Pirate King - Ateez x original female character

Chp 2: Treasure

Waking up was an ordeal. I had faded in and out of consciousness for god knows how long. Gentle voices floated around me. I didn't catch most of what they said, but it was comforting nonetheless. When I did eventually wake up fully I was met with the vision of a beautiful man asleep in a chair. He was sat in the corner of the room, lounging, his head leaned back against the wall. His features were delicate but not round, he was, simply, beautiful. His face was framed by short tendrils of blonde hair.

I forced myself up onto my elbows to get a better look around the room. It looked like a normal room at an inn. There were no windows, the bed was in the middle of the far wall facing the door. There was no easy escape for me. I didn't even really know if I wanted to. I mean, this did put me right next to my target. But I didn't know if I wanted to kill him. I was almost ready to 'disappear' and never return to the compound anyway. Maybe I 'died' on this assignment...

The figure in the corner stirred while I was contemplating faking my death.

"You're awake," he said simply. His voice was low enough to rumble in his chest softly.

I turned and looked at him, still unsure what my story was. I nodded.

"Would you like to explain what you were doing half dead in the desert?"

Was it juvenile? Was it almost comical? Yes, but I just shook my head. Still not speaking.

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, chuckling, "okay, let's start with something easier. My name is Yunho, yours?"

I blinked at him slowly, stupidly. I considered giving him a fake name, but it didn't really matter. The stupid little girl part of me that still existed somewhere wanted this beautiful man to know my real name, "Pepper"

"Pepper..." he said my name slowly, rolling it around in his mouth, like he was tasting it, "it suits you..."

I just watched him. He must think im stupid. I felt stupid. I was honestly just dehydrated.

"Can you explain those?" his eyes flicked over to a table in the corner. All of my weapons were piled on it. My knives, my rope dart, my poisons.

I eye him, I hope I didn't look nervous. Usually my poker face is top tier, but my vision was still a bit blurry around the edges and my head was pounding. I shook my head again.

He sighed and stood. Every muscle in my body went rigid, on instinct.

He held his hands up, "Easy girl, if i wanted to hurt you don't you think i would have done it when you were knocked the fuck out?"

I nod again, my body finding it hard to relax.

"I'm just going to get you some food and water."

—

It had been a week. I kept trying to convince wooyoung, the ship doctor, that I would survive and he could let me leave. He was convinced not to leave me on my own until every bit of sunburn had faded from my body and my headache finally subsided. 

"The headache is worrying me, pepper, it should be gone by now..." he said, pressing the back of his hand to my forehead. His sharp features were furrowed into a frown. His hair, a mix of blonde and black fell across his forehead.

"I've had worse"

"I don't care, i can't just let you walk away"

I sighed softly, "One more day, and then im leaving"

It would be a lie to say that I hadn't been enjoying the kindness they showed me, being taken care of a bit. I could've just snuck out in the night, but I didn't want to upset him, for some reason.