Chapter Text
Seungmin was faintly aware of a distant humming in the background, as his mind floated in the depth of this beautiful, dark bliss. He’d been there for a while now, in what felt like this impenetrable bubble. Nothing came to disturb him here. No pain, no troubles, nobody… Just him, and his good thoughts. He’d been thinking a lot about the boys. If this was the afterlife, the purgatory or whatever people called it these days, he was fine with it. Being able to swim in a warm emptiness while thinking of his boys was an excellent way to spend eternity, after all.
He’d found himself remembering all of the moments he’d spent with the pod, ever since their first meeting. He loved thinking about the slow trust that Jeongin and him built, and that made their bond just so special. He enjoyed thinking back on how badly his relationship with Jisung and Minho started, and how it took a turn for the best. He adored remembering all the little things the mers did for him, back when he had no idea how much they actually meant for them. And, of course, he was always thrilled whenever he thought back about all the inadvertent flirting he did with them, and how flustered he managed to make them without even knowing it.
The only thing that he would change, in this paradise of blissful memories and oblivion, was the fact that there was one negative emotion that followed him relentlessly: guilt. He always felt that twinge of it, in the back of his mind, in the pit of his stomach, tainting some of his fondest memories with the idea that he left the boys. He left them to deal with the aftermath of everything. What that everything was, he wasn’t actually certain. Most of his bad or mundane memories didn’t follow him in his warm protective bubble, but he did feel like he left them behind and that, because of it, they would feel sad. He didn’t ever want them to be sad, especially not because of him. If there was something, anything he could do to remedy to that, he would in a heartbeat. However, whenever those moments happened where he felt like he had to do something in order to make sure his boys weren’t sad, the bubble surrounding him grew tighter, making him feel trapped. No matter how hard he tried to fight it, to get out of that place, the bubble would turn into a sort of sticky goo that entrapped him, making him feel heavy and slow. After a few tries, he’d stopped fighting altogether but lately, something was igniting that spark inside him once again.
It was the humming. Previously, nothing other than his memories could reach him, but that humming was becoming more and more present, a little bit louder every time. And it gave him the will to fight once more, to reach out of the bubble, to make sure his boys were fine, and safe. It was calling out to him so deeply, making every part of him throb with the need to see, to touch, to feel, to know. So, with one strong and heavy push, Seungmin gathered every ounce of power he had and managed to break the bubble, feeling himself free-falling in the darkness that now felt much, much colder.
He held on bravely though, only thinking about seeing Chan’s dimpled smile, Minho’s smirk, Changbin’s loving expression, Hyunjin’s smoldering gaze, Felix’s sparkling eyes, Jisung’s toothy-grin and Jeongin’s eye-smile.
With a loud gasp, he felt himself fall back into his body, his eyes opening wide as his chest expanded so hard that he felt his shoulders lift from the ground. Around him, he heard other gasps, one in particular being louder than the others. Then, a cacophony of voices, all shouting his name, made him dizzy. As he blinked, his gaze travelling around, he realized how white everything was. The one colored blotch he could make out approached him until his eyes could adjust themselves, making out Mina’s form, watching him with careful eyes.
“Seungminnie… Oh my god Seungmin, don’t you ever pull something like this again, do you hear me?” She seemed on the verge of crying as she carefully wrapped him in a one-armed hug.
Seungmin allowed himself a few more seconds to come back to his senses fully. His fingers brushing on the starchy bed covers and the soft pillows under his head told him he was in a bed. The bright lights coming from the window allowed him to guess that it was the middle of the day, and the faint bustling and beeping he heard around him let him know he was in a hospital.
His throat was parched as he tried to greet Mina back, and she must’ve understood that, as a glass of water was tipped in front of his lips, allowing him to hydrate himself. Once he didn’t feel like a withered potato anymore, he blinked up at his friend.
“You’re here? I’m here? I’m not dead?”
“You’re not, but it was pretty close” Mina lifted an unimpressed eyebrow. She looked down at her phone, frowning as an error message appeared. “I bet they dropped it in the water…” she mumbled under her breath.
“What?”
“Nothing! Let’s talk about you, mister!” Mina claps, making Seungmin groan at the loud noise. “Since when do you play the knight in shining armor, uh?”
“I... I don’t even know what happened. I honestly thought I was dead” Seungmin’s voice tapered off as he looked up at her, his eyes shaking as his mind struggled to conciliate what was reality from what was a comatose dream.
Mina visibly softened, holding the pink-haired boy’s hand to help ground him.
“You were shot Minnie. Park shot you from behind while you were… helping you friends get back home. The bullet went straight through, near your lower right side.”
Seungmin wiggled around gently to locate the wound and stopped as the throbbing immediately made itself known, a sort of deep soreness and burning waking up in his right flank.
“One of your friends with legs… I think his name was Seonghwa? He came to get me, so we could bring you to a hospital. When I arrived, you were laying on the deck, and everyone was trying their best to make sure you wouldn’t bleed out, but they were all very obviously panicking.” She took a deep breath, squeezing Seungmin’s hand in hers to reassure herself that he was here now. “I managed to convince them to let you go, so I could get you to a hospital. They went back in the water just as the police officers made their way to the docks. I explained to them that you were indeed held hostage in the facility, and that, with the commotion that happened when the authorities raided the place, you managed to escape to the docks to try and get on a boat and escape, but that you were shot by the Director before you managed to. The officers were the ones who administered first aid while we waited for an ambulance. I might be able to help a turtle recover from a hook injurie, but I have zero experience in stopping a friend from bleeding out because of a gunshot wound!”
Her tone was bright, and it was obvious that she was trying to lighten the atmosphere, but the tears in her eyes showed her real feelings.
“While we were waiting, they made another pretty gruesome discovery” she sniffled, rubbing her nose. “The… uhm, Park was found, floating in the harbor, in between two boats. The cause of death was attributed to the deep gouges that covered his entire body. They assumed that he was trying to get to a boat to escape after shooting you, but that he tripped and fell in between two boats while the motor was on and just… ended up being shredded by the propellers.” She looked at him seriously, lowering her voice. “But we both know that’s not what truly happened, right?”
Seungmin couldn’t confirm or deny anything, since he’d long been passed out when the director’s death happened, but it was so easy to picture it; to imagine Changbin dragging the man in the water, as Jisung clawed him to death. Flashes of a bloody-mouthed Jeongin spitting back the tip of Director Park’s finger came to the forefront of Seungmin’s mind, and he could most definitely assure that Park’s death had not been caused by a simple propeller. He kept his mouth shut however, refusing to incriminate his friends in any way in front of Mina. She simply smiled at him, leaning back in her chair.
“It’s okay, I understand. I’m just glad they did what they did” she nodded after a second. “He deserved it…”
“Mina… Do you know what happened to the boys?” Now that Seungmin’s mind understood a bit more what it had missed, he needed to know about his pod. “Are they safe? Did anyone see them on the docks?”
The woman shook her head, her long brown hair falling over her shoulders. “No, no one saw anything. Even your other friends, the ones with the weird eyes? They disappeared into thin air! One moment they were all behind me, saying that they had worked at the facility and that they could give information to the police and the next, I turned around and they’d all just vanished!”
Seungmin smirked, relaxing back against his pillows.
“The only thing that was left where they were standing were a voice recorder and a journal.”
Seungmin tensed again, looking at Mina with wide eyes.
“Don’t worry, I flipped through the journal and then burned it as soon as I got home. It kind of impressed me how dumb you were to think that was a good idea! Imagine if the police had found it… Anyways, it’s ashes now, and the voice recorder was wiped clean and then conveniently dropped in my dishwasher, to fry it just in case” she shrugged, like the unbothered queen she was. It made Seungmin hold in a chuckle, his side still too sore to allow a full laugh.
“But your weird magic friends that disappeared into thin air? They came back a few hours later, straight to my house this time.”
Seungmin’s mouth dropped wide open in shock.
“The hospital had sent me back home, saying you were gonna be in surgery for a long while and that you wouldn’t be allowed visitor for some time after that; so, I went back to try and make sense of that crazy day. When I opened my door, two of them where chilling on my couch, playing with one of my baseball card deck! Can you imagine the audacity?”
Mina’s baseball card decks were her most prized possession, and there was no doubt that whoever came to visit her received the scolding of their life for even daring to look at it.
“Anyways, they came over to give me a phone, saying that some special guests would like to do videocalls with you while you were in the hospital, and that if ever I betrayed their trust or their secret, I would live through literal hell on earth… They look sweet, but damn can they be intimidating” she shivered.
“Yeah… They can be like that. Let’s say it’s better to have them as friends than enemies.”
Mina nodded, looking pensively to the side. “I guessed that the special guests that would be calling were your fishy friends, but what I didn’t know is that there were so many of them!” she gives him a pointed look, making Seungmin shrink back in his bed. “They called a lot during the two days that you were asleep after your surgery. Whenever I was at the hospital at that moment, I answered and let them check over you; it was really cute actually! Today, they decided to “sing” for you, I believe is what they said. It’s… their voices didn’t sound like anything I’ve heard before… And apparently it worked since not long after they started, you decided to finally wake up! Though… I believe that in their excitement, they dropped their phone in the water because there’s no signal anymore” she looked down at her phone, who failed to connect to the user that she was trying to call. There was no name, but a string of emojis including a whale tail, the water droplets and a flower for some reason.
“They… they called? They had a phone? How?”
“I think the other boys were with them whenever there was a call. They looked like they were in a bay of some sort? I didn’t ask for any details, because I know it’s not my place, even though I wanted to ask them so many questions” she whined, and Seungmin chuckled at seeing her like this.
It felt good to have her make light of the situation in such a way, and he was infinitely grateful for it.
“I’ll ask them one day, if they want to meet you” he winked at his friend. “Hopefully you’ll be able to get to know them, but I’m not making any promises!”
“Of course you aren’t, especially not in the state you’re in” she fussed over him, adjusting his blankets. “Are you hungry? Thirsty? In pain anywhere? Oh, wait, I should probably be calling a nurse to tell them you’re awake!”
Seungmin grinned, letting her handle everything. He knew he was safe here, with her, and if he had any say in it, he would soon be reuniting with his boys. For real this time! Nothing would stop him anymore, not even a bullet…
“Thanks Mina… for everything” Seungmin grabbed her wrist, stopping her fretting. “For looking into my disappearance even after receiving the letter from Park, for getting the police to bust the place down, and for not telling anyone about my boys… It means more than you can imagine.”
“Hmm… as long as you don’t boast in my face about having a bunch of really hot fish friends, then there’s nothing to thank me for” she winked at him, ruffling his hair and making him laugh.
During the four days that followed Seungmin’s awakening, he’d had to stay in the hospital for monitoring. He’d still been able to talk with his boys since, despite some protests on Wooyoung’s side, the pod had been allowed to use the siren’s phone to do videocalls.
Seungmin learned that the first phone they’d used had been a spare one, so it didn’t matter that it ended up chilling with the fishes at the bottom of the ocean, but Wooyoung – the one member of Ateez who spent most of his free time with the pod, and, as such, the best one to be the middleman between the mers and the hospital – was very attached to his phone. It’d taken a lot of pleading and some puppy eyes from Felix, but the siren had finally relented and allowed the boys to use it. It had been worth it, even if just to hear their gleeful clicks and excited screams when a tired but happy Seungmin had appeared on the screen.
The poor human had been wearing earbuds, so his eardrums had been shattered but it didn’t stop him from smiling like a goof at seeing his boys all rush to the phone to see him closer, Wooyoung holding onto his prized possession for dear life while trying to get everyone on camera. It had taken a long time for everybody to calm down enough to actually be able to talk, but they then all had a lovely heart-to-heart, only disturbed by Wooyoung’s occasional fake gagging at all the cuteness.
Seungmin had learned that Jeongin, Changbin and Jisung had depicted him as a self-sacrificing hero who was the sole reason as to why they were all still alive. The biologist had vehemently protested, but Mina – who was in the room since it was her phone he was using to call the boys – had pinned him with an unimpressed look and reminded him that he was in the hospital because he literally took a bullet for the mers. Jisung had been quick to jump on the love-Seungmin-wagon, explaining how, without the diver’s help, he would’ve suffocated to death in the small test tank. Changbin also approved, saying how Seungmin had managed to stop Park from doing the more invasive and inhumane tests on him. The biologist grumbled that all the tests were inhumane, but he still took the compliments, blushing furiously when Minho crooned about what a good mate he was.
Wooyoung had put a stop to it, telling them to keep the flirting for when they would reunite in person. After that, the boys had called at least once a day, two if the siren was in a good enough mood to fly to the bay in the mornings and afternoons, and they helped Seungmin’s days fly faster until his release from the hospital. Contrarily to the last time, Mina hadn’t allowed the pink-haired boy to get released against medical advice. It was a good thing in a way, no matter how much he yearned to be back with the pod, since it truly gave his body time to rest. His old injuries had been checked up on as well, and his broken fingers were on the mend, which was very good news. The doctors had been baffled by how fast his leg and ribs had healed, given that during his last visit, approximately a week ago, he’d looked like death warmed up; but he’d gave them a shit-eating grin and blamed it on his good immunity system.
Mina had almost snorted the water she was drinking through her nose but had regained enough composure to listen to the doctor’s advice about Seungmin’s wound care. Since he hadn’t wanted to alarm his parents, the biologist had asked Mina to tell them he’d been sent on a job in another city for a while, just so they didn’t worry about him being in a hospital and being abducted and all that. His case was anyways pretty buried under all the atrocities that were coming out about the Research and Development Center, since a News channel had managed to put their hands on the USB key that Mingi and Jongho had left out for the police. Although two detectives still came to talk to Seungmin at the hospital, to take in his deposition for the abduction case. He’d recounted it with as much detail, while omitting the biggest part of the story, which was the mers. He’d managed to twist it around, saying that Park had discovered a couple of rare sea mammals and that he’d required Seungmin’s expertise to examine them before selling them off to the black market. The detectives had looked dubious that someone would be willing to kidnap him just for his “specific knowledge”, but Mina had hurriedly backed him up, saying he was one of the best in the field, and that if they were talking about rare animals, he was the expert that everyone would want to see. When the question of where those animals were came up, Seungmin simply shrugged and said that he saw a worker wheel them out of the basement right before the police arrived. Those “animals” could now be anywhere from a black market to being back in the wild.
Apparently, all the workers that had been arrested at the facility during the raid had refused to say anything other than the fact that they were doing research on a confidential project, and that they didn’t have the right to share about it, due to company policy – Seungmin suspected that in the case of the real workers, it was because they were scared of retribution, and in the case of Park’s men, it was in their best interest to hide the black market they were involved with, no one wanting the police to be snooping around there.
There had been a few more questions after that, but Seungmin’s tired state and Mina’s quiet glare had made the detectives wrap it all up pretty quickly, allowing a doctor to come in next to tell Seungmin that he’d be free to leave the following day, as long as he followed the proper care routine for his wounds.
The biologist’s excitement had been tampered down by the pensive look on Mina’s face. She’d turned to him after a while, finally sharing what was on her mind.
“Do you want to come back to work?”
Seungmin had frowned, taken aback.
“I… haven’t really thought about it yet. Why?”
“Well… As much as I love you, and getting to work with you, and even though I know it wasn’t our department that went to shit and that our company is mostly pretty nice… I would still understand if you had some trauma attached with work now. Actually, I would be pretty freaked out if you didn’t have trauma linked to it in some ways or other. So, I was just… wondering, scouring the options, you know? I…”
She’d hesitated, and Seungmin could see in her face that she almost didn’t want to speak her next words, but she still did because she cared for him.
“I have a friend, in Australia. He teaches at the Macquarie University, in Sydney, and he just told me that every year, they’re desperately looking for assistant teachers and researchers for the marine biology department. I thought that… Well, if you want to take a break and put some distance between yourself and the place that hurt you, I can set you up somewhere, if that’s what you wish.”
Her offer was more than generous and Seungmin had been truly caught unaware by it.
“I… don’t know yet. Like I said, I haven’t really taken the time to think about this issue, but thank you so much for having thought of me! I’ll mull it over and come to you with my answer in a few days?” he’d tentatively proposed, biting his lip nervously.
“Of course Minnie, you don’t have to stress about this. For now, you rest and relax, and you make sure to heal fast so you can go see your boys” she’d winked at him, ruffling his hair up.
Hongjoong waited for him at the harbor, leaning against a bench, sporting his usual black and orange attire. A light smile spread his lips when he saw the human approach, and he waved Seungmin over, his numerous rings clinking together.
“Little human, how are you feeling?”
“You know I’m good Hongjoong. I saw you guys checking up on me from the tree right next to my room’s window” the biologist called the siren out.
Hongjoong didn’t seem phased by it, simply shrugging. “I had to make sure you were treated well. If I didn’t have eyes on you to be able to report to Chan, he would’ve dragged his scaly ass all the way there himself.”
Seungmin laughed, extending his hand to the siren and accepting the careful hug that was given instead of a handshake. “Thank you” he breathed out. “For watching over me, and for bringing the boys to safety. Oh, and please let Wooyoung know I’m really grateful he let the pod use his phone for the videocalls” he chuckled.
“Oh boy, that whole thing was a mess! But you deserved to get to see your boys after everything that happened” Hongjoong nodded. “You deserve happiness, especially because of all you did for your boys. You’re a good human, Kim Seungmin. It’s not often that I say that, so I hope you realize your worth because I truly mean it.”
The siren had taken a very solemn tone, driving his message even further home that his words were not to be taken lightly. Seungmin gulped but still accepted the compliment with a grateful bow of his head.
“Alright, enough of the chit chat. Get on the boat, you have a personal driver today” Hongjoong’s voice turned cheeky as he spun the boat’s keys around his finger. “And don’t you even think about protesting! You need someone with legs to be able to watch over you. As much as the pod adores you, they won’t be able to bring you back on land in case of an emergency” he deadpanned.
Seungmin didn’t even think of fighting the pitohui on this matter, and simply made his way on board, slouching gratefully on the bench of the deck. He noticed with a pinch of nostalgia that Hongjoong had rented the same boat he usually took out on his dives, and it made him smile as he slid his fingers along the familiar railings. He was gonna miss it…
His arrival at the bay was celebrated by a loud cacophony of whistles and clicks, and it was everything he had been expecting. With a smile, he slid on the floor, opening his arms wide. Almost immediately, three mers filled the empty space, slamming him down on the deck as he greeted them with laughter and a warm embrace. Felix and Hyunjin had both glued themselves to his sides, holding onto his arms as if he was going to disappear if they didn’t hold him down, while Minho laid on top of Seungmin, hovering over his torso. The eldest mer’s face went through so many emotions at once: excitement, joy, worry, longing. Then, it settled on what he wanted to convey the most: love. Minho didn’t hesitate any further and practically smashed his head in Seungmin’s neck, nuzzling it for dear life and marking the delicate skin there with quick and gentle bites, littering the human’s whole throat, jaw and collarbones.
"Seungmin! We missed you so much!" Hyunjin breathed out in the human's ear, making him shiver.
"We were so scared we would never get to see you again” Felix's sobs were heart wrenching, and Seungmin wiggled around as best he could to wrap his arm around the freckled boy and offer a comforting embrace.
"You don't have to worry anymore, I'm here" he soothed them, rubbing his hand up and down Felix's spine. He bent his head to drop kisses over each one of Felix’s freckles, delighted when he managed to pull a wet laugh from the blond boy.
"Stop moving, you're hurt" Minho growled, literally growled against the human's throat, making Seungmin freeze at his sharp tone and at the vibrations that reverberated inside his chest.
"Your friend, Mina. She told us how badly hurt you were..." Hyunjin told him. "And Changbin also told us how... how much blood you lost and... and how scared he was that you died..." The boy cut himself off, choked up.
That's when the human realized that, indeed, none of their arms were wrapped around his torso, neither from the front nor the back. Mina had probably told them that he'd been hurt there and that's why they were handling him so carefully instead of crushing him in breath-halting hugs. Seungmin didn't know what to say to make his boys feel better. He knew how scared they must've been to lose him. Hell, the one thing that pushed him to fight off the blissful nothingness of his comatose state was his fear of never seeing the pod again, so he definitely understood their feelings.
"I'm so sorry for worrying you like this" he whispered. "I never wanted to do that, but now I'm safe, and I'm back with you. I'm here, and I'm not going away for a long time" he promised, kissing the top of Hyunjin's head and embracing Felix closer.
Minho gave him one more soft bite, right in the juncture between his neck and collarbone, before pushing himself up. "There, that way, everyone will know you belong to us, and no one will dare take you away again!"
Seungmin blushed, both turned on and fondly annoyed by the elder's possessiveness. He didn’t hesitate to replicate the affection however, and leaned up to kiss Minho properly, feeling the mer’s sharp fangs brush against his lips. Despite his earlier aggressive love, the golden-tailed boy’s kiss was as delicate as the touch of a butterfly, making Seungmin’s heart threaten to beat out of his chest at the tenderness behind it all.
"Come on, get off of him, it's our turn now!" a voice whined behind them, and Seungmin barely had the time to register Felix, Hyunjin and Minho's bodies leaving his side that three new people were swarming him.
The boat tilted dangerously as the boys shifted around, their weight making the poor ship rock from side to side. Hongjong squawked in surprise, shifting into his bird form and perching himself on top of the cabin, at a safe distance from the trudging mers. As Seungmin sat up on the deck, his sides were once more carefully engulfed by Jeongin and Jisung this time, Changbin being the one that wormed his way in between Seungmin's legs to hold his face in between his hands.
"Little one... you're alive" the black-tailed mer breathed out.
At that moment, everyone could see the tension bleed out of Changbin's shoulders, and the biologist realized how hard it must've been for him in the past few days. After all, Changbin had been the one holding Seungmin in his arms, pressing on his wound to stop him from bleeding out on the spot. And, despite the frequent videocalls, it was also understandable that the mers preferred to see with their own eyes that their human was safe instead of trusting an image on a phone, seeing how unfamiliar they were with human technology.
"I'm alive. I'm here, and I'm not going away" Seungmin repeated, knowing his boys needed to hear those words over and over again, until they truly believed it. He let Changbin nuzzle his hair, taking comfort in the strong presence of his hyung.
Turning to look at both Jeongin and Jisung, still nestled in his arms, he spotted the marks that were also littering the three boys' necks. It was no doubt Minho's work, the mer probably needing to assert to the whole world that these boys were his, and that no one would take them away from him ever again.
"Minnie... I missed you so much" Jeongin’s eyes were all teary, and Seungmin didn't hesitate to lean in and kiss him gently on the mouth.
"I missed you too, Innie. How are you feeling baby? Are you okay? The bad men didn't hurt you too much?"
Calling them "bad men" might've been childish, and definitely not what those bastards deserved to be called, but the biologist didn't want to stir up bad memories or strong emotions right now.
"I'm fine. Lixie healed me really fast, I feel much better now. Especially because you're back with us" Jeongin leaned in for another kiss, which Seungmin was more than glad to give.
He then turned his focus on his left, to Jisung. " And you, love, how are you? Are all of your teeth back? Does anything hurt anywhere?"
"No I... I'm all fine" Jisung sniffled, his lower lip trembling. It was evident that the boy was on the verge of tears, but was trying his hardest to stay strong in front of the others. "I just... I wanted to tell you... I'm so sorry Minnie. We're all so sorry" he whispered, hiding his face in Seungmin's shoulders.
The diver let out an inquisitive noise, not understanding what the shark boy meant.
"We're sorry for not believing in you from the start" Changbin completed for him. "For... for doubting you, and for ever thinking that you could be working with that monster."
"Oh... It's... It's okay, don't worry about that. It made sense after all, with all the lies that Park was telling you. You had every reason to believe him, and I don't blame you for that at all."
"No! Listen to them Minnie, please!” Jeongin interrupted, his eyes glowing fiercely. “I made sure Changbin and Jisung would apologize, though they didn't need a lot of convincing. You deserve those apologies, because you did nothing wrong and you helped us through it all, and despite, that they still pushed you away. " Jeongin had never sounded as determined as he was right now, as he tilted Seungmin's chin towards him.
"The baby shrimp is right, we do owe you a big apology, and it would be totally understandable if you ignored us for a while too, until you feel like you can forgive us..." Changbin murmured, his brow creased in worry as Jisung let out a small whimper, holding onto Seungmin's arm tighter.
"Ignore you?" the biologist squawked, distressed.
"It's the ultimate form of punishment in a pod," Jeongin explained. "When a member does something wrong, they are shunned and ignored by the others for a certain amount of time, until they have reflected on their wrongdoings. The pod is everything to a mer; not just a survival means, but also your family, friends and partners... It's a painful but just punishment to cast someone away temporarily, until they understand how much they hurt the pod by their actions."
Seungmin looked at Changbin and Jisung with wide eyes. Those boys would voluntarily go through this for him, cast themselves away until they felt that they deserved to come back, because they had faltered in their trust in him... In that moment, it felt as if the scientist's whole world revolved around those boys; fuck gravity, they were the one thing that held him whole and their faith in him was absolutely ground shattering.
He leaned forward, kissing both boys square on the mouth, a bit more forcefully than he would’ve liked to admit, but he needed them to understand just how much he loved them right at this instant.
"I would never, ever force you away from the pod." It was Seungmin's turn to growl this time, almost rivaling Minho's. "You did the best you could in that situation, and I never ever want to be apart from you, for any reason whatsoever. So, you better forgive yourselves, because I never held any of this against you, and I just want us all to finally be together and be happy for once!" He pleaded with them, his voice tampering down to a whisper as he held Jisung closer and caressed Changbin's cheek.
They both offered him radiant, although teary smiles, and Jeongin broke the moment with a mumbled "I knew you were a big softie" that made them all laugh.
Seungmin was relieved to see his boys smiling again, despite everything they’d lived through. However, there was still one uncomfortable question he wanted an answer to.
“Can you tell me which one of you killed him?”
Jisung’s hold on his arm tightened and Changbin frowned, but it was Jeongin who answered calmly.
“I did. He got what he deserved.”
“He did indeed… Honestly, I feel better knowing that he’s gone for good; it feels like you guys will finally be safe” Seungmin approved. “Still, I kind of wanted to do it myself” he mumbled.
Jeongin was quick to tilt his head towards him. “No, you’re not a killer. It is not in your nature to take a life, especially from someone from your own species. But it’s okay, because I will be there to do it for you if we ever need it.”
“Well then, let’s hope we never need it again” Seungmin breathed out, before leaning in for a soft kiss with Jeongin, the youngest’s plush lips being simply irresistible.
After that, the whole situation seemed much lighter, the realization that they were truly together again hitting everyone. The other members of the pod had given those four their private moment, understanding that some words needed to be said between those who had lived through this shared trauma, but now that it was over, they all slid back in the wet-boys pile to give Seungmin as much affection as possible. Hyunjin and Minho made themselves comfortable behind him, alternatingly hugging him to their chest while being mindful of the still-closing wound on his lower back, while Jisung and Jeongin took up his arms. Changbin slinked off to Jisung's side, leaning against Seungmin's shoulder and rubbing his cheek on the human's collarbone from time to time, while Felix splayed himself on the ground next to Jeongin, laying his face on the diver's hip, emitting a low vibration that sounded like a purr.
The one thing that intrigued the biologist, however, was that they left the space in between his legs completely free. He would've thought by now that someone would've jumped at the opportunity to koala-hug him, but no one moved to do so. There was also one person that was suspiciously missing, and Seungmin found himself scanning the waters to see if he could spot any black fins.
It didn't take long for a head of silver curls to pop up, one black and one white eye locking onto Seungmin, making him shiver at the predatory gaze. Everyone turned their attention to the newcomer as well, the voices and whistles hushed with anticipation.
With one big heave, Chan pushed himself onto the boat, eyes still locked on Seungmin. It was the first time ever, since meeting the human, that the leader had fully left the water. Before that, he'd always let his tail hang off the side of the deck idly, or sat in the surf zone when they were on the beach, always somehow staying in contact with the water. Now though, he was fully on the deck, making his way straight to Seungmin. His eyes slipped down to the human's throat, seeing it all marked up already, and he let out a low rumble. From behind him, Seungmin heard Minho's huff of pride and Chan took in a deep breath, apparently needing to calm himself down.
"Seungmin... you're back" he breathed out. His voice sounded normal, if a little strained, but his eyes, dark with fatigue, anxiousness and something more, something wild, told the scientist that there was something going on with the pod's leader.
“I’m back… Sorry for worrying you… How are you doing?”
Seungmin was definitely concerned for the orca, and the others must’ve picked up on it since Jeongin and Jisung let go of his arms, allowing him to open them wider and offer Chan a hug. The mer visibly recoiled, almost as if physically injured, and Seungmin’s frown deepened.
“Chan, what’s happening?” he leaned forward, subconsciously wanting to be closer to the eldest.
“This… is getting hard…” the boy breathed out, his claws embedding themselves in the deck.
“Chan, breath and talk it through” Felix piped up from the side, sending his leader a look.
The orca nodded, taking a moment to compose himself. “I… I’m so glad you’re back, Minnie. The boys and I were so worried for you all when you disappeared… And then when Jisung, Jeongin and Changbin came back, but without you… we all thought the worst. And I… I’m really ashamed about it” he chuckled awkwardly, “but my brain is really not taking this whole thing well, even if I know that you guys are all safe now. There’s a thing that comes with being a pod leader, that makes us – well, me – want to make sure everyone is safe; and if something happens that is out of my control, and that makes me unable to check on all of our podmates, I tend to turn slightly-“
Chan couldn’t finish his sentence, six other voices cutting him off.
“Crazy”
“Possessive”
“Wild”
“Unbearable”
“Obsessed”
“Angry”
Chan blinked owlishly at the rest of the pod as they all gave him shit-eating grins.
“But we still love you” Hyunjin added, his voice dripping in sweetness and honey, with just a hint of sass.
Chan lifted an eyebrow, before looking back at Seungmin, who was biting his lip in a desperate attempt to hold in a laugh.
“Anyways… My instincts are just screaming at me right now to hold you and bring you to a nest and never let you go. To claim you as mine, as ours, and to never let anyone touch you or even get close to you anymore” he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, shy now that he was sharing his feelings.
“Well why don’t you do it?” Seungmin taunted him with an easy smile.
“Uh?”
A couple of catcalls echoed around the boat. Jeongin giggled as he nuzzled Seungmin’s neck, and the human felt proud of him for having made Chan lose his composure.
“I want the same thing as you right now hyung. I want to stay with you guys forever and never leave you again” he offered his hand to the leader, beckoning him closer.
Chan hesitantly slid forward until he was slotted in between Seungmin’s legs, allowing the biologist to hold his hand. “You don’t understand little one. I… If I follow my inner desires, I will never let you go again. But I can’t do that; you’re a human, you belong on land, no matter how much I hate to admit it.”
“And what if I told you I had a solution for that?”
That got everyone to quieten instantly, all eyes turned on the human.
“Minnie?” Felix asked, eyes wide as he lifted his head from Seungmin’s lap with hope written all across his face.
“I’ve never truly belonged on land” Seungmin shrugged. “And after everything that happened, I also want to take a break from other humans. I actually have found another job, that would allow me to go live in some warmer waters, and spend most of my days diving freely and research whatever I want to research… And I’d like you all to come with me, if you’re okay with that. I want to buy a boat, make it into my permanent home; we could all share it if you want, and I could follow you around much more easily while you look for your nest…” he trailed off, knowing he was rambling.
Chan was still standing in front of him, eyes wide, mouth open in shock. Seungmin flinched, fearing that he’d gone too far. After all, why would those wonderfully free creatures choose to anchor themselves to a human, even less move around the globe because of him.
“Yes” Chan breathed out, making Seungmin snap his eyes back on him.
“Wh-what?”
“I said yes, little one” the orca smiled. “If the pod agrees to it, I would be honored to do this with you. We can figure out a way for us all to live together; I know nothing could make me happier than that.”
“WE’RE GOING TO LIVE WITH MINNIE!” Jeongin was the first one to react, yelling and throwing his arms around Seungmin’s neck happily, peppering his face in happy kisses and letting out some adorable little trills.
The others weren’t far behind, and everyone enthusiastically shared how much they wanted this; how badly they wanted to share their everyday lives with Seungmin. The biologist couldn’t stop a few tears from escaping him, but they were all quickly kissed away by Changbin.
“Well, that is an unexpected happy turn of events” a voice echoed behind them, as the bird that was perched on the cabin during this whole time turned back into Hongjoong. He leaned against the railing with a smile gracing the corner of his lips. “May I ask where you would be settling, then?”
“Australia” Seungmin sniffled, letting Hyunjin wipe the remaining of his tears away. “I’d be an assistant researcher and teacher for a university there. I mailed them and they already agreed to me giving the classes online, since I’d most likely be on my boat most of the time, hundreds of miles from shore…”
Hongjoong nodded approvingly. “It would be a good life for you. I can see how much you like the ocean… And the perks of being with the pod would probably also make it worth it. Just be sure to send us a text from time to time, so we know that you’re all faring well.”
“Of course, and you could come visit any time you wanted” Seungmin assured him with a grateful nod.
Hongjoong smiled. “I will give you guys the rest of the day to spend together, but I’ll be here at sunset to bring Seungmin back on land. He still needs rest and proper care, if he wants that wound to heal, and I do not want to be dealing with an angry Mina” he warned them, before quickly taking flight, giving the boys their privacy.
Turning back to his boys, Seungmin was startled by a heavy weight suddenly engulfing him as Chan hugged him tightly, all the while still being careful of his lower back and abdomen.
“Thank you Seungmin… Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity to be with you” he breathed out, nuzzling Seungmin’s neck possessively. The biologist could feel the orca relaxing against him, his embrace turning less desperate and more comforting, protective, as if he was a fragile trinket that needed to be wrapped up in bubble wrap. That was until he felt a sharp prick in his neck though, the leader apparently taking a page out of Minho’s book and needing to prove his love by leaving the indent of his teeth in Seungmin’s skin.
“I should be the one thanking you guys” the human reciprocated the hug, closing his eyes contentedly. He caressed Chan’s curls, playing with them lazily. “I just asked you to move away from this place and follow me into the unknown, and you’ve all accepted so easily!”
“We have nothing holding us here, little one. You do; you have a family, friends, a place to stay… You’re going to uproot yourself, to live in a boat, far away from land and from other humans, to be able to stay with us… By the ocean spirits, you don’t even know how much it means that you’re making this sacrifice for the pod” Chan sighed fondly, slowly letting go of Seungmin. The biologist made sure to kiss his lips sweetly before the orca was out of reach though, enjoying the blush that spread over Chan’s alabaster skin.
“But we will make sure that you won’t give up your old life in vain. I have something for you, little human. I have talked about this extensively with the whales, and Jaebum and his pod agreed to give us their blessings for it.”
“Oh, is it time? Is he going to give it now?” Jisung excitedly whispered, being dramatically hushed by everyone else.
Chan laughed at his pod’s antic, and then looked straight at the pink-haired human that was still sprawled on the deck, surrounded by all of his boys, every single one of them holding or touching him in some way. “Seungmin, of the human tribe, explorer of the ocean and researcher of the mysteries of the deep; if you will do us the great honor of accepting this symbol, we would love to formally take you in as a podmate, and a life partner.”
The orca untied a sturdy piece of string from his wrist, unwinding it to reveal that the two ends were tied together, forming a necklace with a shiny black pearl hanging from it. Under the sun rays, the pearl took on an iridescent tint of dark purples, blues and greys, the light reflecting off of its perfectly polished sides. Seungmin’s mouth fell open as his brain picked up what was happening.
“We, as a pod, want to gift you this necklace as your symbol, for you are just as rare, beautiful and precious as this black pearl. You truly are one in a million, and we are immensely lucky to have found you. You also have faced countless dangers and got over them all while keeping the safety of this pod as your first priority. You more than deserve a place by our side, and we wish to acknowledge and celebrate your bravery through this necklace. Will you accept this symbol, as well as our proposal to be ours for life?”
Everyone was waiting for the human’s answer with bated breath, no one making a move. Even the water seemed to hush itself, the waves not nearly as loud against the hull of the boat, the birds staying silent and the wind dropping to a gentle breeze.
Seungmin took the necklace in his hands, turning it over with the outmost care. He caressed the pearl with the tip of his finger, the jewel shining even more brightly as a tear escaped the human’s eye and landed right on top of it.
“What kind of question is that?” he finally answered, looking back up at Chan, with watery eyes and a huge smile. “Of course, I accept… Thank you so much” he sobbed, throwing himself onto Chan and hiccupping in the leader’s shoulder. He felt warm hands pet his back and hair comfortingly, a low voice crooning in his ear about how wonderful he was, and how excited they all were to have him as theirs from now on.
And Seungmin could only stay there, holding onto Chan for dear life as he felt himself engulfed by the pod’s pure, blissful love. He was finally reunited with his boys, and this time, truly nothing could ever separate them again, because they were meant to be together, and no one, not even fate, could deny it.
Also, explorer-of-the-ocean-and-researcher-of-the-mysteries-of-the-deep was such a cool title and he was definitely going to use it to introduce himself from now on!
Seungmin sighed tiredly as he racked his fingers through his hair, messing them up even more than they already were. His flat was in disarray, with half-packed boxes everywhere. Moving to a country that’s a 12h flight away from Korea and deciding to settle on a boat once he arrives does not make for the easiest planning, no matter how organized he may be. Buying his own ship was definitely exciting, but it was hard work since he had a lot of odd requirements that not a lot of boat models could meet. It wasn’t like he could simply explain to the vendors that he was expecting seven half-human half-fish creatures to crash in his cabin most of the time, meaning that he had to make sure they had an easy access point from the water to the boat, and vice versa. He also could not tell them that, since his impromptu roommates didn’t have legs, he had to ensure that the sets of stairs in the ship were user-friendly for people that crawled around on their hands and tails. It was frankly starting to give him a headache, but he resolved himself to be patient. In any case, he would wait until he was in Australia to make the definitive purchase, so he technically didn’t have to find his boat right now; he could keep looking for it once in Sydney. It would be a small setback for his boys, but they could wait a few more days for him if it meant he got to find the perfect floating house.
At least, his parents had accepted his move pretty easily, saying that it would be good for him to travel and to meet new people, get some new friends. They didn’t know that Seungmin didn’t plan on staying on land long enough to make new friends, although with his luck at encountering mythical creatures, who knew really; he might find himself with a trollop of unexpected new friends.
The boy looked at his couch lifelessly, pondering on if he had the time to take a quick nap before being forced to start over again with packing up, when his phone rang. Quickly taking it out, a large smile illuminated his face as soon as he saw that it was a videocall request from “The Squad”. The name was surrounded by a whale and a water droplet emoji, which had taken far too long to settle on. When the boys realized that not all types of fish were available on the app, they all had settled for the whale, saying that at least that way no one would be jealous. Seungmin had simply watched them have a whole serious discussion about emojis, and it reminded just how badly he loved them all. Ever since he’d came back to the pod, he’d decided to buy a phone and leave it on their little private beach, with a solar portable charger, just so they could join him if they ever needed it. They’d then taken the habit of calling him every night, before he went to bed, just to tell him good night. It was adorable, and Seungmin gladly indulged them just so he could see their faces right before sleep.
This time though, when he saw that his boys were calling him in the middle of the afternoon, he knew it was something unusual. He was still half-expecting it though, since they had all been acting kind of fishy in the past few days. Seungmin sighed at his own pun, deciding that his brain was now officially too tired to keep on packing, and answered the videocall instead.
“Hey boys!” He greeted as the call connected, slumping back on his couch heavily.
“Seungminnie! You have to come; we have a surprise for you!” Jisung yelled in the phone, making the biologist wince at the loudness.
The camera shifted wildly for a moment, while whistles of protests echoed in the background, before a much more collected Hyunjin appeared on screen.
“Hello love” he crooned. “Could you come join us? We have something for you, and it really cannot wait” he batted his eyelashes, knowing Seungmin couldn’t refuse him anything when he did that.
“I’m coming right away!” the human grinned. “I needed an excuse to stop packing, so thanks for that!”
Hyunjin chuckled and sent him a flying kiss, like the scientist had taught them to do a few days ago. “Alright, hurry little one, we can’t wait to see you!”
Seungmin made sure to send a kiss back, before disconnecting the call. It was with a much more energic pep in his steps that he made his way down to the harbor, his usual boat waiting for him to go to the oh-so-familiar bay. He could drive there with his eyes closed now, since he’d made the trip so many times. Still, he enjoyed the cruise, feeling the sun tanning the back of his neck, and the wind ruffle the navy-blue bandana around his throat.
When the familiar cliffs came into view, he cut off the engine, letting himself drift closer to the entrance of the secluded bay. Moments later, his boat picked up speed again, and Seungmin looked overboard with a smile, picking up two glinting turquoise and golden tails. He let Minho and Felix bring him closer to the beach, allowing them to moor his boat to some big rocks while he jumped in the water, being easily caught in Jeongin’s strong arms. The youngest nuzzled his nose on Seungmin’s cheek with an airy giggle that made the diver’s heart melt, and he couldn’t resist kissing the youngest briefly while Minho and Felix joined them.
“Hello loves” he greeted them, receiving a kiss back from all three boys.
They were definitely excited about something, if their giants grins and chirpy greetings were any indications, and Seungmin found himself sharing their excitement as he let Jeongin’s powerful tail pull them to shore.
It’s only when his feet touched the sand that he looked around, spotting for the first time the set up that had been installed on the beach. Chan was sitting on the dry sand – which was very unusual for him, the orca normally preferring to stay wet at all times – and was surrounded by a big conch, an urchin and one of Jisung’s knives. Seungmin stared in confusion at the scene in front of him.
“Go on, it’s nothing bad, I swear!” Jeongin encouraged him, pushing Seungmin forward.
Both boys made their way to Chan until they were sitting right in front of him, the rest of their podmates not too far behind. As soon as everyone was comfortably settled, the leader spoke up.
“Hi Minnie… Sorry if we called you in such a hurry but… we’ve been trying to make this work for a few days now, and we finally managed to catch and milk a squid today, so we had to get you here before the ink dried up!”
Seungmin leaned forward, confirming that, yes, there was indeed ink inside of the conch, the shell acting as a makeshift bowl.
“Alright? And that has something to do with me because…?” he tilted his head to the side, still as confused as ever.
“Because it’s your turn to complete my symbol today, Seungmin” Chan smiled at him as his fingers went up to his left pec, where a stylized circle surrounding seven different motifs was artfully tattooed.
Seungmin’s mouth fell wide open, and Minho clipped his chin teasingly. “You look like a pufferfish, little one.”
“I just… What? You want me to tattoo you? Like right now? With an urchin and a knife?” Seungmin couldn’t lie, he was slightly panicking.
“Don’t worry, I’ll guide you through it” Chan assured him, holding his hand comfortingly.
“But I don’t even know what I would tattoo?”
“The tattoo doesn’t have to be anything in particular. Just having you leave a mark on my skin is what is important” Chan smiled, pointing at his symbol once more. “Look here; Changbin was the first to do it, and I wasn’t used to explain to others how to tattoo properly, so he left this little mark here.”
Right above Chan’s finger stood a squiggly double triangle, that almost looked like an hourglass tipped on its side. It was relatively small, and the lines were very obviously not straight.
“No matter how it looks, or the artistic talent of the one who did it” Chan winked at Changbin when the mer protested weakly at being called out like that, “I still cherish it all the same. It was a mark given to me by one of my podmates, by one of my life partners, and to my eyes, it is perfect.”
That was it. Seungmin was now convinced that Chan was the most humble and precious person both on land and in the water. How could he say something like that so casually and not expect the biologist to fall even deeper in love with him? Examining Chan’s symbol a little bit closer, he managed to spot the others’ artworks. The orca watched him knowingly and told him the name of the artist as soon as Seungmin pointed to it. There were three undulating lines, maybe representing the ocean – Hyunjin. Then, there was a cute turtle, made up of graceful round lines – Felix. The spiral that curved like a fish hook had been a curtesy of Minho, the sharp triangle from Jisung was probably supposed to be a shark tooth, and Jeongin had opted to draw little circles all around the canvas, like air bubbles.
Seeing this, Seungmin squared his shoulders. He did want to leave his mark next to the others, he wanted Chan to wear it proudly on his chest.
“Alright. How do I do this?”
So, the rest of the afternoon was spent with Chan patiently guiding Seungmin on how to sharpen one of the urchin’s needles and then to dip it in the squid ink to coat it properly. The mer then laid down on his back, letting the human straddle his hips to have a proper access to his chest. The process of applying it to the skin in short bursts by tapping against the bottom of the needle with the handle of the knife was slightly harder for Seungmin to grasp, since he was scared of hurting his hyung, but after a lot of reassurance from the orca and countless praises from the rest of the pod, the human started his artwork.
It took him longer than he expected, as he put his entire focus on the task, wanting this to be as perfect as possible. The others respected his space, no one peeking over his shoulder to see what his design would be. Instead, they simply hung around Chan and Seungmin, either lazily napping in the sun or talking about how exciting their upcoming move to Australia was. The human made sure, despite his intense focus on his design, to take some breaks to check that Chan was doing okay. The orca always smiled up at him, telling him that it didn’t hurt at all, and that the human was in fact very delicate. Looking down at the red and irritated skin under the needle, Seungmin could only lift an unbelieving eyebrow at his hyung, but Chan simply chuckled and settled his hand on the human’s hip, his thumb rubbing right above the hem of Seungmin’s shorts in a comforting gesture.
The diver had to take several breaks throughout the session, his fingers cramping in uncomfortable position but, after a long while, he finally sat up. He wiped the sweat from his forehead tiredly but with a content smile on his lips.
“I’m done!”
Chan was the first to look down at his chest, examining the new mark that graced his skin. His eyes crinkled in little crescents as he saw the tattoo. On the top right side of Chan’s pec was a sun, its beams shining down on the other boy’s marks. On the opposite corner, a moon surrounded by stars seemed to glow dimly on Chan’s marble skin.
“It’s so pretty Seungminnie! You did so well! But can I ask why you chose this design?” he shot a curious look at the human, taking the diver’s hand in his and kissing his knuckles in gratitude.
Seungmin blushed at the sweet gesture, clearing his throat while the other boys rushed in to see his motif. “I chose the sun and moon, because it’s what we’ll always have in common. No matter if I’m on land and you’re in the ocean, or if we’re separated by thousands of miles; we’ll always be under the same sun, and look up at the same moon, and to me it’s enough to know that I’m living in the same world as you guys to make me happy” he shrugged, trying to wave off his sudden shyness.
Chan cooed at him while Hyunjin left a resounding smack on Seungmin’s cheek, calling him cute. The pink-haired diver giggled, looking at the orca.
“I hope you like it hyung?”
“You know I do Minnie. How could I not?” Chan assured, engulfing Seungmin in a one-armed hug on his non-newly-tattooed side. “You’re the best” he nuzzled Seungmin’s hair, making the boy bite his lip to stop a whine from escaping him. “And I can’t wait to move to this new place so that we can start our new life all together, finally.”
The orca’s words echoed around Seungmin, and he couldn’t agree more with this. They deserved this new start, and he just knew somehow that they were going to make the best of it.