Chapter Text
17th December 1792
Borin had been pacing back and forth since god knows when. He could hear the pained cries of his wife. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and moved towards the main deck, looking over the water and at the storm brewing at the horizon. He could still hear the anguished cries of his wife when suddenly everything went quiet.
A little too quiet.
Fearing the worst, he rushed towards his wife's chamber to find her unconscious, blood staining her white gown and the sheets and maids sprinkling water over her face. He looked at the side to see the midwife wrapping up a small body in white sheets.
He didn't realize when he fell on his knees and started crying.
"Forgive me, my Lord, your son could not survive. M'lady could not bear the news and lost consciousness, but she's safe." Said the midwife sniffling.
Borin decided to lay his son in the depths of the ocean, for they were several days away from land.
After saying goodbye to his son he slumped down on the deck, covering his face with his hands and let out an agonizing wail.
He hurriedly stood up when he heard faint cries of a child, looking up he saw a woman holding his son, crying and alive.
"Goddess!" he gasped in awe, wiped his tears and knelt.
"How may I serve you?"
🌊
Jin rushed towards the corner of the room where his clothes were strewn all over the floor.
Fiddling with the pocket of his jeans he fished out his phone. He patiently waited for the device to turn back on. It was a good thing that his phone was waterproof.
The screen lit up, displaying his selfie with Ken that he used as his wallpaper.
Oh right! His friends!
They must be worried sick looking for him. And if what he suspected was true then there would be no going back. What would he even do here without his friends and family?
Breaking out of his reverie, he unlocked his phone and looked at the date and time only to find...
No Service.
Throwing his head back he blinked back the tears gathering in his eyes. Blinking rapidly to keep the tears at bay he dialled the number of his best friend.
Service Error!
Before he could properly break down in tears he heard a soft knock followed by the door opening.
He turned around hastily to find the gunner smiling sweetly at him.
"I brought you food," the gunner said and gestured toward a young boy carrying a tray full of berries, bread, and soup.
Turning his head away, he sneakily wiped his tears with the back of his hands, and carefully put the phone back, and then looked back at the gunner, nodding.
The boy set the plate down on the bed and quickly left the room.
Jin got up and sat on the bed patting the other side, inviting the gunner to do the same.
The gunner smiled, showing off his heart-shaped smile and white teeth, then went towards Jin and sat down keeping a considerable amount of distance between them.
"You didn't have to, but thank you, Hobi," Jin said gesturing at the food when suddenly his stomach growled, his cheeks and ears reddened from embarrassment, he tore a piece of bread and stuffed it in his mouth.
Hobi looked at the stranger sitting across him, eating with fervour, he took in his pink cheeks and ears and almost cooed, but stopped himself just in time, "You know my actual name is not Hobi you don't have to call me that," he stated, "you can call me Hoseok if you like."
Jin stopped eating and said in a small voice, as if unsure of something, "Okay I'll call you that. Uh... Can I ask you a question? It ...uh...it might sound strange."
'Of course, it would sound strange,' he heard Jin grumble to himself. The latter then let out a sigh, pushing the tray aside, "Alright here goes nothing. What year is it? And where exactly are we?"
That was indeed a strange question, Hoseok thought but decided to answer honestly when he saw the hopeful look in Jin's eyes.
"The year is 1820 and we are somewhere around the north Caribbean sea." Hobi started, "We found you unconscious in the middle of the ocean. Well not us exactly, Jimin found you. Oh right you have not met Jimin yet but he will soon come up to meet you."
Come up? That's peculiar. Jin thought.
"Jimin brought you to us and we pulled you out of the water. At first, the captain didn't want you on board, but you looked so lost and hopeless that he had no choice but to agree and then JK changed your clothes, put you on the bed and then….you know what happened"
The moment Hobi finished, the hopeful look Jin had in his eyes was replaced by helplessness and unshed tears, his hands started trembling, bottom lip quivering but before Hobi could ask what was wrong he heard the blaring sound of horns, a warning that they've been attacked.
He grabbed Jin's hands, "Listen carefully now. Stay here. Do not come out in any circumstances. Finish your meal and lock the door." He said and quickly left the room.
🌊
Jin heard the deafening sound. It sounded like a distress call, he assumed, and when he saw how Hoseok stiffened at the sound and told him to stay inside, his suspicions were proved right.
He had no idea what to make out of all this.
First, he somehow ended up in the 19th century, he went back two hundred years in time. Second, he had almost drowned in the stream then how did he end up in the middle of the Caribbean. Third, he was stuck with pirates, couldn't he have been saved by a merchant or a fisherman, it was just his good luck that he was saved by freaking pirates.
What if they only saved him to torture him later? But remembering the precious smile of Hobi and the fawn-eyed, JK, he pushed the thought at the back of his mind; and lastly, he was sitting in his room in the middle of an ongoing pirate battle. The pirate crew who saved him might not harm him, but what about the other pirates? What if the attackers find him and hurt him?
The sound of battle cries and swords clashing brought him out of his mental ranting, anxiety along with curiosity settled deep in his gut; chewing on his bottom lip he cracked open the door only a sliver and it hit him for the first time, just how dangerous the situation was.
Staring at the full-on battle raging on, his eyes landed on the familiar figures fighting, the Quartermaster, RM looked even more intimidating than before, slashing at his enemies with great expertise; the Boatswain, his feline eyes narrowed, moving swiftly and plunging daggers into his enemies chest; then he caught a glimpse of the owner of those deer-like eyes, now holding a menacing fire, brandishing and slashing his sword with great fury at his opponents.
His eyes widened when he saw a burly man with long dirty locks advancing towards JK, swirling a dagger; the latter being unaware of the danger.
He felt a pang of protectiveness in his heart which he quickly replaced with 'simply returning the favour' and without thinking twice he opened the door wide.
Looking around for a possible weapon, he found a long and thick chunk of wood, picking it up he gave the makeshift weapon a few twirls, testing it, then marched towards the attacker, avoiding the swarm of pirates, and hit him hard on the head.
*Thud*
Jungkook had been fighting when he heard the sound, he plunged his sword in the enemy pirates' gut and turned around, sword raised, ready to attack whoever was behind him.
However, the sight that greeted him was not of his enemy, but of the very mysterious stranger, Seokjin, their guest.
His eyes widened at the sight of Jin, the latter was holding a wooden log tightly, knuckles white from the tight grip, and beneath him lay one of his enemies, blood seeping into the wooden floorboards. Before he could say anything, Seokjin looked at something over his shoulder, "Behind you."
Jungkook turned around and started sparring with the attacker, seeking an opening he thrust the blade inside his enemy's throat, hot blood splattering his hands and face, he turned and shouted at Seokjin, whose features morphed into that of fear and disgust on seeing the blood.
"Get out of here!"
Seokjin didn't need to be told twice, without saying anything he dashed away from the disturbing scene.
He felt sick.
He had attacked and killed someone with his own hands. He took a life. He had only wanted to hit the enemy pirate hard enough to give him a concussion, not kill him. Wanting to feel safe in the haven of the guest chambers, he threw away the wooden weapon and started running.
He was about to throw open the door when a hand grabbed him roughly and pulled him toward the side, away from the battle, into a secluded corner hidden by barrels and crates.
He let out a cry of surprise and came face-to-face with a huge middle-aged pirate in shaggy clothes, his eyes raking over his figure with unhidden lust. The pirate sneered, displaying his yellow teeth.
The man then grabbed both of Jin's wrists and roughly pulled him closer, his touch bruising.
"Feisty, eh! I like em feisty," the pirate tightened his grip on his wrists, "Now, where were ye running off to, boy?"
The man gripped Jin's wrists with one hand and used the other to tug at his robe, revealing his chest, "Ye killed one of me crewmates, ye had to pay for it. Life for life."
The man brought his face closer to Jin, his breath reeking of cheap liquor and stench had Jin recoiling and scrunching his nose in disgust.
On seeing the look of disgust on Jin's face, the man snarled and raised his hand. Jin on seeing his raised hand flinched and closed his eyes when all of a sudden his hands were freed from the unrelenting grasp.
Opening his eyes he saw a God, because, holy shit.
The man before him was the literal embodiment of the phrase, devastatingly handsome.
Jin knew that he was extremely beautiful; everyone he came across, had always been enamoured by his beauty, strangers hitting on him every time he went out, friends not wanting to stay just friends, getting scouted by entertainment labels while simply walking on the street, he knew his worth. But the man before him could give him a run for his money and more.
The man was scowling, but it did nothing to lessen his beauty. His sharp jaw that could cut if touched, was clenched, his wide lips forming a straight line, the mole at the corner of his mouth barely visible, his sharp nose and his thick eyebrows scrunched up, and finally his eyes, his chocolate brown eyes, sharp, piercing and focused on him, he looked ethereal and....angry.
Oh!
Realizing that he had been staring gaping, Jin quickly averted his eyes and looked down, only to see his attacker gurgling and lying in a pool of his blood, a dagger plunged at the base of his throat.
Horrified by the scene he looked back at the gorgeous man and took a step back when the man took a step forward.
"Didn't Hobi tell you not to come out?"
And here Jin was thinking that the man before him couldn't get any more attractive, but he was immediately proved wrong. A deep and hypnotic voice unlike anything he's ever heard, yet somehow familiar, greeted him.
Where'd he heard the voice before? Jin thought.
Continuing in the raspy voice that sent shivers down Jin's spine, the man growled. Literally.
"What were you thinking? Waltzing around in the middle of a battle? I had to leave everything in the middle just to save you." The man took another step forward.
"I-I'm sorry. I saw JK-" Jin started, but his throat suddenly went dry breath hitching.
Invading his personal space, the man brought his hands closer to Jin's revealed chest, he then held the lapels and brought them together, covering his exposed chest and stepped back.
Jin stood frozen, heart almost in his throat, he sought after the gaze of the man once again and found him already staring, no...glaring at him.
The man's attention snapped away from him when all of a sudden cheers and hollers erupted from the main deck. He whipped his head in the direction of cheers and left, with Jin at tow.
Upon arrival, Jin saw the aftermath of the fight, bodies scattered around like torn pieces of paper, blood covering every nook and cranny of the wooden floorboards, weapons carelessly lying on the floor, the sight had his stomach-churning uneasily.
And at that moment he truly realized the gravity of his situation.
He looked away, taking in the open sea, realizing that he had never seen a pirate ship (or any ship), taking in the jolly roger that somehow had a shield imprinted on it instead of the typical skull design, the sail and its rich purple colour, the crow nest settled just beneath the jolly roger with a rope ladder attached to it, the different decks, and the thick ropes weaved together to form the various riggings.
His eyes landed on the attacker's ship, it was smaller than the one he was currently standing on, its hull and mast smashed, probably by cannonballs.
"Did we lose anyone?" The deep voice grabbed his attention once again, he looked at the owner of the voice.
"Just one. The bilge rats killed our sailor," came a reply but Jin didn't bother to check who replied.
This time he paid attention to the man's attire. He was wearing a black waistcoat with gold embellishments, over a plain white v-neck silk shirt and black breeches, a narrow strip of white silk wrapped neatly around his neck, and tucked down the front of his shirt. He looked at his large hands, his beautiful long fingers decorated by an assortment of rings.
The man then ordered a few of his crewmates to bring loot from the enemy's ship and the others to drag the dead bodies back to the ship of the attackers.
Jin stopped breathing when he saw those chocolate brown eyes assessing him one more time.
"You disobeyed a direct order from one of my crew members. Disobeying means punishment and you will be--"
"V! I am well aware that he was told to stay inside his room and he had been following the orders until he saw that I was in danger. I believe he should not be punished for saving my life."
JK said, interrupting the man, V, who turned out to be the captain of the ship.
The whole crew gasped at that, even the captain tensed for a while.
Jin himself gasped lightly at Jk's words.
Seeming unaffected by everyone's reactions, JK looked at Jin, placing his hands on his chest and said, "You saved my life. I am indebted to you. And I will not let any harm befall you until that debt is paid."
"He still disobeyed an order and I will not tolerate any kind of undisciplined behaviour on my ship," the captain barked, having recovered from the shocking news, his voice booming across the whole deck.
"V, let it go. Just this one time. You heard kook, he saved his life. I do not want to think about what would have happened if he was following orders."
Jin was shocked when he heard the Boatswain saying those words, he stared at him wide-eyed and mouth slightly open.
The Boatswain just nodded his head when he felt Jin's gaze on him and Jin understood that it was some sort of a gesture of gratitude for the shorter male.
The Captain grumbled again and then turned around to face Jin completely, "Can you sail? Work with ropes?" He asked, raising a single brow.
"...I don't know how to..." Jin had no idea, he didn't know anything about ships or sails.
The Captain closed his eyes and let out a loud exhale, clearly running out of patience. "You will be assisting Yoongi in keeping up the sails. At least, until we find a replacement," he ordered, his authoritative tone leaving no space for any further argument.
But Jin was confused, he tilted his head and asked in a timid voice, "But, who is Yoongi?"
Jk chuckled while the captain sighed exasperatedly at Jin's question. Jk then moved towards Jin and smiled, showing off his pearly whites.
"I am Jungkook. And I'll introduce us properly this time."
🌊
"Ugh! Another fight. Now I have to clean it up again," a shrill voice echoed around them and everyone's face lightened up simultaneously, even the Captain's lips twitched and formed a small smile.
All of them rushed towards the side to look down at the water. Jin, confused, followed suit.
He saw a beautiful man with blue eyes, golden locks and red plump lips, his frame petite yet seductive, looking up at them, his waist and below submerged in the water.
Where did he come from?
The man at first scowled looking at the pirates, but when his gaze met Jin's, he smiled beautifully and Jin found himself returning the gesture.
The man then let out a beautiful laugh, seeming excited by something, he did a backflip to showcase his…
...tail?
A shimmering golden tail.
A merman?
"Oh, you are so pretty. I am delighted that I saved someone as beautiful as you," the merman cooed at Jin and Jin's cheeks and ears reddened at the compliment coming from someone as beautiful as the merman.
Jungkook cleared his throat at the merman's statement, and the latter winked at him flirtatiously.
"Jimin..." The Captain started, looking at Jin and then back at the merman, "Not now! Besides, when do you clean up anything? It's your lackey that does all the work."
Oh. So he's Jimin. His saviour. It was the merman who brought him to the pirates.
Jimin rolled his eyes at his jab, "You'll be eating your words soon, Taehyung," and then smirked at Jin, before his face morphed dangerously, his aura suddenly becoming cold, dangerous, and suffocating. Dark clouds gathered in the sky, thunder could be heard roaring at a distance, the waves started lapping dangerously.
Jimin hummed an alluring melody, his voice soothing, seductive and mesmerizing. Jin found himself relaxing for the first time since the whole fiasco had started. He closed his eyes and let the hypnotic voice wash over him. Jin felt as if he was floating in the ocean surrounded by the beauty of its flora and fauna, he felt free.
Jimin stopped humming and the sky cleared, the waves calmed, Jin opened his eyes to look at the others who were already staring at him wide-eyed and covering their ears. Before he could contemplate their strange reactions, he saw, in his peripheral vision, something huge rising from the water, turning around to look clearly, he came across gigantic reddish tentacles wrapping around the enemy's ship, crushing it, causing the wood to splinter and fly off in every direction before dragging it down to the depths.
He stared at the scene unfurling before him with eyes popping out and his jaw dropped to the ground.
Jimin noticed the scared expression on the human's face and keeping his voice gentle he said, "Do not be scared, my friend, she'll not harm you."
Jin just stared at him, at a loss for words.
"You must be very confused, it's understandable." Jimin started once again, "Let me introduce myself. The crown prince, Jimin, at your service."
"Crown prince..of where?"
The merman smirked, "the sea, of course."
"The what? The prince of...so you control the sea?" Jin asked the merman, his voice pitching high.
Jimin laughed at the question, "You are cute. And no. I do not, cannot control the sea. I can only command all the creatures, that is my duty."
Suddenly two more merfolk popped up from beneath the surface, standing by Jimin and one of them whispered something to the prince.
The merman prince turned to face Jin once again, "I would love to stay and talk with you, but unfortunately, my attention is needed somewhere else, I'll come up soon to meet you. Farewell for now." And with a graceful flick of his golden tail, he was gone.