Mists of Celeste - an Ateez Fanfic

act one ➻ part five

"Lieutenant. Nice of you to join us," Yunho greets as he steps around the foot of the bed. You instinctively pull yourself up and sit up straighter. "Captain. You as well."

"Let's just get to business, Yunho." Hongjoong steps out from behind the lieutenant's back, dark eyes boring into you. "I want to get this over with."

"O-Of course, Captain," Yunho stammers. He moves around the bed to stand across from Hongjoong. "She has been making a quick recovery over the past couple of days. I expect a full recovery by the end of the week if not sooner. Vitals are all steady and manageable despite a lowered heart rate; however, she says that she's not feeling any adverse effects from it."

"Hm..." Hongjoong hums and glances past Yunho to look you in the eye. "I don't think you've had the pleasure of formally meeting me. Captain Kim Hongjoong of The Horizon. This is my lieutenant, Park Seonghwa. Of course, you may know us by other names seeing as you are military – or former military, was it?" Hongjoong pauses, the silence giving you an opportunity to respond, but you opt not to and instead stare back at the captain with blank eyes. "Scourge of the Black Sea and the Lieutenant of Death. And you, Miss L/N – the Ghost of Eros. Such a distinguished group of criminals all gathered in one place. I should've known you were much more than a petty soldier considering that you've got a mean right hook. You knocked Seonghwa on his ass so handily I thought he was going to die of shame."

There is a lilt of humor to Hongjoong's tone and only a sliver of vehemence and anger. The man's presence alone is intimidation at its finest yet the mellifluous voice harbors none of that same intimidation. It's a strange game he's playing – dancing between cruelty and a carefree attitude – and you can't figure out what his true intentions are.

"You don't seem upset by the fact that I put your lieutenant on his ass," you say, voice coming out surprisingly steady and even compared to how you're feeling at the moment.

"Me? Upset? Of course not. It's not my job as a captain to be upset for my crew. If he's upset about it then that's his problem. It only becomes mine when he fails to separate those feelings from doing his job properly. So, Lieutenant, are you upset?"

"No, not in the slightest," Seonghwa answers, eyelids falling shut as he grins at you again. "More embarrassed than anything, getting my ass handed to me by a person who was injured."

"Not because I'm a girl?" You inquire and dip your chin down a little bit.

"Not even close. It's not about your gender – never was frankly – solely because you were injured in your obviously dominant arm." Seonghwa folds his arms over his chest, seeming to puff it out a little as he matches your stare with an equally firey one of his own. Despite admitting weakness, he exudes confidence and power. It hits you at that moment. The strange aura surrounding each member of Hongjoong's crew, and including the captain himself, makes sense as the puzzle pieces slip together in your mind.

These are criminals of the highest degree, men with extensive records and crimes that would take days to write down, and for some reason, that fact did not sink in sooner. Yes, you've had many an encounter with criminals. This should be nothing new for you but these men are far different than the petty criminals you had to deal with when part of the military. Even though you are considered to be one of them, a criminal on the same level as them, someone just as evil and cruel and merciless, you don't feel that way. A surge of fear courses through your body. Any one of these men could end your life in an instant with zero remorse or care.