𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 (𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞!𝐚𝐮) 𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐙

CH. 21 ~ Talk

Fear. Anger. Rejection. And then light.

I jolt awake breathing heavily, my eyes darting around the darkroom. When my eyes adjust to the darkness I'm in, I realize that I'm safe in the sickbay. It was just a dream, I assure myself, lowering my heart rate as it thumps loudly against my chest. Small sounds of waves carrying the Aurora in the direction of Illoriant are almost drowned out by Wooyoung's snores. They're so loud I'm scared he might choke at some point. I turn my head in his direction, glad to see his resting face on the pillow. I sit up taking in a big gulp of air, drowning myself in its freshness. Trying to close my eyes, vivid images of my dream resurface each time I do.

Lately, I've been dreaming a bit too much. Each dream becomes clearer and clearer just as much as they become scarier and scarier. At this point they're not even dreams, they're nightmares. They all start off just like the second one I got a couple of nights ago at the Inn. Every night they progressively become so real I can't make out if I'm dreaming or actually awake anymore. I shake my head in an attempt to clear my head of this turmoil, kicking my legs over the sides of the bed. I decide not to put on my boots and sneak out the room that way. Lightly walking over to the door, I hear Wooyoung stir behind me mumbling incoherently. I tense up, exhaling quietly as he goes back to snoring.

Once outside, I stealthily walk across the main deck, not sure of where I'm heading when I see two tall figures. One is leaning on the ship's wheel on the quarter deck while the other is standing adjacent to him as if trying to comfort the former. Both men talk hushed tones, too far for me to hear or see who they are. I decide to make my way over to them when I see Seonghwa placing a comforting hand on who I'm guessing is Yunho. The latter is looking straight ahead with a saddened expression. I'm a bit shocked, not used to seeing him with such a serious face. He's usually the mood maker on the ship, carrying himself with a bright smile, captivating those around him with his charm. Even before I was introduced to him today, I had been drawn to his personality, although, I'm not sure why. Something about him intrigued me. They don't notice me making my way over towards them, until I begin walking up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible to not wake up Yeosang or the Captain who's sleeping in the room under the quarter deck. When The taller of the two catches sight of me, he quickly shoves a small photo I barely catch a glimpse of into the pocket of his pants and addresses me.

"Sun-Mi?" he asks a little too loudly, surprised to see me up this late out and about. Both men have stopped talking, which I'm guessing means that it must've been something personal they were talking about.

"That's me. You're Yunho, right?" I salute in a low voice. The cold night time air rushes past me, sending icy shivers down my spine. I hug myself in an attempt to warm up.

"Yeah, Jung Yunho." He tries his best to avoid making much conversation with me which I find a bit suspicious, considering how much of a social butterfly he usually is.

"I'm sorry was I interrupting something I shouldn't have?" I ask feeling like I've trespassed some invisible barrier.

"No, no, no. We were just discussing something about Illoriant." Seonghwa excuses trying to cover up whatever it was they were whispering about. "In fact, I think It'd be nice if you joined us for a little chat." He adds in giving me a lovely smile. I look over at Yunho who doesn't seem to have any intent in starting a conversation. The silence between the three of us is slowly eating at me, but I'm not sure how to start. Socializing has never been my forté.

"Um, I was gonna a-apologize for, uh, attacking you the other day," I practically stumble over my words trying, in any way possible, to start a conversation. Yunho seems to notice the effort I'm putting to just spit out a simple sentence and sighs.