Treasure: Road to Utopia | ATEEZ Pirate AU

four - on my way

Author's Note: Hi guys! I am going to switch tense form in the middle of the story; because even though I started this book with present tense I'm more used to writing in past tense. For those who have read the previous version of this chapter, I completely changed the entire pacing and plot of this chapter so please give it another read if you want to.

A trigger warning: this chapter contains slight mentions of blood and light action which might be triggering for some of you.

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"What on God's Green earth happened?!"

"This is really not the time;" Wooyoung mutters under his breath as the two of them rush to greet the boarding party. The first thing Wooyoung notices is the fact that there seemed to be one extra person who boarded the ship -- he was quite sure he only saw Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yeosang and Jongho leave, but lo and behold; boarding the ship with them is a completely new guy; for some reason with the sleeves of his shirt stained in blood. But it was only the sleeves that were dry; the rest of his body had not a spot of red.

"What happened?" The other boy -- the one who had been the previously newest addition to the crew --  repeats; again, this time raising his voice one decibel higher.

Wooyoung ignores him; as does the rest of the crew of ATEEZ; answering his question is the last thing on their minds right now. Wooyoung is about to tell him to shut his trap when the bloodstained guy beats him to it; the tall, lanky dude did a full-on body slam into him; in the process also whipping out a dagger hidden underneath his long-sleeved shirt and pointing it at his throat.

The unstained newcomer -- the one being held at knifepoint -- blanched and immediately stopped talking; even stopped breathing for fear that this tall devil whirlwind of a person would spike his neck.

Wooyoung was about to speak, but the words died in his throat. No one on deck moved a muscle, afraid that a single word would send this obviously deranged fellow around the bend and cause him to plunge his knife into the other's throat.

"Who are you."

It is not a question; everyone on deck could tell. When the bloodstained guy spoke; his tone was one of barely controlled calm; like the quiet before a storm. "You better answer me quickly if you do not want your head separated from your body."

"I - I..." The guy being pinned against the wall tried to talk, but he could not make a sound. The bloodstained stranger hardened his gaze and pressed the blade deeper into the other's neck, Wooyoung saw a droplet of blood oozing onto the blade.

Where in blazes was the Captain? Wooyoung wondered. He should be in charge of things like this, he would have stepped up by now. No matter, Wooyoung decided; taking matters into his own hands; he marched over to the bloodstained stranger, using both hands and steadying all his strength, he pulled the stranger away; then before he could even react, with all his might, he performed a flying kick; kicked the stranger's hand as hard as he could, shouting for someone to catch it, then still in midair, he spun so that he could land squarely on the guy -- knocking him out cold.

When performed on most people, this certain trick Wooyoung learnt in his past would have most certainly knocked them out cold. However, the bloodstained guy did not even seem winded -- on the contrary, he glared at Wooyoung, reminding him uncomfortably of a lion that was about to pounce. For good measure -- and also for safety reasons -- Wooyoung summoned all his strength to his hands and punched the guy as hard as he could in the cerebrum; at a part that would knock him out cold but would not kill him.

It was only when he was sure that the guy was unconscious that Wooyoung looked up -- to meet seven pairs of shocked, flabbergasted stares.

It was Yeosang that spoke first, his eyebrows raised -- even higher than usual. "Wow, in all the years that I have known you, I have never realised that you learnt martial arts. You never once mentioned it to me, or to anybody."

"I --" Wooyoung paused, trailing away. He didn't tell them for a reason -- he had tried so hard to forget the pain; the words; the trauma -- his parents did not abuse him; at least not physically; what they gave him instead were blows of psychological impact. The words that they lashed out at him penetrated deep into his soul, crushing it, and would have shattered him inside if he did not run away from them. He figured that sooner or later, they would throw him out. He focused his gaze on the wood floorboards, not sure how to respond to his crewmate.

"What is this, a secret hidden skill? You could have told me. Or anyone on deck. It could have been helpful on Kadara. We could have used your physical prowess, it would have been of great help to us."

Wooyoung looked up at the sound of the voice, and his eyes locked with its owner.

Hongjoong.

For a moment, there was just stunned silence, the two of them staring at each other. Wooyoung took this chance to try to read the emotion in Hongjoong's eyes, but he couldn't. Hongjoong's ice-cold stare was as unpenetrable as before, and if he showed any ounce of emotion or even pity, he did not show it.

Then Hongjoong moved, a small, almost unnoticeable, nod. And that was all the recognition Wooyoung needed. In that nod, he felt a mixture of acknowledgement, comfort, and something else. Wooyoung was not entirely sure, but he was quite positive that somehow, Hongjoong understood what he was feeling.

And then Hongjoong looked away, and the moment was broken.

"As I was saying, it could have been of help. But no matter. Right now, there is a more pressing matter at hand -- this." As Hongjoong said this, he gestured to his torso, and Wooyoung almost collapsed from the sheer shock.

Hongjoong's entire costume was stained red. The blood at the top of his shirt was faded and dried, but the bottommost part of his torso was bright crimson, a telling sign that the blood was still flowing. Wooyoung stood in place, stupified, at the sheer confusion and surprise that Captain, the invincible Lord of the Seas, had been attacked.

The shock lasted a moment too long. Hongjoong glared at Wooyoung, looking like was about to say something sarcastic to him, probably along the lines of 'stop staring at me'. But Wooyoung never found out, and neither did the rest, for at that second Hongjoong collapsed on the floor, the fresh flowing blood from his wound staining the floorboards bright crimson.