The moment an object emerges from the water, I let out a startle scream and almost drop the San dagger even though I can’t see what that thing is since I’m quite far from the rail.

The surgeon tenses up and tightens around my waist. The combatant remains still. They’re composed compared to me. But I’m not the only one screaming, the crews’ shouts dominate the entire deck. They freak out for several seconds until they realize that the object barely moves. It simply floats above the wave.

“What is that?” I mumble while squinting my eyes at it. I want to go closer to the rail, but Yeosang has no intention to let me go. The crew murmur in baffled, guessing what the strange object is. That thing apparently isn’t the sea witch, it looks like a-

“A corpse!!!” Someone yells at the same time blood drains from my face.

The pirates haul the corpse onto the deck. The body is a middle aged woman with long rose gold hair. She's beautiful even with grayish pale skin and lips. Her elegant creamy dress implies that she came from a wealthy family.

How did she end up in the devil’s triangle? Especially, when we called for the sea witch. The crew whisper among themselves, questioning the same questions. We surround the body in a large circle while the surgeon examines her. Hongjoong and Seonghwa stand behind Yeosang, engaging in an intense conversation. San, on the opposite side, quietly stares at her, carrying the San dagger that I lend to him.

“Could the sea witch possess her?” Mingi mutters beside me, he aims his pistol at the unconscious body. We stand several steps away from the body in case she wakes up and starts attacking everyone.

“A lady drowned in the middle of the devil’s triangle. That’s utterly strange.” Jongho comments, grabbing his chin. “The witch could be tricking us.”

I nod, agreeing with both of them. It’s definitely not a coincidence. The sea witch must be the culprit who sent this woman to us. But for what reason?

“She kinda looks familiar though.” The first mate chimes in. He steps toward the corpse and stands next to San.

I stare intently at the beautiful dead lady. She is indeed oddly familiar, but I can’t pinpoint who. Both Mingi and Jongho also nod their heads in agreement.

Suddenly, Yeosang gasps and turns around with shaky widened eyes.

“She’s still alive.”

His announcement struck fear in everyone’s consciousness. We scoot backward in unison. The crew aim their weapons at her. Wooyoung quickly gets behind San who still remains unbothered. Seonghwa signals Yeosang to back away and turns to his captain for an order.

Hongjoong stays at the same spot. He fearlessly crouches down next to the woman and observes her face. His eyebrows tightly knit.

“Holy !!” Wooyoung swears out of the blue, startling everyone. His mouth wide open as he stutters on his words, “S-she looks like Aurora!”

---

“Mother!” Aurora cries while hugging her mother’s body on the bed. It turns out the random body is Aurora’s mother. That's why she looks familiar to us.

Once Wooyoung pointed out the familiarity, Hongjoong ordered a crew to Aurora to the main deck. As soon as she saw the lady, she broke down and didn’t stop crying until now. We moved Aurora's mother's body to a room next to sickbay since the room was full of the patients from the previous sea witch attack.

The surgeon, captain, quartermaster and I remained in the room while the others had gone back to guard the ship in case the sea witch pulled another trick.

“Yeosang, why doesn't she wake up?” Aurora turns to the surgeon with tears streaming down her pale cheeks.

Yeosang tightly presses his lips together before explaining to her, “Her body is unresponsive. It’s impossible to wake her up from a coma. I'm afraid I can’t do anything. I’m so sorry, Aurora.”

Listening to Yeosang, Aurora lets out another heartbreaking sob. Her entire body shakes as she cries into her mother's hand. I gently pat her back, sitting next to her on the bed.

I stare at Aurora’s mother and goosebumps rise all over my body. Her skin is so grayish. Her chest barely moves as if she’s not breathing. But Yeosang told us that her heart is still beating very faintly.

Yeosang casts his gaze downward, his face turns grim after delivering bad news to her. He always blames himself for not being able to heal his patients. I reach to tug his shirt hem and mouth at him. ‘You did your best.’

He gives me a tight smile that doesn't reach his eyes. I look at the other two men in the room. Hongjoong and Seonghwa don’t have better expressions than Yeosang either.

“What’s that witch trying to do?” Seonghwa clenches his jaw, leaning against the wall with crossing arms.

Whatever the witch's intention is, one thing for sure is that she heard us. Yet she refused to show herself and sent Aurora’s mother to us. She didn’t lie when she said she has Aurora’s parents as the hostage. I find it strange since they’re supposed to be dead in the original story where their ship was attacked by pirates. However, the book didn’t mention how they died, so the witch could capture them. Still, the tragedy happened before Ateez were cursed, so how did she know who to capture?

“Revenge.” Hongjoong replies, voice low and fills with venom. “She wants all of us to suffer. She abducted Aurora’s parents to make Aurora obey her command. When Aurora refused, here is what she did.” He stares at the unconscious lady as his face darkens, “She knows we wouldn’t sit still, seeing one of us in trouble. She wants us to make a mistake. Mistakes that will sentence us to our doom.”

We all slouch down by his speech. The witch surely has fun torturing us. She toyed with our lives to get her sweet revenge. And we’re weak humans who have no power to fight against her. It seems like we really meet a dead end.

Aurora turns to Hongjoong behind her. “Joong, I’m scared she’ll hurt my father.”

Hongjoong steps closer and wipes tears from Aurora’s face with his thumb. “I promise we’ll rescue him.”

She chokes on her tears and drives into hugging his waist. Hongjoong pats her head softly. My hand that has been patting her back freezes in the air, I slowly withdraw it to my side and turn away from the scene.

“I’ll return to my post. At this rate, the witch may attack us whenever she likes.” Seonghwa says and heads toward the door, without waiting for Hongjoong’s acknowledgement.

Hongjoong flickers his glance at the quartermaster's back, then his gaze travels to me. I feel an electric zap all over my body. His body turns rigid. We instantly break eye contact.

“I-I’m no use here. I’ll leave too.” Since it’s getting awkward here, I quickly stand up and follow Seonghwa outside the room.

When the door closes, I turn around to see an inapprehensible gaze from Seonghwa.

“Fool.” He says right into my face.

“Excuse me. I’m not in the mood to fight you.” I say deadpanned. I’m tired and wanna throw myself into bed, not to throw a punch into this man's face.

Seonghwa snickers and peers at the closed door behind me. “He’s also a fool.”

I grimace, knowing what he meant. Our pathetic love story is probably a joke to him. “You talked as if you were never been a fool to anyone inside this room.” I hint that I know about his unspeakable past with Aurora.

Seonghwa squints his eyes. I brace myself for another harsh comeback from him. Yet, he only snorts and whirls around, leaving me confused behind.

Seonghwa saunters forward and stops at a dark corner. “What’re you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to stay at the quarter deck?”

A silhouette steps out of the shadow. He walks past Seonghwa and stops in front of me. A silver dagger in his hand reflects into my eyes.

San blankly looks at me while I grab the dagger. “Thanks.” I peer at his unhealed wound, spotting more blood on the white cloth. Perhaps, I should call Yeosang to dress his wound.

When I’m about to open my mouth, San turns on his heel. His figure soon disappears into the darkness of the passageway. My heart goes cold. He gave me a silent treatment since this morning, yet he still protected me when we were summoning sea witch. What is going on inside his mind, I want to know.

“Another fool.” Seonghwa mutters, staring at the direction where San just left.

I glare at the grumpy man. “You’re also a fool! Don’t make me angry. Can’t you see I have a weapon in my hand?” I wave San daggers in front of his face.

Seonghwa scoffs, shifting his long blank coat to show me a pistol hanging at his waist belt, and gives me a taunting smirk.

I falter. The memory of Seonghwa pointing his pistol at my head makes my legs shake a little. But I know he won’t hurt me so I raise my chin up, challenging him. “Ha! You think I’m scared?”

The door opens when I wage war with the quartermaster. Luckily Seonghwa was not able to scold me as Yeosang's tired face appeared. He puzzledly glances between Seonghwa and me. I quickly hide San dagger behind my back.

“Umm...I’ll walk you back to your cabin.” He speaks to me.

“Thanks, Yeosang, you’re the best.” I give him a cheeky smile and he shyly smiles back.

Our interaction probably irritates the grumpy man as he scoffs and stomps away. “So many fools on this ship.”

Yeosang looks at me questioningly. I shrug. “He’s being his grumpy self. Let’s go.”

However, Seonghwa isn’t completely wrong. I’m indeed a fool. Before departing with Yeosang, I look at the closed door for one last time, an invisible dagger jabbing at my heart.

---

The storm hits next morning. The ship sways violently, but it doesn’t stop the Revenge crew from forming a group in the kitchen. They fervently discuss the event from yesterday even though they’re dead tired from guarding the ship all night.

“I place all me coins on Miss Aurora!” One of them slaps the table. Half of his face is covered with green scales.

“Ye sure, ye be broke in no time.” A snake armed man snickers on the opposite seat.

The green scaled man scoffs, “We be turning into sea monsters, what the point of possessing coins?”

The others nod in agreement as if they’re already accepted their cruel fate. Their morale has been low since going to the fraud Wonderland, and especially in these final 3 days some become completely lethargic and some try to find little happiness at the moment.

“I bet on Miss Star. Captain be merry being with her. He rarely smiled with Miss Aurora. Also Miss Aurora closed with the first mate and quartermaster in the past.” Another crew member points out.

“Tsk Tsk, Captain stayed inside Miss Aurora’s mother's cabin the whole night, comforting her, reminiscing the past together, and who knows what happened behind the closed door!” Another man claimed what he saw at dawn when the captain walked out of the cabin, the other stuff he made it up.

The crew break into two sides. They argue as loud as thunders outside.

“My bet is on Miss Star because Miss Aurora is my goddess!” Jack bluntly yells. The crew scrunches their faces at the lad. Yet, Jack doesn’t stop from announcing his love for Aurora.

“Miss Star also has other pursuers. The devil be protective over her, the surgeon too. So who could it be?” Someone gets tired from arguing on the same topic so he decides to open a new bet.

Most of them place their bet on the surgeon. Those who bet on San are the firm believer that he Star’s soul from a very long time ago.

“I bet on the quartermaster.” A mysterious voice speaks.

“Who? Who said that?” They scan their crewmates but no one admits.

“I place all my fortune on Yeosang!” A feminine voice cut in. The gossiper immediately freeze in place, they stiffly crane their necks to the voice owner.

Yeojin smiles brightly at the kitchen door. She strides toward their table with confidence, the crew automatically parting ways for her.

“Yeojin!” The surgeon appears in the kitchen and scolds his sister. Followed by the navigator, the master gunner and the boatswain.

“Yah! Ye lazy , go back to work!!” Mingi yells with his thunderous voice. The crew scatter out of the room in less than a second.

Only their group remained in the kitchen, even the cook ran outside the room because he was still terrified by Mingi and Jongho for kidnapping him from Port Royal. Although he isn’t affected by the curse as he joined them later, he didn’t run away after knowing the entire crew were cursed because he became fond of new companions.

“The witch is after their asses yet they only care who ends up with who.” Yeojin snorts, “How could they gossip without me?” Yeojin grabs the tray, picking up food for Star and herself because the cabin boy forgot to deliver their breakfast so she has to go to the kitchen by herself.

“Something never changes.” Someone snickers. Yeojin whirls around to glare at the pirates around her. They shake their heads, telling her that they weren't the one who speaks.

The first mate strides inside the room and smirks at Yeojin. The girl startles, almost dropping the tray in her hands. She couldn’t believe her ears when he talked to her first. While she stands frozen in the spot, the others completely ignore her and grab their meal and head to the table.

“They are so stressed out by the circumstance, they need something to entertain them.” Yunho defends the gossip group. He bites hardtack in his hand and continues, “I feel bad for Star and Aurora. Fate is so cruel. What will the captain do? He seems to like both of them.” Yunho sighs.

Unknowingly another gossip group is formed.

“Aurora is his first love, and Star is his recent lover. It must be confusing for him. But he never leaves the problem unsolved. He’ll figure it out soon.” Jongho heaves a heavy sigh. “Love is so complicated.”

“But he forgot he fell in love with Aurora, he even hated her, well, we all liked her and hated her at one point. Ahhh! It’s so complicated!” Mingi says in frustration. “I don’t want any of them to get hurt though. Whoever he chooses, I’m still angry with him for hurting another.”

“Let’s not guess Hongjoong’s decision. If Star and Aurora know we talk behind their backs, they’ll surely get hurt. Aurora’s condition isn’t good after she found her mother. And Star’s health is concerning. I hope none of you mention anything to upset them.” Yeosang cut off the conversation. The gossipers sheepishly continue their meal without further discussion until Yeosang mutters under his breath. “I hope Star will get over him, and go back to her home safely.”

“Why? You don’t want her to stay?” Yeojin, finally wakes up from her trance after a while, walks over to the table and joins the conversation.

“She doesn't belong to our world.” He says with a crestfallen look.

“What do you mean she doesn’t belong to our world?” She’s oblivious to the fact that Star is from another world.

Yeosang fake coughs, “I mean she doesn't belong to the pirate ship.”

Yeojin knits her brows suspiciously, “Aurora doesn't belong here either.”

“Right right.” He nods his head to avoid more questions from his sister.

Then Mingi slaps the table to save Yeosang. “Leave it to me, I’ll talk to captain! He can’t leave both of them hanging!”

“Let them solve it themselves, we’re outsiders.” Wooyoung says, casually stabbing meat in his plate.

The conversation pauses as all eyes stare at him.

“What!?” He is alarmed by the attention, a piece of meat falls off his mouth. “Can’t I say something smart?!”

They ignore him and resume their conversation.

“Even if you guys have different status, if you ask her for marriage, show her your sincerity, live a better life, then she will probably stay.” Yeojin says, placing the tray down to fully engage in the conversation. “A woman would stay for her husband and her child, right?”

The guys’ faces turn beet red from Yeojin's suggestion. Wooyoung claps his hands. “I hate to admit that I agree with you.”

Yeojin blinks as Wooyoung talks to her for a second time.

“I’ll tell my mate. He’s gonna love this idea. He was noticeably in a bad mood after Star visited him that night. He didn’t speak to her after she woke up from a coma. I tried to suggest other ideas but he keeps throwing daggers at me. Hopefully, he’s going to stop trying to murder me in my sleep.” Wooyoung gleefully laughs.

“Yah! Yah! Yah! Stop with your filthy thoughts. This plan is for my brother!” Yeojin shrieks.

Yeosang points at himself. “Me?”

Yeojin nods. “I’ve been thinking if captain mullet broke princess’s heart, who should mend her heart...” She scans the guys’ faces one by one, starting with Mingi “You’re too carefree and you don’t like princess more than a friend.” She turns to Jongho next. “Too smart and awkward around women.” She looks at Yunho and shakes her head, “Too friendly.”

She looks past Wooyoung. “San is too scary. The annoying quartermaster is not even an option. So it’s you.” She looks at Yeosang proudly. “You spoil her but not too much, and not too dominant like captain mullet. You’re handsome, kind, loving, gentle...”

As Yeojin praises her brother, Yeosang has turned into a tomato. The guys holler in laughter at his state.

The girl stops speaking to glare at them for interrupting her speech. “Well, we have 3 days left so do whatever you want to do. None of us might survive anyway.” Yeojin shrugs her shoulders. She picks up the food tray and heads toward the exit.

The kitchen falls into a gloomy atmosphere. The food in pirates’ mouths tasted foul. No one has a heart to eat anymore. They understand the circumstances very well. Imagining life after the 3rd full moon seems to be wishful thinking.

One of them gets up from the table and leaves the room.

“Wait!” The person yells after Yeojin. She turns around to see a purple head running to catch up with her. “Can we talk?”

Yeojin gulps hard, staring at her ex lover. Her confidence somehow disappears into thin air.

---

Smell of wine fills the dark quarter room. The frenzy weather outside contrasts with the stillness on the inside. Two men sit on the opposite couch, none of them utter a word.

The quartermaster quietly peers at the captain on the red velvet couch. The tiny guy sips his wine and stares blankly outside the window.

After Seonghwa woke up to a loud thunder this dawn, he went to see Hongjoong to find that the man stayed with Aurora the whole night. Expecting to see his captain in a heightened mood, instead he came back like a lifeless man.

“Stop drinking and go to sleep.” Seonghwa gives up on the silence. He’s afraid his captain will die before the third full moon.

A glass wine in Hongjoong’s hand stops midway to his mouth, yet his gaze remains focused far beyond the storm. “What if we all ran away when we had the chance. Do you think we would have a better life?”

Seonghwa raises his brow questioningly.

“What if I refused to be captain of the Revenge, will that person lead the crew better?” Hongjoong continued. If Mingi heard this question, he’d be thrilled and volunteer himself as a new captain.

“What’s the point of thinking of the past?” Seonghwa grumbles. He isn’t in the mood to deal with the drunk captain.

Hongjoong grins slightly. He tears his gaze away from the view to look at the interior of the room and to Seonghwa. “I’m going to retire if we survive.”

Seonghwa looks at Hongjoong with an indifferent expression.

“You’re not surprised?” It’s Hongjoong who is surprised by Seonghwa's impassive reaction.

Seonghwa leans back to the couch and crosses his legs. “No one can stop you anyway. You made us follow your insane orders many times. Who could go against you?”

Hongjoong snickers and sips liquor into his system. “You gave me a lot of good advice yet I ignored you. And even forced you to follow me.”

“Why? Did you regret your decision?” Seonghwa asks. He understands if Hongjoong regret his past. Because he, too, has been thinking about the past that he hardly slept at night. But he didn’t share it with anyone. And he didn't expect Hongjoong to mention it first.

Hongjoong places the glass down. “What’s the point of reminiscing about the past?”

Seonghwa shakes his head, amused. “No point in thinking about the past and you even have a plan for the future. What's about the present?”

“I’m your captain. I’ll fix it.” Hongjoog says and rises to his feet. Fire erupts from his eyes.

“How? You have another crazy plan? And where’re you going?” Seonghwa is glad that determination returned to Hongjoong, but the seriousness of his expression makes him worry.

“To fix things up.” Hongjoong adjusts his red coat and strides toward the door.

Seonghwa looks at Hongjoong disappear outside the room. He senses that the man comes up with another crazy idea. Instead of following him, Seonghwa gets up to pick another glass of wine. He drinks the content down and sighs.

Perhaps he regretted voting that tiny guy as a captain.

---

Yeojin always waits for this opportunity to clear things out with her ex lover, but when she receives it, she’s scared. They retreated into a storage room to avoid intrusive eyes. As soon as Wooyoung closes the door, he starts speaking.

“I disregarded your feelings and focused on my own. I avoided you like a coward. I’m sorry for making you suffer all this time. ” Wooyoung says, staring right into her eyes. Guilt swims in his brown eyes.

Yeojin stays still, not sure what to feel right now. She’s glad that Wooyoung apologized and admitted his wrongdoing. But she doesn’t want to forgive him easily.

“I forgive you for running away. So will you forgive me?” Wooyoung asks.

“That depends on your behavior.” She blurts.

Wooyoung is taken aback and then chuckles. “Alright, I’ll try not to upset you.”

Yeojin tries her best not to smile and maintain a serious face. “Well, so, are we...” She points at him and herself.

“I’m sorry, I can’t.” Wooyoung answers right away, his voice hardens.

Like a boiled water pouring into her head, she feels anger pulsing through her veins. “Because of that woman?”

Wooyoung looks a bit annoyed by her remark. “Her heart has never been mine. I talked to her yesterday and decided to be good friends.”

“Then why?” She controls her voice to not sound too upset.

Wooyoung sighs and ruffles his hair. He takes a short moment before answering her. “We’re too alike.”

Yeojin furrows her brows. They both have similar personality and interests, but what that has to do with them getting back together. “Right, but-”

Wooyyoung interrupts her, “But because we’re so alike we often clashed.”

“I don’t understand.” Yeojin says, her voice trembling.

Wooyoung shakes his head. No playfulness in his eyes, it’s the same pair of eyes when he told her he was going to be a pirate. “We expected each other to be who we liked, but neither side was willing to yield. When things didn't go the way we liked, we used emotions to make the issue worse. We easily got riled up. We refused to talk and expected the other side to understand. We both yearn for freedom, but the freedom we perceive is different. You and I want to live different lives. Now that I think about it. I don’t want to ruin our relationship again.”

Yeojin listens to Wooyoung silently. Because they were alike, they fell in love, and because they were so alike, they broke up.

Tears brim in her eyes as she listens to his next sentence.

“I want my sister back.”

---

I lie on my bed, feeling dizzy as the ship keeps rocking incessantly by the storm. The room is dark, but I’m too lazy to light up the lamp. So I roll around the bed while waiting for Yeojin to bring my breakfast. But she disappeared for so long, I start to doubt she forgot my meal.

Someone knocks on the door. I continue lying down as I think it’s Yeojin. However, the girl normally doesn’t knock on the door while the boys always announce their names. So who comes at this early in the morning?

“Star, it’s me. May I come in?” The voice makes me forget how to breathe. I quickly get up and fix myself in front of the mirror, and proceed to open the door.

I’m greeted with an exhausted looking Hongjoong. His hair disheveled, dark circles under his eyes. His yellow slit eyes grow in the dark. The smell of alcohol reaches my nose.

“C-come in.” I stammer like a shy girl. I didn’t expect he’d come to talk to me this soon.

He invites himself to sit on my bed while I sit a little far away from him. He doesn’t protest like he used to and looks around the room. His expression relaxes, yet his shoulders are tense.

“Why’re you here?” I ask warily. I’m sure he’s not coming here to tell how much he misses seeing my face.

Hongjong doesn't answer right away but chuckles. “Are you waiting for me?” He turns to grin at me, but it looks so forced.

I raise my brow. “If you have something to say to me, then say it.”

His smirk drops, he shifts closer to sit beside me, leaning against the wall and closes his eyes.

“Captain, if you’re here to sleep then the empty bed is there.” I point at Yeojin bed.

A corner of his lips tug upward. “You amuse me even in this situation.”

“That’s my talent.”

Hongjoong hums in his throat, he opens his eyes and stares at me. “Yes, you’re very talented. You’re the seeress, a person from another world, my miracle and my lover.”

My heart leaps. I thought he’s here to end our relationship. His hands slowly reach to hold my hand. His skin is hot, burning my skin.

“A grumpy person once told me I dragged you into my hellish world.” He says. “I didn’t listen to him and kept chasing after a star. Even though it was hard to catch the Star, I didn’t surrender. Because I believed whatever I wanted, I always got them.”

My body switches between feeling hot and cold from the temperature of the room and his stares.

“Little did I know, my action hurt her. She shines so bright even under the storm. But I’m the one who dimmed her light. I realized she’s supposed to belong to the other sky, above the other sea.” His voice becomes lower and thick. I feel a slight tremble in his hands.

“I promised her to not worry about my heart on this very same bed. How foolish of me.” Hongjoong pauses as he slowly lets go of my hand.

“I’m letting you go, Star.”

Lighting flashes at the same time he delivers me the words. I see his bloodshot eyes stare at me. His lips form into a frown.

I loop my glance downward at my hands on my lap. He has the sun by his side. He doesn't need this little star from another world that is fated to die any moment. We have no future together from the start.

“I'm sorry. I broke my promise. You can hate me, despise me, loathe me for hurting you. But I’m keeping my promise to take you to Wonderland. I won’t let you die.”

“Um.” I can only let out a hum as a lump starts to form in my throat. My breath comes out uneven but I refuse to cry in front of him.

The room falls silent. Rain patters against the porthole, creating a rhythm that draws my attention away from my painful beating heart.

“Please leave, I'm going to rest.” My voice came out as a whisper.

Hongjoong gradually gets up and heads toward the door. As soon as the door shut, tears fall down from my eyes. It continues to drop on my lap no matter how hard I try to stop it.

My mind replay when I start falling for Hongjoong, our first kiss, his warmth, and his confession. What if I refused to let down my guard, I wouldn’t experience this terrible heartache.

Then I remember when Seonghwa called me a fool yesterday. I let out a bitter laugh through tears. Yes, I am a fool for falling in love with Hongjoong.

When I look up, I see that Hongjoong’s still standing at the door. I quickly wipe my tears and get up on my feet. “Why’re you still here?”

With a darken expression, he strides toward me. He cups my face with both hands. “This isn’t right. It shouldn’t end like this.”

“Well, this is the right ending. What else could it be-”

My words cut off as hot lips presses against mine. My brain goes blank, my body turns rigid. I blink furiously while glaring at the man's face. He ended our relationship a second ago, yet he returned to kiss me. What the F is going on?

The ship rocks to the side and I lose my balance. My back hit the bed with Hongjoong on top of me. Our lips come apart. He stares at me, burning with anger and pain.

“I’m sorry, my Star.” He whispers against my lips. “Don’t cry.”

He presses hip lips on my cheeks, wiping my tears away and returning to look at me. He searches for emotions in my eyes. When I stay still, he reclaims my lips.

A part of me wants to push him away, but another part wants to hold him like this forever. And it seems I have lost my senses. I kiss him back. My arms wrap around his neck, bringing him closer. If I’m going to lose him forever, then allow me to be with him for the last time.

Hongjoong deepens our kiss, his hand caressing my cheek while another travels to my waist. My body is on fire, my brain becomes hazy by a storm of emotions. I feel myself going deeper and deeper into the kiss.

Suddenly, the door bursts open. A woman’s scream pierces my ears. When I see who it is, I spontaneously kick Hongjoong away, making him land into his on the floor.

He and I glance at each other, speechless. Yeojin, too, after alerting the entire ship with her high pitch scream, stands shocked at the door.

---

Hongjoong excused himself because Yeojin gave him a harsh judgemental stare as if she was the captain herself. Before leaving, he glimpsed at me for a second without saying anything. His face and neck flushed red. After he left, I became Yeojin's next victim. I explained to her that he had broken up with me.

Sitting on her bed, Yeojin observes my face, crossing her arms. “Captain mullet told you he let you go but why did he kiss you?”

I shift awkwardly in my bed. Embarrassment crawls on my skin. I want to know what he was thinking too. He was resolute to end our relationship, yet he came back to kiss me. Did he regret it? Did he still have feelings for me? Questions muddle in my heads

“It was a goodbye kiss.” I made it up.

Yeojin scoffs upon hearing my response. “You’re so hopeless. You know he’d go after that aura girl, but you let him kiss you.” Then she gasps, “Oh no! He’s a greedy pirate so he wants both of you!”

I grimace at her assumption. Although Hongjoong isn't labelled as a good man, I don’t think he’d be such a wicked person. She continues reprimanding how pirates are the worst kind of people until my stomach upset. Then I realize something more distressing than getting dumped.

“Where’s my food?” I’ve been waiting for my breakfast but Yeojin came back empty-handed.

The girl startles, cursing at herself. She gives me a sheepish smile, implying that she forgot our meal. Then her shoulder noticeably slouch, mouth tugging downward. She blinks her eyes fervently to chase away water that starts to well up.

“What’s wrong?” Did she feel guilty for forgetting my food?

Suddenly, she lets out a loud wail. I jump in my bed, flabbergasted by her action. She picks up a pillow and buries her face in it. I scratch my head, not knowing what to do. She cries so hard that I have to sit next to her and pat her back.

After a while, she raises her head and says between hiccups. “W-wooyoung and I-I made up.”

“Well, that's good news, isn’t it?” I ask her, confused.

She nods then shakes her head. “He wants us to remain as siblings.”

“Oh...I’m sorry about that.” I look at the heartbroken girl pitifully. Wooyoung used to tell me he’s over her. He isn’t wrong though since love can’t be forced. I continue patting her back as I don’t know how to comfort her since my love life is also failing.

“I won’t give up.” She wipes her face with her sleeves and says with assertion. “I know he still loves me.”

Say again who’s hopeless.

Then someone knocks on the door. Yeojin throws the pillow away and dashes toward the door, yanking it open. She shrinks as soon as she sees the person outside.

“Are you here to mock Star since you got your captain back!?”

Hearing Yeojin's harsh words, I bolt to the door and see red eyed Aurora. She shakes her head as tears fall down from her swollen eyes. She sniffs her nose and says. “Joong said that he didn’t love me anymore.”

Yeojin and l turn to look at each other.

Ehhhhhhhhhhh???

I invited Aurora into our cabin. She sits on my bed crying non stop. Yeojin and I, on the opposite bed, aren't in the mood to cry anymore.

“That’s weird. How could a greedy captain let go of two beautiful ladies?” Yeojin grabs her chin thoughtfully.

I nod. I thought he broke up with me to be with Aurora. Instead he let both of us go. What’s he thinking?

“Perhaps he doesn’t want one of us to be sad.” Aurora says, finally calming down.

“So he decided to break you two hearts, how generous.” Yeojin sneers. I nudge her arms to stop being sarcastic when seeing Aurora’s face falter.

“Whatever.” Yeojin shrugs and shoots a question that I almost choke on my saliva, “Did you get a goodbye kiss?” A faint mischievous smirk hidden at a corner of . Aurora blushes and looks downward. Her reaction makes my stomach churns.

“Um, yes.” She nods shyly. “He kissed me on my forehead.”

Fireworks explode in my head. My cheeks almost lift up. I float on the clouds for a second and I quickly bring myself back down to earth. There is nothing to be happy about.

Yeojin raises her brow and her smirk grows wider.

“Star here also kis- ack!” I kick her leg to stop her from babbling nonsense. She shoots a dagger at me while I glare back at her.

Aurora looks at us curiously. She opens to speak but I quickly change the topic. “I think we should stop talking about love stuff, and focus on the current situation.”

Both of their faces immediately drop. I bite my lower lip for saying the wrong thing. They quiet down and lose in their own thoughts. Being speechless, I try to come up with something to bring the mood up, but nothing sounds right on my tongue.

Breaking the silence, Yeojin exhales loudly, “Honestly, I don’t know anymore. How are we going to get out of here alive? We have 3 days left for god’s sake. So I’ll just spend the remaining time living the way I want and love Wooyoung as much as I can even if it's unrequited love.” She pauses, “Even he doesn’t love me, so what? I love him. I won’t expect anything in return.” She nods her head as if to hypnotize herself to believe what she said. Then she turns to Aurora and me.

“You guys shouldn’t dwell in sadness. Live and love the way your heart desires.”

I stare at her in disbelief. A moment ago, she was bawling her eyes out but she suddenly enlightened after a short while. Yeojin beams at me and giggles creepily. To think again, disappointment causes her to lose her mind.

I allow her words to sink in and something clicks in my mind. I don’t have much time left. The future is uncertain. Instead of drowning in sorrow, I should spend my valuable time with my friends. I won’t force myself to get over Hongjoong. He and I can be friends. And I’m going to protect him and kick the squid woman’s for messing with us!!

Fire shines in my eyes, power returns to my body. I smile back at Yeojin and giggle with her. I guess disappointment really causes people to lose their mind.

Aurora smiles grimly, “You’re so strong, Miss Yeojin.”

The mentioned girl’s taken aback by the compliment. She tugs her hair behind her ears and shrugs.

“What you said made me realize how I lived like a coward.” Aurora stares outside of the porthole. “I refused to admit my feelings because I was blinded by hate. When I opened my heart, it was too late. I regret my past so much.”

I thought she’s going to cry again, but her smile gradually brightens. “So from now on, I’ll live a life without regret. I got my mother back when I thought she was dead. So I have a hope that my father will return to me too. I believe the sky after the storm will be beautiful.”

We all smile at each other. A warmth fills my heart. It’s been a long time since I have a heart to heart with female friends.

“If we survive this fight, let’s pursue our love back!” Yeojin screams excitedly then realizes her mistake. “Well, I mean...there’re many good people in this world, I’ll help you find your soulmates!!”

Aurora smiles without saying anything. However, my heart plummets. “I don’t think I can stay.”

“Why? Because of your sickness?” Yeojin frowns. “I’ll be your personal surgeon. Yeosang is also the best surgeon out here. We’ll find a way to cure you!”

I shake my head. “I don’t belong here.”

“Yeah, no one belongs to this hell of a ship!” She shouts. “You hate to be with pirates, right? Leave it to me. I’ll persuade those thugs to start living a virtuous life.”

Hearing she’ll help them walk the righteous path, I’m relieved. I shake my head again.

Yeojin lets out a frustrated sigh,“I get it you want to return to your palace rather than living with us commoners.”

I smile sadly. I haven’t told them the most important reason why I can’t stay here. Hopefully, they won't freak out. “There’s one thing I need to tell both of you.” I glance between them who give me curious looks.

“I’m not from this world.”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Wooooo I'm back. Thank you for you patience.  I hope this chapter isn't too cruel for your heart because upcoming chapters will be worse \(★ω★)/ jkjk