Under the Sea | Minsung

ψNineteenψ

"Mr. Handsome, I'm bored."

Minho hummed a low response to the sharp whine, eyes trained on the laptop screen as he typed away on the worn-out keyboard. The pages never seemed to end and every second he spent entertaining Jisung in an excuse to write more about him, it only extended the time he would stay in the aquarium. Though by now, he was even starting to question how genuinely he wanted to leave. To spend even a few more minutes with the other, it didn't seem too bad. Even now as a pair of watchful eyes pierced his skin down to the bone of his spine, the gaze unyielding on his back as if it were trying to glare at something waiting for him on, the guilt told him the only thing waiting for Jisung on the other side was that document. Pages and pages of everything the merman told him. That was what waited for him.

When Minho didn't bother to turn around, instead dedicated to writing words of another world to take up the last inch of a page in an attempt to distance himself from Jisung, the merman drapped himself miserably across the metal catwalk; arms splayed out with his chin lightly bumped against the frame as he struggled to keep himself afloat in the tank. He muttered quietly, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"

"Are you a fan of Shakespeare?" Minho flipped a hurried glance over his shoulder, "A friend of mine likes his work. I can bring you a few of my friend's books next time I come."

"No thank you, I'm not big enough of a fan to read through the plays but I must've memorized that sonnet by now, I've read it so many times," Jisung shook his head, a slight pout adorning his features as he lightly tapped his chin onto a closed fist, "It's just that I've had some time to kill, might as well put the quiet to some sort of use. I used to recite that passage to the fish in the tank whenever they swam by me. Did you know that fish aren't fond of Shakespeare? Especially his plays, they hate it."

"I didn't know that."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't expect you to either," Jisung rolled his eyes as he scoffed in a playful way, "It's not like you can talk with a fish. I guess there's me but I don't count, I'm not a fish I'm a merman."

Minho perked up in his seat. Sensing there was more to be asked, and more that Jisung could share, he quietly closed the screen of the laptop and swiveled around in his seat to face the merman who was doing his own work of trying to flop up on the catwalks. As he observed Jisung, taking care to note any more finite details he overlooked the thousands of times he scanned him over before, he scrunched his eyebrows together and asked, "Can mermen, mermaids, or whatever you call your species, can they communicate with other aquatic animals?"

"Hmm... Sort of?" Jisung lilted, arms balancing behind him on the walkway and head tipping back as he furrowed his eyebrows together. After a few beats of what looked to be consideration, he explained, "I don't know if my parents could, but I can on a good day. Not whales though, they're kind of stubborn and I haven't been around one enough to try. Fish are more my thing. I can talk to goldfish pretty well."

Minho nodded. He dropped his gaze to his hands, letting his mind process the information he was given before he went back to add the words to his growing report file. However before he could get very far, Jisung called after him, "By the way, are you going to sit with me today or what?"

"I can't, I—" Minho swiveled back around in his seat to face Jisung. But, the merman almost looked sad. His eyes were downcast, a rare focus on the tide lapping below instead of on the older, and his tail moved in the water slower than it usually did. Paired with the fact his sopping wet hair rhythmically dripped the salty water on his cheeks, the older could visibly hear his heart shattering in his chest. As if someone dropped a porcelain plate on tile floors.  Minho sighed. He silently stood up from his seat, trudged to the walkway and thumped down on the metal frame, "I can spare a few minutes."

A smile poked st Jisung's lips. When Minho was comfortable and settles next to him, the merman continued through his grin, "There's some pretty strange myths about what merfolk can do too. Like I can move water with my mind, or super heat it or freeze it."

Minho quirked an eyebrow. Upon seeing this, Jisung shifted away from the other. He squinted at the waterline, the levels of concentration skyrocketing on graphs, an unrivaled mastery of the element humans fought so hard against in an attempt to make it yield to his sheet willpower. After a few seconds of no results, Jisung turned to face Minho again and shrugged, "Apparently I can't. Never tried that before but I can't say I'm disappointed."

"Two years here. You've never thought to try and manipulate the water?"

"What more can I say? I've got a fishtail, I'm not a superhuman."

"Mhm."

"Well, hey, there's a lot about my kind out there. They say my tears can unlock the power from a fountain of youth, I can turn invisible, I can predict the future, I'm super strong, my scales change color depending on my mood, none of which are true by the way," Jisung listed each myth off on his fingers, dragging each down with the weight of his other hand as he presented the number of tales he'd heard, "I've heard kissing a merperson gives you gills or you can breath underwater, one of the two. They say it also gives you healing powers. I don't know how true any of that is though because I've never kissed anyone."

Before Minho could make a comment on it, Jisung's head snapped in the older's direction. The merman scanned him up and down a few times. He scooted closer, nearly gluing his entire side to the older as he proposed, "Wanna try?"

"I'll pass for now," Minho sent him a weak smile.

"Sad," Jisung let a small pout poke through his grin. He repositioned himself but didn't make an effort to move away from Minho, though the older didn't make much of an effort to scoot away from him either. The merman continued, "Some cultures think we can grant immortality."

"... really?"

"Really!"

"No, can you?"

"Not at all. A lot of people probably believe we do. It'd be scary if more people knew we existed because of that, we'd be hunted pretty quickly," Jisung rambled. Unbeknownst to the merman, Minho felt a pang strike him in the chest. The younger titled his head towards him, eyes narrowing as he told, "But I think a lot about it; if I could really grant immortality, an eternal life, what would I do with it? Who would I give it to?"

While Minho was nodding along with every word, now trying to balance himself on his arms behind him, Jisung turned back to face the older. Which, the older always thought the merman looked at him strangely. Not a bad strange but, different. Very different. And he'd be lying if he said his heart rate didn't spike every time Jisung got the chance to stare at him.

"You know that soliloquy from Shakespeare, 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'. I heard it when I was really young. It has always been one of my favorites," Jisung's eyes roamed all over Minho's face, gaping and gawking at all his little features that made him who he was. He had a smile tugging on his face but he bit it back, teeth digging into his bottom lip as his eyes continued to roam.

"Why?"

"Because, Mr. Handsome," The merman spoke barely above a whisper. He inched ever so slightly closer, leaning his full weight onto the older, who was in turn desperately grasping the walkway frame to keep them both up. Jisung's eyes finally landed on Minho's lips. His arms nearly buckled

"It's about an eternal love."

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