Star Illusion | ATEEZ Pirate AU

Ending III - The Dimples II

"Hongjoong and I, we're good now."

San lowers his gaze and turns his face away upon hearing my answer. He unclenches his jaws, but his shoulders tense up.

"Good." A whisper escapes his lips after several seconds pass.

A single lamp in the storage room illuminates a glimpse of his face. Long silence follows after his short response.

I stare at him quietly. Deep down, I hope that he'll say something, anything to me other than leaving me in this suffocating silence. However, I'm also not sure what to say after revealing the truth to San.

In the end, I pick up the lamp in the middle of the room and return to San who still roots to the spot and grab his wrist. He looks at me with confusion in his eyes.

"Let's go, it's getting late." I pull him outside the storage room.

—

"All clear!" I get up from the floor after making sure that no monster hides under the bed. I whirl around to the combatant who looks at me questioningly as to why I check under his bed instead of mine.

I crawl onto his bed and lean against the wall before patting the available space next to me. "Sit sit."

San stares at the space and back to me, his feet root to the ground like he has no intention to follow my request.

"Sannie. Sit here." I reach out to pull his arm, but he refuses to budge from my strength.

My heart sinks a little when I spot a familiar blankness on his expression. Something is bothering him. He stares at me as if to ask me why I don't go back to my room and invade his space. And I'm about to answer him that.

"I'll stay with you tonight."

Surprise flashes in his eyes but it quickly disappears. "You don't have too." His tone is surprisingly hardened.

I immediately strengthen up and tighten my grip around his wrist. "But-"

"Captain is waiting for you." He cut off my sentence in a hush tone.

My eyebrows knit together, perplexed by his words. "Why would he wait for me?"

Instead of answering, San turns his back toward me. I feel vibration through my grip that holds his wrist as he clenches his hands into a tight fist.

Afraid that he'll injure his wounded hand, I let go of his wrist and try to pry his hand open. "Stop! You're hurting yourself!"

"You don't need to care."

His ice cold tone makes me frown deeper. I let go of his fist and ask him in a small voice. "Do you really want me to go to Hongjoong?"

As expected, I received no response from him. However, I can't leave him alone when he's acting strange. So I conjure up courage and get up from the bed to face him.

San refuses to meet my eyes, he stares intently at the darkness of his cabin.

"Are you angry with me?"

"No!" He snaps, his eyes flick toward me.

I press my lips together. Although he denied it, I believe that I'm the cause of his anger.

"Was it because Hongjoong and I made up?" My question must have triggered his anger even more as he clenches his jaws harder.

Oh shit.

I inwardly kick myself for not explaining it sooner. He understands that Hongjoong and I are back together. A wave of dread hit me as I cause his pain once again.