Eight makes one crew

Carnival Kids

"Their kids!" Wooyoung screeched, looking at the tiny pirates in front of him and the others. 

"Who you calling a kid?" The shortest one pointed his sword at Wooyoung, causing the taller man to smile, trying not to laugh. These kids were adorable. 

"Okay, Sun. That's enough, step down" The oldest of the smaller crew was also trying not to laugh at the moment as he put a hand on his kid brother's shoulder.

"I'm sorry about him. We don't take kindly to being looked down upon because of our age" The oldest cast a sharp look in Wooyoung's direction. 

"Of course. I'm sorry about my guy too. He knows better than to undermine people or make fun of others" Hongjoong alos looked at Wooyoung sharply with a look that promised they would be talking about this later. Wooyoung huffed and crossed his arms.

"Wooyoung, apologize" Hongjoong ordered.

"But Joong! Look at them, their barely old enough to be letting go of their mommy's hand when crossing the street!" Wooyoung argued, taunting the younger kids. 

"Take it back!" One of the older boys pointed their sword at Wooyoung, who pulled his out also and watched the fear flicker in the kid's eyes. 

"I'm going to kill him" The taller boy, with the aura of a prince, glared at Wooyoung as he unsheathed his own sword so Wooyoung now had two little kids pointing their swords at him. 

"Okay Sunghoon, we are not killing anyone. We are all friends here" Heeseung insisted. Sunghoon looked again at Wooyoung, glaring.

"Nah, I'm definitely going to kill him. Sleep with one eye open tonight" Sunghoon threatened.

"Right back at you punk" Wooyoung retorted. Yeosang and Yunho walked past, the younger of the two rolling his eyes as he looked at his friend. 

"Your such an idiot" Yeosang muttered, shaking his head.

"Sunghoon and Jay, take a swim" Heeseung ordered. Sunghoon and Jay continued to glare at Wooyoung even as they put thier swords away and stepped back. 

"You want them to take a swim? In that? Are you crazy?" Hongjoong pointed to the ocean. Heeseung looked over at him, confused.

"Hmm? Oh no, take a swim just means cool off. We only say that because the first time two of us fought, Sunoo quite literally jumped into the ocean because he was tired of fighting with Sunghoon" Heeseung explained. Hongjoong just nodded; that made no sense but he wasn't going to question it. This was a strange little group. 

"Wooyoung, I want to talk to you downstairs" Hongjoong ordered, putting a hand on the back of his friend's neck and guiding him downstairs. Wooyoung huffed when he was pushed into an empty room and the door shut behind him and Hongjoong. 

"What was that?" Hongjoong demanded to know.

"I just don't like seeing kids being pirates, their too young" Wooyoung shrugged. Hongjoong took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"I don't either, it reminds me too much of what happened to us but those boys out there, they are no younger than you or I were, and you cannot treat them like they are just dumb little kids who don't know what they are doing. Any one of them could hold their own in a fight against us and they chose to be out here so let's be a little more understanding?" Hongjoong lectured. Wooyoung crossed his arms and looked away from Hongjoong, unwilling to admit that he was right.

"Yes?" Hongjoong waited. 

"Yes Captain" Wooyoung gave in and nodded. Hongjoong patted him on the arm. 

"Thank you. Now go apologize and no more taunting them, or you and I are going to have a long talk, get it?" Hongjoong warned. Wooyoung nodded, still not happy but unwilling to push the limits of his second chance. Hongjoong opened the door again and followed Wooyoung out of the small room and back up to the main deck. Seongwha had already interested the younger two boys in a tale of pirates and mermaids that he remembered from his own childhood. He changed it just a little bit to make the pirates seem like better people than they were in the original story, created just to make him, San, Yeosang and Mingi hate pirates. Sunghoon was sharpening his sword, pretending not to listen while Jake wasn't even trying to hide how intrigued he was with the story. Even Heeseung looked more relaxed, perched on top of the ship's railing, soaking up Seongwha's every word. For the first time since Hongjoong had heard of the Carnival crew and had met them face to face, they were actually resembling children. They looked their ages now. And it was all because of a children's bedtime story. 

"Did the pirates and mermaids die?" Jungwon asked in a hushed tone.

"Of course they did. There's no way that they could live against the King's rule, it's impossible" Jay scoffed. Jungwon's eyes filled up with tears and Niki looked at Jay with wide, scared eyes. 

"Jay!" Heeseung scolded. Jay just shrugged. 

"Did that really happen?" Jungwon asked again more tearfully. Seongwha looked at Hongjoong for help; he couldn't exactly lie but at the same time, this kid was so heartbroken just at the thought of the characters dying that Seongwha had to lie.

"Of course not. They all lived happily ever after and continued to sail the world together" Seongwha shook his head. Jay scoffed; even Jake and Sunghoon looked unconvinced but it appeased Niki and Jungwon so Seongwha would take it. These kids were too young to be worried about how they might die just for their lifestyle choices. Seongwha didn't exactly want the first bedtime story they'd heard in years to be what reminded them of that either. 

"Why don't we go play a game? Who wants to do that?" Yeosang, Mingi and Yunho interrupted, sensing the tension.

"We're not babies" Niki argued but he got up anyways and went with the older boys. Jungwon reluctantly followed and Sunoo was not going to be left out so he left too.

"So...what really happened in the story?" Heeseung, Jay, Jake and Sunghoon cornered Seongwha. He took a deep breath, looking out over the water just so he wouldn't have to look at them. 

"The mermaids got their tails cut off and sold and the pirates were separated. The older ones were killed and the ones that were still kids were sold into slavery" Seongwha answered, being completely honest. He didn't feel as bad tell these four than he did with the younger three.

"Oh, that's...umm...okay" Jake nodded slowly. Seongwha nodded slowly too, feeling the awkward energy.

"Thanks for not telling them that. They'd have nightmares" Heeseung bowed his head slightly to Seongwha.

"No problem. They don't deserve to know what really happens out here" Seongwha agreed. Heeseung couldn't argue with that; sometimes he still wondered if he made the right choice letting those three join him as pirates but it was their choice. He just hoped that they wouldn't regret it later or that it wouldn't end up being their downfall.

"Heeseung! They have real beds!" Sunoo announced, running over with Jungwon and Niki behind him.

"Can we stay here forever?" Niki wondered. Heeseung laughed a little.

"I'm afraid not. We need to be going now, alright? Say bye" Heeseung shook his head. Niki pouted but still went around and said bye to the older crew with the supervision of Jungwon and Jake. Niki, Jungwon and Sunoo ran off back to their ship, leaving the older boys to talk to the senior pirates. 

"It was nice seeing you guys. If you ever need anything, we're never far" Hongjoong shook Heeseung's hand.

"That's mildly threatening" Sunghoon stated.

"Sunghoon, seriously" Heeseung rolled his eyes. Sunghoon did the same, and then looked at Wooyoung in disgust.

"I still hate you" He decided.

"Yeah the feelings mutual, kid" Wooyoung shook Sunghoon's hand. Sunghoon grinned and did the same, looking up at Wooyoung. 

"I'd love to win in a fight against you" Sunghoon challenged.

"Ha! Like you'd win against me" Wooyoung scoffed. Sunghoon shrugged; it was possible.

"Alright, name a place and time and we can find out who's a better swordsman?" Wooyoung agreed. Heeseung and Hongjoong interfered. 

"And that's enough for today. See you guys later!" Heeseung dragged Sunghoon off, waving to Hongjoong over his shoulder as the rope between the Carnival and the Ateez was thrown to the side and the smaller ship sailed off into the distance.

"I definitely would have won against him" Wooyoung sulked. San patted him on the shoulder.

"Of course you would" He nodded along, just to make Wooyoung feel better. Wooyoung actually probably would have won but no one wanted him to fight a fifteen-year-old just to find out. Wooyoung and Sunghoon didn't have that duel for another five years. 

_______________________________
Carnival
Heeseung-16
Jay-15
Jake-15
Sunghoon-15
Sunoo-14
Jungwon-12
Niki-11

Ateez
Hongjoong-19
Seongwha-19
Yunho-18
Yeosang-18
San-18
Mingi-18
Wooyoung-18
Jongho-17