elphies_box

the way to atlantis
in which the title is pretentious because nobody gets to Atlantis.
7, 892 words
jonghyun/key

this was supposed to be a surprise for

black_goose. I finished this last night and thought, ok I'll edit and post this tomorrow. And then right after I finish this, she tells me I should write her Ontae. My first reaction was: WHAT THE HELL :| where do I even begin I don't even know how to write Onew, much less Taemin. this is obviously not Ontae, but it's still hers if she wants it. LOOK LAURA SPOT THE UNNAMED CAMEOS!

notes Inspired by this picture. this is going to be short, around 1,200 words, I said. four parts, with things happening without me actively showing how it got from point A to point B. Those are the two things I told myself before I sat down and wrote this. One guess on what actually happened. :| I enjoyed writing this though (but there are probably a lot of grammatical tense inaccuracies.)
_{gunner - leader of any separate group manning the artillery. [source]
and for those who don't know, Eunsook is Onew's girl identity in School of Rock.}

fifteen and a half.

"Does anybody know the way to Atlantis?" A young man enters the pub.

The bartender looks up. "That's the worst pick-up line I've ever heard."

Eyebrows rise and a smile crosses the man's face. "Nice, but I don't need to resort to pick-up lines." He licks his lips, elbows leaning on the counter of the bar. He has short black hair unlike any in this town (later on, he will explain that it's called a fauxhawk). His eyes are big and he is wearing a white tank top over dark pants. His color is tan and weather-beaten, and his arms are muscled in a way that suggests that he has been doing hard labor for most of his life.

It's a small town he's currently in, but it happens to have one of the few ports in a nine thousand three hundred and six mile radius. It's not a tourist destination, and not even much of a destination, but it's land and a friendly town. The streets are made of cobblestone and the houses all look the same (there are three carpenters in this town and only one architect). There's a lamp post every five and twenty steps, and only one school (for education in the morning and for arts in the afternoon). The town is divided into the east and west, with the port in the middle. It takes less than twenty hours to walk around and see the whole town fully.

The port is composed of planks of wood on stable columns rooted to the sea. The columns extend even above the planks, high into the sky. Many a children play around the port and wait for pirate ships to sail and dock—whether the ships be from the sea or the air. A six-and-a-half minute walk from the port leads one to the marketplace, where everything from food to goods are traded and sold.

When one has been travelling for nine thousand, three hundred and six miles with no sight of a place to land, this town is a sigh of relief. He must be one of them, those travelers, as he doesn't look like anything the bartender has seen before.

The bartender resumes wiping a champagne flute. He is wearing the establishments' prescribed garments; a dark long sleeved shirt with a silk red vest over it. His hair is bleached blonde and slightly curled. His name is Key.

"So, really. Does anyone here know the way to Atlantis?"

The bartender snorts. "That's under the sea. You're on land."

"Which is why I'm asking for directions," The man says, smile still on his face. He settles unto a stool. "Hit me up with one of that, will you."

"Asking for directions in a pub?" The bartender asks as he turns and gets a tankard. He opens the tap on the barrel, fills it with beer then sets it down in front of the man. "You'd be lucky to get correct directions to the nearest inn."

And as if to prove his point, loud rambunctious laughter erupts from one of the tables. Three men are sitting around the wooden table, mugs being refilled by a girl with dark wavy hair, who looked bored.

"Yah, that's not how you do it," A man with shoulder length red hair says, eyes as wide as saucers.

The man next to him mumbles something in another language, which makes the redhead frown. "Yah, you're here now, speak our language!"

"Watch me," The third man says, hair shaved close to his head. He is broad shouldered and strongly built. "Wait. Bathroom first." He stands up, takes two steps to the direction of the doorway, and passes out on the floor.

The two men shake with laughter and Key sighs. The man who is looking for Atlantis downs half his mug.

"So where are you from?" Key asks. There is no one in the bar apart from the group in the corner. After all, night hasn't quite fallen yet.

"The sky." The man says.

Key raises his eyebrow and rolls his eyes. Not another one of those pseudo-mysterious types. "Yes, of course you are. The sky regularly gives birth and sprouts human beings from her womb."

"I'm a sailor. A sky pirate," The young man clarifies, chuckling.

"Ah," Key says and the other instantly picks up on his note of disdain.

"Ah, what?"

"Nothing," Key says coolly. It figures one of their kind would come in; after all, a ship had docked not a few hours ago. It is kind of early for one of them, though. They usually entered the pub in the evenings.

"That's not nothing," The man says, eyeing him. His tankard is already empty, so Key goes to refill it. "My name is Jonghyun."

"They call me Key." He sets the tankard down. "So how many people have you killed for loot?"

Jonghyun chuckles. "I'm not out for loot."

At Key's raised eyebrow, he amends, "Well, not always."

Key smirks, and Jonghyun says, "I haven't killed anyone. Actually, I don't even have a ship. I'm part of Kawa La's—that's the name of our ship—crew. We docked a few hours ago."

"And you head straight to a pub to ask for directions to Atlantis."

Jonghyun shrugs, cocky grin in place. "Technically, I'm still doing what the captain asked."

"Come to think of it, you did look kind of short to be a captain."

Jonghyun scowls. "I'm only seventeen." He thinks everyone should know that seventeen is Way Too Young to be captain of anything, or so he's been told.

"Exactly." Key's face doesn't show his surprise to find the man was just around his age.

"Are all people in this town like you?" Jonghyun asks.

"If by ‘like me’ you mean ‘gorgeous’, then no, sadly not."

Jonghyun looks at him in disbelief before he laughs.

The bell tinkles over the mahogany doorway. Another man enters and sits on the far corner of the bar. Key wipes down the counter before heading over to the new arrival. Jonghyun watches as Key gets a tankard, fills it with beer and sets it down in front of him. They chat for a couple of minutes. Jonghyun drains his second beer and puts it on the counter.
Key sees his empty tankard and excuses himself from the conversation.

When Key is standing in front of him, Jonghyun asks. "Key to what?"

"Do you want another one?"

"The key to what?"

"Do you even have enough money to pay for this?" Key asks, eyes narrowing. His hands are already working the tankard, filling it for the third time.

"Key! Key to my heart!" The foreign man exclaims loudly from the table in the corner, and the beautiful redhead whacks him upside the head.

"Don't be an idiot," He tells his friend. The man on the floor grunts.

Key rolls his eyes at the spectacle and sets the tankard in front of Jonghyun. Jonghyun sets down enough money to pay for the three glasses, and a little extra. "Key to what?"

Key takes the money and says, "To everything, of course."

He smiles, and Jonghyun thinks he might just be right. There are universes trapped in there somewhere.

The next night, the pub is full. The Kawa La crew is there, along with almost half the town. It gets like this every time a new ship docks—everyone sits and listens to their stories, to feel that little bit of adventure they refuse to take on themselves. For the women, it's the promise of a new romance (and if they are promised gifts upon the sailor's return, well that's a lovely perk). Jonghyun's captain isn't good looking, not like Jonghyun, but he laughs easily and his eyes are wise. He is much, much older—Key pegs him at around thirty. Jonghyun manages to snag a seat at the bar and Key looks at him, surprise clearly written on his features.

"Not sitting with the rest of your crew?"

"I see them every day," Jonghyun says. "You on the other hand..."

Jonghyun grins at him and Key feels his heart skip a little in his chest. It's never done that before—and Key's been told plenty a line in his time as the bartender of the only pub of the only town with a port in a nine thousand three hundred and six mile radius.

"Sorry, don't go for you scruffy pirates," Key says, ignoring his fluttering heart and tossing his hair a little. He grabs a mug for Jonghyun and fills it with beer.

"I can make you change your mind," Jonghyun says as Key moves to serve the person who sits next to him.

"Good luck with that," Key says, shooting a grin at him over his shoulder.

"Won't need it," Jonghyun grins, raising his mug as if in a toast and then drinking.

The next morning, Kawa La set sail.

the age a girl is introduced into society as a woman.

Key is eighteen the second time Kawa La stops on their port. He is still blonde, and still works the pub at nights. It's a small town; nothing changes here.

Jonghyun's hair is longer this time, dyed at least two shades of blonde. He is wearing a gray sweater and what seemed like the same pants he had on the last time he was here. Key almost doesn't recognize him. Almost.

It's a hard nose to mistake for anyone else, really.

Jonghyun lifts up two fingers in greeting, smile on his face.

The pub is halfway full tonight—there are the regulars in their table on the corner, two carpenters in another table, and judged by the noise outside, Key will have an influx of sky pirates and more than the usual women in the pub tonight.

Key has Jonghyun's mug filled with beer before he sits down.

"You can't be from the sky. Everyone was born somewhere else. They just take to the sky."

Jonghyun shrugs. "I'm from the sky, and that's that."

Key rolls his eyes.

"You still don't like sky pirates?"

"No, I don't see how flying up high in the air, fighting other pirates for loot, landing in different ports with no place to call home, fighting the rain and winds, starving, not showering, and so on and so forth is remotely endearing."

"That's why it's an adventure."

"Please, it's not a suitable—not to mention unhygienic—career path for anyone."

"And being a bartender is?" Jonghyun asks; one eyebrow rising.

"Yes. Yes, it is. It is an extremely progressive career path for anyone, more than a teacher or a doctor." Key says, blinking. "Of course not, don't be daft. This is my night job."

"Oh?" Jonghyun is blinking but there is a smile at the corners of his mouth. Jonghyun's teasing remarks usually only gets two reactions: a punch to the nose or flustered laughter. It isn’t often someone’s brave enough to bite back.

"I dance." Key says. He wipes down the counter with a wet rag. "I take lessons."

"Ah, and then after you've become a dancer?"

"And then I will have become a dancer." Key says dryly. He shrugs. "I'll perform in town for festivals. It's an honor."

Dancing is a highly regarded art form in this time. Learning traditional dance is quite expensive. Key works the pub during nights plus the afternoon on the weekends to send himself to school.

"And tour around worlds to show your dance." Jonghyun says, nodding. That seemed an ambitious enough career path.

"No, I'd rather just stay here." Key says, wiping a glass then placing it under the bar.

Jonghyun blinks. Key gives no hint of his previous answer as being sarcastic, and just takes Jonghyun's momentary distraction to refill his tankard. Jonghyun finally snaps out of his stupor and says, "Then what's the point of learning dance if you're not going to go around and share your talent to everyone?"

"I'd share it here. That's enough."

Jonghyun makes a sound between a cough and a laugh, most likely in disbelief. "You live nine thousand three hundred and six miles away from the next populated area. Don't you want to see what’s out there?"

Key laughs in amusement as he sets the tankard in front of Jonghyun. "Why would I want to?"

The next day, Jonghyun is on the second rung of Kawa La's mast, rearranging the sails. Kawa La is docked at the port. He sees a flash of blonde in the corner of his eye. He jumps quickly, one hand catching on a higher rung to hoist himself upwards. He sits on top of the rung and sees Key, walking down the boulevard in a pink top. It’s similar to those halter tops women wore—only his is looser than any woman with decency left in her would ever dare to wear. He has something on his head, an accessory of some sort which looked like a chain link only colorful and soft. And to finish the look, he has on white pants that cling like second skin to his legs. Jonghyun watches him walk—strut, more like—down the boulevard and into the other side of town. Must be where his dance class is, Jonghyun thinks.

"Hey!" The quartermaster shouts at him from below. "Why'd you stop working? The fore topsail is lopsided!"

Jonghyun grins down and says, "I'm just enjoying the view."

Jonghyun is telling Key (and the people next to him at the bar, who'd come to listen to the story and ask him questions) about his adventures the past two years. It has everything a good pirate story should have: sword fights, loot, starvation, women, uncharted islands, mutiny, etcetera. Key listens to the story and appreciates it like he does all stories told in the pub--that's a great story, but I wouldn't want to be in it. In fact, I'm only listening because I'm getting paid to be nice to you people. When the man next to Jonghyun passes out from his third mug, and the other is busy trying to flirt with the pot-maid—who kept looking at Jonghyun from under her lashes—Jonghyun turns his full attention to Key and engages him in conversation. Key is wiping the bottles behind the counter when Jonghyun speaks.

"We're leaving at dawn," Jonghyun says. It's nighttime and the pub is in full swing. All five tables are occupied, and only a couple of stools in front of the bar are left unoccupied.

"Town will be quiet again," Key replies, then smirks. "At least until another ship comes along."

There are girls seated with Jonghyun's crew. They occupy two wooden tables pushed together, tankards full, loud with laughter. The pot-maid is now busy around the tables, serving food and drink whenever she was called.

"He's convinced he's her girlfriend," Jonghyun motions to Kawa La's gunner and the blonde girl wrapped around his arm. Key recognizes her as the pot-maid's sister.

"Well, maybe she is. While he's here anyway."

"And when we leave?" Jonghyun asks, downing the rest of his drink. Key wipes the counter.

"Then she's somebody else's. Just like he is when you're docked in another port. Am I right?" Key says, eyebrow raised as he moves to the person on Jonghyun's left and refills his tankard.

Jonghyun smiles. "It's nice to know that there'll at least be someone who'll cry if we never get back."

Key goes back in front of him to refill his mug. "And you probably have a girl at every port waiting for you to come back."

"Girls aren't my thing." Jonghyun says, accepting his tankard.

Key's eyebrow rises. "Could've fooled me."

Jonghyun grins. "Although there are a couple of women waiting for me in a few select islands..."

Key snorts. "Figures."

The man at the end of the bar calls Key then and Key moves away to assist him. It takes twenty minutes for him to get back, time which Jonghyun uses to nurse his cold beer and think of the air in his face and land and sea and places he hasn't been. He can't wait for dawn.

The second he places his empty mug down, Key is there. Jonghyun lifts an index finger, and Key fills his mug for the final time.

"You didn't ask who I come back to here," Jonghyun says as he slips his hands to feel the glass' moisture.

"No one." Key replies easily, hand going under the counter. His hand emerges with another tankard, which he wipes before returning.

"Didn't know you were keeping tabs on me," Jonghyun says, grinning.

Key rolls his eyes. "This is a small town, Jonghyun. The second one of the women here sleeps with someone, everyone knows."

"Flattered you keep an ear out for me, really." Jonghyun is still grinning and Key kind of wants to punch him in the face. He isn't paying extra special attention to the rumors because of Jonghyun. He isn’t. He wipes another glass instead. He didn't think his boss would be happy if he started a fistfight in the workplace.

The pot-maid brings back a tray full of mugs, and Key goes on to help her bring them to the kitchen. When he comes back out, Jonghyun is gone, bills placed on the counter. He picks them up and notices some dark lines on one of the bills. When he looks at it closely, the words, i think it's you. i come back to you. are written on it.

the age where one can get arrested.

Key is one and twenty, and his hair is dark and cut across his forehead. There is purple and green and red on his bangs. Like all days, he passes by the port on his way to dance class. Today, there is a ship floating along on the horizon, dark blue sails set against the sky. There's another one to the left of it, a hundred meters behind, with pearlescent sky blue sails. Key clucks his tongue, and readies himself for a full pub the next night.

Key is working the next night, wearing the establishments prescribed garments; a dark dress shirt with a silk red vest over it. The marketplace had been busy that afternoon, which only meant that the ship had docked. The pot-maid sighs as she leans on the counter and tells Key that it's Kawa La (and a new ship) that's docked. There are stars in her eyes, and Key grins a little. She is quite taken with Jonghyun, and laments the fact he never sits on the tables. She's in the middle of asking, "How does my hair look?" when the door opens, and she quickly drops her hands from rearranging her hair.

Jonghyun comes in, hair cut back to a slightly longer version of his previous fauxhawk. It's dyed back to black. He is wearing a black tank top under a cotton black vest with strings in front, and Key notices his muscles are more defined than before. Jonghyun does a double take when he sees Key's hair, looking around in confusion for a second, before he realizes that it is Key behind the bar.

"You changed your hair," Jonghyun says and Key shrugs.

"Had too, couldn't be blonde for a dance number I was in." Key says, already reaching under the bar to get Jonghyun a mug.

"I like it." Jonghyun says, easy smile on his face. He leans his elbows on the counter, and Key finds his eyes sliding over to trace those well-defined arms. Jonghyun's hand reaches out and touches one of the red strands, rubbing it between his fingers. Key's heart beats once, twice, in his chest before he manages to raise his eyebrow and look at Jonghyun.

Jonghyun grins and drops his hand. "I like it," he says again. Key rolls his eyes and turns to fill the tankard, hiding his smile from Jonghyun.

There is a scar on Jonghyun's face, one that wasn't there before the last time he came. Key doesn't comment on it, not at first, but curiosity gets the better of him.

"Got it off a fight with another ship. Took us a week, almost all our supplies were drained. Good thing we won in the end. Makes me manlier, don't you think?" Jonghyun grins, shoulders moving with a slight swagger. He turns his face a little to the light, to show his scar. It’s a thin line that runs from his temple and stops at the corner of his left eye.

Key rolls his eyes. Jonghyun hasn't changed.

"Yes, it does. Scars are the ultimate proof of manliness." Key snipes. He hasn't changed either.

Jonghyun grins at him. "So says the pretty boy. Hey, I have my own ship now."

"That's nice," Key says in a tone of someone who doesn't really care. He wipes the counter down.

"It's the ship we defeated. Changed a lot of parts, of course." Jonghyun continues, as if Key is actually interested in what he's saying. He holds a beer in one hand, already half-empty.

"The one with the sky blue sails?" Key is just making conversation. He is not interested in Jonghyun's life, or his ship, or his adventures. Really.

"Yep," Jonghyun says smiling. "Her name is Bling Bling." Key makes a face at the ship's given name and tells him he'd seen both ships yesterday on his way to dance class.

"You've been taking dance for a long time," Jonghyun muses, face scrunched up. He is most likely trying to do the math—the last time he was here, the first time he was here, the number of years Key has been studying.

"It's an art form, Jonghyun. Plato didn't learn everything in a day."

More people come in the pub; Key recognizes Kawa La's crew, and then more, as five new people shuffle in and take a separate table. One of them comes to Jonghyun and claps him on the shoulder; Jonghyun nods at him and tells him the drinks are on him. Key looks at the new guy—he is tall, and his hair is cropped short. He is wearing white pants and boots, a white tank top under a shiny silver vest. He is quite the looker. Key tells Jonghyun so, as soon as the man—Jonghyun's gunner, it turns out—sits down at a table with the rest of Jonghyun's crew. Jonghyun frowns a little as he looks over his shoulder at them, and gives Key a smile. "Yeah, the amount of girls that crowd him when we go towns is ridiculous."

As if to prove his point, a group of girls come in—a blonde and a couple of her friends head straight for Kawa La's table, and a couple of other girls acquaint themselves with the new crew. Key blinks a little in surprise as he sees the usually quiet Eunsook sit with Bling Bling’s crew, next to the gunner.

"So you follow your former captain's ship around a lot?"

"We're going to part here," Jonghyun says. "I'm hoping to recruit more crew members here." He says the last part offhandedly, eyes sliding over to meet Key's. Key blinks, unsure if Jonghyun is hinting at something but says:

"Anybody who wants to leave this town has already found ways to leave by now. I'd think you're out of luck."

Jonghyun shrugs and says, "Maybe I can change their minds." He looks at Key again, and something at the back of Key's mind wonders why this feels familiar.

Key shrugs it off. "There's going to be a festival soon. Sometimes, people from other lands make their way over. Doesn't happen a lot though, so don't hold your breath."

Jonghyun sighs and forces a smile. "When is this?"

"In a week," Key replies. "You people don't have it in you to stay that long at any place though."

Jonghyun smiles at him over the rim of his mug. "We just might surprise you."

"Doubt it. You sailors are all out there getting lost in the sky and the sea because you're wanderers. You're averse to staying somewhere permanently, if you can help it."

"Maybe we're looking for something," Jonghyun says, looking at Key in the eye.

"Do you even know what you're looking for?" Key asks as he wipes a tankard and sets it behind the counter.

It is an honest question. Jonghyun looks down at his beer for a moment, brows meeting together before he shakes his head and looks up.

"Did you miss me while I was away?" He asks, lips curling into a smirk.

There it is again, those fluttery things in Key's stomach. He ignores it. "You wish."

Jonghyun comes to his dance class the next day. It's easy to find anything and everyone in this town; Key's not surprised that Jonghyun managed to find the school. What surprises him though, is that Jonghyun is there, sitting on the floor and watching, instead of tending to his ship. It's what they dock for anyway; ships need repairs that can't be administered on air.

He tries to ignore how he feels eyes on his form and on his form only. He moves his arms and legs to position, following the music. He won't admit that it unnerves him, the way Jonghyun is watching his every move.

Jonghyun walks him out of class. If Key's friend and hoobae notices anything about Key being quite tense that afternoon—and one of the few sailors who come to their town for barter and ship repairs watching their class practice—he says nothing about it. Not today and not years later, which Key is thankful for.

"So are you heading home?" Jonghyun asks. The word is foreign in his mouth. Home. Grounded. For Jonghyun, home was the skies, in his ship. Home on the ground felt like shackles around his ankles.

"No, I just enjoy walking aimlessly around town; dragging my already exhausted body with no specific direction in mind." Key says. "Yes, of course I am going home."

"Aww," Jonghyun says, pouting a little although his eyes are twinkling with amusement. "Why are you always so mean to me."

"No, really?" Key says. The words actually, you are the only one of your kind I've developed a semblance of friendship with. cross his mind, but being himself, he says, "As a pirate, I'd think you'd be made of tougher stuff than that." and he sticks his tongue out. At one and twenty, Key thinks he's too old to be sticking his tongue out at people but Jonghyun kind of makes him feel like a child again—good things fluttering in his stomach and all.

Jonghyun's eyebrows draw together when they reach the pub. "I thought you were going home," he says, hands in his shiny black pants. Key smiles at him and pats his shoulder. He feels Jonghyun's muscle ripple beneath his hand and he pulls his hand away, confused at the feeling of wanting to slide his hand down skin.

"I am home." He says instead and enters the pub. It's five in the afternoon, and the pub is already open. The pot-maid is behind the bar during this time, and the three regulars are sitting on the stools in front of the counter. The foreign man has his hand in the redhead’s locks, lazily combing through.

Key slips inside and through a doorway at the side of the bar. It is then that Jonghyun realizes Key lives above the pub. He sits on a stool nearest doorway (the pot-maid smiles and looks at him shyly from under her lashes) and doesn't drink.

The week passes by the same way. Kawa La has set sail a day after anchoring, but Bling Bling and its crew is still around. It's the longest any crew has stayed in the history of the town that's a nine thousand three hundred and six mile radius away from everything.

Most of the townspeople are antsy; this place doesn't adapt well to long-term change. Some of the maidens are over the moon though; it meant walks in the park instead of romantic trysts, shopping at the marketplace hand-in-hand, dinner in their households.

Bling Bling's crew is lucky that everyone is busy preparing for the festivities, and that an extra pair of hands is always appreciated.

Key is more than a little confused at the fluttering in his stomach and the increasing pace of his heart. They always seemed to act out around Jonghyun. For the first time, Key's encountered something uncontrollable and it's puzzling. Especially when Jonghyun observes him at dance class, when Jonghyun brushes against him during the walk home, and when Jonghyun tangles his fingers with his—something he's begun to do a couple of days after walking Key home the first day. It's quite a nice feeling though, never overwhelming, and Key feels content that it's quite harmless and will never go out of control.

They are in an alley, and the night festivities are going on. Fireworks are in the sky and the smell of candy and popcorn fill the air. There is laughter and much yelling, and gasps of awe at the explosions in the sky.

They are in an alley, and Jonghyun has him against the wall and is kissing him as if his life depended on it.

"Come with me," Jonghyun murmurs against his jaw. Key opens his eyes.

"What?" His hands still from roaming up Jonghyun's back, under his vest. It's of black leather and Jonghyun wears nothing under it. Last night at the pub when Key was arranging mugs under the bar, Jonghyun had leaned further into the counter on his elbows trying to peek at what he was doing, and Key had seen that the back of his vest is shaped like an inverted Y and showed off the blades of his back. He'd had an urge to get his hands under them since.

"Come with me," Jonghyun repeats, lips still on his jaw, his neck. "We can tour the world together. I can show you so many things—places, people." Jonghyun's lips detach from his neck and he looks up into Key's eyes. "I can show you the world."

Jonghyun's eyes are set and dark, and this is the first time Key has seen them with such seriousness and intent.

Key laughs, a little awkwardly, hands moving away from Jonghyun's back to rest on Jonghyun's arms. "I don't want to go around the world, remember?"

"Why not?"

"That's not a kind of life I see myself living. No intent, no specific purpose but to gallivant around and see as many places as possible--"

"No control?" Jonghyun asks, eyebrow rising. "Unpredictable? Exciting?"

"Wondering where my next meal will come from if provisions wear thin, wary of other ships' attack, attacking other ships--"

"Most sky pirates are adventurers, not greedy villains." Jonghyun says. "Although there are some."

"Exactly. That's not the kind of life I want. It serves no purpose." Key says coolly, hands dropping from Jonghyun's arms.

Jonghyun's eyes flash. "The problem with you is you don't let go. You're too uptight and you have to control everything."

Key's eyes narrow. "You don't know anything about me."

"I know you," Jonghyun says. "Your clothes are always impeccable and buttoned properly. You refill mugs as soon as they're empty. You wipe the counter every ten minutes, and spend the rest of the time wiping glasses that don't need to be cleaned. You go to your dance class, then the pub, and the whole cycle repeats itself. The only places you go to are school, the pub and the marketplace—you even live above the pub! I wouldn't be surprised if you did every single thing within a specific time frame that never changes. Honestly, Key, when was the last time you jumped in the river just for the heck of it? Or tried to discover something new, something foreign, something so completely different that you'd feel out of your element? Was there even a time you actually drank on the job? When was the last time you just ran and enjoyed the wind in your face and the sun in your hair? When was the last time you ever felt alive?"

Silence.

"I may not like what you guys do but I've never told you how to live your life. Don't tell me how to live mine." Key says quietly, hair covering his eyes.

He slips by Jonghyun without touching him and heads off into the street.

Jonghyun loses sight of him easily in the crowd.

the number of hours in a day.

Key is four and twenty. His hair is parted to one side, leaving the other half shaved. Everyone in town had gaped and talked about it for a good two weeks, and the talk only stopped because some ship had anchored in the port. That was a year and a half ago. He keeps his hair this way because it's become comfortable now (if his mind calls him a liar and tells him he keeps it this way only to show a certain sky pirate he can do things out of the norm, he'd call it preposterous since he didn't even know when—or if—the sailor would come back, anyway).

He doesn't swim in the ocean at the port because it's stupid and the water is always cold. He drinks once, twice, three times during his shift at the bar one evening, and throws up all over the wooden floors. He gets a hangover and a yelling from his boss the next morning. He promises to cover for the pot-maid when she sneaks out one night with a female sailor whose hair is cut above her eyes and in a certain way resembles Jonghyun, as (as she always reminds him) he owes her since it was her who cleaned up his mess that one night he decided to drink on the job. It is quite gratifying though, to see their faces in shock as he drinks, the foreign man dropping his tankard in surprise and the red head's mouth hanging open, his boss' face almost purple with rage the next morning.

He learns how to rap, just for the hell of it.

He isn't uptight. He knows how to let go. He does.

So why is it that every night before he goes to sleep, the scene in the alley replays in his head? Jonghyun's voice is magnified in the cold alley, and fireworks explode in the sky.

Sometimes, just sometimes, he wonders what it will be like if he had said yes.

Weary, dirty, uncontrollable, unpredictable, confusing, gross, never knowing how the next day could go.

Key realizes he has always been scared.

Key is four and twenty when Bling Bling returns. He sees the sails on the horizon on his way to dance class, the sky blue color of the sails and the sparkle of the ship's sea deity figurehead. He falters in his step for a second. He pushes it out of his mind, at least for today. He'll figure out how to handle it tomorrow.

The town is alive with talk at Bling Bling's return the whole day. Key passes by Eunsook on his way back to the pub; she's sitting at the edge of the port and looking up at the moving ship, hand enclosed around a little girl's. She can't be more than three years old. She has Eunsook's smile and her father's eyes. She points to ship and asks, "Daddy?" and Eunsook says, fear and anticipation in her voice, "Yes." Key hopes that for Eunsook, Minho will stay but he knows it's unlikely for men of the sky to stay grounded for long.

The pot-maid isn't as excited; the whole town knows of Key and Jonghyun and attributes Key's hair and Key's "breakdown" (aka his one episode of drinking) to Jonghyun. Key feels eyes watching him and girls whispering behind their hands as he walks the streets.

The next night couldn't come soon enough.

He has a tankard of beer ready even before Jonghyun comes in the pub. And come in the pub Jonghyun does, in a black leather vest and nothing under it. Key recognizes it as the same one he was wearing all those years ago, the last time they saw each other—only now, it's a weather-beaten and worn. He is wearing loose pants and dark boots.

Jonghyun stands in the entrance of the pub and looks around uncertainly—the first time he's ever done so in all his years. He is more than surprised to see Key with his new hairstyle; he walks and sits on a stool quietly. The three regulars in the corner watch the scene play out in interest, the redhead’s chin on the foreign man’s shoulder.

"Hi," Jonghyun says.

"Hi," Key replies.

Jonghyun drinks his beer.

Key wipes the counter.

"How are you?"

They have never done this kind of small talk before.

"Good. You?"

"Okay."

Jonghyun drinks some more.

Key tugs at his hair. The action makes Jonghyun's eyes follow his hand, then his hair. Key suddenly remembers the time Jonghyun reached over the counter to touch his hair.

"I like your hair," Jonghyun says, a small smile at the corner of his lips. He remembers it, too.

"Of course, it's my hair." Key replies, because he knows: in fashion, he can do no wrong.

And just like that, the tension is cut in half. Jonghyun smiles and slides his empty tankard towards Key. Key turns to refill it.

"I'm sorry." Jonghyun says.

Key's heart stops in his chest. His hand shakes as he presses the tap.

"What I said that night," Jonghyun continues. "It was out of line."

The tankard is full. Key shrugs, his back to Jonghyun. "Apology accepted."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

He reaches up the bar to get a bowl of nuts for Jonghyun.

"And I think I'm going to give up flying soon."

Key's hand tightens around the bowl.

"What about your adventures?" Key asks, turning to face Jonghyun. This time, he doesn't fight it—he is interested in Jonghyun's life. He's spent too much time denying it. He places the bowl of nuts on the counter.

"Remember when you asked me if I knew what I was looking for?" Jonghyun asks.

The memory is dusty, but it's there in the corners of Key's mind. "Yeah."

"I think I found it." Jonghyun smiles a little, like there are secrets in the corner of his mouth that he can't let out yet.

"Well, as cryptic as you are, I'm happy for you." Key places the mug in front of Jonghyun and before he can take his hand away, Jonghyun is wrapping fingers around his, over the handle.

"It's you." Jonghyun's eyes are dark, and Key is reminded of the look in his eyes in the alleyway when he asked Key to come with him.

Key is quite sure he's stopped breathing. He wonders how he's still alive.

"I think you've used that line before," He says instead, looking at the counter.

"I used to feel that my home was the sky." Jonghyun’s voice is low. Key's ears strain to hear over the ramblings of the redhead in the corner—he seems to be giving his own narrative of what was happening on the counter. "Now I know that home is wherever you are. And if you don't like the sky, then I can stay here, grounded with you. As long as I'm with you."

Key looks up, and Jonghyun still has that same look in his eyes. It is overwhelming.

"That is," Jonghyun says, and the light in his eyes flicker. "If you really do forgive me and if you'll have me."

Key takes a deep, shaky breath and he says, "Let's talk later when I'm not working." And he goes on to wipe the counter and serve the other customers coming in, keenly aware of Jonghyun's eyes on him the entire time.

Of course, when Key said 'later', he meant 'tomorrow' or 'soon' and not 'sit here tonight until it's time to close'. He tells Jonghyun so as Jonghyun helps him upturn the stools into the counter and the chairs unto the tables. It's three in the morning, and the sky is dark outside. The street is illuminated in patches by the lamp posts.

Jonghyun smiles and says, "I know, I only wanted to walk you to your door tonight."

"How very nice of you. One little problem—I live above the pub, see, so that means when you walk me to my door inside the pub, you have to get out, and then I have to walk to the pub door and lock it. So really, you shouldn't bother."

"I'll lock the door on my way out."

"Oh." Key says, setting the last of the stools on the bar.

"Oh." Jonghyun mimics and Key turns the lights off. His eyes adjust to the darkness and sees Jonghyun waiting for him in the middle of the pub. Jonghyun walks Key to the door next to the bar, shoulder brushing against Key's. Key turns, his back resting on the wooden door, and Jonghyun murmurs a goodnight into his ear.

Jonghyun is already near the entrance when Key says, "Jonghyun."

Jonghyun stops and turns slowly but Key is already in front of him, both hands on either side of his vest. It takes Jonghyun by surprise when he feels lips on his, pushing, desperate. He kisses back with the same amount of passion, hands wrapping around Key's waist to pull their bodies closer together. Jonghyun recovers from surprise quickly, and forces his tongue into Key's mouth. Key makes a noise from the inside of his throat and it makes Jonghyun push them both against the door. Key fumbles behind his back for the knob and manages to turn it. They stumble into the staircase, mouth and hands everywhere.

It is when they try moving up that they stop, and Key realizes he hasn't given Jonghyun an answer. Jonghyun looks up at the staircase and the landing. One of his hands had managed to go under Key's shirt and touch the skin at his waist. Maybe he is thinking the same thing. Key takes Jonghyun's hands and tangles his fingers with his. Jonghyun looks at him. Key leads them up the staircase and into his room.

Behind closed doors, Jonghyun kisses Key again, taking his time this time around. Key wraps his arms around Jonghyun's neck and one of Jonghyun's hands rub against his shaved hair as he angles Key's head. His other hand is unbuttoning Key's dress shirt. He's got half the buttons undone before Key realizes, and Key breaks away from the kiss to say, "Vest first, then tie, then—" but he's cut off by Jonghyun's mouth sucking on his earlobe.

"Live a little," Jonghyun whispers and resumes unbuttoning his shirt, shoves both it and the silk vest to the floor.

"Fine," Key mumbles, hands on Jonghyun's chest, under his vest. He pushes the vest off Jonghyun.

"That's better," Jonghyun says and starts working on Key's belt. Key loosens his tie and pulls it over his head, then unto Jonghyun's neck. Jonghyun looks up at him, confusion flashing in his eyes, and Key grins.

"Live a little," he says and pulls Jonghyun by his tie and unto the bed.

When Jonghyun wakes the next morning, Key isn't in bed next to him. He lays there for a couple of minutes, heart beating loudly in his chest. The ceiling is blindingly white. The door opens with a creak, and shuts. He turns to look and his heart calms down. Key is there, looking at the floor.

"So," he says. He is dressed but not for school, and not for work, and too nice to be lounging around in his room. Jonghyun remembers that he and Key haven't talked—but they had done something more enjoyable that didn't require much talking. Key exhales from the doorway, mouth pursing into an 'o'.

Jonghyun wonders if it's his imagination, but the air feels thick. He pulls the blanket over his naked form.

"I packed my things."

Jonghyun blinks, unsure if he's hearing correctly. He opens his mouth to ask why, but Key keeps talking.

"The last time you were here, you left me with a lot to think about.” Key gives a short laugh. “I might have spent the last three years just thinking about it."

Jonghyun licks his lips. Key rubs his hand against the shorter part of his hair before running it through the longer strands. He breathes again, and the room feels heavy.

"And I decided you were right. I need to see other places, need to know what it feels like to live day by day with a certain uncertainty in where I'm going and how long it'll take to get there."

Jonghyun swallows the rock in his throat. "So you're leaving?"

Key rolls his eyes. "No, I gave that speech just for the hell of it." It's sarcastic but it's so Key and somehow it feels as if the tension in the room has lowered a bit. Key smiles, softer now. "Yeah. I am. With you."

Jonghyun blinks and feels as if the wind's been knocked out of him. "With me?"

Key resists the urge to say, No shit Sherlock. and instead, "I know you said you're ready to be grounded here with me," Key says, tugging on his hair. "But I think I want to go places with you first."

"With me," Jonghyun says again, a smile slowly starting to spread on his face.

"You're an idiot."

"You're afraid of heights."

"Which is why we turn back when I say so." Key sits on the edge of his bed.

"I'll think about that."

Key scowls and Jonghyun grins, reaching for Key's wrist to bring him down for a kiss. "You're too dressed," Jonghyun mumbles in between kisses.

"No such thing," Key replies, even as Jonghyun tugs off his shirt.

It takes Key a week to set his affairs in order, and Jonghyun that much time to tell his crew to either buck up and accept it or find another ship to sail with. It helps their decision when they find out that Key can cook. Nobody stays behind.

They are in Bling Bling, sky blue sails waving in the air. Key is on the main deck with Jonghyun, but refuses to look out and below. He still looks a little shaken and a lot scared, although it's his pride that keeps him sitting there at the deck and not hiding in Jonghyun's cabin.

Tomorrow, maybe Jonghyun can convince Key to look out and enjoy the view. If he can't, he has the day after that. And the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that. He has forever. But for now, he sits behind Key, chin on Key's shoulder. His arms are around the bartender's waist, knees drawn up on either side of Key's body. Key is drawing locks on the arms around his waist with one finger, his other hand clasped around Jonghyun's right hand.

"So, you think anybody knows the way to Atlantis?"