"Why are you really here?"

It had been a few days since Jisung had originally asked him the question, and since then had been pressing for information any time he could with the older skillfully dodging each question with ease. Their visits with one another wouldn't change besides that one topic popping up once in a long while. In fact, they probably enjoyed their little "visits" with one another a bit too much.

Jisung laid on the catwalk with his tail draped across the older's lap. Minho on the other hand had been sitting with his legs in a criss-cross sort of way so it worked out naturally as a place for the younger to lay peacefully. It was another lazy day for both of them, and often he would find Jisung starting to mumble as he dozed off in the middle of his story. He would have to wake him up each time but they both knew they wouldn't mind napping right there on the spot. Well, maybe not Minho. There was the tank water below them, and the Hive Mind couple would panic if he disappeared for too long. He had, after all, been spending too much time on his work. It was all becoming worth it.

The young merman was telling one story or another, using minimal hand movement to accentuate his points as his rambling went on. His tail was the make-up point for the usual excitement. It flopped around like it were a fish far out of water and would sometimes smack the older in the face without warning, especially when Jisung giggled or tried to glance back at the other when he played with some of the scales. Though, it was probably on purpose in the second scenario.

In the middle of his tale, Minho gently called, "Jisung, would you be mad at me if I told you why I was here?"

"You can tell me anything you want to, Mr. Handsome, plus I asked about it earlier," Jisung told as he pushed himself off the catwalk, coming to face Minho as his tail flopped on the other side of the older's lap. He grinned softly, "But I won't pressure you if it's for a secret reason. Maybe you're working for the mafia or some one scary in power and can't tell me. It's okay."

Minho searched his face. Despite him saying he was satisfied with no answer, there was an eagerness glinting in his eyes. It sparked and ignited, growing louder and louder until the hopefulness peaked in his features. He had to fight back a frown. Of all the situations Jisung could be imagining of why the older had decided to be here, why he decided to sit and talk for hours on end, was for no other reason than to fill out research papers for a few bucks. But of course, he couldn't tell him that. The papers would be burned in that spark of desire, engulfed in that flame, and his efforts would go to nothing.

He couldn't tell him.

He could never tell him

Instead, Minho returned a smile as he lightly touched the scales of the tail and noted the fine details, "It's nothing."

"Awh, come on," Jisung pouted, "You need to tell me something. It's not fair you know all this stuff about me and my life but you haven't told me that much about you besides a few stories."

A small pang collapsed the center of his chest when he spotted the pout. It's okay to indulge a bit, right? With that thought in mind, Minho readjusted the angle he was sitting at to face the younger better. He relaxed back, letting his hands connect with the metal grating for support as he pressed, "What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Jisung's smile only grew wider.

"Give me something to work with."

"Hmm, let me think about it... Have you ever traveled to another country? Or seen the world? You look like a world traveler to me, I could be wrong."

"No. I wanted to but, it didn't work out. Maybe in another life."

"That's a bit sad. You bring up an interesting point though with the other life thing. Do you believe in multiple timelines? Parallel universes, alternative realities, that sort of thing. Do you believe in any supernatural too? Besides merpeople but we're not very super or natural."

Minho gently shook his head, "Not really to both. Neither interested me that much.

"Okay, okay, fine. Mr. Handsome is so serious, you need to smile and laugh more. That'll be my next question you need to answer. Why do you not smile or laugh that much? You always look like you have something on your mind and it's bugging me because I can't help you."

Ironic.

"I have a lot on my mind right now, you're helping me a lot."

"Am I? Guess I'm good for something then. As long as I'm not distracting you too much from your friends and stuff outside the aquarium. Do you have friends?"

"Yeah. You know two of them, they work here."

"Oh," Jisung dropped his gaze down to his lap. Quietly, Minho watched as the merman tapped his knuckles together, playing with them as he whispered, "I'm sorry, I don't like the people who work here. I probably wouldn't like your friends either. They're all bad people."

Minho quickly argued, "They're not all bad."

"They are," The merman nodded in agreement with himself, his eyebrows furrowing together as he kept his eyes focused on his flushed hands. He talked quietly, hushed as if he were afraid someone would hear him from the woodwork and restrain him from ever speaking again, "You know, they put me here. I was caught by accident but the people turned me in. They thought I could make money for the aquarium, they'd put me on display. I'm lucky they haven't yet."

"Why?" Without thinking, Minho gently cupped Jisung's cheek to direct his attention back to him.

"I have so many questions. What will happen to me? Will they let me go? Am I going to be replaced eventually? Will my family find me? Can I ever go home?" Jisung poured his heart out on his sleeve, letting the jitters in his hands shake against Minho's as he gently enveloped the hand on his cheek. He grabbed it, grip tight as if he would never let go. As if when he let go, it would slip through his fingers and never come back to him. Minho could only think in that instance, from the hold he had on him, that Jisung must have lost a lot. Behind his usual smiles and constant rambling, he must be really afraid.

Jisung continued, "I've seen what happens to my friends that they think are dangerous, will that happen to me too?"

"No, it won't," Minho asserted, freeing his other hand to full hold Jisung's face, to fully look at him for the first time since he saw the merman. Going against every word he typed on that computer document, every second he spent up in the top of the aquarium, every lost word he couldn't say between the lines, he tried to console the merman, "Everything will work out."

In turn, the merman stared at him through the quiet. The only sign he was still functioning came in the way he tightly gripped the older's wrists, and the steady breathing escaping from his lips. Eventually, he carefully removed the hands from his face. The merman scooted closer to the older, letting his head drop against Minho's shoulder for a quiet but solid comfort. He muttered, "I'm sorry, today was supposed to be about you and I talked about myself again."

"Don't apologize," Minho let his head fall on top of the younger's. He collected each sorry and each word he wanted to say, bundled up nicely. But every emotion he wanted to pack into the small pile came out as a simple, "I understand."

But he didn't. He couldn't. Their situations were set two leagues apart and now he was the one that Jisung should loath the most. Someone that could keep him under lock and key for the rest of his life, yet in a sick twist of fate the merman just curled closer to him in an attempt to find the warmth that had been leeched from him in the cold aquarium waters.

On the counter, the opened laptop taunted Minho. It sat in the corner of his eye to call like a beacon. In exchange to stay like this a few minutes longer, he brushed it off;

I'll write later.

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