WhIP

by footfungus

nederlands verhalen over mijn otp

258. Cutlass Byungjoo AU

Chapter 1

Hua

Hei was pretty sure she was going to fall asleep if her tutor droned on about history for another five minutes.

Not that she would willingly fall asleep. With the test coming up in three days, she needed all the preparation she could have, but that meant being taught even more than usual and missing a couple meals here and there and getting even less sleep than usual. Which might've been her own fault that she'd stayed up studying, but then looking at it critically, there was no point anyways. One couldn't pass the test without having full control of her powers. She didn't have any control.

So was there a point in skipping meals and staying up too late just to study? Even if she did flawlessly on the knowledge portion of the test (if there even was a knowledge portion; no one really knew what the test was about and those who'd passed weren't allowed to talk about it), she'd utterly fail anything that had to do with her powers.

"Hei," her tutor snapped, and she blinked out of it, "You're going to fail if you go on like this."

She flinched. "Sorry."

The woman was unrelenting. "You're a child of the Song family," she scolded, "But right now, throughout the four years I've tutored you for, you've been completely useless. The family doesn't need failures. You have to prove that you're not one, but at the rate you're going, they'll kill you the moment you walk in those doors three days from now."

Hei tried not to flinch again. Ignore the tutor's words, she chanted to herself, Just ignore it. It had been four years with the same tutor (Hei wished she would just quit like the others ones before her because she was definitely the worst yet, but the woman was persistent) — she could still remember the first time she'd seen the tutor. She had been sixteen then. This is Song Miyeon, one of the servants had said, head lowered to the ground. She'll be your tutor for now.

The difference between Miyeon and the other tutors was that she was from the Song family, and a direct descendent. The ones before had been too scared to rebuke Hei in fear of what she could do to them (but she was pretty sure they'd mocked her behind her back about how useless she was when it came to her power, the one thing that marked her as a member of the Song family), but Miyeon mocked her straight up. The first story Miyeon had told her was about the prodigy from the Kim family. Hei had heard the story plenty of times from numerous tutors, but no one had ever made it sound as threatening as Miyeon made it. He'd been perfect, she said, It's been decades since any family has seen enough talent in a child to be enough for him to be a candidate for a family leader. That boy had it all. He was brilliant, he was powerful, he was dedicated. Until it turned out he wasn't. And despite how gifted he was, despite that chance he was given, he was still a failure. And disposed of. What more will turn out when it comes to you?

That had just been the first one. In fact, Miyeon often told her stories as a sort of threat. Some of them had actually happened, some were fictional, but the moral of them were always the same. Fail, and you're useless. We can't afford any failures.

We can't afford any failures. That was the phrase that had been drilled into her head since she was six, and for fourteen years, Hei heard it at least once a day.

"First family leader of the Song family," Miyeon said sharply, "Who was he?"

She mumbled a name in response.

Her tutor let out a huff. "This general knowledge is going to get you nowhere."

She began to go off on a tangent, but Hei zoned out again. This time, it was unstoppable. The air seemed heavier around her, and the distinct feeling of being frozen in place because of her power.

Slowly, images began to sew them together in front of her. Hei could remember thinking not now, but that was what she thought basically every time she used her power. It always decided to come in at the most inconvenient moments. Namely when Miyeon was talking to her. She'd get a scolding about not being able to control her power the moment she managed to snap out of it, whenever that was going to be.

Hei could only watch as two translucent figures appeared before her eyes. They were just slightly see-through, though the surroundings were similar to what they looked like at the moment. It couldn't have been too long ago.

The one on the right was a man, though he had a large hat pulled over his face. She could barely see his features. He was speaking to a shorter girl — was it a maid? She was wearing the maid uniform, but she was facing the other side and her face wasn't visible — though Hei couldn't hear sounds through the memory segments. Their lips were moving but no sound came out.

Frustrated, she tried to break free from the memory. They never lasted too long, but there were ones that were more than half a minute and being held captive and frozen under her own power was not only scary but humiliating. It was even more embarrassing that she didn't know what category her power even fell under. Segments of previous memories left behind in the place she was in. Not only was it not even remotely useful but she had no control of when she saw the memories.

Hei watched the two people converse for a little while — admittedly, part of her was curious about when these people had existed. It could've been years ago or it could've been days. She had no way of telling — until they finally began to fade the way they had appeared. As it disappeared, she began to unfreeze too.

Miyeon was staring at her with a disapproving expression on her face.

Hei tried to give the older woman a placating smile, but Miyeon wasn't taking any of it. With a dark look in her eyes, she set the book in her hands down.

"You've heard of the story of the Kim family's prodigy many times, haven't you?" she asked.

Was it even a question? Hei could only nod meekly in response.

"Learn from it," Miyeon growled. "I don't know what's wrong with you, Song Hei, but children of the families are expected to be able to control their powers. They're trained so they're stronger. Yet you can't even control it a least bit, so I don't know what a child like you is doing in the Song family. At least the prodigy the Kim family had wasn't completely useless. It's a pity he ended up where he did—" Hei could tell that it wasn't really a pity to Miyeon, "but at least he wasn't a complete mistake from the very beginning.

She bit her lip. Miyeon's words always got to her no matter how hard Hei tried to ignore it. "I am trying," she protested, but it came out pathetic.

The woman shoved the open history book roughly in her direction, nearly knocking over the cup of water that was placed dangerously close to the edge of the table. "Do it yourself," she snapped, "If you're going to fail anyways, I'm not wasting my time here with you."

She gave it a final shove. Hei watched numbly as it knocked into the cup, which toppled off the edge and hit the floor with a loud crash, the china shattering into uncountable pieces. It was hard not to flinch.

Miyeon turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard behind her that the whole house seemed to tremble.

Hei glanced dejectedly down at the broken cup. The water was already soaking through the carpet, the coldness seeping into her bare skin. With another sigh of defeat, she bent down and began picking up the pieces of the broken china. Maybe Miyeon was right. There was no point practicing for something that she was bound to fail anyways.

"I'll be leaving," the maid said, bowing at Hei, "Your foot should be fine. It should heal before…before…it'll heal in three days time."

Hei glanced at her foot. It was bandaged in white bandages, though it still hurt to put weight onto the bottom of her foot when she walked and she had limped around the house for the rest of the afternoon. Miyeon would probably be furious when she found out that she'd hurt herself before the test. Or maybe she'd pull the whole I don't care anymore facade.

It was your fault, you old hag, she thought, You're the one who knocked over the cup.

"Seungwan," she said, glancing at the maid (Hei hoped that was her name — it was hard to keep track), "Do you think I'll pass?"

Seungwan opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. Finally, she glanced down at her feet. "Miss," she said cautiously, "I don't think it's my place to say."

I'm technically not allowed to talk to you like this either, she thought.

"I'm not going to tell anyone."

Seungwan bit her lip. "Miss—"

"Do you think I'm going to pass?" Hei repeated, more forcefully than the last time, "Is there even any point in me trying to pass the test? Maybe I should enjoy these last three days because they're all I have left to live."

Seungwan lifted her head so she was staring Hei straight in the eye. It was odd — maids and servants almost never made eye contact with members of the family, and most of the time they walked with their head down. There was something surprisingly intense about Seungwan's gaze

"Do you want to pass?" she asked, "Is passing the only way you can live? If you ask me honestly, from the standards of the Song family, it's very possible you won't. But that test isn't your only option, if you ask me. There are better alternatives out there." She paused, greyish eyes surprisingly serious. Then she dropped her head, breaking the eye contact. "I have to go now, miss. Enjoy your dinner and take care of your foot. I'll… see you tomorrow."

She shut the door gently behind her before Hei could say anything else. There was something very familiar about the back of Seungwan's head — almost like the way the girl in her memory segment had looked like. Still, she was gone before Hei could put any more thought into it, and all she could do was sink into the chair hopelessly.

"I'm done for," Hei lamented into the pillow, "Even a maid thinks I have no hope."

The small carving of a cat gave no answer. There was a pile of books strewn across the floor of her bedroom, but Hei was too frustrated to pick them up any longer. Even a maid thought she couldn't pass.

Why'd I ask her in the first place? The ceiling wasn't the best thing to stare at, but it was all white and that somehow managed to calm her down (or at least, as calm as she could get). Right. I wanted someone to tell me that I'd do okay.

Except that hadn't worked either. Because even Seungwan, a maid that Hei barely knew, told her that it was very possible she wouldn't pass.

Hei rolled off the bed, then nearly got tangled in her dress trying to stand up. There was nothing good about being part of the Song family. She'd spent everyday since she was six learning about useless information, training for powers she couldn't control no matter what, and being trash-talked by tutors who'd all given up on her because she was too hopeless of a case. It didn't help that her mother was a well-known, powerful person compared to the Song family leader's other wives. She apparently brought down her mother's reputation, not to mention her father's and the whole family's. She barely saw her siblings — she didn't want to see them. The last time she'd seen any of them face to face was when she was eighteen, and it hadn't been the most pleasant experience. All of the others her age had full control of their powers then, and they were completely ready for the test.

Wincing at the pain in her foot, she pushed herself up so she was standing. She picked her way through the mess of books, barely managing to get through to the door without tripping. The dress the girls of the families were required to wear was ridiculous. Hei thought it probably made her weigh twice as heavy as she really was. And the hair, too. There were so many needless accessories.

But that test isn't your only option, if you ask me. There are better alternatives out there

Something about Seungwan's words struck her odd. Did she mean that death was a better alternative? It didn't quite click with Hei, so shaking her head, she limped her way down the stairs into the kitchen.

The mess that Miyeon had made had been cleaned up by the maids already, but Hei was still careful around the kitchen area in case there were still shards that hadn't been swept. The house was empty at night. Most of the children of the Song family lived in their own houses. Supposedly, her mother was supposed to visit them all on a weekly basis, but Hei was pretty sure it had been years since her mother had visited her. And the last meeting hadn't been very pleasant either. Perhaps it was better to be left alone.

The sky was dark when she looked outside, pitch black. The inner city was always like that at night. Deathly quiet, pitch black, as if the light from the moon and stars couldn't reach it. The older Hei got, the more unwelcoming the city of Hua seemed to become. Shuddering, she reached over and pulled curtains over the window, then made her way to the counter to get water.

For a long while, Hei sat idly at the table, unsure of what to do. It was getting late, but she wasn't tired. She'd been barely getting any sleep since a month ago, when Miyeon had made her lessons longer (and slipped in more additional insults), insisting that she needed to be as prepared as she could. The dread of the test and threat of being killed (or disposed of, in Miyeon's words) if she didn't do well was overwhelming all her senses.

Just when she was about to get up and return to her room, a knock sounded on the door.

It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of cold water onto her. Unpleasant, frustrating, and angering. Only one person would come to the house at such an ungodly hour — Miyeon. And Hei had had enough of her tutor for the day (if not forever).

Still limping, she neared the door. The knocks sounded again.

Odd, she thought, Miyeon would knock once and expect me to get it at that one knock.

More knocks. Hei tried to hurry her pace, but her foot hurt too much. Miyeon would see, and she'd be in huge trouble again.

"I'm coming!" she yelled, "Give me a moment!"

The large wooden doors were heavy to pull open, and the moment she had it open halfway, something felt off.

Miyeon always carried a lantern with her during the night. In fact, Miyeon had that lantern with her whether or not it was dark. Except this time, it was completely dark, and the rustic scent of blood hit Hei the moment the door opened. She was struck with horror, frozen in her spot, unable to shut the door even as her mind began blaring warning bells at her.

The light from inside the house was enough to illuminate the figure that was basically sprawled across the ground, and it definitely wasn't Miyeon.

The smell of blood was so thick that Hei found herself gagging. The person on the ground pushed himself up weakly, reaching a hand over and pushing the door open more, but he looked like he was on the verge of collapsing again. Hei couldn't move at all, despite the very obvious need to run. Danger. She didn't even know how such a person got inside the house at all — the entire inner city of Hua was well guarded — but whatever the reason, it was nothing good.

His face was illuminated slightly from the light of the room. His hair looked wet, and Hei wasn't sure if it was blood or if it was sweat or water. There was a long rip on the front of his shirt, and underneath it, a nasty gash. When he raised his head, he looked surprisingly young. He couldn't have been too many years over twenty.

There was something soft about his features, but there was also another feeling Hei couldn't place — for some reason, he looked familiar. Like she'd seen him before, but that was impossible because the girls of the family were kept apart from the boys until they passed the test. Apart from the odd tutor who'd been male, Hei could probably count on one hand how many men she'd seen in her life.

Run, her mind screamed, Shut the door and run. Call for help.

"Who…who are you?" she asked instead. "What happened to you…?"

He lifted his face up. There was a smudge of blood across his cheek, and as injured as he looked, there was something oddly intense about his eyes that didn't match with his face. Nor did it match with his voice, in fact, because he spoke up the next moment.

"Help," he managed, voice weak, and the fear was swallowed up by pity the moment she heard his voice. "Please help me."

Chapter 2

Of Blood and Pirates

Hei had absolutely no idea what to do.

Her door was already open and she couldn't just walk away as if she didn't see the boy, but what would the maids say the next morning when they found out she was housing an injured manandgot blood all over the carpet? Moreover, what would Miyeon say?Three days before the test, and you're not studying but doingcharitywork? Have you lost your mind? And a male, no less.

Which lead to the question of how he even got into the inner city of Hua, much less over the gates of her house. Was he a guard? If he'd been attacked in such a way, the attacker definitely was still around, right?

"What happened to you?" she asked, voice shaking. "Why are you…"

"Someone attacked me." His voice was faint, and it looked as if each word hurt for him to speak. "Please, miss…" He broke off into a very violent fit of coughing, and his hand came away from his mouth covered with blood. "Please help."

Asking him questions wouldn't get her anywhere if he were in such a state, but Hei also wasn't sure how she could help him. The most obvious one was the one on his stomach, though he already had one hand on it as if a feeble attempt to stop the bleeding.

Miyeon would be mad. The maids would be mortified. And she'd be forever guilty (or guilty for three days, because that was basically how long she had to live) if she didn't help him.

Carefully, trying her best not to breathe through her nose, Hei opened the door wider and took a step towards him. "Can you stand up?" she asked. "I don't know what I can help with…" Her voice faltered. She wasn't supposed to be helping in the first place. Calling the higher-ups would've been the right thing to do, but if the higher-ups came, there was no guarantee they'd even help him. For a commoner to trespass into where the Song family lived was strictly forbidden, no matter what reason. "I'll try to bandage the wound and clean it," she said finally.

He drew in a rattling breath. "I think…"

Through his bloodied face, Hei couldn't quite tell his features. Still, there was something very odd — something she couldn't place yet — about him that she couldn't brush off. Had she seen him before somewhere?

He pushed himself to his feet, one hand pressed against the doorframe and smearing blood on it.I'll clean it later,Hei told herself, trying to suppress the gag reflex.He can't help it.

When he was fully standing, she realized that he was actually taller than her. Because he'd been sprawled across the ground the whole time, she hadn't even noticed his height, but when he was finally standing (even though he was slouched), he was taller by a fair bit. And for some reason, that made him seem a lot more intimidating. For a split second, he seemed to be a completely different person and Hei hesitated. Letting in a beat-up stranger wasn't a smart idea.

And then he wobbled from where he was standing, threatening to fall over, and she held out an arm to steady him.

He gave her a pained smile-turned-grimace. "Thanks," he croaked. "I'm sorry for the blood."

"It's fine," Hei grit out as she slipped one of his arms around her shoulders, trying her best not to look at the blood thatalsobegan to stain her dress. He wasn't putting his complete weight on her, but already, she felt her shoulder aching from the strain. "Sit down on one of the chairs and I'll get something to clean your wound with."

Hei guided him towards the table, careful that he didn't step on the carpeted ground. It would be harder to clean than the wooden floor.

In the end, he ended up on one of the chairs, wheezing for breath and hand pressed tightly against the wound on his chest. Through the blood, his face was pale and pasty.

"Do you have any other wounds?" Hei took a step away from him. She could smell the blood on herself from him, and there was nothing more than she wanted to do than to wash it off. "There's one on your abdomen."

"That one first," he managed. "It's the worst one."

Wordlessly, she nodded at him.

It was slightly unnerving to turn her back to him as she searched for a large bowl in the cupboards. She could almost still feel his gaze on her, strangely intense for someone who was injured to badly and spoke in such a soft tone. She tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling that had settled in the pit of the stomach, but somethingdidfeel off about him that just made her feel worse.

Maybe it was because she'd never been alone in the house with someone like that. Maybe it was because she'd never dealt with anyone's injuries, much less seen so much blood like that.

Swallowing her unease, she grabbed the largest bowl she could find and then a clean piece of cloth to wash the wound with, then a roll of gauze to wrap it up. Filling it with water, she turned back to him.

Hei wasn't even sure what color his shirt had been. She could see traces of white among the red, but with the dim light of the lantern (she needed another one, because it was dying), the rest of his shirt looked bloodied and torn. He had his head lowered, eyes squeezed shut and breathing still heavy.

"Hey," she said.What's your name? What are you doing here? Who are you? What happened to you?"Uh… can you take your shirt off? It'll be easier to clean the wound like that."

He lifted his head. "I think so."

Hei placed the bowl of water on the table, dropping the white cloth into it, keeping her gaze focussed on the flickering flame of the lantern as he pulled his shirt over his head. The moment it was off he broke off into a fit of violent coughing. The shirt was in rags when he held it in his hands, and she took it from him, grabbing onto the one part that was relatively more clean. "I don't think you can wear this anymore," she told him. "Can I throw it out?"

He gave a mute nod. Hei tossed it into the wastebasket, then turned to look at him again. He still had his hand pressed to the wound, a grimace on his face.

Hei had absolutely no idea how she was supposed to treat the wound. Seungwan had washed her foot with a cloth in the afternoon and then bandaged it with gauze, which she guessed was what she was supposed to do to him too, but he was injured a lot more than how she had been. Was it still the same procedure?

Hesitant, she wrung out the cloth and kneeled down in front of him.

"I…" she began, but the words caught in her throat.I don't know what I'm doingsounded pathetic, and at such a moment, Miyeon's words suddenly came back to her.You're a child of the Song family, so act like one.

"Can you take your hand away?" she asked instead. "I need to clean the wound. Is it the only one?"

"There's minor ones." He glanced at her. "But this one was the worse."

Hei involuntarily glanced up at him again when he spoke. The moment she met his eyes, she blinked and turned away, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake off the feeling that she'd seen him before. The way he looked at her seemed strangely familiar.

It took all her willpower to stop thinking about it and move onto cleaning the gash. It was hard for her to look at up close (and there was also the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt and the proximity was making her jittery) — it wasn't extremely deep, the bleeding didn't seem too bad, but still — she didn't want to look at it.

Carefully, Hei cleaned until the area around the wound was free of blood. There were still smears over his chest, but at that point, the water in the bowl had been dyed red and she wasn't sure if it was sanitary anymore to use it to wipe away the other blood.

He bit his lip, closing his eyes again, though his jaw wasn't as tense. He looked a little bit like a lost puppy and Hei felt terrible. "Thank you."

"Can you wrap the gauze yourself?" she asked. "I'm going to change the water and you might want to fix up the other cuts too."

He hummed in agreement.Maybe I'm overthinking,she thought,but he sounds a lot more casual than the beginning.

She dumped out the water and turned to refill it, washing the bowl in the process and doing her best to wring the blood water out of cloth. It remained a light shade of pink, and Hei figured it was the best she could get it. Then, she washed her own hands and arms, scrubbing viciously as she tried to rid herself of the sticky feeling of drying blood off her skin, along with the rustic scent.

"Are you a commoner?" she called back. He had looked a lot better than he was in the beginning, and Hei figured that he could at least answer a couple of questions.

"I guess." His voice was quiet. "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Slightly miffed by his answer, she picked up the bowl again, ready to turn back, when she caught a glimpse of his bloody shirt in the wastebasket. It had been so stained and torn, unrecognizable as a shirt before — what possibly could have happened to him to turn up like that? How much blood had he lost? It definitely wasn't a healthy amount.

"Anyways, I—"

How much blood had he lost? It definitely wasn't a healthy amount.

He had beendrenchedin blood. If someone lost that much blood, how had they not passed out? Sure, he looked as if he'd dragged himself to her doorstep, but then he started getting better.

And the wound on his stomach. It wasn't even bleeding that much when she cleaned it — back then, Hei had assumed he'd stopped the blood flow with his hands — but it wasn'tthatdeep. There was no way he bled that much because of the cut of his stomach. It looked like someone had cut him with a blade, but they weren't close enough to even cut it deep enough.

"What happened to you again?" She could feel her hands shaking around the bowl, as well as his gaze on her, still intense like the moment she opened her door and saw him. "How did you get so much blood on you?"

"It's not my blood."

Hei stiffened immediately, grip tightening on the bowl though she was too terrified to turn around him and look at him. How could his voice sound so different yet similar at the same time? It was the samevoice,but the tone was a complete opposite from how it had been before. He had sounded so timid in the beginning, and this... Confident, calm, collected, and like he knew exactly what he was talking about. Like he'd never been wounded.

I never should've let him in.She could hear the scrape of the chair on the ground as he stood up, and the deliberately slow footsteps travelling in her direction. Where had she seen him before? The familiarity couldn't have been something she'd mistaken.

The moment the footsteps seemed too close, she whipped around and threw the bowl at him, water, cloth and all, as hard as she could, turning around just in time to see him knock it aside with deadly accuracy and speed. Before she could do something, the sharp, cold edge of what was probably a blade of some sort was pressed to her neck.

Hei froze.

"Song Hei," he said, "That's your name, right? Miss Hei."

Petrified in terror, Hei stared at his face. He'd cleaned most of the blood off of it so that she could see his features clearer, though she still couldn't place a finger on where she'd seen him before. Something was beginning to click, but…

"What do you want?" She wished her voice wouldn't shake so much, but with the blade pressed against her neck, she was terrified, past the point of even trying to act brave. Had she let a criminal in?It's not my blood.A murderer? On top of that, she'd even helped him and treated his wounds — she could see the white gauze that he'd already wrapped around his stomach. "I don't know who you are, but if you know who I am, you'll know that I'm from—"

"Save it. You're not all that threatening." He lowered the blade, though Hei didn't dare move more. It didn't look like a sword — it was too small to be one and too large to be a dagger — and the blade was slightly curved.

A cutlass.

It hit her then, why he'd looked so familiar. It was really too late of a realization, especially now that she was helpless and at his mercy, but it was his posters that she'd constantly seen hanging around. The price on his head had only grown throughout the years. It had started when she was fourteen — another wanted criminal — apirate —that the family leaders wanted to catch. One among many, insignificant because he couldn't make as much as a dent in the reputation and power of the families. And then as time passed, they began raising the price on his head, more desperate to catch him. His face, painted on the wanted posters, became clearer, supposedly more accurate.

And staring right into his face, Hei had to disagree that the artists still hadn't quite gotten him right. But it was close enough for her to recognize him.

"Byungjoo," she managed aloud, and his half-smile widened into a grin.

"You recognize me, then," he said.

She clenched her fists to stop them from trembling. She was face to face with the exact man that the families had spentsix yearstrying to catch, yet somehow, he had chosen to show up at her doorstep. The last thing she'd heard of him was that he'd disappeared in a clash with the Lu family. No one knew what happened to him and his crew, and though both sides had taken damage, the entire ship of the Lu family had been completely wiped out. That had been a month or so ago.

And with him here, wouldn't it be her duty to her family to catch him? If she brought down Byungjoo, the infamous pirate captain, wouldn't that give her an automatic pass to the test?

Except she couldn't even use the power she had.

"Why are you here?" she asked instead, hoping she sounded like she knew what she was talking about (though she didn't). "You're supposed to be missing. What are you doing in Hua?"

Byungjoo gave a nonchalant shrug. "You know what happened, right?"

Hei took a wary step back. He had her cornered in the kitchen and there was no place to go, and even though he'd taken the cutlass away from her neck, this was Byungjoo and there was no way he wasn't skilled. She'd seen how fast he could move. There was no possible, in the heavy dress and with the minimal training she'd gotten, could she get away from him and call for help.If only I had another power that wasn't so useless,she thought.

"What are you here for?" she repeated. "You were obviously faking being badly injured. Why did you even come into the inner city? If you killed someone before coming in here, they'll be alerted of it really soon. There's no way you're going to get out of the inner city, much less Hua, so even if you're going to kill me—"

"I'm not here to kill you, though." He spun the blade idly in his fingers. "And I definitely won't be getting out the same way. You have secret passages for a reason, right?"

Shocked, Hei couldn't even speak. How had he known? Sure, he was resourceful for a pirate and being able to sneak inside the inner city and into her house was a pretty big feat, but to know about such things that only family members knew? No matter how powerful, how skilled he was, he was still a commoner. That was where he'd come from. And that should've made him no match against the family leaders.

"Look," Byungjoo said, "we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either you go with me willingly, or you get kidnapped. You're going with me either way."

Hei couldn't even formulate a proper thought. It wasn't clicking. A moment ago she was helping an injured boy. How had it escalated to this? Kidnapped? He was saying to her face that he was kidnapping her? "Go with you?" she repeated dumbly. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Song Hei," he interrupted, then promptly continued on like he was reading off a script. "You're turning twenty in three days, which means you have to take the test. Your tutor — Song Miyeon, if I'm not mistaken — doesn't exactlyteachyou, but spends most of her time putting you down because you can't control your power. In my opinion, it's just out of spite. And I quote,'Young Miss can see snippets of the past in the spot she's in, but apparently her power is quite spontaneous and she doesn't know how to control it. It comes at random moments.' Is all that correct? You're also quite worried you're going to fail."

She opened her mouth to speak, then promptly snapped it shut. Byungjoo was still staring at her, gaze calm, the same infuriating smirk lingering on his lips, looking as if nothing was wrong.Young Miss?That was what most of the servants called her. Did that mean one of the servants had told Byungjoo the information? "You…" she began. "How do you…"

"How do I know?" He shrugged. "It's not that hard. Now if you'll keep the questions for later, we have to get out of here now."

Hei took a step back, though her back hit the counter. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

Faster than she could track with her eyes, he was standing in front of her, the cutlass a blur of silver in his hands. She braced herself for the pain, and oddly, her last thought was,I guess it's not my family that's going to be killing me.

Surprisingly, the first thing that she registered was the feeling of her hair falling down her neck, and then someone's hot breath against her face. Shocked, she cracked open an eye just in time to see Byungjoo step back, drawing his weapon away from her as the rest of her hair fell down from the updo. Had he cut the ribbon that held it up? How could he be so precise and fast at the same time?

"Song Hei," he repeated, voice surprisingly serious. "I know for a fact that you're terrified of taking the test and you think that you have no other option but to die. Isn't that what they all said to you? That you're useless because you can't use your power? It's funny that they had the audacity to say that even though it was their fault they never taught you properly."

There was an odd sort of truthfulness in his voice — an outlaw, a pirate, a commoner that the families looked down on — that felt extremely confusing. His eyes were burning, intense, the same as before. Throat dry, she shook her head, though it was even hard to move. "I don't get where you're getting at. I'm not going with you."

Byungjoo raised the cutlass at her again. "That wasn't an option."

Just seeing him use the blade again seemed to kick in some sort of instinct, and Hei grabbed for the nearest thing that could be used as a weapon — a rolling pin that one of the maids seemed to have left on the table — and threw it as hard as she could at him. Vaguely, she remembered the same thing not working when she'd thrown the bowl, but he was closer this time and she hoped desperately it would act as enough of a distraction to get past him.

His eyes widened in surprise. He wasn't slow to block the attack, and as Hei brought the rolling pin down at him, he snatched it out of her hand. She barely registered what was happening when he had cast it across the room with a flick of his wrist, and then the cutlass was against her throat again. Byungjoo leaned forward so his face was dangerously close to hers, eyes boring holes.

"I'm not here to play," he said in a low voice, "And I think you're misunderstanding me here. I'm not going to have a nice long chat with you and I'm not here to ask for your permission either. So it's going to be better for you—" he dug the blade a bit deeper into her neck, and Hei flinched, "—if you do what I say. Understood?"

She couldn't formulate any words. His gaze was unreadable, and Hei wasn't sure if he actually would hurt her if she didn't do what he said. He sounded serious enough, and he definitely wasn't lying when he was saying he'd killed someone on the way in. Still, if he broke his way in just to get her (she still wasn't sure on the reason), he wouldn't kill her, would he?

Byungjoo must've sensed her hesitation. "If I have to, I'll knock you out and drag you out of here," he threatened. "I don't know where the secret passages are, but I'm guessing they're in your room, right? It'll be a hassle to do so wouldn't it be much more pleasant for both of us if you cooperated?"

He looked very much as if he'd carry through with the threat. Gulping, Hei gave him a tentative nod — or as much as she could nod with the blade pressed to her neck. It was bad enough that he knew there were passages in every house — to know that they were in her room…

Byungjoo's grinned widely. "Smart choice. As for now…" he scanned her from head to toe. "We need to leave soon, but you're not going to get through the outer city wearing that with people suspecting you. Is there anything you can change into that's less…" He frowned. "Less...extravagant?"

He was speaking to her so casually when he had just been threatening her a moment ago. Hei wasn't sure if she could even wrap her mind around the situation anymore. The only thing she could really register was the fear and her rapidly increasing heartbeat and the cutlass that was still pressed to her throat.

"There's…" She swallowed thickly. "Maid's clothing downstairs, but–"

"That'll do." Byungjoo drew back his blade, and Hei let out a breath of relief as he stepped away from her. He reached back and picked up her lantern, the light still flickering. It made the shadows dance on his face, which seemed like all angles in the harsh light, like a carved statue. He glanced down at himself. "And I need a shirt too."

Gulping one last time, she nodded at him. Byungjoo was making the whole thing way too casual, and that was perhaps even scarier. He seemed to know what he was doing in everything he did, and what he'd done should've been an impossible feat yet he'd got into the inner city with only a scratch on his stomach. Even if he was a pirate, how had he been able to do that? He made the impossible seem like it was easy, and that demeanor — the casual, uncaring tone he switched into — was what scared Hei the most.

"Well?" he gestured at the hallway with his weapon. "Hurry up. I don't have all day."

Chapter 3

Leaving

"That still looks fancy," Byungjoo mused under his breath.

Hei bit her lip. She didn't want to humour him anymore than she already had.

He folded his arms across his chest. Hei had found a shirt for him in one of the rooms for the maids, and it was actually a bit too big for him. Along with it, she pulled out the first dress from the maids' room that she could find. It was light compared to what she normally wore, and with the accessories and hairpins all pulled out of her hair and her normal dress and suffocating corset off, she felt oddly freer.

It didn't change anything, though. His mere presence in the room with her unnerved her to an almost-unbearable point, and Hei would rather be sitting through a lecture with Miyeon than be in such a situation. To think of it, she didn't even have any ideahowit ended up in such a way. For the past couple of minutes, she only remembered numbly following Byungjoo's instructions. The only thing she was hyperaware of was the cutlass that he had in his hand, the threatening gleam of the blade.

That's the only reason I'm doing this,she told herself, though her thoughts were as muddled as her actions.He'll kill me if I don't. Or hurt me. There's no other choice, and…

"Let's go," Byungjoo said, voice cutting through her thoughts. "Your room is upstairs, isn't it?"

Hei glanced down at her clothing. The dress was so simple compared to what she normally had to wear, and she looked a lot slimmer without the corset, the unnecessary layers of fabric. The shoes were also more comfortable.

"How do you even know about the passages?" she asked. He wasn'tactinglike he was in a rush, but the guards he killed were bound to be found in little time. The security in the inner city of Hua was strict. If she could possibly stall…

"I'm not going to answer your questions right now," he replied. "Stalling won't be any use. Lead the way, Miss Hei."

Hei swallowed, but the lump of fear didn't go away. "You're not—"

"I don't want to do this the hard way," he said calmly. "But Iwillif you don't cooperate. I'm more than capable of getting you out here myself, and that's without being caught by your family. I don't know what you've been taught, but there's a lot of faults in the system of the families. They're not nearly as invincible as you think. It'll be a bit of a hassle and a lot more dangerous, but it's not impossible. I just can't guarantee it'll end well for both of us."

"My family is strong enough to stop you," she snapped at him, but it came out a lot weaker than she expected.

"Stop me?" He turned around, spinning the cutlass in his hands and took a step forward. She shrunk back, though his gaze pinned her in place. "That clash with the Lu family a couple weeks back that everyone heard of — do you know what happened to their ship? It's destroyed, resting at the bottom of the sea and every single one of them—" he drew out each syllable, taking a step closer each word until they were face to face, "—are dead. And you're going to do as I say or else more of your family members will end up the same way."

Hei couldn't exactly say she cared about the other people in her family, but the threat itself was terrifying. Abruptly, he turned around. "We're leaving,now.Either you show me the passages or I find them myself."

It took her a couple of moments to compose herself, and then, steadying her breathing and trying to block out all the irrational thoughts, she followed him.

By the time she'd cleared up the area to expose the passages, she was sure at least thirty minutes had passed since she'd initially taken him into the house. It wasn't long, technically, but it should've been long enough forsomeoneto be alerted of his presence.

Still, the courtyard and surroundings remained eerily quiet. The black, gaping hole of the passages stood in front of them, unwelcoming and grim. Hei peered out the window desperately one last time, though there was no one to be seen.

Byungjoo held out a lantern. It hung from his fingers loosely, and he swung it in as casual a way as he did with the cutlass. Howeasyit was for him to use the weapon was scary.

"Stop looking for them," he told her in a quiet voice. "I made sure none of the guards in the area were able to find someone for help. It's going to be hours before they find out an incident has happened and we'll be long gone from Hua by then."

Why did he make it sound so simple? The thought was almost nauseating. How much more was he capable of? The most dangerous, most wanted man that the families were after… she'd never taken it seriously before. It seemed like something that was so faraway, something that could never apply to her because she probably couldn'teven pass the test. He was something for the higher-ups to deal with, not someone like her. And yet somehow he was standing in front of her, with whatever plan he had in mind and basically kidnapping her from right after her family's noses.

The cold hand of dread closed around her heart. She wasn't sure if he'd been bluffing when he'd said it, but what if her family really wasn't a match against him? He'd destroyed a fleet of the Lu family's ships. If he were to face someone from her family…

She shook her head. It wasn't possible. He was still a commoner in the end, and though he'd killed some people from the Lu family, he'd ultimately lost his own ship and crew too. He wouldn't get far through Hua without being caught. They'd been on the sea when he'd fought the Lu family. Here — he was in the heart of where the Song family ruled.

Still, the more she thought about it, the more it seemed as if she were just making desperate, illogical excuses for something she already knew as the truth.

"Song Hei." Byungjoo spoke up again. "You do realize your family is going to kill you in three days?"

Her heart skipped a beat. The reminder felt like a slap to the face, and the worst part was that she couldn't even deny it. Miyeon told her. She thought about it herself. Whichever way she looked at it, she couldn't see another alternative. Yet still, hearing it from a stranger's lips… it hurt, and more than just a sting.

He looked as if he knew he hit a sore spot. "Look," he said. "You know it yourself, but you just don't want to admit it. Staying here with your family doesn't mean staying with luxuries and freedom and fun. As ironic as it is, you'll probably live longer going with me than staying here. So instead of going unwillingly, wouldn't it be better just togoand stop fighting it?"

"You're kidnapping me from my family—"

"A family that basically neglects you, puts you down and treats their children like dolls! You may have luxuries, you may not starve every night, but are you really a better life than the commoners are in your family? Do you feel welcomed and protected and cherished andcared aboutin this so called family? Face it, Song Hei. You're just another child that's disposable to them. Is it not the truth?"

His eyes were burning with a strange sort of fire.How does he know so well?she briefly wondered, but before she could say anything else, Byungjoo wrapped a hand around her wrist — painfully tight — and yanked her towards the passages. It didn't compare to the volume his words spoke, but it still hurt.

Hei tried to protest and yank her hand out of his grasp, but he was stronger than she was and she had no choice but to stumble after him into the dark. He closed the door behind them after dragging over the furniture that had previously covered it. There was nothing but the faint flicker from the light of the lantern that he held.

She'd never actually been in the secret passages. She knew they existed, knew where they were, and where they led (or at least, she thought she did — it was supposed to lead to a safehouse in the outer city, but Hei wasn't too sure and there never seemed to be any use of it). Supposedly, only members of the family knew of it — not even maids or servants knew — but Byungjoo somehow did.

The darkness was almost suffocating. The passage was dark and narrow, the air musty and humid. She kept her eyes fixed on the light in Byungjoo's hands, heart pounding from adrenaline and fear, and maybe an aftereffect from his words.Your family is going to kill you in three days.

It hurt even more coming from him. Miyeon, she'd gotten used to. Perhaps, in a way, she'd come to terms with it herself.If you're not good enough, you're no use to the family and that makes you useless. Your family is your top priority. Don't let your family down.It had been basically drilled into her head. Maybe, somewhere along the way, the words had lost their meaning, but that didn't mean the effect they had was completely gone. But having Byungjoo say it? It was the worse yet.

As he pulled her along in the dark, she tried to look at his face. She'd long given up trying to wrench her wrist out of his hands, but as debated as she felt, the most prominent part of her still wanted to get away from him. Sure, her family didn't treat her the best. Maybe she'd die in three days.But to betray your family—

"Stop struggling," Byungjoo muttered, halting abruptly. "Do you want me to let go of your wrist?"

Hei did a double take at him, unsure of what to say.

He didn't seem to need an answer, because a moment later, he had released her wrist. "Go in front," he said shortly. "Walk faster."

Confused and slightly scared by his tone, Hei did as told, massaging her sore wrist. She couldn't see, but she was pretty sure he still had his cutlass out.

She wasn't sure how long they'd been walking before the passage began to slant upwards. It wasn't a steep climb in the beginning, but gradually, it began getting more tiring to climb. The hill turned into stairs. Hei was feeling more and more exhausted each step, and by the time they seemed to nearing the top, she was ready to fall over.

Byungjoo jogged lightly up beside her, not the least bit fazed by the long climb. Hei dragged herself the last couple of steps to see him standing next to a door.

It looked horribly old and untouched for a very long time, and when she caught up with him, the ground around it was covered by a layer of dust.

"It should lead into a safehouse in the outer city, right?" Byungjoo asked, tapping the door with his weapon. "If I'm not wrong, it's pretty close to the ports."

"The ports?" It didn't connect for a moment, and numbly, she watched as he tried the doorknob cautiously. Then, the realization dawned and she gaped at him in horror (though he wasn't even looking at her). "You're—we're… leaving Hua by sea?"

He didn't turn around, voice indifferent, but a faint smile pulling on his lips. "I think you're overestimating my abilities here, Miss Hei. I can't stay in Hua for much longer. Even I have my limits. Besides—" he turned around this time, actually meeting her eyes. His lips pulled into a smirk. "I'm a pirate. The sea is the safest place for me."

There was something strangely fascinating about the way he spoke that made her unintentionally gravitate towards him, but it didn't take long for Hei to shake out of it. This man was dangerous. He'd kidnapped her. No matter how charismatic he could be or how convincing he sounded, what he was saying about her family — not that it was a lie, exactly — but it was extremely disrespectful and ridiculous. He was making it seem worse than it was.

Or was he?a small voice in the back of her head whispered.Is he really making it seem worse or is he just telling the bitter truth you don't want to face?

She shook it off violently. It was just a stupid effect from Byungjoo's words. To listen to him and not her family? That was ridiculous. He was an outlaw, a pirate. A commoner.His words don't mean anything,she told herself halfheartedly, but the other part of her remained stubborn.If his words don't mean anything — words from a commoner, an outlaw — why are they the truth?

The door creaked open and Byungjoo held out his lantern, poking a head out. His actions were minimal and cautious, cutlass held in front of him in a defensive stance. It was almost a stark contrast compared to before — he'd been so casual, almost uncaring, and now, with his steps light and careful, he almost didn't seem like the same person.

"Let's go," he said in a low voice. "There's no one here right now."

The only thing Hei could hear was the deafening silence around them, and perhaps constant sound of something in the distance. Was that the sea? It was similar to the sound she'd heard when she'd pressed one of the decorative seashells to her ear, but she'd never seen the sea up close or heard it at all. The inner city of Hua was too far away, and children weren't allowed to leave it until they turned twenty.

Almost against her own will, her feet brought her from inside the passage and into the building they were standing in. It was an old warehouse, looking as if it hadn't been visited in a long time. The floorboards creaked when she stepped on it, dust rising all around her. Byungjoo eyed his surroundings, looking extremely wary.

It was a lot lighter in the warehouse than it was in the passages, moonlight streaming from the broken windows and broken walls. She followed Byungjoo as he made his way towards the exit.

Was there anyone around? It look abandoned enough, and it was in the outer city. Hei wasn't even sure about the inner city, much less the outer. Were there members of the Song family situated in the city, or were they all commoners? If she tried to get help from a commoner…

"Don't think about it," Byungjoo told her, and she started in surprise. "Screaming for help or whatever you're planning isn't going to work."

Hei narrowed her eyes at him. "How do you know what I'm going to do?"

He gave a casual shrug, pace quickening slightly. "You were doing that last time, too. Looking around and out the window. I'm guessing they have guards around here somewhere, but they won't be expecting anyone to show up at such a time and neither will there be a lot. Don't rely on them to bring you back to your family."

"The guards are all well trained," she retorted. "Even if you're good, they're skilled too. I'm not going to follow you like I'm your dog or like this is my own free will."

"I'm not asking you to do that." He shoved open the door of the warehouse, boarded pieces of wood that were barely hanging on. "But it's very ironic that it sounds as if you're talking more about your family than you are about me."

He was looking at her straight in the eye. And just like the past couple of times, she found herself rendered speechless, unable to say anything. Byungjoo didn't move for a couple moments, holding her gaze until it became unbearable and she turned to look at the ground.

There was a faint breeze in the air when they left the warehouse, and a lot chillier than Hei expected. The most farthest she'd been in perhaps weeks was her own garden. Her surroundings — the small, worn down houses, silent because it was night but not totally silent — it was all a stranger to her.

Byungjoo must've read the surprise on her face easily. He gave her a dry smile. "Get used to it," he said. "You'll be seeing this kind of thing a lot more." He followed her gaze. "And… that."

She could barely hear him as she stared out at the ocean. She'd seen drawings of it in books, Miyeon had told her briefly about it once, but it was so much more… entrancing than she imagined. The warehouse had been built on a hill, and it overlooked the outer city as well as the sea in the distances, stretched for miles and miles on end, ethereally beautiful under the pale moon. It brought the breeze that she didn't feel in the inner city. And despite what was happening, the ocean brought a strange sense of peace to her. The waves glimmered under the moon, the pale white light dancing on the water.

This was what she'd missed before? What she hadn't been able to see because she'd been shut in one house her whole life, learning things that didn't have any value — this? Briefly, she wondered why her family had never let them leave. What was so wrong about seeing the ocean once in a while?

Byungjoo hummed quietly beside her, eyes also on the sea. "It's a clear sky tonight."

She snapped out of her fantasy world the moment she heard him speak, but Hei couldn't help but admit part of her wanted to go with him because of what lay before her. She shook the feeling off as best she could.

"There are still guards around here," he warned her. "We're out in the open if we walk down the hill, and that's the most dangerous part. I'm going to warn you now." He turned to look at her, eyes piercing. She could almost hear the hidden threat in his voice. "Do not eventhinkabout screaming. I don't want to kill unnecessarily."

She nodded, mouth dry. Byungjoo looked satisfied with that, and he headed down the hill. Legs shaky and eyes wandering to the sea unconsciously, Hei followed him.

It wasn't too long before the sea disappeared behind the houses of the outer city, and they neared it. The moon wasn't much of a light, and Hei could barely see because Byungjoo had blown out the lantern. They walked in tense silence, and she stared at the outline of his back. With the blade swinging loosely from his fingers and his broad back, he looked very much threatening. Definitely not a person she would even dream of crossing.

Which brought her to the main question that had been bothering her: what did he want from her? He'd broken through into the inner city of Hua, a wanted, infamous pirate, just to get her. Even if he was skilled, it was still dangerous. Apart from that, he sounded dead serious about getting her out with him alive, which Hei couldn't wrap her head around. Maybe he was getting the wrong person. Maybe he'd made a mistake somewhere. She couldn't even use the little power she had — out of all people, why had he chosen her? A huge part of her was mad at him, hated him (it was technically duty, too — an enemy of her family was her enemy too) and wanted him dead, but there was another undeniable part that was curious.

"Byungjoo," she said. His name sounded odd on her lips, and it was even stranger addressing someone she didn't know well without their surname. "Why did you…why me? Are you sure you don't have the wrong person?"

"I don't think there's another Song Hei," he replied.

"There's also no one else in the family apart from me that can't use their power." She felt herself getting more and more desperate each word. "I'm telling you, whatever you're planning to do, I'm useless. One of my siblings could probably do this job better than I—"

"Why do you keep on calling yourself useless? You make it sound like it's your own fault they never trained you properly."

"You wouldn't understand." She stared at her feet. "Why do you care, anyways? You keep on talking about how it's my family's fault. You're making it sound as if I'm above my family or something, and that's just preposterous—"

"I'll explain it later," Byungjoo said shortly. "But if it's going to shut you up, I'll say this quickly. Firstly, I do not have the wrong person, and secondly, the reason I'm doing this is because I'm going to need your help."

It sounded so ridiculous that she stopped walking. "My help?"

He didn't reply, and Hei was about to ask the question again when a tight grip dug into her arm. She hissed in pain and tried to yank her arm away from his fingers, but he held her with a vise-like grip. "Don't do anything except walk," he commanded, voice so authoritative that Hei complied involuntarily.

Byungjoo's hearing was apparently a lot better than hers was, because a couple moments later, the head of two guards appeared lower on the hill. She stiffened, and he quietly sheathed his weapon so it was less obvious.

Part of her wanted to call for help, but the other part of her knew it was no use. If he'd broken into the inner city on his own, two guards weren't going to be much of a hindrance to him. So, biting her lip, she sealed her mouth and followed him even though remaining silent was the last thing she wanted to do.

They'd almost made the way around the guards without them noticing when one of them lifted their heads. "Who's there?" he asked sharply, raising his weapon in his hands.

Hei stiffened, the two choices once again going through her head. Scream for help, because it wasn't like it washer faultthis time for them noticing, or continue to go along with Byungjoo's instructions. Each step was a step further away from where she was supposed to be, and while she wasn't sure if she'd already passed the point of no return, each step could be leading closer to that point.

The guard who had spoken up seemed to have already seen them. "Who are you?" he demanded, lifting a lantern of his own. HeisawByungjoo grimace in what looked like irritation. "Why are you here at this time of night?"

The family that most likely chosen well trained, moderately powerful people to guard the passages. If they were stationed here, it was more than likely that they were part of the Song family also — normal guards weren't supposed to know of the passages — but the ones at the gates of the inner city should've been even better trained. She watched helplessly as Byungjoo straightened up while the two made their way towards them.

"We're just passing through," he replied smoothly.

"You're trespassing onto the property of the Song family," he snapped back, holding out the lantern so it was illuminating their faces. Hei blinked at the sudden light, momentarily blinded. Byungjoo's grip tightened painfully on her arm and she bit back a protest.

There was a tense moment where no one moved, before the guard's eyes widened in realization. "Hey, aren't you from the Song family?" he asked.

At the same time, Hei yanked her arm out of Byungjoo's hands, wincing at the pain. "Help–" she tried, but he was quicker than she was.

In a split second he'd pulled her back roughly with so much force that she was thrown to the ground, and then at the same time drew the cutlass. His movements were a blur and faster than Hei could catch, the first guard had toppled to the ground. Byungjoo had snatched the guard's lantern and smashed it onto the ground, the glass shattering into smithereens.

The second one let out a noise of shock, drawing his sword and the glow of fire beginning to surround him.His power,Hei realized.He'd had time to summon his power, so however skilled Byungjoo was, there was no way he could evade…

The next moment, the fire had been extinguished and Byungjoo was standing over two unmoving bodies. Hei remained frozen on the ground, palms scraped because of the rocky debris, terrified, staring at the person in front of her. How was he even real? Who was he, really? Could a mere commoner really do something like that?

She'd never seenanyonemove so fast. She'd been prepared to go with him because it didn't seem as if the soldiers could fight him, but the fact that one had already summoned their power gave them an advantage and Hei had genuinely thought the guard would prove a decent match against Byungjoo. It wasn't fair. They had been caught off guard by him and he'd been ready before they were, but… still. She'd never imagined that two, trained family members would go down so easily.

It had also been something that was utterly of-the-moment when she yelled for help, and the word had come out before she could even think about stopping herself. What would he say? He'd told her not to speak, and she probablyshould'vecomplied for her own good.

"Are they dead?" she managed in a shaky voice. She couldn't see much in the dark, but she could smell blood in the air. It made her more nauseous.

Byungjoo turned to look at her, eyes dark. "No," he said lowly, and Hei gulped down her fear.This —his demeanor, his expression, the aura around him — it was the real definition of terrifying. "I knocked them out. But we're going to leave,now.And I'll follow through with my words if you scream again."

He turned without even waiting for her, and trembling, Hei pushed herself to her feet and started after him.I'm going to need your help,he'd told her a little while before they'd bumped into the guards.

Him? Her help?

It was so absurd, but as much as she didn't want to admit it, part of her held onto those words carefully.

Her help.It was ridiculous and maybe a little sad in a way, but briefly, Hei thought that it was perhaps the first time someone had said they needed her help.

Chapter 4

Learned or Earned

The cold air was beginning to get to Hei when she and Byungjoo reached the ports. The outer city of Hua was quiet too, and she couldn't see anyone lingering on the roads. Byungjoo walked at a brisk pace, though it wasn't long when Hei began to lag behind. Her feet ached and she was pretty sure she'd never walked so far in such little time.

There were lanterns hanging in the front of the houses, though most of them had been extinguished. She followed behind Byungjoo as he made his way through the streets like he knew them by heart, and the more they turned, the more ironic it seemed to Hei that she was utterly lost. Hua washercity.Herbirthplace. Whereshegrew up. And the fact that she was lost yet he seemed to know it like he grew up there…

"How do you know the streets so well?" she asked in a hushed voice. Maybe running away wasn't an option anymore (she'd seen how he dealt with the guards back when they came out from the passages —if trained members of the family couldn't fight him, there was no way she could even lift a finger), but at least she could try to get some sort of answers from him.

"I have a good memory." He glanced back at her. "Not exactly photographic, but close enough. I remember how I got here."

Hei stared at his back, a tinge of jealousy going through her. Photographic memory (or at least a relatively good memory)? That sounded useful. She'd spent hours memorizing the useless stuff from the history books. Someone could ask her who the seventh family leader of the Hua family was and she'd be able to answer from pure memorization.

But that had taken weeks, months, years. And he'd been able to memorize the street he'd been down one going in simply, like that?

Byungjoo seemed to notice the expression on her face, but he didn't comment on it. His expression was indecipherable.

Around ten minutes later, Hei could see the ports. The ocean had come in view again; the waves gleamed under the white moon, light dancing off the water. Stretched along the shore were the wooden docks, and boats big and small lined up neatly on the shoor, some for cargo and the others for passengers. She couldn't quite tell apart which was which.

There were people at the ports — they were standing at least a couple hundred meters away, though she could see a couple of workers moving large crates. There were a group of people huddled around the dock that lead to one of the largest boats.

Byungjoo stood still for a small moment, eyes fixed on the sea in front of him. He looked serene then, calmer. Not exactly like someone she'd imagine could kill or fight like she'd seen him, but by then, Hei knewtoowell how deceiving looks could be.

And then he turned, the grin that Hei was beginning to get used to hanging on his lips. It was a strange look: he was smiling, but at the same time, it wasn't out of happiness or in fact… any sort of emotion at all. He was just lifting his lips like that, like a look he got used to. The rest of his face remained guarded.

"Well?" he asked. "We're here. Ladies first."

She stared, unresponding and unmoving, as he gestured in front of him. Finally, Byungjoo lifted his cutlass. "Do I have to say it again?"

"No," she mumbled, head whirling.

For a brief moment, Hei wonderedifshe should consider at leasttryingto get away. He said he had more alternatives if she didn't cooperate, but that didn't mean she couldn't make it harder for him. What if she tried to run? To ask for help? If people knew she was from the Song family, would they treat her differently? She'd never actually left the inner city and she had no idea how the outer worked, but there had to be some sort of benefit for being part of a family. Miyeon had always said that family members were above commoners. As conceited as it sounded (it was something that Hei didn't necessarily agree with, but nevertheless, it was engraved into her mind), at that moment, she wished that the people standing at the docks would havesomeway of stopping Byungjoo.

The thought disappeared as soon as it passed. She didn't want to get hurt, and as much as she wanted to (or maybe it wasn't exactlywanted —more like she felt as if she had an obligation to) follow everything she'd learned (because going with Byungjoo without a fight and putting her own life first was debatably betrayal), a huge part of her had decided that she'd rather stay alive and well. Even if it meant betrayal.

Byungjoo's words echoed through her.A family that basically neglects you, puts you down and treats their children like dolls.

Was he wrong? As uncomfortable as it was for Hei to admit it, he really wasn't.

Not that she could really settle with the thought, so she shoved it to the back of her mind. Thinking about her family in such a way felt wrong.

"Before we go out there," Byungjoo said casually, "I'd like to clear up a couple of things. Do not scream, do not try to ask people for help, and most of all, do not try to fight me. You're going to make things worse for yourself and it's not going to end in the most pleasant way either. Am I understood?"

She met his gaze for a brief second before looking away. "Yes."

"If anyone asks, we were travelling to visit Hua."

She nodded numbly.

"Alright." He lifted the lantern so it was illuminating most of his features. The shadows seemed to carve into his face, making it more angular (which just made him look more intimidating). "Let's go, Miss Hei."

Gulping, Hei followed him down the uneven gravel path towards the boats.

Byungjoo let her steadily towards the group of people that she'd seen a moment before. Most of them carried their own bags, and when she got closer, she realized that there were a lot more people than she had originally thought there were when she looked down from on top of the hill she and Byungjoo had been standing on. Most of the passengers were men, though there were a couple of women huddled together in their own group.

He kept his head uncharacteristically low when he approached them, and after a moment of hesitation, Hei kept her chin up. Byungjoo hadn't said anything about looking down, and he'd be recognized more than she would be. Families didn't reveal names of their children (or their faces) until they passed the test. No one would even know who she was if she didn't say anything.

She and Byungjoo stood at the edge of the group for a while, and Hei spent the whole time trying to think of last-minute options of getting away and back to her family. If they were alerted in time, there was no way Byungjoo could get away. The problem was that he'd made sure he'd taken out every possible person that could alert the family on time, and thinking to there brought Hei to a dead end when she tried to come up with other solutions.

It wasn't much time later when someone from the boat stepped out. He had a cap pulled over his face, and the lighting wasn't good enough for Hei to catch sight of his face.

"To Ezentia!" he called towards the crowd of people. "Those who've paid for a cabin make a line on the left, and those who haven't go on the right. We're in a rush so hurry."

Two things hit Hei — surprisingly, her first question was whether or not Byungjoo actually paid for a cabin. Having one and not having one was an equally terrifying thought, but what was scariest was probably the thought of going into open sea. The ocean was beautiful when she looked at it, but there was no doubt it was dangerous. To be in open sea, so raw and vulnerable to it...

Her first question was answered when Byungjoo stepped to the left, and then the second question hit.

"Ezentia?" she hissed at him. "We're going to Ezentia?"

He met her gaze calmly, though there was a glint of warning in his eyes. "We can discuss this later, Miss."

Hei took a deep breath and tried to calm her breathing. Ezentia was where the Kim family ruled, and out of all the families, the Kim family was the one family that Miyeon claimed her family hated the most.They're a group of proud fools,Miyeon had said angrily once, and while back then, Hei hadn't really paid attention to it, the memory resurfaced.Always thinking that they're family is high and mighty when it's most likely the weakest. They brag about their scholars and scribes because they think it'll make up for their lack of power.(She also remembered something about the Song family having a long feud with the Kim family, but the details were vague in her mind.)

If going with Byungjoo without putting much of a fight didn't already brand her as a traitor, going to Ezentia would be a no-return for her.

Byungjoo was already moving forward quickly, and Hei had seen the look in his eyes. She didn't dare to cross him more. His cutlass was sheathed, hidden by the too-long shirt that she had leant him, but Hei had witnessed firsthand how fast he could draw it.

He handed two tickets to the captain of the boat, and Hei trailed behind him uncertainly. She desperately wished the old man who was taking the tickets would recognize Byungjoo, or even better, question her, but to her utter dismay, he barely raised his head to look at the two of them.

"Cabin four," he said in a bored voice. "You'll be going down."

"Thank you, sir." Byungjoo straightened, then offered an arm to her. "Shall we go?"

Hei stared at his extended arm, and for the hundredth time that day, she wondered how he could act so well and pretend like everything was ordinary. Offering her his arm? The gesture made her slightly angry. Calling the captain sir? It made him appear so civil, so… educated and polite when it wasn't the case at all.

She shoved his hand away. "Just go," she mumbled.

Byungjoo appeared unfazed. "Keep an eye out for cabin four," he replied.

They headed downstairs, and Hei gave one last desperate glance behind her back at the city of Hua. She could see the lights of the inner city walls gleaming like a beacon in the dark night, and then her head dipped beneath the line of the stairs and she could see now more.

The ship rocked slightly with the waves, and the thought of it being pure water under the piece of wood was a scary thought. Sailors and pirates alike — how could they survive on the sea like that? It could tear the strongest boat apart if the storm was violent enough.

"Here it is." Byungjoo broke through the silence. "Cabin four."

Hei lifted her head and glanced at where he was pointing at.

It wasn't fancy compared to what she saw on an everyday basis — the door had once been painted a darker color, but what was left of the paint was peeling. The number four was made out of metal, but the golden color had rusted so that it looked more like a dying bronze.

Byungjoo reached over and opened the door. "We'll be here for the next couple of days. If the seas are calm and everything goes well, we'll be at Ezentia in around five days."

After a moment of hesitation, Hei brushed past him and headed into the cabin. She couldn't see much — the lantern that Byungjoo held was too far to light up the dark room, though with the torches that lined the walls, she could make out the distinct shape of two beds. Both of them put together looked smaller than the one she had back home.

"What if…" her voice faltered. "What if the seas aren't calm? How long will it take to get there, then?"

"Are you hoping we all drown and the boat capsizes?" he asked, stepping into the room. Hei tried to swallow the panic rising to her throat when he shut the door behind them and turned the lock, but it didn't leave. "Because for your record, that's not going to work very well for any of us. It's also impossible."

"Impossible?" she echoed. "What are you going to do if we're in the middle of the sea and there's a huge storm? Do you think you can get out of that?"

"There won't be a storm," Byungjoo replied calmly before making his way to sit on the bed. "The ship should be departing soon. You probably don't want to be standing in the middle of the room for the whole time, though."

Hei glanced towards the bed that wasn't occupied. It was a fair distance away from Byungjoo's — at least, as far as the small room would allow — but it was still too close for comfort. She wasn't sure she could even close her eyes with him in the room. In fact, she wasn't sure if she couldeversleep without knowing he'd been caught by a family.

"You said you'd answer my questions," she said pointedly. "Or are you going to leave me in the dark still?"

She wasn't sure if she was pushing her limits by snapping at him, but after everything that had happened, Hei couldn't take it anymore. What else could he really do? They'd gotten out of Hua. She couldn't exactly fight back without being hurt, subdued or even worse, killed. When her family found out the killed guards the next morning, the ship would already be at sea, and even if they were to chase, it would be hard to catch up with hours of time ahead. Besides, would they even make the connection that they were leaving Hua by boat? Would they even think she was alive?

Those who cannot use their powers are nothing but a liability to their family,Miyeon had said.

Would they even bother to look for her? What was the point in looking for a liability, anyways?

"Are you still thinking about your family?" Byungjoo asked. He still sounded very indifferent, face betraying nothing. "You know there's no going back to them, right?"

Hei glared at him. "Did I really have a choice? Even if I wanted to go back, I can't anymore."

He tilted his head at her. "Is that an upsetting thought? Do you miss your family?"

She opened her mouth to snap again — itwasan upsetting thought — it wasn't just an upsettingthought,the whole thing was upsetting — but for some reason, nothing came out. Did she miss her family? There was no one to miss, and Hei knew that without even thinking. Miyeon? Definitely not. Apart from Miyeon, the only people she saw were the servants and at rare times, other family members. They were just passersbys, though, and she couldn't remember more than two of her siblings' faces. Her mother? Hei wasn't sure how long it was since she'd last seen her. Not that she even cared. She never really had a proper mother to begin with.

"I have an obligation to be loyal to my family and serve it as best as I can," Hei replied thickly, though her voice lacked conviction. "You wouldn't understand."

He laughed darkly. "Wouldn't I?"

She sat down on her bed at the furthest corner from him. His expression was terrifying. "No." The word barely came out.

"You have no obligation to be loyal to a so called family that treats their children like something disposable or like they own them. You have no obligation to be loyal to a family that weeds out the good from the bad and gets rid of those they deem weak or threatening. You have no obligation to be loyal to a family that demands everything from you and gives you virtually nothing in exchange. It isn't even afamilyto begin with."

Hei shook her head vehemently at him, though even as she did, she couldn't deny his words. She bit her lip, trying to expel the thoughts from her mind, though no matter how hard she tried, they lingered. There was just so much… truth in them that no one dared bring up in the inner city. Even thinking that way…

"If you think about it," Byungjoo continued. Hei wanted to block his voice out, but it was impossible. Part of her couldn't move, but the other part of her took odd satisfaction in hearing him talk about her family like that.Isn't he right?it whispered to her.Your family is going to kill you in three days, isn't it? What kind of family does that because their child isn't strong enough?"If you're in such a situation, you're supposed to kill yourself."

She froze.

"That's what you're taught, isn't it?" His gaze was intense, burning holes through her. "Children of a family would be better off dying than going with the enemy. Better to die for your family than to leave a traitor and put your own life first."

"What…what are you trying to get at?"

"They've taught you well." Byungjoo leaned over in front of him, reaching over and grabbing the pillow from the top of the bed. It was such a childish pose with his legs crossed and arms wrapped around the pillow that Hei couldn't connect him with the same person that had single handedly taken down the guards in front of her house and snuck in the inner city and at the same time taken down trained members of her family. "But how far does your loyalty to your family goes? You'velearnedto be loyal, but they haven'tearnedit. And true loyalty isn't learned; it's earned."

Nothing came out when she opened her mouth, and Byungjoo looked satisfied with that response.

Without another word, he leaned back on the bed, hands still wrapped around the pillow. "I'll explain more to you tomorrow."

For a long moment, they sat in silence. It was such a calm atmosphere, but the quietness just made her more nervous. Hei could almost feel the coiled up tension in the air, ready to be released at any moment.

It was only when the boat jolted when Byungjoo sat up again. Even though he'd looked relatively at ease the whole time, she could see the relief, a brief flash of it, on his face. "We're leaving."

Hei snapped upwards in surprise too, though for a completely different reason. The distinct feeling of panic was beginning to seep into her, and the situation was finally hitting her properly.Byungjoo. Her family. Kidnapped. Ezentia. The Kim family. Leaving. This isn't right, I shouldn't be leaving like this—

It was all a blur of nonsensical thoughts, momentarily paused when the ship started forward again, a bit roughly.

"It's not going to take long for it to leave the harbour," Byungjoo mused under his breath. "Do you want to go onto the deck?"

She stared at him. "Why would I do that?"

"Let's go." It wasn't a question this time, though it probably hadn't been in the first place. "I think you'll want to see it when we get onto open sea."

Chapter 5

Open Sea

Hei had followed Byungjoo up to the deck, albeit very grudgingly, though he barely left her with any choice. He looked a lot less tense now that they had left the city, though there was still something about him — almost as if he was never quite at ease, because there was alwayssomethinghe had to watch out for.

The ship had already pulled away from the dock when they exited from below deck, and now, with Byungjoo standing, leaning over the railing, it was beginning to travel at a decent speed out of the U shaped harbor. As Byungjoo stared out at the open sea, waves glistening under the moonlight, she turned and gave one desperate glance at Hua, wishing that someone would come get her back. It felt wrong standing next to a pirate like that. It felt wrong to follow everything he said without much resistance. Byungjoo was right, wasn't he? Any proper child of a family would've killed themselves if they couldn't get out of the situation.

She didn't dare. Even one look at Byungjoo's cutlass was terrifying, and though she felt utterly guilty about it, Hei would rather go along with what he said and betray her family than actually die.

Maybe it was why she was standing next to him then, moving her gaze from Hua to the sea. It spread out in front of her, seemingly endless, calm. Next to her, Byungjoo was still, hair brushed back by a wind that carried the strong scent of the sea. His eyes lingered on the waters the whole time, unmoving, even as the ship left the harbor. Behind them, Hua got smaller and smaller. The houses of the outer city were scattered around the huge hill, and then the walls that separated the outer from the inner; the family members from the common folk. It didn't seem as significant as it had appeared before, now that they were so faraway.

She wasn't sure how long they had been standing there in silence, with no sound but the soft noise of the wind and waves lapping against the hull. There was another three people on the deck with them, though they were a fair distance away.

Finally, Byungjoo tore his gaze from the sea and turned to look at her instead. He looked softer under the moonlight, though Hei supposed he'd been able to look pitiful, too. That was the reason she ended up going to Ezentia with him, anyways — because looks had been way too deceiving.

He didn't speak for a couple moments, then finally, tilted his head. "You've never left Hua, have you?"

Forget Hua. I don't think I've left the inner city. I don't think I've left myhousefor a couple of months.

"Why do you care?"

He shrugged. "I always wanted to leave when I was younger. I doubt you've never thought about it once in your life, but even though this is probably not your prefered method of visiting another place…"

"I'd rather not leave if it's going to be with you," she snapped. "You're taking me toEzentia.I'm from the Song family."

"So?"

"So?" Hei echoed incredulously. "You don't know anything, don't you?"

Byungjoo began to smile, an expression that should've been used to put someone at ease. Break barriers. Make oneself seem friendlier. On him, it was a scary look, frightening, and if she hadn't been frozen, Hei would've taken a step back. "Oh, trust me." He leaned forward. "Iknow.Because of a silly feud, there's been more bad blood than there should've been for generations and generations. You hate the Kim family? What for? It's not like yours is any better. Lu, Kim, Song, Park, Kim—" There seemed to be extra venom in his voice when he spatout the last name, though Hei's mind was too jumbled to even think about it much, "—they're all the same. Corrupt, run by power hungry bastards that try to control whatever they can get their hands on."

Hei tried to choke down a noise of surprise, though her voice wasn't working. The look in his eyes was terrifying, and what was worse was probably the thought of being stuck in the same room as him later on. It would besuffocating,and she wasn't sure if she could deal with that. For five days? She wasn't sure what was worse — the journey, or actually arriving at Ezentia. Both sounded equally bad. And the way he was speaking — the disrespect — yet she couldn't even find the words to reprimand him.

"Let's go." Byungjoo turned sharply away from the ocean. "I'm tired. It's probably best if we get some sleep, anyways."

I don't think I'll be sleeping if I'm in the same room as you,she thought glumly, though she didn't argue when she followed him down the stairs again.

Byungjoo sat down on the bed again when they got back, though not after he'd locked the door of the cabin. He'd set the relit lantern on the small wooden table and it swayed slightly with the boat's slow rocking motion. There was a strange sense of serenity that came from watching it.

"I'm going to sleep," he announced, yawning and stretching at the same time. "You should probably rest, too."

Hei stared at him incredulously. "You want me torest?After everything that happened, you think I'll actually sleep?"

His expression didn't change much. "I would personally get my rest if I were you, but you're also welcome to lie awake the whole night while I sleep. Whatever you want."

"What makes you think I won't leave when you're sleeping?" She didn't actuallymeanit, but since two hours ago, all she'd been doing was follow what he said and get backed into a corner after she tried to snap at him. He had a way with speaking that shut the other person up, and it was infuriating.

"There's nowhere to go on this ship. Are you going to jump into the sea?"

"It's a better option than staying here with you."

Byungjoo gave a snort. "Are you asking me to do something about it, then? You're so insistent on telling me that you're going to leave."

She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to read what he was thinking, though it was impossible each time. Warily, she watched as he stood up, eyes scanning the room until they landed on something in the corner.

He reached down and picked up a rope. Immediately, she flinched back.

Expression scarily calm, he made his way towards her. "But you're right, I keep on forgetting." He was right in front of her then, and Hei desperately wished that she'd kept her mouth shut. Ticking him off didn't seem like a good idea anymore. It had turned from anger to fear in a moment, quicker than she even knew emotions could change. "I don't know if you're serious about it or not, but you don't want to be here, do you? Family first." He gave a bitter smile. "I keep on assuming that your loyalty to your family is just shallow knowledge, but I can't guarantee that yet. Wrist."

Hei slid both of her hands behind her back. "What do you want?"

"Give me your wrist," Byungjoo repeated much more forcefully. His entire demeanor had changed in half a minute, and Hei was beginning to realize how bad an idea it was to even try to cross him. It felt wrong not to, but at the same time, he was right about her. Even after years and years of learning —keep your family first, family above yourself, your family isn't the most important —she would rather stay with an outlaw, a murderer, a thief than to get killed. And while she knew he wouldn't actually kill her, his expression was enough for her to grudgingly extend her wrist. With his lips pressed into a thin line, eyes boring holes into her and rope hanging limplyfrom his hands, there was nothing else that Hei could even think of doing.

Her only thought wasI messed upas he secured a knot around her wrist. The rope was a decent length, so when he tied it to the end of the bedpost, there was enough slack for her to shift into a position on the bed comfortably to sleep. In fact, there was so much that it hung off the bed. She could've touched the other side of the room if she stood up and walked.

It wasn't exactly too tight either — not enough for her to pull her hand through, and the knot looked fairly complicated. Untying it didn't seem like an option either.

Hei tugged on it, though it remained firm. "I didn't mean it," she said, desperation beginning to seep into her voice. There wasn't even much difference from before, but just the thought of being restrained… didn't sit well. "Byungjoo, I didn't mean it—"

"I'm not just doing this because of what you said," he replied quietly, turning back to his own bed and sitting down. "As much as I want to, I can't trust you just like you can't trust me. And you're right — Idon'tknow you well. I don't know if you're actually going to do such things, and I can't afford that. Just keep it like that. I'll untie it tomorrow and explain whatever you want to know." He turned to look at her then, meeting her eyes, and all of a sudden, Hei realized that hedidlook tired. There were dark bags underneath his eyes that she'd brushed off when she'd seen it before, and his face was pale. His voice was even softer when he spoke again. "I haven't slept in days, and there's going to be a whole lot that I'll tell you and you'll probably have more questions too. It's not that I don'twantto tell you now but I reallycan't.I physicallycan not."

He turned at that, reaching over, grasping the handle of the lantern and blowing the flame out. Hei heard the clang as he set it back down, then the blankets rustle. Soon, there was nothing but the sound of his steady breathing.

Her own, though, refused to calm. The room was dark by then, the boat still rocking beneath them. For a long while, she sat upright, refusing to lie down and relax when she was in the same room as a criminal, though Hei couldn't deny that she was tired, too.

Slightly grudgingly, she lay down slowly on the bed and stared up at the low ceiling of the cabin.

It was odd with the ever-swaying motion of the ship, and it was definitely something that Hei found hard to get used to. Still, though she tried to fight it, it wasn't too long after she lay down when her eyes began to shut. Before she knew it, she'd drifted off.

Hei snapped upwards in a cold sweat.

Her heart was racing in her chest, and though she couldn't even recall what she'd dreamt about (or if she dreamed anything at all), there was a fist of terror clenched around her chest that didn't leave no matter what she did. The darkness was suffocating, and though Byungjoo hadn't exactly tied it extremely tight around her wrist, she could feel the rope too well. It wasn't tight, yet at the same time, it felt like it was cutting into her wrist, stopping her circulation.

She could hear his breathing at the other side of the room, still steady. It was still nighttime, and while Hei had no idea how long she'd been sleeping for, she knew that simply closing her eyes and resting again wasn't an option.

In the dark, she could see the faint outline of the rope.Off,Hei thought as she sat up slowly, hoping the bed wouldn't creak beneath her.I want it off.

The blackness seemed to press down more, constricting her breathing.I shouldn't be here. This isn't right. I need to get back to my family, even if it means doing whatever I can. I shouldn't…

She tried to pull her wrist out of the loop, but Byungjoo had secured it enough so that it wasn't possible to wiggle her hand out of. For a moment, Hei let her hand drop, discouraged, though she was itching to get the rope off. As long as it was off and it wasn't so dark…

Hei pulled harder, wanting nothing more than to get rid of the feeling of being restrained. She could remember vividly — the heavy door slamming shut, cutting off all light, the sharp snap of Miyeon's voice just before the lock clicked. She couldn't move anywhere with her wrists tied, and the only thing she could do was scream at Miyeon to let her out until her voice gave away.Stay here,she'd say, and Hei could almosthearthe sneer in her voice.Until you've learned what a true member of the family should be like, don't leave. Calling for help won't be of any use either, Song Hei.

There was a raw sort of pain from her wrist, the kind from a freshly opened wound, though she could barely feel it. With one final hard yank, her wrist slipped out of the rope.

For a couple moments, Hei sat still on the bed, gasping for breath and trying to remain as quiet as possible. The area where she'd forcefully pulled off the rope throbbed, and when she touched it, it was tender and bleeding in other places.

Until you've learned what a true member of the family should be like…

She stumbled to her feet, hoping that her steps didn't make too much noise on the ground. She could still hear Byungjoo's breathing behind her at a steady pace, and she figured he was still asleep.

It was hard to control her breathing and move forward quietly, and the lock proved difficult, too. Hei fumbled with it a couple of times, her fingers trembling too much to do the job properly.

A real member of the family would put their family above anything else. Above themselves, too, if that's ever called for.

It took a couple tries too many to get the lock to open, but finally, Hei managed it. She almost sobbed in relief when she pulled the door open gently and a sliver of light slipped in from the outside. With one glance back at Byungjoo, she slipped out of the door.

The light from the torches that lined the hallway was blinding against her eyes, and she had to squint until her eyes adjusted. For a fleeting moment, she could see Byungjoo sitting on the bed, eyes surprisingly serious and sincere also. She didwantto hear what he had to say and undoubtedly had even more questions to ask, but that didn't matter. Undoubtedly, she was curious — he said he needed her help and that in itself was surprising enough.With what?

There was no way she could wait or drag it out, though. A day more, they'd be too far from Hua to go back. She couldn't even guarantee managing to get out of the room the next night. Each step felt as if her feet were made of lead.I need to get out. Someone needs to bring me back. I can't stay here. He's probably lying, anyways. I can't trust a pirate over my family—

Near panicking, Hei made her way down the hallway. Her breathing sounded too loud in the silence, and one by one, she tried to cabin doors, hoping that one would be open.Find help.Her thoughts were too jumbled, blocking out all rationality, and the only thing she could feel was the press of darkness all around her, even under the torchlight. It cut off her sight, and the silence cut off her other senses.

She barely managed to grasp the doorknob of the last room down the row of cabins. By then, Hei couldn't eventhinkof anything except the repeating mantra of,I have to get out.Part of her didn't actuallywantto — Byungjoo was right: there was nothing but death waiting for her if she returned anyways — but that was swallowed by the gripping fear.

To her surprise, the door to the last cabin opened, and Hei stumbled inside. It was even brighter than the hallway, and blinking, she struggled to adjust to the light.

Five pairs of eyes stared back at her.

Hei froze in the doorway, trying to calm her breathing. She opened her mouth, and then snapped it shut. What was she supposed to say?

"Hey," one of the men said, rising from his spot. "What are you—"

She drew in a shuddering breath. "Help," she managed. She wasn't sure what she looked like — her wrist was bleeding, profusely in some parts, and the dress she was wearing was crumpled and messy. She probably looked like a mess — shefeltlike a mess, at least, and not just physically. "I need to go back to Hua, so please help me."

"Who are you?" someone else asked, though his words were slurred. "The ship's already left. You can't just barge into room asking for help like that." He eyed her, and Hei suddenly felt very uncomfortable. "Are you sure you have no other intentions, Miss?"

A couple others sneered, and she took a step back. There was something very different about the way he saidMisscompared to Byungjoo, though she couldn't quite pinpoint how. The tone, the meaning — it just… wasn't the same.

The one who'd first spoken scrutinized her, and by then, in a brighter room, her senses were beginning to sink back. The panic from being in a dark room with her wrist tied was dying down, fading, and it was then when she noticed that at least three of the five looked at least somewhat intoxicated. As the seconds ticked by, her mind seemed to clear more and more, and the fact that she'd made a really, really stupid decision felt like a slap across the face.

Going to the captain of the ship would've been a better idea. In fact, staying put would've been smarter. Hei reached for the door again, bending into a hasty bow. "I'm sorry for intruding," she managed. There was something awfully unnerving about the men and she would've rather been with Byungjoo than them. She wrapped a hand around the doorknob, tense and ready to run.

One of the men stood up. "You can't just rush in and go like that," he said, taking a step closer.

Warning bells began to go off in her head.What was I thinking before?she wondered. Sure, being in such a dark place with her wrist tied had been terrifying and it had triggeredsomesort of response of panic and fear (Hei wasn't quite sure what it was now that initial feeling had been gone, but it had been years since Miyeon had last done such a thing and she had no idea she would end up having such a response), but she hadn't even realized how irrationally she'd been thinking until it was too late. Miyeon wasn't there, whispering in her ear about how terrible a member of the family she was. She was on a ship without anyone from her family, and for the first time since she'd met Byungjoo, briefly Hei wondered without any other objections from her mind if he was right about it all.

And then the man who'd stood up moved forward, slamming the door shut behind her back.

Panicking (this time for actual reasons), Hei moved to the side, narrowly missing his hand that had almost landed on her wrist.

He was slow, possibly clumsy, and very obviously drunk. On a normal occasion, Hei could've evaded him easily.

The cabin, however, had limited room. On top of that, the men who'd surrounded the table (what had they been doing before? Playing cards?) had all begun to stand up. No matter how fast she was, she was going to end up cornered if she couldn't make it out the door, and the door was blocked.

This was the right moment to panic,Hei thought grimly.Not before. This. Right now.

Maybe Byungjoo had basically kidnapped her from her own house. He was dragging her to Ezentia, he was a wanted outlaw, he'd tied her wrist to the bed — that was definitely enough for Hei to hate him. But in terms of being an actual danger toher,she figured that she was definitely safer with him than where she was at the moment.

The floor creaked as one of the men moved again. The door was left unguarded. "You could've asked instead of barging in and begging for help like that," he laughed, reaching forward.

Hei did the first thing that came to mind, and while it wasn't the smartest, it was the only chance she saw.

Half of her wasn't expected it to work, but perhaps it was because the last person she'd tried to fight had been Byungjoo and he'd swatted her rolling pin and the bowl aside like a fly.

The man stumbled backwards with a yell of pain, doubling over. Her fist burned from the blow, though the adrenaline was enough to keep the pain at bay. Briefly, she realized that it was also the wrist that was bleeding, though a second later, she'd shoved past the man and darted for the door, throwing it open.

She was barely a step out before someone grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her back.

Hei didn't even try to suppress the gasp of pain. Her scalp burned — her hair was normally tied in bun, so there was no way someone could've pulled it before, but Byungjoo had cut away her hair tie — and then the sheer force sent her stumbling back into the cabin.

Someone's hand wrapped around her arm roughly and shoved her back into the room, though her vision had turned blurry. Hei tried to yank her grip out of his, but she wasn't nearly strong enough. She heard the door slam shut behind her again, so hard that the whole cabin seemed to tremble, or maybe it was just herself.

"Hey," growled the person she'd punched. Woozily, Hei tried to think of any sort of solution, though she couldn't think of anything. Her head was spinning, and vaguely, she realized that she probably should've called for help. "There's a limit to what you can play at." She couldhearhim, but at the same time, his words were incomprehensible, like she was hearing it all through a glass wall. It didn't seem to connect, at least not quite.

Her back met the wall, and it sent a jarring stab of pain up her spine. She glanced upwards through blurring vision, trying to keep her eyes from watering. It really didhurt.

"Listen." He leaned closer, and Hei flinched as the scent of alcohol washed over her face, trying to suppress the gag reflex. "I don't care what you're playing at, but know your limits."

There were five men in the room, and while not all of them looked completely drunk, three of them definitely did. The man that had her pinned to the wall was, undoubtedly, though he was still a decent amount stronger than she was.

Still, he was intoxicated and that gave him a disadvantage. If she could just make it out the door, she'd be able to get back to Byungjoo's cabin. Staying there suddenly seemed a whole deal safer, and if she hadn't been in such a situation, Hei might've sat down for a long time and just wallowed in regret of having done something so absurdly stupid. What had she been expecting? People that genuinely wanted to help?

Without giving herself anymore time to think, she followed her gut instinct and brought her knee up with as much force as she could manage.

The man released her with a roar of pain. Hei could barely hear him, adrenaline and panic and fear fueling her forward, enough for her to put everything else aside momentarily. Miyeon, her family — all of that seemed surprisingly insignificant at the moment. She reached for the doorknob, trying to hurry her steps (though there wasn't much that speed could help her with in such a tiny room with so many people).

"Youbitch," he snarled, and at that moment, the door opened.

That opened easily,she thought, more or less confused, and then someone else stepped into the room and Hei realized that she hadn't been the person who opened the door.

She'd never been happier to see Byungjoo.

His eyes were narrowed, scanning the room around him. The last time Hei had seen him, he'd looked absolutely exhausted and on the verge of collapsing. He'd been sound asleep when she'd left the room — the person standing in the doorway, looking positively livid at the scene in front of him, did not look like the same Byungjoo she'd seen hours ago.

"What's happening?" There was a deadly sort of quiet in his voice.

Hei took a shaky step in his direction. She could see him scanning the room, from the scattered bottles of alcohol to the intoxicated faces of the other men and then finally, landing on her. Wordlessly, he reached over, latching a firm grip on her wrist and tugging her towards him. She ended up halfway out the door, behind his back.

Hei nearly collapsed there. She felt unbelievably safer standing behind Byungjoo, and with the adrenaline gradually draining away, she was left with the crippling feeling of fear, the lingering sort that made her legs weak. Returning to their cabin and curling up on the bed sounded like the best option at the moment.

"Who are you?" she heard someone slur. It didn't seem like it was coming from the same person she hit.

"She's with me," Byungjoo replied simply. "I don't know what happened here, but I'm sure that bringing alcohol onto the ship wasn't permitted. There are strict rules."

Byungjoo didn't even flinch as the man grabbed the collar of his shirt, yanking him forward. She couldn't see his face, though his right hand hovered dangerously close to where his cutlass was sheathed. Behind them, the other four had risen to their feet, crowding around them all.

She'd seen him fight, but nevertheless, Hei couldn't deny that watching him face down five people that were all taller than him was nerve wracking. The possibility that he would lose against five clumsy drunkards was pretty much zero if he could take down two members of her family easily, yet she'd been cornered by the same people without being able to even put up much of a struggle.

"Let go." He sounded a lot calmer than he looked a moment ago. "I don't want this to end up in a fight—"

The man shook him. "Hey," he laughed loudly. "Who are you ordering around, pretty boy? She walked into our room begging. Why do you think she gets to leave without even finishing what she star—"

Even though HeiknewByungjoo could move fast, it was still surprising to see him actually do so. The one who'd been holding his collar went down without a sound, sentence never finished, and behind him, he threw a packed punch at the man behind. The third one tried to grab his hand, though he never even made contact with Byungjoo.

It was over before she knew it. The fifth man wasn't completely out, apparently, because he leaned against one of the flimsy beds, clutching his hand to his chest and breathing in choked, ragged gasps.

Byungjoo stood over him, unmoving for a long moment. From the doorway, Hei stared at him. His back was to her, expression unreadable, though she dreaded the moment he would turn around and look at her. Would he be mad? She couldn't imagine a reason for him not to be. She hadn'tmeantfor the nightmares to get out of hand and to make such a rash, unsensible and utterlystupidmove, but would Byungjoo even get it if she tried to explain? He'd probably tie up her ankles up too.

"You're causing a disturbance here," he said in a low voice at the man. "It's nighttime, and it's late. Consider the other people too." His eyes flickered to a smashed bottle. "And get rid of the alcohol before I tell the captain."

With that, he turned around, steps quick. He stopped when he was standing right in front of her.

Hei didn't dare meet his eyes — they were smouldering the last time she looked — though curiosity got the better of her after a couple more seconds and she peeked upwards.

He didn't look mad. In fact, there was a hint of genuine worry that she'd never seen before. For a while, he stared at her, scanning her from bottom up, gaze lingering on her wrist for a couple of seconds before he finally found her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Hei had no idea what to reply with.Noseemed to be an understatement — her legs were shaking, she felt as if she'd collapse any moment, and the pain that she couldn't feel before was all beginning to catch up to her. She didn't even have the energy to nod or shake her head at Byungjoo, though she had to admit that she was more than relieved that he wasn't actuallymadat her. Not yet, at least.

He didn't say anything else about it, but nodded down the direction of the hallway, towards where their cabin was. With one last unreadable look, he nudged the door of the room shut with a toe. "Let's go back," he said simply, and without another word, began to head towards their cabin, steps slow enough for her to keep up with.

Exhausted and spent, Hei didn't say anything else and followed.

Chapter 6

Five Questions

Hei wasn't sure if her breathing had steadied or not, because it still sounded extremely loud to her own ears when Byungjoo shut the door behind them. Her whole body was still shaking, from fear or pain or nervous anticipation — she wasn't quite sure. She kept her gaze fixed on her hands, though it wasn't the best place to look because all Hei saw was the bloody cuts on her wrist from where she'd forcefully pulled her hand from the rope, and looking at that made her back hurt from where she'd been slammed against the wall, and that reminded her of the cut on her foot that still stung and hadn't quite healed. Everything just lead into a circle of how mad Byungjoo would possibly be.

Anywhere but Byungjoo's eyes,she told herself. If he'd been angry at her trying to ask the guards for help back then, there was no way thatthiswouldn't make him mad. And after seeing firsthand how scary he could be…

"I shouldn't have tied your wrist," he said quietly, and Hei's head snapped upwards. She couldn't look away after he'd caught her gaze. "I have to apologize for that."

Hei opened her mouth, shut it, opened it again and then decided that speaking didn't seem to be the best option to choose. She opted for staring at Byungjoo in absolute shock, momentarily forgetting everything that she'd been worrying about a moment ago. Had he justapologizedfor tying her wrist there instead of actually yelling at her? She couldn't comprehend why he actually didn't look mad.

"What happened before?" He actually soundedworried.Hei was partially convinced that he was toying with her, because he didn't hit her like the forgiving type or the kind of person who'd actually spend time listening to her even if shedidtell him what had happened. Not that she could exactly tell very well, either, because Hei couldn't quite rememberanyonelike that in her life and she was pretty sure Byungjoo was no exception.

"Well?" he prompted. "I don't suppose you made yourself bleed and decided to check every single cabin down here for help if you had been in the right mind. Anyone else would've bolted for the captain and reported that there was an outlaw on the ship. What exactly happened?"

Hei stared down at her hands. Byungjoo had lit a lantern so that the room wasn't as dark anymore, though she didn't suppose it really mattered as long as she didn't have her hands tied anymore. Was there really a point if she explained it to him? Would it even make a difference?

She blinked at him, and he shifted on his bed so that it creaked beneath him. "I'm serious, Song Hei. I can't do anything if you're not going to tell me the problem. I'm sincerely sorry for tying you to the bed — I was tired, I wasn't thinking properly, and while I know that barely makes up for anything... it was still a huge mistake on my part."

It was odd. Staring at him, the exact person who'd kidnapped her from her family and Hei was really supposed tohate (pirate, outlaw, wanted, murder,she told herself once again in her head, though the words had lost their meaning somewhere along the couple hundred times she repeated it to herself) — oddly, the only feeling she got from listening to his words was an odd prickle of comfort. He sounded like he genuinely meant it. Helookedlike he genuinely meant it. It was a sort of sincerity that she wasn't used to seeing, yet at the same time, the type she could recognize immediately without even knowing it well.

"It's nothing," she managed out thickly. "Why are you…"Why are you being so nice?"Why do you care? Why are you not…"

Byungjoo stared straight at her. "I don'twantto treat you like you're some sort of captive. I did tell you before that I need your help, and I don't want to force your hand at it." He seemed to hesitate there. "Well, technically, Idid,but trust me when I tell you that you're better off without your family. I may be a pirate and a wanted outlaw, but I'm not heartless and neither am I stupid. Help is always better when it's willing from both the receiving and giving sides."

"There's nothing I can help you with," she replied. "You said it yourself back there. I can't use my power. I'm useless—"

"You'renotuseless," he snapped, so suddenly and harshly that Hei jumped back. She watched with a tinge of fear as he stood up. It was terribly similar to what had happened when he'd tied her wrist to the bed post the last time, though to her utter relief, Byungjoo passed by her. His gaze was unreadable, though she could see a hint of anger shimmering behind his eyes, though the emotion was masked well. "I'm going to get some gauze for your wrist. Tell me when I'm back."

The door shut behind him, the sound, though soft, echoed through the now-quiet room loudly. When it faded, the only thing Hei could hear was her breathing as she sat alone.

She wasn't sure what to even think of Byungjoo anymore, and that was probably the worst part. There were so many things that she was unsure of and so many other things that she needed to ask him and confirm, but she couldn't even get them out. The only thing she could do was question over and over what he was doing and why he was doing it. He said that he needed her help, but that didn'treallywarrant such behavior towards her, did it? What did hewant?Pirates supposedly stole treasure, possible murdered people — but that didn't seem to be what Byungjoo was after. At least she didn't think so.

It was all terribly confusing, and Hei was pretty sure she'd have a mental breakdown if she tried to think of it more. It was hard enough struggling with the constant whisper —you shouldn't be doing this as a member of a family —but that was easier to block out when she wasn't panicking.

For what felt like a very long time, she sat in the room alone. And then, just as the silence was beginning to get unbearable, the door of the cabin swung open again.

Byungjoo appeared with more than just the gauze. Hei had to squint in the bad lighting to make out what he was holding, but when he sat down beside her, she'd pretty much figured out that it was an apple.

And then the realization dawned on her that he was sitting next to her on her bed, and internally panicking, she scooched to the side. "What—"

"Your wrist," he replied calmly. "I need to wrap it up. I don't think you can do it with one hand by yourself."

Hei swallowed nervously. Being in such close proximity with him made her feel extremely uncomfortable — being in the same room was already pushing limits —but she had no more energy to fight Byungjoo anymore and going against him didn't seem like a good idea either. She faintly recalled what had happened the last time he'd asked for her wrist, but when she stretched her injured arm out at him this time, his touch was strangely light.

She watched as he wrapped the white gauze around carefully. It wasn't bleeding too much, though the first layer was specked with red. The color was a lot fainter when he wrapped around again, and by the time Byungjoo had secured the bandage, it was simply white cloth around her wrist.

Cautiously, Hei moved her wrist slightly. The pain wasn't as sharp, held back by the support of the gauze.

Byungjoo stood up again. "Is that good?"

There was nothing she could do but nod at him.

He went back to his own bed, setting the leftover gauze and also the apple onto the small table beside his bed. Compared to before, Byungjoo looked relatively calmer, and Hei was thankful for that. He managed to control and reign in his emotions better than any person she knew (then again, she'd spent over a third of her life stuck with Miyeon, whose temper flared up very often. She never bothered to control it either).

"Are you going to tell me now, then?" She could feel his eyes on her, and Hei didn't meet his gaze. "I'm not going to buy it if you say that it was nothing. No one would believe that."

If she bit any harder, Hei was pretty sure her bottom lip would start bleeding. "I just don't like having my hands tied."

"I noticed. I can't read your mind as to why, though."

Heiknewshe should've stopped herself from talking. It was family matters, it didn't concern him, and he wasn't someone who she should've been looking for sympathy in. The enemy wasn't someone who she could freely confide in.

Maybe it was because the events from before still left her a bit more shaken than she realized, or maybe some part of herknewthat the sincerity in his eyes and voice and expression wasn't something faked. And despite all the factors against, she decided to go with it.Just once,she told herself, though the words were already tumbling out of her mouth.

"Miyeon," she heard herself say, almost against her own will. The words just came out before she could stop them. "It was a long time ago, but she used to lock me…" It got harder and harder to speak as she went on, and Hei tried to swallow the lump in her throat. "She used to lock me in a dark room with my hands tied if I couldn't memorize the lesson or I didn't finish…or I couldn't…"

His expression darkened, though he didn't exactly look surprised. "It was four years ago. And it wasn't really that frightening anymore after I got older, either—"

"That doesn't make what she did any less wrong, though." He reached for the apple he'd placed on the counter, chewing his bottom lip with his teeth. His gaze was averted so she couldn't see his eyes, which she began to realize was the best place to look at when trying to read his emotions. "It's almost dawn, and I don't think I'm going to be able to fall asleep any time soon. I told you I'd answer your questions when I woke up, so let's move onto that."

Hei watched as he sliced the apple in half neatly with his blade, and then handed her portion to her. "Everyone's still more or less asleep, so this was all I found." When she hesitated, he gave her a wry smile. "I wouldn't drag you this far to feed you a poisoned apple."

She took it from him, though she really didn't have much of an appetite left. Byungjoo didn't push her anymore when she set the half of the apple on her lap, and instead, took a bite into his own. Around a mouthful, he mumbled, "Because it's going to probably be a whole hell of explaining, let's go with five questions this morning. And then I'll answer five more in the afternoon."

It was undoubtedly surprising that he'd dropped the subject of Miyeon and what had happened before so easily (too quickly, Hei thought, though she was thankful not to talk about it either), but it didn't take more than a couple sentences from him forherto also forget about it. Maybe that was what Byungjoo had been aiming for — whatever the reason, Hei stopped thinking about it and she was more or less thankful for that.

"Five questions," she echoed dumbly. "Why are you… why are you being so nice? You're apirate."

"That counts as one," he replied with the faintest hint of the smirk returning to his face, and Hei glared at him. She should've known he would play dirty in some sort of way. Then his expression returned to serious again. "I know it's more or less a stereotype, but being a pirate doesn't make me a terrible person."

"Kidnapping me from my home and threatening me with a blade doesn't give the best first impressions—"

He raised his hands in a placating gesture, though there was nothing about it that made her feel any more at ease. "Knocking you out and smuggling you out of Hua would've been worse."

"—and that's an understatement. You might want to rethink theterrible personpart."

"Touche." He looked unfazed. "But to answer that seriously, a little bit of kindness doesn't hurt. I may have, ah,forcefullytaken you from Hua, but that doesn't automatically give me what I need from you. I need your help, and you have the power to withhold that if you decide to. Treating you like you're a captive isn't going to help me. It's just going to strain everything even more, and that's not going to work well for either of us. And as ridiculous as it sounds, try not to think of me as the enemy."

She opened her mouth to contradict him —that was more than simply ridiculous — but Byungjoo continued before she could say anything else. "I know I probably did a couple of things that were pretty terrible in like the ten hours I've known you, but I mean everything that I said before too. Sincerely."

She gnawed on her bottom lip. He didn't seem to be the same person who'd threatened her with a cutlass and killed the guards. Not even the one who'd shoved her back and taken down the five men in the blink of an eye. This wasn't the kind of personality or the kind of treatment she'd expected to get from a pirate, and frankly, it confused Hei to the point of a headache. There was some sort of pull in his words too that made her gravitate towards him when he spoke, too, and she found herself hanging onto his every word. Maybe it was something about his intonation, or his choice of words or the look in his eyes.

"Well?" Byungjoo asked. "What's your second question?"

Hei tried to think. She'd wasted her first question, so she had four more before she had to wait until the afternoon. "Why do you need my help?"

"I lost my crew," he replied immediately. "Well, I lost part of my crew. I need to track them down, but we were seperated so suddenly and on such a short notice that I have no idea where half of them are. There's no place to start unless I have someone who's able to follow their footsteps to where they are. You can see things that have occurred in one place in the past, right?"

Confusion was the first thing to hit. "I can't control my power at all. Are we going to sit somewhere until I finally see the proper memory segment for thirty seconds?"

"Third question," he said casually, and Hei bit back a protest. "No, we're not going to sit in the same place until you finally see the person I need you to see because that's not going to work at all. What you're able to control at the moment is barely a fraction of what you're supposed to be able to do. If you're trained properly, it'll be easier for you to control those visions." He tilted his head contemplatively. "I'm pretty sure your power goes a much longer way than just seeing segments of the past, too, though it's up to you to figure out what else you can do."

Most children were able to have control over their power when they turned six — no matter how little — which was when they started taking lessons from tutors. Hei wasn't too sure when she'd seen her first vision, though she was pretty sure she'd been at least twelve. Miyeon had tried to teach her how to control it, though it was useless.You're a lost cause,she said disapprovingly.There's no point in trying. Do you even have power that's useful?

She'd tried for years. With Miyeon, by herself, locked in her room as she tried to command her power to work according to her will. Most of the time it ended with crying herself to sleep.

"That's not going to happen," she told Byungjoo, and it came out as a dry laugh. "I've tried for eight years. Did they forget to tell you that about me when they passed information to you?"

"Does that count as the fourth question?" he mused under his breath, and Hei fought the urge to throw her uneaten apple at him. "And no, she didn't forget to tell me that. It sounds like your family was the one that didn't train you properly, though. You'll sharpen your skills up if you're taught properly."

"Even if my family didn't train me properly, who do you think will do better? You? You're a commoner. What do you know about family members' powers?"

Byungjoo's smile was dangerous. "More than you'd expect me to."

Hei had to admit inwardly that her family reallydidn'ttrain her properly. Being yelled at for an hour by her tutor and then told toforget itdidn't really fall under the category of proper training, but she wasn't going to say that aloud to Byungjoo anytime soon. Still, it wasn't completely Miyeon's fault that she had no idea how to use the little power she had. Compared to someone her age from her family, it was no secret that she wasn't powerful. The fact that someone like Byungjoo needed her help wasn't something that was easy to comprehend. She set down her apple, appetite completely gone.

"Fourth question." She cleared her throat awkwardly. "How do you know so much about me? Who told you?"

"That's two."

Shut up,she almost told him, though she managed to stop herself last minute. Byungjoo hadn't lost his temper yet (not that he had before, but he looked generally more at ease), but she wasn't pushing the limits. At least not now — Hei wasn't certain whenshewould lose her temper because he was the one who'd pushed past the limits.

He must've seen the expression on her face because his lips twitched in amusement. "I'll count that as one, then. Someone that I know told me. I think she's a maid —Son Seungwan. Ring a bell? She's been living in Hua for quite a while and she helped when I asked her, though I suppose she doesn't owe me anymore after this."

Hei did a double take. "Seungwan?"

"Kind of short, smiles a lot. That Seungwan. Know her?"

Seungwan had been the person who bandaged her foot. She didn't keep track of the maids too often — they came and went — but there was no way she could forget Seungwan. She was the one who had told her outright that she wasn't going to pass the test.A traitor, too,she thought bitterly.Figures. She must've known what she was talking about because she'd been contacting Byungjoo…

"She owed you," Hei found herself repeating, and she was about to ask him what he'd done for her to owe him something when she realized that Byungjoo would count that as a question too. She shoved the words back down and sealed her mouth.

He flashed a grin at her. "I saved her brother once," he said. She didn't even bother to comment, though it was still kind of surprising how fast he'd been able to read her. "In case you're wondering. Last question?"

She bit her lip. There was so many more things that she wanted to be answered at the moment — waiting until the afternoon felt too long — though Hei wasn't completely sure if she'd be pushing anything by trying to get more information out of him. She figured it was probably smartest not to test him until she was more or less sure he was being genuinely nice (if she couldeverfigure him out).

Finally, she settled with one. "Why are we going to Ezentia of all places? What are you going to do there?"

"I hope they taught you how to count in your family," he exclaimed in mock worry. "That's a very important thing to learn." Seeing her scowl, he continued on. "Ezentia was the place I settled in best after…" He hesitated, then hurried on without finishing his sentence. It was the first time she'd seen such uncertainty on his face, the worry of saying something wrong and slipping up, and it made him seem a lot more human. "Anyways, I do have a… house — it's more of a base — there and I know quite a couple of people there too. It's also where the rest of my crew is. At least the ones whose whereabouts I actually know. Eunho was originally going to be the person who went to bring you from Hua, but I figured it was better for him to stay in Ezentia. He should be meeting us there and have everything else arranged. Though he does sidetrack often..."

It took a couple of moments for Byungjoo words to actually sink in, and half frozen in shock and disbelief. "Eunho," she repeated slowly, scanning his face. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Lu… han.Lu."

"Eunho," Byungjoo spelled out for her slowly.

"That surname is from the Lu family—"

"Yeah, he used to be from the Lu family."

Hei couldn't quite comprehend. He was speaking about the Eunho person — whoever he was — so casually, like it was everyday he bumped into a member from one of the five families. "You have someone who used to be in the Lu family in your crew?" she demanded. "Who the hell are you, exactly?"

He stiffened for a moment, though he relaxed back into the same smile so quickly that Hei wondered if her eyes had just been playing tricks on her. It seemed to be the default look he always went for — an unworried expression, thoughts hidden behind a smile, eyes calculating calmly. "That's too many questions. Back to Ezentia, unless you don't want to hear the rest?"

Who are you?she wondered. He'd avoided the question like that, and whether or not he knew she noticed, it was something that would bug her. He definitely wasn't just a normal commoner, but that was all she could get out of it.Byungjoo. Just Byungjoo, no surname.

"So?" he prompted, and Hei blinked. "I wasn't done explaining when you interrupted."

"Go on," she mumbled, mind still reeling from Eunho.

"I mean, if you were surprised bythat…"Byungjoo pressed his lips together. "I'll put it bluntly —I'm going to Ezentia to sort out a couple of things with Eunho, hopefully get a ship, and then kidnap Kim Jongdae on the way."

"You're going tokidnapsomeone from the Kim family?" Hei demanded, running up the stairs after Byungjoo. He gave her the signature grin that she was itching to wipe of his face.

"I technically already kidnapped someone from the Song family. It's not going to be much harder."

"Yeah, and you knew for a fact that I couldn't fight back and couldn't even use my powers! Kim Jongdae —he's… he's…"

Byungjoo reached the deck, mounting the last steps and completely ignoring her. The air carried the scent of the sea, though it was heavier, stacticky. She stepped up behind Byungjoo, ready to ask him again. He couldn't just tell her he was going to kidnapanothermember of a family and leave her hanging — and then she saw the sky.

The sea was beginning to pick up, the waves rising higher and higher. The sky hadn't lightened much from nighttime, though the most terrifying part of that was that Hei wasn't sure if it was because it was still too early for the sun to start rising or if it was because of the obvious oncoming storm. And as much as she hoped for the latter not to be the case, she could feel the tension, waiting to be released in the air. From the looks of it, with the darkening clouds and rough waves, it wasn't going to be a small one.

"Storm," she managed, though it came out as a choked whisper. Byungjoo glanced back at her. "Byungjoo, there's a storm—"

"And a huge one at that." He pressed his lips together. "The wind's in our favour, so I think this'll just help us arrive at Ezentia quicker."

Hei glanced at the dark clouds, approaching the ship frightening fast. She suddenly felt extremely small on the ship, open and raw to be played with by the ocean. If it decided to capsize the boat, there was nothing that anyone on the ship could do. Travelling by sea definitely wasn't something she was beginning to like, and this only proved it.

Byungjoo, though, looked completely unworried. The wind tugged at his hair, messing it up and sweeping it over his eyes. For a while, he continued to stare at the horizon as the ship rocked beneath them, more violently than before. It wasn't until a particular wave crashed into the hull and she was thrown harshly to the side that he finally turned around again.

"Go back to the cabin," he commanded, and Hei did a double take at him.But I still need to ask you about Eunho, Kim Jongdae, what you want from me and so many other—

"Go back," he repeated. "The seas are going to get violent, and it's probably safest if you stay belowdeck. I'll go back in a while and we'll continue later." He made a shooing motion with his hands, and Hei stared at him until he gave her a gentle shove down.

A strong gust of wind guided her towards the door. "Oh," Byungjoo said, "You might want to eat the apple."

He pushed the door shut.

Chapter 7

Power

Another moment and Hei thought she was going to throw up.

Byungjoo hadn't warned her about getting seasick and while she knew it happened to some people, she hadn't realized that it would to her. The constant rocking motion she'd found sort of comforting, but now that the storm was actually tearing at the ship, she wasn't sure which feeling she wanted to get rid of: the fear that it would capsize and they'd all drown at sea (she cursed Byungjoo over and over in her head for dragging her with him) or the discomfort from the nausea of the turbulent movements. She'd taken a couple bites into the apple before giving up — seasickness and eating definitely didn't go together.

For a long time, she huddled on the bed, trying to tame the sick feeling, though it didn't get better. She had initially wanted to process everything he told her when she was alone, but at the moment, Hei couldn't quite concentrate on anything else.

She'd seen storms back in Hua, though she'd been indoors for all of them. The worst one had snapped one of the trees in the yard and it had toppled over, dangerously close to the house, but nothing more happened. She remembered the rain and hail tearing at the rooftops, claps of thunder following flashes of lightning, and it had sounded so chaotic outside that she couldn't sleep. Still, it wasn't actuallyscary.

Being on the ship was a different story.

The waves tore at the ship mercilessly and violently, and while she hadn't yet been thrown from the bed, Hei was pretty sure that another jolt would've done it. She couldn't quite imagine what Byungjoo was even doing outside. Maybe he was used to it because he was often on the sea, but staying on the deck amidst a storm of such volume? She couldn't make sense to it.

Maybe the storm swept him off some time ago,she thought half-heartedly, though it was nearly impossible. If he was going to stay up there, chances were he was doing it for a reason.

Hei wasn't sure how long it was before the storm started to calm down. She remained on her bed with her eyes squeezed shut, but gradually, the nausea began to ebb away as the boat went back to slower rocking movements. For a long time, she didn't move from where she was, and then the door to the cabin opened again. Hei snapped upwards.

Byungjoo entered, shaking his head like a wet puppy. He was absolutely drenched from head to toe, and in addition to that, rainwater dripped behind his steps. Hei eyed the ground where he'd tread on.

He continued shaking water from his hair as he headed towards the bed. "The storm's calmed down by now," he informed her casually. "It wasn't that bad, was it?"

Just bringing it up made Hei want to retch again.

"Your face looks a little green," he continued to remark. "It's alright. The first is always the worst, and then it gets better. You'll get used to being on the sea in no time."

"In no time?" she squinted at him. He was wringing out his shirt as best as he could, though the water only puddled at his feet, near his bed. Hei was tempted to tell him to go outside if he was so wet — she absolutely hated when people trailed water everywhere — but she really was in no place to do so (nor did she really want to, either, because the aftereffects of going through the storm still lingered and she didn't exactly feel too well). "What do you mean in no time? You said it would take five days to reach Ezentia."

Byungjoo nodded. "It does take five."

"Are there going to be more storms along the way?" Hei couldn't help the quiver in her voice. The past while had been an absolute nightmare (she wasn't sure if it had been ten minutes or an hour), and living through the exact same there made her dizzy.

"I can't really tell about that." Byungjoo seemed to have given up on actually drying himself, because he sat right down on his bed, wet clothes and all. "That storm wasn't bad, actually — we could be at Ezentia in three or four days if the winds remain in our favour, and the quicker the better. Though we'll hopefully be on sea a couple days after Ezentia. I don't suppose the Kim family is going to take it nicely after Kim Jongdae goes missing, and it'll probably be best to steer clear of there for a while."

Hei stared at him incredulously. "We're… going to be on the sea so soon?"Wesounded odd — it made her feel as if she were actually working with him by her own free will, which was a lie no matter how much he twisted it and made it sound like he wasn't wrong. "Are you seriously going to just kidnap a member from the Kim family?"

"He's a scribe." Byungjoo undid his shoes and crossed his legs. "As long as I don't bump into a lot more people, he really can't do anything. I'll take Eunho with me too, just for safety." He gave her a wide grin. "Besides, he's not a girl. I'll knock him out and drag him with us if I have to. It's going to be easier."

Hei was about to ask him about Eunho again (because technically speaking, he was the person she was most curious about — an ex-member of the Lu family working with a wanted pirate? That was unheard of) when he shook his head at her. "It's not afternoon yet."

Hei blinked at him. "What?"

"It's not afternoon yet," he repeated. "You have five more questions in the afternoon, but that's not now. I'm not going to answer it until it's the afternoon."

She opened her mouth to object and then decided against it and sat back again. Byungjoo looked absolutely harmless sitting on the bed continuously drying his hair, but there was nothing as being too wary at such a point. He said he wouldn't hurt her, and hadn't yet, but he just wasn't… trustworthy. No matter how good he was with words, he was technically an enemy, which meant—

"Are you thinking about your family again?" He tilted his head at her, wet hair falling into his eyes. "You have this really murderous look in your eyes when you look at me."

Hei blinked. "No."

"Liar," he replied breezily. "I was thinking you could try using your power right now to burn time. Have you practiced yet?"

"Practiced?" Hei echoed. "If you mean sitting there and staring at thin air and hoping for something to appear, then yes, by all means, I've practiced."

Byungjootsked at her. "That's not how you do it. Has your family ever taught you properly?"

"They'vetried,but Ican't.I don't know how you were convinced that I can help you with it, because it's actuallyuseless.There's really nothing I can do, and it has nothing to do with my family—"

"Your power should be part of you," Byungjoo interrupted sharply. Her eyes flickered up, to his face, where a pair of serious eyes stared back at her. "That's what every child of a family has. Their power ispartof them; it's something they should be able to use like their other senses. It's something you should be able to command, but first, you have to get toknowit. If every time someone brings up your power and the only thing you do is claim you don't have it, then you're not going to have it. It has to do with your mindset, too."

He paused, and then stood up from where he was standing. Hei flinched back involuntarily when he took a step towards her. "Trust me, Song Hei." She couldn't quite move then, staring back up at Byungjoo. "You're never going to learn how to control it if you don't believe you can do it. No matter how I teach you and no matter how I force you, you're not going to. You have to learn to let go of your family and everything they've said to you up to now. You said it yourself — useless, a mistake — whatever it is, that's going to be nothing but a hindrance. Do youwantto learn how to control it?"

Hei wasn't quite sure what made her nod at him. "Yes," she admitted in a small voice.

"Then stop telling yourself that you can't. Forget the fact that you've failed before, forget the others who have told you you can't — and just focus."

She continued to stare up at him, unsure of what to do. His words sounded legit enough, but compared to her family, what did he know? Granted, he had hit spot-on for almost everything else he said, but this was about powers. Unless he was directly from a family, he wouldn't know anything about how to train someone.

"Let's just say I picked up a couple of things from Eunho." He crossed his arms. "Before you start questioning how I know this, that is. He's quite a competent spellcaster."

I learned from Eunhodidn't seem to suffice as a proper answer and there was definitely something he wasn't telling her, but if he was going to cut the conversation like that, asking him would be virtually no use later. After a bit of debating with herself, she decided to leave it at that.I'll ask him another time,she told herself.

"So what do you want me to do?" She held out her hands in front of her. "I don't know where to start. I don't even know what my poweris,for God's sake."

"What do youthinkit is, then?" Byungjoo asked back immediately, and Hei did a double take at him.

"Excuse me?" she managed.

"What do you think it is?" he repeated. "From what you've experienced of it so far, what do you think it could be?"

Hei stared at him blankly. "I… don't know."

Byungjoo didn't look the least bit ruffled by her lack of enthusiasm (or maybe it was just lack of knowledge). He held up his hands and then folded on finger down. "You can see segments of the past," he said. He folded another one down. "At this point, I don't think it'll have anything do with offense. More… defense, though I don't think it falls into either defense or offense." Another finger. "It's definitely not the sort of power used to hurt or kill."

He glanced at his remaining two fingers. "What else?"

She stared at his hands. "I… I have to be exactly where it occurred to be able to see it." His pinkie finger went down too.

"I think you can tell from that that it has something to do with time," he finally told her after a long moment of silence (Hei wasn't sure if he was waiting for her to speak or something, but she genuinely had no idea what to say and it was easier to just sit in silence). "I've seen people with clairvoyance, which is… it's a bit hard to explain, though most clairvoyant work as scribes. The Kim family has a lot. Anyways, while their power isn't exactly the same as yours, it does function similarly. They can see and sense and understand things that other people can't, and while the third one probably doesn't apply to you, you should be able to do things that are more… physically shown and related to time. If you train properly, you can do way more than simply seeing segments of the past."

Hei wracked her mind for the stuff she'd read in the textbooks, but there was no power she could remember that had anything to do with time. There were people who controlled some sort of element, and then others who were telekinetic, some rare ones who could mind read, spellcasters (like Byungjoo said Eunho was), but… time? It was completely unheard of.

"That's impossible," she told Byungjoo. "I've never learned of that. They would've written it down in the textbook. And besides, time? That's such a impossible power—"

"Just because it's not written down doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

She glanced at him again. It was hard to hold his gaze for long periods of time, and Hei found herself always looking down after a couple of seconds. "If Ididhave that power, why didn't they train me properly, then? You've probably heard the story of the Kim family's famous prodigy, but he was powerful. His family trained him more than they trained their other children. If they find that you have potential, why would they just… give up on you?"

Byungjoo's eyes flashed, and he was silent for a moment. A dark expression had flickered across his face, though it was gone in a second. "How many years has at leastsomeonestressed on the fact that your family would kill you if you failed the test?" he shot back. "What if I put it this way? They didn't train you because they thought you had no potential; they didn't because you hadtoo muchpotential."

She could barely wrap her mind around his words. "Me?" she echoed. "Ihave too much potential?"

His eyes glinted. "Why else would they send a woman to you for — how many years was it? Eight? — to put you down and drill into your head that you couldn't do anything? You said she used to lock you in a dark room with your hands tied. Did she eventryto teach you before she did that?"

Hei opened her mouth, thought twice, and then snapped it shut.

"Song Miyeon is also from the family, and I dug up some information about her. She's in a pretty high-ranking position, and she was never trained or assigned to be a tutor. She never taught anyone before you, and I can bet she won't teach anyone after. She wasn't there to teach you. She was there to watch you and make sure you couldn't do anything. Her power…" Byungjoo paused, staring straight at her. "Mind reading."

Mouth dry, she tried to formulate words though they didn't come out. While a good handful of tutors weren't actually from the family but hired scholars, getting one thatwasfrom the family and actually stayed for the duration of eight years was slightly odd. She'd never questioned it, though.

"Mind reading," she repeated numbly after Byungjoo.

Byungjoo nodded. As intense as his eyes were, there was always an air of honesty around him in whatever he said. And while Hei had brushed it off in the beginning as him being convincing or a way of talking, she began to wonder if it was actually because he was being truthful. If he didn't want to say something, he'd either tell her directly or avoid the topic. She couldn't recall him ever lying.

"What I'm saying," he continued, "is that your family never was going to teach you or train you properly. They couldn't just murder one of their children without a reason, so they were planning to do so after the test to cover it up as if it were because you failed. They sent someone powerful from their family to watch over you in disguise of a tutor to make sure youcouldn'tuse your power."

She could barely hear herself speak. "Why?" she managed.

Byungjoo shrugged, and while it should've been a nonchalant expression, his expression was dark. "Why else?"

Hei shook her head at him, still trying to wrap her mind around what he'd said. "I don't understand," she mumbled. "It doesn't make sense."

"They're not getting rid of you because they think you're useless, they're doing so because they're afraid of whatever power you have. Control over time is the sort of power that even a family leader wouldn't have, and it's purposely not recorded because it's so dangerous. If you had been trained properly, it's very possible you could be an actual threat against them."

"Me?" Hei was beginning to think that she could only get one-word sentences out at that point. It was such an impossible thought aftereverything,and as much as she couldn't quite believe it yet, part of her already did. It explained a lot — too much — and everything fit together scarily well. Why had she suddenly gotten a tutor who had been from the Song family? Why had Miyeon stayed for so long yet taught her virtually nothing useful?

"You look like you need some time to swallow that all," Byungjoo remarked with a dry smile. "Unless you want to go with me, I'll leave you here and I'm going to the deck." He stood up, ruffling his hair yet again.

Hei stared after him blankly, completely at a loss for words. Before he reached for the door, he stopped and then turned to look back at her one more time.

"You'll probably figure this out anyways, but I'll have to warn you: if your family, or any other family finds you, they're very likely to kill you on the spot or bring you back to be killed. Their reason would most likely be that you're a traitor, but that won't be the truth. They're not going to be searching for you to bring you back, and they're not going to assume you died until they actually find your body. So be careful and choose wisely who you can trust."

He gave her one last nod and then exited the room, leaving her to wonder if she could trust him.

It was at least a couple more hours when Byungjoo came back down, and by then, Hei was tempted to ask him for food because the couple of bites she'd taken from her apple hadn't been nearly enough. The only thing that held her back was pride, though she was beginning to teeter and give into the hunger.

She also wanted to point out that the afternoon had most likely passed, and he said that she could ask him questions in the afternoon. There was already plenty more she needed to ask him about, but after what he'd told her about her family, she had even more. She contemplated asking him to raise the limit to ten.

Hei still felt weary around him, but it wasn't as bad as it was in the beginning and she had began to get used to his presence. He wasn't very threatening (most of the time), and though he had his moments where his expression itself could've dropped the temperature of the room, he was more or less not too bad a person to be with.

That didn't mean she didn't immediately block out such thoughts when they came.Pirate, wanted man, outlaw —it was an useless mantra in her mind, and by then, the words had completely lost their meaning. She could only really think about her family and the distinct feeling of bitterness that arose with the thoughts. She couldn't quite tell apart the other emotions, but oddly, there was no sense of betrayal.Can someone that didn't care for me and treated me badly in the first place really betray me? Not exactly.

Byungjoo was holding a flask of water and a couple slices of bread when he entered again. She tried not to, but ended up eying the food in his hands. It was such a simple meal compared to what they used to make back in Hua, but at that point, Hei would accept any sort of food.

"Are you hungry?" Byungjoo asked, though he was grinning as if he had already noticed her looking at the food. She ripped her gaze from the bread and stared at her bed instead.

"No," she said, just as her stomach growled.

I hope he didn't hear that,she thought, though that wish went down the drain when his grin widened.

"No?" he echoed teasingly.

Hei settled with scowling at him in response.

Byungjoo handed her two pieces of bread, which she was too hungry to refuse. She settled with eating it slowly, still sitting on the bed with her legs crossed.

"So," Byungjoo said around an atrociously large mouthful (had he stuffed the whole piece into his mouth?). "Did you think everything through yet?"

There wasn't quite a proper reply to that, because Heihadspent the last couple hours struggling with whether or not she could at leasttrytrusting Byungjoo, figuring out what he'd said about her family (which fitted in so scarily well that it seemed to be the complete truth), and ignoring the hunger. She hadthoughtabout everything, but she still had her doubts on thethroughpart.

"I'm not sure," she muttered.

"You have around two days, then," he replied cheerily. "No rush. Eunho will probably be teaching you after we get to Ezentia for a couple of days and then we're off. You might want to get your mind around it before you start training with him, though. It'll make your life easier."

The last part of his sentence sounded ridiculous. "It'll make my life easier?" she echoed, slightly irritated. "Literally nothing is easy right now."

"It would be harder if we decided to take you with us when we go kidnap Kim Jongdae," he pointed out, and that was that.

Byungjoo answered more questions that night, though he kept them limited to five. Hei questioned him about her family for three questions, though his answers weren't extremely informative and she barely got much more out of it. It seemed as if he had already told her everything he knew already, and whatever he wasn't saying were things he wanted to hold back and it didn't take her long to realize there was no point trying to get answers out of him.

It was only when he held out four fingers that she realized that she'd wasted three of her questions on virtually useless things, and she forced herself to drop the matter of her family to other things she wanted to ask — why Kim Jongdae, of all people? To that, Byungjoo told her that it was because he was a scribe and they needed his power as a clairvoyant. She was about to ask him what he was planning to even do after finding his crew, but then Eunho was brought up again and Hei accidentally wasted her last question on him.Why did you come instead of him?

He'd laughed at the question like it was extremely amusing, told her Eunho was too nice to try to kidnap someone ("He'd probably threaten you and then apologize profusely for doing so"), and that wrapped up everything for the night. He refused to answer anything else until the next morning.

"You should sleep," he told her after a little longer of silence.

Hei eyed him. "I don't think I can."

"Why? Is it because of what I told you, because you're not tired, or because I'm in the room?"

All three,Hei thought, though she didn't dare say it out loud. She wasn't sure how she'd fallen asleep last night — maybe it was the exhaustion — but the same thing definitely wasn't going to happen again. It wasn't nearly as scary and unnerving to be in the same room as Byungjoo as it was before, but that didn't mean she wasn't cautious around him. She couldn't help but think back to the ruthless way he'd moved when they'd encountered the two guards back at Hua. She wasn't exactly sure why he hadn't killed them back then, but he definitely could've andhadkilled others before.

She settled with shrugging at him in an attempt to evade the question.

"Well," Byungjoo said. "I'm not tired right now either, so I'll go up and take a walk. If it's because of the third option, maybe you'll fall asleep faster."

It wasn't a reassuring thought that he'd return to the cabin after she was asleep, but Hei didn't voice that either. She watched as Byungjoo stood up and headed for the door (it was like the tenth time that day already). "Sleep," he insisted. "You barely slept at all last night, and that's not healthy. I'll be back in a while."

Hei wanted to point out that that meant that he didn't sleep much either (and he'd looked debatably more tired than she was), but Byungjoo was out before she could say anything else. She sat on her bed for a little while, unsure of whether or not she really should sleep, then settled with huddling under the blankets and mulling over everything that he'd told her.

She must've underestimated how tired she was, because she barely got through rerunning his words about Miyeon when she drifted off.

Chapter 8

Close Arrival

Hei slept a long time that night, and she was pretty sure that it was the first time in years that she'd been able to sleep so soundly. When she finally woke up, the cabin was empty once again, just like how it had been when she fell asleep. Byungjoo was nowhere in sight and the only thing that told her that he had even been there was that his bed was made and the cabin was brighter than it had been when she slept. Yawning, she slipped out from bed and walked across the wooden floor to the door. It was refreshing to sleep so long without the worry that Miyeon was going to show up and nag her early in the morning, but then she rethought about it and figured that just because Miyeon wasn't there didn't mean she should let her guard down.

That didn't work actually work very well, though, because when she headed up the creaking wooden stairs and opened the door, she saw the glittering sea and all other thoughts flew out of her head.

The last time she'd went above deck was when the sky had been grey and the storm was rapidly approaching. This time, the sky was blue without a speck of clouds, the complete opposite of what she remembered. It was almost strange to see it so calm. The sun, nearing its halfway point, shone across the waves and they gleamed blindingly at her, too bright to look at directly. Hei stood still for a while, admiring the view in front of her and taking time to appreciate the fact that her surroundings actually felt serene and still for once. It was a nice change that she wished she could keep.

"You're awake?" someone asked from behind her, and Hei whipped around to see Byungjoo standing with his arms crossed. All thoughts ofsereneandstillflew out of her head. "That was a pretty long time you were asleep for. I told you you were tired."

He had changed into another shirt, this one better fitting than the one she'd found for him back in Hua. His eyes gleamed like they were reflecting light on the water. At the starboard of the ship, two men conversed quietly. With quite a bit of relief, she realized that they weren't part of the same people whose cabin she had stumbled into the night prior.

She continued standing in the same spot, unsure of what to reply with.

Byungjoo seemed to sense her hesitation. "It's nice out here," he said casually, then nodded towards the railing before heading in that direction. "It's good that there are clear skies today."

Hei followed behind him. Was he attempting to make small talk? If he was, she had no idea how to respond. If he wasn't, then… she had no idea what he was trying to do.

"I think we'll be in Ezentia tomorrow night," he continued. "Probably pretty late, though." He leaned over the rail and glanced down at the waters below, the waves lapping lazily against the hull.

"Oh," Hei replied numbly.

Byungjoo raised an eyebrow. "Are you still not awake yet? It's nearing noon. Does your family even let you sleep properly? Are you sleep deprived or something?"

She blinked at him, a bit confused and trying to swallow the onslaught of questions. Maybe she wasn't quite awake yet, because she just shook her head at him.

They remained in silence for quite some time, with Byungjoo leaning over the rail (boyishly, with half his body folded over it as he looked down at the sea. Briefly, Hei contemplated pushing him over because he looked as if he'd topple any moment, but no matter how childish the pose seemed to be, he could probably recover in a split second and there was no saying he wouldn't throwherin), and her standing next to him, unsure of what to do as per usual. A couple minutes ticked by before Byungjoo stood up again.

Hei wasn't quick enough to look away, but when she did, it was obvious that she'd been caught staring. Byungjoo smirked. "Are you thinking about shoving me over?"

Hei stared at the waters and imagined what the outcome would be if she actually had. "I wouldn't think of it," she mumbled back.

"Don't," he warned in a joking manner. "I'll drag you down with me."

She knew that he didn't exactly mean it, but still couldn't exactly suppress a shudder at the thought of being in the waters. Being on the waters was one thing (and it was already scary), but actuallyinthe sea? Hei had no idea how to swim, and even if she did, the endless span of blue didn't seem beautiful anymore after that thought — it was downright terrifying.

When Hei didn't reply, Byungjoo propped a chin in one hand and tilted his head at her. "So, five questions. Go."

"What?" she asked.

"Five questions," he repeated. "It's morning."

Hei obviouslystillwasn't awake, somehow, because the first thing she asked was, "Right now?"

Byungjoo rolled his eyes. "Go back and sleep or something, because you're obviously not functioning right now. You've already asked me two very useless questions."

She scowled at him. "I'm completely awake. First question. Who are you?"

Hei had been meaning to ask him last night for her afternoon questions (or late, late afternoon), but she'd accidentally wasted her last one and he'd refused to reply to anything else. She'd gotten a couple of very, very vague answers the last time, but asking it straightforwardly meant that he had no way to avoid it.

She studied Byungjoo's expression, though it was masked very well. "My name is Byungjoo," he replied in an almost bored tone. "Pirate captain. From the families' perspective, a wanted outlaw, someone they've been trying very hard to kill. Subjectively speaking, your savior, objectively, your kidnapper. Or maybe thesavioris both subjectively and objectively."

Hei would've scoffed at thesaviorpart, but it wasn't anything new from Byungjoo and there were other things she had to worry about. "I don't meanthat," she said, a bit agitated. "You're obviously not just a normal commoner. And…" her voice broke a bit as the thought suddenly hit her. She had meant it as a question that she initially expected anoto, but by the time it was all out of her mouth, realization had struck. "Are you…are you also from a family? You have someone from the Lu family in your crew, and a simple commoner couldn't be so skilled."

She'd been to busy trying to wrap her mind around other things for all the facts about Byungjoo to connect properly. Maybe it was because she'd subconsciously believed Byungjoo the whole time because he'd told her he was a commoner once (but that was before he'd pulled his cutlass out), or maybe it was because she hadn't put much thought in it. Or maybe she had already began to realize it bit by bit, but not fully until then. Whatever the reason, it hit her hard when the puzzle began to click. There was no other way that he could've done half of the things he did. There was no other reason why the families were so desperate to hunt him down. He was the flaw in their perfection, someone who was able to rip through the illusion of pure, untainted power they built up over the centuries.

Still, one realization just led to more uncertainties and questions.

"You're from a family," she said this time, and strangely, Byungjoo remained silent. "Aren't you?"

He gave her a tight smile. "Believe what you want." He was definitely trying to avoid ayesornoanswer.

"No, it makes sense," Hei shot back. "There's no other way. Which family? You're definitely not from the Song family, and you're not from the Lu family either. Park? Kim? Kim?"

"Whichever you want it to be." He unpeeled himself from the railing, eyes boring into hers. "I can't tell you right now."

Now that he'd basically confirmed it, Hei couldn't ignore the curiousity. How had he ended up as apirate? What was his power? His family must've known he was alive if he was painted on so many wanted posters — why had he left? And even more importantly, why, exactly, was he doing what he was doing?

"I'm not going to answer any questions about who I am or what I'm capable of doing or why," Byungjoo said in a strained voice, and Hei ran his name through the three families that she hadn't eliminated.Park Byungjoo. Kim Byungjoo. Kim kimgjoo. Could it be Kim? He said that he liked Ezentia best (or something along those lines). Park? She wasn't sure on that one. Kim? The Kim family would've been the strictest of eliminating threats and runaway members after the the failure of their prodigy, and Byungjoo had appeared six years ago. That was after the Kim family's downfall. Even without that, the Kim family had always been the most ruthless family. If he'd been a runaway from that family, she had a feeling that he would've been long dead.

Still, she couldn't quite eliminate the name off her list without any more facts.

"Song Hei," he said again, and she looked back up at him. She hadn't even realized that she'd been basically glaring at him until he spoke up again. His face was guarded. "I'd advise you against trying to figuring it out on your own. I can't stop you, but it probably would be best if you put it aside for now. I can answer everything else and I can help you with your power, but there are a couple of things that I cannot answer right now."

"Why?"

Byungjoo's expression softened a slight bit. "Not now," he told her. "If you want me to put it bluntly, it's because I can't fully trust you right now. That's probably more or less a mutual feeling, but whatever it is…" he trailed off. He looked strangely vulnerable for a moment, eyes flashing with a hint of pain. "Your question has a much more complex answer than you'd expect, and I'll tell you when the time comes."

Hei shut her mouth with one more look at his face. She had never thought that she'd sympathize with him at all, especially in the beginning, but she couldn't help but feel a faint pang of pity. It definitely didn't stop her from wondering, though. He was definitely from a family — he would've denied it if he weren't, so there was no doubt at that point — but which one? She gave him one more look-over, but he didn't pause another moment before giving her another smile. He couldn't quite hide how forced it was.

"I'll give you five more questions because I couldn't answer that," Byungjoo said. "So?"

He answered everything else, which ranged from how he met Eunho and why he said he liked Ezentia best as a place to stay. She had hoped for those things to give her at least some sort of insight to where he was from, but by the end of it, Hei had succeeded over fifteen questions and still had no clue as to who he really was.

They headed back to the cabin soon afterwards.

"That's why you were going to train me, right?" she asked, glancing towards him. He was hugging a pillow again (which she began to realize was a habit. She tried to connect it to a family but with no avail). "You know how it's supposed to work."

Byungjoo shrugged. "I wasn't lying when I said I picked a couple of things up from Eunho because he's a way better teacher than I am in some aspects. I didn't realize you were going to connect the dots so soon, though I suppose a couple things gave it away."

Everything he'd told her before seemed to be in a different light when she thought back. It made so much more sense now, and while she was still far from trusting him, she had thought about the possibility oftrying. What if she did try to work with Byungjoo without struggling? What if he was really right about her family — all of the families? A day ago, Hei wouldn't have either considered it. Throwing in a couple of additional facts about her family and him and something had changed vastly.

She shook her head, trying to clear it. Miyeon's words came back like they always did whe —someone like you is useless to their family and is better off dead. Remain loyal to your family no matter what— but they had a different effect from before, drawing a different sort of emotion — anger. How had she been able to tell her those things year after year when she knew full well that it wasn't Hei's fault? How did she make it look so easy, so natural, to yell at her and tell her that she was the failure when it was really something that was planned by them?

Byungjoo spent the rest of the day explaining bits and pieces of how to use one's power (with the promise that Eunho was a better teacher than he was). While she couldn't quite look at him without being overly curious, the initial fear and complete distrust had begun to ebb away slowly. She still felt wary — sometimes, he acted way to at ease and casual — but compared to before, the dislike had faded at an almost alarming rate. He was charismatic. He had a way with words that she couldn't ignore. He had been decent to her the whole time. There was no way she could even begin to hate him, no matter how hard she tried.

At nightfall, she was feeling a significant amount better than the day before, though Byungjoo still left the cabin when she was about to sleep.

It was such a gentlemanly gesture from a pirate that Hei couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that he'd done it on purpose, twice. She coccooned herself in blankets and was completely asleep in a couple of moments.

The third day was extremely uneventful, and she barely saw Byungjoo at all. He informed her that they would be arriving in Ezentia sometime in the night, and Hei couldn't rein back the fear that gripped her for the rest of the day.

Ezentia. While she tried to keep her mind off her family, she couldn't help the immediate reaction of going right back into what she'd been taught. It was impossible to get rid of, and while she had been used to it before, it felt like an absolute burden now.

And even without the influence of her the Song family's hatred for the Kim, Hei was still scared of arriving.

Byungjoo had warned her that the families would want her dead. It didn't really make a difference if she was kidnapped or if she went on her own will — it was all the same to them. While they were on the sea, she was safe from that, at least, but once they arrived on land, in the heart of a city where a family ruled,safewas a foreign concept.

It wasn't an extremely comforting thought. She spent the rest of the day in bed, and Byungjoo didn't appear either. Nearing midday, she saw a brief flash of a memory segment, though it barely lasted a couple of seconds and it was terribly distorted. She couldn't quite make out who it was and what they were doing, but she could see the distinct shape of a tall man and a smaller girl — his daughter? It flashed briefly before disappearing. It was both reassuring and worrying — her power was definitely still there, but would she really be able to use it properly in the future? Despite Byungjoo's reassurances from before, she couldn't help but doubt.

The sky was darkening when Byungjoo returned.

"We'll be there in a couple of hours," he said. "Be careful and alert, though. They won't recognize you but they'll recognize me. And they're going to kill you if they see you with me, so…"

How reassuring.

As if he could read her expression, Byungjoo gave her a lopsided grin. "Relax. I doubt anything's going to happen. It's very likely that we'll just dock unnoticed because it's going to be late. Just be prepared for the worst. That's always the best way."

Hei glared at him, hoping it could mask how scared she actually felt. "Easy for you to say."

"Miss Hei," he said, the grin turning into a full on smirk. "You'll have to get used to danger."

She opened her mouth at that, closed it, and decided it wasn't worth commenting on.

Since it was already dark, Hei curled up under the blankets again and shut her eyes in an attempt to ignore Byungjoo. She wasn't intending on actually falling asleep, nor did she particularly want to because Ezentia made her nervous, but somehow, sleep came to her much easier than it did before and she drifted off yet again.

Byungjoo was the one who shook her awake.

He'd mostly let her sleep the past couple of days, so it was a bit of a rude awakening and Hei tried to move away from him because she still felt exhausted. Still, he was persistent, and it took her a couple of moments to make out what he was saying:we're here.

Immediately, she shot upwards.

"That took you a while," Byungjoo said with a raised eyebrow. He stepped back, and Hei realized that he was cleaning his cutlass on his shirt.

He made such a scary thing seem casual, and quite frankly, it unnerved her a bit. She tried to ignore what he was doing, but the blade of the cutlass caught the light a little too well and it wasn't long until she snapped.

"Can you not?" she demanded, and Byungjoo glanced up, looking genuinely surprised at her outburst. "Why does your cutlass need to be so clean? Why have you been cleaning it for so long? Why are you making it seem so… so…"

"So…" he parroted. "So what?"

Hei shuddered, eying the weapon in his hands (which he seemed to notice, because he slid it back into its sheath). "Whatever. Are we in Ezentia yet? The ship is still moving, so we couldn't possibly."

"Not quite yet," he replied. "I saw the coastline and docks from the window, though. It'll be around ten minutes or so when we dock, and I thought I should probably wake you up beforehand. It's quite a nice sight. Ezentia is a rather beautiful city at night." His expression turned thoughtful. "At least from faraway."

Not exactly having the heart to ask him what he meant by that, she stood up slowly from the bed and tried to swallow the bitter taste rising to her throat. No matter how hard she tried to forget it, there was no denying that everything that she'd been taught by her family was second nature by now —she couldn'thelpthe immediate twinge of panic whenever Byungjoo brought up Ezentia. She shoved down the feeling as soon as it surfaced, but it was still there, something she couldn't get rid of easily. She tried to peer out the small window to see the city, but before she could, the ship jolted violently and stopped.

It was so sudden that Hei completely lost her balance and toppled over back onto her bed. Even Byungjoo stumbled forward a bit.

When she recovered from the shock, she realized that the boat had stopped moving. It still bobbed gently with the movement of the waves, but it didn't exactly feel like it was going forward anymore. She glanced hesitantly in Byungjoo's direction, checking for his reaction, but his eyebrows were furrowed and he looked slightly worried. Hei's heart sank. She'd been more or less waiting to get off the ship — she was absolutely sick of the sea and the boat —and the last thing she needed was getting stuck just before they got onto land. She longed for a proper bath, another dress, proper food, and a comfortable bed to sleep in in her own room, separated from Byungjoo with a locked door. And now, just a couple of minutes away from Ezentia, something had gone awry.

"What's wrong?" she managed in a small voice.

Byungjoo pressed his lips together. "I'm going to go check. Wait here and don't open the door if someone knocks. I have the key."

He disappeared outside.

The tone of his voice wasn't exactly reassuring, but there was nothing she could do but follow his instructions (which didn't require much) and wonder what had happened. Did they hit a rock? There was no other reason for the ship to stop like that. Did something break? Hei didn't know enough of ships to know how it happened, but she was pretty sure the ship wouldn't jolt like that if something had broken.

She sat waiting for what seemed like forever. Hei could hear the sound of people going back and forth outside of the cabin, some steps more hurried than others, but none of them opened the door. Byungjoo didn't return for quite a long time, and she was beginning to debate with herself whether or not she actually wanted him back when the lock finally clicked and he stepped inside.

Byungjoo scanned the room. He looked more tense than before and his hands lingered near hilt of his cutlass, ready to draw it at any moment. She'd seen the stance on him a couple of times, and it hadn't exactly been an end-well. She stood up slowly.

"We're goingnow,"was all he said. Hei couldn't remember the last time he'd sounded so sharp — was it back in Hua, when he'd faced the two guards after exiting the passages? He didn't lookthatworried about it back then.

"Why?" she managed meekly, though by the look on his face, it couldn't have been anything good.

"Family members," he replied shortly. "The Song family must've reported your disappearance to the Kim family — which means they're absolutely desperate to catch you — because they sent two people to check the ship." Byungjoo paused. "And remember this — they're probably ordered to kill you if they can't catch you. So if you don't want to die here or get dragged back and killed, you might want to follow my instructions."