Rivals Seongjoong Ateez

01

      Seonghwa's pov

   "Hwa, you have to go. We need this to work out or else we'll never get anywhere in this world. Pack your bags and head to the dock. The Kim's will be there shortly to pick you up to meet their son," my dad said. I scoffed and crossed my arms.

    "Why must you sell me away to make amends? Why not your daughter?" I asked. My dad smiled.

    "Their son is gay, so I must send my only son to fix this." He said firmly, leaving no room to argue. I rolled my eyes and packed up my bags.

   I walked out with my bags to the docks and waited for a while before a ship came and lowered its anchor.

    An older male soon walked down from the ship and nodded his head at me.

    "I'm Kim Juyeon. You're Park Seonghwa, correct?" I nodded my head at his words. He smiled widely.

    "Good. Hongjoong has been ready for a relationship for-"

    "Woah, woah, woah. A relationship?" I cut him off. I looked behind him and saw a man my age walking down the dock. My eyes widened, causing the man to laugh softly.

   "That is my son, Hongjoong. I think you two will get along well. Hongjoong, help him get his bags," his dad smiled. Hongjoong smiled sweetly at me and easily lifted two of my four bags. I grabbed my other two and followed him onto the ship.

"So you're Seonghwa? I've heard a lot about you from our fathers," Hongjoong smiled softly as I unpacked my bags into his— or rather now our— room.

"Yep, that's me. You're Hongjoong?" I asked as I put my clothes into an empty drawer and on one side of the closet.

"Yeah. I'm sorry if this is blunt, but you're beautiful, Seonghwa. I'd love for us to get closer," he spoke as he lifted my hand to his lips. He kissed the top of my hand before I yanked it away.

"I'm sorry, Hongjoong, but I knew nothing about this until this morning. Please understand that I will take a while to get used to new people." I spoke softly as I put my plushy on the bed. I could never sleep without him.

"Well, I'm sorry, prince but you live here now. You got to get used to us quickly, because we're your friends now." He looked curiously at my plushy.

"That's mr bubbles. He's my stuffed fish and I can't sleep without him." I said as I laid down on the bed. The stress of being in a new environment exhausted me.

"Ah, okay. Well, dinner is in an hour. I'll wake you then," he said as he shut the door. He came to lay beside me, scrolling away on his phone.

"You said I have to get used to you all quickly, right?" I asked after a few minutes of surprisingly comfortable silence.

"Yes?"

"Will you hold me while I sleep? I sleep better with someone," I asked softly. Hongjoong smiled softly and opened his arms. I laid down in his arms, my head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer.

"Sleep well, prince," Hongjoong said as I began falling asleep, feeling comforted by his warmth and hold.

"Prince, you have to wake up now. It's time to eat," Hongjoong spoke as he gently shook me awake.

"No, I'm comfortable," I whined and buried my head in his chest.

I realized what I was doing and sat upright quickly. He looked at me confused and slightly sadly.

"I'm sorry, but I was way too comfortable to have just met you. It's odd," I mumbled and rubbed my eyes. He gently took my hands away from my face with a small smile on his lips.

"Isn't that a good thing? We have to get married in a month anyway to appease our families," Hongjoong smiled. My eyes widened.

"We have to get married?" I asked incredulously. Hongjoong nodded his head.

"Would you not want to marry me?" He asked.

"We literally just met two hours ago! How could you want to marry me?" I asked.

"Because I can tell you're a genuinely kind person, and that's the kind of person I need to help me rule this ship. How about this: we can go on dates and such for the next two weeks. If you decide you can't love me later on, then I'll send you back and we'll have peace between us because you tried to love me." He offered. I gave it some thought then nodded my head.

"Okay, that sounds good. Thank you, Hongjoong, for allowing me to have options in this. I'll try my best to see this relationship through, though it is kind of hard to imagine marrying someone I just met," I smiled shyly. He kissed the tops of my hands before pulling me out of the bed.

"Come on, let's go eat!"

We talked and ate for around half an hour before returning to his room, laughing our butts off at a joke he made.

We changed out of our day clothes and threw them into the dirty clothes hamper.

"Hongjoong?" I asked softly as I looked at the pair of pajamas I packed.

"Yes?" He asked.

"You won't laugh at me for my onesie right?" I asked as I zipped it up.

"No, Seonghwa, I'm sure you look adorable," he laughed softly as I turned around. I was in a brown bear onesie. It was really comfortable so I packed it to sleep in.

"Aww, you look so cute!" He exclaimed and pinched my cheeks softly. I gently pulled his hands away from my face and pouted.

"I'm a pirate! I'm not cute!" I exclaimed. He smiled at me and shook his head wordlessly.

"You are," he whispered, thinking I hadn't heard him. I smiled softly, knowing I would fall for him quickly and harshly.

"Thank you," I smiled and laid down beside him. He was just in his boxers so I blushed softly, hoping he didn't notice.

"Are you shy? I can cover up if you'd like me to," Hongjoong spoke sweetly. I quickly shook my head.

"No, you're on your own ship in your own room. You should be comfortable," I said as I turned away from him.

"Is there any other reason?" He teased. I shook my head and pretended to sleep.

"Come on, you can tell me if you like what you see," he teased me. He gently rubbed along my jaw with his pointed finger, causing me to shiver under his touch.

He was attractive to say the least. His tanned skin was scarred from battles and muscular. I liked how he looked.

"I do," I whispered shyly. He smiled and kissed my cheek before realizing what he had done.

"I'm sorry, I think that may have been too far for you, and I apologize," he stammered. I smiled softly and rolled over to face him.

"You missed," I teased him this time. His cheeks flushed red.

"What?" He asked. I leaned up and kissed his lips quickly before rolling back over.

"Are you sure you were comfortable with that?" He asked softly as he rubbed my arm. I nodded my head as my cheeks darkened.

"Yeah, it was nice."

"Good, but why would you kiss me this soon? Aren't you still uncomfortable with being around me?" He asked softly.

"Not really. I can tell you're nice by how you treated your crew. You didn't yell at them for spilling water on the table and helped them clean it up. I can tell you'd be kind to me, so I'm okay with getting closer to you," I explained. He smiled shyly.

"Can we kiss again? I liked it," he laid down beside me instead of sitting beside me.

"Of course. We are dating now, right?" I smiled and kissed his lips slower this time. I felt sparks fly. I knew it. I found my soulmate on an enemy pirate ship.