The Nyxaris Key || MW

"E-excuse me... can you please help me?"

The words come out small. Shaky.

Pathetic enough to make Kim Mingyu stop walking. The owner of the Grand Nyxaris cruise ship slowly turns toward the trembling stranger standing near the edge of the moonlit deck, dark waves crashing violently beneath them while cold wind tears through the silence between them.

Pretty. That is Mingyu's first thought.

The stranger clutches the railing tightly, dressed in clothes far too expensive for an ordinary passenger yet wearing an expression that looks completely lost aboard a ship filled with predators.

Mingyu approaches carefully. "And why," he asks amusedly, "would I help you?"

The man hesitates before answering quietly, "Someone followed me onto the ship."

Fear flickers across his face so convincingly that even Mingyu almost believes it, almost.

Mingyu's eyes drag over him once more. Elegant posture. Sharp eyes hidden beneath panic. Hands too steady for someone supposedly terrified.

Interesting.

"And your designation?" Mingyu asks casually.

The stranger freezes for half a second. "Alpha," he answers.

Mingyu lets out a quiet scoff.

An alpha. Looking this helpless? How embarrassing.

Still, before Mingyu can walk away, the stranger suddenly reaches for his wrist with surprising desperation. "Please," he whispers again, softer this time. "I just need somewhere safe to stay for tonight."

Mingyu sighs. "Name?"

"Jeon Wonwoo." The stranger replies.

Something shifts in the air between them, not enough to alarm Mingyu, just enough to make him curious, and Kim Mingyu has always had a weakness for dangerous things pretending to be harmless.