Pairing: Merman Jimin x fairy reader

Themes: Overprotective, soulmate.

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"Careful, princess! Don't get your wings wet" Jimin stresses as he runs after me on the beach, the waves that come crashing on the sand splashing so much that the salty water has almost made it to my wings more than once.

His concerns wouldn't matter so much if we were at a regular river, or even at a pool, but the level of salt that can be found in the sea is so high that it can burn my wings if I'm not careful, which explains the panic currently decorating his beautiful face.

Needless to say that my soulmate has regretted taking me here as soon as he saw me take off towards the angry waves.

"It's fine, Jimin! They're still dry, look" I chirp before flapping my wings when he catches up to me, his breathing loud as he pulls me away from the next wave that crashes at our feet with a hiss.

"It's fine until it's not anymore! You said that you wanted to see the sea where I was born, putting yourself at risk like this wasn't part of the plan!" he scolds me with a tight grip around my waist to keep me from running away again when I make an attempt.

I pout at him with my best puppy eyes on display.

"But Jimin, I want to see your tail! There's only the salty water of the sea that'll make you shift and you've never shown me before, it's unfair. I know that I can't get in the water like you, but I at least want to see your real form while we're here... please? Please please please! Hm?".

Jimin purses his lips before sighing deeply, he can never say no to me for too long, why can he never say no like he should?

"I will show you, but only on the condition that you must stay away from the water, okay? If you don't listen to me at least on this, I'm never taking you here again" he says with both hands on my shoulders and I quickly nod my head with an excited smile.

"I'll be careful, I promise! Now go!" I retort happily before pulling him towards the sea with insistence, to which he huffs a small smile before going ahead on his own, his thoughts immediately going in one direction on the spot - he's going to have to remove his pants quickly once he's submerged, else he'll be walking back home butt naked and that's not on his "human" bucket list, oh no.

Jimin takes one last look behind him to make sure that I'm still being his good girl and staying a good distance away, and once reassured by what he sees, he begins to walk further into the sea, the itch that he can feel crawling up his skin the deeper he goes something he didn't know he had missed so dearly until now.

He thought he didn't mind never shifting again if it meant spending more time by my side, but now that he's back in his home"sea", the old, familiar emotions do make him feel some sort of nostalgia.

He missed this a lot.

Once far enough, Jimin removes his soaked lower clothes to hold in his hands right as the transformation process starts, and he can't resist the grunt of pain that flees his lips upon feeling his legs melt into one, the rapid growth of his glowy scales across the surface burning despite the icy water.

After a minute of him looking oddly uncomfortable, I observe from a distance as my soulmate finally gets a feel of his tail for the first time in forever by swimming around a little bit, and I make a soft content sound when his smile eventually comes back.

When we met for the first time a year ago, a meeting that made our mark flare to life despite our very different species, it was as if he'd instantly crossed out going to the sea from his life in order to keep me safe, as if his own blood could be a danger to me.

I hadn't realized at the time how painful it would be for him to never shift again until his brother stopped by one day to explain the situation to me.

Learning that Jimin was attempting to become a full-fledged human for my sake made me feel a new type of guilt that I had never gotten a taste of before, and I then made it my goal to get him back in the sea at all cost.

And to see the look on his face right now? I'm so glad I insisted to come here today even if it was hard for him to give in.

The merman slowly eases himself towards the beach with a delighted smile on his face when he gets the hang of swimming with a tail again and I smile back in relief, thank goodness that it wasn't too late.

"Stay there, princess, let me come to you, I'll be fine" Jimin exclaims when he sees me walk closer to meet him halfway, his gaze as serious as usual when it comes to my well-being - the deal was that I stay away from the water and that is what I shall do.

It's not like I'm looking forward to getting hurt anyway, I'd rather listen to him and make sure he has a good time until it's time to go, else I fear that this moment will never happen ever again and then we'll be back to square one.

"Oh man, the waves keep pulling me in, give me a moment, baby, I'm almost there".

At first, I don't get to see much because of the dark water that engulfs his lower body and up to his neck, but when he finally reaches the shore with the help of a bigger wave, when the wave pulls back into the sea to reveal a beautiful tail of a glowing green resting behind the man who owns my heart, I fall completely speechless as he crawls over with a proud grin.

"So? What do you think?" he asks while striking a pose, his cheeks turning a happy pink when I giggle.

"You look... breathtaking, Jimin, your tail is beautiful, I can't believe you kept me from seeing this side of you for a whole year! Can I touch it?" I ask with fascinated eyes as I kneel by his side, and he hums, a little embarrassed before nodding his head.

"I... yeah, of course. If you really like seeing me like this, we could... come back from time to time?" he tries, unsure himself about his idea, but when I break into a bright smile with a gasp echoing between us, he becomes more confident.

"But only if you promise to be careful when the waves are more violent! It's important to me that you leave the beach unharmed".

Upon hearing exactly what I wanted to hear from Jimin, my hope being that he would want to come back here himself, I jump on him for a tight hug that takes him by surprise, his arms limp by his sides because he doesn't want to risk touching my wings.

"I promise! I will promise anything you want a thousand times if that's what's needed, I'll even wear a raincoat if you want, anything to see you back in the sea!" I exclaim into his wet neck, and he chuckles before nodding softly, eyes sparkling when I pull back to meet his gaze.