Archive of Our Own ^beta

The replicator was terrible at making pina coladas.

It could replicate a facsimile of them, but something was off. They were frosty and full of pineapple and rum, but there wasn’t even a hint of coconut inside of Haechan’s usual (secret) favorite cocktail.

In any normal situation, this wouldn’t have been a problem – the ship’s bartender would make drinks by hand, or they’d be near enough to a base that he could stop and enjoy his treat under the cover of relative anonymity. He’d sip and think and listen to whatever unusual band they had found for the night, and return, refreshed and ready to face another shift in the morning.

This wasn’t a normal situation. There was no ship, there was no bar (did Felidae even know what alcohol was? Haechan made a note to ask Yukhei later.) As far as he could tell, there were no coconuts. He’d have to work, enjoy the pineapple-rum concoction that BOSS still thought was a passable pina colada, and try his best to replicate the flavor, even if it was just imagining how it really tasted in his mind.

It wasn’t so bad, really – he got to build and engineer technology to continue Sicheng’s research and help the Felidae, he was on a beautiful planet, and he happened to have the incredibly handsome Yukhei who couldn’t take his hands off of him – whenever Haechan managed to see him, that was. Coconut in his pina colada was a laughable concern, it really was.

He decided to ignore his cravings and get back to work.

--

The next time Haechan was reminded of his pina colada problem was when Sicheng showed up in the morning, after he had managed to fix BOSS’s analysis issues for the centrifuge.  This had finally freed up experiments that Sicheng wanted to perform, so he was able to show up to the lab – tanned, shirtless, and smelling like coconuts.

Haechan had to admit, little WinWin was starting to look good. “Hey, where’d you find those?”

“Find what?” Sicheng slung his tote onto an empty table and started to unpack several vials filled with Felidae folk medicine. “These? The healers let me take some samples. I’ve seen these work on the hunters, so I thought—“

“No,” Haechan interrupted. “Where’d you find the coconuts?”

“Coconuts?” Sicheng looked confused before a look of understanding came across his face. “That’s my sunscreen – which you should be wearing, by the way. I’m certain that they’re on the planet, though. The musica like the smell; they say that coconuts are a good snack.”

Haechan’s eyes lit up with a fervor that Sicheng hadn’t seen before, not even when he managed to rig the station to generate power that even the village could use. “I didn’t know you liked coconuts so much.”

“Yeah, huge coconut fan – hey BOSS, any coconut trees on this planet?”

~Topographical analysis is still offline. However, the climate is favorable for coconut tree growth.~

Visions of coconut milk, coconut cream, the proper ingredients for his beloved cocktail danced through Haechan’s head. He could almost taste the creamy flavor that dampened the sharp tang of the pineapple—

“Um…hyung, shouldn’t we get to work?”

Haechan guiltily pushed his pina colada fantasies out of his head. “Right. BOSS, start analysis.”

~Analyzing. One moment.~

The computer whirred as Haechan sat back, wondering just where his precious coconuts could be.

“So how’s Yukhei?” Sicheng asked, trying to break the silence and Haechan’s reverie. “He hasn’t been around that much, has he?”

“I think he’s off on a hunt,” Haechan responded – not that he really wanted to talk about that. “Maybe. I guess he’s upset.”

It had to have been Haechan’s fault – it normally was, according to any of his friends. Of course he had to fuck up his idyllic life by asking Yukhei just what they were.

“What do you mean?” Yukhei had asked. “I’m Yukhei, Kissing Genius, and you’re Haechan who is also a genius.”  

They had been lying in bed for a while; the two moons were up and the few musica that stayed out late chirping had finally gone to sleep.  Haechan had been taken in by the ever-energetic and curious Yukhei, but it wasn’t the first time he had dodged that question. Sicheng had been no help at all (‘I don’t know, hyung, it just happened.’)

“Well…” Haechan paused. “Well, what would you call Taeyoung and Yuta and WinWin?”

Yukhei rolled over and stared out the window, into the night. “We call them amameta. I’m not…I don’t think that translates, but I guess...I guess the right translation is having someone who you love so much that you need to keep close to you, no matter what the expense.”

“Is that…” Haechan’s throat choked around the question, and he fell silent. That couldn’t be what they were, they were just two guys who really liked being physical. There weren’t feelings involved, right?

Right?

“Right?”

Sicheng stared at Haechan as he finished his story. “I’d say there were feelings involved, hyung. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Haechan hunched over his control panel, suddenly deciding to work hard on bringing up BOSS’s topographic systems. Or at least he tried, until one of the station’s resident musica crawled onto the panel and scolded him loudly for not answering the question.

“I guess I didn’t want to hear the answer. I haven’t seen him since that night.”

“Hyung, you should talk to him,” Sicheng insisted.

“Hey BOSS, re-initiate scanning,” Haechan ordered.

“Hyung!!”

~Scanning. Unable to find coconut trees.~

Haechan felt like he was about to scream.

 ---

“The musica probably got their taste for coconuts from my time in the colonies,” Taeyong suggested one evening. “I guess they don’t just pass down stories, but of things that they enjoyed eating.”

Haechan was sitting cross-legged on the floor of Taeyong’s hut, his larger home being a usual gathering place for the five. It felt empty now, what with Sicheng and Yuta finishing up in the station for the night and Yukhei gone. At least Haechan had a rather fluffy musica contentedly nibbling Freaglow out of his hand. “So you’ve never seen one here? Ever?”

“Ever,” the Felidae confirmed. “I’m pretty sure I’m the only living Felidae who knows what you’re talking about. Why can’t the replicator make one for you?”

“Oh, it can – but the replicator tends to give fruits an off-taste,” he explained. “It’s not really noticeable in fruit with strong flavors, but coconut’s pretty mild. I just like them fresh, I guess.” And in my pina coladas.

Taeyong set down a musica, who promptly scurried up Haechan’s shoulder and curled up for a nap. “There’s something else, isn’t there?” He gestured towards the fluffy creature before he could speak. “He told me that he was worried about you.”

Haechan forced a smile; one he hoped didn’t look too fake. “No, I guess I’m just annoyed at not having any coconuts. I’m really crazy about them, you know? I guess the musica have already told everyone.” The musica on his hand stopped eating long enough to chirp agreement, then dove back into his tasty flowers.

“Hey,” he started. “Can I ask you…what’s amameta?”

“Amameta? Soulmates, I believe WinWin said that was the closest translation. It’s something that Felidae take with utmost seriousness. The elders scolded Yuta and I for selecting WinWin so early, but they-and we-understood that it was right.”

“So it takes a while?”

“Depends on who it is and what they do,” Taeyong continued. “Interpreters like me mark. The artisans create jewelry, the trackers find a special place to confess.”

He hadn’t mentioned Yukhei. “What about the hunters?”

There was silence as Taeyong stood up and pushed open his curtain, looking out into the night as if expecting something. “Our hunters face a lot of danger at this time of the night, but it never stops them from wanting to keep the village fed.”

“…Yukhei’s never said anything…” Haechan’s voice trailed off. “He didn’t want to scare me.” He knew that Yukhei was one of the main hunters, good at what he did and always coming back with a large catch.

Taeyong kept looking out into the night.

--

“Hey BOSS, find anything?”

~Search completed. Coconut trees found in the northwest.~

He had left well before BOSS finished her analysis. ~Large predators in area. It is highly inadvisable to journey there alone.~

---

The water on NCT was so clear that even when Haechan dove under and looked up, he could see clouds rolling in. He swam through bright, almost blindingly-colored fish, some of which he knew were safe to eat – that was Yukhei’s first lesson after kissing. It was strange diving alone.

Yukhei had taken him by the hand and dove in, full of excitement. No matter how feline he looked, Haechan swore he was part fish, with his speed and ease of gliding through the sun-dappled waters.  They surfaced only when Yukhei decided it was time to show off his skills as a kissing genius; not noticing or caring about the smiles and whispers from the Felidae around them.

But this time it was Yuta who greeted him once he surfaced. He was dangling his feet in the water, which vaguely reminded Haechan of a mutated fish.

“WinWin’s been looking for you,” he reported. “BOSS says that she needs more recalibrating to produce good results.”

“BOSS isn’t going to bite him,” Haechan muttered while he reluctantly hoisted himself out of the deep pool. “Besides, he’s going to have to learn how to do these things himself.”

“But you’re so good at it!” Yuta teased before the understanding dawned on him. “…You’re not staying? Why would you break Yukhei’s heart?”

“It wasn’t meant for me to be permanent,” he hesitated. “I’m not going back to the ship yet, but eventually your elders are going to want me gone. Besides...I don't think Yukhei wants me here.”

“But you could join WinWin’s initiation training,” Yuta insisted, trying to talk some sense into him even as Haechan ignored him for his clothes. “You can’t just abandon Yukhei, he’s really in love with you!”

Haechan’s head snapped up; he could feel his heart in his throat. “He…he said that?”

“Yeah, he said that it was time to prove his worth.” Yuta saw Haechan’s fingers shake. “But don’t worry, that’s what hunters do! They find some delicacy that their amameta really likes, and…hey, wait!” He scrambled to his feet and raced after the engineer, but Haechan was already far ahead of him.

--

“BOSS, when was Yukhei in here last?”

~Yukhei broke into the station two nights ago. WinWin did not set the correct security measures.~

“Hey, can’t you do that yourself?” Sicheng protested, but Haechan ignored him. “What was he doing?”

BOSS pulled up the topographic map, where a small grove of trees was highlighted. ~He inquired about the location of this planet’s sole coconut tree grove.~

Shit. The rest of the area was marked in red; Yukhei had to know that there were larger predators afoot…

“He has to go alone if he’s proving himself,” Yuta panted out, having finally caught up. “You can’t just run after him.”

“Like hell I can’t, I’ll—“ Sicheng caught his arm.

“Hyung, think about it. You’re unarmed, you’ve got no idea how to fight off any of the predators here. Yukhei might be trying to prove himself, but he’s trained—and you’re not.”

Haechan ran a hand through his shaggy hair – if he ever really did get back to the ship, he’d need a haircut – and slumped down onto his favorite stool. They were right, trying to follow him was just a recipe for getting himself killed. “So…what do I do?”

“You have to wait,” Yuta urged. “Stay in his hut at night and keep a lantern lit. He’ll know that means you’re there.”

Waiting. Waiting was never his strong point. Haechan felt odd staying in the village without his favorite Felidae companion, but he dutifully followed Yuta’s instructions after he finished the day’s work—cleaning, making sure that there was food enough for two, keeping the lanterns filled and burning brightly.

And each night, one portion of his carefully prepared food went to feeding the many musica who kept him company.

Waiting. Waiting garnered curious stares and whispers from the Felidae, but they kept to themselves. On occasion Haechan would draw back the curtain to see meals left for him—but still, he waited and made sure that musica didn’t grow hungry.

Waiting. The forest was massive, he knew this. Hunts could take a while. Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Even though days melted into each other, Haechan never forgot what he was waiting for.

--

He was up late one night, reading in bed in a desperate attempt to keep it warm enough that he could pretend Yukhei was near him, when the musica started to chirp. The chirping continued in an excited chorus, one that he could tell wasn’t a cry for snacks.

No, this was a different kind of chirping, a…Haechan wracked his brains, struggled to remember. It was only when a musica patted his hand that the image burst into his head—a greeting. No—no, a return.

“It can’t—“ Haechan’s voice was low and hoarse, disbelieving. He couldn’t get his hopes up, couldn’t—

Trust, the musica seemed to stay. Trust your amameta.

And when he opened the curtain and found himself face-to-face with a mountain of coconuts, he understood.

The replicator was terrible at making pina coladas.

But Yukhei had come home with a knack for it.