Zero to One || Ep. 2 of the Treasure Series || ATEEZ Pirate AU

Chapter 7: Junyoung

Jongho's eyes were bloodshot when he finally came to.

"Mingi, Mingi!" A voice leapt with excitement next to his face. It sounded like Yunho's. "Jongho seems to have returned to us!"

When he opened his heavy lids, he could see two faces peering down at him.

"Jongho, what's the earliest thing you can remember?" Mingi asked. Yunho punched him in the arm. "That's not a fair question, Mingi. I wouldn't ask for the earliest thing you can remember!"

Mingi frowned at him. "Fine, if you can think of something better then ask it."

"Jongho, do you know who we are?"

Jongho sat up slowly, minding the pain in his head. "Yunho," he pointed at him and turned his finger to Mingi. "And Mingi. And that's Seonghwa. Seonghwa!"

Jongho rushed over to the sleeping hyung with a gasp and knelt by his side. "Is he going to be alright? His stitches are fixed, I see."

Yunho nodded and joined him, running a hand delicately through Seonghwa's hair. "I did the best I could. We need San."

"About that," Mingi sat on the other side of Seonghwa, facing them. "I spoke to Junseok a moment ago. He's going to reveal himself to Hongjoong."

"Who?"

Mingi opened his mouth to repeat it and suddenly stopped short. "Junseok? You remember, the guard that's going to help us."

Jongho swatted a hand at him. "No, no, who is the second person?"

"Hongjoong. You know?"

Jongho showed no sign of recognition. Yunho was sending panicked looks from next to him but Mingi shook his head vehemently and continued. "Hongjoong! Captain Hongjoong!"

Jongho enunciated slowly and clearly, "I don't know who you're talking about."

Yunho gaped at Mingi. "How is this possible? He knows us but not Captain?" Mingi was sweating profusely. "He met Captain first, it makes sense..."

"The memory he lost is of meeting Captain, and that erased him entirely?" Yunho asked to clarify. Mingi shrugged in response. "Is there really any other explanation?"

Jongho was beginning to look upset at all this arguing over his memory loss, so Yunho grabbed Mingi by the collar and marched him over to the other corner of the cell. "We have to do something about this."

"There is nothing we can do, Yunho. We've already tried everything."

"It's a curse, right?" Yunho was running his hands through his hair, thoughts darting back and forth. "Curses can be broken! Think back to when it started."

Mingi sighed but Yunho grasped his arm, unrelenting. "You were there, I wasn't. What happened? Jongho's forgotten and Captain isn't here, so I need you to remember for me, Mingi." Mingi let the memory wash over him.

"We approached an unfamiliar island. It was only Captain, Seonghwa-hyung, and I at the time, plus a small rigging crew. Seonghwa stayed behind on the ship to watch for enemies while the two of us took a longboat. As we walked along the beach, we saw someone tossing around in the sand."

"Jongho?"

Mingi nodded and went on. "He was having his first nightmare. When he came to in Hongjoong's arms he said he had never experienced anything like that before. It started off small, the memory loss. After that first dream he just couldn't remember the name of his hometown. So he decided to come with us! But the dreams continued and he kept forgetting things, each one more important than the last... and here we are today. How exactly do you think this will help?"