▪︎=|Saving It|=|NamGi|=▪︎
▪︎=|Merfolk|=▪︎

°•●•°

People would often say that there's been a mistake in evolution. Why would merfolk mate with sharks of all creatures? Jellyfish, sure. But sharks?

It had created these deep-sea roamers. From far away, they looked like merfolk, but they were far from it.

Yoongi was warned plenty. That he should never go out too far into the deep ocean, as he might never return.

He listened when he was a child. As a teenager, he rebeled.

His scales were popping in with color then, and he was proud of it too, and would always show off his friends out in further villages outside of the reef.

Merfolk often had a combination of their parent's scales. If you bred around enough, you could have children with seven-colored tails.

Yoongi had two. He'd gotten both of his parent's colors, and they matched well. It hurt when his scales first shed.

As children, merfolk their tails are colorless and white, with a flat coating that kept it hidden when hiding.

After the shedding, the scales would be glossy and shiny, with bold and bright colors.

It was one of the very reasons why they were hunted. Sea creatures like shiny things.

Yoongi had always been careful when traversing the ocean floor, looking for shells and other things to sell and trade. Just as today, he'd gone out to find something for his friend.

His webbed fingers strung through the sand, feeling around and flinching when a crab nabs at his hand.

The shell was very shiny and was nearly gold, but always hid beneath the sand and close to the edge of the reef.

It was dangerous, but Yoongi was careful.

It was almost Taehyung's birthday, and he was coming of age! Whatever he got for him needed to be special.

Yoongi curls up on the floor, placing his cheek on the sand and looking out for any shimmering in the dark.

It was scary. The edge of the reef was a cliff down to the deep end, and if you accidentally went too far, the current would drive you deeper.

As the cold water surrounds him, Yoongi shivers, peeling his fingers under the sand again.

There's barely any shiny things.

Did someone take it? He was sure it was somewhere around here a week ago. He should've taken it when he found it then.

Yoongi huffs and pouts, sitting up and looking out to the deep, dark, endless ocean.

What if it fell?

Yoongi gulps at the thought alone. A rare shell for his best friend, fallen down into the dangerous dark.

Shiny...

Shiny!

Yoongi quickly perks his head up. The shell! Laying just barely on the edge between the cliff and him. It's right there for the taking!

The merman quickly swims up to it, hands outstretched to grab it. He can already see the smile on Taehyung's face and the giggles and big hugs he'll get.

But something swoops by, snatching the shell from its spot just as Yoongi's hands scythe the rock.

Shit! No! No!

He has to stop himself, burning his hands on the cliff as he barely manages to slide to a stop before the edge.

His fin just hangs on the edge, his fingers clawed into the sand. His heart pounds in his throat.

What... was that?

Yoongi gulps, peeking his head over the cliff and pulling his tail back.

Just his eyes see the deep below, where the ground can't be seen and everything is engulfed in shadow.

The cold water blows towards him, and just below him, staring back, are two bright yellow eyes, glaring him down.

In its hands is the shiny golden shell, unharmed and heavily protected by the creature's arms. It hisses at him through sharp slotted teeth.

Yoongi quickly pulls his head back.

He lays on the sand, ear pressed to the floor and waiting. Was he in danger? Was he going to get killed?

How did they even get up here?

That... thing... has the shell...

Yoongi flinches when he hears the slight ripping of water as it fades away. It left.

The ceremony was in three days. What would he get Taehyung now?

No... He wouldn't let this thing steal what he found!

But it already swum away. It would be suicide. He'd either get something stupid or risk his life to get something super cool.

Yoongi bites his lip in thought, looking out over the edge once more.

He takes a deep breath and forces himself over the edge, taking the current down into the deep end.

... Bad idea.

Yoongi struggles to swim, flailing his arms and tail around to fight the strong water that pushes and pulls him around like a toy, forcing him deeper and against all things in its path.

Rocks, dead coral, fish he doesn't even know, and eventually into a cave system.

Yoongi's all nauseous and dizzy. He doesn't know which way is right anymore. He doesn't even know if he went the right way.

It's dark. Too dark. He can't see anything but the shimmering of his own tail in the water.

When the current finally, after what felt like hours, seems to lose its strength, Yoongi is covered in bruises and cuts.

Blood slowly leaks from his many wounds, and he whines and holds back a sob when he curls up to orientate.

His eyes can't find an exit. He's stuck with the current on one, and a never-ending cave on the other.

Slowly, Yoongi swims towards the other end, carefully traveling through the small cave.

This was a mistake. He should've just gone back and made a card... Why did he chase after something that he knew he wouldn't get back!

It's not like the thing that took it didn't warn him. That hiss still sends a harsh shiver down his spine.

The cave gets darker the more it continues, and Yoongi is slowly losing hope of ever escaping. He's hungry, and the cold water is ruining his mobility.

"Hello?"

Praying for an answer, another blast of cold water rushes over him.

"Anyone?"

His voice echoes against the walls, his voice cracking as he uses his hands to peel away at the dead coral.

There's a small bit of light, only a small bit.

There's hope!

Yoongi hurries through the cave, reaching out to touch the slight warmth from the end as the cave finally comes to an end.

It... It's a village?

Yoongi looks around, his eyes slowly following the merfolk that swim around, looking at the houses and the small lights from the wavering seaweed berries above him.

Seaweed berries. Yoongi had never seen them before! Taehyung would love one of those!

But... They die in warm climates. It'd be a regular berry by the time he'd come back. If he'd be able to come back.

"You."

Yoongi squeals, holding up his hands and let's go of the berries, feeling a sharp sting against his lower back.

"You're not from here. How did you find this place?"

"Don't even think of lying!"

There's two. Oh God, there's two. Yoongi gulps and nods, hurrying to find his voice. "I followed something! It took something that was mine and I wanted it back! But... well-"

The sharp edge pokes his back. "Return from which you came."

"This is no place for you."

"I know!" Yoongi laughs softly, eyes wide from the anxiety. "But I can't! The water's too strong."

"... Right. Jin, he's not sharkfolk."

"I can tell. But I thought merfolk were... stronger?"

"Maybe he's just weak."

"I'm right here." Yoongi mutters, rolling his eyes before slowly thinking over their words.

Sharkfolk... shark-folk.

Sharks!

Yoongi whips himself around, avoiding the sharp edge in his back as he goes to look.

His heart drops.

Two merfolk in sharp tail armor and armed with spears face him, those same sharp yellow eyes as the ones he saw staring up at him, and dull grey tails with white and blue edges and stripes.

Their tail doesn't move the way he does. They don't go front to back, but left to right.

Sharks. They're sharkfolk.

Bloodthirsty creatures that hunt for sport. That would hunt him for sport.

"Please don't eat me!"

The shorter shark pulls a disgusted face. "You? Ew."

The taller eyes him up and down, chuckling before tilting his head. "I'm not a fan of your type. No offense. You taste bitter."

"You've still tasted us before then."

"Of course." The shark grins. "We need to eat."

"Anyway," the shorter smiles, revealing rows of sharp teeth, "what is it you lost?"

Yoongi looks at them. The taller glares him down like a meal, never losing sight of him and watching his every move. The shorter had his arms crossed, a smile on his soft-featured face.

"A golden shell." He answers softly. "My friend is coming of age, and I need something super special for him. But one of your kind took it just as I was about to take it!"

"Coming of age?" The taller asks, quirking a brow. "So you didn't grab it. It belongs to whoever has it now. You have no right."

"The coming of age is super important!" Yoongi yells. "I can't just give him some... Some random gem! It has to be pretty, and special, and that shell is a perfect final fit for his collection! You only get your spouse once!"

The shorter tilts his head even further. "Spouse? What's that?"

"Jimin, don't."

"I'm curious!"

The taller frowns and speaks before Yoongi can answer. "I'm going to ask you to leave."

Yoongi frowns. He's wounded, and came all the way down here for nothing. Although, he should be lucky he's still alive.

"Now, merfolk." The shark snarls, baring his sharp teeth. "Before I do decide to make you my dinner."

Yoongi gulps, quickly nodding. Leaving without a shell seems better than death.

With the two sharkfolk next to him, many of the roaming sharks glare him down. Back to the cave, where suddenly, another shark approaches them.

"Jin, I need some help."

"Not now, I'm guiding this clownfish back."

The shark looks at him, eying him up and down before he too tilts his head. When Yoongi looks him up and down, his eyes widen.

"You! You took my shell!"

"Your shell?" The shark scoffs. "You mean mine! I found it first!"

The two guards look at each other, shrugging at the sudden argument. They grew up here. Whatever the 'coming of age' was to the merfolk didn't matter to them.

"Where'd you take it! Give it back! I need it!"

"You need nothing but my teeth lodged in your throat! Get back to where you came from and leave me alone!"

"Not without my shell! Give. It. Back!"

The shark hisses at him again. No one in the village would say it was normal. A merfolk and sharkfolk fighting. They rarely saw each other, isolated from the warm coral reef.

"Freeze to death if you want. Stay here all you like." The shark snarls. "You can't survive here."

"I'm not planning to stay." Yoongi barks back. "Give me what I want, and you'll be rid of me!"

They were so different from each other. Merfolk and sharkfolk. Although the same bones, same flesh and same anatomy, there were too many things that separated them.

The dull colors of the sharktails compared to the bright shiny scales of the merfolk. The sharp claws on the sharks and the webs in between the merfolk's fingers. The sharp and quick moving fin of the sharks compared to the soft and elegant fins of the merfolk.

"Should we... do something?"

"Let them have it." The taller shark whispers back. "We have better things to do."

"But his home?"

"He can't swim back either way on his own, and I'm not touching him."

The taller shark slowly swims away, calling out after the shorter when he stays behind.

The merman and shark keep fighting, gathering a slight crowd from a safe distance.

Yoongi has never felt so furious in his life. There was no reason for him to feel this enraged. It was a shell! But it was his shell!

"Get me my shell." He snarls, pressing his fingers on the shark's rough chest.

The shark tilts his head, baring his teeth and pushing the merman's hand away, swaying his tail back to lunge forward and make the fish beg that he never followed him down.

But Yoongi doesn't back down. He mocks the shark's pose and turns his back. "If you won't tell me I'll go find it myself."

"If you get into my house I will kill you." The shark yells, crossing his arms.

"If you give me the shell, I won't have to."

"It's mine!"

"Namjoon!"

The shark turns his head, scowling back at the merman before he twists around and swims away with a growl.

Approaching the shark that called him, his frown never fades from his face.

"You'll get wrinkles."

"Don't care."

The shark chuckles. "You got a new boyfriend?"

"Don't fucking start, Hoseok." The shark snarls.

His friend was a much more lively shark than he was. With more smile and more happiness, he was the one that brought the hunt it's joy.

"It's about time to go prowling." Hoseok smiles. "You up to join? I could use you."

Glancing up at the merman, Namjoon's scowl deepens.

Swimming around like everyone isn't trying to hold back from killing him. A foolish merman. The wounds weren't helping him.

"Sure."

°•●•°

All these houses look alike. Yoongi grumbles under his breath as he passes through the streets, shivering at the cold.

One of guards had kindly offered to show him around, much to the dismay of the other, for if he wanted to stay.

The current was too strong for him to swim back home, so they had to wait. The only way Yoongi would be able to go home is by holding their hands and being pulled lifelessly upstream.

That already took a lot of energy out of a shark, let go taking another merfolk with them for twice the trouble.

The guard, Jimin, was a kinder soul. One who had given Yoongi a homemade coat when they passed by his own house.

It was thin, made of the mossy bushes at the bottom, but it helped a bit. It wouldn't stop him from freezing, though.

"The shell..." Yoongi starts softly. "Where does that shark live?"

"Who, Namjoon?"

"If that's his name."

Jimin shrugs. "On the edge. Right there." He points out to a house behind one of the sandy hills. It's less in the dark and closer to the berries. "But he rarely takes visitors. Ever since his sister died."

Yoongi looks at him. "What happened?"

Again, Jimin shrugs. "No one really knows. She and him left for a hunt and only he came back. The funeral is in three days."

It happened pretty recently. Yoongi frowns. He knew the shark had some anger issues, but he never would have guessed they were caused by grief.

The coming of age was the complete opposite. It was a celebration of life. When your final scale shed and you are ready for adulthood. In most scenarios, partners are already set up, and you'd have a spouse to wed.

Taehyung was one of those lucky mermen. He'd found his husband long ago and they stayed together. He'd be one of the few lucky merfolk.

Which is also why it was so important for Yoongi to find a good gift. It wasn't just for his friend, but for his husband as well.

"Do sharks... do coming of age ceremonies too?" Yoongi asks quietly.

"Oh, no." Jimin laughs. "When we become adults, we go our for our first hunt! If we die, we were not mature enough. If we live, we're free to be on our own and live our own life."

Yoongi twists his head with wide eyes. That sounds terrible. That's way off from how they lived.

"Really? You just throw your own kids to the sharks?"

Jimin quirks a brow with an amused grin. "Yes? We are sharks."

"Sorry, it's something we say at home."

"None taken. That's just the way we survive down here." Jimin smiles. "We don't have it as peaceful as you. We're under constant pressure to hunt and find our food, because we can't live off of plants. We can't rely on our parents to feed us for the rest of our lives."

Yoongi nods. He gets it. The current is so strong, you need the strength to swim it, and the fish are so big you need courage to attempt to kill them.

Being a shark doesn't sound easy at all. It's not their fault they're scary.

"What about the shell?" Yoongi asks again. "Why did he want the shell? Why did he go all the way up to the reef to get it when he could've picked those up that fell?"

Jimin shrugs. "Ask him. He's the one that took it."

The shark suddenly stops and smiles, holding out his hands. Yoongi halts as well, a little confused.

"Until the current weakens, you can't go back home. I've told Seokjin to make you a room in the barracks, so you will at least have a place to sleep! If you'll follow me."

Yoongi nods quietly, looking towards the house of the shark who stole his shell.

He'd get it back.

When he enters the barracks, he's suddenly surrounded by sharks in armor similar to Jimin's, who all glare at him with their fangs bared.

Jimin hisses back at them, quickly guiding the merman to his room.

It's the standard bedroom of every other shark in the barracks, and Yoongi is then left alone with Jimin telling him he sleeps in the other hall and wishing him a comfortable stay.

Taehyung's coming of age was in three days. What would he think if he didn't show up?

With a sigh, Yoongi lays flat on the seaweed bed, curling up and taking the exhaustion as a sign to end the day.

°•●•°

Even when he tries to sleep, that damn shark is stuck on his mind.

There was no excuse for leaving him here another day! Surrounded by predators and bloodthirsty killers!

That shark boy was gonna get what was coming for him. And if he wouldn't give him the shell, then he'll just take it!

Yoongi huffs a determined pout and sits up. He feels slightly bad for wanting to leave. After all, Jimin and Seokjin had kindly made him a place to sleep.

But there's no other way. He doesn't belong here and has yet to prepare everything for the coming of age.

Taehyung must also be worried sick about him.

Yoongi peeks his head out of his room and quickly swims past the many rooms towards the entrance of the barracks, rushing past the dangling seaweed gates.

The shark caves are much darker when it's nighttime. There wasn't much sun to begin with, but now even the cave entrance where he entered through was invisible. The berries were barely giving any light.

His tail was the one thing that lit up where he swum.

He gulps, swimming upwards. The house... Where was it?

Navigating quietly through the many buildings, Yoongi tilts his head when he sees a sparkly through the open window.

Shiny...

Yoongi quickly swims up to it, poking his head through. The shell is right there... on the table.

This must be that shark's house. Well. Of course it is. The shell is right there. Yoongi swims through the door, grabbing onto the cold shell with his webbed fingers and giggling at the sparkly exterior that finally sits in his hands.

When he turns around to swim away and escape, he bounces up against something hard and whines, rubbing over his nose.

His eyes follow the dark grey shadow up to an angry face. The shark that stole from him is right there as well, with bared sharp teeth and bright angry eyes.

"Trying to steal my stuff, are we?"

"It was mine to begin with!"

The shark growls at him. "I found it first. I grabbed it first. It belongs to me."

"I deserve it more!" Yoongi yells. "Taehyung wants this!"

"Does he, or do you? You could've gotten him anything else! A gem from the caves, a berry from our home. Why is it this shell, why can't you go find another?! They grow up there, where you live!"

Yoongi leans back, hugging the shell tightly. He doesn't respond, refusing to entertain the thief.

"Let me have this." The shark snarls. "You can always find another one. I can't. This is the one thing I ask of you."

"My friend is more important."

"More important than my sister?"

Yoongi merely nods, hugging the shell tighter with a pout.

The shark takes a frustrated deep breath, grabbing the merman by his wrist and pulling him closer, drawing a nervous squeal out of him.

Yoongi leans back even more, shivering at the shark's warm breath on his skin.

"My sister died." The shark growls. "I couldn't save her. I was selfish. She deserves the thing she loved the most. From the reefs, where she'd always wanted to go, she always looked up to those golden shells where she could never reach. Nothing ever fell, and she never ended up making the trip to gather it."

"Shouldn't have been where she doesn't belong."

"And where are you now?"

Yoongi's frown softens. Right... He was a merman in shark territory. He doesn't belong there.

"My sister was brave, and she begged me to come with her. To get her that push to grab the shell she saw dangling on the edge. Her one opportunity. And she couldn't make it."

"Namjoon, I-"

"She died from the pressure. Her head couldn't take it and she fell into my arms as soon as she dragged her fingers on the sand." The shark scowls. "That shell is a gift for her."

Yoongi looks up at him with big eyes, still holding the shell tightly.

The shark pushes him back, crossing his arms. "What's your excuse?"

What excuse was there? Loss and birth are two sides of the same coin, and both lay heavy on those who witness it.

He never saw someone die, though. He never had to bury his own brother.

The shark raises his eyebrows, waiting for an answer. His gaze softens when Yoongi holds out his hands, the shell open for him to take.

The merman says nothing, but looks down and raises the shell up to the shark's hands.

With the golden shell slowly being taken from him, Yoongi frowns at the loss of something so precious. But he doesn't need it.

He thought it was pretty, something that Taehyung would like. But this shark had lost his sister. Someone who risked and gave her life to get this shell. It means so much more to them than it ever could to him. A gift is a gift, no matter who given to.

"I'm sorry." Yoongi says softly. "For losing your sister, and for being so stupid about it."

He looks up, seeing the shark staring down at the shell with a sad frown. "You're fine." He mutters. "You didn't know. It wasn't your place to know."

The shark passes him, laying the shell carefully on the table it stood on before, his frown quickly turning into a relieved smile.

"She would have loved to see you, you know?" He sighs. "She loved merfolk."

"Why?" Yoongi asks. "We're the same species."

"Yet different races." The shark smiles. "You shine in the dark, elegance follows you where you go and just look at how tiny you are."

Yoongi frowns. Unnecessary comment.

It was true that merfolk had smaller proportions, so they could be less noticeable in the reefs.

Sharks were taller and slimmer, faster through water to chase their prey. Built for the hunt.

This wasn't right.

A predator and prey, looking at each other, without chasing and fear. Just comfort and safety.

"What part of the reef are you from?" The shark asks. "You don't look like a warmwater fish."

"I get that a lot." Yoongi chuckles. "I'm from the north. My father came from the south, and my mother was always here. My dad escaped the south because of the melting ice caps."

"No wonder that you're able to hold out the cold here."

"Yeah..."

The shark quietly looks him up and down. The scratches on his body had closed, only being covered by a fine red line.

"What's your name?"

The merman looks up at him and smiles. "Yoongi. Jimin already told me yours."

"I expected he would." The shark chuckles. "I'm Namjoon."

"I know." Yoongi laughs softly.

There is a bit of silence. To the outside, it'd look weird. A merman in the cold water in a shark village, where he was welcomed instead of killed.

The shark was expected to have killed him. He wouldn't have been surprised if he did. He was already surprised enough that his head didn't explode when he went to get the shell.

"Why are your scales so shiny?" Namjoon asks suddenly, pressing the edge of his fingers to the soft fade of Yoongi's skin into his tail.

Yoongi shrugs. "When we are young, our tails are white. Or grey. And the older we get, the more our scales come in and gain color. If we take good care of them, they'll be shiny forever!"

Namjoon tilts his head and hesitantly lays his hands against the fins, flinching at the delicate texture and pulling away, scared to tear it.

"Why is it fuzzy?!"

Yoongi bursts into laughter, shrugging his shoulders again and reaching out to touch the shark's fins as well. "They just are. I got my mom's fins. They're petal shaped, and very thin. They get me a lot of control over the way I swim." He smiles. "Why are yours so hard?"

Namjoon looks down and looks back at him with a shy smile. "It helps us swim faster. When we swim, our upper body stays straight, so we need the water to be out of the way so our tail can catch the extra speed."

"And why is your skin so rough?"

"We... don't need it to be soft?"

"And your eyes?"

"To see better in the dark."

"Your claws?"

"Do you really want an answer to that?"

"... no."

Namjoon chuckles softly and glances away. He was curious. Of course he'd be. That merman probably never thought he'd see a sharkfolk in his life.

"Would you like to go hunting with me tomorrow?"

"Huh?" Yoongi looks up at him with big eyes. "But I'm no hunter! And I can't swim out there!"

"I'll hold you." The shark grins. "As long as you hold onto me, you won't fly away."

"What about going home?"

That's something that skipped the shark's mind. Home. Yoongi didn't belong here. In the cold darkness of his own, surrounded by dim light and predators that could tear him to pieces.

Namjoon frowns, fidgeting with his claws. Then, with a deep sigh, he grabs Yoongi's hand tightly and begins dragging him to his door.

Yoongi squeals, trying to pull his hand away from the strong grip, but Namjoon doesn't budge and slowly begins tugging him to the cave.

"Namjoon! Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm taking you home."

"Why?! What about my friend's gift?!"

Namjoon turns his head to glare the merman down, baring his teeth. "You can't stay here."

Yoongi scowls back. "I know that! It's the middle of the night! I can't get out there in the current! I'd die!"

"That's why I'm here." Namjoon says softly. "Hold onto me, and I'll take you back up to the reef."

Yoongi looks at him. He doesn't really know what to say. This sharkfolk he was fighting over a shell not even a few hours ago is now offering to bring him back to his home.

There was a kind, caring layer under the shark's rough skin.

Namjoon averts his eyes back to the cave, hesitating before entering it. His grip tightens on the merman's hand, glaring into the darkness like it'd change anything.

He's scared. Nervous. Chills run down his spine when he thinks it over. When he went to grab the shell, he nearly passed out. That was just him alone. Now, with a merfolk attached to him, one that couldn't fight the current, he could risk his own life.

Was it a good idea? Absolutely not.
Would he still do it? Absolutely yes.

Namjoon pulls Yoongi closer, wrapping the merman's arms around his waist and glaring down at him.

"Hold tight."

He wraps one of his arms under Yoongi's arms, taking another deep, relaxing breath before he enters the cave.

The pressure is immediate, pushing both of them back to where they came from.

Namjoon swam this every day, but the weight was something else. This was new. He clenches his jaw, pressing Yoongi tighter to him and feeling the merman pull himself closer, hiding from the water.

With short, heavy breaths, Namjoon finds the light at the end of the tunnel and quickly swims upwards against the stream, immediately regretting not calling Seokjin or Hoseok to help.

It forces him back, barely moving. At night, things stay in place.

But he isn't one to quit. Yoongi's nails tear into his skin when Namjoon grabs him with both arms, swimming up alongside the rocks, taking cover when necessary from a burst.

Yoongi gets a break too at those moments. His skin feels cold from the pressure, but the heat of the reef is slowly drawing closer.

And after an hour of trying and hiding, Namjoon feels his lungs tighten. The current has grown weak, and carrying Yoongi along was easier now that the merman could weakly swim with him.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Yoongi holds his hand. "It's okay if you wanna go back. I can handle it."

"I'm not picking you up from the bottom of the ocean." Namjoon growls. "Until you cross that cliff, I'm not leaving." Every word leaves him short of breath.

Yoongi sighs and nods. It wouldn't be long. He can already see the sandy cliff he dropped from.

What an adventure that would be to tell Taehyung.

Whenever he looks at the shark next to him, he can see that Namjoon doesn't wanna show that he's having a hard time. His chest rises and falls extremely fast, his eyes squinted against the warm water that surrounds them.

So, Yoongi does the only thing he thinks of. He grabs Namjoon's hand tighter and drags them to the rocks, using the edges to climb up and over to the sandy shores he's used to.

Nothing had changed.

Namjoon stays by the cliff, taking quick drawn breaths. His head swirls and spins, the pain of the pressure pushes him to nearly pass out.

Without a single word, Namjoon looks up to see if Yoongi was safe, and when the merman smiles at him, he turns and quickly drops himself into the current, swimming back to home.

Back to where he wouldn't die.

Back to the cold, dark home where once a warm and shiny merman infiltrated.

He'd miss that kid.

He doesn't even look back to see Yoongi smiling down at him, laying down on the sand and embracing the warmth.

He'd miss that cold shark too.

°•●•°

The very next day, Yoongi rushes back to the beach. He said hello to Taehyung, who asked him where he was. He only beat around the bush.

He still needed to find a gift after all.

When he gets to the beach, something immediately catches his eye.

A familiar golden shell, just barely on the edge.

He smiles and gently grabs onto it. It's still cold from the sharkfolk village.

"You found it."

"Namjoon?"

The merman peeks his head out over the edge, smiling brightly when a familiar face smiles back at him from the cliff.

Namjoon pants, his breathing is quick and he seems in pain, but his smile is genuine.

"Your sister though..." Yoongi says softly. "What about her wish?"

"She'd prefer to have seen you." Namjoon answers shortly. "I ask you to come by... If you can. Tomorrow. We changed the date so you can still go to the ceremony of your friend."

"Namjoon..."

"Be at the burial." The shark mumbles quietly. "Please."

Yoongi only smiles at him, reaching out his hand over the edge, which Namjoon carefully takes.

His bright hopeful eyes look back into those of the merman, who nods at his request.

It's like all the weight of the water shifted. The relief, the sudden burst of happiness.

"When do you expect me there?"

"I'll pick you up." Namjoon answers quickly. "Be there when the sun sets."

Yoongi nods, promising he'll be there, and then slowly lets the shark go.

There's happiness in him somewhere. And he hugs the golden shell tightly, feeling the remaining touch of Namjoon's claws on his fingers.

He'd be there. Hopefully more than just these two short visits.

▪︎=|The End|=▪︎

Questions of the Chapter:

Why do merfolk and sharkfolk live separated?

What happens to merfolk during their Coming of Age?

Why was the golden shell so important to Namjoon?

Why was the golden shell so important to Yoongi?