Treasure for All

25. Stowaway

As soon as the last dish was dry, Yunho carefully placed it back into the cabinet. He dried his hands on the blue towel hanging in between the cabinet under the sink, and then made his way towards the workout room to relieve some of the day's stress with Jongho. It was something he and the younger male bonded over when he joined the crew, and at the end of each day they made it a routine to work out before turning in for the night.

Once Yunho had changed clothes and slipped on his gloves, something moved out of the corner of his eye. A shadow.

"Jongho, I'm coming," he called out, thinking his friend was playing a joke on him. "Plus, Halloween is not for a few more months, so stop trying to jump scare me."

The shadow didn't answer, but rather move away, the light from the hall reappearing on the red wallpaper.

"Dude," Jongho's voice sounded from behind him, "who are you talking to? I was discussing something with Mingi in his room."

Yunho's eyes seemed to pop out of his head. If Jongho wasn't in the workout room, who was? Another crew member? His conscience was telling him no.

Pulling out his switchblade, he and Jongho crept towards the room, alert and cautious. How could they have an intruder on board? The door was always closed immediately after everyone boarded, and Yunho would have seen if anyone tried to climb on. Sneaking on the ship would be near impossible to do. Yunho and Jongho entered the kitchen area, but only found themselves in a kitchen with unfinished dishes that needed tending to. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except for a peculiar shoe sticking out from the pantry door. The two men acknowledge it with a certain look and a nod.

"We must have been seeing things," Jongho said loudly.

"You're right," Yunho replied as the two tiptoed to the door. "Let's just forget about it. It's been a long day."

Yunho knew which floorboards squeaked, so he was able to inch closer to the door without giving away his position. Jongo followed suit.

On the count of three, the two men tore the door open, blade and pistol ready, and a young woman with dark hair and caramel skin scooted away from the door like a crawling scorpion.

"Please, don't shoot," the woman begged while she covered her head with her hands.

Upon closer inspection, Yunho realized the woman was Dalia. She was dressed in the same scrubs he met her in, but her hair was all messy and a scar with dried blood on her freckled cheekbone didn't hide her beauty.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, putting his blade away. "How did you even get on board? I saw you walk away from the ship back in London."

"Well, after you closed the ship door," she explained as Jongho helped her to her feet, "I raced back to it and climbed to the deck. I've been hiding behind the barrels when everyone is on the ship. Forgive me for trespassing, but I was waiting for the right time to come out and tell you."

"Personally, we forgive you, but the ultimatum goes to the captain," Jongho replied.

"Would it help if I told you why I'm here?" she asked, her thumbs twiddling each other. "I think it's important for you to know that you're not the only ones looking for the diamonds."

-

Silence and warm, lavender scented water soothed Dahae's nerves. Her silky, black hair was being combed through by the captain. A relaxing bath where she was pampered by Hongjoong always melted away any stress or worry she had, releasing any tense muscle or thought in the process.

"How are you feeling now, baby?" he quietly asked.

"Much better," she whispered back.

"I'm sorry you had to face those critters, but you're here. You're safe, and we're high in the sky headed to Niagara Falls. It's a much longer flight, but we have all the time to rest and prepare for the next location."

Dahae just nodded and relaxed into her fiancé's touch, however, Hongjoong could tell something was bothering her just from her body language.

"Is something wrong, Dahae?" he asked, setting the comb on the bathroom counter.

She was quiet. Nothing but a small sniffle came from her, and Hongjoong knew she was on the verge of tears. He immediately kneeled down by the tub to face Dahae and saw her eyes and nose turning bright red.

"I'm scared, Joong," Dahae sobbed. "I mean, the last two places were dangerous and scary going in and out of them, but now, with one of my biggest fears used as a trap I'm scared of what the next booby trap could be or if there would be."

Hongjoong said nothing. Seeing Dahae in tears like this broke his heart. She was a brave woman, but he had seen her most vulnerable moments. This was one of them.

He lifted the back of her hand to his lips.

"I'm scared, too," he admitted. "Every time we head to a new destination that's supposedly dangerous, I get scared that you or one of the crew will meet their end there. But when I think about how we're a team and how we execute our skills, we get out of so many situations alive and breathing, with the exception of a few bumps and bruises."

Dahae scoffed with a small smile.

Hongjoong leaned in closer and promised her, "We're never going to lose each other."

Just before he could kiss her a knock on the door interrupted his actions.

"What?" he asked.

"Captain, we need to talk," Jongho's voice answered from the other side of the bedchamber's door. "It's kind of an emergency."

"You go ahead," Dahae instructed the captain. "I'll be out in a minute."

With a nod, the captain shut the bathroom door to give Dahae her privacy.

"What's going on?" he asked Jongho when he opened the bedroom door.

"We have a stowaway," was all the younger man answered.