Himchan's night was uneventful. His wife massaged him but nothing happened afterwards. His mind was filled with Lucille and Yongguk, only making his irritation grow stronger. The next day, he woke up still irritated as his thoughts immediately turned to them again. He didn't know what was wrong with him. The day passed slowly and everything just annoyed him until 6 o’clock  arrived and he snapped. He got into his car and asked his chauffeur to drive him to the hotel where Yongguk was staying. He didn't have any plan. It was just on a whim. When he arrived there, he went straight up to the suite, knocking loudly onto the door.

Yongguk was soaking in the tub, having just gotten back from spending his day on the ship and hanging out with the custodial and kitchen staff all day. He immediately snapped out of his thoughts once he heard the loud continuous knocks on the door and he quickly got out of the tub, nearly slipping on the tile as he scrambled to the door with just a towel on. He opened the door expecting to see one of the hotel staff but instead he saw Himchan. “Hey... where’s the fire?”

Himchan was about to step in when the door opened but he stopped in his tracks when he noticed Yongguk was half in a towel, body soaking wet and hair slightly damp. His eyes widened and he felt a blush creep up his cheeks. "I- uh.. Nothing,” he averted his eyes. "Just... felt like passing by..."

"Come on in," he stepped aside so Himchan could walk into the suite. "I was planning on stopping by the joint to meet you, but I guess you just saved me a trip."

"I guess.." Himchan mumbled, keeping his gaze away from him as he walked in.

Yongguk shut the door behind him and tightened his grip on his towel. "I'm sorry for answering the door like that, I just thought it was an emergency from the way you were knocking," he chuckled. "I'll go slip something on," he said as he walked back to the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. "How was the rest of your night?" he shouted from the bedroom.

Himchan walked over the couch and sat down before shouting back. "Alright! We didn't do much so, it was alright, I guess!" he fiddled a bit with his tie before adding after a short pause. "What about you!? Brought Lucille up here?!"

"Hold on!” Yongguk shouted. He walked out the bedroom moments later in casual clothes, light brown slacks and a white button up shirt. "That's good. I went to Lucille's instead of bringing her here." He walked over to the couch and flopped next to Himchan. "I came back here after leaving her place though."

Himchan watched him and shifted a bit on the couch. "Why? Did you do her and found out she wasn't worth waking up next to?", he snorted softly, a mean smirk appearing on his lips.

"Nah, I didn't have with her." he smiled slightly. "I just realized she wasn't the girl for me."

"How so?", Himchan raised his eyebrow a bit, giving him a curious look. "You two seemed to get along.. very well.."

"Well, we did but her ignorance turned me off. We were really close to... well y'know. Then she told me she wanted me to make love to her like they did in China," he scoffed. "Can you believe that?" Yongguk shook his head and raked his fingers through his damp hair. "It just put me off completely, so I left after she told me I'd never have a chance with her again. I'm happy I got out when I did," he chuckled quietly. "I guess you had good reason not to like her," Yongguk teased as he looked Himchan. "I could tell you weren't very fond of her."

Himchan snorted loudly and shook his head, trying to stifle his laughter. "Ah, really. What a...," he stopped himself from insulting her, shaking his head again. "Am I that obvious? Yeah, I didn't like her," he shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, you were pretty obvious, but you had good reason to. I was just too naive to see it."

"Mhm," he smiled softly, glad she was gone for good and placed his hand on Yongguk's shoulder, keeping it there even after giving it a light squeeze. "You'll learn who to talk to and who not, quickly enough."

"I guess I better hurry up and learn then since I only have eleven days left in this city," he chuckled and gently placed his hand on top of Himchan's. He patted his hand slightly and looked at him with a warm smile before lowering his hand to his lap. "What are your plans tonight?"

"I don't have any plans tonight..", Himchan said slowly, eyes locked on Yongguk at the sight of his smile. He moved his hand down, trailing his fingertips along the upper arm before dropping it completely onto the couch. "We can do whatever you want."

Yongguk pursed his lips together and tapped his chin when an idea suddenly popped into his head. "Come with me aboard the USS New York tonight! I'll give you a tour," he grinned. "You and I are just about the same size so you could put on one of my uniforms!"

Himchan raised his eyebrows at him before nodding. "Do I need to wear a uniform in order to get on it?"

"Yeah. I'll give you my navy blue uniform so you won't be noticed as much. I'll wear my white uniform," he smiled. "The deck is really beautiful at night. I think you'd like it Himchan."

"Alright then," he smiled and got up, loosening his tie. "As long as you don't get in trouble.."

"I won't," he smiled. "Follow me," he said as he got up and walked into the bedroom. Himchan followed him and watched as he pulled out the navy blue uniform and set it out onto the bed. "As long as you keep the cap on, nobody will really notice." He then pulled out his white uniform and laid it beside the blue one. "And then afterwards we can get some grub," he said as he placed the navy blue cap atop Himchan's head. Yongguk grinned like a fool when he saw the cap on Himchan and nodded in approval. "You look like a mighty fine seaman already."

Himchan scrunched his nose up slightly and looked up at him, melting into a smile. "Why thank you.", he chuckled and slid his vest off, placing it onto the bed. Yongguk bit his lip to hold back his smile when he saw Himchan scrunch up his nose. 'Cute,' he thought to himself.

As Himchan started ing his shirt, he stopped for a moment and thought to himself, 'Should I go to the bathroom to change?' He thought it over for a moment before thinking, ‘Nah.’ They were both men so changing in the same room shouldn't be a problem, right? Besides, Yongguk probably did it tons of times on the ship so it might not bother him.

Yongguk, though, felt his face grow hot and he averted his attention to the uniforms on the bed. "I think my uniform will fit you," he mumbled randomly. He looked at Himchan again and saw that he was shirtless. His breath nearly hitched and he swallowed thickly as his eyes scanned Himchan's chest. His eyes lingered down as he saw Himchan about to his pants and he wet his lips. 'What's wrong with me, it's not my first time seeing a man undress before,' he thought to himself. He snapped out of his thoughts and started to his own shirt, revealing more of his tan skin and toned chest.

Himchan slipped out his shoes and pushed his pants down once it was open and stepped out, glancing at Yongguk which he regretted almost immediately. Maybe he should've gone to the bathroom. Pushing the thoughts away of Yongguk looking good, he reached out to grab the pants of the uniform and slipped them on along with his shoes again. He kept his gaze to the ground and took off the cap to put on the upper part of the uniform as well. Yongguk took off his clothes and slipped his white uniform on faster than Himchan had. The moment Himchan was dressed he helped him put on the cap and smiled softly, "You look like a sailor."

Himchan smiled back at him. "Thanks. I'm looking forward to see your boat."

"It's a ship," he teased. "I'm looking forward to giving you a tour Himchan," he grinned, causing his gums to show. "Bring some money with you," he said as he grabbed his pack of cigarettes off the nightstand table. "I keep my money tucked in my socks," he chuckled. "It's safer that way."

"Right, ship.. I knew that..", he mumbled and nodded, taking out his wallet out of his pants to get some money before slipping it in his socks. "Why do I need money though?"

"We need money so we can get some grub. We're gonna pig out tonight," he said excitedly. "You deserve to have some fun Himchan, so tonight I'm giving that to you."

"Alright.", he smiled, finding it amusing how excited Yongguk was about this. "Let's get going then?"

"Yeah, let's go. This is going to be the bee's knees," he said on the way out the door. He laughed at the term and shook his head.

"The bee's knees," Himchan repeated in a mocking tone as he followed him. "Stupid," he chuckled. The other man lightly nudged Himchan's side and smiled, "You are absolutely right my friend. It is stupid."

Himchan laughed and walked with Yongguk outside. Instead of taking Himchan's car, they took a cab this time. While Himchan gave Yongguk a mini tour of the city from inside the cab, he thought of all the places on the ship he could show Himchan. He was oddly excited being able to do this, even though he knew he could get in trouble for it if they were caught. Sneaking Himchan on board the USS New York in his uniform was a huge risk, but thrilling nonetheless. He was going to show Himchan what it was like in his world and was going to distract him from his everyday stressors. He may not have been able to relate to Himchan background wise, but it didn’t take a scientist to know how stressful it was to be a bootlegger. Yongguk’s goal for the night was to show Himchan a good time and to make him smile. When the cab arrived at the harbor, Yongguk paid the driver and got out the cab. “Come on sailor,” he smiled. “We got a ship to catch.”

Himchan chuckled and got out of the cab after him, wrinkling his nose a bit as the smell of the sea reached him. "Lead the way, boss.", he smiled at Yongguk.

"Alright sailor, follow me" he said in a mock serious tone. Yongguk cautiously made his way with Himchan onto the ship and immediately led him inside. "I'll show you where I sleep first. Just don't look at anyone or say anything," he whispered. He led Himchan through an array of corridors and a couple sets of stairs before reaching his sleeping quarters. Yongguk cracked the door open and surprisingly none of his roommates were in. "This is where I sleep," he said. The room was about the size of the hotel suite but it housed five sets of bunk beds. "As you can see, it's nothing spectacular."

"Seems.. cozy," he chuckled, thinking to himself he could never live in such circumstances. Sharing his room with family's friends' children had already been a hard task for him as a kid, so living with nine other men... He turned to Yongguk and smiled. "I hope no one snores."

"Most of them snore, talk and fart in their sleep unfortunately," he grimaced. "Sometimes if you're really unlucky, you'll catch one of them having private time. We're on the sea a lot, so some of them get a bit lonely, especially the ones with girlfriends." He pointed to the bunk against the wall opposite of them and said, "The bottom bunk is mine. The only nice thing about my spot is that it's near that small window. Some nights, depending on the direction the ship is heading in, I can see the moon perfectly. That's probably the only thing I like about this room."

Himchan laughed and turned to look at the bed Yongguk pointed at. "Do you make wishes on the moon then?", he teased a bit while walking over to it.

"I only make wishes on shooting stars," Yongguk chuckled.

"Next time try wishing on the moon. Maybe it's more effective,” Himchan retorted wittily. He crouched down and glanced through the small window. There was nothing to see besides water hitting another ship that was blocking the view.  "Good thing I got you a suite. This view isn't that great."

"I do appreciate the suite too. I've been in heaven these past three days thanks to you."

A few men walked past the room and Yongguk motioned Himchan to come over. "Come on, I'll give you the rest of the tour." Himchan looked at Yongguk, smiling before straightening back up and walking over quickly, keeping his head down a bit in case one of the men decide to go inside. Once the two were out of his sleeping quarters he took Himchan upstairs and whispered, "On this floor is the mess hall and some offices." He led Himchan up another set of stairs and through a couple more corridors. "This is where the sick bay is and the nurses’ station," he mumbled as the two walked down the hallway. Right when they were about to make a turn into another corridor, Yongguk saw a man in uniform walking their way. He immediately stepped back and saluted the man with his right hand. 'Himchan please salute,' he thought to himself. Himchan was occupied looking at the sick bay until he suddenly bumped into Yongguk who had taken a step back.

"W-wha..", he looked up and saw the other salute. Himchan gave him a confused look and turned his eyes to see who he was saluting and noticed a man who clearly looked from a higher rank than Yongguk. '', he quickly imitated the salute and hoped the man wouldn't notice how clumsy it was.

The man stopped walking once in front of them and saluted, "At ease."

"Yessir!" Yongguk replied and lowered his arm.

"Yessir!", Himchan repeated like a parrot and lowered his hand as well, glancing at Yongguk, hoping he was doing this right.

The man nodded and continued walking down the hallway. Yongguk sighed in relief and motioned Himchan to follow him. "We need to get up to the deck. That was the captain."

Himchan nodded and followed him, glancing over his own shoulder. "Oh? He looks.. nice.", he said, not knowing what else to say.

"He is nice, but you don't want to get on his bad side."

When Yongguk and Himchan made it onto the deck he walked over to one of the three gun turrets¹ on the ship. "These are our weapons, but I can't operate that." The turrets looked colossal compared to the two of them and Yongguk pointed towards the other end of the ship, "The other two turrets are over there. And then where that tower is, that's the Admiral's quarters."

He was about to tell Himchan about another part of the ship but he noticed the figure of a man walking around the deck. Yongguk couldn't get a clear view of his face since it was dark but from where he was standing he could see four silver stars on his jacket. "," he whispered and pulled Himchan to the opposite side of the turret in the shadows and pressed his body up against it to conceal them. Yongguk looked up at Himchan and mouthed the words, 'Stay quiet.'

Himchan had widened his eyes when he was suddenly pulled to the side and pressed against the turret, not fully registering things until he felt Yongguk's body press against his own, his cheeks burning immediately. He nodded to Yongguk and tore his gaze away from him, hoping his blush wasn't visible. The sudden urge to touch the other one overcame him and he felt like punching himself in the face. 'What the , Himchan, you've hugged John and never had those thoughts,' he scolded himself in his head but he still placed a hand on Yongguk's arm, holding it.

Being pressed up against a turret seemed foolish, but the base of the turret is solid metal, like a wall, so the two were out of harm’s way. Yongguk wasn't sure whether or not his heart was pounding due to his admiral walking right past them or being pressed against Himchan. 'It can't be because of Himchan,' he told himself. However, the moment Himchan placed his hand on his arm he felt butterflies in his stomach. Yongguk swallowed thickly and rested his hand lightly on the other's hip. Himchan bit down on his bottom lip when he felt Yongguk's hand  and kept his gaze away as he felt the other’s body pressing more into his own, only turning it back to him when Yongguk finally pulled away.

"I'm sorry about that Himchan. That was the Admiral. If he would have caught us, we'd both be dead

meat."

"It's alright," he mumbled and retracted his hand.

He noticed Himchan's face looked slightly red and without thinking he reached out and gently touched his cheek. "Are you sure you’re alright?" he asked with concern. The other straightened the uniform a bit before stiffening once Yongguk touched his cheek, feeling as if an electric current suddenly went through his body. He leaned slightly into the touch and nodded, cursing mentally as his blush only worsened.

"I'm fine.."

"I think we should get off the ship now before we get into trouble," he smiled sheepishly as he lowered his hand. He gently nudged Himchan and motioned for him to follow him again. Yongguk peeked out from behind the turret and briskly walked across the deck, going back the way they came until they were successfully off the USS New York.

"I can't believe we actually didn't get caught, but man did we have some close calls," he laughed.

Himchan laughed softly, nodding and took a deep breath before bumping his shoulder into Yongguk's. "What are we doing now, sailor Bbang?" he asked, smiling and he pushed what had happened earlier in the back of his mind. It was nothing, right?

"Let's get some grub," he nudged back. "What do you have a taste for?"

Himchan shrugged his shoulder, pushing lightly against him. "Something with meat," he laughed.

"How about we get some hamburgers then," he said as he draped his arm over Himchan's shoulder and walked with him out the harbor and onto the streets. Himchan bit the inside of his cheek lightly as he felt his heart flutter and cleared his throat, blaming the flutter on the excitement they had earlier when almost getting caught by Yongguk's superiors twice.

"Sounds good," he said and leaned a bit against Yongguk without realizing it.

____________________________________________________________________

1. Turret

The USS New York wasn't a real naval ship, but this is what it would have looked like: click here

Lastly, since this chapter was far too long we split it into two parts. The second part of the chapter will be

posted by next week sometime. Sorry for the 2 week delay, we got busy with school and studying. Thank you for being patient.