“Ladies and gentlemen, all eyes on me!”

A large explosion in the back attracts the attention of everyone in the hall—they scream, they get out of their seats, they demand to know what's going on—there's smoke billowing from the gaping hole in the wall and fallen debris blocking the exits. They all heard the voice, but the body from which it came is no where to be seen, all eyes on who? The hall suddenly becomes too small and there's too many people everywhere. They're scrambling to find a way out, panicked and nervous, yelling for the guards to do something, you incompetent bumbleheads! All the men and women dressed in their suits and dresses, carrying their expensive looking purses and holding their skirts, running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

All, but one.

There's one single person running across the stage to reach the giant fishbowl-like container in the center of the stage, ignoring all the commotion.

Sometimes he's thankful Jaebum recruited such an...attention seeking individual to the crew. Always with the flashy entrances and theatrics. Jackson has his uses, he thinks to himself as he quietly makes his way behind the “fishbowl” and hopefully out of the auctioneer's sight. The creature inside is frantically moving around in the water, thrashing his tail and trying to free his bound hands; the poor thing can't even cry out with the tape over its mouth. And even then, Mark couldn't take his eyes off of the being in the water.


When he first saw him, being hauled off a dingy boat in what looked like a crate, Mark didn't think much of it. He'd seen people get carried off to auction halls before, in ways probably worse than a crate, and he definitely heard more profane things than what the (rather) pretty young man was screaming. But instead of turning back to his small game of poker with Yugyeom and taking the younger's share of meat, the fish tail that replaced the lower half of the trapped man's body stole his attention away. He rubbed his eyes, once, twice, dropped the cards in his hand in shock and leaned over the deck to get a closer look. Mark wasn't dreaming, that tail was attached to the body and was moving as crazily as the upper half was. A shimmery, pale blue tail, that looked like it was glowing when hit with the soft sunlight—he couldn't make that up, Youngjae's cooking wouldn't make him hallucinate that hard.

He had heard stories of beautiful creatures that lived in the clearest of waters, with voices that enchanted all that came across their territories, and wept tears of precious stones. He heard stories about how their hearts granted immortality or something of the sort, and seen how many people set sail to find these creatures, to hunt them and reap the rewards. Story after story that they do exist, that people have seen them, even own them, but no one believed, or at least he never believed. Only more old fishermen's tales that he was rather sick of hearing every time they docked. Mark was sure his crewmates didn't believe them either. But there, there in the crate was a living, breathing, very much real, mermaid.

Past all the curious townspeople that began to crowd around and whisper, and the burly-looking guards keeping the people from getting too close, Mark caught the merboy's gaze. They were as dark as any human's eyes, but what caught Mark's attention was the way they glinted purple in the light. It didn't take a genius to figure out the emotion in the creature's eyes was pure anger and defiance, but there was an underlying fear and sadness that made Mark's heart ache. When the other broke the stare to go back to hissing at his captors and trying to break free, Mark continued to stare. He was fascinated, ignoring the questioning whines from Yugyeom asking him what was so interesting, he didn't even hear the low whistle Jaebum let out when he decided to look over the deck. He never thought in a million years that what those stories he heard actually had a truth to them, never thought that he would get to see one. And now that he has, Mark wasn't going to let that merman disappear from his life just like that. He was going to steal that creature away.


He could probably stand there and admire the stunning creature for a little longer, but someone could also recognize his face from one of the many wanted posters plastered all over and get arrested and that, that would be problem. (Jaebum would kill the guards, obviously, but then most likely kill him after.) So he taps the glass, tapping until the merman turned around, his eyes a little less angry and a little more scared. Mark didn't think the other would recognize the guy that did nothing but stare at him from atop a ship (he guesses the light brown hair helps to set him apart from the rest), but the way the young man's eyes widened—he didn't miss the brief flicker of hope—and the way he swam to float directly in front of Mark told him otherwise. He would've thought it was cute the way the merman was excitedly moving around, trying to speak despite the tape, but Mark forces himself to snap out of it and get back to the task at hand.

He steps back and holds his hands up, indicating to the other that he isn't leaving when he notices the merman start to trash around again. In the background he hears another explosion go off and a laugh that distinctly sounds like Bambam's, but then there's Jaebum's commanding voice and it soothes Mark's worries of having the whole hall come falling down on them. He points upwards, telling the other to swim up to the top. The merman gives him a confused look and holds up his cuffed hands as if to say I can't do anything with my hands like this! Mark wants to tell him not to worry, to slowly coax him out, but from the corner of his eye he sees a guard and the auctioneer, red in the face, pointing at him. There isn't time.

It seems the both of them realize what the situation is; they look at each other one more time, Mark holding out his arms, smiling in the most hopeful way he can. He watches the merman turn his head towards the guard running at them and back at Mark before swimming and leaping over the edge of the tank. (It reminds Mark of a dolphin, but hey, he didn't say that.)

Mark has to steady himself when the merman crashes into his arms, and he can't deny how surprised he is at how light the creature is. The water soaks his front, and it makes him kind of cold, but he really has no time to think about it, not when the one guard after him has suddenly multiplied into five. Normally Mark would be up for the challenge, outsmarting the dumb guards with their posh lifestyles was a highly entertaining pastime, but he wasn't there to pick fights. At the other side of the stage, Youngjae's waving at him with one hand, the other hand holding a heavy looking sack of money which Mark grins at, and he starts to run over.

“We gotta go, Yugyeommie's got the ship ready!”

They run towards the back, where Jackson's already waiting by the door—Mark tries to ignore the way Jackson looks from him to the merman in his arms and the eyebrow wiggle, but he can't say the same for his fishy friend. Although, he doesn't mind all that much when he feels the merman press up closer against him.

“Move, move, move!”

Jaebum round's the corner with Bambam on his shoulder, and a bag on the other. He has nothing to fend off the growing number of guards chasing after him, and he has to try and not get caught in the homemade bombs he knows Jackson has scattered all over the place. But, lucky for the resident leader, Bambam has his back (quite literally) and firing his guns like the trigger happy that he is. Mark would stare a little longer so he has some material to throw in their captain's face when they're back at sea, but it seems like the auction hall is going to come down soon, 5/6 of their crew with it if they didn't moving.

“Cute fishstick you got there!” Bambam calls out, still thrown over Jaebum's shoulder as the latter runs past Mark to the front of the group. He looks down to see the merman furrow his eyebrows together, assuming he's trying to figure out what “fishstick” meant. Mark throws Bambam an exasperated look like that's all he can come up with but, he'll get the younger boy back later, instead focusing on getting back to the ship and having Yugyeom take a look at the cuffs around his little rescuee's wrists.

He wants to tell the merman in his arms that everything's fine and dandy now, even though it's not at the moment and oh , Mark's basically kidnapping him from his kidnappers. That's not the greatest impression to make, but jumping willingly into his arms had to mean something. While he's having his epiphany, bullets are being fired at him and he's maybe having a little difficulty trying not to drop his new "friend" and keeping up with their speedy captain. If he wasn't as fast as he was, he doesn't know what he would do. He kind of wishes Youngjae didn't have his hands full, the kid has a better aim than Bambam did, especially since the little gunman is even more off with his current position and all. And where is Jackson—a giant explosion would really help right now, especially since the guards from inside the auction hall called reinforcements.

The poor merman looks shaken up, his eyes tightly shut and huddled up against Mark's chest, and Mark resists the urge to sigh—these are definitely terrible situations to meet someone. Was he okay being out of the water? He didn't even know his name and they're already running from the authorities together, kind of romantic once he thinks about it. Though a name would be really nice so he can stop referring to him as “the merman.”

“Into the sea, let's go!”

Mark barely catches Jaebum's command over Bambam's high pitched screaming; at first he doesn't know why until he sees Jaebum leap over the edge of the cliff and—oh. That's why. Jackson, who suddenly sprints past him, notices too late and skids to a halt right at the edge. He's in the middle of stabilizing himself and opening his mouth, no doubt to shout at Jaebum and ask what's wrong with him, when Youngjae catches up and shoves him off the cliff too. Mark can hear a noise that almost sounds like a dying cat and a “shut up, Jackson!” before he follows the rest of his crew. Falling isn't his favorite feeling in the world, especially not when he's falling into the ocean. He's glad Mr. pretty, wet, and fishy has his eyes closed, he can sort of imagine what the merman is thinking—why are humans so crazy, why is this guy insane, I'm going to die—or something like that. (Mark isn't good at calming people down while diving off a cliff.)

Eventually his bottom hits the hard wooden floor of their ship and the familiar comforting smell of the sea surrounds him. He doesn't realize he closed his eyes until he's slowly opening them to check his surroundings. Jackson's a few feet away, laying on his back and shouting at a disinterested Youngjae and Bambam had casaully made his way over to Yugyeom, like he didn't just jump off a cliff. Kids these days have no sense of fear, he thinks. He's brushing himself off when he realizes he's using his hands. His hands that are currently free and not at all holding anything or anyone.

Mark sits up a little straighter and looks around the deck, he must've let go when they landed, , he feels terrible. When he spots the merman, laying a little ways off with his back facing Mark, he scrambles over on his knees, worry written all over his face. Mark slowly turns the young man over to check for any injuries or bruises or any sign of damage, running his hands down the others sides, no time to marvel at the softness, up to where skin turned into scales, too concerned with the well-being of the merman.

He doesn't register Jaebum yelling at Jackson to get up or Yugyeom tackling Youngjae for the bags of gold, Mark's focused on his own “prize.” He doesn't know exactly what to do next, rescuing him was the only part in his plan he was sure about. His eyes moved to observe the young merman's face now that he has the opportunity, without looking creepy. The others hair was different when it wasn't floating around him in the water, splayed out like a halo, now it stuck to his forehead and the sides of his face. Mark uses a hand to brush the smooth strands of pitch black hair to the side, preventing it from blocking the man's closed eyes. He had a rather baby-ish face, not toddler-like like Bambam's, but like an innocent child? Mark doesn't really know, flowerly language was not his thing, but the merman had a very pure image. All smooth lines and curves, fair skin that practically glowed with the bits of water that clung to him, and—

And tape over his mouth.

Mark nearly slaps himself on the forehead for forgetting that the tape and handcuffs are still on, instead he was ogling the merman like he was some sixteen year old boy seeing a girl for the first time. He thinks about calling Yugyeom over to look at the cuffs, but thinks removing the tape would be a better idea; being able to speak would probably be a better thing to wake up to rather than not. But, Mark doesn't know how to make peeing tape off someone's mouth not hurt and hurting the pretty merman is something he doesn't want to do.

What if he peels it off and his skin comes off too? And the merman's mouth is like a shark's and eats him whole for ripping his skin off so cruelly? Jaebum would never forgive him for being eaten and bringing a man-eating merman on board. Bottom line, Mark is a wimp and really, really doesn't want to hurt the unconscious man.

Clearing his throat and getting his courage up, Mark holds the merman's chin to keep his face in place and grabs the end of the tape and tugs it as gently as he could. And maybe having been in the water for so long the tape is less sticky than it originally was, making it easier to peel off. Sure Mark had to tug a bit harder here and there, but he got it off. To match the merman's cute little nose was a cute little mouth. Plush, soft looking pink lips, slightly ajar to reveal pearly white non-sharklike teeth, much to Mark's satisfaction. He briefly wonders if mermaids needed mouth-to-mouth, because he honestly wouldn't mind. All part of the kind savior role, despite being a criminal or whatnot. (Details don't really matter, not to this band of guys, anyway.)

A groan snaps him out of thoughts, focusing on the man settled in front of him. He calls out for Yugyeom, also attracting the attention of the others. They didn't pay any attention to him before and now they do? What do his crewmates want anyway, Mark totally saw the merman first. Speaking of which, the latter's tail flicks to life and it jolts himself awake, staring right into Mark's eyes with a small gasp.

“You...thank you!”

Mark barely has time to blink when the merman throws his still handcuffed hands over Mark's head and pulling him into a tight hug. His face is pretty much pressed up against the other man's shoulder, and he can see Jackson's -eating grin, but all he can concentrate on is how good the merman's laughter sounds. He has to remind himself mermaids were known for their “enchanting voices” so he shouldn't be that surprised when the merman's voice was comparable to that of a siren. It's still nice to hear, though. It takes Mark completely off guard when a wet kiss is pressed to his cheek. He doesn't realize the grin on his face until he sees Bambam shaking and covering his mouth to stifle his laughter.

When Mark's finally released, his crewmates have all gathered around the two of them, staring curiously at man and merman. And Mark's staring at the merman, taking in the others smiling face. He himself is a little shocked at why the others initial reaction was to catch him in a hug and smile at everyone like everything was going just swell and he wasn't kidnapped and kidnapped again and carried off a cliff, but he thinks it really doesn't matter, no, not when that bright smile is thrown his way.

Mark swears he isn't that easy.

“Morning, Fishboy,” the captain says.

“Jinyoung,” he corrects, not even giving Jaebum a glance. Instead he moves his tail to curl underneath him and sits up a little more properly and grins up at everyone. “Thank you so much for getting me out of there!”

“T'was nothing, fishstick!” Yugyeom elbows Bambam for the nickname, and Mark thanks whatever gods are up there that the crew was blessed with such a level headed, normal guy. “But we don't deserve credit, it was all your knight in shining armor over there!” Mark barely has time to give Bambam a dirty look when everyone's attention is focused on him.

“I-it was nothing,” he chokes out, rubbing the back of his neck, a habit he developed whenever he was nervous. No one said a word, and while Jinyoung looks confused, the other five look at Mark expectantly. Today is not his day, all day he's been stuck not knowing what to do. It's when Jackson mouths “name” to him he finally gets it. “I'm Mark, by the way. And uh, we should probably get these off you,” he says, tapping at the handcuffs around Jinyoung's wrist.

Mark looks up at Yugyeom and the younger boy drops down to their level, raising Jinyoung's hands to his eyes, inspecting the cuffs. It's funny the way Yugyeom's face changes while he's thinking, brows furrowed, a little bit of tongue peeking out from his mouth and sometimes his nose wrinkles up—but he knows not to laugh lest he wants Jaebum to put him on mop duty for the rest of the month for hurting Yugyeom's feelings.

While he watches the youngest try to pick the lock with a thin piece of metal he pulled out of nowhere, Mark thinks that finding Yugyeom was truly a blessing. He looks around at his other mates, and sees their impressed faces at how the kid is working, and Jaebum's proud father look.

Yugyeom was and still is just a kid in Mark's eyes; he never went out with the rest of the crew on raids, instead opting to man the ship and provide an escape if things got bad. Bambam was the one that found him and brought him to the ship—it was funny to see a pipsqueak like him drag along someone nearly three heads taller than him—and told them he helped Bambam get away. They were the same age and Mark guesses it was one of the reasons Bambam became attached so quickly. Initially it was just Bambam that bothered to do anything with Yugyeom, the rest of the crew choosing to do their own things, but long story short, one by one fell to the innocent charm of their new addition. He made Youngjae and Bambam feel like they didn't have to be mature all the time and they goofed off together, he was smart and helped Jaebum navigate the ship and plan their next hits, he could make Jackson laugh and lift his mood, and for Mark, he gave Mark back the little brother he missed so much. Needless to say, Yugyeom fit right in and Mark couldn't think of the crew without him.

So when the cuffs click open and fall to the ground with a clunk, Mark reaches over and ruffles the younger boy's hair. “Good job, Gyeomie,” he says.

“Of course it's a good job, it's Yugyeom we're talking about!” Jackson exclaims, clapping the boy on the shoulder. Mark rolls his eyes at how much they baby Yugyeom, but he can't deny it either. Instead he turns his attention to Jinyoung, who's rubbing at at his wrists and rotating them to get the blood pumping again.

“Thank you, thank you!” Before Mark knows it, Jinyoung has Yugyeom's face in between his hands and he's kissing their youngest all over his cheeks. “Thank you Mark, thank you..”

“Yugyeom,” Yugyeom fills in, ducking his head to hide how red his face is. Jinyoung's incredibly happy, tail thumping up and down like a dog. “Thank you, Yugyeom! What about the rest of you?” He asks curiously, eyes looking the other members over.

“I'm Jaebum, the captain of this ship,” Mark's captain introduces himself, bowing his head down in greeting. Jackson, Youngjae, and Bambam all introduce themselves after him, and Youngjae impulsively asks if he can touch Jinyoung's tail. It's cute the way he covers his mouth as soon as the question leaves his lips, looking shocked and embarrassed it came out. Jinyoung just laughs, looking comfortable with his crewmates, and lets Youngjae do as he wants.


Later on, Mark's carrying Jinyoung like he was when they were running from the auction hall, but only this time he's walking through their ship to a room in the back. Well, the bathroom, actually. The others reasoned that since it was him that brought Jinyoung to the ship, it would only be right that he have to carry him around. And they figured the merman couldn't just lay on their dry, emphasis on dry, deck all day and scrambled to think of a temporary place for him to stay.

“Youngjae! Are you done?”

A muffled shout from inside the bathroom is all Mark gets in response. He sighs and shouts his question again. Jinyoung laughs and Mark has to fight off a smile. The door flings open, barely missing Mark's nose and Youngjae is standing in the doorway.

“I said,” Youngjae sighs exasperatedly, “Everything's good! Tub's all full and mats all over the ground to make sure the floorboards don't get too wet and start to mold.” He tugs Mark in, pushing him towards the tub. “C'mon, c'mon! Jinyoung's gonna dry up if you don't hurry!”

Mark's almost offended that Youngjae cares so much about the merman he just met a few hours ago more than him and that he would think Mark would let Jinyoung dry up. The latter doesn't notice the offended look Mark gives Youngjae, he just laughs and ruffles the younger one's hair. “Merpeople don't dry up just like that! Thank you for this.”

Youngjae smiles and excuses himself, something about Jackson needing his help to fix part of the mast. Mark stops paying attention to him after he says bye, so he misses the sound of a chair being propped against the door and muffled giggling. He's preoccupied lowering Jinyoung into their decent sized tub, stepping back when the water splashes over the edge of the tub.

Jinyoung looks pretty happy to be back in water, submerging his upper half and then sitting back up to get the water all over him. His tail is hanging off the edge of the tub, occasionally swishing back and forth to catch the water droplets he flings that way. He shakes his head, getting rid of the excess water in his hair and gets Mark wet in the process, and laughs at Mark's shocked gasp.

“Come on in, the water's great!” Jinyoung winks, laughing even harder at how red Mark's face becomes. Mark huffs, crossing his arms and look away, feigning anger. Being playful? Two can play at that game.

He gets some sort of satisfaction when Jinyoung whines that Mark's not paying attention to him anymore, that he's sort of sorry for splashing water on him and it's not his fault merpeople like water, and he didn't mean it so please don't be mad at him. It's after a few minutes more of Jinyoung's pleas that he turns around, and easy smile on his face. They stare at each other, and both burst out laughing at how ridiculous their prior exchange was.

“So, uh, where's home?”

Jinyoung's resting on top of his folded arms on the edge of the tub, swinging his tail absentmindedly, watching Mark play with a loose thread on one of the rags on the floor. He's seated right beside the tub,not wanting to leave Jinyoung alone yet.

“Can't this be my home?”

Mark's shocked, and he turns to Jinyoung so fast he nearly knocks his head into the tub. Jinyoung looks back at him, tilting his head in question. He really does look like a child, and Mark doesn't know what to say.

“You want to stay?”

Will Jaebum allow it? Where is he going to stay because they'll need the tub eventually? What's he going to do when they all have to go on land? Who's going to look after him? Can they just leave him in the bathroom? Is this what he really wants?

“There's not much I can do on board a ship, and I don't know where else I can stay other than your tub, but here, I want to stay here.”

Mark doesn't know what's in the future, he and the rest of them take whatever life gives them and make spontaneous decisions. Kidnapping a (rare) mermaid was definitely spontaneous, and Mark thinks the least he can do is see the whole thing through.

“Then,” Mark looks up and smiles at Jinyoung, happy that he returns it tenfold, “Welcome home.”

 

yeah pirates yeah!!!!!! wow this editor hates me i will change this later the format looks weird