Come evening Youngjae got dragged into a loud and merry tavern, full of drunken sailors and cheery music. 

Immediately he blanched.

Sailors were, in one way, his enemies. It wasn’t completely untrue about his kind dragging sailors to the bottom of the sea. It was seen as a fun past-time for sirens. Youngjae had tried it once and didn’t particularly like it, which branded him as a freak and an outsider. 

He had quite the lonely childhood.

“You okay?” Daehyun had seemed to notice, a hint of concern in his voice.

If anyone found out he was a siren, he was sure this rowdy mix of men and women would happily tear him to pieces.

“I’m fi-“

“Boy!” 

A familiar voice. Youngjae could see how Daehyun’s face lit up.

“Captain!”

At a big, rounded table full of people sat the bearded man whom had called Youngjae a vile creature. 

“I thought you’d be at the bottom of the sea by now!” The captain’s eyes seemed to shine with happiness and relief.

“I thought so too!” Daehyun sounded way too jolly for a man whom had expected to die.

Well, he had volunteered. Maybe Daehyun was just into the thought of being killed

Youngjae wasn’t one to kink shame.

“You!” Suddenly strong arms grabbed Youngjae and pulled him to the table, making him sit. It was embarrassing, but he had let out quite the shocked shriek and anticipated he would get murdered. Instead the captain placed an arm around Youngjae’s shoulders. “I must have misjudged you, kid!”

Sure you did, Youngjae thought, you didn’t listen when I said I wanted for you to take Daehyun back.

He didn’t dare to say it out loud.

“Never met a siren who didn’t murder when they had the chance,” the captain laughed good heartedly.

“Siren!?” Someone from another table had stood up abruptly, a sharp knife in his hand and a mean look in his eyes.

“Sit down, fool, and wash your ears!” The captain yelled back. The man sat down and went back to his beer.

“Captain.” It was Daehyun, who was now seated across from them. “Are you heading home?”

“Yeah, we’ll be leaving tomorrow.”

“Can we come along?”

“Of course, lad! I’d love to have you back on the ship! It hasn’t been the same without you there, my son.”

Youngjae blinked: it had barely been a day.

“Now, go get yourself something to drink son, on me.”

Daehyun jumped up and ran to the the man behind the counter.

“And you too, boy, have you ever had grog?”

The captain squeezed Youngjae’s shoulder good naturedly.

“No.” He wasn’t sure what it was, even. He knew it was something sailors seemed to love, and something pirates seemed to love even more. Youngjae wondered whether these people were sailors or pirates.

“Here, drink up.”

Youngjae got handed a cup which was bigger than his face and not daring to be rude, he gulped it down in one sitting and coughed harshly afterwards.

“Not bad, kid!” The captain seemed  impressed, so did the other crew seated around the table.

Daehyun returned then, a large cup in his hand.

“You’ve caught yourself an impressive fish, boy!” The captain directed at Daehyun.

“Fish!!?” The same man from before stood up again, knife in hand. 

“It’s a metaphor, you bonehead!”

At this point Youngjae was starting to feel a little queasy, and he felt his body heating up.

-

It was nice to sit with his people again, and to see his fatherly captain accept his beloved with open arms.

But what worried Daehyun, was the state of his beautiful siren. He seemed quiet, a little subdued, and when he heard the tale of how his soulmate had drank a cup full of grog in one sitting he had hoped the beverage would work its magic and loosen Youngjae a little.

But he was meek and quiet for nearly half an hour, with Daehyun often glancing over.

Then it was if a shift happened.

“Daedae, I feel weird.” Youngjae had stood up dramatically and slammed his fists on the table, catching the attention of the entire tavern. “Take me somewhere quiet.” He giggled at the end, and hiccuped.

One cup and he was drunk out of his mind. 

‘Daedae’ though. Daehyun felt his insides turn to goo.

“There are rooms for rent here,” the captain said. “Just meet us at noon tomorrow, that is when we set sail.”

Daehyun nodded and walked over to Youngjae, heart swelling with happiness as the siren leaned his bodyweight onto his side and clung to his arm.

Too late Daehyun realised he was broke. “Wait here, my sweet, I need to ask the captain for money so I can rent us a room.”

Youngjae made a ‘pfft’ sound and stood up straight. “I’ll fix this.”

Daehyun watched with curious eyes as Youngjae walked over to the tavern owner and leaned close, whispering something into the man’s ear.

He witnessed as the tavern owner’s eyes turned dazed and like a zombie he grabbed a key and handed it to Youngjae.

Daehyun’s stomach churned in pain and jealousy, especially when he saw Youngjae slide a hand appreciatively over the man’s biceps. He nearly went over there, ready to punch the man to the moon and back.

“I got it!” Youngjae giggled, his walking unsteady, as he held up the key triumphantly.

“Whatever.” Daehyun huffed and grabbed it out of Youngjae’s hand, looking at the number and pulling the siren with him.

“Daedae, too fast.”

Most of the anger disappeared and he slowed, going back to supporting his angel as they walked upstairs and locked the door behind them.

It was a simple room. Nothing more than a bed, but it seemed comfortable enough.

“Yay!” Youngjae threw off his sweater and stepped out of his skirt, revealing all the glorious skin, and the skintight . Daehyun unconsciously gulped as his eyes glued onto the adorable, pinchable .  “I’ve always wanted to sleep on one of these!”

“Come to bed, Daedae!” Youngjae had already gotten on it, on his four as he crawled.

The visual nearly knocked him out, the delectable high in the air. 

But no, he had to behave. Youngjae was drunk, and Daehyun was a decent and respectful human being. Carefully he undressed until he too was only in his underwear and joined the siren on the bed.

“Mmm, yes,” Youngjae immediately grabbed onto him and pressed their bodies close, skin on skin, crotch on  crotch.  Daehyun felt himself sweating already, teeth grinding. It got even worse when the siren threw a leg over Daehyun’s. “You smell like the sea, Daedae,” he mumbled, eyes close and a small smile on his face. “I like it.”

God, he was truly too adorable. Daehyun relaxed and not too long after he was dead asleep, pressed up against a beautiful siren.