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“Get ready for sail, lads! This lady is going to help bring us more gold and jewelleries!” the captain roared from the deck.
“Aye, captain!” the men stopped whatever they were doing and scrambled up the ropes to set up the sails.
Jimin quickly hooked their ship’s flag and raised it to the top.
Now I can go back to my hammock and-
“JIMIN! YOU LANDLUBBER! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT THE FLAG? DON’T RAISE IT NOW!” Namjoon roared from the top deck.
“AYE CAPTAIN! SORRY CAPTAIN!” Jimin squeaked, and quickly pulled the flag down.
“Aish seriously...why was he even recruited?”
“What an idiot…”
Jimin stared at his feet dejectedly, and quickly walked to the forecastle deck.
“JIMIN!”
Jimin’s head snapped towards the familiar voice and his lips tugged upwards.
“Hyung!” Jimin nearly ran towards the older pirate, who had a big smile on his face.
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be with Captain?” Jimin asked curiously.
“Captain does not need me at the moment, so I’m free for now,” Yoongi replied, to Jimin’s delight.
“Hyung, do you want to practise with me?” Jimin held up his polished knife and smiled.
“Why not kiddo? Let me get my weapon-”
Jimin held the knife at Yoongi’s throat at blinding speed, and breathed against the back of Yoongi’s neck.
“How can you do that in a real situation, hyung? You will be with death right away.”
Yoongi gritted his teeth, and fell backwards forcefully. When he heard the thud and a small groan from Jimin, he jumped to his feet and brandished his dagger from the back of his pants.
“You were saying, landlubber ?” Yoongi taunted Jimin, who was still rubbing the sore area.
“You asked for it,” Jimin smirked and the duo immediately began slashing at each other.
For every time Yoongi made a mistake, Jimin would chastise him, and give tips to defend himself better.
“Hyung, your hand.”
“Hyung you have to be aware of your back too.”
“Hyung, kick! That’s right.”
By the end of their sparring session, Yoongi looked at Jimin and panted, “tell me again why I’m practising with the swordmaster?”
Jimin who looked absolutely fine, replied cutely, “because you love me~”
Yoongi let out a face of disgust and stood up.
“Come on, it’s time for lunch. I have yet to prepare the rum for the lads,” Yoongi held out a hand for Jimin to hold.
“Alright, let’s go.”
-
They finally reached the waters that they always roam.
“Hyung...why did you ever join the pirates?” Jimin asked, as they stare out into the night sky.
The gentle breeze that swept through the empty deck provided a cool and comforting environment to speak their heart.
Yoongi continued to stare at the horizon before speaking.
“I don’t know. Maybe because I was sick of being held down by my mom every single time. Maybe this is how I am rebelling against her. My mom…” Yoongi trailed off.
“She was the village chief you know. She would always make sure my behaviour in public was appropriate but I guess you can never change your nature, huh?”
“So I ended joining this crew of pirates when I had the chance. I thought I could have some freedom, ya know. But I was wrong. This hell is a military camp. Once you join, you can’t get out. My mom would probably be so proud of her son if I get out of this place. I would be sleeping at 8 o’clock sharp, I can prepare meals for her, and I can fight if any rival village comes to ransack ours.”
Jimin listened to the solemn thoughts of Yoongi, and began feeling for him. He turned to face Yoongi and pulled him into an embrace.
“Hyung...you know why I joined right?”
“Of course you dumbass. I was the one who recruited you, didn’t I?” Yoongi laughed shakily, but Jimin could feel his shirt getting wet.
“I miss home too. I miss the lessons I regularly take with my father. I miss my mom’s cooking. I miss Mrs. Kim homemade tea and cakes.” Jimin murmured against Yoongi’s shoulder.
To everyone else, it was normal to see this scene. It was normal to be gay on the ship, plainly because all of them understand how one another feel- the lack of love.
Suddenly, a crazy idea popped into Yoongi’s brain.
“Jiminnie, how about we escape this place together?”
“Are you crazy?”
“No! I suddenly thought of this perfect plan! What if, during our next robbery, we hide in the merchant’s ship and try to convince the Captain to rescue us?”
“Provided Namjoon do not catch us, we look normal enough to pass off as normal sailors and we don’t killed by the merchants too,” Jimin answered thoughtfully.
“Well, then this idea may be able to work then!”
-
Jimin and Yoongi spent most of their together since then to craft the perfect plan.
Whenever Yoongi was with Namjoon, Jimin would practice his swordplay with the other pirates, and usually won all the sparring sessions.
When dusk fell, both of them would always bring rum to the top deck and continue discussing about their plans.
They didn’t expect to be able to carry out their plan this early…
“CAPTAIN! INCOMING SHIP!” one pirate shouted in delight.
Jimin who was scrubbing the floor groaned.
“Seriously? I just cleaned the floor and now we are going to have more blood on this- OH RIGHT!”
Jimin suddenly realised this and scampered off to look for Yoongi.
“LADS, GET READY FOR ANOTHER FRUITFUL DAY! FULL SPEED AHEAD! DON’T STOP!” Namjoon bellowed.
When Jimin finally spotted Yoongi, he was pale with sweat and Jimin assumed that Yoongi was looking for him too.
“Hyung, what do we do? You want to carry out this plan now?” Jimin asked fervently.
“We have no choice. We have to escape immediately. Namjoon has some despicable plans that he wishes for me to be in, but I have absolutely no interest in it. Go for Plan A now!”
“Does Namjoon hyung know?” Jimin asked.
“I don’t think so, unless he went down to bilge,” Yoongi assured.
“Oh lord, no way.”
-
Yoongi took his place next to Namjoon, while praying hard that Jimin had managed to run down to get their belongings in the bilge.
Bilge was the most filthy area of the whole ship, that even the lowliest pirate would not enter.
“Namjoon, how are things going?”
“Never been better! I could smell the gold from here! HAHAHA!” Namjoon laughed menacingly.
Yoongi let out a weak cackle, and his beating heart became faster and faster.
“LADS GET READY!”
That was the signal to get ready for the onslaught. And the signal for Yoongi and Jimin to start their escape plan.
When the opposing ship entered their waters, the pirate whooped in delight and started swinging the hooks. The pirates at the back clashed their weapons together in excitement.
“GO!”
The first row of pirates with the hooks threw them into the air.
An air of silence soon followed.
When they heard frightened screams from the other end, they let out loud cackles and tugged at the rope to make sure they were secure.
“LET’S GO!”
The pirates took out the piece of cloth that would aid them to get to the ship and took turns to slide across. The fog in between the ships did not help in their vision and they depended on the sound.
Once they heard the first pirate shout in happiness and the clashing of metal against metal, the others’ spirits rose and quickly slide across to join the fun.
Yoongi and Jimin stayed behind and met at the other end of the ship.
“Jimin, you ready?”
Jimin nodded firmly, holding tightly to his only belonging- his knife.
“Then let’s go-”
“What do you think you are doing right now?” Namjoon stepped away from the shadows and into their view.
“Captain…” Jimin gasped.
Yoongi quickly stepped in front of Jimin and faced Namjoon.
“You can’t control me anymore. Neither can you control Jimin. We will escape the hell of this ship and be what we are supposed to be,” Yoongi replied, at the same time brandishing his dagger.
When Namjoon made no attempt to move, Yoongi pushed Jimin and commanded, “go!”
The duo ran to the respective escape routes and backed away immediately.
They were fucking surrounded .
“A big shock isn’t it? ‘Namjoon doesn’t know?’ Oh lord, I knew it all along. Oh yes, I went to the bilge just to see what dirty secret both of you kept. I was shocked, absolutely flabbergasted! Why would my most trusted brothers-in-arm escape this beautiful ship?” Namjoon spoke as he paced around.
Jimin struggled against the body that was holding him.
“Don’t even think about escaping, landlubber ,” the voice said into his ear, and Jimin’s blood started boiling.
Jimin had joined this crew for two years and by the voice of the person behind him, he knew that the person had just joined them for one year.
He called me a fucking landlubber?
Jimin still had his knife in his hand.
“You asked for it.”
Jimin twirled the knife skillfully in between his fingers until the knife faced the back. He drove the knife forcefully backwards and the grip on him fell apart.
Jimin spun around and stabbed at the person who was holding on to Yoongi.
“HYUNG LET’S GO!” Jimin shouted and ran for the ropes to the other side.
“CATCH THEM!” Namjoon screamed.
The pirates who were caught off guard immediately began their chase.
Jimin reached the ropes first and looked back at Yoongi.
“Hyung, on 1, 2, 3!”
The duo slid to the other side to the other ship.
Despite them doing this so many times, it felt like it was the first. The exhilarating feeling of being in open air, with nothing to support you but the flimsy cloth. When the ship came into view, Jimin quickly let go off his cloth and tumbled onto the deck.
He looked around for Yoongi and when he couldn’t spot him anywhere, Jimin dashed to the side of the ship.
“Jimin…” Yoongi groaned weakly.
Jimin looked down to see Yoongi gripping to the edge of the ship tightly. Beside Yoongi, was the rope that he was using to slide across.
They cut the rope?
Jimin quickly bent over the side of the ship and let out his hand.
“Hyung! Grab my hand!” Jimin said desperately.
“Jimin...I don’t think I can…” Yoongi whispered, his hand losing all its strength and his fingers started slipping away.
“NO HYUNG YOU CAN DO IT! JUST GRAB MY HAND!” Jimin screamed.
No he wasn’t going to let Yoongi die at the brink of their escape. Never in his lifetime was he going to allow it to happen.
Jimin quickly looked around for other ways to save Yoongi. He then noticed the rope.
Why didn’t I think of it?
Jimin tugged onto the rope to make sure that it was still hooked firmy. He then dragged the rope to where Yoongi was and dangled it in front of him.
“Hyung grab the rope!”
With his limited strength, Yoongi let go of one of his hand and held on to the rope. When he could manage, he reach for the rope with his other hand.
“Jimin, hurry, my palms are sweating...I may slip any moment now!” Yoongi gritted his teeth and held tighter to the rope.
Jimin pulled the rope with all his might and slowly, Yoongi toppled over the side and before he knew it, he was hugging Jimin with all his might.
The fights around them were just a dull sound resonating behind their mind.
Jimin breathed the calm sea scent of Yoongi and and sighed in happiness.
“Let’s get moving, shall we?” Yoongi said softly, and Jimin quickly nodded.
They stood up and spotted the Captain immediately.
The Captain was one-handedly fighting against three other pirates, but they could tell he was not going to hold till any longer.
“Jimin, you take the right, I’ll take the left. Go!”
They stealthily moved across the deck and appeared right beside the Captain’s flank respectively.
The blade that was going to hit the Captain’s right shoulder was immediately parried away by Jimin’s knife. Yoongi then took the blow with his dagger that was meant for the Captain’s leg.
They launched into a duel immediately and Jimin’s match ended with Jimin backing the pirate up to the edge and pushing him off the side. Jimin looked coldly as the pirate fell off the side of the ship, screaming and followed by a small splash.
Yoongi disarmed his opponent and the pirate ran away from fright after seeing the cold gaze of Yoongi that said ‘run or I’ll kill you’ .
The Captain’s opponent ran away even before he could do anything, so he just watched in awe how well Jimin and Yoongi were fighting.
“LADS GET BACK HERE!” Namjoon’s voice echoed. There was a sudden pause of movement and the pirates could be seen scurrying across the various parts of the deck back to the ropes.
Yoongi winked at Jimin and tripped some of the pirates for amusement.
Jimin giggled and quickly made his way back to Yoongi.
The battle finally ended.
-
“I have not seen both of you before. Are you the new crew members from the land we had just visited?” the Captain, who introduced himself as Jin, asked.
“Firstly, thank you Captain for being such a kind soul. Actually, Jimin here, and I, we are pirates. Wait! Please listen!” Yoongi stopped Jin who nearly brandished his sword at their throats.
“Jimin and I...we wanted to escape. In fact, we have already escaped. We just want to go home. Captain...please. We are willing to work for you as sailors and your fighters until we reach home. We promise. Being robbers is just not in our blood. So if you are willing to give us a chance, we can be very helpful around the ship. Jimin was the swordmaster and I was the navigator. We can help and benefit this ship. Please?” Yoongi nearly begged.
Jin, whose expression was hatred at first, turned to the one of sympathy.
“Well, I cannot promise that the crew would be happy with you joining, so I’ll may need you to start from the bottom, like all the other new sailors. Things would be run differently from now on, so take your time to adapt. I will also think of new schedules so that both of your abilities won’t go to waste. For now, you are dismissed. Welcome to the crew!”
Yoongi and Jimin breathed a sigh of relief and smiled thankfully at Jin.
“Thank you for giving us a chance, and we will not disappoint you!” both cheered simultaneously.
-
Their voyage finally ended a year later.
It was worth it, they would say.
Jimin and Yoongi made a lot of friends, and they were the crowd’s favourite when they wanted to see a duel just for entertainment purposes.
Whenever they encountered pirates, Jimin and Yoongi fought side by side everybody, but they usually led the defence first with strategies and dirty tricks they learnt from Namjoon.
When they finally reached home, their legs wobbled when they touched solid ground, having been used to the rocking sea.
Jimin first searched for his parents, and could not help but burst into tears when he saw them. It was a happy reunion, with his family and friends commenting on his new built and healthily-tanned skin.
Yoongi on the other hand, walked back solemnly back to his village. When he spotted his mother, he ran towards her and knelt in front of her, begging for forgiveness.
What Yoongi did not predict was that his mother had already forgiven him long time ago, and was just patiently waiting for his return to give him what she owed him.
When Jimin and Yoongi met again, their reunion was more than a happy one.
It involved a lot of kissing and hugging and a promise that would hold them together for the rest of their lives.