Eight makes one crew

Someday

"What if we left?" 

Yeosang blinked, processing that. It was such a random question and it came out of nowhere. Literally.

"Do you want to?" Yeosang grabbed another plate, shoving it in the dish water in a small barrel set in front of him. He pulled it out, handing it off to Jongho. 

"I don't know. I'm just thinking, it might be nice" Jongho shrugged, wiping the dish off and setting it to the side to be put away later. He took the next one that Yeosang handed to him, repeating the process.

"How?" Yeosang shook his head, not understanding at all. He was more than happy where he was, with his family. 

"Not forever, just for a little while. We could always come back" Jongho assured him. Yeosang still wasn't convinced and Jongho could tell so he stopped asking. He didn't bring it up again for a while.

"What if we went to the Shrewrocks?" Jongho mentioned, less than a week later. Yeosang burst out laughing.

"You want to go to Shrewrock Peninsula?" Yeosang laughed again, wiping away tears of amusement. Jongho turned away from him, sulking just a tiny bit. Yeosang noticed and hugged him.

"I'm sorry my love. Why do you want to leave?" Yeosang wondered. Jongho turned to him, lifting Yeosang onto the crates in front of them. Yeosang squeaked in surprise but smiled, resting his arms on Jongho's shoulders. 

"Maybe I want some time with just the two of us" Jongho lowered his voice.  Yeosang shuddered, not looking away as Jongho got closer to him. 

"And what would we do when it's just the two of us?" Yeosang asked, knowing the answer. Or at least, the basis of Jongho's answer. Jongho ran a finger over Yeosang's jawline, down to his chin.

"I would have you all to myself" Jongho whispered. Yeosang stared at him, mesmerized. And then he shook his head.

"As tempting as that is, I don't think the others could survive another of us flying the nest just yet" Yeosang pointed out. Jongho sighed. Of course, Yeosang was right. It was too soon after Yunho and Mingi's disappearance for anyone else to be leaving. 

"But someday, we will have our peace and quiet" Yeosang grabbed Jongho's hand in both of his, promising it. Jongho believed him. Yeosang had every intention of keeping that promise; they would have their alone time. In the future. In the very far future. 

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"You want to leave?" San cornered Yeosang that night, having overheard some of the conversation between Yeosang and Jongho. 

"Huh?" Yeosang paused in sorting the dishes, not looking at San.

"I heard you and Jongho earlier" San admitted, as if that was fine. Yeosang just nodded slowly. He wondered who else had heard.

"So, are you?" San urged him to answer.

"Maybe. Someday in the future, Jongho wasn't exactly wrong. It would be nice for it to be just him and I" Yeosang shrugged.

"You don't like it here?" San couldn't help feeling a bit hurt by that. He didn't want to lose Yeosang like he had lost Mingi. 

"Of course I do! I just..." Yeosang groaned in frustration, not sure how to explain it. "Sometimes, there comes a day when a person gets too old to be living with other people. A day where they start needing their independence, along with the person they love". 

San looked at the ground, trying to imagine that. Was he at that stage yet? Was Wooyoung at that part of his life and San was holding him back?

"Wooyoung would tell you if he was" Yeosang put a hand on his cousin's arm, getting San to look at him. San didn't look convinced but he knew Yeosang wouldn't lie to him, so he nodded anyway.

"So, you're really leaving?" San repeated. 

"I don't know, probably. It's too soon to decide that" Yeosang answered. San didn't really understand. Yeosang, of course, wouldn't say anything that he wasn't sure of. 

"Are you...tired of us?" San wondered. He still didn't understand. He hadn't felt like he wanted space. Of course, it was nice to have alone time but he could do that without having to think about leaving. Was that the difference between him and Yeosang? San was able to find peace without thinking about leaving and Yeosang was needing more privacy than he could find on the ship anymore. 

"No! I'm not tired of you and neither is Jongho. It's hard to explain, Sannie. Just trust me, we're not going anywhere anytime soon. You're going to be seeing both of us for a long time still" Yeosang promised, meaning it. He was going to have to talk to Jongho about what their plans for the future and how to carry it out without causing harm to their relationship with the crew, with their family.

"Okay" San hugged him, happy when Yeosang did the same.

"I don't want to lose you, Sangie" San whispered, sounding scared. Yeosang hugged him tightly. 

"You'll never lose me Sannie. Even if we're miles apart, I'll still be your brother-cousin" Yeosang responded. San laughed a little at the title, finding it to be quite fitting. They were blood cousins but they were also as good as brothers after being raised together for years and after joining a pirate crew together. 

"Will you tell the others?" San pulled away first. Yeosang wrinkled his nose, not wanting to even think about that. He was not sure how that would go down. San laughed at his expression, only getting even happier when Yeosang started laughing too. That would be something he'd have to talk to Jongho about and they would need to think carefully about how to break the news. But of course, there was time for all of that.