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not-majestic-bluenicorn · 4 years ago

Text

Crescent || Chapter 14

Fandom(s): ATEEZ

AU: Treasure Hunters

Genre: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Relationship: Everyone x Everyone, Established Hongjoong x Yunho

Language: English

Status: Ongoing

Chapter WC: 8,567 words

Warnings: Character Death, Stabbing, Fighting, Blood, Aliens, War, Funerals, Kidnapping, Attempted Kidnapping, Mentions of Child Abuse / Child Work, Explosions, Murder Attempt, Robbery, Homeless/Runaway Character, Torture, Mentions of Slavery more will be added.

Chapter Warnings: Mentions of slavery, Mentions of Child Abuse / Child Work.

Summary:

"Are you the Captain of that ship?" The person asked as they retained him, while someone else walked behind him and broke off the handcuffs.

"Yeah..." Hongjoong was still looking around, trying to spot all of his crew members. He managed to see Mingi, Jongho and Yeosang, but more people were still coming. "Who are you?"

"The Resistance, name's Bang Chan, and I'm the leader."

AO3

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Tagged: @angel0taiyo

Author’s Note: Crescent is a project I started a very long time ago, more than a year ago, even. I love this story, but I still haven't finished writing it despite the fact I've been at it for like half a year. I wrote most of the chapters I have so far even before I started posting, because I wanted to continue writing while I posted so that it would be finished without me ever catching up and so you readers would never have to go without chapters... But it's starting to feel like homework. I still love the story but I just, I can't bring myself to continue writing it right now. I'm frankly tired. I've written until chapter 24 but the story is going to be about 35 chapters, so I want to ask you a favor. In my twt there will be a poll, vote on it. The first option means I'm going to continue posting the chapters I have until we get to ch 24 and I have nothing to post and then it'll just stop. The second option means I won't post anything from this chapter onwards until I feel better and start writing again. No matter the option, I'm not going to be writing Crescent for the time being, or any other long fanfics for any kpop group, in the forseeable future, because I'm too tired. Here's the poll, you have 3 days from the moment it is posted to vote. Thank you, and I'm sorry.

After Hongjoong helped the officers determine who was part of his crew, and he had made certain that everyone was safe with him including Seonghwa, their ship was towed. According to the person in charge, they would be taken to a nearby planet part of the Kim Empire. They would be detained there along with the people that had accused them (the slave traders) and they would be interrogated to determine what had happened.

Hongjoong was extremely anxious, and he hated not being in control of the situation. He did his best to calm his crew down and relay the situation to them in the best of ways, convincing them that everything was fine and nothing bad would happen to them. In reality he didn't know if things would go so smoothly, and he too was afraid.

He was beginning to consider revealing his status as the prince of the Kim Empire when they began to enter the atmosphere of the planet and the shields were activated. He didn't want anyone to know, because it would put him and his soldiers in danger, but he just couldn't see another way out from it. Once they were finally inside of the planet, the ships stopped for a while and the people they had rescued were taken to another ship.

"What are you doing?" Hongjoong asked, because something didn't feel right. He forced himself to not look at Seonghwa.

"Well, you said they were rescued from a slave ship right?" The officer said. "We're going to take them for a proper check up and see if we can gather any information on their identities, since they don't have legal papers with them."

That made sense, but it still didn't feel right that they were being separated. They weren't a part of his crew, but Hongjoong had rescued them, and he felt like he was responsible for their well being until they had made it back to their planets and their families. There was no time to hesitate anymore, he needed to reveal his identity and make sure everyone was safe.

As he attempted to stand up with his hands cuffed behind his back, there was a loud explosion on the ship to their right and he was thrown to his side. Hongjoong incorporated quickly and looked around, trying to determine where the danger was coming from. The soldiers on his ship immediately pulled out their weapons and looked around, looking for the attacker.

There was another explosion in front of them and suddenly everything was covered in dust and smoke. There was coughing as The Crescent's crew members couldn't cover their faces, and then the noise came. Screaming and yelling and fighting as someone else boarded the ship. Hongjoong himself felt someone pull him up and over to the edge of the ship. He tried to fight it, but it was hard to move when he couldn't see or breathe properly.

"Stop struggling!" The person who was pulling him around whisper-yelled at him. "I'm trying to save you!"

"Who are you?!" Hongjoong yelled between coughing. His eyes stung and he couldn't open them properly.

"You'll know soon enough!" The person yelled, hugging Hongjoong close to them as they reached the side of the ship. "Hold on tight!"

And then they were falling, quickly. Hongjoong screamed, he was still handcuffed and he couldn't really hold onto anything, but the other person was grabbing him tightly. They landed on something and bounced up and down until they were finally let on the floor. Hongjoong was put on the floor and then he felt water pour on his face. Someone wiped it carefully until he was able to open his eyes, and finally he saw that they were on another ship, and that people were still jumping onto the net.

He looked up to see The Crescent and the two guard ships covered in a thick cloud of smoke and dust. As Hongjoong processed the situation, he began to panic and quickly looked around, trying to find his crew members and count them. Every person rescued was left at another part of the deck, where they would work on removing the handcuffs and cleaning their faces. Hongjoong made an attempt to run there, but the person that had rescued him stopped him.

"Hey, calm down friend!" The person said. "We need to get those cuffs off of you."

"I need to check on my crew!" Hongjoong complained, not caring that he was still handcuffed and not in a position to do much himself.

"Are you the Captain of that ship?" The person asked as they retained him, while someone else walked behind him and broke off the handcuffs.

"Yeah..." Hongjoong was still looking around, trying to spot all of his crew members. He managed to see Mingi, Jongho and Yeosang, but more people were still coming. "Who are you?"

"The Resistance, name's Bang Chan, and I'm the leader," Chan explained as the other person finished up the handcuffs and Hongjoong was able to move his arms again. "I'll tell you more when we get to land, go look for your crew."

Hongjoong didn't think twice and immediately left. He walked towards the little group while mentally counting heads and making sure everyone was there, trying not to panic because he still hadn't found Yunho. Eventually he found San, Hwanwoong and Siyeon. Seonghwa was also there, and so where all his soldiers. The few people missing came one after another from above, and then, at last, Hongjoong saw Yunho jump with someone else and land safely on deck.

"That's everyone boss!" A man shouted from the wheel.

"Let's get going Jeongin!" Chan shouted back to him.

The ship quickly changed directions and flew at top speed away from the scene. Hongjoong waited patiently until Yunho's handcuffs had been removed before hugging him, watching behind him as they left The Crescent behind. It hurt to see it become smaller as they ran away from the guard, since that ship had become like his home. But at least he and his crew were safe.

The realization came when they were already far away, that the people they had rescued from the slave ship were nowhere to be found. Hongjoong excused himself with Yunho and went looking for Chan. He found him next to the wheel, directing a younger looking boy as he piloted it. He was quick to join them, even though he thought it would probably be disrespectful, but he needed to know what had happened.

"Were this all the people you could save?" Hongjoong asked, looking rather urgent.

"You were the only ones on board according to our intel," Chan explained, confused.

"No, that can't be right... I'm aware that the guards were moving the people we rescued to one of their ships, but you must have seen them..." Hongjoong insisted.

"The people you rescued?" Chan raised an eyebrow. "I'm not understanding, weren't you arrested for attacking a merchant ship?"

"Yes, but we attacked a ship because they were slave traders," Hongjoong explained. "We were taking the victims to another planet to get them home."

Chan and Jeongin looked at each other before Chan nodded and Jeongin went off somewhere. Hongjoong was desperate. They were basically being kidnapped but he had still left people that he considered his responsibility back there, in a planet that they didn't know. And he still had a really bad feeling about everything that was going on.

"When we were listening to their conversation we didn't hear anything about slave traders," Chan explained. He looked more tense than before, like the news had hit him. "They probably changed their code again and we just didn't realize, it takes time to decipher them."

"Why are you attacking empire ships anyway?" Hongjoong asked. He was too stressed about the situation that he couldn't afford to be kind.

"I told you, I'm the leader of The Resistance, that's what we do," Chan shrugged, immune to Hongjoong's angry tone.

"But why?" Hongjoong insisted, tired of playing this game of asking questions.

"I'll explain everything when we arrive, for now, hold on tight." Chan warned him as he pressed a button.

The ship entered warp speed and they accelerated for what felt like an eternity. Finally, they arrived at some mountains, and Chan anchored the ship with practiced movements. Not far away from where they had anchored, there was an entrance into the mountains, a secret hideout, Hongjoong realized. Chan and his people led all of Hongjoong's crew into the labyrinth inside the mountain and provided them with food and blankets once they had made it to the main chamber.

Hongjoong didn't rest until he saw that all of his crew was safe inside the caves. He counted them multiple times and made sure everyone had what they needed, unable to sit still even when Chan insisted that he needed to rest. He only agreed to sit down when Mingi grabbed his arm and looked at him with worried and scared eyes, and he ended up squeezed between Yunho and Mingi.

"Okay, we owe you an explanation since that was basically a kidnapping," Chan said, sitting on top of a rock to make sure his voice could reach everyone else. "My name is Bang Chan, like I told your Captain, and I am the leader of The Interplanetary Resistance here in Silmerion.

"Our resistance wants to destroy the Kim Empire after all the crimes they have committed against their people, one of those such things is the arrest you just went through," Chan explained. "We just learned this from you, but apparently the ship you attacked was for slave trading. Well, The Sailfish is actually owned by the Kim Empire itself. It's one of the ships they use for trading of illegal substances."

Hongjoong exchanged looks with Hwanwoong, who was as tense as him. They were both members of the royal family, and this meant they were in a dangerous situation. However, they were also vastly outnumbered, so they needed to act carefully to avoid attracting attention to themselves. Their soldiers seemed to understand this, because they didn't react and maintained a low profile.

Behind Hongjoong, San had his eyes trained on him and was tapping his fingers nervously against the floor. Just when he had decided he no longer wanted to kill Hongjoong, it seemed like the Universe was throwing even more challenges at him than before. He spared a glance at Yunho and knew that the soldier felt the same as him, tense with the need to protect Hongjoong from danger. San was truly done for.

"At first we thought you were resistance members from another planet, and that you were attacking the ship as part of the protests," Chan continued explaining. "But it soon became clear that was not it when your Captain told me about the slaves. Unfortunately, because we didn't prepare for it, we couldn't rescue them."

"You mean to tell me that the Empire is behind slave trading and transport of illegal substances?" One of the soldiers asked, and Hongjoong had to contain himself to not tell her to keep it down.

"Not only that. They also don't take proper care of some planets, leaving them without money or taking it from them to finance their wars and expansion, one would think some of those planets are more like colonies than rightful states of the Empire."

"Like Merth X-24?" Mingi asked.

Hongjoong turned to look at him in surprise. Mingi was never one to talk in big meetings, or even talk about himself, but this time he looked hurt and like he wanted to speak and let things out. Next to him, Jongho squeezed his hand softly and nodded slowly. Chan was also looking at him with all of his attention, motioning him to speak, to share his story.

"Merth X-24 is a mining planet, we supply a lot of the metals the Empire uses to craft their special weapons and military ships," Mingi explains, face turning red at the attention placed on him. "However we don't get much from it... My community lives in a system of underground caves because the planet is very hot and arid outside.

"A lot of people die in the caves every week, and we have a lot of orphans and elderly people that the community has to take care of, I'm one of them," it didn't hurt Mingi to speak much about the death of his parents. He didn't remember them at all and had grown being taken care of by the community like almost everyone else. "There's no compensation and we don't receive proper education either. I left the planet to find a better job and send money back to the orphanage."

"Thanks for sharing with us," Chan sighed. "Like yours, there's a lot of planets under the Kim Empire left to their own luck even when they provide to it."

Everyone in the crew was dead silent. Hongjoong's eyes were alight with fury, unable to believe what he had just heard from Mingi himself. His own crew, that was now like his family, had suffered in the hands of his father. He had seen it in Yeosang before, and had even heard Jongho's story, but now he knew Mingi and Seonghwa had been victims of it too, and who knew who else in his crew had suffered from it.

Had Yunho's ship also been a slave ship from his own Empire that had happened to be discovered and that they decided to 'rescue' as a cover up? How had Hongjoong been so blind to all of this for so long? He had been so focused always in battling, in not being the shadow of his brothers by making himself a name as a fighter that he had failed all of his people. He was no better than whoever was behind this.

He felt so guilty and so ashamed that coming clean seemed like the best option. His shoulders and back were tense as he tried to come to a decision, and Yunho seemed to sense this, because he grabbed Hongjoong's hand tightly. Hongjoong looked at him and Yunho shook his head almost imperceptibly, telling him not to do it. Hongjoong wanted desperately to come clean though.

"Well, in any case, I think you need to rest," Chan finally said, after a long moment of silence. "Rest here, we'll make sure the empire's guard doesn't come looking for you, and tomorrow we can help you decide what you'll do from here."

Hongjoong couldn't hold it back and he stood up rather abruptly, accidentally pushing Mingi who was sitting next to him. Yunho immediately stood up as well and grabbed Hongjoong's arm, pulling him back. Chan looked at them with interest, a little confused at their change in attitudes. San tensed up behind them and he noticed how every soldier did as well, ready to jump and defend their prince if he decided to act up.

"I-" Hongjoong began to say, but Yunho didn't let him finish.

"I'm sorry, our Captain doesn't feel well after hearing about this," Yunho said, holding Hongjoong's arm tightly. "He's rather sensitive, I'll take him away until he calms down."

Yunho didn't wait for anyone's approval, he just pulled Hongjoong away by the arm, and Hongjoong followed him. San used the opportunity, and while everyone was looking at the pair that had just left, he crawled out of his place and followed them in silence once things had calmed down. Yunho and Hongjoong walked into a deeper part of the cave. It was dark around them, which made it hard to see, but San managed to follow them perfectly.

"Stop pulling on me," Hongjoong complained, tearing his arm away. "We're far enough."

"What were you thinking?" Yunho asked, keeping his voice low to stop the echo of the caves propagating their conversation.

"You heard what they said about the Empire, horrible things have been happening behind my family's back and it must be stopped!" Hongjoong kept his voice to a whisper as well, as much as he wanted to scream.

San was hunched behind a rock formation, ears trained into their conversation. He could see almost perfectly in the darkness, and could hear them quite clearly as well, such was the blessing he had been made with. Soldiers from Lyria 38 were genetically engineered to be better. That was why they were so lethal, and so sought after to complete dirty jobs. They were expensive as well, although San had no idea just what price his boss had put for his services.

"But you revealing your identity will not stop anything!" Yunho grabbed him by the shoulders. "It'll just get you killed, you heard what they said, they want to overthrow the government."

"Is it so bad that I want to just apologize to them?" Hongjoong asked, sounding like he was about to cry. "I was ignorant too, I never cared for anything but war, and look what the ignorance of my family has done to them."

"It's not bad, but you won't get anything done if you're dead..." Yunho sighed, pulling Hongjoong into a tight hug.

"It's my fault, that they had to live like that..." Hongjoong muttered. "Yeosang stealing from the streets to get out of his dying planet, Jongho being put into child labor, Mingi losing his parents, Seonghwa and you being victims of human trafficking."

"Hey you don't know that, you don't know if my ship was also from the Empire," Yunho was quick to say, clearly trying to offer him an anchor, to make it a little less worse.

"I don't, but what if it was?" Hongjoong stepped away for a moment. "I feel so ashamed, so regretful... The Emperor and the royal family are always so focused on the war aspect that they leave a great deal to the advisors. We turned a blind eye to things that were more important than war and look at all the pain and suffering it's brought."

San took deep breaths as he tried to keep himself from leaving his hiding. It didn't surprise him anymore that it hurt to see Hongjoong like that, so desperate and angry with himself. He felt bad for Yunho too, who looked lost as his boyfriend was inconsolable, and wanted to step out to help them both. The thing was, San had never helped anyone before, he just knew of death and torture. And even if he had known what to do in such a situation, it wasn't his place.

Despite what Wooyoung had said about eight of them being together, San just couldn't see it. He didn't belong anywhere. He was barely human, a tool created for the work that no one else wanted to do, and despite the fact that he had come to care for the others, it wasn't right for him to be with them. It wasn't right to want to belong. And yet, he had begun to crave it, to yearn for it.

"Hongjoong, look," Yunho said after a moment of silence, as he had tried to find the right words to say. "I cannot erase the burden from you, but we can still solve this. Remember what you said when we were at Tebos, after you learned about its status?"

"That I would go back to my family and make things right," Hongjoong nodded, remembering the promise he had maid to himself.

"We can still do that," Yunho said. "The situation is worse than we thought, but we're looking for the biggest treasure in the universe, right? We can take that treasure back home and convince your family to change things. Use the money for the greater good."

"We don't have a ship anymore, though," Hongjoong sighed, unable to see a way out. "And even if we did, we just lost the map."

"No we didn't," Yunho grinned, pulling out the little box that contained all of their progress out of his coat. "I grabbed it when the empire's ships began the commotion. I now realize they would have taken it away after arresting us, but we were lucky Chan and his people arrived right then."

"You..." Hongjoong grabbed the box carefully, eyes wide in surprise.

"I wasn't going to let all the progress go to waste, after all Yeosang and San have worked hard on it," Yunho smiled.

San crouched back down when he heard his name, heart beating fast thinking he had been discovered. Of course he hadn't, but Yunho had already proved to have a sharper eye than most. San was actually certain that Yunho had seen right through him all this time, from the moment he had stepped onto the ship, maybe the only thing that had kept him alive was that he had never confirmed San's original intentions.

"Besides," Yunho continued. "I know it's important what you're doing for your brother."

"This stopped being about my brother some time ago, let's be honest." Hongjoong smiled sadly, softly patting the pocket where he kept the compass. "I loved him so much, he was my role model, but I now realize he might have not been better than me. I have an opportunity to change things now, he would like this better."

"That I'm certain he would," Yunho nodded.

"Alright," Hongjoong said with a sense of finality. "It's decided, we have to get that treasure and save this Empire before it is too late."

"That's what I'm talking about," Yunho smiled and leaned down to press a soft kiss to Hongjoong's lips.

"Let's go back, I need to ask San and Yeosang to help me finish with the map, we were so close to being done before we were detained," Hongjoong smiled with renewed energy.

San knew he must return now, as they would probably find it weird if he wasn't there with Yeosang to help with the map. His heart was beating fast, thinking about the possibilities. Someone out there was trying to kill Hongjoong and he was the only one who knew, yet he didn’t know enough to be able to protect him. He must figure it out and help Hongjoong.

"You know, Hongjoong looked really affected about what Chan said..." Yeosang muttered.

Him, Mingi, Jongho and Seonghwa were sitting apart from the rest in a little group. Yeosang hadn't wanted Seonghwa to join them, but Mingi had insisted on not leaving him alone and Yeosang had been too weak to deny it to him. Jongho nodded in agreement before looking at Mingi and patting his leg. Mingi was looking down, probably from everything he had shared about himself.

San arrived at that moment and the others greeted him briefly, asking him where he had been. He gave a brief excuse about just wanting some time for himself and they left it at that. San was grateful that they didn't ask for more, because he didn't feel like making more excuses, like lying even more.

"I'm sorry about your parents," Jongho said after a moment of silence, because he truly was.

"It's okay, honestly I didn't get to know them," Mingi shrugged. "I'm more worried about all the kids I left behind, my little siblings."

"What were they like?" Yeosang asked, resting his head on his knees.

"There were a lot of them, and most were very playful," Mingi smiled. "They liked bedtime stories, especially the story about how I lost my leg." He chuckled softly at the surprised faces of the others

"They made you tell them a story about how you lost your leg?" Seonghwa asked, confused and slightly disgruntled about the confession.

"Honestly, it's not as bad as it seems," Mingi shrugged. "To them, it makes me a hero, they never made me feel self conscious about it. I'll tell you about it if you want to know, I think I don't mind with you."

They nodded. Mingi seemed more open to share about his past now that he had talked in front of everyone in the ship and the resistance, now that he didn't have to keep things for himself. And they wanted to know more about him, to hear what he had wanted to say. It wasn't easy for Mingi to speak, it had never been, but now he felt listened to.

"We were never given better equipment to deal with the mines, despite the fact that we know the empire has the technology for it, but we always remained unsafe..." Mingi explained, giving them a little background. "That day when we were at the mine, it collapsed.

"I made it out at first, but I could hear screaming from the inside, it was a friend of mine..." Mingi shrugged, not really knowing how to put it into words. "Being trapped down there is terrifying, we live underground but we know where our exits are, when a mine caves in.. the darkness is indescribable.

"I went back in for her and managed to get her out, but the mine was still collapsing and I didn't move fast enough, a piece of rock fell on me and trapped my leg," Mingi touched his wooden leg. "It could've been worse."

"That sounds very painful," Seonghwa muttered, glancing at the wooden leg.

"It was, but I don't remember it that well," Mingi smiled. "I honestly don't miss my leg, and I was just one more victim of a mine collapsing, not a big deal."

"You're very brave to say that," Jongho said, "I think I would've been scared if I had lost an arm while working as a child."

"As a child?" Yeosang asked, a little confused.

"Yeah, I've been working in ship building since I was a child." Jongho explained. "I've been an orphan since young, and I'm honestly not sure how I got to the orphanage in the first place, but a lot of us were adopted into child labor. I know of others who were sold by their parents."

Mingi leaned on Jongho's shoulder, the only way he knew of offering comfort. Jongho's voice didn't express what he actually felt about how he had grown up, and was almost indifferent. Mingi still offered comfort, because he didn't know what else to do and he knew Jongho would never ask them for any kind of support.

"It wasn't that bad, I like to think I grew up well..." Jongho tried to shrug it off, to not let the others know of the abuse he had gone through with his voice. "Plus I learned and became an expert in ships from there, and that's what got me into The Crescent, it's not all too bad."

"What do people have with being cruel to children?" San scoffed, Jongho's story having hit close to home. "They always make a show of protecting children but then turn a blind eye..."

"Do you want to share?" Yeosang asked carefully, noticing that San was tense and probably angry.

They had all put on a show of being scared of San at first, but for what it mattered, they had never actually seen him angry at anything. Not even when Yeosang had sneaked into the ship. San shook his head. He couldn't reveal to them where he came from or what he was to begin with, but he also didn't care to go digging around his feelings. There were more important things to do.

"Alright," Yeosang nodded, dropping it once he saw San was not in a good mood.

"Was it hard for you to live on the streets?" Mingi asked Yeosang, still leaning on Jongho's shoulder.

"A little," Yeosang shrugged. "To be honest I began spending a lot of time out when my father left us, the biggest change was just not having a roof to sleep under."

"Why did you put yourself through that?" Seonghwa asked, a little wary about even talking to Yeosang, but genuinely curious.

"My mom's abuse," Yeosang replied, although his tone gave away that he didn't like Seonghwa prying, even if he hadn't been the first to ask about it. "It became too much, she got angry every time she saw me. I decided to just leave on the streets until I could get enough money and get myself a ticket out of Tebos."

They all nodded. Mingi could remember the state of Yeosang's house when they had gone back for his stuff before taking off. The house wasn't in too bad of a shape, but it was easy to tell that it had fallen into abandonment as no one took care of it. It didn't look like it was completely devoid of life, but it looked like whoever lived there had long stopped caring. It had been a sad view, especially to him who was always used to being around a lot of people.

"What about you?" Yeosang asked Seonghwa next. "How did you end up in The Sailfish?"

"I was running away from home as well," Seonghwa shrugged. "It's none of your business though."

"Come on, you made me say it," Yeosang scoffed. "Why were you running away?"

"I made you share nothing, I asked a question and you chose to reply," Seonghwa frowned, not liking his insistence. "I'm choosing not to reply to your question."

"Come on, the rest of us shared our stories, don't be like that," Yeosang insisted, raising his voice a little.

"Yeosang..." Jongho warned him, but he didn't listen.

"Just tell us," Yeosang said again.

"Why are you forcing me and not him?" Seonghwa asked, clearly annoyed as he pointed at San.

"Because I don't trust you," Yeosang answered truthfully. "Everyone else that was rescued was content with the idea of going back home, why did you decide to stay? It's suspicious and I don't trust you."

"Fine, want to know why I don't want to go back?" Seonghwa raised his eyebrow, gesturing openly. "Imagine being called stupid and useless by your family your whole life, being denied things and overprotected as if you're unable to take care of yourself just because your brain is a little fucked up and I can’t read. I can do everything perfectly, I don't need anyone." Seonghwa crossed his arms, defensive. "I was tired of my brother making my life impossible every day, and despite everything that happened in that ship, I don't want to go back. Why don't you go back to the abuse of your mother, huh?"

Everyone was left speechless by Seonghwa's outburst. Seonghwa took a deep breath before closing his eyes and massaging his temples. He felt embarrassed about his secret being exposed like that. He knew he was not what his brother had said to his face or what his father had whispered behind his back; he was smart and could memorize long texts after someone read them to him. He was good with numbers too. But he couldn't help but see his own shortcomings.

"I'm sorry," Yeosang said, to the surprise of everyone else. "I acted like an asshole, and I'm sorry."

Mingi sat up straight again and scooted closer towards Seonghwa, grabbing his hand tightly and smiling at him. Jongho smiled, because he knew what Mingi was thinking, and also because everyone else's confusion amused him. Especially Seonghwa, who was staring at Mingi's hand probably wondering what was going on.

"I can't read either!" Mingi exclaimed, and Yeosang and San both looked at him in surprise. "I never learned how to, and although I'm sure our situations are very different, I think we're both good enough as we are."

Seonghwa looked up at him and smiled back, softly squeezing Mingi's hand. It was comforting, despite the fact that their situations were different like how Mingi had said. But he was right, it was enough just like that. Seonghwa knew he was much more than his inability to read, and he would show his parents that much.

"It's okay Yeosang," Seonghwa said finally, looking at the other. "You were indeed an asshole, but I understand why you wouldn't trust me, so it's fine. Let's try to put it behind us."

"It doesn't help if you call me an asshole just like that," Yeosang retorted, eyes narrowed down on Mingi's hand still holding Seonghwa's.

"Stop it, both of you, Captain Hongjoong is coming this way," Jongho muttered quickly, swatting at both of them.

San looked up at Hongjoong and Yunho as they walked towards them. They had taken their time to look for them as they had said previously and he worried that he might have missed something important. The situation was delicate for everyone, but San was a few steps ahead from everyone and he feared he would mess up. He had never been worried about failing before, but now there were lives he cared about at stake, and he felt fear.

"Yeosang, San," Hongjoong said. His tone was optimistic, and San wondered if it was a facade or if he truly felt hopeful again. "Yunho was really smart and brought the map with him, I need you to help me finish it."

Yeosang immediately shot up from his place, face relieved as his and San's work was still safe. San was quick to pretend to be surprised as well, although not to the extent of Yeosang, but he couldn't let the others notice that he already knew about the map. He stood up as well and let Yeosang pull him away to work on the map with Hongjoong, leaving the others behind.

Everyone watched them leave before Jongho suddenly stood up and motioned Mingi to do the same as well. Mingi followed, carefully letting go of Seonghwa's hand and letting Jongho take him away after excusing both of them, leaving Yunho and Seonghwa alone. Yunho sat in front of him with a smile and Seonghwa looked sheepishly at him, a little disoriented and vulnerable.

"You alright?" Yunho asked, leaning back. "Rough first day as a crew member."

"Don't mention it," Seonghwa sighed.

"Don't worry too much, we'll make it through this one," Yunho smiled. "Hongjoong always finds a way out, even if he sometimes needs a little push from me."

"You don't address him as the Captain?" Seonghwa asked, a little confused.

"Oh man, you still have so much to learn about this crew," Yunho chuckled. "But don't worry, if everything goes well, you'll get used to it in no time."

"Why did you take us away?" Mingi asked once Jongho had deemed they were far away enough and stopped walking.

"I'm going to say something to you, but you don't have to give me an answer right now," Jongho explained, rubbing his hands together.

"Okay?" Mingi didn't really understand what was going on, but if Jongho had something to say to him, he would listen.

"I'm starting to like you, as more than a friend," Jongho began, keeping it simple and direct. "You really don't have to tell me anything right now, I just wanted to get it out of my chest, I guess."

"But I-I..." Mingi stuttered.

He felt confused. What was there to like about him? He didn't have an important role in the ship and he was lacking in many ways. He was often afraid of everything and wasn't particularly smart or capable, there was nothing good about him that Jongho could like. Why was he confessing something like that at the moment?

"I don't get it," Mingi said. "There's nothing of me for you to like."

"Of course there is!" Jongho immediately interrupted him, not willing to let Mingi put himself down like that. Especially in front of him. "There's so much of you for me to like. You're so kind Mingi, so kind and so caring that you're willing to put yourself at risk for others."

"I'm not, I'm a coward..." Mingi shook his head, in denial.

"That is not true, you spoke up for Yeosang back when they were thinking of handing him over," Jongho grabbed both of his hands. "Even when you had to speak against the Captain and against the First Mate, you didn't hesitate."

"But-"

"And just now when you revealed your secret to the others in favor of comforting Seonghwa, that is not an easy thing to do." Jongho insisted, reminding him of the things he had done. "You also talked to Hongjoong about the dream you had, which helped save Seonghwa and others' lives in the end."

"But I had to ask for your help to do that..." Mingi retorted, feeling small.

"Yeah, and asking for help is also brave," Jongho smiled. "We can't do everything by ourselves, and admitting that in the first place is a huge thing. You asked for my help, but I did nothing except be by your side.You did it all by yourself."

Mingi looked at him with wide eyes. Jongho was earnest and honest, he just couldn't see any trace of lies in his words, and it made him overwhelmed in many ways. Mingi knew he wasn't necessarily bad. He was good at his job as a miner and that had always been enough, but it was the first time he had been described like this by someone. It made him feel more special than when the kids he took care of called him a hero.

"I really don't need you to reply to me right now, we're not in the best of situations," Jongho continued after a moment. "Plus, I know your heart is kind of divided right now." He smiled, making Mingi blush for being put in the spotlight like that. "I hope you know I don't mind if you like others, or if you don't like me. I just wanted to let you know you're special."

"I-" Mingi was speechless. He had never received a love confession before, how was he even supposed to reply to this? "I don't know what to say."

"I don't expect you to say anything, don't worry." Jongho smiled, letting go of his hands. "Let's go back now."

Yeosang left to find Chan and ask him for a place where they could work, leaving San and Hongjoong alone. They were away from everyone else from the crew and the resistance, just sort of waiting at an empty space, hidden from the eyes of others. San knew this would be the perfect time to complete his mission. He could kill Hongjoong and just run away, and by the time the others realized what had happened, he would have made himself disappear.

He tried to envision himself doing it. This was the golden chance he had been waiting for since the beginning of his mission, so he tried to imagine himself ending Hongjoong's life. It was not a surprise that he couldn't picture it. Hongjoong trusted him and even gave his back to San, but San couldn't reach for the knife in his pocket and slice his throat. He hadn't been able to for a while.

Hesitation felt foreign to him. He had never doubted when performing in missions before, which had made him a prized weapon, expensive and sought after. And yet here he was, with the only person that had managed to disarm him. Although to be fair, he was certain he wouldn't be able to kill any of the others Wooyoung had mentioned if he was asked to.

Was that the reason? Had Wooyoung's revelation been the reason he had failed to kill Hongjoong? It sounded possible, but San knew that wasn't it, because he had begun to hesitate even before that dream. What that dream had done to him though, was make him nervous. Someone had seen through him and now it felt like just about anyone could do it, like he was exposed and vulnerable and therefore in danger. Of course, Wooyoung had an advantage because he could simply walk into people's dreams, but it was still messing with him.

"Are you okay?" Hongjoong asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

At some point he had turned around to look at San, maybe had asked him something even, but San had heard or noticed none of it. He wondered what face he was making for Hongjoong to look so worried. His heart shrunk painfully in his chest as he mentally asked Hongjoong to not look at him like that, because he couldn't take his kindness any longer. San was absolutely, royally fucked.

"Nothing is wrong, I'm just tired after all that went on just now," San lied. At least he could still do that properly.

"Do you want to go rest?" Hongjoong still looked worried though, maybe even more than before. "Yeosang and I can start on the work and you can join us later when you feel more rested."

"No, it's fine." San shook his head quickly. "The map is more important, we can all rest later when we're done with it."

"Nothing is more important than your well being." Hongjoong was quick to say.

San felt his heart break a little more inside his chest. Please don't do this, he thought, because it hurt when Hongjoong was nice to him, and San wasn't used to emotional pain. He could withstand all sorts of injuries to his body, but he had long forgotten what it felt like to truly hurt inside, and he didn't want to remember.

"Go rest, before I make you myself, and you can join us later." Hongjoong insisted with a smile, pushing San softly back towards where the rest of the crew was.

He obeyed, because he didn't think he could actually keep a facade up much longer when he was hurting so much inside. His training and the way he had been raised had broken his spirit long ago, but being part of The Crescent's crew was putting it back together, and the process hurt far much more than the breaking had. They made him feel human, and accepted, and he didn't know if he liked that.

Jongho was sat on the floor, thinking about the conversation he had held with Mingi, when a ragged doll fell on his lap. He looked up, finding the sharp eyes of a young man around his age standing in front of him, smiling at him. Jongho looked down and grabbed the doll. It was a very worn out dog, missing an ear and a beady eye, and it's previously white fur had become gray with age. It was incredibly ugly, but Jongho's chest swelled with recognition at it. He stood up quickly, grabbing Sunwoo by the shoulders and looking at him in the eyes. Sunwoo's smile grew bigger before he was pulling Jongho into an embrace. He was alive, they both were, despite what had seemed to be a huge improbability.

"You fulfilled your promise," Sunwoo whispered next to him, and Jongho held him even tighter.

"You're okay," Jongho said in return. "How are you here?"

"The Resistance rescued me, many years ago, from the orphanage," Sunwoo explained, shrugging a little bit after they put distance between them. "I tried looking for you to take you with me, but there was not enough time and I didn't know where to even start looking... I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Jongho reassured him. "I am where I'm meant to be now, with my crew." He looked down at the plushie again, and smiled. "You kept it."

"It was our promise," Sunwoo nodded. "So... How did you end here?"

"It's a long story..."

Hongjoong was admiring the vastness of space when he felt a tap on his shoulder and the scene broke apart. He turned around, confused, but realization dawned on him when he saw Wooyoung standing in front of him. The other looked tired and antsy, like he hadn't been able to rest well despite the fact that he spent most of his time sleeping. For all that Hongjoong was mad at Wooyoung for never coming back to tell him the truth, he couldn't help but worry.

"Are you okay?" Wooyoung asked, his voice full of worry. Hongjoong felt bad, because he was the one that should have asked when Wooyoung looked like that.

"We're fine," Hongjoong assured him quickly. "You look terrible, though, are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." Wooyoung sighed, rubbing his face. "I think it's because I've been messing with my sleep schedule in order to meet with all of you more."

"You should stop doing that," Hongjoong sighed. What was it with people around him not taking care of themselves?

"I can't, our meeting will be soon and I have keep an eye on many details..." Wooyoung looked at Hongjoong for a moment before sighing. "I guess an explanation is due, but first tell me if everyone in the crew is safe, yes?"

"We're all okay, I promise, even Seonghwa." Hongjoong reassured him again. "It wasn't a pleasant experience, and we don't have a ship any more, but it could've been worse if you hadn't warned me about it."

"I'm sorry, I should've been quicker, but you'll get the ship back, don't worry," Wooyoung sighed.

"How do you know that?" Hongjoong muttered, still a little uncomfortable with the fact that Wooyoung just seemed to know so much.

Without replying, Wooyoung moved his hands and the emptiness turned into a small bedroom. The Somnum went to sit on the bed, rubbing his temples and looking even more pale than he had before. Hongjoong knew this was taking a toll on him, but he also wanted answers, and Wooyoung was finally willing to give them to him.

Hongjoong sat down on the bed next to him, hesitantly putting a hand on Wooyoung's back and rubbing it comfortingly. Wooyoung smiled weekly at him before stretching and bringing his hands together in front of his mouth, like he was considering something. He probably didn't know where to begin, and Hongjoong couldn't blame him.

"You might have figured this out by now, or not, but I'm a Somnum." Wooyoung said first, because he figured that was the best way to begin. "We have prophetic dreams at some point in our lives that reveal to us what our destiny is, and you were in my dream."

"That is..." Hongjoong didn't know how to describe it. He didn't know exactly how he felt about being in someone else's dream, not that Wooyoung could control that, it was just that Wooyoung semed to know so much about him but Hongjoong didn't know about him.

"This is a replica of my room, where I first had my dream about the seven of you." Wooyoung gestured openly, and Hongjoong looked around.

"Right, you said they're all in my ship right now, that you're the only one that's missing." Hongjoong nodded, remembering the short discussion they had had before Wooyoung warned him about the raid. "Who are the others?"

"Well, you'll be glad to know your boyfriend is part of this," Wooyoung smiled at Hongjoong's surprised face. Yunho had never mentioned any weird dreams to him. "I haven't visited him yet 'cause he scares me, but he's part of it. You already know about Yeosang and Mingi as well, because you helped save one and the other told you about the slave ship."

"I assume Seonghwa is also part of this, since you asked me to protect him," Hongjoong began to draw conclusions. "But that only makes six of us, who are the other two?"

"That would be San and Jongho." Wooyoung nodded, satisfied that Hongjoong was easily catching up. "I haven't visited Jongho's dreams though, haven't gotten a chance with how quickly everything has happened."

"But you've visited San?" Hongjoong asked, a little curious to know how the other was doing, since San hadn't seem to be doing well lately, and he couldn't figure out why.

"Yes, he didn't take very kindly to it..." Wooyoung sighed. "I'm sure he'll get over it soon though."

Wooyoung fell back on his bed and closed his eyes, rubbing his eyelids softly. He felt so tired. He had been getting a lot more visions lately, as the most important point in their mission approached, and he hadn't gotten proper rest in a long time. He now knew who was behind Hongjoong's assassination plans, but he couldn't just reveal something like that. Telling the wrong information to Hongjoong would probably ruin everything.

"So, why are the eight of us important?" Hongjoong shifted slightly so he could look straight at Wooyoung.

"We'll influence what is to become a very important historical event..." Wooyoung muttered, but his voice faltered.

"I suppose you can't tell me yet, right?" Hongjoong sighed. Even if he was beginning to understand how this situation worked, it didn't lessen his curiosity, his want for knowledge.

"Not yet, or it could ruin everything." Wooyoung looked at him apologetically, but Hongjoong dismissed it with a smile. "Just keep an eye on them, okay? Keep them close."

"I will, don't worry." Hongjoong nodded, already compromised.

He didn't know why he trusted Wooyoung so much to begin with. They had met only three times, taking this one into account, but Wooyoung had shown that he had only the best in mind for them. Plus, Hongjoong felt so lost now that they were without a ship. He no longer felt the power he had felt before, instead, he felt like he was disappointing his older brother. He wasn't a Captain anymore, but he couldn't be a prince either, so who was he?

"You know Hongjoong," Wooyoung sat up and grabbed his hands. "For the amazing leader you are, you doubt yourself too much." The compass that Taejoong had given him materialized on Hongjoong's hands, and he gasped a little.

"Can you hear my thoughts?" Hongjoong asked, a little confused and surprised.

"A little, your thinking is very loud." Wooyoung smiled. "Have a little more trust on yourself, we will need your guidance." Absentmindedly, he brushed a strand of hair away from Hongjoong's face, the other hand still holding Hongjoong's.

Wooyoung knew so much about them through his dreams, and he had slowly begun to fall for all of them. It became confusing to visit them in dreams, to keep in mind the true status of their relationship. He couldn't help but forget sometimes, the lines of reality and dream becoming a bit blurry. Hongjoong didn't seem to mind though, as he stared at Wooyoung's face, his heart beating a little faster.

"Don't forget you're more than just your title," Wooyoung said with a smile, putting both of his hands down on his lap. Hongjoong nodded, still at a loss for words. "I don't mind if you tell Yunho about this dream by the way, I'm planning to meet all of you soon and finally explain some things." Wooyoung stood up from his bed and stretched.

"Are you leaving now?" Hongjoong asked, standing up in a hurry.

"Yeah, I'm really tired," Wooyoung smiled. "I'll be back soon though, take care."

And so, Wooyoung was gone. Hongjoong stared down at the compass in his hands and remembered the words of his brother. The situation had become bigger than he could have ever imagined, and he felt sorry and lost, but Wooyoung was right, Hongjoong was more than just a prince or the captain of the ship. He didn't know what the future had in store for him and the others, but he knew he would overcome it no matter what.

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