The three of you are walking along in town.
Unsurprisingly, after the crazy celebration the night before, majority of the crew had woken up with massive hangovers, most retching over the side of the ship or trying to nurse pounding headaches. To be honest, the only ones who weren't drunk were you, Seonghwa and Mingi.
Technically, Yeosang hadn't been drunk either, but he had left for town earlier in the morning to go search for Wooyoung, who still hadn't returned to the ship. When you had started to worry, Yeosang had simply reassured you that this was normal Wooyoung behavior, and he'd have their head gunner back on board before the ship set sail.
The biggest problem was, however, the fact that the ship's resident healer was also suffering from a hangover.
"You're such a lightweight, master." You had chided him this morning as he groaned in his bed, half buried in a mountain of stuffed plushies. "Everybody needs you to cure their hangovers, you know?"
"You can do it, apprentice." San mumbled weakly from beneath a pig stuffed toy. "You have a good master."
"Red ginseng, lemon and ginger tea and prickly pear cactus." You recalled diligently from your studies, glancing at the lump that was your master. "Am I right?"
The only answer you got was a snore in response.
So, that explains why you, Seonghwa and Mingi are together, walking along the town's marketplace, searching for a hangover cure for your poor crew mates. Seonghwa had offered his services to help you carry the groceries back, while Mingi simply didn't want to get in the way of his crewmates' projectile vomiting.
You don't blame him. The stench was absolutely awful.
"So, what are you looking for?" Seonghwa asks as you make your way through the crowd. There's a soft buzz in the air, a little subdued, but you chalk it up to being early in the morning and that nobody is quite awake yet.
"Opuntia, or prickly pear cactus." You tell him as you weave through the throng of people selling their wares at every corner of the long street. "Its fruit helps to ease hangovers, so that's what I'm looking for."
"Anything else?" Mingi asks, checking through his coin pouch. As the quartermaster and also the treasurer, all funds go through him before being spent.
"Lemon, honey and ginger." Bending over to check out some of the fruits, you study a lemon carefully for any defects and put them in your basket. "I'm also looking for red ginseng to reduce hangover severity, but it's an eastern root herb, so it may be a little difficult to find here."
"We are in the Caribbean, after all." Seonghwa remarks, using his superior height to his advantage as his eyes scan the multitude of stalls selling every sort of exotic plant, fruit, and even animal. "I do recall seeing a shop selling eastern herbs the last time I was here, though."
"Ah, Master did tell me to make sure we stock up on eastern herbs if I found any!" You chatter excitedly, turning to Seonghwa. "Did you see any worm grass (cordyceps) or fish bladders (fish maw)?"
Seonghwa nods, a smile blossoming on his face. "Yes! I can't believe I even found some dried black mountain ants there!"
Mingi stares at the two of you with a weirded out look on his face. "I'm not even going to ask any questions. None at all."
"There, I see it!" Seonghwa points over the heads of the crowd at a stall tucked all the way at the end of the street, his grin widening. "We did it, Chin Hae!"
The two of you exchange high fives and dash for the stall faster than Mingi can blink. He simply sighs, following the pair of you at a more sedately pace, shaking his head dryly. "Are all cooks like this...?"
When he finally does catch up with the two of you, you're gushing over the different herbs and spices with Seonghwa, picking up a piece of black root that looks suspiciously like a thin, black stick. You hold it to Mingi's nose.
"Hey, Mingi-hyung, look what I found!" Mingi frowns as he stares down his nose at it, going a little crossed eyed. It's black, thin and looks rather boring. Mingi doesn't understand why you're so excited over it at all.
"A stick?" He answers, a little befuddled to what it could be to get you so excited about it. Seonghwa clucks his tongue disapprovingly, reaching to take the stick from you and waving it in front of Mingi's face.
"No, Mingi." The cook shakes his head dramatically, brandishing the stick as if it is the cure to all the world's troubles. "This wonderful, powerful herb is the cordycep!"
Silence.
"It looks like a stick to me." Mingi grumbles, shoving his hands in his pockets. Honestly, he's never been one for herbs and medicines like San is, but that's why they have San and Seonghwa and now you, right?
"Yes, but you don't get it!" You cry in horror, waving the black stick at him. "The cordycep is a worm-"
The quartermaster freezes, his eyes widening as he takes in the black thing so close to his face.
Then he screams like a ten year old girl and dives behind a stack of barrels, as if you've just pulled a musket at him.
"Uhh, Seonghwa-hyung?" You turn to the cook, who's simply shaking his head in amusement.
"He's afraid of insects and the like." Seonghwa nods at the too tall shape that is Mingi crouching behind a cask of alcohol, his eyes peering over at the worm in your hand like a cat staring down a bath of water.
You can't help but laugh at the sight as you turn to the shopkeeper and order a tael of cordyceps, red ginseng and ginger. Honestly, you would have never thought that the silent, strong quartermaster was afraid of insects.
The shopkeeper smiles at you. "Know your herbs, do you, dear?" She packages the dried herbs into paper and ties each up with a red string, before passing them to you. Each package is worth its weight in silver or more. "A gold coin and three silvers."
Mingi carefully counts out the money before diving back into the relative safety of his barrel fort.
"Honestly, Mingi-hyung." You say, going over to him. He doesn't look at you, eyes fixated on the paper package that he knows has the cordyceps inside of it. "These are dead worms. The cordyceps are actually just fungi that grow on the worms."
"Dead, alive, stuffed with mushrooms, worth a thousand golds, I don't care." Mingi hisses, eyes still trained on the bag like he's ready to fight them. "I hate insects."
You and Seonghwa burst out laughing at his hostile tone.
"Alright, alright." Seonghwa steps towards the quartermaster. "Let's get back to the ship and brew up a nice lemon honey ginger tea for the rest, shall we-"
Suddenly, a small boy shoves into you, knocking you to the side abruptly before dashing off. To your horror, you feel the package of herbs being torn from your fingers, the force leaving rope marks on your skin as you stumble to the ground, hands barely saving you from a nasty fall.
"Hey!" Mingi shouts, but the boy is already fleeing. He glances at Seonghwa. "Hyung, you and Chin Hae take the other way from the square, I'll cut him off." Then he pauses for a moment, staring at the cook, his gaze softening in worry. "Will you be alright, hyung?"
That seems like a strange question to ask, but Seonghwa must understand what he's talking about because he nods, already pulling you in the opposite direction towards the town square. "Don't worry about me!"
The two of you dash through the street, where people are filing out of their houses. It's rather easy to move, considering that everyone is moving towards the town square, the same direction the two of you are. You simply move with the flow, following the crowd to the main square.
"There must be quite some commotion happening." Your crewmate huffs for breath as the two of you tear along the town, bumping into several other people and apologising furiously. You're sure one of them even curses you rather creatively in his native tongue.
"There are a lot of people today." You pant, glancing around you as the pair of you finally emerge in the square. There weren't this many people the last time you and Jongho had come to town, so you're a little puzzled. "Why-"
Suddenly, the ringing of the town bells fills the air.
You're instantly jerked back by the hand on your wrist and you nearly stumble to the ground. You turn back to stare at him urgently. "Seonghwa-hyung, we need to hurry!"
But Seonghwa merely stands still, face bloodless, lips moving without sound. You've never seen him like this, so afraid, so petrified with fear.
He looks so emotionally raw, bloody, haunted by the ghosts of his past.
You turn to look at Seonghwa in worry. Something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong.
"Hyung? We should be going."
But he doesn't seem to hear you. His eyes are wide and unfocused, dark pupils dilated with fear, his breathing erratic and irregular. You tug at his hand once more, only to jerk back in shock, it's slick with cold sweat.
Your blood turns to ice inside you as you take Seonghwa's face, cradling his cheeks with your hands. Your voice is gentle, afraid of pushing him over the edge into whatever abyss he's dangling over.
You're terrified.
"Hyung? What's wrong?"
His breath comes out in shallow pants, chest heaving. He doesn't look at you. His eyes are fixed on something behind you, and you turn to see what could have possibly caused him to react in such a manner.
"-and I hereby declare the sentence will be carried out now."
There's the sound of a lever being turned, the squeak as the trap doors swing open.
And the noose jerks taut.
A soft whimper leaves Seonghwa's mouth, and suddenly he squats on the ground like a small child, hands over his ears, shaking his head desperately as he whispers the same words again and again under his breath.
"Hyung!" You cry out in horror and panic, kneeling next to him to wrap your arms around him. What do you do? What's happening to Seonghwa-hyung? He barely seems to be aware of your presence anymore.
"I'm sorry." He whispers between soft, quiet sobs, raw and hoarse, from somewhere deep in his chest. You're completely confused to why he's apologising to you for a moment, until he begins to mumble names you've never heard under your breath. "I'm so sorry, mother, father, Hyunjung, Ha Rin."
The last word is a wail, a cry of utter torment, so desperate that it yanks at your heartstrings, demanding you to do something, anything! But you don't know what to do besides embracing him, watching him rock back and forth on his haunches like a deranged man.
There are tears winding down his face and you raise your hands to wipe them away as fast as you can. The sleeve of your shirt soaks with warm wetness, and suddenly, that same, tight agony wells up in you as well.
A single tear spills down your cheek.
"Seonghwa-hyung-" You manage to croak, your throat thick from unshed tears, but the older man merely stands as if in a daze, hands still over his ears as if that can stop him from hearing the sounds of the man at the noose slowly fading from this world.
Then he runs, tearing away from you without looking back.