Eye of the Beholder [ONF FF]

All roads start and end

Seungjun pulled on the oars again until they were right next to the ship. He took a deep breath. What was he so nervous for? The crew had expanded slowly and no addition had caused a lot of issues, but Seungjun couldn't calm the anticipating fuzzy feeling in his chest.

While unsure if he was feeling anxiety or excitement, he grabbed both of the ship's hooks hanging down at sea level. Finding the ropes that were tied around the rowboat, he attached the entire contraption together. Hyojin was clearly bemused by the mechanics but easily figured out how they worked and found the chain that would pull them up to the ship. Seungjun was happy to not have to do the hard labour and sat back until Hyojin had pulled them up to the quarter deck level.

The burlap sacks were thrown on board before Seungjun and Hyojin stepped after them. They exchanged a look, both nervous. Seungjun nodded, and got a similar motion back. It meant nothing more than a simple confirmation that they both hoped for a smooth start, but it gave Seungjun the motivation to set one foot forward.

The quarter deck was empty, as Jaeyoung had no need to be at the helm of an anchored ship and thus Minkyun had no one to bother here either. Only Yuto and Changyun were outside, standing together on the main deck near the foremast. So, Seungjun headed their way.

"Everyone!" he called and led Hyojin down the stairs. Two heads turned and a notebook was closed. No doors were pushed open rapidly and since it was possible that Jaeyoung was trying to map the place, Seungjun decided to just start introductions already while waiting for the others. "This is Hyojin, my old friend."

Right as Hyojin laid eyes on the two crewmembers, he produced a short, "Oh, I know you two."

Changyun narrowed his eyes briefly to jog his brain. After a full second, he perked up with a delighted expression. "Oh yeah! I traded you dried toads," he beamed. "Did the polymorph work?"

Hyojin gave a grin back. "It worked wonders."

While Seungjun couldn't believe the coincidence, it at least made one thing easy. But Hyojin had clearly said: "you two," so Seungjun subtly turned to Yuto.

Except, Yuto seemed lost. He stared a hole through Hyojin but not a single memory sparked and he simply said: "We've never seen each other."

Yuto's flat tone made Hyojin sound like he was second guessing himself. Yet, he still tried. "You sold an encyclopaedia to me years ago."

"I don't recall ever seeing you."

"Well, I know we met. It was years ago, though." Hyojin shrugged.

Having nothing to refute the statement, Yuto simply accepted it. "Then I believe your memory is better than mine, at least when it comes to faces."

As vague as the encounters had been, at least they made the introductions not horribly awkward and gave them something to discuss as Changyun asked how exactly Hyojin used the aforementioned dried toads. Meanwhile, Seungjun looked around to see if he could spot where the other two were.

No sound hinted at their whereabouts, but right on cue, the stairs below deck creaked and Minkyun came walking up. It was quite clear he had just woken up from a nap as he stretched his body when the light hit his eyes. Looking Seungjun's way, he smiled widely.

Seungjun tapped his old friend on the shoulder. "Oh, Hyojin," he said making him turn around for an introduction.

But that's when Minkyun got used to the bright sun and blinked his eyes open properly. His happy expression left. His eyebrows furrowed when he did a double take. He set one step towards the group and then took off in a sprint. Seething with rage, he bolted straight for Hyojin.