The Legend of Magic Island | taejun + sookai

part 6: storytelling

That night the five of them were sitting under the stars, hearing the sound of the waves tossing back and forth. They were eating dinner together and telling stories alongside the dim flickers of a lantern.

"I had met Captain Sobin in the marketplace one day," Hueningkai recalled, "I'd never seen him around before, and I was curious about him the minute I'd seen him."

"His life just seemed more—... exciting than mine," He continued, "There were no rules to follow, no one to tell you how to act, and you could explore for miles on end. It sounded perfect to me."

He recalled the time when he asked to travel with Captain Soobin, and how the other happily accepted. That day the Captain was leaving the port by midnight, and Hueningkai would have to make up his mind whether to travel with him, or stay with his family.

"And so that night," Hueningkai smiled, "I packed up my things and fled. I don't think my family ever went to look for me... maybe they tried and gave up on me? I still wonder how they're doing though.."

Captain Soobin shrugged, taking a bite of some bread.

"Something tells me they'd be angry with you running away and joining me," He replied casually, "I'm sure they're alright, they have more money than they know what to do with."

Hueningkai hummed in response, taking a bite of his food. They continued telling stories of how they had met Captain Soobin, each of them going around with their own stories to tell.

"When Hueningkai first met me," Beomgyu scoffed, "He thought I had fleas and asked me to get a bath first."

Captain Soobin laughed, "I remember that! Hueningkai was even willing to pay for you to go there as long as you cleaned up."

Hueningkai raised his hands in defense, playfully shoving Beomgyu. Yeonjun covered his mouth and snickered.

Taehyun leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees.

"I ran into Beomgyu when I was at the market, he was trying to steal my pocketwatch," Taehyun snickered, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a shiny, gold pocketwatch. He waved it in front of Beomgyu, the other eagerly reaching for it.

"I was out in the marketplace with my friend when Beomgyu zipped by," Taehyun recalled, "I was wondering why he had ran past so fast, then I saw something shiny in his hands. Next thing I knew, my pocketwatch was gone."

Beomgyu laughed, clapping his hands joyfully.

"You chased me through a whole crowd just to get it back!" Beomgyu exclaimed, Captain Soobin covering his face in embarrassment.

"I had to bribe him to return it to Taehyun," The captain sighed, "I bribed him by buying him a slingshot."

Yeonjun scoffed, "Really? My old captain would never do that— It's finder's keepers."

"Exactly!!" Beomgyu exclaimed, pointing over at the boy, "Yeonjun gets me! You grew up stealing stuff too, right?"

Yeonjun furrowed his brow.

"What? No— I didn't— What?"

Beomgyu slumped his shoulders, "Nevermind then."

Hueningkai broke off a piece of bread, handing it to the Captain.

"Usually when we tell stories together, Captain likes to tell us stories he's heard from his father!" Hueningkai smiled, "Sometimes we make up our own here and there, but Soobin tells the best ones."

The other blushed, nudging Hueningkai playfully.

"Oh stop it you!" He giggled, "Beomgyu tells the craziest, Taehyun's are the scariest, yours are the most wholesome, and mine are passed down from generations."