finding yunho ❀ yunwoo

❝ five.

It became a habit for Wooyoung to go to the beach every single day and meet with Yunho. True, sometimes the mermaid didn’t show up but maybe it was because mermaids also have their deeds. He couldn’t imagine what the mermaids could be doing under the sea but there must be something more interesting than just swimming around beaches and docks, relaxing on rocks.

Did mermaids work? Did they have the concept of a job? Was capitalism a problem that mermaids also had to deal with?

The amount of water on the planet was huge, there must be a big mermaid community all over the world,Wooyoung assumed. It’s not just Yunho, his best friend and the whole rest of the family. They probably did a lot but were just good at hiding.

Wooyoung clicked his fingers triumphantly as he came to that conclusion. Perhaps life would’ve been much easier if he actually asked the questions he had instead of trying to figure stuff out on his own without really knowing anything about them.

What he didn’t realize sooner was that Yunho was right next to him the entire time and Wooyoung did have the tendency to talk to himself out loud sometimes even though it was in the form of silent mumbles that other people weren’t even able to comprehend most of the time. Yet Yunho was so close to his face that he could hear everything almost perfectly.

The human boy had a few days off from work. He didn’t really have what else to do but to spend his time with Yunho and the mermaid had suggested to take him so far into the sea that he wouldn’t even be able to see the shore, so on the second day of his short vacation Wooyoung went to the beach with a pool air mattress.

So, there they were – Wooyoung lying on his stomach on the mattress and looking at Yunho as his head was peacefully rested on top of his arms, Yunho swimming slowly and pushing the mattress with himself, both in the literal middle of nowhere.

“You know that you tend to think out loud, right?” Yunho asked, snapping Wooyoung back into reality.

“Oh.” Wooyoung's face suddenly turned red from embarrassment. He couldn’t even guess exactly which part of all that he was thinking was said out loud nor what did Yunho hear. What made him even more embarrassed was the thought that Yunho might have heard completely everything. He buried his face against his forearm as if hiding was going to help him in any way. “I’m sorry. I know I do that, I just don’t realize when I’m actually doing it.”

Yunho giggled and stopped in one place to take a short break. He placed one of his arms on top of the mattress and rested his head against it as he reached out with his free hand to slowly comb his fingers through Wooyoung's hair.

His hand was shaking a little, he had never done such thing with anyone else before. Running his fingers through his own hair  didn't count.

Wooyoung hummed and tilted his head to look at Yunho again and it became awkward only for a split second until he relaxed under the latter’s touch. He really loved having his hair touched but until then, it was mainly Yeosang doing it. When Yunho was doing it, it somehow felt better. He was so gentle and careful.

“If you have any questions, just ask me right away. I promise you wouldn’t annoy me.” The mermaid smiled. “There’s no need to feel embarrassed about it because just as you, I also have a lot of questions but haven’t asked them yet just because I never see it as the right moment. I genuinely want to know more about you. I mean, yeah, we’re spending lots of time together lately but we still don’t know each other that well.”

Wooyoung smiled lightly and moved one of his hands, splashing Yunho with water. “You’re so cute.” He got splashed back in return. They kept on doing that until Yunho pushed Wooyoung off of his mattress. The latter shrieked but Yunho quickly wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close. He knew that if he didn’t hold him, at the place they were and with no equipment at all, Wooyoung was surely going to drown.

“I take my words back, you’re not cute anymore.” Wooyoung pouted and hit Yunho on the chest lightly with one hand while holding onto his shoulder with his other. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“Okay, okay, I promise I won’t do it again.” Yunho smiled and helped the other boy get back on the mattress. “You good now?”

Wooyoung hummed and nodded, though he was still sulking. Yunho was caressing his shoulder soothingly for a while before he continued swimming.

“What do you do if a boat passes by?” Wooyoung asked, suddenly realizing that they hadn’t seen any boats or ships or literally any other life form around them.

“First of all, no boat would come around here. I know their routes. But if one passes by, I just hide under you and you make it look like you’re just chilling out here.”

“Yeah, in the middle of the sea.” They both giggled.

The dark haired boy moved and sat in the middle of the mattress, swinging his legs lightly in the water while looking at Yunho.

Not much time passed until Yunho decided it was time to go back to the beach. After another short break even though he hadn’t even gotten tired. He just searched for an excuse to stay there with Wooyoung for longer. He rested his head on the mattress, closing his eyes and relaxing his entire body, leaving his tail to just float on top of the surface along with the small waves.

“Is this the natural color of your hair?” Wooyoung asked as he reached towards Yunho and brushed his fingertips against his wet yet really soft hair. The mermaid hummed and moved closer, hinting at Wooyoung that he wanted him to continue touching his hair.

“Yeah. Mermaids don’t really dye their hair. Not that we can’t, we just rarely do it.”

Wooyoung nodded. “Wish I was also born with such a cool hair color instead of torturing my hair with dye.” He giggled. By that time Yunho had melted under his touch to a point that he had moved even closer, his head rested on Wooyoung's thigh. “Hey, don’t fall asleep. I still have to get back home somehow.”

“I promise I won’t. This just feels so good.” Yunho opened his eyes slightly to look up at Wooyoung.

“How do mermaids sleep? Like you just floating around or?”

Yunho giggled and shook his head. “No, no. We sleep like humans do but… Usually underwater. We have our homes and all. They’re just hidden from possible encounters with divers.”

Until then, Wooyoung hadn’t fully realized it but he loved listening to Yunho ramble about things. True, he talked a bit more than he was used to. Usually he was the one to talk more. But this time he didn’t mind listening.

They spent much more time there than intended but Yunho still returned Wooyoung back to the beach.

When they got there, they switched and Yunho was lying on the mattress instead while Wooyoung was sitting on the sand at the shore, both watching the sunset.