Black and white mixed together in harmony.

Where there is black there is white, and where there is white there is black.

You will find the one with both there.

 

---

 

lunae | moonlight

 

When Minseok came back from his farm that evening, he brought crates of alcohol with him. He placed the heavy crate on the table, and the glass bottles clashed with each other to produce a jingle. To the pirates, it sounded like music. Minseok hauled back a few vegetables, and began preparing dinner.

 

Baekhyun was sitting in the living room, reading. The captain had dug through some of Minseok’s books, and found a few he wanted to read. The remainder of the crew was huddled in a circle on the ground, playing card games.

 

Cirrus stood at the side, between the living room and the kitchen. She watched Minseok cut the vegetables with grace, and found herself trying to imitate his actions. She didn’t know how to cook because in the palace she had had no need to learn. The kitchen was like a giant box of mystery to her, and like a curious child she wanted to explore it.

 

She found herself wanting to explore a lot of thing as of late.

 

Minseok felt someone’s gaze on him, and turned his head around. He met Cirrus’s eyes and flashed a toothy smile at her. He cocked his head and invited her into the kitchen.

 

“We’re having a party tonight,” Minseok told her.

 

“And you’re responsible for preparing everything yourself?” she asked.

 

“Yeah well, most of them can’t cook,” Minseok scoffed. “Especially Niteo.”

 

“Hey!” Niteo’s shouted from the living room. “I can cook! Not my fault none of you like Dolum’s dishes.”

 

“Dolum food is weird,” Xiao Guang said as he wrinkled his nose.

 

“Because Dolum is a weird place,” Ardent snickered.

 

As the bickering between the pirates continued, Minseok held a stalk of celery in Cirrus’s direction and shifted his eyes towards a spare cutting board. “Would you like to help me, Princess Cirrus?”

 

“A princess shouldn’t have to cook!” Niteo yelled.

 

Cirrus bit the inside of her cheek and reached for the celery. She walked over to the spare cutting board and picked up a nearby knife.

 

“Princess,” Minseok started with a chuckle. “That’s a bread knife, dear.”

 

“Oh,” Cirrus said, trying to hide her embarrassment.

 

Minseok handed her a chef’s knife and said, “Use this one instead.”

 

She could hear the pirates laughing behind her, and her cheeks flushed red. Amidst the crowd, she heard Baekhyun’s laughter as well. Even though her back was turned to him, she could pick up his voice. It was different than the others, she found.

 

Cirrus stared at the celery stalk. How am I supposed to cut this? Cubes? But celery’s round, so cubes won’t work. Small cubes? Does that work?

 

“Minseok, how should I cut this?” she asked.

 

“Just into tiny pieces. I’m putting it into stew,” he replied as he cut through some beef.

 

Tiny pieces. Tiny cubes? Cirrus asked herself.

 

She brought the knife down and sliced a bit of the celery stalk off. The piece fell onto the cutting board, and she stared at it for a few seconds. Then, she brought the knife to the celery and cut it again. She cut each piece slowly, and with diligence.

 

“Tis an ill cook that cannot his own fingers,” Baekhyun’s voice said behind her. The kitchen was tiny, and she could tell he was close, probably just a few inches behind her. She immediately recognized the quote from Romeo and Juliet.

 

“Go, be gone. We shall be much unfurnished this time,” she quoted.

 

She could hear him smirk behind her, and he clicked his tongue. “You skipped a line, princess. Did you not brush up on Romeo and Juliet?”

 

Cirrus let out a sigh and dropped the knife on the cutting board. She turned to face him, and with confidence she recited, “Marry, sir, ’tis an ill cook that cannot his own fingers. Therefore he that cannot his fingers goes not with me.” Then, her lips curled into a smirk and she added, “Act 4, Scene 2.”

 

“Line 5,” Baekhyun said as he crossed his arms. “And the person who says the line?”

 

“Second servingman,” Cirrus replied immediately.

 

Baekhyun chuckled amusedly. “Was that a fluke just now? That you missed a line?”

 

“I didn’t forget. I was telling you to leave me be,” she told him.

 

He raised a brow at her. The captain pointed a finger to the cutting board behind her and asked, “So you can go back to cutting the celery into those pathetic chunks?”

 

“They’re not pathetic,” Cirrus said in defense.

 

“They’re not even all the same size,” he scoffed.

 

“What was that?” Minseok asked. The captain and princess turned their heads away from each other to look at the other member. Minseok continued, “Was I watching Shakespeare just now?”

 

“Yes,” they replied in unison.

 

“What the… I thought Baekhyun was the only person crazy enough to memorize those plays,” Minseok laughed. “I didn’t think I’d ever meet another Shakespearian nerd in my life.”

 

“First of all, Shakespeare’s plays are worth the countless reads,” Baekhyun started. He between Cirrus and Minseok, then grabbed the knife. He continued, “Second of all, this is how you chop vegetables.”

 

Baekhyun diced the celery into uniform pieces within seconds, and Cirrus stared at the captain in disbelief. When he was finished, he set the knife down and smirked at her. “In form and moving how express and admirable!” he quoted from Hamlet.

 

Cirrus was determined to quote the next line diligently. “In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god!” she said with confidence.

 

He chuckled silently, then met her eyes with his own. “Why thank you, princess. I appreciate the compliment.”

 

Baekhyun always found a way to spin things in his favour, she learned.

 

.::. .::. .::.

 

The night was spent drinking away and sharing stories with one another. Good food, good company and good booze were all a pirate ever needed in life. Cirrus however, was not a pirate, and found she wasn’t having as much of a ball as the Lux pirates were. She sat at the dining table and twirled a spoon around in the thick broth Minseok had brewed up.

 

She picked up a piece of celery in broth and frowned when she saw how skew it looked. This one’s probably one I cut, she sighed. She brought the spoonful of the soup to and savoured the rich flavour. She dug her spoon into the soup again and picked up a carrot and another piece of celery. This time, the celery looked cleanly cut.

 

This one’s Baekhyun’s, she thought to herself. She swished the soup in the spoon and played with the pieces of legume. It makes sense that he would be skilled in using a knife, he does swing a sword around after all. It’s practically an up-scaled version of a knife.

 

The pirates laughed, danced and sang drunk songs in the background. Cirrus had only ever sipped the finest wine, so when her nose caught a whiff of the cheap beer from the glass bottles, she immediately turned away.

 

“And then remember that time when we fought that kraken?” Niteo laughed.

 

“And Ardent had to come to our rescue!” another crewmember exclaimed.

 

“But it was ultimately Baekhyun who defeated it in the end!” someone else cheered.

 

What does a real kraken look like? Are they exactly as how the texts describe them as? Where did they go to see one? Cirrus wondered. She quickly shook the questions out of her head.

 

“You know, Baekhyun used to be afraid of squids when he was little!” Minseok cackled.

 

Baekhyun, afraid of something? Cirrus felt the ends of her lips curl into an amused smile at the thought. Him? I can’t imagine it.

 

“Yeah, and now I slay them,” Baekhyun said arrogantly.

 

Of course, Cirrus thought to herself. Of course he’s not afraid anymore. I don’t think he's afraid of anything, really. Not even death.

 

The party continued like that for an hour or so before Baekhyun approached Cirrus. He took the seat next to her, and swirled a drink in his hand. The golden liquid bubbled and gave off quite a strong odour. It was evident that Baekhyun had been drinking, but he looked quite sober.

 

“How do you feel about a midnight stroll?” he asked her.

 

“A stroll, right now? Why?” Cirrus gawked at him. He must be drunk.

 

“I’m not drunk, if that’s what you’re thinking,” he chuckled. Then, in a quieter voice Baekhyun continued, “I just felt like basking in the moonlight.”

 

“With… me?” she asked.

 

“They won’t question me if you come along. They’ll think I’m just taking you out for our typical 20-minute walk,” Baekhyun replied.

 

“But it’s midnight,” she told him.

 

“Wow, you must be having a lot of fun if you don’t want to leave the party for even half an hour,” Baekhyun smirked.

 

“I’m having a ball, actually,” she forced herself to say.

 

“By yourself? A ball requires a dance partner, miss,” Baekhyun chuckled. “And you clearly don’t have one.”

 

“What? Don’t tell me you dance too?” Cirrus scoffed.

 

“Of course not,” Baekhyun started. His lips tugged into a half-smile and he added, “Pirates don’t dance.”

 

“That’s what I thought,” Cirrus said with confidence.

 

“Not indoors, at least,” he shrugged. He cocked his head towards the door and said, “Going once, going twice-“

 

“Fine,” she spat. Then she muttered under her breath, “I don’t really have much of a choice.”

 

“Of course you have a choice!” he exclaimed. “Come for a stroll, or come for a stroll. Your pick.”

 

It was strange, because the only other time he had made a one-sided offer was when they had first met.

 

“You have two choices, miss. Death, or death.”

 

Maybe there was a second choice, and a second way of looking at things.

 

• .::. .::.

 

It was dark, cold and lonesome in the woods. It should have been that way, considering it was past midnight, but Cirrus didn’t think of their current situation like that. Baekhyun carried an oil lamp with him, and the glow from the full Moon was enough to light their way. The flickering flame from the oil lamp gave off some heat, and she found that having the tiny light nearby assured her that she wasn’t alone.

 

They walked through a trail that Cirrus was sure did not lead to the ship. It led them further into the forest, and up a hill. The forest ended, and Cirrus’s heart dropped when she saw the gravestone that rested at the peak of the hill.

 

Is that…?

 

Baekhyun knelt in front of the grave and set the oil lamp down next to him. Cirrus stayed behind him, and found herself taking slow steps back into the forest. It was almost instinctual – she didn’t belong there.

 

“Hana, I’m back. Well, for a bit at least,” Baekhyun said softly. He traced her name on the gravestone, and added, “I’ve been on more adventures, too.”

 

The silence that ensued was one so quiet that the crickets’ song seemed deafening in comparison. After what seemed like an eternity, Baekhyun continued, “I’m on my biggest adventure right now. So, I can’t stay for too long this time.”

 

I’m going to keep my promise, he thought.

 

“I’ll find it, I swear I will,” he finished. His voice was quiet, and ever so teender. It wasn’t something Cirrus was used to hearing. And it scared her because the more she learned of his world, the more curious she became.

 

Curiosity killed the cat, she reminded herself. Cirrus couldn’t help herself but ask, What is Baekhyun looking for?

 

Baekhyun rose to his feet, but didn’t avert his gaze from the stone. He remembered her cheerful laughter, and eyes that were the colour of the ocean. Baekhyun gripped his hands into fists, and the bitterness he had locked up in his heart came pouring out. Memories of his childhood flashed through his mind. The laughing, the sickness, the searching, and finally the red. He had lived through so much red.

 

He remembered the sounds – the cries reverberated through his body and shook him to the core. The salty sea air he smelled everyday was a constant reminder of his time with them.

 

A twig snapped behind him, and Baekhyun whirled his head around. When his eyes landed on Cirrus, he let out a sigh of relief. He had almost forgotten she was there.

 

“I promised you a midnight stroll, so let’s take one,” he finally said to her. His voice was back to normal – the confident and witty tone she was used to hearing. Baekhyun turned around, walked past the gravestone and made his way down the hill.

 

Cirrus hesitated following after him. However, when the top of his head disappeared under the hill, her feet started moving on their own. She passed by Hana’s tombstone, and jogged down the hill. She was met by an open beach whose beauty took her breath away. The glow casted by the full Moon made the water’s surface glisten like no jewel she had ever seen. The sand looked like finely milled grain, and was sprinkled with seashells.

 

Baekhyun stood right at the shore, and every time the waves pushed themselves onto the sand the water just barely reached his feet. She walked towards him, and marvelled at the sight that unravelled before her eyes. The midnight blue sky and the dark ocean seemed to mend together somewhere in the middle, and the sparkling water was just as radiant as the stars. It all felt so tranquil, and surreal.

 

“This is my favourite view from Piscari,” Baekhyun murmured. “The sky, the ocean – both are endless.”

 

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

 

“Piscari’s beaches are nice, you see,” Baekhyun started. He bent down and scooped something up in his hand. He let the sand trickle out of his hand before he presented the tiny object to Cirrus. “They’re decorated with seashells.”

 

The seashell was tiny, pink, and etched with delicate grooves.

 

 

 

“I love it,” Cirrus said as she stared lovingly at her jar of seashells, meaning every word of her statement.

 

“I thought you might,” Suho said with an air of confidence. “I know how much you wanted a pink one.”

 

“I was starting to think they didn’t exist.”

 

“I’m sure there are other coloured seashells that you don’t have yet. Orange, yellow, teal and red. One day, I’ll bring you there and we’ll search for them together,” Suho declared, with a hint of reassurance in his voice.

 

“That would be nice,” Cirrus said, almost painfully.

 

 

 

“Pink seashells are pretty common on Piscari,” Baekhyun told her.

 

“Oh, really,” Cirrus mumbled quietly. She bit her lip and gripped onto the fabric of her dress. “I’ve only ever seen one in my life.”

 

“Really?” asked a surprised Baekhyun. “Maybe they’re rarer on other islands. Or, maybe you didn’t search hard enough.”

 

She let out a silent scoff because the entire scene felt so ironic that she wanted to laugh. She also wanted to cry, and she wanted to yell. But above anything else, Cirrus wanted to snag the pink seashell from Baekhyun’s hands and admire its beauty. She wanted to take her shoes off and dig her feet into the soft sand. She wanted to run across the beach and search for more seashells.

 

She wouldn’t mind doing it alone, but having company around was always better. And a tiny part of Cirrus found she wouldn’t mind who the other person was – even if that someone was Baekhyun.

 

Freedom was like a drug to her. The more she had, the more she wanted and no amount would ever satisfy her desire for it. Cirrus’s adventures with the Lux Pirates were starting to shape her into the exact person her parents were wary of; undisciplined, selfish, and irrational.

 

But she was a princess, and it was her duty to remain benevolent and prudent. The few weeks she had spent with Baekhyun’s crew could never outweigh the years of discipline she had been drilled with. And so, Cirrus opened to say what was logical. “My fiancé searched for one and gave it to me.”

 

“Fiancé? Oh, how fancy,” Baekhyun mused. He played with the seashell in his hand and let out a chuckle.

 

“I don’t get what’s so funny,” she muttered.

 

“I was just thinking how unfortunate it is for those in the royal family – forced to marry someone picked by their parents,” he replied with a shrug.

 

“Unfortunate? Suho’s the best man I’ve ever met in my life!” Cirrus said defensively. “He’s smart, and kind and handsome and-“

 

“And how many men can you say you’re close with?” he asked smugly.

 

The question caught Cirrus off-guard, and she stumbled on her words because she didn’t know how to respond to Baekhyun. It didn’t take Cirrus long to count how many males she was on close terms with. It was really just Suho, and Cumulus if she wanted to increase the number.

 

“That doesn’t really matter, does it?” Cirrus huffed. “I love Suho.”

 

“Wow, that’s some confidence,” Baekhyun whistled. “Can you say you’d love him if he wasn’t designated as your fiancé?”

 

“I can,” she replied immediately. “I swear to it. As many times as there are stars in the sky, I swear to the Moon that I’d love Suho even if he wasn’t my fiancé.”

 

Baekhyun let out a laugh and threw the seashell into the ocean behind him. “I really do think you’ve forgotten Romeo and Juliet, princess.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

The ends of Baekhyun’s lips curled into the half-smile he wore so well, and the moonlight casted an almost unearthly glow on his face. He gazed into her eyes and quoted, “Do not swear by the Moon for she changes constantly, then your love would also change. That monthly changes in her circle orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable.”

 

Although the next line belonged to Romeo, it was one that she was curious to ask as well. “What shall I swear by?”

 

“Do not swear at all,” Baekhyun quoted.

 

“Moonlight,” Cirrus cut him off. “I’ll swear on moonlight; that’s something that’s constant.”

 

“Not exactly the next line, but true, there are hints of it even during a new moon,” Baekhyun said. Something caught his attention from the corner of his eye, and he paced a few steps towards it. He picked up another seashell from the sand and exclaimed, “I rarely see orange seashells here. That’s new.”

 

Orange seashells were something she had never seen before, so Cirrus excitedly turned her head towards his hand. “Can I see?” she asked without thinking.

 

He threw the orange seashell in her direction and she caught it with both hands. Cirrus would have been overjoyed before, but as she stared down at the seashell she realized she felt empty. Cirrus looked up at the glistening ocean and pulled her arm back. She released it, and threw the orange seashell into the water.

 

“Why’d you throw it in the ocean?” Baekhyun asked with a gasp. “Orange ones are almost impossible to find!”

 

“I want to find one myself,” she announced. “There are bound to be more. Besides, are you saying it’ll be impossible for you to find another one?”

 

“Is that a challenge?” he smirked. “Because pirates never turn down a challenge.”

 

Baekhyun his heel and started searching through the sands for a second orange seashell. Cirrus followed suit, and started inspecting the sands in a similar fashion. She certainly hadn’t expected her first seashell scavenger hunt to be with Baekhyun, but it was midnight and no one was watching her.

 

Cirrus felt relieved that she had found something to swear her love by. Moonlight was constant, and so was her affection for Suho. If only Cirrus had paid more attention to her Physics tutor, then perhaps she would have remembered that moonlight was nothing more than sunlight in disguise.

 

---

 

A/N: I'm back after a month! Sorry it's taken me so long to get to all your comments, I was busy settling in at my new internship and dealing with other life things. I'm hoping to be more active from now on! Also expect another update from me tomorrow for PYP :)

Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to take this moment to ssay: WHOA WE'RE AT 730 SUBSCRIBERS AND 97 UPVTES!!! Thank you guys so much for making this happen, and I was so fricking excited when I saw that PYP had been recommended in Aishmin's "Exo Fanfiction: The Highly Recommended" list, like people legit thought I was hysterical.

Also you guys wanted some Suho I hope you enjoyed your flashback of Suho :^)

\\ xoxo