Young and Wild || seongjoong || ATEEZ

Chapter Three : The End of An Age

Chapter warning: brief violence 

"I'll ask ye again, how did this happen?"

The captain's words were heavy as they filled the room with a looming presence. Each individual word almost seemed personal as the captain stared deeply at them, his gaze was assertive and piercing in a way that made it hard to look anywhere else in the captain's quarters even though the urge to look away was desperate.

The last rays of the sun shone in through the opaque windows, casting odd shadows into the room as the ship was rocked forward and backward carefully in the calm sea. Despite the sweet atmosphere- the kind that seemed aesthetic in a warm and glowy type of way which reminded Seonghwa of what it was like to walk down the long aisle of the castle's cathedral during dusk when the sun would shine in through the stained glass windows and create colored light that was unnatural yet still so warm to the skin- there was nothing all that calming about the way the captain was looking at them.

Hongjoong was not standing, rather he was sitting in a chair that he had pulled away from his desk with his leg crossed over the other with some sort of pipe in his hand that he had pressed to his lips. There was a smoky scent to the room, and even the dim light caught onto how hazy it was in the captain's quarters.

Seonghwa wondered just how long Hongjoong had been smoking before he called them to his room.

"Will no one speak?" He asked again, his chin tilted up as his eyes glanced to where Yunho was standing still towards the center of the room. "Speak."

Seonghwa could see the way the first mate's nose seemed to twitch at the command as Yunho pressed his lips together firmly, his own gaze shifting over to where Wooyoung was leaning against the wall of the cabin.

The young spy had a blank face that sported a swollen bruise to his right cheekbone, the color blooming a deep blue and purple that looked painful without any pressure being applied to it. It seemed Wooyoung had a burst blood vessel in his right eye as well, whatever sort of impact he had taken really had done a number on his face.

Seonghwa watched how Wooyoung pushed off the wall with a hefty sigh, his attitude displaying some sort of dramatics that Seonghwa feared would piss the captain off even more. Though Hongjoong didn't seem to mind much as his darkened eyes shifted from his first mate to Wooyoung who seemed to promise an answer that he had been asking for.

"It was a fluke," Wooyoung answered. "Ye know the men of that town are easily triggered, even if it was one of them who ran into me, they would see it as my fault."

"So ye did not start it?" Hongjoong asked carefully as he pushed the pipe into his mouth and sucked in before letting the smoke spill from his parted lips.

"Nay, I was on my way out," Wooyoung told him as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Bumped into me like I was nothing more than a wooden post. He spilled his drink all over himself and turned around to strangle me like I had grabbed the drink from his hand and dumped it over his head."

"And then he chased after ye," Hongjoong offered, letting both of his hands settle in his lap.

"Aye."

The captain was silent for a moment or two, his eyes dancing between Yunho and Wooyoung before they eventually fell upon Seonghwa.

"And ye were able to get the map piece?" Hongjoong asked next, and while Seonghwa knew he had directed the question towards Wooyoung, the captain was still looking at him intently.