Haseul would rather to sleep a little more, but she couldn’t afford it now. She didn’t know if the Saeg girls were already up or not, however, she had forgot about something very important yesterday and she had to take care of it before the rest of the crew was up.

Leaving behind a heavy sleep Yeojin, she left their room to meet Vivi at the corridor. She greeted the pink haired woman with a thankful smile as she received a small white box. “Thank you, sweetie. What would I do without you?” The other just smiled lazily at her, nodding slightly before leaving to start her usual work in the conference room.

Jo closed her grip on the box, thanking Sooyoung for having remind her of this detail – there was so much she could hide from Ha’s smart eyes and it definitely wasn’t one of the things. Mr. Kim asked her to keep the number of people that knew about Jungeun’s identity to a minimum and she would keep her promise, yet, she needed someone to help her with it and Sooyoung was the one person she could always trust. If anything happened to her, Ha would need to take over the ship and protect everyone in there, not telling her would be a foolish act.

Nodding slowly to herself, she prepared to make her way to Yerim’s room.

Albeit the person she was looking for was already a step ahead of her and had her red eyes fixed on the pilot’s face. The brunette couldn’t tell by the girls expression what was going through her mind, but her piercing gaze was enough to make her feel a little less at ease.

“Oh, hey! I mean, good morning.” Bowing her head politely, she covered the small distance between the two of them. “Miss Jungeun, can we talk now? I need to give you something.”

Kim watched Haseul with a scrutinizing look. She couldn’t sleep well the whole night and was still feelings the effects of the lack of sleep. Figuring it would be safe enough to leave Yerim’s room and try to take a look at her own, it took her by surprise to see the human she had met yesterday being so friendly with someone else. She thanked mentally for having remembered to put her hood over her head before leaving the room or else the pinky haired girl would’ve easily spotted her eyes – not that she was looking, the girl had an easy, gentle smile on her face, one that was a little too artificial. Jungeun tried her best to not feel intimidate and hide back in the room, but it wasn’t necessary considering the way the shorter human just passed by her as if she was used to seeing her every day.

Jungeun lowered her head politely, trying to look for more protection under her hood, and the pink haired woman only left out a soft ‘good morning, miss.’ before leaving. There was something off about that person, Jungie just couldn’t tell what exactly it was, still she could tell she was no average human.

The other, much more familiar human, on the hallway finally took notice of her and this time Jungeun didn’t hesitate in looking back. Haseul was standing there surprised, holding something in her hands, and although it should probably look suspicious and make want to hide under her protective walls, Jungeun took notice of how pretty Jo’s hands were and how her awkward smile was endearing instead. If her dad hated her so much to the point of trying to get rid of her, he surely had picked quite a unique person to do it.

“Just Jungeun. And what would that be?” She hoped her voice sounded as cold as she planned, but her curious gaze hovering over Haseul’s face was probably betraying her interest.

“This.” The pilot handed her the small box, before pointing out Kim’s room. “Please, let’s talk inside. I’d rather if we met the rest of the crew after you have it.”

Opening the box would be the smart choice, but Haseul’s words reminded her that she was in the open and someone could come out of one of the rooms at any moment and she didn’t want to deal with the stares. The box was too small and light to be a weapon, actually the idea of Haseul handing her something like that was ridiculous. She knew better than easily trust people, but so far she had no reason to think Jo was a threat.

She was already far away of the castle, neither her or Yerim had money to try and run away and even if they had, she wouldn’t know where to go. Stay on defensive was useless when she really didn’t have a choice other than trust this human girl and hope for the best.

With a sigh, she used the magnet key to open the room’s door and gestured to Haseul to follow her inside.

Haseul had to contain her own relieved sigh. Jungeun clearly didn’t trust her quite yet, and she couldn’t blame her for it, if she was on the younger girl’s place she wouldn’t either. Hopefully, her little gift would be able to make Kim feel a little more comfortable to be there – she could only pray it wouldn’t backfire.

As soon as the door was closed and they were alone in the bedroom. Haseul had spent a lot of time decorating it to make it worth of a princess – or as much as she could make it within their current circumstances. The room was white just like the rest of the ship, but it had hints of red here and there, the bed was big and adorned with neatly light golden sheets and a red blanket – she heard the Saegs were quite particular with colors and after a quick research, she came up with this. There was also a compartment for her clothes and a screen that could be used to access the basic entertainment programs and games; there was a small dresser and a mirror in the opposite side, as well as a pretty painting Haseul had found at the market and was now displayed in a digital canvas – it was supposed to portray Sek, the original planet the Saeg live at.

Jungeun, however, didn’t spare the room decoration a glance, instead she was busy opening the box to reveal its content.

“What…What is that?” Kim asked with a small frown as she stared down at the nearly transparent objects inside the case.

“Hm, contact lenses? You know, for your eyes.” Haseul’s voice was small, hesitant now – for a good reason, by rule Saegs weren’t allowed to try to mask their real eye colors, be it to pretend to belong to another caste or to try and mingle with humans.  The rules weren’t as strict for humans and she wondered how easily Haseul had taken ahold of it.

“Human lenses aren’t able to hide my eyes.” She said, sounding almost disheartened by the fact. Many times she had wished to be someone else, and being able to simply hide under a fake color seem like an idea that was as tempting as dangerous. Unfortunately, Saegs didn’t only have colored eyes that diverged from the natural human colors, they also carried a sparkling quality to them that normal lenses couldn’t hide.

The shorter woman shook her head adamantly, a smile gracing her face. Haseul knew all too well about it, but thanks to Sooyoung’s contacts, she was able to get two pairs of very special lenses that could serve them just right…If Jungeun agreed with it. “I know, but these aren’t your average contacts. If you try it, you’ll notice.” She took a step closer, pointing to the mirror in the wall opposite to them. “Here, with this you can try to put them on safely.” Swiftly, she handed the blonde a sealed package with sterile gloves that she had kept on the pocket of her jacket.

Grabbing the case a little tighter, Kim hesitate. If Haseul was telling the truth, it was an opportunity that she couldn’t afford to miss. It was also a risk, but then again, wasn’t she already at a much higher risk just by being there? Just by the fact that she was about to marry someone she had never met?

Haseul was starting to wonder if Jungeun would really accept her offer when the girl’s soft voice sounded. “What color?”

Blinking, Jo broke into an easy smile. “I could only get a hold of blue and brown ones, but I only have the brown ones with me now. I hope you don’t mind if we match.” She said gesturing her own brown eyes, a glint of excitement on them. It was a first step on the right direction for them.

Nodding, Jungeun turned her back to head to the small table by the mirror, carefully setting down everything. Haseul followed her, keeping a comfortable distance as she gave the girl instructions of what to do. Brown eyes wouldn’t only allow Jungeun to walk freely as a Saeg, but as a human, taking any unwanted attention off her.

It was weird, for both of them, to watch as one of Jungeun eyes turned from bright red to a darker shade. Haseul was wrong, it wasn’t like her own, but a much lighter shade of brown that looked almost like caramel. Holding her breath, Jungeun stared back at the mirror, finding it as pleasant as it was weird to see her eyes becoming of such average color – it wasn’t right, but a big part of her liked it better. It didn’t take long for her to put on the other contact, caramel completely taking over what was once red.

Jungeun didn’t look anything like herself, she looked human. Unconsciously, she smiled.

Seeing it as a good signal, Jo dared to take a step closer to see the result for herself – she still liked red better, but if brown was the color that made her smile, it would be Haseul’s favorite as well. “I didn’t tell much about you to my crew. They know you and your friends are Saeg, but they don’t know your caste. You can tell them whatever and they will accept it as truth.” With a broad smile, she completed. “You won’t have to hide here, or anywhere else we go.”

This time it was impossible for the royal to hide the relief on her expression. For the first time in her life, she felt free.

A similar feeling of happiness washed over Haseul, her confidence growing as she realized she had made the right decision. She owed Sooyoung big time. “So, are you ready to meet everyone now?”

Before she had the chance of second guessing herself, the princess nodded. “Thank you, Haseul.”

“Not for this.”

Jungeun was received by a surprised and pleased exclamation from her best friend when she went to wake Yerim up. As expected of Choi, she didn’t even bat an eye at the change, embracing it with as much joy as Kim – she knew how much of a burden having royal eyes had always been to the girl.

She was so pleased with the change and the freedom that comes with it, that she ditched her cloak, a little more excited to meet the ship’s crew with her head high. Yerim, as usual, was beaming with excitement to meet everyone and it was starting to rub onto Jungeun as well. She was crossing her fingers that the other people in the crew were as welcoming as Haseul.

They headed to the area that was used as a kitchen, Jo had given her directions and with the ship’s system it was quite easy to find the place. Even before reaching the kitchen, they could already hear voices coming from there, surprisingly, none of them belong to Haseul or the girl Jungeun had seen earlier. It would have taken her a couple of deep breaths to brave up and meet them, but Yerim didn’t need such a thing and just walked into the room, sporting the brightest smile that spaceship and any of its occupants had ever seen, dragging Kim along with her.

“Good morning! It’s a pleasure meeting you all.” Choi’s voice was as bright as her smile – if this was even possible –, and she didn’t seem to have any trouble talking to a bunch of strangers that weren’t even from the same species as them. “I’m Yerim and this one is my friend Jungeun.” No surnames, Yerim wasn’t as naïve and distracted as she liked to pretend to be.

The humans stared at them, probably taken aback by their sudden appearance and Kim took a step forward to follow Yerim’s example before it became even more awkward. Where was Haseul when they needed her?

“I’m Jungeun. Thank you for welcoming us here.” She bowed her head politely and straightened her back, taking a good look at the people in front of them.

Sitting at the table were two girls that couldn’t be much younger than Yerim, although both had very different auras. The one at the chair closest to them had full of food and was currently trying to gulp down it all so she could talk – even without saying anything, it was possible to tell how agitate she was; Jungeun could also recognize some of Haseul’s features on her face, much softer than in the pilot. She wondered what was their relation.

The other girl, a raven haired teenager that had a puzzling expression on her face that didn’t quite match her cute cheeks and triangle mouth, tried to help her friend by hitting her back – a little too hard. “I’m Hyejoo, and the one almost dying is Yeojin. Don’t worry, she is always like this.” Her monotone voice with a hint of sarcasm was more charming than annoying – or at least Yerim thought so, because it made her giggle and nod in response, while Jungeun only blinked at the weird sight.

“Yah, it’s not always!” Yeojin, who had finally swallow all her food, protested with a cough. She shot up out of her chair, coming close to offer her hand for a shake, but soon dropping it. “Oh, my bad! I forgot you guys don’t like this kind of thing!” For what Yerim, wrongly, replied that it wasn’t the case and in return received a bear hug. “I’m Jo Yeojin! I’m taking over the ship as soon as Haseul retires.”

Jungeun made sure to offer her hand before she was victim from a hug as well – her hand was hurting by the time the little Jo let go of it. Human kids were scary. “She is retiring?”

“She will soon.” Yeojin presented her with a mischievous smile, her puff cheeks still pink from all the coughing. “You know, her and Sooyoung are kind of hag-“

“Don’t listen to her. As I said, she is always like this.” Hyejoo cut off, gesturing to them to take a seat. She sounded older than she really was, or at least, older than Jungeun supposed she was. Hyejoo’s smart eyes that had a grey quality to it stared at her. “Brown eyes? I didn’t know it was possible…”

Kim avoided her eyes, pretending to pay attention to the food in front of her instead. She should’ve know even with contacts, the crew members would still be suspicious, but she had been so relieved to have it, that she didn’t spend too much time preparing to answer any questions.

“Jungie likes to try out new colors! I do it sometimes too, you know? Purple is my favorite color so I’m luck, but she doesn’t like it that much.” All the gods bless Yerim for her quick responses, covering for her even before she could think of doing it so. She could never be grateful enough for having Choi in her life. As subtly as possible, she gave the younger girl’s hand a squeeze in thank you and Yerim grinned before starting to eat everything she could grab.

She would have eaten as well, if it wasn’t the pink haired girl that had taken a seat right in front of her, that same smile still on her face. “It’s a pleasure having you here, miss.” Even her tone was the same and Jungeun could only nod in reply. Haseul had called her what? Sweetie? This kind of endearing term didn’t seem appropriate. “Thank you for having us, miss…”

“Vivi. I’m just Vivi.” She blinked slowly, lowering her gaze to Jungeun’s empty plate. “Do you wish for something else? We have a lot of human and Saeg food that you may like.”

“Shouldn’t you wait for your elders before eating all the food, kids?” A more mature and deep voice interrupted them, announcing that the owners of the ship had arrived.

Turning to see Haseul smiling beside a much taller and more intimidating girl, she awkwardly stood up to greet them properly. Yerim followed her example, but the other girls were much more nonchalant about it. Hyejoo only rolled her eyes, Vivi acknowledge their presence with the same smile, and Yeojin shouted. “How come you two came all the way here without your bones cracking?!” The fake surprise on her face was enough to win a smirk out of Hyejoo and a smack in the head from Haseul.

“You! Be nice!” Haseul took a seat by Jungeun’s side, between her and Hyejoo, while Sooyoung sat beside Vivi in the other side of the table. “Sorry for being late, we were checking if everything is ready for us to go.” She seemed at easy, after a long inspection of the ship, they hadn’t found a single problem and that was a first for them. Finding their guests getting along just fine with the rest of the crew also helped her feel they were ready to start their journey. As a pilot, she couldn’t be happier. “You guys saw her yesterday, but I didn’t make the proper instruction, so: Girls, this is Ha Sooyoung, she is our ace mechanic and the co-captain of Raven, without her it would be impossible to keep the ship running.” Jo praised, before pointing out the other girls at the table. “That moody one is Hyejoo, our tech master and Soo’s cousin. The loud chipmunk is Yeojin, she is our news source and my little sister. And here is Vivi, she is with us since the very beginning and she makes sure everything is working just fine 24/7. But I guess they already told you this, right?”

Jungeun nodded while Yerim exchanged greetings with the newcomers.

“You can call me Sooyoung. No one here respects their elders anyway.” Ha was probably around Haseul’s age, but they hadn’t much in common. The mechanic was tall, her long dark hair framing a gorgeous face that matched well her intelligent and a little intimidating aura – perhaps it runs in the family. Her voice was gentle when she greeted them, making her look a little more approachable.  “I hope you guys liked the accommodations, Haseul here was acting like a girl in her first date waiting to show you her decorator skills.” Was it a hint of mischievousness in her smile? By the way it made Haseul flustered, Jungeun guess was correct.

“You did it? That’s so cool! I love the colors, thank you, Haseul.” Yerim’s words were as sweet as her smile, her sincere gratitude making Jo blush slightly. Jungeun smiled at the sight, nodding in support of Choi’s words. Earlier she had been too busy with her inner mix of feelings to notice how adorable a content Haseul could be, the way she found joy in doing things for other people was heartwarming.

Jungeun, lowered her gaze to the cup of juice in front of her, using it to cover the smile on her face as she took a sip. Instead of a cold blooded murderer, her dad had found a very nice person to guide them.

On the other side of the table, Haseul attacked the food with renewed energy. It was her job to keep the Saeg princess happy and perhaps it shouldn’t make her feel a little giddy whenever Jungeun graced her with a sincere smile – but it did, and she would never say it out loud, but she liked the feeling.

She was worried the crew wouldn’t get along well with the guests, but thanks to Yerim’s bright personality that seem able to even distract Hyejoo of doing her usual sarcastic comments and keep Yeojin entertained, things were going well. Kim seemed a lot more relaxed now, and although Haseul kind of missed seeing the red iris staring back her, it was good to see Jungeun showing some confidence. She wondered if with time the girl would become more talkative and bubbly like Yerim – it was hard to picture, but she was determinate to work hard for it.

“So, to where we are going?” It was Yeojin who asked, her curious look fixed on the Saeg girls. Yerim looked at Jungeun in expectation, and the blonde hesitate, chewing on her food.

“I…I don’t know. I didn’t think much about it.” She seemed embarrassed to admit it, light pink coloring the tips of her ears peeking out of her hair. Her, now brown, eyes met Haseul’s in a silent cry for help.

Before Kim closed up on herself again, Jo intervened. “What about the Market at Seoul? Is not as big as the one here, but they have great food and is very Saeg friendly. Have you ever been there?” Two years as an active pilot, even if not in the most prestigious line of work, allowed her to visit a lot of places and perhaps it would come in hand now.

“A market?” Jungeun pictured in her mind all the images of food and all kinds of goods in the street markets she had seen through glass screens all her life. Visiting one seemed like a good way to start off that trip. Nodding, she couldn’t help but give Haseul a thankful smile. “Yes, it sounds good.”

“I’ll set Raven’s coordinates to Seoul.” Vivi added with her soft voice, standing up.

“See if you can get us a place to stay the night as well. Thank you, sweetie.” Again, Haseul seem completely comfortable talking in such a sweet manner to the pink haired girl. Unconsciously, Jungeun frowned slightly, wondering what was their relationship.

Vivi only nodded, her smile never wavering – did this woman never stop smiling? Jungeun noticed that she hadn’t even touch the food – actually she didn’t even bother to get herself a plate. She must be really committed to her work.

The young Saeg almost choked on her drink when she looked over her shoulder to check what Vivi was doing and found her using a large screen monitor to insert the coordinates. The girl’s eyes were shining in a light shade of pink, static on the screen as her hands moved at abnormal speed swiping items out of the screen and selecting others.

Haseul’s ‘sweetie’ was an android? Suddenly Jungeun felt incredible silly for not noticing it earlier.

As if she could read her mind, Hyejoo spoke: “Vivi is like an extension of Raven and from our family too.” The protectiveness and genuinely affection in her voice made the girl look much less intimidating.

“She takes care of all of us. We wouldn’t be able to keep things under control without her.” Jungeun was already used to Jo’s warm tone, so it didn’t surprise her – the fact that she could be so caring even towards a robot did. Saegs had so much technology that an android wouldn’t last more than a year in the castle, imagine creating a long time connection with one was hard for her. Still, seeing how Vivi and the crew seemed so close, it made her wish that the castle was more like this ship.

“Thank you, Vivi.” Was all she said, respectfully bowing her head to the android. Everyone there, including the android, was doing the most to make her and Yerim feel welcomed, and she could only be grateful for this.

Vivi once again gave her that calm smile, but this time her eyes curved slightly in a cute eye smile. Jungeun didn’t know if androids were supposed to be cute, but she was starting to understand why Haseul would refer to Vivi in such affectionate tone, it didn’t seem hard to become fond of her.

A/N: Hello there! As promised, the update was fast. I thought about posting 2 chapters at once since this one is a slow one, but I think it's better keep the pace. Anyway, thank you for reading, I'm sorry about any mistakes. See you soon :)