Vagrancy

★CHAPTER EIGHT|AND SO IT BEGINS★

"So, let me get this straight. You bonded with Tori, who doesn't even realize what that is?"

Minhyuk's question is met with several murmurs of confusion. Changkyun has gathered the whole crew, minus Hyungwon, and they now sit around the galley's table fixing him with questioning eyes.

"That's right, " Changkyun agrees.

"And you want us not to say anything, lest she find out that you bonded her without her knowing approval?"

The telepath fixes Wonho with an irritated look, but acknowledges his irksome question nonetheless.

"That is correct."

"Why?"

This time, it is Shownu who has spoken.

The group looks to their captain, and then back at Changkyun. Everyone is curious as to his reasoning, so this doesn't surprise Changkyun in the slightest. For a moment, he struggles to come up with the right words, worried about how his crew-mates will take his response. Especially Wonho.

To be fair, he doesn't expect Wonho to actually be that calloused as to actively sabotage his bonding. But, Changkyun is wary all the same.

"Humans don't… well they don't bond like we do, " Changkyun begins. "And for them, fidelity is an option."

He watches as several of his crew mates wince, in Dhee'li society, the concept of infidelity is something that most can't even begin to comprehend.

"Some of them sleep around indiscriminately, though some do marry. From what I understand, it's a diluted form of bonding, one that is far less permanent than we can truly comprehend. A human who marries is still capable of a thing called divorce, and might eventually go on to marry someone else."

The looks on everyone's faces are something akin to surprise, not that Changkyun blames them. If he hadn't pestered Hyungwon for details after the conversation that he'd overheard between the medic and his mate, he isn't sure he'd be able to believe the words coming out of his mouth himself.

"So, " Kihyun queries quietly, "you're worried that she'll be put off? That she won't want you forever?"

To Kihyun, the idea is utterly ludicrous. Having once been mated himself, he does not envy Changkyun his position. After his bond-mate's death, it had been incredibly difficult. For a time, Kihyun wasn't even certain he'd live through the loss. Every day had felt like death, and the possibility of the young telepath going through such a thing saddens him immensely.

Why would Changkyun pick a woman that he didn't think would commit to him wholeheartedly?

"I think that, eventually, she'll accept it. Want it, even. But given the customs of her people, I'm worried that it might overwhelm her at first."

"Understandable, " Shownu says, "though I wish you'd thought about all this before claiming her."

Changkyun, to his credit, does send his captain a thoroughly apologetic look.

"I know it's not ideal, especially right now. But I'm drawn to her, and she to me. I want this, and I need it to work out now more than ever. So, can I count on you guys to keep things quiet? I swear, I'll tell her eventually. When she's ready."

To his relief, everyone nods. Even Wonho, whom he'd anticipated offering at least some resistance.

"You know, " Jooheon points out, "if your parents ever find out about this, they're going to be massively upset. They'll never accept her."

"They don't really have a choice in the matter now, " Changkyun replies with a small smile. "And you know me. Since when have I cared about what my parents want?"