Jongin was having a very odd dream.

He was on the deck of the Calling Siren – a lot of his dreams seemed to start like that – when someone in the ocean close by began splashing, knocking at the boat. A quick glance over the side of the ship revealed Jongin’s company to be a merperson.

The clouds overhead parted to reveal warm sunshine, soft on Jongin’s skin as he reached out to the merperson. He called out to it, telling them to show their face, to take his hand. The closer the mysterious creature drew, the brighter the sun shone down on them.

Finally taking Jongin’s hand in a firm grip, the merperson revealed its face.

“D-Dad?!” Jongin barely choked out at the familiar face in front of him, giving him no response but a tired, caring gaze.

The merman opened its mouth to speak, but whatever sound it made, if any, was drowned out by the splashing of the waves against the side of the ship.

“I can’t hear you! Say it again, say it louder!”

The sun shone brighter, brighter still, until Jongin’s dream was gone in a flash of light.

There was only darkness, then, and Jongin pulled the sheets a little higher on his body, shaking slightly.

He became aware of a light, but very much there, weight around his waist. An arm, a comforting weight anchoring him back in reality. And reality was definitely where he wanted to be, when he realised where he was, who was holding him.

“Bad dream?” Kyungsoo murmured into Jongin’s back. Jongin answered with a nod – unseen in the darkness, but the pillow shifted in such a way that Kyungsoo probably understood him anyway.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

“No.” He punctuated with a yawn.

“It was so strange…I saw my father.” Kyungsoo’s hold around Jongin’s waist tightened just a bit. “He tried to say something to me, but I couldn’t hear it. I haven’t thought about him in such a long time…”

“Finality.” Another yawn. “As we approach the end, we start thinking back to the beginning. She’s appeared in some of my dreams, recently.”

Jongin didn’t really know what to say to that, and fell silent again. As his breathing slowed, he felt Kyungsoo rub comforting circles on his stomach.

“’love you, Jongin.”

He smiled, and moved a hand down to cover Kyungsoo’s. “I love you too.”

Focusing on that comforting warmth around him, Jongin soon drifted back into sleep, where he saw no merpeople and no fathers – only sunshine.

 

The days passed slowly, ever so slowly as they made their way to the red string of fate, staying close to land all the way. When not busy with duties below deck, Jongin found himself wiling away the hours up in the lookout with the ship telescope in hand, keeping an eye on the shore.

He had never even heard of these countries before – Opal turned to Jade turned to Amber, and somehow he just couldn’t stop watching the land, trying to catch a glimpse of the seaside communities that lay so close yet so far. Sometimes, other vessels from these countries would draw near, making Jongin’s pulse race in anticipation. Of course they never engaged these ships, they had no need to anymore, but just the sight of one on the horizon made him nervous. Or was it excitement? Maybe both?

Far in the distance, he could see mountains – enormous, imposing mountains that blocked the neighbouring country from view entirely. How many more to go? He wasn’t sure. It was the navigators who currently held the ship’s only map (well, aside from one kept in Kyungsoo’s desk, but that was rarely taken out) and they were too far away from him for now, down on the deck. They were on their stomachs on the wooden planks, chattering away as usual. Jongin turned his gaze back to land.

Still Amber, as far as he knew. Amber Country’s shoreline boasted beautiful, sandy beaches lined with palm trees, quite similar to the Opal Coast but even greater in size. They shared similar architecture too, from what Jongin could see, but the buildings were smaller in size, less elaborate in nature.

Perhaps because of the amount of foreign treasures brought to the Opal Coast by pirates. He poked his tongue out in concentration and watched a passing flock of gulls which squawked louder with every flap of their wings. They had been lucky, he thought, to not encounter any other pirates on their journey, though that hadn’t always been the case, apparently.

“There used to be quite a few more pirate ships on the water than there are now.” Minseok had told him. “Some took each other down, some bit off more than they could chew with Amethyst or Ruby naval vessels, and some fell to sickness after prioritising treasures over medicines in their raids. We’ve been lucky, all things considered, that we mostly stuck to one kind of target and that target happened to be spectacularly weak. Until recently, of course.”

A port town soon came into view, similar in size to the one Jongin hailed from. It looked different, totally different – of course, Sapphire Country was to the north, where it was somewhat cooler and a lot muggier than the clear southern summers – but it left a hint of dread in his stomach all the same. Hopefully wherever they landed in the Onyx Isles, it would be more…rural, perhaps. He smiled just a little, placing the telescope in his lap and watching the shore from the distance, instead. The Onyx Isles – Kyungsoo hadn’t told him much about them yet, but he knew enough. Further south than anywhere he had ever been before, it was sunny all year round there, and while they shared a language with the other territories in and immediately around the Jewel Seas, their particular dialects of it were…distinctive, apparently. (Supposedly Kyungsoo spoke with it as well, very strongly in his boyhood though only hints of it now remained.)

“Will I fit in there?” Jongin had asked him one night.

“From what I know, you’ll look more local than my mother and I ever would have.” Had been Kyungsoo’s reply, holding out an arm beside Jongin’s. “She always said I was pale for an Onyx. She was too.”

“And the language?”

“We can stick out together.”

“Jongin?” Luhan’s call contained its usual Amethyst lilt, cheerful as the older navigator waved to Jongin from the deck. “Pass the telescope, would you?”

Jongin scrambled down from the lookout to hand over the telescope properly, and Luhan leaned over the side of the Siren without a hint of fear, bringing the telescope up to look through it.

“Well?” Sehun appeared to the other side of Jongin, holding the map.

“I can see the Golden Mountains!” Apparently this was a good thing, as Luhan was now grinning widely. “The winds have been with us, we’re most of the way there now!”

Jongin peered curiously at the map in Sehun’s hands, lost for a while until finally locating the Golden Mountains. They appeared to make a border between the Amber and Spinel territories.

“Fairly small range, the Golden Mountains.” Sehun pointed them out on the map, in case Jongin hadn’t already found them himself. “But enough to cause some transportation issues. Because of that, Spinel and Garnet have very different cultures to the rest of the southern Jewel countries that are connected by land.”

Wait, just Spinel and Garnet? Hadn’t the Red String specifically been between the Ruby and Garnet shores? When he asked Sehun this, he just bounced excitedly. That would be a yes.

“Once we’re past the Goldens, it’s just Spinel and Garnet left to go! Then all we have to do is wait in the Red String for Titania to approach us.”

“We’ll need someone on watch at all times, when that happens.” Sehun tried to frown in an attempt at a serious expression. It wasn’t really working and just made him look constipated if anything. “We’ll all need to sleep in shifts, not just Luhan and I. I’ll take a day shift.”

“I’m older, so I should be the one deciding that!”

Before Jongin could comment that surely it would be the captain deciding who would be on watch and when, the two navigators had already started deciding on some ridiculous challenge between them in which the victor would get to take a day shift. For all Jongin may have changed on the Siren, those two clearly hadn’t changed one bit.

 

“Please, speak louder. I can’t hear you! I want to hear you!”

“Jong-“

Jongin awoke with a jolt, in a cold sweat.

 

It wasn’t long before finally, after the curious spires of the shoreline Spinel temples and the bustling markets in the Garnet harbours were behind them, they came to a stop in the middle of the Red String. Sure enough, the captain had them sleep in shifts in order to have someone available to watch for the Titania at all times. (Miraculously, Sehun really had managed to get a daytime shift.)

Jongin’s shifts happened to be just as the sun set, with Kyungsoo taking one immediately after him. The fact that this conveniently meant the two of them could retire to bed together was not lost on Jongin, and he almost found himself excited for his turn with the telescope, contemplating the Ruby and Garnet shorelines and the narrow opening to the wider waters. It was really something, especially when the sun had slipped out of the sky for another day leaving the stars in its wake.

It was just the waves, the moon, the stars and Jongin.

Until another figure took a seat beside him in the lookout, leaning on Jongin’s shoulder. He didn’t need to put the telescope down to know just who that familiar warmth was.

“Another quiet evening?” Kyungsoo moved a little closer when Jongin nodded. “Sorry to disturb you then.”

“I’ve had my quiet time.” He handed Kyungsoo the telescope with a smile, before quickly stealing a kiss while nobody else was on the deck. “Now I want You time.”

The captain chuckled, holding the telescope but not using it for now. He stayed just where he was, resting on Jongin’s shoulder with a little yawn. He started humming. A song Jongin didn’t know the name of, but had heard him hum before. He tried to join in, but without knowing the song itself it just sounded…kind of like a mess. Any attempt at apology he may have tried to make didn’t quite make it out of his mouth, as Kyungsoo took his hand and squeezed it tight.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Well, a lot of things were amazing. There were the stars, for starters. The moon was full and bright, and the ocean reflected the sky so perfectly it was as though they were floating in space, not the sea. The breeze was cool and the waves were gentle. That was all pretty amazing, to Jongin. That, and the man beside him. He couldn’t really find the words to say so, and instead just leaned on Kyungsoo in turn, waiting for him to continue. “The only exit to the Jewel Seas, out into greater waters. They’re out there, you know. The Onyx Isles.”

It made Jongin’s heart race every time he thought about it. The Onyx Isles. Their future.

“Tell me more about them.”

It was quiet, but Jongin liked that. It didn’t matter if neither of them ever spoke another word for the rest of their days – as long as they could be together, everything was perfect.

Another gentle squeeze on Jongin’s hand.

And then softly, ever so softly, almost swallowed by the wind at first, Kyungsoo began to sing.

Not speak, but sing, in notes oh so soft but so rich and so clear. Jongin could feel his heart practically bursting in his chest as the captain went on, eyes closed as if in a dream. Jongin was so in love. It was both exactly the same and completely different to what he had imagined and he was glad. So glad.

It was a song of sunsets and seafoam, of rivers, of forests, of falling in love under blue, orange, lilac, inky black skies. Jongin didn’t catch all of the words, and of those he did, a good number of them he had never actually heard before, but he knew enough. He knew from the gentle lilt in Kyungsoo’s voice, rolling like waves, pure as moonlight.

Jongin captured those beautiful notes in a kiss, as though to keep them safe in his heart instead of losing them to the ocean.

A lot of things were amazing.

Especially Kyungsoo.

 

“I’ve left two letters with Joonmyun. He’ll send one to the Emerald Bay if I live, and the other one if I die.”

“Sehun, please. Nobody’s going to die.”

“I hope Titania isn’t like the queen of the Amethyst fleet. She’s huge! Everyone on board is armed and well trained, even more than the average sailor.”

“That’s Amethyst, Luhan. Of course they’re well trained. But that’s Amethyst. We’ll be fine.”

“Zitao, if anything happens to me, I want you to take my gun, okay? I’ll show you how to use it…”

“Nothing’s going to happen to you, Yifan, don’t be ridiculous.”

“Please teach me.”

“Zitao, you don’t need him to do that. Everything is going to be fine.”

“I want to face this engagement by your side, Chanyeol. If we go down, we’re going down together. I won’t let you go without me!”

“Well, according to Jongdae, everybody’s going to be fine, but I guess it would be nice to have some company down there. Aw, don’t make that face. I want to fight alongside you, too. We’re going to leave the Siren just as we joined it – together.”

“Oh my god, for the last time, nobody’s going to die!!”

“Um…I never said anything, Jongdae.”

“Ah. Sorry Jongin. I’ve been kind of…on edge.”

 

He was having that dream again. Blue skies on the deck of the Calling Siren, a familiar splashing in the water beside the ship. He felt almost sick from nerves, but just as he had time and time again, he leaned over the side.

“Take my hand!” He cried out. “I know it’s you, so please, speak to me!”

This time, the merperson wasted no time in grabbing Jongin’s hand, but instead of allowing him to pull it up onto the ship, it instead yanked Jongin down into the water. It was cold, it was a crushing pressure from all sides, he could hardly breathe and every time he tried to speak, it was swallowed by the ocean.

Later that night, Kyungsoo would wake Jongin gently, kissing away his tears. But that was later.

“Jongin.” The creature’s words made bubbles in the water around them, but Jongin could hear them clearly. The exhausted face of his father finally broke into a smile, and Jongin was pulled close into a tight embrace. “So proud of you.”

 

It was a little after the dawn on a day like any other day.

Jongin, having finished helping Minseok and Yifan clear up after breakfast, made his way back to the captain’s quarters. Their quarters. As he walked through those hallways, familiar now, he pondered what he would do to pass the time. A short nap, perhaps? Or maybe Captain Kyungsoo would be there? He hurried his steps until he reached that sturdy wooden door, and knocked once, twice, before entering.

The only sound in the otherwise silent quarters was the gentle tap tapping of wood on wood. Tiny chess pieces moved around a board by Kyungsoo’s steady hand, the captain pausing in thought between each movement. Jongin had never seen him play before, let alone against himself, and it was strangely captivating watching Kyungsoo rearrange the pieces just so; black taking white, white taking black.

Jongin had no idea how chess worked, but it was fascinating nonetheless.

“Ah, Jongin.” Kyungsoo’s voice was quiet, but his tone was warm, and he patted the side of the desk not occupied by the chessboard as an invitation to sit down.

Jongin took it, smiling softly at his captain. “I’ve not seen that before.” He decided to get straight to the point.

Kyungsoo seemed to be expecting it. “This? Well, it’s been on land for a long time, but I felt like if there was any time to bring it on board it would be now. I won the Siren on this very board, you know.” Jongin hadn’t known, and just gave an interested ooooh in response. “This could be it for the Calling Siren, so this chess set would be there for the very beginning and the very end, this way.” He looked away then. “Perhaps it sounds silly to you.”

Reaching down to take the captain’s hand in his own, Jongin brought it up to the necklace he wore, allowing Kyungsoo’s fingers to brush gently over every stone, every chain, and the occasional patch of skin that sent little shivers down Jongin’s spine. “You’re not the only one who feels nostalgic at times, Captain.”

Their fingers laced together almost naturally.

“Jongin…would you like me to teach you to play?”

He did just that. The two of them spent a good while leaning over the handsome wooden chess set, Kyungsoo explaining the rules of the game and the function of the pieces while Jongin felt even more clueless than he had before. Maybe he wasn’t actually learning a thing about chess, but he learned something even more valuable then – the spark behind Kyungsoo’s eyes as he rambled about strategy, the pride that almost visibly lifted him when Jongin had him in check (Jongin didn’t remember what that meant, but it was good, apparently.)

It was later, when Jongin was idly tapping a knight across the board, making little whinnying sounds that were somewhat like what he remembered of the horses pulling carts in the Sapphire harbour towns, that it came to mind.

“Captain,” he began, swallowing as his eyes rested on the chest in the corner of the room where Kyungsoo kept his weaponry, “about the engagement.”

“Hm?” Kyungsoo was tapping his knights around the board too, setting up what appeared to be a castle town with the rooks.

“What if….ah. What if. Something, uh, happens?” Damn, this was harder than he expected. “I mean, if things don’t um, don’t go to plan. Something goes wrong. Something happens to um…yeah, yeah what happens if things aren’t…yeah.” He waved his hand to the side and sighed.

“If he isn’t there? Or if the Siren’s Soul isn’t there?” Well, that wasn’t what Jongin was going for, but he nodded anyway, eyes trained on the coat resting atop that innocent-looking chest.

The bloodstains were gone, but Jongin could still see them vividly in his mind.

“Yeah.”

“This…this isn’t really about that anymore. Not the Soul, not the revenge.” He smiled weakly, spreading into a grin as he took in Jongin’s shocked expression. Jongin felt a need to pick his jaw up from the floor. “All the years, pursuing revenge was all I had, but now…now I have something else.”

Before Jongin could respond, Kyungsoo placed his knight in front of Jongin’s, so the faces touched. His hands were rough, but his touch was gentle as he slipped his fingers through Jongin’s, bringing the younger’s hand up to kiss it lightly. “I have you now, Jongin.”

Kyungsoo’s lips brushed against the back of Jongin’s hand as he spoke.

“You sure do.” A bashful smile in return.

“When this is all over, I-we have a plan now. We have a place to go, we have each other…I’m not lost anymore.” His thumb little circles over Jongin’s knuckles. “This is for closure now, Jongin. We find the ship, and either I kill him, I take the Soul, or we just…destroy the whole ship. This chapter of my life needs to end…so we can move onto the next one.” He punctuated with another press of the lips to Jongin’s hand. “Together.”

Silence re the sound of the breeze, sweeping into the room and around everything in it. It swirled around Jongin’s eyes and ears – all he could see, all he could hear, all he knew in that moment was Kyungsoo.

And it was perfect that way.

“Are you excited?” He ventured, deciding not to press the topic of the engagement again, “to go to the Onyx Isles?”

“With you, I’d be excited to go anywhere.” The corner of the captain’s mouth quirked up just a little. “It feels strange, returning to a home I never really knew. My mother told me so many stories of the place, it sounded so beautiful…” A wistful sigh. “I can't wait to experience it for real, with you.”

Both of them turned their gazes to the portrait on the wall. It really was amazing, the way her intimidating gaze had somehow softened as Jongin came to know Kyungsoo. Her eyes were exactly like Kyungsoo’s; steely and strong, but holding such warmth for those who dared come close.

She was beautiful. He was beautiful.

“I can’t imagine she’d approve of me,” Jongin chuckled, removing his hand from Kyungsoo’s to start stacking the rooks into a tower, “the strong, intimidating captain of the Calling Siren, son of the siren of the Jewel Seas, falling…falling in love with a street rat-turned-pirate.” It still felt strange, acknowledging that Kyungsoo really did love him, but it felt so good, like a warmth spreading through him.

Kyungsoo quietened then.

He looked at the chessboard for a while, not touching any of the pieces.

He watched as Jongin built his rook tower. He watched as it fell down again.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he started to smile.

“Jongin…I haven’t been entirely honest with you.”

“What?!”

Their gazes met, then, Jongin’s eyes wide in surprise and Kyungsoo’s sparkling with…mischief? Jongin couldn’t be sure – it was a completely alien thing for him to see in those dark eyes.

“I never told you a lie, Jongin, but there’s something I haven’t told you, something that even Joonmyun doesn’t know.”

He lowered his voice and leaned in close, standing up a little out of his chair. For a moment, Jongin thought Kyungsoo was going to kiss him, but he stopped a little short.

“What is it?” Jongin’s breathy response, so quiet the words were almost lost.

That smile again, that strange light in Kyungsoo’s eyes.

“She sailed with men, my mother. I told you that the Onyx Isles have a culture of separate sailing, didn’t I? Men and women were to never take to the seas together.”

“Yes…you said her calling was on the men’s ship.”

A soft chuckle then, and Kyungsoo leaned in just a little more, resting his forehead against Jongin’s.

“She wasn’t so much of a rule breaker on the shore, you know. In normal circumstances I’m sure she would never have boarded a men’s ship, but I suppose it wasn’t exactly normal circumstances.”

Caw

Jongin could feel his breaths falling into time with the rolling of the waves outside. It was so quiet between them, he could almost hear the chatter from the crew’s quarters.

But for now, there was only Kyungsoo.

“She was running away,” the captain started again, “and just so happened to hide in the hold of the nearest ship she saw upon arriving at the docks. It’s pure luck that they never found her in there until the ship took to the water. Maybe they assumed she’d never dream of hiding there.”

“And…why was she hiding? Who was she running away from?”

For the first time in a long time, Kyungsoo tipped his head back and laughed; a real, hearty laugh that melted Jongin’s heart.

“She was running from the police,” his grin widened still, “for all her expertise…they finally caught her stealing.”

Oh.

Oh.

Their foreheads touched again, and Jongin couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

Instead of words, Kyungsoo gently Jongin’s face, fingertips trailing over the scars on his cheek.

“She was like me?”

“Beautiful? Yes.”

“A thief, I mean.”

Kyungsoo nodded. “She went from the very bottom, a street girl with nothing, to the Siren they still speak of today. She had nothing…but to many, she was everything.” He lightly under Jongin’s chin. “Like you.”

He brought Jongin into a kiss, soft and sweet and paying no mind to the chess pieces knocked over in the process. Jongin brought his hand to rest on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, his fingers dancing in little patterns as he lost himself in the feeling of Kyungsoo’s lips on his. Even after all this time, it was something he could never tire of.

“She’d love you.” Kyungsoo whispered against Jongin’s lips. “I love you.”

Kyungsoo pushed the chessboard aside, leaving just enough room for him to sit on the desk beside Jongin. The pair leaned on each other for a while, listening to the sound of the waves, holding onto each other’s hands.

“I should probably go soon…” Jongin murmured into Kyungsoo’s hair, “It’s almost my turn for lookout duty.”

“No,” the captain squeezed Jongin’s hand a little tighter, moving close to kiss the corner of Jongin’s mouth. “I’m in such a good mood, I want to share it with you…stay with me, even if only for a little longer.”

He never did feel the need to say no to Kyungsoo, and certainly wasn’t going to start now. Jongin let Kyungsoo bring him into his arms properly, wonderfully close, to kiss him again. Placing his hand on Kyungsoo’s thigh to steady himself, he closed his eyes and hummed quietly against the other’s lips. Another tiny shiver up his back as Kyungsoo lightly on the back of Jongin’s neck. It tickled, just a bit, and he broke the kiss to chuckle quietly. “Tickles.”

“Sorry.” Another kiss, slow, unhurried. Another, another, sweet kisses that began just as softly as the last one ended. One of Kyungsoo’s hands played with some of Jongin’s hair, at the nape of his neck, while the other rested on Jongin’s chest. He wondered if Kyungsoo could tell his heart was racing, even at a simple gesture like this…

“Ah.” Kyungsoo’s fingertips happened to brush over somewhere a little more sensitive, and Jongin could practically feel the heat in Kyungsoo’s cheeks on his own. All Jongin could do was laugh, resting his forehead on Kyungsoo’s again. One of the queens was knocked onto the floor as Kyungsoo shifted a little in embarrassment. Nobody cared – they had better things to think about.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise.” He silenced Kyungsoo’s apology by once again pressing their lips together, and Kyungsoo’s hand slipped down to rest on Jongin’s waist instead. It was wonderful. Kyungsoo was wonderful. He drummed his fingers in little circles on Kyungsoo’s thigh as they kissed, in time with the waves outside. They mumbled sweet nothings, loving nonsense between tiny pecks, pressed so close you could only tell what limbs were whose by the colour of their clothes. If I didn’t need to eat or sleep, Jongin thought, his mind a haze as he lost himself in Kyungsoo’s kiss, I could do this forever. He told Kyungsoo just that, whispers on those perfect lips that Jongin found himself missing in the seconds they were apart. Kyungsoo rested his hand on the back of Jongin’s neck and kissed him a little more firmly, insistently.

Three pawns and a bishop rolled onto the floor.

Neither of them heard. Jongin’s heart was pounding all too loudly in his ears.

Until it was silenced by a deafening bang, the door to the captain’s quarters slamming open so suddenly the pair moved apart just a little, arms still around each other.

Luhan, leaning against the door, telescope in hand.

“She’s on the horizon, Captain. It’s her.” Luhan panted. Jongin felt Kyungsoo tense in his arms.

“Titania.”