Seonghwa POV
Two and a half weeks ago
I am on my way to my fiancée's house like every other day. It's a chilly morning even for an early autumn day. Grey clouds hang low over the island. There are a lot of people in the streets of Laopstech. Rosalie has been ill for a few weeks now, so I checked in on her every day to cheer her up.
But somehow today feels different. The air feels kind of... heavy.
I reach her parent's house at the outskirts of the town. As I get closer I notice that the door is left ajar.
"Hello? Mister and Miss Kertna are you there?", I shout while I enter. Rosalie's mother comes out of her room. Her eyes are red from crying and she has a handkerchief in her hands. She gives me short hug as soon as she sees me. "Oh Seonghwa darling, it's so horrible.", she says.
I feel a sting in my heart. It is not how I think it is, is it? "Is she...?"
"I'll bring you to her."
The doctor just left as we enter Rosalie's room. Rosalie is laying in her bed. She facing the ceiling and her eyes are closed. Her skin is sickly pale and she hasn't moved one bit since I have entered.
She is dead.
I fall onto my knees and grab her hand. Tears roll down my face as I remember all the happy memories we had together. She was the one. I wanted to spend my whole life with her. What did I do to deserve this? We wanted to get married in a few weeks but then she suddenly got very ill and now she is gone. How could I ever live without her? She was the purest soul I have ever met. She was my light. Even when I was struggling she was always there for me.
I don't know for how long I have cried but by now I just don't have no tears left anymore. There is just emptiness. I stare at her face for a while before I decide to take a walk around the lake to clear my mind.
I walk down the road. The lake is only five minutes from here. Cold wind brushes through my hair. A few raindrops land on my face. It seems like a storm is coming soon but I don't care. Just as I reach the lake it starts to rain heavily.
I walk for a long time just staring into the distance. The grassland around the lake feels just as empty as my heart does. By now I am completely soaked but I don't care.
After a while I decide to go back. I knock at the door of Rosalie's house. Her dad opens the door and shoves me inside. "Get in. Where were you? Why did go out in this storm? Miss Kertna was very worried about you.", he says.
"I just went for a walk at the lake to clear my mind.", I explain.
Miss Kertna enters the room and hugs me. "Oh thank god! You're back! I almost had a heart attack when I saw that you were walking outside in the storm. You should take off your wet clothes and warm yourself up. You can lend some of my husband's clothes. I will make you a warm tea.", she says and goes to the kitchen. I do as she said and change into some dry clothes. Then me and Rosalie's parents sit down in the living room and drink tea. It is quiet until Mister Kertna suddenly starts talking about Rosalie. We spend the rest of the afternoon talking about her and the past before I head back home.
Now
I look down from the main mast into the endless sea of clouds. I still miss her. Everyday I struggle to fall asleep thinking that there must have been a way to save her. The doctors tried everything but still failed. How can that be? Shouldn't they know how to deal with such illnesses? Or maybe I did not do enough?
"Hey Seonghwa. Don't you want to go to bed? I don't really need your help anymore.", Yunho shouts from behind the steering wheel.
He is right. I probably should get some rest but before I go to bed I need to use the toilet. I climb down the mast and enter the ship through the hatch. It's pitch black inside. I make my way to the kitchen. The moonlight shines through the window so I can see at least a little bit. I grab a half-burned candle from the cupboard and light it with a match. Then I go to the bathroom. I place my candle next to the toilet. Then I suddenly notice a dark figure in the corner of the room. He is cowering on the floor, resting his head on his knees and stares back at me. Then he starts walking towards me.
"I think I will go to sleep.", San says as he passes by. In the faint candle light I notice that his eyes are red from crying. Why was he crying in the middle of the night in a dark room?
I quickly do my toilet business, walk back to the kitchen, blow out the candle and leave it in the cupboard for the next one to use. Then I slip through hatch again. "Goodnight!", I say to Yunho before I enter the Captain's Cabin and lay down next to Hongjoong.
When I walk onto the deck the next morning the warmth of the morning sun hits my face. Even though it is already mid-autumn and we are currently sailing northwards it is still fairly warm. "Why is it getting colder each day? I hate it!", San says next to me.
"I guess you're not used to the cold weather."
"Where I am from, it doesn't get under 5 degrees cold. And it only gets that cold very rarely in the middle of winter."
Someone suddenly puts his arms around our shoulders and squeezes himself between us. "Good morning! Did you sleep well?", Mingi asks.
Last night's incident pops back into my head. I look at San who is giving us a forced smile. "I slept fine.", he lies.
"I stayed up late to help Yunho but I slept okay after that?", I tell.
Mingi looks back and forth between us. "Did something happen?", he asks. He catches onto these things easier than I thought. But I don't want to say anything for now. I think San should tell us these things when he is ready to do so. "Ehm, hello?" Mingi waves his arm in front of our faces.
"It isn't that important.", San says.
"O-okay. But you aren't angry at each other or something?", Mingi asks.
"No, no. How could I ever be angry at San? He is an angel.", I reply.
San's cheeks turn red.
"But I thought I was the angel.", Mingi protest and pouts cutely.
"You are both angels."
"Yaay, we are angels San."
Mingi hugs the smaller crewmate.
My stomach starts rumbling.
"I haven't eaten yet. So I will go to the kitchen now."
"Okay.", San says cutely.
In the kitchen I come across Hongjoong, Yunho, Yeosang and Jongho. They are sitting around the dining table, chatting, laughing and eating. "Good morning.", I say.
I take a plate out of the cupboard, get a knife out of the drawer, cut off three slices of bread and take cheese and jam out of the cold storage. I sit down next to Jongho and start eating. "I thought you would still be sleeping after staying up the whole night, Yunho.", I say.
"An hour or so after you left Wooyoung came to replace me, so I could get some sleep."
"Oh! That's unusually kind of him."
"I know that he seems like a rascal but he cares more than you think."
I see Yeosang smile because of Yunho's words.
"Is he still up there? Shouldn't he rest for a bit?", I remark.
"I will replace him when I'm done here. By the way. Do you have anything planned for today, Captain?", Jongho asks.
"Nothing in particular. If we sail past an island we could search for treasures there but otherwise you are free to do what you want today.", Hongjoong states.
"Maybe we can find a spoonful of treasures today... You know because we found a single spoon last time. Hahaha.", Jongho says and fake laughs at his bad joke. Yeosang starts fake laughing with him and eventually all five of us end up fake laughing at this stupid joke. All of sudden Jongho's face get serious again. "Enough now.", he commands and we stop. We return to eating our breakfast with a serious face.
Except for Yunho who, after a half minute, can't hold back his giggles at our comically behaviour.
After breakfast I clean the kitchen. San comes in to drink some water.
"Thank you for not telling Mingi about last night.", he says while filling up his glass.
"No problem. It's okay if you don't feel comfortable with telling us about your struggles, just know that I'll be there for if you want to speak about it.", I say.
San nods.
After I finished cleaning, I go to the bedroom to make sure that everyone has made their bed. I enter and see that Wooyoung is taking a nap. I quickly scan through the room to make sure everything is neat, fix Mingi's bed a bit and sneak towards the door again.
Just as I leave I hear Wooyoung talk in his sleep. "Mom! Dad! Noo! Why?", I hear him cry out. His body is shifting from side to side.
I walk up to him and sit down on the edge of his bed. I gently caress his head to calm him down. Wooyoung immediately seems less tense. For a few more minutes I just sit their making sure that he sleeps calmly then I tuck him in and quietly leave the room. I am not surprised that Wooyoung has a lot of nightmares knowing that he was born in the Nekra Kingdom, still I wonder what his story is. Whatever it is, he doesn't seem to let it mess up his life. He id always so cheerful and strong-minded. I wish I could be more like that.
I go back on the deck. Jongho is navigating the boat while Yunho, Yeosang and San are sunbathing on the floor. I lay down next to them. "Where are Hongjoong and Mingi.", I ask.
"Hongjoong is teaching Mingi how to do finances.", Yeosang replies.
"Why?"
"He said that he wants to learn it."
"Look that cloud over there looks like Seonghwa!", Yunho says all of a sudden and points at a cloud that looks a bit like an angry bird.
"Oh yeah it does.", San says.
"I don't see it.", I remark.
"Look! There is your nose, then there are your sharp eyes and above them are your fierce eyebrows.", Yunho explains.
"I still don't see it."
"It looks like you when you nag at us again.", Yeosang states. For some reason I get a bit embarrassed at his words. I actually don't want to always be strict with them but I feel like someone has to keep the chaos under control and I am oldest so it is my responsibility. Right?
"Hey that cloud looks like a butt!", San exclaims and points at a round peach-shaped cloud. "That is a nice butt.", I comment.
"It's my butt!", Yunho declares.
"What?!", Yeosang exclaims and laughs shyly. The rest of us giggle.
"This cloud looks like a crown.", I say.
"Wow, it does. I think it should belong to Yeosang.", Yunho states.
"Why?", Yeosang asks. For some reason he seems slightly uncomfortable.
"You always seem so princely. The way you talk, your manners, your looks.", San explains. Yeosang seems to be a bit panicked by San's words.
"I just.. ehh... I guess I picked up some these things while working in the castle.", he says.
We gaze at the clouds for another hour, pointing out weirdly shaped clouds and joking around with each other.
"Hey, I think I see something there in the horizon can someone climb up the mast and look?", Jongho shouts out of nowhere. Yunho gets up and climbs up the main mast.
"There is a small island to our right.", he exclaims.
"Should we tell the captain about it?", I ask.
"I'll go and tell him.", Yeosang says and disappears into the Captain's Cabin. A minute later he comes out again. "He said you should sail towards it.", Yeosang tells Jongho.
"Okay."
"Are they still doing the finances? Shouldn't that be a matter of ten minutes? They just need to note how much gold we spend and how much we earned.", I ask.
"Yeah but Mingi doesn't know math. He is teaching him the basics right now.", Yeosang replies.
"He doesn't know math? Well I guess it's not that surprising because him and Yunho also didn't know how to read."
"What's a math?", San asks.
15 minutes later, we reach the island that Yunho saw. It is pretty small and flat. As far as I can see the whole island is just grassland with three trees growing on it. A small stream runs through it and flows over the edge into the endless sky. I report Hongjoong and Mingi that we have reached the island while Yeosang wakes up Wooyoung.
We pack our backpacks and start exploring the island. "We should split up. The island isn't very big so everybody can just go into their own direction. If you find anything just scream. Also if there are any treasures here they will most likely be buried in the ground, so keep an eye out for any markings that could indicate that.", Hongjoong says.
I stroll through the high grass with my eyes fixated on the ground. Until now the only interesting thing I've seen is a group of ants bringing a leaf from one of the trees into their anthill.
"Hey guys I found something.", I hear Hongjoong shout in the distance.
I walk in his direction and we gather in front of a small stone with weird symbols on it that sticks out from the ground. "What is this?", San asks.
"I don't know but I think we should dig here.", Hongjoong answers.
Jongho and Yunho begin digging a hole directly in front of the stone with the shovels that they brought with them. After a while they come across something solid and are unable to dig deeper. From the looks of it, it's stairs. What was a small stone in the beginning is now a withered stone wall with a hole in the middle. Hongjoong steps nearer and looks at the wall closely. "What is it? Does show the way to a treasure or something?", Wooyoung asks excitedly.
"The hole in the middle might be a mechanism but I am not sure.", Hongjoong says.
"Should we just put our arm in and see if there is something in there?", Yeosang asks.
"No, no, no. We don't know if there is a trap or something like that. It might be dangerous.", Jongho argues.
"Maybe it needs a key or something like that.", Yunho states.
While the others discuss I see Mingi take Yunho's shovel and put the shaft of the shovel into the hole. I hear a clicking noise and the wall sinks into the ground revealing a dark tunnel. Wait is it one of these mysterious ruins about which no one knows who built them but which have big treasures in them? The others turn around and look at Mingi surprised. "Tadaa! Sometimes you just have to think simple.", Mingi says.
"Wow! Good job, Mingi!", Hongjoong says.
"I will quickly go back to the ship and get torches.", I remark.
I run to the ship, get torches and matches and run back.
"Thank you!", the captain says and takes a torch. Mingi and Yunho take the other two. We use the matches to ignite them.
Hongjoong enters the tunnel first, I am directly behind him. It only takes two minutes until we reach a bigger room. In the middle is a pedestal with four indentations that are arranged like a square in it. On the walls are murals that show the four elements: Water, Earth, Air and Fire.
"Wow! I heard about ruins like that in stories from my parents but I thought they were just something that exist in fairytales.", Jongho says.
A passage on the left side leads to a smaller room with a huge relief on the wall. It is showing people and sceneries from different parts of Wolkmaar. "Is this a riddle?", Hongjoong wonders.
"I think we need to find four things that fit into the pedestal.", Yeosang says.
Yunho takes a very close look at the relief then grabs one of the figures and pulls it out. "It seems like the figures are detachable and this one didn't really fit into the background since it shows someone from Tongcheok.", Yunho explains.
The figure show a man with long hair in a long robe with big sleeves who is praying. "My grandfather was from there... before the island was conquered by the Nekra Kingdom.", Wooyoung tells.
Yunho takes a figure that shows someone that looks like a scientist, out of the background that represents Tongcheok and puts the correct figure in. I look at the part of the relief that represents the Kroos Republic. Two women are displayed in front of a bunch of cogwheels and a telescope.
One woman is wearing a mid-length embroidered dress with a basket with apples in her hand, the other one is dressed like an assassin. They are both at the wrong spot so I take them out.
"Yunho the figure in your hand needs to go to the Kroos Republic.", I say. Yeosang takes a woman with a book out of the Nekra Kingdom section of the relief and puts it into the Kroos Republic background while I place the assassin in the Nekra Kingdom. I replace a man with gold coins in his hands who is wrongly placed in Waerklunt with the woman that holds the basket with the apples. Jongho takes the figure in my hand and places it into the background that represents the neutral zone from where Hongjoong took a man who is cutting a patterned fabric. Hongjoong replaces a figure that shows a woman with a bow in the background of Wajasi with the figure in his hand and places the woman in the empty spot where Yunho took the first figure out, in Pfryspungt.
I hear something unlock. "Ouch!", Mingi exclaims. A secret compartment in the right wall opened and the door of it sprung open and hit Mingi. Wooyoung giggles evilly.
The captain takes out four balls from the secret compartment. They are made out of crystal and have different colors. One is red, one is blue, another one green and the last is white.
"These must be for the pedestal.", San says. We go back to the big room.
"Do you think the order matters?", Hongjoong asks us.
"Try to put them in the same order that the murals are in.", Mingi suggest.
Hongjoong puts in the green crystal in the bottom left indentation for the earth element, top left goes the red crystal representing fire, top right is the blue crystal for the water element and bottom right is the air element represented by the white crystal.
Another click sound occurs and the pedestal raises, revealing a hole with a small box in it. I thought ruins like this have big treasures in them.
Hongjoong's eyes get really big as soon as he opens the box. "No way!", he exclaims. I look over his shoulder. It is one of these clocks that are small enough to put them in your pocket.
But how? I only heard a month ago that the first ones of these are sold in the neutral zone. How did it get into an ancient ruin?
"Hey I can't see it! What is it?", Wooyoung asks while jumping up and down to peak over Mingi's shoulder.
"A pocket watch.", Jongho replies.
"Ohhh!"
"Why is something so modern in here?", Yunho remarks.
"You will notice overtime that sometimes things in Wolkmaar just don't follow any logic.", Hongjoong states.
We go back to our ship and change our course in the direction of Vretefokl again. While the others play catch and Hongjoong navigates the ship, I sit down next to Jongho who stares longingly into the distance.
"Wow, I can't believe we found an ancient ruin.", I say, trying to start a conversation.
"Hmm, yeah."
"What are you thinking about?"
"Home."
"Because of the watch?"
"It was actually invented by one of my fathers friends... I don't know... I just miss them."
"I understand that. I think most of us miss our home sometimes."
"Yeah."
"Do you regret joining the crew?"
"No, not at all. I think it was the right decision. It was nice at home. I had pretty much everything but it just didn't feel like I deserved it. I didn't do anything to get all of these things. Here I have the chance to do everything from scratch and work myself up. It just feels so much more rewarding."
I nod. It is unusual for him to speak about his feelings. I didn't know that he felt like that.
"I am glad that you're happier now."
I wish I could feel happy too.
But how could I feel happy without her by my side? Nobody could ever make me as happy as she did. How could I ever fall in love again? I want her back so badly. I need her here with me.
"Are you exited for Vretefokl?", Jongho suddenly asks, interrupting my thoughts.
"Yeah, I have never been there but I heard the market place there is huge and there are people from all over Wolkmaar and they often celebrate festivals."
"I have been there a few times and it's really a remarkable place. You will see all kinds of people there and find things that you have never seen before. It is a really busy and loud place though. While my hometown Wisnpfloss focuses more on inventions and creativity, Vretefokl is all about trading and freedom."
"Seems like the neutral zone is a pretty diverse place."
We talk about the neutral zone for quite some time before I have to help Wooyoung with cooking dinner.
After eating dinner I play with Mingi and Yunho.
"I spy with my little eye something beginning with S.", Yunho says.
"The sail?", I ask.
"Nope."
"The sky.", Mingi guesses.
"Also not correct."
"What about Seonghwa?", Mingi says.
"No but you're getting closer."
"My shirt?", I guess.
"No."
"San?", Mingi exclaims.
"Yes."
It's my turn now. I look around. What is something that they wouldn't guess so easily? Got it!
"I spy with my little eye something that is brown."
"The whole ship is brown!", Yunho exclaims.
"But it's not the ship."
"The steering wheel?", Mingi guesses.
"No."
"The ropes?"
"No, it's not a part of the ship.", I hint.
"Yunho's hair?"
"No."
"Mingi's coat?"
"Also no."
Mingi looks around.
"The dirt on Yeosang's shoe?"
Somehow that makes me giggle.
"No, it's Yunho's big puppy eyes."
"Ohh."
I go to bed early today. Our captain is writing into his diary when I enter the room. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight!", I say and sit down on my bed. "Goodnight."
A few minutes later as I lay in my bed, trying to fall asleep, I hear Hongjoong calling my name.
"Seonghwa?"
"Hmm."
"Thank you for always taking care of all of us."
I get a bit flustered. "No problem."
"But also... don't forget to take care of yourself. I know you're still struggling with her death. Give yourself time to reflect on it. And if you ever need someone to talk to, just know that we will be there for you, just like you're always there for us."
"Yeah, thank you."
Author's Note:
I hope you liked this chapter and thank you to everyone who voted for this story. Ateez just performed their first big Kingdom stage and it was amazing. I loved the pirate theme and their live vocals are on another level. I can't wait for the next episode.