“Is he going to be okay?”

They were all gathered outside of the Captain’s room. The whole morning had been a blur. He couldn’t remember getting Seungri, or waking up Daesung and Taeyang. He couldn’t recall how they got Jiyong to his room or what happened after that. All he could focus on was the solid dark door that had been slammed in his face, and the worry that had consumed him about what was happening on the other side.

He couldn’t understand why even in the middle of an emergency he wasn’t allowed in the Captain’s room. Seunghyun had at first considered breaking down the door, but he’d soon realized that not only was he probably distracting Seungri from doing whatever doctor things he was doing, but also that he couldn’t do that.

He’d already ignored Jiyong’s wishes once when he’d kissed him. What kind of man would he be if he broke into Jiyong’s safe haven when it was obvious that he was unwelcome and unwanted there?

Seungri was noticeably uncomfortable as he refused to meet their eyes and fidgeted with his watch.  “He’s resting right now, and his breathing is back to normal.”

“But is he going to be okay?” Taeyang’s voice was low and dangerous unlike anything that Seunghyun had heard from him so far. In a gesture that was completely at odds with his harsh tone, the man ran a soothing hand over Daesung’s shoulder as he cried silently.

Seungri brushed a shaking hand through his hair. Seunghyun tried not to focus on the dried blood he could see on the doctor’s fingers. “He just needs to rest-”

He gasped in shock as Seunghyun shoved him against the wall and pressed his forearm against his throat. Distantly, he was appalled at his own behavior and he was sorry for treating someone that had been reasonably friendly toward him that way.  At the moment though, he was furious.

It was clear that Seungri was lying.

Seunghyun glared, a dark glint in his already unnerving eyes.

“I am only going to ask one more time, and then I’m going to force the answer out of you. Do you understand?”

He could feel Seungri’s throat constrict against his arm as he swallowed thickly and nodded.

“Is. Jiyong. Going. To. Be. Okay?”

Seungri’s body slumped. If Seunghyun hadn’t had him pinned to the wall, he would have fallen to the floor in a boneless heap. The doctor shut his eyes tightly and drew in a deep breath. Hopelessness was etched into his face. Tears gathered at the corners of his closed eyes.

As he watched Seungri’s face breakdown into such despair, the cold grip of panic closed around Seunghyun’s throat. He stepped away, shaking his head in disbelief and denial, and Seungri slid down the wall.

He changed his mind. He didn’t want to know whatever Seungri was about to say. He didn’t want to hear whatever it was that had him looking so helpless because the little voice in the back of Seunghyun’s head already knew.

He’s dying.

“He’s dying.” Seungri’s voice echoed his thoughts. He sounded hollow, completely at odds with his physical distress.

“No. No no no.” Seunghyun began backing away faster. Preparing to run and hide somewhere else. Maybe if he went back to his room and laid down, he’d wake up in a few hours and it’d all be a dream. Because there was no way that any of this was actually happening. It wasn’t happening.  

“What’s wrong with him?” Daesung choked out. His usually happy eyes were red and puffy.

“How can we help?” Taeyang looked ready to swim across the Pacific Ocean and then climb to the moon if that was what was required.

A buzzing sound started to drown them out in Seunghyun’s head.

“He’s… Jiyong was cursed.”

Seunghyun laughed humorlessly and clenched his fists to keep from punching Seungri right in his stupid lying face. “Does this seem like the time for jokes to you? Tell us what’s wrong and how we can save him or-”

“Or what? You’re going to hurt me? Go ahead, ! My best friend is dying a slow and painful death, and I have to watch him because there’s nothing else I can do, and it’s ALL YOUR FAULT!” Seungri shouted, now standing defiantly in front of Seunghyun. He poked him harshly in the chest. “The only person that can help him is you!”

Seunghyun didn’t even feel the punch that landed on his nose. He didn’t notice Taeyang and Daesung restrain Seungri and pull him down the hall and out of sight. He couldn’t feel anything at all except this strange sort of resignation.

It was his fault.

He didn’t know how. Couldn’t remember why. But he knew without question that the reason Jiyong was in the situation at all was because of him.

He sank to his knees right there in the hallway outside of the Captain’s room and sat there desolately. He wasn’t crying, although he’d never felt more like doing so since he’d woken tied up in the kitchen.

His head ached again. A blinding, searing pain that left him breathless.

Seunghyun knew he deserved every second of it.

He didn’t know how much time passed as he sat there in a puddle of his own misery and self loathing. It wasn’t until he felt Daesung touch he shoulder that he even realized where he was. Glancing up out of morbid curiosity—because he fully expected Daesung to punch him too—he met the blonde’s worried gaze. His eyes were still red and puffy but the tears had finally stopped.

He gently wiped Seunghyun’s face with a tissue, grimacing at the red goo staining the material. Seunghyun was surprised because until that moment he honestly hadn’t realized that his nose had actively been dripping blood down his face.

“He didn’t mean it. Seungri, I mean.” Daesung sat down next to him quietly. “It’s just… Jiyong means a lot to us. All of us. Would you like to hear a story?”

Seunghyun didn’t really want to hear anything at all, but Daesung looked so sad sitting there. Miserable in a way that Seunghyun felt but couldn’t articulate. He nodded half heartedly.

“My family is poor. They always have been, but what they lacked in money, my parents made up for in love. My grandparents moved into our house after my grandfather had a . Between me, my parents, my two younger sisters and them, it was a lot of mouths to feed. Bodies to cloth,” he sighed and fiddled with a red string bracelet on his wrist. Probably a gift from one of his sisters.

“I made you a present because you’re my favorite brother!” she yelled as she placed the flower bracelet that she’d made on his wrist.

He frowned at the vaguely familiar thought, puzzled by where it had come from. Daesung continued his story.

“I’ve had this ability for as long as I can remember. So, when I was ten I started singing in a club in a seedier part of town. The owner hadn’t wanted to let me work because of my age, but my voice won him over in the end. It went well for awhile. There wasn’t a lot of money. Just enough to help my family. When I was twelve a man came into the bar. I hadn’t seen him around before, but after that first time he became a regular. One night on my way home he… he attacked me,” his voice shook but he resolutely carried on.

“I was terrified. He was touching me, groping me. I screamed and screamed for help but nobody would listen. When he ripped my pants down, I was sure that it was the end. He’d me and then kill me, and then my family wouldn’t have enough money for food or rent or clothes. Even then, I was more scared of what would become of them than I was for myself. I tried to fight back but I was just a kid and he was a fully grown man. By that time, I was crying and screaming. Next thing I knew, he was slumped over on the ground getting the kicked out of him by a scrawny guy that couldn’t have been much older than myself. But that didn’t seem to matter to him. He knocked the guy out. Broke a wooden crate right over his head. Then he grabbed my hand and dragged me away.” Daesung smiled, looking lost in his own thoughts.

Seunghyun found it hard to swallow past the lump in his throat.

“He introduced himself as Captain G Dragon and said he was looking for a crew. Told me that he’d pay me well and help me make sure that my family always had everything that they needed. How could I say no to that? The guy had literally just saved my life. My parents were sad; they really didn’t want me to leave, but I managed to convince them that it’d be for the best. Jiyong has kept his word too. We visit my family all the time. They have a nice house now, plenty of food, and my sisters will never have to do anything as dangerous as I did.”

Daesung set the bloody tissue down and surprised Seunghyun by grabbing his hand and holding it in his own. He was even more surprised to realize that he was shaking. The hand holding his was comforting though, and he felt awful that Daesung was comforting him when it really should have been the other way around.

“Dae, I don’t know what to say…”

“Then just keep listening, okay?”

Seunghyun nodded.

“Taeyang was on a fishing trip. He came from a ridiculously rich family, and even though he knew the kids were only with him for the money, he took them on the trip with him. He fell overboard. He was tangled up in a net, but none of the kids would help him. It wasn’t until he saw the shark fin that he figured out why. They left him there, bleeding in the water like shark bait because they were too scared. Luckily, we found him less than a few minutes later. We were in the area picking up special medicine from… Well, we were in the area. I tried to get the hook so we could pull him out, but I was taking too long. So Jiyong jumped overboard and untangled Taeyang himself.”

“Why would he do that?” An undeniable sense of worry filled Seunghyun. Why was Jiyong so careless with his own safety?

“Because that’s just the kind of guy he is," Daesung replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. And maybe it was. "I threw the rope over and pulled them both up. We stopped at the island where we got the medicine and they patched Taeyang right up. He’d only been bitten once, but there was a lot of blood. After he regained consciousness, Jiyong offered him a position with us. Taeyang… He said that his parents didn’t really care about him because he wasn’t the eldest son, and he didn’t have any real friends because they were all just interested in money. We were pleasantly surprised when we found out about his ability, but we were just glad to have him with us. He’s been with us for seven years now.”

Seunghyun nodded to himself. That made sense. Taeyang and Daesung had seemed really close in the time that he’d known them. Seven years together meant that they’d essentially grown up together.

“And Seungri?”

Daesung sighed heavily and tightened his grip on Seunghyun’s hand. “Seungri came from a broken home. His mother died when he was a kid, and his father was an abusive alcoholic. He was a child prodigy, smarter than all the other kids. He finished high school by fifteen, and then his father pushed him into medical school. Seungri didn’t want to be a doctor, but he didn’t want to disappoint his father.”

He looked away from Seunghyun then, sorrow radiating from his body. Seunghyun tensed in preparation from whatever was about to be revealed.

“The day before his graduation, Seungri’s father beat him senseless. He broke his arm and two of his ribs. Up until that point Seungri had never fought back. The man was his father after all, the only family he had left no matter what he’d done. Seungri knew that he could make people do things. He didn’t understand his ability, had never really tested it out, but he knew he was different. That night… He told his father that he should just drown himself in his alcohol and then he left. The next day when his dad didn’t show up to his graduation he became worried. He went home and found his father dead, surrounded by more beer bottles than he’d ever seen.”

Seunghyun in a breath. Seungri had killed someone? His own father? But… he hadn’t meant to do it, right? He couldn’t even imagine the pain that Seungri must have felt.

“We were delivering food and money that we’d taken from some ships to some of the poorer people in the town. It had become a monthly thing for us: steal from rich people for four weeks and then seek out less fortunate people to give the supplies to. Seungri was standing on the bridge that we had to cross to get to town. It was dark, very late at night, and he looked awful."

“We were too far away at first, so I didn’t realize what he was doing, but Jiyong did. He dropped the bags he was carrying and ran faster than I’d ever seen him run before. He reached Seungri just as he jumped and was able to pull him back up. Seungri fought him, and by the time that Tae and I got there, Jiyong had a bloody lip and a black eye, but he wouldn’t let Seungri go. It took awhile, but eventually we got him back to the ship."

“He didn’t talk to us for days. He wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t drink, and we had a rotating watch to make sure he didn’t kill himself. One day, he took a bunch of pills while we were doing a job on some rich guy’s yacht. When we got back he’d already taken them. It turned out that they were sugar pills, but Jiyong was so pissed that he took out a knife and said ‘If you want to die so badly, then I’ll just do it myself you selfish bastard!’ Seungri still has the scar on his neck from where he scratched him. We were all terrified that Jiyong was actually about to murder him, but we were too scared to move. After a few moments Seungri seemed to change into a completely different person. He shoved Jiyong away and called him an . For the last three years he’s been completely normal. Sometimes, he goes into dark moods, but most of the time he’s just grumpy old Seungri.”

They sat there in silence for some time while Seunghyun tried to understand what Daesung had told him. These guys had lived together for years. They risked their lives together, laughed together, and grew up together. They were a family.

He wished he had something like they had. Something to call home.

Loneliness made tears threaten at the back of his eyes, but Seunghyun refused to cry anymore. He was such a ing baby. These people had saved his life, and how had he repaid them?

By being a sniveling prick that started fights and somehow caused the imminent death of their leader.

“Ji is more special than any of us, I think. He doesn’t have an ability or power or whatever you want to call it. He isn’t bullet proof, and he can’t breathe underwater. He’s just an ordinary guy that has risked his life countless times to make other people’s lives better. The Captain is the bravest guy I’ve ever met.”

Seunghyun was shocked to say the least. To learn that Jiyong did all these dangerous things every day without any sort of advantage to keep him safe was worrying. Yes, undoubtedly it was brave and noble and whatnot, but it was also ing stupid. Maybe that was why he was dying now. Because he was silly enough to invite Seunghyun into his life.

But, Seunghyun refused to let him die. It wasn’t going to happen. Ever.

He suddenly recalled what Seungri had said. “What did he mean when he said that I was the only one that can help the Captain?”

Daesung shrugged. “You’d have to ask him. He knows more about all of this than I do.”

Wiping his nose, he cringed at the pain that shot through it. It was probably broken. Seungri punched hard. He cringed again when he wrinkled his nose at the dried flecks of blood on the back of his hand. Gross.

Standing up, his bones cracking loudly as he did so, he reached out with his other hand and helped Daesung to his feet.

“We need to get Taeyang and Seungri and discuss what you guys learned about the naval ship.”

“But what about-”

Seunghyun cut him off with a raised eyebrow. “Jiyong needs the painkillers and bandages now. After we figure out how we’re going to get them, we’ll figure out how I’m going to save him. And I will save him. I swear.”

Daesung smiled brilliantly, and Seunghyun blinked in surprise. “If anyone could, I know that it’s you, Seunghyun.”

**************

A/N: I just want to say thanks to everyone that reads and reviews. Seriously, I just saw some of the comments and it makes me the happiest person ever! You guys are so nice XD