Young and Wild || seongjoong || ATEEZ

Chapter Five : The Misty Isles

Chapter warnings: violence and mild sexual content 

On the third day, the Destiny docked at a small port in the early morning hours.

It was a tiny island, one that would really take some harsh damage in the case of a tropical storm and would struggle to rebuild, but it would do just fine for the pirate crew who needed to stock up on some supplies before they made the last bit of their journey to the Misty Isles.

They would stay the day and leave the next morning when the sun rose again, which had been the orders from the captain. Hongjoong had suggested that Yeosang would stay back on the ship to monitor Jongho's condition but to alert them if he tried to escape now that they had docked. Seonghwa had thought that was silly because the young man could hardly move, there was no way he'd be able to free himself from the shackles that had already rubbed the skin on his wrists raw and escape from the ship.

But the blonde pirate did not fight back or even question the necessity of him staying back. He simply nodded his head and watched the rest of the crew grab face coverings made of old cloth to tie around their faces to try and hide their identity. Not that any of them thought someone would recognize them on a port island as tiny as the one they had docked in, but it seemed the captain was not taking any chances.

They would be looking around for ammo and barrels of water, and even any dried or salted food they could get their hands on. Wooyoung had put in a special request for extra sea biscuits, to which the first mate said they'd look for some if they had the money.

The seagulls were loud in the bay, swooping down into the water to snatch a fish that dared to swim too close to the surface of the water. Their cries were comforting in a way, especially to Seonghwa's ears as they had not been close to land for a long time and it always brought him certain ease to know that land did still exist in the world after being surrounded by water for what felt like an eternity.

The days had been tense. Tense in the way that no one seemed to acknowledge or even accept what had happened only a week prior. No one spoke of it, there were no side discussions, no thoughts behind closed doors. The crew acted like the situation hadn't happened. Even the blood stain on the wooden floor in the captain's quarters had disappeared without much of a word. Yeosang did his job in the shadows, he was hush about it. He washed his bloodied hands quietly and did not make a fuss about it- unlike the amount of commotion he'd make when someone else was hurt and he was forced to care for their stupidity.

Even the captain gave orders like it hadn't been his whip that had broken the skin of the young man who laid a few wooden barriers below him. Though he didn't seem to walk around like he had bested a great beast- Hongjoong did not act as if he had dehorned the mighty and powerful ox- like Seonghwa honestly thought he would.

It only confused him further.

Even Seonghwa found himself sliding into the odd tension active play that the crew had partaken in. He did as he was supposed to, cleaned the guns and sharpened the knives and swords that were presented to him, and tidied up the main deck even though it had already been cleaned three times since the incident.

He often felt the captain's eyes on him from where he stood in his fur coat with his long hair blowing in the wind, as Seonghwa took a broom to the deck, not even finding stray straw to sweep up. Hongjoong didn't say anything to him or even tell him to stop, he just watched from a distance and let Seonghwa sweep the same plank over and over again.

That didn't change even after they docked. Originally, Yeosang had been the only one asked to stay back, but as Seonghwa held a dark cloth in his hands that he was supposed to put over his face so he could leave with the rest of the crew- he found that his stomach twisted with the idea of leaving the ship.