| WORD COUNT: 1.9K
You grasped the handle to the door before you pushed it open. The man looked up and looked you in the eyes. You saw his facial expression change to a confused one as he sat up in his seat. "What's wrong Ji Ah?" He asked. "U-Uhm.." You looked down at your feet. "Spit it out." He said.
You bit your lower lip before looking back up at him. "Can I go back out to town to get some stuff?" You finally managed to get out. "Stuff? Like what? I thought San has bought basically everything you, him, and Seonghwa need for about a week." He asked as he placed the feather he had in his hand down before crossing his arms. "Well, y-you see..I kinda need to get some other things such as more cloth for the things I'm currently working on." You said.
He tilted his head to the side. "And what exactly are you working on?" You looked away. "It's for everyone on the ship, if that is alright with you, sir." His face scrunched up. "Sir?" He repeated. You looked at him with wide eyes. "O-Oh..if I can't call you that yet, then tha-" He had cut you off as he waved his hand in the air. "No no no, it's not that, it's just since that you're apart of the crew now, you should call me captain, but I prefer my real name, Hongjoong." He reassured you. You raised your eyebrow. "So, you wasn't kidding about me becoming a crew member?" He laughed at your question. "Oh god no, if I were lying, the Goddess of Dishonesty will get me." He stood up and placed his hands in his pockets as he walked over to you.
"Wait, weren't Gods and Goddesses killed off years ago?" You asked. He gave you a small smile as he nodded his head. "That's what most people think, but I think some got away and are living as normal people." He said. "Do you think that?" He asked, his single light blue eye began to shimmer a little. "I mean, I've heard tales and stuff, but until I see one then yeah." You shrugged your shoulders. He huffed out a laugh as he nodded his head. "I can accept that." He said as he turned around and walked to his desk.
"Anyways, why do you need to make things for the crew?" He asked. "Just because." You simply said. "The only way that I'm going to let you go out is that you go with two more members of the crew." He said as he looked out of his window into the ocean. You sighed as you nodded your head. "Sure thing, captain." You said. His body stiffened as he turned around to you. "Call me Hongjoong!" He said. You chuckled before you waved bye to him as you exited the cabin.
You furrowed your eyebrows. Ask two of the crew mates to go with me? You looked around until you spotted San heading back into the sickbay. You hastily made your way to him as you rushed towards his room which he already entered. "San!" You yelled, startling him a little bit. "AH, BLOODY HELL! Ji Ah! Next time knock instead of running in here!" He screamed as he turned around to you as he had some things in his hands.
"Sorry, I just wanted to ask if you can come back to town with me." You said quickly. "Back to town? Why do you want to go back to town?" He asked as he set the things down onto his desk before walking to the other side of the room. "Oh, well, I kinda need more cloth for the thing I'm sewing." You said making him look at you surprised. "You need more!? I got you quite a lot Ji Ah! What are you making!?" He asked as he raised his voice. You flinched at his tone.
He sighed. "Sorry, I'm working on something that Wooyoung asked me to make for him, he's quite a handful." He said. You furrowed your eyebrows. "So, you're busy?" You asked. He nodded his head as he looked back at his desk as he flipped through his book. "I swear, if this boy keeps asking for me to make this crap, I'm just going to have to teach him so he can make it for himself." He mumbled. You sighed as you exited his room back out to the main deck.
"What about Seonghwa!" You said as you were about to walk to the galley. "Oh, he said he was going to cook lunch early, he's most likely busy." You sighed as you closed the door behind you as you made your way to the supply hold. "Watch out!" You heard some yell from above you. You finally gazed ahead as you saw something head towards you. You gasp before someone pulls you aside. You grabbed tightly around their torso as you both fell to the ground. "Ow~ What the hell was that?" You said as you sat up, rubbing your back.
"You almost got hit by a log, lad." A voice said from your right. You turned and looked at the man. You stared at his triangular face, well, more of an upside down one, but still. "You didn't get hurt, right?" He asked, drawing you from your thoughts. "Ah, n-no, I'm fine, just startled a bit." You replied as he chuckled. He stood up as he turned and held out his hand for you. You gladly took it as he helped you stand up.
"Make sure you watch out from now on, you could get hit by something like that if I'm not around." He chuckled. You furrowed your eyebrows. "If you're not around?" He smiled. "Yeah, whenever Jongho is sparring with one of the older crewmates I have to make sure he actually doesn't hurt 'em since he is the strongest 'ere on Treasure." He chuckled as he looked at the boy that was in the distance who was holding a taller male by his shirt. "Okay, okay! Jongho, that's enough now!" He yelled.
Jongho rolled his eyes as he let go of him and began to walk over to the both of you. "I told him to try and catch it instead of dodging it," He huffed once he reached you both. "Apologise to him, he could have gotten seriously hurt." He pointed to you. "Come on Changbin-hyung! It's not my fault he's so...scrawny." He said as he eyed you up and down. Changbin hit him on the shoulder.
"As much as I agree with you," Changbin began as he looked over at you, apologising on Jongho's behalf, before turning back to Jongho. "But we can always help him gain some weight. He can even work with us to try and lift up barrels and stuff." He said and hit your shoulder making you wince as you glared at him. He chuckled. "Come on, he's a stowaway, he should be tied u-" "He's a part of the crew now. If you weren't asleep, you would have heard the captain announce that." He said, crossing his arms as his facial expression changed to a more blank one. Jongho sighed.
"Whatever." He said as he walked away. Changbin shook his head as he turned to you. "Anyways...stowaway?-" "It's Ji Ah." You interrupted him. "Right, right, Ji Ah." He looked away briefly. "What are you doing out on deck at this time?" He asked as he crossed his arms. "You're usually in the sickbay with San and Seonghwa." You looked into the distance. "Yeah, I know. It's just that I need to ask at least two people to come with me to go into town." You frowned. "Why?" He asked. You shrugged your shoulders as you averted your attention to him.
"I can go with you if you want me to?" He questioned making your eyes widen. "Seriously!?" You shouted, making some of the crew mates look over at you both. He shushed you as you apologised for your volume before you looked back at him. "Seriously?" You asked again as you lowered your voice. He chuckled as he nodded his head. "I don't see why not, I kind of need to go into town to get something." You smiled at him.
"Okay! Now! We need to find one more person to go with us!" You said excitedly as you began to look around. "I mean, if I'm going with you, you don't really need anyone else." He said, making you look at him confused. "Why is that?" "I am the second strongest on the ship, so if anything happens, the person will fully regret it." He said confidently. You giggled. "I guess, so..." You furrowed your eyebrows. "So your name, it's Changbin, right?" You asked. He nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm the older battlemaster." He said.
You slowly nodded your head. "So? Should we get going then, before it gets dark at least?" He questioned. You quickly nodded your head. "Yeah, let's go!" You said as you turned on your heels and began to walk towards the gangplank. "Wait," You turned around to Changbin. "Yes?" "Do you have money?" He asked. You nodded your head. "I still have some left over from earlier when I went with San hyung and Seonghwa hyung." He gave you a quick nod as you both made your way into the town.
"Really? That's quite an interesting story." Changbin said as he watched you walk around the store as you grabbed quite a lot of cloths. "Yeah, I really hope that one day I can get those memories back, you know?" You said as you looked at him with a sad smile. He nodded his head. "Just give it time, I believe that one day they will come back." He said reassuringly. You smiled a little before you headed to the counter to pay for it all.
You handed the lady the money as she placed the cloth neatly in bags before handing it back to you. You were about to take it but Changbin grabbed them before you could even touch it. "I got it," He said. You thanked him and the cashier before you both left. "So, you're making the crew new clothing?" He asked. You nodded your head. "Just so you can gain the trust of them?" He continued as you once again nodded your head. "Don't you think that's too much? I mean, you are a member of ATEEZ now." He said, making you look at him with confusion. "ATEEZ?" You questioned.
"Yeah, that's what the captain calls his crew. It's a tiny bit unnecessary to call his crew that, but we got used to it by now." He answered. You hummed in response as he nodded his head. "Thank you." You said.
He looked at you. "For what?" He asked. "For coming with me, and being understanding." You shyly said. You felt his gaze on you as he looked at you sadly. "We can talk more when we're back on the ship." He said as you nodded your head in agreement.