Long Journey || ATEEZ

Twilight

The port of Gantonia was bustling with ships, of all different sizes and origin – a large cargo ship with the Donakan flag imprinted on the side, a small fishing boat that looked positively tiny next to it, and a sleek yacht that was heading into the river way up along the coast. As the ATINY approached, Hongjoong caught sight of another pirate ship floating through the water alongside them.

Of course, there was an element of wariness, or one could say, unspoken rivalry, as the two large ships advanced towards land.

And this tension between the two pirate crews only grew further when a single arrow, coloured the darkest ebony, landed on the deck, inches away from San's boot. It slowly melted away into a puddle of inky-black blood, and lay there, like a warning.

Hongjoong tried his best to keep the crew upbeat, and tried his best to ignore the puddle of vampire blood and its significance, but it still bugged him. Even when it was removed on deck-cleaning day by Seonghwa.

"Alright guys," he said to the crew one day. "I think we should set up some kind of guard system for when the entire crew is asleep at night. Something about that other ship makes me uneasy."

"Yeah, I see what you mean by that, hyung," Yunho said. "It's like they're going to attack us at any moment."

"And that'll be fine until they ambush us at night," Yeosang added grimly.

"Exactly, so we'll get into pairs and patrol the ship in two-hour shifts during sleeping hours."

At this, Mingi immediately latched onto Yunho's arm like a koala, Wooyoung and San exchanged glances, Seonghwa moved a step or so closer to the captain, whilst Jongho and Yeosang shrugged, seeing that they were the only ones left.

"Ah," Hongjoong said, smiling. "But," he added, and Wooyoung raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "I've noticed that you guys've been hanging out in the same groups a lot. Namely, it's usually Wooyoung and San, Yunho and Mingi, me and Seonghwa, and all of the 99z."

The 99z were a nickname for the five members that were all of the same age, named after the last two digits of their birth year, 1999.

"So," Hongjoong continued. "I've decided we need to split these groups up. Sure, you guys do perform better in sparring and whatever when you're together, but what about when we're split up? What are you gonna do then?"

"True," Yunho agreed slowly, much to Mingi's alarm, who tightened his grip around Yunho's arm further.

Wooyoung and San didn't seem too happy about this either.

Catching their frowns, Hongjoong smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll make it fair – we'll be picking names out of a hat."

"But that's not the problem!" Wooyoung burst out.

"Holy Eterna, you're so loud," Jongho grumbled.

"I'm sorry Woo," Hongjoong said, smiling apologetically. "But it can't be helped."

Wooyoung seemed much less grumpy about things when they picked out the names, and he ended up being with San anyway. Hongjoong would have preferred a different pairing, but he had made it fair like he had said, and he didn't want to go back on his word. As for the other pairs, Yunho had ended up with Jongho, Hongjoong with Yeosang, and Mingi, much to the little fairy's despair and horror, with Seonghwa.

"Hey, hey," Yunho said comfortingly, patting the poor little fairy's back with sympathy after the group had dispersed to perform their individual duties. "It'll be fine – Seonghwa-hyung's not that bad – he's a good guy."

"I know," Mingi said miserably, "but that doesn't stop him from being absolutely terrifying," he whimpered.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," the shapeshifter repeated, still patting his friend's back. "If you're so worried, go talk to Hongjoongie-hyung."