The Island Prince (Seventeen VerKwan story)

Chapter 21 - Memories

A/N: I think I can finally finish publishing this book next week wooo~~

.

'It will be fine. We'll be back. It will be fine.'

Kwan honestly had no idea who he wanted to reassure with his constant mumbling as they were sitting on a ship. It was an unfamiliar ship, a smaller one than the one they came with. He didn't know a single person out of the crew. He wasn't even sure whether Hansol's friends knew about their leaving.

He thought about Hansol. He didn't even get the chance to say goodbye. And to say sorry for acting the way he did the day before. He was a coward for running away after the other confessed his love for him. Now it's too late for everything... but maybe it's for the best. Hansol can marry the princess without him being constantly in their way. They will end up loving each other. Maybe even have kids. Kwan shivered and shook the thought away.

'He was looking for you last night' admitted a small voice next to him. Kwan looked at Hoshi questioningly.

'Who?'

'Hansol. You said his name, right?'

Kwan didn't even realize that he said the prince's name out loud.

'He was looking for me? Why?' he turned towards the tiger while also holding Dino's sleeping body and watching out for Hao. He didn't want the tiny frog to disappear.

'He said something about running away. He was really down and kept crying. I wanted to tell you when you get back but then everyone fell a-asleep and I d-didn't know w-what to do' muttered Hoshi on the verge of tears. 'Please, don't be mad!'

'Why would I be mad?' asked Kwan, putting his hand on the tiger's head softly.

'M-Maybe if I would've told you we wouldn't be in a situation like this now' said Hoshi.

'No, no, please, don't think like that! Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault!'

'But how could all of this happen?' croaked Hao jumping next to them.

'Someone really wants to keep me away from the prince' thought out loud Kwan.

'Princess Lia?' asked Hoshi doubtfully. Kwan quickly shook his head.

'She wouldn't hurt a fly. She really is an amazing girl.'

'Just the opposite of her cruel two-faced asshole of a mother' spat Hao.

'You're just right' sighed Kwan. 'We should get back to the kingdom somehow. We can't let the animals die, guys! What about Koya? And Lorenzo? The horses? We can't let this happen!'

'Okay, this is going to sound cheesy as hell, but even though the king and the queen say that you're just an island boy, you're acting like a prince in my eyes' stated Hao with admiration. Hoshi agreed.

'And you know what? There's one of those boat thingys' the tiger gestured towards the emergency boats at the side of the ship. Kwan smiled. He put Dino and Hao on Hoshi's back and went up to the boats together with the tiger.

As he was trying to undo the knot that held the boat in place, suddenly the ship took a sharp turn which none of them expected to happen. The sail turned over and hit both Kwan and Hoshi, the force throwing both of them over the railing of the ship. Both screamed out loud, then held their breaths as they felt the ice cold salty water's waves clash over them. Kwan quickly got back onto the surface and gasped for air.

'Are you guys okay?' he shouted into nothing. The waves were huge and he could barely see in the darkness of the night. He would've shouted something obscene after the ship and its crew (because he was sure this wasn't just an accident), but he had bigger problems right now. For example-

'Kwan!' he heard Hoshi's voice somewhere on his right. He gasped.

'Hoshi! Hold on!' he suddenly remembered that the tiger can't swim. And also that there's a sleeping otter with them.

'Hao! Where's Dino?' Kwan started turning around. His clothes were all wet which felt awful. He was still wearing his shirt and pants from the engagement ball.

'Dino's here! He's floating!' said the frog. Kwan sighed thankfully. Dino's an otter. He sleeps floating on water sometimes anyways...

Kwan decided to rather try to save Hoshi (or at least encourage him) and started swimming in his direction. Suddenly a huge wave came towards him which he didn't even see until it reached him. Even if he saw it sooner he wouldn't have had a chance against it either. He screamed as he submerged under the water, hearing Hao's faint voice in the distance shouting his name.

The humming of the ocean muffled the sounds of everything else around. Kwan tried to get back onto the surface but the water just wouldn't let him. He slowly ran out of air as he felt his body floating as if he was weightless. The water froze his body completely. He couldn't even feel his limbs anymore. He slowly closed his eyes. That's it, he thought.

In his mind he still heard Hao's small voice calling his name. 'Kwan! Hold on, Kwannie!' The voice in his head slowly transformed to a deeper one. A person's voice, a male's one to be exact. He had no idea who's voice it was, but it felt familiar. A scene suddenly came to his mind and he suddenly felt deja vu.

He was floating in the ocean, his body freezing under the night sky. He was gasping for air, but the waves kept throwing him left and right. Rain was falling hard from the sky and he could hear the sounds of a thunderstorm. Suddenly lightning lit the sky up and he could faintly see a huge ship, bigger than any of the ones he travelled on during the past days. The waves threw the ship over right in front of his eyes. Then the male's voice shouted from the distance again.

'Hold on! Hold on! Hold on, Seungkwan!'

He could feel something pushing his body again, then everything went black.