Everything's Prettier Underwater

Chapter 3: Side Effects May Include: Headaches

Seungmin was sitting in front of Mina's desks, his leg shaking nervously as he played distractedly with one of his bracelets.

"Hmm... that's some very good work, as usual Seungmin-ah. Your research seems to be going very well..." his boss commented, putting down the files he had brought her. "...but you seem nervous for some reason. Is there something happening? You know you can talk to me, right?" she encouraged him with a smile.

"I... well there is indeed... something" Seungmin gulped.

Not for the first time since he came back from his dive that day, the pink-haired boy asked himself if he was doing the right thing. He had had the most wonderful encounter with the merboy as of yet, having discovered the boy's name was Jeongin and he could actually talk. Not only that, but he had so many things to say and was willing to share with a human that he had barely met.

After Jeongin left, and despite feeling watched for the rest of his dive that day, Seungmin still hadn't been able to focus on anything else than his plan. That's how he ended up at his boss's desk at 6:30 pm, with words burning on the tip of his tongue.

Deciding to get this over with as soon as possible, Seungmin went straight for it.

"I need some more material for my dives."

"Oh, yes of course! You got me worried for a second there, I thought something was really wrong" Mina smiled, relieved. "What kind of material?" 

"Mostly a longer lasting oxygen tank. And I'd also like a full-face dive mask, the ones that allow you to speak through a radio system? I want to start doing logs underwater, it'll speed up my note-taking process instead of having to tediously write in my waterproof notebook. Plus, the grease pencil works wonderfully underwater but it's not the best to draw the algae with as much detail as I would like. So, I thought working with pictures and a verbal log might be worth exploring as an alternative."

"Hmm... well let me see" Mina opened some tabs on her computer, seemingly looking for something.

"Yeahhhh... that's what I thought" she sighed disappointedly. "The monthly budget for research has been maxed out already. It's because of the Deep-Sea Research Team and their big 'secret project'". She rolled her eyes, looking exasperated. "Not only do they act like superior assholes, but they also ordered so much equipment already that the budget is dry!"

Seungmin nodded wordlessly, unable to stop the disappointment from filling him up.

"But... I might have a second option for you? If you're okay with it, though there's no pressure" Mina proposed carefully.

"What is it?" the pink-haired boy's interest was piqued once more.

"Well, if you have the personal funds, you could either rent or buy whatever you need. And I personally engage myself to have the company reimburse you in the next two or three weeks. What do you say?"

Seungmin thought about it for a while. He could afford that spending, especially knowing the purpose that it would actually serve. So, he nodded firmly at Mina, with a determined spark in his eyes.

"Alright, I'll do that. I'll go get the equipment tomorrow morning and I'll send you the bill as soon as I can."

"Perfect! Hopefully that will help you out with your research. Not that I'm complaining, your work is already flawless as usual, but I can't wait to see what you do with even better equipment" she winked at him.

The ball of stress in his belly flared up at having to hide his true purpose to the one person that he always could count on. But he simply smiled and thanked her for the compliment.