Chapter 59

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It made sense. It all made sense. Maybe not once he started thinking about it too hard. Once his own emotions and thoughts and feelings added to the mix of what Jungkook had just seen. It no longer felt as reasonable then but Taehyung's emotions, the way he viewed humans and especially how he treated them... made sense. From his standpoint at least. All humans had ever done was take things from him. He'd never met a good person. Unlike Jungkook, who knew many people that were just the sweetest and kindest humans.

All Taehyung had experienced with humans and connected them with were drunk sailors, shabby pirates and shady people who just kept following him around. Curious about the mythical nature of a mermaid. It was no surprise that Taehyung killed humans on sight when all he had ever felt for them was distaste. He'd never met someone he actually liked. But Jungkook also knew that the memories he had seen were no longer quite up to date.

Taehyung had met Yoongi, Jimin's boyfriend, and liked him. And he had met Jungkook, and even if Jungkook still sometimes doubted it... Taehyung seemed to like him too.

It was hard keeping track of his thoughts though, with all the different bits of information storming his head and mixing with his own knowledge. Different parts of Tae’s memories. The medieval town. Taehyung's very clearly out of place asianess and the very amusing lack of awareness he seemed to have of his looks. All the weird looking animals that Jungkook knew all too well, but  realized really did look weird if you thought about it a little more. The guys that had tried to do who knows what to Taehyung. And the submarine that had eventually forced Taehyung into leaving his home.

That couldn't have been too long ago. The submarine had looked relatively modern. The people inside had been dressed in modern clothes as well from what Jungkook had been able to tell. Had they caught Taehyung on tape? It seemed to be the only thing that made sense. The reason for all those other submarines to show up. As well as the fact that most submarines like that probably had a camera installed.

And if they had Taehyung on tape, how come Jungkook had never seen it on the news or anywhere else? Maybe the tape just didn't exist. He certainly hoped so. If not they certainly had caught his face with how long he had been there persistent not to leave. What would happen if they were looking for him?

Probably not a lot, given that Taehyung had been fucking hit by a torpedo and shaken it off as a minor nuisance. Just how strong was he?! Jungkook wasn't even sure if he wanted to know.

His mind was so busy just working through all the emotions and memories that had been added to his own that he barely noticed when Taehyung said his name.

"Jungkook?" There was a short pause. "Are you okay?"

Jungkook must have looked like an absolute mess as he tried to actually understand everything he had seen. Understand the way Taehyung thought. He was grateful, really, for this chance... because for the first time he could sympathize. Now he understood why Taehyung had treated him the way he had in the beginning.

As weird as it was, he could put himself into Taehyung’s shoes if he tried hard to remember how he felt. Tried to imagine himself as Taehyung in the position of seeing a human… possible prey. It was cool and at the same time terrifying how well Taehyung could communicate his emotions and memories if he wanted to. It felt like Taehyung had actually shared part of his being since both scenes from his memories had been relatively long.

“Yeah yeah, I’m fine… that was just… a lot to take in.” He smiled a little awkwardly. He had no idea what to say now. What he could say after such an almost intimate moment. It had certainly felt intimate. He felt like he had seen Taehyung naked in the weirdest way. Somehow the siren had been stripped down to his very being. And Jungkook had felt all of it. “I get it… now.” He hesitated. “I think.”

Taehyung seemed to be waiting for him to say something more so Jungkook continued.

“It somewhat makes sense that you hate all humans now…” Jungkook slowly reached out and placed his hand on Taehyung’s leg. “I’m really sorry all of that happened to you. It’s the worst. Everything with the humans… and Jimin.” Why did Jungkook feel his eyes tear up at the memory of Jimin missing? Why was he feeling like he missed Jimin now? Just how long was this weird connection going to last?

Seemingly noticing Jungkook’s tears, Taehyung leaned forward and hugged Jungkook. e barely registered how weird that was. First the fact that Taehyung was hugging him and secondly that Taehyung was now consoling him over his own loss. This was a fucking mess. But Jungkook just accepted the hug, tightly wrapping his arms around Taehyung. Both because it helped him collect himself and calm down again, but also because he felt like he also had to console Taehyung. Hug him because of how harsh his life had been.

“I’m so glad you got Jimin back.” Jungkook sniffled softly, laughing in confusion. His emotions were all over the place.

But he could feel Taehyung laugh softly too. He probably knew the effect this could have. At least to some extent. Jungkook really hoped he understood and didn’t just think Jungkook was being an absolute weirdo. “Me too… I’m glad he’s still alive.”

Jungkook nodded with enthusiasm, those goddamn tears still in his eyes. Why did he have the urge to send Jimin a message and make sure he was still there and okay?

“I get why you hate humans…” Jungkook started again, trying to distract himself and gather his thoughts. He had to get back to the topic they had originally started with. “I really get it, but please stop killing them even if you do. I know it might have seemed that way in the past because all your interactions were bad, but not everyone is bad. There are good humans too.”

“I know.” Jungkook had somewhat expected that he would have to argue more. To give examples and try to convince Taehyung. He certainly hadn’t expected for Taehyung to just say those two words and be done with it.
His response ended up being a lot dumber than intended. “What do you mean you know?”

Taehyung chuckled, sounding amused at Jungkook’s confusion. He pulled back from the hug, looking at Jungkook with those bright eyes of his. “You’re human, aren’t you?”

Why was blood shooting into Jungkook’s cheeks at that? And why the hell did it make him so happy to be categorized as a ‘good human’ by a siren who’s only standard had been drunks and guys with anger issues?
Still Jungkook continued. “Not just me though. Most humans are at least decent… you stumbled across the worst.”

Taehyung nodded, seemingly in thought. “I believe you.”

Jungkook could feel relief flooding him. There was no need to continue pushing on. Taehyung really just accepted Jungkook’s word for it, and Jungkook knew the siren never lied.

“I know you already told me you spent centuries without Jimin… but how did you cope with that? Being all alone?” Jungkook asked softly, moving a little in the bed to lie down. Taehyung laid down right next to him, their legs touching a little as they faced each other. Jungkook still felt a little emotionally attached to the situation with Jimin.

Now, lying there with Taehyung in a room that was only lit by the moonlight shining through the window, it felt oddly intimate. Especially when Taehyung seemed to actually take the time to think about his answer.

“I… just couldn’t do anything and I accepted that.” He finally admitted after a pause that had been so long that Jungkook had doubted he would end up getting an answer at all. “I just kept myself busy most of the time and tried not to think too much about him. But I really missed him… and I was somewhat redirecting my loneliness by hating humans for taking him from me.” Taehyung chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, I had every reason to dislike them… but I probably wouldn’t have been this angry if it weren’t for what happened.”

Jungkook nodded. He had done that before too. Redirecting his anger at a certain situation at someone who had remotely caused the situation. That was relatively normal. Maybe a bit of a special situation in Taehyung’s case, but still… somewhat human behavior.

“I’m just relieved that you got him back.” Without even thinking about it Jungkook reached out to push Taehyung’s hair out of his face. He chuckled. “I swear to god, this memory thing is messing with my head. Jimin feels like my own brother now.”

Taehyung laughed too and Jungkook was glad to see him smiling like that. His happiness was way better than his sadness.

“It should get better soon.”

“You and Jimin always communicate like that? Isn’t that really confusing?” Jungkook asked curiously, still weirded out by all the emotions he felt towards Jimin that weren’t his own.

“It’s normal for us… we’re used to separating our own emotions. I hope it’s not too weird for you.”

Jungkook instantly shook his head. He didn’t want to discourage Taehyung from doing this again. “No no, it’s okay. I’m honestly happy you decided to share something like this with me… I feel like I understand you more now.” Jungkook hesitated a little. “Isn’t it a little much though… sharing all your thoughts and emotions so openly with me?”
Taehyung nodded. “I wouldn’t have done that with someone else. I trust you.”

Jungkook couldn’t get himself to breathe in. It was even worse when Taehyung moved closer and placed his head on his upper arm, throwing his own arm over Jungkook’s chest. “Goodnight.”

Jungkook just about managed to answer after swallowing hard, his heart thrumming in his chest. What the hell was Taehyung doing?

“Goodnight.”

A/N

Okay okay guys... I'm rlly hyped now! Jk and tae will be going to Seoul as a little trip soon and I have some stuff planned for there that I'm fucking hyped for!

Any guesses what you think might be what I'm looking forward to so much?😖

Also rich kid is this close to reaching 900K and I can't believe that it's only like... 100K from 1 million reads away. Like do you guys have any idea how much that is😭 Honestly if it ever reaches that I'll just roll up and cry skdbsjs

For those that haven't read it (which I feel like are 1% of my readers cuz everyone came from that skdbs) it's a yoonmin texting story that is pretty much my baby just as much as this one is🥺 Like I'm rlly proud of it skdbs If that sounds interesting maybe check it out?👉👈 just if you want of course skxbsnd