All to Zero || Ep. 1 of the Treasure Series || ATEEZ Pirate AU

Chapter 12: The Sunken Island

"It's not the ATEEZ." Yeosang lowered Hongjoong's spyglass, shifting his injured limb off the side of the boat.

"It's the Navy."

Wooyoung's heart sank. There was almost no chance that they would get out of this one. He collapsed back into his seat, flailing his arms in frustration, and was suddenly grabbed by Yeosang. "Stop waving your arms around! Do you want them to see us?" He hissed through gritted teeth.

"Haven't they already?" Wooyoung argued back. Yeosang handed the glass over. "Look, we're in their blind spot. The sun's only just risen so visibility is low, and we're a much smaller vessel so it'll take them longer to spot us."

Wide-eyed, Wooyoung turned from the enemy ship to his fellow officer. "But, Yeosang, we have nowhere to run! They'll see us for sure if we get out the oars to row back where we came!" Yeosang snapped his fingers suddenly, face lighting up.

"Hang on! They don't know who we are! We're the two most recent officers to join the ATEEZ and neither of us— as far as I know— have had any major run-ins with the Royal Navy! Am I correct?" Wooyoung was already shaking his head. He could see where this was going.

"Yeosang, it'll never work. This is the Eastern Sea, we haven't the faintest idea how things work out here! Even if we pretend we're some random fishermen and they somehow buy it, what if we're trespassing in Navy waters? No one gets exemption from that, even if they aren't pirates!"

Yeosang was already searching the boat frantically for anything to help their ruse work. "We don't have a choice, Wooyoung. You're going to have to go with me on this. Just stay in their blind spot and buy time, and if it comes to it let me do the talking. Got it?"

Wooyoung's face screamed protest and he knew this was going to be a crazy level of risky but he swallowed his fear and simply nodded to his superior. "We don't have any fishing equipment," Yeosang reported. "What are we going to say then? All we have is your average nondescript longboat," Wooyoung kept his eyes trained on the frigate they were slowly drawing closer to. Yeosang set his jaw.

"I have a card I can play if I have to."

...

The sun seemed to be taking its time, sauntering up out of the sea and into the sky. The pain flooded in before his eyes had a chance to open.

"Seonghwa?"

It was Jongho's voice, tentative and distant in the swirling blackness. He must have made a noise, because now Jongho was speaking to someone else. "I think Seonghwa is waking up, go get San and the Captain!"

Rustling and movement to his left startled him into cracking open an eye. The sliver of early morning light seeped in, and gently Seonghwa allowed his lids to open.

"How are you feeling, Seonghwa?" Hongjoong asked, brushing a sandy strand of hair out of his own eyelashes and leaning into view of the injured Seonghwa. The patient wondered distantly about the state of his own hair.

"Hurts," he finally bit out. "Sharp pain or dull?" On his other side appeared San's green head. Seonghwa started and then sunk further into his bed sheets.

An image came into his mind of San pointing a gun directly at him. He swallowed and croaked out, "Dull." Hongjoong and San made eye contact over him before both looking back down.

"Do you remember what happened?" It was Hongjoong again. "Uh..." His voice came out almost like a sigh, mind racing back to the last thing he remembered. The maze, the hallucinations, San pointing the gun at him... there it was again. Why did he keep seeing that?