“The downfall of my brother.” 

That was all Baekhyun said but it was enough to solidify his image on Soohyun’s mind. At the back of her mind, she had this thought that he’s just like any pirate out there who’s only goal was to steal and find treasures but she’s wrong—Baekhyun and his crew was more than that. Baekhyun has mentioned before that he wasn’t planning on staying a pirate forever and at that time, Soohyun couldn’t understand why. Why wouldn’t he want to stay as a pirate when it’s what he’s been doing for a long time? Soohyun couldn’t find an answer to that question until now. She finally understood what he meant by those words. 

It’s because becoming a pirate wasn’t his everything. 

It’s because becoming the best among everyone else wasn’t what he wanted.

It’s because he had only one goal and that is to take everything back what’s rightfully his. 

That is Byun Baekhyun. 

Soohyun heaved a deep long sigh as she finally found the courage to lay down on her bed. It’s been hours and all she did was to think. It was absolutely tiring and the call for a decent sleep by her tired self was something she couldn’t ignore at the moment. Her eyes closed and though she quickly drifted off to sleep, she knew that her mind would still be in a chaos of thoughts the moment she’d wake up. 

~~~

Soohyun woke up with a series of knocks against her cabin door. With a disheveled hair and a half-opened eyes, she walked towards her door to open it. She saw Chanyeol standing in front of her, with a big smile on his face, as if he was in the moment of celebration. 

“Princess,” Chanyeol beamed. “Today is a special day. Do you know why?” he asked, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. 

Soohyun shook her head, unable to fully understand what Chanyeol was saying because she’s still half asleep at the moment. His words were slurring as they pass through her ears. Chanyeol returned a sigh and shook his head afterwards. 

“Someone’s celebrating their birthday today,” Chanyeol said. 

“Who?” Soohyun asked, scratching her eyes as she tried to wake herself up. 

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said. It was as if the mention of his name was magic, Soohyun’s eyes went wide awake and she felt herself straighten as she looked back at Chanyeol. 

“Today’s his birthday? I...ugh...I didn’t know,” Soohyun stuttered though she wish she didn’t and it was all just a dream. Chanyeol’s wide grin was plastered on his face once again as he nodded his head. 

“We’ve prepared lots of foods at the mess hall. Come down when you’re ready. We’ll have a feast and after that we’ll play games at the deck. It’ll be fun, I swear,” Chanyeol enthusiastically said, as if this was the day he’s been looking forward ever since. Soohyun wasn’t sure how to exactly match his great enthusiasm early in the morning so she only nodded and told him she’d be down in a few minutes. 

Right after Chanyeol left, Soohyun immediately went to the basin to wash herself up. She almost stumbled when she dashed towards her closet to grab one of her dresses. It didn’t even took her that long when she finally dressed and prepped herself up. This was the fastest prepping she has ever done in her entire life and she could feel the raging heartbeat against her chest like heavy thumping drums. Soohyun had to catch her breath as she looked at her reflection. She stopped and suddenly wondered why was she worked with the fact that today’s Baekhyun’s birthday. 

“Why am I rushing?” Soohyun whispered to herself in utter confusion. She shook her head as she cleared her mind. She took in a deep breath before finally deciding to go down the mess hall. 

Soohyun opened the door to the mess hall as quietly as she could. She could hear the loud chatter against the wooden door and it was a nerve-wracking moment when she peaked and saw everyone inside. She didn’t want to look overly excited or something so she tried to calm herself down for a minute before deciding to go inside. 

“Princess!” Chanyeol beamed the moment he saw Soohyun enter the mess hall. Soohyun returned a nod as she proceeded towards the table full of foods and sat right across Chanyeol. 

“You weren’t lying when you told me there’s a feast here,” Soohyun said as she marveled at the foods and dishes in front of her. Chanyeol happily nodded as he offered some to Soohyun to which she gladly accepted. 

There were too many and it’s the most she had seen ever since she boarded the ship. It looks like Baekhyun’s birthday is a well-celebrated event at the ship. Everyone was gathered at the mess hall—some were drinking alcoholic beverages, some were busy munching down food, and the rest were crowded around Baekhyun as they talked about lots of things—that Soohyun watched them with a warm heart. The bond they all display right now were far more than just being friends. They’re like brothers and it’s truly heartwarming to see them be like that at the moment. 

Soohyun had to hold the sudden bitter feeling she felt inside her. Maybe the main reason why she was feeling a bit excited a while ago was that this would probably the first real birthday party she’d ever attend in her life. She felt happy by the thought of it and the mention of playing games made her even more excited. Never did she