Under the Sea | Minsung

ψSixteenψ

"Do you like fireworks? I saw fireworks from the bay with my parents. Some kids were setting them off and I loved it, especially the ones that are goldish and are twirly when they explode. The sound is a little scary but it's worth it since they're so pretty."

"Fireworks are... nice."

"Oh no! Why do you sound so unsure? Nothing bad happened, right?"

"Felix and I had gotten fireworks one time. I went to help set them off and one didn't go up, it sprayed ashes all over me."

Jisung, who was sitting beside him on the catwalk with their shoulders nearly brushing together, doubled over with laughter. He snorted a few times and covered his mouth, refusing to let the laughs pouring from his lips be too loud. Still, his eyes sparkled with amusement as he placed a hand on the older's shoulder to stabilize himself. Minho thought it was beautiful. He thought the merman was beautiful.

When he didn't stop, Minho frowned, "It hurt. It's not that funny."

"I'm sorry, but it kind of is. That's really bad luck," Jisung chortled into his hand. He slammed his forhead into Minho's shoulder as another wave of laughter overcame him.

"It really isn't."

Jisung choked out between the snorts and chortles, "It is! It is! That's amazing, I mean, sure it hurt. But that's great, if you were standing just a bit too far over you wouldn't have gotten blasted!"

Looking back on it, the memory was kind of funny. He remembers how they all panicked and Minho jumped from the tall rocks into the water to stop the small flames that ignited. He remembers when Felix cannonballed after him because the ocean looked so inviting that night. He remembers how they laid at the top of the cliff, joking about it for hours. He remembers when they went home that night he had to rinse his hair multiple times to get the flecks of ash and sand out. They were young, and probably didn't realize the heaviness of the situation, he could've bursted into flames. But it was one of the fonder memories he kept under lock and key.

As he starred down at his crossed legs and fiddled with his shoe laces, a grin crept up on his face. He let out a small laugh, a small whisper as he mumbled, "Yeah, it is."

The merman went quiet. Minho glanced to his side in confusion to see Jisung leaning away from him, eyes wide and mouth opened in shock. His cheeks were flushed pink and growing brighter by the moment. The older raised an eyebrow when he scooted closer, leaning his water-covered body onto Minho when he tried to shift backwards.

Jisung sputtered, "Do that again."

"Do what?" He asked quickly, feeling the drops of water soak his shirt.

"You laughed," The mermaid grinned, "You laughed! That was so cute, I didn't know someone's laugh could be so adorable. It was really quiet though. Can you do it again? Louder this time."

"I can't laugh on command."

"Yes you can, it's easy. Just think of something funny, like chubby cats trying to play with a toy or a funny joke your friend told you. Have you never been distracted by funny things when someone's talking to you."

"No?"

"Laugh."

"No."

"Laugh!"

"No!"

"Laugh! Mr. Handsome, please laugh for me."

"You're very persistent," Minho raised an eyebrow, slowly pushing the merman so he was sitting back again. He would've kept Jisung closer to him, but he was losing balance as the way he was trying to lean wasn't the most stable of options. Instead he sat so his feet weren't dangling over the side.