Oh Sehun, heir to the Solar Empire’s largest (and only) supplier of habitat stabilizers is many things. Most would describe him as cold, egotistical, and intelligent. Normally, they wouldn’t be wrong, but as he sneaks into the shipyard in the poor side of the city he wonders if he isn’t as intelligent as his father prides him on being.

Sehun has everything anyone could ask for. He has a wing of the manor house to himself and a vacation home a solar system over. He has android butlers and a luxury personal roadster faster than any on the market, even though he never bothered to get a license for it. Sehun has everything, everything but adventure.

Sehun wanted to get away before he was roped into a life of nothing but business deals and fancy galas. To live the stories his mother used to tell him about dashing pilots and roguish planets. It was almost the annual sky fish festival on Mithras, the empire’s main planet, and that meant traders and tourists flocking in droves.

It wouldn’t have done him any good to head to the upper level docks, any movement there his father was sure to hear of, so Sehun finds himself walking through the lower docks scoping out ships to stowaway on.

Nillili? No, too piratey. Catallena? No, too fishy.

The next ship he comes to is mostly unremarkable, perfect. It looks rather old, a small painting on the front of the door of what might be a cat is peeling, paint flecks even now dotting the ground. From where Sehun’s standing he can’t see a name, but pulls down the access panel anyway, hoping the name isn’t something atrocious.

The wires connecting the panel to the main ship are easy enough to tamper with, Sehun’s always been good with machines even if he can’t stand the dead-eyed stares the android house staff give him. The door slowly opens, ramp deploying, and Sehun saunters into the ship under the light of the second moon.

*

Inside, the ship is much like its outside would suggest. It’s a cargo ship, Sehun congratulates himself on a hiding spot well picked, stacks of crates just inside the door waiting to be led to their proper bays. He takes a few steps, feet clunking on the grated floor.

He feels a cold weight settle against the back of his head.

“You have five seconds, who are you and why are you on my ship,” the voice is deep and angry, Sehun uncongratulates himself and puts his hands up.

“My name’s Sehun, I’m just looking for a way off this rock,” he stammers, cursing as his tongue fumbles over syllables.

“So you decided to break into my home,” the man jabs his gun into Sehun’s head lightly, “not a smart move. You know some ships take on passengers right?”

“I-I don’t have any money, I was hoping I could hide until you were out of orbit.”

“Even dumber, you ever seen someone go out an airlock?” Sehun swallows, whole body tense with anxiety, “You broke in easy though, and that’s impressive. Maybe you’ll be useful around here.”

The gun is lowered and Sehun turns to face the man he assumes must be captain of this ship. The lights are dim and all Sehun can tell is that he’s tall and stone-faced. He slings an arm around Sehun’s shoulder, though in a distinctly unfriendly way, and leads him deeper into the ship.

“This ship and the people on it are all I have, so don’t get too comfortable kid. I don’t take kindly to threats on either of them.”

It’s past lights out, the narrow hallways lit only by dim lights along the floor. Sehun’s already disoriented, but the captain obviously knows his way around. They come to a door that the captain opens with a code and drags both of them inside.

“It’s too late to introduce you to everyone now, but you’ve already met the most important lady,” he thumps on the wall, “Her full name’s Galaxy Dragon, but we call her Galaxy for short—” Sehun feels like crying, he should’ve gone with the Catallena, “—and I’m Yifan, her captain. This’ll be your room, someone’ll come find you in the morning. Don’t leave, last thing I need is you getting lost and cracking your head on the stairs.”

Yifan claps Sehun on the shoulder and leaves, shutting the door behind him with a solid bang. Sehun considers checking it, but in a way he got what he wanted after all, so instead he sits on the small bed and nods off.

*

The next thing Sehun knows there are footsteps clanging on the floor above his head and light streaming in from the hallway. The door swings open and Sehun finds himself face to face with another stranger.

“So you’re the stray Yifan picked up, eh?”

Sehun nods, “I guess. I’m Sehun.”

“Luhan, but you can call me ‘sir.’ I’m second in command on this heap of junk so don’t try anything,” he steps further in the light and Sehun’s almost thankful for the brusque tone. This Luhan guy doesn’t exactly scream ‘authority figure’ with his slender build and boyish face.

Luhan gestures towards the hallway with his head and turns to walk away. Sehun takes that as his cue and gets up to follow him. Once closer Sehun realizes Luhan’s shorter than him; he wonders if Luhan’s all bark or if there’s some hidden bite he should be cautious of.

“This section of the ship is mostly quarters. Pilot has his own quarters near the bridge, but everyone else sleeps down here,” Luhan begins, knuckles rapping on sections of wall every now and then as he leads Sehun through what might as well be a maze.

They come to a crossroads and Luhan points to his left, “Down that way’s maintenance stuff, the engine room that sort of thing. I don’t know what Yifan wants you to do, but it’s probably not that.”

They turn right and head up some stairs, “This level’s the main one: kitchen, bridge, sick bay, all that jazz.”

Sehun tries desperately to memorize, if nothing else, how to get back to his room, but already feels turned around. There aren’t any maps on the walls like there are on the cruisers he’s used to—it’s disorienting.

“How many people are there on this ship?” Sehun asks. It’s larger than he had thought from the outside, and seems like it’s made to fit a pretty decent crew.

“Including myself six, well, seven if we count you too.” Luhan stops in front of a nondescript door that looks the same as all the others Sehun’s seen so far. He’s a little taken aback by the number, six people doesn’t seem like nearly enough, “I know what you’re thinking. Six isn’t enough to run a ship, right? Well, yeah, it isn’t, not really, but we get by.”

There’s an odd resignation in his voice that makes Sehun stop. As soon as Sehun notices the sudden tenseness of Luhan’s shoulders it’s gone, “This is the mess hall, it’s attached to a common room. We’ll be taking off soon, but most everyone should be inside. If you’ll excuse me I have to double check the take off gear.”

Luhan stalks away down an unfamiliar, but oddly similar corridor, leaving Sehun alone in front of the mess hall. He takes a centring breath and reaches for the door mechanism, only to have it open before he can do anything. Sehun gets jostled by someone who stumbles back apologizing in a soft voice.

“Jeez Lu, when did— you’re not Luhan.”

Sehun scratches the back of his neck, “No, I’m not. I’m Sehun.”

“Ohhh,” the man smiles, dimple making itself known at the corner of his mouth, as he pats Sehun on the shoulder, “I heard about you. I’m Yixing, if you’re ever feeling under the weather I’m your man. I promise I have steady hands.”

Yixing laughs, and Sehun laughs along, not truly certain he’s willing to make that bet. Yixing steps aside and ushers Sehun into the room. The mess hall is lit by the standard lighting the rest of the ship has, but there are phosphorescent plants dotting the edges and moving into the larger, connected common room.

The focal point of the room is a long table. At one end sits Yifan, he’s reading something while drinking from a steaming mug. At the commotion in the doorway he looks up. By the light of day Yifan is somehow even more intimidating. With his heavy eyebrows and surly mouth, he looks like the kind of person Sehun’s father would hire as a bodyguard. Sehun tries to smile and gives him a nod. Yifan rolls his eyes and goes back to his reading.

They’re the only two in the mess hall, though Sehun can hear some sort of commotion in the adjoining room. He looks around, feigning disinterest while desperately searching for food. His stomach growls and Yifan chuckles, “Kitchen’s at the back, but we don’t really have a competent cook right now, so I hope you like dry rations, water, and whatever fruits last us longest.”

Sehun grits his teeth and goes to find something to eat. The kitchen itself is pretty barren, a fine layer of dust on most of the appliances save for a kettle and a single stove burner. There’s a clear path through the dust that leads him to a pantry. Sehun’s never had dry rations before, so he picks the packet that sounds least disgusting (beef jerky) and heads back into the mess hall.

He starts to make for the common room, but Yifan grabs the collar of his shirt, stopping him on the spot, “I don’t know if Luhan told you, but we’ll be taking off as soon as Minseok can get us off the ground. I want you to find Zitao, he’s about your age, tall too, you can’t miss him. Help him do whatever, just stay out of my hair until we can call a meeting and figure out what to do with you.” Yifan gives one last tug before stepping out of the mess hall and out of sight before Sehun can say ‘who’s Minseok.’

Sehun sighs and walks into the common room. It’s lusher than the other rooms he’s seen so far, long couches and high-backed chairs line the walls, while in the middle is a Athenian foosball table and way more decks of cards than any one ship needs.

In the far corner sit two crew members, one seemingly trying to leave and the other whining softly. The smaller of the two gets up, patting the larger on the head, and turns to walk past Sehun. He blinks cutely once he notices Sehun’s presence.

“Oh, hello,” he smiles widely, and Sehun’s taken aback by the warm welcome, “Sehun right? I may have overheard you in the hall. I’m Junmyeon: pilot. Which means I have a ship to sail.”

Junmyeon waves jovially and half jogs out of the room, leaving Sehun with the room’s other occupant who he assumes must be Zitao if height is any indication. Sehun spins on his heel and is met with a pout that softens an otherwise just-as-intimidating-as-Yifan face.

“Are you Zitao?” Sehun asks, and the other boy nods, pout sliding into frown.

“Yeah.”

“Cool, um, Yifan told me I should help you until he can call a meeting or something.” It takes all of Sehun’s training not to fidget.

“I mostly do whatever needs doing around here. I’m no specialist like the rest of the crew, and today was supposed to be cleaning the observation deck since no one ever goes there. It’s my way of slacking off to be honest; you’re welcome to slack off with me.” Zitao smiles, and Sehun can see why Junmyeon patted him on the head.

“Sounds like fun.”

*

The observation deck is almost creepy. It’s large, about the size of the mess hall and common room combined. Its walls are bare and Sehun can see straight to the foundations, a thin layer of dust covers almost everything, and in the middle of the floor sits a lone mattress which Zitao promptly plops himself down on. The entire outer wall is a window, and as the ship starts to take off Sehun watches as the planet recedes beneath them, face pressed to the glass.

Zitao pulls Sehun back to sit next to him on the mattress as they start to break into the atmosphere and a crackling intercom sounds, “Attention all crew members, this is you captain speaking. We’re en route for Veles by way of Ekwensu, I hope you brought your sunscreen,” there’s a brief pause as if Yifan is waiting for laughter, and Zitao rolls his eyes fondly, “If you do not already know, we have a new crew member with us on probationary status his name is Sehun, be nice.”

The speakers crackle again and Yifan’s voice is replaced by Luhan’s, “We should be up for a week at most, sorry Minseok. Once we’re on Veles the idea is to find some work and that means everyone pitches in. Even if it’s merc work, no one but Yifan is gonna lie about being desperate.”

There’s a soft noise of indignation that comes over the static; Zitao laughs, and Sehun finds himself chuckling, yeah this place is a hole, he thinks, tapping the dusty floor with his fingers. It’s really the perfect choice, his father would never think he’d stoop to a half broken down cargo ship with a crew that’s barely large enough to keep her afloat.

The static fades and the observation deck is quiet save for the rumbling of the engine. Zitao stretches his arms over his head and leans back before poking Sehun in the thigh, “So, how exactly did Yifan let you on the ship. He never said.”

Sehun exhales harshly, “He didn’t... I may or may not have broken in. He only let me stay because I’m good with tech.”

Zitao laughs brightly, sitting back up and socking Sehun on the arm playfully, “I’m gonna let you in on a secret. Yifan’s a er for strays. He tries to act all cool, but I can guarantee he’s letting you stay because you looked lost.”

Sehun blushes, unsure of whether he should defend his pride or be happy Yifan isn’t as scary as he seems. He goes with the former and opens his mouth to say something, but Zitao places a finger on his lips.

“Don’t deny it. I saw you shuffle around in the common room,” Sehun frowns and Zitao removes his hand, “You’ll get used to it here soon enough. She’s easier to get around than it seems.” he pauses, narrowing his eyes as if he just thought of something, “You must be a runaway right? Why?”

Sehun shrugs, turning his attention to the window. They’re in orbit now, probably waiting for the propulsion systems to charge up.

“I’m not ready to be who my dad wants me to be,” he almost whispers, but Zitao hums in understanding, “I just want to live for myself for once. This ship seemed least noticeable. I don’t know, you probably don’t go to Mithras all that much, but if it comes time I feel I have to go home I can find a cruiser.”

“Or you could stay here forever, you know, your choice,” Zitao shoulders Sehun, but when Sehun looks over at him he’s staring out the window too.

The speakers crackle again and Sehun hears an unfamiliar voice, “We’re ready to break orbit down here, brace yourselves.”

The rumbling of the engines increases in volume and Sehun clenches his hands on the edge of the mattress. He didn’t even know ships without stabilizers were still running. Zitao starts talking again, half-shouting to be heard over the noise.

“Galaxy’s pretty old, as you can probably tell. Yifan got her secondhand, won her actually, but that’s not my story to tell. Exiting and entering orbit’s the worst part though, don’t worry.”

Sehun worries. The whole ship’s shaking now, and Sehun’s sure it’ll collapse at any moment, but after a few minutes of white-knuckled grimacing the engine noises go back to their prior loudness and the ship becomes peaceful.

“Minseok’s really good at what he does. If it weren’t for him Galaxy would never be flight worthy.”

Sehun’s heard nothing but praises for this Minseok, he supposes that’s whose voice announced their exit from orbit, “When will I meet him?”

“Soon, now that we’re out of orbit he can relax a little and come out of his cave. He’ll probably head up to the bridge, but if we go there I’ll actually have to do work. So I say we stay in here, watch the darkness go by, and you can meet Minseok when we have our family meeting concerning you.”

Sehun had forgotten about that, “What exactly is that all about anyway?”

“Deciding what you’ll do around here. It’s nothing big, just, Yifan likes to include everyone in decisions.”

“He sounds like a good captain,” Sehun says.

Zitao sighs, “Yeah, he is.”

*

Sehun doesn’t know how much time he and Zitao have spent shooting the breeze on the observation deck. Before he knows it there’s a soft knock on the door, and Zitao jumps before calling out for the person on the other side to come in, looking around to see if he can act busy.

Junmyeon pokes his head around the side of the door, “I had a feeling you’d be in here,” he says, smile never fading.

Zitao shrugs, “Someone has to keep this place tidy.”

Junmyeon chuckles and walks further in, taking a seat cross-legged on the floor by the mattress, “Dinner’s soon, and then the meeting. I offered to find you two and let you know,” he winks and Zitao blushes.

Junmyeon turns his attention to Sehun, “Zitao here doesn’t do any work, but everyone else seems convinced he must be doing something all day. He only gets away with it because he’s the youngest.”

Zitao sputters indignantly and Sehun chuckles, “I don’t mind if it means I don’t have to do anything either.”

“Oh no,” Zitao says, smirking, “you’ll definitely have to do something.”

“Well, regardless, we should get going,” Junmyeon says, standing up and brushing the dust off his pants.

Zitao grumbles and gets up, offering a hand to help Sehun to his feet.

*

The meeting takes place in the common room. Foosball table pushed to the side so that everyone can sit around a fold-out table to give an air of professionalism. Yifan sits at the head of the table and Junmyeon slides into the seat across from him. Sehun looks around before Zitao drags him to sit on Junmyeon’s left. This places Sehun across from the only unfamiliar face in the room—Minseok?

He waves shyly, and Minseok waves back giving a brief smile before Yifan clears his throat.

“First order of business. As all of you already know, we have a new person on board. Now what the hell are we going to do with him.”

Yifan folds his hands on the table in an over-serious manner. Sehun feels Zitao hold back laughter beside him, and across the table he can see Yixing patting Luhan on the thigh as Luhan stares at the ceiling.

“Are you any good with your hands?” Minseok pipes up, looking quickly to Yifan before looking Sehun in the eyes.

“Not really? I mean, I know a lot about tech, but not their inner workings,” Sehun shrugs and Minseok nods.

“Damn... here I though I’d finally gotten some help,” Minseok leans back and sends a look at Yifan, who ducks his head and coughs again.

“But can you cook?” Yixing asks, looking hopeful, and Sehun can’t help but laugh at the thought, “Right, that’s a ‘no.’”

“I say we make him help Yixing,” Luhan says, “It’s easy enough work, no offence,” he turns to Yixing who smiles, “it’s not like we get sick that much anyway, plus, we all know Xing’s bad with comp-tech.”

“It’s true,” Yixing says, “I swear the last time I tried to use the database it spat at me.”

Sehun isn’t quite sure how that’s possible, but the next thing he knows all eyes are on him.

“Well,” Yifan says, “how’s that sound to you, Sehun?”

Sehun shrugs, “Sounds fine.” Yixing seems laid-back enough Sehun thinks he might be able to get away easy.

“Alright,” Junmyeon claps, “back to business then. Luhan, I’ve been meaning to ask you about our course.”

The two aforementioned stand up and walk into the hallway, talking softly. Yifan stands himself and calls for Zitao to follow. Zitao says a quick goodbye to Sehun and half-jogs after Yifan. This leaves Sehun with Yixing and Minseok.

“I would’ve met you earlier, but I really do spend most of my time below decks,” Minseok says. He shifts in the light and Sehun notices his hair’s a dull pink. Minseok rubs his cheek, like he’s trying to find more things to say, and leaves a small streak of grease on his cheekbone.

“That’s cool, I was cooped up on the observation deck anyway,” Sehun replies, smiling briefly so Minseok knows he isn’t somehow offended.

Yixing nods dreamily, and Minseok excuses himself to, presumably, return to the underbelly of the ship. A few seconds of silence pass with Sehun staring at his hands and wondering if he’s missed some kind of ship crew social cue before Yixing speaks up.

“We should head to the sick bay; I’ll show you around,” he smiles and gestures for Sehun to follow him, seemingly floating to the door.

*

The remainder of the evening passes with Sehun being introduced to various medical supplies they have on the ship, Yixing acting out little scenarios and the basics of how to use the emergency equipment. He also sends Sehun out on trips to get acquainted with the ship. He spends half an hour lost between his room and the sick bay but eventually stumbles back, and is surprised to find Yixing’s enthusiasm at his success makes him feel accomplished himself.

Before Sehun knows it, there’s an announcement over the intercom that lights out is soon and everyone should get to their rooms, it’s obviously for his benefit and he feels torn between indignation and gratefulness. Yixing waves Sehun off and assures him he knows his way around in the dark, so Sehun sets off on his own, hoping he’s remembered the way.

After two detours Sehun finally recognizes the stairwell to the personal quarters, as he’s halfway down the lights shut off. Sehun slowly fumbles his way down the rest of the stairs, as quiet as possible so as to avoid any possible embarrassment.

He sneaks half way around the corner to his room before pausing, as he overhears a hushed conversation.

“I don’t trust him Xing,” it’s Luhan, and Sehun wishes he knew exactly where he and who must be Yixing were so he could sneak into his room and just avoid this. They sound close though, so Sehun flattens himself against the wall and breathes quietly.

“You don’t trust anyone Han, that’s nothing new,” Yixing’s tone is soothing.

“I just wish Yifan could control himself. Did you hear, the kid broke on to the ship, that’s not the kind of person we need.” This remark makes Sehun blush in the relative darkness, Luhan had said they were desperate...

It’s also followed by silence. There’s no sign of footsteps, so Sehun knows they’re both still there, but whatever conversation they’re having has turned quiet.

Finally, Luhan tsks, “Fair enough, but still...”

“Just don’t worry about it, he seems like a good kid. If a little hoity-toity.” Sehun would almost be offended if he couldn’t hear the amusement in Yixing’s voice, “It’s getting late anyway, you know better than I do tomorrow’s a big day, c’mon.”

A door opens and feet shuffle inside. Sehun peeks around the corner only to see the door close. He shuffles to his own door, wincing as the hinges creak a bit, before sidling inside and flopping on the bed. Practically asleep before his head hits the pillow.

It isn’t until the morning that Sehun wonders if he’s the only person on this ship without a roommate.