Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The whole of the ocean swells to one song. Silky dark waters glitter under the moon and night time-quiet clouds pass by in greeting. Beneath the glossy surface scores of sea creatures drift among one another with a serenity unfound on land. It’s cool and tranquil. Deeper below, a grand ship floats in the midst of it all, a strange and wonderful magic omitted in its presence. The water thrums with pulsing power and enchantment, and a wizard stands in the epicentre aboard the vessel.

The wizard’s name is Seungmin, an infamous name among the oceans for his union with the beautiful and untouchable Goddess of Mercy and the Queen of the Sea. The pair had been a devastating couple, glorious and omnipotent, bringing life to the underwater world. Their divorce had shown just how powerful the Queen was alone, and Seungmin had taken a step back into murkier waters lest he muddy the Queen’s light.

Seungmin had remained a caretaker of the sea and used his magic to imbue the ocean with vital energy and strength, ensuring the flourishing of even the most unusual and enigmatic creatures within. Though he cannot breathe underwater, this barrier is easily resolved by use of his magic and he spends the vast majority of his time beneath the waves.

His home aboard the underwater ship is a safe haven for fauna of all aquatic varieties, each saturated with the empowering magic of his potions upon arrival. He lives a quiet life, spending hours perfecting elixirs and tending to the ocean. He doesn’t mind it — he gave up the chaos of the human world long ago. And he isn’t entirely alone, he cares for his and the Goddess’ children wholeheartedly, if a little too protectively.

The children of the Queen of the Sea live as glimmering goldfish in the sanctuary of Seungmin’s ship. The eldest of these children, Han, is a figure of tenacity and transcendence among his siblings. It was only expected that he would outgrow their home and feel the desire to venture out into open waters.

While Seungmin is occupied on the bowside deck of the vessel, that little fish makes his way to an opening in the side to begin his adventure. Han has been confined to the ship for the majority of his life so far and his body hums with restless energy. He cannot help but feel that there is somewhere out there that he needs to be.

His siblings seek to follow him, fins fluttering with excitement, but they are too small to join him on this journey and he bids them farewell. Han swims as surreptitiously as he is able, hiding behind the bodies of large rockfish and sleeper rays. Seungmin turns with a wary expression and he is sure that he has been caught, but an olive flounder swims in front of him and successfully conceals the little goldfish.

There is so much to see in open water and his fish eyes struggle to take it all in. All colours of fish and kelp are everywhere and he feels a bit small for this adventure. He is also not used to swimming this far all in one go and he finds himself slowing down. A bloom of jellyfish floats in his direction and he decides to settle on top of one and rest a little. It is soft and the gentle propelling of the jellyfish as they drift along is comforting.

They go higher than Han has been before and pass schools of minnows during their climb. The refraction of morning light through the glassy water’s surface dazzles Han. He has not seen the shining beams of sunlight since he was in the Queen’s arms, just born. It’s breathtaking.

 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

 

The seaside town sits nestled along the coast and between sunny bays bursting with life. This town is renowned for its prolific fishing port and marine activity, the bays providing sheltered anchorage for fishing boats and sailors. One long, worn road connects the bays around the headland, the view from here vast.

Han does not know how long he slept for on the back of the jellyfish, but soon they are drifting towards one such bay and he can begin to hear the sounds of the boats. A huge shadow looms overhead and he sees the underbelly of a fishing boat. His eyes go round at the size of the machine and when it passes it's both a relief and disappointment. His curiosity knows no bounds and though he knows his father only means to protect him from such beasts, he cannot help but be fascinated.

The jellyfish swims higher still and Han emerges with trepidation above the level of the water. Before him, he can peek out and see the end of a small promontory. There is a hill with a house on its peak and soft grasses waving in the wind. The peninsula curves around to meet the rest of the headland further away. Something seems to call him towards it.

He thinks he sees a figure at the top, but a group of anchovies suddenly swim past him, splashing up water and jumping nearly into the air in their haste. Han looks behind him and wilts at the imposing bow of a boat coming toward him. He leaps off the jellyfish and into the water, swimming as fast as his fins will carry him. It’s murkier here, churned up mud from the sea floor agitated by the ships.

The boat behind him has a large and sweeping net dragging along the shallower seafloor, and all manner of objects that Han has never seen before are being swept into it. Hard and sharp artefacts are disrupted and floating free and fast and so too are smaller fish and crustaceans. Minnows swim alongside Han in their attempt to escape this destructive machine and the spinning propellers urge Han to keep away.

He is not fast enough. The net gets closer and closer and Han has to dodge items being thrown up at him. He does not know what is going on but he is frightened. Maybe he should have listened to his father after all if this is what the rest of the world is like.

A clear glass jar comes hurtling toward Han and he is too slow to duck beneath it. It lands on the front of his body, enclosing him and trapping his fins. He starts to panic and he cannot move as he is swept right into the midst of an endless amount of junk. He’s pushed to the edge of the mass and using the strength in his caudal fin he manages to emerge from the pile between the ropes of netting.

The jar makes it exceedingly hard to move and he flounders along the seafloor in his panic. It eventually becomes shallower and he bobs along with the direction of the tide. It seems he has gone straight from one confinement to another and he despairs at the thought. He trusts that the waves will bring him to safety and gives in to the flow of the sea. There is not much else he can do.

Chapter Text

Minho steps outside, barefoot, into the bright sunny day. The ocean glistens and his dark hair flutters around his head in the wind. He often dips his feet in the water at the start of a day to ground himself, but today he feels an even more pressing urge to do so. Chan has always found this habit a bit strange, but Minho is strange normally. It gets him out of his head and into his body in a way that no other method has, and as a dancer he likes to be able to know and respect his body well.

He walks with adept feet down the short, steep path from their house to the edge of the water. It’s not a beach, barely even a cove, but he can see the horizon and feel the cool breeze so it suits him just fine. His soft, casual clothes rustle with his movements.

“Minho,” Chan calls from an open window on the side of the house as he winds down the path. “Don’t be too long down there, eh? I've gotta get to work soon if you want a ride.”

Minho hums and raises a thumb in confirmation that he’s heard. His steps are quick and he climbs over a large rock and onto the sandy part of the shore where the waves lap up to meet him. With a soft exhale he submerges his feet into the water and feels relief wash over him at the sensation, closing his eyes. The world suddenly feels a lot bigger and kinder than his mind convinces him.

A nagging feeling forces him to reopen his eyes and he squints out into the water. A shimmer of red and gold catches his gaze but he cannot make out what it is despite the glassy clarity of the sea. It rolls a little under the surface and he takes a step forward.

As he approaches his heart quickens and a foreign impulse overtakes his limbs, urging him forward. With furrowed eyebrows he sees the distorted shape of a jar. His hand reaches down unwittingly and he lifts it with careful fingers. He gasps softly when he sees the fish trapped inside and his heart thumps with a sudden panic.

It’s not like he is unfamiliar with sea life, but his body seems to react on its own to this particular creature with an intense desire to save it. With trembling hands he tries to grasp its tail fins gently and tug it from the jar but he is terrified of hurting it. He looks around frantically to see if there is anything he can use to extract the fish that is probably suffocating out of water when all of a sudden a wave swells in the water and rushes toward him.

Minho hastily leaps back up to the rocks as it crashes forward and he barely misses the spray of foam. His brows furrow again at this bizarre behaviour but he has a more pressing matter in his hands. He can’t seem to think straight as his whole body rebels against his mind in its urgency to release the goldfish and before he knows it he’s taking a rock and breaking the glass jar.

A shocked noise bubbles out of his throat when he realises how easily he could have crushed the creature within but this feeling quickly subsides when he takes in the sight before him. The goldfish is small, only somewhat bigger than the size of his hand, and its scales glisten in the sunlight. He carefully picks away any stray shards of glass and lifts it up in his palms, a wholly encompassing sense of wonder taking over his being.

He hadn’t felt it when it happened, but a pearl of blood had squeezed itself from a new cut on his thumb. It must have been the glass. He winces at the sight and watches it roll down before suddenly being licked away by the goldfish in his hands. Minho yelps in surprise — do goldfish even have tongues?

His exclamation prompts another massive rolling wave to rush up the shore and he scampers away up the path, fish in hand.

Chan’s voice bellows from the top of the hill again. “Minho! C’mon we’re gonna be late! You can have a swim later.”

Minho feels more alive than he ever has and a broad grin overtakes his face when he realises the fish hasn’t suffocated. He ignores Chan’s calls and runs up to the side of the house, leaving the volatile waves to crash hopelessly against the bank.

The wind has heightened and Minho feels like he’ll nearly tip over as he reaches the outside tap. He grabs the bucket from beside it and fills it as Chan starts their scrappy pink car. He tenderly places the goldfish into the water and waits with dread for it to move.

Slowly, it tilts upward to face Minho. His eyes widen. The next thing he knows the small fish is squirting water directly into Minho’s face from its mouth and Minho doesn’t have the heart to feel upset when relief washes over him. The fish starts swimming around in the bucket and Minho is incredibly endeared.

“Minho!” Chan yells for probably the millionth time. “I’ve got a job, you know!”

Minho is uncharacteristically jubilant and waltzes down to Chan with the bucket in hand. “Chan! Look at this fish!”

Chan looks at him with equal parts concern and shock. “What the fuck Minho? Put it back?”

Minho looks like an arrow has shot him through the heart. “No!”

“Why not?” Chan queries, despair written on his features.

“It… I just need to look after it. I can’t tell you why I know this,” Minho tries to explain. “I just… need to.”

Chan chuckles disbelievingly, motioning to Minho to get in the car. “Alright, you weirdo.”

 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

 

Seungmin waits on the funnel deck of his ship as the enchanted waves he’s sent attempt to retrieve his child. He stands above the surface so that he can see, though his ship remains underwater. Han was behaving recklessly and Seungmin is terrified as to what the Queen may think if he has failed to keep one of their children safe. The waves return empty handed and Seungmin is afraid as to what this means.

“Did you find him?” he asks, tone bordering on desperate.

The waves convey their message back to him and Seungmin tries not to react rashly when he learns that Han was captured by a human. The waves look sheepish.

Seungmin touches his forehead in frustration. “A human… oh this is bad. This is very bad.”

He gestures for the waves to depart and sets a course for the mainland. His mind is racing and he steers the ship to the peninsula with the house on the hill. It’s all he can do to not contact the Goddess of Mercy for help — he knows he needs to sort this out on his own.

Getting off the ship onto stable land asserts how accustomed he has grown to sea legs and he stumbles as he takes a step. Not only are his legs bearing new weight, his body has become reliant on the water of the sea. To resolve this impediment he uses a contraption designed to spray water and prevent him from drying out on land. Sometimes being a sea wizard is more hassle than it’s worth.

He manages to climb up a steep path to the top of the hill, slightly eccentric suit jacket be damned. There he sees a small, somewhat decrepit pink car with two figures inside. The bulkier one in a nice shirt steps out when Seungmin approaches.

“Hey, you’re not using weed killer, right?” the man asks. “We don’t use that around here, it’s bad for the soil.”

Seungmin is aghast at the suggestion. He has not spent his entire life devoted to the protection of the ocean and Earth for someone to accuse him of using weed killer. “This is the purest ocean water on the planet!” he asserts.

“Okay, cool, mate,” the man says, getting back in the car. “Have a good one.”

Before Seungmin can react they’re driving away and he catches a glimpse of the other person, hunched over a bucket.

“This is bad. This is very, very bad,” he mutters to himself.

He sprints back down the hill with minor wobbling and steps back aboard the vessel. He needs to follow that car as quickly as possible, or he could lose Han forever. And then what will he tell his divorced spouse?

He remains on top of the main cabin of the ship as it slowly submerges deeper into the ocean, though with enough space for Seungmin to keep his head above water and pursue the little pink car. The winding road is fortunately visible from the sea and he travels closely in the same direction.

As he nears the harbour of the largest bay, the water grows noticeably grottier and he begins to find himself jumping sideways to evade rubbish piling up in the bay. It reinforces his distaste for human consumerism and the lengths he has gone to to tilt the power back in the direction of nature.

When he had lived amongst humans there had been nary a day when he wasn’t appalled at the utter apathy so many held for the environment. A disconnect had been forming between the source of all life and human egos, and he believed it would ultimately result in their downfall.

As a young man, Seungmin had left human civilisation in order to attempt to nurture that relationship anew. He had journeyed out to a remote island, a decision that his community were shocked by, in a last ditch effort to find some sort of answer among the wind and waves as to what to do.

It was there that he had met Hyunjin.

Initially, he had spotted him by a rock pool close to where Seungmin had set up camp. He’d thought that he had finally begun hallucinating in his reckless and despairing state. Long, coral locks of hair flowed down his back and soft, sheer fabric swathed his form.

He was breathtaking.

He lost sight of the stranger when he let himself blink and did not see him again for several days. Sometimes the beautiful figure watched him from the sea, sometimes closer on the cradling rocks of the island. The sightings became more frequent and it was not long before Seungmin finally spoke to him.

“Are you just going to keep spying on me?” he yelled out at the stranger one day.

They were several metres away, Seungmin on the sandy shore and the figure peeking around a shallow rock.

“Who are you?” Seungmin tried.

When he didn’t reply immediately Seungmin chose to be patient. He did not want to risk frightening away this mysterious being.

He stepped closer, toes dipping in the water. From up close, he could make out the wonderfully plush lips and dark eyes, dazzling eyes the stranger possessed. A single mark below one such eye the only indication that he was not made entirely of porcelain.

“You’re human?” the stranger finally said. His voice was melodic and sounded the way a shell does when you listen to the entire ocean in its chamber.

“Yes.” Seungmin nodded. “You’re not.”

“No,” he smiled.

From there, Seungmin and the stranger began to tentatively learn about one another over many weeks. Seungmin learnt that his name was Hyunjin and shared his own. He learnt that Hyunjin was the Goddess of Mercy and soon to be Queen of the Sea. He learnt the lines of his face when he smiled and the sound of his laughter. He learnt the grace of his limbs and the power in his soul.

They fell in love, over time.

And here Seungmin now stands, dodging plastic bottles and storage containers in the soupy liquid of the bay. He can’t lose Han too.

 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

 

Chan and Minho drive along the winding headland road. Chan is generally a cautious driver but today they’re in a rush and the bucket water swishes from side to side. Minho doesn’t drive, and he doesn’t particularly want to. He’d claim environmental consciousness but really he’s just scared.

“That guy was almost as weird as you, Min,” Chan laughs. “Crazy outfit too, I bet Innie would like it.”

“Mmm,” Minho murmurs, enraptured by the swirling goldfish on his lap.

“So, why are you bringing that thing with you?” Chan asks. “Not sure if the university would appreciate it.”

Minho hums. “I don’t know.”

“Is everything alright with your classes? Felix? Your teachers?” Chan pesters. He can be overprotective of Minho even though they’re practically the same age. It’s true that he has an actual job and Minho is still mooching off his income for the most part, but he doesn’t need to treat him like a child, especially when the man he’s dating is younger than them both.

Jeongin and Chan met soon after Chan moved to the town, many years ago now. They hit it off over their shared love of the sea — for Chan it reminded him of his childhood hometown. Jeongin would take Chan on trips on his little sailboat and they grew fond of each other. As soon as Chan realised Jeongin liked him and he finally stopped treating him like a younger brother they were inseparable. Until Jeongin got a job as a sailor and had to leave for weeks at a time.

The house that they’d bought on the top of the hill had been dirt cheap at the time, something they’d never expected to find. It had needed a lot of work but Chan had taken charge and with the help of his friends and the seemingly endless community members he knew they could live comfortably.

Minho had come into the picture slightly later, having known Chan for a while but never would have suggested living together if Jeongin hadn’t convinced him. The three of them were close and Jeongin was worried Chan wouldn’t look after himself properly while he was away. Minho had been reluctant but it made sense and was financially and physically convenient so he’d agreed.

While Minho definitely did most of the cooking around the house, Chan slipped into an almost parental role around him which was endearing. They both looked after each other, and Minho was content.

The road twists and turns and Minho gazes out at the blue morning sky. He loves the sky almost as much as the ocean.

“It’s a pretty fish,” Chan comments, glancing over.

“Yeah,” Minho breathes.

“I hope that ship doesn’t come into the dry dock before we get there,” Chan says, pointing out to the distance. “I really can’t be late today, Changbin will kill me.”

“Doing something important today?” Minho asks.

“Radio show with Chaeryeong,” Chan confirms. “And we’ve got some new tracks that we wanted to try out with her too.”

“Cool.”

Chan begins to dig one handedly around in his bag, eyes on the road. “I brought some of the leftover kimbap for breakfast since we were running late, you should have some before you go.”

Minho wordlessly takes the tupperware and places it between them, pulling out a piece for himself. Chan eats while driving in a skilled show of multi-tasking. The thought suddenly occurs to him that he has no idea what the fish in the bucket eats. He doesn’t want to kill it but it’s looking at him with those eyes that Minho is so drawn to and he thinks he could risk it.

It’s then that he notices that the cut on his thumb had disappeared without even a trace of a scar. What a weird fucking day. Carefully, he tears a piece of nori from his piece of kimbap and offers it to the fish. It turns away from him so Minho eats it himself. He extracts a few grains of rice and once again holds it out to the goldfish, who swoops it up.

“Good choice, a staple food,” Minho approves, and feeds the rest of the mildly seasoned rice to the goldfish who accepts it all with vivacity. “The fish likes rice,” he tells Chan.

“Do fish even eat grains? Wouldn’t it like the actual seaweed more?” the older man queries.

“Maybe the fish is sick of eating seaweed all day,” Minho suggests, never taking his eyes from the colourful creature in the bucket. As a loyal cat lover he has no idea why he is so obsessed with a fish now.

“Do you wanna at least name the fish?” Chan asks. “It’s weird just saying ‘the fish’ if you’re gonna keep it.”

Minho thought about it, watching it swim in circles in the bucket. “Maybe… Jisung? I’ve always liked that name.”

“Like, ‘wisdom’?” Chan ponders.

“Yeah, I guess so. I have a feeling this fish will teach me a lot,” Minho says sincerely. “And I’m now dedicated to looking after it.”

“Okay, buddy. If you’re sure.”

They rush onto the waterfront path and manage to cross the dry dock before the container ship reaches them.

“See ya, Chan!” one of the women controlling the crossing yells.

Chan waves back at them and Minho is once again astounded at how many people in this small town he knows.

This little routine continues for the rest of their drive through the town centre as he greets other passing people out the window. It’s as embarrassing as it is endearing for Minho.

From this side of the bay they’re able to see their little house on the hill across the water. Minho lifts the bucket up to show Jisung. “It’s our house up there.”

Chan slows as they reach the small town campus where Minho studies dance. Living rurally makes study difficult but he’s content where he is, and Chan conveniently works next door at the local radio station.

He parks and grabs his things. “Gotta go Minho, see you later!” he says as he rushes off, leaving Minho in the car. Minho hears him yelling a greeting to Sana, one of his oldest friends and colleagues.

Slowly, taking care not to jostle the bucket, Minho gets out of the car. He feels awfully silly with his fish but for a reason he cannot explain he can’t fathom leaving it. Picking up his bag, he begins to carefully walk across the carpark to the campus on the other side.

Chan’s radio co-host Changbin and their friend Chaeryeong walk past Minho and he thinks he hears them say hello but he’s too concentrated on not spilling any water to respond. He takes a side path up to where his classes are to try and avoid gaining unwanted attention. He doesn’t know how people will react to Jisung.

It’s only when he is actually nearing the building that he suddenly wonders why the fuck he’s bringing a fish to school. He barks out a laugh and looks at Jisung who stares back at him strangely. What is he doing? He tries not to overthink when he steps back towards one of the bushes on the side of the building and brushes leaves to the side to put the bucket down.

It may be hidden amongst the branches but Minho remembers the times he’s fed stray cats in the area and his stomach lurches in fear about one finding Jisung. He’s already running late for class by this stage, so he resorts to placing some of the larger leaves over the opening of the bucket. Jisung looks up at him with big questioning eyes and his heart tugs painfully in his chest.

“You’ll be alright, Jisung,” he murmurs. “I’ll come right back as soon as I can.”

It hurts to leave the goldfish tucked into the bushes but Minho scampers away before he can think too hard.

Walking through the main doors he sees Yeji and Ryujin walking toward their shared class and offers them a smile. A moment later Felix comes bounding towards him with his usual excitement.

“Minho!” he says with glee. “Guess what!”

Minho internally chuckles at how openly he wears his emotions. “What?”

“I’m going on a date today!” he sing-songs. “I got this new top to wear!” Felix gestures towards the silky blue garment and Minho can tell he put more effort into his makeup than usual.

“Congratulations,” Minho says. “You look pretty.”

Felix grabs his arm to lead him through to their class and Minho suddenly feels sick at the thought of being so far from Jisung. He knows the feeling is entirely irrational, and that he’s worried about a fish, but it gnaws in his gut and he can’t listen to whatever Felix is chattering about.

“I’ve got to go,” he says abruptly.

Felix looks at him with a confused expression. “Yeah, to class?” his brows furrow deeper when Minho shakes his head. “You feeling okay today?”

Minho wrenches his arm out of Felix’s grasp and walks back the way he came. He ignores Felix asking after him. As soon as he’s out the main doors he runs back to the bushes where he’d left Jisung. He practically dives into it and brushes away all the leaves he’d covered the bucket with.

What he finds is an unmoving goldfish and tears prick his eyes as he gasps. “Jisung!” He dips his finger into the water to touch the fish, a deep fear burrowing in his stomach. When Jisung finally moves he feels like he could sob in relief, and if a couple of tears do escape his eyes there’s no one around to see it.

Except that at that moment he feels a presence behind him and feels a hand touch his shoulder.

“Minho, is everything alright?” Felix asks. His voice is laced with worry and he crouches down beside his friend. Minho feels the urge to hide Jisung and hurriedly pulls the bucket into his body to conceal Felix’s view.

“What’s that?” Felix softly questions. He tries to peek around Minho’s torso and Minho feels irrationally defensive.

“Nothing.”

Felix predictably does not take this for an answer and ducks under Minho’s arm to see. He loves the man but he is too curious for his own good.

“Holy shit! A goldfish?” Felix gasps in awe. Minho groans in exasperation. He doesn’t know why he feels the need to keep Jisung a secret but he has an unsuppressable desire to protect the fish and keep it all to himself.

“When did you get it? Where from? Why is it here?” Felix barrages him with questions and Minho blinks dumbly back at him.

“It’s called Jisung,” is all he manages to say. He moves back a little to let Felix see.

“It’s so adorable!” Felix squeals.

Minho grins. “Yeah.”

His face falls however, when Jisung turns away from Felix’s unwavering stare for seemingly no reason. Felix looks deeply saddened and Minho is confused.

“Does it not like me?” Felix asks. “Oh no, how am I meant to go on a date when I can’t even get a goldfish to like me?!” He flails his arms around in his state of turmoil until he is met with an unexpected stream of water in his face. He yells in surprise and Minho watches in horror as Jisung squirts water down his front, drenching his new top.

“Shit!” Felix exclaims, eyes wide at the soaked fabric.

“What the fuck, Jisung?” Minho hisses at the fish that turns its nose up in the air and swims around disgruntledly in the bucket. “I’m so sorry, Felix.”

Felix puts on a brave smile. “It’s okay. I’m just gonna go and…yeah. See you tomorrow.”

He waves and Minho feels awful. He’s not going to be able to go to class like this, when he can’t bear to leave the little goldfish for even a few minutes. He makes up his mind and decides to go find Chan and see if he’ll drive him home. He’s too scattered to get any work done.

Holding the bucket tight to his chest, he wanders back the way he came to the neighbouring radio station.

“Now, what was that all about, Jisung?” he mutters. Jisung just gazes up at him with big eyes and Minho can’t find it in his heart to be upset. The fish shoots a tiny spray of water onto Minho’s cheek and it’s so endearing he laughs out loud.

“Yo, is that Minho’s voice?”

He turns the corner and sees Changbin sitting on the bench outside the station with Chaeryeong. They’ve got notated sheets of paper in hand and pens poised in position.

“What are you doing here, Minho-yah?” Changbin asks. “Don’t you have school?”

“Uh,” Minho says eloquently.

“What’s in the bucket?”

“Um. Fish,” Minho says, again very eloquently.

Changbin stands and steps forward. “What? For real? Why?”

Minho shrugs.

“Woah, look at this Chaeryeong, Minho’s got a goldfish!” Changbin beckons her over and they both approach and look into the bucket where Jisung swirls around.

“It’s so pretty!” Chaeryeong says with a wide smile.

“I named it Jisung,” Minho tells them.

“You’re so fucking weird Minho,” Changbin laughs, but his smile is quickly wiped off his face when he’s covered in water by an angry looking Jisung. “Ah! The fuck—”

“Jisung!” Minho balks as yet another of his friends is attacked by the sweet little fish from the jar.

“Maybe you should put it back in the ocean?” Chaeryeong suggests and Minho sees red. How dare they even suggest that?

There’s a nagging feeling in the back of Minho’s head that he’s being totally irrational and he has barely known Jisung for a few hours. But for some reason he just cannot fathom being apart.

Minho leaves them in a storm of emotions and hears Chan emerge from the station to find out what all the noise was about, but he doesn’t turn around to explain himself. Instead, he crosses the road to the waterfront with the bucket and takes the stairs down to the beach.

They’re old and growing mussels and oysters and the beach is only rocks, no sand, but he’s glad to be finally alone with his thoughts. And Jisung.

He glances down at the goldfish and the churning in his stomach eases. He can vaguely hear Chan calling his name from back up at the radio station but he doesn’t want to think about that now. He hopes Chan doesn’t reprimand him for letting his fish spit on his friends.

Minho climbs over a few of the rocks nimbly, avoiding the sharper barnacles. He reaches a caved off chunk of rock and ducks beneath it to hide and breathe a little.

“Minho! What happened mate?” he hears but his head is dizzy and his ears have only just stopped ringing in the cool, damp underneath of the rocks.

“It’s okay, Jisung, I know you didn’t mean it,” Minho whispers. “I’m gonna keep looking after you so don’t worry.”

He feels stupid talking to a fish. But there’s just something about the energetic little goldfish that makes him feel that maybe it’s okay.

He nearly drops the whole bucket onto the rocks when he hears a, “Minho.”

Minho blinks wildly staring directly at the goldfish that he swears just spoke. What the hell even is this day? Is he actually still sleeping? He’s about to pinch himself when Jisung speaks again.

“Minho!”

Minho can’t help the beaming smile that erupts on his features as he confirms that it was in fact the fish that said his name. And if it’s all a dream then he can worry about that later.

The goldfish speaks again. “Jisung!”

Minho nods and nods. “Yeah!” He points to himself. “Minho.” He points back at the fish. “Jisung.” He giggles hysterically.

Jisung seems to be staring right back at him when he says, “Jisung loves… Minho!” And then Minho swears he does a flip. Like, a little fish-flip in the water of the bucket. Minho is gaping at the entire situation.

“I will love you too,” he breathes, absolutely enthralled.

Jisung continues to jump around in the bucket repeating his love for Minho and all Minho can do is grin stupidly. This really is the weirdest day.

He’s torn out of the moment when waves begin to rush toward them with abnormal ferocity, ripping across the rocks and directly to them. He yells as the dark waves crash into him and engulf them entirely in a swirling few seconds of absolute chaos. He feels the bucket rip from his hands and then as quickly as the waves had arrived, they’re gone.

He’s standing, eyes squeezed shut and arms outstretched as though he were still holding Jisung when the water of the bay draws back out, and Jisung is gone.

“Jisung?” he calls frantically. “Jisung?!” His eyes scatter across the open water and he catches a glimpse of the strange man who had stood in front of their car this morning, and then he, too, submerges below the waves.

That man has stolen Jisung. He’s stolen Minho’s Jisung. Tears spring to his eyes and he’s wading directly into the ocean before he knows it. He seems to have completely forgotten that although he loves the sea, he was never taught to swim. And in this moment of utter vulnerability he can barely see in front of him, let alone tread water.

He spots the bucket bobbing on the surface and his heart rises in chest only to be shot down when he grabs it and sees that it is empty. He continues to yell Jisung’s name out into the ocean, waves splashing around him and getting into his open mouth. He’s choking and spluttering and he needs to find Jisung.

Minho barely comprehends when strong arms are wrapping around him and pulling him out of the water as he holds the bucket tight, tight enough that Jisung might come back. Chan lifts him up and swings him over his back, carrying him away from the sea and away from Jisung.

Minho can’t see through a thick veil of tears and his breaths are short, but eventually Chan sets him down on the bench outside the radio station. He sees Changbin, Chaeryeong, and Sana all watching him warily. Minho closes his eyes.

He sits there in a state of despondency for what must be hours. He doesn’t get why this is affecting him so much but he can’t bring himself to do anything right now. Chan seems sympathetic but also confused about his unusual behaviour.

Eventually Chan finishes up with his work and they drive to the supermarket to pick up some groceries. Chan also buys him a sweet treat to try and brighten his mood. Minho licks solemnly at the ice cream and says nothing. He knows that he's being childish but Chan doesn’t seem to mind looking after him.

They take the usual winding seaside road home and Chan tries to console him.

“You know, maybe this is gonna be a good thing,” Chan tries. “Jisung is a fish, and fish like to belong in the sea.”

“No, he belongs with me.”

Chan sighs and leaves it alone. Minho doesn’t know why he said that.

The evening sun tinges the sky gold and it reminds him of Jisung. The waves glitter.

“I’m sorry, Minho. But Innie’s finally coming back home tonight! That’ll be nice, hmm?”

Minho hums back.

They pull into their park and Chan single-handedly carries all the shopping bags up to the house without complaint. Minho pauses at the top step to look out across the ocean. Jisung is somewhere out there. He decides to leave the bucket on one of their fence posts so it can be visible from the sea. If Chan notices he doesn’t say anything.

Usually Minho cooks for them both but today Chan takes it upon himself to make their dinner. Chan’s phone rings while he’s got his hands full and Minho begrudgingly answers it for him. It’s Jeongin and he greets him warmly.

“Hey Minho!” Jeongin returns over the line. “Is Channie there?”

“Mhmm, just cooking. He’s good.”

“Good. Well, Min, I… I caught a second run and I have to take it. I won’t be able to get back tonight, I’m sorry. I can signal you when we pass, though!” He does sound genuinely sorry and Minho feels for him.

“You should tell him yourself,” Minho says, eyeing Chan’s back warily. He’d really missed Jeongin over the past few weeks and he does every time he’s away. While it sucks to hear them making up for lost time at night when Jeongin is home, Minho is silently happy for the pair.

Minho hands the phone over and walks back over to the couch where he lies down and listens to Chan talk.

“Hey, baby. Mhmm. Yeah we’re good.” There’s a longer pause and then, “What!?”

Minho winces.

“Innie, this can’t keep happening — let someone else take it!” Minho rarely hears him shout but it’s understandable. Jeongin is a severe people pleaser and all too often gets roped into longer trips. Chan misses him badly when he’s away, but there isn’t anything he can do.

“Fine then! Abandon your partner and friend up on a cliff all alone!” Chan punctuates it by hanging up and slamming his phone on the table. Chan isn’t a violent person but he stomps back to the kitchen and flings open the fridge to grab a can of beer loudly.

Minho sinks into the couch.

By the time the sun has fully set, Minho has joined Chan in his room to try and catch sight of Jeongin’s boat passing. He learnt how to use morse code on the signal lamp for them and he’s thankful now because Chan is lying on the floor feeling sorry for himself. It’s not his typical character but Minho knows he really misses Innie and it’s coming out in anger and dejection.

Minho looks carefully through Chan’s binoculars to see if he can spot Jeongin’s ship and sees one with a flashing light in their direction.

“I see him,” Minho comments. “Wanna signal back?”

Chan makes a refusing sound. Minho knows that he will regret this and keeps his eyes peeled to make out the words being spelled out.

“S-O-R-R-Y,” Minho reads out. “He sounds sorry.”

Chan stands up to work the lamp and Minho watches him write out a variety of insults. It’s kind of funny and he knows he doesn’t mean any of them, he’s just frustrated and lonely.

Minho reads Jeongin’s response, telling Chan he loves him. Lots and lots. Chan responds with more insults, stubborn as ever. Minho’s eyes sparkle when all of the lights on Jeongin’s ship spark up in a dazzling display for them.

Chan sniffs and it sounds suspiciously like he’s trying not to cry, then turns and heads back inside. Minho signals well wishes for Jeongin telling him to stay safe, because he is feeling soft. Jeongin thanks him and the ship finally sails out of sight.

He walks back over to Chan and sits on the bed beside him where he lies.

“He’ll be back before we know it,” Minho murmurs. And maybe he’s trying to comfort himself as well. “He loves you.”

Chan turns and wraps his arms tightly around Minho, putting on a brave smile. “Thanks, Min.” He squeezes him a little too much for comfort but Minho lets him. “And I’m sure Jisung will be alright too.”

 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

 

Jisung is furious. He had finally managed to communicate with his new favourite creature and then there his father was to ruin all his fun. Seungmin has confined him to some sort of magical bubble that wouldn’t pop no matter how Jisung pushes and shoves at it, and then dragged him back home despite his protests.

Now Seungmin is trying to explain away his actions and Jisung is fed up.

“It’s not your fault,” Seungmin says. “It was my mistake to expose you to magic, and I take full responsibility for that. You’re far too young.”

Jisung huffs at that comment.

“You’ve seen what humans are like!” Seungmin argues. “I use this magic to keep the whole ocean in balance and I cannot have you off gallivanting with those creatures. It’s their fault we live this way.”

He still has Jisung confined away from his siblings and he can see them all watching with worry and intrigue. Jisung is petulant about the whole scenario.

“You have to promise me,” Seungmin continues. “That you will never go back to the surface again. For your own good.”

He tries to feed Jisung through the bubble. “Come on, Han, you must eat.”

Jisung shoves his nose up at it.

“What’s the matter now?” Seungmin exclaims in exasperation.

“I want rice!” Jisung declares, shoving away Seungmin’s attempt to feed him.

“What?” Seungmin utters back. “You ate human food?” He steps back in horror. “Basic, but okay. What else did you eat, Han?”

Jisung slowly turns to him. “My name,” he enunciates. “Is not Han. It’s Jisung now.”

“Jisung?” Seungmin says in surprise.

“Yes, Jisung!” he exults, swimming around in excitement at the mere thought of his new name, bestowed upon him by that beautiful creature. “Jisung loves Minho! And I will be a human just like him!”

Seungmin stumbles backwards. “Human?! No, no, no, you have seen what humans do, Han! The mess they create! They are disgusting creatures and you are lucky to not be one of them!”

Jisung’s siblings watch the interaction with awe.

“They treat the ocean abysmally — your home! Have you learnt nothing?” He takes a deep breath. “I know this. I was once human. And I left to escape that hateful heritage, to serve the Earth and have a chance of saving it before it is too late.”

Jisung rolls his eyes, distracted from Seungmin’s repetitive spiel. “But I want hands! I’m sick of flippers! And feet! Like Minho!”

Seungmin’s face reddens in frustration and he slams the nearby wall. “That is quite enough, Han!”

But this outburst does not deter Jisung in the slightest. The little fish scrunches up his face in concentration, pushing all of his power into his body. His siblings clamor at the sides of their dwelling in fascination and exhilaration as they watch the oldest of them devote all their energy into transformation.

Jisung tightens and tightens until his flippers give way to the beginnings of legs and Seungmin looks on in horror. His pectoral fins become arms before their very eyes and Jisung’s face lights up in accomplishment.

“I did it! I made hands! And feet, too!” Jisung jumps for joy trying to push his way out of the bubble.

“No — Han! Did you taste human blood?!” Seungmin cries.

“I’m going to Minho!” Jisung shouts back.

“No! You’ve made a terrible mistake!” Seungmin puts both hands on the bubble and squeezes. “Stop it, stop it now! Revert. Revert.”

Jisung battles against his grasp with all his might, putting all of the strength he has into resisting his father’s pleas.

“Revert.” Seungmin drops one hand and Jisung thinks he’s won, but Seungmin reaches for the elixirs lining the walls and drinks from them to their glass bottoms.

“Let me go! I want to see Minho!” Jisung hollers when he is given a moment to breathe, but his father is too powerful now.

He rests both palms over Jisung and pushes them inward while Jisung is useless to resist. His body slowly returns to its previous state, unconscious.

“You cannot be human and magic at the same time, sweetheart,” Seungmin murmurs. “Be still.”

The wizard lets out a long sigh. “He’s already too powerful,” he mutters under his breath. “Just like Hyunjin.”

He picks up Jisung and takes him towards his siblings, pressing him into the larger bubble where they congregate. “If only you could remain innocent and pure forever.”

Jisung floats onto the sandy floor, passed out from his exertion.

Seungmin turns away. He does not have the strength to hold his child for much longer. It pains him to do so, but he knows that he needs to ask Hyunjin for help. He only hopes the Goddess will be willing.

At that moment a cast of crabs begins to scuttle across his floor, completely disregarding the shields he’s put in place around his home. He must have used up too much magic.

He can tell the creatures are drawn to his elixirs and he collects several to bring down to the bottom level where the strongest batch brews. The steps are stone and through the openings he can see large fish vying to get in. It would be detrimental if even one got inside.

He pours the elixir into the well in the farthest room. The magic there nearly stifles him with its potency. When it is full, the power of the ocean will reach a peak unknown to humankind, and bring forth an age of nature in dominion. It is the only way to reverse the destruction the Earth has faced thus far. The only way to bring humanity to an end.

Seungmin leaves his underwater home and sets out to visit his ex spouse, hoping that he will take pity on Seungmin and help him.

Chapter Text

Jisung awakens slowly, to the pattering sound of his siblings working to free him from his small bubble. After a while, it pops and Jisung is flooded with newfound energy. How dare his father forbid him from seeing Minho? When the human has only been kind and loving?

It takes him less effort to bring forth arms and legs this time and he towers over his siblings, hugging them and offering pecks to the nearest ones. They marvel over his new limbs and he feels a little smug. His broad smile gives way to teeth and he only grins bigger.

“I’m going to find Minho!” he announces, barrelling his way forward to the translucent edges of their confines. He feels intoxicated with power as he easily manages to break a hole in it, allowing the water to rush out into the open room. He and his siblings escape with an elating sensation of liberty.

Jisung excitedly does the same for the shields preventing the ocean outside from entering the abode, and carp, herrings, and all other manner of sea life flush into Seungmin’s carefully constructed home. Jisung can’t bring himself to care.

In the violent surge of water, Jisung is swept down to Seungmin’s most important rooms. The heavy door to the furthest one is knocked open and Jisung is suddenly inside it. Everything is golden and thrumming with energy. Jisung feels his body grow with the golden power and become closer and closer to the human form he aspires towards.

His siblings swim around him and he discovers that he has a belly button which brings him a lot of joy. He even has real hair now! And he’s massive — the size of Minho!

Using the immense magical energy he transforms his siblings into much bigger fish and sits astride one to swim out, out from Seungmin’s home and the only place he’s ever known that isn’t Minho’s bucket.

Together, they break loose into open waters and Jisung grows them larger until he can stand on top of one of his siblings as they breach the surface in an enormous torrent reaching up to the sky and crashing back into the ocean. Jisung sees some more of the ships that he’d encountered on his first escapade, but this time he is not scared of them.

He runs as fast as he can across the backs of his siblings who work together in a giant wave to bring him to Minho. It’s started to rain and the freshness of the water shocks Jisung momentarily, but he is too single minded in his mission to care. He can’t wait to see Minho again and show him his new human form.

 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

 

A torrential downpour has started and Minho’s dance class has been told to go home before it worsens. Felix grabs his things with Minho as they prepare to brave the storm.

“Are you sure you don’t want to get a ride with me and Chaewon? She offered to drop me home,” Felix suggests to him.

Minho shakes his head. “That’s okay. Chan’s working today so I’ll just take the shortcut to the radio station.”

Felix looks at him with a soft, compassionate expression. He’s been treating Minho like he’s fragile ever since he lost Jisung, which really hasn’t been for very long but feels like an eternity. “Okay, Min. If you’re sure. Get home safe!”

Minho nods and grabs his bag before slipping out the doors. The wind nearly knocks him sideways but he makes it to the station in one piece. There are no lights on inside, the power must have gone out. Minho steps inside and stands, dripping, in the entrance.

Chan rushes by and spots him. “Minho! The power’s out but I’m glad you’re here, I was hoping to get home before the storm worsens.”

Minho nods and sees Sana enter the room with a bunch of towels. Maybe the roof is leaking again, it wouldn’t be the first time. “We’ve got it covered here, Chan, you can take yourself home!”

“Are you sure? Minho and I can stay and help?” Chan asks, ever the altruistic bastard.

Sana shakes her head at him. “We’re fine. A little storm is exciting anyway and Changbin is already brewing up lyrics. Just go while you still can!”

“Let me sort out one thing first!” Chan says, and rushes off to one of the many rooms Minho hasn’t particularly cared to explore. He does, however, decide to say hi to Changbin and apologise again about the incident with Jisung.

“Hey, Minho!” Chaeryeong says from one of the couches. Changbin is hunched over a desk writing but looks up and offers a smile when he sees Minho.

“Hey,” Minho replies. The lights flicker back on at that moment though the wind and rain outside still rage.

“No sign of that fish?” Changbin asks, offhandedly.

Minho stiffens then sighs. “No.” He takes another breath. “But I am sorry about the other day.”

“Don’t sweat it, man.” Changbin turns toward him. “But keep safe in this weather, eh?”

Minho nods and Chan sticks his head around the corner. “Ready to go?”

They wave goodbye and bundle into the little car outside. The windscreen wipers struggle against the downpour as they exit the carpark and the trees blow on an angle scarily close to horizontal.

As they drive along the waterfront road Minho watches the waves thrash, swollen right up to the barriers. He wonders if Jeongin is alright. Minho voices the thought aloud and Chan’s face pinches up but he smiles reassuringly.

“He’ll be fine. They’re prepared for conditions like this.” It sounds as though he’s trying to convince himself of the fact.

Minho looks back out and has to blink rapidly when he thinks one of the waves looks like a massive fish. Chan speeds up as they approach the dry dock, seeing the women there waving frantically for them to stop.

“Chan! We have to close the crossing, everyone on this side is being told to evacuate!” The wind whips their reflective jackets around and Chan’s expression goes stern.

“It’s not mandatory. We need to get home.”

“At least take the mountain road!” they urge him.

Minho doesn’t think he’s ever seen Chan look so determined. Maybe he’s really worried about Jeongin. He follows his glare to the dry dock which is not so dry anymore. The waves are crashing over it and it is certainly not a safe route.

A monumental wave begins to approach on the horizon and Minho starts to ponder if perhaps Chan has finally gone crazy. Right before the wave hits it draws up the water on the dry dock towards it and Chan steps on it.

They barely make it. The car skids and slides but Chan manages to get them onto the main road unharmed. All around them, ships and smaller boats are being lifted into the air and flung around. Minho wonders if this is climate change.

They race along the road with waves following their every turn. Minho can’t take his eyes off of the puffing, billowing movement of the sea. He has never seen anything like it. A glimpse of warmth amidst the blue waves catches the corner of his eye.

He thinks he sees… a boy? Running along the backs of the waves? He’s smiling and Minho thinks he’s hallucinating. Maybe he really does need glasses.

The boy leaps along beside them and Minho feels a tugging in his chest towards him. He can make out hair that gleams a strawberry colour in the light and a distinct absence of clothes. He’s actually going insane. Probably.

Except now the boy is on the road behind them running along the top of a massive fucking watery fish and Minho has no idea what to believe. He kind of wants to laugh.

Chan is focused on the road but Minho is holding eye contact behind him with the boy. He looks around his age and his eyes sparkle.

They’re nearly at their house, turning a corner, and then the fish/wave crashes into the side of the cliff and sends the boy flying.

“Chan!” Minho yelps. “A boy just fell in the water!”

Chan slams on the breaks. Of course he would risk everything to help someone they don’t know. They both rush out of the car to look out at the thrashing sea.

“Where did you see it?” Chan urges.

“You’re gonna think I’m crazy,” Minho starts. “But I swear he was running out there on top of a huge fish.”

“You’re right, I do think you’re crazy,” Chan says, and Minho feels despairing. “And I know you wouldn’t lie about something like this. But we have to go, now.”

And Minho knows that, can see the waves rushing along the road behind them, but he still resists Chan pushing him back into the car.

He sees their hilltop home zooming towards them from the car window and the bucket he’d carefully placed on the fence goes flying just as they reach the house. Chan skids to a stop as the bucket bounces onto the road behind them and into the advancing waves.

A hand reaches for the bucket and steps out of the spray. Chan gets out of the car first, eyes wide.

“There is a boy! Shit, he must be freezing!” He starts to jog toward the naked boy as Minho exits the car too, eyes locking onto the figure.

A visible wave of recognition washes over the unknown boy and suddenly he is running too. He runs right past Chan who stumbles at his speed and Minho looks on with shock horror as the boy steadily shortens the distance between them until he crashes right into Minho.

Arms fold around Minho’s surprised body and they both sink to the ground under the impact of the embrace. Minho feels the boy’s cheeks squishing solidly into his own and his arms flail about for a moment as he tries to stand. The boy takes this as an opportunity to jump properly onto Minho and cling to him like a koala.

Chan hurries back toward them. “Minho… do you know him?” he asks with so much confusion in his eyes.

Minho struggles to answer with the boy rubbing his entire face into Minho’s like he cannot get enough. He tenderly pulls him off and sets him onto the road in front of him. The clouds are finally parting.

They stare at each other for what could be eons. Minho takes in his full cheeks, glossy almost-pink hair, and wide eyes. His own fill with wonderment.

“Jisung?” he breathes.

The boy in front of him beams bigger than he thought possible. “Mhmm!”

Minho blinks several times in quick succession. “It’s you?”

“It is me!” Jisung replies.

Minho’s mouth opens and gapes at him, then turns to Chan. “Chan, it’s Jisung! He’s a human now!”

Chan looks increasingly disbelieving as Jisung jumps into Minho’s arms again. Minho is surprised he can carry him but the boy is deceptively light.

Waves rush up, glittering gold against the now finally revealed sunset. Jisung turns toward them and shouts, “I found Minho!”

Chan takes one look at the immense amount of water that could cascade down on the three of them and practically grabs Minho and Jisung to bring them up the steps and inside the house.

They collapse in a heap on the floor and Chan shuts the door hurriedly.

“Alright, well, life is really fucking weird right now,” he chuckles absently. “Let’s sort this all out, hmm?”

That last bit is directed at Minho and he can’t quite figure out how they’re going to tackle everything that’s happening. His heart feels like it’ll palpitate his body into a swarm of butterflies or something, and he cannot believe that Jisung is back. And human. And cute.

Chan turns his phone torch on and goes to find one of their solar powered lamps to light their house while the power is out. Jisung doesn’t seem to know quite what to do but he’s still got a lovely smile on his face, especially when he looks at Minho.

“I’m Chan,” Chan finally introduces himself to Jisung. Jisung gazes at him with big eyes. “Can you look after this lamp for me?” Chan bestows the task upon him like he thinks he’ll run away if he doesn’t have something to do. The bright light emanating from their little lamp creates a halo of glow around Jisung and Minho can’t tear his eyes away.

The fish-turned-human is thoroughly enraptured by the object in his hands and it causes another of those wonderful smiles to grace his face. Chan leaves the hallway telling them he’s grabbing a towel for Jisung and Minho remembers that the boy is entirely naked. A bright flush rises to his cheeks and he keeps his gaze solidly on his face.

Jisung jumps up and looks around eagerly while Minho takes off his sopping wet jacket. Minho takes him by the hand to bring him into their living room and he can feel Jisung practically vibrating in amazement.

Jisung gasps and Minho turns back to him. “It smells like you!”

Minho feels the flush on his cheeks return at the comment. Jisung lets go of his hand, still cradling both the bucket and lamp, and wanders around the room. They’ve got a couch and coffee table, as well as a couple of arm chairs and a TV in the corner. Minho had been trying to grow some pot plants and they sit on shelves on the other side of the room with their books and a few photos.

Jisung walks right up to the window and nearly smacks his head on the glass before he realises it’s solid. Chan walks back in then and shakes his head with a chuckle before handing Minho a towel.

“Let’s get him dressed and fed,” he says, ever the parental figure.

Minho steps over to Jisung with the towel and holds it out to him. Jisung just looks at him blankly. Minho sighs and throws it over his back, pulling it back and forth a little to dry him off from the torrential downpour they’d just been in. He realises quickly that Jisung is already suspiciously dry, even his slightly strawberry hair. Huh.

“Is that because you’re a fish?” he wonders aloud. Jisung cocks his head at him. “Fish don’t get wet, hmm.” Minho murmurs.

He steps back, leaving the towel hanging over Jisung’s head. The boy takes hold of a corner and rubs it against his cheeks. “I like this,” he tells Minho and Minho can’t help the smile on his face.

Chan’s voice rings out from the other side of the room where the kitchen lies. “I’m gonna make us a hot drink, sound good?” he asks.

Minho nods at him and takes Jisung’s hand once again. He keeps doing that. It’s probably overstepping, but he can’t help it. Jisung doesn’t seem to mind. “Come with me,” he tells the boy and begins to lead him to one of the bedrooms of the house.

Jisung follows him like a lost lamb as he opens the door to his room. On his bed sleeps one of their three cats, a ginger with a white belly curled into a ball. Jisung takes one look and his eyes nearly pop out of his head.

“Minho, what is that?!” he whispers loudly. Minho turns to see what he’s looking at.

“That’s one of my cats, Soonie,” he explains. “You can pet him, if you want. He’s soft like the towel.”

Knowing this, Jisung cautiously walks over to the bed and puts his hand out. As soon as he makes contact with Soonie’s fur he gasps. The cat awakens and sticks his nose out to sniff at Jisung. Minho vaguely wonders if it will be able to tell that Jisung is a fish and cause a problem, but if he does then nothing happens.

Jisung is nearly squealing at this newfound experience and Minho leaves him be to go and rummage through his drawers for clothing. He can’t just let the boy get cold all naked like that. The towel barely helps Minho stay sane.

He pulls out one of his comfiest hoodies and a pair of soft shorts for Jisung. He contemplates underwear and decides it would be for the best, even if it feels far too intimate. Once again, he holds them out for Jisung before realising that he has no idea what he’s supposed to do with the clothes.

“This is so you don’t get cold,” Minho says.

“I don’t get cold easily,” Jisung tells him, reluctantly taking his hand away from Soonie.

Minho doesn’t know what to say to that. Naked Jisung is already too overwhelming. Though he doesn’t know if it is really that different from when he was a fish. They’re all just animals, right? “Well… humans usually wear clothes.”

Jisung blinks at that. “Oh! Okay! I want to be a human like you,” he says.

Minho steps in close and takes the lamp and towel Jisung is holding and puts them on the bed for him. He then holds the hoodie over his head and very gently pulls it down over him. He’s unprepared for the softness and awe with which Jisung looks at him when his head emerges, and the fluffiness of his hair.

They’re around the same size but the hoodie was oversized anyway and Jisung’s hands are submerged in the sleeves. It’s a little too cute for Minho’s heart.

He picks up the underwear and crouches down by Jisung’s legs, pointedly keeping his eyes focused on the ground.

“Put one leg in each hole,” he guides him. His hands brush his bare legs and he feels like his chest might burst. Is it weird to be attracted to a fish? Jisung isn’t really a fish right now, but he never wasn’t one. He shelves the thought.

“Okay, now you try,” Minho says, hurriedly standing and handing Jisung the shorts. Jisung successfully manages it and Minho doesn’t know if the clothes make him feel any better. Jisung, in his clothes. What the fuck.

“Chan’s probably made something to drink, so…” Minho says, feeling strangely flustered, as he turns to go back to the living room.

Jisung beams back at him and follows diligently, picking up the light as they go.

They find Chan at the table setting out cups with milk and honey. “The water and gas are still working,” he tells Minho. It was lucky that he’d been intent on being sufficient off the grid when they moved here, their water tank was testament to that even if they had to clean out all the roof gutters every storm. Chan had been in the process of installing solar panels too but hadn’t quite finished the project.

Minho takes a seat and shows Jisung the best way to sit on the chairs when he looks lost again. Minho would usually be annoyed but all he feels is endearment. Chan stirs honey into each cup and places it in front of them.

“This should warm us up.” Minho notes that Chan only really makes this when he’s feeling stressed or has particularly bad insomnia.

Jisung watches how Minho takes the cup and twirls his spoon around to let the honey melt into the hot milk. He tries to do the same but is a little too aggressive with it and a few drops splash onto his face. Minho laughs at him and absentmindedly uses his thumb to wipe Jisung’s cheeks and licks it. His stupid face burns when he comprehends what he’s done. What is he doing?

Jisung doesn’t pay him much attention and brings his spoon to his mouth like he saw Minho doing. As soon as it touches his lips his eyes widen further and seem to sparkle in astonishment.

“Mmmm!” he hums. Minho cannot possibly feel more charmed.

Chan watches them knowingly.

Jisung clumsily copies as Minho blows on the liquid and brings the cup to his lips to drink. The fish-boy gulps it all down in record time and he has a milk mustache by the end of it.

Both Minho and Chan giggle at the sight and Chan puts down his cup. “Alright, what do you want to do, Jisung?”

Jisung tilts his head at the question. “I want… rice!” Minho remembers feeding Jisung kimbap in the car as a fish. He’s surprised that the boy has such fond memories.

Chan laughs big, leaning back in his chair. “Dinnertime, hmm? Guess we can make something…” His eyes flick over to his phone. “I think we should call Innie first and let him know what’s happening.”

Jisung watches him pick up the phone. “Who’s Innie?” he asks Minho.

“Innie is Chan’s boyfriend,” Minho tells him. When Jisung looks more confused he tries to elaborate. “It means that they’re in love with each other.”

“Oh!” Jisung seems to understand. “Like me and you!”

Minho gapes, caught off guard. “Um, not exactly—”

“Where is he?” Jisung asks.

“Out at sea, he’s a ship captain.”

Jisung’s eyebrows draw together. “Is he an evil wizard?”

“No, not at all—”

“My dad is an evil wizard,” Jisung says solemnly. “He hates humans and he doesn’t let me leave.”

Chan looks up at him with a concerned expression.

“So I escaped!” Jisung continues.

“Do you have another parent?” Chan asks, worriedly.

Jisung sighs dreamily. “Yeah. He’s the Queen of the Sea. He’s so big and really beautiful!” Jisung tells them with excitement. “But he can also be scary…” Jisung shivers.

Minho snorts at the comment.

Chan looks frustrated again, discarding his phone on the table. “I must have used up the rest of my battery with the torch on,” he grumbles.

“We can call on mine,” Minho says. “I’ll go grab it from the car.”

“Let me try,” Jisung says.

“It’s okay, Jisung, we’ll charge it when we’ve got power back—”

But Jisung is already picking up the phone and concentrating with all his might on it. His face squeezes up tight and Minho is worried he’ll pop a blood vessel, but suddenly Chan’s phone lights up in his hand.

Minho and Chan gawk at him.

“Jisung you—” Minho starts.

“It’s at one hundred percent,” Chan breathes in awe. “What the fuck. That was amazing, Jisung.”

Jisung beams at them.

Minho looks outside the window where the waves are still roaring but at least the rain has stopped. He can’t see any lights on the horizon and he’s scared for Jeongin.

Chan tries to call him, phone in the middle on speaker, but he doesn’t pick up.

“Maybe he’s busy,” Minho says. “Or his phone is dead too. He’ll be okay.” His reassurances don’t seem to soothe Chan’s disposition.

They ring a few more times and Chan eventually leaves a message telling him that they’re all doing well, and explaining broadly about Jisung.

His eyes are downcast and his shoulders are tense. “I’m gonna head to bed,” he tells them. Minho nods and lets him go.

 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

 

The lights turn on not long after this, and Minho hears his stomach rumble.

“Let’s get that food, yeah?” he asks Jisung.

Jisung had gotten quiet, clearly sensing the shift in mood, but he grins up at him now and nods enthusiastically. Minho doesn’t really feel like cooking, but they’ll have some ramyeon in the pantry that will be quick to make. It’s not rice, but he thinks Jisung might like this even more.

He brings Jisung over to the kitchen and pulls a pot out of the cupboard to boil water in. The water begins to boil and Minho hands Jisung a packet of noodles.

“Want to try?”

He receives a nod and Minho shows him how to open the packet and let it drop into the churning water. It frustrates him how much plastic is involved in ramyeon but he’s letting that go for once for convenience’s sake. It helps that Jisung just looks so in awe of everything they’re doing.

“Careful,” Minho says. “It’s really hot.”

Minho decides to have some fun with Jisung’s inexperience. He sits Jisung down at the table.

“Okay, close your eyes. It’ll be a surprise.”

Jisung diligently shuts his eyes tight and Minho returns to the kitchen where he starts to prepare a few more toppings, because he knows Jisung will appreciate them and he’s starting to get addicted to his enthusiasm.

He catches Jisung’s eyes looking out between his fingers. “Ah! No peeking!” he reprimands, and Jisung gasps loudly and shuts them again. Minho tries to stifle a chuckle. This ex-fish is too cute for his sanity.

Minho finishes plating the bowls and brings them over to the table, setting it in front of Jisung.

“Alright, you can open your eyes now,” Minho says.

Jisung blinks rapidly and gazes down at the food in front of him with a wide open mouth. “Woahhhh!”

Minho had probably gone a little overboard. He’d fried a few eggs and chopped up spring onions to sprinkle on top, as well as breaking out the last of the kimchi in the fridge. He’d even garnished it with bean sprouts and sesame seeds.

Jisung is brimming with excitement and looks just about ready to dive in with his fingers, but Minho gives him a pair of chopsticks and teaches him how to use them instead. Jisung is pretty useless with them, but manages to shovel food into his mouth nonetheless. Minho watches how he stuffs his cheeks full until they puff out.

“It’s so yummy!” Jisung commends him, and Minho’s chest swells with pride.

As they eat, Jisung’s eyes start to droop. His body tips to the side a bit while he sleepily tries to eat the last mouthfuls. It’s to no avail, however, and he drops the chopsticks on the floor and falls into Minho’s side, unconscious. Minho is momentarily astounded, but recognises that it must be pretty tiring turning into a human and running across an ocean all in one day.

Carefully, so as not to disturb the sleeping boy, Minho sets down his own chopsticks and places his hands under Jisung’s body. He makes no sign of waking, so Minho decides to carry him somewhere soft to sleep. He considers the couch, but worries that Jisung would wriggle too much and fall off of it. It also wouldn’t be very good-host of him.

So he tenderly lifts him to his chest and brings him to his bed. Doongie and Dori have joined Soonie there, but Minho manages to make room for Jisung under the covers. He looks so peaceful sleeping.

Minho turns off the lights and takes a blanket to the couch.

The sea is calm now. Minho watches it gently lapping for a while, when he hears footsteps in the living room. Chan is rustling around, picking up his jacket and keys.

“What are you doing?” Minho mumbles.

“Shit!” Chan startles, pressing a hand to his chest. “What are you doing on the couch?”

“Jisung’s in my bed.”

Chan nods. “Changbin texted me that some damage has been done to the radio station. I’m going to go help them with it.”

“Now?” Minho asks. “Didn’t Sana say they were fine?”

Chan shrugs. “I’m gonna go help.”

Minho knows better than to argue. Whenever Chan feels out of his depth, he resorts to getting as busy as possible, filling up his attention with problem solving rather than overthinking. He’s worried about Jeongin, Minho can tell.

He sighs and relents. “Okay.” Chan will only feel worse if he stays here, helpless. “Okay.”

Chan comes over and pats him on the shoulder. “Look after Jisung, yeah?”

Minho nods.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Minho watches out the window as the car headlights make their way along the winding mountain road.

 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

 

“Captain! I can see city lights up ahead!”

Jeongin rushes over to the sailor on one of the top decks. “Finally. We can get our bearings again.”

The storm has blown them so off course that none of the crew know where they’ve ended up, and none of their navigation tools are working either.

Jeongin’s crewmate is sceptical. “I’ve never seen this place before…” Jeongin looks through his binoculars, making out the glowing lights before them. “Did we really get pushed that far away in the storm?”

Jeongin shifts his gaze up above the lights to see the moon, bold and imposing and so large. He’s never seen it so large in his life. And the water goes up so high.

“How can the moon be that close…?” Jeongin breathes. He peers closer and his eyes narrow. “That isn’t a city. They’re ships.” He can make out the masts on some ships, blinking red lights on the bows, and hulls so close to one another it would be nearly impossible to navigate between.

“It’s a ship graveyard. The moon’s gravity must have pulled them all here,” Jeongin suggests. “What is going on?”

At that moment a burst of black smoke sputters out of the funnel and the ship slows to a stop as their propellers halt.

“The engine has stopped!” another crewmate yells at them.

“Keep us still, drop the sea anchor,” Jeongin directs them. He makes to go inside the cabin but a glow catches the corner of his eye. Jeongin steps with quick feet back to the edge of the railing and his eyes widen when he sees a sparkling form below the water, kicking up waves as it travels.

It’s massive, bigger than their ship, and he sees the shining skin and jewels of a goddess. Flowing pink hair and golden fish dive beneath the ship and the whole vessel lurches in its wake.

The ship coughs up exhaust and suddenly the engine starts again. Was this the whims of the Goddess?

Jeongin watches the figure glide before them, beneath the constellations of ships, and over the biggest wave. He could cry with relief. They were saved.

 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

 

Seungmin is getting tired of his son’s antics. His life would be so much easier if Han just did as he was told and stayed put. Instead, he arrived home to a waterlogged house and his children roaming free in the ocean. His potions have been ruined and so has his day. This all got out of hand so quickly.

He’s using his sentient waves to try and see where Han has gone. They climb up the side of the cliff with the little house and he balances atop them precariously. With the water levels so high above usual this is not as cumbersome as it could be. It still takes some time, but eventually they reach the wooden fence on top of the hill that encloses the quaint dwelling.

He reaches out to steady himself on one post and jerks back at the stinging sensation emitted from the wood. He frowns and discovers a pulsing energy trapped in the fence that will prevent him from passing through.

A powerful spell has been placed on it. Did Han create this? Where has he learned to form such strong magic?

He forces the waves higher so he can peer through the uncurtained window and stumbles in shock.

On one of the couches in the living space lies the human that Han had become so attached to, tucked under a blanket. What shocks him further is his son, in human form, lying on top of him. When did Han manage to transform so wholly?

He lurches forward abruptly when his wave creatures jiggle beneath his feet.

“Hold still!” he tries to command, but when he looks down he sees his fish children clustered at the bottom tickling his tower of waves.

“Stop that!” he shouts down to the fish, but they pay him no mind. “Please! Respect your father!”

Seungmin falls into the ocean in a spluttering mess as the waves give out. He glares at his children. “I am trying to save your brother!”

He watches them jump away and a glow appears on the horizon. He inhales sharply. Hyunjin has finally come to help him.

Seungmin swims back to where his ship was waiting and clambers on board to the platform at the bow. Hyunjin floats beneath him, giant, in a cloud of golden fish, glittering in the shimmer of the moon. He never ceases to take Seungmin’s breath away after all these years. The ocean is turquoise in the gleaming radiance.

Hyunjin’s head slowly emerges from below the surface in front of Seungmin. His form is so large like this, lips plump and red, silky skin incandescent before him. Rivulets of water shine like trickles of stardust. Jewels in gold and red sit on his forehead and clavicles and his hair glosses over his shoulders like a waterfall.

“Seungmin,” he says with that wondrous voice.

Seungmin gulps. They may be divorced and it may be for the better and he knows this, but he cannot help being awestruck. Not in love, no longer, but a goddess will always be a goddess. “It’s been a while.”

Hyunjin turns his head to the side. “Look at my ocean.” He leans back and stretches his arms wide. The shape of his body is mesmerising, as fluid as the sea. “So beautiful and full of magic. It hasn’t been this way in millenia.” Ripples spread out from the goddess’ idle movements.

Seungmin sighs. “It… the ocean is this way because of our eldest, Han, or— Jisung. He tampered with my elixirs.” He looks down at the depths of the water. “And he tasted human blood.”

Hyunjin rises once more. “Jisung?” A smile flits over his features. “What a lovely name.”

The Queen of the Sea draws closer and Seungmin hunches into himself. “It’s all my fault, really… he’s… become so powerful.” His eyes flicker as he watches Hyunjin’s expressions. “He’s meddled with the balance of nature — it’s chaos!” He continues to ramble. “He’s too young to understand the reality of his actions, and he won’t listen to me, and now he’s fallen in love with a human. The whole world is astatic and losing harmony.”

Seungmin nervously fiddles with his fingers. Being in the presence of a goddess will do that to you. “Please… I need you to stop him. Or the entire planet is doomed.” He looks up in surprise as a shooting star crosses the sky, then another. Except they’re not stars, and instead satellites. “Please!” He gestures wildly. “The moon is pulling them towards Earth—”

He inhales sharply when one of Hyunjin’s giant hands wraps over him.

“Be calm,” Hyunjin murmurs. Seungmin breathes shakily. He is normally so composed, what has happened in the past few days?

Hyunjin closes his eyes for a moment. “Minho,” he breathes. “The human’s name is Minho, yes?”

Seungmin nods as he recalls Jisung’s claims to love. He watches Hyunjin gaze down at his other hand where their children have gathered to swim around the goddess’ fingers.

“You love your brother, don’t you?” the Queen asks them. “We all want him to be happy, hmm.”

Seungmin teeters off balance as the hand holding him up shrinks with the rest of the goddess until Hyunjin is his size and leaning against the front of the ship. Seungmin sinks to his knees.

Hyunjin’s graceful body and draping silky garments brush near him. The glow never leaves him. He takes one of Seungmin’s hands. “Listen, why don’t we allow Jisung to follow his heart and stay human? For good?” Seungmin can’t comprehend why Hyunjin would suggest this.

“We can see if the love he feels, and Minho feels, is true. If they are truly and irrevocably in love, then Jisung can remain a human permanently and the balance of nature will be restored. We can use the old magic.”

Seungmin isn’t swayed by his beautiful eyes. “But — he will turn into sea foam if it isn’t!”

Hyunjin smiles. “Mmm. That is where we all originated from and where we shall all one day return.”

“But the boy is so young, so—”

“Shhh.” Hyunjin places a finger to his plush lips. “Let them sleep. They’ll need their rest.”

 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

 

Minho dreams of staircases. Staircases that keep leading him to dead ends and in unnatural directions. He trudges up a flight in a daze and stops when he sees a well-dressed figure with a cat’s head blocking his path.

“Here, take this,” the cat says, passing him a handful of marbles.

Minho takes them without question. However, before he can even say thank you, the cat becomes water and splashes onto the floor. Minho carefully steps around the puddle holding tight to the marbles. They shine like the ocean and are filled with scales.

He doesn’t know where he’s going but he soon reaches a willow tree and stops for a break. It’s sad leaves rustle in the breeze. The snapping of a branch alerts him to someone else’s presence. Jisung steps around the trunk wearing flowing red robes and an absent expression.

“Jisung!” Minho says, his words coming out slightly garbled, like he’s speaking through a bubble.

Jisung smiles sadly.

“Jisung, what’s wrong?”

The boy turns and the fabric follows. “I need to get out.”

“Get out?” Minho asks. “Out of where?”

Jisung gestures outwards and Minho sees a new stone ceiling above them. The willow turns into another crashing wave and Minho leaps out of the way. He can’t get wet. He can’t get wet.

“Jisung!”

He watches helplessly as the boy runs up a staircase and Minho tries to follow but his legs don’t work.

“Jisung— don’t leave me here—” Minho gasps shallowly and he drops the marbles where they scatter on stone tiles. He lurches to the floor to pick them up, he can’t lose them too.

“Please—”

They’re slipping through his fingers. It’s all slipping through his fingers.

And then he feels heavy.

Chapter Text

In the morning, the sky is sweet and clear. Docile and puffy clouds lap against pale blue while the turquoise ocean nestles the side of the hill. The water level is so high that there is barely any road visible.

Minho blinks awake to the sound of his name. He jerks up and hits his head against Jisung’s at a particularly persistent call of “Minho!” and groans in pain. What was Jisung doing lying on top of him? How long had he been there?

Jisung also whines at the smack his head had taken and collapses onto Minho’s body in lieu of hovering above him. Matching red marks bloom on their foreheads and Minho looks at him in surprise.

“Jisung. Are you okay?” Minho asks worriedly, hands coming up to inspect Jisung’s head.

“Good morning Minho!” Jisung replies with a grin.

“What are you doing on top of me?” Minho asks, mildly flustered about the whole situation. He sees Dori judging him from one of the armchairs.

“I came to sleep with you!” Jisung tells him enthusiastically. This does not help Minho’s predicament.

“O-oh,” he gulps.

Jisung doesn’t move from where he’s situated, chest to chest, groin to groin.

“You were saying stuff in your sleep,” Jisung tells him.

“Wh-what did I say?” Minho can only hope it isn’t embarrassing. His sleep talking has been the source of much teasing in the past.

“Mostly my name,” Jisung says. “You sounded scared.”

“Uh, well. Chan left to go help with damage at his work,” Minho informs Jisung to distract himself. He looks through the window. “Though I don’t think he’ll be coming back any time soon.”

The sea has risen right up to their doorstep, not even their little path uncovered. Minho lifts Jisung by the shoulders and extracts himself from beneath him. Jisung latches onto him and follows to the sliding glass door on the other side of the living room. Minho tentatively opens it.

“Woah. We almost got flooded,” Minho says, but Jisung is just smiling brighter than ever. Minho supposes that the ocean is Jisung’s home, the only home he’s ever known. He probably knows more about marine life than every biologist combined.

Jisung crouches down to touch the water and then promptly ducks his head beneath the surface. Minho sighs and does the same. He’s a curious guy.

With their heads side by side, he can see a veritable aquarium of creatures cruising about in his and Chan’s front yard. Jellyfish float by as do schools of what Jisung tells him are golden mandarin fish and ayu sweetfish. They even see a few rays and thresher sharks which Minho only somewhat freaks out about.

Minho has no idea if all of these species generally coexist, but whatever lunacy happened with the ocean last night must have caused this. An octopus crawls onto the front step.

“Do your friends ever call you Minnow?” Jisung asks him when they surface.

Minho chuckles. “I can’t say they do. I bet Chan would find that funny, though.”

“We should go tell him!” Jisung says.

“The internet’s down, I already checked my phone. It’s too bad we don’t have a boat to go to him. And… I can’t swim,” Minho replies begrudgingly.

Jisung looks at him like he’s grown another head. “You can’t swim?!”

Minho looks sheepish.

“I’ll teach you!” Jisung says. “Also, I saw a boat inside that we can use.”

Minho has no idea what he’s talking about. Unless… “You mean the model? We can’t fit in that.”

It was a tiny simplified model of one of Jeongin’s first boats that Chan had kept as a memento. Definitely not sailing material.

“Yes we can!” Jisung says, and bounds away to go and find it.

He grabs the tiny boat and puts it on the ground next to the coffee table, then crouches beside it and locks eyes with the model. He’s got that intense look of concentration again and it’s very amusing to Minho.

The boat expands and swells until it’s more than ten times the original size and taking up most of the space in the living room.

Minho gawks at him. Even though he knew Jisung had some semblance of magical qualities, this seems far beyond what he’d imagined he was capable of. He just made a toy into a working boat? How was that possible?

The tiny boat had originally utilised a small candle to propel itself in water, and Jisung’s powers have transformed even that into a massive version of its previous self. Maybe it will be strong enough to even pull them along.

“Woah — Jisung. This is incredible.”

Jisung jumps up and down in excitement. “We can fit now!”

Together they pull the sides of the boat to angle it towards the sliding door. Why they were even doing this, Minho had no idea. But he was having the time of his life with Jisung, and he didn’t care. It would be cool to be able to go and help Chan at the station.

Jisung pushes it out onto the water and to Minho’s surprise it floats. Minho trips on his way out the door and slips fully into the water, and Jisung laughs at him. He’s soaked, but he doesn’t even mind. Jisung jumps in with him and they admire the crabs at their feet.

Minho had seen Jeongin explain to Chan how the tiny boat functioned and he figures if they light the candle it should work well enough to propel them forward. Jisung might have other tricks up his sleeve if not.

“We should probably bring some snacks,” Minho thinks out loud when he hears Jisung’s tummy rumble.

The pair go inside and Minho packs a bag with water and food. He makes a few sandwiches and fills a thermos with miso soup, as well as making sure they have plenty of matches to keep the candle going. Jisung watches on in wonder, trying to be helpful but not really succeeding — he grabs the bucket that Minho had carried him in as a fish and leaves it at that.

Minho puts on some clothes more suited to outdoor adventures, just a shirt and shorts really, and gives Jisung something similar. He feels stupidly giddy picking out an outfit for the other guy.

Finally, Minho grabs Chan’s binoculars and a hat and he and Jisung bundle into the little boat. Even with Jisung’s magic it’s only just big enough to squeeze the two of them and they’re hip to hip if they sit beside each other.

Minho takes out a matchstick and lights it against the side of the box.

“What’s that?” Jisung queries, head cocking to the side like he is wont to do.

“Careful, it’s hot,” Minho replies.

He holds it to the wick of the candle and when it lights he places it beneath the boiler that is definitely not meant to carry all of this weight. Miraculously, it lights and the boat slowly starts to move. Bubbles escape from the back and push them forward and they leave behind Minho’s home.

He spots the octopus crawling in through their sliding door, but decides he can worry about that later.

“It’s working! It’s working!” Jisung exclaims. He jumps up and the boat rocks a bit but remains afloat while Jisung gazes out across the water. His butt may be directly in front of Minho’s face making it difficult to steer, but he’s not going to tell him that.

They chug along for a bit, both of them admiring the strange views of the submerged township.

“Minho, this is so much fun!” Jisung says. “And the candle is so warm!” He turns back and beams at Minho.

“Do you want to be the lookout?” MInho suggests. “You get to say if there are hazards or you see something cool. I’ll steer.”

“Mhmm!”

Minho isn’t prepared for how many things Jisung finds captivating, but he doesn’t mind listening to him chatter away.

They pass treetops with branches sticking out from the flat watery surface. Shades of cerulean and forget-me-not mingle in Minho’s staggered gaze when he isn’t staring at the boy in front of him and how beautiful his profile is in the light. The gentle slope of his nose and that wonderfully plush lower lip.

Through the clearer patches of water they spy mako sharks and many flounders cruising along the road as though they were traffic. Minho is scared being out in such open waters but Jisung’s presence dissuades most of those fears. He trusts that the fish-boy will be able to save him. And he has no plans on getting out of the boat.

“There’s a road,” Jisung says as they pass above it.

Minho nods. “That’s the one Chan will have taken.”

“I don’t see him.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”

Minho wonders how the rest of the townsfolk have fared. He knows that many would have evacuated last night, but who knows how far this swelling ocean has reached. What if there is nothing left of the town? What if the radio station is underwater?

Jisung tells him the names of more fish. It’s so incredibly endearing.

“That one is sardinella zunasi!” he says about a silvery scaled fish.

“That’s a skate!” Minho would have assumed it was just a regular ray.

“Oh! Minho look, look! It’s a dragonet!” The fish is colourful with many different fins. “Usually they’re way deeper but I guess the ocean is all crazy today anyway…”

Minho is learning so much today. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

The trees are a bit taller here, poking over their heads to form a canopy. As they weave between branches a clearing reveals another boat.

“Ahoy!” The two figures on board yell out to them. One of the women waves her hat.

“Can I say that?” Jisung whips his head to Minho. Minho shrugs with a nod.

Ahoy!” Jisung calls back. Minho steers them over to the longer canoe. Their candle is nearly out.

“Jisung can you blow out the candle to stop us when we reach them?” Minho asks and Jisung nods.

He blows it out as their little boat sidles up to the other.

“Hello!” The woman with the hat greets them. She’s sitting in a floral dress on one of the seats with a baby bundled into her arms. She also holds an umbrella to keep the baby out of the sun.

“Wow, your boat is so cool!” The other woman is standing with a steering oar and dressed in a cream shirt and practical pants. She has a broad and inviting smile. Minho feels a little shy.

“Oh, hey, aren’t you Chan’s friend?” The woman in the hat asks.

“This is Minho!” Jisung tells her. “And I’m Jisung! I used to be a fish.”

Minho tries to hold in a laugh at his bluntness.

The woman in the hat chuckles. “Oh, really? I like your name, Jisung.”

Minho decides to pipe up. “Actually, have you seen Chan?”

The standing woman steps closer. “Chan? Is he missing?”

“Well, he went down to the radio station last night,” Minho says.

“In the storm?”

Minho nods. He looks over and sees Jisung enraptured with the tiny baby on the other boat. They’re engaged in some sort of staring competition.

The woman in the hat notices too. “Our baby likes you!”

Sparkles appear in Jisung’s eyes and he slow-blinks like a cat. Minho cannot possibly be more enamoured. The baby coos at him and Jisung reaches over to the backpack he was carrying on his back. Minho had tried to just put it on the floor but Jisung had been determined.

The baby grows restless and churns in its mother’s arms. “Oh, sweetheart—”

Jisung hands her their thermos cup filled with miso soup.

“For us?” she asks. Jisung nods. “Thank you.” She takes a sip and smiles. “It’s delicious!”

“No, for the baby,” Jisung says with a pouty lip.

“Oh, I’m sorry, she’s a little too young for soup. They only drink milk at this age,” the woman explains. “But if I drink it, it will help me make breast milk for her, if that’s okay?” She looks up at Jisung with a kind smile.

Jisung’s eyes widen and he nods tentatively. “Yeah!”

At that moment, noise is heard from across the clearing. A small fleet of coble boats and other large dinghies approach with many people aboard. Some of the town’s fishing vessels are there too.

A figure aboard the front boat calls out to them. “Ahoy! Are any of you in need of assistance at this time?”

The steering woman beside them yells back. “We’re fine! Thank you!” They all wave.

The captain tells them where they’re taking the townspeople and suggests they convoy. They nod in affirmation. There are so many people aboard the ships and Minho recognises some from around town. No sign of Chan, though.

“Jisung, we should get going,” Minho says.

Jisung is preoccupied with digging through the backpack again. He pulls out their stack of sandwiches and thrusts them toward the woman with the baby. “Here, for milk!”

The woman looks surprised but takes them at Jisung’s insistence. “Oh, thank you! That’s very generous.”

Jisung beams back.

The other woman hands Minho a candle. “Yours looks like it’s running low. I’m sorry it's not bigger, though.”

“That’s okay, thank you very much,” Minho says. Jisung can just make it bigger.

Minho starts their boat again and they wave to the kind women. “See you!”

“Take care out there!”

As they’re gliding away Jisung sees the baby’s face begin to scrunch up in discontent and begin to cry. Jisung watches and his own eyebrows furrow. An expression of determination crosses his face.

Before Minho can turn to look, Jisung is leaping off the little boat and sprinting across the water. Minho is gobsmacked but can do nothing more than watch on in amazement.

Jisung clambers onto the other boat and grabs the baby’s face in his hands. Then he smushes his face directly into the baby’s and rubs their cheeks around with passion. As quickly as he’d gone, he runs back, feet tapping across the water, and into the boat next to Minho.

They see the baby smile wide and laugh as they leave, despite the shock on its mother’s faces. And then Minho and Jisung are sailing off across the stretch of ocean. Jisung’s hair blows in the wind, the sunlight refracting and highlighting the strawberry of his locks.

Soon, they’re passing another flotilla of people from the town, all seemingly headed in the same direction as before. A few yell out to Minho when they recognise him — Chan’s friendliness has clearly transferred to his friend.

“Where’s Chan?” One calls out to him.

“He went to the radio — we’re going to find him!” Minho replies. Out of the corner of his eye he sees the two women working the dry dock and hears one say that she still can’t believe he managed to drive over it last night. He chuckles to himself. There’s nothing Chan can’t do when he puts his mind to it.

“Minho!” Felix’s voice calls out from the side of a boat. “Take me with you!” He mimes a damsel in distress.

Minho laughs. He’s glad Felix is safe on board. “Sorry, Lixie, I’ll see you later, promise!”

Another person shouts out to them. “Check the park — everyone left will have evacuated there!”

Minho nods in confirmation. He’s not big on crowds but the community makes him feel loved. And he and Jisung are on a mission together.

“Good luck!” Someone else wishes them. “We’ll send another boat your way as soon as we can!”

Minho waves as he and Jisung continue their journey. Birds fly overhead and they look lovely and free. The power lines are nearly underwater but track their course. Denser forest creeps around them and they drift along among the tree trunks as the candle melts to its final wax.

“Our candle is nearly out, Jisung,” Minho mentions. “But we’ve got that other one from the nice ladies.”

He sees Jisung rubbing his eyes and notes that his previous energy and excitement is dwindling. He must be tired. Being a human is tiring and Minho knows this.

The fish-boy’s head leans into Minho’s shoulder. “Bye-bye,” he says as the candle wick disappears.

Minho gently hands him the fresh candle. “Do you think you can make this bigger?” he asks.

Jisung nods and lazily takes it from him. His eyes flicker shut and his face tilts forward in drowsiness. Minho is worried.

“Are you okay, Sungie?”

Jisung smiles but his expression dissolves into sleep rapidly. He jolts awake and tries to concentrate on the candle in front of him, but whatever he does doesn’t work. He falls into Minho and begins to snore softly.

“Jisung?”

Minho gently shakes his shoulder. “Jisung?”

The boy is out like a light and Minho can’t seem to disturb his angelic sleeping figure. The small candle won’t work and they’re stuck in the middle of a submerged forest. Minho starts to panic a little. They just need to be able to propel themselves forward, right? Minho can surely do it, right?

He looks around to find some sort of stick to push them before realising the ground is too far away. There's nothing oar shaped around. Perhaps he could… kick in the water? His stomach churns at the thought.

There are so many sea creatures in there and he knows that it would be so unlikely for them to hurt him but the fear is there. And if he holds onto the boat then he probably wouldn’t drown, but Jisung isn’t awake to save him if he did.

His breathing comes fast and his palms sweat. He looks at the sleeping boy in his arms and steels himself. He has to do this. For Jisung. He promised.

With newfound determination, he slowly stands and lowers Jisung to lie on the floor of the boat. He carefully holds onto the side of the boat and with a shuddering breath eases himself into the water.

It’s not too cold, at least. He feels electric in a neutral sort of way — terror at being in open waters and nervous excitement about facing his fears. His clothes feel horrid, all wet and enclosing his limbs, but he gets a grip on the edge of the boat and begins to tentatively kick.

It takes a bit of momentum building before the boat moves, but eventually his kicking pushes it forward. He’s thankful for his dancer thighs. Minho keeps his gaze solidly in front of him and ignores any hint of life below him even though he knows for a fact that many of the fish Jisung introduced him to are there.

It’s actually a good workout, and as he gains confidence Minho can start to appreciate how pretty the place is, all covered in water and dappled light through the tree canopy. He hopes Jisung wakes up soon.

He peeks below and notices that the road is actually very close now — they must have gotten high enough that the water level has evened out. Soon his feet touch the concrete and he breathes a sigh of relief. He was proud, but that was quite enough swimming for one day.

Minho stands properly and grasps the side of the boat to steer it to where he can see the meeting of water and road. Maybe they’ll be able to walk the rest of the way if Jisung is awake.

It’s slow moving as he treads through viscous water but the end is in sight. Just as they’re nearing the grey concrete road, Minho feels the boat shift beneath his fingertips. Upon closer observance, he sees the frame twitch and shrink at a rapid pace. Is the magic wearing off? Jisung is dangling off the side and Minho starts to run as the boat becomes smaller and smaller, pulling it as quickly as he can to solid ground.

Jisung’s head dips underwater just before he reaches the road and then all he’s holding is the boy’s shirt as the boat flicks away in its original size. All of the things they’d brought with them have somehow shrunken as well, besides the bucket clenched tightly in Jisung’s left hand.

Minho carefully lays Jisung on the ground as he snores. “Jisung!” he says, rubbing the boy’s shoulder. “Wake up!”

Jisung’s eyes blink open languidly. “Minho,” he smiles. He yawns wide and Minho breathes a sigh of relief.

“You scared me,” Minho mutters, petulant. “I’d miss you if you turned into a fish again,” he admits.

From his spot kneeling beside Jisung, he glances up. He can just make out the top of Chan’s car over the rise of the road — maybe Chan will be there!

“Jisung, it’s the car!” he says eagerly. Minho stands and runs over to the car.

“Chan!” he yells, jogging around the side to look in the windows. There’s no sign of his friend anywhere. The back is filled with towels and tissues and he spots Chan’s backpack on the passenger seat.

“Chan?” he calls again. No answer. He can feel himself starting to panic again. Chan told him that he would come back. But his car is here and Chan is nowhere to be seen. Minho feels like a little kid. “Chan…”

His eyes well up with tears. He doesn't know if it's frustration or despair or some other third emotion but he can’t hold them back. He hates being responsible. He wishes Chan would come back and hold his hand.

He hears Jisung gently pad towards him. “I got the boat,” he says, stepping in front of Minho. His face falls. “There’s water coming out of your eyes?”

Minho sniffles and shakes his head. He takes the tiny boat from Jisung and his other hand is quickly grasped by the fish-boy. His hands are somehow soft and warm and fit perfectly into Minho’s.

“Let’s go find your friend, hmm?” Jisung murmurs. He still looks half asleep but Minho is so relieved that he’s here.

Minho nods and they walk down the road together, Jisung holding the bucket in one hand and Minho’s in the other. He can even hear birds. They will find Chan, Minho is more sure of it when Jisung holds his hand. And everything will be okay.

 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

 

Below the surface of the water, the whole township lies dormant. All of the people have evacuated and in their place swim colourful fish and shards of filtered light from the sun. mackerel mingles with the clothes on washing lines and rays glide between street signs.

Tucked at the end of a road there sits an enormous bubble of life. It glows transparent like a jellyfish but is clearly imbued with magical energy. Within it, a small haven of breathable water and preserved buildings sit, the radio station at the centre of it all.

Fish roam freely inside the bubble, among the gardens of cosmos flowers that the area hosts. Voices can be heard laughing inside, as several figures marvel at their surroundings.

“Look! Here comes the whale again!” Chaeryeong announces, Sana runs over to gaze in wonder as the massive creature swims across from them. Many of the other people working at the radio and the neighbouring buildings have joined them.

“Woahhhh,” Sana breathes. “Do you think we really have died and gone to heaven?”

Seungmin watches this all as he stands aboard his ship parked on the grassy lawn. “Excuse me everyone,” he calls out. “Gather around please.”

The crowd joins him with giggles and grins, the remarkability of this watery world not worn off.

Seungmin clears his throat. “The time has come for you to all bear witness to the sacred test of love.” Wary muttering among the people doesn’t triumph the overall joy in everyone’s faces. “Minho and Jisung are almost here.”

This spurs on another burst of chattering. Chaeryeong still looks a little confused about why Minho’s fish is now human. They're all a bit high on the whole situation.

“Quiet, everyone. This is a very important moment and you are all witnesses. A crucial moment,” he elaborates.

“Seungmin-nim,” one of the women, Sana, starts. “How do we know you’re not going to harm Minho? And Jisung?”

“He said Jisung is his son,” another of the crowd says. “He wouldn’t hurt him.”

“Can we trust him?”

“Has Minho even known this guy for a week?”

“I wonder what Chan thinks…”

“Of course I won’t hurt them,” Seungmin impresses sternly, effectively shutting them up. “I hope, sincerely, that they will pass the test. Excuse me,” he says, leaving the round-eyed party.

He climbs up to the front of his ship and it slowly rises from the ground as he departs.

In the far corner of the bubble, Chan stands with a tall and beautiful figure. The Goddess of Mercy has been deep in conversation with the man for many hours. A shaded jellyfish crown keeps their discussion private from the rest of the people in the bubble.

“I wish we could hear what they’re talking about,” Chaeryeong mutters.

“Why don’t we just ask?” Sana says. With a wave of her hand she calls out, “Chan!”

They watch as Chan turns to them and shines a blinding smile toward them. The Goddess’ hair is even sparklier than before, gleaming pink and waving. Chan says something to him and then steps over to join his friends.

“What’s going on?” Sana asks.

“Do you trust that man?”

“I hope Minho is doing okay.”

“Tell us what’s going to happen next,” Chaeryeong urges.

Chan smiles at them all. “Whatever happens, I’m just glad you’re here.”

“We love Minho,” Sana says.

“We want what’s best for him.”

 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

 

Minho can feel Jisung’s hand slowly losing grip, his head nodding forward in fatigue every now and then. They’ve reached a tunnel that Minho’s only driven through maybe once, but it’s all he can do to just follow the road and hope Chan is at the end of it.

Jisung wobbles on his bare feet. Neither of them thought to bring shoes.

“I think I’ve been here before,” Minho says. He doesn’t get a reply. “Jisung?”

The boy's eyes flutter open. “I don’t like this place.”

Minho feels his heart tug. It’s true, the tunnel is dark and enclosed. But he knows there’s an end. There always is.

He takes a deep breath. “Don’t let go of my hand, okay?”

Jisung holds a little bit tighter and Minho leads them both into the darkness. Their steps echo on the walls and Jisung is slow. Minho keeps himself alert.

The hand in his starts to malleableize and shrink and Minho’s heart stops. The boy next to him flops down further until the bucket drags along the floor and his limbs are rapidly reducing in size, eyes shut. No, no, no, no this cannot be happening.

Soon Jisung is looking more fish than human and is the size of Soonie. Minho scoops him up, bucket still in hand, and begins to run. He can see the end of the tunnel now and there’s water on the other side. He just needs to get to the ocean. Jisung is going to be okay.

He emerges into the light and splashes carelessly into the water — his clothes were barely dry from before anyway — and holds Jisung gently under the surface as his body becomes a goldfish once more.

“Jisung!” Minho is frantic, the fish won’t wake up. He’s cradled in Minho’s palms like the most precious of treasures. Minho doesn’t know what to do.

He remembers he’d dropped the bucket and he crouches to pick it back up, filled with water. His eyes are pricked with tears again as he places Jisung inside. He doesn’t know what to do. Maybe his friends were right. Maybe Jisung does belong in the sea.

“Jisung,” he sniffles. “Please don’t die. Please.”

Jisung floats quietly in the water. “Jisung, wake up,” he starts to sob. “Jisung, please!”

“Shhhhhh.”

He whips his head up at the sound of someone else. A figure rises from the ocean, tired eyes and a strange outfit that Minho vaguely remembers.

“Be careful not to wake him,” the man says. He walks closer leaving ripples in his wake. “It’s good to finally meet you, Minho.”

How does this guy know his name?

“We’re all waiting for you,” he continues. “Your friends — Chan.”

Minho feels his chest lift a little. “Chan?”

The man nods, stepping into Minho’s space. “Won’t you come with me? Ha— Jisung too?”

Minho doesn’t know who this guy thinks he is but he is not trusting some random that stepped out of the ocean looking like that. And he thinks he knows Minho? Not a chance. Chan taught him better than to trust strangers. His top priority is Jisung right now, even if this guy says he knows them both.

He shakes his head with a stern expression, backing away.

“I promise I won’t take Jisung away from you,” the guy says. “If you just—”

“MINHO!”

Both Minho and the creepy ocean man turn to the voice. Just across the water the top of a hill pokes out and Changbin stands on top of it.

“Don’t listen to that weirdo!” he yells, words booming. “He tricked everyone else into going with him, but not me!”

Minho is even more confused.

The man next to him yells back. “There’s so little time! A choice has to be made!” What choice? What is this guy talking about? He points up at the sky. “Can’t you see? The moon is out of balance — the rest of the world will soon follow! We’ll all be underwater!”

Changbin scoffs. “That’s the best excuse you can come up with?”

The man next to him groans and threads his hands through his hair in frustration. “Argh humans! Minho — you have to listen to me, you’re the only hope we have for this planet!” He grabs onto his shoulders and Minho tenses up. “Don’t make me force you!”

The man suddenly looks into the bucket Minho is holding tightly and they both see Jisung’s face poking angrily out of the water.

“Jisung!”

And once again, a spout of water shoots from the fish’s mouth directly into the man’s face.

“Han! Respect your father!” he splutters.

Minho takes the opportunity to flee, running as fast as he can but the water dragging him makes it no easy task. There’s a fence sticking out of the blue and he aims for it, hoping his balance as a dancer will aid in running across it.

It’s precarious, but he’s fast. His toes tap along the wooden fence and he tilts to stay upright. He just wants to get to Changbin more than anything. Jisung looks unconscious again and it scares him more than anything.

More than the sudden waves crashing along behind him like sentient beings. Changbin runs down the hill’s steps to meet him and they’re so close, but there’s a gap between the end of the fence and his friend.

“Jump, Minho!” Changbin yells, arms outstretched. And yeah, Minho thinks maybe he really could catch him. He’s got muscles for a reason. So he jumps and time seems to slow down as Jisung is set loose from the bucket in the momentum before fortuitously landing back inside, Minho crashing into Changbin’s arms, and an onslaught of waves striking over them all in turn.

Minho feels like he blacks out as water encases them and drags them under.

Whooshing ocean fills all his senses. He has no idea what happens next but suddenly, somehow, he’s in Chan’s arms and everything is alright. He blinks his eyes open and sees Changbin falling into their other friends' open arms and fish swimming all around. He’s surely hallucinating again. When was the last time he drank a glass of water?

“Chan,” he breathes out, a bubble escaping his mouth as he speaks. Chan lowers him to standing and it feels strange as his body is held by the ocean.

“Minho,” he smiles.

“Jisung!” Minho gasps as the fish swims in front of him.

Chan chuckles as Changbin tries to hold his breath and swim before realising that they can breathe in here.

Minho turns with Chan as a tall figure approaches, Jisung taking up residence in the bucket once more. The stranger is probably the most beautiful person Minho’s ever seen, all silky clothes and silkier hair, a kind and ethereal face. Is he even a person?

Minho is even further floored when he speaks. “So, you are Minho.”

Minho gapes at the luxuriousness of his tone, nodding stupidly.

“My name is Hyunjin. I am the Queen of the Sea and Jisung is my child,” he explains. “Thank you for bringing him back to me.”

That feels a little presumptuous. All Minho has been trying to do is find Chan and keep Jisung alive, them being here was very much not of his own accord. But he nods anyway.

He sees Changbin open-mouthed and wide-eyed staring at Hyunjin. Small fish could swim into that mouth easily.

The Queen opens his plush lips to speak again. “Minho. Jisung infiltrated a magical well, releasing all kinds of immensely powerful energy into the entire ocean, just so he could become human and be with you.”

Minho stares in shock. So that’s how Jisung did it. Huh.

“In order to remain in this form, he needs a human—needs you— to accept and love him as he truly is.”

This all feels very far-fetched. But Minho would do anything for Jisung.

Hyunjin smiles with glittering eyes. “You knew that Jisung was a fish, yes?”

Felt pretty self-explanatory but sure. Minho nods.

“And now you know him as a human. Your drop of blood did that, you know?”

Oh. Well that explains things.

“Could you accept him if he lived between two worlds?”

Minho nods again, deciding to finally speak up. “There’s… there’s a connection between us that I’ve never felt. Like… we’re soulmates.” This probably sounds stupid. “I love him more than anything,” he whispers. “Fish or human.”

Jisung takes that moment to swim around his head with joy, rubbing against Minho’s cheeks. Minho giggles and Jisung does the same to Chan before returning to tuck into Minho’s neck.

“Jisung,” Hyunjin says. “Come here, please.”

Jisung hesitantly looks up at Minho and then swims slowly toward the queen and into his waiting palm.

“Jisung. Minho has promised to accept and love you as you are,” he says. Jisung nods with wide eyes. “But to become human, you first must choose to abandon magic.” He eyes Jisung curiously. “Can you do that?”

Jisung beams big and broad and nods enthusiastically. Hyunjin closes his palm around the goldfish and a bubble forms around Jisung. He steps toward Minho.

“When you return to land, kiss the bubble,” Hyunjin tells him to Minho’s shock. “And Jisung will become a boy for forever more, just like you.”

The goddess gently drops Jisung back into the bucket and stands.

Minho looks at the little fish. “Jisung, are you sure?” He receives a warm smile in confirmation.

Minho gazes back up at Hyunjin. “Thank you,” he murmurs.

“Don’t be a stranger,” Hyunjin winks at him. Then he rises up and grows massive, addressing the crowd watching the exchange from above. “Everyone, the balance of nature is restored!”

Cheerful exclamations of joy emerge from the group and even Changbin smiles when he isn’t ogling the goddess. He runs over to Chan and Minho and wraps Minho into an immense embrace. Chaeryeong and Sana join them and Chan is equally engulfed in hugs.

Minho watches from his spot tucked into Changbin’s beefy biceps as many more tiny goldfish swim to Jisung and express goodbyes in small touches. They all rise up together once Jisung has bid them farewell and become almost liquid gold. Hyunjin ascends into the open water with them all.

“Good luck, Chan,” the goddess says. He and the rest of his children swim up and beyond. Hyunjin winks at Changbin subtly as they leave. Minho sees Changbin’s face flush bright red. Interesting.

“Thank you!” Chan calls out in response. “I’ll look after him!” And then they’re gone.

 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

 

The strange man who Minho learns is Jisung’s father, Seungmin, brings everyone back up to the surface. Minho still doesn't trust him but he seems apologetic.

There are boats all around and helicopters surveilling the area for anyone else in need of rescue. Seungmin stops Minho and Chan before they leave.

“Um,” he starts, reaching behind him. “This is yours, I believe.” He hands Minho the model boat that Minho had dropped in all the commotion.

“Thanks.” Minho accepts it.

Seungmin looks sheepish. “Try to… remember me kindly,” he requests. He holds out his hand and Minho shakes it. “Take care of Jisung. For me.”

The sound of a boat horn makes Chan turn and grab Minho on the shoulder. “It’s Jeongin!” he exclaims, and leaves Minho to run towards the ship. Minho follows with joy.

Chan stands on the hill and waves his arms. “Jeongin! Over here!”

“Ahoy!” Jeongin shouts back. Minho is so happy for them. He missed Innie too.

He pauses and holds Jisung up in the bubble to show him. “Look — it's Jeongin!”

Before he knows it, Jisung leaps out of his hand and into the air. Minho gasps and then Jisung is falling, bubble and all, straight towards Minho’s mouth. Their lips touch and he instantly transforms into the boy Minho has grown to love. Minho can’t hold back his smile.

Jisung falls from midair without Minho expecting and it’s all he can do to catch him. It’s not the most successful attempt but at least Jisung is safe and here.

“Hi,” Minho breathes, arms still clutching tight around him.

“Hi,” Jisung beams, and the whole world glows brighter.

They stand there for a minute, just staring at one another, matching looks of utter awe and sparkling eyes. Eventually, Minho tears his gaze away to see Jeongin stepping off the side of a dinghy and into Chan’s waiting arms.

Chan’s cheeks are wet with tears and he smashes his face and body into his partner’s, Minho sees Jeongin kiss him on his lips and then forehead.

“Do you want to meet Jeongin?” Minho asks Jisung. “He lives with us. He’s very kind, like Chan.”

Jisung nods with a brave smile. Minho doesn’t know yet how Jisung feels about living on land — whether his initial boisterous curiosity will last or if it’s all too much at once and he will become wary.

He realises how little he knows about Jisung at all. Sure, there’s that intangible pull between them, the intense and almost supernatural devotion he feels, but on a broader scale… maybe it was too hasty to confess undying love?

Minho feels his heart thump faster in worry, but then Jisung is taking his hand again and leading them over to Minho’s friends and it all seems okay. Minho makes sure to grab a towel he sees lying discarded on the grass and wraps Jisung in it before anyone berates them about public decency.

Jeongin looks up to the sound of their steps and his expression is warm, arm tucked into the small of Chan’s back. “Minho!”

“Hi,” Minho says, offering a rare smile.

Seeing the new face Jeongin looks confused but welcoming.

Chan attempts to explain the situation to him. “Innie, this is Jisung.” He gestures to the towel-clad boy. “He’s…” he seems lost for words.

“Hi,” Jisung says. “I used to be a fish.”

Jeongin is further perplexed but cheerful about it. Minho sees his brain trying to put the pieces together.

Chan scrambles to explain. “This might sound crazy but he actually was a fish. Minho found him. And he’s the child of the Goddess of Mercy.”

Jeongin gasps. “I saw the Goddess! He saved our ship!”

“Sorry, I think I was the reason the ocean got so big in the first place,” Jisung admits, sheepishly.

Jeongin turns to him. “Are you magic?” he asks with reverence.

“I don’t think I have much magic anymore,” Jisung says. “Now that I’ve become human and fallen in love with Minho.”

 

Minho blushes furiously at yet another bombshell that has just been dropped on Jeongin. “We’ll tell you about it later,” he says. “Can we just go home now? I need to water my flowers and feed the cats.”

Chan hums an affirmation and they turn to leave with Jeongin who told them that the rest of the crew were happy to drop them home on the ship. The water had been very slowly retreating but it would probably take a few days before the roads could be used again.

Jisung stays bundled up in the towel on the trip home and Minho finds it adorable. Chan and Jeongin stay understandably close to each other.

They get dropped right to their doorstep, the other sailors telling Jeongin they could bring the ship back to port without him. He’s very grateful and promises to get them all time off as soon as he can.

As they open the door, Jeongin breathes in the smell of home. “I’m so happy to be back, finally. I’m sorry it took so long.” The last part is murmured mostly to Chan.

It’s late afternoon and the sun casts steep shadows through the living room. The water is somewhat lower than before — the first few metres of the path are exposed now.

Minho guides Jisung to his room once more to pick out some clothes, Soonie and Dori once again asleep on his bed. At the sound of their footsteps their ears prick up and they jump down to nuzzle against Minho’s ankles, meowing forlornly.

“Is it your dinner time?” Minho mutters. “Oh, you poor starving things.”

He pets them behind the ears and then stands to address Jisung. “I’m going to feed the cats now. You can choose whichever clothes you like.”

Jisung nods with bright eyes and drops the towel. Minho hurriedly escapes the room to go give his three infuriatingly cute demons their nightly meal.

He takes a detour to water the flowers in the living room on his way back, not wanting to rush Jisung. Chan and Jeongin are draped around each other on the couch, the latter nearly asleep on his chest.

Minho finally returns to the room, stepping loudly to alert Jisung of his presence. He tentatively opens the door. “Did you find something to wear?”

He hears Jisung hum enthusiastically and he looks up to see the boy clad in one of his best cat shirts — baby pink and nearly see through from wear, a pair of cats curled around each other with the caption ‘peace love and cat’ in cursive on the front. Felix had bought it for him as a joke years ago and yet Minho stubbornly wears it to sleep most nights.

Minho’s heart almost stops when he sees that the shorts Jisung chose are a pair he usually dances in at home. They’re very short. Not tight, thank god, but very short. Minho gulps.

“This one is so soft!” Jisung says, gesturing to the shirt. “It feels nice.”

Minho has to clear his throat before he can talk. “Yeah — good. That’s good.”

Have things changed between last night and them announcing their all-consuming love to the whole ocean? What are the guidelines for navigating this sort of relationship? What does Jisung, who has virtually no experience with humans, even expect from him?

His thoughts are broken by a loud grumble from Jisung’s tummy.

“Hungry?”

Jisung did kind of give their lunch away, it’s to be expected. He nods with a hum and a smile.

“I want rice!” the boy says.

Minho smiles back. “Okay. Let’s go make some rice.”

Jisung follows him across the hardwood floors into the kitchen and Minho has major déjà vu. Except this time his friends are sitting there too and Chan’s ears perk up when he hears Minho take out a pot.

“Are you cooking?” he asks from the living room.

Minho hum in affirmation. “How do you feel about sundubu-jjigae tonight? Sorry, Innie, we’re out of kimchi, but we’ve got other veggies that need using up.”

“That’s okay, Min, I can’t wait to taste your cooking again!” Jeongin exclaims. “I’ve been living on ship’s rations and I can wholeheartedly say they do not hold a candle to your food.”

Chan squeezes his boyfriend tightly.

“Do you want to try chopping these mushrooms?” Minho asks Jisung quietly. The boy nods eagerly.

Minho teaches him how to hold the knife and gets him to sit at the table with a chopping board while he slowly works through the pile. Minho cuts up an onion and Jisung flinches when he feels the sting in his eyes.

“What’s that?” he asks through tears.

“This is what onions do sometimes,” Minho says. “They make you cry.”

“Are you sure it’s edible?”

Minho laughs at that. “It’ll taste good, you’ll see.”

Minho directs him through the preparation of the rest of the meal and shows Jisung how to cook rice. He’s excited about the smallest things and Minho is addicted to how fresh and full of joy it is.

They gather Jeongin and Chan around the table when it’s ready and the cats steal their spot on the couch. Jisung’s eyes nearly pop out of his head when he tastes it for the first time and Minho reminds him of the hard work he put into its making.

Jeongin slowly gets caught up on their past few days and the whirlwind it's been. Minho can’t quite believe it hasn’t even been a week. He’s known Jisung for such a short amount of time and yet he may have already overtaken his cats on Minho’s favourite list.

Chan offers to wash up and then he and Jeongin leave the main room. Chan gives Minho a pointed and slightly apologetic look and Minho can see Jeongin’s ears are red. He’d like to personally issue them with a fuck you but he also can’t be mad at them. Chan was so worried and lonely without him.

He clears his throat and Jisung looks up at him.

“We could, uh, watch a movie? If you want?”

Jisung blinks blankly at him.

Minho realises that he’s speaking to a guy that used to be a fish. “It’s like a story, but you can see it.”

“Hyunjin used to tell me stories,” Jisung says, hands fidgeting. “I love stories.”

Minho grins. “Then you’re not gonna believe this.”

He brings Jisung back to his room and grabs his laptop. They could sit on the couch but the cats are there and Minho doesn’t have the heart to move them. His bed will do.

Minho jumps up onto the covers and pats beside him where Jisung clambers to occupy. While Minho turns the laptop on he tells Jisung as much as he can about how it works. It seems that although he was pretty sheltered as a kid, Seungmin did tell him the bare minimum about the human world.

Minho is trying to decide what to show Jisung for his first ever movie when he hears a shuddering breath and a decidedly un-PG noise from the neighbouring room. He groans and flushes bright red in second-hand embarrassment.

Jisung grabs him by the shoulder. “Are they okay?” he asks sincerely.

“Yeah, don’t worry, they’re more than okay,” Minho shudders.

“But they sound like they’re in pain?”

Minho looks to the heavens, hoping to be perhaps struck by lightning or zapped up by aliens. But Jisung is looking at him with such worried eyes that he decides to explain, for his sake.

“So.” How is he going to do this? “When humans really, really love each other, they often want to be really close. Physically.”

Jisung has a serious expression.

“And sometimes they will kiss…” Minho breathes deep. His ears are deep fuschia. “And sometimes they will do more than kiss.”

“More?”

Minho doesn’t know the intricacies of aquatic reproduction, but surely it isn’t too far removed? Or has Jisung really been this sheltered his entire life?

“Um. Like touching. It’s called sex.”

Well, it was all out there now. Minho may never recover but he supposes he will have had to cross this bridge at some point if Jisung were to continue living as a human.

“Does it hurt?”

Minho doesn’t know how to answer this. “Well, it shouldn’t if you do it right. But some people like it when it hurts a little bit.”

Jisung blanches. “I don’t know how hurt can feel good.”

Minho shrugs noncommittally. Maybe he’ll broach that subject another time. “Let me show you a good movie.”

Jisung seems happy enough to leave the topic even if the curiosity in his eyes never falters. He tucks himself into Minho’s shoulder and Minho shows him the wonder that is Howl’s Moving Castle. Jisung is enraptured the whole way through and falls asleep on top of Minho during the end credits.

Minho is so, so, content.

Chapter Text

Unlike the previous morning, Minho awakens slowly. He feels his breath travel through his body and the warmth of the blankets he must have snuggled beneath. He’d had the forethought to put his laptop on the bedside table, fortunately.

He’s also wrapped in sugar-soft limbs, a near foreign sensation but inviting nonetheless. When he opens his eyes it's to the gentle sunlight through his sheer curtains and when he turns it's Jisung’s eyes staring back at him.

It’s almost frightening but he finds himself entirely at ease in their brightness.

“Hello,” Jisung says.

“Hi,” Minho croaks out. “Did you sleep okay?”

Jisung beams at him and Minho almost has to shield his eyes. “Mhmm! You’re so warm!”

Minho is slightly taken aback. “Oh, thanks?”

The boy beside him shoves his face against Minho’s chest and rubs it around. It reminds Minho of how his cats nuzzle. It’s so fucking cute.

Jisung then looks at him expectantly and Minho’s stomach drops. This is all so new and different. How is he supposed to act with Jisung? Cautiously? Comfortably? What if he hurts him and Jisung leaves?

 

Maybe he should actually have a conversation with the guy instead of making assumptions about his feelings. That would be the rational thing to do.

But not now, not when he is so placid and cozy. He wraps his arms around Jisung very cautiously and when the boy gives him a smile he squeezes tight. Holds him close. What the fuck.

“Do you want to get up?” Minho asks.

“Soon.”

“Okay.”

Eventually a scratching at his door and the smell of pancakes rouses them and Minho once again goes through the emotionally draining ordeal of letting Jisung pick out clothes. It never seems to get easier and Jisung does not have an ounce of shame about his naked body. Minho wouldn’t mind if it wasn’t so blush inducing.

They emerge into the living area clothed and Minho shows Jisung how to feed the cats.

“Morning!” Chan says cheerfully. He’s at the stove flipping pancakes and Jeongin stands near him eating a pear. They have matching cherry-red marks poking out above their collars.

“Good morning!” Jeongin also greets them.

Minho hums.

“Hello!” Jisung waves from beside him.

“You want pancakes?” Chan asks. “I’m sure you’ll like them Jisung, they’re fluffy and sweet.”

While Jisung discovers pancakes for the first time, Minho lets his gaze wander to the big glass sliding doors and sees that the water level hasn’t subsided as much as he’d hoped. Their garden is exposed but the road is still mostly underwater so it doesn’t look like they’ll be going anywhere soon.

“What do you want to do today?” Chan stacks their plates onto the bench for washing once they’re all happily fed. “Though I don’t think we can really go out anywhere.”

“I don’t know,” Jisung says thoughtfully.

Chan starts to fill the basin with soapy water. “I think Innie and I were just going to catch up and be low-key today.”

“Didn’t you catch up enough last night?” Minho scoffs.

The older man’s cheeks colour.

“What Channie is trying to say is we’ll probably just be watching movies and being boring,” Jeongin explains. “You’re welcome to join us!”

Chan flicks aghast eyes at his partner.

“That’s okay,” Minho says quickly. “I can show Jisung our garden or something.”

Jisung cocks his head so Minho will elaborate. “I grow vegetables and stuff that we can eat.”

When he still looks confused Minho takes him by the sleeve and pulls him toward the doors. “Have fun,” he calls to Chan and Jeongin, who disappear back into their room eventually.

Their backyard is small but Minho has made the most of the space. They’re met with the vibrant olives and junipers of the garden and the quaint wood planked edge of Minho’s pride and joy. He shows Jisung the napa cabbages and eggplants he’s growing, and the spring onions that line the edge of the raised bed.

Jisung is particularly enchanted by the azaleas sprouting beside the veggies so Minho plucks one and holds it out to him. Jisung takes it tenderly and holds it by his heart for the rest of the garden tour.

“How do you make them grow?” Jisung twirls the stem of the flower with rapt attention.

“Lots of time and care. I have to water them often and pull out weeds that might stifle them. Sometimes I put some of our compost in the dirt for extra nutrients.”

“That sounds like a lot of work.”

“I enjoy it.”

Jisung crouches down to be level with a cabbage. “Can I try?”

“Well the soil has had enough water for a good while with the ocean coming up so close, but you could help me pull out some of the tiny weeds?”

Jisung nods his head enthusiastically.

Minho kneels down and pats the ground beside him where Jisung obediently sits, then points out which weeds to pull and how to make sure the roots come out too.

They work quietly for some time, Jisung seeming to thoroughly enjoy getting his fingers in the dirt. At one point he squeals and pulls his hand away hastily, grabbing Minho’s shoulder.

“Min— there’s something in there!”

Minho looks over and sees the end of a worm poking out where Jisung points.

“It’s just a worm. They’re really good for the soil — it means it’s healthy.”

“Oh.” Jisung takes a closer look. “That’s really cool.”

He gets super invested in the way the worm wriggles and he pokes Minho to tell him the names of other bugs he finds there.

“I can’t believe there are so many creatures I’ve never seen before,” Jisung says.

“Well you know basically every single one in the ocean.”

“Yeah! They’re also cool.”

The pair drift back into an easy silence. Minho worries he’s being awkward but the boy beside him seems content. He watches as Jisung’s forehead scrunches up.

“Hey, Minho?”

Minho is immediately on alert. “Mm?”

“Are you… are you sure sex isn’t painful?”

Minho nearly chokes.

“Chan and Innie…they had sores on their skin. Like, their necks. Is that normal?”

Minho feels his ears burn again. “Um, yeah? For some people.”

“Really?”

Minho nods. “It’s like a harder sort of kiss. They’re called hickeys.”

“Hickeys?” His eyes are so earnest.

“Yeah, you sort of kiss and suck the skin and it feels nice. Well, for me at least. And lots of people.”

Jisung’s eyes widen impossibly further. “You like it?”

“Um.” Minho sees no point in being dishonest. “Yeah?”

“Should I do one to you?”

And well, Minho nearly implodes at the visual he’s confronted with.

He clears his throat. “That’s okay, Sungie. Maybe another time.”

Another time? What was Minho thinking, implying they would be doing that to each other in the future? He doesn’t even know if Jisung would want any sort of intimacy, let alone sex!

Jisung just hums and shows Minho a beetle that’s crawled onto his index finger.

 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

 

Eventually the sun travels too high in the sky for them to comfortably stay in the sunshine and they retreat inside (but not before Minho shows Jisung how to harvest a cabbage and the boy promptly falls on his butt trying to retrieve it. It reminds Minho a little too much of when he and Felix did the same thing).

They venture back into the living room and Jisung plops onto the couch next to Dori. Minho brings over some of the leftover food from the night before and sits next to Jisung, tucking his legs beneath him. Chan and Innie can figure out their own meals.

Minho picks up his phone to check in with Felix while the boy beside him eats. It must be strange having a human body that requires so much fuel when you’ve previously lived as a tiny fish. That’s okay. Minho will gladly cook for him.

Felix replies quickly enough that he’s staying with Chaewon for the time being while the water levels subside. Their classes have been cancelled for a few weeks but he makes Minho promise to meet up as soon as they’re able to. Minho agrees with the feeling that Jisung would mesh well with the other dancer.

“What are you doing?”

Jisung has settled his chin over Minho’s shoulder to watch him type.

“I’m texting my friend, Felix,” Minho says, then he realises that Jisung won’t have a clue what that means. “It’s like talking, but through writing.”

“Does your friend live in there?” Jisung questions sincerely.

Minho has no idea how to explain more of the crazy world of technology. “No, uh, this is a phone. Felix has one too, and we can send each other messages between the phone, I guess. It’s like the laptop we watched a movie on, sort of.”

Jisung hums. “Is Felix your favourite person?”

Minho might be delusional but he hears what he thinks is a hint of jealousy in his tone. “I wouldn’t say that, but we are quite close. We study dance together.”

Jisung lights up at that. “I love to dance!” He frowns. “Though I think it would be a lot different with long limbs like this.”

“Do fish dance?” Minho asks.

“Mhmm. Some do. Sometimes to talk but usually for—” This is the first time Minho has seen Jisung somewhat bashful. “—mating.”

“Ah.” Minho doesn’t know what to say to that.

“Can you show me how humans dance?” Jisung asks earnestly.

Minho blinks a few times. Is this supposed to be innuendo? Flirtation? Or genuine interest? He finds he doesn’t care because no matter the outcome he would probably do anything to make Jisung smile. Even if it’s embarrassing.

“Really?”

Jisung nods fervently.

Minho sighs, rising from the couch and feeling his hips crack. He has not had enough stretching time with the whirlwind his days have been recently.

He lifts the coffee table and moves it beside the couch so there’s room for him, then decides to play a track on his phone that he’s recently been choreographing to. It’s a new piece, more upbeat than his usual work, but it reminds him of the boy in front of him.

The song begins with synth-y underwater beats and emerges into a playful bubbly tune. Minho feels awfully exposed in plain sweatpants and a tee and he keeps his movements casual rather than going all out.

By the time the chorus rolls around he’s decided to ignore whatever hopelessly adorable expressions Jisung is pointing at him and submerge himself in the music, letting his arms flow around his torso and feet find the simple (at least compared to some of the stuff he’s choreographed) footwork below. He really does love dancing. Even in front of this cute boy that he can’t help but feel out of his depth with.

He hears a little gasp when he rolls his hips and runs his finger along his collar and it makes him blush. Why can’t he just choreograph children’s dance? Why does he have to make all of his steps a little sexy? Why does Felix enable him, add fire to the flames?

He ignores it all and reaches the final steps, ending the piece with a pointed finger right to Jisung. Shit, why did he choreograph it like that?

Jisung’s eyes are wide and mouth agape as the music stops. Then he breaks into a beaming smile.

“That was so cool! You have to teach me how to dance like that!”

Minho feels the tips of his ears burn. He also doesn’t know how to take a compliment.

“Okay.”

Jisung waits, expectant.

“You mean now?”

A firm series of nods.

“Oh, um. Well, I can show you a few moves,” Minho says with a little reluctance. He hasn’t taught anyone else in a long time let alone the guy he’s crushing on. Crushing on? Is that what it is? It feels so much deeper and more all-encompassing than that, like Minho would never be able to take a full breath without him.

Jisung goes to stand beside him and looks up with sparkling eyes.

“So, uh,” Minho starts, eloquently. “The first few steps go like this.”

He demonstrates the moves and then breaks them down for his… his what? Friend? Crush? Soulmate?

Jisung has bambi legs and Minho stifles a laugh at how hopeless he begins.

“You have to move your hips with the rest of your body like this,” Minho tries to amend. Jisung has another go but he’s barely been in a human body for a day and can’t quite manipulate himself like Minho can with over two decades of human experience.

“Here,” Minho says and sets his hands over Jisung’s hips to show him how to turn. A moment passes and then he retracts them like he just put his hand on a stove. That was not okay. He shouldn’t just touch this guy even if he’s hopelessly in love with him already.

Love? That really can’t be right, it’s only been a few days. Minho takes years to open his heart to others. But try as he might he only falls deeper for this silly guy and his immense curiosity and sweetness.

Eventually Jisung starts to pick up the dance and before long they’re both sweating and giggling too much to continue.

They collapse onto the couch and Jisung nestles his head into the crook of Minho’s neck.

“Tired?” Minho hums.

“Mmnyeah, just a little,” comes the reply, lips brushing ticklishly against his neck.

Minho shivers. They lie quietly for a moment.

“Want to see something cute?” Minho asks the boy.

“Yeah!” Jisung replies.

Minho picks up his phone from where he’d left it beside them and pulls up one of his favourite compilations of cat videos. He has to reach his arm around Jisung’s shoulders to hold it in place and it’s very cosy.

Jisung’s eyes widen as it starts.

“It’s like Soonie!” he gasps.

“Mmm,” Minho smiles.

Minho listens to the small breaths of joy as Jisung watches and the remarks on how it seems impossible that something that cute could exist in real life. Eventually Jisung’s commentary lessens until he’s drifting off to sleep on his shoulder.

Chan’s door cracks open to reveal the older man and Minho carefully extricates himself from the sleeping boy.

A fond smile plays on his oldest friend’s features and Chan potters around in the kitchen making a cup of tea for himself and Minho. It’s quiet and natural.

They sit at the table, Minho barely keeping his eyes away from Jisung’s form.

“Innie’s sleeping too,” Chan mentions. “It’s been a crazy few days.”

Minho hums. He and Chan need to talk properly about everything, there’s been no chance for a debrief and Minho’s brain is wired even though the day has been soft.

“Hyung,” Minho begins.

Chan’s immediately focused. Minho hasn’t called him that in forever.

“Are you—” Minho huffs. “This has all been very fast. Are you sure it’s okay for Jisung to stay here with us?”

Chan takes a sip of his tea. “I think so. I can see how important he is to you, even though it hasn’t been very long.”

“He is.”

Chan looks at him strangely. “It will definitely be a big change, but if you’re okay with him staying in your room then it’ll be fine. It would be fine even if he wanted to sleep on the couch, really. He’s super sweet from what I can see and he… fits.”

Chan’s always had a penchant for taking in small lost looking things. He sheltered a bird for several weeks last year until it could fly on its own.

“Yeah.”

The house is quiet save for Jisung’s sleeping breaths.

“What if it’s… what if he stays for a long time?” Minho’s voice is small and Chan takes his hand, warm from holding the teacup.

“Min. I promise you that it will be fine. Innie has to go sometimes and Jisung will keep us company. He will find a place in our lives, I’m sure of it. He kind of already has.”

Minho nods.

“I think.” He gulps. “I think I’m sort of in love with him.” The last part comes out in a barely audible whisper.

Chan smiles. “That’s scary, mm?”

Minho nods again and blinks back unwelcome tears. He usually keeps his emotions clutched tightly to his chest, he doesn’t let them out like this. He has no idea where to begin.

“It’s going to be okay, Min. No matter what,” Chan says firmly. “It might even be better.” He thinks for a moment. “The universe really tried its hardest to push you two together — that’s gotta mean something. And Hyunjin seemed to think so too.”

“He did?”

“Mm. Said he felt the whole world shift to make room for you two.”

“That’s kinda grand.”

Chan rubs his thumb comfortingly into his friend’s hand. “Make sure you talk to him about this, yeah? Don’t keep it all inside.”

“No promises.”

Chan laughs. “It’s your own grave, kid.”

“I have a box of tissues and I’m not afraid to use it.”

 

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟

Later that night Chan insists on a family movie night and Jisung is now included in that.

“We should watch Spirited Away again!” Jeongin exclaims.

Minho remembers Chihiro’s face as she eats onigiri and is instantly reminded of Jisung. That won’t do.

“What about Deadpool?” Chan suggests.

Minho is aghast. “Chan, do you know what kind of language is used in that? The gore? The sexual innuendo? We have a child in our midst!” he hisses.

Usually the child would refer to Jeongin but Minho is suddenly fearful about throwing Jisung into a decidedly mature movie.

“Fineee,” Chan cedes. “Maybe something gentler then. What’s that one movie you said was your favourite, Min?”

“My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday!” Jeongin pipes up. “You’re a sick romantic at heart aren’t you, Minnie?”

Minho’s ears flush red and he throws a couch cushion at the grinning devil.

Chan is already pulling it up on his laptop which he places on the coffee table and sits between his boyfriend and Minho. Jisung is squished into the side of the couch and is wrapped around Minho’s arm again.

It’s hot.

He can barely concentrate on the movie in front of them but it doesn’t matter because he’s seen it many times. He’s hyper focused on the way Jisung holds him and the soft tickle of hair against skin.

Minho watches a furrow form between Jisung’s eyebrows as the movie progresses. He doesn’t know if it’s because of the predicament the characters find themselves in or if he doesn’t like the movie.

“Okay?” Minho whispers in his ear.

Jisung nods and smiles at him, taking hold of his hand absentmindedly and tracing Minho’s fingers with his own.

A little while later he hears a gentle smack of lips against lips beside him and pointedly grimaces, flickering his eyes over to gauge Jisung’s reaction. Screw this romantic movie. The boy is already looking at him, or past him to where Chan and Innie are smiling stupidly at one another, eyes so wide.

“Can we do that again?” he breathes into Minho’s ear.

Minho hears static and blinks furiously.

“Um.”

What is he supposed to say to that? They barely know each other. Jisung probably doesn’t even know what kisses mean, how it would screw with Minho’s head when he’s trying so hard to be cautious.

“Some time,” Minho breathes, tearing his eyes away from Jisung and onto the laptop screen.

He’s such an idiot. Such an idiot. He could have kissed Jisung. He’d asked to do so. But the moment is lost and his heart is thumping like he’s running away from wolves or something.

By the end of the movie Jisung is crying.

“Sungie…” Minho murmurs. “You okay there?”

His words are a blubbering mess. “They just — and then they’ll never — I want them to always be in love!”

Minho laughs out of relief that his outburst is solely due to investment in the movie and not due to Minho’s kissing mishap. Probably.

“It’ll be okay, I’m sure,” Minho says. “Is it time for bed?”

Jisung brightens considerably. “With you?”

“Um. Yeah. Okay.” God, he’s so awkward. When will he stop being awkward?

Jisung stands and pulls Minho up with him. Minho casts his eyes to Chan and sees a reassuring expression.

“Goodnight, you two,” Chan smiles.

“Night!” Jeongin adds.

They make their way to Minho’s room and the older boy stops outside the door. “Do you want to shower?” An absent expression greets the statement. “It’s like rain but to make you clean and warm. If you want.”

Jisung hesitantly nods. “Sure!”

Minho pulls out a towel from their linen cupboard and grabs the clothes Jisung slept in the night before since the younger boy seemed to like them.

“We usually have to be cautious with water since we’re on tank supply, but I don’t think that will be much of an issue at the moment,” Minho says. “If you want to use the soap you can.”

He shows Jisung how the tap works and then escapes before he can be confronted with his naked body again.

“I’ll just be outside if you need anything,” Minho says. “Don’t slip and die.”

Jisung giggles.

Minho listens as the shower turns on and runs his fingers through his hair. This is way too domestic for his heart. This whole day has been.

“Minho! This stuff smells so yummy!” Jisung calls, muffled by the water and the walls.

“The soap?” Minho calls back. “Don’t eat it! It’s not edible!”

“Oh — okay! I only licked a little.”

Minho laughs with exasperation. “Alright, Sungie.”

Jisung emerges not long after with flushed cheeks and smooth skin. He’s wearing the clothes Minho gave him and rubbing the soft towel against his face. Minho forgot that he doesn’t get wet but at least he likes the texture of the towel.

Minho lets him jump into his bed with two of the purring cats and has his own shower. When he returns Jisung looks like he’s trying to communicate telepathically with Doongie.

“Have you managed to hear his thoughts yet?”

“I’m trying!”

“It’s probably just a cycle of food, sleep, knock things over.”

“I actually think he’s a highly intelligent being, probably secretly ruling over the whole planet,” Jisung says solemnly.

Minho laughs. “Oh, you’re absolutely right.”

He watches Jisung shuffle over a bit to make space for him and Minho lifts the covers to get in himself after turning off the main light. Jisung lies on his side facing him with his hands tucked under his cheek.

“You doing alright? With everything?” Minho asks, trying his best to not be emotionally stinted. “I bet it’s been a lot. Suddenly being in this whole different world.”

Jisung stares into his eyes and he can see the whole universe.

“Yeah. I’m okay.” He shifts a bit closer so their knees touch where they bend. “It’s kind of scary but I’m really happy to be here. With you. And away from my dad for a bit.” His gaze drops and his voice is a whisper. “I think I could be anywhere as long as it’s with you.”

And Minho feels that sentence like an arrow to the heart. He can’t bear to talk anymore and instead chooses to be brave and pulls Jisung into his chest and shoves his face into his neck. Jisung’s arms hold him just as tightly.

Chapter Text

The next few days are much the same. Horridly domestic, full of good food and endlessly embarrassing himself. Minho wishes life could always be like this.

When he wakes one quiet morning, Jisung is staring at him. This happens a lot. Minho is almost used to sleeping next to the ex-fish but it’s still unnerving when his full attention is on Minho’s dried drool cheeks first thing.

“You were sleep talking again in the night,” Jisung tells him, letting one finger trace along Minho’s shoulder.

“Oh, sorry.”

“That’s okay.”

“What was I saying?” Minho almost doesn’t want to know but he can’t help being curious. He doesn’t remember what he dreamt about.

“It started off good, I think,” Jisung starts, gaze thoughtful. “You said my name a few times. And something about feeling good. I think you wanted ‘more’ of something, but I don’t know what.”

Minho tries not to combust.

“But then I think you had a sad dream,” Jisung pouts. “I remember you saying ‘don’t go’.” He nuzzles his head closer. “I don’t want you to be sad, Minho.”

Minho wishes he could recall the dream. “I didn’t mean to make you worry Sungie. I’m really happy right now.”

“You are?”

“Mmm. Because I’m here with you.”

Jisung beams. If Minho were any more awake he would cringe at himself for that line, but it doesn’t matter when the boy beside him smiles like that.

Minho eventually wrenches himself out of bed and opens the curtains to forget-me-not skies.

“Mmmmph I don’t wanna get up yet.” Jisung writhes on the sheets, pulling them up to his chin and far as they can go.

“I promised Felix I’d hang out with him today, and I was hoping you’d come too,” Minho says. “And I thought we could walk there along the headland.”

He leaves out the fact that Chan has the car so they’re basically abandoned.

“Ugh, you make a good argument,” Jisung relents.

“That’s right. You’re speaking to the king of arguments.”

“Is that what you’re the king of?”

“Mhmm.”

“More like king of never telling me what he’s thinking,” Jisung teases. Minho throws a pillow at his annoyingly cute face.

“Shush. Get up, let’s go.”

It hasn’t taken long for Minho and Jisung to grow steadily closer and although Minho feels comfortable joking around with him he hasn’t managed to open up really. And although Jisung has noticed, he’s being patient with him.

Minho throws an outfit suitable for walking and meeting his best friend towards Jisung who happily unclothes and puts it on in broad view. No regard for Minho’s sanity.

“Felix said there’s a new cafe that he wants to go to, and that we should go to the beach after.”

Jisung wiggles excitedly at that prospect. He and Minho had been able to wade in the decreasing water outside the house which is now almost back to normal but they haven’t been to a proper beach.

“Do you think you’ll want to swim?” Minho asks. It’s a stupid question really because Jisung is immediately nodding in affirmation at the idea.

“I’ll go grab a pair of Chan’s togs you can borrow. We’re going to a beach where you can’t really go nude,” he explains.

“Are you going to swim?” Jisung asks.

“Um, probably not,” Minho says.

“Why not?” Jisung looks distraught.

Minho feels uncomfortable under the scrutiny. “Well because I don’t really know how.”

“Easy fix! I’ll teach you!”

“Maybe…” Minho says noncommittally.

“Just bring some in case,” Jisung compromises. And Minho can’t say no to that face.

They eventually make it out of the house with a tote bag of swimwear.

Jisung points to the track down the side of their hill as they pass it. “What’s down there?”

Minho stops to look too. “Oh, that’s the shore where we met.”

Jisung gasps loudly. “Please can we go quickly? I wanna see!”

“You were there a few days ago,” Minho laughs, but leads him as they scamper down the path to the tiny rocky inlet.

Jisung plops himself onto a rock and breathes in the salty smell of the ocean.

“It’s not much.”

“I like it.”

“Me too.”

Minho sits on a rock next to him.

“What were you doing down here when you found me?” Jisung asks.

“Just… thinking I guess. The sea helps me feel real and… balanced.”

Jisung giggles. “And yet you can’t swim?”

Minho shoves him and laughs too, jabbing at his side to make the younger boy giggle harder.

Neither of them notice the human head ascending from the water until Seungmin is standing at knee height in the shallows.

Jisung scrambles up from where he was sitting and Minho follows suit.

“Father!”

“Hi, Jisung,” Seungmin says. He looks to where Minho is beside his son. “Minho.”

Minho bows his head a smidgen.

No one says anything for a moment. Seungmin clears his throat. “Er. I never apologised to you properly, Jisung. I’m sorry for everything, for keeping you from Minho.”

“It’s okay,” Jisung smiles. He is far too forgiving. Minho can be angry for the both of them.

“How… have you been?” Seungmin still has a sheepish look on his face.

“Really, really good.” Jisung takes Minho’s hand. “I’ve been learning all about humans. And Minho has cats! Do you know about cats?” he asks the wizard.

Seungmin lets out a huff that sounds suspiciously fond. “I do know about cats. I’m glad that you’ve been faring well. Your siblings miss you.”

That sounds too guilt-trippy for Minho’s liking but he remains silent.

“I miss them too!” Jisung says. “Please tell them how much I love them. And Hyunjin!”

Seungmin nods. He looks like he wants to say more but bites his tongue.

“You should both come over for dinner one day!” Jisung bursts out, then looks at Minho. “If you think that would be okay?”

“I’m sure we can make it work.”

Jisung turns back to his father. “Minho and I are going on a walk to a cafe now. We’ll see you later!”

Seungmin looks a little put out but accepts this.

“Alright. Have fun,” Seungmin says, watching as Jisung drags Minho back up the path waving.

They step onto the road and begin the walk still holding hands. Jisung’s palm fits so perfectly into Minho’s.

“That cloud kinda looks like Soonie, don’t you think?” Jisung says, pointing above.

“Yep, spitting image,” Minho confirms.

It’s a lovely day and the weather is warm but with enough breeze to cool off. If this road went on forever Minho wouldn’t mind.

It takes them a while but they eventually arrive in the township and make their way along the streets to the cafe Felix suggested. Jisung marvels at the architecture, Minho thinks he’d probably explode if he went to a big city.

They pass a tiny market with fresh produce and ceramics and small artisanal trinkets on sale and Minho buys some more sweet potatoes, radishes, and cucumbers as they pass. He will never miss a bargain. He secretly buys a necklace while Jisung is distracted just because it has a tiny fish on it and it makes him think of the other boy. He doesn’t have to know. At least until Minho works up the courage to give it to him.

A text comes in from Felix saying he’s arrived and Minho and Jisung roll up a couple minutes later. It’s a cute shop with flower baskets out the front and warm inside lighting. Felix’s blonde hair shines in the sunlight and his smile is just as sunny which Minho winces at. Jisung’s smiles never affect him negatively like that.

“Minho!” Felix calls out. “Hey!”

He bounds over to the pair and grins at Jisung. Jisung blinks back wide eyed and a little intimidated by his charisma.

“And you must be Jisung!” Felix beams. “You’re even cuter than I expected as a human! I’m Felix!”

Jisung blushes and smiles back. “Hi, Felix.”

“Don’t freak him out, Lix.”

“I’m not freaked out,” Jisung pouts.

“He’s not freaked out!” Felix asserts. “He’s glowing. Actually, his skin is crazy golden. Is that because of being a fish?”

Jisung shrugs. Minho shrugs.

“Shall we go inside?”

“Yeah!” Felix leads the way and sits them down at a table in the corner by the window. “I heard the cheesecake here is to die for! Do you like cheesecake Jisung?”

“I don’t know,” Jisung says truthfully.

“I’ll get us a piece to try. And brownies! Though mine will be better,” Felix snickers. “Want anything to drink?”

“I’ll have an Americano,” Minho says.

“Mmm I’ll get an iced one.” Felix looks to Jisung. “Anything for you, Jisung?”

“I’ll have what you’re having,” Jisung says. He looks a little out of his depth but Minho can tell his curiosity is winning over worry.

“Alright!” Felix stands up and goes over to buy everything, despite Minho’s protests.

“He’s really pretty,” Jisung whispers.

“You’re prettier,” Minho murmurs absentmindedly. Jisung flushes.

Felix returns and the sweet treats follow not long after. Felix gets a forkful of cheesecake and lifts it up to Jisung.

“Try it!”

Jisung obediently opens his mouth wide and lets Felix feed him the bite. His eyes bulge open and he grabs Minho’s arm with puffed cheeks.

“Good?”

Jisung nods bigger than he ever has and it’s way too cute. He looks like he’s gone to heaven.

He swallows and says, “Holy shit.”

Minho gawks. “Who taught you that?!”

“I bet it was Channie,” Felix snickers.

“That was so delicious! So good! The best thing I’ve ever eaten!” Jisung rambles, shaking Minho’s upper arm in excitement.

Felix quickly feeds him brownie and makes him try the iced Americano and by the time they’re finished he’s buzzing.

“Felix, you’re like my favourite person ever!” Jisung squawks.

“Fed you cheesecake once and suddenly he’s become the favourite,” Minho mutters grumpily.

“Don’t worry Minnie, you get your own favourite tier anyway,” Jisung comforts him. Minho blushes begrudgingly.

The trio wanders down to the sandy beach away from all the harbour boats. It stretches out in golden hues and a few other people sunbathe intermittently along it. Minho watches a baby splashing in the shallows and smiles secretly.

“Let’s go here!” Felix announces, plopping his bag on a suitable patch of sand and spreading out a towel. He’d had the forethought to change into his swimwear in the small bathrooms nearby while Jisung was distracted by the activity on the beach and strips his shirt off to expose his skin to the sun. Minho thinks the sunglasses his friend is wearing make him look a bit like a tourist but at least he’s confident about it.

Minho pulls two more towels from his bag and hands one to Jisung to lay out beside his friend. He was right about Jisung and Felix getting on, they’ve been chattering away the whole walk and Minho seriously wonders if Felix will have a new best friend by the end of the day.

Minho tentatively sets up beside Jisung but he’s kinda unavoidably covered in sand now which isn’t the best feeling.

“Sunscreen time!” Felix says. That’s not gonna help Minho’s sticky sand situation.

“It’s for protecting your skin from getting burnt in the sun,” Minho explains. He’s gotten good at fast explanations recently. Jisung nods.

“Are you gonna come swimming with me?” Felix asks Jisung. He makes his eyes big and round and Minho has nearly caved to that expression many times.

“Yeah!” Jisung confirms. “I borrowed some of Chan’s togs.” He pulls out a pair of swim shorts from Minho’s bag.

“Great! Take off your shirt,” Felix says. “We can make a sunscreen train! You do my back and Minho-hyung can do yours.”

Jisung figures it out quickly as Felix squirts some into his palm and shows him the best way to apply it.

“You’ve got dots on your back too! Like a white-spotted puffer fish.” Jisung says in awe.

Felix giggles. “They’re called freckles, silly.”

Jisung finally takes off his shirt and Minho is confronted with miles of honey skin. He tries to be professional about it and lathers the boy’s back with sunscreen. He’s so smooth and Minho can feel the way his muscles move below the skin. His back is particularly broad compared to Minho’s. Minho puts it down to occupational hazards — he’s a dancer so his lower body is more well defined compared to Jisung’s upper body swimming muscles.

The technicalities behind the muscle mass doesn't detract from the fact that Minho is hopelessly attracted to him.

He holds his breath as he rubs the last of it in and hums an affirmative that he’s finished. Felix directs Jisung to go get changed so they can swim together.

“So, let me get this straight,” Felix begins as soon as he’s out of earshot, never a good sign. “You said that you confessed your love to the Goddess of Mercy and then kissed him into human form and you’ve been cuddling each other to sleep every night but you haven’t had a conversation about any of it? About what you are to each other?”

Minho shrugs. “Never came up.”

“Min, this is a recipe for disaster.” Felix looks at him sternly. “Tell the cutie pie you’re obsessed with him! Don’t leave him guessing before it’s too late!”

“Who are you to talk?” Minho retorts grumpily. “Your last partner thought you were just friends with benefits for like two months.”

Felix splutters. “That’s different!” Minho raises an eyebrow. “Well I’ve learnt from it. So that’s why I’m telling you. Either way, Jisung is the purest guy I’ve ever met and if you break his heart I may not buy you cute cat shirts anymore.”

Minho faux gasps. “You wouldn’t!”

“Don’t try me!”

Jisung returns at that moment and Minho burns from his ears to his core. “Ready!”

Felix jumps up and grabs Jisung’s wrist. “Let’s go!”

Jisung turns back after a half step to Minho. “Will you come in?”

Minho sighs. “Maybe in a bit. Let me warm up first.”

“Okay!” Jisung smiles wide and lets Felix drag him down to the water’s edge.

Minho watches as they run in splashing, getting slower and sloppier as the waves get deeper. Felix dives in when they reach their abdomens and Jisung follows not long after. Minho smiles as Jisung surfaces and flicks his head around to shake off water droplets with a massive grin and peals of laughter.

He’s so done for. He can see the rivulets running down the boy’s torso and his toned shoulders. His tummy and waist looks soft enough to sink his teeth into. Minho digs his fingers into the sand.

After much splashing and throwing themselves into waves, Jisung runs out and up the beach to Minho.

“Please will you come in?” Jisung pleads.

And how can Minho deny him when he looks like that? Strawberry hair coiled on his neck, skin shiny and glistening like scales. Eyes so round.

“Okay,” Minho relents softly.

“Yay!”

“I’ll get changed,” he tells him, standing and nudging the bag over his shoulder. Jisung nods happily back.

Minho ventures to the bathroom and reluctantly puts on the shorts and rash top that have had virtually no wear despite living in such close proximity to the ocean. He wanders back with an attempt at confidence and finds Jisung where he left him.

“Come on!” Jisung takes his hand and leads him into the shallows.

Minho focuses on the warm hand in his rather than the fear that arises as they get deeper. He’s thankful the sea is fairly calm. Felix is lying on his back like a starfish, eyes closed and bobbing gently up and down.

“Can you stay afloat in open water?” Jisung asks.

Minho shakes his head nervously. He’s such a loser.

“Let me teach you!”

Minho furrows his brows. “You really want to… teach me?”

“You taught me how to dance! Think of it like returning the favour.”

“Our relationship isn’t transactional,” Minho scolds him. Then scolds himself for using such a loaded word like ‘relationship’.

Jisung shrugs. “Don’t try to get out of this! You’re with a guy that used to be a fish!”

And now Minho doesn’t know how to feel because did Jisung mean ‘with’ as in physically together or ‘with’ as in romantically involved? It’s far too confusing so Minho ignores it.

“Take my hands.”

Minho does so automatically. Jisung pulls him out until the water nearly reaches his chin.

“Okay, now take your feet off the ground.”

Minho shakes his head vigorously.

“You’ve got my hands! I won’t let you drown!” Jisung asserts. “C’mon, just a little. Just one foot first. You’ll float.”

Minho hides his skepticism best he can and lets his feet come up so he's outstretched on his belly, holding Jisung’s arm so tightly he’s worried he’ll end up pushing him under.

“Okay! Yes!” Jisung praises him. “Now you can kick your feet. I’ve still got you.”

Minho kicks his feet hard and showers Jisung in water. He deserved that for making Minho step out of his comfort zone.

Jisung splutters. “Maybe a little gentler!”

Minho knows how to do this. He did it when the tiny boat stopped working. But both times he’s been holding on to something solid, he’d hate for Jisung to let go of his hands right now.

Jisung lets go of his hands. “Try keeping yourself up like that with your own arms!”

But Minho is immediately sinking underwater and flailing and gargling salt water and suddenly Jisung’s arms are back on him, clutched around his waist and lifting him up and close.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Jisung is saying, using one hand to hold Minho up and the other to brush Minho’s wet hair out of his eyes. “Sorry, baby.”

Hooooly shit. Hooooooooooooly. Shit.

“Baby?” Minho squeaks. He’s sure he looks like a soggy cat.

“Do you not like that? I heard Channie say that to Innie so I thought maybe you would.”

Minho sort of shakes his head sort of just convulses.

“I told you I can’t swim.”

Jisung has the audacity to laugh. “No, that was my fault. I shouldn’t have let go so soon.”

Minho can’t really breathe because he’s pressed up against Jisung’s naked, glistening torso and he’s wet. Not like that but maybe like that.

“Let’s try a starfish, yeah?”

“Fine.”

What Minho didn’t anticipate about this is that Jisung is fully manipulating his body to lie on his back, fingers all over his torso and his thighs to move him into a buoyant shape. He keeps his hand carefully under Minho’s lower back and head and Minho is so scared to move and break the tension that he expertly floats on his back and Jisung even manages to let go once he’s sure Minho won’t immediately plummet.

“Perfect! You did it perfect!” Jisung says, staring at his face. Minho shuts his eyes to block out the glare from both suns above him.

He feels the water lap against him and fingers reach out to touch him and he peers sideways to see Jisung starfished beside him, linked by their fingers. It’s so awfully romantic.

Jisung tries a few more times to get Minho to tread water with marginal success, but soon enough Minho’s fingertips are entirely pruned and Felix has long since gotten out to sunbathe. Jisung doesn’t seem to prune in the slightest, which must be the fish thing.

Minho collapses on his towel by Felix dramatically and puts his own sunglasses on too. He vaguely sees Jisung crouching on the beach making shapes in the sand but is too tired to watch.

“Well, that was awfully charged,” Felix states.

“Shut up.”

“When are you two gonna finally kiss about it?”

Minho groans and rolls over.

He must doze for a few minutes because he wakes to Jisung nudging his shoulder insistently.

“Minho! Min! Look what I made!”

Minho blearily sits up and stands with Jisung’s tugging. He brings him down the beach where the tide has gone out slightly. In the patch of sand between them and the waves is a massive spiral design. Its edges curl around each other and unite in the centre, comprised of raised valleys of sand and even little shell decorations.

“Did you… make this?” Minho asks.

“Mhmm!” Jisung looks like he’s waiting for Minho to say something.

“It’s really pretty, Sung. I bet you spent a lot of time on it.” This must have been the right thing to say because Jisung glows. “Does it have… like, a special meaning?”

Jisung blushes furiously. “Maybe...”

Minho narrows his eyes. “Are you going to tell me?”

“Well… I think fish and humans might do things more similarly than I’d thought.”

“What do you mean?”

Jisung juts out his lower lip while he thinks. It’s so plush. “Sea creatures have ways of showing love,” he begins. “Dancing, rubbing, art. I’m pretty sure those things mean the same for humans!”

Minho’s brain is grinding to a halt. Love? Love? He thinks about the way Jisung rubs his face against Minho every morning, about teaching him to dance. About this crazy sand art on the beach. Has Jisung been trying to express his love to Minho the whole time and he hasn’t even realised? No, that can’t be right. Besides, love can mean a lot of things. Minho loved his halmeoni. Minho loves Chan and Felix and Jeongin. Yeah.

“Hm. I guess humans and fish are kinda similar.” Minho needs to sit down. Or get wasted. Both, perhaps.

Jisung beams.

“Yo, did you make this Jisung?!” Felix’s voice travels to them. He steps beside Minho and gazes in awe at the sand.

“Yeah! One of my parents is very good at art. He showed me once how you’re meant to do this for people you love.”

“That’s mean as.”

Minho whispers to Jisung, “He means it’s awesome. He grew up in Australia, like Chan.”

Jisung grins and grabs Felix’s hand to show him some of the details on the other side of his artwork.

Minho can’t help his fondness. It’s growing on him like a parasite. A hopelessly-in-love-with-this-silly-fish-boy parasite.

While Jisung and Felix are occupied he heads back to their things and checks his phone to find a message from Chan offering a ride home. As much as he’d love to spend forever on this beach with Jisung (even with all the sticky sand and dangerous water) he confirms with Chan to be picked up in five or so on his way back from the radio.

When the other two return they help pack up their towels and take turns changing into dry clothes.

“Do you think Chan would mind dropping me off on the way?” Felix asks as he stuffs his wet things haphazardly into a bag.

“Dropping you off what, a cliff?” Minho deadpans.

“Fuck off,” Felix chuckles.

“I’m sure he can!” Jisung decides.

They walk back to the road and Chan pulls up in the dinky pink car not long after, Jeongin riding shotgun. He must have joined Chan at the station — they’re inseparable when Jeongin’s not away.

“Hey guys!” Chan waves. “Jump in! You too Felix, if you need a lift!”

As predicted.

They squish into the back and Minho is secretly pleased at the way the entire length of Jisung’s side presses against his, even if it makes his whole body lock up. Jisung ends up stuck in the middle seat but he doesn’t seem uncomfortable.

“How’s the water?” Chan asks, car radio playing what sounds like Chinese opera. Chan likes to choose the station at random every day, it’s a bit of a roulette.

“Warm,” Felix says while Jisung declares “Magnificent!” and Minho mutters “Terrifying.”
Chan barks out a laugh. “Didn’t drown today I hope, Minho?”

Minho huffs. “No thanks to Jisung.”

Jisung looks scandalised. “I only let go once!”

“One too many times.”

They chatter back and forth, windows down and afternoon light making Jisung glow even more than usual.

“Well, this is me!” Felix announces as Chan slows on his street. “It was lovely to meet you Jisung! I’ll make you my own brownies next time!”

“Yeah!” Jisung nods.

Felix gives Jisung a peck on the cheek and then leans over his body to give one to Minho too, much to his chagrin.

“Have a wonderful evening!” He says as he waves goodbye to them all and then saunters over to his flat.

Jisung doesn’t move from his spot in the middle, but Minho doesn’t mind. He does, however, notice a tightness between his eyebrows that wasn’t there before.

Chan drives them around the winding peninsula while Jeongin tells them about their day. They arrive before the sun has gone down, but the air is damp with an evening feeling.

Jisung still has that slightly troubled look the whole way into the house and when Minho takes him to their bedroom. (Their!) He should probably ask. He should.

“Hey, Sungie?”

They’re standing just inside his room, bags abandoned by the door.

“Hey, is something… wrong?”

Jisung shrugs. Minho cannot let him feel like this. He decides to be very brave and steps forward to wrap his arms around him. He folds his body to envelop Jisung’s. “Did I… do something wrong?” he whispers.

Jisung shakes his head. “No!” He smushes his cheek onto Minho’s shoulder. “It’s just… well.” He sighs. “Felix is very pretty isn’t he? I haven’t seen anyone as beautiful as him except Hyunjin.”

Minho is confused. “I suppose?”

Jisung huffs a sigh. “And he’s kind and funny.”

“Yeah?” Minho can’t figure out what’s wrong. He’s glad Jisung had a fun time with his friend today but there’s clearly something else bothering him. Wait. “Jisung. Are you… jealous?”

Jisung meets his eye for a moment before burying his face in his chest.

“Jisung, you are all of those things too, you know that right?” Minho is aghast that Jisung could be thinking like this. “Jisung you’re… you’re the loveliest person I’ve ever met.”

“He kissed you.”

Minho scoffs. “He kissed you too! He kisses everyone, that’s just how he is.” Minho pulls Jisung out of his chest. “Do you believe me?”

Jisung gnaws at his lips. “I believe you.”

“Good.”

Jisung sighs and collapses back into him.

“Wanna take a nap before dinner?” Minho asks.

“Mmm, yeah.”

“Okay.”