The morning was quiet.
In the cabin, for a long time, nothing moved except the slow rise and fall of Haejun's chest.
Then his fingers twitched.
Haejun stirred faintly, his brows tightening as a dull heaviness pressed against his mind.
Everything felt distant, as if he were drifting somewhere between sleep and the deep ocean currents.
Slowly, his eyes opened.
The ceiling above him was unfamiliar—flat, pale, and unmoving.
No water rippled across it.
No light refracted through waves.
Only still air and strange shadows.
His vision blurred, swimming for a moment as his head throbbed.
He blinked slowly, trying to focus.
Where…?
He could hear it too—the distant rhythm of waves, seabirds sounds somewhere above, the wind brushing past the boat.
The sounds were comforting, familiar.
A faint scent reached him.
Salt.
The ocean.
It was close.
And that gives him a small sense of comfort.
His body was heavy, every movement sending aching pain through his muscles. His skin felt dry and tight, as if it had been left under harsh currents for too long.
He tried to move his arm.
The motion was slow and clumsy.
Confusion filled his mind.
He lay still for another moment, trying to remember what had happened.
The memory came back in fragments.
The loud roaring thing on the surface of the sea… chasing him through the waves.
Shouting creatures standing on it.
And then something long and sharp flying through the air—
Driving into his back.
The cage.
The burning light.
The memory coiled in his chest, making it hard to breathe.
He pushed his hands against the surface beneath him, trying to lift himself.
The movement felt wrong.
Too wrong.
His lower body didn't move the way it should.
The blanket had slipped aside during his movements.
Slowly, cautiously, Haejun lifted his head.
And looked down.
His mind struggled to understand what he was seeing.
He looked again.
Two limbs lay where his tail should have been.
The same unnatural limbs he had seen before.
His breath caught.
For a moment, he simply stared at them, frozen in disbelief.
No…
He tried to move them again.
The motion was unsteady, unfamiliar.
Nothing like the powerful sweep of a tail through water.
Something tight pressed against his skin.
He pushed himself upright suddenly to see more clearly.
Pain exploded across his back.
Strange fabric covered parts of his body, tight against his skin.
His confusion deepened.
Fear flickered through him.
His hands clawed weakly at the strange material covering him.
As he pulled at it, the fabric shifted, lifting slightly and revealing tight wrappings beneath.
Rough bindings brushed against his fingers.
He grabbed at them, tugging with shaking hands. They resisted at first, but one strip loosened slightly.
He stared at the piece of fabric in his hand.
He had never seen anything like it before.
Encouraged, he pulled harder at the tight wrappings around his waist.
Pain flared sharper across his back.
His body jerked as the wound pulled open beneath the cloth, but he didn't understand why.
All he knew was that something foreign was trapping him.
He had to remove it.
His breathing grew ragged as he struggled to free himself.
Blood slowly seeped through the loosened wrappings along his back.
Still, he kept pulling.
A few minutes earlier, Seojun had checked on him.
The stranger was still unconscious.
Certain he wouldn't wake anytime soon, Seojun left to eat with the captain.
When Seojun returned to the cabin.
He expected to find the young man exactly as he had left him—still asleep.
But the moment he stepped inside, he froze.
The room was a mess, the blanket pushed aside and the sheets twisted beneath fresh stains of red.
And the stranger—
He was half sitting, half collapsed against the bed, breathing fast and uneven. Several of the bandages had been torn loose, thin wrappings hanging uselessly from his body.
Seojun's heart dropped.
"What the hell—?"
He rushed forward instinctively.
The reaction was immediate.
The young man's head snapped toward him.
Terror filled his eyes.
Before Seojun reached the bed, the stranger scrambled back across the mattress.
"Hey—hey, stop," Seojun said quickly, raising his voice.
The words meant nothing.
The stranger's eyes darted toward the open doorway where bright daylight and a strip of blue sky were visible. The scent of the ocean drifted in with the wind.
Freedom.
He tried to reach it.
His body failed him.
The moment he shifted his weight, he fell back against the mattress.
More blood began spreading across the sheets.
Seojun swore under his breath.
"No—don't move," he said, stepping closer.
Seojun caught his wrist to stop him from falling off the bed.
The moment their skin touched, the young man flinched violently, snapping forward like a cornered animal.
His teeth aimed straight for Seojun's hand.
Seojun jerked back just in time.
"Are you serious—?!"
Footsteps approached behind him as the captain appeared in the doorway.
"What's going on—"
He stopped when he saw the blood.
"He ripped the bandages," Seojun said sharply. "He reopened the wounds."
The captain stepped closer, studying the terrified boy.
"Easy. He's scared." He said quietly.
Seojun barely heard him. His attention was fixed on the mess around him.
"Look at him," the captain added.
Seojun ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
"I am looking at him."
The young man was still trying to push himself away, breathing harshly.
"Seojun," the captain said firmly. "He thinks you are hurting him."
Seojun let out a tense breath.
"I'm not going to wait until he understands I'm not hurting him," he said, his voice tight. "He tore the bandages open. Do you know how long it took to fix that? He's losing blood again."
But when he looked back at the young man—
He paused.
The stranger wasn't angry.
He was terrified.
His whole body trembled as he tried to keep him back, using the last of his strength to keep distance between them.
Seojun's frustration faltered.
But another dark stain spreading across the sheets pulled him back to the situation.
"Look what he's done," he said sharply.
Seojun hesitated only a moment before moving forward again.
The stranger reacted instantly, thrashing weakly as Seojun grabbed his shoulders to stop him from rolling onto his injured back.
"Stop moving," Seojun said, trying to keep his voice steady. "You're making it worse."
The boy fought harder, struggling.
Seojun carefully turned him slightly to check the wound—
And immediately saw how bad it was.
"Damn it," Seojun muttered.
The moment he touched the wound area, the stranger's panic exploded.
He thrashed violently, trying to shove Seojun away.
"Stay still!" Seojun snapped, holding him firmly to keep him from worsening the injuries.
Haejun tried to bite him again.
Seojun pulled his arm back quickly but kept his grip firm.
The captain stepped closer but didn't interfere.
He could see the damage.
They had no choice.
"Easy," he murmured to Seojun, his eyes never leaving the boy.
But the stranger's strength was already fading.
His breathing became uneven.
His movements grew weaker.
Blood loss and panic drained what little energy he had left. Still, he tried to fight.
Until suddenly—
His body went limp beneath Seojun's hands.
The struggle stopped.
Seojun froze. "Hey—what happened?"
The captain leaned in quickly, checking his breathing.
After a moment, he exhaled slowly.
"He passed out."
Seojun looked down at the blood-soaked bandages, jaw tight.
"At this rate," he muttered, "he's going to kill himself before we even reach shore."
The captain sighed quietly.
Seojun slowly released the stranger's shoulders.
And exhaled shakily.
"Unbelievable…" he muttered quietly.
The captain glanced at the wound again.
"You need to treat that up before he wakes again," he said quietly.
Seojun nodded.
Carefully, he turned the young man onto his side.
Seojun clenched his jaw.
"He pulled everything apart," he said.
He cleaned the skin around the wound with fresh water, wiping away the blood. The stranger didn't react, still unconscious.
"That sedative wore off faster than I expected," the captain said.
Seojun didn't answer.
He pressed the cloth firmly against the wound until the bleeding slowed, the stranger's body twitching faintly beneath his hands. Then Seojun wrapped fresh bandages around his back, tighter this time.
"That should hold," he murmured quietly, more to himself than anyone else.
The captain stepped back, glancing at the bandages.
"Good. Now he just needs rest."
Seojun nodded, rubbing his forehead.
"We can't leave him alone anymore. Not after what he just did."