Chapter 1: Hermit Crab

~ Present Day ~

It was 13 years later. Jungkook was now 23 years old. He no longer lived in Busan, but instead lived in Seoul. He was an idol, a korean pop star and was a member of the korean pop boyband BTS or better known as Bulletproof Boy Scouts or Bangtan Sonyeondan or Beyond The Scene. He was known throughout the world for having a voice of an angel, being good at everything, and being international playboy.

"Alright, we're done for today! Go shower off and rest up!" BangPDnim remarked as he clapped his hands. The members of BTS all sighed heavily in relief as they grabbed their towels and exited the dance studio, wiping the sweat off of their foreheads.

A successful day of dance practices and recording. The boys were beyond tired and were ready to rest up big time. They trudged their way up the stairs to their dorms. Their shoulders slumped and their feet barely being lifted up the stairs.

Jungkook was the last to make it up the stairs. His head was spinning and his vision was getting a little blurred. He held his head a little, hoping he can make it to his room before he might pass out. The boys looked over their shoulders to see a slightly staggering Jungkook. They turned around and approached Jungkook worriedly.

"Hey~, you ok man?" Hoseok asked with a worried expression on his face as he stood in front of Jungkook. Jungkook sighed as he nodded.

"Jungkook, you gotta stop overworking yourself. You're gonna make yourself sick that way," Seokjin voiced in worry as he patted Jungkook's shoulder.

"Yeah, I know," Jungkook responded in a tired tone as he drunk a huge gulp of water from his water bottle and wiped off the remaining sweat from his face. The boys eyed him nervously. This wasn't the first time that Jungkook had worked himself to the point of exhaustion. They sighed heavily. Namjoon turned his gaze to the window. His eyes looked towards the sea. It was a brilliant and bright day outside.

"Come on, let's go for a walk by the beach," Namjoon insisted as he glanced at everyone. The others all looked at him in surprise.

"Wait... what? Right now?" Jimin asked in slight surprise.

"Yeah, I mean, unless you all got something better to do," Namjoon replied with a shrug. Seokjin and Jimin gave a small nod in response.

"Well, there goes my nap," Yoongi commented with a sigh as he yawned.

"We should, I want to go swimming," Hoseok announced with a still excited expression even though he was dripping with sweat. Taehyung simply nodded in agreement. Jungkook glanced at his room and then back at Namjoon before sighing heavily.

"Look, you don't have to if you really don't want to. I just thought that you looked like you needed a break and have a little bit of fun," Namjoon explained briefly as he patted Jungkook on the shoulder. Jungkook stared at Namjoon for a moment. As much as he wanted to go lay down, he couldn't help but feel like he should accept since his hyung was worrying for him.

"Alright, let's go," Jungkook answered with a nod as he grabbed his phone and a bag. He placed his phone and his towel in the bag. The others nodded as he did the same in their own bags. The boys then exited the dorms and made their way down the sidewalk until they reached the beach. Their toes sank in the sand as they walked.

"Whoa~, it's nice out today," Taehyung voiced as he set his stuff down. The others nodded in agreement.

"Sigh, the sun is too bright... I can barely see a thing," Jungkook complained as he took out his big, floppy sunhat and placed it on his head.

"The sun!! Hello my good friend!" Hoseok greeted the bright sun with a happy smile.

"Hyung, if you don't put on sunblock that friend of yours will become your enemy," Jungkook commented as he looked out towards the open sea.

"Haha, don't be ridiculous~ the sun is my friend. He shall never hurt me~," Hoseok joked with a chuckle as he patted his chest. The others rolled their eyes at him and sighed. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm going in for a swim." Hoseok quickly took his shirt off, so that he was just in his shorts and raced towards the water. "Who's with me?!"

"I am!" Taehyung, Seokjin, and Jimin exclaimed as they did the same as Hoseok and rushed towards the water.

"I'm just going to sleep," Yoongi said as he laid his towel out on the sand and flopped himself on it. He placed his floppy sunhat on his face and drifted off to sleep.

"Suga, we didn't come to the beach just so that you can take a nap," Namjoon muttered with a sigh as he took Yoongi's sunhat off of his face.

"Hey! What the hell?!" Yoongi asked in annoyance as he covered his face with his hands.

"Come on, get up and go for a swim. You can take a nap when we get back," Namjoon insisted as he gave Yoongi's shoulder a quick and gentle kick with his toes. Yoongi groaned in annoyance, but reluctantly stood up and took his shirt off before stomping over towards the water. Namjoon shook his head as he sighed in exasperation. "You gonna come swim with us Jungkook?"

"Uh... no... I think I'll just walk down the beach," Jungkook responded with a small smile. Namjoon stared at him for a moment. "I'm fine I swear. Go. I won't go too far I promise."

"Alright, meet us back here before sunset at least," Namjoon urged with a wary look. Jungkook gave a nod of understanding back as Namjoon turned around and raced towards the water with the others.

Jungkook let out a small sigh as he left his shoes by the others' stuff and walked towards the shore. His feet carried him along the beach until he came to a dead end where a large piece of rock stood blocking his way.

The sun was still high in the sky and shining brightly. He could feel his skin slowly burning. It was getting hot as he walked. Sighing, he sat down in the water with his back facing the water and let the waves wash over him. He felt himself cool off as the salty sea water tumbled over him. He sat there for a good couple minutes, enjoying the fresh air.

"Ooh~, so many cool shells today~," a female voice said from behind him. He glanced behind him curiously, but saw nobody. He shrugged, thinking that he had just been imagining it. "Whoa~ that's a big shell. I don't think my bag is big enough." His eyes widened when he heard this and he turned around again, but again he saw nobody there. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Oh, wait a minute... it's moving... must be a hermit crab inside."

"What the-?!" He asked as he looked around. He could hear a voice coming from somewhere, but he could see no one who's voice it could belong to. It was quiet for a brief moment. "Sigh... I must be really tired." He shook his head slightly as he sighed and turned back around.

"Um... excuse me. Are you a hermit crab?" The same voice asked from behind him. He jumped a little and turned around in surprise. His eyes met (your eye color). These eyes seemed to belong to a girl around his age, maybe two years younger than him. She had (your hair length and hair color), a round face and squishy cheeks, but nevertheless she was very cute and beautiful.

"Whoa! Um... no, why?" He asked in surprise and confusion as he stared at her. She stared right back into his face, examining him. He felt himself grow slightly awkward and he gulped.

"Whoa~ I've never seen a hermit crab so handsome and beautiful~," she commented in awe as she smiled cutely. Jungkook was taken aback a bit by her sudden comment and said nothing for a moment before responding.

"Oh, um... thank you," he thanked her awkwardly as he smiled nervously, "You're... uh... you're kinda cute too." She stared at him for a moment before giving off a glimmering smile. He couldn't help but stare in awe. When she smiled it made her already squishy cheeks seem more squishy. He was tempted to reach out and squish her cheeks, but he refrained from doing so as she would probably find him weird.

"Huh... I've never seen anything like it. Cool~ it'll go well with my collection~," she voiced with excitement as she clapped her hands.

"Collection?" He asked as he tilted his head in confusion.

"Yeah, my shell collection! Your shell will make a good accessory to it~!" She exclaimed as she smiled and grabbed his shirt tightly, "Huh, your shell is soft. That's weird and it's a weird color..."

"H-Hey! Watch it! I don't want to walk around half naked in public...," he protested as he pulled his shirt back away from her hands, "Also, what do you mean my shell? This is a shirt."

"Naked? What's that? Is that your name? Well, it's nice to meet you Naked. I'm Y/N," she introduced herself, smiling as she reached up and patted his head gently.

"Actually, my name is Jungkook," he corrected as he felt awkward over the fact that a girl was patting his head. His eyes traveled down to the water and they opened wide in shock when he saw that she had a shimmering, purple tail attached to your waist. "Holy shit!"

"Jung... kook? That's a weird name for a hermit crab. Oh whale~ anyways, can I have your shell? I must add it to my collection~," she stated as she tried to reach out to his shirt again.

"Ok, first of all! You're a mermaid?!" He asked in shock as he continued to stare at her tail in amazement. He couldn't believe his eyes. He wondered if perhaps he was dreaming. Mermaids couldn't be real. At least that was what he was lead to believe. He believed that mermaids lived only in the world of fantasy and nothing more. Yet, here a mermaid was in front of him. His brain was finding it hard to process what was happening, but once his brain had caught up, he cleared his throat. "And second of all, I'm not a hermit crab! I'm human!"

"H-u-m-a-n? What's that? Is that the type of hermit crab species you are?" She asked curiously as she leaned into his face and studied him curiously. His eyes widened at how close she was and he cleared his throat once again.

"Um... no. A human is its own species. We have legs and we can't breathe underwater," he explained shortly as he continued to look at her tail, "Um... also, can I touch your tail?" His mind had gone into a child mode as he began to reach out to touch her tail that was glistening from the blazing sunlight up above. It made her tail sparkle with thousands of shades of purple.

"How can a hermit crab not breathe underwater? Oh wait, that means that you're an on land hermit crab then. That's cool, so can I have your shell?" She asked as she pressed her hands together in a pleading motion.

"Only if I can touch your tail," he argued with a smile.

"Why does a hermit crab wanna touch my tail?" She asked in confusion as she raised her eyebrow at him. Before he could respond, however, she began reaching out and pulled at his shirt, "Aish~, your shell is stuck on tight?" She pulled harder at his shirt in attempt to get it off.

"Hey! If you pull any harder, you're going to rip it," he said in worry as he tried to pull his shirt from her grip, "And the reason I want to touch your tail is because it looks pretty. Plus, I want to see how it feels." He could see all of the scales on her tail, so he knew that to touch it would be scaly and rough, but nevertheless he still wanted to touch her tail. Plus, it was also perhaps that he wanted to make sure that she was actually real and not just a figment of his imagination, considering how tired he was.

"I want your shell~," she whined childishly as she pouted and pulled harder on his shirt until it finally ripped, "Oh no, I broke the shell. Now it can't go in my collection." She pouted sadly as she held the ripped pieces of his shirt in her hands. He stared at her for a moment before sighing heavily. She was definitely an odd one to him, but still he was fascinated by her.

"Um... it's fine, I have more at home...," he uttered as he awkwardly took his shirt off, revealing his abs. He wondered how he was going to explain to his hyungs as to why he came to the beach wearing a shirt and why he would be leaving the beach without a shirt, but that was something he could worry about later, so he simply shrugged off the worry and focused back on her.

"You have more shells?!?! Oh my gosh!! Give me your shells!!" She remarked excitedly as she reached out to Jungkook and smiled. He stared at her again. She was still going on about his shirt being considered a shell even though he had already told her that his shirt wasn't a shell. He wondered if all mermaids were this clueless about humans.

"How about you let me touch your tail and I'll give you this shirt," he suggested with a perplexed smile. She thought for a moment before giving a small nod. He nodded back as he reached out under the water and glided his hand along her tail. He could feel the scales grazing his skin. He let out an amazed breath as he stared at it. "It's so beautiful. Thank you for letting me touch it." She nodded in response as she smiled. "So, uh, here's my shirt like you wanted." He handed her his shirt awkwardly.

"Thank you," she thanked him as she pressed his shirt to her face. He stared at her with a weird look on his face before snicking a little. "Whoa~ this shell is so soft~." She smiled before placing the shirt into her bag. He watched her intently and curiously as he still tried to process the fact that he was talking with a mermaid, a real live mermaid. "So, is there more hermit crabs like you Naked?"

"Sigh... I'm not a hermit crab, and my name is Jungkook. I'm not called naked," he retorted as he sighed irritably, "And to answer your question, yes, there are lots of people like me."

"Cool~, are they all called Naked too?" She asked curiously as her eyes looked up at him in wonder.

"No... we all have different names," he responded with a sigh as he tried to not to snap at her. She nodded in understanding.

"So, you're the only hermit crab named Naked then?" She asked still uncertain as she smiled cutely. He stared at her with a blank expression as he inhaled deeply and then exhaled deeply.

"My name is Jungkook. JUNGKOOK!" He snapped in frustration, "It's not naked!"

"Oh~, then why didn't you just say that in the first place?" She asked slightly taken aback by his outburst, "And don't yell at me~!" She gave a slight pout as she cowered away a little bit from him.

"I'm sorry, but I've been repeating myself about 10 times now," he replied with a heavy sigh as he calmed down slightly. He reached up and softly patted her head.

"H-Hey! Stop it! No touching!" She protested as she swatted his hands away, "Bad Naked! Bad!"

"Aish! Does seawater kill brain cells too?" He asked getting irritated again, "Look, if you don't stop calling me naked, I'm going to take my shirt back!" Her eyes widened at that.

"Nooo!!! My shell now!!!" She exclaimed as she pouted and hugged her bag to her chest. His eyes traveled down to her chest. His eyes widened when he noticed that she had no top on or anything. She was completely naked on top with most of her long hair covering her breasts, but not covering enough as he could still see plenty than he would like to see. His cheeks turned a bright pink as he cleared his throat and looked away. "H-Hey! My face is up here you perv!!" She noticed him staring and sent him a flustered look before hitting his arm. She then quickly covered her chest.

"Uh! S-Sorry! I... um... just please call me Jungkook," he pleaded as he avoided eye contact and bit his lip nervously.

"Jungkook? Is that your first name or last name? Naked Jungkook? Or Jungkook Naked?" She asked in confusion as she tilted her head.

"Sigh, so you know what a perv is, but you can't understand that naked is not in my name?!" He asked as he let out a huffed breath, "Y/N, listen to me. My full name is Jeon Jungkook. Naked is something you can be, it's not a name."

"Oh~ so Naked is your species name! Jeon Jungkook of the Naked Species?" She asked with a shrug as she sent him an unsure look.

"No... my species name is human... not naked," he said with a heavy sigh. He could feel his patience running low. He had already had a tiring day. He didn't need to have any more stress layered on top. "Right now, you're naked since you don't have a shirt on..." His eyes traveled down to her chest again.

"S-Shut up!!! Perv!!!" She hollered as she looked away flustered and covered her chest before throwing a piece of seaweed at him.

"Hey! I was giving an example!" He exclaimed as he took the piece of seaweed off him and tossed it aside, "I didn't mean to look at... well, you know what I mean...!" He cleared his throat as he avoided eye contact.

"Jeon Jungkook of the Naked Species!! You are a pervy hermit crab!!" She answered with a flustered look as she tried to cover her chest.

"What?! I'm not pervy! I was just using that as an example...," Jungkook muttered with a sigh as his eyes looked down at her chest again. His eyes grew wide, noticing that after moving around a bit, her hair was barely covering her chest, so he could see much more than he previously could.

"Hey!! Eyes up here buddy!! Bad hermit crab bad!! Jeon Jungkook of the Naked Species is a bad hermit crab!!" She shrieked in alarm as she blushed and sent him a flustered glare before diving under the water and swimming off out of sight.

"W-Wait! I'm sorry! Come back!" He protested, but she had already left. He sighed heavily. He had wanted to talk to her more. He didn't mean to make her feel uncomfortable. "Wow~, wait until the hyungs hear about this." He stared off at the sea thinking about her and how cute, but weird she was. Even though, it annoyed him that she thought that his name was Naked and that he was a hermit crab, this small encounter seemed to brighten up his day a little bit.

He let out a small chuckle to himself as he smiled softly before walking off down the beach to where his hyungs were still swimming.

"Jungkook, you're back!" Jimin exclaimed as he rushed over to Jungkook. Jungkook smiled and gave a small wave to his hyung. "How was your walk on the beach? Find anything interesting?"

"Yep, I met a mermaid," Jungkook responded with a grin as his eyes lit up thinking about her again. Jimin stared at him again before letting out a small laugh.

"Haha, that's a good one Jungkook!" He roared with laughter as he patted Jungkook's shoulder. Jungkook stared at his hyung for a moment. Of course Jimin wouldn't believe him. He wouldn't have believed himself if he hadn't seen her with his own eyes or felt her tail with his own hand.

"Heh... yeah, just kidding," Jungkook replied as he let out an awkward laugh, "Anyways, I'm tired. Are we leaving soon?"

"Yes, we're leaving now. Suga, Jin, and RM already left," Hoseok voiced as he approached them, "Hey~, you should have come in the water with us."

"Hm... maybe next time," Jungkook answered with a small smile as he followed his hyungs back to the studio. Seeing how Jimin had reacted to telling him that he had seen a mermaid, Jungkook realized that perhaps it would be best if he kept his encounter with Y/N a secret from the others.

That night, he wondered if he would ever see her again or if he had scared her off. Luckily, he had a day off tomorrow, so he would find a way to make it down to the beach again to see if she would be there again.

As he drifted off to sleep, that night, he could still feel the sensation of the scales on her tail on his hands. He wondered if whenever he got to see her again, if he got to ever see her again, then if she would possibly let him touch her tail again. He didn't know, but he first only hoped that he could see her again tomorrow.

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Hey everyone!

So, here is the first chapter! I hope you all liked it!

Please leave a comment and a vote if you did like it. All feedback is greatly appreciated even if it's bad feedback, lolol.

Stay tuned for the next chapter hopefully coming out soon! :)