Kidnap

14

Wooyoung, San, Yunho, Jongho, and Mingi all were sitting in a circle of the crew cabin area, waiting for Yeosang to finish up with the Captain. Apparently the Captain had decided to transfer this Seonghwa to his own cabin. They did not really understand what it was that had gotten a hold of Hongjoong, but none of them had the courage to say anything either. Wooyoung was surprised enough that he had brought the prisoner to the meal room. That had been a shocker that none of them had expected. It had also caused quite the...awkward atmosphere. Dinner had been a very quite affair, and none had the courage to really speak. It also did not help that all of them had been taken unawares. They had known that Hongjoong was amused of the little prison Prince, but they had not expected him to welcome him to the meal room! That had been a rather unexpected development. So, naturally, nobody really spoke on the circumstances. This little meeting was trying to clear their heads, and perhaps put them together to figure out what it was that was going on in their Captain's head.

That was really a rather hopeless endeavor, they all knew, so it was not really surprising to anyone that this was mostly going to be then venting and trying to straighten their head around the newcomer. They had not thought that Hongjoong would get so hung up on him, but he had, and now they had to figure out how it was that they were going to handle it. Or rather, how they were going to simply accept it, because if there was one thing that they were not able to do, it was force Hongjoong into doing or not doing anything. He was quite the loose cannon on the best of days, so it was not exactly ideal to confront him. It was why they admired Yeosang so much, for doing exactly that whenever he could...it was also why they worried about Yeosang more than anyone else. They knew, if Hongjoong was going to kick one of them out and make them walk the plank it would likely be Yeosang. The other had a bad habit of doing things that Hongjoong was not a fan of. Wooyoung knew that he did too, but he was better at keeping it a secret from the Captain.

They sat anxiously on the floor, plucking the wooden floorboards with their nails or drilling their fingers on them as they waited for Yeosang to return from whatever it was that he had been called for. When it came to Hongjoong, it could go well, or it could go horribly wrong, and since Hongjoong had insisted on talking to Yeosang alone, with only Seonghwa around, they were worried about what it would mean. It could be that they were all just being stupid, but they would rather be stupid than be taken by surprise. It was always the better option.

"Hyung!" Jongho stood up sharply, moving towards Yeosang and hastily dragging him in whilst Yunho went to close the door behind them. "We were getting worried about you." He whispered in a somewhat hushed voice. Yeosang gave them a light smile, but it was tipped down slightly in worry. That was when they knew that something about the meeting had not gone as intended. Yeosang may try, but he was quite an honest expressionist when it came to them. Though he could easily fool some strangers, they were not strangers. They were close to each other.

"What happened?" Mingi questioned, directing them to the topic that none of them particularly wanted to talk about. It was necessary though, and they all knew that. They had to talk about this sort of thing because if they did not it would build up, and they already had to worry about a slightly insane Captain, they did not want to have to worry for themselves too. Though, Hongjoong was quite the captain, and none would ever want to leave him, there could be little doubt that he had his moments of...insanity more so than most.

"He is keeping the Prince," Yeosang whispered, sitting in between Wooyoung and Jungho. "He is keeping him. I thought we were going to hold the Prince ransom, maybe for a few months and make the King pay, both metaphorically and literally, but it would seem as though Captain has other ideas." Yeosang relayed softly. His eyes were wide as he stared at the others. "I don't know what has come over him."

"Seonghwa is rather pretty." San muttered under his breath, leading Wooyoung to elbow him sharply in the side. San frowned, rubbing his side with his hand but not saying anything else.

"The point is, I don't really know what he intends for the Prince. What I do know is that he wants to keep him, but I am not sure what capacity that would entail. Whether he just wants to use him as a sort of concubine, or if it is something else."

"I think he wants to turn him into a pirate." Yunho hesitantly said. The others turned to stare at him, disbelief coursing through their features.

"I'm sorry, what makes you think that?" Mingi asked, tilting his head curiously as he stared at Yunho. it was a rather...sharp belief to have, and they had to admit that it was not something that they had bothered to entertain. Most of them had thought that Hongjoong was going to take the Second Prince, kidnap him, maybe rough him up a bit, but overall the goal had been to hold him for ransom. It would seem that this was not the case, and here was someone saying that Hongjoong intended to turn him into a pirate? Seonghwa?

"Have you seen the man? I know you have, he was at the feast. That man? There is no way that he could become a pirate." Yeosang shook his head at Wooyoung's words.

"No, Yunho has a point. He hasn't been in the belly of the boat since the first few days, and then he was taken care of...at least as best as I was allowed, and now he has already taken the boy to meet the rest of us. There is quite a good chance that Hongjoong does want to turn Seonghwa into a Pirate."

"Have you seen him? He is more timid than anyone I've ever had the displeasure of meeting." Wooyoung scoffed. Yeosang rolled his eyes at the other man.

"That doesn't exactly mean much..." He said gently.