Where the sea sleeps [HoonHao] ✔

15

trigger warning: violence (it's not a majorly written scene of violence, but I'm putting it here just in case.)

*

He's pressed into the furthest corner of his cell. Every chance he gets, he finds himself clutching at the chain.

He doesn't know how long he's been here (it can't have been that long), but it's been long enough that he's started losing feeling in his legs. Despite this, he doesn't shift his position; he doesn't want to. Though the guards have yet to say anything, if he so much as moves, their eyes dart over to him. They look at him as if he's just performed the most heinous of crimes which he's almost sure is not true.

He wants to know what they're thinking, but he fears that if he speaks, they'll strike at him again. They didn't seem too friendly, but then again he's never met a guard that appears so.

"Alright," one of the two guards says. He's at the entrance to the room and he's been there for the longest time, seeming to be in conversation with another person. His words signal the end of said conversation. He returns to the guard who has yet to leave his post (he's got these solid blue eyes that at first, completely startled Woozi and, in any other circumstance, they would be mesmerizing.) "They gave us the okay to interrogate him," he says.

Blue eyes seemed pleased, face lighting up for the first time since they captured him. They unlock the cell, the gate opening with a creek that bounces off the walls. His boots thud against the ground as he steps into the cell and with the expression on his face, Woozi has to fight to stop himself from nudging further into the corner.

The guard behind him nods. "Hope you don't mind a few questions."

"What's your name, kid?" The guard asks, voice coming off as loud as the thud of his boot. "You have one, don't you?"

"I do not know my name," comes Woozi's response, more timid than ever. An involuntary flinch occurs on his part as the guard takes another step forward. The one guard laughs, a booming sound that has Woozi wincing.

"How do you not know your own name, kid?" Blue eyes queries. He takes another step forward, eyeing him for a moment as he contemplates his next question. Woozi can see the way the gears are turning as he tries to think it out carefully. Interrogation or not, asking the wrong question at the wrong time can have an effect neither guard would want. "We saw you with that boy," he says again, slowly this time. "He's part of the Drifters."

"The Drifters?"

The guard's foot is against his chest, pressing delicately. "C'mon," he says, a wicked smirk curving its way onto his face. "You have to know who they are at the very least. You've been spending time with them."

Genuinely speaking, Woozi did not know. All he knew was they were a pirate crew. They were hated on and wanted for reasons that were never really their fault to begin with. He knew a little bit about each member of the crew like how Vernon was scarily calm and collected no matter the situation or how Scoups and Dino were dating but concerned about any negative reactions resulting in their whole tiptoeing around him about it. He knew Mingyu loved hugs when he was nervous or that Hoshi didn't exactly scream 'member of the crew' like the rest of them. All of that he knew. Not once does he recall ever asking them the name of the crew. He never asked what they called themselves nor what the name of the ship was. It never came up and he wished the guards would just accept his answer as is.

"I do not know the name—"

The sound echoes. The guard's hand makes contact with his cheek and the next thing he knows, his head has turned as a result of the impact. Pain stings across his cheek and he has to bite his tongue to stop from making any unnecessary sounds. His eyes tear involuntarily in response to the smack.