Chapter Text
Jungkook jogged through the hallways, heading to the observation deck. His heart was racing, was this true? Was the reason he was called in here the real deal?
He reached the observation deck and paused. This wasn’t his first time here, but today everything looked different. His attention was immediately drawn to the large glass wall to his right. It showed them one of the biggest tanks the institute had, allowing them a decent view of how whatever sea creature they were studying was doing, and what was currently swimming in there, looking around and exploring this area was something Jungkook had never thought they would actually capture. A hint of guilt did hit him. What was swimming in there was a very intelligent being, meant to be swimming in the wild, but it was close to impossible to study them in their own environment.
“A betta,” Jungkook said as he walked closer to the glass. He was transfixed. “A rosetail betta.”
“Told you it wasn’t a goldfish,” one of the others huffed. “So, you’re Jungkook then.”
“Yeah,” Jungkook replied without looking away. He couldn’t look away. The merman swimming around before him was taking all his attention.
He appeared to be of medium size, healthy. His scales were reflecting the lights making it look like he was partially made out of diamonds. Long white tails and fins, and silver hair. Jungkook could spot shimmers across his collarbones and shoulders too. Then there was his face. The merman paused for a second and their eyes met before he swam away. Jungkook forgot how to breathe for that short second. He was gorgeous.
“What can you tell us about it?” one of the men said.
“I first want to know how you caught him,” Jungkook replied. “This is the first time anyone has done so.” Now he looked over at the group of people standing in the same room as him.
One of the guys arched an eyebrow at Jungkook. “Pretty sure you could have caught one had you not been too busy just looking at them, but whatever. We had set up cameras in an area, and had a couple of traps there. It managed to evade the nets, but we got one tranquilizer in it.”
Jungkook looked back towards the merman who was on the other side of the tank now. “He’s a young adult, possibly capable of egg laying. He’s healthy, and strong.”
“So, female.”
Jungkook shook his head. “I don’t think they go by the same gender rules as us. I normally use male pronouns for them as they all look like males, but if he wants me to use another pronoun then maybe he’ll tell me.”
“Tell you?” one of the guys almost laughed.
“Merfolk are incredibly intelligent, and they clearly have their own language when they communicate with each other. I’m wondering if they can learn to talk to us, if so, then that would be an amazing way to set up some sort of collaboration between humans and them,” Jungkook said.
“You’re way too excited about this. It almost makes me think that you’re trying to fuck it,” another one of the guys laughed and Jungkook stared at him in disgust.
“Why would you even suggest such a thing,” Jungkook said. The thought of having sex with the merman, the thought of sex in general, made him feel sick.
“Don’t tell me that you’ve never wondered what it would be like to fuck one of those.”
“You’re revolting,” Jungkook replied. “If I catch any of you trying something like that with him then you’re out, though I doubt you would survive an attempt like that.” He stepped back from the glass. “Have you fed him? Have you given him anything to keep him from getting bored or something to groom himself?” They could at least make sure he was as comfortable as he could be while being trapped here.
“No, no, and no. It has been in there for less than an hour.”
Jungkook nodded. “I’ll take care of that then. For how long is he to be in there?”
“We’re allowed to keep him for two months.”
“Okay, let’s see what we can figure out by then.”
He walked out of the room. First food. That was the most important bit. Then while the merman ate he would get the rest that he probably needed for him to be okay while he was in there.
He reached the room where they kept the food for the aquatic creatures they had and picked out some nice looking fish that could be found in the sea nearby. With those in a bucket he headed to the entrance of the tank. There was a space where he could walk around while in the tank, and he had a feeling he would be spending a lot of time there.
He entered and walked to the edge of the platform and sat down, the bucket by his side. First he wanted to alert the other to his presence so he splashed the water a bit with his hand and then reached into the bucket to pick out the first fish, when he turned back he almost jumped when he saw the merman staring at him, his upper half of his face was all that was above the water.
“Hey,” Jungkook said and gave him a little wave, then placed a hand on his chest. “Jungkook. I’m Jungkook.”
The merman just kept staring at him, no indication that he was getting any of that, but this was their first time meeting so he wasn’t expecting much.
“Food?” he asked as he held up the fish. The merman kept staring at him, eyes unblinking. It was a bit unsettling, but Jungkook didn’t let that show. “Here you go.” He threw the fish out so that the merman wouldn’t have to come too close to get it.
He watched the other disappear under water. Jungkook took that moment to pick up another fish and then tapped the water again to get the merman’s attention again. The other appeared once more, the fish in his mouth, and Jungkook just had to smile. That was cute.
“More?” he asked as he held up the fish. The merman was watching said fish, so Jungkook threw it out there and once more the other disappeared. There was one more fish Jungkook was planning to give, and this time he didn’t have to try to get the other’s attention as the merman appeared again.
“More?” Jungkook asked again while holding up the fish and this time the merman nodded. For a moment Jungkook just stared at him, stunned. Had he understood that? That was incredible. The smile returned to his face and he threw the last fish out for the merman to catch.
He got to his feet and picked up the bucket and saw that merman appear again.
“Bucket,” Jungkook pointed at the object, and then turned it to show the other that there was nothing in it. “Empty.” The other tilted his head to the side. “Nothing left,” Jungkook added with a smile and then took a step back before waving. “Goodbye.” The merman waved back, and once more Jungkook was struck with how quickly the other was picking things up. He knew they were highly intelligent, but this was going beyond his expectations.
With more energy than he had had in ages he left to get everything else he knew the merman would need. In the hallway he bumped into one of the other people working here.
“Rare to see you on land, Jungkook, aren’t you supposed to be swimming with your merfolk?” they teased.
“There is one in tank 13, that’s why I’m here,” Jungkook replied.
“Oooh! I heard that we had something exciting happening. Incredible, we’ve actually managed to capture one. Are you planning to give them food or have you just fed them?” They had noticed the bucket Jungkook was holding.
“Just gave him food, and tried to talk a bit to him. He’s far more intelligent than expected. I hope I’ll be able to learn to properly communicate with him. Imagine, holding a conversation with one of them, how incredible isn’t that?” Jungkook felt like his wildest dreams were coming true.
“I’m sure you’ll get to do that,” the other laughed and gave Jungkook a pat on the shoulder before leaving, letting Jungkook return to his task at hand.
He placed the bucket back where it belonged and then he rushed to his car to drive to his own little office. It was thankfully nearby, so he only had a five minute drive. The car was parked haphazardly and he almost stumbled into his office and picked out everything he knew the other would need while there. Objects for grooming, decorate their spaces, and keep themselves entertained. Two boxes full of things he had collected over the years while studying merfolk were placed in his car, then he was on his way back.
He carried the first box with him to the large pool and sat down on the edge like before. Once again he was patting the water to get the other’s attention. Then he waited. It took a little bit but then the merman appeared, and he was a lot closer now. Almost within Jungkook’s reach.
“Hey,” Jungkook said.
“Hey,” the merman replied and even gave him a little wave. His voice was so soft and light, Jungkook hadn’t expected that for some reason.
“I have something for you,” Jungkook said as he reached into the box and the other was watching him very curiously.
Jungkook pulled out something that looked like a comb, but the teeth were shorter and so close together that it looked like just one strand of hair would be able to fit through. The merman perked up at the sight of it and Jungkook reached out to give it to him, and to his delight the other reached out too and took it from him.
He was beaming now, looking so happy with what he had been given. “Thank you,” Jungkook then said. The other tilted his head to the side. “When we are given gifts humans will say thank you,” he explained.
He pulled out another object. It looked like something you would use to scrape away paint. Once again the merman looked very excited and Jungkook handed it to him.
“Thank you,” the merman said and Jungkook was all smiles.
He continued to give the merman object after object, until it seemed like the other’s arms were full and he couldn’t hold more.
“Wait,” Jungkook said and first pointed to himself and then the ground he was sitting on. “You,” he pointed at the other “Go,” he said and gestured for him to go.
The other looked a bit puzzled at first but then disappeared under water. Jungkook waited for him to return, which took a while. Then Jungkook continued to hand the other things until the box was empty.
“More,” Jungkook said and pointed towards the door. “Empty,” he pointed at the box and showed that there was nothing in it. “I,” he pointed at himself and got to his feet. “Will go,” he motioned walking as he said that. “Get more.”
The other was watching him intently. “I? I wait?” the merman said and Jungkook was in awe. They were already talking.
“Yes, you wait,” Jungkook nodded with a big smile and the other smiled back. Damn was he learning quickly. Jungkook was overjoyed that they were already able to communicate this well.
He jogged out of there and went straight to his car and got the other box and then returned as quickly as he could. There were a few who tried to talk to him while he was running back and forth, but he didn’t have time to stop.
Then he was back by the tank again, and the merman made an appearance pretty much immediately. His eyes were on the box in Jungkook’s hands and then he moved a little bit closer. If Jungkook reached out then he would be able to touch him, but he decided that he would not do so, at least not today. It would make it seem as though he was doing all of this, giving him these things, just to do that. Like he was taking advantage of the trust the other was showing him now.
“I give,” Jungkook said as he handed one of the objects to the other.
“Thank you,” the other replied and Jungkook was just as excited hearing that now as he had been the first time the merman had said that. It was absolutely incredible.
He handed the rest of the things over.
“Empty?” the merman asked and pointed at the box.
“Yes, box empty,” Jungkook confirmed with a nod and showed the other. “I will go now. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” the other replied and then disappeared under water. Jungkook left and as he closed the door behind himself and leaned against it for a second.
“Is this real?” he whispered to himself. It felt unbelievable. He wasn’t going to leave just yet, he would be heading to the observation deck and stay there for a while. All of this had to be documented.
The observation deck had a couple of people in it still and they sent Jungkook a look when he appeared.
“What was all that stuff you were giving him?” one asked.
“What he needs to be comfortable here,” Jungkook replied and looked towards the glass wall, scanning the area for the merman, but he was out of sight. There were a few spots where they could hide, and one was a den of sorts. Some creatures reacted poorly to being observed constantly, so for their comfort there was the possibility of hiding away.
“Learned anything interesting so far?”
“Yes, you have no idea how much I have learned,” Jungkook sighed.
For the rest of the day Jungkook stayed there, writing down everything he had done, every observation. Now and then he would stop as he saw movement in his peripheral vision and he would look up to see the merman swim around, doing something here and there. It looked like he was cleaning up the place or decorating. He was moving rocks and other objects that could be found there, brushing at the sand on the ground with his fins, and then moving on. It was incredibly fascinating to watch.
One moment had made Jungkook gasp quietly and that was when the merman had swam up to the glass and started to look around, his eyes then stopping on Jungkook, who walked up to the glass and gave the merman a little wave, the other waved back and then swam away.
“You’re fucking weird man,” one of the others had commented.
“I don’t care,” Jungkook had said, still smiling to himself as he returned to his work.
The next day he arrived with some things that might make it easier for the other to learn words and how to communicate. With a bag full he went straight for the tank and entered like the day before and sat down on the edge. He splashed the water a bit and sat back and waited for the other to react to the sudden vibration of the water.
It took a little while but eventually the merman made an appearance, first only the top half of his face appeared, and he was pretty far out, then his whole head was above water for a moment before he disappeared again. Jungkook pursed his lips and drew his brows together. What was that? Maybe the other didn’t want to interact. He had been about to get up when the merman appeared, and he was pretty much right in front of him.
“Hey,” the other said with a big smile.
“Hey,” Jungkook smiled. “Hungry?” he asked and rubbed his stomach to try to communicate what that word meant. The merman looked at him strangely. “Hungry,” he then pretended to eat.
The merman looked at him for a bit again and then made a sound, as though he was unsure what to answer.
“Yes, no?” Jungkook asked.
“No?” the merman replied hesitantly, probably trying to see what the reaction was when he said that..
“Ah! Okay,” Jungkook smiled. He then pulled out one of the books he had. It was a picture book, and he had modified it a bit to make it more suitable for the two of them. He wasn’t sure if the other needed to know what a car was for instance.
Jungkook showed the first image. “Human, I’m human,” Jungkook said pointing at the picture and then at himself.
“You human,” the other said. “Me?” he then asked.
“Merfolk,” Jungkook replied.
“Merfolk.”
“Humans have names. I’m a human named Jungkook. Do you have a name?”
The merman was quiet for a bit, and Jungkook could see the gears in his head turning. “Name.. Merfolk have… name… Name… my name Jimin. I’m Jimin,” the other replied.
“Jimin,” Jungkook whispered. “It’s nice to meet you Jimin.”
The merman tilted his head to the side as he looked up at the other and Jungkook could only smile. He now had a name to attach to this enchanting being before him.