Crescent: The Treasure of the Seven Galaxies || ATEEZ Everyone x Everyone

Chapter 2

The stars enveloped the ship as Taejoong carried Hongjoong on his shoulders. Hongjoong stretched his small hands and reached towards the vacuum full of stars, excited as it was his first time on a spaceship. The vessel was gorgeous, worthy of the Emperor of the biggest human empire in the neighboring galaxies, but even it paled in comparison to the beauty of the stars and planets splattered across the black emptiness.

Taejoong strolled around the deck as he answered Hongjoong's questions and nodded to all the crazy ideas of his little brother. Hongjoong had been demanding to go on a ship for so long that in the end, his father had had to concede. They had been worried that he would be scared of the embrace of space, but he was dealing really well with it.

"You're so brave for being so tiny, mini Hong." Taejoong commented after a while, still surprised that his brother wasn't scared.

"I'm not tiny!" Hongjoong complained, balling his fists and hitting his brother on the head. "And I'm not scared when you're with me." Hongjoong hunched over his brother's face and looked him in the eye. Taejoong looked back at him and smiled, nodding softly.

"That's right, whatever happens to me, I'll protect you." Taejoong chuckled. "Even with your tiny size, there's nothing to fear!"

"Shut up!" Hongjoong bonked him on the head again before his brother pulled him down and started tickling him, sending him into a laughing frenzy before he managed to escape. They spent the rest of the trip just chasing and playing with each other.

--

Yunho pulled back the curtains on Hongjoong's biggest window and looked at the alarm clock with suspicion. It was way past his time to wake up but he was still in bed, and Yunho suspected he had turned off the alarm again like he had been doing all week. He couldn't judge him though, no one could.

Gently, he pulled the bed sheets away to uncover Hongjoong's head. He was frowning, but other than that he seemed peaceful enough that Yunho didn't think it would be necessary to wake him up abruptly. Instead, he knelt next to the bed and softly carded his fingers through Hongjoong's blond locks. He wasn't naturally blond, and although at first he had been reprimanded a lot by his father, he only received a few disapproving looks every once in a while now.

Hongjoong's eyes fluttered open and he lifted his head, a little out of himself. Yunho hummed softly and continued petting his head until Hongjoong seemed to remember where he was and his head flopped back on the pillow, cheek squeezing softly against it. Yunho chuckled and stood up. He pulled the sheets further down and Hongjoong whined, burying his face in the pillows and trying to pull the covers back on.

"Come on, you have to get up now," Yunho insisted. His tone was serious but the smile on his face betrayed him. "You're already late as is."

Hongjoong shook his head, sending his hair flying everywhere. As soon as Yunho had let go of the covers, he pulled them back up until his chin and looked at his boyfriend with a half-hearted glare, daring him to try that again. Yunho shook his head and motioned to pull the covers again when Hongjoong grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer, almost causing Yunho to fall on top of him.

"Not yet." Hongjoong's voice was small, and Yunho understood he wasn't playing around. He just really wasn't ready to get up yet. "Lie down with me."

"Someone could come looking for you and see us." Yunho muttered. Their faces were so close that he felt compelled to talk quietly.

"Everyone knows we're dating, I don't think anyone will mind." Hongjoong rolled his eyes. "Please."

Yunho couldn't refuse him when he asked like that, so he took off his boots and lay down under the covers. Hongjoong immediately rested his head on Yunho's chest, listening to his heartbeat as Yunho wrapped an arm around his shoulders. It was intimate, and warm, and so they allowed themselves to relax.