In anticipation of their comeback…  =DDDD

O_O     And a huge HUGE thanks to anyone who’s still interested in this story =)  I know I’ve been a lousy writer  =/  so thank you so much for bearing with me ;)

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“ummmm… I think we’re stuck here for good???”

Blood drained from Minwoo’s face and Eric’s arms instinctively reached out, ready to catch him did he faint. But to his relief- and disappointment for some incomprehensible reason- Minwoo recovered just as fast. But still the looks of shock and utter disbelief marred his features.

“Yeah right…” Minwoo’s voice held an undertone of incredulity. He probably thought Eric was joking. But his small eyes were wide open, already searching Eric’s face frantically for answers, almost as if he was waiting for Eric to jump up and say ‘gotcha”.

Only Eric was not playing a trick.

“come on… It can’t be that bad” finally when Eric didn’t confirm his suspicions Minwoo spoke up- his voice shaky and quivering.

Eric hoped his silence conveyed the message he could not voice with words.

“Oh god… oh god… oh god…” Minwoo was chanting under his breath, running his hand repeatedly over his face, trying to shake off the numbness that was slowly starting to overtake his body.

After a couple of long calming breaths he managed to gain his composure back.

 “Okay… okay… alright. Nothing to worry about. There’s two of us. We can fix it…-“

“… -right???” Minwoo was trying hard to direct a reassuring smile at Eric. And it made his stomach twist in guilt.

Seeing Minwoo in such a state of turmoil made him feel bad. He was partially to blame for the man’s distress. And standing there lying through his teeth, acting like he had it all figured out felt… wrong. It was high time he confessed. So gathering his wits he drabbled out.

“ummm… the thing is…” he was stuttering- again. The man who was never at a loss of words, his vocabulary seemed to dry up when it came to Minwoo.

“what???”

He opened his mouth yet no words came out.

“Spit it out Eric” Minwoo’s patience seemed to be wearing thin.

“I don’t know anything about boats”

“WHAT???”

“I really don’t have any idea about what’s wrong with this thing- o…or how to operate it to be exact. I just chose this because it was there at the moment”

There.

Done and dusted.

He immediately regretted his decision to confess as he watched the blood drain from the smaller man’s face for the second time that day. But this time however, it seemed to rush back up in an even faster pace than the one it took to drain- if that was possible.

He could literally see the transformation- how his face went from normal to deathly-pale to red in a matter of seconds. How the veins in his neck seemed to bulge out with the way blood was pounding through them. How his hands clenched into tight fists, turning white at the knuckles. How it took every ounce of self-control Minwoo had to not to fly at Eric and throttle him senseless.

And for a split second Eric contemplated making a run for it; the five sets of light finger-tip shaped bruises around his throat was a painful reminder of what Minwoo was capable of. He quickly did a mental calculation of the speed and the distance between him and the door and whether or not Minwoo would be able get to him before he got to the safety of his cabin. But while he was deeply weighing his pros and cons Minwoo had moved and was now standing between him and the door, and just like that his escape plan was thwarted.

He shivered involuntarily as Minwoo pinned him with one of his murderous glares. Gulping down the lump in his throat he got ready for the inevitable attack- this time promising himself that he was not going to fight back, as this situation was, more or less, his fault.

But to his immense surprise Minwoo just his heels and stormed out of the room, leaving Eric to smolder in the heat and guilt.

               ~~~~~~

The ambiance of the boat was tense. As the sun sank down into the sea Minwoo was yet to show his face to Eric. The man had holed himself up in his cabin after leaving the engine room and had barely responded to Eric’s calls for lunch. Eric had left the man to himself, now knowing by experience that it was best to leave him alone when he was angry. All through the afternoon Eric heard him muttering away, most probably cursing everyone in Eric’s blood line up to his great-great grandparents. And when Eric knocked on the door at dinner time the only response he got was a loud bang on the other side of the door.

But a couple of minutes later Minwoo stalked out of the room looking for something to eat, completely ignoring a very guilty looking Eric who was hunched over the counter, trying to make himself as scarce as possible. He bustled around the kitchen making sure to make as much noise as possible with each and every action and in turn making Eric a thousand times more uncomfortable. Minwoo was in the process of opening a can of tuna when Eric decided to mend the fences and give a helping hand.

“There are some leftovers in the pan” he pointed out good naturedly.

But talking seemed to be his undoing- especially when it came to the smaller man. Because now it looked like Lee Minwoo had had enough.

He slammed the can on the counter top so hard it made Eric jump out of his seat.

“Yahh, do you have a death wish??? do you want me to kill you??? ” Eric was so shocked by the sudden outburst the only thing he managed to do was shake his head.

“Why would you want to run away in a boat if you know nothing about the stupid thing?  Are you that damn idiotic?”

“And on top of everything else why the f*** did you have to drag me into your stupid world???”

He let Minwoo pour out all his anger, letting the man vent out his frustrations on Eric, unaware that he himself was reaching the boiling point.

It was not just Minwoo who was stuck in a boat, he was stuck as well.

And although it was mostly because of him, he couldn’t help but feel a bit ‘victimized’.

“What do you want me to do???” he bellowed, startling the other man into silence- he didn’t intend to shout- definitely not after the part he played in the whole thing but his stupid voice decided to come out that way.

“I’ve apologized so much to you now that my mouth hurts and there’s nothing else I can do. I’ll jump out of the boat if that’s what you want. But other than that, I’m out of options.”

                      ~~~~~~

The cool night air was soothing on his overheated skin. The shouting match with Minwoo left him drained and exhausted. And on top of everything else the guilt was weighing him down.

What was he thinking, hijacking a boat when he had no idea how to operate it?
 

Minwoo was right. He had no right to drag him in to this. He should’ve just listened to his brain and left the man in the boat yard. He seemed to make more and more mistakes lately. Fighting with his father… running away…

Listening to his heart instead of his brain seemed to be the root of the problem.

And this was so not his plan.

He was meant to go somewhere. Live his life. Experience all the possibilities the world had to offer. He was supposed to enjoy his freedom. The whole running away thing was to do just that.

But instead here he was, stuck in the middle of the ocean- and the person who he felt a miniscule attraction towards, already hating him.Up to now he’d managed to find an answer to every problem he faced. But now, he felt stupid and useless.

He was a right miserable soul.

He was startled into the real world when something soft and heavy landed on his outstretched legs. He quickly looked down; ready to scramble and run screaming only to realize the thing across his lap was a huge blanket. Not a moment later Minwoo was sliding down beside him, their shoulders slightly touching.

Eric’s gaze drifted between the two newly materialized objects.

He wasn’t stupid. He didn’t know what a peace offering was if this wasn’t one. Minwoo could’ve taken a white flag and waved it in front of his face for all it was worth. But this was the sign he’d been waiting for- a sign of surrender, a sign to cease fire.

He kept his mouth shut this time, not wanting to ruin everything again.

“I want to tell you something as well” Minwoo blinked at him, his features were ridden with guilt and shame.

“what?”

“this is not my boat…”

“…”

“it’s my friend's boat… you know… the one you asked about. Junjin. There’s a picture of him in your cabin. He just let me crash here because I had nowhere else to go. I’ve been living here for a couple of months now and then you came along and… I’m sorry”

Minwoo’s head was hanging low- the evidence of his embarrassment plain in the fierce redness that had now reached the tips of his ears. If he lifted his face Eric was sure he’d be glowing scarlet.

He couldn’t understand why Minwoo felt so guilty though. It wasn’t like he had stolen the boat. The thief here was Eric. Maybe he felt bad for blowing up at Eric, how quick he was to condemn him and pretended all along to be the injured party when he himself had not given up all the secrets.

It was still cute though; the way Minwoo was squirming and looking so completely uncomfortable in his own skin. If this was any other situation Eric would’ve a bit more. Make him squirm some more. But this was a pretty dire situation. And he had more wrongdoings on his list than Minwoo.

The coldness of the night air was getting stronger by the second. So Eric quickly wrapped the blanket around himself keeping one side open to let Minwoo know that he was forgiven and that he wanted peace as well. With a small smile Minwoo nodded, quickly shifting under the blanket before wrapping the other corner around himself. Once settled he nudged Eric’s shoulder lightly.

“Guess we are stuck together then eh?”