Chapter one

It was a cold day in early February in the small port town, Elyxion. The wind was blowing through the narrow streets, and the air smelled like rain. 

Baekhyun was serving tables at a little tavern, The Eve, where he worked. It was his uncle's place, and Baekhyun helped until his cousins reached the age where they could work legally. The oldest had just celebrated his 11th birthday, so it was still some time away.

Baekhyun’s older brother Baekbeom would stop by occasionally and help as well when the place was overrun because of the port being busy, bustling with merchants, sailors and privateers, and, of course, them bloody pirates.

Baekbeom, being 25, had already married three years ago and lived in a small house a few streets away with his wife and their two children. Baekbeom worked as a blacksmith, but he and Baekhyun had always had a close relationship, so, of course, he stepped in when needed. 

Baekhyun, having only reached his 17’th winter, wasn’t married yet and didn’t have any intention of thinking about it for a long, long while. Besides, he hadn’t quite figured out what he wanted to do with his life yet, so he’d jumped at the opportunity to help his uncle take care of his business while earning a few shillings in tips once in a while.

The tavern was in a large two-story building with a small courtyard out back. Baekhyun lived atop the bar in a small, sparsely furnished room at the far east of the building. He had what he needed, though; a bed, a desk with a chair and a small bookcase with some books and other personal trinkets. He had a gorgeous view over the ocean, and he could see the tops of the masts in the harbor gently swaying in the wind. 

Whenever he had the time for it, he enjoyed sitting on his windowsill, watching the sun set in the afternoons while reading his books. Baekhyun loved to read about any kind of adventure and fairy tale. He liked to imagine that he belonged to different worlds every night. 

As Baekhyun was standing behind the counter, wiping down glasses and pouring ale into pitchers, a particularly loud group came into the tavern. He recognized them instantly.

Pirates.

Baekhyun’s uncle didn’t discriminate against people when money was involved, so he allowed all sorts of people to come to his tavern. Even if Baekhyun was convinced pirates only meant bad news.

He was looking out over the crowd and watching Baekbeom in the middle of taking their orders when he got distracted by a sound so intriguing. He couldn’t help but search for the source of it. Scanning the room, his eyes fell on a tall young man, probably in his early twenties, sitting in the middle of the crew that just came in. The man had his plump lips spread in a wide grin, perfect rows of white teeth showing with his laugh that was booming above the others.

His sound was deep and rich, and Baekhyun found himself mesmerized for a second. 

The man was gut-wrenchingly handsome, his big dark eyes filled with joy and mischief. His nose straight and long and with a little mole on top. His jaw was sharp, and his features chiseled and perfectly shaped. He was wearing a long dark blue woollen coat with a white loose cotton shirt underneath that was slightly open at the top, showing a sliver of collarbones and chest. His skin looked smooth and bronzed from time outside. 

His soft dark hair pushed back, revealing a wide forehead and thick brows. A scar on the right side of his forehead brought Baekhyun out of his trance, remembering that this man was a pirate. He shouldn’t be staring at him, let alone be thinking that he was attractive!

The man looked up, and when his dark brown eyes, speckled with glowing flecks of amber, met Baekhyun's coffee brown eyes, he winked at him. 

Baekhyun quickly reverted his gaze, furiously blushing and beyond embarrassed with the knowledge that he had been caught—caught staring at a pirate! 

He continued vigorously polishing the glass he had been working on for the past five minutes while he could feel the warmth spread from his cheeks to his ears, the tips turning red as well. Relieved with the knowledge that his hair was covering most of it, Baekhyun deemed the glass clean enough and put it down on the counter. Then, he squared his shoulders, turned around and walked out back to catch his breath away from the eyes of the pirate.

☼☼☼☼

Chanyeol and his crew from the pirate ship, Exploration, had just arrived at the docks. After a long trip, they were all eager to find a place to settle down for the evening and get themselves warm with some good strong ale and rum.

They hurried up the dusty main road, away from the docks, shivering in the cold. They took the ellenth tavern they saw. It was an old tradition they had. They would roll some dice, and the number they got would be the number tavern from the docks they’d choose. They had been here enough times to be familiar with many of the places, but the one they ended up in front of, a tavern called “The Eve,” they’ve never frequented before. 

They were always eager for new adventures. They opened the heavy wooden door and were greeted with a big room with a bar at the far-right side and dark round tables scattered around the place. The walls were made of grey stones, and the ceiling and floor of matching woodwork. A big fireplace with glowing embers was settled in the back of the room and making the air warm and toasty.

Their sailing master, a young lad named Sehun, told an amusing story that set the whole crew laughing hysterically before they went and settled at a sturdy looking table close to the fire. They ordered their beer and began talking about their journey, and what they wanted to do with their newly earned money while enjoying the temperature and getting warm feelings back in their cold limbs.

Halfway through wiping his eyes from laughing so much, Chanyeol noticed the feeling of someone’s eyes on him. Many years of being constantly on guard had given him this ability. He looked up and was met with the eyes of a young lad standing behind the counter. 

He had a soft-looking mob of brown hair falling messily over his forehead and lively brown eyes. His complexion was smooth, and his skin was milky white.

“Interesting,” Chanyeol thought. The boy looked soft and innocent, cheeks turning an alluring shade of pink at their sudden eye contact. Chanyeol smiled and winked at him. Then, he watched in amusement as the boy set down the glass he was working on and hurried out the back door, head down and ears red.

He shrugged it off and returned to his crew, drinking his ale and laughing with his mates, finally warm and content.

Chanyeol, as the first-mate, had to be somewhat responsible when they were out at sea. His job was making sure everything went smoothly and that the ship was in proper condition to make it through the dangers they faced. So, after every long journey, all he yearned to do was just let loose, relax and have some fun, so that’s what he intended to do tonight. Drink and tell stories till late at night with his crewmates.

Chanyeol woke up the next day in the bed in his small ship's cabin with a pounding headache.

He looked up from under his duvet and was met with the sharp light from the sun shining through his little round window. He groaned and covered his eyes with his large hand, and rubbed his temples. He doesn’t really remember how he got back to their ship last night, being God honest drunk, but he guessed it probably had something to do with Suho.

Suho was Exploration's captain. He had a soft spot for Chanyeol, having taken him in when he was just 14. He was like a father to Chanyeol, contrary to his bastard of a biological father who tried to sell him to get money for his drinking and gambling habits.

Suho, who had always been against slavery, happened to be visiting the marketplace where Chanyeol's father was parading his son about, trying to obtain the highest price. Suho saw something in Chanyeol and decided to rescue him and offer him a spot on his ship. Six years later, Chanyeol became the first-mate and had proven himself worth his salt on numerous occasions since.

He turned his upper body and let his legs fall out over the side of his alcove bed and stood up and splashed some water in his face from the washbasin that was next to his desk, and wiped his face dry with a rag. He pulled on his well-maintained knee-high leather boots and searched for his coat, which had been hung at a hook next to the door, and left his cabin to return to the main deck and check on how the rest of the crew was faring.

Most of the men were quite drunk last night as well. They were still sleeping soundly, snoring away in their hammocks on the lower decks. As it was still somewhat early, Chanyeol decided he could let them sleep some more.

He walked to the railing and looked out at the bustling port. There were fishermen and merchants running around, trying to sell their goods, and he decided to take a little morning stroll to clear his head.

With a hand placed securely on the railing, he jumped over the side of the ship and landed with a thump steadily on the dock and started walking down towards the main road. 

As he passed the tavern they visited last night, The Eve, he remembered the lad blushing at him when they came in, only to run away from him and hide behind the counter for the duration of the night. He chuckled to himself at the memory.

Continuing up the road, he spotted the lad sitting on the gray stone steps of a two-story building with a hand-painted sign that said “Postal Office.” He was bundled in a thick brown coat and seemed to be hugging his knees to keep warm. A smirk appeared on Chanyeol’s face, and he decided to approach him.