It was all too clear that the time for secrets had passed, and for any peace of mind, Yoochun had to be explicitly clear with Jaejoong about the only thing he’d ever hidden from him.

It just hurt terribly that in all likelihood Jaejoong was going to be absolutely furious with him.

Jaejoong might even hate him.

Knocking his knuckles against the metal frame of the infirmary’s doors, Yoochun poked his head in and asked quietly, “Jaejoong? Can I speak with you?”

Curled up on the bed inside the infirmary, and looking just as bad as he had when he’d been shot, was Changmin. This time there was a lot less blood, but he was pale, sweaty, and clearly sleeping uncomfortably. Yoochun hadn’t been there when Changmin had collapsed, but he’d heard about the incident from Onew.

Next to Jaejoong, Yoochun could say for certain that he was the closest with Onew. He really liked the other man’s personality, and how quiet he could be. Yoochun wasn’t always one for words like Jaejoong was, and he wasn’t nearly as outgoing as the rest of the crew seemed to be. But Onew was different. Yoochun knew if he went to visit Onew in the bowels of the ship, they could sit in perfect silence for hours and find solace in the hum underneath their feet.

Onew was also deliberate with his words, and Yoochun found him well spoken. They could talk about anything, from safe subjects like planets visited, to the very unsafe topic of the Alliance.

There was also probably something to be said for how attractive Onew was, with his soft smiles, caring eyes and gentle touches. There was such pain in Onew, the kind that was evident from a system away, but it in no way impacted the shine that Onew had to him. For a grease monkey, Onew was more like an angel.

Yoochun was most certainly not smitten.

Well, maybe a little, but he wasn’t inconsiderate. He’d heard the rumblings from time to time. Onew hadn’t always been unattached like he was now. He’d had a partner, who’d been a member of the crew, and something terrible had happened. It was the cause of the sadness in Onew, and it wasn’t the kind of sadness that could be cured by Yoochun’s affections.

Loss of the heart required time to heal.

Regardless of his feelings, Yoochun’s days were now spent almost always in Onew’s company. They were easy around each other, fast friends, and they each held secrets that the other respected. Onew never asked him much, and so Yoochun returned the favor.

“Of course,” Jaejoong said from across the infirmary. He crossed to Yoochun and said, “Changmin’s sleeping with a sedative right now. I very much doubt our voices will wake him.”

Yoochun pulled the doors closed behind him and leaned back against them. “Where’s the Captain?” It hardly seemed in his nature to be far from his brother’s side.

“Yunho?” Jaejoong asked, his face lighting just in the slightest at the Captain’s mention. “He was here about fifteen minutes ago. You just missed him. I think he had to speak with Leeteuk about something, but if you wait long enough, he’s bound to show back up. I told him I’m taking the best care of Changmin possible, but he worries. He’s a worrier.”

“Nah,” Yoochun brushed off. “I don’t want to talk to him. I just wondered.” Yoochun gave a nod towards Changmin. “What’s wrong with him?”

Wearily, Jaejoong said, “I thought his recovery was going fine. He was showing none of the typical signs of infection. Or maybe I’m just less of an effective doctor than I first imagined, because Yunho told me he thought Changmin was warm yesterday, just before I discharged him to his cabin. That’s something I should have caught.”

Yoochun rolled his eyes. “You’re not perfect, Jaejoong. No matter how amazing of a doctor you are, you’re still human. You can’t catch everything, and it doesn’t mean you’re ineffective.”

Through colorless lips, Jaejoong said, “Changmin’s developed an infection. I can treat it, but his fever is still very high. I’m doing my best to bring it down, but it hasn’t been easy. Suffice to say, Changmin’s recovery has been set back several weeks at the least, and months at the most. When he’s coherent enough to digest that, I don’t think he’s going be very happy.”

“Probably not,” Yoochun chuckled.

“So,” Jaejoong posed, wringing his hands a bit in a nervous tick, “you wanted to talk?”

Yoochun couldn’t tell if Jaejoong was nervous about Changmin or their talk. Yoochun wondered if his own anxiety was bleeding over to Jaejoong who’d always been a touch empathetic. It was an attribute that had made him an even more exceptional doctor, but at the moment it was currently working against him.

“I have to tell you something,” Yoochun said somberly, wondering if this was the last moment Jaejoong would truly consider them to be friends. Best friends.

“Okay,” Jaejoong eased out. “Something important?”

Yoochun could only nod.

Jaejoong winced. “Something we should sit down for?”

There was only one bed in the infirmary, and Changmin was currently using it. There was also only one stool in the corner, which was currently cluttered with data pads, files and odds and ends. There was no place but the floor, and with a nod they slid down to it. Jaejoong crossed his legs and waited patiently while Yoochun thought about how they’d used to be build forts out of sheets and blankets when they were little. They’d whisper to each other between giggles about all the things they were going to do when they were older, none of which they actually ended up managing.

“I,” Yoochun started, throat feeling like it was threatening to close up on him. “I never meant to go any further than the Moon Hub.”

The confusion was immediate on Jaejoong’s face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The frigid temperature of the ground was something Yoochun couldn’t get enough of as he felt himself to start to heat from his anxiousness.

“I probably shouldn’t have ever left Helios with you. It was stupid and impulsive in ways you can’t begin to understand. I should have put you on this ship and gone right back to hes house. I didn’t like the Captain. I didn’t like Yunho. But I knew he wouldn’t hurt you. And I thought he’d see you off to some place where you’d be safe.”

“Yoochun,” Jaejoong said gingerly, “I know freedom is as difficult a concept for you to grasp as me, but you aren’t my father’s property anymore. Or at least we’re going to try not to be. You going back wouldn’t have been a good idea. You going back wouldn’t have given you the freedom you have now.”

“But I’m not meant for freedom,” Yoochun said shakily.

“Everyone is,” Jaejoong bit out.

Yoochun’s head thanked back against the doors. “Jaejoong you don’t understand. My orders were … I’m not who you think I am.”

The paleness of Jaejoong’s lips seemed to be spreading to the rest of his face. “Of course I do,” he said, his voice shaking with growing uncertainty. “You’re my best friend. You’re Yoochun. You are practically my brother, though my father would have an absolute aneurysm to hear me say that. What else is there to know?”

“Everything,” Yoochun said desperately.

Changmin shifted slightly in his sleep, causing an awkward silence to fall over them.

When everything was still again, Jaejoong said, his voice at a whisper, “You told me about your mother, and how she died trying to give you a better life. You told me about your brothers and sisters you think you’ll never see again. And about your father’s debts, which led to your contact. Yoochun …”

“I lied to you,” Yoochun said, closed his eyes so he didn’t have to see the betrayal on Jaejoong’s face. “Everything I ever told you about my family, my history, and how I came to be indebted to your family, was a lie. It was a cover. It was story made up to get me through the front door.”

When Yoochun did finally open his eyes, mostly because the silence unbearable, there was anger instead of sadness on Jaejoong’s face.

“Why?” Jaejoong demanded, hands clenching around his knees. “Why would you lie to me about everything? I told you … I told you things I can’t believe I had the strength to say out loud--things that I only thought in my head. I shared everything with you, and protected you from my father. I took beatings for you, Yoochun. I--” Jaejoong cut off abruptly when he realized his voice was growing thin.”

“I’m going to tell you everything,” Yoochun swore.

“You were seven when your contract was placed in my father’s hands. Seven. Explain to me how a seven year old could lie so well for so long?”

Feeling burdened, Yoochun said, “Because the fear was real. I was just a child, Jaejoong. And the contract was real, too. I knew what that meant, and I also understood what my mother told me before we were parted. She said that if I was found out, or if I spoke to the wrong person, a lot of people would die, including her. Fear can do a lot to keep a mouth shut. Even in a child.” Yoochun smothered down the building guilt.

“For what reason?”

“Was I placed in your house?”

Jaejoong gave a sharp nod. “And by who? Your mother? Why? How could a mother just give up her child like that?”

It was a truth he’d kept hidden for so long it was hard to speak about, even to Jaejoong who was the only person Yoochun absolutely trusted.

With a frown, Yoochun told him, “I’m part of a intricately crafted, and very complicated organization that’s main purpose is to protect Alliance citizens against the Alliance. We do everything from exposing Alliance secrets, to stopping the Alliance sanctioned slave trade of who they deem to be enemies of the state--political prisoners, to even to freeing children from indentured servitude. We’re … what’s left of the resistance, Jaejoong-- the Browncoats. There are thousands of us, placed all over the Core, in the most wealthy and influential homes, gathering information, subverting the system that believes we don’t exist, and waiting until the time is right to strike. Parents willing do this, place their children into these households, in order to fulfill a greater purpose. They don’t do it because they want to, Jaejoong. They do it because the best way to destroy a system of oppression is from the inside out, and destroying the Alliance is worth that kind of sacrifice.”

“That’s barbaric,” Jaejoong hissed. “To willingly sell your own children into slavery? What kind of mother is that?”

Yoochun felt the bile in his stomach rise up. “I didn’t ask to be abandoned. But I understood from the start what I was a part of. I understood that if I didn’t play my part, just like every other person in my position, I could jeopardize them all. We’ve only survived this long because of our anonymity. And because we’re so good at appearing unassuming.”

“That’s what you’ve been doing?” Jaejoong asked with a cracking voice. “Using me to root through my father’s office when he’s out on business?”

“It hasn’t been like that,” Yoochun denied, more aggressively than he himself expected. “I never used you.”

“Yes you did,” Jaejoong argued, pressing a palm to his forehead. “You took advantage of the fact that I was naïve and truly believed you were my friend. You knew that if I thought you were my confidant, I’d give you all the leeway in the world, and even protect you from my father. Is that … is that why you were placed so young in my home? Were those your orders? To befriend me? To er me?”

The way Jaejoong was looking at him with such distain … it made Yoochun’s stomach flop over on itself.

“You were always my real friend,” he shot back. “No matter what I could or couldn’t tell you, our friendship has always been real. You have always been my best friend, and my orders were to riffle through your father’s things at every chance I got, but I didn’t need to er you to do that. I didn’t need to be your friend to do my job. I’m your friend because I want to be.”

“Our friendship is based on a lie,” Jaejoong said, climbing to his feet with some ferocity. “You are a lie.” Realization was flashing across Jaejoong’s face and he choked out in a sloppy way, “Oh, gods, it all makes sense now. This is why you know all these things you couldn’t possibly know. This is why you’re so comfortable in space.”

Yoochun pondered, “Didn’t you stop and wonder how I was able to even leave Helios? I’m supposed to have a tracker in my head, aren’t I? Jaejoong, that thing was disabled years ago, not that your father had any idea. And whenever he went off world, I did too, to check in with an informant, to follow up with someone else in the organization, or just to … just to get away for a second and breathe. I had several contacts on Helios that I reported directly to.”

Jaejoong breathed out, “And you played me for a fool the entire time.”

Yoochun followed him up to his own feet. “If our friendship had been a lie, I wouldn’t have stopped you from nose diving out of your window the second you found out your father was going to sell you off like a side of beef. If our friendship was a lie I wouldn’t have gotten on this ship with you, and stayed with you, and tried to return every bit of protection that you ever showed me growing up.”

“But you wanted to go back,” Jaejoong accused. “You planned to.”

There was no lying about that. Yoochun had to nod. He supposed there was no lying about anything anymore.

“Because as much as you are my best friend, and for as much as I love you and would do anything for you, the resistance is bigger than either of us. The work I do for them, Jaejoong, it saves lives. It protects people from the reach of the Alliance. And we’re working on something big right now. We’re on the verge of exposing something that might crack the Alliance for the first time since its inception. I’m talking bigger than what happened on Miranda.”

“Are you going back?” Jaejoong asked, an unreadable tone in his voice.

He should have been trying. He should have been planning to offload at the first chance and make his way back to Helios to meet up with his resistance contacts.

Yoochun said, “I’m not. I’m … going against everything that’s been ingrained into me from the start. I’m staying here, with you, my best friend, and I’m ignoring the Alliance and the resistance. Unless … unless you don’t want me here. If you tell me to go, I’ll go. I want you to be happy. I’ve always just wanted you to be happy, and I won’t stay if it upsets you.”

The anger was fading from Jaejoong face, which was good, but it was only being replaced by the sadness Yoochun had expected. And expecting it didn’t soften the blow on the least bit.

“You swear our friendship wasn’t a lie? That you weren’t using me?”

Yoochun moved quickly to him, pulling him into a tight hug. “I’m choosing you over the resistance, Jaejoong. What does that tell you?”

When Jaejoong hugged him back, Yoochun nearly took them back down in relief, his knees going weak.

“You have no idea how much I wanted to tell you every second of every day,” Yoochun swore. “I knew you could keep my secrets, and that was good enough for me, but I was worried about everyone else’s secrets, too.”

Jaejoong asked him, “Why are you telling me this now?”

Yoochun gave Jaejoong a tentative smile. “I want you to know that I would have told you everything eventually. I wouldn’t have lied to you forever. But I also didn’t want to burden you with this right now. I’ve just gone and gotten backed into a corner right now, and I didn’t want anyone else to be the one to tell you about me.”

“Huh?” Jaejoong questioned.

Yoochun reminded, “They ran your background check. That’s how Leeteuk and the Captain knew about the bounty out on you. And while I know for a fact they haven’t run mine yet, they’re bound to eventually. And when they do, it’ll come up that the Alliance has taken control of the bounty out on me. I’ve been made, I’m sure. The Alliance knows I’m connected to the rumblings of something they’re trying to feel out, and if they get their hands on me, they’ll try to torture the truth out of me.”

Looking utterly shaken, Jaejoong wondered, “You won’t let them, will you?”

“No,” Yoochun said simply, and he knew Jaejoong understood. “My point is, the value of my bounty just shot through the roof, which means my history is about to be exposed to anyone who goes looking for it. I couldn’t stand the idea of you hearing about this from someone else.”

Jaejoong mused, “So going back isn’t an option for you anymore.”

“Nope. Just going forward.”

Jaejoong let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry I ruined everything for you with my impulsiveness. You wouldn’t have had to abandon your cause if I hadn’t decided to run away.”

“It was my idea to run away, if you’ll recall,” Yoochun said, and this time his smile felt a little more firm on his face. “I knew what I was doing then. I mean, I knew before that moment, that I’d do anything to keep you safe. Even compromise my mission.”

“Because were best friends,” Jaejoong eased out.

Yoochun had to correct, “Because we’re more like brothers.”

Yoochun was still grinning a bit stupidly when Yunho did return, as expected.

It seemed to be a trend on the ship for everyone to look overworked and in a desperate need of a full night’s sleep. The Captain was no exception, stalking forwards a little unevenly to Changmin’s side as he demanded, “Is there any change?”

“No,” Jaejoong said immediately, shaking his head. “He’s the same as he was the last time you were here … twenty minutes ago.”

The Captain didn’t look especially put out by the tone in Jaejoong’s voice, but Yoochun thought that was simply because it was Jaejoong doing the talking, and the Captain was quickly falling head over heels in love with him.

“His fever is still too high?” Yunho questioned.

Jaejoong put a comforting hand on his back. “I’m giving chemical compresses and standard medication a chance to do their job right now, and if that doesn’t work, then we’ll move onto something a little less conventional. If it comes to it, Changmin won’t be the first patient of mine I’ve put in an ice bath.”

“Okay,” Yunho breathed out, his hand reaching for Changmin’s wrist. “I know you’re doing your best. I just want him to be okay.”

“He will be,” Jaejong said, and when he spoke, Yoochun believed him. That was, in Yoochun’s opinion, the mark of a great doctor. Anyone who could offer real comfort in a terrible situation was exceptional.

Yoochun had always known, even right from the start, Jaejoong was exceptional.

“I take it Changmin isn’t going to make it prearranged date then?” Yunho asked dryly.

“No,” Jaejoong said slowly, and his eyes flickered over to Yoochun’s. obviously neither of them knew what the odd inflection in the CVptain’s voice meant. “I suggest you send a message ahead indicating that Changmin won’t be able to fulfill his obligations, even if it was only going to be standing for a few hours.”

Yoochun couldn’t help interjecting, “Which we don’t buy for a second, by the way.”

Jaejoong hadn’t expected that, but in true form it only took him a second to add, “We don’t, Yunho.” Yoochun didn’t think Jaejoong had a clue what they were talking about, but he was a good friend, and he’d always had Yoochun’s back.

“It’s nothing,” the Captain said tiredly, giving nothing way. “You don’t have to worry about anything.”

Yoochun’s eyes narrowed. “I think we aren’t just going to New Haven so Changmin can be some high society douchebag’s arm ornament for a few hours. I think you have something planned. There’s been a lot of hush-hush going on with the crew over the past day. And a secret meeting that neither Jaejoong, not myself were invited to.”

The Captain looked downright uncomfortable and Yoochun was more than thrilled that he’d picked the perfect moment to go for a late night snack, only to stumble across the crew all gathered together, just enough visible of them through the tiny port window on the door to indicate they were going over blueprints.

The pout on Jaejoong’s face was quite spectacular. “Aren’t we a part of the crew now, Yunho? If you’re planning a job of some kind, we deserve to be in on it to.”

“Jaejoong,” Yunho said with a twisted expression. “I don’t think--”

“We want in,” Yoochun snapped out. “We don’t deserve this secrecy. We want this. Neither one of us has a home to go back to now, and if we’re going to be members of this crew, it means you trust us. Even with sensitive information. So either let us know what’s going on, or rethink considering us part of the crew.”

The Captain gave them each a long look, then said finally, “We were planning a heist. And Changmin’s role was immeasurably important.”

By the time the Captain had explained everything, from Choi Siwon to the Eye, Yoochun wasn’t sure whether to be thoroughly impressed, or very fearful for the sanity of their Captain.

“So you’re scrapping it?” Jaejoong asked, looking over to Changmin’s sleeping form. “You can’t do it without him?”

The Captain shook his head. “Without Changmin it’s little more than a smash and grab job,, which isn’t worth the risk.”

“I’m sorry,” Jaejoong said, “but he absolutely can’t leave this ship right now, especially to go down to the planet and play distraction.”

“I know, and I wouldn’t risk him anyway,” Yunho said, his fingers curling securely around Changmin’s wrist. Yoochun imagined he was searching for the steady beat of his brother’s pulse. “He can’t do it.”

Yoochun therefore thought it was absolutely hilarious not more than eight hours later when Changmin, who was kicking up so much fuss in his fevered state that even Yoochun could hear him from outside the infirmary, declared at a yell, “I can still do it!”

“A disagreement, I take it,” Yoochun asked Ryeowook who was standing near him. They’d happen to simply be passing by the same area, but now they were witnesses to Changmin throwing at fit of epic proportions, Jaejoong trying to calm him down, Yunho shouting right back, and Kyuhyun watching everything like a Ping-Pong match.

“Changmin’s always been very stubborn,” Ryeowook said softly. “And he knows how important this job was to not only the Captain, but all of us. He’s probably more upset at himself than anything else.”

Yoochun gave a silent nod.

“Changmin!” Yunho protested. “You can’t even get out of bed! Your fever is barely out of the danger zone right now. Stop acting like a little brat. The job is gone.”

“You can’t make that decision for me!”

“Watch me!” Yunho shouted right back. “It’s happening right now.”

Yoochun inched his way closer to the open door of the infirmary to see Jaejoong jet between the two brothers. Yunho was red in the fact, like the argument had been going on much longer than Yoochun had been aware of. And for a change Changmin wasn’t white as the sheets around him, but he was panting harshly, seemingly struggling to even sit up.

Kyuhyun, who’d never looked so young and so vulnerable, had wide eyes and nervous hands.

“I can’t allow you to go down on the planet for any reason outside of an emergency,” Jaejoong told Changmin in his most authoritative voice. “Your fever is high. Your wound is infected. You are most likely dizzy, nauseated and achy. Changmin, I understand you’re upset, but you can’t fight this.”

“I am fine,” Changmin all but growled out. “I’m not letting some stupid fever stop me from playing my part.”

Yunho opened his mouth to argue something back when Jaejoong cut in smoothly to say, “Alright, I’ll make you a deal. How does that sound?”

“Deal?” Changmin questioned, his shoulders visible shaking as he gasped for air.

“A deal.” Jaejoong nodded. “If you can walk all the way from your bed, to the doors where Yoochun is eavesdropping at, by yourself and without stumbling, I’ll give you medical permission.”

Yoochun’s head snuck through the doors and he retorted, “I’m not eavesdropping back here. I just happened to be passing by when a bomb dropped in here.” Behind him Ryeowook was slinking off, not wanting to be caught being part of the eavesdropping group.

By the time Yoochun looked over the Changmin he’d thrown off his sheets and had his feet down, hanging inches from the floor. He was poised to put his weight down on them and Yoochun could only think of how much of a mistake it was going to be. There was no way he was going to make it to the door without falling on his face.

“Changmin!” Kyuhyun called out in a scared away when the Companion was tipping to the side. The hadn’t even managed his feet before he was listing violently, eyes slipping closed.

“Changmin,” Yunho said softly, catching him and helping him lay back on the bed. “Minnie, I know how much you want to do this. I want to let you do it badly, also. But it isn’t worth your health, and you can even stand right now. Face it, the job is scrapped.”

Yoochun watched Changmin’s eyes flutter, his fever making his words hazy. “I need to help, Yunho. You can’t do this without a Companion.”

“Just rest,” Jaejoong said, lifting Changmin’s sheets back on him. “The Captain is very resourceful, Changmin. I’m sure he’ll come up with something else.”

Kyuhyun darted past them to take Changmin’s hand, his fingers the skin at the back of it. “It’s fine, Min. Don’t worry about it, okay? It’s not that big of a deal. You’re way more important.”

“Liar,” Changmin wheezed out.

Out of desperation, Kyuhyun turned to the Captain and asked, “There’s no other plan? There’s no backup?”

Yunho shook his head. “We needed Changmin to get us down on the planet. It’s guarded tighter than a penal colony. It’s too late to try and put something else together. We arrive tomorrow.”

“What if you get another Companion?” Yoochun asked with a shrug, feeling all eyes turn to him, even Changmin’s. “This is Core space. There’s got to be at least one who’s available at the last second. You just need a Companion for a front, right?”

“It’s not that simple,” Yunho argued, fingers in his hair in a frustrated way. “And I don’t think you can just swap Companion out like that.”

Seeming just a bit more coherent from the bed, Changmin cleared his throat and said, “It’s possible, but the client has to be in agreement. Siwon would have to approve the switch.”

Yoochun questioned, “So he’d just have to think the new Companion was prettier than the last, essentially?”

There was no mistaking Changmin’s beauty, which was masculine and incredibly striking, but there were also far more beautiful people in the ‘verse. For the right amount of credits, almost anyone would be willing to be paraded around a party and admired. It probably wouldn’t take much.

Changmin shook his head and said, struggling to get the words out, “There’d have to be a background check, too. Siwon would … vet the new Companion with even more scrutiny.”

Again, Yoochun shrugged. “That’s not a problem for me.”

“For you?” Yunho questioned.

Jaejoong agreed, “Actually, Yoochun is an exceptionally skilled forger. Most indentured servants are trained in more domestic trades, but my father always expected his property to be worth the investment. Yoochun has spent years producing false paperwork for my father. The kind that the Alliance couldn’t tell the difference between. I doubt if the Alliance couldn’t, that neither would Siwon be able to.”

Yoochun could say confidently, “Between now and this party I could easily create anything from House records, to medical documents. Everything that you’d need I can make.”

“We’re not seriously considering this,” Yunho said, his eyes locking on each of them, including Yoochun. It felt good to be useful for once, even if it was only the possibility of it.

“But what if we are?” Kyuhyun asked, the smallest glint of hope back in his eyes.

Changmin pressed back fully against his pillows and took a rattling breath that sounded a little more wet than it should have been. “It’s still not that simple,” he said.

Kyuhyun didn’t seem to care, and pressed on, “What else would we need to pass someone off as a Companion?”

“Other than that sort of thing being highly illegal?” Yunho broke in.

Yoochun snorted, “You’re thinking about robbing one of the richest and most powerful families in the Core, and you’re worried about the thirty year sentence the Alliance will slap down on you for that sort of thing?”

“Siwon has a type,” Changmin said. He reached over to catch Kyuhyun’s fingers and squeezed weakly. “He wouldn’t accept just anyone. He likes a particular type.”

“Such as?” Jaejoong prompted.

“Young,” Changmin said through a heaving chest. “As young as possible, and almost always male, though not exclusively.”

“Young,” the Captain said, a dark look across his face. “How young are we talking, Minnie?”

Looking more than a little confused, Changmin told them, “Guild law protects children. But some Companions are ready by sixteen. Most debut around seventeen or eighteen. Siwon would prefer the lower end of the spectrum.” He turned his head to cough heavy and painfully, and Yoochun could see the worry continuing to creep on Jaejoong’s face over his condition.

“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Yunho said, placing his hand on Changmin’s forehead soothingly. “This guy is sounding more and more like a predator.”

Changmin continued, “And pretty. They have to be pretty. The appearance of a Companion is worth more to Siwon than anything else. He has to show people that he can buy the most beautiful Companion the Houses have to offer. But there’s something even more than that.”

“Which is?” Yunho asked, his fingers carding through Changmin’s hair. “A deal breaker?”

Changmin gave a weak nod. “He likes the Companions who can sing. I can guarantee you he would have wanted me to sing something for his guests. He likes his Companions to sing to him, and they have to be exceptional at it.”

Yoochun supposed that was a deal breaker. Getting someone young and pretty wasn’t a problem. But a skilled singer?

Kyuhyun posed, “If we had someone who was all that, and Yoochun forged the right paperwork, you think we could get someone else in down there?”

“Maybe,” Changmin said, starting to drop off. His body was going lax as he said, “If we were lucky, maybe.”

Jaejoong appeared at Changmin’s side, a sedative in hand. He injected it quickly and told them all, “I don’t want any visitors outside of family for the next day. And don’t give me the speech about how the crew is family. By family I mean Yunho only. Changmin can’t keep getting worked up like this. He has to rest.”

Yunho said, “I’ll keep him calm and--”

Kyuhyun raised himself up to his full height, which was quite a lot for someone of his age, and said loudly, “I can do it.”

Yunho gave him an odd look. “Do what?”

The kind of steely resolve on Kyuyhun’s face was impressive to Yoochun who could see what was already coming.

“I’m the youngest of us all here,” Kyuhyun relayed quickly. “And I’m nineteen, but I could pass for younger, especially if Min does my makeup and puts me in the right clothes. Plus, I know all about Companion customs. I know the tea ceremony. I know the way they’re supposed to walk and talk and act like they’re better than everyone else. I know it all, Changmin’s shown it all to me, and I’m pretty good looking too.”

“No,” Yunho said immediately, fear in his voice. “You aren’t going anywhere near that bastard.”

Kyuhyun continued, “Changmin’s bigger than me, but I should be able to fit into at least some of his clothes, and he can coach me on the most important things to say to Siwon. Not to mention, I don’t crack under pressure. I’m not helpless, either.”

“No,” Yunho repeated, reaching across the bed to grab Kyuhyun’s arm in what looked like a painful grip. “You’re not listening to me. It’s too risky. You’re too--”

“Perfect,” Kyuhyun insisted.

Softly, Jaejoong asked, “What about the most important requirement?”

Evenly, Yunho said, “Changmin has a beautiful voice, but Kyuhyun’s is otherworldly.”

“You can sing?” Yoochun asked him with surprise.

Kyuhyun pulled his arm away roughly from the Captain’s hold. “Stop letting your feelings get involved here, Captain. I’m the perfect person for the job, since we can’t have Chanmgin. No one else fits the bill like I do, and no one else here can pose as thoroughly as a Companion as me. I can do this and you know it.”

“You’re too young for something so dangerous,” Yunho said. “I didn’t even feel good putting Changmin in that situation.”

“That’s the point,” Kyuhyun said, growing even more aggravated. “I’m young. I could probably even pass for sixteen, and that would really make Siwon happy.”

“So you want me to put you on a planet with a monster who’s going to expect certain things from you?”

Kyuhyun arched an eyebrow. “Changmin wasn’t going to have to do any of that, and I’m not going to, either. Sorry if you thought otherwise, Captain, but I’m a married man.”

“Kyuhyun,” the Captain said, and it was the strain in his voice that was more telling than anything else. He was nearly begging for Kyuhyun not to be so convincing.

“Yunho,” Kyuhyun returned, “I can do this. Can you just believe in me? I know how to act to play the part. I’m young and pretty. I can sing. And if something goes wrong, I can handle myself in a firefight, which is more than Changmin probably could have done. Let me do this.”

The indecision was etched deep into Yunho’s features, and eventually he said, “I have to talk to Leeteuk and Mi about this. They have be in agreement.”

“Mi won’t,” Kyuhyun said, face draining. “He’ll let his concern for me get in the way! He won’t see the bigger picture.”

“Maybe,” the Captain agreed, “but he’s an integral part of this plan as well. If he isn’t in agreement, we can’t do this without him. You all asked me to be okay with putting my family in danger, and now he has to be okay with the same thing. He agrees or this is over.”

“Then let me talk to him first,” Kyuhyun said.

The Captain gave a sharp nod and Kyuhyun was all but flying from the room.

“Are you really going to let him do it?” Jaejoong asked in a soft voice. “If the others agree?”

Yunho lifted himself wearily to sit on the edge of Changmin’s bed. “He’s not wrong in what he said. I know he can do it. He is young. He’s young and attractive and his voice is exceptional. He’s a natural born actor and he could fool the pants off Siwon without having to even try. But putting him in that kind of danger?”

“He’s sort of like your little brother, too?” Jaejoong stated, more than asked.

Yunho nodded. “I know his older sister. She made me swear on my life that I would keep him fed, safe and happy, before she would even agree to put the pistol down.”

Yoochun laughed loudly. “She what?”

Yunho admitted, “She wasn’t particularly happy with the idea of some hotshot, upstart kid who thought he was ready to captain a ship, taking her little brother off world. She was willing to shoot me to stop me, if necessary.”

“She must be a real badass,” Yoochun said with awe.

Yunho chuckled, “She’s a violinist.”

This time it was Jaejoong who laughed, then tipped his head on Yunho’s shoulder for a second. It was such an intimate moment that Yoochun felt uncomfortable being there. “Well,” Jaejoong said, “no matter what happens, I don’t think you can control the ‘verse so much that such a promise is possible. But if you really are so concerned with keeping Kyuhyun happy, maybe you should help him convince the others to let him do this. If he thinks he can, you have to trust him. He wouldn’t risk his lie unnecessarily. Or at the least he wouldn’t seem so certain of it.”

“I suppose not,” Yunho agreed slowly. “Keep looking after Changmin for me while I go find Leeteuk and talk Mi down from probably starting a ship wide mutiny against me?”

“You know I will,” Jaejoong swore.

Yoochun rolled his eyes. “Do you two need me to leave the room so you can kiss now?”

“Hardly,” Jaejoong said boldly, then leaned over to peck the Captain on his lips.

The Captain shuffled off after Kyuhyun, his feet dragging audibly, and Yoochun asked Jaejoong, “Do you honestly think something like that is going to work?”

“I don’t know.” Jaejoong gave Changmin a look. “But he’s not going anywhere, and without him or someone playing his part, Yunho won’t be able to get onto the planet. So do I think it’s going to work? I’m not sure. But I think they’re going to try, which means you should get started on those forgeries right away. We’re a day out from New Haven.”

“Got it.” Yoochun gave a mock salute and headed to the doorway.

If this did end up going down, Yoochun had every bit of faith that it would be spectacular. One way or another, he and Jaejoong would be getting their first taste of what being a part of the crew meant. Yoochun just hoped it didn’t lead to either of them regretting their decision to stay on.