The sound of a door creaking woke me up from sleep.

I don't know when I fell asleep last night as I spent the entire night recalling the plot of fiction.

Soft light pours into the room as I see a man silhouette at the door, walking inside.

He scrunches his nose in disgust at the strong smell of the brig and looks at 'Y/N' and me.

"Morning ladies, it's time," He says.

I immediately jump at my feet, legs wobble as I approach him, making him startle at my sudden action.

Light in the room isn't bright but I could tell who he is from afar.

"Wooyoung" I call his name in awe.

He surprises at first but then his face turns into smugness.

"Woah. I know I'm quite popular with the ladies." He smirks while sweeping his faded purple hair.

I manage to let out awkward "ha" at his smugness.

He's charming but seems like the author gives him too much confidence for his character.

He looks pass me and stops staring at Y/N.

Yea, I know she's pretty and all. I roll my eyes.

"Pretty ladies shouldn't be treated like this. I apologize for your inconvenience. Our quartermaster is too cruel, right? but...that's how we do things. Until you are proved innocent, you're our prisoner." He says but his eyes linger on 'Y/N'.

The girl is clearly uncomfortable under his stare as she hides behind me.

I fake a cough. "Should we get going? The storm is coming." I say interrupting his little moment as I feel the ship is starting to rock violently.

He pays me no mind and walks out of the jail. "Follow me" He says and leads us the way.

Once we step out in the open, the sky is covered with dark gray clouds. Harsh wind blows pass our bodies making our hair and dresses flutter.

Even in this circumstance, our female protagonist still manages to look stunning like a beautiful painting.

The girl and I are led to stand near the mainmast.

The entire crew is surrounding us like we're animals in the zoo.

My nerves start to rise as I unconsciously shift toward 'Y/N' and she also shifts closer to me.

Huge waves crashing against the ship making it hard to stand still. 'Y/N' grab on to my arm as she loses balance. But Wooyoung comes to her side to hold her from falling.

The girl squawks at him and wriggles out of his hands, a distaste show on her gorgeous face.

But Wooyoung only smirks playfully at her while he leans against the mast scanning the girl up and down.

Damn boy. Why does he always get a playboy role in every fiction.

The girl clings to me like a lost child, eye glueing at the ground. She probably scared out of her wits.

"Can you not do that?" I have enough as I speak to Wooyoung.

"Do what?" He raises his eyebrows at me, arms crossing on his chest.

"That intruding eyes of yours. Can't you see she's uncomfortable." I say directly.

He scoffs and shouts loudly to his crews,"Hey! Don't stare at them. The ladies are uncomfortable."

Laughter then emerges from the crowd.

My face flush deeply as I throw a glare at the culprit.

I'm about to make my comeback but I see a group of people walking toward our way.

Captain Hongjoong walks in the front. He might be tiny compared to his crews but his oozing power is no joke, suit his Pirate King title. He wears a loose-fitting white shirt with a super flashy long red coat and black plant.

To his right, the quartermaster Seonghwa with stoic expression. His black eye is void of emotion. He wears an entire black outfit which looks so great on him but reminds me of grim reaper. Hopefully, I'm not the soul that he'll collect today.

And on the left, Yunho. Contrast to the other two, he carries a carefree atmosphere. And because I saw him when the light was out I didn't notice his blue hair. The color reminds me of summer sky. He looks like he came out of an Anime.

Seriously, all of them should be on a runway instead of a pirate ship.

Once they stop in front of me, it starts raining.

"The storm comes." I open the conversation.

"It's just the storm. There're more on your prophecy." Seonghwa says nonchalantly.

"Sure sure" I answer him, thinking this guy is hard to convince.

"But before we get to that, Miss. Our ship doesn't tolerate liars. Wooyoung-" He then turns to the man beside me. "Why don't you tell them of our punishment for liars." Seonghwa's expression may remain stoic but I could see craziness in his eyes.

Wooyoung strides toward me and leans in. "The punishment is your life." He whispers into my ears but he's loud enough for 'Y/N' to hear. I could hear her breath caught in .

In the meantime, Hongjoong says nothing and his expression is unreadable. He's only staring at me. I wonder if he believes me or not?

Then we're changing location to stand under a roof as the rain pours harder and the ship sway dangerously. The crews also leave to maneuver the ship, leaving only 4 Ateez members to our side.

Not long after that, to my relief, the first thunder strikes and follows by two, three.

All of us are counting with anticipation.

Please come true. I pray inside my mind.

At the same time, I keep my cool exterior but actually almost faint at nervousness.

Lightning and thunder flash above us.

Four...Five

'Y/N' unknowingly hugs me.

Six

I return her hug.

Seven

Everyone holds their breath, waiting for the 8th thunder to strike.

But it doesn't come.

The rain is still pouring hard, waves crashing, wind howling, anything but thunder.

All of them turn to look at me whose face has already turned white.

In a moment of life and death, Hongjoong then let out a sarcastic laugh while shaking his head.

I have to idea why he abruptly laughs like that but it indeed scares me.

"Seems like it didn't come." Seonghwa speaks through a storm. His right eye that doesn't cover in side-bang gleams with satisfaction as he caught a liar.

Like energy out of me, I didn't respond to him. I'm speechless at the realization.
The storyline probably changed.

"The punishment..." Seonghwa's voice fades into the background as the harsh truth already pierced my heart. "Take them to the plank." He orders his men.

'Y/N' starts sobbing, face in her slim hands.

Then, giant pirates come to our side and start dragging us away. Their rough hands grab on my arms and shoulders. I don't even have strength to protest.

Am I going to die like this? Is this really the end of my character?

When the rain hit me, I snap out of the thought. No, I refuse to die like this. I have to try again.

"No. Wait!" I try to escape out of pirates' iron grip. I turn my head to look at Seonghwa. He has a dark expression, his dark eyes are colder than the raindrop.

"Let me explain!" I turn to plead at him and then Hongjoong.

"What do you have to explain? How do you lie to us? And think we're fools?!" Hongjoong voice is harsher than thunder.

The look of the 4 Ateez members are so hostile that my body turns numb.

"I didn't do anything, let me go!" 'Y/N' yell out.

My head snaps at her.

Right, she knows where the map is.

"You tell them!" I scream at her. "You know where the map is"

"I..I.." Amidst the chaos, she only stutters.

Ateez suddenly perks up at my word. Hongjoong wave his hand to stop the men to stop carry us away.

"So you clearly know where the map is" He marches toward us, his expression changing into devilish

"Just tell them!" I yell again when the girl keeps quiet.

Ugh this girl we're second away from dead and she's being stubborn.

Because of the intense stares around her, she's shaking uncontrollably and falls into the ground.

Hongjoong sees the girl is in no shape to speak so he turns to me.

"How do you know all about this?" He says through gritted teeth.

It's my turn to be speechless. My brain completely goes blank.

Hongjoong hover over me as he tries to squeeze answer out of me.

"Answer me!" He shouts and grabs on my collar.

I wince at his rude action.

"I told you I'm a seer!"I scream out my lungs.

Suddenly, a lightning flash followed by a loud boom of thunder.

The 8th one.

My heart stops beating.

The rain gradually ceased.

The dark clouds ungather.

Then I hear people gasp and point toward the northside of the ship.

I follow their eyes and see a rainbow.

The prophecy became true! The storm, 8 thunders, and the rainbow.

Just how I predicted it, even though there's the delay that almost cost my life.

Hongjoong who was mad a second ago now standing frozen, his hand gradually let go of the girl's collar. He's beyond shock, not believing his eyes. The prophecy is real...?

He looks at the girl in front of him. slightly ajar while her eyes go round. She starts laughing, a big smile spreads on her face. Then her aquamarine eyes turn to look at him, they're innocent and full of relief.

"Did you see that!?" She screams and laughs at the same time.

But he doesn't find the word to answer her. It seems like his brain has stopped functioning.

To his surprise, she hugs him tightly.

He can hear Wooyoung snickering in the back. And the 'ohh' and 'ahh' sound from his crews.

His face twists, they probably make the scene.

"Uh, sorry." She instantly backs away shyly, her face flush deep red.

Now it's Hongjoong turn to be the one who doesn't know what to do.

He never met with a woman who stared at him shyly. Throughout his life, he met with the women who either wanna pounce on him or kill him.

Clearing his throat, Hongjoong looks at his crew.

Soenghwa, no matter how hard he tries to remain indifferent, has a bewildered expression. Not sure if it's because of the prophecy or the fact that a girl hugged him.

But Wooyoung,his first mate, openly smirks at him while Yunho presses his lips trying not to laugh.

"Aye captain your ears turn red." Wooyoung says, wriggle his eyebrows.

Hongjoong's face twists in annoyance.

Thinking to himself, the ruthless pirate king turning red because a girl hugged him?

That could taint his pride. He should've been strict to his crew's behavior.

I, who see their reaction, want to scream out of embarrassment.

Because I was too excited that the prediction came true, I absentmindedly hugged the man in front of me.

My heart beating crazily, a second ago he wanted to kill me and now he's actually turning red?

Shaking my head, I tear my glance away from them to see 'Y/N'. She's still on the ground, shocking.

I can't really make out her intentions. Why was she so hell bent to keep the map a secret?

The events in the story might not change but the female protagonist's mind definitely changes. I need to be more careful.

Sighing, I turn to look at Hongjoong who's quietly observing me.

"Um...." The heat starts to rise on my cheeks but I try my best to suppress it.

He tilt his head to the side staring at me, waiting for me to speak. His eyes are now clear of ill-intention and replaced with attentiveness.

Taking a deep breath, I say what is the most important right now, "Shall we go get the map, captain?"