Aurora - You are my light (Ateez x reader)

EIGHT

The knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts. "Coming!" I called out and hurried to the door.

As I opened it, Yeosang stood before me once again. His gaze rested on me, and I felt the intensity with which he scrutinized me. For a moment, neither of us spoke. My own gaze lingered on the dark-haired man before me, catching myself staring at him longer than necessary.

My heart pounded excitedly, and I reflexively placed my hand over it, making sure it wouldn't leap out of my chest. Thanks to the water from washing up, my mind and consciousness had somewhat returned, allowing me to see him more clearly now than when I was lying on the sickbed earlier.

It was only now that I noticed a red birthmark below his left temple. It wasn't immediately visible, as it was partly concealed by some of his long strands of hair falling across his face. It suited him.

Different earrings in shimmering silver dangled from his ears, and around his neck, he wore a black band that perfectly matched his black shirt, made from the same fabric. It was cut out at the shoulders, giving me a generous view of his well-defined biceps.

The front was loosely laced together with a leather cord, leaving a narrow slit that allowed me to glimpse his upper body's skin. His black trousers hung loosely around his well-shaped legs, and he also wore a black half-skirt made of a transparent chiffon fabric, which echoed the sleeves of his shirt.

"Princess." Jongho's voice sounded harsh behind Yeosang.

Reluctantly tearing my gaze away from Yeosang, I looked at Jongho. "The captain is expecting us on deck. He wants to speak with you." I nodded and followed the two men up the stairs.

As I stepped onto the deck, dusk was already settling, and the evening sun bathed the sea in warm light. I breathed in the balmy summer air and paused for a moment to enjoy the wind blowing through my hair and my newly acquired clothing.

I turned around in a circle, looking toward the horizon to see if I could discern anything. But we were surrounded by nothing but water, with no land in sight. Jumping overboard here didn't seem like the right approach for an escape plan. But if I continued to be treated more like a guest than a prisoner, at least by some of them, then I wasn't so sure anymore if I wanted to escape.

"Princess Aurora," Hongjoong approached me from the aft deck and stopped in front of me. His black coat gleamed in the setting sun and elegantly fluttered around his silhouette. His demeanor was as confident and authoritative as ever. The role of the captain suited him. "How are you feeling? Any lingering pains?" He scrutinized me from head to toe, looking for any signs that I wasn't well.

I shook my head. "I might still be a bit out of it from the painkillers, but I'm on the road to recovery." I smiled to reinforce my words.

"Do you have a particular illness we should know about?" the captain asked.

"I... no, I've never had such pains before. It was probably just stress and dehydration," I replied.

He nodded understandingly. "Speaking of which..." he sighed, "I want to apologize for the ordeal we've caused. You must know that we're merely following orders. But when Seonghwa told us you were unwell, we collectively decided to treat you as our guest for the rest of the journey."

I looked at him, confused. "Orders? From whom?"

Hongjoong gazed into the distance. "I can't say more about that, except that you're of great importance to someone, and we were tasked with your abduction."

"How? I don't understand, who could have such an interest in me? And so you're some kind of bounty hunters?" My thoughts and questions were racing inside me.

He wrinkled his nose disparagingly and then amusedly breathed out through it. "Well, primarily, we're pirates, not bounty hunters," he explained, ignoring the first part of my question. His gaze wandered to the top of the main mast, where a large black flag with a skull fluttered in the breeze. I hadn't even noticed it before.

But pirates? I couldn't imagine it with their appearance and demeanor. Now it was me who chuckled amusedly. "Don't take it the wrong way, but you don't exactly look like pirates!" I had always imagined pirates as rough, uncouth, coarse, and less beautiful.

The captain smiled slyly. "To be honest, on the day of the abduction, we weren't sure if you were really the princess of House Seraphil. At least you didn't look like one. More like a maid who spends her lunch break on horseback," he replied, grinning at me charismatically. Touché.

"But now more than ever before" Seonghwa ascended the stairs, positioning himself at the captain's side and appraised me from head to toe with a hint of pride in his gaze.

"My clothes suit you; you should help yourself to my wardrobe more often," he said, smiling kindly at me. I smiled awkwardly, feeling the flush rising in my cheeks. Great, thanks Seonghwa.

Hongjoong broke the uncomfortable silence for me: "So, Princess, I can't tell you much more about all the background stuff. But please feel at home aboard the Treasure for the remainder of the journey. We still have several days of sailing ahead of us."

He turned to Jongho. "Would you please show her around? The wind has shifted, and I need to consult with Yunho to ensure we're still on course," and with that, he bid farewell. Seonghwa asked Yeosang to assist him in the kitchen, leaving only Jongho and me on the main deck.

He scrutinized me with an empty gaze that I couldn't quite decipher. After several long seconds of him still not snapping out of his trance, I briefly thought he might have fallen asleep standing up. I awkwardly waved my hands in front of his face to bring him back to the present moment. Slowly, he broke his gaze that seemed to penetrate through me and refocused his eyes on mine.

"You've got a thing for him!" My body abruptly stiffened. "What?" I almost shouted, having to rein myself in a bit.

"Seonghwa. You've got a thing for him. I can see it," he grinned at me from the side, while I just stared at him completely dumbfounded.

"I don't have a thing for anyone here. Maybe I'm a little impressed by so much beauty on a ship, but that's about it. Can you just show me around the ship now?" I asked impatiently, eager to put an end to this visibly uncomfortable topic.

"I'm just giving you some friendly advice. Don't get your hopes up too much with him," he said casually, moving off as I followed him.

"Hopes? I certainly have no hopes with anyone when you guys are just acting as my freighter and in a few days, I'll be delivered to God knows where like a package."

The uncertainty was driving me crazy and frightening me at the same time. Who on earth would commission pirates to abduct me and deliver me to a place no one wants to tell me about? Who could possibly be interested in me, and what was supposed to happen to me? Could it be worse than where I came from? My plan was to extract some information about our destination from some of the people on board before we arrived.

- I hope you're still enjoying the story. Do you think Aurora has a thing for Seonghwa as Jongho suggests? By now, it should be pretty obvious that she might be a bit smitten, right? Perhaps the story has raised some questions so far, all of which will surely be answered in the next chapters, but everything in its own time ;)

I'd love it if you kept reading, liking, and/or commenting. See you soon :) -