“Those scurvy dogs were just a child’s play, they couldn’t even lay a single hit on me. While I only swung my cutlass once they perished like falling leaves.” The purple haired first mate puffs out his chest and bash me with a smug grin.

“Wow...” I react blandly.

“Seriously, that was your reaction. You could do better little Star.” Wooyoung scoffs.

I roll my eyes instead of choosing flowery words to compliment him. If you have been listening to his non-stop pirate adventure for 3 days straight, you’d react like me.

Nevertheless, It had been surprisingly peaceful days; no fight, no storm, no pop up creatures. The only threat I saw was The Royal Navy. She had been following us but eventually faltered behind and disappeared from the horizon as they couldn’t keep up with our speed.

I hope that Chris won’t reappear ever again. It’d be troublesome if he followed us until Wonderland as today Yunho announced that we entered the outer circle of the devil’s triangle.

After the day the boys crashed into my cabin, they kept Aurora and me accompanied whenever they had free time, especially Wooyoung who ditched his work to annoy us.

Beside him, Yeosang and Yunho frequently visited us. Because of Yeosang’s kindness and Yunho’s friendliness, Aurora started to warm up to them. She said that after they barged into our cabin, she saw a new light in them. Still, she didn’t fully trust them, which I understood. Trust doesn't earn easily for the person who has a past grudge with pirates.

Whereas Mingi and Jongho were busy with works. Actually Jongho was the busy one but he dragged Mingi to help him because he didn’t want Mingi to bug us. They mainly join us during dining time and at night for Mingi’s so-called storytelling gathering.

I feel grateful to them. At the same time, sorrow begins to form in my chest. I made a rule to not get attached to them, but I failed miserably. Who can resist these heartthrob dorks anyway.

Hence, I made up my mind to enjoy the time here before leaving for good.

“You should be honored that I, the mighty first mate of Pirate King Revenge, you throughout these days.” Wooyoung leans against the rail on the poop deck while sweeping his hair. I know he’s hot and all but his smugness causes my skin to crawl. Too bad no one is here to share his cringyness with me as the others are occupied with their jobs.

Aurora couldn't withstand his cockiness since day 1 so she volunteered to assist the cook to escape from him. But I’m too lazy to work, I rather hang out with Wooyoung. I don’t want to admit that we are actually the same kind of people.

“You should be thankful that I, the most powerful seeress, didn’t report to Seonghwa that you slacked off for 3 days straight.” I cross my arms, raising my chin up.

Wooyoung smirks, “So now you closed with Seonghwa. Something good must have happened that night.”

After that fateful night, Seonghwa no longer gives me a scornful look instead he wears this mocking smirk every time he sees me. The obvious change doesn’t go unnoticed by the crew, especially the observant first mate. He’d mock me at every opportunity and I swear I’ll silence him with San dagger one day.

“Ugh, no. I still feel like he plans to feed me to sharks. So you need to rescue me from him.” I shudder at my thoughts. Seonghwa’s smirk gives me chills, it’s worse than a normal scowl he often wears.

“Why should I?” He pushes himself off the rail and steps closer to me.

“So that I won’t report you.”

“Hmm, can I hide in your cabin then?” He places an arm around my shoulder, his gaze instantly turns mischievous.

I taken aback by his flirtiness. Unfortunately, his charm works on me but I can’t let him see that or he’ll become more cocky. So I fake coughing and push his arm away to hide my bashfulness.

“Are you trying to challenge the most powerful man on the ship?” I ask. After the members clashed in my cabin, Yeosang prohibited them from coming into the room because it was inappropriate. But Yeosang himself can go in freely as he has the privilege of being a surgeon.

“Who could be more powerful than me on this ship? Not even captain or quartermaster-”

“Wooyoung.” A chill voice interrupts Wooyoung’s speech. We look at each other and slowly turn around to face with the grim reaper.

Wooyoung’s complexion instantly turns pale.

“Work or no food for you.” Seonghwa threatens the not-so-powerful first mate.

“Aye, Sir!” Wooyoung shouts. Before he scurry away, he doesn't forget to wink at me.

Seonghwa snorts, eyeing his subordinate who is literally flying across the deck to flee from him. Then he turns to me. I startle by his mocking smirk that forms on his mouth.

I stand under the warmest time of the day but why the hair at the back of my neck starts to rise like it’s the coldest winter night.

After a short while, he leaves the deck without scolding me at all which is strange.

Once Seonghwa’s figure disappeared from my sight, I breathed out loudly. That man never let me live since the day I stepped on the ship. His character begins to change, from a grumpy man to a creepy man.

I continue appreciating the scenery at the stern until I start to get bored. Deciding to go bother Yeosang at sickbay, I head toward the stairs.

Then, a figure on the main deck caught my eyes. My steps halt as well as my heart skip a beat.

It’s the man who stole my kiss twice and misunderstood that I like him.

Two long swords in both hands, he moves around the deck where the crew automatically part for him as if the deck is his stage. His movement is powerful and destructive, like a raging sea that is ready to swallow an unfortunate ship to its demise.

His skin glows under the warm sunlight. He wears a sleeveless shirt, allowing me to see his arm muscles flexing every time he executes aggressive sword cuts.

As if he feels my linger stare, he makes eye contact while practicing sword moves. I startle and tear my gaze away.

After that incident, I never had a decent conversation with him. So he still misunderstands that I like him.

The way he depreciated himself pained me so I’m afraid to break his heart by telling him the truth—I can’t return him the feeling but a friendship. But what if he shut himself again? Wooyoung will blame me for breaking his best friend.

Now, I understand what Wooyoung meant. His character changed tremendously around me. He dined with the other members although he didn’t participate in the conversation. He’d tried to sit next to me but Mingi always intervened because of weird rumors about San and me. So Mingi acted up whenever San attempted to get close to me.

Nonetheless, San seemed to be everywhere near me even though he didn’t approach me at all. I often caught his stare. To my dismay, the memory of us kissing always brought up whenever I saw him.

I’ll come clean to him one day but not when he carries weapons in his hands. I’m afraid my head would detach my body.

I glance at San again to see that Seonghwa and him advance to the lower deck. Seeing that the coast is clear, I resume my journey downward, then again I catch a glimpse of another figure on the main deck.

This man is also the cause of my anxiety for these past few days. I contemplated over and over to clear his misunderstanding. But when I recalled what Seonghwa told me, I didn’t approach him.

Suddenly, Hongjoong’s eyes found mine. His icy gaze froze my body. I unconsciously hold my breath. Somehow I'm scared of him being indifferent. He didn’t summon me once and whenever I walked past him, he’d give me that icy glare. And I, being obnoxious, also gave him a cold shoulder.

Hongjoong averts his gaze and continues walking as if I’m an air.

I pout. An irk feeling rises unwillingly. He probably thinks I’m a bad woman who tries to seduce his crew behind his back. Still I saw him conversing with Seonghwa normally. So this is what it calls bro before hoe, right?

But wait. He and I weren’t in a relationship in the first place so why should I care.

Yes, I don’t care at all but why my feet brought me to his cabin.

Well, since I’m leaving, I should come clean with him so that I won’t regret later.

The door of his cabin is slightly ajar. I peek my head inside and see that he lies down on the king sized bed.

“Hongjoong, may I come in?” I ask politely.

A couple second pass but no response from the man on the bed.

He just went into his room but why did he fall asleep so fast. Is he sick or something?

Concerning, I invite myself inside and close the door. Sauntering toward his bed, I peer at Hongjoong who sleep soundlessly. His brows furrow even if he is off to dreamland.

“Hongjoong.” I whisper softly. Yet he doesn’t react to my call.

I stare at his tired face and feel a pang of guilt hit me. He always puts on a tough facade as the pirate king. He shoulders such pressure as the captain who is responsible for all crews’ lives. It must be both mentally and physically exhausting.

Was I being too mean to him?

I place my hand on his forehead. To my relief, his temperature is normal. I move my hand to softly pat his hair, making the crease between his brows disappear.

Suddenly, a rough hand yanks me down by the man that’s supposed to sleep. The next thing I know I already fell on top of Hongjoong.

“Here to assassinate the pirate king?” A husky voice falls through the sly grin curving on his lips.

My face is a centimetre apart from him. My brain freezes for a moment.

“What- No!” Blood rushing to my face once I realize how dangerous our position is.“Let go of me!” I yell while trying to push myself up but his arms are like steel that lock me in place.

“You’re crushing me right now. I think you broke my rib cage.” He tilts his head to the side, giving me mischievous stares.

How rude! I scoff and continue struggling in his hold.

“Hongjoong, I’m serious.” I harden my voice, glaring at him.

“I’m also serious. What is the seeress doing in my bedroom?” He raises an eyebrow, a dangerous glint coming off the pair of hazel pupils.

“Let go of me first!” I yell again, high pitch tone due to the embarrassment.

“Scared that I might do what Seonghwa did to you?” His grin gradually became more sinister.

“Ew, no,” I grimace. Did he really think we did something?

“Nothing happened. You gravely misunderstood. I just came to talk to him about stuff. I didn’t want you to see me so I hid under his bed.” I shout, not caring if my saliva rains down on his face.

“You don't talk stuff to a man like Seonghwa. And why did it have to be in the middle of the night?”

“I- er, let me go first then I’ll tell you.”

Hongjoong chuckles in his throat as he slowly lets go of me. Before my body weakly slides to the floor, he captures my arm to set me down next to him. The distance between us is considered unsafe but the way he looks at me advises me that I should stay still.

I chew my lower lip and answer him. “I can’t tell you.”

“Nevermind, Seonghwa already told me.” Hongjoong says deadpanned.

Feeling like something hit my head, I stare at him dumbfoundedly. He knew all along but acted displeased toward me.

“You know!?” When I find my voice, I shout so loud that Hongjoong twists his face.

“Um.” He hums, a smirk begins to appear on his lips.

“Seonghwa told you!?”

“Aye.” He grins wider when he is amused by my reaction.

“That traitor!” Oh my god! Aurora will kill me if she knows her plan fails because of me.

“That traitor is my quartermaster.” He shoots me weird glances.

“Still, it’s a promise.” I huff. Mr. Grumpy, how dare you betray me, I will...nevermind he’s scary. I’ll die first before I avenge him.

“You’re so naive.” Hongjoong snickers.

“Fine, since you know. You should have morals and let Aurora go.”

“Are you asking for moral from a pirate?” He asks me with a mocking tone. I squint my eyes at him to show him that I’m not in a joking mood.

Hongjoong smiles and shrugs, “However, since she runs away from Chris, I’ll help her settle somewhere where he won’t be able to find her in this lifetime.”

Why does it feel like a dead threat?

“Aurora will choose a place herself, you just follow her request.” I corrected his sentence.

“Fine.” He shrugs.

That was easy. I eye him warily.

As if he could read my mind, he continues, “I don’t care about Chris’s fiancee. But you my treasure, you plan to leave me.”

“I-, yes, I have to leave.” In the end, I tell him honestly because I don’t want to give him false hope.

Hongjoong stays quiet after hearing my response. His stare is getting so intense by seconds that I have to look downward.

“Are you sure you can escape from me?” His hand grabs on my chin to meet his strong gaze.

There he goes again.

I swat his hand away, raising my voice. “I’m not your lifeless treasure. I have arms and legs, I can walk away to wherever I want.”

“Then I’ll make sure that your legs will always come to me.”

“Don’t be so confident.” I scoff.

Hongjoong smirks and says nothing more. I glare at him, concerning what he's planning inside his head.

Hongjoong suddenly sighs, “I’ve been waiting for you to come to me after that day you broke my heart but you took so long.” The way he said it, I feel like a wrongdoer here.

“I missed you.”

My heart flips at those three words. I stare at Hongjoong wide eyes. There's no playfulness on his expression, instead he holds my gaze genuinely.

I avert my gaze elsewhere when a smile threatens to break on my face.

Oh no, hell no. I can’t go soft on him.

“Well, I don’t miss you at all.” I say the opposite, he has been on my mind all this time.

I thought he’d act possessive like he normally did. His expression is replaced by an icy demeanor.

“If you want to leave then leave. I can’t force you. I already used to people leaving me anyway, dead or alive.”

The atmosphere becomes tense. I’m speechless by the sudden turn of events.

“Do me a favor on your way back, shut the door for me. I’m tired.” Hongjoong leans against the bed frame and closes his eyes.

A lump forms inside my throat. I sit stupidly, staring at his form.

“Why not leave? So now you change your mind to stay?” He says, his eyes remain shut.

“Hongjoong.” I dig my nails into my palms. That wasn’t the reaction I expected from him. Seems like I hurt his feelings again.

I shift closer to him and do something that I can’t imagine myself doing.

I lean forward and hug him.

His body stiff and then relax, his hands circle around my back.

“I’m sorry.” I whisper at the crook of his neck.

He utters nothing, but tightens his embrace. We stay like that for a long time, indulging in each other's warmth.

“You cry?” He whispers gently.

“No way.” I pull away and meet with his unexplainable expression. His gleaming eyes flicker all over my face.

“Do I earn a kiss now?” A corner of his mouth tug upward.

“No!” I shrink.

Hongjoong fake a sigh. “Not even a goodbye kiss.”

“We’re not even at Wonderland yet.”

“So you’re saying I can kiss you in Wonderland?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Hongjoong laughs, eyes curving into half moon. I can’t help but smile after him. This is the Hongjoong that I fell for, not the merciless pirate king.

We stare at each other. A jittery feeling makes a comeback in my stomach.

“I still have time to change your mind.” He holds both of my hands. The warmth from his hands travels to my chest. However, my eyes feel exceptionally hot.

I shake my head. No, please don’t. I’m begging you. It’s already hard for me to leave you.

Suddenly, the ship sways violently. We hear the bell jingling and the crews yelling. Outside the window, gray clouds cover the sky. A second ago sunlight still illuminated the room, but it went dim like a night time quickly. Thunders rumble and lightning strikes from far away. It’s a sign that the storm is coming.

“Why is there always a er when I’m with you?” He mutters, exasperated.

I couldn’t agree more.

“I’ll be back. You can stay in my room. It’s dangerous to walk to your room in this weather. And perhaps you will change your mind and share this room with me.” He smirks playfully.

I hit him in the chest, making him laugh lightly.

“Can you be alone?”He pats my head softly.

“I’m not a kid.” I roll my eyes.

“If you miss me, you can hug my pillow if you want.” He chuckles while standing up, preparing to leave.

“What do you take me for?” I roll my eyes for the second time.

“My treasure.”

In the dark, I see his eyes sparkle. Those orbs stare at me like I’m his most precious treasure. Although I used to dislike him calling me treasure, at this moment I want to hear him say it again. I bite my inner cheek to prevent myself from smiling.

His soft gaze linger on me for a short while before he heads outside. I watch him exit the room with my heart blooming.

I know I shouldn’t allow myself to feel this way. Then again, he’s Hongjoong. When I’m in front of him, I feel powerless. All my rationale slips away, only emotion remains to control my consciousness.

I lie down on his bed and feel heavy yet elated. I pick up his pillow, instead of hugging it, I punch it.

You pillow, do you know that your owner tried to entice me to stay with him? But I can’t! You’re so lucky that you can be with him all the time.

Before I’m going too crazy, I place down the poor pillow below my head. I stretch my arms and legs across the king sized bed. But don’t have any wrong ideas that I want to share the bed with him, this bed is just too comfy.

I stay inside his room for a long time but the storm is getting worse. It is so bad that I feel dizzy to the point that I fall asleep on his bed.

---

“Achoo!!” I sneeze and wake up when something picks my nose.

I crack one eye open and see a man gripping the end of my hair and putting it in my nose.

His giggle ceases when he notices I woke up.

“Really, Yunho.” I groggily sit up while glaring at the giant puppy.

“Sorry, you were so cute when you slept.” Yunho sheepishly apologizes while scratching the back of his head.

Well, he said I was cute. I won’t be angry anymore.

Outside is now pitch black. The room is dimly lit by a lamp on the nightstand. That’s how I remember I’m still in Hongjoong’s cabin. I stare at Yunho, flabbergasted. He’s going to think that Hongjoong and I have something going on.

“It’s not what you think!” I shout in sheer panic.

“Eh?” Yunho tilts his head confusedly.

“Nevermind. Just don’t spread weird rumors.” I mumbles under my breath.

It doesn't take long for Yunho to understand what I meant. He lets out a chuckle.

“Captain is so lucky. He caught a one giant Starfish” He ruffles my hair.

Starfish, what?

Yunho giggles once he notices my expression.

“You slept like a starfish.”

My sleeping posture must be unsightly. I’m glad that the room is dark or else he’d see me blush madly.

“Yunho.” I grumble. “Do you want me to call you giant puppy?”

Yunho widens his eyes and shakes his hands. “Fine fine. Polaris, I lose. Anyway, captain asks for you to join the meeting.”

“What meeting?”

Seeing my panic expression, Yunho chuckles again. “Don’t worry. We have a question regarding the devil’s triangle.”

Shoot, I’m not prepared to make up a lie after waking up.

“Let’s go. Everyone is waiting.”

Yunho leads me outside the room. Once I step into the quarter room, all eyes are fixated on me.

Oh my lord, now everyone knows that I slept inside Hongjoong’s room.

“You okay?” Yunho nudges me when I stop in my tracks.

“Yea, never been better.” I said sarcastically.

I drag my heavy legs after Yunho to the long table in the middle of the room. He ushers me to sit next to Seonghwa while he sits down beside me.

Seonghwa gives me a taunting look that I despise so much after knowing that he told my plan to Hongjoong. So I shot him a dagger but he only snorts in return.

“Shall we start?” Yunho calls for everyone's attention.

I stop glaring at Seonghwa and look straight. I almost stop breathing when I lock my gaze with the person sitting across from me.

San, whose normal seat is at the window sill, sits on the opposite side. His dark expression makes me somewhat guilty.

Is he mad?

Of course, he is. The way his gaze pierce at me burns my skin. My eyes loop downward. I need to explain to him and clear his misunderstanding. Even if I were to be chopped into pieces, I must tell him the truth.

“Star, Star.”

I jolt when my name was called.

“Huh?” I look left and right to find who was calling me.

“Seems like someone still not waking up.” The first mate who sits besides San smirks at me.

“Star, do you have an answer to that.” Hongjoong cut off Wooyoung, his voice surprisingly warm. I look at him and my cheek flares.

“Er, when you travel further in the area. There’ll be more unexpected storms, like hail storm. The weather could be scorching hot or bone-chilling cold within a short span of time. And you guys need to beware of monsters lurking in the water.” Even though my mind travels somewhere else, my ears prick up some words.

“We have heard of that. What we want to know is regarding Yunho’s issue.” Seonghwa sneered as he knew I didn’t pay attention to the meeting.

“Oh,” I turn to Yunho to give him an apologetic look.

“The storm caused us to stray from the course. Yunho couldn’t plot the course because all compasses start to act strange.” Hongjoong explains to me. Meanwhile Yunho passes me a couple of compasses. The lodestones point in different directions.

With this issue, we’re in deep trouble. I stare at the compasses and get lost in my memory of the storyline.

“Oh right!” I hit my head with my own hand because I forgot the crucial part. “Aurora’s pendant can guide you to the direction of Wonderland. It’ll grow brighter when it points to the right direction.”

“How convenient.” Wooyoung mumbles. “I’ll go get her.”

“Not you.” Seonghwa immediately stops him. “You’ll only be there to flirt with her. I’ll go.” Seonghwa gets up and strides outside the room.

“I’ll go too.” I get up and dash after him. I can’t let him be with Aurora. He’ll freak her out.

“Me too.” Yunho also follows us closely behind.

---

I jump in front of Seonghwa when he knocks on the door.

“Don’t scare her, okay?” I point out to him before opening the door.

“Are you her mom?” I hear him mutter behind me.

“Hey Aurora.” I open the door and greet her where she sits on her bed, reading.

“Umm...” She stares warily at Seonghwa.

“Well, we’re here to ask you about your pendant. Can we borrow it for a moment?”

Upon hearing my request, Aurora scrunches her face and bite her lower lip.

“My pendant...” She reluctantly answers us. Anxiousness can be detected in her tone.

“We just borrow it, not steal it.” Seonghwa sneers at her.

I glare at Seonghwa for being rude to her and smile at Aurora to encourage her to continue speaking.

“I...lost it.”

After hearing her answer, I can see my world shatter.

“What! You lost it!” Seonghwa glowers. He strides toward Aurora. I quickly grab his arm to not pounce on the poor girl.

“Where did you last see it?” I ask her calmly even though my legs start to shake.

“I’m not sure. Maybe at the island.”

Someone catches me before I hit the ground. The island where Ateez repaired their ship is outside of the devil’s triangle. Ateez will waste their precious time to find the lost pendant. Plus, they’ll risk encountering the Royal Navy.

“The island.” Seonghwa repeats, pinching his nose bridge. “Yunho do you remember the island?”

“Aye, but the compass doesn't seem to work so I have to wait until the night sky is clear to see the stars to find our current location.” Yunho answers weakly.

“.” Seonghwa curses. He glares at me and swats my hand that grabs onto him. Then he stomps outside the room.

“Is it a serious issue?” Aurora asks, panicking at Seonghwa’s outburst.

“Ugh, yes. Very serious.” I answer her honestly. How are we going to Wonderland without her pendant? I’m at my wit’s end.

“I’ll explain to you later.” I tell her and run outside the room, calling after Seonghwa.

“Seonghwa wait!”

His long legs continue marching further away. I speed up and chase after him. I only fear that he no longer sees Aurora useful and throws her away.

“I’ll try to think of a way!”

Surprisingly, he stops and swirls around. I almost collided with him but was able to stop myself.

He stares down at me with an irritated expression.

“Sorry.” For some reason, the word slipped out of my mouth.

“Did you lose the pendant?” Furrowing his brows, he asks in a low voice.

“No.” I meekly shake my head.

“Then don’t apologize.” He turns on his heels and leaves me standing there, speechless.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Who's turning 2 years old? It's Atiny \(★ω★)/  I was supposed to update yesterday but I was busy spamming their tweet. They're so sweet, giving us contents all day.

But Ateez isn't complete without Mingi. Let's wait for him and shower him with love he deserves.