Chapter Text
“Sunwoo, I’m freezing,” Changmin whined as he crawled onto the mattress. “When did it get so cold in here?”
“Dunno. But come here, then, hyung,” Sunwoo laughed, reaching out to pull Changmin on top of him.
Changmin gladly let himself fall onto Sunwoo, full body weight on him – which wasn’t that much, granted – and he wound his arms around him, skin against skin leaving no space in between. Sunwoo threw the blanket over Changmin’s bare back, almost covering him completely, shielding him from the cool air around.
The weather had cooled down quite a bit throughout the last months – winter was close, and although the season was quite mellow in the area they currently were traveling through, the difference to the summer months was still drastic.
As long as Changmin kept Sunwoo close to him, though, he would be fine.
Sunwoo with his warm skin and warm smile and warm kisses.
Sunwoo, who was everything warm in the world combined. Summer nights, sand after the sun shone onto it for a while, campfires and laughter.
Changmin felt Sunwoo’s fingers on his back, tracing along his spine in circular motions in such a soothing way that his eyes fluttered shut although he wasn’t even tired yet.
Some days on the ship were so tiring that they fell into bed at night and succumbed to sleep right away. That day, though, had been one of the calmer ones, cloudy and a little rainy with not much to do except for playing cards in the crew’s quarters and making sure the sails were intact.
“Sunwoo...”
“Hm?”
With his head resting on Sunwoo’s chest, Changmin felt Sunwoo’s response, his low voice, right in his veins. A shiver ran down his spine.
“This scar. How did you get it?”
His fingers traced along a fair line, quite long but rather thin, along one of his ribs.
“Is it from a fight?”
Sunwoo nodded.
“Which one?”
“I think that was at the battle with Haknyeon’s former crew. Maybe... two years ago? Few weeks after he deserted and came to us – they had searched for him, you know? They surprised as at the beach, while we were resting.”
“Did it hurt a lot?”
“A little, yeah. It healed quickly, though – it was summer, and I just ran around shirtless for a while.”
After hesitating briefly, Changmin craned his head and pressed a kiss onto the scar. Sunwoo giggled, one hand buried in Changmin’s hair.
“Oh—” Changmin’s eyes fell onto another mark on his body, the inside of his arm this time. He let his hand trail over that scar as well, this one was roundish, soft to the touch. “What about that one?”
“Ah, that one – that one is old, an accident from playing around on some ship as a kid.”
Changmin kissed it, before going on to the next.
Sunwoo’s body was studded with scars, most of them light, faint lines, nothing unusual for such a dangerous life, and Changmin adored each and every single one of them.
He traveled from one to the other, explored them through and through like an astronomer would observe constellations in the sky. Shooting stars fallen down from heaven, onto Sunwoo’s body throughout the course of his life.
“And that one...” Changmin’s voice trailed off as at last his fingers traveled over to the large scar on the side of his body, freshly healed, undoubtedly the biggest one. The sensitive scar was taut and pale in comparison to Sunwoo’s tan skin, but it had healed well.
With a slight frown between his eyebrows, Changmin pressed his lips against Sunwoo’s skin. He had slid so far down on the mattress that the blanket had slipped off him, but he didn’t care.
“I hope from the bottom of my heart,” he mumbled, “with all I have, that you never have to go through anything like that ever again.”
He glanced up to see the faint smile on Sunwoo’s lips. There was a touch of bitterness in his dark eyes, and Changmin understood why. It hadn’t been easy. The weeks that he had been bed-stricken, the pain he’d been in, the months of slow progress, two times the wound partly ripped open again, the gradual improvement until finally, he’d been able to beat Changmin in a duel – with wooden sticks, but a duel it was, nevertheless.
A sigh slipped from Changmin’s lips. He kissed the scar again, hands holding onto Sunwoo’s hips before he looked back up.
“I love you,” Sunwoo mouthed.
“Love you too, Sunwoo.”
He started covering his stomach in kisses. Sunwoo giggled and buried his hands in Changmin’s hair, fingers raking through the strands, gently tugging at them. Here and there Changmin left a hickey, a pleased smile broadening on his lips whenever he coaxed a weak moan out of Sunwoo.
Changmin squeaked as suddenly Sunwoo pulled him up to him, until they were on eye-level and Changmin’s head rested on the pillow again. He curled his arm around Changmin’s small waist, pulling him closer until their hips were connected.
Changmin closed his eyes as Sunwoo leaned in.
He nipped at his skin, kissed basically any place on Changmin that he could reach, nosing at his skin like a cat would. He traced the outline of his lips with his fingertip, let them brush over his dimples, his jawline, the shells of his ears, his eyebrows, his nose bridge. His touch, so light and gentle, left a tingly feeling on Changmin’s skin, a feeling that settled in his heart and bloomed in his entire body.
He wanted to drown in this feeling, drown in Sunwoo. He didn’t want to ever leave this bed, he didn’t want the sun to ever go up, didn’t want Sunwoo’s hands to ever stop touching him.
“Sunwoo... do you even know what you’re doing to me?” His laugh was almost just a breath against the other’s skin. “You’re ruining me. Ruining me for anyone else.”
“Good,” Sunwoo whispered against Changmin’s collarbone.
Changmin was about to nudge Sunwoo against the mattress and climb onto him when the bed shook beneath them, the wooden floor creaking underneath, swaying so much a stack of scrolls fell from the desk across the room.
“Was that a wave?” Changmin’s voice wavered, anxious by the sudden scare.
“Must have been,” Sunwoo replied. “Either that or a fucking ship rammed into us.” His entire posture had changed – from relaxed and at ease to wary, on guard, calculating.
In that moment, the door opened, and Changmin’s head whipped around. A gust of wind came into the room and brought in rain droplets. Changmin only now became aware of the roaring waves clashing against the ship’s hull, shaking it around as if it weighed nothing, the howling storm, the thunder lighting up the dark sky.
Kevin stood in the door. He was drenched from the heavy rainfall, long dark strands tucked behind his ears to keep them from falling into his face.
“Guys – I hate to interrupt you lovebirds, but we might have accidentally gotten right into a storm front. A bad one.”
“Yeah, we figured,” Sunwoo said. He sat up, bunching up the blanket around his hips. “Is everything under control?”
“Eh. Well. Barely, to be honest – the thing is, we’re steering towards a strait and the wind makes it impossible to turn around.”
“Are the others all awake?”
“Chanhee went downstairs to wake the ones that went to sleep up. We’re gonna need all hands to keep this thing afloat.”
“Is the strait that narrow?” Sunwoo asked.
“The strait wouldn’t be a problem by itself, but…”
“But…? For fuck’s sake, what else is there?”
“Sirens.”
A telling silence ensued before Kevin disappeared again, hurrying across the deck to help out Eric and Haknyeon with the main sail.
Changmin sat in the middle of the bed while Sunwoo had already left it. He was now almost too aware of the heavy swaying of the ship. One of the scrolls that had fallen off the desk rolled across the wooden floor, bumping against one leg of the bed.
Sunwoo hurriedly changed into his clothes, but Changmin only reluctantly crawled off the bed – he felt like he had been ripped out of a dream too soon, like he had been sent to heaven but ripped down to earth the next moment.
Sunwoo grinned as he stepped in front of him. The sound of the rain had grown louder, drumming against the heck.
“First time meeting sirens?”
Changmin nodded. Sunwoo took his hand, intertwining their fingers. His other hand curled around the doorknob, ready to open it, ready to lunge themselves into danger.
“Scared?”
Changmin looked up at Sunwoo. His eyes glinted, with more excitement in them than fear, and a thrill of anticipation sparked up in Changmin’s heart.
“No.”
“I thought so.”
Sunwoo’s chuckle broadened into a broad gummy smile, eyes shining at Changmin before he pushed open the door and pulled him onto the stormy deck.