Namjoon let out a hefty sigh as he was sitting in silence. He allowed himself to get lost in his thoughts as he tried to think of some sort of plan to get Yoongi away from the other incubi and back to Earth. Before anything could be done to free Yoongi from this captivity, he needed to keep the human safe from harm. Since he knew who the captain of this ship was, he knew that he couldn't let Yoongi be alone. He needed to keep up this lie of being Yoongi's mate to ensure that they wouldn't be separated on their way to be presented to the emperor. However, Namjoon also knew that Yoongi was in danger of maltreatment from this ship's captain. After all, Minhyuk hated Namjoon, being his rival since their early days in training.

Lowering his gaze, Namjoon peered at Yoongi, who was curled up sideways on his lap. He had his arms wrapped securely around the human, keeping him safe as he slept. It must have gotten late, but there was no way for them to tell the time. Now that Yoongi was sleeping, Namjoon could relax just a little as he thought of plans and possible escape routes. It relieved him that Yoongi had finally fallen asleep, being so exhausted from crying and being afraid. Of course, he hadn't told Yoongi that this was all his fault. He didn't want the human to distance himself.

Something that tore at Namjoon's heartstrings when Yoongi had been close to dozing off earlier had been that the human had requested that Namjoon stroke his cheek. "Jungkook strokes my cheek when I can't sleep," Yoongi had told him. Sure enough, stroking the human's cheek had helped him fall asleep.

As he held Yoongi and tried to focus on plans, his mind deviated. He remembered the last time he had held someone in his arms like this. It had been last winter when Taehyung had a cold and couldn't sleep. Hoseok had been at work, so Namjoon had held Taehyung on his lap and cradled him ever-so-gently. He wondered if it was just something humans did sometimes whenever they needed comfort. Being in the arms of someone they trusted must be very comforting.

Had Namjoon ever held Hoseok like this? He could only think of one time. He had held Hoseok like this only briefly after they'd worked together to kill his mate from a mission. Namjoon remembered how upset Hoseok had been, but he hadn't known how to handle it. Hoseok had requested to be held in this way. Still having never been held like this himself, Namjoon didn't fully understand how much comfort it could bring, but he was learning more about it.

Just thinking about Taehyung and Hoseok caused Namjoon's vision to get blurry with fresh tears. He wished he could be with his mates. He refused to let himself disturb Yoongi's much-needed sleep, but he did begin to quietly cry. It felt weird for him to cry. This was only his third time crying since finishing his emotional detachment training. He remembered crying when Jungkook and Seokjin accepted him as their equal and a friend. The only other time he could remember crying was a secret he never let anyone know.

Namjoon had cried alone when he had received the news that Hoseok had fled Szarvoun without a trace, when the one he had loved and desired to mate had disappeared.

---

"This place is enormous." Jimin said as he walked through the halls of the ship with Taehyung."It's so much bigger than it looks from the outside."

"I guess."

Jimin paused and looked at Taehyung, pouting."You okay, Tae? You've been pretty quiet for a while."

Shrugging his shoulders, Taehyung knew he shouldn't lie, so he answered honestly."I'm not okay, Jiminie. I'm sad and scared." He knew it was too late to feel scared about being in space and traveling to another world, but he couldn't help it."We didn't think this through properly. We stowed away on this ship to be with Hoseok-hyung and Seokjin, but we didn't think ahead to how dangerous this is going to be."

"I know, but if we follow instructions, we'll be okay." Jimin was trying to keep a positive mind about this.

"But Hoseok-hyung and Seokjin are mad at us. And we don't even know how Jungkook is going to react when he finds out we're here." Taehyung knew that Jungkook might already know if Hoseok or Seokjin told him by now, but the two humans hadn't seen Jungkook yet.

Reaching out, Jimin gently grabbed Taehyung's hand to hold it."There's another thing bothering you, isn't there? I know how to tell when you're holding something back." That was a benefit of being someone's close friend. To Jimin, Taehyung was like an open book. Well, an open picture book. He could see and understand what he was seeing, but sometimes, words were needed to add more context.

This was something about which Taehyung didn't want to talk openly because he was hoping he could forget about it, but he knew that it would be good to talk about it."I know you can't understand their Szarvounian language, but the things I heard Hoseok-hyung say earlier when we were eavesdropping kinda upset me. I know I shouldn't be upset, but..."

"You are allowed to be upset, Tae. It's okay." Wanting to know more and also provide comfort, Jimin moved in front of Taehyung and grabbed his other hand to hold both now."What did he say that upset you?"

"He talked about..." Taehyung gulped quietly before continuing."He talked about a mate he had before from another world. I don't want to go into details, but he described what his mate was like, and he said that...He had to kill his mate for the mission they'd been on. Namjoon helped him do it." This really bothered Taehyung."I know they told us before that they had to kill their mates for missions, but I never wanted to imagine Hoseok-hyung doing something like that. He's so kind and sweet. I guess hearing that finally made it real for me that he's done bad things before."

"I understand. I had that feeling before too when Seokjin and I talked about his past. I chose to remain with him and support him. I've forgiven his past deeds, even though those deeds didn't affect me. I trust him." A soft smile came over Jimin's lips."Once things are calmer, you should have a talk with Hoseok-hyung about this. You can decide then if you can handle what he's done in the past and where things will go in the future." Jimin thought that was fair, though he also thought that Hoseok had already done so much to prove that he would never even dream of harming Taehyung.

"I'll talk to him about this whenever it's possible." Taehyung lowered his gaze and sighed."I trust him. I know he would never hurt me. I just don't know how to handle this information."

Giving Taehyung's hands a small tug, Jimin smiled wider to lighten the mood."Let's keep looking around. There's more to see."