Expectations: Come Together Part 3 of 5
Series: Expectations
Adventure Nine: Come Together Part 3 of 5
Author: Aquariuslover
Pairings: Yunjae, KyuWook
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Science Fiction, Romance
Length: Chaptered
Beta: tahoeturquoise
Summary: The Expectation’s crew is busy instructing the Rebellion on how to care for the newly confiscated ships, it has handed over to them. While at the same time Captain Yunho struggles to deal with a temperamental, shifting Jaejoong, and an erratic Changmin. Kyuhyun’s recovery takes a surprising turn. Family jewels are in jeopardy. Donghae wants to throw a party. Siwon has an interesting offer for Sungmin. Eunhyuk finds himself in Yoochun’s bed once again. Junsu is not amused.
Prior Adventures
“You are so mean to your kid,” Yoochun told Yunho as he placed keepsakes into a box.
Yunho shook his head as he stared at an aquarium that was built into the wall of the quarters they were in. “I’m not mean to him. I want this to be a surprise.”
“You’re just lucky there was an automatic feeder built into this aquarium or you would have killed the captain’s fish,” Kangin said from beside him as they stared at the huge colorful fish that had previously belonged to Captain Seung.
“I doubt the computer would have allowed them to die without alerting us,” Yunho pointed out.
“True, it gives out warnings when plants need watering,” Yoochun reminded them as he placed the late captain’s family pictures into a box. “I don’t know why you require our assistance to move this stuff out.”
“It isn’t stuff…it was Captain Seung’s personal belongings,” Yunho explained as he looked around the quarters that had belonged to the previous captain of the ship. “To just assign somebody to do it would be wrong.”
“It is a darn shame that he had to die,” Kangin said as he moved away from Yunho to start packing stuff away. “He was a good man.”
“That he was, and I thought we could handle this respectfully,” Yunho added.
Yoochun rolled his eyes. “Respectful as one can be, especially one who is just doing this for the sole purpose of returning to their mates good sexual graces.”
“Must everything be about sex to you? You realize that someday Changmin will be born, and my quarters are not adequate for a baby. This is much better,” Yunho reasoned.
“Baby Changmin,” Kangin said with a grin. “Hey, I get to be a godfather right?”
“Maybe,” Yunho replied as he started placing the late captain’s personal items into boxes. “Definitely not Yoochun though.”
“I’m so hurt,” Yoochun said with a roll of his eyes. “I will just serve as the bad influence.”
“You’ve tried that before and failed,” Yunho reminded him.
“Yeah,” Yoochun admitted. “I’ve never been able to lead the Jung boys down the wrong path.”
“Nope, you are Yunho’s bitch in this reality,” Kangin snickered. “You have been his bitch since the day we all met up at the academy entrance exams.”
“Hey! I chose to follow him and his boring ways of righteousness,” Yoochun told Kangin, sounding offended. “Having him as my best friend adds to my mystery.”
“And I’m eternally grateful for your friendship,” Yunho told him as he stared at the prior captain’s sword display on the wall. “Should I take them down, too?”
Yoochun finished packing one box and looked up at the sword collection “Yeah, it isn’t yours, and Jae might get pissed at you one night, and decide to cut off certain parts of your anatomy.”
Yunho frowned at Yoochun. “He wouldn’t…” Yunho paused remembering Jaejoong’s complaints about getting pregnant. “Yeah, they need to go.”
Yoochun and Kangin shared a knowing grin. “Really…are the family jewels in danger?” Kangin couldn’t keep from asking.
Yunho shrugged at his two oldest friends, and answered, “He isn’t really in love with the whole getting pregnant thing…not at all.”
“I don’t really blame him,” Kangin said, wincing in sympathy at the thought.
Yoochun grabbed a sword and started packing it away. “You know, if he really wants to castrate you, he’ll find a way.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much! That’s just what I wanted to hear,” Yunho grumbled as he grabbed another sword off the wall.
Kangin, who had sat down in a chair, smiled and asked, “Did either of you ever think we would be here talking about Yunho getting his male mate pregnant?”
“Hey, he’s a hermaphrodite,” Yunho said, correcting Kangin.
“I’m not shocked at all. Remember, he did lose his virginity at the ripe old age of fifteen to a he/she prostitute on Risa. He’s just been suppressing his inner self for all these years,” Yoochun reminded them with a mischievous grin.
“It was a she, and she wasn’t a prostitute!” Yunho sputtered, surprised that the old encounter was suddenly being brought up.
“I remember the gender being a little iffy. What matters most is that you paid for it. No way did that one let your inexperienced ass have it for free,” Kangin said with full admiration as he remembered back on the days of their youth.
“I can’t really remember her face for some reason,” Yoochun said, confused. “But that was the hottest piece of ass I ever laid eyes on. I wish I’d had the money to pay for it. I had always heard about Risa prostitutes, but hearing is not the same as seeing.”
“I did not pay for it! She just liked me!” Yunho insisted, remembering back to a most pleasant time. “Liked me a whole lot, and it was amazing.”
“You had a big smile plastered on your face for days afterwards, lucky dog,” Yoochun said, smiling at Yunho as the captain relived an old, enjoyable memory.
“To think I lost my virginity to Kimini Kauera,” Kangin groused. “I heard she dropped out of the academy to take up intergalactic banking. My first time was with a banker.”
Yunho sat down on the floor with a huge smile on his face, ignoring Kangin. “Even now it’s like a blur of this most perfect time. I was so young…too young; but damn, did I learn a lot.”
“Was it the best sex you ever had?” Yoochun asked with a wink, trying to paint Yunho into a corner.
“No!” Yunho quickly answered. “I mean, it was good. I was very young and eager, but sex with Jaejoong is the best by far.”
“Might you be lying?” Yoochun suggested.
“Because you fear for the safety of your family jewels?” Kangin added.
“No, I mean…no…it’s like a blur. Nothing compares to what Jaejoong and I share,” Yunho proclaimed uneasily and quickly stood back up. “Let’s get these swords packed away.”
“I do believe he protests too much,” Kangin said with a grin.
“I do believe you are right,” Yoochun teased, but the old friends let the subject drop, and continued to pack away the late captain’s items.
Moments later the computer let out a ringing noise letting them know somebody was at the door. Yunho stared at the door, alarmed, and turned to his two friends and hissed, “I swear, if Jaejoong heard you two and your filthy minds…then the two of you will be cleaning the hanger deck with a toothbrush!”
“Us?” Yoochun asked, shocked. “I do believe you are the one bonded with him.”
“Yeah,” Kangin agreed from his chair. “He probably felt you remembering the good old days…vividly.”
“I know when he reads my mind!” Yunho snapped back at them, and reluctantly walked to the door and ordered, “Open.” The door whooshed open and relief flooded Yunho as he saw Changmin standing at the entryway, holding two big dishes of food. “Changmin.”
Changmin walked into the official captain’s quarters, studying them intently. “Are we moving in here?”
“Well, hopefully you will be back in your own quarters soon, but baby you will live here,” Yunho answered as he looked out into the hallway. “Where is your guard?”
“Mom said I didn’t need one.”
“You don’t?” Yunho questioned doubtfully.
“Nope,” Changmin answered, holding the food protectively. “Mom is focusing on Kangin and Yoochun’s minds, so he would know if I didn’t show up.”
“Shit,” Yoochun groaned.
The captain glared at his two friends. “Sorry,” Kangin said weakly as he got up from the chair.
Changmin sat down in the seat that Kangin had vacated, and told Yoochun and Kangin, “Mom told me to tell you two to leave, and if you ever bring up the Risa whore again…he won’t require a sword to remove your ‘family jewels’ because you won’t have the brain capacity to know what do with them.”
Yoochun bit his tongue, and Kangin wrapped a hand around Yoochun’s arm, sensing the engineer was about to explode. “We are going to be going now.”
“You guys don’t have to leave…I’m the captain of this ship,” Yunho told his old friends, slightly embarrassed that his mate had eavesdropped on them.
Yoochun, who was not pleased about the invasion of his privacy, reminded Yunho, “Only because Jaejoong allows you to be captain. I think we know where the real power on this ship lies, and I pray he never really gets angry at you. God help us all if he does.”
“Shut up!” Kangin ordered as he pushed Yoochun through the door. “You are purposely antagonizing him. When you suddenly think you’re a eunuch, don’t come crying to me.”
“I don’t give a shit, and he can read this thought if he-” Yoochun’s tirade was shut off as the doors to the quarters closed behind him.
Changmin watched as Yunho eyed the closed doors with a mixture of emotions showing on his face. “You should not let Commander Yoochun’s words get to you. Although the ship is at Jaejoong’s mercy…it is not power he craves.”
“Jaejoong now?” Yunho asked turning around to face his son. “Not mom?”
“He can not hear us now,” Changmin reminded Yunho. “It’s your love he craves.”
“He has my love,” Yunho said, sitting down on the floor in front of Changmin. “What did you bring me to eat?”
“I am not sure what it is called, but it smells delicious,” Changmin told Yunho as he got up from his seat and sat down on the floor beside Yunho.
“You haven’t tried it yet?”
“No, I was feeling conflicted.”
“Is this why you required me?” Yunho asked as he removed the cover on the delicious looking food and picked up the eating utensil that was nestled inside.
Changmin nodded his head. “Jaejoong, Ryeowook, and even Heechul before his lapse back into madness all think I have something to do with Sulli’s recovery.”
Yunho studied his son, who was obviously uncomfortable, and asked, “In what way?”
“They suspect that I might have aided in her mental recovery…she is not as damaged mentally as it was initially thought.”
“You are not bonded though…I mean, you’re not,” Yunho assured his son. “If you were bonded, you would know it.”
“Jaejoong agrees with you, but I’m a hybrid. I’m a mystery to even Jaejoong,” Changmin explained. “It would be illogical to assume that I will behave in the same way as a full blooded Joong.”
“Yes, that would be…” Yunho paused to smile. “Yes, that would be illogical.”
Changmin studied the smile on his father’s face. “I feel more like my old self with every passing hour. When I get overly emotional, I just reach inside myself and find my center easily now.”
“That is good, but I don’t want you to lose everything you’ve gained, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think you find more enjoyment in everything now…than you did before. I don’t want you to lose that sense of joy,” Yunho explained. “I mean, at times it’s very hard for me to see you doing things like skipping down the corridor, because seeing you behave so differently makes me miss the brilliant, snarky version of you; but I don’t want you to lose this sense of joy you have found.”
Changmin, who had started to eat, nodded his head. “I do feel more joy…but I still crave my logic. I just want to learn everything I can. I miss learning.”
Yunho bumped shoulders with Changmin gently. “Don’t be silly. You have learned so much lately. The change in you is amazing. You are always learning…it would be impossible for you to stop.”
“Ah, but learning about myself is different from learning about the universe.”
Yunho just shook his head. “If you are bonded to that girl in some way…that would not necessarily be a bad thing. I don’t want you to think of it as something bad.”
Changmin put his food down and frowned at Yunho. “How can you say that? I did not choose it.”
“No, but sometimes the things in life that get thrown at you…are thrown at you for a reason. She is your friend right now…a real friend to you. I have watched you two. Even when you were…forgive me, but even when you were completely loony-she calmed you.”
“I still do not want to be bonded!”
“No, but whatever bond you might have it isn’t anything like the one I have with Jaejoong. Maybe as a hybrid you heal others differently or maybe she is just unusually strong and there is no bond. Her parents were amazing people. It’s possible she just has very strong coping skills that they instilled in her. What’s important is that she is better, and I don’t think you should regret that.”
“No,” Changmin quickly agreed. “She deserves to be better. I do not have any romantic feelings for her.”
“See, it’s just friendship then. Believe me, you are mine and Jaejoong’s son; when you are bonded you are going to know it.”
Changmin frowned again. “I do not want to think about that.”
“Now, that’s my boy,” Yunho chuckled. “So, how angry is Jaejoong at me?”
“He is very controlled at the moment, but he did instruct me to tell you that you will be accompanying us to the planet tomorrow.”
Yunho tried to fight the dread he was feeling as he stared at the delicious food that Jaejoong had sent to him. “If this was my last meal, you’d tell me, right?”
Changmin laughed. “Yes, I would warn you.”
****************************************************
“Why don’t you just ask her if she knows any good hookers?” Junsu asked Eunhyuk with obvious disapproval as he pointed to the lady working the stand where Donghae was trying on masks. They were at the street market outside the rebel outpost.
“Don’t sound so judgmental, it’s an honest line of work.”
“What is an honest line of work?” Donghae asked as he left the stand after purchasing a couple of masks.
“Prostitution,” Eunhyuk explained.
Donghae handed his masks to Junsu, who was eager to look at them. “I wouldn’t know. No man in my family has ever had to pay for it,” Donghae said proudly.
Eunhyuk frowned, annoyed at the transporter chief, and changed the subject, “Let’s get something to eat.”
“Okay,” Junsu agreed. Junsu handed the masks back to Donghae and told him, “They are really nice.”
“They are going to be great for the Halloween Party,” Donghae explained. “I think I will use them as wall decorations. I already know what I’m wearing, and I don’t need a mask.”
“Are you still on about that?” Eunhyuk grumbled as he headed toward a shop that was selling sweets.
“Yes, no thanks to you. You are absolutely no help to me…at all. It’s going to be in Ten Forward.”
“Really?” Junsu replied, more interested now as they walked into the shop. “The captain let you use Ten Forward?”
“Yep, the captain and I go way back,” Donghae said with a confident grin. “I could use some help though… hint, hint,” Donghae said nudging Junsu with his elbow.
“Sorry, I’ve been busy teaching the rebel pilots how to fly their new ships,” Junsu said, apologizing. “I had to make time to even come down here for shore leave.”
Donghae nodded his head in understanding. “You are forgiven. I’ll find help, don’t worry.”
The three of them, who had unlimited funds thanks to the ships replicators, ordered some sweets after checking them with the tricorder to make sure they were safe to consume. They then left the shop, and continued to wander down the street that was filled with stands of people selling different kinds of products.
“What are those?” Junsu asked as shiny looking pink crystals caught his eye.
The three moved toward the stand holding the crystals. “They remind me of Changmin’s necklace,” Eunhyuk told them.
“They are the same color,” Donghae agreed as they all three stared down at crystals that were displayed in groups of three. They were each the size of a chicken’s egg.
Junsu reached down to touch one and a gloved hand immediately grabbed onto his wrist, stopping him. The hand belonged to a tall man with a long grey beard that was in charge of the stand. The man warned, “No touching…the Soul Tri Sphere links to those who touch them.”
“Links?” Junsu asked, frowning at the older man until he let go of him.
The man pulled one from his pocket and explained, “This is my very own. I’ve had it since I was a young boy. My two best friends have the other two. They have provided us with great protection throughout our lives. They have kept us out of the warlord’s clutches.”
“So, they are like good luck charms?” Eunhyuk asked.
“Exactly,” the man answered. “They were made by the great Joong race, and legend says they can only be sold in threes…to three different people.”
“These were made by the Joong race?” Junsu asked.
The man nodded his head eagerly. “Yes, a long time ago…that’s why they are so lucky. Joongs are the luckiest of all beings.”
“Have you ever met a Joong?” Eunhyuk asked, suddenly suspicious of the salesman. All aboard the Expectations knew how the races of this galaxy liked to throw around the Joong name, without ever having met one.
“No, not me, but I hear a Joong always carries one of these crystals with them,” the salesman explained.
“Really,” Junsu said, full of doubts now. He couldn’t imagine Jaejoong carrying around a lucky crystal. Junsu figured that the people of this galaxy held Joong’s in such high regard that saying something was made by Joongs increased its worth immensely. Money was not important to the crew of Expectations; they could make all the money, precious jewels, gold, and silver they wanted.
The salesman held his crystal up and said, “Look how beautiful it is…could a mere mortal make one?”
“We could synthesize a couple million of them on our ship,” Eunhyuk answered drily.
“Synthesize?” the man asked confused.
“Ignore him,” Junsu explained. “They are pretty. I think I want one.”
“Your two other friends also must agree to take one…they must be given to three people.”
Junsu turned to face Eunhyuk. “What do you think? Should we get them?”
“I need all the luck I can get,” Eunhyuk said with a laugh; he then turned toward Donghae, who wasn’t paying any attention to them. “Donghae, you want to go in with us?”
“Huh?” Donghae muttered not turning around to face his friend. He was focused on a young, blonde woman with short, sassy hair that was smiling at him from across the street.
Eunhyuk said nothing, suddenly consumed with jealously as he watched Donghae and the young woman smile back and forth at each other.
“Do you want to buy a…” Junsu paused and looked at the man and tried to remember what the man had called them. “A Soul Tri Sphere with us? We all three have to buy one or none of us can.”
“Umm…no, I am going to go get acquainted with…” Donghae paused smiling at the young woman. “Her.”
“What is it about him?” Eunhyuk whined as his friend walked off toward the attractive young woman. “Why do women flock to him?”
Junsu looked away from the pink crystals and answered, “He’s extremely handsome.”
“And I can’t even pay for it,” Eunhyuk moaned as he looked back down at the table. “Does this mean we can’t buy them?”
“Sorry,” the man said. “They must each have their own master, or they don’t work.”
“I think I might be able to help with that,” Yoochun said, shocking both the ensigns with his sudden appearance as he squeezed in between them at the stand and laid down a fortune in coins. He had been lurking behind them, eavesdropping on their entire conversation.
“What!” Junsu exclaimed taking a step away from Yoochun. “What are you doing here?”
Yoochun smiled at Junsu, ignoring Eunhyuk for the moment as he reached down and picked up a pink crystal. “I’m making it possible for you to buy one of these pretty little rocks.”
“They are crystals,” Junsu said, reaching out and grabbing his own.
Eunhyuk, who hoped that Yoochun was on his best behavior, picked up his crystal and added, “They are also good luck charms.”
“Oh, I pray they are,” Yoochun said, holding up his pink crystal and kissing it, while all the time eyeing Junsu hungrily.
Junsu, who looked sickened, harshly pointed out to Commander Yoochun, “There isn’t that much luck in this universe or in any universe for that matter.”
Yoochun leaned back. “Junsu, you wound me. I just wanted to spend the rest of shore leave with you, shopping. What happened to us being friends?”
“I am done with that delusion,” Junsu snapped back at Yoochun, and grabbed Eunhyuk by the arm. “Come on, Eunhyuk, let’s go.”
“Let’s not be harsh,” Eunhyuk said, pulling free of Junsu. He was very fearful of what might spill from the commander’s lips if he became angry.
“What?” Junsu asked, shocked at Eunhyuk’s response.
“Eunhyuk is completely capable of being rational. Oh, and I did pass a…let’s call it a gentleman’s club, about eight stands down. It’s in the red shop on the left,” Yoochun told Eunhyuk with a grin.
“See ya later!” Eunhyuk shouted as a huge smile spread out across his face, and he quickly took off.
Junsu hurried after Eunhyuk, grabbing him by the arm and stopping him. “You can’t leave me alone with him.”
“Then come with me! I only have forty-five minutes left. I have to hurry. Who knows when I will get the chance again,” Eunhyuk explained, disentangling himself from his best friend.
Junsu frowned in obvious disdain. “I’m not coming with you.”
“I don’t know what to tell you; it isn’t like he is going to hurt you. I’m sorry for being an awful friend, but I have to go now,” Eunhyuk pleaded, scrambling off.
Yoochun, who had listened to their exchange, told Junsu, “You know, I’m the one that should be mad.”
Junsu turned around to glare at the commander; whatever respect he had for Commander Yoochun had vanished long ago.
“We were having a really nice time together, and you just flipped out on me. If I can let it go, then you should be able to do the same.”
“You’ve let it go? Can you honestly say your intentions toward me are pure?”
“No, not in the pure sense…not what you call pure,” Yoochun admitted. “I want you. I always want you. I’m not going to lie, but I’m not going to force you into anything. I didn’t force you that night either. I just…it was the only chance I had, or might ever have. I took it.”
“Why can’t you just forget about me?” Junsu cried, completely frustrated. He hated this ongoing drama with Commander Yoochun. He wanted it to be over.
“I don’t know why! You think I enjoy having this fixation on you? Not even two weeks ago, I was freaking out with jealously because you were the tour guide for the ugly rebel women, and the captain actually asked me if I’d had a mental examination lately,” Yoochun explained to Junsu, just as frustrated by his fixation on the younger ensign.
Junsu snorted. “The ugly rebel women you seem to be very fond of lately.”
“Because I can’t have you; if I could have you…” Yoochun paused, realizing what he was about to say.
“What?”
Yoochun looked Junsu in the eye and answered honestly, “I wouldn’t want anybody else.”
Junsu sighed and rubbed his face with both of his hands. “You only say that…because you can’t have me. You don’t even know me as a person-”
“Then let’s get to know each other! Maybe you will prove so boring and prudish that you will lose some of your appeal,” Yoochun interrupted, and offered quickly. “Spend the rest of shore leave shopping with me. I won’t make any passes at you. I swear on my engines…may their efficiency level drop by twenty percent if I’m lying.”
Junsu eyed Yoochun suspiciously but in the end he relented, “Okay, but if you pinch my ass one time, I am beaming back to the ship.”
“No pinching, I promise,” Yoochun said, grinning back at him.
****************************
Yunho stood waist deep in the ocean with his eyes fixated on the beach. He had no idea how long he had been staring, nor did he care. On the beach, sitting on the sand with his feet stretched out in front of him while he leaned back on his elbows looking up at the sky, Jaejoong was a vision of beauty to behold. He was wearing white, loose fitting cotton clothing that moved in the warm summer’s breeze along with his thick, beautiful black hair. The sunglasses he wore only added to his allure. Yunho was acutely aware that they had not had sex since the day Hyun Joong entered their lives, changing everything forever.
Painfully aware of their lack of intimacy, Yunho remembered back to the day everything had changed, and how nicely it had started out. He had taken the day off to celebrate their 180th day of being together. The day had started out with sweet, hot sex that had been ripe with passion and mutual love. How did they go from that level of wonderfulness to this? He missed Jaejoong, he missed Jaejoong’s body, and how it responded to his touches…his every desire.
“Yunho, reign it in!”
Yunho snapped out his fog of blissfulness to notice that Jaejoong wasn’t looking up at the sky any longer but watching him, clearly amused. That smile…that perfect smile, and damn if he didn’t look like he was born to sit on the beach. What Yunho would like to do to him on that beach…what kinds of scorching hot things they could do to each other on this beach, he could only imagine.
“Yunho, stop it! You are traumatizing Changmin!” Jaejoong ordered, sitting up straight. He was unable to hide the amusement in his voice as he felt his mate’s powerful attraction for him.
Yunho turned away from Jaejoong quickly to face his son, who was standing about four feet away from him in the water with a look of pure disgust on his face.
Yunho cringed. Today was all about Changmin, he reminded himself quickly. He had accompanied Jaejoong and Changmin to the planet to see how the human brain would hold up to Changmin with the necklace off. Yunho had not so much as felt a twinge of pain from being in his son’s presence. Yunho moved quickly toward Changmin and ducked him under the water, then looked back at Jaejoong accusingly. “You could have warned me.”
“I could have gone out there and whacked you on the head, but I don’t really think it would be safe for me to be around you, right now.”
“Probably not,” Yunho agreed, not bothering to blush. He was embarrassed for Changmin, but Jaejoong was more than aware of how attractive he found him. It was one of the downsides of having a telepath and an empath as your mate. Jaejoong could turn his telepathic powers off, but the empathy was always on.
Changmin, who had come up for air, attempted to get back at Yunho by pushing him under the sea water, but the older, more agile man easily avoided him. “I do not like my empathic abilities at all! They are vulgar and extremely distasteful.”
“So, just empathic?” Yunho said hopefully.
Changmin frowned, not wanting to know the specifics of his father’s thoughts. “Yes, and I wish you would keep your lustfulness to yourself. It’s quite discerning to feel my father’s lust for my mother.”
“I am not your mother,” Jaejoong yelled from the beach. “I’m your birth parent! There is a difference!”
“I’m sorry,” Yunho apologized to Changmin, ignoring Jaejoong’s denial of motherhood, just as Changmin did. “That would be…weird.” Yunho turned back to the beach as a horrible thought entered his mind. “You can’t turn your empathic ability off…does that mean Changmin won’t be able to turn it off either?”
“It’s extremely unlikely; he just needs to get over the fact that you are a horny bastard. He should be glad; it ensures his future existence.”
“I’m not glad,” Changmin stated with a scrunched up face that looked as if he had just inhaled a foul odor.
“I am not a horny bastard!” Yunho denied vehemently.
“Wh…wha…pppuufff,” Jaejoong sputtered on the beach, at a loss for words.
“Okay, horny maybe…okay, I’m horny right now, but I’m not a bastard!” Yunho yelled back at the man on the beach, amending his prior statement.
Jaejoong leaned back on his elbows and clarified for Yunho, “I am undergoing the first stage of shifting…to me you’re a bastard.”
Yunho growled at Jaejoong and threatened, “Just wait till you are in stage three and always wanting it! You are going to be out of luck! Nope, sorry, you won’t be getting any!”
Jaejoong snorted as if the thought of Yunho refusing him was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard.
“You wait, Jaejoong,” Yunho warned, pointing to his own firm, lean, muscular body. “You will be salivating for some of this, and I’ll tell you to kiss my ass.”
Jaejoong fell back on the sand laughing hard, but managed to say, “But Baby, you like it when I kiss your ass.”
“You two shut up!” Changmin screamed.
Yunho winced, not from pain, but embarrassment. Yunho turned to his red faced son, and vowed to himself he would ignore Jaejoong for the time being. “I really am sorry. Let’s have a swimming contest. I have lots of pent up energy.”
“Oh, I bet you do,” Jaejoong muttered under his breath from the beach as he ran his hand through his hair, fluffing it.
Changmin looked at Yunho, intrigued by the offer. “Perhaps now that my Joong abilities have emerged I will finally be able to beat you.”
This time it was Yunho who laughed. “So you think you inherited some great athletic ability from Jaejoong? Ha!”
Changmin looked back at his Joong parent, who was doing what could only be described as primping as he tried to catch his reflection by angling his sunglasses in front of him. “It is highly unlikely.”
“Hey, now!” Jaejoong yelled defensively from the beach. “I choose not to be an athlete. Why do I have to win races when I can make everyone think I won?”
“Such a cheater,” Yunho threw back at his mate.
Jaejoong lifted up his hand and aimed it toward Yunho and stopped to ask, “What finger is it that human’s flip toward each other in a sign of disrespect?”
“Read my mind,” Yunho said with a grin.
“I don’t think so…no mind reading, or touching,” Jaejoong coyly told Yunho as he flipped each finger in turn at him.
“When we get back to the ship, we are going to have a little talk. I think it’s time we move past this first stage of shifting,” Yunho told his mate. “I have had enough of this bullshit.”
Jaejoong stood up, alarmed, and warned, “You better not come near me when we get back to the ship. Do you hear me?”
“You are talking to the air. I’m done with this. Changmin is doing wonderfully; you can’t use him as an excuse anymore,” Yunho told Jaejoong, loving the look of fear…and something else in Jaejoong’s eyes…was it excitement?
“What are those?” Changmin asked in complete awe.
Yunho turned back toward his son that he had forgotten about once again, after vowing to focus on him. Changmin was looking up at the sky. What appeared to be large blue, yellow, and green butterflies were fluttering above him. “They are butterflies,” Yunho answered, full of amazement.
“They most certainly are not. They are mammals,” Changmin said as the butterfly looking creatures flew lower, some of them landing on Changmin and Yunho.
Yunho held up his arm, where one had landed. “It’s like a mouse with butterfly wings.”
“Crude description, but essentially correct,” Changmin replied as he inspected one of the creatures that had landed on the palm of his hand.
Jaejoong walked closer to the water’s edge and fussed, “Should you two be playing with strange animals? What if they bite? I’m not healing Yunho.”
Yunho, who now had five or six of the butterfly creatures on him turned toward his mate with accusing eyes. “What happened to timeless love? What happened to your vow to always heal me?”
Jaejoong clenched his fist, frustrated at his bondmate. “If Ryeowook or Changmin couldn’t heal you…then I would have to step in.”
Yunho turned back to Changmin surprised. “Can you heal people? I thought that was just a possibility.”
“No, I can not…because I did not heal Sulli! I’m not bonded to her! When Jaejoong bloodied my nose, and cut me, I was not able to heal myself, so it is doubtful I could heal others,” Changmin explained calmly as he continued to study the butterfly creatures.
Yunho looked back to Jaejoong, completely aghast. “You blooded his nose and you cut him? What the hell have you two been doing down here?”
The look of horror on Yunho’s face had Jaejoong quickly explaining himself. “I actually bloodied his nose on the ship, but he is the one who ran into the door…I just had it shut. And when I cut him, I was trying to teach him to heal himself! When he couldn’t heal himself, I healed him. It wasn’t a big cut!”
“Well, as long as it wasn’t a big cut!” Yunho shouted back at Jaejoong full of sarcasm. “How the hell does he even make it to be a two year old?”
Jaejoong kicked the sand in a little hissy fit. “You annoy me so much! I’m actually quite fond of him now! I’m teaching him an important skill! Don’t you want him to be able to heal himself?”
Yunho’s face instantly softened and he smiled at Jaejoong lovingly. “You are fond of him?”
Jaejoong’s mood instantly brightened as he was flooded with Yunho’s love and happiness. He couldn’t keep from smiling back at his mate, and acknowledged, “Yes, except for when he calls me mom…that really pisses me off.”
“Why do all the flying vermin like you better than me?” Changmin complained, ignoring his parents’ moment. All the butterfly creatures had abandoned him to perch on Yunho; at least ten of them had landed on Yunho now.
Yunho, who was feeling like a tree all of a sudden, explained to Changmin smugly, “It’s because I have a good soul. Animals know.”
Changmin frowned and reached out and snatched one of the creatures that had perched on Yunho. “You probably give off some primitive scent that animals find familiar---OUCH!”
Yunho lunged toward Changmin and the butterfly creatures that had been perched on him went flying away. Yunho grabbed Changmin’s hand that was beginning to swell. “Why did you grab it like that? You know better than that. It bit you because you scared it.”
“I believe it stung me…I believe its tail had a stinger on it. Fascinating,” Changmin managed to get out as Yunho dragged him toward the beach, and toward Jaejoong.
“What did I tell you?” Jaejoong nagged as he walked out into the water to meet them. “I warned you not to be playing with strange animals!”
“Can you just heal him already?” Yunho asked as they approached Jaejoong. The hand was already swelling, doubling in size.
Jaejoong grabbed Changmin’s other arm, careful to keep from touching Yunho and informed them both. “I want him to heal himself.”
“I can’t do-”
“Yes, you can,” Jaejoong said, interrupting Changmin as they emerged from the surf. “Now sit down, find your center and heal yourself,” Jaejoong ordered as he forced Changmin down into a sitting position.
“What if it’s poisonous?” Yunho questioned, unable to hide his worry.
Jaejoong sat down next to Changmin, and looked at the red inflamed hand without touching it. “Full blooded Joongs are impervious to most poisons, so it must have been extremely poisonous to cause this reaction. Even the sedatives on the ship are quickly metabolized out his system and rendered useless.”
“But he’s half human,” Yunho reminded Jaejoong as he sat down on the other side of their son.
Jaejoong nodded his head, watching as Changmin kept his eyes closed trying to find his center. “That’s probably why the hand swelled up. The sting would probably have killed a human. Changmin has to start healing himself; the universe is a dangerous place for anyone of Joong blood. He has to learn to do this.”
“But haven’t you always said it’s easier to heal others than yourself?” Yunho asked.
“Yes,” Jaejoong agreed as he studied the hand. “This is just a minor injury though, and from poison. It should be easy to heal.”
Yunho reached out and took Changmin’s uninjured hand, and squeezed it. “Changmin, you can do it.”
Jaejoong watched them tenderly, and told Yunho, “You are such a good dad.”
Yunho smiled at Jaejoong, feeling the warmth. “You will be too.”
Jaejoong suddenly become aware of a couple of things, and jumped up and proclaimed, “I’m an idiot! Parent’s teach their children how to heal themselves…he just doesn’t remember how.”
Yunho looked up at Jaejoong startled. “Then sit down and show him how.”
“I can’t, because my bond with Changmin is broken,” Jaejoong explained. “Yunho, I know you don’t have the ability to heal yourself, but keep holding on to him and send him encouragement…you are bonded with him, it might help.”
“I find that completely illogical,” Changmin stated with his eyes shut tightly.
Jaejoong took a step back away from them. “Well, Joongs are not high on logic…we value other things. I’m going to beam back to the ship.”
“What? Why?” Yunho asked, alarmed.
“As long as I am here, our bond is the only one you are focused on,” Jaejoong explained.
“Err…that’s not completely true, but I get your point. Leave, but if it starts looking worse I’m taking him to Ryeowook.”
“No, you should bring him to me, but it isn’t going to get worse,” Jaejoong promised and hit his insignia. “One to beam up.”
***********************
“What do you think?” Sungmin asked Sulli as she toured her potential new quarters.
Sulli sat down on the small sofa in the living room of the quarters and smiled back at the security chief. “It’s nice. I know I can’t continue to live in sickbay.”
“You can stay in sickbay as long as you need to, but I thought these quarters might be nice for you. They used to be guest quarters, so they are a little more spacious. You get an extra bedroom.”
There was a table in front of the sofa with a green, leafy plant sitting on it. “I like the plant,” Sulli said, touching its leaves.
“I’m sure it would like somebody watering it regularly.”
Sulli laughed. “I am sure it would. Would I be able to make changes in the quarters?”
“Not you personally, but you can put your requests in and if environmental controls approves they would have the changes done for you,” Sungmin explained.
“That would be nice, but why are there two bedrooms?”
“Well, I thought that when we find Lieutenant Choi, she might like to stay with you,” Sungmin told the young woman who had endured so much.
Sulli squeezed her hands together, moved by Sungmin’s words. “Lieutenant Lee, that’s such a nice thing for you to consider. You really are a nice man. I think it’s a lovely idea. I would love to share these quarters with my cousin.”
“I thought you would,” Sungmin told her, smiling back at her. “I’m going to let you get more acquainted with your new home.”
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome,” Sungmin told her as he left the room, feeling very proud of himself. It was nice to know he could add some happiness to her life.
“You look very pleased with yourself.” Siwon, who was leaning against the wall outside of Sulli’s new quarters, told Sungmin.
Sungmin’s good mood vanished; he was not happy with the tall prince. “I was.”
“I assume you found young Miss Choi a nice place to live?”
Sungmin tried to keep from glaring at Siwon and failed. He turned and started walking down the corridor toward the lift. “You would assume correctly.”
Siwon pushed away from the wall and started following the other man. “I’m sensing some hostility directed at me.”
Sungmin clamped his mouth shut. Hostility? Yes, he was indeed hostile. Siwon had quit security without notifying him, and now he was all up in the rebel women’s business. No doubt, the fact that they were women outweighed the fact that they were ugly heifers. Sungmin knew he shouldn’t be jealous…knew perfectly well, but the last week had been confusing. Siwon had been so attentive to him. They had shared all their meals, and it was almost like they were a real couple. Sungmin could not forget the hug they had shared before the Expectations had hurried off to retrieve Kyuhyun. Sungmin had felt something, and he had thought Siwon had felt it too.
“Sungmin, please slow down and listen to me. You know diplomacy is my passion. I could not refuse when the captain asked me to take up a diplomatic post,” Siwon said as he took long strides to catch up with the other man.
“You could have asked me first.”
Siwon frowned, and questioned. “Doesn’t the captain have the final say on this ship?”
Sungmin came to a complete stop, reaching up to scratch his head. “Yes, of course. It’s just…I mean, it isn’t like you were some amazing security officer.”
“Now you are being unkind.”
Sungmin grimaced, realizing the truth of Siwon’s words. “Sorry. It’s just that I liked you being in security. I like being around you.”
Siwon, who was standing beside Sungmin now, looked down at him tenderly, and confessed, “I know you do, but it’s better this way.”
Sungmin groaned internally, knowing that Siwon was referring to his not so secret crush on the tall prince. “You are right, of course.”
“You are feeling embarrassed again.”
“A little bit. Are we done here? I really should be on the bridge.”
“I had wished to discuss another matter with you. Have you eaten? We could eat a late lunch together,” Siwon suggested.
Sungmin looked at Siwon, puzzled now. When he had first seen Siwon outside of Sulli’s quarters, he had thought that the prince might have been there to see the young woman. They had both been stranded on the same planet together, along with Ryeowook, Kangin, and Commander Leeteuk, before Hangeng had arrived and taken the girl to sell into slavery. Was it possible that Siwon had been searching for him instead? “I ate lunch in the gym hours ago. Were you looking for me?”
“Of course I was looking for you,” Siwon answered as if the question was ridiculous.
“Because you thought I was mad at you?”
“You were angry.”
“Oh…well, we settled that. What else do you want to talk to me about?” Sungmin asked curiously.
Siwon stepped closer to the lieutenant and said softly, for only Sungmin’s ears, “Now that I am not under your supervision, I would like the opportunity to date you.”
Sungmin felt his jaw drop open, and he stared at Siwon, shocked, and unable to say a word.
“I know I have told you repeatedly…that I am not attracted to men. I’m usually not, but I feel drawn toward you. I do not want to make promises that I can not keep, but if you are willing, then I would like the chance to explore the possibility,” Siwon explained.
Sungmin brightened instantly and lifting his jaw up off the floor, asked suggestively, “Would you like to go back to my quarters to do some exploring?”
“No,” Siwon said, shaking his head. “No, I don’t think that would be wise. I will not further complicate things by having sex with you again. I need to know this attraction I feel toward you is real, and not fleeting.”
Sungmin mood darkened slightly as the prospect of sex disappeared. “So, you really mean date…like date, date?”
“Yes, I care too much for you to toy with your feelings.”
Sungmin looked up at Siwon longingly and asked, “What if I don’t care if you toy with them?”
“Just dating for now, and I would love to escort you to the Halloween Party. I hope there will be dancing.”
“You know how to dance?” Sungmin asked, already knowing the answer.
“I’m a prince…I could dance before I could walk.”
Adventure Nine: Come Together Part 3 of 5
Author: Aquariuslover
Pairings: Yunjae, KyuWook
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Science Fiction, Romance
Length: Chaptered
Beta: tahoeturquoise
Summary: The Expectation’s crew is busy instructing the Rebellion on how to care for the newly confiscated ships, it has handed over to them. While at the same time Captain Yunho struggles to deal with a temperamental, shifting Jaejoong, and an erratic Changmin. Kyuhyun’s recovery takes a surprising turn. Family jewels are in jeopardy. Donghae wants to throw a party. Siwon has an interesting offer for Sungmin. Eunhyuk finds himself in Yoochun’s bed once again. Junsu is not amused.
Prior Adventures
“You are so mean to your kid,” Yoochun told Yunho as he placed keepsakes into a box.
Yunho shook his head as he stared at an aquarium that was built into the wall of the quarters they were in. “I’m not mean to him. I want this to be a surprise.”
“You’re just lucky there was an automatic feeder built into this aquarium or you would have killed the captain’s fish,” Kangin said from beside him as they stared at the huge colorful fish that had previously belonged to Captain Seung.
“I doubt the computer would have allowed them to die without alerting us,” Yunho pointed out.
“True, it gives out warnings when plants need watering,” Yoochun reminded them as he placed the late captain’s family pictures into a box. “I don’t know why you require our assistance to move this stuff out.”
“It isn’t stuff…it was Captain Seung’s personal belongings,” Yunho explained as he looked around the quarters that had belonged to the previous captain of the ship. “To just assign somebody to do it would be wrong.”
“It is a darn shame that he had to die,” Kangin said as he moved away from Yunho to start packing stuff away. “He was a good man.”
“That he was, and I thought we could handle this respectfully,” Yunho added.
Yoochun rolled his eyes. “Respectful as one can be, especially one who is just doing this for the sole purpose of returning to their mates good sexual graces.”
“Must everything be about sex to you? You realize that someday Changmin will be born, and my quarters are not adequate for a baby. This is much better,” Yunho reasoned.
“Baby Changmin,” Kangin said with a grin. “Hey, I get to be a godfather right?”
“Maybe,” Yunho replied as he started placing the late captain’s personal items into boxes. “Definitely not Yoochun though.”
“I’m so hurt,” Yoochun said with a roll of his eyes. “I will just serve as the bad influence.”
“You’ve tried that before and failed,” Yunho reminded him.
“Yeah,” Yoochun admitted. “I’ve never been able to lead the Jung boys down the wrong path.”
“Nope, you are Yunho’s bitch in this reality,” Kangin snickered. “You have been his bitch since the day we all met up at the academy entrance exams.”
“Hey! I chose to follow him and his boring ways of righteousness,” Yoochun told Kangin, sounding offended. “Having him as my best friend adds to my mystery.”
“And I’m eternally grateful for your friendship,” Yunho told him as he stared at the prior captain’s sword display on the wall. “Should I take them down, too?”
Yoochun finished packing one box and looked up at the sword collection “Yeah, it isn’t yours, and Jae might get pissed at you one night, and decide to cut off certain parts of your anatomy.”
Yunho frowned at Yoochun. “He wouldn’t…” Yunho paused remembering Jaejoong’s complaints about getting pregnant. “Yeah, they need to go.”
Yoochun and Kangin shared a knowing grin. “Really…are the family jewels in danger?” Kangin couldn’t keep from asking.
Yunho shrugged at his two oldest friends, and answered, “He isn’t really in love with the whole getting pregnant thing…not at all.”
“I don’t really blame him,” Kangin said, wincing in sympathy at the thought.
Yoochun grabbed a sword and started packing it away. “You know, if he really wants to castrate you, he’ll find a way.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much! That’s just what I wanted to hear,” Yunho grumbled as he grabbed another sword off the wall.
Kangin, who had sat down in a chair, smiled and asked, “Did either of you ever think we would be here talking about Yunho getting his male mate pregnant?”
“Hey, he’s a hermaphrodite,” Yunho said, correcting Kangin.
“I’m not shocked at all. Remember, he did lose his virginity at the ripe old age of fifteen to a he/she prostitute on Risa. He’s just been suppressing his inner self for all these years,” Yoochun reminded them with a mischievous grin.
“It was a she, and she wasn’t a prostitute!” Yunho sputtered, surprised that the old encounter was suddenly being brought up.
“I remember the gender being a little iffy. What matters most is that you paid for it. No way did that one let your inexperienced ass have it for free,” Kangin said with full admiration as he remembered back on the days of their youth.
“I can’t really remember her face for some reason,” Yoochun said, confused. “But that was the hottest piece of ass I ever laid eyes on. I wish I’d had the money to pay for it. I had always heard about Risa prostitutes, but hearing is not the same as seeing.”
“I did not pay for it! She just liked me!” Yunho insisted, remembering back to a most pleasant time. “Liked me a whole lot, and it was amazing.”
“You had a big smile plastered on your face for days afterwards, lucky dog,” Yoochun said, smiling at Yunho as the captain relived an old, enjoyable memory.
“To think I lost my virginity to Kimini Kauera,” Kangin groused. “I heard she dropped out of the academy to take up intergalactic banking. My first time was with a banker.”
Yunho sat down on the floor with a huge smile on his face, ignoring Kangin. “Even now it’s like a blur of this most perfect time. I was so young…too young; but damn, did I learn a lot.”
“Was it the best sex you ever had?” Yoochun asked with a wink, trying to paint Yunho into a corner.
“No!” Yunho quickly answered. “I mean, it was good. I was very young and eager, but sex with Jaejoong is the best by far.”
“Might you be lying?” Yoochun suggested.
“Because you fear for the safety of your family jewels?” Kangin added.
“No, I mean…no…it’s like a blur. Nothing compares to what Jaejoong and I share,” Yunho proclaimed uneasily and quickly stood back up. “Let’s get these swords packed away.”
“I do believe he protests too much,” Kangin said with a grin.
“I do believe you are right,” Yoochun teased, but the old friends let the subject drop, and continued to pack away the late captain’s items.
Moments later the computer let out a ringing noise letting them know somebody was at the door. Yunho stared at the door, alarmed, and turned to his two friends and hissed, “I swear, if Jaejoong heard you two and your filthy minds…then the two of you will be cleaning the hanger deck with a toothbrush!”
“Us?” Yoochun asked, shocked. “I do believe you are the one bonded with him.”
“Yeah,” Kangin agreed from his chair. “He probably felt you remembering the good old days…vividly.”
“I know when he reads my mind!” Yunho snapped back at them, and reluctantly walked to the door and ordered, “Open.” The door whooshed open and relief flooded Yunho as he saw Changmin standing at the entryway, holding two big dishes of food. “Changmin.”
Changmin walked into the official captain’s quarters, studying them intently. “Are we moving in here?”
“Well, hopefully you will be back in your own quarters soon, but baby you will live here,” Yunho answered as he looked out into the hallway. “Where is your guard?”
“Mom said I didn’t need one.”
“You don’t?” Yunho questioned doubtfully.
“Nope,” Changmin answered, holding the food protectively. “Mom is focusing on Kangin and Yoochun’s minds, so he would know if I didn’t show up.”
“Shit,” Yoochun groaned.
The captain glared at his two friends. “Sorry,” Kangin said weakly as he got up from the chair.
Changmin sat down in the seat that Kangin had vacated, and told Yoochun and Kangin, “Mom told me to tell you two to leave, and if you ever bring up the Risa whore again…he won’t require a sword to remove your ‘family jewels’ because you won’t have the brain capacity to know what do with them.”
Yoochun bit his tongue, and Kangin wrapped a hand around Yoochun’s arm, sensing the engineer was about to explode. “We are going to be going now.”
“You guys don’t have to leave…I’m the captain of this ship,” Yunho told his old friends, slightly embarrassed that his mate had eavesdropped on them.
Yoochun, who was not pleased about the invasion of his privacy, reminded Yunho, “Only because Jaejoong allows you to be captain. I think we know where the real power on this ship lies, and I pray he never really gets angry at you. God help us all if he does.”
“Shut up!” Kangin ordered as he pushed Yoochun through the door. “You are purposely antagonizing him. When you suddenly think you’re a eunuch, don’t come crying to me.”
“I don’t give a shit, and he can read this thought if he-” Yoochun’s tirade was shut off as the doors to the quarters closed behind him.
Changmin watched as Yunho eyed the closed doors with a mixture of emotions showing on his face. “You should not let Commander Yoochun’s words get to you. Although the ship is at Jaejoong’s mercy…it is not power he craves.”
“Jaejoong now?” Yunho asked turning around to face his son. “Not mom?”
“He can not hear us now,” Changmin reminded Yunho. “It’s your love he craves.”
“He has my love,” Yunho said, sitting down on the floor in front of Changmin. “What did you bring me to eat?”
“I am not sure what it is called, but it smells delicious,” Changmin told Yunho as he got up from his seat and sat down on the floor beside Yunho.
“You haven’t tried it yet?”
“No, I was feeling conflicted.”
“Is this why you required me?” Yunho asked as he removed the cover on the delicious looking food and picked up the eating utensil that was nestled inside.
Changmin nodded his head. “Jaejoong, Ryeowook, and even Heechul before his lapse back into madness all think I have something to do with Sulli’s recovery.”
Yunho studied his son, who was obviously uncomfortable, and asked, “In what way?”
“They suspect that I might have aided in her mental recovery…she is not as damaged mentally as it was initially thought.”
“You are not bonded though…I mean, you’re not,” Yunho assured his son. “If you were bonded, you would know it.”
“Jaejoong agrees with you, but I’m a hybrid. I’m a mystery to even Jaejoong,” Changmin explained. “It would be illogical to assume that I will behave in the same way as a full blooded Joong.”
“Yes, that would be…” Yunho paused to smile. “Yes, that would be illogical.”
Changmin studied the smile on his father’s face. “I feel more like my old self with every passing hour. When I get overly emotional, I just reach inside myself and find my center easily now.”
“That is good, but I don’t want you to lose everything you’ve gained, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think you find more enjoyment in everything now…than you did before. I don’t want you to lose that sense of joy,” Yunho explained. “I mean, at times it’s very hard for me to see you doing things like skipping down the corridor, because seeing you behave so differently makes me miss the brilliant, snarky version of you; but I don’t want you to lose this sense of joy you have found.”
Changmin, who had started to eat, nodded his head. “I do feel more joy…but I still crave my logic. I just want to learn everything I can. I miss learning.”
Yunho bumped shoulders with Changmin gently. “Don’t be silly. You have learned so much lately. The change in you is amazing. You are always learning…it would be impossible for you to stop.”
“Ah, but learning about myself is different from learning about the universe.”
Yunho just shook his head. “If you are bonded to that girl in some way…that would not necessarily be a bad thing. I don’t want you to think of it as something bad.”
Changmin put his food down and frowned at Yunho. “How can you say that? I did not choose it.”
“No, but sometimes the things in life that get thrown at you…are thrown at you for a reason. She is your friend right now…a real friend to you. I have watched you two. Even when you were…forgive me, but even when you were completely loony-she calmed you.”
“I still do not want to be bonded!”
“No, but whatever bond you might have it isn’t anything like the one I have with Jaejoong. Maybe as a hybrid you heal others differently or maybe she is just unusually strong and there is no bond. Her parents were amazing people. It’s possible she just has very strong coping skills that they instilled in her. What’s important is that she is better, and I don’t think you should regret that.”
“No,” Changmin quickly agreed. “She deserves to be better. I do not have any romantic feelings for her.”
“See, it’s just friendship then. Believe me, you are mine and Jaejoong’s son; when you are bonded you are going to know it.”
Changmin frowned again. “I do not want to think about that.”
“Now, that’s my boy,” Yunho chuckled. “So, how angry is Jaejoong at me?”
“He is very controlled at the moment, but he did instruct me to tell you that you will be accompanying us to the planet tomorrow.”
Yunho tried to fight the dread he was feeling as he stared at the delicious food that Jaejoong had sent to him. “If this was my last meal, you’d tell me, right?”
Changmin laughed. “Yes, I would warn you.”
****************************************************
“Why don’t you just ask her if she knows any good hookers?” Junsu asked Eunhyuk with obvious disapproval as he pointed to the lady working the stand where Donghae was trying on masks. They were at the street market outside the rebel outpost.
“Don’t sound so judgmental, it’s an honest line of work.”
“What is an honest line of work?” Donghae asked as he left the stand after purchasing a couple of masks.
“Prostitution,” Eunhyuk explained.
Donghae handed his masks to Junsu, who was eager to look at them. “I wouldn’t know. No man in my family has ever had to pay for it,” Donghae said proudly.
Eunhyuk frowned, annoyed at the transporter chief, and changed the subject, “Let’s get something to eat.”
“Okay,” Junsu agreed. Junsu handed the masks back to Donghae and told him, “They are really nice.”
“They are going to be great for the Halloween Party,” Donghae explained. “I think I will use them as wall decorations. I already know what I’m wearing, and I don’t need a mask.”
“Are you still on about that?” Eunhyuk grumbled as he headed toward a shop that was selling sweets.
“Yes, no thanks to you. You are absolutely no help to me…at all. It’s going to be in Ten Forward.”
“Really?” Junsu replied, more interested now as they walked into the shop. “The captain let you use Ten Forward?”
“Yep, the captain and I go way back,” Donghae said with a confident grin. “I could use some help though… hint, hint,” Donghae said nudging Junsu with his elbow.
“Sorry, I’ve been busy teaching the rebel pilots how to fly their new ships,” Junsu said, apologizing. “I had to make time to even come down here for shore leave.”
Donghae nodded his head in understanding. “You are forgiven. I’ll find help, don’t worry.”
The three of them, who had unlimited funds thanks to the ships replicators, ordered some sweets after checking them with the tricorder to make sure they were safe to consume. They then left the shop, and continued to wander down the street that was filled with stands of people selling different kinds of products.
“What are those?” Junsu asked as shiny looking pink crystals caught his eye.
The three moved toward the stand holding the crystals. “They remind me of Changmin’s necklace,” Eunhyuk told them.
“They are the same color,” Donghae agreed as they all three stared down at crystals that were displayed in groups of three. They were each the size of a chicken’s egg.
Junsu reached down to touch one and a gloved hand immediately grabbed onto his wrist, stopping him. The hand belonged to a tall man with a long grey beard that was in charge of the stand. The man warned, “No touching…the Soul Tri Sphere links to those who touch them.”
“Links?” Junsu asked, frowning at the older man until he let go of him.
The man pulled one from his pocket and explained, “This is my very own. I’ve had it since I was a young boy. My two best friends have the other two. They have provided us with great protection throughout our lives. They have kept us out of the warlord’s clutches.”
“So, they are like good luck charms?” Eunhyuk asked.
“Exactly,” the man answered. “They were made by the great Joong race, and legend says they can only be sold in threes…to three different people.”
“These were made by the Joong race?” Junsu asked.
The man nodded his head eagerly. “Yes, a long time ago…that’s why they are so lucky. Joongs are the luckiest of all beings.”
“Have you ever met a Joong?” Eunhyuk asked, suddenly suspicious of the salesman. All aboard the Expectations knew how the races of this galaxy liked to throw around the Joong name, without ever having met one.
“No, not me, but I hear a Joong always carries one of these crystals with them,” the salesman explained.
“Really,” Junsu said, full of doubts now. He couldn’t imagine Jaejoong carrying around a lucky crystal. Junsu figured that the people of this galaxy held Joong’s in such high regard that saying something was made by Joongs increased its worth immensely. Money was not important to the crew of Expectations; they could make all the money, precious jewels, gold, and silver they wanted.
The salesman held his crystal up and said, “Look how beautiful it is…could a mere mortal make one?”
“We could synthesize a couple million of them on our ship,” Eunhyuk answered drily.
“Synthesize?” the man asked confused.
“Ignore him,” Junsu explained. “They are pretty. I think I want one.”
“Your two other friends also must agree to take one…they must be given to three people.”
Junsu turned to face Eunhyuk. “What do you think? Should we get them?”
“I need all the luck I can get,” Eunhyuk said with a laugh; he then turned toward Donghae, who wasn’t paying any attention to them. “Donghae, you want to go in with us?”
“Huh?” Donghae muttered not turning around to face his friend. He was focused on a young, blonde woman with short, sassy hair that was smiling at him from across the street.
Eunhyuk said nothing, suddenly consumed with jealously as he watched Donghae and the young woman smile back and forth at each other.
“Do you want to buy a…” Junsu paused and looked at the man and tried to remember what the man had called them. “A Soul Tri Sphere with us? We all three have to buy one or none of us can.”
“Umm…no, I am going to go get acquainted with…” Donghae paused smiling at the young woman. “Her.”
“What is it about him?” Eunhyuk whined as his friend walked off toward the attractive young woman. “Why do women flock to him?”
Junsu looked away from the pink crystals and answered, “He’s extremely handsome.”
“And I can’t even pay for it,” Eunhyuk moaned as he looked back down at the table. “Does this mean we can’t buy them?”
“Sorry,” the man said. “They must each have their own master, or they don’t work.”
“I think I might be able to help with that,” Yoochun said, shocking both the ensigns with his sudden appearance as he squeezed in between them at the stand and laid down a fortune in coins. He had been lurking behind them, eavesdropping on their entire conversation.
“What!” Junsu exclaimed taking a step away from Yoochun. “What are you doing here?”
Yoochun smiled at Junsu, ignoring Eunhyuk for the moment as he reached down and picked up a pink crystal. “I’m making it possible for you to buy one of these pretty little rocks.”
“They are crystals,” Junsu said, reaching out and grabbing his own.
Eunhyuk, who hoped that Yoochun was on his best behavior, picked up his crystal and added, “They are also good luck charms.”
“Oh, I pray they are,” Yoochun said, holding up his pink crystal and kissing it, while all the time eyeing Junsu hungrily.
Junsu, who looked sickened, harshly pointed out to Commander Yoochun, “There isn’t that much luck in this universe or in any universe for that matter.”
Yoochun leaned back. “Junsu, you wound me. I just wanted to spend the rest of shore leave with you, shopping. What happened to us being friends?”
“I am done with that delusion,” Junsu snapped back at Yoochun, and grabbed Eunhyuk by the arm. “Come on, Eunhyuk, let’s go.”
“Let’s not be harsh,” Eunhyuk said, pulling free of Junsu. He was very fearful of what might spill from the commander’s lips if he became angry.
“What?” Junsu asked, shocked at Eunhyuk’s response.
“Eunhyuk is completely capable of being rational. Oh, and I did pass a…let’s call it a gentleman’s club, about eight stands down. It’s in the red shop on the left,” Yoochun told Eunhyuk with a grin.
“See ya later!” Eunhyuk shouted as a huge smile spread out across his face, and he quickly took off.
Junsu hurried after Eunhyuk, grabbing him by the arm and stopping him. “You can’t leave me alone with him.”
“Then come with me! I only have forty-five minutes left. I have to hurry. Who knows when I will get the chance again,” Eunhyuk explained, disentangling himself from his best friend.
Junsu frowned in obvious disdain. “I’m not coming with you.”
“I don’t know what to tell you; it isn’t like he is going to hurt you. I’m sorry for being an awful friend, but I have to go now,” Eunhyuk pleaded, scrambling off.
Yoochun, who had listened to their exchange, told Junsu, “You know, I’m the one that should be mad.”
Junsu turned around to glare at the commander; whatever respect he had for Commander Yoochun had vanished long ago.
“We were having a really nice time together, and you just flipped out on me. If I can let it go, then you should be able to do the same.”
“You’ve let it go? Can you honestly say your intentions toward me are pure?”
“No, not in the pure sense…not what you call pure,” Yoochun admitted. “I want you. I always want you. I’m not going to lie, but I’m not going to force you into anything. I didn’t force you that night either. I just…it was the only chance I had, or might ever have. I took it.”
“Why can’t you just forget about me?” Junsu cried, completely frustrated. He hated this ongoing drama with Commander Yoochun. He wanted it to be over.
“I don’t know why! You think I enjoy having this fixation on you? Not even two weeks ago, I was freaking out with jealously because you were the tour guide for the ugly rebel women, and the captain actually asked me if I’d had a mental examination lately,” Yoochun explained to Junsu, just as frustrated by his fixation on the younger ensign.
Junsu snorted. “The ugly rebel women you seem to be very fond of lately.”
“Because I can’t have you; if I could have you…” Yoochun paused, realizing what he was about to say.
“What?”
Yoochun looked Junsu in the eye and answered honestly, “I wouldn’t want anybody else.”
Junsu sighed and rubbed his face with both of his hands. “You only say that…because you can’t have me. You don’t even know me as a person-”
“Then let’s get to know each other! Maybe you will prove so boring and prudish that you will lose some of your appeal,” Yoochun interrupted, and offered quickly. “Spend the rest of shore leave shopping with me. I won’t make any passes at you. I swear on my engines…may their efficiency level drop by twenty percent if I’m lying.”
Junsu eyed Yoochun suspiciously but in the end he relented, “Okay, but if you pinch my ass one time, I am beaming back to the ship.”
“No pinching, I promise,” Yoochun said, grinning back at him.
****************************
Yunho stood waist deep in the ocean with his eyes fixated on the beach. He had no idea how long he had been staring, nor did he care. On the beach, sitting on the sand with his feet stretched out in front of him while he leaned back on his elbows looking up at the sky, Jaejoong was a vision of beauty to behold. He was wearing white, loose fitting cotton clothing that moved in the warm summer’s breeze along with his thick, beautiful black hair. The sunglasses he wore only added to his allure. Yunho was acutely aware that they had not had sex since the day Hyun Joong entered their lives, changing everything forever.
Painfully aware of their lack of intimacy, Yunho remembered back to the day everything had changed, and how nicely it had started out. He had taken the day off to celebrate their 180th day of being together. The day had started out with sweet, hot sex that had been ripe with passion and mutual love. How did they go from that level of wonderfulness to this? He missed Jaejoong, he missed Jaejoong’s body, and how it responded to his touches…his every desire.
“Yunho, reign it in!”
Yunho snapped out his fog of blissfulness to notice that Jaejoong wasn’t looking up at the sky any longer but watching him, clearly amused. That smile…that perfect smile, and damn if he didn’t look like he was born to sit on the beach. What Yunho would like to do to him on that beach…what kinds of scorching hot things they could do to each other on this beach, he could only imagine.
“Yunho, stop it! You are traumatizing Changmin!” Jaejoong ordered, sitting up straight. He was unable to hide the amusement in his voice as he felt his mate’s powerful attraction for him.
Yunho turned away from Jaejoong quickly to face his son, who was standing about four feet away from him in the water with a look of pure disgust on his face.
Yunho cringed. Today was all about Changmin, he reminded himself quickly. He had accompanied Jaejoong and Changmin to the planet to see how the human brain would hold up to Changmin with the necklace off. Yunho had not so much as felt a twinge of pain from being in his son’s presence. Yunho moved quickly toward Changmin and ducked him under the water, then looked back at Jaejoong accusingly. “You could have warned me.”
“I could have gone out there and whacked you on the head, but I don’t really think it would be safe for me to be around you, right now.”
“Probably not,” Yunho agreed, not bothering to blush. He was embarrassed for Changmin, but Jaejoong was more than aware of how attractive he found him. It was one of the downsides of having a telepath and an empath as your mate. Jaejoong could turn his telepathic powers off, but the empathy was always on.
Changmin, who had come up for air, attempted to get back at Yunho by pushing him under the sea water, but the older, more agile man easily avoided him. “I do not like my empathic abilities at all! They are vulgar and extremely distasteful.”
“So, just empathic?” Yunho said hopefully.
Changmin frowned, not wanting to know the specifics of his father’s thoughts. “Yes, and I wish you would keep your lustfulness to yourself. It’s quite discerning to feel my father’s lust for my mother.”
“I am not your mother,” Jaejoong yelled from the beach. “I’m your birth parent! There is a difference!”
“I’m sorry,” Yunho apologized to Changmin, ignoring Jaejoong’s denial of motherhood, just as Changmin did. “That would be…weird.” Yunho turned back to the beach as a horrible thought entered his mind. “You can’t turn your empathic ability off…does that mean Changmin won’t be able to turn it off either?”
“It’s extremely unlikely; he just needs to get over the fact that you are a horny bastard. He should be glad; it ensures his future existence.”
“I’m not glad,” Changmin stated with a scrunched up face that looked as if he had just inhaled a foul odor.
“I am not a horny bastard!” Yunho denied vehemently.
“Wh…wha…pppuufff,” Jaejoong sputtered on the beach, at a loss for words.
“Okay, horny maybe…okay, I’m horny right now, but I’m not a bastard!” Yunho yelled back at the man on the beach, amending his prior statement.
Jaejoong leaned back on his elbows and clarified for Yunho, “I am undergoing the first stage of shifting…to me you’re a bastard.”
Yunho growled at Jaejoong and threatened, “Just wait till you are in stage three and always wanting it! You are going to be out of luck! Nope, sorry, you won’t be getting any!”
Jaejoong snorted as if the thought of Yunho refusing him was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard.
“You wait, Jaejoong,” Yunho warned, pointing to his own firm, lean, muscular body. “You will be salivating for some of this, and I’ll tell you to kiss my ass.”
Jaejoong fell back on the sand laughing hard, but managed to say, “But Baby, you like it when I kiss your ass.”
“You two shut up!” Changmin screamed.
Yunho winced, not from pain, but embarrassment. Yunho turned to his red faced son, and vowed to himself he would ignore Jaejoong for the time being. “I really am sorry. Let’s have a swimming contest. I have lots of pent up energy.”
“Oh, I bet you do,” Jaejoong muttered under his breath from the beach as he ran his hand through his hair, fluffing it.
Changmin looked at Yunho, intrigued by the offer. “Perhaps now that my Joong abilities have emerged I will finally be able to beat you.”
This time it was Yunho who laughed. “So you think you inherited some great athletic ability from Jaejoong? Ha!”
Changmin looked back at his Joong parent, who was doing what could only be described as primping as he tried to catch his reflection by angling his sunglasses in front of him. “It is highly unlikely.”
“Hey, now!” Jaejoong yelled defensively from the beach. “I choose not to be an athlete. Why do I have to win races when I can make everyone think I won?”
“Such a cheater,” Yunho threw back at his mate.
Jaejoong lifted up his hand and aimed it toward Yunho and stopped to ask, “What finger is it that human’s flip toward each other in a sign of disrespect?”
“Read my mind,” Yunho said with a grin.
“I don’t think so…no mind reading, or touching,” Jaejoong coyly told Yunho as he flipped each finger in turn at him.
“When we get back to the ship, we are going to have a little talk. I think it’s time we move past this first stage of shifting,” Yunho told his mate. “I have had enough of this bullshit.”
Jaejoong stood up, alarmed, and warned, “You better not come near me when we get back to the ship. Do you hear me?”
“You are talking to the air. I’m done with this. Changmin is doing wonderfully; you can’t use him as an excuse anymore,” Yunho told Jaejoong, loving the look of fear…and something else in Jaejoong’s eyes…was it excitement?
“What are those?” Changmin asked in complete awe.
Yunho turned back toward his son that he had forgotten about once again, after vowing to focus on him. Changmin was looking up at the sky. What appeared to be large blue, yellow, and green butterflies were fluttering above him. “They are butterflies,” Yunho answered, full of amazement.
“They most certainly are not. They are mammals,” Changmin said as the butterfly looking creatures flew lower, some of them landing on Changmin and Yunho.
Yunho held up his arm, where one had landed. “It’s like a mouse with butterfly wings.”
“Crude description, but essentially correct,” Changmin replied as he inspected one of the creatures that had landed on the palm of his hand.
Jaejoong walked closer to the water’s edge and fussed, “Should you two be playing with strange animals? What if they bite? I’m not healing Yunho.”
Yunho, who now had five or six of the butterfly creatures on him turned toward his mate with accusing eyes. “What happened to timeless love? What happened to your vow to always heal me?”
Jaejoong clenched his fist, frustrated at his bondmate. “If Ryeowook or Changmin couldn’t heal you…then I would have to step in.”
Yunho turned back to Changmin surprised. “Can you heal people? I thought that was just a possibility.”
“No, I can not…because I did not heal Sulli! I’m not bonded to her! When Jaejoong bloodied my nose, and cut me, I was not able to heal myself, so it is doubtful I could heal others,” Changmin explained calmly as he continued to study the butterfly creatures.
Yunho looked back to Jaejoong, completely aghast. “You blooded his nose and you cut him? What the hell have you two been doing down here?”
The look of horror on Yunho’s face had Jaejoong quickly explaining himself. “I actually bloodied his nose on the ship, but he is the one who ran into the door…I just had it shut. And when I cut him, I was trying to teach him to heal himself! When he couldn’t heal himself, I healed him. It wasn’t a big cut!”
“Well, as long as it wasn’t a big cut!” Yunho shouted back at Jaejoong full of sarcasm. “How the hell does he even make it to be a two year old?”
Jaejoong kicked the sand in a little hissy fit. “You annoy me so much! I’m actually quite fond of him now! I’m teaching him an important skill! Don’t you want him to be able to heal himself?”
Yunho’s face instantly softened and he smiled at Jaejoong lovingly. “You are fond of him?”
Jaejoong’s mood instantly brightened as he was flooded with Yunho’s love and happiness. He couldn’t keep from smiling back at his mate, and acknowledged, “Yes, except for when he calls me mom…that really pisses me off.”
“Why do all the flying vermin like you better than me?” Changmin complained, ignoring his parents’ moment. All the butterfly creatures had abandoned him to perch on Yunho; at least ten of them had landed on Yunho now.
Yunho, who was feeling like a tree all of a sudden, explained to Changmin smugly, “It’s because I have a good soul. Animals know.”
Changmin frowned and reached out and snatched one of the creatures that had perched on Yunho. “You probably give off some primitive scent that animals find familiar---OUCH!”
Yunho lunged toward Changmin and the butterfly creatures that had been perched on him went flying away. Yunho grabbed Changmin’s hand that was beginning to swell. “Why did you grab it like that? You know better than that. It bit you because you scared it.”
“I believe it stung me…I believe its tail had a stinger on it. Fascinating,” Changmin managed to get out as Yunho dragged him toward the beach, and toward Jaejoong.
“What did I tell you?” Jaejoong nagged as he walked out into the water to meet them. “I warned you not to be playing with strange animals!”
“Can you just heal him already?” Yunho asked as they approached Jaejoong. The hand was already swelling, doubling in size.
Jaejoong grabbed Changmin’s other arm, careful to keep from touching Yunho and informed them both. “I want him to heal himself.”
“I can’t do-”
“Yes, you can,” Jaejoong said, interrupting Changmin as they emerged from the surf. “Now sit down, find your center and heal yourself,” Jaejoong ordered as he forced Changmin down into a sitting position.
“What if it’s poisonous?” Yunho questioned, unable to hide his worry.
Jaejoong sat down next to Changmin, and looked at the red inflamed hand without touching it. “Full blooded Joongs are impervious to most poisons, so it must have been extremely poisonous to cause this reaction. Even the sedatives on the ship are quickly metabolized out his system and rendered useless.”
“But he’s half human,” Yunho reminded Jaejoong as he sat down on the other side of their son.
Jaejoong nodded his head, watching as Changmin kept his eyes closed trying to find his center. “That’s probably why the hand swelled up. The sting would probably have killed a human. Changmin has to start healing himself; the universe is a dangerous place for anyone of Joong blood. He has to learn to do this.”
“But haven’t you always said it’s easier to heal others than yourself?” Yunho asked.
“Yes,” Jaejoong agreed as he studied the hand. “This is just a minor injury though, and from poison. It should be easy to heal.”
Yunho reached out and took Changmin’s uninjured hand, and squeezed it. “Changmin, you can do it.”
Jaejoong watched them tenderly, and told Yunho, “You are such a good dad.”
Yunho smiled at Jaejoong, feeling the warmth. “You will be too.”
Jaejoong suddenly become aware of a couple of things, and jumped up and proclaimed, “I’m an idiot! Parent’s teach their children how to heal themselves…he just doesn’t remember how.”
Yunho looked up at Jaejoong startled. “Then sit down and show him how.”
“I can’t, because my bond with Changmin is broken,” Jaejoong explained. “Yunho, I know you don’t have the ability to heal yourself, but keep holding on to him and send him encouragement…you are bonded with him, it might help.”
“I find that completely illogical,” Changmin stated with his eyes shut tightly.
Jaejoong took a step back away from them. “Well, Joongs are not high on logic…we value other things. I’m going to beam back to the ship.”
“What? Why?” Yunho asked, alarmed.
“As long as I am here, our bond is the only one you are focused on,” Jaejoong explained.
“Err…that’s not completely true, but I get your point. Leave, but if it starts looking worse I’m taking him to Ryeowook.”
“No, you should bring him to me, but it isn’t going to get worse,” Jaejoong promised and hit his insignia. “One to beam up.”
***********************
“What do you think?” Sungmin asked Sulli as she toured her potential new quarters.
Sulli sat down on the small sofa in the living room of the quarters and smiled back at the security chief. “It’s nice. I know I can’t continue to live in sickbay.”
“You can stay in sickbay as long as you need to, but I thought these quarters might be nice for you. They used to be guest quarters, so they are a little more spacious. You get an extra bedroom.”
There was a table in front of the sofa with a green, leafy plant sitting on it. “I like the plant,” Sulli said, touching its leaves.
“I’m sure it would like somebody watering it regularly.”
Sulli laughed. “I am sure it would. Would I be able to make changes in the quarters?”
“Not you personally, but you can put your requests in and if environmental controls approves they would have the changes done for you,” Sungmin explained.
“That would be nice, but why are there two bedrooms?”
“Well, I thought that when we find Lieutenant Choi, she might like to stay with you,” Sungmin told the young woman who had endured so much.
Sulli squeezed her hands together, moved by Sungmin’s words. “Lieutenant Lee, that’s such a nice thing for you to consider. You really are a nice man. I think it’s a lovely idea. I would love to share these quarters with my cousin.”
“I thought you would,” Sungmin told her, smiling back at her. “I’m going to let you get more acquainted with your new home.”
“Thank you.”
“You are welcome,” Sungmin told her as he left the room, feeling very proud of himself. It was nice to know he could add some happiness to her life.
“You look very pleased with yourself.” Siwon, who was leaning against the wall outside of Sulli’s new quarters, told Sungmin.
Sungmin’s good mood vanished; he was not happy with the tall prince. “I was.”
“I assume you found young Miss Choi a nice place to live?”
Sungmin tried to keep from glaring at Siwon and failed. He turned and started walking down the corridor toward the lift. “You would assume correctly.”
Siwon pushed away from the wall and started following the other man. “I’m sensing some hostility directed at me.”
Sungmin clamped his mouth shut. Hostility? Yes, he was indeed hostile. Siwon had quit security without notifying him, and now he was all up in the rebel women’s business. No doubt, the fact that they were women outweighed the fact that they were ugly heifers. Sungmin knew he shouldn’t be jealous…knew perfectly well, but the last week had been confusing. Siwon had been so attentive to him. They had shared all their meals, and it was almost like they were a real couple. Sungmin could not forget the hug they had shared before the Expectations had hurried off to retrieve Kyuhyun. Sungmin had felt something, and he had thought Siwon had felt it too.
“Sungmin, please slow down and listen to me. You know diplomacy is my passion. I could not refuse when the captain asked me to take up a diplomatic post,” Siwon said as he took long strides to catch up with the other man.
“You could have asked me first.”
Siwon frowned, and questioned. “Doesn’t the captain have the final say on this ship?”
Sungmin came to a complete stop, reaching up to scratch his head. “Yes, of course. It’s just…I mean, it isn’t like you were some amazing security officer.”
“Now you are being unkind.”
Sungmin grimaced, realizing the truth of Siwon’s words. “Sorry. It’s just that I liked you being in security. I like being around you.”
Siwon, who was standing beside Sungmin now, looked down at him tenderly, and confessed, “I know you do, but it’s better this way.”
Sungmin groaned internally, knowing that Siwon was referring to his not so secret crush on the tall prince. “You are right, of course.”
“You are feeling embarrassed again.”
“A little bit. Are we done here? I really should be on the bridge.”
“I had wished to discuss another matter with you. Have you eaten? We could eat a late lunch together,” Siwon suggested.
Sungmin looked at Siwon, puzzled now. When he had first seen Siwon outside of Sulli’s quarters, he had thought that the prince might have been there to see the young woman. They had both been stranded on the same planet together, along with Ryeowook, Kangin, and Commander Leeteuk, before Hangeng had arrived and taken the girl to sell into slavery. Was it possible that Siwon had been searching for him instead? “I ate lunch in the gym hours ago. Were you looking for me?”
“Of course I was looking for you,” Siwon answered as if the question was ridiculous.
“Because you thought I was mad at you?”
“You were angry.”
“Oh…well, we settled that. What else do you want to talk to me about?” Sungmin asked curiously.
Siwon stepped closer to the lieutenant and said softly, for only Sungmin’s ears, “Now that I am not under your supervision, I would like the opportunity to date you.”
Sungmin felt his jaw drop open, and he stared at Siwon, shocked, and unable to say a word.
“I know I have told you repeatedly…that I am not attracted to men. I’m usually not, but I feel drawn toward you. I do not want to make promises that I can not keep, but if you are willing, then I would like the chance to explore the possibility,” Siwon explained.
Sungmin brightened instantly and lifting his jaw up off the floor, asked suggestively, “Would you like to go back to my quarters to do some exploring?”
“No,” Siwon said, shaking his head. “No, I don’t think that would be wise. I will not further complicate things by having sex with you again. I need to know this attraction I feel toward you is real, and not fleeting.”
Sungmin mood darkened slightly as the prospect of sex disappeared. “So, you really mean date…like date, date?”
“Yes, I care too much for you to toy with your feelings.”
Sungmin looked up at Siwon longingly and asked, “What if I don’t care if you toy with them?”
“Just dating for now, and I would love to escort you to the Halloween Party. I hope there will be dancing.”
“You know how to dance?” Sungmin asked, already knowing the answer.
“I’m a prince…I could dance before I could walk.”