Pirate King: An ATEEZ & ONEUS Novella

Chapter One

Jung Wooyoung blinks awake. A searing pain splits through his skull as he cringes at the sudden agony. What happened? His vision is a little blurry, but there is a ton of the color brown that registers. He manages to utter a low moaning sound and closes his eyes, trying to fight the pain waves and clear his eyesight.

A few minutes pass by, as he begins to remember what happened. A boat crashed into the recording session. Then, before long, some thug had pinned him against a wall and took a sword and knocked him over the head with it.

He snaps his eyes open. His vision is clear and the pain is duller.

He can see a few dozen wooden barrels inside of a giant iron enclosure. What the heck? Where am I? He slowly scans the room, but there isn't much to see.

It is then that he becomes aware of cold metal on his skin. He looks down and sees he is wearing a loose long-sleeve dress shirt and black pants. The shirt's sleeves are rolled up midway and the collar is unbuttoned by three buttons, showing off some chest and clavicle. He raises an eyebrow.

Was I kidnapped by a woman?

It's the only thing he can think of at the moment with his outfit.

He continues to observe his look and finds that his arms having been pulled behind his back. A quick glance over his shoulder tells him that his wrists have been chained together crudely and, as his gaze follows a longer chain to a thick wooden pole in the center of this iron-walled room, panic begins to settle in.

He snaps his head around, his eyes flying wide. "HEY! WHAT'S THIS?!"

Wooyoung attempts to get up to his bare feet, clanking the chain noisily with his sudden motion. "LET ME GO!!"

There is a loud groan and creaking, followed by a sharp lean to the right.

Wooyoung gasps, staggering in place and stumbling to the right along with the room. Before he is thrust to the left and back down to the ground. He smacks his face hard against the floor, but it isn't enough to knock him out.

However, Wooyoung realizes what has happened. His stomach twists into knots and churns with unease. He gradually pushes himself back up as best as he can with his wrists chained behind his back.

"Sleeping beauty's awake! Say it ain't so!" a low nasally voice cries out.

Wooyoung snaps his head in the direction of the voice. He spots a short man (definitely under five-foot-eleven) walking into the room. He's dressed in pirate gear: a long-sleeved white shirt under a black and red vest with black pants and knee-high boots. A matching black and red scarf is tied around his waist with a holster attached to it (and a cutlass sheathed in it). He halts a few feet from where Wooyoung is sprawled awkwardly on the floor and puts his hands on his hips.

Wooyoung looks into his cold dark pupils. It takes a few moments for him to recognize the man.

"Yeo...Hwanwoong...? Of ONEUS?"

Hwanwoong squats down to him and reaches one of his hands out to graze Wooyoung's cheek eerily lightly. "Who were you expecting, Choi Yeonjun?"

Wooyoung jerks his head away from the touch and frowns, knitting his brow together. "What are you doing? Since when does ONEUS sink low to copy us? Well, actually, since when do you sink as low as a villain to kidnap me?"

Hwanwoong chuckles. "You can call it jealousy. But I call it something else." He stands back up on his feet. "Strategy."

Wooyoung glares at him, swivels his wrists desperately in the cuffs, trying to slip free. "How is taking me strategy?"

Hwanwoong snorts. "Getting a leg up, cutting down the opponent, seizing the opportunity...you pick a reason."

"You said you wanted Jongho though," Wooyoung counters, bravely.

The singer for ONEUS scratches his chin. "I did, yes, but he wouldn't come out. I had to improvise. It's only a matter of time before he and the others arrive with a plan to rescue you. I'll be ready and waiting. Then I'll capture Choi Jongho, feed him to the sharks and FINALLY have my leg up on the versatile ATEEZ."

Wooyoung growls and finds the strength in his legs to push himself up to his feet. "You can't do this!"

"Actually, I can. I'm sorry, it's not really a song written easily, Wooyoungie." Hwanwoong chuckles like a madman.

Whatever the hell that crap means...