Chapter Text
★☾☼☁︎︎
The day leading up to the fateful night had been nothing short of hectic for these two men who led very different lives.
One of these two men was a notorious pirate captain named Kim Hongjoong who captained a crew called ATEEZ and a ship called the Twilight and he was the son of the fearsome pirate lord who had claim over the entire Northwest part of the Pacific ocean.
This coined honorific, pirate lord was given to his father, Kim Donghae by all of the pirates in the region due to the large influence and shear power he had over the area, not to mention the immense wealth he had accumulated during his time as a pirate. Because of all this he was greatly feared and that fear allowed him to have a form of authority over other pirates. He had made one singular rule that was to be honored by every pirate in the region even into next future pirate lord rulings, to seek the pirate lords approval before doing any raids no matter the size. And his word was treated as law (the only one they'd ever follow anyway) and those who dared to test this law got a deadly example made out of them by him.
You might wonder why he would make that his one and only rule, well there’s actually two reasons for this. One, to not have them do any raids he wanted to do and two, to not cause any sort of problems or inconveniences for him because of them doing a raid.
However, not only was his father the pirate lord of the Northwest part of the Pacific Ocean he was also the pirate king. You see, he was not the only pirate lord in fact there are seven each who had claim over different regions of the ocean. Although most were not called as such but something of a similar variety yet they were just as feared and renowned as him. But when they are put together Donghae undoubtedly had more strength and more impact than damn near all of them combined. This caused great worry in all of the lords hearts at the possibility of him trying to expand his territory by killing them off and taking over. So an election was held for the role of pirate king, another coined honorific but of a way higher stature than any of the pirate lord variants. Since this title, pirate king had not been held by a pirate for the last three years at the time he was voted in with ease with the all votes turning in his favor.
This granted him with power over all the other pirate lords variants and the right to do any type of work anywhere in the ocean in anybody's territory. The idea behind this was that since he would already be able to do as he pleases anywhere he would not need to take over other lords territories.
Because Hongjoong had followed in his father's footsteps and also became a pirate he was known by the entire world as the pirate prince. Even with him being known by such a high title he was not given any type of power over other pirates. But he was treated differently, just like his father he struck fear into the hearts of others just by carrying his surname and his blood. Though his notoriousness was not just due to those things he had earned his reputation by working for it. In fact he did things very different from his father, he did not kill senselessly or take from the innocent. Although, he did kill the wicked and would help the honest. He'd also steal from the wealthy to feed the poor.
Despite him being a young teenager when he started he already had quite the reputation caused by more things than just his father and his way of doing things.
Which were his looks that had people convinced that he was an actual prince. Women and men alike tended to pine after him in spite of the danger surrounding him.
His outstanding fighting skills that has never failed him in winning a fight including ones against grown adult men who were double his own size.
Along with his leaderful personality that was empathetic towards others and that remained brave in times of uncertainty which made him widely respected and even admired by other pirates. But his way of being a pirate made him absolutely hated by them, half of the worlds pirates liked him while the other half did not. The half that liked him thought of him as a very needed ally while the half who hated him wanted to kill him.
There was also his achievements of being able to pull off insane feats such as doing very large and extremely tedious raids and being able to negotiate his way out of every single risky and deadly situation he's been in and somehow always manages to come out with the upper hand.
Why would he put himself in such vulnerable and open to attack positions like those you may ask and the answer is that he wants to become the new pirate lord of the Northwest Pacific Ocean.
Since his father was the pirate king he longer had to confine himself to the Northwest part of the Pacific Ocean, he could go anywhere in the world.
So, that left the pirates there with no one telling them what raids they could and could not do and that left Hongjoong with many problems to fix.
Because of him truly following his kill the wicked and help the honest morality he would constantly be visiting cities that had been ransacked by pirates and would try his best to return them back to normal. Giving the citizens back their wealth that had been stolen but much to his dismay he could not return the lives they had took. In his attempts at stopping these raids from happening altogether he would personally hunt down those pirates who had done the raids and kill them all so they wouldn't do it again. But it was never enough they still robbed and killed the innocents and thats why he needs that pirate lord title to stop it by telling them what raids they can and cannot do. And his father was willing to give it to him or anyone had they earned it by doing some drastic feat that would prove themselves worthy, so thats why he did all those excessive and dangerous things.
He actually had just done a drastic feat that he believes could potentially give him that name.
Him and four members of his crew had killed an entire major Korean noble family, the Son family and raided their manor.
It was not easy by any means it took a brilliant plan and a flawless execution to pull it off. It started with them arriving in Seoul by going down the Han river on the Twilight under the guise of being merchants. Which meant they had to dress and act like mechants, so Hongjoong had sent some of the members to go out and buy everyone commoner clothing, along with some horses and carts once they docked in Seoul. Then with the horses and carts most of the members began going out and selling about anything they had on the ship to maintain this front. While Hongjoong and four of the most skilled members in combat stayed around the Son manor watching and waiting for the opportune moment when there would be little to no army soldiers guarding the building.
This process went on for almost a week but on the seventh day was when the perfect time presented itself. When the soldiers would switch shifts of who was guarding the building during early morning when it was still dark out. There was less of them guarding than the days prior thanks to a large pirate raid that had happened earlier that night to the city of Busan that called many soldiers all over the country to the front lines in order to protect the civilians and to hunt down the pirates who did it.
So, under the cover of darkness the five pirates made their move by knocking out all the few remaining soldiers and hastily taking them to the Twilight via the horses and carts the others had bought. Where they were kept in the cells inside the hull of the ship gagged, tied up, and stripped of their uniforms and weapons that Hongjoong and the four others who had been watching the manor put on and took with them.
Then the five of them went back to the manor and stood in the positions that the actual soldiers would normally be in and they greeted the soldiers who were patrolling the city before they went inside the building.
This was the most pivotal point in the whole plan had they made even the slightest mistake all of this would have been for nothing as they would be quickly captured and hung. They had to be quiet and slit their throats without waking them.
A few dreadful minutes passed before it was done with only one of them, the head of the family waking up but luckily he didn't get to scream as Hongjoong quickly lodged a dagger into his thoart, sniffling out every sound he wanted to make. It was somewhat smooth sailing from then on, but they did have to do something brutal next to be recognized as the ones who did it by Hongjoong's father and by other pirates. They drew their crews symbol a few times throughout the rooms on the walls in the families blood. The whole reason behind committing this type barbarity and why they couldn't just use paint was because they needed to immediate other pirates so they would fear, respect, and would do as Hongjoong says when he becomes pirate lord.
After that they went through every room and cleared it, throwing everything of value into large sacks and putting them onto the cart they had brought back with them.
However, they didn't have enough room on the carts for everything and sunrise was quickly approaching.
So, Hongjoong was forced to make a spontaneous decision, to bury what they could not take with them in forest outside of the Son manor. They had done their best in burrying it and covering it up with brush and sticks with what little time they had. But even with them hurrying by the time they finished the sun had already risen and they had to take the carts back to the Twilight in front of people. Which would have brought attention to them where they would definitely be caught since they were all wearing army uniforms.
Though, it seemed like luck was on their side as it looked as if when the members went out and bought the commoner clothing and the carts they had accidentally bought one too many clothing sets and had left it behind in one of the carts that Hongjoong and the four others had so happened to have took here with them. This had sparked a risky idea inside of Hongjoong's head but it was their best bet if they wanted to take the loot back to the ship without getting caught. Hongjoong would change into the clothes and since he was already pretending to be a captain to a merchant ship he could just keep up that charade and pretend that he had just sold what was left of his entire stock. And as for his members they would be some army soldiers who saw him sell his goods and decided to accompany him back to his ship so he would not get robbed.
On the way to the Twilight there were a few instances where they were stopped and questioned by soldiers who were patrolling about what they were doing and the answer Hongjoong always gave was something along the lines of "I'm a captain to a merchant ship and I just sold all my wears and these soldiers were kind enough to escort me back to my ship so i wouldn't be robbed" and thank the gods above that they fell for it every time and left them alone.
Yet, by the time they made it back to the ship the news had gotten out and the entire city was on high alert.
"Ahoy! Captains back!" A young boy with long blonde hair yelled out from the birdnests of the Twilight after he spotted Hongjoong and the other pirates on docks beside the ship.
Following the boys yell many loud fast footsteps was heard on the deck of the ship. As everyone on board had ran to the ships railing that was beside the docks and looked over it with matching wide grins.
All but one of the tallest men on board with light brown hair, he was not smiling but instead he looked very anxious as he gave a good look over to everyone who had returned. When he appeared to be finished he let out a deep relieved sigh. "Ah- shit."
That same man quickly jumped over the ships railing and before Hongjoong could get fully off the front of cart to greet everyone that man had practically engulfed his much smaller form by giving him a tight hug.
This man was Song Mingi, ATEEZ's quartermaster and Hongjoong's second in command.
"I was getting really fuckin worried." Mingi said with his voice sounding slightly strained almost like he was on the verge of crying.
Knowing the man he probably was, so feeling remorseful for causing him to become distressed Hongjoong lifted one of his arms and rubbed the upper back of the other in a gentle and soothing manner.
Mingi seemingly took a moment to collect himself before he spoke again.
"What took ye so long?" Mingi asked as he separated the two of them from each other and took a few steps back so Hongjoong could get off the cart to which he did.
"There was way more loot than originally anticipated this 'ere is only half of it all." Hongjoong answered, grabbing the curtain behind himself and the drivers seat that covered the front of the cart.
Mingi glanced past the curtain and his eyes widened in disbelief before he focused back on Hongjoong now with a look of worry in his eyes. "Where's the other half?"
Hongjoong dropped his hand back to his side.
"Buried and hidden in the forest outside of the manor. But we were racing the sun so I'm not sure 'ow well it's done." Hongjoong shook his head in anguish and Mingi returned the feeling by letting out a pained groan as he slapped his hand over his eyes.
"I would have us go back and get the rest after nightfall but it seems the news has already gotten out. It would be too risky. We'll just have to come right back after we get this half safe." Hongjoong turned his head and looked behind the cart at the now large number of soldiers scurrying to one another in a frenzy with matching vexed frowns.
Mingi dropped his hand from his face and followed where Hongjoong's eyes were looking.
"Dammit." Mingi angrily cursed when he saw the soldiers.
"But I still think I should make sure it's well hidden before we set sail. I'll have San go with me in case I run into any problems." Hongjoong informed as he turned his head back to face Mingi who immediately looked back at him.
It was when Mingi had just begun nodding his head in agreement that a group of five soldiers came up to them with a mix of panic and fright on all their faces.
"Pardon me." One of the soldiers politely said to Hongjoong before he ushered with his hand for the four ATEEZ members dressed in the army uniforms to follow him and the other soldiers.
The four pirates looked to Hongjoong for an answer on what they should do with a almost blank expression but there was still a poorly hidden fear in their eyes.
Luckily, it didn't seem like the soldiers knew that they were pirates since they had not asked Hongjoong to go with them as well. But this was still a tedious situation they found themselves in which they had no choice but to obey and follow the soldiers otherwise they would arouse suspicion for disagreeing and they would be found out.
Hongjoong gave a slight nod that was barely even noticeable unless you had been staring at him. Which his members were and with matching fake masks of concern they followed the soldiers a bit away from the ship but not far enough away that Hongjoong couldn't hear them when they spoke in hushed voices.
"The entire Son family has been killed and their manor has been completely ransacked."
His crew members were quick to put on an act of disbelief and fear as their faces contorted into ones of great shock, letting out gasps.
"The king has called for all civilians to be put under house arrest for their own safety. So our job is to make sure that happens and to keep an eye out for any suspicious individuals and investigate them. You are also not to be alone, you will work in pairs."
"Yes sir. We'll go once we see this merchant ship off." The man who spoke in a confident voice was Kang Yeosang, ATEEZ's navigator, sea artist and second pilot.
"Alright, don't linger. Be quick in sending them on their way."
It was then that those five soldiers scattered going almost fully out of sight and when his members walked back over to him while maintaining a composed front.
"Captain, did you hear that?" Yeosang asked in a hushed voice while anxiously glancing around them.
Hongjoong nodded and he crossed his arms over his chest, already thinking of a plan to get them out of this situation.
"What the hell are we going to do? We'll never be able to board the ship with them hanging round." It was Jung Wooyoung, ATEEZ's sail master and first lookout who nearly brought attention to them with the way the volume of his voice was just short of him yelling out of frustration.
This caused Hongjoong and the four pirates dressed in army uniforms to frantically look around them to see if anyone had heard him.
And thank the gods, it looked like no one had.
But even so one of the disguised pirates pinched Wooyoung's bicep rounghly in punishment for it.
"Shh- dipshit." And that was Choi San, ATEEZ'S master of arms and master gunner and he was looking very irritated.
"Ahh- I'm sorry." Wooyoung groaned out in pain but even though that was a scolding and had hurt him he was now wearing a pleased wide grin as he rubbed the spot he was pinched.
Hongjoong rolled his eyes although he did appreciate that San had reprimanded him in spite of the fact that Wooyoung had enjoyed it so he did not have to do it himself since he needed to think over his plan once more.
"For the time being do as you were told and escort civilians to their houses in pairs with one another. We'll pretend to leave but we'll just go a little upstream. And when you find the best moment to slip away, take it and come find us." Hongjoong informed them of the plan then looked over to Mingi for his opinion on this. To which Mingi furrowed his brows in thought for a moment before he nodded in agreement.
"What a bother." This unamused voice belonged to Choi Jongho, ATEEZ's lead medic and lead surgeon who crossed his arms over his chest out of annoyance.
"Just shut up and stay put while we load this onto the ship." Hongjoong commanded with a slight anger in his voice and that was enough to make Jongho stop his complaining.
Hongjoong then turned to look at the rest of his crew who were still standing by the ships railing, in a search for two boys that he could not seem to find.
"Where's Hayun and Siwoo? Have they freed the soldiers?" Hongjoong asked, the question being directed towards Mingi even though he didn't make eye contact with him as he was looking over the crew again.
"They both left before sunrise with the soldiers and they have yet to return." Mingi said with a worry in his voice that only grew with each word that left his lips.
"Fuck, this isn't good." Hongjoong cursed as he turned to face Mingi, matching the other man's face of great concern.
"No need to fret captain, we're back."
The captain would have probably been startled by the sudden familiar voice behind him of one of the very people he was worried about had his guard not have been up.
Hongjoong turned around and found both teenage boys who in a way were very similar and yet so different at the same time. Both shared quite a bit of the same characteristics, the same towering tall height, similar lean and muscular builds, and the same roles within the crew, carpenter and brute.
But there was many more things they did not have in common like how Chu Hayun had short hair that was dyed into a sandy light pink color that was slightly longer than Ahn Siwoo's whose hair was dyed into a jet black color that was close to being blue. Along with Hayun's facial features being more softer and gentle in comparison to Siwoo's more sharper and defined ones and also Hayun's complexion being more tanned than Siwoo's. Not to even mention their personalities being complete opposites. Hayun was one of the most liveliest and cheerful members in the crew while Siwoo was one of the most reclusive and laid back members in the crew.
"Aye, no thanks to this asshole, he had to go sightseeing." Siwoo complained in a sarcastic manner, rolling his eyes out of anger.
"I was not sightseeing, I was trying to avoid soldiers. The whole city is crawling with them." Hayun defended himself with the happy smile he previously had on dropping into an angered line as he turned from facing Hongjoong to Siwoo.
"Well, you didn't need to stupid. We look like commoners. You could have gotten us caught." Siwoo snapped, getting closer to being throughly pissed. Also turning from Hongjoong to face Hayun with his fists clenched at his sides.
"You can never be too safe especially with your blue hair, Woosi." Hayun provoked Siwoo with not only the nickname but also by grabbing a fist full of Siwoo's hair with a snarky smirk on his face.
"It's not blue and you know your hair is pink, right? You look like a damn flamingo. You would have been the one to get us caught." You could tell Siwoo was close to punching him but he was holding himself back and instead grabbed Hayun's forearm and pulled it away from his head.
As you can see these two were quite the pair. It didn't take much for them to argue that's why it happens so often and most times if not all times they end in them getting into physical fights with one another. They had even left scars on each other from how hard they go at it like the horizontal scar cut line on Hayun's right cheekbone or the horizontal scar cut line above Siwoo's left eyebrow. But beyond their differences they actually really do deeply care for one another and are very close, so close that they can't be apart.
Hongjoong had to put a stop to this before it turned into a full blown brawl and they got themselves thrown in jail or worse got them all caught.
"It doesn't matter." Hongjoong said with a smile which brought them back to reality. Siwoo released Hayun's forearm and they both turned to their captain.
"I'm just glad you both made it back okay." Hongjoong grabbed them both by their shoulders and pulled them into a big hug. That was returned instantly.
It lasted only a few moments before Hongjoong separated them from each other.
"I assume it went well?" Hongjoong asked as he walked in between them and to the cart they had took the soldiers in that was behind them. Once he was close enough he moved the curtain that was behind the drivers seat and peeked inside.
Finding absolutely nothing there, he turned back to the two who were already staring at him.
"Aye, it did for the most part. We dropped them off close to the manor like you said." When Siwoo said that first sentence he gave Hayun a quick angered glance which was followed by a dramatic eye roll from Hayun then he focused back on Hongjoong.
"Good job. We have to hurry now. Help us load this onto the ship." Hongjoong began heading over to the cart that held all the loot and the two boys were more than eager to follow him.
This time they were the ones who grabbed the curtain behind the drivers seat and when they pulled it open their jaws dropped, letting out astonished gasps.
"Holy shit! It's so much." From behind them on the ship the tallest man on board excitedly exclaimed. And that man was Jeong Yunho, ATEEZ's boatswain and master cooper.
The others around him on the deck followed and said similar things out of elation and surprise.
Hongjoong couldn't help but chuckle at seeing their joyful faces as he spoke loudly enough for them to hear. "Don't celebrate just yet! We haven't gotten it safe!"
"Everyone get ready to set sail." Hongjoong announced loudly to the crew with a toothy grin.
"Aye Aye, captain!" Everyone on board enthusiastically agreed and rushed to their places of work at an almost lightning speed with the widest of smiles on each of their faces.
That's when Hongjoong and the ones who were not on the ship and not in soldier uniforms began grabbing the heavy sacks of loot from the cart and taking them into the ships hull and into a secret compartment underneath a sneakily located trapdoor.
It took them not very long at all since they had all those people helping. But now it was time for the ones disguised in soldier uniforms to part from the rest of the crew because much to their dismay the soldiers who had told them of the raid had not left the area.
"Dammit, they're still not gone." Jongho groaned out, evidently more annoyed than frightened about what them being there entailed.
"This is bullshit. Do we really have to, cap?" Wooyoung angrily asked also apparently totally unconcerned about the danger of what they were about to do.
San and Yeosang as well seemingly shared Wooyoung's and Jongho's irritability with the way their eyebrows were deeply furrowed.
They were obviously confident enough to be pissed about this instead of being worried that's for sure. Unlike their captain who hesitated to speak.
He didn't know whether he should be at ease and even proud about their lack of concern and their confidence in themselves about being able to handle this or be extremely worried about it.
Being cocky and overconfident is a great weakness and will get even the most experienced pirate killed due to their carelessness. They couldn't afford to be that right now not while in the countries capital especially not when Hongjoong can't be there to protect them if things did turn for the worst because of their negligence.
But regardless this really was for the best and was the only option that did not involve any unnecessary bloodshed or all of them being chased out to sea.
Hongjoong would just have to put his trust in them to follow through with the plan and to be careful.
"Aye, just stick to the plan and don't fuck around and get yourselves killed and return those horses and carts for us, yeah?" Hongjoong demanded and despite his best efforts of trying to trust his members fully an unwelcomed worry still started to form, making his chest feel tight.
"Alright then." Wooyoung agreed, biting back his blatant frustration.
Hongjoong wanted to hug them but was reluctant to do so since the soldiers were still around. His members in spite of not being anxious like him looked as if they wanted to as well. Probably wanting to comfort and reassure their captain to not worry with a hug.
But instead of doing what they could not Yeosang said some comforting parting words that did good at putting Hongjoong's mind at ease.
"We'll see you soon, cap." Yeosang smiled reassuringly with a slight nod of his head.
"Let's be off. Come on Yeo." Jongho also nodded his head at Hongjoong instead of saying goodbye. Then with a cheeky grin he grabbed Yeosang's wrist and began to head towards one of the carts with Yeosang trailing behind.
But not even before they could get three steps away San grabbed a hold of Yeosang's other wrist, forcing them to come to a halt.
"No. Yeosang's coming with me." San declared in a cold threatening tone that contrasted with the sickly sweet smile on his face. It caused shivers to be sent down the spines of all the witnesses. That is except for Wooyoung whose eyebrows furrowed in anger and mouth opened to release a sound of betrayal.
"I see how it is."
San sighed exasperatedly before turning his head to look at Wooyoung, still keeping a firm grip on Yeosang's wrist. "Dear Woo, don't take this personally."
"I'm taking it personally. I thought we had something special. Guess I was wrong." Wooyoung bellyached, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I can spend time with the others too. I'm always with you." San let go of Yeosang and faced his entire body to Wooyoung who quickly turned away from him in protest so his back was to San.
San's growing frustration was apparent on his face.
"It's not like we live on the same ship or anything. You already spend time with the others every single day." Wooyoung angerily argued, still without facing the man.
"But just like all the other times when I do you make me stop to be with you." San claimed in a huff, attempting to get Wooyoung to look at him by grabbing his shoulder. To which his hand was slapped away in a hurry but at least he got Wooyoung to turn to him.
"You're just as jealous as I am so don't act so high and mighty but sure if you want to spend time with the others so bad, be my guest." Wooyoung snapped back while pointing his finger accusingly towards San's chest.
San's mouth hung agap in disbelief, very obviously lacking a rebuttal.
"Come on, Jongho." Wooyoung smirked bitterly at San, shoving past him with his shoulder.
But since they were both too caught up in their petty lovers spat they didn't notice that both Jongho and Yeosang had already left with one of the carts and horses and were not longer in sight. Which forced them two to go together.
Hongjoong could no longer hold his laugh anymore.
"Hahaha!"
"Ugh." Wooyoung rolled his eyes in an overly dramatic manner. Then gave Hongjoong a quick nod for a goodbye before he swiftly made his way to the only remaining cart. When he made it there he hopped in the drivers seat and without waiting for San started to leave.
"Wait up, dearest!" San desperately shouted out to him, then turned to Hongjoong.
"See ya." San hastily bid farewell to Hongjoong with a slight bow of his torso before chasing after the cart that had barely even got any distance away.
'Like children.' Hongjoong thought with a smile that was both fond and exhausted in equal measure.
Once San had easily caught up to the cart he also hopped into the drivers seat and even though Hongjoong could no longer see them because of the carts curtains blocking the way he could still hear what San said next with his voice lowered into a deep seductive tone.
"How about I make it up to you, would you like that?"
He could also hear the girlish giggle that followed from Wooyoung.
"Imbeciles, both of them. They better not get caught because they want to scrog or so help me." Hongjoong groaned out in anger, turning to the ship then going up the ramp and onto the ships deck.
"Let's get this ship moving!" Hongjoong yelled to which the crew immediately got to work in doing just that.
All in all he was left more worried now than he originally was before.