Wave (Sanhwa)

Chapter 9

Five years had passed, the now twenty one year old San was walking through the streets of a town he had only been in for a couple of weeks. He adjusted the hat that sat on top of his black hair shielding his eyes from the bright sun. San continued to walk passing by various stalls that were selling anything from foods, clothes, and even weapons as he made his way to the docks. As San got closer he reached into his pants pocket pulling out a folded piece of paper. Unfolding it he looked at the writings on the paper that read 'Looking for new crew members to join the S.S. Horizon, see captain Hongjoong if you believe you are worthy enough to join' he folded the paper sticking it back into his pants before adjusting the bag around his shoulders that contained his valuables. As San walked down the docks, his eyes scanned over the various boats trying to find the name he was looking for. Eventually he came upon the ship, admiring how beautiful the vessel was.

San approached the ship seeing there was quite a long line of people leading up to the ship. San stood in it behind a very scary looking pirate, he wrinkled his nose stepping back a bit due to how bad the older man smelled. The line seemed to move at a decent pace, various men going up to the ship and leaving not much later grumbling about a 'disrespectful brat pirate captain'. Soon it was San's turn to be interviewed and the male was nervous as he walked into a room lined with various types of maps on the walls and laid across the table. Sitting at the table was a man with brown hair in the shape of a mullet. He had several piercings on both ears, along with an eyebrow piercing that made his piercing brown eyes that much more intimating, "sit" the man said his voice commanding and unamused with a hint of tiredness as well. San gulped as he sat down on a chair placed in front of the table. The man who San assumed was Captain Hongjoong looked him up and down a small 'hmm' leaving his lips.

San was a bit shocked to see that the captain looked only a little bit older than him, he was expecting some old ugly captain with disgusting teeth and a long unkempt beard, but he was pleasantly surprised to see the captain was a young handsome man, who was still very scary. "Why do you think you deserve a spot on my crew?" Hongjoong asked the male in front of him, his eyebrow raising as he stared at him. San shifted a bit under Hongjoong's intense gaze, "I want to join the crew because I want to have people I can call family. For a while now I have been on my own and I am tired of being alone. I am not an experienced pirate or anything, in fact this is my first time on a ship, but I am a really fast learner and whatever task you give me I will give my one hundred percent" San explained relaxing a bit as he talked. He looked down at his wrist, the seashell bracelet still around it, a small sigh leaving his lips before looking back at Hongjoong. "So please let me join your crew" he nervously bit his lip. Hongjoong stared at San the room feeling with an uncomfortable silence for a long time. "What's your name?" Hongjoong asked, the question catching San off guard, "My name is San sir, Choi San'' he answered quickly. All of a sudden the sound of chair legs scraping the floor echoed throughout the room as Hongjoong got up walking over to San.

San followed where Hongjoong was going biting his inner cheek nervous. Hongjoong held out his hand, "Welcome to the S.S. Horizon Choi San, from today on I will be your Captain, call me Hongjoong" Hongjoong said a teasing smile on his face. San's eyes widened, "really?" he asked, trying to hide his happiness. Hongjoong shook his hand in front of San's face, "Are you going to leave your captain hanging?" he asked, his tone teasing. San quickly stood up and shook Hongjoong's hand, "thank you! I promise I won't fail you" the male said his smiling wide on his face showing his dimples. Hongjoong slipped his hands in his pockets, "I will hold you to that promise" he muttered before walking out of the room, San following behind him. Hongjoong walked to the edge of his ship where the line of people waiting was located. "Everyone go home, I am finished looking for a crew member!" he shouted a roar of upset groans and curses filling the air. "Yeah, yeah yeah! Y'all stinky old bastards wouldn't have made it on my ship anyways!" he yelled back before walking away. San followed Hongjoong, "Uh...can I ask you something sir?" He spoke softly.

Hongjoong turned to San nodding his head. "Why did you pick me to join your crew? I don't have any experience" he muttered, still a bit shocked that he actually made it. Hongjoong just shrugged, "every pirate needs their first crew, and besides you're the only person who isn't trying to join because of how well known me and my crewmates are. You are looking for a family and that's it, and on my ship we are family and we look out for each other, so you'll be a good fit" Hongjoong explained. San nodded relaxing now that he knew the reason he was picked, the happiness returning that he had officially become a pirate. "The rest of my crew are out running errands but they'll be back tonight, for now I will show you were you will be living and you can take some time to get settled and rest" Hongjoong spoke his voice much softer than before. San nodded, "Sounds good" he responded as he followed Hongjoong to a door that lead to inside the ship. They went down a flight of stairs going down a long narrow hallway that was lined with many doors. Hongjoong stopped at the end of the hallway in front of a door, "this is where you will be sleeping, lucky for you, everyone has their own rooms on the ship, so you will have plenty of privacy, although the crew shares a bathroom area but it's not as bad as you think" Hongjoong said as he opened the door to the room.

San walked inside looking around, the room was a decent size it wasn't too small or too big, it was actually quite cozy. There was a bed against the furthest wall, a small desk and chair were also in the room, as well as a pretty decent sized shelf that was empty, and a decent sized drawer in the corner for clothes. There was also a lantern on the desk that gave the room some light since there were no windows. "See you later, I will have one of the crew members give you a proper tour of the ship later" Hongjoong spoke before leaving San to his own devices. San walked over to the bed taking off his bag and emptying it's contents on top of it. Slowly he began decorating his room with the little stuff he had. The last thing he placed on the shelf was the figurine he got for his sixteenth birthday. A small sad smile appearing on his face as he placed it on the highest shelf. Once he was done decorating his room, San hung his bag on the back of the chair, before sitting on the edge of the bed. He fell back sighing as he stared at the ceiling, his hand reaching for the necklace around his neck, his thumb rubbing over the smooth peachy colored pearl, "Everything will be okay San" he reassured himself before sitting up, slipping his and socks off, getting under the covers. The bed was very comfortable which San was grateful for since the first time he slept on a bed was a terrible experience. It was worse than sleeping on a bed in his cave. San laid his head on the soft pillow, the exhaustion of his journey finally hitting him as he fell asleep.