The Legend of Magic Island | taejun + sookai

part 11: treasure chest?

That was where their ship was waiting for them, still anchored in place and steadily swaying on the shore.

Captain Soobin took a deep breath, looking among his crew. "However... if the cat decides to attack all five of us at once..."

He placed a hand on his chest. "I'll run off to distract it, while the four of you make your escape. Hueningkai takes my lantern, and you four are going to run—... no turning back for me."

The crew fell completely silent, Taehyun looking at the ground pensively and Beomgyu crossing his arms defiantly. Hueningkai's expression sank, his shoulders tense. "Captain, no, at least let us stay with yo—"

"No," Captain Soobin said firmly. "You four don't deserve to die here... I dragged you into this mess, and not all of us can escape the cat."

"If all five of us were to escape, you do realize the cat could easily attack us at the coast? Then what? All five of us are going to go down?"

Beomgyu grew tense, biting the inside of his cheek hesitantly. Hueningkai had tears welling up into his eyes, wiping them away.

"We're still not leaving you, Captain," he said gently, "Wh-What are we gonna do without you?"

Captain Soobin smiled reassuringly, putting a hand on Hueningkai's shoulder. "Then you can pick a new captain, alright? You'll be okay... I promised I wouldn't let any of you get hurt."

Yeonjun faltered. "Captain, please don't do this—... What if your distraction isn't enough?"

Soobin hesitated, folding his arms across his chest. "Do you trust me or not? I told you that was my backup plan in case the cat decides to pounce."

Hueningkai and Beomgyu exchanged a look. Beomgyu slowly put a hand over Kai's shoulder reassuringly. Captain Soobin glanced at the lantern, realizing there wasn't much light left of it.

"We should start leaving, otherwise we won't make it out."

Taehyun sighed deeply, looking up at the sky. "Daylight should be in a few hours, if we could make it out by sunrise, we should be safe."

Everyone nodded in agreement, looking down each of the five paths. Taehyun cut off a sleeve from his jacket with his sword, pulling Yeonjun aside.

Carefully, he tied the jacket sleeve around the boy's shoulder wound. Yeonjun winced, hissing in pain as the other tightened it. "Ow— What are you—"

"That should stop the bleeding until we get back to the ship," Taehyun said softly, returning his sword to his side. Yeonjun rolled his eyes, rubbing his arm shyly.

Captain Soobin gestured for one they should follow, walking behind the crew as they walked back into the forest.

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Hueningkai and Soobin were at the back of the line, meanwhile the others were at the front. Captain Soobin stayed silent, the only thing that was heard were their footsteps on the soft path.

"Capt'n," Hueningkai said finally. The captain looked away hesitantly, Hueningkai raising and eyebrow.

"Captain Soobin," he said firmly.

"Kai, I'm sorry," Soobin mumbled, "But it's the only way you'll be safe—"

"How could you even think of leaving us? You're contradicting your own promise..." Hueningkai trembled, tightening his grip on the lantern. Yeonjun overheard their conversation, perking up and listening.

"You said we'll get out of here. We. All of us," Hueningkai sighed. "Not four, three. But all. Last time I checked, there were five of us."

Captain Soobin stayed silent, looking at the ground. "I-I'm sorry, really. I thought—... I just—"

Soobin sighed. "I shouldn't have dragged all of you here... It would've been better if I had just come by myself."

Hueningkai inched closer to Soobin, punching him in the shoulder. "And leave us out? What about me? I thought—... We were supposed to make it here... together."

Captain Soobin's expression softened, looking over at Hueningkai. "I-I know... But we're here, and it's nothing what the legend said it was."

He looked over at Beomgyu. "We didn't find much... but I didn't expect much anyway—"

Hueningkai scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I bet there's something really valuable in there; practically priceless, even."

Beomgyu looked at the wooden chest carefully, shaking to listen for the contents. However, all he could hear was the padlock striking against the beaten up wood.

"Where'd you find that?" Taehyun asked, Beomgyu handing it to him.

Taehyun's hand flinched from how heavy it was, the boy handing the lantern to Yeonjun.

"Soobin was digging around, then next thing I knew, a treasure chest!" Beomgy recalled, "Still no clue where it came from though."

Taehyun raised an eyebrow, brushing aside a few specks of dust off the treasure chest and looking at it closely. He tugged at the padlock, firmly rusted in place.

Suddenly, there was a spine-chilling wind which blew past after Taehyun had wiggled the lock. They stopped in their tracks, turning to their captain. Beomgyu took the treasure chest back, clutching it tightly to his chest.

Yeonjun waited as well, but the wind had only seemed to brush past. Another stronger gust blew past, this time putting out Hueningkai's lantern.