𝑨𝑳𝑳𝑰𝑪𝑬𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑨𝑹𝑰𝑺」ateez au

𝐍𝐨. 𝟎𝟐

The torture began the very next day yet it wasn't at all how Seonghwa expected it to be— loud, disturbing, gruesome.

This pirate was strong, stronger than anyone Seonghwa had ever encountered before in his entire life. He refused to cry out in pain, refused to submit to his captors, to back down without a fight. Of course this was just what Seonghwa could tell using only his ears.

That day, Seonghwa was not required to feed the prisoner, and it was the same the next day and even the day after that. It would be a total of 5 whole days before Seonghwa was once again called to the kitchen for his meal, only to find yet another bowl waiting for him. He couldn't say he was particularly thrilled about having to face the pirate again, especially not after their last encounter and after all that time he'd spent being brutalized by his crew. He truly was not looking forward to facing the aftermath of their violence.

But not even he could ignore the fact that the pirate had not eaten anything in 5 whole days and that, for whatever reason he did not quite understand, filled him with a sense of concern that he never really allowed himself to feel for any of the other many prisoners who were brought aboard the Howler.

It was strange— unfamiliar.

Seonghwa wasn't sure what to make of it but there was not much he could do about the way he felt so he carefully balanced the two bowls in his left arm while shakily unlocking the lock to the worn out wooden door that once again stood between him and a very intimidating pirate.

Seonghwa was afraid. Would things unfold the same way it had before? Would Seonghwa's punishment be worse this time if he failed?

Would. . . Would the captain get involved?

The half siren shivered at the thought of any of those things transpiring.

After saying a silent prayer under his breath, he inhaled deeply as he allowed himself to enter the cell, closing the door behind him once he was inside.

At first glance, nothing really seemed all that different, the cell was the same as the last Seonghwa had seen of it. However, his crew's savagery did not go unnoticed. It was very difficult for the young half siren to ignore the large smears of blood and spit that dirtied the ligneous floor beneath his feet. He also could not possibly ignore the tragic sight of the injured pirate sitting in the middle of the room, his defenses down. He sat with his legs folded under him and his broad shoulders slumped over himself, barely able to hold himself up with how weak and pained he must've been. His arms laid dead at his sides and his head hung low, his breathing weak and shallow as it came out in trembling huffs.

It was a devastating sight, completely different from how he had appeared when Seonghwa first laid his eyes on him. He wondered if the injured pirate was even still conscious which was a concern he did not dwell on for too long. It was their meal time and he didn't even want to think about what would happen if the prisoner went another 5 days without a proper meal.

There was a lot more hesitance in his movements than there was the last time as Seonghwa lowered himself down to his knees and sat the bowls down on the floor, once again sliding the pirate's meal as closely towards him as he could safely get. He hadn't realized that there were a pair of sharp eyes staring at him as he had sat back down on his knees and waited patiently for the other to lash out at him like before or pass out all together if he wasn't already unconscious. What he received instead was something entirely unexpected and his entire body tensed up in that moment.

"My captain will come for me. . . he will find me. . . "

His voice was quiet and lacked any real bite, it was weak. Even so, at first, Seonghwa had thought those words were yet another threat. What was he supposed to say to that? It wasn't his place to feel any kind of way about a threat from a prisoner that wasn't his own. He was just a prisoner himself, after all.