3 Paths to Love

Special: To Fight like a Pirate [Seunghyeon x Kwangsun]

"I can fight!" Seunghyeon blurted out before he could stop himself.

All murmurs on the deck seized and all eyes were on him, Seunghyeon gulped. Taeyong gaped at him while Kwangsun merely raised his eyebrows with an amused grin. Seunghyeon scowled at him.

"I can fight," he repeated, lower this time.

"Really?" Kwangsun turned to Taeyong. "Is that true?"

Taeyong frantically shook his head. "It's not." Taeyong reached out and gripped Seunghyeon's arm, his eyes pleading for him to stop. "Seunghyeon, you don't. Stop it."

"I can," Seunghyeon whispered. "Daehyun-Hyung taught me."

"But not like them," Taeyong hissed. "Don't make claims like that."

Seunghyeon gulped. He considered taking back his words and holding his tongue. He didn't want to give Taeyong and Myungsuk another thing to be afraid of.

Kwangsun snickered and turned to the crew. "I knew it was too good to be true," he said and the entire deck erupted with laughter.

A tsunami of rage crashed over Seunghyeon and he tugged his arm away and sprang up. "You asshole! I can fight! I'll show you!"

Kwangsun stared at him before blinking. "You'll show me?" Cracking a grin, Kwangsun rose from his seat, drawing his face closer to Seunghyeon's. "Does that mean you wanna fight me?"

Staring at that amused look on the captain's face, Seunghyeon wanted to rip it off. "That's right."

There was an audible gasp from his brothers, and Kwangsun smirked "Alright then." Kwangsun pulled away. "After breakfast, we'll fight on the main deck," he said and winked. "See you there."

As Kwangsun walked away and the excited chatter consumed the crew, Seunghyeon fell back into his seat and turned to Taeyong and Myungsuk. "It's going to be alright," he managed to say.

Seunghyeon held up the sword in his hand, the sun reflecting off his sharpened edge. He always wondered what it'd be like to hold a sword outside of training. Seunghyeon bounced the sword in his hand, its weight tenfold by the burden of simply holding it.

"You don't have to do this," Taeyong whispered. "You can still call it off."

Seunghyeon shook his head, squinting under the blazing sun, the entire ship crowded in the shade under the upper deck, where more crew piled on. There were even men squeezing onto the stairs to get a good view. "I don't think I can."

Myungsuk tugged his shirt and opened his mouth. Seunghyeon's eyes widened. "Myungsuk?"

With his bottom lip trembling, Myungsuk closed his mouth and pressed his forehead against Seunghyeon's arm instead. Seunghyeon leaned down and nuzzled his head, letting out his comforting scent. "I'll be okay," Seunghyeon whispered and squared his shoulders. He stepped out of the shade onto the middle of the deck, tightening his grip around his sword.

Kwangsun soon joined him. Shirtless and under the sun, the thin layer of sweat on Kwangsun's firm body glistened, every muscle defined. Seunghyeon sucked in his breath. What did he get himself into?

"Alright, everybody," Kwangsun called out and the crew went silent. "Before we begin, we have to lay down some rules. First"–Kwangsun held up one finger–"because this fight is not to punish a crime, minimal blood will be spilled, so don't expect that kind of show."

Seunghyeon's gut twisted as the crew groaned. "Hey, come on. I don't want to bruise Seunghyeon's pretty skin too badly." Kwangsun shot a smirk at Seunghyeon. Scoffing, Seunghyeon turned away.