious sea god in front of him. So he refocuses, pays close attention to how their bodies move together and tightens his grip on the mer again when he feels the impending surge of a water stream carrying them upwards. 

A few moments later, his feet touch cool, smooth stone.

"Gguk," he says around a moan, caught off-guard by the way Jeongguk now at his neck. "Can you see anything?" Because he certainly can't.

The mer hums into his skin and keeps laving at the tender spot.

"Okay, uhm..." Taehyung lightly pats the other's arm. Takes a few deep breaths. The fact that a certain part of his is growing more interested in Jeongguk's ministrations by the second doesn't help him stay focussed at all. His body doesn't know what it wants in general right now, it seems, as there is also a good amount of fatigue weighing him down at this late hour. Is he tired, , or wants to get things done? Uhm. How about one thing at a time?

"Alright, can you-"

Jeongguk slips his now very human thigh between Taehyung's legs. His mouth falls open with a lewd groan.That's not-

He humps down onto the thick thigh, once, twice.

Focus!

"Ca- ahh, can you... get us to one of those, those oil groves?"

The mer kisses up his neck, takes one of Taehyung's - Jeongguk's - pearl earrings in his mouth and tugs, then reluctantly obliges. There is no warning when he picks up Taehyung and hauls him into the air, Taehyung yelping as his feet no longer touch the ground, before he gets caught by sturdy arms and those clawed hands hold him oh-so-gently. His feet are still dangling in the air and Taehyung grapples for Jeongguk's shoulders, neck, anything, as he gets carried through the darkness bridal-style. He feels straps dig into his lower back where the mer holds him and still has Taehyung's bag wrapped over his arm.

Then, with a kiss to his forehead - Jeongguk doesn't only glow at starry nights but also has far better night vision than him, how unfair is that?! - Taehyung gets lowered back onto his feet again. Large hands on his hips gingerly turn him around, one of them wandering up his side and tracing down his arm before taking Taehyung's hand and guiding it until his fingertips dip into oil.

"There," Jeongguk mutters from somewhere low in his chest straight into Taehyung's ear.

Everything in Taehyung burns.

"Thank you."

He shifts until he's half facing away from the grove, one hand still dipped in oil as his other blindly pats around for Jeongguk - his chest, shoulder, arm, Taehyung's bag. He pulls open one of the zippers, then fumbles for the box of matches he brought while Jeongguk keeps holding it for him. Along with the match sticks, Taehyung pulls out the old towel he always packs these days. Wipes his oily hand with it, and then gets to work to light the first match.

Jeongguk's eyes are bright and wide as saucers as the flame flickers to life.

"Whoa!"

The tiny fire reflects in his deep blue irises as specks of orange and gold. Finally, for the first time of the night, Taehyung can see his face.

He lifts his hand and searches for the nearest wick. With a weak crackle, the wick comes to life. Taehyung moves to the next wick. After a few more, the first grove is alight. Jeongguk has watched him with rapt attention the whole time. Trails behind him with barely more space than one step between them, and now makes grabby hands for the match box.

"Can I- let me, let me try, too?"

His fingers have been twitching towards the box a few times already.

Taehyung smiles. "Sure, babe."

He shows the mer how it works. Uses his now burning match stick to head over to the next grove and light a few more wicks. When he turns around, Jeongguk already towers behind him. Taehyung plants the small box in the mer's hand.

"Now you. But be careful not to burn yourself. Don't let the flame touch you, 'kay?"

He plants a fat smooch onto the scar on Jeongguk's cheekbone before taking up his role as guardian.

The mer needs exactly three tries to get it right - the first match stick breaks in two by seemingly Jeongguk just looking at it, the second one he accidentally flings straight into the oil grove - but once the tiny flame flickers alive through his doing, there is that look of pure wonder on Jeongguk's face. He almost goes cross-eyed as he keeps staring at the fire he created.

Taehyung is so smitten. Jeongguk can keep and burn the entire box, if it means he keeps looking like that. The world is beautiful, and so is life, but most of all Jeongguk. He sighs.

The mer turns around to him with his unbelievably round eyes. 

"Hm? Did you say something?" 

Taehyung shakes his head and keeps smiling softly. Watches the mer flit around the big room, happily burning match after match as slowly the entire wall comes to life. He moves over to the smaller room with the sand and heap of pillows, and continues his work there, Taehyung following close-by like pulled on a string. After a while, there are probably a few hundred tiny flames dancing in the night breeze. They cast flickering shadows everywhere and dip their surroundings in dim warm orange light. It makes the giant wave carving in the big room look even more vivid, as if the stone-hewn wave keeps rolling through the cave in a never-ending motion.

Jeongguk has been careful, just like Taehyung told him, and didn't hurt himself with the fire once. He's doing so good.Taehyung is very proud. 

The only thing bugging him is, that, well. The mer has been lighting up all those wicks split-, the only thing covering him being his long hair. And at this point, Taehyung is well past shyly averting his gaze. Which means he's been shamelessly staring the entire time. And the fact that despite his oblivious little happy skips through the room, Jeongguk still manages to look positively sinful with the way he moves so fluidly as if he still were underwater doesn't help Taehyung's situation at all.

Good God. Jeongguk is merely lighting some candles and here Taehyung is, wanting to climb him like a tree. He tugs at his increasingly tightening trousers, hoping for his movements to be subtle.

But of course, when you are Kim Taehyung you never have such luck. Jeongguk notices the small movement immediately, gaze flitting down to the obvious tent in the fabric, then up to Taehyung's eyes, a small smile playing around the corner of his mouth.

"Seems like you missed me in more than one way."

The mer's voice is barely above a whisper yet sounds bright and clear in the room, filling up the space all the way to the high ceiling. The sea beneath them has grown suspiciously quiet, as if Jeongguk has meddled with it. Taehyung narrows his eyes. Cheeky brat. At this point, Taehyung has stayed in the coast village long enough to at least read the most trivial signs of the sea. So he's like 65 percent sure - 67 if he pushes it - that at a night like this, where one can barely see the hand in front of one's face with how heavy the clouds cloak every bit of light, there has to be some wind roughing up the water surface. So yeah, that silence is most likely not normal. Stupid mer power flex. He feels himself hardening just that little bit more.

He finds his voice again, when Jeongguk places the bag on the ground with four empty match stick boxes inside and then crosses the space between them. Reaches out for the mer's hands to weave their fingers together and give a tight squeeze.

"I did," he admits.

Leans in until their noses bump together, then over Jeongguk's upper lip simply because he can, because the mer is as much putty in his hands as the other way around. He gives a peck to Jeongguk's slightly open mouth before pulling back and hooking his chin over the other's shoulder. Begins to fiddle with Jeongguk's hands in his grasp, the pad of his fingers running along the long, pointed nails. 

Jeongguk sighs into his ear, entire body going slack. He turns his head to nose up Taehyung's temple, followed by a kiss brushed there. 

"But you are alright." 

For a long moment the mer pulls away, grasps Taehyung's face in both hands and gives him a long, hard look that doesn't accept anything else as answer than 'perfectly fine'.

"Yeah," Taehyung promises. Gives a kiss to Jeongguk's palm, then peels both hands off his cheeks to take them in his own once more and guide them around his waist. The mer catches on immediately and pulls him in a lose yet close embrace, one hand splaying wide over Taehyung's clothed back, the other wandering down to rest just shy above his .

Jeongguk still doesn't look quite satisfied. "Did something happen?"

And.

Yeah, Taehyung thinks. It sure did.

He hums. "I don't know. Everyone was really weird yesterday. There were lots of folks running around with torches and stuff, like from a mediaeval witch hunt or something. It was super bizarre. And Jimin was, like, shocked to see me alive?" Taehyung huffs and shakes his head. "Honestly, I don't know what to make out of it all."

With each sentence, the mer's expression turns more guarded until he looks almost as unapproachable as during their first encounters. It's a look Taehyung doesn't like on him at all. As if all the walls they've slowly and carefully torn down together have come shooting back up within seconds. 

But maybe it's just Jeongguk's thinking face, he tries to reason with himself. And gives the mer a few minutes, patiently standing there and waiting for him to come back.

It works.

Soon enough, the mer's features clear up - the walls disappearing until he once more is the open book Taehyung has grown accustomed to. "I see," he just says with clipped tone. And that is that. After these two words, he's all warm sparkly eyes, soft features, smiling mouth and all.

Taehyung watches him for a while longer but decides to drop it if that's what Jeongguk wants. Doesn't ask what the mer makes of it - what he obviously knows. Instead, he traces his most beloved stars under Jeongguk's eyes. First with his eyes, then with his thumbs and lastly with his lips. The mer melts in his hold. Slumps against him until Taehyung stumbles a step back. And then another one, because this dude is heavy with all those muscles, until he steps onto a pillow and goes crashing down in the heap with an 'Oomph', taking Jeongguk with him.

They giggle into each other's ears, Jeongguk's long hair tickling Taehyung's neck and making him laugh even more. He cards his fingers through the long, slightly tangled strands of black and wonders if Jeongguk removed the crown to free his hair for Taehyung, after learning a few days ago that the latter liked it better long and open. His chest tightens at the thought, warmth pooling under his skin.

"Look at you," Taehyung breathes. Means not only the way the mer's hair tumbles over his shoulders freely and frames his face in a way that somehow makes him seem like a wild creature from the forest - which couldn't be further off the truth, for Jeongguk, without any doubt, belongs to the sea with every part of his being, not to the trees high above. What he also means is the way Jeongguk's eyes are taking an unfamiliar shade of almost greenish blue in the dim candle light, the way the flames dance in the silver of his broad necklace, how some of Jeongguk's earrings catch just the slightest bit of the light and glisten like secret gems tucked away between all that dark hair, how his gills move slowly with every breath, and how his lips look so damn kissable like this - slightly plumped up and bitten red, glistening gemstones of red by their own. Taehyung's eyes rove over every detail, eager to catch each novelty thing about Jeongguk in candle light from what he can see in this position.

He looks just in time to notice the way Jeongguk gazes down at him, eyes full of rapture and so much endearment he doesn't know what to do with it. It feels like their roles are reserved in a funny twist once more. Where Taehyung was the one doing the marvelling, he suddenly finds himself the subject of admiration.

It's a bit, hm, well. Not off-putting per say, and definitely not uncomfortable. Just maybe disorienting? This was supposed to be Taehyung's ogling time, not the other way round! But, he supposes they can just stare at each other and call it a win-win situation. That'd be fine by him.

Except Jeongguk doesn't content himself with merely watching. Sure, he lets Taehyung look at him for however long he wants. But soon enough, the mer's hands start roaming. He shuffles until he finds a comfortable position between Taehyung's spread legs and then keeps their eyes locked as his fingers creep over Taehyung's trousers. Up his calves in an almost ticklish way, then over his knees and along his inner thighs, slowly scooting closer to the kindling heat between his legs that Taehyung has done such a great job ignoring up to now. These times are over once Jeongguk pushes the heel of his hand against Taehyung's crotch.

Taehyung caves, instantly. Folds over with a whimper, hips bucking up into the pressure.

So Jeongguk does it again.

He keens into the touch and shoots out a hand to grab hold of something, anything, fingers wrapping around the flexing muscles of Jeongguk's biceps. Bites his lips hard when the mer keeps repeating the motion. Through half-lidded eyes he watches the damp spot spreading at the front of his trousers, Jeongguk now palming at the heat between his legs. Taehyung presses up against his hand, mouth falling open in a silent gasp.

The sound escaping him turns wet when the mer shoves his hand into Taehyung's boxers and grabs his , gently.

Taehyung moans somewhere deep in his throat. It's a sweet kind of torture. He drops his head back with a low sigh and lets the mer do as he pleases for the time being. Surrenders to Jeongguk's touch and will, curious to see what the mer wants to do to him.

Confidence looks so damn good on Jeongguk.

The hold around him tightens, and Taehyung gasps. Bows into the touch, entire back lifting up and curving in. His body crackles with electric pleasure. Despite the unusually late hour, he feels more alive than all day. The friction soon turns dry, with only the soft trickle of pre- keeping the slide wet. Taehyung furrows his eyebrows against the unpleasant sting. Tries to ignore it a while longer, concentrate on Jeongguk's touch, on the way his eyes keep him in like they have a tendency to do, until it gets too much.

"Babe," he presses out through gritted teeth.

Jeongguk's entire body stills immediately. His gaze turns searching as he scans Taehyung's face, corners of his mouth pulling downwards when he notices something is off.

Taehyung is quick to hoist himself up on his elbows and pepper reassuring kisses all over the mer's cheeks. Mumbled promises that nothing is wrong slip past his lips, his thumb rubbing soothing circles into Jeongguk's skin where he still got his hands wrapped around the latter's arm.

"This is the point where we can't do without lube any longer," he explains, voice warm and gentle. He knows he has to be patient with the mer, teach him every step properly.

Jeongguk nods seriously. His hands come up to pat Taehyung's clothes in search for the small bottle. 

With a smile, Taehyung shakes his head and nods in the direction of his back.

Moments later, the entire thing gets floated over in a large water bubble that pops open itself, bag falling into the heap of cushions with a quiet 'thump'. Taehyung tugs open one of the many zippers and fishes out the small bottle, then hands it to the mer.

"Why?"

"Because," Taehyung hums as he keeps resting his hand above Jeongguk's before beginning to trace mindless patterns onto the back of the mer's hand, "if the slide is too dry, it becomes... uncomfortable."

He continues to give a quick explanation to the few things they didn't cover before. Jeongguk is sitting in front of him, nodding along whenever Taehyung mentions something new, his expression one of razor-sharp focus.

"I understand," the mer says with strained voice. "I'll be more careful."

Taehyung nods. Uses the way they are both sitting upright ever since Jeongguk fetched the bag to his advantage and presses a kiss against Jeongguk's eyebrow. "Don't worry about it too much, babe. Just keep it in mind, now that you know."

"I will." Jeongguk tilts his head then, and purses his lips. "I didn't know you had to think of so many things."

At that, Taehyung laughs. "It's not that much, really," he promises. "Just some few basic rules. Everything else is pretty much personal preference. You just gotta remember that everything I told you now also applies for here-" one of his hands slips down Jeongguk's back and nudges between his cheeks, the mer's face staining bright red when Taehyung carefully drags a finger over his hole before pulling back- "and that the human body needs time to adjust to intrusions. That's pretty much it," he finishes off. Catches Jeongguk's worried gaze and adds, "Don't worry. I'll tell you if something is wrong. We'll go slow. Anything you want."

That seems to appease the mer, for he nods and his expression lightens up tentatively. "Alright. Thank you."

"That's nothing you have to thank me for, silly. It's only proper I tell you these things."

"Still."

Taehyung huffs out an exasperated laugh. "This is not a competition, baby. I just want the both of us to be comfortable."

"Thank you," the mer says with way too much conviction for the situation. 

Taehyung laughs again and shakes his head. 

 

They don't do much more that night. Taehyung figures that Jeongguk needs some time to think about what he learnt and decides to give the mer space if need be.

The latter is very much not appreciated, for as soon as Taehyung tries to put some distance between them, Jeongguk pouts, then huffs, gets up and plops down into his lap once more. The first time it happens, Taehyung laughs so hard he falls on his side and throws the mer off, who goes down with a loud yelp. The second time, Taehyung takes it into stride and accepts his fate as Jeongguk's personal chair. Just makes a mental note to switch roles next time. Because as much as he likes having Jeongguk on top of him, he enjoys it being the other way round even more.

Jeongguk keeps asking him questions about the human body and how the whole pleasure thing works, Taehyung patiently answering everything while braiding Jeongguk's hair into two simple long braids, only to realise they both came unprepared and with nothing to keep the hair in place. 

He also checks with Jeongguk once if he's cold and would like to put on some clothes. The mer merely shrugs and declares that he's fine, which, yes, he sure is, Taehyung thinks while at his lip. He scans the other's skin for any goosebumps, doesn't find any and drops the topic.

During their 101 questions, when it becomes clear that they won't get physically intimate with each other tonight - because, seriously? Mentally they always are - Taehyung notices at some point that he can hear the sea. Seems like Jeongguk stopped putting a damper on it. That, the distant sound of crashing waves, coupled with the flicker of the many makeshift candles, the soft sound of Jeongguk's voice and the lazy patterns the mer keeps tracing onto Taehyung's clothed body, has his lids growing heavy.

In hindsight, Taehyung wouldn't be able to tell when he fell asleep. It was a natural progression. With his head rolling forward, shoulders sagging and upper body leaning against Jeongguk's, eyes slipping shut slowly as his breaths began to even out. All he remembers are gentle hands threading through his hair and massaging his scalp. Somewhere in-between dreams, he feels feather-light kisses on his closed eyelids. 

His dream is nothing tangible. Just a general feeling of comfort and safety, of warmth. He instinctively knows that he is where he is supposed to be, and that he has nothing to fear, even though his dream consists of nothing more than hues of black, dark blue and green, with only sometimes a sliver of silver flashing up somewhere. At some point, he thinks he's dreaming about the endless night sky with its many, many stars, but he is not too sure. A hot breath blows into his ear and he sighs, shifting in his sleep. His hand squeezes around something, and the something squeezes back. The corners of Taehyung's mouth tug up into a smile and stay like that.

Taehyung wakes up to the feeling of strong arms securely wrapped around him from behind and steady puffs of air tickling his nape. Everything is dark, save for a small stripe of grey on the distant horizon. Taehyung snuggles further into the embrace, eyes slipping shut-

Then he flinches.

"!"

It's only a short word whispered into the silence of the early morning. Yet not even a second later, Jeongguk bolts upright, head whipping around and eyes scanning their surroundings before landing on Taehyung.

Taehyung feels both impressed and apologetic.

"I'm sorry," he whispers and blindly pats for any part of Jeongguk (honestly, all he can see is the glint in the mer's eyes, nothing else). "I didn't mean to worry you. But it's probably more than about time for me to get back when I don't want Jiminie to find out."

Jeongguk slumps against him. Takes a long, deep, hissing breath, then nods his head against Taehyung's shoulder.

"Alright. I'll bring you back."

The second part remains unsaid, and left hanging between them:

'Although I'd really rather not.'

Their way back is quick and swift, with no time for any romance as the first daylight peeks over where sky meets sea. When Jeongguk lifts Taehyung back onto the pier, he gives him one last lingering kiss before pulling away and scanning their surroundings, his entire body alert. It's bright enough for Taehyung to see as much, to notice the tension clinging to every line of Jeongguk.

"Go," the mer urges quietly. "And be careful. I'll wait for you tonight."

Taehyung nods, his throat suddenly clogged. He surges down for one last kiss goodbye, then hauls himself back up and rushes back up the pier on near-silent feet, sneaking down the streets of Nakseongdae like someone who committed a grave sin. 

Or, he supposes, someone who has something to hide.

And at this point, everything in him is straining to do just that - keep Jeongguk's existence hidden from the villagers. Because he's got the unexplainable sense, that, if anyone finds out about the mer, things will become very, very ugly.

Although he has no inkling why.

He manages to get back into his room unseen. The creaking stairs remained silent once again, to his never-ending relief. Not even twenty minutes after he snuck into bed with his heart still pounding nervously, those same stairs creak for the first time that day as Jimin sleepily trudges downstairs to get ready for work.

Taehyung lets out a breath he didn't even realise he was holding.

, that was close.

 

"What-"

Taehyung stares at a smiling Jimin sitting at the breakfast table.

"Aren't you... I mean, don't you have work?"

Jimin laughs brightly, eyes crinkling shut. "Yeah, I thought so too. Got up early as always and was already halfway down the street when I remembered: I have the entire week off!" He beams at Taehyung. "So, what are we gonna do today?"

Taehyung wants to cry.

 

After a trip through Nakseongdae where it seems like Jimin made it his goal to introduce Taehyung to every single elderly people here (and every single one was grumpy as ), Taehyung got an idea how to make the most of it. For today, it's too late. But maybe tomorrow...

If he is stuck with his landlord for the entire week, then he better utilises him to his best abilities.

"Yah, mister tourist guide, sir, do we have a bookshop anywhere close-by?"

Jimin scrunches his nose at the first half of Taehyung's question, but begins to grin widely at the end. "Hmm, good of you to ask me, the best and most competent guide in these lands," he brags. "Coincidentally, there is a great bookstore only two villages away. I can take you there tomorrow."

Taehyung lifts an eyebrow. "Take me, how?"

"However you'd like."

They keep their straight faces for a total of five seconds before Taehyung bursts out into loud, wheezing laughter, Jimin following suit with high-pitched giggles. 

"That- that sounded... s-so wrong... oh gosh!"

"It's not my fault, ," Jimin gasps. He slaps against Taehyung while blinking away tears. "You... you provoked it!"

They keep snickering for the next few minutes until eventually they manage to calm down enough for Jimin to explain that he owns an old moped.

"Not old, that thing is ancient," Yoongi supplies drily at dinner when the subject comes up again.

Jimin snatches the kitten from his boyfriend's lap, sticks out his tongue and then throws a fish bone at him he's pulled out from in-between his teeth a few minutes ago.

"Yah, don't you dare speak ill of Her Majesty!"

Yoongi rolls his eyes. He stretches out a hand to scratch the black kitten behind its ears and smirks when it clambers off Jimin to jump back onto Yoongi's lap again. Jimin watches the whole thing gaping in disbelief while the other bears the most -eating grin.

Taehyung silently face-palms in his corner. These two idiots, really.

After a while, he dares to ask, "So is it safe to drive with it?"

To which Jimin shrieks loudly and jabs him in the side. "My girl is perfectly safe, thank you very much, you idiot! If you don't wanna take a ride together with yours truly, then feel free to find yourself a better guide, yah!"

Taehyung quickly lifts both hands, palms up, and shakes his head. "That's not- I didn't mean it like that."

"Unbelievable, the brats those days," Jimin exclaims loudly. Takes a dramatic sip from his cup and slams it onto the table as if he'd just taken a shot.

Taehyung rolls his eyes. His landlords are both so unserious, really.

 

Jimin keeps his promise and takes Taehyung to the bookstore a few towns over.

The part where he said that it would be a perfectly safe ride, however, turns out to be a complete lie.

The last time Taehyung feared as much for his life as he did riding on that vehicle ready for the scrap heap, was during that breakneck race through Seoul when some insane guy tried to crash into his car with all his might. (The guy never got any prison sentence but only had to pay a fee. To this day, Taehyung is royally pissed about how poorly that obvious attempted murder of him got handled.)

When they finally come to a halt in front of the store - and when he says 'in front', what he means is, they are almost toppling through the door, with moped and all - his knees are jelly. Scratch that, his entire body is made of jelly. Also, he doesn't feel so good.

"You should not be allowed on the street," he mutters through the hand pressed against his mouth. He's trying very hard not to puke right now. Jimin is an insane driver, in the worst sense of the word. "Both your driving style and your ty excuse of a moped are a hazard for road safety."

Jimin gives him the stink-eye and struts past him into the store, nose held high.

Taehyung seriously considers converting to whatever religion on the spot, if it meant that his prayers for getting back in one piece would be heard.

His landlord remains pissed the entire time they spend in the store, both of them slowly making their way through the aisles in silence.

Taehyung buys seven books, and then orders a handful more to be sent to his location in Nakseongdae. The middle-aged bookseller gives him a weird look and asks twice whether he is sure he wants to buy that many books at once. Taehyung simply smiles, pulls out his black American Express card and hands it over to the lady who is now staring at him as if she'd seen a ghost and needs a full minute to accept the card with trembling hands.

Next to him, Jimin scoffs.

"Of course, when Yoongi-bear said you're rich, he meant rich-rich. And you call that being subtle, yes? Great job of going undercover, Sherlock."

Maybe Taehyung blushes a little. Because as much as he does not want to hear those sneers right now, there is truth to them. This... was not exactly the best way of avoiding attention. Cursing under his breath, Taehyung accepts the bag of books and hurries out the store.

Later, when they arrive back in Nakseongdae, he stumbles off the moped the moment it comes to a stand-still, flops onto the ground and kisses the soil while whole-heartedly thanking every entity he knows.

Jimin grumbles that he'll never take Taehyung onto a ride ever again as he rolls Her Majesty into the make-shift lock-up. But seriously, Taehyung couldn't care less. He's not going to get onto that thing ever again. No way. He'd rather walk, or take his own car and search for the right way for three hours.

 

This night, he doesn't get lucky with the creaky stairs. Flinches, then silently curses when the second-last step makes an obnoxious noise, head whipping around to see whether one of his landlords got up.

He doesn't waste any time getting to the pier as silent as possible. The entire way, his nape prickles. Again and again he casts a look over the shoulder, but can't see anyone outside. Yet, the feeling of being watched remains.

Jeongguk wordlessly pulls him into the water as soon as his toes dip into the pitch-black sea. Taehyung barely has time to take a deep breath, before he's already pulled under. The mer's hold on him tightens as he accelerates and propels the two of them through entire worlds of midnight darkness.

 

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Jeongguk's mouth is pressed into a thin, unforgiving line as he cuts through the sea with Taehyung in his arms.

The third time.

It's been the third time now, that he felt someone sneaking after his little star.

He takes another deep breath through his gills and pushes the air into Taehyung's open mouth, their lips tightly slotted together. Needs to hold back with everything he has to not dig his nails into the supple flesh he holds in his hands, struggling to reign in how positively livid he is.

The sleeping sea flies past them, interrupted only by a few blurry schemes of nocturnal fish going on the hunt. They all make space for him. For the mer who's cutting swiftly through the water, tail beating in powerful and fingertips almost going numb from the constant tingle as he pulls at the sea with all his might. The magic courses through him like a constant current. Not much further, and they'll have reached their new cave - this time, without coming up for air. They can't risk it. Joengguk needs to be faster. Needs to reach their destination in one go, without Taehyung running out of breath. Everything else has become too risky as it is. He can't make mistakes now.

When they finally do come up in the middle of a vortex Jeongguk silenced with half a thought between stone needles and high cliffs, Taehyung is gasping heavily.

"Wow, that... have... have you... gotten even faster?"

Jeongguk gives him a cocky smile, hoping that he plays it right. He shrugs, then leans forward to teasingly bite at Taehyung's adorably flushed cheek.

"Just wanted to spice things up a bit."

He can't really tell Taehyung that his true motive is, to make it impossible for anyone to follow them, can he? Not without sounding suspicious. No, no way. He'll just have to treat it as adventurous, fun little thing. And keep Taehyung safe at the same time.

If any one of those vile fishermen dares to hurt a single hair on him-

Jeongguk grits his teeth. Uses the cover of darkness to keep that absolutely murderous glare just for a little while before putting his facial features back under control.

Neither of them is going to get caught by them. Not under Jeongguk's watch. Him falling into the hands of those fishermen for them to do the same cruel things they did to his father is just as unacceptable as Taehyung catching a single scratch. They won't get caught. Jeongguk protects what's his - and if he has to tear an entire coastline to shreds in the process.

 

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Taehyung sits on his bed cross-legged, and weighs the books he bought for Jeongguk in his hands. The pallid late autumn daylight is barely enough to keep his room illuminated at this point.

He sighs, then puts the books away with a last longing look out the window. If only he could see the sea from his room. Instead, he is stuck with a not-so-splendid view of a backstreet and some rocks. It's for the best, he tells himself while subconsciously rubbing his wrist. The past two days he's been writing so much, his hands have started to hurt. If his nose wasn't buried in one of his by now three notebooks filled with handwritten lyrics, he was typing away on his laptop, or recording samples. The framework of six songs is completed by now, and he already sent a few files over to the studio.

Jimin has left him alone for most of the time, only calling him down to come and eat, or demanding from Taehyung to take a stroll around the village to get some fresh air and move his lazy (when the fisherman said the last part out loud for the first time, Taehyung wordlessly went to the door of his room, grabbed the upper frame and did some pull-ups, until Jimin muttered 'show-off' - and insisted for him to take a walk anyway.)

Most importantly, his landlord seems to be more calm now - or as calm as someone like him can be. Maybe 'reassured' is more fitting. Less on edge, like he was when he yelled at Taehyung and asked him how the hell he was still alive. Because during the past days, Taehyung has made no attempt to get close to the sea.

Which, admittedly, was not an easy choice to be made.

Taehyung has been thinking about it. About the strange behaviour of everyone he knew here. And decided, that maybe it would be good to actually take a small break from Jeongguk. Not because anything has changed between them. But because he felt like he needed to take a step back, and if it was only for half a week. There was that nagging thought about how spending his entire time with the same person would make him too dependant, maybe too naive as well. He needed to take these days off for some self-reflection, and for assuring himself of a few things.

In addition to that, it seemed like the safest solution for Jeongguk too. With how weird everyone in Nakseongdae behaves these days, maybe staying away for a while was not the dumbest thing for the mer to do.

When Taehyung told him one night that he wouldn't come for a couple days, of course Jeongguk was reluctant to agree. Scrunched up his entire face as if he'd bitten into a lemon, until ultimately jerking his head in a short nod, still looking greatly displeased.

"Alright," he'd said. "But only if you promise not to get hurt by all means. If you come back, I want you to look exactly the way you do now, you hear?"

Taehyung had given him a kiss on the forehead and linked their fingers together in a pinky promise. "I won't. But you have to swear the same to me."

Even now, three days later, Taehyung imagines he can feel the way Jeongguk squeezed their pinkies together, can still hear the whispered 'I swear, my little star'. He lifts his right hand, thumb over his aching wrist, and presses his lips against the pinkie. Two days. Only two more days, then he'll go back to the pier. That's when Jimin's vacation and Taehyung's self-prescribed time-out ends. Hopefully he won't have to sneak out in the middle of the night any longer then.

But first, he'll have to survive yet another trip on Jimin's ancient moped tomorrow. His landlord declared at today's lunch that he'd take Taehyung for some sightseeing and shopping into a town nearby on Her Majesty. When Taehyung had sheepishly asked whether he could tag along on the trawler instead of riding that... that thing, Jimin had shrieked loudly, pointed a finger at him, and declared that Taehyung was officially banned from setting a foot onto the sea. Which, for one, was the strangest wording of all time. And two, totally not suspicious at all.

Nevermind. Maybe he finds something nice to buy in that supposedly great neighbour town. And maybe by the time they are back, a few more parcels have arrived for him.

 

"I hate you!"

On the front seat, Jimin snickers. "Aw, come on, stop being such a drama queen. This is perfectly safe."

The moped lets out an ugly splutter when he accelerates and speeds over a bump. Taehyung's hold around his waist tightens while he decides whether it's better to squeeze his eyes shut or keep them open. At this point, he is holding on for dear life. They race past a street sign with speed limit way below their current tempo, and Taehyung gulps.

"Yeah, no, I hate you! If we die because of you, I'm gonna kill you so hard!"

 

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Somewhere in a cave hidden deep into the ocean, a lonely mer goes through his fifth shift that day.

Jeongguk grits his teeth against the pain it still brings without fail, and keeps staring into nothingness, his other senses on high alert. He's been branching out his hold on the water's motions all day, everything in him straining for that far-away interruption - that tell-tale shift, when something deliberately breaks the water surface. Or rather, someone. A certain someone, on a certain pier, in the bay of a certain coastal village.

Every day that goes by without the now familiar feeling of Taehyung waiting on the pier for him, stretches long like a year.

Jeongguk frowns at his once again human legs. Keeps frowning, when his scales break through skin with the force of several hundred honed spears in a way that always makes him silently wonder how he is not covered in blood from his hips down, how the treacherous liquid is not coating him as it feels as if he's being ripped apart and sewn together at the same time. It really is strange, he thinks, frown deepening, that not too long ago, passing time was no issue for him at all. And now he is counting each second with bated breath.

His hands curl into fists, a low, vicious snarl rippling out of him. The water in his cave begins to gurgle and slosh, until waves are splashing against the ceiling and battling against the stone furiously. Taehyung better be in perfect health by the time they finally meet again. If but a single hair on his head got harmed, the villagers of Nakseongdae are history.