Stowaway
Title: Stowaway
Pairing: Yoosu (maybe yunjae)
Genre: fluff, romance (knowing me there will be angst)
Rating: PG right now
Summary: Yoochun's uncle captained a no-nonsense crew, but when he left his ship in Yoochun's hands nonsense took up a permanent residence, along with anyone else Yoochun happened to drag aboard.
Water sloshed against the inside of the small wooden bucket, more and more leaking over the edges with each new wave that rocked the ship, coating the floor even without the help of the grey, worn down mop. The salty liquid pooled around the bucket’s base, leaving a hefty puddle every time it was moved. The boy could care less about his work. He’d given up any hope of ever actually cleaning the vessel. It was an impossible task. He half heartedly pushed his cleaning tool over the permanently dirty wooden planks, rocking back and forth with the boat out of habit, his small body swaying on newly acquired ‘sea legs’.
As the youngest crew member, an impressive seven years old, Yoochun was fit only for the worst of the jobs, mostly cleaning or helping the cook. He grumbled sullenly and swirled the mop (a good foot taller than he was) in a small circle before him, dragging the water about and leaving wet streaks before smudging his failed attempt at water art. His uncle, the ship’s captain, had taken him in when his mother fell ill. Who knew where his jerk of a father had gone. For the moment he hated the sea. He could not think of a single thing he liked about his life aboard the boat, but he had no other choice.
As he made his way slowly through the ship’s rather large cargo hold he paid little attention to where he was going, occasionally knocking into one of the huge boxes of what ever it was they were carrying. The space he’d been left to move through was annoyingly small even for a boy his size.
“Yah! Stupid box!” Yoochun glared up at yet another box as the boat shifted and sent him sideways against it before turning and kicking it with all the strength he could muster. This was one of those decisions one immediately regrets. Yoochun winced in pain and bent over a little, letting a soft ‘ow’ escape his lips. He continued to glare, forehead crinkled into a frown while he tried to ignore the stinging sensation of pain that was now throbbing in his left leg. It was in this small moment of silence that an unfamiliar sound reached his ears. His body went stiff as he listened, straining to hear above the pounding of water against the boat’s hull. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. Leaving his now nearly empty bucket forgotten, he walked forward with a purpose, mop still clutched defensively in his hands. He realized he was near the very back of the boat. Several more turns brought him to the last row of boxes, stacked impressively up against the curved wooden walls.
He approached the containers, placing one hand against the wood and dragging it along as he walked the length of them, collecting splinters. Between the last box and the boat’s thick, ribbed, side was a small space. He reached this and turned to peer into it, one hand still braced on the side of the crate beside him. The space was dark, cast under the shadow of the boxes looming above it. To be honest he was surprised the crates hadn’t shifted and closed the gap. He stared curiously, trying to decipher something in the darkness. The sound was definitely coming from here. He leaned forward slightly, squinting as his eyes adjusted, before opening them wide in shock.
There, huddled in the cramped space, was another boy. Maybe his age, maybe not, but smaller non-the-less and quivering and sniffling terribly, the sounds interspersed with an uncomfortable groaning noise. It was the latter that Yoochun had heard. The other was obviously crying and most likely sea sick, his hands wrapped around his stomach as he twisted uncomfortably in what little room he had. Yoochun could only gape at him, desperately trying to remember what to do when you found someone on board who was not supposed to be there. He stumbled back and let his mouth fall open.
“S-s-stowaway!” Dropping his mop he bolted back through the cargo hold, knocking his bucket over as he sprinted for the stairs. “Captain there's a stowaway!”
--
Yoochun paused outside the Captain’s room, looking around carefully to make sure he was alone before leaning forward to peek through the gap made by the slightly opened door. The other boy was sitting on the floor in the middle of the room, legs crossed with his chin balanced in his hands. His hair was a dusty dark brown, a compliment to his round brown eyes. For the moment he was pouting unhappily. He had regained some of his strength, and after puking his guts out for half an hour seemed to be temporarily over his sea-sickness, but he was still too weak to be put to work so he was being kept under constant watch by the captain until he could be kicked off at the next port.
It was surprising that he’d managed to stay alive so long without being discovered. Sure, hardly anyone ever went down that far into the ship’s hull, but he had to eat sometime didn’t he? The captain had said that he must have somehow gotten aboard at the previous stop, which would mean he’d been fending for himself below deck for almost a week. At such a young age this was an impressive feat. Yoochun didn’t really understand the gravity of this, but he was curious about the boy anyway. In all his seven years of life, Yoochun had never spoken to another boy his age. Not that he remembered anyway.
However, he would not be getting a chance to speak to this boy it seemed, not only because his uncle refused to let the two near each other, but also because the boy himself would not utter a word. He resisted even the simplest of questions, not even revealing his name. Yoochun was tempted to push the door open further and approach this strange being, but just then a grunt sounded behind him. Startled he jumped back before bowing respectfully and scampering away. His uncle was not well known for his gentleness, that was for sure.
--
Junsu trudged down the ramp from the boat to the dock, his feet feeling heavy and dragging with each step. Less then a foot from the dock he paused and turned to look back at the ship. His eyes settled on a small figure, a boy standing on the deck looking down at him. The boy had dark eyes and even darker black hair, short and tussled into a windswept mess. As he watched the boy stared at him blankly, then suddenly grinned brightly at him, waving cheerily.
Junsu glared back for a moment without returning the smile, until a prod from the captain standing behind him urged him forward. He turned and stepped off onto the dock and away from the ship. When he turned back around the boy was gone.
--
Yoochun rested his forearms against the rusty railing as he watched his ship steer slowly into port, pulling up alongside another smaller boat as the crew ran around tying it down to hold it in place at the dock while they refilled the hull with cargo. The port city was decent sized, one of the larger ones they stopped at. People crowded on the dock, waving to friends they knew or getting ready to board one of the other ships that had stopped there. He knew a couple of his crew members had relatives here, siblings or cousins or even nieces and nephews. Even so, they would probably only be here a few hours. It wasn’t their main stop.
Turning he walked by the open door to the captain’s room and leaned in.
“Hey Yunho? I’m going to head into town for a bit. Pick up a few things.” Yunho made sure the ship was secure before turning away from the wheel.
“A few things?”
“Just this and that. Nothing important. Some more whiskey maybe. Want anything?” Yunho shook his head.
“I’m alright. Don’t stay out there too late ok? We’re supposed to make our next stop by tomorrow evening, so I’d say you have about an hour at most.”
“Me? Late?” Yoochun did his best to look offended, an exaggerated pout tugging at his lips before his incorrigible smile broke through, leaving behind a cheeky grin. Attempting to look innocent never even crossed his mind. “When have I ever been late?” Only all the time, Yunho thought, rolling his eyes.
“Should Moonbin come with you?”
“I don’t need a kid to be my nanny Yunho.” Yunho looked doubtful but just waved Yoochun away. Smiling to himself the man gave a mock salute before turning to take the stairs two at a time, and facing the wrong way at that. If it was anyone else they’d be in deep shit for that, but Yoochun loved to blatantly defy any and every rule. It was his ship after all.
As he approached the ramp leading down off of the main deck a young boy carefully slid himself down off the top of the wooden barrel he’d turned into a stool and trotted toward him.
“Um, sir? Are you going into town? Can I come?” Yoochun smiled fondly at the kid. Yunho was really determined to make sure he got back on time. The guy really needed someone better to fuss over. Reaching out he ruffled the boy’s already tangled hair with his hand.
“Yes I am and no you can’t. Stay here and make sure no stragglers end up on board, ok?” The boy sighed gratefully, looking very relieved that he didn’t have to waste his break following Yoochun around. “Oh and tell Yunho I said thank you.” He blushed a little at this and Yoochun winked, giving him an affectionate pat on the head. Having dismissed his would-be babysitter, Yoochun skipped the rest of the way down to the dock, swaying with it as it gave in ever so slightly to the tug and pull of the waves.
--
For a good part of his free ‘hour’ on shore Yoochun simply wandered around, perusing the various little shops that lined the port’s beachside main street and flipping up the skirts of young girls he passed so he could smirk to himself while they squeaked in surprise and outrage. He stayed true to his word and picked up a few bottles of whiskey, but quickly grew bored with the rest of the sights. It wasn’t until he was sauntering back toward his own boat that something of interest caught his attention.
There was another young man standing at the start of the dock, his gaze cast out over the various boats. He was dressed casually, clearly a landlubber if his attire was any indication, with a small bag hanging at his side, the strap slung over one shoulder and slashing across his back over his jacket. He had his hands in his pockets and his pose was unassuming, but he had an ass bigger than Yoochun’s ship. It was that not so small fact, and that the man was alone, that slowed Yoochun’s steps until he was standing quite literally right behind the man. He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked, silently approving of the difference in height.
“They’re something, aren’t they?” The man jumped, startled, and spun around, his mouth opening and closing in a silent stutter for a few seconds before he regained control of himself, one hand clutching at where his heart was probably beating furiously in his chest.
“You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that!” The young man’s eyes were still wide, the dusty brown bangs falling carelessly over his eyes going unnoticed. Yoochun barely contained his amusement, his smile warm.
“Sorry about that. Couldn’t resist. Your reaction was really too cute.” The man blushed several shades of red at that comment. Yoochun was a shameless flirt, and on top of that quite shamelessly gay. He messed with pretty girls because he knew his charm let him get away with it, but he messed with guys only when he thought they were attractive enough to be worth it. He’d taken a few punches for that. “So you like boats?” He queried, reaching past the still flustered young man to pluck a bright yellow flower from a nearby plant. The man visibly jerked but didn’t step back.
“Ah, something like that.” Yoochun quirked an eyebrow, twirling the flower in his fingers with his eyes trained on the guy’s face.
“So you just standing here for the view? Or were you going somewhere?” The guy seemed to be recovering as they eased into more normal conversation, and he turned back toward the boats slightly.
“Just standing here.” He sounded regretful, like he might’ve liked to answer he was going somewhere but something was stopping. Yoochun stopped twirling the flower.
“Ever been on a boat before?” The man’s gazed flicked back to Yoochun and then away again.
“Just once.” The response had an edge to it, again hinting that there might be more to the story. Instantly an idea struck Yoochun and his smile lit up again as if someone had struck a match to it.
“What d’ya say we make that twice, huh?” He slung his arm over the guy’s shoulders and steered him out onto the dock. “This beautiful hunk of wood over here is Cassiopeia. She’s all mine, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind you taking a tour.”
“No, wait-” He ignored the man’s sputtering protests and practically dragged him up the ramp, waving to the boy he’d greeted on deck earlier as they passed and ignoring the curious look he received in return. He continued to drag the man all the way to the opposite side of the boat where they could look out at the bay stretching away from them toward the open ocean.
“Now if that isn’t the most welcoming sight you’ve ever seen I don’t know what is.” The man was breathing a little harder from struggling. Yoochun was fairly strong despite his lanky looks. He slackened his hold so his arm was just resting lightly over the guy’s shoulders, the bag with his bottles of whiskey clutched carefully in one hand while the little flower still occupied the other. The man didn’t reply, just shook his head and stared out at the water, no longer resisting. A shadow fell across his face from the upper deck looming over them, and Yoochun felt a brief spark of familiarity. He tried to think back over the many people he’d met at various ports, at this same port even, but no, it had to be farther back even than that. In his mind’s eye he could still picture the little stowaway he’d encountered when he was seven, and for a second he thought that just maybe this guy might be him.
“You look like you need an escape.” He said out of nowhere, and the guy turned toward him, his expression blank but his eyes darting over Yoochun’s face as if he were searching for some secret hidden there. Yoochun smiled and nudged his shoulder. “Feel free to stay on board as long as you like.” With that he slid his arm back down to his own side and headed back around to the front of the ship so he could oversee the departure preparations and have a look at the chart of what goods had been unloaded or added. Just because he acted like a carefree idiot didn’t mean he didn’t take his job seriously. He had stepped out from behind the wheel in favor of letting Yunho play boss and throw around orders, but his uncle had left the boat to him, and no one would deny he was still undoubtedly the captain.
20 minutes later he watched with satisfaction from his favorite stretch of railing as his ship backed toward open water, swaying pleasantly with the rising tide. Only then did he note with interest that the man he’d invited aboard had not yet decided to leave.