Long Journey || ATEEZ

An Empty Space Where He Used To Be

The entire buzz of the fight had faded away now, leaving behind only a desolate, grim emptiness.

And silence.

The infirmary was overloaded with the wounded as Juyeong desperately tried to tend to all of the serious injuries at once, but sooner or later, he was going to get overwhelmed. Hongjoong had sent Seonghwa to help, but it didn't look like he was going to make much of a difference.

Meanwhile, the captain, Wooyoung, Jongho, Mingi, and Shinoko were sitting in the captain's cabin, a dark and grim atmosphere smothering the room. Wooyoung was glaring at Shinoko, whilst the girl in question was trying her best to avoid everybody else's eyes.

Nobody dared to break the silence.

Shinoko sighed, seconds away from breaking down completely. Something twisted inside of her, a feeling she hadn't felt in quite a while, yet she knew exactly what it was.

Guilt.

And it burned all the more in her heart as she let Wooyoung's glare slice into her.

Eventually, she couldn't take it, the tears seconds away from spilling, and she lifted her head, eyes anguished as she opened her mouth to speak.

"I'm so sorry about—!"

"Save it," Wooyoung growled. "If it weren't for you—" The holin seemed to realise the magnitude of what had happened – how his friend had been taken, and how he'd been left to the mercy of a merciless captain. He leapt out of his seat and grabbed Shinoko by her collar. The girl flopped guiltily in his grip. "If it weren't for you, San would be sitting here right now! He wouldn't be in the hands of that absolute snake of a woman!"

"I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry..." Shinoko weeped, the tears now free-falling, too much for her fragile being to hold, as she let the guilt consume her. She knew what Cezanne was like. After all, she had stayed by her side for a good four years. She knew what she was like, and she knew exactly what might happen to the poor little demon if he was left in her hands for too long.

"Wooyoung, let her go," Hongjoong said, his fingers at his temples. He sighed. "And we can't even chase her because Jongho's run out of mana," he muttered to himself. "For gods' sake!" he yelled suddenly, making Wooyoung, Shinoko and the others in the room flinch, and he ran a hand through his hair. "What do we do?" the captain sighed, and he slumped back down in his seat. "San's in danger, and we can't even do anything to go godsdamn save him. What kind of captain am I, letting a member of my own crew get kidnapped like that? For gods' sake."

Jongho eyed Shinoko with suspicion.

"But how can we be sure this wasn't just a ruse? I'm talking about her," he said, jerking his chin in Shinoko's direction. "How can we be sure she didn't all plan this out so we were caught off-guard?"

"But Sannie said she wasn't lying..." Mingi said doubtfully.

"Well, remember Cin? She had such a deep façade that it completely changed her aura. It completely tricked us. What's to say she isn't the same?"

Hongjoong sighed.

"Nothing's for certain. But we better lock her up, just in case. We can't trust her."

Shinoko drooped even more.

"What about San's aura notebook? I saw him writing something down in there earlier," Mingi said. "Sannie said that technically Cin's aura didn't change. It's just that the green was covering everything up. He said the same with Seonghwa-hyung's aura too. That there was more than just the black, it was just hidden underneath. Maybe it says something about Shinoko's."