Water Heart | P.Sh

| 42 |

I tightened the rope as much as I could to the nearby standpost while Jiyeon let the anchor drop into the water beneath the ship. I had had to jump over the railing when we got near the boatbridge, in order for us to berth the ship.

Jiyeon hurriedly pushed out the ramp to me and I ran back up, clipping my skirt up in the clips from my belt. Meanwhile Jiyeon turned to look at the crew, her eyes slightly squinted.

"They're waking up again," she muttered and looked around at the crewmembers, who were all slowly lifting their heads, looking as if they were waking up from a nap, "Jungwon," she gasped and ran over to where Jungwon had been sitting, meanwhile I quickly rushed up to go untie Jay as he blinked a few times.

"God a headache," he murmured and rubbed his wrists, while my eyes quietly trailed to the bucket laying a bit away from him.

"Yeah... the Sirens must've had a good grip on you," I excused and patted his shoulder before rushing to get down on deck, where the majority of the crew were helping untie each other.

Down by a few boxes Jungwon and Jiyeon had stood up, clearly murmurig to one another about something while Jiyeon was more focused on checking Jungwon's arms and skin for any injuries, running her hand through his moist hair.

I rushed over towards the mast, making sure Sunghoon was consious before I untied his hands carefully, eventualy sitting down beside him as I unravelled his wrists carefully.

"Did I do something?" he breathed out, almost as if he was panting.

"Do something?" I hummed in confusion, tilting my head slightly while my eyes stayed focused on the rope around his wrists.

"Did I yell or say anything to hurt anybody?" he questioned and I shook my head quietly.

"You seemed more like you were getting weaker and weaker," I murmured casually.

"I was trying to fight it," he remarked and I nodded quietly, "did you get hurt?"

"No," I shook my head once again before looking back over to Jiyeon, who was still busy inspecting Jungwon - meanwhile a small smile had begun spreading on his face, trying to get her to stop.

"Your shoulder looks red though," he remarked and slithered one of his hands out of the rope and up to pull my chemise slightly to the side.

"Jay just tackled me," I excused quietly before rolling up the rope and standing up once again, "let's just get you on this island and remove the curse," I sighed and he gave me a funny look, "what?"

"The island can't lift my curse," he remarked and I frowned at him, "only you can."

"Oh, but I thought..." I realized as I turned to look towards Jay - he had finally managed to get up on his feet but still seemed to have a headache, "forget it."

"Aight! Listen up!" Jay's voice bellowed out over the deck, making me immediately whip around and look towards him, "here's the plan! Sunghoon goes with me, the rest of the crew is to take orders from Jungwon," Jay announced and I calmly nodded before turning around.

Immediately I was walked backwards as Sunghoon got up on his feet and pushed me softly over towards Jay.

"My orders," I reminded and pointed behind him, while he simply shook his head.

"You're going with Jay and I," Sunghoon excused making me frown and glance to Jay in desperate need of help.

"Soomin is under Jungwon's command," Jay clarified once more and Sunghoon shook his head in return, "it's an order Sunghoon."

"She's going with us," Sunghoon shook his head persistently.

"Then she is staying back on the ship," Jay announced and grabbed onto my arm, "and that is definitively."

"She can't defend herself," Sunghoon continued.

"We'll give her a sword," Jay shrugged.

"How do you know she can use a sword?"

"She cuffed Jake to his mast after stealing his sword, didn't she?"

"Maybe it was pure luck."

"Maybe you need to listen to me and let her do things without you. She did just fine on the Flottante didn't she?"

I glanced back and forth between Sunghoon and Jay, before eventually pulling my arm from Sunghoon's grip. By the disappearance of my arm, Sunghoon had immediately snapped his head to look down at me.

"Okay, first of... I am not defenseless," I pointed out sternly to Sunghoon, "secondly, how about I am a part of this conversation, seeing as the topic is well... me. Either let me decide or just trap me on this ship."

"Staying on the ship it is then," Jay announced before grabbing Sunghoon's arm, "you follow me," Jay decided and pointed to Sunghoon and pulled him off of the ship and down the ramp.

"Okay... alright..." Jungwon called out making me turn to him in amusement, "the plan is... we go on land, check the map for where the treasure should be burried. But... we will be dividing up into small units to ensure we cover as much ground as possible. We will divide the units and look at the map once on land, grab your weapons and meet me on the shore."

I watched in amusement as the crew dissolved to grab their things and Jungwon let out a heavy sigh of relief as he looked to Jiyeon - who in return excitedly held onto his arm and shook it slightly, smiling brightly. By the sight of her Jungwon had immediately started smiling softly before glancing around.

As the rest of the crew began rushing off the ship I crawled up and sat at the top of the stairs that led up to the helm, watching as Jiyeon kept rushing around Jungwon and helping him with literally anything he might've needed.

"Are you coming Soo?" Jiyeon called up to me in excitement and I shook my head quietly, "why?"

"Jay's demand," I chuckled as Jungwon rushed up beside Jiyeon and discreetly slipped his hand into hers, looking up at me with an expectant look, "I'll watch the ship," I assured and patted the step I sat on.

"Be careful," Jiyeon breathed out with a small smile, almost as if she was holding back a big burst of happy energy.

"Is there anything I should watch out for?" I questioned and she shook her head quietly.

"The shore here is safe, it's the waters here that is dangerous," she shook her head casually as Jungwon began tugging on her hand, "be sure to give me the greatest welcome you can!"

"I will!" I called after her as Jungwon finally managed to pull her down the ramp, right behind him.

I quietly watched as Jiyeon skipped beside Jungwon, swinging their hands back and forth eagerly. Meanwhile, I intertwined my fingers and leaned my elbows on my knees, impatiently waiting for anyone or anything to happen. Hopefully something good and not something I would need to protect myself from.