𝓢𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓷'𝓼 𝓒𝓪𝓵𝓵

⏳Hands Off⏳

After 3 weeks of sailing, ATEEZ finally made it to the port of Ulsan. They docked and made their way to Yeosang's house. It wasn't too far from the port.
    They dropped off HETmongi and chatted for a bit to catch up. ATEEZ decided that they were gonna stay in Ulsan for a bit to see family.
For the week, ATEEZ went around and reunited with family members, but while they walked around the town for the last couple of days there, Hongjoong noticed an eerie presence. It felt like they were being followed. Hwa looked over and tugged at Hongjoong's sleeve. "Are you ok?" He mumbled. Hongjoong looked over at him and smiled softly. "It's nothing. I just feel a little off. I think I might just be a little paranoid. Don't worry."
On The last day they were docked, They got the last bit of stash for there ship like groceries, cleaning supplies, and just stuff they ran out of out on the ocean. They were going to sail the waters to find an island with beautiful treasures on it.
Hongjoong was planning to give the most precious and prettiest item to his beloved Wife. In his eyes, Hwa was beautiful and priceless and deserved beautiful and priceless items.
Once everything was set in place, they set sail. Yeosang, Hongjoong, Yunho, and San worked to get them away from the docks and soon they were out to sea again. They didn't have a specific place to go, but they were going to follow a route that they had never chosen before. It was time to see if they could find new items and new islands.
Once they were ways away from land, Hongjoong pranced around the ship with a spyglass, checking if he could see any islands in the distance. Hwa came up behind him and put his arms around his waist, resting his head on Hong's shoulder. Joong lowered the spyglass and gently held Hwa's face as he turned to kiss him. They broke the kiss and just stared into each other's eyes.
They suddenly heard a thud from downstairs which broke their trance. Joong decided to go and see what that was, leaving Hwa seemingly safe on the deck. He saw that some boxes fell over from the waves and reorganized them.
As he was organizing, he heard some commotion on the deck and was suddenly confused. Soon, Mingi ran down to Hong and alerted him that they were under attack. It was an ambush. A pit grew in his stomach. He knew they were being followed and blatantly ignored it. He ran to the deck with his sword in hand and was immediately attacked.
As he was fighting. he was looking around for Hwa, wanting to make sure he was ok. He saw Hwa standing his ground.
From the looks of it, they were after him. Hong was irritated that everyone was after Hwa. Hwa was theirs. Hwa was his. The other pirates made it difficult to get to Hwa.
Hwa kept getting grabbed by the pirates. It was like they were trying to pin him down. Since Hwa now had training on fighting, it wasn't easy to capture him anymore. He kept escaping the grip of the pirates.
After a bit, the pirates realized this wasn't gonna be as easy as they thought. One of them looked around and saw a loose plank on the ship. He grabbed it and tore it of the ship, snuck up behind Hwa and hit him over the head. Hwa fainted on impact, hitting the deck hard.
Joong saw it happen and started panicking. He couldn't reach Hwa. Anger and fear grew inside him. He managed to escape the corner he was put in. The pirates that were attacking Hwa were picking him up. They were kidnapping him.
HJ stabbed the pirate that was attacking him before going after the pirates holding Hwa. Out of nowhere, the same pirate that knocked Hwa out hit Hong with the plank, knocking him out too.
The rest of ATEEZ were too distracted by the pirates. They were outnumbered.
Once ATEEZ eliminated the pirates that were still on the ship, they moved to the center deck  where they found Joong on the ground. They rushed over to him, Jongho shaking him awake. "What happened?" Jongho asked panicked. Hongjoong sat up quickly. "Shit. They've got Hwa." He said hurriedly. He began to panic as they looked for the ship.  It was sailing away in the distance.
They immediately started to follow it. Joong was pissed. He was sick and tired of people stealing Hwa, his siren, his prince, HIS WIFE from him. He wouldn't let this happen again. No one would ever steal him again. Even if that meant killing every person who even attempted to take him.
Hwa woke up with a splitting headache. He felt like his brain was going to explode. His knees were aching. They'd tied him up with his arms tied above him. They'd put a blindfold on him and a cloth in his mouth that he couldn't remove. He didn't know where he was or where the others were.
Soon, he heard the sound of a latch from infront of him and a voice that he didn't recognize soon followed. "Hey you're finally awake" the voice was deep. Almost as deep as Yeosangs voice when he sings deep. He was definitely Korean by his accent and tried to make small talk but Hwa just stayed silent.
The guy remembered that the siren infront of him could not speak bc of the gaw in his mouth, so he decided to remove it and remove the blindfold as well. To Hwa the lights were way too bright for his headache. "I'm the captain. My name isn't important right now. We've decided to name you, mkay?" The man spoke. "I have a name...I'm not just some pet that you can name." The captain became less cheerful and instead became slightly irritated that this siren was telling him what he could and couldn't do on his own ship. He ignored Hwa "You are ours now. Well...you're mine now. We've been eyeing you down since we were on land. We'll give you a new name soon." "I'm already married. I belong to the captain of ATEEZ." Hwa said, his face a little angry. "Where's your proof? I don't see a ring." The captain said with a grimace. "He didn't give me a ring." Hwa replied confidently.
The captain became very irritated and looked at the bracelet. Hwa's wedding bracelet. He then looked at Hwa and walked over, grabbing his neck and almost squeezing it too hard. "Not anymore you're not." He said, ripping the bracelet off of Hwa, breaking it and scratching Hwa in the process. He let Hwa go and stormed out.
Hwa looked down at his broken bracelet, the tears starting to leak from his eyes. 'A...Am I not married anymore? What's going to happen...? W...What about Joong...' He thought to himself. It hurt to think. The tears just kept coming and his head started to hurt from crying. He'd never cried like this before. He was so angry and so upset.
As he was panicking, he suddenly remembered that when Yunho and him were training, Yunho said that his teeth are sharper then normal human teeth and can become useful in certain situations. He could basically use them like a knife.
Hwa looked up and saw the rope tying his hands to the ceiling. He tried to stand but his legs gave out and he fell to his knees again. His strength was gone from being knocked out. He tried again but couldn't stand the whole way if he pushed any further he would fall again...but he was just high enough to get his mouth to the rope on his wrists.
He began to chew at them. It was taking a while but they were cutting through. After a few minutes, he got his left hand free he used it to grab hold of the rope to pull himself up so he could get his right hand free.
After a few more minutes, his right hand was free and he fell to the ground. He prayed that the pirates didn't hear the thud. He'd made a plan. His plan was to sneak overboard and head back to ATEEZ.
His legs were killing him so he had to prop himself up on the wall and slowly walk to the door. He reached shakily towards the door and to his luck it was unlocked. His splitting headache was horrible and his leg pain worsened. Hwa closed his eyes tight. The brightness was absolutely unbearable and his head pounded.
He bit his lip, keeping the door cracked as some pirates walked past him overhead. He sighed as the footsteps grew quiet. He creeped his way out of the door and watched around, cautiously.
None of the pirates were on deck. This was his chance. He looked around quickly for a way to escape. Taking a life boat would be too risky...it'd take too long. He looked at the side of the ship, the sound of crashing waves filling his ears.
There was only one way out. He sighed and hobbled his way over the to the side. As he got there, he heard a yell from behind him. "Hey, what the hell are you doing up here!" The voice yelled, but he didn't give them any time to act. He quickly threw himself over the side and let his body his the water, the waves crashing around him.
He floated in the water, the boat continuing on its way. Soon enough, another boat was approaching quickly. He lifted his head out of the water to see the dark wood of The King. He couldn't loose the ship so he quickly swam over and cling onto a rope on the side.
Climbing his way up, he finally made it back on the ship. He fell onto the deck with a wet plop, immediately catching the crew's attention. "Cap'n! Hwa's on deck!" Wooyoung yelled, trying to focus on steering. Hongjoong quickly hurried on deck and pulled Hwa into his arms. "Shit, are you okay?" He said quickly, checking Hwa's head.
Hwa let out a shaky breath, clinging onto Hongjoong's shirt. "You're cold as fuck..." Hongjoong muttered, holding Hwa close to him.
He soon brought Hwa down in the infirmary and got Jongho and Yeosang to focus on healing him. He got the others to clean the blood off the deck and to remove the bodies.
Hong sat with Hwa until he woke up. Him and the others had decided that they should stay still for tonight and return on route when Hwa was ok.
Hwa had a cool rag bandaged to his head and some chloroform for his leg pain. The room was dimly lit so his headache would disappear but they had to keep a little light so they could still see.
His arm was wrapped with bandages where the captain scratched him. Hong gently held Hwa's hand and noticed his bracelet was missing. He decided to wait until Hwa was stable enough to ask him about it. He wasn't that concerned about it since if he just lost it from the fight he could just get Hwa another one.
After a few hours, Hwa finally woke up and the pain was still there but it was very subtle. Hong noticed that Hwa woke up and spoke softly to him. "How are you feeling, prince?" Hwa groaned before answering him. "I'm feeling a bit better..." He said, his tone somewhat solemn. "Is everything ok?" Joong whispered, rubbing Hwa's head, but Hwa didn't respond.
Joong got worried and grabbed both of his hands. Hwa grew sadder and sadder and Hongjoong could see it. He realized that Hwa looked like he was about to cry, so he moved over to where we was sitting on the bed and held Hwa tightly, gently petting his hair as he let Hwa cry all over his chest. Hong had never heard Hwa cry like this before. He didn't even cry like this when Anthony died.
He silently wondered what the hell happened to him on that ship to make him so upset to the point where he was almost scream crying. Hong waited until Hwa was able to speak before speaking "Hwa...what's the matter..." He whispered. Hwa tried to reply through his tears but couldn't speak properly, making him frustrated as he cried more. Hong frowned and tried his best to make Hwa feel better, hugging him, holding his hand, patting his back, shushing him like a baby, telling him everything was going to be ok. He tried everything he could think of. Hwa ended up wrapping his arms around his stomach and leaned over resting his head on Hong's chest, bawling his eyes out.
Hongjoong moved him so he could hug him tightly. Hwa's crying was putting him to tears. He hated hearing him cry so much but knew it was good for him to let it out.
Hwa wrapped is arms around Hong, burying his face in his shoulder. Hongjoong sighed and kissed the top of Hwa's head. No matter what happened, he wasn't gonna let go first. He wanted to make sure Hwa let go when he felt he was fine. They sat there for a good 10 minutes of Hwa crying until he started to calm down. He started to hyperventilate and Joong held him tighter, rubbing his back and humming to him to calm him down. It was surprisingly working.
After a bit more time, Hwa was calmer but still upset to the point where he was breathing heavily. Hwa lifted himself off of Hongjoong, leaving a huge tear mark where he cried. There were tear marks on his face and Hongjoong gently wiped his cheeks, cleaning him up.
"Are you okay now?" He whispered softly. Hwa nodded his head. "What's wrong, baby?" He asked, fixing Hwa's hair. "I feel like all of these attacks are happening because of me...and this is all my fault..." Hwa mumbled. "Everyone would be safer if I had just left. If you guys never looked for me in the first place...you wouldn't have..." He sniffled more, looking away.
His breath got shaky and he covered his mouth, tears forming in his eyes again. "Take your time, baby. I'm here to listen to you." Hongjoong said, rubbing Hwa's back. "I...I'm so sorry...I should've just went home..." He said tearfully. "Baby, you are home." Hongjoong whispered, kissing Hwa's forehead. "We all love you and we would've dreaded if you left us...especially me. If you weren't here then I would've never been this happy. I'm so happy to be your husband and the crew is so happy to have you as their mother. You could never possibly be replaced." He paused for a second. "You're priceless, baby." Hongjoong whispered softly. "B...but I caused all of this...I'm just bad luck..." Hwa muttered, receiving a shocked look from Hongjoong.
He didnt want Hwa to actually believe all of the attacks are his fault when they weren't. They weren't his fault. They were never his fault. He couldn't control this. "These people are jealous that I have a beautiful siren on board my ship. And...My beautiful siren has a beautiful background. People wish they could be my siren because he is so very special. These attacks are something that we deal with as pirates, not just because we have you. Way before we got you, we were getting attacked left and right. For like about two years, the attacks just stopped and we got bored and so we decided to look for a new adventure...which lead to this one." Joong bit his lip before speaking again. "Being attacked is being a pirate. It's not fun, but that's what comes with being a pirate. That's what comes with having precious treasures and having precious people." Hong explained. "I never want to hear those words come out of your mouth again. It will never be your fault and it never was your fault." He muttered, kissing Hwa's cheek.
"What happened to your bracelet?" He asked softly. Hwa bit his lip, almost crying again. This time he could actually speak. "We aren't married anymore...the captain of the pirate ship tore my bracelet off...he said that I was their's and no longer yours..." Hwa began to cry again. His head started to hurt as he cried, believing that they were no longer married. Hong looked at him with a soft expression, making them look face-to-face with each other. "Prince. The bracelet is just a symbol that we're married. Taking the bracelet off or breaking it will not determine if we are married or not. Jewelry does not determine if we are married or not. By law we are still married. You have nothing to worry about. We're still married." He can understand why Hwa would believe that but that's not how it works. "If it bothers you so badly to not have the bracelet then I can just get you another one." Hong said with a shrug. "It's not the same...It's not the original..." Hwa mumbled. "You're right...it's not the same. It's not the original...but it still shows that we're still married. If you want to show it, I can give you a new bracelet. I can get one that looks exactly like the one you originally had. I'll get everything figured out." He whispered, wiping Hwa's eyes and kissing him gently.
They hugged for a bit until Hwa had fallen asleep from  either tiredness or crying. Hong laid him down in the bed and walked out of the room, looking at the other ship. It was empty, blood covering the deck, but no bodies were to be found. He thought to himself for a second before heading over to the ship. Yunho stopped him "What are you doing?" He asked. "I need to find something on the ship." "Fine...but let me go too. Who knows what else is still on that ship." "True..." Hongjoong agreed.
He and Yunho made their way to where Hwa was kept. "So what are you looking for?" Hong explained everything to Yunho about what happened to Hwa's bracelet. Yuyu felt so bad for Hwa. "I want to find it and try to repair it as best as I can." "Why not just buy a new one?" "I already suggested that to Hwa. He was still upset because it wasn't the original. The original one was very important to him." Hong muttered. Yunho understood where Hwa was coming from and decided to help Hong look for all the pieces.
After a while, they found all the pieces. Hong decided that he was going to try and repair it himself. "Hey Cap'n. If you need any help...just ask." Yunho muttered before heading off into his room.
Hongjoong put all of the parts in a secure part of his pocket. Once back in his office, he put the bracelet pieces in a drawer so he could surprise Hwa with it. He looked up and saw his book he had been reading lately. The book was about siren anatomy and physiology. He wanted to learn more about Hwa's true form.
He decided Hwa needed some more rest so he read a couple more chapters. The chapters just happened to be about reproduction and digestion. He learned exactly where the male siren's IT and hole was.
    He suddenly had an idea...but...to do this idea...he would have to wait until Hwa was healed to a better state than he was in right now.
After a few days, Hwa was starting to feel better. His headache went down significantly and his legs were no longer hurting. He was able to walk and be out in the sun without any pain.
'This is the perfect time for my plan...' Hongjoong thought to himself. It was starting to become summer so it would be hot out for the next couple of months. "Let's go to a beautiful island and have a day where we do nothing but swim to get cool." Hong said to his crew, receiving happy nods and exclaims from them.
Not only would this let Hwa be in his true form for a bit and let him swim until he's tired, but it'd also lead to an experience that both of them had never had before. It'd be an experience to remember, for sure.