Chapter 38

Haraban chased the fleeing ship with terrifying speed. It lashed at the mast to slow them down, but cannon fire kept forcing it back, and each failed strike only drove it further into a frenzy.

At the helm, Noquia swung the wheel with reckless abandon, steering hard enough that the ship drifted across the waves. Every sharp turn made the hull twist and groan in protest.

“Hey! Don’t push it so hard!”

Father shouted, clinging to the tilted deck. Holanghee and Theo clutched the cannons just to stay upright, and Theo had the extra burden of holding the unconscious Blaine with one arm.

Seawater poured down on them like rain, blinding their vision and choking their breaths. The ship reeled under Haraban’s assault, attacks raining from every direction. Theo had to fire the cannon one-handed while keeping hold of Blaine, and the dead weight dragged at his arm. It was unbearable.

He needed to put Blaine somewhere safe. Theo scanned the chaotic deck, then fixed his eyes on the cabin below the upper deck. That was the only place that might be secure.

He swallowed dryly and edged along the railing, waves and debris crashing around him. Shattered planks rained down, the ship pitched beneath him, and the monster’s eerie cry sent a shudder through the deck. He nearly fell to his knees.

Somehow, he made it to the cabin. Theo tossed Blaine inside without ceremony, then rushed back out. By then Father had taken over the cannon he’d left behind. Theo darted across the splintering deck, fixing what looked like the most dangerous breaches, while still checking on the cabin whenever he could.

A thunderous crack split the air above. Theo looked up to see another mast collapsing.

“Another one broke!”

Holanghee shouted in frustration. The ship slowed drastically, and Haraban seized its chance, wrapping massive tentacles around the hull. It squeezed like a coiling serpent, wood splintering and beams snapping in protest.

Father and Holanghee fired the cannons for dear life. Armor shattered, the deck buckled and tore, and Theo rolled across the wreckage as Noquia clung to the jammed wheel and screamed.

Father’s face grew more desperate even as she fired. Their stock of cannonballs was nearly gone. Just then, Holanghee’s shot struck true—straight into Haraban’s eye. The monster let out a piercing shriek and dove back beneath the waves.

A towering splash crashed down, then silence fell. Everyone stared at one another, disbelief written across their faces. Then relief surged through them, and they clung to each other, cheering and laughing in triumph.

Now all that remained was to repair their wreck of a ship. Compared to its current state, the half-sunken wreck they had boarded at the start almost looked better.

“Do we even have enough materials to fix all this?”

“Doubt it. We lost a lot during the fight.”

Theo and Father traded words when a rusty creak split the air behind them. Everyone turned. The cabin door beneath the upper deck was slowly opening.

They suddenly remembered Blaine was inside. Questions swirled about why he had come out of Haraban’s mouth in the first place, but before they could speak, Blaine peeked out, his face pale as chalk.

The next instant, he bolted from the cabin and hurled himself at Theo.

Caught off guard, Theo staggered under the weight and fell backward. Father and Noquia, rushing to catch him, tumbled down with them.

They all rolled together across the deck in a heap, but Blaine clung to Theo’s neck as if he were a lifeline thrown to a drowning man, refusing to let go no matter what.

Swallowing a groan, Theo held Blaine by the back and lifted his upper body. That was when he realized Blaine was shaking violently. A jolt of worry hit him—had something gone terribly wrong? He tried to check Blaine’s face, but Blaine buried himself deeper against Theo’s shoulder and suddenly burst into loud sobs.

“Uwaah, Hyung, I was so scared!”

“Uh? Huh?”

Theo and the others all froze, completely at a loss. They exchanged glances as if asking each other what in the world was happening, but in the end, all they could do was shrug helplessly.

The only way to figure it out was to hear from Blaine himself. Theo decided to calm him down first.

At first, he simply hugged him back and patted his back, waiting as Blaine wailed miserably, gasping for breath like he might suffocate between cries. Only once the sobbing eased did Theo slowly coax him to let go.

Finally, Blaine lifted his head. His face was a mess of tears, but oddly enough, it looked more fragile than unsightly.

As Blaine pulled away from Theo, Holanghee and Father spoke up.

“Sweetie, are you alright?”

“What happened after you fell into the sea?”

“Why did you come out of Haraban’s mouth…?”

Noquia added the last question. The moment Blaine heard it, his whole body jolted like he’d been shocked, and he clung back onto Theo in a panic. Theo shot Noquia a glare as he patted Blaine’s trembling back. Noquia bit her lip and looked away.

Blaine’s shaking was transmitted directly into Theo’s chest. Theo let out a low sigh, then stopped patting his back and asked quietly.

“Why did you jump into the sea?”

Theo’s voice was heavier than usual, edged with anger. Blaine flinched and hesitantly pulled away, ears drooping like a scolded puppy. He stammered out a reply.

“I’m sorry… I was curious. I wanted to see what would happen if I jumped…”

“No matter how curious you are, does that mean you can just throw yourself in like that?”

“I’m sorry… I just… I couldn’t help it…”

Blaine kept glancing up nervously at Theo, but Theo’s face stayed cold and rigid. That only made Blaine’s own expression grow paler. He was certain Theo must hate him now. The chill seemed to start from his fingertips, spreading through him.

But Theo’s thoughts were different. What bothered him wasn’t only Blaine’s recklessness—what bothered him more was that Blaine hadn’t once mentioned Noquia. She had already admitted that she’d egged him on to jump, yet Blaine was taking all the blame onto himself.

In the end, Theo couldn’t hold back anymore and asked first.

“Noquia told you to jump, didn’t she?”

At the sharp, dissatisfied tone, Blaine’s head snapped up.

“Huh?”

He glanced nervously at Noquia, then shook his head frantically, as if to defend her.

“No, Noquia only… she just agreed when I said I was curious, that’s all.”

“Then it should’ve ended there. Why tell you to actually jump?”

“N-no, that, um…”

Blaine fumbled, flustered, words tangling together. At that moment, Father crouched down in front of the two of them and spoke.

“Hey, do you two even realize how ridiculous you look right now?”

“What?”

“Eh?”

Father silently pointed at them. It was only then that they became aware of their positions.

Theo was sitting cross-legged, while Blaine was perched neatly on his lap, arms looped around Theo’s neck. Theo had an arm around Blaine’s back, holding him steady.

Blaine startled, yanking his arms away from Theo’s neck, and scrambled to get up—only for his legs to give out, making him collapse back down. Startled, Theo reflexively caught him again, and it ended up looking exactly like a princess carry.

Blaine’s face turned bright red, from his neck all the way up to his forehead in an instant. He panicked, unsure what to do, and quickly covered his face with both hands, but the heat had already spread to his ears and fingertips.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

He kept repeating.

“What are you sorry for?”

Theo exhaled hard, then stood up in one smooth motion, still holding Blaine, before setting him gently back down on his feet.

Holanghee clapped her hands and teased that Theo looked just like a prince. Noquia cheered rowdily like it was a performance. Both of them were clearly half-joking.

Father, on the other hand, simply waved her hand in front of Blaine’s face, worried it might actually explode from how red it was. Theo frowned at the playful mood surrounding him, then redirected his attention back to Blaine.

“So what exactly happened after you fell in?”

It was an obvious attempt to change the subject. Father, Holanghee, and Noquia booed in disappointment, but Blaine answered dutifully.

“Uh… the ship was already getting too far away, too fast for me to do anything…”

“And?”

“I was just floating there all alone, and suddenly it hit me. I got scared. There was nothing around me, the ship was already gone, I couldn’t see what was beneath the water, and the waves kept rising and blocking my view…”

As he listed each detail, the others instinctively looked out over the ocean. A chill crawled up their spines.

“Then under my feet… I saw this huge shadow spreading beneath the surface. And something enormous burst out and swallowed me whole. I remember the feeling of being swallowed, but after that… it’s all blank. When I opened my eyes again, I was in the cabin.”

Just recalling it made Blaine hug himself, shivering hard. Holanghee patted his shoulder and told him it was alright now. Noquia said it was an experience money couldn’t buy, trying to cheer him up. Grateful for the kindness, Blaine bowed his head and apologized again.

“Sorry for causing trouble.”

While the atmosphere had softened, Father’s gaze lingered on Blaine’s right hand. Finally, she asked.

“But… what’s that thing you’ve been holding all this time?”

“…Huh?”

Blaine looked down at his own hand, confused. Only then did he notice something clenched in his grip. He tilted his head.

“Huh? What’s this…?”

In his hand was a pearl-sized orb, about as big as a baseball. .