"As promised, I would show you my room one day, right?" Jeongguk asked Taehyung, who sat in the bathtub with his tail draped over the edge.

The human every now and then cupped his hands in the water, pouring the liquid over the part of the tail that didn't fit in.

Taehyung nodded quickly, big, curious eyes looking up at him. "Oh, yes! Yes please! I want to see!"

Laughing, Jeongguk went to grab a few towels. "Alright, but we have to pat your tail a bit more dry, first. I can't have water everywhere."

Taehyung nodded again, grabbing the towel out of his hands.

Eventually, he started to giggle again when Jeongguk picked him up. He shivered, feeling his hand under his tail and the warmth that came off of him.

"Close your eyes." Jeongguk whispered, watching Taehyung do as instructed. He smiled, opening the door to his room with his foot.

He stepped towards the bed, gently placing the blue haired male onto it who gasped at the sudden softness.

"You can open them!" Jeongguk announced.

Taehyung gasped again, glancing all over the place. When his eyes fell onto the gifts he gave the male, however, he grinned widely.

Jeongguk watched his curious orbs go from one place to another, a feeling in his chest he couldn't quite describe.

Seeing Taehyung there, right on top of his bed, in his fully ocean-themed room that reminds him of the male at every centimetre, it felt oddly complete.

It was all he could ask for.

He sat down next to the male, chuckling in peace knowing Jimin was safely downstairs right now chatting with Seokjin.

Everyone was safe.

And, right now, better than ever.

He squeezed next to Taehyung on the bed, turning onto his side since there wasn't any space otherwise. His eyes danced over his beautiful tail, gorgeous fins and cute face with matching expressions.

"Ooh, what is that thingy over there?" Taehyung kept asking curiously, causing Jeongguk to smile every single time.

The merman felt his cheeks heat up, feeling Jeongguk's stare bore right through him.

"W─what?" He squeaked, turning his head to face him.

Big mistake.

Their noses were now touching, mouths mere inches away from one another.

Taehyung froze. His breath hitched in his throat and his heart started to do flips.

"You're adorable." Jeongguk answered, moving his head back a little.

The blue tailed wanted to pout. He missed his chance.

But then again, what would Jeongguk even say after? He is human, Taehyung knows he can't expect him to take the kiss just as serious and be bound to him forever.

He could only wish.

He figures that the human wouldn't want to get stuck with him anyway, so he swallowed back the urge to give his very first kiss and heart fully away to him, no matter how sure he is of his decision and how badly he wants to.

"Thank you for fulfilling the promise.." Taehyung whispered, going in for a hug.

Jeongguk grinned, his arms finding their way around the male instantly. He didn't bother to let go either, which only fed Taehyung's fantasies of being able to stay like this forever and do much more than that, too.

The merman shuffled closer to Jeongguk, deciding to just take the opportunity since nothing would ruin their moment now. He had nowhere to go back to.

He's already home.

He flipped on his stomach, Jeongguk now a little more under him on his back whilst he hid his face in the crook of his neck, giggling.

The human laughed at that, fingers threading through the boy's hair and gently massaging his scalp.

"What happened that made you say you can't go back there?" Jeongguk suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

Taehyung sighed, squeezing his eyes shut and inhaling his comforting scent.

"They found out. I broke all of the most important rules, and my punishment was going to be the death. I had twenty minutes left, and decided to break one more rule and went out to see you for the last time. But.. other humans found me instead, and I ended up─ y'know.."

Jeongguk's heart dropped hearing the information.

"Tae.." He sat up, facing him. "You're safe now, okay? I'll never let anything bad happen to you. I'll make sure of that. Over my dead body."

Taehyung smiled, looking down bashfully. "You make it so hard to resist.." He whispered.

"Resist what?" Jeongguk asked curiously, cocking his head to the side.

Taehyung looked back up, staring into his eyes. Slowly, his gaze fell upon his lips, lingering there for longer than what would be considered just friendly.

When his blue-hinted orbs met the other's brown ones again, they knew.

All of the unspoken words had been shared through one specific glance.

This wasn't just friendship between them.
Secretly, they had both known that for a long time already.

Jeongguk smirked seeing Taehyung's flushed pink face, reaching his hand out and pulled Taehyung in by the back of his head.

The merman gasped quietly, his fantasies suddenly so close and within reach.

The human rested his forehead against Taehyung's, letting it linger there for a second or two before speaking up.

"I find it hard to resist, too."

Freezing in place, Taehyung's state only worsened when he felt a soft, gentle pair of lips on his forehead pecking him.

Their moment didn't get to last long, since Seokjin shouted, "Jeongguk! Your phone is ringing!"

Groaning, he dragged himself out of bed, scooping Taehyung up in his arms after.

"Here you go." Seokjin handed him his phone after he placed the merman on the couch.

Glancing at the number, his eyes widened.

"It's Bang Si-hyuk! Shit! What do I do?!" He panicked.

Seokjin gasped, "Pick up! Pretend as if nothing happened!"

Doing as told, his trembling thumb slid the call to the right and he felt like throwing up hearing his boss's voice.

"Ah, Jeongguk!
I'm just calling to tell
you to be at the company
around two o'clock, as
the reporters will be there then.
I'm almost there, I'll be starting
with the necessary preparations."

Jeongguk wanted to sigh out in relief. Thank god he hasn't found out yet.

"Sure, I'll be there." He answered, uninterested, knowing the day would go entirely different for him.

"Don't forget about what I told
you about the contract, Jeongguk.
Don't violate the rules, or else."

The boy rolled his eyes.
"Right. I won't. How could I?"

He could hear some shuffling on the other side of the line. A few doors opening and closing and some muffled voices.

Now, he grew nervous again.

It didn't take long before he could hear all the hell that broke loose. His boss obviously forgot to hung up.

He started screaming, ordering people around.

"WHERE ARE THEY?!
FIND THEM!"

Seokjin pat Jeongguk's back, noticing his demeanor. The younger could see the elder mouth the words "Don't worry, remember the plan."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE ARE NO FOOTAGES?! THOSE DAMNED CAMERA'S AREN'T THERE FOR NOTHING!"

Jeongguk stifled on a laugh, knowing fully well that Seokjin called up a very trusted friend of his who hacked into the company's system, deleting the evidence.

Eventually, his boss apparently found out the call was still going and spoke up again.

"I know it was you, Jeongguk! I saw the way you looked at them!
You'll pay for this!"

"Pay for what, exactly?" He retorted.

"Don't you go and act
dumb with me now.
I know what you did!"

Jeongguk smirked, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm just an eighteen-year-old boy who knows nothing about how the world works, remember?"

"JEON JEONGGUK!"

Bang Si-hyuk was raging, shouting out loud.

"I won't be afraid to rat
out the existence of
your little tailed friends!
Don't you think this is over!
We're far from done, you and I!"

"With what, exactly? You have no legitimate proof left. You only have your words, but who's going to believe a soon sixty-nine-year-old man?"

Jeongguk shook his head with a proud glint in his eyes, knowing that along with the mermen, he took the rest of the evidence from the other room with him aswell. He had burned all of it as soon as he got the chance.

It was absolutely hectic on the other side of the line. The boy only laughed at that, finally feeling powerful after all this time.

"Trying to get everyone aware of the real-life existence of fairytale creatures will only get you locked up in the mental institution. Good luck trying to bribe your own way out of there," He chuckled, continuing.

"Even if people would believe you, don't you think it's stupid for another reason? You're so keen on getting filthily rich like you claimed to get, even if authorities would try to search for them, the credit wouldn't go to you. You wouldn't make any profit out of it, as you wouldn't be the one to find them. You wouldn't want that now, would you?"

He can hear the ragged breaths coming from the other. That's how pissed he is.

"You fucking little shit─!"

Before the man could continue, loud background sounds made him drop dead silent.

Sirenes and the sound of doors barging open made Jeongguk look up at Seokjin with hopeful eyes.

"POLICE! PUT YOUR HANDS
ABOVE YOUR HEAD
WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"

With that, the other's phone violently tumbled to the ground, shattering to pieces and ending the call abruptly.

"Fuck, yeah!" Jeongguk jumped up, high-fiving Seokjin who performed a joyful little dance along with him, causing both of the mermen on the couch to laugh at their antics.