Water Heart | P.Sh

| 2.28 |

Before Jungwon even returned up on deck with Lin and Jiyeon, Sunghoon had ordered Sunoo to help him with moving all the Flottante swabbies over to sit around the mast. Most of them still consious and looking at the two with daggers in their eyes.

"Now!" Jay started marching back and forth, hands behind his back whilst still clutching his sword tightly in one hand, "starts the fun, lads," he grinned towards the swabbies as Sunghoon tugged on Sunoo's sleeve and they returned to stand by Jake and I.

"What's gonna happen now?" I whispered and looked towards Jake, who simply shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I have one question that keeps echoing inside my head," Jay continued as Jungwon quietly led Lin and Jiyeon over to stand beside Sunghoon. Jungwon calmly walking over to stand beside the majority of the swabbies, staring down at them with evil eyes, "where have you put your captain?"

"Captain Min is dead," a swabbie grumbled and Jay stopped in his steps, looking over at the crusty man and raising both eyebrows.

"Is that so? Then where is his co-captain, surely he must've taken over," Jay reminded and turned his whole body towards the swabbies.

"We did not agree with the methods of Lee Heeseung," another one remarked, "nor did we agree with his choice of making the sailing master, Riki, his co-captain."

"What did you do to them?" Jungwon questioned, rubbing his chin with his pointer finger, giving a quick glance towards Jay.

Beside me I sensed Jake shift his weight from one foot to the other. Even though I didn't know the exact reason he had left the Flottante, I could still imagine how he might've been close with at least one person in the crew. Let it be Heeseung or Riki or perhaps even captain Min. Quietly I reached over and rubbed his back gently.

"Threw them off at the nearest island," the swabbie replied.

"You committed mutiny," Jay remarked and the crew of the Flottante seemed to shrug while collectively agreeing with small nods, "why would you commit mutiny?"

"That is none of your concern," one of the swabbies talked back.

"Who is your captain?" Jay continued, getting no answer. The whole deck almost echoing crickets as the captures swabbies looked between one another, "Do you want a deal to leave us alone?"

"What do you have to offer?" a swabbie questioned with a smug smirk.

"Anything but the ship and the girls," Sunghoon calmly replied, making Sunoo snap his head to look towards him. Almost all of the swabbies looking towards him with mad disappointment.

"Any time we pass by we get to take half the food depot," a swabbie spoke up lowly and it seemed like the majority agreed.

At least it wasn't that bad. We could always fake what was half of the food we had. Jay nodded quietly in return to the demand, seeming to not mind the decision.

"Alright. Soomin, go down and get half the food depot for them," Jay called out and I immediately nodded. I was about to go down to the food depot before a yell from the swabbies echoed out.

"We want to pick it up ourselves," a swabbie reminded and Jay immediately shook his head.

"Trust," Jay corrected, "we trust that you will not attack us if you trust that we give you half of our food depot. Continue Soomin."

I continued down into the food depot, grabbing a basket as I looked at the shelves. I didn't plan on giving them half of our food depot. Besides, Sunghoon and Jiyeon still looked to be slightly malnourished, the stress on Jungwon had him looking exhausted and hungry, the same went for Sunoo. The only one who really looked to be fine was Lin. Jay never looked fine, always as if he needed an extra hour of sleep. Yet, it was first now that I stood in the food depot it hit me how much of a toll the life at sea took on us.

I quickly filled the basket up with food that was nearly too old, only giving the Flottante one or two of each item. For the act I pretended to struggle up the stairs with the basket, despite me just having fought normally with a sword. Hopefully none of them could remember that part.

"Food," I murmured and put down the basket in front of the swabbies, making the nearest ones glance down in the basket and look up at me with suspicion.

"That is impossibly half," the nearest one grumbled.

"Do we look like a crew that's been eating well these past few weeks?" I whispered, taking a few steps backwards while I stared at him with sickly eyes, "that is half of what we have," I admitted, making my voice slightly hoarse on purpose.

Jay glanced over at me with an arched brow before just nodding and looking back at the swabbies. Meanwhile over by the side Jungwon was pretending to frown while hiding a small smile underneath the fingers that continued to rub his lips in fake worry.

"We'll let you go one by one and the last can take the basket," Jay declared as Jake rushed to help untie one swabbie after the other, watching as they went back on their own ship.

"You're at the edge of the Atlantic," a swabbie remarked as he was loosened from his ropes.

"So?" Jay questioned and the swabbie glanced him up and down.

"Too long away from the Carribean and we'll find out," the swabbie reminded and Jay just nodded, watching him go before muttering something about how hard he would find it when he had to search the entire globe for one stupid ship in a sea of other ships.

It seemed awfully easy to get rid of the Flottante, but once they started floating alongside us and away it seemed to have worked. Everything had worked out without anyone getting seriously hurt.

"You're magnificent, you know that, right?" Sunghoon murmured and wrapped an arm around my shoulders to pull me close. His hand rubbed the upper part of my bicep and pressed a kiss into my hair.

"We need to continue on," Jay declared and dragged himself back up to the helm.

"Anything as small as a cut I want reported to me, I'll take a look and patch you guys up," Jiyeon yelled out as a reminder, giving a stern look to Jungwon.

With a heavy sigh Jungwon tugged on his right sleeve, which was already a deep dark red, having stained across his chest on his shirt from having it folded. Within seconds he showcased a long cut down along the innerside of his right forearm. 

"Knew it," Jiyeon reminded with a small smile as Jungwon just sighed in defeat and let out a small chuckle.

"I don't know... I think I might have a small cut somewhere as well," Sunoo murmured as he looked down at himself.

"Your waist," Lin gently pointed out and pulled out in the rip in his shirt.

"Oh..." Sunoo muttered before sending her a small smile, "I'm fine."

"I know," she whispered as she pulled him into a tight hug.

"Maybe a bit sore then," Sunoo admitted with a small croak once he returned Lin's hug.

"And you're alright, big bad hero?" I questioned and glanced up at Sunghoon.

"You know how it is... the best sword's man never get as much as a minor cut," he shook his head in satisfaction.

"A bruise?" I arched a brow and he immediately shook his head.

"I'm alright... unlike your skirt," he pointed out and I looked down, first now noticing the many rips in my skirt, running in any direction and across each other.

"Yeah... he was a bit feral," I murmured in amusement, "surely I can sew it."

"Or find another skirt," he reminded.

"I like the green one."

"I'm just saying... any other color would look equally as good," he reminded with a charming smile.

I pursed my lips before shaking my head in disagreement. Beside me Sunghoon continued to chuckle in amusement, as if I eventually would give in. However, the most amount of amusement he got out of me was a small smile once I shaked my head in disbelief.