𝑨𝑳𝑳𝑰𝑪𝑬𝑹𝑬 𝑴𝑨𝑹𝑰𝑺」ateez au

𝐍𝐨. 𝟎𝟓

"Ye said he would wake up soon, didn't ye? It's been weeks."

Seonghwa felt numb, his head pounding like someone had been beating it like a drum. The voices that sounded too close to him for his liking would have normally caused him to panic in the worst of ways because he was in his cell and his guard was completely down, making him vulnerable to all sorts of attacks. However, he was more annoyed than anything, the pain in his head wasn't settling down and all he wanted to do was sleep until he could feel some kind of relief but the voices were loud and near and he wanted them to just quiet down a little so that he could rest some more. Just a few more minutes was all he was hoping for.

"Ye're just going to have to be patient, mountain, his body is taking all the time that it needs to heal. He reacts differently to the medicine I have so I can't give him anything to help speed up the healing until he wakes up."

Who were they even talking about? Did they truly need to be so close to him to have this kind of discussion? Seonghwa started to wonder why anyone would come into his cell to have such a strange conversation that most likely didn't have anything to do with him. Were they after some privacy? But then surely there were plenty of empty spaces onboard the Howler that could provide them with much more privacy than Seonghwa's cell could. He was still there, after all, were they so sure that he wouldn't listen in on them?

"But ye're sure he'll wake up?"

"Aye, of course I am. I wouldn't say so if I wasn't."

Wait. . . no, that's not right. No one on the Howler would ever go out of their way to come into his cell to conversate with one another. What a foolish thought, he would blame it on how exhausted he felt.

Seonghwa had to take a moment to properly sort through his thoughts, it having taken longer than he would have liked because something was off. No, everything was off. His memory slowly started to return to him in painful flashes of broken images and sounds. None of it made much sense to him and he struggled to put the pieces together. A gentle, pained groan escaped his lips as his headache only seemed to grow worse with his efforts until his eyes were finally fluttering open, squinting slightly to protect themselves from the bright light that seeped in and threatened to burn them. His vision was slightly blurred but he could sort of make out the polished wood above him, how it was smooth, barely damaged and lighter in color. Properly taken care of. Unfamiliar. Where was he? This was not his ship, not his cell. But he wasn't afraid. As more and more of his memory started to come together like the pieces of a shattered puzzle, he could feel a sense of calm in a way he'd never felt before.

The raid. The battle. The pain, fear and. . . freedom. He could remember it slowly and his breathing became shuddered, his heart feeling light in his chest because he was free. The Howler was no more. There was no cell. His captain was gone.

"Live, Seonghwa. I'll wait for ye. . . "

Seonghwa gasped loudly, sitting straight up where he lay in what looked like a cot one would find in an infirmary, a warm blanket falling off of his slim frame as he did. His head was on a swivel, he ignored the way the room was slightly spinning in favor of searching frantically until their eyes had finally met. San. The young pirate looked absolutely stunning, no longer covered in blood. Clean, healthy. Alive. Seonghwa could feel his lips curling up into a smile, something he wasn't used to and didn't even think he was capable of. But how could he not smile when San was shining so bright like the sun? No, no. . . even brighter than the sun! His eyes sparkled like fine jewels as he stared at Seonghwa with awe and utter disbelief dripping from his gaze, like he couldn't fathom the sight before him.

"San. . . did I. . . am I. . . " Seonghwa's voice was awfully hoarse and burned with every word he spoke but he didn't care.

San was suddenly grinning, his cheeks wet with tears as relief bled from his sparkling eyes. "Ye're alive. . . " he breathed out, his teeth on full display as he failed miserably to contain his happiness. "Look at ye, Seonghwa! Ye're alive!"