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It hasn't always been easy for Seonghwa. When he was younger, he thought the world worked in a simple way. He had a good life when his father was alive. But on a horrendous autumn night, the terrible news reached them that his father had died at sea. Things changed from that moment on, and Seonghwa soon learned that if he wanted to live, he had to work for it. In his 18th year of living, he had lost his mother. His life may have changed even more at that time, but now he admits that he may not have made the right choices. The fact that he is about to follow his father to the bottom of the sea in a pirate ship in the middle of a huge storm is a good proof of that.
Captain Harrow took him on board when he had nowhere else to go. At first, he was not treated well by the pirates, because he had feminine features and was not used to such a life. He fought hard to work his way up to the position of quartermaster and he took pride in that. The captain soon took a liking to him, and something interesting developed between them. He often invited him to the Captain's Quarters to spend the night together. Seonghwa didn't exactly find the man attractive, but out of all of them he was probably the best choice. And besides that, how nice it is to be the Captain's Wife.
Well, it was good until someone ruined everything. That bastard.
Captain Kim Hongjoong, the Pirate King himself, that very person Captain Harrow and his crew hated, or more like despised so much.
"Ahoy mates" an all smiles young man from the other ship called out "Are you still alive? It's a pity you didn't get washed away by the sea" when Seonghwa met Captain Kim's crew the first thing he noticed was the way they spoke. They spoke like Hwa himself, that is, not like normal pirates. When the beautiful Aurora and its crew first appeared, Captain Harrow thought they could kill them all, but how wrong he was. Although Seonghwa had a chance to put a nasty wound on the Pirate King, but he screwed it up big time and paid the price highly.
"A beauty like you on this filthy ship" Captain Kim said while smirking "what a shame, spending your time with these sea rats instead of looking for a decent treatment."
"You know nothing about me" Seonghwa spat the words at him, though seeing the look on the pirate's face he wasn't so sure about that. He held his sword closer to the captain, who didn't seem to mind much. Kim Hongjoong loved the danger and danger loved Captain Kim Hongjoong.
"Come on, Beautiful, I know more about you than you think" and Seonghwa froze, maybe it was because of the petname, or maybe it was the way Captain Kim pronounced those words. Me? Beautiful?
"Kill 'im, ye useless!" came the demand, but it was all for nothing now. By the time Seonghwa snapped out of it, the other was grinning at him from the deck of the Aurora.
"See you soon, Park Seonghwa"
This little mistake cost Seonghwa dearly. Captain Harrow's trust in him has wavered, and he was no longer respected by those who once respected him. Captain Kim Hongjoong and those damn attractive eyes ruined everything.
"Next time, don't ye dare to let ‘im go, or ye'll regret it" Captain Harrow pinned him to the wall and his eyes glowed with rage "I 'ove ye, but I will kill ye if ye get in me way. I want that bastard dead." Seonghwa hated that damned Pirate King. He wanted to drown him to death. If he could, he would burn Aurora and its captain, just to get the crew to trust him again. He didn't want them to kill him just because of Captain Kim.
The second time they met the pirate, only Seonghwa noticed him. They stopped for the night on a small island, and it would have been hard not to spot the huge ship approaching. Or it was difficult for the others, because they were drunk and lying all over the deck. Seonghwa had no desire for alcohol, he didn't dare to drink in the company of such men, fearing that if he got drunk they would do something he very much didn't want them to.
"Why don't you kill him in his sleep?" said a voice from behind him. Seonghwa had no idea how the captain had ended up on their boat, but he didn't really question it. He was the infamous Pirate King for a reason.
"I love him," Seonghwa whispered, but somewhere deep down it didn't feel right. But that light feeling was overpowered by the pure rage he felt towards Captain Kim. He held tightly to the small knife in his pocket, still with his back to the other.
“You know, sometimes “I love you” means “I have nowhere else to go” and in this case, maybe that’s how you mean your I love you to him” what a sad thing, to waste your time on thinking that love is like this, and that’s how it should be. Although, Hongjoong could understand the feeling, while sailing the seas, sometimes you start to look at the deep water more than the sky.
And maybe that's when he really started to hate the captain. Because he was right. But that jerk didn't need to know that. "Why did you come here? You only mean trouble," Seonghwa told him, wishing more and more that this was just a dream. He knew he wasn't going to kill the pirate captain. He also knew that he would let him go, perhaps because he stood no chance against him, no matter how good of a fighter he was, or perhaps because he had no intention of stopping him from leaving.
"One day I'll finish off these water rats and sink this ship too" said Captain Kim and Seonghwa was sure of one thing: that he wasn't lying "But I don't want to hurt you, you're not one of them. I know who you are, though you don't know who I am. They'll be the ones who will hurt you" when the pirate stepped closer to Seonghwa, he automatically stepped back until his back met with the ship's side.
"If they hurt you, I'll be here and I'll know," Captain Kim whispered in his ear.
"If I bleed, you will be the last to know" spat Seonghwa "Why are you a pirate anyway? You don't belong here either" he continued somewhat mockingly "Why aren't you a governor or something? Men like you belong there. You're on good terms with them anyway, aren't you? You, the great Pirate King, the symbol of freedom of speech that so many follow" maybe that sounded more bitter than mocking but Seonghwa didn’t care.
“Your freedom of speech stops when you’re questioning the government” said Hongjoong with something strange in his voice “and they don’t tolerate you if you do”
Seonghwa felt silly, more so than at any time in his 24 years. And he didn't think, then, that anything could top that moment. But he was very wrong about that too.
Captain Kim really wasn't kidding. One day, not much later than Seonghwa thought, explosions woke the remaining members of the crew. They were under attack. And not in any way. The lower deck of the ship was soon flooded and it began to sink alarmingly. There was nothing they could do but escape. But the door to Seonghwa's room was stuck and no one came to his rescue. They left him there to die, alone. But the sea let him free, because he didn't have to go yet. When he swam to the surface, all he found there was a certain ship. He almost wished his death at that moment.
"Come on dear, the Aurora is waiting" called out the same smiling man, who, as it turned out later, was Jung Wooyoung, the quartermaster.
And although Seonghwa never asked to be rescued, he was grateful. But not to Captain Kim, never to him. Maybe that's why he made his getaway on the first island they stopped at, but otherwise he has no idea why he did it. He could have started a new life, but he went back to Captain Harrow anyways.
And that man tied him up on the deck.
"I told ye to kill 'im, ye bitch, but ye didn't. Rot 'ere then and just watch me and me crew do yer work" so much for that, Seonghwa thought. He warned them that the Aurora would come again, but they wouldn't listen. Perhaps the world would become a better place if they died
And here we find ourselves in the present, when the crew of the Aurora has indeed arrived and has already thrown half the pirate scums overboard.
"Lovely, I thought you loved me more than that" and there it was, Captain Kim and that annoying grin of his "We still have to work on our relationship, but there will be so much time for that when I finish up here." And this time Seonghwa somehow believed him, to the Pirate King, to the one whom he wanted to hate so much. He blamed the pirate captain for something what was doomed to fall. He did not belong here. Maybe he will enjoy watching Captain Kim kill that bastard of a captain.
And Seonghwa surely didn't have to wait long.
“You are no special, Captain Harrow. Everybody wants to be my enemy until they realize one thing” Captain Kim’s tone indicated how amused he was by this situation.
“What?”
“I don’t keep my enemies”
And that’s when the real battle began. It was the last dance, the dance of death. One of them had to die and they both knew that.
“I will ru’e this wor’d” yelled Harrow while trying to cut off the Pirate King’s left arm. He was getting tired and he made a big mistake. His anger took over and that’s why he lost his last fight. His sword fell to the ground and he was on his knees in less than a second. Captain Kim was an excellent fighter after all.
“Every pirate captain wants to rule the Seven Seas but dogs like you and your crew” the sharp blade came closer to Harrow’s neck “they don’t even deserve a puddle” And that’s how Captain Harrow’s miserable life ended, by the hands of that one person he desired to kill the most. Seonghwa felt the world turn when his ex-captain’s body reached the water.
“Capt- cap- Hongjoong” Seonghwa whispered, eyes starting to fill with tears.
“Say it again.” Hongjoong demanded.
“Say what?” the older looked at the captain, while a strange sensation started to form in his chest.
“Say my name. Say it again”
“Hongjoong” it was his whiny voice. Oh, this man could do anything and he would still give him his everything. How did he not realize that earlier?
“Ah- my name sounds so good from those lips” Hongjoong murmured, his voice deep enough to make Seonghwa beg in a second if not less. “I should kill you for making me feel this way”
“So kill me then” whispered Seonghwa.
Captain Kim Hongjoong didn’t want to kill him but he would have loved to ruin the pretty boy.
"I have a better idea for us to pass the time" let's just say, in the Captain's Quarters Hongjoong had a bigger bed than Captain Harrow's. And something else was also bigger, but that wasn't in his quarters.