“Now that I’ve thought about it, and had a chance to actually see it, it’s really not that bad.”

Yunho looks up from his book, his form partially hidden by an elongated awning, and he offers Sunggyu a fond grin. “Not the hellhole you thought it would be?”

Sunggyu leans a little forward over the railing on the ship’s smallest deck. He sort of considers it his deck now, as if it’s possible to own the private space. Maybe it’s because every time he’s come out on the deck, be it for a little privacy or just some sun, he’s usually almost always the only one there. Sunggyu has maybe seen one other person, excluding his friends.

The out of the way, small viewing deck gives Sunggyu a chance to breathe. And after two weeks at sea, it gives him a chance a reflect.

“I didn’t think it would be a hellhole.” Sunggyu’s eyes go back to the island in front of him. There are several ships taking up the small port that the island has, and their own is situated further back, so much so that Sunggyu can’t really make out much of the island’s features, other than the lush looking hills and how green it is.

“Apparently,” Yunho says, “Dongwoo thought we’d be reenacting Lord of the Flies.”

Sunggyu chuckles a little. “I never thought that we’d be dropped off on a barren island and told to survive.”

It’s a little hard to see Yunho completely, the shade making it difficult from where Sunggyu stands in the direct sunlight, but he knows Yunho looks better now than he has for days. He’s eating three full meals a day, sleeping five or six hours a night, which is a vast improvement from before, and like now, he’s taking mandatory fifteen minute breaks every couple of hours. Yunho is almost looking like his old self now, and Sunggyu can’t begin to realize how thankful he feels for the way his brother is smiling again.

“I did, however,” Sunggyu wonders, “question whether we’d ever get here.” Especially since the Chinese attack.

Yunho’s voice carries over the wind, “You’re not the only one. So, does it pass the Kim Sunggyu litmus test?”

Sunggyu’s eyes focus on Hachijo Island. “It’s beautiful enough. I’m not sure I thought there were places this untouched left.”

“The people here were the very best combination of lucky and smart,” Yunho says. “This island is very isolated from the rest of Japan, probably the southern most isolated island, but there’s a ferry that runs between Tokyo and Hachijo frequently. There’s also a small runway for planes. But the moment the people here got word of the spreading infection, and they got word very early, they locked their island down. They did it so fast they ended up stranding a good deal of their population off island. But they saved themselves.”

Sunggyu’s fingers curl around the railing. “Are there a lot of people on the island?” What he means is, will people be open to their presence, or will it be a clash of cultures that ends badly?

“The information I read on Hachijo island said that there’s typically about eight thousand people living on the island at any given time, but because of the time of the day that the attack hit, the fact that it’s the summer, and the upcoming Japanese holiday, only around sixty-five hundred were actually let on the island when it locked down. And that includes tourists. Don’t worry about there being enough room for you. There’s plenty of room for everyone.”

“So we won’t be camping in tents?”

“No,” Yunho laughs. “Hachijo has an almost extensive offering of accommodations. I made sure you were assigned to a nice hotel suite. It’ll have all the amenities that you need, including electricity and running water. You’ll be safe there.”

“But not as safe as I’d be here.”

Yunho doesn’t respond right away, and when he does, his voice is soft. “I respect your decision.”

Sunggyu leans forward, pressing his forehead onto the flat surface of the railing. “It wasn’t one that I made lightly. I spent a lot of time thinking about it. And it’s not that I want to leave you or anything.”

Yunho says, “You don’t have explain yourself to me.”

“No. I should.” Sunggyu rights himself. “Because I don’t think I did.”

Sunggyu can still hear the captain’s words ringing in his ears, making his heart heavy with their content.

“You want to be with your friends.”

Sunggyu shakes his head. “It’s more than just that, and they’re more then friends. Don’t ever think that you aren’t the most important person in the world to me, Yunho. You are my brother. I would do anything for you. I love you. But I don’t have a place on this ship. I’m not meant to be military like you. And if I stayed, I would be close to you, but I would be unhappy.”

Enlist or leave.

This is the choice Sunggyu has had two days to mull over. The captain has invited anyone between the ages of sixteen and thirty-five to join up as crew, most likely to try and boost their military presence. But Sunggyu doesn’t want to be a soldier. He loves Yunho, and likes people like Seungri, but this isn’t the life that he’s meant for.

And the captain’s been very clear that those who do not chose to enlist, will be offloaded on the island as soon as possible.

“Maybe I can--”

“Get me special treatment?” Sunggyu tries. “ I don’t want that. Neither do I want to spend my days sitting in your cabin, afraid to be in the way, or have my life revolving around going to the mess hall every night to serve dinner to people who are enlisted. No, Yunho, staying here isn’t for me. It’ll be better if I go to the island with everyone else.”

Begrudgingly, Yunho admits, “I know that the military doesn’t appeal to you. I understand. But it still seems like you’re going at least partly for your friends.”

Sunggyu is quick to admit, “Well, I’d be a liar if I told you I wasn’t going just a little for them. They’re family to me now, especially Dongwoo, and none of them are choosing to enlist. Dongwoo’s not one of authority, and Sungyeol’s got Jiyeon. Sungjong’s too young, and Hoya won’t leave his side.” Briefly Sunggyu thinks of Myungsoo, who’s sort of grown to be a friend in the days since the attack, and Woohyun who certainly won’t be let out of his father’s line of sight. They won’t be coming to the island with the rest of them.

“I don’t want to let you go,” Yunho admits.

Sunggyu hides a smile from his brother. Yunho’s always been a little overprotective, but he’s never been clingy. Of course neither have they almost ever died. Not like when the Chinese attacked. It’s a little adorable how often Yunho checks on him now, and how he insists on them eating their meals together and spending break time together. But maybe it’s just because Yunho always understood that this split was coming.

“I wish you could come with me,” he returns. “Can’t you just turn in your commission?”

Sunggyu can see the barest hint of a smile on Yunho’s face.

“I can’t. Sunggyu, what I mean is that I won’t. Don’t … share this information with anyone, but there’s been talk of a cure. Or talk of some progress towards one. The Americans and the French might be onto something. It’s a pretty big might, but it’s more than we’ve had thus far. And if they work out something to help the situation, I need to be in a position to help. I have to stay at my post, and I have to help everyone who can’t help themselves.”

“You’re just too noble,” Sunggyu sighs out.

“You won’t even notice I’m gone.”

Sunggyu puts his forehead back on the railing and rumbles out, “Don’t ever think that.”

Sunggyu is trying not to think of how much time he has left with Yunho before he’s forced to disembark. The more civilian heavy ships have been offloading for almost a full day now, and there are several more in line before Sunggyu gets his turn. It’ll be at least another day before they get cleared into port. The security measures must be what’s taking so long. Sunggyu can’t imagine anyone on the island will allow for the chance of infection to spread to them.

“No, really,” Yunho continues, stretching out on the bench in the shade. “Hachijo is fairly popular with tourist. There’s a lot to do, and as long as you stay out of trouble, or don’t make it, you’ll be free to explore the island as you wish. You can go hiking or swimming, or just hang out with your friends. You’ll be way too distracted by everything you can do while I’m gone, to actually notice I’m gone.”

Sunggyu wants to point out that the world is likely ending, billions of people are dead, and the last thing he wants to do is go surfing. But he knows Yunho is only trying to make himself feel better. Yunho must be feeling incredibly guilty over their parting.

“Aren’t there military who are staying on the island with us?”

“There’ll be a joint Japanese and Korean group left behind when we all go, but they’re only there for your protection. Just in case.”

Sunggyu doesn’t laugh, but he desperately wants to. Protection? There’s no such thing, not from men or walls. Sunggyu’s heard the reports about the afore believed impenetrable Holy City already. There are a few, rare eye witness accounts of Jerusalem falling, and all of them entail thousands of inflected piling over themselves to breach the impossibly high walls and infest the city. The infected are capable of breaking down Jerusalem, and Sunggyu doesn’t think for one second that a couple of hundred soldiers are going to be anything but a speed bump if the infection reaches the island.

“You can’t be one of them?”

The infection won’t reach the island, Sunggyu tells himself. No one on any of the ships is infected, and no one on the island is infected. The infected have thus far not been able to cross large bodies of water, and the island is isolated. The island is safe. This is what Sunggyu believes, and if Yunho stays on the island with him, Yunho will be safe. Not out in the middle of the ocean where the Chinese and who knows who else is looking to prey on ships for supplies and worse.

In a lightening quick second, Yunho is at Sunggyu’s side, leaning next to him on the railing, promising, “We will be together again, Sunggyu. You won’t be stuck on this island forever.”

Sunggyu’s head drops. “You don’t know that. You said the French and the Americans are working on a cure? What if they’re working on that cure for the next twenty years? When will you actually be able to come back to this island? You don’t know for sure. None of us know anything anymore.”

Yunho’s arm comes around Sunggyu’s shoulders. “You have to have a little faith.”

“Faith,” Sunggyu chokes out “You must be kidding.”

“I don’t mean in a god.” Yunho pats Sunggyu’s shoulder, then heads back to retrieve his book from the bench. His break must be over now, and Sunggyu won’t see him again until the dinner meal, and even then just for a second. Sunggyu’s still got his duty until the end and he’s off the ship. “I don’t think you could ask anyone to have faith in a god now.”

Sunggyu frowns. “Then faith in what?”

“Never mind,” Yunho chuckles. “Never mind.”

Sunggyu is just about to head back in with Yunho, it’s sort of a new tradition now that Sunggyu walks him back to the bridge, when the door to the deck area slams open. Sunggyu jumps a little, then relaxes. Woohyun is someone that Sunggyu can spot a mile away after only a brief glance. He just doesn’t know when this happened.

“Gyu!” Woohyun raises a high hand and streaks towards him.

“Woohyun,” he returns. And from the way Woohyun hasn’t said anything to Yunho, Sunggyu can assume he had no clue that the officer is standing a ways behind him.

“I looked everywhere for you,” Woohyun breathes out, and he does look like he’s been relatively active for a while. There’s a flush to his face. “I tried your cabin, the rec room on deck C, and even your friend’s cabins.”

“I wanted some fresh air,” Sunggyu says, a little startled that Woohyun has been looking for him. They’ve been getting breakfast together for the past few days, and they usually spend time together later on in the day with their bigger group, but this is the first time Woohyun has active sought him out. Sunggyu can’t lie to himself and not admit that it makes him feel a little special. “You need me for something?”

Woohyun opens his mouth to reply, then pauses. His head to the side.

“What’s wrong?” Sunggyu’s eyes narrow at Woohyun. He looks like he’s stalled out over something.

Sunggyu’s come to realize that in addition to being greasy with his words, Woohyun is also a little bit of a spaz. He and Dongwoo have already bonded over this.

“Nothing,” Woohyun says slowly, a smile stretching across his face. “It’s just … the sun is behind you, and I know you don’t like me saying it, but it makes you look … really pretty.”

Sunggyu scowls.

“Sunggyu,” Yunho says from behind Woohyun. “Why don’t you introduce me to the boy who thinks you look pretty.”

Woohyun stiffens immediately and Sunggyu sighs.

“Yunho.”

“Sunggyu,” his brother returns sharply, and the tone actually makes him falter. It’s something he’s never heard from Yunho before. And the way he’s looking at Woohyun is a bit how Sunggyu imagines fathers look at their daughter’s dates. It takes Sunggyu a moment to realize that in this situation, he’s the daughter.

“Yunho, this is my friend Woohyun. Woohyun, this is my brother, Yunho.”

Woohyun spins around and bows so deep at the waist that Sunggyu swears he hears him pull something in his side. He braces his hands on his calves and says, “Sunggyu’s brother. I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time.”

Yunho an eye at Sunggyu and gives him an incredulous look. Sunggyu gives him the dirtiest looks back that he can manage. Woohyun’s something of an important person to him now and he won’t have Yunho spoiling anything for him.

So finally, with what looks like some effort, Yunho relents and tells Woohyun, “It’s nice to meet one of my brother’s friends. My underage brother.”

Woohyun snaps up at the last bit and Sunggyu’s still trying to figure out what’s going on. Yunho is clearly not aware of the fact that it’s Sunggyu who’s still carrying around the most embarrassing crush on Woohyun. Woohyun is just a flirt. Nothing else.

With a nervous stutter, Woohyun says, “I think I’m younger than Sunggyu, actually.”

Sunggyu rolls his eyes and cuts in before things get even more awkward. He prompts again, “You were looking for me, Woohyun?”

Woohyun looks between the two brothers for a second more, then nods and allows, “I wanted to show you something. We’re supposed to meet up with the others in a few hours, but I don’t want to share … I mean … we should …”

The way Wooyhun sputters out into an almost boneless mess on the deck is unfortunately adorable to Sunggyu. He really wishes Woohyun weren’t so attractive in both looks and personality.

Yunho says, “My break is over, Gyu. I’m going to head back.” He’s got his book tucked under his arm and Sunggyu feels guilty that he hasn’t been able to make much progress in it. Yunho’s already claimed that he’s been trying to read it for over a year, and Sunggyu thinks it may be another before he makes it to the halfway mark.

“I should walk you back,” Sunggyu jumps to say, because it’s their routine.

“Nah.” Yunho waves him off, eyes settling on Woohyun. “You give your attention to this one instead. I’ll see you later tonight. Stay out of trouble.” After a second more, Yunho tells Woohyun, “And you keep your hands to yourself.”

“I always stay out of trouble!” Sunggyu shouts back, then registers all of his brother’s words. “And hey! What does that last part mean? Yunho!”

Woohyun lets out a loud breath. “Your brother is scary.”

Sunggyu shakes his head. “No. I think he’s just crazy.”

“He’s a good brother, Gyu.”

Sunggyu doesn’t think he can ever argue with that.

“Will you come with me?” Woohyun asks, interrupting Sunggyu’s thoughts. “I want to show you something.”

Sunggyu inquires, “And you don’t want to show the others? If we wait just another hour or so Dongwoo will be back from his duty and we’ll still have enough time before Hoya and I have to leave for the dinner service.”

Woohyun looks determined as he shakes his head. “No. I just want to show you. So will you stop asking questions and come with me?”

Sunggyu has barely agreed to go with him before Woohyun is pulling him along. Sunggyu absolutely loves the way Woohyun’s fingers hold to his wrist securely, wrapping around like they belong there. He has to protest, calling for Woohyun to let go of him, but he doesn’t fight too hard, and he likes how Woohyun doesn’t let up for just a second.

“I found this by accident,” Woohyun explains as they walk, pretty much ignoring the world around them. It’s a chaotic world. Everyone knows they’ll be disembarking very soon ,and though most of them have few to no personal possessions, there’s still packing to do, and last minute issues to resolve. Everyone is going somewhere, and they’re rushing.

“Found what?”

Woohyun only laughs, then holds even tighter to Sunggyu’s wrist. Sunggyu swears Woohyun can feel how his pulse speeds up at the way they’re attached. But if he does, he says nothing and keeps walking.

They head even further down into the heart of the ship than Sunggyu has ever been before. The more they go, traversing narrower than average passageways and perilously steep stairwells, the fewer civilians Sunggyu sees. And then he sees none, and they’re getting odd looks from the military around them, but no one bothers them so they keep going.

Finally Woohyun reveals, “I guess when this ship used to go out for long tours of service, the higher ups got worried about the guys on the ship going a little stir crazy. Not everyone is suited for months out at sea at a time. So someone had half a mind to invest in a proper distraction.” He pulls Sunggyu into the last room at the end of the hallway. “I found all this because I don’t have anything to do during the day and I’m incredibly bored. I figure I can only bother you so many hours a day.”

A grin makes its way onto Sunggyu’s face, but he can’t tell if it’s because Woohyun wants to hang out with him, or the fact that he’s suddenly standing in a storage room that is filled with all kinds of boxes, and odds and ends. There are collapsible chairs scattered around, what looks like an honest to god popcorn machine, and next to Woohyun who is further ahead of him in the room, is an ancient looking projector.

“Does that thing even work?” Sunggyu asks, coughing when he brushes off some of the dust that’s collected on it.

“Yep,” Woohyun says. “I’ve got two guys who swear it was up and running only a few months ago. The screen is right over there. And take a guess what’s in the boxes?”

Movies. Sunggyu discovers dozens of movies in reel format, all packed gently and carefully together, labeled and ready to be played.

“But a projector?” Sunggyu counters. “It’s 2014. Not 1914.”

Woohyun scoffs at him and sets the projector on top of a sturdy, hip level crate. He scurries off to hang the screen in the appropriate place and relays back, “But can you imagine fifty or a hundred guys trying to cram together to watch a movie off a laptop? With this thing you can get all of them and more in one place, and make it an event. That’s the point of this, you know. More than one person is supposed to enjoy the experience.”

It takes Sunggyu only a moment more to realize that they’re going to watch one of the movies. Woohyun isn’t planning on moving the projector to one of the rec rooms. “What should I do?”

Woohyun looks over his shoulder, a grin on his face. “Get us something to sit on?”

There are several chairs within grabbing distance and they pop open easily enough. Sunggyu has to dust them off carefully before he’s satisfied enough to sit, but by the time he’s done it, Woohyun’s fitted a reel on the projector and he’s feeding the line through the right place expertly.

“How’d you learn to do this?” Sunggyu asks. He wonders briefly if he’s placed the chairs too close together. This isn’t anything but two friends watching a movie. He doesn’t’ want to make things uncomfortable for them.

“Practice,” Woohyun says. “I had yesterday free, and I know a cadet who owes me a favor.”

Unsure, Sunggyu poses, “You learned how to run a projector yesterday? So we could watch a movie today?”

Woohyun’s fingers still and he says quietly, “I know you won’t be on the ship tomorrow. It has to be today.”

Sunggyu is quiet for the rest of the time Woohyun works to finish the setup.

“Okay,” Woohyun says, more to himself than Sunggyu. “Movie, check. Projector plugged into the generator, check. Smoking hot date, check. I think we’re ready.”

Sunggyu freezes, but Woohyun breezes by him, hitting the lights in the room, then flicking the projector on.

“Woohyun,” Sunggyu says, because the teasing is becoming unbearable. He’ll be forced to admit his crush on Woohyun soon if the flirting doesn’t stop. It’ll be humiliating, but Sunggyu can scarcely take the idea that Woohyun might like him anymore. “Don’t say--”

Woohyun cuts him off, sitting next to Sunggyu in the other chair. Sunggyu’s earlier fears are alleviated as Woohyun drags his chair even closer and doesn’t stop until he’s sitting close enough to be nearly pressed up against Sunggyu.

Sunggyu forces himself to breathe normally and ask, “What are we watching?” By his estimate there are over a hundred movies in the room. Probably everything from comedies to dramas are accounted for, but likely everything is dated. There’s no telling what Woohyun’s picked out, but they seem to share a lot of the same interests, so Sunggyu trusts.

“Don’t get mad at me, okay? I have a surprisingly boring selection to work with. This was the best of the lot. I checked all the options out yesterday.”

The movie starts up and it’s immediately clear what they’ll be watching.

Sunggyu crosses his arms over his chest, and in the dark of the room he turns to look at Woohyun. His side profile is lit up by the movie playing, and he looks incredibly handsome in the moment, but Sunggyu doesn’t let himself be swayed. He says flatly, “We’re on a ship in the ocean, and you think the appropriate movie to watch is Jaws?”

Woohyun throws a casual arm around the back of Sunggyu’s chair and says, “We’re not swimming out there, right? We’re fine. Plus, any shark that manages to get through all this steel probably deserves to eat us for lunch. Don’t you think? And don’t worry, I made sure this version has subtitles. Or do you speak English? I don’t think I’ve ever asked you that.”

Sunggyu has never felt his face heat so quickly and severely as it is now. He can feel the tips of Woohyun’s fingers brush his shoulder and the pressure of Woohyun’s thigh against his own.

As the poor girl in the movie starts to disrobe for her swim in the shark infested water, Sunggyu hears Woohyun asking again if he speaks English.

Woohyun’s fingers are rubbing slightly against the material of Sunggyu’s shirt. This is all he can concentrate on.

“Chinese,” he manages to squeak out. “I was taking Mandarin as my foreign language in school.”

“Huh. That’s cool. Cute and smart.”

It’s only a second more that Sunggyu is able to hold back, then he’s turning in his seat, demanding angrily from Woohyun, “Why are you doing this?”

Woohyun looks away from the screen, tearing his eyes from the first hint in the movie that the girl isn’t alone in the water, and there’s nothing but confusion on his face. “Doing what? Watching a movie with you?”

The answer only makes Sunggyu madder. He leaps to his feet, unable to stand the feeling of Woohyun touching him a second more. His voice rises and he asks again, “Why are you doing this? To me? Am I joke to you? Is this funny? Did someone put you up to this?” As heartbreaking a possibility the last part is, he has to consider it. Nicer people have done crueler things to him in the past.

Evenly, Woohyun says, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not joking about anything here. I’m not doing anything to you. I don’t understand what you’re saying to me.”

The shark nudges the girl in the water on the screen for the second time.

“This,” Sunggyu says, gesturing between them. “I mean this. What is this? What are you doing? Telling me I’m … attractive.” He certainly doesn’t say pretty, though it seems to be Woohyun’s favorite adjective to describe him. “You’re always trying to touch me, and you do really nice things for me. I want to know why.”

“Because I like you.” Woohyun says slowly.

“Bull!” Sunggyu snaps. He won’t allow himself to give in. He won’t be made a fool.

The shark is tearing the girl to pieces in the opening scene as Woohyun rockets to his feet, accusing, “You always do this.”

“Do what?”

“This!” It’s Woohyun’s turn to gesture between them. “I compliment you and you pretend like you don’t hear it. I do nice things for you and you make sure to tell me how much other people appreciate my effort. So maybe I should be asking you what the problem is. Do you have an issue with me liking you? I can’t exactly turn my emotions off. Sorry.”

Sunggyu’s dragging in deep breaths. “Excuse me?”

“I like you,” Woohyun grounds out. “That’s why I spend time with you, and do things for you, and compliment you. That’s what people do when they like other people. Why aren’t you understanding this?”

For a million reasons, none of them Sunggyu really has the time or effort to put into explaining. So he settles for replying, “I don’t think you’re funny at all--claiming to like me. That’s ridiculous, and frankly it hurts.”

There’s such conflict on Woohyun’s face as he asks, “How is that ridiculous? You think you’re too good for me?”

Sunggyu chokes out a sudden laugh, bracing his hands on his knees. Everything is a mess in his mind, thoughts flying past each other in rapid succession, and he’s barely fighting the urge to run from the room. Breathing is getting harder, his muscles are tensing, and he can’t even hear the movie playing in the background.

“Sunggyu?” Woohyun’s flat, warm hand settles between his shoulder blades. “Talk to me.”

Sunggyu looks up at Woohyun through his bangs. “Guys like you,” he eases out, “don’t like guys like me.”

Woohyun’s eyebrows pull together. His forehead wrinkles. “What?”

“Don’t make me say it again.”

The hand on Sungyu’s back slides up to the back of his neck and suddenly Woohyun is pulling him gently up to his full height so they can look each other squarely in the eyes.

“I think,” Woohyun says, “you should maybe listen to what I have to say. Okay?”

Mutely, Sunggyu nods.

Woohyun tugs Sunggyu even closer and there’s something utterly so intimate about the action, the shadows of the room hiding them.

“I like you,” Woohyun says deliberately. “And I don’t ever want to hear you talk about boys like me and boys like you again. I don’t know what kind of s you’ve had to deal with in the past, but I’m not one of them, and I’d kind of appreciate you not generically grouping me in with them until we get to know each other a little better.”

Breathlessly, Sunggyu asks, “You like me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Sunggyu’s tried to work out the why before, back when Woohyun started giving hints that he may have feeling for him. He’s still drawing blanks.

“Why?” Woohyun laughs out impossibly. “Are you serious?” He pulls Sunggyu back to their seats, flipping off the projector as he goes. Their knees knock together as Woohyun tells him, “I’ve liked you since the second we met. You were special to me in that very first second because you were standing up for what you believed in so passionately I swear I could see right through to your heart. You gave me everything you had in defense of something that was precious to you, and you didn’t care who I was.”

“I didn’t know who you were,” Sunggyu points out, wondering desperately if he’s been transported into a manga.

“Doesn’t matter,” Woohyun insists. “You stood your ground against me and then gave back everything that you had. No one does that on this ship with me. They skirt around, thinking I’m going to be some who goes to his daddy for every issue. They never challenge me, but you did.”

Sunggyu deadpans, “So you like me because I’m difficult?”

Woohyun smiles goofily. “I like you because you say what’s on your mind and mean it. You always tell me exactly what you think of something, and you don’t hold back because you’re afraid of what I’ll think or how I’ll react. You trust me to either agree with you, or have a civilized response waiting if I don’t. Honestly, I like it best when we’re disagreeing about things. You challenge me.”

“Woohyun,” Sunggyu says, because he can’t say anything else.

“And I don’t care if you hate that I call you pretty,” Woohyun says defiantly. “I think you’re really good looking. Very attractive. Your eyes squish up when you have a huge smile on your face and it makes me smile in return. You’re exactly my type in that department, and you don’t get to tell me what I like to look at. Got it?”

Sunggyu does not think he’s attractive. Not in the slightest bit. He’s average, he supposes, in the looks department, but he certainly doesn’t stand out. How he can be some handsome boy’s type is baffling.

“But I look nothing like you,” Sunggyu points out. “And you’re really handsome.”

“You do realize that attractiveness is completely biased and subjective, right? What person A finds attractive may not be the same for person B. And I’d like to talk to whoever told you that you weren’t attractive. Don’t give me that look, Sunggyu. I can read you too easily.”

Sunggyu’s face is so hot from his blush that it feels like it may just melt off in the next five seconds.

Woohyun holds out his fingers and starts to tick off, “I like that you look out for people who need someone like that in their life. I like your strong sense of justice and right and wrong. I like that you have a temper, it makes you interesting. I like that when you decide to be friends with someone, you invest in them completely. I like that you’re a natural born leader, and make people want to follow you.” Woohyun pauses and looks down at his hand, then back at Sunggyu. “Do you need me to keep going? I’m running out of fingers on this hand, but I’ll start with the other one if need be.”

Heart in his throat, Sunggyu has to ask just one more time, “You like me?”

Woohyun’s hand is framing the side of Sunggyu’s face before he can register what’s happening. He holds his breath and feels the pads of Woohyun’s fingers against his skin, rough and worn but steady and firm. The fingers are pressed so that Sunggyu can’t move, but he wouldn’t now if his life depended upon it.

“I like you.”

Sunggyu lets out he breath he’s been holding.

Woohyun seizes the opportunity.

The world falls away from Sunggyu a little the moment their lips meet. He sighs into the kiss, reveling in the pressure of his mouth against Woohyun’s. It feels right. It feels like no kiss he’s ever gotten before, but also like the best kiss he’ll ever get.

Woohyun’s fingers slide a little down his face to hold his chin, and Sunggyu finds himself so taken with the kiss that he lets it happen. He’s no docile partner, and he’s always been in firm command of the kisses he’s had in his life, but there’s something odd about kissing Woohyun that makes him want to give up significant control. He lets Wooyhun set the pace of their kiss, and opens his mouth to Woohyun’s tongue when he feels the steady pressure grow with ferocity. Sunggyu’s never really kissed with tongue before, certainly not on a first kiss, so there’s something thrilling and about the notion that he’s doing this with Woohyun and no one else.

Before long Sunggyu’s got his hands caught up in the material on Woohyun’s shirt, pulling slightly, not sure why, so lost in the haze of what’s quickly turned into a make out session. Oxygen is quickly becoming an issue as Woohyun kisses Sunggyu again and again, but quick puffs of air between the slip of lips is enough for now.

“Wait, wait,” Sunggyu gasps out. His mouth is burning from the intense kisses, and he’s trying to focus on Woohyun in front of him while he recovers his breath.

Woohyun drags back at once, seemingly startled. “What?” he asks, short of breath himself. “Too much? Too fast?”

Sunggyu shakes his head, letting go of Woohyun’s shirt. “Should I … maybe tell you what I like about you?”

Woohyun stares at him oddly with swollen lips

Sunggyu is really bad at relationships .He’s never claimed otherwise. “Because you … told me …”

Woohyun grins, then falls back against Sunggyu easily, kissing him once more with fervor. His hands pull up the back of Sunggyu’s shirt and then his arm is sliding more fully around Sunggyu’s form. Sunggyu ends up caught in the crook of Woohyun’s elbow, the perfect place to be, it turns out, as Woohyun kisses him even deeper.

At some point, when Sunggyu’s feeling spent and sated from the languidly given kisses, the rush to explore each other’s mouths having finally passes, Sunggyu is happy enough to sit back against Woohyun and finally enjoy the movie for what it is.

“This is totally a date,” Woohyun says, his arm still around Sunggyu.

“We’re on a ship with several hundred people, watching a movie about a killer shark. This isn’t a date.”

Woohyun’s rebuttal is, “There is a zombie virus going around turning people into living monsters, and you want to criticize how I clearly have to work with what I’ve got? I’d like to see you do better mister.”

Brazenly, in a way that Sunggyu can barely believe he has the courage for, he leans over to drop a kiss on Woohyun’s cheek. “You could at least get us some snacks and drinks.”

“Oy!” Woohyun protests. “I had to trade the first officer’s entire stash of Soju to make sure we weren’t interrupted here, on top of the crash course in projector operation.”

It’s still ridiculous in Sunggyu’s opinion, to even believe for one second that someone like Woohyun is interested in him. It makes no sense at all and goes against everything that Sunggyu has ever experienced in his life.

But the weight of Woohyun’s arm on his shoulders is so real, and his mouth is still tingling from their long make out and the quick kisses that followed.

Something that feels so real and right can’t be a lie. Irrational, maybe, but not fake.

“Stop thinking so hard,” Woohyun says, moving to kiss Sunggyu again. “Your face gets all puckered when you do. It makes you look really old.”

Sunggyu gives him such a shove that he nearly falls off his chair. “Don’t make me tell my brother you kissed me without permission first. He didn’t seem to like you too much earlier.”

Woohyun rubs the back of his head. “I think that had a lot to do with the fact that he’s way smarter than you are.”

Sunggyu glares. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Woohyun rights himself on his chair fully and grins wide. “Because I think he realized my intentions towards you way before you did.”

Sunggyu is thinking the statement over by the time the shark in the movie is attacking a beach full of unsuspecting people, and Woohyun is mouthing at his neck with teeth and tongue and serious intent. Sunggyu’s never had a hickey before, but he’s kind of excited over the idea of getting to experience it.

Sunggyu’s all about trying new things, now. He blames Woohyun.