Water Heart | P.Sh

| 40 |

I quietly sat by Jiyeon's side, watching over the deck as Jay stood a bit in front of us, by the helm. In the distance I noticed a dark grey fog swirling around. It was almost as if it was limited by some invisible wall, hence why it didn't continue spreading over the surface of the sea.

"We're entering the borders of the island in a few minutes," Jungwon rushed up the stairs towards the helm, his eyebrows furrowing as Jay only nodded, "we don't have a plan."

"We don't need one," Jay shook his head quietly, "we're on the island to help Sunghoon, not to get that stupid treasure," Jay calmly replied making Jungwon look at him in disbelief, "my first priority is Sunghoon, and that problem will resolve itself once we're on the island. The curse will attract the nymphs."

"Nymphs?" I whispered to Jiyeon, who only shrugged and picked at the edges of her belt.

"The death nymphs," she casually replied, "odd entity really. I never understood their anatomy."

"So what if Sunghoon's curse will resolve itself once we're on the island... what are the rest of us supposed to do?" Jungwon hissed and Jay calmly turned to him, "you have a whole crew to look for."

"The moment we throw that anchor you're their captain," Jay calmly replied, "you should be able to lead them if you're a rightful co-captain."

I watched as Jungwon's confused eyes turned furious and he just rushed over to Jiyeon and I, making Jiyeon just look up at him in confusion.

"What waits for us on the island?" Jungwon questioned lowly and Jiyeon blinked at him a few times, "besides the nymphs, what awaits us?"

"Depends on the part of the island," Jiyeon shrugged, "myths has it that the east side if the reserve for abandoned and missing sailors, rumoured to either be rowdy or like living corpses."

"We're coming in on the Southern side," Jungwon shook his head and Jiyeon hummed, continuing to pick at her belt, "what's on the southern side."

"We'll be fine as long as we don't go to the western side," Jiyeon shrugged, "few live to tell the tale."

"What is on the southern side?" Jungwon sternly questioned as I noticed the front of the ship breaking with the dark grey fog and some of the crew began complaining about how much more difficult their work had gotten.

"Sirens," Jiyeon murmured quietly, "but it's fine. They can be fended off easily."

"Sirens... aren't they supposed to like... lure sailors to their death in the waters?" I questioned slowly and Jiyeon casually nodded before she finally looked up at Jungwon.

"Which is why I want you to tie yourself to the mast," Jiyeon calmly informed him, "let Soomin and I do the job until we've thrown the anchor. We'll fend them off."

"How?" I questioned in confusion and Jiyeon smiled slightly as she turned her head to look at me.

"We're women, we're a Siren's worst fear," she casually excused as I just continued to stare at her, "we're the thing they can't control... they fear us. So," Jiyeon stated and turned her head back to Jungwon, "so if you would be so kind to take orders from me, for once?"

"Ji-" he immediately sighed and Jiyeon's foot softly kicked the side of his knee, making him look at her once again.

"Please?" she whispered and Jungwon eventually nodded with a small sigh, "it doesn't have to be the mast, I just need you to be somewhere I can see you and make sure you're safe from the Sirens. Soomin will go get Sunghoon and Jay as well."

"I will?" I questioned and she immediately nodded at me before jumping down from the box and pulling me down as well.

Quickly she fished up two small rolls of rope and handed them to me, before grabbing a roll for herself and grabbing Jungwon's hand - guiding him to a place she would tie him down.

"Jay, I'm sorry, but we need to do some safety precuations," I excused as I walked up to Jay and tapped his shoulder.

"What?" he questioned in confusion as he turned to look at me.

"Supposedly the Southern waters of the island are infested with Sirens. I'm gonna need to tie you down," I excused as he just continued to look funnily at me.

For some reason he was awfully easy to pull over to the railing that hindered him to fall down onto the deck, it was almost as if he didn't recognize that I was actually tying him down. 

Mind you I was unaware of how to tie someone down properly, meaning that I wasn't even sure if what I was doing was gonna work, but when Jay had realized what I was doing and started struggling to get his wrists loose, the rope had not budged one bit.

"Soomin, what the hell are you donig?" Jay gasped at me and I only looked at him sympathetically after having tied the rope and standing up beside him.

"I'm sorry, but it needs to be done," I excused before Jiyeon rushed back up to the helm and grabbed onto it, "do you know how to navigate a ship?"

"Sorta," she nodded quietly, giving me a lopsided smile, "go find Sunghoon."

I nodded before hurriedly rushing down onto the deck, noticing how Jungwon had been tied down to the railing behind some boxes, that hid him from the rest of the crew.

"Soomin? Where the hell is Soomin?" a voice called out, making my job a lot easier than I thought it would've been. 

I abruptly turned towards the stairs down to the food depot, noticing how Sunghoon ran up the stairs and frantically looked around before he noticed me standing still and looking at him in surprise.

"Thank god," he breathed out and rushed over to me, "the fog got into the ship under the deck and I thought-" he started before I quickly grabbed his wrists and wrapped the rope around them a few times, "what are you doing...?"

"Sirens," I calmly replied before looking up at him, "I'm taking safety precautions... will the curse affect anything with them?" I quietly questioned, looking back down at his pale hands getting squished together by the rope, "anything I need to worry about?"

"Not that I know of..." he slowly shook his head as I pursed my lips and just nodded, pulling him over towards the mast, "Soomin this isn't how-"

"This is how I assure you're not going to jump down to them," I excused and wrapped the rope a few times around the mast, "I'm not taking chances Sunghoon, and you know that."

"Hey... look at me," he called out and I eventually hummed and looked towards him as I tightened up the last knot of the rope, "you worry about me too much."

"No I don't," I shook my head quietly.

"Come closer," he urged and I looked over at him, "if I have to be tied to this pole for who knows how long, can't you at least come closer for a few seconds?"

"What?" I questioned and stepped over to stand in front of him.

Immediately he got a sickening smile on his face, showing his fangs bright and clearly. Within a flash he had bent his head down and pressed a soft kiss to my cheek, making my cheeks flare up once again, even though I kept my ground and didn't move from the spot.

"Be careful, okay?" he whispered as he straightened up once again, "even if the effect the Sirens have on us crewmen might seem scary, just be brave, Jiyeon will know what to do."

"I'm calm," I nodded before just turning on my heel and wandering up to the helm with Jiyeon.

It was quiet to me as we broke through the water with the ship, the splashes being the only sound I could hear. But once I noticed Jay sit and twitch his head slightly a swabbie had yelled out something with Sirens and the fastest crewmen had either gone down under the deck or tied themselves to the nearest post. A few other unlucky ones had jumped into the water almost immediately.

"Scary things, Sirens," Jiyeon murmured as I still didn't hear anything but the water underneath us, "it'll be over soon."