Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

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The entrance was locked. As expected.

Heeseung punched the code and let it scan him, Jungwon's annoying “Beeep, if you are not authorized we might as well kill you" sing-songy voice message that Jay had apparently endorsed playing as he completed the protocol.

When the metal doors slid open, Heeseung sighed, stepping in and checking in on the buttons with their serialized number.

‘01’

His number lit green and he swiftly checked to see if everyone else was in.

‘99’, ‘04’, ‘23’, ‘10’ glowed green in the small panel.

He hummed in approval and continued down the hall, his steps clacking on the metal sheets that made up their floor. As he passed the noisiest part of the plane, he identified a scratchy sound coming from the reactor that made him sigh. He would have to check that. Jungwon was busy enough as is.

The spaceship was small, really, and soon enough, he passed the back part, their miscellaneous rooms, and the cargo bay, reaching the main deck which combined the lounge and the biggest part of their control room. Further only was the avionics pit, but considering they were parked and inactive, Jay wasn’t there.

He saw Sunghoon furrowing his brow at some document on his tablet, his glasses slipping off slightly of his nose bridge. He was near his spacious navigation area, sitting on the lounge loveseat closest to it.

On the longer couch, Jay was sitting dozing off with Jungwon’s legs over his lap as the younger boy read what seemed to be a comic.

Riki was nowhere to be seen, but his bunk bed had its curtain drawn, so Heeseung guessed he would have to regrettably wake the younger male up from a nap. He had an important announcement to make, after all.

As he stepped in, the glass doors emitted their usual sealing sound behind him and that made Jungwon look up.

“‘Sup, captain, anything new?”

Heeseung could only sigh with a smile. He was done correcting the members over his designation; in reality, there was no ‘captain’, as Heeseung was technically their chief officer. If anything Jay was their captain as the flight pilot, but he simply let them be and call him however they pleased.

“Yeah, the meeting with HQ was productive. Please wake Jay up, I’ll bring Riks.”

A mischievous smile appeared on Jungwon's face and Heeseung didn't wish to know Jay’s upcoming fate, so he rushed to the bunk beds.

A squawk, some rustling, Sunghoon and Jungwon’s loud laughter, and some more shouting later, all of them sat in the lounge, which was their usual meeting spot as Heeseung had once committed the mistake of having the meeting on the bridge with the chairs that spun in place.

Heeseung clapped once, even though their attention was on him anyway. He was trying to check if Riki had dozed off, but he appeared mostly alert so that would have to do.

“I had a meeting with HQ today and I brought some news-”

Jungwon sprang up from the couch. “Did they find another systems person? Please, please, please tell me that's the news, please, I’m crumbling over here.”

He then quite literally let himself crumble to the couch, draping himself dramatically over Jay’s legs. Jay patted him but then pushed him away when Jungwon began squirming like a worm.

It was true, though, Jungwon was getting eaten alive, being the only systems specialist in their ship. There was only so much Heeseung or Riki could help out with when Jungwon was tasked with probably a five person team job almost completely by himself. He had some free time, of course, but that mainly consisted of postponing stuff for the sake of his own mental health, as the pressure of being on-call for the whole ship alone was really stressful.

They desperately needed someone else to take some of Jungwon's burden, and Heeseung had been insisting on receiving profiles to review for potential engineers to add to their small crew. It would be a learning curve, as they were pretty close knit, but not impossible, and if they wished to continue getting bigger tasks, they would need someone to assist Jungwon.

Heeseung huffed out a small laugh. “Yeah, something like that.”

From where he was, still on the loveseat, Sunghoon raised an eyebrow. The tablet, which showed some official space navigation forecasts, was still in his lap, but he ignored them in favor of their meeting, which Heeseung appreciated. “What does that mean? Is someone joining or not? Don't tell me we are getting an AI robot or something installed to help Jungwon out.”

Jungwon shuddered. “Better than nothing, but please tell me it's a person. I already freak out enough by the robot guards in HQ for one to be sent here permanently.”

A shake of Heeseung’s head calmed the younger one down. “It's two things. First, we have been offered a new mission. It's a bit long term compared to our usual, with six months of moving around. The gist of it is finding some samples of supplies to combat some virus that has begun plaguing around Zones #26 to #30. They are stable, but the mission is for us to both find and transfer some medicinal herbs and specimens for research and development in Zone #15 so they can work on it and administer cures onto the affected zones.”

Riki smiled from where he was curled up on the floor in front of the large couch. “Sounds fun.”

The rest expressed their agreement, but before they could begin discussing the mission, Heeseung interjected. “There's more, though, that's why I haven't taken the mission. They gave us this mission because we asked for a system specialist.”

A small pause ensued. Heeseung let them process it.

Tentatively, Jungwon inquired. “Is it like… a trial before we get someone?”

From next to him, Jay murmured sullenly. “Haven't we proven ourselves enough by now?”

It was a rhetorical question. They had done various missions to build a reputation as one of the most effective spaceships despite their small spaceship, exclusive crew, and short time since formation. That wasn’t exactly it, though, so Heeseung continued.

“No, that person would presumably be accompanying us. But he comes in a package deal with someone else. Our potential engineer refused to be added to just any crew and demanded for his companion to be with him. His companion, who is a medical researcher, is the one tasked with the mission. Whoever gets this other person in the crew gets both the systems specialist and the mission, per HQ orders.”

There was another pause.

“Well. Whoever they are, they sure seem an eccentric pair. They get to choose whoever they want and HQ endorses it? And it's two people, not just one? And also the other person has been tasked with this big scale mission?”

Jay slumped his shoulders, ending his questions without much else to say. Jungwon hummed from next to him.

“Maybe they are partners?”

Heeseung shrugged. “No idea. But they chose our ship over others who wanted them, and with our request for a specialist, HQ pushed for me to take the mission. But I wanted to ask you first. I need to get back to them soon before they defer the mission to someone else, though, it's planned to begin with very short notice.”

Riki paused in his spinning to look at him. “They chose us? Are we the first crew they chose?”

A wince. “I don't know about that. The circumstances are a bit delicate. They refused to work with specific crews and didn’t want a big crew. Also some of the crews that were indeed part of the candidates rejected the deal.”

Heeseung had also been confused over the arrangement. They asked for an engineer from the moment they arrived from their last mission three weeks prior after an incident with the propulsors, and, in turn, this morning, they had summoned a bunch of chief officers to tell them that there was a proposition regarding a duo team with an engineer and a medical researcher since the latter had an important mission assigned to them. So they had let the duo team choose some crews they would prefer working with, and then, during the chief meeting, they asked other officials if they wished to work with the duo.

He had no idea whether his crew had actually been the first option or if the first option had left when the initial crews outright rejected the duo team. He was just glad it had worked out somewhat favorably to him and the crew: they were chosen as the first option for a team that had both an engineer and someone with an important mission that could help them upgrade their repertoire and further improve their rep with the OSIS. So, he was hoping his team saw it, too, and accepted the mission.

He thought it was a win-win, even if he was still doubtful over the possible crew dynamics, he just had to frame this conversation favorably for his crew to also view it that way. Possibly adding two people would be a challenge, and he knew he was looking at it pretty analytically instead of empathically, but he couldn't help it, after some time being chief, he had learned to look at the bigger picture very objectively.

From the loveseat, Sunghoon had his brows furrowed. “So we are getting two strangers on the crew? Just like that?”

Heeseung hummed. He knew Sunghoon would be hard to crack over new people potentially joining them. They had been just fine as five, after all, and they were all close friends over their coworker status. Heeseung would even call their small crew family, and he knew the rest felt the same. Simply welcoming two strangers was a gamble.

“If we accept, it's a probation period.” At the confused looks he received, he continued. “At first, there were a bunch of chiefs in the meeting room. They asked if anyone wanted to voluntarily choose the mission and its added crew. I think that six? Six rejected and left. Then, Dr. Min told me that they had chosen my crew as one they would like to work with, so the other crew chiefs were on standby as she asked me first and foremost if we wanted in. I asked if we would have to accept them as permanent additions. She said no, but it would be preferable. So, I conditioned the mission as a probation period and if it goes well, and they want to, they can stay. It's up to both them and us. But for now, the mission is ours if we want it; the prospects are positive, so we already planned for the case of us accepting the mission, and if we do, the day after tomorrow, we would be meeting our new temporary additions and then on the 7th we would be leaving.”

After his long spiel, Heeseung huffed out a breath. He will never get used to giving longer speeches. He should have just let Jay take the chief officer position when they arranged their designations, the other man had stronger lungs.

Taking a deep breath, Jungwon nodded. “I’m in. I need someone, and the mission sounds cool, I have no objections.”

Jay raised his hand. “Same here. Could be worse. Six months with two guys who are apparently HQ darlings can't be that bad.” His joke fell a little flat, because the general consensus was a certain degree of eccentricity from the newcomers, but Heeseung welcomed the lightheartedness.

When Heeseung turned to Riki, the younger gave a single nod of approval, and that was enough. Sunghoon, though, looked pensive,

“Why were they rejected by other ships? If they are supposedly so coveted… if they are strong crewmen, have an amazing mission and are favored by the HQ, how is it that they were rejected?”

It was a valid question. Heeseung should answer truthfully.

“Well, the mission is strenuous, but that isn't it.” He took a deep breath. He knew what was coming. “The medical researcher is mixed. His parents are a human and a pian.”

Dead silence.

The whirring of the A/C and the CPUs made white noise in the background, but the other guys simply stared at Heeseung.

Finally, Sunghoon sighed harshly. “I knew there was a catch.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t like it, but if everyone else is down, then I am, too, for the specialist and the mission, even if I'm not happy with… that.” With those words, he purposefully turned his attention to his lap and began aggressively tapping around.

From the couch, Jungwon hurriedly asked. “But that means he's part human, no? So he should be fine?”

Heeseung hummed. “Sure. I was told that he and the engineer have known each other since their early years, and the engineer is a human, so the half alien was probably raised as such.”

“So that half alien is not a threat.” Jay’s words were said slowly.

From where he began stretching, Riki muttered. “He is with HQ, they would never let a threat past security. If he is the one who was given the mission originally, it must mean that he has their trust completely.”

Heeseung went and ruffled their youngest hair, receiving a swatting hand and a small groan. “Riks is right, we should just wait to meet both before making any hasty assumptions.” He pointedly looked at Sunghoon and then at Jay before continuing. “They are valuable members of the OSIS, and they definitely are under HQ’s wing, so we should treat them as any other crew member.”

A chorus of okay's followed his words, some more enthusiastic than others, but it would have to do. He knew that the reservations they might have about the new crew members couldn’t overpower the value of the mission.

He scanned the room once again before smiling slightly. “Then, if everyone is down, we have a new mission, and it's pretty prestigious, so let's do our best.”

Slowly, he received assent from Jungwon and Jay, with Riki already standing up to dust the abandoned bunk under his own. Sunghoon remained locked on his task, but Heeseung simply sighed. He wouldn't be able to do much about it as he himself knew little about the newcomers. They would ultimately just have to wait and see what this experience brought them.

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Sunghoon was not grumpy.

He ignored as Jungwon poked at him about his apparent grouchy state and continued organizing around the control desks. Of course, his own navigation set up was impeccable, but he could not say the same about the rest of the monitors. Everyone had their own and there were five extras, how was it that every single one had a mess around it?

In the background, Jay was nagging at Heeseung about some boxes that were apparently abandoned on the extra bunk beds that they would now be needing for the new additions.

Soon after their small meeting, Heeseung went to confirm their participation on the mission to HQ, and they had been asked if they wished to meet the two people in a conference room at HQ, but Heeseung had declined, stating that he wished for them to start feeling comfortable with the ship and the crew.

That was why Jay and Riki poured their blood, sweat and tears into preparing some homemade pastries, why Heeseung was forced to organize his unused boxes filled with stuff he hoarded, and why Jungwon had been on a frantic review spree all over the ship, checking for any glaring inconsistency or error in their system; he had exclaimed that he couldn't be embarrassed in front of the new engineer, at least for the first days.

They would arrive at any moment, but Sunghoon swore he wasn't expectant. He just wanted to get it over with. He was still in disbelief that HQ was actively advocating for a half alien to work closely with them, after all.

Ultimately, they all ended up anxiously fidgeting on the lounge, glancing at the control monitor that was connected to their entrance. Jungwon had even deactivated his silly voice message just for the first introduction, it was apparently that serious.

Suddenly, Jungwon sprung up. “They're here!”

Immediately, Heeseung rushed to the hallway, and unconsciously, or maybe not, Sunghoon ended up there along with the rest of the crew.

They reached the entrance and the sensors opened the doors. The adjustable boarding bridge that connected their ship to the HQ embarking zone welcomed them and from behind Riki and Jay, Sunghoon could faintly see a shock of pink hair alongside a head of wavy dark brown hair. Were their newcomers really short? He didn't want to peek, he wasn't that interested, obviously.

“Hey, welcome to the HYPHEN, my name is Heeseung and I'm the chief officer of this ship, it's a pleasure to welcome you both.”

Finally, as Jungwon moved a bit forward, Sunghoon accidentally made eye contact with a pair of sparkly amber eyes. He flinched, understanding quickly that it was probably the half alien as the creature's peculiar looking ears and pink-ish skin revealed.

“Hi, I'm Jake, I am a system specialist engineer, pleased to meet you, too!”

The human, Jake, seemed easy-going. He and Heeseung shook hands before Jake finally pushed the half alien a bit forward.

“This is Sunoo, he is my companion.”

Sunghoon ended up looking into the amber eyes once again, as the half alien blinked.

His smile was very human.

“Hello, I'm Sunoo, I'm a medical researcher and a navigator, looking forward to your kind cooperation.” His last words were accompanied by a small bow of the head.

Heeseung made sure to greet him, and he could hear the others also extending their welcome.

“Hi, I'm Jay, I'm our flight pilot and also comms master, nice to meet you two.” Sunghoon sometimes was jealous of how put together Jay could be. He knew that the other still had his doubts over a half alien joining, but Jay was so good at acting casual that he couldn't help but feel slightly bitter.

With a small nudge, Riki walked forward and bowed. “I'm Riki, combat pilot and in charge of security and defense. Please take care of me.”

“I'm Jungwon, I am our engineer, but I am specialized in IT and software, welcome on board!”

He himself nodded and swiftly introduced himself, wishing to get past the politics of the interaction and go right into business.

He was stuck on the part where the half alien had said that he was a navigator. Sunghoon wondered if the other expected being given the reins of their navigation management, what with his close connection to HQ heads. He would not allow it, of course, but the quick thought irked him.

A light push to his back prompted him to move and let the rest advance. Riki and Jay were now pushing the little cart with boxes that Jake and the half alien had brought, while Jungwon and Heeseung gave a mini tour, even when there wasn't much to see in their small spaceship.

When they reached the lounge, Sunghoon went directly to his desk and opened the copy of the mission, going to the destined spots and inputting them into his system to check for potential routes. He began scanning the benefits and disadvantages of some, looking specifically for nearby alien stations or stray meteorites.

It wasn’t exactly a mindless job, but he could tone out the rest of his crew welcoming the duo and helping them set in. He didn't particularly like ignoring them, but he was working, so he felt justified.

After a moment, he heard voices approaching.

“This is the NAV station, Sunghoon mans it, if you ever need anything regarding navigations, here is where you'll find it.” Riki was standing a respectful distance away, but it somehow made Sunghoon feel like an exhibition.

The half alien was with him, ohh-ing and ahh-ing around, and it irked Sunghoon some more. He decided to focus on his charts again.

He felt the eyes on him like a prickle to his skin, but he resolutely ignored them. He was done with social life for the day.

They were departing in two days. He had to be ready for anything.

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Jake and Sunoo seemed to be settling nicely. Heeseung made sure they were comfortable, explained how the bunk beds worked, with the gadgets installed, the curtain, the small shelves, and he also helped them store their stuff on the sealed containers next to each bunk bed.

They hadn’t needed to make special arrangements as their ship came with four bunk beds with two beds each, and they only occupied five, so Sunoo went in the bed under Riki that was unoccupied, and Jake went on the lower bed of the remaining bunk.

Heeseung himself could faintly see everyone from his top bed in the first bunk that he shared with Sunghoon, as the lounge was curved.

They decided to sleep early so they could begin preparing for the mission early the next morning, as departure was going to happen at dawn the day after. Still, even if he wanted to crash as soon as he touched his bed, he remained checking the permissions for the mission so he could visit HQ in case of any mishap. Wouldn't want to visit before dawn on the day of departure. Perks of being in charge of admin, he guessed.

As he read, his mind couldn't help but wander, though. Mostly about the crew, obviously.

He had gotten a good first impression of their new members. Sunoo was definitely impressive, what with his mostly human appearance sans a few key points that gave him away. The longer downturned ears, the thin tail that came from his back and had a peculiar tip that consisted of what looked like thick translucent strings, as well as the pink details on his skin and the inertial high throaty sound that sometimes erupted from him.

Heeseung had not interacted much with other species of humanoid, let alone someone who was also part human at that, so he was intrigued, though careful not to make Sunoo feel othered.

Funnily enough, Sunoo was also really lovable. Heeseung wasn't sure if it was because of his peculiarities or if it was simply a characteristic ingrained within the other, but it seemed to him that his crew, sans Sunghoon maybe, had become taken by Sunoo.

The other had this charm and simple way with words that made him easily approachable. His curiosity also ran rampant and he listened well, which was a hit with Heeseung’s nerd crewmates.

Conversationally, Jake was nice, really nice. He had offered to help in maintenance as soon as he stepped into the ship, offered to sleep on the last bunk bed when he noticed Sunoo's trepidation at being alone, managed to bounce off anyone even when he seemed somewhat shy, pushing at Riki to get him to open up, excitedly talking with Jungwon, somehow immediately joking around with Jay, simmering down whenever he spoke to Sunghoon and himself.

He had gotten Heeseung to laugh quite a few times through their short bonding time during their arrival, and he reminded Heeseung of an excited puppy.

He also seemed really fond of Sunoo. Heeseung had expected it, but seeing it first hand was impressive. Jake seemed to be completely in tune to the other, nudging him and coddling him at very specific points in their interactions. He seemed really reliable.

Ultimately, neither had difficulties at arrival and introduction so Heeseung hoped they felt comfortable and deemed their first meeting a success.

After his long train of thought, the mixture of the white noise from the ship and its parts, as well as faint breathing was the last thing Heeseung heard before accidentally succumbing to sleep, still in a sitting position with his tablet on his knees.

The sound of the sliding doors that went into the hallway opening startled him awake. He hissed as his neck complained about the position he had fallen asleep in, but he swiftly focused on what caused him to return to reality.

He opened his curtain and scanned the other bunks, the dim blue light the lounge emitted helping him.

Heeseung imagined he would hear if Sunghoon woke up, but he still checked the bunk under and found it closed. Jungwon's curtain was closed, Jay's was also closed, though he could see his arm peeking out. Riki’s and Sunoo's were also closed. At last, he saw that Jake's was half opened.

He carefully stepped into the lounge to investigate. The two bathroom cabins were on the other side of the lounge, and Heeseung, and everyone in the crew, made sure to point it out at least on five different occasions, forgetful of if they already mentioned it, so Jake probably wasn't lost in search of the bathroom.

The floor was cold, but Heeseung couldn't be bothered to wear his slippers. When the door closed behind him, he faintly saw light near the entrance of the ship, in the engineering deck, but more specifically where the propulsion systems were controlled.

He approached quietly and when he peeked in from the door frame, he found a tuft of brown hair.

Jake had some thick glasses and had a pout on his face as he sat on the floor with a book, a tablet and a journal. The pen he was playing with twirled on his fingers easily. Heeseung had absolutely no idea how he set up that quickly as he didn't think he had been that far behind when he followed the other, but he guessed system engineers worked differently?

Just loud enough to be heard under the A/C and the other machines that weren't turned off, he murmured to make his presence known. “Hey-”

“WOAH!”

In a quick second, Heeseung jumped backwards as Jake flinched so hard his head hit the desk behind him, dropping the pen and wrinkling the book he had his hand on.

Heeseung had a hand to his chest and the other on the entrance of the small space, his heart beating loudly on his ears as both of them recovered from the spook.

“...Sorry.”

At his words, Jake deflated to the floor, placing his head in the nook between his criss-crossed legs and groaning as he patted the spot in the back of his head where he got hurt.

“First day on the job, already on cardiac arrest status.” His voice sounded muffled, but Heeseung huffed out a small laugh.

“Thank the universe for the health insurance?”

He got a whine in response to his small joke. Heeseung finally approached and sat next to Jake, seeing that the journal was filled with complex equations he didn't even try to understand and the book was the propulsion system manual.

“What are you checking at the wee hours of the night?”

Jake smiled sheepishly. “Oh, I just wanted to read up on the reaction engine used on this spacecraft. Want to test the terrain so I can get refractions and electronics from HQ before we depart.”

Heeseung hummed. He definitely wasn't as well versed in physics and new technology for this conversation, but that didn't mean he would cut it short.

“Oh, you want to make updates on the system?”

“Yes!” Jake jumped at the opportunity to talk, and began showing Heeseung some pictures on the tablet as he excitedly explained. “There is a new precooler system that was recently patented in the HQ R&D, it has a higher efficiency and longer term endurance for high-speed suborbital flight, and the propulsion subsystem here has a modern chemical rocket, and paired with the size and capacity of the ship, it means there is compatibility with the precooler system and can boost the speed, lessen the energy use, and balance out the temperature of the whole ship! I would just need to change your previous precooler with the new one and ask for a unit in HQ, but I had to size up the propulsion system before completing the judgment.”

The words were certainly understandable. A well rested Heeseung had probably understood that and more from Jungwon, but as he was a little sleepy, still, he took a moment to process the words.

He had no idea what expression he was making, but suddenly Jake looked panicked.

“Or not! I wouldn’t want to arrive and immediately impose on your ship, and I should have asked Jungwon, I'm sorry, I was just-”

Heeseung blinked and hurriedly stopped the other. “Oh, no! You're fine, you're fine, I'm just sleepy, I understood what you were saying, it sounds really cool. We can go together to HQ tomorrow to find what you need.”

Jake blinked back, his mouth agape, before he broke out into an excited smile again. “That'd be great!” He then happily turned to his notes and the book, his glasses slipping slightly on the bridge of his nose. “That's so cool, man, that I get to do this.”

From where he was sitting, Heeseung noted the awe in Jake's voice. “Is this your first mission?”

Jake shook his head, scribbling stuff on his notebook once again. “Nah, I have been in a bunch of them with Sunoo and an assigned escort. HQ has treated us well since we arrived.”

Oh? Heeseung cocked his head to the side. “You didn’t train in the system?”

Usually, to get into OSIS, one had to be schooled from a young age there and be promoted into an associate position. All of his crew and himself had been in schooling since around the age of 13, and most had been in different crews before joining forces and requesting a unit for themselves.

Scouting wasn’t unheard of, but it was certainly a rarity in the midst of people who grew up in the OSIS.

With a sheepish glance, Jake resumed his work. “Yeah, we certainly didn't grow up in the system. We were scouted some months ago.”

“Ah, that would make sense. I know most of everyone in our age ranges and I think I would have remembered you.”

Jake huffed out a laugh. “I am pretty unremarkable, but you would definitely have remembered Sunoo around me, so yeah.”

Unremarkable? Heeseung definitely didn't agree, but Jake didn't sound particularly condescending to himself, probably stating what he thought was a fact. It was surely a side effect of always being with a pink haired companion.

“I don't think you are unremarkable, but Sunoo sure is eye-catching, isn't he? Have you two known each other for long?”

Jake didn't look at him, but the fond smile on his face was pretty. “He is! Really cute, I adore him. And yeah! We have known each other since we were little, my dad practically raised us both.” Jake put his notebook and tablet on the floor, and turned to him. “I want to check some connections in the circuit, if that’s alright?”

“Go right ahead.” Was Heeseung’s automatic response. He was still thinking about what Jake mentioned about his father and Sunoo.

He held in a bunch of questions that were on the tip of his tongue as he saw Jake lean into the cabinet that was situated inside the wall to apparently check some cables. It was too soon. Day one, not even 24 hours since Jake and Sunoo arrived, as weird as that seemed with how close he already felt to Jake. So he asked the most innocuous question instead.

“You guys were homeschooled?”

With his whole head inside the cabinet, Jake hummed. “Sort of? Mhh, we were somewhat homeschooled after middle school. I don’t think it was very official, but my dad is incredibly smart, probably smarter than most teachers in that zone and he did his best, making sure to get us real certifications in a ton of stuff to make up for the lack of formal education. Still, the OSIS made us do a ton of tests when we were scouted, and considering we are here, I have to guess we were up to par.”

Heeseung blinked. “That’s impressive, Jake.”

Still inside the cabinet, Jake took a hand out to wave it dismissively. “Nah.”

“No, really.” Heeseung knew he sounded incredulous. “Do you know how many people the OSIS scouts? And then the amount that actually makes it past the testing, and then the ones who get assigned to missions instead of miscellaneous office jobs. It’s minuscule, Jake, almost non-quantifiable. In my, what, almost 10 years here, I have only known like three other people apart from you two, and they are seniors by various years. You and Sunoo are really impressive, genuinely.”

He saw Jake pause. “Oh.” A second. “Really?”

Heeseung let out a laugh. It was so surprising, but Jake was also so cute. “Yes, really. It’s pretty cool that I’m sitting here next to a 500:1 scouting success case.” He saw as Jake continued working, his movements obviously flustered. Cute. Heeseung couldn’t even find a better word. “How did they even scout you two?”

Jake paused once again, and his hand went to scratch his neck sheepishly. Heeseung was, honestly, in awe. How come Jake could be so expressive even with half of his body practically inside the cabinet?

A small shuffling sound came from the cabinet as Jake finished up, before finally sitting up and turning to face him. He looked a bit nervous and that, in turn, made Heeseung nervous, so he tried his best to reel it in.

Jake took a deep breath before talking. “Well, when we began doing our own thing, that somehow ended up in us doing clandestine work with some personal clients.” At Heeseung’s silence, Jake hurried to add. “But nothing too bad! Just… weaponry transportation and some unpatented herb distribution. It was just to keep us afloat. Then one day we were caught, but thanks to some clients advocating for us, the OSIS agreed to do a probation to get us on the right path, I guess.”

Heeseung let the information sit. It was a lot, but he let himself think about it. In the end, he concluded that wasn’t put off by the clandestine jobs. He wasn’t going to judge Jake when he was being vulnerable. “And now you're here?”

Jake threw another glance, but this one relieved. “Yeah! They tried to add me to some crews at first, but I didn't want to leave Sunoo to his luck, he is literally my brother, and I know his skills would have been overlooked by his mixed species status, so because of that we were mostly sent alone with the escort I mentioned. Until now, that is, being in a crew in an actual spacecraft and not a shuttle is an amazing opportunity, so thank you for having us.”

He ended with a small bow of the head, hurrying to take his notebook and pen again, and Heeseung felt a little bit speechless. There was a lot of stuff he could say, but he didn't know how appropriate it would be for him to bring up. In the end, he simply smiled. “The honor is ours. Hope the mission goes well.”

“Yeah!” Jake smiled back, but before he could begin his scribbling, he suddenly stopped, looking embarrassed. Heeseung was fascinated with how swiftly his expressions could change. “Ah, I wouldn’t want to keep you, if you wanna go to sleep, I'll be just fine here.”

Ah. That reminded Heeseung of the fact that it was indeed nighttime. “Nah, I was doing admin revising in my bunk instead of sleeping, anyways.”

Right. He had work to do. He had been so entertained with Jake that he didn't even notice. How much time had passed in the end?

“Oh, then with even more reason, please don't let me disturb your work.” The flustered blush on Jake's face was cute. His words were considerate, but Heeseung didn't want to burst their bubble just yet. He looked towards the tablet in Jake's set up, thinking.

“Well, then I'll just bring my tablet here, I wouldn’t mind good company while I slave over permit forms.”

A pause, now from Jake. When Heeseung looked up, he saw that the blush had intensified. Cute.

“Okay.”

With a smile, Heeseung stood up, stopping for a second at the entrance. “I'll be right back.” And without letting Jake answer back, he rushed to the lounge, hurrying to get his tablet and, after a second thought, a mat and two bottled waters.

He had no idea that he would be starting a nightly ritual.

═════════════════════

“...”

“...”

Sunghoon couldn't concentrate.

He was trying to create potential routes for their six-stop mission, and he had already compiled a list of obstacles and one for optimal conditions in regards of approximate time and surroundings, but for the life of him, he couldn’t conjure the mind power to fully develop the routes.

Was it the silence? He was used to silence somewhat, especially when Jungwon managed to get Riki to change places in the cockpit and so, their noisiest, Jay and Jungwon, were trapped in the small flight cabin.

At that moment, Heeseung had gathered Jake and Jungwon, and they announced a visit to the HQ, which prompted Riki to go with as he needed to supply the emergency batteries and manual weapons.

That left Jay, Sunghoon and the half alien in the ship. Jay was in the cockpit, probably updating the comms and making sure the avionics bay equipment was stable.

So Sunghoon was stuck with the half alien. The other was in the loveseat behind him, scribbling on a journal. His noise was minimal, but Sunghoon could feel the presence near him acutely. Why was his being so distracting?

After agonizing over the routes some more, he drafted two. He wasn't exactly satisfied, but as long as he had the first two stops well planned, he could update the rest as they went. It wasn’t the best solution, but it would have to do.

He sighed, leaning back on his chair and blinking his tired eyes. How much time had passed? When he went to look, apparently 40 minutes had passed of him struggling.

He took off his reading glasses for a second, wanting to rest his eyes before he had to go and check on the navigational equipment that was in the cockpit.

“Are those the routes?”

…

Sunghoon turned a bit, but there was no one else around, he knew who was speaking. He was not rude, though, no matter how much Jay and Jungwon bugged him about it.

“Yeah.”

His quiet response was enough for the other to scoot a bit closer.

“May I see?”

Now that he was speaking to him, Sunghoon couldn't turn his eyes away. The half alien had a peculiar appearance. He was pink everywhere and looked like a marshmallow. A small, high sound stirred him out of his thoughts and he remembered he had to answer.

Well. He didn't really want to share his half assed routes, but he was not rude. So instead of responding, he passed the tablet along with a sigh.

With another high sound of excitement, the half alien, Sunoo, his brain supplied, grabbed the tablet and began analyzing his routes.

Sunghoon kept watching him. He knew the other was also a navigations specialist, but he was still feeling weird about a half alien being in their crew. It was not normal, after all.

Humans and aliens shouldn't mix, so the fact that Sunoo existed was unnatural. It was an anomaly that shouldn't even exist.

A journal was extended to him, and Sunoo brightly continued. “I made some routes based on medical research. They have notes on the life cycle of each medical specimen and how much time they would last in our moving ship.”

Sunoo saying ‘our ship’ irked Sunghoon because it wasn't Sunoo’s ship, he wasn't part of them, but he said nothing. It was not his place to be mad, and it was already done. So he just did his best to reel in the grimace that wanted to peek out. He just wanted to be left alone.

Sunoo was still extending his journal, but Sunghoon apparently took too long to grab it, as he slowly retreated.

“Is something wrong? I can keep them if you don't want them.” The look on his face made Sunghoon feel strange. He hadn’t meant to offend Sunoo.

But he could not make peace with the fact that he was a half alien just yet. So he had no idea how to interact with him.

Clearing his throat, Sunghoon forced the words out, fully avoiding making eye contact. “You shouldn’t have.” Was that a good enough dismissal?

Maybe it wasn't since even then, Sunoo seemed unphased, though Sunghoon did see his… tail? He saw his weird looking tail stop moving around. “I just wanted to help.”

Alright.

Sunghoon went to take his tablet and opened the scanner. He wouldn't keep Sunoo's notebook.

The half alien sent him a confused look, so, with a head gesture, Sunghoon stood closer to scan the notes and plans.

It was a swift and silent process, and became even faster when Sunoo understood and began helping.

Not saying anything else, Sunghoon left the tablet on his desk and began retreating to the cockpit, feeling incredibly awkward as he left Sunoo standing in his navigation set up. He just needed to escape.

As he entered, he found Jay on the floor, adjusting the comms control system. The other man didn't pay him any mind as Sunghoon sat on one of the pilot chairs and began fiddling with the navigation system. He guessed this was a good enough way to spend time until the rest arrived.

Chapter Text

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The crew was noisy, but that was a given. It was the day of departure, so everyone was rushing around even if there was no real reason to rush around.

Heeseung had finally concluded his last minute meeting with HQ and when he entered the lounge, found Sunghoon curled up on a corner of the couch, zoning out, Jungwon and Jay running around, and Jake, Riki and Sunoo on the floor, apparently doing a triple check on the medical equipment that was spread out all around.

“Hee!”

“Humph!”

In his small distraction, someone crashed into him. It wasn’t a bulldozer, no, it was just an excited Jungwon. Jay was cackling behind them, and the situation drew attention from the rest.

Now that he had the attention, Heeseung wished he wasn’t wheezing as much, but what gives, he had been caught off guard.

After a moment, he felt someone patting his back, and when he finally straightened up, he found Jake's sparkling eyes.

“You're back! Are we leaving now?”

Jungwon was still hugging his middle, so Heeseung absentmindedly began patting him. It was a small patting chain between the three of them.

“Yeah, I got the signatures I needed. So unless anyone needs something else before we leave, we really should hurry if we want to leave before daybreak hour hits.”

A chorus of no’s that told him that nothing else was needed echoed in the lounge, so Heeseung soon clapped once.

“Okay, then, let’s go.”

It sounded more easy going than it actually was, but, considering their closeness, following exact protocols of departure was unnecessary. Heeseung wasn't much of a stickler to rules if he could help it.

So everyone moved. Jay and Riki entered the cockpit and soon the staticky sound of the comms channel opening could be heard in the lounge to communicate both areas.

Sunoo, with help of Jake, finished securing the medical equipment and soon, they both sat in the engineering control set up next to Jungwon.

Heeseung himself went to Sunghoon, who was already in the middle of the bridge, and they both sat down.

“You done?”

Sunghoon nodded, even as he continued moving stuff around in the dynamic desktop. That was good enough for Heeseung.

He glanced at the rest and saw that their seatbelts were already secured, and Sunoo also apparently had some ear muffs, too. He had seen ear plugs, but not ear muffs. That was an interesting measure. Heeseung would have to ask after they got on route.

He leaned forward and opened the case that had the bridge shield switch, hitting it easily before letting the case fall back down again.

In an instant, the section of the lounge that was their bridge was covered by a circular shield.

There were some parts of the security protocol they had to follow, and sitting in the bridge area with seatbelts and activating the shield was part of it. It was meant to prevent any movement or sickness during the launch off, and Heeseung followed it almost religiously after the one time Jungwon got sick because they didn't bother activating the shield for a take off.

From the comms, he heard Jay's voice.

“You guys ready over there?”

Heeseung glanced at Sunghoon, who was still busy but shrugged mentally and clicked the comms button.

“Yeah, call for it, boss.”

He heard faint chuckles from Riki on the other side and a small grumble from Jay about ‘you are the boss, why are you calling me that’, before a sigh was heard.

“Okay, time of departure 04:37, HYPHEN ship with seven people on board, Mission B312 on course. Everyone, be ready for take off.”

Heeseung snickered from where he was on the bridge, but he could see Sunoo blinking in awe at Jay's words. It was the usual, and Jay always did a good job, but it was funny that the other was always so serious for the take off and arrival, in stark contrast to any flight taking place in between. Once, he had gone on a screaming rampage in the comms because Jungwon had messed up his closet right before a flight between stops.

Heeseung rested his head on the backrest and closed his eyes. He could feel the motors roaring, and even if the sound was muffled, it was still really loud.

He felt his stomach drop for a second as the ship finally ascended and he heard a small yelp from next to him, which prompted him to take a glance.

Jungwon was in his usual position, rod straight with his eyes closed, but behind him, Jake and Sunoo were holding hands and Sunoo had his eyes shut tight while Jake giggled next to him. It was cute. Jake had said that it wasn't their first mission, or even their first time in a ship, but he knew they usually moved in smaller shuttles rather than spaceships, even if they were on the smaller side, like theirs was.

He guessed his gaze was a bit strong as Jake then turned to look at him, still giggling. It made Heeseung smile.

They had gotten closer.

That night they also had a session in the engineering deck, their mats from the day before kept there just in case. This time, Heeseung had opened up about his own life, as was fair. Jake had opened up really trustingly the first night, so it was only right.

He had told him about his parents being regular office workers, about his passion for spaceships and planets, about entering the OSIS training system at 13 and, as time passed, meeting the rest.

He talked about graduating before his crew and being sent off to a bunch of missions with bigger crews, which, while a great learning experience, was overwhelming because of the power imbalances. He talked about how it was Sunghoon who proposed the idea of crewing together and Jay who had moved his contacts around to get them their ship.

He talked about seeing Riki and Jungwon as his baby brothers and working incredibly hard to get them special permissions to join their crew prior to graduation time. That time had been exhausting and emotionally draining in reality, but Heeseung could now talk about it with a lighter heart.

He rambled on and on about some of their missions, about trying to help Jungwon in the engineering deck but obviously not being as good as a specialist, about the first time they had live cargo and were not told about it until the last second, about how the colorful sketches on some of the metal sheets of the walls were drawn by Riki, about Jay and Jungwon running around so much they had prohibited them from stepping into the bridge area if they were playing, about Sunghoon sleep talking about planetary maps once in a while.

It had been fun. And relaxing.

Jake had listened attentively and reacted positively, which made it all the better. He felt closer to Jake now in a way that he hadn’t expected when he first agreed to the new additions. And it had only been two nights. Without even counting the time at HQ, where Jungwon had been eyeing him suspiciously the whole time as Heeseung did his best to learn about the pieces Jake excitedly showed him.

In hindsight, it was a bit embarrassing, but still, Heeseung can happily make a fool of himself if it made Jake comfortable.

Sunoo was also really lively and fared well with Jungwon, Jay, and Riki, which made it all the better. Heeseung was suspicious about Sunghoon, though, as the other was acting uncharacteristically clumsy and aloof. He'd have to look into that when they began steady flight.

He knew it would be complicated for Sunghoon, but he trusted that it would just be a learning curve. Sunoo was probably a very unexpected reminder of things Sunghoon didn't wish to be reminded of. Ultimately, Heeseung trusted that it would be alright.

After some more minutes, he heard the static of the comms and soon enough, Jay was announcing that they were on track.

“Woo!” Jungwon immediately unstrapped himself, and, before Heeseung could become aware of his surroundings, deactivated the shield. The sudden ‘unsealing’ feeling made Heeseung groan, as always, but Jungwon was unphased as he went to the cockpit, where he usually spent his time whenever he wasn't busy working.

Riki came out and curled up on the couch. From his peripheral, he saw Sunghoon stretching and going right back to the navigation systems to continue moving stuff around. It was the busiest Heeseung had seen him, as the other usually had his business finished prior to departure, but he guessed this mission was extensive and required more time.

He saw Jake and Sunoo talking from where they were still next to him. Figuring everyone was settled, Heeseung stood up with a sigh, which caught Jake's attention.

“What are you gonna do, Hee?”

Acknowledging the words, Heeseung smiled tiredly. “I'm going for a nap. Don't wake me up unless we are crashing and burning.” His words made Sunoo smile, so that was a win.

Jake made a salute motion. “Yessir, have a good rest!”

Heeseung chuckled and waved, retreating to his bunk and closing the curtain.

He had been getting less hours of sleep the past two days, a combination of the mission preparations and his late nights with Jake, and while everything was worth it in the end, Heeseung was tired, so he was decidedly sleeping until further notice.

Jungwon should put his second in command position to good use once in a while, after all.

═════════════════════

The ETA was three hours and 27 minutes, so Sunghoon had just enough time to continue rechecking the routes.

He needed to settle the stops and check the environmental factors, but considering he had been moving stuff around for a while, and couldn't concentrate, it was still taking longer than usual.

He had been having a mental conflict about his interaction with Sunoo. He had been so put off by it that he had resorted to keeping his distance from the half alien until he got it together.

It was just… Just because Sunghoon liked to think that he usually wasn't a rude asshole didn't mean he didn't act like one in that instance. And that made him feel bad. He wasn't like that. Was it him lashing out? Did he not have his emotions under control like he thought?

The worst part was that he knew why he behaved that way. Asking himself why he had let himself act like that didn't take away his awareness of the root cause. And he knew he was projecting, but he couldn't control himself and that was what irked him the most.

He was the best at self-control. He prided himself on having excellent discipline and being a consistent person. This sudden loss of his own grip on himself made him anxious. Was this how the whole mission was gonna be?

Sunghoon would just have to get over himself but his own unpredictability bothered him.

Heeseung was asleep, having announced a nap the moment they began steady flight, as was Riki in the lounge's biggest couch. Jungwon was with Jay inside the cockpit, and that left Jake, Sunoo and himself still sitting on the bridge.

Sunoo was putting away his earmuffs, which Sunghoon remembered was a recommendation, though not an obligation, for departure safety. He wondered if he did it to be a rule follower or if it genuinely was better for him.

Jake was playing around in Jungwon's software set up and looked pretty entertained. Sunghoon should maybe follow his lead and get to work.

He was not done with the routes just yet after all.

After comparing his notes to Sunoo's and constantly checking the real time environmental information, he concluded that Sunoo's input was really useful. Which made him feel even worse.

The notes were incredible all throughout and had specifications for every direction written in a small note with cute, clumsy letters. Some even had little doodles like stars or a recurrent badly drawn fox caricature.

Sunghoon had been adding his own notes into the mapping plan, so he guessed he could add Sunoo's too. So in the methodical routing design, there were his notes in a neat cursive, and sometimes, Sunoo's bubbly notes and arrows appeared between.

And this wasn't even because Sunghoon felt bad about their interaction. Sunoo's notes were genuinely really interesting. Sunghoon had considered the cargo while doing his route plans, but having real and detailed medical insight on the cargo specimens, their life cycle, how they fared on specific containers and ways to make their quality not deteriorate while on route was both helpful and amazing.

He had poured over all the notes, checking even the smaller reminders on the corner of the pages, and he could feel Sunoo's passion in them. It- well. It was impressive, and it was deserving of respect.

Sunghoon knew Jake and Sunoo were borderline prodigies if they were backed so closely by the OSIS, so he had had expectations. He could admit that he had, with a prejudiced mind, somewhat pushed that to the back of his mind the moment he learned Sunoo was half alien. That didn't make the former information disappear, and this was his reminder of it.

He took a look at the two people in question and saw Sunoo scribbling in his notebook while Jake alternated between resting his head on the other's shoulder, mimicking small punches to his arm, and fluffing up the blush pink hair. Sunoo seemed mostly unphased, just giggling or sometimes moving away, as if he was completely used to Jake’s touchiness.

For a brief second, Sunghoon wondered if they were together. They hadn’t mentioned it when they introduced themselves, but maybe it was more private?

Lost in thought, his eyes suddenly met Sunoo's, and immediately Sunghoon looked away. How embarrassing. He furrowed his brow. Why was he even thinking useless things when he had a pressing job? It was distracting. The half alien was distracting and it was hindering Sunghoon's progress.

So he decided to get his headphones and close off everything. He needed to concentrate.

For the next hours, as they got closer to the first dwarf planet they were visiting named Naminna, Sunghoon completely engrossed himself with the planning until finally, with some minutes to spare, he finished the routes, the ship charts, began setting up the hazard prevention in the system and checked the equipment from their status window in the panel.

It was work that technically could have been done more progressively, but Sunghoon didn't want to interact with others, so he decided this was the best way.

When he finally snapped out of it, he looked towards where Sunoo and Jake were, only to find that Jake was sitting on the floor, moving some cables from the hardware around. He wondered where Sunoo was, but didn't bother asking. Instead, he chanced a glance at the ETA monitor.

[00:00:17:32]

It would soon be time for arrival. They'd have to get ready for landing and the first phase of the mission.

From the other side of the lounge, he saw Heeseung peeking out of his bunk, bleary eyed and messy haired. It was a cute sight. Heeseung was their oldest member and the one with the most experience, but he was soft hearted.

Which made his request something Sunghoon couldn't refuse.

Usually, their teams were Riki and Heeseung for exploration and Sunghoon and Jungwon for rescue. Instead, this time, Heeseung had, for whatever reason, asked Sunghoon for a switch the night prior, so now it was Sunghoon, Riki, and Sunoo for exploration while Heeseung, Jungwon and Jake were on standby for rescue. Jay was rarely issued to leave in case of emergency, but sometimes they switched stuff around, so Sunghoon guessed this was one of those times.

He wished he was more comfortable with Sunoo, but the mission was more important than his petty feelings, so he would have to hope that with Riki there, it would be alright.

When the ETA hit 15 minutes until arrival, Sunghoon pressed the comms button on the bridge.

“It's 15.”

From the other side, Jungwon's cracked voice answered back.

“Noted!”

Before the comms turned off, Sunghoon heard a tinkling giggle that was unmistakable even after just two days of hearing it.

What was Sunoo doing in comms? Jungwon and Jay got unbearable whenever they were with each other.

While he was pondering, Heeseung came to sit in the middle of the bridge, left to Sunghoon and right to where Jake was.

“Good nap?”

Jake's voice, for every time Sunghoon heard it, always sounded as if he was smiling. He usually was, but the tone added a bit more brightness to it. It was cute.

Heeseung groaned. “Not enough, but yeah, good nap. Gotta come back to business before the ship crashes down.”

Sunghoon snorted. That was their go to joke whenever Heeseung left, but in reality, it was just a jab. Jungwon, while he had his unpredictability and his infamous cat tendencies, was an excellent second in command.

“As if it didn't crash with you manning.”

At his joke, Heeseung gasped exaggeratedly. “Mind you, I have the authority to formally kick you out.”

“Then you'll certainly crash. And burn.”

Jake laughed, interrupting their light and frankly unwitty bickering. Sunghoon and Heeseung couldn't bicker seriously like Jay and Jungwon did.

“You guys are lame.” From behind them, where he was lounging in the largest couch, probably having just woken up, Riki munched on some dried fruit. “Not you Jake.” He added after a second.

Heeseung huffed, always in his role of setting the light mood. “Jake will be added soon enough.”

“Don't jinx me!”

Sunghoon smiled. It seemed that Jake and Heeseung had become closer in the past two days. That was nice. It also made it easier to get close to Jake.

The doors of the cockpit opened and from there came out Sunoo and Jungwon giggling, leaning on each other as Jay shouted gibberish in the background.

“Riki, Jay says to haul your ass to the cockpit.”

“That's not what I said!”

Sunoo's laughter intensified as Jungwon turned to shake his butt at Jay, who was sitting facing them from the cockpit but not actually walking out.

“Kinky.” Was what Riki answered as he nonchalantly threw away the wrapper and walked towards the opened doors.

“Stop that!”

The doors closed behind Riki and the newcomers hurriedly sat on the bridge, Sunoo immediately grabbing his mufflers and Heeseung pressed the cage button, knowing that they would be arriving at any moment.

Sunghoon did the work of putting on his seatbelt and reclined, waiting for the small swoop that the change in angle gave him. It came swiftly and soon enough, they were parked and ready to begin the first part of their mission.

Heeseung and Jay hurried to grab the equipment necessary for a swift visit to the small patrol center situated next to where they parked. Some planets had them and some didn't, but this first one did, so they had to make a visit.

Meanwhile, Sunghoon began getting ready to go down, grabbing the black space suit and putting it over his inside uniform, which was more like sportswear that covered his whole body.

He saw Riki grab his own and then Sunoo going to his bunk storage to apparently grab his. Maybe because he was an alien, he needed a different uniform? Sunghoon had no idea, but he continued methodically putting on the suit and strapping all of the supposedly necessary straps.

When he finally finished, he went to grab the cooler backpack that Sunoo had prepared for them to carry and passed Riki the belt with instruments that they would need.

The moment Jay came back, he went to flop onto the largest couch, groaning as he stretched his limbs like a cat. Sunghoon winced as he heard some cracks.

“It's done, you guys can go ahead, Heeseung is just taking a piss.”

Riki snorted and went into the hallway. Sunghoon flicked Jay on the back of his head.

“Don't be crass.”

Jay tried to hit him back but didn't raise his torso, so Sunghoon easily went away.

“I'm not being crass if it's the truth! Do not deny the biological needs of a healthy young man, Sunghoon!”

In turn, Sunghoon decided to leave him talking alone, following Riki to the hallway as Jungwon jumped in and flopped on top of Jay. A classic.

Riki was in one of the small cabinets for industrial boots, lacing them on. Sunghoon took his own and left his closed shoes there.

“You ready?”

The younger man hummed. “Sure. Another day, another near death experience.”

“Right.” It was both a joke and not. Sunghoon had seen the characteristics of the planet, after all. Rocky, with big canyons everywhere, cracks, a bunch of vegetation consisting mainly of trees, shrubs, cacti and succulents, and some wildflowers here and there. It wasn’t very green, and the amount of rock and cracks was intimidating.

They were supposed to get some samples of this specific rock layer somewhere mid depth inside the labyrinth of canyons, so Sunghoon grabbed a face mask to have under his helmet.

When he was ready, he waited for Riki to finish and peeked at the hallway. Sunoo was supposed to come with them, as the medical researcher, but he was taking longer.

The doors on the other side opened and Heeseung came through, dusting his clothes and immediately taking off his helmet, his exaggerated deep breath making Sunghoon smile.

“How is it?”

Heeseung looked up and solemnly patted his shoulder.

“Dusty and hot. You'll hate it.”

Sunghoon grimaced. Now he regretted switching with Heeseung. Beside them, Riki groaned. Considering how clean the places they frequented were, this was an annoyance.

Voices from the hallway were heard before the doors opened to show Jake, Jungwon and Sunoo.

Sunoo was in equipment, though his helmet, which was being… tweaked? By Jake looked different from theirs.

“If you find a pretty bug, bring it to me.” Jungwon was clinging to Sunoo with a familiarity that made Sunghoon feel strange. Was it okay to be that close so soon? It felt unnatural. Sunoo's presence felt like an anomaly even if he seemed to fit seamlessly. It annoyed Sunghoon.

“Sunoo, don't!” Came from the lounge behind them, as Jay shouted from the couch.

It was really annoying.

“We should leave.” He patted Riki, pushing him towards the exit and turning his back to where the newcomers arrived.

“Ohhh! Sunghoon is excited!”

When he passed Heeseung, the other passed him his helmet, so Sunghoon secured it on before hurrying outside, swiftly slapping his serialized button on his way out.

It was rushed, but Sunghoon was feeling strange and wished for the mission to be over. They never followed any of the mission expedition formalities, anyway, so Sunghoon felt justified.

Riki and Sunoo hurried after him, with Jake and Jungwon both giving Sunoo pats on his hair before he put his modified helmet on.

And so it began.

Chapter Text

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Heeseung had done it impulsively.

The night before, after returning from HQ, he had been feeling good. Going around with Jake in the components storage had been fun. He had learned, he had laughed, he had made Jake laugh. Even losing Jungwon and Riki a few minutes in hadn't deterred him as he knew they could find their way back, and it meant he could spend precious time alone with Jake. So he was feeling almost desperate for more of that rush he felt. It was just so refreshing.

Being on a ship and going on missions was exhilarating, it was his dream come true, he had worked immensely hard to push his way into the position he had, and he enjoyed almost every single aspect about it, his job, his crew, the experiences. It gave him purpose and pushed him forward into new heights.

This was a similar feeling. He wanted more, he wanted to build more experiences with Jake, get to know him and become closer to the other, his wish to create a bond based on the connection he already felt almost all-consuming. So much so that it ended up with him impulsively telling Sunghoon that he wanted the other to go on the mission instead.

Sunghoon had been confused, but Heeseung, even in his rush, knew it was the most reasonable option. Sending Jay wasn’t an option because if Riki was out, there had to be another pilot from their main pilots on the ship for any emergency. Jungwon liked missions, but was usually needed for minor maintenance while they were parked. Heeseung had considered asking Jake to join them on the mission, but he knew Jake was fascinated with the ship itself and wanted to know it inside out, so the only other option was asking Sunghoon to switch and staying with Jake.

So now, Heeseung was entranced as he watched Jake and Jungwon move around too many tiny cables in one of the big boards from the engineering deck. Jay had clocked out as soon as the others stepped outside and was probably going to sleep until they returned because he always had to pull all nighters for flights, as he let Riki nap intermittently.

“Can you put that in negative?” Jake's voice startled Heeseung out of his musings. Jungwon moved some stuff around and then turned to Jake.

“We'll need to bridge it.” Jungwon had his cute hipster glasses on, but looked like the serious engineering nerd Heeseung knew he was.

That made Jake extract himself from where his whole head was inside the cabinet with the board. “Oh. Sure. Then we can turn the power on and check if it runs.”

Heeseung, from where he felt like a little fly on the wall, saw as Jungwon's eyes brightened, before they both dived into the cabinet again.

They had been at it for at least two hours, and Heeseung had given up reviewing his mails at the first hour mark, and had stopped playing the mindless offline games some minutes before. A show of them both giving each other excited pats on the shoulder told him that, apparently, they had finished completing the circuit.

“It's done?”

That seemed to startle the two people in front of him, their wide eyed looks pointed at him immediately, so Heeseung raised his arms in a surrendering gesture. Had they forgotten he was here, too?

Jake composed himself and excitedly pulled at Heeseung so he could take a peek inside the cabinet.

“Look! You do the honors!”

Heeseung didn't really know what kind of face ha made, but both Jungwon and Jake burst out laughing.

“I'm trusting that it won't explode.” Was what he ended up with, resigning himself to the role and letting Jake manhandle him however.

“Have faith!” Was Jungwon’s only answer before Jake got Heeseung to connect some plug.

The scary noise of electricity coursing through the circuit made Heeseung jump away, but soon, Jake and Jungwon were cheering happily, hugging and jumping.

“It's done”

“Ah, this is legendary!”

Heeseung looked at them wide eyed and then smiled. “It worked?!”

What could he say, the excitement was contagious.

The other two paused before launching themselves over him. The laughter probably echoed in the small connected spaceship, but Heeseung wasn't worried, Jay slept like a log whenever he actually did grace his bed with his presence.

Heeseung had very little knowledge on what they did, he only knew they finished installing the precooler Jake had suggested since his very first day, and seeing them both so excited for a maintenance project was cute.

After the excitement settled down, Jungwon rubbed his eye from under his frames and yawned.

“I'm gonna go nap. Too much engineering for my body.” He yawned and stood up.

“Have a good sleep, Wonie, you did an amazing job!” Heeseung turned to look fondly at Jake. He was just so nice.

“Wake me up when the others return.”

Heeseung patted what he could reach, which was Jungwon's knee. “Sure, have a good nap.”

When Jungwon left, Heeseung turned to Jake, who still had his arms on top of his lap from where they had launched to him.

One look at Jake told him that the other was both satisfied and tired with the work.

“Ah, I'm glad we finished this so fast, we can now check it on the next route and monitor the impact. I need to start the maintenance report needed for this thing, too, and maybe-” Suddenly, Jake, from where he had been rambling, turned to look at Heeseung. In turn, Heeseung was sure he had the most dumbstruck look on his face, just listening to Jake talk mindlessly about stuff. “Ah, I’m babbling. I’m sorry, I tend to get too excited, sometimes.”

Was Jake embarrassed just now? No, no.

Heeseung patted the other’s shoulder good-naturedly with a smile. “I like hearing you ramble, don’t be sorry. But aren't you tired? You guys were inside that thing for quite a bit.”

The brightness in Jake’s eyes was blinding. Heeseung was becoming cheesier. It should have been impossible. “I’m fine! My eyes are a bit sore, but I think the adrenaline from the project hasn't subsided.”

“Ah, Jay recommended his eye drops some time ago and they are really good, if you want, you can use them.”

Jake suddenly flopped onto his lap and mumbled. “I’d love that, but I’m horrible with eye drops.”

As flustered as Heeseung was over having a cuddly Jake in his lap, he put his arm on the other’s back easily. “I’ll help you, let me get them real fast. And then maybe we can steal some chocolates from Sunghoon’s stash.”

But Heeseung didn't move. He was not gonna be the one to break their pseudo cuddling session. So a moment passed before Jake lazily sat up and then flopped backwards onto the empty space on the mat.

Heeseung took that as his cue and hurried to stand. “It’ll be a second, wait.”

He waited for Jake to answer, and when he got a thumbs up, Heeseung rushed to the lounge area, specifically to his small storage next to his bunk, where he knew the drops were, somewhere between all his messy junk. Bad idea to simply put it all in without checking after they had to clear Jake's and Sunoo's bunks.

When he finally found the drops, he wasn't even ashamed to admit he was almost jogging towards the engineering deck.

He stopped when he was about to arrive, but Jake probably heard his steps. It didn't matter. Heeseung didn't mind Jake knowing about his eagerness.

“Hey, stranger.” Jake was now sprawled on the whole mat, with his arms and legs stretched out like a starfish. The lazy smile he sent Heeseung made a small flutter build up on his stomach.

“Scoot over a bit.” With a small groan, Jake curled up, making space for Heeseung to sit next to him.

“I fear you're gonna have to restrain me if we're getting those drops into my eyes.”

Heeseung huffed a small laugh while opening the tiny bottle. “Kinky.”

“Stooop.” Still, Jake obediently turned so he was facing upwards.

With a giggle, Heeseung leaned forward. “Do you want me to hold your eyes open or do you wanna do it yourself?”

“Umm. Maybe you do it. I don't trust myself.” His voice was small, but the cute lisp Jake always seemed to carry slipped out. Heeseung was endeared.

So he was also agreeable. “Sure. Beware, I'm gonna do it now. Tell me if I'm too rough.” Because Jungwon sometimes helped him out with the drops and was brutal about it. Clinical and fast, but maybe Heeseung preferred Sunghoon taking his sweet time and tricking him to get the drops in, so he wanted Jake to have a somewhat nice experience.

With that, he carefully opened Jake's eye and swiftly pressed the small bottle to squeeze drops out. Jake immediately closed his eyes as the drops hit him, but they were in, so it was a win in Heeseung's book.

He repeated the process and then let Jake rest with his eyes closed and his head almost on Heeseung's lap.

They remained in a comforting silence for a moment before Jake murmured.

“Hey, Heeseung?”

“Mh?”

“Why did you want to come to space?”

The white noise from the generator was the only sound while Heeseung thought about it. He didn't have to think long, though.

“Well, I always liked space. Sounds a bit cliche, I know, but I always wanted to do something that felt important while also being something that I liked. My parents liked to indulge me, too. They helped me explore stuff I liked. I was very hung up on music when I was little. I still like it a lot, but I discovered that I loved exploration when they finally signed me up for piano lessons when I was young.”

Jake hummed in question. “From piano lessons?”

Heeseung laughed lightly and carefully placed a hand on Jake's hair, playing with the strands. “Yeah, it's a somewhat funny story. That’s how I met Jay, actually. He had guitar lessons in a room next to mine and we always waited together after hours for our parents to pick us up. He was always telling me tales of space exploration and random spaceship trivia. He knew all that because his parents are also astronauts, and they always stayed to tell us both stories until my parents came to pick me up. That's how it started. The conversations made me curious. I always wanted to know more about what they saw, what they learned while being in space, it just sounded amazing, you know? And the rest is history.”

After his small ramble, he noticed Jake's breathing had evened out. Still, the boy answered in a slurred, sleepy tone. “That's not a funny story, it's a cute one.”

“If you think so, then I can agree.” Jake nodded so Heeseung patted his head for a moment before resuming in his ministrations. “Still, space is so… vast, I'm sure you get this, too, but, just, the thrill of being able to explore it and see everything that it has to offer with your own eyes. The things you see and how different they can be from what we're used to. Like, the planets I have explored, the people and other species I have gotten to meet. And there's that, too, I got to meet my crew, and got to form this family with them. I wouldn’t change that for anything.”

“That's nice. I- I wish that for me and Sunoo, too, if casualty allows it.” Jake's wistful voice sounded like a murmur in his sleepiness.

Heeseung didn't respond, but he continued playing with Jake's hair. He didn't know if it was too soon to mention that they could get there. It was something Heeseung never expected when he thrust himself and his team into the new mission and the people that came with it.

Expanding his close knit family to allow Jake and Sunoo didn’t sound bad, though. It was a nice thought.

Ultimately, in the quiet of the spaceship, with a fond heart, Heeseung fell asleep while sitting up just some moments after Jake finally succumbed to his own drowsiness.

═════════════════════

It was hot.

Sunghoon was at his limit.

They had been walking for three hours and the climate and rocky terrain that made them hike down wasn’t helping.

So Sunghoon was regretting all of his choices.

“We are almost there, really.” Sunoo's voice sounded out of breath but determined.

That's right. Additionally, they had to follow the half alien's directions and it irrationally irked Sunghoon like no tomorrow. He was holding his tongue not to snap because he knew everyone was tired. That's why he kept to himself in the back while Riki was walking near Sunoo up front.

They were walking in a tall crack of rock, and Sunghoon was thankful that he wasn’t claustrophobic considering the narrow space and the descending nature of the route. He couldn't even extend his arms fully in the small space.

Everything around them was rock, and while Sunghoon couldn't precisely feel the dry air thanks to his helmet, he swore the dust had been absorbed into his body, making him feel terribly dirty.

The half alien insisted that they were close to the layer of rock they needed but Sunghoon was becoming increasingly frustrated. He swallowed it down, of course, but his aggravation was bubbling right under the surface.

It was bad enough already that Sunghoon had been ignoring the half alien since even before they began the mission, and he knew the other noticed, but he was just too uncomfortable to stop it. And it burned at his pride that Sunoo still tried to talk to him, even when he saw how Sunghoon reacted.

Riki and Sunoo had been amicably talking at the beginning, before the tiredness kicked in. Now the crunch of steps was the only thing that could be heard. Sunghoon had been quiet all along; apart from his annoyed mental state, his physical state wasn’t faring much better, even as someone who prided himself on his athleticism. He was over the walking, his legs hurt, and he swore his right knee was about to give in.

He wasn’t used to walking so much, so his breathing was also somewhat unsteady, though not as much as Sunoo's. So he won that one. Still, he had to make some maneuvering inside the suit to take off the face mask since it made it harder to breathe, his muscles burned and his heels felt like hell, and he wished he was on the bridge, checking over his maps and under the cool air of the refrigeration. But he wasn't.

It was agonizing and Heeseung would pay.

Finally, after even more walking, they reached what looked like a dead end, but was actually the opening to a cave. Sunoo gasped and hurried forward. “There! It's there, it's there, we're here.”

He sounded breathless, but his relief was evident.

Sunghoon, though, couldn't stop himself.

“Fucking finally.”

Riki nudged him roughly, but Sunghoon wasn’t bothered.

Sunoo began moving faster inside, and, before Riki could stop him, tripped on a half step. Fortunately for Sunoo, the half alien tripped backwards towards Sunghoon, so the human reflexively put his hands up to stop the fall. Unfortunately for Sunghoon, stopping Sunoo meant sliding slightly and ending up on the floor himself.

Reacting swiftly, Riki grabbed Sunoo so he wouldn't go down along with Sunghoon, and that meant a cloud of dust covered him from where his feet sled.

Great.

So now Sunghoon was really fully covered in dust, and his butt hurt.

The gasp Sunoo let out only made Sunghoon angrier.

“I’m sorry! Are you alright? Here, let me-”

When Sunoo stretched his hand forward, Sunghoon decidedly swatted it away and reached to support himself with one of the rocky walls to stand up.

Sunoo looked dumbfounded from behind his visor, but when he opened his mouth as if to apologize again, Sunghoon passed by him, pushing the half alien with his shoulder lightly to make a point. He really didn't want to hear it. He was over it.

The cave had a small opening, but it was almost like a tiny entrance that opened up to an enormous cave. Sunghoon even wondered if it was a hollowed out mountain or something like that, as the darkness extended far above and beyond.

He stopped walking just inside and let Riki and Sunoo pass by him, with the half alien immediately taking off one glove and going to touch the nearest wall.

The moment his pale hand went into contact with the rocky surface, the cave surged to life. Light slowly trickled in, from the point of contact of the hand, and outwards, like a ripple of glow that extended all throughout the cave, dimly illuminating their surroundings.

It was so that Sunghoon couldn't help but look around. He even forgot for a moment there that he was annoyed.

Particles of what seemed like dry moss floated around in the space, glowing a soft blue-ish color. It also covered a lot of the rock in the walls of the cave and what looked like trees that happened to intercept the rock in various places. The rock also looked shiny rather than dull, as if it was wet.

When the cave seemed to be covered in the dim, ethereal light, Sunoo separated from the wall and stumbled back. Instinctively, Sunghoon reached out to steady him with one hand on his back, as Riki was some steps further, checking out the reach of the light.

“Thank you.” Was Sunoo’s timid response, his tail flicking behind him.

Snatching his hand away, Sunghoon swiftly turned to the side, pretending to inspect the rocks around him. It was still so awkward.

“Is this it?” Riki was crouched on a slope, and Sunghoon hurried to walk past Sunoo to follow Riki since the half alien had continued staring. That seemed to snap Sunoo out of it.

“Ah, right next to it! The white rock next to it, that's it!”

Sunghoon stood behind them with his arms crossed and saw as Riki took a scraper from his tool belt and handed it to Sunoo, who immediately began scraping the rock into white dust.

He seemed to be checking it, rubbing it between his thumb and pointer finger, as if to analyze the quality. He pursued his plump lips and then hummed.

“We can bring it, it's mostly pure.”

At his words, they got to work. The particularly long trek and the thought of the way back made them hurry up and methodically scrape and safekeep the white dust that could be found between some yellowish brown layers near the floor of the cave. The floor itself was pretty uneven, so they had to step into nooks and crannies, and avoid any big rock.

Behind them, the moss continued to glow faintly. Sunghoon didn't say it, but he was impressed with Sunoo's ability. He knew the type of species the half alien shared, and he knew they were mostly inoffensive.

Pians were known for their connection to nature and energy transmission. By “energy transmission”, the official definition is more similar to being a middle ground between the flow of energy in nature and materializing it into power. They were a dainty species that weren't very tall and their speaking was very hard to understand, as they used the weird sounds Sunoo made.

Sunghoon knew they were of the most passive species even with their power, so it was easy to traffic them. Bigger species of aliens enjoyed trafficking, and Sunghoon knew that some humans did, too. He had heard from Heeseung and Jay that there had been groups tasked with rescue and within the victims, the most recurrent were human kids, pians, and some young aliens from species that weren't particularly strong.

So it was even grosser to Sunghoon that some human would breed with a pian. Sunoo's existence was repulsing. He wasn't supposed to exist.

After a short while, they each filled 10 small containers of white dust and Sunoo got Riki to get a chunk of rock to bring back.

In the end, they filled Sunghoon's backpack with 30 containers and a sealed bag with the rock. It was plenty heavy, but the weight on his back was welcome if it meant returning. First mission half over, now they just had to arrive safely to the ship.

Riki had wandered a bit as Sunoo and Sunghoon finished safeguarding their cargo, as the cave still had a long way to go even as they had gone further in to find more spots with the rock they needed.

“Riki! Let’s go!” Sunghoon didn't have to raise his voice, but Riki liked to ignore them purposefully at times, so he wasn't taking chances.

“Ah, he's probably heard the crystals.” Sunoo was looking in the direction Riki went, still crouched from where they had been gathered around Sunghoon's backpack.

He gave a look to the half alien, and before he could stop himself from acknowledging him, the words blurted out from his mouth.

“The crystals?”

When Sunoo finally turned to look at him, a slow smile formed on his lips.

“Yes, the crystals. Let’s go see them, too!”

Suddenly, Sunoo sprung up and hurried along, which instinctively made Sunghoon follow behind him.

“Wait!” He was sure he was faster than the half alien, so how come he was falling behind?

Sunoo giggled in front of him, still jogging in the vast cave towards a downturned slope where Riki had disappeared to.

They didn't move for long, but as they descended, Sunghoon identified the beginnings of the crystals that were in the cave. He heard them first, a tinkling sound that reminded him of something he couldn't quite pinpoint. Then he saw them.

The crystals in question weren't shiny, at least not on their own, and had this pretty and translucent white look to them, almost like dull glass.

They looked magical under the glow of the blue-ish moss. The moss that floated idly around touched the crystals that were suspended in the walls and roof, either in big clear protuberations or what looked like groups of stalactites here and there.

Riki finally came into view near a wall that was filled with crystals that reflected the glow. They all stopped and admired the view.

Sunghoon couldn't even help it, he got awed too easily. This was exactly what Jay and Heeseung always preached about when they spoke about the wonders of planet exploration.

The lack of particularly strong smells thanks to it being a dry cave was also a factor that helped Sunghoon’s enjoyment, as well as the lack of heat, even if there was no flow of air. From his peripheral vision, he saw Sunoo approach Riki, who was touching the crystals in the nearest cave wall.

He got distracted from the crystals as he focused on Sunoo, who smiled as he extended his hand to touch the crystals. The effect wasn’t as obvious as when he touched the rock walls with moss, but the crystals suddenly lost the dullness they had, another ripple effect as if they had just polished them. It made their sparkle all the more magnificent, as if they were doused in water to clean them up.

Unconsciously, Sunghoon let out a gasp. He shut his mouth quickly, but Sunoo was already looking at him with his smile intact. It was a bit infuriating.

They remained observing the crystals some more, and playing with the glowy moss in Riki and Sunoo’s case, before Sunghoon made the call to leave. The trek was gonna be long and harsh, after all, and Sunghoon was already dreading it.

And it was just the first part of the mission, too. They had four more to go, on planets with more annoying climates at that. Sunghoon shuddered at the thought of going into the jungle planet and resolutely refused to get tangled up with Heeseung’s schemes once again. He would make sure he stayed back in the safety and comfort of the spaceship, even if he had to beg.

Chapter Text

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So, here was the deal.

Heeseung knew that the mission was long because of the travel time and also the time it took to process the specimens. He knew that finding them wasn’t exactly the problem, as they could each be found fairly quickly.

What he had no idea about was the actual, real amount of work processing the specimens took. He had heard about it, but it was almost ridiculous in practice.

They were two weeks in, working like dogs to sift, cleanse, continuously check progress, and a ton of stuff that Heeseung had no clue about, but according to Sunoo was critical to the status of the specimen.

It was dust! How come there were so many things to be done to prepare dust. But Heeseung was complying obediently, of course. Still, he was incredulous at the amount of hassle it meant. They couldn’t even move the spaceship from the planet because Sunoo sheepishly insisted that they had to secure the specimen, both in quality and in actual storage, before any big movement, and just in case they needed more, which had almost made Sunghoon faint at the mere thought.

So, now, Heeseung was sitting on the floor of the lounge, leaning on the glass separator that closed off the bridge, something he technically shouldn't do, but as captain (as said by others, obviously, not him), he could do whatever he pleased as long as it was reasonable.

Unreasonably, though, he was trying to convince Sunghoon, who had arrived in a cranky mood, to go in his stead again in the next expedition. He was also working, obviously, his hands on the hygrometer Sunoo had tasked him to use on a bunch of sample cases.

Next to him, Jay had conjured one of the foldable tables that screwed onto the floor so Sunoo could do some microscope stuff, Jake was sitting next to him, Sunghoon and Riki were on the bridge, and Jay and Jungwon were on the cockpit, hopefully being more productive than Heeseung was.

“Was it really that bad?”

He said it lightly, knowing that Riki had already recounted the experience in a lively manner the moment they arrived, but he still felt the stare Sunghoon was giving him from the navigation station.

Heeseung chuckled. Sunghoon was cute.

“I thought it was effective.” Murmured Sunoo from where he was writing some stuff on a digital form on his tablet while also doing his best to dodge a glass stirrer Jake was pushing onto his cheek. Heeseung had no idea where Jake had procured the glass stirrer from, but he looked like he was having fun, so Heeseung let him be.

“See! The leader thought it was effective!” He knew he was making a fuss, but it was all in good fun, he promised.

“I thought I was the leader?” Joked Riki from where he was checking the cams on his station.

“Next time you can be leader.” Heeseung saw Sunoo smile, but almost instantaneously saw Jake’s stirrer finally hit home, which made Sunoo swat him away.

Riki didn't turn from his work, but his hand made an offhand gesture. Heeseung was doing an amazing job at distracting himself from his actual task, but he was entertained alright. “You did a good job. Also, don't mind Sunghoon, he gets fussy when there's a lot of dirt.”

That startled a laugh out of Heeseung, who saw Sunoo do his very best to contain it, and also got the best view of Sunghoon freezing in his seat before the man turned to Riki.

“Fussy? I get fussy? I’m not a baby! I just prefer being clean, as any normal person would.”

“You sound like Jay.” Said Jake from where he was giggling. Heeseung hadn't known when, but apparently, Jake had managed to get into basically everyone’s good graces, so joking territory was allowed. It wasn't surprising, as Jake was incredibly endearing and easy to get along with, but Heeseung had no clue when it actually happened.

From the cockpit, Jungwon popped out. Was he listening from the comms channel? “That is confirming that you are a baby, though!” From behind him, Jay shouted “Hey!” before the cockpit doors closed again.

That finally made Sunoo burst into giggles. Heeseung had no idea if it was at Jungwon’s jab or at Sunghoon's offended face, but it was funny anyways.

“If you don’t want to, I can go this time.” He conceded. Heeseung wasn’t going to force Sunghoon, he just wanted more time with Jake, and also internally believed that Sunghoon needed more time together to warm up to Sunoo since it was impossible not to notice Sunghoon very obviously avoiding Sunoo anytime he could. But Heeseung also wasn’t mean, so he could concede once.

“This time? What about the next times?” Asked Sunghoon, who had now turned to look at him.

Heeseung smiled at his task, which he conveniently decided to start with. “We’ll see.” He then huffed a laugh, unable to keep his nonchalant act as he felt the incredulous expression in Sunghoon’s face even without looking.

And that was that. Heeseung continued his task now that he finally started, Jake was fluttering around the ship, checking stuff from the engineering deck at the bridge and then retreating to tease Sunoo or talk with Riki, and the rest were working.

It was fine, Heeseung was used to being on the exploration team, so going on the next mission wasn't a big deal, he had just wanted to see if Sunghoon cracked. He could do just fine, that's what he always did.

═════════════════════

Sunghoon hadn't known what happened.

It had been two weeks after the first mission when they finally departed and were on flight for three days until they reached their next destination.

Sunghoon had had to update the routes for that, and he had to admit that Sunoo’s notes were a very vital part to it, even if it hurt his pride. He wasn't happy with the half alien, but that didn't mean he was going to sacrifice his work for his pride. He wouldn't discard precious information just because Sunoo wasn't welcome.

After that was done, they prepared for the next specimen retrieval and soon, Sunoo, Riki and Heeseung were on their way, exploring a sandy planet with some desert plant life and a few oases here and there.

They were looking for some very specific type of plant that grew in the scarce oasis.

Parking the spaceship had been a mess with the unstable ground, so Jake and Jungwon were in a frenzy on the bumpers and underside of the ship the moment they landed.

Jay had gone to help them, and Sunghoon had remained to monitor the real time updates and the cams on the ship.

It had been fairly quiet, with the occasional strange sound coming from below or the updates from Riki, until it suddenly happened.

Sunghoon said he didn't know what happened, but in reality, he knew almost exactly what had happened, but that just didn't stop it from being so surreal.

The intercom that connected him to Riki buzzed to life just some minutes after the most recent update, which was the 2 hour mark and the mention that they were walking towards the oasis that Sunoo insisted had the specimen.

Puzzled, Sunghoon had answered and immediately felt his stomach drop.

The moment the words “Code orange! Code orange! Crystal quicksand, come quick!” loudly came from the speaker, he felt a sharp panic all over, propelling him into action.

Sunghoon had absolutely no idea what crystal quicksand could be, but code orange definitely meant sending the rescue team, so he hurried to page Jungwon and immediately rushed into his outside suit and gear, his heart pounding with growing tension at the situation. He grabbed the emergency kit and the key to the small shuttle they had for emergencies.

When he arrived at the back and clicked the button with his serialized number, seeing it go from green to grey, the doors opened and he found Jay and Jake’s faces nearby.

He went to them, right at the tail of the ship, where the shuttle was stored. Jungwon was in the process of opening it up, and he was already in gear as they needed it to work outside.

“What happened?” Jake looked shaken, understandably, and Sunghoon felt a bit bad for him. Codes weren't something that happened recurrently, and orange code could only mean someone was in danger and the exploration team required help.

Jay stepped up. “We are sending a rescue team. It could be a lot of things, but we won’t know for sure until they are back.”

“Riki said it was crystal quicksand.” Answered Sunghoon as he saw Jungwon pressing the lift to bring the shuttle down. It was almost time to leave.

Jake winced. “What does that even mean?”

“It means we have to go fast! Get over here, Sunghoon!” From where he was standing next to the hovering shuttle, Jungwon cupped his hands to shout.

Sunghoon ran to him, his feet struggling slightly on the friction from the sand, but he hurried to open the shuttle and get into the pilot seat.

Everyone was technically certified as a pilot, so Jungwon could drive, but he had the key, so it was the quickest course of action. It also helped that Jungwon could check the shuttle for any mishap. It had happened before with the shuttle as it was static most of the time.

He passed Jungwon the comms radio he grabbed and started the engine, seeing Jay and Jake step back. Sunghoon put on some ear plugs that were needed for the shuttle’s high-speed mode.

It hadn’t been that long since the code orange, probably around five minutes, but they needed to hurry, so Jungwon extracted the others’ location and Sunghoon got on route immediately, doing his best to be calm even when his hand were shaking from anxiety.

They sped up, the apparently endless expanse of sand and sandstone boulders and piles. They had checked where the oasis were, but they couldn’t park as close as they would have liked because of the uneven ground and the sand rock formations that would have messed the spaceship's underside even more than what the plain loose sand already had.

After exactly 17 minutes of flashing by the planet, his ears filled with white noise even with the plugs, the shuttle began slowing down and when Sunghoon regained a clear image of the area, he detected two black space suit clad figures and immediately went to park the shuttle a safe distance away.

It was worrying that he only saw two bodies, so he and Jungwon rushed out, putting on their helmets before opening up the shuttle and running over.

The scene that greeted them was two and a half bodies. Sunghoon's adrenaline clad mind identified the half body as Heeseung’s, his red visor giving it away, and he was buried in the sand, his arms stretched out towards who seemed to be Riki doing his best to pull him, while Sunoo pulled Riki himself.

The backpack for the specimen storage was also sinking next to Heeseung.

“How did this happen?!” Jungwon had hurried to inspect the close area, at the border of what seemed to be the quicksand spot.

Sunghoon had moved, almost unconsciously, behind Sunoo, not touching, but keeping near just in case. When he had looked at the half alien, he could see, through the visor, that his eyes were glowing a warm tone.

“We were walking and Heeseung fell!”

From where he was buried, Heeseung chimed up, sounding pained. “I can’t even do the quicksand trick of moving around. The sand is painful. It feels like glass shards. I think it's piercing my skin.”

“What?!” Jungwon furrowed his brow, his face scrunching up, and Sunghoon knew he was doing rapid fire processing of information. Sunghoon wasn't as quick thinking, so he let their second in command take over. "Don't move!"

“I’m scared.” Murmured Sunoo from where he had his trembling arms around each of Riki’s shoulders in loops. Sunghoon frowned. He saw how rigid Sunoo’s tail was and it worried him even more.

Sunghoon leaned in, getting in between Riki and Sunoo. “Switch.” He hissed at Sunoo, and at the half alien's wide eyed look, Sunghoon began positioning himself to take over in aiding Riki. Sunoo got the hint and moved back carefully.

The moment Sunoo let go, Sunghoon felt the strong pull that made him tighten his grip even more.

So Sunghoon now had his arms securely around Riki, his hands gripping at each other as the weight of what felt like a whole planet and not just one body tried to pull him down. He heard their youngest talk through gritted teeth. “It’s pulling him faster.”

Jungwon blinked into action at that. “Okay, okay, okay. We get the rope and do our best to get it under Heeseung, and then we pull. We can't just try to pull him as the friction would be too much, but maybe if something is pushing him, it won’t be as lethal.”

“That doesn't sound too good.” Said Heeseung with a smile. But Sunghoon knew it was a nervous smile.

“It’s our best bet if you can’t move yourself.” Snapped Jungwon, but the worry on his tone was noticeable.

From next to Sunghoon, Sunoo shuddered, probably involuntarily, but stepped forward, his tail ramrod straight. “I could get the rope under Heeseung. I can’t move the sand enough to pull him out without damage, but I can open up enough for the rope to get under and avoid it being cut. It will hurt, though. I can’t keep the crystals from Heeseung even as is, if I let go, they will pierce him even more.”

That surprised Sunghoon, but Jungwon was the one who spoke, his face now more openly worried. “We don’t have many options unless we want to dig a hole.”

“It’s fine. I can handle it, just get me out, please. I can't feel my legs.” Heeseung’s voice sounded strained. The unwelcome thought that the pressure was hurting him sneaked up on Sunghoon, but he ignored it, he couldn't stress about that, they needed to act.

“Going!” Jungwon hurried to the shuttle.

“Heeseung, before Sunoo stops, you should try to lean a bit. It will be easier to get you out if you are not straight.”

From the pit, Heeseung huffed a laugh. “Well, I’m already not straight, so that should- Ugh.” Riki had begun tilting him, which meant that Sunghoon was carrying a lot of Riki’s weight, but that was fine.

What was not fine was how Sunoo had dropped to his knees next to them.

Sunghoon couldn't reach him to help.

At that moment, the shuttle fled on top of them and Jungwon put it on hovering mode so it stayed put while he opened the curved glass cover that acted as both a door and an upper side of the shuttle. The sound of the engine was loud and it created some wind that fell onto them, getting the looser sand to go flying and obstructing their vision.

Jungwon then threw one of the ropes, and Riki had to maneuver around to get it to Heeseung's gloved hands.

That let Riki and Sunghoon let go. Riki immediately went to try to extract the backpack while Sunghoon turned to check on Sunoo.

“Are you alright?!” He didn’t know what to do or how to help, so he just kneeled next to him. It was then that he noticed that the half alien was barefoot, his toes buried in the sand.

Sunoo’s eyes were still glowing when he turned to look at Sunghoon. “Help me get closer.”

Immediately, Sunghoon complied, putting an arm around Sunoo and half carrying him as close as they could go without falling into the small patch of quicksand. Heeseung was really stupidly unlucky as it was a rather small space, probably not even completing roughly eight meters of squared of area.

Riki had secured the backpack and was now on standby to help pull Heeseung with the ropes. The noise from the shuttle was still loud.

Soon, another rope was dropped, and Sunghoon caught it, readying it to go under Heeseung as best as they could. He then thought better of it and took off his protective jacket. He could handle a little sand.

He began wrapping it on the rope’s middle to form some sort of hammock before turning to look at Sunoo. When the other’s helmet bobbed in a small nod, Sunghoon leaned in as close as he dared to get the rope near Heeseung's body that was on a diagonal pose and threw the pseudo hammock. The ground around it eased up and it went under astonishingly fast.

“Ugh!” Heeseung was trembling from where he was half swallowed and he began grunting in pain. It made Sunghoon hurt for him, but he would be out soon, they'd make sure of it.

When he turned to chance a peek at the half alien, he saw Sunoo with his hands buried in the sand, his gloves haphazardly thrown next to him. He had his head down and his figure was shaking.

“Now.” It was almost a whisper with how loud everything else was, but Sunghoon was paying attention, so he heard it and turned to echo it loudly to the rest.

“Now! He said now!”

Riki made a signal to Jungwon who began advancing the shuttle and in turn pulling Heeseung.

“Agh! Shit!” Sunghoon reached out to try to steady Heeseung as he was pulled outside, the rope under him and the one he had his hands on moving slowly with the shuttle. Jungwon was advancing at Riki's directions, but everything was so loud and sand was flying everywhere, so Sunghoon could only focus on his task at hand..

Heeseung continued hissing as his body was released little by little. Sunghoon felt how he was wet with what he hoped was sweat and not blood. Getting Heeseung out was their priority, so when it passed his crotch, Sunghoon let go of his body and went to pull on the rope that had his jacket to try to speed up the process.

Sunghoon ignored the way the rope turned red when his hands touched it and tried to hurry up. Jungwon was shouting something that only Riki could hear and Sunghoon felt as if an eternity had passed since they began pulling.

When they reached Heeseung’s knees, Sunghoon heard a pained sound that didn’t come from Heeseung, and when he turned slightly to check, he saw Sunoo heaving a breath, his curved back tense with exertion.

Sunghoon gritted his teeth and tried pulling with more strength. The shuttle was doing most of the work, but since he was closer and had more control than the shuttle, he knew he was speeding the process a slight bit and that felt like a lot within the circumstances.

Finally, finally, Heeseung's feet came into sight, so Sunghoon shouted at Riki to tell Jungwon to stop and pulled Heeseung the rest of the way by sheer strength alone. He was out. He was out. He was safe.

Heeseung felt like a ragdoll, his arms trembling and his breathing heavy. His legs were soaked and he had ended up half on top of Sunghoon. Riki rushed to them and, in the distance, he saw Jungwon parking the shuttle close by and rushing to them.

Behind him, he heard a thud.

Instantly, he felt his heart drop. “Sunoo.” Came out of him almost unconsciously, and without hesitation, Jungwon changed directions and hurried to the half alien somewhere behind Sunghoon.

A grunt from Heeseung grabbed his attention. “Incoming.” He then turned to puke near the patch of quicksand that was way too close for comfort.

Sunghoon patted Heeseung, feeling like he could cry of relief, releasing a trembling exhale. Riki went to snake his hands under Heeseung and that snapped Sunghoon into action. They had to get him back. Immediately.

Between himself and Riki, they carried most of Heeseung's limp body to the shuttle, and Riki managed to squeeze with him into the first backseat. It was a wide seat, but it technically was supposed to only seat one person. But Sunghoon guessed everyone would have to squeeze in, as the shuttle was meant to house three people only. This was an emergency, after all. They couldn't be nitpicky.

Sunghoon didn't have the key so he jogged back to where Jungwon was patting Sunoo, who had taken off his helmet and was heaving deep breaths. They weren't supposed to do that, but Sunoo was different. The half alien’s hair was plastered to his forehead. “Won, we have to get Heeseung back. Let's go.”

Jungwon nodded and stood up slowly. “I don't know if Sunoo can fly at high velocity right now.”

When he turned to look at Sunoo, the other was still hunched down, but the words made him shake his head. “I can manage, we have to go-”

It was hard. Sunoo looked terribly pale, too, and his usual natural flush was absent. But Sunghoon had to worry about Heeseung, too.

“Help him get on my back.” Swiftly, Sunghoon crouched in front of Sunoo and Jungwon half carried him into a piggyback position without much input from Sunoo himself.

Then, with just one glance of agreement, he and Jungwon hurried to walk to the shuttle, Sunoo's helmet under Jungwon's arm. Sunoo didn't protest much, falling almost limp on Sunghoon's back. He was freezing cold, even through their suits.

They reached the shuttle and Sunghoon managed to squeeze both himself and Sunoo in the last seat at the back. Jungwon checked on them, and, after making sure everyone was sitting tight and with their ear plugs on, he closed the glass cover and started the engine.

Soon, they were flashing towards the spaceship, and Sunghoon felt like he could finally breathe.

“It's around 15 minutes of travel. Sit tight.”

Heeseung was coping well enough, laughing breathlessly at something Riki was saying from next to him and not moving much. Sunghoon closed his eyes and tried to feel his heart beating. They were fine. Heeseung was safe and they were going to fix him up as soon as possible.

An almost imperceptible exhale in front of him made him take a peek at Sunoo from his peripheral vision.

The half alien was leaning on the side of the small shuttle, his paleness still prevalent. He was shaking slightly, and his tail was limp on his thighs. Sunghoon frowned. Unbound, he reached out and patted Sunoo's hand twice.

The moment he did, though, he regretted it. He jerked his hand away, but it was too late, Sunoo had already opened his eyes and turned to look at him.

Sunghoon did his best to feign ignorance, and after a moment, Sunoo closed his eyes again.

What was Sunghoon even doing? What was going on with him? Why would he do that? And why did he feel so… weird?

He had been doing a good job at tolerating Sunoo after Heeseung took him and Jake in, so why? Why was his mind being weird about Sunoo when it had been so easy to just keep ignoring his presence except for formalities?

He sighed harshly. It was all so confusing. He had more important things to worry about.

Chapter Text

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Heeseung was in pain.

It could be worse, definitely, but Heeseung was in pain, and everything hurt so much, but apparently not enough for his brain to shut it off.

His legs were a mess and he was lucky that his privates hadn’t gotten completely mauled, which was actually a horrifying thought, but he was fine, okay, he was fine.

“Don't move.”

A drop of what felt like actual acid came into contact with his legs and it burnt, making him hiss and drop his head back, but that was the only thing he could do since he had no say in the matter as Jungwon and Jay continued ganging up on him.

“I am incapacitated, you guys are terrible nurses.”

It only got him a reprimanding look from Jungwon and a sorry smile from Jay. The only time they weren’t fooling around and it was to make Heeseung suffer.

Jake giggled from next to him, where he had been since they began trying to administer the medicine, and Heeseung couldn't help but smile.

“I don't think this is funny?”

When Heeseung turned to look at him, his smile dropped. Jake's nose was red, and his eyes were teary even when he was smiling. He wasn’t crying, but it worried Heeseung a lot.

“Hey, don't cry.”

“I'm not.”

“Why are you making Jake cry? You can’t do that.” Where did Riki come from, Heeseung had no idea, but suddenly everyone but Sunoo was around him in the largest couch in the lounge.

Jake was squeezed sort of behind him, where Heeseung was using his chest as a headrest, Riki had peeked from where he was standing up behind the couch, and Jay and Jungwon were sitting on the floor in front of Heeseung's legs, apparently following Sunoo's instructions to clean the wounds and cure them before wrapping.

Heeseung felt kind of like a mummy.

He reached as best as he could towards Jake, who remained steady behind him. “Sorry, Jakey. You know I'm just trying to lighten up the mood.”

Jake smiled at him once again.“Yeah.”

That placated Riki enough.

As Jay and Jungwon continued their ministrations, Heeseung had to distract himself, so he turned to look at Sunghoon.

He was sitting on his loveseat, near the NAV station even if he was close to the couch, but Heeseung spied, with his perfect view, that he was peeking at Sunoo's bunk.

Heeseung also had, even in his haze, noticed everything that went down.

When they arrived, Riki and Jungwon had carried him inside in a weird way to spare his legs as much as possible, but Heeseung swore he saw Sunghoon carrying Sunoo bridal style.

Jake and Jay had been in a panic, checking on both, with Jake fussing a lot on the passed out Sunoo. While Heeseung was deposited in the largest couch in the lounge to begin the process of stripping, cleaning and curing his legs and parts of his torso, he had needed something to stop himself from looking at his bloody, wounded legs. He absolutely refused to look down. And what better than seeing Sunghoon and Jake locating a ton of their blankets into Sunoo's bunk.

To Heeseung, Jake was understandable, but Sunghoon? Sunghoon who had been grumpy and aloof since he learned that someone of mixed species was coming into their crew? Who had been ignoring Sunoo very obviously since the beginning? Who wasn't making as many jokes and spent way too much time working on stuff he usually postponed in favor of lounging around or exercising?

He hadn’t even deferred his reports to Heeseung and was just doing absolutely everything. Sunghoon was the king of pacing, so having him locked in a frenzy of work was weird. Jungwon was the one who oscillated between that and playing around, but Sunghoon?

So, now, Heeseung was suspicious. Was this a very sudden and intense change of heart? If not, then what? He was happy about it, of course, he had wanted Sunghoon to feel normal and how he usually was, but he had expected it to come a bit later in the mission. He worried if it was alright.

It wasn’t an unfounded thought, either, Heeseung knew why Sunghoon was so resistant to the change and more specifically, to Sunoo himself.

If it was just Jake and some other person, it would have had a smoother transition. But Heeseung knew Sunghoon. He knew why and he couldn't even fault Sunghoon for it because it wasn’t as easy to just let go of stuff you had been taught since childhood.

It wasn’t Heeseung’s place to tell, but Sunghoon had grown up pretty isolated.

When a 15 years old Jay had told him he had met someone in a mandatory seminary about sex-ed that segregated them by birth year instead of grade, he hadn’t known what to expect.

He had casually commented on it, so Heeseung had thought it was a one-off thing, until he saw Jay excitedly greeting this new someone at the training center's cafeteria.

Heeseung and Jay had sat next to him and that was when Heeseung finally met Sunghoon.

Sunghoon was a quiet kid at first. Smiley, seemingly very complacent and easygoing. But soon enough, he opened up. He followed along with Jay seamlessly, cracked jokes here and there, laughed surprisingly loudly whenever he found something funny.

Heeseung had adored him.

And from then on, they all became close friends, hanging out after hours, sitting together whenever they could. Heeseung even did his best to get them on the same schedule whenever he could.

Sunghoon was the perfect little addition to their small duo. It wouldn't be for another year before they met Jungwon and Riki, so they bonded pretty tightly before that.

And with that came knowing Sunghoon.

Heeseung knew that his upbringing was slightly different from theirs, but he still had a nice childhood.

Sunghoon had been raised since he was 8 by his uncle. His parents passed away in a freak accident, and his uncle, who was a police officer, took him in. It was as good as it could be. It wasn’t comparable, but Heeseung’s parents weren't the most present even if they supported his every whim, so he got it somewhat.

Both himself and Sunghoon bonded over spending holidays with Jay's family or trying to be together whenever their parents, or guardian, couldn’t be. That was how Heeseung learned about Sunghoon's learned hatred towards aliens.

Sunghoon's uncle had been in the alien control sector of the police and frequently encountered aliens that were either victims and perpetrators, but usually the latter.

In casual conversation, Sunghoon had told him all about his uncle going on patrols to catch aliens who were part of human and alien trafficking rings, who were involved in shady businesses, and who were plain criminals in the eyes of the space laws that weren't actually followed by every species.

The man had developed a deep disgust and resentment towards aliens, and it had bled onto Sunghoon's preteen and teen upbringing. It was a pretty cynical and extremist point of view that painted all aliens as savages and threats to humans that had to be segregated for the sake of peace.

Sunghoon wasn’t outright hateful or rude, but his prejudice slipped out of him very matter of factly. Things like how some traditions of certain alien species were backwards and weird and how humans should just interact with humans only. As if it was the most natural thing, not something controversial or hateful.

The first times weren't alarm bells from them, but Heeseung knew Jay noticed. And he also knew that Jay wore his heart on his sleeve and hated prejudiced people.

He had been about ready to cut Sunghoon off when Heeseung, who had come in contact with Sunghoon's home life more, stepped in and insisted Sunghoon was simply misguided. Which he was.

So, they did their best to let Sunghoon see their point of view, and it had shocked the younger man to his core. Because Heeseung knew Sunghoon was compassionate. He knew it was learned hatred, and it could be corrected with patience and care.

And it was. Mostly. Sunghoon was a good person, that was obvious to them, but they also couldn’t force him to feel comfortable with the idea of aliens when a lot of his concerns were valid, if not a little extremist. He was passionate about human and alien trafficking aid and he insisted that aliens and humans should be separated if only for both of their safeties.

It was good enough. They got through the parts of it that stemmed from his uncle's viewpoints, and the rest were opinions that could be debated upon instead of downright hateful opinions.

Heeseung really played with his progress when he invited Sunoo into the crew.

While Sunghoon had inevitably come into contact with aliens in the field, bringing someone who represented something ambiguous in his perspective into their crew was an impulsive move from Heeseung, admittedly.

In the last few hours post-rescue, Heeseung had noticed the weird tension. At the beginning of the mission, he had brushed Sunghoon's tense behavior off, as it was a learning curve, and he knew Sunghoon's reservations, but this tension felt new, or maybe it was there all along and Heeseung’s biased point of view had categorized it wrongly.

He couldn't tell for sure.

In the end, he concluded he would intervene if it got too weird, but he wouldn't meddle in the meantime. It was technically his doing that Sunghoon was feeling a bit cornered in a place that should be a safe haven, so Heeseung decided he would let him be.

Jake had fallen asleep behind Heeseung and when he decided to tune out of his thoughts about Sunghoon and Sunoo, he could hear Jake's heartbeat clearly.

It was calming.

Jay was checking the backup radios and their battery, probably ticked off after the emergency. Riki was outside checking something he had seen in the monitoring cameras. And Jungwon was now quietly checking some stuff regarding ventilation, having mentioned that he was worried it would power off on them because of the climate on the planet.

Which reminded Heeseung that they were still on the planet where his small tragedy had occurred.

They couldn’t leave yet, and had to reschedule the expedition because while Heeseung could be replaced by someone else, Sunoo couldn’t, so they had to wait until he felt better.

“What are you thinking about?”

Heeseung flinched. Jake’s voice was sleepy, but he hadn't noticed Jake was awake. “You scared me. How long have you been up?”

His voice was quiet, purposefully, and he heard Jake yawn before the arms around him tightened. “I could hear you thinking even in my dreams. Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah, I think so. I can’t feel my legs, though, but, right now, I think that's good.”

“...”

“Too soon?”

“...Too soon.” Jake's words were mumbled into his nape, and the closeness made Heeseung feel warm.

“Sorry, Jakey. I’ll be more careful.” Instead of an answer, he felt Jake’s hands carefully pulling his head to rest on his shoulder.

“Sleep. You need to rest. Tell me what you were thinking about later.”

“Alright.”

Heeseung relaxed completely, letting his weight fall on Jake fully. It was a comfortable position. And Jake had started it. That made him incredibly happy.

Even in his situation, he was happy that Jake trusted him this much and, selfishly, that he worried about him. He knew everyone was worried, but with Jake was different, and Heeseung could admit to himself that it was because he liked Jake in a non-platonic way.

He should have known since the time he decided to stay with him instead of sleeping that first time, but he had just gone with the flow and his feelings at that moment.

And he didn't regret it.

═════════════════════

Jungwon looked serious.

They had all been doing their own thing, and, in Jake and Heeseung’s case, sleeping in the lounge’s biggest couch, when Jungwon arrived and called a meeting on the bridge with the ones that weren't sleeping.

He had just materialized from where he had been scooped in the back of the ship, something that happened fairly regularly, though not as much as it had before Jake arrived. He looked like a tired kitten, but even if Sunghoon thought he looked cute, he knew they were going to have a serious conversation.

And he was ready to make it easier for them. He wasn't going to put his own childishness first when his crew, his family, needed him.

“We should really check on what will happen to this planet's specimen.”

Riki raised his hand slightly to take a word from where he was on his chair. “Sunoo said we were really close when Heeseung’s incident happened. So, we know its location more precisely and could accelerate the process by just dropping us off near there, getting it, and then whatever it needs to be safely secured.”

In the chair next to Jungwon's, Sunoo looked pensive. Sunghoon couldn't help but notice him. He still seemed dazed after the rescue mission.

On Jungwon’s other side, and next to himself, Jay nodded. “We could do that. You could move on the shuttle or we could move the ship, though that would be a little trickier.”

A sound of protest from Sunoo. It sounded throaty, like the little noises he did at times. “We shouldn't move too much just yet, Heeseung needs stability, at least for a week.”

Sunghoon intervened then. “Then we take the shuttle, get the specimen and come right back to process it.”

“We? You're going?” Jay’s voice sounded so surprised that Sunghoon would have felt offended if he didn't know where the other was coming from. His quick glance at Sunoo while making direct eye contact proved that Sunghoon was right.

“Of course. Heeseung obviously can't go and we need two on the mission team apart from Sunoo.”

“I was thinking Jungwon-”

“Okay, you go.” Jungwon was pointedly looking at Sunghoon while saying that, disregarding Jay's comment completely, though his hand went to pat Jay's thigh in acknowledgment. He then turned to the rest. “Sunghoon will be going instead of Heeseung. When do we schedule it?”

His little show was decidedly ignored by Sunghoon, who guessed Jungwon was on his side. He hadn’t known there were sides, but apparently he was in one and Jungwon supported him.

Riki looked amused, but he reigned it in and continued. “So, Sunghoon, Sunoo and I will be going. We can do it tomorrow if everyone's okay with that. It shouldn't take too long given we know its general location.”

Jay still looked peeved by Jungwon's interception, but nodded. Sunghoon, though, turned to look at Sunoo, who had just been quietly listening. “Are you okay with that?”

The wide eyed look he got in response almost made him flustered. Almost. He tried to maintain eye contact until Sunoo blinked.

“Um. Sure. I'm fine now.”

He was still looking at Sunghoon intently, and it was a bit much. Sunghoon cleared his throat and resumed. “So, we are going tomorrow on the shuttle. Quick and easy.”

Jay muttered something that sounded suspiciously like ‘that's what she said’ before clapping loudly and straightening up. “Ok, let’s do that. Anything else?” For the last part, he turned to Jungwon, who was having a staring contest with Riki.

“Nope. We are good.”

“Great.” He then stood up and stretched. “Hoon, wanna go to the gym?”

Sunghoon glanced at him. That was sudden. But, he liked the gym. He could do with some reps. “Sure.”

Everyone began moving around. Sunghoon could feel Sunoo's eyes on him, but he continued after Jay, who walked to the small hallway, walked past one door and then opened the second one to the right.

‘Gym’ was a pretty generous term for what it really was, which was a small room with some machines provided by the OSIS for physical upkeep.

Their ship had a few rooms before the back part prior to the engineering deck, so right behind the restrooms, which were accessed through the lounge, was their tiny pantry, then right past it was the small gym room. Jay began stretching, and Sunghoon copied him.

“Here, let me.” As they reached their knees, Sunghoon helped Jay steady himself.

When they were done, they each went to one machine. It was quiet, with the hum of the ship in the background. Sunghoon didn't think this would be a quiet affair, but Jay looked pensive.

It took some more reps before Jay broke the silence.

“So, how have you been?” His voice sounded forcefully casual, because they really didn't talk like that.

Sunghoon chuckled breathlessly, turning to look at him, even with his arms straining. “Smooth.”

Jay raised his arms in exasperation. “You are one to talk.”

Now that was more like it. “You were the one channeling your inner Dr. Min!”

That made Jay shudder, even from where he was laying on the bench. “Don't ever say that to me again.”

Sunghoon turned to his own workout, now a bit more relaxed. Jay was cute. “Dr. Min is nice, don't be mean.”

“I know! I know, but, like, I’m not that old.”

At that, Sunghoon didn't respond, simply laughing while he finished a rep and letting himself lay on the bench before the next one.

He had been looking at the curved, metal ceiling of the small room, when Jay tentatively spoke up. “You know who else is nice?”

“Mh?”

“Sunoo.”

That made Sunghoon turn to him. “I- know?” Because he knew Sunoo was nice. His complicated feeling had nothing to do with Sunoo's temperament or personality.

“You know?”

He furrowed his brow. Was this an interrogation? “I know.” He answered more firmly. “Why are you asking this?”

Jay glanced at him swiftly, before returning to his reps. He sounded light and casual even if his face was serious. Jay had a knack for that. “I wasn't sure if you knew. I have only heard you talk to him once. And then with the first mission you came back fully uninterested. And then in this last incident, you suddenly were all over him.”

“First of all, I wasn't ‘all over him’. I was being cordial. And second, what do you mean you have heard me talk to him once? When could that have been?” Sunghoon started his workout again. He wasn’t angry, but a distraction was nice. Maybe that's why Jay brought him to the gym for this conversation. It was both fairly secluded from the main room in their ship, and it meant his full attention wasn't on Jay practically interrogating him.

“You know, the only time you’ve talked. That time Sunoo offered you navigation notes.”

Horrified, Sunghoon turned to Jay. There was no way. “You heard that?”

“Well, yeah. I was the only other person here and you know the avionics pit isn't completely soundproof. Especially if we are parked in HQ.”

Sunghoon was mortified. He vividly remembered that interaction with Sunoo and it sometimes haunted him whenever he had to real-time update the routes during the mission.

It had been his fault that it went so awkwardly but, dear universe, why did Jay have to know? Anyone knowing at all was embarrassing.

“...”

“I know it was hard. Hell, I was the one who drilled ‘not all aliens are bad’ to you. I know for a fact that having Sunoo here was weird. But Sunoo is nice. He is like a little brother. You could get along with him really easily if you tried.”

“Is this what you wanted to talk about?” He didn’t sound accusing, but he and Jay were tight. He knew Jay wouldn't be offended if he talked frankly, just like Sunghoon would try his best to see where the other was coming from.

“Mostly. I figured that you were extending an olive branch to him after the rescue mission, so I guessed I could talk about it now without you completely shutting me out.”

…

He wasn’t wrong. The rescue mission has been stressful. It felt like a million things were happening all at once, and Sunghoon had felt so helpless even after they had gotten Heeseung out.

In that overwhelming state of helplessness, he couldn't not notice how Sunoo was the complete opposite.

He had sped up the rescue and played an important role in helping Heeseung not suffer the worst of it, even if it meant his energy was depleted.

Sunghoon had seen Sunoo's power in person. He had seen him activate the moss and the crystals in the cave, and he had seen him navigate a planet filled with rocks to locate a specific layer. He had seen it, and he knew it didn't usually cause him extreme exertion or drainage of energy. It was easy and almost second nature.

This time it wasn’t.

Seeing Sunoo strung out so badly to the point of collapsing to help Heeseung, depleting his energy for someone he had met just some weeks prior, someone who was so dear to Sunghoon, someone who was family to Sunghoon, had made Sunghoon feel a fierce will of… something within himself. It was weird. A lot of stuff regarding Sunoo made Sunghoon feel weird, but this time it felt even weirder in a way that he couldn't ignore.

Sunghoon couldn't treat him like less than a stranger when Sunoo had given so much of himself to help one of theirs. It had touched Sunghoon.

And he felt foolish. He felt foolish for being so stubborn when everyone else got over the new additions as quickly as they did, because now he had to awkwardly try to acclimate after the initial transition period was over.

With Jake it was easy. Jake was fun and bounced off of Sunghoon's own energy and conversation easily. With Sunoo, Sunghoon hadn't even wanted to try, but now he felt like he needed to make up for it, to give him a chance of a possible concord, which was something he hadn’t even considered giving at first.

And he guessed Jay was a good start. Jay was his best friend. Jay was also someone who had been skeptical about the additions at first, but now was incredibly close to both.

Especially Sunoo. Because Sunghoon knew Jungwon had wanted to get close to the other, and that meant that Jay spent a lot of time with the half alien by proxy of Jungwon already spending most of his free time with Jay.

He knew, because he noticed. Sunoo went to the avionics pit an awful lot whenever he could, and Sunghoon knew for a fact that it was a small room with not much space, so they all probably squished themselves inside. It was probably a bonding experience.

So Jay. Jay was now in a place where he was very comfortable with Sunoo, and it was obvious that it was reciprocal. Sunghoon guessed he could strive for something like that. Even a fraction of that to start with would be better than what he had, but with his limited past interactions, he had no idea how to even begin. So Jay.

“Well. Um. How could I-” Gosh, this was so awkward. He agonized over it silently for a second longer, but he knew Jay knew what he was probably going to ask. Fuck it. Sunghoon would just have to suck it up, so he rushed the words out. “How could I even start?”

Jay took him in stride. He was probably silently waiting for the opportunity all this time. “It's probably easier than you think. Sunoo is really simple. He is like- the most uncomplicated person I have ever met. He is direct and open, and even in the times he isn't, his face tells you everything.”

“His face?” Sunghoon hadn't known any of that. He couldn’t have, obviously, but hearing Jay talk about Sunoo so confidently, was a little bit of a whiplash considering Sunghoon basically knew nothing and he has technically known Sunoo for the same amount of time Jay has.

Jay smiled fondly, which added to Sunghoon’s feelings of inadequateness. “Yeah, he is cute. Very bratty, though. Him and Jungwon are a lethal combo, though he doesn't escape Wonie's schemes.”

“...” Whenever Sunghoon interacted with Sunoo, it was purely professional, so he hadn’t ever seen that playful side of Sunoo. Sunghoon guessed Sunoo has probably also never seen him being even remotely nice, so he was even worse off.

They had stopped doing their exercises, though Jay continued talking, not minding Sunghoon's silence. That was something Sunghoon liked about Jay, that he never minded whenever Sunghoon didn't have anything to say and was happy to continue the conversation.

“He also is very easy to talk to. Mostly because he likes talking.”

At that, Sunghoon found it in himself to joke. “More than you?”

But Jay was unfazed. “Yeah, he gets rambly when you listen to him and it's cute. When he gets comfortable, it's like he can go on and on about stuff. He has a lot of opinions. In a good way.” He added the last part almost like an afterthought.

Sunghoon sighed. “But- how? How can I even talk to him normally? I don't know how to do that. And don't just say ‘just go for it’ because you know it's not that easy.”

“Hoon. I think you should just act normally. And hear me out! Hear me out! Just listen!” Sunghoon retreated from where he was already groaning at his words. “I really, really think that. He would respond fine. And you haven't actually been acting normally, everyone knows. If you did, I swear it would be easy to interact with him.”

His words were somewhat redundant, but Sunghoon got the point. He hadn’t been feeling like himself since the mission began, and that meant he had been acting on those feelings a lot.

He had a lot of unwelcome thoughts, so he did his best to distract himself and immerse himself in his work. Which, if Sunghoon thought about it for more than a few minutes, was also unnatural, as he didn't particularly like rushing his work. He was responsible, but if he could get Heeseung to help him out with his reports, then that was better.

Now? He had gone all in almost completely by himself. In the depths of his mind, he knew that it was because he wanted to prove something. Prove that even if the crew got new members, one of whom was another navigator, he would still be important and needed within the spaceship. He maybe also wanted to show that he was the ultimate navigator in the crew.

He had caved and used Sunoo’s input, but he knew that his initial instinct of doing it all alone was caused because he needed to show that they didn't need the new additions, but particularly a half alien.

That was wrong, he knew, but he couldn't help it.

And now he had to deal with the consequences. Namely try his best to keep up with dynamics that had already been established. Which sucked. Because Sunghoon already had a hard time creating bonds, now trying to do so when the initial grace period was over would be even harder.

But he guessed he should at least try. So he sighed for the nth time and looked at the metal panels in the ceiling. “Yeah. I guess I'll try that.”

Chapter Text

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Heeseung had been bored.

At first.

With his movement restricted to literally only moving his arms and being transported to and from his bunk bed and the lounge couch by Sunghoon and sometimes Jungwon, he had been really, really bored. Not that he had nothing to do, but now that those were basically the only things he could work on, he didn't want to do them. So when it was first sinking in, he had been pretty bored.

Which freed a lot of time. Which meant that he probably should use that time to get to work, maybe update some documents, just maybe check his emails, and maybe simply do his admin work, but as he said, he didn't want to do that. Because that was even more boring. So, he had acquired the hobby of people watching.

Or well, crew watching as they were the only people he saw. He also talked to them obviously, but he found himself more taken with simply watching to quell his initial boredom.

The first important event he watched was Riki, Sunoo, and Sunghoon, of all people, getting ready for exploration after the first failed attempt.

Sunoo had changed his bandages prior to leaving, and Heeseung had been unendingly thankful, as the younger definitely had a lighter hand than Jay and Jungwon.

He had seen them go in the shuttle from Riki’s display that had been kept on, and then he and Jay had an update session while Jake and Jungwon did some of the weekly maintenance in the back, which was a relief, because, even in his injury haze, Heeseung was sure he heard the reactor start up the scratchy sound it sometimes did when Riki was carrying him in. Maybe he was hearing things, but maybe not.

‘Update session’ sounded less childish than what it actually was, which was a gossip-about-their-friends session. It was an ongoing thing they had ever since they were scrawny teens who ran around the big hallways in the OSIS.

He and Jay loved to talk and they usually ended up finding out about a ton of stuff about other people in the OSIS without quite meaning to, most of the time, at least. Jungwon sometimes joined in because he was also incredibly observant (re: nosy) and managed to catch stuff they didn't. It was a fun tradition.

At that time it was just him and Jay, and they gossiped about the most recent topic of interest. Which was just Sunghoon. And Sunoo, by proxy, but more importantly, Sunghoon, who really did have a change of heart.

Heeseung had gotten so happy that he predicted it correctly that he almost fell off the couch. And with that out of the way, Heeseung was now certain that he wasn't crazy about Sunghoon being weirdly tense with Sunoo, but now because he actively wanted to make amends.

So, the next few days had been fun.

The team had returned from the second-try mission looking tired and carrying with them a weird looking succulent type plant that apparently needed to be made into a paste that had to be vacuum sealed. Among some other stuff.

Heeseung hadn’t been paying much attention to the procedures he wasn't doing, so he only knew about the paste and the sealing.

At first, he hadn’t been allowed to be part of it since he was injured, but Heeseung’s hands were fine and he was bored, he wanted to feel useful even if it was a small contribution.

Sunoo had estimated a week of processing, and after the first time, it was easier to just transition into things, so their week of processing the specimen before departure for the next planet started up.

But what interested Heeseung was what happened between the processing, as everyone also did their own thing, and Heeseung was an avid spectator of the chaos that went on around him, now that he couldn't exactly join in.

He had seen Jay struggle to fix up the clothes that were ripped during the quicksand fiasco, namely, most of his suit and Sunghoon’s jacket. He had also seen Jake and Jungwon run around the ship like working bees, had encouraged Riki as he made a pretty drawing about the oasis they explored in one of the walls, had bonded with Sunoo over the fix up sessions, and had joked a lot with Sunghoon, who insisted on being his sole means of transportation.

He had also seen Sunghoon breaking out of his recently created shell. It seemed as if he was testing being himself again, but now with Jake and Sunoo around. It was nice to watch. The other man had napped with Riki, teased Jay about his sewing skills, made snacks for Heeseung, laughed around with Jake, cuddled with Jungwon, and, most impressively, in Heeseung's opinion, tried to joke around with Sunoo, too.

Riki had informed Jay, some time mid-week on a once chance they were together in the cockpit, that Sunghoon had been crazily attuned to Sunoo during the exploration. If Jay wasn't lying to Heeseung, the exact words were ‘princess treatment’. And Heeseung could see it. He had watched Sunghoon slowly becoming comfortable again in the ship, and while that was heartwarming on its own, Heeseung was much more interested in how his recent change of heart was affecting his interactions with Sunoo.

And Heeseung had a lot of free time to watch them, whenever he wasn't knocked out cold either to rest or by the meds.

He felt like he was watching a montage. Sunghoon followed Sunoo with his eyes an awful lot now that Heeseung paid attention. It seemed like he was always looking, sometimes in hesitation to interact or simply noticing stuff. It was an interesting revelation for Heeseung. Seeing Sunghoon shyly approaching Sunoo for help with the routes, seeing them tentatively joke around, seeing him shower Sunoo with acts of service.

It was sort of cute.

When Jake asked him about it in one of their late nights, which now consisted of Jake going to Heeseung’s bunk to keep him company during the night, Heeseung had had the eye opening epiphany that it was even sort of crush-like from Sunghoon’s part.

Heeseung was so surprised, he had blurted it out, which in turn made Jake stare in open mouthed shock. It was a crazy revelation if anyone thought about it. Heeseung had sort of mentioned Sunghoon’s antipathy towards aliens with a big emphasis on how they had tried to curve it and how Sunghoon had worked towards not being a product of his uncle's views, and Jake had understood, mostly stating that he had felt a vibe, but as long as Sunghoon was respectful, as he had been, it was fine.

So landing on the conclusion that Sunghoon might be crushing on someone who was of mixed species would have been downright unimaginable if Heeseung hadn't seen it with his own two eyes.

And it wasn’t just him, Jake too, if what the other relayed was any indication. Heeseung would have to check in with Jay as well, but for the time being, he was giddy with the revelations they had arrived at.

It had been quite a few days after the second exploration in Creimar, where Heeseung’s incident happened, that he got a reality check from his little nosy spree.

They were halfway through the week-long flight to Oleach, their third planet, after a week of processing the second specimen, that Jungwon had burst into the bridge looking stressed.

Heeseung had been checking some of the damage on their bumpers with Jake and Riki when the sound of rushed steps came around.

“Jake! Jake, come look at this, it's urgent!”

The tone of Jungwon's voice was worrisome, and Jake hurried to follow the other towards the back. Heeseung was so curious he could have stood up on his mummy legs to try to go with them, but alas, he was just left alarmed on the couch.

Sunghoon and Sunoo, who had been checking some of the navigation stuff and replan of the routes after the incident that made them extend their stay in Creimar, approached with Jay in tow.

“What was that?”

Riki shrugged, still looking in their direction. “I think they'll tell us soon enough if it's serious.”

Heeseung grimaced. It sounded plenty serious. At least now Jungwon had Jake to share that with instead of bringing Heeseung, who sometimes couldn't grasp the severity or non-severity of the issues.

So, they resumed, with Riki pointing the pieces they would either need to refinish or downright replace from the bumpers so Heeseung could check their inventory for pieces or go ahead and set orders for when they finished their mission. Or sooner. Heeseung would have to see, but for now, they were checking the inventory.

It was just some minutes after that interruption, with Riki and Heeseung in the middle of struggling to match the pieces to their inventory stock, that Jungwon burst out of the back looking even paler.

“Code red!”

What?

Jungwon took a shuddering breath, his wide eyes locked into Heeseung’s. “It's a code red- a code red.” He paused then, looking almost confused, before running to the back again.

Heeseung turned and shared a panicked look with Riki. Code red was the immediate stop of the spaceship.

Jay, Sunoo and Sunghoon immediately got into action, with Sunoo going to the NAV monitors to locate the nearest space station and Sunghoon and Jay rushing to the pit, presumably to redirect the ship's trajectory to the nearest place they could park.

Riki stood, but before leaving, he patted Heeseung’s shoulder. “Maybe this was our sign to renew those pieces.” He then went to Sunoo, who was sitting on Sunghoon's chair at the NAV station.

Heeseung exhaled shakily. His heartbeat was getting louder and faster with the seconds after he processed the news. He was itching to move. He saw everyone jump right into action and he couldn't help but grip at his tablet.

A wave of helplessness overcame him and made his chest hurt even more. He felt useless. He was still in mandatory rest as instructed by Sunoo, and as much as he wished to fuck it and go check on everyone, check the ship, help around, do something, he couldn’t move his legs because of the numbing agent that was spread all over to spare him most of the pain.

He grit his teeth and looked towards the automatic doors that led to the back. Jungwon had activated the alarm system, so the red emergency lights were on, and with everyone rushing, Heeseung could only sit and watch as everything unfolded, his anxiety growing into a lump in his throat and a stupid urge to cry with every moment that passed as he was still in the dark about everything going on.

He had so many questions, so many doubts and worries. What were Jake and Jungwon doing? Were they alright? He felt the ship sharply change direction and had to drop his head back and close his eyes, unable to distract himself from the unending stream of anxious whispers in his head.

As the tension settled into a buzzing energy around them, where Heeseung could do nothing but stew on his thoughts, Sunoo came to sit next to him.

“We are on our way. ETA 41 mins in high velocity.” His voice was soft, but his tail was swinging nervously.

“Can we do high velocity?” Heeseung tried to respond just as softly, but he knew his voice showcased his urgency. What if they couldn’t do high velocity? What if it made it worse? What if they weren’t able to reach the station? What if-

“Jay checked with Jungwon before we finished programming the route. Sunghoon is on sight for any real time alerts from the route and Riki is helping Jay man the controls since they’ll need to activate the combat weapons to break up some rocks that are in the way of the optimal route since we can't use the energy to swerve around.”

That made sense, the weapons and shields used different energy sources, so they had to prioritize whatever strained the ship’s capacity less. Heeseung could even feel the A/C getting turned off along with some of the non-priority monitors in the bridge, which meant it was serious.

Sunoo scooted closer, gently patting Heeseung’s hand. “Jungwon explained that more than half of the resistors went out, so the machines were overheating really fast, and they had to shut down the main system to give way for the emergency system to reach the station. There was some more stuff, but that’s the gist of it, and we are fine. The emergency reserve has a capacity for a two hour trip at most, so we will make this stretch just fine.”

His tone was soft and lulling. It made sense. Heeseung was the one who helped Jungwon install the emergency systems when they first acquired the ship, he knew they could make it, but he had forgotten in his jumble of thought.

The complicated thoughts regarding how they couldn't even risk not doing high velocity since the emergency capacity was lower than what a normal trip could handle was buried under the reminder that they were not going to be stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Adding the explanation and hearing that everyone was alright helped settle Heeseung's nerves, even if just so he could regulate his breathing again. His chest was still tight, but he felt like he wouldn't burst into tears at any moment, so guessed it was better. He turned to look at Sunoo, who had this wide eyed attentive look that was almost unnerving.

Wait.

He narrowed his eyes. “Did they send you to calm me down?”

Sunoo didn’t even deny it, just continued patting his hand. “You don't need any more stress.”

“I'm not an old man.” It fell a little flat, but Heeseung was trying his best, alright, the feeling of failure was creeping on him as he watched his crew move around under the dim emergency lights. It made his chest tighten and his throat try to lock up. He couldn't even feel proud.

“You're not, you're injured. So everyone is stepping up and we are managing, you don't have to worry.”

“I cannot help it.” It was an honest admission. Even while Sunoo was distracting him, his mind was running a mile a minute. He couldn’t just stop. He was wondering about their safety, about the after effects, about how they probably weren't actually green lit to do high velocity but couldn't risk not getting to the station with the tiny emergency capacity, about Jake and Jungwon opening up their unstable machines to check for the burnt parts, about the possible causes of the problem, about contacting the OSIS for funds, about inventory, about the mission-

“Give yourself some grace. We have protocols, we have a plan that is already halfway to completion, we are not doomed, and we are gonna be fine.”

Heeseung sighed. “Stop making sense.”

Sunoo smiled brightly. “No can do, captain. I was charged with the important task of not letting you spiral. But really, we are a crew. We can rely on each other, so you stay put and let us take control, okay?”

“Okay.” With a small squeeze to his hand, Sunoo stopped his rhythmic patting and stretched over to get some of the stuff that was on the table in the middle. He passed Heeseung some of the samples of the specimen, which were in a small cooler, and a small sharp tool reminiscent of a knife, but more curled

“Alright, then, for now help me peel these.”

So, Heeseung began mindlessly peeling some cacti. The commotion around them had calmed somewhat, even if the blinking red alarm lights were still on. Heeseung would have to trust that everyone was fine.

This was the first time Sunoo called him captain.

═════════════════════

“Here.”

“Thanks.”

Sunoo was sitting next to him in the NAV. It wasn’t an unusual sight as of recently, but it still felt surreal to Sunghoon.

They were parked in the station, with Jake, Jungwon and Riki out to check on the pieces, and Jay out in Heeseung's stead.

Heeseung had been grumpy, so Sunoo gave him some medicine that made him drowsy enough to go for a nap. Which was kind of funny, if Sunghoon said so himself.

They were in the middle of the mess that was rerouting, resetting the hazard prevention for the following days, and replanning the ship charts. They were going to stay around a week in the station to adapt to the small crisis and that meant changing up everything Sunghoon had compulsively done at the beginning of the mission.

Which was fine, in hindsight.

Sunoo was a nice company and great help.

He had taken Jay's advice as seriously as he could.

Right after leaving the pseudo gym, he had gathered all of his guts and headed towards where Sunoo and Jake had been sitting, to ask Sunoo to review his planetary maps for the next stops.

It was his easiest connection to Sunoo, after all, their navigation background. And while Sunghoon prided himself on having everything under control, it was nice having someone to bounce ideas with.

He hadn’t liked it at all in the beginning, of course, but even in his stubborn apathy, he acknowledged that Sunoo was great at his jobs.

It was so awkward at first.

It still was, a little, but, at first, Sunghoon had felt so overwhelmingly out of his depth that he almost called it quits. It was that awkward. In the end, Sunoo was the only reason he didn't. Because Sunoo was genuinely easy to talk to, even for someone as bad of a conversationalist as Sunghoon.

So he pulled through. He had to. He forced even the most simple conversations just to add interactions to his very small repertoire of them with Sunoo.

It was a painful first day of working together, then two days, that then somehow turned into a week and then progressed into a week and a half.

It was a short time in relation to what the mission had already lasted, but also it was a good start if Sunghoon counted the time to go before it was over.

So he did his best to talk and try to find common ground.

And it worked. Sort of like a mellow exposure therapy. Sunghoon found excuses to talk to Sunoo about work, and that, in turn, made speaking with him easier each time.

He still made Sunghoon feel weird. But at least now he could say he could talk to Sunoo without being rude or too awkward.

He also spent a lot of time observing Sunoo.

It was part of the process, obviously, as Sunghoon had to try his darn best to understand something he never actually tried to understand. It was confusing, but if Sunghoon didn't dwell too much on it, it was fine.

The work was a lot faster, too.

Sunghoon had sort of a hard time letting go of the full control he had over the NAV, but it was worth it for the fact that it was faster and more efficient. It also helped that Sunoo apparently liked doing the reports. Like he was doing.

“Do you need more information?”

Sunoo turned to look at him from where he was seated and smiled. Sunghoon couldn't help but turn to his monitor. “I got it.”

Riki rolled in his chair from where he was monitoring the cams. “It’s lucky you like doing them. Sunghoon hates writing reports.”

Sunghoon couldn't help but feel a little bit offended, if only out of unfounded pride while in Sunoo's presence, as it was true that he disliked doing reports the most. “Hey, I always turn them in just fine.”

From the couch in the lounge, Heeseung chimed in. Sunghoon thought he had been asleep. “Yeah, written by yours truly.”

“But I turn them in just fine.”

Heeseung huffed and Sunoo laughed. Sunghoon couldn't help but smile. Making Sunoo laugh felt a little bit like a win.

“It's fine, I got used to writing reports, so.”

“From the recipes?” Heeseung’s words made Sunoo's eyes widen in surprise, his mouth turning into an ‘o’.

“Jake told you about that?”

With his torso now fully turned to them, Heeseung nodded. “Yeah, it's cool.”

“What recipes?” What in the universe were they talking about? Sunghoon felt a bit out of the loop, but he was sort of getting used to that feeling. Or maybe not. It depended on his mood actually, but being clueless most of the time with the crew he spent years with felt a bit weird.

Both Heeseung and Sunoo turned to him, and it made him feel a bit like he shouldn't have asked. What was worse was Riki ignoring them on the side, so Sunghoon couldn't know if that meant Riki knew and didn't care, or just didn't care at all, and Sunghoon didn't know which he wanted to be true.

But then, Sunoo smiled easily at him, which made him feel funny. It was reassuring. “Ah, Jake and I used to do some side work where we distributed stuff. Some of it was herbs, and because we needed to build trust, I always made sure to make ingredient reports for what the herbs had for transparency purposes.”

Sunghoon blinked. That was unexpected. But, well, who was Sunghoon to judge? That didn't make Sunoo any less reliable.

“So you have experience actually making herb concoctions?” Riki piped up from behind Sunoo.

That brightened Sunoo up immediately and Sunghoon found himself smiling. Sunoo's excitement was contagious, even his tail was swishing around from where it sat, in between the seat and the backrest of the chair. “Yeah! I would like to think I'm pretty good at it.”

Heeseung laughed lightly at that. “Jake told me some of your mixes are in the process of getting patented in the OSIS labs, so I would say you are incredibly talented at it.”

Riki raised his eyebrows. “No need to be humble if you are that good, Sunoo.”

Sunghoon found it appropriate to chime in as well. “You are impressive, really.”

The half alien became embarrassed and waved away their words, but in the midst of finishing off the topic, Sunghoon met Heeseung’s eyes. He looked particularly annoying with that smile on his face, so Sunghoon turned away.

He didn't want to know what that was about.

Chapter Text

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Jay was very considerate when it came to helping him in the physical therapy of sorts that Sunoo had assigned.

It wasn’t full blown therapy as Heeseung still had mobility, and hadn’t broken any bones, but his healing had rendered him practically stuck to the couch or bed for two weeks so, for his sake, and the fact that his cuts were so small that moving would open the scabs up, he hadn’t moved much and needed to get onto that again. Kind of like building up muscle again.

They were in Oleach, and Sunghoon, Sunoo and Riki had gone off to the tall pastures that made up the small planet. The illumination wasn’t the best, so they would have to spend a few days on the planet to collect the amount of roots necessary for their sample.

Jungwon was asleep on his bunk and he was snoring lightly, but Heeseung couldn't fault him for that, as he was beat. Jungwon's eyebags were as deep as the universe's secrets after the haste of the ship practically being at risk of malfunction while on flight.

He was sitting on the couch, like usual, and Jay was stretching his legs carefully, extending them and bending his knee and moving it around. It felt funny, and stung just a tiny bit, but it was distracting, talking with Jay.

“Your legs were already noodly enough. You’ll end up turning into a string if you don't bulk up.”

Heeseung groaned. “I hate the gym.”

Jay huffed a laugh, now making circles that made Heeseung’s thighs stretch some more. “I was talking about eating, but I can take you to the gym, sometimes.”

“Please, don’t. I’m already miserable enough as is.”

That was meant to be a joke, but it landed way more honestly than Heeseung wanted, so Jay paused and looked at him.

Heeseung rushed to clarify. “That was a joke.”

Jay raised an eyebrow.

“A little joke, really.”

Jay stared. Heeseung stared back. But it was a lost battle of wills, as Heeseung knew he wasn't in condition to argue. He had to let it out somewhere, too. And Jay had a particularly strong stare.

“I just.” It was a bit hard. Of course, admitting something like this felt humiliating and even a little bit egocentric. But this was Jay. Jay wouldn't make him feel bad about his feelings. So he rushed it out after a sigh. “I feel useless like this.”

Jay continued staring. Then he fully sat instead of crouching on the floor, looking thoughtful, which was a relief. “I think that is valid. You are bound to bed because of an accident and it isn't your fault.”

The metal ceiling looked particularly interesting at that moment. “I know, but with the incident in the deck that I know very little about and the code red, I feel like I got stuck like this at the worst moment. And that's not even counting our mission.”

He felt a tap on his knee, and he reluctantly turned his gaze back to Jay. “It’s hard. I know you’d rather help out around here, be the one meeting the reps, be the one talking to admin, and everything. But, we can't just let you… not get better. And that is because we need you healthy. Not only because you are useful, but because we care.”

His words were nice. What he said was something that Heeseung knew, logically. The OSIS permitted their crew to assemble because of their complementary skills, but within their crew, within his little family, they didn't measure each other by their abilities.

It was just that the feelings of impotence were strong, and as it was, he usually felt like this role as chief officer would be better suited for someone else. Maybe Jungwon, who was an amazing second in command, maybe Jay, who actually piloted their ship…

He sometimes felt like he was chosen only because he was the oldest and not because of his skills. And because he had many tedious duties, he could never actually showcase his abilities or his knowledge as much as he would like. It almost felt like being double shelved. He couldn't use his skills while being chief officer, but now he couldn't even do his job as a chief officer because of his stupid legs.

“Do you really think that?”

Heeseung startled. Had he said that aloud? Jay looked concerned, and it made him curl up in anxiety.

“You know you can do whatever you want, right? We can delegate the admin work and you can pilot with me or Riki, you know we wouldn't mind.” Jay sounded earnest, but Heeseung couldn't meet his eyes. It was too embarrassing.

“Heeseung.”

Fuck.

“We can change things. You shouldn’t have to do stuff you don't want to. You don't have to.”

He closed his eyes. He hadn't meant to say that at all. And now Jay knew. It was one thing to talk about his injury and it was another thing entirely to speak on his insecurities and frustrations as part of the crew.

“I don't want to talk about it.”

Jay, who had been listing changes that could be made, stopped.

“I think I’ll go to bed. It's gonna be a while before Sunoo and the others come back.”

“Heeseung.” But Jay's tone sounded more resigned than insistent, so Heeseung swallowed some more of his pride and asked for help getting to his bunk, which Jay did with a sigh.

It was when Heeseung was already inside that Jay looked at him. “If you want to talk, I'm always here. I'll go to the cockpit to monitor them for a bit. Scream if you need anything.”

The last part was said so seriously that even in his mood, Heeseung huffed a small laugh. “Sure. Good luck.”

“Get some rest.”

And with that, Jay climbed out, and Heeseung only heard the sliding doors from the cockpit open and then shut closed.

The silence felt a bit much, but Heeseung was glad that the topic was over.

He closed his eyes, not shutting his curtain just yet. The lights were dimmed, but not quite as dark as they were when they went to bed, and Heeseung wasn't sleepy, just tired, if that even made sense.

The topic was almost painful, after all.

He stayed there for some more moments, before hearing steps coming closer. He opened his eyes and found Jake staring at him in surprise, almost as if guilty, with his hand extended towards his curtain.

They stared for a moment before Jake took a breath.

“I was checking if you were awake.”

It made Heeseung smile. “Well, I'm awake.” He felt as if he hadn’t seen Jake in days and that was a lot considering that they were in the same ship all the time. He had missed him.

It was when Heeseung focused once again on Jake, that he noticed the other was uncharacteristically fidgeting with his fingers and looking down.

“Jake?”

When Jake didn't respond, Heeseung leaned out of his bunk a little bit to try to look at him, as Jake seemed to have no intention to move, his hands still holding the corner of the curtain, but also seemed to struggle to choose what to say.

Not knowing what else to do, he put his hand on top of Jake's and felt the other tense up, which confused him, but his questions vanished almost as quickly when Jake immediately started slightly shaking with quiet sobs. The teardrops burst terrifyingly fast and began dropping to the floor.

Panicked, Heeseung pulled at him, wanting him closer so he could comfort him better.

Jake seemed to have no qualms about that as he climbed up and let his head drop carefully onto Heeseung’s chest, mindful even in his state.

His tears soaked Heeseung’s shirt and Heeseung just patted his hair as he silently spiraled while Jake continued crying. He had never seen Jake like this and it was extremely unexpected. Especially since Jake himself always insisted that Sunoo was the emotional one between the two. What could have happened for Jake to be like this? What could Heeseung even do to help if he was so useless at the moment? The helplessness felt like a punch to an already bruised gut.

He had to painfully listen to some more moments of quiet sobbing before Jake began slowly trying to breathe, calming himself down.

“S-sorry. Sorry. I'm sorry. I’m really sorry.” It broke Heeseung’s heart to hear him like that.

“Jake. Jakey, breathe, please breathe, copy me, copy me.” Heeseung purposefully deepened his breathing and felt as Jake's hurried staccato turned into a more leveled inhale and exhale pattern. “Is that better?”

When Jake nodded, still buried in his chest, Heeseung carefully continued. “What happened?”

Jake’s face scrunched up and Heeseung was scared he was going to begin crying again, but Jake simply took a shaky inhale and began babbling, his tone shaky. “It’s my fault. I was too stupid and rash and got too ahead of myself, and I’m sorry, now you are hurt and you trusted me and this happened and we were in danger, and I damaged too many things, and I hate myself for it, and I’m so sorry, and-”

Heeseung felt dumbfounded. “Jake-”

“-if you don't want me in the crew anymore, it’s fine, just please spare Sunoo, I have never seen him happier and he deserves to be accomplished, and I don’t want my stupid mistakes to harm him in any way, but maybe that is- that- um-”

His words became stuttered, his breathing unstable, and Heeseung caught the opportunity to step in.

“Jakey, why do you think that?” He didn't mean for those to be the very first question he asked, but it was baffling to Heeseung. The fact that Jake had been simmering on his thoughts about being kicked out was absolutely crazy to him. And the fact that it wasn't crazy to Jake felt worse.

Jake seemed to take a second to calm himself down, breathing in and out, before answering, but even when he did, his voice broke a little bit. “Just. It was my fault the resistors went out. The pre-cooler equipment we got had a different voltage from the patent I read about and I only checked the manual for the patent instead of the individual equipment we got. It was unphased by very little, but it still overworked the power lines because I inputted the wrong amount. It basically did the opposite of what it was meant to do and I'm so sorry. I interrupted the mission a-and made us waste time and money, all because I was too dumb."

Heeseung took a second to actually listen. He wouldn't be able to console Jake otherwise.

So Jake was the cause of the code red. Or well, the pre-cooler Jake had installed at the beginning of the mission. Heeseung made some calculations in his mind.

"Did the resistors damage the equipment? Or will we be able to just replace them and get the machinery going?"

Jake looked at him with big, teary eyes, tilting his head in confusion. It was irresistibly cute, but Heeseung had to be serious.

"Well, um. Jungwon and I checked the damage and they didn't explode or anything, just burned in some parts, and we had inputted a system to stop the machines that showed any unusual activity, like you told us. So the ones where the resistors malfunctioned shut down instantly before any real damage could be done, though some did present some overheating on the parts near the resistors from the overworking before they fully collapsed. We just had to fully shut down the systems to begin the emergency system in their stead."

His voice was fast, trying his best to explain, but Heeseung got it. "No full blown machine damage, just some part replacement and maybe some refinishing?" That was something Heeseung knew, that they hadn't gotten new machines, because that would have taken them longer than what their small stop took, but he wanted Jake to think about it.

Jake nodded. "The parts were in the space station as they were some generic ones, like the new resistors, not any of the personalized parts.”

"So, only some generic pieces to replace."

"Yeah."

Heeseung looked at him. He knew Jake felt horrible, but he wanted him to see that while it had been scary, they had it under control. It was a bit ironic that he almost felt like mirroring the words Sunoo told him to calm him down that day.

"But it still shouldn't have happened! It could have been a lot worse, and if I hadn't insisted on the patent, this would have never happened!"

"Never is a strong word." Heeseung huffed a small laugh. "You're right, it could have been avoided, but it happened, and the fact that this happened doesn't mean I, or anyone else, and I speak of this confidently, want you out. It happened, we fixed it and that's that. It could have happened to any of us."

Jake slumped onto Heeseung's chest, and Heeseung couldn't help but hug him and pat his back. "I'm mad it happened because of me."

"Yeah. I get it. And you can always make up by helping Jungwon out. I just want you to know we appreciate having you here and this incident isn't changing that. It's a shame it happened, but now we can recheck that patent, and we get to have some new parts. Because we are on a mission, the OSIS is required to provide the parts as long as we submit the documents required. So don't worry your pretty head with it too much. Or at least always know we do want you here and this was a one off, not representative of all your work with us, okay?"

Heeseung hadn't wanted to say that it was okay. Because it wasn't. But that didn't have to mean full cut off. Heeseung was fair, but living to be exactly fair and black or white wasn't his style. Even if he didn't have a very soft spot for Jake, he would probably have reached this compromise.

So what was left was the aftermath and getting Jake back on track, hopefully.

"... Alright."

His words were mumbled onto Heeseung's chest, but he was still able to hear them, and considering Jake's breathing was also calmer, Heeseung got the feeling he got through the other.

"Good. Now, let's sleep."

That made Jake giggle from where Heeseung was squeezing him. "What? Here?"

"Yes, here, come on."

And, with some rustling and some more teary giggles, they fell asleep cuddled on Heeseung's bunk bed.

Chapter Text

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Wordlessly, Sunghoon passed Sunoo a small tube.

Sunoo accepted it easily, not even turning to look at Sunghoon, but it didn't feel bad. It felt nice. Kind of like a silent understanding.

It was the fourth day since they arrived at Oleach, and the third day since they began collecting. They had been at it for more than a few hours already, and they were all tired, but Sunghoon wanted to finish in that trek instead of having to do yet another trip. They were so close to being done. So he was doing his best to hurry them up and assist Sunoo as best as he could. Riki was off somewhere else, gathering the loose vines that only needed to be cut rather than fully taken off the root and untangled.

They had separated since the very first day after the first hour, when it became obvious that everyone huddled on the same bundle of vines was losing more time. Sunghoon had wordlessly latched onto Sunoo and was glad the other seemed to also latch up to him.

The planet didn't have good light, and the vines they needed were in the odd trees that populated the place and some of the shrubs here and there. Riki tackled the trees that had hanging vines while Sunoo and himself got the shrubs.

They already had four full containers with a ton of vines, but they needed five, so to hustle they went. At first it had been easy, as they got to the vines closest to them, but as they got those, they needed to spread out more, which meant more walking to and from.

They weren't talking much, but Sunghoon was in charge of pulling the unnecessary stems to free up the roots and getting them out of the ground while Sunoo untangled them and rolled them into the small tubes for easier safe keeping in the big backpack Sunghoon was carrying. It was fairly easy, though tedious and, over time, tiring work.

Riki, in turn, simply had to cut the vines that were hanging, which weren't as long as the rooted ones, so he just had to roll, cut when he reached the end, and get them into the container. If Sunghoon hadn't been so pumped at getting to work with Sunoo, he might have been jealous of the relatively easier job.

"So, um, both vines work the same?"

His voice didn't quite sound as steady, with his arms straining to pull at the roots, but he still wished to catch the opportunity to talk to Sunoo. They had been conversing here and there, but nothing too substantial, and Sunghoon wanted to change that before the trip was over. He grit his teeth right after letting the words out, still pulling, which was getting harder as his arms tired, but they were almost done so he pushed through.

His cloth gloves were pretty tattered, though not as much as the bunch of disposable pairs Sunoo was putting on and off every time he alternated between using his ability with his bare hands to untangle the vines and then put them on to roll them into the tubes. He had to throw them away when they broke and it had happened more than four times by that point.

Sunoo hummed. He looked tired, but it wasn't quite a physical strain rather than a mental one, though he did seem a little paler than usual. Sunghoon could see his fingers shaking when he pulled off his gloves, so he did his best to not tangle them up even more as he pulled to try to lessen Sunoo’s work. He didn't want to ask if the other was fine, Sunghoon got a sense that Sunoo probably wouldn't appreciate it.

"What we need is some fiber that's inside the vine. It's native to the flora of this planet, so we could get anything, as long as it has the fiber." He then turned to smile knowingly at Sunghoon, who had to pause and look at him wide eyed at the attention, even if only for a second. "But we wouldn't want to go around picking the fiber from flower stems or leaves, right? We also need them in longer quantities so the rationing of it is more balanced."

Sunoo had resumed his work, but Sunghoon continued to stare, his hands slack. "Right."

A tube rolled with vine went onto the bag that they were using to get them to the containers, and Sunoo huffed, letting his body go in a small act of tiredness. This prompted Sunghoon to hurry up and finish getting the vine out, seeing as Sunoo had already gotten ahead of him.

"I like this work over the action based jobs they sometimes wanted to give me, but it is so tiring."

Getting over himself, Sunghoon smiled. Sunoo sounded cute when he whined. And he had continued the conversation himself, without Sunghoon prompting it, which made him irrationally excited. "Not much of a runner?"

The look Sunoo gave him made Sunghoon burst out laughing. It wasn't even that funny, but maybe his tiredness and Sunoo's dramatics was just the perfect combination to get him in that mood where everything was funny. "As if."

They continued working, but Sunoo was smiling, even when he gave Sunghoon his back in pseudo offense over his laughter. Sunghoon didn't really want their small conversation to end, so he pried a little bit more after passing some more vines to Sunoo for a new tube. They were already overfilling the backpack, but if that meant filling the container faster, then so be it.

"Did Jake do the running between you two? On your previous missions, I mean."

Immediately, Sunghoon wondered if that was too invasive, but Sunoo responded in stride. "Duh. Jake is like a puppy. He loves running around. Who was I to stop him?"

Sunghoon huffed another laugh. In moments like these, he had to admit for the millionth time that Jay was right, Sunoo was very easy to talk to.

"Sure."

Sunoo looked at him in offense, now playfully glaring. "It's true! No one forced him to do anything."

Blowing away some hair that had fallen over his eye inside the helmet, Sunghoon raised his hands in a defenseless gesture to Sunoo, the some of the last vines of this shrub in one of them. "I didn't say anything."

Snatching the vines from his hand, Sunoo glared at him but said nothing. Sunghoon knew he was smiling like a fool, but who could fault him? Sunoo's mouth had turned into a small pout that looked too cute not to smile at. He then turned to the shrub to see the bundles of vine left and knew they were almost done. Maybe he could continue striking conversation for some time longer. It was nice, after all.

"Did you and Jake do a lot of missions before? Like, from the OSIS?"

Sunoo, as it seemed, had no qualms with sharing. "Yep. Even before the OSIS, though I don't know if you can count those. We only did a few for the OSIS before they sent us to you guys." He took a quick glance at Sunghoon, and Sunghoon didn't quite know what kind of face he was doing as he was listening, but apparently it encouraged Sunoo to continue talking. "We were somewhat on our own for some time after Jake's dad retired and we wanted to lessen his burden after raising us and schooling us for so long, so we ended up doing some, well, sort of illegal stuff. Not bad, and mostly safe, but definitely not fully legal, you know, gray area stuff." He laughed lightly, his hands carefully rolling the vine on the tube.

Sunghoon wondered for a second how different their lives were. Whereas Sunghoon was raised half by his parents and half by his uncle and the OSIS, in a closed off, safe space, Sunoo, from what he could infer, was homeschooled and ended up working clandestinely. And even then, they both ended up here.

And knowing what Jake and Sunoo did prior to the OSIS changed nothing about their talent and brains, or even their morals and personality. They weren't like the others. Sunghoon would know. He had heard too much about criminals and their ways not to. He was glad they didn't end up like that. "Sounds fun. Your dad sounds like a good man."

Startled, Sunoo turned to him. "It's Jake's dad." But he sounded curious, so Sunghoon elaborated.

"If he raised you and cared for you so much, then he is probably your dad, too. My uncle was kind of like that for me, too."

The smile Sunoo gave him was a bit too soft for Sunghoon to handle, so he changed the course of the conversation. It's not like he preferred talking about his uncle, as much as he appreciated him.

"Do you have fun stories?" Not his best, but he was trying, alright? And before he could feel even more lame, Sunoo, once again, answered in stride.

"Sure! There are a ton, but maybe… mhh…” Sunoo got this pensive look on his face he sometimes got, and Sunghoon could almost picture him tapping his chin in thought. Then, Sunoo excitedly perked up with a big smile as he remembered something, and Sunghoon saw what looked like whisker dimples on his cheeks as he did. Cute. “Oh! Oh! I could tell you about the time Jake became a boy servant by accident." Sunoo was already half laughing as he talked, and Sunghoon couldn't help but look at him for the absurdity of the statement.

"What?"

Excitedly, Sunoo's tail began swishing wildly as the other gestured, his hands moving expertly to still roll the vines. "An old alien lady thought he was part of our package deal. It was a yelix, if you care, those who live like hundreds of years, have like seven eyes, are very rich and, I don't know, self-centered?"

Sunghoon nodded. "Very eccentric." Because yelixes were old species, most with big accumulations of money and a very long life span, which made them, as mentioned, sort of eccentric. Now that he mentioned it was a yelix, the fact that Jake was almost kept as a parting gift wasn't as surprising, though still funny when recounted in retrospect.

The word made Sunoo snap his fingers on the hand not holding the tube. "Eccentric is probably the right word. She was a sort of regular client, who had only known about me and at that time asked for a package deal for a bunch of tea herbs, skin care and some weapons for her guards." At Sunghoon's confusion (because what in the universe was that combination of stuff?), Sunoo hurried to explain. "That was our deal, back then, herbal stuff like that and weapons that Jake assembled. That's why he gets along so well with Riki, they are both weapon freaks."

The 'weapon freaks' set off Sunghoon because it was true. If Riki wasn't so cute, Sunghoon would be more concerned about his obsession with firearms and weapons.

That encouraged Sunoo to continue the story. "Okay, so, at the time we were trying to promote this new make up I made, sort of like foundation but adaptable to skin, so we made this 'package deal' where anyone who bought skin care would get this sample to try to sell it more. We didn't mention what it was, for the surprise factor, but they came with the recipe and instructions of use very clearly in the box. And so, Jake and I had separated. I went to get some clients from a women's club, while he attended this client."

Their methodic motions settled again into their rhythm, but now with Sunghoon paying rapt attention to Sunoo's words. "Can you imagine my face when Jake called me to tell me that the old lady was keeping him? I thought he was joking, but Jake has this way of not being able to lie to save his life, so I had to excuse myself and go get him back." Sunoo laughed fondly. It was easy for Sunghoon to forget that Jake and Sunoo were initially a package deal after everything that happened, but just hearing Sunoo talk about him that way was a reminder of their strong bond. "They had already dressed him in some fancy outfit with a bow and suspenders, and I really couldn't hold it in. I just burst out laughing in front of everyone.”

Sunghoon turned to look at him with raised eyebrows. “You laughed in their faces? Didn't you say there were guards? Maybe Jake should have been more worried when he called you."

Giggling, Sunoo tried to dismiss it with his hands. “Hey! I really, really couldn't hold it in, I wish I had a picture of Jake's face at that moment, it would have become a family heirloom, really. He even had a dorky middle part.”

The image on Jake dressed in suspenders, a bow and a dorky middle part made Sunghoon huff a laugh as he shook his head. "Maybe you had a death wish at that moment." But he had to admit that it was indeed a funny mental image. “And you got him out after laughing in their faces?”

Sunoo gleefully nodded, his movements more animated than before, when he had just been focused on working. He talked even as he giggled. “Jake almost peed himself when I began laughing. But then I just dealt with them and we laughed about it after he got over it.”

The pee comment startled a laugh out of Sunghoon, making Sunoo burst out giggling, too, and for a moment, they were both just laughing together. It felt nice. His cheeks hurt with how much he was smiling.

"I don’t get it. How did you even 'deal' with her?" Sunghoon hadn't stopped laughing just yet, but he was particularly disbelieving about that. It was funny to imagine Jake as some old lady's boy, and it was cute seeing Sunoo so excited.

Sunoo had calmed down enough to continue working, as he put the tube on the backpack and grabbed a new one, beginning a new roll.

Unconsciously or not, Sunghoon noticed that they were now sitting even closer together. That was fine. There were no more rooted vines to get, so he just had to wait for Sunoo to finish before they did anything else.

"I'm not good at threatening, but I am good at sweet talking. And acting. Especially when it's to get Jake out of trouble. I just had to get her to believe Jake was my beloved son, and you know how sentimental yelixes are when it comes to family. We spent more than twenty minutes talking about the importance of family while Jake trembled behind us. And in the end I also got her an attendant who was actually willing to work for her from the women's club I mentioned earlier. So everyone won and Jake didn't end up in an old lady's care. Though that wasn't such a horrible fate if I do say so myself, even if Jake hated it."

"Ha. He could have charged good money as a sugar baby.” That set Sunoo off again, and Sunghoon just smiled before adding after Sunoo calmed down. “I don't think I would have been able to handle it like you did." It was true, Sunghoon was good at talking, sometimes. Not nearly good enough to convince an old lady that sounded as entitled as that to give a whole another person back. He felt like he had to let Sunoo know that it was impressive.

"It's a talent of yours truly. Jake should build me a monument in thanks or something." Sunoo tossed the tube on the backpack and began dusting his hands.

"He really should." Was what Sunghoon settled on saying. He remained smiling for a second longer, before speaking up again. "Should we move to another one or do you want to get these to the containers?"

Coming back easily from their conversation, Sunoo went right into business. "If Riki managed to gather even half of this, then we are done, so let's go look for him and then we can go to the container. Maybe this means we are finally done."

As he stood, Sunghoon groaned and dusted off his pants, offering a hand to Sunoo, who, instead of taking it, used his forearm as a railing to stand up. That was fine, too, so Sunghoon got their stuff and then followed Sunoo to where Riki presumably was. He couldn't see much, but he trusted Sunoo's instincts.

And they were right, as they caught Riki sitting on a tree branch, vines falling at random from where he cut them. Catching a glimpse of the amount in his bag and the ones on the floor, Sunghoon called out.

"Riki! Come down! We're done!"

In response, a groan was heard from up there, which made Sunoo laugh tiredly.

Soon, Riki was swinging down, his landing easy. Or well, sort of. He fell to his knees, but when Sunghoon made to approach, he groaned once again.

"Finally."

Sunoo, who also stepped up, bent to begin collecting the vines. "Yes, finally. We just need to grab this and leave."

Riki went to his backpack while Sunghoon gently took the vines from Sunoo's hands and crouched to begin gathering them. "I got it. Wait a second."

From his peripheral vision, he saw Sunoo's tail swinging, and from behind, he could sense the look Riki was giving him. Which was totally uncalled for.

When they got the last vines, they made the longish trek to the ship, where, some meters from the entrance that was lowered, were the containers. The last one was half filled, and when Riki and Sunghoon poured the remaining tubes from their backpacks, it filled to the point where some fell to the floor.

Sunoo cheered quietly while Sunghoon reciprocated a high five from Riki.

"Can we get Jay to get this? My arms will fall off." Sunghoon smiled at Riki's whining. It wasn't unusual, but it was always cute.

Sunghoon had already grabbed one of the containers. Usually, he would also ask others to do it, but with Sunoo here, he felt like he had to do it.

"That's not fair to Jay!" After a small pause, Sunoo continued, in a matter-of-fact tone of voice that made Sunghoon laugh. "We should also get Jake to do it."

In the end, Jay, Jake and Jungwon came down to help Sunghoon and Riki move the five containers to put them in the storage rooms behind the lounge. Another planet done, and, internally, Sunghoon also felt accomplished with his interactions with Sunoo, so he felt pretty good.

The fact that Sunoo had bumped his arm and whispered that it was nice speaking with him felt even greater.

He hoped it continued like that.

Chapter Text

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"Do you mind?"

Sunoo raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. Heeseung wasn't worried about being a bit sassy with the other, but he knew he probably shouldn't. He was resting on the couch, though, way too comfortable to move.

"I can call Jay and Jungwon right now to get them on your case. Maybe even Riki if you're feeling artsy."

And that was why he shouldn't.

Heeseung sighed and conceded easily, letting Sunoo move him around to lather him in itchy cream that was meant to help with cicatrization. He had already gotten over the embarrassment of everyone seeing his whole legs because of his injuries, so this was fine.

They had spent three weeks processing the vines from Oleach, and had to send a mid-mission report, which Jungwon helped him write.

They were on the way to Rhashe, their fourth planet, which was some days away, a longer distance than what the rest had from each other, and that one did have a patrol center, like Naminna, so Heeseung worked hard to be able to walk as if nothing had happened when he and Jay visited.

He could technically apply the cream himself, but Sunoo had insisted, and Heeseung wasn't going to refuse since he still felt funky reaching down because his lower torso felt tight with the aftermath of scabs.

He could walk a little bit now, as it stopped being absolutely unbearable whenever he stood up, though he would have to work on his flexibility that hadn't been good even prior to the incident.

Jake had been doing a good job at keeping himself busy, running around and substituting for Jungwon, giving Jungwon free time that the younger used to help Heeseung with his admin work.

It was a bit of a funny situation, because prior to the mission, it was Heeseung helping Jungwon out with stuff in the engineering deck because of Jungwon's burnout, and now it was Jungwon helping Heeseung out. Maybe now Heeseung was the one burnt out, if what Jay insisted whenever they spoke had any truth to it.

During the night, he and Jake still had their nightly conversations, but it had now evolved to them falling asleep together in Heeseung's bunk. Some time in the night, Jake went back, but the fact that they could share the beginning of the night together elated Heeseung. The closeness was something he cherished, and Jake was simply a very talented cuddle buddy.

On other developments, Sunoo and Sunghoon spent an awful amount of time talking to each other in the NAV station. Heeseung knew that if they were out in the open space of their lounge-bridge, technically anyone was invited to intervene, but seeing as no one bothered most of the time, Heeseung knew everyone was in on them.

Jungwon had cornered one time and they escaped to the engineering deck to gossip, with Jungwon telling him insight to Sunoo that Jay apparently didn't know. If there was one thing Heeseung liked about being captain was being at the center of all the knowledge.

So discovering Sunoo had known about Sunghoon prior to coming to their crew and he was part of the reason this ship was chosen was crucial to Heeseung's little web of information.

He always had doubts about the assignment of the mission. He had thought it was suspicious when his crew, as much as he knew they were capable, was chosen for a mission as big as this. They could do it, of course, but he knew for a fact that they probably weren’t first choice. Not for their skills, but because their team was usually sidelined even when their performance was better than others. It was a matter of recognition, which was why Heeseung wanted to build their reputation even more to make others see they were worth being first choice.

It was nice being first choice for once, but Heeseung had thought the sudden change from usual was too suspicious to actually be the OSIS realizing they were a crew worth not looking over when assigning important missions. Knowing it had been because Sunoo wanted to be in a crew with Sunghoon was the answer to his questions, but, whatever the reason was, the fact that they ended up with the mission and with two amazing crewmates was something Heeseung would always be grateful of.

And on the other hand, sidelining his pride over his team and their performance, knowing that Sunoo knew of Sunghoon before the mission and actually chose their crew because of him was a huge thing for operation ‘Get to the bottom of whatever Sunoo and Sunghoon had going on’ that began when Sunghoon stopped being stupid, started talking to Sunoo and started acting suspiciously like a boy with a crush.

And since this was from Sunoo’s side and not Sunghoon’s side, it felt bigger, because they all knew Sunghoon and could assume his motivations and interpret his actions. But Sunoo? Sunoo sometimes felt like such a mystery, so knowing even this one detail made Heeseung giddy.

"There."

At the voice, Heeseung snapped back into attention, seeing Sunoo cleaning his hands with some wipes, and his own legs lathered in cream right up to where his very short shorts (not trousers, obviously) ended.

"I'm leaving the inside to you."

His nonchalant words made Heeseung flush, though not enough to shut up. "Good. Wouldn't want to scare you."

After a second of silence, with Sunoo looking at him with his eyebrows high, the younger burst out laughing. "I'm telling Jake."

Wow. So much for a (big) joke. Was his now-more-than-a-crush common knowledge?

"Wait!"

"Jake!" He sounded way too gleeful.

"Sunoo!"

With his legs fully soaked in cream, he couldn't move as freely as Sunoo, who went rushing to the back in the search of Jake. In the end, Heeseung slumped on the couch, groaning. It wasn't a big deal, but when it came to Jake, it felt more weighty, even if Heeseung knew Jake would probably find it funny.

The buzzing sound from the air conditioner and all the machines accompanied him, though he could hear the faint muttering of Jay and Riki in the cockpit. Sunghoon and Jungwon had gone to their small gym, presumably mostly because Jungwon wanted his turn at giving Sunghoon a pep talk, all while Jake was very probably tweaking around in the back. Or well. Was.

Because at the moment, he was walking towards Heeseung, an easy smile on his face. He looked good, with his dark brown hair ruffled and his cheeks slightly flushed, probably from being hunched with the equipment. Heeseung hoped that his quiet entrance meant Sunoo hadn't gotten to him, but when Jake came to sit next to him and smirked, Heeseung knew it was over.

Sometimes he forgot that Jake and Sunoo were so close, but then there were times like this when he remembered they were together quite literally all of their lives and told each other everything. Like two peas in a pod. They were just good at being subtle about it. Sometimes. Not this time, though.

“Soo-” Heeseung scrunched his face up, which made Jake smile but not actually stop. “-a little birdie told me that you needed help with your cream-”

“Was the birdie pink by any chance-”

“-and since I'm nice, I offered to help you out.”

Their overlapped words stopped as Jake spoke with finality. Heeseung blinked at him and took a second before it really hit. “You- you what? Help me out?”

Jake shrugged exaggeratedly, smiling as if his words hadn’t short circuited Heeseung. “Sure.”

Pause.

Was Heeseung a pervert or was this a very real innuendo-inducing situation? It was implied in the action itself! Heeseung didn't doubt Jake was nice enough to go near his… crotch area innocently to put some cream there, but, come on.

…

Was he really a pervert?

His mind went to the gutter really fast. He needed to process this.

Jake was simply very attractive, undeniably handsome, actually, and considering how comfortable Heeseung was with him, it was a little bit, or a lot, flustering. So one step at the time. First and foremost, he needed to respond to the offering.

“I shall… accept that favor later on, if you are cool with it.” And it was only later on because he had to get mentally and physically ready for that situation before it ever happened, but he for sure wasn't rejecting it.

Jake didn't seem to mind, though he glanced at him as he answered. “I wouldn't be offering it if I wasn't cool with it.”

“Right.” Heeseung deflated, and Jake settled as best as he could next to him on the couch in comfortable silence. Heeseung was still half naked but what could he do, the cream was still drying, and Jake didn't seem to at all.

Their bodies were squished, but that's how they liked to sit, they were usually always like that when they were together. Mostly because it was nice, but also because Heeseung learned Jake was quite touchy. It was noticeable in the beginning, because he loved to hug and pat Sunoo, who usually shied away from it.

Heeseung guessed Jake got a kick out of the rest of the crew being incredibly touchy, too, as Sunoo seemed more timid with his physical contact.

In that same breath, Heeseung also liked to believe Jake was touchier with him, or at least more intimate. It wasn’t the roughhousing he did with Jay or Riki, it wasn’t the easy arm on the shoulder for Sunghoon, it was the hugs and pats he smothered Jungwon and Sunoo with, but maybe something more… clingy?

It was hugs that lasted a bit longer, it was easy cuddling on the couches, it was Jake spontaneously squeezing one of his arms as if it was a teddy bear, it was Jake opting to sit between Heeseung’s legs on the floor whenever they were all huddled in the couches and there was no space, it was them leaning onto each other when something was funny or, in Jake’s case, when something was embarrassing, it was Heeseung hugging him back instinctively, letting his arms snake around Jake’s waist as if they belonged there, it was them always sitting next to each other, it was a bit more, at least in Heeseung’s opinion.

Even when they just met, the other was comfortably putting his head on Heeseung’s lap, and, by now, they fell asleep together, so what was some more intimacy than the usual shared with just friends, right? It would be stupid not to think so.

It made it a bit more serious, but maybe that was what Heeseung wanted, a confirmation that Jake also liked him, preferably before the mission ended, because, even if it was unlikely, a small prickle in Heeseung’s mind always liked to remind him that this was technically a trial test for their crew and they could part ways with both Jake and Sunoo when it ended, for whatever reason.

So, for now, Heeseung would appreciate the time they had with even more confidence at this indication that Jake was also into him.

They were still alone in the lounge, Jay and Riki were still piloting, and the rest were still in the back, though Heeseung knew that Sunghoon, and presumably Sunoo, had to come soon for the five hour mark check up on the state of the route, which was nearing its fourth iteration after almost a full day of traveling. They had some time before that, so Heeseung got an idea. An innocent one, of course.

The ship had no full-time window other than the 180° one in the cockpit in full view, but if Heeseung wanted, he could retract some of the metal panels on the side of the lounge that didn’t have their bunks so the curved wall had one section that served as a window. It was one of his favorite features in their spaceship.

It could only happen during flight and for a small period of time because of temperature regulations for the ship and its specific building design, but at the moment, when it was just them in the lounge, Heeseung wanted to see the space they were traveling in and share his favorite view with Jake. Just for a moment.

He nudged at Jake, who looked confusedly at him, but followed his lead as Heeseung stood up, put on his pants and walked somewhat awkwardly to the sectioned wall. The cream was still sticky, but dry enough, so Heeseung was determined to ignore it.

When they got there, they stood in front of some paintings made by Riki on those panels. Colorful art pieces made with a mix of watercolors and acrylics that he had stashed in his bunk’s storage space. There were flowers, some small sections where he drew sights, all from planets they visited at some point, and some simpler doodles here and there.

“Is this supposed to be Jay?” Heeseung had also gotten a little bit distracted with the art in front of him, but Jake’s words snapped him out of it. When he looked, he let out a chuckle when he saw the doodle he was pointing at with his gloved hand. Jake usually wore compression half finger gloves because of his job, and this time was no different.

The doodle in question was a black cat with big green eyes, sly eyebrows and a smirk. It was indeed supposed to be Jay, and whenever Heeseung looked at it, it was always funny.

“Yeah. And this is the rest of us.” He pointed at the other animal doodle faces floating around it, the yellow cat with impossibly big, sparkly eyes, the white poodle with thick eyebrows, small eyes and some beauty marks, the duck with a pouty orange beak, and the hamster with huge round eyes and big ears.

It had been a collaborative effort, because Riki had asked some opinions on the animals each were, but mostly made the decisions himself, though he relented on their firm settlement that they all made about Riki being a duck even when Riki wanted to be something cooler.

In fresher paint though, he noticed a doodle of a brown puppy that smiled with its tongue out and a smiley pink fox next to it just under the initial doodles.

“Hey, is that me and Sunoo?” Jake’s voice sounded wondrous, and it made Heeseung fond. Riki was so cute. This was so cute. It was cute before, but now it was infinitely cuter. It felt more permanent. Heeseung said none of that and just answered, though.

“Most certainly, yes.” At closer inspection, he huffed a small laugh at the puppy. It was indeed very Jake. A puppy with round eyes and a happy disposition. “You do look like a puppy.”

Jake laughed. “And you do look like a hamster. A lanky one, though.”

“Hey.”

But the tiny jab didn’t bother Heeseung if it meant Jake continued giggling while looking at the doodles.

Soon enough, Heeseung decided to retract the panels and show the section of window, turning off the lights from the mechanism on his tablet, too. Jake was looking at the retracting panels excitedly, and his cute round eyes and blinking habit was terribly endearing to Heeseung.

They sat in front of the window, Heeseung with his legs extended and Jake with them crossed, and looked out.

It always fascinated Heeseung. The view wasn’t as breathtaking as some he had seen before, but it was always consumingly fascinating. It felt like the vastness of it, the splotches of color, the hints at other planets, stars, other space elements flashing by in the distance that was probably years away from him if he were to walk. The darkness, paired with the glittering pinks and blues, the flashes of light that indicated either other spaceships or space stations.

He loved space. The view was enough reminder of everything he had done to work his way into a spaceship that could soar and reach so many different planets that he could explore and take in, as well as celestial bodies to appreciate. His love for every interesting element.

One of his favorite things about being in flight was seeing the exponential amount of comets that were visible when you were in space and not in their home planet, where you could just faintly see one or two per year. They were so much more impressive when they were closer.

Obviously, they always tried to not get too close, but that was Sunghoon’s job, so Heeseung just monitored and enjoyed the close ups.

He turned to look at Jake, whose face was illuminated by the light that came from the sources outside. The shadows behind him made it feel more secretive. As if they were sharing something special.

In the most quiet voice he could muster, he asked. “What are you thinking about?”

“Mhh. I just. Am very happy, you know?” His voice was so gentle, and he turned to smile at Heeseung when he finished. “I’m thankful to be here. I’m really, really thankful to have met all of you guys.” He turned to the window again, and Heeseung caught the way the light reflected on his eyes like sparkles. “I’m glad to have met you, too. You were probably the most unexpected win.”

A smile creeped on his face almost unbidden. Because Heeseung felt the same. Jake was the most unexpected win from the agreements they made all those months ago to house two more crew members and go on a mission. “Me too.”

With a cheeky glance, Jake responded. “Good. You can’t regret it.”

Heeseung took one last admiring look at Jake, at the way his nose fell straight, at the way his full lips sat, at the way his smile made his cheekbones stand out so prettily, before turning to the window, too. “I won’t.”

And if he reached bravely for Jake’s hand right after, and if Jake squeezed tightly before leaning his head on Heeseung’s shoulder, that was for them to know.

Chapter Text

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Sunghoon liked to think that he was getting it.

No, he was sure he was getting it. It was just a matter of patience, like Jungwon said.

While they didn’t spend the most time with each other, Jungwon was always a welcome presence who Sunghoon cherished dearly, so when Jungwon caught him in the pseudo gym, Sunghoon gladly spoke with him even when he had no idea what they would talk about. He usually never knew with Jungwon, but this time the topic of his relationship with Sunoo was revamped. And Sunghoon didn’t doubt Jay was involved, but it was fine.

Talking about Sunoo wasn’t all that bad now.

They were fine now, more than fine, actually, and Sunghoon was getting the hang of it, he promised.

And now Sunghoon had gotten some more advice, which he both appreciated and was determined to apply immediately.

The thing was, though, after the last planet, after spending more time together, this ‘getting closer’ thing wasn’t just out of his own guilt, but also because being with Sunoo was nice.

He was comfortable talking about most stuff because it was made obvious to him that Sunoo was, indeed, incredibly easy to talk to.

So now, he had a problem. Or well. Two problems.

The most recent one had been jumping at him since he noticed and the other had been a constant thought lingering on his mind since the incident with Heeseung.

They were on the latter half of the mission, having already gone through three out of five planets, and the thing causing a real crisis for Sunghoon's mind at that moment in time was that apparently, apparently, he looked for Sunoo a lot.

Jungwon had told him that he always looked at Sunoo, but Sunghoon was skeptical of that and simply insisted that he was imagining things.

It was a stupid thing to tell Jungwon, but Sunghoon was out of his depth here, alright? It probably wasn't even true.

But then, after Jungwon mentioned it, he couldn’t stop noticing it.

It was almost like… like he craved being around Sunoo, even if they weren’t speaking to each other. Their silent communication and coexistence was now something he woke up every morning wishing would happen in the course of the day.

And it was scary.

It had never happened before, and now he felt like the day wasn't a good one if he only saw Sunoo a little bit instead of a lot, like he wanted.

To make it more pointed, Sunoo never seemed to mind. Sunghoon could be hovering in that annoying way that made Jay nag at him, but Sunoo never said anything, never complained, never even seemed awkward or confused, as if he had also accepted that Sunghoon was going to be around him like how a fork would be found in a kitchen.

That led to his other problem.

Sunghoon was comfortable, he really was, but there was this… nagging feeling of guilt.

It sometimes got him when he remembered just how rude he had been to Sunoo at the beginning. Remembering the nasty thoughts was shameful, not to mention their interactions. And it made Sunghoon feel bad. It was mean thoughts and mean actions. He wasn't like that, but he had been like that with Sunoo for no good reason.

He could argue that he had put in the effort later, that he treated Sunoo well now, and it compensated, but that didn't really make him feel any better. He felt like he should at least acknowledge that he was an asshole to get past it instead of trying to brush it under the rug.

It was just taking him some time to come to terms with what he could say, and also, admittedly, he wished the conversation didn't have to happen. He felt like bringing it up would crush whatever relationship he had managed to build with Sunoo and considering how dependent he felt on being around the other, it was scary.

The other can of worms was how in the universe would he even begin trying to explain himself? It's like- he knew there was no real justification for being an asshole sort of intentionally, but if he wanted to explain his reasons, what would he have to bring up? His fear of change? His dependence on stability and routine? His experience? His upbringing? His uncle? His- his parents?

So, yeah, no, Sunghoon was postponing it. Not even because of Sunoo, but because he couldn’t deal with himself.

He talked to Jay about it, just a little bit, and while the other was empathetic, that didn’t stop Jay from annoying him with the comms. It was subtle and he did it in between also annoying the rest, but it still served as a reminder, which was probably Jay's intention all along.

And Sunghoon had to bear it with a smile. Like he was doing at the moment.

“Morning announcements!” At the staticky voice, everyone but Sunoo groaned. Jay had been doing that every day since they departed to Rhashe just to be annoying. “On recent news, Heeseung can now touch his shin with his fingers when stretching, woo! You're welcome for all the P.T.!” At least that made Heeseung smile, but Sunghoon couldn't be too happy since he knew what was next. “Now, on unanswered questions to the HYPHEN crew from anonymous senders, will Sunoo ever organize the cargo bay? Will Sunghoon ever speak his truth? Will Jake ever reach the top compartment in the kitchen? Will-”

“Hey!” Jake, for whatever reason, was sprawled on the floor of the bridge, in a starfish position, just looking at the ceiling. He returned to just staring after shouting at Jay, so Sunghoon guessed he was just resting weirdly.

“-Jungwon ever-”

“Shut up!”

From next to him in the NAV, Sunoo, who had easily ignored the jab directed at him, burst out laughing again. Sunghoon smiled at that. Jay was annoying, but hearing Sunoo laugh made it just a little bit worth it.

Jungwon's voice had echoed from the comms, and a struggle was heard right after, paired with Jay's loud laughter, so at least that was dealt with.

They were still traveling, but they were getting close to Rhashe, less than an hour, according to the ETA. It just meant they were all in anticipation of finally arriving. Which meant the restlessness translated into this energy around the ship.

Jake was on the floor, Riki was napping, Heeseung was doing admin work, Jay and Jungwon were in the cockpit, and Sunoo, who would usually be in the cockpit, too, was next to Sunghoon, showing him his notes about the specimens.

The little interruption from Jay joking around with the comms had served to remind Sunghoon of his predicament, but it also made Sunoo laugh, which was always pleasant, so Sunghoon guessed there was a good thing to come out of it.

He preferred when he had been just talking to Sunoo, though.

“Is this the one we are getting from Rhashe?”

When Sunoo turned to look at him with his bright eyes and pink hair, Sunghoon couldn't help but avert his eyes to the drawing he was pointing at in Sunoo's notebook. He couldn’t help it.

“Oh, yeah! It's these tiny species of fish that look kinda like frog baby thingies? What were those called?”

His tail was swishing contentedly, and his pursued lips were cute as he tapped his chin with his finger in question. Sunghoon blinked himself out of it.

“A tadpole?”

Sunoo snapped his fingers and beamed at him. “Exactly! One of those. Slimy and fishy. They are really icky and squirmy.”

His matter of fact tone made Sunghoon smile. Just the simple fact that he knew what Sunoo was implying with his words felt so nice. And Sunoo being comfortable making subtle but bratty demands at him was also really cute. “I get to catch them for you?”

When Sunoo smiled at him, it was more playful than before. “Of course!”

He didn’t elaborate but Sunoo never really had to. Sometimes he could communicate all of what he wanted in simple words, and other times, he could ramble all he wanted. Sunghoon liked it anyway.

“Is there a reward?”

Sunoo simply tapped the notebook again, not even turning to look at him. “Mh? My love and gratitude?”

That made Sunghoon pause for a second, the mention of love totally catching him off guard, but before he could conjure something, Jake piped up from the floor.

“Don't accept! It's a personal servant contract! And there's no retirement! Unfair working conditions!”

“That's not true!”

“See! He is luring you in with lies!”

“Stop it!”

Sunghoon smiled at their banter, but he still couldn't respond, so he just let them. The way Sunoo had just so easily mentioned giving him love, as humorous as it had been, had thrown him for a loop. He knew what the other meant, and it was obviously a joke, but the mention of that word from his mouth just made Sunghoon feel all weird. Once again.

Damn it, he should stop doing this.

“Hoon. It's 15.”

Heeseung’s voice was gentle, but firm, and it snapped Sunghoon out of it. Was it 15 already? He was checking before, he swore he was, but maybe… maybe he had gotten too into his head.

“Ah, going.” He pressed the comms and signaled to Sunoo, who had stopped bickering with Jake at Heeseung’s reminder, that he should activate the NAV sensor for a parking spot in the planet. “Jay, ETA is 15, almost 14 now.”

The comms made a static noise before he heard Jungwon. “On it!”

It didn't stop and he heard Jay call out. “Please call Riks!”

Jake, who finally sat up, responded. “I got it.”

“Thanks.”

Sunghoon began sending the parking information to the cockpit before sitting back and putting on his seatbelt.

Everyone around them began moving, with Jake, Jungwon and Heeseung coming to the bridge to sit and Riki leaving for the pit.

When Sunoo put on his seatbelt, still next to Sunghoon in the NAV, Sunghoon opened the cabinet and took out Sunoo's mufflers. He had learned that Sunoo had a bigger sensibility to practically everything, so he needed the mufflers for the loud sound, needed a stronger filter for his helmet, and had a ton of special creams made by his own genius for his sensitive skin.

He had lent some to Sunghoon after he inquired about the cream used for Heeseung’s treatment, and he couldn't deny that his skin looked pretty good these days.

Sunoo thanked him with a smile and then they were all covered by the cage for the moment it took to land.

It was so quick, Sunghoon almost hadn’t managed to put on his seat belt before they were already parked.

“Woo! Second to last, baby, we are going strong!”

Sunghoon chuckled at Jake's excitement, and wordlessly took Sunoo's mufflers to put them away.

In a flash, they got prepped to go outside, their suits overlayed with a thicker suit for protection against the frigid cold of the planet. Jay assisted Heeseung for them to go visit the patrol center. In this particular planet, the patrol center was pretty big and had two spaceships of their own.

When inquired about the planet, Heeseung mentioned it being a pretty big deal on alien fauna. They had to get a bunch of special permits about that closer to their date of arrival because of the very quick expiration times.

The planet itself was glacial and had more ice and water than land. It actually had just one patch of land that had the patrol center and the place where they parked. The rest was filled with icebergs, ice caves, and a ton of ice strings that went from the water upwards, kind of like a backwards vine. They were pretty sharp, so they had to be careful when approaching the place prepared for the mission team to fish the specimen.

Or well, for Sunghoon and Riki to fish the specimen. Sunoo apparently came just to show them which it was and how to store it. Which was fine by Sunghoon. Sunoo didn't have to do anything he didn't want to.

Even if it meant spending hours hunched over a hole on the ground blindly passing the net around to catch fish.

At least Riki was good company.

They had been at it for some hours already, filling two out of six containers, and they had decided to divide the expedition into two because of the amount of specimen needed and how time consuming actually fishing the things was, so they only had a little more to go. The air was chilly even with the layers, and Sunghoon’s fingers were a bit numb even with all the movement he had been doing.

Riki was curled up like a penguin next to him, hunched over the bucket of germ clumps that was apparently food for the fish they were catching. They had had a lull in their conversation that mostly revolved about either old gossip from the OSIS or food when Riki suddenly spoke up.

“You know. It's nice that you're getting along with Sun now.”

Great. Sunghoon was just in the middle of struggling to empty the net in one of the big containers filled with fish and some other tiny fauna.

“Yeah. It's nice.”

“Mhm.”

When Sunghoon looked up at Riki, he saw him with this knowing smile that meant he was up to no good. One wouldn't even believe he was the same quiet 13 year old kid that Sunghoon basically adopted at 16 from the small OSIS new recruits tutorship program Ms. Jung suggested he take part in. It was always those you carried on your back and nurtured that ended up teasing you the most, and Jungwon was also proof.

In the end, it was only when they were back on the ship and Sunghoon was sitting next to Sunoo, who was delighted at seeing him having a hard time manually filtering the specimen from the container filled with water and fauna, that he realized that it meant that Riki probably interfered somewhere, sometime, somehow.

He turned to look at Riki, and watched him laugh at Jake flailing for the balloon-ish ball they had conjured to play around. Its material wasn’t as thin as that of a balloon because it wouldn't stand the internal climate of the ship, but Jungwon had banned balls inside the ship after a particularly stupid incident that included a ball and the half-baked missiles Riki had laying around in his station.

Heeseung was also standing and moving around, even if he wasn't as fast. It was cute that Jake and Riki did their best to pass it to him, and they were shouting and laughing a lot, so, as long as they were careful with their playing, it would be fine.

Jay and Jungwon were a clump on the couch, both on their tablets, either doing work or playing, Sunghoon couldn't see from his angle. He could also not guess their position, what with their legs all entwined.

In turn, Sunoo and himself were sitting on a mat on the floor near the bathroom, because washing hands was incredibly important, and considering they were parked in a place with a patrol, they had unlimited water supply. So, considering that the specimen was icky, exactly like Sunoo said, they were making use of that temporary luxury.

They hadn't had any problems with water because of the supply inside the ship, but they did space out the two planets with patrol centers to stock up on it before it could run out, but also considering the distance between the planets themselves. Sunghoon hadn't particularly considered the specimen lifespan until Sunoo had given him his notes, so they did have to change stuff up, but it was still doable, even if they had to move Rhashe to second to last instead of third in line.

“You're spacing out again.”

He felt something on his wrist, and saw Sunoo’s tail tapping him to get his attention.

When he looked up, Sunoo was smiling knowingly at him. Before he could respond, the other sat back.

“I know this isn't the most prestigious job, but it's important and someone has to do it.”

That made Sunghoon smile as he went back to picking out the small translucent tadpole-looking-fish from the container. “If it's so important why don't you do it?”

Sunoo hummed dismissively. “I think I'm good.”

As he pinched one's little tail with his gloves, it started squirming wildly, but Sunghoon was determined. He slowly inched his hand towards Sunoo, who began squirming. “You sure? Look, aren't they cute?”

At first, Sunoo didn’t respond, just smiling as he leaned back, but when his back touched the wall and Sunghoon wasn’t stopping, he put his hands up. “I'm good! Really, I'm good! Stop! I'm good!” But he was laughing behind the hands that he had put up as a shield, so Sunghoon retracted his hand and accepted the harmless slap he received on the shoulder.

“Hey, you were the one who said that slime is good for the skin.”

It made Sunoo huff cutely. “You're so annoying.”

Still, he got over it fast and remained sitting next to Sunghoon, checking the specimen on the bigger, cleaner container where Sunghoon was putting them, so Sunghoon continued working. They would have to throw the residue of other fauna and algae into the hole after compiling all of the specimens needed the next day.

The rest of the crew continued moving around, playing, working, but Sunoo stayed next to Sunghoon until he caught the last tadpole thingy from the containers he and Riki had gotten that day.

When he and Sunoo peeked at the container, filled with tiny, slippery, fish, Riki and Jake approached, glancing at them, too.

“They look like sperm.”

“Riki!” Jake and Sunghoon burst out laughing bodily as Sunoo gasped dramatically, even when he started laughing right after.

“What?! I said it, but we were all thinking it!”

“Ugh. You are also so crude.” Jake was still laughing, and Sunghoon could hear Jay chuckling in the background. Heeseung and Jungwon had congregated on the bridge, checking some stuff on the main monitor.

“So, what are we gonna do with these? Do we really need to get more?”

They all stared at the transparent container filled with fish. Now that Sunghoon noticed, they looked almost like they glowed a faint blue. While he had been picking them out, he had been able to see their insides pretty clearly so maybe he thought it was a reflection rather than actual glow.

“We need to keep them alive until they are the correct size for extraction. Just a lot of acclimatization and feeding. That's why we need a lot. They are prone to dying, see?” Sunoo used his tail to point at the bottom of the container, where some fish were already laying, looking grey.

Riki crouched and looked inside. “Noo, poor thing.”

“Yeah, it's sad.” Sunoo began pouting at the fish, and before Sunghoon could add something, Heeseung called for him.

“Hoon! Wanna help me stretch?”

Instinctively, Sunghoon turned to Sunoo, who was already looking at him expectantly. He almost wanted to say no. Jay was usually the one who helped Heeseung stretch. But spending time with Heeseung wasn't bad, and he didn't have any real reason to deny him.

“Alright! I'll be right back.” He then took off his dirty gloves, dangling them in front of Sunoo, who giggled loudly while dodging, before leaving him with Jake and Riki, and the containers. Just a tiny moment of joy.

When he met Heeseung at the gym, the other was sitting on the floor, already stretching.

“Did you really need my help?” He was joking, of course, but Heeseung did look like he had everything under control.

He received a playful look in response. “Maybe I just wanted company.”

Sunghoon chuckled as he sat. “Sounds romantic.”

“Good. I'm working on my game these days.”

They heard laughter coming from the main room, but didn't mind it. “Any particular reason for that?”

But he knew. It was a little bit obvious even if Sunghoon wasn't the most aware these days.

“Sure. Same as you.”

That made him turn to look at Heeseung, who was grunting as he tried to reach his toes. His struggle would have made Sunghoon laugh any other day, because Heeseung wasn’t flexible at all, but his words made him inquire. “I don't know what you're talking about?”

“Ah. Then I must be wrong. I thought we were on the same boat.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Me? Like how you are with Jake?”

Heeseung shrugged nonchalantly. He always had this way of making conversations more lighthearted, but his implications were still baffling to Sunghoon.

“Aren't you? I don't know. I'm just telling you what I have seen.”

“And what you have talked about with Jay?” Because Jay was always at the scene of crime. And if Heeseung was referring to Sunoo, then it was even more obvious.

“Maybe. But everyone talks about it.”

That surprised Sunghoon. He had only talked with Jay and Jungwon about it. Did everyone think he and Sunoo were like Jake and Heeseung?

“Everyone?”

Heeseung flopped to the floor, apparently done with his stretching, but continued their conversation. “I don't mean to alarm you, but I have spoken about your budding relationship with everyone but you and Sunoo.”

Relationship?? Was that how it was coming across? But Sunghoon just wanted to be on comfortable terms with Sunoo! He was extending an olive branch after being so needlessly mean, because Sunghoon could accept that he needed to redeem himself from that, and he was working the courage to actually do it, too. There was only that, leaving behind the strangers phase that should have ended weeks prior and making up for his stupidity.

…

Right?

“Even Jake?” Because he needed to focus on something else.

“Sure thing. Jakey got the shock of his life but he supports it now.” He said it so easily that Sunghoon couldn't help but be shocked.

“Really?” Because he somehow thought Jake wasn’t involved in… whatever this was. Which was naive in hindsight, as Jake and Sunoo knew each other the longest, so of course he would notice stuff going on with his friend. “I haven't really talked to Jake much.”

Which was also true. He could say they had an amicable thing, especially comparing it to Sunoo's at first, but now that he felt closer to Sunoo, Jake was a little bit further from his circle.

That apparently surprised Heeseung though, because he sat up straight and looked at him. “Really? That's crazy. You should though. I'm sure you two would get along great.” He then furrowed his brows. “How come I never noticed you didn't talk much?”

Sunghoon blinked at him, a bit flustered. It was one thing to speak on the… thing with Sunoo, and then it was another to set him up for a… friendship? He knew Jake was nice and talked very easily with him, they just hadn't gravitated to the other a lot, each with their own thing.

“It just didn't happen I guess.”

Heeseung smiled knowingly. “Well. Maybe you should. I think it would help you with your, you know, thing. The impending conversation.”

With a groan, Sunghoon reclined onto the little gym bench behind them. “One can’t tell Jay anything, he gossips like an old lady.”

“The best kind of gossiping, actually.” He then leaned onto Sunghoon's shoulder warmly. “But for real, Jay has good intentions. And while I can sit here and give you advice and encouragement, I think maybe talking to Jake could be helpful. I don't expect a heart to heart, but what do I know, Jake has a strange talent of making you open up, so he could even give you a tip or two.”

There, letting Heeseung cuddle up to him and feeling all the familiarity the other always brought forth whenever they were together, Sunghoon hummed.

“I'll think about it.”

Chapter Text

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There was little to no bright side to almost having your legs mauled off, really, but if Heeseung could choose one, it would be that he got to delegate the incident report, that they had been postponing for more than a month by now, to Jungwon, who could just cuddle up with him while grumpily asking questions.

Making him relive it wasn't nice, and it did make Heeseung feel bad, but not having to clinically review it himself is better, so he chose his personal lesser evil.

“Do I need to describe everyone's involvement? Like, Sunoo's energy thingy?”

They were on the couch, and for once, everyone was out on the main deck. That had been a rarity ever since they went from 5 to 7 because of the limited space and everyone always looking for small semblances of privacy in the backside of the ship, but it was always a welcome occurence.

Sunoo was napping on his bunk, Jay was indulging Riki with something on the younger's monitor, and Sunghoon apparently took his advice from the day prior very seriously and was amicably talking to Jake as they looked over some stuff on Jake's tablet. A prototype probably. Because Jake liked those, both checking new ones related to spaceship composition and betterment, and trying his hand at creating them. Sunghoon wasn’t very keen on mechanical engineering stuff, but if it involved navigation in any way, he could get down with it.

“I think so, yeah. I mean, we can't downplay the moving sand, anyone without Sunoo would probably have lost their legs.”

Jungwon shuddered bodily but didn't answer, just furrowed his brow as he continued tapping the digital form.

The sound of steps on the metal plaques they had as a floor, the murmured voices, as well as the hum of machinery all around and the air conditioner was the noise Heeseung could hear if he closed his eyes.

This was nice.

The normalcy that surrounded them.

He had gotten used to it pretty easily. He already knew Jay’s loud laughter, Sunghoon’s sharp steps, Riki’s characteristic fiddling whenever he was playing with something, Jungwon’s excited voice.

But now he had something more.

He had gotten used to the harmony of two more voices around them. To hearing Jake's loud voice and flustered chuckles around, to listening to Sunoo's giggles and squeals here and there. As if there had never been a time when the two of them hadn’t been in the crew. In Heeseung’s now bigger chosen family.

As if reading his mind, Jungwon muttered from where he was squished next to him, borderline on top of him. “You know, I'm really thankful you got this mission for us. I almost can’t remember what it was before them.”

Heeseung smiled. “Yeah? It feels as if they were always here even if it has been a short period.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I'm-” Jungwon blinked for a moment. “I'm happier now. It's easier to share the burden of the engineering systems and the mainframe with Jake because he genuinely likes hardware and maintenance while I can focus on the programming and quality. It's- It's a relief.”

Sensing that Jungwon wasn’t done yet, Heeseung nudged him lightly, knowing he was opening up. It was a bit rare, but Heeseung appreciated the trust.

“And Sunoo, he is- he is so kind and interesting. I know alien species for us don't have the best reputation, and it's rare to work with them, even with how progressive the OSIS and its adjacents are, but I’m glad they brought Sunoo in and we got to meet him, too. Sunghoon seems to also appreciate having someone else at the NAV now, and it's a relief having someone with more than just first aid training on board. It's just. A really excellent team. We were already a good team, but now we are even better.”

Squeezing Jungwon in, Heeseung answered. “I think so, too.”

After a small pause, where they heard the others talking loudly around them, Jungwon murmured. “You know what Sunoo would say?”

And while Heeseung hadn't talked as much as Jungwon had with Sunoo, he understood where the other was getting at. Still, he humored Jungwon. “What?”

“He'd go ‘It's like fate, that we found each other’. He always says stuff like that.” But he sounded incredibly fond.

“And you don't think that?” Because teasing Jungwon was always fun.

Indeed, the younger one made a face. “I'm not that cheesy.” He then relaxed. “It's a nice sentiment, still.”

“It is.”

They remained sitting on the couch until Jungwon put the tablet away with a stretch.

“Done?”

“Yep. And sent.”

These days, after his conversation with Jay, it was easier to accept the help without much guilt. He knew he had to start up that topic again at some point, because he knew he had been sensitive and had blown Jay off just a little bit, but it was, as Heeseung could begrudgingly agree, getting easier after it.

It may not have been Jay's intention, but his reassurance had been helpful, and now they were something Heeseung used as a sort of mantra. It made Heeseung more thankful for any help instead of rejecting it or downright not considering it. “Thank you, Wonie.”

“You're welcome.” Turning to face him, Jungwon continued. “Another thing. We need to check our housing situation when we get back. You know our place in the OSIS residential area was put on hold because of this mission.”

Heeseung hummed. He could read between lines. Jungwon was asking if they were renewing their use of that place or asking for a new place. And that was only dependent on them returning as a team of 5 like they were before, or as a team of 7. Their accommodation was in one of the four big apartment complexes in the residential area, and they were fine with it.

They didn't need a house just yet, and enjoyed the apartment life. It had three bedrooms, with Jay and Jungwon, Riki and Sunghoon, and Heeseung having their respective rooms, and they had an open space living room, kitchen and dining room.

If they had two additional members, they could get a complete floor apartment instead of the one they had, which was one of two apartments on the floor. A complete floor had smaller, but individual rooms, and two living rooms that intersected in a kitchen and dining room, if what other crews had told them was right.

Heeseung didn't care much for the benefits of a new apartment, he liked the apartment they were in just fine after all, but he did need to check the logistics of his crew and their future.

And that meant…

“Let’s have a crew meeting before we go back to HQ. I also need to talk with Jake and Sunoo, both individually and together, but if you can begin testing the waters with Sunoo, I'd be grateful.”

Jungwon made a salute mimic from where he was still snuggled next to him. “Yes, sir.”

With a chuckle, Heeseung sighed. “Let’s hope for the best.”

═════════════════════

Sunghoon had a plan.

Sure, it was half-baked, and he had promptly ignored most of Jay and Jake's advice over how to go about it, but that was only because Sunghoon was sure it was the best way.

He hadn’t dared ask Jungwon or Heeseung in case they outright refused, though.

He had thought about it carefully, and he decided that he had to get Sunoo alone to finally talk to him about the topic.

It was something that had to be done if he wanted to be at peace. The more time that passed, the more his chest weighed down heavily with his guilty conscience.

It was especially hard whenever Sunoo would smile at him and tell him stories about his life. His life, which was so different to Sunghoon’s, but never tragic or blasphemous, like his prejudiced mind sometimes wondered.

So he had to do it.

He had thought about it carefully. At first, he thought about making Riki and Sunoo switch places for the planet visit, but then decided that it was too cold and dangerous for Sunoo. Nevermind the fact that Sunoo had power of his own, Sunghoon didn’t want him in that situation if he could help it.

His anxiety had conjured up the most extreme ways things could go wrong if he decided to have the talk while outside, in the cold, inhabited planet. It ranged from him slipping on the ice, all the way to an icicle brutally falling on top of either of them. It was just never viable.

He also wondered on closing up one of the smaller rooms, but he didn't want to sit on the floor for this conversation, and it didn't feel right to apologize while on the gym, or the engineering deck, or on the cargo bay or on the pantry. The bathroom wasn't even an option.

So he did the next best thing: hijacking the cockpit.

While on flight.

It was fine. Sunghoon had gone through the mandatory piloting classes. He wasn’t appointed as a relief pilot like Heeseung and Jungwon were, but that was just a formality.

As they were heading to their last planet, time was slipping him fast, so he had to move before he regretted it.

Convincing Jay was a bit of a problem, but after a lot of promises, reassurances, and Jungwon's cooperation, Sunghoon got the cockpit for some time right before they arrived to their last planet while they were with the autopilot.

He'd have to be really careful with any signals or alerts, but Riki assured him he would be checking from the bridge. Jay reluctantly also agreed to be on guard.

It wasn’t super dangerous, but it was something they had never done, not having Jay or Riki, their main pilots, in the pit during a flight.

But it was safe, Sunghoon knew that for a fact, because he and Sunoo had slaved over hazard prevention checks, the ship charts, and the optimal route for safe and swift arrival. They even programmed some alternatives in case of minor stuff.

So he could do this, he really could. He was prepared, he had backups, he had even gone over the points he wanted to say with Jay.

It was just that…

The moment Sunoo entered and promptly sat next to him on the pit, seemingly fascinated by the view they got to see most of the time in space, Sunghoon's words caught in his throat.

In his frenzy to finally have the conversation, he forgot how nervous he had been to actually have it.

“This is so pretty.”

Sunghoon continued looking at him.

The smooth skin, the light eyes, the plump lips and straight nose. The way his ears had a slightly different shape from his own, the way his pink hair waved even when there was no strong air, the way his tail went to rest on his lap.

Everything that made him similar to Sunghoon and all the details that separated them. It didn't matter. Because when he looked at Sunoo, he saw someone worth… caring for.

Sunoo pointedly didn't turn to look at him, but when Sunghoon saw his lips quivering with the urge to smile, he couldn’t help but smile, too. It was something he noticed, that Sunoo was good with eye contact but bad when someone stared at him. It usually made him snap out of staring, seeing him shy, but this time he had to talk.

“Hey.”

“Mh?”

Sunghoon took a deep breath. Even he knew he had been stalling. If he just… ripped the bandaid, maybe he could just flow from there? It was a bit mortifying having Sunoo here when the other had no idea what was going on and Sunghoon didn't start talking.

“I- um. I wanted to talk to you. About- About something.”

It was when Sunoo turned to pay attention to him that Sunghoon began fumbling. Those sparkly eyes staring attentively were distracting.

But Sunghoon had to push it, damn it, he owed it to Sunoo at the very least.

“I wanted to… apologize.”

He exhaled as the words came out weaker than he would have liked. They seemed to startle Sunoo, whose surprised expression betrayed him the moment the words finally came out of Sunghoon's mouth.

“Oh, what? Why?”

The confusion in Sunoo's voice made Sunghoon look up at him.

“Just. I was very wrong about you. At the beginning when you first arrived, you know. I was an asshole. I treated you badly and you didn't deserve that. I-” Sunghoon took a deep breath. He was already on it, he couldn't stop now. He knew what to say, he just had to say it. “I was very rude to you when you arrived, whenever you approached to talk, when you wanted to show me your routes, when we went on that first mission together, and more times. My attitude was terrible and I got irrationally angry at you a lot. And I'm very sorry about that. I was- um- I was not fine about you being added to the team at that time, but I should have been mature and resolved it myself instead of being mean to you.”

His heart was beating uncontrollably fast when he finished, his thoughts racing, the adrenaline of word vomiting his apology strong. The shame of his past actions coursed through him, but he had to own up to them, he had to. So he just let those feelings bubble up within him because that's what he had to do.

The worst part was not knowing what Sunoo would say.

That wasn't everything Sunghoon planned on saying, but he wouldn't just keep Sunoo glued to the cockpit's chair expecting to be heard if Sunoo didn’t even wish to listen or didn't accept his apology. And Sunghoon wouldn’t mind if he didn't. Or well, he would, but he wouldn't fault Sunoo for it, he had been mean-

“Why did you not want me here?”

The calm voice interrupted his anxious train of thought, and Sunghoon slowly turned to look at Sunoo, who looked awfully serious.

He took a moment to think about the words. He knew the reasons. He knew them, and he had planned on talking about them on depth, but was this an opening? It was the perfect way to begin talking about his grievances, but was it really? The question was too pointed, too… detached.

And he knew Sunoo. Or at least, he liked to think he knew him. Maybe a tirade wasn’t what the other wished to hear.

“It's uh- You know… ‘Cause you are mixed. It is- was a prejudice. I was wrong about it. And I knew I was wrong even before meeting you, but I still couldn't stop myself. I'm sorry.”

When Sunoo remained silent, Sunghoon panicked.

“It's a me thing. It's on me, I am the one in the wrong here. You did nothing wrong, you were perfect. I just- I'm- My uncle taught me some stuff- and- and- I knew better, so I was wrong…”

His voice trailed off at the end, and Sunghoon really had no idea what he had just said, but Sunoo spoke after a moment.

“Alright.”

Alright?

“What?”

“It's fine. It happened. I was confused when it happened, sure, but I figured you had your reasons and I was right. I'd like to think we are past that.”

Sunghoon blinked in shock. “Just like that?”

With a sad smile, Sunoo answered back. “You are not the first or worst to do something like that. You weren’t even that bad. And, we are close, right? I know you are sincere.”

A prick of anger appeared in Sunghoon’s mind. He knew he probably wasn’t the first or worst, as Sunoo said, but hearing it and confirming that Sunoo was shunned more than he knew made him angry. At the others who did it first, but also at himself for not being any different.

“I’m sorry that happened to you. I don’t want to be like the people who wronged you.”

He didn’t get an immediate response. It was fine. Sunoo was the one in control here. Sunghoon couldn’t come here and apologize, demanding a friendship and forgiveness all at once. He wanted Sunoo to really think about it.

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Mh?”

“You know, the reasons why you were so uninviting. Maybe if I know them, it would be easier to understand why you acted that way.”

It was a pretty long story. Well, depending on how you explained it.

But Sunoo was giving him the opportunity. And, didn't Sunghoon want this? This was his best case scenario, where he could spill his guts to Sunoo and let himself be judged fully for it. But… maybe… before that…

He glanced up to look at Sunoo, whose pink hair and pale skin contrasted greatly with the dark space that could be overlooked through the window.

“First… do you want to talk about it? I don't want this to just be… about me. It's fine if you don't want to, of course, but I also want this to be about you, if possible.”

Which was a bit selfish, Sunghoon could admit it, but it was his sincerity peeking through. If Sunoo said they could be friends and Sunghoon believed him, then he wanted this to be about them both instead of just him.

Once again, Sunoo simply looked at him.

Or well, that's what Sunghoon thought until a small pout and a sheen of what seemed like tears sprung into his eyes.

He felt his own eyes widen in panic. Did he fuck it up? He did, it was over, Sunghoon made him cry, there wasn't-

Suddenly, he felt his hand be taken by another soft one and his chair being pulled forward, making their knees touch.

Sunoo, instead of looking like he was about to burst out crying, looked determined. His eyes still shone and his voice was slightly unstable when he talked, but the fire in his eyes was powerful.

“You mean that? You would listen?”

Blinking, stunned, Sunghoon leaned forward, making Sunoo, who had been close, jump a bit in surprise at the closeness, even when his hand was still tightly interlocked with Sunghoon's.

“Of- of course! You said we are close, didn't you? I can do this much- and- and more for you.”

Sunghoon actually had no idea what had just come out from his mouth because he could still feel the adrenaline of the sharp panic and then surprise from Sunoo's actions, but he meant it, and he knew it was the right call when Sunoo smiled, as if relieved.

“Okay.”

Chapter Text

═════════════════════

“I can't believe this is my life.”

“Heeseung, we are in the middle of space, in a ship. Why is this what's finally breaking you?”

Heeseung dropped himself backward, because Jay had to understand the level of drama he was willing to exhibit.

“Why is my job pulling eyes from fish?! Couldn’t we just turn them in like this?”

They were sitting in the lounge, stationed to process the specimen like usual, though Riki was in the cockpit manning it and Jake was in the back checking some maintenance stuff.

Sunghoon and Sunoo had shut themselves in the former's bunk bed after being kicked out of the cockpit, and even from this close, Heeseung could hear very little of them.

So that left Jungwon, Jay and himself massacring the small, slimy fish to extract their tiny, tiny eyes.

Which was gross and morbid.

But Heeseung didn't have anything else to do and he hadn't helped when Sunghoon cleaned the fish up, so he was roped into this part of the processing.

“Sunoo said they die fast and we need their eyes extracted while alive to freeze them. Connect the dots.”

Heeseung sat up when Jungwon just huffed a laugh and answered without looking at him. If Jake was here, he would have laughed at his theatrics for sure.

With a sigh, he went back to picking the fish, trying to be as clinical as possible so he wouldn't actually have to think about what he was doing.

The ship was moving, and they were close to reaching the ratio where their pilots and navigators had to be on standby, so Heeseung was getting somewhat nervous of the fact that Sunoo and Sunghoon were still cooped up.

They had spent an insanely long time talking, to the point where Jay had to kick them out to check the autopilot's state, which couldn't be seen from the bridge. When they just went to Sunghoon’s bunk and closed off the thick curtain, Heeseung was just somewhat curious, but assumed they were finally opening up.

Now, after hours, he was a bit scared that they would have to actually interrupt them.

But safety came first, so when they finished with the fish, Heeseung was the unlucky soul who was tasked with going to fetch them.

If they had played rock paper scissors, he would have definitely won, but Jungwon was mean and did it based on how many eyes they had accumulated on their tray. Which was wholly unfair as Heeseung was just slow at the job.

“Time to work, guys.”

He knocked on the column between curtains and was greeted with Sunoo peeking from the bunk.

“Hey, is it time?”

Heeseung blinked down at him. He looked awfully normal, though his eyes were slightly red. It didn't even look bad, as if it was a natural flush, so if Heeseung wasn't ultra aware, he wouldn't have noticed.

“Yeah, we need you on the bridge.”

Sunoo pursued his lips and looked to the side, but Heeseung couldn't actually see what he was looking at because of the height.

With a small sigh, Sunoo smiled at him with a nod and then turned to his other side.

“Time to wake up.”

Heeseung turned to face the main space to give them some semblance of privacy, but he was giddy with the knowledge that Sunghoon had apparently fallen asleep next to Sunoo.

He waited until Sunghoon woke up and they came out from the bunk to leave them.

Going to the automatic sliding doors for the back, he went into the noisy hallway to look for Jake, who wouldn’t notice the ship was about to park unless someone went to pry him away from his engineering stuff.

“Jakey?” The lack of answer also didn't phase him, since his voice was drowned out by the engines. They were too close to the back while on flight, so they were loud.

He leaned on the wall, watching as Jake wrote down statistics for his checklist, his glasses, slipping a little as he leaned up and down to read from the machine's screen and his tablet.

His cheeks looked a little bit flushed, and Heeseung couldn't help but stare at his lips. He had been fantasizing too much about how they would feel, and a small tickle of warmth erupted in his chest at the thought.

Before he could get even more distracted, he cleared his throat and called out again, getting amused at the fact that Jake hadn't noticed him yet.

“Jakey.”

When Jake looked up at him, Heeseung got the pleasure of seeing his expression morph into a pretty smile.

“Heeseung! You're here!” He stood up quickly and went to hug him.

“Well, yes, of course, this is my ship.”

His tone only got him an exasperated groan that Heeseung just knew also included an eye roll, followed by a small giggle right on his neck. Every tiny expression Jake made was just very endearing to Heeseung in a way that he hadn’t known before, and it was nice that he could even predict his reactions by this point. He couldn't quite pinpoint when he became so fond, but he wasn’t questioning it, he adored every detail about Jake and he didn't feel the need to specify the when or the how or the why. He just knew that this feelings had sparked within him since the very first time they talked one on one, and they had just continued to build into something precious and irreplaceable for Heeseung.

Jake was leaning his weight on him, but Heeseung was just happy to hug him.

As they stood in the noisy deck, stalling, a thought sprung onto Heeseung's mind.

“Hey. I wanted to ask you something.”

Jake froze in his arms, and when he looked up, he had a nervous but expectant look on his face.

“Yeah?”

Heeseung smiled. He wasn’t nervous about asking Jake, because he was mostly sure what the answer would be, but he wanted to get it done sooner rather than later.

“How would you feel about staying with us after the mission is over?”

“Oh.” Jake buried his face onto Heeseung's chest. “Really? For real?”

Squeezing him, Heeseung nodded even if Jake couldn't see him. “Yes, for real, you and Sunoo.”

In an instant, Jake snapped his head up, and Heeseung could see the excitement in his eyes. Maybe Heeseung should have started from the part where it was both him and Sunoo, even if to him it was obvious.

He didn’t speak, but started bouncing giddily, shaking Heeseung in the process. It made Heeseung laugh in delight at the reaction. It was both just as he expected and better.

“I take this as a yes?”

Jake laughed gleefully in response. “Yes, of course, yes.”

“I'm glad to hear it, then.”

Still wrapped up together, Jake asked. “Have you told Sunoo, yet?”

“Not yet, Jungwon is on it, though.” He then thought about it. “If you want to tell him, that's fine, too, I just wanted to know before the mission was over so we could make it official.”

“Yeah.” Jake looked a little bit dazed. “Make it official…”

Squeezing Jake some more was the only way Heeseung could relieve his cuteness aggression, and he was in the middle of that when the comms activated.

“What's taking you so long? Get over here, we are arriving in 10!”

“Oh.” Heeseung felt his own eyes widen. It was an unconscious action, but it made Jake giggle in a way that let Heeseung know the other thought he looked cute. They had gone through those silent cues way too many times already.

With a knowing look, Jake let go of their hug and went to pick up his tablet. “Is that the original reason they sent you?”

“Hey. More respect. I sent myself.”

Shaking his head, Jake chuckled. “Let’s go, nerd.”

Heeseung grumbled even as he followed dutifully. “Look who's talking.”

“I heard that.”

“I know.”

The moment Heeseung arrived at the main space, Jungwon was up on his face, inspecting him.

“What?”

With a sigh, Jungwon turned back and went to sit on the bridge, where Sunoo and Sunghoon were already sitting and buckled, just looking at them enter.

“You don't have any hickeys.” His voice sounded so forlorn that for a second there, Heeseung thought he heard wrong, but he hadn't heard wrong, so he stopped and blinked.

“What.”

Sunoo and Jake burst out laughing while Heeseung tried to compose himself. Sunghoon shook his head with a smile, but since he hadn’t stepped up to defend Heeseung, he was an accomplice.

“Hey, what is that supposed to mean?” Was the best he could come up with, but it was drowned in giggles. Jake just patted his back and led him to his seat at the bridge, as if he was an elderly. He huffed at that. “I’m a classy man, I wouldn't suck a hickey.”

That made Jungwon snort. “Are hickeys too unclassy for you?”

…

“...no.” When Jungwon, Sunoo and Jake began laughing at him, Heeseung groaned. “But that wasn't the point!”

“Sure.”

“Really, I’d like you to know that I wouldn't just suck a hickey anywhere, at any time.”

“Whatever you say.”

With a sigh, he let it die down. Everyone was still giggling, so he couldn't be the party pooper even when he was caught off guard. He wasn't mad, just flustered. Even Sunghoon was snickering. He just sighed fondly and let them do whatever until it came time to buckle up and close the protective shield.

Jungwon was just too imaginative, they literally had no time to suck hickeys into each other back there, he hadn't taken that long to retrieve Jake.

But now that it was on Heeseung’s mind, he couldn’t … stop thinking about it.

It was the whole ‘applying cream’ fiasco all over again, and the fact that Jake had been completely fine both times was another turn on.

The only thing that took him out of the very sudden, very overpowering image of Jake kissing his neck was Jay's last warning before dipping the ship and smoothly parking on the dirt from their last planet. They probably wouldn't be parked for long, since they had to be on hover mode on this planet, but their ship needed the downtime, at least for some small amount of time while they configured the hover mode.

It was daytime outside, considering the light was blue instead of the nighttime's red, but their personal clocks were going backwards, meaning they were all approaching their time for bed.

If the research was right, nighttime wasn't particularly dark, so they just compromised on getting to work after sleeping.

Their sleeping schedules were all over the place with the timezones and travel time and everyone's work, so it wasn’t an official bedtime, but Jay and Riki wanted to crash after being on standby while on flight, Jungwon and Sunoo usually went to sleep at around the same times, which was approaching fast, and Sunghoon seemed to follow anything Sunoo was doing these days, so he went to sleep as well.

Jake and himself were more rogue (especially Jake) but at that moment, both still did the theatrics of getting ready for bed and everything.

Heeseung found himself on his bunk, staring at the metal roof and perking his ear for any noise. If his telepathy with Jake was right, they planned to meet in the back like they used to soon after everyone went to bed, probably because Jake wanted to finish his checklist thing.

After more time than what he expected had passed, he began wondering if Jake had fallen asleep instead, but then he heard the quietest sound of a curtain opening and the pitter patter of steps going towards the back.

Any doubt was erased when the door made its characteristic sealing closed sound, so Heeseung eagerly came out of his bunk and went to the very back, to his spot with Jake that was filled with machinery, tuberies and constant loud white noise.

He found Jake already making himself comfy in the mats they had left there since the very beginning. It felt like an eternity since that first conversation, and Heeseung couldn't believe how far they had come since then. He now knew so much about Jake it felt like a whole different experience, but it had that same spark of thrill that he chased ever since that first night.

Jake was a firecracker whenever he got fed up at stuff. He and Jay were like fire and gasoline when it came to working closely together and Heeseung had been witness to many wrestling fights right in the middle of the bridge that resulted from it. Never seriously, obviously, but it was funny to see how they provoked each other, especially since Jay was a very good sport about being teased and Jake was a good balance of witty and kind. This was a part of Jake’s personality that he had learned to love as time passed.

He also loved how fond the other was of literally everyone in the crew, but especially the three youngest.

Heeseung could admit he had a soft spot for them, too, as he had known Riki since the kid was 13, and he had known Jungwon since he was 16, with Riki being Sunghoon's small protégé from a tutorship program and Jungwon worming his way in after he and Jay met in an advanced flight simulation optative course and latched onto each other, which then translated to all of them forming a bigger group.

But Jake was just so kind and sweet and loving and warm. It was noticeable that he had been an older brother figure for way longer than Heeseung, Jay or Sunghoon had with anyone, and it showed so well when he interacted with the younger ones. It wasn’t even as if he treated the three of them in the same way, it was simply the way he balanced caring, respecting and playing around so expertly.

And Jake was so smart, too. He was passionate about his craft, he cared about their ship as if he had built it himself, and he was a quick problem solver for details that escaped them. He balanced Jungwon's weaknesses and always looked so happy to be able to do what he loved.

Jake had aspirations of creating his very own patents and it was nice to complement Heeseung's own dreams of exploring every inch of space and Jake's ambitions of creating the best medium to do that. And thinking about a future with Jake made Heeseung excited.

Because after everything, he was sure Jake was someone he’d like to share his life with. And not only in the way he wanted to share his life with his crew, but in a slightly different way. One that included sleeping next to each other, talking about everything and anything, cuddling onto each other's arms, sharing secret smiles and sweet kisses. Yeah.

Unknowingly, he stood there for longer than intended and snapped out of it when Jake began pulling at his hand to sit down.

Still mindful of his legs, he carefully sat with his legs extended, and when he went to break his handholding with Jake so he could lean back on his arms, he felt even more tugging.

When he looked at Jake, the other was looking at him with his eyes widened pleadingly, and he looked so cute and soft with his messy hair and big hoodie that he used as pajamas, that Heeseung could just let himself be moved however Jake wanted.

In the end, he was reclining slightly on a pillow that Jake brought along, with the rest of his body flat on the mat. Jake rested his head on his chest and they stayed that way for a moment, just basking in the warmth.

He had thought Jake was going to work, but apparently not, and that was fine with Heeseung, too, though he didn't understand why they had come to cuddle on the engineering deck instead of just doing it in their bunks like they had been doing.

“Is something the matter?” Because he still had to ask. Jake had been basically nonverbal since he arrived and that was strange. Now that they were comfy, covered with a blanket, and alone, it was a good time to ask.

He felt more than heard Jake humming, still buried on his chest. He hummed for so long that Heeseung wondered if he was getting out of breath. But before he could say anything else, Jake looked up, resting his chin on his chest with a determined look on his face.

“You know. When you asked me before about staying here, I was really happy. Really, really happy.” Heeseung smiled and opened his mouth to answer, but Jake wasn’t finished. “But, I was thinking of another question when you asked me that.”

“What?” Because Heeseung didn't get it.

Jake flopped on top of him. “You know.”

“Mhh, I don't think so, Jakey.”

In response, he got a grumble and Jake kicking his feet on the mat, which was funny, but didn't quite answer Heeseung’s questions. What else could he possibly have asked? He had only been thinking about finally breaching the topic of becoming a permanent crew with them the last few days.

But that was the wrong response, so Heeseung wracked his brain for what other thing he could have asked in that situation. He did so while staring at Jake, obviously, since seeing his pretty face, even when he was grumpy, was something Heeseung always looked forward to since long before they became…

Wait.

Fully shocked, Heeseung felt his eyes widening as he looked at Jake, and it seemed that his face was emotive enough to have Jake drop the grumpy expression and giggle at him.

“Do you know, now?”

“Oh, Jakey, are you flirting with me?” Because Heeseung could and would take the opportunity to tease.

“Ugh.” When Jake was flopping onto his chest again with a big groan, Heeseung hurried to take it back, even when he was laughing.

“Sorry, sorry, yes, I know, I know, I get it.”

When Jake looked at him with a look comically filled with mistrust, Heeseung couldn't help but laugh again.

“I really promise I get it, really.”

“Really, really?”

“Yes, Jakey, I really promise.”

That finally seemed to placate Jake, who went back to looking at him expectantly, his look reminiscent of when Heeseung had asked him to stay in the crew after the mission was over.

But now he knew what he had to do, and he knew Jake wasn't going to say anything else until he did it, so, it was time to go for it. Heeseung didn't even need to get nervous, but the small thrill of premature happiness coursed through him.

“Hey, Jakey. I wanted to ask you something.” Because he was annoying and had to word for word their previous conversation.

Still, Jake humored him, and the fondness within Heeseung almost burst at the seams. “Yes?”

“I really, really like you, so, do you want to be boyfriends?”

He saw as Jake blinked for a second before a big smile overtook his face. Heeseung thought he was so pretty with his fluffy hair, pretty smile, his gorgeous lips, and sparkly eyes that he almost couldn't wait for an answer. He reeled it in, though, it was important.

“Officially?” Was Jake's serious inquiry after clearing his throat and regaining his composure, looking at Heeseng seriously. His pretty plump lips twitched with the remnants of his excitement, but since he was making an effort to look serious, Heeseung only stared at his lips for a little bit longer before actually nodding and pursuing his lips in pseudo seriousness.

“Of course.”

“Then, yes. Let's be boyfriends.”

“Fine by me.”

“Fine by me, too.”

When they just remained staring, Heeseung playfully asked. “Do you want to shake on it, or-”

And suddenly, the softest, plushiest lips ever were touching his own, so Heeseung could do nothing more than squeeze Jake tight, revel in the joy and warmth that coursed through him, and kiss back eagerly.

That was what official boyfriends did, after all.

Chapter Text

— — — — — — — rewind — — — — — — —

“You know, Jay wanted to talk about this very seriously, and I thought he was going to come off too strong, so I wanted to reach out to you first.” A pause. “Sunghoonie… You know we like you very much, and- I know you have good values, that's why I wanted to understand where you are coming from.”

“Um... About- About what?”

A sigh.

“Your dislike for aliens.”

“Oh.”

“I know it has been hard, you know I understand that, but Jay has been getting uncomfortable with your comments about it, and I know you don't notice it, so I wanted to bring it up.”

Sunghoon felt his heart racing. He hated confrontation. But this was Heeseung. Heeseung, his new cool older friend who always managed to tame Jay, who always talked sweetly to him, who always made sure to include him.

It was unexpected, but Sunghoon could do nothing but listen, the knot on his throat stopping anything from coming out.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“Hey.”

“...hey.”

“I just. I wanted to tell you-” It was hard. “I dropped out of the Space Police Academy Program.”

That caught Jay's attention. “What?”

“I- I dropped out. I'm moving programs. I wanted you to be the first to know.”

“...”

Not letting the silence deter him, Sunghoon pushed through. “I also wanted to say that I'm sorry. If I made you uncomfortable. Heeseung- he talked to me. And I agreed to go to therapy for a while. I know it doesn't make up for it, but I don't want to lose our friendship.”

“...only for our friendship?”

Taking a deep breath, Sunghoon continued, finally managing to catch Jay's eyes. “And for me, too. I want to be a space explorer. Like you guys. I don’t want to follow in my uncle's footsteps. I want to be… my own person.”

Sunghoon couldn't even cringe at his own words before he was enveloped in a strong hug. A weight was lifted from his shoulders. Jay didn't have to say anything for him to understand that his friend would be there for him.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — —

“I talked to the therapist about what you said the other day.”

“Who?”

“Heeseung.”

That made Heeseung look up from where he was studying some legal space forms. “I say a lot of stuff.”

Sunghoon wasn’t looking at either of them, but he didn't have to. They understood. Therapy was hard, and he wasn't always up to talking about it. But he wanted them to be a part of this, too.

“The thing about how I want someone to blame for my parents’ accident.” That made Heeseung fully stop his work. “They weren’t attacked just because aliens in general want to hurt humans. They were… collateral damage to something bigger. And while that isn't fair, it wasn’t the aliens’ fault. I don’t know if I can be comfortable around them, but I don't want to be… this mad at them.” When he finished talking, he quieted down. It felt a bit embarrassing, after all, to talk about this. Especially since he had to be careful.

His therapist told him that he was always careful when talking, but his thoughts weren't always careful, and that was just going to cause him anxiety. So he was finding ways to make it better with her help.

“That's good. You can’t always be angry.” Heeseung piped up after seeing him cower down.

“Did you check the records I sent you? My mom managed to find a lot of stuff regarding the accident.” Jay was just sitting around in Heeseung's bed, but he had rolled to look at Sunghoon while he spoke.

“Confidential stuff?”

“If she has access, is it really confidential?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes.”

“Tsk. Those are technicalities. She still gave it to you, so did you read it?”

Sunghoon had read it.

Incident report from August 28th, seven years prior, when Sunghoon had been eight years old. His parents, who were lab researchers, were part of a small team tasked with chemical analysis of some particular alien blood, which wasn’t unusual, but, unfortunately, one of the specimens became aggressive during the extraction and attacked them.

It was a very clinical report.

Looking at the wounds, the number of injured (seven) and the number of deceased (four), the state of the facilities, who the analysis was delegated to after the deaths, the consequences given to the alien.

It didn't have much more though. There were details that weren't part of the report that Sunghoon wished to know about, even if they hurt.

Did they have any last words? Did they cry? Did they remember him in their last moments? Was it painful? Sunghoon hadn't wanted to check the autopsy reports, he didn't have the strength to do so, but he guessed it had to have hurt if it was such a catastrophic attack.

It happened so fast, too, no more than 10 minutes in the record.

And he spent a lot of time avoiding reading it since he knew it would bring out emotions he hadn’t wanted to deal with. And he was right.

The extensive reports on everything done to prevent another incident like that one from happening would never console Sunghoon.

Because why couldn’t those measures be installed prior to his parents suffering the consequences for their absence? Why couldn’t they have sent some other researchers, even if that was incredibly cruel to think about? Why didn't he ask them to skip a day? Why did they even need the sample so urgently that they didn't wait for the alien to be calmer? Why did he have to be the one missing his dad's deep belly laugh and his mother's head pats? Why was it that he would never get to see them again? Why was he left alone, without them? Why were they gone? Why, why, why?

But no matter how much Sunghoon thought about it, no matter how much he spinned the ‘what if’s of it, around the idea of someone magically managing to save his parents, of the alien not becoming aggressive, of security arriving faster, something, anything that would make the outcome different, he couldn’t change the past, he couldn’t, no matter how much it hurt, no matter how much it weighed on him, no matter how it made his chest hurt and his lungs feel small and his eyes fill up with tears, no matter how it changed his whole life, no matter what.

And he had to learn how to grieve and cope with it because he knew that the feeling of missing them and wishing they never left would always be with him, the same way that the memory of their warmth and their love and his life with them would always be with him, too.

And Sunghoon knew, logically, and he knew, empathically, that it wasn’t the alien’s fault. He researched about the species, and they had similar behavior patterns to monkeys and cats somewhat. They got spooked because of the unfamiliar surroundings and since the behavioral interpreter wasn’t fast enough to notice, they pounced for their own survival.

He couldn't just comfortably loathe them because he wasn't ignorant.

That was why he always struggled with his thoughts and autonomy, trapped in a place where it made him guilty to think that way, but the guilt couldn't overrule the hatred and resentment that festered on him. Why would it? His uncle always told him that aliens were violent and disruptive and senseless and cruel, so why would Sunghoon think differently?

Every night, in the room he had painted with his uncle just some days after his parents’ funeral, in the bed that his uncle bought for him because Sunghoon had been too apathetic to use his former bed or go with him to choose a new one, with the pajamas that he also provided and the blanket that his uncle had washed for him to use as his own, he listened to the endless stream of stories.

Some were funny, some were cool, most were grim.

As a space police enforcer, his uncle met a lot of unjust crimes, and he always drilled into Sunghoon the injustice of aliens getting to mingle when they caused so much damage.

That's why it was so easy to loathe.

His uncle allowed the hate. He encouraged it, never leaving room for reasons of justifications. There were no intentions, just the crime, and so Sunghoon could easily bury his guilt and fully abhor the creatures. It was a vicious cycle for him in his formative years. The reminder of his parents and his uncle’s stories became something Sunghoon hated. He hated the crimes. He hated the people hurt. He hated the problems. He hated aliens.

But he was learning to understand that it wasn't black and white. Universal matters were nuanced. And even if he just wanted someone to blame, it had evolved into something more consuming within Sunghoon. And he hated it. He hated it more than he ever hated aliens.

It wasn’t like a cold bucket of water was suddenly thrown on his head that made him want to forgive, forget, accept, and love.

It was that prickle of guilt that always told him that maybe his thoughts weren't right. The conscience that was buried underneath everything he had learned from his uncle that insisted that his parents had taught him differently.

Because they had taught him differently. Because they always tried to teach him empathy and critical thinking. Because they were always kind and chose their line of work to make the universe better and to make discoveries that helped understand their differences instead of condemning them.

Because whenever he went with them to the HQ, he got to satisfy the curiosity they nurtured by letting him see the pictures of other species while they told him what they knew about them. Because whenever he told them he wanted to meet those other species they researched about, they hugged him and told him to work hard towards his dream. Because his mom always called him her little adventurer and his dad always insisted that they'd go on a long space trip to watch the stars and meet alien species when he got older.

Because of all of that and more.

And now, after all those years, he had to pull those feelings out, face them, and use them to become better.

And it was hard. It was so hard, but Sunghoon was never too prideful to admit when he was wrong. It was hard because some of his convictions were still aligned to some ideas his uncle taught him, but he had to learn to separate the nuanced opinions from the hateful ones to learn what he truly wanted to be like instead of following what his uncle told him was right unquestioningly.

His therapist told him that it wasn’t his fault that the circumstances aligned to make his perspective like that, and it was good that Sunghoon wanted to change, even if it had been a change prompted by his friends.

So he was working on it.

And even if the grief for his parents never really disappeared, never actually went away, even if it was always there, a constant to his existence since the moment they left him, Sunghoon decided that he wanted to make them proud. He wanted to live and he wanted to achieve his goals and remember his parents whenever any new milestone hit because they would be so proud of him and all they ever wanted for him to be happy and accomplished. And while Sunghoon let himself get carried away, let himself drift into someone he wasn’t proud of, someone he wouldn’t have wanted his parents to know, he was done doing that, he was making a change and he was honoring them in the best way he could.

“Yeah. Thanks. I reviewed it with Ms. Jung, and we are going to continue talking about it on Friday.”

“That’s really good, Sunghoon!”

“See, you'd be lost without me! You should be more grateful!”

And while they laughed at Jay, Sunghoon did feel grateful to Jay and Heeseung for being so patient and supportive.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — —

The sound of people walking around him wasn’t unexpected. He was sitting in the corner in a hallway, and the OSIS had thousands of people from different areas in it. Of course people would be around.

And maybe that was what Sunghoon wanted for a while. To fade into the background for a bit. To just… not exist for a second.

Everyone ignored him since he made sure to put on the big headphones he borrowed from Heeseung, and just let himself soak in the bittersweetness.

Stray thoughts here and there scattered around in his brain. Some were more important than others.

He also had things he needed to do.

He needed to call Jay. He would like to think the other would open his home to him easily, but he still needed to make sure. He needed to change his tutorship status on the OSIS database. He needed to check available scholarships. He needed to gather his stuff. He also needed to ask for help moving his stuff. It was a lot. It was overwhelming.

For now, though, he looked at the floor between his knees. Pristine white. Grounding. Calm. Sunghoon needed to be calm. He needed to breathe.

In his trembling hand, a crumpled acceptance letter to the OSIS Space Exploration Youth Program was flashing his name in bold cursive.

— — — — — — — forward — — — — — — —

When Sunghoon woke up, he felt an acute difficulty breathing.

He coughed, sitting up so rapidly that his head spinned, and gasped for breath, burying his face in his hands.

Some days were harder than others, but they had been coming so infrequently that he had almost forgotten about them. Almost.

“Are you up?”

When he looked to the side, now more calm, he saw Sunoo kneeling next to his bunk, resting his head on his hands.

It made Sunghoon laugh breathlessly, simply because of the situation. “How long have you been there?”

Sunoo's smiling face calmed him down more than he understood. “I was sent to wake you up.”

That surprised Sunghoon. “Really? What time is it?”

A thin, pink tail with luminous translucent tendrils at the end swished by his lap. He hadn’t noticed it when he woke up, but he guessed that's what woke him up ultimately. “Not that late. But we need to get ready to go out. Riki is a little bit impatient so he asked me to get you.”

“Ah.”

Slumping back, Sunghoon let the remnants of the scare he got waking up wash over him.

“Are you okay?” Because it had been a little bit strange that Sunoo didn't immediately ask when he saw him wake up that shaken up, but Sunghoon knew Sunoo was being more considerate by letting him ground himself.

He knew about the nightmares after all.

Sunghoon hadn't omitted anything when opening up the day before. It had been both cathartic and draining. It was a type of raw he hadn’t been in ages, and it was somewhat nice to see that he could handle talking about it better.

He still cringed sometimes when he remembered how he was during the whole learning curve with Heeseung and Jay, so it felt nice to be past that and be able to talk about it all at once with Sunoo, even if he had been nervous and scared to do so.

He hadn't even known he trusted Sunoo that much. He knew he wanted to explain, but he hadn't been totally confident on the extent of it. And it came as a surprise just how easily he just let everything out.

It would have been scary if it hadn't been as relieving as it had been.

…

(Sunghoon squeezed his eyes shut. He wasn’t crying, damn it.

“I didn't want to be like this. By the time I noticed, it was so hard to be anything other than this, but it made me feel so bad. I felt so bad.”

The arm around him was comforting. Sunoo was crying. He didn't hold back, gasping for breath sometimes. Maybe it was also cathartic for him. Still, Sunghoon appreciated the comfort because Sunoo made him feel like he deserved it.

“It's hard. And it's harder to do something about it. You knew what was right. You just had to remember.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I just had to remember.”

Sunghoon didn't know how, but the forehead that pressed onto his nape, the hand that held one of his own tightly, and the lips that exhaled close to his neck made him feel protected.

“Remembering also doesn't mean to just hurt yourself over and over. You have to get up from it and be better. And I know you have been. So you have to know, too.”

Taking a shuddering breath, Sunghoon simply squeezed the warm hand with his own.

“I'll be even better. I promise. I won't be like them. I won't.”

A wet chuckle fell onto his ears, and then Sunoo was crying again. Because the stories Sunoo told him were so hard to hear simply because Sunghoon knew that the other didn't deserve that.

Stories about aggressions that ranged from being insulted, both directly and indirectly, to downright assault. And the knowledge that, had he stayed the same, he could have been the one doing those things was so horrifying that Sunghoon felt the guilt wash over him like a tidal wave.

He heard Sunoo, but his therapist once told him that a healthy amount of guilt was important to take responsibility, and if that’s what it took, then that's how Sunghoon would live. At the very least, he owed it to Sunoo considering how he had acted when the other arrived.

Sitting up, Sunoo also dislodged from where he had been resting, and they looked at each other. Even with his eyes puffy and his face rosy from the tears, Sunoo looked so pretty.

He felt himself chuckling despite himself. It sounded stuffy. It was just so surreal. His reaction made Sunoo smile, and it was enough. Sunoo deserved nothing less than to be happy.

“If I ever act like an asshole again, you have permission to hit me.”

That finally made Sunoo giggle. “I wouldn’t hit you.”

“I'm just saying that you can, take the chance while you have it.”

For a moment, his half joke faded into the silence, and they just stared until Sunoo spoke again.

“I don't think you'd do it anymore.” Unexpectedly, Sunoo leaned in and hugged his shoulders. They had been somewhat touchy, but Sunghoon thought that was a proxy of the vulnerability. This felt a bit different, but still nice. So Sunghoon tentatively put his arms around Sunoo's torso, not pulling him close, but holding him carefully.

“I won't. I promise I won't. It was a bad joke. I'm still very sorry.”

“I know. Don't worry.”)

…

The conversation had felt like it both lasted forever and didn’t last long enough. They even moved to Sunghoon’s bunk at his own request since Jay began butting in through the comms. Thankfully they had already gotten it together by that point, but they weren't done talking.

It was like a dam was broken.

Sunghoon learned so much about Sunoo in such a small amount of time, and connecting what he noticed and what he already knew to what he learned helped him paint a picture of Sunoo that was more complete than the snippets from before.

He finally learned about his life and how he used to sell self-made cosmetics on the downlow. How he excelled at his chemistry courses but was surprisingly not that strong in physics. How he liked writing and always did well during homeschool assignments since Jake was more of a numbers and equations kind of guy while Sunoo was better at analyzing, redacting and listing.

How he considered Jake's dad his own dad since he never met any of his parents and ever since he could remember he had been with them both as a tiny family unit.

How he personally didn't know much about his parents and didn't really want to know, but he knew that his human mom used to be close with Jake's dad and they worked together before Sunoo was born and they completely cut contact when Jake's dad took Sunoo in after he was born.

How he had tried to maintain a cordial relationship with other pians, but the differences made it hard to connect with them even when he fully embraced the qualities that they shared.

How he hadn’t been terribly sheltered, but it still came as a shock to be othered in such a hateful manner when it happened as he began exploring the world.

How the reason he had only come in contact with some clients during his time underground was because he was scared even if he wasn't such a big anomaly in those sectors. He could never underestimate the species who met him since he never knew how they would react.

How there had been a time when he was almost taken by some human traffickers that disguised themselves as clients and wanted to use him for his power and knowledge. Sunoo hadn't downright said it but he implied that they specifically wanted him because he had the phenotype and body structure that resembled humans the most while not being fully human either. It had shaken Sunghoon in a way that he hadn’t felt, ever.

How he had almost rejected the OSIS when they scouted him since he was so terrified of being different with people who had upbringings so contrasting with his. How he had been treated weirdly by a lot of higher ups and peers whenever he worked during those first weeks.

How the first time someone had grabbed his tail had not been during his time underground or prior, but by a peer during a mandatory lecture when he first started at the OSIS. Sunghoon had been so angry that he wished he could turn back time and stop that from happening.

It had been heavy, even when Sunoo recounted it as lightly as he could, and the only thing Sunghoon could do was listen to him and be there for him.

…

(“It was scary, you know. Coming here.”

They were lying down curled up and facing each other on Sunghoon's bunk. It hadn’t been long since they moved, and they were a bit drained after all the crying they did at the cockpit, but they didn't want the small bubble they created for themselves to burst just yet.

At that moment, Sunghoon felt like he was peeking at Sunoo's deepest secrets. He could feel every inhale, he could feel every exhale, and he felt the warmth of Sunoo's hand that was held on his own in between their bodies.

“I think Jake was more outwardly scared, but I was so, so terrified of being here. Because I could feel the looks. And I could hear the whispers. And I could never ignore it when they told me to my face.”

Closing his eyes, Sunghoon had to find peace within the anger that flashed through his body. And he felt a little hypocritical, since he had been no different, but he knew better. He knew better.

“And I was scared. I was so scared that one day, it would become more than just words. Because it had before.” Taking a deep breath, he continued. “When I worked with Jake, you know, when we began selling, I had to tape my tail to my back and use beanies that completely hid my hair and I had to swallow down any pian call my body wanted to make to not stand out. I wasn't a human, and when we met alien clients, I wasn't alien either. I was neither, so I had to hide to at least pretend to be one for others. And it worked for the most part, but it made me so… isolated. I felt so anxious all the time, and I hated feeling like that. And then when I came to the OSIS, I tried to do that again, but some teachers found out and complained that they didn't want to be tricked by my disguise. And it was so hard to start coming without that protective layer. But I had no choice, since the people who supported Jake and I were on the practical field, not on the academics side.”

Sunghoon felt sick. “Even the teachers?”

The sad smile Sunoo gave him made the helplessness he was feeling even stronger. “It's easy to assume. It was a perfect combination. A scouted recruit who is also of mixed species? You know how rare mixed species are even out in between planets. I was new and different and it was easy to use me as- as- I don't know. An example? Maybe it was to show everyone that no matter how smart I was they'd find a way to show I was inferior to humans.”

Sunoo's voice was shaky, and Sunghoon knew this was hard, but he couldn't do much to help. He just squeezed his hand tighter when Sunoo began breathing in and out deeply, presumably to fend off sobs.

“And you know, of the hundreds of papers they made me submit during the probation period before sending us to missions, only four were graded fairly. Four. And the people were… horrible. It was- It was a relief when I reached the room we had intact, but everyone always felt like they could touch me since I- I wasn't- you know. And the hands followed me everywhere. And that paired with the taunts and the whispers and the isolation and the public humiliation from the teachers was- it was so bad. It had been bad when we worked, of course, but I knew it was dangerous, here was just- just- It was just so bad. And it made me so scared for my future. But… Jake was so happy, you know? I couldn't ask him to leave, and I didn't want to leave by myself. I have no one else. Jake and his dad are my only family. And even then, if I left without him, he would have found me, any way or the other. And- and even then, I didn't really want to give up this opportunity because of some awful people. I still wanted to prove myself, to share my knowledge, to learn new things, to be acknowledged, even if it was hard and everyone was making it impossible. I was both ignored and never left alone, and it made me so frustrated, but what could I do?”

Pausing for a moment to clear his throat, Sunoo continued. Sunghoon didn't feel the need to add anything just yet. He had gone over this a few times already after hearing Sunoo's stories. Sunoo needed to let it all out before any other comment could be made.

“And you know what? It was such a relief when I finished the probation. And it was such a relief to be with Jake again, even if that made me feel a bit childish at being so dependent on his company. But I was so alone during that period, I couldn't help but want to stick to him like glue for the small missions they assigned us. And then, when you guys accepted our request to be here, it was such a relief, too.”

Suddenly, Sunoo made direct eye contact, which he hadn’t been doing since he began talking, and Sunghoon was met with the prettiest amber eyes he had ever seen, looking straight at him with determination.

“Even when you ignored me, it was such a relief that it was only you and not everyone in the crew. And even then, Sunghoon, as much as you pretended I wasn't there or that my existence was an inconvenience, you never, never, made me feel stupid and you never discredited my work or my contributions, and I don’t think you have any idea how much that meant to me. I couldn't care about you avoiding my eyes when you still added my notes to the first iteration of the route. I didn't let it get to me that- that you sometimes acted rude when you still listened to my every word during explorations and respected my orders. I didn't mind you not talking to me because you were kind in other ways that others never thought to be with me. So even if it didn't feel good to be treated like that, it was easy for me to accept your sudden kindness and it was also easy for me to accept your apology because of that.”

When he finished, he stopped and closed his eyes with a small sad sigh, and that's when Sunghoon used his opportunity to quietly pipe up.

“Even when I was letting my worst get to me, I could never disrespect you. You are so smart and- and so capable, and you deserve all the respect you're given and more. I know you know that.” He took a deep breath, but didn't pause, because he knew what he wanted to say. “You'll prove everyone who doubts you wrong, just like you did with me, just like you have already been doing, with all these years of work that got you here, where you are, and you'll have a bright and- and amazing future ahead. You are already working towards it. I- I'll always support you, so continue going forward, however much or however little it might be.”

Because he wanted Sunoo to know that he didn't need to constantly prove himself. He already proved himself and fought so hard, and whatever he wanted to do next, Sunghoon would be there for him, no matter if it was next to him or from afar.

And his stuttered, clumsy words were the ones that finally made Sunoo smile as tears fell down his cheeks. His voice sounded small and shaky, but also grateful and soft when he eventually spoke up.

“Thank you.”)

…

And now, he felt intimately close to Sunoo in a way that he could only attribute to how vulnerable they had both been when speaking on their experiences and how they affected them. It was a connection different from the one he had with the others.

“Yeah, yeah. Just. A bad dream. Don't worry.”

A tap on his lap made him look up and he found Sunoo's amber eyes. His pink hair was as mesmerizing as usual as it moved as if a small breeze was always around for Sunoo, and his glassy clear skin reflected pretty rosiness here and there.

“Do you want to eat with me?”

Sunghoon gulped, noticing that he had stayed looking at Sunoo's lips for far longer than appropriate, and moved to get off the bed. It was time to get up.

“But real breakfast only.”

“Bread and milk is breakfast, too!”

“You need protein!”

“Protein isn't everything!”

Sunoo's small outburst made them both burst out laughing, and from behind Sunoo, Sunghoon could see Jay raising an eyebrow at him. But that shall come later. For now, he was taking Sunoo to their tiny pantry to get something to eat and then they would prepare to go collect the planet’s specimen with Riki.

They had a long day ahead, after all.