[fic] Pirates of the Cassiopeia 2/7
Title: Pirates of the Cassiopeia
Pairings: YunJae
Rating: NC-17
Genre: adventure, romance, smut
Chapters: 2/7
Summary: Jaejoong rescues Yunho from a sinking ship, planning to turn him into a pirate but gets wrapped up in an adventure filled with secrets, inhuman power and a little bit of love.
A/N: Thanks to all those lovely people that commented on the first part, your feedback really keeps me going~ <3 Here's chapter 2 with pictures. I hope you'll enjoy the story~ <3
Chapter 2
Before Yunho knew what was going on, he was being dragged out of the cabin and up the ladder onto the main deck. They had been caught. He didn't dare to look around, not to mention fight back, as he was clearly at a disadvantage and out numbered as more and more pirates surrounded him. The salty sea air hit him in the face as they shoved him out with so much force Yunho landed on his hands and knees on the stinky old floor boards. He stumbled back to his feet, eyes scanning the deck to find a way to escape, a weapon, something. Where had Jaejoong gone?
"How did you get here?" one of the pirates demanded, approaching Yunho and pulling out a pistol from his belt, "Speak now lad unless you want a taste of gun powder!"
Yunho didn't say a thing. He was looking around in despair, certain of his untimely death and then spotted the Captain of the ship making his way down the stairs to join them in the main deck. The pirates were now making so much noise it was hard to catch anything that they were saying. Jaejoong was following the said man, his mouth moving fast with words Yunho couldn't hear before they made their way through the agitated crew.
The Captain was tall and stern looking, with a face that reminded Yunho of a statue carved from stone. Jaejoong stood out even more in the middle of such faces with his pale, fragile looking skin and light hair. The rest of the pirates looked much more like Yunho had imagined pirates to look all his life. They were missing teeth and limbs - one or two pirates were even wearing eye patches. The Captain pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Yunho's face.
"I swear he's not dangerous, please stop it!" Jaejoong pleaded, trying to move ahead to stand between Yunho and the gun but unsuccessful as one particularly hairy looking man grabbed him by the arm to hold him still.
"Who are you and where do you come from?" The Captain demanded, pressing the barrel of the pistol against Yunho's already sore cheek. Yunho's eyes darted back to Jaejoong who had a bruise starting to form on the side of his lip. Suddenly he couldn't think of a single lie to tell - he felt so bad for hurting Jaejoong even if it had been him who had started the fight.
"I helped him out of that cargo ship," Jaejoong told with a loud voice over the mumbling of the crew, "He was so young I couldn't just leave him there to die!"
"He's almost the age of a man," said one of the pirates to his left.
"We leave no survivors," agreed the Captain, again pressing the pistol to the side of Yunho's face, ready to shoot. "You know the deal, Jaejoong."
"I know, dead men tell no tales," Jaejoong recited, looking more and more panicked, "But he's not a man! He's just a kid!"
"What were you doing on that ship?"
"Mopping the floors, nothing more," Yunho lied, hoping that Jaejoong wouldn't bust him, "I needed the money so they hired me."
"Captain, he looks really familiar," said the pirate who had found them, "But I can't put my finger on it. He was fighting the young master."
The Captain turned to look at Jaejoong now.
"If he's not dangerous, why were you fighting?"
"I insulted his mother," Jaejoong lied with such assertiveness it was clear he was very much used to not telling the truth, "And we started rowing, it's not a big deal. Yunho can work on the ship!"
"Yunho... That name... Where have I heard it before," mumbled the same pirate but no-one was paying attention to him. Suddenly Yunho felt unbelievably stupid for telling them his real name. What was wrong with him?
"I can work! It doesn't matter what ship I work on as long as I get paid," Yunho said hurriedly, "I can clean the poop deck or peel the potatoes or anything-"
"Father, please," pleaded Jaejoong, who had now shook off the hands of the pirate who had been holding him still and had stepped closer to talk to the Captain, "Please, he can teach me how to read."
"You can read?" said the Captain, turning back to Yunho.
"He's your father?" asked Yunho who was now feeling rather dizzy, then turning away from Jaejoong to meet the Captain's cold looking eyes, "I can read and write, too."
"You want to learn how to read?" The Captain asked his son who nodded vigorously. "Fine. You can stay for now - but if you try anything..."
He dragged a finger across his throat as a gesture of cutting Yunho's neck.
"I won't try anything, cross my heart and hope to die... Thank you, sir... Um... Captain," Yunho tried to sound humble, staying completely still without even blinking an eye not to show any weakness.
"You're in charge of him, congratulations," the Captain spoke to Jaejoong again as he turned his back to Yunho, "More responsibilities, isn't that what you wanted?"
"I won't disappoint you again, father," Jaejoong promised, looking over his father's shoulder and meeting Yunho's eyes. His cheeks were flushed from excitement and he looked pretty happy with himself.
"At least he looks like he can hold a sword," muttered the Captain before leaving the deck with a group of pirates following him. Some men stayed at the deck, still suspiciously eyeing Yunho - who was trying to look innocent and not dangerous at all. He simply couldn't believe his luck.
"Come on, Yunho," said Jaejoong, motioning Yunho to follow with his hand, "I'm going to show you my cabin."
"You know I was thinking," Yunho spoke while hurrying to keep up with Jaejoong's steps, "Why would a kid like you have his own cabin? Don't all the pirates just sleep wherever? But you're his son, that's why you're so special."
"You could say that," hummed Jaejoong happily while leading Yunho back down the ladder and into the lower floors of the magnificent ship, "When are you going to tell me why you're special?"
"Not here," Yunho hushed, making sure no-one heard them, "I'll tell you when the time is right."
"I just saved your neck for the second time, mopping floors..." Jaejoong rolled his eyes, "What a load of dung."
"You started it."
"You started it," Jaejoong gave him a pointy, meaningful stare and stopped to stand in front of a wooden door, quite similar to the one that had lead into Yunho's old hiding place. He stuck a hand inside the neckline of his shirt and pulled out the necklace he kept hidden under his shirt. It was a rusty key made of bronze and he used it to open the lock to his room.
The cabin was definitely fitting for the son of the Captain. He had a much larger window, a nice view of the ocean around them, a rather comfortable looking bed, moss colored curtains and a huge map of the world on his wall. There was a desk filled with bottles of ink, pieces of paper Jaejoong had obviously doodled on, candles, and a large oil lamp just like in Yunho's room. He had books too, but they looked very neglected and dusty. Jaejoong walked right over to his bed, took a seat and kicked off his boots.
"Why did you do that?" he asked, sounding demanding. Yunho scratched his neck in discomfort. Was Jaejoong talking about the kiss?
"Do what?"
"That."
"No reason," replied Yunho and chose to take a seat by the desk instead of getting back together on a bed with the light haired boy. He didn't want to get punched again.
"You hit me pretty hard," Jaejoong pouted, rubbing the side of his mouth with his open palm.
"You hit me harder," Yunho argued back, pointing at his own chin where the skin had started to look purple, "You could have given me a warning."
"I wasn't thinking."
"I wasn't thinking either."
"So... Are we good?" Jaejoong sounded regretful as he inquired, "I guess we just... Well... It probably wasn't a good idea to give you a piercing."
"I agree with you on that," Yunho nodded, looking around the room fighting the unpleasant feeling of disappointment throbbing in his chest, "Do you really want to learn how to read?"
"I'd rather just have you read to me, you're kind of like my servant now," Jaejoong grinned as he leaned back against the wall behind his bed to get more comfortable.
"Your father will be suspicious if you don't make any progress."
"He wouldn't even know, he can't read that well either."
"Your mother... Was she a pirate too?" Yunho asked, now even more curious about Jaejoong and his story.
"I don't want to talk about her," the other turned his face away, biting the side of his slightly swollen lower lip. Yunho hadn't seen him look like that before - Jaejoong's beyond-this-world-gorgeous face looked as if Yunho had just punched him again without a reason.
Yunho didn't know what to say so he stayed quiet for at least a full minute before Jaejoong managed to get his expression back under control.
"Would you read to me now?" he asked with a much softer voice, "My face hurts."
"Fine. Which book would you like me to read?"
"That one with a purple cover," Jaejoong pointed at a book as Yunho got up and fetched it.
"Do you even know what this is about?" he flicked through the pages and asked, before gathering his courage and sitting next to the other young man again.
"I know it's about pirates, I've looked at the pictures," Jaejoong said as Yunho leaned his back against the wall as well, their thighs brushing against each other. He opened the book and turned to the first page where the story began.
"It was a dark and stormy night," Yunho started to read as Jaejoong snuggled closer, pressing his chin to Yunho's shoulder and listened with a blissful expression on his enchanting face.
It had started to rain outside. Yunho had went back to his room when Jaejoong had been called up to have dinner with his father and a few members of the crew but after washing up and coming back, Jaejoong felt a bit lonely again. They hadn't finished the book - Yunho had left it on Jaejoong's bed covers - but he'd had more fun than in ages listening to him read. The book hadn't been particularly interesting if Jaejoong was being completely honest with himself - the most enjoyable part had been resting his head against Yunho's shoulder and just being close to him. Yunho had a nice voice, too.
Jaejoong didn't blame himself for punching Yunho in the face. It had been Yunho's fault for doing that - kissing him all of a sudden (even the thought of that made Jaejoong's stomach constrict strangely) - it had been a completely natural reaction to such action. Why would a well mannered, clearly educated young man like Yunho behave in such a way? He seemed like a person who had been raised thinking his first kiss would go to a nice, pretty lady on their wedding day - certainly not anyone like Jaejoong. Had it even been Yunho's first kiss? Had Yunho realized it had been Jaejoong's? In his home town Yunho would probably get in so much trouble if he ever got caught trying to give him another kiss or even hold his hand in public. It was so outrageous Jaejoong had been very surprised to have Yunho do something like it - something forbidden. Good thing pirates didn't care about right or wrong as Jaejoong hoped Yunho would do it again.
He changed out of his clothes and put on his night shirt before sliding under the covers of his rather comfortable bed. The ship swayed as the rain outside beat the sails, drops of rainwater trickling down to the floor through the cracks on the wooden roof of Jaejoong's cabin. Sighing deeply, he tried to find a cozy position but the pillow felt too soft and the blanket smelled like Yunho. He buried his face into the warm fabric and breathed in, exhaling and inhaling, trying to will his beating heart to calm down. The events of the day kept bouncing back to Jaejoong's mind, over and over again, until all he could think about, was the way Yunho's lips had felt against his during that little time they had touched his mouth. There was tingling sensation at the bottom of his stomach that intensified the longer he spent thinking about Yunho.
Jaejoong knew that he severely lacked self-control. He couldn't just march into Yunho's room and make him kiss him again, it would make no sense, but the tingling had turned to stinging and he could no longer stand it. He sat up in bed, put his shoes back on and grabbed the oil lamp from his table to be able to see in the dark hallway. He couldn't just march into Yunho's room and make him kiss him - but nobody could stop him from trying.
Yunho was still awake when Jaejoong burst through the door and to his room in the early hours of the morning. He had just been taking his shirt off and had folded it neatly on the floor next to the bed, now only dressed in his under shirt, when the sound of the door opening startled him. Jaejoong looked like he had lost his mind. He wasn't properly dressed, only a night shirt and a pair of breeches, and his skinny legs looked funny in the boots he wore without socks. Even his hair looked like he had been rolling around in bed all night for it was sticking up from the front rather funnily. The light coming from the lantern flickered on his face which made his skin look like it was glowing.
"Is something wrong?" Yunho inquired as Jaejoong approached the bed and sat down unceremoniously. He kicked off his boots and crossed his legs, humongous eyes glued to Yunho's face like he was expecting Yunho to already know what the reason was for his appearance was. The bruise on the side of his lip looked like it had faded a bit already.
"I can't sleep," Jaejoong told him, wiggling his bare toes and trying to sink them into the woolen blanket of Yunho's bed, "It's your fault."
"How is it my fault?" Yunho asked patiently as if Jaejoong was a kid who had come up with a crazy explanation to something he had done in a fit of bad temper.
"You have to kiss me again," he commanded without a trace of hesitation.
"Are you sure?" Yunho confirmed - he didn't want to get punched again - not moving an inch until Jaejoong nodded. He wrapped his fingers around Jaejoong's wrist and pulled him closer to look into the other boy's eyes. Jaejoong was so beautiful it made Yunho feel strangely thirsty. The light flickered on his features again, eyelashes casting shadows to the apple's of his cheeks, and his lips pulled Yunho in like a moth to the flame. Only now did Yunho realize that Jaejoong had actually washed all the dirt away from his face and was wearing clean clothes - he smelled rather nice too.
Yunho swallowed thickly and leaned in a little closer to the other young man. Jaejoong looked down, clearly focused on Yunho's lips and with a soft puff of air, parted his lips ready for a kiss. He looked just as nervous as Yunho felt but it would be impossible to pull back now and so, Yunho moved just a bit closer. The tips of their noses were touching now (Jaejoong's felt cold) and Yunho turned his head to the side, breath getting caught in his throat as his upper lip brushed against Jaejoong's round, sensually parted mouth.
Jaejoong replied with his teeth. He drew Yunho's lower lip into his mouth and bit on it, releasing it almost immediately after - a long enough break for Yunho to inhale in unexpected pain - and then captured Yunho's upper lip between his teeth instead. His fingers slid into Yunho's hair, keeping his head still, as his mouth closed around Yunho's lips and kissed and nibbled the skin fiercely. In his eagerness Yunho found it hard to keep up. He wrapped his arms around Jaejoong's waist, pulling him closer, wanting to get the smaller man into his lap, and Jaejoong continued to ravish his lips with more teeth than actual lips. He was now cupping Yunho's face with both of his open palms, breathing shakily, and Yunho continued to tug him closer until the most natural step was in fact to pull him up to straddle Yunho's thighs.
Jaejoong fit in his lap perfectly. He was so small, his arms had now wrapped around Yunho's neck, and finally, Yunho was brave enough to actually put his own contribution into the kiss. He grabbed Jaejoong by the neck and turned his head to the side to deepen the kiss. Thumb caressing the curve of Jaejoong's jawline, he pushed his tongue in between Jaejoong's lips and brushed it against his. That seemed to calm the smaller man down a little - he stopped nibbling and biting Yunho's lips - and as if he didn't know what to do, let Yunho take control of the kiss for a change. Jaejoong's lips were pliable, giving in to the slightest of movement, and just like that, the fiery kiss had turned gentle and deep. Jaejoong shook from excitement in Yunho's embrace.
After a few long moments Yunho pulled back, breaking the kiss but still keeping Jaejoong close with a loose arm wrapped around the other man's astonishingly tiny waist. They looked at each other in silence, Jaejoong's gaze heavy and filled with emotion, and Yunho too felt like his vision was suddenly cloudy. Jaejoong leaned in, gave Yunho another soft, languid kiss and pulled back as well without continuing further. Neither of them felt like there was a need for words.
Yunho lowered his gaze from Jaejoong's eyes to his lips and then to his collarbones, playfully pulling the loose night shirt he was wearing down to reveal one milky looking shoulder. Grinning, but making sure Jaejoong's expression was still favorable, he ran a finger down the curve of his bare shoulder and dipped it underneath the fabric. He circled the round shape of the muscle with the tips of his fingers and then, raised his eyes to find Jaejoong's lips. They shared another kiss, and another, until Yunho got so out of breath he was starting to feel light headed.
"Would it help..." he started, fixing Jaejoong's shirt and covering the shoulder he had revealed, "If you slept next to me tonight?"
"It might," Jaejoong replied hopefully and climbed out of Yunho's lap to lie down on the bed instead. He pulled the blanket up to cover himself so quickly it was obvious there was something to hide. Yunho joined him in bed, turning to his side and laying his head on the pillow he now shared with the other boy so that he could continue watching the other.
Jaejoong's hand found his underneath the covers, intertwined their fingers together and continued to look back at Yunho with eyes so bright their glow would have blinded anyone that didn't feel the same. Neither of them still didn't feel like talking.
On the next day Jaejoong took Yunho all around the ship. He showed Yunho the deck, had breakfast together with him out on the deck before it started to rain again, and taught him the way to the kitchen as well as the ballast where they stored all the loot the crew had managed to get out of the ships they had attacked. It was most definitely the part that interested Yunho the most. He had seen ships but he hadn't seen chests filled with treasure, gold, silver and even jewelry made of diamonds, bronze goblets and trunks bursting with other valuable items. They spend a good part of the day just going through the loot as Yunho wanted to closely look at every single item.
"What are you going to do with this?" Yunho asked, lifting a piece of beautifully made silk fabric out of an open chest he was currently investigating.
"We'll sell it when we get to the shore or trade it for something more useful," Jaejoong explained, taking the piece of fabric from Yunho and wrapping it around his torso like a toga, "Does it suit me?"
Yunho shook his head.
"I think red is more your color," he grinned, picking up another piece of fabric and walking over to Jaejoong to wrap it around the other boy instead. He tied it around Jaejoong's waist like it was no big deal and returned to the chest to continue looking through the goods.
Standing with his hands on his hips, Jaejoong turned to look at Yunho with appraising eyes. Yunho's skin seemed to be clean but the clothes he was wearing were closer to the color brown than the white his shirt had once been. It looked like Yunho had been held captive for quite some time before Jaejoong had rescued him from the sinking ship.
"I don't like the clothes you're wearing," Jaejoong announced judgementally, "They don't look like you belong to the crew. Too fancy."
"Do you think so?" Yunho looked down on the shirt he was wearing and tugged it out of the waistline of his pants to examine it more closely, "They don't look so fancy anymore, there's even blood on here. This used to be white, you know."
"I like your boots though, they can stay," Jaejoong gave his approval and turned around to find a box that contained spare clothes from somewhere. He heard Yunho get up from the floor and follow him as they walked by countless trunks full of ware they hadn't yet had the time to look closely at.
"They belonged to my grandfather," Yunho explained as Jaejoong started to open random trunks to find what he was looking for, "He was a great man."
"You have to tell me more about him," Jaejoong started but breathed out excitedly when one of the boxes did indeed contain proper clothing for Yunho, "Here! Doesn't this look like it would fit you?"
Jaejoong pulled a new shirt out of the trunk and waved it before Yunho's eyes to show it to the taller young man. It was a shirt quite like the one Jaejoong was wearing now, with an open neckline and long sleeves.
"Can I wear it with this?" Yunho took a rather silly looking hat from the trunk and put it on his head. It was an old tricorn so big that it made Yunho look like a particularly large mushroom. They both laughed and dug in to the trunk to find more ridiculous things to wear. Outside the storm raged and the bottom of the ship creaked and shook but they were having so much fun neither of them noticed.
Yunho wrapped a scarf around Jaejoong's head like some exotic turban and Jaejoong returned the favor by throwing a smelly fur vest over his shoulders. There were clothes scattered all around them, everything from fancy jackets to women's dresses, and a bit further away from them, a now forgotten pile of new clothes for Yunho. Yunho had just been about to put on a pair of pants that had probably at some point in time belonged to the jester of a palace, when the door to the room opened.
Turning around to face the pirate that had entered the ballast, Yunho and Jaejoong stopped laughing like they had just been caught doing something naughty. Yunho dropped the colorful pants to the floor - Jaejoong was still wearing the fabric wrapped around his waist like a dress. The ship swayed rather strongly.
"Young master," said the pirate, sounding very alarmed, "We need your help. The waves... I've never seen waves so big. You need to come up."
"Are you sure?" Jaejoong asked, he didn't want to, not at all, but the pirate nodded.
"It's getting worse, the Captain has called for you."
"I guess I have no choice then," Jaejoong said as he walked to the door while removing the fabric Yunho had wrapped around him.
Yunho followed Jaejoong and the crew member all the way back up to the deck. It was true, the waves were now rocking the ship so fiercely it was hard for Yunho not to lose his footing and fall down the ladder they climbed up to get to the main deck. The rain hit Yunho in the face like a wet cloth as soon as he stepped out into the open air. The pirate hadn't been lying - the waves were indeed so tall water splashed into wooden floorboards, making sure a single surface of the ship wouldn't stay dry. In the horizon, the sky looked even darker. It was a horrible storm, so horrible Yunho instantly felt afraid they were going to have to sail through it. Yunho froze for a moment, merely stopping to stare at the the intimidating scenery, before he heard Jaejoong's voice, asking him to follow. The sky turned white in the flash of a lighting and only seconds after, thunder roared so loudly Yunho covered his ears by instinct.
The Captain himself was now steering the ship. He had the helm of the ship in a powerful grip as the tried to keep the ship from getting knocked over by the waves that grew larger with every passing moment. Another lightning split the sky in half, the ship shuddered, and Yunho grabbed the nearest railing to have something to hold on to. Jaejoong was now by his father - he wasn't going to take over, was he? Yunho stood, again frozen in shock, as the Captain did indeed withdraw his hands and let Jaejoong take control of the ship.
"Get us out of this hurricane," the Captain commanded, "Do it! Quick!"
But Jaejoong seemed to hesitate. His fingers ran along the roundness of the wheel, the tips grazing the wooden surface as the ship shook with the strongest wave yet. Yunho felt his boots getting wet as water flowed onto the deck and back with the intense swaying of Cassiopeia. For a moment he was sure they were all going to die but then, he saw Jaejoong do something very strange.
The tips of his fingers were still attached to the helm, wind tousled his hair and blew it around his face - his face that didn't look like Jaejoong's face any longer. The deep brown of his eyes had turned white, as if he had suddenly gone blind, and his skin, already pale enough, had took on a shade of sickly fair blue. The ship stopped swaying instantly, like some sort of magic trick, but Yunho kept holding on to the railing just in case. It seemed like the waves could no longer do any harm but then, there was a sound like every bit of wood and metal the ship was made of was crying out in pain. The screeching and the rattling of the ship was so loud Yunho felt like covering his ears again but was unable as he still needed to hold on. He looked around and realized they had started to move through the storm like it was nothing.
The wind was still blowing but the sounds of the raging thunder and the sea around them felt distant, like some powerful force had muted them entirely. Jaejoong was somehow moving the ship without even turning the wheel. He had in some inhuman way protected the ship and now, they were moving so fast Yunho could barely stay on his feet. Some members of the crew were holding on as well, some had fell to the floor and even the Captain seemed to be having a difficult time not falling down and rolling into the deep sea around them. It lasted for at least a half an hour. By now every muscle in Yunho's body felt like it was on fire from holding onto his dear life so vigorously.
When Jaejoong withdrew his fingers from the helm of the ship it stopped as abruptly as it had began. Yunho released his shaking fingers from the railing he had latched himself onto, and looked around in sheer amazement. The sea was again calm, they had somehow traveled through the storm, and the sky was starting to clear up like nothing out of the ordinary hadn't happened at all. The crew started to applaud, clapping their hands and shouting victoriously like they had just won a battle - Yunho looked at Jaejoong, expecting to see him looking normal again, but Jaejoong didn't seem to be well at all. His skin still had a blueish hue to it, his eyes were cloudy and the look on his face was truly alarming. He turned his eyes to Yunho, seeking some sort of comfort before falling to the floor unconscious.
"Jaejoong!" Yunho shouted, forgetting all caution and rushed to the smaller young man that lay on the floor motionless. He placed a hand over Jaejoong's mouth to check if he was still breathing and felt a strange coldness being emitted from his skin. A shadow of a person caused Yunho to look back up and see the Captain standing there, looking down at the two of them as the rest of the crew returned to their usual jobs like nothing special at all hadn't just took place.
"Congratulations sonny, you got yourself a job," he said to Yunho, "Take him to his cabin and make sure he wakes up - or it's on you."
Free Counters
Pairings: YunJae
Rating: NC-17
Genre: adventure, romance, smut
Chapters: 2/7
Summary: Jaejoong rescues Yunho from a sinking ship, planning to turn him into a pirate but gets wrapped up in an adventure filled with secrets, inhuman power and a little bit of love.
A/N: Thanks to all those lovely people that commented on the first part, your feedback really keeps me going~ <3 Here's chapter 2 with pictures. I hope you'll enjoy the story~ <3
Chapter 2
Before Yunho knew what was going on, he was being dragged out of the cabin and up the ladder onto the main deck. They had been caught. He didn't dare to look around, not to mention fight back, as he was clearly at a disadvantage and out numbered as more and more pirates surrounded him. The salty sea air hit him in the face as they shoved him out with so much force Yunho landed on his hands and knees on the stinky old floor boards. He stumbled back to his feet, eyes scanning the deck to find a way to escape, a weapon, something. Where had Jaejoong gone?
"How did you get here?" one of the pirates demanded, approaching Yunho and pulling out a pistol from his belt, "Speak now lad unless you want a taste of gun powder!"
Yunho didn't say a thing. He was looking around in despair, certain of his untimely death and then spotted the Captain of the ship making his way down the stairs to join them in the main deck. The pirates were now making so much noise it was hard to catch anything that they were saying. Jaejoong was following the said man, his mouth moving fast with words Yunho couldn't hear before they made their way through the agitated crew.
The Captain was tall and stern looking, with a face that reminded Yunho of a statue carved from stone. Jaejoong stood out even more in the middle of such faces with his pale, fragile looking skin and light hair. The rest of the pirates looked much more like Yunho had imagined pirates to look all his life. They were missing teeth and limbs - one or two pirates were even wearing eye patches. The Captain pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Yunho's face.
"I swear he's not dangerous, please stop it!" Jaejoong pleaded, trying to move ahead to stand between Yunho and the gun but unsuccessful as one particularly hairy looking man grabbed him by the arm to hold him still.
"Who are you and where do you come from?" The Captain demanded, pressing the barrel of the pistol against Yunho's already sore cheek. Yunho's eyes darted back to Jaejoong who had a bruise starting to form on the side of his lip. Suddenly he couldn't think of a single lie to tell - he felt so bad for hurting Jaejoong even if it had been him who had started the fight.
"I helped him out of that cargo ship," Jaejoong told with a loud voice over the mumbling of the crew, "He was so young I couldn't just leave him there to die!"
"He's almost the age of a man," said one of the pirates to his left.
"We leave no survivors," agreed the Captain, again pressing the pistol to the side of Yunho's face, ready to shoot. "You know the deal, Jaejoong."
"I know, dead men tell no tales," Jaejoong recited, looking more and more panicked, "But he's not a man! He's just a kid!"
"What were you doing on that ship?"
"Mopping the floors, nothing more," Yunho lied, hoping that Jaejoong wouldn't bust him, "I needed the money so they hired me."
"Captain, he looks really familiar," said the pirate who had found them, "But I can't put my finger on it. He was fighting the young master."
The Captain turned to look at Jaejoong now.
"If he's not dangerous, why were you fighting?"
"I insulted his mother," Jaejoong lied with such assertiveness it was clear he was very much used to not telling the truth, "And we started rowing, it's not a big deal. Yunho can work on the ship!"
"Yunho... That name... Where have I heard it before," mumbled the same pirate but no-one was paying attention to him. Suddenly Yunho felt unbelievably stupid for telling them his real name. What was wrong with him?
"I can work! It doesn't matter what ship I work on as long as I get paid," Yunho said hurriedly, "I can clean the poop deck or peel the potatoes or anything-"
"Father, please," pleaded Jaejoong, who had now shook off the hands of the pirate who had been holding him still and had stepped closer to talk to the Captain, "Please, he can teach me how to read."
"You can read?" said the Captain, turning back to Yunho.
"He's your father?" asked Yunho who was now feeling rather dizzy, then turning away from Jaejoong to meet the Captain's cold looking eyes, "I can read and write, too."
"You want to learn how to read?" The Captain asked his son who nodded vigorously. "Fine. You can stay for now - but if you try anything..."
He dragged a finger across his throat as a gesture of cutting Yunho's neck.
"I won't try anything, cross my heart and hope to die... Thank you, sir... Um... Captain," Yunho tried to sound humble, staying completely still without even blinking an eye not to show any weakness.
"You're in charge of him, congratulations," the Captain spoke to Jaejoong again as he turned his back to Yunho, "More responsibilities, isn't that what you wanted?"
"I won't disappoint you again, father," Jaejoong promised, looking over his father's shoulder and meeting Yunho's eyes. His cheeks were flushed from excitement and he looked pretty happy with himself.
"At least he looks like he can hold a sword," muttered the Captain before leaving the deck with a group of pirates following him. Some men stayed at the deck, still suspiciously eyeing Yunho - who was trying to look innocent and not dangerous at all. He simply couldn't believe his luck.
"Come on, Yunho," said Jaejoong, motioning Yunho to follow with his hand, "I'm going to show you my cabin."
"You know I was thinking," Yunho spoke while hurrying to keep up with Jaejoong's steps, "Why would a kid like you have his own cabin? Don't all the pirates just sleep wherever? But you're his son, that's why you're so special."
"You could say that," hummed Jaejoong happily while leading Yunho back down the ladder and into the lower floors of the magnificent ship, "When are you going to tell me why you're special?"
"Not here," Yunho hushed, making sure no-one heard them, "I'll tell you when the time is right."
"I just saved your neck for the second time, mopping floors..." Jaejoong rolled his eyes, "What a load of dung."
"You started it."
"You started it," Jaejoong gave him a pointy, meaningful stare and stopped to stand in front of a wooden door, quite similar to the one that had lead into Yunho's old hiding place. He stuck a hand inside the neckline of his shirt and pulled out the necklace he kept hidden under his shirt. It was a rusty key made of bronze and he used it to open the lock to his room.
The cabin was definitely fitting for the son of the Captain. He had a much larger window, a nice view of the ocean around them, a rather comfortable looking bed, moss colored curtains and a huge map of the world on his wall. There was a desk filled with bottles of ink, pieces of paper Jaejoong had obviously doodled on, candles, and a large oil lamp just like in Yunho's room. He had books too, but they looked very neglected and dusty. Jaejoong walked right over to his bed, took a seat and kicked off his boots.
"Why did you do that?" he asked, sounding demanding. Yunho scratched his neck in discomfort. Was Jaejoong talking about the kiss?
"Do what?"
"That."
"No reason," replied Yunho and chose to take a seat by the desk instead of getting back together on a bed with the light haired boy. He didn't want to get punched again.
"You hit me pretty hard," Jaejoong pouted, rubbing the side of his mouth with his open palm.
"You hit me harder," Yunho argued back, pointing at his own chin where the skin had started to look purple, "You could have given me a warning."
"I wasn't thinking."
"I wasn't thinking either."
"So... Are we good?" Jaejoong sounded regretful as he inquired, "I guess we just... Well... It probably wasn't a good idea to give you a piercing."
"I agree with you on that," Yunho nodded, looking around the room fighting the unpleasant feeling of disappointment throbbing in his chest, "Do you really want to learn how to read?"
"I'd rather just have you read to me, you're kind of like my servant now," Jaejoong grinned as he leaned back against the wall behind his bed to get more comfortable.
"Your father will be suspicious if you don't make any progress."
"He wouldn't even know, he can't read that well either."
"Your mother... Was she a pirate too?" Yunho asked, now even more curious about Jaejoong and his story.
"I don't want to talk about her," the other turned his face away, biting the side of his slightly swollen lower lip. Yunho hadn't seen him look like that before - Jaejoong's beyond-this-world-gorgeous face looked as if Yunho had just punched him again without a reason.
Yunho didn't know what to say so he stayed quiet for at least a full minute before Jaejoong managed to get his expression back under control.
"Would you read to me now?" he asked with a much softer voice, "My face hurts."
"Fine. Which book would you like me to read?"
"That one with a purple cover," Jaejoong pointed at a book as Yunho got up and fetched it.
"Do you even know what this is about?" he flicked through the pages and asked, before gathering his courage and sitting next to the other young man again.
"I know it's about pirates, I've looked at the pictures," Jaejoong said as Yunho leaned his back against the wall as well, their thighs brushing against each other. He opened the book and turned to the first page where the story began.
"It was a dark and stormy night," Yunho started to read as Jaejoong snuggled closer, pressing his chin to Yunho's shoulder and listened with a blissful expression on his enchanting face.
It had started to rain outside. Yunho had went back to his room when Jaejoong had been called up to have dinner with his father and a few members of the crew but after washing up and coming back, Jaejoong felt a bit lonely again. They hadn't finished the book - Yunho had left it on Jaejoong's bed covers - but he'd had more fun than in ages listening to him read. The book hadn't been particularly interesting if Jaejoong was being completely honest with himself - the most enjoyable part had been resting his head against Yunho's shoulder and just being close to him. Yunho had a nice voice, too.
Jaejoong didn't blame himself for punching Yunho in the face. It had been Yunho's fault for doing that - kissing him all of a sudden (even the thought of that made Jaejoong's stomach constrict strangely) - it had been a completely natural reaction to such action. Why would a well mannered, clearly educated young man like Yunho behave in such a way? He seemed like a person who had been raised thinking his first kiss would go to a nice, pretty lady on their wedding day - certainly not anyone like Jaejoong. Had it even been Yunho's first kiss? Had Yunho realized it had been Jaejoong's? In his home town Yunho would probably get in so much trouble if he ever got caught trying to give him another kiss or even hold his hand in public. It was so outrageous Jaejoong had been very surprised to have Yunho do something like it - something forbidden. Good thing pirates didn't care about right or wrong as Jaejoong hoped Yunho would do it again.
He changed out of his clothes and put on his night shirt before sliding under the covers of his rather comfortable bed. The ship swayed as the rain outside beat the sails, drops of rainwater trickling down to the floor through the cracks on the wooden roof of Jaejoong's cabin. Sighing deeply, he tried to find a cozy position but the pillow felt too soft and the blanket smelled like Yunho. He buried his face into the warm fabric and breathed in, exhaling and inhaling, trying to will his beating heart to calm down. The events of the day kept bouncing back to Jaejoong's mind, over and over again, until all he could think about, was the way Yunho's lips had felt against his during that little time they had touched his mouth. There was tingling sensation at the bottom of his stomach that intensified the longer he spent thinking about Yunho.
Jaejoong knew that he severely lacked self-control. He couldn't just march into Yunho's room and make him kiss him again, it would make no sense, but the tingling had turned to stinging and he could no longer stand it. He sat up in bed, put his shoes back on and grabbed the oil lamp from his table to be able to see in the dark hallway. He couldn't just march into Yunho's room and make him kiss him - but nobody could stop him from trying.
Yunho was still awake when Jaejoong burst through the door and to his room in the early hours of the morning. He had just been taking his shirt off and had folded it neatly on the floor next to the bed, now only dressed in his under shirt, when the sound of the door opening startled him. Jaejoong looked like he had lost his mind. He wasn't properly dressed, only a night shirt and a pair of breeches, and his skinny legs looked funny in the boots he wore without socks. Even his hair looked like he had been rolling around in bed all night for it was sticking up from the front rather funnily. The light coming from the lantern flickered on his face which made his skin look like it was glowing.
"Is something wrong?" Yunho inquired as Jaejoong approached the bed and sat down unceremoniously. He kicked off his boots and crossed his legs, humongous eyes glued to Yunho's face like he was expecting Yunho to already know what the reason was for his appearance was. The bruise on the side of his lip looked like it had faded a bit already.
"I can't sleep," Jaejoong told him, wiggling his bare toes and trying to sink them into the woolen blanket of Yunho's bed, "It's your fault."
"How is it my fault?" Yunho asked patiently as if Jaejoong was a kid who had come up with a crazy explanation to something he had done in a fit of bad temper.
"You have to kiss me again," he commanded without a trace of hesitation.
"Are you sure?" Yunho confirmed - he didn't want to get punched again - not moving an inch until Jaejoong nodded. He wrapped his fingers around Jaejoong's wrist and pulled him closer to look into the other boy's eyes. Jaejoong was so beautiful it made Yunho feel strangely thirsty. The light flickered on his features again, eyelashes casting shadows to the apple's of his cheeks, and his lips pulled Yunho in like a moth to the flame. Only now did Yunho realize that Jaejoong had actually washed all the dirt away from his face and was wearing clean clothes - he smelled rather nice too.
Yunho swallowed thickly and leaned in a little closer to the other young man. Jaejoong looked down, clearly focused on Yunho's lips and with a soft puff of air, parted his lips ready for a kiss. He looked just as nervous as Yunho felt but it would be impossible to pull back now and so, Yunho moved just a bit closer. The tips of their noses were touching now (Jaejoong's felt cold) and Yunho turned his head to the side, breath getting caught in his throat as his upper lip brushed against Jaejoong's round, sensually parted mouth.
Jaejoong replied with his teeth. He drew Yunho's lower lip into his mouth and bit on it, releasing it almost immediately after - a long enough break for Yunho to inhale in unexpected pain - and then captured Yunho's upper lip between his teeth instead. His fingers slid into Yunho's hair, keeping his head still, as his mouth closed around Yunho's lips and kissed and nibbled the skin fiercely. In his eagerness Yunho found it hard to keep up. He wrapped his arms around Jaejoong's waist, pulling him closer, wanting to get the smaller man into his lap, and Jaejoong continued to ravish his lips with more teeth than actual lips. He was now cupping Yunho's face with both of his open palms, breathing shakily, and Yunho continued to tug him closer until the most natural step was in fact to pull him up to straddle Yunho's thighs.
Jaejoong fit in his lap perfectly. He was so small, his arms had now wrapped around Yunho's neck, and finally, Yunho was brave enough to actually put his own contribution into the kiss. He grabbed Jaejoong by the neck and turned his head to the side to deepen the kiss. Thumb caressing the curve of Jaejoong's jawline, he pushed his tongue in between Jaejoong's lips and brushed it against his. That seemed to calm the smaller man down a little - he stopped nibbling and biting Yunho's lips - and as if he didn't know what to do, let Yunho take control of the kiss for a change. Jaejoong's lips were pliable, giving in to the slightest of movement, and just like that, the fiery kiss had turned gentle and deep. Jaejoong shook from excitement in Yunho's embrace.
After a few long moments Yunho pulled back, breaking the kiss but still keeping Jaejoong close with a loose arm wrapped around the other man's astonishingly tiny waist. They looked at each other in silence, Jaejoong's gaze heavy and filled with emotion, and Yunho too felt like his vision was suddenly cloudy. Jaejoong leaned in, gave Yunho another soft, languid kiss and pulled back as well without continuing further. Neither of them felt like there was a need for words.
Yunho lowered his gaze from Jaejoong's eyes to his lips and then to his collarbones, playfully pulling the loose night shirt he was wearing down to reveal one milky looking shoulder. Grinning, but making sure Jaejoong's expression was still favorable, he ran a finger down the curve of his bare shoulder and dipped it underneath the fabric. He circled the round shape of the muscle with the tips of his fingers and then, raised his eyes to find Jaejoong's lips. They shared another kiss, and another, until Yunho got so out of breath he was starting to feel light headed.
"Would it help..." he started, fixing Jaejoong's shirt and covering the shoulder he had revealed, "If you slept next to me tonight?"
"It might," Jaejoong replied hopefully and climbed out of Yunho's lap to lie down on the bed instead. He pulled the blanket up to cover himself so quickly it was obvious there was something to hide. Yunho joined him in bed, turning to his side and laying his head on the pillow he now shared with the other boy so that he could continue watching the other.
Jaejoong's hand found his underneath the covers, intertwined their fingers together and continued to look back at Yunho with eyes so bright their glow would have blinded anyone that didn't feel the same. Neither of them still didn't feel like talking.
On the next day Jaejoong took Yunho all around the ship. He showed Yunho the deck, had breakfast together with him out on the deck before it started to rain again, and taught him the way to the kitchen as well as the ballast where they stored all the loot the crew had managed to get out of the ships they had attacked. It was most definitely the part that interested Yunho the most. He had seen ships but he hadn't seen chests filled with treasure, gold, silver and even jewelry made of diamonds, bronze goblets and trunks bursting with other valuable items. They spend a good part of the day just going through the loot as Yunho wanted to closely look at every single item.
"What are you going to do with this?" Yunho asked, lifting a piece of beautifully made silk fabric out of an open chest he was currently investigating.
"We'll sell it when we get to the shore or trade it for something more useful," Jaejoong explained, taking the piece of fabric from Yunho and wrapping it around his torso like a toga, "Does it suit me?"
Yunho shook his head.
"I think red is more your color," he grinned, picking up another piece of fabric and walking over to Jaejoong to wrap it around the other boy instead. He tied it around Jaejoong's waist like it was no big deal and returned to the chest to continue looking through the goods.
Standing with his hands on his hips, Jaejoong turned to look at Yunho with appraising eyes. Yunho's skin seemed to be clean but the clothes he was wearing were closer to the color brown than the white his shirt had once been. It looked like Yunho had been held captive for quite some time before Jaejoong had rescued him from the sinking ship.
"I don't like the clothes you're wearing," Jaejoong announced judgementally, "They don't look like you belong to the crew. Too fancy."
"Do you think so?" Yunho looked down on the shirt he was wearing and tugged it out of the waistline of his pants to examine it more closely, "They don't look so fancy anymore, there's even blood on here. This used to be white, you know."
"I like your boots though, they can stay," Jaejoong gave his approval and turned around to find a box that contained spare clothes from somewhere. He heard Yunho get up from the floor and follow him as they walked by countless trunks full of ware they hadn't yet had the time to look closely at.
"They belonged to my grandfather," Yunho explained as Jaejoong started to open random trunks to find what he was looking for, "He was a great man."
"You have to tell me more about him," Jaejoong started but breathed out excitedly when one of the boxes did indeed contain proper clothing for Yunho, "Here! Doesn't this look like it would fit you?"
Jaejoong pulled a new shirt out of the trunk and waved it before Yunho's eyes to show it to the taller young man. It was a shirt quite like the one Jaejoong was wearing now, with an open neckline and long sleeves.
"Can I wear it with this?" Yunho took a rather silly looking hat from the trunk and put it on his head. It was an old tricorn so big that it made Yunho look like a particularly large mushroom. They both laughed and dug in to the trunk to find more ridiculous things to wear. Outside the storm raged and the bottom of the ship creaked and shook but they were having so much fun neither of them noticed.
Yunho wrapped a scarf around Jaejoong's head like some exotic turban and Jaejoong returned the favor by throwing a smelly fur vest over his shoulders. There were clothes scattered all around them, everything from fancy jackets to women's dresses, and a bit further away from them, a now forgotten pile of new clothes for Yunho. Yunho had just been about to put on a pair of pants that had probably at some point in time belonged to the jester of a palace, when the door to the room opened.
Turning around to face the pirate that had entered the ballast, Yunho and Jaejoong stopped laughing like they had just been caught doing something naughty. Yunho dropped the colorful pants to the floor - Jaejoong was still wearing the fabric wrapped around his waist like a dress. The ship swayed rather strongly.
"Young master," said the pirate, sounding very alarmed, "We need your help. The waves... I've never seen waves so big. You need to come up."
"Are you sure?" Jaejoong asked, he didn't want to, not at all, but the pirate nodded.
"It's getting worse, the Captain has called for you."
"I guess I have no choice then," Jaejoong said as he walked to the door while removing the fabric Yunho had wrapped around him.
Yunho followed Jaejoong and the crew member all the way back up to the deck. It was true, the waves were now rocking the ship so fiercely it was hard for Yunho not to lose his footing and fall down the ladder they climbed up to get to the main deck. The rain hit Yunho in the face like a wet cloth as soon as he stepped out into the open air. The pirate hadn't been lying - the waves were indeed so tall water splashed into wooden floorboards, making sure a single surface of the ship wouldn't stay dry. In the horizon, the sky looked even darker. It was a horrible storm, so horrible Yunho instantly felt afraid they were going to have to sail through it. Yunho froze for a moment, merely stopping to stare at the the intimidating scenery, before he heard Jaejoong's voice, asking him to follow. The sky turned white in the flash of a lighting and only seconds after, thunder roared so loudly Yunho covered his ears by instinct.
The Captain himself was now steering the ship. He had the helm of the ship in a powerful grip as the tried to keep the ship from getting knocked over by the waves that grew larger with every passing moment. Another lightning split the sky in half, the ship shuddered, and Yunho grabbed the nearest railing to have something to hold on to. Jaejoong was now by his father - he wasn't going to take over, was he? Yunho stood, again frozen in shock, as the Captain did indeed withdraw his hands and let Jaejoong take control of the ship.
"Get us out of this hurricane," the Captain commanded, "Do it! Quick!"
But Jaejoong seemed to hesitate. His fingers ran along the roundness of the wheel, the tips grazing the wooden surface as the ship shook with the strongest wave yet. Yunho felt his boots getting wet as water flowed onto the deck and back with the intense swaying of Cassiopeia. For a moment he was sure they were all going to die but then, he saw Jaejoong do something very strange.
The tips of his fingers were still attached to the helm, wind tousled his hair and blew it around his face - his face that didn't look like Jaejoong's face any longer. The deep brown of his eyes had turned white, as if he had suddenly gone blind, and his skin, already pale enough, had took on a shade of sickly fair blue. The ship stopped swaying instantly, like some sort of magic trick, but Yunho kept holding on to the railing just in case. It seemed like the waves could no longer do any harm but then, there was a sound like every bit of wood and metal the ship was made of was crying out in pain. The screeching and the rattling of the ship was so loud Yunho felt like covering his ears again but was unable as he still needed to hold on. He looked around and realized they had started to move through the storm like it was nothing.
The wind was still blowing but the sounds of the raging thunder and the sea around them felt distant, like some powerful force had muted them entirely. Jaejoong was somehow moving the ship without even turning the wheel. He had in some inhuman way protected the ship and now, they were moving so fast Yunho could barely stay on his feet. Some members of the crew were holding on as well, some had fell to the floor and even the Captain seemed to be having a difficult time not falling down and rolling into the deep sea around them. It lasted for at least a half an hour. By now every muscle in Yunho's body felt like it was on fire from holding onto his dear life so vigorously.
When Jaejoong withdrew his fingers from the helm of the ship it stopped as abruptly as it had began. Yunho released his shaking fingers from the railing he had latched himself onto, and looked around in sheer amazement. The sea was again calm, they had somehow traveled through the storm, and the sky was starting to clear up like nothing out of the ordinary hadn't happened at all. The crew started to applaud, clapping their hands and shouting victoriously like they had just won a battle - Yunho looked at Jaejoong, expecting to see him looking normal again, but Jaejoong didn't seem to be well at all. His skin still had a blueish hue to it, his eyes were cloudy and the look on his face was truly alarming. He turned his eyes to Yunho, seeking some sort of comfort before falling to the floor unconscious.
"Jaejoong!" Yunho shouted, forgetting all caution and rushed to the smaller young man that lay on the floor motionless. He placed a hand over Jaejoong's mouth to check if he was still breathing and felt a strange coldness being emitted from his skin. A shadow of a person caused Yunho to look back up and see the Captain standing there, looking down at the two of them as the rest of the crew returned to their usual jobs like nothing special at all hadn't just took place.
"Congratulations sonny, you got yourself a job," he said to Yunho, "Take him to his cabin and make sure he wakes up - or it's on you."
Free Counters