Pirate King - Ateez x original female character

Chp 12: The Black Cat Nero

I spent most of my time with wooyoung as he tended to seonghwa. It was better than having to see the moping faces of the rest of the crew or having to see hongjoong. It did however mean that i had to see seonghwa looking pale as death and unmoving all the time, but at least i felt like i was helpful. Wooyoung was currently pouring over books, maps, and any piece of research he could get his hands on about poisons, and any sort of mythical 'cure all' he could find. I was currently humming softly to seonghwa, running my fingers over his hair gently. I hoped he couldn't hear me, I hoped he was just asleep. The black tendrils of infection and rot had spread from the wound and up his chest and down his legs. Wooyoung was doing everything in power to keep it at bay and slow the spread.

I was broken from my musings by wooyoungs hand on my shoulder, "Can i ask you something?"

I looked up at him, my eyes a little watery, "Yeah... whats up?"

His gaze softened as he looked down on me, he leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. I leaned into his soft touch, grateful for the contact, "Oh Pepper... you have to stop torturing yourself over this..."

I shook my head, "This happened because of me..."

He gathered me up in his arms, holding me to his chest tightly, "Shut up... we can pass around blame all we want but it wont change what happened."

He pressed his face into my hair, "Have you ever heard of the Black Cat Nero?"

I pushed him back, staring at him quizzically, "wooyoung...thats a myth."

"But what if it isn't?"

I almost rolled my eyes at him, "Wooyoung, if it was real don't you think something like that would be well known? The monster's blood is a cure for all poison...people would be all over that."

Wooyoung sat back down and pulled me onto his lap, "You'd think that...¦ but this is the grand line, wild things happen," his hands rested far too casually on my thighs as he has pulled me onto him so i was facing him, effectively straddling him, "And i've been thinking about it...seonghwa has an eternal pose for this island farther down the line...It has no name, but the man he bought it from described a monster there that matches the description of Nero."

My face was aflame, my hands rested on his shoulders. I was trying so hard to focus on what he was saying to me, but that became almost impossible when his thumbs started rubbing little circles on my thighs right under where my shorts ended, "Woo… I mean, we could try… but if you are wrong it would just waste time… time he doesn't have."

"Pepper…" his face looked strained, he rested his head in the crook of my neck, "I have no other ideas. I've exhausted every avenue I know of to fix him. If we do nothing he will die anyway."

I ran my fingers through his hair, trying to comfort him, "Okay...I believe in you."

The door opened. I felt my face heat up more from our compromising position. I moved to get off Wooyoungs lap, but he only gripped my thighs tighter, holding me there.

"Oh no, don't move because of me… woo always gets what he wants, so you'd only end up back there anyway," i heard the gentle voice of san from the door, my back was to him so i couldn't see. I was still so embarrassed.

I heard the gentle sound of his feet as he walked up to us. He paused behind me. I watched as he leaned down and gave Wooyoung a gentle kiss on the lips. I was sure I looked like an idiot, staring at them as they pulled away from each other. San gave me a small smile and leaned into me, pressing a kiss on my cheek, right by the corner of my mouth. Then, he pressed another right where my shoulder meets my neck, "I just came to make sure ya'll were okay...but i see you guys are doing just fine," he teased us gently, "Yeosang is gonna be by shortly with dinner for ya'll."