Chapter Text
"I told you!" Jinyoung moaned, dropping down to the sand, soaking wet, still gasping for breath as Jackson collapsed next to him. "I told you to look out for the rocks!"
"How is this my fault?!" Jackson shrieked. "He was the one navigating!"
He pointed at Jaebum, who stumbled down on Jinyoung's other side. Youngjae, with Coco trembling in his arms, plopped next to Jackson, and Mark fell next to Jaebum. They were all soaked.
Jinyoung lunged at him.
"THE ROCKS ARE THE SIZE OF SEVERAL SMALL BUILDINGS YOU SHOULDN'T NEED—!"
"—don't kill him before he gets me a new ship." Jaebum calmly pried Jinyoung's fingers away from Jackson's throat.
Gasping, Jackson massaged his neck and glared resentfully at him. "I thought we were friends!"
Jaebum snorted. "Not even a little."
"I got you a new ship!"
"Mark got me a new ship," Jaebum corrected him. "After Bambam and Yugyeom stole the ship you borrowed from Amber."
"He's got a point..." Youngjae muttered, as Mark cackled next to Jaebum.
Jackson decided if they had to resort to cannibalism, he'd eat all of them and not even feel bad about it.
Sighing, Jinyoung stared out at the ocean. The high afternoon sun beat hot against their necks. The remains of what was once their ship were washing up on shore. It hadn't even been a very good ship — a stolen fishing boat not worth the cords they used to tie it to the docks. But it still sailed. Barely.
They were tracking Bambam and Yugyeom, when Jackson scraped off the side of their ship and forced them all to abandon again. Except this time, they were stranded on a deserted island. And no one knew where they were.
"Well..." Youngjae looked gloomily at the debris washing up on shore. "At least we have some firewood."
Hardly a consolation with a dense forest behind them.
Jackson moaned and dropped back into the sand. "We're going to starve."
"We're not going to starve," Jaebum replied with a sigh.
Jackson glared at him. "Oh yeah? When was the last time you were stranded on a deserted island with no food supplies?"
Jaebum reached for Jackson's throat to finish what he stopped Jinyoung from doing earlier, but Mark grabbed his arm and forced him to stand before he had the satisfaction of ending Jackson once and for all.
"Why don't you and Jinyoung go find a fresh water source, and we'll start searching for food..." Mark smiled, his voice calm but with an edge of a threat: do it or I let him kill you.
"We'll do that," Jinyoung replied quickly, as Jackson opened his mouth for a retort.
He forced an eye-wrinkling smile as he made Jackson stand and pushed him towards the forest.
They marched into the woods, Jinyoung trailing a step behind Jackson as he kicked and stomped through the brush with more force than necessary.
"Who does he think he is anyway, huh?" he seethed. "It wasn't even my turn to sail!"
He swiped angrily at a low-lying branch.
Jinyoung sighed. "You still wrecked a ship on a cluster of completely avoidable rocks."
Jackson spun around to glare at him. "Whose side are you on?!"
Rolling his eyes, Jinyoung walked on, letting his shoulder knock into Jackson's as he passed.
"How many times do I have to tell you?"
"You side with Jaebum on everything."
Which was true.
But.
Jaebum was right 95% of the time, and Jackson was mostly just dramatic 95% of the time.
"He kidnapped you!" Jackson added.
Also true. Jinyoung still hadn't figured out that particular mystery yet, but it wasn't really the issue at the moment...
"If he didn't kidnap me, we never would have met."
"So not the point," Jackson muttered behind him.
With another sigh, Jinyoung stopped and turned. Jackson was too busy sulking at the ground to notice, and walked right into him. He jumped back with a startled shout.
"Jackson..." he stepped close so their faces were inches apart.
Jackson swallowed. He could see a faint flush of pink on his cheeks. Their eyes locked and he leaned forward...
Then flicked Jackson's forehead.
"Idiot," he turned and started walking again. "I'll always be on your side."