𝓢𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓷'𝓼 𝓒𝓪𝓵𝓵

⏳Seojun⏳

        "Your Highness, your brother has arrived." The servant said. "A-Alright." Hwa replied while blushing. The servant left, leaving them alone again. "So glad you didn't overreact." Hongjoong said sarcastically. "I'm so sorry Joongie, I panicked." "It's okay. I was just joking with you." Hongjoong replied, looking at Hwa calmly. Hongjoong swam back to Seonghwa, lifting his head and kissing him on the lips. "I still got my kiss so that's all that matters to me right now." Hwa blushed while looking at Hongjoong with his big boba eyes, staring at him for a second before snapping back into reality when the rest of the crew entered the room. "Are we interrupting something?" Yunho said with a smirk and a little giggle, seeing Hongjoong holding Seonghwa. "No, it's okay..." Hwa said, leaving Hongjoong's arms. "Okay so...my brother is here and I just need to explain something first." Hwa said, pausing. "I have not talked or seen my brother in a long time...I don't know what he is going to be like. From what I remember is that he is very by the book and others see him as very intimidating. I have no idea if he has changed at all but I just wanted to warn you that he might not be very accepting." "It's okay, Hwa. We've been through discrimination before, It's nothing new to us." San said, referencing homophobia. "Okay then..." Hwa mumbled to himself before they all left his room, going back to the throne room where Hwa's brother was.
Before they entered, Hwa turned to the crew. "Oh and I forgot to mention, his name is Seojun." The doors opened to reveal a large golden siren in the center of the room, surrounded by guards. He was muscular, tall, and his scales were golden, his hair black and short. He wore a mean expression and a mix of golden armor and jewelry. He had a crown on that went around his forehead that had a diamond in the middle. He also had gold armor on his waist that also had a large diamond in the center. Hongjoong almost immediately tensed up, getting nervous just from his presence alone.
"Where the hell have you been?" Seojun said angrily. "You better not have been off on one of your adventures again." Seonghwa stayed silent, trying to come up with a good excuse. "And who are they?" He added, looking at the crew. "They're my friends...They rescued me..." "Rescued you?" "It's a long story..." Hwa mumbled. "Then you better get to explaining." Seojun said, his voice stern. "Seojun, can we please just talk about this later..." Hwa said in a hushed tone. "Fine, but who are they exactly." "Like I said, they're my friends..." "Are they pirates?" He said coldly. "Yes. Why does it matter?" Wooyoung cut in and said. "Really? Pirates? Have you learned nothing, Seonghwa?" Seojun said to Hwa sternly, his voice engulfing the room. The crew was shocked by his reaction and Hongjoong wanted to step in and defend himself, the crew, and Hwa but he just couldn't bring himself to speak. "They aren't bad pirates, I promise." Hwa said but Seojun just sighed, sounding disappointed. "Please I can explain everything later." Seonghwa obviously was hinting that he kind of wanted to talk to him in private, only receiving another sigh from Seojun. "Fine...But for now you need to do your part and run this castle." Hwa looked down, embarrassed and frustrated as Seojun left with the guards.
"God, what was his deal?" Wooyoung said, causing Yunho to hit him on the shoulder and give him a stern look. Seonghwa slowly swam away, sighing in frustration. He swam back and forth across the room as if he was pacing, biting his nails as he did so. The others decided to give him some space, trying not to add to his stress but Hongjoong knew that he also needed to talk it out, just not right then. The whole time they were there, Seojun was constantly bossing Seonghwa around about his "Princely duties", lecturing him on how he should talk and to fix his posture, among other things. He was constantly telling Seonghwa that a prince is a role model and they need to act and look perfect all the time. The crew found it ridiculous that he had to follow all of the rules he was given by his older brother. They now completely understood why he left. They were getting tired of being around as well, growing uncomfortable with how the sirens were treating them now that they knew they were pirates.
Dusk came and it was time for the crew to go back to the ship. Seonghwa was relieved to go home and be away from everything. They got back on the ship and Anh saw them, running to Hwa and jumping into his arms, happy to see him. "O-Omma! Y..You're ba..ck!" Anh said happily before Hongjoong flopped onto the ship. "Appa!" He said. Mingi was busy helping the others back onto the ship. They all dried off and Hwa made dinner. As they ate it was slightly tense in the room but Mingi and Anh broke the silence and everything was back to "normal". Soon enough Anh was sleepy so Hwa put him to sleep. Hongjoong put his hand on the small of Hwa's back and Hwa looked up to see Hong looking at him. He gestured to him that he wanted to go outside and Hwa knew what was about to happen.
They went onto the deck. "Honey-" Hongjoong started but was cut off. "I can't tell him that youre my husband. I'm sorry...I just can't..." Hongjoong was shocked, not understanding what Seonghwa was talking about. "You're the pirate king...to sirens you are very well known..I mean...You saw how he acted when he thought you were just ordinary pirates...Once he finds out you're THE pirate king and my husband...I...I'm done for..." Hwa said, a bit of panic in his voice. "I never planned to tell Seojun about you..." "Hey, hey, it's okay." Hongjoong said, trying to comfort him the best he could. "No Joong, it's not. I...I don't know what to do..." "I will help you, trust me." Hwa looked up at him, doubt filling his face. Hongjoong looked at Seonghwa softly, his eyes full of reassurance. "I won't let anyone come between us, you know that." Hwa felt a little better and rested his head on Joong's shoulder. "Let's get some sleep, dear. We've got a big day tomorrow." "Yea..." Hongjoong kissed Hwa softly and they went to their room, getting into bed with as little movement as possible to not wake Anh.