Jimin is an upcoming solo singer with a passion for the sea. When his Grandfather goes missing when a storm hits the island where he was staying. In his will he leaves to Jimin his summer home, it's on a remote island, his grandfather often took him...
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'Normal' - Jimin's language 'Merman' - mermen's language 'Sign language' - both understand
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Author POV
The mermen had lingered in the area around the bay Jimin came to when he visited them. They were lounging around on the rocked area, some hunting for food amongst the corals, cracking shellfish on the scales of their tails. Yoongi had hunted a tuna and was refusing to share with the others, snapping rows of sharp predator teeth at anyone who got close to him.
They frowned as they saw the sun hit midday and yet there was no sign of Jimin.
"Where is he?" Taehyung complained with a frown forming on his navy scaled face. A taloned hand coming up to run through knotted hair, his talons catching on long earrings made up of a mismatch of wires and jewelry he had found in ship wrecks.
"He is normally here by now" Jungkook added to his fellow mer's statement.
"He might come later?" Hoseok suggested, though he was barely hiding the dejected tone in his voice.
"But he is always here by now" Jin protested, Namjoon nodding along with him.
"We should check on him, he is the only human on island. He could be hurt" Namjoon stated.
The mermen nodded in agreement, they swam to the shore, it began harder to move their tails the closer to the sandy beach they got. Tails flapping uselessly like a fish out of water, grimacing at the feeling of sand between their scales.
Tails became legs, as they stood up wobbling on 2 feet. Looking like toddlers learning to take their first steps. But once they got into the rhythm, they made a fast pace up to the house. Yoongi taking the lead since he was the one who knew the way, none of the other mermen having visited their human on the land yet.
"I have practiced, does it sound alright Namjoon" Jungkook asked, pronouncing their mate's name in the human language. Namjoon nodded, it sounded similar to the way Hyun had taught him. Jungkook grinned, pleased, he couldn't wait to see Jimin's reaction when he said his human name, not in a series of clicks or with his hands.
The sun was hot on their backs, but it had begun to get less hotter as the days began to descend into the Autumnal months, July almost at an end. The rocks uncomfortable under foot, nut with thick scales covering the bottom of their feet, the mermen were undeterred. Instead choosing to step on larger slabs of rock than clustered of broken down stones.
They made quick work of the trail up to the house, but they were panting as they reached the house. Feeling dehydrated and scales starting to itch as their skin began to dry out. Leaving them in a state of discomfort.
The house was still run down from Yoongi's last visit, but there was still some clear improvement that had been made. The mermen almost let out high pitched clicks of joy as they saw the shells they had collected decorating the outside porch into the house. Jimin was proudly displaying their courtship, displaying shells on the outside of home in the mer culture meant that the person was being courted, and it turned away any other admirers.
They walked up to the house, Namjoon having learnt that knocking on doors was polite in the human culture, his scaled hand rapped loudly on the wooden door, it swung open on Namjoon's final knock. It had been hard enough to bust the flimsy lock on the door.
They shared a look around the group, apparently an open door was an invitation. But usually there was a host on the other side, in this case there was no one. The mer's brows, if they had eyebrows, crunched up in confusion. They may not have the best sight or hearing above land, they were better at sonar underwater, they knew something wasn't right.
They stepped into the darkness of the hallway, there were no windows to provide light, thus they resulted to using the open front door as their light source, despite being able to see in the darkest depth of the sea. They had even swum along the bottom of the Mariana trench and been able to see as clear as day.
They sent off a series of clicks that echoed around the house, trying to discover Jimin's location through sonar location, much like a whale would. Though it wasn't as effective as when they were underwater. They were loud as they walked, with how different walking was to swimming, the graceful predators of the sea had not mastered how to walk silently on land. Their feet making repetitive patters on the floor as they followed each other in a line.
There was a smell of freshly cooked kimchi, the mermen were able to detect one of their favourite human dishes. Though they couldn't find the maker of the food. They all split up in different directions, every part of them hoping Jimin was still asleep somewhere, or anywhere on the island. The house felt too cold and desolate without his presence.
They all heard a loud hiss echo through the house, Hoseok had found the cats and was currently having a hiss off with them. it was slowly increasing in volume and aggression, Mocha and Latte's backs completely arched their fur stood on end.
"What have you done with him?" Hoseok hissed between clenched teeth, fangs bared in an aggressive gesture.
The cats did nothing but hiss and meow at them in their secret language that the mermen were yet to decipher. They were very cryptic and their code language was repetitive so it was hard crack. Even Namjoon one of the smartest of the group could not figure out the secret language of 'cat'.
But their hissing match was interrupted by a sound much like a human scream but it was deafening, mers were able to go to pitches that could deafen a human. They had used it before on pirates, screaming until the human's ears had bled and been left deaf for the rest of their lives.
They came as fast as their legs would allow, Taehyung ending up moving so fast, he crashed into a wall, several of the hanging decorations at risk of falling off their pins.
It was Yoongi, he was clutching the necklace they frequently saw their mate wear. Seeing the beaded shell necklace in a taloned hand had them sucking in their breaths or they might just scream as Yoongi had. Their mate was gone and they had laid about idol. The very thought had them baring their teeth.
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So we got the mermen's perspective on the last chapter.
Just saying there is a hint to somethingthat may happen later in the book in this chapter.....
