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eightmakesonebraincell · 2 months

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ateez as pirates who fall for you (hyung line)

read maknae line here

genre: pirate!ateez x gn!reader (fem!reader for hongjoong), fluff, angst, crack, and as always - a brainrot of every pirate trope to exist

length: 10.4k

c/w: heavy and mature themes - mdni, explicit language (swearing, insults), death, violence, blood & injuries, weapons, illegal acts (piracy, ransoming, verbal abuse, abduction), alcohol, pet names

a/n: maknae line will come yes but who knows when 🤷‍♀️ work has been really testing my dopamine vibes this year 😔👎 thank you @sorryimananti-romantic for keeping a detailed hitlist for me ♡

hongjoong

pov: you're a royal princess rescued by him

“captain, are you sure we can’t toss her overboard?”

jongho and hongjoong watch as wooyoung’s face falls after you pointedly ignore his attempts to make conversation once again

for someone who is technically their guest aboard the arriba, it seems as though you are hellbent on being as difficult as you can be

“unfortunately, we can’t,” hongjoong grouches to the younger, “not unless we want to exchange our payment for a hefty bounty on our own heads”

when jongho sighs, the captain squeezes his shoulder in comfort and adds on, “trust me, i’ve thought about it too”

hongjoong and his crew are privateers - pirates in theory, but technically excused so long as they have their letter of marque to state that they are authorised to attack other vessels

rescuing a royal princess was never explicitly part of the contract, although he thinks that not rescuing you would have pretty much been equivalent to a blatant show of insubordination

you had been taken ransom by one of the merchant ships the arriba had been plundering

needless to say, they had been close to tossing you overboard too; your kingdom had never paid for your ransom

the lack of response from your parents wasn’t anything you weren’t expecting but it’s a sore spot nonetheless

so it’s certainly hard for you to play friendly when you’re quite literally shucked off from stranger to stranger faster than a hot potato

san tugs wooyoung closer towards him and gently says to you, “he’s just trying to be nice - we all are”

the movement doesn’t go unnoticed by you

“i don’t need your pity,” you answer, the only sentence you have spoken today

you’ve lived two decades of your life pretending you don’t see the pitying gazes of your maids and butlers

you certainly don’t need pity from these people - pirates no less

“it’s not-” wooyoung starts to say

but the captain steps in before he can defend himself

“if this is how you’re always acting, i’m starting to see why your kingdom never paid for your ransom”

had hongjoong been less preoccupied by your words, he would have realised that your tone is candid, as if it is only natural for the people around you to pity you

but he’s clouded with his mindset as captain, unable to stand by idly while his own crew put up with your attitude, and so the words come out anyway - shards of shrapnel that bury themselves into your heart

there is only a fleeting second when your eyes dilate with hurt

you conceal it immediately, replacing it with a steely gaze, yet the image has already seared itself into hongjoong’s mind

“maybe you should throw me overboard, then,” you counter, “i’m sure my family will thank you for it”

and even if you have completely neutralised your expression, no one misses the wounded tone of your voice before you disappear down into the lower deck

mingi lets out a low whistle after the resounding slam of the hatch closing

“you fucked up, captain”

hongjoong doesn’t need anyone to spell it out for him

the heavy feeling in his stomach is telling enough

it isn’t until the moon has long since risen that you emerge through the hatch again

you had bypassed the sleeping quarters to the hold, wedging yourself between barrels of grain until you were sure no one would find you

not that they would have tried to anyway - seonghwa had told them all to give you some space

you had run your finger up and down the sides of the barrels repetitively for hours on end, mind simultaneously void and filled with thoughts

the walls you had built around yourself kept you safe, but it had started to become awfully lonely after a while

when it had become a little too suffocating in the hold and you guessed that most of the crew was asleep, you had softly padded back up the stairs and across the main deck

you now sit on the foredeck where the endless expanse of the sea stretches out in front of you, closing your eyes and letting the swaying of the ship lull you into tranquillity

tonight, the moon winks down fondly upon the waters

hongjoong watches you from the quarterdeck

he’s seen you sit at the front of the ship on many nights when you should really have been asleep

he wonders if you’ve always looked so small and fragile with your knees drawn up to your chest, or whether it’s because the flash of hurt in your eyes and voice is still fresh in his mind

“go, captain,” yunho murmurs from where he’s at the helm, “it’s a quiet night”

hongjoong startles at having been caught gazing, clearing his throat and dragging his eyes away

“why should i, if she’s just going to ignore me?” he scoffs

but he knows he’s just being petty at this point and his chest churns in agreement

“maybe,” yunho hums softly in response. “did seonghwa ever give up on you, though?”

it’s rhetorical - hongjoong knows the answer better than anyone

the captain doesn’t say anything but after several beats of silence, he sighs and makes a move to the foredeck where you are

yunho smiles to himself

you and hongjoong may be more similar than his captain realises

your shoulders stiffen when the sound of hongjoong’s footsteps approaches

you’re not sure what to expect and you don’t exactly want to find out and risk getting hurt

but having spent all day swimming alone in your thoughts, you do want to show that you feel apologetic because admittedly, you were being an ass too

getting up to walk away when he’s taken the first step certainly won’t help your case

you hold your breath in awkward silence as he settles down beside you, leaving a respectable distance between your hunched figures

only now is hongjoong realising that he hasn’t actually thought about or decided on what he wants to say to you

but he can feel the confusion rolling off of you in waves, so he grits his teeth and says fuck it

“i won’t apologise for defending my crew, but i’m sorry for how i did it and for what i said”

he hopes you know he is sincere when he continues, “we all have our prickly edges. i can’t fault you for yours”

compassion is a foreign concept to you and so you’re a little stumped for words

hongjoong isn’t sure whether your silence is a good or bad thing, but you have yet to stand up and walk away from the conversation

“there’s only about a week left until we reach port and we’ll leave after you make it back to your kingdom and we receive our payment. i’m not asking for you to be friendly, but let’s at least be civil with each other until then,” he says

you want to nod, agree, anything

and yet you can’t seem to make your head move or the words to come out of your mouth

rome was not built in a day. but neither did its walls fall in a day

hongjoong doesn’t push for an answer when instead, you ask, “how many people have you actually tossed overboard before?”

he resists the urge to laugh at your question, suddenly endeared by the fact that you’re still bothered by his very empty threat

“none, but my offer still stands. you’re welcome to be my first,” he deadpans

you let out a snort and although you quickly turn your head away, hongjoong sees the hint of amusement in your eyes

no further words are exchanged between the two of you and you do not acknowledge him when he eventually stands to rejoin yunho at the helm

but it’s a start

and as with any relationship, be it friend, foe, or lover, there is always that

a beginning.

hongjoong isn’t really expecting much to change immediately so he doesn’t pay you much mind when you walk into the mess hall the following morning

you hesitate at the entrance when you see most of the crew are already present, the conversation you had with hongjoong last night replaying at the forefront of your mind

you chew on the inside of your mouth

wooyoung stops mid-conversation at the scrape of a plate on the table, looking up to find you sliding into the seat beside him with a tight-lipped smile

to your surprise, he greets you with enthusiasm and immediately drags you into the conversation

hongjoong watches as you slowly warm up and add one or two comments of your own in between bites of your hardtack

and when he catches your gaze after staring for too long, he gives you a smile to convey his appreciation; to acknowledge your efforts

you return it with a small smile of your own and unbeknownst to you, it stays on your face for the rest of the day

slowly, there become more and more reasons that elicit a smile out of you

you still sit out on the foredeck when everyone else has gone to sleep, but on most nights, hongjoong will join you even if just for a while

the two of you are content to sit side by side with nothing but the steady pulse of the ocean and intermittent creaks of the ship’s hull to break the silence of the night

tonight though, you find curiosity burning through you

“what’s it like?” you ask

“being a pirate?” he clarifies

you shrug vaguely, unsure yourself either, “being a pirate. being at sea. sailing with your crew”

he takes a moment to gather his thoughts - not because he doesn’t know what to say, but because there is too much he wants to say

when hongjoong answers, his voice rumbles softly from within his chest, tender and heartfelt

“there’s a sense of freedom that you can’t obtain when you’re bound to land and society. sailing the waters, the only limits are those of the open seas and of your own compass… the sunrises, the storms, the moonlight - it all becomes part of your home”

hongjoong leans back to rest on the palms of his hands, tilting his gaze up towards the twinkling sky

he reflects, “you experience brotherhood and gain a family that is worth multitudes more than the treasures you can accumulate, even if you were to live as a pirate for several lifetimes”

you’re enraptured by his words, like poetry that swirls off the pages of a book and drifts into your very soul

“i may be the captain of this crew, but they make me who i am. without them, i am nothing”

his words wash over you and unearth vivid memories

“that’s what the queen always says to me,” you reveal

a small smile starts to grace hongjoong’s face, but it falls just as quickly when he hears your next words

“that without her - without her title - i am nothing”

it’s funny, how the same phrase can hold such different meanings; can evoke such different emotions

you don’t elaborate any further, but hongjoong doesn’t think he needs you to in order for him to understand

he just wishes he had more time to show you that your mother is wrong

he can’t though

tomorrow they reach port and you will return to your rightful place in the palace

“tell me more about your crew,” you attempt to change the topic, “how did you all find each other?”

so hongjoong tells you

he talks for hours and hours and you listen all the while with a heavy heart, clinging onto his every word

on your final night, you two stay like that until the stars disappear and the horizon becomes streaked with the pale hues of sunrise

after the ship docks mere hours later, only hongjoong accompanies you to your kingdom after goodbyes are exchanged

wooyoung doesn’t take it well, and you find yourself holding back tears of your own as you are let through the palace doors with the captain by your side

but you blink them away when you approach the throne room because vulnerability is not an emotion you are willing to display

“y/n”

the queen addresses you curtly when you enter, and hongjoong wonders for a split second whether he has brought you back to the wrong kingdom

he knows your mother does not treat you fondly, but it’s still staggering to see it before his very own eyes

the monarch glances distastefully over him before her eyes flicker back to you

“i did not expect your return,” she states

your eyes remain impassive as you merely answer, “neither am i delighted to be back”

hongjoong recognises this look

he’s seen it when you first boarded his ship; he’s seen it when your hackles were raised

he’s seen it in himself, when he had been a teenager filled with nothing but growing resentment, before he had met seonghwa

your mother sneers, “then you should have made yourself useful and stayed with the pirates. as a whore or a dog, whatever it took.”

hongjoong has understood you since learning of your demons, but right now, he is you

he sees fifteen-year-old kim hongjoong, standing before a couple who are his parents only by title

he sees fifteen-year-old kim hongjoong, who doesn’t know what he has done that deems him undeserving of love

he sees fifteen-year-old kim hongjoong, all alone with no one to take his hand

“or really, you should have died on the ship”

hongjoong is close enough to you to hear the small hitch in your breath at your mother’s final jab

he may not have had someone to save his younger self, but he can do that now

he can be the person he so desperately needed years ago

and so he does just that.

hongjoong grabs your hand and drags you out of the palace

no one stops the two of you from leaving and he is unsure whether his heart hurts for you or sings with relief

you can only stutter in shock as you try to keep up, “hongjoong, what about your payment?”

his determined steps do not slow down, even as he looks back at you with a sure smile, “i told you before. some things are worth more than money”

the comforting squeeze of his hand conveys that you are worth more than any amount of money

the form of the arriba grows bigger in the distance and you think you can see the movement of excitement on deck when the crew spots your figures

hongjoong has slowed down his steps, but he has yet to let go of your hand

“and you deserve to know that. welcome to the crew, y/n”

to a family and love that you never had

you think you like the sound of that

“thank you, captain”

seonghwa

pov: you're a royal navy officer in disguise

you lay awake in your hammock, listening to the soft snores of the crew members around you

sleep doesn’t come easy to you anymore

particularly tonight

you contemplate whether it’s worth the risk to simply not show up

you know what the consequences are if they capture you - a slow and painful death - but you’re unsure whether you want to put ateez on the line too

your ship is currently docked for the night, having made a port stop at alcarres following one of the crew’s wishes to retire the pirate lifestyle and settle in the small town

their last night with ateez had been celebrated with sloshing rum and rowdy jigs, something you had found strange

there’s none of that in the royal navy

when one leaves, it is shameful and through one of three options only; old age, crippling injury, or…death

you had asked seonghwa, the quartermaster, why he and the captain were so accepting when crew members left as they wished

he had simply smiled and answered, “better a small but loyal crew than a large and unpredictable crew”

his words are like a sharp stone in your shoe as you finally slip out of your hammock and make your way off the ship

as ordered, you head to the tavern addressed

you salute the person in front of you and ease into your seat with a formality only when he disregards you

“admiral jang”

“you’re late,” the royal navy officer raises an eyebrow

“sorry, sir. i had to make sure everyone was asleep”

it’s not exactly the truth, but no one needs to know that you had spent an hour in your hammock questioning your morality

he ignores your excuse, jesting as he asks of your captain, “has the pirate king found the chart’s whereabouts yet?”

the charts

centuries ago, a crew of experienced sailors had travelled the six great seas and created the original navigational charts

the charts had become scattered and lost over time, but its value only increased exponentially as more and more sailors became victims to the sea trying to map its waters to the same detail and accuracy as the original charts

of the six originals, only the whereabouts of five are known, with most of them within the possession of the royal navy

it’s rumoured that hongjoong - the pirate king - has his hands on two of them and is currently tracking down the lost chart of the aurorian sea

the only sea that has yet to be chartered after its original map due to its dangerous and unpredictable sailing conditions

you know that your next words can hold an inexplicable amount of possibilities

“not yet. the last lead didn’t get him anywhere. turned out the last of the ahn clan had passed a decade ago”

his lips flatten at the lack of worthwhile information

“where’s the captain headed to next, then?” he probes

for a split second, the thought of lying crosses your mind

you can’t provide a different location - it would be much too obvious and would raise immediate suspicions

but you could give him a different time frame

after all, it’s not uncommon for navigational routes to be one to two weeks off should the waters be unpredictable enough

you find the truth spilling out of you anyway once you’re looking into his stone-cold eyes

“vlasgar. in about three weeks’ time”

for a moment, time stands still as your heart pounds and you attempt to slow your breathing, the officer staring back at you calculatingly

then he finally hums in satisfaction

you think that he is going to dismiss you, but as you make a move to leave, he leans back in his seat

the split second of hesitation was enough

“remember where your loyalty lies, y/n”

the air feels cold with the underlying threat

seonghwa’s words flit through your mind

better a small but loyal crew than a large and unpredictable crew

you swallow, “of course, admiral”

and then you’re dismissed with a nod

the unsettling feeling follows you all the way back to the ship and every miniscule creak of the floorboards underneath you seems to be amplified in the silence

you let out a short gasp of surprise when you’re about to climb back into your hammock, only to see seonghwa blinking blearily at you

“couldn’t sleep ‘gain?” he mumbles

you choke out a response, “yeah”

“i’ll make you tea b’fore you sleep ‘morrow,” his words slur with sleepiness

“okay,” you whisper

but you know it won’t make a difference

after all, there’s no remedy for guilt

it continues to fester the next day, as you linger outside the captain’s quarters

you can’t remember why you had come down to the lower deck, but it doesn’t matter now, not with seonghwa and the captain discussing what you think is related to the aurorian chart

“do you think he’s still in vlasgar?”

“min taesoo? it’s hard to say. but i’m sure he’ll have acquaintances still on the island who may have an idea of where he’s gone”

min taesoo

your brain tries to carefully file the name away, knowing that it’s what admiral jang would want to know, but at the same time, your heart tries to pretend it doesn’t know what you have heard so that you can forget about it

you find yourself scratching the name onto a scrap of paper anyway

unbeknownst to you, at the almost-imperceivable sound of your footsteps walking away, the two men behind the doors share a look

the crew sets sail again in the afternoon towards the next destination - vlasgar - and the scrap of paper in your pocket weighs you down so heavily that you feel off-kilter as you absentmindedly follow jongho up into the rigging to unfurl the sails

you’re near the top of the ropes when a sudden wave lurches the boat to starboard

it’s only a small push, really, but with your mind elsewhere, it catches you off guard and you miss your next step

the feeling of your hand dislodging from the sudden drag of your body weight brings you back to the present with a yell of surprise

(whether it’s your own or jongho’s, you can’t remember)

your sailing experience takes over and you try to swing your body back towards the safety of the rigging

you barely manage to grasp the ropes again but your hands slip down with your weight until they hit the next knot, the hot rush of friction threatening your grip

with adrenaline rushing through your body, you shakily climb back down, where there are several pairs of hands waiting to help you down the rest of the rigging

seonghwa’s hands do not leave you even after your feet are planted on the deck again

dread and shame heat the back of your neck and curl around onto your cheeks, knowing that a mistake like the one you had just made - accidental or not - would lead to a punishment like confinement in the lower deck back in the royal navy

except, when an apology starts to form on your lips, seonghwa bursts out in dismay

“y/n, your hands!”

you let out an unintelligible noise as seonghwa gently turns your palms over and you realise that the ropes have grazed some of the skin off

“it’s fine,” you want to say

but you’re silenced when he leads you to the small sick bay on the orlop deck

even if there is no surgeon on board, there is a small chest fastened to the wall that is home to their few and valuable medical supplies

you sit as he fusses over you with alcohol and strips of cloth

although he does a good job of wrapping your hands, your insides start to bleed with how intensely guilt eats away at you, like a maggot deep inside the core of a festering apple

that night as you shuffle towards your hammock to sleep, you flinch when you find seonghwa already sitting in his

he’s fighting the heaviness in his eyes as he carefully cradles something

upon seeing you, he wordlessly hands it to you with a sleepy smile before he finally sags into his own hammock with a content sigh

you look down and the warmth of it seems to burn through the padded dressing that the man before you has tenderly wrapped around your palms

the sensation travels upwards to burn your heart too

because in your hands is a cup of warm chamomile tea

and yet, despite the emptied cup, you find yourself unable to fall asleep

but in the darkness of the sky, with no witnesses other than the waves and sea foam themselves, a small piece of crumpled paper gets tossed overboard that night

the closer their ship approaches vlasgar, the more distant seonghwa notices you become

he worries

seonghwa thinks he worries for the reasons that he should be

he is the quartermaster; entrusted to protect the crew as the captain’s right-hand man

if that means ensuring no one will compromise the rest of his crew, even if it’s you, then so be it

that’s what he justifies to himself as he walks through the cobbled streets of vlasgar, slinking through the shadows as he follows your figure from a safe distance

(in reality, seonghwa worries for the reasons that he is not quite ready to admit yet)

he follows you into the dim bar of a tavern and carefully situates himself where he can watch over you without being discovered

he orders a mug of common ale as you approach someone

the man is dressed in civilian attire, but seonghwa can tell straight away from his demeanour and expression that he is not as ordinary as he appears

it’s confirmed when he hears you say, “admiral jang”

and then he sees it

the small but striking lapel pin on the breast of the man’s coat - the royal navy’s insignia

seonghwa feels for the sash that’s hidden underneath his own jacket and his fingertips meet the cool metal of the pistol tied inside

“you better have updates for me, y/n. what’s the pirate king’s purpose here in vlasgar?”

seonghwa knows he only has about five seconds to make a decision - one that could jeopardise the crew, or one that could jeopardise you

but you surprise yourself and the both of them when you answer steadfastly, “i don’t know, sir”

despite the din of drunker patrons in the tavern, it seems to fall deathly silent

“am i hearing wrong, officer?” the admiral questions with a disbelieving scoff

to your credit, your voice does not waver when you state again, “no, sir. i believe the captain and quartermaster are lying low. they have not revealed anything to me nor the rest of the crew”

seonghwa suddenly understands why you have distanced yourself

the admiral’s jaw tics

“is that so.”

you do not respond, only focusing on the spot between his raised eyebrows as he leans forward across the table

“where does your loyalty lie, y/n?”

neither the admiral nor seonghwa need to hear your answer to know the truth

a small crew may be outnumbered, but they have strength in loyalty and devotion

there’s a glint of movement from underneath the table as the admiral inches something out from his belt

seonghwa makes his decision

you flinch, eyes wide as there’s a deafening gunshot and the table beside you splinters and scatters the tankards of alcohol onto the floor

instantaneously, chaos erupts

there are drunken yells of fright and weapons clumsily brandished, tables upturned and chairs hurled across the room

it only takes one other misfired shot for the tavern to descend into hellfire as customers who were previously drinking together now turn on one another

nobody notices the two pirates dashing out, not even admiral jang, who is busy wrangling two inebriated men off his arms

your composure dissolves the moment you are dragged into an alleyway several streets away and you look up in shock to discover-

“seonghwa?! why are you here?”

“i could say the same about you,” he counters, hardly out of breath

you’re stunned by the fact that he seems completely unfazed by the mess that he has just dragged you out of

something clicks

“was that you? did you know all along?”

seonghwa smiles, “let’s just say you’re not as subtle as you think you are when you sneak around. plus, it’s uncommon for sailors to have the experience that you do without having had some sort of training”

you curse under your breath and wince, “does hongjoong know too?”

the quartermaster nods and you fear the answer to your next question

“then why has he not…why have you not…”

“killed you yet?” seonghwa chuckles. “i’m sure you’ve realised by now how skewed the royal navy’s beliefs are”

you’re quiet

the royal navy has always been cult-like in preaching the ruthlessness and barbarism of pirates, drilling into the officers the belief that pirates are the scum of the sea

but everything that you’ve known has been proven false since you’ve joined ateez; ironically, the pirates are more humane than the royal navy themself

their crew stand at attention whenever hongjoong or seonghwa walk onto the deck - not out of cultivated fear but genuine respect

when jongho is sore and tired from handling the riggings on a particularly rough and windy day, the others will offer to cover for his chores instead of flogging him into submission

and when mingi is divvying up the shares of the provisions and loot, the others will slip an extra bar of soap for seonghwa, the shiniest ring for mingi, or the largest bottle of rum for yunho, because they want to make each other happy

“hongjoong is the pirate king, yes, but a king should not take the lives of others for his own power. a true king uses his power to change the lives of others for the better…like yours…and like mine”

you frown with a jerk of your head

“what do you mean?”

you can’t see seonghwa as a broken man whatsoever

he gives you a weak smile, “i, too, used to be part of the royal navy”

your jaw drops

everything clicks into place - how he had figured out you weren’t just a common sailor and why he hadn’t confronted you about it

the shame and guilt come rushing back over you in a storm that is much too familiar by now

“i’m so sorry, all i’ve done is betray your trust-”

“but that’s what second chances are for, no?” seonghwa cuts you off, playfully flicking your forehead as he reminds you, “and i’m pretty sure you’ve chosen me over the royal navy”

your cheeks grow hot

“not you. the crew,” you mutter

he laughs and it’s a wonderful sound

“come on, it’s late,” seonghwa beckons. “let’s get some sleep”

when he sees that you’re still rooted to the spot, unsure whether you are deserving to go back, he decides for you and moves behind you to gently nudge you forward by the shoulders

you let him guide you

his hands are warm, you note, even through the linen of your shirt

his hands are also pretty, you observe, when he tries to fluff your hammock once you two have crept your way back to the berth

seonghwa helps you up into the hammock and you watch as he climbs into his

his hands are also teeming with love, you realise, when he wordlessly extends his arm nearest to you in a silent invitation

if you both reach out, you can just entwine your hands together from your respective hammocks

the burns on your palms have healed nicely and without the need for them to be wrapped, you can feel every expanse of his hand covering yours

he doesn’t retract his hand and neither do you, even though it’s not the most comfortable position and you both lose feeling of your arms soon after

but you lay in your hammock, drifting to the soft snores of the crew members around you and the soft tug of seonghwa’s fingers in yours

sleep comes easy to you

particularly tonight

as it will for the rest of your life

yunho

pov: you're the crew's navigator

you know it’s going to happen even before it actually does

you can feel it in the air and from the way the baby hairs around your hairline start to frizz

but you never say anything because you wouldn’t trade it for the moment when the first raindrop hits the back of yunho’s neck and he abandons his duty at the helm to drag you out onto the upper deck

(hongjoong only sighs in defeat before he stations himself at the helm instead)

you don’t like the rain

not like yunho does

you are already looking up from the map spread out in the captain’s quarters, a knowing smile on your face just from the sound of his bounding footsteps alerting you of his presence, when yunho appears with the beckon of rain

you pretend to let yourself be dragged to your feet along to his urges of come on!

but then you dash forward towards the hatch with yunho chasing after your bright laughter

in the short span of time that it has taken him to fetch you, the sprinkle of rain has steadily grown and the weathered planks of the deck are already a dark grey

you feel the coldness of the raindrops hitting the crown of your head and the spreading chill as your clothes start to become damp

but that’s not what makes you feel alive

yunho catches up to you easily and then he is snaking his arms around your waist to lift you up into the air

you barely have time to squeal and steady yourself on his broad shoulders before he is spinning the two of you around, the world blurring away as the spotlight shines on him and he is all that you can see

the deck is your stage and the sea is your audience

rain with yunho is twirling hugs, tiptoed kisses and tinkling laughter. it’s soaked shirts and rosy cheeks and the only thing that matters in the moment

you don’t like the rain, but it’s easy to like the rain when it’s with him

(hongjoong lets the two of you be - so obviously and hopelessly enamoured by each other - because when one sees people in love, one cannot help but watch and smile)

the rain eventually peters out and you and yunho must return to your respective duties, but not until you two have changed out of your drenched clothes and sneaked in a few more kisses

a few hours later, you hear the racket above the deck as a ship pulls up beside the arriba and ropes are thrown across from both sides to lash the vessels close together

hongjoong comes down to join you in his quarters, but he’s not alone

behind him is the captain of the silver light, dae jihoo, and his quartermaster, with seonghwa entering last

you note that this crew doesn’t have a navigator of their own

but you suppose that’s one of the reasons why their captain had implored an alliance for this particular raid

the crew of the silver light are wanting to target the prosperity triangle - an area between three large ports that is frequently trafficked by wealthy vessels transporting valuable goods

it’s a raid that would prove difficult for a smaller pirate crew like your own and the silver light, and especially if they have no navigator

but it’s not uncommon for pirates to form temporary alliances for such purposes, and together, your crews have a good chance of plundering a fortune

you nod your head in acknowledgement when hongjoong introduces you to the two pirates as ateez’s navigator

you don’t miss the way jihoo’s eyes seem to linger on you for a second too long before he flashes a crooked grin and gestures towards the navigational map spread out on the oak table

clearing your throat of discomfort, you step forward and flatten the creases out with your hands

“this is the most open spot within the triangle that the vessel we’re after will pass through,” you tap an annotated spot on the chart, “and this is where we are now”

you slide your finger across, “we’ll follow the rhumb line west to avoid the shallower waters and when we can catch the trade winds, it should be smooth sailing from there”

jihoo challenges you, “how can you be sure we’ll catch the ship within the triangle?”

“they’ll need to sail past the equator and i’m almost certain their ship will be slowed down by the doldrums. we can easily gain knots on them”

he squints at the scribbles you’ve made noting down what you’ve gathered of the wind patterns

you know for a fact that it will mean nothing to him, but whatever he sees must satisfy him because jihoo appears to make up his mind

“when do we set sail?” he directs his question to your captain

“three days from now”

he grunts a noise of affirmation and stands, which hongjoong takes as the cue to see them and the rest of their crew off your ship

you trail behind the group as you all head back to the upper deck

you prepare to emerge from the hatch with a playful wink, knowing that yunho will be craning his neck from the helm to get a glimpse of you, when a sudden holler surprises you out of your thoughts

it’s immediately met with the answering cries of several other pirates - none from your crew - and you hurry to clear the hatch to gain your bearings

you’re thrust right into the throes of battle as ateez are forced to unsheathe their cutlasses to defend against silver light’s sudden attack

having been caught off guard, basically none of your firearms are loaded with gunpowder, rendering them unusable

you will have to make do with the short sabre at your waist

there’s no time to account for the whereabouts and safety of your crew members and you just have to pray that you all make it out of this unscathed

especially yunho

but as ateez retaliate, you all notice something is off about the situation

your crew is very quickly overpowering the other pirates - it was a losing fight for them from the very beginning

it makes no sense to you nor the rest of your crew

the losses of breaking the alliance before the planned raid, much less through betrayal, far outweigh any gains they could possibly make from their choice of action

it makes absolutely no sense

until it does.

you are blocking the swing of a sabre with your own when you are tugged backwards harshly by the collar of your shirt

there’s an angry snarl in your throat as you prepare to turn around, but it’s quickly silenced by the warning shot of a pistol right beside your ear

the cold ring of metal is then pressed to the back of your head

you know that firearms require time to reload and there’s a chance that this pistol is now useless

but, like wooyoung has taught the rest of the crew to do, they may have pre-prepared several pistols and you are not willing to play with fire - especially when you are only the flex of a finger away from death

you vaguely hear someone yell out your name in panic, but you’re not quite sure you hear correctly over the clamour of cutlasses clashing, warcries resounding and your own heartbeat pounding

“stand down or your navigator dies,” the voice behind you thunders

it’s jihoo…and he wants a navigator for his crew

“ateez,” one of your men commands, “lower your weapons”

your crew may make decisions fairly, but in battle, only hongjoong has the power to make commands

yunho has never spoken against his captain or disobeyed orders

until now

the words do not come out of your captain’s mouth but yunho’s

the rest of the members hesitate - they will not stand down unless hongjoong commands them to, yet, they are unsure whether they will be able to follow should he demand them to fight on, even if it means endangering your life

but there is no guarantee jihoo will let your crew go unharmed even after you all surrender, and as the captain, hongjoong must make decisions in the best interest for the crew

“captain!” yunho yells desperately

yunho never yells

“stand down,” hongjoong commands

silver light’s captain steps in closer behind you until you can hear and feel the noise of intriguement that leaves his mouth down the back of your neck

“that your loverboy, hmm?”

he smirks

there’s a false moment of primal relief when the press of the pistol is removed from the back of your head, but it is immediately replaced with fear that is irrevocably worse as he aims it in yunho’s direction and shoots

“no!”

you shriek and pull against the tug of his hold, still fisted around your collar, your pupils blown wide with terror at the sight of the clean hole in the mast right beside yunho’s head

“it’ll be pretty boy’s head next if you don’t come with me,” jihoo coos into your ear

the fight slips out of you immediately

because if you can save him, a life for a life, then you will

even if the sight of mingi holding yunho back from lunging forward when the pistol’s barrel returns to your head makes your heart clench painfully

“y/n, don’t you dare,” yunho pleads, voice filled with anguish

you’re barely given enough time to lock eyes with him and say resolutely, “remember what you said to me,” before you are tugged away to the boarding plank

ateez can only watch helplessly as the planks are removed from over the bulwarks and the last of the ropes are untied, releasing the silver light from their ship for good

jihoo tugs you down the hatch as the ship starts to pull away, and just like that, you’re gone from their sights

“fuck!” yunho shouts furiously, unable to contain his emotions as he turns around and connects his fist with the mast

right where the musket ball had made a hole

his hand pulls away with bloodied knuckles from the splintered wood and the sheer force of his punch

a concerned whine leaves seonghwa’s mouth and he tries to approach the taller, but yunho shakes him off and looks determinedly at hongjoong

“we’re sailing to the banver isle just east of the triangle. we’ll ambush them there”

seonghwa looks between the two, hope flickering in his chest at the potential plan, “you think the silver light are stupid enough to try taking on the prosperity triangle alone?”

yunho chuckles darkly, “they were fucking shitbrained enough to take y/n, so yes”

nobody disagrees and hongjoong smirks dangerously

“ateez, ready the sails for banver isle,” he commands. “prepare for battle”

because not only have the silver light taken you away from ateez, but they have also annihilated the light from yunho’s eyes

gone are his warm brown orbs - they are now black holes thirsty for retribution

there will be lives to pay and even that will not be enough for the void

unaware of what your crew is capable of, jihoo looks down at you with a triumphant leer

“you’ll navigate us to the triangle in three days’ time. don’t even think about lying - you’ve already shown me where the location is”

with an even nod you reply, “of course”

it’s true though - you have absolutely no intention of navigating them somewhere else

because you know yunho will be waiting there for you

amidst chaste kisses exchanged between plush lips cold from the rain, yunho tells you in a brief moment of seriousness

“don’t show them where the real location is,” his breath is warm across your cheeks. “you know the coastal island roughly ten nautical miles away? show them that instead”

you tilt your head to look up at him, “you think they’ll betray us?”

“no,” he reassures you with a deeper, slower kiss, “but we can never be too safe”

and even if your vessels miss each other this time, you have complete faith that yunho will sail to the very ends of the world just to find you

two days before the originally-planned raid, the arriba sails as closely to banver isle as possible without risking running aground

yunho has navigated the ship around the back of the isle so that the form of the rocky terrain conceals them from sight

once the anchor is lowered, the crew members use every ticking moment to make preparations

swords are sharpened and firearms cleaned

mingi distributes the gunpowder and ammunition, which is pre-loaded into muskets, pistols and swivel cannons ready to be engaged

the ship’s sails and riggings are checked and yeosang keeps a keen lookout in the crow’s nest

and it’s as if the world itself can sense the brewing storm that grows inside yunho

the sea is eerily still and silent, but the sky is an omen to something impending, its rolling clouds dark and angry with the threat of rain leering over the waters

yunho doesn’t actually like the rain

he only likes it because it’s with you

rain with you is barefoot dancing, breathless confessions and bashful giggles. it’s drenched locks and fluttering eyelashes and the only thing that exists in the moment

but as the profile of the silver light finally approaches the isle two days later, the heavens split open and you are not by his side

rain without you is falling pinpricks, frigid winds and flaunting mockery and yunho despises it with his entire being

at yeosang’s call of, “vessel approaching from starboard,” up in the lookout, yunho smothers the fervid desire to barrage the other ship with cannonballs like hail from hell; to unleash an inferno that blazes through their hull as he sadistically watches the crew jump for their lives

he stamps out the hunger to shoot the ones that make it into the sea, not to kill, only to maim and induce a long, painful struggle in the open waters until death becomes inevitable - until there is enough blood spilt that it becomes the only stench in the air that stretches across for miles

yunho leashes his monsters with an iron fist

because he will not do anything that could even remotely endanger your life

even if it means that he has to hold back - to sit and wait like prey instead of advancing on the other ship like a predator

at least not yet.

silver light do not know, but this is the calm before the storm

the heavens may be crying, the winds may be howling and the waters may be roiling

but this is nothing compared to yunho

yunho is a tempest of unparalleled rage and their ship is in the eye of his storm

as the bowsprit of the silver light starts to appear around the isle, the members ready their grappling hooks and yunho draws his cutlass with a menacing whisper of unsheathing metal

you are his treasure, and pirates never lose sight of their treasure

today…you return to him

yeosang

pov: you're a tavern keeper

watching the ale reach the brim of the tankard you are holding, you’re about to step away from the barrel when the voice of a patron sounds behind you

“‘scuse me, could i get a mint-”

you look up and turn around in confusion as their voice cuts off

only to have the question taken right from the tip of your own tongue as you’re met with the face of the person you had loved for years

the same person you have spent twice as long trying to forget

eyes searching each other’s in a surprised stupor, seeing kang yeosang standing right in front of you takes you back to those memories that you have tried to remember and simultaneously bury

it thrusts you headfirst into what used to be of your shared love - like the feathery remnants of a dream, so distant from the fingers of your consciousness, suddenly returning to vivid existence when you least expect it

“hey, mint leaf. i’m back”

yeosang at least has the perceptiveness to appear a little apologetic, immediately pulling you into a hug and pressing soft kisses against your hairline uncaring of the other people in the tavern

it’s been several weeks since you last saw him, and whilst he had warned you he would be gone for longer this time, you hadn’t expected it to mean two whole months

he’s a small merchant who also fishes along the coast to earn enough to make ends meets, so he’s often gone for a few days or a week or two

you knew what you were in for when you first made it official with him, but just because you become accustomed to something, doesn’t mean it gets any easier

and he’s never been gone for this long

something must have happened - something good - because he looks alive, cheeks glowing and eyes fiery

“i met the crew”

“the crew?” you ask, hands reaching for the bourbon to prepare him a drink as he lets himself behind the counter to stand beside you in your workspace

he nods excitedly, "wooyoung’s pirate crew, ateez"

you think you know where this is going to go and you hate that your stomach sinks at the thought of what your future may become, because yeosang looks so happy to tell you about this and a happy yeosang is all that you could ask for

“the captain offered me a position as their lookout”

you pick out your next words carefully as you hand him his finished drink - a mint julep with two sugar cubes, just the way he likes it

"aren't…isn't being a pirate dangerous?"

“not as dangerous as you might think, actually. they’ve been showing me the ropes the last couple of weeks and…and i think i want to join them. officially”

there it is

the forked end of the road

you wonder how far two people can keep walking with their hands intertwined before the distance becomes too great and they have to let go

his words become a little muddled when he goes on to tell you about how they divvied up their recent loot to include his share too

how he’s gained more money than he’s made from the last two years of working as a merchant and fisherman combined

if he joins his old friend and his crew, he could earn enough to buy his parents a proper house; earn enough to build you your very own tavern

you want to tell him that you don’t need the tavern, just him, but you also know just how important his family is to him

his filial desire to take care of his parents was one of the very reasons you fell in love with him in the first place

before you can say anything though, the tavern keeper is interrupting to let you know that your shift is over

yeosang immediately perks up and herds you out of the place, claiming that there is a new fishing spot he discovered that he has to show you

and so you sit while he rows his modest boat, only the splash of his oars disturbing the peaceful stillness that has settled over the waters as the sun dips below the horizon

the waning light casts a soft, warm glow over him, like a gentle kiss against his skin and birthmark

if angels graced the earth, there would be one sitting right in front of you

“i missed you, mint leaf,” he confesses, gaze shyly averted. “i thought about you when i was gone”

“did you think about showing me this place?” you feel a little breathless

he nods, “every single night”

and that’s enough for you

it feels like everything is okay again

it doesn’t matter if you’re standing at a forked road

you think that perhaps, for him, you can walk on an unpaved path - just so that you can keep holding his hand

“y/n”

yeosang’s voice is deep

the word sounds foreign to your own ears but you don’t dwell on it

(because if you do, you’ll wonder whether it’s because you’ve forgotten the sound of his voice or because you want to hear him calling you something else)

“what would you like to order?” you ask

(because it’s easier to pretend that he’s just another patron than to admit that he used to be all that you ever knew)

yeosang fumbles a little but then regains himself, “oh, um- just a mint julep, please”

you turn your back to him to prepare his drink, hands reaching for the barrels lined along the bottom shelves without needing to look

you’ve made this drink too many times to count

half of those times were in the safety of the darkness that midnight offered; when the tears could flow freely without anyone seeing

it’s only when you start to mix his cocktail that yeosang realises he didn’t ask for his sugar cubes, but he figures the drink will taste bitter tonight either way so he opts to watch you instead

he wishes that he could walk past the counter like he used to and wrap his arms around you

he wishes that he could whisper endearments into your ears and press them against your lips

he wishes that he could show you that he still loves you

“do you still love me?” your voice wavers with hurt as you stand in front of him

he’s finally back after being gone for four months this time and you hate this conversation as much as he does, but it was bound to happen eventually

yeosang pleads, “more than anything”

“then why does it hurt so much? loving you…and being loved by you”

he doesn’t have an answer

but god be damned if he doesn’t try to find a way to fix things

“tell me, mint leaf, what can i do?”

you blink back your tears furiously, having already made up your mind while he was still at sea

“let’s break up”

because in the end, unpaved paths have too many rocks, too many thorns and too many arched roots; they were never meant to be walked along

you pass yeosang his finished drink without another word and then move further down the counter to serve a different customer

his eyes linger on you wistfully before he tears them away from you

it’s a good thing his hair has grown long enough to cover his face when he looks down

because his eyes start to grow wet at the sight of the mint julep you have made him

with two sugar cubes in it, just the way he likes it

perhaps, once you’ve loved somebody, you never really stop loving them

yeosang shows up again the next day and seats himself at the bar

you don’t serve him though, actively avoiding his end of the counter and letting another of your staff tend to him

he orders his usual but he leaves out his request for additional sugar cubes

it feels wrong for him to order it from someone that isn’t you

but you’re watching out of the corner of your eye as the worker mixes the bourbon, sugar and water, topping it with a few mint leaves and then sliding it across the counter for him

you let out a little sigh, half amused, when he takes a small sip and smacks his lips together at the bitterness

you take two sugar cubes and drop it unceremoniously into his pewter cup before you realise what you’re doing

yeosang immediately seizes the opportunity to talk to you

“my crew’s docked for the fortnight…” he waits to see if you’ll respond. you don’t, but you also don’t move away, so he continues. “we’re making some repairs to the hull and sails before our next raid”

you have half a mind to walk away after you reply, “i didn’t ask”

he forges on regardless

“we’re going to work with another crew for this one. it’s going to increase our chances of a successful raid because-”

your voice comes out a little harsher than you mean for it to when you hiss again, “i didn’t ask”

yeosang’s mouth closes as he pulls away slightly, back straightening

then he says in a softer voice, “i’ve been doing well. wooyoung still takes care of me, even though i’m not new to the crew anymore. i also saw my parents today and they’re happily retired now…”

you don’t stop him from talking this time

because how many sleepless nights have you spent sitting outside your tavern looking up at the stars; how many times have you served a mint julep to a patron and accidentally added sugar cubes; how many moments have you been consumed by the thought of him, simply wondering if he is living well?

this is everything that you have ever wanted - yeosang in the flesh letting you know that, yes, he has been well

but it is also everything that you have ever feared - that he has been well even without you

you don’t know what to feel

“my parents asked about you,” he says gingerly. “how have you been?”

his voice is barely audible, as if he is afraid of what you might say

or perhaps, afraid that you might not say anything at all

“good. excellent,” you force a small smile, your eyes still focused on the mint leaves floating in his drink. you don’t think you can look at him. “i own this place now”

his body loses its tension, cheeks rounding as he looks at you with genuine relief

“that’s…that’s really good to hear”

his words sting

you are unsure if it stings your ego or if it picks at the wound in the shape of the person you have lost

but it hurts to know that he has worried over you in the exact same way you have over him, the whole time you two have been apart

you’re suddenly overwhelmed by the realisation and hot tears well in your eyes almost immediately

your bottom lip starts to crumple so you rush into the back room to escape

“y/n!” yeosang calls out after you, alarmed

when you don’t stop, disappearing into the storage, he jolts up from his seat and follows

your body shudders with every heaving breath you take, unable to stop yourself from crying even harder when you feel him tug you into his chest

you try to pull away but his sturdy arms tighten around you

yeosang refuses to let you go once more

“i hate you,” you sob, struggling against his hold as you hit his chest weakly

he hushes comforts against the crown of your head, soothing noises as he endures your fists

“you have every reason to”

yeosang holds back tears of his own

he feels your body gradually losing its fight, sinking into his embrace instead, hands desperately holding him close

your voice is so impossibly small when you tearfully confess, “but i still love you”

“oh, mint leaf,” he brushes the stray locks of hair away from your face and cradles your jaw tenderly, “i still love you, too”

he presses a soft kiss against your forehead, pulling away once only to reaffirm, “so, so much”

when he kisses you again, his lips taste salty against your own, but nothing has ever tasted sweeter than this

your breath no longer stutters but the tears continue to run down your face because your heart finally feels right after all these years apart

and yet-

you pull away

“we can’t do this”

yeosang feels his heart shattering

“why not? i don’t understand,” he whimpers

“you know why,” you say distressingly, “my life is here, yeosang. i can’t just leave and return whenever i want. but you, on the other hand? you can. you go where your crew goes - you belong with them”

“but my heart belongs to you. please, y/n,” he begs

his arms are still wrapped around you and you feel his desperation as his fingers cling onto you like a lifeline

you look earnestly into his bloodshot eyes, your own vision blurry, “yeo, you’re not the one who gets left behind here. you’re not the one who waits weeks, months, years on end, just hoping that the next person to walk in is the person that you want to see”

he wants to plead that he waits to see you, too, but he knows that he’s the one who leaves, too

“you’re the right one for me - the only one for me - but it’s not the right time,” you tell him gently

slowly, his arms lower themselves from around you

“it wasn’t the right time then and it isn’t the right time now,” he repeats, “then when is the right time for us?”

you shoot the question right back at him, “when is the right time for someone whose life is to sail the world?”

neither of you know the answer

nobody does, because loving a pirate has no certainties

but yeosang doesn’t give up

“if we can’t ever be sure, why don’t we just make it the right time ourselves?”

you caress his cheek sweetly, and despite having stepped away from you earlier, he leans into your hand, starved of your loving touch and affection

“yeosang…what if we’ve already had it? what if…meeting each other was already it? what if we’re just meant to love from a distance, not side by side?” your voice is poignant but resolute

he brings up a hand to cover yours, still warm and tender against his wet cheek

how is it that he can be touching you yet simultaneously feel worlds apart from you

“okay,” he accepts with a whisper

if loving you silently is the only way he gets to love you, then he will choose it in a heartbeat over losing you entirely

he thumbs away the remainder of your tears

“can i kiss you? one last time?” he asks

you nod

“one last time”

your lips slowly meet, slotting together as they find their home in each other’s dips and curves

his hands cradle the small of your back and neck and your own hands rest against his chest

the kiss you share is steady, longing and bittersweet

it conveys everything that you want to say to each other, and even then, it is hardly enough

thank you

i’m sorry

i love you

goodbye…

you can feel your eyes burning up again, but you focus on the feeling of yeosang’s lips against yours instead

because you know that the moment one of you pulls away, that is it forever

in the world of love, there are people who are ill-fated

they meet the right person, but at the wrong time

and then there are people like you and yeosang

not ill-fated, but star-crossed lovers

the right person…

but just not meant to be

2K notes · View notes

atinytokki · 2 months

Text

Orbit

Chapter 1: SS Aurora

07:21 Open Space Calibrated Time

They were stranded, stranded in the astral sea.

The spaceship’s auto navigational system spoke into the darkness with a request. “Would you like to set a course?”

“No.”

For now, they would remain adrift.

Untethered. Directionless.

A frail wisp of steam curled upwards from the cup Seonghwa was holding. A calming tea made of rare leaves from his home planet. One that should’ve relaxed him.

It should’ve been a day like any other in between jobs, floating along in their spaceship through the open space that connected distant planets just outside the Aten-Odae Asteroid Belt. A leisurely morning when the residents of SS Aurora took their time rising from their bunks and wandering to the central area.

But this time no one had gotten more than three hours of sleep, and instead of enjoying breakfast together, they were huddled around the table under the lowlight, waiting in an anxious silence.

Because today they were only seven, with their missing leader in the clutches of the Intergalactic Trade Guild, an empire with control over the farthest reaches of the galaxy that waged war on the surrounding systems.

He was gone and for three days now they had heard nothing.

“He’s dead,” Mingi whispered, terrified of his own words as he said them, while Yunho calibrated the holoscreen to tap into the Guild’s most popular news network. “They’ve killed him already, they’d be insane not to.”

“We don’t know that,” Wooyoung scolded, ever the optimist. “Even the Guild has to follow their own rules. He’ll be on trial.”

Seonghwa met his eyes with a wavering smile that quickly died out. He had no encouragement to give when his own breathing was laboured with the stress of the situation. He was a moment away from passing out if he forgot to breathe properly.

Inhale. Exhale.

Relax.

“But do you really think there’s any point in a court proceeding?” Yeosang questioned softly, picking at the food on his plate. “After what he did?”

He was referring, of course, to their Captain’s surrender. Hongjoong had insisted on being captured to allow the rest of the crew to escape the ambush three days ago with their loot and not even Yunho knew why. The credits they had been stealing at the time were not worth Hongjoong’s life.

And, loathe as Seonghwa was to admit it, Yeosang made a good point. They had more than enough evidence against him already, so why not put him to death and be done with it? It didn’t make sense for the Guild to make a judicial spectacle when the price on Hongjoong’s head had been astronomical.

Seonghwa should know, because that price had once been of great interest to him.

The sour taste of bile rose in his throat and he forced it down, focusing on the broadcast when San shushed the discussion and pointed everyone’s attention to it.

“A new case of great interest has taken over the intergalactic networks today due to the figure in custody,” the announcer was saying, his eyes practically devoid of life even as he spoke with an animated voice. “Notorious pirate Kim Hongjoong, whose full identity was revealed upon his arrest, has supposedly been a known public enemy to the Guild for fifteen years, about whom authorities have provided very little information from their investigation.”

A collective outburst of relief swept the room as it sunk in that Hongjoong was indeed alive. “See?” Wooyoung whispered encouragingly, squeezing Seonghwa’s hand from across the table.

Jongho, their mechanic, was shaking with rage. “Fifteen years— are they even hearing themselves?” He barked a mirthless laugh and scanned the room for approval. “That would mean he was branded a traitor when he was just a kid!”

Seonghwa trained his eyes on Yunho, technically their second in command, who had been quiet and singularly focused since setting up the holoscreen. “Did you know about this?” He asked him quietly, unable to keep a hint of betrayal out of his voice in his efforts to restrain the panic overwhelming him. That Hongjoong’s identity had apparently put him at risk since childhood was an unexpected blow on this morning of continuous punches to the gut.

“No,” Yunho responded solemnly, still not looking away from the screen. “But I can’t deny I had my suspicions.”

Seonghwa didn’t have time to dwell on that fact as the broadcast tuned back in.

“The proceedings today will be significant in uncovering potential rebel activities, terrorist acts, and connections to other anti-Guild factions,” the second news presenter continued with growing interest even as she read her lines from the prompting screen behind the camera. She glanced at her partner for a moment before returning to her mark. “And we’ll have all the coverage for you right here when we come back from the break.”

Frozen to his seat, Seonghwa tried and failed to wrap his head around what was going on. The botched heist and Hongjoong’s capture three days ago had already sent him reeling, and now their captain was about to be tried in possibly the most biased courtroom in the universe for all the galaxies to see. How could this be real?

How could he have let this happen?

Suddenly needing to busy his hands while the nauseatingly bright advertisements began to play, Seonghwa stood to collect plates. None were empty, most barely picked at, but he couldn’t blame anyone for their lack of appetite when he wasn’t able stomach anything at the moment either.

Alone in the galley, he wasn’t sure now which was worse; waiting to discover Hongjoong’s fate, or watching it be handed to him live.

Light hovered over him while he scrubbed with limp and useless hands. A stain of food still stuck to one of the plates despite his efforts.

When the obnoxious sounds died down, he hurried back from the galley to see the Guild’s high courtroom on the holoscreen.

It was too soon, much too soon.

“What did I miss?” He nearly choked out.

San’s hands were in his hair, tugging at unruly strands while he explained, “They’re expediting the trial process. His entire case is happening today, now.”

Seonghwa forced himself into a chair to quell his shaking legs. It was all so fast, with no chance for anyone to scheme a way out of the situation.

How would Hongjoong even formulate a defence for himself?

“This whole thing is a sham,” Mingi gritted out, getting up to pace the room angrily. “Just a media circus. They won’t even give him a chance.”

“He’ll find a way…” said Yeosang around an audible gulp, glancing at Yunho for confirmation. “Right?”

The second in command and aristocrat-turned-thief merely shook his head and sighed, jaw locked immediately after. He had known Hongjoong the longest by some slim margin, but evidently it wasn’t enough to be privy to some sort of secret emergency measures for this kind of situation.

There had never been a need to appoint an official second in command, a provisional captain of sorts. Not outside of targeted missions.

Seonghwa folded his arms across his chest to mask the way he shuddered and watched on the screen as their captain was led into the courtroom, an amphitheatre-type space with harsh lighting. The judiciary council remained shrouded by their dark robes and headpieces, a stark contrast to the spotless room and the white-clothed prisoner.

The moment he saw him, his eyes blurred with tears.

It was easy to assume Hongjoong had been locked in a holding cell for three days from his dark, unruly hair or the dull pallor of his skin but what really stood out were his eyes. They found the camera immediately and stayed there for just a second too long to be comfortable, betraying nothing about the feelings inside.

Was he afraid?

Was he angry?

“No visible injuries… that’s a good sign…” Wooyoung was muttering his observations in an effort to convince himself of his own words. As the team’s trained medic, he naturally scrutinised their leader’s physical condition first.

“Injuries we can see, anyway,” San pointed out and, despite having the same thought already himself, Seonghwa felt that much more uneasy hearing it voiced aloud. He shifted his weight from one leg to the other and kept his eyes fastened on the display.

Hongjoong was ushered into the seat of the accused and the opening remarks were in full swing without any more introduction. He seemed to be listening with a disdainful expression on his face until the head speaker addressed him directly.

“Kim Hongjoong, you stand before this council accused of piracy. How do you plead?”

Guards on either side of the defendant’s seat dragged him to his feet and it boiled Seonghwa’s blood to see his captain manhandled this way.

He shook them off in annoyance and stated his answer clearly for even the drone cameras to hear.

“Guilty.”

Seonghwa’s jaw dropped.

“No!” Yunho burst out, bringing a shaking hand to his mouth in shock. Surely they had all misheard. “Pleading guilty?”

“What else can he do?” Jongho cried with a helpless laugh that quickly became tears and trembling lips. “They’ve already decided his punishment. If they set this up to make a fool of him, he has no reason to play along.”

Wooyoung’s breath hitched in an attempt to protest, “But—”

“Yes, I took those credits,” Hongjoong was continuing to speak, and silence fell in the Aurora while he commanded the stage. “But they never belonged to the Guild in the first place. Those served by cause I donated my share to are the rightful owners. So which one of us is the real thief?”

One flickering moment of silence resounded before shouts broke out from an unseen audience on the broadcast and the holoscreen’s display quickly switched back to the newsroom where the first presenter smoothly formulated an excuse.

“Our apologies for the disruption, but it appears there have been technical difficulties—”

“Censorship,” Yunho muttered, collapsing back into his chair with a shaky sigh. “They’re afraid of what he might say.”

Though he had likely sealed his own fate, he would speak without being silenced. Glancing between Yunho and the screen, San shook his head and added, “If they think they can control him… well, then they’ve lost their minds.”

Individual access to public channels via holoscreen had been a luxury in Seonghwa’s childhood, but even having become acquainted with the intergalactic network in recent years, he had never seen anything quite like this.

There was no question what the Guild was trying to do.

This was a performance. A taunt. A message— to Hongjoong’s friends and supporters, yes, but also to anyone who might even consider questioning the total authority of their government. It was a promise they would be silenced in turn.

It was a threat.

And Seonghwa couldn’t help but feel the guilt coursing through him, because he knew deep down, no matter what the others said, that this was his fault.

___

3 days ago

“Seonghwa, can I talk to you for a second?”

Hearing the captain’s voice behind him, the former bounty hunter glanced up from his weapons store. “Alright,” he agreed, joining Hongjoong in the hall and signalling the armoury door to slide shut behind him. “Something I can help with?”

Hongjoong opened his mouth to respond and suddenly thought better of it, dropping his head and allowing himself another moment to think.

Seonghwa could sense an unusual level of anxiety about the upcoming job and made an attempt to relieve it. “If this is about the plan—”

“It’s not the plan,” Hongjoong cut him off tiredly and finally looked up so Seonghwa could meet his eyes. They were as warm and trusting as ever, but with that calculating shine that hinted at a sharper edge inside. “How sure are you that Yang’s word is good?”

The source of the tip that had led to this job, the crime boss known only as Yang, had multiple systems under his control and the Intergalactic Trade Guild themselves struggling to operate on Venop 4, the planet he and Seonghwa himself hailed from.

He had sent route information about a Guild cargo ship, including the name of the planet where it would be refuelling, and proposed a generous split of the payload it would be carrying should the Aurora crew succeed in robbing it; 5 million credits.

Seonghwa hadn’t intended to have any business with the notorious gangster, but a life of poverty growing up on that world left few options. As a bounty hunter, he had taken what commissions he was given and without complaint. The strength of a client’s word was rarely part of his considerations.

And so Hongjoong’s doubts, while not entirely out of place, weren’t particularly relevant.

“Does it matter?”

“He wants me dead, Seonghwa,” Hongjoong reminded him, quietly but intensely. “Enough to make multiple attempts. I mean, do you really trust him?”

“Not completely,” Seonghwa admitted, because he knew the fact was hard to ignore. He had personally been extremely fortunate that Hongjoong had overlooked this earlier. “But Yang loves money more than anything else and he knows we’re the best crew to get it for him. I don’t think he’d pass up his share of the payload just for the chance to take us out.”

Hongjoong crossed his arms and glanced out the nearest hall window, withdrawn. There was just open space all around, a dark void for them to hide in, dotted with distant star systems. He was still thinking of an excuse. “It might mean more credits for him in the long run if he does, you know.”

This was more nervous behaviour than usual from Hongjoong. If he let his guard down around anyone, it was usually Seonghwa, but after the communal planning stage, the captain typically kept any further worries to himself.

“I realise that,” Seonghwa replied with a lighthearted shrug. “I��m just hoping he hasn’t.”

There was no more time to debate the future, and Yunho was already poking his head around the corner to interrupt them, “Hyungs? Time to space jump.”

“Alright.” With a final cursory glance at Seonghwa, Hongjoong moved past him and headed towards the cockpit. “Fire up the Infinity Drive.”

Cracking a smile, Seonghwa eagerly followed after a brief stop in the armoury to collect the weapons they’d need. He took the arming of his fellow pirates very seriously.

His position on this particular job was to remain onboard the Aurora keeping watch for enemies, providing a quick getaway, and managing communications between the members and, more distantly, with Yang. This was not a task to be taken lightly, and although Seonghwa’s skills usually lay on the battlefield, his personal relationship with the gangster was of greater value today.

“How did the crossbow work for you in practice?” He asked a stoic Yeosang in the seat next to him as the pair strapped in for the space jump.

“It’s excellent,” the mercenary responded, patting the compact weapon where it hung from his belt. “But is there a way to remove the stun feature? It makes that buzzing sound and I’d like it to be quieter.”

“Yes, there’s a switch to activate silent mode,” Seonghwa described and gestured with his hands. “You’ll just have to make sure your aim is perfect because a near-hit won’t take anyone down with the energy field turned off.”

“Not a problem,” Yeosang chuckled. He hadn’t missed a shot any time in recent memory, and both of them knew it. Life as a soldier for hire on a dying planet required a great deal of precision.

“Hyung,” Mingi suddenly gasped, turning around in his seat to face Seonghwa, clearly having just remembered something. “If you use the drones for intelligence, don’t forget to turn on the stealth feature! We do not want a repeat of QD81.”

From the way Yeosang shuddered next to him, Seonghwa could tell bad things had taken place at the aforementioned incident, but it must have been a time from their history together before he knew either of them.

Mingi and Yeosang both hailed from Diistro, a world so badly scorched by its expanding sun that the atmosphere was nearly sucked away by now, the planet itself turned oblong and misshapen from the pull of gravity. They had been born in different countries, but the arbitrary lines of territory became irrelevant in the worsening climate, leaving a wild and lawless place. The pair were not the simple refugees they appeared to be in the years that followed. They did what they must to survive.

“Right, I’ll take care of it,” Seonghwa assured Mingi, patting him on the shoulder and urging him to buckle up properly. The space jump was always a jolting experience.

“Engaging Infinity Drive,” Yunho called out after the final seatbelt clicked, and everyone braced for the coming plunge through bended space-time. “Prepare for a Level 10.”

Hit with all the G-force of hurtling past systems at indescribable speeds, Seonghwa gritted his teeth until the Aurora slowed to a normal pace on arrival and his tension melted away. The entire process lasted only a few seconds.

Travelling so unnaturally fast put a great deal of pressure on the body, making the highest setting—Level 10– only for emergencies. Going a fair bit slower was much more sustainable for the Infinity Drive as well, but today it couldn’t be helped.

“Approaching Eogawa,” Hongjoong announced as he again took manual control of the spacecraft, banking slightly to the left to bring the planet in view. “Prepare for atmospheric entry.”

Being a gas giant, Eogawa was essentially nothing but atmosphere.

Tinted a soft pink hue in the light of its distant sun, the planet’s peaceful appearance was riddled with hidden dangers. Aside from the storms that raged among surface gases, Eogawa was ringed with massive, thick bands of dust and ice. A lesser pilot might run afoul of such a hazardous minefield, but Hongjoong was careful to avoid the rings and zeroed in on the area Aurora’s radar was pointing him to.

“The refuelling station,” San called out, spotting it first through wispy clouds that flew past once they entered the atmosphere and splattered rain droplets on the windows. “It’s huge.”

Seonghwa shared his astonishment when he leaned forward to catch sight of the station and noticed its size. Not merely a lone rig floating in the sky. Much bigger than expected.

Taking in the sight, Hongjoong directed the ship downwards to the lower platform that appeared to be a service entrance. “First team ready?”

Jongho, Yeosang, and San rose from their seats and filed out, weapons in tow, to their starting position for the heist. Their next task would be to steal themselves some uniforms from the locker room to disguise as robot workers.

Yunho rose to follow them out, assigned to lead their team, but Hongjoong stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and a nod to the right where their next objective lay. He would turn the Aurora eastward in search of a different station.

“When is the train coming next?” Hongjoong asked, sounding somewhat distracted while he scanned the layers upon layers of swirling clouds.

Yunho merely had to check the time to provide an answer. “Thirty seven minutes.”

Thanks to his extensive research, the pirates knew Eogawa’s fuel transportation system was fully automated and operated a levitating train which passed through the station every hour. For a ship as big as the Guild freighter they were after, it would take at least thirty minutes to refuel, likely having maintenance performed by the robotic service workers in the meantime.

This system provided both a way in and a way out with the credits.

“We’ll be on it and ready for transport,” the captain encouraged. “Be careful, the Guild ship should be docking any minute.”

“Understood,” Yunho replied with a smile, and he turned to disembark, sharing a glance with Seonghwa who patted him on the back with a measure of nervous excitement.

It was always a bit nerve wracking splitting up to do their various jobs during a heist or a boarding. Seonghwa knew the risk they were taking every time someone was sent off into hostile territory. If a member was caught, it was expected that they disavow any knowledge of the rest of the group and claim to be acting independently.

They may be pirates, but they all served a higher cause. Something a bit more substantial than mere interference in Guild activities.

“Comms operational?” Jongho’s voice crackled through the radio as soon as the Aurora had set off for the levitating train station.

“Loud and clear,” Hongjoong answered to the mechanic’s satisfaction, and soon the train station came into view. It wasn’t intended for humans, so aside from the cleaning droid bustling around, the platform was empty.

Hongjoong, Mingi, and Wooyoung would board the train to clear out a container and pick up the credits and their disguised members, much more discreet there than in the Aurora.

As he handed control of the ship over to Seonghwa, he gave the dashboard a loving pat. “Take care of things while I’m gone,” he instructed, a redundant request for the meticulous bounty hunter.

“She’s safe in my hands,” Seonghwa assured him anyway, saying his farewells and watching the door slide shut behind them.

Suddenly it was very quiet onboard, and put off by the silence, Seonghwa powered up the engines again and directed the Aurora to the waiting point, behind both stations in the direction the train was sure to come when the heist was finished.

Staying with the getaway vehicle made for a bit of a boring job, so for the next half hour there was nothing much to do but fiddle with his weapons and watch the sun set from gold into soft violet.

He listened in on the comms chatter as the teams informed each other of their progress; Yunho’s team securing disguises and Hongjoong’s team successfully entering a train compartment.

And then, fifteen minutes before the train would arrive, the moment he was least looking forward to arrived in the form of a call from Yang.

Schooling his expression into something vaguely neutral and unbothered, he accepted it and watched the hologram materialise on the dashboard.

The crime lord was evidently seated in his sunroom, snacking on a homemade flatbread that made Seonghwa’s stomach grumble just by looking at it. As glad as he was to be offworld, he had missed the tastes of home.

“Mr. Park, do you have a status update for me?” Yang asked him with a monotone voice, brushing crumbs from his shirt in boredom.

“Everything is proceeding on schedule,” Seonghwa answered, slightly reserved, knowing Hongjoong would prefer he keep the details private. “I’ll let you know when we have a count of the credits and—”

“We found the credits,” San’s voice interrupted through the comms, unaware of Seonghwa’s ongoing conversation. “Five million, it’s all here. We’ve been unloading one case at a time, there’s just two left.”

“Ah,” Yang chuckled, overhearing him. “How efficient, just as expected.”

Seonghwa resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the crime lord’s empty flattery. “Before I go, I thought I’d ask,” he regained control of the conversation while subtly muting the comm radio in the middle of Hongjoong’s response to San. “Where do you suggest we rendezvous?”

Yang glanced to the side, probably out his highland window at the marshes below. It was the time of year when Venop 4 enjoyed a brief reprieve from the rainy season and Seonghwa could practically smell it through the holoscreen.

“Surely it isn’t too much trouble for you to bring the money here?” The crime lord posed the question innocently, but his hard gaze was a clear indication of his thoughts on the matter.

“If I recall correctly, we agreed on a rendezvous, not a delivery,” Seonghwa answered him politely but with enough insistence of his own to carry the point across. “Perhaps with one of your currently deployed ships?”

Yang stared back for a moment, but his little blue hologram didn’t intimidate Seonghwa in the slightest. The boss had much less power in this form than he had last time Seonghwa had seen him, at his compound. Even if he was standing there now, there was something about the freedom of becoming a pirate that made him feel indestructible, like everyone else would simply bounce off his invisible shield.

“Halfway then,” Yang relented, flashing a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “My ship Nexus is in the orbit of Sarkei. You can dock there and split the payload.”

“I’ll inform you when we’ve left Eogawa,” Seonghwa promised, satisfied with the answer, and moved to end the call. “Until then—”

“And Seonghwa?” Yang interrupted him, and it gave him pause to hear his given name spoken so easily by the criminal overlord. While it didn’t come as a surprise, it put him on edge knowing Yang had much more information than he was comfortable with. He chuckled like he knew something Seonghwa didn’t, “I look forward to working with you again.”

The bounty hunter didn’t plan to. He could get his intelligence on Guild operations elsewhere.

He was lost in thought for a while after ending the call with no further response, until something in the distance caught his eye. It was the levitating train, moving toward the Aurora quickly. A hatch was open in the top of one of the compartments, and Mingi halfway out of it, yelling something into the wind that Seonghwa couldn’t hear.

Jolting upright, he positioned the ship above the train and lowered the ramp from the undercarriage. He had completely forgotten to unmute the comms.

“Load up and go back!” Mingi was saying, bringing a couple of cases of money with him as he climbed up into the suspended Aurora and ran to the cockpit. “We have to go back, hyung!”

“Why?” Seonghwa watched with growing dread as the others quickly began loading the ship. “What’s going on?”

Yunho dropped a case in the cargo area and joined him at the controls while Mingi ran back to fetch another. He was visibly angry, face red and breath heavy, though at what Seonghwa couldn’t be sure until he opened his mouth.

“He stayed— the idiot!— he got out of the compartment and went back into the refuelling station just as the train took off,” Yunho panted with the effort of the words, clearly in disbelief himself.

“Who?” Seonghwa breathed the question out, strangled by it.

Yunho finally looked him in the eyes.

“Hongjoong.”

Cursing softly, Seonghwa set the Aurora to autopilot, precariously hovering above the moving train, and joined the others in moving the last few cases to their cargo hold.

The next train station was on the horizon when Seonghwa reached down for another case to pass along and was met with San emerging from inside the compartment instead. His instructions were curt, “We’re loaded, turn around.”

Seonghwa helped him into the ship and retracted the ramp, hurrying to the cockpit before being stopped by Yeosang. “Wait!” The mercenary insisted on it and wrapped a hand around Seonghwa’s arm. “The drone. Send in the drone first.”

He was right to be cautious, Seonghwa came to realise when he piloted the drone into the refuelling station from the safety of the cockpit a few minutes later. Guild officials had emerged from the freighter they just robbed and someone was watching them from the secrecy of a connecting hall.

Seonghwa could tell who it was the moment he saw the back of his head.

Lips pursed with worry, he navigated the drone closer. “Let me turn on comms and ask what he’s doing—”

“He already switched off his channel,” Wooyoung broke in before Seonghwa wasted time trying.

“But you can try to patch through to the drone,” Mingi reminded them both, reaching over to turn off the stealth feature he had insisted upon earlier. “There, now the speakers.”

“Hongjoong?” Seonghwa called immediately when it was clear the audio was stable. “Hongjoong, answer me.”

The captain turning his head toward the screen was confirmation he had heard him. “You all need to get out of here,” he said under his breath, returning his gaze to the platform. Clearly he knew something they didn’t. “This is an ambush, Yang must have tipped them off.”

Seonghwa’s stomach dropped.

He should’ve known. Yang would never let such a good chance pass him by, even if he had to work with the Guild for compensation. Even if it meant fewer credits. All his teasing had been meant to distract, and it had succeeded easily.

Hongjoong was hurriedly giving out last minute instructions, “Cut off contact and don’t bring him anything, just get the money to Aten-Odae. The Manager will know what to do. I’m counting on you.”

“Why can’t you come with us?” San protested, unable to keep his voice quiet in his distress. “What are you doing in the station? We could be picking you up right now. There’s still time!”

Hongjoong’s eyes fluttered shut with a sigh. “Check your radar,” he murmured, regret in his voice. “There are ten Guild dreadnoughts with hwacha missiles trained on the Aurora right now. We are out of time. You need to leave while I call them off.”

And when Yeosang pulled up the screen, Seonghwa had to catch his breath. Hongjoong was right. Exactly ten of the Guild’s most heavily weaponised spacecraft were advancing on their position silently and undetected until now. It was horrifying.

Wooyoung’s voice stuck in his throat wetly as he fought back tears, begging him, “Please don’t do this, hyung, we can figure out another way, there has to be something—”

“There isn’t another way, Woo.” From the way Hongjoong spoke, it sounded like it was breaking his heart, too. “I wish there was but… I know I have to do this. Don’t come back here, understand? I won’t let them take you.”

And Seonghwa knew he was right, even as he sat frozen in shock and let Jongho and Mingi argue with the increasingly unresponsive captain while he advanced through the hallway toward the Guild officers.

They’d been tricked and there was nothing else but to retreat.

Seonghwa didn’t realise there were tears streaming down his cheeks until he had already said in a haze, “Don’t go. Don’t.”

It was selfish and he should follow orders and be strong for the others but he couldn’t do it. If Hongjoong stayed behind, there was no way out for him. “I won’t forgive you,” he sobbed.

Hongjoong couldn’t see him but he knew.

“Hey, don’t cry. It’ll be alright,” he comforted softly, taking slow steps backwards away from the drone until a doorway separated them.

His hand hovered over the sensor. “I’m sorry.”

And then he hit the switch and the door slid shut, cutting him off from view.

The feed was blank without a subject in view and Yunho took the controls and directed the drone back out of the station, bringing it aboard the Aurora then suddenly tossing it to the floor in a burst of anger and dropping into his seat wordlessly.

For a moment it was still and silent, and then Wooyoung began to sniffle. Seonghwa reached out to comfort him, but it felt like he was underwater.

The world was moving in slow motion and he was drowning in his own despair. A distant beeping surfaced and he noticed the display, bright red with warning symbols and a repeating alert message.

Enemy ships approaching.

Spurred into action, he sent the Aurora upwards, up through waning sunbeams to the higher layer of clouds and then the next layer and then the next.

“You can’t be serious,” Mingi laughed emptily, glancing in disbelief between Seonghwa and the rest of the team. “We’re leaving him?”

Yeosang’s head was in his hands. “They’ve locked targets on us. There’s no choice.”

“Why didn’t he just call it off before we loaded the ship?” San was bargaining with hypotheticals. “We could’ve used that time. We all could’ve escaped together.”

And of course there was no point now in wondering. They might never know.

Rosy pink rays faded to dusk and seven pirates strapped into their seats and shot up past the highest layer of clouds only to be immediately faced with the enemy dreadnoughts.

Silent and hulking, they simply watched the Aurora fly past them, making no move to shoot the smaller ship down.

Wooyoung dried his eyes and craned his neck to look up at the menacing dreadnoughts through the front window. “They’re just… letting us go.”

“Hongjoong hyung. He turned himself in,” Jongho said mournfully and then braced himself for the space jump as soon as they were clear.

Seonghwa’s tears soaked into his collar.

The stars raced by like a stain on the black canvas and they left their captain behind.

___

18:47 Open Space Calibrated Time

Seonghwa’s light dozing was interrupted by the holoscreen broadcast. After a back and forth of testimonies and cross-examinations by the most incompetent legal representatives the Guild had to offer, a verdict had been reached.

San and Yeosang were called back in to the living area to watch from their various restless activities around the ship.

The head speaker removed her headdress and spoke, unveiled at last, to the accused.

“The council has deliberated at great length to determine an appropriate finding and will vote next on a punishment suitable for the nature of these crimes.” Her beady eyes looked up from the floating wall of text behind the camera she was no doubt reading from and in the direction of the seat of the accused, remorseless. “However, regarding today’s business, it is the decision of this council that on all counts of piracy, assault, corruption, illegal possession of firearms, possession of stolen property, fraudulent or unauthorised access to Intergalactic Trade Guild networks, conspiracy, theft of an Intergalactic Trade Guild spacecraft, and false personation, Kim Hongjoong is found guilty and sentenced to death.”

It was like his throat closed and then was forcefully reopened again as Seonghwa vomited and then blacked out. When he came to, San was rubbing his back. Every eye on him was ringed with red.

He had been expecting it, but the verdict stung like acid in his face.

The broadcast was off now and he hadn’t even been able to see Hongjoong’s face again.

Was he afraid now?

Mingi looked around and finally asked, voice hollow, “What do we do?”

“The Manager told us to split up and lay low,” Yunho scoffed. He was scary like this, stern and sarcastic and so far away from himself.

Hongjoong was their glue. Without him there to hold them together, surely they’d drift off, each going his own way with a heart full of regret and a useless supply of credits in his pocket.

But they hadn’t done so. No one had wandered off yet, ejecting themselves from the Aurora and wishing the rest good luck and goodbye. Even now they huddled together, waiting for something. A sign.

Seonghwa trembled in the cold of realisation washing over him. There was nowhere else to turn. The floor underneath him began to feel firm and he grounded himself in it. He clutched the blanket around his shoulders closer.

More than ever before he pined for Hongjoong’s help, for his guidance.

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Seonghwa finally said, shaking his head with some sort of resolution.

He raised his head to see all the others looking at him.

They knew what needed to be done, but no one was ready to speak the words aloud. No one except Seonghwa.

“We break him out. We have to do it ourselves.”

He watched them realise, one by one, that it was up to them now. That they could not go on as a team without their captain. He had brought them together only to abandon them, but he would not be allowed to give his life for theirs so easily.

Jongho nodded and got to his feet, ready to contribute however he could. “All we can hope for now is that his execution is scheduled far in advance.”

Seonghwa did not care what it took. They had to get to Hongjoong first, even if they burned up on entry.

They could not escape the pull of his gravity.

___

A/N: Welcome to my submission for 8 Makes 1 Family Fest Round 2, 2024 version (shh it's not technically revealed yet there so don't tell lol), based on a lovely prompt that grabbed me immediately and is responsible for probably a good chunk of this story's appeal! It will be multi-chaptered and I'll do my best to portray the slice-of-life (the theme of this round) and not go too heavy on the plot but uhh no promises lol. Also if you happen to be a fan of Andor, the randomly insanely good Disney+ Star Wars show (if not, watch it) I think you will also like this! I took some inspiration from it so, while I did make this AU myself, there are things in common.

Thanks for reading and let me know what you thought!! <3

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