Chapter Text
The Inn was busier than usual for an early spring evening, bustling with the usual small crowd of workers from the village and port as well as a large group of sailors that had landed on the island yesterday evening. They sat around in groups drinking dry ales and telling tales of their time at sea.
Jisung stood behind the bar sorting the clean glasses back onto the racking only for them to be whipped back out moments later by the barmaids as more and more drink orders poured in.
“Jisung!” His boss's voice rang out like a cracking whip from the back room.
He quickly dipped behind the curtain leading through the store and into the small office set up in the back.
His boss sat with a cigar hanging precariously from his dry lips. He was a fairly young man who looked far older than he should with shoulder length brown hair thick with grease, dressed in brown slacks and a creased white shirt with a waistcoat barely holding together over the top of his rounded bear belly.
He had traded in a life as a sailor and bought the Inn through a loan a few years back.
“Tell the pretty boy he’s working again tonight. I've got sailors in need of bedmates.” He barked out dropping ash down his front as his mouth jostled the cigar when he spoke.
“He already worked a double yesterday. It's his day off, is there no one else to take them?”
“No. Not that I need to explain how this works to you but they’ve paid specifically for him and they will get what they’ve paid for. You’re booked in as well so go get yourself prepared. I expect happy sailors leaving in the morning, do you understand?”
“Yes.” Jisung solemnly replied
“He can have the day off tomorrow, the boats will leave in the morning and we should be quieter again until the next shipment comes in the day after that. Now hurry up, leave.” Jisung nodded and swiftly turned and left to go prepare for the evening.
Jisung had worked for the Inn since he was 16 when the old owner took him in after his parents had perished during a raid on the village.
His parents had been regular visitors to the Inn and so the old owner had taken him in as a live-in worker.
It used to be a place to escape for him when he first started there, when his duties were limited to serving the many imported alcohols they sold in exchange for a small room for himself and a few hot meals a day.
He had been treated well by the locals and any visitors that had given him trouble had always been dealt with by the owner himself. The old owner had died in his sleep just after Jisung turned eighteen and before anyone had a chance to process, the place was sold and the new owner moved in.
He kept all the old staff but with more sailors taking refuge on the island everyday and the new owner being a man of selfish desire to make money in any way possible the Inn had become more than just a place for the locals to congregate and be merry and travelers to have a warm bed for the night.
It had started slowly at first.
“Just serve them a drink in their room and keep them company for a few hours Jisung. It’s an extra few pennies for the Inn.” His boss had said the first time.
That first night had been the worst for Jisung; he had never laid with a man nor woman before and his first time had been stolen from him by a drunken sailor, overweight and almost three times his age. He had been too scared to turn the man down and get fired by his new boss which would have left him without a job and a home and so had shut his eyes and lived through the worst twenty minutes of his life.
After that he was made to warm the bed of men and women of all ages and status that came to the island, his boss stating it was an excellent source of income for the Inn that would allow them to grow as a business.
As if the burden fell on both of them and it wasn’t only Jisung sleeping with someone new almost every night to line the pockets of a man who didn’t even care for him.
At that point in his life he was the lowest he had ever felt, he had been tiptoeing on the edge of sanity, spending many a night after his duties climbing up the hill to the cliffs edge, staring down at the sea that crashed into the rocks below and convincing himself to take the dive off to a merciful death, only to chicken out, step away and return to his small room to cry himself to sleep.
That was until Felix came. The boy was a ray of glowing sunshine even under the circumstances of his arrival at the Inn.
He was sold to the Inn by a crew of sailors after he stowed away on their ship at their last port.
Felix was the only investment Jisung had seen his boss make into the business from the increased income he had been providing for him and although Jisung did not agree to the buying and selling of people which was just literal slave trading at that point, Felix became the greatest happiness in Jisungs life.
Felix had quickly adjusted to his new life and role at the Inn stating it was far better than where he had come from as he got hot food, a bed and a new best friend out of the deal. He made life at the Inn so much brighter for Jisung and over the years the two became inseparable.
“Lix, baby you need to wake up.” Jisung softly shook his shoulder and peeled back the thin white sheet that he had cocooned himself into.
“Sungieee, why? It’s my day off today and I want to spend it napping.” He grumbled as he attempted to roll over and shield his face back under the sheet.
“I know I'm so sorry Lix, boss says you have to work today. I tried to tell him to give them to me but they apparently are adamant on it being with you, I'm also working my own shift today.”
Felix sat up stretching his arms up above his head and squinting his sleep filled eyes in Jisungs direction.
“I swear to god if it’s the same guy I laid with yesterday I’m gonna cut their tiny dick off and serve it up at breakfast tomorrow.” Felix grumbled as he swung his legs out of bed and attempted to rake through his blonde hair that was sticking up in every direction.
“Well as far as I'm aware there’s only been one other boat dock in today, but I’ve not seen anyone different in the bar compared to yesterday so may want to sharpen your knife up.” Jisung replied through a chuckle.
“Stupid sailors and their stupid sex deprivation. You think they’d choose a career that would allow them more freedom if they’re so obsessed with fucking.” Felix muttered back as he stepped into his black trousers and pulled on his ruffled white shirt.
“Like working in an Inn as a ‘bed warmer’.” Jisung replied mocking their bosses choice of words to describe the role they filled at the Inn.
“I mean at least then they’d have their fill of people to sleep with as they seem to want it so much.” Felix chuckled back.
“I think I’d rather be a deprived sailor to be honest.” Jisung said a small frown forming on his face.
Felix pouted “I know we didn’t choose this life Sungie but we have fun most of the time and we have each other and a bed and a beautiful view of the ocean to look at everyday, who knows maybe one day the boss will bite the dust and we can run this place as the cute little seaside Inn you described that it used to be when you were young.” Felix pinched Jisungs cute round cheeks as he passed him to grab the box he kept his chain necklace in before fastening it securely around his slim tanned neck.
“That’s a far reaching dream and you know it Lix come on get your shoes on and let’s get this over with. I want to go up to the cliff tonight, the sky is meant to be clear and I want to watch the stars.”
“Ooh pretty but never as pretty as you my beautiful Sungie.” Jisung giggled at his friend's blatant flirting as the two linked arms and headed back down from the room to the bar.
Over the years spent at the Inn together the two had learned how to find the fun in their job, it had taken Jisung a lot longer than Felix seeing as he’d been alone in his role for so long, but having Felix their for support and someone to talk to after the mostly good and sometimes bad nights, he had learned how to find his own personal enjoyment in laying with anyone their boss saw fit to sell their bodies too.
They had learned to laugh at the drunken sailors crappy attempts at flirting and fucking, at how quick the sex deprived men would finish after weeks aboard their boats with only their hands for company or bored wives of merchants who wanted to let loose while traveling with their stuck up husbands.
Jisung found pleasure with many of the people he had been with over the years, but the bad experiences tended to hang over him longer than the good ones and if he could change the past he would have fought harder to keep his role as friendly barkeep and not become a sex worker.
After all he had been through with his parents and old boss leaving him alone in the world the last thing he’d needed at that time was for his innocence to be ripped away from him by a man who only cared for himself and money.
His favorite part of his job was it ending no matter how good the person was he still always waited for the moment where he could leave it all behind and just be his true self with Felix, some nights they would watch the stars from the cliff or stare down at the port at the coming and going of ships of all sizes they would drink and talk and then head back to the room they shared and cuddle through the night.
Many locals had commented that the two seemed as though they were a couple with how deep their connection ran and although they cuddled each other to sleep every night they recognised early on that their connection would never be romantic, but just a close bond of two boys thrust into a life they hadn’t chosen for themselves but were choosing to find happiness in anyway.
“Finally, you’ve been keeping our patrons waiting, what took you so long?” The boss scowled at the boys as they stepped down into the bar and took a seat in front of him where he was pouring a whisky into a short class with ice.
“Well seeing as it was meant to be my day off I was napping, but we’re here now aren’t we?” Felix scowled back at the man.
“Whatever, here are your room numbers for the night, you know the rules…”
“Yeah, yeah, no more than an hour without extra pay, keep them happy and keep it quiet. We've been here 3 years, we’re whores, we're not dumb.” Felix interrupted the boss's speech to quip at him.
“We’re not whores Felix don’t say that, you know I hate that word, we’re just sex workers.” Jisung slipped in. He’d always deeply despised the word whore having been called it by too many people in less than pleasant circumstances.
“You are not whores or sex workers, you are bed warmers, this is not some sleazy establishment and watch your tone boy I’m not above selling you onto the next person that offers a high enough price for you.”
“You should rename this place ‘sleazy establishment’ because that honestly couldn’t be more accurate” Felix giggled out. “And you wouldn't sell me, my pretty boy face and body makes you far too much money for that.” Felix winked at the man as he grimaced and stepped away to hand the whisky off to a patron at the other side of the bar.
Felixs over confidence had always made the boss uncomfortable. He had started calling him pretty boy as a way to belittle him, but Felix had always taken it in his stride, saying it was a good way to separate himself from his working ‘sex persona’ as he liked to refer to it.
“You always find a way to rile him up Felix, I swear one of these days it’s gonna land you in some real trouble.” Jisung sighed as he shook his head although his smirk gave away his amusement towards the conversation.
“Pshh, what’s he going to do, cut my pay? Fire me?” Felix chuckled “Anyway it’s one of my many sources of joy, don’t you just love watching him squirm knowing we truly hold all the power over his business?”
“Maybe you should try flirting with him if you really want to mess with him.” Jisung giggled back
“Ooh that would be amazing to see, might just send his smoke filled heart over the edge, we'd be taking over this place by morning.” Felix faked clutching over his heart, before dropping his head to the side, closing his eyes and sticking his tongue out in a dramatic performance of their boss biting the dust.
Jisung let out a full belly laugh at the display causing Felix to giggle as well.
“Your head is in the clouds Felix to truly kill him off you’d have to.. I don’t even know, maybe kiss him, even that might not be enough.”
“Eewww, don’t even joke about that, I’d rather drop dead myself.”
“Yeah that is fair he’s gross though I feel like we’ve been with worse.”
“Oh absolutely remember that man a few weeks ago whose beard was filled with crumbs from the toast he’d had for breakfast! Breakfast Sungie, it was nearing 11pm at that point.” Felix shivered as he recalled the memory.
“Yeah or the woman I had who clearly hadn’t cut her nails in months I swear those things were like at least five centimeters long, surprised I didn’t get an infection from the scratch she left on my back.”
Jisung also shuddered, recalling his own gross encounter.
“At least if I’m with the same guy as yesterday, it won’t be too bad, he was clean and sweet enough, just incredibly dull, missionary, 10 pumps and done. I swear it was the easiest night I’ve had in months but I prefer something different and exciting.” Felix waved one of the barmaids over to pour them both a shot.
It had become a work day tradition for the both of them to share a drink before heading their separate ways.
“I kind of prefer the boring ones at this point, at least it’s predictable and doesn’t require too much work on my part. I’ve been in this business for too long, horny sailors who want to assert their dominance on me always leave me with a bad taste in my mouth.”
“Ha, pun intended?” Felix smirked, thanking the barmaid for the shots and placing one in front of Jisung.
“Ha no, unhappy accident.” The two boys giggled and clinked their glasses and downed the shots of clear liquid in one gulp. At the same moment they put their glasses down onto the bar, the front door flung open and a gust of sea breeze entered the bar.
In the doorway stood a man whose shoulders were broad, almost filling the entire doorway where he stood although he was below average height his stature gave off a powerful aura as he surveyed the patrons who had all quietened down to stare at the mysterious figure.
He was clothed in a heavy black coat that trailed down to his knees over a dark burgundy shirt tucked into black trousers that were held up by a thick studded leather belt. He had knee high leather boots that were worn and covered in creases from their many years of use.
As he began trudging his heavy boots through the room toward the boss at the other end of the bar, he was followed in by a group of three men dressed in similar dark, worn clothing.
Jisungs eyes were drawn to the man trailing behind the group; he stared down the patrons with a harsh look of indifference, imploring them to turn away and continue their conversations although much quieter, the atmosphere in the inn had become much more tense than before the men had entered, everyone seemed wary of the four men.
“Do you think they’re the sailors from the ship that docked today?” Felix enquired, staring down at the group of men that were now crowding the other end of the bar talking with their boss.
“They don’t look like any kind of sailors I’ve seen around here before.” Jisung commented also looking in their direction.
The man at the back of the group continued trailing his eyes around the room, when his glare reached Jisung and Felix’s end of the bar his wandering stopped, his stare boring straight into Jisung.
His eyes seemed almost pitch black from across the bar radiating an aura of malevolence.
Jisung quickly looked down at the bar's surface, fiddling with his shot glass between his fingers to avoid the piercing gaze of the man.
“What do you think they’re talking about with him? They came in here with such intent that it must be important.” Felix commented, still looking over at the group.
“Who knows, the boss seems to be involved in all sorts of lawless deals, maybe he’s in the market for more sex slaves to make his money for him, they certainly seem like the type of people to be in the business of it.” Jisung scoffed back, keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard by the group at the other end of the bar.
“They do look very menacing although the one up front is hot. I wouldn't object to a night in his bed.”
Felix continued staring over at the group of men his head resting on his hands propped up on the bar on his elbows, eyes swimming dreamily.
“Felix?!” Jisung snapped his fingers in front of the man’s face, pulling him out of his daydream and back to the moment. “They look like they’d kill you before they even thought of sleeping with you they’re clearly criminals or fugitives or god knows what. I mean look at the boss right now he looks downright terrified of them.” Jisung and Felix both glanced over at their boss, a bead of sweat was trailing down his forehead, he nervously glanced from side to side as he muttered conversation with the first man to enter.
The others in the group had taken a table nearby from a group of sailors who were now standing, and were casually sitting sipping from large tankards and chatting quietly between themselves.
“They do keep staring over here though who knows maybe he’s bartering with the boss to take you for the night, your dreams may still come true Lixie.”
“Ughh that just means two guys in one night he’s hot but not that hot and anyway I have a star gazing date with my cutie.” Felix playfully pinched Jisungs cheek and cooed, smiling at his friend's faux annoyed face.
The boss quickly strolled over to the boys where they sat at the bar, seemingly having wrapped up his conversation with the scary man who had now joined his group at the table with his own drink.
“Felix, come with me. Jisung, get moving, your patron is waiting upstairs.” The boss quickly explained, dabbing at the streams of sweat that were now pooling down his face with a cloth from behind the bar.
“I’m not working a double tonight, I have plans with...” Felix started to protest.
“You’re not working double, I need to speak with you quickly now move.”
Jisung looked perplexed “What’s going on…”
“I don’t have time for your backchat boy, go and do your job or you can find your own food for tomorrow.” The boss snapped back looking more perturbed by the minute.
Jisung scowled and rolled his eyes before turning to Felix. “Come find me later, yeah?”
“Sure thing Sungie be safe, love you.”
“Love you too Lix.”
The boss quickly turned and left after the exchange Felix casually followed behind, turning to wink and blow a kiss in Jisungs direction before they both dipped behind the curtain into the back.
Jisung headed up to the rooms on the second floor.
The Inn had 16 rooms each with the same layout as the one Jisung and Felix called home. A single bed, bedside table with a lamp, a desk with a wooden chair and a small dresser. Each room also had a small adjoining bathroom with a toilet, sink and small bathtub. It was minimal but seen as most people who stayed in the rooms were only there for a night or two, it did the job of being a warm place to rest for the night.
Jisung knocked on the door to the room he was to visit for the evening.
“Enter.” A voice replied from within.
Jisung opened the door to the sight of a sailor about a foot taller than him standing next to the bed dressed only in his boxers and a shirt that was unbuttoned and hanging loosely from his burly shoulders.
The man must’ve been in his late 30’s, his hair was a light mousy brown and his skin tanned like leather likely from his many hours spent working on a ship under the beating sun.
“What do I call you?” The man’s voice was hoarse and slurred likely from the copious amounts of alcohol he’d consumed in the bar that day.
“My name is Han.” When meeting with people in the Inn Jisung always went by his last name, it helped create a disconnect in his mind between the man who slept with people for a living and the boy who wanted to watch the stars and ships and dreamed of a different life.
“What shall I call you?” Jisung asked.
“You will call me sir. Take your clothes off ‘m in no need of small talk tonight, you can do your job and take your leave.” The sailor slumped down onto the bed, eyes closed and arms resting under his head.
Jisung closed his eyes and took a deep breath in through his nose, great a moody, drunken sailor who just wanted to assert his dominance over him, definitely not the experience he was wanting tonight with his thoughts swirling about what the boss could want to talk to Felix about that would be important enough to keep him from his patron.
He attempted to shut his mind down as he quickly stripped off his shoes, trousers and shirt, folding them and placing them on the dresser.
As he turned around the sailors eyes followed him as he approached the bed and knelt on the floor beside it. Jisung had learnt that men who started the interaction with demanding to be called Sir wanted to be in control of the actions he took with them so making himself look small and subservient was always a safe bet.
“Such a good little boy for me aren’t you.” The man smirked as he sat up, pulling his legs off the bed to be in front of Jisung.
“Yes sir.” Jisung replied keeping his voice quiet and his eyes downcast at the wooden floor panels.
The sailor took a firm grip of Jisungs jaw in his hand and yanked his head up to look at his face. Jisung could see his eyes had darkened and were hazed over with a mixture of alcohol fueled lust.
“ ‘m too tired for anything rigorous so you can just be a good little bitch and make use of your mouth yeah?” The man smirked as he pulled Jisungs face down towards his growing bulge.
Before Jisung could reply the sailor crushed his face into his crotch, grinding the rough material of his boxers onto his face.
“Ummff, that's the..stuff. Gonna fuck your little mouth so you can’t speak tomorrow you like the sound of that bitch.”
At least that would make his time spent here fast, Jisung thought, making a small grunt as the man continued to grind up into his face. He could feel the pre cum soaking through the front of the man’s boxers and being smeared onto his lips and cheek.
The sailor pushed Jisungs face away causing him to fall back a little; he caught himself just before his whole body could tip back, righting himself and staring back down at the floor below the bed.
The sailor shuffled and pulled his boxers down letting them pool at his ankles and kicking them off in a random direction. He then reached forward with one of his hands gripping the top of Jisungs hair harshly tugging, with the other hand at his jaw squeezing and forcing Jisungs mouth to fall open.
“Be a good little bitch yeah?” The man slurred before roughly tugging Jisungs head forward onto his awaiting cock.
Jisungs eyes squeezed shut and he tried not to gag as the sailor's cock immediately hit the back of his throat. He started at a rough pace pulling Jisungs head back and forth over his throbbing length using the leverage from the hand gripping his hair. Jisung willed his mind to calm as the disgusting taste of sweat and salt filled his mouth, he held back the tears that started to form from the pain radiating from his scalp and throat as his mouth was abused.
“Ya gonna cry for me little bitch. God your throat is so warm and tight can’t wait to fill it up.” The sailor groaned as he tossed his head back in pleasure.
He pulled his head tight against his crotch, the man’s length pressing on the back of his throat causing him to gag and try to pull back only making the sailor tighten his grip in his hair to hold him down. A line of spit dribbled out the corner of Jisungs mouth and the tears pooling in his eyes dropped down onto his puffed out cheeks as the man continued to hold his head down tightly against him. With his nose pressed down against the sailors stomach his senses filled with the alcohol, salt and sweat that was embedded into the sailors skin.
After what felt like hours but was realistically only a minute, the man loosened his hold allowing Jisung to pull back and gasp in a deep breath of air and cough out the spit and pre cum, that had been collecting deep in his throat, out onto the floor next to him.
“Disgusting little tramp.” The sailor spat at him grimacing at the small puddle now sitting on the floor.
Jisung took three deep rattling breaths before his face was forced back onto the man’s length. The pace was even faster now the sailor lifting his hips to meet the push and pull he was forcing onto Jisung, thrusting into his mouth brutally causing his balls to slap against the underside of Jisungs chin. His thrusts started becoming more frantic, keeping the hard pace slamming his cock into the back of Jisungs throat.
“God… so good gonna..fill your mouth…little bitch.”
After three more thrusts, the sailor groaned and pulled Jisungs head forcefully down into his crotch emptying his load down the back of Jisungs throat he held Jisungs head down harshly causing him to retch as he was forced to swallow down the bitter load in his mouth.
After a few more seconds the man pulled away laying down onto the bed and Jisung collapsed down onto the floor. He coughed and gasped trying to refill his lungs with some much needed air.
The tears continued to stream down his face as he lay panting on the floor, though he willed his cries to stay silent as the man above him lay recovering from his orgasm.
“Get dressed and get out. ‘M gonna sleep now.” The sailor grunted rolling over into the bed and pulling the sheet over his sweaty body.
“Yes sir.” Jisung replied, his voice hoarse from the brutal use of his throat and the coughing. Jisung quickly gathered his clothes, throwing them on and exiting the room.
Jisung ran to his room down the hall shoving the door closed behind him and quickly falling to his knees in front of the toilet before throwing up the load the man had deposited into him moments before and most of the dinner he’d eaten earlier in the day. He sat kneeling over the toilet retching and willing his body to stop shaking as a wave of sobs wracked through him.
It had been a few months since a night with a patron had left Jisung in such a state. This sometimes happened when patrons were overly dominant using degrading words and treating him as nothing more than a body to be used for pleasure with no care for his own needs.
He was fine with these interactions normally as long as he got sweet affirmations and cuddles after the act was completed, but being kicked out as soon as it was done and not even finding his own release, not that he’d got hard in the first place, the sailor making no attempt to even get him there, had left him feeling worthless and disgusting.
After the retching had stopped and his cries had quietened down into small sniffles Jisung pulled himself up to the sink, splashing the cool water over his hands and face and forcing himself to leave the evenings events behind him and look forward to his night spent stargazing with Felix. Even the thought of his plans allowed a small smile to creep onto his face. He quickly washed his face again before turning back to the room and switching into some fresh clothes to truly rid himself of the stench of the drunken sailor.
By the time Jisung had made his way back down into the bar it had been just under an hour the bar had significantly cleared out with it being so late most of the visiting sailors had retired to their rooms or back to their ship and the locals had meandered back to their own homes.
The few that remained were hunched over clearly very drunk and clearly not far off from succumbing to sleep themselves. Jisung took his usual seat up at the bar and waited for the barmaid to return from the back to order a drink for himself while he waited for Felix to come down.
To his surprise it was not a barmaid who came out but his boss stumbling through the curtain with an unlit cigar poised in his mouth. As Jisung looked him over he noticed the man was now sporting a nasty bruise over his eye and the bridge of his nose, there appeared to be dried blood still crusting his nostrils as if he’d taken a punch or two straight between his eyes.
Jisung thought back to the rugged group of men that had entered shortly before he left earlier and wondered if this was their doing, maybe a drunken brawl had gotten out of hand and his boss had made the unfortunate decision to get in the middle of it, they certainly looked like the type of people to start up a fight over nothing.
“Has Felix come down yet?” Jisung asked, opting to ignore the state of his boss's face. His boss stared over seemingly only just noticing Jisung was sitting there.
“He’s gone.” His boss muttered back, stepping around the bar and heading out to the front door. That was weird Jisung thought, Felix always waited for him down at the bar after they worked, especially if they had plans to go up to the cliffs.
“Oh. How long ago did he leave? Did he say where..”
“I SAID HE'S GONE GOD DAMN IT!” His boss turned and shouted, causing the remaining patrons to stare up at him in their groggy states. “EVERYONE OUT WE’RE CLOSED FOR THE NIGHT.” His boss continued screaming.
The patrons quickly stood from their seats stumbling either up the stairs to the rooms or out the front door.
Jisung began to feel a slight panic build in his stomach “What do you mean gone? Where..”
“Those pirates I.. I got my loan from them and they said it was time to pay up. I spent all my repayment money on that stupid pretty boy I thought.. I thought I had more time to make it back but they wanted it back in full now. I had nothing so they took him as payment, said if he…”
Jisung's heart stopped. They took him. The men from earlier had taken Felix. His heart began to race as his breathing became rapid, panic settled fully into his entire body. Without Felix, Jisung was completely alone; he was his best friend and his family. Without Felix he had nothing left to live for in the world.
“..said they’re leaving off in the early hours. I’ll never make a profit on this place now, with only you to take patrons, I won’t have enough to afford the alcohol, the barmaids wages and…”
Jisungs panic turned into pure rage as his boss muttered about money and profits after announcing his reason to live in the world had been traded off as a debt repayment.
Jisung stood up and reached along the bar, grabbing the closest glass and hurling it towards his boss, who swiftly dodged as the glass landed beside him and smashed, shards scattering far and wide across the floor.
“YOU'RE SERIOUSLY WORRIED ABOUT PROFITS RIGHT NOW. FELIX IS GONE AND ALL YOU CAN TALK ABOUT IS MONEY?!” Jisung screamed, reaching down to grab another glass. The boss swiftly moved forward to grab his wrist, stopping him from hurling anymore glasses.
“I’m running a business boy. The money he and you make pays for your food, the alcohol you help yourself to everyday so yes of course I’m fucking worried about the money.” His boss sneered throwing Jisungs arm away causing him to stumble back a few steps.
Jisung was in full blown shock at this point. Before he even knew what he was doing he had turned and ran out the front door. His boss followed behind him screaming for him to get back inside and take Felix's patron for the night, but he was already halfway down the street running as fast as his legs could carry him.
Tears began to fall down his face as he continued running through the cobbled streets till he reached the hill up to the cliffside he continued running all the way up, as he reached the top he stumbled and tripped over his own feet rolling forwards into a ball at the peak of the cliff. He wrapped his arms around his legs and screamed out a cry of pure pain.
Jisung lay like for what felt like hours hugging his legs into his torso and sobbing his heart out for the second time that evening. After a while when he had no more tears to cry he turned deadly silent and rolled over to lay like a starfish on the ground staring up at the stars above him.
He thought about the life he lived after his old boss's death and before Felix had arrived, he had been an empty shell of a human. He’d had no hope of anything ever becoming better for himself and thoughts of death plagued his every waking moment. Felix had changed everything for him, making his walking nightmare existence into a life full of hope and dreams of something bigger and better than the small life they shared on the island.
He sat up and shuffled his way over to the cliff's edge. Below the waves crashed harshly against the jagged rocks spraying salt water up into the night air. He again pondered the decision of throwing himself down into the abyss and ending his miserable existence in an instant.
A shining light interrupted his train of thought, he looked over to the port seeing two sailors carrying a lantern, stumbling down the dock onto their ship.
He glanced through the darkness and made out the outline of the second ship that was docked much further down the port. It was smaller than the sailors' ships and through the dim light cast from the moon, he could make out the sails' dark black in colour, whipping in the gentle breeze. This was assuredly the ship of the so-called pirates who had visited today and taken Felix aboard as their form of debt payment.
Jisungs mind reeled as scenarios flicked through his head as to Felix's fate aboard the ship. Would they keep him as a slave? A crew member? Or would they sell him off on the next island they visited. He wondered if Felix had put up a fight, if he had tried to barter with the men and their boss or if he had willingly let himself be taken into a new chapter of his life. He had always been free willed, saying that life had ways of taking you where you needed to be; you had to roll with the waves that approach you, not try to fight them.
Jisung wondered if Felix had thought of him as he boarded the ship he hadn’t left a note, or even asked to wait to bid him goodbye. No, he refused to believe Felix would abandon him without at least trying to see Jisung again one last time he must’ve been taken forcefully. Jisung can imagine the boy kicking and screaming as the pirates attempted to haul him down the streets to their ship, screaming profanities and every curse he had learned along the way.
Jisung quietly chuckled to himself and shook his head. This was assuredly the craziest thing to happen in his life thus far and the immediate plan of action that popped into his mind was both incredibly brave and ridiculously stupid. Resolution coursed through him as he quickly made his way down the hill and through the cobbled streets he called home. The streets were quiet only the sounds of the ocean waves lapping onto the beach at the port coursing through the air. Before he could begin to overthink his current course of action he was marching down the wooden slats of the port straight towards the pirates ship.
He would be damned if he didn’t take the chance to see his best friend even if it was only to hug him one last time and say goodbye, pirates or not Jisung feared being alone in this world more than he feared them.
As he approached the ship he could see the lights were out in all the windows that assumedly housed the bedrooms of the pirates on board. The plank that would normally lead onto the ship had been pulled up, however there was a thick rope hanging down a few feet away from the edge of the boardwalk.
In a moment of pure adrenaline Jisung leaped, reaching his arms out to catch himself on the rope. He landed with a thud into the side of the ship, his body smashing into the wooden hull and his hands burning from the drag of the coarse rope against his palms. He took a deep breath in and began to haul his body up the side of the ship using his feet against the side as leverage he climbed the distance to the ship's rail. Luckily Jisung was light and had done his fair share of heavy lifting while moving stock around at the inn so was able to make it to the top with minimal effort.
He hauled himself over the ship's railing and his feet landed onto the deck with a light thud, with only the moon as a source of light he glanced at his surroundings and saw the faint outline of a figure slouched against the ship's mast. As his eyes began to focus in the darkness he saw the figure's golden blonde hair and rushed over to find his best friend bound to the mast with a thick rope around his chest and arms, his head slouched over in unconsciousness.
“Felix?!” Jisung shrieked, his voice ringing out loud in the silent night, all apprehension being replaced by worry for his best friend's current state. He placed a hand on Felix's cheek lifting his head and began shaking the shoulders of the lithe man in an attempt to rouse him. Felix's eyelids fluttered as he awoke, lifting his head from Jisungs hand to stare into his best friend's face. His eyes widened in panic as he became more aware. Aware of the reality that Jisung was standing in front of him on the pirates ship.
“Sungie? Wha..what are you doing here? Are you insane? You have to..”
Before Felix could finish his sentence Jisung felt a sharp pain to the side of his head and in an instant his vision blackened and his mind went dark.