"Chin Hae, can you pass me the salt?"
"Coming right up!" You call over the rattle of the pans, grabbing the wooden bottle from the shelf and tossing it over your shoulder without a second glance. Seonghwa catches it easily without turning around, the two of you already so attuned with each other's actions in the kitchen that you might as well be telepathic.
"Thanks!" He tells you and you nod, knowing that even though he can't see it, he'll somehow sense it anyway. The fragrance of steak and chicken marinated with spices and wild onions grilling over a charcoal fire wafts into the air and you breathe in appreciatively.
You're almost salivating at the very thought of eating it already, the tantalizing smell lingering on in your mouth.
"Your cooking is amazing, you know that, Seonghwa-oppa?"
The cook smiles shyly, shaking his head as he prepares the stir fried vegetables in the pan, seasoning them lightly with salt. Not too much, Seonghwa always tells you, because salt has a strong taste and he wants people to appreciate the original flavour of the food. Enhance, not replace, as he likes to say.
"I did grow up intending to be a chef and cook lots of delicious food for customers." He says wistfully, and for a moment you're brought back to that beach on Nassau, watching Seonghwa as he chose to stay with the Treasure. Then his smile broadens gently as he puts the vegetables on a plate, hand stilling in the air for a moment. "But it's more fulfilling to cook for people I love."
You can't help but beam back at him. Seonghwa is truly too sweet for this pirate life, you think as you chop up the chives finely to use as garnishing. He looks at your work proudly.
"You've really improved by leaps and bounds." Seonghwa praises you, one hand ruffling your hair like a proud older brother. You laugh as he moves to the charcoal oven to take out the pieces of grilled meat, shaking your head in amusement.
"You're not lying out of the kindness of your heart like the last time, are you?" You jibe teasingly, referring back to the time San had described your cooking to be akin to "fish innards". Seonghwa assumes a perfectly innocent face faster than you can blink, piling slabs of perfectly grilled meat high on a tray.
"I didn't lie. You did improve greatly... with plenty more room for improvement."
You throw the pepper grinder at him playfully, but he catches it without blinking an eye and seasons the grilled meat to perfection. Now the food is finally done.
As if on cue, your stomach growls loudly and the door creaks opens to reveal Yunho, his head peeking in between the crack.
"Hey, hyung, is dinner ready?" He smiles that beagle like grin, hopping up and down excitedly on each foot as he sniffs the air hungrily. You swear that you had thought cooking was an easy job at first, but cooking for so many hungry men on board a pirate ship put fighting a battle to shame.
Seonghwa shakes his head good naturedly as he passes Yunho the platter of meat. "It would have been done a lot faster if you had offered to help, Yunho-ah."
The lookout shrugs, but there's a mischievous grin on his face that spells trouble. "I've got to leave you some job to do, otherwise you'd be useless on this ship, hyung."
Seonghwa sputters in outrage and draws his meat cleaver, but Yunho ducks out into the galley stairway before the knife can find his head, the blade sinking into the wooden door instead.
"Come back here, you coward!" Seonghwa shrieks, but Yunho's laughter only echoes down the hallway after him.
You raise a hand to your mouth to stifle your giggles, picking up the plate of vegetables and tugging lightly on his arm. "Come on, Seonghwa-oppa. Let's go before all your steak is eaten."
At the very horrifying thought, Seonghwa starts in fright and throws off his apron, before flying up the stairs so fast you would've thought the kitchen was on fire. Shaking your head in amusement, you climb the stairs after him at a more sedately pace, balancing the plate carefully in your hands.
The night air is cool upon your face as you step onto the main deck, a steady breeze tugging at your hair. You set the plate of vegetables on the deck and the crew all move forward to take their servings, thanking you one by one with smiles.
Your heart warms in your chest. You just want to stay this way forever.
"Woah, there's chicken! And beef!" Wooyoung's voice is right next to your ear as he glances over your shoulder at the menu for the night, clearly excited. You smile at his childlike excitement.
"You should eat before Seonghwa-oppa takes all the beef, Wooyoung-oppa."
At your words, you see Wooyoung's cheeks colour a little even in the dim light of the torches, making his face look rosy. He puffs out his cheeks at you.
"I know you're just doing it to tease me, Chin Hae." He tries to sound stern, but then an uncontrollable grin breaks through his pout. "But don't stop doing it."
You quirk your eyebrows playfully at him as you brush your hair out of your eyes. The wind really is very strong today. Wooyoung's bright green eyes dart over to your hand immediately and his lips pull into a brief frown.
You're about to ask him why the sudden change in expression when he reaches into your belt and pulls out the silver hairpin he'd given you so long ago that day in Tortuga.
"Wooyoung-oppa, what are you-" You begin to say, but then he moves behind you, gentle fingers gathering errant strands and brushing through your hair softly.
"Don't move." His warm voice whispers past your ear as he concentrates on twisting your hair together into some elaborate braid, tugging lightly before sliding the hairpin in to keep the knot in place. Satisfied with his work, he steps back, tucking one last strand behind your ear gently, fingers lingering there for a moment before pulling away.
You raise a hand to touch the hairdo in surprise. It's actually very well done, a beautiful braid wrapping around itself to form a simple updo. You glance at Wooyoung in surprise, who's smiling proudly at his creation.
"How are you so good at this, oppa?" You remark, stunned by his skill, but then you see his face fall minutely, a shadow flickering across his eyes. His smile turns a little sad, a little lost as his hands fall to his sides, the sound of the chains clanging strangely loud in your ears.
"Maybe I'll tell you another time." He shakes his head, but before your can press him further, there's the strum of a guitar chord ringing through the night air. You glance behind you in surprise to see Jongho sitting there with an acoustic guitar on his lap, strumming a few random chords to warm up his fingers.
Wooyoung's eyes light up immediately.
"Oh, they're about to start a song!" He cheers, taking you by the arm and pulling you forward. You stumble after him as Yunho takes his place in the centre of the circle that the crew has formed, all shouting song requests to the younger battlemaster.
"They're the battlemaster music team." Yeosang whispers in your ear as he joins you and Wooyoung at the front, watching Yunho go around listening to the crew's requests intently. You frown, but before you can say anything else, Jongho's strumming suddenly picks up a lively tune.
"I can make your hands clap~"
Everyone on the ship claps in time to the beat and to your surprise, the crew all start chanting one name.
"Go Captain! Go Captain! Go Captain!"
Glancing about you, you barely spot your captain's horrified face next to yours before Wooyoung grabs him by the arm and shoves him into the middle of the circle, the crew breaking out in a round of applause. Your captain looks around frantically with a chicken skewer hanging out of his mouth.
"Now come on guys, let's not do this-" He begins, but then everyone starts whistling and singing along, and your captain in the end, with a defeated smile on his face, does some strange dance that looks as if he's running on the spot, before he finishes off with an attempt at a handstand.
"You're so cool, captain!" San screams and Hongjoong throws the skewer stick at him.
It doesn't matter how silly he looks, because all his crew absolutely adores him and breaks out in cheers. With an embarrassed smile you've never seen on your captain, he hops out of the circle and pushes Mingi in instead.
You've never seen the silent quartermaster so energetic, because the second he steps into the circle he's singing along and gesturing for everyone to follow him as he claps.
"I can make your hands clap!" And he can indeed, because everyone does imitate him, cheering and clapping along.
Yunho comes in with a some strange dance that involves hopping from one foot to the other while saluting, but it's when Seonghwa is pushed into the centre of the circle, ready to dance his heart out, the music abruptly stops.
Seonghwa gives the biggest baby pout you've seen, and that's almost enough to send you into fits of hysterical laughter.
There's an awkward silence as everyone turns to stare at Jongho.
The maknae looks up from his guitar in surprise. "Ahh... sorry, I just thought one string was off key."
But there's a little quirk to the side of his mouth that you don't quite believe.
The song switches up again and everyone's back to dancing once more, Wooyoung jumping into the circle completely of his own volition, doing some "sexy" stretching that you're laughing too hard over, shaking your head in amusement.
The night ends with Seonghwa breaking out a barrel of rum, announcing that he felt that the atmosphere was lively and they needed something to help the crew sleep.
He clearly doesn't know his crew mates well enough.
San is doing the same ridiculous dance from before, except this time he actually managed to find two star anise herbs from the galley and put them on his chest. It fits your dream from before almost too accurately and you're not sure if that's a good thing.
Mingi is bawling his eyes out in a corner of the ship with a tankard of rum in hand, screaming to the skies and demanding that Hongjoong should be blessed with a better life. You smile in amusement and turn around to search for Yunho and Wooyoung, and there they are again, screaming drunken insults at each other from their respective masts.
From here you can faintly hear the same nicknames 'Poo Young' and 'Yun Hoe' drifting over the wind and an amused smile tugs at your mouth. Just as you're considering going over to break up their argument, you feel a gentle tap on your shoulder.
Surprised, you turn around to see Yeosang standing there, holding out a tankard to you with a smile on his face.
"Drink with me?"
You've never really drunk any alcohol before, but you suppose there's a first time for everything. Taking the tankard in hand, you look into it and are surprised to see a fruity juice inside instead of alcohol.
Seeing the confused look on your face, Yeosang explains. "I know you've never tried alcohol before, so I made a fruit juice earlier from apples and oranges and added just a little rum to it so you won't get a hangover tomorrow."
Your heart warms at his thoughtfulness. "Thank you, Yeosang-oppa."
The two of you huddle together against the cold at the port side of the ship, the wood of the bulwarks shielding you from the biting winds. You lift the tankard to your lips hesitantly and take a sip, to your pleasant surprise, it tastes just like a well blended fruit juice, with just a tiny nip of alcohol to take the edge off the cold.
Yeosang has some hidden kitchen skills you've never known about.
The two of you sit in comfortable silence until Yeosang finally breaks it.
"So, I heard that you gave up on your memories."
You start a little in surprise, turning to look at the navigator. You'd never told anyone on board about what the sea witch had said, merely telling them that you'd die if you regained your memories, not wanting to tell them exactly how tempted you had been to do it anyway. Fortunately, no one had asked too much about it, but that Yeosang is finally confronting it, you feel like you should give him the truth.
"I really wanted to accept it, you know?" You murmur softly as you take another sip, watching the rest of the crew fool around the deck, laughing and singing drunken songs. It's cold, so you curl a little closer to him, resting your head on his shoulder. One of his arms comes up to encircle you, pulling you to him.
"I know." He answers, and you know he does. Since the time the two of you had brushed death together, Yeosang can simply understand what you're feeling like no one else, sensing the thoughts that pass your mind. You pause for a moment to sort out your thoughts.
"I thought I'd feel sad after I left the island, you know?" You whisper softly to him. You're starting to feel a little drowsy, a warm heaviness settling over you like a thick blanket. "But I don't regret it in the least. Not even a little."
You can feel Yeosang's smile more than you see it.
"I'm glad." He says, and you know that he genuinely is. That's the kind of man Yeosang is, pure, kind hearted, a gentle soul in every sense of the word. Your eyes close and you settle against him, basking in his warmth, feeling the buzz of alcohol in your limbs.
Yeosang hums a light tune and you feel yourself drifting off into sleep, eyes fluttering shut.
"Sometimes I get the feeling she's watching over me and other times I feel like I should go... and through it all, the rise and fall, the bodies in the streets, and when you're gone we want you all to know..."
Apparently Yeosang also has some singing skills you've never known about either.
Yeosang's voice is deep and soothing, washing over your ears. You're clinging onto his words as you slip into your dreams, hoping one day you can see Jongho and he sing together.
You brought back into consciousness by a gentle rocking motion and the feeling of warm arms around you, something hard digging into your back. The person carrying you shifts a little, adjusting himself so that you're nestled more comfortably in his arms.
"Did I wake you up?" His voice is soft in your ears and you merely curl deeper into him, burying your face into his chest, still in that sleepy stupor. He chuckles a little as he continues moving forward, raising a leg to unlatch a door expertly with his foot.
The door to the sickbay, you realise drowsily, as the person carrying you ducks inside, careful not to knock your head on the doorframe. His boots thump softly on the floorboards, an oddly familiar jingling sound in your ears.
It's only when he sets you down on your bed do you realise who it is.
"Wooyoung-oppa?" You ask, a little too tipsy and drowsy to think properly. A hand reaches down to your hair and he slides the hairpin out of your hairdo, placing the accessory on the bedside table.
Wooyoung smiles fondly at you for a moment, even though you can't see it, one hand running through your hair to free it from its braid. "No, it's the dream fairy. Go back to sleep, Chin Hae." With one last glance over his shoulder, he stands up and turns to leave, but then something stops him.
"Don't go." You mumble, one hand reaching up to catch his wrist. He freezes under your touch, squeezing his eyes tight against the memories that flood his mind of scarlet lipstick, painted nails dragging down his back leaving bright red marks on his skin. Scars upon scars upon scars, bruises and kisses over the same places on his body until there is no more space for more-
No. He forces those thoughts from his mind, willing the fear built into his body to understand. You're different. You wouldn't hurt him... you won't hurt him. That's why he lets you take his hand every time you reach for it with a smile, praying that you build new, brighter memories over the dark rooms and suffocating perfume that linger in his mind, hoping that one day, he might be free.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, he turns to glance at your sleeping form with a pained smile. Then he bends down, dropping a brief, chaste kiss to your forehead, before tugging the covers over you.
"It's dangerous to say those kind of things to a man, you know." He chides you gently, even though you're already lost in your dreams, eyes shut, chest rising evenly with each breath. He still tells you this, even though he knows full well you're not afraid of him in the least bit.
In fact, the one in danger of being hurt is probably him.
What are you doing to me, Chin Hae?
Wooyoung sighs in exasperation at his thoughts, shaking his head, but his thoughts turn to something darker. If even battle hardened Mingi had feared that part of him, if even Seonghwa and San couldn't handle him, what more you? If he ever let you see the other side of him, if he scared you away... what would he do then?
"I can't." He whispers to himself. The words are like a weight in his chest, but they're the truth.
He can't ever let you see that part of him.
He sucks in a deep breath, bowing his head for a moment as he collects himself. He's got to fight it, no matter what happens. He needs to only show you the happy, joyful Wooyoung, the Wooyoung that gave you the pin with an earnest smile, the Wooyoung that kept her safe in Nassau. He can't let you see it. He can't scare you away. He can't hurt you, or he'd never forgive himself.
"I need to keep her safe."