#koobi

“You’ve been gone a while,” he says instead, fingers idly fixing Jungkook’s hair so it lies flat-ish. It curls in a heartbeat out of the water, soft waves framing his face. Fitting for a boy so entirely of the ocean.

“I know,” he grumbles. Under the surface, his tail swishes back and forth, a displeased coil of seaglint blue and midnight black. It still startles Hoseok a little, even after all this time. “There was a shark hunt. I didn’t want to go, but I’m the best hunter.”

He says it without pretense, nose wrinkled at the memory, and Hoseok puffs out a laugh and leans down to press their foreheads together. Jungkook is damp still, dripping a bit over Hoseok’s shirt and board shorts, but he doesn’t mind.

“My brave hunter,” he says, a little teasing, and Jungkook does puff up at that, pleased. His nose brushes Hoseok’s, and he makes a low noise in his chest that sounds a little like humming. Hoseok knows now to read it as pleased, as satsified. “I’m glad you’re back.”

“Me too,” Jungkook echoes, pulling back. “Oh! I brought you something.”

“A shark?”

“No. Do you want one?” His eyes go wide, earnest. “I could bring you one if you wanted. You should have said, hyung.”

“I don’t want a shark." Last time he’d teased Jungkook about something like that he’d ended up with a meter-long tuna deposited on the dock, and it had taken calling Seokjin to figure out what to do with it. “I’m teasing.”

Jungkook deflates slightly. “Okay. You have to tell me if you change your mind, though.”

“I will,” Hoseok assures him. “What did you bring me?”

“Here,” Jungkook says, holding out a bracelet made of polished seaglass and fishing twine, and Hoseok’s heart catches again for an entirely different reason.

“For me?” He reaches out carefully, pad of his finger brushing over the water-smooth glasswork. Fragments of polished stone catch in the late afternoon sunlight, throwing tiny fractal reflections across Jungkook’s palm and face, lighting him up from beneath. “It’s beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Jungkook says, flushed with pride, glowing with it. “I made it.”

“Help me put it on?”

Jungkook heaves himself up onto the dock, tail curling out of the water behind him as he perches up on his elbows. He’s as impressive now as he was the first time Hoseok saw him—sleek and powerful and impossibly handsome, as marvelous as the ocean itself.

And, Hoseok now knows, kind. And gentle, and curious, and eager—a catch among catches, a treasure among treasures. He shows his eagerness now as he ties the bracelet around Hoseok’s wrist to sit beside the other fine chains and beaded links he wears. They all pale in comparison to Jungkook’s gift.

“Do you like it?” Jungkook asks, slipping back down into the water, dipping for a moment so only his eyes peek out. The tops of his cheeks are pink.

“I love it,” Hoseok says, leaning in, and Jungkook rises again to press their foreheads together. “Thank you.”

Jungkook makes that sound low in his chest again and then presses a swift, clumsy kiss to Hoseok’s mouth. He’s been trying too—learning how to express affection in a way Hoseok understands, just as Hoseok is trying to learn his languages of love.

“You’re welcome,” he says, pulling away. The afternoon sunlight catches in his hair and makes his eyes shine. Then, “Do you want to swim, hyung? Just a little? I missed you.”

“Okay,” says Hoseok, who might fear deep water but never when Jungkook is around. “I missed you too. Tell me about your hunt. I bet you were the best, hm? My Jungkookie.”

Jungkook hums. “You won’t be scared? Even if I tell you about the shark?”

“You came back safe and sound,” Hoseok reasons as he slips from the dock into the water. The cold shocks him, but Jungkook is there immediately to catch him, to hold him close. “I know how it ends.”

“It ends well,” Jungkook assures him. Of course, Hoseok doesn’t say. It must end well, if Jungkook was there. “But you can hold me if you get scared.”