Chapter Text
Hoseok was walking his way to School… his mind clouded and distant from the chaos that happened yesterday. He still was in complete shock about it. I mean, how could he not be? Yesterday he flopped on the floor like a fish, and his legs were missing. Replacing them was a fishtail. He was a mermaid or seafolk. He screamed so loud. He swore his sister was going to break down the door. In his haste, he pulled himself up to the counter to look at his face, he realized that not only was his legs missing and replaced with a tail, his hair was a different color. It was a vibrant orange color. Just like Yoongi's mint green when he was in merform.
“HOSEOK!? HOSEOK!! WHAT'S HAPPENING!? I'M COMING IN!!”
He could hear his sister on the other side of the door. She was definitely trying to break it down now. He had to think fast. There was no way he could let his sister see this, it would give her a heart attack. He did the only thing he could think of. Thinking of all the mermaid movies he's ever seen of humans transforming into fish and back. All he had to do was wipe down his fins and dry himself off. Then he should turn back, easily. Well, it's easier said than done, when you're panicking and your sister is about to bust down the door.
He wiped down himself as fast as he could, quickly ruffling the towel through his hair and his entire body. Before, he could even think his sister was bursting through the door.
“HOSEOK!!”
There he was, on the floor. Sitting, with his legs covered in a towel. He tried to act natural, but obviously he was freaking out. Yes, his legs were back, but he was butt naked on the floor, sitting as if he had something to hide. His sister took one look at him, and then turned around. He hadn't felt more embarrassed in his life, and now he was just walking to school as if nothing happened. His sister won't even look at him without giggling. And due to the events of yesterday. He knew what he had to do today.
Hoseok finally reached the school, meeting with some of his friends during the impasse. After reaching his destination, he immediately started searching for Yoongi, but couldn't find him anywhere. Because of his frantic searching, he was almost late for the first period.
“Hoseokie… I think we have to go to class now. You don't want to be written up again do you?” Tae said, he had offered to help Hoseok when he figured out he was looking for Yoongi.
Hoseok was frustrated but decided his friend was right. Both of them headed to class. Soon enough, the class started, Hoseok thought he'll spend his whole day sulking about it. That wasn't till Yoongi finally showed up, Yoongi was always late for school anyway. Why didn't he just wait for him to show up? He didn't get a chance to talk to him though, the teacher had already started her lesson.
“Alright class, I know how hot it has been for the last few days. So we decided today was pool day. We're even using the outside ocean area for swimming today. Your swimming classes will start right after lunch, and that's what you'll be doing for the rest of the day. Now, let's get started with our lessons.”
Hoseok felt his heart drop into his stomach, or maybe it left his whole body, and was now heading for the crest of the earth. The day of all days, why did it have to be, why did they have to decide to do a pool day today. After all the rain storms, it had begun to get really hot. When it got hot enough, the school would randomly tell the students that it was pool day. which meant half of their classes were canceled for them to go and use the pools they had. Because the school was really close to the ocean. They had even had a designated area for students to swim in the ocean. The zone was blocked off with ropes and was very clean. So the students could swim in those parts only, if they left the line, then they would get a consequence.
Hoseok felt very afraid of this. What was he going to do? he still haven't talked to Yoongi, and they were all going to have to swim after lunch. If he didn't get to talk to him before then, he didn't know what would happen once he hit the water. Hoseok was distracted for the rest of the class after that. He could barely write a single note in his notebook. He had to find a way to talk to Yoongi privately and fast.
Hoseok spent his first two periods trying to get Yoongi alone, so he could talk to him. It was proven to be more difficult than he thought. Yoongi was in a group project that didn't involve Hoseok, so he couldn't exactly walk up to the group and take the boy away. He wanted to pass him a note, but didn't want his friends to snicker at him. They already teased him enough about his so-called crush on Yoongi. Jin, being the hopeless romantic match maker he is, was proven to be a lifesaver for Hoseok.
During their third period, The last period before lunch. Jin manages to get Hoseok and Yoongi alone together. They were doing a two part mixing project in science. Hoseok wouldn't question it, even if it meant he had to endure taunting later. Yoongi and Hoseok were sitting alone in the back of the classroom. Yoongi casually jotted down notes, as Hoseok stared at him. He was trying to find the words to tell him what happened, but couldn't form the sentence out loud. Yoongi then looked over at him.
“You okay?”
Hoseok started to panic. “Who, me!? I'm fine, perfect even!! There's absolutely nothing wrong! Why would you even ask that, what, do I look like there is something wrong, well there's nothing wrong because, I'm perfect! Perfectly perfect!”
Yoongi raised his eyebrow at him, and chuckled. “Okay weirdo…” he said, going back to his notebook.
Hoseok was thoroughly panicking now. Why didn't he just tell him when he asked. This would be so much easier if he just told him. Hoseok took a deep breath, and told himself to stop being a baby. That's when he got an idea.
“Ah ow!! OWIE!! MY EYE!!”
Yoongi looked at Hoseok. “You okay Hobi?”
“My contact is falling out and it hurts!!”
Hoseok suddenly raised his hand.
“Miss, can I go to the bathroom to change my contact? It really hurts.”
The teacher looked at him. “I don't see why not.”
“Can Yoongi accompany me? I can't see! And it really hurts…”
The teacher just shrugged and let both of them go. Hoseok grabbed Yoongi’s wrist and tugged him along. He listened as his friends oozed when he left with Yoongi. At this point, he didn't care, he had to tell him before something bad happened. He dragged Yoongi all the way to the bathroom, and pushed him into the last stall. Yoongi immediately tried to check his eye, but Hoseok stopped him.
“No, my eyes fine”
Yoongi made him all confused. “Then why'd you drag me all the way here?”
Hoseok hesitated for a split second before blurting it all out.
“Yoongi, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I should have told you that day in the rain that I was feeling weird, but I didn't want you to worry and-. And then I got super sick, so I kept drinking water! And my body felt weird and tingally, and now things are bad, like really really bad… and-”
“whoa…” Yoongi stopped him, and started to squeeze his shoulder comfortably. Now, tell me what's going on?”
Hoseok took another deep breath before speaking clearly.
“Yoongi… remember when you said if I start to feel weird or if I felt like I was changing to tell you?”
Yoongi's whole heart stopped at that sentence. “Y-yeah…” he said hesitantly.
“Well… I did change… I don't know what exactly is going on, or how it happened, but I changed. After I was done being super sick, I just felt a lot better out of nowhere. So my sister ran me a bath. I was soaking in the tub, minding my own business and day dreaming, when suddenly, my legs were gone… like genuinely just gone… and replacing them were… we're a pair of fins… I had a fishtail Yoongi! A TAIL! just like you… I don't know what to do!? If I get in that pool today I'm bound to change right?? What should I do?”
Yoongi stared for a good minute, and then he stared some more. It was like his brain was short circuiting. After ten minutes of staring and biting his fingernails, he finally spoke up.
“And this started when?”
“Well… the first time this happened to me was yesterday and I haven't touched water since. I haven't even drunk a bottle of water. I was scared that the compensation on the bottle would make me turn, but I started feeling weird right after that rainstorm, the day you and I ran into each other after you saved my life.”
Yoongi started to think, he started pacing back and forth.
“Yoongi… What's happening?”
Yoongi looked at him, and took a deep breath.
“Okay, don't freak out, but you're kinda stuck as a seafolk right now. Because I don't know how to change you back…”
“What do you mean? You don't know how to change me back. Aren't you the one who did this!?”
“Well… YES! But that doesn't mean I know how to reverse it.”
Hoseok was getting frustrated.
“What do you mean?You don't know how!?”
“I said, I don't know how!? it was an accident in the first place…”
“Well, how the hell did you do it by accident?”
Yoongi took a deep breath, so he wouldn't get as mad as Hoseok right now.
“Okay, so you know the legend, if a sailor kisses a mermaid they'll be able to breathe underwater?”
“Y-yeah” a light blush painted across Hoseok's face.
“Well, this is kinda like that, but a lot worse.”
Hoseok's face turned a bright red. “Yoongi, what did you do to me!?”
“I did what I had too, I couldn't let you drown. And you already had a lot of water filling in your lungs. What was I supposed to do? Resuscitate you and risk brain damage?”
Hoseok stopped at his words and took a deep breath.
“Sorry, Yoons, I shouldn't be getting mad at you. Obviously this was an accident, and you saved my life. Thank you… but tell me what exactly you did.”
It was Yoongi's turn to turn a bright red.
“Well seafolk do have magical properties. We are able to give people the ability to breathe underwater for a certain amount of time with a kiss. We also have the ability to turn people into seafolk. I was afraid you were going to die, so I did the only thing I thought was necessary. Not only did I kiss you, but I used my powers to suck the water out of your lungs as quickly as I could. The magical properties from that experience probably mixed with your DNA, and gave you the ability to turn into one of us.”
Hoseok thought about it. It did feel as if all the water left his lungs at once, when Yoongi saved him. He then asked another question.
“Why is this possible?”
Yoongi started to pick at his fingernails nervously.
“Seafolk are very curious creatures, after a certain age we're allowed to go to the surface and walk among humans. We tend to fall in love with humans very easily, and because we are able to transform into one of you, it's only fair if you guys could transform into one of us. That way, if the human reciprocates the feelings. We'll be able to choose if we want to live on land or sea together.”
Hoseok actually thought that made a lot of sense. Some people hated the struggle of life, and would rather be somewhere free like the ocean with their lover. While seafolk probably got the same thought, being on land was probably more exciting for them…
“Well how do we fix this?” Hoseok asked.
“I'm not completely sure? I know there is a way, but I don't know how to do it, and are you even one hundred percent sure you'll turn when you touch the water?”
“Why wouldn't I, it happened yesterday!?”
“Well, just because it happened yesterday doesn't mean it will happen today. Do you see me randomly sprouting a tail every time I touch water?”
Hoseok realized he was right. He has seen Yoongi caught in the rain a few times. Yoongi's hair is constantly wet. He also usually carries a water bottle or two with him, and has even seen him participate in pool day. How is that?
“It's crazy that humans think that if you just simply touch water, you'll turn automatically. First of all there needs to be enough water, second, we can control it ourselves even if we do get in a big body of water. We don't have to if we don't want to. That's just how it works. Now I need to see if you actually turn, and if you do, how in control of it you are.”
“How would you do that?”
Yoongi looked at him, and grabbed the mop bucket from the janitor's closet in the bathroom. He then started to fill the bucket up, afterwards he locked the bathroom door, so nobody else could get inside. He turned back to Hoseok.
“Okay, take off your pants…”
Hoseok looked at him and immediately started to blush. He feels like he misheard him, but he knew he didn't.
“WHAT!?”
Yoongi sighs “just do what I say! And take off the underwear too.”
Hoseok felt like his brain was going to explode.
“WHA-!? THAT'S JUST… WHY!?”
Yoongi sounds agitated now. “Look Hoseok, seafolk magic can do a lot, but it can't replicate clothes. If you do end up turning, you want to walk out here with a pair of pants, or walk your bear butt out into the hallway.”
Hoseok hesitated, but started to take off his clothes. Yoongi then held up the bucket of water, as Hoseok stepped out of his underwear, Yoongi looked away. Hoseok felt absolutely embarrassed. He picked up his clothes, his pants, shoes and underwear and put them in the next stall over. He stood there.
Half naked.
“You ready?” Yoongi asked, still not looking.
Hoseok started to nod, and then realized Yoongi couldn't see him before he answered verbally. “O-Okay…”
“Good.” without another warning. Yoongi flung the bucket of water at him. The water splashed all over his legs and torso. For a second, Hoseok thought it wasn't going to happen, and then it did. One second, he was standing on his two legs, the next, a hard thud to the floor with his body toppling over onto the tile. Hoseok looked back to see his legs were now a tail. Yoongi was in complete and utter shock, as if he believed it wasn't going to happen. He started to pace around the bathroom, as Hoseok laid on the floor.
“Okay… don't freak out, we can fix this… somehow…” Yoongi said.
To Hoseok, it seemed as if Yoongi was freaking out more than him right now. Yoongi took off his jacket. He started to wipe down Hoseok to help him change back quicker. Not before long, Hoseok had legs again. He stood up and went to retrieve his clothes. Yoongi still paced around the bathroom as he changed. The second Hoseok left the bathroom, Yoongi grabbed his hand and ran it under the sync. Hoseok almost jumped out of his skin, thinking his pants would rip off once he changed again, but nothing happened.
“Okay, that's good… at least we know you can wash your hands and drink water. I suggest not getting into any big bodies of water. And maybe don't pour water over your head. We'll figure this out, I promise.”
Yoongi said as he looked at him with a determined smile. Hoseok felt his stomach do a back flip.
“Wait… what about the pool? Once lunch is over, we'd all have to go to the pool. What do I do then?”
“I don't know, we'll figure it out…”
Yoongi and Hoseok started to brainstorm on what they could do to get out of pool day. They've been thinking for 5 minutes before a knock comes to the door.
“Hey!! Get out of there. People need to use the bathroom, why are you locking the bathroom door anyway?”
At those words, Hoseok quickly unlocked the bathroom door and ran out with Yoongi. Not wanting to be confronted with whoever was on the other side. Class was almost over at this point. They might as well just head to lunch, as they were walking they were still trying to figure out a way to get out of the pool situation. That's when they heard it.
BOOM!!!
From somewhere down the hallway, in the direction of their classroom, they heard a loud boom that echoed out. Just then a classroom of kids started to file into the hallway. A large smoke cloud was coming out of the classroom, as the teacher used a fire extinguisher. As the kids were running past, Hoseok managed to catch Jimin as he went.
“What happened?”
Jimin started to cough before he answered. “Namjoon's dumb ass managed to blow up something during the mixing process, the teacher said everyone must go outside!”
Hoseok let him go, and watched as he ran down the hall with everyone else. Yoongi and Hoseok sat there in stunned silence, and then they started to laugh.
“I guess we didn't have to find a solution after all…” Yoongi giggled.
“Yeah…” Hoseok agreed.
As they were going to make their way out of the school. They heard the distinct beep of the smoke detectors, and then the click of the signal detectors which would turn on the back up fire sprinklers. Hoseok's stomach lurched. Yoongi seems to have the same expression. One by one the fire sprinklers turned on. Hoseok swears he never ran faster in his life trying to outrun a damn sprinkler. Yoongi was close behind him trying to push him further. They had even wrapped his body with a jacket. Soon enough they burst through the school doors, successively out running the sprinklers. Both of them collapsed onto the floor, into a fit of laughter.
“We did it…” Hoseok heaved through laboured breaths.
“Yeah…” Yoongi responded.
He then looked at Hoseok with the whitest gummy smile. Hoseok felt his ears burn before his face completely lit up.
“Okay… they're probably going to close down the school for the rest of the day and tomorrow, because of the water damage and the classroom. We need to figure this out, and I think I have an idea. Meet me by the shoreline. On the other side of town, by that old shack.”
Hoseok nodded, before he could say anything else, Yoongi got up and started to walk away.
“W-wait! But the teacher… hasn't dismissed us yet…”
Yoongi was already walking away. Hoseok didn't know why, but the prospect of meeting him at the shoreline and going into the ocean with him. Scared the living day lights out of Hoseok…