Star Illusion | ATEEZ Pirate AU

Ending III - The Dimples I

I knock on the wooden door and wait for 3 seconds before opening it, because the occupant of this cabin never utters a word to the visitor.

Striding inside the dim room, I inwardly snicker at the difference between 2 sides of the room; the messy side still belongs to the flirty First mate and the tidy one belongs to the so-called scary combatant. Thus I turn to the tidy side to find the person I'm looking for.

Orange rays travel through a porthole casting a shadow on a man sitting on a small bed. The sound of metal sliding against each other ceases when he notices that I enter his room. He instantly puts down 2 daggers under his bed and faces me.

His mouth slightly ajar as if he doesn't expect me to visit him. A pair of dark eyes behind thick black and red streak fringe follow my figure until I sit next to him. That's when I realize he's shirtless. He seems to be bulkier than I remember. Not that I pay close attention to his body, but his muscles got so bigge-

Before I sound too creepy, I avert my attention away from his sculpted body to his bandaged hand.

"How's your hand?" I jerk my chin toward his hand.

"Fine." San answers in a typical short word and puts his hand down beside him like he doesn't want me to see his injury.

I nod. Whether his hand is really fine or not, he never reveals his pain to anyone. This afternoon I stayed with San when Yeosang treated his deep gash. When the surgeon pulled a huge splinter that stuck inside his flesh out, San didn't let out a single grunt. Knowing him, he doesn't take good care of his own body. Before I came into his cabin, he was still sharpening his daggers. Someone has to keep an eye on him to make sure that he won't abuse his body.

And I guess that duty would be mine.

"Were you looking for me?" I ask him, curious as to why he is asking for me through Jack.

San tilts his head to the side. His long curtain hair that covers half of his head sways from his head movement. And his beard covers the lower half. I swear I can barely see his face clearly nowadays.

"Well, Jack told me that you were asking for me." I repeat, sensing that the cabin boy somehow tricked me.

"Jack..." San's mouth immediately forms into a chilled scowl. His raspy voice sounds like a whisper from the grim reaper.

I subconsciously gulp my saliva. A certain someone is about to get in deep trouble.

Jack, you will be missed.

I'm praying for the lad in my head. This time his soul will be suck for sure. Anyway, Jack deserves to get his ass whoop since he's being too sassy lately.

"Erm...I see..." I murmur. Since San didn't look for me, I wonder if I should leave and let him rest. He has been working nonstop today.

Yet my body refuses to move. I sit still, looking straight ahead like the view is the most interesting thing to see when in fact it's just a pile of Wooyoung's unwashed clothes scattered on his bed and the floor.

The room falls silent when no one utters a word. I feel San's gaze glue on me. So I turn to look at him.

His messy hair and beard come into my view, which annoys me so much. I subconsciously reach out my hand to brush away his long fringe that covers his face, revealing his dark captivating eyes. The room is still bright enough for me to see red streak swirls in those orbs.

For some reason, nervousness grips on my stomach. The atmosphere between San and I feels strange today.

Could it be because it's been a long time since we've been alone together? Or because he's shirtless? After I came back to this world, I usually hung out with the others and San would stay further away like he doesn't want to engage in our silly activities. But I know he is always looking at me.