Expectations: Change of Heart Part 2 of 3
Title: Expectations
Adventure Six: Change of Heart Part 2 of 3
Author: Aquariuslover
Pairings: Yunjae, KyuWook, Various Other Pairings
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Science Fiction, Humor, Romance
Beta: unicornsinger
A/N: This story is inspired by Star Trek. The crew of the Expectations will be made up of members of DBSK and Super Junior. Instead of chapters the story will be broken up in adventures.
Summary: After a trip to a planet dedicated to the joy of sex, some crew members find themselves unexpectedly transformed. Jaejoong discovers the secret to Changmin’s heart. Romance and lust run amok on the Starship Expectations as unlikely couples unite.
Prior Adventures
“I can’t thank you enough,” Sungmin told Siwon as he paused from his workout with the other man to grab some water.
“There is no need to thank me. I’m always happy to assist you, Lieutenant.”
“Let’s take a break,” Sungmin said, running his hand through his wet, sweaty hair as he sat down on the floor. “It’s just so strange being like this, but if I’m going to be stuck like this for any amount of time…I need to make sure I can still defend myself.”
Siwon sat down beside the security chief, careful to keep a short distance between them. Siwon slightly grimaced as he rubbed his shoulder. “You are more than capable of defending yourself, I assure you.”
“Sorry about that,” Sungmin said, wincing in sympathy as he reached over and touched the other man’s shoulder. “I threw you really hard.”
“You were not as weak as you believed yourself to be. Your female form is still a force to be reckoned with.”
Sungmin pulled his arm away. “Yes, it appears so…I just needed to test myself, and I didn’t want to do it with just anybody.”
“As you know I’m always here to serve you, Lieutenant. I am eager to provide you with any assistance you might need,” Siwon told Sungmin, not taking his eyes off of him.
“This isn’t about you feeling responsible for me…is it? You know I disapprove of that outdated notion of yours. You saved my life; you aren’t responsible for it.”
Siwon just smiled back, not saying a word.
“I didn’t choose you for that reason. This is about you being a perfect gentleman, and I knew you wouldn’t give me any grief about suddenly being a woman,” Sungmin quickly explained.
Siwon forced himself to look away from the beautiful woman that was his boss…who was really a man. “I am glad you can trust me.”
“Well, I feel like I can.”
“You can.”
“I’m glad,” Sungmin told the handsome prince, who was staring at the wall opposite of them. “Is it strange for you to look at me?”
Siwon looked back at Sungmin and confessed, “I am a man, and you are suddenly a very beautiful, attractive woman. As much as Heechul would like to believe otherwise, I am firmly heterosexual.”
Sungmin darted his eyes away from Siwon, suddenly feeling the sexual tension.
“I know logically that you are still a man, and my boss…but sometimes the body doesn’t respond to logic,” Siwon continued to explain.
“Oh, I am sorry…I just…didn’t realize,” Sungmin responded, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
Siwon reached out took Sungmin’s hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “There isn’t any need for you to be sorry. You haven’t done anything wrong. My reaction is only natural; it isn’t anything either of us should apologize for.”
Now Sungmin blushed. “But I had you working out with me all morning…there was so much touching…and sweat. I thought you were a little off your game, but I thought you were just going easy on me due to my new female status. I am not usually so dense.”
“You embarrassment is touching, but completely unnecessary.”
Sungmin rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and asked, “So completely heterosexual…Heechul won’t be happy?”
“Aww, but Heechul sees himself as a woman, so he won’t see any problem in my being heterosexual,” Siwon said with a chuckle.
Sungmin smiled bittersweetly at the handsome man. “My heart always breaks for Heechul. He was so brilliant. He was so young and already the Chief Medical Officer on a star ship.”
Siwon’s eyes softened as he looked at Sungmin. “Sometimes it’s so easy for me to forget the tragedy you all suffered…the ship functions so efficiently that sometimes I forget the great burden of loss it carries.”
“We didn’t have time to mourn at first; we had to act fast, or we all would have been lost. Only afterwards did we have time to look upon the tragedy that we were left with…so many dead. In the instant that the black hole sucked us in…so much was lost,” Sungmin explained, feeling his eyes fill with tears as he recalled those most horrific of days.
Siwon scooted closer to Sungmin, letting go of his hand. Siwon then wrapped a comforting arm around Sungmin and gave him gentle hug.
Sungmin swallowed back his sorrow and continued, not moving away. “We lost so much. I think we were at risk of losing everything, but the then the captain stepped up. I don’t know what Yunho is made of, but I do know he saved us all. He pushed us, trusted us, and loved us…until we were strong again.”
“I think you give him too much credit.”
Sungmin looked at Siwon, alarmed at his words. “No, I don’t. I will always be grateful, and completely loyal to Yunho.”
“I am not discrediting anything that the captain did. I just think it was more than the act of one man. He couldn’t have done it without people like you…supporting him,” Siwon explained, moving his arm away from Sungmin’s shoulder, and reaching down and taking his hand again.
“I think you underestimate him. He has a way of getting the most difficult and unusual people to work together and to excel at it.”
Siwon nodded his head, not letting go of Sungmin’s hand. “Perhaps, you are correct. Mostly the captain I have been witness to has been shrouded by the glow of romantic love.”
“Ah, you have only seen the captain happily in love, and not spurred into action as the whole ship is in peril.”
“And I’m perfectly fine with that…but I am envious of his love.”
Sungmin found he was unreasonably pleased, as he gave the prince a perplexed look. “You are. Jae is technically a male.”
“No, not because of Jae, but of the love they share,” Siwon quickly explained, shaking his head quickly to deny an amorous feelings for the Joong.
“Siwon, you were on your way to get married,” Sungmin suddenly realized, squeezing Siwon’s hand in sympathy.
“I was, but I was not marrying for love.”
“You weren’t?”
“No, I was marrying for peace. For the continuing peace of two worlds.”
Sungmin frowned. “I’m sorry.”
“Is peace not a noble enough reason to marry?”
“You don’t think one should marry for love?”
“Oh, I think love is a wonderful reason to marry, but it was not an option open to me,” Siwon conceded.
“Was there somebody else…somebody you would have rather married?” Sungmin asked, immediately curious.
“As a prince, I was never lacking for company.”
Sungmin laughed at Siwon’s honesty. “I don’t think you would have ever lacked for company, no matter what you were…you are the very definition of drop dead gorgeous.”
“As you are in any form, male or female,” Siwon pointed out, still aware of the hand in his as he stared back at Sungmin.
Sungmin swallowed as he looked nervously back at the attractive man, who did not bother to hide the desire in his eyes now. “I should be going…the crew is starting to wake up now. I don’t want to cause a scene.”
Siwon released Sungmin’s hand and smiled at him knowingly. “If that is your wish.”
Sungmin quickly got up. “Yeah, I think that would be smart. They can’t help themselves from looking, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it…so I am going to go.”
“As you wish,” Siwon said as he stood up and watched Sungmin nervously pull on his shirt’s neckline. “Remember, I am always at your disposal.”
Sungmin cursed himself for the heat he felt spreading across his body and the sudden urge to throw himself at the man. “I am going to go now…thanks for the workout,” Sungmin sputtered and quickly left the room.
*****************
The next morning Changmin paused before entering the Ship’s Galley, debating if it was a wise idea, but the smell that came wafting out of the room ended any such hesitation. Changmin walked through the doors to find his father sitting at the table sipping on a cup of coffee as he looked over the ship’s report logs. Jaejoong was in the galley’s massive kitchen, cooking.
Yunho looked up and smiled at his son who had just entered the room, “Good morning, Changmin.”
“One can hope,” Changmin replied, finding that feeling of hesitation creeping up on him again. “Is there a reason the morning briefing has been postponed ‘til 0900?”
Yunho looked up from his reports to eye Jaejoong in the kitchen. “Jaejoong woke up me up at 3am to inform me that if I weren’t a horrible, terrible person, then I would allow the Chos to sleep in.”
“This would explain why Kyuhyun missed our early morning chess game.”
“At 3am I will agree to almost anything as long as I can go back to bed.”
“So, have they resumed their sexual activities?” Changmin asked.
“No,” Jaejoong answered from behind the stove.
“Then, why did we postpone the briefing?” Yunho asked, perplexed.
Jaejoong shook his head as he walked to the table with a pot of coffee and grabbed Yunho’s coffee cup and refilled it. “I shouldn’t be telling you two this…but they just needed to hold each other.”
“No, you should not be telling us this…you shouldn’t know this,” Yunho agreed as he picked up his fresh cup of coffee.
“Ryeowook is my friend, so if I get woken up by his intense feelings…then it isn’t my fault,” Jaejoong explained.
“You are not any better than Yoochun,” Yunho pointed out, remembering his old friend watching them while he had been invisible. “It’s a huge violation of privacy.”
“Yunho!”
“Jaejoong, don’t give me the innocent act. I know you can shut people out if you want to…you eavesdropped on them. Or you wouldn’t know they didn’t have sex, and that they just needed to hold each other,” Yunho firmly told him.
Jaejoong walked back to the stove. “You think you know everything.”
“I know you,” Yunho reminded him. “For countless lifetimes it seems.”
“Well, you don’t know this. I listen in on Kyuhyun at times,” Jaejoong told Yunho smugly.
“Why? Are you spying for Ryeowook?” Yunho questioned.
Jaejoong picked up a red, round piece of fruit that resembled a plum, and threw it at Yunho. “I will have you know! That your commander is plagued by horrible nightmares…and I shouldn’t have told you that, but, you see, I can stop them for him. Just a little nudge with my mind and they go away.”
Changmin, who was aware of Kyuhyun’s nightmares, turned to Jaejoong and looked at him in a new light. “That is extremely kind of you, but extremely inappropriate.”
“But we aren’t going to tell anybody,” Yunho added, smiling at his son.
“No, we won’t,” Changmin concurred.
Yunho patted the seat beside him, motioning for Changmin to take the seat. “Jae’s making breakfast; why don’t you join us?”
Jaejoong agreed, “Yes, please do. There is plenty.”
“If you insist,” Changmin answered as he sat down beside Yunho. “Can I ask why you are cooking?”
Yunho explained for Jaejoong, “When the Guardian took us on the past lives trip, in one of Jae’s lives-”
“In one of our lives,” Jaejoong interrupted, correcting his lover.
“In one of our lives, Jae was cooking something…he doesn’t even know what it was, but it awakened some latent desire to cook,” Yunho explained. “Then Ryeowook encouraged him by giving him cooking lessons.”
Jaejoong, who was happily stirring, said proudly, “And someday I will be a better cook than Ryeowook.”
“Ryeowook is a very accomplished cook, although he has not been cooking much since he returned from his year long stay on the planet, or perhaps he has just not informed me,” Changmin said, irritated. He was well aware that Ryeowook had hosted a dinner weeks ago and did not invite him.
“Because you would eat everything,” Yunho said, amused.
“Not everything,” Changmin insisted.
Yunho looked back down at his reports, and mumbled, “Yoochun put four people on report last night?”
“For what reasons?” Changmin asked, leaning over to look at the report. “Commander Yoochun was not restricting himself to sickbay…one would hope it had nothing to due with his newly feminine form.”
“You think they attacked him?” Jaejoong asked, shocked, as he looked over the counter at his son and mate. “You should just throw their sorry asses out into open space. I can’t deal with rapists. When I shift again, I’m not putting up with that shit from your crew. I have never been raped, and I would like to keep it that way.”
Yunho and Changmin had matching stunned looks on their faces as they listened to Jaejoong’s rant.
“For centuries Joongs have been kidnapped, tortured, and raped in hopes that we would be so miserable that we would do anything to escape the agony. These monsters believed that we would bond with our tormenters and save ourselves from the torture,” Jaejoong continued in a voice full of venom. “I was able to resist, but others were not so lucky.
Yunho recovered first. “There isn’t any rapist on this ship. Such behavior is not condoned in Star Fleet or the Federation. Yoochun put them on report for gross negligence.”
“Because the EPS conduits system check failed to meet his extremely high standards by only 2%,” Changmin added a he read the report. “It appears that Commander Yoochun ordered multiple tests late last night in engineering.”
“See, no rape,” Yunho told Jaejoong, who was looking slightly embarrassed by his outbursts.”
Jaejoong looked down at the food he was cooking. “Good.”
“I’m curious,” Changmin told Jaejoong. “If all Joongs are as highly telepathic as you are…how does one get kidnapped?”
Before answering Changmin, Jaejoong looked accusingly at Yunho and moved toward the table, placing three plates and silverware on it. “Maybe they are in the company of others, who judge them for using their telepathic abilities. For instance, my latest outbursts would not have occurred if I had been reading your minds. I would have known what happened in engineering.”
“Oh, whatever,” Yunho snorted in disbelief as Jaejoong walked back in the kitchen. “You didn’t read my mind, because I can tell when you do it, and you want me to eat breakfast without an attitude.” Yunho turned to look at Changmin. “And for some reason, you respect Changmin’s privacy and don’t read his mind.”
“Which I am very grateful for, and I wish for this respect of my privacy to continue,” Changmin quickly added.
“But if somebody else had been here…you would have read them so fast,” Yunho continued.
Jaejoong walked over and placed a bowl of food on the table. “You think you know me so well.”
“I do know you so well,” Yunho told him as Jaejoong served them.
“Fruit…and is that eggs?” Changmin asked as he eyed the food that Jaejoong had placed on his plate. Before Jaejoong could answer him, Changmin stuffed his mouth full of the food.
“Yes, and they are what you call scrabbled eggs, but I added some extra ingredients to them,” Jaejoong answered as he returned to the kitchen. “They were made from the eggs we had in stasis from Trysor. There is also toast.”
“They are very eatable, but I have another question,” Changmin said as he put more eggs in his mouth.
Jaejoong placed a stack of buttered toast on the middle of the table and sat down beside Yunho. “Go ahead.”
“If a Joong did allow themselves to get kidnapped…why would you allow yourself to stay kidnapped? Could you not just manipulate the kidnapper’s mind or incapacitate them?”
“Their telepathy doesn’t work on all species the same…for instance the Zusaders,” Yunho reminded Changmin.
“True, but there are also devices in this galaxy that limit a Joong’s telepathic ability, and horrible people like the Warlord ZhouMi have such devices at their disposal,” Jaejoong explained. ‘That’s how he held me for so long.”
Changmin pondered Jaejoong’s words as he grabbed four slices of toast. “Such a device would be very difficult to create. When we encountered the Warlord’s ship…it didn’t seem that technologically advanced…how were they able to devise such a device?”
“They didn’t. There are only a few of those devices left in existence. They are thousands of years old, and many believe them to be of Joong origin.”
“Why would the Joongs create such a device that would limit them?” Yunho asked, surprised.
“The Joong race is peaceful now, but in the past there have been Joongs who needed controlling. There is nothing a Joong wouldn’t do to protect its mate, and our history has showed that sometimes that desperation has led to terrifying consequences.”
“So, your world is technologically advanced?” Changmin asked.
Jaejoong looked at Changmin and answered honestly, “There was once a great race in this galaxy that was highly technologically advanced, but they also had great powers of the mind. They were the beings that created the Guardians billions of years ago. It has been widely believed for millions of years that most of those beings evolved onto a higher plane of existence, but it is also believed that some of them devolved themselves into the Joong.”
Changmin’s eyes widened. “And this is why the Guardians obey the Joong.”
“They do not obey us, but they do allow us to travel through them, and they will communicate with us,” Jaejoong explained.
“So your people are technologically advanced?” Changmin questioned again.
Jaejoong shook his head. “No, not at all. The planet is very primitive by your standards. Technology is not embraced on the Joong home world.”
“No wonder you get along with Ryeowook so easily,” Yunho couldn’t help but add.
Changmin tried not to sneer in dislike. How any race could forgo technology and the scientific advances it brought was something he would never understand. “So, no Joong has any interest in science?”
“I didn’t say that,” Jaejoong quickly answered. “If they do have such a desire, they do it off of the planet. There is a Guardian on the planet, and if it approves of the request, a Joong can travel anywhere it likes. There are many rogue Joongs who give up the home world in search of something else.”
“Could rogue Joongs have created the machine down on the planet that turned the away team into females?” Yunho asked.
“That is a highly probable conclusion. Joongs are apparently very intelligent, considering how quickly you adapted to this ship.” Changmin said pointing to Jaejoong.
“I bonded with your father, so that explains my easy adaption,” Jaejoong reminded Changmin.
Changmin shook his head, dismissing Jaejoong’s reasons. “Also in class, even though you were resistant to the idea of being in class, you grasped concepts very quickly. I also assume there are Joongs more intelligent than you are.”
“Yes, there are smarter Joongs.”
“And if the Guardian allows Joongs to travel in time, a very intelligent Joong could travel to a place and time of great technological advancement. A Joong with their powers of telepathy could quickly understand the science involved, and bring that knowledge to this time and age,” Changmin explained, unable to hide his excitement at the mere possibility.
Yunho narrowed his eyes at Changmin. “You are never allowed near a Guardian.”
Changmin rolled his eyes at his father. “I am not a Joong, so unfortunately it would have no use for me. I can’t help but imagine the limitless scientific discoveries I could make.”
“It would be cheating,” Yunho told Changmin, loving to tease his son. Jaejoong found himself watching them. It felt so right, being with the two of them, but Changmin was so smart, and Yunho’s abilities grew everyday. How long before the mental handicaps he had placed in their minds crumbled, and they realized the truth?
Changmin gave Yunho an offended look. “Science is an ongoing process that is the combination of many collective works from many great scientists…it would not be cheating.”
“The time traveling is what makes it cheating,” Yunho insisted. “But there is a more important question here. Why would a race of hermaphrodites create the machine down on the planet? They get the best of both words; it isn’t like they would need it.”
“Maybe a Joong just wanted to be one gender,” Changmin suggested, focusing on Jaejoong. “You are male now …because Yunho preferred you that way. Do Joongs normally stay hermaphrodites?”
“I still don’t think I preferred him that-”
“Absolutely not,” Jaejoong answered Changmin, interrupting Yunho’s denial. “Unbonded Joongs are hermaphrodites, and Joongs that are…” Jaejoong trailed off, realizing who he was talking to. Jaejoong opened his mind, reaching out, carefully avoiding both Yunho and Changmin’s minds, as he searched for an interruption.
“Shifting?” Yunho finished.
Jaejoong swallowed, trying to hide his nerves. “Yes, there are times in a Joong’s life when they revert back to their hermaphrodite form, but other than that time, bonded Joongs can take on the male or female form, depending on the preferences of their mate.”
“What is the purpose of shifting?” Changmin asked.
Jaejoong ducked under the table to avoid Changmin’s intelligent gaze and pretended to scratch his leg. “It’s just what Joongs do.”
“Just what Joongs do,” Yunho repeated, immediately suspicious.
“Yes,” Jaejoong said, sitting back up in his chair. “So how did you like breakfast, Changmin?”
“It tastes much better than synthesized food,” Changmin admitted.
The door to the galley opened and Heechul and Yoochun strolled in. Yoochun barked, “So, you are eating without me.”
Heechul smiled and sat down beside Changmin, batting his eyelashes. “Oh, look, it’s like a cozy family gathering.”
Jaejoong laughed nervously; Heechul made him nervous. The man’s thoughts were erratic and difficult to track…and the brilliance underneath that demented mind was very formidable.
“Do you mind?” Yoochun asked as he sat down next to Heechul and grabbed the bowl of scrambled eggs.
“No,” both Yunho and Jaejoong answered. They had finished their breakfast already.
“Yes,” Changmin answered, giving Yoochun the stink eye.
Yoochun reached across the table and grabbed the fork that Yunho had been using. “You already ate, you selfish pig.”
Heechul grabbed a piece of toast and smiled at the faces that Yoochun and Changmin were making at each other. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
“Is it?” Jaejoong asked.
Heechul nodded his head. “It is. I know, because I’m as brilliant as I am beautiful.”
“Why are you two together? Did you make up? Are you friends again?” Yunho blurted out, pointing at Yoochun and Heechul. The last time he had seen them together, he had to separate them, because Heechul had gone…well, Heechul had gone more insane then usual. Heechul saw himself as the princess of the ship, and he was not happy about the five newly female crew members.
“I’ve decided it’s best to keep my eye on this one,” Heechul enlightened them, while giving Yoochun a suspicious look.
Yoochun swallowed his mouthful of food and told them all, “Like I’ve had time to enjoy this body; those imbeciles I have working in engineering thought they could slack off yesterday, just because I suddenly have boobs.”
“I saw where you put four people on report…gross negligence. Do you think you were being a little harsh? It was only 2%,” Yunho inquired of his chief engineer.
“No, I don’t think I was being harsh. It isn’t like we can pull up to a star base and get a new warp core. We have to take perfect care of this one. Even after a year, I still have to constantly ride them. Commander Ivy was a sorry excuse for a chief engineer, and I have to rid them of all her bad habits,” Yoochun stated matter of factually.
“Yoochun…” Yunho warned.
“Hey, I know you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but it’s the honest truth,” Yoochun informed them. “I really have no clue how she got the job.”
“You hold everybody to your high standards, therefore you think 91.3% of all engineers are sorry,” Changmin pointed out to him.
“True,” Yoochun conceded.
Yunho smiled back at him. “I really don’t mind having a perfectionist as my chief engineer; actually, I feel really blessed.”
“Don’t flirt with me just because I’m a woman now,” Yoochun told Yunho. “It’s mean to tease me, because I don’t think your boyfriend is the sharing type.”
“I’m not,” Jaejoong quickly informed him.
Yunho just shook his head in exasperation, “I am not flirting with you.”
Yoochun winked at Yunho. “Such a shame, since you have hidden Ensign Junsu away from me,” Yoochun told Yunho, then turned to face Heechul. “Dear friend, don’t you think that’s cruel of him to stick poor Junsu on the night tour?”
“I wish you would remember that we are not friends while you inhabit that slutty body,” Heechul proclaimed, with a mouth full of toast.
“Excuse me, I am not slutty!” Yoochun denied, but when the whole table started laughing, he quickly added, “Well, not in this body, I’m not!”
Heechul scrutinized him closely. “Not yet, you mean.”
“Well, it isn’t like I have any intention of keeping my hymen intact, especially if I’m stuck in this form. But I’m not just going to let anybody pop it,” Yoochun informed Heechul.
Yunho covered his face with his hands.
“For his sake, I hope his first time having vaginal sex is better than mine,” Jaejoong sent mentally to Yunho.
Yunho’s hands dropped from his face as it turned bright red. “That was your fault!”
“My fault?”
“Yes, you had me drowning in pheromones…there wasn’t any foreplay! I have had sex with plenty of women, and none of them have ever complained!”
Jaejoong’s eyes narrowed. “Really? Plenty of women, huh?”
“Before I knew you.”
“You always knew my soul! We have a timeless love!”
“I…I…I didn’t know, that I knew it!”
“Excuses!”
“It isn’t an excuse, it’s the truth-” Yunho stopped his mental argument with Jaejoong when Changmin elbowed him. Yunho’s awareness of his surroundings returned, and he immediately noticed that Heechul was standing up, hovering over Yoochun with a fork in his hand.
“Listen here, bitch! If you go near my prince! I will scratch your eyes out!” Heechul vowed to Yoochun with fire in his eyes.
Yoochun looked up at Heechul dismissively, and informed him, “I have as much interest in Siwon, as he does in you……as in, none! No interest at all!”
Yunho lunged from his chair, jumping around Changmin to grab Heechul by his arms before he could stab Yoochun’s eyes out. “Heechul,” Yunho reprimanded. “It’s time for us to take a walk.” Heechul glared back at Yoochun, too angry for words, as Yunho dragged him away from the table. “Heechul and I are going to go for walk. I will see the rest of you at the briefing.”
“Should I go with you?”
“No, I have a better chance of calming him down on my own.”
“Where are you taking him?”
“I am going to have to put him with Leeteuk…’til he calms down.”
Changmin watched as Yunho took Heechul out of the room with sorrow in his eyes. He then turned to Jaejoong. “Is it safe for Yunho to go alone?”
Jaejoong nodded his head. “I will be listening, but I don’t think Heechul would try to hurt Yunho.”
“Also, Yunho wouldn’t be stupid enough to antagonize Heechul either,” Changmin said, admonishing Yoochun. “Especially knowing what a struggle it is for Heechul to even function at this level.”
Yoochun recoiled as Changmin’s words struck home, and asked in a remorseful voice, “Is he putting him with Leeteuk?”
“Yes,” Jaejoong answered as he got up from the table and started collecting dirty dishes.
Yoochun shrank back in his chair. “He hates being locked up…I am such an asshole.”
Changmin just stared at Yoochun’s guilty face, and stood up. “We need to head for the briefing, and we need to focus on the problem at hand.”
“Agreed,” Yoochun said, getting up from his seat.
************
The lights in the room came on, and the ship’s computer greeted them in its overly efficient voice, “Good Morning Commander and Doctor Cho.”
Kyuhyun and Ryeowook groaned at the same time. Kyuhyun tugged Ryeowook closer to him, causing the smaller man to bury his face in Kyuhyun’s chest. The both of them completely relaxed in each other’s arms, refusing to let reality intrude on them.
Kyuhyun buried his head in Ryeowook’s hair and just inhaled the scent of his husband. How long had it been since Ryeowook had been so acquiescent with him? He couldn’t believe his luck, but he reminded himself to be careful. It was a wonderful feeling, waking up with the one you loved, and he didn’t want to squander it by giving into lust that would most likely not be greeted with enthusiasm.
Still, he couldn’t resist allowing his hands to gently and softly touch the body next to him. How he missed his husband and the feel of his body. Kyuhyun’s hand slipped under Ryeowook’s shirt and started to explore the other man’s chest, when he came to sudden stop.
“Fuck!” Kyuhyun exclaimed, jumping back like a frightened child.
Ryeowook, who had not been sleeping as soundly as Kyuhyun had thought, snorted in amusement and grabbed the covers and pulled them up over his head.
Kyuhyun calmed his heart and stared down at the bundle under the covers that was his husband. “It isn’t funny.”
“Oh, believe me, it is hilarious,” Ryeowook told him, giggling from underneath the covers.
Kyuhyun pulled the covers away from Ryeowook’s face. “It’s a little bothersome that I’m more bothered by your female parts…than you are?”
“I’m a doctor. I’m not afraid of a pair of boobs or a vagina,” Ryeowook explained as he sat up, and for pure meanness sake, grabbed both of his breasts to emphasis his point.
“Stop it!” Kyuhyun exclaimed, covering his eyes with his hands.
Ryeowook fell back on the bed, laughing at Kyuhyun. “You are such a retard.”
Kyuhyun uncovered his eyes and pressed his lips together, as he watched Ryeowook roll around on the bed, laughing at his expense.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let the boobies get you,” Ryeowook sniggered, unable to control his fit of the giggles. Kyuhyun pounced on Ryeowook without warning, causing the other man to yelp, “Kyuhyun!”
“I was just thinking, I’ve never willingly kissed a girl before,” Kyuhyun told Ryeowook, staring down possessively.
Ryeowook swallowed nervously, noticing the change in his husband. “Well, considering your phobia of all womanly body parts, it isn’t surprising.”
“Do I look afraid now?” Kyuhyun asked, straddling Ryeowook and bringing the other man’s arms up over his head where he held them tightly by the wrist.
Ryeowook just shook his head.
“I am going to kiss you.”
“You don’t like girls.”
Kyuhyun leaned down closer to Ryeowook’s face. “I don’t like girls, but I love you,” Kyuhyun told him, full of determination, as he reached down and pressed his lips against Ryeowook’s.
Ryeowook cursed himself when he didn’t feign outrage and pull away, but no, instead, he was the one opening his mouth and deepening the kiss. Ryeowook knew he was in deep trouble when Kyuhyun loosened the grip on his wrists, and instead of taking the opportunity to escape, he found himself reaching up to entwine his arms around Kyuhyun’s neck and drawing him closer.
“I don’t think so,” Kyuhyun said, pulling away from the kiss and Ryeowook’s hold on him.
“What?” Ryeowook asked, stunned.
Kyuhyun wiped his mouth with obvious dislike. “Did you even brush your teeth yesterday?”
Ryeowook jumped up quickly, accidentally butting Kyuhyun in the head when he did. “I…I gotta get out of here!”
Kyuhyun, who was holding his tender head with one hand, grabbed Ryeowook with the other. “Hey, I will happily make out with you as soon as you brush your teeth. I just can’t handle you as a girl and having bad breath…it’s a little much.”
“You are the most horrible person I know!” Ryeowook cried out as he tried to jerk free of Kyuhyun.
“Calm down, I think I might have a concussion,” Kyuhyun said, still holding his head with one hand.
Ryeowook, with a burst of strength, broke free of Kyuhyun and yelled at him, “I hope you do! You better pray Heechul has a moment of lucidity, or you are going to be up shit’s creek without a paddle!
Kyuhyun looked up at the irate woman from where he sat on the bed and repeated, “Up shit’s creek without a paddle…who says that?”
“Now you’re mocking me? You are the sorriest-”
The chirp of Commander Cho’s insignia on the bedside table stopped Ryeowook’s rant.
“Commander, the briefing has started,” the captain’s voice could be heard saying.
Kyuhyun grabbed his insignia. “Captain, I will be right there.”
“I will see you when you arrive, Commander,” the captain replied before ending the connection.
“Computer, what time is it?” Ryeowook asked, suddenly curious, forgetting his tirade for the moment.
“The time is 0905hrs,” the computer replied.
“Five after nine!” Ryeowook shouted. “I told it to wake me up at 0530!”
“Computer, who ordered you to change the time of the wake up call?” Kyuhyun demanded of the computer.
“Captain Jung Yunho,” the computer answered.
Ryeowook clenched his fist together, and grumbled under his breath. “That damn Joong!”
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Kyuhyun cussed as he started stripping off to jump in the sonic shower.
Ryeowook stormed from the quarters, not bothering to shower or change.
Part Three
Adventure Six: Change of Heart Part 2 of 3
Author: Aquariuslover
Pairings: Yunjae, KyuWook, Various Other Pairings
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Science Fiction, Humor, Romance
Beta: unicornsinger
A/N: This story is inspired by Star Trek. The crew of the Expectations will be made up of members of DBSK and Super Junior. Instead of chapters the story will be broken up in adventures.
Summary: After a trip to a planet dedicated to the joy of sex, some crew members find themselves unexpectedly transformed. Jaejoong discovers the secret to Changmin’s heart. Romance and lust run amok on the Starship Expectations as unlikely couples unite.
Prior Adventures
“I can’t thank you enough,” Sungmin told Siwon as he paused from his workout with the other man to grab some water.
“There is no need to thank me. I’m always happy to assist you, Lieutenant.”
“Let’s take a break,” Sungmin said, running his hand through his wet, sweaty hair as he sat down on the floor. “It’s just so strange being like this, but if I’m going to be stuck like this for any amount of time…I need to make sure I can still defend myself.”
Siwon sat down beside the security chief, careful to keep a short distance between them. Siwon slightly grimaced as he rubbed his shoulder. “You are more than capable of defending yourself, I assure you.”
“Sorry about that,” Sungmin said, wincing in sympathy as he reached over and touched the other man’s shoulder. “I threw you really hard.”
“You were not as weak as you believed yourself to be. Your female form is still a force to be reckoned with.”
Sungmin pulled his arm away. “Yes, it appears so…I just needed to test myself, and I didn’t want to do it with just anybody.”
“As you know I’m always here to serve you, Lieutenant. I am eager to provide you with any assistance you might need,” Siwon told Sungmin, not taking his eyes off of him.
“This isn’t about you feeling responsible for me…is it? You know I disapprove of that outdated notion of yours. You saved my life; you aren’t responsible for it.”
Siwon just smiled back, not saying a word.
“I didn’t choose you for that reason. This is about you being a perfect gentleman, and I knew you wouldn’t give me any grief about suddenly being a woman,” Sungmin quickly explained.
Siwon forced himself to look away from the beautiful woman that was his boss…who was really a man. “I am glad you can trust me.”
“Well, I feel like I can.”
“You can.”
“I’m glad,” Sungmin told the handsome prince, who was staring at the wall opposite of them. “Is it strange for you to look at me?”
Siwon looked back at Sungmin and confessed, “I am a man, and you are suddenly a very beautiful, attractive woman. As much as Heechul would like to believe otherwise, I am firmly heterosexual.”
Sungmin darted his eyes away from Siwon, suddenly feeling the sexual tension.
“I know logically that you are still a man, and my boss…but sometimes the body doesn’t respond to logic,” Siwon continued to explain.
“Oh, I am sorry…I just…didn’t realize,” Sungmin responded, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
Siwon reached out took Sungmin’s hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “There isn’t any need for you to be sorry. You haven’t done anything wrong. My reaction is only natural; it isn’t anything either of us should apologize for.”
Now Sungmin blushed. “But I had you working out with me all morning…there was so much touching…and sweat. I thought you were a little off your game, but I thought you were just going easy on me due to my new female status. I am not usually so dense.”
“You embarrassment is touching, but completely unnecessary.”
Sungmin rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand and asked, “So completely heterosexual…Heechul won’t be happy?”
“Aww, but Heechul sees himself as a woman, so he won’t see any problem in my being heterosexual,” Siwon said with a chuckle.
Sungmin smiled bittersweetly at the handsome man. “My heart always breaks for Heechul. He was so brilliant. He was so young and already the Chief Medical Officer on a star ship.”
Siwon’s eyes softened as he looked at Sungmin. “Sometimes it’s so easy for me to forget the tragedy you all suffered…the ship functions so efficiently that sometimes I forget the great burden of loss it carries.”
“We didn’t have time to mourn at first; we had to act fast, or we all would have been lost. Only afterwards did we have time to look upon the tragedy that we were left with…so many dead. In the instant that the black hole sucked us in…so much was lost,” Sungmin explained, feeling his eyes fill with tears as he recalled those most horrific of days.
Siwon scooted closer to Sungmin, letting go of his hand. Siwon then wrapped a comforting arm around Sungmin and gave him gentle hug.
Sungmin swallowed back his sorrow and continued, not moving away. “We lost so much. I think we were at risk of losing everything, but the then the captain stepped up. I don’t know what Yunho is made of, but I do know he saved us all. He pushed us, trusted us, and loved us…until we were strong again.”
“I think you give him too much credit.”
Sungmin looked at Siwon, alarmed at his words. “No, I don’t. I will always be grateful, and completely loyal to Yunho.”
“I am not discrediting anything that the captain did. I just think it was more than the act of one man. He couldn’t have done it without people like you…supporting him,” Siwon explained, moving his arm away from Sungmin’s shoulder, and reaching down and taking his hand again.
“I think you underestimate him. He has a way of getting the most difficult and unusual people to work together and to excel at it.”
Siwon nodded his head, not letting go of Sungmin’s hand. “Perhaps, you are correct. Mostly the captain I have been witness to has been shrouded by the glow of romantic love.”
“Ah, you have only seen the captain happily in love, and not spurred into action as the whole ship is in peril.”
“And I’m perfectly fine with that…but I am envious of his love.”
Sungmin found he was unreasonably pleased, as he gave the prince a perplexed look. “You are. Jae is technically a male.”
“No, not because of Jae, but of the love they share,” Siwon quickly explained, shaking his head quickly to deny an amorous feelings for the Joong.
“Siwon, you were on your way to get married,” Sungmin suddenly realized, squeezing Siwon’s hand in sympathy.
“I was, but I was not marrying for love.”
“You weren’t?”
“No, I was marrying for peace. For the continuing peace of two worlds.”
Sungmin frowned. “I’m sorry.”
“Is peace not a noble enough reason to marry?”
“You don’t think one should marry for love?”
“Oh, I think love is a wonderful reason to marry, but it was not an option open to me,” Siwon conceded.
“Was there somebody else…somebody you would have rather married?” Sungmin asked, immediately curious.
“As a prince, I was never lacking for company.”
Sungmin laughed at Siwon’s honesty. “I don’t think you would have ever lacked for company, no matter what you were…you are the very definition of drop dead gorgeous.”
“As you are in any form, male or female,” Siwon pointed out, still aware of the hand in his as he stared back at Sungmin.
Sungmin swallowed as he looked nervously back at the attractive man, who did not bother to hide the desire in his eyes now. “I should be going…the crew is starting to wake up now. I don’t want to cause a scene.”
Siwon released Sungmin’s hand and smiled at him knowingly. “If that is your wish.”
Sungmin quickly got up. “Yeah, I think that would be smart. They can’t help themselves from looking, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it…so I am going to go.”
“As you wish,” Siwon said as he stood up and watched Sungmin nervously pull on his shirt’s neckline. “Remember, I am always at your disposal.”
Sungmin cursed himself for the heat he felt spreading across his body and the sudden urge to throw himself at the man. “I am going to go now…thanks for the workout,” Sungmin sputtered and quickly left the room.
*****************
The next morning Changmin paused before entering the Ship’s Galley, debating if it was a wise idea, but the smell that came wafting out of the room ended any such hesitation. Changmin walked through the doors to find his father sitting at the table sipping on a cup of coffee as he looked over the ship’s report logs. Jaejoong was in the galley’s massive kitchen, cooking.
Yunho looked up and smiled at his son who had just entered the room, “Good morning, Changmin.”
“One can hope,” Changmin replied, finding that feeling of hesitation creeping up on him again. “Is there a reason the morning briefing has been postponed ‘til 0900?”
Yunho looked up from his reports to eye Jaejoong in the kitchen. “Jaejoong woke up me up at 3am to inform me that if I weren’t a horrible, terrible person, then I would allow the Chos to sleep in.”
“This would explain why Kyuhyun missed our early morning chess game.”
“At 3am I will agree to almost anything as long as I can go back to bed.”
“So, have they resumed their sexual activities?” Changmin asked.
“No,” Jaejoong answered from behind the stove.
“Then, why did we postpone the briefing?” Yunho asked, perplexed.
Jaejoong shook his head as he walked to the table with a pot of coffee and grabbed Yunho’s coffee cup and refilled it. “I shouldn’t be telling you two this…but they just needed to hold each other.”
“No, you should not be telling us this…you shouldn’t know this,” Yunho agreed as he picked up his fresh cup of coffee.
“Ryeowook is my friend, so if I get woken up by his intense feelings…then it isn’t my fault,” Jaejoong explained.
“You are not any better than Yoochun,” Yunho pointed out, remembering his old friend watching them while he had been invisible. “It’s a huge violation of privacy.”
“Yunho!”
“Jaejoong, don’t give me the innocent act. I know you can shut people out if you want to…you eavesdropped on them. Or you wouldn’t know they didn’t have sex, and that they just needed to hold each other,” Yunho firmly told him.
Jaejoong walked back to the stove. “You think you know everything.”
“I know you,” Yunho reminded him. “For countless lifetimes it seems.”
“Well, you don’t know this. I listen in on Kyuhyun at times,” Jaejoong told Yunho smugly.
“Why? Are you spying for Ryeowook?” Yunho questioned.
Jaejoong picked up a red, round piece of fruit that resembled a plum, and threw it at Yunho. “I will have you know! That your commander is plagued by horrible nightmares…and I shouldn’t have told you that, but, you see, I can stop them for him. Just a little nudge with my mind and they go away.”
Changmin, who was aware of Kyuhyun’s nightmares, turned to Jaejoong and looked at him in a new light. “That is extremely kind of you, but extremely inappropriate.”
“But we aren’t going to tell anybody,” Yunho added, smiling at his son.
“No, we won’t,” Changmin concurred.
Yunho patted the seat beside him, motioning for Changmin to take the seat. “Jae’s making breakfast; why don’t you join us?”
Jaejoong agreed, “Yes, please do. There is plenty.”
“If you insist,” Changmin answered as he sat down beside Yunho. “Can I ask why you are cooking?”
Yunho explained for Jaejoong, “When the Guardian took us on the past lives trip, in one of Jae’s lives-”
“In one of our lives,” Jaejoong interrupted, correcting his lover.
“In one of our lives, Jae was cooking something…he doesn’t even know what it was, but it awakened some latent desire to cook,” Yunho explained. “Then Ryeowook encouraged him by giving him cooking lessons.”
Jaejoong, who was happily stirring, said proudly, “And someday I will be a better cook than Ryeowook.”
“Ryeowook is a very accomplished cook, although he has not been cooking much since he returned from his year long stay on the planet, or perhaps he has just not informed me,” Changmin said, irritated. He was well aware that Ryeowook had hosted a dinner weeks ago and did not invite him.
“Because you would eat everything,” Yunho said, amused.
“Not everything,” Changmin insisted.
Yunho looked back down at his reports, and mumbled, “Yoochun put four people on report last night?”
“For what reasons?” Changmin asked, leaning over to look at the report. “Commander Yoochun was not restricting himself to sickbay…one would hope it had nothing to due with his newly feminine form.”
“You think they attacked him?” Jaejoong asked, shocked, as he looked over the counter at his son and mate. “You should just throw their sorry asses out into open space. I can’t deal with rapists. When I shift again, I’m not putting up with that shit from your crew. I have never been raped, and I would like to keep it that way.”
Yunho and Changmin had matching stunned looks on their faces as they listened to Jaejoong’s rant.
“For centuries Joongs have been kidnapped, tortured, and raped in hopes that we would be so miserable that we would do anything to escape the agony. These monsters believed that we would bond with our tormenters and save ourselves from the torture,” Jaejoong continued in a voice full of venom. “I was able to resist, but others were not so lucky.
Yunho recovered first. “There isn’t any rapist on this ship. Such behavior is not condoned in Star Fleet or the Federation. Yoochun put them on report for gross negligence.”
“Because the EPS conduits system check failed to meet his extremely high standards by only 2%,” Changmin added a he read the report. “It appears that Commander Yoochun ordered multiple tests late last night in engineering.”
“See, no rape,” Yunho told Jaejoong, who was looking slightly embarrassed by his outbursts.”
Jaejoong looked down at the food he was cooking. “Good.”
“I’m curious,” Changmin told Jaejoong. “If all Joongs are as highly telepathic as you are…how does one get kidnapped?”
Before answering Changmin, Jaejoong looked accusingly at Yunho and moved toward the table, placing three plates and silverware on it. “Maybe they are in the company of others, who judge them for using their telepathic abilities. For instance, my latest outbursts would not have occurred if I had been reading your minds. I would have known what happened in engineering.”
“Oh, whatever,” Yunho snorted in disbelief as Jaejoong walked back in the kitchen. “You didn’t read my mind, because I can tell when you do it, and you want me to eat breakfast without an attitude.” Yunho turned to look at Changmin. “And for some reason, you respect Changmin’s privacy and don’t read his mind.”
“Which I am very grateful for, and I wish for this respect of my privacy to continue,” Changmin quickly added.
“But if somebody else had been here…you would have read them so fast,” Yunho continued.
Jaejoong walked over and placed a bowl of food on the table. “You think you know me so well.”
“I do know you so well,” Yunho told him as Jaejoong served them.
“Fruit…and is that eggs?” Changmin asked as he eyed the food that Jaejoong had placed on his plate. Before Jaejoong could answer him, Changmin stuffed his mouth full of the food.
“Yes, and they are what you call scrabbled eggs, but I added some extra ingredients to them,” Jaejoong answered as he returned to the kitchen. “They were made from the eggs we had in stasis from Trysor. There is also toast.”
“They are very eatable, but I have another question,” Changmin said as he put more eggs in his mouth.
Jaejoong placed a stack of buttered toast on the middle of the table and sat down beside Yunho. “Go ahead.”
“If a Joong did allow themselves to get kidnapped…why would you allow yourself to stay kidnapped? Could you not just manipulate the kidnapper’s mind or incapacitate them?”
“Their telepathy doesn’t work on all species the same…for instance the Zusaders,” Yunho reminded Changmin.
“True, but there are also devices in this galaxy that limit a Joong’s telepathic ability, and horrible people like the Warlord ZhouMi have such devices at their disposal,” Jaejoong explained. ‘That’s how he held me for so long.”
Changmin pondered Jaejoong’s words as he grabbed four slices of toast. “Such a device would be very difficult to create. When we encountered the Warlord’s ship…it didn’t seem that technologically advanced…how were they able to devise such a device?”
“They didn’t. There are only a few of those devices left in existence. They are thousands of years old, and many believe them to be of Joong origin.”
“Why would the Joongs create such a device that would limit them?” Yunho asked, surprised.
“The Joong race is peaceful now, but in the past there have been Joongs who needed controlling. There is nothing a Joong wouldn’t do to protect its mate, and our history has showed that sometimes that desperation has led to terrifying consequences.”
“So, your world is technologically advanced?” Changmin asked.
Jaejoong looked at Changmin and answered honestly, “There was once a great race in this galaxy that was highly technologically advanced, but they also had great powers of the mind. They were the beings that created the Guardians billions of years ago. It has been widely believed for millions of years that most of those beings evolved onto a higher plane of existence, but it is also believed that some of them devolved themselves into the Joong.”
Changmin’s eyes widened. “And this is why the Guardians obey the Joong.”
“They do not obey us, but they do allow us to travel through them, and they will communicate with us,” Jaejoong explained.
“So your people are technologically advanced?” Changmin questioned again.
Jaejoong shook his head. “No, not at all. The planet is very primitive by your standards. Technology is not embraced on the Joong home world.”
“No wonder you get along with Ryeowook so easily,” Yunho couldn’t help but add.
Changmin tried not to sneer in dislike. How any race could forgo technology and the scientific advances it brought was something he would never understand. “So, no Joong has any interest in science?”
“I didn’t say that,” Jaejoong quickly answered. “If they do have such a desire, they do it off of the planet. There is a Guardian on the planet, and if it approves of the request, a Joong can travel anywhere it likes. There are many rogue Joongs who give up the home world in search of something else.”
“Could rogue Joongs have created the machine down on the planet that turned the away team into females?” Yunho asked.
“That is a highly probable conclusion. Joongs are apparently very intelligent, considering how quickly you adapted to this ship.” Changmin said pointing to Jaejoong.
“I bonded with your father, so that explains my easy adaption,” Jaejoong reminded Changmin.
Changmin shook his head, dismissing Jaejoong’s reasons. “Also in class, even though you were resistant to the idea of being in class, you grasped concepts very quickly. I also assume there are Joongs more intelligent than you are.”
“Yes, there are smarter Joongs.”
“And if the Guardian allows Joongs to travel in time, a very intelligent Joong could travel to a place and time of great technological advancement. A Joong with their powers of telepathy could quickly understand the science involved, and bring that knowledge to this time and age,” Changmin explained, unable to hide his excitement at the mere possibility.
Yunho narrowed his eyes at Changmin. “You are never allowed near a Guardian.”
Changmin rolled his eyes at his father. “I am not a Joong, so unfortunately it would have no use for me. I can’t help but imagine the limitless scientific discoveries I could make.”
“It would be cheating,” Yunho told Changmin, loving to tease his son. Jaejoong found himself watching them. It felt so right, being with the two of them, but Changmin was so smart, and Yunho’s abilities grew everyday. How long before the mental handicaps he had placed in their minds crumbled, and they realized the truth?
Changmin gave Yunho an offended look. “Science is an ongoing process that is the combination of many collective works from many great scientists…it would not be cheating.”
“The time traveling is what makes it cheating,” Yunho insisted. “But there is a more important question here. Why would a race of hermaphrodites create the machine down on the planet? They get the best of both words; it isn’t like they would need it.”
“Maybe a Joong just wanted to be one gender,” Changmin suggested, focusing on Jaejoong. “You are male now …because Yunho preferred you that way. Do Joongs normally stay hermaphrodites?”
“I still don’t think I preferred him that-”
“Absolutely not,” Jaejoong answered Changmin, interrupting Yunho’s denial. “Unbonded Joongs are hermaphrodites, and Joongs that are…” Jaejoong trailed off, realizing who he was talking to. Jaejoong opened his mind, reaching out, carefully avoiding both Yunho and Changmin’s minds, as he searched for an interruption.
“Shifting?” Yunho finished.
Jaejoong swallowed, trying to hide his nerves. “Yes, there are times in a Joong’s life when they revert back to their hermaphrodite form, but other than that time, bonded Joongs can take on the male or female form, depending on the preferences of their mate.”
“What is the purpose of shifting?” Changmin asked.
Jaejoong ducked under the table to avoid Changmin’s intelligent gaze and pretended to scratch his leg. “It’s just what Joongs do.”
“Just what Joongs do,” Yunho repeated, immediately suspicious.
“Yes,” Jaejoong said, sitting back up in his chair. “So how did you like breakfast, Changmin?”
“It tastes much better than synthesized food,” Changmin admitted.
The door to the galley opened and Heechul and Yoochun strolled in. Yoochun barked, “So, you are eating without me.”
Heechul smiled and sat down beside Changmin, batting his eyelashes. “Oh, look, it’s like a cozy family gathering.”
Jaejoong laughed nervously; Heechul made him nervous. The man’s thoughts were erratic and difficult to track…and the brilliance underneath that demented mind was very formidable.
“Do you mind?” Yoochun asked as he sat down next to Heechul and grabbed the bowl of scrambled eggs.
“No,” both Yunho and Jaejoong answered. They had finished their breakfast already.
“Yes,” Changmin answered, giving Yoochun the stink eye.
Yoochun reached across the table and grabbed the fork that Yunho had been using. “You already ate, you selfish pig.”
Heechul grabbed a piece of toast and smiled at the faces that Yoochun and Changmin were making at each other. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
“Is it?” Jaejoong asked.
Heechul nodded his head. “It is. I know, because I’m as brilliant as I am beautiful.”
“Why are you two together? Did you make up? Are you friends again?” Yunho blurted out, pointing at Yoochun and Heechul. The last time he had seen them together, he had to separate them, because Heechul had gone…well, Heechul had gone more insane then usual. Heechul saw himself as the princess of the ship, and he was not happy about the five newly female crew members.
“I’ve decided it’s best to keep my eye on this one,” Heechul enlightened them, while giving Yoochun a suspicious look.
Yoochun swallowed his mouthful of food and told them all, “Like I’ve had time to enjoy this body; those imbeciles I have working in engineering thought they could slack off yesterday, just because I suddenly have boobs.”
“I saw where you put four people on report…gross negligence. Do you think you were being a little harsh? It was only 2%,” Yunho inquired of his chief engineer.
“No, I don’t think I was being harsh. It isn’t like we can pull up to a star base and get a new warp core. We have to take perfect care of this one. Even after a year, I still have to constantly ride them. Commander Ivy was a sorry excuse for a chief engineer, and I have to rid them of all her bad habits,” Yoochun stated matter of factually.
“Yoochun…” Yunho warned.
“Hey, I know you shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but it’s the honest truth,” Yoochun informed them. “I really have no clue how she got the job.”
“You hold everybody to your high standards, therefore you think 91.3% of all engineers are sorry,” Changmin pointed out to him.
“True,” Yoochun conceded.
Yunho smiled back at him. “I really don’t mind having a perfectionist as my chief engineer; actually, I feel really blessed.”
“Don’t flirt with me just because I’m a woman now,” Yoochun told Yunho. “It’s mean to tease me, because I don’t think your boyfriend is the sharing type.”
“I’m not,” Jaejoong quickly informed him.
Yunho just shook his head in exasperation, “I am not flirting with you.”
Yoochun winked at Yunho. “Such a shame, since you have hidden Ensign Junsu away from me,” Yoochun told Yunho, then turned to face Heechul. “Dear friend, don’t you think that’s cruel of him to stick poor Junsu on the night tour?”
“I wish you would remember that we are not friends while you inhabit that slutty body,” Heechul proclaimed, with a mouth full of toast.
“Excuse me, I am not slutty!” Yoochun denied, but when the whole table started laughing, he quickly added, “Well, not in this body, I’m not!”
Heechul scrutinized him closely. “Not yet, you mean.”
“Well, it isn’t like I have any intention of keeping my hymen intact, especially if I’m stuck in this form. But I’m not just going to let anybody pop it,” Yoochun informed Heechul.
Yunho covered his face with his hands.
“For his sake, I hope his first time having vaginal sex is better than mine,” Jaejoong sent mentally to Yunho.
Yunho’s hands dropped from his face as it turned bright red. “That was your fault!”
“My fault?”
“Yes, you had me drowning in pheromones…there wasn’t any foreplay! I have had sex with plenty of women, and none of them have ever complained!”
Jaejoong’s eyes narrowed. “Really? Plenty of women, huh?”
“Before I knew you.”
“You always knew my soul! We have a timeless love!”
“I…I…I didn’t know, that I knew it!”
“Excuses!”
“It isn’t an excuse, it’s the truth-” Yunho stopped his mental argument with Jaejoong when Changmin elbowed him. Yunho’s awareness of his surroundings returned, and he immediately noticed that Heechul was standing up, hovering over Yoochun with a fork in his hand.
“Listen here, bitch! If you go near my prince! I will scratch your eyes out!” Heechul vowed to Yoochun with fire in his eyes.
Yoochun looked up at Heechul dismissively, and informed him, “I have as much interest in Siwon, as he does in you……as in, none! No interest at all!”
Yunho lunged from his chair, jumping around Changmin to grab Heechul by his arms before he could stab Yoochun’s eyes out. “Heechul,” Yunho reprimanded. “It’s time for us to take a walk.” Heechul glared back at Yoochun, too angry for words, as Yunho dragged him away from the table. “Heechul and I are going to go for walk. I will see the rest of you at the briefing.”
“Should I go with you?”
“No, I have a better chance of calming him down on my own.”
“Where are you taking him?”
“I am going to have to put him with Leeteuk…’til he calms down.”
Changmin watched as Yunho took Heechul out of the room with sorrow in his eyes. He then turned to Jaejoong. “Is it safe for Yunho to go alone?”
Jaejoong nodded his head. “I will be listening, but I don’t think Heechul would try to hurt Yunho.”
“Also, Yunho wouldn’t be stupid enough to antagonize Heechul either,” Changmin said, admonishing Yoochun. “Especially knowing what a struggle it is for Heechul to even function at this level.”
Yoochun recoiled as Changmin’s words struck home, and asked in a remorseful voice, “Is he putting him with Leeteuk?”
“Yes,” Jaejoong answered as he got up from the table and started collecting dirty dishes.
Yoochun shrank back in his chair. “He hates being locked up…I am such an asshole.”
Changmin just stared at Yoochun’s guilty face, and stood up. “We need to head for the briefing, and we need to focus on the problem at hand.”
“Agreed,” Yoochun said, getting up from his seat.
************
The lights in the room came on, and the ship’s computer greeted them in its overly efficient voice, “Good Morning Commander and Doctor Cho.”
Kyuhyun and Ryeowook groaned at the same time. Kyuhyun tugged Ryeowook closer to him, causing the smaller man to bury his face in Kyuhyun’s chest. The both of them completely relaxed in each other’s arms, refusing to let reality intrude on them.
Kyuhyun buried his head in Ryeowook’s hair and just inhaled the scent of his husband. How long had it been since Ryeowook had been so acquiescent with him? He couldn’t believe his luck, but he reminded himself to be careful. It was a wonderful feeling, waking up with the one you loved, and he didn’t want to squander it by giving into lust that would most likely not be greeted with enthusiasm.
Still, he couldn’t resist allowing his hands to gently and softly touch the body next to him. How he missed his husband and the feel of his body. Kyuhyun’s hand slipped under Ryeowook’s shirt and started to explore the other man’s chest, when he came to sudden stop.
“Fuck!” Kyuhyun exclaimed, jumping back like a frightened child.
Ryeowook, who had not been sleeping as soundly as Kyuhyun had thought, snorted in amusement and grabbed the covers and pulled them up over his head.
Kyuhyun calmed his heart and stared down at the bundle under the covers that was his husband. “It isn’t funny.”
“Oh, believe me, it is hilarious,” Ryeowook told him, giggling from underneath the covers.
Kyuhyun pulled the covers away from Ryeowook’s face. “It’s a little bothersome that I’m more bothered by your female parts…than you are?”
“I’m a doctor. I’m not afraid of a pair of boobs or a vagina,” Ryeowook explained as he sat up, and for pure meanness sake, grabbed both of his breasts to emphasis his point.
“Stop it!” Kyuhyun exclaimed, covering his eyes with his hands.
Ryeowook fell back on the bed, laughing at Kyuhyun. “You are such a retard.”
Kyuhyun uncovered his eyes and pressed his lips together, as he watched Ryeowook roll around on the bed, laughing at his expense.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let the boobies get you,” Ryeowook sniggered, unable to control his fit of the giggles. Kyuhyun pounced on Ryeowook without warning, causing the other man to yelp, “Kyuhyun!”
“I was just thinking, I’ve never willingly kissed a girl before,” Kyuhyun told Ryeowook, staring down possessively.
Ryeowook swallowed nervously, noticing the change in his husband. “Well, considering your phobia of all womanly body parts, it isn’t surprising.”
“Do I look afraid now?” Kyuhyun asked, straddling Ryeowook and bringing the other man’s arms up over his head where he held them tightly by the wrist.
Ryeowook just shook his head.
“I am going to kiss you.”
“You don’t like girls.”
Kyuhyun leaned down closer to Ryeowook’s face. “I don’t like girls, but I love you,” Kyuhyun told him, full of determination, as he reached down and pressed his lips against Ryeowook’s.
Ryeowook cursed himself when he didn’t feign outrage and pull away, but no, instead, he was the one opening his mouth and deepening the kiss. Ryeowook knew he was in deep trouble when Kyuhyun loosened the grip on his wrists, and instead of taking the opportunity to escape, he found himself reaching up to entwine his arms around Kyuhyun’s neck and drawing him closer.
“I don’t think so,” Kyuhyun said, pulling away from the kiss and Ryeowook’s hold on him.
“What?” Ryeowook asked, stunned.
Kyuhyun wiped his mouth with obvious dislike. “Did you even brush your teeth yesterday?”
Ryeowook jumped up quickly, accidentally butting Kyuhyun in the head when he did. “I…I gotta get out of here!”
Kyuhyun, who was holding his tender head with one hand, grabbed Ryeowook with the other. “Hey, I will happily make out with you as soon as you brush your teeth. I just can’t handle you as a girl and having bad breath…it’s a little much.”
“You are the most horrible person I know!” Ryeowook cried out as he tried to jerk free of Kyuhyun.
“Calm down, I think I might have a concussion,” Kyuhyun said, still holding his head with one hand.
Ryeowook, with a burst of strength, broke free of Kyuhyun and yelled at him, “I hope you do! You better pray Heechul has a moment of lucidity, or you are going to be up shit’s creek without a paddle!
Kyuhyun looked up at the irate woman from where he sat on the bed and repeated, “Up shit’s creek without a paddle…who says that?”
“Now you’re mocking me? You are the sorriest-”
The chirp of Commander Cho’s insignia on the bedside table stopped Ryeowook’s rant.
“Commander, the briefing has started,” the captain’s voice could be heard saying.
Kyuhyun grabbed his insignia. “Captain, I will be right there.”
“I will see you when you arrive, Commander,” the captain replied before ending the connection.
“Computer, what time is it?” Ryeowook asked, suddenly curious, forgetting his tirade for the moment.
“The time is 0905hrs,” the computer replied.
“Five after nine!” Ryeowook shouted. “I told it to wake me up at 0530!”
“Computer, who ordered you to change the time of the wake up call?” Kyuhyun demanded of the computer.
“Captain Jung Yunho,” the computer answered.
Ryeowook clenched his fist together, and grumbled under his breath. “That damn Joong!”
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Kyuhyun cussed as he started stripping off to jump in the sonic shower.
Ryeowook stormed from the quarters, not bothering to shower or change.
Part Three