Not every cabin on the ship featured a window to gaze out at the stars through. In fact, most of them were towards the center of the ship, in more protected areas, and certainly any passengers they took on stayed in those rooms. But Kyuhyun, who liked to claim he had stardust running through his veins, he could hardly sleep without being able to look up at any time to the magnificent glowing specks of helium and hydrogen.

To Kyuhyun, the luminous objects were a night light of sorts. The only kind that could sooth him at times.

Next to him on the bed, Zhou Mi fidgeted and Kyuhyun kept even more still than usual.

It was a high task to ask. Kyuhyun felt endlessly fidgety most of the time. It was a wonder he could manage to stay still in the pilot’s seat for hours at a time. Though maybe it had more to do with the amount of focus necessary to keep everyone on the ship alive, especially knowing that Zhou Mi was part of that number.

Kyuhyun settled his hands on his stomach carefully, laced his fingers, and stared up at the stars. He could feel Zhou Mi’s hot breath on his shoulder, and his thigh pressing against Kyuhyun’s own. But Kyuhyun was determined to let him sleep through the night for once. Zhou Mi could be as restless as him at times, waking several times through the night, almost obsessively roaming the ship, seeking out imaginary threats, returning to bed only when Kyuhyun forced his hand.

And now, with Changmin on board, and the plan to infiltrate Choi Siwon’s birthday gala a go, Zhou Mi needed as much rest as possible for the coming days. It was hard to say who Yunho would pick to sneak down onto the planet with him, but it would either be Leeteuk or Zhou Mi.

Kyuhyun had a notion that it would end up being Zhou Mi. There was no mistaking the fact that Leeteuk was the Captain’s right hand man. Leeteuk was trusted the most out of all of them, and the captain usually took him along for the more dangerous jobs they pulled. But this mission with Siwon, it was going to be different. It was certainly going to be the most dangerous thing they’d ever done, and as loathe as Yunho and Leetheuk probably were to admit it, Zhou Mi was the better shot. And Leeteuk knew almost as much about the ship as Yunho. If something happened to the Captain, Leeteuk could keep them going.

To Kyuhyun, Leeteuk was like a big brother. Maybe even more than Yunho. Leeteuk was almost motherish in his care for the crew, and if not for Leeteuk, Yunho wouldn’t have taken a chance on him. Kyuhyun wouldn’t have made it three steps onto the ship without Leeteuk. Kyuhyun felt indebted to Leeteuk.

If Kyuhyun hadn’t been hired on as the Tohoshinki’s pilot four years prior, he probably would have ended up on a transport to a farming settlement like the one on Hermes. Hermes had been hit by Reavers three years ago. So technically, Leeteuk was responsible for Kyhyun still breathing, and not being torn to pieces.

Kyuhyun was just starting to drift back off to sleep, the stars lulling him into a sense of serenity, when the ship gave an unnatural shudder.

The odd sensation had Kyuhyun sitting straight up in his bunk, dislodging Zhou Mi a little, but thankfully not waking him.

To most everyone on the ship, the shudder might not have felt like anything out of the ordinary, maybe even to the Captain, too. But to Kyuhyun, who spent the most time on the ship next to Onew, it was frighteningly obvious that it was a misstep of some sort.

There’d be no getting back to bed now, Kyuhyun knew. The sensation had unsettled him. Even the stars wouldn’t be able to sooth it out. No. He had to trace the root of the problem right away.

With one last look at Zhou Mi’s long form stretched out on their bed, breathing evenly and serenely, Kyuhyun donned his pants from the previous day, one of Zhou Mi’s bigger shirts laying over the back of a chair in the corner of the dark cabin, and ran a few swipes of his fingers through his hair. Then he popped the hatch on the cabin and climbed up to the walkway, listening for the sound of anyone else in the vicinity.

Kyuhyun gripped the railing once he was up on the midlevel deck.

He felt the shudder again.

Bypassing the bridge altogether, where Yunho was probably happy to have a little privacy and silence on an often chaotic ship, Kyuhyun made the long trip to the far side of the ship towards the engine room.

Onew’s domain.

“Onew?” Kyuhyun called out softly, a hand on the doorframe a few seconds later. “You up?”

Onew slept most of the time, despite having an actual cabin, in a hammock deep in the engine room. He often claimed he needed to be near the reactor, just in case, but Kyuhyun had spent enough time on ships to know it had more to do with the hum of the engine than the fear of what could happen in his absence. People who were born on ships, raised on them, or merely spent too much time on them, sometimes found dependency on the sounds the ships made. As a mechanic, Onew seemed no different.

“Onew?”

The engine room was dark, save for the engine’s main reactor casing itself which was lit brightly blue as it pulsed normally. There were also a couple of emergency lights on, but it was hard to see deeper back, and Onew was nowhere to be found.

A shadow moved, Kyuhyun felt a spike of fear, and something clattered to the floor.

“Kyu?”

“Onew, you scared the out of me.” Kyuhyun banged a hand down on a nearby panel and in a lungful of air. “What are you doing back there?”

From the darkness emerged Onew, bent a little unnaturally, grease streaked through his hair and on his face, an ion torch in hand.

“You felt it, didn’t you?” Onew asked.

Kyuhyun gave a soft nod. “It was hard to miss.”

Onew arched an eyebrow. “The Captain missed it. He’d have been down here before you, if he felt it.”

Onew looked terrible. It was something of a transformation that had been happening before Kyuhyun’s very eyes for months now, and getting worse every day. It was clear he wasn’t sleeping, his skin too pale and the darkness under his eyes too obvious. And he was even moving slower, curling in on himself like the fight was leaving him. He talked less and less, left the engine room only when necessary, and Kyuhyun had even been surprised he’d disembarked with the rest of them on Helios.

Though he’d had to shop for parts they desperately needed, so maybe it hadn’t been a choice at all.

“What was that?” Kyuhyun asked, wondering why he was suddenly anxious about being alone in the dark with Onew.

Tiredly, Onew said, “The engine is starting to slip. You weren’t on board the last time it happened.”

Kyuhyun pulled back unrepentantly. “Where was I? And what do you mean the engine’s slipping?”

Onew’s eyes flickered down to where the gold band gleamed on Kyuhyun’s finger. It had taken almost three years worth of scrimping and saving and taking extra, sometimes highly illegal work, for Zhou Mi to be afford to put the ring on his finger. Kyuhyun would have married him even without a symbol of their love in the form of gold, but it was so damn pretty Kyuhyun couldn’t help appreciating it at times.

“When Mi and I were at the hot springs on Cobalt,” Kyuhyun answered for him. They’d gotten five glorious, uninterrupted days of good food, , and more . A honeymoon.

The crew had pulled a simple job in their absence, nearby and without complications.

Onew said, “This is a Mako Class freighter. I told Yunho this three years ago, the expected life of a freighter like this is sixty-five years without the need for significant retrofits and overhauls. The Tohoshinki is seventy-two, and short of a million credits to overhaul the entire thing, it’s starting to die. The engine slipping is just the beginning. It’ll get worse, much worse, obvious even, and then it’ll die.”

Kyuhyun felt clammy with fear. “But Captain Yunho just gave you ten thousand credits, Onew. You bought ten thousand credits worth of new parts.”

With a sigh, Onew knelt down, arms hugging his knees, rocking slightly. “And six months ago we put fifteen thousand credits worth of new parts into her. The bulk of our pay goes to keeping the ship running, but the cost will soon far exceed our income. New parts won’t keep the engine from slipping.”

Sure, Kyuhyun had known the Tohoshinki was a big dingy. After all, it was evident that she was older, but in terms of ships, that just meant more personality. And she flew smooth as a whistle typically. Not even a slight stiffness in the controls like newer ships developed after only a few short years.

The ship couldn’t be dying. She was, for all intents and purposes, the only home Kyuhyun had ever really known.

“The Captain knows?” Kyuhyun asked, voice shaking.

“He does,” Onew verified. “Maybe that’s why he’s been pushing the Eye so intensely as of late. The kind of payoff it could bring us, either by leading us to the hidden vault, or being sold at fair price, would be enough to buy a whole new ship. A younger ship. And with Changmin here to help, and a solid plan starting to form, it looks like the Captain might just get his wish. With a little more luck, he might get his new ship.”

“Our,” Kyuhyun corrected with a frown. “This is our livelihood, Onew. This is our home. Don’t you feel that way?”

From his spot on the floor, hair obstructing his face, Onew eased out, “I used to.”

“Before,” Kyuhyun offered. “When Joon--”

“--I’m not staying on,” Onew rushed out, standing a bit stiffly. “No matter happens, whether we get a new ship or blow the Choi job completely and end up stranded planet side, I’m leaving.”

It was unfathomable that someone would leave.

“What? Onew?”

How could Onew say such a thing?

It was … absolutely understandable that he was hurting. He had to be in excruciating pain every day, going through day after agonizing day without the person he loved. Kyuhyun had once stopped to consider putting himself in Onew’s place. After all, Zhou Mi and Joon had both been a part of the Solane job. They’d both been there. It could have been Zhou Mi who died. It could have so easily been him instead of Joon. And Kyuhyun wouldn’t have been okay after. Just like Onew wasn’t now.

But they were family. And for some of them, family was all they had. How could he even be considering such a thing?

“I’ll wait until after we do this job on New Haven,” Onew said, so lifeless and pitiful. “I’ll keep our girl running until then, and pull my weight through the job. But afterwards I’m going. I’m … I’m not myself anymore, Kyuhyun. And I can’t pretend like I am. At least not anymore than I can stand to look at this ship and see him everywhere.”

“We’re your family,” Kyuhyun told him, his voice rising. “You can’t just turn your back on us!”

Onew shook his head. “Gods forbid something happens to Zhou Mi, you’ll understand.”

Viciously Kyuhyun told him, “Don’t you ever say something like that.”

“I’ll tell the Captain shortly,” Onew said, “but I’d appreciate if you didn’t say anything to the others just yet. This job is very important for this ship, and not just in terms of money. I don’t want to ruin it for anyone.”

His legs threatening to bow out, Kyhyun had to take a seat on a nearby casing unit. “Onew. I just don’t understand.”

Onew gave him a resolved nod. “I know you don’t, and I’m thankful for that.” He moved to sit next to Kyuhyun, their shoulders bumping. “I won’t leave this ship without a mechanic, Kyuhyun. I would never let something like that happen.”

Kyuhyun questioned, “You think Ryeowook is ready to takeover for you?” He was skeptical that Ryeowook could even get them through a simple liftoff just yet.

“No way,” Onew laughed out, seeming just for a second, like his old self. “He’s a sweet kid, you know. But he’s no mechanic and he knows it. He’s just been trying to help me out and lessen my load a little. And I think he gets bored on the ship. Twice a day he makes the meals, and he’s a glorified accountant the rest of the time, keeping track of our expenditures, but that leaves more time for boredom than you’d think.”

“Then what is this ship going to do for a mechanic?”

Onew held up two fingers. “I worked it out about a week ago.”

Which meant, by Kyuhyun’s account, Onew had been planning to leave them for much longer.

“What’s with the fingers?”

Onew wiggled them. “I got you two for the price of one. Quite literally. This time next year, hopefully with a brand new ship, you’ll have the twins down here.”

“The twins?” Kyuhyun asked, blinking madly in disbelief. “You’ve got to be kidding. No way.”

“Yes way,” Onew said, bumping his shoulder into Kyuhyun’s. “They finished up their stint on Orion, pulled a job near Ariel, and they’re looking to lay low for a while. They’ve heard good things about Yunho and the rest of you, and they know they won’t get screwed over if they decide to fly with the crew. They’ll probably only stay for a year or two, but they’re hard working, good at what they do, and they won’t make trouble. I would only get someone I trust to take my place with this ship, Kyuhyun. Please believe that.”

The twins. Unbelievable.

In terms of infamy, the twins had it. They were quite well known in the circles that Kyuhyun and the crew ran in, and they had recent reputations as not being completely impossible to work with. Well liked and well respected, they liked to take risks, had honed, invaluable skills even outside being terribly efficient mechanics, and were ballsy enough to skirt the line with the Alliance.

“The twins are willing to sign on with a fringe ship like this?”

“They think they got identified on their last job. That means nothing high profile for them for a while, until the heat dies down. So maybe they don’t particularly want to spend the next year hiding in some freighter’s bowels, but they know if they do, and they pick a ship like this with a crew who’ll keep their mouths shut, they’ll survive long enough to get back in the game.”

The twins. Who’d of thought.

But honestly, Kyuhyun was sort of anxious to see them, and to get to work with them. And the first thing he’d ask them would be why they were called the twins, when they certainly weren’t. Many had asked before, no one had ever gotten an answer. But Kyuhyun had never been denied before, and he didn’t think the twins had the fortitude to be the first to refuse him.

Onew patted Kyuhyun’s knee fondly and said, “Get back to bed, okay? It’s still late and you can cram a few hours in before you have to head to the bridge.”

“Are you sleeping at all?” Kyuhyun shot back.

“When I sleep I dream,” Onew said by way of an answer. “Now get going. Isn’t your husband missing you by now?”

Kyuhyun stood and said, “I still don’t want you to leave, Onew. Family doesn’t leave family, even when things get hard.”

“Me leaving doesn’t mean I won’t love you anymore,” Onew said, and Kyuhyun wondered if that’s really what he’d been scared of. Onew wasn’t typically so good at reading people.

“Changmin is going to be at breakfast,” Kyuhyun said, inching his way back towards the hallway. “I haven’t seen him in a while, but it’s been even longer for you, so try to be there. I think it would make him really happy to see you. Even if it hurts you to be around the rest of us when we’re happy, please try for him.”

Before Onew could give any sort of answer Kyuhyun was making his way quickly back to his cabin, his socked feet silent on the walkway.

The door to the cabin made only a slight thud, an almost silent one, actually, when Kyuhyun pushed it open to climb down. Zhou Mi was still on the bed, still modestly covered by a now threadbare blanket Kyuhyun had had since childhood, but the man was certainly not sleeping.

Softly, Zhou Mi asked, “Guixian?”

“Did I wake you?” Kyuhyun asked regretfully, burrowing next to him, ducking under Zhou Mi’s arm and feeling comfortable at once.

Leeteuk had gotten them a new mattress as a wedding gift. It was heaven on earth and Kyuhyun was determined to spend all his free time laying on it, drifting in clouds of comfort.

“No. But you worried me,” Zhou Mi told him, pulling Kyuhyun closer. “I woke and you weren’t here. I thought there might be trouble.”

“There wasn’t,” Kyuhyun said, the words flowing effortlessly. The last thing Zhou Mi needed was the added worry of the engines. Zhou Mi had enough anxiety already. “I just couldn’t sleep so I went for a walk around the ship.”

Zhou Mi was quiet and Kyuhyun wasn’t sure he was believed.

Pressing his cheek to Zhou Mi’s warm, bare chest, he said, “I’m just excited over having Changmin on board. He’s never flown with us before. And I usually only get to see him for hours at a time.”

Zhou Mi’s fingers tangled through Kyuhyun’s hair. “I suppose the two of you will soon formulate plans to start a prank war amongst the ship’s crew. Or at the very least you’ll cook up some kind of mischief.”

Kyuhyun grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get a free pass from the chaos, if there is any.”

“Oh, I’m sure there will be,” Zhou Mi said affectionately. “But thank you all the same.”

With the stars flashing by them as the ship flew on, Kyuhyun closed his eyes and tried to will himself back to sleep. He tried to block out Onew and the engine and the upcoming heist. More than that, he tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach that if Zhou Mi had been the one to die, Kyuhyun might have tried to die with him.

Maybe Onew was stronger than anyone was giving him credit for.

“Guixian?”

“Sorry,” Kyuhyun mumbled, realizing he was fidgeting a little.

“Sleep,” Zioumi urged, and Kyuhyun did.

The morning brought fresh eggs, something Kyuhyun hadn’t seen in the better part of a year, echoing laugher from everyone at the breakfast table including Onew (but excluding the two passengers they’d taken on at Helios), and the best sense of contentment.

“I’m demanding a wedding gift from you,” Kyuhyun told Changmin as the meal was whining down, but voices were still carrying. “Six months I’ve been married and you couldn’t even make it to the event. Where’s my ten thousand credit bottle of whiskey or my own floating private island?”

Changmin posed, “Maybe you think I make more than I actually do.”

Yunho scooped another spoonful of scrambled eggs into his mouth and told Changmin, “We begged Zhou Mi to take him off to some Rim planet and play house with him, but no such luck.”

Kyuhyun smacked Yunho on the shoulder.

“I’m sure,” Zhou Mi cut in flawlessly, “had we given Changmin enough time, he would have attended.”

“Exactly!” Changmin jabbed a threatening fork at Kyuhyun. “Don’t blame me for not attending your shotgun wedding. I was on Persea at the time. I was located a week away from where you held your ceremony when you let me know twelve hours ahead of time.”

Ryeowook said wistfully, “It was actually quite beautiful. And the bandits the Captain pissed off two weeks previous waited until after the ceremony to attempt to get their revenge.”

“Nice,” Leeteuk agreed, grinning behind his glass of water. “Lots of alcohol.”

“Okay, okay,” Yunho said, tipping his chair back onto two legs as Onew made a flailing motion subtly to Changmin indicating very clearly that he thought Kyuhyun didn’t deserve any kind of wedding present six months after the event. “We have to finish up here. Kyuhyun, you’ve got a double shift today, and the rest of you, you’ve got your duties too.”

Changmin wiped a napkin over his mouth and replied to Kyuhyun, “How about we make a deal? I’ll send you a wedding present, in fact, it’ll be whatever you want it to be within reasonable means, if you send me whatever I want for my wedding gift.”

There was a beat of silence, and flurry of eyes drilling into each other, and Kyuhyun locked his own gaze onto Changmin.

“You’re lying.”

With an amused laugh, Yunho spoke up, “He’s really not.”

“You’re getting married?” Kyuhyun asked, his the only voice in the silence around them.

“Yes,” Changmin replied. “I’ll send you the wedding announcement soon. Though I’m sure by now its been announced in the Helios Gazette. You can look it up if you want.”

Yunho nudged Kyuhyun. “Changmin’s marrying the magistrate’s son. Maybe you should start calling him sir, Kyu.”

Kyuhyun rocked up to his feet. “We’re invited to the wedding?”

Changmin gave him a kind smile. “You’re family, aren’t you?”

“Thank you,” Onew said quietly.

Kyuhyun shook his head in disbelief.

“What?” Yunho sighed out.

“This only means one thing, you realize.”

Kyuhyun could safely say that Changmin was one of his best friends. They had known each other for four years, had nearly the same sense of humor and could say a thousand words to each other with one look. Kyuhyun trusted Changmin and loved him. Changmin was family.

“Something good I hope,” Changmin said with a smile.

Kyuhyun gave him a sly look. “I guess that depends on your definition. Because, Changmin, if you’re getting married, that means you get a bachelor party.”

Leeteuk set his cup down heavily on the table, shaking it a bit. “Gods help us all.”

Kyuhyun grinned wildly at them. “It’s tradition, after all. Now, who’s going to help me plan?”

Kyuhyun watched the table scatter in seconds before his eyes and felt a surge of pleasure. Sometimes he really loved himself.

Of course being left alone at the table, save for Ryeowook who was cleaning the dishes and Changmin who was calmly finishing his eggs, meant that Kyuhyun was likely about to get roped into helping clean up.

“Grab that plate,” Ryeowook said, gesturing to the whole far side of the table. “Since you decided to run Leeteuk out of here, who was supposed to be helping me. Guess what, you just got drafted into his place.”

Changmin, looking smug, said nothing, but Kyuhyun could imagine what he was thinking.

Changmin. Married. Huh.

“What’s that?” Kyuhyun asked, gesturing to a couple of covered plates set to the side on a heating pallet.

“Ah,” Ryeowook said, accepting a stack of plates from Kyuhyun. “Those were supposed to be for our guests. The two we picked up as passengers. But they didn’t come out of their rooms this morning, which the Captain assures me is his preference for some reason.”

Changmin groaned. “That doesn’t bode well. Yunho isn’t typically that difficult to get along with.”

Kyuhyun wondered, “Are we talking about the same person?”

Ryeowook ignored Changmin. “Kyuhyun, you want to take that food to them?”

Kyuhyun asked, “We’re running a delivery service now?”

“Come on,” Changmin urged, standing and clearing his own dishes in a way that made Ryeowook give Kyuhyun a pointed look. “I’ll go with you. I’ll apologize for whatever my brother’s done to irritate or offend them, and you can stand next to me and look sincere. They shouldn’t have pay for Yunho’s manner.”

“Sincere?” Kyuhyun teased. “I can look that way?”

“I guess we’ll find out.”

Fifteen minutes later Kyuhyun was waiting impatiently at the door to the cabin their passengers were staying in, Changmin next to him with the food in tow.

When the door did slid open a gruff, displeased looking man met them. But a half second later the look on his face vanished and he apologized, “I’m sorry. I thought you were--”

“The Captain?” Changmin asked. “No. But we noticed you missed breakfast, and while you might be able to catch up at dinner, Yunho rarely comes to dinner by the way, you shouldn’t have to be hungry the whole day. We brought food, if you’re interested.”

Kyuhyun wondered, “What did Yunho do to piss you off?”

Behind the man a second, far more attractive male appeared. “Thank you,” he said, “we appreciate you bringing us breakfast. If you want to come in, it might be a little cramped, but I think we’ll all fit.”

It had been a while since Kyuhyun had been in the guest quarters on the ship. There were three cabins in total, and this was by far the biggest, but now that Kyuhyun could see the second guest, and how he reeked of aristocracy, it was probably smaller than his closet wherever he came from.

“I’m Hero,” the second man introduced, “and this is Micky.”

“Kyuhyun,” he indicated to himself. “And this is our bonefide Companion, Changmin.”

Changmin rolled his eyes and handed them the plates. “I should probably apologize about last night. The Captain offered me a place on his ship for a trip and I turned him down the first time. When I realized my mistake, I had a friend call in a favor to get the ship held at the port for a few extra seconds. You’re not on a tight timetable, are you?”

Hero shook his head, surprise lighting his features. “It was you last night?”

“You certainly look like a Companion,” Micky said appreciatively, but not lewdly.

“Yes,” Changmin nodded. “And by the way that you thought it was the Captain at the door, and not us, coupled with the look on your face, I’d say he’s done something to piss you off.”

Kyuhyun offered, “He pisses the rest of us off all the time, but he’s still pretty likable when you get down to it. I mean, you shouldn’t judge him for the way he acts around people he doesn’t know.”

Changmin agreed, “He puts on a front. He’s had to. People have burned him before in the past, and they were people he trusted or didn’t see as a threat. He’s more careful now, which sometimes makes him an , because the crew are his family, and he won’t risk them. I’m not justifying the captain, I’m just saying there’s a method to his madness. A reasoning, if you will.”

“I don’t like what he thinks I am,” Hero said, uncovering the plate of food and grinning. “This looks wonderful.”

Nonchalant, Kyuhyun said, “Our cook, Ryeowook, he’s a master at making something out of nothing. But we did just get fresh ingredients, so here’s to food that isn’t freeze dried or vacuum sealed.”

Curiously, Changmin asked, “What does he think you are?”

Fork poised above eggs that were still fluffy and perfect, Hero decided, “Like I’m a spoiled little rich boy who’d never had to work for anything in his life. And it’s evident by looking at him that he’s had to work for everything.”

Kyuhyun watched Changmin purse his lips then follow up, “And are you?”

“Am I what?” Hero wondered.

“A spoiled rich little boy who’d never had to work for anything in his life,” Changmin posed bluntly.

“Are you?” Micky intercepted, and Kyuhyun could tell he was protective of his friend. It was an admirable quality, even if it didn’t look like Hero particularly appreciated it at the moment.

“No, Micky,” Hero said, “that’s a valid question, I guess. And the answer is that yes, I guess I am a spoiled little rich boy. That’s not a lie. But I’ve worked for what I have. I’ve gotten where I am in my life because of my dedication and perseverance. I’ve never let anything carry me to success except for my own hard work. The Captain is wrong if he thinks I don’t know what it’s like to work hard for something.”

“The Captain is a judgmental ,” Micky said. “He doesn’t know anything about who we are and where we come from, but he wants to make assertions that are completely wrong.”

Kyuhyun thought maybe they were being a little harsh. After all, Yunho could be rough on the edges, but he was genuinely one of the better people Kyuhyun had met in his life. Yunho cared for people who were in need, and took chances where other people wouldn’t. Yunho could be nurturing, too, and at fifteen when Kyuhyun had met him, he’d needed it.

Kyuhyun could see the skin at Changmin’s eyes pinch a bit, indicative that he was at least a little offended for Yunho.

Changmin offered, “If you’re so worried about the assertions that the Captain might be making about you, why don’t you prove him wrong? Why don’t you take a chance and get to know him? Hiding here, in your cabin, won’t do anything to change his mind about you. Yunho is very strong willed, and it isn’t always easy to change his opinions once he’s settled on something, but it’s also not impossible. And he’s a good man. He’s the best man I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing.”

“You know him?” Hero asked, suddenly looking uneasy. “Well?”

Something devilish crossed Changmin’s features, enough to prove why he was Kyuhyun’s absolute favorite, then he said, “Yunho is my brother, so I suppose you could say I know him well.”

If Kyuhyun could have taken a picture, he would have snapped a million.

“Your brother,” Micky deadpanned.

Hero, full of poise even through the faux pas he’d just committed, observed, “But you’re a Companion. And while I have no doubt the Captain is a capable man, he doesn’t seem the sort to come from a family where a child would be given the opportunity to enter the Companion’s Guild. I mean this with the most respect, but it’s a bit confusing.”

“I know it is,” Changmin relented, and Kyuhyun couldn’t help being a little curious himself. It was a subject that Changmin and Yunho almost never touched on. It was nearly taboo to almost bring it up, despite neither of them being the least bit ashamed. “Because yes, traditionally the Companion’s Guild pulls from well to do, established and wealthy families. But everyone once in a while public pressure for a little charity will sneak past all the bureaucracy and a child will be chosen from an impoverished area. In my case, it was a slum area of Eaton where Yunho was trying very valiantly to protect us from both starvation and those who would hurt us to take what very little we had. We had a brief stint at a local orphanage, but they fill up fast and Yunho got in one too many fights trying to defend us from bullies, so we were out on the street by the time I was Seven.”

“Seven?” Hero choked out.

Changmin amended, “I would have been allowed to stay, but I certainly wasn’t going to if they were forcing Yunho to go. And it might be a little hard to believe with how tall I am now, when I was a child, I was small for my age, and very quiet. Yunho took care of me. He fed me and made sure I was clean, kept anyone away who would have hurt me, protected me from predators, and when the Companion’s Guild came to Eaton looking for a charity case, Yunho put me front and center. He wasn’t going to let them go until they understood that I was exactly what they were looking for.”

Kyuhyun had been raised by his older sister. In that he felt as if he shared a sort of kindred history with Changmin. However their life, his and his sister’s, had been one surrounded by a poor but protective community of their parent’s friends. They hadn’t had to worry about any of the things Yunho and Changmin had.

Micky asked, “There must have been thousands of children vying for that one spot. What did the Captain boast about to make you seem unique?”

“Thousands?” Changmin replied, “More than that. The Guild came to Eaton, but they drew from surrounding planets as well, Yunho forced me to stand in the cold for hours with him. Seven hours or eight, I’m not sure. But so long that I was starting to turn blue. He gave me his coat, made me wait, and then when we finally were in front of the Guild representative, he told me to sing. It’s my voice that had me chosen amongst the others. They trained me to sooth with my voice, and to be desired for it.”

At least that was something Kyuhyun could attest to. He’d heard Changmin sing before and his voice was incredible. Once or twice they’d sung together.

“So you became a Companion, and your brother …” Hero inquired.

Changmin gracious continued, “He stayed behind to work for a few years. He saved every credit he had, biding his time until he was old enough and strong enough to follow me, and then he came to where I was being trained. We still couldn’t be together then, the Guild allowed very little contact for its children with the outside world, but it was enough knowing he was there. And when we were older, I could see him more frequently. My point in telling you all of this is that Yunho didn’t have to do anything that he did. He could have left me to be bullied and tormented by the other children. He didn’t have to feed me and protect me. And he risked everything, sacrificed everything, to ensure me a better life--not himself. He can be rough because he’s lived on the streets, and had to fend off the worst of people, but he is a good man and better than most.”

“Changmin. Enough.”

Kyuhyun shot to his feet. “Captain!

Of course. Because he’d stupidly left the door cracked open behind him, and the Captain who was like a ghost on the ship, anywhere and everywhere, had to have passed by just as Changmin was spilling their history to strangers that he apparently didn’t like.

“Yunho,” Changmin replied calmly.

“What are you doing?” The Captain’s face was bare, unreadable and downright scary. If he wasn’t kicking up a fuss it had to mean that he was actually mad.

Changmin said, “I was making sure our guests don’t starve on your watch. They missed breakfast.”

Kyuhyun felt his stomach flop over as Yunho stated, “That was their choice, and you’re not some serving boy, Changmin. You’re a Companion.”

“That doesn’t make me any better than anyone else on this ship,” Changmin shot out.

Look,” Kyuhyun cut in between them. “It was just breakfast, Captain.” So why did it feel like he’d stumbled upon something that was much more than a missed meal?

“Go to the bridge,” Yunho told him sharply.

There was real bite in the tone for once, and not just playfulness that Yunho usually threw his way. So with only a quick parting look to Changmin who seemed to be riling himself up for a fight, Kyuhyun took off, going as far as he could to the bridge.

“What’s wrong?” Leeteuk asked when Kyuhyun slid into his usual seat, the older man relinquishing control of the ship to him. “You’ve got a look on your face.”

Kyuhyun took a quick look over the readings in front of him, then offered, “I think there’s about to be an issue in the guest quarters.”

Leeteuk stood immediately. “What kind of problem?”

“I don’t know,” Kyuhyun said honestly, “but it’s not going to be pretty. Say, in a fight between Changmin and Yunho, who do you think would win?”

It was almost worth it to see Leeteuk sprint off the bridge.

Then he remembered the steely look in Yunho’s eyes, and the stubbornness in Changmin’s.

Kyuhyun sunk down in his chair with unease. If Yunho and Changmin, and their two passengers for that matter, didn’t squash whatever was going on, it was going to be a long few days to the Moon Hub. And even for a freighter the size of the Tohoshinki, it was already beginning to feel too cramped with the tension.