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They did not start off sinking ships.
The Shikari was the first, a specific ship and a specific revenge.
They end up hunting the next one when San hears a mer call out for help, already trapped in the nets.
After that, it becomes a calling and a mission.
Seonghwa and San do it to protect their people, and in revenge for what had been done to them.
Hongjoong does it because of the promises he made and the way his soul sings when they send evil to the depths. It feels right , in a way few things do.
The rest of the crew do it in the beginning because their captain asks. After the first few, they do it because of the looks of gratitude in the eyes of the mer they rescue. They do it to protect those they can, and to avenge those they can’t.
-
They went through the Trials together, all three of them.
When they emerged from the waves, fresh tattoos still raw against their skin, there seemed to be a new weight in their eyes.
They would not say what they had done, and would not even smile about it.
The crew had learned with time that the Trials are as close to sacred as anything mer could be. To discuss them with a human is a crime, deserving of death.
The tattoos were reminders of a promise, sealing the three of them together.
They are each powerful on their own, but as three they can tame the seas.
When they are three, Hongjoong does not feel his halfness in the same way. He can hold his own against the sons of the ocean, matching their control and skill.
It is a sight to behold, watching them command the currents and waves.
It is also one that not many see. The crew cannot follow them below the waves, and those on the ships they sink are often dead by the time they reach the depths.
But the ocean watches, and the rumor slowly spreads through citadels and clan territory.
-
They called him Pirate King there first, miles below the surface.
Hongjoong doesn’t understand enough mer to know what is said, but he knows respect when he sees it. It is readily apparent in the eyes of the lord they are talking to every time he looks at the captain.
Something proud had flashed in Seonghwa’s eyes when he translated the phrase, and it still burned every time he was called by the title.
Hongjoong doesn’t tell him how it rings false.
There are no kings above the water, especially among pirates.
He is Captain. That is everything a king is, and so much more. He doesn’t need the title, and doesn’t know how to say he has everything he could ever want already.
But Seonghwa looks at him like he can hang the stars, and Hongjoong isn’t going to ruin that.
So he grins when the other whispers it in his ear, voice low and vibrating at a frequency that Hongjoong can feel deep in his core.
“Is that what I am to you?” he asks, turning to look the merman in the eye.
Seonghwa doesn’t respond, knowing Hongjoong can read his answer better than he could ever say it.
‘Yes,’ the merman’s eyes say, something deep and undying buried in their depths. ‘You are that to me, and so much more. You are the moorings of my soul, the reason for my tides. I cannot picture a life without you, or a second away from your heartbeat. You and I are one, and always will be.’
“What does that make you?”
The words are a whisper, echoing in the space between them. Hongjoong says them like a prayer.
“Vrunilya,” Seonghwa tells him. “Soulmate, follower, slave, friend. Forever. Until the moon dies and the oceans erupt.”
Hongjoong can only nod, words stolen by the look in Seonghwa’s eyes.
“I don’t deserve you,” he finally gasps. “You, this love, any of it.”
Seonghwa’s eyes look bottomless, something timeless in his expression.
“And I don’t deserve you,” he answers. “But still we give.”
Still they give. They both give it all, every day, over and over.
Hongjoong whispers his words like a mantra, grinding them into his skin and carving them into his heart.
Forever. Until the moon dies and the oceans erupt.
-
They have grown good at this, Hongjoong thinks.
He catches the current San tosses in his direction, growing and spinning it in his hands before passing it to Seonghwa.
The merman’s gaze is dark with concentration as he smooths and sharpens the current. When it is ready, he spins it around his arm, forming a sleeve.
The current is hard to see without mer sight, appearing to be a patch of quickly moving water. It reminds Hongjoong of a busy stream running over rocks; deceptively peaceful and secretly dangerous.
It twines around Seonghwa’s arm easily, seemingly sinking into his tattoos. For a second, the lines against his skin seem to separate from him, passing through the fast moving water as well.
The moment passes as Seonghwa moves towards the ship above them. He places a palm against the hull, bracing himself. Then, he punches into the wood.
The current is unleashed at the motion, carving a deep gash into the ship’s skin.
Hongjoong and San are already moving, knowing Seonghwa will join them when he’s sure the ship is taking on enough water.
Hongjoong closes his eyes, focusing on the water around him. It sings to him, keening at his touch.
He tells it to move and it does. It is just a bit at first, but soon thousands of gallons are moving, swirling around and around.
The whirlpool below the surface pulls the ship down even faster, hastening its demise.
As it goes, bits break off and are sucked into the current. Jagged chunks of wood and tangled rigging whirl past. They come close, but never touch the three directing the waves.
By the time the waves close over the very tip of the mast the whirlpool no longer needs guidance. It has its own energy now, self contained and destructive.
Hongjoong knows the ship will be in pieces long before it reaches the bottom of the ocean. Maybe it will never get there, he thinks.
He smiles grimly at the thought.
-
The reputation grows, with each ship they pull apart and merperson they save.
Hongjoong doesn’t think of it that way, too focused on the job in front of him.
Glimmers will come to him occasionally, when he is surrounded by the swirling waters and wreckage in the wake of their latest ship.
He watches each one sink, serving as witness to their final voyages.
It is fitting, he thinks, that he should watch them fall. It is more than they deserve, but he likes to consider himself merciful.
Once they pass out of his sight, pink fins will entwine with his. Seonghwa will whisper words Hongjoong doesn’t understand but knows deep inside, tugging him gently back to the surface.
As he climbs the rope up to the deck, he reminds himself of why he does this.
When the looks on the faces of the mers they rescue no longer work, the scars on Seonghwa’s chest and torso do.
They are visible in both of his forms, silvery ropes of scar tissue across skin. They burn in Hongjoong’s nightmares, consuming the merman from the inside until the water is red with blood and failure.
So Hongjoong sinks ships and sends their captains down with them, lashed to the masts or tucked tenderly into bed.
A captain’s sins are his alone.
His sins are his, and even the angel at his side cannot redeem him. It isn’t enough and is too much, at the same time. It almost chokes him at times, and he cannot breathe because of the failure written across Seonghwa’s skin.
He failed, and so he seeks to erase the hurt and pain in the only way he knows how.
-
“Do we do good?” he asks one night, in the privacy of their room.
Seonghwa looks up from the shirts he’s folding on the bed, meeting Hongjoong’s eyes.
“What do you think?” he replies, tilting his head.
Hongjoong doesn’t answer, looking at the maps strewn across his desk. One of them has a red x at every place they’ve sunk a ship. There are many of them, strewn across the map like stars.
“Some say we don’t.”
At that, Seonghwa puts down the shirt in his hands. He crosses the room to sit on the desk, facing Hongjoong.
“Do you believe them?” he asks, studying the captain carefully.
Hongjoong looks away first.
“Some will say we are not good,” Seonghwa says evenly. “Some say we destroy and kill, taking lives that aren’t ours to take.”
He pauses and Hongjoong can only nod. Everything he says is right, and echoes the accusations he hears in his dreams.
Seonghwa taps a finger against the desk, gathering his thoughts before speaking again.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but one of the mers we rescued two nights ago was with child. She had a little one as well. She pulled me aside afterwards, and thanked me for what we did.”
Hongjoong shakes his head at that, running a hand through his hair.
“Of course she would thank you,” he murmurs. “I would too in that situation.”
Seonghwa frowns, knowing Hongjoong is missing the point.
“I wish you could have seen it,” he continues. “She said your name with stars in her eyes, like you were some hero from a fairy tale.”
“But she doesn’t know,” Hongjoong interrupted. “She doesn’t know how many ships we’ve sunk, how many lives I’ve taken.”
Something in Seonghwa’s expression grows dark at that, and he laughs.
“You think she doesn’t know?” he asks. “You think she won’t tell the names of every single ship to her children, listing them off like a bedtime story? They will grow up hearing the names of the captains the Pirate King has killed, so that they can swim without fear in waters that used to be unpassable.”
His words are harsh, and Hongjoong blinks at their force.
Seonghwa softens all at once, letting out a sigh.
“Some may call it bad or even evil,” he continues. “But for those children? For them, you are a hero.”
“And what of the children of the men I kill,” Hongjoong asks. “I am not their hero.”
“No, you are not,” Seonghwa agrees. “But children cannot comprehend the fact that their fathers may be monsters, and shouldn’t have to.”
He stands up, stepping closer to Hongjoong. With gentle hands, he tilts the captain’s face upwards, to look him in the eye.
“It does not matter what they think of you,” he whispers. “I know what you are, and you do too.”
Hongjoong closes his eyes for a brief moment, feeling Seonghwa’s fingers at his chin and the ocean lapping against the Ateez. He allows himself to sink into the feeling, grounding and centering around those two constants.
When he opens his eyes and meets Seonghwa’s there is something new in his gaze.
Seonghwa smiles to see it, his hands leaving Hongjoong’s chin to run through his hair and trace carefully over his temples.
“You remember each one,” he says softly. “You keep their names in your heart and cry over them in the night. That alone makes you good.”
Hongjoong nods at that. Bad men do not remember, and cannot bring themselves to mourn for their sins.
“Thank you,” he tells the merman.
“Always.”
Seonghwa’s response is instant, and Hongjoong thinks back to the words he had whispered in this same room.
Forever. Until the moon dies and the oceans erupt.
-
The title of Pirate King is now whispered in places other than the halls of underwater lords.
It is said with respect by the merpeople the Ateez come across, something shining in their eyes.
He saves, they say. He breaks our chains and sets us free.
It is said with fear in the dark bars and back rooms of pirate haunts, especially by those who have met the man.
They say he is half kraken, full mer, a ghost. They say he has explored the depths, bringing back the son of the sea herself. They sail together now, tied tightly by fate and drunk in each other.
It is whispered by the sailors and authorities who see the wreckage left in his wake. There are never any survivors, but it is always clear who did it.
He pulls ships apart, uprooting masts with a flick of his hand. Meet his eyes and you’ll be lucky to come away with your life.
It is said by his crew, jokingly but with a serious undertone. They know their Captain, and will follow him to the ends of the earth and the edge of the seas if he asks.
He knows they would. It is exhilarating to be trusted entirely and without reservation.
It is said by his lover, between kisses and gasps in the darkness of their bedroom.
He grins to hear it then, loving the way it sounds falling from those perfect lips.
With every whisper and murmur and moan, it becomes his. Forged under the sea, it crowns him as the ocean’s, tying him to her.
They all agree on that at least. He is not human, and to assume he is will be your last mistake.
As time goes on, he wears it with pride. The title is his, and he knows it means he has found what he has searched for, both above and below the waves.
-
The one tonight is worse than usual.
The ship had been run poorly, and many of the mer were already dead.
Wooyoung had to coax two children off their mother’s corpse. He holds them close all the way back to the Ateez, murmuring comfortingly in the small amount of mer he knows.
They watch everything with wide eyes, uncomprehending. They clutch Wooyoung’s shirt and do not say anything at all.
When he hands them off to Seonghwa helplessly, there is a fire in his eyes. He watches that ship sink, wishing he could do more or worse things.
Hongjoong sees the look on his face and knows this will not be easy.
When Seonghwa steps into the dining hall, he is met by a roomful of concerned faces.
“They are asleep,” he says. “I put them down in our bed.”
Hongjoong nods at that, knowing neither of them will sleep tonight.
“What will happen to them?”
Wooyoung’s face is as dark as a storm, and Seonghwa shares a look with Hongjoong.
“They will stay,” he says. “Until they have healed.”
“And then?”
“We will need to sail back to clan lands,” Seonghwa says softly. “I will find a lord to give them refuge or a home.”
Serious nods are passed around the room, and a course is set.
It takes almost two weeks to get to the closest citadel, and in that time the crew almost adopts the children.
Neither of them are older than six, and once they grow comfortable, they careen around the ship with utter abandon. They swim with San, ‘help’ Yeosang steer, and play hide and seek in the hold with Mingi. Hongjoong shows them his many maps, and Jongho lets them play with the wooden sparring swords.
They are especially fond of Wooyoung and Seonghwa, and can be reliably found with one of them at any point in the day.
“They’re going to be missed,” Seonghwa murmurs one evening, glancing at Hongjoong.
The captain smiles, watching the two of them attack San with their swords across the deck.
“They will,” he answers. “But you know this is no place for them.”
Seonghwa doesn’t reply, his eyes fixed on the crew and their visitors.
Something in his gaze is sad, and Hongjoong moves to hug him from behind, twining his arms around the other’s waist.
“They will be happy,” he whispers against Seonghwa’s neck. “And safe. That’s the important part.”
“I know.”
Hongjoong holds him closer, not missing the waver in his voice. After a second, Seonghwa brings a hand up to rest on Hongjoong’s forearms.
They stay like that for a long moment. Hongjoong closes his eyes and focuses on matching his breath and heartbeat to Seonghwa’s.
“Your hair is getting long,” Hongjoong finally says, blowing the offending strands out of his face.
“I thought you liked it,” Seonghwa says, turning his head slightly.
Hongjoong grins at that.
“Trust me,” he murmurs. “I do.”
He mostly likes how Seonghwa will moan when he pulls it a certain way. But he figures now is not the time, so he settles for pressing a kiss against Seonghwa’s jaw.
“We can visit,” he says in a more serious tone. “We pass through this way often enough.”
Seonghwa sighs, relaxing against Hongjoong.
“I don’t know if I could,” he admits.
“That’s ok too. Whatever you want.”
It’s quiet for a moment, the sound of laughter coming from the other end of the deck.
“Whatever I want?” Seonghwa asks slowly, raising an eyebrow.
Hongjoong grins at that.
“Within reason,” he answers. “Need I remind you we have two children who sleep with us now?”
Seonghwa huffs a dramatic sigh, leaning his head back.
“I guess that’s one downside,” he admits.
“Absolutely,” Hongjoong agrees. “They keep ending up on top of me too. I’m convinced they’re trying to smother me.”
“Like I don’t do the same.”
“You don’t try to smother me,” Hongjoong argues. “Most of the time, anyway.”
Seonghwa laughs and Hongjoong smiles broadly. The merman’s laughter is perfectly golden, easing all of his fears and worries.
He closes his eyes and pulls Seonghwa even closer, determined to commit this moment to memory.
-
The lord takes the children without question, having heard the Pirate King was coming. He promises they will have a home, and Hongjoong bows his head in thanks.
The goodbye is brief. The rest of the crew, unable to follow into the depths, have already said theirs.
When it is Hongjoong’s turn, he hugs them tightly, whispering something vague about being good in their ears.
The two are led away, sneaking occasional glances over their shoulders as they go.
San takes the lead in thanking the lord, and they are soon swimming back to the surface and the Ateez.
Hongjoong holds Seonghwa’s hand tightly as he cries.
The tears are lost as soon as they are shed, but Hongjoong is all too familiar with the way Seonghwa’s shoulders shake and his lips tremble.
San pretends not to see, swimming a little ways ahead.
When they climb aboard, Seonghwa immediately disappears into their cabin. Hongjoong watches him go, but forces himself to give him space.
He holds him close that night, not caring that his shirt is soaked through.
Hongjoong does the same the next night, and the one after.
He silences Seonghwa’s apologies, repeating the words the merman himself had told him.
Forever. Until the moon dies and the oceans erupt.
-
If there had been any doubt before, there is none now.
The Ateez sails with death at her wheel, tracking down evil and cruelty.
“Pirate King,” whisper old men when he passes through the streets. “Stay out of his way if you value your life.”
The crew of the Ateez hear, and walk with their heads held high.
Everyone knows who they are, and eyes follow them wherever they go on land.
“Do you hear them? Do you hear those voices?”
Hongjoong does. He walks with the power of the ocean in his hands, the respect of pirates on his shoulders, and a love that could part waves in his heart.
“Pirate King,” the voices whisper, and he does not correct them.
It is not the name he has chosen, but it is one he will wear with pride.
“Forever ,” Seonghwa says softly in the night. “Until the end of time and the birth of the future.”
"Death would not dare part us."