"AACHOO" Seonghwa sneezed while covering himself in a mat and Wooyoung gave him a warm drink "thanks" he said sipping from it, the crew has changed into a warmer clothes because of the cold weather and the water they were soaked in and gathered in the kitchen "now, tell me what happened, and why there is a ship connected to ours" Hongjoong ordered them "sure" Valerie said.
After Valerie have finished talking, questions were filled in each ones head "the thing that I don't understand is why we couldn't wake up" Mingi said confused "maybe, if we asked our prisoner, we'll know" said Hongjoong standing up "Seonghwa, you stay here with Yunho, the rest follow me" he ordered "Aye Captain!" They shouted in unison and followed him.
When they arrived at the cell, the prisoner was already awake and on his knees, looking at the ground "seems like you're awake" Hongjoong said standing in front of the cell with the crew behind him, he didn't say a word "why did you try to kill us?" Wooyoung asked this time but still no answer, Hongjoong sighed "open up the door" he ordered Valerie who had the key and she did so, Hongjoong went in, squatted in front of him and pulled the mask off the man.
"Oh my" Valerie said surprised, the crew looked at her curiously "what is it?" Yeosang asked "he's handsome" she said, the crew looked at her in disbelief "are you serious?" Wooyoung asked and she nodded still looking at the man, his features weren't very clear, all they could see is his big black eyes and brown to black long hair slightly above his eyes and small face, he looked younger than Jongho and weak "how come you didn't say the same to us when you first came into the ship?" Wooyoung was annoyed "well,..." she didn't know what to say "seriously?" He asked even more annoyed "both of you stop this" Hongjoong ordered them "but she started it" Wooyoung whined but didn't say anything else.
Hongjoong focused on the young man in front of him "now, why don't you tell me exactly who are you?" He ordered but the boy looked to his side "fine" he said standing up "we are in no use for you, kill him" he said and when he started heading out "we are bounty hunters" he finally spoke "and we wanted to capture some pirates, because its been a long time since the last ones we captured, you were the ones in front of us" he said clearly angry "please don't kill me" he begged hanging his head down "we'll see about that" Hongjoong said walking out and closing the door behind him.
The sun is fully out now which meant it's morning, when they arrived at the main deck "how could you say he's handsome and we are not?" This time San was the one to speak "it came out naturally" she explained herself "that's even worse" he said "what are we going to do with him?" Valerie changed the subject "and the ship?" Jongho asked pointing at the ship next to theirs "you go with San and Mingi, search it and bring everything you see as valuable then burn it, and for the boy, let's wait for now" Hongjoong said and when he started walking towards his cabin Valerie stopped him "captain, here" she gave him a necklace, it was a silver necklace and inside the pendant was a green gem.
Hongjoong's eyes widened in surprise "where did you find it?" He asked "when I brought him to the cell, it fell from his pocket" she explained "Yeosang, come and take a look" he ordered and not just Yeosang, but the rest too "I only said Yeosang" he said annoyed giving the necklace to him "but we want to take a look too" Mingi said standing next to Yeosang, the crew circled around him, Yeosang was surprised by it and his mouth fell agape "what is it?" Mingi asked curious and so is the others "it's one of the five elements" he said.
"What?!!!!!" They shouted in unison "yeah, the transportation gem" he said holding it to his eye level "why does he have one of them?" Wooyoung asked curious "there must be something behind him" Jongho said wary of him "I want someone to watch over him" Hongjoong said "I volunteer" Valerie said smiling and holding her arm up next to her head "I object" Wooyoung held his arm too "why?" She asked annoyed, looking at him "because you want to be next to the handsome man" he said glaring at her "well, then I should be the one for the job, because I won't take my eyes off him" she said smiling and lifting her eyebrows playfully "you see, she is not good for it" Wooyoung told Hongjoong pointing at her "then both of you will look after him" Hongjoong said "yaay" Valerie jumped in excitement "what? Why?" Wooyoung asked him "because, Valerie doesn't have a main role on the deck now, and for the cooking, Mingi can take over it" he told them making them sulk "it's painful, but he's right" Valerie said shrugging her shoulders "while you two are watching him, try to know anything about the necklace" Hongjoong ordered "aye captain" they answered half heartedly.
Hongjoong went to his cabin with Yeosang behind, Jongho went with San and Mingi to the small ship to inspect it and Valerie and Wooyoung went to the cell to guard the handsome prisoner.
Hongjoong sat behind his desk and Yeosang sat on the chair in front of it "do you have any information about this one and who had it in the first place?" Hongjoong asked, Yeosang didn't say a word trying to remember which country it belongs to "the thing that I know is, this gem was gifted to a desperate emperor" he said pointing at the necklace "a desperate emperor?" Hongjoong asked confused "yeah, this emperor's land is a frozen land, the harvest couldn't grow and the country people were starving, the country is on an isolated island, the closest island is a month away, and if they wanted to import any goods, they would rotten by the time they arrive" Yeosang told him "so what happened?" Hongjoong asked "the emperor tried every method to save his people, but still nothing worked, so he spent his days and nights praying to save his people. His prayers were heard from the goddess of harvest, Demeter, and with her powers and a little bit of help from the god of teleportation, she made this gem and gave it to him" Hongjoong was focused on the story "with it, the emperor revived his country and it became a tourist attraction for the people from warm islands, making the empire grow even more than the emperor hoped, making the whole island into his country and after the emperor had died, the gem was passed on to his son, and everytime a new emperor sits on throne, he holds this gem" Yeosang told him.
"do you know the country's name?" Hongjoong asked and he shook his head "all I know is, it is a winter island with snow covering it for a whole year" Yeosang sighed pinching inbetween his eyebrows "the problem is, how did the necklace end up with that boy" Yeosang said annoyed "at least, we know it's from a winter island, and the weather is getting colder, so we are getting close to one of them" Hongjoong said "what?" Yeosang didn't pay attention to him "go take over the helm" Hongjoong dismissed him.
Valerie sat on a chair at the left side of the cell while Wooyoung on the right crossing his arms "so, what's your name?" She asked looking at the man smiling but he didn't respond, his head was still hanged down "will you stop?" Wooyoung asked annoyed "what?" She asked lifting her eyes from the prisoner to land on him instead "I'm just trying to have a little conversation" she smiled at him innocently "well, he doesn't seem in a mood of a conversation, especially when his friends just died" Wooyoung told her "they are not my friends" he told them "then what were they?" Valerie asked curiously looking back at him "they took me as a cabin boy" he told them "then why are you wearing the same as them?" Wooyoung glared at him not believing a word he said "and why were you holding a rifle?" Valerie added "they said, they wanted to test me in this mission, if I did well, they'll let me stay as a bounty hunter, and if I mess up, they'll kill me" he said the last part shivering from fear "don't worry" Wooyoung assured him "Hongjoong won't kill you for no reason" he told him smiling, making the boy look up at him "plus," Valerie said "you are handsome, so I'll protect you" she said smiling at him "that's not even a reason to protect someone" Wooyoung said in disbelief "everyone has their own reasons to fight and protect, right now, this is my reason, and you'll help me with it" she told him "why are you dragging me with you in this?" He asked her annoyed "because, you are my handsome friend" she said with her thumb up and winked at him "so now I'm handsome?" He asked angry "are you saying that you are actually ugly?" She teased him "how did you conclude that?" He asked "from your words" she told him.
The boy looked at them arguing and didn't dare to say a word, afraid that they'll drag him with them.
Five days have passed since they captured their prisoner, and the only thing they knew about him was what he told Valerie and Wooyoung, while the green gem was still a mystery to them, on why he had it.
The weather is so cold, Valerie wore a heavy brown coat above her clothes with brown gloves and so did Wooyoung.
They stayed with the prisoner all the time, and at night, one of them would stay while the other goes to rest "aren't you cold mister handsome?" Valerie asked and Wooyoung looked at her disgusted "not really, I'm used to this cold" he said lying on the bed inside the cell next to the wall, after the second day, Hongjoong told them to untie him, because he didn't make a ruckus when they untied him to eat or go to the bathroom "can I ask you a question?" Wooyoung asked "I can't guarantee the answer" he told him "why didn't you try to escape?" He asked.
The boy stayed silent for a moment "I don't have a place to go to, plus, you took my necklace, how can I escape" he told him and Wooyoung sighed "you're right" they stayed silent for now, when the ship started swaying hardly making Valerie fall off her chair, Wooyoung laughed so she pushed him making him fall too, they heard a canon fire from the main deck "it's probably a marine ship" Wooyoung told Valerie while they stood up "should we help them?" She asked him, patting her coat from dirt "no, they'll be fine" he told her and both of them sat back on their chairs.
The ship swayed hardly the other way making the light lamp fall, Wooyoung ran towards it and caught it in no time, and when he sighed in relief, he blew off the candle making the room go dark "shit" he said "language" Seonghwa said from up the stairs "what are you doing here?" Valerie asked, she couldn't see a thing "I came to check on you, we had an encounter with a marine ship, we blew it off" Seonghwa sounded like he was smiling "did anyone get injured?" Valerie asked "thankfully, no one, but San went all out on them" he chuckled, they finally saw a light coming from Wooyoung's direction "finally" Valerie sighed "it took you forever" Seonghwa commented "its not my fault, my hands were trembling" he said hanging the lamp in front of the cell, they now can see clearly.
"Hey, are you ok?" Wooyoung asked turning around checking on the boy, his eyes widened.
The boy had his hand over his chest, breathing heavily, he seemed like he can't breath and was trembling "hey, what's wrong?" Wooyoung asked holding into the bars of the cell, the boy couldn't answer "Valerie, you open the cell and Wooyoung, you go call Yunho" Seonghwa ordered them and they nodded.
Wooyoung went running up the stairs while Valerie opened the cell approaching him "don't touch me!!" He shouted "don't touch me" he repeated pulling his knees to his chest and hugging them while burying his face in them, Valerie looked at Seonghwa not knowing what to do, he shrugged at her clueless "please, I don't want to go" he whispered but they heard him.
Yunho came down running towards the cell, Valerie moved aside from him, he grabbed his arm "don't touch me!!" He shouted repeatedly, trying to push or kick him, until, Yunho gave him a needle on his neck to make him fall asleep.
After he slept, Yunho sighed and turned around to face Hongjoong "what's wrong with him?" He asked "it looks like he was having a panic attack that made him relive an old trauma" Yunho informed them, the crew seemed uncomfortable and angry "was that because of the canon fire?" Seonghwa asked "no, he was fine, but after we lit the candle he was like this" Valerie explained "can I take him to my cabin, until he gets better and then you can bring him back?" Yunho asked Hongjoong, he was nervous he might decline his request.
Hongjoong looked straight in the eye with Yunho, then looked at Wooyoung who is clearly very angry "fine, he can stay in your cabin" he sighed accepting his request, Yunho felt relieved and went in, he picked him up bridal style, he was surprised by how light he weighs "you did give him food, right?" He asked Valerie and Wooyoung "yeah, we did" Wooyoung answered "and everytime we gave it to him, he eats all of it" Valerie added, Yunho frowned "then why is he this light?" Yunho questioned making the others confused, Hongjoong went into the cell and looked under the bed.
He stood up kicking it "he didn't eat shit, he threw the food under the bed" he said getting out of the cell "listen, you better know what is the story behind this boy, because it started to smell fishy in hear" he said and stormed out to the main deck leaving everyone silent in their places, Valerie started to sniff the room "I don't smell fish" she said shrugging her shoulders "are you serious?" Wooyoung asked in disbelief knowing she is being lame.