TREASURE. ateez

FOUR

The vessel was gradually sinking in the ocean's unfathomable abyss, with only its bow sticking out of the water as though it was inhaling its last breath.

Little by little, its figure was devoured by the turquoise sea, disappearing as if it never existed in the first place. Haeju was shocked to see how fast signs of humanity could be wiped away by the great forces of the Gods.

The pirate galleon now fleetly sailed on the gentle waves, moving alongside the wind as if they were travel companions since the beginning of times.

Although the nature seemed to have regained her previous placidity, the atmosphere on the ship was loaded with unbearable tension, ready to explode like a bomb and bring back devastation in any minute.

Haeju was abruptly hurled to the floor and she landed hard on her left shoulder. As she pulled herself up a bit, not too far from the mizzen mast, her eyes caught the old man's on her. His wrists were bound by strong ropes and he sat afar from her, together with five other men of his crew who looked rather terrorized.

A trail of fur swept against the sole of her boots as the young, heartless captain made his way towards his rival, triumphantly. He didn't fail to notice the elder's confused expression as he looked over the girl and so he let out a wry laugh.

"You didn't even know you had an intruder on your ship? How pathetic." His blonde mullet flew around as he swiftly turned his head to Haeju, who was now shaking in fear under his wicked stare.

Despite his rather tiny figure, he exuded unholy power, his aura strong enough to make you quiver and make you lose the ability of speaking in an instant.

At the captain's words, seven other men immediately laid their gazes on the female and, feeling intimidated, she looked down at her lap for a brief moment.

The lump in her sore throat was slowly choking her, she felt like the remaining oxygen was being stolen from her lungs.

With still her head hanging low, Haeju curiously glanced to her left.

Her breath hitched.

The male who was stading there was incredibly captivating. From his elegant yet commanding stance to what he was wearing, everything about him was so mesmerizing.

He looked godly.

His jet-black hair was slicked back and few strands fell on his sweaty forehead with an unusual grace, fluttering delicately in the gentle breeze. His golden skin glowed under the warm sunshine, as well as his deep emerald eyes which were fixed on her.

The peace on his pulchritudinous face was interrupted by a long scar that almost reached down to his chin. From above his left eyebrow, it cut trough his whole cheek and even the corner of his plump, pinkish lips. Nonetheless, the disfigurement still complimented his sharp, glorious features in a beautiful way.

Haeju looked at him from head to toe, completely lost in his luring mystique, taking in every detail and committing it to her memory.

What happened to him? What, or maybe who, caused this atrocious scar that will forever mark his face and name?

She was keen to know the story behind, she wanted to caress his cheek and touch the already-healed wound to feel its warmth. In another lifetime maybe it could have been possible, she thought.

His intensifying, cold and side-eyed glare brought her back to reality and the attention suddenly shifted back to the old man as his pungent, sly remark pierced the silence.

"Kim Hongjoong, you think you're invincible, uh? That the divine plan will go in your favour. But you'll never be your father! You're just a forlorn, miserable man who lives of depredation and mayhem like all of us!" He had the courage to snap and spit next to his feet.

The next few seconds felt endless.

Haeju was disoriented, both from the man's allusive assertion and the sullen silence that followed after.

The previous stoic look on the seven males' faces immediately turned alarming, as if they knew something brutal was about to happen, which it was.

"Enough!" Hongjoong's bone-chilling, beastly growl reverberated in the air.

He then fired a bullet to scare the elder off, but it penetrated the hand of a man of the latter's crew, who let out an ear-piercing scream as soon as the red liquid gushed out from his wound, staining his clothes.

Haeju's blood run cold at the scene and the agonizing cry of the young boy was making her feel queasy.

However, one of Hongjoong's men still had his eyes lingering on her figure and she felt as her heart was about to burst out and break her ribcage from all the consternation of being exposed.

His statuesque appearance radiated taciturnity and hard-heartedness, yet – him too – looked enchanting.

Hongjoong unexpectedly snorted, making a dumbfounded Haeju jolt on her spot.

"You believe that taking your rage out on me will make you seem as a fearless, intrepid leader to your men's eyes. So now, since you think I'm weak and miserable, why don't you show us how great of a captain you are, uhm? A good captain goes down with his ship. I would've killed you first, but where's the fun in that? I'll make sure you'll be the last one so you can watch your crew perish." The twisted smirk appeared on Hongjoong's lips again as the old captain's loathing expression converted into a defeated one.

"Seonghwa, make them walk the plank. Him too." He commanded, protruding his chin forward her direction.

She blinked rapidly, comprehending in a second moment that he was referring to her. Only the Gods knew what could've happened if they would've found out she was a woman. Something much worse than being fed to the sharks, she believed.

At his order, the black-haired – who captured Haeju's attention beforehand – nodded, grabbing his sharp cutlass and prowling towards the prisoners.

Her mouth fell agape at his predatory, ferocious demeanour as he was impelling the rival crewmates to jump into the unquenchable ocean: she couldn't process the fact that she was about to be murdered by him too.

Among all of them, by him, Seonghwa.

His name slipped smoothly from her tongue, the sound sweet and delicate, the complete opposite of how he looked in that moment.

She stepped out of her trance when Seonghwa forcefully grabbed her wrists, the both of them heading towards the edge of the ship as everyone looked at them like they were the protagonists of a show.

The timber plank under her feet was shaky, along with her breath and the look in her eyes.

She glimpsed beside her and fear began to devour her bowel. The sea was hungry, it howled, and the waves now violently crashed against the hull of the galleon as their white, bubbly foam increased.

In front of her, the man maintained an imperturbable and unreadable countenance, even when a tear rolled down her cheek.

She wished with all her heart that something, anything could save her and, surprisingly, someone spoke up in that precise moment.

She was sure her heart had stopped for a second when she heard Hongjoong's voice.

"Tell me a fair reason to spare your life, stowaway." He inquired, his impish, haughty smirk still present on his face. But the question was asked just to satisfy his own weird, selfish pleasures, not because he actually cared about her life.

Once again, the dread immobilized her muscles.

"I-" She found herself mumbling as the distance from the end of the board shortened each passing second, Seonghwa's sword still pointing straight at her chest.

She glanced at his face once more, probably for the last time, she thought.

His pendant earring – onto which were embedded small emerald gems of the same color of his dazzling eyes – glinted under the sun, swinging left and right as he confidently walked while holding his chin up.

The heel of her right foot was now hanging into the void, but her body felt drained: it was about to collapse. She didn't have the strength to continue anymore and so she closed her eyes, finally accepting her fate.