Water Heart | P.Sh

| 11 |

In the evening I had followed after Sunghoon into Jay's chamber up on deck. I had of course not been asked to follow him, but once I noticed that Jungwon and Jay was on the other side of the door I had rushed to follow him.

"I very explicitly told you, you're not doing more of this work," Jungwon insisted as he sternly tapped his pointer finger on the table once I stepped inside the chamber.

"Need I remind you... you want to use a girl, new one at that, who has never done any work like this before," Jiyeon retorted, "I am not letting you sent her out to do that... besides, you know how easily I can seduce both Kitae and Heeseung on the Flottante."

"I won't allow it," Jungwon insisted making Jay glance between both of them, eventually looking up at me and give me a small smile as I moved over to stand beside Jiyeon, across the table from Sunghoon and Jungwon.

"What is it that I can't do?" I questioned in confusion.

"Nothing," Jiyeon shortly replied as she kept glaring at Jungwon.

"We need someone to seduce and flirt with a crewmember of Le Mort Flottante," Jay excused with a flick of the hand, "it's been Jiyeon for the past four years."

"And when you say seduce and flirt..." I trailed off and he only shrugged casually.

"Jiyeon knows best how she does it," Jay excused.

"Which is why you should let me do it and not her," Jiyeon insisted and slammed her hand onto the table top, "I get you want to take the burden off of me, but she's been here for like two days, she is shitless nervous over how she is gonna last here until we get back to her harbour. You're not pimping her out."

"And we're not pimping you out either," Jungwon insisted and Jiyeon glanced at him.

"I'd like to see you dress up in a skirt and do the work I do," Jiyeon hissed at him.

"We can't keep on having you work like a prostitute just for the sake of our fortune," Jungwon reminded her in a low voice, "I will not allow it."

"Too bad you're not the captain then," Jiyeon mocked before looking back at Jay with a stern look.

In the time, since the storm, her hair had dried and bunched her hair up in thicker and fuller waves, giving her more of a beach-like look that most of the girls in town tried to go for, but never fully achieved.

"She technially is right," Jay admitted and Jungwon immediately gasped and looked at Jay, "she's done it before, Soomin hasn't. If anything we'll put Soomin on the watch duty to ensure that nothing bad happens to Jiyeon."

"She can't be on watch duty alone," Sunghoon spoke up for the first time, "for what we know she can't fight, neither with a sword nor with her fists," he reminded and glanced at me, "at least put someone else on the duty. Jungwon or I."

"I'll do it," Jungwon immediately insisted and I glanced at him, "If she is to do the job then I'm on watch duty."

"You can't be," Jay shook his head making Jungwon gasp, "you'll walk in too early and possibly ruin it. Sunghoon has to go."

"What exactly is it that you have to do?" I whispered to Jiyeon, whose arms had crossed across her chest.

"Hm?" she hummed and raised her eyebrows at, "what I have to do?"

"Mhm," I hummed at her.

"I have to take him to bed to steal the map," she calmly excused and played with the dangling earring from her left earlobe.

"Which is why I have to be there," Jungwon pointed out, "it was taken too far each time when she has to resort to take them to bed. It can't keep on going like that. What if something bad happens?"

"What could possibly happen? She's done it for four years, it'll be fine," Sunghoon reminded making Jungwon purse his lips as he looked over at Jiyeon with a look of dismay.

"I am on watch duty, otherwise I am not letting her leave the ship, and I don't care what you have to say about it," Jungwon insisted and I frowned slightly. Wouldn't he be committing mutiny then? But he technically can't be punished, if he is the one who gives out the punishments.

Jay clearly let out a sigh before humming to himself and clearly thinking deeply as he bit down on his thumb nail. By any chance, putting Jungwon on the watch duty with me could turn to a disaster, but at the same time putting me with Sunghoon would mean that Jungwon wouldn't let Jiyeon leave the ship.

"Jungwon goes on the watch duty," Jay decided and Jungwon immediately let out a breath of relief, meanwhile Jiyeon was quick to march over and poke him in the chest.

"You do anything out of place or stop me from doing my job properly and I swear to god I'll leave you behind when we reach Isle de la Mort," Jiyeon sternly pointed out and Jungwon let out a small sigh, "you only do something if I scream."

"You know I don't want you to do this," Jungwon murmured quietly as Jiyeon just stood still.

"You won't do anything," she hissed and Jungwon sighed before eventually nodding, "good."

With a bitter smile Jiyeon walked back over to stand beside me, her arms returning to their crossed position before looking to Jay with an expectant look.

"Besides that small mission, we'll do as per usual," Jay sighed, "enjoy your time on land then..."

I looked at him in confusion, was the rest of the crew just gonna go around and have fun while Jiyeon was gonna pimp herself out for the sake of the crew? Now I was beginning to understand how odd this whole construct was.

Quietly Sunghoon left the room, sending me an odd glare before he disappeared. Meanwhile Jay gathered a few things before walking over and placing it down in a chest, and Jungwon rushed over to stand by Jiyeon.

"You know I don't like you doing these things," Jungwon murmured quietly while I just decided it would be best for me to leave, while Jungwon just softly grabbed onto Jiyeon's elbows, "you're always so beside yourself after you've done these missions... they aren't good for you."

"It's better if I do them, than if she does them," Jiyeon quietly excused as I had left the chamber to let them get their privacy, having Jay follow me soon after.

Jay only looked funnily at me before shaking his head in disbelief.

"What?" I questioned and he only shook his head in return.

"Don't feel bad about not being the one who takes the job," Jay remarked and I frowned slightly at him, "Jungwon will be very very displeased for a while, and be watching her constantly, both before and after we reach the town. Jiyeon will be indifferent, but after the job she might seem a bit beside herself for some time... not more than two weeks."

"It's cruel," I commented and he looked at me, "what you have her do. It's cruel. You could do the job just as easily by just boarding the ship and stealing the map."

"She can get information out of them that we can't. The map won't be laying out and about, it'll be locked in some chest," Jay pointed out and I frowned at him, "everyone has to make sacrifices at sea. This is just what Jiyeon has to sacrifice."

I squinted my eyes at him, while watching him walk off and just disappear among the other crewmen, as if he hadn't just set Jiyeon to be a prostitute for his and the crew's own good.