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Wooyoung is standing on the deck of The Destiny indulging in some gossip with San and Yeosang. He should technically be down below, inventorying their new food supply, but he's just hungover enough that he's putting it off. Besides neither Hongjoong nor Juyeon (first mate and general asshole) have come to yell at them, despite the fact that Hongjoong previously expressed a strong desire to leave as soon as the last off their resupply was loaded and that's been taken care of for over an hour. At this point most of the crew is, well, milling about.
Yeosang has just finished sharing a particularly juicy bit of drama he'd accidentally witnessed the night before, involving one of their deckhands and his three portside boyfriends and one portside girlfriend, none whom he'd informed the others of, when Jongho drifts over. Wooyoung is leaning on San, both of them giggling heavily at their crewmates misfortune while Yeosang grins at them. Jongho, because at heart he's as much of a little shit as the rest of them, drops his piece of news into their circle of gossip like a child lobbing a stone into an already disturbed pool hoping to create even bigger and more impressive ripples.
"Captain isn't back on the ship yet."
San chokes on a breath while Wooyoung abruptly tries to straighten up to look at Jongho, only to overbalance and flail wildly as he tries not to faceplant into the deck. Jongho's generally neutral expression has a distinctly smug and amused cast when Wooyoung finally managed to right himself. Magnanimously Wooyoung ignores him.
"Hyung isn't back yet? He's not on the ship??"
Where Juyeon is famously almost always the last one back, too busy availing himself of women and alcohol to be prompt, Hongjoong is the opposite. In fact, Hongjoong rarely spends even a night away from The Destiny, even while they're in port for an extended amount of time. Even the few times Wooyoung has seen Hongjoong pick up or pay for sex he's still always been back on the ship before dawn the next morning.
Jongho shrugs, "Yunho-hyung went to let him know once all the supplies were loaded. His cabin was empty and it didn't look like he made it back last night."
"Should we be looking for him? What if something happened?" San asks, face taking on a distinctly worried cast.
Wooyoung can feel his grin starting to overtake him as he lets out a delighted cackle, startling several of their newer crewmates. "Hongjoong, you sly motherfucker!"
Jongho punches him in the arm, hard, because he only tolerates disrespect when he's the one offering it. Rubbing his arm, Wooyoung offers San a grin. "I'm sure hyung is fine, he probably just lost track of time. He's been needing a good fuck to get rid of all that tension he carries around."
San doesn't look completely reassured even as he smiles back, but Wooyoung is unbothered. The port of Sabi is peaceful, exclusively allied to The Destiny and, trading hub aside, small enough that they'd have heard if trouble had started up. And Wooyoung is confident enough in his captain, no one would take him or hurt him without Hongjoong causing a fair amount of trouble.
Further speculation is derailed when Juyeon storms up the gangplank, looking remarkably bad tempered for someone who got both laid and drunk the night before. Wooyoung watches as deckhands scatter to get out of the range of Juyeon's temper as he stalks forwards, eyes sweeping the deck and then locking onto Yeosang.
"Where's Hongjoong?" Juyeon says, tone venomous. Yeosang, being both quietly shy and conflict averse, shrinks under the aggressive questioning.
Wooyoung, who has never particularly liked Juyeon and likes the way he attempts to bully people even less, steps forward to partially shield Yeosang from view. Keeping his grin wide and friendly Wooyoung opens his mouth and lets whatever bullshit his brain spits out first spill unedited, well aware that Juyeon finds him highly annoying.
Several times Juyeon tries to interrupt, looking increasingly pissed, but each time Wooyoung just speaks over him, getting louder and speaking faster. Wooyoung is pretty sure that if Juyeon grinds his teeth any harder he's going to need a dentist appointment at the next port.
Right as Wooyoung is sure Juyeon's temper is about to snap, an amused voice speaks up.
"Wooyoung-ah, what nonsense are you yelling so loud I could hear you from below?"
Wooyoung's attention snaps to his captain, as does everyone else's on deck. Jongho calls out a sharp, "Captain on deck!" and Juyeon whirls around, the look on his face pure poison.
Everything seems to go still however when the crew registers Hongjoong's companion, who's hand is tucked into the crook of Hongjoong's elbow. Taller than Hongjoong, although only slightly, with white-blonde hair and a face so beautiful that Wooyoung feels a little like he's been punched in the face by Jongho. The stranger is wearing a blouse that seems to be made of a combination of mesh and black lace, with strategic rips that show off his shoulders. A half corset emphasizes his waist and hips and the cut of his pants emphasizes exceptionally long legs.
Quite frankly the stranger is hot as hell and Wooyoung feels absolute delight build up in him as Hongjoong rolls his eyes at his stunned crew and starts giving orders.
"You two, get the trunk at the bottom of the gangplank and put it in my cabin. You three, the crates can go in the infirmary. Yeosang, get to the helm. The rest of you numbskulls, make sure everything is secured for departure. We're on the sea in thirty or I'm throwing the lot of you overboard and finding a new crew."
The sudden flurry of panicked motion makes Wooyoung cackle. Juyeon, who seems to have missed the memo that questioning Hongjoong's decisions is a fruitless task, stalks towards Hongjoong and the stranger. His mood does not seem to have improved on Hongjoong's return. Hongjoong, on the other hand, still looks highly amused. Wooyoung follows, dragging San with him as Yeosang and Jongho have departed to their own tasks but neither of them are needed for the moment.
Juyeon, once he's within reasonable distance, makes an admirable attempt to loom intimidatingly over Hongjoong and the stranger. The attempt fails in the face of Hongjoong's everything and the stranger being both taller than Juyeon and remarkably unbothered.
Seemingly undeterred, Juyeon leans towards them, hissing out a sharp. "Who the fuck is this, Hongjoong? Are we bringing whores on the ship now? Did you forget this was a pirate ship, not a pleasure cruise?!"
Wooyoung and San both cringe a little from a safe distance away, as Hongjoong's genial expression goes cold and flat. None of them, not even Juyeon, are watching the stranger however, which proves to be a mistake. In a sudden burst of grab, twist, kick, the stranger has Juyeon's arm twisted behind him, the awkward angle making him hunch over. At this angle Wooyoung can just see the wickedly sharp knife half a centimeter from either bleeding Juyeon out or castrating him.
Juyeon makes a weak attempt at breaking out of the pin, only to freeze when he realizes where exactly a blade is pressed. The movement to pin Juyeon's arm had spun both him and the stranger so that both are facing away from the deck and its many occupants. Something Wooyoung is fairly sure was deliberate, especially when the man gently shakes Juyeon, eliciting a painted noise.
"Now, now, Juyeon-ssi. If you move too much I'll accidentally break your arm, and that would be extremely inconvenient for my husband." The man says, pitched just right to carry across the deck. And then quieter, just loud enough for Wooyoung to hear, and cold as ice, "Feel that? In less than a minute you would bleed out, and not even the most talented surgeon could save you. You speak to your Captain with anything less than complete respect again and I'll leave your corpse for the carrion birds. Understood?"
Juyeon doesn't so much agree as he blubbers in fear. Wooyoung finds himself vaguely sympathetic to Juyeon for the first time in his life, but also extremely turned on. Because fuck if that wasn't hot.
Hongjoong just sighs, tone all fond exasperation. "Seonghwa, my love, let the man go. You're distracting my crew."
The man, Seonghwa, huffs a little before pushing Juyeon away. The knife disappears somewhere, too fast for Wooyoung to track and Seonghwa returns to Hongjoong's side, tucking his hand into the crook of Hongjoong's arm, not a hair out of place.
"I want to be you when I grow up." Wooyoung tells Seonghwa, very sincerely. San makes a strangled noise from beside him and Hongjoong huffs out a laugh, but Wooyoung is focused on the sweet smile breaking through Seonghwa's neutral expression.
"You must be Wooyoung. Hongjoong has told me about you."
Wooyoung feels himself straighten up a little even as he grins. "Only bad things I hope!"
The sweet smile turns slightly mischievous but Hongjoong interrupts before Seonghwa can answer.
"Aish, I don't know why I thought introducing the two of you would be a good idea. Wooyoung-ah, go do your job, I doubt you've finished inventory yet. Seonghwa, stop causing mischief and let me give you a tour.
"Yes, darling."
"Aye, Captain!"
Hongjoong just sighs, muttering about them sassing him as he drags his husband towards the captain's cabin.
Yes, Wooyoung thinks with satisfaction, that one's going to be fun.
He's halfway to the galley when he registers that Seonghwa had been calling Hongjoong his husband.