The Siren's Song

Chapter 68- lost at sea

YOONGI POV:

Her voice rings out over the deck, carrying out to sea and the cool breeze bringing the full agonising force of her begging plea to tear at my ears.

Everyone freezes, the air whipping and cutting at my skin, harsh slices of pain left behind where her words strike at me. I feel my heartbeat speed up, thudding loudly in my chest, trying to push against my skin and burst out, eyes caught and trapped by the sight of her kneeling crumpled figure on the deck, hands clamped on her ears and tears slipping down her cheeks in a cascade of grief and horror.

The air seems to snap, her words shattering the calm happy ambience and immediately descending it into an icy chill that numbs my body and makes my blood into liquid frost.

I stumble forward, urged close by the sheer pain and urgency and desperation in her words, watch as Tae sinks to the ground in front of her, face struck and shocked and worried as his large hands flit around her- unsure as to where to settle, her name spilling off his lips in a frantic prayer.

Everyone turns, the expressions freezing and sliding off as everyone moves forward, tugged towards her distressed state.

But she doesn't notice or register any of us as her hands remain firmly clamped over her ears to drown sounds out, lips trembling and moving silently in a voiceless plea, tears coursing down from eyes that clench shut, body shaking and trembling.

Jin hyung doesn't waste a single moment- pushing himself out of his stupor to move to her. His panicked alarmed expression softens into something tender and gentle as he kneels behind her and not rushing her as he carefully winds his arms around her and just holds her. There's nothing said as he brings her slightly close to him, rocking the two of them in a slow motion, his head tucking hers close.

"(Y/N)..." Kookie murmurs, shifting close and leaning to place a grounding hand on her leg, rubbing soft circles, face tight with concern and biting down hard on his lip.

And yet even as we all move around her, try to offer comfort in whatever way we can, she seems to be frozen and trapped within a moment. Stuck within whatever horrifying moment she's trying to shut out.

And I'm mentally kicking myself for not clicking, for not pushing and for not sticking to my gut instinct that screamed something was stiff in the way she'd gotten onto the boat, in the way her shocked expression wasn't because of awe and wonder.

It feels like the air is punched out of my lungs, eyes unable to tear away from the sight of her. Trying and failing to comprehend what's happening or to get a grasp at the situation.

But something had triggered this response, something so shocking and strong that it had pushed her out of her silence, something so horrific it had yanked the words out her, something that had caused the internalised conflict to burst out and for the words to be torn out of her throat.

And even if we didn't know exactly what it was there was one thing that was certain was that we'd unintentionally triggered it.

There's an unhealthy pallor to her skin, as if suddenly all the warmth, all the emotions, all the life has been leeched out of her, leaving her behind as an empty husk. A shell of who I'd grown to see she was, and it's terrifying to see her unresponsive, unseeing, as if she's lost the ability to be aware of her senses.

And I know whatever has pushed her to this state is also draining her dry, because her body sways and trembles- only holding itself up through autopilot and the last draining dredges of energy and will.

My eyes desperately scan the boat, trying to see if there was something in her line of sight that was hurting her, eyes falling back onto Tae who's mumbling apologies, a constant stream of words bubbling past his lips- though for what I don't know.