Each of the members of the crew of a pirate ship had a specific position to play and a set of duties to go along with that role. There was a command structure, and different people had different jobs to make sure that everything went smoothly...
Hongjoong: Captain
People normally figure that a captain rules and commands with an iron fist and abuse their power, but in this case it's the furthest from the truth. He was voted by the crew as their new captain after the last ship they were on went down with their previous captain into the deep sea. He was fearless, he had courage, capable of commanding, and navigating a ship, but what was important to them was that he was respectable. He had great charisma and easily recruited new pirates which is how he ended up with his current crew. Every pirate ship was different, but they all need a crew, and each was a different size and made up of different people. Even though the ship was nearly always over crowded and carrying people below Hongjoong was only close with eight of them, but together they were like a family that always had each other's backs no matter the situation.
Seonghwa: Surgeon
He was skeptical to say the least... I mean, who wouldn't be when the infamous Kim Hongjoong shows up on your doorstep? He never in a million years would've imagined himself being a part of one of the most well known pirate crews around the world. Park Seonghwa was known as one of the youngest and best Surgeons around where they usually stopped to "gather" supplies. Though pirate ships usually didn't have a surgeon aboard Hongjoong preferred to have one and was keen on having the older boy join his crew and what the captain wants the captain always gets. So with a little bit of persuasion and bribing he gave up everything he had on land to travel with them across the sea forming a family and filling his heart with the adventure he craved deep down.
Yunho: Carpenter
Without him and Yeosang the boat would not be afloat! He was in charge of the ships structural integrity and even though he may be older than Yeosang he answers to the Boatswain. Jeong Yunho worked for his father on fixing up boats and houses and during one of the days where it was just him he was approached by two people, girl and a boy, Yeosang and Jaehwa who asked him a favor... a favor he could not refuse. With money on the line he followed the couple back to their ship where he was basically forced to become a part of their crew... Hongjoong told him that if he wished to leave the exits were all around him and he had a better chance of surviving if he just complied and joined his crew. Eventually he got along with Yeosang and Seonghwa quite well and decided he preferred the comfort of the ship rather than working for his father back home, he finally felt as if he belonged to a real crew; a family.
Yeosang: Boatswain
As a Boatswain he would have to looked after the wood, canvas, and ropes that were of vital importance on board. As a well experienced boatswain all he needed to do was supervise all activities on the ship such as dropping and weighing the anchor or lead shore parties when supplies or repairs to the ship were needed. Sadly because of his kind and shy appearance pirates would take advantage of what Kang Yeosang was willing to do for them, for their ship, by only paying him a little amount. He needed money or else he was going to have no place to live or food to eat and from the amount he was getting scammed of he wasn't going to have either of those things if he kept it up. He found himself in with an offer he couldn't refuse, where money wasn't a problem, with a place to live and food on his plate as long as he kept the ship in shape for travel and battle.
San: Master Gunner
Watching it be done makes it look simple, but actually trying to do it? Yeah, no. Firing a cannon is truly a tricky thing. You need to have strength, the placement of the shot, the powder, the fuse... and on top of all those things you need to be able to aim the thing. Choi San has always been sort of a loose cannon (laugh at my joke dammit) he was unpredictable and almost uncontrollable just like firing a real cannon. They found him aboard the enemy ship when they were attempting to raid it his crew had locked him away for his behavior and with that information Hongjoong knew that he would be easy to persuade to come along with them. Being the most experienced Gunner he was elected as Master Gunner and became a valuable part of their crew.
Jaehwa: Sailing Master
One of the most difficult people to find for a pirate ship was a good navigator... you can find a navigator but there's a good chance they don't really know the sea that well. At a young age she had been trained to use the stars to travel without even knowing it. Park Jaehwa could sail from north to south or east to west with reasonable ease and people knew that which is how she ended up stranded on an island left to fend for herself after her last crew found what they were looking for and decided she was no longer of use to them. She would rather die than step aboard another pirate ship or, well, that's what Hongjoong said was going to happen to her if she didn't get on the ship when they found her... Lets just say she got on the ship. At first she hated them and refused to lift a finger, but after a while she realized she should be grateful towards the crew that, despite her attitude, continued to be nice and allowed her to stay aboard their ship.
Mingi: Quartermaster
Song Mingi is Hongjoong's longest friend. They were together on their previous ship and now they're together on their current one so it makes sense as to why Hongjoong made him the Quartermaster, which after Captain, the most authority on a pirate ship goes to him. He is the captain's right hand, he is in charge when Hongjoong isn't around. Even though they are best friends Mingi doesn't take advantage of having that label. He is kind and does exactly what he's supposed do such as monitor the food and water supplies, seeing that the captain's orders were carried out and handling the day to day management of the ship. As the quartermaster would often board prize vessels and decide what to take and what to leave, if caught? Well he was pretty intimidating looking and was very well skilled in hand to hand combat, sword and pistol fighting. He was a reliable and honorable right hand to the captain and he planned to keep it that way.
Wooyoung: Striker
Jung Wooyoung was a fisherman who lived with little to no excitement in his life, sure he had his good looks and made a decent amount of money, so he couldn't really complain, but there was just something missing from his every day life that he couldn't put his finger on. He began to steal and had never once been caught until one day a man by the name of Song Mingi had told him that he had been watching. Telling him he did it smoothly with such ease almost as if it was something he was born to do and the he reminded him of a girl they had aboard the ship. Telling him that if he continued to hit up the same places he would eventually get caught Mingi simply walked away causing the younger boy to follow. Within his first thirty minutes on the ship he had caught enough fish to feed almost the entire crew and they hadn't even left the docks yet. Hongjoong was interested and he made that known so with his expert ability at hunting and fishing earned him a spot among the crew, Wooyoung found the missing part of his day to day life.
Jongho: Cooper
He was young when he had met Hongjoong but not young enough to immediately forget who he was and what he did for a living. He had known him, and basically grew up watching him, since Hongjoong was just a Powder Monkey who assisted the gun crews on his very first ship. Choi Jongho's father was a pirate and his mother? He didn't see her all that often due to his father being a pirate. She had refused to be a part of his life if that's the path that he chose and there was no changing his mind since all he did every day was watch ships dock, gather the supplies they needed, get everything situated and leave. He was motivated and strong and wooden barrels were very valuable, as they were the best way to store food, water, and other necessities of life at sea and on land. Every ship needed a cooper or a man skilled in making and maintaining barrels and Jongho just so happened to be a master at that. One day Jongho stopped watching and Hongjoong noticed so without a second thought he exited his ship and proposed that he come aboard and put himself to good use. Hongjoong had never seen someone run to his ship that fast.
((I'm literally stuck on Pirate and Mafia ATEEZ rn and idk why sooo if an ATEEZ Pirate book shows up based off of this chapter... and I oop- ANYWAYS! Do any of my readers have any books? I'd love to take a look at them since I don't do a lot of reading on here and I'm looking for something to distract myself with when I'm stuck on my writing.))
