Zitao had heard everything from JongDae. Every details on this BaekHyun he could have passed on and honestly the Chinese boy thought that all this was really fishy.
Usually JongDae was a smart guy but when it came to this half-nereid he didn't seem to be able to think straight. And the fact that they were the only two who weren't getting any action on the Ariadne probably didn't help either.

So not only for SeHun's safety, but also for JongDae's, Tao decided to join the captain at this so called 'meeting', leaving Krystal and JunMyeon to guard the ship. 

To Zitao this was how it was: Krystal took care of JunMyeon, LuHan of SeHun and he of JongDae. He considered himself the strongest though.

"We're almost there," the chestnut-haired man explained looking at the GSP on his phone screen.

JongDae had received an address in the morning and the crew followed the navigator blindly through narrow streets to finally arrive to an isolated hangar.

Right, Zitao thought. 

This couldn't be good. He looked at the others, Luhan in his favorite grey suit, SeHun with his rainbow hair and ears hidden under that black beanie hat, and the only one stupidly smiling was, of course, JongDae with that stupid flower shirt.
Tao hated that shirt.

A short purple-haired girl got out of one of the spaceships and the farm boy assumed she was BaekHyun.

OK. She's gorgeous, but seriously JongDae, she's trouble. It's written all over her.

"Come in quick," she said in a hasty voice and Zitao frowned.

She wants to kidnap us now or what?

The group just stood there and the Chinese boy smiled at how SeHun grabbed the back of LuHan's suit.

If only JongDae could be this cautious.

"We're not going anywhere until you explain to us what's going on," the blond said sharply and Tao knew why he was the captain and was glad he was.

"We can't talk here, it's not safe," the woman said as she looked around nervously and the raven-haired boy sensed a hint of fear in her voice.

What is she afraid of?

"What do you mean 'it's not safe'?" LuHan asked BaekHyun but he was giving JongDae a look.

"Listen," the half-nereid pleaded. "I made a terrible mistake and I want to fix it."

Zitao was about to go all rogue on her but a tall man suddenly came out of the ship.

"Please don't." The short-haired man gestured at Tao and joined his partner on ground, putting a protective hand on her. "It's not her fault. She was thinking about us. We all have our problems and we all make mistakes."

He was really tall and had weird ears -not the SeHun kind weird- but he seemed harmless. A little thin too so Zitao wouldn't have any problem taking him down if needed.

"Now, you have to listen carefully," the tall alien said very seriously. "You need to get out of here right now, and when I say 'here' I don't mean just from this hangar, I mean you need to get out of this system and go as far away as possible. Those men chasing after that little Therianthrope are no jokes," the man pointed at SeHun while talking. "Don't underestimate them."

"Wow wow wow," Zitao gestured for the tall man to stop. "What are you talking about? Who is chasing after SeHun? What the hell is going on?" 

That last question was for JongDae but the navigator was oddly calm and the raven-haired boy didn't like it one bit.

"Calm down Zitao," Luhan put a hand on the Chinese boy's shoulder. 

"But chuánzhǎng-"

The captain's eyes were soft and it took Tao aback. 

Why would he be so calm? What about SeHun? Unless.

The raven-haired boy looked at JongDae and the latter smiled at him.

They know. 

They knew from the start. Zitao was suddenly relieved yet kind of pissed-off. Why didn't JongDae tell him? He can act and keep a secret.
OK maybe not.
But this was good. It meant they got the upper hand.

"Let's listen to what they have to say," LuHan said still looking at Tao and looked back at BaekHyun.

"We don't normally do this," she explained, nervously twiddling her fingers. "It was my fault. This guy was offering a crazy amount of money for this kid and I didn't think." She then turned to JongDae. "I'm sorry."

"Who is after SeHun?" Luhan asked ignoring the weird tension between the woman and the navigator.

"I don't know their real names," BaekHyun looked down. "They call themselves GD and TOP." 

Zitao puffed at the names and JongDae couldn't hold a mocking grin either. "Let's say their favorite color is blue and pink and one is tall and the other rather short," the magenta-haired woman finished. "I'm sorry I don't have much information and I'm sorry it has come to this," she quickly added and bit her lower lip.

"I don't suppose you guys know them," LuHan said seeing JongDae and Zitao's reaction. "Do you know where they are now?" he turned back to BaekHyun.

"Probably at your ship," the half-nereid looked ashamed. "I did a scan and sent them the location."

LuHan and JongDae shared a look and Zitao knew why. The captain had asked JunMyeon and Krystal to move the ship after they were gone and now the raven-haired boy finally understood why.

The raven-haired boy was still kind of pissed he didn't get any word of it but he had to admit this was brilliant. He looked at SeHun and wondered if the Therianthrope knew about this but seeing how he clutched LuHan's suit, probably not. 

"You don't look surprised," the half-troll said and he smiled to JongDae. "I guess Baek wasn't able to fool you after all. She's usually very good at these kind of things, so it just means she still has a conscience and a gentle heart," the man teased ruffling his friend's hair.

"Hey," BaekHyun got out of her partner's reach. "I'm trying to apologize and redeem myself here. Stop making fun of me." She pouted cutely and crossed her arms.

"Well it looks like we're going to work together after all," JongDae chimed, the corner of his mouth curving like the Cheshire cat.

"So it's goodbye Europe?" Zitao asked the blond captain.

"I guess," LuHan answered the Chinese boy but he was looking up at SeHun, gently his hair. "We weren't going to stay anyway."

Tao knew the man was talking about the wedding and it somewhat gave hope to the raven-haired boy. This whole situation started as a selfish act, was it for a starving SeHun or a greedy BaekHyun, but there was still good in people's heart.

It was going to be OK, right?

"Well hop on then," the tall man said in a cheery yet deep voice. "We don't have any time to lose."

"Yes," BaekHyun added a bit worried. "We have to get away as quickly as possible. Those guys aren't going to let us get away this easily." She turned to her partner and forced a smile. "I'm sorry I dragged you into this."

"It's fine," the man replied showing his white teeth. "We already talked about this."

Zitao eyed them and thought maybe the two were more than just partners. He suddenly felt sorry for JongDae. She lied and gave him false hope. The raven-haired boy sighed and looked at the navigator but the latter didn't seem concerned by the two aliens proximity.

"Can we go now?" 

Tao's tone was just like whatever and it made BaekHyun laugh despite the whole messed up situation.

"Yes, let's go."

BaekHyun's ship was a lot smaller than the Ariadne and only had a control deck with a small table and a changing room with a Murphy bed. Someone was sitting in the pilot's chair and the half-troll beamed when the man turned around to meet the group.

"Hello," he said very politely and stood up to bow. "I'm sorry for all the trouble."

"This is my husband, KyungSoo," the tall man said grabbing KyungSoo's shoulder and gave the short man a quick peck on the cheek. "Oh, and I'm ChanYeol by the way."

Zitao didn't know how to react. First of all, he had it all wrong on BaekHyun and Chanyeol's relationship and the raven-haired boy just realize he did not know the half-troll's name until now. 
This situation was just getting weirder and weirder.

"You still hadn't introduced yourself?" KyungSoo looked up at his husband in disbelief. "What were you doing all this time?" He looked at BaekHyun and the others but the group just shrugged.

Zitao considered KyungSoo for a moment. He seemed nice and reasonable. He was short and kind of squishy and it was funny and cute how he scold ChanYeol like he was a child despite their height difference. The tall man just laughed it off and BaekHyun ignored them, sitting in the pilot's seat, closely followed by JongDae who peered behind her, resting his hands on the back of the chair. The others tried to fit around the small table and LuHan decided to stand before he was squashed by Zitao. SeHun then let the Chinese boy sit in the middle to be close to the blond and Tao found it annoyingly cute.

"I'm gonna need the coordinates to your ship," BaekHyun said turning to LuHan and the latter nodded.

JongDae immediately got out his phone to call JunMyeon. It rang a few times and the blond and the navigator shared a look thinking the couple was probably busy, being alone on the ship and all. But something entirely different answered the phone.

"They're here!" JunMyeon's voice shouted so loudly that everybody was able to hear it even without the loudspeaker on and JongDae flinched suddenly holding the phone as far as possible from his ear. A couple of bips and voices were heard but none of them could tell what exactly was going on.

"1530° 18′ 45″.3 N, 143° 29′ 16″ E!!"

And before anyone was able to ask or say anything, JunMyeon hung up.

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Well Happy New Year Everyone !!!

I'm sorry I cut it at such a place but I had to x)

I still hope you enjoyed this chapter !

And here is another gift for you guys~

xoxo~