After the rescue of Baekbeom, Baekhyun started gradually opening up to Chanyeol. Hell, he even went as far as having small conversations with the pirate when he visited The Eve with his crew and listening to the crew’s stories about their adventures.

He learned that Chanyeol was 22-years-old and had been with the crew since he was just shy of 15. 

He learned that Sehun and Jongin, the sailing master and boatswain, were inseparable, a package deal. One wouldn’t be there without the other. They were the youngest among the crew, barely just turned 20, and they were also the most troublesome of the lot. Always pulling pranks on the others, never listening to orders unless in serious situations and never being where anybody thought they would be. The crew loved them nonetheless. They took care of their own, and both Sehun and Jongin had proved themselves on numerous occasions.

He learned that Suho and the ship's surgeon Minseok were brothers. Suho had acquired his first ship when he was 18. He set out to see the world. One day after he had tried to free a few slaves, he got gravely injured and had barely made it home. Knowing his brother could help, he went to Minseok, and Minseok had saved his life. When he wanted to set sail again, Minseok decided to go with him so that he could always be there to save his little brother. 

Baekhyun found he really liked Minseok's company, even if there was a 14-year age difference between them. The surgeon was fun and lively, but he had an air of maturity and sincerity around him, as you could always count on him. He was like the whole crew's big brother.

Kyungsoo, the cook, and Jongdae, the gunner, weren't there as they were in charge of looking for provisions and other needed things for their next journey.

Baekhyun often sat next to Chanyeol and enjoyed the other’s company while looking out for the door, so he could quickly get up and leave if his uncle, or worse, his father, decided to visit the tavern. Baekhyun knew all too well what would happen if his father found out he was associating with pirates, even if these pirates had helped save his son. He wasn’t exactly eager to be on the receiving end of his father’s wrath.

“Have you killed many men?” Baekhyun asked one day.

“None that didn’t deserve it,” Chanyeol responded. Yes, he’d killed some. When they boarded the slave trader’s ships to save the slaves, it happened that a fight broke out, and rather than laying down his own life himself, he had slain his opponents. It also happened that they were attacked themselves, an occupational hazard of being a pirate. 

But he’d only ever killed people who were wrong or who had attacked them, and their deaths had been unfortunate but unavoidable. He preferred to beat his opponents just enough for them to learn the lesson of not ing with The Explorations crew, but not enough for them to lose their lives.

They fell into a routine with this, talking whenever they ran into each other. Baekhyun was starting to more than tolerate the pirate’s existence, going as far as almost considering the tall pirate a sort of maybe friend.

But as it was with pirates, the Exploration had to set out on a new voyage eventually. Jongdae had intercepted rumors about a slave trade approximately 80 miles west of the town. Hence, the Exploration set sail and slowly slid away from the docks, making their way out of the harbor an early morning in March.

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The first few days out at sea was pure bliss for Chanyeol. He had missed the breeze in his hair and the salty and fresh smell of the ocean. He enjoyed this life, and he was good friends with everyone in the crew, so their journeys were never dull or lonely. But approximately three days underway, his peace of mind stopped. Chanyeol started thinking more and more about the small brown-haired boy he had befriended at their last stop. 

He wanted to see him again.

It didn’t take him long to realize he had started developing feelings towards Baekhyun, and he cursed when it dawned on him. He tried to ignore his heartbeat whenever he caught himself thinking about him but to no avail. He could just hope that whatever he was feeling would disappear in the time they were apart.

After almost five weeks out at sea, they returned to the port town, and by then, Chanyeol had given up on trying to forget Baekhyun. He simply couldn’t forget his brown eyes or his fair skin, or the way he smiled.

After having secured the ship and made sure everything that had to be repaired would be seen to, the crew made their way to The Eve.

Upon entering, Chanyeol's eyes caught Baekhyun’s. He watched the small boy give a little recognizing smile and a short wave.  

He finished what he was doing and slowly made his way to Chanyeol and the Exploration crew. “So, you’ve returned,” Baekhyun stated matter-of-factly and laughed a little at his silly comment. 

Chanyeol nodded and sat down on a stool. “Yeah, it was a tough time, but now we have a few days off here,” he answered and hoped he would get to spend a few moments alone with Baekhyun during this time. 

But getting close to Baekhyun was going to be a challenge. His father was a Royal Navy officer after all and didn’t approve of Chanyeol's whole existence.

☼☼☼☼

Upon seeing Chanyeol had returned, Baekhyun was conflicted. On one side, he was happy to see Chanyeol again. He had missed the giant’s voice and stories. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone, of course. 

But on the other hand, Chanyeol was a pirate, and pirates were terrible people he had been taught. He could only imagine his father’s words if he ever found out that Baekhyun had been associating with a pirate. But the first side won, and Baekhyun slowly made his way over to Chanyeol and greeted him with a small smile.

They ended up talking a lot that night, Chanyeol telling Baekhyun about the things they had seen and experienced. He told him about the ships they had discovered who were transporting slaves and how they had intercepted their plans and then boarded the vessel and saved the slaves.

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol in awe, not even knowing what to say. He thought all pirates were only evil, but these people were actually doing something right as well. Yeah, sure, they still stole and sold their cargo without reporting it to the trading companies so they could have the profits all to themselves. But Baekhyun could look past that. 

Baekhyun slowly started to become aware of his feelings for Chanyeol.

Well, with the pirate's looks and the way he shamelessly flirted with him or kept calling him sweet things like "love" and "darling," how could he not be finding himself falling for the handsome pirate?

Eventually, they started meeting in secret. Nothing more than conversations and light touches or brush of hands, all initiated by Chanyeol but quickly reciprocated by Baekhyun.

Baekhyun really enjoyed the pirate’s company, enjoyed hearing him talk and watching the way his face lit up when he spoke of the ship or the crew or the adventures they had been on.

Chanyeol had started becoming very protective of Baekhyun, too. The younger found it very endearing and basked in the feeling of the attention he received from his big intense crush.

But he didn’t know what Chanyeol's feelings towards him were or if it was all just fun and games to the pirate. He thought he was probably only another one of his port flings. He knew the saying that pirates had a flirt in every town and every port.  

One day, after a particularly nasty fight broke out between someone from rivaling crews at The Eve, Baekhyun got caught in the crossfire trying to break it up and ended up with an elbow in the gut and a bloody nose when he tried to ask the men to take their fight outside.

Chanyeol and the other men from Exploration quickly stepped in, got the situation under control, and threw the men out on their asses for causing trouble.

They had all become very fond of The Eve, and they could all tell that their first-mate was very smitten with the young server. Even though nobody said anything about this, they let the two lads do things on their own time.

After the commotion had died down, Chanyeol insisted on taking Baekhyun to the back to inspect his wounds to make sure he was all right. He gave Baekhyun a big shot of rum to calm his nerves and started examining him. 

When he finally decided that Baekhyun was all right and that his nose had stopped bleeding, he accompanied the boy to his room, saying it would be best if Baekhyun got some sleep after the night’s ordeal.

He made Baekhyun lie on his bed and started tucking him in. Baekhyun was amused that Chanyeol was treating him like a little child who got hurt. Feeling the slight buzz from the rum, he asked teasingly, “What? Are you going to kiss me goodnight as well, then?”

Chanyeol looked him over and smirked. “If you’d like me to.” He slowly bent his head to give him a small teasing peck on the lips. As he came nearer, Baekhyun started closing his eyes subconsciously, but something happened when their lips touched. 

Chanyeol drew back and looked Baekhyun in the eyes, almost searching for something. When he saw nothing but shyness and curiosity in Baekhyun’s eyes, he slowly leaned in again. He pressed his lips against Baekhyun’s again, a little firmer this time. He heard a soft sigh coming from the boy beneath him and felt his small hand come up to clutch at the front of his shirt.

Chanyeol started deepening the kiss more but got interrupted by a knock on the door. He quickly drew back up, and by the time the door opened and Baekbeom stepped in to check on his little brother, he was already up and on his way out the door, face flushed and heart fluttering in his chest.

Baekbeom, being totally oblivious to what had just transpired, sat down on the edge of Baekhyun’s bed and cupped the side of his brother's face with his hand, looking at the slightly swollen and reddening button nose. He decided that right now probably wasn’t the best time to scold him for being reckless and throwing himself in the middle of a fight between pirates. He just ruffled his hair and smiled. 

“I’m glad you’re alright, Baek. Just relax, for now. I’ll take care of things downstairs. The Exploration crew already kicked the twats out, so there’s mostly just some cleanup work left. Sleep well, little brother,” he explained. Then, he got up and left, leaving Baekhyun all alone with his own thoughts running wild. 

What had just happened? Had he, the son of a Royal Navy officer, really just kissed a pirate?

Indeed, he had, and he found himself wanting to do it again.

When he heard Baekbeom's footsteps retreat down the creaking steps of the stair, he threw his face into his pillow while sighing loudly. 

What had he gotten himself into with Chanyeol?