#sep3

Just when you turn around, there’s a new sound, a humming that you hadn’t heard before. It seems to match with your heartbeat, calm and thrumming with quiet energy. It rises and falls and you can’t help but wonder where it comes from. It’s louder in the hallway, resonating in your ears, your heart, calling a beautiful smile to your lips. All worry about Jin slips away and for a little while, you just stand in the hallway, not sure which bedroom door to pick, so you just let the gentle, rising melody grab a hold of you. It’s captivating. The only thing that bothers you is how you slowly feel like there’s water in your ears. You can’t seem to get it out but the melody picks up, tearing away your attention from that minor discomfort.

There are notes swinging in the air that make you flutter, like your body is itching to learn a new dance and then there are notes that seem to shut off the light, that make you want to crawl under the covers with someone, let yourself be pressed into a mattress and seek pleasure for as long as you can last. This melody is fire and it’s wind. It excites you, then breathes your warm flames down, almost as if it was created to play with you, to rile you up and snuff you out. All you know is that you’re feeling it move in your blood like the song is a wave and your blood the ocean, salty, ever-wandering and immensely powerful.

Suddenly, the song turns into a direction. You can’t believe a second ago you’d not been able to guess where it came from. It’s obvious. The song creeps past the half-open bathroom door, inviting you in.

Nothing in your life could have prepared you for this sight. Jimin sits in the bathtub, half-lidded eyes and gleaming chest, parted lips and wet hair that he casually brushes back. You’re not sure whether he’s noticed you but you feel comfortably frozen in your spot. Jimin looks like God has personally placed him in the bathtub like this, rosy lips, pretty face and oh boy, naked skin glittering like haute couture. He’s a sight.

The room is warm and semi-dark, flickering with candles and soft lights. Some water sits on the tiles on the floor and throws specks of light against the ceiling. Flower petals grace the bathtub’s rim and swim on the water’s almost still surface. Even the water is so pretty, like a bath you’ve always dreamed of, a bath right out of your fantasies.

You still hear the melody, the humming, but the origin turns vague once more. You wouldn’t be able to follow the song even if you wanted to. Instead, the thought of staying here settles in your mind, right here, where you are blessed with your heart’s desire. It feels right to stand here, feels just so perfect, like the universe itself had a hand in arranging this.

And then, Jimin's eyes are on yours.

“Come in, sweetheart,” his voice resonates off the walls and glides on the water, “I feel so lucky to have you here. Aigoo, you must be tired. It must be so difficult to live so far away from your family. Darling, come sit down with me, I’ll make it better.”

Your heart halts in its tracks, grateful for the remark. As if Jimin’s words conjure up the pain and exhaustion you’ve been secretly feeling ever since that day you waved at your parents at the airport, your shoulders sag, heavy with the ache of loneliness and adulthood. It’s been nothing you all day, to be honest, and your heart swells at how perceptive Jimin is when it comes to the feelings you’re trying to hide from the world. He is spot-on about everything; suddenly you feel a waterfall of tears. His voice is so soft, like a cushion for you to rest your head on. And oh, you’ve been wanting to do that for so long. To just… rest. Jimin’s eyes are inviting. Yes, with him you feel safe. And it's so kind of him to offer a remedy to your heartache. In his smile, you find understanding. Jimin travels a lot. He must know how I feel.

As you walk, he says, “you look so pretty today. Is that a new dress?”

You can’t deny the way your heart swells at the compliment and you swirl, making your dress flutter here in the bathroom space. Jimin looks glorious as he laughs lightly, giving off the feeling of a young boy delighting in a simple joke. His eyes are blue, so blue and inviting.

His outburst of joy opens an inner glee inside of you, such a surprise when he’s only ever watched you with a serious glance lately. You didn’t know he could be this cheerful person with such a bubbly laugh when you’re in the room. You blush and cover your face when Jimin is still watching you like you’re the most precious thing in the room.

“Don’t be shy, come over here,” he sing-songs and a little wave of confidence washes over your heart.

“But you are naked,” you whisper.

“I’m not, don’t worry. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” he promises and when you do throw a careful glance into the tub, you see he’s right. You can’t see anything inappropriate there, he’s submerged in the water navel-down. It’s strange how the water is clear and from the corner of your eye, you can see his feet, his calves, his knees, but it’s hard to make out his thighs, like your eyes can’t quite focus on them, like a polaroid that is only developed half-way. When you try to focus on his feet, their shape seems to sway along with the soft waves, but in the corner of your eyes, you can see his thighs perfectly. You’re reminded of those flip images you played with as a child. It’s weird how his body doesn’t quite… Jimin seems to notice your raised eyebrow and tugs on your wrist.

“Sit right here,” he pats the bathtub’s rim next to his shoulder. You can do that. That’s harmless, right?

“And then what?”

“Just sit here, don’t you want to spend time with me?”

The question swirls around your head, echoes and echoes like your head is an empty cave. It’s sweet to hear his voice so honey-smooth, only you, and your heart vibrates with excitement. You realize how you never really spend much time with Jimin when you come over, it’s always Namjoon and Seokjin who end up with your company. In your mind, a little film starts to play, a what if-film that replays all your time here, only with Jimin replacing Namjoon. Oh, you’d never realized how much fun you’d missed out on! You giggle at the sweet scenes before your inner eye.

“Yes, I would like that very much,” you sigh, happy that Jimin reads the wishes right off your lips instead of treating you like you aren’t there or not worthy of his time. It feels so good. To just be seen, and heard. To be taken care of by a good friend in a difficult time.

“Of course you do,” he smiles innocently, “tell me about your day.”

It’s a conversation that flows easily, effortlessly and thoroughly enjoyable. Jimin is a good listener who doesn’t interrupt much. The feeling of water in your ears doesn’t disappear and although you intuitively tried to get it out in the beginning, it bothers you less and less now. When you end your recollection of memories and point out how you were here for Seokjin, Jimin slides his hands along your ankles. You tilt your head. Why are my ankles in the water? When did I put them in?

“So you didn’t come to see me?”

Jimin’s velvet voice comes to the forefront of your mind and you swallow. It sounds sad, heartbreakingly sad like he’s waited for you all day, like you’re the only reason he got out of bed and now you’re telling him you didn’t mean to see him but his hyung.

“I think I did,” you hear yourself say, sounding a little dreamy. The light that floods Jimin’s face is worth it. It drowns all dark suspicions or feelings.

You find your heart beating loudly as your body becomes bold, winding a hand into that wet, soft hair on Jimin’s head which chases your touch immediately. He’s leaning on your knee with his upper arms, basically hanging off it as he looks up to you, chest bare and eyes big. A tingle shoots up your spine. While touching him is wonderful, it feels a little like you’re doing something forbidden.

“I think so too. You’ve been looking at me for quite a while, haven’t you? Secretly? Hoping the others wouldn’t notice?”

His wet fingers still caress your soft calves and Jimin plays with a few swimming petals before handing one to you. There are even some in his hair.

“You noticed?”

“Of course, how could I not?” He leans up higher, supporting his weight with his hands on your thighs, squeezing them a little as he comes close to your face. You blush. Up close he looks delicate and fierce, charming and dangerous. His lips are gonna be the death of you one day. Maybe he’s finally decided to put them to use, you think.

He asks, “Would you like me to kiss you?”

There’s a glint in his eyes that must be excitement and it’s sending shivers over your skin. Like a magnet, he reels you in, and without having to say anything, makes you lean down a little more. Like an angel’s kiss, his lips brush over your ear shell. When you don’t reply, he leaves a thick breath behind over your ear, together with a whispered, “I know I would like to kiss you, darling. Do you want me to?”

There’s no deciding, you realize. As if someone had pulled a veil off your eyes, your predicament crystallizes in your mind. Yeah, you had fallen for him a long time ago. Like he said, this is the thing you’ve secretly wanted for months now, the thing that had stolen your breath in dreams and startled you whenever you got a glimpse of his lips for too long.

“Please,” you say. He looks deeply satisfied and closes the gap between your faces.

The kiss starts with a magical pressure on your mouth that stays still for a second only and becomes a giving and taking, a mutual lapping hunger for more.

As Jimin presses himself up and against you, hand on your neck and the other on your waist, you hold onto his biceps. It’s a darkness of fluttering eyelashes but you hear that song again, painting a sky full of auroras and starry constellations behind your eyelids. It’s a wild high you’re riding, a wild high named Jimin-euphoria that fills your mouth and makes you lose your mind.

When you both pull away, swaying with the lull of the kiss, Jimin rests his forehead against yours. The flush on his face makes him at least ten times more attractive to you.

“Was it good?”

You sigh, realizing there are no words to describe a kiss like this. You nod, hoping he’ll understand. A quick glance at his lips translates your growing desire into a more primal language and he smirks. God, if he wasn’t so attractive… but there’s something about his lips, the way he licks them, the way they shimmer under your glance and look different in the corner of your eye, something that makes you want to explore them more, to find out what infatuates you so much.

“Can we kiss again? I want you to steal my breath,” you say and you’re surprised how hungry you sound for him. Jimin doesn’t look like it’s too much, he seems to love hearing your thoughts.

His eyes look darker than just a second ago, his pupils are dilated. Is that… lust?

“Soon, love. For now, would you like me to sing for you?”

Sing for me? The familiar feeling of doing something forbidden rings with the suggestion. But you feel the tug at your mind, at your soul, to get as much of Jimin as you can, get nearer and nearer, as near as you can. Anticipation prickles on your skin. Blood rushes through your ears. Or is it water?

“Oh, yes please.”

And he opens his mouth again, just for you, letting out a few simple sounds before tying them together, knitting them into a melody, a story. It’s incredibly gentle, like a slow dance that becomes faster soon, throwing you around in the arms of your emotions. With every note, Jimin’s eyes seem to see into your soul a little more, with every note he feels closer than before. The song whirls you around while Jimin’s gaze grounds you. He watches you rise, he watches you fall.

And then there’s his breath on your neck and his tongue laps over your skin while the song still rolls around you. There’s something sharp pressing against your skin.

“You’re so delicious,” he whispers, “so clueless. Makes you taste even better.”

The words flow into your ear and exit through the other. They don’t make sense. It’s the same with your answer, it just slips past your lips without you even realizing. It’s hard to think when the song is keeping your brain so occupied. Even though Jimin is speaking, it doesn’t stop. Maybe your subconscious is more awake than you right now.

“Are you- going to kill me?”

“Yeah baby, he purrs, “I probably will. But don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”

For a second, you feel like someone is dipping your head into ice-cold water. A shiver rushes over your back and you still. He’s going to kill me? The cold clarity makes you realize something. While his voice whirls around you like a soothing wave, completely handing you over to his will, his eyes and teeth are sharp. Too sharp to match the lullaby on his lips. They cut through the illusion as if they are trying to bore through your soul. It’s so confusing to you - it’s like you see one thing and the next second, it’s a completely different thing before your eyes. Maybe Jimin isn’t very experienced, or just too excited or half-hearted, or maybe it’s just you, but a horrible sense of dread and panic rushes through you. Your eyes jump around to find a way out of the ice-cold bathtub as the song gets louder and Jimin smiles kindly. He doesn’t seem fazed by your fit at all. He actually resembles a sly cat watching the caught mouse try to get away while holding onto the little animal’s body.

“Don’t worry, my love”, he breathes softly and nips your ear while his voice turns into an unholy little growl that gives you a pleasant shiver, “you’ll be loving it, like a kiss.”

Images of your kiss only moments go flow through your mind, colorful and pretty. Like you can feel it from Jimin’s perspective. It’s strange to meet your own lips, but not unpleasant. From Jimin’s side, your face molds against his beautifully, reciprocating what he gives. The memory reels you back in, reintroduces you to this fiery tingle of your moment with him. It sends your panic right out the window. The water seems warm and Jimin’s smile looks heavenly.

“Okay,” you whisper, still chasing the glory of the kiss in your mind. Sloppy and sensual, waves crashing and waves lapping, back and forth, “then kiss me, Jimin.”

He smiles and oh, that’s the best feeling you’ve ever had, his intense eyes connected with yours the entire time. When he fulfills your wish, your mind slips away, subdued under the sway of the waves.

You don’t notice anything until your pants are soaked in the warm water that caresses the skin at your navel. Your hands run over Jimin’s bare chest above you and your arms envelop his torso, what a glorious feeling. Every muscle that moves induces wonder in your chest. He is so beautiful.

“I’ll kill you gently,” his pupils are fully blown and while something in your mind is yelling something incomprehensible at you, you can’t help but concentrate on Jimin’s voice. His fingers press your arms under the surface. Okay, your heart says, okay.

There’s a slight flicker in his face as his breath glides over your face like an expensive perfume. Something is wrong with his face, your mind screams. Even his lips flicker as if another image tries to surface from underneath their half-transparent state. A sharp glitter catches your eye just as the boy presses you closer to him. His teeth…? Jimin smiles wide, eyes crescents and lips pink pillows for your enjoyment - until the image flickers again. Fangs. Bloody lips.

“Let me take a bite/ you look gorgeous like this,” two voices meet your ears at once but only one matches the movement on Jimin’s lips. The other… is in your mind? Your eyes widen and suddenly you realize Jimin’s thighs under your bottom are not thighs but a long thick tail and those are scales and fangs and a hunger in his eyes. In a flash, you’re pressed against the bathtub’s wall, Jimin against you. You shiver because the water sloshing around you is icy. You can even feel your muscles freeze up from the coldness. Jimin seems to not mind at all, moving toward you with electric desire.

A rough tongue licks your throat, your neck. You want to scream but a hand stops you. Something sharp scrapes over your skin. Makes your breath hitch and your eyes water. Tears roll off your cheeks. The siren lets a moan slip. It echoes off the walls and creeps right into your flesh. His eyes show you the hunger, the depths of his nature.

“Ji-ah-Jim-min,” you stutter under his hand. He lifts it, tilting his head. His face doesn’t look cute anymore. Scales glitter on his cheeks and thin gills flutter on the side of his throat. Behind his shoulders, you see the beginnings of dorsal fins. Although his body is lean, you can tell it’s strong - able to overpower you instantly. The tail winds around in the tub, never fully still, but it’s obvious that it’s not a mermaid’s tail. It looks much deadlier, with practicality in exchange for beauty. You’ve never seen death in anyone’s eyes before, but here it is, masked as glittery seduction. His lips open to reveal sharp, sharp fangs. He musters you like you’re food. There’s a smirk.

“Yes, honey.”

“You can-can’t h-have me n-now.”

Those fangs, a drop of blood. Must be yours. You struggle but his body is strong. There’s no escape from the siren’s grasp.

“Is that so?” He’s straight velvet, winding around you with his voice. As he speaks, the silent wish of just going back to kissing grows in you. He still looks like a monster, but your body just tells you to go for it. “Tell me why. Or maybe you just need more convincing?”

A few graceful notes of a new song appear to throw your mind into chaos. You don’t know what you’re doing or how your hand got caught in his hair but you realize you love the feeling, love giving him your affection. Wet warmth creeps up your back - or are you sliding down? It doesn’t matter because Jimin is all you see.

Water caresses your chest and your shoulders as he hovers above you. There’s a tiny press of his elegant tail to your abdomen, of his hands to your shoulders. The water sloshes around your neck, higher and higher. Above you, Jimin’s lips hold a glowing smile as he buries you underneath his beautiful body. Your heart pounds, your mind pounds. Is something wrong? No, Jimin is happy, you are happy, it’s warm everywhere. His mouth moves. Did he ask something? Jimin licks his lips, his breath a welcome guest around your throat. The water clings to his hair and he looks incredibly handsome.

“You’ll taste so good. Let me drown you, baby.”

And then you breathe out, content, just as one languid lick over your lips sends you to heaven. You don’t feel the pain on your neck when the icy waves close over your head. You don’t feel the oxygen bubbles as they escape your throat. You don’t even see the red all around you, the red trail following Jimin’s mouth every time he pulls away, or the intense glow of his eyes when they bore into yours. It’s all fading, all fading from you, and with a jerk of your body, you close your eyes. A few final notes reach your ears. It’s your death song.

Jimin feels the last jerk of the dying girl like an electric spark traveling through his nervous system cutting through his body. His reaction is unvoluntary and his tail violently lashes the side of the bathtub. It's like his fangs and his tongue feel burnt. As if a magical word had fallen, Jimin draws away from your body immediately. He hisses.

And as if his release of your body is like a claw that’s been stuck in your chest that retracts now, you startle, drawing in a huge gulp of water that makes you cough. You shoot straight up, water splashing everywhere. As you cough heavily, trying to get rid of the water in your body, the looming darkness of death shifts, fading from your vision. It’s horrible, the way your body burns with such ferocity. 

Your head shoots around only to focus on red water, on a bathtub that looks like it’s been filled with equal amounts of blood and water. It sends a really dark shiver down your weak, heaving body. I’m alive, your mind goes, I’m alive. How am I alive?

Your thoughts go back to before, just a few moments before. Gone is the honey-spacey feeling in your gut, gone is the arousal, the yearning for Jimin to kiss you again and here is the realization that water is in your mouth, that Jimin is hissing, with a tail and a murderous red trail of blood on his lips. Your eyes wander to the deep blue tail with the frayed ends that slide across your legs in this relatively small bathtub. The contact and the sudden clarity makes you freeze. You rush to sit up and you feel your ears pop open. The icy red water flows off, leaving you dripping and gasping. Something itches under your fingernails but you ignore it in favor of the thoughts clarifying in your mind.

Jimin tried to drown you.

Jimin tried to eat you.

Jimin tried to kill you, had even told you so and you’d just - let him.

The powerlessness makes you want to scream and you open your mouth. Nothing comes out. You look at Jimin who still looks incredibly handsome in the low light. But the strange tingle, the ultimate desire, the rush of adrenaline, the inner ache for his touch, it’s all gone like a piece of paper burning away. Even the bathroom looks bright and empty now, nothing like the romantic mirage from before. No rose petals, no shimmer against the ceiling, not even the beautiful scented candles stay.

You gasp and rush to move away. Horror falls on your mind as if you can finally grasp the extent of the situation.

NO! Puzzle pieces fall together, you need to go- right now, just go- Firm hands hold you to stay seated. Is he going to kill me now?

“You’re a - you’re a-“

“A siren, darling.”

“You eat-“

“Human souls, yeah.”

“My soul?”

“Hmm,” he grins and you notice the little flicker of uncertainty in his eyes even when his voice sounds confident, “you’re lucky. I almost had you.” His lips hang in front of yours, just centimeters apart like he can’t help but be close and tease you, “I love playing with my food. It’s my nature.”

“Oh yeah? I’m not food. Also, what does that even mean, I almost had you. Plus, you generally shouldn’t play with food. Who raised you?”

“But isn’t it exhilarating?” His body moves with the sloshing water and you’d have to lie to say it doesn’t look smooth. He might have fangs and a barbed tail but damn, the boy still looks like a god. He beams at you like he expects you to nod enthusiastically. You don’t, obviously, and you can see it’s not what he’s been expecting because his eyebrows furrow a little.

“I doubt it,” you answer just to spite him.

“Oooh but you had so much fun too, darling,” he whispers lowly into your ear. Why does it sound like he wants to convince me? “You wanted me when I kissed you, don’t you remember?”

You get it now. It’s his voice. His voice is like a blender to your mind. Everything turns into mush whenever he comes this close and speaks like that to you. To be honest, it scares you that you can’t see through the memories of the past minutes. It’s all hazy. Even getting into the bathtub - you don’t remember. Of course, you realize, he’s a siren, of course, he’d lure people in with his voice.

“That’s… not true.”

“I can remind you?”

“No thank you.”

“Oh baby,” he smiles innocently and you wonder how he does that when he’s a siren that actually kills unsuspecting people by tearing them to pieces, and how many have fallen for this sweet face. Now that you’re clear, you know he is bluffing. “You were so willing to let me kill you. We could just keep going.”

“Excuse me?”

“I still haven’t fed, you know,” he explains, trailing off, “I bet you can imagine that burn in my stomach…” His hands begin their sweet play again, grabbing yours and guiding them to his stomach but you shove him off.

When you throw your hands up to push against Jimin’s chest, you notice what’s been itching you before, sticking between the flesh and your nail. It’s a scale. When you’d given your last jerk underwater, near death, clutching onto his body, you must’ve accidentally ripped it off with your nails. The scale lands in your palm. At first, it just lies there but then it tingles softly against your skin. A siren’s magic, maybe.

You feel Jimin mustering you intently. He must’ve realized he can’t sway me anymore. Jimin cries out as his eyes fall on the scale and he searches for the empty spot on his tail and even his upper body scale patches, finally covering it with his hands when he finds the bald little spot. There’s fear in his eyes, fear and something you don’t quite understand, but apparently, it’s genuine, because Jimin looks miserable and hectic. While part of you tells you that he absolutely deserves it, the other wonders if you should sympathize with him, if losing a scale maybe means something more to a siren than just losing a scale. But then again, you had almost lost your life to him, so maybe a scale in exchange shouldn’t upset him so much.

Jimin’s attempts to get the scale back are harmless. It’s safely stored in your hand, it’s perfect there. Surprisingly, Jimin’s hands are too weak to pry your fist open. Even when you couldn’t move under him before, now the tables have turned. He’s powerless even though you don’t even use any effort to make a fist around the scale. One of his nails slices a bit of your wrists’ skin, but you don’t even flinch. It doesn’t hurt at all. Weird.

“So pretty,” you say, mesmerized by the soft shimmer of blue against your palm. “I think I’ll keep it.” And as if the scale has broken the siren’s entire spell over you, you leave the bathtub and a sobbing Jimin to his own pleas.

It’s only when you’re out of the bathroom, out of the hallway, when you stumble into the living room and away from Jimin’s gaze and possibly Jimin’s siren song, that you can’t muster the strength to keep standing, that you fall and cry and gasp for air, like a car crash survivor that dies outside the crushed vehicle, in the bushes, where later the police will only find a corpse. Maybe you’ll make it on your own. Maybe you’ll just die here. Your neck burns like hell and there’s water in your nose and your every muscle feels like it’s ripping apart. There’s already a little puddle of blood sinking into the carpet around you, flowing freely from your wounds.

You sigh as your strength leaves you, only allowing you to tighten your grasp on that shimmering scale in your hand before your vision goes black.

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