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“You know where you’ll find him.”
Seonghwa knows from the haughty tone that the familiar voice he hears coming from his office doorway is not his captain.
“Who said that I had any intentions of looking?”
Seonghwa glances up from the charts strewn across his desk, supposing that he should not have sighed so loudly when his thoughts had wandered to Hongjoong.
The other captain stands in his doorway, now, recognizable by his dark raiment and the wide-brimmed hat nestled comfortably upon his head.
He knows precisely where his captain is, that much is true. He’s taken the other Seonghwa to bed. The one with the sharp glare and too much pride. The one who better represents just what his Hongjoong wants in a lover, apparently. Seonghwa feels jealousy and something else churning up in his gut. Something dark, reserved only for himself. The sting of failure.
“Just thought your bed might be getting a little cold at night, is all.”
Seonghwa turns his attention back to his charts. “Are you here because of the coldness of your own?”
The dark Hongjoong chuckles as he crosses the threshold into the room, his boots clicking on the marble floor. “Oh, I could warm my bed in any number of ways.”
He strides over with the same grace and power as a panther, stalking across the floor like Seonghwa is prey. He stops when he reaches the desk, rests just his fingertips against it—all ten of them—and leans in.
“I was just concerned about you.”
Seonghwa scoffs. The concept is laughable. The idea that he will believe him is laughable.
“You aren’t concerned about anyone save yourself.”
“All right, so what if I am?” The dark Hongjoong counters, letting his fingers drag along the wooden surface of the desk as he circles around it. “Maybe I want what they have. Maybe I want to give them a taste of their own medicine.”
Seonghwa swallows. Ever since their two groups converged here, things have been… strained.
Things were simpler when they were just enemies lurking in the shadows. Mysterious, sinister men who shared their faces and their goal. Men they had to avoid, outrun, give the slip at every turn. But things changed. They learned that this other crew was them… from another timeline, one that had branched off from their own only to reconverge upon it, collapsing and leaving them all stranded in the void.
They’d had to work together to break free of it—the reflective mazes, the chains, endless planes of nothingness, tunnels that went on forever—and this place had been their reward. Libertalia.
Most had believed it to be a myth… the legendary pirate utopia nestled somewhere in the Indian Ocean. But they had found it.
Rather, it had found them.
They soon learned that they could not so easily leave the island. Ships that left her ports heading toward any direction would soon find the island once more along the line of the looming horizon, as though they had been sailing for her all the while. There was a sort of magic to it, but it was unclear if it was friendly or sinister.
The two crews had no choice but to continue to cooperate. And in truth, it had not been exclusively difficult. When they first arrived on the island, there had been something so compelling about their darker selves, and many of their crew had been curious enough to seek them out. Whether they found the answers they've been looking for remains to be seen, but Seonghwa and Hongjoong had not been among those to give in to their temptations and curiosities.
At least not with the men wearing their own faces.
Seonghwa had thought his own darker self seemed arrogant. He had an air of command about him that didn’t really befit a first mate. He met each of his own Hongjoong’s commands with a contemptuous stare at the very least, and outright belligerence at the worst.
He can see the way it bothers this Hongjoong.
“He gets something from my Seonghwa that you cannot give him.” The dark Hongjoong says, and it stings. He knows the other must see the barest flinch of pain in his eyes. “But you also have something that my Seonghwa cannot give me.”
“And what is that?” Seonghwa asks, his voice raw.
“You’re… deferential.” The dark Hongjoong answers, his tone almost diplomatic. Complimentary. “He fights me for every bloody millimeter. He refuses to submit. Your Hongjoong wishes to relinquish his control in the one place he is able; with you, behind closed doors… but I… I want —need— that control. Always.”
“You think this is a simple case of compatibility issues.” Seonghwa huffs incredulously.
The dark Hongjoong inclines his head. “Sometimes a captain just wants to be obeyed.”
“You just want to use me to feel better about yourself.”
“I want to know what it’s like to have control. Real control.” The dark Hongjoong admits. “And you can finally have someone who wants you in that way. Submissive. Obedient.”
Seonghwa sets down his pen, finally turning his gaze—and his full attention—to the other. He knows the raw pain must be plain upon his face, because despite all his coldness and pride, the dark captain’s expression visibly softens.
“Do you? Want me?” Seonghwa asks, staring up at the other through his lashes.
“Yes.”
Seonghwa feels hot under that hooded gaze. “Then what are you waiting for?”
“An answer.” The dark Hongjoong says.
“I thought you wanted me submissive.” Seonghwa counters, cocking his head in question.
“I still want your permission.” The dark Hongjoong tells him.
Seonghwa swallows. “You have it.”
It is as though he has flipped a switch.
There is a disorienting moment when he isn’t sure precisely what is happening, but then his senses catch up. The dark Hongjoong has scooped him up out of the chair by his thighs, sweeping everything off of his desk to deposit him upon it before leaning in to kiss him roughly. Papers scatter, fluttering haphazardly as his sextant, pens and an empty inkwell clatter to the floor. Seonghwa groans softly when a hand fists into his hair, pulling his head back at a painful angle.
The dark Hongjoong does not need to remove his hat because Seonghwa has been forced so far beneath him, his head tilted so much that he can easily be kissed as the other lords above him, the garment not impeding him in the slightest. He slides in closer between Seonghwa’s legs, pushing them further apart. The hand that isn’t in his hair falls to grip his thigh bruisingly.
Seonghwa’s shoulders slump a little, going pliant as he lets himself relax into it, lets himself succumb.
Lets himself submit.
This man is not his captain, but for a moment… he can allow himself to pretend.
A satisfied growl rumbles in this other Hongjoong’s chest, the grip he has on Seonghwa somehow becoming tighter.
“Mm, that’s it, baby… let me.”
Seonghwa shivers, secretly reveling in the warmth bubbling up in his gut, simply from feeling wanted. Not being resented for who he is.
This Hongjoong must be used to warring with his Seonghwa for dominance, must be used to recalcitrant teeth, tasting blood on his tongue—Seonghwa, however, is used to having to coax and coach and beg. He is used to regretful looks, to being asked to take control, and he is used to refusing every time. Hongjoong is his captain—will always be his captain. He doesn’t think he could ever find it in himself to exert any form of control over him.
Even if that’s what his Hongjoong wants.
But this other Hongjoong, he wants him pliant and submissive.
Seonghwa cranes his neck to the side obediently when the other moves down to pepper his jaw and neck and clavicle with gentle nips and open-mouthed kisses. And that is when he catches sight of the other side of the room, the entryway still completely ajar.
“Th-the door, the door’s open…”
“Doesn’t matter. Everyone’s asleep. Don’t worry about it.” The dark Hongjoong husks against his collarbone before sinking his teeth into the skin.
The whine Seonghwa lets out must please him, because he grinds their hips together roughly and lets out a low growl.
“You have a safeword?”
Seonghwa’s tongue takes several moments to form actual words. “N-no, we’ve never really…”
They’ve never needed one. He and his Hongjoong have never indulged in anything remotely close to the realm of needing it.
“Give me one.” The dark Hongjoong grunts in a tone that says it is non-optional.
“Uh-um… Horizon.” Seonghwa tells him.
“All right. Horizon.” He confirms, then leans down and bites him again, harder than before.
Seonghwa lets out a soft cry, gripping hard at the other’s sleeves.
This Hongjoong isn’t slow. He isn’t gentle, he doesn’t ask if every one of his actions is liked, or if it feels good. He isn’t needlessly cruel, either… but he is intense. It shakes Seonghwa to the very foundations of himself, to see Hongjoong in this way. A Hongjoong who is always and forever his superior, his leader, his captain. A Hongjoong who doesn’t give ground, who doesn’t want his power stripped away from him by the only person he trusts to do it.
Seonghwa would die for Hongjoong, but he wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t subjugate him. And so, Hongjoong had sought out the version of Seonghwa who would.
Several feelings bubble up in Seonghwa’s gut once more, jealousy among them. He wants to be enough for his Hongjoong, but he isn’t.
He isn’t enough. He is inadequate.
“Hey.” The dark Hongjoong’s rough voice against his ear pulls his focus back. “You straying toward the sunrise?”
Seonghwa blinks as he processes the question. Sunrise? But, he remembers the safeword he’d given. Where can one see the sunrise but the Horizon? He’s being asked if he needs to use it.
His thoughts must be more evident on his face and in his body language than he’d meant them to be. He shakes his head, holding tight to the other’s sleeves.
“N-no, no. My feet are firmly planted upon the shore.” He assures, meeting his eyes with smoldering determination. “Lead me back to our utopia.”
That attractive mouth splits into a toothy grin at that.
“Oh, you really are such a good boy.” He leans in to kiss him hungrily as Seonghwa feels his pants being undone by deft fingers. They, along with his underwear, are yanked down and then off before he can catch his breath.
The dark Hongjoong pulls a phial of oil out of the pocket of his coat, and Seonghwa wonders absently if he’d planned for all this. He’s surprised to realize that he doesn’t exactly care. He uses his teeth to pull off the glove on his right hand, spitting it out onto the desk. He’s careful with the oil, trying not to spill it everywhere, because there isn’t much of it.
After a moment, slick fingers are working diligently against his rim, pressing inside with a bit of resistance. It’s been a while since he’s done this, since the others came. Since he was no longer worth his captain’s time—
His resentment melts into the background of his thoughts as this Hongjoong preps him, working him open but working him up, as well. He finds that bundle of nerves inside him after too long and is relentless against it, willing Seonghwa’s body to relax, to give in to him.
Seonghwa does.
He lets his head fall against the desk, lets go of his dark Hongjoong, and surrenders himself to whatever he wills. Whatever he believes he is worthy of.
“That’s it…” His dark captain coos, watching him with an intense expression. “So good for me…”
Seonghwa whimpers, writhing a little under the heat of it, but living for it all the same.
It isn’t long before the dark Hongjoong is slipping his fingers out, moving them up to cruelly play with his cock, which is red and dripping against his abdomen. His hips jerk at even the barest of touches.
“Beg me for it.”
“Please.” Seonghwa huffs out without any hesitation. “Please, please, fuck me—”
A gloved hand squeezes his face, and he realizes the other has only taken one of them off.
“God, I’m going to have to get that pretty mouth of yours around my cock one of these days…” He drawls, running his tongue along his own teeth. “Bet you’d make quite the picture on your knees.”
Seonghwa whimpers, letting his head fall back as the dark Hongjoong lets him go and starts pushing into him. He looses a myriad of curses, grip tight on Seonghwa’s thighs until he’s fully seated.
Once he is, he gives Seonghwa no time to adjust.
His hips pull back and snap forward hard, and Seonghwa wails, arching his back and scrabbling at the surface of the desk for some kind of handhold. He doesn’t let up, setting a brutal pace and keeping it.
Seonghwa knows he’s being too loud… if anyone is awake, they’ll hear him, especially since the door is open. He can’t find it in himself to care, though, not when this Hongjoong groans and hisses sweet filth at him, telling him how good he sounds, how good he looks.
Seonghwa mewls, preening under the praise.
He doesn’t know how long he can conceivably last.
The dark Hongjoong appears no better off, his hands wandering absently down Seonghwa’s thighs to where they meet his hips. His fingers dig into the flesh, holding him tighter as he fucks him harder, like he’s trying to hurt him, or to at least ruin him.
“Who am I?” The dark Hongjoong growls, snapping his hips with such renewed ferocity that for a moment, Seonghwa feels delirious.
“C-captain-!” He sputters out when his brain finally formulates a response. “Captain! My captain—!”
“That’s right…” The dark Hongjoong murmurs in a voice like velvet and honey. “That’s it… god, you feel so good, baby…”
Seonghwa is on the brink… he can feel the way the heat coiled up in his belly is surging, becoming unstable. He thinks his dark captain is close, too, judging by how erratic the movements of his hips have started to become.
But even so, the angle is just right, creating that delicious friction against that spot inside him and he arches up, head thrown back with a shameless moan. His eyes flutter open for just a moment, and his blood freezes.
In the open doorway stands Hongjoong.
His Hongjoong.
A sense of horror and dread roils up in his gut but then, rapidly, it fizzles away as something else takes its place.
Something envious. Something petty.
He thinks the dark Hongjoong might have spotted his other self because he mercifully wraps a hand around Seonghwa’s cock, grazes his teeth along the sensitive flesh of his inner thigh, just above the knee, and hisses, “Come for me, baby.”
Seonghwa comes.
He wails, he shakes, he makes a mess of himself, chanting for his captain as though his title is a litany. When he finally comes down, regains his breath and opens his eyes, the doorway is empty.
The dark Hongjoong leans down and licks a possessive stripe from collarbone to chin, seeming to revel in the filthy salt-tang of his skin.
“Looks like someone just remembered what he left behind.”
His tone is gleeful, and more than a little cruel.
It isn’t until that moment that Seonghwa realizes just what he may have started.
***
It isn’t long before the consequences of Seonghwa’s actions come back to haunt him.
It’s only the next night when Hongjoong —his Hongjoong—requests his help on something. Seonghwa is, in fairness, suspicious. Dinner had been an awkward affair. His dark captain had been making suggestive eyes at him through the entire meal, resting his tongue so casually against his teeth and posing more seductively with his forks and wine glass than any person had a right to. Seonghwa did his best to avoid his leering, focusing on the way the others in their now-combined crews were faring. He caught sight of Mingi winking at his own darker self, however, and he promptly decided that was not a better option.
His Hongjoong had been watching them all the while, as the dark Seonghwa feigned disinterest. Seonghwa did not miss the way his dark self would stare at him over the rim of his wine glass, though… and he wondered if Hongjoong had spoken to him about what he had seen.
It would not be long until he found out. After dessert, Hongjoong approached him, calm as ever. It was as though nothing was amiss at all.
“Hey, Seonghwa… could you look at something with me?”
“Of course, Captain. What is it?”
Seonghwa foolishly believed that this would be something in relation to their research on this mysterious island, Libertalia, or their next course of action. He was wrong.
His first inclination is that Hongjoong leads him to his quarters, ones they had shared often in their first few days on the island. That has not been the case as of late, a fact that sits bitterly on Seonghwa’s tongue, though he refuses to voice it.
His second clue is when Hongjoong crosses his arms, looking at him as though he’s issuing a challenge.
“Is that who I am? Your captain?”
Seonghwa swallows. “Of course.”
“It sounded to me as though you’d pledged your loyalty to someone else last night.” Hongjoong quips, though it is not said in a clever, tongue-in-cheek manner. Some part of him means it. “Could consider something like that a mutiny.”
“What?” Seonghwa must look openly disgusted and betrayed, because Hongjoong waves off his own words dismissively.
“I’m kidding.”
Seonghwa’s jaw clenches. “It isn’t funny.”
“Why, because you’d never betray me?” Hongjoong asks in a somewhat mocking tone.
“That and… it would be rather hypocritical.” Seonghwa bites back, petty.
“I’m the captain.” Hongjoong reminds him. “Can’t mutiny against myself.”
Seonghwa bristles at the implication. “Ah, so you can just do whatever you want, but I—”
“No, Seonghwa. As I said, I was kidding.” Hongjoong interrupts. “But I will admit I… well. It certainly made me think about our current situation. Gave me… ideas.”
“You are always welcome to speak freely to me, Captain.” Seonghwa assures, and his chest aches. “Whatever it is—”
“Oh, he really is precious.” Coos a voice from the doorway, somehow both familiar and utterly different from his own. He looks to see his other self push the door open, then close it behind himself. “I can see why my captain would like you.”
Seonghwa can’t help but scowl at that. “What are you doing here?”
“Simmer down. Your Hongjoong asked me to come.” The dark Seonghwa drawls, wagging his eyebrows. “Personally, I rather like our current arrangement, but he’s such an ambitious boy. And he does care for you so, so much.”
Seonghwa grits his teeth. “I refuse to let you mock me—”
“I am not mocking you.” His dark self says slowly, as though he is expecting him to pick up on something, on some hidden meaning. “I am stating a truth. And I think you know well enough just why I’m here.”
Seonghwa swallows. He isn’t an imbecile. He can sense the connection, the… implication. He just isn’t sure exactly what he’s getting himself into, and if he is not averse to the prospect.
“I want both of you.” Hongjoong speaks up, when he says nothing. Seonghwa chokes.
His dark self just laughs, thoroughly amused. “I told you he was ambitious.”
Seonghwa wishes the ground would swallow him up right where he stands.
He wants Hongjoong, wants him so badly that it aches in his chest, right down to the very core of him.
But to be with himself? Another version of himself, from a forsaken timeline which had made him cruel and unyielding and insolent toward his captain?
He would do anything for his captain. But he isn’t sure if he could do this.
“Seonghwa…” Hongjoong murmurs, a plea. He knows it is meant for him, not for the eye contact—desperate and pained as it is—but rather, for the openness in his tone.
To tell him he wants both of them is to open his soul and lay it bare before him. Seonghwa cannot possibly spurn this gift, this intimacy.
“So, then… what will it be, other me?” The dark Seonghwa trills in a lilting tone, sickly-sweet and playful. “Will you indulge your captain?”
Seonghwa swallows, glancing away. They both know what his answer will be.
“I don’t accept silent acquiescence.” His dark self says in a flat tone. “I’ll need to hear it.”
Seonghwa lets out a slow breath, trying to calm his nerves. “Yes, I’ll indulge my captain. Whatever he wants, I want.”
The dark Seonghwa rolls his eyes, but he grins, lurid and full of promise. He turns to look at Hongjoong.
“You, on the bed. Take off your clothes, and go fetch the oil.” The dark Seonghwa snarls, shoving Hongjoong as though he’s worthless. He goes without complaint, however, and starts stripping.
Seonghwa blinks several times, scandalized. He would never talk to his captain like that—
“As for you…” His other self continues, rounding on him in an instant. He grips Seonghwa’s chin roughly with one gloved hand, holding his gaze. “I imagine you’ll take some work. This is all rather disconcerting for you, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Seonghwa grumbles, pulling his face away. “I’m not here for you.”
“That may be so, but… when that door is closed,”—He tosses his chin toward the bedroom door—“I’m in charge. Captain’s orders. Isn’t that right, Captain?”
On the bed, Hongjoong is sitting patiently, entirely naked and holding a large phial of oil, just as was demanded of him. Seonghwa’s stomach churns at the way his captain nods, happily chirping, “Yes, sir.”
“Good. Why don’t you make yourself useful and open yourself up for me while I work on getting my other self to open up, hm?”
Hongjoong nods eagerly, doing exactly as he’s asked without shame. Seonghwa can’t bring himself to watch, and tries to block it out.
“I know this must be a culture shock for you.” His dark self drawls, smirking as he brings a hand up to the collar of his shirt. Seonghwa doesn’t spurn him, doesn’t swat him away, and that causes his dark self to quirk his brow interestedly. “But… you really would do anything for him, wouldn’t you?”
Seonghwa doesn’t answer, just swallows and clenches his jaw and tries to ignore the needy sounds coming from the bed as his captain fingers himself on the orders of his other self’s first mate, because nothing makes sense anymore.
“You don’t have to respond to that, but, we both know it’s true.” His dark self continues, sliding his hands underneath Seonghwa’s jacket and pushing it off of his shoulders. It lands on the floor in a heap, to no protest. Gloved fingers begin undoing the buttons of his shirt, and still, Seonghwa does not move. “This may come as a shock, or… perhaps you simply won’t believe me, but I feel much the same about my own captain.”
Finally, that gets a reaction out of Seonghwa; an involuntary derisive snort.
“You may not think so, but it’s true. Out there in the field, in the fray, on open waters… my life is his. You and I have that in common. Loyalty.” The dark Seonghwa explains, still meticulously undoing the other’s buttons. “But we do differ in this aspect. Behind closed doors, I want my captain as I would have him. I give him all of myself, every day, and that is all I ask in return.”
Behind them on the bed, Hongjoong makes a soft keening noise. Seonghwa finally looks to see he is on all fours, his cheek smushed against the sheets and hips up as he works three fingers into himself. The sight is dizzying.
“My captain, however… has difficulty relinquishing his control.” The dark Seonghwa finishes, finally reaching the last button. He pushes the shirt off of Seonghwa’s shoulders, allowing it to join his jacket on the floor. He lets out an appreciative little hiss, his eyes raking over him shamelessly. He has a few long-healed wounds on his chest from knives and swords, as well as one starburst of scar tissue from a bullet. “Earned all of those for your captain, I’d wager?”
Seonghwa nods. He’s proud of that.
“Loyalty is a good look on you.” His other self lifts his chin appraisingly. “Well, I find myself quite attractive in general, actually. I know you don’t, but I do.”
Seonghwa bristles. “How would you—”
“I was you, once. I remember.” He reminds succinctly. He slips his hand into Seonghwa’s belt, yanking him closer. “Now let’s get you out of the rest of all this, hm? I do believe your precious, needy captain will go mad if I don’t fuck him soon.”
Seonghwa wants to be angered by that. He wants to be disgusted. But he isn’t.
This is what Hongjoong wants. Maybe it’s what he needs. And if Seonghwa can’t give it to him, then he cannot fault him for seeking it elsewhere.
And being able to be a part of it, in some way… that is a privilege he wasn’t expecting to be afforded.
Once he’s entirely stripped of his clothes, his dark self leads him to the bed, telling him to lie down in front of Hongjoong. He’s less demanding with him than he is with his captain, and Seonghwa wonders if it’s because they share a face. He goes without argument, and Hongjoong eagerly makes room for him, finally slipping his fingers free once the dark Seonghwa pulls at his wrist impatiently.
“You don’t just get to sit there and take my cock now like some lazy whore. You have to earn it. Use your mouth, get him ready.” He orders, swatting at Hongjoong’s ass. The captain lurches, whimpering softly, but quickly obeys.
His fervent “yes, sir” is whispered between Seonghwa’s thighs.
Seonghwa has to hold his own knees to afford Hongjoong a suitable angle. He is eager to please, tongueing impatiently at him, willing him to relax beneath his touch. Seonghwa finds it difficult, but as he watches Hongjoong, he catches his eyes once. They are open and heated and it is clear his attention is on his first mate, not on Seonghwa’s dark self.
He realizes then… it is not that Hongjoong does not want him, it is that he needs something very specific that Seonghwa cannot give him. But in this way, he can have both.
Seonghwa feels the tension drain from him, letting his head fall back as Hongjoong fucks him with his tongue in earnest.
Seonghwa can’t see exactly what his dark self is doing, but judging by the soft whimper that Hongjoong lets out some moments later, he can wager a guess. His movements start to get sloppy as Hongjoong becomes distracted, beginning to gyrate his hips a bit.
A loud slap cuts through the room and Hongjoong jerks above him, letting out a stuttered groan.
“So useless the moment I start touching you. I never told you to stop.” The dark Seonghwa growls. “Use your fingers… small and pointless though they are.”
The jar of oil is shoved toward him, and he nods hastily as he dips his fingers into it, whispering another strained “yes, sir” as he does what he’s asked.
Seonghwa’s head spins as Hongjoong preps him, and it seems that the other Seonghwa is doing the same, given how Hongjoong seems somewhat distracted, letting out punched-out little breaths and failing to keep any sort of consistent rhythm.
He falters completely, Seonghwa assumes, when his other self enters him… he assumes, because of the way the other him is holding Hongjoong’s hips flush against his, now, and the sound Hongjoong makes as he falls forward, grabbing at Seonghwa’s thighs for dear life.
Hongjoong slides up against him with every thrust of the dark Seonghwa’s hips, letting out a soft, broken moan with every one. And then his head his being lifted and he wails, a gloved hand gripping hard into his hair and yanking at his scalp.
“Fuck him.” The dark Seonghwa snarls, an order. He fists the hand in Hongjoong’s hair, hard from the way he cringes and lets out a choked gasp. “That man beneath you would die for you. The least you could do is fuck him like he wants.”
“Y-yes, sir…” Hongjoong whimpers, moving up Seonghwa’s body until he’s kneeling over him, still between his legs.
He slides into him at the same time that his dark self fucks into Hongjoong hard, and Seonghwa blearily thinks it feels a little bit like being fucked by the both of them.
The dark Seonghwa lets go of Hongjoong’s hair, releasing him with a shove of something like irritation as his hands return to those svelte hips and his rhythm increases tenfold. Seonghwa moans at the same time that Hongjoong moans, desperately trying to maintain his balance over his first mate. His eyes are hazy as they meet Seonghwa’s and he cannot help but to reach up, gently card his hands into Hongjoong’s hair and kiss him fervently.
Hongjoong kisses him back with just as much passion.
Their pace is entirely set by the dark Seonghwa, who digs his fingers into Hongjoong’s hips, releasing him only long enough to slap his ass hard before gripping at him again. He gasps into Seonghwa’s mouth, and their kiss grows sloppy as Hongjoong draws closer and closer to the edge.
“You’ll dare not come without my permission.” The dark Seonghwa growls, moving to hold Hongjoong by the back of his neck with the still-gloved hand. “Put your hand on him. He comes before you do.”
Hongjoong whimpers, and from the desperate look on his face, he isn’t entirely sure he’ll be able to hold out. But he does do as he’s told, wrapping a hand around Seonghwa’s cock and working it over him sloppily in time with the rhythm of their bodies rocking together.
Seonghwa desperately wants to come, if only so that his captain will not receive punishment.
He lets his hands wander down over the planes of Hongjoong’s chest, across his thin waist, his hips, until his fingertips brush over the dark Seonghwa’s. He threads their digits together, pulling, encouraging Hongjoong to fuck him harder, deeper.
His other hand wraps around his dark self’s wrist where his fingers are still holding tight to Hongjoong’s neck. He’s not sure why he does it—perhaps it’s grounding—but his eyes meet those of his dark self, and he cannot read his expression… which is somehow both frigid and smoldering all at once.
The hand moves away, though, and for a moment, Seonghwa doesn’t know why… but then, Hongjoong grunts and falls against him completely, his hand smushed between their bodies as the dark Seonghwa shoves at the small of his back. Hongjoong tries desperately to keep his hand moving, and the friction is delicious. He can’t reach his mouth anymore, so he starts nibbling and sucking at Seonghwa’s neck and it’s all just —so much.
Seonghwa only manages a strained, garbled whimper of his captain’s name as he arches back and comes, making a sticky mess in the minimal space between them.
Hongjoong lets out a ragged groan of a breath as Seonghwa’s trembling body grips him tighter, and as Seonghwa’s awareness floats back to him, he realizes he’s begging.
“Please, please…” He babbles, his hips no longer moving save when the dark Seonghwa’s do, as he has not broken stride. “Oh… oh, please, please sir, let me come, please—”
Seonghwa isn’t sure he has much sway in this situation, but he looks up at his dark self and—somewhere between his fucked-out, desperate heaving breaths—he attempts to plead Hongjoong’s case. He doesn’t say anything, just offers a gentle plea with his gaze.
“Go on, then. Come.” The dark Seonghwa says, though his eyes are locked on his other self’s.
Hongjoong curls in on himself on top of Seonghwa and shudders, mewling loudly as he comes hard with a litany of whispered thank-yous on his lips.
Seonghwa basks in the feeling of it, of being filled, of this kind of closeness with his captain… something he’s been denied for some weeks now.
“Mm, god you’re even tighter when you come.” The dark Seonghwa growls out, his hips still rolling in perfect cadence. He picks up his pace, however, moving both hands to push down against the small of Hongjoong’s back, now. The friction is almost too much, and Seonghwa is a little delirious with it by the time his dark counterpart comes and pulls out, rolling off onto the bed with a loud sigh.
Hongjoong remains on top of Seonghwa, resting the entirety of his weight upon him. They are both disgusting, but in that moment, he doesn’t care. He wraps his arms around his captain, kissing his hair. Familiar lips move gently against his neck, and he knows the sentiment is returned.
A nebulous amount of time later, the dark Seonghwa throws a damp washcloth at them, and it lands on Hongjoong’s back with a wet slap.
“Clean up at some point.” He grunts at the two of them, but he doesn’t stick around much longer.
Seonghwa doesn’t know what he expected of his dark self, but somehow, he always manages to be surprised.
***
Seonghwa knows this cannot end well. He knows he has knocked over the proverbial first domino, and soon, all the rest will fall in its wake. It’s only a matter of time.
Sure enough, less than a week goes by before he is confronted by his dark captain. Someone—he assumes his own Hongjoong, working with the other Seonghwa, perhaps—has managed to keep him distracted with a mission on the far edge of the island in the meantime, but the moment they return, the dark Hongjoong seeks him out. He doesn’t seem angry, per se, though he does corner Seonghwa in an abandoned hallway at dusk, crowding him against the wall in a way that’s somehow simultaneously seductive and intimidating.
“What happened? Did you grow tired of me already?”
Seonghwa huffs, eyes finding the floor. “No, I was… they took me by surprise.”
“You liked it, though.” The dark Hongjoong counters around a smirk.
“I…” Seonghwa hesitates, but only for a breath of a moment. “Yes. I did. And I don’t need to justify myself to you—”
The dark captain puts his hands up in a gesture of mock surrender. “No, you don’t. I’m not here to berate you.”
Seonghwa glares suspiciously. “Are you not?”
“No. I’m here with an invitation of my own. Consider it another act of petty revenge.” The dark Hongjoong says, something hidden there in his eyes. “And… also, because I might’ve missed you.”
Seonghwa squints, regarding him with an incredulous scowl. “You need not appeal to my fragile emotions, I know well enough what this is.”
“So you say.” He responds, inclining his head and raising his eyebrows in that way of his.
Despite his misgivings about the entire situation, he follows the dark Hongjoong to his room… only to find that his Hongjoong is already there, waiting.
Seonghwa feels less that the dominoes are now tumbling down in a row and more that his entire world is seconds from crumbling down around him.
Still, he does not spurn them, even though somewhere in the back of his mind, he thinks he probably should.
Regardless, he stays. He gets on his knees for his dark captain, worshipping his cock to honey-sweet praises while his own Hongjoong watches in eager anticipation. Eventually, they all end up on the bed, the dark Hongjoong pounding into Seonghwa from behind while he sucks his own captain off. It’s somehow less disconcerting to be with both versions of his captain than it had been to look upon his own face worn by someone else.
His captain comes first, making a mess of his face in a way that makes Seonghwa feel owned by him, and his dark captain is right behind him, coming inside him and gripping at his hips so tightly that his fingertips surely leave bruises.
He doesn’t even pull out, instead dragging Seonghwa into his lap as he sits back against the headboard. His hand moves up to Seonghwa’s face, scooping up the come on his cheeks and chin and pressing his filthy fingers against his tongue while his Hongjoong leans down and takes his cock into his mouth.
Seonghwa wails around the digits in his mouth, hips bucking erratically until he’s coming down his own captain’s throat.
When the dark Hongjoong coos at him how good he’s been for them, he knows he is too far gone for them both.
***
Seonghwa knows, intrinsically, that things cannot go on like this for much longer. Something is going to break, some one is going to break, and he refuses to let it be him.
In a cruel twist of irony, it seems that the one to snap the line on their fragile tightrope act is the other him.
It’s as though he’s waiting for the right moment to strike, because it isn’t until he is alone in the library and the dark Hongjoong comes calling on him that his other self arrives. He swoops in the instant his captain makes a move, as though he’s been waiting. Seonghwa wonders if he truly has.
His dark captain has barely managed to back him against the wall, pressing their bodies flush together and nibbling teasingly at his throat, whispering all the lewd promises of just what he would do to him given permission—when they are interrupted.
Seonghwa is surprised by how irritated he is.
This isn’t his captain, but somehow, he feels some sense of belonging to him.
Seonghwa begins to wonder if he is starting to blur the lines between them in his mind… this man and his captain. It is hard not to look at this Hongjoong and see the man he wishes his Hongjoong could be for him. It is hard not to fall for this dark captain in the same way he fell for his own. He catches himself reveling in the idea of being wanted by this man, being cared about by him, and he wonders if those fragile emotions of his aren’t already hopelessly tangled within a net he had not even realized had ensnared him.
His thoughts are halted in their wandering by his dark self clearing his throat again, standing nearby. His expression is somewhat guarded, his arms crossed and stance otherwise unbothered.
“Can I help you with something? As you can see, I’m otherwise occupied.” The dark Hongjoong grumbles, nipping at Seonghwa’s neck in a way that makes him shiver.
“I’m afraid it can wait.” His dark self says, unamused. “I would speak with you. Both of you.”
At that, Seonghwa cannot help but to perk up, and the dark captain pulls away, finally turning to face his first mate.
“Go on.”
“Come with me.” He replies, and strides out the door, as though he knows they will follow.
If only because Seonghwa himself does, indeed, they do.
“What’s all this about?” The dark Hongjoong asks eventually, as they make their way through the seemingly endless, winding halls of the mansion.
“This.” His first mate replies, as though it is answer enough.
“Us, you mean?” Seonghwa clarifies.
“Yes.” His dark self confirms. “The situation has become convoluted. If we continue on like this, it will become… complicated.”
“It’s already complicated.” The dark Hongjoong grunts. “To be fair, it really wasn’t, until the other me decided that one of you wasn’t enough—”
The dark Seonghwa inclines his head. “Fair. But thankfully, the solution to all this… frivolous skulking is quite simple.”
“Who’s skulking?” The dark Hongjoong bristles. “I never hid a damn thing.”
“Call it what you will.” His Seonghwa counters in a deliberate tone, gesturing dismissively. He stops walking, just in front of the captain’s private quarters. “Pettiness. Revenge. Jealousy. Pride… it doesn’t have a place here.”
“Oh, suddenly you want to take the high road?” The dark Hongjoong scoffs, shaking his head. “Of course you do. That’s so fucking typical—”
He stops talking when Seonghwa rests a gentle hand on his shoulder. The other Seonghwa seems to notice, regarding the action with cold, calculating eyes. They both brace for a scathing comment, but none comes.
The dark Hongjoong clears his throat after a beat of silence. “Well, then…what’s this magical solution of yours?”
“Nothing magical about it.” He quips back, swinging open the bedroom door.
Hongjoong is there, sitting at the edge of the mattress as he intently pores over an old map. When he looks up and spots the three of them, he sets it aside. “Hey. You, uh… talked to them?”
“I brought them here. That’s all I promised.” The dark Seonghwa says coldly, closing the door behind them as they all enter the room.
Hongjoong sighs. “Well—”
“I can read between the lines.” The other Hongjoong interrupts. He huffs a mirthless laugh, shaking his head. “Good to know I’m a selfish fuck no matter the timeline.”
Seonghwa watches as his Hongjoong bristles. “This isn’t just about me—”
“Save it. We’re all selfish… except maybe this one.” The dark Seonghwa cuts him off, grabbing his other’s chin. The grip is rough, and he uses it to shove him toward the bed before pushing his Hongjoong after him. “And I think between the three of us, we can convince him to be, just this once.”
Seonghwa stumbles into the end of the bed, Hongjoong leaning out to brace him. The dark Hongjoong looks miffed about being shoved around, but reins in the worst of his irritation as he joins them.
“He might relinquish his title when that door closes, but I don’t. So show some respect.” He grunts, straightening his jacket.
“Of course, Captain.” The dark Seonghwa drawls in too sickly-sweet a tone to be genuine. “That being the case, then, what are your orders for these two, hm?”
The dark Hongjoong glares for a moment, not keen on being mocked, but his gaze soon trails over their counterparts.
When he grins, Seonghwa feels a shiver run down his spine.
It becomes a competition.
Because, of course, with these two… how could it be anything but a competition?
He and Hongjoong —his Hongjoong—are laid out on their backs at the edge of the bed, hands and tongues tangled together as they try their best to steal kisses amidst the roughness of their counterparts.
Their counterparts, who are standing at the edge of the bed, fucking them both with absolute abandon. Their goal, of course, is to make the one they’re fucking come first. Naturally.
To make it fair—as fair as it can be, anyhow—they agree to fucking their own counterparts, since they will both know themselves better than they have come to know their other partners.
It’s all very fair and sensible, except, of course, for the fact that Seonghwa is watching a man with his face fuck him as though it is the most natural thing in the world… when it is decidedly not.
“Remember, you aren’t to come without my permission.” The dark Seonghwa growls at Hongjoong cheekily, smirking like he’s discovered some loophole in their game.
“You have my permission, since it’s me that’s fucking you.” The dark Hongjoong snarls back, glaring daggers at his first mate. “Don’t try and play dirty. If I ask nicely enough, sweet Seonghwa might just hold out for me.”
The dark Seonghwa turns to his counterpart, gripping hard at his thighs until the points of contact of his fingertips begin to sting against the skin. “Don’t you dare.”
His voice is low and dangerous enough that Seonghwa fears the consequences of not agreeing, so he shakes his head. “No, n-no, I won’t…”
His dark self leers at his dark captain, smirking in a self-satisfied way. His only response is a roll of his eyes.
Seonghwa goes back to kissing his Hongjoong.
It’s a little disconcerting, being with himself. Some other version of himself, from some other timeline or universe that no longer exists. It’s different for Hongjoong, he thinks… perhaps as long as someone is stripping his control and responsibilities away, he does not care who it is. Even if it is someone who shares his face. Perhaps that is preferable, even… since he knows he is putting himself in the hands of someone he can trust.
But he still looks at Seonghwa with earnest eyes, kissing him eagerly, and Seonghwa thinks that maybe he still has something to offer his captain, too.
His hand trails down to find Hongjoong’s cock, wrapping around it and stroking completely off-rhythm to the movement of their hips. Hongjoong groans at the sensation and does the same, his own hand finding Seonghwa’s cock without breaking their kiss.
If their dark selves insist on this ludicrous competition… it is anyone’s game, at this point.
Seonghwa feels himself being shifted as his other self drags one of his legs higher over his shoulder, using the new angle to fuck him deeper, and it causes his already erratic rhythm on Hongjoong’s cock to waver. When the dark Hongjoong does the same, his captain, too, falters.
They aren’t so much kissing anymore as they are breathing into each other’s mouths, curling their tongues together whenever a tandem thrust allows them to meet in the middle. They are both close, judging by the rising pitch of their stuttering, breathy moans.
Seonghwa opens his eyes. When he does, Hongjoong’s meet his, and through the haze of pleasure, his captain mouths, “Together?”
It’s barely a whisper against his lips, and it had been a question, but to Seonghwa, it may as well have been an order. He nods, emphatically, matching the pace of his hand to Hongjoong’s own.
When they come, they come together, and their dark counterparts are too amused to truly be angry.
The two of them pull out, jerking off and finishing across their chests, adding to the mess they’ve already made. Seonghwa is too busy running his tongue over Hongjoong’s lips in sweet little flicks to even care.
Eventually, their dark counterparts have the courtesy to clean them up, then strip out of their own clothes before climbing onto the bed, pulling their other selves up toward the pillows. The bed is massive, large enough to accommodate all of them, and somehow, despite the strange circumstances that brought them here… it feels only natural for all of them to remain.
They fall asleep in a tangle of limbs, somehow finding enough comfort in each other that rest finds them well.
***
Seonghwa slips under after the others, he thinks… because he has always had trouble with falling asleep, for as long as he can remember.
He rarely dreams, so that is why it takes him by surprise that he knows that he is sleeping, and yet, he feels as though he is awake. He is in the mansion, but it is in ruins. The chandelier has fallen from the ceiling, smashing into the dining table and scattering glass and crystal everywhere. There is something floating in the air around him, coating every flat surface in the room… pale and soft like falling snow, or ashes.
Seonghwa sees that he is not alone. The others are there… his other self, his captain and his dark captain. Each of them is looking across the room.
For there stands a man, clad in white, a mask of fabric and chains covering his face. Something glitters in his hands but as he turns to face them, the image of him distorts, the space around them flashes in brilliant shades of blue and red before fading to black—
Seonghwa jerks awake, sitting up and trying to catch his breath. Sunlight is pouring in through the half-open windows, signaling that it is morning. On the bed next to him, his three companions are awake, too.
He can tell by the understanding look that dawns upon each of their startled, sweat-dappled faces that they have—all four of them—awoken from an identical dream.
The same dream, of the mansion in ruins, of chaos… and of a stranger, that mysterious man in white, stalking the halls of their minds like a specter.
None of them knows what to make of it, and yet… they know it is a message.
It is just another question in the endless puzzle that is Libertalia, and they know they must all work together to find the answer.