Killing the Pirate King

Chapter Four

The words made Jongho panic. He didn't want to get roped into some random pirate crew, he was trying to get into ATEEZ specifically and that wouldn't happen like this.

Pulling his wrist out of Wooyoung's grip, Jongho immediately made an attempt to escape this situation. "Sorry, I uh, I'm actually looking to join someone el-"

"Woo! There you are, where the hell did you go?" A voice interrupted them, following the sound of it revealed a man maybe as tall as the one they left behind in the alley approaching them. "Who's this?"

"Ah Mingi, meet my friend uh," Wooyoung looked at him and only then did Jongho realise he hadn't actually told Woo his name yet.

"Jongho."

"Jongho!" Wooyoung smiled, "Jongho this is Mingi, he's part of our crew." He awkwardly nodded at Mingi, the latter nodding back before Wooyoung continued, "I'm taking him to captain."

Mingi frowned at that and asked if Jongho had done something, to which Wooyoung shook his head.

Done something? Do I look like a thug now? Looking down at himself, his clothes were a tiny bit untidy, likely from the body slam earlier, but it was nothing that made him stand out as a bad guy. Perhaps Mingi's concern rose from Jongho's face that still held evidence of having been in a fight (yes a fight and not a beat down, Jongho totally got in some punches of his own).

"He needs a crew. You should've seen the fall he took for me dude, captain'll love him."

Jongho tried to interrupt again, growing more desperate to get out of here but failing miserably when Mingi's deep voice followed Wooyoung's higher one. "Fall? Aish I knew you were getting up to no good, let's just get back before they know we're missin'. Bring your friend if you really want, but you know there's no guarantee Joong's gonna let him on board."

The speed this was all happening was giving him whiplash.

Wooyoung had his arm around Jongho now and was already walking again, "so what made you wanna be a pirate?"

"I guess... I uh," surely it'd be wrong to name his true intentions, wouldn't it? Spilling the beans to Sera was one thing, she had no benefit in telling others of his business, but random pirates were another. Sitting in her tavern had shown Jongho just how much these people loved to gossip. "I don't have my own people anymore."

The vague declaration caused a lump to form in his throat, an emotion he refused to feel threatening to make itself known, but he swallowed it down and distracted himself with the tune Mingi hummed ahead of them.

Wooyoung went quiet for just a moment, features softening in a way that made Jongho cringe in embarrassment. He'd said too much, how silly of him.

"In here!" Wooyoung's pitying face had disappeared as quick as it had formed, pointing at the building in front of him and Jongho didn't have to read the sign to know it was just another tavern. The putrid smell of alcohol was hitting him even from outside, and it only increased as they entered.

This tavern was different from Sera's.

The scent of booze was the same, as well as the general layout from the placement of the bar to the wooden floorboards, but there was one overwhelming contrast.

No one was fighting.

That, Jongho had learned, was very very rare for a pub in Tortuga. Not a single fist being swung, nor an empty tankard being thrown. The patrons instead sat huddled at their respective tables, some engaging in loud and carefree chat which was a little more like the mood he had grown to know, while others spoke in hushed whispers and glanced back at a single group in the room.