Where the sea sleeps [HoonHao] ✔

06

"Why would the king and queen wish for your capture?"

The moment he asks this, he's already regretting it. The way everyone's heads whip around, he knows he shouldn't have asked such a question. He half expects Minghao to say something, but it's Vernon who steps forward, narrowing his eyes.

"You're not one of those people, are you?" He closes the gap between them, until they're inches apart and Woozi can feel his breath against his face. "Like the ones in town, or like the king and queen. The sort who see pirates as criminals. Right?"

He doesn't have to think twice about it before responding. "No," he says firmly. "Whether I have met pirates before or not, I may recall. However, I trust my gut which tells me that all of you are genuine. You are all trustworthy. So, no. I would not believe that any of you are criminals. Not even by word of mouth."

Vernon's eyes are wide, clearly not having expected this. His lips part, but no sound escapes, but even so, Woozi's expression does not shift. He stares sternly at Vernon, unwavered by the other's reaction and especially unwavered by the sudden silence that bestowed itself upon the ship. The crew is so silent for the briefest of moments and it's not until a burst of laughter disrupts it that he and Vernon break their stares to look at Minghao whose laugh, he decides, is the sort that suits his voice. Unlike other laughters, this particular one seemed to match perfectly well with his voice. It was dorky, if he had to put an exact term to it, and yet at the same time, so completely light and airy and one you would expect to hear after a good dad joke has been told.

"Well, he got you there," Minghao says, voice still quivering with laughter.

From his position, he can faintly note the way Vernon's expression relaxes. When he turns around, Woozi flinches without really meaning to. He doesn't know what to expect, but it's certainly not the next words that leave his lips.

"Maybe you're not so bad, then." With those words hanging in the air, Vernon steps away, walking up to the top deck and walking into a room Woozi often noted Minghao disappearing into. He's not sure what to make of the situation, although he's almost certain that those words were the closest thing to a compliment he would ever get from Vernon.

When he turns around, the rest of the crew seem to pull themselves back to reality, dispersing to their positions. The atmosphere, however, has shifted since the first time he stepped onto the ship, and he suspects it's the way they view him. Clearly, his words have had an affect on them. Which stirs up a warm feeling in his chest, despite it not being his intentions. What he said had been purely genuine.

Minghao and he share a look to which he responds with a nod of his head before he turns around and makes his way up to his position.

Hoshi looks up at him with a half-grin across his face. This time, he doesn't question it, but rather steps over him and takes a look into the telescope.

"Do they hate the palace that much?" He barely recognises his own voice. He's not entirely sure why. Why he can't recognise his voice, that suddenly filled itself with so much emotion in that one sentence, nor as to why there was this feeling in his chest, like he'd just been punched and the lingering of that action coursed through him. When Hoshi doesn't say anything, he looks over. There's this uncertainty in his gaze, but when their eyes meet, that uncertainty disappears and, with a reluctant sigh, Hoshi speaks.

"Not the palace per se. Just the bloodline." He pauses, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his head as he tries to find a way to put it. "The king and queen are the ones who brought upon a bad name for all pirates."

"How?" He shoots, almost immediately. "Why would they do that?"

"They had one bad experience and they based it off of that."

A loud screech echoes abruptly, drawing attention away from the conversation and to the deck where Minghao stands at the wheel, a whistle between his lips and a serious look across his face. He doesn't say anything at first, though when he removes the whistle, he takes a glance around to ensure everyone is paying attention, and then he starts.

"Our next destination is one of the islands nearby. We have a delivery request," he explains.

"Do we know what they want us to deliver?" Scoups asks from his position a little ways behind Minghao.

"Unfortunately not. We find out when we get there. Otherwise, it's a two day trip."

"And we'll have enough to last us until then?" Without looking, Minghao nods. He seems to know that it's Dino who has spoken. "Yes. I've checked and we have enough to get us through the next two days. However, let's ration everything as we don't know whether we'll be able to restock in the next town."

"May I ask what it is that you all do?" He asks aloud, ensuring he's voice is audible enough so that everyone is able to hear. "Seeing as you carry the pirate name."

"We do trades,' Minghao replies smoothly. "Unlike most pirates, we avoid all the illegal stuff. We're more of an express delivery. So people use us to get their goods delivered faster since other cargo ships go to more than one stop," he explains, eyebrow quirking as if he's daring Woozi to comment on that.

He doesn't. Instead, he follows up with another question. "Why pirates then?"

Minghao smiles bitterly. "Before we delivered cargo, we were ocean thieves. We never stole from towns, but people heard of us by word of mouth."

He's not sure what that means, though before he can ask, Vernon steps out onto deck, a stiff, unreadable expression across his face as he proceeds on. "Meaning that somewhere along the line, things got twisted. We were accountable for more than what we actually did, and before we knew it, we were wanted." Even his tone is bitter. He's clearly displeased with the memory.

"The most wanted," Minghao states. "We went to the palace in search of justice, but we didn't get that. They took one look at us and called the guards."

"The one guard was cute though," Mingyu says into the tensioned air, lips pouting.

Scoups rolls his eyes. "Will you ever let that go? They almost got us arrested."

"But they didn't!" Mingyu retorts almost immediately.

Woozi, having processed all of this, furrows his brows. "And your families?" he queries, purely out of curiosity. However, the question instantly brings the tension back into the air.

Minghao claps his hands together. "Who's hungry?"

He frowns, watching as everyone instantly makes their way to the lower deck, his question being completely ignored, and he can't help wondering why.