A smile....Jungkook couldn't believe it. The merman actually smiled at him....

The vampire smiled back and spoke up again.

"can I come closer? I will go sit down on the stone bench over there" Jungkook asked while pointing to the small stone bench near the edge of the water.

"...Yes..." Taehyung said and watched the man intensely until he sat down. "why... Why umbrella?"

"oh...This uuhh...I uh, don't like the sun. I have uh...Allergies' ' jungkook had to quickly make up a lie. And it went horrible, no way taehyung would fall for that.

"oh...You're strange"

"me? Really? Huh. I guess merman's their world is very different indeed. Well here on land I am not that weird. There are a lot like me"

"I know what you are," Taehyung said.

"what. How-"

"Your eyes are very red....They glow under the shade of your umbrella." Taehyung chuckled shortly.

"oh...Then I guess I won't have to hide it from you. But please, I really mean no harm. I'm not a vampire that will eat you. I'm just me, i won't harm you, ever '' Jungkook quickly started to save the situation again. This time before it could go wrong.

"flower..." Taehyung pointed to a group of dahlias that grew from the ground a few meters from the water edge. Too far for the merman to ever get to.

"You like those too?"

Taehyung nodded.

The vampire smiled and stood up. Walking over to the flowers and picking a yellow one with his free gloved hand. With the flower he walked over to the edge of the water and bent through his knees, holding out the daliah.

"here, you can have it" he said. Looking at the merman hoping he would take it. "a gift"

The merman hesitated at first but then he slowly swam towards him and reached his hand up, taking the flower from the vampire. Immediately he gave them distance, this time not as far as before. This time it was just a mere meter.

Close enough for Jungkook to admire his details. His skin looked so unique. With its faint scale texture with a blue-ish glow. His wet white hair that stuck to his face, and then the eyes.....Oh my the eyes.

The most enchanting eyes jungkook had ever seen in his time on this land. Clear and bright baby blue eyes. Almost pale. If you didn't know mermaids existed , someone might mistake him for a blind person.

But up close you can clearly see he isn't blind. His eyes arent foggy. They are so clear and sharp, these eyes were watching him.

"Thank you." Taehyung said and let the flower float on the water before his head. Watching it dobber in place.

"you're welcome. You have beautiful eyes. I now can see them up close. And really, they are pretty"

The merman blushed and lowered his face in the water to hide his shy smile and cheeks.

Jungkook melted at the reaction. Taehyung was a cute one.

"uhm, soo....You read my letter. How? Where did you learn to read?"

"My parents taught me." Taehyung came back up to answer. "we read under water. We write. Mostly to leave messages or mark a location. We know more than humans expect us to" Taehyung said.

"that's amazing. I never thought your kind would be busy with such thing."

"but im not perfect at it yet. But at least I know what I need to know to live down in the waters. That's all i need.'' Taehyung then asked something in return. He wanted to keep the conversation going, the vampire was actually really nice company. He wasn't like the others. Jungkook seemed actually nice. "and you? Where do you come from?"

"me....Oh uh, i came from the noth. The mountains. Me and my family moved here to be closer to the city and have a warmer environment. I lived here ever since."

"Where are your parents now?"

"uh....Somewhere...Somewhere they are free."

Taehyung tilted his head. "you look....Sad"

"im not...Well I am but. It's in the past, it's alright" Jungkook waved it off. "what about yours?"

"they are at home. Home is not here. Its far into the ocean, '' Taehyung pointed into the distance.

"do you ever see them?"

The merman shook his head. "Not really, maybe one day i go back.

"oh, I see" Jungkook thought for a moment. "aside from flowers. What else do you like?"

"fish....And...Uh... Games.....Collecting pearls and coral"

"That sounds lovely."

"You like pearls?"

"I guess. I don't really have-"

Without letting him finish the sentence Taehyung came closer to the grass and placed a few pearls in front of Jungkook's shoes waiting there for a reaction.

"oh....Peals, for me?" The vampire held the umbrella in his other hand and picked up the four pearls. They were pretty, that such small things could be such a big treasure.

"Do you like?"

"Yes, thank you" Jungkook smiled and put the pearls in his pocket. "you're very kind"

"kind vampire" taehyung smiled.

"oh, I forgot to ask. Why are you here in these waters when there is a whole ocean? It's not safe to live so close to humans." Jungkook asked, getting a bit more serious again.

"nice flowers.... And, you're not human, "Taehyung said, the smile still on his face.

"First you were scared of me, and now...Not anymore?" Jungkook was surprised.

"just a little." Taehyung smiled. "but, you're interesting. You feel...Different." the merman stared at the raven for a few seconds before adding, "you're no bounty hunter"

"i'm not no. I hate them, so we have that in common."

"They murdered my friends not too far from here, i.....Got too scared to go back home." Taehyung said softly.

"I'm sorry....." Jungkook felt hurt hearing that. He might be a vampire but that doesn't mean he doesnt have any feelings. Right now he felt anger to these hunters and sadness for the merman.

So, Taehyung was kind of stuck here?

"no hunters get here. But I will make sure they will not even get a chance to. You are safe here near my house. Please, you're welcome to stay"

"Thank you..... Why are you being so kind?" the merman smiled a little.

"Because I want to be your friend," Jungkook replied. Holding mentally his heart for a positive reply.

"oh, i...I-ill try"

"that's enough for me for now. I know i'm not a human or merman like you, but i really mean what i said." jungkook stood up. When he did so the merman frowned his eyes looked sad.

"you're.. Leaving?"

"i thought you might want me to. Its been a while already."

"stay, talk to me more"

Jungkook's cold heart melted at the soft eyes and voice of the merman. Immediately he sat back down, this time at the edge of the water with his legs crossed. He let the umbrella lean against his shoulder and folded his hands in his lap.

"Okay, what do you want to know?"

The merman smiled and swam a bit closer leaning on his arms on the wet sand under the water. They were not more than a meter apart now.

"everything, but first.....Hmm...Tell me about yourself, who are you?"

A more difficult question to answer than the vampire expected.

What was there to say? That his family is murdered, that he kills others and feeds himself from their corpse, that he plays the villain role he is really well or just that he likes violence.

He probably better leave those out and try to think of some positive things....Hmm.

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Thank you for reading, see you in the next chapter!

Sorry for the weird chapter. The beginnings of stories are always so hard for me. 😭 I struggle so much to write the first chapters. But i promise it'll get better when we get more into it.😭✌️🏻

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