You don’t have to come with me,” Taehyung tells him. “I’ll say goodbye here and - can you - can you call me a cab? I don’t know how to get there.”

And to add to all of that,” Jimin says. “The moment you hit the water, the sirens spell broke, yeah?” Taehyung startles and throws out a hand, catching the door before it can slam shut. “I’m sorry,” he says, blinking owlishly. He frowns. “Why am I sorry?” Jungkook moves past him and opens the door. “Bye, hyung.” He steals once last look at Taehyung, soaking wet and shivering in the middle of the entranceway, and closes the door. Dude, Taehyung said merpeople aren’t as good at it as sirens, and if a siren’s spell broke that easily then - “ Taehyung steps down a few more steps until the water bites at his toes. “It’s typhoon season soon so the currents and swells are all sorts of unpredictable - Japan protects Korea from the worst of it but it still makes it hard.” He squints up at Jungkook. “We could catch an earlier current but if it’s unsettled - I’m not swimming you into a typhoon, Kookie,” he says with a laugh. “It’s not as fun as it sounds. Trust me.”

He sighs and thumbs over Taehyung’s gills. They took Jungkook a while to find - Taehyung explained they’re easier to see when wet but wet gills means a tail, apparently - and now he’s kinda fascinated about how easily they blend in with the smooth expanse of Taehyung’s skin.

Taehyung is curled up in the shower, tail twisted round himself while he grimaces and pokes and prods at various bony areas. “Ow…” He cringes up at Jungkook and slides his hands over the shower glass and the tiles, trying to unravel himself. He tugs irritably at his tail. “I didn’t really think this through. Can you - can you help me into the bath?”You good, hyung?” he asks, finding Taehyung’s hand under the covers. He slides a leg between Taehyung’s and presses their foreheads together. And he’s a mermaid,” Namjoon calls, loud enough that Jungkook can hear. “They like swimming and shit.” Taehyung shies away a bit but nods. “Yes,” he says quietly. “Not - not like they can. It’s not as strong but - but I can.”

Jungkook slams his palms into Taehyung’s waist and pushes, tries to separate from him, but Taehyung uses one hand to hold his head still and kisses him, pries his lips and teeth open with his tongue, and breathes into his mouth. Jungkook chokes on it, tears his mouth away and coughs and -

But minutes later, he’s nodding off again. Jungkook watches it happen. It gets hard to swallow and his stomach tightens because - Holy shit, feel how real it is,” Hoseok says, prodding at Taehyung’s tail. He looks into the water and offers Taehyung a two-finger salute. “Hey, man, nice to meet you.” You’re staring at my legs again,” Taehyung tells him quietly, leaning in so that the driver doesn’t hear - and for the most part, the driver has handled the bizarreness of the situation better than Jungkook. But then he didn’t see an entire tail just melt away into a puddle of water like it was nothing. Taehyung frowns suddenly and shimmies across the seat so that he can put his legs right beside Jungkook’s. “Is there something wrong with them? No one’s ever said there’s anything wrong with them.”