A Pirate's Tale | ATEEZ Fan Fiction

Chapter 35: When the Moon Rises

The humming of chatter filled the restaurant as the crew members of the Treasure and Song Minseong ate their supper. With their focus drawn on the giant bowl of noodles and plates of barbecued beef and pork, the quartermaster couldn't help but find it slightly unsettling that even Wooyoung was being relatively quiet as they shoveled down their food.

He nudged Ali's arm, making her turn to him with a mouthful of marinated beef occupied in her cheeks. A small scoff escaped his lips as he signalled to the sauce stain scattered around her lips and on her chin. She tilted her head before widening her eyes as she quite frantically grabbed a tissue and wiped her mouth, a growing feeling of embarrassment rising in her stomach as the quartermaster moved into a fit of giggles at her uncharacteristic flustered disposition.

"Yah! Stop laughing!" She commanded, punching his arm as he dramatically placed his hands over his mouth and made his eyes unusually large, causing the former to shake her head as she picked up a piece of pork with her chopsticks and shoved it into his mouth.

"Mmm-..tastes-..goooood..."

As he swallowed the meat he proceeded to tap Ali on the shoulder, earning a soft growl from the latter as she did not like to be interrupted from her food especially when she was about to take a big slurp of noodles from her bowl.

"What?" She asked, a hint of irritation in her tone as the quartermaster looked at her with his innocent kid-like expression. She sighed as she put her chopsticks down on the table and turned her body to face him. A grin passed his face as she had now given him her full attention. He cleared his throat before proceeding to speak.

"Don't you think it's a little too quiet right now?"

"No."

"Come on, you know how it usually is! Everyone's always hyped up when we eat but all everyone's doing is chomping down pieces of meat!"

"And trying to eat their noodles."

Mingi pouted at Ali's remark and folded his arms into his waist.

"We're just tired Mingi. It's been a long day and trying to come up with a game plan of how we're going to track down a demon Queen is not exactly an easy task."

"To be precise, Haemir's the Siren Queen, sirens aren't technically demons."

"Uh you know what I mean!"

Mingi hummed, placing a hand on his chin as he contemplated on what to do. As idea after idea passed through his thoughts, he smirked at what he believed to be the most genius plan to not only get things more lively, but also help his friends to destress. With a firm nod and the louder-than-expected sound of his chopsticks slamming against the table, he hobbled out of his chair and dashed towards the kitchen with Hermes-like speed.

The rest of the individuals looked up at the sound and watched curiously as the quartermaster made a bee-line for the back of the restaurant, scaring the wits out of his dad as he nearly smashed into the plate of fresh pork belly he was bringing out for them. 

"What's up with him?" Wooyoung asked as he took another piece of beef and plopped it onto his plate.

The rest shrugged before shifting their gaze to the girl who sat next to him. Ali raised an eyebrow at the sudden attention, swallowing the food in her mouth before mumbling a, "Don't look at me, I don't know anything."

As if on cue, Mingi returned from his quick venture with a lively bounce in his step as he swung three long and skinny bottles of milky-white liquid back and forth in his hands, placing them in the centre of the table with a satisfied grin on his face. He grabbed a tray of eleven cups and set them down next to the bottles and as he popped open the lid of the first bottle, Hongjoong looked at him suspiciously.