It has been hours since their encounter with Jinhyuk. Shortly after Kyungsoo and Soohyun boarded the ship, Baekhyun also followed. Soohyun didn’t had the chance to talk to Baekhyun as he immediately went to his cabin and locked himself in there for hours. She only wanted to ask one thing—what did he do with Jinhyuk. They were never really close nor did they had a special bond with each other, but he’s still her brother and to know that he had possibly faced death somehow brought a heavy feeling to her. 

Soohyun decided to take a nap instead of making things worse by overthinking. A few more hours later, she found herself awake at the sound of waves crashing beneath them. It seems like they’re sailing on a rough sea though it looked like there wasn’t a storm out there. Soohyun looked out at her window and noticed that it was already nighttime. She had thought of going back to sleep but her body wasn’t feeling anything more than being awake. She then decided to grab a snack at the mess hall. Now that she has thought of it, she actually felt hungry after all. 

Soohyun carefully walked down the hallway and towards the mess hall without creating too much noise from the creaking floorboard. As soon as she reached the door to the mess hall, she carefully and quietly opened the door. Soohyun immediately noticed the lights were on, though not all, and there was a distinct figure with its head rested on the table, seated on the far end. 

Baekhyun. Soohyun thought. It wasn’t that hard to identify him at his current position. He was still wearing the same clothing he wore when they went to Azmar and his hair was noticeably sticking out everywhere. It seemed like he had ran his fingers through it a lot of times for it to gain its messy appearance. Soohyun wasn’t sure if he was asleep or was just resting his head on the table so she just quietly got some bread, making sure she won’t disturb him in any way. She was about to head out when she heard him groan. 

“You,” Baekhyun spoke in a raspy voice. So he was asleep. Soohyun looked back and flashed a sheepish grin as she held the bread on her hand. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up. I just got some bread and was about to head out. You can continue sleeping,” Soohyun said. She was about to take another step towards the door when Baekhyun stopped her. 

“No you didn’t,” Baekhyun lightly chuckled as he fixed his hair and motioned Soohyun to have a seat. Soohyun was hesitant at first but then he insisted and she was left with no choice but to have a seat then. 

Soohyun wasn’t sure what exactly to do right after taking a seat because it suddenly became awkwardly quiet between the two of them. Baekhyun kept yawning for a few times and it looked like he was trying to keep himself awake while Soohyun looked everywhere except him. When the awkward silence was becoming unbearable, Baekhyun spoke up. 

“I sent him back,” Baekhyun said. He rested his back against the chair as he looked at Soohyun. 

Soohyun looked back at him with a confused look,  unsure of what he’s talking about. He smiled and then proceeded to explain what he just said. 

“Your brother, I sent him back,” Baekhyun started. Soohyun couldn’t even focus on what he just said as the picture of him smiling before saying those seemed to stay on her mind no matter how much she tried not to. She couldn’t even deny that it looked beautiful to her eyes and that she couldn’t look away from it but then she had to—she had to or else he’ll notice her staring. Soohyun bit her lip as she looked away and tried to listen to him once again. 

“Kyungsoo mentioned that you asked him about what I was going to do with him. Don’t worry, I didn’t kill him. I just gave him some good teaching—especially on manners,” Baekhyun calmly said. Now that he has mentioned about it, Soohyun finally found the focus she needed to actually listen to him. He’s right, she was worrying about that thing but was she that obvious that he had to say something to clear things up? 

“Am I too obvious?” Soohyun curiously asked. 

“Yeah. I can absolutely see the worry in your face right now,” he said. No, you’re wrong. Soohyun thought. The worry in her face right now wasn’t solely about Jinhyuk and his well-being but half of  it was trying to keep herself sane after seeing his smile. What exactly was in his smile that had always made her feel this way? She couldn’t name it even with the extensive knowledge she has with words, it just seemed impossible to find one. She breathed in as she was quite relieved that he thought of it as the worry for her brother and nothing else. 

“You’re kind,” Soohyun blurted out. That thought wasn’t meant to be said out loud but it seemed like her lips failed her this time. She looked at Baekhyun and he looked a bit taken aback by her words. Soohyun instantly worried if it had made him uncomfortable in any way or if she had said the wrong words as he was quiet for a while. 

Soohyun was about to say something until Baekhyun spoke up. He leaned forward as he rested his chin on his palm. “You think so?” 

His intense stare was something Soohyun knew she couldn’t handle long enough so she nodded at his question in hopes of him backing away and dropping it right there and then. Baekhyun’s lips slowly curled upwards as he showed another small yet tired smile. This time, it didn’t made Soohyun’s mind run crazy but instead it sent another wave of worry to her. 

“I don’t think so but thank you. It’s been too long since I heard someone say that to me knowing that I’m a pirate,” Baekhyun said. He heaved a sigh as he relaxed himself on his chair.

“I...” Soohyun trailed off her words. She found herself fiddling as she tried to find the right words to say at the moment. “I really think you are—at least to me. There were many instances when you could’ve said no to me but you didn’t. You’re here trying to help me. I don’t understand why you’re being so kind but thank you, it really means a lot to me.” 

It felt nice to finally have thanked Baekhyun because it was all Soohyun was thinking for the past few days. Baekhyun was quiet for a while and Soohyun was starting to regret whatever she said until she heard him chuckle tiredly. “If you say so.” 

And then everything went silent once again. Soohyun obviously had a ton of questions on her mind but she wasn’t sure what to ask first or if he would even answer her questions in the first place. She tried sorting out the important questions she had to those of less importa