sweet lies.

His knuckles turn a sickly shade of white from gripping the handle of his sword too hard, and it makes Woojin glance at him rather worriedly, for the mind of the medic was never not worried about the well-being of his crew—especially that of his captain.

“What is it that you desire?” Chan yells, and it makes the rest of his crew flinch because none of them were used to this kind of Chan; the kind of Chan who only appears when you, the love of his life, were in danger.

The opposing captain only grins—the sort of grin that sends shivers down one’s back because of the ferocity it holds, like you weren’t sure when they were going to pounce like an animal gone feral. He reaches up and tilts his cap back to reveal an even more ferocious look in his eyes, even in the glass one.

“Desire? What do I desire?” the opposing captain laughs, though empty of any humour. But then he stops abruptly, the silence that follows deafening before he slams his foot down, the look on his face suddenly contorting into that of a mad man. “Your ship. Give me that beaut’ of your’s,” he slurs, “and she,” he says, pointing to your unconscious form, your head leaning a little too far on one side to expose bruises that shouldn’t be there, “is all yours.”

The ship. Chan’s scowl only etches deeper into his face. His hands start to shake from rage. That’s what you were kidnapped and beaten and possibly—Chan doesn’t even want to think about what other unholy things they’ve done to you—all for what? His ship?

The ship that he inherited from his father? The ship that he and Changbin both sailed together by themselves to different landmasses, in search of the crew they stand together in front of today? The same ship that Hyunjin and Seungmin snuck into one night, seeking shelter and accidently got adopted by a whole crew of pirates instead?

The same ship that brought him to you and your brother Felix, where you were huddled in a corner with tears streaming down your face as Felix bravely tried to fend off a band of bandits by himself with nothing but a dagger before Chan and the rest of the crew arrived by chance?

“Don’t do it,” Changbin whispers quietly from Chan’s left. He knows how important both the ship and you were to the captain. He wasn’t about to make his captain choose between one or the other; the ship held an incredible amount of sentimental value to Chan, Changbin, and the rest of the crew. And you were, well, Chan’s biggest source of happiness.

They were going to find a way around this. Changbin was sure of it.

But he doesn’t get a chance to elaborate further when Chan quietly says, “Have it.”

Even the opposing captain looks stunned out of his mind when Chan accepts the offer of taking you back in exchange for his ship. Changbin doesn’t even try to hide the bewildered look that crosses his face. Was Chan out of his mind? That ship was so, so important to both him and Chan! That ship was gifted to Chan by his father. It held so many memories; why was Chan so willing to give it all up for this piece of shit of a captain?

Oh, how Changbin wished you were conscious so you could slap Chan out of it.

Felix taps Changbin’s shoulder and Changbin is met with a “is he serious?” look from the younger male, which makes Changbin shrug in response.

“That’s it?” the opposing captain all but shrieks, and his voice makes you stir a little, your head bobbing a little before you slip back into dreamland once more. “No fight? No ‘arrrgh you piss me off’ moment?” the captain flails his arms around for show, effectively demonstrating his shock.

“Quit pissing me off and give her back,” Chan growls. Don’t misunderstand; he’s pissed all right. He’s pissed that this joke of a captain was making him choose between his beloved ship and the love of his life. He wants nothing more than to slice that man’s head off clean with his sword, but the only thing that holds him back is the thought of the blood of his enemy splattering all over you—the thought of that ever happening to you made him gag.

But at the end of the day, the ship can be replaced.

You, on the other hand, could not.

The opposing captain halts his arm-flailing and turns only his head in Chan’s direction before hissing, “Nah.” He slowly lowers his sword and brings it close to his face, making a show of moving it across and even licking the blade. “Where’s the fun in that?” he asks, finally lowering the blade after a long, excruciating moment. “I came to see you get your panties in a twist, and I refuse to leave before that happens.”

Then he swiftly picks his sword up and makes a move to plunge it into your chest which makes Chan’s entire crew yell in panic, but Felix is quick on his feet and makes a frantic leap for the opposing captain, throwing the dagger that was in his hand and praying to god that it’d hit true and do something to stop what looks to be the inevitable.

Chan himself lets out an entire battle cry, throwing his own sword only seconds after Felix.

It’s slow motion as it happens, both blades flying in the air towards the opposing captain as he’s in the middle of thrusting his sword forward to your chest. 

The opposing captain’s sword strikes first, the blade meeting your body in a burst of pain that makes you wake from unconsciousness, mouth opening in a silent scream. But what everybody hears instead is the scream of the opposing captain instead, Felix’s dagger slicing into the skin of his hand clutching the sword, making him drop the blade before it could do further damage to you. 

Chan’s sword strikes next, the momentum of his arm giving it enough power to pierce through the captain’s neck as well as the crewmate beside him. Both of their eyes roll back and they tumble to the ground without another sound.

Then it’s chaos.

The sound of swords unsheathing fill the air, cries of men and women alike close behind as the bloodbath between two crews begins. Blood begins to fly and the ship they stand on quickly becomes a jungle as Chan and his crew try their best to dodge the flying blades and fight back, desperately defending their captain as he draws a second sword to fight his way over to you, guarded by two members of the opposing crew.

All Chan sees is red.

He was so close to being tricked and losing not only his ship, but you as well. All he could focus on at this moment was the developing bloodstain at the centre of your chest, your hooded lids fluttering open and closed as you frantically tried to get a gather at your surroundings. Woojin stands close behind him, waiting for the perfect moment to hop in and grab you so he could treat your stab wound as best he could, given the circumstances. Changbin’s not too far off either, but he was far too occupied with beating the shit out of anyone who dared to come within a foot of Chan and Woojin—the rest of the main crew was no different.

Limbs fly as Chan desperately swings his blade through the air, swinging at whatever dared to cross his path. Fortunately, the rest of his own crew was smart enough to stay far away from Chan’s line of sight so they wouldn’t accidently get mutilated by their captain.

“Quickly!” Chan shouts at Woojin just as he slices the head of one of your guards clean off. Woojin nods and doesn’t hesitate to dash forward in the path Chan has successfully cleared to you. Minho is at Chan’s side within seconds, and the two furiously fight to defend the mast of the ship where Woojin frantically works to carve at the ropes that bind you to the mast.

“Woo...jin?” you murmur weakly, recognizing the familiar kind gaze and sweet smile of the crew’s medic in front of you as he cuts through your ropes.

“That’s me,” he says with a smile despite the carnage behind him. He does his best to block your vision by making you look down at his feet, but then a head rolls along and—well, it’s the life of a pirate anyway. “You’re safe now,” he lets out a quiet huff as he cuts through the last of the rope that binds you to the mast, and with the little strength you have left, you push off the mast and fall into Woojin’s arms.

Another pair of arms lift you from Woojin and you fight back temporarily until Seungmin’s voice soothes you quietly, saying, “Hey, hey! It’s just me, it’s just me.”

“Hold her like that,” Woojin tells Seungmin as he reaches in his back pocket, likely for some spare gauze he always keeps on his person. He makes quick work of your wound, tying the gauze across your chest tightly as a temporary fix until he can properly clean and fix up the injury.

“Where’s Chan?” you ask the boys. You’re dizzy, you’re tired, and all you wanted was to be in the safety of the captain’s arms. Too long have you suffered in the cell of the enemy crew’s ship, beaten when you refused to let them use your body to their desire.

“Fighting for you,” Seungmin says.

“Either you die here, or you walk the plank,” you hear Chan snap at one of the remaining enemy crew members. The scream that follows is deafening and indicates the desire of the pirate to fight to the end; the deafening silence that comes after makes everyone breathe out a sigh of relief.

At last, the fight is over.

Bodies litter the deck of the ship, and it makes Chan grateful that he didn’t bring the entirety of his crew over, for they would have suffered even more losses.

Oh, but seeing you alive and breathing, Chan is reminded of why he came with his best fighters and medics in the first place.

“Chan!” you weakly call out when you spot him making a run over to where you’re being held up by both Seungmin and Woojin, for you were far too weak at the moment to be standing on your own. 

Chan chants your name over and over again when he finally reaches you, arms wrapping tightly around you as you cry out for him, desperate for his embrace because you were afraid you had forgotten what it was like after all your time in the cells. 

“My love, my love,” Chan whispers. Seungmin and Woojin quietly step away from the precious reunion, turning their attention to the rest of the crew to help the injured across the wide plank that connects their ship to the now-crewless enemy ship. Hyunjin, Jisung, and Jeongin all run across when they’re given the signal that the coast is clear, happy that all went well in the end.

“I-I couldn’t,” you start to say, but Chan hushes you, leaning forward to kiss you briefly.

“Tell me after we have you fixed up, love,” Chan says with a soft smile after he pulls away, his smile a stark contrast to his previously enraged self. He then proceeds to pick you up bridal-style, to which you gasp and clutch onto his neck in response.

“Am I too-”

“Shh,” Chan whispers, nuzzling his nose into yours. “You’re not hurting me, you’re not heavy. I’ve got you, love.”

You only nod in response, deciding to simply bury your face in the crook of Chan’s neck as he makes his way over to his ship, carefully stepping over the bodies that litter the deck as cheers erupt from the other side when the rest of the crew spot the captain making his way across with his beloved in his arms.

“he broke up with me,” you cried into the phone when minho finally picked up after almost tossing his room upside down to find the damned device. “that fucking seo changbin,” you seethed.

“he what?” was the only thing minho could muster. he felt his free hand clench into a fist. that bastard—minho briefly made a mental note to clock him in the head the next time he saw him. well, that’s if he ever saw the guy again.

“i can’t believe it, minho.” your voice dropped down to a whisper. the way your voice broke as you spoke, the way your breathing was laboured, and the way minho heard every hiccup, every sniffle—it shattered his heart into a million pieces. “i… i knew it was coming, but i didn’t think it would hurt this much.”

“i’m coming over,” minho finally said after a moment of silence. he dashed out of his room, turning a blind eye to his old sweatpants and hoodie that he wore. fuck it, there was no fucking time to waste changing into something more presentable when you were probably drowning in your feelings right this instant. 

now in the kitchen, he began raiding his pantry for snacks; from popcorn to cookies, from chips to even a small tub of ice cream in his freezer. 

“what? no you’re not, it’s almost-”

“midnight, i know, but changbin’s a dick for breaking your heart like that and i know a bitch needs some comfort and that bitch is you,” minho huffed, dumping his armful of post-breakup snacks into one of his reusable grocery bags (because minho was a good college boy who refused to use plastic bags). 

“...i guess i can’t say no to that, can i?”

“nope,” minho replied. “give me ten minutes.”

minho sighs, opening his eyes to the ceiling of his bedroom where the two of you are currently crashed on his bed, laying on your backs with your limbs splayed out with no care in the world. one of his arms is awkwardly bent around your head while one of yours rests on his chest, your legs also overlapping each other at the foot of the bed.

“it’s been twelve weeks since we last spoke,” you begin. your voice is soft, and minho finds his eyes fluttering shut once more to the sound of your voice. it’s always brought him a sense of comfort, hearing you speak, no matter the subject. “probably more like twenty since we last had an actual conversation, since i was always messaging him first—whether or not he’d actually respond was always a surprise.”

“i told you like a million times already,” minho hisses with a gentle flick to the crown of your head, “stop wasting your time on someone who clearly doesn’t appreciate your efforts in salvaging whatever friendship you guys had left.”

“i know,” you whisper, “i should’ve listened to you.”

“you really should have,” minho huffs with a light roll of his eyes. “anyways, continue.”

“i recently started having dreams about him. fun dreams. like what life could have been like if we never broke up six months ago,” you say. you shift beside him, rolling so your back faces him now. he’d never admit it, but the absence of your body against his leaves minho feeling rather … empty. “everytime i woke up, i’d wake up to a reality where he’s gone and i’m alone. but last night… i recently discovered he deleted his social media. all of our conversations, gone. all of our memories together, gone. i mean, i’ve never even opened up our messages since we stopped talking—so why am i feeling like this again? my stomach is twisting with unease, and sometimes i find it harder to breathe with my chest feeling so… light? i’m not sure how to describe it.

“i used to be his whole world, his universe. we talked day and night back in the day. he was one of the only people i remember ever sacrificing sleep for just to talk to. i opened up to him. i let out all my secrets to him. am i… am i nothing to him? am i that forgettable that he can just leave like that? i feel as if he just snipped the final thread that bound us together, and now i’m spiralling into the abyss. i saw friends posting like nothing happened, and i felt lonelier than ever. it’s like… it’s like it’s just me against the world, minho.”

minho sighs, reaching up to rub at his eyes before turning onto his side. slowly, he leans forward, pressing his forehead between your shoulder blades gently. a strange gesture, but one he always did in moments like these when he needed to reassure you that he was listening and needed a moment to gather his thoughts.

“i even…” your voice comes out strained this time, and immediately minho reaches forward to wrap his arms around your form, pulling you back against his chest comfortingly. “i even told him i was afraid he’d leave me just like everyone else does. so many people have left my life. i was hoping he wouldn’t be one of them, and yet in the end—he did. he left. it hurts. it hurts so much, minho.”

“people will walk in and out of your life constantly,” minho says softly. tentatively, he rests a hand gently on your stomach, rubbing it slowly in a comforting manner—or at least, what he hoped would be a source of comfort. “you just have to remember that their departure is only another door of opportunity that opens for you… for newer, better people to enter your life.”

suddenly, your elbow is pulled forward before reeling back to strike minho’s side in a bit of a playful jab and minho lets out a quiet oof. immediately, he props himself up on his elbow and glares at you when your head turns to meet his gaze from where his head hovers slightly above yours.

“when did you get so wise, huh?” you ask with a smile, though it doesn’t take minho long to tell that it’s a rather forced smile, straining against the sadness that envelops your heart. 

at that, his lips curl into a small smile—but not one of happiness, no. more like… a sorrowful one.

“you learn to pick up some things here and there,” minho whispers. “especially with someone like you.”

this time, your eyes curl into the familiar eye-smile, and suddenly it feels as if a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. oh, for you to find happiness once more—that’s all minho wants, really. he’s always known you were one to get attached to others easily, often breaking down when they drift and leave without warning. 

your loyalty to others was indeed both a blessing and a curse.

he’s pulled out of his thoughts when you shift in his arms so you’re laying on your back once more, with minho still hovering over your body rather awkwardly. hesitantly, you reach up and brush a stray strand of hair from his eyes.

“you don’t have to promise me that you’ll stay by my side forever like this, minho,” you murmur. your fingers trail from his brows, to his cheek, to his neck, before finally coming to rest upon his shoulder. “but just for tonight, will you stay with me?”

minho finds himself nodding without hesitation. of course, you fucking dummy, he thinks to himself.

it’s tempting to say it out loud, but what he says instead is, “would it… help if i stayed?”

“mhm.”

“then of course.”

we’ll walk together along the road to recovery, were his unsaid words that night.