Chapter Text
The arms wrapped around him are familiar. His fingers run up forearms, gently ghosting over the shape of bone and muscle, an action which prompts the sleeping body behind him to grumble, to tug him closer to his chest, to try and sink back into sleep. The temptation lies with Yoongi too, to burrow back into the pillows and pretend like the world doesn’t await them on the outside, just beyond that door.
The world is a place he does not always wish to venture into. He would much rather prefer to stay here with Jeongguk, but perhaps that is asking too much.
“You’re thinking so loudly, hyung,” comes a sleepy voice, one that almost rumbles against his back, those arms tightening around his waist. Keeping him close, keeping him in his grasp. “Wanna sleep some more…”
“You don’t have to go in today, right?” he asks, his fingers ghosting over Jeongguk's. It’s summer, and hot. The room is sweltering, the open window doing its best to keep the air circulating, the mesh white curtains that do little to keep the sun out of their faces shifting with the breeze.
“Mm, eventually," Jeongguk grumbles, his nose scrunching as he hooks his chin over Yoongi's shoulder, only pressing bare skin together a little more. "You do too, you know."
Yoongi pouts, sticking out his bottom lip. "Don't remind me."
The responsibilities that summon them, ones that pull them apart from one another are not exactly liked. But tolerated, at the very least. Yoongi’s mind wanders for a bit, wondering what it’d be like to sleep all day long.
“We should get up,” he relents with a sigh, moving to shuffle off the creaking mattress
The arms around him tighten, a whine escaping the lips that are now pressed against his shoulder blade. Brushing against the skin, trailing up to his neck as Jeongguk makes a performance of whispering warm breath into his ear, “No. Five more minutes…”
“Not five. But okay, two.”
“You’re mean.”
Yoongi doesn’t really know what to say to that, so he doesn’t say anything at all; he just presses a kiss against Jeongguk’s open palm as he settles against him for just a little while longer. They fall into their patterns easily, the days blurring into one another with the passing of time. They do not always see one another, plans and ideas and people requesting their presence being a bit more demanding. Yet he's not sure he would be able to go without Jeongguk, not entirely. There is something about the chocolate curls on his head and the galaxies in his eyes that have him entirely addicted. Hands on his hips, wrapped around his thighs, a body pressed against his own with flushed skins and gasping for breath, and heated gasps of, "Hyung."
And, of course, Yoongi would respond in turn, with his nails digging into those shoulders, with his legs wrapped around his waist or knees digging into his hips, babbling all sorts of filth. The words are uttered, crawling out of his mouth, out of his chest, out of his body like a serpent, hissing into the air. He would moan, a shaking sound that leaves his throat, his hand slipping down to thread between Jeongguk's own, making sure to grip his fingers tight and press their hands together.
The night's escapades are written on one another's skin like ink to paper, bruises and bite marks and fingerprints left over one another like a vicious attempt to claim the other. Mark him as Jeongguk's, mark Jeongguk as his.
But good moments don't last forever, and there is always the time they have to part. Waking up in the morning means an end to the time they spend together.
Yoongi moves to get out of the bed once again, kicking the sheets off his legs that have tangled around the two, but Jeongguk makes no move to let him go, tanned arms only tightening even more until he feels like he's having the breath pushed out of his lungs. The other’s lips press against his shoulder again, warm and soft, pushing his mouth open just barely, a tongue sliding out to lick at the skin. The spot is marked by a small purple bruise, and he can feel the dent it makes into his skin even if he can’t see it.
This, he thinks, is most definitely not the last time. This, even though it’s only a few minutes, feels like a promise. So he settles down again, shuffling in place and turning around so he can see him this time, his body moving to steal that warmth once again. He presses his lips against his the junction of his neck where it meets his shoulder, biting down just slightly. Willing to leave teeth marks, to leave his mark on Jeongguk’s skin.
If Jeongguk is going to bite him, he may as well give him equal treatment.
“Two minutes,” he whispers into the air, his voice barely there. “And then you have to go, okay?"
"We," Jeongguk stresses on the word through his ministrations of bites and kisses and tongue-- "We both have to go."
Yoongi feels the urge to lay like this forever, tangled up in Jeongguk's arms. He's still got traces of sleep in his eyes, his cheeks dusted with a faint blush, and the corner of his mouth is quirked up in a smirk. There's a light throbbing in the back of his head, the soreness of his muscles reminding him of the times that he's pushed his body to the limits.
Even though he's tired, he still wishes to stay here. Wishes that he could lie in this bed forever, shrouded in the warmth of Jeongguk's grip and the warm air that settles over them like a blanket.
"Jeongguk," he murmurs, his voice low.
The name escapes his lips without forethought, and the younger hums in response, wordlessly asking him what the matter is.
"...are you sure? About your choice?"
The choice, the ultimate choice, the one thing that may very well keep the two of them separated for a lot longer than he would care to admit. Jeongguk stills for a moment, pulling back enough to look at him properly, to meet his eyes.
"Yes," comes the answer, one that is not completely confident, but one that he still manages to make sound sure.
Yoongi nods, taking a deep breath. He presses his mouth against Jeongguk's temple, his skin unbelievably soft and smooth.
"Okay," is all he says, and the younger seems to take that as the answer he needs.
Jeongguk leans forward, pressing his forehead against Yoongi’s, his eyes drooping as he slowly drags them back closed. Yoongi reaches up, gently running his fingers through the soft hair that has managed to work itself loose from the band, because of everything that has transpired it has come off and is spilled out of the ponytail. He can’t help but smile a bit at the thought of Jeongguk, who’s usually so insecure about his hair and his looks, to indulge himself in little things like just lying with him like this. Open, raw, exposed.
"Do you think I made the wrong choice?"
"I don't know," Yoongi admits, speaking more honestly. "I don't want to be against you. I don't want to risk us hating one another when it all comes down to it."
He wishes Jeongguk could stay here. Wishes that he would remain by his side for the rest of their lives, but he knows that can't happen. Even as his body is pressed against his, he knows that Jeongguk couldn't stay here. If you love something set it free, even if setting it free means allowing it to wander into a life of piracy. Fuck.
"I don't think I could," Jeongguk says softly, a question that is answered through his tone of voice and not his words. He slips a small smile onto his features, one that is so familiar and one that Yoongi is sure is the one that made him fall for Jeongguk in the first place.
"I don't know, Jeongguk. I don't even know what I'm doing. I'm scared that I can't keep you here and you're going to...you'll..."
"Hey," Jeongguk says softly, shifting in place and turning to press his forehead against Yoongi's. "I'll be fine. You know me, hyung. Takes more than a rough wave to take me down."
"I'm not sure," Yoongi says, shaking his head to shake off the thought. "I'm not sure."
"Don't worry," Jeongguk says, bringing his hand up to cup the side of Yoongi's face. "I'll come back for you. We've just gotta get through the next three weeks, right?"
"Right," Yoongi says. "Three weeks. We've just gotta get through the next three weeks."
He recalls the swift movements of Jeongguk's hands, stroking against his skin and eliciting sharp moans as a reward. He can still feel the pressure of his lips against his neck and jaw, the breath that ghosts against his ear and the faint whiff of whiskey from the night before from his mouth.
Three weeks seem like such a long time. Three weeks leave so much time to be alone. So much time for Jeongguk to be in danger, for it to all come crashing down, for Jeongguk to get lost and for Yoongi to lose him entirely. And then how will he survive without him?
“No matter what happens, I’ll always come back for you.”
Yoongi can’t believe how stupid he is. He’s perfectly aware of how much Jeongguk means to him, how much he’s willing to do for him and how much he’s willing to do for the sake of whatever kind of relationship they have. But he still refuses to believe that Jeongguk would actually make a promise like this, that he’d return. He knows that there’s a chance of him not returning. He knows that he’s going to be left behind. He knows that he’ll be left alone again. He knows that he’ll have to cope on his own again.
He just doesn’t know if he can handle that.
Jeongguk tugs him against his frame once again, going as far as to pin his hyung against the mattress, leaving Yoongi all flushed and flustered, his cheeks pink.
"Promise you'll wait for me, hyung. Promise you'll wait for me to come home."
Yoongi hates this. Hates this. He doesn't want Jeongguk to leave. He doesn't want to have Jeongguk leave. He doesn't want to be left behind. He doesn't want to be alone.
He doesn't want Jeongguk to go.
Yoongi remembers the softness of the younger's lips against his own, the way his hands gripped onto the bed sheets to keep himself from falling beneath the power of the kiss. The way Jeongguk draped himself over him, laid his body on his, how he felt like something that Yoongi had longed for his entire life. Yoongi sighs, closing his eyes, this time not bothering to fight himself. He can feel the younger’s heart beating against his own, his breaths turning into little pants as he squirms beneath him.
Because this is it. This is it. This is the last time. These three weeks are the last time they’ll ever get to be like this again. All of this is the last time.
"I promise," Yoongi whispers back, sealing this promise with their lips pressing together in a heated kiss, his hands moving to weave in Jeongguk's hair as the younger slips his hand between his hyung's thighs, parting them for him, and for him only.
And Yoongi waits for Jeongguk. He waits for as long as he can, watching him go from the harbour when the night is beginning to fall over them, and he waits. Yoongi waits. He watches the ships leave and he watches them return. He takes a moment to watch the storm clouds roll in over the bay, he watches the rain fall down around him and he watches it come out of the clouds again. And he still waits. He waits, and he waits, and he waits, and he waits.
But Jeongguk never comes back.
He can't wait anymore.