The boy frowned as he took a look at her. She felt a strange anger forming in his eyes, and he turned to the two men and started conversing with them in their tongue. He sounded furious.

Youjin felt tears building up in her eyes as she heard his deep voice - just like her brother's. It gave her a strange comfort and she felt a deep need to get closer to him. She had no idea why she felt like this because her brother looked nothing like the boy in front of her. She tried to picture her brother’s face but was horrified when she realised she couldn’t quite remember.

Her thoughts were disrupted as the two men started shouting angrily. Youjin winced and automatically crouched lower, but she saw that the boy didn’t even blink at their demonstration and he shouted back equally loudly. She buried her head into her hanbok skirt as the shouting went on – the clash of raw emotions and noise was too much for her.

Suddenly, quick steps neared her. She quickly raised her head

…Only to look at the boy with the warm eyes right in front of her face.

Her eyes widened. She gasped involuntarily as she felt warm hands at the back of her knees and waist. In a moment, Youjin was in his arms.

It was warm; and she felt safe. Before she knew what she was doing, her thin arms wrapped around the boy’s neck. The back of her hand felt the boy’s tufty hair. She closed her eyes and buried her face into his chest. He smelt like the sun. She felt a deep comfort as she heard his steady heartbeat. Her brother’s heartbeat was like that too.

She realised vaguely that they were going up the stairs out to the deck. She didn’t dare open her eyes even as the salty wind of the sea brushed against her skin. She shut out everything, and concentrated on the boy’s heartbeat.

“…Chanyeol Oppa”

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The girl looked about 8. Her clothes were ragged, her body was verging on dangerously skinny, and her eyes were wide with strangled fear. Charlie didn’t even know why he was so furious over this strange little girl, but one thing he knew for certain was that he couldn’t just leave her here.

He couldn’t even really remember what he said. All he remembered emphasizing was his family name; and that if the soldier or the merchant wanted to trade in Europe, they had to shut up and let the girl go. He walked over the little girl and hoisted her up into his arms. He momentarily frowned as she was lifted with very little resistance. Too skinny.

Charlie blinked as thin arms wrapped around his neck. He looked down and unconsciously tightened his grip around her.

“…Chan… op…”

Chan- what?

The girl murmured something unrecognisable, and it took Charlie some seconds to understand that it must have been in her native tongue. It sounded strange, but in a good way, he thought. He couldn’t help but smile a little when her ragged breathing steadied and her limbs sagged after a while. Falling asleep in his arms – that was cute. Balancing the girl on one arm, he quickly tugged off his coat and pulled it over the girl’s upper body.

“I’ll protect you.” He whispered. “So sleep tight, sweetheart.”

The Chanyeol left in Korea is not our idol EXO Chanyeol, dear readers.