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 "Mer" - Merman's language "Sign language" - both understand
~*~
Author POV
As much as Jimin loathed to leave the mermen's sides, he wanted to assess the damage done to his ears through professional help. His grandfather's test had been helpful, but not definite. So, with reluctance he left the island, the mermen promised not to follow him, they didn't want a repeat of the last time they followed him back to the mainland.
So, after many reassurances that he would be fine, many cheek rubs and hugs (which he had introduced to the mermen). He had been allowed to depart; the mermen followed him to the point where they could see the beginning of the mainland appear on the horizon before letting out pitiful whines allowing Jimin to continue the journey alone.
Jimin was anxious as he docked the boat into the little harbour, making his way into the city from there. He had managed to get the landline phone working in the house on the island with his grandfather's assistance. Since the elderly man used to work on the island before he retired there, it was essential that he be able to communicate with his company, so their was access to an emergency phone landline just in case. Jimin had used that to book an immediate appointment with his own doctor.
Being an idol meant that he got immediate health attention, since his job was highly active and he needed to be in his best condition at all times. The doctor had given him the earliest spot he could in the booking, so here he was on said morning heading to the booked appointment.
Jimin found himself thinking that if he had attended the appointment with no hearing like he was going to before he took the potion the mermen gave him, it would have been a lot more terrifying. But now with only a bit of his hearing back he felt a little more confident going alone.
~*~
The original consultation had been brief as he was immediately sent away to a hearing specialist, who was to exam and assess his hearing. Jimin had come up with a half formed explanation as to why his hearing had gone, it was somewhat plausible, but he was pretty sure the doctors hadn't bought the story one bit.
The consultation with the Hearing specialist confirmed what Jimin's grandfather had suspected, Jimin was only partially deaf. It was like the world was muffled but he could still make out parts if he tried and focused.
But the news that had lifted Jimin's spirits the most was the fact he could get hearing aids that would give him more freedom on land. He resign himself to learning Korean sign language as well, he tried to put a positive spin on the situation thinking of his fans he could communicate with if they had hearing difficulties like he had now.
Unfortunately along came the bad news as a parallel to the good, his company were called to be informed of the issue, the bonus that came with that is the fact Jimin couldn't listen to the call as he couldn't hear them clearly, something that made him immensely happy. He had no desire to explain to his greedy manager his situation, the man was too easy to anger and would lecture him for hours about how disappointed he was, Jimin's didn't have the right mentality for that yet.
His doctor had told him it would take a week before he could get his hearing aids ( unsurprisingly when he was willing to pay them they offered the hearing aids to be made faster than if he didn't pay).
So he had agreed to another appointment when he would receive his hearing aids. He just wanted to get back to the island to tell his mates and grandfather about the results of the meeting. He wanted to rejoice with them.
~*~
The first thing Jimin did after that second appointment was leave the hospital with the hearing aids in, rejoicing in his freedom to hear once again. He spent the day in the city, buying what he couldn't at the small port, he wanted to share some of his favourite snacks with the mermen and wanted to bring back some of his grandfather's favourite things.
His hair was long enough to hide his ears, so when the occasional fan stopped him on the streets he prayed they wouldn't notice. But he knew eventually he would have to face the fire as his fans were certainly dedicated to know everything about him, it wouldn't be long until they saw the hearing aids.
~*~
When he returned to the island with his hearing aids (he had asked for back up once in case water got in his current ones.) He rushed back to his mermen, excited to show them. The moment he had gotten down to the beach, all of the snacks packed into his backpack he had a complete grin on his face of pure happiness. He had even brought his guitar, he wanted to play again, with the mermen as his audience.
Down on the beach the mermen were already waiting in the shallows, they were eating seafood from the seafloor, cracking the shells against the scales on their tails. When they saw him walking down to the beach they sped through the water to be able to greet him.
They watched with eager expressions as Jimin signed the reason behind the hearing aids and that he could hear well again, not perfectly but definitely better than before. They listened carefully and were gentle when Jimin turned and lifted his hair so they could see them.
Jin looked relieved, Jimin knew the accident had been weighing on his mind since it happened, so he reached over to rub his cheek across the merman's to take away the frown on his face.
They spent the rest of the afternoon sharing the snacks Jimin had brought, while Jimin did a mini performance for them, it was also for himself as well. He allowed himself to fall into the rhythm of the music, with the mermen silent and willing to listen to everything he performed with wide awe filled eyes.
This time when he finished playing, instead of muttering the words in his own language like he had done months ago, he signed it to the mermen. It was time they knew what he had been holding in his heart.
