Seunghyun and Jiyong were standing in front of their hotel’s entrance, Seunghyun leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette, and Jiyong standing in between the older’s legs, keeping close. Jiyong was in an excellent mood this morning. He kept snuggling Seunghyun and smiling brightly up at him. It was an amazing feeling waking up next to each other like this. Jiyong knew they barely knew each other but in a weird way he felt like he’d known Seunghyun for years already and could trust him. He wished they could’ve stayed in that cramped little bunkbed forever. And eventually, after getting out of bed, they couldn’t stop playing footsie under the table. Their friends didn’t mind though. They thought the two were adorable and were happy for them instead of annoyed. Because the pair was truly nothing less but sweet. Jiyong was attached to Seunghyun’s side like a baby koala and Seunghyun kept giving Jiyong little kisses. Right now they were waiting for their friends to come down so they could start getting back to the cruise ship. One more stop, at Zadar, Croatia, before they got back to Malta and flew back to the UK.

The captain of Royal Princess had gotten a warning for a storm on the sea happening in the next twenty four hours. Storms weren’t that common around here for this time of year, but still they should’ve proceeded with caution. The weather was lovely though, sun shining and not a cloud in the sky, so captain Charles had decided it would be fine to leave Croatia as planned after stopping there for the day.

Jiyong, Seunghyun, Jason, Hyuk and Cam all had gotten back on the ship by now. Right on time too, because after mere minutes the ship continued it’s journey. They had taken a bit longer at the gates because Jiyong didn’t have his ticket but quicker than expected it was confirmed that he was one of the vip passengers and was let on the ship. What they didn’t know, though, was that the security had immediately also notified the ship’s authorities of the couple entering the ship.

“Will you be going back to your suite now?” Seunghyun asked, rubbing Jiyong’s arms, “Your parents must be worried.”

Seunghyun’s friends had all gotten down to their room already, leaving them alone to say goodbye for now.

“I don’t want to go,” Jiyong said quietly, playing with the hem of Seunghyun’s shirt.

Seunghyun chuckled a bit.

“I’ll see you later. Just go show your face so they know you’re okay. Yeah?”

Jiyong scrunched up his face a little but nodded then.

“Alright. What’s your room number? I’ll come find you later.”

“1048,” Seunghyun smiled and pecked him, “I’ll see you later.”

Just as Jiyong nodded and leaned up to kiss him again, some men approached them and basically surrounded them.

“Choi Seunghyun?”

Seunghyun looked around and nodded.

“Yes, that’s me.”

Right after that, Jiyong was pretty much ripped away from him and Seunghyun was being pushed against the wall. Jiyong let out a scared yelp as he was being held back by one of the men.

“You’re under arrest,” one of the men said to Seunghyun as they handcuffed him. “You have the right to remain silent.”

“W-what?”

“Anything you say can be used against you in the court of law.”

“What are you arresting me for!?” Seunghyun said, angry and scared.

The people on the deck were watching them from the distance.

“Kidnapping involving a minor,” was the answer he got.

“A m-…”

But Seunghyun couldn’t even finish the sentence, words dying on his lips, sudden realization dawning on him. He looked towards Jiyong who was crying hard by now, streaks of tears down his cheeks.

“Come on, son,” the men pulled on Seunghyun and he went with them, turning away.

“Seunghyun I’m so sorry!” Jiyong sobbed from behind him.

Jiyong entered the suite with a bang, one of the ship’s officers in tow.

“Jiyong!” his mother welcomed him with open arms but Jiyong didn’t even think of letting her touch him.

“Did you arrest him?” Jiyong’s father asked from the officer.

He nodded affirmative and got dismissed by Mr. Kwon.

“How could you do this?” Jiyong asked, still crying.

“Jiyong I’m so glad you’re okay,” his mother said.

“How could you let him get arrested!?” Jiyong asked, louder this time, looking between his parents.

“Then next time you know not to run away with strangers like that!” Lilian raised her voice as well, attitude changing.

“So you knew I was running away and he was not kidnapping me,” Jiyong squinted his eyes at her.

“We have to teach you one way or another,” the woman shrugged.

Jiyong wanted to explode. He was so angry but also felt so incredibly guilty. Seunghyun just got arrested because of him. He felt terrible. He had lied to him but now it had such serious consequences. His mother was just infuriating him even more right now so he knew there was no point in having this conversation.

“Don’t worry about that matter,” she said, “He’ll probably be let go when we get to Valletta or something.”

“You’re gonna ruin his trip just because of me?” Jiyong asked, tears rolling down his cheeks again.

“Or he’ll ruin ours!” she said back.

“Lilian…” her husband tried to calm her down. 

This situation just broke Jiyong’s heart. He walked past his mother without another word and went to his room. He fell onto his bed and cried into his pillow until he fell asleep. Jiyong felt so hopeless, and guilty. Every time he thought about what Seunhyun might feel right now, his heart sank.

Seunghyun was kept in handcuffs in a locked room and people kept coming to talk to him one by one. He was told the ship’s officials received a call about a kidnapping of a minor just after docking in Venice. Seunghyun told them that he didn’t mean to do anything illegal and he had been lied about the kid’s age. He found out that Kwon Jiyong was actually only sixteen. He felt utterly crushed and didn’t fight the officials over this matter because he understood the situation and knew he’d been in the wrong. There was nothing he could do. He just wished Jiyong hadn’t lied to him like this. One of the men there told him that he was going have to stay there until the end of the cruise, or until the victims legal guardians would drop the charges completely. When Seunghyun told them to ask Jiyong how things really were, they said Jiyong’s words wouldn’t change anything because he’s a minor and there’s only that much they could do since Jiyong’s parents had ordered Seunghyun to stay away from their son.  

Jiyong refused to come out of his room for the whole day and even the next morning. He started the morning with another cry. His heart couldn’t stop aching. At the same time he was so incredibly angry at his parents. Especially towards his mother because he knew she was behind this all. He just wished he hadn’t lied to Seunghyun. That thought made him cry even harder, wet patches on his pillow.

The ship eventually set sail towards back to Malta, after having docked in Croatia for another day. Jiyong still hadn’t moved from his bed and was completely ignoring his parents’ pleads for him to open the door for them.

Seunghyun at the same time was still locked inside a small room but his handcuffs had been removed the evening before so he could sleep. He was just lying down on the hard bed, facing the wall. The people working on the case there felt pity for him and believed his side of the story, but since important vip guests of the captain had ordered this, they could do nothing. They were just going to release him after docking in Valletta. Jason and the others had been there, pleading and begging for him to be released, but got the same answer every time. There was nothing they could do.

Before the ship left Croatia that morning, the weather had turned for the worse. It was still warm, but the blue sky was now cloudy and it was very windy. The ship still took off as scheduled, since it was the last part of the cruise, captain had confidence that they would get back to Malta safe and sound. The wind was rocking the ship pretty bad though, and soon it also started raining heavily. The decks were empty of people but the rain wasn’t the main problem. The wind and waves were making the passengers sick. One of them being Jiyong’s mother who despised ships as it is. She was lying in bed and throwing up constantly. Mr Kwon was pretty worried and a doctor came to check up on her as well. Jiyong had been in bed for the past twenty four hours, mostly sleeping, so he wasn’t feeling too bad, apart from emotional distress.

“Jiyong!” his father came banging on his door suddenly.

“Jiyong open up! We’re leaving!”

Jiyong, confused with the amount of time that had past, frowned and slowly got up from bed to open the door.

“Go where?” he asked after opening the door.

His father looked relieved to see him.

“Your mother isn’t feeling well. We’re not returning to Malta. An Italian coast guard is on it’s way to pick us all up,” he said.

“What?” Jiyong asked, completely confused with what was happening.

“There’s a pretty bad storm happening outside right now. It’s safest if we get to dry land,” his father explained.

“No. No, I don’t want to leave,” Jiyong shook his head. “What about Seunghy-“

“Please Jiyong,” his father cut him off. “Just go pack your bags.”

He turned and left then, leaving Jiyong by the door with his mouth agape. The boy went back to the room and sat on his bed for a while, thinking hard, hoping there would be a solution, a way out. He couldn’t leave like this. Not without apologizing, at least. He couldn’t leave without seeing Seunghyun once more. Determined, he stood up from the bed and bolted out of the room and out of the suite. A moment later he got out on the deck and indeed a big storm was happening, a blow of wind almost knocking him over. He needed to get to the other side of the ship though so he held onto whatever he could and slowly got to another door. He went inside, completely soaked with the rain, and ran into a member of crew who recognized him immediately, given that Jiyong had such bright hair.

“Sir, you really shouldn’t be out of your rooms right now,” he said.

“I don’t care,” Jiyong said, a bit out of breath.

He walked over to the man then, wiping off the rain from his face.

“Tell me, where do you keep the people that’ve been arrested on the ship?”

The man looked a bit confused but led Jiyong down the stairs to the right floor and told him which corridor to take. Jiyong hurried to find the right room and knocked on it once he found it. The door opened and the boy sighed in relief.

“I need to see Choi Seunghyun,” he said and was let in.

He needed to fill out some paperwork to be finally let to see Seunghyun. A door was opened for him and in the room was Seunghyun, sitting by the wall. He looked up and was visibly surprised to see Jiyong as sat up straight.

“You’ve got five minutes,” an officer said and closed the door again.

Jiyong took a step forward. He wanted to jump on Seunghyun and hug him, but he was super nervous, hoping for his whole being that the older wouldn’t hate him.

“I’m so sorry,” Jiyong said, voice cracking.

Seunghyun looked up at him for a moment but then scooted over and beckoned Jiyong to come and sit with him. Jiyong sat down immediately, overcome with emotion. Seunghyun put an arm around him and Jiyong hugged him around his torso tightly as big hot tears rolled down his cheeks again, being soaked up by Seunghyun’s shirt.

“You aren’t mad?” Jiyong looked up at him after a minute, cheeks pink and wet.

Seunghyun pressed his lips together tightly.

“A bit disappointed,” he admitted.

“I’m so sorry,” Jiyong sobbed again.

Seunghyun wiped away the tears on Jiyong’s face and smiled.

“It’s alright, Jiyong. What is done is done. Don’t worry about me too much. I’ve been told I’m being released when we get to Valletta,” he said, still gently drying the boys’ cheeks.

“Still,” Jiyong said quietly, “I never wanted you to get into trouble. Never. I feel awful. I haven’t been able to get out of bed since yesterday and…”

He stopped for a moment and looked back into the older’s eyes.

“They said we’re leaving. Apparently the Italian coast guard is picking us up. Probably soon. Seunghyun, I don’t want to leave. Not without you.”

“Why are you leaving?” Seunghyun frowned, “They’re keeping me in here, there’s no way your parents could still think you’re in any sort of danger.”

Jiyong shook his head.

“No.. My mother.. She’s got a very bad case of seasickness because of the storm. You should see it, it’s pretty wild outside. Raining really heavily..” Jiyong explained.

“Ah..” Seunghyun nodded, “Understandable, I suppose..”

Jiyong took his hand in his then and pressed a kiss on his cheek, scooting closer to his side. Jiyong was like a small baby kitten, needing the warmth and cuddles. Seunghyun couldn’t be happier to hold him in his arms like that. After a minute of silence, the door to the small room opened and a man walked in.

“Mr Kwon? You’re expected up on the deck,” the man said.

Jiyong held Seunghyun’s hand even tighter and looked up at him. He didn’t want to leave.

“You too, Mr Choi,” the man said then.

Both of them looked at the officer with big eyes, not believing him for a second.

“The charges were dropped. You’re good to go,” he said and stepped aside from the door.

Jiyong’s mouth opened in shock and he looked at Seunghyun with wide eyes. Seunghyun just gave him an insuring smile and stood up. Hand in hand, they slowly walked out of the room. Seunghyun just had to sign something and after that they were given the okay to leave. Jiyong still kept close to Seunghyun. He knew once they go outside he must leave. Eventually, they got up on the deck and the rain was still pouring heavy but on the other side of the deck there were a lot of crew members standing around something. It was Jiyong’s mother who was being helped down from the cruise ship to the Italian coast guard boat with special equipment. Seunghyun put his arm around Jiyong’s waist and started to walk over but Jiyong pulled him back by his arm.

“Seunghyun, I don’t want to leave you,” he said, looking up at him.

“I know. I don’t want you to leave either. But I don’t think there’s nothing we can do..” he said, his wet hair, trying to comfort him.

Fresh tears threatened to spill over Jiyong’s eyes as he stood on his tippy toes and leaned up to kiss Seunghyun once more, hugging him close. In his mind, this was the goodbye kiss and he couldn’t let go.

“Jiyong!” sounded from behind them and they pulled apart.

Jiyong’s father ran up to them through the rain.

“Dad. I don’t want to go,” Jiyong pleaded.

Mr Kwon turned to Seunghyun though and offered his hand. Seunghyun took it and shook it firmly, although a bit confused.

“I’m deeply sorry about the inconvenience, Mr Choi,” Jiyong’s father said. “I hope you can forgive me and my wife. Unfortunately, she has turned sick and we must her to a hospital in Italy. Our.. son is in good hands, right?”

Seunghyun gulped nervously but gave Mr Kwon a firm nod.

“Dad?” Jiyong asked, eyes widened.

Jiyong’s dad turned to him then and held him by his arms.

“I’ll see you in London, alright? I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip. The travel documents are on my desk back in the suite with everything else you might need.”

Jiyong was quite baffled. His mouth was open and he wanted to say something but nothing came out. In the end, he opted for a hug and leaped into his dad’s chest.

“Dad! Thank you so much, dad!”

He was truly happy and Mr Kwon smiled at that. He kissed his son’s forehead and pulled away.

“Be good, okay, kid? I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

Jiyong nodded happily and his dad gave Seunghyun another nod before running back to his wife who was now lowered down to the boat. The pair looked at the situation up from over the railing and after the boat took off, they went back inside, now completely soaked, but once their eyes locked, they couldn’t help but smile widely. Jiyong buried himself into Seunghyun’s chest and gave him a tight happy hug. Seunghyun hugged him back tightly and kissed his head as he pulled away and took his hand.

“Come on, let’s go and enjoy the rest of the trip,” he said and led Jiyong down to their room.

yawn such a long and boring chapter and bc it's so boring i'll end the story here. i have no inspiration anymore and it's hard to squeeze the story out haha. if u have any ideas tho or sth let me know and i might write an epilogue. for now tho, thanks for reading!! :)