San hugged the sheets closer to himself, Yunho crouching defensively besides him as a man walked forwards towards them. He reached toward San’s arm but was aggressively slapped away.

“Don’t touch me, pirate.” He hissed and scooted further behind Yunho away from them.

The man looked miffed and turned around, mouthing something to Hongjoong. Hongjoong mouthed something back before assisting the other merman. Seonghwa sat still, curling up into his sheets. Even with his hair soaked and looking like a drowned dog, he glared intimidatingly at San. San returned a similar stink eye.

“Wooyoung!” Hongjoong called. The bouncier boy appeared quickly; scaling down the net from his position above. “Tend to them while I take care of him!”

Hongjoong hoisted him up and carried the taller man in his arms. Leaning Seonghwa facing towards him and tucking his arms under his behind, he effortlessly draped Seonghwa over his shoulder and walked off towards the cabin. Wooyoung jogged over to the two and smiled.

“You got him?” He directed at Yunho to which he nodded. He cut through the ropes binding his hands. “Follow me then.”

Yunho complied and scooped up San in his arms; following Wooyoung to the cabins. They descended a flight of stairs and entered a small room; in one corner were two modest coats pushed together, some chest and barrels lined the opposite wall.

“Welcome to my room.” Wooyoung began rummaging through the chest and pulled out some loose trousers.

“Put him down.” Wooyoung laughed as he threw the trousers at San in Yunho’s arms. He continued rummaging through his chest. Yunho gently placed him down on the cot.

Together San and Yunho peeled the water logged sheets off of him, Yunho averting his gaze as San peeled off the last sheet surrounding his body. San noted that his legs had returned. But due to his trousers and drawers immediately ripping as he entered the water, his lower half lay embarrassingly exposed. He covered himself as best as he could with the trousers Wooyoung threw at him.

“Here, dry shirt.” Wooyoung tosses behind him.

“Thanks...” San replied meekly as he continued waiting.

“Andddd..” A shoe whizzed past his head. “ where’s the other one.” He continued mumbling to himself.

“Uhm...Wooyoung right?” San mumbled. Still covering his lower half with trousers.

“Mmhmm?” Wooyoung stopped digging to turn around to face them. San presses his legs closer together.

“Thank you for the trousers and shirt but uhm…” he started. “Can I get some drawers…?”

“Drawers…?” Wooyoung mouthed back before he let out a hearty laugh.

“Mate, pirates don’t wear drawers.”

San knitted his eyes together, which made Wooyoung laugh even harder.

“Too much clothes under the belt will only get in the way of moving and if you get wet then the water log will just slow you down. If you’re gonna be on board, you’re just gonna have to get used to it.” He wiped away a fake tear from laughter.

“Here’s the other shoe.” He tossed another faded brown shoe towards.

“Hurry up now! And you!” He pointed a finger at Yunho. “Follow me, get you to the doctor before that wound gets infected. Leave all your stuff, we’ll get them later.”

Wooyoung hurriedly pushed Yunho and the two exited the room, making San wince as the door slammed behind the two. Their loud footsteps fading into the distance as they ran off to the boat medic he assumed. San undid his sopping neck scarf, discarding it to the floor along with the wet sheets. He slipped his shirt off, hurriedly touching his mother’s necklace to confirm it was still there; before sliding into the new dry shirt. He hurriedly buttoned it up and stood up to put on his trousers.

The boat lurched and he fell backwards into the cot again, his head knocked into the wooden wall. Teared pricked his eyes and he hissed as he rubbed his head where it made contact. From outside he heard footsteps closing in but before he could cover himself, Wooyoung barged in as quickly as he left.

“Hey! You done!? Let’s go!” He screamed and paused; taking in the view. San let out an equally loud yelp as he rushed to cover his lower half. Wooyoung whistled.

San felt mortified, not used to being seen in such an defenseless state. Back at home, Yunho and his uncle made sure to always give him his privacy when changing as they usually guarded the door. San ears flushed red as he squeaked for Wooyoung to get out.

“Mate, we're all guys here. We won’t judge you for size here. Hurry up and change.” Wooyoung laughed loudly but still left. Closing the door behind him. San internally cursed as he hurriedly slipped on the trousers and shoes. San weakly knocked on the door signalling he was done. Wooyoung opened the door and smirked at him.

“You good?”

“Just perky…” San grumbled.

His lower half felt strangely breezy as he waddled after Wooyoung. They picked up Yunho from the medic who had finished addressing his wounds and went back up the stairs leading to the cabins on the deck floor. Rounding around the deck he led them to the other side of the cabin where they entered a candle lit room. In the center lay a table with papers strewn over a map pinned in the center. Several chairs surrounded the table, one already occupied by a familiar face.

“Yeosang! You’re back!” Wooyoung ran towards Yeosang to embrace him, leaving San and Yunho at the doorway. The light haired man returned a half embrace. San noted his hair was damp and dropped with water, and sporting new clothes. The shawl was gone and he wore a loose dark brown tunic draped over black trousers.

“Come in, sit.” Hongjoong’s voice filled the room.

San noticed Hongjoong exit from a door on the other side of the briefing room with Seonghwa trailing behind him, now fully changed. San glimpsed and caught sight of a large cot and a sheet covered floor as Seonghwa closed the door after them.

Joining Yeosang at the table, they now sat in a circle facing each other. In order: Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, San, Wooyoung, and Yeosang. Hongjoong sat opposite to San across the table.

“Welcome aboard our ship the ATINY. And although I would like to say welcome to ATEEZ. I’m sure you have something you’d like to say first.” Hongjoong started.

“Explain.” San balled his fists together and faced Yunho. “Why are you on this ship? They didn’t kidnap you did they?”

Yunho looked apologetically at San.

“No! San! I-I didn’t know these were the guys you were talking about. If I had known-!” Yunho flinched at San’s serious face. He continued. “I left for the market and purchased some supplies but I was attacked by some people. I’m not sure what they were after but they seemed adamant about chasing me down.” He raised his hand again to show his bandaged wound. “They continued chasing me down until Wooyoung here helped me.” Yunho motioned towards the man who reciprocated a smirk. San frowned.

“Okay but why were they after you? Unless..” He glared at the others in the room.

“Before you go off and start accusing us of something we didn’t do.” Hongjoong replied. “This mate here just so happened to be at the wrong place and wrong time.”

“You mean they weren’t after him? Or rather, after me?” San sent a sharp look at their leader.

“Spot on. Those cloaked men were not after you but actually after us. You see, we pirates got a lot of enemies after us. Your mate here was mistaken as one of us, but we managed to stop them before anything got too serious.”

“That doesn’t explain why he’s on your ship.” San pressed.

“Because your friend is now a wanted man for associating with us. Although it wasn’t his intention. Wooyoung managed to stop the few who directly attacked him. By now they’ve probably spread the word and they’ll associate him with us since he was there when we got rid of them.” Hongjoong continued.

“Be grateful! If I wasn’t there, your friend would be dead by now!” Wooyoung chimed in.

“If he had returned to your home, they would have tracked you down and torn your place apart. We went fetch you, since your friend here was begging so much.” Hongjoong nodded. “We left port earlier than planned, those guys would have surrounded us if we continued to stay docked there. So we sent Seonghwa and Yeosang so they could easily track you down and come back with you.” He continued.

“You saved us a lot of time by coming to us instead.” Yeosang added. “But because you also came to the scene, they’ll probably be on the lookout for you too.”

“Is this true Yunho?” San glared at the brunette and he nodded in response.

“I- I think one of the vendors reported me, saying that I was suspicious of buying traveling supplies. They thought I was a pirate. After I told these guys the situation, they said they’d find you.”

“And these people who are after you pirates...who are they? Why are they attacking you?” San questioned.

Hongjoong just shrugged but didn’t respond.

“I should’ve just left without the supplies. I can’t believe I got you mixed up in my plans to leave.” San pinched his nose in frustration.

“You were gonna join us?” Wooyoung slammed his hands on the table excitedly.

“NO. I was going to flee to the next town in case YOU people reported me. I didn’t want my family getting involved in my matters.”

“Hey! We didn’t report to anyone!” Wooyoung defended. San scoffed.

“As if I can trust the words of a pirate.”

“San, even if you didn’t wait for the supplies. I was going to follow you anyways.” Yunho chuckled awkwardly. San frowned at him.

“What do you mean?”

“Pa and I were going to convince you, so we could all leave together. And even if you refused us, we would’ve just followed you.”

“I told you not to! And what about father! You’d just leave him alone!?” San rolled up his fists. “And now! Now no ones going to be with him! We can’t even go back!”

“I...we both decided on this together, San. I couldn’t leave you alone.”

“You idiot!”

Both of them looked at each other with defiance, but Hongjoong’s clap diverted their attention.

“Does that resolve that problem then? So due to a misunderstanding of sorts, we saved your favorite lad here and brought him onboard. And now you’re onboard as well.” He smiled. “As such, I’d like to cordially invite you two to our crew, ATEEZ.”

“Hold on.” San interrupted. “I’m grateful, you saved my brother. But we’re not here to join you.”

Hongjoong cocked an eyebrow at him.

“We’re not joining you pirates. We never agreed to this.”

“I don’t think you understand your situation here, boy.” He let out a hearty laugh. “You two are now fugitives in your city now due to associating with us. Even if it was a mistake, our enemies have definitely reported both of you to their higher ups. You can’t go back to the way you used to live. And-“ Hongjoong snapped his fingers.

Yunho yelped as Seonghwa slammed his head into the table from behind. He had been quiet up until now; he lined the tip of his saber behind Yunho’s head.

“Although we do feel bad he got involved in our business as a bystander. We were under no obligation to help him.”

“You bastards-!” San started to turn his body towards Yunho but stopped as he felt the familiar chill of a blade against his neck. Wooyoung who had sat next to him smiled as he held him at point.

“We make a deal. You asked what benefits would you get out of joining us. We take both of you in and grant you protection and in return. San. You help us.” Hongjoong smirked from his seat.

“What happened to not forcing me to join?” San hissed.

“We’re not forcing you. We’re letting you have the choice here. Join us?” Hongjoong smiled. Yunho let out a whimper as Seonghwa ground his head into the table. “Or his head?”

“Yunho!” San screamed. “Stop it! I’ll help you! I’ll help! Just leave him alone, please.”

Seonghwa and Wooyoung backed off, sheathing their weapons.

“Glad we can come to an agreement.”

San glared at Hongjoong as he helped Yunho back up off the table.

“Don’t look at us like that. We’re pirates and although we agree that not all pirates are to be trusted. ATEEZ won’t go back on their word. We will protect you and your brother here so long as you are on our side. Your name?” Hongjoong directed at Yunho.

“Yunho. Jeong Yunho.” He looked nervously at Seonghwa who returned to his seat. Seonghwa returned an indifferent expression.

“You were with San at the barkeep...you family?”

Both of them nodded.

“Than are you…?”

“No! He’s...not. I’m adopted.” San blurted. Hongjoong looked over at Seonghwa and they both nodded at each other.

“Hongjoong. As captain, I lead things around here. But if you ever have any questions,” He pointed towards Seonghwa. “Seonghwa, the quartermaster, will help you out. He runs everything below me and makes sure the ship is running.”

San and Yunho exchanged a wary look. They both highly doubted that Seonghwa would willingly help them out.

“Yeosang is our navigator and is also our lookout on the night shift. If you’re ever looking for him, he’ll be out in the lookout if you ever need him. Wooyoung is our all-rounder and our chief engineer. We’ve been together at sea since we were both brats. We’ve had our fair share of experience from our ship hopping. He knows this ship inside out. He keeps our ship afloat and running; does all our repairs that he can do. He’s never in just one area, but if you call for him. He’ll most likely come running.” Hongjoong clapped his hands. “Well we’ve promised to protect you. But on this ship, you have to work to eat. Any skills you’d like to volunteer?”

San and Yunho looked at each other. They both had been working at a bar on land for as far as they could remember. They both weren’t sure what they could possibly offer to a pirate crew.

“I can cook…?” Yunho volunteered and San slapped his knee.

“No you can’t!” San hissed. Yunho rubbed his leg sheepishly and pouted. Both of them stayed silent.

“Nothing?” Hongjoong sighed. “Weren’t you a barkeep’s son? Tell me you guys know how to manage storage for food and drink at least.”

Yunho lit up and nodded.

“Good then you’re our designated Cooper for now. Wooyoung will show you our storage tomorrow morning. There Seonghwa will train you so you can assume some of his duties. And you?”

San shook his head.

“I don’t know what else you’d need. The only thing I can think of is that I’ve had a fair bit of experience patching up Yunho here from his injuries. But you already have a doctor on this boat.”

Hongjoong shrugged.

“It’ll do for now. Yeosang when you’re done with your night shift, send him to begin training under the medic tomorrow morning as well. We’ll find something else for him to do in the meantime. In the evening, get Yunho and train him on being lookout as well so he can trade shifts with you if needed. Wooyoung, give them the spare storage room to sleep in. I need to figure out our next plan of action. We’ll reconvene tomorrow evening.”

Hongjoong dismissed them from the room. Yeosang, Wooyoung, San and Yunho shuffled out one by one; the captain and the quartermaster stayed behind.

Before they even noticed, Yeosang had already quietly departed from their group as they rounded back to the other side of the cabin on the deck floor where the stairs led downstairs.

“Grab that bucket of water and deck brush.” Wooyoung called out to no one in particular and Yunho picked both items up along the way as they descended the stairs.

After grabbing their bags they left behind in Wooyoung’s room, they were led to the very end of the hall and opened a room. They all coughed loudly as dust blew up from the movement of the door.

“Don’t do much here besides storage. You should be able to set up some hammocks but both of you should clean up before settling in. Otherwise you’ll die of breathing problems before any action even starts.” Wooyoung lit a candle to illuminate the small dusty room. It was very small. Much smaller than Wooyoung’s room and also half filled with barrels. San couldn’t help but feel like they got the short end of the deal but he didn’t complain out loud.

“I gotta go check up on some things but holler for me and I’ll be right back. It’ll take some time for everyone to warm up so in the mean time make sure to keep me on your good side if you want a good time here.” He smirked in San’s direction.

San rubbed his neck awkwardly. He had already been held at knifepoint twice, he didn’t want to get on anyone’s bad side just yet.

As soon as Wooyoung left, San and Yunho got to work scrubbing at the floors of their new environment. Not realizing the time passing as they scrubbed the room from top down. As San helped the taller man set up the hammocks over the barrels, they heard a knocking at the door. Yeosang appeared with two plates of food with a blank expression on his face.

“Supper.” Yeosang stated and allowed San to take both plates but before they could thank him, he had already left without a word. Both San and Yunho shrugged and sat down on the now clean floor to nibble at supper.

“Never imagined we’d end up on a pirate ship.” Yunho shoveled his food into his mouth. “So what’s our next plan of action here?”

San looked up from picking at his plate.

“Look I’m sorry we ended up here. I know you didn’t want to end up here. I didn’t expect the people I asked for help to be the people that cornered you yesterday.” Yunho apologized. “I didn’t want us to escape this way. I wanted us to flee to a much safer environment. I know this. This.” He generally gestured to the boat they were on. “Probably makes you uncomfortable. Hell even I’m feeling a bit sick from the sea.”

San let out a small smile and patted Yunho’s head. “Hey, it’s not your fault at all. There’s no way you could’ve known it was them. If anything, I’m kind of grateful they saved you. The situation I don’t like but as long as I know you’re safe, then it's okay.”

“Haha yeah...honestly if I didn’t buy that extra dried meat for Wooyoung. I might’ve been dead by now. Good deeds indeed do help you out after all!” He polished off his plate of food within seconds.

“That sounds like something you would do.” San laughed into his hand. “Always nice, wayyy too nice.” He looked at Yunho’s arm that had been bandaged earlier. “Did it hurt?”

“No!” Yunho started, but backtracked when he saw San’s knowing smirk. “Yeah...it hurt a lot. Getting cut is a lot scarier than I thought. Wooyoung was nice enough to step in and help me, but I don’t know if a normal citizen would come to help…”

“I’ll...i’ll be sure to thank Wooyoung later…” He looked forlornly at his feet.

“Rather than that San,” he leaned in to whisper into San’s ear. “They may be nice to us but we still don’t quite know what they want from us. They know your identity but who knows what they might do to you! Sell you, dissect you, offer you as a sacrifice for some pirate ritual- oh, by gods!”

San playfully punched his shoulder. Yunho playfully fell over but he got back up with a serious expression.

“San...we need to escape. We’re not pirates and we can go hide in a neighboring town away from any ports. We’ll find something that’ll work out. I’ve heard pirates love to drink and party. We can wait for a late night when they get drunk, we can steal a boat or we’ll jump overboard. You can swim right? We can go together and escape as long as we know where we are.” He rambled.

San looked at Yunho for a few seconds considering, but eventually shook his head.

“No, even if I could swim and pull you along. I couldn’t pull it off.”

Yunho frowned.

“They have a merman on their side…”

A gasp left Yunho’s lips.

“Seonghwa’s a merman. He was the one who pulled me through the water onto the ship….and he’s stronger.” San lifted his weak arms and bemoaned his thin frame. “Much stronger than me. If he finds that we escaped by sea. No doubt, he’ll be able to find us...and kill us easily”

“Seonghwa already looks like he could kill...I definitely wouldn’t want that.” Yunho shuddered. “So that’s why he was also covered in sheets when he was pulled up...that completely slipped my mind.”

“Yeah...if anything our only option is to escape by land. But we’ve lost the advantage already. We could easily escape if it was the forest near our city, but who knows where these pirates are taking us. It’d be risky but better than by sea.”

San felt Yunho reach over and take his hand into his, giving a supportive squeeze.

“We can do it.” Yunho whispered. “Next time we hit a land, we’ll formulate a plan to escape. They won’t know what even happened.”

“In the meantime, we’ll just have to try our best to survive on this ship until then. Who knows how hard they’ll work us to the bone tomorrow.” San didn’t look forward to waking up tomorrow.

“If anything, think of this experience as...preparation for the real world. The first time we’re away from Pa, on our own journey. I’m sure a little sweat and hard work on this ship will help us prepare for when we need to find new jobs on land.”

San sighed at Yunho. “How is it that you can be so positive?” He laughed. “If I were you, I’d be more devastated or panicked right now.”

“Well someone’s got to keep the mood lively.” Yunho grinned. “And we’re brothers. We’re going to stick together no matter what! Not even pirates can hold us back!”

“Shhhh!” San covered Yunho’s mouth. “They’ll hear you if you’re so loud, idiot!”

“Sorry, sorry!”

They didn’t know where to take their dishes so they just left them by the door. They’ll deal with it tomorrow. They retired early and climbed into their respective hammocks. Both exhausted from their adventures today. They had no idea when the pirates would intrude on them in the morning, so they wanted to rest up as much as they could.

“San...you asleep?”

“Hm?”

“You said...Seonghwa was a merman right. So that means they’re corroborating with them.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Just...and you’re probably going to get angry at me for this but-”

“Yunho. It's fine, just say it.”

“Auntie died when we were both really little. Pa was always afraid of letting you out of his sight, so much so, he ignored me for quite a while too.”

San winced at the memory. He noticed Hyunjae’s lack of attention towards Yunho following the months after the incident. He had always felt guilty towards the older. Having your father figure deliberately ignore you for some other child, that would greatly impact a young child at the tender age of 7. But Yunho never complained to his father, always agreeing to put San first, always showering him in unconditional love. It wasn’t until San noticed Yunho grieving alone, always pretending to be strong; that is until San came forward to Hyunjae to treasure his family more. San didn’t know if he could be as kind and gentle as Yunho, who always gave up things for people around him. It wasn’t fair to the other.

“We love you and we treasured you even though you’re not human like us. We couldn't provide you the knowledge or history of your people. I always felt guilty. Forcing you to learn ours, and that always made me feel sick to my stomach….Because our history shuns your kind. Always making merfold to be the harbingers of disaster and disease when they’re just people trying to get by like us...” He continued. “I know this is selfish of me but Maybe….maybe before we leave, you can get to know more about yourself. For your own sake.”

San stared at the ceiling in thought for a while before grumbling. “I’ll think about it…”

“Thanks San, for listening to me.”

“But Yunho.”

“Yeah?”

“Never for a second did I regret spending my life with you and father. While I grew up with human standards and neglected my own history and culture, I would never trade it for the memories I have with my family.”

“San…” A sniffle was heard.

San nodded even though he knew Yunho couldn’t see. A few more moments of silence passed before Yunho spoke again.

“San...you asleep?”

“No.”

A long pause.

“Do you think Pa will be okay?”

Although the room was dark, San could tell Yunho had a worried face on.

“I just…” Yunho stuttered. “I didn’t get to say goodbye to him. I didn’t want to trace the pursuers after him, so I couldn’t go back. Yesterday night I told him that we should both follow you. This morning, he said that only I would follow you. I left...I wanted to say goodbye to him. But I didn’t get to say it…”

San was quiet for a few seconds.

“San…?”

“They...ATEEZ said they didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t believe them at first because I couldn’t believe that pirates would side with merfolk, but after seeing it with my own eyes...I don’t think any rumors about my identity will be spread back to affect him. I also ran out after you without saying much of a goodbye. We only hugged briefly. He’ll be sad but…”

“But?”

“Father told me to go to you. He must have been preparing for this too.”

It was Yunho’s turn to be silent this time.

“And father is resilient. I’m sure he’ll be fine on his own. He has the strength to keep on running the bar and if he ever needs help, I’m sure he’ll find someone with no problem.” San continued. “So don’t worry too much. I’m sure that eventually...we’ll be able to find each other again.”

“Mm. I sure hope so...”

“Goodnight San. Good luck to us tomorrow, hehe.” San could hear Yunho chuckle as he drifted off to sleep. San’s own eyes fluttered closed as his exhaustion overtook him.

____________________________________________________________________________

Twilight fell upon the city, cascading the buildings in a brilliant pinkish violet hue. Outside the bar, Hyunjae closed his eyes and continued clasping his hands together in a silent prayer. Praying desperately for the safety of his two sons.

Dear Goddess, I have never prayed to you before but if you’re out there please help my two sons.

He desperately hoped that San managed to find Yunho. He didn’t understand why San reacted the way he did, but he didn’t doubt the look of desperation and fear in his eyes. Something must’ve happened and he hoped they managed to escape safely into the woods. They were so young. Just barely adults. But Hyunjae had taught them survival basics, he knew they’d be fine without him to take care of them.

A loud rumble of armored footsteps was heard in the distance and Hyunjae opened his eyes to see a group of people descending the mainroad into central square. Within the group he counted ten people dressed in iron armor, sporting the royal insignia, and three wearing dark cloaks. They continued mingling in the central square before one of the armored individuals and one of the cloaked individuals split from the group. Promptly turning to start down the side road that led towards the barkeep.

Hyunjae couldn’t see their covered expression, the armored knight face was shielded and the cloaked individual had his hood pulled down over his eyes. He could only note the smirking smile underneath the cloaked figure that approached him.

“Choi Hyunjae.” The cloaked figure greeted them as they halted a few meters from the barkeep.

“Jeong Hyunjae.” He replied. “I changed my name quite a while ago.”

The armored knight unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards Hyunjae.

“No matter the specifics. The king personally wishes to you to speak with him.” The cloaked figure continued. “I’m sure you understand that you have no right to refuse.”

Hyunjae had a grim expression of his face. He had confidence to evade two, but the eleven people in the distance could easily surround him and cut off his options.

“And what does the king want with me?”

“That is not knowledge I am able to deliver to you at this time. However you should feel grateful. For the king is asking to converse with you rather than slay you at your doorstep.”

“This is how I feel about you.” He spat in their face.

The cloaked figure angrily raised his arm in disgust. “Do it!”

The knight walked forward and easily kneed Hyunjae in the abdomen, knocking out any air he had. He proceeded to bring the hilt of his blade onto his back and knocked him unconscious.

“You’ve been able to walk free all this time, but too bad for you that ends now.” He heard a sneer.

As his eyes fluttered closed he let out another silent prayer. He hoped his sons escaped successfully from this shackled city. Staring off into the descending below the horizon, the sky looked beautiful as night fell and the dark violet hues mixed and overtook the bright warm pink.

Such a beautiful twilight.