《Hunting for Happiness》~ATEEZ

▪︎5▪︎

_-_-_five days later_-_-_

It already became normal. The eight boys living together, laughing and just being together. Except for San. He wasn't talking very much or not at all, was always alone, sitting somewhere silently and didn't ate or drank very much.

The other seven of them were very concerned and wanted him to feel home on the ship as well but couldn't force San to do anything. Seonghwa warned them about San being stubborn and everything which six of them just accepted while captain Hongjoong were getting more worriedly day by day.

He hated seeing San so down and distant from everything around him and wanted to change it. Hongjoong was planning on getting closer to San so he could talk to someone but then he realized that San wasnt very good with the english language so he had to make small steps to get closer to him.

Hongjoongs first step was talking to San without pressuring him to speak or anything. Just wanting talk to him and maybe tell him a few stories about himself and his adventures, just to warm San a bit up and making him a part of the friends circle. So after searching for San, he also sat down on the woodened floor with his legs swinging down off the ship and holding onto the railing, so he wouldn't fall.

His head turned to San and for a very short time the whole world seemed to stop around him while San seemed prettier than before. His hair was dancing in the wind which were blowing, his eyes were fixed on the water in front of him while the sea was reflecting in them and he looked so tiny and cute while doing nothing but sitting there. San seemed even more handsome, nice and cute to Hongjoong than before, what caused him to shortly forget about everything what happened to the poor boy.

His whole past story was so brutal and cruel and yet San was still sitting here in silence while looking so peaceful and beautiful. The aura around San was calming Hongjoong down and gave him a nice feeling in his stomach like something was tickling him in there.

When San suddenly turned his head to Hongjoong, he started to panic and quickly looked away from the prettiest boy he had ever seen, while coughing a little awkwardly and not knowing what to say to him.

The captains face heated up in just a few seconds and his hands became sweaty out of nothing. Why was he so nervous, though? It was just San he wanted to talk to. Is he becoming ill? Did he catched a cold or something?

Of course San noticed immediately that something was bothering Hongjoong but he didn't know how to ask him that. Just wanting to help him, he thought of a few words which were making a little sense if you would connect them.

"Hongjoong..feel..vomit?" San tried to ask him if he wasn't feeling well but didn't know if that were the right words. He kept looking at Hongjoongs face to look if he said the right words but just got a confused look instead.

Slowly starting to panic, San didn't knew how to react or what to say, so his eyes were about to get watery because he felt so miserable and ashamed of his failure to speak english, until he felt a hand caressing his cheek. Quickly jumping in surprise at the sudden movement from the older boy, he tried to suppress his coming panic attack while closing his eyes and breathing slowly.

Hongjoong didn't know how to react to a panic attack but when he felt San relaxing soon and even leaning into his touch, he sighed out in relief that he didn't scared the boy that much with his dumb actions. He could had at least think about his action before he really would do it, so he couldn't blame San at all for his reaction.

The captain and the young green haired boy were sitting there on the edge of the ship, lowkey cuddling with each other and not noticing that Seonghwa was watching them from far away, wondering why San wasnt acting so anxious towards to the red haired boy like he did to the others.

"What are you worrying about, pretty boy?" Mingi flirted with the blond haired one who was watching his best friend. Getting shocked from the sudden voice behind him, Seonghwa jumped in surprise which caused Mingi to chuckle at his reaction.

"W-what did y-you c-call me?" He barely stuttered out while his face was becoming more and more reddish at the nickname he just got called. It was embarrassing for him to react like that but even after just five days, Seonghwa noticed that his heart was always beating faster when Mingi was around him or was talking to him.

Of course he clearly understood what Mingi said but he lowkey wanted to hear it again from him. The way he pronounced the word pretty just made Seonghwas heart flutter even more if that's possible.

So while waiting for the answer he wanted to hear, he slowly backed off a little. Seonghwa could feel Mingis breath against his ear what caused him to get even more flustered, so when he was slowly backing away, he didn't noticed that a bucket was standing next to him and stumbled over it, waiting for the impact with the floor which never came.

Just when he opened his eyes again, he felt the tight grip on his waist and he saw Mingis face just a few centimeters away from his own. Slowly turning from red into completely pale, Seonghwa didn't even dared to breath while being so close to the boy which made his heart beating faster than anything.

"You need to be more careful, pretty boy. I dont want you to fall over the railing." Mingi pronounced that pretty boy extra so he would get a flustered Seonghwa again. He found it cute when the blond boy didn't know how to react and he loved teasing him.

Out of nothing the crew of Desire heard a loud yelling which caused them all goosebumps and some even to shiver.

"PIRATES AHEAD!!" Wooyoung screeched while pointing aggressively at the ship ahead of Desire. Captain Hongjoong immediately let go of San, who was whining about it but when he realized what Wooyoung had yelled, he also stood up abruptly and ran towards Seonghwa, who was in the middle of the ship while shivering and limping.

"Crew, everybody knows what to do. Go on your positions and be ready to fight back! NOW!" The red haired one screamed through the whole ship and everyone immediately reacted to it except for San and Seonghwa. These two didn't got any positions and didn't knew what to do, so they just stayed where they were and watched the others while wondering what's happening.

San was standing behind Seonghwa, clinging onto his friend while being scared. He was shivering and whimpering out in angst that something bad could happen again. The two friends weren't ready yet for some new problems.

They barely got out of one and now there were they, standing on a ship which was possibly getting attacked any soon. Maybe they get even killed or kidnapped. Nobody knows, nobody wanted it to know. They just hoped that everything will be alright and nothing would happen.

"Hwa...I scared.." San admitted to his friend who was also scared. Nodding his head, he grabbed Sans hand, not wanting San to be afraid of anything right now. He would protect San with his own life so he wouldn't suffer anymore and he really meant it. Seonghwa would die for San.

"I know San. I'm here. I will protect you, okay? You don't get hurt again. Stay by my side and everything will be alright." He told him soothely, not letting go of Sans hand. Out of the blue, they were being surrounded by unknown pirates which all had their epees or guns held up against the whole crew of Desire.

Panic were written in their faces as they were being threatened by the unknown pirates. The friends of Desire were about to attack when the captain of the stranger ship spoke up.

"Dont you dare to attack us. We would kill you in a few seconds and your ship and gold were ours. BUT we won't kill you, for now at least." The black haired captain announced proudly.

Hongjoong was getting a bad feeling about this situation, so he left his position, wanting a deal with the other captain so his crew could get out alive of this.
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