Under the Sea | Minsung

ψSevenψ

Amazingly, the first few days he spent wandering under the brilliant blue lights casted across the aquarium floor, Jisung was no where to be found. He had spent the last hours of closing waiting, for a sign or for a miracle, just so he could get another glance and more observations about this strange creature. But it never appeared. Minho would almost curse the multiple hiding spots the aquarium tank managed to provide but it also provided information on the merman, so it couldn't have been that horrible. Right?

Minho tore his eyes away from the blinding computer screen, immediately trying to rub the soreness of reading word after word out of his eyelids. He glanced down at the digital clock. It was already that late? He quickly flipped through the remaining tabs of the laptop, slowly closing them all out until he hesitated on the half-written word document; a messy scrawl of barely finished notes and uneven formatting, more a brain dump of empty thesises and guesses than a probable answer. Again, he had to remind himself, this wasn't going to be a fast process.

"Oh, you're still awake."

Minho barely manages to glance over his shoulder as Jeongin shuffled out to the living room, shoulders slumped and yawning wide. He flopped down on the couch, kicking Minho a few times in the process of laying comfortably across the seats. The older had to scoot over, nearly knocking a glass on the table over when the power cord tightened. He questioned, "Why are you awake?"

"Nightmare. It's funny, I can't remember it when I wake up but I have the feeling it had to do with gummi bears," Jeongin muttered. He gave a quick once over of the older, afterwards giving a snide snicker as he noted, "You look miserable."

Minho sent him a quick smile, a pathetic look he hopped conveyed the feeling of pure betrayal to the younger as he sighed, "Stressed. It's already been a few weeks and I don't have much on Jisung. I'm losing time."

"That's a start." Jeongin shifted in his seat,"You know, I don't really agree with what you're doing, but why not talk to Seungmin or Hyunjin?"

"What makes you think they can help?"

"They're employees so they've probably worked with him before. Or, they must have handled one wild animal at one time."

"Treat a semi-humanoid creature as a feral animal?"

"It sounds a bit bad when you phrase it like that so no. Well, yes, but no. See what Seungmin or Hyunjin recommend. They might have a few tricks for you."

Minho slouched his shoulders to settled back into the supporting weight of the couch. It could work. He placed a closed fist to his chin, lightly bumping it as he delved into the deepest corners of his mind. he finalized, "That's a good idea."

"I know," Jeongin said, an air of pride wafting off him as he grined, "What would you do without Felix and I?"

Minho just gave a lethargic shrug, to which the younger laughed. Jeongin groggily pushed himself from his relaxed position and stood. He stretched his arms far above his head as he shuffled away, calling back quietly, "I'm going back to bed. Goodnight! And don't stay up too late."

"Yeah, goodnight," Minho watched the younger retreat down the hallway before returning to his untitled word document.

∶∷∶

The next day, Minho was able to corner the couple in one of their classes. They were sitting in a far back corner of the lecture hall, seemingly absorbed in their own world as they conversed quietly between themselves, one slugging down a vat (not really, more a cup) of coffee and the other scribbling incoherent words on a crumbled notebook page. Hyunjin was the first to notice his approach, lightly bumping Seungmin to look up from his doodles and nodded in the older's direction. The latter sent a slight wave.

Minho found an uncomfortable seat in front of the two, the slight incline to the rows making him crane his neck in order to speak to them,"Can I ask you two something?"

"Is this about Jisung," Hyunjin quipped, "In the main tank?"

"Sort of," Minho shifted in his seat, carefully narrowing his eyes as he questioned, "How did you know?"

Seungmin perked up. He pushed his paper of doodles towards Hyunjin as he leaned on the desktop, answering with a muted curiosity dancing in his features, "Chan told us. Apparently word got to boss; they're trying to get you clearance with the higher ups or something. But it's a lot of red tape, so don't expect anything happening soon."

"They'll probably let you," Hyunjin said and collected the doodled paper, meticulously folding it into squares so small he could crumple it in his palms. As he slipped the paper under a nearby notebook, he added with an unenthusiastic mutter, "Everyone else has kind of given up on Jisung."

His boyfriend nodded along, a bitterness flooding his features as he casted his gaze to the empty desk in front of him, a heavy sigh flowing from his lips. Seungmin went quiet for a few beats, a tightness in his face that wasn't quite there before, afterwards meeting the older's gaze, "Well, if you're looking for advice, you're kind of screwed. Neither of us handle the feral animals in the aquarium. Though aren't you looking to work in marine biology? Don't they teach you behavior?"

"They don't teach us merman behavior. I want to assume he's like a human but I'm having no luck."

"It's not too easy for us either," Hyunjin narrowed his eyes at him, explaining quickly, "He's not too happy with the aquarium staff."

"He's scared," Seungmin shot, "You would be too."

Hyunjin quietly agreed and shifted his weight to face Seungmin. They immediately locked eyes, seeming to have an entire conversation between themselves with only an intense gaze and a few miniscule twitches signaling entire concepts. To be able to have a connection to someone on a level to know exactly what they would say if they opened their mouths; Minho began wondering just how long these two had been together. But it was equally plausible there was no meaning to their staring contest and they just got distracted. Regardless, the two of them eventually turned back to the older.

"Well, we've never worked with sea animals but one of the employees who handle the seals used to work for a rescue crew for the wild horses in Jeju. She said something about reading," Seungmin trailed off the end of his sentence. He tapped on Hyunjin's relaxed hand a few times as he jutted out his bottom lip, asking with a tone that almost mimicked a physical pain, "What was it Jinnie? Did she read?"

"I don't know."

"Reading... Ah! That was it! She would sit out with them in the fields and read. She said something about acting uninterested and letting them approach you first, but I don't know if that's an actual tactic for socializing horses or if she got bored waiting. It's worth a shot though?"

"Yeah," Minho mumbled, the cogs in his mind already spinning and turning gears connected to gears, with ideas flooding in his mind. Their eyes followed him as he carefully stood from his seat, "Thanks."

∴∷∵

Minho and Chan are going to be the "I don't get enough sleep squad"