Treasure EP. 1: All to Zero

Chapter 11: The Boys on the Shore

It was the middle of the night, and the stars were lighting up the night sky. The boys were laying unconscious on the seashore. They had miraculously been washed up on the shore. Seonghwa began to open his eyes. He coughed up some water and slowly began to stand up. He looked around at the other boys, who were also starting on wake up. Then he saw Mingi. He was standing on the edge of the shore, gazing into the distance. Seonghwa slowly limped over to him.

"Mingi?" He asked, "What're you looking at?"

Mingi did not respond. He had a distraught look on his face. Then Seonghwa saw what he was looking at. It was his ship. It was in two pieces, slowly sinking under the water. Mingi watched as his ship disappeared beneath the surface of the ocean. Once the ship was fully submerged, a tear ran down Mingi's cheek.

"...no..." He said quietly, "Everything...my crew...my most prized possessions...Yunho...it's all gone..."

Then he broke down crying. San walked up to him and put his hand on Mingi's shoulder. Mingi buried his face in San's shoulder. Suddenly, the boys heard someone coughing in the distance. They all looked in the direction of the sound, then they saw something coming out of the water. It was Hongjoong. He was carrying a limp Yunho in his arms. He trudged onto the shore, then he put Yunho down and collapsed onto the wet sand.

"YUNHO!!!" Mingi cried out.

He ran over to Yunho's body. The others ran to Hongjoong. Mingi held Yunho in his arms.

"Yunho..." Mingi said softly, "...please...say something..."

But Yunho remained silent. Mingi brought Yunho closer to him, touching Yunho's forehead to his own.

"Yunho..." Mingi whispered again, "...say something...anything..."

Suddenly, Yunho coughed up saltwater into Mingi's face. Mingi turned him on his side and let him cough up the water and catch his breath. When he was finished, Mingi brought their foreheads together again. They were both crying tears of joy.

"Yunho! *Sniff* I'm so happy you're alive." Mingi said through tears.

"Me too." Yunho said quietly as he stood up, "But Hongjoong was the one who saved me! He dove under and pulled me up."

Mingi looked over at Hongjoong. He was still laying on the sand. The others were surrounding him.

"Hongjoong!" Jongho called out, "Please wake up!"

Hongjoong slowly opened his eyes. He was breathing heavily and slowly.

"Am I...alive?" He asked.

"Yes, Hongjoon!" Seonghwa said, "And thank goodness you are!"

Hongjoong slowly sat up. He put his arm around Seonghwa and Seonghwa helped him stand up. He looked over at Mingi. He was staring at Hongjoong. Suddenly, he ran up to Hongjoong and wrapped his arms around him.

"Thank you!!" He said, "You saved my best friend!"

Hongjoong hugged him back.

"Heh. It was nothing!" He said, "I can tell how close you and Yunho are. I didn't want you to lose anything else."

Then Hongjoong remembered something important.

"Mingi?" He said, "When I asked you to join our group, what were you going to say?"

"Oh! I remember!" Mingi said, "I was actually going to ask...how do you know for sure that I'm the one you're looking for?"

Hongjoong reached into his backpack and pulled out the crystal. It was glowing very brightly.

"This crystal never lies." He said, "You and Yunho are the last two boys we're looking for!"

Mingi and Yunho were mesmerized by the light of the crystal.

"So..." Hongjoong continued, "Will you join us?"

Mingi and Yunho looked at each other and smiled. Then they both looked at Hongjoong and nodded. Then the crystal shone very brightly and the two turned into a zero, then disappeared. Hongjoong smiled. He had finally done it; he found all eight boys.

"So, Mingi, Yunho?" He asked, "What are your dreams? What are your goals?"

"Well, I wanted to become the best pirate in the region, but...I'll have to think of something more...achievable." Mingi said.

"And I wanted to become the captain of the ship." Yunho said as he put his arm around Mingi, "Mingi's been teaching me everything there is to know about being the captain!"

Hongjoong smiled. They both had very good goals in mind. Then he looked up at the sky. It was already dawn.

"Maybe we should get to the inn." He said.

"I know a place that's close to where we are now!" Mingi said, "Follow me!"

He and Yunho started walking away.

"B-but, wait!" Hongjoong said as he ran up to Mingi, "Are you sure there's an inn around here?"

"Hey." Mingi said firmly, "Fix on, follow me."

"...'fix on?'" Hongjoong repeated.

"It's something he says when he wants to get your attention." Yunho said, "If you hear him say that, you should probably follow his lead."

Hongjoong slightly understood, so he and the other boys followed him.

A While Later...

The eight boys were walking down the trail leading to the inn. They were all tired from the ordeal they had been through. Then they saw something on the horizon. It was an inn. Hongjoong couldn't believe it. He didn't know there was an inn near the beach. "See?", Mingi said, "What did I tell you?" Hongjoong scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. The eight of them walked into the inn and rented a room with four beds. They were happy to be able to finally rest.

In the Room...

The eight boys walked over to the beds in the room and collapsed onto them.

"Ahh...I've never been this tired in my life..." San said.

"Same here, heh..." Wooyoung added.

Wooyoung and San fell asleep almost immediately, their arms around each other. Yeosang and Jongho fell asleep as soon as they laid on the bed. Seonghwa crawled under the covers and fell asleep. Hongjoong sat down on the edge of the bed. He was still happy that he found all the boys. Then he looked back at Mingi and Yunho. Yunho was already fast asleep. Mingi walked over to Yunho. He bent over him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Yunho." He whispered.

Then he walked away from the bed and out the door.

"Where are you going?" Hongjoong asked him, "Aren't you going to rest?"

"No." Mingi replied, "I'm going on a walk. A lot just happened, I just need to clear my mind a bit."

Then he quietly closed the door. Hongjoong laid down next to Seonghwa. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, dreaming about what he would do next.