Backstory

Part iii

The Underground Cave (1)

 

 

“Get ye lousy face out of my !”

“Gladly” was the smooth grunt as Hyukjae managed to squirm his way out from under him and ended up getting kicked away.

“Control your limbs!” Hyukjae was very near to snapping at the ginger-head. “Thanks to your stubbornness, we are ing trapped!”

“Shut the up, had you not insisted on playing hero and made that dumb move we would not have been in this mess!” Donghae’s snarl simply radiated the hostility that was pumping through his whole body.

“Aw geez, living in the sea for a long time seems to have reduced your brain to the size of an anchovy’s!” was the mocking retort as they stood face to face, both breathing heavily and supporting matching upset expressions on their faces. “I would certainly not have cried a river had you had just slipped off those mere vines and died falling!”

Donghae bared his teeth “Nor would I! Why didn’t ye just crack yer head open on the way down here, ye land-crawling scum!”

Hyukjae felt a shudder of pure anger run through his body, if this ungrateful bastard did not shut up anytime soon, Hyukjae would simply snap. He needed to rein it in, if this hot-headed sailor was going to act all egoistical then atleast hyukjae needed to do what was sane.

Hyukjae huffed, feeling the muscles in his shoulders strain he rolled them to ease it away “Going on like this is not helping us get out at all, so let’s just ing drop it and think about what we are going to do.”

“Wimp” He saw Donghae roll his eyes and the the pirate’s mouth opened as if to say something but he stalled, blinking up at the gap that looked tiny from down here and in between them lay unstable edges of muddy ground mixed with sharp edges of stone that could slash through their flesh easily in case a wrong move was made.

They had both ended up falling in through a gap in the ground, somehow getting away with minor injuries, into the underground cave. Hyukjae glowered at Donghae, Donghae had slipped in and Hyukjae had tried to help him up but the Pirate refused any help from Hyukjae, Hyukjae didn’t even know what he did wrongthat caused him to tumble right down into the deep cave.

“Oh” Donghae muttered after he actually observed the area “ We are going to die.”

“Ain’t you a ball of sunshine” Hyukjae spat, not being able to hold back this one, the insulted look on Donghae’s face was instantly there, it was as if Pirate just could not help his emotions.

“Jackass, you got any bright ideas of getting out here?” Crossing his arms over his thin black jacket Donghae cocked a brow, exhaling audibly as he glared heatedly at the brown haired Cowboy who seemed a bit too calm, considering their situation. “Yer lack of sensitivity to our ordeal right now is appalling.”

“Oh that what you’re calling it now? Your lack of self-control and rationale is now ‘Sensitivty’ hunh? God Forbid, do you actually mean you are willing to actually listen to anything I might have to say as to how to get out of here?” Hyukjae was sneering, yet that calm look in his eyes just made Donghae’s blood boil. He growled, taking a threatening step forward “ Yer ing annoying, the faster I get out of here the faster I’m away from you! The only reason why I’m not bashing your face into the wall is because our chances of getting out of here increase if both of us are alive”

“Not like I’m dying to stay in your company” Hyukjae shot back, they were going at it again, spending their energies in the wrong direction. The most rational thing to do right now would be to keep walking along and hope to find an opening of some sort which is not life threatening itself, before they die out of starvation.

Or just kill each other.

“Is it just me or are you proposing a temporary truce?”

Donghae snorted “Call it whatever, just help us find a way out, once we get out I’ll kill you.”

“How kind of you”

“Let’s just save our energies and look fer a place to get out from.” Donghae began to look around, slightly turning away and Hyukjae put in an effort to bite back a sarcastic comment, instead he managed to simply nod and the two began to walk, exchanging only small, curt phrases regarding where they should be heading.

The cracks in the roof of the cave gave them enough light to see where they were going, vague sounds of water dripping echoed as their boots crunched over rubble.

It seemed the further they walked in the deeper and colder it got, which meant what little light they had also faded away and that’s the point where Hyukjae heard the steps beside him stop.

“Why did you stop?”

Donghae took some time answering and when it came it was slightly breathless and strained “ It’s pitch black from here on” no “we can’t just keep walking blindly, we need to know where we are headed. Who knows what wretched creatures live down here”

“Fair enough, I thought you were scared of the dark” Hyukjae scoffed, arching a brow when no response came and then he gasped “Oh my-

“Not a word!” Donghae instantly grounded and Hyukjae had to in his laughter because ,wow, who knew, a ruthless rowdy and murderous pirate was afraid of the dark.

“Right well” Hyukjae struggled to remain calm because it was truly hilarious to him “We can rest up here for a few hours. If you are tired. Or I could go scouting ahead and if I find something I’ll call out for you.”

“Tired, yea, I’m tired” Hyukjae noted how he didn’t sound tired at all, all he did sound was a mixture of irritated and reserved “No to the scouting ahead! Ye might just run off on yer own and leave me here to rot away.”

Hyukjae just really wanted to pass a snarky comment about the Pirate’s fear of dark but he knew if he did, that would just start another shouting match ending with death threats and more wasted energy.

“Then we should walk ahead a bit more, we might find a better spot, this place here is pretty narrow” Hyukjae shuffled his boot around carefully, the walls of the cave not far apart “It would be a squeeze for the both of-“

“Alright, alright, just cut yer chatter.”

The cold statement was of no surprise, unaffected Hyukjae just started walking, upon not hearing or feeling Donghae walk along he stopped “If the dark is getting to you so much you can hold my hand.”

“Shut the up or Imm’a-“

“Okay okay, just walk along then.”

He heard Donghae growl under his breath and then he felt Donghae’s shoulder brush against his “Let’s go.” Was all the pirate said, Hyukjae chose not to voice out how the Pirate had started walking closer than before. Not thinking much into it they proceeded to step forward carefully, at times one of them would step onto rubble or something slippery and on pure instinct grab for the other’s arm. It was mostly happening with Donghae, so Hyukjae had to brace himself and grab onto Donghae’s forearm now and then.

On his fifth slip Hyukjae simply threw all caution and hostility over his shoulder and grabbed onto Donghae’s hand. Donghae stiffened and stopped moving “Remove yer hand.”

“But you keep fall-“

“I said remove.yer.hand.”

“Wow you bastard, fine, fall on your face and split it open for all I care.”

Donghae practically snatched his hand away the moment hyukjae’s grip loosened; Hyukjae grumbled insults as they carried on walking carefully. Hyukjae’s legs were beginning to hurt. They had been hurting the moment they had fallen but he had chosen not to mention it, it didn’t feel that bad. All this walking was just not helping.

Donghae’s gasp made him turn in his general direction “Look ahead, what’s that?”

Narrowing his eyes he stared into the distance and he felt his heart leap with joy “Light! There’s probably an opening there!” Hyukjae bolted, lips parted in a wide grin and the pain in his legs forgotten, he heard Donghae yelling at him to wait and barking insults but he didn’t give a because this was great they had finally found an opening!

Hyukjae slowed down in his steps and Donghae almost collided into him “What the !”

“It’s not an opening…” Hyukjae trailed off, eyes travelling all over the place. The area they had come at a halt at was somewhat wide, the walls adorned in what seemed like pearly white stones that were casting a golden-white glow all over the place, at some places the stones were in huge quantity causing parts of the path ahead to be lit bright enough for everything to be clearly visible. These stones were not exactly valuable but were known to have such properties that they were able to naturally glow in the dark. He glanced at Donghae and shrugged “Those are white jasmines; well that’s what they’re called, naturally able to glow in the dark. Well at least it’s not pitch black anymore.”

Donghae appeared to be jutting out his lower lip, abruptly letting out a frustrated “grah” and promptly falling on to his , crossing his legs he placed his hands on top of his knees, keeping his back straight he cleared away any traces of emotions from his face and closed his eyes.

Hyukjae stared “Um, what are you—“

“Sshh! I’m meditating.” Was the stern response. Hyukjae chose not to ask anything more. Hyukjae shuddered briefly, it was very cold and all he had been dressed in was a loose thin shirt with the leather waist coat. Rubbing his palms over his hands he walked over to where the stones were more in number, instantly feeling a tiny bit of warmth being emanating from them. It was no where near enough, but Hyukjae was able to atleast feel his cheekbone feel warmer as he shifted on his side and leaned on the uneven surface. After having settled down and trying to keep himself warm he realized that his eyelids felt heavy, casting a weary glance at the Pirate who still sat at some distance he yawned and was just able to close his eyes when Donghae spoke up.

“Meditation helps clear my mind…but why am I telling you that.”

“Why indeed.”

“Hey, don’t try to get too comfortable with me, scallywag.”

Hyukjae sighed, closing his eyes he let it go “I’m probably going to fall asleep, don’t wake me up soon.”

“Huh, what makes you think I will? Damnit, it’s cold.”

Hyukjae quietly scoffed and cracked an eye open, only slightly as he watched Donghae. The Pirate sure was looking rather calm, the perplexed look and smoldering eyes were not there anymore, which was good for their momentary truce.

What really had Hyukjae slightly amused was how Donghae was beginning to shiver, the pirate wore nothing but a shirt, slashed in many locations, and a small red bandana that he had wrapped around his wrist, his pants seemed to be of leather, so that could keep him warm.

“Hey, I said it cold.”

Hyukjae mentally rolled his eyes “ Yea, it is.”

“Uh, I don’t deal well with cold.”

“Didn’t you just say something about not getting comfortable?”

Hyukjae blinked both eyes open and sent a small smile at Donghae’s direction who momentarily stared at him before frowning “ Of course I did, I was simply stating a fact, which might affect our uh, survival and .”

Hyukjae hummed in understanding, pretended to ponder upon something and chuckled as Donghae stared at him intently “You wanna cuddle then??”

Donghae’s eyes instantly flared “You little-“

“No but really” Hyukjae insistently carried on “even though you surely are a good looking chum, I’m not attracted to you, I can do better” Hyukjae paused to smirk and Donghae’s jaw clenched tight “however here is a fact I’m stating, our body heat will help each other remain warm, since we both don’t know just how much will the temperature drop.”

“Two words: off.”

“Aye aye” Hyukjae mocked and closed his eyes, feigning a relaxed sigh as he snuggled against the stone embedded wall.

Donghae glared holes at Hyukjae’s head as he realized that the wall behind him seriously lacked in the glowing stones and thus started another string of colorful profanities all directed to Hyukjae.

 

Hyukjae felt colder from one side and not the other, his mind quickly noted the sense of something weighing down upon half his body and his eyes fluttered open, blearily looking on his side that felt heavier.

He came face to face with a sleeping donghae, snuggled into his side, Donghae’s head resting upon Hyukjae’s shoulder and his legs somewhat intertwined with Hyukjae’s. Hyukjae recalled hearing and seeing Donghae in his drowsy state. The sounds of shuddering whimpers and then a sleeping donghae was crawling over to him, pressing into his body for warmth. Being this up-close with Donghae’s face had him feeling severely uncomfortable, his body moving on instinct as he tried to slide away. Much to his dismay Donghae simply clung on tighter, snuggling into the crock of his shoulder which startled Hyukjae greatly

“Oh boy” Hyukjae muttered, not happy with his situation right now. He threw a scowl at Donghae’s peaceful expressions, suddenly noting just how different the pirate looked at this moment.

Donghae’s face right now was pure innocence, Hyukjae just had to admit it to himself that yes, this man was surely good-looking. The fringes of hair spread over those eyes, lips slightly parted and face relaxed. This Donghae did not in any way seemed like the Pirate he actually was. It felt slightly odd, admitting such a thing to himself about someone  who would usually be trying to kill him and vice versa. Their situation right now, from the dropping into a cave to being snuggled up like this was odd as well. It was probably one of Fate’s nasty tricks again.

Hyukjae tried to free his legs, not sure about what time of the day it was anymore, whether it was even the same day he shifted his abdomen a bit and felt something hard brush against his thigh and he stiffened, suddenly fully awake as he stared at a still slumbering donghae. Cursing under his breath, he didn’t keep his moves as gentle anymore, he did not want to be close to the man while had was having wet dreams or something. To his despair donghae’s body followed and then the Pirate was almost crawling onto him as well as appearing to be waking up.

Hyukjae reached out to quickly shake him awake when a hand shot up to grasp at Hyukjae’s wrist in mid-air, a pair of bleary but aggressive eyes glared into his. No words were said, there breathes were mingling from being this close, there was a clear warning in Donghae’s eyes

Do not touch me

“Could you kindly get off?” Hyukjae shifted his body a bit and that’s when the aggressive look in the Pirate’s eyes turned to something else as he looked at their very compromising position, sudden realization thundered upon him and he flailed before falling onto his and scrambling away.

“Thanks, no need to act like I was going to eat you.” Hyukjae’s stomach churned insistently and he playfully raised a brow “ Though at times like this was survival was the priority” He trailed off, eyeing Donghae like a juicy piece of meat that had Donghae yelling rich profanities at him.

“How the did this happen though” Donghae muttered more to himself but of course Hyukjae heard “ You sleep-walked or well crawled over, I was apparently too sleepy to kick you away and here we are now. How long do you think we slept?”

“No freaking idea” The sleepy pirate grumbled, rubbing at his eyes and yawning, for that split second Hyukjae caught himself wondering just how did a murderous pirate manage to look this darned cute.

Wait-what?

Donghae felt the eyes on him again and he abruptly shut his mouth to shot a glare at the silently observing man, he was trying to act like the snuggling incident never happened, but the fact that it did, bothered him a hell lot, he could feel the skin along his collar grow a bit too warm and that steady gaze was not helping either. He mentally grimaced at how his ‘problem’ since childhood had not faded away. He used to always end up in his father’s bed by morning since he would crawl over to cuddle and sleep. He didn’t regret it because he didn’t really remember it. So it was bothersome when his ‘cuddling’ habit did just sneak out like that.

When Donghae moved to sit up straight he felt a strain his lower regions and gaped down, almost at the same time he heard Hyukjae drawl on “ Oh and you might want to take care of your morning wood…though I’m not sure whether it’s morning anymore.”

That warmth around the collar was now branching out onto his face because damnit, what had he been dreaming of while snuggling with the Cowboy?!

Having had enough of the calculative gaze on him donghae finally snaps “What the is it with you?”

Hyukjae appeared unaffected and clueless, that just enraged him more. Going into defensive mode he glared back at those eyes that seem to be trying to sneak a peek into his very soul.

“Why do you always remain so angry?” Hyukjae’s question is sudden, his voice calm and donghae just entirely stiffens because who the hell is Hyukjae to ask him something like this.

“None of yer freaking business, scallywag.” Throws the sneering Donghae and Hyukjae has to ignore the insults that the Pirate was constantly throwing at him. Then again he was a pirate, yet so different to Hyukjae’s perceptive mind. Donghae seemed to be just so much more, everything about the Pirate would lure in Hyukjae’s curiosity about just what the real Donghae was. Donghae was spontaneous, while Hyukjae was the exact opposite, Donghae was fire and ice at the sam time, emotions bursting out, nothing was kept bottled in by the Pirate, his face was so open and Hyukjae just wanted to read on and on. Human psyche had always interested him and it seemed as if he had just gotten himself a very interesting case here.

“We should keep moving and look for an opening” Hyukjae had been pulled away from his thoughts as Donghae walked by. Once Hyukjae joined him he could not help but notice the tensed body that was Donghae’s and how the Pirate kept a distance. Recalling how earlier Donghae walked closer he figured that was when the Pirate had been overwhelemed by insecurities and fears, the Donghae he was seeing right now was the hard crusted tough man Donghae wanted to be seen as.

“While you slept, you looked so child-like, your brows were not knitted like that and your lips were not grimacing, you looked so innocent” Hyukjae commented in  matter-of-fact manner and Donghe simply scoffed, not really sparing him a glance as he commented about Hyukjae being a creepy bastard. “Ye should get yer mental stability check on.”

“I’m not creepy.” Hyukjae almost felt himself smile “I don’t usually watch people sleep but, it’s just that your sleeping face caught me off-guard, such a difference from when you are awake, that’s all.”

“Ye should keep yer observing habits to yerself.”

“I can’t help it, that’s just how I am.”

Donghae only snorts, mentally somewhat at ease that Hyukjae had not singled him out as an intriguing object.

“Ye should observe more for holes to squirm out of rather than me.”

Hyukjae only nods, keeping his gaze busy in looking for any opening what so ever, the embedded glowing stones were trailing along the path they had taken and if Hyukjae was not in a situation where he could actually die, he would have considered the scene beautiful. He remembered thinking of that term for Donghae and mentally snorted at himself, what a thing to think for an enemy, then again it was simply an observation, a fact.

 

A/n: Part of double update, the second one will be up in a while. TBC