Chapter Text
As he descended further and further into the bowels of the ship, the already faint light became even dimmer and dimmer. The lantern he was carrying was barely enough to illuminate the floor enough to see the hatch he was seeking. With practiced ease, hands that had evidently done this motion countless times before found the roughly cut indentation in the scratched wood and dug its callused fingers into it to lift the thick slab of wood. The rusty hinges groaned and squeaked as they were put to use, but the man paid no attention to them as he finally lifted the hatch over halfway and let his grasp of it go, stepping back to let the heavy door plunge through the air to crash onto the seawater-slicked wooden floorboard with an unmistakable THUMP.
He would be worried about being discovered, but nobody ever came this far down, especially at this time of night. The occasional steward may wonder down there to do routine checks, make sure that there were no leaks, but these inspections were never thorough – the gangly, scrawny, teenage boys barely being paid enough to survive let alone to actually care for doing their job properly – and so, he was confident that he was alone with no prying eyes to witness his treachery. Carefully, he climbed down the now-revealed steep ladder with one hand grasping the handle of the swaying lantern and the other the rope handle on the hatch’s underside that had been exposed after he had forced it open. Once his head had passed the opening, he finally pulled the hatch the last little bit then let go, quickly yanking his arm toward his body and ducking his head even further down just to be safe as the solid wooden door dropped to firmly close off the two levels from each other once again. He continued down the ladder.
When within safe distance, he jumped the few remaining feet to land sturdily on the lowest deck of the hold. Having been on the sea for most of his life, he did not falter in his landing despite the ever-present rocking of the ship. The man did not waste a second before he was confidently navigating the various barrels and crates that cluttered the hold. He deftly stepped around the large crates covered in bulky fabrics and secured by thick ropes to keep from them from loosely wreaking havoc until he abruptly stopped at one inconspicuous piece of cargo.
This cargo too was similar in that it was covered by a large tarp and strapped down, but it stood just slightly stood taller and barely sat wider than its neighbors. He placed his lantern down next to the foot of the large mysterious crate before rushing to a nearby crate and quickly releasing its coverings from it before diving into it and pulling out numerous other lanterns. He returned back to the large crate and quickly sat the new lanterns all around the floor, pulling out a match from his pocket and lighting it on the original lantern, and then sharing the fire amongst the other lanterns until the small area he had designated with the multiple lanterns was somewhat well illuminated.
Blowing out the matchstick now that it was no longer needed, the man threw it onto the floor and stepped on its smoking carcass with his shoe, smothering its remaining life. He stepped forward toward the ominous looking crate that towered above his height. He reached out both hands to clutch the edge of the heavy, opaque fabric. He took a deep breath before yanking the tarp with all his might, revealing its contents beneath.
And to any normal man who knew not what he was looking for, he would have been perplexed to see nothing but a large glass tank that held water, too dark to see through from the darkness of the hold, but he knew better. He carelessly folded the large cloth, not caring for properness or wrinkles as he bundled it up and threw it thoughtlessly to the side, although careful to avoid knocking over any of the lanterns. He stepped as close as possible to the tank with water so still despite the strong rocking of the ship amongst the angry waters outside. He brought a shaking hand up to press against the chilled glass, laying his palm flat against the transparent divide. But while his hand had shaken, make no mistake that it was not from fear or nervousness but rather excitement and eagerness. But after resting his hand on the cold, clear glass, he forced himself to still, not daring to do a single additional movement.
He waited with bated breath.
Even the raging storm outside that tossed waves the size of ships larger than the one he was currently boarded upon seemed not able to pierce the pregnant silence that had befallen the hold as the man waited.
And waited.
And many would have called him crazy for staring at an empty tank with such unbridled hope and anticipation painted on his face as minutes went by and nothing changed.
But he knew better.
He remained stood there, hand still pressed firmly against the glass holding back over a ton of water without a single flicker of hesitance or impatience crossing his face.
And he was eventually rewarded with his treasure.
It was subtle at first, hardly a stir in the water.
Then, the faintest glimmer of light seemed to glow in the far recesses of the tank. It was small, but it was unmistakable. The small glowing orb grew all the more radiant as it moved about the tank, dashing left and then right, while getting all the more closer.
His eyes followed the ever-growing light as it crossed the small confines of the tank, his breath stuck in his throat until the glowing light abruptly stopped in its seemingly mindless wandering to suddenly dart forward toward him but stopped short of the glass and slowly drifted back into the darkness again, and where most others would have flinched and undoubtedly stepped back at the sudden charge, the man did not move a single muscle, so relaxed and expectant, calmly observing the light as it gently bobbed up and down in the water.
The water was still so dark, the light bright but very contained. It did not illuminate the water surrounding it, but he was not disillusioned by the false pretense that the water was empty. He kept his hand firmly against the glass, not taking his eyes off that floating light suspended in the darkness of the tank. And before one could even process what was happening, out of the darkness shot a hand and the alabaster arm attached to it, lunging straight towards him, and he was frozen in the same spot.
He had been waiting for this moment.
He soon felt warmth from where previously there had only been cold against his hand from the other side of the glass as that ghostly pale hand, unable to penetrate through the thick glass barrier separating the two, settled itself against the glass instead – palm opened and flat against the glass, clearly mimicking his. He watched as the hand subtly adjusted itself to perfectly align itself and its fingers with his own until one would not be able to perceive the other hand if they had been looking directly from over either of their shoulders. Despite the inches of glass separating them and the no doubt frigid water sloshing around in the tank, there was a warmth that managed to seep through the glass and kiss his skin, and despite the warmth being minimal and even barely through just his hand, that miniscule warmth spread like a wildfire inside him, igniting every nerve in his body. All he could see was still the pale hand mirroring his own and part of the arm it was attached to before the rest of it faded back into the darkness of the tank, still hidden in the shadows, but he was not deterred.
He raised his other hand that had been dangling limply at his side to confidently press against the transparent wall right night to his other hand, feeling the cold glass immediately suck the warmth from his clammy hand, but it lasted no longer than less than a minute as a nearly identical alabaster hand to the one currently mirroring him appeared out of the darkness to immediately match his newly-placed hand, warmth immediately flowing into him from now two sources of near contact, separated only a mere few inches of glass, but somehow still warming his heart.
He was told he had infinite patience, but even he could wait no longer – the anticipation that had been building in him ever since he had cracked open his eyes from where he had been feigning sleep to fool his colleagues before he snuck out of his hammock in the cabins not too long ago was close to bubbling over until it would erupt. What he was doing was dangerous; he could be hanged for his actions. He felt dizzy with the adrenaline rush he got as he tried to close the creaky, rusty door as quietly as possible to avoid waking up any of the other crew members and warily watching that night’s lookout in the crow’s nest, making sure they were looking away before he crossed the open deck to dive into the shadows behind the nearest barrel or cannon whenever they would turn back his way and repeating this until he finally made it to the first hatch of many that would take him out of eyesight of others. A feeling of relief had washed over him after finally slipping below deck and out of view and finally pulling out the lantern he had stolen from the cabins out from under his coat to quickly light it, so it could provide some guidance in the cramped and narrow space. It had all been accumulating inside him up until this point – so many emotions building and festering inside of him with so much pressure until he could barely contain himself any longer, and he had reached that point where he could be silent no longer.
He had already restrained himself for far too long.
“My love?” he whispered, voice barely audible over the creaking of the ship as it was rocked back and forth. It was said so softly, in such a reverent awe, that even he was not sure if he actually voiced it aloud into existence, questioning himself, but he did not doubt himself for long for there was a sudden movement of the water, as if a current had been created out of nowhere. The suspended light went out, extinguished just like a candle would have been. Then, out of the darkness, he was finally blessed with what he had come here for.
It was surely a thing of nightmares, he could understand. For out of the pitch-black darkness, in the space between where both his and their hands were plastered together across the glass in their best attempt at physical contact, at first, a lithe torso became visible with matching alabaster skin appearing inch by inch from the shadows. The light that had gone out seemed to have taken on a new form in the physique of the other – their skin not necessarily glowing but themselves being illuminated from within, where each and every meticulously sculpted feature of the ethereal being was as clear to him as if they were not standing in the deepest and murkiest of depths of a rickety ship being thrashed about by Neptune’s wrath but instead in a peaceful meadow where spring had blossomed and the sun bore down upon them with full light yet not enough to burn. He could not help his eyes as they scanned the new showing of skin speckled with moles across their unblemished host like a treasure map that led to the rarest and most valuable of treasures, but his appreciative gaze did not end there as his eyes traveled up from a narrow waist to a thin but toned chest and then to a slender neck bared to him as if blatantly inviting him to stake his mark and make his claim upon the offered skin presented to him on a silver platter.
But no matter how many times he had been blessed enough to gaze upon it, it never failed to take his breath away – to make his breath hitch in his throat and get stuck in his chest – as his eyes finally travelled up the last bit to meet piercing cerulean eyes as blue as the clearest of seas and most prized stones of Neptune’s treasury already staring straight back at him. Those eyes were like the most enchanting of sapphires set in the most striking of crowns, high cheekbones and immaculately shaped eyebrows that framed them with a thin but high nose bridge with the most elegant of slopes. Black hair floated in the water around them like a halo as the beautiful creature kept his gaze fixated on him.
He did not know how he managed to get it out with whatever little breath he had left seemed caught in his lungs as it always did whenever he laid eyes upon the heavenly being gracing him, but somehow, he managed as he saw those crystal blue eyes light up with their own spark of excitement and more importantly, love, as he finally said,
“Sunghoon.”
And while he could not hear it from where it was spoken under many feet of water and further suppressed by the airtight tank incarcerating his love, he could make out the singular word those naturally delicate lips formed,
“Heeseung.”
And finally, he fell forward, overcome with emotion and no longer having the strength to stand anymore as he collapsed to his knees, hands sliding down the walls of the tank as he rested his forehead against the glass as sobs wrecked his body.
And he did not know how long he bawled, but when he looked up, it was to see Sunghoon’s beautiful face right in front of his as he too rested his forehead against the barrier separating them to rest his own against Heeseung’s while his hands still matched his on the glass walls, never once having separated.