thick as thieves || bts x mamamoo

thirty one;

"One more time," Seokjin's words come out in harsh pants, his lungs burning and his shirt drenched in sweat. He's currently hunched over, resting his hands on his knees as his lungs take in greedy gulps of the salty sea air. The saber he had previously been training with lays on the ground next to his feet, several rays of sunshine glinting off the metal blade and flickering up at him in an almost mocking manner as the ship rocks back and forth along the rough ocean currents. "Let's go one more time."

"Hyung, you haven't even caught your breath again yet," Namjoon's worried voice sounds from nearby. Based on his own loud breathing, it's fair to assume that he's at his limit as well. "Don't overwork yourself."

The two of them are currently training with Jimin, but it's clear that even with the two older men teaming up against their younger crewmate in a duel, the difference in their swordsmanship abilities is still miles apart. He and Namjoon have always had worse coordination than the others. Seokjin can't help but grit his teeth in frustration, his gaze trained on the wooden floorboards of the deck. "Those naval officers aren't going to give me the chance to catch my breath, Namjoon-ah. Even if I can't fight off ten men at a time like Jimin and the others, I need to at least be strong enough to hold my own to make sure I'm there if someone needs patching up afterwards."

"Hyung, we're taking a break," Jimin's brow furrows in concern as he resheathes his rapier, beckoning Taehyung and Jungkook who are resting along the walls nearby to bring a water pouch for their hyungs. "You're going to be worse off if you exhaust yourself now and don't even have the energy to fight back when those bastards attack."

"I'm fine, let's just-"

"Hyung," Jimin's voice is firm, his gaze serious as he stares straight into Seokjin's eyes. "When I collapsed on this same deck all those years ago from training too much, what did you tell me?"

"Don't remember," Seokjin grumbles stubbornly, begrudgingly accepting the water pouch Jungkook quietly but insistently nudges against his forearm and taking a sip. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Namjoon ruffle Taehyung's hair in thanks as he accepts the younger's water pouch offering.

"You told me, and I quote, 'The next time I catch you overworking yourself, I'll kick your ass so hard you won't be able to get back up for weeks.' Then you aggressively spoon fed me my medicine and a bowl of pumpkin porridge for the next ten minutes."

"So I'm a hypocrite," Seokjin sighs in defeat. "Welcome to the real world, Jimin-ah. But maybe if we just had one more duel-"

"We're done for today and that's that," Jimin says with a tone of finality. "You of all people should know the consequences for overworking your muscles and other parts of your body like this, hyung."

"How are you going to doctor the ship's doctor like this?" Seokjin huffs, sitting down on the floor in a show of acquiescence and chugging down the rest of the water from the pouch in his hand. His legs tremble from the fading adrenaline and sheer relief of finally being able to rest after all that training. It's a miracle that his knees hadn't buckled and given up on him earlier than now.

Jimin smiles, his eyes crinkling into little crescent moons the way they do when he knows he's won an argument or simply gotten his way. With the way he sometimes works his aegyo on their other crewmates, it isn't often that he doesn't get his way when he really wants. "Someone's got to take care of you, too."

Well, fuck. It takes all of Seokjin's willpower to ignore the way Jimin's words unnecessarily tug on his heartstrings. He's getting too soft nowadays. He lies down with a soft grunt, sprawling across the deck haphazardly. Despite the slight discomfort from his sweaty shirt, his back is warm against the wooden floorboards that have been sitting under the sun all day. "Where are the others?"