Chapter 4: Puffer-Fish

"Jungkookie! Wake up!" Jimin chirped as he knocked on Jungkook's bedroom door before rushing in and jumping on the youngster's bed. Jungkook groaned in annoyance and lifted his head. He opened one of his eyes into a small slit and looked at his hyung sleepily.

"Hyung! Stop!" He exclaimed grumpily and sleepily as he tried to push his hyung off of his bed, but Jimin only moved away from him and continued to jump on the bed. He let out an irritated sigh as he grabbed one of his pillows and threw it at Jimin. The pillow smacked his hyung in the face, making him fall of the bed. The younger snickered at that as he buried his face in his other pillow and pulled the blanket over his head.

"Jungkookie, come on! We have to practice for the concert tonight. Did you forget that we have another concert tonight?" Jimin asked as he approached the younger one's bed and pulled the blanket off, earning a groan from the younger one, "You should get up now before Yoongi hyung comes in and pulls you out of bed."

"Ha, in case you forgot, but I'm the strongest in the group. Plus, Suga hyung can't even carry me, so how is he possibly going to be able to pull me?" Jungkook asked as he yawned tiredly, not moving from his spot, "Now, please let me sleep for a little bit more before I smack your butt."

"Is that after I smack your butt first?" Jimin asked teasingly as he crossed his arms over his chest while raising an eyebrow. Jungkook rolled his eyes as he turned his head away from the older one and closed his eyes again. "Aish, fine, but don't get mad at me if Yoongi hyung or Manager hyung gets mad at you for not waking up." With that, Jimin left the room, closing the door behind him and leaving the younger one to continue lying on the bed.

Jungkook tried to go back to sleep, but his hyung's words played in his mind. He really didn't want his hyungs or the Manager to be angry at him. He let out a groan as he managed to bring himself to get out of his bed and get ready. With his eyes half open, he got dressed up to go to the dance practice room. He yawned loudly. He was so tired. He had come back to his room really late last night and was still too hyped that he ended up falling sleep even later.

He sat on his bed and began to put some iron man socks on, but just as he was about to put on his other sock he stopped. He stared down at his foot, gliding his finger along the spot where Y/N had healed his cut. There wasn't even a scar there. It was as if he hadn't been cut. The glow that radiated from her hands, eyes, and pendant still awed him even now. It made him wonder how he hadn't noticed the pendant around her neck.

"Jungkook, you up?" Yoongi asked as he opened the bedroom door and walked in without even knocking. Jungkook was snapped out of his thoughts by Yoongi's voice and he looked up at his hyung with a slightly dazed expression. "Oh good, you're up. Well, that makes my job easier. Anyways, let's go. Manager wants us in the dance studio in 20 minutes, so come have breakfast."

Jungkook nodded as he slipped on his sock and slipped on a pair of timberland boots before following his hyung out of the bedroom. They walked to the kitchen where the other members were all sitting at the table, eating their breakfasts. He grabbed some banana milk from the fridge and some cereal before sitting down beside Namjoon. The members ate their breakfasts.

"Wow, you look half awake right now Jk," Seokjin commented in a matter-of-fact kind of way as he shoved a piece of toast in his mouth.

"I just got up hyung, of course I look half awake," Jungkook answered with another yawn as he opened his banana milk and took a sip. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head, trying to wake himself up.

Once the BTS members were done eating, they headed down to the dance practice room. Before heading downstairs, Jungkook glanced out to the window. He could see the beach. He wondered if Y/N was out there, waiting for him. He knew he couldn't just ditch practice and go to the beach. That would be too suspicious. Plus, he wanted to be ready and give a good performance for tonight's concert. It looked like visiting the beach would have to wait for later.

The practice lasted a good few hours. The band members practiced their dance moves, their songs, and what they were each going to say to their fans during the concert. By the time lunch arrived, they were practically all set to go, but they knew that they would be back in the practice room for a few more practice rounds before the concert tonight.

The band members sighed heavily and tiredly as they walked up the stairs and into the kitchen to get some food. Most of the members took their food to their rooms, so that they could take quick naps.

"Hey Jungkook, want to play OverWatch with me?" Taehyung asked curiously as he sat down on the couch with Jimin and Hoseok, who were scrolling through their phones. Jungkook glanced at his hyung and then at the large tv. On most days, he would have agreed right away to join his hyung in playing games, but he really wanted to go see Y/N again and he was too thrilled about having to go see her at a late time in the night. He thought that if he could squeeze in some time now to go see her then now would be a better time than to wait until the concert is over. Plus, there were still some unanswered questions that he wanted to ask her.

"Not right now hyung. I'm tired. I'm going to try and take a nap, so that I'm not too tired for the concert," he answered as he pretended to yawn. His hyung seemed to buy that, so he slipped down the hallway and into his room. He closed his door and placed a couple of pillows underneath his blankets to make it appear that he was sleeping. He got ready to go out, making sure to put on a disguise, so that people wouldn't recognize him. He jumped out of his window and closed it before heading down towards the beach.

He walked down to the spot where he was yesterday. In the day time and sunlight, the spot was much more crowded and less quiet. He sighed a bit. Perhaps he shouldn't sit there. He looked around to see if he could find a place where he could sit and wait that was out of sight of any eyes.

He noticed an area behind some rocks. The rocks were large and tall enough to hide him and Y/N if she happened to come. As she hadn't really responded to him yesterday, he was still slightly unsure if she was going to show up or not, but he wanted to believe that she would come. He waited, standing there, looking out at the sea. Like yesterday, he saw nothing for a bit.

Getting a little impatient, he grabbed a few rocks that he found lying on the sand and started tossing them towards the water. The rocks skipped along the surface of the water before disappearing into the water. He grinned to himself at successfully skipping the rocks. He picked up some more and tossed a handful of rocks towards the water. Some of the rocks skipped while others just dove straight into the water. He pouted a bit as he reached down to the sand to pick up some more.

"Will you stop throwing rocks at me please?!" A familiar voice asked in annoyance. His head shot up at the voice to see Y/N there, rubbing her head and looking at him with a cute glare. His eyes lit up at seeing her and he stopped reaching down for the rocks, instead walking towards her. "You know, they are solid objects, so it does hurt."

"Ah, I'm sorry. I was just trying to pass some time while waiting for you to come," he apologized sincerely as he reached out and placed his hand on Y/N's head gently. She sighed and shook her head disapproving before sitting down beside him. "So, you came even though you didn't respond to me."

"Yeah, sorry. I was actually originally not going to come, but then I saw how hopeful you looked...," she trailed off when she met his doe-eyed gaze. She held his gaze for a moment before looking away awkwardly. "Anyways, you land hermit crabs interest me." Jungkook scowled a bit at that and sighed, trying not keep his composure. He had let it go yesterday because he was so tired, but today he wasn't as tired. Plus, he was getting frustrated with being called a hermit crab.

"At least it's better than being called naked...," he muttered under his breath.

"Hm? Did you say something?" She asked in confusion as she only heard him mumble, but couldn't make out the words he was saying. He only shook his head before flashing her a smile. She stared at him for a moment, admiring his handsome features before clearing her throat and looking at his foot. "So, how's your foot?"

"Oh, it's perfectly fine. Your healing powers made it seem as if it wasn't cut at all. I forgot to thank you by the way," he mentioned as he took her hand and held it gently. Her eyes widened a bit at that and she stared at his hand, that was holding hers, for a bit before she removed her hand away from his and looked off into the distance.

"Don't worry about it. It was nothing. Please don't tell anybody about what you saw either," she pleaded, her expression had grown serious.

"Uh, sure, I won't tell. I mean, I don't think anybody would believe me anyways without proof," he replied with a shrug. She nodded back in agreement to that. It grew quiet. The air seemed less peaceful than yesterday, much more tense. Y/N seemed a bit different than the previous times he had been with her, she seemed much more tense around him.

He remembered the first two days that he had met her, she was all up in his face and seemed to not even know what personal space was, but now she was more closed off. He wondered if something had happened before she came here.

He wanted to ask her questions about her pendant, her healing powers, her tail, among other things as well, but he could sense that perhaps now wasn't the best time to go all Sherlock Holmes on her. He remained quiet and just listened to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore and the cheers of families swimming nearby.

"What's this?" She asked curiously as she held up his phone. His eyes widened when he saw her fiddling with it and looking like she was going to drop it in the water.

"Ah! Be careful with that! It's not waterproof," he protested with a fearful look as he tried to retrieve his phone back, but she held it tightly and pressed a button. His phone turned on and it lit up, making her eyes widen. She stared at the screen with fascination before tapping on it vigorously. "H-Hey! Don't tap on it so hard! You're going to break it!" He quickly pulled his phone away from her grasp and wiped off the little droplets of sea water from the screen.

"Ok, but what is it?" She asked with a small pout as she tried to take the phone back, but Jungkook made sure to keep it out of reach for her. She sighed as she stopped trying to reach for it. Once he was sure that she had given up, he brought it back over and opened it.

"This is called a iPhone. It's a device where you can call your friends, family, other people. You can also text message them if you want to send them a quick message. There's also a camera. You use the camera to take pictures or selfies," he explained shortly as he pointed to each of the features on his phone. She nodded in understanding. He sighed in relief at knowing that he didn't have to go into great detail about each feature.

"What's this?" She asked as she pressed on a feature.

"Oh- that's photo booth...," he began as he trailed off once he noticed the gleam of awe and fascination in her eyes. He stared at her before smiling slightly and slowly handing her his phone. "You press this button and it takes a picture. Do you want to try?" She nodded as she took the phone and stared at it. She pressed the button and it took a picture. Her eyes were wide in amazement. She then turned the camera to him. "Ah, wait, hold on. Let me fix my hair first."

But before he could fix his hair, she pressed the button and it took a picture. She looked at the picture and giggled in amusement at the funny face of him that appeared on the screen.

"Haha! You look like a puffer-fish!" She commented as she laughed and handed him his phone. He took the phone and looked at the picture. He let out a chuckle at seeing his funny face on the screen. "And to think that I thought you were a hermit crab all this time. Maybe you're actually a puffer-fish."

"Hey~, calling me a hermit crab was bad enough, but calling me a puffer-fish is worse," he grumbled with slight annoyance, but still seeing Y/N giggling away put a smile to his face. Taking this chance, he snapped a picture of her as she laughed. He couldn't help but want to laugh along with her. It was true, with the face that he was making it, he really did look like he could be a puffer-fish.

"By the way, I forgot to ask, can I have your shell?" She asked as she pointed to his shirt.

"Again with the shells huh?" He asked with a small sigh of exasperation, "Look, I'm sorry, but I want to keep my 'shell' this time." He watched her reaction. The very first time, she had been so persistent on having his shirt that she ended up ripping it. He sighed when he saw her pout in disappointment. It was then that he remembered that he had actually bought a bikini top for her a couple of days ago. Thinking about that, his eyes widened at the realization that she still wasn't wearing anything up top. He did his best not to look as he would probably get seaweed thrown at him again. "If you really want a shell so badly then I can bring you your very own shell. You can wear it."

"Really?" She asked in surprise. He nodded back in response. She smiled brightly at that as she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. At the impact of the lunge, Jungkook ended up falling backwards, his back hitting the sand with a THUD.

"Whoa!" He groaned a bit and rubbed the back of his head before glancing up to see Y/N's face pressed up against his chest and her arms around his waist. He gulped nervously. He had hugged girls before, but the position they were made it hard for him to remain calm. Plus, his shirt was getting all wet from her soaking hair. "I um... Y/N?"

"Hm?" She hummed softly as she continued to lay down on top of him. He bit his lip nervously as he tried to give subtle hints that it was awkward for him, but she didn't budge from the spot. She only closed her eyes and nuzzled her face into his chest. He let out a shaky breath as he tried to remain calm. He still thought that she was the weirdest girl he had ever come across. Earlier today when he had held her hand, she brushed him off, but now she's hugging him as if they were close.

He sighed as he decided to just let her hug him. Eventually, she would let go of him, so he figured that he'd just wait until that moment arrived. He did his best to relax and not think about the position. He closed his eyes, letting the beaming sunlight warm his face.

He wished that he could tell his hyungs and even show his hyungs his discovery, but he had agreed to not tell them. It would be a secret that he would have to keep. He felt himself become sleepy and within no time, he had drifted off to sleep.

Soon feeling his skin begin to burn from laying out in the sun for so long, he lifted his head up. To his surprise, he no longer saw Y/N. She wasn't laying on him anymore, but she was also nowhere in sight. He sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes sleepily. He glanced around, hoping to see her somewhere, but it was nothing but waves rolling into the shore.

He sighed a bit before noticing something buried in the sand beside him. It was shimmering and sparkling in the sunlight. He reached out and picked it up. He examined it carefully before coming to realize that it was a scale from Y/N's mermaid tail. It was so pretty, the colours were radiant and bright. He hadn't been able to ask any of the questions that he wanted to ask her nor did he get any answers to his questions, but still she had left behind a treasure for him, which made him smile. He gently placed the scale into his pant's pocket before standing up.

He looked out at the sea. The sun was still high in the sky. He checked the time on his phone. It read 4:00 pm. It was about time that he head back to his room. He was surprised that throughout all of those hours that his hyungs didn't check on him, but perhaps when they saw the bump he made under his blankets with the pillows back in his room then maybe they thought he was asleep and decided not to bother him.

But, he knew that they would eventually come in to wake up to practice a few more times for the concert tonight and if he wasn't there then he would be in big trouble. As much as he disliked lying and hiding his whereabouts to his hyungs, he knew that he had to keep his secret meetings with Y/N a secret from them.

Taking one last glance at the sea, he put on his disguise again and started back to his room. His hands in his pant's pockets, one hand holding onto his phone and the other just gently grazing the scale from Y/N's mermaid tail.

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Hey everyone!

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

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