Act. 8 | Stray Kids Imagines

[regulus]

The gentlest strokes of Chan's brush finalized the careful script on the side of the ship. Black Pearl, the golden letters read.

He straightened his back to take a look at the final product. It was almost as majestic as the real ship. Sweeping sails and a grand hull, a maiden reached for the sky at the bow of the miniature vessel.

It was one among several identical models displayed across his workshop. He never grew tired of building them.

The Black Pearl, the greatest explorer of the decade. It carried its crew to historic discoveries and glorious victories. Many admired it, though the ship had a special place in Chan's heart for a different reason. You were its celebrated captain after all.

And like a memory he recalled too well, he felt your arms wrap around his shoulders, light yet warm. Your head rested against his as you murmured, "Is it done, yet?"

"Yes, my love," he responded, voice raw. The words were too familiar to him. As was the sweet hum of your voice that followed. "It's beautiful, darling."

He couldn't respond to that. He never did.

Chan's grip on the brush tightened as he heard himself say, once again, "Do you have to leave?"

That hopeless desperation became a tone engrained in his voice. No matter how many times he asked, he never received the answer he wanted. The answer he needed.

"I'm sorry, Chan, I have to. I need to see what lies beyond the horizon for myself...you know that."

Chan knew that. It was the explorer's spirit in you, something he'd always loved, and will always love. He knew that, yet he wished he was stubborn enough to hold you back.

He wished he could reach up and hold your arms, feel you there, beside him, with him, but he couldn't. He could only clutch his brush tighter as his eyes began to glimmer with tears. His voice shook, though he was no longer a stranger to the pain, "Please..."

A kiss, so faint and feathery, was pressed to the top of his head as your promise settled into the still air, "I will be back, my love."

But it was a promise Chan wished he hadn't heard nor kept. For the Black Pearl left the harbor years ago, taking you and your loyal crew along, never to return.