"Stop."

The voice that just spoke in Japanese was calm but authoritative. 

Hoseok's loud laughter died down, as did the snickers of the other pirates.

Taehyung katana's blade stopped inches from Yoongi's throat and Yoongi sword's blade stopped inches from Taehyung's stomach.

Jimin's fist stopped just short of roughly hitting Seokjin's bruised and bloody face.

The Japanese seemed to be the language under whose authority everyone was gathering. At least that was the case in the mouth of the man who had just spoken.

Tied to the mast, Seokjin was unable to see him, as his voice came from the upper deck behind him and who visibly inspired respect in everyone. 

"Taehyung, lower your blade," the man ordered.

Taehyung immediately lowered his katana and sheathed it, bowing his head in submission before him. Previously he looked like a man as free as the wind but in the presence of his captain, he seemed to be a servant and the other seemed to be his master. Strange for a pirate, Seokjin thought again, for whom the samurai definitely seemed far from the image he had of wakos.  

For his part, Yoongi was still threatening Taehyung with his sword but Teahyung suddenly didn't seem to care. It was as if the order he received was more important than his life. 

"You too, Yoongi," the captain said, in a voice as calm as ever which contrasted with the feeling of authority and danger that it inspired.

Yoongi took more time before deciding to move his sword away from Taehyung, as if it were difficult for him to obey, but seeing that his opponent had completely lost interest in him, he judged that continuing was of little interest and he sheathed his sword in its sheath decorated with golden dragons.

"As for you Jimin..."

"He ruined the food!" Jimin exclaimed before being ordered to do anything. "Captain, you have always agreed with me that it is a crime on this ship!"

Seokjin groaned when he realized that this was what had made him angry and pushed him to beat him to death. He almost died for a piece of chicken?!

"There are other ways you could have taught him this lesson , don't you think Jimin?"

Jimin was about to retort but he froze and lowered his head without his captain saying anything. Seokjin would have given anything to see the face of the man behind him to know what expression could inspire such submissive behavior on the part of men as temperamental as those present on this ship. 

He also wondered if he himself would be affected by such a person. The voice of the man he could not see already had the effect of a sharp knife that was content to caress his skin when he could cut it completely at any moment.

"It's true," Jimin finally conceded, seeming to regret his outburst. "I shouldn't have punched his face so hard when you haven't had a chance to question him yet."

"You... little... bastard!" exclaimed Seokjin whose face was bloody and in pain. His way of speaking was labored and it was heard perfectly by everyone.

Jimin ignored him, focused on his captain who said to him in his caressing voice that threatened to cut Jimin apart at any moment:

"He's no longer able to have a discussion and it's your fault. Take care of putting him back on his feet."

"It's understood," the young pirate said immediately.

But Seokjin refused to let the man continue to talk about him as a perfectly harmless being. He was the Wako Slayer, damn it!

"Hey, you... the one I don't see!" he suddenly shouted after spitting out the blood that had filled his mouth again. "Come before me... if you dare! I'm perfectly capable... of having a conversation... and even... if you untie me... to let that conversation end in your death... you filthy... bastard!"

A certain excitement took hold of the pirate assembly and in front of Seokjin, Jimin's eyes widened. 

"Shut up if you value your life, Wako Slayer!" he hissed in a low voice.

But no sooner had Jimin said that than out of the corner of his eye, Seokjin saw Taehyung moving at a dizzying speed in his direction. The samurai quickly drew his katana and placed the tip of the blade on Seokjin's throat who gritted his teeth and stared at him with his one open eye.

Instead of remaining silent for good, Seokjin, whose tongue refused the slightest rest, said loudly:

"What? I'm not allowed to talk to the captain of this ship? Who is he ? A forgotten god of this world? Last I heard, he's just a damn pirate like the rest of you!"

A clamor seized the pirates and the captain said nothing, letting the animosity rise among his men. Taehyung's face tense with anger.

"You dare to address my daimyo like this?"

"Your daimyo?" Seokjin repeated, perplexed.

"I'm going to pierce your stomach, you little Joseon rat!" shouted the samurai who raised his katana with a grace that Seokjin would not have failed to admire if his life was not at stake.

"Taehyung, leave the admiral alone," the captain stopped him to Seokjin's surprise. The caress of the metal was gone. It was now the edge of the voice that spoke. "He is of no interest at the moment, he only knows how to let his sword cut into the void hoping it reaches someone while waiting for death to seize him."

"What?" Seokjin growled. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here and tell me things to my face!"

However, the voice refused to cut him off and focused on Jimin instead:

 "Jimin, do what I asked you. Now the rest of you disperse and return to your posts. Namjoon, head north."

"Understood," Jimin said.

"Understood," Namjoon said as well before going to join the rudder while behind, on the first deck, the captain's footsteps were moving away.

The North? Seokjin thought, losing interest in this odious captain, his brain starting to work at full speed again. It's perfect.

It was perfect indeed, the closer they got to Joseon the more likely he would be to survive. He didn't know why he had been kept alive and prisoner and why they didn't kill him yet, perhaps to serve as a bargaining chip, but it was an opportunity not to be missed: he was going to make sure he survived and returned to Joseon.

Additionally, he may have been without a crew now but he still had one man left to avenge their fallen comrades and possibly send the Joseon Navy searching for him. 

Sanghoon, your moment of glory has arrived. Don't disappoint me and stay alive!

Even though it was a former street urchin who once chased him to rob him, Sanghoon had become the person he trusted the most. What they had shared together over the past fifteen years as well as the Saengson tragedy which had caused them both to lose precious people had brought them closer together. He knew the other would find a way to return to Joseon and tell his father about what happend. He just had to survive until then.

While the pirates around him dispersed, he was soon left alone facing Jimin and Taehyung who were watching him, a few steps away, ready to use force at the slightest gesture that indicated that he was going to attack one of them. His gaze was dark but his face had regained composure after his previous outburst of rage. From what Seokjin understood, he would not go against his captain's orders by cutting his stomach open if he let his guard down.

Jimin's, on the other hand, was marked by anger while Seokjin thought his captain had managed to calm him down. The pirate gave him a murderous look before picking up his soiled chicken leg on the ground.

"Reassure me, you're not going to eat it?" Seokjin asked, looking disgusted.

"It's wrong to waste food," Jimin replied before shoving the dirty meat into Seokjin's mouth.

Seokjin, stunned, widened his eyes and wanted to protest but his voice was muffled by the meat that went deep inside. He gagged as he imagined swallowing such food but with the blood from before blocking his nose and Jimin pressing the meat to his mouth, he could barely breathe.

"Eat or die," Jimin told him, pushing more of the meat into his mouth.

On the verge of vomiting, Seokjin understood that he had no choice. He tore off a piece of meat without chewing it and he tried to pull his head back. He hoped to see it spit out immediately when Jimin removed the meat from his mouth but the pirate had decided otherwise.

"Chew and swallow," he said, leaning down to examine his throat and watch him swallow.

Seokjin had a whole store of curse words he wanted to say right now but he couldn't speak. Then, slowly and with undisguised disgust, he began to chew the meat.

"That's a good Wako Slayer, " Jimin said, patting his head in a gesture that was meant to be affectionate. Or rather, it was the kind of gesture reserved for a pet.

Seokjin glared at him and against his will, swallowed the mouthful of meat. Jimin removed the piece blocking his mouth and he could finally breathe.

"I'm going to k-" he began before being shaken by another retch.

"Even if you behave like an animal with human, your relationship with food shows that you are a rich noble," remarked Jimin, whose anger seemed to have subsided. "Someone who is hungry is not as careful and picky as you are."

"The meat fell to the ground!" Seokjin retorted. "If I tell you there's some left on the floor, are you going to lick that filthy deck?"

"Without hesitation," Jimin said, scanning the ground.

"Please... don't do it in front of me," Seokjin pleaded, holding back from vomiting just at the thought.

Jimin smiled and proceeded to wolf down the rest of the chicken leg before tossing the bone over the railing. The sound of the waves against the ship was so loud that Seokjin didn't hear the sound of the bone sinking into the water. Jimin was still smiling at him when he was finished.

"What?" Seokjin said suspiciously.

"You finally begged. Not to save your life but for something ridiculous. You are a formidable pirate killerwho does not fear death but who lets himself be defeated by food that he considers unworthy of him. You are both strong and weak. It's astonishing."

"Speak for yourself," Seokjin replied who didn't feel like a weak person at all just because he found it disgusting to eat meat that had been lying on the ground. "You're small and stupid but your punches are the hardest anyone's ever thrown at me. It's astonishing."

"Better to look weak than to actually be weak," Jimin said, shrugging his shoulders but seeming quite satisfied with what Seokjin had just told him. "We better go inside before the sun ends up killing you and the captain kills me in return."

"So you're so afraid of him?" Seokjin taunted.

"Of course I'm afraid of him," Jimin replied without any shame. "And if you were more clairvoyant you would be too. Now shut up, I'm going to untie you from there but you won't be free to move: I'm going to put you in shackles," he said, staring intently at Seokjin.

Seokjin heard a metallic noise and saw that Taehyung had brought back heavy iron bracelets connected by a short chain. The whole thing was visibly so heavy that as soon as Seokjin was hampered by it, it would be difficult for him to move his arms and even more difficult to wield a sword. 

He glanced at Taehyung, wondering if he might pounce on him to steal his katana when Jimin would have freed him from the mast and before he could restrain his arms again, but he had to abandon this idea: his head was spinning and he could only see out of one eye now. It was better for him to let himself be treated, since these pirates were offering him so kindly.

When Seokjin didn't give the impression of wanting to struggle, Jimin unsheathed a knife from his belt and cut the ropes that kept Seokjin tied to the mast. He also cut the ties that tied his hands behind his back.

Relieved to no longer feel so restrained, it was with reluctance and with one last look at Taehyung's katana that Seokjin held out his wrists to Jimin so that he could close the iron restraints on them. His arms fell heavily in front of him when it was done. It was a particularly unpleasant feeling.

"Come on now, stand up," Jimin ordered.

But it was easier said than done. Seokjin felt like his legs were as fragile as a baby's and as soon as he was standing up, the world spun around him and he fell back to the ground.

"I think the Ming's poison is still not gone," Jimin muttered.

"Or maybe it's just the beating of me," Seokjin guessed, grimacing with resentment.

"You attacked me first," Jimin reminded, pointing to his neck which still bore the bloody bite mark.

Seokjin shrugged and remained lying on the ground. Jimin sighed and grabbed Seokjin's arm to lift him up. Once up, he helped him hold on as best he could. As he passed Taehyung, Jimin blurted out:

"Thank you for your valuable help."

"I'm not helping the Joseon scum," Taehyung said, finally walking away.

"Fuck you," Seokjin whispered.

Jimin led Seokjin to the third and final basement of the hold, where, in addition to barrels of rum, thick cobwebs and a cat that seemed to have been hired to hunt rats, there were two rows of sinister cells with rusty iron bars covered with moss due to humidity. Here, the only light was that of the lantern that Jimin was holding.

He lifted his rattling set of keys and opened a tiny, cage-like cell that offered no privacy to his inmate. On the floor, a moldy pallet served as a bed and a bucket aas toilet. A foul smell emanated from it, as if someone had not – as if nothing in this cell had – been washed since its last occupant left.

"Welcome home, I guess?" Seokjin said with a pout of disgust, after a quick examination of the place.

"Yeah, welcome home," Jimin agreed before pushing him inside.

He pointed Seokjin to the bench but aiming for fleas that were roaming freely there, Seokjin preferred to sit on the floor while remaining a good distance from the foul-smelling bucket which threatened to make him vomit at any moment. Jimin went out and closed the door before going back upstairs with the lantern, leaving Seokjin in the dark.

"The situation could be worse," Seokjin muttered to himself.

He had barely said that when he felt something tickle his hand and he screamed without restraint. He was sure it was a spider. Or a centipede maybe. In any case, one of his disgusting insects which had far too many legs for his taste to tread this earth.

When Jimin returned, he brought a bucket of water and strips of questionably clean fabric that looked more greenish than white.

"I asked the doc for some concoctions to drain you of the poison; he is a very gifted Ming doctor, but-" he started.

"I don't want his Ming concoctions," Seokjin cut him.

"Good because he refused to give them to me," Jimin replied. "He doesn't like you so he said you just have to drain yourself," he added pointing at Seokjin's genitals while smiling. "I think you know how."

Humiliated, Seokjin blushed and grabbed a handful of straw protruding from his pallet to throw it at the Ming. A few strands landed in the bucket of water.

"You shouldn't do that, it's the water to clean your wounds and wash you," Jimin indicated, pushing the bucket towards him

Seeing that Seokjin made no movement, he clarified:

"It's fresh water, no need to be afraid."

Seokjin didn't trust him after being tricked with sea water earlier by Namjoon. He carefully moved his chained hands together, took some water and poured it over one of his cuts before sighing in relief. If it had been sea water, it would have felt like it was burning, but that wasn't the case. He began to delicately wash his face, which he felt swollen, and got rid of the blood that stained it.

Jimin watched him with interest during the whole process, scrutinizing his every move. After a while Seokjin asked him with annoyance:

"You want a portrait of me?"

"You really look valuable for someone who travels the seas killing wakos. You take care of your face as if it were a treasure and you refuse to lie down on the bed."

"It's not a bed, it's a pigsty. There are more living beings in there than pirates on this ship. And for your information, yes, my face is a treasure and I will not forget that it was you who disfigured it."

"Pfff, like I said, too precious. You find this place disgusting and you find us disgusting but here, the most disgusting thing is you with your precious ways which gives the impression that it is the world which is strange when it is you who are different from us all. Here, grab this, it's to bandage your wounds."

He threw the strips of fabric to Seokjin, who quickly grabbed them before they hit the slimy ground, and then gave the impression that he was going to leave

"Wait," Seokjin stopped him. "At least leave me the lantern."

"No," Jimin refused, "you would be able to burn the pallet and the ship with it."

It wasn't wrong, Seokjin had thought about it, but he was mainly thinking about the animals full of legs with whom he was going to have to live in the dark. He used the strips of cloth as compresses for his wounds and then the last one to bandage his head. 

When he finished, he realized that he was thirsty and that Jimin had not left him any water other than the one that had been used to clean his wounds and which was now full of blood. He cursed, regretting not drinking and washing the rest of his body before cleaning his face.

He definitely didn't have a good survival instinct when he was no longer on his ship.

He ended up leaning against the bars of his cell,thinking about his situation, and fell asleep without realizing it.