I wake up dizzily in a tiny room. I take a full minute trying to remember why I ended up here.

The scene replays in my head and I want to plunge myself into the deep ocean.

I fainted. Fainted in front of hundreds of people.

Tugging my hair, I groan and kick my feet in the air in frustration. That was so embarrassing. Ateez must be seeing me as a weak girl from now on.

Then I notice my red dress replaced with a creamy shirt and long black pants.

Who was changing my clothes? I panic. This might not be my body, but it’s still my body.

A door suddenly opens and the surgeon enters with a bowl in his hand. “You awake. How are you feeling?” Yeosang asks and hands me the familiar green liquid.

“A little dizzy.” I answer as I collect the bowl. I grimace, having no choice but to drink the medicine.

“Aurora changed your clothes. Don’t worry.” He answers.

I nod, feeling a bit relieved.

“How long did I pass out?”

“Half of a day.”

After he responded, the room fell into uncomfortable silence.

I quietly drink the medicine. Once finished, I gave the bowl back to Yeosang.

“I heard what was happening.” Yeosang sighs, “It must have terrified you.” Staring into the innocent aquamarine eyes, he tries to search for any sign of emotions. Afraid to see that one emotion in her eyes, fear.

He aware that his crew are ruthless, not everyone can accept them. He can’t say that they’re not bad people because they are. But he doesn’t want to scare the girl in front of him.

“Sorry for my crew’s action, they were going overboard this time.” His crew always go overboard, it’s their normal trait. But this time their behavior upset him.

“Will you scold Hongjoong and Seonghwa for me?” The black haired girl asks him cheekily.

Yeosang stares at the girl and shakes his head. Does she know who she is dealing with? 
The notorious pirate king. Their name alone is enough to make anyone cower in fear. But this girl asked him to scold them.

Wounds on her face still haven’t healed and her left foot is inflamed from running. She sure likes to attract trouble to herself.

“I will and I will also scold you for your reckless action.” Yeosang sits down on the bed and touches her left foot.

I cry and yank my foot away. I see that he changed the bandage.

“Sorry Yeosang.” I feel guilty for adding more work to him. “And thank you for taking care of me.”

“If you really feel sorry, then why would you run around with that wounded foot?”

“I have my reason but trust me, I wasn’t trying to escape.”

“I trust you.” His answer caught me off guard. His chestnut brown orbs stare into mine intently while I, again, lost in those beautiful orbs.

Suddenly, loud knocks on the door break our eye contact.

He instantly gets up and walks to the door, “I hope I get to know you better.” He says and leaves the room.

I sit frozen, trying to register what he meant. But my heart is already pounding loudly in my chest. If I were playing a game, I was completely K.O.

Before the door shut, another silhouette walks in. His boots clicking on the floor. His body faces me as he leans against the wall.

The first mate crosses his arm, “Explain.” He has no usual playful smirk on his face. And his word is short meaning that he’s angry.

“Can you elaborate on what explanation you want from me?” Wooyoung's intensity brings down my blissful moment earlier.

“Why were you outside? Is it because you thought it was Royal navy?” He chuckles darkly.

“No, I know it wasn’t the Royal navy.” My brows knit together as Wooyoung has no reaction.

“And?”

“I foresaw that you got hurt.” I confess to him, seeing it would add more suspicion if I made up another excuse.

“Saw me got hurt?” He paused, “Are you saying you see that beforehand?”

I nod, making him taken aback.

“I don’t know if I should believe you or not. But Seonghwa confine you in the room.”

Not again. This room is smaller than the previous one. But thinking of confronting the cold blooded Seonghwa makes me think twice.

“Where’s Aurora?” I remember hearing the poor girl’s scream before passing out. If I am confined in the room, Aurora would receive the same punishment.

“We separate you in case you both try to plan another escape.” Wooyoung answers.

I slump in my bed. “Is she okay?”

“You should worry about yourself first.”

“But I want to know if she’s ok or not.”

Wooyoung sighs, “ Are you her mom? We aren’t stupid to not notice that you always shield her. Earlier I saw her heading toward that fake Royal navy ship. Because she mistook it. Now how are you going to defend her?”

Damn Wooyoung, he made me speechless.

“Why don’t you try to understand from her point of view? Imagine being in her shoe, isn’t it terrifying to be around scary pirates?”

Wooyoung scoffed at the word ‘scary pirates’. “What about you?”

“Err...Because I know I'm supposed to be on this ship so I’m not scared.”

“Not scared? I see someone fainted earlier.” He says in a mocking tone.

I roll my eyes.

“But you’re right, we're scary pirate, you should be scared of us. And it’s not my problem that she is scared witless- Oh wait, it’ll be my problem if she escapes.” Wooyoung turns back to his usual self as his long rant returns. “Just so you know, once we get what we want, I won’t hesitate to throw her out of the ship.”

“Yah!! Don’t do that!” I shout panickingly.

“I start to think that you’re her mom.” He mumbles while massaging his ears from the girl's shout.

“No Wooyoung, you can’t do that!” I repeat but he pretends to not hear me. “I’m going to repeat this a million time that she’s important- ”

“Whatever. I got it that she’s going to help us lift the curse but if she create trouble one more time, I will throw-”

“Will you throw me out too?” I cut him off, wanting to know even if I was scared to hear the answer.

He pushes himself from the wall and saunters toward my bed. Leaning his face to my eye level, tiny smirk return to his face, “We’ll wait and see.”

What does that supposed to mean? They’re planning to throw me overboard too?

He turns around and goes over to the door, planning to leave. But his hand froze on the doorknob.

“Thanks,” He mutters.

“What did you say?” I ask as I couldn’t hear him.

“Thanks.”

“What?” This time I heard him but decided to mess with him.

“I said thanks!!” He shouts annoyingly.

“Geez. Why are you getting so worked up. And that didn’t sound sincere at all.”

He scoffs, “This is the sincerest ‘thank’ you ever got from me. I’m not Hongjoong. That guy can preach about how he is thankful toward people but not feeling anything.”

Wow He just threw shade at Hongjoong, his beloved captain.

He sees my expression and laughs, “Never trust Pirates, little Star.”

Little star?

If it’s another circumstance, I’d roll on the floor squealing in delight. But this is the pirate Wooyoung who made his way up on my nerve wrecking list.

“Including you?” I ask him.

“Yes, including me.” He surprisingly answered me sincerely and left the room.

---

The rest of the day, I was left alone in my new tiny room. I was confined again.

When I am alone, my thoughts always run wild. The conversation between Wooyoung lingers heavily in my mind. I can’t decipher if Ateez's action is real or fake for the sake of getting what they want. But Yeosang's kindness from earlier felt real.

My heart flutters when thinking about Yeosang’s word. Hope to get to know me? Does he mean he believes me? Yes, he said he trusts me. I let out a fit of giggles.

Then my heart deflates when recalling Wooyoung’s words. Never trust pirates. But Yeosang is the surgeon, not a pirate. Still, he’s one of them. Are they going to play good cop bad cop to confuse me? The more I get to know pirates Ateez, the more conflict I feel. They’re the complete opposite of Ateez in real life. One thing that they have in common is that they love to give me a heart attack, well, different kinds of heart attacks.

---

Jim, who is guarding in front of Star’s room, wants to go inside and check if the girl is still doing fine because he heard giggling and crying switching from time to time.

He isn’t sure whether he should report to his captain of the seer losing her mind or ask one of his crew to take his job.

Jim is thrown into a dilemma for the first time of his life.

// Ateez love to give us heart attack, couldn't agree more. 
I saw rumor about their comeback with darker concept. If that's true, I might disappear for awhile as I plunge myself to the ocean lol I hope they get recognition they deserve and win  more trophies this time.

Thanks as always. Have a good day and take care. ⊂( ´ ▽ ` )⊃