Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Why do you love the sea?” 

A loaded question, one with too many answers for the young man sitting beneath the blazing sun.

The sea was beauty, plain and simple. A living force of nature with its own heartbeat, the unrhythmic surge and swell of the waves holding an immense amount of strength within its waters. It took the sun and moon’s elegance and charm and reflected it back to them so that they could truly appreciate their exquisite radiance. The sheer amount of mystery that it held, ranging from curious sealife to wondrous marine gardens to even deeper depths that nobody had ever ventured to, was unmatched. Not to mention the countless islands that sat upon it. The sea offered adventure to anyone willing to put their name forward. 

Should one want to travel to a different land that they may have dreamed of, there were only two ways to go about it: airship or boat and the former was an indulgence only the wealthy and aristocratic were ever allowed to entertain. However, the sea did not discriminate based on what wealth you were born into. It welcomed all. Another reason to simply love the deep, azure waters. 

Like any other living thing, its mood could change at the drop of a hat. One moment, the waves were gently drenching the golden sand of the beaches, tickling the toes of children who screamed and laughed at the bitterness, the merfolk calling them to dive in and become immersed in Mother Nature’s greatest creation. 

But that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous too. Innumerable ships and the souls who had inhabited them had fallen for the Sirens’ songs far too easily, the stormy waves clawing at them until they could not withstand the pressure anymore, all of them being sent to Davy Jones’ locker, never to return. Respect the sea and the sea shall respect you. That was what he had always been told. 

“Is that a good enough answer?” 

Minjun, the raggedy, bright eyed child, simply shrugged his shoulders at Jeongin’s question, like he hadn’t really cared about the answer to his own to begin with, more preoccupied with gnawing on the fresh bread that Jeongin had brought from the kitchen for him. Based on how fast the food disappeared, Jeongin made a mental note to try and sneak even more food out for Minjun and the other kids next time. 

“And how come you want to be a pirate, hyung?” the young boy pondered, looking like this question interested him far more than his first. “The ones that come to the restaurant are always so mean to you, they don’t give you any respect. I don’t get it.” 

“It’s a little bit complicated,” Jeongin laughed, shooing the seagulls on the railing away, their beady eyes zoning in on the forgotten crumbs around their feet. “You see, a long time ago, a pirate helped me out in a sticky situation and-”

“Jeongin!” 

The two boys flinched at the booming holler that echoed up the stairs to the roof, eyes widening before Minjun hopped up quickly, briefly turning to wave goodbye to Jeongin before shimmying down the drainpipe to the alley below and taking off. It really was a wonder that they hadn’t managed to be found out by Hangyeol yet but Jeongin didn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. If the kids didn’t have him, they didn’t have anyone. 

With a frazzled sigh, Jeongin raised from his seated position, cursing the way his right leg gave out beneath him, his sore muscles complaining and asking why on earth they weren’t allowed to rest. He had been up since seven this morning, prepping food for today’s meals and since then, he hadn’t stopped working. Fifteen hours of continuous work, seven days a week, was really starting to chip away at his usually positive mentality.

“Jeongin!” 

Knowing that Hangyeol did not appreciate having to repeat himself, Jeongin ignored his body telling him to slow down and raced towards the rooftop door, swinging it open and hopping down the steps two at a time until he was at the bottom, coming face to face with the displeased looking owner of the restaurant. 

“Where were you?” Hangyeol spat, grabbing Jeongin’s hair in a tight grip so that the boy met his eyes.

“On my break, up on the roof.”

“You only get a break when you’ve worked hard enough.” 

As he was dragged back to the kitchen by his hair, Jeongin had to suppress a laugh at the mere implication that he was the one in the restaurant that didn’t work hard enough. He was the goddamn head chef here, not that anyone else but the staff in this place knew that. Why would they when Hangyeol took all the credit for Jeongin’s cooking himself? 

A whole debacle that started six years ago. 

Jeongin had been born into a loving family, his mother and father lavishing him with all the affection that they possessed and for many years, Jeongin thought that love was enough to sustain him. But his parents thought differently. They wanted nothing but the best for their only son, their pride and joy but they could not provide enough for him, barely scraping by, struggling to put food on the table for their child, let alone pay for his schooling fees. Though it pained them in their hearts, one day, they sat Jeongin down and asked him what he thought about going to live with his uncle across the ocean for a couple of years, so that he could finish his education and have the basis for a better life in the future. From what Jeongin knew, his uncle was a wealthy man, one who had never taken a spouse nor had any children but he knew nothing else of him, something that scared the young fifteen year old stiff. 

Of course, Jeongin had protested, telling them that he was happy here but he understood why it was that they wished for him to be brought up in a place where he would want for nothing. And so, he agreed, saying that he would return to them when he got the chance but that he would make sure to keep in contact with them through weekly letters. 

However, once he had completed the long and arduous journey across the ocean to his uncle’s hometown of Ghrian, it was not his uncle waiting on the docks for him but Hangyeol and a group of his men, ready and waiting to take Jeongin away. His uncle had betrayed him, selling him off to Hangyeol for labour in exchange for a small weekly sum. And that had apparently been the only reason. He hadn’t wanted to take Jeongin in the first place but instead of outright refusing, why not use him for even more income to satisfy his ever growing greed for money? 

Should his parents find out about their son going missing, Jeongin was sure his uncle would have made up some excuse about him running away or getting kidnapped to try and cover himself. 

Since then, Jeongin had more or less been in indebted servitude in the small restaurant called ‘Haema’, a place which held both beautiful and wicked memories at the same time. He never received any contact from his uncle in all that time but Jeongin didn’t really care much about him anymore but he did care for his parents who he continued to write to as promised. Knowing that their hopes for him still blossomed, he kept quiet about what had happened, thinking of how he did not want to worry them since he technically had learned a hell of a lot where he was, even if it wasn’t in the way that they assumed. It wasn’t like they would be able to do anything for him either. They had scraped every last bit of money together for his journey over here and there was no way they could do that again without starving themselves. Jeongin couldn’t put them through that. 

It had also been the reason that Jeongin hadn’t managed to leave himself. Despite the hours that he worked, he didn’t quite earn a wage. According to Hangyeol, all of his earnings were put towards housing, clothing and feeding him, though Jeongin was sure that the hours he worked added up to a lot more than rent for a little box room in the basement of the restaurant, the bare essentials for clothes and one meal a day. On a Sunday, Jeongin would be awarded an extra ten risa, all of which he put towards sending his weekly letter to his parents, telling him that he was learning so much and enjoying his time here. One truth and one lie but they didn’t need to know that. 

That was also the final reason that he loved the sea. It allowed freedom. 

For so long, he had dreamed of a life upon the water, even more so now since his soul was being held in a metal cage but Jeongin knew that a chance was coming, could feel it in his bones, when he would be allowed to break free from the shackles currently holding him down and break free to live his dreams. 

That was what he told himself every night before he slept anyways, a small hope to get him through the next day. 

Then again, when the next day involves having your hair nearly ripped out as you’re shoved back into the kitchen to continue working for another few hours even though you’re at your wits end, it didn’t inspire much hope. 

It took all of two seconds before an order slip was being thrust into his hands from one of the other chefs there, the man not sparing him a second glance. The other employees at Haema didn’t treat him badly but they didn’t particularly treat him well either. 

Indifference. Jeongin thought it was almost worse than being treated poorly. At least people acknowledged you then, not like you were a ghost, a machine that was simply there to cook all day and for no other reason. Of course, Jeongin knew that they treated him this way because Hangyeol had told them not to interact with him or their jobs would be on the line. 

Honey glazed spiced roast goose and confit potatoes. Probably Jeongin’s hundredth order of the day but something he could nearly cook in his sleep at this stage, even when half the chefs in this kitchen couldn’t even come close to cooking it decently. Whether it was forgetting to mix the cracked pepper in with the spices and honey, not piercing the skin of the bird or not oiling it properly, every other chef managed to butcher the recipe but Jeongin had made it all his own. 

Along with garlic and rosemary, he always made sure to stuff the goose with half and orange to give it some extra zest and drizzled some of the goose fat over the potatoes to make them crispy and irresistible. And it was, because the amount compliments that it got, along with his other dishes, was extraordinary but it wasn’t like Jeongin ever got to hear them from the customers themselves since, whenever the customer asked to speak to the chef, Hangyeol always stepped up, graciously accepting the praise like he had cooked it himself. That’s what he told everyone. Both Marines and pirates alike. Being a restaurant close to port, they got a lot of both groups and yes, there were a lot of confrontations and a lot of arrests but nothing that caught the attention of the locals for more than a couple of hours. 

Another long and exhausting day began winding down when they closed the doors at nine in the night but Jeongin still had another hour of clean up to do, everyone else having packed up and gone home to their families. When he had finished, Jeongin dragged his lethargic, worn body to bed, barely having a couple of minutes to wash up and sort out his jumbled thoughts before he succumbed to sleep, knowing that the next time he opened his eyes, the cycle would start all over again. Same thing, day in, day out. It was more than a little exhausting. Physically and mentally. 

“You don’t know the difference between cilantro and mint at this stage?! Even after working here for six years! Not even a rookie would make that fucking mistake!” 

Jeongin did his best not to flinch as Hangyeol’s big hand pushed at his chest, sending the boy stumbling backwards and into the stove, Jeongin wincing as his palm brushed against the open flame. 

Any idiot would know the difference between the two herbs and of course, Jeongin did too. He would never mix mint with sour cream and serve it on top of the chilli con carne dish they were so famous for. Yet, some idiot did and for some reason, Hangyeol thought it had been him, as if he wasn’t the best chef in this place. The customer had complained and sent it back, saying it had tasted funny and Hangyeol had decided to take it out on Jeongin, even when the chef who had been working here for a mere two months was the one who had made the mistake, the one Jeongin was now taking blame for. 

“One more mistake, Jeongin and I swear…”

Hangyeol had trailed off but Jeongin understood the implication. It wouldn’t simply be the withholding of a meal or no new clothes for the next month. If he was lucky, he would just be fired from this job and be forced to live on the streets since Jeongin knew full well that Hangyeol would tell all the businesses in Ghrian that he was unemployable. But if he was unlucky…well Jeongin didn’t really want to think about that. 

“And since you thought that slop was good enough to serve to our customers, that can be your meal for today. I’m sure you’ll have no complaints.” 

Jeongin didn’t and even if he did, he wouldn’t be voicing them right now. He knew what was good for him and opening his mouth right now wasn’t. 

Even though Hangyeol thought that serving him the apparent ‘unedible swill’ as the Marine lieutenant that had sent it back had called it, Jeongin still considered it a decent hot meal, even if it wasn’t your conventional dish. He would only have one chance to eat today and he was not going to waste it.

Being given permission to take his ten minute break or, rather, being told to ‘get the hell out of my kitchen’ by Hangyeol, Jeongin took the plate of second hand food and began heading out the back door to sit in the alleyway and enjoy his only meal of the day. He just really needed some fresh air right about now and he could have gone to the roof, gazed out over the sea, a place that provided him some peace but sometimes, it also taunted him, waving a freedom that he was beginning to think he would never have in front of his face. Hence, why he decided to squat down in the wretched back alley and begin eating. 

The delectable smell reached his nose from the spoonful that had just touched his lips before he was interrupted by the sound of his name. Looking up, he spotted five kids, all of which he regularly slipped food out to, the youngest of them being a mere four years old.

But they shouldn’t have been here, not where Hangyeol could catch them. 

“We’re hungry, Innie hyung…” the eldest boy whimpered and when Jeongin thought about it, he hadn’t seen this particular kid in over three days. He began to wonder if he had managed to eat in all that time. 

Kids without families, without homes, roaming the streets simply looking for their next meal and for many of them, Jeongin was their only source that didn’t make them give something back in return. He’d been doing it ever since he arrived here, even more so in the last year when Minjun began spreading the word about a kind hyung who would give them fresh food rather than the stale scraps they would have to fish out of the dumpsters of other restaurants. Jeongin couldn’t stand the way that restaurants would prefer to throw out food that was left uneaten at the end of the day rather than feed those who may need it, like these kids, so why not help them out?

Still, it wasn’t like he wanted to get caught by Hangyeol. There was no way he could find out what Jeongin was doing or he’d skin him alive. That’s why he always made sure to tell the kids to meet him up on the roof of the building so that they wouldn’t be seen. Seems like they had forgotten that little detail today. 

“I told you guys, you can’t come around the back. You need to meet me up on the roof. You also can’t come in bigger groups like this, ok? If Hangyeol catches me, I…”

With eyes shining with a thousand dim stars, the kids stared at Jeongin apologetically, knowing they had broken the one rule that he had set out for them in order to receive food. It was for their own good as well as Jeongin’s. If they were discovered, Hangyeol would make sure that these kids wouldn’t ever be fed again. Back when Jeongin had started here and had begun giving the poor children food, something that he hadn’t thought of as a big deal the first time he did it, Hangyeol and beaten him pretty badly once he had discovered what he was doing, asking why he would waste it on filthy little rodents who would never give anything back to him. 

Looking down at his dinner, Jeongin breathed a heavy sigh of defeat, knowing that there was no way he would be able to get back in the kitchen today to give any of them something to eat. All that he had was what he had managed to get for himself. He knew that he could go hungry for one day. He didn’t know if he could say the same for these kids. 

Jeongin slowly stood up, careful not to spill any of the contents of the dish in his hands, passing it over to the elder boy, along with his napkin and utensils. It probably wouldn’t be enough to fill all of them and it wasn’t of the highest quality but it would tie them over until he could get into the kitchen again. 

“Here, this is all I can give you today, alright? 

“Thank you so much, oppa,” the little four year old girl smiled, quickly pulling on her friends’ hands to go and enjoy their meal but before they could disappear from sight, a loud exclamation made them all jump, including Jeongin. 

“Hey!” 

The group of kids increased their speed and disappeared from sight once they saw Hangyeol sprinting at them, chasing them off with a waving fist and slew of ineffable phrases that children of their age should not be hearing. It wasn’t like Hangyeol got very far, his noxious lifestyle seriously affecting how far and fast he could run but his anger only increased as his prey managed to get away from him and the fact that they had chose to ignore how he always told them to stay the hell away from the restaurant made the veins his neck protrude in an unsightly fashion. 

If Jeongin had anywhere else to go, someone else to trust, he would have run straight to them because if the crimson shade of Hangyeol’s face was anything to go by, Jeongin’s status of being alive might very well be in question. The man stormed back over to Jeongin, yanking him up by his hair once again, a favourite move of his and pulled the boy’s face so close to his own the Jeongin could practically smell the store brand bourbon on his breath. 

“What have I told you about giving those little rats food, huh? You keep feeding them and they’ll keep coming back. I don’t need little urchins like them tainting the good name of my restaurant!” 

The good name of the restaurant came from Jeongin’s cooking. The atmosphere of the place was decent, the music was ok but the thing that kept people coming back was the food, all recipes and majority of preparation coming from Jeongin himself. 

None of their customers knew how Hangyeol really was. In front of the customers, the man acted as a gross, over-friendly, snivelling suck up, a drastic change from who he really was, simply because he believed that it was the only way he could impress people, to bend to their every will, even when they were being totally unreasonable. Jeongin quickly found out that ‘the customer is always right’ was complete and utter bullshit. 

Jeongin couldn’t hold his tongue any longer, having bitten on it enough times to make it bleed. He didn’t care anymore. What difference would it make if he spoke his mind now? He already got hit on a daily basis, barely got fed, was forced to work until his feet and fingers were covered in blisters. 

“The kids are not the ones tainting the name of this restaurant…” Jeongin mumbled, still not quite sure whether he wanted his boss to hear what he was saying or not. 

The slap was a lot harder than Jeongin was expecting, his head snapping to the side and his cheek buzzing with the sting of the hit that Hangyeol had landed for his apparent insolence. 

“You’re talking back to me now?” Hangyeol seethed, the fact that his usual subservient employee was finally rebelling was riling him up even more. “Seems like I haven’t beaten the brazenness out of you yet. There’s a fix for that.” 

If the first one was painful, Jeongin was expecting the second to leave a rather sizable bruise but what would that matter anyways? Nobody would see him back in the kitchen and he had nobody to go home to, so Jeongin figured it made little difference to Hangyeol. The man brought his arm back and Jeongin tried so hard not to flinch at the sight but when the fist came flying towards his face, Jeongin ducked slightly, letting out a small, pathetic whimper. 

“W-who the hell are you?!”

Getting the distinct feeling that he wasn’t being addressed anymore, Jeongin slowly forced his eyes open, glancing up at Hangyeol, the old simpleton no longer looking at him but at the new figure who had joined him. The other man was tightly holding onto Hangyeol’s raised wrist, the force causing Hangyeol’s fingers to begin spasming because of the pain. 

Shining lilac hair, full lips and mysterious dark eyes, one of them encased by a long red scar. He was dressed from head to toe in black and maroon, with a faux fur jacket draped over his shoulders, something he must have been burning up in under the sweltering heat of the day. A tight waistcoat was held together by intricate lacing upon his middle, thick leather breeches hugging his legs along with the two belts around his right thigh, sturdy combat boots donned his feet and fingerless gloves adorned his hands, one of which was still wrapped around Hangyeol’s wrist. 

And while all of that interested Jeongin, it was the man’s expression that gathered all of the boy’s attention. A very peculiar mix of anger and pure apathy. His face would have anyone saying that he didn’t care about the situation he had placed himself in but his eyes, it was his eyes that told Jeongin he was furious with what Hangyeol had done, for whatever reason. Both of them seemed to be burning with a sparking flame, one that had been ignited by Hangyeol’s actions.

“Doesn’t matter who I am,” the stranger spat, only increasing his grip on Hangyeol’s wrist and making the man’s knees buckle and a small scream leave his mouth. “Never touch this kid again. Lay one more finger on him and you’ll regret it. Am I making myself clear?” 

In his twenty one years, Jeongin was sure he had never met this man before, so he couldn’t fathom why on earth he was stepping in like this, threatening Hangyeol to make sure that he never, ever, hit him again. But Jeongin was used to it. That didn’t mean it didn’t affect him but he had learned to deal with it and he wasn’t entirely sure if this stranger’s interference was going to help him in the long run. 

In the end, Jeongin still had to live in the restaurant, still had to work under Hangyeol, without anywhere to go or anyone to rely on. This newcomer was going to leave after he was done here if the fact that Jeongin had never seen him around town before was anything to go by. How could he possibly ever know if Hangyeol was never going to hit him again? This could make everything ten times worse for him.

“He’s my property, I can do what I want with him!” Hangyeol yelled from his place on the ground, the filth of the alleyway dusting his knees. 

“Property? Are you serious? You do realise that slavery is outlawed right?”

“He’s not a slave, he gets a wage!”

Jeongin wanted to interrupt so badly and tell Hangyeol that ten risa a week, one meal a day and a rat infested hole underneath the restaurant to live in should not be considered a wage in anyone’s eyes but he finally found the restraint not to speak once again and simply watched how this whole spectacle played out. 

“Besides, why the hell is a pirate talking to me about laws anyway?”

“I’m not a pirate…” the man hissed, like it was the greatest insult he could have ever received. 

Well, he could have fooled Jeongin. Everything about this man practically screamed ‘pirate’. The small, ivory spyglass decorated with golden leaves that hung from the man’s belt meant that this guy definitely lived life on the sea. That didn’t mean that he was a pirate but he definitely wasn’t a Marine. The two knives and one pistol that were sheathed on his belt were not standard issue for any Marine and it would be unlikely for a travelling merchant to carry such a variety of weapons on them when they were docked in town like this. If he wasn’t a Marine or a merchant, it usually only meant one other thing, the way he dressed only accentuating that point but according to the stranger, he didn’t fall within that particular category. 

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll listen to what I’m saying. I have ways of knowing if you decide not to heed my advice.”

Hangyeol finally managed to yank his arm free but Jeongin got the feeling that he only did so because the stranger decided he would allow it. 

The conversation seemed to be at its end and the only thing left was to see how Hangyeol was going to act to the young man’s demands. With an aggravated grunt, Hangyeol finally turned away from the other and stared straight at Jeongin, glaring at him furiously, like Jeongin had somehow called the unfamiliar person here to try and save him, like he ever had a chance to befriend someone in this town when he never even had two minutes to take for himself during the day. Still, he merely motioned for Jeongin to head into the restaurant in front of him, not being stupid enough to leave him with the stranger while his back was turned. 

Jeongin did as he was told, shakily trodging towards the door but before he did, he managed to glance back over his shoulder at his saviour, taking in everything that he could about his face so that he could remember someone who actually cared about him for once. As he did so, he noticed the soft, reassuring smile on the man’s lips, a vast change in demeanour from mere seconds ago when he looked like he was going to claw Hangyeol’s throat out. And strangely, despite not knowing who he was, Jeongin felt comforted by the man’s genuine effort to console him, a small ‘thank you’ being mouthed to him before Jeongin disappeared inside, wondering if Hangyeol had been scared enough to keep his hands to himself. Funnily enough, Jeongin thought that wouldn’t be the case.  

“Channie hyung, finally! I’m starving!” 

The boisterous voice bellowing his name across the crowded room was grating on Chan’s already frayed nerves. His day had already started out questionably. He was running on about an hour and a half of sleep, something which wasn’t all that abnormal for him but it seemed to hit him harder than usual when he opened his eyes to the sun rising this morning. Having nothing on the ship for breakfast that was in any way edible really hit a sore spot, not only for him but for his crewmates too. That was the main reason that they had pulled into port: a supply run. But even then, the three of them who lived on the ship were atrocious cooks, barely able to boil water without setting the rickety stove on fire. 

And now he had to witness some poor kid getting the snot beaten out of him, for some unreasonable reason, Chan was sure, because there is no reason to hit someone like that disgusting man had been. He had no choice but to intervene. Even if he didn’t appreciate the kind of reputation he had gained from rumours and hearsay, he knew he could use it well in this sort of situation. He gave the man a scare, hopefully one that would spare that boy further lashings in the future but Chan wasn’t as naive as he once was. There wasn’t much chance that it would be the final hit that boy would receive, not when Chan wouldn’t be around to follow through on his promise of making the man regret his actions. 

Still, from his attire and what he said to the boy he was with, Chan got the feeling that he was the owner, or at least the head chef, of the restaurant that he was now striding through and Chan really didn’t want to give business to the kind of person that would treat his employees like that. And he wouldn’t let his crew do so either, not that they would want to when they knew Chan’s reasoning behind all this. Still, he knew they weren’t going to be happy about it in the beginning since none of them had eaten a decently cooked meal in about three weeks. 

As he arrived at the table, he quickly dismissed the bored looking waitress who had been standing at the table waiting for Chan to arrive so that she could take their order before removing the tacky looking menu out of his crewmate’s hands, causing a small pout to distort the younger’s features. 

“Come on, let’s go.” 

“W-what? Why?! No, we finally found somewhere to eat! You can’t make me go back to eating rice and beans on the ship without getting something decent to eat here first. Please, hyung!”

Chan was doing his best to control his anger right now. His eyes still managed to roll around in his skull as the tight grip around his biceps was shaking him so much it was enough to make him nauseous. But it wasn’t like he was going to change his mind. He didn’t want to be in a place like this anymore. He wanted to be back on his ship, the one place where he truly felt comfortable.

“We’re leaving, Sung. I don’t want to hang around this dive. It’s full of trash.” 

Jisung continued to whine and shake Chan so much that his eyes were beginning to lose focus but began to calm himself when he saw the attention their little group was gaining. However, it wasn’t because of his dramatics but because of what Chan had inadvertently called those eating in the restaurant. 

All eyes seemed to be on them but Chan couldn’t care less about what these rabble thought of him. He just wanted to get out of this place already but before he could drag his friends out to the street, a large shadow loomed over him from behind, completely eclipsing the swinging lightbulb from above. Perhaps a giant of some sort had managed to find his way into the establishment, Chan thought, though he knew there wasn’t such a thing. 

“Huh? You got a problem with us, pretty boy?” 

Chan turned to face the goliath, the man standing at least three heads over him. A long, gangly beard framed some horrifically rotting teeth, the stench coming out of his mouth seeming to stem from that. The behemoth held one too many tacky gold earrings in his ears, the lack of cloth upon his chest nearly causing Chan to sneeze at the extensive amount of hair there. From his haughty expression, it was clear he was trying to be intimidating but there was little that could frighten Chan anymore. Jisung, on the other hand, seemed to be trembling in his knee high boots just a little bit. Then again, that was because he recognised who the man was when Chan didn’t. 

“Nope, I got no quarrels with you,” Chan sighed, never breaking eye contact with the other. He knew that any sign of weakness would give the man too much pleasure.  

“Sounds like you do, though. Calling us ‘trash’?” 

Chan could feel Jisung push further into his back, hands still firmly wrapped around the elder’s arm and from the corner of his eye, Chan could see the rest of the men at the giant’s table begin to stand, no doubt the rest of his crew because, when Chan really thought about it, he began to recognise who his adversary actually was and why Jisung was so on edge.  

Captain Son ‘Black Tusk’ Kwan of the Ironfist pirate crew. Someone with a bounty of 250’000 risa on his head. Someone who had a reputation that preceded him but not for any good reasons. And if Chan had any sense within his head, he would try to explain what he had meant with his earlier insult but he wondered if it would make any difference to Captain Black Tusk when it seemed that he had already made up his mind to take the slander that had not been directed at him personally. 

“I wasn’t referring to you but now that you mention it, you sure smell like something that was dragged out of a dumpster.”

“Hyung, don’t…” Jisung warned lowly, clearly not wanting to get into a fight right now, even though he must have known by now which way Chan had decided to handle this. 

“Pfft, who do you think you are anyways? A child like you.” 

Chan was sure that everyone around him could actually hear how loudly he rolled his eyes at the lame insult. Surely a captain like Black Tusk would have better comebacks than that since he was undoubtedly taunted about his appearance on the regular by other pirates. Being called a child didn’t hurt Chan’s pride in any way, it just meant that this geezer in front of him was old enough to think of Chan as a ‘child’, despite him being a whole twenty five years old.

“It’s rude to ask for someone’s name before giving your own,” Chan huffed, delighted to see that he was clearly getting under the man’s skin but thought maybe he shouldn’t have been when he heard Jisung’s breathing quicken as he realised that they were being surrounded by Black Tusk’s crew. 

Moving his arm behind him, Chan pulled Jisung as close to his back as he possibly could to show him that everything was going to be ok, just like he had done to try and calm him ever since they were kids. He didn’t fail to miss the way a shorter man moved up to Black Tusk, cupping his captain’s ear and whispering something unintelligible while handing over some rolled up parchment, Chan instantly recognising what they were.

“Ha? 3racha? What kind of name is that?” 

Chan cringed at the loud laughter that rang throughout the restaurant from the opposing morons, mostly because those had been his exact words when he first heard what the Marines had decided to name their crew to be able to identify them on their wanted posters. The reason for such a name? Chan wasn’t entirely sure yet. Nobody on his ship had come up with a name like that but Jisung had definitely become fond of it over time, even if Chan himself felt another worry line added to his forehead each time he heard it. Still, there was nothing he could do about it now. It had been nearly four years since they had acquired that name for themselves. Anyone who knew of them, knew them as the 3racha crew. 

“You must be positively meaningless if I’ve never heard of you before!” Black Tusk cackled, eyes still stuck on the pages in front of him. “You three have no business calling yourselves pirates! You’re pathetic!”

“We’re not pirates,” snapped Chan. 

Why did they automatically assume that they were pirates? Because they weren’t. They would never want to be the thing that they hated the most. Chan always said they would have hit rock bottom if they decided to live the life of a pirate. Worse thing was, these gaggle of idiots weren’t the only ones to think such a thing. Practically everyone they ever came across labelled them as marauders, even the Marines who had absolutely no problem hunting them down for simply defending themselves against attacks that they had initiated. It was a vicious circle that they were perpetually stuck in. 

“That’s not what your wanted posters say,” Black Tusk hummed, finally showing everyone in the restaurant what was in his hands. 

There was no subtlety in this argument. Everyone had now turned their attention towards them and their spat. Lucky for them. They got dinner and a show.  

Jisung had always said that whoever took their photos for their wanted posters zoned in on their most unflattering angle and looking at them so closely now, Chan had to agree. They were truly atrocious. Yet, Jisung had kept each of their wanted posters framed in his quarters on the ship. He was far more interested in their apparent infamy than anyone else was. 

What was ticking Chan off even more was that his bounty was fifty thousand risa less than Black Tusk’s. He didn’t particularly want to do anything to increase it because that would mean doing something to piss off the Marines when his crew were just trying to complete their own objective but at the same time, he hated that Black Tusk was clearly trying to gloat about being more wanted than he was and was succeeding because of a few more risa upon his head. 

“Whatever. I don’t have time for this. Let’s go, we’re leaving.”

He motioned to Jisung to keep close to him, not wanting his youngest crewmate to stray too far from his sight. Keeping his eyes straight ahead, Chan attempted to walk straight past Black Tusk and his crew, wondering if they would actually part to let him and Jisung through but, as life always made sure of, things were a lot more difficult than Chan hoped for.  

“Hey, hey, hey, we’re not done. Get your ass back here!”  Black Tusk shouted, taking four large, booming steps towards Chan to drag him back. 

Chan could feel the ghost of Black Tusk’s hand upon his shoulder but it never made contact, instead, yanked backwards by another, enough to make Black Tusk yell obscenities at whoever had stopped him from pulling Chan back to continue their spat. 

“Keep your hands off my captain.”

“Hyung! You took your time,” Jisung badgered, hopping away from Chan to latch onto Changbin’s free arm, the other still grabbing Black Tusk’s wrist so that he didn’t touch his captain.  

Chan had begun to wonder where his third and final crewmate had disappeared to. He had sent Changbin and Jisung ahead to get a table at the restaurant that they had passed earlier whilst he returned to the ship to put away the groceries they had procured during the day. After arriving, seeing Jisung sitting at the table by himself did evoke slight worry in his chest but he figured that Changbin hadn’t strayed too far. The other wouldn’t have left Jisung on his own for too long. Chan and Changbin were exceedingly protective over their youngest crewmate, both of them wanting nothing more than for Jisung to be happy and safe and to know that he could be targeted by Marines and other pirates alike when he was alone wouldn’t have allowed Changbin to wander far from Jisung. 

“In fairness, I didn’t think that the both of you would manage to start a fight with an angry mob in the time it took me to use the bathroom.” 

“I didn’t start anything ,” Jisung harrumphed, beginning to pull Changbin away from Black Tusk, making him drop the infuriated man’s wrist. “It was all Channie hyung. I just wanted to get some food!” 

“That’s all you ever want, Sung.”

“Hey!” 

Jisung and Changbin just about managed to conclude their playful bickering as Black Tusk howled at them for ignoring him and interfering with his plans to drag Chan back to him to finish their little spat.

“What the hell are you yelling at us for, old man? I can see you standing there. You’re just not worth wasting my time on,” Changbin sighed, mirroring Chan’s earlier action of trying to steer Jisung towards the exit of the restaurant.

“Why are the two of you like this?” Jisung questioned with annoyance, interlacing his fingers with Changbin’s as they walked away from the red faced captain. “Both of you need a serious lesson on how to de-escalate precarious situations.”

From that moment, it took all of three seconds for shit to hit the fan. With a small click of his thick fingers, Black Tusk’s crew descended on the three young men, who, thankfully, were more than used to this sort of thing because, as Jisung had said, neither Chan nor Changbin were very good at keeping their mouths shut when someone tried to start something with them. 

Changbin immediately pushed Jisung back, drawing the embellished ebony gripped sabre that he had forged himself long ago, just in time for him to block the incoming attack from a man who equaled Black Tusk in size and clearly in intelligence too as he lost his footing and went toppling to the ground. 

Standing in his shadow and watching his back as always, Chan pulled out his pistol, taking aim at one of the men now running at him and shooting him straight in the shoulder, knowing it would incapacitate but not kill him if he got it taken care of quickly. 

Yells and shouts echoed throughout the restaurant from the combatants, only matched by the jeers and hoots of the patrons who were more than excited to see a daring fight up close and personal. 

“They’re so annoying,” Jisung huffed from where he stood in the corner of the restaurant, speaking to nobody in particular. 

He was definitely going to murder Changbin later for pushing him so hard, causing him to bang off the counter of the bar. It was obvious that the elder did it to save him from a sword to the chest but it still hurt like a bitch. That would be his explanation later on when Changbin would be asking him why he was pounding on him like no tomorrow. 

“Hey there.”

Thinking he was the one being addressed, Jisung allowed himself to let his attention drift from his friends and the fight to see two men standing right beside him. They weren’t a part of Black Tusk’s crew from the look of it and they didn’t seem like Marines either, just regular customers but Jisung still had a gut feeling that was screaming at him ‘whatever you do, don’t let your guard down.’ 

“Oh, uh, hi…” 

“You're not gonna help your little friends out?” the first man purred, taking a step closer to Jisung and bending down a little to meet his eye. 

“To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of fighting. They usually handle that kind of stuff by themselves. This happens quite a lot…”

The two strangers chuckled like Jisung had just made a terrifically funny joke, even if it was nothing but the truth. Unbridled and unneeded flattery in exchange for something they clearly wanted. Yet another red flag that told Jisung he needed to grab Chan and Changbin and get the hell out of here. 

“Oh? Well then, why don’t you come with us?” creepy man number two offered, floating past Jisung to stand behind him and box him in, the way any predator knew how to do to its prey so it couldn’t escape. “We can take you away from all this noise. Maybe show you a good time?”

“I’m gonna have to pass but thanks anyways.”

It was a lame attempt, one he knew wouldn’t really work if the vibe he was getting off this duo was as nasty as he thought but Jisung tried to quickly exit the barrier the men had made around him, only to have his arm yanked back in a painful fashion, the true colours of the strangers that Jisung knew were there finally coming to light. 

“That wasn’t really a request, I was just trying to sound polite. You’re coming with us.”

And Jisung knew that if Chan or Changbin could see the way these morons were manhandling him, they would pounce like savage beasts, ready to tear them a new one but, as of now, they were still more than a little preoccupied with the gaggle of villains that were continually being knocked down, only to get back up again and attack. Jisung had to hand it to them for their bold tenacity, that's for sure and maybe he would have said something if he didn’t have his own team of dimwits to deal with. 

“I don’t think your friends would mind. They seem a little too preoccupied to be able to protect you right now. So, shut up and don’t make a scene, sweetie.”

It didn’t really make much sense to Jisung, why people thought he was weak and an easy target just because, whenever Chan and Changbin chose to fight, he stood back and let them take care of it. He didn’t like to engage, had never been a fan of violence, even more so because of six years ago but people assuming he was fragile and powerless was their own mistake. 

The man who had ‘offered’ to take him away from all the noise let out a deafening scream, one that gathered the attention of those fighting on the other side of the restaurant. Chan and Changbin merely snorted as they saw Jisung twisting the buffoon’s arm that had been holding onto him behind his back, kicking the back of the second man’s leg to send him flying to the floor. 

Bending down to whisper in his captive’s ear, Jisung let a frustrated sigh fall from his mouth before setting his face in an expression that told everyone he was not to be trifled with. 

“I don’t need to be protected by anyone. I said I wasn’t a fan of fighting. That doesn't mean I can’t kick your ass.”

The change in tone seemed to shake the two attackers to their bones, clearly realising that the young man that they had decided to try and whisk away was not some damsel in distress but a wolf in sheep’s clothing that was more than capable of taking care of himself. 

“You touch me again and I will reach down your throat, pull out your intestines and wrap them around your neck so I can strangle you with them. All right, sweetie? ”

The man’s eyes widened as he managed to break free but only because Jisung had loosened his grip enough to let him. Scrambling onto his feet and nearly toppling over himself the man grabbed onto his friend before legging it towards the door, calling back obscenities as he did so. 

“Crazy asshole!”

“Yeah, well, at least I’m not a perv who attempts to force myself on vulnerable strangers,” Jisung muttered with annoyance, brushing off his arm where the man had grabbed him, as if there were some invisible dust. “Are we about done here?!” 

Either Chan and Changbin didn’t hear Jisung’s yells or they were doing what they did best and subconsciously blocking out his loud voice. The youngest liked to belt out a tune every now and then on the ship and they had somehow adapted to save their sanity. Both continued to knock the teeth out of their competitors, making them wonder why on earth Black Tusk and his crew were more famous and had a captain with a higher bounty when they were getting their ass handed to them by two men who weren’t even really breaking a sweat. 

“Captain! Marines!” 

Jisung snapped his head towards the entrance of the restaurant where the warning yell had come from, seeing one of Black Tusk’s men, beaten and bruised, pointing down the street with a slight twinkle of fear in his eyes, making Jisung wonder how many Marines were actually on their way here. Clearly someone had alerted them to the brawl in the restaurant. There was always one tattler that couldn’t just let things sort themselves out. 

The cry had also captured Chan and Changbin’s attention, both of them quickly disposing of the last few men left standing. The fun that had come along with them winning the fight flew up, up and away when they heard that those who constantly made their life a living hell were approaching and, since the Marines really didn’t have a good impression of them, there was a certain certainty that they would try and take them into custody, shut them in a cell and throw away the key. That’s what the Marines did to all the people they considered annoyances, unless they took the next step and chopped their head off on a block for the entire world to see. 

“Shit! Sung, come on!” Changbin called out, punching Black Tusk straight in the nose as he made one final attempt to try and become victor of this fight. 

Jisung really didn’t need to be told twice, quickly moving to follow after his friends who headed towards the entrance in the hopes of getting a head start on the Marines who they knew would more than likely chase them down for as long as they could because of the bounties on their heads. However, Jisung got about three steps in before he felt a strong yank on his collar pull him backwards, causing him to stumble because of the shock and fall to his knees, his palms smashing painfully onto the wood of the floor to stop himself from face planting.

“Oh, no you don’t, someone’s going to pay for all the damage you’ve done to my restaurant! And if you can’t, I’m handing you over to the Marines!” 

Raising his head at the sound of the threatening admonishment, Jisung didn’t quite know what to do when the belligerent, stout owner of the restaurant he had seen slithering around the establishment earlier gathering up compliments from the customers grabbed his hair in an agonising fashion and began pulling him away from his escape root, away from his friends. 

As he had said earlier, Jisung never needed to be protected by anyone, more than capable of fighting his own battles but the angle that the man was holding him at and the fact that he was being continually pulled backwards was making it difficult for Jisung to find his footing and fight back. 

The lack of footsteps behind them and Jisung’s little grunts of annoyance eventually made Chan and Changbin halt in their tracks, both of them seeing red once they noticed their youngest friend and crewmate being endangered in such a way. They knew they were in a slightly dicey situation. Should they go back and try to help Jisung, there was no way they would be able to get out of the building before the Marines burst in and arrested all of them, a fact that Jisung seemed to be aware of too since he ceased struggling for a moment to try and tell the two young men to go on without him, that he would be fine. 

A blatant lie and something that Chan and Changbin would never even consider. Since the day Jisung had come to their town at the age of six, the three of them had spent every day of their lives together and they weren’t about to end that streak now by allowing their youngest to be thrown into prison because of a fight he hadn’t even been a part of. They would just have to take the risk and hope that there weren’t too many Marines that they would have to fight in a few moment’s time. None of them really thought that they’d have to fight for their lives twice in one day but here they were. 

But as if some deity out their had witnessed their plight, a unforeseen but not unwelcome player had been added to their game, one that held a giant glass vase above his head before bringing it down with unbridled strength, straight onto the restaurant owner’s head with a deafening crash. 

The whole place became void of noise, an eerie sort of silence descending on the room as everyone took in what had just happened. Still holding onto Jisung’s hair, the man stared at his attacker before his grip became weak enough to allow Jisung to wriggle free. It didn’t even seem to register with him what had happened before a stream of blood began dripping down his face, that being more than enough reason for his whole body to slump to the ground with a boom, Jisung almost bouncing off the floor with the force. 

That was the moment Chan and Changbin had managed to reach their friend, Changbin’s hands immediately finding Jisung’s full cheeks to direct his gaze towards him and silently ask him if he was ok, an action that was quickly waved off with slight embarrassment. 

“Thank you,” Jisung beamed at his saviour, rubbing the top of his head where he was sure more than a few hairs had been plucked out. 

“N-no problem.”

And maybe it was some sort of weird divine intervention or karma repaying Chan for his kind actions earlier because, when he looked at the face of the person who had helped Jisung out, he saw it to be that of the young man he had saved in the ally, the one who had been beaten so cruelly by the man now sprawled out on the floor that Chan’s heart wouldn’t let him walk away from such a scene without doing something about it. Perhaps saving him was the reason this young man now felt the need to return the favour or perhaps he just had the same kind of feeling in his heart that Chan had. 

He looked scared, even more so that he was back in the alley but Chan didn’t think that it was strange since he had just effectively bludgeoned and knocked out the one who had been so callous and cold blooded towards him earlier in his assault. The young man was staring at his hands in horror, as if he couldn’t believe what he had just done. Even if it had just been a spur of the moment decision, it was an action that Chan admitted needed some appreciation but just as he was about to open his mouth and thank the young man, Changbin’s voice broke through his line of thought. 

“We need to go. Now!” 

And Chan agreed once he heard the thundering footsteps outside drawing closer and closer, coupling with aggressive yells that they had heard on many occasions, far too many occasions. Hoisting Jisung up off the floor, they tried to determine whether or not they could just about reach the door in time before the Marines burst in but their saviour wasn’t finished helping them out yet, holding onto Chan’s wrist and pulling him in the opposite direction. 

“Wait! Go out the back door! It’ll be safer for you!”

It should have been an evident idea, that there would be more than one exit that they could leave through but Chan attributed his absentmindedness to the fact that his head was only full of one thought: get his brothers to safety. 

Following the young man through the kitchens, gathering confused and hostile yells from the chefs whose work had been interrupted, the three crewmates ignored the shouts from the Marines who had breached the restaurant's front doors and were now telling Black Tusk’s crew to stay where they were and put their hands up. Chan honestly couldn’t care less about the fate of the pirate crew they had overpowered and left behind. It was their own mistake. They shouldn’t have challenged him in the first place. 

With the back exit being flung open for them, the young man told them to take a right at the end of the alleyway and go straight ahead, they would find the harbour since he could only assume that pirates like them would travel on the sea. 

“Thanks, kid,” Chan mumbled as he wordlessly ushered Changbin and Jisung ahead of him. He usually liked to stay at the rear to make sure both of them were safe, a decision only strengthened when he thought about the fact that Jisung had almost gotten left behind earlier because he wasn’t paying enough attention. 

And though he looked pleased with the recognition of his actions, the young man looked like he was about to say something more on the whole debacle but Chan knew he didn’t have the time to hear whatever it was and immediately began to sprint to catch up with his friends, leaving the raven haired boy behind him, more than likely never to be seen again. 

It didn’t feel good, abandoning him like that since Chan was sure that there would be some horrendous repercussions for helping the three of them out like that but the captain couldn’t linger on the thought for long. He had lived by one rule for such a long time and he would continue to focus on that for as long as he could. 

Changbin, Jisung and him. The three of them stuck together, protecting each other. Nobody else mattered. Nobody else could if they were to complete what they set out to do all those years ago. 

Falling against a wall and pulling Jisung back before he could run onto the main road where a group of Marines had appeared out of thin air, Chan cursed when he heard their names mentioned, the lieutenant of the group ordering them to spread out and search for them. Thankfully for them, as they always did, they had anchored their ship in a more discreet part of the port, constantly aware that if someone got wind that it was their vessel that it could be stolen or taken into the Marines custody at any time. On the other hand, it made it just that little bit more difficult to get to without being noticed. 

Watching the group of petty officers run in the opposite direction, the three crewmates let out a small sigh of relief, allowing themselves a moment of reprieve to catch their breaths before running the final sprint to get the hell out of here and away from this island.  

“That was a close one, huh?” Jisung chuckled nervously, dabbing his brow with the back of his hand. 

“More than a little close,” Chan grunted, wriggling his jaw where one of Black Tusk’s men had managed to get a decent hit in. 

“Yeah, you said it.”

Now, Chan would have fully expected Changbin to be the final voice of agreement in their summation of the events just passed but when he realised that the voice had come from behind him when his friend was, in fact, in front of him, it made him whip around so fast that he was sure he was going to suffer greatly tonight from the resounding crack that emanated from his neck.  

“What the hell?” 

The fox-like youngster that they were sure to have left behind at the restaurant was now staring straight back at them, like it was a completely normal phenomenon for him to be squatting right beside them without a care in the world with a bright, albeit, nervous smile on his face. 

“The one who saved me in the restaurant,” Jisung hummed, snickering a little at the bewilderment on his brothers’ faces when it came to how on earth the other had managed to sneak up on them without any of them noticing. 

“Yeah, I’m Jeongin.”

Chan admittedly had to physically restrain himself from slapping Jisung’s hand back when the younger reached out to extend a greeting and introduction to Jeongin, possibly as an act of thanks too now that they were out of harm’s way. For a split moment at least. 

Jisung tended to get attached to people far too quickly, the exact opposite problem that Chan had himself and the captain could already see the little glint in his brother’s eye, that he was ready to sit down and have a full blown conversation with Jeongin about his entire life story. The only way to stop that from happening was to cut off the problem before it even began. 

“Sorry, kid,” Chan interrupted, finally pulling Jisung’s hand out of the tight clasp Jeongin seemed to have on it.  “We don’t really have time to care about who you are right now. We’ve got to get back to our ship.” 

Making a motion to check if the street was safe to Changbin, Chan began to pull Jisung away from the young man but not before he heard a few mutters from the younger man about how rude he was being. Chan made a mental note to absolutely murder Jisung in the most painful way possible later for not grasping the severity of the situation. 

“Wait!” Jeongin sputtered anxiously. “Take me with you.”

“I’m sorry?” Chan snorted without an ounce of humour as he spun around to look at the distressed boy.  

“Please. I-I don’t have anywhere else to go now.” 

Jeongin fear was evident through his begging as he scrambled up from the dusty ground of the alleyway to grasp onto Chan’s arm, an action which did not evoke a pleasurable sort of expression from the lilac haired man. 

“I just hit my boss over the head to save you!” Jeongin reasoned, pointing to Jisung to emphasise his point. “If I go back, he will literally kill me. I don’t have money to go anywhere else!” 

“Nobody asked you to risk your skin for us.”

“Hyung…” Jisung whispered with a painful dig of an elbow to Chan’s ribs. 

He shouldn’t be this hostile, especially not to a kid that had quite literally saved their lives but Chan was so fed up with this goddamn day that he just wanted to sail out onto the open sea, eat some decent food and try to knock himself out for the night by whatever means possible. 

Knowing that he would never hear the end of it if he didn’t do something to help out Jeongin in his time of need, knowing that they were the cause of his misfortune, Chan dipped his hand into his back pocket, dragging out a small cinched bag and tossing it straight at Jeongin, the young man nearly dropping it three or four times before he peeked inside with an arched eyebrow. 

“This should cover you for a while. You can use it to get to the next island over or something and start from there,” Chan advised, seeing Changbin motion to him from the corner of his eye that the coast was clear and they needed to get their asses moving right now if they wanted to escape. 

“What am I supposed to do then?”

Not making the same mistake twice, Chan managed to avoid Jeongin’s grasp as the younger reached out to try and stop him once again. 

“Not our problem.” 

“I can be useful on your ship though! Anything you want me to do. I can learn to be a pirate!”

“For the last fucking time today,” Chan spat as he turned around and grabbed Jeongin’s collar to make his point crystal clear. “We are not pirates!” 

It seemed to do the trick as Jeongin nodded his head exceptionally quickly to show that he understood, not being subtle in any way when his eyes darted down to the pistol and knives hanging from Chan’s belt. 

Yet another reason Chan hated to be associated with pirates. Everybody immediately thought that you were going to use violence and straight up murder you if you pissed them off in any way. Though, he couldn’t say that the particular line of thought wasn’t helpful in this instance. It was clearly enough to put the fear of death in Jeongin as the young man stumbled backwards when Chan gave him a gentle push, one that told him he needed to back off and leave them the hell alone. 

“Hyung, we need to go now if we ever want to leave this place,” Changbin hissed, seeing two chief petty officers beginning to make their way back down the street towards them. 

“Good luck, kid.”

Chan didn’t waste another second in grabbing onto Jisung’s arm and following Changbin towards the port, hoping and praying that all of their bad luck had already exhausted itself that day. 

“Wait! Please! You’re literally all I have right now!”

Despite the small glare he was garnering from Jisung as the younger began to run of his own volition beside him, Chan didn’t let his resolve waver, knowing that they couldn’t very well bring Jeongin onto the ship with them. It would interfere with all of the work they had done up until now but, perhaps more importantly, he couldn’t throw Jeongin into all of their shit and still have a clear conscience by the end of the day. His mind was made up and nothing was going to change it. 

Still, even though he knew it wouldn’t do him any good, Chan couldn’t help but look back over his shoulder to check on Jeongin, acting like he was just making sure that no Marines had managed to spot them during their escape. 

Instead of seeing a pouting and heartbroken young man still standing in the alleyway, Jeongin was nowhere to be seen at all. It confused Chan a little, how quickly Jeongin seemed to bounce back and actually heed his word when he had put up such a fight to try and join him right now but he knew he couldn’t linger on it for long, not when he would never see the boy again. He had learned to let go of pretty much everyone from the past and Jeongin would be absolutely no different. 

Chan just hated how long it actually took for that slight sting in his heart to actually disappear. 

Chapter Text

Usually, whenever Chan was struggling with some sort of inner turmoil, which was really far too often, all he needed to do was take the helm, breathe deeply and let the salty sea air fill his lungs as he stared out over the boundless, open water. It had always allowed his heart to capture some sort of peace, even if it only lasted for a short period of time. 

But now? Nothing seemed to be erasing the tightness that had been present in his chest ever since they left Ghrian. Chan wasn’t sure if anything ever would. There was a chance he would have to try and lock the sensation away in his heart, just like he had with the immense sadness and immeasurable rage that had followed him all the way from his younger days. He had gotten pretty good at hiding his emotions at this stage. Anything other than determination was just a nuisance that got in the way of achieving what he had set out to do with his brothers all those years ago. 

Once they had managed to hoist the anchor and deploy the main sail, knowing that they were safe for a while on the open sea, both Changbin and Jisung, each in their own way, let Chan know exactly how they were feeling about the whole situation that had just occurred. 

Jisung had always been the most vocal and emotional out of the three of them and this time wasn't going to be any different. Once he had completed his jobs to allow them to set sail and managed to tear his eyes away from the island that was merging with the horizon, he abruptly turned to face Chan and Changbin, scowling at them without a word but the look alone was enough to convey that he was not at all happy with how things had turned out with Jeongin but, in a way, he could tell why they had to leave him behind. That didn’t mean he had to act like everything was made of sunshine and rainbows when they literally abandoned the young man who had saved him from being handed over to the Marines. 

With a small, muttered ‘I’m going to the hold to check our supplies’, Jisung stomped past both of friends before disappearing beyond the door that led to the lower part of the ship. It wasn’t like their supplies really needed to be checked when they had quite literally just restocked everything they needed on Ghrian but neither Chan nor Changbin dared open their mouths on the matter. A pissed off Jisung was not a person to be trifled with. 

Of course, Changbin seemed to be more understanding, as he usually was when it came to the difficult decisions that Chan had to make, sighing knowingly with a shake of his head and clapping Chan gently on the shoulder before retreating to his quarters to shower and change. 

Chan didn’t bother with anything else, simply staying at the helm and letting that unwelcome feeling consume him until Changbin returned and sat with him in silence, the younger apparently sensing that his captain was not in the mood or mindset to speak about the whole thing yet, something that Chan was seriously thankful for right now. A benefit for knowing each other all their lives. 

Knowing that they would have to attempt cooking something for dinner since their meal had been so rudely interrupted, Chan and Changbin were literally about to flip a coin to see who would have to complete the arduous task since none of them knew how to cook, before a scream filled with the most potent fear managed to rise from below and reach their ears. 

“What the fuck was that?” Changbin whispered, not really needing to hear the answer to know. 

“Sungie…” 

Chan didn’t waste two seconds in leaping up from where he was sitting, nearly losing his footing and toppling down the steps. And while he moved hastily, Changbin was still on the deck before him, foregoing using the stairs and just straight up leaping over the railing to where the door to the storeroom was. 

It was a surprise that the door managed to stay on its hinges with the amount of force Changbin used to open it, Chan making a mental note to advise the younger to maybe take a rest from all the workouts he had been keeping himself busy with lately. 

The pile of cardboard boxes that had been stacked so neatly against the wall earlier in the day were now strewn about so carelessly. Thankfully, they had been empty, just excess that they hadn’t managed to get rid of yet because, if they had been full, Jisung, who was currently being encircled by them as he sat on the floor, would have surely been crushed. 

“Sung! What happened?! Are you alright?!” Changbin yelled, pushing the fallen boxes out of the way to get to the young man completely disregarding his brothers’ presences and staring into the corner of the room.

“I think so…” 

Once both Chan and Changbin managed to tear their eyes away from Jisung now that they had registered that no harm had come to him, they followed their youngest’s eyeline towards whatever it was that had captured his attention and startled him so much that he had collapsed with the fright. 

“Why, hello there!” 

It was a greeting that held much more enthusiasm and far too much normalcy for the current situation. And while the circumstance had clearly shaken all three inhabitants of the ship, the fourth young man currently in their company, the one who was definitely not supposed to be in their company, was smiling away, so nonchalantly acting like his presence was not something worth talking about. 

But it most certainly was. 

And Chan was going to make sure that the young man that should still be on the island they just left knew that. Hopping up from where he had been squatting beside Jisung, Chan stalked over to Jeongin, ripping the box he had been hiding under off of his head and grabbed his grubby collar before harshly pushing him up against the wall.

“What are you doing on my ship?” the captain growled, tightening his grip around the floundering boy’s collar. 

“I…I got lost and found myself here. What a coincidence that it would be your ship!”

Chan didn’t enjoy the easygoing tone that Jeongin had decided to take on despite the position he was in. It was like he hadn’t taken Chan’s decision seriously back on the island, completely disregarding what he had been told and honestly, Chan really didn’t appreciate how flippant Jeongin was right now, making that clear by hardening his already threatening expression.

“Cut the bullshit already!” 

“Alright, how about we just take a little breather here?”

Chan wanted to tell Jisung that he didn’t need a breather, that he was thinking just fine and his reaction was perfectly normal to someone sneaking onto his ship when he was told, very clearly, that he was not welcome here. 

Still, he did as he was told when he saw the drastic change in Jeongin’s demeanour after yelling at him. The young man who was doing his best to make a joke out of the situation was now trembling slightly after hearing and seeing how infuriated the captain was, eyes blown wide and shining with what Chan could only assume were the unshed tears of fright that would no doubt fall over should he not listen to Jisung’s advice. Loosening his grip on Jeongin’s collar, Chan made no move to catch him when the younger stumbled a bit before falling straight down onto the ground with a pitiful thump, curling in on himself slightly at the thought of being beaten up by these pirates for his insolence.

“Hi, Jeongin,” Jisung smiled, brushing off the covering of dust that had managed to settle upon the young man as he sat hidden in the storeroom. Jisung really had to remind himself to get cleaning one of these days.

“Hi…”

“You snuck onto our ship,” snickered Jisung, knowing that Changbin would be livid about the fact that someone could invade their home so easily. “What exactly was your plan after you got on here?”

Jeongin’s eyes immediately jumped past Jisung’s shoulder to stare at the fuming captain and downright confounded third member of the crew who seemed to be upgrading the defences of the ship in his head. He knew that there was very little he could do to lessen Chan’s rage right now and lying wouldn’t do him any good either. His only hope seemed to be Jisung, who was still smiling at him with a hint of amusement.

“I don’t really have much of a plan at the moment…” 

“I do,” Chan hissed, trying to advance on Jeongin but getting an elbow to the side of the leg from Jisung that made him stop in his tracks. “Only because I’ll never hear the end of it if I toss your ass overboard now, we’ll bring you to the closest island and you can find your own way from there.” 

“But-”

“How the hell did you even get to our ship before us? We literally ran all the way here,” Changbin interrupted. 

It was clear to Jeongin that Changbin seemed to care less about the fact that they had a stowaway and more about the fact that the small runt of a kid had managed to outrun them as they tried to escape the Marines back on the island.

“When you’ve lived in Ghrian for as long as I have, you know all the shortcuts. Where you hid your ship is where a lot of pirates dock so they aren’t discovered by the Marines. There were only two ships around here and I saw the crew on the other ship so I figured this one belonged to you.” 

That seemed to do the trick and sate Changbin’s curiosity for now and while Jeongin was thankful that he would no longer be questioned as to how he got on the ship, it didn’t look like Chan’s ire was lessening any amount, Jeongin’s presence only adding fuel to the raging fire. 

“Whatever, you may as well give me back the money I gave you since you’re hitching a free ride with us now.” 

Jeongin figured that his gulp was audible when the three young men in front of him gave all of their attention to him once again. In some weird way, Jeongin almost thought that this point wouldn’t actually come up, hoping that his presence on the ship would be the one thing that occupied Chan’s mind but when had life ever cut him some slack? Of course the money that Chan had given him would come up. 

And man, Jeongin knew this was going to land him in some even deeper shit with the captain.

“Well, that’s the thing. I don’t…exactly…have it.”

“I beg your pardon?” Chan snorted without an ounce of amusement. 

“I no longer have the money that you gave me.”

All the while they had been sitting in the hold, Jisung had been staring at Jeongin with a smile on his face, clearly a tactic to try and make the stowaway feel somewhat at ease, a silent promise that nothing bad would happen to him as long as he was around. However, hearing the tut that came from Chan after Jeongin’s explanation, his expression morphed into something along the lines of ‘I can no longer help you. May god have mercy on your soul.’

“So, what you’re saying is, you took my kindness and pissed it away, had the actual balls to stowaway on my ship and still have the audacity to try and make a case to let you stay here?”

“Yes. That is exactly what is happening. Has anyone ever told you that you’re very good at summarising?”

“You have about three seconds before you’re going to find your ass in the ocean, kid,” Chan growled, the level of his voice rising with every step he took towards Jeongin, clearly not lying about dumping the young man’s body over the side of the ship.

“No! Wait! I-I don’t have your money because I…gave it to someone else.”

That was not the answer that any of the ship’s inhabitants had been expecting. Assuming that Jeongin had just tried to lie and keep the money for himself, Chan admittedly had to stop and offer him a quirked eyebrow and a chance to explain himself. There was very little Jeongin could say to wiggle himself out of this particular predicament but Chan was interested to see if he could attempt to.

“Oh? And who is enjoying my hard earned money that I so generously gave to you to start a new life?” 

With his eyes falling down to his blistered hands, the remnants of a life he would hopefully never have to return to, Jeongin sighed heavily, wondering if what he was about to say would cause the captain to find some sympathy in his heart and allow him to stay dry and safe on the ship instead of threading the freezing cold water as he watched their ship sail off into the distance without him. 

“There are these kids back in the city. I used to feed them leftovers from the restaurant because they couldn’t get a hot meal anywhere else.”

The air of tension that had been swirling around the small room suddenly plummeted to the ground before disappearing completely, the three friends listening intently to Jeongin’s story, suddenly becoming a lot more interested in the sudden serious turn the tale had taken.

“They don’t have families and I think I was the closest thing to a friend that they had who wasn’t a kid like them. I told them that I’d be leaving and that I wouldn’t be able to help them out anymore but that they could use the money that you gave me to feed themselves and maybe find some decent lodgings for a while. They needed the money a hell of a lot more than I did…”

He could feel their eyes on him but Jeongin couldn’t quite tell what emotion they were looking at him with since his gaze was still upon his hands that had curled into fists half way through his explanation, the crescent indentations in his palms beginning to sting a little. 

In a way, to someone unfamiliar with how close he was to these kids back in the city, it could almost seem like a sad sob story he had concocted to try and appeal to the compassion within the shipmates’ hearts, an attempt to trick them into letting him stay on the ship but Jeongin desperately wanted to convey that this was nothing but the truth and that he had indeed handed the rather sizeable pouch that Chan had given over to the eldest kid in the group to make sure nothing would be squandered. 

Of course, all the kids had whined and cried about Jeongin’s departure in the very short time that he had to bid them goodbye but he promised them that he would return to them someday soon to make sure that they were taking care of themselves and that they had put the money to good use. And if Jeongin gave them his key to the restaurant and told them that they should use it to take small amounts of food from the kitchen every now and then that wouldn’t be noticed, then that was their little secret to keep. 

He had also yelled back to them that he would be a famous pirate by the next time he saw them again as he ran down the street to try and get back to Chan’s ship before the owners did but he wasn’t quite sure how he was ever going to accomplish that if the very thought of Jeongin even being on his ship was enough to send Chan into a frenzy. 

Eventually, since he didn’t want to drown in the silence, Jeongin raised his head to find all three men still staring at him but noticed that all of their expressions had softened a hell of a lot, even Chan, who looked more exasperated than enraged right now. Still not what Jeongin wanted but it was a considerable upgrade from before. 

“How are we supposed to be mad at an explanation like that?” Changbin muttered, the right corner of his lip quirking up a little in an attempt to hide a smile at Jeongin’s good deeds.  

“I can try. It was still my money.”

“We have plenty, hyung,” Jisung huffed, clearly getting annoyed at Chan’s lack of empathy. “Stop being so cantankerous.” 

Jeongin figured that he was momentarily out of danger if Jisung was now back to trying to defend him with Chan, the earlier smile filled with reassurance finding its place back on the young man’s lips as he scolded his captain.  

“We didn’t really get a chance to introduce ourselves properly, huh?” Jisung piped, clapping his hands together before offering them to Jeongin to finally pull the young man from the floor. “Like I told you in the alleyway, I’m Jisung. This guy here is Changbin hyung and the giant pillar of negative energy with a face that looked like someone slapped him over there is Chan hyung.”  

Jeongin really had to wonder what kind of power Jisung actually had on this ship, being able to talk to the captain like that and get away with his life. Jeongin’s curiosity was only heightened when Chan glared at the young man in front of Jeongin, only for him to huff as he crossed his arms and averted his eyes, like Jisung had already won this battle. 

“How old are you exactly?” inquired Jisung.

“Huh? Oh, I’m twenty one,” Jeongin clarified, eyebrows arching a little as he saw the excited glint in Jisung’s eyes.

“Oh, that would make him the new baby on the ship!”

“That would only matter if he was actually staying on the ship,” Chan stated, his final decision about Jeongin leaving their home as quickly as possible bleeding through in his words. “Changbin, I want you to set a course for Jila, it would probably take the shortest amount of time to get to from here. If we keep going, we’ll get there tomorrow afternoon. We can drop him off then. Then we can keep going towards Yilin for next week.” 

“We could at least bring him somewhere safe,” Jisung offered, earning himself a glare to the back of the head from Chan who didn’t appreciate his orders once again being pretty much ignored. “You got somewhere that you want to go? Anyone you want us to take you to?”

“My parents are all I have. They live in Zonia.”

“That’s on the other side of the world. It would take over a month and a half to get there by sea. Plus, it’s in the opposite direction of where we’re headed.”

Changbin shrugged his shoulders a little when Jisung turned to frown at him for offering such information up and basically ruining any chances Jeongin had left at getting home. He hadn’t said it in a malicious way, he wanted to drop Jeongin off somewhere safe as much as Jisung but he knew that Chan wouldn’t let anything disrupt their plans. They had to be in Yilin in time for Insu’s party and bringing Jeongin home would ensure that they would never make it. 

“Then we’ll go with my plan and drop him off at Jila. You have a problem with that, Sung?” Chan challenged, begging Jisung to give him an excuse to reprimand him in a most unsightly fashion. 

“No, Captain.” 

That was all that Chan had to say on the matter, not sparing a glance towards the three young men in the hold as he turned on his heel and stalked out the door. It left very little room for argument but both Changbin and Jisung knew that they had pretty much used up all the good luck that they had with Chan today and decided to, smartly, keep their mouth shut. 

“Until then, you are a guest here! Jeongin, welcome to The Haven!” Jisung bubbled, throwing his arm around Jeongin’s shoulders and giving a small squeeze. “I assume you already know that Channie hyung is our captain. He’s four years older than you. Binnie hyung here is our first mate and quartermaster and two years older than you. Last, but most importantly, I am the second mate, the shipwright and one year older than you. I also take care of feeding these two since they can’t cook!”

“Sung, you can’t cook either. You’ve set the stove on fire twice this week already.” 

“That’s not true!” Jisung gasped dramatically, clutching at his chest like Changbin had somehow burned him. “It actually happened three times this week…”  

For the first time since he got on the ship, Jeongin felt calm enough to be able to laugh at Jisung’s poor attempt to defend his cooking skills. The thought of someone setting a stove on fire was making Jeongin’s skin tingle, wondering how such a thing was possible at all, let alone thrice within a seven day period. 

“You worked back at that restaurant, right?” Changbin asked, bringing Jeongin back to the present. “What were you like a busboy there or something?”

“I was actually the head chef.”

Both Jisung and Changbin thought that to be a rather hilarious joke as they snorted with laughter and nudged each other in the ribs as if to say ‘get a load of this guy.’ And while it infuriated Jeongin just a little bit to have his skills completely disregarded just like that, he could understand where the two young men were coming from. It would have been a very rare occurrence for someone at the age of twenty one to be the head chef in a rather prestigious restaurant.

“Yeah, right. Seriously, what did you do there?” 

“I am being serious. I can prove it!” Jeongin fumed with a stomp of his foot.

“How?”

“By cooking something for you. It looks like you have a lot of fresh ingredients here.”

Jeongin had been sitting in the hold for a good thirty minutes before Jisung had come in and screamed bloody murder upon finding Jeongin’s long legs sticking out from beneath the box he was hiding under. In that time, having the profession that he did, he couldn’t help but inspect the food that was stored in the hold where he was hiding. A lot of the stuff looked to have been bought today, some of it still cold from the fridges of the store and Jeongin thought that there must be some decent chefs aboard the ship but hearing that the three shipmates couldn’t cook, even going as far as to set the stove aflame, it didn’t inspire much confidence that the ingredients would ever reach their full potential unless he took over.

“Yeah, we went grocery shopping before we came to the restaurant,” Jisung provided, clearly intrigued about the prospect of a decent meal after they had been practically run out of the restaurant.

“Well, it’s getting close to dinner time. How about I cook? It can be payment too, for not throwing me overboard.” 

“Ok but we’ll keep an eye on you,” Changbin nagged, not yet acquiring Jisung’s level of trust when it came to Jeongin. “Despite Sungie’s warm welcome, it’s not like you can run around this place for free.”

That seemed fair enough but it wasn’t like Jeongin had any desire to go anywhere by himself right now. There was always a possibility of running into Chan alone and doing something to make the captain change his decision about dumping him in the ocean.

“Don’t be so uptight,” Jisung groaned loudly.  

“You want to have Channie hyung on your ass for letting Jeongin have free run on this ship?”

Jeongin could see the wheels turning in Jisung’s mind as he thought about the implications of pissing Chan off when he already seemed to be in a foul mood today before making his decision. 

“Nah, I’m good.”

“That’s what I thought.”

Being as hasty as he was trying to get on the ship without being seen and find a decent hiding spot, Jeongin hadn’t really had any time to truly appreciate the grand specimen of a vessel that he was now currently sailing upon. 

It was a rather impressive ship, with Jeongin having seen more than a few varieties after living in Ghrian for so long. The two main sails were a dazzling white with a black crown painted across the middle but Jeongin couldn’t help thinking that, if these people weren’t pirates, as Chan had so vehemently said, painting a logo on their sails would make them instantly identifiable to those who assumed they were. Jeongin had a feeling that Jisung had something to do with that. 

It looked to be in tip top shape and since Jisung had already stated that he was the shipwright, Jeongin could only assume that the maintenance had been left to him. Maybe Jisung couldn’t cook but he sure as hell had a talent for keeping their ship in check. All in all, it was a rather sizable ship to be manned by three people but apparently they were making it work. Then again, with the advancement in inventions these days, it wouldn’t have surprised Jeongin if most of the ship ran itself.

And while Jeongin could say so many nice things about the ship as a whole, when he was finally led to the galley, he had to stop for just a moment on the threshold of the door. 

It was, in a word, magnificent. And so wasted on people who could not cook. 

It was maybe half the size of the kitchen back at Haema but Jeongin thought it was perfect, especially when he was going to be the only one using it now, not having to worry about being surrounded by six or seven more chefs. 

Whoever designed the interior of the ship clearly put a lot of effort into kitting it out with the best that money could buy. The poor, mistreated stove was of the same high quality as the rest of the appliances, though the hob looked to be a bit blackened from Jisung’s mealtime antics. There were colourful magnets all over the door of the fridge, letters and numbers jumbled from top to bottom but someone had taken a couple of them to spell out 3racha by the handle. Three different coloured mugs sat on the counter, black, pink and red, all of them perched right beside the electric kettle, ready to be used for the morning coffee. 

And for some reason, at least to Jeongin, the little oddities made the room feel so much better. The kitchen felt lived in, like this was a main room of someone’s home and Jeongin couldn’t wait to begin cooking something for Jisung and Changbin. 

“So, what are you making, Jeongin?” queried Changbin, sitting on the stool by the small island counter to try and oversee what the youngest was doing.

“I was thinking of jjajangmyeon. There’s some pre-made kimchi from your shopping earlier and I found some pickled radish too. I think that might be good.”

“Jjajangmyeon?” Jisung gasped, twirling around on his chair. “Wow, I haven’t had that in years. Maybe not since we were back home.”

“Sung, don’t talk about-”

“Relax, hyung. Channie hyung isn’t around. It’s fine.”

Jeongin was well aware that there was something underlying in that particular conversation between the two friends but he knew better than to stick his nose where it didn’t belong and kept his eyes on the utensils he was beginning to clean to prep his meal.

After running back to the hold with Jisung in tow, Jeongin grabbed everything he thought he would need before heading back to the kitchen to begin the work that he loved so much. It was like an automatic response at this stage, making a dish such as this since he had made it so many times before. Cutting the pork shoulder and vegetables, scooping the black bean paste into the saucepan, adding the chicken stock and noodles; he didn’t even have to think about it. 

All the while, there were two sets of eyes upon him, almost marvelling at Jeongin’s skill and it made the young man smile just a little bit. He had never been in a position where someone was actually in awe of his work since nobody really ever saw him doing it. 

It took him just over a half hour to complete the three portions of jajangmyeon, setting one aside for Chan should he feel hungry later on. There was a slight hope in Jeongin’s heart that this little gesture might butter the captain up a bit, however slight the chance may be. 

Seeing that Jeongin had finished, Jisung hopped away from the island to sit at the ‘far too large for three people’ table in the middle of the room to graciously accept the plate that Jeongin offered to both himself and Changbin. 

Anxiously awaiting the verdict, Jeongin stood by with hands clasped, seeing Jisung pick up his utensils to dig in but what interested him more was that Changbin didn’t move to do the same, simply staring at the food before turning to Jisung who was eyeing the plate with a sort of ravenous hunger. 

“You go first, Sung.”

“Huh?” Jisung questioned, perplexed. “Why do I have to go first?”

“Cause if it’s poisoned, at least I’ll still be around to avenge your death.”

For a split second, Jisung’s face twisted into something horrified at the thought of meeting his end through a final meal of noodles but quickly brushed it off when he saw the irritatingly smug grin on Changbin’s face. 

“You suck.”

Deciding that it wouldn’t be the worst way to go, Jisung shrugged his shoulders before stuffing far too much of the food in his mouth, nearly choking in the process until Changbin started whacking on his back, his urgency telling Jeongin that he feared his earlier joke was coming to fruition. When Jisung finally managed to swallow, his face took on a completely blank expression, not giving anything away on his opinion on the food before he slowly reached over to Changbin’s bowl and began to drag it towards himself. 

“You know, hyung, I don’t think you’ll like it. Maybe I should just take yours and save you from-”

Before Jisung could complete his poorly acted out scheme, Changbin had already grabbed the younger man’s wrist in a death grip, knowing Jisung too well to see that he didn’t really think that Changbin wouldn’t like the meal that Jeongin had prepared. 

“You know taking food is a good way to lose some fingers.”

With a gulp and a nervous smile, Jisung nodded his head, letting go of Changbin’s bowl to allow the elder to slide it back over and take a substantial mouthful himself. And while Jeongin had been somewhat confused about Jisung’s reaction, there was nobody that could say that Changbin’s thoughts on the food were anything but positive, his eyes blowing wide and a satisfied sigh leaving his mouth as the flavours of the noodles exploded and danced around his tongue. 

And Jeongin felt like he had been awarded a Michelin star when Jisung placed his chin in his hands and winked slyly at Changbin.  

“He’s never leaving this ship, right?” 

“Hey, are we on course?” 

Chan had been brooding away in his quarters for the last couple of hours, going over the plans again and again to make sure everything went accordingly. They couldn’t afford a screw up when it came to this but his concentration was wavering slightly because of the new addition to the ship that would be gone by this time tomorrow. 

When the reserved knock came on the door, he told Changbin to come in, remembering that Jisung was always more animated and, well, loud, when he wanted to get Chan’s attention.

“Yeah, Sung’s at the helm. He’s showing Jeongin the ups and downs of everything,” Changbin yawned, utterly drained from the events of today and more than content with a full belly because of Jeongin.

“Why?” Chan scoffed, finally taking his eyes away from the mess of papers on his desk. 

“He seemed interested in it.”

“It’s not like he needs to know how to do anything on the ship. He’ll be gone in the morning.” 

Hearing a sigh from his younger crewmate, Chan already knew that Changbin was about to argue with him and really, right now, he wasn’t in the mood for it. He always encouraged Jisung and Changbin to voice their opinions and ideas. He may have been elected the captain of The Haven by them but that was mainly just because of seniority and the fact that they had always looked up to him but Chan never wanted them to feel like they were in any way lesser than him, that they couldn’t talk to him or that their views weren’t valid. But today had been trying on a number of levels and he was sure that both of them already knew why he didn’t want Jeongin to stay on the ship but Changbin was definitely going to try his luck on trying to convince him otherwise. 

“Hyung, do you think it would be the worst thing in the world if Jeongin did stay here? I mean, it really wouldn’t put us out in any way.”

Chan leaned back in his chair, making a note to fix the creaky leg that was beginning to drive him insane. He desperately wanted to say that, yes, it could be the worst thing to allow Jeongin to stay here, getting mixed up in their shit and getting in the way of them completing their objective. It had been their problem for the last six years and they had never told anyone about it and Chan was adamant that they weren’t going to start now. 

Besides that, the kid didn’t know anything about who they were or where they came from, yet he was so insistent on wanting to stay with them. For what reason? 

Because he had no money? Chan tried to help him out with that and it got thrown back in his face. They were not there to be Jeongin’s piggy banks. 

Because he wanted protection? They weren’t bodyguards for hire and in the end, Chan would always put Jisung and Changbin’s safety above anyone else’s. He wasn’t going to put them in precarious positions because of someone they didn’t even know. 

Because he was lonely? That was nowhere near their problem. Chan had no interest in getting chummy with anyone that wouldn’t give them something they needed. Live by necessity. That’s what the world had taught him. 

“Bin, just stop,” Chan sighed, massaging his temples in an attempt to magically erase the migraine that was getting worse by the minute. 

“The kid has nowhere to go and he’s actually a really talented cook. He made something for me and Sung and it was super tasty. There’s even some left over for you. We could use the extra hands and-”

“Changbin!” Chan yelled, raising his voice in a way that was not at all in his character. “Enough. I said we’re leaving him on the next island in the morning and that’s that.”

The fright caused by Chan’s outburst was enough to render Changbin speechless. It was a rare occasion to see the captain lose his cool like this, even rarer to have his anger directed towards Changbin or Jisung but when Chan saw the younger flinch back a little at his raised voice, he berated himself on the inside, taking a calming breath before clasping his hands under his chin and diverting his attention back to his work.

“We don’t allow people to get involved in our affairs.” 

“Hyung, there is a life outside of what we plan to do,” Changbin reasoned, moving to stand straight in front of Chan’s desk to try and make him see some sense. “We can involve ourselves with other people, make friends. Revenge isn’t everything.”

“Yes it is. For us, it is. Are you seriously saying that you’re thinking about giving up after everything we’ve been through? Six years, Bin and-”

“-we’re no closer than we were back then. I’m not saying we give up, hyung. I’m just saying we can live our lives alongside looking.” 

Chan didn’t do a very good job at suppressing the disbelieving laughter that tumbled out of his mouth at the implication. They had made progress over the last couple of years, not a lot but they had found clues here and there. They were chasing their biggest lead at the moment and Jeongin was more than likely going to get in the way of that. They didn’t have time for anything else outside of the goal and the suggestion that they could piss around and try to have a good time when there was something so important hanging over their head was indeed laughable.

“I know Jisung is pretty much a lost cause at this stage, he’s already somehow moved on but I didn’t expect this from you.”

“Hyung, for fuck’s sake, you know that Sungie hasn’t moved on,” Changbin snapped, losing all patience when Chan tried to insinuate that their youngest friend had somehow managed to let go of what happened to them in their past. “He hurts just as much as we do, maybe even more but he’s better at putting on a brave face for us. Please don’t say something like that in front of him.” 

Chan never would. He shouldn’t have even said what he just did just now since he knew that none of them would ever forget about it for as long as they lived, the incident leaving a sizable scar on each of their souls. It slipped out in anger and while he knew that Changbin could take one or two emotional hits and bounce back quickly, Jisung would more than likely never forgive him for ever trying to suggest that he had forgotten about anything. 

“You clearly don’t seem to understand what I’m getting at here,” grunted Changbin, finally beginning to give up on this whole conversation and move towards the door. “But I didn’t think you were cold enough to throw away a kid who has literally lost everything, not when the three of us know exactly how that feels.” 

“He hasn’t lost everything, Changbin. He still has family left.”

“So do you, hyung,” Changbin whispered, the sound of tears in his voice. “Me and Sungie, we’re right here. Maybe if you opened your eyes once in a while, you’d see that.” 

And for the first time tonight, Chan looked at Changbin, really looked at him, knowing that the younger was a master at controlling his emotions and if he was breaking because of him, he had really fucked up. Chan had always promised to protect them but he was so focused on using his fists to incapacitate Marines, pirates and bounty hunters to keep them safe that, sometimes, he forgot that words could do just as much damage. And from the look on Changbin’s face, so full of betrayal and heartache, this one conversation had hurt him greatly.

“You know what? Forget I said anything. Just forget it.” 

“Bin, I didn’t-” 

The echo that reverberated off the walls from Chan’s door being slammed was enough to make the captain’s heart twist in a painful fashion. At too many points today, Chan had taken his annoyance out on the wrong people and that included Jeongin. The young man hadn’t done anything wrong. In fact, he had helped them get Jisung out of a dicey situation, given them a path to freedom and Chan had treated him like some sort of criminal that was more than a nuisance in their lives. All Jeongin wanted was to escape a place that constantly beat him down. Things could have played out very differently today had Chan acted in a more civilised manner. He could have spoken to Jeongin in a more pleasant way, had dinner with him and the others but for some reason, Chan wanted to do nothing more than place the blame for his foul mood on Jeongin. 

Even when the fault was entirely his own. 

“You comfy?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” 

Jeongin gave a small thumbs up to Jisung from the floor where he was currently lying, finding it amusing that the wooden boards beneath him were strangely more comfortable than the bed he had spent the last few years staying on. 

Two padded blankets had been thrust into his hands about ten minutes ago, along with two pillows, a t-shirt and a pair of cotton pyjama pants by Changbin, whose whole demeanour had shifted considerably since the last time Jeongin had saw him at dinner, where he had been smiling happily and watching Jisung with a fondness as the younger babbled on about how exciting the events of the day were. Since he came back, he hadn’t said anything but a mumbled goodnight to both Jeongin and Changbin before quietly going to his own quarters. 

It was clear that this sort of change in Changbin wasn’t normal when Jeongin noticed the concerned look in Jisung’s eyes as his older friend turned his back on him but Jisung let him be for now.

“Sorry that you have to stay with me but Channie hyung is pretty insistent that you not be left on your own,” Jisung drawled as he stretched his arms towards the headboard of his bed, turning to lie on his side so he could talk face to face with Jeongin before dimming the small lamp beside his bed but not turning it off completely.  

“Don’t worry about it. It makes sense not to trust a stranger like me.”

Jisung’s room was quaint enough, a little untidy but not unclean by any standards. It was still considerably larger and way nicer than what Jeongin was used to. All it contained was the bed Jisung was currently lying in, a bedside locker, a closet, a desk and chair but it was the little knick knacks and thingamabobs that really screamed that Jisung lived in the room. Jeongin couldn’t help but laugh at the three framed wanted posters that were situated behind Jisung on the wall, all depicting the 3racha crew and their bounties. 

Of course, being the captain of a ship automatically added numbers to your bounty, so it made sense that Chan had a total of 200’000 risa above the giant ‘dead or alive’ text scribbled beneath a very unflattering photograph of the handsome captain. Changbin was next with another impressive bounty of 180’000 risa, Jeongin figuring that it was due to what he saw earlier in the restaurant, Changbin fighting loyally beside Chan when that twat of a captain had tried to take them on. Jisung was on the final wanted poster, a lower but still considerably bounty of 140’000 risa underneath his photograph. Though, maybe being the lowest bounty was a little bit of a sore spot for Jisung when Jeongin noticed the small piece of paper attached to the frame that had another zero drawn on it to pitifully increase his bounty, even though Jeongin was sure that Chan would do everything in his power to make sure that Jisung’s bounty would never reach that much. 

“Jeongin?” 

Turning his gaze away from the posters and onto Jisung, Jeongin hadn’t realised the other young man had been staring at him the entire time.

“Yeah?”

“I just wanted to say, I hope that you don’t think badly of Channie hyung.”

It was whispered in such a vulnerable way that it made Jeongin prop himself up on his elbows to try and meet Jisung’s eyes, the other having snuggled into the blankets below him. 

“Towards people he doesn’t know or trust, he can be a little harsh and it seems like he doesn’t care but he does, I promise. When he was younger, he was pretty much a big ball of sunshine, it’s just…some shit has happened to us in the past and it has changed him a lot. It changed all of us.”

Something which Jeongin was sure had to do with the conversation he was not supposed to hear between Jisung and Changbin in the kitchen earlier. It had to do with their hometown, something which wouldn’t allow them to go back, something that was not supposed to be spoken about, especially in front of Chan. But, once again, Jeongin didn’t pry, figuring that it was a sensitive subject if nobody had outright said it out loud.

“He’s a really good guy, just please don’t judge him too much on how he’s acted today. A lot of his attitude comes from the fact that he wants to keep me and Binnie hyung safe.”

“It’s alright, I don’t think badly of him,” Jeongin reassured. “I could tell that he was a good person from the moment I met him.” 

And that was true because, in the first instance of meeting him, Chan had attempted to save Jeongin from being slapped around by Hangyeol, had done everything that he really could have to try and save Jeongin from having this happen to him again and had even tried to offer a comforting sort of smile when he had been led back inside. And even though he hadn’t exactly been welcoming since Jeongin had been aboard the ship, Jeongin had always had a pretty good sense of when people were inherently good and he knew that Chan definitely was. 

“Yeah?” Jisung smiled sleepily.

“Yeah.”

“Thanks, Jeongin.” 

It wasn’t exactly something Jeongin thought he needed to be thanked for but seeing the happiness that his understanding brought Jisung, he kept his mouth shut and didn’t attempt to argue. 

“So, how come you’re so far away from home?” Jisung asked quietly, like he was trying to avoid waking someone up, despite the two of them being the only ones in the room.

“Ah, long story. Was supposed to come to Ghrian to stay with my uncle but he kind of betrayed me and I ended up at that restaurant. I didn’t have enough money to get back home, so I stayed there and told my parents that I got a job and would visit whenever I got the chance. They don’t have much, or anything at all really, so I didn’t want to burden them with my problems.”

“I know all about that feeling,” Jisung laughed humourlessly. “Well, hopefully, you can find a better job in Jila and make enough money to get back home.”

“I don’t think anyone will hire me with no references…”

It wasn’t like Hangyeol was going to give him one now, not after being knocked out cold by Jeongin earlier in the day. Not that he would have even if Jeongin hadn’t nearly cracked his skull in two. But that had been his first and only job and because of his uncle selling him off, he hadn’t managed to finish up his education either. He literally had nothing to assist him in getting a new job in Jila and that just about scared the crap out of him but there was little he could do about that right now.

“I mean, you could literally just cook something for them and they could not turn you away. Your cooking is amazing!” 

An awfully kind compliment from Jisung but after seeing the way that the three crewmates usually ate, it did lose some of its meaning. 

“You and the others. Are you guys related or…?” Jeongin mumbled, finding sleep doing its best to close his eyes against his will.

“You think so because we are all so devilishly handsome?” Jisung sang, sweeping his hair back dramatically. “Nope, just best friends. Brothers without blood ties, I guess. We’d do absolutely anything for each other. Why?” 

“Nothing. It’s just, you guys seem so super close. It’s nice to have people to rely on like that.” 

Even as a kid, Jeongin never really remembered ever having friends like that, close enough that he wanted to call them family. A lot of it probably stemmed from his family’s situation, since he vividly remembers a mother of one of the kids in his school telling her son not to associate with ‘the likes of him.’ And he definitely never had that while he was working at the restaurant but it seemed like such a lovely idea, to have someone you trusted so much, that knew you better than you knew yourself. Jeongin doubted that he would ever be able to have something like that. If he hadn’t managed it in twenty one years, it was a reasonable assumption that he would never find it now. 

“Get some sleep. Channie hyung is on first watch tonight but he’ll be coming to wake me in a few hours so that I can take over for him. So, don’t freak out if you hear him come in later on.” 

“Got it,” Jeongin slurred drowsily. “Goodnight, hyung.”

The term of familiarity didn’t even register with Jeongin before he was dragged away into a deep slumber but Jisung still retained some consciousness and most definitely noticed how he had been called hyung. He couldn’t remember a time where he had ever been called hyung before but it certainly caused an unfamiliar warm feeling to start stirring in his chest, one that he wished he could hold onto for a long time but feared it would be fleeting and disappear before he could ever get used to it. 

“Goodnight, Jeongin.”

Noticing the dark wave of clouds in the sky that they were sailing into, Chan had to suppress a groan at the thought of having to deal with a storm raining down upon them when they were finished dropping Jeongin off on Jila. He was more than used to dealing with choppy waves, intense winds and turbulent conditions but that didn’t mean he enjoyed it. 

Standing at the helm, Chan could see pretty much the entirety of The Haven but his eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the young man sitting on the railings at the bow of the ship, dangling his legs and staring out over the open water as they approached the island in the distance. And despite not being able to see his face, Chan could somehow tell that Jeongin was completely at peace by simply being in the presence of the waves and sea air, like he didn’t need anything else in life to be content. 

A state that reminded Chan a lot of himself when he was younger. 

Being so focused on Jeongin’s form ahead of him, Chan had somehow blocked out everything else around him, a dangerous mistake when a rather forceful and painful thwack was bestowed upon his left arm, making him stumble away from the steering wheel in surprise. 

“Ow! What the hell?” Chan fumed, rubbing his throbbing arm and scowling at Jisung in a way that was becoming far too familiar to him.

“You can’t keep doing that!” the younger yelled, taking the chance to whack Chan in the exact same spot when the captain had let his guard down and finished his self soothing.

“Jisung, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“You never woke me up to take over your shift.”

No, he hadn’t, because there was no way in hell he could sleep after the way he had left things with Changbin last night. He kept agonising over the way Changbin’s voice had cracked under the weight of his emotions, knowing that he had been the cause. Countless times throughout the night, Chan had attempted to turn himself towards Changbin’s room to just simply go and apologise for being such an ass, for saying such stupid things that he knew weren’t true but as the minutes ticked by, it became harder and harder and after going through what he would say twenty or thirty times and deeming none of his words good enough, Chan eventually gave up and simply decided to punish himself by taking over Jisung’s shift too.

“I wasn’t tired, Sung.”

“Is your insomnia getting bad again? I told you that you can always come and talk to me when-”

“Sungie, I’m fine.”

The problem with saying stuff like that was that both Changbin and Jisung could see right through him. They knew that he wasn’t ‘fine.’ He hadn’t been fine for a long time. And Jisung was aware of that but he also knew that pushing Chan on something like this would get him absolutely nowhere.

“Listen, we have another hour or so before we reach Jila. Go and lie down for a while and take the weight off your feet.”

“Sungie, there are things that have to be done-”

“All of which can wait until after we leave Jila,” Jisung persisted, placing a comforting hand around Chan’s surely bruised bicep and gently caressing it. “Channie hyung, please, for me, go and rest. Please.”

And what was Chan supposed to do? Say no like a madman? There was very little in this world that Han Jisung couldn’t get Chan to do, having figured out all of his weaknesses a long time ago. Jutting out his lip and conjuring a thin layer of tears to his eyes always managed to do the trick, which is why that was exactly the path that Jisung chose to go down in this moment and time.

“How is it after sixteen years of knowing you, those damn puppy eyes of yours still work?” Chan grumbled without malice, pulling Jisung close to his side and placing a quick kiss to the side of his temple.  “You’re lucky I love you so much.”

“Love you too, hyung,” giggled Jisung, tapping his captain on his backside and ushering him off to his quarters. “I’m coming to check on you in ten minutes to make sure that you’re not working!” 

“Hey, you ok up there?” 

It probably would have been the height of embarrassment to fall off of a railing into the sea below and have to have people who were already not that fond of your presence fish you out. Then again, they could have left him in the water altogether to save themselves the trouble of having to drop him off. Thankfully, it didn’t come to that but Jeongin came pretty damn close when Changbin’s voice scared him out of his thinking, enough that his hand barely managed to catch the railing to steady himself.

“Oh, Changbin hyung. Yeah, I’m ok. Just enjoying the view.”

Quite effortlessly, unsurprisingly with the kind of defined muscles that he had, Changbin hopped up the few steps leading towards the bow of the ship and simultaneously swung both his legs over the wooden railing to sit beside Jeongin for a few moments. 

“You ever been on a ship before?” the elder asked, taking a deep lungful of the salty breeze flowing towards them.

“Just when I first travelled to Ghrian. I didn’t really get to appreciate it though. It was raining the whole way and we were below deck. But now, while I can, I just wanted to sit here for a while. I always dreamed of a life on the sea.”

He hadn’t intended on furthering his thoughts on the subject but when he noticed the encouraging look on Changbin’s face from the corner of his eye, like he wanted to know just that little bit more about the young man who had barrelled his way into their lives, for however short a time it may be. 

“Just sailing and embracing the freedom that the sea allows. Not as a Marine and…definitely n-not as a pirate.”

Jeongin’s stuttering while trying to explain that he didn’t want to be a pirate, despite wanting nothing more for the past couple of years, had obviously amused Changbin if the little chuckle he left out was anything to go by. It was strange, Jeongin thought, that Chan seemed to be the only one that had such a horribly overt reaction to being seen as a pirate. Jisung, on the other hand, seemed to embrace it with their wanted posters on his bedroom wall. Changbin seemed to be somewhere in the middle, neither caring nor embracing the title of a buccaneer. 

“Despite what Channie hyung says, I think the government and Marines see us as pirates, whether we like it or not,” Changbin shrugged, throwing a very gentle sort of smile towards Jeongin. 

Contrary to both Chan and Jisung, Jeongin hadn’t really gotten to interact with the third member of the crew all that much, seeing him as more a strong and silent type but sitting here with him, Jeongin got the feeling that Changbin was someone that was extremely easy to talk to about anything, that he wouldn’t snap at him like Chan had done when labelling him a pirate. 

So, Jeongin thought that he could very subtly try and draw a little bit of information from the young man about why Chan reacted the way he did.

“He seems to really hate the idea of being a pirate.”

“Yeah…”

And that was it. That was all that Changbin was going to give him. An immeasurable disappointment but it had been a long enough shot in the first place. It wasn’t Jeongin’s business to know and that’s the way it was going to stay if Changbin had anything to say about it. 

“Well, I hate to say that I’m going to make breakfast in front of a chef like you when I’m literally going to be pouring cereal into a bowl,” Changbin laughed, making a move to swing his legs back over the railing and head towards the galley.

“I can make you guys something if you’d like,” offered Jeongin.

“No, I couldn’t ask you to do that after you made us dinner last night.”

“I don’t mind. Despite how I learned, I really love cooking for people. Come on, let’s see what we have to work with.”  

“So, I guess this is it.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” chuckled Jeongin, trying desperately to ignore the horrific feeling deep within his gut that was beginning to spread. 

They had arrived in Jila no more than ten minutes ago. In that time, the three crewmates had agreed to walk Jeongin into the small city rather than leaving him on the docks since he had never been here before. Well, it hadn’t been a unanimous decision but more of a decision Jisung had made by himself, to take Jeongin’s hand and lead him down the ramp of the ship towards the bustling stalls in the middle of the city square and what could Chan and Changbin do but follow? 

Their goodbyes were being rushed by Chan just a little bit though since Jila was known to have a rather large presence of Marines because of the fact it was one of the larger cities on a few major trade routes. None of them had any intention of drawing the attention of the Marines while they were here, not when they had successfully escaped their clutches back on Ghrian. So, Jeongin knew that they wouldn’t be hanging around with him for too much longer. 

“Good luck, Jeongin” Changbin smiled with a wave of his hand, breaking the weird, unbearable silence that had settled around them.

With a small nod of thanks towards Changbin, Jeongin then turned to Jisung, the young man holding out his hand with, what Jeongin thought was, the hope of a quick and cordial goodbye. What Jeongin hadn’t expected was that, when he joined his hand with Jisung’s, he was immediately tugged forward into the elder man’s arms, Jisung hooking his chin over his shoulder and sighing unhappily beside his ear. 

“Be safe, ok?” Jisung whispered, pulling Jeongin closer like he didn’t want to let him go.

It hadn’t even been twenty four hours since Jeongin had met the three friends but, for some reason, Jeongin got the distinct feeling that Jisung had developed some seriously strong protective instincts towards him because it was absolutely clear that he didn’t want to send Jeongin off into the big bad world all by himself, despite not being even a full year older than him. 

And honestly, Jeongin couldn’t say that he didn’t feel a strange sort of connection to Jisung either. To all of the inhabitants of The Haven. 

It really was unusual but in a way that made Jeongin feel like he had found a part that had been missing inside of him all along. 

Jisung felt like someone that he hadn’t seen in years but that it would only take a couple of seconds in each other’s presence to fall into such a comfortable rhythm again, joking and messing around, like they had never been apart. Jisung made him feel a happiness that Jeongin wasn’t sure he had ever felt before. 

Changbin felt like that person that you could spill all of your secrets to, someone he could voice his worries to and be reassured about them without any judgement, like his problems were valid, no matter how small. Changbin made Jeongin feel like he could be heard, like the silence he had been forced into for so many years could be shattered and that he could speak his mind. 

And Chan? Most people would call him crazy for even thinking of Chan in a positive light when their encounters had been anything but warm but Jeongin could say one thing for certain, that he felt completely and utterly safe in Chan’s presence. He was clearly a big brother to Changbin and Jisung and Jeongin had an inkling that, if he were to break down the flimsy barrier that stood between them, Chan could be that kind of person for him too, that he too would protect Jeongin from everything bad in the world. 

He felt happy, heard and safe.

The only thing missing to feel completely content was to be wanted by them but as he was released from Jisung’s arms, he knew that was never going to happen. 

Turning towards the only member of the crew that hadn’t said anything, Jeongin caught Chan’s gaze, bowing at a ninety degree to show his gratitude for not throwing him over the side of the ship like he had threatened to do, even if it had just been a passing remark to scare him. 

“Um, thank you, for not throwing me overboard and for the free ride. I appreciate it.” 

And he did. Chan had basically saved him from Hangyeol’s clutches, albeit unknowingly at first and even though Jeongin had absolutely no idea what he was going to do now, he couldn’t exactly say that he wasn’t just that little bit grateful to Chan for helping him escape such a nightmare of a prison. 

“The time I spent with you guys was probably the most fun I’ve had in years. Take care of yourselves.” 

Jeongin didn’t want to leave them. That was, in fact, the very last thing he wanted to do right now. He was used to being on his own despite being surrounded by people for the last few years but now that he knew what his life could have possibly been like with people he knew he could be friends with, separating from them was a lot harder than he was expecting. 

Not only that, he had to walk into this city without a penny to his name, no belongings and no connections. It was only mid-afternoon and that gave him a lot of time to try and figure out how the hell he was going to survive but Jeongin quickly came to the realisation that he could be sleeping outside tonight and for a few nights if he didn’t figure out a plan. 

Finally raising himself from his bowed position, Jeongin smiled weakly, a tight lipped smile, doing his best not to show his glaring worries and insecurities because he knew, he knew that Chan had his reasons for not wanting him on his ship. It may have been easier to swallow for Jeongin if he knew exactly what they were but he was sure he was never going to find out. 

“Hold on,” Chan huffed wearily, directing Jeongin’s attention back to him as he had turned to walk away. 

The captain reached into his back pocket like he had done back on Ghrian and pulled out an identical pouch but instead of throwing it to Jeongin like he had done back then, he walked forward, took Jeongin’s wrist and carefully placed the bag of risa into his hand instead. 

“Please don’t give this away to someone else. I won’t be back to give you any more.” 

“Oh,” Jeongin blurted out, not quite sure what to say to Chan after the bag of coins was placed into his hands. “Thank you, hyung.” 

And for a moment, Jeongin saw Chan’s stoically trained expression crack. It had happened back at the restaurant, when he had tried to reassure Jeongin with a small smile as he had been led back inside by Hangyeol but this time, there was only what seemed to be guilt in the captain’s eyes as they fluttered slightly before Chan eventually had to avert his gaze. 

Not giving Jeongin the chance to read anything else in his face, Chan turned away and began walking back towards the docks, not looking at either Changbin or Jisung, bypassing them completely before they slowly began to follow. Changbin gave him one more nod with a sad sort of smile, while Jisung hesitated for just a moment longer, walking backwards and staring at Jeongin until he bumped into some poor young man and had to apologise, breaking contact with Jeongin and chasing after his brothers. 

Watching the three men disappear was a bit too much to bear, so Jeongin turned on his heel, thinking it was probably best to try and find a room for the night first, preferably somewhere cheap since he didn’t know how long Chan’s generosity would last him before grabbing a bite to eat. He assumed it would take some time to figure out the lay of the land, noticing so many shops and stalls around him but it wasn’t like he had anything else to do. 

Jeongin had thought that he would at least get ten steps into the city before having something go really, terribly, horrifically wrong but such was his luck, having used up all of it to actually run away from Ghrian unscathed. Feeling a hand upon his shoulder, Jeongin turned to see four men standing behind him, three petty officers and their chief from what he could surmise from their uniforms. And while Jeongin thought this could all be a very strange coincidence after just having left a pirate ship that wasn’t really a pirate ship, he got the distinct feeling from the Marines' expressions that they were not stopping him to ask for directions. 

“Excuse me?” the chief petty officer began, a tone of interrogation already lacing his words. “Are you Yang Jeongin?”

“Uh…”

Jeongin would have been merrily impressed if these Marines somehow guessed his name out of thin air, being able to summon some sort of higher power to give them such knowledge but Jeongin really didn’t like the fact that they needed nothing more than his face to be able to surmise exactly who he was. 

Being handed a rolled up piece of parchment by one of his subordinates, the chief petty officer began unrolling it to read out the print scribbled across it, shaking his head in a terribly condescending way, like Jeongin was a child who had been caught trying to skip school.

“You seem to have some pretty serious charges on your head. Aggravated assault, resisting arrest by fleeing the scene, aiding and abetting wanted criminals?”

Well, that summed up the last twenty four hours of his life quite nicely. In all the talk about Jeongin finding a new life on Jila, neither he nor the crew of The Haven ever seemed to consider that he had actually committed a plethora of crimes by helping them escape, that he too would be wanted for aiding pirates that had constantly evaded them. It was clear that the Marines were aware of who he was before they had even asked, probably having gotten word from Ghrian to keep an eye out for him and the 3racha crew. So, Jeongin did the only thing any sane person would do.

“Nope, no idea what you’re talking about.” 

All four men laughed derisively as the chief unveiled yet another piece of paper, one that had an unfavourable picture of him that Jeongin remembered being taken when he first arrived at the restaurant. Jeongin was also sure that Hangyeol didn’t have any problem at all identifying him and handing over the picture so that the Marines could use it on his new wanted poster. He more than likely got some weird sort of satisfaction from it, proving one last time that he had power over Jeongin. 

Underneath the god awful photo, as was the custom with wanted posters, a giant ‘dead or alive’ was printed in bold letters but what shook him just a little was the 50’000 risa bounty he now had upon his head. It was nowhere near as high as the crew of The Haven but Jeongin knew that was because they had been in this scene far longer than he had and that they were, in fact, recognised as pirates by the Marines. But Jeongin figured it was high enough right now when four Marines were staring at him straight in the face, ready to take him in and claim their reward. 

“Yeah, yeah, that’s pretty damning evidence alright…”

Jeongin didn’t give the chief petty officer any more time to play around with him and try to question him about his identity, which was already confirmed concretely, before he was taking off towards the docks from which he had just come. 

People certainly didn’t make it easy for him as, at every possible turn, someone seemed to be in his way, not caring that there was obviously a chase for a supposed criminal happening. Jeongin entertained the idea that they could be more than used to it at this stage, seeing Marines running after pirates and the likes, not letting such a common happening disrupt their lives. 

“Stop! You’re under arrest!”

Jeongin did wonder if that ever worked for the Marines, chasing a criminal who definitely didn’t want to be put in jail, only for them to stop at the sound of the Marine’s orders and say ‘what’s that? I’m under arrest? Terribly sorry, I didn’t realise. Please, cuff me and whisk me away to where I will never see the light of day again!’

He highly doubted it but it didn’t stop the officers from continually shouting it as they trailed him closely throughout the market. 

And without really thinking about it, Jeongin began running faster and faster towards the docks again, seeing the overabundance of ships and focusing in on The Haven, the ship yet to depart. It was difficult but Jeongin could definitely make out the outline of the three young men he had just left and thanked the gods that they were still here, raising his hand to wave at them and try to grab their attention as he continued to sprint towards them. 

“Hyung! Jisung hyung! Help! I-”

Jeongin immediately skidded to a halt when he realised what he was doing. What was he thinking? Calling out to Jisung and the others for help? That would only lead the Marines straight to the crew that had been so kind to him up until now and in no way did Jeongin want to repay that kindness by putting them in even more danger than they already were simply by leading the lives that they were. They had almost gotten caught in Ghrian and Jeongin knew that they weren’t going to put themselves in danger again, especially not for the likes of him.

Hearing the stomp of the numerous pairs of boots behind him on the wooden beams of the dock, Jeongin spun around to face his pursuers, releasing that, by running here, he had effectively boxed himself in with no way out. Of course, he could make a break for it by jumping into the water and trying to get somewhere safe but with all criminals, there is the option to take them dead or alive and Jeongin figured that, if he were to do that, there was a very large chance that the Marines were going to go with the first option. They got paid either way. 

“Alright, kid, don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” 

Jeongin wasn’t quite sure what the petty officer meant by that. How was he making this hard for them? He was outnumbered four to one, was unarmed whilst they had two rifles and two swords directed at him, as if that amount of firepower was needed to someone who had never gotten into a fight in his life, save for Hangyeol beating the snot out him. 

It then occurred to Jeongin that the Marine probably meant don’t make it harder for himself and just come along quietly but it’s a normal reaction, when someone threatening you grabs a hold of your arm and starts pulling you along to be punished for a spur of the moment action that you never thought would drag you this far down. So that’s what Jeongin did, he struggled, he pulled and kicked and went to punch the chief petty officer when he saw an opening. A terrible idea really when the officer that had put away his sword earlier to try and control Jeongin as he dragged him away pulled out the revolver strapped to his belt instead, thrusting it towards Jeongin and placing it in the middle of his forehead, telling him that they didn’t need to bring him back alive if they didn’t want to. A very obvious threat if there ever was one. 

And as his reality came hurtling down on top of him, Jeongin began to wonder if he should have just stayed back and never have intervened in the restaurant, if he should have never followed Chan and the others back to their ship, if he should have never even saved Jisung from Hangyeol in the first place, then none of this would be happening. 

Yes, he was more or less imprisoned back on Ghrian but he still held onto an ounce of freedom, could still talk to his parents through their weekly letters and still mess around with the kids on his breaks. But, now? Now he was going to be thrown into an actual jail cell with only the whistle of the wind and the resident rodents that he had no doubt lived down in the dungeons he would soon be occupying to keep him company.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire as they say and Jeongin wasn’t going to pretend that the thought of never seeing the sun again didn’t make his heart hammer in his chest. But all he could do was whimper as he nodded his head to show that he would go willingly, not that he wanted to but it was better than getting a bullet to the head. 

At least, that’s what Jeongin hoped. 

But from the corner of his eye, Jeongin barely managed to notice the quick, silver flash that flew past him, hardly even registering that it came from the sword that was now dangerously close to the chief petty officer’s neck, an action that said that, if he didn’t want to die, he should follow the next instructions very carefully. 

“If you value your life, I suggest you walk away.” 

Shakily glancing to his left, where the sword was hovering just above his shoulder, Jeongin didn’t even attempt to rub away the tears now slowly cascading down his cheeks before he took in the captain of The Haven standing protectively behind him, looking like he had nothing but murder in his eyes, which he directed at the chief petty officer at the end of his sword, just as he had done to Hangyeol.

A hiss from his right called Jeongin to tear his gaze away from Chan to see both Jisung and Changbin aiming their pistols at the three men behind the man still pointing his own gun at Jeongin’s forehead. Their expressions mirrored their captain’s perfectly, such a fire that, in that moment, even Jeongin was a little frightened. But that sort of feeling was immediately overcome when he realised that they were actually here beside him, here to scare the Marines away. 

They had…actually come back to save him.  

“3racha, huh? I figured if I detained this kid I’d end up catching a bigger fish like you,” the officer chuckled, like he wasn’t seconds away from being impaled on the end of Chan’s sword. 

Miraculously, he backed off for a moment, giving Jeongin just a second to breathe now that he was not staring down the barrel of a gun. Chan, however, did nothing to lower his weapon, clearly smart enough not to make such a mistake and Jeongin quickly understood why once he was immediately pushed behind Chan’s back mere milliseconds before a shot was fired from one of the petty officers directly at him. 

Thanks to Chan’s reflexes and knowhow on how Marines worked, Jeongin escaped unscathed, falling to the wood below with a thump before scrambling backwards to try and put some distance between himself and the Marines but the bullet did manage to graze the top of Chan’s shoulder, causing the captain to hiss but regain his footing immediately. 

“Alright, assholes, don’t say I didn’t warn you. It’s your own mistake for not heeding my advice.” 

Jeongin was so busy taking refuge behind a cluster of barrels on the dock that he barely had time to register that the fight between the Marines and the 3racha crew had already begun. They were well versed in this, the proof of that was how quickly they took care of that other pirate crew back at Haema and Jeongin wasn’t stupid enough to think he would be able to match any of their skill. Should he try to ‘help’, Jeongin was sure that he would just end up getting in the way and causing someone to get hurt. So, he stayed hidden, trying his best to ignore the sounds of swords clashing and guns going off, praying to any deity that none of the cries of pain were coming from the crew that had come back to help him. 

It took less than two minutes for the sounds to stop, a sign that Jeongin could actually emerge from his hiding place to see what the results of the fight actually were. He was so incredibly terrified of what he would see, no longer caring about himself and what his fate would be but rather what the fates of Chan, Changbin and Jisung were. 

Really, he should have guessed that there was little to worry about. He knew that the three young men were more than capable to keep themselves safe; that was how they survived for so long. In fact, when Jeongin did eventually manage to lay his eyes on them, other than the earlier injury that Chan had endured to make sure Jeongin wasn’t shot, the three friends looked to be completely fine, still standing without so much as a scratch.

The four officers, on the other hand, seemed to be in a pretty bad state, three of them unconscious, with the chief petty officer rolling around on the ground whilst clutching his foot which, by the hole in his shoe, seemed to have suffered a bullet wound. 

However, all of them were still alive, only having what looked to be superficial injuries and Jeongin remembered that all of the pirates back at the restaurant had fallen victim to the same fate. The crew of The Haven seemed to have some sort of silent promise that, if they could help it, they were to leave all of their opponents alive. A noble idea but one that would have undoubtedly have to be broken at some point. 

“Jeongin, you ok?” 

Still being stuck in some sort of strange headspace after nearly just being shot, Jeongin had become so focused on the Marines that he never noticed Jisung running up to him or placing his hands on his cheeks to try and direct his gaze back towards him but the moment he realised that the nightmare that had just occurred was over, the tears and shaking in his hands came back full force as he launched himself into Jisung’s arms, scrambling to get a better grip on the elder as painful sobs began pouring from his mouth. 

“I was s-so scared. I thought they were going to take me away.”

Jisung was only momentarily shocked by the burst of emotion from Jeongin before he regained his composure, wrapping his arms around him and swaying slightly from side to side to try and calm the younger man down.

“It’s ok. We’ve got you,” Jisung assured. 

Through his minor breakdown, Jeongin just about registered that after they had sheathed their weapons, both Chan and Changbin were walking towards him and Jisung, a look of conflict on Chan’s face as Changbin handed over Jeongin’s new wanted poster and spoke to him in hushed whispers but even through the squawk of the seagulls and bash of the waves off of the rocks, Jeongin just made out the last sentence that was uttered before they finally reached them. 

“Hyung, he has a bounty on his head because of us now. Nowhere is safe for him on his own. We can’t just…”

Figuring Jisung didn’t want him hanging out of him for the rest of the day, Jeongin somehow managed to pull away, even though he wanted nothing more to be comforted for just a little bit longer after his scare. With how hesitant Jisung was to let go of him, Jeongin guessed that Jisung didn’t want to let go of him either but respected Jeongin’s boundaries as he moved away too. 

“You alright, Jeongin?” Changbin questioned, hesitantly placing a soothing hand upon his shoulder. 

“Yeah, sorry, my hands won’t stop shaking.” 

Jeongin began to feel like his hands would never stop shaking after something like that. In all his years, he never had to deal with the problem of pissed off Marines. Of course, he was never considered a criminal before now but he would forever be seen as one in the eyes of the governments around the world. How he was going to survive with such a problem hanging over his head now was a complication that he really didn’t want to think about dealing with. 

“Hyung…”

Jisung’s whispered plea was clearly being directed towards Chan who was still standing off a little to the side and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what he was silently trying to say, something along the lines of what Changbin had been speaking to Chan about as they approached him earlier. 

And really, Jeongin was fully preparing himself for another bout of rejection. If anything, it would make even more sense for Chan not to want to take Jeongin back onto the ship. Like Jisung had said, both he and Changbin were the number one priority in Chan’s life. Should the captain think about letting Jeongin on the ship again, it would just be another source of added danger, more Marines chasing them since they had another criminal on board. Why on earth would he consider doing something like that? 

“I will make a deal with you,” Chan stated, forcing Jeongin to look at him by tipping his jaw upwards, ignoring the droplets of water still falling from his chin. 

A deal. Jeongin wanted to say that he didn’t care what the deal was. He was just about ready to agree to anything if the conversation was going the way he hoped it was.

“I will allow you back on our ship for one week for a probationary period,” Chan proposed, emphasising the amount of time that Jeongin had to prove himself. “During that week, I will assess everything about you. I swear, by the end of it, I will know you better than you know yourself.”

Jeongin nodded quickly, wanting to show Chan that he was listening to every single word that was coming out of his mouth. His eyes did wander for just a second when he noticed both Changbin and Jisung’s heads snapping up at the proposition that Chan was putting forward. 

“Since you’re skilled in it, you can take up the task of being our new cook. Three meals a day unless we stop in a town and we eat there.” 

Absolutely not a problem. Jeongin could do that. He was indeed skilled in it. It was something he could do proudly without anyone’s help. And cooking three meals a day on the ship compared to one hundred in the restaurant for people who appreciated it honestly sounded like a dream come true.

“You will pull your own weight around the ship like the rest of us. If you complain, refuse to pitch in or if something happens during the next week that I don’t like, I really have no problem dumping your ass on another island, understood?”

Jeongin was not a stranger to hard work, that was for sure and was actually looking forward to working on a ship as lovely as The Haven. He had been dreaming about being a pirate for quite a while now anyways. There was also a hidden threat behind that last part too, something that said ‘you don’t want to be dumped on another island because you will more than likely run into Marines who will whisk you away without us there to save you.’ 

“We also have things that you will not, under any circumstances, stick your nose into. If we tell you something is none of your business, then you don’t ask more questions.” 

Another demand that Jeongin nodded along to. He had already figured out that the crew had secrets, probably more than one and he had managed to keep his curiosity at bay over the last twenty four hours. He could do that for as long as he needed to if it meant he got to stay on the ship with them. 

“But if you behave yourself, then maybe we can look into you staying on the ship full time.” 

Jeongin begged himself not to start crying even harder at the very real possibility of staying on The Haven full time as their chef. It seemed like an impossible prospect mere hours ago but now, he was about to be led back to a ship he never wanted to leave in the first place. 

Chan didn’t even flinch when Jisung ran up to him and wrapped his arms around his neck, giggling and happily repeating ‘thank you, hyung!’ over and over again. And almost like he didn’t want to admit it, Chan stuck his tongue in his cheek, never breaking eye contact with Jeongin before he said ‘I’m only allowing this because the food you made last night was really good.’

Jeongin had made the extra portion of jjajangmyeon for Chan last night and placed it in the fridge since the captain hadn’t joined them for the meal and Jeongin hated letting food go to waste. But, for some reason, Jeongin hadn’t even noticed the food was missing when he had opened the fridge to grab the eggs and milk to make Changbin and Jisung breakfast this morning. Chan had eaten it at some point during the night and from the sounds of it, he had enjoyed it. Jeongin thought it awfully ironic that a bowl of noodles might have saved his life. 

After thanking Chan one last time, Jisung let go of him and bounded over to Jeongin, wrapping him up in his arms instead before beginning to bounce up and down with elation, a feeling which somehow seeped into Jeongin as he began to laugh along with Jisung. They admittedly nearly toppled over when his foot caught on a loose plank of wood before Changbin managed to straighten them both, pulling Jisung away from Jeongin with a small scolding about how he should calm down. Of course, that didn’t work, with Jisung claiming him as his next victim by dragging him into a hug and while Changbin tried to pretend that he was annoyed beyond belief, Jeongin noticed the affectionate smile that turned the corner of his lip upwards at his younger brother’s antics. 

Feeling a presence looming over him, Jeongin turned to see Chan bending forward to whisper in his ear, a low growl echoing throughout his skull.

“You do anything that harms my crew or puts them in danger, there is a fate worse than death waiting for you. You got that?” 

For the final time, Jeongin nodded and did so vehemently because he absolutely believed Chan would find a way to torture him for eternity if he ever did something to harm Changbin or Jisung. Not that he ever would but he wanted Chan to know that he understood the threat and took it very seriously. 

“Come on then,” Chan sighed, taking one last look at the unconscious Marines before heading back towards the ship. “We should get out of here while we can.”

Chapter Text

Being on a probationary period came with a few demands that Chan was insistent upon laying down so that Jeongin knew that he wouldn’t be allowed to get away with anything unwarranted during his first week. Of course, they weren’t outlandish by any standards but Jeongin did admittedly feel sorry for Jisung when the elder was told that he would be forced to share his room with him for the upcoming seven days. 

He was told that, should he get through this trial run without any problems, there was a spare room waiting for him beside Jisung’s that he could claim as his own but right now, he was going to bunk with the now second youngest member of the crew whether he liked it or not. He most certainly didn’t mind, rather enjoying being in Jisung’s company with the young man’s boundless energy and once Jeongin had apologised for intruding, Jisung had quickly waved him off, confessing that he actually liked having a roommate too. It was like having a continuous sleepover, or so Jisung said, something he hadn’t done since he was a kid. Jeongin didn’t have the courage nor heart to tell Jisung that he himself had never actually had a sleepover with friends before. 

Jisung did his absolute best to try and fashion something comfortable for Jeongin to sleep on beside him on the floor, stealing an extra blanket from Changbin’s own closet when he wasn’t looking and by the end, with the amount of layers of quilts and sheets, Jeongin’s makeshift bed was as high off of the floor as Jisung’s own and looked more than cosy to sleep in. Another thing Jisung apparently had a knack for. 

Jeongin desperately wanted to test it out for himself, utterly shattered after what happened today despite it only being about seven p.m but before he could, a knock came upon Jisung’s bedroom door, the person behind it waiting for an answer before carefully pushing the door and sticking his head in. 

“Channie hyung? A pleasure to see you. Can I help you with something?” Jisung sang, folding yet another sheet in his hand for Jeongin to use. 

“Sungie, can you give us a minute?” Chan asked, running his now gloveless fingers through his lilac hair. “I’d like to speak with Jeongin alone.”

That request alone was enough to make both Jisung and Jeongin freeze and completely disregard what they were doing. In the short amount of time that they had known each other, Chan and Jeongin had literally never been alone. When Chan had intervened with Hangyeol, when Jeongin had been following the crew back to their ship, when he had been discovered in the hold and when they had dropped him off on Jila, there had always been someone right alongside them. It did make Jeongin slightly nervous as to what the captain could want with him, especially since he was sure Chan had said all he needed to say after they had annihilated the Marines back on Jila but whatever it was, it couldn’t have been that bad. It wasn’t like he had already changed his mind about Jeongin staying here. 

That probably wasn’t the case.

And almost as if Jisung sensed the younger’s trepidation, he gave one last look between Chan and Jeongin before turning back to his captain with a serene expression and responded with a calm, level voice.

“No.”

“No?” Chan repeated incredulously, like he couldn’t believe he was being denied such a simple request. 

“No.”

Jeongin felt very small when Chan directed his gaze towards him, evidently wondering if he had asked Jisung to become his new guard dog for some reason. He hadn’t but Jeongin thought he didn’t need to. Jisung had already seen how Chan had acted towards him and it had never particularly been in a way that Jisung would consider acceptable, so he figured this time wouldn’t have been any different, especially if he wasn’t there to intervene like he had been previously. 

That protective instinct that Jeongin had never been used to made him feel unnaturally warm in his chest and as much as he appreciated Jisung’s tenacity, Jeongin could tell by the way that Chan was holding himself and the way he was unconsciously biting on his lip that the captain wasn’t here to threaten Jeongin or make him feel uncomfortable but to perhaps try and send their relationship in a new direction now that they were to be no longer just acquaintances but possible crewmates. 

“Hyung, it’s fine. You can go,” Jeongin soothed, grabbing Jisung’s wrist to show how thankful he was for the elder trying to protect him but that he would be fine by himself for a little while.  

“This is my room but whatever,” Jisung huffed indignantly, throwing two fingers to his own eyes before pointing one back to Chan as a warning to behave. “Could have done this in your room or the galley.”

Jisung barely managed to escape the restrained slap that was aimed at his backside. He could talk back to his captain but that didn’t mean he would always walk away without any consequences. 

Once they were alone, Jeongin immediately noticed the heaviness hanging between them, the weight only increasing when neither one of them made a move to say anything for the first few seconds, even though Chan had obviously come here with the intention of speaking with Jeongin. 

“So, how are you feeling?” Chan asked quietly, rubbing the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable.

“Huh? Me? Oh, I’m all good. The shaking has gone away,” Jeongin tried, grimacing when his hands stayed still for about two seconds before erupting into small tremors again. “Mostly anyways.” 

“And are you settling in ok?”

“Yeah, Jisung hyung has been very accommodating.”

Jeongin couldn’t help but point to his makeshift bed with a smile where a small, white bunny plushie lay upon his pillow, lended to him by Jisung. A present that he had gotten from Chan and Changbin a long time ago when he had gone through a period where he had been plagued with nightmares which had caused him many sleepless nights but ever since he acquired the rabbit plushie, they had lessened a considerable amount according to the elder. It was nice to have a snuggle buddy and since Jeongin was in a new environment, Jisung thought he might have some trouble sleeping and appreciate the company.

Hence, the bunny.

“Mmm, always has been,” Chan huffed with a small smile, a look which Jeongin thought suited the captain much more than the characteristic scowl he had donned since he met him.  

“Hyu-”

It was clear that Jisung loved being called hyung, Changbin really didn’t seem to mind either way but Jeongin didn’t know if he was on such good terms with Chan that he could just throw the term around like that but when the elder took Jisung’s desk chair out and situated himself upon it with a relaxed expression, Jeongin figured he wasn’t totally annoyed by the it.

“You can call me hyung, it’s alright. We need to become more familiar with each other,” Chan assured.

“Hyung, you can say what you came here to say. You don’t need to be so awkward.”

Jeongin thought it amusing, the slightly startled expression on Chan’s face at being called out on his discomfort but the night wasn’t getting any younger and Jeongin got the feeling that Jisung would want to regain ownership of his room soon. 

“I…came here to apologise to you,” Chan breathed, eyes closed to steady himself, missing the way Jeongin’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “The way I’ve been acting towards you, the way I’ve been treating you, it was unfair and uncalled for.”

Jeongin didn’t want to say that, maybe, perhaps, Chan’s behaviour towards him was possibly just a little over the top but, then again, in fairness, Jeongin had tried to insert himself into their crew before he even knew their names and did break onto their ship when Chan had told him to stay on Ghrian. So, he let Chan continue on, doing his best to mask his astonishment that this conversation was even taking place, never imagining that this is what Chan came here to talk about. 

“I have this problem that has been pointed out to me multiple times by both Sungie and Bin,” grumbled the captain, glancing towards the door as if the other two crewmates were standing on the other side, which they very well could have been. “I have a hard time believing that not everyone in the world wants to hurt us, that not everyone is out to get something from us and I’m working on it but…” 

“But that’s your job right?”

Chan’s head shot up from where it had been hanging low, eyes that had been set upon his clasped hands finding Jeongin’s own, ones filled with tenderness and understanding. 

“You’re their big brother. You’re supposed to do everything you can to fight off the bad guys and protect them from potential threats.”

“It’s not like you were ever a threat,” Chan snorted in a way that said ‘That wasn’t an excuse to to act so aggressively towards you’ but that also said ‘I can’t believe you think you could pose a threat to me.’  

And maybe Jeongin would have taken offence if Chan didn’t look like he could snap him in half. Don’t get him wrong, Jeongin had built up quite a bit of muscle over the years with his continuous work in the restaurant but he had the strangest feeling that Chan had been provided an abundance of chances in life where he had to exercise his own to take down Marines and other annoyances that got in his way. Therefore, Jeongin really wasn’t all that insulted. 

“Anyways, I’m really sorry for being so harsh towards you and I’ll do my best to rein it in.” 

“I completely accept your apology, hyung. Thank you for coming to speak with me,” Jeongin smiled, seeing the stress physically leave Chan’s body. “Have you apologised to Changbin hyung yet?”

Chan barely had a second to enjoy being at peace before that stress suddenly came flooding back in, his eyes resembling a deer caught in the headlights. Jeongin hadn’t meant to cause such a reaction. It was really just a simple question but from the way Chan was staring at him, he had unknowingly pushed some sort of button that was purposely being kept hidden. 

“Excuse me?” Chan sputtered. 

“Have you apologised to him yet?” repeated Jeongin, making a note of the way the tips of Chan’s ears turned crimson when he was put on the spot. 

It was a vast difference, Chan’s demeanour right now and how he head held himself all along but Jeongin couldn’t help but think that this Chan, the one sitting in front of him, was the one that Jisung had been speaking of last night, when he said that Chan was a good guy and that a lot of his attitude came from the fact that he wanted to keep them safe. Now that he understood Jeongin wasn’t going to try to harm them, he had let his guard down, shown him his real face, even if it was unintentional with his internal panic at Jeongin’s question. 

“He…he told you about what happened?” Chan groaned, definitely thinking that Changbin wouldn’t have usually even spoken to Jisung about their argument but that he, for some reason, had decided to confide in a total stranger like Jeongin. 

“Nope, he didn’t say anything. It’s just, when he came to give me clothes to sleep in last night, he seemed upset. Not the angry sort of upset but like something was weighing on his heart. He said he was going to go and see you after dinner and he was fine at that time, so I figured something happened between you two.” 

Chan’s fingers unfurled themselves once he realised that Changbin hadn’t spoken to Jeongin about what had happened between them last night. There were too many variables in their conversation that could have caused Jeongin to know things he definitely shouldn’t know yet. Chan wanted to trust Jeongin and he got the feeling that he possibly could over time but right now, there were certain things that were going to stay private, just between him and his brothers. 

“Are you always that perceptive? Cause, if you are, that might be a problem,” Chan chuckled, chewing on his bottom lip, a habit he had whilst trying to provide himself comfort. 

“I think he’d appreciate you going to see him too.”

Jeongin was making an assumption about that but he couldn’t imagine Chan and Changbin being pushed apart by a petty fight. From what he had seen, the relationship between the three crewmates was something incredibly special and to have something pulling their feelings taut, ready to snap at any moment and make a small fight into something much bigger, didn’t sit right with Jeongin at all. 

In this rather deep and solemn moment, Jeongin’s stomach decidedly took this magnificent opportunity to let itself be heard, grumbling rather loudly, it’s cries not being silenced even when Jeongin quickly wrapped his arms around his waist, flushing with embarrassment as Chan cocked an eyebrow at the noise. 

“Sorry. I haven’t eaten in a little while,” Jeongin muttered with a smile, wanting to punch himself in the stomach for complaining but figuring he would be the only one suffering for that.

“Didn’t you eat breakfast?” Chan asked curiously. 

With a small abashed shake of his head, Jeongin hesitantly answered no.

“Me neither but I ate the jajangmyeon you made at like four this morning so I’m still pretty full from that,” Chan praised, patting his stomach happily. 

Gnawing on his lip, Jeongin did his absolute best to try and avoid the captain’s eye but when he didn’t react to the compliment about his cooking at all, it seemed Chan picked up on his lack of enthusiasm in an instant.

“I didn’t…”

And despite Jeongin not saying it outright, it didn’t take a genius to pick up what he had left unsaid. 

“You didn’t make any for yourself?”

“Mmm,” Jeongin hummed, shaking his head yet again. “I didn’t get permission to use any food for myself.”

And despite his eyes still finding the wall on the opposite side of Jisung’s room very interesting to say the least, Jeongin could tell that Chan was looking at him with something that nobody had directed towards him in a long time, something akin to pity.

“Why didn’t Sung and Bin say anything?”

“I think they were too preoccupied wolfing down their own food to even notice,” Jeongin giggled lowly. 

He recalls how the two dishes he had placed in front of his hyungs yesterday had been void of food within a matter of minutes, both of them practically licking their utensils clean. It really was the greatest compliment for a chef, to see his food being eaten so enthusiastically. 

“Ah,” Chan half laughed, half scoffed, knowing that was most definitely the reason that they hadn’t noticed Jeongin sitting to the side without touching a morsel of food.

“It’s ok, I’m used to it,” promised Jeongin with a wave of his hand, trying his best but failing to conjure a smile at the thought of how he had been surviving for so long.

“You’re used to it?”

“Yeah, my boss used to provide me with one meal a day. Sometimes, when he was mad at me for some stupid reason, he’d refuse to give me anything. So, I’m used to it.”  

He may have been used to it but that didn’t mean he didn’t go to bed some nights with horrific stomach cramps because of how painfully hungry he was. It was yet another reason why he found the endlessly long days so difficult. Should he go to a physician, they would probably tell him that he wasn’t getting anywhere near enough nutrients for a young man of his age. 

There were times that Jeongin would debate on whether to take food from the kitchen when Hangyeol wasn’t looking but the old man always kept a strict eye on his stock and if something went missing, he would definitely notice and a swift beating would follow for Jeongin. Sometimes though, the hunger was too much to bear and he would rather accept the harsh smack of Hangyeol’s fists than to go through another full day with an empty stomach. Jeongin was on far too familiar terms with this feeling. 

And, from the look on Chan’s face, that little piece of information seemed to absolutely shatter the elder’s heart. It was bad enough he had acted harshly towards Jeongin the entire time but to finally hear the extent of his mistreatment back at the restaurant just made the captain feel ten times worse about trying to make Jeongin stay back on Ghrian, imagining what his life could have been like if he had to return to Hangyeol after he had assaulted him to save their skin. 

“Jeongin, you don’t need permission to feed yourself. Take whatever you want from the hold. When I said that you’d be the cook for those on the ship, that includes you as well.”

“Really? Would…would it be alright if I ate with you guys too?”

Chan made a mental note to actually sit down and speak with Jeongin in detail about what the hell actually happened to him to have fallen into such a dismally horrific situation back at the restaurant. The hope in Jeongin’s eyes as he asked Chan if they could eat together made the elder realise that this may have been the first chance in a very long time for Jeongin to be able to see himself as something other than just a cog in a machine designed to work and not have a life outside of it, that he could be seen as one of them. 

Honestly, it made Chan’s stomach twist uncomfortably, watching Jeongin’s fingers dance around each other as he awaited Chan’s answer, like he was worried the captain would rescind his offer and tell him to keep to himself and away from the rest of the crew.

“Of course, Jeongin,” Chan replied sadly, scooting forward to place a hand upon the younger’s knee. “We always try to make sure to eat meals together. That is one of our traditions. One…that I broke both last night and this morning actually.” 

Chan didn’t think he was making a very good case trying to convince Jeongin that it was ok for him to eat with them when he couldn’t even show up because he was in a foul mood. And truthfully, that happened a lot, probably far too much, especially when one of their leads turned out to be a dead end. 

“Well, with my food, you won’t want to miss a meal, hyung,” Jeongin proclaimed proudly, puffing his chest out with confidence before shrinking in on himself once his stomach growled again. 

“Don’t worry about cooking anything tonight. We’ll take care of ourselves. There’s some snacks in the fridge and cupboards too. Eat something light before you go to sleep, ok? Don’t make yourself sick,” Chan suggested, rising from his chair and patting Jeongin lightly on the shoulder.

“Thanks, hyung.” 

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to flatten Jisung.” 

“Huh?” 

Jeongin didn’t get to inquire further once Chan swung open the bedroom door in a hasty fashion, making Jisung, who had been pressed up to it listening to their conversation, stumble straight into the captain’s arms, having enough decency to look somewhat embarrassed about being caught. 

“Hey, Channie hyung.”

“What part of ‘I want to speak to him alone’ didn’t you understand, Han Jisung?”

Standing in front of Changbin’s bedroom door was making Chan’s anxiety crawl its way up the back of his throat, his insides doing some sort of foxtrot and getting tangled in a way that made him feel nauseous. He had come to stand in this spot a few times last night, wanting to go in and apologise but losing his nerve each and every time. 

He hadn’t spoken to Changbin all day and that was all due to lack of trying because, every time he looked towards Changbin and caught the younger’s eye, Changbin decidedly turned away to focus on something else. 

Chan deserved that, he couldn’t say he didn’t after how he acted towards him but he wasn’t going to run this time, not after being straight up called out by Jeongin about apologising. 

Bringing his fist to the wood of the door, Chan rapped three times, hearing the small ‘come in’ on the other side and turning the doorknob to step over the threshold. 

“Bin?”

From where he had been lying in his bed reading some book that he had picked up on their supply run two islands ago, Changbin raised his eyes from the words on the page to stare at Chan for a mere moment before his gaze fell back down, the small action practically burning Chan since Changbin would never normally look this vacant and impassive, especially towards him. 

“Yes, Captain?” Changbin answered dutifully, voice void of all emotion. 

“Hey, come on, look at me,” Chan tried. 

Taking a seat on the side of Changbin’s bed, Chan made sure not to invade the younger’s personal space when there was such a strain between them. 

“What?” snapped Changbin, doing as he was told and sitting up in the bed to look Chan dead in the eye, like he was waiting for the captain to say the wrong thing again. 

“I’m sorry, ok? I’m sorry for saying all that stuff last night. Getting to Yilin and going to the party, it…it was making me frustrated and I took it out on the wrong people.” 

Changbin’s expression didn’t move an inch after the opening part of Chan’s apology, not being at all satisfied and hoping that there was a hell of a lot more to come. 

“I’m not arguing with that.”

“First, I shouldn’t have treated Jeongin the way that I did. I’ve just come from Sungie’s room and I apologised to him,” Chan placated, figuring that Changbin would appreciate the fact that Chan stomped down on his pride and owned up to his mistakes. “He saw that you were upset last night and he told me that he thought you would appreciate an apology too.”

“Seems like a smart kid.”

It was a mere flicker but Chan did manage to pick up on it, the small crack in Changbin’s ironclad defences in the form of a barely withheld smile when he spoke of Jeongin but that was all that Chan needed to know that he was at least making some sort of headway in appealing to Changbin’s sense of forgiveness. 

“I really am sorry, Bin. I know neither you nor Sung are over anything and I never should have said something so cruel. I know you want to get to the bottom of it as much as I do.”

With a roll of his eyes that said ‘obviously we do, you absolute moron,’ Changbin placed his chin in the palm of his hand, raising his eyebrows at Chan as if he wanted the captain to say more. 

And while Chan could have reiterated what he said in a hundred different ways a hundred times, none of them were adequately lining up for him in his mind to try and convey how incredibly terrible he felt about how he had been acting. Fumbling over his words, Chan attempted to do some sort of motion with his hands to show Changbin how desperately he was trying while his younger crewmate seemed to be enjoying watching him suffer through it.

“I…argh, you know I’m not good at this sort of thing!” 

“You’re doing pretty well, hyung,” Changbin huffed fondly, feeling like he should put Chan out of his misery. “But you’ve got to stop and think before you say shit like that.”

Changbin could feel the sincerity coming from Chan but he wasn’t going to be complacent and let Chan away with thinking that something like this was going to happen again and he was going to forgive him so easily. 

Most of the time, Chan ran on his emotions without giving it much thought and that seemed to work in their favour a lot of the time but in instances like this, it drove a small but very real wedge between the crew and for a ship to run smoothly, everyone aboard it needed to be on the same page, no in fighting and they certainly needed to have a trust that couldn’t be broken. 

They had disagreements and squabbles, as all families did but they always managed to talk it out and find a solution, whoever was in the wrong coming forward to apologise, even if it took them some time. Changbin was just glad that Chan didn’t let this particular spat fester any longer than it had to. 

“So, are we ok?” 

“I guess,” Changbin sighed in fake exasperation. “Come here, you asshat.” 

Feeling the bond between them return to what it was, Chan shuffled up the bed from his position to fall into Changbin’s awaiting arms, squeezing so tightly that Changbin began to yell obscenities in between his cries about his ribs being crushed. 

“Love you, Bin,” Chan whispered, smirking heartily when he felt Changbin wrap his arms around his shoulders and snuggle into his neck, breathing deeply. 

They had fights on occasion, they annoyed the hell out of each other sometimes, they felt like flinging each other off the side of the ship almost daily but they loved each other so incredibly much, cherishing moments like this when they could practically feel the affection seeping into their bones. 

They were brothers after all. 

“Love you too, hyung.”  

Jeongin had been on his way to the galley when he heard some whispered mumbles coming from the captain’s quarters. He had slept incredibly well on his makeshift bed, waking up with his face stuffed into his pillow, the entire right side covered in drool. Usually, his body automatically woke him up at around six in the morning because he was so used to being in the kitchen by seven back at the restaurant but today, it was nearing ten and it made him hop out of bed so fast that his feet became entangled in the array of sheets and he face planted quite inelegantly onto the floor. 

Once he had rubbed his nose enough that the pain subsided into a dull throb, Jeongin noticed that Jisung wasn’t in bed and that put him slightly on edge because he was supposed to be up before all of the crew so that he could have breakfast all ready for them. Now, it was closer to lunch time and Jeongin couldn’t really fathom why on earth none of the others had woken him so that he could cook for them. That was one of the conditions that Chan had set out and he had already managed to screw it up. 

He did have to take a moment to stop and stare at the wall that Jisung had designated as the shrine to their wanted posters, shaking his head in amusement when he saw that his own had been added beside Jisung’s, not in a frame like the others but held in place with tape. It was obvious that Jisung was being careful, showing his reluctance to think of Jeongin as a permanent member until Chan decided that he was. But it still made Jeongin smile just a little bit that Jisung had taken his wanted poster from Chan and decidedly stuck it up. 

Throwing on a hoodie that Jisung had given him since he had no clothes of his own for now, Jeongin trudged his way outside to the deck, finding it bare, not a soul in sight. Even after sleeping so well, Jeongin found himself somewhat sluggish but he put that down to the fact that he had slept over twelve hours, something he didn’t think he had ever done in his life. 

Just about to ascend the stairs and enter the galley, Jeongin heard the voices coming from Chan’s room, changing directions and heading towards the noise. 

“We still don’t have a way in,” Changbin’s voice came through the door as Jeongin reached it.  

“We’ll figure it out when we get there. Either we find a concealed route or get our hands on an invitation,” Chan’s stern reply followed, the shuffling of some papers accompanying his thoughts. 

Jeongin figured that he really wasn’t supposed to be hearing any of this, otherwise they would have waited until he had woken up to discuss it with him

“This is supposed to be exceedingly exclusive, hyung. I don’t think they’ll just be handing those out to anyone.” 

At the thought of being discovered and receiving a scolding for eavesdropping, Jeongin knocked on the door, hearing silence follow before a call to enter the room. 

“Good morning,” Jeongin faltered with a smile. 

Since it was the captain’s quarters, the room was obviously going to be a bit larger than the other bedrooms on the ship. It wasn’t quite double the size of Jisung’s room but it certainly held a lot more open space. Pushed into the wall on the left side of the room was a double bed, sheets crisp and orderly, like it hadn’t been slept in recently at all and with what Chan said about eating Jeongin’s jajangmyeon at four in the morning, that might very well have been the case. 

A dresser and vanity table stood at the end of the bed along with a bookshelf brimming with numerous different genres, some of which Jeongin remembered reading in his youth. The rather large oak desk that the three friends were now standing around was situated on the right side of the room, cluttered with pages and maps, information that Jeongin couldn’t really sense from where he was standing. 

When it came down to it, it held the same sort of furniture as Jisung’s bedroom but there was an element lacking. It didn’t have much to show that it was Chan who lived in this room, too pristine and proper, no bits and bobs like Jisung had, no photos except for the one situated on his bedside locker of the three of them, all of them looking much younger and happier.

“Well, well, he lives. I think you mean good afternoon at this stage,” Jisung chuckled, winking teasingly at Jeongin as the younger’s cheeks exploded with colour. “I tried to shake you awake a couple of hours ago but you were dead to the world. I wish I could sleep like that.”

From the smug looks on their faces, it seemed like both Chan and Changbin were ready to join in on the teasing but Jeongin jumped before they got the chance, feeling like he had to establish that just because he was the newbie he wasn’t going to sit back and be an easy target for their pestering. 

“Y-you should have tried a bit harder.”

“I told Sungie to leave you be. You needed the rest,” Chan assured, returning his attention to the documents in front of him. 

Even after their chat last night, Jeongin still believed that he had to be on his best behaviour, that if he didn’t live up to the standard that was expected of him, he might very well end up alone on the next island should the crew feel that he wasn’t the right type of person to join them. However, with how lenient Chan was already being with their agreement, Jeongin thought that maybe he didn’t have to be so worried about being abandoned anymore, feeling nothing but appreciation towards Chan for letting his body catch up on the much needed relaxation he had been missing out on for so long.

“Well, thanks. What are you guys doing?”  

All eyes were set upon him once again, all of which said that maybe Jeongin shouldn’t have asked that particular question right now. 

“You know those things I told you about? The ones you don’t stick your nose into? This is one of those things,” Chan warned, tipping his own nose to show Jeongin that he wasn’t going to be as tolerant of breaking that particular condition that he had set out for him.

“Hyung, what do you expect him to do when we’re on Yilin? Stay here on the ship all by himself?”

Chan got the distinct feeling that the answer Changbin wanted him to give was ‘no’, even if that was exactly what he expected Jeongin to do. He had already told his younger crewmates that he had pretty much decided to allow Jeongin to stay with them after hearing about the life he had been living up until now but that didn’t mean he was going to be privy to all information straight away. Maybe someday but definitely not in the beginning stages of their relationship. 

“Look, it’s really nothing to worry about. We just have a job to do in Yilin on Saturday night. We’ll be renting rooms in the city and you can stay there while we’re out.”

A job. How unspecific and it was clear that had been Chan’s intention. Again and again, Chan had made it clear that they were not to be associated with pirates but that did bring about the question of, if they weren’t pirates, what exactly was it that the members of this crew did? Where did they get money to survive on from? 

From the sounds of it, they were trying to get into somewhere that they weren’t supposed to be and a truly terrible possibility entered Jeongin’s head. They were wanted by the Marines, labelled as criminals but maybe they actually were. What if they were into illegal stuff? Breaking into houses and taking their money from there? He didn’t really know anything about them at all or what they got up to in their spare time. 

Then again, it wasn’t like he had anywhere else to go and they had been more than accommodating with him, treating him kindly. So, Jeongin thought, he may as well dive straight into danger if this was the life he was going to lead from now on. 

“I can’t help?”

“I don’t think so, Jeongin,” Chan answered quickly. 

“You don’t have to tell me anything. You can just give me directions and I’ll follow them.”  

That may have been the stupidest thing Jeongin had ever said in his entire life. Yes, he wanted them to like him, to trust him but god only knows what they could ask him to do if he was going to be involved in…whatever the hell this was. 

“We could at least tell him where we’ll be and what to do just in case we…” 

Jisung pushed his golden rimmed glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose as the final part of the sentence was left unsaid. It gave Jeongin the confirmation that whatever they were up to, it would indeed place them in some kind of peril, whether ot not that meant being arrested or something worse but it seemed like Jisung wanted to give Jeongin at least a little information so that he could plan ahead in case the worst possible outcome came to fruition.

“Yeah, that seems fair,” Chan conceded, stepping away from the desk to move closer to Jeongin. “So, there’s an island called Yilin. Have you heard of it?”

“We used to get a lot of customers from there since it isn’t that far away from Ghrian. It’s a place with both a big Marine and pirate presence apparently.”

Most islands had a decent presence of each but an island like Yilin, one that boasted holding ten percent of the world’s wealth, many people in search of wealth or employment flocked to the place. Of course, pirates were at the forefront, trying to get their hands on whatever they could and where there was a large number of pirates, there was certainly a large number of Marines to try and balance it all out.

“Right but they tend to stay out of each other’s hair through bribes and deals under the table. Illegal stuff gets overlooked as long as there’s money in the Marine’s pockets.”

Jeongin got the feeling that something like that didn’t just happen in Yilin, even if it was more prominent there since everyone had deeper pockets. Most of the influential people that lived there had money to burn, not for a second having to worry about throwing it away so that they could bend the law however they liked. Jeongin wondered what that feeling must be like.

“Anyways, there’s this man named Choi Insu, he’s-”

“-a pirate captain. Yeah, I’ve read about him in the papers before. One of the most powerful people in Yilin, right?” 

All three young men looked rather impressed by Jeongin’s knowledge of the man who they themselves had been somewhat unfamiliar with until his name wormed its way across their paths and into their plans.

“Right. He spends half of the year on the sea and the other half at his mansion in Yilin,” Chan explained, looking as if he was waiting for Jeongin to say that he already knew all of this. “He’s holding a fête in a couple of days, a very lavish party that is by invitation only but there will be people there that we have to get to.”

Waiting for the grand reveal of the identity of these important people, Jeongin raised his eyebrows with a nod, a silent signal to show Chan that, yes, he was paying attention and he was dying to know who could possibly warrant such a plan from the group just for a chance to meet them. 

All Jeongin got, however, was a mocking sort of snort from the captain to show that his hopes were about to be dashed.

“That’s the part I won’t be divulging,” Chan concluded with a habitual tap to his nose, something Jeongin figured he would become very familiar with over time as a sign to cease asking any more questions.

“We will hopefully only be gone a few hours at most. It’s not like we’ll be sticking around to enjoy the buffet table. Unfortunately…”

It was apparent that Jisung had already attempted to have the conversation about possibly trying out the delicacies at Insu’s home with his hyungs since they both sent him a look that said ‘bring this up one more time and I swear to god…’

“But if we’re not back by morning, you should probably gather your stuff and head back to the ship to wait for us.”

Chan said it so nonchalantly, like their plans would normally take some unforeseen detour. Jeongin did have to wonder why on earth they bothered making a plan if they didn’t know it was going to work out for them in the end.

“And if you don’t come back at all?” Jeongin laughed nervously, wondering what on earth would happen to him if they didn’t return.

“That’s a pretty heavy thing to say, Jeongin. Don’t you have any faith in us?” Changbin gasped, trying to summon tears to his eyes.

“Usually, I would but this sounds pretty dangerous. Doesn’t Insu have a one million risa bounty on his head?” 

“You really do know your stuff,” Jisung beamed,

“A lot of info passes through a restaurant.” 

“We’ll be fine. We’re prepared,” promised Chan, gesturing to all of the documents of the information they had.

And yet, in all of their reconnaissance and gathering, there was one rather major part that Jeongin just couldn’t help but point out. If they were prepared, then they wouldn’t be missing such a key detail.

“But you just said that you don’t have a way into the party? Isn’t that lacking just a bit of preparation?” 

A chill blazed through the room at Jeongin’s keen yet highly unwanted observation, one that Jeongin soon realised he shouldn’t really have known, only hearing it through Chan’s door before he entered. The captain’s pursed lips and furrowed brow were enough to make Jeongin want to retract his remark but Jisung raucous laughter made the youngest think that it was probably alright to speak his mind to the full extent.

“He’s got you there,” Changbin shrugged, decidedly ignoring the glare Chan sent his way. 

“I think it would be a good idea to use me,” Jeongin advised. “Listen, I may have a bounty on my head now but it’s low. Nobody would pay any attention to me unless you wanted them to. You could use me as a distraction or something to sneak in and nobody would suspect it was you because I’m not part of the crew…yet.”

Saying that was maybe a little shameless and the way he subtly fluttered his eyelashes at Chan definitely was. Trying to appeal to the captain’s good heart hadn’t really worked out all that well for Jeongin before but now that he was getting to know the crew just a bit better, he figured he could kiss up to them just a little more in the hopes of getting his way. 

“That’s putting you in way too much danger, Jeongin, especially when you can’t protect yourself,” Chan argued,clearly having built up somewhat of an immunity to flagrant begging.

“Ok then, teach me.”

“Huh?”

“Teach me how to protect myself.”

If Jeongin we’re to be staying on the ship, then it would be imperative for him to learn how to fight and defend himself. He wasn’t going to just stand around like he had back on Jila, letting the crew fight in his stead. If they were going to get into more dangerous situations like that one, which they inevitably would, then Jeongin had to learn the ups and downs of combat.

“Look, you may as well. I suck at fighting but that’s just because I was never taught how to but Chan hyung has seen it. I’m able to take a punch or two.”

It had been a passing comment because, yes, it wasn’t like he had never been hit before since Hangyeol used his fists for inflicting punishments all the time. It didn’t bother him all that much when he thought about it but it clearly provoked something unwanted in Chan, Changbin and Jisung’s emotions when they were forced to remember what it was that Jeongin had to endure for so many years, their mouths turning downwards at the implication.

“It couldn’t hurt to have him be able to protect himself,” Changbin reasoned, thinking along the same lines that Jeongin had been earlier. 

Gnawing on his thumbnail in thought, Chan let the silence settle upon them for a few seconds before conceding that everybody had a point. There was no guarantee that he or the others would always be by Jeongin’s side and if he got into a scrape or encountered Marines or bounty hunters whilst on his own, he definitely needed to be aware of some life saving techniques if he wasn’t able to run away.

“Alright,” Chan sighed, throwing his hands up in resignation when he saw Jeongin positively beam at him. “We have another six days until we arrive on Yilin. If you can get up to an acceptable standard with regards to protecting yourself, then we’ll see about you helping us out at Insu’s house.”

Jeongin did his absolute best to not outright whoop at Chan’s decision, seeing Jisung eye him knowingly. It had been somewhat of a cheeky attempt but Jeongin didn’t think that Chan would agree to it so easily. All he had to do was complete some defence training. 

Easy-peasy.

“But, I’m going to be the one to train you,” Chan said dangerously, not that it seemed to bother Jeongin at all. 

“Oh, that’s fine.”

“Ok, we’ll give it a go after breakfast.”

“Right! I’ll whip up something for us now.” 

Jeongin sprinted out the door, still holding the excited smile upon his face. Having lived such a mundane life for so long, the possibility of training with a ‘pirate but not really a pirate’ captain and helping out in a covert mission at a party that they weren’t invited to sounded like the most exciting thing in the world, like he was going to be part of some action movie. 

Chan remained behind for a moment, both Changbin and Jisung slowly walking after Jeongin as they gazed at the thrilled young man in front of them with a bounce in his step, having the distinct feeling that he wouldn’t be so giddy by the time Chan was through with him.

“He has no idea what’s about to hit him,” Changbin tutted pitifully, remembering what it was like to have Chan personally train him and watch him do the same with Jisung.

“I get the feeling he’ll be the one wanting to throw himself overboard by the end of the day.” 

Chapter Text

In hindsight, Jeongin really shouldn’t have celebrated like he did so early on, because he had absolutely no idea what kind of hell he was about to walk into. The excitement of hearing that Chan would train him took over most of his emotions at first, wanting to get a sword in his hand as fast as possible so that the captain could carefully guide him in what to do should someone threaten his life like the chief petty officer had done back on Jila. 

Once they had finished Jeongin’s delicious meal of fluffy pancakes smothered in maple syrup, the young chef had bounded out of the kitchen before the others were even out of their chairs and stood in the middle of the deck, feet lifting from the floor with how much he was buzzing with anticipation. The others followed shortly after, with Chan disappearing for a second into a small room underneath the stairs which was clearly used for storage as he pulled out two training swords made of nylon, with Jeongin being just a little bit disappointed that they weren’t made of steel like the ones usually hanging from Chan and Changbin’s waists. Then again, he figured it was for his own safety and maybe Chan’s too, because Jeongin didn’t doubt that he could end up making a misstep and accidentally decapitate himself or those around him since he really hadn’t even held a sword in his life. 

And though he tried to focus entirely on the moment in front of him, Jeongin couldn’t help it when his eyes strayed to Changbin and Jisung as they sat on the sidelines and watched his first training session, both of them holding a smile that said ‘we’re praying for you, good luck.’ Not something that instilled any amount of confidence in Jeongin but he quietly shook it off, figuring that they were just trying to scare him. 

They were not. 

It had definitely been a warning. 

Chan was, in the nicest way possible, a fucking demon when it came to training. For about two hours a day, Chan would bring Jeongin to the centre of the deck and throw him his sword but for the younger, it felt like time wanted to mock him and went out of its way to feel indefinite to him as Chan made Jeongin practice his stance, balance, defensive and offensive attacks. It was gruelling and if Jeongin hadn’t spent the last six years constantly on his feet and strengthening his stamina, he was sure that he would be dead by now. 

And despite what Jeongin had thought all his life, fighting with a sword wasn’t simply about swinging and trying to hit your mark. Chan made sure he knew that. There were physical aspects to be sure, it would be pointless if you didn’t have the strength to hold yourself but Chan went even deeper so that Jeongin understood that he needed to peel back every layer of himself to truly be proficient in his skills. 

Mentally, you had to be prepared, finding a calmness and serenity so that you would not fall victim to your enemies taunts or jibes. Timing and distance as well as your rhythm were vital points to control since they made sure that you weren’t predictable to your opponent. Changbin interjected with small tidbits of advice every now and then too, telling Jeongin that he had to be confident, because whoever he was facing would be able to recognise straight away when he was shaking in his boots but that there was nothing wrong with being cautious too, that it was encouraged, because to become too foolhardy in battle would indefinitely result in injury or worse. 

It was a lot to take in, a whole lot to remember and learn and while Chan was ruthless in his training, once the time was up, he made sure that Jeongin was taken care of, usually helping him to sit down on the ground before his legs gave way and guiding him through stretches and breathing exercises so that he wouldn’t end up sore the following day. A water bottle and towel usually somehow magically appeared in the captain’s hand, ready for Jeongin to use before he passed out from exhaustion. 

When they weren’t training, Jeongin took the time to actually get to know the people that he was now sailing with. Of course, their personalities were already shining through for the most part but it was usually during meal times, which Chan participated in all the time now, that he really got to know the young men that had momentarily welcomed him into their family. 

Their past was a topic that wasn’t brought up at any time by any of them and Jeongin was alright with that because he saw on a number of occasions that going down that particular rabbit hole only caused pain to the crewmates and if Jeongin could, he would do everything in his power to make his new friends happy for as long as he could. 

However, he did learn that Changbin was an avid reader. That, if he ever had time and spare funds, he would try to pick up something new to dive into when he could, having read all of the books that were currently on the ship. It was an escape, or so he told Jeongin. Romance novels were his favourites and while Jeongin never would have imagined it, when Changbin spoke of his most treasured stories, it was clear to him that the elder was incredibly soft hearted, a hopeless romantic and it made Jeongin smile so incredibly much. 

Rooming with Jisung, Jeongin discovered that the young man had a wonderful voice as he sang to himself without really thinking about it but when Jisung picked up the guitar in the corner of his room that Jeongin had assumed was just decoration, that’s when the second mate really showed his talents, lulling Jeongin to sleep with self composed songs a couple of nights after his training. 

And, at first, Jeongin thought that Chan’s biggest hobby on the ship was training and exercising, since there was a whole room on the ship dedicated to it. Most of the time, Changbin would join him and on occasion, Jisung. Jeongin thought that he too would be interested in working out with them too but not while he was training with Chan during the day. His legs already felt like jelly. He didn’t need the extra cardio and weights. He would surely collapse if he attempted to do that. 

But it was one afternoon that Jeongin had been wandering around the ship doing nothing in particular that he walked onto the upper area of the ship where the steering wheel sat. He hadn’t really been up there much, only on the first evening when Jisung was showing him around the ship but it was something that had completely escaped his notice back then, the small garden, for lack of a better word, that was nestled at the very back of the ship. When Jeongin had finally noticed it, Chan had been in front of the small box of sweet alyssum, a water bottle in hand as he sprayed the soil beneath them carefully and if Jeongin hadn’t been listening out for it, he may just have missed out on the captain whispering lowly to, who Jeongin assumed was, the group of flowers in front of him. ‘Please don’t wither away like the last ones. I’ll try really hard this time. I’ll take care of you, ok? So, grow and become beautiful.’ 

Jeongin didn’t want to interrupt, finding the scene in front of him rather comforting since he saw the gentle side of the captain come alive again. When Chan finally realised that he wasn’t alone in the presence of the flowers, his whole body quite visibly flushed crimson as he shot up, mumbling some excuse about who he was talking to before storming off saying that it was time for training. A lie that was in no way believable since Jeongin had seen the whole exchange but he let the elder go without any teasing on his part. 

The whole week had been rather wonderful and Jeongin could say that, from his perspective, there was absolutely nothing that he had any qualms about. 

But today was the last day of his probationary period, the last day of his observation and he was dying to hear the verdict. They were to arrive in Yilin tomorrow and Jeongin knew that there were only two outcomes to the trial he had somewhat endured this week. He would either remain on this ship or he would be trying to start a new life on Yilin tomorrow morning by himself. 

However, nothing was said by any of the crewmates, none of them giving a single thing away to him all day. It was nearing dinner time now and he had just completed his training with Chan, coming a hell of a long way in his studies since the beginning of the week. Jeongin hadn’t quite managed to disarm Chan all week but the captain seemed to think that he would be able to go up against any normal Marine and walk away alive. That was a compliment. Or, at least, Jeongin took it as one. 

But before going to the galley to cook what could be his final meal for the crew, Jeongin just couldn’t take the pressure of not knowing anymore. They would more than likely tell him by the end of the night but, if he were to be thrown on the island tomorrow by himself, Jeongin thought that he would rather know now than be strung along any more. 

“So, hyung, it’s been a week since we were on Jila,” Jeongin slipped in slyly as he dried the sweat off his brow with a towel that Jisung had thrown over to him. 

“Yeah?”

“And remember what you said?”

It was clear that Chan did not , the creased brow and roaming eyes being a dead giveaway that he was trying his hardest to recall what the hell he had said when they had been on Jila a week ago. 

Now, Jeongin wouldn’t mind that much if Chan’s memory was short circuiting on absolutely any other subject in the world but he couldn’t help but take it just a little personally that Chan had seemingly completely forgotten about the thinly veiled threat he had thrust upon him last week, one that his entire life literally depended on. 

And throughout this week, Jeongin had been on his absolute best behaviour. Between his training, he had done as asked and cooked them three meals a day, every single one being complimented by the three crew members, his bulgogi and samgyetang nearly getting a standing ovation from Jisung. 

He had helped with the laundry, scrubbed down the deck and even cleaned out the hold. He may or may not have found and counted over fifty cobwebs and discovered what used to be a box of apples according to the label on the side but had turned into some foul smelling mouldy mush which had definitely made him gag in a highly unappealing way. He now understood why it had been taking Jisung so long to get around to clearing this place out. 

Not once, in any way, did Chan, Changbin or Jisung have to reprimand him or tell him that he was doing something in an incorrect way. He had been an absolute pleasure to have on the ship in his opinion and more than a little helpful, so the fact that Chan was just blissfully unaware of Jeongin’s constant inner turmoil since he woke up this morning was pissing him off. 

Still, it wasn’t like he could just get angry at the captain, that wasn’t going to help him in any way, so Jeongin remained calm and kept his voice as level as he could as he gently tried to remind Chan what it was that he had promised Jeongin back on Jila. 

“That you would keep an eye on me all week and by the end…” 

That seemed to do the trick as Chan clapped his hands together softly before picking up the training swords and placing them back in the scabbards. 

“Oh, yeah, about the probationary period. That’s over, you can stay. Didn’t I already tell you that?” 

Jeongin remembered reading a lot of comics when he was young, laughing at the absolutely absurdity when a characters jaw would quite literally fall to the ground when they were astonished by something but in this moment, Jeongin figured that he couldn’t have looked much better than the animated personalities that used to occupy his evenings after school as his mouth hung open, flabbergasted by how nonchalant Chan had just been about something he nearly had an anxiety attack over this morning. His expression really must have been a sight when he looked up to both Jisung and Changbin sitting on the railing above them, snickering and pointing at Jeongin’s inner strife. 

But once he had gotten over his unruffled aloofness, Jeongin suddenly began to realise that Chan had clearly said that his probationary period was now over and he had passed whatever test that had been put to him. Chan wasn’t going to drop him off on the next island, wasn’t going to leave him to fend for himself, wasn’t going to rip him away from the first friends he had for, really, the first time in his life. 

He was allowing Jeongin to stay, allowing him to be a part of their crew. 

Allowing him to be a part of their family. 

“R-really? I can really stay with you guys?” Jeongin whispered with wide eyes, trying to look at all three of them simultaneously but quickly realising that it just made him dizzy. 

“Don’t think I could go back to eating our barely edible cooking after enjoying yours all week,” Chan smiled tenderly.  “Besides, you’ve done everything I’ve asked, plus more. You should be proud of yourself for how hard you’ve worked.”

“Welcome to the crew, Jeongin!” Jisung hollered, ecstatically flapping his hands around in the air. 

Over the years, Jeongin had gotten pretty good at concealing his emotions, keeping them hidden until such a time that he was alone and could let the tears run free or scream and shout to vent his frustrations. He never wanted to give Hangyeol the satisfaction of knowing that he could cause Jeongin to break.

But hearing that he was to be welcomed aboard a ship that had felt like the closest thing to home since he had lived with his parents? Well, it softened Jeongin’s heart enough to crumble his defences and allow those cursed teardrops to conjure themselves and fall over to show his immense happiness. 

For the first time in a very long time, Jeongin thought that, despite what he had come to believe over the last couple of years, he might actually be allowed some happiness in his life. Maybe, by boarding this ship, his luck had taken a sharp turn and all the pain and loneliness he had withstood for the past six years had been enough for karma to realise that he deserved a break. 

“Hey, hey, none of that,” comforted Changbin, taking Jeongin in his arms and patting the back of his head. “Did you really think that we would leave you alone again?” 

He honestly had no idea. 

It was clear throughout the week that his presence wasn’t detested by any of them. In fact, both Jisung and Changbin usually called on him to join them whenever they could, like when Jisung was tinkering with something that needed to be fixed or when Changbin was musing over maps of islands that they had yet to visit. Chan would try to as well but Jeongin noticed that the captain would spend an inordinate amount of time by himself in his quarters. When questioning the others on what exactly kept him so busy all the time, all that Jeongin got was a noncommittal shrug of indifference. 

They knew that they also appreciated his hard work, both in the kitchen and outside of it, receiving thanks or compliments for his duties but Jeongin concocted the idea that maybe they were just trying to get a free week of labour from him before they ditched him when he wasn’t needed anymore. He knew they wouldn’t be that heartless but in the dark of the night, many a stupid thought leapt into his mind. 

“You’re one of us now,” Changbin assured. 

“ One of us, one of us…” Jisung chanted eerily, peeking over Changbin’s shoulder.

Jeongin couldn’t help but erupt into giggles despite the tears, flailing his hand to try and shoo Jisung away and tell him to stop trying to ruin the moment that he was having. 

This right here was what Jeongin had always wanted, people that he could joke around with, smile with and rely on. His laughter continued as Changbin rounded on Jisung to scold him for trying to creep Jeongin out, both of them engaging in playful banter when Jisung told him to take the stick out of his ass and lighten up. 

For a moment, Jeongin managed to drag his eyes away from the scene to watch Chan ascend up the stairs to his quarters. He wished the captain would stick around for a little longer and simply enjoy the happiness that was currently encircling them but whatever kept Chan in his room most of the time was seemingly more important.

However, as if he felt Jeongin’s eyes upon him, Chan stopped and turned, granting Jeongin a small smile and a nod. It wasn’t much but it was enough for Jeongin to understand the message, the subtle action that said that he had finally gained Chan’s approval.  

“Hyung?”

The rubber gloves squeaked harshly against the plate as Changbin scrambled madly to catch it before it smashed into a thousand pieces, breathing a sigh of relief when he managed to save it and place it back into the soapy water of the sink before looking back over his shoulder at Jeongin, the youngster standing there shyly, kicking the air with his foot. 

Once they had gotten Jeongin to calm down after receiving the news that he would now be a part of their small crew, Jisung had insisted that they celebrate in some way. They had never been in this position before, when someone new had become a permanent resident of their ship and Changbin was unsure as to whether it would ever happen again. The three of them had started out together but to have a fourth here, someone so full of life like Jeongin, it was more than a pleasant feeling. 

Of course, Jisung stated that Jeongin shouldn’t have to lift a finger tonight since he was the one being celebrated and when he continued on by saying that he would take over the cooking duties for tonight, Changbin shared a somewhat terrified look with Jeongin, one that held the question of ‘do we have a fire extinguisher nearby?’ 

They did, fortunately, because Jisung did the impossible, placing a pot of boiling water on the stove and ten seconds later the smoke detector was going off. Jeongin placated a distressed Jisung for a few minutes afterwards as Changbin smothered the flames, saying that he could set the table and clean up afterwards instead and that Jeongin would do what was to be his normal job from now on and cook for them. 

And yet, somehow, it was Changbin who ended up washing the dishes, Jisung scurrying off to sit with Chan who had come to join them earlier so that they could eat together. Chan wanted to keep the tradition of dining together and encourage it even more now that Jeongin was here so that they could show him how much they appreciated his food. 

Changbin was just about finished, save for a few dishes, when Jeongin called out to him. 

“What’s up, Jeongin?”

“I don’t mean to bother you but-”

“You’re not bothering me, you never will,” Changbin comforted as he shook the suds off of his gloves. “What do you need?”

“Would it be possible to borrow some money?

That hadn’t been what Changbin had expected to be asked, his expression clearly showing that when Jeongin flushed deeply in embarrassment. If Jeongin needed money, Changbin fully expected him to go to Jisung since they had become so close over the course of the week. Still, Changbin would give Jeongin whatever he needed but he couldn’t help but wonder what exactly was so important that the younger was asking in such a secretive way. 

“Money?”

“Just ten risa!” Jeongin quickly interjected, lowering his voice, clearly not wanting Chan or Jisung to hear what he was asking Changbin for. “I…I need to send a letter to my parents.”

Because, obviously, Jeongin did still have family on the other side of the world. That had been what Changbin had fought with Chan about on the first night that Jeongin had stayed with them. From the pieces of information Jeongin had told them about his parents, it seemed like they loved their son more than anything in the entire world. The whole reason he had been sent to Ghrian was so that he could have a better life, even if it turned out to be the exact opposite. Jeongin never told them what happened, sending them letters to tell them about a somewhat fake life he had been leading so that they wouldn’t worry about him. 

“I won’t be able to get their letters since we’re moving around so much. I don’t want them sending letters to the restaurant. Hangyeol might send something terrible back to them.”

Changbin had no doubt about that. If his former boss had indeed given the Marines a picture of Jeongin to put on his wanted poster like the younger thought, Changbin was sure that Hangyeol would do anything to try and drag Jeongin down further now that he couldn’t physically beat him down. 

But, in not being able to receive their letters anymore, Changbin couldn’t help but wonder how on earth Jeongin was going to explain everything that had happened to him without telling them that he had been lying to them about an awful lot over the last few years. 

“What exactly are you going to tell them?” Changbin pondered, placing the last dish in the drying rack and giving Jeongin his full attention. 

“That I’ve decided to travel, that I’ve found some kind and reliable hyungs that are taking care of me and I’m going with them on their ship. But I didn’t tell them who you were.”

“Probably a smart idea,” Changbin snorted, calculating the numerous terrified reactions that Jeongin’s parents would go through in learning that their son was now aboard a ship that held three wanted criminals. 

Then again, Jeongin was also now a wanted criminal himself. Changbin assumed the youngest would also leave out that little detail when writing to his parents. 

“So, do you mind lending me some? I promise I’ll pay you back as soon as I can!” 

Ten risa was quite literally pittance and didn’t really require paying back in Changbin’s eyes but before he could even argue the specifics and tell Jeongin that of course he could have that small amount, the scraping of a chair from behind Jeongin caught his attention. 

“Oh, right, Jeongin?” Chan called out, making Jeongin spin hastily, as if afraid he had heard him asking for a loan. “Here you go.”

Placing a small satchel in front of Jeongin, Chan smiled tiredly, passing his empty cup that had been filled with chamomile tea over to Changbin, receiving a grunt of annoyance from the first mate who thought that his job had already been done. 

“What’s this?” 

“Your wages,” Jisung clarified offhandedly, sipping the remaining orange juice in his glass through a multi-coloured straw.  

“My what?”

Jeongin didn’t feel like he had grown an extra head as he asked the question but the rest of his crewmates were definitely gawking at him as if he had when he looked up from the leather bag in his hands. 

“Your wages?” Chan chuckled disbelievingly. “You know, the money you get at the end of the week for doing your job?”

No, that didn’t sound right to Jeongin. He obviously knew that everyone got paid for their work in the normal world but back at the restaurant, Hangyeol had always told him that his wages were put towards feeding and housing him and though he knew that Chan and the others were far, far kinder than Hangyeol, he thought for sure that he would be in the same position as he was in his previous job. After all, he was allowed to stay and live on this glorious ship, he was going to move out of Jisung’s quarters and have his own room soon that was a hundred times nicer than his old one, cook meals for himself and take any snacks that he wanted. Best of all, he had so much free time to himself where he could do whatever he liked or hang out with those on the ship who he was coming to call his friends. He really hadn’t expected Chan to drop yet another bag of money into his hands, especially when what he was being paid for wasn’t really even considered work in Jeongin’s eyes. 

“You’re paying me?”

“You’re providing a service for us, Jeongin,” Chan stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

Figuring that he might actually have enough to send a letter to his parents without needing Changbin to lend him money, Jeongin peeked inside the satchel, nearly letting it drop to the floor when he saw the numbers on the wad of folded notes. 

“There’s four hundred risa in here!”

“Yeah, sorry it’s not much,” Chan shrugged, completely missing or ignoring Jeongin’s downright astonishment. “But any other treasure or money we come across is always divided equally amongst the crew once we deduct the funds for food and maintenance, so that won’t be all you get.”

Not much. To Jeongin, it was far too much. Never in his life had he been paid a fair wage or really any wage at all and now, when he didn’t even think he deserved to be paid, unlike back at the restaurant, Chan was saying that what they were giving him was not the only money that he would be receiving, that he would get a portion of whatever bounty they would find too. For all of this to be thrust upon him so suddenly, Jeongin had to admit that it was making his head spin just a little bit. 

“I actually get paid…”

“That makes it sound like you didn’t at the restaurant,” Changbin chuckled but realised that it was no laughing matter when he saw Jeongin actually marvelling at the small bag of money. 

“Hangyeol used to say that all my wages went towards my lodgings and feeding me, so I assumed this would be the same deal.”

“Wait, didn’t you tell us that you had a rat infested room in the restaurant and had one meal a day?” Jisung paled slightly as he asked the question.

“Yeah…”

“You had absolutely no money?” faltered Changbin, his gaze floating between the bag of money and Jeongin’s face. 

“Hangyeol gave me the ten risa I needed on a Sunday so that I could send the letter to my parents but other than that? No…” Jeongin recalled. “That’s why I literally had nothing with me when I got on the ship. It wasn’t because I couldn't go back to get my belongings, it’s just that I didn’t actually have any belongings to go back for.”

That was what the three of them had assumed, that Jeongin had decided on leaving his possessions behind since he would never have made it to their ship before them if he had run back to the restaurant to get them. It had been a wise decision but the possibility never occurred to them that the reason Jeongin didn’t bring anything with him was because he literally had nothing worth bringing with him. All week, he had been borrowing clothes from Jisung and while the elder didn’t mind, they had agreed to give Jeongin enough in his wages where he could at least buy some of his own things when they landed on Yilin. 

But now, Jisung couldn’t bear the thought of Jeongin spending all of his money on essentials, not when he didn’t have much growing up and nothing at all for the last few years. His wages should now go towards things that he has wanted for so long rather than things he needs. Jisung was going to make sure of that, even if he had to spend some of his own savings to see to it. 

“Ok, we’re going shopping before we do anything else on Yilin.”

“Sung-”

“We are going shopping, hyung ,” Jisung almost snarled at Chan when the captain attempted to interject with his ideas. “We are going to get Innie everything he wants and needs.”

“Innie?” Changbin repeated, connecting the dots that it was the nickname that Jisung had now started calling Jeongin since all of them had one. 

“Do you have any problem with that?” 

The look in Jisung’s eyes was enough for both Chan and Changbin to back away slowly, not wanting to incur their younger brother’s wrath. Not many people walked away when that particular emotion was unleashed. Plus, it wasn’t like they didn’t want to spoil Jeongin too after hearing about his penniless state over the last couple of years. They would just try to fit in their own plans around taking Jeongin to all the shops on Yilin too. 

“None at all.” 

When they arrived on Yilin the following morning, Jeongin couldn’t actually believe that he was in a city as grand as this one. He had seen Jila for all of five minutes before being chased back out by the Marines, so this was the first city he had actually been allowed to explore outside of his hometown and Ghrian. 

Jeongin didn’t think it was possible for buildings to be constructed as high as the sky but here they were, each of the stores along the main street boasting different coloured walls, a whole rainbow as far as the eye could see. The crowds around them were endless, a sea of bodies that Jeongin could barely see through but the people seemed to be just as colourful as the buildings, most of them obviously being residents here since their clothes dripped gold and silver, so much jewellery weighing them down that Jeongin figured it must be hard for them to simply walk. 

The numerous scents around them were making Jeongin’s stomach grumble, despite just having eaten breakfast. Having to cook his own meals all the time, there were very few instances where Jeongin got to try different delicacies from other chefs and cooks. They passed one bakery in particular, one Jeongin made a mental note to return to that seemed to be offering a special of strawberry shortcake and iced americano for eight risa. Now that Jeongin had his own money, he thought that he could at least put a little aside to spend each week on little luxuries like cake. 

The seagulls' calls from overhead made Jeongin glance upwards, nearly being blinded by the sun beating down upon them but his distraction was enough for him to almost barrel into a group of Marines who were heading straight for him. Thankfully, Chan had been watching the youngest’s fascination out of the corner of his eye, reacting swiftly and pulling Jeongin out of the Marine’s path before they could make contact. Before they had docked, Chan had told Jeongin that he should definitely enjoy himself while he was here but that, no matter where they went on land, they always needed to be alert because there was always going to be someone who would prey on them should they let their guard down, especially Marines. Keep your head down and don’t start trouble if you can help it. And while Jeongin had said he completely understood, nearly running into the arms of a petty officer the second that they stepped off of the boat was exactly what Chan had told him not to do. 

“Eyes forward, Jeongin,” Chan ordered lowly, waiting for the Marines to pass them by. 

Jeongin’s eyes widened when he realised why it was that Chan had pulled him sideways, that he had almost run into the exact same problem that he had on Jila. Quite literally. With a small apology, Jeongin scolded himself and pushed himself closer to Chan’s side, holding onto the elder’s sleeve so that he didn’t get lost in the crowds around them.

“Yes, Captain.” 

The plan was to find somewhere to stay for a night or two so that they wouldn’t have to go back to the ship each night. Luckily, they were able to dock with the rest of the ships at the harbour because there was this service, you see, one that placed guards around the area to protect the vessels there. These guards weren’t associated with the Marines in any way but they ran the same way that they did. They relied on fees to watch the ships and the more that was handed to them, the more enthusiastic they were about guarding the boats, which is why Chan gave them quite a handsome sum to do their job. 

From the brochure that Changbin had picked up at the information desk on the way into the city, there were a few places that they could check out to bunk in tonight, not that they really minded as long as the two rooms that they were renting were beside each other. Jisung had claimed Jeongin as his roommate for the night, reasoning that they had gotten along so well over the last week rooming together and that, since Jeongin would be moving into his own room when they returned to the ship, they may as well finish things off with a bang. 

“Ok, there’s one down this side street. If this place doesn’t have any rooms then we can-”

Chan was cut off when a rather strong push to his shoulder caused him to stumble forward, barely managing to catch himself before he fell onto the cobblestone path below him. Whoever the hell had bumped into him must have been running at full speed from the pain now emanating from his shoulder, causing an irritated growl to begin to form in his throat. 

“Hey! Watch i-”

Any and all annoyance that Chan had felt a mere millisecond ago completely disappeared when he took in the person that had so rudely barrelled into him. A young man, maybe around the same age that he was, breathing heavily and wide eyes revealing that he was just as surprised about crashing into Chan as he was. 

His long blond hair was tied back in a high ponytail, two plaits running from his temples to join just about the hair tie keeping it all together. Freckles dotted every ounce of skin on his face, the sun above illuminating them in a way Chan didn’t think possible, making them resemble stars in the captain’s eyes. He was holding onto a wicker basket that had clearly been filled with numerous pieces of fruit but upon slamming into Chan, they had dispersed onto the ground instead, apples and oranges flying in all directions. 

In a word, the young man was stunning, so effortlessly beautiful and it took Chan a whole five seconds to realise he was staring somewhat creepily at the stranger who began to freak out when he realised he had just assaulted some poor person on the street, losing his produce in the process. 

“Oh, god, I’m so sorry! I should have looked where I was going,” the young man apologised madly, looking around him as if he was wondering how on earth he was going to gather all of the food that had strewn around the area. 

“N-no it was my fault. Don’t worry about it,” Chan soothed quickly, admonishing himself for the way his words stumbled over each other a little. “Here, let us help you.”

“Thank you.”

For the next five minutes, the newcomer and the four crewmates scrambled around the street trying to find everything that had been dropped in the collision, with Jisung dropping an apple back in the basket with a whimper after some randomer had stepped on his hand as he had attempted to pick it up. It took Changbin to hold him back from ripping the perpetrator’s throat out since the man never apologised for his actions, only snorting derisively, telling Jisung to stay out of his way. 

“Thank you for your help. I appreciate it,” the blond young man beamed, bowing lowly towards all four friends. “Well, I better be going. I need to be somewhere. Sorry for running into you and thank you again.” 

None of them got to say anything in response before the stranger was bounding off once more, running down one of the side streets and becoming nothing more than a fleeting memory that they had encountered so suddenly during their first few minutes in Yilin. 

And that’s all he should have been, a small encounter that should have vanished just as quickly as he did but for some reason, the young man’s sudden entrance into their lives had left a lasting impression on Chan, the captain staring after the other’s shadow with his hand raised shyly to wave goodbye to someone that he would probably never be able to find in the madness that this town had to offer.

“No problem…” Chan whispered, lowering his hand with disappointment as he felt Changbin slowly come to stand beside him.

“What the hell was that?” 

“I don’t know. He was just in a rush to get somewhere I guess.”

“Not with him. With you,” Changbin scoffed lightheartedly, Chan whipping around at the unspoken implication hiding beneath the first mate’s words. “What was that reaction? ‘ N-no it was my fault. Don’t worry about it .’ Hyung, you were literally standing still.” 

Chan attempted to do what anyone would do in this situation, act like he hadn’t the foggiest clue what Changbin was talking about. He found the young man cute but he assumed the others did too. How could they not when he had looked like a literal angel that had descended upon earth? He had been momentarily taken in by the stranger’s beauty but that was all. It wasn’t like he had acted unusually really. Perhaps, if anyone else in the entire world had run into him, Chan might have attempted to start a fight for the mere act of bumping into him like that but he hadn’t. 

All because he thought the young man was pretty. 

Apparently, Changbin had picked up on that. 

The fact that he side eyed Chan with a highly pompous grin on his face told Chan that he had definitely picked up on it. 

“Uh, hyung?”

Chan wanted to spin around and hug Jisung for giving him a reason not to continue this pointless conversation with Changbin any longer but when he thought about it, Chan realised that he knew that particular tone that coated Jisung’s words. It was a tone laced with guilt, a tone that usually had Chan reprimanding Jisung in some sort of way. 

“Yeah, Sung?”

“I think I lost my wallet…”

“What?! Jisung, that had our funds to buy stuff for the party!”

Now, normally, losing a bit of money wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, knowing that they always had something stashed away in case they were ever in dire need but Changbin was very serious about the bookkeeping on the ship, carefully putting aside certain amounts of money each time they obtained some kind of bounty or treasure and this was an expense that they had been saving up for for quite some time. Figuring that they may have to buy clothes to try and fit in with the crowd at Insu’s party and gather other gadgets and such that could help them on their mission, they knew that it would add up to quite a bit. Hence, why Chan had told Changbin to start saving early. 

Jisung had proudly declared that he would hold onto the money for them, a hefty eight thousand risa, knowing that it was an important job but neither Chan nor Changbin had a problem with that since Jisung was undeniably trustworthy when it came to things like this. Except for now, of course, when the money that they had put aside for the last month was nowhere to be found. 

“Sorry, hyung,” Jisung floundered, patting every pocket that his clothes provided, hoping he may have placed his wallet into one of those by mistake. “I don’t know where-”

“Oh no…”

Tearing their angered gazes away from Jisung, Chan and Changbin turned to see Jeongin mimicking Jisung in a frenzied fashion, patting all over his body until he froze, a defeated and heartbreaking look crossing over his face. 

“My money is gone too,” the youngest croaked, a whimper following shortly after. “The money for my letter…”

From what Chan had heard from Jisung, Jeongin had stayed up into the late hours of the night writing the letter that he wished to send to his parents, with only a small flashlight guiding him as he wrote out his heartfelt words. He ended up surrounded by crumpled pieces of paper, not being able to find the right words for quite some time but when he did, when he was satisfied with what he had written, he happily held the envelope to his chest, looking over the address scribbled on the front of it again and again. All it needed was a stamp. 

And it was the look on Jeongin’s face when he realised that the money he was supposed to use to buy said stamp was now gone that made Chan jump into action, urging Changbin to check his own pockets whilst he checked his own. 

Unsurprisingly, both of their wallets were gone too. All of them standing in the middle of one of the richest islands in the world without a penny on them.

“Son of a bitch!” Chan yelled, frightening a young couple that had been passing by, making them jump. “That guy…”

A devil in disguise. It had all been a ruse. And Chan had fallen for it hook, line and sinker. 

Wasn’t it the oldest trick in the book? To use such a pretty face to distract someone whilst you robbed them blind? How hadn’t any of them seen it? 

Chan let out a pitiful laugh as he dragged his hands through his hair. It wasn’t that the others had fallen for the trick. It had been him. He was the one who went completely blank when he stared at the stranger earlier, never even considering that he had been playing him like a fool in order to steal every risa they had. 

Everyone is out to get something. Especially those who know they will never see you again. 

“How would he have taken the money?” Jeongin wondered aloud, breathing a sigh of relief when he found that the letter he had written was still in his pocket. 

“I get the feeling he wasn’t working alone,” Changbin reasoned, knowing that the young man they were helping couldn’t have been the one to take the money since they had been watching him pick up the fruit with the rest of them the whole time.  

“He bumped into me on purpose. While we were distracted helping him, whoever he was working with took the chance to steal our risa.” 

Chan was fuming, admittedly more angry with himself than whoever had been clever enough to pick them out of the crowd and spot that they were not from around here. They had looked like easy targets apparently and were played like absolute fools in the end. 

“Will we ever be able to dock on an island and not have some ridiculous shit happen to us?” Jisung groaned, having bounced back a little since he knew the fault for losing the money for the party was not entirely his own. 

“I have the strangest feeling that the answer to that question is a solid no,” Changbin complained.  

“We can’t just let them think they’ll get away after stealing so much from us.”

In one way, Chan had said it because he didn’t want some petty thieves thinking that they could rob any poor tourist that came to this city simply to have a good time. There was no way that whoever stole from them knew what they were there for. For all they knew, the four of them could have docked in this city to try and start a new life as upstanding members of society. They weren’t, obviously. They were here to crash Insu’s party but that didn’t mean that it couldn’t happen to someone else who was. They couldn’t let these thieves get away with doing something like this. 

In another way entirely, Chan had said it because he desperately wanted a way to restore some kind of honour and pride after what he had just fallen for. 

“Well, Insu’s party isn’t for another two days. We have time. We could ask around and see if people know anything,” Jeongin proposed.

In a city such as this, one that held over a million residents on the entire island, someone was sure to have knowledge of a gang of pickpockets that preyed on newcomers to the island. The main problem was tracking down those people without having to search for days but another problem was, if they did indeed find the people who knew about those they were looking for, they might not be able to get them to talk. 

“Let’s find The Guild’s building,” Chan suggested with one last groan. “Best place to gather information on shit that happens in a city like this. Come on.”

Chapter Text

By architectural design, every Guild building around the world was easy to find in the city in which it was located, built high above any other with a shining gold star atop of it, because many people relied on it for numerous reasons. 

It was a business, first and foremost and its trade was being a headquarters of sorts for those who had jobs and requests to advertise. People would come, day in, day out and place flyers up for anyone to peruse. It ranged from things such as house cleaning to searching for part timers at the stalls around the city. Many jobs were permanent and long lasting but there were also calls for one time jobs too, things like merchants looking to buy items from other islands that those who had been sailing might have picked up along their travels or hiring bodyguards for a short voyage because the one who posted the commission was carrying something valuable. There was an array of requests, something available for everyone and on more than one occasion, Chan, Changbin and Jisung had taken on such requests from different Guild buildings around the world. 

It was a great source of income for many people, including pirates and Marines. Every so often, despite the Guild’s rules, there would be a sneaky advertisement wanting someone to complete a hit for them or to steal someone else’s goods. All prohibited, of course, but that didn’t mean that someone didn’t eventually take the job before the flyer got taken down. 

But another very important function of The Guild was the provision of information. Since so many people passed through the front doors everyday, The Guild was, without a doubt, the most reliable and useful place in every single city if someone wanted any kind of knowledge. 

Jeongin had known of The Guild building in Ghrian but he had never been inside of its doors. It was definitely smaller than this one from the outside though and when he followed the others in, he couldn’t help but gawk at the sheer amount of inhabitants, the building being as jam packed as the streets outside. He once again had to stick to Chan’s side to avoid being swept away by the sea of people, just about managing to hold on until they arrived at the front desk. 

Behind it was a young man, running to and fro in such a tizzy, that it made Jeongin feel exhausted just by looking at him. Once the man behind the counter realised that someone was in need of his assistance, he came to a complete halt, clapping his hands together and throwing on a most brilliant smile to greet his new customers. 

“Welcome to The Guild of Yilin. My name is Jungwoo and I am the master in chief here. What can I do for you gentlemen on this fine day? Looking for a job? Bulletin board is right over there,” the platinum haired man informed cordially. 

Along with his greeting, Jungwoo jabbed his thumb over his shoulder to a ginormous pinboard covered up with flyers, all of them displaying the information for different types of requests that needed to be fulfilled. There were a few people perusing the jobs, ripping the posters from the nails to take it to the front desk and accept the commission. 

But none of that interested Chan and the others just now.

“Not here for a job. For information,” the captain grumbled, any anger from before morphing into something along the lines of pure embarrassment, knowing that he would have to admit to this stranger the reason they were looking for the young man they had met earlier.  

“Ah, well, I’m sure I can help. Been in this city for twenty four years. If there’s something worth knowing in this place, then I know it. What is it that you want to know?” 

And no matter how hard he tried, Chan couldn’t seem to force the words past his pride, not wanting to say out loud that they had become such gullible tourists the moment that they arrived on Yilin. He gave up in the end and turned to stare at Changbin, pleading with him with a look alone. The first mate understood immediately, patting his captain on the shoulder and taking over the conversation in his stead.  

“When we entered the city, we were looking for somewhere to stay when someone bumped into us. A guy. He had-”

“Let me guess. Long blond hair? Freckles all over his face? Carrying a basket of something or other? Stole every single risa you had on you?” Jungwoo drawled with a bored tone, like he had been answering this question every single day since he was born. “Yup, that’s Lix. The Lee brothers strike again.” 

It was clear to the crewmates that this was not just a once off robbery by the way Jungwoo had reacted, so they could at least take comfort in the fact that whoever had stolen from them were seasoned in the morally questionable profession that they had chosen to embrace. 

“Lee brothers?” 

“How much did they take from you?” Jungwoo snickered, completely ignoring Jeongin’s question about the thieves identity.

“With the money all of us were carrying, about nine thousand.” 

“Hell, you shouldn’t be walking around with that kind of money anywhere you go!” 

Changbin was about to bite back and say that they never usually would walk around with that kind of money on them but on this rare occasion, there was something that required them to do so but before he could, Chan placed a hand upon his chest, a silent action to tell Changbin that he didn’t need to explain their circumstances right now. That would more than likely only bring more questions from the master in chief. 

“You know where we can find them?” 

Now that they were aware that these brothers were infamous around here, Chan was sure that someone at least knew their whereabouts. Like Jungwoo said earlier, if there was something to know in this city, then he knew it. The only other obstacle now was whether or not the man wanted to divulge that information. 

As with pretty much any business, places like this ran on coins. If you wanted something like information, then all you had to do was hand over a few risa and that was that but seeing as they didn’t have anything on them and would have to dig into their savings back on the ship if they did indeed have to pay Jungwoo, then that was going to be a bit of a problem. 

But by the small, devious glint in Jungwoo’s eyes upon hearing Chan asking for the brother’s location, they figured their fears were unneeded. 

“Heh, usually, I wouldn’t tell you or anyone else anything about them since they actually do a lot of good for people around here.”

The Robin Hood type, Chan thought, how noble of them but it wasn’t like his crew were in any way rich. There were a hell of a lot of people in this city that had a hundred times what they did. Perhaps these criminals had already worked their way through all of them.

“But that asshole Minho still hasn’t given me my cut of his last three commissions, so fuck him,” Jungwoo shrugged, like he wasn’t all that torn up about telling Chan where he could find them. “Maybe if you go and beat some sense into him, he’ll see the light.” 

In a way, Chan hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He really couldn’t be bothered getting into a scuffle that they hadn’t expected. Not knowing what would happen in Insu’s house, they had to be fully prepared for the possibility of resistance and if that was the case, none of them wanted to expend energy today if they could help it. 

Hopefully, all they had to do was locate these people, threaten them a little and get their money back. Doubtful but they could be optimistic. 

“I’m not going to tell you where they live, I don’t hate them that much but if you were to say, oh, I don’t know, head to Cypher street,” Jungwoo encouraged slyly, taking out a map from beneath his desk before circling a small secluded area with his pen, “at around three o’clock, I’m sure that you’ll find them there. They’re very consistent with their routes for stealing everyday.” 

That was an awfully cocky mistake. These pickpockets, whoever they were, had become so accustomed to people covering for them and never getting caught that they never thought about changing their pattern to ensure their safety. A lapse in judgement that could cost them a lot. 

“Thanks, appreciate it,” Chan smiled, taking the map from Jungwoo before turning around to leave. 

“Hope you get your money back. Tell Minho I said ‘hi’.” 

Chan figured that passing on that particular message would add salt to the wound, should Chan get to speak with this Minho. So, if he got the chance, he would definitely make sure that he knew that Jungwoo had been the one to sell him out. 

Walking back out into the bustling street again, Chan let the map be taken out of his hands by Changbin, the young man having the best sense of direction out of all of them. 

“So, what? We just go and find these guys and just tell them to give us our money back?” Jeongin asked, a little out of his depth in this particular area.

“If they want to play nicely, then yeah,” Chan answered simply, beginning to follow Changbin as he walked towards the direction of Cypher street. “If they refuse, then we try to persuade them in other ways.” 

Finally out of the rays of the blazing sun, Felix relished in the sting of the stones of the frigid wall behind him digging into his spine. The heat of summer always made running around town all day just that little bit harder, the beads of sweat cascading down his face managing to get caught in the corner of his lips, a horrid saltiness landing on the young man’s tongue because of it. 

He was somewhat thankful that the end of his day was approaching, getting to finish a little bit earlier than normal because of one moron actually having the gall to carry around a whole eight thousand risa in his pocket. Felix agreed with Minho when the elder had said that, if someone was stupid enough to carry that kind of money, then he was practically begging for it to be stolen from him. These rich folks believed that they were invincible because of their wealth but Felix always said what they had in money, they lacked in common sense. 

The nine thousand from that little group managed to raise their total a substantial amount and he knew that the old couple on the end of their street and the kids at Miss Lucy’s would be safe for a little while longer because of it. He couldn’t wait to see the smiles on their faces when he would tell them about his newest adventures from today. 

Now, all he had to do was wait for Minho to rendezvous with him before returning home for the night. Whenever they were robbing snobby, rich Marines or morally corrupt pirates, Felix would always act as the bait because nobody, and he means nobody, ever suspected him of trying to take their coin. He had been told by many ladies and gents that he had a very pleasing face, soft and serene. Of course, he has also been told by intoxicated animals and pricks that there were plenty of things that they’d like to do to him because of his ‘pretty face.’ Maybe Felix was paraphrasing that in his head but trying to say what he was actually told by those men made him throw up in his mouth a little bit. 

That was why he was diversion and whilst he was putting on his performance, Minho would use his dexterity and swiftness to swipe any bags of coin that he could grab within the usually short time limit. He would then walk in the opposite direction that Felix headed so that they were never seen together by the pirates that were usually only passing through the town. Should one be spotted, they had a gathering point not too far away from their home that they could meet up at. 

That was the way it usually went but for some reason, Felix had come across somewhat of an anomaly today. Upon bumping into a pirate captain that he had seen docking in the harbour earlier on in the day, the man had actually apologised to him and offered to help him pick up the bruised produce in his basket that had been strewn around the place. More often than not, Felix might get an insult or mild threat thrown his way from the pirates he decidedly chose as the victim for his small sketch but the young man with wavy lilac hair and a sizable scar over his eye had actually been kind enough to help him out, urging his crew to do the same. 

This, however, did give Minho even more time to complete his objective, earning them the sizable reward as a result but Felix couldn’t help but feel just a tinge of guilt for robbing someone whose smile he couldn’t seem to get out of his head. They robbed people who deserved it, who put down people like him, those who wouldn’t even notice their money going missing but there was something about the dark brown eyes of the pirate captain from earlier that made Felix think that maybe he wasn’t supposed to be included in that particular group of people. 

Looking down at the beaten apples in his basket, Felix figured he would have to come up with a new ruse soon. They had been running this for a couple of weeks and if they continued much longer, there was no doubt that someone would realise who they were and come after them. 

Just as he was about to glance out into the main street to see if Minho was coming to meet him like they had agreed, a strong nudge caused him to stumble sideways, his feet crossing over one another just as he managed to steady himself. Before he could even look at who was now situated beside him, he knew it wasn’t Minho. He would never announce his presence like that, which meant that someone was clumsy enough to bump into him, impossible as that may seem. He was standing still against a wall, how the hell did someone actually run into him like that? 

“Hey, watch…it,” Felix snapped, spinning to berate whoever dared make him stumble, only for him to completely lose his nerve when he noticed that the offender was none other than the pirate captain that he had stolen from earlier, the man that he couldn’t get out of his head supporting a crooked smile full of nothing but ire. 

Wavy, lilac hair. Deep brown eyes, one covered with a scar. Arms crossed over his chest, making his biceps-

Yep, it was definitely him. 

“Uh-oh.”

With such a devilish smile, it wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure out what he was here for. The only thing working in Felix’s favour right now was that the man seemed to be alone, the three others that had been with him earlier nowhere in sight but he knew that they probably weren’t far away. Felix was able to protect himself, Minho made sure of that but if he were to go up against four pirates, Felix was sure that he wouldn’t fare all that well. Then again, with the way the other man was looking at him, Felix feared that maybe he wouldn’t fare all that well against one of them. 

“I’m feeling somewhat merciful today, so I’m going to give you one chance to give me and my crew our money back,” Chan gloated boldly, making Felix snort derisively. 

It seemed as if the captain thought that he had already outsmarted Felix by locating him, something, in fairness, nobody had really ever done before. But Felix also got the distinct feeling that this brute was underestimating him because of how he looked, that because he wasn’t as powerfully built and annoyingly burly, he wouldn’t be able to hold his own against an attacker. That was something that people constantly did. And boy, did Felix always make them regret it. 

This time wouldn’t be any different.

“Pfft, or what?” Felix goaded, knowing how easily thugs like this got riled up when he would threaten or undermine their masculinity. 

It was too easy really. They always took the bait.

“I love when people ask that question.” 

Faster than lightning, the man lurched forward and Felix felt a strong grip around his arm, launching him into action to try and gain the upper hand. It was a quick scuffle, Felix blocking a swing to his left side, trying to sweep his feet underneath his opponent but missing when he realised that his speed was not only being matched but overtaken by the pirate that had quickly taken control of the situation. 

When Felix slipped and used the other young man’s chest to stabilise himself, he realised his mistake just a second too late, finding himself pinned against the wall he had been leaning against earlier, feeling the captain’s hot breath upon his cheek as he reeled at their proximity. 

He couldn’t believe that he had managed to become incapacitated so easily. The only person who had managed to get him in such a vulnerable position in a very long time was Minho when they were training. He never expected someone like the man in front of him to immobilise him without breaking so much as a sweat. It was then that Felix realised that he had been so sure that the pirate would be the one to be cocky that he had somehow managed to fall into that particular trap himself. 

“So, about my money…”

Even if Felix wanted to give the money back, it wasn’t like he could. He wasn’t the one that took it from people. That was always Minho’s job and since they kept their distance from one another when they were out working, it meant that Felix never held the money until they got home. But he wasn’t entirely sure that the pissed off man in front of him would believe him if he told him that. 

Luckily, it wouldn’t seem like he would need to when a familiar blade rounded Chan’s throat, the glint of the sun's rays dancing on the alloy steel dagger. The captain quickly seized up when he felt the tip of a knife being dug into the side of his neck, a silent threat that said he shouldn’t move a muscle if he knew what was good for him. 

“Get your hands off of him.” 

“Hyung…” Felix whispered with relief, locking eyes with Minho and nodding as much as he could to say he was alright when Minho’s eyes worriedly raked over his body. 

“Or what?” Chan snickered, parroting Felix’s earlier provocation. 

It was then that Felix understood that it wasn’t by accident that the captain had come to find him on his own. It wasn’t that the others were looking for him somewhere else. It wasn’t a fluke at all. 

It had been a set up. 

From three different angles, the other three crewmates that had helped him pick up his fruit earlier came and surrounded Minho, weapons raised and eyes set in a stone cold stare, Felix almost feeling like he would crumble and fall away to dust under their furious gazes. Their dangerous auras more than likely stemmed from the fact that their captain was about two seconds away from being eviscerated by Minho and Felix knew that, if either of them wanted to walk out of here alive, then they would have to surrender and admit defeat in this particular battle, something Minho showed by raising his hands up beside him and letting the knife drop to the floor, albeit unwillingly.

And even though it was clear that they had no intention of fighting back anymore, Felix felt the grip pushing him back against the wall only get harsher. 

“Give us back our money and I’ll let him go,” Chan reasoned, which wasn’t an preposterous request by any standard, since Felix assumed that’s what they came here for in the first place.  

“I don’t take orders from filthy pirates,” spat Minho, sticking his tongue in his cheek when Changbin moved forward to dig his rifle into the thief’s side. 

“Not pirates.” 

“You’re a bad liar,” Felix hummed, managing to reclaim the captain’s gaze, a certain blazing fire present that had not been there earlier. 

“We’re not.”

“Then let me ask, are you here for Insu’s party?” 

All four crewmates made a noise of surprise at the question that came from the young man with his hands still in the air, making Felix giggle at how easy they were to read.

“Pfft, that’s a dead giveaway. You arrive two days before a party to which only pirate crews are invited to? And you’re not pirates?” Minho hissed, taking the moment of bewilderment between the others and Chan’s grip loosening to reach around and grab onto Felix, succeeding in bringing him close and shielding him with his body. 

The sudden movement didn’t seem to bother Chan at all, the captain sighing heavily and stuffing his hands into his pockets after he made a motion for his friends to lower their weapons. No point or honour in threatening unarmed men, especially when it was clear that Minho wanted nothing more than to simply protect Felix. 

“We weren’t invited since only notable pirates were but we’re going anyway.”

“For what?” Felix asked curiously, peeking over his brother’s shoulder to stare at Chan. 

“Now what on earth would I tell you about something like that?” 

With such a brash answer, Felix clamped his mouth shut, grasping that there was literally no sane reason that someone would tell strangers like them, thieves like them, about their plans to invade a party that they had no invitation to.

Minho was definitely not of the same mindset, rushing ahead with his words. 

“Because if you’re planning on doing something stupid like crashing the party, it could fuck up the plans we’ve been making for the last few weeks and we won’t let you do that.”

“How are you going to stop us?” Changbin challenged, hand still hovering over the gun in his thigh holster. “You gonna kill us in the middle of the street?” 

“Don’t tempt me,” Minho growled, eyeing his fallen knife on the ground, mentally wondering if he could reach it without getting his throat slashed or adorning a new bullet hole in his chest.

They weren’t pirates but they wanted access to Insu’s party. To Felix, that was a very interesting piece of information, one that could possibly be very useful if they went about it in a smart way. He had something these people wanted, something they needed but he was going to stay silent on that matter until they revealed their hand a little bit more. 

“Hyung,” Felix whispered so that only Minho could hear. “They aren’t pirates and need a way into the party. Insu won’t know who they are. Do you think that they could help with-”

“Lix, shush.”

Shut down once again. Felix could feel the tension flowing freely from his brother’s body, almost making him feel nauseous and he knew that most of Minho’s rage right now was coming from the fact that he was being threatened, not really caring at all for his own safety, something that Felix constantly scolded him for. Minho always took his job as big brother and protector very seriously.

“How on earth do you plan on getting into this party without an invite?” Minho jeered. “You can’t just walk in there. It’s the best guarded place in Yilin. Insu has a hundred guards in his employ on a normal day. With this party, it’s going to increase tenfold.” 

“We haven’t really figured that out yet,” Jisung interjected sheepishly, faltering a little when Minho directed his bitter stare towards him. “We were going to look into our options before you took everything that we had.” 

With that admission, Felix could see the wheel turning in Minho’s head, his idea matching up with his younger brother’s earlier thoughts. 

They had been planning and planning over the last couple of weeks when they heard about Insu’s little soirée, knowing that this could be the perfect time to hit him where it hurt. Everything was pretty much set in stone, except for one small detail. They had been agonising over one particular point when it came to getting into Insu’s party and if they managed to use these people to get what they wanted, everything may work out perfectly. 

Fate had sent them a lifeline and they were going to grab on with both hands while they could.

Minho gingerly looked back over his shoulder, getting a nod of confirmation from Felix.  

“You guys have bounties?”

“Yes?” Chan supplied, clearly intrigued as to where this line of questioning was going. “Not a lot though. The Marines label us as pirates but we never call ourselves that. We don’t prey on other people. They always start shit with us.”

“Are your bounties under five hundred thousand?” Minho inquired, receiving a chorus of ‘yes’s’ in return. “Huh, then they definitely don’t know who you are. Maybe we could…”

Knowing his brother was already weighing the pros and cons of allowing these strangers into their plans, Felix took the time to further inspect the crew in front of him. The two men standing furthest away from him looked to be a little out of their depth in this situation but still ready to jump into action should things go south. On his right, with his hand still tickling the grip of his gun, the man that had threatened Minho earlier seemed a little less irritated than before but had moved to stand closer beside the captain, making Felix think he was the right hand man. 

But, as before, the captain intrigued him most of all. Now that the conversation had taken a turn, of which he didn’t know the outcome, he was far less incensed, simply standing there and waiting to see if something beneficial could come out of this whole debacle. Since he was no longer glaring at him, Felix had to admit that the man was rather handsome, a strong but gentle aura surrounding him, the feeling of safety he exuded strikingly similar to Minho at times. 

Seeing Minho’s head whip up out of the corner of his eye, Felix knew that he had come to a decision.

“You need a way into the party. Maybe we can give you one if you help us out.” 

“What do you mean?” Chan demanded, his ears perking up at the possibility of finally having a way into Insu’s house.

“Not here. Follow me.”

Before he could even react, Felix felt his wrist being grabbed by Minho, the elder leading them back out into the street and towards the deeper parts of the city where their home could be found. He assumed that Minho wouldn’t take them straight to their house, figuring he would want to know a little bit more about these people before revealing where they lived, just in case they were indeed lying about being pirates and take advantage of them but if they were indeed going to work together, Felix knew that that would be where they would end up by the end of the night. 

“What about our money?!” the captain shouted from behind, ending his question with a defeated sigh as he followed. “All of you, stay close.”

Chan and the others silently traipsed behind Minho and Felix away from the centre of the city towards what looked to be a more residential area but still had a few stores along the street. They were smaller, not at all as grand as the ones that they had seen when they pulled into port but, in a way, it felt far more relaxing to be here then amongst the hundreds, if not thousands, of people back in the city. 

As they passed, nearly every vendor waved to or greeted Felix and Minho, some calling out to them to ask for their assistance in some way or other, making Chan wonder what exactly these two thieves meant to the people around here. 

Getting tired of being led to an unknown destination by people he in no way trusted, Chan was just about to call out to Minho to force an explanation out of him but didn’t get the chance when the other continued to pull Felix inside a small building to the right which looked to be something akin to a bar. At least they weren’t leading them to some dark alleyway to try and turn the tables on them or escape. 

Once inside, Chan had to admit that the liveliness of the place made him feel a little uncertain about their fate. From what he had seen on their way here, pretty much everyone knew the Lee brothers, as Jungwoo had called them. The captain had no doubt that included all the people in the bar too as the bartender waved in a friendly way towards Minho as he strode past, gesturing for Felix to take a seat in one of the booths in the back, both of them muttering in hushed tones with one another. 

“This place is awesome,” Jeongin bubbled, holding onto Changbin’s arm to make sure he didn’t accidentally run into someone. 

The pub was packed to capacity but still managed to hold a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, laughter and chatter somehow managing to be as loud as the live music that was being played by the quartet in the corner being illuminated by spotlights from above. Neon signs were plastered on every available wall if they weren’t filled with picturesque photos of lands from around the world. It seemed this was the place that the residents came to drink their worries away after a long day of work, not that it was what Chan and the others were there for. 

It was near impossible to reach the booth where Felix was now sitting with all the bodies on the floor but Jisung just about managed to squeeze through first and nearly topple into Minho’s arms before he managed to straighten himself with a huff. It didn’t look like Minho had any intention of catching him though, more than likely happy with letting Jisung fall to the floor but the younger got the feeling that was because they were all still on tense terms with one another after their run in earlier. 

Only one way to fix that, with Jisung figuring they should get better acquainted if they were in fact going to be working together to get into Insu’s house.

“You’re Minho, right?” Jisung bubbled as he heard his fellow crewmates grunting and yelling behind him as they attempted to push their way through the crowd. “Jungwoo-ssi told us.”

“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Minho hissed, fists clenched tightly by his side and Jisung didn’t doubt that Minho actually may kill the kind master in chief that they had met earlier. 

“I’m Jisung. Nice to meet you.”

Holding out his hand in greeting, Jisung donned a dazzling smile, one that he felt always put others at ease since introductions sometimes made people feel overly anxious or awkward. Instead of his hand being grasped by the other, Minho made a move to slap it away, turning to face Jisung head on with a completely unamused look on his face. 

“I really have no interest in who you are. The only reason I’m talking to you guys is to use you for my job. So, take your happy-go-lucky attitude and piss off.”

Letting his hand hover in the air as he was completely annihilated by Minho’s utter rudeness, Jisung simply stared after the man as he took a seat beside Felix with his mouth hanging open, staying frozen until the younger brother turned to him in the booth, looking at Jisung with an apologetic grimace and a small bow. Not like that made the sting of the embarrassment he had just endured any better. 

“Asshole…” Jisung grumbled, waving off the question of ‘what’s up with you?’ from Changbin when the others finally managed to reach them. 

“Have you guys eaten yet?” Minho wondered aloud. “If not, my treat.”

Chan had to hold back a growl when Minho dangled their nine thousand risa in front of their faces with a shit eating grin, holding it far enough out of reach that none of them would be able to grab it in time from his hands.

“Isn’t that our money?” Jeongin deadpanned, clearly not impressed that Minho was teasing him with the only risa he had ever really earned for doing his job.

“Ok then, your treat.”

None of them were in any mood to argue with Minho just now, pissed off and tired from everything that had already happened today. They hadn’t eaten since breakfast and whatever the hell was being prepared in the kitchen behind the bar smelled absolutely delectable. Chan figured that if they needed to feed these two leeches to get a decent meal since they didn’t have any more coin on them, then they would suck it up and pay. They would have used some of the funds for food anyway. Two more mouths to feed wouldn’t put a big dent in their coin. They’d get the rest of the money back later on. 

Minho made a move to leave the table and go to order food but Chan felt the need to oversee exactly what it was the other was buying for him and his crewmates. He probably wouldn’t poison them but that ‘probably’ kept swimming around in Chan’s mind enough for him to tell Minho that he would join him, nodding towards his three friends to sit whilst he got them something to eat. 

Once the eldest had left the table, Jisung noticed that Changbin and Jeongin had fallen into a quiet conversation, keeping their eyes set upon Chan and Minho, whispering the entire time. He didn’t much feel like joining in after the way he had been harshly shut down by Minho upon trying to introduce himself. It had been a courtesy on his part, even after how the brothers had treated them but Jisung was going to be damned if he ever tried to be kind to Minho again. 

But as he glared at the back of Minho’s head from where he sat, Jisung realised that he had left Felix sitting all alone with them, despite his adamance to keep his younger brother safe when they had them both surrounded earlier on. Then again, Jisung assumed that, should they try anything funny and attempt to harm Felix, there were probably one or twenty people in this pub that would kill them before they got very far in their assault. 

Once Jisung turned to look at the blond haired young man next to him, he saw Felix glancing over at Minho too, gnawing on his lip anxiously, though Jisung wasn’t entirely sure if he was worried about Minho’s safety or his own. 

Sure, Minho had been a complete and utter ass to him but that didn’t mean that Felix would automatically be too. So, Jisung thought, why not test out that theory and try for a second round of introductions with an amusing ice breaker. 

“So, mister sunshine over there is your brother, huh?” Jisung questioned, though he already knew the answer, having to raise his voice a little to be heard over the assault of noise from the patrons of the bar. 

The query seemed to startle Felix from his concerned daze, the young man turning to look behind him even though his back had been facing a wall, like he couldn’t believe Jisung was actually talking to him. Admittedly, the action made Jisung smile just a little bit.

“Yeah, he is.” Felix confirmed with a shy nod.

“Huh…”

“What?”

“Nothing. Not like I know either of you at all but not only do you look nothing like him but your personalities seem to be…” Jisung paused, wondering how he could say this nicely without straight up insulting Minho in front of his brother. In the end, he settled for forcing his hands as far apart from each other as they could go. “On completely different ends of the scale.”

This time, Jisung’s shenanigans drew a pleasant laugh from the young man who reached up to tighten his ponytail. It was that particular reaction that made Jisung sure that Felix was in no way going to behave in the same abhorrent way that his brother had.

“Well, Minho hyung’s mother took me in when I was a baby. We’re not biological brothers. He’s been taking care of me for a long time.”

“Ah, kind of like me and my hyungs,” Jisung confided, tipping his chin towards Changbin to keep his ears on his own conversation when the elder looked over to him at the sound of the honorific. “I’ve known them since I was six years old, when I moved to their island.”

Felix hummed non committedly, looking more and more relaxed by the second now that he wasn’t being boxed in by three men who, a mere hour ago, wanted to get revenge for stealing their money. 

“I’m Jisung, by the way.” 

“Oh, I’m Felix.”

Jisung weakly attempted to stifle a laugh at that but failed miserably, like he didn’t already know who Felix was.  

“Should we talk comfortably? I figure we’re around the same age. When were you born?”

“Oh, I’m twenty two. I was born on the fifteenth of September,” Felix smiled, causing Jisung to jump in his seat.  

“You’re actually kidding, right?” Jisung blurted out, his eyes growing wide for a moment at the playfulness of fate to allow him to meet someone who was practically his twin. “I’m a day older than you.” 

“No way…”

For some reason, this small coincidence seemed to amuse Felix greatly, the young man abandoning his earlier seat to scoot closer to Jisung, the action drawing interest from Changbin and Jeongin before the returned to staring at the two still waiting for their order at the bar. 

“Sorry for taking your money earlier,” Felix fretted, twirling a loose piece of hair that had escaped from his ponytail around his finger. “We just…”

And it appeared to Jisung that Felix really did feel somewhat apologetic for cheating them earlier like he did. So, when the younger went on to hesitantly explain why he did what he did, Jisung waved him off with a smile, knowing an anxious air when he saw it swirling around Felix. 

“Don’t worry too much. I'm sure we’ll sort everything out. Plus, you may be giving us a way into the party,” Jisung responded quickly, drawing a sigh of relief from Felix.  

Since it was clear from their earlier reaction that they had never been caught in their deceitful actions before, Felix had therefore never had to deal with the aftermath of apologising to the victims, not that he ever really felt the need to. But from what Minho had said about not taking orders from ‘filthy pirates’, Jisung got the feeling that they only attempted to steal from assholes who probably docked here and caused nothing but trouble. 

As a result, he reckoned that Felix was more than likely a little worried about how his offering of remorse would be greeted by The Haven’s crew. Jisung wasn’t one for holding grudges and he certainly didn’t want to make an enemy out of Felix when the young man gave him a rather decent impression, far better than his brother had given him. With that thought, Jisung debated with the idea of holding onto just one grudge in his life as he scowled once more at the back of Minho’s head. 

“Your hyung looks to be a bit on edge,” Jisung grumbled, sneering as he noticed Minho glancing back towards Felix numerous times, as if they would be cruel enough to try and do something heinous whilst he wasn’t looking.

“So does yours.”

Jisung had been so caught up in trying to get Minho to somehow telepathically feel the maliciousness in his stare, he had failed to notice that, when Minho turned back around to the bar, Chan took his turn to glance back at their table, offering Changbin a reassuring smile or a small eye roll as if he really didn’t want to be dealing with the man beside him just now, clearly not noticing that he shared a startling similarity with him in being overprotective of their brothers. 

“I guess we share a common trait in having a mother hen,” Jisung giggled, Felix joining in along with his teasing. 

“We managed to get our hands on an invite but it’s for staff, for us to go in as kitchen assistants. We could walk straight in without anyone batting an eye.”

Chan listened intently, not wanting to miss a single detail of the information Minho was giving him. Once Minho had begun laying out his plans as they stood at the bar together, Chan had suggested waiting until they got back to the table so that everyone could hear the report firsthand from him. All that got Chan in return was a needless scoff, with Minho stating that they may as well discuss it here while they had nothing to do, the younger ploughing on ahead with his explanation.

“So, what’s the problem? What do you need us for?” Chan challenged, thanking the barmaid as she slid two glasses of cola and two of cider towards him. 

It wasn’t like Chan was trying to make Minho see that they really weren’t needed if he already had an invitation for himself and Felix but the captain needed to make sure that there was absolutely nothing being hidden from him, that he knew the entire story before putting his life on the line to enter Insu’s home with two people he knew would sacrifice him and his crew to save their own skin, as he would do to them if his crew were in danger.

“The problem is that all of Insu’s people know our faces. Lix and I do a lot of damage around here for people like them. So, even though we have the invitation, there is no way either of us will be able to get inside since security will stop us before we ever step over the threshold.”

That made sense. Earlier on, Jungwoo had said that the brothers did a lot of good for people around here and based on how they got the money to help the residents, Chan had a feeling that it meant that Minho and Felix made a hell of a lot of enemies. Unsurprisingly, that more than likely included the richest man who lived in Yilin. Chan had no doubt that, more than once, Minho and Felix probably caused a lot of trouble for the wealthy of this town in order to help those who were in dire need.

“Unless, we sneak in with you,” Minho smiled devilishly. “Conceal us in some way, like in crates that should hold produce or something. They won’t even look twice since you aren’t from around here and you’re not well known pirates.”

“Not pirates at all…” Chan groaned, wondering if he would ever live to see the day when people wouldn’t automatically assume he was a pirate just because he had a ship and a bounty. “And why not ask someone from around here instead of strangers you met an hour ago? Put up a commission in The Guild?”

“First of all, Insu has eyes everywhere. He would know we put up a commission before anyone else did,” reasoned Minho, sipping on his whiskey and grimacing at the sting of it. “Plus, nobody would be stupid enough to take it. Breaking into Insu’s house would be a suicide mission if you make one mistake.”

That felt like somewhat of a direct dig to Chan since he had so easily agreed to follow Minho at the mention of the younger being able to get them into Insu’s house. Before docking on the island, Chan had been so sure that they were ready to invade Insu’s home for the chance of completing their mission but hearing Minho talk about it like this, it made him wonder if they were truly prepared at all. 

“And yet, you two are taking the chance. Says a lot about you,” the captain mumbled. 

“Insu literally never invites anyone into his home. This is the only chance we’ll ever get to get what we’re owed.” 

Chan wasn’t quite sure what Minho meant by that. On one hand, it sounded like, because Insu was rich and they were not, that the pirate captain somehow owed them something from his wealth so that it was evenly distributed to those in need but on another, there seemed to be something darker underneath the implication, like Insu had somehow taken something from Minho personally and judging by the look on the other’s face as he took a gulp of his drink, Chan got the feeling that it was the latter. 

“Well, in the end, I don’t know why you’re questioning everything. This would be a way for both of us to get inside,” Minho countered, the short lived look of pain on his face being replaced by an annoyed glare.  

“And what are you going in for?”

“To steal shit. I thought that would have been clear to you by now,” the thief laughed, as if Chan had just asked the most idiotic question in existence. “Insu is the wealthiest person in Yilin and everything he owns has come from someone else’s suffering. He doesn’t deserve any of it.” 

Again, Chan was sure that Minho wasn’t just referring to Insu stealing from other pirate ships or Marines whilst on the ocean but still remained silent on the matter. If he wanted to delve deeper into Minho’s life, he had no doubt that Minho wouldn’t be long about returning the favour. 

“What about you?”

“Need to find someone who is supposed to be attending the party,” Chan admitted, noticing the raised eyebrow from Minho, the action asking who on earth would be worth breaking into a securely guarded house for. “One of my crew doesn’t know the details, I’m certainly not going to tell someone I don’t trust like you.” 

Minho didn’t seem at all offended by that, shrugging his shoulders like he wasn’t all that interested in Chan’s plans to begin with. 

“Fine. So, are we in agreement? We’ll help each other out?” Minho asked, holding out his hand as a sign that he wanted to seal the deal already. 

Chan knew that he should talk to the others before he agreed but he knew that they would always leave the final decision to him as captain. Should they object to something later on, Chan would certainly take their opinions into consideration. They could always back out in the end but for now, they were running out of time and hadn’t come across or thought of any other options throughout the day.

And Chan knew that there was only one route to go down in the end.

“I don’t think we have any other choice,” Chan stated with a finality, tightly grasping Minho's hand in his own, disliking the sly grin from the younger he received in return.  

Chapter Text

“Chan hyung, right?” 

Not expecting a bright voice to come from his left side, Chan admittedly nearly choked on the piece of meat he had been forced to swallow, only surviving certain death when Changbin began repeatedly whacking on his back.

“Uh, yeah, that’s me,” the captain responded after he thanked Changbin and gathered his bearings. 

Felix had looked mildly terrified as he watched Chan struggle to regain his breath but let out an amused giggle when he saw how fast Changbin was there to save his captain’s life. He had been itching all night to move from his seat to try and talk to the elder but he been so immersed in speaking with Jisung and genuinely have the time of his life, that he didn’t notice that Minho had already boxed him in, forcing him to stay in his seat and eat his kimchi fried rice quietly as Minho and Chan laid out the basic plan for breaking into Insu’s home, telling the others that they’d go into more detail tomorrow. 

But when Minho got up to grab another drink, Felix immediately took the chance and rounded the table to sit beside the captain, not meaning to frighten him out of his wits but finding it somewhat endearing the way Chan reacted to such a scare when he had seen him as a terrifying pirate captain earlier. 

“I wanted to personally apologise for what I did to you today. I don’t think Minho hyung did a very good job at saying sorry,” Felix tensed, not being given any reason to relax when Chan scoffed harshly.

“He didn’t say sorry at all.”

That checked out. Minho had never really been good at admitting his mistakes, especially when he came out as the bad guy. Felix knew what a wonderful person his brother was, how sweet, kind and caring he was but to Chan and his crew, Minho was the arrogant and pompous thief who had taunted them with their money and tried to brush off his error like it was nothing. Felix also assumed that Minho didn’t repair Chan’s first impression of him when they both returned from the bar with the captain looking more irate than when he left them. 

“Right, but I am sorry. We really thought that you were pirates with how your ship looked and everything. We saw you docking at the marina. It’s just…the easiest way to get money around here.”

“Don’t you guys have jobs?” Chan huffed, not really being mad at Felix anymore but wanting to know exactly why they were being targeted if the brothers did indeed have another trade other than larceny.

“Yeah, we do odd jobs around the city for anyone who needs it. That includes helping people out when it comes to the taxes, which is why we steal in the first place.”

“The taxes?” 

The question didn’t seem all that strange to Chan for someone who hadn’t set foot on Yilin before but Felix recoiled like someone had struck him, boring a hole in Chan’s face with a look of pure confusion.

“Do you actually know anything about Insu or Yilin? Like, at all?” the younger badgered in a way that sounded like an accusation and from the way Felix was glaring at him, Chan got the feeling that it was definitely an accusation.

“We know what we need to know. He’s a pirate captain, he’s wealthy, stupidly so and he’s having an exclusive party that will be heavily guarded tomorrow night. That’s enough.” 

“Right…” Felix deadpanned, clearly unamused at the other’s lack of regard for the whole city’s situation. “But how do you think that he acquired that stupid amount of wealth?” 

Chan guessed that he got his wealth the way most pirates did, by ambushing ships of Marines and merchants. They had also heard that Insu had some sort of lucrative business but Chan never cared enough to inquire as to what it was. It wasn’t important to their plans but the drastic change that the topic had caused in Felix’s whole demeanour made Chan think that maybe he should have found out. 

“Insu settled here about twenty years ago when he started becoming powerful on the sea, bringing that power here. He had a reasonable amount of wealth then but nothing like he has now.” 

It wasn’t strange that Insu was wealthy in a city like Yilin. There were plenty of people who were in the top one percent of the world with regards to their worth. Insu had twenty years to build up his riches but Chan got a strangely uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach when Felix’s face took on a distressed frown, meaning the reason for how Insu became so wealthy had a much darker shadow cast over it.

“When he had been here for a year or so, he started imposing a tax upon the businesses here, for protection against anyone who would want to ‘harm’ the city’s inhabitants, even though he was the one that was doing most of the terrorising.”

In a city as large as this, with so many Marines and pirates living in close proximity, Chan knew how dealings went down. To avoid being arrested, the pirates usually paid a sum of risa, which wasn’t that unusual but Chan did wonder how on earth Insu would get away with imposing a tax and collecting it whilst intimidating the residents without it being picked up by the Marines. 

“Every business had to pay and though this tax wasn’t created by the government and was highly illegal, Insu began paying off the Marines that were stationed here with a small portion of his takings from the taxes. So, no matter how many people reported him or complained, they always turned a blind eye to it. How morally righteous of them, right?”

Chan and his crew were no strangers to how corrupt the Marines were. Every chance that they got, the Marines tried to take them down, never even bothering to look up what the 3racha crew’s ‘crimes’ actually were. It included all of fighting back when the Marines would start fights with them, resisting arrest for the previous fault and escaping from said Marines. None of which were their fault to begin with. 

To the ‘normal’ citizens around the world, the ones who weren’t on the world government’s hit lists, the Marines were the commendable and honourable law enforcement that protected them from the terrifying pirates that would surely threaten them or worse should they be allowed to run free. 

But in this city, it was clear that even the general public were also being abandoned by the ones who were supposed to keep them safe.

“While the businesses at the port could just about afford it since most people stay around that area when they dock, the small businesses, the family owned ones further into the city near the residential areas, like this one, always struggle with Insu’s tax payments,” Felix growled, looking around the bar with wistful eyes. 

That made Chan ponder on how much Insu was actually extorting from these people. Despite them being there for over an hour, the bar was still at full capacity, drinks constantly being poured at the bar and if Chan didn’t know any better, he would say that there was plenty of risa being handed over the counter. But if Felix said that even an establishment like this was struggling because of Insu’s fines, then what was being asked of them was probably far too much. 

“The rates started getting higher and higher every year, some people losing their entire profit margin in paying the money. Then Insu thought it would be fun to begin taxing other places like the hospital and school, places that didn’t even make money but were told that, if each patient or student gave something towards the tax, then it wouldn’t be such a big deal for them. There were families beginning to starve because they couldn’t afford food after they gave their risa to Insu’s thugs.”

Such a revolting act should, in no way, have been overlooked by the Marines. Letting people starve because this man wanted more wealth and acquired it by taking it from those who didn’t have it in the first place? Even from the sick and from kids? The mere thought was making Chan’s hands curl in on themselves as they rested on the cluttered table. 

“And, the thing is, if people refused to pay or couldn’t cough up the money, then suddenly, bad things started happening. These people began mysteriously vanishing, the shops would go up in flames, kids would get cautionary notes to take home to their parents, threatening their safety. And none of us could really do much about it.”

For some odd reason, Chan felt the undeniable urge to give Felix the biggest hug he could muster, hearing about how he and so many others had been forced to live because of one man’s greed. Still, he restrained himself, figuring it would be awfully weird for someone you had just met to disrespect your personal boundaries and cling to you. 

The fact that Chan could tell Changbin was watching from the corner of his eye despite trying to act as nonchalant as possible was also adding to his restraint. 

“It wasn’t fair and we couldn’t stand to see people going through something like that. Minho hyung and I like to help out. It…hits a bit too close to home for us to see people not being able to survive, to live in fear of Insu and what he could do.” 

Of course, Chan wouldn’t be cruel enough to inquire as to exactly what Felix meant by that unless the younger man came out and said it himself. He was no stranger to secrets and if someone asked him outright about things he wanted to stay hidden, he would either blow up at them or be hurt as the memories from the past bombarded him again. 

Back on the ship, there were times when he knew Jeongin was desperate to ask, possibly getting a little tired that he was the only one who didn’t know why the crew he was now a part of was doing what they were doing, why Insu’s party was such a big deal for them. Chan did feel bad and one day he would tell him when he could no longer keep it hidden but, for now, he was eternally thankful that Jeongin had never brought the subject up. The captain would extend the same courtesy for Felix. 

“So, stealing that eight thousand risa from Jisung today, it was going to help a lot of people with their monthly tax. We thought we hit the jackpot,” the young man smiled, in such a radiant fashion that it made Chan want to shield his eyes. “But we really do only steal from pirates or Marines since they're the ones who are causing all of this. We didn’t realise that you weren’t either of them.” 

“You’re not the first and you, unfortunately, won’t be the last,” Chan grumbled, taking a sip of his drink. “Don’t worry about it too much.” 

“Well, I’m worrying about it a little bit,” Felix admitted, slumping down until his chin rested in his palm. “The deadline for this month’s tax is the day after Insu’s party and we’re just a little short. There’s a couple of places that we don’t have the risa to fund, including the school. Hopefully we’ll get something from breaking into his house.”

Their plan, Felix and Minho’s, wasn’t just their scheme to try and get some money that was apparently owed to them. It was to take back money that was owed to the entire city. Chan had been somewhat sceptical about the whole thing in the beginning, even up until a few moments ago but now knowing the reason that Minho had been purposefully limiting with the information he provided made Chan feel a little lighter. And even though his crew had their own objective, if they could maybe help the brothers out to take back what Insu had taken from them, then it would be a night well spent. 

But since that particular point was up in the air for now, Chan thought he could definitely help in a different way, something that he had control over. 

“I guess…maybe, since we don’t have to buy fancy clothes and stuff for Insu’s party anymore since we’ll be disguised as kitchen staff, you could keep half of what you took today,” Chan reasoned, his offer making Felix’s elbow slip off the table in surprise, the young man just managing to catch himself before his chin collided with the wood of the table below.

“What?” Felix blurted out, wide eyes conveying that he thought there was no way he heard the captain correctly.

“Maybe you could keep around four thousand risa. I don’t think I can give it all away. The others might kill me.”

“Are…are you being serious right now?”

“Yeah, if you’re doing it to help people out, I guess I can look the other way,” Chan remarked, hoping that he could at least help the kids in the local school. He couldn’t imagine how scared they must be to have someone like Insu threatening them and their families. 

At the proposition, Felix swivelled around to scrutinise Chan head on, making the captain feel just a little uncomfortable under the younger’s piercing stare but he knew that it was just Felix’s way of attempting to see if he was being fooled or not by Chan’s generosity. 

“You’re seriously giving the people who stole from you the money that we’ll be giving back to you?” 

Well, to be fair, Chan hadn’t actually gotten the money back from Minho yet but if he could at least get half of it restored to him and his crew, he would call that a fair return. He kept doubting he would get any of it back but he had the feeling that Felix would force his brother to return it to them now that he knew he was about to be the owner of four thousand risa. 

So, with a shrug of his shoulders and the kindest smile he could whip up, Chan told Felix that he was being deadly serious, that he would never joke about something that held the lives of others in its hands.

“That’s really, really kind of you.” 

“Yeah, well…” Chan mumbled, cheeks flaring when Felix grabbed a hold of his arm, pushing his body insanely close to the captain’s. 

“Thank you.”

The pure and unadulterated joy in Felix’s voice, accompanied with that intensely beautiful smile caused Chan’s stomach to do a little flip, something similar to the one he had experienced the first time he had laid eyes on the young man. 

When he managed to drag his eyes away from Felix, he noticed Minho glaring at him from across the table, never noticing him even come back from the bar, making Chan wonder how much of his conversation he had been listening in on. 

And even though he didn’t know how long Minho had been eavesdropping, when he heard an ‘unbelievable’ coming from his right, he was sure that Changbin had heard the entire thing. 

Once the meal had been thoroughly demolished and the patrons at the bar were beginning to thin out, Minho suggested that they get going so that the staff could begin to close up. He knew that Mia, the woman behind the bar, or so Felix told Jisung, hated nothing more than when drunken idiots outstayed their welcome. Though she never had any problems throwing them out on their ass should they not take the hint to leave. Minho didn’t feel like incurring her wrath tonight and simply threw her a wave and his thanks, Felix following politely after with a farewell of his own. 

Knowing that they would need their money back to lodge somewhere for the night like they had planned, Chan was just about to speak up and demand that their risa finally be returned to them since he had come to the deal of splitting with Felix earlier on in the night but before a single syllable could leave his lips, Minho once again told them to follow him, strutting off into the darkness of the night without so much as a glance backwards. 

But, unlike earlier, Felix didn’t rush to follow his brother, keeping pace in between Jisung and Chan but the captain didn’t fail to notice the way that Minho kept glancing back at them, trying his best but failing horribly to hide his hurt when he realised that Felix would rather be with the people that they were only supposed to be using for a job than with him. And Chan would have called him out for being childish and petty if it wasn’t for the fact that he too would have felt the same way if any of his crew had left him to walk with Felix and Minho instead.

After strolling for about five minutes and turning into an alleyway that led to a small back street that led into another alleyway, Minho finally stopped at a door that would have been wholly impossible to find if you didn’t know exactly where to look. Felix bounded forward when he saw Minho looking at him, digging a key out of his pocket and undoing the lock on the door. Chan and the others could only assume that this was their home and thought that this was the perfect place since it was so secluded from the main street. They would want a place that couldn’t easily be found by those they took money from if they were to follow them. 

Once Minho ushered them inside with a look that said ‘I’m not standing here to hold the door for you all day,’ Chan couldn’t help but ask him why on earth he was allowing strangers like them into his home when they knew nothing about each other. 

“It’ll be easier to keep an eye on you this way. Make sure you won’t run away and back out on our deal.” 

The brothers’ home was, in the kindest way possible, tiny and rather primitive, making Chan feel better, in a truly terrible way, since he could now see that Felix wasn’t lying about using the money they stole to help the people that lived around here instead of using it fund their own living arrangements and lifestyle. There were two worn couches to the left of the living room they walked into and two armchairs situated in front of the small fireplace. From what Chan could see, there were only three doors within the house. One led to the kitchen that was blanketed in darkness, another led to the bathroom that looked to be rather spotless and the final one was the bedroom where two single beds lay. Chan was curious as to how the young men lived but he only realised he was walking towards their bedroom when Minho passed him and hurriedly slammed the door shut in the captain’s face, his disapproving frown silently telling Chan to be more polite and mind his own business. 

“You guys can take the two couches. I’m afraid the other two will have to sleep on the floor,” Minho proposed, though it didn’t really give much room for argument. 

“I’m not going to be sleeping,” Chan stated firmly, making himself comfortable in an armchair by the fire that was yet to be lit. 

“Alright. Me neither.”

With Minho’s unbothered declaration, he moved over to the fireplace, throwing in some coal and a few logs before sweeping the match against the box to light the flame. Even though it had been rather humid throughout the day, Yilin became increasingly colder as the evening went on, making everyone in the small house thankful that they now had something to keep them cosy all night long. 

From the corner of his eye, Chan noticed Jisung pouting at him and the captain knew that it was because he would more than likely go another night without getting any sleep. It wasn’t like Chan cared all that much whether or not he shut his eyes at all. If his insomnia wasn’t keeping him awake, then it was the grim nightmares that would inevitably stir him during the night. He was more than used to running on empty but that didn’t mean that Jisung didn’t constantly worry about him because of it. 

Beckoning the younger over, Chan gently cupped Jisung’s face, sweeping his thumbs across his brother’s cheeks as an act of reassurance. 

“I’ll be ok. Sleep,” the captain promised, reiterating his words when Jisung asked if he was sure. 

Once Jisung folded and joined Changbin and Jeongin over by their makeshift beds, Chan couldn’t help but notice Felix emerging from the door that Minho had shut earlier, holding a baby blue pillow and duvet. He didn’t think it was all that strange until Minho hopped up from his crouched position by the fire and stared at his brother with curiosity.  

“Lix? What are you doing?”

“Huh? Bringing my stuff out here to sleep?” Felix responded slowly, like he was afraid he had done something wrong.

“You have a bed, Felix. Go sleep there.” 

“I’m not leaving you alone out here, hyung. I’ll sleep with them.” 

Felix didn’t give Minho any time to say anything else, flicking his hair that was not free flowing around his shoulders as he made his way over to the couches where Jisung and Jeongin were now settled, Changbin taking one for the team and taking the space on the ground. 

The abrupt end to the conversation didn’t seem to surprise Minho, the badly concealed smile that made the side of his lip quirk upwards showing that he appreciated how much Felix cared for him, enough to give up his semi-comfortable bed in favour of sleeping on the hardwood floor so that he could be near Minho in case something happened. 

But once Felix walked over to his temporary bunk for the night, depositing his pillow on the floor, Jisung immediately jumped up and told Felix that he should be the one sleeping on the couch instead since it was, in fact, his home. Of course, being the gracious host that he was, Felix quickly insisted that Jisung stay where he was. They were their guests after all. Neither of them caught onto the strange looks that both Changbin and Jeongin were giving them, like they were watching friends that had known each other for years bicker in front of them.

When they were settled, they fell into a peaceful silence, the crackle of the fire and the remnants of noise from the street being the only things to interrupt the serenity. It was still a little early to be sleeping for many of them, both Jisung and Changbin usually stayed up until at least after midnight and according to the clock on the wall, it was just after eleven. 

“Hey, Jisung?”

“Yeah?” the second mate answered, rolling over on the couch to look at Felix on the ground.

“You said you met your hyungs when you were six after you went to their island, right?” Felix questioned in a whisper, getting an affirmative nod in response. “How did you become so close?”

Jeongin hadn’t actually heard this story himself, avoiding the topic of the crew’s past lives as much as he could but when Felix brought it up so nonchalantly and it didn’t look like it bothered Jisung or Changbin at all, he immediately hopped off of the couch and cosied into Changbin’s side, awaiting the first bedtime story he had heard in years. 

“Well, I moved to the island with my mom and dad for…their work.” 

That was true, in a sense, Jisung’s mother had received a job offer and to truly avail of the benefits, their family had moved to the tiny island over sixteen years ago. And even though Jisung knew both Felix and Jeongin were looking at him to elaborate on that point, he decidedly pretended not to notice when Changbin cleared his throat as a clear sign to move the conversation along.

“I think any kid would feel like I did, excited at the thought of a new adventure but absolutely terrified of not being accepted by the people there.”

Jeongin could sympathise with that outlook. Upon getting on the boat to go to Ghrian for the first time, he too was enthusiastic about imagining what a new life on the other side of the world could be like but there was alway the apprehensive voice in the back of his head that told him things would go awry. 

He always hated that his voice had been right.

“It was a small enough island, one where everybody knew everybody and that didn’t bode well in my little six year old mind.”

Jisung grimaced at the memory, remembering his father trying to persuade him that everything would be fine, that he would make friends and settle into his new life with ease. And, for a while, Jisung really believed him. Naivety played a big part in that. 

“Unfortunately, I was right to be so worried about such a problem. My parents already got along with the adults but kids are a whole different ball game really. They really zone in on someone who is different.” 

In his youth, Jisung had been so terribly shy, barely able to look someone he didn’t know in the eye unless he was hiding behind one of his parents, peeking out from behind their leg. He had outgrown that to some extent, though there were still some social situations that he would rather not place himself in. 

“Nobody wanted me to join their little groups that had been formed before I ever arrived. I was excluded from every game. Not the greatest feeling when you’re six years old and just want someone to have fun with.” 

Changbin reached his hand upwards, grabbing onto Jisung’s ankle as a sign that it was ok and that he didn’t have to think about something like that anymore.

“A couple of days before my birthday, my dad gave me little invitations to give to my ‘friends’ at school since I told them I had made so many,” Jisung laughed morosely, hurriedly shaking it off when he told himself that feeling was in the past now. “They sat in my bag because I didn’t want to give them to anyone. I knew they wouldn’t come.” 

Hearing about the loneliness that Jisung endured, Jeongin wanted nothing more to envelop him in a bone crushing hug. Yes, he too had gone through a long period of alienation in the restaurant but he was strong enough to withstand it by himself. The kids that came to see him every day held him over so that he didn’t go completely crazy but for Jisung, a child of six years old, having to go through something like that? Jeongin couldn’t imagine how painful that must have been.

“Then, when my birthday came, this stupid kid in my class saw the invitations in my bag when I went to take out a notebook and waited until I was on my way home to ambush me with two of his friends to make fun of me and the fact that nobody wanted to come to my birthday. They called me names and taunted me and as much as I tried to ignore them, when they cornered me, I didn’t have much choice but to listen. They pushed me over and I fell quite inelegantly on my ass, skinning my palms in the process. Needless to say, I cried like the kid I was. It was all too much for me.” 

When Jisung let his head hang low, his bangs covering his eyes, Felix began to wonder if Jisung was about to cry, scooching forward on the couch to check on his almost twin but before he could ask, Jisung let out a chuckle, lifting his head to show that he was smiling, making Felix think that he had missed something very important.

“Why are you laughing?” Felix questioned worriedly, wondering if Jisung had somehow cracked upon digging up such a distressing memory.

“Just remembering the shadow that loomed over these asshole kids after they pushed me to the ground.”

Felix and Jeongin shared a look doused in confusion, wondering what on earth Jisung meant by that but when they heard Changbin joining in on the laughter, they assumed that he had something to do with it.

“In looking for friends, it never occurred to me to search beyond the kids in my class, to older grades but that’s where I found them,” Jisung giggled, smiling at Chan who was watching them but from the bewildered look on his face, it was clear that he couldn’t hear their conversation from where he sat on the other side of the room. “When I managed to crack my eyes open and blurrily see through the tears, I noticed that it wasn’t just the four of us anymore, two more having joined.”

The looming shadow made a lot more sense to Felix and Jeongin now, both of them concluding that two newcomers to the story were none other than Jisung’s hyungs having come to the rescue in the story of his past strife.

“What I should probably preface this with is that Changbin hyung was infamous amongst the first grade class for having a slew of horrific rumours about him, things like that he had beaten up a teacher so badly that he had to take time off school. Really, he had just taken a sabbatical.” 

Jeongin broke out in small huffs of laughter at the thought of a tiny version of Changbin doing anything like that. Yes, he looked a little unapproachable on the outside but within two seconds of speaking with him, anyone would be able to see that he was the complete opposite. That meant that these kids never even took the opportunity to talk with Changbin and find out what he was truly like. 

“And Channie hyung? Channie hyung was the most revered and intimidating fourth grader that there ever was. He apparently had super powers that he hid really, really well. That, sadly, was also untrue.” 

A rumour that was much cooler than Changbin’s but one that made Jisung pout longingly at Chan across the room, the elder throwing his hands up in confusion, clearly wanting to know what on earth was making Jisung go through such a roller coaster of emotions whilst looking at him.

“But when these kids turned around and saw the two of them standing behind them, they nearly shit their pants, thinking that they were about to be straight up murdered by these two older kids for their misdeeds. Then, when Changbin hyung growled at them, they screamed so freaking loud and tripped over each other trying to get away.” 

“I didn’t growl at them, I choked on a jelly I was eating,” the elder huffed, rolling his eyes at the way Felix and Jeongin fell around the floor laughing. 

“Either way, it had the desired effect. Channie hyung picked me up off of the ground and placed me on his knee, shushing me and calming me down while Bin hyung cleaned my hands up, blowing on them to ease the pain and then placed Power Ranger bandages on the scrapes. It was the yellow Ranger. I always liked her best.”

Felix raised his fist towards Jisung on the couch, bumping it against Jisung’s own for a solid agreement on that. He remembers having an action figure of the yellow Ranger when he was younger and Jisung was right, she was the best.

“Channie hyung told me that he had seen those kids pestering me before and wanted to warn them off, which is why he was here since he saw them following me home.” 

It had been an exaggeration when Jisung had heard that Chan had superpowers from the other children in his class but, back when they were kids, he looked like a superhero in his eyes, as did Changbin. After all, they had come out of nowhere to scare away the bad guys and save him. Maybe Jisung had never really thrown away that particular view when he looked at his hyungs. 

“Binnie hyung gave me a piggyback and Channie hyung linked his finger with mine, not wanting to put pressure on my injured hands but still wanting to reassure me at the same time.”

Jeongin couldn’t help but coo at that, reaching over to pinch Changbin’s cheek and make baby noises, which only got him a dig of the elder’s elbow into his side. 

“When we arrived at my house, my dad opened the door and I told him that I had fallen over and that these hyungs had helped me but at that point, he assumed that they were there for my party too and being the kind souls they were, both of them agreed that they had come for my birthday,” Jisung beamed, being eternally thankful that Chan and Changbin had basically run full speed into his life. “Getting them inside the house was easy, trying to get them to leave was a lot harder.”

It had been close to ten at night by the time both Chan and Changbin had returned home. Some time before dinner, Chan had run from the house, saying that he was going to tell his mother that he was staying over at a friend’s to have birthday cake, letting Changbin know that he would call into his mom and tell her about his whereabouts too. In that time, Changbin stayed with Jisung, to let the younger know that they weren’t going to run off on him and leave him alone, playing board games with him and letting Jisung win no matter what. 

When Chan came back, they ate dinner together with Jisung’s father, giggles and happiness galore. And, for some reason, after Jisung had opened his father’s present of an art set and two dinosaur figurines, Chan and Changbin handed Jisung a present wrapped up in sparkly paper with a ribbon on top. Jisung had always wondered when on earth they had managed to get him something since they hadn’t known they were attending this party two hours ago but when he opened the gift and found an encyclopaedia of animals inside, the question that interested Jisung more was how on earth they had managed to decipher who he was and what he loved so quickly.

“It was honestly the best birthday I ever had and after that, there wasn’t a single day when I felt lonely. Channie hyung and Bin hyung were always by my side, there to protect me and make me laugh whenever I needed it. Always taking care of me, through it all. My big brothers.” 

“Yeah, we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into. He trapped us before we could get out,” Changbin whined dramatically, rolling onto his back before smirking at Jisung. 

It had obviously been a joke on Changbin’s part but being as sincere as he was in speaking about how his hyungs had come into his life, Jisung couldn’t help but take it somewhat personally. Feeling that the joke just went a little too far, Jisung glared at Changbin before flipping over and facing the back of the couch to hide his reaction, not wanting to seem overly sensitive when everyone else was laughing at Changbin’s theatrics.

“Thanks for ruining that emotional moment, you dick.”

“Jisung, don’t pout,” Changbin scolded lightly. 

“Leave me alone.”

Getting the feeling that Jisung may have actually been a little hurt by his fooling around, Changbin took a second to deduce whether or not Jisung was just messing with him but when the younger pulled the threadbare blanket that Felix had given to him to keep him warm further up around his shoulders, the elder ceased any teasing, making a small gesture for the two young men on either side of him to follow suit. 

“You know I love you lots, Sungie,” Changbin comforted wholeheartedly, rising from his position to move towards his brother and drape himself over him. “Jisung? Han Jisung? Hannie? Sungie?”

“Get off me, you weirdo!” the younger yelled, flailing in an attempt to rid himself of the weight atop him. 

In doing so, Jisung was unable to stop Changbin from moving to blow a raspberry into his neck, making him squeal hysterically until Changbin grabbed his chin to make their eyes meet and apologised for taking the joke too far, only receiving a small roll of Jisung’s eyes and a quiet ‘it’s fine, hyung’ in return. 

“What about you?” Jisung questioned, gesturing to Felix who had been watching the exchange between brothers with a fondness in his eyes.

“Me?”

“You said that your…hyung isn’t related to you biologically. How did you join his family?”

“Would you believe me if I said I didn’t know?” Felix shrugged, unable to ignore the puzzled expressions he got in return. “I was never told why I came here or how. I was only a baby after all.”

“Does Minho hyung know?” asked Jeongin, thinking that surely someone would be able to tell Felix where he came from. 

“If he does, he’s never told me but I have a strong feeling that he does,” the freckled young man whispered, not wanting Minho to catch onto what they were speaking about. 

“Why don’t you ask him?” 

There were so many instances that Felix thought about it, wanted to ask why on earth he had been left with Minho and his mother, who his parents were, why they didn’t want him anymore when they barely took the chance to know him but in the end, he always came down to the same reason to hide those questions away and store them somewhere that he would return to again at some point.

“If it was a happy story, I’m sure he would have said something. So…I don’t think I really want to know.”

“Lix, sleep already.”

Felix jumped as Minho’s voice rang throughout the room, being worried that his brother had somehow heard their conversation but from the tired look in his eyes, Felix eventually assumed that Minho just wanted some peace rather than hearing the indiscernible whispers coming from the opposite side of the room.

“Sorry, hyung,” he apologised, rolling his eyes in an affectionate way at his hyung’s gentle scolding but doing as he was told, as he usually did, placing his head on the pillow and closing his eyes, an action that the others should do the same.  

As it went deeper into the night, the only sounds that encapsulated the room were the sparks that came from the flames after Minho had risen to put more firewood on them and the gentle snores of the four young men that had fallen asleep long ago. And there, in the silence, sat Chan and Minho, not a word being exchanged between them, the silence being somewhat uncomfortable but neither of them made a move to be the one to shatter the stillness of the night. 

Chan settled for staring out the small window to his right, not being able to see much with the surrounding buildings but there was a sliver of the sky visible to him, the moon peeking its head around the corner as it played amongst the stars. It was so simple but it was a sight that always comforted Chan, its vastness mirroring the great expanse of the sea. 

“Channie hyung…”

Breaking out of his reverie, the captain’s head whipped towards the couches, recognising Jisung’s sleep filled voice as it was interrupted by small sniffles. Without delay, Chan hopped up and carefully made his way over to Jisung, navigating his way around Felix and Changbin as they lay on the floor.  

It always broke the captain’s heart when either Changbin or Jisung would call for him in their sleep or when they would arrive at his bedroom door at all hours of the morning, having been woken by something they would rather not experience. Thankfully, there seemed to be no tears this time, only Jisung hurriedly glancing around him until he relaxed after seeing Chan appear in front of him.

“I’m here, Sungie. You ok?” Chan whispered, bending down to kneel beside his younger crewmate.

“Hmm, didn’t know where I was.”

“You remember now?” asked Chan, getting a small, dazed nod in return. “Bin and Innie are right beside you.”

“And Felix too.”

Chan had to chuckle as Jisung sleepily rubbed his eyes, somehow feeling he had made a grave oversight in not including the young man they had met earlier on in the day when giving Jisung reassurance that he wasn’t alone. 

“And Felix too. We won’t leave you by yourself, ok?”

The promise that he made to Jisung and Changbin every time one of them came to him when the nightmares became too much. He would always be there for them, staying beside them through everything. His brothers would never have to feel like they had to go through anything alone, which is why Jisung was so ready to call out for him when he was disorientated and frightened. And while he was so sure that Jisung and Changbin would be the only people he would ever fight to protect, he would finally admit that Jeongin was there right alongside them, another soul that Chan would do everything in his power to keep from harm. 

“Try and get some more sleep. We’ve got work to do in the morning,” Chan spoke quietly, placing a kiss on Jisung’s forehead before making a move to stand, only for his sleeve to be caught in a weak grip.

“Stay with me for a minute? Please?”

“Of course, Sung,” the elder agreed, as if he would ever deny Jisung anything.  

Chan found his place on the floor again, holding onto Jisung’s hand, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on the back as he watched the younger finally drift off to sleep again. He envied Jisung, in a way, finding it amazing that the other could always slip away in an instance when it took him hours to nod off, if he even managed to. 

Once Jisung’s breathing had fully evened out, Chan decided to move back to his previous space, cursing when his knees cracked upon standing up. 

However, he wasn’t expecting Minho to be examining him with an inquisitive stare, not thinking that what just happened between him and Jisung was all that interesting. Chan stayed silent until he flopped back down in his armchair, wondering what was going around in Minho’s mind since the thief’s eyes followed him all the way back and tried to meet Chan’s own, even if the captain didn’t give him the opportunity. 

“You guys seem really close,” Minho muttered, almost silently and if Chan weren’t on alert, he may have missed it altogether. 

“Why wouldn’t we be? They’re my family.”

“You usually don't see pirate crews acting like that.”

Clasping his hand over his mouth after he let out a rather loud displeased growl, hoping he didn’t disturb the sleeping boys, Chan turned to Minho to, once again , plead his case and try to prove to him that they were not pirate

“We already told you that we’re-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” 

Minho waved his explanation off with disinterest, like he had just hurled the insult of being a pirate at Chan to try and get a rise out of him. The captain had a feeling that Minho was one of those people, who liked to push buttons to see people squirm. He hadn’t missed the look of annoyance on Jisung’s face after Minho had said something to him back at the restaurant when he had managed to push through the crowds and join them at the table. Jisung hadn’t mentioned what it was but for the young man to truly be annoyed, it must have been something rather unpleasant.

“It’s not like you’re any different,” Chan grunted, raising his chin in the direction of Felix. 

Whatever perception Chan and his crew had of Minho, there was no doubt in their mind that the young man cared greatly for Felix. It was clear from the way he had reacted when Chan had threatened him, from the way he tried to keep Felix in his eyeline at all times, from the way he cut up and placed some pork belly onto Felix’s plate back at the bar when he wasn’t looking. He was an affectionate brother but didn’t seem like he took credit for taking care of Felix, just doing whatever came naturally to him. 

“He’s everything to me,” Minho stated with sheer honesty dripping from his words. 

Now that they had started somewhat of a dialogue after ignoring each other for so long, Chan felt like he may as well attempt to keep the train running, focusing his eyes straight ahead of him.

“Back in the bar, Felix told me about why you steal money, why exactly it is that you want to break into Insu’s house.”

“Dammit, Lix…” hissed Minho, rubbing his hand over his tired eyes.

“He said you do it because you have to pay taxes and being afraid of Insu and what he can do hits too close to home.”

“I guess…”

“Is it a secret why?” 

Just like with Felix, Chan made no push to force Minho into revealing what the personal reason was that made him want to steal from Insu. Asking if it was a secret gave Minho the control, giving him the chance to say that, yes, it was a secret and that Chan should not pry any further but when he shook his head, the captain thought that he may finally understand why these brothers hated Insu so much.

“Not particularly. Pretty much everyone in this part of town knows.”

With that, Minho pushed himself up from his seat, disappearing into the kitchen which remained in darkness. Chan figured that he decided not to turn the light on, lest he wake one of the boys just outside the door. 

After a few seconds, Chan could hear the clinking of glasses, trying the best he could to peer into the blackness of the kitchen but quickly gave up when Minho emerged, holding onto two glasses of something Chan couldn’t quite decipher.  

“Liquid courage,” Minho snorted. 

He handed a glass over to the captain before taking a seat again and it made Chan think that, whatever story he was about to hear, it was going to take a hard turn away from delightful.  

“My mom owned a bakery. It did really well. People would literally dock on this island to get some of her cakes.” 

That seemed like an innocent enough start to the story. He had heard Felix mention something to Jisung about Minho’s mother taking him in when he was younger but Chan made a note that neither of them mentioned her in a present tense. 

“It wasn’t like we were rolling in money or anything but we were comfortable. Most people around here were.” 

If what Minho had said was true and his family had been living comfortably because of his mother’s business, then Chan got the strangest feeling that this house was not the one they grew up in, being a little dilapidated and not holding enough room for three people to stay in. 

And the angered rumble that stemmed from Minho’s chest was enough for Chan to know that something had gone horribly wrong with his family, that there was a reason his mother was no longer with them in the house and he hated how on the ball he was with his guess as Minho turned to look at him with pure rage in his eyes. 

“Then…Insu came.”

Chapter Text

“You’re amazin’, hyung!”

Minho couldn’t help but wholeheartedly agree with Felix as they walked home, hand in hand, something that Felix insisted on every single day. His reasoning was that he was afraid that Minho would get lost. 

Minho was, undoubtedly, the smartest kid in his class and while that may have been somewhat of a meagre brag when referring to a group of ten year olds, Minho took extra pride in the fact that he knew that nobody came close to him with his one hundred percent perfect score in his midterm exam, the next one down being somewhere in the seventies. 

And how was Minho not supposed to feel smug and superior when Felix was walking beside him with the test papers in hand, exclaiming how incredible he was as he glanced over the questions and answers, pouting that his little eight year old self may never be smart enough to answer such difficult conundrums.

“I know, I’m awesome. You’ll have to study hard to be just like hyung, Lix but I know you can do it. I’ll help you. Then, when we’re older, we can run a really successful business like Mom.”

“Together?” Felix babbled excitedly, his eyes blowing wide at the thought of getting to work with his big brother when they were all grown up. 

“Sure, why not? C’mon, let’s go.”

Minho clutched Felix’s hand tighter, pulling the youngster along quickly, relishing in the delighted squeals that were echoing throughout the street because of their tomfoolery. 

And while Minho would always do everything in his power to make Felix smile on a good day, he had to admit that it was somewhat of a distraction today, to divert his brother’s attention from the pure and unfiltered sense of dread and nervousness that was pushing in on them from the vendors on either side of the street. 

The calls for people to come and try their wares were far louder than usual. Numerous signs were plastered on the walls and windows with special offers in the hopes that someone would spend just that little bit extra. People were practically being dragged into the stores by the merchants, no matter how much they protested. 

This happened every single month and Minho detested it. 

All because Insu’s tax was due in a few days for everyone, some people luckily having scraped together enough but far more just falling short, their fear being palpable as they did everything in their power to try and gather the last remaining risa before they would have to succumb to the threats that Insu’s thugs would hand out on a daily basis. 

Minho knew full well what would happen, he had seen it before. One of his friend’s fathers had gone missing last month when they were a mere two hundred risa short. Three months ago, a small clothing store had been set alight in the middle of the night. The family that had stayed in the upstairs of the building all perished, even though the residents in the surrounding houses had done their best to get them out. And as much as he would have liked to pretend these were isolated instances, Minho hated to admit that something like this happened six or seven times a year, people losing their businesses, lives or family because the scum of the earth that lived in a big mansion above the city wanted more and more money. 

Luckily, this month, Minho knew that their mother had managed to secure their payment for both their business and the contribution that both he and Felix had to pay to the school. It was always a struggle but recently, their business had been doing rather well, with people from the docks venturing further into the city to seek out the bakery. 

After school, both he and Felix would help her out whenever they could. Most of the time, they weren’t ever given homework because all of the teachers knew that there were far more important things going on at home, with many kids having to help with family businesses or find a part time job to help out with earning money. Minho and Felix were lucky that they could stay at home and still help but others weren’t so fortunate. 

So, for now, his family could relax, the worst thing that hung over them being taken care of. 

At least, that was what Minho had thought. 

Untangling his hand from Felix’s, Minho yelled at him to hurry up since they were only about thirty steps from their house and since he was obviously faster, Minho barged through the door first, somehow not noticing that the ‘open’ sign on the door had been flipped over, warning all customers that they were no longer accepting any business, despite it only being three in the afternoon. 

“Mom! Guess what, guess what! That test that I took last week? I got first…place…”

Minho’s voice trailed off from the shout it had started off as, the boy becoming silent when he laid eyes upon his mother being stared down at by the one man he had hoped he would never have to come face to face with personally. 

Choi Insu was in his house and that, most certainly, did not mean anything good. 

All eyes were now upon Minho as he had just burst in on something that he should not have been a part of. His mother, Insu and all of his thugs were staring at him like he was some sort of apparition that had interrupted a very tense meeting. 

Trying to immediately remove the interest from her son, Minho’s mother jabbed Insu in the chest to reclaim his attention, a dangerous and very stupid move in many people’s eyes since nobody touched Insu and got away with it. A threat that could have quickly come to fruition as Insu’s henchmen moved to teach the woman a lesson before the captain held up his hand to stand down, a small laugh leaving his lips, as if he found her fearlessness comical. 

“This is ridiculous, Insu. You can’t jack up the rate two days before the tax is due.”

“I hear you’ve been doing quite well here. Seems to me that you can afford to pay the extra fee,” Insu grinned darkly, moving away to tap along the glass counter that held numerous pastries before bringing his fist down harshly upon it, making Minho wince as he heard a small crack. “And I don’t respond well to someone telling me what I can and cannot do.” 

Minho understood how distracting his entrance had been in the current atmosphere when Felix came bounding through the door with a yell about how Minho should have waited for him. Without hesitation, Minho held out an arm so that Felix could go no further, the stern expression on his face being one that he seldom had to use on Felix but one that instantly let his younger brother know that he was to stay quiet and behave. 

“This is your first and final warning, Sena. I expect you to have the extra payment when my boys come around to collect and if you fail to do so, my next visit won’t be so pleasant.”

“If this is what you call a pleasant visit, Insu, then you need to work on your vocabulary,” Sena derided, never flinching when one of Insu’s men tried to act big and pretend to lunge towards her. 

Minho began to move out of the way of the front door to let Insu pass, not wanting to make trouble and just being thankful that whatever the hell this had been was finally over. Felix followed him immediately, knowing that his hyung knew best and pressed himself against the wall to get out of Insu’s way. 

The action only seemed to grab Insu’s attention though as he made a hard stop and turned towards the younger boy.

“Hey, little man,” Insu greeted slimily, reaching up to ruffle Felix’s fluffy, blond hair. 

It was clear that Felix was uncomfortable with the contact, squirming a little under the man’s touch before his teary eyes shot to his mother, the boy wanting nothing more than to run into her arms and away from the pirate he had heard so many deadly stories about. 

But before Sena could make a move, Minho grabbed his brother and pulled him behind his back, shielding him from Insu and his men. As brave as he liked to act, Minho too, was terrified, never having seen Insu up close and personal before. He had seen him in town, skulking around the streets like the snake he was but for him to be here, in his home, it didn’t sit well with him at all but he was going to be damned if he ever let Felix be put in a position in which he was so distressed. 

The reaction seemed to amuse Insu and his men when they chuckled at Minho’s mock bravery, the captain snapping his fingers to signal that they were done here.

“Congratulations on getting first place in your test,” Insu praised, placing his large hand on Minho’s shoulder and squeezing far too harshly. 

It may have seemed like a harmless enough action but it’s message was clear to both Minho and his mother. 

‘If you don’t come up with the money, who knows what could happen to these boys?’ 

With that silent threat, Insu and his goons left, leaving behind the rattled family to pick up the pieces of their peaceful situation that had been smashed into nothing in a matter of seconds.  

“Mama? You ok?”

“Yes, sweetheart, I’m fine,” Sena whispered, holding Felix close to her chest after he had run straight to her, pulling his face back to press a thousand kisses to her son’s face and making him giggle. “Go and wash up. I’ll need you to help me make your famous brownies. Mrs. Oh was asking for some earlier.”

As he was left down onto the floor, Felix looked a little uncertain about leaving his mother, as if he knew that she was lying beneath the surface but Felix always knew when to push forward with his questioning and when to pull back, despite being as young as he was. This time, he chose not to bother his mother, placing his book bag on one of the stools and taking off into the kitchen behind the front counter to clean up. 

But Minho wasn’t satisfied with letting something like this go, not when he had just heard Insu say that the rates for the tax had gone up for his mother alone. They were prepared for this month, they had enough money but now they were being asked for more, just because they had gotten a few more customers these past few weeks. It wasn’t right and from the way his mother was looking after Felix with her hand clasped over her mouth, Minho knew that she was already worrying about it. 

“Mom…” Minho called out cautiously, not missing the way his mother gave a quick wipe to her eyes before turning around to face him.

“It’s alright, Minho. No need to worry. I can handle this.” 

“You shouldn’t have to handle this. It’s not right! What he’s doing is not right!”

This wasn’t the first time that this conversation had been had. On more than one occasion, Minho would ask why on earth nobody was doing anything to stop Insu when he had absolutely no legal authority over people. He wasn’t a Marine, he wasn’t part of the government, it didn’t make sense.

Time and time again, his mother would tell him to drop the subject but if Minho decided to ignore the command, all Sena could say was that she didn’t want anything to happen to him or Felix, so she would simply stay quiet and pay the tax.

“I know, baby but there’s nothing we can do,” Sena whispered, bending down to capture Minho’s face in her hands. “I just have to find a way to get the money before Sunday and I will. So, there’s nothing to worry about, alright?” 

Seeing the fear in his mother’s eyes, Minho told himself to not put any more pressure on her, only nodding to show that he would take on his mother’s advice, even though he would do nothing but worry for the next couple of days. 

“Mama! I’m ready!” 

At Felix’s beckoning call, Sena smiled once more before standing and gesturing to the front door where she could see one or two customers peeking in the window. 

“Go and flip the sign for me. Then go and help Felix in the back. I’ll be there in a sec.”  

That night, Minho found himself unable to sleep, his mind being consumed by the threat Insu had thrown at his mother, knowing that they were running out of time. He didn’t know how much the tax rate had risen and he was sure that his mom would never tell him but he couldn’t help but feel like he needed to do something to support her. 

Glancing to his left, he watched Felix rest easy, small snores seeping from his form. In fairness, Felix had worked hard today in the kitchen, the boy being a whiz kid when it came to baking. Sena was almost comfortable in leaving him to do whatever he needed to but always asked Minho to keep an eye on him when using sharp instruments or the oven. 

Minho stared up at the luminous stars taped to his ceiling, hoping that they would try and lull him to sleep in some way but in the silence of the night, he couldn’t have missed the creaking of the staircase, the young boy jumping out of bed to peek out his bedroom door to see his mother descending down the steps. 

Being as quiet as he could, he attempted to follow her, settling for sitting on the top step since he could see her bend down in front of the cabinet which held their family photos. Sena picked up a photo of Minho’s father, the man having passed almost seven years ago from an illness. Minho didn’t really remember him but from all the stories that his mother told him and Felix, he knew that he was a wonderful man. 

Minho didn’t know what was going on until he heard the soft sobs coming from Sena, the woman holding the photo frame close to her chest before pulling it back to look at the handsome man she had lost long ago. 

“I don’t know what to do, Doyun. I can’t afford to pay him that much each month. I don’t think I can even scrape enough together for this month. I wouldn’t care at all if it was just about me but the boys…”

Minho’s heart tore itself into pieces as he watched his mother try to stifle her cries so that she didn’t wake her sons up, not knowing that one was watching her break down a few feet away. Minho had never seen her like this before and he never wanted to see her like this again. 

Climbing back into bed, knowing he wasn’t going to find any sleep tonight, Minho began to ponder on how he could help his mom in such a situation, how he could make things easier for her since he was one of the reasons she was struggling so much. 

An idea came to him, one he wasn’t sure of the outcome of but one he would not have much time to think about if he wanted to get the money that he and his family needed to survive. 

Saturday’s were always the busiest by far for the bakery. Tourists came to Yilin to relax, throwing away their money on anything that they could and Minho always hated them in a way since they never had to worry about something like Insu’s tariff on simply living. 

And that usually meant a full day of work at home for Minho, something that he never really minded since he always enjoyed spending time with his mother and brother but today, today was different. Needing to put his plan into action so that his family would have enough risa to give to Insu’s people tomorrow, Minho faked a slight stomach ache, asking his mother if he could lie down for an hour or two. And despite the customers lining up at the counter, Sena told him with a kind smile that he should rest, that she would check on him later. She also warned Felix to stay away from the bedroom so that he didn’t disturb Minho while he slept. 

That had been a lie, of course, because, even if Minho had felt ill in the past, he would always push through it to help out around the business. Right now, he had more important things to tend to. 

Throwing open his bedroom window and shimmying down the drainpipe situated just outside of it, Minho took off down the alleyway and towards the city where he knew the best targets would be. He had never done anything like this before, never had to but he had confidence in himself that he could. After all, people were packed so tightly together that nobody would pay any attention to someone bumping up against them accidentally or a swipe to their back that would grant Minho their coin. 

It was wrong, he knew that but this was all that he could come up with in the time that he was given. His mother didn’t have the money, wouldn’t be able to come up with it by tomorrow, so Minho was going to compromise his morals to help her. Maybe she would ask where he got the money or maybe she would be so happy that she didn’t have to worry about her payment anymore that she would let it slide. Either way, Minho didn’t care. All he wanted was to get this over as quickly as possible and get back home to her and Felix. 

Minho knew that he was running on a restricted time slot, so he moved quickly and took what he could, weaving in and out of the space between people, reaching his hand into the people’s pockets when he thought it was safe. On more than one occasion, being as unskilled as he was, he almost got caught, quickly retracting his hand and apologising when the person he was about to steal from turned around. Most of the time, they accepted his offering of remorse, clearly not thinking that a child like him was up to no good. 

The thing was, Minho didn’t know how much extra Sena had to pay, so he didn’t know if what he had stolen was enough. He hoped it was but just when he was about to retreat home, he eyed a rather large man leaning up against a crate belonging to one of the fruit stalls, throwing a sizable bag of risa up and down in his hand before placing it in his coat pocket. Minho couldn’t resist. He was sure that the substantial amount of coins in that bad would definitely be enough to support his family for this month and even help out with the next payment too. 

So, in a stealthy fashion, Minho snuck up behind the man, reaching his hand into his pocket and successfully managed to grab the bag without much trouble. He marvelled at the weight, proud of himself that he had actually managed to do this but as he turned to run all the way home and share the good news with his mother, he didn’t see the crate of apples in his path, running straight into them and causing them to scatter everywhere across the ground. It caused a commotion, that was for sure, enough for the man he had just robbed to turn and see him holding onto his bag of risa. 

So, Minho did the only thing he could. 

He ran. 

“You! Stop!” 

He ran. He ran faster than he had in his entire life. His legs burned to the point where he began to stumble down the street, ignoring the calls from the furious man that were fading into the background and the stares from people as he kept heading towards home. Minho knew he couldn’t head straight there in case the man followed him, so he did a few laps of the area, running in and out of alleyways until he was sure that his pursuers were no longer behind him. 

With the state he was in, Minho had no desire to climb back up the drainpipe he had come down earlier. He wasn’t sure that he would be able to. So, he settled for going through the front door of the bakery, hoping that there would still be enough customers there that he could run up the backstairs without being seen. 

What Minho wasn’t expecting was to get to the front door, only to see that the place was empty, not a soul in sight and it set off an uncomfortable feeling in Minho’s stomach, the sight being scarily similar to when Insu had come to their home yesterday. 

Pushing the door open, Minho stepped through, scanning the area for any signs of life, only a small noise from upstairs catching his attention, the light from his bedroom shining down the stairs. It made Minho curse. If he could see the light from his room, that meant that the door was open, that someone had gone inside and seen that he wasn’t there. 

But before he could make his way up, the front door behind him banged open, making Minho jump. When he turned, he was thankful to see that it was only his mother but when he looked closer and saw her dishevelled state and the look of pure horror on her face, he knew that something had gone terribly wrong in the time he was gone. 

“What did you do?” Sena whispered, tears somehow managing to weave themselves through her words. 

It seemed that she already knew what Minho had done, that she was disappointed in him. Minho thought that he may as well just accept his punishment and come clean. Perhaps she would be more lenient when she understood that he had only stolen from someone to save his family from a horrific fate at Insu’s hands. 

“I-I got money for you,” Minho stuttered, holding out the total amount of risa he had swiped in front of him. “Now you don’t have to worry about the tax. Everything will be ok!”

Sena hurriedly ran forward, grabbing Minho’s shoulders and shaking him harshly, finally showing the young boy how utterly distressed she was. And, for some reason, Minho got the feeling that it wasn’t just his questionable deeds that made her act this way, that something else had come out of this afternoon’s activities.

“Minho…you stole from one of Insu’s people. They’re on their way here right now.”

Now Minho understood why it was that the bakery had been closed when he had returned. Sena had clearly heard what Minho had done from someone, had heard that he had mistakenly stolen from one of Insu’s men and closed up the shop immediately to run around the city trying to find him. 

Minho had fucked up and the way his face fell along with the tremors breaking out in his hands told Sena that he understood that. 

“What? No…I didn’t…this can help us.”

“Give me the money, right now,” Sena trembled, the tears in her eyes breaking free as Minho gave her the bag.“Felix is in your bedroom. Stay there with him. Do not come out until I tell you, alright? Do whatever you can to keep him distracted.” 

With how serious his mother was being, how frightened she was, Minho didn’t even try to argue, turning on his heel before he was spun around, falling straight into his mother’s arms as she held him tight, kissing the side of his temple. Nothing else was exchanged between them, not even so much as a glance as Sena rose from where she had fallen to her knees to embrace her son. 

Minho ran straight up the stairs, almost falling over the threshold of his bedroom door. He didn’t even acknowledge Felix’s question of where he had been from where he sat on the bed, playing with his action figures. Without much thought, Minho turned and locked the door before he slid down it, beginning to sob at his own idiocy, wondering why on earth he even thought he could make things better. 

Felix was at his side in an instant, petting his hair and telling him that whatever he was upset about was going to be alright. Felix had always been sweet that way, doing whatever he could to make those around him feel at ease and Minho would usually appreciate his calming words but, right now, he felt like he didn’t deserve them.

He had made everything worse. So much worse. He hadn’t helped his family, hadn’t helped his mother. He had actually put them all in so much danger. Insu’s men were on their way here to find him because he had been stupid enough to be greedy and try to take what he shouldn’t have. 

Hearing the front door burst open, Minho jumped up and dragged Felix away from where they had been sitting together. He didn’t want his brother to be scared, didn’t want anything to happen to him because of what he had done earlier. There was mumbling, words that Minho couldn’t make out and for a split second, he thought that maybe things wouldn’t go in a direction from which they could never return. 

“No! I told him to do it! It was my fault!” 

Minho didn’t know what possessed him, what gave him the foresight to know what was about to happen but without another moment’s hesitation, Minho clasped his hands over Felix’s ears, making the boy jump but Minho just thanked the gods that he no longer believed in, that his brother didn’t have to hear the two gunshots that rang throughout their home. 

“Hyung? What's wrong?” Felix asked, head tilted innocently to the side. 

Minho knew. He knew what had happened when nothing but silence flowed throughout the house after the deafening sound. But god, there was no way he could even begin to comprehend how to tell Felix. There was no way he would understand. He would never be able to understand that Minho’s actions had just cost them everything. 

He could see Felix’s lips moving but he couldn’t seem to decipher what was coming out of his mouth, a mixture of white noise and static bombarding his senses to the point where he felt like he was going to pass out. 

Only when Felix’s eyes moved towards the door did Minho realise that his hands had fallen to the floor, allowing his brother to pick up on the footsteps that were beginning to climb the stairs. From his expression, Minho could tell that Felix thought it was their mother since he was unaware of the intruders that had just trespassed into their home. But Minho wasn’t so blissfully ignorant, springing into action immediately and dragging Felix towards their closet and positioning the now mildly concerned youngster on the floor as he closed the door and blanketed them in darkness, save for the silver of light managing to seep in through the small crack that Minho had left.

“Lixie, come here. Gonna play a game, ok?” Minho hurriedly instructed, hearing the footsteps get closer and closer to their room. 

“Ok, hyung.” 

Minho was seriously thankful in an instance like this that Felix trusted him completely, not even hesitating to follow his plan. 

“Hands over your ears so you can’t hear anything. Squeeze your eyes shut. You need to be as quiet as you possibly can. You can’t take your hands off your ears or open your eyes until I tap you on the shoulder. Think you can do that?”

“I guess?” Felix grumbled with a raised eyebrow, moving his little hands to push against his ears. “Doesn’t sound very fun though.” 

Just as Felix clamped his eyes shut, the door to their room was nearly torn off of its hinges from the pure force of the push from the man who entered, surveying his surroundings. From what little he could see, making sure that his hiding spot wouldn’t be discovered, Minho could tell with certainty that the first person who entered was the one whose coins had been stolen by him. Though he wasn’t alone, three other men followed closely behind, looking completely disinterested in what they had come here for. 

Minho being the main target. 

But what made Minho cower just that little bit more was that Insu immediately joined them afterwards, stepping into the room with a gun in his hand, the weapon having been used judging by the slight smoke coming from the barrel. If Minho could guess, he would say that Insu hadn’t holstered his weapon since he thought he would need to use it again. 

“Not here,” the man who he had robbed reported in a casual tone as he turned to face Insu. 

“Whatever, I’m sure we’ll see the brat again eventually. We got the money back. Let’s go.” 

They were talking about him, Minho could tell. 

Insu had known what had happened in the city earlier and that his men were going to come here and try to teach him a lesson for what he had done. What made Minho have to bite his tongue was that Insu probably knew that the reason Minho had even stolen from one of his men was to get money to pay his tax with. Yet, he had given the go ahead to come here and do whatever unspeakable acts they saw fit. 

With a shrug of his shoulders and a click of his fingers, the ringleader of the little group followed Insu as he exited the bedroom, from the sounds of it, making their way down the stairs and closing the front door behind them. 

Minho remembered his mother’s words, that he shouldn’t come out of his room until she had told him that it was safe but there was no way that the four men that had barged into his room would have ever made it this far towards them if she was still safe. He was already so sure of what had happened, the nausea in his stomach slowly crawling its way up his throat but he knew he needed to make sure of it himself. 

“Lixie?” Minho whispered, his words shaking under the weight of his fear. 

He gently reached out and tapped his brother’s shoulder, forcing himself to smile a little when Felix’s head snapped up, his blond hair bouncing as he asked if he had won the game. All that Minho could do was nod, yelling internally at himself not to cry, not to show how weak he was to the one person that needed him more than anything right now. 

“Stay here for a second. Don’t move,” Minho continued, tapping the top of Felix’s nose when the younger pouted about having to stay in this god forsaken closet for a little bit longer, now without his brother to keep him company. 

Raising from his seat on the floor, Minho winced at the brightness of his bedroom after sitting in the darkness. His legs ached and he could have sworn that he had been hiding for hours, when he knew it couldn’t have been more than ten minutes at most. He walked into the hallway, still being mindful to be as quiet as he possibly could though he was sure that whoever had been in the house before had surely left. 

Without even seeing his mother, Minho’s suspicions about what had happened were slowly being confirmed as he noticed footprints on the steps of the stairs, the bright red outline telling Minho that the prints hadn’t been caused by dirt dragged in by the trespassers earlier on. 

As he landed at the end of the stairs, Minho tried to steady his breath, failing to cease the tremors as he slowly peeked around the corner and took in the scene in front of him. With the sight and the putrid smell of blood that had overtaken his senses, Minho didn’t get a second to take it in before he turned away and vomited over the rug at the bottom of the stairs. It seemed endless, the way his stomach spasmed, the sight of his mother lying in the middle of the floor unmoving causing his senses to go into overdrive and make everything ache. Even when he had nothing left to give, Minho’s body continued to make him shake and dry heave, not letting him rest for a second, like it was somehow punishing him.

When he finally managed to regain some composure, his legs nearly collapsing beneath him, Minho trudged into the front room of the bakery, his eyes glazing over when he saw the horrific scene in front of him. Blood was splattered everywhere, droplets of it falling from the glass case of pastries on his left and the wall that had once been a bright shade of lemon on his right was mixed with an obscene shade of red. 

Minho didn’t exactly remember when he had arrived at Sena’s side, nor when he fell to his knees, his pants absorbing the blood that was beginning to pool on the floor beneath his lifeless mother, the woman supporting a hole in the middle of her chest, right above her heart and another at the top of her nose. 

“Mom?” Minho whispered, wondering why on earth he was calling out to her as she lay motionless on the floor, knowing full well that she would not answer him. “Mom, you need to wake up. Please, Lixie needs his bedtime story. You know he won’t sleep without it.” 

With another sad attempt, Minho pushed against Sena’s shoulder, wincing as he felt blood seep through his fingers, coating his hand in the garish liquid. No matter how many times he would wash his hands, Minho knew that he would never be able to get them clean. 

He would forever have his mother’s blood on his hands. 

“Mom…please.” 

“After I found her like that, I didn’t know what to do. I just stayed beside her for as long as I could, holding onto her hand, as if she would somehow feel it.” 

As Minho began to finish off the story of his past, he had taken on an almost emotionless state, his eyes unfocused, his tone cold and dead. He brought the glass in his hands up to his lips, draining the remnants of his drink before placing it on the small table situated beside him. 

But after hearing such a distressing tale about Minho and his family, about who Insu really was and what he was capable of, Chan didn’t have much of a taste for alcohol anymore, for anything anymore, abandoning his drink on the sill of the window he had been staring out of earlier. 

“I don’t know how long I was there but when I heard Felix calling out to me, I realised that it was night,” muttered Minho, glancing over to his sleeping brother on the floor. “Felix was afraid of the dark when he was young, so I didn’t want to leave him on his own. I knew we couldn’t stay there.” 

Chan didn’t want to interrupt Minho, allowing the young man to let all of his hate and distress bleed out onto the floor below but what he wanted to say, more than anything, was that such a responsibility should have never fallen upon shoulders as young as his. Being only ten years old, Minho had to deal with seeing his mother’s dead body right in front of him, knowing who it was that had killed her but having to accept the fact that he was powerless to do anything about it. 

Not only that, he had to care for Felix too. Minho probably never felt like that was a burden but it was still something that a kid should ever have to worry about. 

“So, I left her and went back to my room to grab Felix. I knew there were lots of people who wouldn’t mind letting us stay for the night. I went to an older couple that used to come to the store every day. They were always so kind to us. This is actually their home. We kept living here after they passed.” 

It sounded to Chan like Minho just constantly lost the people around him. His father, his mother, the kind couple who had taken them in after such a traumatic event. Chan knew all about losing loved ones in a nightmarish way but to have life continually mock you by stealing the ones you hold dear, it didn’t seem at all fair.

“Felix kept asking what happened but I couldn’t tell him in the state I was in. I just told him to stay quiet while I grabbed a scarf I had in my closet and tied it around his eyes so that he wouldn’t have to see our mother like that when I carried him on my back, out of the house and somewhere safe.”

The captain couldn’t think of a particularly pleasant way to say it but it made him wonder if witnessing and almost playing a part in his mother’s untimely passing made Minho so much more jaded than Felix could ever be. From the way they interacted, Minho always took on somewhat of a harsher tone compared to his brother but Chan could sympathise with having your whole outlook on life changed from one single event. 

“I never managed to go back into our house. Neither did Lix. I know the residents took care of my mother’s body and we held a small service for her a couple of days later but…after a couple of weeks, it was like nothing had happened in the first place. Nothing was done. Insu faced zero repercussions for killing my mom. Does that seem right to you?” 

A beat of silence passed, with Chan thinking that it must be somewhat of a rhetorical question because absolutely nothing in the world could ever make what Insu did seem justifiable but when he saw Minho staring him down with a plea of desperation in his eyes, the captain decided to answer. 

“No, it doesn’t.”

“Felix still thinks the reason that she was killed was because we couldn’t afford to pay the tax, which is probably why he’s even more adamant than I am about helping people around here. He doesn’t want them to lose someone too,” Minho almost whimpered, regaining his composure shockingly fast when he realised Chan was looking at him with an unwanted pity. “I never let him know it was all because of me. I always tell myself that it was to save him the from the added distress but it’s really because I’m a coward, because I’m fucking terrified that he’ll never want to look at me again after he hears about what I did. None of it would have happened if I hadn’t been so stupid.”

“You were only trying to help her, Minho.”

“And look where that got me,” the young man hissed, head momentarily snapping up from where it had fallen. “It was all my fault.” 

No matter how many years passed, no matter how many times he tried to reassure himself, Minho always came down to that conclusion. Maybe things would have been different if he never stole the money from one of Insu’s men. His mother never would have managed to get the money herself but there was no guarantee that her death would have been the price to pay for failing to come up with the tax money. Minho would never know but those demons of possibilities would haunt him for as long as he lived. 

“So, I am going into that house and I am going to make him pay for what he did to my family, what he did to my mother, what he did to Felix. He won’t get to live out the rest of his life without consequences.” 

The determination in Minho’s voice made Chan sit just a little bit straighter in his seat. Chan knew that determination. It was dangerous, not at all the type of tone one uses when they’re simply thinking about stealing a bit of money from someone who turned their whole life upside down. No, Minho’s words held something much heavier, something much darker, something that Chan recognised far too well. 

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re not just going to Insu’s house to get back the money he took from you over the years?” Chan questioned firmly, kicking the side of Minho’s chair to draw the man’s attention to him. “Minho?”

“What does it matter to you? You don’t even know me,” the younger groaned irritatedly.

“I don’t need to know you to tell you that I think it would be stupid to throw away your life over this.”

The way that Minho downright glared at him verified Chan’s theory. Minho wasn’t going into that house with the intention of walking out. There was a good chance that Insu could end up right in front of Minho if their plan went accordingly and Chan could relate to the undeniable urge to want to destroy the person who took your family from you. This was Minho’s chance and from the sounds of it, he wasn’t going to let it slip by. Another reason that he was probably so tenacious about Chan not backing out on their deal.

“If I succeed, then it won’t be throwing my life away. I’ll have accomplished what I set out to do. Insu will regret ever crossing me. He won’t see the end of his party if I have anything to say about it. That will be my penance for what I did all those years ago.”

“And does Felix know about this plan?”

The malice in Minho’s expression vanished at the question, the young man’s eyes darting over to Felix as he lay sprawled out in a starfish position, the absurdity of the way he was sleeping making Minho smile fondly.

“No, he doesn’t.”

“You’re going to leave him alone?” Chan emphasised, hoping the urgency in his tone would get through to Minho.

“There are plenty of people around here who care about him and will look out for him. He’ll be fine. He doesn’t need me anyway.”

“Bullshit.” 

The hiss echoed throughout the house, enough for Minho to jump slightly in his seat and wonder why on earth the captain was having such a severe reaction to him trying to give up his life to avenge his mother’s murder. 

“He needs you just as much as you need him, just as much as I need my crew and they need me.” 

Even without the exchange he had seen between Chan and Jisung earlier on, Minho could tell that the crew relied on each other heavily. They didn’t just want or like to be around each other, they needed to be around each other. 

And despite Minho needing Felix incredibly much, he doubted that his brother needed him like that. Felix would be fine without him. He would figure out how to live once Minho was gone. Chan was not thinking along the same lines. Not that it mattered. 

He didn’t know Felix like Minho did. 

“You were all he had when Insu took your mother from the two of you. Now, you’re going to sacrifice your life because of the same person? Just to bring him down? How do you think that will make him feel? To know that you planned on murdering Insu, knowing that you would never get out of that house alive because of it? To know that you didn’t trust him enough to even talk about it with him?” 

Maybe Chan already knew Felix better than Minho would like to admit. 

“Think about this a little more before you leave him with nothing,” Chan cautioned.  

“I didn’t deserve to survive back then. They were after me, not her. I need to do this,” whispered Minho, pushing away the fleeting idea of backing down now. 

Ever since he had heard about Insu’s party, this had been the endgame for him. He knew that Felix would never let him go to Insu’s house alone and leaving their own home without Felix knowing why would be nigh impossible. So, he had come up with the plan to tell Felix that they would rob his house together. The way that the night would end, however, was a secret that Minho had kept to himself. He would do everything in his power to get to Insu, even if he was surrounded by a thousand bodyguards. As long as he managed to take the man down, what happened to Minho after that was inconsequential. The most plausible scenario was that he’d get rid of Insu and immediately go down in a hail of bullets. 

“I know how you feel, believe me.” 

Minho scoffed in such a ridiculing way, almost daring Chan to say such a thing again. How would he possibly understand what it felt like to have someone you loved murdered for such a piss poor reason? A reason that wasn’t even their fault to begin with. It was just a thing that was said to try and make someone feel better but Chan couldn’t possibly know the pain that Minho had endured all these years. 

But from the sombre look on the captain’s face, Minho had a stirring feeling in his gut that maybe Chan did somehow understand what he was going through. 

“I do. These people that I need to find at the party, they took everything from me too. And knowing that they’re out there somewhere, living their lives without any consequences…the mere thought makes my heart feel like it’s being crushed, every single day. My whole life right now is tracking them down and making them pay.”

That was probably the extent of what Jeongin knew about the situation of the 3racha crew too and since Minho had been so forthcoming about his demons, Chan thought that he could at least offer up a little about his own circumstances in the hopes of deterring Minho from this course of self sabotage. Maybe he didn’t know Felix all that well but Chan could say for certain that he knew Felix would never be the same if he heard that his brother had given up his life for revenge.

“But I know that I can’t sacrifice my life to get to them. If I did that, it would destroy my crew. Nothing would justify my death in their eyes and I promised myself a long time ago that I would never cause them any pain. Even if it conflicts with my plan to find these people.” 

And that was a thing that burned Chan’s tongue as it left his mouth. His whole life was trying to find these people but his brothers would always come first. There wasn’t even a question about that. Deep down, he knew that Minho felt the same way about Felix, that was the whole reason why he didn’t let the younger know about his plans in the first place. 

“You said Felix is everything to you,” Chan defended, forcing Minho to look him in the eyes. “Then don’t be the one to ruin him. He’s far too bright to have his light dampened by your untimely death.” 

Minho’s eyes widened for a moment, such a brief happening that Chan would have thought that it was just a trick of the light from the dancing flames beginning to wither behind them if he weren’t paying attention. The captain didn’t know Minho at all, couldn’t say that he was all that fond of him either after the way he treated him and his crew but he didn’t want someone that he knew was a good person underneath it all to die for such a reason. 

Nothing more was said when Minho turned away to stare at the sleeping boys once more, Jeongin taking this tense moment to mumble something about ‘fancy cake’ before he flipped over and settled down again. 

Chan thought that the conversation was over, that his words might not have made it through Minho’s defences and it had all been for naught but just as he was about to direct his gaze back out the window once more, a trembling whisper broke the silence. 

“I’ll think about it.” 

“So much for not sleeping.”

“It’s a good thing that our lives weren’t in their hands. We’d surely be dead if they were.” 

“My my, your hyung looks like he might have a heart when he’s like this. Not like a poisonous snake at all.”

“And yours looks terribly cute.”

“I beg your pardon?” 

God, Chan wanted to open his eyes and tell the others to shut the hell up with their whispers and snarky comments, especially when it sounded like they were standing directly in front of him. And while Chan felt like he could fall back asleep if Jisung and Felix would quit their nattering, as he became more aware of his surroundings, he realised that he shouldn’t have been asleep at all. Opening his eyes in haste as he sat up in his chair, Chan apparently scared the two young men standing in front of him, both of them simultaneously breaking into giggles at Chan’s dishevelled state. 

“W-what? What are you looking at?” Chan spluttered, pushing back his hair that had fallen in front of his eyes.

“Just at the two determined and strong protectors who swore that they would stay awake in case something terrible happened during the night snoring softly as they slept,” Felix goaded, nodding his head towards Minho who was also emerging from his apparent slumber.  

Chan didn’t remember falling asleep, didn’t even remember feeling sleepy at any point during the night but he was at least glad to see that Minho had also succumbed to slumber. 

“I wasn’t asleep.”

“That would be a lot more convincing if there wasn’t a line of drool down the side of your face, hyung,” Jisung criticised, pulling a tissue out of his pocket to rub at Chan’s cheek, only for the captain to flail his arms to try and push his crewmate away.

“What’s going on?” Minho slurred, trying to stand up too quickly and getting a little lightheaded because of it.

“Innie is cooking breakfast for us. Figured we’d be better off setting off with full tummies. We’ll have to go to see Minju, right?” 

“Uh, right, yeah, you’re right,” Minho responded disorientedly to Felix's inquiry, moving over to the kitchen door to see Jeongin shuffling around and whistling to himself. 

“Minju?” Changbin chimed in, lounging back on the couch.

“Yeah, she’ll supply us with pretty much everything we need to get into Insu’s mansion,” Felix smiled, making Chan wonder who on earth this girl was if she could give them what they needed to break into a house.  

“Breakfast is ready!”

Since it was just Felix and Minho in the house, the table was only big enough for the two of them. So, Chan stayed in the chair he had apparently slept in last night as Jeongin handed him a plate before he joined Changbin and Jisung on their makeshift beds that had been tidied up already.

“Where did this food come from?” Minho interrupted after everyone had already dug into their meal.

“I went shopping with Innie earlier. We didn’t really have much in the house,” Felix hummed with a shrug since they ate out most of the time, despite Minho being an excellent cook. “We don’t get to eat with others very often, especially at home. It’s nice.” 

“Enjoy it while it lasts.” 

Nobody else seemed to hear Minho’s muttered line except for Chan and honestly, the captain didn’t know if Minho meant that Felix should enjoy the company since the 3racha crew would be leaving after Insu’s party or if he meant that this could be one of the last times that Felix would get to eat with Minho. 

Chan slowly began to lose his appetite when he feared that Minho had thought about what had been said to him last night but that the captain had failed to do what he had set out to do, that his appeal to Minho to live out the rest of his life with his brother had fallen on deaf ears. 

Chapter Text

“Minju!”

“Oppa…” 

Jisung jumped a little at Felix’s boisterous yell as they entered the large clothing store which was situated rather close to where they had docked yesterday, the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks still managing to reach them inside the shop. 

They had all finished breakfast with smiles on their faces, both Felix and Minho praising Jeongin on his masterful cooking skills, though Felix was far more emotive about it, making yummy noises as he patted his stomach. When Minho and Chan had managed to get washed up since everyone else had done so before they had been stirred from their slumber in their armchairs, they set off towards the city to meet up with whoever it was that Felix had mentioned earlier. 

Jisung could only assume that it was the stunningly beautiful young woman that was standing behind the front counter, lazily flipping through some kind of magazine before she heard Felix call out to her, the bored expression situated on her face morphing into something along the lines of hostile, something that made Jisung become hesitant in his steps as Felix left his side to bound towards her, either missing or completely ignoring the dark aura she was radiating. 

“Are you sure she’s your friend? Kind of seems like she wants to rip you to pieces,” Jisung mumbled, the restrained way he spoke still being picked up by Minju as her eyes shot to him, giving him a quick smile that said that was exactly what she wanted to do. 

But she was quick to direct her anger towards the one who truly deserved it as Minho approached them, not getting a single word in before Minju attempted to nearly jump the counter and take him down.  

“Minho oppa-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Minho groaned, digging around in his pockets to find a wad of bills, licking his thumb before he began counting some out and handing them over to the young woman whose entire disposition flipped like a lightswitch once she had the money in her hands. “I figured, since this is the reason that Jungwoo sold me out too.” 

Jisung quickly caught on that Minju had not been paid for some job or service she had provided the brothers with previously. That was the whole reason that Jungwoo had revealed their location to the crew since Minho hadn’t coughed up the cash for the last three commissions he had completed in The Guild. Jisung was aware that the master in chief of each Guild always took a small fee from every commission taken on as a way to keep the place running but Minho had skimped out. It made Jisung wonder whether that was a common occurrence since Minju was now the second person they had come across in the space of a day that was ready to end Minho because of his tight pursestrings. 

“Thank you, it’s about time,” Minju smiled, a dangerous warning beneath it all. “Now that we have those pleasantries out of the way, what can I help you with?” 

“We’d like to take a panorama,” Minho replied quietly, glancing around him as he stuffed his remaining risa back into his pocket.  

Thinking he must have missed something along the way, Jisung glanced back at Changbin, only to see that he was already asking Chan and Jeongin if he knew what Minho was talking about. The only one who didn’t seem to be fazed by Minho’s choice of words was Felix, the other having hopped up on the counter to swing his legs back and forth. 

“What the hell did he just say?” Jisung whispered, not really getting an answer from Felix who just shook his head and nodded towards Minju. 

“I see. Right this way.” 

It had been a code phrase of some kind, Jisung had ascertained that much but he couldn’t help but be somewhat curious about where they were being led as Minju stepped out from behind the counter, grabbing the arm of another employee and telling her that she’d be back momentarily. 

The group of six followed Minju, all the way to the back of the store that was being concealed by a giant black curtain with the logo of the shop on it. To any regular customer, it would have looked to be something that was hiding a storeroom or something since that was what Jisung had thought it was too but when Minju grabbed the ring of keys from her waist and put one into each of the five locks up and down the door that had been hidden from the eyes of the customers, Jisung got the feeling that there was something much more valuable behind there. 

And he couldn’t have been more right about that. 

“Holy shit!” 

Jisung felt a strong shove to his shoulder, courtesy of Minho who hissed at him to keep his mouth shut until they were inside the room since something being hidden and locked up in such a way was definitely not for the eyes of the regular civilians. 

In simple terms, it was a weapons warehouse, its contents ranging from throwing knives and guns to what looked to Jisung to be a goddamn rocket launcher. He didn’t think that they would be able to carry that out of here without being seen but damn, did Jisung want to try that thing out. There were shelves that housed different gadgets, things like earpieces and frequency jammers and rails that held up different types of outfits that one may use when one wished to sneakily infiltrate somewhere. 

Felix wasn’t kidding when he said that Minju would be able to provide them with everything they needed to break into Insu’s house. He just had to wonder who on earth she was, being so young yet being in charge of something like this. 

“Minju owns this entire place. One of the youngest business people in Yilin,” Felix provided, noticing the 3racha crew’s stunned expressions upon seeing the place he had been in a few times before.

“Impressive.” 

The others appeared to have the same mindset as Jisung as they began to investigate and peruse what was being offered to them in the form of weapons and gear. Jisung wasn’t entirely sure what they would need to get into Insu’s house, Felix and Minho were far more knowledgeable on that subject but he was always sure that all he would need would be his daggers and pistol that was hanging from his hip. But he couldn’t help but be somewhat interested in the large crate that held an assortment of hand grenades and wireless detonators that sat in front of him, peeking over the top to get a closer look. 

“Don’t touch anything.”

Jisung rolled his eyes before throwing a sideward glance towards Minho as the elder walked up to his side, his reprimanding tone making Jisung feel like a child that had been caught running around with scissors

“I wasn’t going to,” Jisung ranted, even though he moved away from the box he had been hovering over all the same.

“Looked to me like you were. You seem like the type of person who would accidentally set one of these off and blow the whole place to smithereens.” 

“I know how to work with explosives,” hissed Jisung, becoming even more annoyed when Minho was making blind assumptions about what kind of person he may or may not be.

“Sure you do,” Minho chuckled, the complete lack of faith in Jisung’s abilities shining through in his cheeky smile.

Jisung didn’t know what Minho’s problem with him was when he seemed to be acting somewhat civilly with everyone else. Or, at least, not as snarky but there was no way in hell that Jisung was going to be the bigger man and turn the other cheek. That wasn’t his style at all. 

And out of pure spite for the man he had met less than twenty four hours ago, Jisung stared at Minho until he turned to meet his eye, only for him to move his hand out to the left towards the crate of explosives, poking his finger against it. Jisung was doing his damn best to show Minho that he didn’t get to tell him what to do, that he didn’t know anything about him, that he wasn’t his hyung despite the honorific he was being forced to use. With a wrinkle of his nose in protest, Jisung never broke eye contact with the elder, who only rolled his own eyes at Jisung’s childish behaviour of totally ignoring his advice before walking away.  

Not that Jisung cared one way or another what Minho thought about him. In the time that he was here on Yilin, Jisung vowed to be as much of an asshole to Minho as he had been to him last night. Yes, some would say that the decision was immature but Jisung couldn’t refute the claim that he was indeed immature himself, so what difference did it make in the long run?

“Are you looking for something other than the usual?” Minju piped up after she had finished locking the door behind her. 

“Something kind of specific,” Felix hesitated, waiting for Minho to join him at his side. “Firstly, do you have anything a kitchen assistant might wear?” 

Minju had gotten plenty of requests from the brothers before since she was one of the people who knew all about their morally swayed activities that helped people around here the best. They often asked her from upgrades on their equipment, items that could help them keep in contact with one another should they venture too far from one another, other ‘essential supplies’ that were definitely not legal in the eyes of the world government but Minju had to admit that this particular inquiry was weird, even for them, and enough to peak her interest as to what they would need such an outfit for. 

“What the hell are you guys planning?” 

“Do you have something like that or not?” Minho groused, the glare that he directed towards Minju being absolutely useless. She wasn’t going to be intimidated by Minho when she knew full well that he was practically a kitten in disguise.

“Don’t be snippy. I think I probably do. While I look around, why don’t you gather up what else you need from around here and I’ll tally up your bill.” 

Minho took that as the invitation to leave the conversation and promptly turned on his heel to gather up the equipment he thought he may need. Felix watched him go, grimacing a little when he noticed that his brother had been even more closed off and high strung than he usually was. 

Felix knew that Minho always had a hard time connecting with people, something that occurred after they lost their mother, so he paid it no mind when he didn’t immediately warm up to Chan and the others like he had but for some reason, Felix himself was getting the cold shoulder today from his brother and it worried him to no end. No matter what, the two of them stuck together through absolutely everything, so having Minho treat him like he was some sort of stranger was unnerving. 

Not getting a second more to linger on such thoughts, Felix turned to face Minju as she held onto his arm to keep him from moving away, showing a sort of vulnerability in her eyes that Felix had never seen before. 

“Oppa, does this have something to do with the party?” Minju asked quietly, the underlying tone of concern making Felix feel a mixture of guilt and alarm at the realisation that Minju already knew all about their plans, even though they were doing their best to keep it a secret. “Jungwoo oppa told me that he got you guys an invitation.” 

Jungwoo and Minho had been in the same class as each other since preschool, while Felix had been classmates with Minju. They had been friends for as long as they could remember, the four of them going through a lot of life’s trials and tribulations together. It would only make sense for Minju to be uneasy about them going to Insu’s house to steal back what was rightfully theirs but there was no way they could back out now and he needed Minju to know that. 

As if she sensed Felix’s regret, Minju chuckled lightly, clasping the elder’s hand in her own, shaking her head in resignation. 

“Jeez, I’m not going to stop you or anything. It’s not like I could. You two have always marched to the beat of your own drum. Just…be careful, ok?”

“We’ll be alright.”

Felix knew there were many people around here that cared greatly about him and his brother, people that would do anything for them since they had helped them throughout the years. So, what else could he do but reassure Minju that they would take care and that absolutely nothing would go wrong. 

Even if he didn’t quite believe that himself. 

There were one too many occasions where the 3racha crew would sneak into somewhere they were definitely not supposed to be but Changbin had to admit that they had never attempted anything quite on this scale before, infiltrating a gigantic mansion with ten thousand guards surrounding it with no intention of letting them live if they got caught. It was riskier than anything they had ever done and the fact that their fate was somewhat up in the air was making Changbin hoard all of his nervous energy, enough to make him unable to stand still for two seconds. 

To top his nervousness off, it wasn’t just them this time around. They now had another brother to look after in Jeongin. Kind, sweet, adorably innocent Jeongin who had only begun to learn how to fight and defend himself while the rest of the crew had been training for years. They trusted him, knew he could probably protect himself if the need ever arose but never imagined that he would be thrown into such a situation so quickly when they were training him. It made Changbin nervous, something happening to their newest member. He never thought he could be attached to someone so quickly, especially when the three of them had done their best to stave off creating any new bonds over the past six years for fear of what could blossom out of it. 

And while Changbin was sure Minho and Felix could handle themselves, it didn’t mean he didn’t worry about them too. They probably didn’t want or need his concern but it wasn’t like Changbin could help it. He had been cursed with the problem of always predicting the worst possible outcome in any situation. 

After obtaining all they needed from Minju yesterday, they all retreated back to the Lee brothers’ home, going over the plan in its entirety while eating some cake that Felix and Jeongin had brought home from their shopping. It took hours, every question under the sun being asked to make sure that there were no surprises waiting for them along the way. 

Minho had somehow managed to get a blueprint of the house and Changbin was sure that Jungwoo may have had something to do with that since he had been the one to provide them with the invitation to the party. Everyone studied it until they knew the layout of the house like the back of their hands, making sure that the escape routes were number one priority on their list of places to memorise. 

Everyone knew their roles when it came to getting inside and both Minho and Chan agreed that they would part ways once they were upstairs and complete their own objectives. It seemed sensible since they would be in less danger if they were to move around in smaller groups but there was a look in Chan’s eyes that nobody but Changbin seemed to pick up on, one that was directed at Minho and held something like apprehension. Changbin didn’t comment on it but he was sure that the captain was aware of something that the rest of them were not. 

Before retiring for the night, all of them tried to allow their minds to rest, even if their plans for the following night settled themselves in one corner of their minds, refusing to leave completely. However, once they settled into their makeshift beds, a sense of ease excompassed them, being accompanied by bursts of laughter and happiness. 

Changbin really couldn’t believe how easily Felix fit in with them, how he slotted into their conversations like they had been friends for years. There wasn’t an ounce of hesitance when he spoke. He was more than comfortable when he would throw his arm around Jisung’s shoulder as they sat together on the couch or when he would tickle Jeongin’s sides when they younger began to tease him playfully. It was so incredibly strange but Changbin thanked Felix in a way for making him and his brothers enjoy the time they were spending in his home. 

On a quieter note, Changbin could see that Minho may very well fit in just as easily if he would allow his walls to come down just a little bit. As he conversed with Felix and the others on the floor, Changbin could see Chan and Minho speaking quietly to one another from where they were situated in their armchairs by the fire. Contrary to much of his time on the ship, Chan looked to be relaxed and more than content when speaking with Minho, even huffing in amusement when Minho muttered something with a roll of his eyes while looking at his brother nearly lying on top of Jisung, both of them beginning to drift off as sleep called them closer. 

Jeongin had been the first person to make Changbin question whether or not their policy on not becoming close to anyone for fear of losing them or being betrayed was actually viable. And really, Changbin thought that Jeongin’s case was an anomaly, an outlier, something that would never happen again but here they were, barely a week later, finding two more souls that fit in with them so well that it would be more than a little difficult to say goodbye and move on without them when they had completed their mission. 

That possibility was drawing closer and closer and the mere thought of it was enough for Changbin’s mood to plummet drastically but he had to accept that the feeling of wanting both Felix and Minho to remain by their sides was not one that was shared amongst the rest of his crew or held by the other party. 

That was almost twenty four hours ago and now, here they were standing outside of the back entrance of Insu’s home to try and talk their way inside. All four members of the crew were now wearing the white garments that Minju had provided them with, making them out to be kitchen assistants. In front of them, on two steel dollies were crates filled with food. Well, two of them were, the other two were now holding Minho and Felix, both men squeezing in while some straw and cartons of apples were placed on top of them. Jeongin made the point that, when food was delivered to him in the restaurant, he would always open the crates to inspect the produce to make sure it was what he ordered. He had a feeling that the guards would do the same to make sure nothing prohibited was being snuck in. Chan had to compliment the youngest for his quick thinking on that idea.

“Ok, are you guys ready for this?” Chan whispered quietly as they got ready to turn the corner and approach the back door.

“As much as we’ll ever be I guess,” came Felix’s mumbled reply from inside the box, the young man already sounding like he was over this whole escapade. 

Nodding to the rest of his crew, Chan began to push the dolley in front of him that also held onto the crate with Minho inside. Changbin had taken charge of the other dolley, trying to be as gentle as possible so that he didn’t jostle Felix around too much. It was probably already unbearably uncomfortable being stuffed inside the boxes and Changbin didn’t want to further the young man’s pain by throwing him around the place. 

Walking up to the back entrance, Chang spotted four guards stopping everyone from entering. Two seemed to be checking the invitations, whilst the other two were inspecting the cargo that people were bringing in with them. Chan reminded himself to thank Jeongin for taking the extra measures to try and conceal Minho and Felix as much as they could. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if they were literally to be caught before they even got in the front door. It would more than likely be incredibly messy. 

Then again, they hadn’t succeeded just yet. Earlier, Chan was filled with confidence that they would be able to pull this off without any problems but as they approached the back door and one of the guards with a clipboard in his hand looked up at them, the captain could feel his heart jump into his mouth, begging it to return to its rightful place in his chest before it gave him away. 

Chan had always appreciated the fact that, despite being wanted by the Marines, they never caused quite enough trouble for them to become infamous amongst other pirates or the general public but it didn’t stop the captain from holding onto his cart just a little harder to stop hid fingers from trembling at the thoughts of being recognised by Insu’s men. 

“Credentials and invitation?”

Chan didn’t dare to open his mouth, knowing the others behind him were probably going to be just as tight lipped until they got inside. He merely reached inside his pocket and pulled out the invitation that Minho had provided him with earlier in the evening, handing it to the rather burly man with one of his front teeth missing who scanned down his clipboard to try and confirm their invite. 

It would work, it had to. Even though he had literally had one conversation with Jungwoo, Chan knew that the master in chief knew what he was doing when he gave the brothers the invitation, that he wouldn’t screw them over and put them in danger. 

The entire crew had to do everything in their power not to move an inch and blow their cover when the two guards that were standing off to the side came over to tear the tops off of the crates they had brought in, glancing over the food that was inside and would supposedly be cooked for Insu and his guests later on. 

Acting nonchalant was rather difficult for Chan when the crate that Felix was hiding in begged closer inspection than the others by one of the guards, the man reaching his hand towards the contents. Chan could see Jisung very nearly jump into action and attempt to stop the guard from going any further but when Insu’s man just picked an apple up from the crate and threw them a smile as if challenging them to do something about him stealing some of their goods, all of them simply smiled back, nodding their heads in thanks when they were ushered through the door. 

Once they made their way into the kitchen and slipped into the small room that was where the produce for the meal was being kept, none of them wasted a second more in taking the tops off of the crates and beginning to free the brothers from their confines, both of them looking mildly irked at the lengths that they had to go through to merely get in the door of this place. 

“You guys ok?” Jeongin asked quietly as he hoisted Minho out onto the floor, giving Felix a quick glance as he stumbled around the place before Chan held onto him so he could gather his bearings.

“Cannot feel my legs.” 

“We need to work fast. We need to take advantage of the fact that people are still arriving. The party is supposed to officially start in ten minutes. We need to get out of the kitchen and up there before that happens so we’re not as obvious moving around.” 

Minho wasn’t even giving them time to breathe or congratulate each other on a job well done for completing their first part of the mission before he was making his way back towards the kitchen, throwing Chan and the others their change of clothes that he had been keeping with him in his hiding spot. He made the point last night that they may not want to walk around in the kitchen assistants clothing while they were here. That would probably make them look even more suspicious once they had made their way upstairs if they were spotted. 

Swapping out their outfits quickly, not having time to even think about the idea of being shy in front of each other, the crew quickly followed behind Minho and Felix as they walked through the kitchen. All of them got somewhat interested looks from the chefs and kitchen staff that were actually there to do their job and cook for the banquet but it was also clear that they did not get paid enough to care about some random strangers making their way upstairs, clear from the way that they immediately returned to work after giving them a single glance. 

Carefully pushing the door at the top of the stairs open and peeking out, Minho scanned his surroundings, knowing from his earlier analysis of the blueprint of the house that this particular exit led into the servants quarters of the house. Well, servants was a nice word. From the rumours that Minho had heard about this place, Insu’s home ran on indentured servitude. He quickly ushered everyone out the door and into the shadows by the wall. 

“This is where we part ways for now. This way will lead you down to the ballroom,” Minho gestured to the left, knowing that the room he and Felix were seeking out was in the opposite direction. “Hopefully we’ll see each other later.” 

Hesitantly, Chan returned the sentiment with a nod, praying that Minho saying that there was the possibility that they would see each other later meant that he decided not to go through with his plan of trying to take Insu down by himself. 

Feeling the others become anxious from standing out in the open like this for so long, Chan knew that there was one last thing he needed to do before leaving Minho and Felix to go off to try and accomplish their mission. Extending his hand, Chan held it out in front of Minho, the younger looking slightly confused at the action at first. He quickly realised what was being asked of him and clasped Chan’s hand in his own, returning the strong grip.

“Be careful and good luck,” Chan offered, despite knowing that luck didn’t have a place in either of their lives up until this moment but it was clearly a sentiment that was appreciated nonetheless when Minho produced a genuine smile at the captain’s words.

“You too.” 

“This way,” Chan whispered, grabbing the back of Jeongin’s shirt when he almost ran into two guards coming down the hall, receiving a quiet ‘thank you, hyung’ from the younger who physically slapped himself for not checking his surroundings before moving. 

Making their way to the balcony above the ballroom was, scarily, really, really easy but Chan knew that was because they knew exactly the right way to get there without being caught. That had been the whole reason they had spent the majority of the last twenty four hours studying their plan. 

The four of them could already hear the hustle and bustle from downstairs, all of it being quietened when a man began to speak, the large, booming voice managing to reach them clearly from where they were crouched above. 

It was a welcome speech from the sounds of it and as Chan peeked over the railing to get a better look at down below, Chan could already tell that the lone man surrounded by four guards was Insu, the slimy murderer greeting his guests with such a pompously fake immaculetness that it was making the captain’s stomach turn. 

It didn’t even occur to him to pay attention to Insu’s drivel, zoning in on the ten tables that were laid out for the guests. They had come so far just to get here, to finally come face to face with those they had been chasing for six years and if Chan had any say in it, everything was going to end tonight. 

But as he had thought earlier when he gave his best wishes to Minho, he knew that luck had evaded them for such a long time and it had not decided to return when he scanned over the tables of pirate crews, recognising many of the most wanted people in the world. Those people were trivial to him but those he had hoped to see there, had actually prayed to see there, were absent, a whole table being empty of those that Chan knew were the ones he was looking for.

“No…” the captain whispered, his grip on the wooden bannister in front of him causing his knuckles to go completely white. “They’re not here.” 

“The empty table. Is that…?” Jeongin began, his face already morphing into something akin to sadness for his friends. 

But the youngest didn’t get any further in his questioning as Chan hopped up from his spot and swung around to face the wall behind him, only to land a punch straight in the middle that was sure to leave a sizable dent from the sheer force. A pained grunt left Chan’s lips but anyone would be able to tell that the sound did not stem from the pain of his throbbing fist but from the pure agony raining down upon his heart.

“Hyung!” Changbin hissed, pulling Chan away from the wall and settling them away from where they could be seen by the guests, quickly gesturing for Jisung and Jeongin to come away from the balcony. 

The noise that Chan had just made could have definitely been heard by those below but upon sneaky inspection, it looked like nobody had made a move to try and investigate. 

Changbin understood. He had understood the moment he laid his eyes on the vacant table in the centre of the ballroom. The first lead that they had in so long had turned out to be yet another dead end. The feeling of hopelessness that he had become far too accustomed to reared its ugly head once again but even with such an emotion beginning to overtake him, Changbin still knew that he could not react irrationally. They were still smack dab in the middle of enemy territory and still very much in danger. Chan was obviously not of the same mindset when he let his frustration let itself be known through such an audible outlet. It was such a rookie mistake and could have endangered all of them but Changbin knew to keep his mouth shut for the moment, deciding to berate the captain later on for his thoughtless behaviour. 

Not that he would have been given a chance when he saw the unadulterated intensity in the elder’s frenzied eyes when he turned to glare at Jisung. 

“Jisung, you said that they would be here!” Chan barked as the younger jumped in his spot at the furious tone in his hyung’s voice. 

“T-they were supposed to be. That article in the newspaper a few weeks ago said that they were among the crews invited. It was a lead, we hadn’t had one in months. I…I thought I was helping. I’m sorry, hyung.”

Jisung immediately curled in on himself, trembling fingers clutching his elbows, as if the action would somehow shield him from his hyung’s anger. 

It had been the first piece of information that they had gotten in so long, the front page of the Twilight Gazette that said Insu would be holding his party and that a list of ten notable pirate crews would be invited. They had lucked out that the specific one that they had been chasing down all this time was included on that list but they always knew that they may not answer the call to attend. After all, there was a reason that the 3racha crew had been so unsuccessful in their attempts to track down their prey. That particular crew had gone into hiding so many years ago. 

Jisung had thought he had been doing a good thing when he ran to Chan’s room to tell him about the lead, reading it out loud to the captain, who praised and complemented Jisung on a job well done. Now…Jisung wished he had never come across that stupid article with the way Chan had glared at him. They put so much effort into all of this, so much time and they ended up with nothing again. 

Seeing the outright distress on Jisung’s face, the rage in Chan’s clenched fists and the despair in Jeongin’s eyes, Changbin knew he couldn’t let the situation fester. He would never blame Jisung for something like this, something that had no absolute outcome and he knew that the hopelessness of the situation was just causing Chan to break, that he too would be able to see how irrational he was acting towards Jisung if he just had someone to point it out. 

And that was exactly what Changbin was his right hand man for. 

“Hyung, this isn’t his fault. They either never saw the invite or got it and decided not to come. This was an outcome that we predicted. It was a risk. Don’t blame Sung for this.”

Deep down, Chan knew that Changbin was right. Right now, he just wanted to take his frustration out on someone but, as from previous experiences, Chan should have known by now not to direct his anger towards his crewmates. 

Back when Jeongin had boarded their ship, Chan had shown the younger the worst side of him because he was stressed about the party and when Changbin had confronted him about it, Chan had continued on his rampage and chewed him out as well. That had landed him in hot water and from the way that Changbin was glaring at him as he laid an allaying hand on Jisung’s shoulder to try and comfort him as his head hung low, no doubt trying to hide the tears that had sprung to his eyes upon being yelled at, Chan knew that the look was a warning not to make the same mistake with Jisung. Doing so would damage their relationship far too much and Chan knew that too. 

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. This isn’t your fault, Sungie. I’m the one who should be sorry,” Chan breathed out, rubbing his hands over his face before reaching out to take a trembling Jisung into his arms, rubbing comfortingly up and down his back while he continued to mumble apologies into the younger’s ear.  

The way Jisung flinched slightly upon being taken into his arms made Chan loath himself for every speaking to his brother like that. He had a temper when things like this didn’t pan out, that was a fact that nobody could change but he hated how, time and time again, he had to be told by someone not to take it out on those closest to him or it would end up with him suffering dire consequences. 

“So, the people you’re looking for aren’t here?” Jeongin asked quietly, all of them being able to hear the sympathy in his voice since he knew how much this mission meant to them. 

“No, Innie,” Chan faltered, keeping Jisung close for a few more seconds to truly show how sorry he was for snapping at him. “We’re back to square one.” 

“So, what do we do now?” Changbin asked, wondering if they should just leave at this stage since there was nothing left for them here.

“We could go and help Lix hyung and Minho hyung.” 

The voice of reason came through Jeongin as he kept his distance from the trio. He had absolutely no idea who they had been looking for, what these people did to them, how long they had been searching but he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this failure was hurting all of them greatly. Should they leave immediately, Jeongin knew that they may spend the rest of the night wallowing and drowning in their sorrows but if they went to help their new friends, it would at least keep their mind off of their loss for a while longer. A sentiment that Chan clearly agreed with. 

“Yeah, let’s go do that,” Chan agreed, pulling Jisung up along with him and offering him a rather fabricated smile to try and reassure the younger man that he was in no way mad at him. “Come on.” 

Despite not knowing where the brothers would be at this moment and time since they had agreed that they should meet back at their house should they both succeed without any problems, Chan and the others walked through the house, heading towards the room that Minho had marked when they had been planning the infiltration together. 

And the silence that was hanging over them was almost suffocating. Chan walked towards the front, with the excuse that he would keep an eye out for any danger but it was clear to see that he just wanted to be left alone for a while. In the centre stood Jisung, head hanging low despite Chan’s earlier apology. Changbin tucked the younger close to his side, quietly trying to restore some of Jisung’s usual joviality, even if it was pointless at the moment. 

Jeongin remained at the back, watching the rear and giving his crewmates time to grieve that their life goal had managed to elude them once again.

“Felix?”

At the sound of Chan’s voice calling upon the freckled young man, Jeongin dragged his eyes away from Jisung and Changbin to stare further down the hallway where Felix was indeed standing there by himself, a look of idle curiosity passing over his face as he noticed the crew coming towards him. 

“Oh? What are you guys doing here? Did you find who you were looking for?”

“Our lead didn’t work out. They aren’t here,” Changbin said with an unhidden sadness.  

“I’m so sorry.” 

“Why are you here by yourself?” Jisung inquired with a tilt of his head, thinking that Minho would never have left Felix here by himself unless it was for an exceedingly important reason.

“Min hyung told me to wait here while he checked out an unknown room.” 

An unknown room. That alone made the hair on Chan’s arms stand upright. To the other members of his crew, hearing that Minho had gone off by himself to investigate somewhere mysterious wasn’t all that unusual, probably thinking that he wanted to keep Felix safe from harm in case something went wrong but the thing that didn’t sit right with Chan was that there should be no unknown rooms in Insu’s mansion. 

They had spent so many hours studying the blueprint of the house, analysing each specific detail to the point where it could invade their dreams. Along this hallway, there were six bedrooms, all of them to be used by Insu’s men but they were fortunately empty because of the celebration downstairs. There were no other rooms in this particular part of the house. 

Minho shouldn’t have needed to investigate anything. 

He didn’t need to investigate anything. 

And the only other possibility of Minho’s whereabouts that entered Chan’s mind made the captain turn on Felix, grabbing the younger’s forearms so roughly that it made Felix bite his lip to stop a yelp tumbling from his lips. 

“Felix, which way did Minho go?” Chan paled, ignoring Changbin’s hand upon his shoulder, the other clearly thinking that his lingering anger about their own situation was making him act irrationally.

“Huh? Oh, down that way…” Felix gulped as his voice quavered, nodding his head to the left. 

Chan did a quick calculation in his head, trying to determine what the hell was down that end of the hallway. All that was there was a staircase that led downstairs, straight into the main ballroom but that made absolutely no sense to Chan. If what was happening was what Chan thought was happening and Minho had decided to disregard his earlier pleas about living out the rest of his life with Felix, then it would be moronic to walk into the main ballroom and confront Insu when he was being so well guarded, not to mention the nine other pirate crews that would probably take Minho down before he even stepped five feet into the room. 

Minho wasn’t that arrogant, he wasn’t that idiotic, so why on earth was he about to throw himself to the lions without a single chance of completing his mission or surviving? 

“Wait…you guys smell that?” Jeongin interjected, turning his nose up to the ceiling and sniffing.

And once Chan began trying to pick up on whatever scent that Jeongin was now grimacing at, he understood that, through all of their planning about this particular evening, Minho had also prepared his own agenda, the events of which were just about to start as a loud wail came from below them, stemming from the ballroom. 

“Fire!” 

Ignoring the reactions of his crew and how Felix looked like he was about to bolt in the direction that Minho had gone earlier, Chan once again pulled Felix close to him, making sure the young man was looking him in the eye to see the urgency currently invading them. 

If they wanted to get out of this place alive and try to save Minho at the same time, an explanation was needed and time was of the essence. 

“Felix, listen to me very carefully.” 

Chapter Text

Despite the terrified screams, stampeding footsteps and the billowing smoke around him beginning to settle in his lungs, Minho was incredibly calm, possibly too calm for the situation he had placed himself in.

After leaving Felix behind, Minho had quickly run towards the staircase that led to the ballroom, taking the steps two at a time before keeping close to the walls and entering the room from where the majority of the screams were coming. Everyone was so distracted by the sudden emergency of the fire that he had set mere seconds ago, that nobody even noticed him covertly placing himself behind one of the drapes to make sure he could keep eyes on the situation unfolding.

Peeking out from behind the obnoxious, silk, red curtains falling over one of the gigantic windows, Minho saw Insu’s men directing people out of the ballroom, towards the overly manicured gardens and away from the smoke beginning to rise to the ceiling. Minho did find it somewhat amusing, seeing all of these apparently barbaric and threatening pirates fearing for their lives because of the little fire in an upstairs room, one that would take a hell of a long time to reach them if they didn’t put it out. 

After the others in his house had gone to sleep last night, Minho had begun concocting his own plan, one that only he knew about. Thinking back, he really did feel bad about not including any of the others in it but he knew if they were to get away safely, then they would have to be unaware of what he wanted to do. Granted, Minho had unwillingly told Chan about his endgame but he had tried to fool the captain by telling him that he would think about changing his plans. Not that he ever would. This had been in the making for far too long. 

It wasn't overly complicated. Minho began by setting fire to one of the lush fur rugs in the hallway above the ballroom, waiting for the smoke to crawl over the bannister and down onto the occupants of the room below. As he thought it would, it evoked such a primal fear in the hearts of the nefarious pirate crews, that they all jumped up without hesitation trying to find the nearest exit. Insu was amongst them, his bodyguards ushering him towards the exit to the gardens before most of them ran towards the source of the flames to try and put them out.

Without his posse to protect him, Insu would be in a very vulnerable position indeed and that's exactly where Minho wanted him to be. Not that he was to be underestimated either. His infamy didn’t spawn out of nowhere after all. 

As his bodyguards had tried to force him outside for his own safety, Minho could see that Insu struggled to fight against them, ranting and raving about staying inside so that he could make sure that all of his belongings didn’t burn to a crisp. Just as Minho knew he would. Insu’s whole world revolved around money and what he owned and whilst making the plan to get Insu alone, Minho knew that the pirate captain wouldn’t be able to resist and just sit back with the others who had escaped for their safety. He would have to come back into his home to assess the damage for himself and try to salvage what he could. 

That would be Minho’s time to strike.

While he waited for the inevitable to happen, Minho would lie in wait until he could get him on his own. He just hoped it would be soon, so that Felix and the others wouldn't figure out what he was doing in time and try to stop him. Left alone with his thoughts, with only the crackling of the flames above to accompany him, all Minho could do was think about everything that he was going to leave behind. He did have regrets. In a situation like this, anyone would but none of them outweighed what he was going to accomplish here tonight by giving his life.

And while he wasn't going to change his mind, Minho could save for certain that, by far, his biggest regret would be that he never truly got to say goodbye to Felix. When he told the younger that he had to check out an unmarked room, all he got in return was a bubbly ‘ok, hyung!’, Felix never expecting that this would be the very last time that he would ever see his older brother. He trusted Minho, almost to a fault, just in the way he had all those years ago when he had hidden in the closet with his brother as Insu cruelly took their mother's life downstairs. Felix had played along with Minho’s silly game back then too, never first second doubting his hyung. He never had in the fourteen years since then either. 

Minho wanted so badly to take him in his arms, to hug him close and tell Felix that he was the best brother that anyone could ever ask for, that he was such an incredibly smart, caring and beautiful young man and that he had such an amazing life ahead of him. It killed Minho that he would not be around to see it but he knew that this was the price that he had to pay for his sins all those years ago. Had he given into his urges, Felix would have undoubtedly known that something was terribly wrong and Minho didn't want him to catch on.

There wasn’t a second more to think on what he was leaving behind as, just as Minho had predicted he would, Insu came storming back into the ballroom, asking nobody in particular what was taking them so long to put out the fire. Minho watched the man like a hawk, waiting for him to walk a little further into the ballroom before he revealed himself posthaste, running up to Insu and placing the gun against the back of the man’s head before he even had a chance to reach for a weapon. The cool steel of the barrel of the gun against his temple made Insu flinch slightly, the captain raising his hands into the air to show that he wasn’t going to make a move, not that Minho would ever let his guard down. 

Keeping the gun firmly against Insu's head, Minho carefully walked around to Insu’s side, so that the man could see who it was that had outsmarted him, that had broken into his well protected home without him knowing, that was going to take his life and thoroughly enjoy it. 

“Who the hell are you?” Insu spat with an annoyance that Minho could only speculate arose from being outwitted by someone who was probably nothing more than a child in the captain’s eyes.

“Don’t remember me, Insu? My name is Lee Minho. All of your men know exactly who I am,” Minho replied coolly, knowing that he really had no time to speak with Insu like this before his men would return and kill him but he needed to make sure that Insu knew that his transgression all those years ago was the cause for his untimely death. “They’ve made my life a living hell. I suppose you haven’t seen me personally since that day though. I was a bit younger back then.”

A whole fourteen years had passed and Minho had changed a hell of a lot in every way possible. He wasn’t the same scared little kid anymore, didn’t care one damn bit what happened to him and was far more capable than Insu seemed to realise from his obvious lack of fear at the situation he was being placed in. To accentuate his intentions, Minho dug the barrel of the gun further into the side of the man’s head, making him growl in annoyance. 

Minho may have changed but from what he could see, Insu was the same piece of shit that had ruined his life all those years ago, the one who had taken his mother away from him and Felix. He wouldn't let Insu hurt anybody like that again but he was going to make him remember exactly what he did before he sent him straight to hell.

“Maybe you don’t remember me but what about my mother? Lee Sena?”

“Who?” 

The snarky laugh that accompanied Insu’s question set Minho’s blood to boiling point. Only one of two possibilities was plausible here. The first was that Insu was goading Minho, that he wanted to see how far he could push the young man’s emotions so that he may very well make a mistake that would allow Insu to gain the upper hand. 

The other possibility, which seemed to be the more likely when Insu raised an eyebrow as if waiting for Minho’s answer, was that Insu really didn’t remember who it was that Minho was talking about. That he had completely and utterly forgotten the woman who he had killed all those years ago. It wasn’t just that Insu had taken her life without any remorse, it was that he was so heartless and dead inside that he didn’t even have the decency to memorise her name. 

And it made Minho see red.

“The woman you murdered fourteen years ago! How could you not remember her?! Did she mean that little to you?!” he screamed, putting just a little more pressure on the trigger of his gun.

“It would be awfully hard to keep track of all the people that I’ve killed…” the man chuckled. 

Insu’s depravity knew no bounds. That was one of the reasons why Minho had absolutely no qualms about killing him in the first place. His moral compass would still be unblemished after his death because even the gods would say that Insu deserved to die. 

But to know that Insu’s soul was so lost and irreparable that he would even think of the loss of life that he caused as a joke made Minho feel sick to his stomach. 

“You fucker…”

Minho knew that the moment he shot his weapon, he would be swarmed, taken down without a second thought because he had murdered the nefarious pirate captain but Minho couldn’t put off his intentions any longer, Insu’s lack of care causing him to press down on the trigger. 

“Hyung!”

There was very little in this situation that could make Minho’s concentration waver but hearing Felix’s voice call out to him from across the room was definitely one of them. Still, he didn’t take his eyes off of Insu, the pirate captain looking more and more confused at the situation until a small smile crossed over his lips as he saw how Felix’s entrance affected Minho’s grip on his gun. He saw a hint of weakness, something Minho knew he had to correct by pushing his weapon further into the side of the man’s head. 

Felix shouldn’t be here. He couldn’t be here. Minho specifically told his brother to go and wait outside if he wasn’t back soon and Felix always listened to Minho. But here he was, standing in the doorway of the ballroom, barely moving a muscle, staring at him with absolute heartbreak in his eyes. 

Minho was wondering why on earth Felix had gone against his wishes and followed him but when he saw a second figure enter the room behind Felix, he didn’t even need to turn his head to know that it was Chan. The only reason that Felix could have possibly known about what Minho was going to do was because the pirate captain that they had met only a couple of days ago, the only one who was wise to his plans. 

Ever since Felix had come into his life, a small baby being ushered into his home when he was barely two years old, Minho made a promise that he would do everything in his power to make sure he never made Felix cry, that he would never cause him any pain but he could see it in his peripheral vision as he kept his gaze on Insu, the light from the chandeliers above almost reflecting itself off of the tears making their way down the young man’s face. 

Minho couldn’t let Felix watch what he was about to do. He didn’t want Felix’s last memory of him to be that of a killer, even though they both knew that Insu deserved this for what he put them and everyone else in the town through. 

But, more than that, Minho realised that he couldn’t do his job until Felix left because he knew that Insu’s men would be here the moment the bullet left his gun. If Felix got caught up in the aftermath, then all of this would have been for naught.

“Get out of here, Lix.” 

“Hyung, please-”

“Get out, Felix!” Minho pleaded, tears of pure frustration building up in his eyes. “Hyung, get him out of here!”

But Chan made no move to do such a thing. If anything, it looked like the captain was more on Felix’s side than Minho’s at the moment. 

Minho thought that Chan would understand. If he was in this position, then he would surely not want Changbin, Jisung nor Jeongin to see him do such a thing, that he wouldn’t be able to when those he held closest were watching him take someone’s life. 

But Minho realised that was exactly why Chan wasn’t listening to him, why he wasn’t leading Felix away from what was about to be a horrific scene. It was because Chan knew that Minho wouldn’t kill Insu and throw away his life whilst Felix was here. 

Because Chan would feel the same way with his crew. 

The captain had told him that his life would always be more precious than any kind of revenge in his crew’s eyes and even in the heat of the moment like this, Chan was trying to get Minho to see that his life was worth more to Felix than any kind of payback they could get on Insu for all he had done to them. 

“Please, you don’t have to do this. This isn’t you. You’re not a killer,” begged Felix, wobbly legs managing to take a couple of steps forward.

“Yes, I am,” Minho seethed, teeth clenching so tightly that it pained him. “You don’t know what I’ve done, Lix.” 

“I know you, what you’ve done in the past doesn’t matter.”

“Felix-"

“I already lost Mom. Please don’t leave me too. I can’t do this without you, hyung.” 

That had been Chan’s plea too, the night before last, imploring Minho not to go through with this madness because, if Felix found out that he had given his life to the same man that took their mother from him, it would destroy the young man. And Minho could hear it in his brother’s voice, the way it cracked on the final word as he called out to him. Felix was breaking down Minho’s defences, despite how tremendously hard he had tried to build them up over the years. 

“How touching,” Insu mocked, rolling his eyes like he couldn’t stand this whole emotional debacle. “It’s funny, I do actually remember the two of you now. The two brothers from that little bakery in town right?” 

It was the sinister tone in Insu’s voice that made Minho stand to attention again, his loosened grasp on the grip of the gun finding its strength again as Insu chuckled darkly, directing his gaze straight at Felix. 

“Don’t worry, kiddo. Your brother could take me down right here and make me pay for all the 'bad' things that I’ve done but he’s too much of a coward,” the man chortled, finally turning his head towards Minho to make the young man’s gun point straight into the middle of his forehead. “Just like your bitch of a mother was before I put a bullet in her head and chest.” 

Minho felt the most pure form of absolute frenzy bubble up from his stomach as Insu began laughing gleefully at the memory of shooting his mother all those years ago. Using his left foot, Minho kicked out and swiped Insu’s leg out from under him, making the captain fall messily onto the ground before rolling onto his back, continuing to laugh maniacally as Minho pointed his gun straight at him in his vulnerable position. 

And it seemed that Felix had thought he’d already deduced what was about to happen next before Minho even did as the young man began bounding towards them, hand outstretched to try and somehow deter his brother from completing the vendetta that he had come here to carry out, even though he knew he would never reach him in time.  

“Hyung! Don't!” 

Falling to one knee, Minho raised his hand high before bringing the gun straight across Insu’s face, following through another three times to make sure he got his point across. Felix was sure that the pirate captain had been knocked out upon the first brutal strike but he watched as Minho’s face became spattered with the man’s blood, knowing that Minho probably couldn’t help but want more of the feeling of satisfaction that came along with pistol whipping Insu in the face. 

All went silent around them, Felix coming to stop at Minho’s side as the young man rose from the floor, keeping his eyes firmly set on Insu, almost admiring the gruesome painting he had created on the man’s unconscious and bloody face. 

It was clear that Felix wasn’t quite sure what to say at the moment, his hand moving to rest upon his brother’s shoulder but stopping short to fall at his side instead. 

After Chan had told him about what it was that Minho had planned to do, Felix felt like his whole world was collapsing. His hyung, the only person in the entire world who Felix loved, trusted and admired was going to leave him all alone, just so that he could take Insu down with him. Nothing would ever justify Minho’s death, especially not something as inane as this, so Felix broke out of Chan’s grip, sprinting towards the ballroom where he hoped his brother would be.

And now, he had ruined Minho’s plans, knowing that his brother didn’t go through with killing Insu because he had been there and Felix wasn’t quite sure whether or not Minho would ever be able to forgive him for destroying his one chance at getting revenge. 

“We’ve got to go. You two can talk outside,” Chan urged, pulling on Minho’s arm to lead him out of the ballroom and back down the staircase into the kitchens, ushering Felix to follow with a small nod of his head.

As they ran, they admittedly got even more funny looks than they did on the way in from the kitchen staff and definitely got confused looks from the guards at the back entrance who barely saw them run past in a flurry before they began yelling at them to stop, finally realising that they were trespassers and not the kitchen staff that their invitation said that they had been.  

Not that they listened, the three young men weaving in and out of the crowds until they, coincidentally, found solace in the very alleyway they had met a couple of days ago. 

Once they were sure they had managed to outrun Insu’s men and catch their breath again, Felix pushed himself up from where he had been hunched over before stalking over to Minho and pushing him back against the wall. 

“Don’t ever do something like that again! Do you hear me?!” 

Despite Felix’s fierce tone, Minho made no move to answer the question, keeping his eyes firmly set on the ground to his right as Chan watched the crowds on the street to their left to make sure that nobody would interrupt them. 

“Why won’t you look at me?” Felix whispered, sounding like he was on the brink of tears again.

“This was supposed to be my endgame. Not sure what to do now.” 

Minho gave a pitiful laugh, eyes still roaming everywhere except Felix. Getting out had never been the plan. Everything had gone wrong and in the end, Minho had accomplished nothing. Insu had once again gotten away and they hadn’t even stolen back any money that could have helped the people around the city. Most of all, Minho himself had lived. That was the greatest screw up of all in his eyes.

“What the hell do you mean? You live the rest of your life!” 

“I don’t deserve it, Felix!” Minho screamed, finally turning to look at his brother head on. “All this time, the only reason that I kept going was for you! But now that you’re old enough, you don’t need me. You can look after yourself.” 

Reeling back at the outburst, Felix took a moment to wade through everything Minho had just said to him but he couldn’t help but focus on the last point Minho tried to make, the implication searing his heart. 

“I’ll always need you, hyung…”

“You wouldn’t say that if you knew what I had done.” 

“I know.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yeah, I do,” Felix laughed airily, finding it hard to believe they had been in such a dire situation mere minutes ago but were now back to bickering like the siblings they were. “Did you think that I would never find out the real reason that Insu came after Mom? It was never about her not being able to pay the taxes.”

Minho’s cold and passive disposition shifted quickly when he heard that Felix was wise to the fact that their mother was not killed because of her inability to provide Insu with enough money for the monthly tax, his head snapping up to look his brother dead in the eye. 

He postulated the idea that Felix had perhaps heard him telling Chan all about their past lives the other night and what had really happened all those years ago but, if that were true, then Felix would have known all about his real plans here tonight. Which, from the way he had reacted earlier, definitely wasn’t the case. That just made Minho tense up even more, wondering how long Felix had actually known the truth about their mother’s death. 

“I heard murmurs and whispers in the days after she died, rumours about why Insu had actually come to our house and killed her. I didn’t really know what to believe but the night of her funeral, you snuck out of the house, didn’t you?” 

Despite Minho’s eagerness to hide that Insu had killed their mother back then, Felix had inevitably found out when Minho had to explain that she was no longer around. The little eight year old Felix would not let Minho go without him explaining why on earth their mother was no longer with them. Even though Minho eventually had to tell him that Insu was the cause, he couldn’t let Felix know that he had ultimately been the cause of her death. 

But when Minho thought back to the night of his mother’s funeral, he began to remember that he had, in fact, snuck out just like Felix had said, to go and visit her and say his final goodbyes. In the fourteen years since, Minho had never managed to go back and see her, though Felix did on a number of occasions. 

“I know you did. I heard you getting out of bed and leaving. I know you did, because I followed you.” 

A cold sweat full of dread began to run down Minho’s back at those words because he remembered exactly what it was he had said to his mother when he got there and if Felix had heard him, then everything he had assumed Felix was unwise to was completely false.

“I didn’t want you going out there by yourself. I was afraid something would happen to you and I would be left on my own,” Felix sighed dolefully, wringing his hands together at the fact that what he had feared when he was eight years old had almost come to fruition tonight as well. “You went to the graveyard, to where she had been buried earlier in the day. I kept a distance but since it was in the middle of the night, it was so silent that I could hear you from where I was.”

Minho felt like scolding his ten year old self for being so incredibly weighed down by guilt and locked inside his own head that he couldn’t even tell that his brother had been following him that night. More than anything, it wasn't that he was followed but it was the fact that something could have happened to Felix, being out so late at night on his own and Minho wasn’t even aware of it. 

“You fell to your knees when you reached her gravestone and you just began to sob. You hadn’t cried at all in front of me since Mom died and seeing you like that, I wanted nothing more than to go up to you and hug you but then you started to speak to her and all of your emotions just poured out.” 

Minho had been ‘brave’ after his mother’s death, kept everything he was feeling hidden away under lock and key because he needed to take care of Felix and make sure he was ok. There was no time to give into whatever self depreciation that was desperately trying to overtake his emotions at the time. But, that night, when he went to bid farewell to his mother, when he thought he was on his own, there was no way he could hold back the pain anymore, the torment of what he had done crashing down on him like a tidal wave and burning him all over as he completely broke down. 

“You remember? You told her how sorry you were, how all of this was your fault, how none of this would have ever happened if you didn’t sneak out and steal from one of Insu’s men, that you were only trying to help her out, to get enough money to pay him.”

And that confirmed it. Felix had known all along that Minho had been the one who had killed their mother, that his actions had driven Insu’s men to break into their house and destroy their lives. Felix had known all this time.

“Y-you’ve known since then? Why did you never say anything to me? Why on earth didn’t you stay away from me? Why didn’t you blame me?”

“Because none of what happened was your fault, hyung,” Felix spoke softly, grabbing onto Minho’s hands, despite the older trying to pull away at first. “You didn’t kill her. You tried to help and things didn’t turn in your favour. I never blamed you for it because it wasn’t your fault. Insu was the one who took her from us.” 

Minho shook his head slowly, wanting to, needing to tell Felix that he was wrong, that everything that had happened to them was all his fault but as he opened his mouth to speak, Felix gently placed his finger upon his lips, shushing him and repeating over and over again that what happened wasn’t Minho’s fault, never giving him a second to try and rebuke him. 

Throughout it all, Felix held that smile, the one with which Minho was so familiar, the one that held nothing but sunshine as he tried to comfort his hyung and let him know that there was nothing to be afraid of, that Felix loved him and never blamed him for anything bad that had befallen them. 

And that caused Minho to break, his defences completely and utterly crumbling around him as Felix took him into his arms and the tears that had only managed to break free on the night of his mother’s funeral came back full force, drenching his cheeks and Felix’s shirt at the same time. 

“I’m sorry, Lix. I’m so sorry,” Minho bawled, holding onto the younger for dear life, afraid that his sweet, forgiving brother would run away from him, despite Felix having known about this misfortune for over a decade and staying at his side. “I’m sorry for being so weak, for not being able to do anything to protect our family, for failing you.”

“Hey, you have never failed me,” Felix argued, pulling back to cup Minho’s face gently between his hands. “I am the person I am today because of you, because of what you taught me and, not to brag or anything, but I think I turned out pretty well, right?” 

Before Minho could even laugh at the proud proclamation, he heard Chan giggle first. The captain had almost faded completely into the background for him, a shadow giving them the time that they needed but keeping a lookout for them as well, keeping them safe in a time when they were both physically and emotionally vulnerable. Minho really didn’t mind that Chan was here right now. Rather, Minho made a note to thank the captain later for what he had done for them tonight. 

Turning back to Felix, Minho pushed a stray blond hair behind his brother’s ear, taking in the young man in front of him, the one he had spent over half of his life raising, the one he couldn’t be more proud of.

“You turned out really, really well.”

“Because of you. Everything you’ve ever done was based around keeping me safe and happy and I’ll never be able to truly thank you for that.”

That had been his life for so long. Felix had been his life for so long. Minho took care of him like it was his only goal in life. Everything else was secondary. It wasn’t just because he felt guilty after what he had done, it wasn’t just because it was what his mother would have wanted but it was because it was what Felix deserved. There was nobody else in the world like him and, in Minho’s eyes, he deserved every happiness.

“So, don’t leave me alone, ok? I’m proud of you for not going through with your plan. Maybe things didn’t go the way we thought it would tonight but we’ll figure out what to do next together.” 

Now that Felix knew about Minho’s self-sacrificial plans, there was no way he was going to let him go. Minho knew that his brother would do everything in his power to keep him by his side. And knowing that Felix, the one person whose opinion he cared about, didn’t blame him for his past sins, Minho felt like the tight vice that had been around his heart for the past ten years began to loosen. One day, he felt like it could disappear completely. 

Taking Felix into his arms once more, Minho quietly whispered that he would stay at Felix’s side and protect him with everything he had, with every fibre of his being and that nothing would break him apart if he could help it, not even himself. 

“Things are going to get fucking complicated now though,” Minho grumbled, wiping away the last remnants of his tears. “Not only did we not steal any of the money back to help with the taxes due tomorrow but Insu saw our faces. He’s not going to forget about us. I don’t know if we can live here anymore.”

At the thought of leaving the only home he had ever known, Felix dragged his lips between his teeth in distress. Yes, saving Minho’s life was the priority to him but Felix didn’t have time to think about the chain reactions and impact that his decision to uphaul Minho’s plan would have. Insu now knew who they were, that they had broken into his house with the intent of killing him and the pirate captain was definitely not the type to let such a thing slip by if past experiences were anything to go by. 

If they wanted to be safe, Felix knew that there was no way they could stay here but he was also worried that nowhere would be safe for them now, that Insu would track them down wherever they went.

“Uh, hold that thought for one second.” 

Chan’s voice breaking through their conversation managed to startle both of the brothers, Minho and Felix turning to see Chan raising his arm to wave over the few people on the street and gather the attention of the three young men running through the streets before making their way over to them. 

“What the hell took you guys?” Chan scolded, earning himself a harsh thwack to the centre of the chest, courtesy of Jisung. 

“Sorry, it’s hard when you’re trying not to get caught by a thousand guards while carrying huge bags of fucking money!” 

“Money?” Minho began, only to look down and see Changbin, Jeongin and Jisung all carrying what looked to be large duffle bags. 

Catching onto Minho’s intrigue, Changbin fell to one knee and opened his bag, only for the tightly packed wads of bills to begin bulging out from the sheer amount inside. Both Jisung and Jeongin patted the side of their own bags to show that they too were carrying a substantial amount of cash in their duffels.

“How did you guys…”

“Figured you were a bit busy to carry out your plan. Thought we would do it for you, hyung,” Jeongin beamed, his dazzling smile contrasting greatly to the highly confused frowns that were situated on both Minho and Felix’s face.  

“We will be keeping a bag for ourselves as payment for this job though.”

Jisung hugged one bag close to his chest to accentuate that only two of the bags of cash were for the brothers to distribute amongst the city’s residents but that they too were getting something out of all this. 

“We took what we could carry. We didn’t want all of it to go up in flames,” Changbin shrugged, trying his best to get all of the money they had stolen back into the bag neatly but failing miserably as the zip was straining tremendously. 

“What do you mean? The fire has been put out already.” 

Minho was sure that the fire he had set was definitely small enough to be contained and extinguished within a few minutes, even if he had wanted to set one that caused greater damage. He just did what he could in the small time window he had but it definitely wouldn’t have taken the half an hour since he had set it up to put it out so he couldn’t really understand what Changbin was trying to get at.

“Oh, no, we didn’t mean that one. We meant the one caused by the explosives Sungie set. Boom!” 

Minho wasn’t entirely sure how they had managed to time it so perfectly but at the exact moment that Changbin had raised his hands in the air with his dramatic exclamation, a gigantic explosion went off in the distance, fire and smoke blasting out of the top of Insu’s mansion, the mere volume obscuring the moon in the night sky above them. 

It was on a much grander scale than anything that Minho ever had planned, that was for sure but he had to admit that seeing Insu’s home ablaze with very little hope of putting it out was warming up his soul just a tiny bit. Maybe that was making him sound somewhat sadistic but it wasn’t like he cared all that much. 

There was more than likely nobody inside the house. They were sure to have found Insu’s unconscious body by now and there was no way any of the pirate crews would have been left back inside after an assassination attempt like that. So, really, it just seemed that Insu’s house and possessions were the only things to suffer. 

But it did make Minho wonder how on earth the others managed to pull something like this off. Timed detonations were nothing for a beginner to play with and the thought did make Minho’s mind wander back to their shopping spree in Minju’s emporium the day before but he couldn’t remember picking up any bombs or charges when he was there but just because Minho himself didn’t get any didn’t mean that none of them did, something that was made abundantly clear when he turned to catch Jisung’s eye and catch the young man staring at him with a look of triumph. 

“Told you I knew how to work with explosives,” Jisung mocked, sticking out his tongue at Minho who looked a bit too stunned to speak at the moment. “Wow, that was louder than I thought it would be. Maybe I used too much?”

Not a second after hearing the grand explosion go off, crowds of people immediately began gathering in the city square to get a bird’s eye view of what was happening, disregarding what they had been doing so that they could congregate in small groups and begin muttering between themselves when they heard about the commotion coming from Insu’s mansion. There was much speculation about what on earth had happened but none of them would have ever guessed that the six young men currently gathered in the dusty, grimy alleyway right beside them would have been the cause. 

“Even though we’re sure Insu won’t be able to use the money anymore, we didn’t want any of his little followers to use it either. So, boom!” Changbin reiterated, grimacing as Chan ruffled his hair delight at his crew’s antics.

“Wait, what do you mean he won’t be able to use it?” Felix asked curiously, still a little star struck from being told what was going on whilst they had been busy in the ballroom.

“Well, when we were going to the room you marked on the map where the money was being stored, we passed the control and communications room and we had a bit of an idea.”

“Even if we get all this money, I just can’t help thinking that Insu will end up raising the taxes even higher to replace it. I don’t know if what we’re doing will cause more harm than good.”

Changbin couldn’t help but wholeheartedly agree with Jeongin’s reasoning, being highly impressed with the fact that the younger had already developed a solid sense of being able to foresee what the harmful consequences of their actions could be.

They had left both Felix and Chan a few minutes ago after hearing their captain’s explanation of what it was that he thought Minho was doing right now. Felix hadn’t given them another look before he was heading off to the ballroom to try and save his brother but Chan had held back a second more, telling his crew that they needed to get out of here as fast as possible whilst he took care of the brothers but if they wanted to stop by one of the rooms that had been so aptly labelled as a ‘treasure room’ on their blueprint where Insu kept most of his spoils and valuables, then they should go wild. 

Should they succeed with their new plan of taking most of Insu’s money off of his hands now, the pirate captain would inevitably end up trying to replace what was lost. They could end up doing a lot more harm than good if they didn’t fully think this through. 

“I know what you mean. I wish we could get rid of Insu without going through with Minho hyung’s plan of killing him,” Jisung complained as he kept close to Changbin’s side. “I mean, he’s a pirate captain with a huge bounty. The Marines should be blowing off his front door to get to him for all the shit he’s done but he has the ones stationed in Yilin wrapped around his little finger.”

The idea hit Changbin so fast that he ended up stalling in place, nearly making Jisung trip over his own legs since he didn’t have enough time to stop himself, inertia immediately kicking in.

“So, what if we contacted ones that weren’t on Yilin?” he asked, pulling both Jisung and Jeongin into a small nook in the wall so that they could speak comfortably without fear of being caught.

“You want to go talk to other Marines and ask them to arrest Insu? Have you lost your goddamn mind?” Jisung squeaked disbelievingly. 

“We won’t be talking to the Marines but we could send a message from Insu to them. Maybe directly to some headquarters? Perhaps threatening the safety of some high ranking officials?”

Jeongin tapped his chin thoughtfully at Changbin’s proposal, a small, devious smile creeping over his face as he imagined exactly how much trouble they could get Insu into.

“Like an admiral?” 

“Like an admiral,” Changbin confirmed with a wink. 

“How do you propose we do that?” 

Glancing between his crew members, Jisung couldn’t help but hold a somewhat perplexed expression on his face. That was an interesting plan, all well and good if executed properly but to be able to carry out and complete such a feat in the short amount of time that they knew they had before shit would start kicking off should Chan stop Minho from doing his slightly insane plan.

“Don’t you remember the layout of this house at all, Sung? Like the location of a particular room just around the corner from us?”

Luckily, Jisung picked up very quickly what room it was that Changbin was referring to, snapping his fingers as the three of them immediately headed to the small communications room that was situated mere steps away from them, holding the exact equipment that they would need to send out a message to certain Marine bases. 

It would have been slightly foolish to think that Insu would leave such an important area like this one unguarded but there was always the hope that perhaps the ones who were supposed to be here were stationed somewhere else for tonight. 

No such luck on this particular occasion. Peeking around the corner of the doorframe, Changbin spotted at least six men, all lounging around in front of a wall of screens, small receivers sitting in front of them, some of them buzzing to indicate an incoming message from anywhere around the world. 

“There’s a lot of them,” Changbin whispered, putting his hand in the air to show the others that they should hold for the moment and resist making a move.

“Doesn’t matter, we just have to take them down quickly so that they don’t call for more backup. We need to act now.”

Changbin knew that Jisung had a point. If Chan didn’t manage to deter Minho from carrying out his vendetta, then the whole place would be alerted in a matter of minutes and they would lose any chance they had at finishing what they came here to do. They knew the element of surprise would give them a major upper hand in this fight.  

Glancing back at the others and getting a confirming nod, Changbin was the first to rush forward, immediately going for the first guy who was napping in his chair, giving him a swift kick to his right side and making him topple over and smack his head on a cabinet directly to his left. Needless to say, six adversaries were immediately whittled down to five when it looked like that guy was knocked out for the night. 

It was a flurry of action, hits and kicks coming hard and fast. It was imperative that Insu’s men not be allowed to fire any of their weapons, should someone in the surrounding area hear the shot and come to see what the commotion was. Two against one for each of the crew members was enough, they didn’t need anything more on their plate. So, that’s exactly what they aimed for, disarming all of those fighting against them, worrying about that part first before moving onto trying to knock them out cold so that they could use their equipment. 

Everything was going rather smoothly, with Jisung taking out another attacker before he even knew what was hitting him but from his left, Jisung heard a heavy hiss, turning just in time to see one of Insu’s men pull back a knife covered in Jeongin’s blood. Thankfully, from what he could see, it only appeared to have sliced the young man’s arm and nowhere else but it looked to be deep and painful and didn’t stop Jisung from becoming distracted for just a second and calling out to their youngest crewmate. 

“Innie!”

“I’m fine, keep going!” came the reply, with Jisung hurriedly throwing himself back into the battle. 

It took a mere minute more before the six men who had been so leisurely hanging around in the communications room to find their new home curled up in a ball on the ground, all of them settled in for a long rest for the night, courtesy of the 3racha crew. 

“You alright? That looks nasty,” Changbin grumbled as he moved aside the torn sleeve of Jeongin’s shirt to inspect the ghastly injury that Insu’s man had inflicted on him . 

They would need to get it seen to pretty quickly so that it wouldn’t get infected and it looked to be in need of stitches but Jeongin was seemingly more concerned with something other than his pain when he guiltily looked up at Jisung and it was only when Jeongin uttered the following words did Jisung realise that, because they hadn’t been able to go shopping for new items for Jeongin yet, the young man was still wearing one of his tops.

“I…I’ll buy you a new shirt.”

“With what money?” Jisung joked, knowing that Chan still hadn’t managed to get their money back from Minho yet. He was beginning to wonder if they ever would.

“Ok, let’s do this quickly. We still need to get the money.”

Changbin swiftly ran to one of the consoles ahead of him, dragging up a new log and the addresses of a few Marine bases around the world. Thankfully, the Marines made a habit of making their transmission codes well known since they wanted any and all civilians to use such a method to report crimes or ‘pirate activity’ so that they could rectify the situations. Not that Changbin or the others ever used it for that but it had been crammed into the brains of practically every person in the entire world at this stage which, in any other situation, would be exceedingly annoying but right now, it was rather handy.  

“Attention…asshats,” Changbin began typing as he read his thoughts aloud, making Jeongin giggle despite the pain emanating from the gash on his left arm. “This is Captain Choi Insu of the Dokukumo crew. Since your subordinates are more than happy to be paid off so that I can get away with anything, I figured that maybe their little masters would be of the same mindset.” 

As he typed, Changbin could feel how both Jisung and Jeongin were marvelling in his skills of creating and adapting the persona of what he thought Insu would be like. Granted, a lot of this was really just reiterating what it was that he would have liked to have said to the Marines on more than one occasion but being able to tell them this way instead of straight from his own mouth was enough, throwing in a bit of psychotic ideas that he thought Insu would come up with for good measure.  

“At this stage, with my influence and power, I should probably just show up at your headquarters and take over. Should be easy enough if the cowardly lowlifes you call Marines are anything to go by. Even your admirals would be licking the soles of my shoes should I see fit to invade.” 

“Why are you so good at this, hyung?” Jisung snickered as he peeked over his hyung’s shoulder, only to get an elbow in the ribs.

“In the coming weeks, I will show you what I’m capable of. You have five fleet admirals, seven admirals and ten vice admirals around the world. By the end of the year, I’ll have eradicated them all. Maybe I could ever go after your commander in the world government base when I’m through with that. Then, nobody will have to worry about the Marines again.” 

It was a nice thought, never having to deal with the Marines again. They were such a thorn in their side at times but Changbin knew that not every single Marine out there was ‘bad.’ There were instances where they did a lot of good for people too, those who stuck to the law without trying to manipulate people for their own gains. As long as you weren’t branded as a pirate, that is. Still, he knew that they wouldn’t appreciate being threatened and called out like this, especially by a pirate captain, someone they were supposed to keep in line and to know that the Marines stationed in Yilin weren’t doing anything to try and stop his apparent planned takeover, it was surely going to cause some discord within their ranks.

“This is my promise. All of you will be eliminated. Try and stop me if you can. I’m giving you a head start. That’s how confident I am that I can crush all of you. I will be the only one that sits in power. The government will fall before me and I will have control of the seas. Try and stop me, if you dare.” 

Without a moment’s hesitation, Changbin hit the send button, watching the message he had just concocted fly off to the different Marine bases. He just hoped that they would receive and respond quickly but he had a feeling that he wouldn’t need to worry about it too much. After all, it would be hard to ignore a message like that. 

Turning around and letting his eyes adjust to the darkness of the rest of the room after staring at the screen for so long, Changbin noticed Jisung staring at him with a mightily impressed smile before he started to bow lowly, mumbling something along the lines of how he was ‘not worthy to be in the presence of such a criminal mastermind.’ 

“All those rumours about how scary you were as a kid? Starting to think that some of those were true,” Jeongin trembled playfully, pretending to hide behind Jisung as Changbin rolled his eyes at the younger’s dramatics. He was definitely spending too much time with Jisung.  

“Shut up. Come on, we’ve got some cash to steal.”

“We sent it directly to three different headquarters. They’ll be able to track the message’s origin point to Insu’s house to confirm that he sent it. That threat will spread like wildfire amongst the Marines. I don’t think that they’ll ignore the threat of an assasination plan on their entire organisation and the world government, not to mention the hit to their pride. I guarantee that Insu will be in their custody in a couple of hours.”

As he watched the crowds of people become larger and larger, even some Marines joining the fray to investigate the source of the explosion, Chan couldn’t help but glance back at Felix and Minho a couple of times, trying not to guffaw at their absolutely dumbstruck faces. The captain really didn’t think that his crew would manage to come up with such an amazingly perfect plan to allow Insu to be captured so that he would never harm the residents of this town again but he really should have known better at this stage. Jisung and Changbin were mad geniuses on their own but when they added Jeongin to the mix, there was probably no stopping them. 

“It was a hell of a fight though,” Jisung proclaimed proudly, clapping both Changbin and Jeongin on the shoulders, still revelling in the ecstasy that came with winning their fight against the guards. 

“Are you guys alright?” 

The moment that the others had reappeared, Chan had been checking them over from afar and trying not to seem too overbearing and, all in all, his three friends seemed to be in one piece but he couldn’t help but notice the stain of red on Jeongin’s sleeve, not to mention how the younger was constantly putting pressure on his arm with a small grimace.

“Yeah, yeah, just a few cuts and scrapes. I think Innie got hit the worst. Has a nasty wound on his arm,” Changbin winced. 

All of them turned their attention to the youngest, who merely waved them off, knowing there were more important things to be taken care of right now.  

“We’ll clean it up as soon as we can,” the captain promised, doing his best to inspect the wound without jostling Jeongin’s shirt too much.

“It’s fine, not that deep. I’m just glad I didn’t weigh Sungie hyung or Bin hyung down.” 

“You did very well, Innie,” Changbin praised, quickly getting an echoing agreement from Jisung.

“So…Insu is finished?”

Being so caught up in the euphoria of completing their mission without anyone getting severely hurt, the crew had almost somehow forgotten about the two brothers who had fallen into absolute silence after hearing what the others had done for them. 

“Should be. I don’t think he’ll be bothering anyone around here anymore.”

“You guys…I don’t know what to say. All that you did for us tonight…thank you so much,” Felix sniffled, tears hanging onto every word but never falling from his eyes.  

Yes, they had entered this agreement with Minho and Felix to enter Insu’s home and help them take back what was theirs but for Chan, knowing their story after hearing it from Minho, it wasn’t like he wanted Insu to walk away scott free without any repercussions, especially after the way he had spoken to Minho in the ballroom about his mother. He couldn’t let Minho kill him, that would open up a whole crate of worms, not just a can but the form of justice that his crew had dealt out to him was more than satisfying, knowing that Insu’s whole empire was about to crumble around his feet and he had no idea. It wasn’t just for Minho and Felix but for every single person in this town and beyond. Insu was finished. 

“Listen, let’s not stay around here for much longer. It’s best that we don’t draw any more attention to ourselves,” Chan suggested, noticing that they were already getting strange looks from some people passing them, all congregated in an alleyway even though a major event was happening. “I don’t think it’s smart for you guys to go back home yet. Just in case. Would you be alright with coming to our ship for the night? We can regroup, patch up our injuries and rest until tomorrow.”

Not needing to think twice about the offer and most certainly not waiting to hear his brother’s opinion on the matter, Felix nodded his head, running up to the captain to link arms with him.

“Sounds like a plan.” 

Chapter Text

It had been a hell of a long time since Chan felt exhaustion hit him at such a level, so much so that he could practically feel it seeping into his bones. Glancing at the clock on the wall of the galley, hearing the comforting ticks go by as the face showed four in the morning, Chan laid back in his chair with closed eyes, trying to erase the memory of the nightmare that had caused him to stray from his sleeping quarters in the first place. He never managed to fall back asleep after this particular unwanted dream plagued him. 

When this kind of thing happened, maybe two or three times a week, Chan didn’t mind all that much. He could usually sleep off his tiredness that following night, if his insomnia didn’t kick in. However, Chan theorised that, when the sun rose in a couple of hours, he would have somewhat of a fun filled day ahead of him, dealing with the aftermath of what they had endured during the previous evening. The captain wasn’t quite sure how he was going to accomplish that without collapsing but he would have to try because he doubted that the screaming that was still echoing his head as a remnant of his dream would fade before Jeongin got up to cook breakfast for them. 

“Hyung?”

Chan bolted upright in his chair, wondering how on earth he didn’t hear the galley door open or the footsteps coming closer to him until the freckled young man was looking down at him with a slightly concerned look on his face.

“Felix…are you alright?”

“Yeah, sorry, I just wanted to get a glass of water. Is that ok?” 

Chan couldn’t help but chuckle at Felix’s question, like he could ever deny such a simple request. He just hoped that Felix asked because he was the captain of the ship and it was out of politeness and not because he was afraid that Chan might admonish him for trying to take a simple glass of water without asking. 

“I think I can allow that. I’ll get it. You sit,” the captain insisted as Felix tried to protest, the younger losing the argument before it even began. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“I did for a little while but I’ve always found it a little difficult to relax in unknown environments,” Felix admitted, remembering the first couple of nights that he spent in the Jang’s home after their mother had died. That was the whole reason he had been able to follow Minho to the graveyard and hear him speak to their mother. He hadn’t been asleep in the first place. “What about you?”

“Insomnia sufferer, I’m afraid.” 

That was the excuse that he used pretty much every time when someone inquired as to why he wasn’t sleeping, especially when it came to Jisung or Changbin’s constant questioning. Of course, that was the reason a lot of the time but not on this particular occasion. Nobody but him knew of the nightmares that tormented him for the past six years. 

As Chan began to rummage around the cupboards for a glass, he couldn’t help but turn his head and gaze at Felix from the corner of his eye. When they had been speaking face to face, the young man wore that beautiful smile that had made Chan’s heart feel giddy since the moment they met but now, when he thought nobody was looking, Felix had his eyes firmly set on the table in front of him, like he was looking straight through it and at something Chan couldn’t fathom, his expression void of any emotion. 

Placing the glass on the counter, Chan turned to fully face the distressed young man. 

“Felix, are you really ok?”

It was like Felix had almost been expecting the question since he didn’t even flinch at Chan’s voice, keeping his eyes unfocused and only responded with a small shrug of his shoulders. That was enough to tell Chan that he was definitely not ok. 

“You know what, I think you could use something better than water right now.” 

Every time Jisung or Changbin had a ‘bad day’, Chan did everything in his power to try and help them through it. Sometimes, they didn’t want to talk. Sometimes, they didn’t want his company. And in those moments, Chan felt a little helpless but there was always one thing he could do that was guaranteed to bring a little smile to their faces, even if it wouldn’t completely dismiss the problems they were dealing with. In the end, they always made sure to tell Chan that his gesture was appreciated when they felt better. 

So, Chan made sure to perfect the one thing that brought them a smidgen of joy during their hardest times. He pulled a saucepan from underneath the silverware drawer and went to the fridge to grab the milk and a bar of rich, Belgian chocolate. Throughout his work, Chan could feel Felix’s eyes leave the spot on the table he had nearly bored a hole into and begin to follow him instead, obviously curious as to what was happening. Chan did his best to keep it a secret the entire time. That was, until he reached up to pull out a bag of marshmallows from atop the fridge and he immediately saw Felix’s eyes regain some of that sparkle that had been missing since they left Insu’s house. 

Adding the finishing touches in the form of chocolate and star shaped sprinkles, Chan placed the rather artisan looking mug of bubbly hot chocolate in front of Felix, with the captain himself settling for a cup of coffee to try and stay awake. 

“It’s the one thing I can actually make without burning the kitchen down,” Chan joked as Felix smiled in appreciation, though there was a very real truth behind the playful admittance. 

The tension that had been building up in Felix’s shoulders began to fall away bit by bit as he took a sip of his drink, wiggling from side to side as the whipped cream coated his lips and gave him a rather impressive moustache. Chan had to do everything in his power to hold back from reaching out to wipe it away. 

“So, how are you holding up?” 

“Honestly? I’m not really sure,” Felix professed as he deflated, hands curled around the cup to try and absorb some of its warmth. “I guess, it’s just, tonight has been a bit crazy.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” the captain laughed, more nervously than anything else. 

For a moment, Chan was wondering if that was all he was going to get out of Felix about his current state. It wasn’t like he expected much more. After all, despite how comfortable he felt around the younger, it wasn’t like they were all that close yet. Had it been Jisung speaking with Felix instead, Chan had the feeling that there wouldn’t be a moment of silence but, really, Chan had spent more time speaking with Minho than he had with Felix. 

So, he was going to let him be if he didn’t wish to divulge any more on the subject of his feelings but when a trembling sigh left Felix’s lips, Chan realised that this was only the beginning of their conversation.  

“I could have lost him.” 

Had they been ten seconds late in bursting into the ballroom, Chan was sure that Minho would have already fired his gun and killed Insu, bringing a whole downpour of mayhem upon him. Chan knew that and it was clear that Felix did too. He had come so close to losing the only family that he had left. Sure, like Minho had said, there were people who would have cared for Felix but the relationship that the brothers had was inimitable and nobody could ever come close to Minho in every aspect for Felix. 

And the way that Felix’s face reverted back as sadness consumed him at the thought of Minho being taken away from him, Chan couldn’t help but feel immeasurably guilty when he thought about how he could have saved Felix a whole lot of heartache by letting him know what Minho had told him when they spoke on that night.

“I’m sorry, Felix. I should have told you about what Minho said to me earlier. That information was too important to keep from you.” 

“Don’t apologise, hyung. It’s not your fault,” Felix consoled, trying his best to give the captain a smile as he popped a mini marshmallow into his mouth. “Min hyung made his choice. Besides, if you had told me about it earlier, then your crew wouldn’t have been able to give Insu what he deserved. So, silver lining, I guess.” 

Chan supposed that was true. Had he told him about his conversation with Minho, Felix would have surely scrapped the whole mission and not ever entertained the idea of entering Insu’s mansion to make sure Minho didn’t try any funny business. Had that been the case, not only would Insu have continued with his reign of tyranny but his crew wouldn’t have gotten away with three overflowing bags of money, two of which were going to do a lot of good for those who were suffering and barely surviving in the city. And Chan was sure that, if Minho hadn't gotten his chance this time around with Insu, he would have tried at a later date when they were no longer around, almost ensuring his death. 

So, maybe Felix was right in that regard. 

“Have you spoken to Minho at all?” the captain asked carefully, not wanting to overstep his bounds.

“Yeah, we talked a bit before he went to sleep. Thank you for lending us your room by the way. I needed to be with him.” 

There was one spare room left on the ship but, like the others, it only held one bed and from the way that Felix had been glued to Minho’s side since they left the mansion, Chan was sure that he would, in no way, be leaving Minho to sleep in a separate room. The thing was that Chan had a double bed in his room and knew that the brothers would probably want to stay as close as possible after what had just happened. Cuddles were definitely needed after such an ordeal. It wasn’t even something Chan gave a second thought to, offering up his room to the two whilst he slept in the spare room for the night. Not that he really slept that much. Or, at all, really. 

“No problem, Felix.”

“I kind of yelled at him again but, more than anything else, I kept having to reassure him that it wasn’t his fault, what happened to our mom. I can’t believe he’s been carrying such a heavy weight for all these years. I should have told him back then that I didn’t blame him but I didn’t think that he still held onto such guilt. I can’t believe I’ve never been able to see how much pain he’s been in. I should have tried harder to help him.” 

Chan almost had to suppress a laugh at the mere thought of Felix thinking he hadn’t helped Minho throughout the years. When they had run to the alleyway, Minho had said that the only reason that he had ever kept going was for Felix but that in itself implied that Felix himself had been the cause of Minho not giving up years ago and giving into his despair back then. 

Reaching out to grab Felix’s hand, Chan made the younger meet his eye as he began to gently rub his knuckles.

“You have helped him, Felix. By staying with him,” he soothed. “You could have left him alone after you found out what happened back then, could have turned your back on him. It’s so easy to blame someone close to you when you need to direct your anger somewhere, especially when it comes to the ones we love. But you didn’t. You stayed and helped him throughout the years. You’re a good brother.”

The first genuine smile that Chan had seen all evening brightened up Felix’s entire face, his eyes crinkling up before he began to laugh lightly, shaking his head at whatever was amusing him and Chan couldn’t help but want to be included in the joy that had overtaken the younger. 

“It’s funny, I can’t help but feel like you were sent to us,” Felix chuckled, directing the most dazzling smile at the captain. 

“What do you mean?”

“Just that…the way that you came into our lives was so coincidental. Out of the thousands of people I could have stolen from that dock here every day, it happened to be you. You could have let us go and get away with your money but you didn’t. You may never have found us, it’s a pretty big city but you did. And we just happened to complete each other’s plan to allow us to infiltrate Insu’s house. Not to mention that you were the reason I was able to save Minho hyung in the end. Maybe it’s silly or a bit naïve but I just can’t help but feel that maybe my mother is still watching over Min hyung and me.” 

It was indeed coincidental, Chan would admit that but he knew that when it came to this kind of thing, when everything worked out pretty perfectly, he knew not to question it. Granted, their lead had been a dead end and they were now back to the very beginning of their search with absolutely nothing to guide them on the whereabouts of their target but Chan wasn’t about to bring the whole mood down by mentioning something like that, only nodding his head in agreement with Felix’s thoughts. 

“That’s a really nice way to look at it.” 

“I’m really glad I met you. All of you,” Felix giggled as he drank the last of his hot chocolate and placed his mug back on the table in front of him. “You’re an incredible group of friends.” 

“You’re quite incredible yourself.”

With his honest proclamation, Chan reached over and picked the star-shaped sprinkle that had stuck to Felix’s nose off, placing it back in the empty cup he had been drinking from. 

And maybe it had been one step too far because when Chan looked back up, he noticed the crimson dusting across Felix’s freckled cheeks. Maybe it was what he said, maybe it was what he did but whatever it was had definitely evoked an embarrassed reaction out of the blond young man. 

Chan was about to apologise for what he did before Felix began to get up, stretching his arms up to the ceiling with an enormous yawn. Whatever it was that had affected him didn’t seem to linger, something which Chan was glad about as he received another glowing smile from the other. 

“Thank you for the hot chocolate. I think I should get back to bed. Don’t want Min hyung to wake up alone.”

It must have been something of a time anomaly because, when Chan looked at the clock once more, he couldn’t, in any way, believe that they had been sitting here together for almost an hour, the time slipping by so easily without him noticing. 

Jeongin would be coming into the kitchen in about an hour and a half as he usually did and Chan wanted to be out of here before then. Questions about why he was awake at this hour of the morning were not really something that Chan wanted to answer after such a trying night. 

“Ok, then, I’ll see you in the morning,” Chan winked, almost shocking himself with how easygoing he was being right now. 

The captain quickly waved Felix off when he tried to clean up the cups after their chat, telling him that he’d be here for another while anyways, even if that was a little bit of a lie. Just as Chan placed the dirty crockery into the sink, he heard the galley door open and just before it closed, he heard Felix whisper: “I hope you can get some sleep too, hyung.”

Chan knew that he wouldn’t but he appreciated the sentiment. 

The following morning, everything had been rather…uneventful. As Chan predicted, Jeongin was the first one to rise, though he came out of his room an hour later than he had anticipated. On top of that, their youngest looked absolutely drained. They had patched up the exceptionally nasty wound on his arm before they went to sleep last night, Jeongin taking the cleaning of the slash like a trooper but, according to Changbin’s estimate, it would take at least few weeks to heal. Chan figured that was only adding to the youngest’s fatigue since he no doubt found it hard to find a comfortable position to sleep in without putting pressure on it. 

And even though Chan did his best to try and persuade Jeongin to go back to bed for a little while since nobody was up yet, Jeongin kicked his reasoning aside and countered with his own, knowing their crew, along with Minho and Felix, would more than likely be starving when they woke up. 

Of course, as had become the norm, Jeongin was right. Changbin appeared next with Jisung’s arm slung over his shoulder, the shipwright looking like he was still asleep and only out of bed because Changbin dragged him out. That was indeed what had happened. 

Before the final two appeared, Chan made the point that nothing about last night was to be brought up unless the brothers saw fit. Not that anyone had a problem with that. In fact, they welcomed it. None of them were dying to relive any of what they experienced the previous night, so they kept their mouths shut and acted as they usually would. 

Both Minho and Felix seemed to appreciate that. If they hadn’t been aware of what had gone on between the brothers, the entire crew would have assumed that nothing had happened to Felix at all. He was the same bubbly, bright person he had been the last two mornings that they had spent together but, from the subtle smile that Chan was gifted with when nobody was looking, the captain got the feeling that their talk last night had something to do with the young man’s good mood. 

Minho, on the other hand, seemed like a completely different person. He kept the same sort of reserved and distant characteristics but the way he held himself had changed drastically. 

Guilt. His person was positively dripping with it but everyone pretended not to notice. The cocky air that had been Minho’s entire personality was no nowhere to be seen. Instead, he kept his head down, only speaking to thank Jeongin for the food and replying with a simple yes or no when asked questions like if he slept well or if he liked the food. 

During the entire meal, Minho looked like he was dying to say something but just couldn’t get it out. That was, until the very last moment, when Chan said that they should all get ready to go back into town and assess the damage from last night. As everyone began to stand, Minho called on everyone to wait, eyes not meeting anyone else’s as he waited for them to become seated again. 

“I…I just wanted to apologise to all of you, for what happened last night. My actions caused you guys a lot of trouble and it could have been a lot worse if Chan hyung hadn’t told you about what it was that I had planned to do. I was only thinking about myself in that situation, which shouldn’t have been the case when we were supposed to be working as a team. Because of my carelessness, it caused you all a lot of stress and you even got hurt because of me.” 

All eyes followed Minho’s as he turned to look at Jeongin, the youngest waving off the part of the apology solely directed at him, though it was obvious that being thrown into a fight like that and being injured in the process had taken its toll on him, the young man looking a little more worn down than he usually did. 

“Anyways, it shouldn’t have happened and I’m sorry.” 

Everyone watched closely as Minho stood up from the table and bowed deeply to show his repentance for his actions. It became uncomfortably quiet for a moment and Minho couldn’t help but look up to see pretty much all of the crew looking at him with smiles that eased the residual pain that was leftover from last night. 

“You’re forgiven, Minho. It all worked out in the end. No worries, yeah?” 

Apparently, Minho hadn’t expected to be forgiven, let alone so quickly, made obvious by the dumbstruck expression on his face as he stayed somewhere between bowing and standing. 

Without another word, Chan ushered everyone off to get ready, leaving Minho and Felix behind, both a little flabbergasted at what had just happened. 

Within the hour, all six of them were off of the ship and heading towards the city centre, which was bustling as per usual but there seemed to be a strange sort of air around the place, or so Minho said. It wasn’t long before they understood exactly what Minho was getting at. 

“Minho! Felix!”

Despite Minho seeing Jungwoo from about thirty feet away, there was still no way to stop him as he came barreling towards the brothers who had just walked back into the city from the ship, jumping towards Minho and taking him into his arms like he was afraid he would try and run away. 

“Where the hell have you guys been?!” Minju whispered with urgency, punching Jungwoo in the side for yelling and bringing attention to them that they really didn’t need right now. 

“Well, we…” Felix began but trailed off when he noticed the looks on his friends’ faces, as well as the muttering and mumbling from the vendors and customers around them as they kept their eyes on the group that had come from the docks. “What happened?”

“About an hour ago, Marines stormed Insu’s mansion.”

That certainly got all of their attention. Changbin had said that he was sure that Insu would be in the Marines custody in a few hours because of the threat he had sent out from his home but he didn’t actually believe that they would be so quick getting here. Once the message had reached them, they must have jumped into action immediately to apprehend the one who had tried to intimidate and scare them into surrendering. 

“Not just any Marines. There was an admiral present. They took Insu away, along with a whole lot of his crew,” Jungwoo shuddered, looking around him like he would somehow be arrested for simply speaking about the events. 

Changbin had to, not so subtly, give Jisung a dig in the ribs due to the amused snort he laughed out at the information. Their plan had worked and even more perfectly than they had imagined. The Marines, along with an admiral, had come to take Insu away and lock him up for his threats against their organisation. That hadn’t really been one of his crimes but everything he had done previously had more than outweighed that one lie that Changbin had told. 

“He put up a fight, especially when he was being brought to the docks and realised the whole city was basically watching him being taken away,” Minju giggled, not doing anything to mask how amusing it was to watch Insu being dragged away in chains by the Marines.  

“But just before he was put on the Marine’s ship, he began ranting and raving about ‘that bastard Lee Minho and his brother’.” 

Jungwoo and Minju weren’t stupid. They knew that Insu paid little to no attention to the people of the city, sending his men to collect the monthly tax instead of dealing with any of it himself. Therefore, he definitely didn’t know the names of the thousands of residents that suffered under his cruelty. So, unless something had happened last night, there was no way that Insu would mention Minho by name, especially not when he was being dragged away by the Marines. 

“We didn’t know what had happened, so we ran to your house to find but you weren’t there!” Jungwoo yelled hysterically, earning himself another punch to the chest, courtesy of Minju. 

“Yeah, sorry, we spent the night on their ship because…”

Felix halted in his explanation, noticing that far too many people around them were trying to listen to the explanation he was about to give. As is the way with many cities, it was full of people who loved to gossip and being the one to get to the bottom of what happened last night would be the greatest accomplishment in their eyes. 

Minho also noticed the unwanted gazes around them, moving closer to his friends to speak. 

“You know what, we should probably sit you guys down before we tell you what happened. Are you free to talk for a while?”

“Of course. Let me get someone to take over the front desk.”

“I’ll have someone cover for me in the store.”

Jungwoo and Minju instantly replied in unison, both of them taking off towards their respective businesses to sort things out. 

This city was full of gossips and Jungwoo and Minju were the biggest ones out there. 

“So, the tax is abolished, Insu is gone, so are his men and the ones who weren’t arrested fled pretty quickly. We’re…we’re free of them.”

Felix confirmed their hopes as he finished off telling their friends about what went on last night. There was no way that he was going to let them know about what it was that Minho had planned by himself, skillfully leaving that part out altogether. If they found out that Minho had decided to give up his life to take out Insu, both Jungwoo and Minju would have reacted just as badly as Felix had but on a possibly more dramatic scale. None of that was needed right now. 

“You guys are amazing.”

“Really…we didn’t do much. It was pretty much all of them,” Felix bubbled as he gestured to the other four men who were sitting quietly to the side, watching the whole interaction. 

“Well then, it seems that you guys are the ones who we are indebted to,” Minju smiled softly as both she and Jungwoo bowed their heads towards them. 

Chan, Changbin and Jeongin quickly waved away their praise, telling them that they really didn’t need to be thanked for what they did. Jisung had been revelling in it just a little bit in the beginning but hurriedly joined in with his crew in telling Jungwoo and Minju not to worry about it. 

“So, what happens now?” Minju asked tentatively. 

“What do you mean? We go on as we always did. Just without Insu breathing down our necks,” Minho shrugged, as if he hadn’t planned on not being here with the rest of them today. 

“That’s going to be hard to get used to but in the best possible way,” Jungwoo laughed heartily. “What do you have planned for the rest of the day?” 

“We’re going to head home for now,” Minho mumbled, beginning to stand up from the table. “But we’ll come back into the city later on. We have to treat these guys to a meal for saving our asses last night.”

As playfully as he could, Minho, once again, dug out the crew’s stolen money from his pocket, dangling it in front of them teasingly but before anyone could say something on the subject, he threw the pouch back to Chan, giving him a small nod, enough for the captain to know that the whole amount was in there. 

And when Chan thought about it, he realised that the four thousand risa that he had promised to Felix would no longer be needed since Insu was now nowhere to be seen, along with his tax. The residents were free of him, so Chan was now rewarded with what had been stolen from him in full. 

“And what of your crew? What are your plans? Will you be staying for much longer?” Jungwoo inquired. 

It wasn’t something that they had really discussed as a crew yet but, since their objective was complete or, rather, had been completely eradicated, there was very little left for the 3racha crew on Yilin. As they did when they were finished on every island, they would soon be moving on. 

“We will stay until tomorrow but we must take our leave after that. More of the world to explore, I’m afraid.”

The once joyful atmosphere around the table immediately turned sour at Chan’s words. It was no secret that they wouldn’t be settling on Yilin forever. They lived their lives on the sea. That was what they had done for almost six years now. Not only that but they had completed their objective here and knew that they had to move on and try to find a new lead. However, the distressed pouts from everyone at the table, including his own crew, was almost enough to change the captain’s mind. 

Almost. 

“Well, while you're here, at least let us thank you for what you’ve done for us. Would it be alright if we joined you for dinner later on?” Minju asked, directing the question more at the four young men that had saved him rather than Minho, even if he was the one who responded. 

“As long as you’re paying for yourself, you can do whatever the hell you want.” 

“Hyung, can I have a word?” 

Chan looked up from where he had been hidden away in a corner by himself, savouring a glass of beer while he watched his crewmates dancing on the floor with Felix like it was their last night on earth. 

They had returned to the bar that Minho had brought them on the night that they met, thinking that they were just going to have a relatively quiet meal and head back to Minho’s place to spend one final night together. 

They were wrong. They were very wrong.

So. Very. Wrong . 

Minho said he should have known when Jungwoo and Minju had asked to come along, knowing that they were both underhanded in everything that they did. They had to be when Insu had been around but Minho thought that they could have cooled it a little bit now that they didn’t have to worry about him anymore. 

They had already arrived with possibly another two hundred people, all of them residents and merchants from the inner city, the ones who had almost been at death’s door because of Insu’s misdeeds. Once the brothers and crew walked through the door, cheers and hollers erupted at the mere sight of them. It startled the six young men, all of them jumping at the excited noise but they quickly realised what was happening when people began coming up to them and thanking them with all of their might for what they had done. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who had organised this but Minho couldn’t find it within himself to scold his friends for their gesture, especially not when he saw how the younger ones were happily accepting the good wishes that were being given to them. 

He really couldn’t scold them when he got to the bar to order their dinner and was told by Mia that absolutely everything for them was on the house tonight. 

As the time went on, everyone became even more giddy, throwing their worries into the air and dancing the night away. While that wasn’t really Chan’s thing, he was more than content to watch over those he cared about happily enjoying their last night in Yilin.

That was, until Minho walked up to him, wanting a chat. 

“I wanted to ask you a favour. It’s a pretty big one.”

“Ok?” Chan replied slowly, praying that whatever this favour was wouldn’t be as dangerous as the last agreement they had come to.

“Would…would you consider letting Lix join your crew?” 

“What?” 

Minho looked slightly unsure of himself as he asked the question, swirling his drink around in his glass as if it would make this conversation easier somehow.

“Lix always wanted to stay here to help people out but, now that we don’t have to worry about Insu, he’s free to live his life, do whatever he wants to do.” 

Chan couldn’t say he knew everything about Felix but he could tell that he yearned for a life full of adventure. Being the kind soul that he was, he had chosen to stay here and help the residents of this town after personally seeing what Insu could do to families that displeased him. Now that he was gone, Minho made the very good point that they could go and live their lives without worrying about what would become of the people in their city.

“Seeing how easily he fit in with you, how happy he is with you, it just made me think that he could really make a home with you guys and explore the world while he’s at it. I think Mom always wanted that for him…” 

From what little Chan had heard about Minho’s mother, he could surmise that the woman wanted nothing more than the absolute best in life for both of her sons. 

But, it bothered Chan, the way that Minho was phrasing his favour, asking if Felix could come along with them, not mentioning what would happen to him in any way once Felix had left, if he agreed.  

“Let me ask you something before anything else,” Chan interjected, placing his head in his hand as he leaned against the wall behind him. “Say that I agree to let Felix come with us. He would no longer be around and now, Insu is gone too. So, what exactly would be left for you here, Minho?” 

The question seemed to startle him a bit, enough for Minho to drop his gaze to really think for a moment about Chan’s question. The blaring music spreading throughout the bar was giving them enough privacy to have this chat without being overheard, which, Chan assumed, is exactly why Minho asked to speak to him here instead of when they returned to his house later on. 

Finally finishing wading through his options, Minho raised his head to stare Chan straight in the eye with the most heartbreaking smile the captain had ever seen.

“Nothing.” 

“If there is nothing left for you here, Minho, why wouldn’t you ask if both of you could join our crew instead of just Felix?” 

From the astonished look on his face, it was clear that Minho hadn’t even considered asking such a question. It wouldn’t really have mattered if Chan had agreed to just let Felix on his ship because he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Felix would never leave Minho behind on his own. They were a package deal, that much was certain but Minho still couldn’t see it that way, wanting such a good life for his brother but never considering that he too deserved the same thing. 

“You…you’d seriously consider allowing me on your ship? After everything I’ve done to you? The danger I put you and your crew in back at Insu’s mansion?” Minho croaked, his voice barely being audible above the rock music blasting out of the speakers near them. “You still don’t know anything about me.”

“I’d be willing to sit down and get to know you though, you and Felix.” 

Chan had to admit that he did find himself amusing. Barely ten days ago, he had been hell bent on denying Jeongin passage to his ship, not wanting to endanger the young man and get him mixed up in their affairs but he now realised how unfair he had been. He wasn’t the only person in the world to suffer losses and tragedy. If anything, he thought that Minho and Felix would understand him in that capacity more than anyone else. 

If they wanted to come along with them and see the world, who was he to stop them? Should they agree, they may be able to help Chan with his own goals, just like they had helped each other in Insu’s mansion. 

“Wait, is that a yes? You’re telling me we can go with you?” Minho bubbled, brightening up exponentially.

“Not just yet. I may be captain but I take my crew’s opinion into consideration on every decision, especially important ones like this. It’s not my choice alone.”

Chugging down the rest of his drink, Chan motioned for Minho to stand and follow him, thinking that it was about time that they started heading home. That idea was only strengthened when he saw Jisung and Jeongin trying to keep upright while giggling maniacally at nothing in particular. 

With a final look over his shoulder, Chan provided Minho with an encouraging grin, hoping it would sate the younger’s worries just a little bit. 

“But I don’t think you’ll have much to worry about.” 

Chapter Text

Between Changbin having to carry Jeongin home in his arms after passing out at the bar and Felix and Jisung trying to, very shakily, hold each other up with their arms around one another’s shoulders as they walked back to the house, Chan thought that it may not have been the best time to discuss allowing the two brothers to join their crew until they all got a good night’s rest. 

It did, however, take a while for all of them to arise from their alcohol induced slumber and it was exceedingly clear that neither Felix nor Jeongin were accustomed to downing drinks like they had last night since both of them basically crawled to the bathroom in the morning, barely forming words but Chan just about managed to make out the fake promises about ‘never drinking again.’ 

And Minho thought that the only surefire way to clear up that feeling was to make some hangover soup, something that he decided to make himself, telling Felix to get dressed so that they could go to the market in town and grab the ingredients. The suggestion was met with a rather icy glare, an expression that Chan didn’t think that Felix was capable of making but in the end, as everyone knew would be the case, Felix threw on a hoodie and sweats and followed Minho out the door, grabbing a pair of sunglasses from the drawer of the table and placing them on to protect himself from the apparent ‘death rays’ that the sun was currently exuding. 

It was clear to Chan that the reason Minho didn’t take pity on his younger brother was that he knew that the crew had to discuss something important, whether or not they would be allowed to join them on their adventures on the high seas. 

Just as Chan had predicted, there were no complaints from his crew upon hearing the suggestion from their captain when it came to allowing both Minho and Felix to accompany them on their ship. 

But there was a hesitant question that came from Jisung in the form of ‘do we have to bring both of them along?’ 

Chan got the distinct feeling that whatever pointless feud that had blossomed between Jisung and Minho in the small amount of time that they had spent together was the source of such a query but none of that really concerned Chan right now. Should they both want to get over their childishness and work it out, they would have plenty of time to do so when they would begin living together on the Haven. So, when Chan replied that, yes, both of them would be coming along, Jisung merely huffed with a small pout, obviously accepting that, in order to have his new best friend Felix travel with them, he would have to concede that Minho would have to join them too. 

About fifteen minutes later, Minho came back through the door carrying two bags full of produce, whilst Felix trailed behind before flopping down on the couch and groaning loudly. 

Jeongin tried to insist that he cook breakfast entirely by himself again but Minho wouldn’t hear of it, joining the youngest in the preparation of the meal. Once they had devoured the, rather splendid, hangover soup, Chan gestured for the brothers to take a seat to begin their chat with Felix. 

“So, Felix, I discussed it with Changbin, Jisung and Jeongin and I would like to extend an invitation to you, to join our crew.”

The earlier zombified state that Felix had taken on had vanished and while they were all sure that the healing food had something to do with it, the bewilderment that came along with hearing the proposal from Chan certainly seemed to have made him perk up a lot more. 

“You’re asking me to go with you?” 

“If you would like to, yes,” Changbin interjected, wanting to show that they were all equally excited about the prospective members joining their crew.

And while a beaming grin began to grow upon Felix’s face at first, it slowly began to deflate again before he turned to look at Minho, the elder only smiling encouragingly at him. For a moment, Chan had to wonder what on earth was going through Felix’s mind when his eyes dropped to his lap, why on earth he looked so disheartened but the captain certainly began to share in the feeling when Felix finally raised his head and tilted his head with an apologetic grimace. 

“No, thank you.” 

“Oh…”

The way Jisung’s voice was saturated in disappointment was clear to everyone, enough for Felix to reach out and grab his hand to express remorse for declining the invitation. 

“Lix?” Minho probed, sitting a little straighter in his seat. 

When he had discussed joining the crew with Chan, he had been undoubtedly sure that Felix would jump at the chance to go with them on their ship. He had such strong chemistry with the group that had barrelled their way into their lives and the fact that he had just refused to even think about going with them, made Minho question if there was something else going on in his brother’s mind. 

“Thank you for the offer. I like you guys a lot but I’m going to stay here,” Felix professed calmly, nodding calmly towards the entire crew. 

But Felix himself could see that everyone was waiting for a reason, why it was that he didn’t even need to think about going with them, even though there was very little left for him in this city that held onto far too many bad memories. 

However, the reason he wished to stay behind was because the most important thing in his life would still remain on this island. 

“I’m not leaving my brother behind.”

It clicked for everyone then and there that the only problem that Felix had with going with the crew was that he was certain that the invite had only been extended to him and not to Minho as well. After all, it looked like Chan hadn’t even considered or paid any attention to Minho this entire conversation, so it wasn’t unreasonable that Felix picked up on it the way that he did. 

Finally understanding the problem, Minho sighed fondly as he tried to get Felix to turn and look at him, struggling a little since Felix seemed to be avoiding his eye with the ferocity of a petulant child. 

“Lix, wait-”

“No, hyung! I’m not going to abandon you,” Felix stated loudly with an assured emphasis. “I can already tell that you’re the one who asked Chan hyung if I could go with them but I’m not going to leave you here by yourself.”

“Lix-”

“Nothing you can say will change my mind! I’m staying here with you and that’s-”

“Felix, for the love of god, will you shut up and listen to me for a second?” Minho yelled, laughing when he saw the disapproving pout on his brother’s face, the kind that he used to use when Minho would scold him as a kid. “Yes, I asked Chan hyung if you could go with him but he also extended the offer to me as well.”

The uncomfortable tension that had arisen from the brothers’ impromptu yelling began to ebb when Felix finally closed his mouth and took in what Minho had just said to him and the way his cheeks absolutely exploded with colour showed that Felix was highly embarrassed about the theatrical way he decided to handle this confrontation, throwing all composure out the window. 

“You’d be coming with me? We won’t be separated?”

“No, Lixie. We’ll be together,” Minho promised, interlacing his fingers with Felix’s to show that nothing would ever be able to tear them apart.  

“Oh…”

“You sure you want a drama queen like him aboard your ship?” 

Felix had almost entirely forgotten about the other four presences currently inhabiting his home, making him frown at Minho’s question before he understood that it was not being directed at him. Whipping around to look at the others, Felix nearly winced at Minho’s implication that seeing him being set off like that might just change the minds of the 3racha crew who had, all but thirty seconds ago, asked him to join their crew. 

As he should have guessed by now, that didn’t seem to be the case, four amused and appeasing smiles showing that they hadn’t rescinded their offer after seeing his outburst. 

“We’d be glad to,” Chan gushed, being backed by two thumbs up from Jisung, a melodious giggle from Changbin and a rather sleepy nod from Jeongin. 

Even when he had first heard the suggestion from Chan, Felix had been overjoyed that they thought so much of him, even though they had only known each other a few days. He had always wanted to go exploring, to discover things that nobody ever had before, to see everything the world had to offer but he never thought that he would ever get the chance. 

As was the way with so many people, especially around here, there were far more important things to take care of. While some may have asked why on earth people didn’t just leave Yilin altogether and find a new place to live was answered with one simple response: the money wasn’t available. That was why Insu’s plan had worked so well. People were so focused on getting just enough money to pay their taxes that they barely had enough to survive, let alone to take their whole lives and move somewhere else. 

And, of course, while that was true for both Minho and Felix too, they were more focused on the part where they needed to help those around here be able to pay the taxes, as well as live. They knew how things could turn on their head so quickly. Felix never minded, not really, not when he could see how much they contributed to the lives of those around them, how many people he and his brother saved. 

But now, Insu was gone and the people of Yilin didn’t have to fear him or the consequences of not paying the taxes anymore. Felix didn’t really have a purpose here now but he thought that, maybe, now he would be able to find one with his brother and new friends as they sailed the sea together. 

With one last glance towards Minho to confirm their bonded desire to go, Felix finally turned his attention to the four awaiting young men who were dying to hear the answer to their question. 

“I think…that I’d like to take you up on that offer then.” 

“I need to step out for a little while. Will you guys be ok?”

“We’ll be fine, Minho. Go and take care of whatever business you need to,” Chan ensured, continuing to pack the last remaining pieces of Felix’s bed lined into the cardboard boxes they had gotten from the market. 

It had been an eruption of pure ecstasy upon hearing that Felix agreed to go with them. Unsurprisingly, Jisung had been the first to move, flinging himself upon his almost twin, neither of them fast enough to steady themselves before they crashed to the ground. 

Knowing that Minho probably wouldn’t enjoy the same sort of welcome to the crew, Changbin simply placed a congratulatory hand upon the elder’s shoulder. 

There wasn’t a second in between embracing their new crew members and Jisung and Felix yelling that they needed something to pack all of the stuff they would bring with them to the ship. They had run off to the market four hours ago, returned in twenty minutes and they were just about finished packing everything up, raring to start their new lives together as fast as they could. 

They said they’d head off in about thirty minutes and Minho knew that this would be his last chance to take care of some unfinished business first. 

But he couldn’t help but see the slight alarm on Felix’s face as he went to grab his jacket from the rack by the door, trying to assuage his feelings of unease with a lopsided smile. 

“I’ll be back, Lix. I promise.”

That seemed to do the trick for now, with Felix nodding before going back to helping Changbin tape up the boxes. 

As Minho began walking through the streets towards his destination, he couldn’t help but absolutely relish in the very unknown sense of calm that was flowing around him. Insu had been in this city for twenty years, arriving when Minho was barely four years old, so he never really remembered a time when the man’s iron grip wasn’t strangling the life out of this place. 

Everyone was…at ease. Business seemed to be going on as usual but not in the hectic and almost frightening way it had been before. For the first time in a very long time, Minho saw people he knew for years smiling, laughing with their customers and even taking a moment to chat with them about banal, everyday things. It was strange but in the best possible way. 

Moving towards the outskirts of the inner city, Minho couldn’t help the small bubbling of nervousness that arose from his stomach. After all, he hadn’t been to this place in almost fourteen years. As he pushed the gates open, Minho could say, with a little bit of sadness, that the place hadn’t changed all that much, only gaining more residents who had been laid to rest. 

All in all, the cemetery was well kept, in the way that where a place like this should be. Most graves had flowers placed upon them, an offering for the loved ones long gone and the burial place of Lee Sena was no different, a small bouquet of baby’s breath, fairy foxglove and forget-me-nots wrapped together in a pink ribbon. Felix had definitely been here a couple of days earlier, the flowers still looking lively and vibrant. 

Minho stood for a few moments, trying to gather his thoughts but failing as they continued to swirl around his head without any rational order. 

“I’m not entirely sure what to say here,” Minho sighed, picking out a few weeds that had sprouted from the ground around his mother’s grave. “I stayed away for so long because I thought that I didn’t have a right to speak with you.” 

Maybe it was an excuse, a poor one but Minho really did believe that he didn’t deserve to come and visit his mother every week like Felix did, to have a conversation with her that may have healed his soul just a little bit. It was an extra punishment that he had implemented for himself. He may have been able to find some sort of solace had he come here and shared his thoughts and fears about life with her but he knew that he would never be able to justify that sort of mending of his heart after he had been the cause of her untimely death. 

That was, until today. 

After everything that had happened, how much Felix had reassured him that what had transpired hadn’t been his fault, Minho thought that maybe he could allow himself to come and see her and speak one last time before he set off on his journey. 

“I know that I’d regret it for the rest of my life if I didn’t come and say goodbye. Insu is gone. We made sure of it. So, everyone around the city should be safe for now. I thought you’d like to know.”

He was sure that she would, not just because of what he had done to her but what he had always done to the citizens of this city. Sena had always been a known presence in the community, made clear by how many people rallied around the brothers when she had passed and the number of mourners that had come to say goodbye to her. Minho knew that she would be glad to know that they no longer had to worry about what had taken her from this world. 

“As for us, we’re going to travel for a little while. Don’t worry though, I’ll make sure to look after Lix. I promised you that the last time I came to visit.”

That night, the last time he had come here, on the eve of her funeral, Minho had begged for forgiveness amongst other things but he had promised that he would always take care of Felix, that he would look out for him until the time came when he wouldn’t need him anymore. 

Fortunately, Felix promised him that he would always be needed in his life and Minho was never one to break a promise like that, especially not with his mother. So, he would keep protecting Felix until the day when he would be relieved of his duties by Felix himself. 

“I know you would want the two of us to be happy and…” Minho faltered, a smile beginning to bloom on his face. “With these people that we met, I think we could be.”

There was a genuine feeling behind those words. Minho never thought that he would meet anyone in this world that he felt like he could open up to fully, ones he could share the rest of his life with and definitely not anyone that he would consider family other than Felix and yet, in the span of a few days, he was almost certain that Chan and his crew would tick all of those boxes and fit that criteria. 

They were such wonderful and earnest people, ones that Minho knew could share in his views of the world and if he could, Minho would do anything to help them on their quest, whatever it may be. After all, they had helped him reclaim a life he thought lost long ago. 

“We’ll be back. I promise but for now, I’ll say goodbye, Mom. I love you too,” Minho whispered, as if he had already heard his mother’s words in his head, telling him that she loved him and that he should take care of himself as well as his brother. 

Just as Minho stood from the place he had crouched on the ground, he felt a presence behind him, smiling as he recognised the aura that surrounded him. 

“You keep following me to this place,” Minho called, loud enough for it to be heard by the young man standing back, letting his brother say his farewell. 

“Needed to say my goodbyes as well.”

Felix took this as the sign that he was allowed to approach, walking up behind Minho before bowing his head low, reciting silent words that Minho knew would hold the most pure and raw emotions amongst them. 

“I’ve asked Rena-ssi from the florists to bring you flowers every week from now on since I won’t be able to. I’ve paid her already, so don’t worry. She knows what flowers you like,” Felix laughed, as if it would have made much of a difference. “We’ll be back. Love you, Mom.”

Bending low, Felix placed his palm on the marble tombstone, closing his eyes for one more moment. As he rose, Felix could feel his brother’s stare upon him, quirking an eyebrow as if to ask what was so intriguing about him. 

“She’d be so proud of you.”

“Of both of us,” Felix stated with certainty, grabbing onto Minho’s hand before blowing a kiss towards his mother and beginning to walk back down the path towards the city. “We’ll do everything we can so that she can keep being proud of us, right?”

“Right. We’ll do it together.”

There had been a couple of arduous journeys to the ship to bring all of the brothers’ belongings from the house before Minho locked up and handed the key to Mia at the bar, knowing that she would keep it safe for them. When asked where on earth they were going that they would need to give her such a thing, Minho had told her not to worry about it, that they would be back soon. Maybe that was a little bit of a lie but it didn't matter all that much. 

Before embarking, the group took an hour or so to finally complete the task they had set out to do the day that they came here.

Buy Jeongin everything he could ever possibly want. Since their escapades at Insu’s house, they had more disposable income to work with, not worrying about price tags or holding themselves back for their youngest. He deserved to be rewarded for his efforts back at the house since there was no denying that he had helped out a hell of a lot. 

Almost predictably, it was the aptly nicknamed sunshine twins that bolted off to pick out things for the maknae, holding it up to him and asking his opinion on the clothes they thought would suit him. And while they got a shake of the head or an approving smile from Jeongin, there wasn’t much of any other reactions from him, making Changbin worry just a little bit about the other.

“Innie, you ok?”

“Think I’m still a little bit hungover. I feel like I need to sleep for another twenty four hours,” grumbled Jeongin, pressing his fingers into the bridge of his nose to try and stave off the incoming headache. 

Chuckling at his crewmate’s withdrawal symptoms, Changbin grabbed a shiny pair of silver sunglasses from the swivelling rack beside him and popped them on Jeongin’s face to try and dim the glare of the bright fluorescent lights beating down upon them. 

Once the preposterous amount of shopping was complete, Jeongin asked his friends to halt once more for a moment, reaching into his pocket and retrieving the letter he had written to his parents, the one that he had yet to post to them. Now that he had recovered his earnings and then some, he ran to the post office and finally got the stamp to be able to send the envelope on his way, looking a little bit brighter than he did earlier now that he knew his parents would no longer be fretting about not getting an update from their son. 

“You two ready?” the captain questioned once they had finally arrived on the docks, just him and the brothers left alone looking back at the city they had spent their whole lives in. 

Neither Minho nor Felix thought that they would ever see this day, the day that they would be free of the shackles of the past that held them here. Despite all of the terrible things that had befallen them in Yilin, it wasn’t all tragic memories. More than anything, this place was their home, the one place they knew that they could always return to and have someone there to greet them. The bustling and overcrowded streets held a warm sort of familiarity, the shouts and hollers from the vendors almost being like music to their ears, the bombardment of smells, sights and sounds being welcomed any time they passed through the centre. They would miss it, almost terribly but they knew that there were bigger and better things awaiting both of them beyond the horizon with their crew. 

“Yeah, let’s go,” Minho smiled, wrapping his arm around Felix’s shoulder to steer him towards the ramp up to the ship. 

“Now where on earth do you think you’re going?”

Of course there was no way that they could escape so sneakily. This city had a thousand eyes and ears. Nobody could get away with so much as scratching their nose without someone talking about it. So, it was somewhat inevitable that the brothers’ swift departure would be found out, despite them keeping their mouths shut on the subject. 

And really, neither Minju nor Jungwoo looked all too pleased about being left out of the loop on such an important event. 

“You were really going to leave without saying goodbye?” Minju huffed, arms crossed and lips protruding in a highly impressive pout. 

“After all we’ve done for you over the years?” sobbed Jungwoo, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes in a dramatic fashion that only he could achieve. 

“How did you…?”

It was upon asking the question that Minho realised that it wasn’t just two of his friends that had come to say goodbye to them, but many of the families that lived in the inner city, all of which they had helped out throughout the years with the taxes, amongst other things. Some kids from the school were there, patients that were insistent upon leaving the hospital to come and bid farewell to the two young men who had kept them safe, couples and parents who knew that they owed the lives of their significant others and families to both Minho and Felix. All of them wished to give a send off to those who they owed so much to.

“Come on now. It’s not like Lix was exactly subtle when he came barrelling into the market earlier. Practically everyone and their mother knew that he was looking for boxes to pack.” 

Rolling his eyes at his brother and complete lack of tact, Minho should have guessed that Felix wouldn’t have ever been able to keep such a secret but when Jisung was with him, it was clear that there was no stopping that kind of information from getting out with a mouth as big as his. 

Minju was the first to step forward, reaching out to Felix who immediately ran to the hug, relishing in the warmth of his friend he knew he wouldn’t see again for quite some time. 

“Take care of each other, ok?” she whispered, squeezing just a little bit harder, hating that she would not get another ‘Lix hug’ for ages. 

“We will. Thank you for everything.”

“Jeez, you’re acting like you’ll never see us again,” Minho huffed, unable to defend himself when Jungwoo threw himself at him, giving him no choice but to return the hug that was being forced upon him. 

“I dunno. You’re dangerous criminals with wanted posters now. Who knows if we’ll ever see you again?”

The freezing rush of information was like a bucket of ice cold water had been dumped upon, not only Minho and Felix but Chan as well. If they had heard correctly from Jungwoo, he had just said that they had wanted posters, like any well respected pirate should have, even though they were definitely not pirates. 

“I-I beg your pardon?” Minho stuttered, pulling away to show Jungwoo that what he had said was not to be joked about. 

Without hesitation, like he was waiting for the chance to whip the pieces of paper out with such flourish, Jungwoo, held two wanted posters up in his hand, one for Minho and one for Felix. The elder had a bounty of 200’000 risa sitting pretty just above the giant dead or alive threat, whilst Felix held one of 160’000 under a picture he never remembered being taken but it was definitely him. 

Letting reality finally settle down upon him, Minho urgently grabbed the posters out of Jungwoo’s hands, eyes going from the top to the bottom of the page, as if it would somehow change the information upon it. 

“What!?” Minho screeched, the volume being enough to grab the attention of Changbin, Jisung and Jeongin who halted in unpacking their shopping and joined the others at the end of the ramp to see what the commotion was about. 

All these years, no matter what they did, neither Felix nor Minho ever had a wanted poster. Some people may have made the assumption that only pirates held wanted posters but it was possible for any criminal that the Marines wished to capture to possess one. Through their entire time of pilfering and larceny, the Marines had never managed to identify them and therefore, could never slap them with a wanted poster but their luck had finally run out. They were on the run and probably had very little chance of settling down somewhere comfortably with a large Marine presence. 

Now Minho could understand why Jungwoo was joking about never seeing them again. Would they ever be able to live here peacefully now that they had bounties on their head? 

“Either Insu squealed and they believed him or they got some sort of security footage from the house. You’ve got a couple of reasons that you’re wanted but the main one for your capture is endangering the public by setting off an explosion in Insu’s house.”

It took all of a millisecond for Minho’s eyes to rip themselves away from the wanted posters and widen, his mind stalling for a second when he realised that he hadn’t been the one to set off the explosion in Insu’s house. Whipping his head around to look over his shoulder, Minho sent a deathly glare towards the young man who was already in his bad books and the chances of him escaping them were becoming slimmer and slimmer by the day. 

At least Jisung had the decency to realise that he had been the main reason for the brother’s bounties to be so high, kicking the ground with an abashed smile but, at the same time, looking like he didn’t really regret the way he went about destroying Insu’s home and money. After all, even if he did endanger people, nobody actually got hurt from the explosion. 

“Whoops…”

“Know how to work explosives, my ass!” Minho seethed, looking like he was ready to pounce before Chan stalked forward and placed a hand upon Minho’s shoulder to try and calm him. 

Jungwoo wasn’t finished bringing good news to the newly formed crew, producing even more scrolls of paper out of his pocket and Felix really had to wonder where he was fitting all of them. 

“Oh, your bounties went up too. You guys weren’t as careful as you should have been, I guess.”

A defeated groan from Chan, a fatigued sigh from Changbin, a quirked eyebrow of interest from Jeongin and a squeal of elation from Jisung were amongst the mixed bag of reactions that particular piece of news brought. Jisung wasted no time in taking the posters from Jungwoo with a bow and passing them out to his crewmates. 

All of them had increased substantially and it was clear that the jump didn’t simply come from Insu telling the Marines about them. After all, he didn’t even know about Changbin, Jisung or Jeongin being in his house. It was a possibility that those they attacked in the communications room could have told the higher ups about them but it just seemed highly unlikely. Jungwoo probably hit the nail on the head when he said there may have been a surveillance system around the house, one that they hadn’t even considered looking into for some reason or other. 

Chan’s bounty had increased to a whole 300’000, Changbin’s to 250’000, Jisung’s to 195’000 and, finally, Jeongin’s to 150’000.

And the one person that seemed overjoyed at the higher price on their heads went dead quiet, a state of being that was quite unusual for Han Jisung.

“Dammit…”

The curse that tumbled from Jisung’s lips only added to Changbin’s uneasiness. It was bad enough for Jisung to remain silent on something he had been so excited about but to hear him swear through gritted teeth put the elder even more on edge. 

“What’s wrong, Sung?”

“Minho hyung’s bounty is five thousand risa higher than mine,” Jisung fumed with a stamp of his foot, his glare burning a hole into the back of the aforementioned young man’s head. 

Changbin decidedly bit his lip and held back on what he really wanted to say at that moment. The way he was feeling right now, he could have pushed Jisung into the sloshing water that surrounded him on the docks but didn’t really feel like dealing with the aftermath of such an action. 

“This will make your journey a little more difficult but I assume you’re used to having the Marines on your tail all the time?” Minju chimed in, directing the question towards Chan. 

“Yeah, don’t worry, we know how to handle them,” the captain said tiredly. “Well, we better get going then.” 

With one final hug from their friends and a small promise that they would definitely see each other again, Minho and Felix walked up the ramp and ran to the edge of the ship, waving to the crowd that had gathered to say goodbye to them. 

Looking out over it, Minho could truly see that, by staying here all these years, by staying alive all these years, he had managed to help and, more importantly, save so many people. Despite his transgressions in the past, the kind gestures and assistance that he had provided over the years might have equaled out his karma just a little. He knew that Felix had been right, that his mother would have been proud of him for everything both he and his brother had done for the people of this city. 

“Thank you for everything!” Felix yelled out as the ship began to pull away, waving so frantically that Minho was afraid he would break his wrist. 

It would undoubtedly be a while, maybe years, before they could return here again but Minho made a silent promise to himself as he watched his friends begin to fade into the distance until he could no longer see them. 

The next time he came back to Yilin, he would have a thousand more reasons within himself for his mother to be proud of him.  

Chapter Text

As expected, the first night the newly formed crew spent on the ship was anything but quiet. Not that the ship was ever really quiet to be fair. Once they had Minho and Felix settle into their new rooms, it was almost time for dinner, which Jeongin, of course, took upon himself to make but Minho and Felix did insist on helping with some of the preparation, not wanting to seem like leeches on their very first night here. 

Once they sat down to eat, all of them, in their own minds, were shocked at how easily the conversation really flowed between them, a moment of awkwardness never finding its place amongst the laughing and teasing. 

Knowing that they were all still recovering from Insu’s house and their night out prior, Chan told everyone that they would get to know each other a little more throughout the following days but that they should probably head to their rooms for tonight. Nobody really needed to be told twice, all of them making a beeline for the door except Jeongin, who stayed behind to finish the washing up and Minho, who just needed to take a minute to digest the delicious food he had just eaten. 

Still he felt a little bad when he heard Jeongin doing the cleaning up by himself, cracking an eye open as he laid back in his chair to observe the youngest hunched over the sink, scrubbing away at the plate in his hands.  

“Would you like some help with those, Jeongin?” 

Minho, in a way, was praying the younger would say no. After eating such a pleasant but filling meal, Minho felt like he could already fall asleep in the position he was in. He didn’t know what kind of magical powers Jeongin had somehow obtained to make food taste the way that it did but, now that he was a part of the same crew and would be served such appetising cuisine everyday, Minho wasn’t complaining in any way, shape or form. 

Even in his food induced sleepy haze, Minho could tell that Jeongin was taking far too long to respond to his question. Despite knowing the young man less than a week, Minho inherently knew that Jeongin wouldn’t be the type to straight up ignore his question like that, so he mustn't have heard him in the first place. Sitting up a little straighter, knowing he would have to leave the chair and head to his room eventually, Minho raised his voice just a little bit more as he called out again. 

“Jeongin?” 

What he wasn’t expecting was Jeongin to jump so much at his holler that he dropped the plate he had been washing back into the sink full of soapy water, a wince worthy crash making Minho hope that he hadn’t been the reason for the piece of crockery to meet it’s unfortunate demise. 

Jeongin eventually spun around, wobbling slightly on his feet at the mere speed of the action but once he was facing the elder, Minho couldn’t help but notice the slightly glassy look in the young man’s eyes, like he wasn’t really looking at Minho in the first place.  

“Huh?” Jeongin rasped out, understanding what it was he had missed when Minho began to rise from his seat with a slight nod towards the unwashed plates and utensils from their supper. “Oh, no, hyung, it’s alright. I can do them by myself.”

“Jeongin? Are you feeling ok?” Minho questioned, genuinely worried at the very rapid change in the maknae’s whole demeanour.  

The Jeongin he had spent days with back in the city was bubbly, bright and full of such a boisterous energy that made Minho question where on earth he found it. This boy in front of him looked like he hadn’t been allowed to rest peacefully in years. 

“I think the excitement in Yilin was a bit too much for me all at once. I mean, normal for me a week ago would have been working all day in a restaurant. I’m just a little tired, I guess,” he chuckled, removing one of the yellow rubber gloves to run a hand down his tired face. 

“It seems to be a bit more than that.”

“I’m a bit dizzy too,” Jeongin admitted but Minho could tell that he still wasn’t getting the full scale of what it was that Jeongin was feeling. 

Moving forward from where he had been hanging back, Minho placed a hand on Jeongin’s shoulder to turn him around, thankful that the younger didn’t shrug off the sudden touch. 

And Minho couldn’t help but hiss at himself internally for not noticing earlier that their youngest was definitely not well. 

Jeongin’s face had been drained of every bit of life that had been so vibrant back in Yilin. His usually rosy cheeks ashen, eyelids drooping to the point where it looked like Jeongin was about to fall asleep standing up, lips parted and leaving out bare puffs of air. Minho reached out almost instinctively to cup Jeongin’s cheeks and physically winced at the burning heat coming off of the younger’s skin. 

“Jeongin, you’re as white as a ghost and you’re burning up,” Minho nagged, in a way that only a big brother could. “Your hands are shaking.”

“Yeah, I don’t…I don’t really feel all that good to be honest.”

Something inside of Minho’s mind screamed at him to move, to let go of Jeongin’s face and brace himself. He wasn’t quite sure what it was but he was thankful for it when Jeongin’s legs suddenly crumpled beneath him, leaving him barrelling towards the ground but thanks to the little voice in his head, Minho was there to catch him, pulling him close to his chest to let Jeongin relax against him. 

“Woah, easy, easy. I got you. Come on, sit down for me.” 

It was somewhat of a struggle, bringing Jeongin over to the seat that Minho had been sitting on moments ago. Whatever strength was keeping the boy standing at the sink had definitely up and left him, Jeongin’s feet barely moving as Minho supported him with a strong and reassuring grip around his waist. 

“Tell me the truth,” Minho demanded as he carefully deposited Jeongin in the chair, trying not to sound too adamant at the same time since Jeongin was undoubtedly feeling awful if the way he looked was anything to go by. “What’s going on?” 

Minho could tell that Jeongin was reluctant to actually share how he was feeling, like he was afraid he would become a burden to the crew for merely being sick. An egregious oversight, Minho was sure. Jeongin took a moment before he brought the back of his hand to rub across his eyes, his bottom lip jutting out in the telltale way that showed he was slowly breaking. Minho just prayed that his intrusive questioning hadn’t been the cause of the tears slowly cascading down the younger’s face. 

“Ever since the night we broke into Insu’s house, I’ve been feeling kind of ill but it’s been worse since we left Yilin. Maybe my body really isn't able for this kind of thing .”

“What hurts in particular, Innie?” Minho didn’t even register the nickname slipping off his tongue, just doing what came naturally and hoping it would put Jeongin somewhat at ease. 

“I have a pretty bad headache and feel nauseous. It’s a little hard to catch my breath too.”

To Minho, those kinds of symptoms could be caused by anything. If he hadn’t just had to catch Jeongin from falling to the floor, he would have said that it was nothing more than the flu but there was something in his gut that told him it was so much more. 

While Minho reached up to wipe away a few of the tears from Jeongin’s cheeks, hating seeing the boy like this, he couldn’t help but notice the way that Jeongin was unconsciously scratching his left arm as he tried to steady his breathing. 

“Jeongin, that’s the arm that got injured in the fight, right?”

Barely opening his eyes, Jeongin turned his head and finally realised what he had been doing and ceased the scratching, not wanting to undo the stitches that Minho worked so hard on. He gently nodded his head, allowing his eyes to fall closed once he had answered Minho’s question. 

“Mind if I take a look? It might be infected. Maybe that’s what’s causing you to feel ill.”

Minho would have chuckled at the way Jeongin automatically began to pull his arm out of his sleeve if it wasn’t for the grimace that passed across the younger’s face at the strenuous action. Moving around to the side, thankful that Jeongin seemed too exhausted to check the injury himself, Minho held back a gasp at the sight, not wanting Jeongin to freak out. That would be the last thing he needed right now. Minho pretended to poke and prod just a little to allow Jeongin to think he was checking to see if infection had set in but the elder was pretty sure he already knew what was happening to the young chef. 

“Ok, you can put it down,” Minho whispered tenderly, helping Jeongin slip his arm back through his sleeve. “Yeah, seems like that’s the cause. Listen, we’re gonna get you to bed to rest. I’ll finish off here.”

“Ok, hyung. Thanks.”

It was clear that Jeongin didn’t have any fight left in him, not even attempting to deny the offer to allow him to relax or asking Minho for further clarification after the inspection on his wound. Maybe he just trusted Minho that much already.

Everyone seemed to have returned to their quarters by now, making Minho feel relieved since he really didn’t want to answer any questions on why exactly it was that he was carrying Jeongin back to his room like a child that had fallen asleep on the sofa. 

Minho was sure that Jeongin was already asleep before he laid the younger down on his mattress, removing his shoes and throwing the duvet over him. Seeing how much Jeongin was burning up, Minho quickly moved to the bathroom before returning with a washcloth soaked in cold water, placing it upon the younger’s forehead and hoping it would alleviate even a small amount of his pain until they could get him some proper help. When a small whimper left Jeongin’s lips in his sleep, Minho felt his heart break for him, knowing he could do very little for the young man at the moment. 

This was serious on too many levels and, if Minho had any say in it, there would definitely be a change in their course before he slept, if he ever managed to fall asleep with the uneasiness that was currently coursing through his body. 

Leaving the room as the door closed quietly behind him, Minho headed straight for the captain’s quarters.

He needed to speak with Chan immediately. 

Despite the sun having long since set, the moon now casting a somewhat pleasant glow upon the deck of the ship, Minho figured it was still early enough to go to Chan and not disturb the captain. From what he had observed himself over the past few days, Chan didn’t sleep all that much anyway. 

Seeing the light seeping out from underneath the doorway, Minho was glad that his theory on Chan’s sleeping habits checked out because this was definitely not a subject that could have waited until the morning. Not that he would have waited if that had Chan been asleep. 

“Hyung,” Minho called out quietly as he knocked on the door to the captain’s quarters, receiving a reply to enter almost immediately after. 

Minho found Chan hunched over in the chair at his desk, an overabundance of documents, files and newspapers covering the entirety of the surface. The captain seemed to be mulling over the newspaper that published the first article on Insu’s party, the one that had apparently informed him that his target would be attending. Minho remembered seeing it in passing but hadn’t really paid any attention to it, not knowing who on earth had even been invited, only that they were pirate crews. 

Chan finally closed the paper, taking off the round reading glasses that had been perched upon his nose to stare at Minho with a weary smile. 

“What’s up?”

“We have a problem.”

It was probably the last thing Chan wanted to hear right now, that they had just begun a new journey together and had managed to walk away alive from unbelievable peril but had somehow walked straight into another shitstorm, even though they had just left Yilin behind in their wake. 

Still, the captain straightened himself with a serious expression, ready to take on whatever Minho was about to throw at him. 

“When you guys left the kitchen after dinner, I offered to help Jeongin with the tidying up but when I did, I noticed he didn’t look well.”

“Oh, no, is he sick?” Chan worried, the look of alarm invading his eyes increasing with each passing second at the thoughts of their maknae being ill. 

Little did he know how serious Minho’s news actually was. 

“He said he felt dizzy and nauseous ever since he left Insu’s place. He has a fever and can’t catch his breath. When we were talking, he kept scratching his arm and I thought that maybe his wound had become infected, so I checked and…”

Maybe if Minho didn’t say it out loud, then it wouldn’t really be true. What was that called? Living in denial? It sounded nice to be honest. And maybe there was that little added guilt in the back of Minho’s mind contributing to the thought of not acknowledging the problem, knowing that he had been the one who caused Jeongin to fight in the first place with his self sacrificing actions.   

Yes, to pretend like he didn’t have a clue why Jeongin looked like he was about to walk through death’s door would have been nice but Minho also knew that he was the only shot that Jeongin had at the moment. 

Minho liked Jeongin, he really did. He actually thought it quite impossible for anyone not to like the young man and to know that he was suffering so much right now because of Insu was slowly tearing him apart. Even though the pirate captain was now locked up and probably being interrogated within an inch of his life, Insu was somehow still managing to screw him over. 

Being dragged away from his thoughts by Chan warily calling out his name, Minho inhaled steadily to try and ground himself for what was about to come, knowing his findings were about to throw their whole ‘happy family without a care in the world’ dynamic on its head. 

“The veins in his arm were black, hyung, stemming from his wound and it looked like it was spreading.”

“What?” Chan blanched, clearly unnerved by the symptoms their youngest was displaying. “What the hell could cause something like that?” 

“This is just speculation but, to me, it kind of looks like Geomijul poisoning,” Minho cringed, hating the reason that he knew of this information. “It’s a slow acting poison that spreads through the bloodstream. It causes the veins to become visibly black through the skin, imitating a spiderweb. The symptoms present themselves like the flu at first, progressively getting worse if it’s not treated properly.”

“And what exactly happens if it isn’t treated?” 

There it was again, the want to live in denial but, unlike before, Minho didn’t exactly know how to say it out loud when Chan was looking at him like he was about to explode from unwanted suspense. 

“Minho?”

“This poisoning usually lasts a week. I’d say he has another four or five days at most, hyung.”

“Until what?”

There was only the slight hum of the nightly wind creeping under the doorway of the captain’s quarters to intercept the quietness between them but it wasn’t enough to save Minho from feeling like he was drowning in the silence, choking on his own words that were somehow forcing their way back down his throat. 

But it was clear that Chan didn’t need to hear Minho’s confirmation, his own worst fears coming true as he saw the regret and panic swirling around together in the younger’s eyes. 

Jeongin had been poisoned whilst fighting at Insu’s house with Changbin and Jisung. Chan had been so sure that nothing would happen to him if he left them with the others on their mission. After all, he needed to go and save Minho with Felix but looking back, he wondered if he should have gone with his crew, should have stayed by their side and fought with them and left Felix on his own. 

It did no good to speculate now though. Chan didn’t know what would have happened if he had changed his plans back then but right now, the one thing that he did know was that they needed to get Jeongin help. They needed to get him medical attention before he- 

“We need to find a doctor. Now,” Chan faltered, having to steady himself by leaning his hand against the desk. “We could head back to Yilin.”

“I can guarantee you that it’s not something that a lot of regular doctors could deal with,” Minho warned, knowing it would be a wasted trip back to his home, wasted time that could be used to save Jeongin. “It’s not a particularly common thing to come across. The only reason I thought about it was because I heard a rumour years ago that Insu was playing around with poisons and coating his weapons in it. It was never confirmed but I studied up on them just to be safe.”

“So what the hell do we do?! Sit around and wait for Innie to-”

Minho could see that Chan was about to descend into a full blown panic attack at the thoughts of their youngest crewmate, who had only joined Chan a couple of weeks prior to Minho and Felix, losing his life because of Insu and the dirty tricks his men played when engaging in combat. 

Reaching forward and grabbing the captain by the shoulders to get him to face him and pay attention, Minho began to breathe deeply in the hopes that the elder would follow suit, feeling himself relax a little when Chan seemed to pick up on what he wanted him to do, inhaling slowly and trying to let some of the tension out of his shoulders. Panicking wouldn’t do anyone any good at the moment. If they wanted to save Jeongin, then they would both need to be clear headed to find a solution.  

“Deep breaths, hyung. I didn’t come here just to give you a problem. I think I have a solution too.”

Hearing that Minho had already been thinking about a way to resolve this mess, Chan deflated just a little further, allowing himself to plop back down in his desk chair before motioning to Minho to take a seat in the small armchair in the corner of the room. 

“There’s an island, Wralia, maybe three days away, that is known for the amazing healers there. They can cure any illness, or so I’ve been told.” 

Chan remembered hearing something like that too long ago but, in his case, it had been more of a legend than anything else. When one thought about it, if there were indeed healers out there that could cure any illness, then why on earth would anyone in the world ever have to suffer again? If there were people who knew the secrets of eliminating the ailments that plagued the population, then why on earth were they keeping those secrets all to themselves? 

Chan was highly sceptical about it but if Minho suggested it, then surely what he had said earlier was true and that this type of poisoning was not common enough for every doctor to be able to treat it. 

“Are you sure this will work?”

“Best chance we’ve got if we want to save him,” Minho shrugged with a sad smile, not really instilling any confidence in the captain with his hesitant response. 

Chan couldn’t believe that this was actually happening to them. In all the years he had been on the sea, both he and his crew had sustained countless injuries, some of them rather ghastly but none of them had ever been on the verge of death because of a battle. Yet, barely two weeks after he took Jeongin under his wing, here they were, faced with a very real possibility that they could lose him if they didn’t act fast enough. 

In hindsight, Chan wondered if it would have been better to stick with his initial decision to keep Jeongin off of the ship and on some island somewhere. He may have been safer in the long run. 

“Should we tell the others? Should we tell him ?” Chan agonised, letting his head drop into his hands.

“I think we both know the consequences that come with keeping secrets. Innie deserves to know what’s happening to him and the others should know too. We’ll need help watching over him until we arrive in Wralia.” 

Chan knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that his reaction to the news would seem miniscule compared to what Changbin and Jisung were going to do when they found out that Jeongin would be taken from them if they didn’t get to the next island quickly. He also had no doubt that Felix would react similarly, even though he had only known Jeongin for a couple of days. 

During the dinner earlier, he could see how well everyone clicked, how they were almost pieces of a puzzle that were slowly being put back together, ones that had been missing, even though Chan never knew they needed to be found. 

“Where is he now?”

“I put him to bed and left some aspirin on his bedside table for when he wakes up,” Minho replied sluggishly, thinking he could probably do with some painkillers himself right about now to rid him of the pounding in his skull. 

“Ok, we better tell the others then. No point in dragging it out. I’ll get Bin to change our course.”

“Actually, hyung, I need to go and clean the kitchen first. I know Innie wouldn’t appreciate the mess being left there overnight.” 

Chan let out a small laugh at that, knowing full well that, if Jeongin were in his right mind and woke up to a filthy kitchen, he would just about end everyone on this ship, regardless of who made the mess in the first place.

“Wow, you know him rather well already. Go ahead, I’ll let them know.”

Minho took that as his cue to leave, pulling himself up from the chair and opening the door to let the cool air wash over the both of them. Just before he managed to close the door behind him, Minho was halted in his steps by the captain’s call.

“Oh, Minho? Good job on noticing that there was something wrong. You may have just saved his life. Thanks for looking out for him.” 

Minho simply shrugged at the comment. They weren’t out of the woods yet. In fact, they had just begun their journey through the dangerous thickets and branches. In all honesty, Minho had no idea if this would even work, if the healers on Wralia would be able to save their youngest member from the poison that was currently destroying him from the inside. Right now, they could do very little but hope. 

But Minho knew what it was that Chan was trying to say. That, even though he didn’t know any of them for very long, he was treating Jeongin with the same attention, kindness and care that he would treat Felix with. Granted, if it was Felix who was sick, Minho would be freaking out a hell of a lot more right now but he was thankful that he was able to keep a clear head so that he could rationally think about what would be best for Jeongin. 

It was an eye opening comment though. For so long, Felix had been the one and only person that mattered in Minho’s life but, within a few days, he already felt like these people could hold a place in his heart just as special as Felix over time. After all they had done for him, Minho wouldn’t hesitate to fight with them until the end. 

“You don’t have to thank me, Chan hyung. We look out for each other, right? That’s what we do. Have to make sure everyone’s healthy and safe.” 

With a confirmatory nod, Chan let Minho go, surprised at how much the young man had changed in such a short time. The first time they had met, Minho had held a knife to his throat with the full intent of killing him if he had so much as caused a scratch on Felix. Now, here he was, saying that they all needed to look out for each other. 

While he was thankful to have yet another reliable and trustworthy friend on the ship, Chan just hated the circumstances which led him to realise such a thing. 

It was close to six in the morning but Chan had yet to close his eyes. After Minho had told him about what he found out last night, he went to the others and dragged them from their rooms to reconvene in the galley once again. Thankfully, nobody had been asleep yet, even if most were in their pyjamas. 

What followed was a very long and gruelling conversation about Jeongin’s condition and the plans to address the problem. As expected, Jisung just about tore his hair out at the news, babbling and yelling about how they needed to somehow make the ship move faster. Like the big brother he was, Changbin did his absolute best to calm him down, even though Chan could see that he too was losing his sanity little by little at the thoughts of something bad happening to Jeongin. Felix almost seemed hurt after hearing the circumstances, more than likely thinking along the same lines as Minho, that Jeongin’s injury had been caused by what had happened between them and Insu that night. Chan made a mental note to take both of the brothers aside later on and remind them that this was not their fault. 

Even though he knew that it would be close to impossible to sleep for many of them, Chan had sent them back to their rooms around three or so, staying up with Changbin to plot out and change their course. The first mate had wondered if Wralia was the right place to head to but both he and Chan were aware that they really didn’t have very many options with regards to what would be the best for Jeongin. 

After a while, knowing that someone would be sure to relieve them from their position soon, Chan told Changbin to try and get some shut eye and that he’d go and check up on Jeongin. He really wasn’t looking forward to having the conversation with the younger boy about what was wrong with him, secretly hoping that Jeongin would still be asleep but, as luck would have it, their youngest was wide awake as Chan gently opened his door without knocking. 

“Hey, hyung.”

Jeongin looked tiny curled up in his bed, face flushed and sweat cascading down his temple, the washcloth on his forehead having lost its purpose long ago. Chan wanted nothing more than to scoop him up in his arms and tell him that everything was going to be ok, even if he didn’t know that to be the truth yet. 

“Hi, Innie. Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you by knocking but I wanted to check in and see how you were doing,” 

“I’m ok, hyung.”

“Jeongin…”

“Ok, I feel pretty bad.” 

Jeongin exhaled so pitifully that it actually pained Chan’s heart. This was not the young man that had hopped onto their ship a couple of weeks ago, the one who had fought tooth and nail to whatever he could to be of help to them when Chan had put him on a probationary period, the one who put every ounce of strength in his body into his training when the captain was putting him through the ringer. 

This was a sick kid who was probably delirious from fever and scared that his health had taken such a turn so quickly. Chan needed to tell him exactly what was going on but didn’t want to alarm him any further. 

“Listen, Innie, Minho has a theory as to what’s wrong with you.” 

“Oh?” Jeongin slurred, trying to prop himself up on his elbows but failing miserably. 

Chan quickly sprung into action, reaching behind Jeongin to sit him forwards and fluff up his pillows before laying him back down again, trying his best to remain stoic when he felt the scorching heat coming from the back of the younger’s neck. 

“Mind if I take a look at your arm?”

From what Minho had told him, Chan gathered that Jeongin didn’t really know what was causing him to feel ill, just assuming it stemmed from the wound on his arm. Struggling to take his soaked t-shirt off, Jeongin looked eternally thankful when Chan moved forward to do most of the heavy lifting, the captain gently lifting the shirt off, knowing Jeongin would enjoy the relief of the air on his sweaty skin and that it would be better for him to change into fresh pyjamas afterwards. 

But it was then that both Jeongin and Chan got a full look at what Minho had seen for the first time last night. Black veins connected themselves on Jeongin’s upper arms, the colour contrasting greatly against the boy’s fair skin. Chan couldn’t help but grimace at the sight but Jeongin, who had been in a somewhat sleepy state since Chan entered, let his eyes blow wide as he saw that it wasn’t a simple infection of his wound causing him to feel the way he was.

“W-what is that?”

“Minho said that he heard a rumour years ago that Insu was using poison on his weapons. So, when you got injured at his house, your blood absorbed whatever was on that guy’s knife. Minho thinks it’s Geomijul poisoning.” 

Just as with Chan and the others in the crew, that kind of poisoning didn’t seem to mean anything to Jeongin. The captain was really starting to believe that this particular ailment would not have been common knowledge to the doctors of the world. 

“The symptoms will keep getting worse if we don’t get you some help but you don’t need to worry because we will, ok?” Chan promised, smiling sweetly when Jeongin nodded in belief without hesitation, eyes still glued to the unnatural looking veins in his arm. “Ever heard of Wralia?” 

“Yeah…they have really good doctors there, right?”

Chan had to admit that Jeongin was far too knowledgeable about the world, having never travelled at all. Then again, working in a restaurant for six years brought a lot of people to him who did nothing but travel.

“Right and we’re on our way there right now. It should take about three days, so I’m afraid you’ll have to brave it until then. We’ll make you as comfortable as possible.”

“It’s ok, Channie hyung. I can take it,” Jeongin smiled weakly. 

Chan wanted to scream that he shouldn’t have to take it, that things like these shouldn’t happen to him, that Chan would never ever let something like this happen to him ever again. Chan would never want to restrict Jeongin, especially against his wishes but seeing him suffering so much and pretending to be fine for Chan’s sake was making the captain want to hide the boy away from all the horrible things in the world so he would never get hurt again.

“I’m sorry, hyung.”

The disbelieving laugh that Chan just about managed to hold back fizzled up and died in his chest but the captain was thankful that he managed to quash it because Jeongin looked truly upset about whatever the hell he was saying sorry for. 

“Innie, what on earth are you apologising for?”

“You let me on this ship with the condition that I would cook for you but with how I’m feeling right now, I don’t think I’ll be able to.”

In all honesty, the cooking situation on the ship hadn’t even entered Chan’s mind when he had heard about Jeongin’s sickness. Yes, that had indeed been a requirement for Jeongin to join the crew back in Jila. Of course, Chan’s feelings towards the young chef had changed drastically over the last couple of weeks and any and all conditions that he had put down were pretty much null and void right now. Jeongin didn’t have to do anything to deserve a place on this ship. He had already proven that he was one of them. 

“Innie, don’t worry about that. We managed to survive before you joined us. Barely, but we did manage to survive.” 

Flashbacks to Changbin burning eight slices of toast consecutively and Jisung cooking them a very sad omelette with eggs that were two weeks past their expiration date made Chan’s whole body contract. Not that he was any better, having nearly set the place on fire on more than one occasion but Chan knew that Minho wasn’t a newbie in the kitchen and he also knew that Felix had mentioned something in passing about his love of baking, so he really wasn’t all that worried about them having nobody to cook for them. 

Running a hand through Jeongin’s damp hair, Chan’s gentle smile was replaced with something more serious, a look of genuine certainty that he wanted Jeongin to see clearly as he tilted the young man’s chin up a little. 

“Hey, you know that, even if you could never cook for us again, you’d still have a place on this ship, right? You’ll always be a part of this crew.”

“Really?” the younger croaked, receiving a firm nod of agreement from the captain. “Thank you, hyung.”

It was funny how Jeongin could make the whole depressing atmosphere surrounding them feel just a little bit lighter with a smile. Having such an inherent ability to bring joy into any room or situation was something that made Chan himself break out in a little smile. 

“This was kind of why I didn’t want to let you on this ship in the first place. Getting caught up in our business and getting hurt…I’m the one that should be apologising to you, Jeongin.”

“Hyung, don’t be silly. Going with you was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

That…really put a dagger through Chan’s heart. Here Jeongin was, being tormented by agony, shaking and sweating at the same time, his body being infected by some poisonous substance and the kid actually had the audacity to say that being on this crew was the best thing that ever happened to him. 

But Chan made a promise right there and then that if… when Jeongin was feeling more like himself again, he would bend over backwards to protect the youngest, giving him more tutorials on fighting techniques to make sure he could protect himself if anything happened to him. 

Seeing Jeongin’s eyes begin to flutter closed from utter fatigue, Chan decided to reassure him just that little bit more, to let Jeongin know that he wouldn’t be alone again for a single second before they reached Wralia. 

“Try to get some rest. I’ll sit with you for a while and Sungie will come in later on.”

Chan couldn’t say that he wasn’t feeling completely drained as well, pulling up a chair to Jeongin’s bedside and folding his arms across his chest before closing his eyes to rest them, just a little bit. 

“Hyung?” Jeongin called, making Chan jump since he was so sure that Jeongin had already succumbed to slumber. “Could you…no, never mind.”

Jeongin turned on his side away from Chan, causing the youngest to hiss a bit at the movement. 

“Jeongin?”

Very carefully, Chan pulled Jeongin back to his earlier position, raising his eyebrows to ask what it was he wanted. 

“When I was at the restaurant and I got sick, I’d be forced to suck it up and work through it.”

Chan prayed he would never have to return to Ghrian because he was one hundred percent sure that, if he ever came across Jeongin’s boss again, he would end up wringing the man’s neck for all that he put this poor boy through. 

“But, being here, with you guys taking care of me, it reminds me of being back home and I always found that being close to someone calmed me down a lot, so…could you…could I…?”

Chan automatically reached out to take Jeongin’s hand in his own, rubbing over his knuckles in an attempt to try and ease whatever fear he had inside of him when it came to asking the question that was getting caught in his throat. 

“May I please have a hug?”

“A hug?”

That was the last thing that Chan expected to come out of Jeongin’s mouth. He thought that maybe he would have wanted some water or more painkillers since the ones that Minho had left were already gone but to be asked for a hug? Chan couldn’t really believe it. Not because of any other reason except he didn’t think that he looked to be the type who would give hugs or that Jeongin would want one from him. 

But the pure look of vulnerability and longing in Jeongin’s eyes didn’t even give Chan time to consider hesitating. Not that he ever would. Chan doubted that he would be able to deny Jeongin anything ever again.

Besides that, Chan gave absolutely excellent hugs. 

“Of course, Innie. Scooch over.”

It was an arduous ordeal, trying to fit both of them in the single bed when Jeongin could barely move by himself but, somehow, they managed it. Chan shuffled onto the mattress, doing his best not to put any pressure on Jeongin’s wound. He took the boy into his arms and brought him close to his side, allowing him to rest his head upon his chest. It seemed to bring immediate comfort to Jeongin who let go a tense breath before relaxing his entire body, knowing that he was in safe hands now. 

“Thank you, Channie hyung,” Jeongin breathed groggily, nuzzling into the captain’s neck as sleep ushered him away.  

“Anytime.”

If Jisung stuck his head in a couple of hours later to see if Chan wanted to trade places and found his captain fast asleep with his arms wrapped protectively around Jeongin, then nobody needed to know. 

Chapter Text

It had been nearly two days since Chan had knocked upon Felix’s bedroom door as he was about to crawl into bed. For some reason, he was hoping that the captain was searching him out again to have a chat, similar to the night they had their showdown with Insu. To say that Felix enjoyed being in Chan’s company and felt so comfortable in his presence to the point where he didn’t want to leave his side would have actually been an understatement. 

That had most definitely not been the case. It was easy to tell from the elder’s expression as he popped his head in the door to ask for Felix’s presence in the galley to have a meeting with the rest of the crew. His face was full of something that Felix never wanted to see again, a horrendous mix of anxiety and unease, a false smile doing its best to try and trick Felix into not panicking. 

It didn’t work.

Felix had hurriedly followed Chan out, sitting down beside Changbin, never imagining that he would have to hear that Jeongin, their sweet maknae, could be lost to them if they didn’t act quickly enough. 

Now, here he was with Minho, at Jeongin’s bedside as the younger boy slept somewhat peacefully. Just as Minho said it would, Jeongin’s condition was deteriorating with each passing hour. The black veins that had been surrounding his wound two days ago had begun to spread all over his body, slowly covering his arms and crawling their way up his neck and reaching his jaw. Felix had seen them across his chest and back when they had changed him out of his clothes too and it was absolutely terrifying to see the poison advance at such a fast pace around his body.

Not to mention the fact that Jeongin was growing continually weaker, his breathing laboured and body shaking with such ferocity at times that set off a spark of fear in Felix’s heart. The poison was killing him and Felix couldn’t understand why on earth this ship couldn’t go any faster to get them to Wralia. 

“Hyung?”

Felix jumped at the same time as Minho did, both of them sitting up in their chairs and zoning in on Jeongin. The boy barely had his eyes open, head turned towards Felix as he reached out to touch the elder’s hand that had been resting on the bed.

“Yeah?” the brothers replied at the same time, making Jeongin frown at the echo until he began to realise that it wasn’t only Felix watching over him as he turned to dazedly stare at Minho.

“Oh, you scared me, Minho hyung. Didn’t see you there,” Jeongin laughed fraily, only to erupt into a heaving cough seconds later. “Can I have some water please?” 

Grabbing the jug and glass that Changbin had brought to them earlier at Felix’s request, Minho filled it up and walked over to help Jeongin drink. It was more of an arduous ordeal than they thought it would be as, when Jeongin tried to lift his head, he let out a groan of irritation, clearly upset by his lack of mobility.

“Sorry, I can’t…”

“Don’t you dare apologise, Innie,” Felix scolded quietly, wrapping his arms around Jeongin’s shoulders and sitting behind the boy to steady him as he took a sip of the water to quench his thirst. “We’re happy to take care of you.” 

Jeongin barely drank for five seconds before Felix and Minho realised that he was after falling asleep in the younger’s arms, utterly exhausted from such an easy movement. 

The pure hopelessness in Felix’s eyes as he looked at Minho was mirrored back to him in his brother’s face, both of them knowing that Jeongin didn’t have much time left at all. No matter how much they wanted to help them as quickly as possible, they knew that all they could do right now was sit back and watch over him. Changbin had promised he had plotted the fastest route to Wralia and that nothing would stop them from getting there but Felix had actually begun to pray that Jeongin would hold out until they arrived tomorrow. 

“Hey, how is he?

Letting his attention fall away from Jeongin for a second, Felix watched as Jisung began to slowly close the door behind him but Felix was sure that he could have slammed it closed and Jeongin wouldn’t have been roused from his slumber. 

“That’s kind of a stupid question to ask, isn’t is?” Minho sneered, not caring at all about the glare full of disdain that Jisung directed his way. 

Felix, on the other hand, was purely mortified by his brother’s sudden rudeness.

“Hyung!” 

Minho merely snorted at his brother’s reprimanding tone, diverting his concern back to the boy in the bed. Felix knew Minho well enough to realise his dismissive scoff meant that he wasn’t all that sorry for what he had said to Jisung. 

“He’s hanging in there but he’s barely awake anymore,” Felix informed Jisung, using his thumb to brush across Jeongin’s knuckles. “The only time is when he wants painkillers or water or has to use the bathroom. We woke him up to change his clothes this morning since they were drenched in sweat but he fell asleep halfway through.”

“It might be better for him that way, not having to deal with the pain while he’s awake.”  

Despite the two of them being at odds most of the time, Felix could see Jisung nod along to Minho’s statement, all of them hoping that Jeongin was managing to find some semblance of peace whilst he slept. 

“I feel so sorry that I can’t do more for him.”

“We’ll be arriving in Wralia tomorrow afternoon, Lix. We’ll get him the help he needs…hopefully,” Jisung smiled weakly, bending down to wrap his arms around the other to give him a reassuring hug. 

And, for some reason or other, Minho took this as a provocation, something in his eyes being set alight as he turned to look at Jisung hanging out of his brother with a smug expression.

“Don’t have faith in my suggestion to go there?”

“I don’t have faith in you or your suggestions,” Jisung mocked, rounding the bed to stand beside Minho and kick the leg of his chair. “Now, get out of my seat, I’m switching out with you.” 

Minho looked taken aback by Jisung’s forwardness and, if Felix hadn’t been sitting right across from him, there was doubt that he probably would have taken the chance to blow things out of proportion and start yet another shouting match with Jisung about absolutely nothing. Relying on his better judgement, Minho decidedly relinquished his claim on the chair, watching Jisung plop down immediately into his seat. 

Felix could see how much it was annoying his brother, not being able to continue the argument that had been blooming a moment ago, Minho only narrowing his eyes at the back of Jisung’s head before turning to walk towards the door. 

“Annoyance,” Minho muttered quietly but made sure it was loud enough for Jisung to hear, though the younger didn’t seem fazed by it, not even giving Minho another glance as he shuffled out of the room.  

“You can leave too if you want to, Lix.”

“I’m good for another little while. I only came in a couple of hours ago.” 

Felix found that, no matter where he was with Jisung, they could always sit in silence and feel absolutely at ease with one another. Nothing needed to be said for them to understand what the other was feeling. However, that didn’t mean that they never spoke with each other. More often than not, neither of them could seem to shut up when they were together. Felix had begun to think that Jisung was somewhat of a platonic soulmate, in a sense. They just got along so well with one another and that’s why it was killing him just a little bit that he and Minho just couldn’t seem to get along. What’s worse was that he had no idea what the reason was, what it was that made them constantly want to tear each other’s throat out at any given minute. 

“You don’t like Minho hyung, do you?” Felix asked, already knowing the answer but he thought that surely, Jisung might be able to shed some light on the cause for their feud. 

“I don’t know how to answer that without sounding like a dick. You’re his brother after all. Probably shouldn’t talk shit about him in front of you.”

“Well, it’s not like you would be the first,”  Felix laughed quietly. After all, Minho had always loved to antagonise people, far more than he should have. “Min hyung is…”

He paused for a moment, attempting to find the right words to characterise his brother. There were certain layers to Minho, a depth to his personality that only those he allowed close to him would ever be able to see. Felix knew who he really was, how Minho was the most reliable and protective person in the world, how he cared for those he loved and would give up everything to see them happy. 

That’s how Minho was towards him, anyways. It was just a matter of time until Jisung would be able to see that for himself. 

But, of course, Jisung took this hesitation in Felix’s words to mean something more sinister. 

“Trying to figure out how to describe him without sounding like a dick?” he snorted, noticing Felix playfully roll his eyes with an amused giggle. 

“He’s a little rough around the edges but once you get to know him, he’s a total softie really.”

Jisung remembered saying something very similar to Jeongin on his first night here when it came to his impression of Chan. The captain had been stressed about Insu’s party and his anxiety was bleeding through and making him seem like he was the most unapproachable person in the world. But Jisung felt like he needed to let Jeongin know that this wasn’t who the captain really was, that Chan was one of the kindest human beings on the planet and that, over time, Jeongin would definitely be able to understand what he was talking about. 

The funny thing was, Jisung already knew that Minho had a decent soul inside of him. He had seen it when Minho had directed it at Jeongin, at Felix, at Changbin and even at Chan. Basically everyone else on this bloody ship except for him. Back at the bar in Yilin, when Jisung had tried to introduce himself politely, Minho had shot him down and, since then, the animosity between the two of them had grown into something that Jisung wasn’t sure could ever be extinguished. Even though, most of the time, he never instigated the snarky comments or harsh scoffs. Minho seemed to love riling him up and who would Jisung be if he didn’t rise to the occasion and bite back? 

“A total softie, huh? Just not towards me?” Jisung grumbled, laying his head against the back of his seat, trying to ignore the pitiful look he was getting from Felix. 

“Jisung…”

“Don’t worry, Lix. I’m not losing sleep over the fact that your brother hates me. I’ve dealt with shit like this before.”

“What even happened between you two?” Felix sighed exasperatedly. 

“Hell if I know.”

Jisung kind of wished that he did know what on earth he did to piss Minho off so much. Maybe it was just his existence that caused to older so much trouble. It wasn’t like Minho was the first person to feel that way. All the kids at school except for Chan and Changbin had treated him like that too. Jisung began to think he was just inherently unlikable to most people. 

Before Felix could say anything else, a small whimper stole their attention away, both young men turning towards Jeongin in the bed, only to see tears falling onto the pillow beneath him. The worst thing was that Jeongin didn’t even appear to be awake, making Minho’s earlier point completely invalid. From the way the boy continued to cry, Jeongin was clearly suffering even in his dreams. 

“Hurts…” Jeongin’s whispered brokenly, blindly reaching out for something to hold onto. 

Both Felix and Jisung jumped up from their seats, each holding onto one of Jeongin’s hands and squeezing to let him know that they were there for him. Felix took it upon himself to take the cloth from Jeongin’s forehead and rush to the bathroom to rinse it out and cool it down. Meanwhile, Jisung tenderly carded his fingers through Jeongin’s hair, giving small scratches in an attempt to soothe whatever was eating away at him from the inside.

“I know, Innie. It’ll be ok, baby. We’re almost there.”

Even when he had said that he had no faith in Minho or his suggestion earlier, Jisung was secretly praying that he was an idiot for saying such a thing. He wanted to believe so badly that going to Wralia wasn’t a mistake, that Minho had been the one person who had given them the salvation they needed, that Jeongin would be fine once they found a healer who knew about Geomijul poisoning. 

But there was that nagging feeling at the back of his head that told him not to get his hopes up. 

“Alright, I want some of you to go ahead and ask where we can find the nearest doctor. I’ll go grab Innie and follow you,” Chan instructed with such a fierce intensity that it made everyone stand to attention. 

Changbin had steered the ship into port and docked about two minutes ago, none of them wasting a single second before they were deciding what to do. They didn’t have any time to dally right now. 

Jeongin hadn’t woken up since the previous night, worrying them all beyond belief. His breathing was ragged, his heartbeat erratic and the black veins had extended to fall just below the boy’s eyes, making his appearance absolutely terrifying. 

They knew very little about the island of Wralia itself, what it was like here but absolutely nothing else mattered except for locating a healer as quickly as possible.

“We got it, hyung!” Jisung exclaimed, grabbing onto Changbin’s hand and pulling him down the ramp that they had just deployed to get onto the island. 

As they jumped onto the dock, Changbin vaguely heard Felix telling Minho that they should go to get money so that they could pay the guards to look after their ship while they were gone. Even in the throes of an emergency, Changbin had to admit that they worked as a team surprisingly well, all of them quickly assigning themselves a role to make this whole process easier. 

Unlike Yilin, there weren’t a thousand people roaming around the port to greet them, no shops and stalls that had owners calling out to you to come and sample their wares. Even the seagulls and waves seemed against disturbing the peace that encompassed Wralia in the early hours of the afternoon. All that they could see were two small wooden gates leading into what looked to be a town, if you could call it that. Most of the island seemed to be covered by trees, a large rainforest that stretched as far as the eye could see. There were maybe fifty buildings before the foliage took over and the forest took hold. Definitely a lot smaller than what any on the crew were used to. 

It was almost eerie after what they had experienced in Yilin but neither Jisung nor Changbin had any time to reflect on it as they ran towards the end of the docks, spotting one man sitting behind what looked to be a small wooden desk with a dilapidated sign with ‘information’ hanging over him.  Luckily for those running towards the exceedingly bored looking man flipping through some sort of magazine, that was exactly what they needed. 

“Hi, hello there, how are you?” Jisung bubbled, quite literally crashing into the front of the man’s table and shocking him out of his daze. 

Still, even after he had clearly registered the question, the man made no move to answer, returning his attention to his magazine. Changbin thought, for someone supposed to be providing visitors with information, he wasn’t very talkative. Perhaps he chose the wrong career.

“Alrighty then,” Jisung laughed nervously, not letting the man’s coldness faze him. “Could you please tell me where the nearest doctor or medical facility is?”

Without even raising his eyes, the man snickered derisively, making Jisung turn towards Changbin to silently ask if he had said something funny unbeknownst to himself.  

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” he sighed, flipping to the next page with an elongated yawn. 

“A-a joke?” Changbin faltered, seeing Felix and Minho join them from the corner of his eye. “Why on earth would it be a joke?” 

“You seriously don’t know anything about this place, do you?” 

There weren’t a lot of things in this world that could piss off Han Jisung to the point where he would say something about it but the lack of response from this stranger, the complete and utter indifference in his voice and body language was making the hairs on the back of the second mate’s neck bristle. If they knew anything about this island, then surely they wouldn’t need to be stuck here asking him for information.

“Hey, can you cut the attitude and just tell us where to go?” Jisung fumed, banging his hand upon the small desk, finally getting the man to meet his eye, though he didn’t seem any more interested in the interaction, popping a stick of gum into his mouth and blowing a rather impressive bubble.

“Sure I can. Do you have a million risa handy?” 

All four members of the crew blanched at that. Of course they didn’t have a million risa handy. Very few pirate crews would. They maybe had a couple of hundred thousand if they scrounged everything together but there was absolutely no way that they would ever come close to a million risa. A million risa was just a little less than all of their bounties put together. An insane amount of money and this man had the gall to ask them if they had it lying around to use. 

“A million risa?!” Felix yelled, making a few nesting seagulls nearby flap their wings in surprise that the serenity surrounding them had been disturbed.

“Are you trying to fucking extort money from us?” 

Changbin could see that Jisung was just about ready to climb over the man’s desk and wring his neck for wasting their time like this. Every second they stood here talking with this guy was another second wasted, another second that Jeongin was losing his battle against the poison raging inside his body. 

“Nope, just trying to prepare you.”

“What does that mean?” Minho interjected before Jisung could escalate the situation even further.

“Wow, you really are clueless,” the man insulted once again, finally snapping his magazine shut and placing his hands under his chin to explain. “There is only one place to get medical attention here and that’s Jusulsa court, on the other side of the island. There is one family consisting of five doctors and that’s it.”

“There aren’t any other doctors here?” Felix asked insistently. 

“Nope, no hospitals or medical facilities either.”

It would have been highly unusual for an island not to have any sort of hospital or at least a doctor’s surgery. It was an essential service, just like a school or market. It didn’t matter what kind of lifestyle one would lead, how well anyone tried to look after themselves, all humans get sick at some point in their life but if this island didn’t have any medical facilities besides a few doctors on the other side of the island, then what would happen if someone was seriously ill and couldn’t make the journey? It made zero sense to the crew now standing gobsmacked in front of the ever increasingly bothered stanger.  

“And they charge one million risa per appointment,” the man grumbled, like he wasn’t all that thrilled about how the medical practice was being run here. “Oh, right, that would be if you actually made an appointment. There’s a six month waiting list.”

“That…that can’t be true,” Changbin whispered in disbelief, praying that this was all some sort of sick joke being played on them in their most vulnerable time. 

“You can go and ask around town for yourself, I’m just trying to save you the hassle.” 

Six months. They all knew that Jeongin barely had six hours left. There was no way he was going to survive if what this guy was saying was true. Minho said that this poisoning lasted around a week and tomorrow would be exactly seven days since they fought at Insu’s house. It was already four in the afternoon. If Minho was right, Jeongin wouldn’t see this time tomorrow and the only lead they had, the only chance they had, had just been torn up in front of their eyes and scattered into the wind. 

Hearing this, Jisung’s bravado suddenly vanished, tears beginning to gather in his eyes instead as he thought of that nagging little voice in the back of his head that told him he had been right to doubt Minho’s half assed theory on how to save Jeongin. 

All of this had been for nothing.

“Please, our friend is really, really sick,” Changbin pleaded as he grabbed Jisung’s wrist to try and provide some comfort. “If he isn’t seen to soon then-” 

As if on cue, Chan arrived just in time to hear the end of their plea, holding Jeongin bridal style close to his chest. It didn’t seem to phase the captain, carrying Jeongin like this. The boy had always been on the slim side but over the past few days, he had lost a worrying amount of weight since he wasn’t awake enough to eat. If he did eat, it was something small, just to make sure the painkillers wouldn’t upset his stomach, even though they were doing very little for him in the end. 

He looked horrific, the black veins that covered his skin showing the extent of his illness to his crew and to the man behind the desk, who perked up just a little bit upon seeing the state of the friend that this group of boys had been speaking of. It was clear to anyone that he didn’t have much time left, even if they weren’t familiar with Geomijul poisoning. 

The crew couldn’t lose Jeongin, not when they had only begun their adventure together. 

“There has to be something. We can pay in instalments, work off the debt over time, pay extra to skip the line of six months. Please…” 

Hearing Changbin’s voice break on his final word clearly moved something within the stoic man’s heart, a small grumble coming from his throat when he knew that he would have to break a couple of rules that had been put in place for the safety of one of his closest friends in the town. But seeing how much this group of friends were willing to do for their ill member told the man that he had no other choice if he didn't want to see them lose everything they had. 

“If I tell you this, you have to promise that you won’t breathe it to another soul. Nobody. Is that understood? This information cannot become common knowledge. I’m not supposed to tell anyone outside a few select people about this.”

At the possibility of a new route to take, all five young men quickly looked to Jeongin before turning to each other, not even needing to hear what this secret information was before they were agreeing to keep it a secret. 

“We promise, right?” Felix encouraged, getting affirmative nods in his direction to show that they would follow the rules set out by this man. 

Getting confirmation that his secret would be kept safe, the man tore a small piece of paper out of his magazine, clearly not caring about the state of it enough not to deface it for the sake of this crew. 

“Take your friend here,” he whispered as he scribbled down an address on the scrap of paper before handing it to Changbin, “at midnight tonight. Someone will be there to meet you and he’ll be able to help you out. He won’t trust you easily but if he becomes suspicious, tell him that Heejun sent you.”  

None of them wanted to open their mouths and ask why on earth this mysterious person would be suspicious of them when he didn’t even know them. Then again, with how many people assumed that they were pirates, it wouldn’t have been impossible for the unknown healer to be sceptical of all his new clientele. 

“We won’t need a million risa for this guy, will we?” Minho doubted as he read the address over Changbin’s shoulder.

“No, he works pro bono. You don’t have to worry about payment with him,” Heejun insisted, glancing over at Jeongin once more with a slight wince. “If he can’t help your friend, then nobody can.”

A grim statement indeed but if they followed the rules that Heejun had set out for them, then it gave them a little bit of hope that Jeongin might be saved. Heejun had enough faith in this healer to imply that this guy was the best out there, that nobody would be able to help Jeongin if he couldn’t. All the others could do was hope they could trust in Heejun’s judgement.

“Thank you, Heejun-ssi. We appreciate it,” Chan uttered as he passed Heejun, following the others into the small town. 

“Don’t worry about it. Just make sure he’s taken care of.” 

As he watched the group disappear beyond the gates, Heejun slapped himself lightly on the cheek, pleading with the many deities out there that he didn’t just put one of his best friends in danger because of his big mouth. 

“I don’t think it would be a smart idea for all of us to go.”

“What do you mean? Of course we should all go, Channie hyung! We don’t know anything about this guy that Heejun-ssi is sending us to. What if we have to fight?” Jisung yelled, shrinking back from a slap to the thigh from Changbin to keep quiet. 

They had found an inn in the middle of town, the only one around here, or so they were told. Unsurprisingly, they also had no problem in finding two rooms of three to suit them for the night. There weren’t that many residents in the town from what they had seen. It would have made sense that not a lot of people would decide to stay here when there was very little to offer them besides a place to rest for a day or two. 

Since they had about six hours to wait until midnight, they thought it best to just recharge at the inn and let Jeongin rest before they began to look for the mysterious healer. They all thought it best to stick to Heejun’s instructions and not go to the designated address earlier than told. This was apparently a secret and none of them wanted to waste the only chance they had to save Jeongin.

“Sung, at least try to think rationally in that big head of yours. You’re right, we don’t know. So, if something happens to us when we walk into this place, everything we’ve done up till now will have been for nothing. We need to make sure Innie is taken care of,” Chan reasoned. 

He didn’t think it would really make much sense for this Heejun guy to send them into some sort of trap but there was always the possibility that he prayed on gullible tourists who would stop here after hearing about the amazing medical practitioners that this island had to offer. Therefore, he knew it would make a lot more sense for them to split off into two groups for now.

“Plus, we don’t want to spook this guy either with six of us showing up at his door. He might feel threatened by that and refuse to help us. To be safe, I’ll take Innie to this place by myself-”

“With me. You’ll be going with me, hyung,” Changbin interjected without leaving any room for deliberation in his statement. 

“Don’t think that point is up for debate, huh?” 

“Absolutely not.”

“Ok, myself and Changbin will head off half an hour before midnight with Jeongin,” Chan smiled with a shake of his head, always thankful that Changbin had his back under any circumstances. “I want the three of you to stay here and if we’re not back by morning, then you can figure out what to do but I don’t think you’ll need to worry about that.”

Chan admittedly had to hold back an amused smile when he saw the disbelieving frown on Jisung’s face as he walked over to one of the spare beds and face planted down upon it. 

“Thanks for that little pep talk. It just made me feel a whole lot worse.” 

“You sure this is the right thing to do, hyung? How do we even know if we can trust this Heejun guy?” Changbin asked quietly, not wanting to reserve the residents of the sleepy town. 

There wasn’t a soul on the street, no light to illuminate the ground they walked on either, the young men relying on the moon to guide their way. If they didn’t know any better, they would have said that this place was deserted. They had seen people moseying around the town earlier today but in a place like this, everyone knew everyone and the moment they noticed that the 3racha crew did not reside here, they became awfully cautious, whispering amongst themselves and keeping their distance. They were more than a little wary of newcomers but Heejun had been the same way at the docks. The secret of having a healer that didn’t charge outlandish prices was obviously a thing they didn’t want getting out.

“You got a better idea?” Chan grunted, trusting Changbin to keep him on the right path as he held Jeongin close to his chest, his distress becoming prominent as he could barely hear the boy’s breathing anymore.

“No and I don’t want him to be tormented any longer.” 

Taking the slip of paper that Heejun had written on earlier out of his pocket, Changbin reread the address that he had committed to memory hours ago. They had been told not to mention this to anyone and Changbin didn’t want to run the risk of knocking on the wrong door and alerting the wrong person to what they were doing. 

But he was certain he was right when he saw the sign marked ‘Gujoja st.’ on the side of the building, number 22 on the front of the door underneath the knocker, just like it had said on the scrap of paper. 

Changbin took the lead, knowing it would be downright impossible for Chan to be able to reach up and knock when he was barely keeping Jeongin’s gangly figure upright. 

“Hello?” Changbin called, grabbing onto the knocker and banging it lightly against the wood of the door. 

After waiting a few seconds, Changbin began to become increasingly ticked off when he didn’t get a response. They were on borrowed time as it was and whoever was inside was ignoring them, leaving Jeongin to suffer because they couldn’t be bothered to open the door. 

“Hello?!” Changbin tried again, banging just that little louder. 

He most certainly didn’t get a chance to try a third time when the door swung open, revealing a very dishevelled, very pissed off looking young man who was just about ready to pounce upon Changbin for making such a ruckus.

“Will you stop fucking banging on the door?! What is your problem?!” the stranger hissed, poking his head out to look towards both ends of the street.

If this is who they were looking for, then Changbin had to admit he was awfully surprised. When Heejun had mentioned that there would be a healer here to help them, Changbin had visualised an elderly doctor with years of experience upon his shoulders, someone who had studied human anatomy and illnesses for years and years, so much so that they could earn the compliment that Heejun had bestowed upon him earlier when he said ‘if he can’t help your friend, then nobody can.’ 

The young man standing in the doorway with a highly displeased look still settled upon his face looked to have only emerged from his teens. His fluffy brown hair was sticking up in every direction, his round spectacles doing their best to keep it from falling into his eyes. And though he couldn’t be certain, Changbin was certain he saw something of a gleam coming from the brunette’s mouth, possibly indicating braces. He was dressed in a simple baby blue shirt and jeans, not really giving off much of a ‘doctory’ vibe if Changbin had to be honest. 

But once he realised the apparent healer was looking more agitated by the second because of the obvious sizing up that he was giving him, Changbin hurriedly looked to Chan to give an explanation as to why they were here. 

“Ah, we were told to come here to get medical attention.”

Chan thought he better get straight to the point, especially when he was convincing himself that he felt Jeongin’s heart rate slow down by a beat. 

The young man in the doorway stalled at that, giving both Chan and Changbin a once over from head to toe, like he was able to ascertain everything about them as a human in that one glance. He had to stretch a bit to notice that Chan was holding onto someone but brushed it off within a second when he couldn’t make out anything about the third person in the mysterious group. But whatever it was he found in his observation when it came to Chan and Changbin was enough to put him on the defensive immediately.

“You’re not from around here. I don’t know you. Sorry, you’ve got the wrong place.” 

And just like that, the door was beginning to be shut in their face, effectively cutting off the only source they had on someone who could save Jeongin from certain death. 

The reason that Chan had advised the entire group not to go on this little expedition was because it might make this mysterious healer feel threatened but even with only two of them there with Jeongin, it was enough to spell out danger for the young man who had almost disappeared behind the door. 

The latch never clicked though, Changbin wedging his foot between the gap and cutting off any chance of the door fully closing on them.

“Wait! Heejun-ssi sent us,” Changbin called out, remembering how the man at the dock had told them to drop his name when they arrived if the healer became suspicious of them. 

Changbin thanked the gods when the young man behind the door relaxed his grip, releasing the first mate’s foot in the process. He quickly looked into both Chan and Changbin’s eyes, as if to detect if there was a hint of a lie in their words but didn’t seem to find one when he straightened himself and crossed his arms over his chest, like he wanted to protect himself from some unseen force.

“Heejun hyung? He gave you this address?”

“We…we really need help.” 

Chan turned Jeongin around in his arms, hoping that the light shining out from the inside of the house would be enough to show the seriousness of Jeongin’s condition. With the way the young man’s eyes widened, Chan got the feeling that he finally understood why they couldn’t be turned away. That, if he was left untreated, there was no way that Jeongin would see the sun rise tomorrow morning.

“Shit,” the young healer swore, nodding his head towards the room just behind him. “Argh, fine, get in here quickly.” 

Chapter Text

“Bring him in quickly. He doesn’t look like he has long left.”

Chan hadn't wasted a second in following the young doctor across the threshold of the house, with Changbin hot on his tail. 

Before they were led up a staircase, towards the end of the hall to the last room on the left, Chan didn’t fail to notice that this particular house didn't have any indications that would normally tell him that someone actually lived here. The main room they passed by when they came through the front door appeared to be set up as a waiting room or perhaps recuperation area with a young woman and who Chan could only assume to be her child sitting in one of the armchairs. With only a passing glance as he continued moving, Chan could have sworn there was a medical patch over one of the kid's eyes but he definitely heard the woman telling the little boy sitting in her lap that everything was going to be ok. Apparently, the doctor said so. 

There wasn’t much time to dwell on the interaction any further when he was ushered upstairs and into the room, following the instructions he was given and laying Jeongin down on the cushioned table in the center of the room. 

The area looked to be set up well for medical procedures. Bottles of different shapes and sizes lined the two of the walls, with labels of their contents befuddling Chan. Another wall held numerous books in a shelf, most of which looked to be medical journals and such, the spines of all of them appearnig worn and frayed. Three trays of surgical instruments lay on the wooden table beside the small window to the right, making Changbin gulp and hope that none of them would be needed to treat Jeongin. He certainly wasn’t squeamish but he didn’t want their youngest to have to go through even more pain.

“One of you want to tell me exactly what happened to him?” the healer called, breaking Chan and Changbin out of their reverie as he began to remove Jeongin’s hoodie. 

“There was…a fight,” Changbin explained, methodically leaving the non-important information out. “A guy sliced him with a knife on the arm. We didn’t realise that it had been poisoned until a couple of days afterwards.”

Changbin didn’t think he needed to go into detail about what exactly they were doing when Jeongin got injured. It would more than likely be a waste of his time and the doctor’s since the young man didn’t seem at all interested or impressed with the fact that they had gotten into a fight which used poisoned weapons.

“One of our crew members thought that it might be Geomijul poisoning,” Chan interjected, receiving a slightly impressed nod from the doctor who began cutting away the stitches that Minho had put in place a few days ago and reopening the wound to let it breathe.

“Well, your crew member would be right,” he answered quickly as he jumped away from the table Jeongin was asleep on and grabbed a bottle from the bottom shelf to his left. “He knew what it was but he didn’t know how to treat it?” 

“He happened to find out about it years ago but never came into contact with it himself. He said that being able to diagnose it and knowing how to treat it wouldn’t be things that are common knowledge. He just got lucky.” 

“That would also be correct. He sounds like he’s at least somewhat intelligent.”

Despite the circumstances, Changbin had to fight back a smile at that comment. He knew that, had Minho been here when the young doctor said that, there was no way he would be able to hold himself back from defending his honour that had just been attacked. Then again, saying that Minho was somewhat intelligent for his observation sounded like the brunet still running and racing to collect ingredients was implying that he and Chan were not but he decided to let it slide. 

For now. 

“But… you know how to treat it, right?”

It put Changbin just a little on edge when he didn’t get any response to his question from the young man. With the way he was beginning to use a pipette to add the unknown ingredients together, it was apparent that he knew what he was doing and Changbin thought that maybe he was just concentrating too hard on the task at hand to answer his question. 

“You,” the healer snapped as he pointed a finger towards Chan. “I need you to hold his upper body down.”

The moment’s pause that Chan took to properly process what had just been asked, or rather, yelled at him was one moment too long when the doctor stopped in his tracks and sent Chan a glare that would surely annihilate him if looks could kill. 

Jumping into action with a very real fear for his life, Chan ran towards Jeongin, standing above his head and holding down his shoulders and upper arms.

“And you, I need you to hold his lower body. Try to keep him as still as possible.”

Changbin didn’t make the same mistake as his captain, hurrying towards the table and assessing what would be the best course of action to keep their youngest immobile while he was being treated. 

Quickly making sure that the table was sturdy enough to hold two people, Changbin climbed on and sat atop Jeongin’s legs, just below his knees and reached forward to hold onto his wrists. In this position, there was no way that Jeongin could move, not that he was making any attempt to, which made Chan seriously question what was about to happen to him. 

“What exactly are you giving him?”

“A mixture of dextrose, bicarbonate, activated charcoal and extract of Cyrtanthus Ventricosus,” the healer relayed as he tapped the side of the syringe he was holding. 

Whilst Chan had asked the question, the answer didn’t really shed much light on the situation, something that was obviously reflected on both his and Changbin’s faces since the young man only huffed in slight amusement at their perplexity.

“Fire lily. An extremely rare flower.” 

They nodded their heads at the explanation of the final ingredient, neither of them voicing the thought that they had no idea what any of the other ingredients were either. 

“And what does that do?”

“Targets the poison, stops it from advancing any further in the blood and quite literally burns it up. Which is why I need you to hold him still. I need to inject this into his bloodstream slowly and it is going to hurt like a bitch but I have to empty the syringe if your friend has any chance of survival.”

Having literal fire injected into your body sounded like the least fun thing on earth and now they understood why it was that Jeongin needed to be held down. If the healer was going to do his job properly, then Chan and Changbin needed to follow the instructions they had been given too. 

And once the needle had been inserted in Jeongin’s arm where he had been injured, all hell broke loose. Jeongin’s frail and unconscious body had suddenly been reanimated by the concoction being administered to him, the boy’s eyes flying open and back arching at the fire now flowing through his veins. 

“Hold him tighter!”

Chan and Changbin hadn’t realised they had become somewhat lax upon seeing the change in their maknae, their hold loosening in their surprise. Hearing the yell from the young doctor as he continued to apply the needed treatment, both members of the crew came back to their senses and reapplied pressure to keep Jeongin down. 

Disoriented and more than likely still in a lot of pain, Jeongin’s eyes flickered wildly from side to side until they landed on Chan’s face, tears beginning to gather in the corners as he wondered why on earth he was being forced to go through something like this. 

“Hyung! Hyung, what’s happening? It hurts, hyung, it hurts. Please make it stop. Please, Channie hyung…”

Chan very nearly broke down along with Jeongin when he heard the unadulterated fear and pain in the boy’s voice, every second word breaking and hitting Chan right where it hurt. 

“Innie-”

“Hey! Keep. Him. Still.”

Chan could see that just over half of the antidote had been emptied from the syringe, meaning they still had about another fifteen seconds until this ordeal was over. 

But he couldn’t leave Jeongin in this state, not while he had the power to do something about it. He ignored the doctor when he raised his head to berate the captain again and moved to stand beside Jeongin instead, never taking his hands off the boy’s shoulders. 

When he saw that Chan was still following his earlier orders, the healer let him continue and went straight back to trying to finish his job. 

Bending down to place his forehead on Jeongin’s, Chan hushed him quietly, succeeding in getting Jeongin to calm down just a little and even out his breathing. 

“You need to stay still for me, Innie. It’ll only take a minute and then you’re going to feel so much better. I promise, ok? Trust me. You trust in your hyungs, don’t you?”

Albeit somewhat hesitant at first, Jeongin nodded his head to show that he did indeed believe in them and, if they told him this would cease the pain he had been enduring all week, then he would do exactly as Chan said.

Even after the needle had been extracted, Jeongin continued to squirm under their hands for the next few minutes as the remedy to the poison began to flow throughout his body. He couldn’t help but softly cry and plead with Chan and Changbin to make the agony stop. It made the captain wonder how intesnse the pain actually was since Jeongin hadn’t complained about how badly the poison was affecting him all week but the moment the doctor injected him with the remedy, he couldn’t stop screaming about how much it was hurting him. 

It took another minute for Jeongin to pass out again, igniting a sickening sort of worry in Chan and Changbin’s minds but when they looked towards the young man now beginning to take his surgical gloves off, he didn’t seem to be any way disturbed by his patient falling unconscious again. 

“I-is that it? He’s cured?” Changbin stuttered as he climbed off the table, kicking out his legs to get some feeling back into them. 

“Maybe.”

“Maybe? You said you knew how to cure it!”

“Firstly, I don’t think I did.” 

Changbin had to clamp his mouth shut at that. He had asked the question but the young man had never answered him back. He had never promised that he knew how to cure Jeongin’s illness. Changbin had just taken it that way when he jumped into action and followed through with the treatment immediately like he knew what he was doing. 

“Secondly, drop the tone. You do realise that you brought this kid to me in the absolute final stages of this rare poisoning? Usually, the treatment consists of stages over a number of days, building up to the very last resort, which is what I just administered to him. I’ve never skipped every step before. I don’t know if it will be enough.” 

Chan could see Changbin’s head droop low in shame after snapping at the healer who had done everything that he could to save Jeongin’s life. Everyone was on edge, as would be deemed normal in such circumstances but Changbin knew that it didn’t give him a reason to act like an asshole.

Even after everything they had just gone through, they still didn’t know if Jeongin was going to pull through this. This was the best shot they had according to Minho and to Heejun too. He said that if this healer couldn’t help Jeongin, then nobody could. The fact that he still may not make it through after being treated really locked the severity of the situation in for Chan. 

Reaching out to wrap his fingers around Changbin’s wrist to provide some comfort, Chan told himself to remain level headed, that nobody would benefit from raised emotions right now. 

“How long until you know?” the captain asked, adopting a much calmer tone than his first mate.

“An hour or two since I assume that’s all he would have left if he had not been treated.”

“So, we just wait?”

“Yeah. I've done all I can. You can stay here. I have other patients to attend to. If you need help or notice any bad changes, just yell. I’ll be around the house.”

With that, the healer began to leave, using the small pump on the wall by the door to dispense some disinfectant into his hands. 

“Um…what do we yell?” 

“I dunno. ‘Help’, maybe?”

While it may have seemed like a snarky sort of answer, Chan couldn’t argue that it would be the best thing to scream out in a time when they needed assistance. After all, it wasn’t like they even knew this guy’s name. They had just shown up out of the blue, pretty much demanded free medical attention and didn’t even bother to ask who he was. Not that they really had the time to do so. It was a problem that they would have to fix by the end of the night if Jeongin managed to make it through. They would want to know the name of the young man who had helped them through one of the worst experiences of their life. 

But his face must have given away what he was thinking when the healer turned back to them once more before leaving to attend to his other patients throughout the house. 

“My name is Seungmin.” 

When Seungmin had left the room about two hours ago, neither Chan nor Changbin hesitated to pull up a chair to either side of the table Jeongin was currently sleeping upon, both of them taking on the duty of holding onto one of their youngest’s hands. Really, the action was to console them more than him. They had all been put through the ringer and would require a lot of time to get over all of this together. 

Thankfully, they didn’t have to yell out ‘help’ or ‘Seungmin’ in the time that they were sitting there. The only changes that had arisen in Jeongin’s condition were that his breathing had become more stabilized, the shaking in his limbs had decreased significantly and the veins that had once almost covered his face and body had receded to the area just around his wound, hardly even noticeable anymore. 

Seungmin had said to call if they noticed any bad changes but Chan could only surmise that all of these were good. 

Being almost two a.m, with the moon high in the sky, weariness was beginning to take over. On a regular night, most of the crew would be asleep by this time but after what the three of them had gone through, the fatigue was becoming almost unbearable. Changbin’s head had fallen back a couple of times as he dozed, only for it to snap back up as he heard Chan laughing at his inability to keep his eyes open. 

Maybe that was also somewhat of a grim commentary on Chan’s insomnia and how well he could endure staying awake all night. 

With the clock showing two thirty in the morning, the door clicked open to reveal Seungmin popping his head in, calmly walking across the room to check on Jeongin. He figured everything was going smoothly since he had not been called upon but wanted to double check on the boy’s condition. After all, what kind of doctor would he be if he didn’t? 

“We’ll, it seems like we lucked out,” Seungmin breathed happily, placing the stethoscope on Jeongin’s chest to gauge his heart and breathing rate. 

At that somewhat positive statement, Chan and Changbin found themselves to be very much awake again, propping themselves up in their chairs but staying back to make sure they weren’t in Seungmin’s way. 

“Everything seems to be going well.”

“Yeah?” Changbin bounced hopefully in his chair. 

There was a moment of tense silence when Seungmin picked up a small needle and pricked the top of the middle finger of Jeongin’s left hand, inspecting the dot of pure red blood that stemmed from the opening closely. 

“Yeah. The poison has been stripped from his blood. You can take him home with you.” 

That was, weirdly, one of the best things that Changbin had ever heard. 

From Seungmin’s initial examination, everything was looking good. There were no indications that anything had gone awry in the treatment. If someone didn’t know what Jeongin had been put through in the last week, all they would see would be a healthy young man sleeping soundly in front of them. 

And now, with Seungmin’s blessing, they could take him back to the others without worry. The nightmare they had been living for the last seven days was finally over.

“But I want him back here at the same time tomorrow night.”

Or maybe not. 

“I thought you said he was cured?” Changbin rebuked. 

“You keep making up things that I never said,” Seungmin snorted. “I do believe that check ups are relatively normal after a sickness such as this?”

It would be a little outlandish for Seungmin to send Jeongin off on his way after a near death experience like this without a care in the world, so it made sense that he would want to check up on him again. But Chan had to wonder if it would be a one time thing or if Seungmin would expect them to stay here for weeks for Jeongin to recover. It wasn’t like they had any leads to follow but Chan didn’t like the feeling of this island and would like to move on as quickly as possible.

But Jeongin’s health came first and if Seungmin was insistent that they stay, then that’s what they would do. Chan didn’t want to do anything to aggravate the healer. 

“Get him these in the apothecary shop. His body is going to be sore and this will help relieve the pain.” 

Seungmin hurriedly scribbled something down on a prescription pad and handed it to Chan and, in true doctor fashion, the writing was completely illegible. The captain just hoped whoever was working in the apothecary shop dealt with Seungmin enough to be able to interpret the scribbles on the page. 

“Ok…then, that’s it?” Chan asked warily, like he was waiting for some kind of catch.

He didn’t doubt Seungmin’s authenticity or morals as a doctor but he had to admit he did find it kind of suspicious that nothing was being asked of them for such complicated and unknown medical treatment. Everything in this life had some sort of price tag. He knew that all too well and for someone to do something like this out of the goodness of their heart was just too rare in a world like this one. 

“Do you want me to give you a check up too?” Seungmin asked, though Chan couldn’t tell if he was genuinely asking or not. 

“No, I mean, you really do this for free?”

“People need help around here.”

Seungmin had said it so nonchalantly but, despite only being here for a few hours, both Chan and Changbin could say that was a terrible understatement. 

“Yeah and they certainly won’t get it from that asshole family that charges a million risa per appointment,” Changbin grumbled unhappily. 

If Jeongin had to wait to be treated by the other group of doctors here, Chan was sure that he would be dead right now. Seungmin was providing more than an essential service around here. It was close to psychotic the way that the family of doctors were running things. Seungmin had probably saved dozens of lives by providing this secretive resource. 

“Hmm,” was the only reply that they got from Seungmin on that subject but the disapproving frown told the others that he was just as ticked off as they were about the only other medical facility around here. 

“We were told there weren’t any other doctors besides the ones on the other side of the island.”

Seungmin continued to tidy up around him, only nodding in agreement, like he wanted to pretend that he was nonexistent. After all, there was a reason that they had to go through so much trouble to actually get to Seungmin in the first place. He shouldn’t exist as a doctor on the island in the first place.

“Is that why you’re treating people in the dead of night? Because you don’t want them to find out that there’s someone giving medical attention for free and taking ‘business’ away from them?” 

That would have been the logical conclusion. If there was no problem with other doctors setting up their practices here, then there would have been no need to have the appointments at night like this, nor a reason for Heejun to have almost turned them away at the docks by telling them that there were no more doctors besides the money grabbing family through the rainforest. There was something more sinister happening and Chan, in no way, wanted to get involved in whatever it was. 

“Correct and if they ever discover what I’m doing, bad things will happen. So, I expect you both to keep your mouths shut. Got it?” 

Both young men quickly zipped their lips, never in a million years even considering spilling Seungmin’s secret after all he had done for them tonight. They didn’t want to get Seungmin in trouble but Chan got the distinct feeling that something more ominous would happen to the young man should he be found out. 

“Thank you for your help, Seungmin-ssi,” Chan smiled with a small bow as he rose from his seat. 

“Just Seungmin is fine.” 

“We’ll, thank you, Seungmin. I’m Chan, by the way and this is Changbin.”

When Seungmin turned to look at him, Changbin gave his own little wave in greeting, along with a bright smile, something he hadn’t been able to conjure up since Jeongin had fallen ill. The quick turnaround in their attitudes was enough to make the young doctor crack a smile of his own. 

“And, of course, Jeongin.”

Chan gestured to the boy still asleep on the table in the middle of the room. He hadn’t woken in all the time they had been there but he looked so much more at peace than he had over the last few days and that was enough for both Chan and Changbin to know that he was no longer feeling the pain that had been eating away at him for so long.

“I know he’ll want to thank you when he wakes up himself.”

Seungmin had fixated his gaze on his new patient for a moment, like he was looking at something the others couldn’t see but upon hearing that Jeongin would surely want to appreciate what Seungmin had done for him in person, the healer couldn’t help but hum with intrigue.

“Strange pirate crew…”

“Why do you automatically assume we’re pirates?” Chan groaned. 

He had convinced himself to no longer deny it outright anymore. Nobody listened to him anyway. He was more interested in why everyone perceived them that way. There must be something. Besides the random Marines or other pirates that they continuously ran into, Jeongin, Minho, Felix and now Seungmin had all instantly assumed that they were pirates when they had met. 

“We’ll, you’re certainly not Marines and not a lot of merchants I know get into fights, especially against enemies who coat their weapons in deadly poisons. Forgive me for making such an assumption.” 

And as much as he wanted to, Chan knew it was difficult to argue with that logic. Everyone had a label on the sea and the only ones that anyone ever paid any attention to were Marines, merchants and pirates. 

Usually, it was Marines and pirates getting into fights with horrific results like this and, honestly, being called a Marine would be a worse insult than being called a pirate.

So, Chan could forgive Seungmin for assuming such a thing. 

“Hyung?”

Seungmin whipped around when he felt a weak grip around his wrist, not expecting to see a very conscious Jeongin staring back at him. 

When he had told Changbin that they could take Jeongin home, he expected the younger to be out for at least another twelve hours or so, which is why he was so startled to see bright, brown eyes sleepily looking up at him. The remedy should have completely knocked him out since it basically attacked the body in order to heal it but, obviously, Jeongin didn't get that particular memo. 

“Maybe? But I guess it’s not me you’re looking for,” Seungmin joked but regretted it immediately as Jeongin became visibly alarmed when he realised he hadn't reached out for one of his hyungs and tried to sit up in a hurry to move away from him, only to groan in pain at the attempt. 

“Who-?”

“Innie!”

Chan and Changbin were on him in a second, running past Seungmin to fall beside Jeongin, Chan instantly taking the boy’s face in his hands. 

“Hey, how are you feeling?” 

“Actually, not too bad. Just really tired.” 

And while he had answered the captain’s question, his eyes remained firmly upon Seungmin, the stranger he had mistaken for one of his hyungs and grabbed onto in his dazed state. 

“That's to be expected. That fire lily extract can really take it out of you. You should all head back. It’s late and you need the rest. I’ll see you back here tomorrow.”

Changbin took that as their cue to leave, helping Jeongin to sit up on the table and motioning for him to hop up on his back. After being conked out for so long, Jeongin struggled a little until Chan hoisted him up and sent them on their way but not before Changbin bowed deeply towards Seungmin for what he had done. Jeongin didn’t seem to catch onto who he was yet, simply nodding his head to say goodbye rather than in thanks. 

“You do this for free but I would really like to repay you in some way,” Chan offered, holding on a moment before he followed his crewmates. “Innie has only been with my crew for a short time but he’s part of our family and so incredibly important to us. I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done. Isn’t there anything I can do for you?” 

Seungmin looked a little taken aback at the offer but didn’t decline right away, making the captain think that a lot of the people who came here for treatment usually offered something small in return for his services since it looked like he didn’t want to take any money. 

“Um, I guess I’m running a little low on ginkgo and evening primrose oil. If I give you the money, could you pick them up at the apothecary when you go to get Jeongin’s meds? You could give them to me tomorrow night.”

“Sure but no risa required. It’s the least I could do to pay for them.”

Seungmin had already begun to rummage through his small duffle bag for his coin before Chan told him it wasn’t needed and while he hadn’t refused the first offer, he was a little hesitant to allow Chan to pay for the herbs he needed, though he could see that Chan wasn’t going allow him to argue. 

“Thanks. Chan…hyung, right?” he smiled kindly, getting a small nod back in return. “Ok, I’ll see you tomorrow. Make sure he rests.” 

Just before he left, Chan extended his hand for one final form of thanks, smiling happily when Seungmin returned the handshake with his own beaming grin. 

As he descended the stairs, Chan managed to get a look in the kitchen door he hadn’t seen on the way up, being too preoccupied with Jeongin’s condition. Inside he saw two elderly ladies with matching knitted shawls around their shoulders. Chan noticed that one had a cast around her left leg, whilst the other had an IV line attached to her arm. Two of Seungmin’s other patients that he had to attend to earlier, Chan assumed. 

But they looked to be in good spirits. Chan knew that, whatever illness or injury they had, there was no way that they would be able to make the journey to the other side of the island to meet the doctors and probably didn’t have the money to do so either. What Seungmin was doing here was nothing short of heroic. The consequences of getting caught were very real but the young man disregarded his safety to help the people of this sleepy town, something Chan had to respect. 

Once outside, the cold night air hit Chan square in the face but not in an unwelcome way. He really hadn’t realised how insanely claustrophobic it had felt inside the house until now. The situation had been stressful and both Chan and Changbin had been holding their breath the entire time awaiting the verdict on Jeongin’s condition. The crispness of the night breeze was more than needed by the three young men making their way back to the inn. 

“You feeling a bit better, Innie?” asked Chan, placing the back of his hand on the back of Jeongin’s forehead. 

He was relieved to feel that the fever had, not only broken but seemed to have disappeared altogether. Jeongin’s breathing rate was back to normal and the black veins that had taken over his body had come and gone, like they were never there to begin with. The only reminder of what Jeongin had gone through was a bandaged arm now hidden underneath his cerise hoodie. 

As he laid his head upon Changbin’s shoulder, Jeongin nodded as much as he could but a ginormous yawn followed directly after. Chan didn’t doubt his body was exhausted after going through something as traumatic as that, despite having slept a good portion of the last few days. 

“Do you remember what happened in there?”

This time, a shake of the head. A small mercy, Chan thought. Jeongin didn’t ever need to be reminded of what he just went through and he knew Changbin wouldn’t want to speak about this ordeal in front of Jeongin any time soon either. 

“Hyung? Was that guy a doctor? Jeongin whispered quietly into the night. 

“Yeah, his name is Seungmin and he fixed you right up, just like Minho thought. We have to go back tomorrow night for another check up, so you can talk to him then.” 

“The others will be really happy to see that you’re ok. We were all worried,” Changbin called back, squeezing the underside of Jeongin’s thighs and making the maknae snuggle into his neck. 

Jeongin fell asleep before they even reached the inn but it didn’t worry them this time, not when Seungmin said that everything was moving along smoothly with his recovery. 

“I can’t wait to climb into bed and sleep this nightmare off,” Changbin grunted as he tried to hoist Jeongin up without waking him. “Let’s hope that Sungie and Minho hyung haven’t ripped each other’s throats out while we were away.” 

At the overexaggerated joke, Chan allowed himself to laugh a little but when he thought about it, he was so concerned with the problem that Jeongin was facing, that it never occurred to him that he left Jisung and Minho in a small room for nearly three hours with strict instructions not to leave. Not only that, Felix would be undoubtedly stuck in the middle of them. 

Andl suddenly, Changbin’s joke didn’t seem all that funny in reality. 

“Yeah…maybe we should walk a little faster.” 

Chapter Text

“Hey! You’re back! Finally!”

Chan had barely put his foot over the threshold before Felix was running up to him and grabbing onto his hands with an unusually strong grip. Despite Jeongin pretty much getting the all clear from Seungmin a little while ago, uneasiness was still crawling all over Chan’s skin and the urgency with which Felix had greeted him was only bringing it back to full intensity. There was a weird atmosphere in the room, almost suffocating, making the captain want to turn on his heel and walk right out into the hall again with Felix in tow. 

“Yeah, everything alright?” the captain drawled out, his eyes searching Felix’s face for something out of the ordinary. 

“Uh huh.”

That was the only verbal answer that the blond gave Chan but his eyes told a whole other story, the way they immediately flicked back towards the back of the room with a slightly insane look coating them told Chan all he needed to know. 

On opposite sides of the room, Jisung and Minho sat in chairs that were faced completely away from each other towards the wall, as if either of them even made eye contact with one another, they would instantly be at each other's throats. The room definitely hadn’t been set up that way when Chan had left with Changbin and Jeongin a couple of hours ago and the captain didn’t want to imagine what on earth went on while they were away. The bitter scowls on their faces told Chan that something had definitely happened while they were away. 

Every day, things seemed to be getting worse between them, bad enough that they could barely stand to be in the same room anymore. Chan really needed to sit them both down and tell them to get their heads out of their asses, especially when they were being hostile and putting another member of the crew to suffer in the middle of their little scuffles. Felix had clearly been the victim of their aggression tonight if the way he was holding onto Chan’s hand with a bone crushing grip was anything to go by. They didn’t have to like each other, and it was clear that they didn’t, but Chan was getting tired of their childish attitudes affecting everyone else’s emotions too. 

“Where are Changbin and Innie?” Minho asked as he finally dragged himself away from his pouty fit in the corner to realise that Chan had returned on his own. 

“Coming up the stairs. Bin’s carrying him so I said I’d run ahead and open the door.” 

“And? How did things go?” Jisung joined in with a concerned tone, pushing past Minho and receiving a glare to the back of his head 

“Really well.”

All of them had been agonising over the thoughts of losing their youngest for too many days, constantly on edge from lack of sleep, barely being able to stomach food and their own inner turmoil. Chan knew that hearing that Jeongin was going to be alright would instantly put his friends’ hearts at ease and from the way Felix collapsed on the bed with his hands over his heart with a weighted sigh told Chan that every ounce of anxiety that had been clouding his mind all week had finally let him rest. 

“Oh, thank goodness,” the blond whispered, getting resounding echoes of relief from Jisung and Minho, the two clearly forgetting about how they had been sulking in the corner moments ago. 

Hearing footsteps approaching their door, all three young men who had not been present at the doctor’s surgery quickly ran to welcome Jeongin back with raucous happiness, not even thinking about the other residents of the inn with their boisterous yells, not that they got very far in their celebration. 

“In-!”

“Shhh! He’s asleep,”Changbin growled lowly, looking like if any of them roused Jeongin from his peaceful slumber then they would not be seeing the light of day again. 

Walking into the room as carefully as he could, Changbin graciously accepted Minho’s help to carefully guide Jeongin off of his back onto his bed for the night, tucking him in by pulling the covers up to his chin and giving everyone a warning glare that they were to keep their voices down from now on. 

“Oh my god,” Jisung whispered, running his fingers delicately over Jeongin’s cheek. “The black veins, they’re gone…”

“He looks so much better,” Felix agreed, placing the back of his hand on Jeongin’s forehead as if to convince himself that their youngest really was out of danger. 

“Then the doctor checked out? The treatment worked?”

Minho must have been feeling the pressure of this whole ordeal most of all since he had been the one to suggest coming here. If something happened to Jeongin and he couldn’t be saved, Chan had no doubt that Minho would blame himself for the rest of his life, just like he had been doing with his mother’s death for so long. 

Time and time again, Chan had promised him that Jeongin getting injured wasn’t his doing. Even if they hadn’t gone into Insu’s house with Minho and Felix, there was a very real chance that Jeongin would have been injured in a fight either way because they would have entered the house to attend the party no matter what. The only difference was that Minho actually gave them a way out by knowing about Wralia and its healers in the first place. 

“Hopefully,” Chan yawned, running his hands through his dishevelled hair and making a mental note to get Changbin to cut it for him soon. “Have to take him back tomorrow for another check up to make sure everything went well. But for now, the doctor said that everything looks to be going in the right direction.” 

As Jisung lovingly swept Jeongin’s hair off of his face, the younger briefly opened his eyes, only to frown like he had no idea where he was. Seeing that he was in a limbo of sorts between sleep and awareness, Jisung massaged the side of his neck a little, offering him a comforting sort of smile to show that he was in safe hands again, that his hyungs would take care of him now.  

“It’s ok, Innie. Just rest. We’ve got you.”

Jisung wasn’t even sure if Jeongin had actually heard what he said before the younger was rolling over and turning away from the light that the small lamp on the nightstand was providing for the room. Continuing to rub the maknae’s back, Jisung turned his attention back to the others for more clarity on Jeongin’s overall situation. 

“Well, what was the diagnosis?” 

“Minho was right, Geomijul poisoning. The doctor was impressed that you were able to identify it,” Chan complemented with a little pat to Minho’s lower back. 

For a short moment, all of them simply gazed upon Jeongin’s sleeping form, mesmerised by the shallow breaths he was taking. During the long week that they had endured, they had watched Jeongin deteriorate at an agonisingly slow pace, being able to do nothing but sit by and allow their youngest to fall deeper and deeper into the hands of his sickness. But, right now, they had the Jeongin they all knew and loved back, one without sickly looking veins on his skin, without laboured breaths, without quiet but heart wrenching whimpers breaking from his shaking form. 

Jeongin had been returned to them and there was no way in hell they were ever going to let something harm him again. 

“Hey, I hope you know that he’s alive because of you.”

Minho didn’t register Chan’s words for a moment, never thinking that the captain could be speaking to him about saving Jeongin’s life but when he turned to see who it was that Chan was actually talking to, he couldn’t help but notice everyone looking at him with nothing but thanks written across their faces. 

Well, almost everyone. 

“Don’t think I administered any treatment to him…” mumbled Minho, gently holding onto Jeongin’s leg through the blanket. 

“You know what I mean, Minho. You’re the one who noticed there was something wrong with him, you’re the one who diagnosed it, you’re the one who gave us a location to find a doctor who cured him. He’s only alive because of you.” 

“Also the reason he got sick.” 

There were very few instances in Chan’s life where he ever got truly angry at his friends. They bickered now and then and sometimes he yelled at them but always ended up apologising afterwards since he was usually in the wrong, letting his temper get the better of him but when he heard Jisung mumble an accusation of Minho of being the reason that Jeongin got poisoned in the first place with a roll of his eyes, Chan turned to him with a glare full of a sincere warning. Should he say something like that again, Chan wanted to let Jisung know that there were going to be problems between them. 

Now was not the time to be adding fuel to this pointless feud, not when they were all ecstatic to have Jeongin healthy and sleeping soundly beside them. Jisung seemed to understand the cautionary look he was given by swiftly turning away but Chan definitely didn’t miss the hint of fear in his eyes. He knew he had fucked up with what he had said and Chan could somehow feel that he hadn’t been the only one to caution Jisung with a look, knowing that Changbin always had his back, no matter what the situation. 

“So, the old geezer wasn’t running some dingy, underground, illegal clinic was he?” Felix asked as he tried to move on swiftly from that ugly occurrence. 

“Firstly, no. It was a regular house he set up as his surgery,” Chan said, rummaging around in his pocket for the medical docket that Seungmin had given him. “And two, he was probably around the same age as you.” 

“Huh?!”

The revelation seemed to surprise not only Felix but Jisung and Minho as well. 

“Maybe a year older or younger but definitely not older than me or younger than Innie.”

“Wait, don’t doctors have to do like eight years of medical training and like five or six years for some sort of program to become a full fledged doctor? And he’s around the same age as me? What, did he start training when he was eight? Just how smart is this guy?” 

When Chan thought about it, Jisung’s observations did actually make Seugnmin seem like some sort of genius. It wasn’t even a thought that had cropped up earlier in the night. Being so focused on getting Jeongin some help, it hadn’t occurred to Chan that Seungmin was really very young to be a doctor with such an extensive knowledge that he knew how to treat Jeongin’s rare poisoning.  

“I don’t know what to tell you. He diagnosed Innie and cured him within the space of a couple of minutes. He knew what he was doing. And there were other patients in the house which means he is trusted around here.” 

When Heejun had given them Seungmin’s location earlier, Chan had to admit that he had been a bit sceptical. All of them had been but he supposed that was pretty normal when the life of one of their crew was in a stranger’s hands like this. Heejun has said that only a few people were privy to such information and it never crossed Chan’s mind that there would obviously be other patients there until he arrived. 

The fact that people were risking getting caught in the dead of night to go and see Seungmin meant that they trusted him enough to leave their medical care to him. Maybe they had no other choice since they couldn’t afford to visit the family of doctors on the other side of the island but the captain figured that Seungmin knew what he was doing since the three patients he saw in the house all looked to be content with the treatment that they had been receiving. 

“Everyone, get some rest. We can talk about this more tomorrow. It’s been a tough week for all of us, not just Jeongin. Most of you haven’t been focusing on yourselves but we all will again starting tomorrow, got it?” 

With a resounding ‘yes’, everyone began to move from their positions, groaning and complaining about the stiffness in their limbs from sitting down for too long. Everyone was exhausted in both mind and body. There was a dire need for all of them to find some way to relax and maybe pass out for a couple of days straight. 

“I’ll stay here with Innie. Bin, you go get some rest in the other room.”

“I’ll stay with you, hyung,” Felix smiled, flopping down into the armchair that Minho had been seated in earlier. “I don’t mind one more night of watching over him.” 

Since the ownership of the three beds in this room were now decided, Changbin, Minho and Jisung all took that as confirmation that they were to head to the room next door to try and get some rest for the night. 

And to finish off a night of immature and unwanted behaviour, Jisung and Minho simultaneously tried to exit the room at the same time, bumping shoulders as they tried to get through the door that was definitely made for one person together. It was amusing, in a way, to watch them squashed together shoulder to shoulder in the doorway, telling each other to get the hell out of the way until Minho kicked the back of Jisung’s knee, making him crumble onto the ground with a small yelp which allowed Minho to confidently walk off to the room next door with an overly smug grin on his face after having won the battle. Payback for what Jisung had so rudely said to him earlier. 

Seeing that Jisung was about to yell obscenities after him, Changbin merely called out his name in a threatening tone, a reminder that it was nearly four in the morning and that they were definitely not the only people staying in this inn. If they were going to be forced to take Jeongin back to the ship when he wasn’t completely back to normal because they got a noise complaint and couldn’t stay here, Jisung’s neck would be rung by more than one person.

Jisung conceded but that didn’t stop him from mumbling said obscenities under his breath as he disappeared around the corner. 

“Well, goodnight to the two of you. I hope I won’t be driven insane by Tom and Jerry in there.” 

“I had to deal with them all night. You can do it, Changbin hyung,” Felix whispered with a pump of his fists. 

That didn’t inspire much confidence in Changbin since Felix looked all but ready to fling himself out the window when they had returned from Seungmin’s. With a tired wave, Changbin carefully closed the door behind him, still doing his best to let Jeongin rest, even though they were sure that nothing could wake the sleeping boy at this stage. 

“What did you guys do while we were gone?” Chan inquired carefully, trying his best not to laugh at Felix’s distressed state when the younger braced his hands on the armrests of his chair and groaned defeatedly. 

“Sat in silence. Literally. For three hours. I tried starting a conversation about the weather and two lines in, they were bickering about absolutely nothing. So I didn’t attempt it a second time. It was so awkward.”

“Yikes. We really need to do something about them.”

Chan and Felix had watched Jeongin a couple of times together over the past week but there had been such a strain because of the situation that they never really managed to fall into a proper conversation. There was a terrible underlying reason that if Jeongin hadn’t managed to pull through all of this, then getting to know each other would have been for naught because the burden that such a loss would have put on all of them would have surely torn the relationships they had built and the crew itself apart. 

Thankfully, they didn’t have to worry about that now but before Chan could even think of a topic to start a conversation with, Felix had beaten him to it. But it was not in the direction that Chan thought it would go. 

“Are you ok?” Felix asked quietly as Chan took a seat where Jisung had been perched earlier, though the chairs were now facing each other and much closer than they had been before. 

“Me? I’m fine. Why?”

“I know this week has been a lot. Just wanted to check in since we haven’t gotten to talk all that much.”

“Really, I’m fine,” Chan assured, gently kicking Felix’s ankle as a form of thanks for checking up on him. “I’m more than climatised to dealing with trauma like this.”

“Aren’t we all?”

And, as sad as it sounded, everyone on this ship was far too familiar with tragedy and heartbreak. Maybe it was something that connected all of them in a terrible way. Some more than others. 

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Looking over to the only occupied bed, Chan couldn’t help but feel sorry for Jeongin. Not only had he dealt with his own trauma and hardships before joining the crew but had barely begun to settle in with them before a whole other ordeal had rained down upon him and tried to mess up his life. The captain just hoped that this sort of bad luck wouldn’t follow their youngest around for much longer. 

“Get some sleep, Lixie. I’m ok staying awake for a while longer.”

“As am I,” Felix beamed, clenching his teeth tightly to suppress a yawn. “I think, since this may be the only time we get alone, we should learn a little more about each other.”

Felix must have noticed Chan stiffen upon hearing such a suggestion because the bright smile covering his face dipped just a little bit after Chan’s reaction. Don’t get him wrong, Chan wanted nothing more than to become more comfortable and familiar with Felix since he was already very fond of the other and the brightness that he always exuded but his mind automatically connected the fact that they had just been talking about their ability to endure the suffering from their past and now that Felix wanted to know more about him. 

He wasn’t ready to speak to them yet about what had happened to him and his brothers all those years ago. He would eventually but not right now but he didn’t want to deny Felix’s request to have a decent conversation like this when it was so incredibly hard to get time alone with one another when they lived with four other people on a relatively small ship. 

But Chan should have known that he didn’t need to worry when it was Felix of all people sitting in front of him. 

“I want to know more about you, Channie hyung. And I’m not talking about whatever trauma you were referring to earlier. You don’t want to talk about that, then that’s your business.”

“Then, what?”

“Innie tells me you have a little garden on the ship that you tend to. You like to garden?”

Wondering when on earth Felix had managed to uncover that information about him, Chan let go a surprised gurgle before sobering up on the sounds of Felix’s giggles, wanting to do everything in his power to keep the boy smiling and laughing for as long as he could. 

Before answering Felix’s question, Chan lightly smacked himself on the back of his head in an attempt to quieten the hissing voice that was scolding him for allowing himself to become so vulnerable in front of someone so quickly. 

Maybe, for once in his life, Chan actually wanted to let himself become vulnerable in front of someone. 

And he really wanted that someone to be Felix. 

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

“What’s the matter?” Jeongin asked as they sat in the waiting room of the doctor’s surgery. 

“Just so happy about the difference in you from the last time we were here,” Chan beamed proudly, running his fingers through the younger’s unruly mop of hair.  

For the majority of the day, the crew stayed in their bedrooms at the inn, catching up on the rest they were so far behind on. The only time some of them ventured out was when Felix and Jisung had gone to the apothecary shop to grab Jeongin his painkillers and when Changbin and Minho had gone to the local pub to get some food for them for takeout since they hadn’t eaten anything since the evening before. 

To say that they had to literally drag Jeongin away from the small table in the room so he couldn’t stuff anymore food in his mouth wouldn’t have been an understatement. They felt bad since Jeongin hadn’t really eaten anything all week and was probably starving but they knew he would make himself sick if he overloaded his stomach with so much food when it had been empty for so long. 

But the sense of normality that they had managed to recapture was nothing short of magical. All of them together, eating a meal whilst laughing and chatting, it was just so special and all of them revelled in it up until the point when Chan and Changbin had to escort Jeongin back to Seungmin’s house, despite Jeongin’s reassurances that he would be fine going there on his own. 

According to all five of his hyungs, he would definitely not be going anywhere alone from now on. 

“Sorry I worried you guys so much,” Jeongin mumbled as he bowed his head to once again try and apologise for all the trouble he had put them through. 

“You will literally say sorry for anything, won’t you?” Changbin scolded playfully. “Not your fault, Innie.”

Jeongin knew that was true. There was no possible way of knowing that he had been poisoned after fighting with Insu’s men but he also knew that he should have told someone the second he started feeling unwell. Instead, he tried to push through, thinking it was just the flu or something similar. If Minho hadn’t detected that something was wrong, Jeongin wondered how far he would have gotten before his body gave out. 

“Jeongin?” 

At the sound of his name being called, Jeongin shot upright out of his chair in such a way that his feet had somehow miraculously become tangled beneath him. Only for Changbin’s quick reflexes, Jeongin was sure that he would have just quite inelegantly face planted in front of the doctor that had saved his life last night. 

And now that he was fully conscious and the serum that had been administered to him last night had now worn off, Jeongin could finally see the young man in front of him and he would be an absolute fool if he didn’t think that everything about him was just stunning. Chan had mentioned a few things about the doctor once Jeongin had woken up from his fourteen hour nap, like the fact that his name was Seungmin and he was around the same age as Jeongin himself. That surprised him incredibly but Jeongin couldn’t fathom why on earth neither the captain nor Changbin had mentioned how unnaturally handsome this guy was but he supposed that probably wasn’t on their list of important facts about the doctor. 

“I’m going to talk to him alone tonight if that’s alright with you.”

Jeongin didn’t understand what Seungmin was talking about until he turned to see both Chan and Changbin beginning to follow him towards the examination room. He didn’t really mind all that much if they did want to come along. After the last week and what happened last night, Jeongin felt like he had very little to be embarrassed or shy about in front of his crew anymore. 

“Now that he can walk on his own, I’m pretty sure he can manage a quick check up by himself,” Seungmin snickered cutely. 

The thoughts of letting Jeongin go off somewhere by himself clearly did not sit well with either Chan or Changbin. They had promised to keep him safe from now on after all the worry they had to deal with but Jeongin thought that he may get fed up with this constant protectiveness over time if he wasn’t even allowed to go to another room without one of his hyungs quite literally looking over his shoulder. 

Seungmin apparently caught onto the weird atmosphere too, placing his hands on his hips in an aggravated fashion and summoning a highly insulted pout to his face. 

“What? You think I’m going to hurt him after I saved his life last night? I am a doctor with a strong moral code. How could you possibly think I’d let something happen to my patient.”

Whatever had gone down between the three of them last night began to intrigue Jeongin because the moment the doctor began to raise his voice, Chan and Changbin quickly tried to save their skin by apologising and exclaiming that they would never even suggest such a thing and that they were just being too overprotective. Two of the most fearless men Jeongin knew cowering before a doctor that they had only met once.

Yes, Jeongin was intrigued. 

“I’ll be fine guys. Don’t worry so much.”

It was enough to sate their worries for now it seemed when both young men sat back down and nodded their heads when Seungmin told them that they’d finish up in about ten or fifteen minutes. 

Just before Seungmin left the room, Chan called the doctor back and handed him the ingredients that he had asked for from the apothecary shop a day prior. With a small bow of thanks towards the captain, Seungmin gestured silently for Jeongin to follow him out. 

Jeongin was led up a set of stairs, getting a weird sense of deja vu but it hit him that this was probably where he had been taken in his daze last night. He bowed rigidly when Seungmin gestured for him to walk in first and take a seat in the middle of the room whilst Seungmin took up a chart in his hand and began scribbling notes down on it. 

“Well, I think it’s safe to say that the treatment is working. How are you feeling overall?” 

Yes, Jeongin registered the question. Yes, he knew how to speak and respond to said question. Yes, Jeongin was a functional human being who could converse with another human being like Seungmin. 

But did that stop him from weirdly staring at the doctor with his mouth hanging open as the glow from the lamp behind the doctor somehow created a perfect halo behind the young man’s head?

No, no it did not. 

“What? Is there something on my face?” Seungmin asked worriedly as he began to pat his cheeks to find whatever it was that had captured Jeongin’s attention. 

“Aren’t you a little cute to be a doctor?”

Sometimes, on a very rare occasion, there is a moment created by time when someone says something so outrageously unexpected that it causes everyone and everything to freeze for just a few seconds to properly register what exactly had just been said. 

Now, one may think that this particular compliment was Jeongin’s way of shamelessly flirting with the very attractive doctor, that he was shooting his shot and seeing if anything more would come out of it. The problem was that calling the doctor cute was not what Jeongin had initially meant to say. Apparently, his brain thought it would be funny to embarrass him by slipping in that particular piece of praise instead of what Jeongin actually planned on saying. 

And when the cook realised what had happened, mostly from the dumbstruck look on Seungmin’s face as he continued to hold onto his cheeks from earlier, Jeongin could literally feel the blood rushing to his head to provide his cheeks with an abundance of colour, just to make sure that Seungmin knew of his embarrassment. 

“Young! I meant young! Aren’t you a little…young to…be a doctor…”

Seungmin didn’t take offence to the slip up, merely laughing at Jeongin as the other’s head hung low and he mumbled to himself about how stupid he was for carelessly blurting something out like that. To show him a little bit of mercy, Seungmin moved past Jeongin’s blunder and answered what he had really wanted to ask in the first place. 

“I suppose I am. Say ‘ahhh’,” Seungmin gestured by opening his own mouth before examining Jeongin’s throat. 

“Were you like eight when you started studying?”

To make complete sense of it and assuming that Seungmin wasn’t some kind of underground doctor that never actually got his medical licence and was practising illegally, Jeongin knew that he must have been training for close to thirteen or fourteen years. 

When Seungmin placed the stethoscope on Jeongin’s back and told him to take a few deep breaths, Jeongin could see the small frown on Seungmin’s face before he gave a little shake of his head. For a moment, Jeongin was worried that something was wrong with him but as Seungmin answered, it was clear that he had been thinking back to what age he started studying to become a doctor.   

“Nah, probably closer to six.”

“What?! That’s insanity!” 

And it was. It was complete insanity. As Jeongin remembered it, he had only been entering his first year of elementary school when he was six years old and here Seungmin was trying to tell him that he had already started his studies on the path to becoming a doctor. 

Not that Jeongin doubted he was telling the truth. From the treatment he had received last night and the careful check up he was currently going through, he could tell that Seungmin was very good at what he did and that it wouldn’t surprise him if Seungmin had been doing this for as long as he was claiming to be. 

“This might hurt a little.”

Jeongin was so lost inside of his head trying to make sense of this whole situation that he nearly missed how Seungmin had tied a band around his arm and pricked it with a needle to begin drawing blood. 

Contrary to what he had been coughing up the last couple of days, Jeongin was surprised to see that his blood had taken on its regular crimson sheen again. The black poison that had been running through his veins only a day earlier was nowhere to be seen. Seungmin gently shook the vial of blood before dropping a clear looking liquid into it, not noticing any changes, which could only mean something good when Seungmin smiled at the results. 

“Did you always want to become a doctor,” Jeongin hesitated, wanting to know more about Seungmin but not wanting to make the other feel uncomfortable by asking questions that were over the line of their patient and doctor relationship. 

Though, he may have already done that by calling Seungmin cute earlier. 

“I was never really given another option. My grandmother helped me a lot though. She was one of the best doctors out there. She passed away five years ago,” Seungmin smiled wistfully, clearly recalling a memory from times past. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok. It was a peaceful passing for her. I just miss her a hell of a lot. Have a lot of problems with my family at home and I wish she was with me to-”

Nearly dropping the vial in his hands, Seungmin’s whole body shook when he caught himself spilling intimate information in front of a patient like some kind of rookie. Always separate the personal and professional parts of your life when dealing with those you are treating. Dropping his head and placing Jeongin’s blood into a holder to dispose of later, Seungmin scoffed at himself for becoming so comfortable in Jeongin’s presence that he wanted to blurt out all of his burdens to this poor unfortunate boy who probably just wanted to go home as quickly as possible. 

“Wow, that got too personal too quickly. I apologise.”

“Don’t. I don’t mind listening to you.” 

Such a simple and probably passing statement but Seungmin couldn’t help but feel a warmth spreading through his heart upon hearing that Jeongin would willingly sit here and listen to him about absolutely anything, even the tough subject of the problems he was having with his family. 

It had been a long time since anybody had listened to him outside of his professional capacity. 

Seungmin felt like he hadn’t been heard in years. 

“Well, everything seems good. The poison is completely flushed from your system. You won’t have to come back to see me again.”

Jeongin didn’t like that statement at all. This couldn’t be the last time that Jeongin ever saw Seungmin. He didn’t want it to be the last time. He liked the doctor and, yes, he would admit that he may have already developed a little bit of a crush on Seungmin but it wasn’t just because he had saved his life last night. The young man was unfairly smart, kind and generous by treating people for free and Jeongin couldn’t forget to mention the beautiful brown eyes or the dazzling smile that drew him in in the first place. How could anyone not be enamoured by him?

In his still slightly dazed mind, Jeongin did whatever he could to try and make sure that this wouldn’t be the last time that he saw Seungmin. 

Of course, he realised that he could simply ask Seungmin out outside of his work hours but Jeongin pondered the idea that, if Seungmin was working late hours like this, it more than likely meant that he slept throughout the day or even had another job here on the island since he wasn’t really supposed to have this one and he certainly wasn’t getting paid in providing his services here. Seungmin already looked a little tired and Jeongin didn’t want to basically guilt trip him into finding some time in his busy schedule just so that they could talk some more. 

There was also the added downside of being straight up turned down that Jeongin did not want to deal with.