Oceanine - Ateez Pirate AU -

Chapter six

"HEY HEY HEY!"

"MINGI!" Screamed Yeosang holding his face with blood oozing from the cracks of his fingers "Be more careful when you open the door!" He hissed.

Jongho scrambled to get him a rag while the three other men stormed inside the sickbay apparently not caring about the mess they'd just made.

The Captain looked enraged, to say the least, as he took a chair and dragged it beside the bed and sitting on it and leaning forward on his legs.
His eyes dark and evil and he shoved a hand in your face.

"What is this? HM?" He demanded raising his voice at you waving the envelope before your eyes "Care to explain now officer?"

You looked at him wide-eyed. You had never seen that letter before. Millions of thoughts flooding your brain, your throat tightening around itself keeping you from breathing easily.

"I-I don't-" you started, stumbling over your words, but immediately interrupted by him tossing the envelope at you and standing up running a hand through his hair.

"For the love of God, don't start again. Quit the act!" He sounded utterly exasperated.

Jongho stood up and approached one of the two men standing next to the chair "What happened San?" He asked with a whisper next to his ear.

"While we were looking through the coat we found that in one of the inner pockets along with other useless nicknacks," he whispered back still looking at the scene unraveling with his hands in the pockets of his pants "The wax seal caught our attention the second we noticed it. You already know it."

You took the envelope in your trembling hands. It was wavy and a little bit damp but it was still closed, the bright red seal seemed to want to laugh in your face, making fun of your hopeless state.
"If you really don't have anything to hide, what are you waiting for? Go on and open it!" Sneered the tallest man in the room throwing his arms in the air.

Your fingers fumbled as you ripped the paper open and slid the letter out.

The tension inside the sickbay was almost tangible, so thick that it could be easily cut with a butter knife.

"Hurry up!" He boomed.

The moment you unfolded the paper, your eyebrows furrowed. Huh?

After a few short seconds Mingi yanked the paper off your hands and held it in front of him so that the others too could read off the smeared ink.

"Nothing is as it seems" He and the Captain mumbled in unison reading the only words written.

"What does that mean?" Questioned San under his voice holding his chin between his fingers, trying to understand.

You looked up at them and racked your brain looking for an explanation. Had you seen right? Was it some illusion your brain made up or was it real? It couldn't be... right?

"The back!" Shouted Jongho "Check out the back!"

Mingi frantically flipped the letter just to see a freehand-drawn rose-wind at the center of it. The lines were smeared due to water but they were still legible. What stood out the most were the directions written at the edges.

The South was North and the West was East.

"It's inverted?!" San exclaimed although it sounded more like a question rather than an affirmation. "Never in my career I'd ever thought to meet someone stupid enough to be able to switch the cardinal points." He huffed in disbelief.

San took the letter from Mingi's and headed towards the desk flatting the letter and examining it, the others circling him trying to do the same.

"I don't think it's a mistake." You chimed in with a very low voice. Everyone turned to face you giving you a bitter look.