Romancing the Tome

Part 6

When you reach the road, the rental car is still there – thank goodness, honestly. You don't think you could handle another long hike.

Unlocking the car, Yoongi remains silent when you slide into the front. He drives fast, on a mission with a renewed sense of purpose.

"Do you have to drive like a maniac?" you blurt, grabbing the door when he makes a particularly sharp turn.

You can still taste the salt on Yoongi's lips; still feel the warmth of his skin pressed to yours. It's driving you crazy, sitting beside him and saying nothing about it.

Yoongi exhales – a small huff. "I have to drive fast enough to keep us on time, don't I?"

"We're not on a schedule, Yoongi. Grab treasure at dusk, or something like that."

Yoongi's hands tighten on the wheel. "We're on the schedule of get-there-before-the-others-do-or-die, Y/N. How about that?"

Refusing to answer, you stare out the window. In the corner of your eye, you see Yoongi looking your way. Every now and again, he opens his mouth as if to speak – before stopping himself and sinking back in his seat. Whatever urge overcame him on the cliff is now gone. Your stomach shrinks at the thought, cringing with humiliation as you avoid eye contact.

Gravel crunches beneath the wheels of the car, climbing higher into the mountains. Chisen rock is on the other side of the ridge, down by the sea. By your estimation, it should take about an hour to reach there.

You're wrong about this – with Yoongi driving, it only takes forty minutes. You arrive vaguely carsick, pushing open your door to stumble outside. The wind takes your breath away, whipping your face to clear air from the car.

Staring at the rock, it's plausible to imagine Barbaras washing ashore. Yoongi steps up alongside you, holding two shovels, one of which you wearily accept.

"These were in the back," he says, and you nod.

The walk to the beach is silent, full of tension which weighs heavily on your chest. The air between you is thick with words left unsaid and the ever-increasing worry you were wrong. Maybe Yoongi was right and the way Barabas wrote was just a quirk of the alphabet. Maybe you read too much into linguistics, maybe the map just was a map and you gave Namjoon the answer. Possibly he'll find the treasure first, sell it on the black market and –

Clank. Your shovel thuds, striking something other than dirt.

Yoongi pauses his motions, head swiveling your way. Glancing up from your hole, you meet Yoongi's gaze. He moves fast, scrambling out of his hole to leap into yours.

"Was that..." He exhales, readjusting his hat. "Was that wood?"

You nod. "I think so," you whisper, shoving the shovel into the same place once again – another thunk, unmistakable this time.

The irrefutable sound of metal on wood.

Yoongi's eyes widen, staring down at the ground. "Here," he says, gripping his shovel and starting to dig. "I'll help."

Nodding, you work around him and in record time, bronze latches and wood are being uncovered. When the top is visible, Yoongi lays down his shovel to disappear – his butt scrambles over the edge and disappears into twilight. When he reemerges, sliding down, he carries more finite brushes and tools. He sets to work on the chest, uncovering the cask from muck it has laid in for over three hundred years.

When he's done, the chest fully uncovered, Yoongi sits back on his heels. He stares at the treasure, wiping sweat from his brow and rather shakily, you kneel beside him.