Eight makes one crew

Family reunion

"You don't need them!" Seongwha repeated, his voice rising in pitch the longer that he talked. He should have kept his mouth shut. The Queen stood up, her dress dragging behind her as she descended the stairs and stopped in front of her son.

"Oh, I know. But I knew you wouldn't come without them. Consider those three to be...collateral. You do what I say and they don't get hurt. But if you don't, or you speak out of line, well..." She made a sudden motion and Seongwha barely had time to turn around before he heard skin meeting skin and then a loud crack and Yeosang cried out. Seongwha turned, in time to see his oldest cousin bow down on the floor, one hand wrapped around his stomach. He was gasping for air, his lips open like a fish begging for oxygen. 

"Your sick" Seongwha spat at her. Another loud smack and Seongwha knew it wasn't Yeosang this time. When he looked behind him, San was glaring at one of the nearby guards, his lip bleeding slowly. Seongwha understood now. Just like Hongjoong with his crew, the only way to get through to Seongwha was to hurt those he loved. 

"I'll do what you want. Just don't hurt them" Seongwha pleaded, desperate to keep his family from getting hurt anymore.

"Good. Your henchman will show you to your rooms and help you get freshened up. You look like a rogue" She commented with disgust. Seongwha bit his tongue and let himself be led away. Yeosang, San and Mingi were taken somewhere else and Seongwha could only hope that they wouldn't be hurt anymore. He'd never forgive himself if they were. As soon as the door closed behind them, the Queen turned to the pirate crew. 

"Why are you all still here?" She wondered.

"The reward, your highness. Anyone who brought the four princes was promised a large reward" Chan explained.

"Oh yes of course" She snapped her fingers, and a young maiden came forward, presenting a cloth bag to her. The woman picked it up, tossing it so it landed at Chan's feet. He looked at it for a moment before gathering his pride and bending down to grab it. 

"Now get out of my sight" She ordered, wrinkling her nose. Chan bowed, though he hated the woman more than anything, and led his group out. The Queen sniffed, then ordered her guards to go after them. 

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"Surprise seeing you here" Yeosang wiped his eyes, curling further up into a ball.

"Shut up" Seungmin huffed. 

"Your mom's a witch" Minho remarked. Yeosang kind of laughed.

"First, she's more of a bitch than anything. And second, she's not my mom. Mingi and I are her nephews" Yeosang answered, resting his head on his arms. Mingi turned away when everyone looked at him. 

"Okay" Minho decided not to ask, it was none of his business and he still didn't like these guys. 

"I guess we should've looked more into the stupid reward before capturing you guys" Felix stated.

"Or you could have just asked. You may not trust us but we would have told you that you were only walking into a trap" San argued.

"Yeah, if there is anything that lady hates more than dirt, it's pirates. She never would have let you guys go once she had you. As you can see" Yeosang agreed, motioning to the iron bars around them. 

"Great. Just great" Felix huffed, copying Yeosang's posture. It was quiet for two minutes.

"How did you guys become pirates?" Jeongin wondered, eager to know. It was the whole reaosn he spent so much time with them on the ship, even though he didn't say anything. He was trying to work up the courage to ask. But now that they were stuck in close contact with each other, it seemed as good a time as any.

"We ran away. I was going to be King in three days and i didn't want to be so I ran away. These guys just followed me because..." Seongwha stopped. He actually didn't know why the younger three followed him out of the castle. They all avoided eye contact with him. 

"Because we knew that once he was gone, we wouldn't see him again and it was better to go too. If he couldn't be found, it'd only bring trouble for the rest of us" Yeosang answered, still staring at hte floor. 

"What are you talking about? Once I was gone, you would've become King. You always wanted that" Seongwha really didn't understand.

"Are you really that stupid?!" Yeosang snapped. Seongwha was surprised. 

"So you didn't want to rule!?" Seongwha questioned.

"No! I fucking didn't want to rule and I never would've gotten to! I'm just the cousin, remember?! I'm not even the spare. Do you want to know why I followed you? Because if I didn't, I would have been killed! We all would have. She would have gone mad trying to find you that she wouldn't care what happened to the rest of us and we would be tortured for information on you! So yeah, we followed you! We gave up everything for you" Yeosang pushed Seongwha into the conjoining wall. Seongwha stared at him, trying to process that. He knew that his mother was mad but would she really have done that? The Miroh crew looked back and forth between the two, kind of enjoying the drama but also a little worried that this was going to turn bloody at any moment. 

"Why don't we all calm down?" Chan suggested.

"Shut up!" Seongwha and Yeosang turned to him together. 

"Sit down!" Chan ordered. Seongwha and Yeosang dropped to the floor, glaring at each other. It took all of two seconds before realizing what had happened. They hadn't fought since they were ten and eleven and Seongwha caught Yeosang listening in on a private meeting. He didn't actually care that Yeosang heard anything but if he was caught by anyone else, Seongwha wouldn't be able to protect him.

"We're all stuck in here. So let's not fight" Chan instructed.

"Whatever" Seongwha sat down, sulking in the corner. The place was quiet for a long time. He wasn't even supposed to be there but his mother insisted on it because 'he was just as much of a pirate as the rest of them' and she hated pirates.

A while later, he was pulled back out. Along with everyone else. Seongwha did not normally care about the Miroh crew but he was not going to let them get hurt because of him. So, with all eleven other pirates against the wall behind him, he was the picture of perfection. Seongwha had to suck up his pride and do everything that his mother said. This was infuriating.

"I talked to your future bride, the family has agreed that the wedding is still on. In three days" She stated. Now Seongwha could keep his mouth shut about several things but this was not one of them.

"I am not getting married! You can take that proposal and shove it up your-!" Seongwha froze and stopped talking.

"Felix!" Chan scrambled to his feet but he was held back. Seongwha turned his head to find Felix was being held with a knife to his throat, still smiling. His eyes betrayed him, shining with fear.

"Fine. Just leave them alone" Seongwha gritted his teeth. He really hoped that Hongjoong would show up soon. Like next three days soon.