Two days have passed since Yunho was bedridden due to fever.
Valerie was taking care of him while the crew members were checking on him regularly.
Whenever someone got in, they would shower her with questions about how he is doing and if she says he's not good they would start shouting and crying, especially Mingi. Yeosang was the only one who couldn't check on him since he was the only one who can sail the ship in the right lane.
"It's fine, I'm okay right now" Yunho told Valerie, standing up and heading towards his desk " no, you're not" she told him, grabbing his shoulders and putting him back in his bed "you still need some rest" she said sitting on the chair next to the bed and folding her arms "but I'm fine, I can't be lying here all day, I didn't move for two days" he protested "that's for not telling anyone about the cold you had" she scolded him "I didn't want to worry anyone" he excused himself "well, you just did" she said smiling.
They were interrupted by a knock on the door, Wooyoung came in with a tray with soup on it "how are you doing?" He asked closing the door behind him "not good, she won't let me move an ounce" he nagged "of course, you are sick and need rest" she told him "well, there's nothing wrong if you stay still for sometime" Wooyoung told him "it's not like we will run into danger-" "a foreign boat is getting closer to the ship!!!" San shouted from the outside warning the whole ship.
Yunho looked at Wooyoung with a look of 'see what happened' "it is such a great coincidence" Valerie said smiling "let's head out and see what is this strange boat deal" Yunho suggested standing up from his bed "fine" Valerie sighed allowing him to move.
When the three arrived at the deck, Jongho had already throw a hook to grab the boat, the hook got on the boat and Jongho started pulling it in.
When the boat was next to the ship, Jongho, Wooyoung, Yunho and Valerie were looking at it from the rails "me and Jongho will go down and see what its deal" Valerie said informing them "I'll go tell the captain" Wooyoung said "and I'll stay over here incase you found something in it" Yunho told them and Jongho put down the ladder.
The boat was smaller than Valerie's, with tow paddles and a sheet covering it's end, no one was on the boat when they arrived at it "what the hell a small boat is doing in the middle of the ocean?" Valerie asked herself while getting down from the ladder "soon, we'll find out" Jongho told her.
Jongho landed first on the boat and Valerie followed him, the boat could fit four people on it with the sheets that's covering it "nothing suspicious for now" Jongho told her "I'll check under the sheets" Valerie told him and he pulled out his pistol incase something popped out, Valerie removed the sheets and a small creature jumped on her face.
It was a cat, the cat was black with purple eyes, the cat started scratching her face "take it off!!" She shouted for Jongho to come and help her, Jongho tried approaching her put the cat scratched his hand "ouch, I think it likes you" he told her "really?!" She shouted sarcastically "anyways, check if there's anything else over there" she told him struggling with the cat that is attached to her face, Jongho went there and the only thing he found was a cat food and a pillow "it seems like the cat was the only thing on this boat" he said standing up and looking at Valerie who is still struggling with the cat "let's head up then" she told him after the cat stopped moving but it still attached to the back of her head.
Jongho brought the food and the pillow with him while climbing the ladder and Valerie climbed with the cat stuck on her head.
When they arrived, Yunho looked at them surprised.
Jongho was holding his laugh and Valerie had a cat on her head trying to eat it "what is this?" He asked pointing at Valerie "a cat, obviously" she said "I only looked down the sheets and she attacked me" she said grabbing it by the waist and trying to remove it but the cat held her more tightly "what did you find?!" San shouted heading towards them with Wooyoung behind him "this" Jongho said pointing at the cat.
Wooyoung started laughing at how Valerie looked with the scratches on her face and San looked at the cat with admiring eyes "its so cute!" He shouted approaching the cat and trying to hold it "if you touch it, it'll attack you" Jongho informed him but he ignored him and grabbed the cat.
They all were stunned when the cat let go of Valerie's head and accepted San's touch, he held it in his arms and patted her head "how could you say something like that, it's clearly peaceful" San told them while rubbing his face into the cat's head "I'll keep her" he said holding the cat tightly "I'll never get sick again" Yunho said "yes please" Valerie replied to him heading towards the quarter deck.
San took the cat and headed towards the crow nest after telling Jongho to drop the cat's stuff in his cabin, and Wooyoung went to inform Hongjoong of what just happened, while Jongho headed under the trapdoor and Yunho followed Valerie to the quarter deck.
"Hi, it's been a long time" Yunho greeted Yeosang from behind Valerie "Yunho, what are you doing up here? You should go and rest" Yeosang said surprised by his presence, he was holding the helm with both his hands "I had enough resting for now and San just adopted a cat" he said cheerfully "a cat?" Yeosang questioned "yeah, we found a cat on the boat and it scratched everyone who approached it except San" Valerie sighed sitting on a barrel next to the helm and grabbed the map opening it "we are close to the island" she said surprised by how fast they are moving "we'll be there by two days" he told her "I see" she said to herself.
Yunho was roaming around the quarter deck, then he lied down looking at the sky "what are you doing up here?" Hongjoong asked after arriving at the quarter deck "observing the sky" he sighed "shouldn't you be resting at your cabin?" He asked him moving to where Valerie is sitting "I don't want to" he whined at him "just let him be, captain" Valerie said looking up at Hongjoong and handing him the map "fine, do what you want" he said looking at the map "how long it'll take to arrive there?" He asked Yeosang "two days" he answered "great" he said smiling "and what's the deal with San and the cat?" He asked "they both like eachother, don't stand in their way" Valerie said sarcastically "they are in a relationship, so I can stand in their way" he said annoyed "he just barged into my cabin and told me he wants the cat to stay and he named it Byul" he said tired from the conversation he had with him "he already named it?" Yunho asked sitting and crossing his legs "of course he did" Yeosang sighed "if he's happy, then there's nothing wrong" Valerie said crossing her legs "I know, that's why I allowed it" he explained "dinner is ready!!!" Mingi shouted from the kitchen "let's go eat" Yunho said running towards the kitchen "you guys go, I'll eat later" Valerie said standing up and taking the helm from Yeosang and they left.
After they finished eating, Yeosang headed back to the quarter deck with a plate in his hands and a spoon "here's your food" he said handing Valerie the plate "how was the dinner?" She asked while eating "a mess, San was holding the cat in his arms the whole time and when anyone tried to get closer to him, the cat hissed at them" he told her while holding the helm "this cat is really strange" he continued "why?" She asked him "because, it's from a beast tribe" he said "a beast tribe?" She questioned taking another bite "yeah, the tribe is known for their mind control, they control people's minds by their unique eyes and they HATE humans, so it's strange how she is close to San" he explained "maybe she thought he is harmless since he approached her with a wide grin" she said putting the plate aside after finishing it "maybe, but it's not a reason why she stuck to him" he said still concerned.
"You have a keen eyes, for a human" a deep gravelly voice was heard and that made them flinch, with a quick move, Valerie unsheathed her sword and Yeosang took out his dagger from his waist "who's there?" Valerie asked looking around but there was no one "how adorable you look when you draw your weapon in fear" the voice chuckled in a lower tone "speaks the one who is hiding" Yeosang talked in a provocative way teasing it "oh dear, I'm not hiding, you just can't identify me" the voice told them and they started looking everywhere, when it clicked "you're the cat" Yeosang said holding the dagger tightly "Bingo" they heard the voice and the cat jumped from the crow nest landing on the railings of the quarter deck, sitting and looking at them.
Valerie immediately stood between the cat and Yeosang, pointing her sword at it "this is not a child's play, put the sword away" the cat voice was demanding in an eerie way that gave them shivers.
Yeosang put a hand on Valerie's shoulder and gave her an assuring look, then she sheathed it back, Yeosang sighed and looked at the cat "what do you want?" He asked "to be exact, nothing, just a place to sleep and eat peacefully" the cat smiled at him moving it's tail "that won't be a problem, but I have a question" he said "what is it?" The cat asked "why did you get close to San from everyone on this ship?" Yeosang asked looking at it's eyes not blinking "because, he seems to be easy to manipulate, unlike the others" the cat said while brushing it's face, Yeosang got enraged by it's answer "what do you mean by that?" He asked frowning at it and trying to calm down "it means, if you tried to kick me out, I can easily make him leave you and come with me, isn't it obvious?" It chuckled explaining to him.
It was rare for Yeosang to get this angry, he would usually stay calm and find a solution for the dilemma in front of him, but not this time, anger took over him, he clinched his hands so hard that he didn't realise they were bleeding "you little!!!" He shouted and took a pistol he was hiding under his vest and pointed it at the cat and without thinking he pulled the trigger.
The gunshot woke the crew up, everyone headed out of their cabins ready to fight and they arrived at the main deck, it was very quiet "who was shooting?" Seonghwa asked looking at everyone's sleepy faces, they all were tired and in sleeping pyjamas "I don't know" Wooyoung said yawning and half asleep "did you find anything?" Hongjoong asked coming out of his cabin "nothing" Seonghwa answered "sorry guys, I was just showing Yeosang my shooting skills!!!" Valerie shouted from the quarter deck with Yeosang standing behind her, giving his back to his crewmembers and the cat standing on the railings next to her "you should've just waited until morning, you scared us!!!" Mingi shouted at her and went back to his cabin "well, it's fine since it's a false attack, everyone back to their sleep" Hongjoong ordered them already tired and went to his cabin "Byul!! What are you doing here?" San asked looking at the cat that is standing on the railings "come down, let's go to sleep" he said stretching his arms up to catch the cat, the cat meowed and jumped to where San is standing "good girl, goodnight Val, Yeo" he said heading towards his cabin this time "goodnight" she said waving and smiling at him.
When everyone got in their cabins, Valerie sighed and turned to look at Yeosang, his back still faced the main deck and he was shivering and holding the pistol tightly in his right hand "are you okay?" She asked putting a hand on his shoulder "no, I'm not" he answered and dropped the pistol, then he sat on the ground looking down and hugging himself.
Valerie went to her cabin to bring the first aid for treating Yeosang's hands "you can't hide forever, mark my words" the voice rung in her head which made her pale, the cat knows who she is, what should she do? What if it made the crew turn against her? What if they steal her belongings and threw her at some isolated island? What if they despised her?.
Valerie looked around and saw the bandage roll in the drawer, she shook her head and took her medaids and went to Yeosang, this is not the time to worry about it, first she needs to treat Yeosang, then she'll think of other things.